It is a challenge to choose the best iPad apps and widgets from the thousands available (more than 100,000 as of September 2011) – after all, it seems there’s not much this portable powerhouse can’t do that your old desktop computer and phone (let’s add camera to that) does. Or used to do.
Whether it’s chatting with friends, sorting out your holiday snaps, looking for a new car, or you’re just after a recipe for cinnamon cake, there’s probably an app on iTunes that does it. We’ll take a closer look at 10 of the best iPad appsnow in iTunes.
The Daily and the Sunday Telegraph
Download their free app and you get 3 months free trial access to all of their online content, including news stories, entertainment and classified ads. You can share articles through Facebook and Twitter, and archive editions for later reading.
TIME magazine called it one of the top 50 innovations of 2010. It takes news, videos and other updates your friends are sharing on Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and others, and organises them all into one easy to read magazine style layout. Free.
Words with Friends HD
Described as “delightfully addictive”, this is kind of like Scrabble, only more fun. And millions are addicted. In-game chat messages keeps you in touch with friends and family while you play.
TED
For the thinkers among us, TED talks are like recharging the batteries: 20 minutes or so of high-powered ideas that leave you looking at the world in a slightly different, slighty wiser way. It’s completely free, and gives you full access to their library (900 talks by tech geniuses, business gurus and eloquent activists, and growing).
Mocha VNC
Now this is something the businessman or woman on the go would be interested in – an app which lets them control their Windows PC or Mac OS X, viewing files and programs just as if they were in the office. It uses password encryption for security, and can handle 50 different host configurations.
Footy Stats
This free app is for parents who want to keep track of their kids’ scores on the football field while they cheer them on from the sidelines. Its summary screen can be used to maintain a diary of statistics.
Speakeasy Cocktails
For the entertainer and host, this is the one stop app for making the perfect martini, featuring hundreds of recipes, intructional graphics and video tutorials. White Russian?
IMDB
For the movie buff, the Internet Movie Database has long been the place to go for who played what in which movie, back in 1974. And for what’s hot right now, including the latest celebrity news. You can also look up movie showtimes, and for fun, find out what are the worst (by user rating) 100 movies ever made. All free.
Skype
Now, this is an obvious app for the iPad. Free video calling from anywhere over the internet, 3G or Wi-Fi. You can add Skype Credit to call landlines and mobiles, cheaply. It includes the ever reliable text chat feature, for when you want to share the address of that cool website you just found. Or when you just can’t understand what the heck they’re saying.
GoodPlayer
No longer do you have to convert videos to one of Apple’s accepted formats before playing them on your iPad – GoodPlayer does it all for you, in real time. Transfer the video using Wi-Fi streaming or through iTunes file sharing. A whole bunch of formats are supported, including DivX, MKV, and RM, as well as many others.
iPad accessories and widgets
We liked the Smart Cover. We also think the wireless keyboard is cool. More to come when we talk about ideas for Christmas.
Conclusion
With pretty much all the applications for the iPhone also compatible with the iPad, and then some which are designed just for the iPad and its bigger screen and processor, you’ll be using it for a lotmore than just reading books and newspaper articles. We think a TED talk (or two) is still the perfect way to help pass the time during those long train trips to the office.