New Zealand finally gets the Apple iPad

Spare a thought for Kiwis across the Tasman who will have to wait until this Friday to get their hands on Apple's iPad, almost two months after it was shipped to Australian stores.

New Zealand consumers face a minimum charge of NZ$799 for the 16GB Wi-Fi only iPad, according to Apple's New Zealand website, which is about A$20 more than what Australians currently pay for it at today's exchange rate. A full set of prices is expected to be released this Friday.

Austria, Belgium, Hong Kong, Ireland, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands and Singapore were also included among the current round of recipients.

Apple's iPad expansion announcement came as Apple prepares its third quarter earnings update, scheduled for 2pm Pacific Standard Time tomorrow - the first quarterly report which includes iPad sales to date.  

The device is already sold in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and the US.   

The iPad's expansion, which has helped a surge in Apple's share price over recent months, comes as criticism mounts over problems with iPhone 4's external antenna.