Okay kids. It’s here. Official, straight from the horse’s mouth. I normally adopt the policy that any news regarding an Apple product should come from Apple themselves, and it doesn’t come clearer than this – the invitation to the “special event” next week. Apple is also known for giving away clues in their invitations.

Firstly, there’s the Retina display that has been grinding its way through the rumour mill since before the iPad 2 even came out. This seems really clear based on the tagline “we have something you really have to see.” You can also see the crispness in the display, especially on the calendar icon, showing 7 March as the date of the event. Gizmodo has done a side-by-side comparison with the iPad 2,  which clearly shows the massive improvement in resolution:

Here’s the other interesting observation: There’s no home button. I know you’re about to scream that the iPad could be orientated in landscape, but the spacing of the icons on the dock doesn’t allow for that – they’re spaced much further apart in landscape mode. Also look at the raindrops on the background around the calendar icon in the comparison shot above – identically positioned, except that the iPad 2 on the right has a home button. There is of course the option that the iPad pictured is upside down, but that would be some serious trolling from Apple. This could be what the “touch” part of the invitation could be referring to.

Other rumours include a possible quad-core A6 processor, hopefully at least a gig of RAM, and an HD front camera to allow for FaceTime HD. We’ll just have to see what happens when Tim Cook gets on the stage in Cupertino. Until then, nothing is certain.

See you all next Wednesday. I’m already salivating.

[Source: Gizmodo]