The iPad is not just for watching Netflix movies, reading iBooks, or playing games. With the appropriate app installed, you can turn your iPad into an Office productivity machine.

There is a huge selection of office apps on the iPad that will provide word processing, spreadsheet, and even presentation slides for you to edit and review. Some of them, like the iWork Suite, will allow users to integrate the iPad version of Pages, Keynote, and Numbers with the iWork Suite on the Mac. However more people will probably want to get an app that works similar to MS Office.

Most people will probably want to get the best iPad office productivity app out there.  Among the many reviews out there, QuickOffice and Pages seem to be the top pick among reviewers.  Indeed,  Quickoffice, with its more user friendly interface and excellent MS Office powerpoint, word, and excel compatibility, what’s not to like?  Pages is a must have for those who are already familiar with its desktop version.  Its powerful features as a word processor simply cannot be underestimated.

Although typing on the iPad keyboard may still be a little awkward when trying to get real work done, for many of us, the iPad is already a daily part of our lives.  We carry it wherever we go.  Why take out that bulky laptop when you can just quickly place the sleek iPad on the tabletop.  Without waiting for the long start-up sequence that a laptop goes through, your iPad will very quickly launch your Office Productivity app.  Work gets started right away.

Mentioned iPad Apps

QuickOffice

Pages

We have Moved!!

The Apps Machine.com has been moved to App Chronicles.com, an easier to remember domain name for everyday use.

At our new site, you will continue to get important iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, and app news and reviews.  Of course, you will also get free apps and games everyday.

Everyday, we go through dozens of free apps that has just gone free for a limited time.  Many of these previously paid apps, though not free, are still crappy apps that are not worth your time.  We hand pick the best ones to list on our Apps Gone Free section so you will enjoy your download.

We have also added voting capability to each free app so you can  help others pick the best apps.  Vote on the apps you liked and see if everyone agrees with you.

So what are you still waiting for?  Just click here to go to App Chronicles.

At long last we know. Following rumors of manufacturing issues, the iPad is set for release on April 3rd. Preordering will begin a week from today on March 12th.

Following the same manufacturing concerns many  analysts predicted that the iPad would initially be released solely in the US but this has proved false. The iPad will be also be released in U.K., Canada, France, Germany, Australia, Italy, Japan, Spain and Switzerland.

Initially only WiFi equipped iPads will be released. Yet Apple´s hope is that the 3G equipped device will be available in each of the aforementioned countries by late April.

Pricing remains the same.

The simple fact is we can´t wait. Oh, and by the way is anyone coming down to Argentina with an extra half inch of depth and 1.5 pounds of room in their suitcase sometime in April?

Ironic, that it came the day after Apple sued Google´s Nexus One manufacturer, but this is not a Google made application but rather a third party´s offering.

For the avid Buzz user, if such a thing exists following Google´s privacy complaints following its release, it really is a fine streamlined app, that offers a way to become familiar with Google Buzz, without jeopardizing your privacy or even logging in. We have written on this site about not only Google Buzz but the recent lawsuit here.

The app is available at the App Store for $1.99 for the next week followed by an anticapated rise to $2.99 following the launch week.

As expected, the app allows you to:

Wifi Stumblers scan the area arround you for open Wifi areas, and the network´s details. But using these networks while usually “safe”, are dangerous if someone is interested in following your movements on the network, including listening in on VoiP calls and of course harnessing all your passwords sent on this network.

Unlke Apple´s response to “sexy” apps, I think this is a great move. Beyond the moral reasons of why stealing is wrong…These once again are dangerous networks to be using.

For those who don´t worry about these issues, a number of Stumblers are available on jailbroken iPhones through Cydia with Stumbler Plus being the most widely used.

Primarily these apps were used by iPod Touch users who don´t have the 3G back up available to them that most iPhone users have with their carriers and for most people they won´t be missed.

HTC was the first maker of an Android equipped smart phone, yet now manufactures a number of models that work on Google´s Operating System.  While many believe Apple may very well win this lawsuit it will be many years before any resolution presents itself.

The lawsuit against HTC can´t help but impress most as a clear shot at Google who has seen their smart phone market share double in the last quarter of 2009.

