Numbers for iPhone and iPad is a great way for casual users to manage spreadsheets but may not offer enough power for professionals... yet.

Apple's Numbers is the spreadsheet component of their iWork productivity suite of software, and a companion app to Pages for word processing and Keynote for presentations. Universal apps that work on iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad, all three have proven to be popular choices for document management on the go and have just recently been updated to support for iOS 5.1 and the new iPad's Retina display.

If you're a new iPad or iPhone owner and need a way to create and edit spreadsheets on the go, Numbers is Apple's iCloud integrated solution. The question is, how easy is it to use and how much can you really do with it?

Apple's Numbers and Microsoft's Excel are both spreadsheet apps, and while there is a lot of overlap, they were designed with different goals in mind.

Numbers isn't Excel, and that's okay

Apple's Numbers isn't Microsoft's Excel. That's the first and most important thing to remember. Apple's goal wasn't to copy Excel, Lotus, or Visicalc, but to come up with a spreadsheet program that was easy to use and could produce great looking documents fairly quickly.

That said, if you've used Excel in the past, you should feel pretty comfortable with Numbers as well.

Creating spreadsheets in Numbers

To add content to a spreadsheet in Numbers -- whether it be text, a table, an image, or something else, you simply tap on the Add button (looks like a + sign) in the top right corner.

Inserting and editing objects is done with taps, swipes, and multitouch gestures.

Once you add an object, you can move on to editing and formatting it.

Numbers also makes it easy to format content with the formatting brush. It's represented by a paintbrush icon in the upper right hand corner. In order to use it, you'll need to highlight something you'd like to format. From there it will smartly choose options based on what kind of content you'd like to edit.

Formatting in Numbers for iPhone and iPad is also done via a popover menu.

For example, if you select a table full of data, it will give you the option to turn that data into charts or graphs quickly and easily. If you're selecting a block of text, it'll give you options for format that text as a header, change the font, place borders around it, and many more options.

If you've used past versions of iWork on your iPhone or iPad, you may have noticed that the formatting icon and menu have changed a bit in the updated version.

Sharing your work

While there's no file system in iOS, you can easily share your Numbers spreadsheets with just a few taps.

Numbers gives you a few ways that you can share your content directly from your iPhone or iPad. You can share your work via e-mail, send it to iTunes (where you can open it via the desktop Numbers app for Mac), and print it.

Currently Numbers still gives users the option to share it to iWork.com or iDisk as well. Given iDisk and iWork.com will be discontinued this summer, I'm not quite sure why Apple is still allowing them as options. I'd advise new users to stay away from them and just enable iCloud from the beginning to avoid having to transfer documents over before Apple turns off these services.

Syncing with iCloud

iCloud syncs all your Numbers spreadsheets between all your iOS devices (and with OS X Mountain Lion when it's released later this year)

Upon first launching any of the iWork for iOS apps on your iPhone or iPad, you'll be asked whether or not you'd like to sync with iCloud. I'd recommend doing so if you plan on editing and accessing documents from multiple iOS devices. This way, if you make changes to a spreadsheet on your iPad, your changes will be synced with all your devices.

There are, however, a few flaws to this system. I'm not a fan of the fact that I have to log in to iCloud from a browser and download files and re-upload them when at a computer. I was really hoping Apple would have implemented a better solution by now.

If you only have the need to edit iWork documents on the go, iCloud is just fine but we have to be practical -- most users need to be able to easily edit them on a computer whether in iWork on Mac or Microsoft Office on Windows or Mac as well. The integration just isn't that great when you've got to download a document from iCloud, edit what you need to, and re-upload it in order for it to sync the current version to all your devices.

A syncing solution that better integrates documents with iCloud will hopefully be a big part of what OS X Mountain Lion will bring to the table.

The more complex and customized your spreadsheets, the worse compatibility between Numbers on iOS and Excel on the PC will likely be.

While iCloud does allow you to download documents to your computer in Excel format, there's no escaping the fact that Excel and Numbers handle some types of data differently. If you use a lot of extensive or custom-built formulas, switching between Numbers and Excel probably isn't too pretty.

I've come across a few occasions where I'd created extensive formulas or functions in Excel or Numbers and when I'd try to cross-edit, the formulas would break or output an error. This has a lot to do with how each handle formulas and syntax. Unfortunately, it's probably not something Apple can overcome easily.

What's new in Numbers 1.6

Numbers 1.6 is a free upgrade to existing Numbers for iOS users, and comes with a few new features.

Reorganized user interface

Numbers 1.6 moves a few menu features around.

Anyone who previously used iWork on the iPhone or iPad may have noticed that some of the main interface elements were switched around. I've found the new layout to be much more productive than the old one.

The main controls have been brought down from four to three. Within these three sections, you'll find a lot of your options have been condensed or re-organized.

The new layout took me less than 10 minutes to get used to and where I logically thought something would have been moved was typically where it ended up. Existing users won't need to worry about re-learning the program and new users will benefit from the more intuitive layout.

3D charts and graphs

3D charts and graphs are among the more visually pleasing new features.

One of the most talked about features in Numbers 1.6 is the ability to easily add 3D charts and graphs to your spreadsheets. While the 2D charts were good enough for most, the 3D charts really do make spreadsheets created in Numbers pop.

Let's face it, no one really likes staring at spreadsheets during a meeting or presentation for very long. It's essential that you have a way to convey your information in a way that's fun and engaging. I find the 3D charts and graphs to be a way to do exactly that.

Once you've got your data set up in a plain text chart, Apple has made it drop dead simple to turn that data into an easy to read 3D pie chart or graph. To add a chart to a spreadsheet, tap the "+" symbol to add an element and choose 3D charts. From there you can highlight the content from your spreadsheet you'd like to appear in the chart and you're done.

Customizing and editing things like color, font, what data to display on what axis, and other design elements is easier to access with the new formatting icon (hint: it's the paintbrush in the upper right hand corner). You can also drag individual contents around such as the title or chart key for easy placement and adjustment.

Stability improvements

Not only is numbers better looking, it's more stable as well

While the addition of 3D charts and graphs is welcome, the thing I was most happy to see in action were the stability and performance improvements. I'm normally pretty skeptical of companies releasing an update with a generic "performance enhancements" description. This time, it really is noticeable.

I've always found the interface of Numbers on iPhone and iPad to be somewhat difficult to work with as it always seemed to lag behind. I'd attempt to highlight a few cells and the cursor could sometimes not keep up with my finger. This seems to be less of an issue this time around. If you're working with spreadsheets that contain a lot of data it could always be rather tedious to use your iPhone or iPad to edit them or make changes. I always experienced lag. With smaller spreadsheets that don't contain a tremendous amount of data or formulas, it's probably a non-issue for most.

Using my iPad 2, I do still experience some lag when typing content into cells and trying to switch between them. Sometimes I find myself having to tap twice in order for Numbers to realize I'm trying to switch between cells. I tested out Numbers on a first generation iPad and unfortunately, a lot of the lag still seems to be present. It'll be interesting to see how the new iPad will handle large spreadsheets.

The good

• 3D charts and graphs are extremely easy to create and manipulate
• Enhanced speed and stability are noticeable
• The integration with iCloud between iOS devices works without a hitch
• Menu system is easy for new users to grasp

The bad

• Still no landscape support for iPhone which is more than annoying when trying to edit spreadsheets that are wide
• Having to download and re-upload new versions to iCloud while on a computer is cumbersome
• While Excel is supported as a downloadable format, extensive formulas and functions still may break when cross-editing

Conclusion

Numbers for iPhone and iPad is a great way for casual users to manage spreadsheets but may not offer enough power for professionals... yet. The power of the Apple A5X processor in the new iPad will no doubt make handling larger spreadsheets smoother and easier, and the Retina display will make them look better than ever.

Aside from some minor improvements, however, I really don't feel iWork received as much attention as the iLife suite this time around, namely GarageBand, iMovie, and the all new iPhoto for iOS.

Numbers 2.0 should be a priority for Apple if they want the iPad to continue to convert people to mobile productivity. In the meantime, I'll continue using the current Numbers for basic spreadsheets that I need access on the go.

It will also be interesting to see what, if anything Microsoft brings to the table if they decide to pull the trigger on Microsoft Office for iPad.

$9.99 - Download Now

iWork for iOS has just been updated with many new features including brand new 3D charts, animations  and various other features. Each iWork app will be available for the same $9.99 price point and as a free update for existing owners.

The update will be available starting today and is a universal binary for both iPhone and iPad. We are assuming the new features in the update will be available to all iOS devices. iWork currently already integrates well for iCloud users making it easy to take your work on the go and pick up right where you left off when you get back to your computer.

iWork consists of three separate applications - Pages, Keynote, and Numbers. Each is currently priced at $9.99 each.

We'll update as soon as we have a complete list of features. For now, check out all our iPad event coverage in one place via the links below.

Additional resources:

• iPad live event coverage
• iMore iPad discussion forums

Earlier today, we posted a report from TNW that showed UK carrier O2, had been transmitting phone numbers to every website visited via their 2G or 3G network.

