14 DAY TRIAL // Two days before the official debut of the iPad, Apple has launched the iPad section of the App Store, featuring not only iPad-specific applications, but also iPhone and iPod touch apps that work with the sleek tablet computer.
Set to launch this Saturday in the US, the iPad is touted as being the perfect tool to surf the web, check your email, play games, watch video and listen to music, as well as read books. Apple suggests there’s even more to the device than this rather concise description and, by the looks of it, there is. The iPad runs an Apple-branded silicon called the A4, which enables the device to be very snappy, and not very power hungry.
Whether watching video, or playing games on the iPad, customers are promised some ten hours of battery life on a single charge. And it sounds pretty neat, considering the multitude of apps that are now available for the device. Speaking of which, let’s take a look at how Apple has changed the iTunes App Store to accommodate the introduction of a new category of apps.
From the get-go, App Store customers notice that Apple is now featuring promo materials for the new content. As shown in the screenshot above, the Mac maker uses the banner at the top of the iTunes window to promote in-house-developed apps like iBooks, Pages, Keynote, and Numbers, as well as third-party software such as OmniGiraffe for iPad, or Labyrinth 2 HD, the iPad version of a popular iPhone app. This particular app is an example of how developers thought to differentiate their iPad apps from their lighter, iPhone counterparts – by dubbing them “HD,” which stands for high-definition.
On the right side of the iTunes App Store window, users also notice the addition of an iPad category for paid, free and top grossing apps. Simply click on the iPad button and iTunes automatically displays nothing but iPad-compatible software. Already, there are some neat iPad apps that can be downloaded for free, like ABC Player, Netflix, Shazam, Tap Tap Radiation, and many more. Hit this link here to visit the iPad App Store now.