Apple announces iPad 2 in 2 colors, will feature dual cameras and A5 chip

After much fanfare, Apple officially announced the iPad 2 today with a new dual-core processor called the A5 and both rear and front-facing cameras. It is up to two times faster than the A4 chip and nine times faster graphics with the same amount of power consumption. The iPad 2 also has the gyroscope found in the iPhone 4 and the current-generation iPod touch.

The iPad 2 is 33 percent thinner than the current model and weighs 1.3 pounds. It's even thinner than the iPhone 4; the iPhone 4 is 9.3 mm thick while the iPad 2 is 8.8 mm thick. It will be available in both white and black, with the white model available on day one (avoiding the fiasco that surrounded the while iPhone 4). There will be models that work with both AT&T and Verizon. The iPad 2 will also have HDMI mirrored video output up to 1080p through a $39 accessory.

The price on the iPad 2 is the exact same pricing model as used for the original iPads starting out at $499 for a 16 GB Wi-Fi only version and topping out at $829 for a 64 GB model with both Wi-Fi and 3G.

The iPad 2 will ship on March 11.

Edit: Apple has updated its iPad page with the technical specs for the device. The back camera will support 720p HD video recording with up to 30 frames per second with audio and a 5x digital zoom still camera.

The front camera will also have video recording, but is VGA and a VGA-quality still camera -- most likely the same one found in the iPod touch.