The Apple iPad 2 is a sleek and stylish tablet computer that is basically a tablet version of the iPod touch with a bigger screen and accessories. Compared to the iPad, iPad 2 is slimmer and lighter. It also has two built-in cameras to accommodate the long-awaited FaceTime application missing in iPad and a magnetic SmartCover shield to protect the iPad 2 screen or to serve as a stand.

Size and Weight

Spanning a height of 9.50 inches, width of 7.31 inches and depth of 0.34 inch, the iPad 2 weighs 1.33 pounds for the Wi-Fi model and 1.34 pounds for the Wi-Fi plus 3G model. The large screen real estate makes typing on the iPad 2 virtual QWERTY keyboard much easier compared to the iPod Touch or iPhone. Surfing the Web with the Safari browser, reading ebooks and viewing maps are also easier on a large screen.

Mail

iPad users can send and receive emails through the iPad Mail application, which is compatible with Google Gmail, Microsoft Exchange, Yahoo! Mail, Hotmail, AOL, MobileMe and other industry-standard IMAP and POP email services. Mail accepts attachments in JPG, TIFF and GIF images; HTML and HTM Web pages; TXT, RTF and Adobe PDF documents; Keynote and PowerPoint presentations; Microsoft Excel spreadsheets and VCF virtual cards.

MobileMe

MobileMe is a subscription service for iPad users to synchronize their data from Mail, Contacts and Calendar applications across the iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, Mac and PC. In addition, MobileMe can locate one's lost iPad through the Find My iPad application on the iPad or online at me.com website. MobileMe makes sharing photos with other iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch users possible via the MobileMe Gallery application. With MobileMe iDisk, iPad users can store, access and share files online with other iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch users.

Video Mirroring

Video Mirroring is a new feature in iPad 2 that transfers your iPad screen view to a larger, external HDMI-compatible screen, via the Apple Digital AV Adapter, sold separately. The effect of rotating your iPad from portrait to landscape, or zooming in and out of photos will be seen instantaneously on the larger screen. One end of the Apple Digital AV Adapter is connected to the iPad and the other end has two outlets: HDMI cable and USB cable to recharge the iPad.