The other product that Apple unveiled on iPad day

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So now that we have all seen the sleek new tablet, what’s under the iPad’s hood?

Onstage Wednesday, Steve Jobs introduced another new -- and potentially major -- Apple product that he said ‘screams’: the A4 chip that powers the iPad.

That’s a big deal. In the past, Apple has used chips made elsewhere. Intel for the iMac and Samsung for the iPhone. It seems to be looking to gain more control over everything that goes into its products.

That kind of control over hardware and software could deliver better performance. In a video shown at the San Francisco event, Apple touted longer battery life and other benefits it says the A4 delivers. Some observers agree the A4 responds to our need for speed. Gizmodo wrote: ‘It’s fasssstttt.’

Apple got the technology thanks to a little Silicon Valley company it bought for $278 million in 2008 called PA Semi, which had a trove of veteran semiconductor engineers. So will this same chip make its way into the next iPhone? Inquiring minds ...

-- Jessica Guynn