After the backlash on Twitter, O2 acknowledged and fixed the issue at 2pm GMT today, followed by an apology on their blog, including a Q&A to explain exactly what happened and who was affected.

We have seen the report published this morning suggesting the potential for disclosure of customers’ mobile phone numbers to website owners. We investigated, identified and fixed it this afternoon. We would like to apologise for the concern we have caused.

The issue occurred after a routine maintenance update on January 10th, that accidentally sent user phone numbers to website hosts, along with the standard log of technical information required from the device.

Q: Why did this happen? A: Technical changes we implemented as part of routine maintenance had the unintended effect of making it possible in certain circumstances for website owners to see the mobile numbers of those browsing their site.

Technical information is normally sent to websites so that servers can deliver a 'device-optimised' experience. Carriers add your phone number to this information, when sending data to 'trusted partners', to enable services that require; age verification, premium-content billing, and carrier specific services.

It seems that O2 have fixed the problem now, but after 15 days... is it too little, too late?

Source: O2 Blog

CloudOn, a free iPad app that offered Microsoft Office functionality with Dropbox support, appeared briefly in the App Store yesterday before going up in a puff of smoke a short time later.

CloudOn has responded saying their app has "sold out", but we think this may have had something to do with server overload.

Thanks for your support of CloudOn! We're currently sold out. We look forward to the feedback we will receive as we continue to support the many users that have registered in this first phase.

The fact that CloudOn came with full Dropbox support for storing and managing office files on-the-go was a great idea for power users, and the overall offering is unique in respect to beating Microsoft to the punch at their own game. This could be another reason the app is no longer available, as Microsoft could have called shenanigans if CloudOn didn't go through the appropriate channels before release.

I gave it a quick whirl when it was actually up and running, and noticed the app was somewhat sluggish from the get-go (probably due to how much it relies on the cloud backend to get things done paired with the influx of users hammering their servers).

We'll let you know as soon as CloudOn is back in the App Store. In the meantime, here's its description:

• Use Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint on your iPad to create or edit documents.
• Rename, delete and manage documents with your Dropbox account
• Display, edit or create charts, change formatting, spell check, insert comments, into any Word, Excel or PowerPoint files
• Track changes while reviewing Word documents
• Use pivot tables and insert formulas in Excel workbooks
• Display and edit animation or transitions in PowerPoint presentations
• Present in full PowerPoint mode (not in PDF)
• Open files directly from your iPad email accounts or Dropbox account
• Automatically save documents to avoid losing changes

Source: CloudOn

Have an app you’d love to see featured on TiPb? Email us at iosapps@tipb.com, tell us about your app (include an iTunes link), and we’ll take a look.

Noteshelf made our iPads useful in planning sessions. Elements made Dropbox note-taking sing.

[Orchestra To-Do] (http://www.imore.com/tag/orchestra-to-do) packed out tasks with functionality. Due made reminders quick and powerful.

Instapaper put everything we wanted to read in our pockets, but better. Screens took iOS back to our Macs.

A ton of very different apps to be sure, but all of them helped us get stuff done, and it's your job to pick the very best one.

Vote up top and tell us why you voted they way you did in the comments! These are your awards, so get to it!

Did you or someone you know just get a brand new iPhone or iPod touch, and are wondering which are the top 10 very best, most must-have apps and games you absolutely need to jump into the App Store and download now, now, now? Well, you're in luck -- whether you want to show off the beautiful Retina display, test the power of the dual-core Apple A5 processor, need to get things done, or just want to have some fun, TiPb's top 10 have got your back! As part of our ongoing iPhone new users guide, here are our top 10 favorite, most highly recommended iPhone apps to get you started!

Note: App prices are current as of the time of this writing but can and do change frequently over time, including going up, down, and going on sale. Some free apps also sell additional content via in-app-purchase, or require a subscription. Always read app descriptions thoroughly before purchasing or downloading.

Social apps: Facebook for iPhone

Facebook is one of the most popular sites on the web, and not surprisingly, it's also one of the most popular apps on iPhone. While Facebook for iPhone has a well earned reputation for general bugginess, it's also been steadily improving as of late. Sure, you can visit Facebook.com on Safari, but the app gives you much, much more functionality, not the least of which is photo uploads. You also get Places, Messages, Chat, and many of your other favorite Facebook features.

• Free - App Store link

Also check out:

• Facebook Messenger is for those who want a fast, focused way to stay in instant touch with friends. Free - App Store link
• LinkedIn for iPhone has a brand new, way more distinctive interface for all your business networking. Free - App Store link
• Tweetbot is a great, highly stylized alternative to the official Twitter client. $2.99 - App Store link
• Find my Friends is Apple's answer to keeping track of who's where, either all the time or just for special events. Free - App Store link

Casual games: Angry Birds

Angry Birds is like the Mario or Sonic of iPhone and iPod touch gaming -- so synonymous with iOS that even though it's not made by Apple, even though it's on other platforms now, it's still the most famous, and still one of the most fun games ever to grace the App Store. While the idea of slingshotting variously powered birds at the variously fashioned fortifications and popping variously evil green pigs might seem thin at first, excellent gameplay and a constant stream of updates keep it fresh -- and continuously at or near the top of the charts. Give it a fling... and prepare to lose many an hour chasing those elusive three star ratings.

• $0.99 - App Store link

Also check out:

• Cut the Rope is just as simple, just as enjoyable, and just as addictive. $0.99 - App Store link
• Plants vs. Zombies is a charming, horrifically funny take on tower defense. $2.99 - App Store link
• Tiny Wings shows that birds don't have to be angry to be fun; they don't even need to fly... much. $0.99 - App Store link
• Seigecraft is a beautifully done tower defense style game... with trebuchets! $2.99 - App Store link

Communications/IM apps: Skype

The iPhone is a phone, so it makes voice calls, it has FaceTime so it makes video calls, and it has iMessage, so it can do IM. What place is there, then, for Skype for iPhone? Turns out, a lot. FaceTime and iMessage are Apple-only technologies, so they don't play nicely with other devices and platforms, and phone calls -- especially international phone calls cost a lot of money. Microsoft's Skype runs on almost every device and operating system, is free to call other Skype users, and cheap to call phones.

• Free - App Store link link

Also check out:

• BeeJiveIM supports AIM/MobileMe, MSN/Windows Live, Yahoo!, GoogleTalk, Facebook, MySpace and Jabber for flexible, full featured chat. $9.99 - iTunes link
• Google Voice for iPhone lets you access your GV calls, texts, and voice mail. Free - iTunes link
• WhatsApp is probably the closest thing to a cross-platform BBM (BlackBerry Messenger)-style instant messenger available. $0.99 - App Store link
• Verbs doesn't support as many protocols but for GTalk, Facebook, AIM, and Me.com, nothing looks nicer. $0.99 + in-app purchase - App Store link

Productivity apps: Numbers, Pages, and Keynote

Apple's iWork suite, which consists of Keynote for presentations, Numbers for spreadsheets, and Pages for word processing has recently been updated to work with iCloud, so all your documents get stored and synced between your devices (including, eventually, iWork for Mac when Apple updates it). Keynote was built for Steve Jobs so it's absolutely best in class, while Numbers and Pages are easy to use and produce great looking docs.

• $9.99 - Keynote in App Store link
• $9.99 - Numbers in App Store link
• $9.99 - Pages in App Store link

Also check out:

• Good Reader is a powerhouse for PDF annotating and file management. [$2.99 - App Store link]
• Evernote stores text, images, and audio for easy reference later. [Free - App Store link]
• Elements is a text editor that syncs with Dropbox and has Markdown support. 'Nuff said. $4.99 - App Store link
• Todo takes task management to the next level, with sync to Dropbox or iCloud among others. $4.99 - App Store link

Action/arcade games: Infinity Blade II

Epic's Unreal 3 engine exploded onto iPhone with Infinity Blade, an on-rails sword fighting extravaganza with some of the best visuals we've ever seen. Infinity Blade II takes all of that to a whole new level. You literally will not believe a game that looks this good is running on your phone.

Infinity Blade II picks up where the first left off, with you locked in a battle with the Deathless, only this time the stakes are higher, the enemies badder, and the weapons more powerful than ever. It's still a tad repetitive at times, but it quickly becomes as addictive as it is gorgeous, and ChAIR typically has regular updates so there's always new gear, new enemies, and new aspects to enjoy.

• $6.99 - App Store link

Also check out:

• Real Racing 2 for amazing cars, online action, and AirPlay. $9.99 - App Store link
• Street Fighter IV Volt puts the classic fighter in the palm of your hands. $0.99 - App Store link
• Extraction: Project Outbreak is a fresh take on the top-down 3D shooter. $0.99 - App Store Link
• Atari's Greatest Hits brings the oldest of old school to your brand new advice. Free - App Store link

Music apps: Rdio

While Pandora, Slacker, and Spotify get a lot of attention, Rdio's focus on social networking means it really excels at music discovery -- you get to see what the people you're following are listening to. You can cache music for offline listening, so you can load up on Wi-Fi and save your data, and the available selection of music is great for mainstream and alternative music lovers alike. Give it a try with the free 7-day trial.

