According to Business Insider, Apple is ready to launch the next generation iPad, the iPad 3 or whatever it may be called.

Analyst, Richard Gardner, from Citi has told Business Insider that Apple is ready to roll with a new iPad. Several industry sources has told Gardner that Apple will be launching their next generation iPad in February 2012.

Not much is know about the iPad 3 except that it will have double the resolution of the current iPad 2. Should the iPad 3 launch in February it will be less then a year since Apple launched the iPad 2.

A while ago at a Facebook mobile event, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, told the public that the iPad is not a mobile device and that they do not have any plans to offer an app for the tablet in the near future.

It seems like the young billionaire has had a change of heart, or so the New York Times have reported. According to the New York Times, people briefed on Facebook’s plans say that in coming weeks the company plans to introduce a free iPad application that has been carefully designed and optimized for the tablet.

According to these people the Facebook iPad application has been in development for almost a year now and is currently in it’s final testing stages.

The question now remains will Facebook’s official iPad application be a hit, seeing as it has to compete with two already popular Facebook applications for the iPad namely MyPad and Friendly for Facebook, the first mimicking the popular Twitter for iPad layout and flow.

Remember Naval Strike, the battle ship like iPhone game developed by MIH Swat right her in South Africa?

The reaction to Naval Strike has been overwhelming, and MIH Swat have reached their two week download target in a mere 5 days and to celebrate this they are giving away a $50 iTunes voucher.

To win the $50 iTunes vouchers, players will need to play Naval Strike through Game Center and the player with the highest score by Friday 22 April 2011 will win the $50 iTunes voucher.

So what are you waiting for, go download Naval Strike and start playing.

Flipboard the social magazine for the iPad has just released a new version in time for the release of the iPad 2.

The new Flipboard now features support for iPhone photo sharing service Instagram, allowing you to view and interact with your Instagram feed straight from you iPad.

In addition to Instagram support, Flipboard also added a new social search functionality, a first of its kind, that allows you to search across all your social networks and blogs straight from the Flipboard app.

Flipboard also added some speed enhancements to the app, with content now loading up twice as fast as before. They have also added a new reload button at the top of the app that allows you to reload your content when you want to.

Asked in an interview with Robert Scoble whether Flipboard are looking into other tablets, CEO of Flipboard Mike McCue responded that they are currently just focusing on the iPad and there are just so much stuff they would like to do before going to other platforms.

Go check out the new Flipboard app available in the Apple iTunes App Store.

Apple has released the long awaited iOS 4.3 a few days ahead of schedule, initially it would have been released on Friday alongside the all new iPad 2 but Apple has released it a few days earlier.

With iOS 4.3 comes the much awaited WiFi hotspot feature for iPhones enabling users to share their iPhone 4′s 3G with up to 3 other devices through WiFi.

The iOS 4,3 update includes the following new features and improvements:

• Personal Hotspot for iPhone 4
- Share iPhone 4 cellular data connection with up to 5
devices (combination of up to 3 Wi-Fi, 3 Bluetooth,
and 1 USB)
• iTunes Home Sharing
- Play music, movies and TV shows from a shared iTunes
library on a Mac or PC (requires iTunes 10.2)
• New AirPlay features for use with Apple TV
- Play videos from the Photos app including the Camera
Roll album, iTunes previews, enabled third-party apps
and websites on Apple TV
- Play slideshows from Photos on Apple TV using
transitions available on Apple TV
• Faster Safari performance with Apple Nitro JavaScript
engine
• HD video out using the Apple Digital AV Adapter for iPhone 4, iPad and iPod touch (4th generation)
- View 720p HD videos from Videos app, iPod app,
Photos, YouTube, Safari, Keynote, and enabled
third-party apps on an HDMI display
• Ping features
- Push notifications for comments and follow requests
- Post and Like songs directly from the Now Playing
screen
- Parental controls
• New Settings
- Messages setting for number of times to repeat an
alert
- iPad side switch setting to lock screen rotation or mute
audio notifications and sound effects
• Single tap conference call dialing with a pause to send
a passcode
• Bug fixes

Yesterday Apple reseller Digicape unexpectedly announced that they will be dropping the prices of all first generation iPads by as much as R600 for the 3G versions, now Core Group, official Apple distributor in South Africa has also announced that they are dropping the prices of all first generation iPads.

