Carrier rivals AT&T and Verizon began selling the Apple iPad today in hopes of tapping into some holiday generosity.
As widely reported a couple weeks ago, Verizon Wireless announced plans to start selling the Apple iPad Oct. 28 through a MiFi bundle that lets you connect up to five devices at once.
The bundle includes a Wi-Fi-only iPad and a cigarette box-sized MiFi 2200 3G Hotspot, which comes with multiple ports. Data plans start at $20 a month for 1GB, and do not require contracts.
To circumvent the incompatibility between T-Mobile's CDMA network and the iPad's 3G capacity, Verizon had to forgo the more popular iPad Wi-Fi+3G tablets sold by AT&T. Instead it pairs a less expensive iPad Wi-Fi with a MiFi hotspot.
Verizon is selling the iPad Wi-Fi 16GB + MiFi for $629.99, iPad Wi-Fi 32GB + MiFi for $729.99, and iPad Wi-Fi 64GB + MiFi for $829.99, or just $0.99 more than an iPad with built-in 3G costs.
Also today, AT&T began selling the iPad at its stores. Like with the iPhone, AT&T sells the iPad Wi-fi + 3G. It offers comparable data plans of 250MB for $15 a month, and 2GB for $25 a month.