Here’s a little additional fodder for the iPad 2 rumor mill. Japanese blog Macotakara has posted a nearly three-minute video showcasing what are — purportedly — third-party cases for Apple’s second generation iPad. Previously, the same blog leaked images of what they were claiming was the exterior casing of the new device. The iPad 2 is expected to launch sometime in 2011 with the exact release date ranging anywhere from February to July — depending on which analyst’s opinion you fancy. Hit the jump to check out the aforementioned video.

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Rumors that Apple’s next-generation iPad will include at least one camera gain purchase Tuesday morning as a new report suggests Apple has named its camera lens supplier for its upcoming tablet. Citing market rumors instigated by a public filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange, DigiTimes reports that Largan Precision has been awarded a contract that will make it the sole supplier of lens modules for the second-generation iPad. Largan also supplies 5-megapixel cameras for Apple’s iPhone 4. The inclusion of a front-facing camera for FaceTime video chat is almost a given at this point, and the iPad will also reportedly include a rear-facing camera — possibly the same 5-megapixel optics currently found in the iPhone 4. Following the trail of unsubstantiated reports out of Taiwan, Largan joins Ibiden, Tripod Technology and TTM Technologies as PCD suppliers for Apple’s upcoming iPad sequel. The second-generation iPad is expected to begin shipping in the first quarter of 2011.

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DigiTimes is hit or miss and while we’re inclined to think there are some misses in its latest report on Apple’s upcoming iPad 2, there are also some hits — or safe bets, at least. Citing an unconfirmed report in a Chinese newspaper, DigiTimes lists five key new features that Apple’s upcoming iPad sequel will supposedly tout:

•Retina Display
•Front-facing camera for FaceTime video chat
•A thinner glass panel for a lighter build
•A USB port
•A 3-axis gyroscope

Aside from the USB port, the paper’s claims sound reasonable. We’re not saying it’s impossible that Apple would add a standard USB port to the iPad, but we definitely give it a likelihood rating of 1 on a scale to 10 for the time being.

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Speaking to reporters after a presentation at the Executive Club, Motorola CEO Sanjay Jha said that his company will soon be announcing up to four handsets — presumably Android — that are capable of making video calls through front-facing cameras. Even though Jha said he has “never been a great believer” in video calling, he admitted that it is something that should be added to handsets, especially in light of the release of the EVO 4G and upcoming iPhone 4. In other Motorola news, Jha said that the Droid is selling very well through Verizon despite the fact that there is a shortage of components including displays from Samsung, an issue that is currently affecting sales of the HTC Droid Incredible.

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Shortly after the iPhone SDK 3.2 beta was released, users began spelunking around the code to see what, if anything, they could find. Earlier this month we reported on the discovery of several UI buttons to accept and reject video chat invitations, and today, MacRumors is reporting on the discovery of more evidence confirming a front-facing camera inclusion in the SDK. Several lines of code in the file PLCameraController.h indicate the presence of a camera with a flash, the ability to zoom, and the possibility that this camera is front-facing.

We have to be honest: a front-facing camera with the ability to make video calls would be great, and a camera with a flash and zoom anywhere on the iPhone or iPad would also be appreciated. The fact that this code is included in Apple’s SDK seems very promising, but unless Apple’s holding a lot back (which isn’t out of the question), we’ll just have to see how far this gets us. 

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Okay, so one of our Fido ninjas hit us up with some exclusive snaps of what is reportedly the entire roadmap for the rest of 2009. We’re very far away from being able to confirm this information — it actually made us pop about 50 antacid tablets — but we’re going to do our jobs as best we can and report the goods. So here we go…

The most notable slide has to do with a 4GB iPhone 3G. While there is a huge disclaimer that the image isn’t the device itself, the slide depicts a 4GB iPhone model that will run for $99 and come with quad-band EDGE, tri-band HSDPA, a 2 megapixel shooter and, believe it or not, iChat video calling (oh hi, front-facing camera). You might recall all of that talk of a $99 iPhone at Walmart that we brought you a while ago — it looks like the timing was a bit off but it may actually happen. Moving on to the other handsets, we have the BlackBerry Curve 8320 for $50, Nokia E71 for $50 and Nokia E55 for $25, Sony Ericsson Z780i for $75 and a bunch of low-end goodness at great prices.

So, what do you think? Is this real, or is it like that total BS Rogers roadmap we saw at Christmas? Hit the jump for the rest of the slides and sound off in the comments.