Also check out:

• GarageBand is Apple's iLife music making app brought to iPhone. $4.99 - App Store link
• DJay will make you the mixing star of your next party. $0.99 - App Store link
• MadPad lets you remix and make music out of all the sounds around you. $0.99 - App Store link
• Shows lets you know when and where your favorite artists are in concert. $2.99 - App Store link

Photo apps: Instagram

Instagram is the current king of iPhone photography apps, and it took the crown through a brilliant combination of easy-to-apply filters and super simple social sharing. The latest version not only adds even more filters, but all tilt-shift effects. Whether you want to quickly share great looking snap shots to Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Tumblr, Foursquare, or Posterous, Instagram has you covered. In style.

• Free - App Store link

Also check out:

• Photogene2 is a photography powerhouse, with full featured editing, sharing, and much more. $1.99 - App Store link
• Camera+ is jam packed with features and filters to make your photos shine. $0.99 - App Store link
• Hipstamatic to bring that terrific toy camera look to your shots. [$0.99 - App Store link
• Flickr for iPhone lets you store and share all the shots you take. [Free - App Store link

Video apps: Air Video

Air Video automagically transcodes on the the fly and streams your videos -- almost any videos, in almost any format -- from your Windows or Mac PC to your iPhone. If you have an Apple TV, you can also beam them straight to your big screen television as well. If you've got a ton of content on your computer and you want to watch it on your iPhone, this is the app for you.

• $2.99 - App Store link

Also check out:

• iMovie is Apple's iLife video editor, gloriously brought to iPhone. $4.99 - App Store link
• Netflix gives you access to tons of streaming catalog titles, right on your iPhone. Free - App Store link
• IMDb includes all the movie and TV details and showtimes in handy app form. Free - App Store link
• Slingplayer Mobile works with your Slingbox to put anything from your TV on your iPhone. $29.99 - App Store link

Internet apps: Dropbox

Dropbox is an amazing cloud sync solution not just for iPhone but for iPad, Mac, Windows, Linux, and basically everything you can imagine (several of us store almost our entire home directories in Dropbox). Not only does it give you access to any and all files in your Dropbox folder -- along with easy links for sharing and the ability to store favorites locally -- but many, many other apps use Dropbox to handle their sync as well, from password apps to writing apps to note taking apps. You get 2GB for free and can buy more if you need it. It's different than Apple's iCloud, but it's just as awesome.

• Free - App Store link

Also check out:

• 1Password lets you have security and convenience with all your logins, credit cards, and accounts available on your iPhone. $14.99 - App Store link
• Skyfire is a web browser that lets you watch some Flash videos on your iPhone. $2.99 - App Store link
• Screens is a VNC client that lets you remote desktop to your Windows, Mac, and Linux machines. $19.99 - App Store link
• Articles wraps up Wikipedia into a great looking, easy to use app. $2.99 - App Store link

Location/GPS apps: NAVIGON

Get full fledged turn-by-turn driving directions on your iPhone so you can keep your eyes where they belong -- on the road. NAVIGON provides on-board maps which means it keeps working in areas where there's no data coverage. You can buy regional, country, or continents at a time, and there are also options for live traffic updates, parking directions, and enhanced panoramic views of the surroundings.

• Varies - App Store link

Also check out:

• Foursquare lets you "check in" to locations, keep track of your and your friends' locations, and earn points for being there. Free - App Store link
• Yelp provides restaurant, gas station, bar, and pretty much any type of business location and recommendations. Free - App Store link
• Find my iPhone is Apple's way for iCloud to help you locate, lock, and even wipe a missing or stolen iPhone. Free - App Store link
• Waze is a free, crowd-sourced, and highly social travel and nav app. Free - App Store link

Your top apps?

So there you have them, our top 10 best iPhone apps to get you started. Be sure to check out our Picks of the Week and iPhone App and Games Forum for more recommendations, and if we missed any of your favorites leave them in the comments below!

iOS 5 brings a lot of great new features to iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad but more than that -- it lets developers bring us even better apps and games! Whether it's a great old app that's been updated with amazing new functionality, or a brand new app that never would have been possible before, they now get access to everything from Documents in the Cloud to AirPlay Mirroring to Twitter integration to Newsstand, to persistent location and more.

There will no doubt be a flood of them soon but for right now, right this minute, here are a list of our favorites, the ones we think are the best -- TiPb's Top 5 apps that support awesome new iOS 5 features!

iWork Numbers, Pages, and Keynote (Documents in the Cloud)

Apple's iWork productivity suite includes the Numbers spreadsheet, the Pages word processor, and the Keynote presentation maker. While not as powerful as Microsoft's ubiquitous Office suite, for smaller jobs they can make for even more beautiful, better laid out documents. And now, Documents in the Cloud. It only makes sense that Apple is right out of the gate with iCloud support for their own apps, and that the support is pretty good. Any Numbers, Pages, or Keynote document that you start on your iPhone or iPad is stored up on iCloud and pushed back down to all your other devices, including -- eventually -- the iWork apps on the Mac.

There's no file system, no file management. The idea is for you to simply open your apps and find your documents there waiting for you, up to date and ready for more. If editing on all your iOS and OS X devices is important for you, iWork is now a powerful, easy way to do it.

Note: iWork apps are universal, so you only have to buy once to use on all your iOS devices, including iPhone and iPad. However, each app needs to be bought separately, and the Mac versions need to be bought separately as well.

• Numbers - $9.99 App Store link
• Pages - $9.99 - [App Store link](mt=8 http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/click?id=xhXvKggNk&subid=&offerid=146261.1&type=10&tmpid=3909&RD_PARM1=http%3A%2F%2Fitunes.apple.com%2Fus%2Fapp%2Fpages%2Fid361309726%3Fmt%3D8)
• Keynote - $9.99 App Store link

Magazine and newspaper apps (Newsstand)

While many people seem to hate even the presence of Newsstand on their home screens, it actually manages to very neatly solve several problems previously associated with subscription media like magazines and newspapers. It's really just a custom folder, and magazines and newspapers are still served up as apps, but Newsstand keeps them all in one place, updates automagically when new issues "come out", and takes you to a subscription section of the App Store so you don't have to wade through games and novelty apps to find your periodicals.

Those magazine and newspaper apps had to update for iOS 5 to support Newsstand, but many already have and many more will update shortly. If subscriptions are your thing, Newsstand, if not perfect, is certainly better.

Note: Some apps are universal, many aren't. Check for the + symbol on a case-by-case basis.

• Variable - App Store link

Real Racing 2 and Real Racing 2 HD (AirPlay Mirroring)

FireMint is always at the cutting edge of iOS gaming and iOS 5 is no different. They've already updated Real Racing 2 for iPhone and Real Racing 2 HD for iPad to support the new AirPlay Mirroring feature. It lets you stream your iPhone 4S or iPad 2 interface -- including any app or game -- through an Apple TV to a big screen HDTV. FireMint takes it to a whole new level -- they offer full on Party Play. What that means is you and up to 4 people total can each use an iPhone 4S or iPad 2 to race, multiplayer style, on the big screen. Not only is that a whole lot of fun -- it's a shot across the bow of every console in the casual gaming space.

Hopefully soon we'll see all sorts of board games, shooters, and other great titles support to feature. Until then we'll be busy playing Real Racing 2.

Note: It's not a universal binary, so you'll have to buy it separately for iPhone and iPad if you want it on both, but right now it's on 40% sale so it's as close to a no brainer as you can get.

• $2.99 on sale - iPhone App Store
• $3.99 on sale - iPad App Store

iQuick Tweet (Twitter Integration)

iOS 5 has built-in Twitter integration so you can rapidly tweet a photo, YouTube video, etc. iQuick Tweet smartly took that rapidity and made it the focus of a dedicated app. You launch, you type a Twitter status, you hit send, you're done. It's just that simple and it's just that fast.

If you want to read timelines, search through @mentions, explore profiles, check trends, or do a lot of other stuff besides tweeting, there's an embarrassment of full fledged Twitter clients on iOS, but if all you want to do is blast off a message, iQuick Tweet has you covered.

• $0.99 - iPhone App Store link

foursquare (Location)

For iOS 5 users, foursquare now offers the new Radar feature, with ability to alert you when your friends are near and doing something fun -- even if your iPhone is in your pocket. This awesome -- or terrifying -- new feature means you don't have to have your iPhone out and foursquare open all the time, in constant fear you might miss out on what's happening around you. While it's not as granular as Apple's new Find my Friends app, if your goal is to know where the cool stuff is happening, foursquare Rader is a lot more powerful.

• Free - iPhone App Store

Bonus: Instapaper (Brightness and Dictionary)

Favored as the best way to devour web articles by geeks everywhere, Instapaper proves that it's not just the big, flashy iOS 5 features that can make a difference -- the little ones matter too. Support for the built-in dictionary and native brightness controls means downloading the app is faster, and reading your saved articles is more comfortable than ever. (The UI has also received an excellent overhaul.)

