After months of anticipation, Apple started accepting pre-orders for its iPad tablet device on Friday.

“We’re excited for customers to get their hands on the magical and revolutionary iPad,” a spokeswoman for Apple said. She also said customers will initially be limited to purchasing two iPads per person.

Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs introduced the iPad in January as a brand new category. The device will let people perform many of the same functions as an iPhone, such as email and Web surfing, and provides access to Apple’s App Store on a bigger 9.7-inch screen. But it also adds some new features like a digital bookstore and the ability to create documents and spreadsheets.

Since the iPad was unveiled, application developers and accessory makers have been rushing to line up products in time for the official launch of the iPad on April 3. Electronic book applications on the App Store already outnumber games in anticipation of the iPad being used as an e-book reader, according to Mobclix, which analyzes such data.

But the iPad has also been subject to criticism by some fans and Apple watchers as just a bigger iPod touch. Others have ridiculed its name, drawing references to sanitary napkins.

Still, Apple rivals are taking the threat seriously and have been gearing up to launch multimedia products of their own. Hewlett-Packard is readying a keyboardless computer called the Slate and people familiar with the matter have said that Sony is developing new handheld products that will merge netbooks, e-book readers and videogame devices. Sony is also touting a new 7-inch touchscreen product called Dash, which will go on sale on April 18 as a PC-less way to stay informed and entertained.

As with its previous products, Apple said on its Web site that customers who pre-order the iPad can reserve one for pick up at an Apple store or have it delivered for free on April 3.

The iPad with just Wi-Fi will start at $499, and the version with 3G, which won’t ship until “late April,” will start at $629

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