iPad 3 release in March, iPad 4 in October - report

Technology giant Apple will release two new iterations of the iPad this year, a new report suggests.

Apple will ship the iPad 3 in March, followed by the iPad 4 later in the year - perhaps as soon as October.

The iPad 3 will flaunt an improved display and longer battery life, component makers of the device told Digitimes.

But despite a more detailed QXGA (1536 x 2048 pixels) screen display, the iPad 3 will otherwise not provide a huge leap in technology from iPad 2.

That huge leap, the report claims, comes this autumn with iPad 4. That's the name Apple's component company gave it - no iPad 3S malarkey here.

iPad 4 boasts "much upgraded" hardware and "integrated applications", enabling it to compete with the army of new Android and Windows 8-based tablets due late 2012.

A two-pronged, cheap and pricey approach allows Apple's iPad to both attack entry-level devices like Kindle Fire and Google's budget tablet, as well as see off challengers in the high-end market it dominates.