iPad to hit market today, Apple says

Apple has officially announced the pricing for its iPad tablet computer which goes on sale in New Zealand today.

Vodafone has released its pricing plans for the iPad.

The problem is that southern devotees of new technology will have to wait a little longer to find out where they can buy the much-hyped device.

Apple maintained a wall of silence yesterday about where the iPad could be bought. It seems retailers will not know until early this morning whether or not they will be selling the device.

The company was handling the launch on its own, the Otago Daily Times was told.

The ODT phoned major electronics retailers in Dunedin to be met with the same answer to the question of when they would be selling the device.

They did not know. Even Magnum Mac, the store that specialises in Apple devices, did not know when the device would be in the city.

A retailer said: "I guess they will tell us when they tell us".

But if you can stand the wait for an iPad, the Wi-Fi only would have a recommended retail price of $799 for 16GB, $979 for 32GB and $1149 for 64GB. The Wi-Fi plus 3G models cost $200 more for each model.

Vodafone said its data plans for the Wi-Fi plus 3G devices would be $20 for 250MB and $50 for 3GB.

The iPad also goes on sale today in Austria, Belgium, Hong Kong, Ireland, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands and Singapore.

The tablet was launched in the United States on April 3 but demand caused delivery delays for the international market.

It went on sale in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and Britain on May 28.

Apple has been facing problems overseas following the release of its iPhone 4 and issued covers for the phones to disgruntled owners.

Calls failed when the phone was held in a certain way that blocked the antenna. The iPhone 4 goes on sale in New Zealand on July 30 but pricing and details of any cover offer were not released yesterday.