Apple asked the court for “a permanent exclusion order” that would bar from entry “all mobile communications devices and components” made by HTC that carry the offending technologies, according to court documents. That is a clear shot at Google, a company far to large for Apple to take on directly especially given the cross use of Google´s Maps and Search.

“We have not yet had the opportunity to investigate the filings,” Linda Mills, a spokeswoman for Taoyuan, Taiwan-based HTC, said in an e-mail. “Until we have had this opportunity, we are unable to comment on the validity of the claims being made.” This is very typical lawyer speak but expected.

Steve Jobs when showing the iPhone in 2007 said that Apple had received over 200 patents in the making of the iPhone and were prepared to fight anyone who used them, seems like he is serious.

This will continue for years and the only real company speaking at present is Apple, though Google offered this non-statement yesterday in an email to TechChurch.

“We are not a party to this lawsuit. However, we stand behind our Android operating system and the partners who have helped us to develop it,”

He went on to opine that Apple may have to scale down the release of the iPad to US markets, and even suggested that it’s quite possible that Apple will have to push back its release altogether for a month.

While maintaining that Apple will sell 1.2 million units in this fiscal year and another 3.5 million in fiscal year 2011, he cautions that Apple perhaps bit off more than it could chew when it chose Hon Hai Precision as its primary manufacturer.

“We believe that the only material impact from the iPad delay could come in the form of frustrated consumers and some modest loss of lustre for the company’s product launch,” he wrote.

Apple will stagger the world once this manufacturing issue is sorted, as people see just how sexy this new device is; once supply can meet demand.

Via Apple Insider

This is an article by The Apps Machine.

With Apple collecting 30% from all downloaded applications, a site like Hulu and the ability to watch their videos with Flash would negate the purchases from The iTunes Store. Additionally,  with Flash ready browsing Apple would loosen its grip on all things app related. A number of apps would be made redundant by Flash.

Apple seems the biggest proponent of HTML5 and shows no signs of backing down anytime soon. Steve Jobs has gone out of his way as CEO to control anything he can, The App Store is no different.

Adobe has recently demonstrated that Flash is not the battery life whore that Apple claims it is. Yet Apple continues to insist. There are two truths being bandied about but in all rational conversations it probably lies somewhere between these two companies competing opinions and barbs.

Apple no longer needs Adobe as it once did. They both know it.

Yesterday Cult of Mac reported that the App Store would now have an “explicit” category for developers to file their apps under while undergoing the Byzantine vetting process put forth by the Cupertino crowd.  Speculation ran rampant that Apple was backtracking on their purge of all things sexy.

However, this talk of an “explicit” category appeared to be short lived as developers all over the world are claiming that this has been removed from iTunes connect, the developer’s portal to managing their apps in the App Store.  While Apple has once again offered no explanation it remains to be seen why this feature seems to have had less than a 24 hour lifespan.

Perhaps Apple’s decision to keep Playboy and Sports Illustrated while banning other less reputable developers had angered many people.  Thus an explicit category is created for those apps.  However, it could be that Apple is still reviewing their new policy they’ve made on sexy apps just days ago.  Thus it was pulled until a consensus on sexy  apps can be reached within Apple’s top executives.

In all liklihood we will see a return of these apps once Apple nails down a stronger parental control policy.

Usually there may be 20 to 50 apps gone free per day. However, many are crappy apps that offer nothing of value.  We’ve tested them and filtered out crappy apps from our list so the apps we feature are quality apps that are actually worth your time to download.

But get these apps quickly because most are just free for a limited time. Some apps are free for even less than a day!  So don’t be late in getting these premium apps and games for free. Follow us on Twitter or Subscribe by email to get instant daily free app notifications.

Best Free App of the Day:

Eyestorm

Eyestorm $1.99 –> Free (App Store)

Eyestorm has a simple concept but a fun challenge.  Your goal is to draw a straight line to seal a portion of the screen with bricks.

An area is sealed when it is surrounded by walls or the edge of the screen.  However if there are eyes or other game characters within your surrounding target, this area cannot be fully sealed.  Furthermore, eyes and other enemies cannot touch the line while it is being sealed.  If they touch the line while the area is being sealed, not only do you fail at sealing the area, you also lose a life.

You get a new life everytime you start a new level.  But if you lose all of your lives, it is game over.

Why is it Great?  Fast moving eyes, brick breaking tanks, and other enemies make Eyestorm a fun and challenging game for hours.

