Finally the Facebook app for iOS has been optimized for iPad use. The interface is much improved and it looks much better than the old iPhone version. Check out our full review here, and click below the break to see a gallery of Facebook on iPad...

There are so many apps for kids on the App Store that it makes choosing the best one for your little angels a bit of a challenge. There are plenty of apps and games that are great for shutting children up on a long journey, yet much less that actually inspire, educate and encourage creativity in youngsters.

I’ve hand-picked a selection from the cream of the App Store: six original, innovative apps that encourage children to think creatively, as well as being a lot of fun. In general, these applications are designed for over threes, but they can be enjoyed by bigger kids as well. In fact, I defy you not to pick up and play with these once your little ones have gone off to bed!

Toca Hair Salon

If your child has aspirations of being a hairdresser, or even if they just like dressing up games, Toca Hair Salon is not to be missed. This excellent interactive app lets children run their own hair salon. They can cut, comb, blow-dry and tint the hair of six different customers to make weird and wonderful hair styles.

The presentation of Toca Hair Salon is a cut above. The fun characters include a dog, a lion and some human customers (or should that be ‘victims’?) You simply choose a tool, then use it to change the hair by running your finger along the head. It’s really addictive, and as you‘ll see from this 5-year-old’s video review of Toca Hair Salon, kids can’t get enough of it!

For ages: 3 & up Price: $2.59 Compatible with: iPhone, iPad, iPod touch

HootSuite, the popular social media manager that lets users manage their Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn profiles from one main interface, announced recently that LinkedIn Company Pages and Groups will now be integrated into their service.

While these new additions outwardly benefit the companies who make use of LinkedIn, individual users will begin to notice some perks as well. If you're already employed, you can keep up with company status updates and read relevant group discussions right from your HootSuite dashboard. Companies that use HootSuite for employee recruiting and HR marketing can also post job openings. Users who are job seekers can opt to follow specific companies of interest and will be able to view when new job openings are published, which is a definite plus in a competitive job market.

There's also a strong probability that more LinkedIn features and functionality will be appearing on HootSuite in the future, because HootSuite is one of four charter members of LinkedIn's new Certified Developer Program. For now, LinkedIn Groups integration on HootSuite is already available. LinkedIn Company Pages is currently in a private beta program.

HootSuite is available as a web app online, and also as an app for Android and iPhone.

Had Columbus not bumped into the Americas about 500 years ago the world would be a very different place. For starters, Gameloft wouldn’t be running a fantastic sale on some their best iOS games this weekend.

To celebrate Columbus Day weekend, Gameloft is giving you the chance to discover some of its top premium titles for just 99 cents each. Games included in this promotion include Modern Combat 2: Black Pegasus, 9mm, Sacred Odyssey: Rise of Ayden, Eternal Legacy, and (aptly), The Settlers (pictured above).

Visit the Gameloft blog to find out more about the deals on these pioneering games.

We didn't see the iPhone 5 yesterday, but if you were watching Apple’s ‘Let’s Talk iPhone’ event closely then you will have witnessed an awesome demo of the upcoming Infinity Blade 2. Epic Games’ stunning-looking new slasher isn’t out until December 1st, but to keep you going until then the developer has released an update to the current Infinity Blade.

Version 1.4 of Infinity Blade includes Content Pack 4, which adds a whole bunch of new rings, swords, shields and helmets. You’ll need them too, because the new “fierce and deadly” RookBane enemy is not someone you want to tackle unprepared!

Apple’s “Let’s Talk iPhone” keynote is over and CEO Tim Cook (with friends) talked about the new roll-out of products and features.

But with all the hype around the next new iPhone - which is actually the iPhone 4S and not the iPhone 5 - did anything really amazing come out of it for users?

Our Mobile Lead Expert James Thornton already talked about how to get many of the features of iOS 5 through different apps, but since iOS 5 presents a unified package, there are something things worth noting.

A couple years ago, the mobile market only really had two types of apps and games: free or paid. Now users are presented with free, free with ads, free with in-app purchases, paid, paid with free updates, and paid with paid updates among others.

That difference has created a new industry. BulkyPix's, COO and VP of Sales and Marketing, Vincent Dondaine answered some questions about development, games, and commerce.

In celebration of this weekend’s PGA Tour Championship, iOS users can grab Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12 for free!

This great golf game allows you to play out a full PGA Tour season of events, winning money to exchange for points and equipment to improve your skills as a player. As you’d expect from EA, the graphics are slick and the overall presentation is excellent. Read our review of Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12 then go download it from the App Store for free.

The Tiger Woods 12 giveaway coincides with EA’s ‘Big iPad Game Sale’, where the developer is slashing the price of iPad games for this weekend only. Titles included in the offer include Dead Space, Max and the Magic Marker, and Shift 2 Unleashed.

