So, as a follow up, almost 9 months after buying the iPad and after 8 months of it's 3G not working, I finally got Apple to replace it. How? I had an Apple-authorized 3rd party service center look at it. They confirmed the problems and sent to Apple for repair. But it didn't end there! Apple sent it back to them and said it was fine. Grrr.

BUT, armed with the 8 months of no-iPad-3G love AND with the fact that the Apple-authorized 3rd party service center agreed I had a problem I berated the tech support guy until he agreed to send me a new one no matter what the results of their diagnostics said. And he made good to his word; a new iPad showed up on my doorstep several days later.

With that ends the saga of the failed 3G on iPad that Apple would not admit was a problem.

Now here's the sad, sad irony and how I still feel that Apple got the last laugh on me. The day I got my iPad back was the very same day Apple announced the iPad 2. With all the bad taste in my mouth from this Apple seriously has me looking at an Android tablet for my next upgrade. :-(

Yes.

(It's a "world iPad" for both the AT&T and Verizon model.)

Whether a device functions worldwide for a specific wireless standard depends on the frequency bands that it supports.

E.g. The new iPad supports LTE, but only the frequency bands 700 MHz and 2100 MHz which are not used outside the US.

The iPhone 4S has been called a world phone, because it supports all the frequency band used for GSM worldwide:

• 850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz

The new iPad supports the same GSM frequency bands for both the AT&T and Verizon model. Therefore it's a "world iPad".

Of course you need a SIM-tray, to make use of this. Like the iPhone, the iPad has a Micro-SIM card tray.