14 DAY TRIAL // Softbank, a Japanese telecommunications and media corporation, is preparing to offer users a 16GB iPad for free, as long as the customer agrees to commit to a 25-month contract for ¥4725 ($56) per month.
Softbank is just one of many international wireless services providers eager to carry the iPad and sell it tied to a data plan. While Apple makes two versions of the tablet computer - a WiFi-only model, and one that also supports 3G networking - carriers are only interested in the latter, obviously.
For the past few weeks, operators jumped in one after the other to announce ever more attractive pricing options for the WiFi+3G iPad, but Softbank’s subsidy is, by far, the biggest of all.
Dubbed “iPad for Everybody,” the Softbank promotion offers the 16GB version of Apple’s iPad 3G for free, with the user being required to sign a 25-month contract, as noted above.
If Apple’s iPad was attractive so far, now that Apple recently launched iOS 4.2 with multitasking, application folders, and other cool new features, the tablet device is becoming a must have for those looking to spend under $500 for a machine that facilitates day-to-day tasks like web surfing, emails, reading the press, watching movies, and so on.
And it’s not just wireless operators that want to carry the slate-shaped device, but independent retailers as well.
The most recent announcement comes from Tesco UK, which began selling all versions of the gadget just yesterday.
The iPad is said to be on track to kill netbooks. Apple has done a tremendous job at making folks see these as underpowered laptops. Skeptics maintain that the iPad still has a long way to go before replacing netbooks completely.