Hasta La Gadget!

Apple today released its list of the most popular apps for the iPhone and iPad. Not surprisingly, Angry Birds and Facebook made it out on top this year. Facebook topped the list of free iPhone apps, followed by Angry Birds Lite (the demo version of the popular game), Words With Friends, Skype, and Tap Tap Revenge. The Weather Channel, Rock Band, and Microsoft’s Bing all made the top ten, as well.

Rovio’s popular bird slingshotting title topped the games-heavy paid iPhone app list, followed by Doodle Jump Skee-Ball, Bejeweled 2, and Fruit Ninja. Major League Baseball’s At Bat app was actually the highest grossing iPhone app of the year, followed by Angry Birds at number two.

Over on the iPad side, Apple’s Pages and iBooks topped the paid and free app lists, respectively. Angry Birds HD, Netflix, Pandora, Google, Kindle, and Wolfram Alpha all made the list, as well.

Don’t put too much stock in this rumor–the news that comes from these third-party parts manufacturers is spotty at best. That said, we have seen some of these come to fruition in the past, and let’s face it, if there’s one thing we do seemingly no for sure, it’s that Steve Jobs is going to show off a new iPad next year.

And if Apple goes according to its prior scheduling for the device (the company is often a creature of habit when it comes to updating products), we’re going to see that iPad 2 early next year, seeing as how the first model was unveiled in January of this year.

Apple supplier Foxconn Electronics has reportedly been told to ship 400,000-600,000 iPad 2 units in the next 100 days, according to Digitimes‘ “sources from Taiwan-based component makers.”

Here’s what those sources had to say,

[T]he iPad 2 will ship as soon as the end of February in 2011. Apple originally planned to start mass production in January, but because the device’s firmware is currently still in testing, Apple has been postponing the schedule. Since Foxconn’s new plants in Chengdu are still in pilot production, iPad 2 will be mainly supplied by its Shenzhen plants, while the company’s upstream component partners have all been notified of the shipments schedule.

Foxconn naturally declined DigiTimes’ request for comment. My guess is that the site didn’t even attempt to contact Apple…

http://www.tenonedesign.com/sketch.php

Looking for a low priced gift for the tech enthusiast in your life who has everything? Well, if said person owns an iPhone or iPad, consider one of these ultra cheap accessories. Steve Jobs would likely consider the Pogo Stylus Sketch a crime against nature. For those who use their devices to create art and handwritten notes, it may just be a godsend.

This $15 accessory features a soft tip that gives the user the writing freedom of a stylus (you remember those, right?). The Pogo Stylus is also a terrific option in these winter months, when gloves make it impossible to use the device’s touchscreen.

The Pogo also works with the Zune HD, Android handsets, and most other touchscreen devices. You can pick one up at the Ten One Design page.

Steve Jobs wants to launch that Mac App Store soon. Really, really soon. How soon? Like yesterday soon. Apparently Apple’s head honcho had hoped to have the new store launched by now, having told developers to have their app ready by now.

“That obviously didn’t happen, ” writes Apple Tell, “but Apple appears to be way ahead of schedule on the Mac App Store nonetheless, and looks to take advantage of the Christmas rush.”

An “inside source” told the site that the company is now looking to launch the service a week from today, hitting that ever-precious holiday buying rush, making the purchase of a shiny new Mac all the sweeter. Jobs first announced the new store back in October, giving the company 90 days to launch the service, making the deadline late January.

Apple is also said to be holding a press conference in the coming weeks to discuss publication distribution for the iPad (including a rumored appearance by Rupert Murdoch). Perhaps the company is looking to combine both announcements into a single event.