Employers who don't want their employees to arrive late for work because they are out buying iPad 2 tablets will be relieved. The iPad 2 launches at 5 pm tomorrow, March 11 - when the work week ends - in Apple, AT&T and Verizon stores. Online sales for AT&T begin at 1 pm PST. Verizon will only sell iPad 2 tablets over the phone or in stores.
New features of the iPad 2 are:
- Two cameras for FaceTime or photo taking with Geo-tagging.
- HDMI video out port to connect via a $39 cable to TVs and monitors.
- Find My iPad will show you where your iPad is on a map.
- You can set a passcode lock to prevent unauthorized access to your
device and configure iPad to delete all your data after too many
unsuccessful passcode attempts. - IPad Side Switch - Customize the
switch on the side of your iPad to lock the screen
rotation or mute the volume so you can lock your iPad display in
landscape or portrait. Or quickly go from volume on to volume off.
Configure the side switch in Settings to toggle between your options. - AirPlay to stream content from your iPad to HDTV via Apple TV.
- Smart Covers that work side-by-side, on top or underneath the iPad.
Verizon Wireless and AT&T will sell three iPad 2 models - $629.99 for the 16GB model, $729.99 for the 32GB model and $829.99 for the 64GB model, available in black or white. The data plans for Verizon and AT&T are completely different and can be costly for those who buy in at the cheapest deal and go over. What data plan is cheapest per GB when we compare AT&T iPad Data vs. Verizon iPad Data?
Verizon offers tiered prepaid data plans for the iPad 2 without a contract starting
at $20 a month for 1GB and pricing per month at $35/3GB, $50/5GB,and
$80/10GB. When you run out of data, you log in to your account and buy
more data service.
Here's how the Verizon data overage works for the $20 per month plan. You pay an additional $20 per GB, but with all other plans it is an additional $10 per 1GB. See chart. For heavy data users, the Verizon plan costs less per gigabyte with 80GB plans costing $10 per GB.
AT&T has two different types of data plans and or a limited time
prepaid with credit card or postpaid with monthly statements. With
either plan, the customer can cancel at any time. Customers who activate a
new postpaid $25/2 GB plan will receive the first month free.
AT&T Plans
Monthly statement postpaid plan is $14.99 for 250MB or $25 for 2GB. Customers who exceed their monthly data allotment will be billed $14.99
for another 250MB on the $14.99 plan or $10 per 1GB of overage on the 2GB plan. For the prepaid credit-card option, it costs $14.99 for 250MB or $25 for 2GB. Customers who exceed their monthly data allotment
may choose to purchase another 250MB on the $14.99 plan or purchase an
additional 2GB for $25 on the 2GB plan.
Although AT&T has the cheapest buy-in at $14.99 for 250MB, it is the most expensive if someone goes over the 250MB and pays an additional $14.99 for another 250MB, which is $30 for half of a Gigabyte, 500MB.
The closet competitor to the iPad 2 is the Motorola Xoom, which costs less with a contract from Verizon.