One of the hottest speculations of this past year has been how Apple would change the iPad for its second generation. While we’ve heard rumors that this should actually be called the iPad 1.5, what we’ve found today certainly warrants a full version number, instead of just an update. Steve Jobs, live from the stage, states that “post-pc” devices are the largest sellers for Apple, with nearly 15 million iPads sold in 2010, from April to December....

A little ahead of the advertised official 1am PT launch time, Apple’siPad 2hasgone livetoday on the company’s US store. There areno surpriseshere of course – if you’re after the wi-fi only model, it’s $499 for the 16GB model, $599 for the 32GB model, and $699 for the 64GB model. Models with 3G cost an additional $129 on top of each pricepoint. There’s a limit of two devices per order. If you’d prefer to join the queues for that authentic “Apple product launch” experience, stores open at 5pm PT today for fanboys who want to spend their Friday evening standing around, hoping to grab the new, dual-camera-sporting, dual core model....

Apple fanatics from India have been keeping their fingers crossed with hopes that the Cupertino giant is putting an end to its “shoddy treatment of the Indian market”. Things seem to be getting better asreportssuggest that Apple may announce the release date of iPad 2 in India “in just about a couple of weeks.” Indian tech blogSilicon Indiadescribes the country as “a dumping ground for leftover products by Apple, be it the iPhone or the iPad” after Apple partners are said to have expressed unhappiness about how the original iPad was launched in the country 10 long months after its US release....

The Apple iPad is the fastest growing gaming platform for game publisher giant Electronic Arts, EA CEOJohn Riccitiello told IndustryGamers. “Our fastest growing platform is the iPad right now and that didn’t exist 18 months ago,” said Riccitiello. He makes the interesting argument that the console industry has reached a point of technological advancement where besting each other’s specs no longer matters — the Wii U, launching next year, is only now bringing Nintendo in line with the PlayStation 3’s graphical capabilities....

South Korean mobile operator KT Corp. has announced that the number of Apple iPhone users in the country has surpassed 2 million, just a year after the smartphone went on sale. As of January 20, 1.03 million iPhone 4 devices had been activated, with 977,000 iPhone 3GS units having been activated, with the latter going on sale in November 2009. Sales figures account for a small percentage of the16.24 million iPhonesApple sold in its last quarter but accounts for around a third of the smartphone market in the country....