eWEEK Europe Offers iPad In Prize Draw

Apple sold 300,000 iPads on its first day, and one of those devices is on its way to Britain, where it will soon be in the hands of an eWEEK Europe UK reader.

Apple’s iPad launch so far looks like a text-book example of how to get a consumer product out into the market, with 150,000 apps already running, including a software version of Amazon’s Kindle – a device which the iPad will compete against. The device is not expected to hit the UK’s Apple Store until later this month, but eWEEK is offering one as a  prize in a draw for newsletter subscribers.

The device got positive reviews from influential papers such as the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, which confirmed our first look at the device following the device’s launch in January.

Bane or blessing for IT professionals?

The iPad has come in for a lot of criticism, particularly for its failure to support the popular Adobe Flash technology for web video and interaction, for Apple’s digital rights policy, and for Apple’s usual monolithic design which makes it hard to replace batteries.

However, with the Apple effect, there’s no doubt it will ship in large numbers. The device is likely to have a mixed reaction from IT managers, who may be concerned about its security, but who are likely to be asked to support it as senior executives bring the devices in for business use, with the expectation that they can use them on company Wi-Fi networks.

If you win our iPad, you’ll get a head start in evaluating the business impact of the iPad, as well getting your hands on a gadget that could be a useful tool – and a great talking point – in its own right.

If you don’t win, you still get the best daily bulletin of news for the UK’s IT professionals, from the rising technology news site, eWEEK Europe. Now a year old in the UK, we have an established reputation for reliable, thorough reporting of what you need to know.

Subscribe to our newsletter here. Our previous prize draw, for a Google Nexus One phone, is now closed – we’ll be announcing the winner shortly.