Chinee, a Chinese company specializing in cases and covers for gadgets of all kinds, has begun production of a case for the iPad 3. The Hypercover case, which Chinee touts as being compatible with the “iPad 2S”, is apparently designed to accommodate a slightly thicker iPad. Numerous recent reports have projected that the next iPad will be around a millimeter thicker than its predecessor, the iPad 2.

Images and a product description for Chinee’s iPad 2S Hypercover can be found here. Though case manufacturers have jumped the gun and produced cases for Apple products without knowing the final design specs before, this certainly looks legitimate. Apple is in the habit of providing specs to case manufacturers shortly before the launch of a new device in order to give them time to get cases ready for market. Usually, though, those cases are not unveiled until the actual device launch (though designs sometimes leak out).

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this case is the name. Several recent reports have suggested that the next generation iPad was virtually identical to the iPad 2, in terms of its external design. That in turn has led to speculation that Apple would name the device something other than “iPad 3.” Chinee’s choice of name suggests that that might actually be the case. Assuming, of course, that they have access to the actual specifications of the device, and are not basing the design on rumor.