There will be no delays as Apple has just confirmed iPad 2 will be available this Friday, March 25 in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK. Just like the US launch, online orders will begin a 1am (they don't say which time zone?) and in store purchases will be available starting 5pm local time.

While competitors are still struggling to catch up with our first iPad, we’ve changed the game again with iPad 2,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “We’re experiencing amazing demand for iPad 2 in the US, and customers around the world have told us they can't wait to get their hands on it. We appreciate everyone’s patience and we are working hard to build enough iPads for everyone.”

Apple also announced that iPad 2 will be available in Hong Kong, Korea, Singapore and additional countries in April.

If you're having trouble deciding if you want an iPad 2, or which of the 12 models you want (no CDMA versions outside the US), check out our iPad 2 buyers guide and full on iPad 2 review. Then let us know what country you're in and whether you're ordering online or lining up!

[Apple PR]

Steve Jobs dropped the July 30 date for next big rollout during the iPhone 4 press conference but now Apple has gone and made it official:

Beginning this Friday, customers can purchase iPhone 4 in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, Singapore, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. iPhone 4 will be available for purchase through Apple’s retail and online stores and Apple® Authorized Resellers.

Nice to see, but we'd still prefer pre-orders, reservations, Apple Online Store updates to say something other than "coming soon", official word on when Apple Retail Stores will be open, information from carriers on upgrade eligibility, MicroSIM availability, plans, etc.

You know, everything else required for a launch...!

Apple has announced that the iPad will go on sale in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the UK on Friday, May 28. Online pre-orders, as previously announced, begin May 10.

Pricing:

• iPad is available in the UK for a suggested retail price of £429 (inc. VAT) for 16GB, £499 (inc. VAT) for 32GB, £599 (inc. VAT) for 64GB for Wi-Fi models and £529 (inc. VAT) for 16GB, £599 (inc. VAT) for 32GB and £699 (inc. VAT) for 64GB for Wi-Fi + 3G models.

• iPad is available in Canada for a suggested retail price of $549 (CAN) for 16GB, $649 (CAN) for 32GB, $749 (CAN) for 64GB for Wi-Fi models and $679 (CAN) for 16GB, $779 (CAN) for 32GB and $879 (CAN) for 64GB for Wi-Fi + 3G models.

Orange, Vodafone, and O2 in the UK and Rogers in Canada have also announced they'll be providing data plans for iPad Wi-Fi + 3G, but likewise haven't offered any pricing details yet.

If you're in one of those countries, let us know your plan. Already bought a US iPad? Going to pre-order on the 10th? Line up at an Apple store on the 28th? Or still making up your mind?

[Apple]

TeliaSonera and their Norwegian subsidiary, Netcom, are pretty much dropping Ragnorok onto Scandinavians who dared hope for reasonable price plans, but how about Finland?

Small plans start at €31.69 for 100 min, 100 SMS, and 100 MB of data, with €159 for an 8GB handset and €385 for 16GB.

Large plans are €89.99 for 1000/1000/1000, with a €1 8GB and a €85 16GB.

US$142 for 1GB of data?

But wait, there's more! Denmark gets only one (1) plan, DKK 599 for 300 min., unlimited SMS, and a paltry 300 MB of data, with DKK 1399 for an 8GB handset and DKK 1999 for a 16GB. Six months later, however, the price will drop to DKK 399, just to add to the confusion.

That's US$128 for 300MB of data for the first six months, and US$85 thereafter.

EPIC FAILURE there for the Scandinavians.

Can the Swiss offer some Euro-redemption?

Swisscom's Small plan kicks off at CHF 25 for CHF 0.68 hourly talk rate and 100MB of data, with an 8GB handset for CHF 245 and 16GB for CHF 243.

Large plans play out at CHF 55 for CGF 0.49 hourly talk rate and 1000MB of data, with a CHF 99 handset at 8GB, and CHF 199 for 16GB.

That's topping out at US$54 for 1GB... Nowhere near as bad as their neighbors to the north, but not unlimited. Is there some rule that says the colder you get, the worse the telcos rip you off?

French iPhone exclusive, Orange, has just added to the iPhone country count by announcing a deal to bring the (presumably next-gen 3G version) device to:

Austria, Belgium, the Dominican Republic, Egypt, Jordan, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Switzerland and Orange’s African markets later this year.

France Telecom spokesman Bertrand Deronchaine said Orange will be the exclusive iPhone provider in Belgium and Romania, with co-exclusive or non-exclusive deals in other countries. He declined to offer more details about the arrangement.

What might that portent, if anything, for the US, UK, France, Germany, and Ireland?

Table shattering score card now link list:

Launched: Austria (T-Mobile), France (Orange), Germany (T-Mobile), Ireland (O2), UK (O2), USA (AT&T) 

Announced: Africa (Orange), Argentina (America Movil), Australia (Vodafone / SingTel),  Austria (Orange), Belgium (Orange), Brazil (America Movil), Canada (Rogers), Chile (America Movil), Columbia (America Movil), the Czech Republic (Vodafone), Dominican Republic (America Movil/ Orange), Ecuador (America Movil), Egypt (Vodafone / Orange), El Salvador (America Movil), Greece (Vodafone), Guatamala (America Movil), Honduras (America Movil), India (Vodafone / SingTel), Italy (Vodafone / Telecom Italia), Jamaica (America Movil), Jordan (Orange), Mexico (America Movil), New Zealand (Vodafone), Nicaragua (America Movil), Paraguay (America Movil), Peru (America Movil), Philippines (SingTel), Poland (Orange), Portugal (Vodafone / Orange), Puerto Rico (America Movil),  Romania (Orange), Singapore (SingTel),  Slovakia (Orange), South Africa (Vodafone), Switzerland (Swisscom / Orange), Turkey (Vodafone), Uruguay (America Movil)

Rumored: Netherlands (?),

Note: Extent of America Movil and Orange Africa deployment not yet fully detailed.

So, with the board filling up like the cable car to WWDC, the question remains: who's next?

(PS: We're not claiming iPhone Candyland... yet.)

Read Via + Via

Joking that the iPhone Risk map was getting a little crowded up in Europe... turns out not to be a joke anymore:

Swisscom on Wednesday confirmed it will begin selling Apple's iPhone in Switzerland this year, possibly bolstering a recent report on the matter which also stated that the handset would arrive with video conferencing and other fresh features.

What fresh new features? As if borrowing from Kevin Rose's twitter feed, GPS, bi-direction video iChat Mobile, and mobile TV.

Checking the score board:

Personally, I'm not sold on 2-way iChat yet, or Mobile TV unless Apple can break it out of the carrier-controlled sandbox in which it now languishes. This is a little too close to rumor-regurgitation for now. GPS, on the other hand, seems likely.

What do you think?

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