There's nobody here who can answer your questions with any degree of knowledge, but here's a few things I can tell you:
1. It's iPad, not iPAD. It's not an acronym.
2. The first one came out in April 2010, the second one came out in March 2011. While a lot of people expect a new one to come out in roughly the same time frame this year, Apple has not made any official announcements (or even hints) and are NOT bound to any sort of schedule. The iPhone "normally" comes out in mid-summer only this year it didn't, you see what I mean?
I and a lot of other people would be surprised if one doesn't come out in the spring. But that's just because of the history. No idea what the cost would be, I can only tell you that the cost did not change between version 1 and version 2.
As for the device itself, it's a true marvel of the age IMHO. Like the iPhone, I'm just astounded every time I use it that so much computing power has been packed into such a great package. I never thought I would see the day when such devices make notebooks look bulky and complicated, but there we are (not that an iPad is quite a replacement for a notebook, mind).
I really love mine (the original model) and our friends really love theirs (the iPad 2). If you're not a bleeding-edge user you can find good deals on refurbished or new iPad 2s right now, and enjoy using them right away. Then if the iPad 3 comes along and it's really that much more awesome, you should be able to sell your 2 for not much less than you paid for it. Or you might want to continue to enjoy it and wait for the iPad 4.