Note: Instapaper is a universal app so you can buy it once and use it on all your iOS devices.

• $4.99 - App Store link

Addenda: Jailbreak apps

A lot of Jailbreak apps and tweaks are also being updated to support iOS 5. If Jailbreak is where your heart lies, keep your browser locked on TiPb.com/Jailbreak for all the updates.

Your favorite new iOS 5 apps?

iOS 5 is only a week old and we've only just begun to scratch the surface of what iOS 5 apps and games will bring to our iPhones and iPads. Did we miss any of your favorites? Did we leave any of the best new apps and updates out? Is there anything else that should have made our top 5 list?

If so, speak up and let us know in the comments!

Apple held their Q4 2011 conference call today and as usual announced a ton of numbers pertaining to revenue, profit, sales, and more.

Revenue

• $28.7 billion in Q4 revenue
• $6.62 billion in Q4 net profit
• $7.05 per diluted share
• $81.6 billion available cash
• $54 billion in cash held off-shore
• Apple set a $37 billion guidance for fiscal Q1 (holiday)

Huge amount of cash, but not as much as Wall Street wanted, and get ready for the dividends questions again.

iOS

• 25 million iOS device sold in Q4
• 250 million iOS device sales to date (cumulative)

iPhone

• 17.1 million iPhones sold in Q4
• iPhone sales up 21% year over year
• iPhone 4S available in 7 countries, 22 more on their way
• 93% of Fortune 500 deploying or testing iPhones
• 60% of Global 500 deploying or testing iPhones

This doesn't include the 4 million iPhone 4S sold opening weekend, but does include a slow down in sales Apple attributes to all the rumors of a new iPhone coming out. (Um... yeah!)

iPad

• 11.12 million iPads sold in Q4
• iPad 2 available in 90 countries
• 52% of Global 500 deploying or testing iPads

Margins aren't as high for the iPad as for the iPhone so even great iPad (and Mac) sales can't make up for lower iPhone sales.

iPod

• 6.6 million iPod sales sold in Q4
• 3.3 million iPod touch sold in Q4 (50% of iPod sales)
• iPod still has more than 70% share in U.S. 10 years after introduced

17.1 million iPhones, 11.1 million iPads, and... 3.3 million iPod touches? Maybe questions about cannibalization shouldn't have been focused on Mac?

App Store and iTunes

• 18 billion App Store downloads
• 180 million iBookstore downloads
• 16 billion songs downloaded from iTunes

App Store downloads have surpassed iTunes Store downloads. And they're not slowing down. iBooks on the other hand remain a "hobby."

Mac

• 6 million Lion downloads, since its release this summer
• 4.89 million Macs sold in Q4

Nice little side business...

Retail Stores

• $10.7 million average revenue per Apple Store
• $108 billion in revenue for fiscal year, 66% growth over FY10
• 77.5 million Apple Store visits in Q4
• 16% of Apple’s revenue came from China
• 500,000 apps available on the App Store, available in 23 countries
• 13% of Apple’s revenue from retail
• 357 Apple Stores world-wide
• $3.6 billion in revenue from Apple Stores
• Apple plans to add 40 new Apple Stores next Q, 3/4 outside of U.S.
• All five stores combined in China have the most traffic
• 30 new Apple stores were added in Q4

Yeah, despite cranky Wall Street types, I think it's safe to say that Apple is doing just fine.

One of the announced features of iCloud is the ability to keep all your files from Apple's Pages, Numbers, and Keynote apps up to date. The update to those apps that bring this support is now available.

I am particularly excited about using Numbers with iCloud. I use Numbers on my iPad to record my students' grades, but sometimes I forget to bring my iPad to class. It never fails that those are the days that a student notices that I made a mistake and needs a grade changed. Before iCloud, I would make a note in my notes app and make the change later. Now, I'll just open the spreadsheet with Numbers on my iPhone, make the change, and it will be reflected on the spreadsheet on my iPad. Win.

You can create amazing documents and presentations on your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. And now with iCloud, you can keep your work up to date across all your iOS devices. You don’t have to save your work or transfer any files. Your documents — with all your latest edits — automatically appear everywhere.

Here are the update notes for all three apps.

Pages

• Automatically store your documents in iCloud and keep them up to date across all your iOS devices.
• Download your documents to a Mac or PC at icloud.com/iwork as Pages ’09, Word, or PDF files.
• Drag and drop Pages ’09, Word, or plain text documents to icloud.com from your Mac or PC to have them automatically appear on your iOS devices.
• Use your voice to create and edit Pages documents with dictation in iOS 5 on your iPhone 4S.
• Create footnotes and endnotes in your documents.
• View improved word counts with character, paragraph, and page counts.
• Improved compatibility with Microsoft Word and Pages ’09.
• Includes improved support for Chinese, Japanese, and Korean language input.

Numbers

• Automatically store your spreadsheets in iCloud and keep them up to date across all your iOS devices.
• Download your spreadsheets to a Mac or PC at icloud.com/iwork as Numbers ’09, Excel, or PDF files.
• Drag and drop Numbers ’09, Excel, or CSV files to icloud.com from your Mac or PC to have them automatically appear on your iOS devices.
• Use sliders, steppers, and pop-ups to easily enter data and explore results.
• Use Merge Cells to format your tables.
• Hide and show rows and columns.
• Improved compatibility with Microsoft Excel and Numbers ’09.
• Includes improved support for Chinese, Japanese, and Korean language input.

Keynote

• Automatically store your presentations in iCloud and keep them up to date across all your iOS devices.
• Download your presentations to a Mac or PC at icloud.com/iwork as Keynote ’09, PowerPoint, or PDF files.
• Drag and drop Keynote ’09 or PowerPoint presentations to icloud.com from your Mac or PC to have them automatically appear on your iOS devices.
• Use AirPlay to present wirelessly via Apple TV. Navigate slides, view presenter notes, and use the laser pointer while presenting from your iOS device.
• New builds and transitions including Anvil, Blinds, Color Panes, Comet, Confetti, Diffuse, and Sparkle.
• Advanced presentation controls including looped slideshows and autoplay.
• Support for slide-to-slide hyperlinks.
• Improved compatibility with Microsoft PowerPoint and Keynote ’09.
• Includes improved support for Chinese, Japanese, and Korean language input.

Pages, Numbers, and Keynote are available on the iPhone and iPad for $9.99 each.

[Pages App Store link] [Numbers App Store link] [Keynote App Store link]

Have an app you'd love to see featured on TiPb? Email us at iosapps@tipb.com, tell us about your app (include an iTunes link), and we'll take a look.

Just as with every past Apple keynote, Tim Cook began Tuesday's Let's talk iPhone event by discussing numbers for devices sold, apps downloaded, percent market share, etc. Let's take a look at those numbers:

Stores

• 100,000 visitors stopped by on opening weekend of the Shanghai store. It took the LA store to reach that many visitors.
• 357 total stores in 11 countries

Mac

• Six million copies of Lion downloaded so far - 80% more than Snow Leopard
• In comparison with Windows 7 - it took 20 weeks to reach 10% of the Windows install base. It took Lion two weeks.
• The MacBook Pro and the iMac are the number one best selling notebook and desktop in the United States
• Mac platform has grown by 23% since last year (the PC has grown by 4%)
• Approaching 60 million Mac users worldwide
• 23% market share for Apple as of August

iPod

• iPod has 78% of portable music player market share
• Over 300 million iPods have been sold (It took Sony 30 years to sell 220,000 Walkman cassette players)
• 45 million iPods sold from July 2010 to June 2011
• 20 million songs on iTunes- twenty times what the service launched with
• 16 billion songs downloaded from iTunes

iPhone

• The iPhone 4 makes up half of the overall iPhone market
• 125 percent growth year-over-year for iPhone sales
• 70% customer satisfaction with iPhone (HTC is second with 49%)
• iPhone is 5% percent of the overall mobile phone market

iPad

• Every state in the US has an iPad deployment program
• 1,000 schools have a 1:1 program
• Over 80% of the hospitals in the US are testing or piloting iPad
• 92% of Fortune 500 companies are testing or deploying iPads
• #1 tablet in the world - 75% of all tablets sold are iPads

iOS

• More than 250 million devices sold
• #1 mobile operating system - 43% share compared to Android's 33%

Apps

• More than 500,000 apps in the App Store
• 140,000 iPad specific apps
• 18 billion downloaded apps
• More than 1 billion apps downloaded per month
• Apple has paid out $3 billion to developers

This last statistic is the interesting one to me, because Apple never mentions how much their cut of the app sales is. Well, I did the math for you, and Apple has earned nearly $1.3 billion in app sales. Not too shabby.

Here are the winners from our last few contests, including our Jabra DRIVE giveaway to keep you connected in the car, BookBook to keep your wallet and iPhone in one place, iWork to help you get back to school (or work), and MoneyWiz to help you keep track of all the cash you saved due to awesome TiPb giveaways! If you didn't win, don't worry, we also have a bunch of great new contests under way, so check them out and enter now!

