Decoding the iPad 3 Media Invite: What Should we Expect?

By Surojit Chatterjee | March 01 2012 10:03 AM

Apple sent out media invitations on Tuesday for a special event, which is scheduled to take off on March 7, 2012. It is highly expected that Apple will unveil the iPad 3. But the big question is - what can we expect to see? We are going to try and decode the cryptic media invitation to see if there is anything hidden that we should know about.

Reuters

Raindrops are seen in front of an Apple logo outside an Apple store in Shanghai
Apple

Apple invitation to an event on 7 March

The first thing we noticed on the invitation letter is a huge touch display. This proves that Apple is not out to announce another iPhone, but a new iPad. On top of the image are the words, “We have something for you to see. And touch.” This could mean anything, but giving it deeper thought has brought us to the conclusion that the line “to see” could very well mean a high resolution display, and “to touch” could mean more intuitive and innovative touch gestures.

Something else seems to be missing here as well, where is the home button? A closer look shows that the iPad 3 could be the first iPad to release without a home button. This could be where more touch-related controls come in. We’ve long heard rumors of Apple planning to do away with the home button on its iPad and iPhone devices. Will we get to see that happen on March 7?

While we are here murmuring about a possible iPad 3 announcement, Apple could instead reveal Apple TV. If the company is feeling confident, it could announce the both the Apple TV and Apple iPad 3 all in a single event. If it is the Apple TV, this would explain the lack of a home button a lot better, but if it isn’t, iPad users best be ready to live a life surrounded by touch gesture controls.

March 7 is D-Day, the day Apple gets another shot to wow the world with the unveiling of the iPad 3. Steve Jobs is no longer around, so it would be interesting to see how well the company can perform during an event like this without its best man. At the iPhone 4S unveiling, Apple didn’t quite sell itself to the crowd the way we expected it to, but that could be in part due to the fact that Apple was aware of the health degeneration of Jobs and knew that death was impending.

Apple has now recovered from its loss. The company’s market cap is now over $500 billion. Let’s see if the tech giant can now deliver the goods.

(Reported by Vamien McKalin, Edited by Surojit Chatterjee)

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