New iPad Vs. iPad 2 Vs. iPad 1: Network Speed Test [Video]

Apple’s new iPad, which went on sale yesterday comes with a number of new features and improvements such as the stunning Retina Display, Apple’s new A5X chip with quad-core graphics, vastly improved 5 megapixel iSight camera, and 1GB RAM (double the RAM of iPad 2).

But  most notably support for 4G LTE networks. Early iPad reviews had indicated that it’s fast. Really fast. Faster-than-my-WiFi fast.

Folks at iClarified have just published a comparison video of the new iPad (3rd generation iPad) with iPad 2 and the original iPad (iPad 1).

The original iPad featured EDGE + Triband HSPA connectivity. The second generation iPad was then released with Edge + Quadband HSPA. Now the new iPad 3 features 4G LTE; UMTS/HSPA/HSPA+/DC-HSDPA; GSM/EDGE.

That is indeed very fast, but the only downside, it’s now going to take us a lot less time to burn through the data limits, which are the same as the data limits available with the 3G plans.

And unfortunately, not all new iPad customers will be able to enjoy 4G LTE speeds as the new iPad is not compatible with 4G LTE networks outside U.S. and Canada.

Apple’s iPad 3 anticipation mounts

Apple isn’t the first tech company to be worth $500bn – Microsoft, Intel, Cisco and GE passed that mark during the dotcom boom of 2000 – although none are near that now

Apple is expected to launch a new version of the iPad next week, with events scheduled in San Francisco and Kings Place, London. Photograph: AP

Apple is not the first company to be worth more than $500bn (£315bn) but with its equity value passing that landmark on Tuesday, it is currently the only business in the world priced that highly.

During the dotcom boom in 2000 Microsoft, Intel, Cisco and GE passed that level, with Exxon Mobil reaching $500bn in 2009. None of them are near that level now, and Apple is worth $90bn more than the oil company.

As the anticipation mounts for next week’s product launch – expected to be the latest incarnation of the iPad – the company’s stock, in all senses of the word, has never been higher. It is not just the technology that is causing the excitement among investors. Apple has $100bn of cash on the balance sheet and analysts are hoping the company will use some of that stockpile to pay out a dividend.

It is not all plain sailing however. A Chinese court is hearing Apple’s appeal of a ruling against its right to use the iPad trademark in China. It is in dispute with Proview Electronics, which it says sold it the rights to the iPad trademark in 10 different countries, including China, in 2009.

To put Apple’s value into perspective, only 20 countries in the world have a gross domestic product worth more than $500bn. In the UK the largest company in the FTSE 100 by value is Anglo-Dutch oil company Royal Dutch Shell, which is worth just under £150bn. So while Apple has seen off the US oil giants, Britain’s technology businesses have yet to achieve the same feat.