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Apple iPad goes on sale in UK
Apple's iPad was finally on sale in the UK today after a delay due to the gadget's popularity in the United States.
The eagerly-anticipated touch-screen computer allows users to send emails, read novels, draw pictures and play games.
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It will go on sale from 429 for the basic version to 699 for a model with Wi-Fi and 3G network access.
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Apple stores across the UK were opening an hour earlier at 8am to sell the iPad, with queues of shoppers expected overnight.
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First in line outside Apple's flagship shop in Regent Street, London, was Jake Lee, 17, from Theydon Bois in Essex.
He told The Times: "I just came down for the atmosphere, and I don't think I could have waited. I'm a gadget lover."
Currys and PC World will also stock the device at 139 stores.
However the launch has been overshadowed by 11 suspected employee suicides at the Chinese factory which makes the iPad amid reports of oppressive conditions.
Apple said it would independently investigate the deaths at Foxconn, which also supplies electronic products for Dell and Hewlett-Packard.
Apple said in a statement: "We are saddened and upset by the recent suicides at Foxconn. Apple is deeply committed to ensuring that conditions throughout our supply chain are safe and workers are treated with respect and dignity."
Apple was forced to push back its original late April UK launch date because of "overwhelming demand" for the iPad in the US.
The company's website is already warning that iPad pre-orders made now will not ship until June 7.
Apple sold more than one million iPads in the US in the first 100 days
after the April launch, making it a faster seller than the iPhone.
Brand expert Simon Middleton said: "The iPad really is a culturally significant piece of kit. It will, I confidently predict, change the way we think about mobile devices and their potential. Within months there will be rivals from other manufacturers.
"Within a couple of years we will take for granted that we can read books, papers, magazines on the move from one device, as well as web browsing, handling our email etc."
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Weather for Leeds
Saturday 11 February 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: -1 C to 1 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: South east
Tomorrow
Light rain
Temperature: 1 C to 6 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: North west
