LIVE from Apple’s iPad 2 event

Fortune’s Michael V. Copeland takes us into the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco with live coverage of Apple’s media event.

[10:23 AM PT] Same battery life, 10 hours in use, a month of standby. “We are happy to keep that and never let it go.” Also keeping the same prices, starting at $499 for 16GB Wifi only, up to $829 with WiFi + 3G and 64 GB of flash memory.  Jobs makes a dig at Motorola’s $800 price tag. “When are we going to ship it?” March 11, a week from friday in teh U.S. March 25 in 26 more countries  – including all of our high volume countries. “This thing is going to be everywhere in March.”

[10:22 AM PT] Two cameras, front and rear. 33% thinner (is it lighter?). 13.4 MM to 8.8 MM – the new iPad 2 is actually thinner than an iPhone 4. None of the competitors approaches this, Jobs sats. It does drop some weight, 2/10ths of a pound. Comes in black and WHITE. “We will be shipping white from day-one,” Jobs says. Supports both AT&T and Verizon from Day One.

[10:22 AM PT] Jobs: We haven’t been sitting on our laurels. In less than a year we are introducing iPad 2. “It’s an all new design.”  Faster with a dual core chip dubbed A5. Two time faster CPU, up to nine times better faster graphics. Same low power as A4 chip.

[10:20 AM PT] Jobs is declaring 2010 the Year of the iPad (I thought it was the rabbit, different calendar I guess). That 15 million figure of iPads sold is more than all tablet-type gadgets sold EVER. A video rolling that gushes about all things iPad.

65,000 apps specifically tailored for the iPad. Competitors at most have 100 tablet apps. “And I think we are being generous there,” Jobs says.

Jobs is talking about the Post PC world that Apple and the iPad is dominating. Jobs makes a jab at competitors and how hard it is to beat Apple on pricing on the iPad. In nine months Apple sold almost 15 million iPads in 2010. Generated almost $9.5 billion in revenue in nine months. “We have never had a product that has had that fast a start.” Jobs says “competitors are flummoxed” trying to find ways to compete. Jobs is on a role, having fun, and sticking it to the would-be iPad competitors.

iBook iTunes update: 200 million accounts  with credit cards. It is very likely this is the most accounts anywhere on the Internet according to JObs. Paid out $2 billion to app developers. Recently shipped the 100 millionth iPhone. Stupendous.

Steve Jobs strolls onto stage. “We’ve been working on this a long time, and I didn’t want to miss it” Standing ovation. He looks a bit frail, voice not as strong, but looks good overall.

Don’t see the usual gaggle of celeb technology folks and straight up celebrities in the house. A comfy chair and small table are all that is on stage. Just like the launch of iPad 1. Will Steve Jobs occupy that seat? We shall see. Most just smiling Apple folks, Phil Shiller, Tim Cook all the Apple heavy hitters sitting in the audience. Who is going top kick this off?

Seated a few rows back, listening to “Nowhere Man” and watching Tim Cook, Jonathan Ive,  venture capitalist John Doerr and others chit chat in front of the stage. A lone Apple glowing in the front. Are we going to have to listen to the Beatles at all these events now? “Ticket to Ride” now. I would settle for the start of things here in rainy San Francisco. Very soon. “Revolution” on now, we must be about to begin. Though chatter is that iPad 2 is more an evolution than revolution.