Mark your calendars, folks. It’s official, the iPad 3G is set to be on store shelves and pre-orders delivered on April 30th. While new pre-orders will ship on May 7th. Apple Stores will begin selling the iPad 3G at 5PM.

OR you can always just find an iPad 3G on eBay and get it delivered on the following monday with next-day shipping.

For those who didn’t know it, the iPad 3G is essentially an iPad WiFi + 3G capability:

• UMTS/HSDPA (850, 1900, 2100 MHz)
• GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz)

It’s $130 more compared to each Wifi models:

16GB Model - $629.00
32GB Model – $729.00
64GB Model - $829.00

AT&T’s no contract iPad data plan starts from $14.99 per month for 250MB, up to $30 for unlimited data. (The iPad will use Micro SIMs as opposed to traditional SIMs.)

You can sign up and cancel the 3G plan anytime right on the iPad. Also, with AT&T 3G plans, you have access to some 20,000 Wi-Fi hotspots.

CUPERTINO, Calif., April 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Apple® today announced that the Wi-Fi + 3G models of its magical iPad™ will be delivered to US customers who’ve pre-ordered on Friday, April 30, and will be available in Apple retail stores the same day starting at 5:00 p.m.

iPad allows users to connect with their apps and content in a more intimate, intuitive and fun way than ever before. Users can browse the web, read and send email, enjoy and share photos, watch HD videos, listen to music, play games, read ebooks and much more, all using iPad’s revolutionary Multi-Touch™ user interface. iPad Wi-Fi + 3G models are just 0.5 inches thick and weigh just 1.6 pounds-thinner and lighter than any laptop or netbook-and deliver up to 10 hours of battery life for surfing the web on Wi-Fi, watching videos or listening to music, and up to nine hours of surfing the web using a 3G data network.*

Apple retail stores will offer a free Personal Setup service to every customer who buys an iPad at the store, helping them customize their new iPad by setting up their email, loading their favorite apps from the App Store, and more. US Apple retail stores are also hosting special iPad workshops to help customers learn more about this magical new product.

Pricing & Availability

iPad is available in Wi-Fi models in the US for a suggested retail price of $499 for 16GB, $599 for 32GB and $699 for 64GB. The Wi-Fi + 3G models will be available on April 30 in the US for a suggested retail price of $629 for 16GB, $729 for 32GB and $829 for 64GB. iPad is sold in the US through the Apple Store® (www.apple.com), Apple’s retail stores, most Best Buy stores, select Apple Authorized Resellers and campus bookstores. AT&T is offering breakthrough 3G pre-paid data plans for iPad with easy, on-device activation and management.

iPad will be available at the end of May in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the UK. Apple will announce international pricing and begin taking online pre-orders for iPad on May 10.

*Battery life depends on device settings, usage and other factors. Actual results vary.

Apple ignited the personal computer revolution with the Apple II, then reinvented the personal computer with the Macintosh. Apple continues to lead the industry with its award-winning computers, OS X operating system, and iLife, iWork and professional applications. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store, has reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and has recently introduced its magical iPad which is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices.

© 2010 Apple Inc. All rights reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, Mac, Mac OS, Macintosh, iPad, Multi-Touch and Apple Store are trademarks of Apple. Other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

Apple Store in Canada are reportedly having a “black out” period during the weekend of April 24, meaning no vacation, according to iPadinCanada. And if anything, there’s a high probability that April 24 is the release date for both models of the iPad in Canada or even the international launch, and the 3G iPad in the US.

We were contacted by a source with close ties to the Apple Store that the weekend of April 24th has been marked as a “black out period” for staff. This means no employees are allowed to book this day off. If that’s the case, then it would make sense that this indeed would be the launch date for the iPad in Canada. Anytime there’s a “black out period” you know it’s for something big.

While folks in the US are ready to pick up or purchase a WiFi iPad at an Apple Store or select Best Buy locations this Saturday. We’ll have a full-featured iPad Review in the coming days or weeks.

Get your credit cards ready, folks. It’s Official: Apple will begin selling WiFi-only iPad on April 3rd, and taking Pre-orders on March 12th. No exact date was released for the 3G Models, but it will be available later in the same month.

It appears that there is indeed a slight delay on the launch of the iPad, it was scheduled for late March.

Internationally: People in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the UK will have to wait until “late April” to get either version of the iPad.

Steve Jobs said, “We’re excited for customers to get their hands on this magical and revolutionary product and connect with their apps and content in a more intimate, intuitive and fun way than ever before.”

Be sure to vote on the Poll in the sidebar to let us know which Version of iPad you’re getting.

• 16GB WiFi only — $499
• 32GB WiFi only — $599
• 64GB WiFi only — $699
• 16GB WiFi + 3G — $629
• 32GB WiFi + 3G — $729
• 64GB WiFi + 3G — $829

Editor’s Note: You may experience some glitches on the site, we are working hard to fix them.