Jabra DRIVE Bluetooth Speakerphone

• rodger3gs

BookBook for iPhone 4

• Justin Long

Numbers, Pages, and Keynote

• Numbers
  • Topypunk
  • Bacco
  • Cfroisland
  • Russell Nutt
  • Hardy Mayer
• Pages
  • Knedberg
  • Chicks2180
  • captainmorgan
  • David Peters
  • Njchenard
• Keynote
  • Humbleteacher
  • TeeHeck
  • Franzenjg
  • kenston
  • Craftytony

MoneyWiz

• Bobby1210
• Jimmy
• Jeremy
• Matt8823
• Prheckman

More chances to win!

These contests are still open, so hurry up and enter!

• Win a FREE Naztech N15 3.5mm Mini Boom Speaker!
• App Giveaway: MadPad by Smule
• App Giveaway: wake N shake – The Merciless Alarm Clock Pro Shaker Edition for iPhone
• App Giveaway: Fluke HD for iPad
• App Giveaway: Alert Notes for iPhone

If you won you will be receiving an email either from us or directly from the retailer/developer in the next few days. (If for some reason you don't receive an email within 7-14 days -- be sure to check your spam/junk folder just in case -- you can email us at news@tipb.com and we'll be sure to get you taken care of! Please be patient as some prizes may take longer than others to arrive. Congrats to all the winners, and if you didn't win this time, we have lots of contests you can enter now, and more on their way!

It's that time of year again - back to school! With school, comes papers, projects, and presentations, so TiPb is going to add some excitement to these otherwise non-enjoyable things and gift two copies of each of the apps in Apple's iWork touch suite: Pages, Numbers, and Keynote! Excited?

For a chance to win, all you have to do is leave a comment telling us which app you want and why (which classes will you use it for). If you're not in school, that's ok too, just let us know how having the app will benefit you.

Ready? Set? Go!

Must have a US or Canadian iTunes account to win. Apple's rule, not ours!

Apple has released new iCloud-enabled betas for their iWork apps -- Keynote, Pages, and Numbers to developers. The betas, available exclusively through Apple's iOS developer portal, are universal apps for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad, and no additional features other than iCloud support appear to have been added.

Documents in the Cloud was one of the key iCloud features announced by Steve Jobs at WWDC and the iWork for iOS beta apps are the first test implementation of that feature.

The beta apps come in a DMG file and need to be extracted, dragged to iTunes 10.5 beta 4, and then synced over to an iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad running iOS 5 beta 4. (And yes, it's somewhat ironic the first iCloud enabled versions of iWork can't be installed OTA over iCloud, but this is a beta, right?)

Note: It looks like some people aren't having luck syncing the iWork apps over, or wait for them to sync only to watch them disappear immediately after syncing. We're not sure what's causing that, and what's allowing for successful syncs, but let us know how you fair in the comments.

Every week a few of us from team TiPb will bring you our current favorite, most fun and useful App Store apps, WebApps, jailbreak apps, even the occasional accessory, web site, or desktop app if the mood strikes us. As long as they’re iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch related, they’re fair game.

To see what we picked, and to tell us your pick, follow on after the break!

Wunderlist – @chrisoldroyd

This app was inspired by Leanna's App for That post last week and I can see why she chose it. This app is superb for creating, sharing and syncing lists of to do items between users.

My wife and I share the grocery shopping in our home. We now make lists which are synced between out iPhones automatically. Once we have a list, either of us can add to it and it always stays in sync across our devices.

When you are in the store you can open the list and check off the items as you get them; and it works perfectly. I have been looking for an app like this for some time and now I have it. What's even better is that it is multi-platform and free! Now the wife nags me silently with Wunderlist so my ears are saved! (Hope she doesn’t read this)

Wunderlist syncs between iPhone, iPad, Android, Mac, and Windows. Syncing is seamless and in the cloud. If you’re concerned about security, Wunderlist has got you covered with SSL 128 bit encryption over HTTPS too.

[Free - iTunes link]

Day One - @sethclifford

I love, love, LOVE apps that hook into Dropbox, because it means that I don't have to worry about re-syncing data when I restore devices (and lately, that's often, since it's beta season). I've got all kinds of note-taking apps, but I decided I wanted a different way to capture thoughts and little things that happen on a daily basis; more of a journal/diary type of app that I could look through by date and just recall the events of the day. I found Day One recently, and it's wonderful. It's a universal iOS app that not only syncs with Dropbox, but also has a companion Mac app that is available in the Mac App Store. It's an elegantly designed system that is simple enough to quickly jot down what's on your mind, and the fact that it's on all three platforms makes it very easy to capture items before you forget them. You've got a passcode lock, so your more private thoughts are protected, and with TextExpander support, you can save even more time. It's just text for now, but iCloud sync, tags, and photos are coming soon, and the developer was very responsive to my questions about future features. If you're looking for a nice little way to log some ideas, Day One is a contender.

[$1.99 - iTunes link]

Google+ web app - @iMuggle

Ok, it isn't an official App Store app (yet), but it's still implemented a lot better than that "other" social network's default iPhone app that constantly crashes or fails to push me notifications. To be honest, I use the web app version of Facebook more than the native app. Google+ is still one of the better mobile web apps I've seen.

I may not have push notifications (yet) but the layout is clean and easy to navigate. You can easily create a Google+ shortcut on your homescreen for easy access as well. While we all wait for Google+ to go public and for the native app to appear, the web app has managed to keep me entertained and meets my needs just fine for now. I actually find it quite enjoyable to browse and use.

Procreate - @reneritchie

Savage Interactive is going to be our guest on this Monday's episode of Iterate, our new mobile design podcast, and so I've been spending some time this week using the app as preparation. And loving it. There's such a visceral thrill that comes from finger painting with digital ink, with pushing colored pixels around an iPad canvas, from layering, from smudging, from bending it to your will until it realizes your imagination.

There are a lot of bitmap painting apps in the App Store, but Procreate offers all the power you'd expect in a UI that's both apparent and approachable. Your tools are all neatly laid out around your canvas, they quickly come up when you call them, and they quietly go away when you tap out of them. No fuss, no muss. Just fun.

And I do mean fun. There's something incredibly liberating about having the grid and the mouse and the pixel precision of Photoshop taken away from you. You're left to explore the touch and the color and the spaces negative and positive, and the feel of the medium. Cool screen, hot results. Just ask my little friend, the dragon....

[$4.99 - iTunes link]

Camera - @Alli_Flowers

More and more I use the iPhone's camera, not just for taking video or photos, but as a document camera. I realized how dependent I had become on this feature during a recent visit to relatives.

Both my nephews received shiny new laptops from their doting grandfather, and his first recommendation was to register them. I could barely contain the laughter watching these two boys tipping their laptops up so they could copy the registration number from the bottom into the form on the screen. Both of them have smartphones with cameras, so I showed them how I deal with this kind of issue. Tilt the laptop once, snap a picture of the serial number tag from the bottom - return to productivity. Not only can you now comfortably copy the serial number (and enlarge it with a simple pinch if the numbers are too tiny to read), but by saving that .jpg, you now have a permanent record in case of loss or theft.

I do this in my classroom as well. Best idea I ever had, since the person responsible for inventory loses her database at least twice a year, causing us to have to send her serial numbers for our computers, printers, smartboards, etc. I now have a file with photos. Every time she requests serial numbers, I just email her the whole folder (which, yes, I have backed up in multiple locations).

Your iPhone's camera can be your ticket to replacements with your insurance company. In case of theft or fire, they want a list of your losses - along with serial numbers. Start now!

Numbers - @llofte

As many of you know, I am a math instructor and part of being a teacher is keeping track of grades. Numbers on my iPad is perfect for this. I have my spreadsheets set up to find the totals of each grade category and calculate their final grade. I even specifically designed them so that they determine the students' current grades so when I'm inevitably asked "what's my grade in the class right now", I can whip out my iPad and give them an immediate answer.

Students (even college students) also occasionally forget to put their names on their quizzes. So while I'm returning the graded quizzes, someone ends up claiming the unnamed quiz. Before, this would be a pain for me because I'd have to write down who gets the score and remember to add it to my spreadsheet at home. Now I just pull out my iPad during class and update their grade right there.

[$0.99 - iTunes link]

Flipboard - @Moe_NYC (Reader's Choice)

My pick of the week is Flipboard. It is the best way to access news, magazines and your social networks in a gorgeous magazine-style interface. You can add your networks and your desired content which will be added to the app desktop into tiles that look great.

In addition to the most popular social networks (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Flickr, etc.), you have access to ever increasing content from news sources, magazines, editor's picks and much more. The new update provides an always accessible red ribbon which you can tap to access content broken down into categories.

Flipboard is the way I would like to see online news (CNN, NYT, WSJ) done on the iPad. This is just perfect.

Your pick?

You’re part of the team as well, so we will be choosing one reader to make a submission each week! Just look for the announcement on twitter or our Facebook page each weekend for a chance to be picked! In the meantime, let us know your pick of the week!

