14 DAY TRIAL // The company run by Tim Cook has just confirmed that its new iPad is set to arrive at Apple’s retail stores (and the Apple Online Store) on Friday, March 16 at 8:00 a.m. local time in the US and several other territories around the globe.
In addition to the United States, countries that are also in line to receive iPad shipments include Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, Switzerland, the UK, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands.
Starting March 23, the tablet will be available in several other countries, including Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Macau, Mexico, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.
“Every customer who buys a new iPad at an Apple retail store will be offered free Personal Setup service, helping them customize their iPad by setting up email, loading new apps from the App Store and more, so they’ll be up and running with their new iPad before they leave the store,” Apple said today.
Calling it the third generation of its “category defining mobile device,” the new iPad features a jaw-dropping Retina display, the new A5X chip with quad-core graphics, and a 5 megapixel iSight camera with advanced optics.
The tablet boasts the same 10-hour autonomy thanks to a larger (and perhaps technically-enhanced) battery, and a virtually unchanged design.
Discussing the new cellular version of the new iPad, Apple’s press release specifically states that “iPad Wi-Fi + 4G supports ultrafast 4G LTE networks in the US and Canada, and fast 3G networks around the world including those based on HSPA+ and DC-HSDPA.”
Customers will be able to grab their new iPad via Personal Pickup, a relatively new service available at Apple retail stores across the US.
Personal Pickup is an exclusive feature of the free Apple Store app on iOS devices, which lets customers shop from anywhere they are, then pick up their item at the closest Apple retail store.
Apple’s announcement also includes the names of several US retailers who will also be carrying the new tablet PC. These include Best Buy, Radio Shack, Sam’s Club, Target and Walmart.
Finally, Apple mentions that the iPad 2 is now available at an affordable $399 for the base (WiFi-only) configuration with 16GB. Higher-specced configurations are priced in accordance with their respective enhancements.