iPad Arrives‎

Apple's iPad officially hits shops in the US tomorrow, but the critical verdict is in – and it is drooling.

Stephen Fry says in Time magazine that he was "not prepared for how instant the relationship I formed with the device would be", and David Pogue in the New York Times says it is "designed and built by a bunch of perfectionists".

The demand for the device, which with its 24.5cm (9.7in) touchscreen looks like an enlarged iPhone, is so intense that people in Britain – where it will not be available until later this month – are trying to order it by using forwarding companies with offices in the US. Apple, though, is doing its best to block the so-called "grey importers". It has previously insisted that it retains the right to decide which companies can import its products.

The iPad was shown off by Apple's chief executive and chairman, Steve Jobs, in a blaze of publicity in January. He called it "our most advanced technology in a magical and revolutionary device at an unbelievable price".

In the flesh it has impressed reviewers, who think it will prove hugely popular with people who do not want the perplexing interface of most computers. Typing can be done on a virtual keyboard or a physical keyboard attached via Bluetooth wireless networking.

Analysts reckon that Apple could sell more than 3m of the devices this year, and that it will be ideally suited for games, online TV, ebooks and online newspapers, all of which can be turned into money-makers through apps – standalone programs downloaded from Apple's App Store. The Guardian, which has already had success with its paid-for iPhone app, is introducing an app for the iPad that links to photographs that have appeared in the newspaper.

The iPad is priced in the US at $499 (about £325) for the cheapest model, which can only connect to the internet via Wi-Fi, and up to $829 for one with extra storage and Wi-Fi and 3G phone connectivity.

As many as 250,000 are believed to have been ordered for delivery this weekend. That means that fan sites and YouTube will see an orgy of home-made videos, dissections, raves and rants as people get their hands on them and tell the world about their experiences.

But buyers outside the US face a frustrating wait. Apple has not announced pricing or specific dates for the introduction of the iPad in the UK, leading to speculation that it is facing production problems or that it is waiting to see how the exchange rate moves before setting the price. Sources within Apple UK say that they have still not laid hands on the device.

That has led some eager fans to use services such as Reading-based Bundlebox, which allows Britons to register for a US postal address – meaning, in theory, that they can order an iPad and get it shipped from there to the UK.

Mark Gross, its chief operating officer, said that demand through the company for the iPad was "phenomenal," but said he could not give out numbers about how many have been ordered. "Apple spots whether you're ordering from a computer located outside the US, looks at where the delivery is going to, and if it thinks you're going to export it then it lets you go through the whole process and then cancels it a day or so later," he said.

Apple has previously sued companies which imported iPods bought outside the UK to this country, insisting that they needed its authorisation to sell them. But Bundlebox's position is less clear, as the company can claim to be acting as a middleman for people who are in effect buying the product through Apple.

Officially, Apple said today that it has "no position" on the legality of grey importers, but Gross was so concerned about the company tracking down the shipping address for its US deliveries that he repeatedly refused to give any indication of how many have been ordered, fearful that Apple would cancel them all.

Founded by Andre Schmidt, a former Google employee, Bundlebox says that a recent Customs ruling also means that such buyers do not have to pay import duty. Presently most of the site's business is in importing US-bought clothes and makeup, said Gross.

Some computer companies hope that they will be able to ride the demand for Apple's iPad to profit from their own tablet designs. Google is believed to be working on one for release later this year, using its own Chrome OS operating system.

If Apple does succeed in blocking companies trying to bring the iPad in early, British customers will be left with only the reviews – and, after this weekend, thousands of videos on YouTube. And their yearning will not be eased by Fry's parting comment on the product: "For me, my iPad is like a gun lobbyist's rifle: the only way you will take it from me is to prise it from my cold, dead hands."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2010/apr/01/ipad-apple-goes-on-sale