No word on NZ iPad availability

A press release from Apple has revealed that, despite a fixed US launch period, international pricing and availability for its recently unveiled iPad will be announced at a later date.

Apple will launch both wi-fi-only and 3G/wi-fi models of the iPad, which was revealed by Apple CEO Steve Jobs in San Francisco early this morning. Jobs announced that the wi-fi model will launch in the US from late March, with the 3G-enabled model following 30 days later in April.

Although it’s not looking likely that wider international availability will coincide with the US launch, it was announced that the 3G version will be “unlocked”. This is in contrast to the launch of the iPhone in the US, where the device was initially tied to mobile carrier AT&T. Theoretically, New Zealand users should be able to legitimately access 3G data on an iPad via any local carrier no matter how they obtain the device.

However, it’s unclear as to how the subscription-based content (such as subscriptions to the New York Times, for instance) will work outside of the US, or as to whether local print media will jump on the wagon.