Slimmer Apple iPad with Mini USB, Camera in 2011

With the BlackBerry PlayBook officially announced, where will we direct our tablet hysteria next? For now, it seems like it's back to Apple's iPad.

Two Goldman Sachs analysts said this week that Apple is prepping the next version of the iPad for a June 2011 release. It will include a built-in camera, a mini USB port, and be thinner and lighter than its predecessors, Henry King and Kevin Lu wrote in a report provided to Bloomberg.

Electronics maker Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. will probably be the supplier, they wrote. King and Lu, however, said the updated iPad will retain its 9.7-inch screen. The rumored 7-inch version has not yet been finalized, they said.

Apple has not made any announcements, but the likelihood of an iPad refresh in 2011 is quite high. In fact, it would probably be odd if it did not release a new iPad. Apple has released a new iPhone, for example, every year since its 2007 release, and it usually revamps its iPod lineup every September, so it makes sense that the iPad would also follow a similar schedule.

How accurate King and Lu are regarding the new iPad's features remains to be seen. In recent months, most financial analysts have been speculating about the iPhone when it comes to Apple. Shaw Wu of Kaufman Bros., for example, speculated that T-Mobile might get the iPhonebefore Verizon, while Barclays Capital James Ratcliffe predicated a Verizon iPhone in early 2011.

On that front, the iPhone 4 was recently released in China, where it sold 100,000 units in its first four days, according to provider China Unicom.

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