Forrester gives a thumbs up to the new iPad:

“Apple’s insistence on blending hardware innovation with services innovation will keep the iPad at the front of the tablet pack for the forseeable future,” writes Forrester Research Senior Analyst Sarah Rotman Epps. Forrester forecasts that 112 million Americans — one-third of US adults — and 106 million Europeans will own a tablet by 2016. Read more of Sarah’s review on her blog. 

Forrester Vice President and Principal Analyst Ted Schadler sees the new iPad beginning to affect PC replacement cycles at work. Eleven percent of information workers are currently using tablets on the job according to Forrester data. “While iPad version 3 with its powerful chipset, beautiful screen, 10-hour battery life, instant on, and fast network-seeking smarts makes the post-laptop experience better, I predict the big laptop replacement breakthrough could come in the fall when Apple could upgrade the OS to handle touchpad accessories,” writes Schadler. Read more of Ted’s review on his blog.

Forrester Vice President and Principal Analyst Frank E. Gillett looks at what the new iPad means for Apple’s personal cloud strategy. “Apple’s vision of personal cloud deeply integrates across Apple products and a wide range of personal and purchased content — including books and iTunes U-class materials,” writes Gillett. “It’ll be interesting to see if the company opens up any API access. My hunch is that Apple will create tools and an app store for iCloud to interact with the personal content in the service rather than do large-scale API access.” Read more of Frank’s review on his blog.