Last week we ran a piece rounding up the rumours and speculation prior to Apple’s launch event for the new iPad. With all the details now released, we’ll bring you up to scratch with everything you need to know prior to launch date!

So first thing’s first, when can I get my hands on one of these? New Zealand’s release occurs during the second week of Apple’s global rollout, so come next Friday – the 23^rd March – the iPad 3 will be available in stores. For how long, well that’s one thing I can’t tell you! However, in London, some brave (/stupid) Apple fanatics have been camping out since Sunday evening.

So what’s new with the iPad 3? How much did the rumourmogers get right?

The worst kept secret in Silicon Valley was that the iPad would follow in the footsteps of its iPhone cousin and feature a Retina display. It was confirmed early in the presentation that the iPad 3 would indeed sport a new ultra-HD screen, boasting an incredible 2048 x 1536 screen resolution.

To power all those pixels, Apple has ramped up the graphics big time, fitting out the new iPad with a quad-core GPU, purportedly twice as fast as the old Tegra 3 and four times as powerful as NVidia’s current tablet offerings. If this stacks up, that sure is impressive! Disappointingly though, the iPad 3 remains based on dual-core architecture.

Dictation is a brand new feature for iOS 5.1 and the new iPad. Instead of typing emails or essays in the traditional fashion, tap the microphone icon on the keyboard and sing away. It will certainly be interesting to see the effectiveness of this and whether Apple can be a true gamechanger in the dictation software world.

And to go with all this, Apple has promised a host of new apps to accompany the iPad 3 upon release. iPhoto was the first noted, along with updates to other flagship apps including iMovie, Garageband, Keynote, Pages and Numbers.

And then there’s the stuff that hasn’t changed – the iPad 3 will be available in black and white, with memory options spanning 16, 32 and 64 gigabytes.

For all the latest on when you can grab an iPad 3 from Advanced Computers, make sure you follow us on Twitter and Facebook and we’ll keep you in the know!