We are all hanging onto the edges of our seats in anticipation of the Apple iPad 3 announcement event later on today. With the release so close, speculation as to what we may see is mounting and we thought we’d give you a roundup of the iPad 3 /HD as we wonder, what will become truth?

There have been many rumors and leaks about iPad 3 specs and features, as you will already know if you have been following developments, and we’ve published many iPad 3 articles to give readers an idea of what is expected. Among the most likely upgrades we are anticipating are an improved processor, possibly quad-core, a better camera, longer-lasting battery and of course that much-vaunted Retina Display. To be frank if the iPad 3 doesn’t appear with these there could be an awful lot of disappointed people out there. Other things that have been rumored are the inclusion of Siri voice assistant, NFC and the possibility of LTE connectivity, which would also be popular additions.

Plenty of other aspects have also been discussed such as a smaller iPad, a lower-cost version, the possibility of it becoming even lighter and pricing and it won’t be too much longer until we find out for sure. As far as pricing goes we’re pretty sure that if the iPad 3 turns up with as many new specs and features as anticipated, the starting price will be around the same as for the iPad 2, or maybe just a little more. With this amount of upgraded specs it’s difficult to imagine a lower-cost iPad 3 although of course Apple may issue another iPad that would be priced lower or could well reduce the price of the iPad 2 now.

The operating system is also in question as many are hoping that the iPad 3 will launch on iOS 5.1, which is very close to being ready for a public release. Another query that will be answered later today will be the name of the new iPad. Although we have been referring to the upcoming tablet as the iPad 3, increasing speculation over the last few days has suggested that it will in fact be the iPad HD. We’ve also heard suggestions that it will be dubbed the iPad 2S but of course we will soon know the truth about the name of this device, although we should also point out that some accessory makers have listed their goods as iPad 3 accessories.

Then of course we turn to another big question, possibly the biggest of all and that concerns a release date. As the iPad 2 was released very shortly after its announcement we had already proposed that this was likely to happen again with the iPad 3 and then yesterday we heard news of a possible March 16 release date, which certainly sounds plausible. Apple Stores are apparently gearing up for a big event on Friday March 16 and it’s hard to imagine anything else but the iPad 3 going on sale that this could be for.

Hopefully we’ll find out the truth to all these questions and more at the Apple iPad 3 event later today, which begins at 10am PT or 1pm ET, that’s 6pm in the UK. You might like to check out our worldwide times article for the event or our post covering live blogs available. We shall, of course, be following all the developments of the event and will soon be giving you all the official news about the iPad 3, so please do check back with us for more.

We’d like to ask your thoughts on what you think will come true. Are you hoping for a particular upgrade or new feature for the iPad 3? Maybe you’ve already made up your mind to be standing in line on launch day? Let us know with your comments.

UPDATE: Apple Store is down – read here