After facing legal actions in Australia and critisisms from a large number of European consumer groups that 4G capable devices would not work outside USA and Canada, Apple decided to drop the “4G” status.

UK and Australia Apple online retail stores have both dropped the “4G” tag and replaced it with “Cellular” to get rid of any further consumer complaints from Australia’s Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) and the UK’s Advertisement Standards Authority (ASA).

No longer “Wi-Fi + 4G”, the model that connects to mobile data networks like Telstra’s is now named “Wi-Fi + Cellular” on Apple’s website.

A somewhat bitter news for all Australian and European consumers. Till now, Apple has already sold millions of new iPads across Europe and Australia and a good percentage of consumers are unaware that their iPads will not be able to connect to high-speed mobile 4G networks.

The apps interface is simple and clean with only three options: updates, profile and inbox.

The Updates section consists of screens with news and alerts like who has viewed your profile, what your colleagues are sharing, and who among your contacts has changed jobs. The app can show in details of the day ahead from your Google Calendar or Exchange calendar.

The iPad app of Linkedin has also calendar and job changing features that will also be made available on LinkedIn’s iPhone and Android apps.

You can also filter updates to find the professional groups you’re part of. A search box makes it easy to find all the people on the service.

Without doubt, a big deal for Linkedin to have a dedicated app for iPad. The existing apps of Linkedin for the iPhone, Android, Palm and BlackBerry devices represent the social network’s fastest growing consumer segment. The iPad app will surey take advantage of the extra screen space of the device.

According to Anandtech, the $399 Wi-Fi iPad 2, the only new iPad 2 that Apple now sells has this new A5 chip. It is more affordable for Apple to manufacture, which results in it being more battery efficient as well. Basically, owners of the iPad 2,4 will have some Samsung 32nm HKMG silicon goodness underneath the hood.

The $399 iPad 2 uses an A5 chip made on Samsung’s advanced 32-nanomter manufacturing process as opposed to the previous A5 and current A5X, which are both made on an older 45-nanometer process.

According to Daring Fireball’s John Gruber, Apple is now working on a smaller version of the iPad. Gruber told The Talk Show podcast that he has heard details that a 7.85-inch prototype ran at the same resolution as the 9.7-inch as iPad 1 and iPad 2. But it is unmatched with the new iPad’s Retina Display.

Apple has the habit of building multiple prototypes of products for testing before deciding whether or not to develop the product for public. A 7.85-inch iPad would be a rival to Amazon’s popular Kindle Fire, and would offer a resolution below the ‘Retina display’ of the iPhone and new iPad.

Even John Gruber is not sure whether Apple will eventually release the product. Steve Jobs once said “dead on arrival” when he dismissed 7-inch tablets.

Gruber told podcast host Dan Benjamin that the most important question to ask about a new size iPad was why Apple should release it, rather than why it shouldn’t.

Despite its temperature issues, Consumer Reports has named the new iPad as the best tablet available in the market.

“The high-resolution screen of the new iPad establishes a new benchmark in excellence, providing the best rendering of detail and color accuracy we’ve ever seen on a tablet display. As a result, the iPad tops our tablet ratings,” Consumer Reports posted on its blog yesterday.

Initially, Consumer Reports reported that the New iPad reached temperatures of 116 degrees Fahrenheit after 45 minutes of running an intense action game. That meant it was hotter by up to 13 degrees Fahrenheit than the previous model.

In its full report on Monday, the organization recommended the New iPad along with Toshiba’s ultra-light, one-pound Excite 10LE, and the Sony Tablet P.

Reports about the New iPad are generally good. Consumer Reports were impressed by the iPad’s retina display, which siad that the tablet had “achieved the highest score we’ve ever recorded for color accuracy in a tablet.”

Image Courtesy:Gizbot.com

But despite the clearing certification, Apple is still in dispute with Proview in China.

‘IPAD’ was originally registered in China by Proview and has won a case against Apple in 2010. The Shenzen court sided with the Chinese company over the ownership of the trademark, but Apple have since appealed the decision. At present, sales of iPad tablets have been affected by the case, with Proview requesting local authorities seize tablets, and calling for the suspension of sales.

The apparent positive nod by The China Quality Certification Center comes when Apple CEO Tim Cook is in China in an effort to address problems like intellectual-property dispute over the iPad trademark and scrutiny over the working conditions in Shenzhen Foxconn facility.

The result shows 10 degrees (Fahrenheit) difference between the two iPads. Using an infrared camera Tweakers.net discovered that the hottest part of the new iPad was 33.6 degrees Celsius (92.5 Fahrenheit), while the iPad 2 measured 28.3 degrees Celsius (83 Fahrenheit). Apple’s own specified operating temperature is 32 to 95 degrees Fahrenheit (0 to 35 Celsius). According to the report, the likely casue for this increase of temperature in the new iPad is new GPU. The new iPad features an A5X chip with quad-core graphics, presumably from the PowerVR SGX543MP4.

