1:35 pm: New release of iOS, 4.3, featuring: improved Safari web browser, iTunes home-sharing, AirPlay improvements (for streaming multimedia to AirPlay enabled devices, i.e. Apple TV, Apple Airport Express, etc.), and streaming audio/video from both apps and websites. So you're iPad can broadcast to these other devices. Also: personal hotspot paired with iPhone 4 (only) -- which is cool for iPhone 4 users who want to share their 3G service with their iPad. But Verizon won't be getting an immediate 4.3 update on March 11. Not sure what's happening there.

1:25 pm: New chip, new graphics, faster speed. First dual core tablet to ship. 9x faster than the first iPad. Front and rear camera with video. Gyroscope and compass. 1/3 thinner than size of first iPad. Thinner than the iPhone 4, which is (I think) the thinnest smartphone on the market. 1.3 pounds (about .2 lbs lighter than iPad 1). White and black versions. AT&T and Verizon enabled. Same 10 hour battery life. (The battery life on the iPad is a very positive quality, IMHO.) Same prices and memory choices, $499 for 16GB WiFi, pricier for 3G versions. Shipping on March 11.

1:00 PM: Steve Jobs appears! He defies the doomsayers and shows up despite his battle with (reportedly) cancer.

12:45 pm: Stay tuned for an announcement from Apple today at 1 p.m. The rumored iPad 2 is expected to be unveiled. Maybe we'll see some other new features, such as more cloud storage services and a new iOS software upgrade?

If anyone finds a live video feed of the announcement, please drop a comment below and I'll embed it in this post.

There is a list of websites live-blogging the Apple announcement today over here. I won't be meticulously live-blogging, but I will post some highlights.