The batch offers a sneak peek of what's to come for the iPad and how users will be able to utilize the device, which Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveiled in January.
The iTunes store currently offers more than 2,500 iPad apps, many of which will be familiar to iPhone and iTouch users, such as Twitterific, AIM and Pandora.
The available apps cover a wide variety of categories, from entertainment and education to news and sports that, much like apps for other Apple products, range from useful to random.
Chatter from the blogosphere took aim at Apple's apparent change of heart over embargoing all things iPad-related until the device goes on sale Saturday.
"Apple, we hate embargoes too, so we think your undermining them is just great," a writer for TechCrunch said.
Comments also focused on the cost of the programs, which tend to run higher than those for the iPhone and iTouch.
The Lonely Planet Publications' "1,000 Ultimate Experiences" costs $19.99, MLB At Bat is priced at $14.99 and the diagramming program OmniGraffle goes for $49.99.
Most prices hover between 99 cents and $9.99 for programs such as Thesaurus XL, Hanoi Street Maps, Aki Mahjong, Stickies, Sex Offenders Search and ESPN Pinball. Familiar apps such as USA Today, AP and NPR are still free, so are apps for Netflix, ebay, and Yellow Pages, to name a few.
The iPad works with most of the 150,000 apps in the App Store, Apple says on its site.
"If you already have apps for your iPhone or iPod touch, just sync them to iPad from your Mac or PC. They run in their original size or you can expand them to fill the iPad screen," the sites says.
The product's unveiling in January was met with a mix of skepticism and fanfare from tech observers and Apple devotees, who have been waiting years for the next generation of Apple devices.
The half-inch thick, 1.5-lb. computer has a 1 GHz processor and is available in 16-gigabyte, 32-gigabyte and 64-gigabyte versions, Jobs said in January.
Pricing will start at $499 for the 16-gigabyte version, $599 for the 32-gig version and $699 for the 64, he said.
It goes on sale at 9 a.m. Saturday.
Source: CNN
