Image:iPad: my favorite apps (1 year later)Almost exactly 1 year ago, I wrote a blogpost about my favorite iPad apps.
A lot has changed during that period, not the least having almost 100,000 iPad specific apps in the App Store. Daunting !
What hasn't changed, it my enthusiasm for this device. I use it all the time!
The huge success of the first iPad was followed by the same overwhelming interest in the iPad 2.

I'm regularly asked (not only by newbies) what my favorite apps are (at the moment), so like before, here's my short-list (out of the >400 installed apps!).
I categorized them again, so if you're e.g. not into games, skip that section.
I marked all 'to be included in demo's' with an *. New ones (since previous list) are marked by
.
Productivity

  • *iWorks suite: Numbers, Keynote, Pages (spreadsheet, presentation and word processor)
  • NewsRack: easy, flawless RSS reader that syncs excellent with Google Reader
  • Things: To-do list, also possible to group by project (a good alternative is Wunderlist)
  • *iThoughtsHD: mind-mapping done right
  • Bento: easy to use database for creating your own. Syncs with Bento on the Mac (I use it for my wine inventory and tasting notes)
  • *Mail: just great, and combined with Notes Traveler just super!
  • Contacts: syncs using Traveler too
  • *Calendar: id., and has nice week and month views
  • Jumbo: just a great/big calculator
  • Safari (not the best browser, but will get better with iOS5)
  • Simplenote: easy notes in the cloud. Can be shared too.
  • ThinkBook: a new (for me) tool for outlining. Need to use it more.
  • Echofon: for twitter streams (Twitter itself is not bad, but I prefer this one)
  • Flipboard: Cool way of consuming news/tweets/blogs
Reference material
  • AppAdvice: daily iPad/iPhone news, great tips, temporarily free apps,...
  • AppShopper: similar to AppAdvice, but only for apps (no news)
  • SwissQuote: stock updates (Bloomberg is OK too)
  • *Videos: movies, TV-shows, podcast,...
  • *iBooks: read books and PDFs too (Kindle app is nice too)
  • *Photos: slideshows, using 'Origami' is just stunning
  • *Zinio: a magazine reader. Some magazine editions are free. (for my Belgian readers: Knack and Trends is also available !)
  • Weather+/Celsius/Fahrenheit/WeatherPro: all good weather apps
  • Buienradar HD (only for Dutch and Belgian users): the rain forecast: always accurate
  • TMobilis Pro (only for Belgium): live traffic updates (iPhone app, but works OK)
  • Maps: built in, but very useful
  • Google Earth: just like the one on a PC/Mac
  • *Comics: the iPad is made for comic reading. You can download some free samples. Too bad it's only US comics
  • Dictionary.com: simple, free and good (the dictionaries from Brentwick are much better, but not free)
  • IMDb: great way to find Movie/Actor info.
  • Wikipanion: my favorite Wikipedia browser
  • *WebMD: medical info, a lot of it on-line only, but the first aid stuff is available off line, and very thorough
  • Epicurious: cooking recipes
  • Airports: very detailed info about any airport in the world (you need to be on-line though)
  • *Fotopedia Heritage: discover the world by pictures: a must have
  • Hubble Top 100: super cool images of the galaxy, planets, stars, nebula
  • Coca Cola Heritage: beautifully made history of Coca Cola (watch the 'old' video)
  • EMD PTE: the periodic table like you have never seen it before (this is a free version)
  • *Coins HD: nicely made reference about coins in the world. Very detailed, with excellent pictures  
Games
  • Words with Friends: my current favorite game: play 'Scrabble' with people around the world
    (wanna play with me: my username is 'Theo Heselmans')
  • Angry Birds (regular or Rio): addictive !
  • *Pinball HD: 3 very nice pinball's
  • Lux DLX2: if you like 'Risk' games, check this one out. Lots of maps too (my favorite: Spacestation LUX)
  • Osmos HD: addictive and very attractive: do yourself a favor: buy it and enjoy
  • Shanghai Lite: en simple, but nice (and free) Mah-jong, my wife's favorite game
  • *Scrabble: great fun, and one of the few games that is not rushing you. Too bad there's STILL no Dutch language support
  • Solitair Forever: at least a hundred different Patience card games. My favorite is Yukon
  • *Asphalt 5: there are about 5 different racing games, but this one was cheap, well rated, and arcade style
  • Ice Age Delux: a very cool platform/puzzle game. Lots of levels
Utilities
  • *Dropbox: exchange files with your Mac/PC/iPhone, and send them to supporting apps
  • MyPics HD or Web Albums: 2 cool ways to watch/share/upload your pictures to (Google) Picasa  
  • GoodReader: exchange files from different sources and send them to apps
  • *DocsToGo: edit Excel and Word files (the premium version also supports Powerpoint). Sync them with your PC/Mac
  • QuickOffice HD: edit all kinds of documents (including MS Office)
  • *RDP lite: Windows Remote Desktop connection. Connect to your Windows Server/PC and take control of the screen/keyboard/mouse
  • VNC Viewer: take over your PC/Mac using VNC
  • Splashtop: Control your PC/Mac, better and much faster (video too), and supports international keyboards)
  • EyeTV: watch TV (live or recordings) if you have EyeTV on your Mac
  • Adobe Ideas: simple but nicely done sketching app
  • PhotoPad: edit your photo's. Lots of different adjustments, filters,...
  • PS Express: mini photoshop. Very good too
  • Maps: Google Maps. Very nice on the big iPad screen
  • Time Zones: cool way to show the time zones
  • *Yelo (only for Belgian Telenet users): TV guide, inclusive programming; live TV watching too
Music
  • *GarageBand: a must have, even if you don't know anything about making music. Replaces many other music apps  
  • *Discovr Music: great source for discovering artists/bands, based on what you like. Lots of info about them  
  • Remote: control your iTunes music remotely (works very well with Apple Airport Express)  
  • Shazam: recognize music/songs
  • RadioZone (Belgium only): live radio, but also re-listen to latest news and traffic
Other stuff you need to demo
  • *Pocket Pond: your own very well rendered pond, with koi, moving water, sounds and multi-touch support
  • *Gravitarium 2 or Gravilux: play with thousands of stars. your finger is a gravity well
  • *Uzu: finger art too (there are many others, but this one's my favorite)
  • *Epic Citadel: Move in 3D through a castle
  • *Molecules: 3D rotating representations of molecules (e.g. DNA)

Other stuff I missed and absolutely need to have or show ?

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