1. Chip

New iPad

A5X (Dual-core Apple A5X custom-designed, high-performance, low-power system-on-a-chip with quad-core graphics)

iPad 2

A5 (Dual-core Apple A5 custom-designed, high-performance, low-power system-on-a-chip)

2. Display

New iPad

High-resolution Retina display. 2048-by-1536-pixel resolution at 264 pixels per inch (ppi).

iPad 2

1024-by-768-pixel resolution at 132 pixels per inch (ppi).

3. Camera

New iPad

Back camera

iSight camera: 5-megapixel with autofocus; tap to focus; face detection in still images; video recording, HD (1080p) up to 30 frames per second with audio; video stabilisation.

Front camera

FaceTime camera with VGA-quality photos and video at up to 30 frames per second.

iPad 2

Back camera

Video recording, HD (720p) up to 30 frames per second with audio; still camera with 5x digital zoom.

Front camera

Video recording, VGA up to 30 frames per second with audio; VGA-quality still camera.

4. Weight and dimensions

New iPad

Wi-Fi

Height: 9.50 inches (241.2 mm)
Width: 7.31 inches (185.7 mm)
Depth: 0.37 inch (9.4 mm)
Weight: 1.44 pounds (652 g)

Wi-Fi + 4G

Height: 9.50 inches (241.2 mm)
Width: 7.31 inches (185.7 mm)
Depth: 0.37 inch (9.4 mm)
Weight: 1.46 pounds (662 g)

iPad 2

Wi-Fi

Height: 9.50 inches (241.2 mm)
Width: 7.31 inches (185.7 mm)
Depth: 0.34 inch (8.8 mm)
Weight: 1.33 pounds (601 g)

Wi-Fi + 3G

Height: 9.50 inches (241.2 mm)
Width: 7.31 inches (185.7 mm)
Depth: 0.34 inch (8.8 mm)
Weight: 1.35 pounds (613 g)

5. Battery life

New iPad:

Up to 10 hours of surfing the web on Wi-Fi, watching video, or listening to music

Up to 9 hours of surfing the web using cellular data network

Charging via power adapter or USB to computer system

iPad 2

Up to 10 hours of surfing the web on Wi-Fi, watching video, or listening to music

Up to 9 hours of surfing the web using cellular data network

Charging via power adapter or USB to computer system

6. Price

New iPad

Wi-Fi

16GB WiFi only- $499

32GB WiFi only- $599

64GB WiFi only- $699

Wi-Fi + 4G

16GB WiFi + 4G- $629

32GB WiFi + 4G- $729

64GB WiFi + 4G- $829

iPad 2

Wi-Fi

$399.00 16GB

Wi-Fi + 3G

$529.00 16GB

As promised, Apple Inc. has unveiled the new iPad tablet, which they call “the new iPad” at an event in San Francisco on wednesday.

The CEO of Apple Inc, Tim Cook introduced the new iPad, which will be available from March 16 in the US and 10 other countries. The new iPad is little thicker and heavier than iPad 2 and capable of 4G wireless speeds making it 10 times faster than the 3G found in iPad 2.

The new iPad’s key features include an unusually high-resolution screen, support for the 4G technology known as LTE and a microprocessor chip with more powerful graphics circuitry that helps render realistic-looking videogames.

How much do they cost? The Wi-Fi models run $499, $599 and $699 for the 16GB, 32GB and 64GB tablets, respectively; the 4G device is priced at $629, $729 and $829.

To sum up, the new iPad has the following features:

1) The new iPad is equipped with Retina display.

2) The new iPad features a 5-megapixel camera with advanced optics and illumination sensor.

3) iLife and iWork for new iPad

4) The new iPad is now with 4G technology known as LTE.

iPad 3 is expected to be unveiled on March 7, but a blog has got pieces of the new gadget and assembled them to give an idea of what the new device might look like.

M.I.C. Gadget, a China-based blog, writes that it has obtained the front glass, rear shell, and cases for Apple’s next tablet probably iPad 3 and shot a video of the device’s near-final exterior.

The blog writes that the iPad 3 will be thicker than iPad 2. The front glass shell also shows what appears to be a home button, putting to rest earlier speculation that Apple had given the boot to the familiar button.

As 9to5Mac reported earlier that the new device will have the same price as iPad 2, micgadget.com also reported the same. However, there was no mention of the much-rumored Retina display.

The above is the latest series of possible iPad 3 leaks. All speculation will end hopefully on March 7th.