Every week a few of us from team TiPb will bring you our current favorite, most fun and useful App Store apps, WebApps, jailbreak apps, even the occasional accessory, web site, or desktop app if the mood strikes us. As long as they’re iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch related, they’re fair game.

To see what we picked, and to tell us your pick, follow on after the break!

Super Stickman Golf – @chrisoldroyd

This week’s pick is Super Stickman Golf. Since my brother bought an iPad 2 we have started playing a few online games. This is one of the most fun to play. Super Stickman Golf is a simple graphics game but a highly sophisticated physics type golf game.

The idea is obviously to get a little white ball in a hole in as few shots as possible. That is where the golf parts comes in; after that it’s not golf at all. You can stick your ball on walls and ceilings, stop the ball in mid air, it is pretty much golf gone mad but a lot of fun.

Now the latest update has brought multi-player for up to four players to the table, it is a great choice for some fun with your friends.

[$0.99 - iTunes Link]

SBRotator -- @andrewwray

SBRotator is a jailbreak tweak that lets you rotate your iPhone Homescreen into landscape orientation. The mod is slick, clean and intuitive with a number of great features to make it a complete jailbreak package you can use without any hassle. SBRotator won't add any icons to your springboard, but instead packs a number of options right into the stock Settings app.

You can scale your icons down in size to help keep a clean look while your iPhone is in landscape mode, and the developer went the extra mile by letting users choose whether or not to keep icon labels when in landscape to help cut down on visual clutter. You can also mimic the way the iPad handles landscape rotation by altering rows/columns, rotate your wallpaper and set which orientation you want your iPhone to default to after a restart or respring. Another great feature is the ability to force stock apps like Settings, Youtube, Maps and the App Store to allow landscape rotation -- something I personally love about this mod. If you love that the iPad allows landscape orientation and wish your iPhone could do the same, this is exactly what you've been looking for.

SBRotator is available for both iOS 3.x devices as well as iOS 4.x -- give it a try and tell us how you like it!

[$1.99 - Cydia link]

iWork for iPhone - @reneritchie

They dropped it in a press release. We've been waiting over a year, since Apple's iWork Suite -- Pages, Numbers, and Keynote -- was redesigned for iOS with the original iPad, for it to become a universal app that also works on iPhone. And Apple dropped it in a press release. That speaks to a couple interesting things. First, Apple won't have time for anything as "small" as iWork for iPhone during the WWDC keynote on Monday. Second, Apple will have their productivity suite ready and waiting on Mac, iPad, and iPhone come the WWDC keynote on Monday.

Taken right now, iWork for iPhone are interesting apps. They're beautifully designed, of course. They're easy to use, for touch screen productivity tools. But it's still a complete pain to move documents back and forth between iPhone, iPad, and Mac. That's a problem because as good as iWork for iPhone makes small touch screen, I'll almost never use it to create full documents. I will use it -- sometimes urgently -- to fix mistakes I made in docs created on my Mac. For that, great apps need a great way to round trip.

So I'm picking iWork for iPhone this week, because they're good apps that just need a great interconnecting service -- an iCloud -- to make them great.

[$9.99 - Pages on iTunes]

[$9.99 - Numbers on iTunes]

[$9.99 - Keynote on iTunes]

Remote - @iMuggle

We have 2 AppleTVs in the house; one in the living room and one in the bedroom. I am notorious for losing those stupid little silver remotes. But you can bet I never lose my iPhone. Ever.

The Remote app is great for controlling the AppleTV and I use it pretty much all the time (probably more than any other app on my iPhone or iPad). Typing search terms with the silver remote they come with is daunting. From my iPhone, I can type fast and get to content even faster.

It's free and a must have for anyone who owns an AppleTV. Do you use your AppleTV remote or the Remote app? Let us know!

[Free - iTunes Link]

Grocery IQ - jdipane (Reader's Choice)

For me, remembering to grab everything that we need at the grocery store is a struggle, and I hate to be caught with an old fashion grocery list, partially because my fiancée has all Hello Kitty paper in the house.

Grocery IQ is a great list application that allows users to create and share various lists so that they don't leave without buying everything that they need. Once an item is added to the list, users can check mark it which adds it to your "cart". At the end of your trip, you simply checkout from the trip and the items you marked will be removed from your list. Grocery IQ also has coupons.com integration so you can view additional coupons and save some extra money while on the go - which everyone loves to do! With all the features that are found in this application, and the ease of use, it is a must download.

[Free - iTunes link]

Your pick?

You’re part of the team as well, so we will be choosing one reader to make a submission each week! Just look for the announcement on twitter or our Facebook page each weekend for a chance to be picked! In the meantime, jump into the comments and let us know your pick of the week!

Apple has announced the availability of the iWork suite for the iPhone and iPod touch as universal apps which are now available in the App Store.

Now you can use Keynote, Pages and Numbers on iPhone and iPod touch to create amazing presentations, documents and spreadsheets right in the palm of your hand,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “The incredible Retina display, revolutionary Multi-Touch interface and our powerful software make it easy to create, edit, organize and share all of your documents from iPhone 4 or iPod touch.”

Keynote, Pages and Numbers import and export documents from iWork for Mac and Microsoft Office; print wirelessly using AirPrint; and include beautiful Apple-designed themes and templates. All iWork apps now include improved document management with thumbnail images that let you find your files quickly, organize them and group them into folders using intuitive gestures. From the Tools button in the toolbar, you can easily share any presentation, document or spreadsheet without leaving the app.

Check out more screenshots and full press release below.

All apps included in the suite come with features to match the iPad versions, including the ability to create documents for printing through AirPrint and sharing via iTunes local file sharing. The document manager included in each app comes with a familiar "folders" look and feel, and the suite includes free upgrades for those who have already purchased the apps for the iPad.

Will you be using iWorks on your iPhone or iPod touch?

[Apple]

CUPERTINO, California—May 31, 2011—Apple® today announced that its groundbreaking iWork® productivity apps, Keynote®, Pages® and Numbers®, are now available for iPhone® and iPod touch®, as well as iPad®. Created for the Mac® and then completely redesigned for iOS and Apple’s revolutionary Multi-Touch™ interface, Keynote, Pages and Numbers allow you to create and share stunning presentations, beautifully formatted documents and powerful spreadsheets on the go. iWork apps are available on the App Store™ for $9.99 each to new users and as a free update for existing iWork for iPad customers.

“Now you can use Keynote, Pages and Numbers on iPhone and iPod touch to create amazing presentations, documents and spreadsheets right in the palm of your hand,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “The incredible Retina display, revolutionary Multi-Touch interface and our powerful software make it easy to create, edit, organize and share all of your documents from iPhone 4 or iPod touch.”

Keynote, Pages and Numbers import and export documents from iWork for Mac and Microsoft Office; print wirelessly using AirPrint™; and include beautiful Apple-designed themes and templates. All iWork apps now include improved document management with thumbnail images that let you find your files quickly, organize them and group them into folders using intuitive gestures. From the Tools button in the toolbar, you can easily share any presentation, document or spreadsheet without leaving the app.

Keynote makes it easy to create impressive presentations, complete with animated charts and transitions. You can play your presentation in Full Screen view on the stunning, high-resolution Retina™ display or connect to a projector or HDTV for a large audience. Available separately, the Keynote Remote app allows your iPhone or iPod touch to control a Keynote presentation on any iOS device or Mac.

Pages is the most beautiful word processor ever designed for a mobile device and has everything you need to create amazing documents. Pages takes full advantage of the high-resolution Retina display on iPhone 4 and iPod touch so you can see all the detail and richness of your documents. To make working with text easy on iPhone and iPod touch, Smart Zoom automatically zooms in to follow the cursor while you’re editing and zooms back out when you’re done.

Numbers uses Multi-Touch gestures and an intelligent keyboard to help you create compelling, great-looking spreadsheets with over 250 easy-to-use functions, flexible tables and eye-catching charts. Just like Pages, Numbers takes advantage of the high-resolution Retina display and Smart Zoom to make working with text and cells on iPhone 4 or iPod touch easy.

Pricing & Availability Keynote, Pages and Numbers are universal apps that run on iPad and iPad 2, iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4, and iPod touch (3rd & 4th generation). Keynote, Pages and Numbers are available from the App Store for $9.99 (US) each for new users, or as a free update for existing iWork for iPad customers. Keynote Remote is sold separately via the App Store for 99 cents (US).

Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple has reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and has recently introduced iPad 2 which is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices.

When it comes to document editing and creation on the iPad, two solutions really stand out: Apple's iWork Suite (Pages, Numbers, and Keynote) and DataViz's Documents to Go app. Which is better? Well, I wish the decision was that easy.

