iPad Live, the live recording of our iPad-focused podcast hits the ‘net again tonight, bringing you the best of the week’s news, reviews, how-tos, and must-dos.

TiPb nation, transform and come chat!

Time: 9pm ET, 6pm PT, 2am BST.

Place: Right here on the home page!

If you have any questions or topics you’d like us to discuss, just leave them in the comments then come be part of the show!

(And yes, you can watch from iPhone via Ustream Viewer app (here’s how) and iPad (we recommend Duet Browser.)

Chat with you soon!

3 years ago today Apple launched the App Store. It was alongside iPhone 3G and MobileMe and while the former has been retired and the latter is soon to be replaced by iCloud, the App Store is still going strong. Phenomenally strong.

The App Store had XXX apps on day one. A year later it had over 56,000 that had been downloaded over 1 billion times. Last year it had over 225,000 apps — 8500 iPad native — and over 5 billion downloads As of last week we’re over 425,000 apps — 100,000 iPad native — and over 15 billion downloads.

And it shows no signs of slowing down. The app approval process has gotten smoother for the most part, and we seldom hear outrageous rejection stories any more. They’ve added subscriptions and even removed some of the more contentious requirements for using them. And with iOS 5 scheduled for this fall, and perhaps a whole new set of devices to use it, we should have even better apps and games ahead of us. Who knows, maybe we’ll even get Apple TV apps one day?

On the negative side, patent troll Lodsys has begun targeting some App Store developers, and while Apple has filed to intervene in the lawsuits, they’ve provided little reassurance for developers.

Still, the last year has been a bright one for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad users. And apparently, Apple is just getting started.

Ever wished you could hear Apple SVP, Phil Schiller on the WWDC 2011 stage, quoting All Things Digital‘s John Paczkowski saying “the Mac is kicking @$$”… run through autotune?

Us neither.

Then we watched it.

Check out the video after the break.

[YouTube via AllThingsD]

From the Forums is a great way to see what all of the current hot topics are on the TiPb forums. In order to create any new threads of your own or reply to any of the existing threads, you must be a registered member. Becoming a member is a simple process that will only take a few minutes out of your day, so if you have not already already done so, head on over and register now!

New personalizations!

You may have noticed our new and improved forums, we’ve gone and added yet another little feature many of you have asked for, postbits. In your user control panel simply go “edit your details” and you now have the ability to add your carrier, devices and so on so it is shown for all users to see.

New threads

• Do you need some people to add to your Google+ circles? If so visit the Google+ thread and you’ll find plenty of people to add! And as a shameless plug if you’d like to add yours truly you can find me here.

• iOS 5 beta 3

• How many new iPhones do you think we will see this fall?

• Fall will be here before you know it along with a possible iPad HD?

Is there something you’d like to see added to the forums? Jump in the Feedback Forum and let us know!

See you in the forums!

Missed a compelling piece of iPad news, a great review, or a killer how-to? We’re not collecting absolutely everything in iPad here — you can hit up TiPb.com/iPad for that! — but we’re carefully picking what we think is the best of the last 7 days and presenting it here for your review.

And hey! — these double as show notes for our iPad Live! podcast tonight at 9pm Eastern. So join us and follow along!

Meta

• Mobile Nations 2: Not yet begun to fight!
• Superfunctional 1: Standing desks
• ZENandTECH 6: De-cluttering

iPad 2 HD/Pro

• iPad 2 HD set for fall 2011? [Update: in October]
• Could 5 new iOS devices make up Apple's fall family?

Apple TV

• Apple testing 1080p full HD video rentals for September launch?

