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Apple's iPad makes its international debut
By: cnn.comPosted On: 05/28/2010 12:39 P
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Apple's iPad made its international debut on Friday, with buyers storming shops -- including Japanese fans dressed up as iPads in Tokyo's Ginza shopping district -- to be among the first outside the US to snap up the long-awaited tablet PC.
Apple's iPad made its international debut on Friday, with buyers storming shops -- including Japanese fans dressed up as iPads in Tokyo's Ginza shopping district -- to be among the first outside the US to snap up the long-awaited tablet PC.
The device, which has a 9.7-inch color touchscreen for surfing the web, watching movies, playing games and reading e-books, goes on sale in Japan, Australia, Germany, France, Italy, Switzerland, Spain, the UK and Canada on Friday.
At Apple's flagship store in Tokyo, about 1,200 people had formed a line that stretched some 800 meters before the doors opened.
"I wanted to touch it as soon as possible. I felt real excitement when it was finally in my hands," said Takechiyo Yamanaka, 19, who camped out in front of the Ginza store from Wednesday evening to be the first in line.
By mid-afternoon, the queue outside the store was still about 100-strong.
Apple staff reassured those waiting that they still had stock, but said they expected to run out before the end of the day. Inside the store, Apple's other devices were forgotten as new iPad owners started testing them on the spot.
Japan's videogame companies marked the launch with a stream of iPad games, such as Chocobo Panic from Square Enix, and a taiko drumming game from Namco Bandai that uses the iPad's touch screen as a drum kit.
Early signs in Australia were also encouraging for Apple. Hundreds queued outside Apple's seven stores in the country on Friday to buy the iPad although there was no official comment on the strength of first day sales.
Victoria's state government on Friday began distributing 500 iPads to students for a trial that will test the device's benefits as an education tool.
"This trial will allow us to understand the impact of iPads on student learning and communication, and on the way teachers plan and deliver curriculum in the classroom," John Brumby, Victoria's premier, said.
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