Updated: Apple iPad 2 officially launches with front and rear-facing cameras, a dual core processor, and a slim new design. Read all about it here

The second generation Apple iPad is set to launch early next year supporting FaceTime video calls, reports from Apple’s suppliers in Asia have claimed.

Component vendors currently completing validation checks with Apple have revealed that the display aspects they are set to provide will be designed around a front facing camera and will be produced with a second quarter of 2011 release in mind.

Whilst all components currently undergoing testing are of the 9.7-inch variety just like the one on the existing iPad, distilling rumours or a smaller Apple tablet, these reports would place the iPad 2 device hitting shelves in spring of next year, keeping to the annual product cycles the Cupertino company likes to run by.

With FaceTime introduced with the iPhone 4 and then added to the latest breed of iPod Touch devices, the inclusion of the video calling technology would be a logical and somewhat expected addition to the next generation of Apple’s market leading tablet.

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