Rolo

Rolo $0.99 –> Free (App Store)

Rolo will make you use your brain!  Match the pattern shown on the small image, shifting the rows of colorful Rolo-faces vertically and horizontally. Once you have finished one stage you’ll start another one.  There are over 70 stages in all.

Why is it Great?  Rolo is that other great puzzle game you spend hours on, trying to roll your balls into the desired pattern for that stage.

Kitty Carnage

Kitty Carnage $0.99 –> Free (App Store)

Need a quick fix to get yourself and your pet a light saber?  This is the app for you.  Kitty Carnage will allow you to insert light sabers, lasers, and other awesome effects to quickly transform a dull image into a laser action party.  Get your kitty to wield light sabers while your dog emits laser beams from its eyes!  It’s just so cool!

Why is it Great?  Boost your boring picture into a laser action party?  That’s an awesome fix!

Blastination

Blastination $0.99 –> Free (App Store)

The goal of blastination is to collect the shapes on each level before time runs out. The faster you do this, the higher your score.

blastination features 150 levels with randomized object placement so every game is different. Draw lines on the screen with your finger to deflect the ball in a different direction.  A timer at the top of the screen shows you how much time you have to clear the level before you lose a life.

Why is it Great?   Dazzling explosion and a great challenge will appeal to many action fans.

Rasta Monkey

Rasta Monkey $0.99 –> Free (App Store)

Rasta Monkey will get ya swinging and talking monklish.  Swing around your environment with its unique controls.  See if you can grab the fruits and safely reach your goal.

Why is it Great?  Like swinging around?  This game is great for those times where you just feel like monkey around.

Please check to price of the app before downloading.  Prices can change at any time.  Sometimes apps are even just free for a few hours before they get a new price.

This is a free apps article by The Apps Machine.

Apple’s Head of Worldwide Marketing sat down with the New York Times earlier this week in order to shed some light on the reversal of their standing policy that culminated in over 5000 apps being removed from the store.

When pressed for specifics, Mr. Schiller followed with the following: 

It came to the point where we were getting customer complaints from women who found the content getting too degrading and objectionable, as well as parents who were upset with what their kids were able to see.

We obviously care about developers, but in the end have to put the needs of the kids and parents first. 

It seems as though Apple will not be apologizing to developers but rather will be taking the high ground with it’s customers and explain away its policy reversal as something that simply protects woman and children. He also made it quite clear that Apple has no intention of removing any app that might harm sales given the upcoming release of the iPad. When asked about a seemingly inconsistent policy that has, to date, not affected either Playboy or Sports Illustrated he simply said,

The difference is this is a well-known company with previously published material available broadly in a well-accepted format.

Hooray for the courage that Apple is showing defending its hypocrisy and blatant double standard. I could care less about not being able to download a jiggling boobs app, I just struggle with censorship in this day and age.

This is an article by The Apps Machine.

Apple’s recent purge of anything remotely sexual led to a single day removal of over 4000 apps, according to AppShopper.com. That’s right, 4000 apps in a single day, with a total to date well in excess of 5000. Generally speaking, the App Store is in the habit of removing around 100 apps each day. But the recent sex ban deleted about 3% of all apps in the App Store in less than 5 days.

This maelstrom of puritanical madness began with the removal of “Wobble iBoobs” developed by ChiliFresh. In a subsequent conversation with an Apple representative, the owner of ChiliFresh claims to have been told that the following are no longer acceptable in The App Store:

• “No images of women in bikinis”
• “No images of men in bikinis! “
• “No skin (he seriously said this) (I asked if a Burqa was OK, and the Apple guy got angry)”
• “No silhouettes that indicate that Wobble can be used for wobbling boobs (yes – I am serious, we have to remove the silhouette in this pic)”
• “No sexual connotations or innuendo in app titles: boobs, babes, booty, sex – all banned”
• “Nothing that can be sexually arousing!!
• “No apps will be approved that in any way imply sexual content”

If these are to be Apple’s policy,  it’ s easy to presume that this wholesale removal policy will see thousands more apps taken down from The Store.  Playboy surprisingly remains in The Store.  Double standard or oversight?  Time will tell.

This is a story by The Apps Machine.

Fueled by complaints, Apple is apparently removing apps that are offering overtly sexual content.

