The much anticipated Apple iPad has today gone on sale in the UK, Europe, Australia and parts of Asia.

Some consumers in the UK who pre-ordered the device received their gadget a day early, but for those who hadn’t planned quite as far ahead, it often meant a rather long queue. Stores in major cities up and down the country experienced massive queues, with some people staying up outside shops overnight!

The launch in the UK comes almost a month late, having been delayed so that the technoogy giant could meet the higher than anticipated demand in the USA, where the device is still, 2 months after its launch, selling 200,000 every single day.

The Apple App Store boasts more than 185,000 apps in total now and these are indeed compatible with the latest gadget. However, many iPhone and iPad app developers are commenting that, unless you create a higher definition version of an application, it doesn’t look great on screen. The creators of many of the chart topping games available, including Doodle Jump have already released iPad specific versions offering enhanced features and higher definition.

Whether or not the iPad goes down as well on this side of the Atlantic as the other remains to be seen. But if the queies around the country this morning are anything to go, this could well be another success story in the making!

The three mobile phone providers in the UK who will be offering iPad 3G access have now announced their prices. Orange, O2 and Vodafone will all be offering iPad 3G tariffs for users when the gadget is released on 28^th May, but who’s offering the best value?

Orange iPad 3G Tariff

Through Orange’s daily plan, you’ll pay £2  and for that will receive 200mb of 3G data, valid for that one day. The weekly plan will offer 1GB of 3G data allowance in exchange for £7.50 of your hard earned cash. This will be valid for a week. Perhaps the most noticeable thing about those plans is the fact that there’s no Wi-Fi allowance!

Their two monthly plans do include Wi-Fi access, however, through the BT OpenZone hotspots . With the Monthly 15 package, you’ll pay £15 and get 3GB while the Monthly 25 will get you 10GB of 3G data, in both cases, this being valid for one month. Both of the plans do advertise ‘unlimited Wi-Fi’ through BT OpenZone Wireless Hotspots. Read the small print, however and you’ll actually find that this is limited by Orange’s (un?)fair usage policy at a rather measley 750 MB per month!

Vodafone iPad 3G Tariff

Vodafone is the only mobile provider to offer no Wi-Fi access as part of its plans at all. However, it’s also the only network to offer an unlimited monthly plan. Yes, for £25/month you’ll have unlimited 3G through Vodafone. If you’re not that heavy a user, you might prefer to consider their other option – £10/month for 1GB data allowance.

O2 iPad 3G Tariff

O2 is actually offering truly unlimited Wi-Fi through the BT OpenZone hotspots. Unlike Orange, O2’s offering isn’t limited by a somewhat severe fair usage policy.

O2 is offering a daily tariff for those who just want occasional usage. For £2 a day you’ll get 500MB as well as unlimited Wi-Fi. For £10 a month you’ll get 1GB 3G plus unlimited Wi-Fi and for £15 a month you can get 3GB 3G plus unlimited Wi-Fi.

UPDATE (28th May 2010): Mobile Network, 3, has thrown its hat into the ring now too!

Three Mobile 3G Tariff

Three Mobile is arguably more renowned for its 3G mobile Internet access and dongles than for it’s call services, so it was surprising that, as other networks announced their plans, Three announced nothing. However, this all changes this week when the network put forward some pretty competitive pricing plans for iPad users.

For £7.50 per month, you will get up to 1GB of 3G data or for £15, you’ll get a whopping 10GB!

There’s no daily or weekly plans on offer from 3 Mobile, but its monthly plans are a rolling contract, meaning you have no set commitment or sign up period.

What’s It Worth?

So those are the numbers, but just what does that equate to in real mobile Internet usage terms?

	200 MB	500 MB	1 GB	3 GB	5 GB	10 GB
Song downloads	40	100	200	600	1,000	2,000
Video Streaming	40 minutes	1 hour	2 hours	6 hours	10 hours	20 hours
Web Pages	200	5,000	10,000	30,000	50,000	100,000