Now that the iPad had finally been unveiled you might be wondering what the top 5 apps would be great for it.  Since the iPad has a much larger 9.7-inch capacitive touchscreen and multitouch capabilities, it could add a lot to some of the most popular apps and games in the App Store. We’ve collected 5 current iPhone apps (games mostly) that we think will especially look good on the iPad.

1) Facebook – Apple’s senior vice president iPhone software, Scott Forstall mentioned in yesterdays announcement that Facebook would be a great addition to the iPad.  Considering that anyone with a decent amount of Facebook friends can access a wealth of profiles, updates, photos, plus much more, you can use it to be the hippest stalker ever.

2) Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars – We already knew that this popular game plays well on the iPhone 3GS and the Nintendo DS. But imagine blowing it up to twice the size.  Shootouts, explosions will be much more epic on the iPad. The touchiest GTA installment just got more crazy.

3) Madden NFL 10 – Madden on the iPhone just isn’t Madden. Those who have been playing Madden in their living rooms for years know that the mobile version of the iconic game is fun, but the screen’s a tad too small to really lay out those plays.  With the iPad, the Madden franchise will finally get a chance to play ball on the biggest portable screen yet.

4) The Sims 3 – If you’ve been looking to walk your Sim around with more precision and take in more details in this very successful adaptation, the iPad will be a good option.

5) SimCity – The iPhone version of SimCity only had one glaring problem—the screen was a tad small to do everything you wanted to do, especially if you had big sausage fingers.  The iPad’s touchscreen will probably do the game some much needed justice.  Now you can build your city with the peace of mind that you’ll be able to build roads precisely when that massive fire breaks out.

Suppliers in Asia are out of 10″ LCD and OLED panels, reportedly saying Apple has pre-ordered them all!

Apple is trying to corner the market on 10″ display panels for an upcoming tablet device.  Much like it has did with supplies of NAND flash memory used in their iPhones and iPods, Suppliers in Asia are reportedly telling customers that no 10″ LCD or OLED panels are available, as Apple has bought them all.

An anonymous source told TG Daily “We were designing a product for a customer and we needed 10-inch screens, but we’ve been trying for months and can’t get one from any of the Asian suppliers,”.  “We were told that Apple preordered them all.  All 10 inch LCDs, and all 10 inch OLEDs too.”

Apple is reportedly buying up OLED panels as well.  Apple may move to OLED technology for the tablet, as a few devices—digital cameras, cell phones, and notably the Zune HD and Nexus One—have begun incorporating them.  However, a 10″ OLED would likely be costly, even at the rumored price of around $1,000 for the tablet.

Dell and it’s Mini 3 smartphone seems to be very serious about its Android devices. It has readied this MID that boasts a beautiful 5 inch display and is all set to arrive on one of the U.S.-based leading networks. Dell said it is just a concept as of now.

Dell has released the concept design pictures on the MID however they declined to say anything about the specifications.  The only other thing that we know about this MID other than it being Android based and having a 5 inch screen is that there is a 5 megapixel camera at the rear of the device. It also has a SIM card slot as well thereby making it a cellphone.

There is no word as to when one of these would be released for consumers around the world but it’s sure to be expensive!

 
Seems like everyone is trying to get-in on the tablet.  Today Freescale Semiconductor showcased new designs of an affordable, lightweight tablet computer, set to hit the market later this year.

Freescale, which supplies the semiconductor chips for this new breed of tablets called smartbooks, about one third the size of a typical netbook, is putting its weight behind this category with a concept of what could become everybody’s tablet. 

The Freescale tablet design (pictured above) has hardware close to what we have been hearing about the rumored Apple tablet: a 7-inch touch screen, 3-megapixel camera, various sensors such as a 3-axis accelerometer, and an ambient light sensor.

Freescale’s smartbook tablet features a potentially killer spec. for a $200 price-tag!  Next to an Android or Linux operating system, it also includes WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity and options for a 3G modem. 

The smartbook design is built to run everyday-use applications such as a Web browser (with Adobe Flash support), an email client, an RSS reader, social networking tools and an office suite among others.

So far, no one has had a chance to look inside Freescale’s holy grail smartbook, but the chipmaker is planning to show off it’s design at the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) later on this week.

A former top Google executive from China wrote in his blog that Apple expects to sell 10 million tablet’s in its first year out.  That’s 10 Billion dollars just from that device alone, Cha-Ching!  He also offered specifics about the hardware, and said Steve Jobs will release the tablet in January.

Lee is currently the head of Innovation Works, a company that has been funded , in part, by Foxconn Technology Group.  Foxconn is a major player in Apple products providing; cables, connectors, and other delicate parts which are used to build ipods, iphones, and now it sounds like tablets.  Lee said he was told the 10-million-tablets figure by a friend familiar with the project.

Lee additionally wrote that the device will feature a 10.1-inch multitouch screen with 3G graphics, essentially looking like a giant iPhone, and will cost about $1000.

Will the new Apple tablet be called the iSlate?  There seems to be some of evidence that Apple’s interested in using that name, however it’s not definitive proof that the tablet will get the new nickname. It might just be Apple’s way of taking the name to keep anyone else from using it.  Imagine that!

There does seem to be some logic in the name “iSlate”, however, if we assume that the Apple tablet is more akin to a giant iPod touch than a keyboardless iMac.  It would be crazy to think the name would not come with the popular “i” prefix and equaully as crazy if the word “tablet” was used.  This would bring to mind it’s form factor, input methods most associated with the failed Microsoft tablet PC.  The Apple tablet will most likely be completely different from the tablet PC, so why suggest a link with a similiar name?  Especially when you could use one of the many names already trademarked by Apple.

What to expect from Apple in the coming year?

While not yet officially announced, an Apple “tablet” computer is known to be on the way in 2010. It is in some respects a larger version of the iPhone, using the same kind of multi-touch screen. It is rumored to be roughly the size of Amazon’s Kindle. We can expect improved processing speeds over the iPhone, but what will differentiate Apple’s tablet above and beyond that remains unclear.

The iPhone itself will experience a model upgrade in the spring or summer, once again. Users can expect the new version to run multiple apps simultaneously, as this is one feature of competing Android phones which is gaining marketing traction.

Apple also recently purchased the streaming service, Lala — which may lead to streaming video being incorporated into an updated iTunes iteration. There is speculation there may also be streamed user videos, eventually.