Desktops and Notebooks: Apple iPad Could Add Video Chat, Smaller Sizes, Retina Display

Apple's iPad has proven a massive success, selling about 1 million units per month and reinvigorating the consumer-tablets category. But now that competing manufacturers have seen how well a tablet can perform in the marketplace, they're rushing to introduce their own devices: the Samsung Galaxy Tab, Dell Streak and Research In Motion's PlayBook are just a few of the tablets either al-ready available for sale or slated to hit store shelves within the next couple months.With that competitive pressure building, it's inevitable that Apple will include a bevy of new features in the next version of the iPad. Front- and rear-facing cam-eras for video conferencing is as good a speculation as any, given how FaceTime video-calling is already a big feature in Apple's iPhone 4 and newest iPod Touch. Beyond that, Apple may choose to give the device a different look-or even intro-duce multiple sizes. But when will Apple debut iPad 2.0? The company whipped the curtain from the original iPad in January of this year, making that same timeframe a viable guess for 2011. Given the new tablets flooding the market-place, and the need for Apple to check their competitive momentum, the company may be interested in announcing a new iPad sooner rather than later.