Both apps (or set of apps in iWork's case -- you can buy each separately) allow you to edit and create documents, spreadsheets and presentations. iWork also has the advantage of using Apple's iWork format and Office format as well and is beautifully designed. Documents to Go does a stellar job of rendering and editing Microsoft's Office format. Let's begin by looking at each app a little more in-depth. I will focus primarily on the differences of how each application handles their word processing since this is the number one reason people would use these apps and, you probably don't want a mini-novel to read. There is an incredible amount to discuss with both iWork and Documents to Go, I cannot conceivably cover it all here. My goal is to give you a detailed enough overview to help you decided which app will work best for you.

iWork

Apple sells the iWork Suite of applications for $9.99 each. The individual apps are Pages (word processor), Numbers (spreadsheet) and Keynote (presentations). Pages looks amazing. Just the aesthetic alone let's you know this isn't "baby software", but the real deal. When you start off by creating a new document, you are presented with several beautiful templates to get you started. For our purposes, we will look at a standard blank document. You have a standard document toolbar at the top of the screen. The Body button gives you a good set of default styles. To the right you have the traditional Bold, Italics and Underline buttons. Finally you have a tab-like icon that gives you the ability to enter a tab, line break, column or page break. Wow, that is some serious stuff there.

On the top of the screen you have an "i" button. This allows you to define a style, lists and indents, text alignment and line spacing. To the right is the picture icon that inserts pictures, tables, charts and shapes. Finally you have the wrench icon that essentially has your settings for Pages; Find, margins, watermarks and more can be found here.

Once you begin typing, you have a very familiar experience, it's just like a desktop whether you have been using a Mac or a PC. Use the tab button to quickly indent. Use the ruler to adjust alignments or place tab stops. Regardless, the interface is simple yet powerful. Do you have a multiple page document? A new innovative feature uses the ability to tap and hold in the right margin. This will bring up a magnifying glass that shows you a thumbnail preview of your page. Drag your finger down and it will preview the other pages in your document. Release on the desired page and Pages will instantly open the previewed page for you; no clumsy flicking or endless scrolling needed.

When your document is done, you can email it, share via iWork.com, send it to iTunes, copy it to iDisk or copy it to WebDav. The most popular method is to email. It is important to note that Pages creates your document in the .pages format which is not compatible with any other word processing application other than iWork for Mac. So, when you email your document, you are given three choices: send it as a Pages, PDF or .Doc format. The .doc option is compatible with PCs and PDF is comparable with just about any computer platform, but is not natively editable. If you send in Pages and PDF formats you will be quite pleased with the results. If you create a complex document with graphics, columns, , etc. and send via .doc format, your results may differ. I typically only create boring APA (American Psychological Association) formatted documents, and when sent via .doc format, they render beautifully. The same goes with importing a document, from say, from email. Though Pages does a really good job of opening and editing .doc documents, it is not flawless and some formatting loss can happen. Apple has improved this process with each update, but it is still not perfect. However, this is one of Pages strong points, it actually supports more than one format. You can also easily upload and download documents from the "cloud" via the iDisk and WebDav options.

At the end of the day, iWork gives you a beautiful robust set of tools for not only word processing but for spreadsheet calculations and creating presentations as well. Many of the same features carry over such as sending in Microsoft-friendly formats and access your files from the cloud. Though these apps are not perfect, they offer advanced features, many of which have only been available on desktop applications, until now.

[Pages - $9.99 - iTunes link]

[Numbers - $9.99 - iTunes link]

[Keynote - $9.99 - iTunes link]

Documents to Go

I have used Documents to Go (Docs to Go) for years, ever since the Palm V days of old. These guys have been at it for a while and I was expecting big things from them on the iPad and for the most part, Docs to Go doesn't disappoint. Docs to Go is a single app that supports a wide array of files for viewing and Office files for editing and sells for $16.99 or $9.99 in the App Store. The launch screen is divided into several sections; Local files, Desktop files, Online files, Recents, Search and Settings. Yes, Docs to Go has a very robust means to access your files and search them.

Once you open a file in the Word app, one feature I noticed immediately that I really liked is the ability to pinch and zoom the text to the appropritea size. The text wraps around in real-time which is cool. After deciding on the fone size you like, It's off to write your text. You have the typical fanfare as iWork does with text formats, colors, paragraph alingments, etc. Docs to Go does not support more advanced features in it's word processing app like real-time image arrangement as iWork does, but it gets the besics done well and cleanly. Two quibbles that I have is that Docs to Go was not developed with the iPad in mind, it is basically a big iPhone app, which is such a shame. Menus are designed for the iPhone, not the iPad. What do I mean? A good example is the placement of the formating buttons; they are along the bottom of the app. At first that may not sound like a bad idea, however, when you are typing, the keyboard appears and hides the buttons so you can't format while you time. Is it a deal breaker? No, but annoying none-the-less.

For me, where Docs to Go really shines over the competition is its "Intact" technology. At work, I use Microsoft Word to create my documents. Admittedly, I sometimes use fancy formats, tables, images, etc. As I mentioned earlier, these may not render very well in Pages. With Docs to Go however, if the app doesn't know what the object is on the document, it doesn't even try to render it, instead it gives you a "?" placeholder that tells you "if you delete me, you will lose this feature when you sync back your document". What a life saver! You can edit a document and not have to worry about loosing formating any more.

Other benefits of Docs to Go include the fact that it is a universal binary, so buy it once and you can use on the iPhone and iPad, not a bad deal at al. You can also sync via iTunes Sharing and Docs to Go's own Wi-Fi sharing app for PC and Mac.

[Documents to Go Premium - $16.99 - iTunes link]

[Documents to Go - $9.99 - iTunes link

Conclusion

You can also find previous reviews of these apps, Here for Pages and Here for Docs to Go.

The three apps in Apple's iWork for iPad collection, Pages, Keynote, and Numbers, received updates today. Common to all three is the following:

• Wireless printing with AirPrint using iOS 4.2, including page range selection, number of copies, and duplex printing.
• Support for iOS 4.2 multitasking.
• Localized in Portuguese, Danish, Finnish, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Swedish, and Traditional Chinese.
• Improved reliability when importing iWork ’09 and Microsoft Office documents and spreadsheets.
• Improved usability.
• Fixed issues when using a WebDAV server, including signing out when a server is no longer accessible, saving port numbers in server addresses, and saving files with invalid characters in their names.
• Improved PDF export using iOS 4.2, which resolves an issue with missing fonts on Windows.

In addition, Pages has automatic pagination of tables that cross a page break. Numbers received print preview to adjust how a sheet prints across multiple pages, including Auto Fit, and PDF export takes advantage of pagination settings from print preview. Lastly, Keynote has an enhanced presenter display that shows the current slide, the next slide, or your notes when connected to an external display, and the ability to import existing and add new presenter notes to slides.

These are significant updates to the trio, particularly AirPrint wireless printing and support for iOS 4.2 multitasking. If you get a chance to try them out, let us know what you think!

Apple's MobileMe News has posted a helpful entry on using MobileMe's iDisk for easier file transfer for the just-updated iWork apps for iPad.

With the latest Keynote, Pages and Numbers for iPad, you can now transfer your documents directly to and from your MobileMe iDisk so you can work on them anywhere you have an Internet connection. For example, create a new Pages document on your iPad and copy it directly to your iDisk. Then, when you are back at your Mac, open the document from iDisk and continue editing right where you left off.

If you're working from a Windows PC, access your iDisk with a browser at me.com/idisk and upload an existing Microsoft Office document. Copy the document into Keynote, Pages or Numbers on your iPad to view it or make edits. When you've finished working on the document, copy it back to your iDisk as either an iWork, Microsoft Office or PDF file.

It will also work with WebDAV. Would that it would work with Box.net, DropBox, and GoogleDocs...

[MobileMe News]

Apple has released version 1.2 updates for their iWork touch suite -- Keynote, Numbers, and Pages for iPad. Microsoft Office export and MobileMe iDisk compatibility headline the new features. No word on AirPrint, of course, but knowing Apple they'll only pull that trigger once iOS 4.2 goes into general release and not a millisecond sooner (though we'd dearly love to be proven wrong on that).

For the full list, follow on after the break.

[$9.99 each - Keynote iTunes link, Numbers iTunes link, Pages iTunes link, thanks Rich, Jørn, and Jeremy!]

Keynote 1.2

• Export presentations to Microsoft PowerPoint (.PPT) format.
• Copy presentations between Keynote and your MobileMe iDisk or a WebDAV service.
• Support for audio in builds when importing Keynote ’09 presentations.
• Ability to group and ungroup objects.
• Add animated builds to grouped objects.
• Lens Flare, Spin and Wipe build animations.
• Revolving Door, Swoosh and Wipe slide transition animations.
• Improved slide size conversion when importing Keynote ’09 presentations.
• Import and export Keynote ’09 tables with image background fills in cells.
• Improved export of tables with customized borders.
• Improved font matching when importing Keynote ’09 or Microsoft PowerPoint presentations.
• Improved creation and editing of web hyperlinks.
• Improved text options for tables including font, size and color settings for individual cells.
• Improved usability and reliability when sharing presentations with iWork.com public beta.
• Improved reliability when importing presentations with large images.
• Improved reliability when importing and exporting presentations with overlapping objects.
• Improved reliability and performance when importing Microsoft PowerPoint presentations.

