iPad 2 announcement on 1st of Feb?

MacRumors has posted a rumor saying that the iPad 2 might be announced on the 1st of February. Since there has been rumors that the iPad 2 would be available on the 1st quarter of 2011, this rumored announcement puts everything into placed quite nicely.

I've also made some observations of myself regarding this.


Ever since the iPad was released, Japan's Apple Store never had a section for Refurbished iPads. Now, I went in to check for refurb AirMac Expresses, and low and behold, a new section for refurbished iPads was created. I visit the site daily, and I'm pretty sure this addition was just recent.

Of course, this doesn't prove anything, and it might not greatly add more validity to the rumors. But as you can see on the image on the right, the "iPad Wi-fi" text is faded signifying that there are no refurbished iPads available on the Japan Apple Store as of the moment. Considering the timing and forth coming iPad 2, this is as if they are doing the necessary preparations as early as now.