Apple unplugged the rumour mill and fired up new hype machine on Wednesday, announcing the next-generation iPad and an upgraded Apple TV.

“Apple has its feet in in the post-PC future,” said Apple CEO Tim Cook, kicking off the event by saying that Apple has sold 172m “post-PC” devices, including the iPhone, iPad and iPod, accounting for 76% of the company’s revenues in the fourth quarter of 2011. “It plays to our strengths, it’s what we love to do.”

The headline of the event, of course, was a new iPad, which sports a “4G” LTE wireless data connection and a super high-resolution “Retina” display comparable to the one in the iPhone 4S.

“We’ve taken it to a whole new level and are redefining the category that Apple created with the original iPad,” Cook said.

As expected, the new display is 2 048 x 1 536 pixels, with a pixel density of 264 pixels per inch. “That’s enough to call it a Retina display,” Cook said. “When you hold it at a normal distance, the retina in your eye cannot pick out the pixels.

The new iPad has Apple’s newest chip, the A5X processor, with a quad-core graphics system, in order to handle the four-fold increase in pixels. (The previous version, the iPad 2, shipped with an A5 chip.)

The wireless data standards supported by the new iPad will allow data speeds of up to 73Mbit/s, the company said. The previous version supported EV-DO and HSPA, while the new one adds HSPA+ (for a maximum throughput of 21Mbit/s), DC-HSDPA (42Mbit/s) and LTE (73Mbit/s). The device weighs 1,4 pounds (635g; about the same as the previous model), is 9,4mm thick, and has enough battery power to run for 10 hours, or nine hours while using LTE wireless data, according to Apple.

Pricing is similar to the previous model, the iPad 2, with a Wi-Fi-only version at US$499 for 16GB of storage, $599 for 32GB and $699 for 64GB. iPads with 4G and Wi-Fi support will cost $629 for a 16GB model, $729 for 32GB, and $829 for 64GB. They will be available on 16 March in the US (though there’s no immediate word on when they’ll go on sale in SA).

appletv — Tim Cook shows off the new Apple TV set-top box

The old iPad 2 will remain on sale, for $100 less than the new iPad’s price — in other words, it will start at $399 for a 16GB Wi-Fi-only model.

The new iPad also includes an iSight camera (on the back) with automatic face detection, auto exposure lock and auto focus lock. It records video at full HD resolution (1080p), and the A5X processor can also be used to stabilise images or do dynamic noise reduction on the fly.

There’s a new key at the bottom that is also a microphone, and the iPad now supports voice dictation in English, French, German and Japanese. You simply tap the key and speak, and it will translate your speech into text on the screen.

“I hope you can see why we believe the iPad has enormous potential and why it is the poster child of the post-PC world,” Cook said at the conclusion of the event.

New Apple TV
The company is also updating its Apple TV set-top box, although the upgrade fell short of the revolutionary overhaul that some observers expected. It now supports 1080p resolution, up from the previous version’s 720p. It’s also integrated into iCloud, Apple’s Internet-based data storage service, which now has 100m customers, according to Cook. It will offer TV shows from Apple’s partners the day after they air, much like the competing service from Hulu. Apple TV also includes the iTunes “Genius” feature, which will recommend movies for you based on what you’ve watched.

The new Apple TV will be available in the US from next week for $99. — Heather Kelly and Meghan Kelly, VentureBeat