The world is going bananas for Apple at the moment due to the shiny new iPad (see all the details here). In the meantime, here's a generous handful of recent apps optimised for your tablet.
Grand Theft Auto 3 ($4.99)
GTA 3 for iOS is an impressive technical achievement – it's an excellent game with fondly-remembered radio stations, good missions and redesigned controls. We can't wait to try it out on the new iPad with its A5X processor, said to be four times faster than Nvidia's quad-core Tegra 3 processor.
Get it
BBC iPlayer (Free)
The BBC launched an international version of its iPlayer on the iPad last year. (Previously, the catch-up TV service is currently only available in the UK.)
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iPhoto
iPhoto really shows off the iPad's Retina Display with great gestures, quick glance comparisons and tons of editing tools and adjustments, all for around $10.
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Sir Benfro's Brilliant Balloon ($0.99)
Our new favourite iOS game, Sir Benfro's Brilliant Balloon is a one touch game with amazing Terry Gilliam-style graphics, cheerful soundtrack and deceptively difficult gameplay. We'll have hit download on this incredibly good value game within minutes of laying our hands on the new iPad and we can't wait for the Retina Display-optimised version.
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GarageBand ($5.49)
GarageBand 1.2 has not only been optimised for the iPad's new display, it's also got an awesome new feature called Jam Session that lets you "jam" with up to three of your iOS-device toting mates, wirelessly playing music together and recording it.
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MPme (Free)
If you splashed out on a fancy AirPlay compatible speaker, stick MPme on your new iPad to wirelessly stream tunes from this free curated radio iPad app. MPme will recommend artists and tracks based on what you're playing – handy.
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Facebook (Free)
Swipe through some lovely hi-res photos of your mates as well as newsfeeds and social games (if you must) on Facebook's app designed specifically for the iPad. We think the new-look Timeline for Profiles and Page will get on mighty well with the new iPad 3's glorious 264ppi screen.
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Skype for iPad (Free)
Your new iPad might not be your best friend if you prefer to hide behind pixels when you're not looking so great on a video call. Otherwise, with that new and improved 5MP camera with 1080p video, Skyping over 3G and Wi-Fi will look better than ever on Apple's latest tablet.
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Osmos for iPad ($5.49)
Stick some headphones into your new iPad and get ready for this physics-based eat 'em-up meets ambient, cosmic simulator. The spaced out soundtrack is hynoptic and swallowing up single-celled organisms on the new iPad will have us hooked for hours (possibly days) on Osmos.
Get it
