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Posts Tagged ‘iPad’

Leave it to the early adopters to find a way to get their hands on an iPad even if they live abroad, where Apple will not begin selling iPads until the end of May.

EBay has been observing a brisk trade in iPads, with 65 percent of those sold on the site going to buyers in other countries. International sales spiked in mid April, when impatient foreigners learned that Apple would delay international sales by a month because of unexpectedly high demand in the United States.

Geeks in the United Arab Emirates could not wait to get their hands on the big, smooth touch screen. They paid $537 over the retail price for the iPad, more than anywhere else. Greeks, despite their country’s debt crisis and forced austerity measures, were not so austere when it came to the iPad. They were willing to pay $269 above retail.

British tech nerds bought 550 iPads on eBay, the most of any country, though Canada and Australia were close behind.

Arabs wanted the most high-powered version, snapping up the 64 GB iPads, while the Russians who bought 215 iPads were content to settle for the 16 GB version.

Some Apple addicts outside the United States will have to search eBay for only a few more weeks. On Friday, Apple announced that the iPad would be available on May 28 and for pre order on May 10, in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

Those in Austria, Belgium, Hong Kong, Ireland, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand and Singapore will have to wait until July.

No word on when other countries will get the iPad, so if you have an extra one hanging around, there is probably a tech nerd in Dubai, Moscow or Athens ready to make you a deal.

Apple iPad sure grab headlines, when it hits stores next month. However, a number of touch-screen tablets powered by Google’s Android operating system will be launched this year. Competing with Apple’s latest consumer gadget won’t be easy, but analysts say the software for these devices can give several important advantages. Like the iPhone OS, which will power the iPad, Android was originally designed for mobile phones. This means that there will be fast and low-power. “Android is very responsive; it’s instantly available,” says Jeff Orr, a senior analyst for mobile devices at ABI Research.
It can also make use of apps already developed for Android phones. “The real benefit [of using Android] is that it taps into this ecosystem of developers that have latched onto Android,” says Carl Howe, analyst and director of the Anywhere Consumer Research division of the Yankee Group. Most importantly, some of these Android devices come with features that the iPad currently lacks–the ability to run Flash, for example, as well as a webcam and multi-tasking software.
A number of companies demonstrated Android-based tablets at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January. Taiwanese computer makers Compal, MSI, and Quanta all gave a demonstration of Android devices with screens ranging from seven to 10 inches and is powered by Nvidia Tegra of 2 microprocessors.

In addition, at CES was an Indian company called Notion Ink, which demonstrated an Android tablet called Adam. The company showed two versions–one featuring a lower-power Pixel Qi display with three display modes, and the other featuring a regular LCD. The Adam also uses the Tegra 2, equipped with a rotating webcam, and is expected to cost between $ 327 and $ 800. is expected to go on sale later this year.

French computer maker Archos already sells an Android tablet with a five-inch screen called the Archos 5 Internet Tablet, for $499. And, perhaps most importantly, the third largest producer in the world of computers, Dell, is rumored to be developing a five-inch, multitouch, Android-driven tablet, which may be announced later this year.