With all of the buzz around the iPad 3 this week, it looks like we are finally hearing something related to the announcement of this third-generation tablet. A report by AllthingsD claims:

Sources say the company has chosen the first week in March to début the successor to the iPad 2 and will do so at one of its trademark special events. The event will be held in San Francisco, presumably at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Apple’s preferred location for big announcements like these. No word yet on a street date for the iPad 3 (assuming that’s what it’s called), though my guess is retail availability will follow roughly the same schedule as that of the iPad 2: available for purchase a week or so after the event.

So we did a little fishing around and it looks like Apple’s favourite large event location, Yerba Buena has the Wednesday, March 7th available for booking. Last year’s announcement was on Wednesday, March 2nd, and the iPad 2 went on sale about a week later on March 11th in the United States.

Now while this report claims that March is the month of the announcement and release, I believe that the announcement will not occur in March but on the very last day of February, the 29th (yes folks it is a leap year this year.) The 29th of February just so happen to fall on a Wednesday as well. Even more compelling is the fact that after a quick check, that Yerba Buena is available for booking on Wednesday, February 29th. Being the first leap year of the iPad product, I think this would line up perfectly with a “leap-forward” themed event. With the rumored Retina Display, A6 quad-core processor, an improvement on the industry leading battery life, and possibly other things such as Siri and LTE support, this would be a giant leap for the product line, and the tablet itself in the ever growing market.

What day do you think the announcement will happen? Going with March 7th, or feeling a little dangerous and going to side with the February 29th group? Tell us which one you are thinking in the comments below.