The excitement for many is just too much to bear but we'll have to wait just a few hours longer for Apple CEO Tim Cook to announce the latest and greatest Apple product.

Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts

The relatively recent success of Apple's products like the iPod, iPhone and latterly the iPad have made Apple the largest company in the world in terms of market capitalisation and its product launches, shrouded in secrecy, have become the massive media events in themselves.

While Tim Cook was on stage to launch the iPhone 4S last year, the launch today will be the first since the death of founder and CEO Steve Jobs the day after the iPhone 4S was launched. He will be scrutinised like no other CEO for his performance on stage this evening by the watching world.

iPad 3 Launch: When and Where?

The launch is taking place today, 7 March in the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco and will see Tim Cook along with a number of other high-profile Apple executives take to the stage to unveil the third generation iPad, which could be called the iPad 3, iPad 2S or iPad HD. Below is a list of local times when the event will be taking place:

  • 08:00AM - Hawaii
  • 10:00AM - Pacific
  • 11:00AM - Mountain
  • 12:00PM - Central
  • 01:00PM - Eastern
  • 06:00PM - London
  • 07:00PM - Paris
  • 09:00PM - Moscow
  • 03:00AM - Tokyo (March 8th)

iPad 3: What can we expect?

The overwhelming feeling among technology watchers and analysts is that the third generation iPad will be an iterative update rather than a full blown revision of what is an already a hugely popular product.

The new iPad is almost certainly going to have a better screen similar but not quite as sharp as the Retina Display on the iPhone 4 and 4S. The resolution will probably double, leading to the speculation that the price might increase.

Other than that the iPad 3 is set to have a larger battery (to cope with powering the new screen), an improved battery, an option for LTE support and a new slightly boost A5X dual-core CPU.

iPad 3: Where can I watch the launch?

Invites to the event in San Francisco are like gold dust but you will be able to follow what is happening right here with us at the International Business Times UK. We will be running a live blog covering every detail of the event so you'll be able to keep right up to date with what's happening.

So check back to the IBTimes UK technology page just before 6 to join in the fun.

One More Thing....

Steve Jobs was famed for uttering these three words at the end of his press conferences to announced something else and while Tim Cook may not say these words exactly, we do expect something other than a new iPad from the company this evening.

Apple TV
Apple TV (Second Generation) Image Credit Apple

The big money is on a third generation Apple TV being announced which could pave the way for a fully-connected Apple television set to launch later in the year. Stores in the US and last week in the UK have been reporting the second generation Apple TV as out of stock and offering customers no date when it will be back in stock.

The new Apple TV could add 1080p support, access to the App Store and hopefully better codec support which would allow you to playback a wider of movie files through your set top box.

If you need some light reading ahead of the launch then check out our in-depth features comparing the new tablet to the the previous versions of the iPad as well as other high-end Android tablets currently vying for your attention.

IPhone Gold Steve Jobs IPad