Apple iPad Launched: Live Blog (Update 1)

SAN FRANCISCO (TheStreet) -- Apple(AAPL) announced its new iPad, simply called iPad to thousands of onlookers in California.

TheStreet live-blogged the event, which was held at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theater.

Apple's invitation, sent out earlier last week, featured part of a tablet screen, confirming expectations of a major iPad announcement. "We have something you really have to see. And touch," it added.

The new iPad featured Retina Display, an updated processor for improved speed and computing power, a QXGA 2,048 x 1,536-pixel display, voice recognition software, enhance iSight camera, and 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) capability. In the U.S., the new iPad will run on the 4G networks from AT&T(T) and Verizon(VZ) .

The gadget is expected to continue the tech giant's upward trajectory. Apple, whose shares have recently been hitting new highs, sold a record 15.4 million iPads during its recent fiscal first quarter, up from 7.3 million in the same period last year.

-- Written by James Rogers in San Francisco and Chris Ciaccia in New York

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