The iPad news that a lot of you’ve been waiting for is finally here, as we now have a firm launch and pre-order start date for the Apple tablet. The iPad will be shipping from Apple for online orders, and also available at retail Apple Stores and “select Authorized Retailers” on April 3rd, which technically falls short of the “late March” timeframe. As for pre-ordering to make sure you can get one on day one, that starts on March 12. You can pre-order both the Wi-Fi-only and 3G models of the iPad online, or you can head to an Apple Store to reserve an iPad for pickup on Saturday April 3rd.

By the way, both models of iPad will be available in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the UK in late April.