Numbers 1.2

• Export spreadsheets to Microsoft Excel (.XLS) format.
• Copy spreadsheets between Numbers and your MobileMe iDisk or a WebDAV service.
• Ability to group and ungroup objects.
• Open CSV files from Mail and other apps.
• Import and export Numbers ’09 tables with image background fills in cells.
• Improved export of tables with customized borders.
• Improved font matching when importing Numbers ’09 or Microsoft Excel spreadsheets.
• Improved creation and editing of hyperlinks in text boxes.
• Improved text options for tables including font, size and color settings for individual cells.
• Improved usability and reliability when sharing spreadsheets with iWork.com public beta.
• Improved reliability when importing spreadsheets with large images.
• Improved reliability when importing and exporting spreadsheets with overlapping objects.
• Improved reliability and performance when importing Microsoft Excel spreadsheets.

Pages 1.2

• Copy documents between Pages and your MobileMe iDisk or a WebDAV service.
• Option to display the word count for your document.
• Support for opening .txt files from Mail.
• Ability to group and ungroup objects.
• Import and export existing footnotes, endnotes, sections and tables of contents.
• Import and export Pages ’09 tables with image background fills in cells.
• Improved export of tables with customized borders.
• Improved font matching when importing a Pages or Microsoft Word document.
• Improved creation and editing of hyperlinks.
• Improved text options for tables including font, size and color settings for individual cells.
• Improved usability and reliability when sharing documents via iWork.com public beta.
• Improved reliability when importing documents with large images.
• Improved reliability when importing and exporting documents with overlapping objects.
• Improved handling of fonts when exporting documents to Microsoft Word.
• Improved reliability and performance when importing Microsoft Word documents.

As always, if you try them out, let us know how that new export and iDisk functionality works for you!

You have a big presentation to give for your job and you have very carefully created the perfect Keynote with your Mac. Every little detail was meticulously chosen, including the font. The big day is here and you excitedly transfer the project to your iPad as this will be your means of delivering your presentation. But to your dismay, when you open your document in Keynote for iPad, you get a popup informing you that the font you chose is missing and may look different! But your font selection was an important detail to you, so instead of delivering your Keynote presentation with your iPad, you bitterly drag your 17 inch MacBook Pro along and give a subpar delivery of your speech because of the disappointment you experienced earlier that morning.

It's situations like this that has brought Jeffery Zeldman to write a petition to Apple asking that they bring more font support to the iPad, specifically the iWork suite of applications.

I sometimes spend weeks on a Keynote presentation, and so do my colleagues. We’d love to be able to work on them whether we have a Mac or an iPad at hand—that, after all, is the promise of the devices we buy from you; frankly, it is the promise of all computers. But when the iPad loses my fonts, it loses me. A Keynote presentation with substitute fonts is of no use to me, except perhaps as a rehearsal tool—and I can just as easily rehearse with a PDF.

Do you share Jeffery's frustration? Have you been disappointed with the lack of font support in Pages, Keynote, or Numbers? Or perhaps this is the first you've heard about this and find it unacceptable. If so, let us know and head on over Jeffery's website to sign his petition.

[zeldman.com]

Apple is either prepping iWork for iPhone or is making a some interesting art and copy blunders lately. iWork, which includes Apple's word processor, Pages, presentation software, Keynote, and spreadsheet app, Numbers was released alongside the iPad last April. Right after the iPhone 4 was announced and the product pages went live on apple.com, the Mail feature page showed off a button that offered to "send to Keynote", much like iPad mail which can do just that.

That image was quickly replaced with one that offered to "send to iBooks" instead. Now, iWork for iPhone has popped up again. An AppleCare advisory in the UK says that software support is included for "Using iWork for iPhone and other Apple-branded iPhone apps.

Is Apple working on making their flagship iPad apps universal? Or are these just coincidental errors?

UPDATE: 9to5mac now has blurry-cam pics up of what they've been told is the Pages for iPhone beta. Real, fake, or really fake? Check them out below...

[Mobiture via 9to5.mac, update link: 9to5mac]

During the WWDC 2010 keynote today, Steve jobs did his usual bragging announcement of the numbers for devices sold, apps downloaded, percent market share, etc.

• 2 million iPads sold (one every 3 seconds)
• iPad available in 10 countries, 19 countries in July
• 8500 iPad apps in the App Store. These apps have been downloaded over 35 million times which is about 17 apps per iPad.
• iBooks sold 5 million books in the first 65 days. That's about 2 and a half books per iPad.
• iBooks is responsible for 22% of eBook sales
• Over 225,000 apps in App Store
• 5 billion downloads from the App Store
• Apple has paid out 1 billion dollars to developers
• Receive 15,000 app submissions per week. 97% of them are approved within 7 days.
• Nielsen reports that smartphone market share is the following: 35% RIM, 28% iPhone, 19% Windows, 9% Android, 9% other.
• US mobile usages breakdown: 58.2% iPhone, 22.7% Android, 12.7% RIM, 6.4% other.
• 150 million credit card accounts between iTunes, App Store, and iBookstore - biggest on the web.
• iAds are projected to represent 48% of the mobile advertising market in the second half of 2010.

Are you impressed with any of these numbers?

[image via gdgt]

Apple's bravura attempt to bring productivity apps to multitouch, the iWork for iPad suite of Pages [$9.99 - iTunes link], Numbers [$9.99 - iTunes link], and Keynote [$9.99 - iTunes link] are now all available in the US iTunes App Store.

(We're guessing Apple is waiting to roll them out internationally until the iPad officially rolls out internationally in "late April", though they could conceivably hit any time).

These will be defining apps for Apple and the iPad, both in terms of the price point they're setting and in how far they can go in convincing people the iPad can be used to create and not just consume.

If/when you try them out let us know if they're good, good enough, or just not. Apple Guided Tour videos after the break!

YouTube link

YouTube link

YouTube link

During the It's only rock and roll, but we like it special music event, as usual, Apple spent some time up front discussing numbers. And as is increasingly usual when it comes to the music leg of their business, those numbers tend towards the HUGE. To date:

• 30 million iPhones sold
• 20 million iPod touches sold

That makes 50 million iPhone OS X platform device on the market, up from 45 million on July 21.

• 75,000 apps in the iTunes App Store
• 1.8 billion downloads (not counting updates)

Still no breakdown of paid vs. free, but up from 3,000 this time last year, and 65,000 and 1.5 billion back on July 14.

In terms of games, compared with other mobile platforms, here's the library count:

• 21,178 for Apple iPhone/iPod touch
• 3,680 for Nintendo DS
• 607 for Sony PSP

But wait, there's more...

iTunes and iPod is still doing gangbusters.

• #1 music retailer in the world
• 100,000,000 accounts (credit cards) on file
• 8.5 billion songs sold
• 27 million libraries submitted and analyzed by Genius
• 54 billion songs submitted and analyzed by Genius
• 100 million iPod nanos sold
• 220 million iPods in total sold

What do those numbers look like in the MP3 player space -- which everyone including Apple believes is a shrinking business compared to more heavily convergent devices like the iPhone?

• 73.3% iPod
• 17.9% Other
• 7.2% Sandisk
• 1.1% Microsoft

Zune numbers look down from last year, iPod not wildly better. Maybe everyone including Apple is right? Still, even on a downward curve:

• Over 50% of iPod owners are new to the platform

As part of the iPhone 3.0 Preview Event today, Apple announced that their iPhone OS, which powers both the iPhone and the iPod touch, is now on 30 million devices -- including 17 million iPhones (presumable 2G and 3G) by December, 2008. And while we're admittedly mathlexic around here, but that sounds like the first admission of iPod touch sales to us, which would peg them at 13 million?

Along with previous stats that have been guestimated (like 25,000 apps in the App Store), Apple also announced over 800 million app downloads (!!) to date, and 800,000 iPhone SDK downloads as well.

Staggering. Numbers. Indeed.

So while Apple is ramping up production of the iPhone 3G, it looks like the rest of the cell phone industry is in a serious slump. Kind of. According to the NPD, (via Ars Technica) only 28 million cell phones were sold this quarter representing a 13% year-to-year decline. But looking specifically at the model-by-model numbers, it looks like everyone is enjoying success on Motorola's dime.

"Quarterly unit-sales of handsets fell to their lowest level, since NPD begin tracking the category in 2005," NPD director of industry analysis Ross Rubin said in a statement. "Even so, most major manufacturers picked up market share that was lost by Motorola."

In related news, MobileSafari has been on an absolute tear since the release of the iPhone 3G. According to Analysts, (via MacDailyNews) MobileSafari has nearly doubled its market share to 0.31% since the launch. Doing rudimentary math, having more handsets on the market that are twice as fast as the old one, well, I guess it adds up.

And to top it all off, our friends at Engadget have created an iPhone specific web page. Why, you ask? Because in 2008, the iPhone/iPod Touch Family has accounted for nearly 96% of all mobile views on their full Engadget site. That's just jaw dropping.

So that's the state of the industry. Surprised that the iPhone 3G has had such an effect on the numbers? What's to come?