Read on for 10 free iPad apps that you shouldn’t miss, from Amazon’s Kindle reader and Flipboard’s customizable “social” digital magazine to Skype video chat and Google’s Office-friendly cloud storage utility.

Note: Yes, there are actually more than 10 apps on my top-10 list, but I figured you wouldn’t mind a few extra.

1. Kindle / iBooks / Google Play Books

Curl up with your iPad and dive into a great book from Amazon’s Kindle store, Google Play Books, or Apple’s own iBookstore with these easy-on-the-eyes e-reading apps.

Each one lets you flip pages with a swipe, choose your favorite font, sync bookmarks, and download any previously purchased volumes.

Download: Kindle | iBooks | Google Play Books

2. Netflix / Amazon Instant Video / Hulu

Cinephiles and couch potatoes, rejoice. You can press “play” on tens of thousands of movies and TV shows from Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu with these streaming video apps for the iPad.

The apps themselves are free, but you’ll need to be a paying subscriber ($8/month for Netflix and Hulu, or $79/year for Amazon’s “Prime” service) before you can start watching.

Download: Netflix | Amazon Instant Video | Hulu Plus

3. ABC Player / The CW Network / NBC

Not a Netflix/Amazon/Hulu subscriber? No problem. You can still watch scores of free network TV shows on your iPad from the likes of ABC, A&E, The CW, NBC, and more.

The catch? Unskippable (and relatively frequent) advertisements.

Download: ABC Player | The CW Network | NBC | and more…

4. Skype for iPad

Sure, the iPad already comes with Apple’s FaceTime video-chat app, but it won’t do you much good if you’re hoping to say hello to someone who isn’t using an iPhone, iPad, or Mac.

The free Skype app for iPad, however, will let you chat face-to-face with any Skype users, even those with a PC or an Android phone.

Download: Skype for iPad

5. Google Catalogs / Catalogue / Catalog Spree

Do a little shopping and save a tree while you’re at it with these catalog-shopping apps for the iPad, each of which lets you flip through virtual, iPad-sized versions of catalogs from such big-name retailers as J. Crew, Crate & Barrel, L.L. Bean, and more.

Download: Google Catalogs | Catalogue | Catalog Spree

6. Pinterest for iPad

Wish you could “pin” your favorite fashions, products, and other online goodies to your Pinterest boards on the iPad’s jumbo screen?

Well, you could try the laborious process of adding a “Pin It” button to the iPad’s Safari browser, or you could just install Pinterest for iPad, which boasts its own “Pin It”-equipped (but otherwise bare-bones) browser plus a gorgeous, touch-friendly interface for browsing the latest pins from fellow Pinterest users.

Download: Pinterest for iPad

7. Flipboard

One of the most innovative apps yet for the iPad, Flipboard turns your Twitter and Facebook news feeds into a beautifully formatted virtual magazine, complete with bold headlines and vivid images.

You can also add hand-picked web collections from Flipboard editors or add your own favorite blogs.

Download: Flipboard

8. Dropbox / Google Drive

Both Dropbox and Google Drive will let you sync files and folders from your PC or Mac to your iPad, although Google Drive comes with a nifty bonus: the ability to edit, create, and share Word- and Excel-compatible documents.

Download: Dropbox | Google Drive

9. Facebook / Twitter

Feeling social? Browse your Facebook and Twitter feeds from your iPad, complete with jumbo-size photo galleries, “push” notifications when your friends post updates or replies, and easy photo posting from your iPad’s camera roll.

Download: Facebook | Twitter

10. YouTube

Diving into the YouTube rabbit hole is all too easy on the iPad, and Google’s new YouTube app for iPad makes it even easier to sign into your YouTube account, add videos to your “Watch Later” list, subscribe to new channels, create playlists, and wade through an endless number of related clips.

