TechFruit

In what is probably the worst kept secret in a long time from Cupertino, the third generation iPad is going to be released next week, on Wednesday 7th to be more precise, having sent journalists an invite to an event stating “We have something you really have to see. And touch”.

The big question, however, is the changes that they new iPad will bring, but here are a few of the rumours:

Retina Display

There was a possibility of this arriving for the iPad 2, but it looks to be an almost certainty in the iPad 3, and will mean a beautifully clear display with pixels so small that they are unnoticeable.

Quad-Core CPU

With nVidia’s Tegra 3 and Samsung’s Quad-Core Exynos looking to be included in the latest and greatest Android smartphones and tablets in 2012, it would again be a surprise if Apple didn’t make use of four cores in the iPad 3. As to which manufacturer will be supplying the CPU, that is up for debate – but with its clever power-saving low voltage 5th core, I would guess it will likely be a Tegra 3 powering the device.

4G Connectivity

4G would bring faster data downloads and better connectivity to the iPad 3, but with much of the world still without 4G networks, 4G chips still being pretty power-hungry, and the iPhone still yet to get the speed-bump, I would say this is relatively unlikely.

Siri

Siri was one of the main selling points for the iPhone 4S, no matter how poor its understanding of anything but US accents, and it looks very likely that the voice recognition and control app will be making its way to the bigger screen.

7″ and 10″ iPad 3s

There has been much speculation over the possibility that APple may be bringing out a smaller, lighter iPad 3 to compete more directly with e-readers and its biggest tablet competition, the budget-priced Amazon Kindle Fire. If a smaller iPad was available, then people may use it more for reading and better portability – with 10″ being a little too cumbersome for some. A smaller model is possible, and if at a cheaper price then it would likely eat more of Amazon’s sales than those for full-size iPads – but we’ve heard nothing concrete on this front as yet.

What do you want to see in the iPad 3?

Find out the best phones available in our 2012 UK Tablet Guide

OFCOM has made a number of proposals to make the 4G spectrum available in the UK as the bandwidth frees up in he 800MHz spectrum with the move to digital television – including extending 4G coverage to cover 98% of the UK and dealing with “not spots”.

Following a consultations between March and May 2011, the telecoms regulator is now proposing to extend UK 4G coverage from 95% to 98% by ensuring that the 4G coverage will not only match existing 2G coverage, but extend that into mobile “not spot” areas of the UK as well. In October, the Government announced plans to invest £150m to boost mobile coverage in those areas with poor or no mobile service – and a significant portion of this money will likely be used to build mobile infrastructure to extend coverage for mobile voice and broadband in areas where there is little commercial incentive to do so.

The report notes the importance of strong competition in the mobile space and the need for the “right mix” of spectrum for each provider to offer their services, but more interesting is their proposal to reserve some spectrum in the 2.6GHz for “innovative” services. They raise the prospect of small scale mobile networks on university campuses, in hospitals, or in commercial offices that operate on short-range frequencies in small areas – but the availability of such spectrum could provide some game changing small scale services from start-ups and is something we whole-heartedly support.