Jobs Unveils Apple's iPad 2

Steve Jobs asserted Apple Inc.'s command over the hottest market in computing and demonstrated his flair as high-tech's most celebrated pitchman, according to a story by Geoffrey A. Fowler and Nick Wingfield at wsj.com.

The Silicon Valley giant's chief executive, who took a medical leave of absence in January, was the surprise master of ceremonies as Apple unveiled a second version of its iPad tablet—a product that has created a multi-billion dollar business in less than a year and left rivals scrambling.

Mr. Jobs, who strode onto a San Francisco stage Wednesday to a standing ovation, showed off the thinner, faster iPad 2 in a presentation full of swipes at competitors flooding into the market. The crush of tablets includes Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc.'s recently released Xoom and the forthcoming Playbook from BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd.

Apple has a more than 90% market share and "our competitors are just flummoxed," Mr. Jobs said, adding that if 2010 was the "year of the iPad," he might call 2011 "the year of the copycats."

The iPad 2, which like its predecessors starts at $499, will ship in the U.S. on March 11 and in 26 more countries on March 25.

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