Apple’s iPad has been attainable for a short time, and you can already find apps to watch cascading movies, manage your Web passwords, use Twitter, do word processing and more.

But it’s still early days yet. Apple gave only chosen few developers early access to the iPad.

These are the best apps I’ve found so far. They are all iPad-optimized, not iPhone apps stretched to fit the iPad. They get the job done, they’re fun to use, and several of them are free.

The Weather Channel Max for iPad

The iPhone comes with a weather apparatus among its pre-installed apps, but that app is missing from the iPad. That means you need to either check the weather on the Web or download an app. And the best that I got under my sleeve is: The Weather Channel’s FREE offering.

This app is a candy store for weather geeks. You can use it not only to check your local forecast, but also to find out the day’s sunrise and sunset times without having to dig too deeply.

And you’re one tap away from a three-hour forecast, which is serviceable early in the morning or late in the afternoon when you can expect the weather to change rapidly.

* More offers would be:
- Full screen, customizable weather maps
- In-motion radar includes past and future views
- Local, regional and national forecast video
- Riveting storm footage
- Real-time twitter feeds from popular TWC on-air personalities
- Local traffic cams (select cities)

1Password for iPad

Agile web solutions has posted some screenshots of the iPad version of its excellent password manager, 1Password. The Mac and iPhone application stores passwords, logins and credit card information and allows you to sync between devices. Sure, the Mac has its own Keychain Access app, but 1Password is so much easier to use.

1Password encodes, stores and organizes your passwords and other private information, and it automates log-ins for Web sites and other Internet services. You can also use it to store credit card numbers, bank account numbers, ATM PINs and more.

The iPad version is more like a grownup application than its iPhone counterpart, although it’s still missing some of the competencies of the Mac product. In landscape mode, you get an easy-to-navigate three-pane view of your information and you can browse through entries alphabetically or using the search function.

1Password has undergone some visual fix ups already. The iPad version appears to take the current interface a little further with a few nice visual tweaks, and take full advantage of the large touch area of the iPad.

But every great thing has a downside. And to this app it is the fact that you need to design two versions of your app, one for portrait and one for landscape mode. Now, that’s a lot of extra work! But apart from that, everything looks amazing for this app.

The design looks great to me, and I especially like the main toolbar with its recessed icons. The developers (and their graphic designer) appear to be taking the new form factor into consideration and generating a very usable interface. I’m really looking forward to getting my hands on the iPad version, pending the purchase of an iPad, of course.

Dragon Dictation and Sketchbook Apps now on the iPad! Check them out!

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