Softbank will give you the 16GB Wi-Fi + 3G model iPad for free, so long as you sign up for a two-year 3G data plan, which will cost you around $55 per month. It also looks like that data plan provides unlimited usage, too. Not a bad deal, considering I had to pay full price for my iPad and still have to pay more than $35 a month for 5GB of usage.

In fact, if I do the math, my plan plus the price of the original iPad purchase (here in Canada) comes to $1607.27, while the Softbank deal works out to only $1344. That’s a savings of $263.27, provided I renew my data plan every month for two years, which I almost definitely will.

The deal starts Dec. 3, and is only a limited time offer extending until Feb. 28, 2011. If I still lived in Japan, I’d definitely go this route instead of buying directly from Apple. Especially considering that last time I checked, cancellation charges for exiting a contract early weren’t at all severe when dealing with Japanese network operators.

Orange and T-Mobile also recently revealed their specific subsidized device pricing plans, with the Wi-Fi + 3G model available for £199 (~$309 U.S.) on a £27 (~$42 U.S.) per month plan over two years. That plan gets you 1GB of anytime usage, plus an extra 1GB between 4 PM and midnight. Grand total: $1317 U.S. Again, better than what I paid, though you do get less data.

Compare that to what you can get in the U.S. with Verizon, data plans start at $20 for 1GB of data and run up to $80 for 10GB. With those deals, you’re also buying the Wi-Fi only version, remember, and a Verizon MiFi. The entry-level bundle will cost you $629 for a 16GB iPad. With the entry-level data package, your two-year total comes to just $1109. But if you’re a heavy user, that goes up quickly to $1920 for the closest to unlimited offered by Verizon. Softbank’s deal, by contrast, will save you $576.

Of course, Verizon also has the advantage of providing a MiFi in the bargain, which you can use with your smartphone and notebook, too. The iPad with 3G built-in can’t share it’s connection at all. Still, if you’re looking for a single-device connected everywhere solution, a MiFi might not be among your top priorities. In fact, it could hinder your overall portable, since you have to account for two devices instead of one.

Personally, I’d opt for a subsidized deal if something similar were offered here in North America, even given the possible advantage of a Verizon MiFi and the freedom of not being locked in. These packages look appealing to anyone else?

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UPDATE: Literally as we published this post, Orange’s press office got back to us with confirmation of forthcoming subsidized plans and sent us this press release. Specific pricing isn’t mentioned, nor is a solid timeline, but it does make reference to “more affordable prices when purchased with a data service plan” for iPad Wi-Fi + 3G models arriving sometime in “the coming months.”

As we gear up for Black Friday discount deals, it looks like hopeful iPad shoppers might soon be getting an unusual price-break of their own, at least in the U.K. British site MarketingWeek is reporting that Orange and T-Mobile wireless ISP parent company Everything Everywhere has said it will announce plans today to offer the tablet device at a discount in exchange for a long-term contract.

The subsidized iPad (3G version) is expected to be available for around £200 (just under $320 at current exchange rates) for customers that are willing to sign an 18-24 month contract. An unsubsidized Wi-Fi + 3G iPad currently starts at £529 (~$844 U.S.). Orange and T-Mobile were both contacted for further comment, but neither company returned our inquiries in time for publication.

This move from full-price to subsidized discounts would mirror the iPhone’s pricing history. As you may remember, Apple’s first mobile device was originally offered with a hefty price tag, then discounted before being offered at an even lower price thanks to a subsidy from AT&T.

9to5Mac points out that O2, a competing UK mobile company, recently started offering a deal with Xbox/Playstation 3 models, so the iPad subsidy may be a move from Everything Everywhere to provide a similar deal of its own to attract new customers.

Could this contract-based discount also make its way to the U.S.? Unfortunately, we’re not currently hearing any news of the subsidy being on this side of the pond. But competition is heating up as wireless ISPs fight to offer the growing base of tablet customers their mobile data plans. Verizon and AT&T are now both vying for iPad data plan customers. If Apple allows it, there’s no reason why both wouldn’t jump at the chance to lock customers in to longer term plans here on this side of the pond, too. There’s already a price war being waged for Galaxy Tab customers. One focused on the iPad could soon follow.

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Now that the rumor mill has settled on October as a launch date for the still-unconfirmed Apple tablet device, it’s getting around to explaining just how said device will be sold to the public. At this rate, someone will be fondling a production model in low light and taking blurry cam photos by next Tuesday.

The Street is reporting (with a fair degree of confidence, I may add) that not only is an Apple tablet a done deal, it’s a deal done with Verizon. A source, who asked not to be named, speaking to The Street said that Verizon will indeed be offering a subsidy on the new device for customers who sign up for a mobile data plan to be used with it. Though the two companies will be working together to mitigate consumer costs, their relationship won’t be as chummy as the Apple/AT&T relationship, according to the source.

The report also asserts that the upcoming tablet has been in development for two years, but that Apple has been waiting to see if consumer desire to prod a screen with their grubby mitts would become more than just a passing fad before introducing a larger, mobile computing-oriented device. The continued success of the iPhone and iPod touch would seem to indicate that the multi-touch interface is here to stay.

The success of an Apple tablet will depend upon how useful consumers see it as being, and on what the perceived value of such a device is, considering the relatively high cost it will likely command. I’ve often expressed desire for an OS X-running tablet device in the past, but my criteria for wanting one includes it being Wacom penabled, so that I can use it for working directly with illustration programs. If, as has been suggested, the upcoming tablet uses only finger-based input and runs iPhone OS, instead of OS X, it will lose a lot of its appeal for me. Besides being better suited to e-reading, I’m not sure what else a larger format iPod touch would bring to the table that I really desperately need.

A Verizon subsidy could go a long way towards making the device more attractive, since I’d want such a device to be perpetually connected anyway. Problem is, wireless providers won’t be in a position to compensate consumers to the tune of $200 to $400 the way they can with the iPhone, since subscription fees for a data-only device will be considerably less than a voice and data plan combined. If this device is real, Apple will be treading a thin line between professional features and consumer cost, and could land themselves squarely in no-man’s-land as a result.

Photo courtesy of flickr user factoryjoe.

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A subsidized laptop offering from Apple would help alleviate complaints arising from the October 14 event that pricing on their new notebooks remained too high. Thompson also thinks that Apple is keen to avoid a netbook, as it might cannibalize MacBook sales, so discounting an existing product through a third-party allows them to essentially have their cake and eat it too.

The model to be discounted is thought to be the $999 entry-level white MacBook, a likely choice because it would require a much smaller subsidy than any of the new aluminum models. Many other computer manufacturers, like Dell and Asus, currently offer netbook/subscription packages with wireless carriers like the one proposed between Apple and O2, though such bundles have failed to attract much interest in North America.

O2 is already the exclusive carrier of the iPhone in the U.K., making it the natural choice for a laptop subsidy partnership. Vodafone and Orange currently offer netbooks bundled with mobile broadband subscriptions in the U.K. Vodafone has both £25 and a £30 per month plans, offering 1GB and 3GB of data transfer, each of which includes an Inspiron Mini, free of charge. Orange offers 3GB at £25 per month, and throws in an Eee PC 900 (WinXP, 16GB SSD) for no further cost. Both providers require a two year minimum subscription to get the free hardware. If Apple does go ahead and offer a similar deal in partnership with O2, expect similar monthly pricing and bandwidth limits, and not free, but deeply discounted hardware.

Would you sign a contract to pick up an Apple notebook for a low initial cost? Or are mobile broadband bundles just another example of the cheap razor/expensive blades school of marketing misdirection?

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