It’s Official: Apple Confirms March 2 Event, iPad 2 on Deck

Apple has sent e-mail invitations inviting members of the media to a “special event” on March 2, which sources speculate will be the iPad 2’s official coming out party.

The invitation includes an image of an iPad with the event's date and a tagline covering most of the device. The top right corner is peeled away revealing a sliver of an iPad, and the tagline on the bottom reads: "Come see what 2011 will be the year of.”

Although much remains unknown about Apple's next-generation iPad , it is widely believed to feature a smaller frame while keeping the same size touch screen, and adding more memory with a more powerful graphics processor — making the device lighter and as visually viable as the current version.

In recent months, the iPad rumors have hit warp speed with a myriad of parts manufacturers rolling iPad pieces off the assembly lines. As Apple continued to cobble together its component manufacturers for the iPad 2 in 2010, the suppliers periodically shed light on what we can expect from the next generation iPad.

In December, iPadNewsDaily reported that manufacturer Foxconn had begun preparing shipments of the iPad 2, and that Apple had selected Coretronic as the backlight supplier for the device's LCD display. GeniusElectronic was also said to have started manufacturing cameras and lenses to support the dual camera function widely believed to be incorporated in the iPad 2.

The March 2 event will be held at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco ─ the same place where Apple unleashed the iPad on the world in January 2010.

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