Apple Inc's iPad hits store shelves Saturday after months of intense buzz, giving shoppers their first chance to decide whether the tablet device is worth all the breathless publicity. At Apple's flagship store on Fifth Avenue in New York City, cheers went up as shoppers finally entered the store at 9 A.M. (1300 GMT), emerging a few minutes later carrying the first iPads, a device touted as a bridge between a laptop and smartphone. Toni Di Giorno, 66, from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, said she had waited in line since 5 A.M. on Friday with her daughter and granddaughter. “They were really excited about getting an iPad,” she said. Wall Street is curious to see if the device – which went on sale at the company's more than 200 retail outlets in the US, along with many Best Buy stores – can win a mass following and will be monitoring crowds this weekend to gauge its appeal. Crowds built steadily at stores around the country beginning early Friday, with shoppers waiting at locations in New York, Washington, Boston and San Francisco. But the lines were noticeably shorter than those that ushered in the iPhone in 2007. Indeed, with many able to pre-order the gadget since mid-March, there was little reason to stand in line before Saturday's launch. Those who ordered early enough online get their iPads on Saturday, via pickup at a store or home delivery. Analysts say the company has already received several hundred thousand pre-orders, with sales estimated at anywhere from 4 million to 7 million in the gadget's first year. Apple unveiled the iPad in January after months of fevered speculation, and its stock has risen steadily over the last two months. It has plenty riding on the iPad, which it calls a new category of device: a lightweight media consumption device that tries to fuse the best attributes of a smartphone and a laptop. The iPad's touchscreen measures 9.7 inches (25 cm). At 1.5 pounds (680 g), the device resembles an oversized iPhone and runs on the same operating system. It starts at $499 for a short-range Wi-Fi model, topping out at more than $800 for a 3G