The reduction in iPad prices from Core Group will mean that all retailers selling the first generation iPads, including iStores and Deon Wired, will likely also drop their prices like Digicape did yesterday, and this just makes one wonder even more whether or not we will see the iPad 2 in South Africa sooner than we think.

When the iPad 2 was launched last week I predicted how much your second hand, first generation iPad, will be worth and with these new price reductions my prediction is starting to become true.

The new iPad prices announced by Core Group seem to be in line with that what Digicape released yesterday.

South African online Apple retailer DigiCape has reduces the prices of their first generation iPads by as much as R600 for the WiFi+3G version.

DigiCape has just announced on Twitter that they have slashed the prices of all their first generation iPad’s by R500 for the WiFi only version and R600 for the WiFi+3G version of the iPad 1.

The price reduction comes just days after Apple announced the iPad 2, the latest generation iPad with a dual core CPU, 9 times faster graphics and front and rear facing cameras.

Here are the latest DigiCape iPad Prices:

The prices are still a bit on the expensive side, but it does make it more affordable for someone to own a tablet, could this sudden drop in price mean the iPad 2 is on its way to South Africa?

Last night Steve Jobs unveiled the all new Apple iPad 2 to the world and suddenly you just realize that your now old iPad seems so old and outdated.

Well thats how I felt when I followed the announcement online, and suddenly I started wondering how much is my iPad worth now that the iPad 2 has been released?

I was not the only one thinking that, with thousands of Apple enthusiasts setting out to the web to sell their beloved iPads to get some extra cash for the new iPad 2 set to be available from 11 March 2011.

For South Africans that bought their iPad’s overseas the chances that you get anything near what you paid for it, is wishful thinking, seeing as the iPad was only launched a month ago here in South Africa priced really aggressively.

Online classifieds sites like Gumtree is plastered with ads of people wanting to sell their iPads this morning, with most of them still trying their hand at pushing the price at what you would pay for a new iPad in-store.

With apple pricing the new iPad 2 exactly the same as the older version and dropping the price of the iPad to clear out stock, I am sad to say that your iPad is now probably not worth more than R2500 for the 16GB WiFi version. South Africans won’t necessarily see any price drops for the iPad in retails stores until the iPad 2 has been officially launched locally.

Previously allot of online publications have speculated that iOS 4.3 would be available from 14 February, but the day has come and gone and still no iOS 4.3.

New evidence has surfaces though and it comes paired with the announced from Apple yesterday that they are introducing a in app recurring subscription based service via the App Store for publications like The Daily.

Opening up The Daily app on my iPad reveals that the free subscription has been extended to 2 March 2011, meaning that they anticipate the release of iOS 4.3 just before that date, like say the end of February.

What can you expect with iOS 4.3?

- Personal Hotspot
- New Multi-touch gestures for the iPad
- Airplay for third party apps and web apps
- A new FaceTime icon
- Full screen iAds
- Configurable side switch for the iPad
- New message alert settings
- New keyboard layout

The most anticipated feature must be the Personal Hotspot which will allow you to turn your iPhone into a personal hotspot to share your internet connection with other devices through WiFi.

Samsung South Africa has announced that their popular Android tablet, the Samsung Galaxy Tab, will soon see a price cut. This news comes only days after Core Croup, official Apple distributor in South Africa, launched the Apple iPad in South Africa at ridiculously low prices.

Samsung jumped Apple one when they launched the Galaxy Tab in South Africa in late 2010, making it the first officially available tablet in South Africa, but it came at a hefty price of R 7,999.00 just a bit cheaper than what it would cost to import an Apple iPad at the time.

The tables have however now turned with the iPad officially available in South Africa starting at R 4,399.00 for the 16GB WiFi version, almost halve the price of the Samsung Galaxy Tab.

When Samsung was asked by MyBroadband whether they will be responding to the launch of the iPad, Samsung responded that they have lowered the pricing and will review other channels and price drops as required.

Samsung was however unwilling to reveal with how much they have lowered the price of the Galaxy Tab and also stated that the Galaxy Tab is also a video and voice device that have other competitive differentiators.

Should the Galaxy Tab’s pricing come in line with that of the Apple iPad what tablet would be your first choice?