Apple has confirmed today that the popular iPad will be launched in Austria, Belgium, Hong Kong, Ireland, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand and Singapore starting this Friday.
All 3G and Wi-Fi models of the tablet will be available in each nation.
As of today, the tablet is available in the U.S., UK, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain and Switzerland.
In the United States, the device retails for between $499 and $829, depending on the model.
Apple announced in late June that they had sold 3 million units of the iPad, in just 80 days.
Result for: ireland
Microsoft has announced they have signed a movie deal with NBC Universal that will bring 30 catalog films to the Xbox Live Marketplace for European regions.
The titles are immediately available in the UK and Ireland and will be available in France, Germany and Spain soon.
“NBC Universal has a fantastic reputation in the film world and have some true blockbusters in their portfolio,” notes David Gosen, VP of marketing for Xbox Europe. “We are delighted to be working with them to bring major titles from Universal Pictures into Xbox Live living rooms - this is all part of our ongoing strategy to make Xbox a major entertainment hub.
“This agreement makes the Xbox Live film offering bigger and better than ever. For Xbox, we want to ensure that we have the best entertainment content available - Xbox Live has grown into one of Europe’s largest providers of on-demand high-definition movies and we’ll continue to grow the content offered through the service.
“Working with NBC Universal is further proof of our goal to be in business with the best in the entertainment industry.”
Result for: ireland
Ireland’s largest ISP Eircom has settled with the Big 4 labels EMI, Sony, Universal and Warner, and has agreed to disconnect customers who download unauthorized music.
The ISP was sued in March by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) and the record labels wanted Eircom to “install software from a U.S. firm to detect the ‘fingerprint’ of copyrighted music files being sent on its network.”
Eircom instead agreed to disconnect users using a “three strikes you’re out” rule, giving two email warnings before shutting off their Internet connection. No “footprint” software will be used by the ISP itself.
IRMA will forward the IP addresses of alleged pirates to the ISP which will then be in charge of sending out warning emails.
“High Court proceedings … have been settled on an amicable basis with both sides expressing satisfaction with the outcome,” Eircom said.
“The record companies have agreed that they will take all necessary steps to put similar agreements in place with all other Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in Ireland.”
