Contrary to rumors of the past few days, Apple today announced that the iPad will be available in the United States on April 3, a Saturday.
Initially, as planned, only Wi-Fi models can be purchased; those combining Wi-Fi with 3G will hit the market in late April, along with product availability in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
An exact week from now, on March 12, US consumers will be able to book their iPads through the Apple Online Store. The pre-sale period will allow users to purchase the product and simply pick it up at a Retail Store on April 3, which should help to prevent kilometer lines from forming in stores.
"The iPad is something completely new," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. "We look forward to consumers getting their hands on this magical and revolutionary product and connecting their apps and content in the most intimate, intuitive and fun way that has ever existed."
In the US, iPad prices are $ 500, $ 600 and $ 700, respectively, for the 16GB, 32GB and 64GB models. Whoever wants the 3G version needs to add US $ 130 on top of any of the values. International prices and availability for other countries including Brazil are yet to be announced by Apple in the future.