Download: YouTube

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Enter Skype and its new Skype WiFi app for the iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch, which will connect your iDevice to any of a million-plus participating Wi-Fi hotspots (click here for a searchable list of supported global Wi-Fi networks). The neat part? You’ll get to pay by the minute, rather than for an hour or more.

Prices begin at six cents a minute, according to Skype (prices vary depending on the country and Wi-Fi network), and you’ll have to buy a bucket of Skype “credit” (the smallest amount is $10 here in the U.S.) before you can start surfing.

Still, Skype WiFi sounds like a great idea for iPod Touch or Wi-Fi-only iPad users—and particularly for globetrotters who don’t want to deal with pricey international data plans. Sign me up!

LINK: Skype WiFi app

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Announced Wednesday morning at Facebook’s headquarters in Palo Alto, Skype video chat through Facebook will work after a “small and easy” software download for your browser. To get started, visit this page to enable Facebook video calling on your account.

Just click "Call" on a friend's profile page to start video chatting, or click the video camera icon from the Chat window.

Once you’ve clicked the green “Get Started” button, a column of available Facebook friends will appear; just click a name, then click the little video camera icon to place a video call. You can also make a call by visiting a friend’s Facebook profile and clicking the “Call” button in the upper-right corner of the screen.

The first time you try placing a video call, you’ll be prompted to download and install a small plug-in for your browser. The process should take less than 30 seconds, according to Facebook engineers, and it should all happen within your browser—no need to go hunting around on your hard drive for a setup file.

The plug-in “works best” with the most recent versions of Internet Explorer, Safari, Firefox, and Google Chrome, Facebook says. Both Windows and Mac systems are supported; Linux computers are not, however.

So, hold on a minute—will your Facebook friends be able to turn on your system’s webcam without your permission and start chatting away?

Not so, Facebook promises. Instead, you’ll see a pop-up window appear in your browser whenever a Facebook pal wants to video chat. To accept the call, you click the “Accept” button—and only then will your webcam (assuming you have one installed, of course) turn on. Done chatting? Close the video chat window, and your video camera will turn back off.

Facebook has posted a detailed Q&A about video calling in its Help Center, but among the most salient points:

• Only “confirmed” Facebook friends can call you;
• No, video chats aren’t recorded, although the date and time of your video chats are logged in your Facebook Messages history for a given friend;
• You can temporarily disable video calling by clicking the “Chat” module in the bottom-right corner of any Facebook page; once the column of available friends appears, click the Options tab at the top, then select “Go offline.” Once you’re feeling more sociable, click the Chat module again.
• Even if you don’t have a webcam, you can still have an audio-only chat with a Facebook friend using your computer’s microphone and speakers.

Have more questions about Facebook video calling? Let me know!

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Skype for Android 2.0 is available now in the Android Market, and it’s free, but one-to-one video calls will only work on the following handsets: the Google Nexus S, the HTC Desire S, and the Sony Ericsson Xperia Neo and Xperia Pro. Video chat support for more Android phones is coming “very soon,” Skype promises.

The lucky few (for now) who can enjoy video chat on Skype for Android can place free face-to-face calls over both Wi-Fi or cellular 3G connections, according to an official Skype blog post—meaning a Wi-Fi connection isn’t required for video chat.

Users will be able to see and hear Skype pals on Windows PCs, Macs, and iPhones. (The Skype for iPhone app added video calling last December, while a Skype app for iPad is due any day now.)

The updated Skype for Android app also boasts a revamped interface, complete with a new “mood message” box (good for posting quick updates for your Skype buddies) at the top of the main Skype menu.

Of course, Android smartphone users have been able to video chat for about a year now, thanks to competing apps like Qik and Fring. Incidentally, Skype—which itself was recently acquired by Microsoft—gobbled up Qik earlier this year.

here’s the thing: Video chat on Android phones just got a lot friendlier thanks to Skype for Android 2.0—although Skype needs to get on the ball and support video calling on more Android phones.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1o6TBezfSpU&w=550]

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The Mac bloggers at RazorianFly claim that Skype just posted—and then abruptly yanked—a YouTube video promoting Skype for the iPad 2, complete with a demonstration of picture-in-picture video chat, a swipeable column of large, thumbnailed contacts, and a jumbo-sized dialer.

