10 terrific apps for the new iPad

The big news from this week’s unveiling of the new iPad was its best-in-the business display screen. With quad-core graphics and a screen resolution of 2048x1536 pixels, the newest version of Apple’s tablet packs a graphical punch unmatched in the industry. With this in mind, we thought we’d recommend 10 iPad apps that will help you get the most out of the tablet’s graphics processing power and resolution, including high-definition games, productivity tools and video apps.

SketchBook Pro
Developer: Autodesk
Price: $0.99

Autodesk was one of the developers Apple invited onstage at the new iPad unveiling to show off upgrades they made to SketchBook to take advantage of Apple’s finely-grained display screen. Even before the new iPad came out, SketchPad gave users the ability to create their own drawings with an impressive level of detail, so we imagine the new edition will only make it even stronger.


Infinity Blade Dungeons
Developer: Epic Games
Price: The game hasn’t yet been released, but it’s likely in the $2.99 range that previous Infinity Blade games have sold for

Infinity Blade Dungeons was another showcase app featured at Apple’s new iPad press event and it shows just how terrific the new iPad could be for games. Infinity Blade Dungeons itself is an action role-playing game filled with giant swords and giant monsters, if you’re into that sort of thing. Even if you’re not, you have to admit that the graphics look amazing compared to what we normally get from iPad games.

GarageBand
Apple
Price: $4.99

Apple’s popular music-making application also got an upgrade for the new iPad as users can now have interactive “jam sessions” with one another to really create collaborative music on their iPads. The new edition has also added a full string orchestra to add string arrangements to your pieces.

Apple’s popular music-making application also got an upgrade for the new iPad as users can now have interactive “jam sessions” with one another to really create collaborative music on their iPads. The new edition has also added a full string orchestra to add string arrangements to your pieces.



Penultimate
Developer: Cocoa Box Design LLC
Price: $0.99

Penultimate is a virtual notebook for the iPad that not only lets you take notes and create sketches, but import pictures and design presentations. The latest version has the ability to sync with Dropbox so you can store all your notes and presentations in the cloud and access them on any device where you’ve installed Dropbox.



MLB.com At Bat
Developer: MLB.com
Price: Free to download, although the good stuff costs $14.99 per year

Easily the most successful professional sports app available today, the MLB.com At Bat app gives you access to live radio and selected video highlights to every baseball game on your tablet for a $14.99 yearly subscription fee. And if you’re willing to pay $24.99 per month, you can get MLB.TV broadcasts of every MLB game on the year as well. The high resolution of the new iPad screen will make this app more attractive than ever.

iPhoto
Developer: Apple
Price: $4.99

Apple’s photo editing and organization app has several nifty features, including multi-touch editing that lets you drag in colors and shades right into your picture; a program that automatically finds photos similar to the ones you’re editing so you can compare them to one another; and Photo Journals that organize your pictures and publish them directly onto iCloud so you can access them from any iOS device.


SkyGamblers
Developer: Namco
Price: $4.99

SkyGamblers is a classic flight-simulation game that also sets you as a fighter pilot in World War I. The game controls basically move as you tilt your iPad in different directions and you can execute special maneuvers by doing specialized swipes on your screen. This was another app that Apple highlighted during its new iPad press event.


Mass Effect Infiltrator
Developer: Electronic Arts
Price: $6.99

“I’m Commander Shepard and this is my favorite game on the App Store.” OK, so the famous “Mass Effect” commander doesn’t appear anywhere in the game, but it is set in the same sci-fi universe that is currently under assault from robotic monsters in the blockbuster “Mass Effect 3” title. While the graphics for the game are obviously not up to the standards of the PC or console games, they are still quite impressive for an iPad game.

Pages
Developer: Apple
Price: $9.99

Although Pages doesn’t necessarily have the eye-popping visuals of some of the other apps we’ve covered, it is an essential productivity program for anyone who wants to use their tablet for work as well as play. As with Apple’s other native apps, Pages can sync your Word documents and other files with iCloud so you can get them on any iOS device you own.


Star Walk for iPad
Developer: Vito Technology
Price: $4.99

What better way to take advantage of the iPad’s new graphics capabilities than by using it to gaze at the stars? This app has several great features, including an augmented reality feature that can show you where stars are located even when during the day; a satellite tracker to keep track of every ISS in the sky; and a star spotter that gives you information about the stars you’re looking at.