That’s right, after weeks of being left in the dark whilst our friends across the pond get to grips with their shiny new tablet devices, Apple have finally lifted the lid on when we can get our hands on the iPad here in the UK and exactly how much it’s going to cost.

The iPad will be officially touching down here in the UK on the 28th of May and will launch with the iBooks app and Apple’s iBookstore allowing customers to purchase and download eBooks to then read on the device much like Amazon’s Kindle eReader . There had been concerns that iBooks wouldn’t be available here in the UK so confirmation that this will be available from launch gets the iPad off to a good start.

Pricing for the Wi-Fi only model starts as £429 for the base 16GB model, £499 for the 32GB and £599 for the 64GB version. If you want the 3G enabled iPad, you’ll need slightly deeper pockets with the 16GB fetching £529, £599 for the 32GB and an eye watering £699 for the top of the range 64GB model. Whilst the Wi-Fi only models don’t break the bank too much (they are still slightly higher than customers are paying in the US), the 3G pricing is quite hard to swallow when you factor in the monthly cost for a data plan from your chosen network (O2, Orange and Vodafone are all set to offer iPad data tariffs).

In addition to the flurry of iPad announcements, Apple CEO Steve Jobs also chipped in with some interesting news regarding upcoming features. Responding to an Email from an unnamed member of the public asking “Why no iPad printing? What gives?”, Jobs replied with some Yoda-like wisdom simply stating “It will come”. The ability to print web pages, documents and notes could prove a valuable addition to the iPad’s already rich feature set.

What do you make of the UK pricing for the Apple iPad? Will you be taking the plunge come the end of May? Or will you hold off until the inevitable slew of Android powered tablets or potentially even an HP/ Palm WebOS tablet hit the shelves? Answers on a postcard (on second though, the comments section will do) and keep your eyes on the blog for all the big tablet news.