Apple announces the iPad 2

Frail Apple boss Steve Jobs has announced the iPad 2 at a press conference in San Francisco.

The device launches on 11th March in the US and 25th March in 26 more countries. In the US the device starts at $499, with 16GB, 32GB and 64GB, all with 3G options, available. 3G will be $130 extra on all models.

Jobs said on stage that the iPad 2's design is "all-new" and not simply "tweaked". The tablet is 33 per cent thinner, said Jobs, at 8.8mm thick – thinner than the iPhone 4.

It's "dramatically faster", with an A5 chip inside. Dual-core processors mean it's twice as fast. "The graphics on this thing are wonderful," Jobs said.

It'll have the same battery life as the original. "Adding all this stuff and making it way thinner, something has to give," Jobs said. "You would think that it would have to give up some of the battery life. But the engineering team found a way to produce the same 10 hour battery life."

There are rear and front-facing camera and an iPhone and iPod touch style gyroscope. A HDMI accessory cable for video out will launch.

It's lighter than the iPad, too, going from 1.5lbs to 1.3lbs. "You might not think that's a lot, but when you get down to 1.5 lbs, a tenth of a pound is a lot," Jobs said.

It comes in two colours: black and white. "We think 2011 will be the year of iPad 2," Jobs said.

Eurogamer's Johnny Minkley is at an Apple iPad 2 event in London and hopes to go hands-on with the device.