At their San Franciso press conference, Apple have officially unveiled the next generation iPad. Currently, it’s only known as the “new iPad”. We’re yet to learn if it will be the iPad 3, iPad 2S or iPad HD. Officially specifications have been announced though as well as availability and pricing. For selected countries, pre-orders start today.

New iPad specifications:
9.7″ Retina Display
2048×1536 resolution
265ppi
iSight: 5 megapixel camera with illuminated sensor, 5-element lens, IR filter, ISP, autofocus, 1080p video recording
A5X processor and quad core graphics chip
9.4mm thin
1.4lbs
4G LTE with Verizon, Rogers, Bell, Telus and AT&T
21Mbps HSPA+ and DC-HSDPA at 42Mbps, with LTE taking the cake at 73Mbps compared to 3.1Mbps and 7.2Mbps respectfully on the iPad 2
3G world ready which ever 4G model you choose, as it has the “most bands ever”
Hotspot for carriers who support it
10 hour battery life, 9 hours on 4G
Microphone button on the keyboard for voice dictation

Pricing is $499 for 16GB, $599 for 32GB and $699 for 64GB Wifi models, $629, $729 and $829 respectfully for 16GB, 32GB and 64GB 4G models, so no price change there. The new iPad will be available from March 16th in US, Canada, UK, France, Germany, Switzerland, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia and you’ll be able to place a pre-order today, while the rest of the world will see a March 23rd release.

Apple have today opened their largest store yet and it also marks the 300th store world wide for Apple. The latest store has been opened in Covent Garden, London. London also previously held the title of having the largest Apple store, with the store at Regent Street, which so far, has been the busiest store world wide as well.

Not only does this mark the 300th store world wide, it is also the 28th store for the UK and the 4th for London. Apple have also employed 300 workers for the opening. The first customer arrived a full 24 hours early, at 10am Friday 6th August and came all the way from Pittsburgh for the opening.

The building used, is a Grade II listed building and has been restore using English Oak and York stone. The building also has glass staircases and a large skylight. You can view a video of inside the building after the jump.