First post-Jobs iPad due March

Apple's iPad 3 is expected to go on sale in March and will support Long Term Evolution (LTE) mobile network technology, according to Bloomberg. 

The new iPad will be the first product Apple has released since the death of founder and former CEO Steve Jobs last October.  

The iPad 3 will support LTE before the iPhone thanks to its larger battery which can handle heavier power demands, according to the report.  

"The company’s manufacturing partners in Asia started ramping up production of the iPad 3 this month and plan to reach full volumes by February," Bloomberg reported. 

The tablet will also reportedly use a quad-core chip to improve application switching.

The rumoured release date comes after Chinese authorities on Friday ordered Apple shut one of its Beijing stores during its iPhone 4 launch, which went awry as customers and scalpers jostled to purchase the device. 

Customers at the Sanlitun Beijing store waited in minus nine degrees Celcius temperatures only to be told two hours before the stated opening time that the device would not go on sale that day, which one customer responded to by throwing eggs at the store. 

Fellow customers cheered as the egg slid down the iPhone 4S icon, according to the China Daily, which reported that more than 100 police arrived to disperse the crowd.   

Apple later suspended sales of the device at its official outlets in Shanghai and Beijing, directing customers to purchase the phone online. 

In his first interview since assuming the role, Apple chief Tim Cook told the Wall Street Journal the incident in Beijing was "unfortunate", adding that the company would "change some things in the future". 

The troubles in China came after Apple for the first time released the names of 156 of its suppliers in an effort to bring greater transparency to its operations, which have come under increasing scrutiny over environmental and safety standards.