Apple has unveiled its iPad 2 tablet computer, touting it as a thinner, lighter and faster version of the earlier model. CEO Steve Jobs – currently taking medical leave – officially introduced the product at a media event in San Francisco, declaring that the new device “moves the bar far ahead of the competition” and will cause its rivals who have “copied” the first generation iPad “to go back to the drawing board again.” Jobs even went so far as to claim his competitors “were just flummoxed” by the first iPad and displayed a quote on screen from Samsung about poor sell-through of its Galaxy Tab.

Naturally described as “magical” by Jobs (although perceived by many as an expected upgrade lacking any revolutionary tweaks), the iPad 2 features a new design that is 33 percent thinner (8.8mm thick compared to 13.4mm) and up to 15 percent lighter than the original iPad. The 9.7-inch screen size remains the same, but the tablet includes Apple’s new dual-core A5 processor. “We get up to twice as fast on CPU performance… but we’ve really gone all-out on the graphics performance, up to nine times faster,” claimed Jobs. “Even though others are starting to ship, I think this is going to be the first dual-core tablet to ship in volume.” Support for Flash technology remains absent.

Unlike the first iPad which lacked a camera, the new version sports a front-facing VGA camera and a rear-facing camera that captures 720p HD video. The iPad 2 therefore supports FaceTime video calling for the first time. Battery life remains at up to 10 hours (with over a month of standby), and the device will ship in the US from next week (March 11) in both black and white (unlike the white iPhone 4, which is still missing in action). At launch the device will run on AT&T’s (WCDMA) and Verizon’s (CDMA) 3G networks. US prices are the same as the initial launch price of the first iPad; a WiFi-only version of iPad 2 will cost US$499 for the 16GB model, US$599 for the 32GB model, and US$699 for the 64GB model, while the Wi-Fi/3G version will be available at US$629 for the 16GB model, US$729 for the 32GB model and US$829 for the 64GB model. That 64GB model is the only iPad 2 device more expensive than Motorola’s Xoom tablet. Also of interest is the fact that the original iPad model has seen its price cut by US$100, with the cheapest model now being US$399. This is an apparent attempt to clear inventory as soon as possible.

On March 25 the tablet will be available in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK. Pricing details in individual countries is yet to be confirmed.

The new device runs iOS 4.3, officially launched this evening, with new features that promise faster mobile browsing, personal hotspot cabilities, support for AirPlay video streaming in third-party native (and web apps), a redesigned FaceTime icon, as well as support for multitouch gestures. iOS 4.3 will be available from March 11 for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch devices.

Apple will be hoping that the iPad 2 can continue the success of its first device (which has sold more than 15 million units and generated US$9.5 billion in revenue in the last nine months of 2010) and fight off increasing competition from Android tablet devices manufactured by Samsung, HTC, Motorola and Huawei, as well as RIM’s own PlayBook.