Appitalism CEO picks his Top 10 Apps for the iPad

Digital media expert Simon Buckingham is the CEO of Appitalism, a social, online digital media store that enables consumers to discover, share and download from a catalog of over 10 million apps, songs, books, games and videos compatible with a range of smartphones, tablets, PCs and eBook readers.

On the forefront of the social app commerce market, Buckingham is in a unique position to review and play with a plethora of new, innovative addicting apps. He gave TNW his top 10 favorite new picks for the Apple iPad here.

1. PROJECT

Last November, we covered the official launch of Richard Branson’s newest endeavor, ‘Project,” the world’s first iPad Magazine. Months ago, Giovanni Donaldson, a principal at Virgin Management began working on the first magazine that’s custom built for iPad. PROJECT covers travel, gadgets and the finer things in life. The 6 best beer commercials of 2010 make the $2.99 price of Issue 1 worth it alone. And they have give aways of free Virgin America miles for leaving comments. Download it here ($2.99 per issue).

2. Oysterpedia

I recently wrote about Oysterpedia, the definitive guide to every type of oyster out there and a glossary of terminology. The app lets you browse oysters, organized by coast with complete descriptions of each oyster’s shape, size and flavor. It lets you save types of oysters to try, rate oysters and share your oyster findings with Facebook and Twitter. It also includes a helpful glossary of descriptor words in case you were wondering what “rack and bag” meant. The app was made by The Mermaid Inn and The Mermaid Oyster Bar, located in NYC. The restaurant shucks over 300,000 oysters each year and sits over 125,000 diners a year. They created the app to help everyone become an oyster expert. Download the free Lite version here.

3. Terra

Terra is an excellent alternative to Safari as an iPad browser instead as it supports tabs, full screen mode, offline browsing and ability to save images to the iPad from webpages visited. The only thing that repeatedly irks users? You can’t delete the Google search bar history. Download it here for free.

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4. The Scrolls of Spartacus

The Scrolls of Spartacus is a must have app if you’re into Starz’s hit show. The app includes photos, videos, episode scripts and more. It runs on the larger sizes of apps which is necessary to accomodate the blood and action from the show itself! Download it here for free.

5. CBS Sports Pro Football

CBS Sports Pro Football is heavy on stats and analysis, this app is a great companion to watching the real games as well as managing fantasy football teams. The iPad app delivers live NFL scores, play-by-play, breaking news, standings, videos. Download it here for free.

6. The New York Daily News

New York Daily News is the last of the New York newspapers to be made available on the iPad. This app is great because you have lots of ways to browse the news- by section, sports team or by downloading a copy of the current edition. And 12 months access for just $11.99 is a deal to satisfy even the thriftiest of native New Yorkers. Download it here.

7. FlightTrack Pro

FlightTrack Pro is the ultimate power app for frequent travelers. The app now has a major upgrade with the FlightBoard feature which lets you see the arrival and departure status boards from hundreds of airports on the iPad screen just like you look at at the airport itself. Plus weather, terminal maps, TripIt flight imports and many more features. Buy it here for $9.99.

8. Angry Birds Seasons HD

Angry Birds Seasons HD. Not only is it addictive (gamers spend 200 million minutes playing each day) and compulsive, but its worth downloading just for the cool seasonal updates. For example, check out their latest Valentine’s Day edition. Buy it here for $4.99.

9. Decoded by Jay-Z

Love Jay-Z? The brand new Decoded by Jay-Z app is everything you need to know about Jay-Z including the inspiration behind and lyrics to his songs, extensive video interviews about his background and upbringing and secrets for his success. Melds video, text, audio together into a great multimedia experience. Buy it here for $9.99.

10. PressReader

The PressReader app features hundreds of newspapers from all over the world including the U.S. with the full content from each. This is the way I keep up with the San Francisco Chronicle, Washington Post and many other papers- its the world at your fingertips. Download it here for free.