The new iPad has been a hot item over the past few days. However, this new device is hotter in other ways as well. Compared to the iPad 2, the new iPad is supposedly running 10 degrees hotter. Users and experiments have shown the new iPad is hot, but not hot enough to cause damage. With the inbuilt mechanism to shut itself off when it gets too hot, there should not be any worries that the extra 10 degrees are going to damage the device.

By placing the iPad 2 and the new iPad side by side and viewing it through an infrared camera, the guys at Tweakers.net were able to ascertain that the new iPad is actually hotter. While some sites claim that the difference in the two pads is by only five degrees, Tweakers.net says the figure is actually 10 degrees. Why though is the new iPad running hotter than its predecessors?

For one thing, the new iPad has a new and improved graphics processor. Graphics processors are known to hog on both memory and processor time. This means that an improvement in the graphics will demand even more memory and processor usage which will require these resources to run faster to render graphics, thereby resulting in heat dissipation.

In addition to hogging memory space and processor time, the new iPad also comes with a much larger battery. The battery heat could also be responsible for the higher temperatures as well.

In any case, it is still early to determine if any form of heating needs to be given serious consideration. Most users are satisfied with its operation and loving the new experience.

In other news, Apple (News - Alert) said it sold more than 3 million iPads during the debut weekend for the latest model of the market-leading tablet computer.The tally is a record for opening weekend iPad sales, Apple said in a statement. AT&T (News - Alert) said earlier yesterday that it had also set a single-day record for iPad sales when it was made available on March 16.The iPad, first introduced in 2010, is Apple's second- biggest source of revenue, behind the iPhone (News - Alert).