The latest Morality Police offering from Captian Jobs, the removal of an app called “Wobble iBoobs”, an app accepted over nine months ago that has had over 970,000 people purchase it.

Here’s the email Apple sent to Wobble iBoobs developers:

The App Store continues to evolve, and as such, we are constantly refining our guidelines. Your application, Wobble iBoobs (Premium Uncensored), contains content that we had originally believed to be suitable for distribution. However, we have recently received numerous complaints from our customers about this type of content, and have changed our guidelines appropriately.

We have decided to remove any overtly sexual content from the App Store, which includes your application.

Thank you for your understanding in this matter. If you believe you can make the necessary changes so that Wobble iBoobs (Premium Uncensored) complies with our recent changes, we encourage you to do so and resubmit for review.

Sincerely,

iPhone App Review

To explain it away as a new functionality added to the app would be trite. Wobble iBoobs hasn’t changed since its release. Wobble iBoobs comes with nothing explicitly or overtly sexual in its packaging. It allows you to use the smut collector that is Safari and download a photo and then add a jiggle point. The horror.

It is truly sad.  Parents don’t complain when their son or daughter yanks someone out of a car playing GTA:Chinatown Wars, and races across town to sell ecstasy to a stereotypical Mexican. Why do these kids have iPhones anyways?

Apparently the app removal process is in full storm. I’ll miss Asian Boobs, Silly Bollocks, and those apps with “star studded” naked women. Looks like I will just have to use a web browser, or even better, Bing.

Apple professes that it will accept no app that offends anyone.

I say ditch both the Bible and the Koran apps then, oh and YouTube as well.

Previously capped at 10MB, Apple is now allowing apps to reach to 20MB before requiring either your home computer or a wifi network.

While this seems like small news to most people who download apps well below or above 10mb, the majority of apps are, surprisingly, purchased on the go. Developers uncertain of how to present a new app to the public on the move undoubtedly urged this first of many future increases to protect their revenue streams.

With the iPad promising functionality to all iPhone apps with a considerably larger screen, it’s no surprise that this ban needed lifting. Graphics, as you all know eat disk space. Downloads via 3G need to accomodate for the larger files of those upward scaled apps on the iPad.

For those waiting to play GTA:Chinatown Wars on their newly purchased Ipad, find a wifi hotspot. 140mb is huge and might slow down my SlingPlayer. No, not vice versa.

This is a story by the Apps Machine.

Twitter, Brightkite, Foursquare, Gowalla, Facebook and Google Buzz are all the rage, allowing users to keep their adoring fans, or at least their mother informed of their latest position and activities.  A new site has popped up, highlighting the dangers of being so informative.  Please Rob Me is taking updates directly from foursquare and is doing this to highlight the dangers inherent in letting everyone and his dog know exactly where you are at any given time.

Here is the website’s why:

“Hey, do you have a Twitter account? Have you ever noticed those messages in which people tell you where they are? Pretty annoying, eh. Well, they’re actually also potentially pretty dangerous. We’re about to tell you why.

Don’t get us wrong, we love the whole location-aware thing. The information is very interesting and can be used to create some pretty awesome applications. However, the way in which people are stimulated to participate in sharing this information, is less awesome. Services like Foresquare allow you to fulfill some primeval urge to colonize the planet. A part of that is letting everyone know you own that specific spot. You get to tell where you are and if you’re there first, it’s yours. O, and of course there’s badges..

Foursquare

The danger is publicly telling people where you are. This is because it leaves one place you’re definitely not… home. So here we are; on one end we’re leaving lights on when we’re going on a holiday, and on the other we’re telling everybody on the internet we’re not home. It gets even worse if you have “friends” who want to colonize your house. That means they have to enter your address, to tell everyone where they are. Your address.. on the internet.. Now you know what to do when people reach for their phone as soon as they enter your home. That’s right, slap them across the face.

The goal of this website is to raise some awareness on this issue and have people think about how they use services like Foursquare, Brightkite, Google Buzz etc. Because all this site is, is a dressed up Twitter search page. Everybody can get this information.”

