Written by HP just launched the webOS-based TouchPad a couple of days ago and those of us who picked one up have spent lots of time getting familiar with the new tablet. Reviews are all over the web, including my own first impressions of the TouchPad which points out the good and the bad about this first effort by HP with webOS on tablets.
A common complaint about the TouchPad is the lack of apps in the app store, but there are some good ones for those who try out what is there. I haven’t tried any paid apps yet due to lack of time, but I have installed and tested quite a few free apps on the TouchPad. These are my 5 favorite free apps on the TouchPad so far.
I have included a couple of honorable mentions at the end of the article which you won’t want to miss. There are also two cool Easter eggs for the TouchPad at the end of the article that owners should check out.
Spaz HD. I am a big Twitter user, and having a good app is a must on any mobile device I use. I am pleased with the Spaz HD app which is free in beta, as it makes good use of the larger tablet screen. It displays multiple columns which the user can select with simple taps in the settings screen. The app displays tweets in different colors depending on if they mention the user, and it is very easy to get a lot of information at a glance with the thoughtful screen layout. One thing I like about the multi-column format of Spaz HD that is missing on apps for Honeycomb, is that it keeps the display the same in both portrait and landscape orientation. This means you can pan around in portrait and still have the benefits of the multiple column format.
Audiophile HD. The audio system on the TouchPad is impressive with the Beats Audio technology HP has stuffed in the slate, so one of the first things I did with my tablet was put several gigabytes of music onboard. The TouchPad Music app is pretty good, but the Audiophile HD takes music playing to the next level. In addition to the awesome turntable interface, Audiophile provides good treble and bass control for music playback. You can even spin the vinyl at faster than normal speeds, if you feel like playing around. If you have a big music collection as I do, it takes a while when you first start the app to bring it all into the system. The app runs pretty smoothly after that initial period and is worth the wait.
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