Apple recently made the official announcement about the iPad 2. It’s slimmer, faster, and touts a new camera on the back and front of the device. Sporting a 1GHz dual-core A5 chip, graphic performance touted as nearly nine times better than the original iPad, and maintaining the original’s battery life, it looks like the iPad 2 is much more than another sequel.

Engadget soon got a first hand look at the device and took note of the iPad 2’s speed. It’s insanely fast. The iPad 2 is The Flash of computer devices. Although not much has changed about the way it operates, every aspect has been upgraded and has seen some improvement. The only big physical change besides how thin it is will be the cover that comes attached. A cover now protects the screen from damage and the iPad 2 begins to save battery life whenever it senses the cover close to its surface. The lack of extreme change isn’t a bad thing. Apple doesn’t need to fix what isn’t broken. At the same price as the original iPad, the changes are probably enough to draw in the crowd that passed up on the device the first time around.

At 8.8mm wide and a weight of only 600 grams, it’s become kind of a big deal even among the Windows loyal. The iPad 2 will begin shipping this week, on March 11^th. Engadget advises online ordering for those who want their device fast. Included is some footage of the device they were lucky enough to snag!

As always, the iPad 2 can be bought on Apple's site here once released.