Suddenly it doesn’t seem like a great idea to be broadcasting the fact you have vacated your house.  At least one possible Twitter-enabled robbery has been reported on when a holidaying video podcaster’s house was burglarized last year in Mesa Arizona.  While many commenters don’t feel that the criminal element is smart enough to make this connection, the economic downturn is now creating desperate times and resulting in desperate measures for everyone.  An unoccupied home stashed with a treasure trove of pawn-worthy electronic goodies can present quite a temptation to someone who has not had a paycheque since Michael Jackson was busting out his moon walk.

Anyone with kids in the digital age has already thought through the potential dangers of having their family or home targetted for nefarious purposes.  Children, teens and adults really should scale back the specific nature of their tweets, posts and updates.  Best possible scenario is to report on holidays and away from home activities after you have returned.  Don’t be posting your macarena lessons in real time….wait til you have returned to your disco palace to wow your followers with your amazing moves!

This is an iPhone Home Safety article by The Apps Machine.

But wait, wait, wait, wait…while there is no question in most social anthropologist’s minds, that we are indeed getting dumber and dumber each year, smart phone users are doing something outside the box, something truly amazing. They are, clear throat and feign surprise, smarter than the average population and devoting more time to the news apps they open less often.In fact the average news reading app session comes in over 10 minutes, while social networkers spend only six according to January’s numbers.

Often, I wish to stay in bed rather than face the cruel realities of a crumbling empire and culture less world, but this is heartening. Despite the decline of both online and printed media, people are reading. I do worry whether Us Magazine, and People are considered news sources but would rather not know, it’s something and that is not nothing.

Depending who you follow or friend with it could be argued that those same people using social networking sites are also staying informed, more often than not however, I fear they are just staying informed with the going ons at their farm(villle).

I have been scanning the internet for days without hearing a single media outlet standing up for Google´s newest creation. Most news services, in fact, are referring to it as a creation out of Dr. Frankenstein´s lab. Some odd mix of Twitter and Facebook with a complete disregard for people´s privacy that has already forced Google to roll out some major tweaks, if such a thing as a major tweak can exist. Why all the worry? Simple, Google has merged two things completely different Buzz (public) with Gmail(private). There are a number of horror stories already posted around the web, including this one from today´s Washington Post.

Why do I suggest that Apple might save Google Buzz? Apple by all industry analysis will sell millions more GPS and map equipped phones in the coming year, and as of right now the Apple OS is Buzz’s best interface with location services and Maps.

Buzz offers something neither Facebook nor Twitter as of right now can compete with, posting with location services. This media fire storm will die down shortly as Google rushes to put out the fires of its initial launch mistakes, and people will rush to give it another chance.

If it is not being used in conjunction with a smart phone, I can’t really comprehend the point of a new social networking tool like Buzz. By itself, I find it intrusive.  I want my professional life separate from my personal life, and will probably never use it on either my desktop or my laptop. But on a GPS equipped smart phone it is a sexy addition to life.

I should point out it also scares the hell out of me. I know I will accidentally respond to someone’s buzz a few blocks away from the barstool I’m sitting at when I remember that I had told my girlfriend I was still at the office. That’s not going to work anymore as my location will be tied to my buzzing and the lie will fall apart like a three day old fairground fish. Yet, the inclusion of a tweeting (buzzing) with a location on a map is fantastic. Someone who has extra tickets to a sold out concert could simply announce it from their local bar and match their ticket with a fan, traffic jams and accidents can be avoided, lost children found, artists who surprisingly show up to jam with other acts can announce it, booked restaurants can let people know of last minute cancellations, the possibilities are endless.

I think what Google is trying to do is show us what we are missing within blocks of where we are. The Buzz, if you will, is a way of actually sharing the world around you. Imagine waiting for your friends and checking out what was being said. This is not done in a vacuum, but right there in your Maps app. By selecting a recent Buzz just a block away you might get treated to something you would not otherwise have seen, by someone you do not know. I remember in the weeks before Frank Zappa’s death I was lucky enough to see him playing guitar on the street with Carlos Santana. Two of the greatest guitarists of a generation in one’s final public performance before his death playing on the street for free. With a simple Buzz, accompanied by video or photos I would have had hundreds more enjoying this impromptu moment with me.

Or, and I doubt this would ever happen but, a woman posts a photo of herself saying, “Bored, looking to meet someone new, who loves Tom Waits, and wants to buy me a drink” and I say to myself I love Tom Waits, drinks, and I’m only 400 yards away.