Press Release:

iPad Available in US on April 3

Pre-Order on March 12

CUPERTINO, California-March 5, 2010-Apple® today announced that its magical and revolutionary iPad will be available in the US on Saturday, April 3, for Wi-Fi models and in late April for Wi-Fi + 3G models. In addition, all models of iPad will be available in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the UK in late April.

Beginning a week from today, on March 12, US customers can pre-order both Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi + 3G models from Apple’s online store (www.apple.com) or reserve a Wi-Fi model to pick up on Saturday, April 3, at an Apple retail store.

“iPad is something completely new,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “We’re excited for customers to get their hands on this magical and revolutionary product and connect with their apps and content in a more intimate, intuitive and fun way than ever before.”

Starting at just $499, iPad lets users browse the web, read and send email, enjoy and share photos, watch videos, listen to music, play games, read ebooks and much more. iPad is just 0.5 inches thick and weighs just 1.5 pounds-thinner and lighter than any laptop or netbook-and delivers battery life of up to 10 hours.*

iPad’s revolutionary Multi-Touch™ interface makes surfing the web an entirely new experience, dramatically more interactive and intimate than on a computer. You can read and send email on iPad’s large screen and almost full-size “soft” keyboard or import photos from a Mac®, PC or digital camera, see them organized as albums, and enjoy and share them using iPad’s elegant slideshows. iPad makes it easy to watch movies, TV shows and YouTube, all in HD, or flip through the pages of an ebook you downloaded from Apple’s new iBookstore while listening to your music collection.

The App Store on iPad lets you wirelessly browse, buy and download new apps from the world’s largest app store. iPad includes 12 new innovative apps designed especially for iPad and will run almost all of the more than 150,000 apps on the App Store, including apps already purchased for your iPhone® or iPod touch®. Developers are already creating exciting new apps designed for iPad that take advantage of its Multi-Touch interface, large screen and high-quality graphics.

The new iBooks app for iPad includes Apple’s new iBookstore, the best way to browse, buy and read books on a mobile product. The iBookstore will feature books from the New York Times Best Seller list from both major and independent publishers, including Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins Publishers, Macmillan Publishers, Penguin Group and Simon & Schuster.

The iTunes® Store gives iPad users access to the world’s most popular online music, TV and movie store with a catalog of over 12 million songs, over 55,000 TV episodes and over 8,500 films including over 2,500 in stunning high definition. All the apps and content you download on iPad from the App Store, iTunes Store and iBookstore will be automatically synced to your iTunes library the next time you connect with your computer.

Pricing & Availability
iPad will be available in Wi-Fi models on April 3 in the US for a suggested retail price of $499 for 16GB, $599 for 32GB, $699 for 64GB. The Wi-Fi + 3G models will be available in late April for a suggested retail price of $629 for 16GB, $729 for 32GB and $829 for 64GB. iPad will be sold in the US through the Apple Store® (www.apple.com), Apple’s retail stores and select Apple Authorized Resellers.

iPad will be available in both Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi + 3G models in late April in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the UK. International pricing will be announced in April. iPad will ship in additional countries later this year.

The iBooks app for iPad including Apple’s iBookstore will be available as a free download from the App Store in the US on April 3, with additional countries added later this year.

*Battery life depends on device settings, usage and other factors. Actual results vary.

Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh. Today, Apple continues to lead the industry in innovation with its award-winning computers, OS X operating system and iLife and professional applications. Apple is also spearheading the digital media revolution with its iPod portable music and video players and iTunes online store, and has entered the mobile phone market with its revolutionary iPhone.

As we approach late March for the Wi-Fi iPad launch, Apple readies to ramp up marketing for the iPad and prepares Apple Store employees for iPad training. According to a new report on examiner, Apple Store training for the iPad will begin around March 10. The actual iPad release date has not been set in stone yet, but we’ll looking at a very likely March 26 launch. It was also noted that the 3G iPad may see an April or May release now, we reported that there may be an iPad shortage yesterday.

In addition, we learn that iPad commercials will start to air on March 15, with focus to show off the iBooks Store and the iPad’s capability as an E-Reader with the iBooks App.

Lastly, folks camping out for the iPad at launch day will receive a “special gift.”

According to Steve Chuang from Cens, the imminent launch of the Apple iPad is set to be around February of 2010 and priced at $799-$999, which sounds just about right from the other rumors so far. Steve also got the scoop on a couple of Taiwanese suppliers that will be responsible for supplying parts for the Apple iPad.

First off, DynaPack International Technology Corp. will be supplying up to 300,000 of these supposedly long lasting batteries for the Apple iPad per month. Where as Wanshih Electronic Co., Ltd. will be supplying the mini coaxial cables for the iPad. And lastly, both Layers Scientific-Technics Co., Ltd. and Wintek Corp. will be supplying the Power Chokes and the lovely 9.7 incher Touch Panel.