On March 11th Apple will begin shipping the iPad 2. While retaining 10 hours of battery life and a month of standby, Apple has added cameras, faster CPUs, a gyroscope and a dual-core CPU. In fact the pricing is staying the same as the original iPad.

The new iPad 2 is thinner than your iPhone 4 at just 8.8mm think. The iPad 2 will have a new chip Apple calls the A5, which features Dual-core processors, up to 2X faster then the A4 chip, up to 9X faster graphics and has the same low power requirements as the previous iPad.

It will ship in both Black and a White version and be available for both AT&T and Verizon.

The new iPad 2 will now have a true 1080p HDMI video output, that will work with all apps and supports rotation.

While Apple is still working on getting the white iPhone to meet their standards, a clever modder overseas has removed the front and back glass panels of their iPhone 4 and made them transparent with a little paint thinner.

If you take a look at the Uwants site, there are several other pictures of this simple iPhone mod.

[via Uwants]

Today Apple announced iPhone 4, featuring:

• A brand-new design
• FaceTime video calling
• Retina display
• 5-megapixel camera, and
• HD video recording

iPhone 4 comes with iOS 4, the newest version of the world’s most advanced mobile operating system, featuring:

• Multitasking
• Folders
• Enhanced Mail
• Additional enterprise support
• iBooks, and
• iAd, Apple’s new mobile advertising platform

iPhone 4 comes in either black or white and will be available in the U.S. for a suggested retail price of $199 (16GB) or $299 (32GB). Qualifying customers can purchase it through Apple and AT&T’s online and retail stores, Best Buy, Walmart, and RadioShack. It will be available on June 24 in the U.S., France, Germany, Japan, and the UK. Customers in these countries can pre-order from the Apple Online Store or reserve an iPhone 4 for pickup at an Apple Retail store starting on June 15.

Apple also introduced a new 8GB model of iPhone 3GS for $99 in the U.S., which will also be available on June 24.

iPhone 4 will be available in 88 countries by the end of September. iOS 4 will be available on June 21 as a free software update through iTunes for iPhone and iPod touch customers.*

iMovie for iPhone 4, a new app available from the App Store for $4.99 when iPhone 4 ships, allows customers to edit and share iPhone 4 videos and apply themes, transitions, and music.

* iOS 4 is compatible with iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, and second- and third-generation iPod touch (late 2009 models with 32GB or 64GB). Some features may not be available on all products. For example, multitasking requires iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4 or third-generation iPod touch (late 2009 models with 32GB or 64GB).

[More information at Apple.com]

Were the Secure Thumb Drives we mentioned in a previous post just not enough storage? LaCie, makers of those great portable orange rugged drives, has answered the call of many who need to securely store large files. Files such as movies, audio or other multimedia. LaCie’s Rugged Safe offers multiple levels of data protection, from its “unbreakable hardware encryption and the safest biometric authentication technology,” to its shock–proof enclosures.

The Rugged Safe includes hardware-based AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) 128–bit encryption. This is the same standard used by the U.S. government and organizations worldwide to protect critical documents. The drive uses biometric authentication, which enables personalized data control, with access for to up to ten users.

You can connect the drive to your Mac via USB 2.0, FireWire 800 and FireWire 400. Once you have setup the users, they just need swipe a single finger for authentication. The drive requires no software installation and is also bus powered, so you can attach it to any computer and easily access your data.

[Available from LaCie]