A small crowd gathered at the Media Markt store at Alexa mall in Berlin (close to Alexanderplatz) to buy the Apple iPad on the first day of sale. However, you could still see the running of a few hasty Apple fans and even one guy tripping. Media Markt did not say how many iPad devices they had in store today, it might already be sold out.

On Friday, May 28th, the Apple iPad will be launched in Germany and several other countries. People will be able to buy the tablet PC at Apple stores in Munich, Hamburg or Frankfort as well as at Apple shops in selected – not in every store – consumer electronics retailers such as Saturn, Media Markt and Medimax. I am pretty sure that Gravis will sell the Apple iPad, too, since Gravis stores will open at 8:00 a.m. in the morning – just like the three German Apple stores. It is also possible to order the Apple iPad at the German Apple web store, but then the tablet will not be delivered before June. I have summarized the latest developments regarding points of sale as well as micro SIM cards and price plans for the Apple iPad in Germany. Please read on.

People having bought the Apple iPad WiFi – and not the iPad Wifi + 3G – cannot use a smartphone or an UMTS surf stick to connect to the web over the mobile network. But they can buy a portable UMTS modem router that supports WiFi in order to access the internet via GPRS, EDGE, UMTS or HSPA. With such a device the iPad owner does more freedom of choice regarding mobile data price plans and he or she does not even have to buy one of the special micro SIM cards that fit into the tablet PC. Here are three small 3G modem routers that are available at stores in Germany or will be available soon. Of course, they cannot just be connected to the Apple iPad but to any other WiFi device as well – for example to the iPod Touch or a digital camera.

Several German mobile phone providers have released information about their mobile data tariffs dedicated to the iPad which will hit Apple stores in Germany on May 28th. Only some of these prepaid price plans of discount providers we have already presented as well as the offers of the network operators Vodafone and O2 Germany. Here is a new overview of all micro SIM packages with mobile data tariffs for connecting the iPad to the internet in Germany via GPRS or UMTS. This selection only includes prepaid price plans and postpaid price plans with a short minimum term commitment of just one month.

Now it’s official: Apple will start marketing the iPad in Germany on May 28th. Next week, interested people can already order an iPad at the Apple web store. There will be six different models with 16 GB, 32 GB or 64 GB memory capacity and just WiFi or WiFi and 3G connectivity. Apple sells the iPad in Germany to purchase prices between EUR 499.00 (iPad 16 GB WiFi) and EUR 814.00 (iPad 64 GB WiFi + 3G).

The X10 of the Xperia series is Sony Ericsson’s debut Android smartphone. The list of features is rather impressive, even though it shows that the Sony Ericsson X10 is no high-flyer: 1 GHz Snapdragon processor by Qualcomm, 8.1-megapixel camera with HD video capture, HSPA and WiFi connectivity, and A-GPS. On the other hand, it runs on Android 1.6 - an older version of the operating system geared towards the easy use of Google services such as Google Search, Google Mail, Google Maps or Google Talk by mobile. This is why Sony Ericsson has put its own user interface User Experience with its Timescape and Mediascape views on top of the Android OS. How older software and up-to-date hardware work together will this review of the Sony Ericsson X10 show.

It’s not the 8.1-megapixel camera, the 1-GHz Snapdragon processor or HSPA and WiFi connectivity that make the Android 1.6 smartphone Sony Ericsson X10 unique – it’s rather the new interface “User Experience (UX)” with its Timescape and Mediascape sections. Watch this video to see how Timescape and Mediascape work on the Sony Ericsson X10.

By the end of May the Apple iPad will be available in the German market, both the WiFi model and the WiFi + 3G model. Even though we don’t know for what purchase prices Apple will be selling the iPad in Germany, first mobile phone providers have already put together special prepaid starter packages. These prepaid packages include a mobile data plan for accessing the internet via GPRS or UMTS over a German mobile network as well as the micro SIM card which fits into the iPad (and maybe into the upcoming Apple iPhone 4G). Here is a short overview of prepaid starter packages for the Apple iPad 3G as far as they have already been announced by German providers.

Mobile data roaming fees are still prohibitive. While flat rate tariffs of German providers for accessing the internet over a mobile network can be booked for monthly charges as low as EUR 10.00, in other countries mobile internet users pay EUR 1.95 per megabyte or much more with their German mobile data plan. Thanks to the European Commission, there will be less risk of enormous expenses soon. As of July 1st, European mobile phone providers have to set up a cost limit of EUR 59.50 per month for mobile data roaming within the European Union. Mobile internet users can already benefit from this cost limit for mobile data services when being in another country of the European Union. However, they have to request their mobile phone provider to activate this cost limit feature.

The Android 2.1 smartphone HTC Desire is finally available in Germany. T-Mobile is the first German operator selling this smartphone in its shops. Purchase prices at T-Mobile stores range between EUR 4.95 with an expensive 24-months contract and EUR 449.95 without contract commitment. Other operators such as Vodafone and O2 Germany have also announced to market the HTC Desire this month. At o2 Germany stores the Android smartphone will cost EUR 509.00 without contract or EUR 99.90 with contract. Vodafone has not published any purchase prices for the HTC Desire yet.