It’s official: Apple finally announced that the Wi-Fi models of its long-awaited iPad will go on sale in the U.S. on Saturday, April 3rd. 3G-capable models of the device will be available in the U.S. and other countries in late April and Apple will begin taking preorders for the both models on March 12th.
In addition to the U.S. launch, all models of iPad will be available in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the UK in late April. Users can preorder an iPad via Apple’s online store or reserve a Wi-Fi model to pick up on Saturday, April 3, at an Apple retail store.
Apple also noted that its free iBooks application offering access to the iBookstore will be available in the U.S. App Store on April 3rd, with other countries to follow “later this year.”
The company had initially announced global availability of the iPad Wi-Fi models for late March with 3G-capable units becoming available 30 days later, or in April. A series of recent reports cited manufacturing problems with supplier Foxconn that may have contributed to a delay.

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