Apple sets iPad release date

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More than a month after Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced the iPad, his company has finally set a release date for its highly anticipated tablet.

The Wi-Fi-only iPad version will be available to customers in the U.S. on April 3. The company didn’t announce a launch date for the iPad model boasting both 3G and Wi-Fi, but it did say that it should hit store shelves in late April.

Pre-orders for both versions of the iPad will start on March 12.

Apple’s iPad announcement comes just days after AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson said that he believes the Wi-Fi-only version of Apple’s iPad will outsell the 3G-capable model. Stephenson contends that ‘a lot of people’ likely won’t want to pay for another 3G subscription.

AT&T’s 3G data plans for the iPad will cost $14.99 for 250 megabytes of monthly data or $29.99 for unlimited data.

iPad pricing starts at $499 for the 16GB, Wi-Fi only model.

-- Don Reisinger