iPad 3 March Launch Imminent: iPad 2 Price Slashed to $429

Media rumors on the impending iPad 3 launch could turn out to be true as retail shops are also moving fast to clear their stocks of iPad 2. The first week of March is considered as the most likely period for the launch of Apple's next generation iPad, dubbed iPad 3 and a Michigan-based supermarket chain has already slashed the price of iPad 2 to clear its shelves for the new tablet.

Meijer has announced one of the heaviest discounts on iPad 2 by slashing the price of the 16GB Wifi only iPad 2 by $70. This is one of the biggest price cuts - during the last Black Friday sale, Bestbuy announced a $45 discount on the entire iPad 2 range while Apple offered discounts ranging from $41 to $61.

For the week of February 12-18, Meijer has offered 16GB iPad 2 Wi-Fi model with $70 price-cut in in-store price. A separate listing on the company's website lists the $429 price as lasting until Feb. 25 and notes that the iPad 2 deal is only available in stores, Appleinsider reported.

The latest rumors claim iPad 3 will include a Retina Display with up to 2,048 x 1,536 resolution, an improved battery and a faster processor. However, CNET said, a quad-core chip would not be in the cards. The new device could be only 1mm thicker than the existing iPad to accommodate the better display and battery. RepairLabs also reported that iPad 3's camera is different, triggering hopes in iPad fans that the next generation Apple tablet will boast of a camera, which will be at par or better than those featured by rival tablets.

If iPad 3 actually gets launched in the first week of March, the upcoming Mobile World Congress in Barcelona on Feb. 29 could be disrupted as media's attention would be drawn to the new iPad. Why? Because Apple is a technology innovator and if iPad 3 boasts of something radically different from existing rival tablets, the competition would be forced to get back to the drawing boards to bring out a device that will be able to keep up with iPad 3.

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