New Apple iPad unveiled: Live blog from San Francisco

SAN FRANCISCO--It’s been only a week since Apple distributed invitations to a media event today in San Francisco, but analysts, bloggers and fans have been feverishly speculating for months about what the company will announce. Many believe that Apple will announce an iPad 3, or iPad HD, and that it will offer only incremental upgrades: no more home button, a better display, the integration of the Siri voice assistant. But there have also been rumors that Apple has been experimenting with a new type of touch screen that would allow the display to take on a different feel based on what was being rendered on the screen. Apple, as usual, has been tight-lipped, declining to make any statements at all about today's event beyond what’s on the invitation (a picture of part of what looks like an iPad) – adding to the suspense.

The Washington Post’s Cecilia Kang is reporting live from the Yerba Buena Center in San Francisco. Check out her blog below. Prefer to follow the developments on Twitter? Follow Hayley Tsukayama, who is live-tweeting the details as they drop.

2:24 p.m. EST: And that is a WRAP. Thanks for reading, folks.

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What its competitors have to offer: The ‘iPad3’ has numerous competitors that beat it in size, price and features.

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A history of one of the world’s most valuable companies: As Apple reportedly prepares to launch the third generation of its popular tablet computer, the iPad, here’s a look back some key moments in the company’s evolution.

2:22 p.m. EST: What? No “One more thing” from Cook. Cook talks about how iPad is the “ultimate poster child of the post PC world.” “Across the year, you are going to see a lot more of this kind of innovation. We are just getting started.”

2:20 p.m. EST: HERE we go. iPad 2 (16 GB, Wifi only) now priced at $399, double price of Kindle Fire. Is that enough to hurt rival up north?

2:16 p.m. EST: A rumor-check interlude: So far, what was rumored and TRUE: Retina display, 4G LTE speeds on AT&T and Verizon, same price. FALSE: Smaller screen, offers Microsoft Office apps.

2:14 p.m. EST: The iPhoto app will be $4.99. It’s available today.

2:12 p.m. EST: And now this... A (sort of) alternative to Facebook’s Timeline? Ubillos is saying iPhoto allows you to share photos, with comments, time and weather stamps, in a scrapbook format. Upload to iCloud and links get shared to friends and family.

2:07 p.m. EST: Apple shakes up short-lived market for photo apps. With tone, tilt, vintage and artistic filters, Apple is moving into Instagram’s domain.

1:59 p.m. EST: Randy Ubillos, chief architect of the photo and video applications for Apple, introduces iPhoto on iPad. This app, on the Mac, is for photo enthusiastics. Creates new ways to browse photos and edit with multi-touch editing, brushes etc. Can beam high resolution photos between devices. Can create photo journals through iCloud.

1:51 p.m. EST: Schiller talks business -- how the iPad can be used by businesses, that is. He talks about iWorks software updates. $9.99 for the apps, or free updates. This is still a barrier. Many companies are still really committed to Microsoft’s Office suite. Now getting Office on the iPad, that would be the big barrier breaker to the enterprise market. Dream on.

1:47 p.m. EST: A couple more apps -- including Autodesk -- will demonstrate how their apps look on the new iPad. They are showing how retina display (in other words, the better screens) make the iPad better for design, graphics people and businesses. Phil comes back up. So what’s it gonna be called, this new iPad? No word yet.