Update: A Skype rep just told The Unofficial Apple Weblog that yes—Skype for iPad is real, and CNET has a hands-on preview. Expect the iPad Skype app to arrive Tuesday in the App Store, CNET reports.

A RazorianFly reader managed to record his own (silent) video of the clip before it disappeared; you can check out below.

The iPad 2 already features voice chat thanks to Apple’s FaceTime software, but FaceTime is only available for iPad, the iPhone, and Mac users.

Skype on the iPad, however, would allow hundreds of millions of worldwide Skype users—many of whom are using Windows PCs—to video chat with their iPad 2-toting friends and family.

Also worth noting is the fine print at the bottom of the (purported) Skype video:

Actual video and audio call quality may vary based on the speed and quality of your Wi-Fi or 3G connection.

That sure sounds like Skype video calls on the iPad would work over cellular 3G connections. For now, FaceTime video chat only works over Wi-Fi. Interesting.

So, are you game for Skype on the iPad? Let us know!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5G_CkPfDOU&w=550]

Source: RazorianFly

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Hello Sabrina! So, here’s my first question for you: Do you own a newer iPod Touch? If so, you’re in luck.

The iPod Touch is, of course, basically an iPhone without the phone. That means you’re free to use just about any applications in the Apple App Store, including such Wi-Fi calling (a.k.a. “VoIP,” short for “voice over IP”)  app as Line2, Truphone, Vonage, and (of course) Skype.

Most of those Wi-Fi calling services charge for placing calls to landlines (Line2 charges $10 a month for unlimited calls, for example, while Skype has plans starting at 2.3 cents a minute), but for the most part, they’re far cheaper than signing up with a wireless carrier.

You also mentioned Google Voice, the powerful Google calling service that lets you route calls from all your various landlines, office phones, and other telephone numbers to a single Google Voice number, and yes—it’s available for the iPod Touch. Unfortunately, the Google Voice app for the iPhone and iPod Touch only makes calls over traditional cellular networks, not Wi-Fi. But if you’re dead-set on using Google Voice for Wi-Fi calling, well … more on that in a moment.

Now, there’s a catch when it comes to using the iPod Touch as a Wi-Fi phone: only the latest, fourth-generation Touch comes with a built-in microphone, and only the second-, third-, and fourth-generation iPod Touches support external microphones (like the little in-line mics in Apple’s iPhone headsets). That means if you have the original iPod Touch from 2007, you’re out of luck.

Other options besides the iPod Touch? Well, as of this week, you can buy a new iPhone that’s “unlocked,” meaning it isn’t tied to any particular carrier. That’s the good news; the bad news is that the unlocked iPhone starts at a whopping $649, versus just $229 (or $199 through Amazon and other online retailers) and up for an iPod Touch. Yikes.

A cheaper possibility is this older, Wi-Fi-only Skype phone made by Belkin, a bare-bones handset that does little else besides make Skype calls. It’s basic, but at just $134 and up online, it’s cheap.

Or, you could go the Android way. You can snag last year’s Nexus One smartphone from Amazon, unlocked, for about $260, and use it for Wi-Fi calls using Skype, Line2, or another Wi-Fi calling app. There’s also an application called GrooVe IP ($3.99) that claims to let you make Wi-Fi calls using Google Voice for Android—interesting, although I should note that I haven’t tried it yet.

Hope this helps, Sabrina. Good luck!

Have more questions about Wi-Fi calling, or additional suggestions for Sabrina? Let us know!

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The good news is that Skype appeared to be back up for most users by about 11 a.m. ET, with the official Skype status site blaming the blip (which sounds like it was far less severe than last December’s global outage) on an unspecified “configuration problem.” Only a “small number” of users were affected, according to Skype.

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