Apple's News - iPad, AppleTV

There was a lot of chatter in the run-up to Apple's presser this week, mostly that there wasn't likely to be anything big, but rather important though incremental improvements.  And that's pretty much what happened, although I think that some of the AppleTV improvements may turn out to have a big impact on the TV-watching experience.

  Apple announced a better screen and faster processor for the iPad. and an upgrade to 4G cellular connectivity.  The processor and 4G will both have a noticeable impact on speed in some applications, but don't bring anything new to the tablet.  Apple improved the rear camera to the point where it's capable of recording 1080p video.  The potentially innovative feature was to add the voice-recognition component of Siri, in the form of a "voice dictation" option on the virtual keyboard; if that works well, it will make using iPads for writing easier.
  On the TV front, Apple announced an upgrade of the AppleTV box to be able to deliver 1080p content to your TV, a modest improvement needed to remain competitive with Roku and other net-video boxes and access points.  Apple also announced a software revision that they hope will offer an improved user experience, and announced plans to try to integrate the AppleTV more fully into the iCloud, which should provide users with better access to their content in the Cloud and on other devices.  The Apple TV, however, remains more of a "walled garden" than its competitors, in restricting connectivity to a very limited range of options, which is likely to continue to limit its overall impact.  Still the upgrade to full 1080p does make it more of a full competitor for HD viewing options, and will support the growing use of online video for entertainment-oriented TV viewing.

Source -  New iPad Revealed,  Canoe.ca