5 great-looking apps for your new iPad

The biggest selling point for Apple's newest iPad is its high-resolution screen, which packs more pixels in a 9.7-inch tablet than you've got in that big HDTV in your living room.

But if you ran out and bought the new iPad, you may notice that not all of your apps look as good as you thought they might. That's because the programs designed to run on the original iPad and the iPad 2 have graphics scaled for the lower-res displays on those tablets.

It's up to the developers of those apps to update them so they look better on the latest iPad. But even when they do, there may be other issues.

For example, The Guardian Eyewitness is a wonderful app showcasing the best news photos from around the world. The app's buttons and menus have been updated, but the photos are not being dispatched in high-res format. They looked beautiful on the older iPads. On the new one, not so much.

Here's a look at five apps that show off what the new iPad's so-called retina display can do. Some of them aren't new, but their high-res updates inspire a second look.

iTunes Movie Trailers - Free, Apple. One of the biggest threats to your productivity is now even more of a temptation for epic time-wasting. The Trailers app, which features both movies available in iTunes as well as those now playing and coming to theaters, now delivers movie previews in high-definition video on the new iPad.

The new hardware can display up to 1080p HD video, but the quality will vary depending on the speed of your Internet connection Find a zippy WiFi or 4G connection before you settle in to watch.

Flipboard - Free, Flipboard. One of the best things about the new iPad's display is how good simple text looks on it. Flipboard, which is easily my favorite iPad app, is even more readable with its razor-sharp fonts. The app uses social media and RSS feeds to generate a customized digital magazine.

Flipboard recently added cover stories - highlighted content with large photos - and these look beautiful on the new iPad. The app won't do much for low-res images coming out of Twitter and Facebook, but when the content providers offer high-res pictures, they really shine.

iPhoto - $4.99, Apple. While the iPad 2 had a notoriously lame rear camera (and the first iPad had none), the camera on the new iPad is quite good. For that reason alone, you'll want to get this beautifully designed image editor that's easy to use and pretty to look at.

The iPhoto name is about all it shares with the original OS X version for Macs. It uses lots of analog references for tools - colorful paintbrushes to designate tweaking of images and negative strips to signify various effects. The overall look of the app is richly detailed, and you'll find yourself staring at its components as much as you will looking at your own pictures.

ABC Player - Free, ABC Digital. More and more networks and cable channels are letting iPad owners access their content through apps, and the ABC Player is a standout. It's fast, responsive, with a rich look and slick animations.

The shows are the stars here, playing in full HD when, of course, the speed of your connection allows for it. But it's a great way to get your "Grey's Anatomy," "Dancing With the Stars" or "Modern Family" fix.

Tweetbot - $2.99, Tapbots. If you're a Twitter user with a new iPad, you'll want to investigate this app, which has been a big hit on the iPhone for a while. Tweetbot makes innovative use of multitouch taps and swipes to provide access to a slew of useful ways to work with tweets. It's also gorgeous to look at, with textured backgrounds, borders and buttons.

Now that you've got some things to put inside your new iPad, next week I'll concentrate on the tablet's outside with a case roundup.

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iPad App Development