More realistically, if I read an art gallery opening in the newspaper I probably didn’t  get to0 excited, but if someone were to post a photo of the actual exhibit and I’m mere blocks away I might attend.

I’m not going to touch it until Google gets its s%$t together. I resent that all of these people I email, mostly for work, were immediately asked to follow me and that my Google Reader was linked by default to something I didn’t ask for BUT I’ll be back when my anger subsides.

Or I’ll be missing the buzz.

This is an article by The Apps Machine.

If taken in a vacuum 100 million dollars is a tremendous amount of money.

If taken as a part of Apple’s nearly 16 billion in last quarter revenues it is simply a flash in a pan, a molehill of a mountain, or a drop of water in a lake. That said, this rumored 100M has no associated costs.

The idea that Apple is paid at all to not develop their own search is amazing in its own right, who would wish to go head on with Google in a field they not only revolutionized but own and would be difficult to unseat? Think of all the people you know, how many of them don’t use Google instinctively as if they were born searching that way? We know longer say I will conduct a search, more often than not we say, “I’ll Google it”.

While just speculation it seems as if Apple might now want more, talks over the Maps app that runs natively on the iPhone seem to be a sticking point between the two companies and  rumors that Bing is being considered as the default search engine as well as Microsoft providing map support have been growing in the last month.

Google and Apple seem to need each other but are unhappy with the relationship. Google once, for all intents and purposes,  held a spot on Apple’s Board of Directors now they not only develop their own Mobile OS but are producing their own smart phone, The Nexus One.

It is certainly a testament to the strength of the iPhone that Google knows that it needs to have its services available, the mobile apps are released the moment new services arrive, as witnessed yesterday with the release of Google Buzz.

There is nothing wrong with a little friendly competition, it is simply a matter of whether or not these two will remain  friendly as they start stepping into each others markets.

This is an article by the Apps Machine.

While most would welcome competition in the browser world, it remains to be seen whether Apple will approve the app at all.

Perhaps in a move to pressure Apple earlier today Opera released the following statement.

“We are thrilled to offer journalists and partners an exclusive preview of Opera Mini for iPhone during the year’s biggest mobile event. This is a unique opportunity to introduce the fast, feature-rich Opera Mini experience for the iPhone, and to showcase our latest beta releases of Opera Mobile and Opera Mini on other platforms and devices. Opera’s mission is to bring the Web to the world, and by making Opera Mini available on yet another platform, we are one step closer.”

I for one believe the app will be approved and one can only assume it will be sent to Apple for approval sometime within two weeks.

Apple is under terrific scrutiny for it´s App Store practices and it is this type of battle that famously brought antitrust legislation against Microsoft in its dealings with Netscape. While Android is picking up market share Apple must worry about potential backlash from its customers if this app is not approved. This is one instance where public outcry for an app might make Apple´s normally iron fisted control of the App Store reconsider its position.

And Opera seems quite confident as well.

“Opera Mini is compatible with every requirement for the App Store,” argued Christen Krogh, Opera’s chief development officer. “We don’t think it falls under any of the excluded technologies.”

The Opera browser would be a great addition to the iPhone with features including:

• Tabbed Browsing
• Integrated compression for faster loading
• Password Manager
• Speed Dial

It will prove very difficult to deny us this app while claiming redundancy with Safari.  This is hardly a similar product, but a far superior one.

This is an article by The Apps Machine.

comScore recently released the numbers for the the last quarter of 2009 and show Apple and Google to have made the biggest strides in a market that remains open with an estimated 234 million mobile phone users domestically. It is believed that 0f this 234 million only 17% of these are using smartphones. This up from 11% in 2008.

Apple gained 1.2 percentage points in US market share eclipsing 25% for the first time at 25.3% up from 24.1.

Google, however, made the biggest strides with their Android phones up 2.7 points and doubling their market share from 2.5% to 5.2%. Palm was the biggest loser down 2.1% to 6.1%, a trend that if continued will have them looking at the back of Google by the end of the first quarter of 2010.

While RIM, the makers of Blackberry, still dominate the market with over 42% of the smart phones in use in the US market they saw a single point drop as did Microsoft who, in third, have an 18% share.

In a huge market, it appears as if the two giants will be battling it out for some time.

This is an article by the App Machine.