New iPad 2 Spotted with Dual Dock Connectors: Landscape & Portrait

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The new iPad, which we’ll call the second-generation iPad or simply, iPad 2, for lack of a better name, is, yet again, holding the first page of the Rumor Mill Gazette (that’s not a real newspaper, I hope) as new details about the upcoming Apple tablet have been apparently leaked.

What do we know about the iPad 2 so far? Well we heard it’s coming in Q1 2011 with FaceTime support which translates into dual camera support and that we’ll have a 7-inch version of it too.

What do we find out today about the iPad 2? That it comes with dual dock connectors, both for landscape and portrait modes, and that it will offer us a 7-inch Retina Display touchscreen panel and 128GB of memory. Some of these upgrades, although unconfirmed, are definitely needed to fight some of the features of the new iPad tablet rivals.

The most important adversaries are the Samsung Galaxy Tab, coming by Christmas 2010 and the BlackBerry PlayBook, which will be sold in stores at some point in early 2011. Although both models are 7-inch tablets, they come with some superior specs and features: dual cameras for video calling, various connectivity ports, memory upgrade slots, Flash, tethering and 3G calling support.

So Apple simply has to produce some magic with the next iPad 2 to kill these two iPad-wannabe-killers (they haven’t killed the Apple tablet yet), not to mention the potential Windows 7 tablets that might be coming out by Christmas.

And while Apple won’t offer Flash support, 3G calling or iPhone tethering, they will certainly be able to accommodate other demands: dual cameras for FaceTime video calls or more storage space so an iPad with up to 128GB of memory isn’t that outrageous, is it? Not to mention a 7-inch Retina Display for one version of the second-generaton iPad! And while we’re at it, more connectivity options by adding a secondary dock connector. That way you’ll be able to dock your tablet in either landscape or portrait mode while also having a secondary port ready to be connected to one of your computers or to one of those handy adapters also sold by Apple.

The leaked photo above shows the dual dock connectors comes from Mission Repair, while everything else is based on an analysis offered by AppleInsider. But we’ll take all these newly revealed iPad 2 features with a big chunk of salt while we wait for the official keynote to offer us more details.