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New cases lend support to larger speaker on Apple's second-gen iPad

Another leaked second-generation iPad case from overseas shows a large opening on the lower left side of the back of the device, this time with an illustration of a speaker grille.

Alibaba.com, a global online business-to-business trading platform, is currently offering silicon cases for the "iPad 2." Like previously revealed cases, these have a spot on the back for a camera, as well as a hole in the bottom left rear side.

While a previous report suggested the space would be home to an SD card slot, a new report from this week said that the new iPad would instead have a wide-range speaker on its back side. It also said the back of the new iPad would be "flat like an iPod touch."

The latest case has an illustration with a speaker grille in the spot on the back, lending support to the rumor that the next-generation iPad will have an improved speaker. It was said the speaker on the back side is covered with a "metal mesh."

The previous report also alleged that the new iPad will retain the same 9.7-inch LCD display, but the device will be 3mm smaller, measuring 239mm by 186mm. It also said that the ambient light sensor in the new iPad will also be moved to the "upper center of the rear panel."

The new iPad is expected to have dual cameras, with a forward-facing one to be used for FaceTime video chat. FaceTime debuted this year on the iPhone, and eventually came to the new iPod touch and Mac OS X.

Reports have claimed that production of the new iPad is underway and overseas suppliers will begin shipping the device to Apple in January.



39 Comments

rbonner 18 Years · 635 comments

You would think after being singled out as a leak, case vendors would be careful about this sort of thing. I can't see a reason why Apple would want these leaks, seems like it might hurt holiday sales.

wizard69 22 Years · 13358 comments

To put it bluntly iPad needs vastly overhauled electronics to be a worthwhile in 2011. So what we really need is leaks on the internals.

prof. peabody 15 Years · 2858 comments

Quote:
Originally Posted by wizard69

To put it bluntly iPad needs vastly overhauled electronics to be a worthwhile in 2011. So what we really need is leaks on the internals.

I'm not sure I agree but I'm not really sure which internals you are talking about.

Personally, I'd be happy to see the same iPad, but lighter, not made of metal, and a tad thinner. More memory would be good which I guess is an "internal."

I am mostly disappointed with the software as I use mine for writing and there just isn't much in the way of decent writing software, nor is there anything really good in terms of getting documents onto and off of the thing (at least not without buying into some third party syncing solution).

I'm also a bit disappointed about the "improved" speaker in that I don't personally need a speaker at all on the iPad at all really and it seems like it's is going to be terribly ugly and possibly cause problems in bad weather.

rcoleman1 15 Years · 152 comments

Well, I can't wait to get my hands on the second generation iPad. I have an iPad Wi-Fi 3G 64GB that I love...this thing can only get better. See you soon eBay!

estolinski 16 Years · 140 comments

Quote:
Originally Posted by Prof. Peabody

I'm not sure I agree but I'm not really sure which internals you are talking about.

Personally, I'd be happy to see the same iPad, but lighter, not made of metal, and a tad thinner. More memory would be good which I guess is an "internal."

I am mostly disappointed with the software as I use mine for writing and there just isn't much in the way of decent writing software, nor is there anything really good in terms of getting documents onto and off of the thing (at least not without buying into some third party syncing solution).

I'm also a bit disappointed about the "improved" speaker in that I don't personally need a speaker at all on the iPad at all really and it seems like it's is going to be terribly ugly and possibly cause problems in bad weather.

I'm not trying to be a troll here, honest. But, it seems that you bought the wrong device. I don't think anyone would agree that the iPad was built for writing. Isn't the iPad more of a media consumption device? That would support the decision to go with an upgraded speaker. Just some thoughts.