So, Apple announced that the next iPad (or iPad 2, if you will) is going to arrive on March 11th. After taking in everything from the event, including a surprise appearance from Steve Jobs, we can’t help but wonder why it seems to have fallen a bit short of what we wanted from Apple.

If you really look at the second generation iPad for what it is, the reality is that it does make a number of improvements over the previous generation, but the major difference has to be the new dual core ARM processor and the more powerful graphics processor. In a word, the iPad 2 give us more speed. Of course, at Fudzilla we are always fans of more performance, and a performance bump of about four times the first generation model is something to get excited about.

Yes, the iPad 2 offers the dual camera support with VGA resolution, but as we suspected the screen isn’t the stunning screen technology from the current iPhone, so we expect that to arrive in the third generation iPad. There is still no 4G support despite the fact that WiMAX and LTE deployments are out there in many areas; instead, Apple chose to stick with 3G networks this time around, but it could be on the drawing board for the third generation model.

The new iPad is thinner and lighter and as sexy as ever, but really it is still a device that is struggling to find the right kind of applications to make it a ‘must have’ device. Despite the fact that Apple claims to own 90% of the market share in this space, we are not sure exactly what people are using the iPad for; it is still somewhat of a novelty, if you ask us. Apple is making an effort to offer more with new applications to show off the abilities of what is possible, but that killer application still does not yet exist.

In the end we are left thinking that while the iPad 2 offers more, it really is more of the same at pretty much the same price. It does establish the fact that Apple is the leader in this segment and Apple needed to get the iPad 2 out to fend off attacks coming from a number of Android challengers, in our opinion. It is really just a warm up for the iPad 3, which we expect will have more of everything plus things such as 4G support and a better screen that were left out this time around.

Really, the question is, “Will Apple release the iPad 3 before the end of the year?” and if you are reading the rumors circulating, it might happen depending on a number of factors. We suspect that it is too soon to really know when the iPad 3 will arrive and Apple will study the situation while it continues to refine the third generation model. In the meantime, if you have to have an iPad you might want to consider the first generation models that have had their prices slashed (while you wait for the third generation model). If not, we can say that the iPad 2 does deliver more and is an improvement over the previous model, but we are left wanting more beyond what it offers.