iPad 3 landing 7 March, could be 4G?

Prepare to diarise some excitement: it looks like the feverishly anticipated iPad 3 will land on 7 March -- but will it be a 4G tablet?

Rumours are already swirling that we'll see the next generation of iPad in the first week of March, and now Apple-watchers iMore and TheLoop quote sources singling out Wednesday 7 March. We've certainly cleared our schedules here at CNET Towers.

The big news is that the iPad 3 could use LTE to connect to the Internet when you're out and about. LTE is the next generation of mobile data connection after 3G. It's known as 4G, even though it technically isn't 4G, and is becoming widespread in the US -- but here in Blighty we're way behind, with networks squabbling over spectrum and 4G still at the testing stage.

4G is relatively uncommon around the world, so a 4G iPad appears to be against Apple's policy of producing one device at a time. But the different types of technology used by different phone networks did lead to the iPhone getting different insides, so a new iPad could have different kit in different countries. Could the US get a 4G iPad 3 while we get an iPad 3G?

The latest reports claim the new iPad will sport a 2,048x1,536-pixel retina display, bringing the Apple tablet's screen up to the eye-scorching level of detail seen in the iPhone. That'll make it seriously impressive for watching high-definition movies, enjoying photos or editing your video in the iMovie app.

Inside there'll be a whopping quad-core Apple A6 chip, which should keep the iPad 3 ticking along in a suitably speedy fashion.

The improvements sound substantal enough over the iPad 2 to warrant the name jumping to 3, rather than upgrading slightly to an iPad 2S, as some reports have suggested.

Want some more rampant speculation and unfounded conjecture? Then waste no time in pressing play on our video below, wherein our own Jason Jenkins and Luke Westaway cut through the rumours to discuss what we're likely to see in the new iPad -- and what we'd like to see.

Of course, none of this is definite until we hear it from the horse's mouth -- even Apple employees don't get to hear about new products in advance. But in the meantime, feast your eyes on our favourite iPad 3 concept designs. Disgorge your thoughts on the iPad 3 in the comments below, or on CNET UK's Facebook page.