UK users are being treated to 90 percent off the standard price of EA’s iPad games, making them available for just 69p. iPad owners in the US can get 70 percent off ($2.99 per title).

If your wallet is simply taking up way too much space in your purse or jeans pocket, you're going to want to take a look at Google Wallet. Ever since Gingerbread's release, there's been talk of how phones equipped with the latest version of Android could be used as credit cards. Now it's becoming a reality with today's launch of Google Wallet.

With a required PIN, Google claims Wallet will be simpler to access and more secure than paying with a traditional credit card. Google Wallet uses NFC (near field communication), so all you have to do is tap and pay anywhere with a MasterCard PayPass and you'll be good to go, without the need to pull out a physical credit card for your transaction. You can also sync your Google Offers automatically to Google Wallet.

Currently, Google Wallet is only available on Spring's Nexus S 4G phone to users with a Citi MasterCard, or those willing to put money on a Google Prepaid Card. That's a relatively small user base. Just today though, Visa, Discover and American Express have also given Google their NFC specifications. This should open up more possibilities in the near future for users who don't want to use the Prepaid Card to get on board. Is this the beginning of the end for cash?

The lack of Adobe Flash support by Apple started with the first iteration of the iPhone.  Now one year and five months after the release of the iPad and six months after the release of the iPad 2; the first Flash-based game was ported and released for the tablet.

Machinarium is a great game, first released in 2009, it's a fun interactive point and click puzzler.

It's that time of year again, when diehard football fans are placing their bets and creating Fantasy Football drafts with friends and family. With work, the start of the school year and other things on your plate, you might find it difficult to keep track of your Fantasy Football league.Fortunately, there are lots of great apps out there that'll help you manage your Fantasy Football league, as well as keep up with all of the latest updates and breaking news that might affect your team. Best of all, our top three picks for iPhone are free!

Softonic has released its own mobile application, designed to help you quickly find the best iOS apps. Softonic Moba is a personalized app directory that aims to make discovering cool new applications much easier than it is in the App Store.

Moba comes with a slick, customizable interface that gives the user fast access to Softonic’s reviews of the best iPhone apps. Moba also offers a more advanced filtering system than that of the App Store. Besides searching or browsing by category, you can filter and sort by license type (free or paid), Softonic rating, date, popularity, and more.

Moba features hand-picked recommendations of apps from Softonic’s editors based around a certain theme or that serve a certain purpose. Known as ‘hubs’, these app collections can include anything from the best apps to take on holiday, to the top soccer games for iPhone. Hubs are regularly updated and can be added to the home screen for easy access.

There’s also a video channel within Softonic Moba, where users can watch clips of apps in action before they decide whether to install them. Moba isn’t restricted to iOS content either, and you can also browse Softonic’s huge selection of Windows, Mac and web applications reviews.

Find out more about Softonic Moba here, or download and install it for free from the App Store.

Some of the most promising start-up companies were present at yesterday's Pitch San Francisco 2011. Hosted on the club level concourse of AT&T Park, the venue was just about as impressive as the start-ups.

There were some really great new mobile and web apps on display at Pitch. From a new way to listen to and share music with friends to a comprehensive photo editing and sharing app and everything in between, here are some of my top picks from the event.

fring has launched a new service for people to video chat with complete strangers on their mobile phone.

The mobile chat app's new feature is called Playgrounds and lets fring users create group video chats based around their areas of interest, with friends as well as like-minded strangers. The new social service is designed to help users expand their fring contacts by meeting people they might get along with face-to-face.

Playgrounds sounds like a great idea in principle, and could be a fun way of bringing people together. However, you only have to look at what happened to Chat Roulette to see how well-meaning video chat meet-up services can quickly attract the darker, seedier side of society. It will be interesting to see how fring manages to police this kind of potential abuse.

Playgrounds is now available as an in-app feature if you download the latest versions of fring for iOS and Android. Let's hope the world's smartphone users are able to keep their pants on...

The Rugby World Cup kicks off this Friday and if you want to keep up with all the action then the iTunes App Store is the place to go.

There are dozens of rugby-related apps out there that will help maximize your enjoyment of the tournament - it takes place in New Zealand over the next six weeks and culminates in the final on the 23 October in Auckland. Here are some of our favorites.

Rugby World Cup 2011

This official tournament app is the best way to follow the World Cup for free on your iPhone. Besides comprehensive live coverage of every game, the application offers the latest news, a mountain of stats, video highlights and interviews, and even an option to buy tickets for matches. A must-have World Cup companion. Price – Free

IRB Laws of Rugby

Rugby can be a bit complicated to follow at times. If you’re not well versed in the intricacies of the rulebook, then this app is worth downloading. It has lots of very clearly presented information about the game, including more than 200 videos outlining different set plays, tactics and rules.