Jailbreak

• JailbreakMe now available, jailbreak the iPad 2, iPad, iPhone and iPod touch on iOS 4.3.3
• Poll: Are you going to jailbreak your iPad 2?
• Apple preparing patch for JailbreakMe.com PDF exploit
• Top 5 reasons to jailbreak your iPad or iPad 2
• TWCable TV App updated, more channels available but now blocks jailbroken devices

Tips

• Daily Tip: How to Jailbreak iOS 4.3.3 via JailbreakMe (including iPad 2)
• Daily Tip: How to use encrypted disk images with Dropbox to Protect your sensitive files

Apps

• Apple announces 15 billion App Store downloads
• TiPb Picks of the Week

Now that iPad 2 can finally be Jailbroken, many of you are considering it and are asking us whether or not it’s worth it. Jailbreaking has always been popular among iPhone users, but some believe iPads already do what they want a tablet to do and aren’t as sure about the need for the extra functionality Jailbreak provides. With iOS 5 on its way this fall, the gap between stock iPads and Jailbreak will be closed even further.

So should you Jailbreak your iPad 2? Keep reading to see some of our top reasons why iPad and iPad 2 users may want to jailbreak.

LockInfo

While LockInfo may remain more popular for iPhone, it’s also great on the iPad.

We all know that the upcoming Notification Center will add better notifications to iPhone and iPad but it still doesn’t give you a ton of control. For power users who like to have complete control over their notifications and how they are presented, LockInfo will still remain at the top of their list.

David Ashman will continue to improve LockInfo even after the announcement of Notification Center. I doubt he will disappoint either. I’m excited to see what he and other developers will do with notification center widgets and how they’ll integrate certain frameworks of iOS 5 into already great apps.

SBSettings

Apple may have a native settings app, but there aren’t any quick toggles anywhere to be found. I like being able to turn wifi on and off quickly, disable or enable 3G on a whim, or be able to see how much available memory my device has. This is where SBSettings comes in handy.

Just a quick swipe of your top status bar and you can see your available memory, free it up, toggle features on and off, and much more. I’m currently stock due to beta testing iOS 5 and I still find myself constantly swiping my status bar every time I want to turn wifi on and off. It has become natural to me and it’s a tweak I dearly miss when I’m not jailbroken.

Activator

Apple may be adding more gestures to the iPad but I’ve always found Activator to serve me far better. You can set almost every gesture you could think of for pretty much any task. Maybe I want sliding up from the bottom of my iPad screen to take a quick screenshot. I can do this easily. I can customize my iPad to how I want it to behave, not how Apple “thinks” I want it to behave.

The new notification center in iOS 5 even takes after not only Android, but the way certain jailbreak features have used multi-touch gestures for years. LockInfo’s Infoshade feature has been a pull down option for quite some time now.

MyWi

MyWi is not only a reason to jailbreak your iPad, but one of my overall top 5 jailbreak apps. I know this is a touchy subject for some people and that AT&T has been cracking down against unofficial tethering but I still refuse to pay for the one or two times I may or may not have to tether a month. I also don’t want to lose my unlimited data plan. MyWi simply allows me to turn my iPad or iPhone into a mobile hotspot and I can then connect to it just like I would any wifi network.

For those of you with 3G iPads, MyWi is a great app to have on hand in case you need to tether other devices. MyWi tends to run the battery on an iPhone down pretty quickly. My iPad was able to handle being a mobile hotspot for a lot longer. It’s an extremely useful app to have on board for when your iPad just won’t cut it and you desperately need the internet on another device such as a laptop.

Folder Enhancements

One of my biggest peeves about iOS folders is that you are limited to 12 applications per folder on iPhone and 20 on iPad. I still haven’t quite figured out why Apple did this but it’s annoying nonetheless. I don’t know about any of you, but I certainly have more than 20 games on my iPad. I don’t want to create 10 folders, I simply want one games folder that I can create nested folders inside of.

Jailbreak apps like Folder Enhancer allow you to do this. It removes the apps per folder cap and also allows you to create nested folders. Now my iPad has sub-folders for even more organizational control.

Bonus: Display Mirroring (original iPad)

While the iPad 2 can do this natively, original iPad users are left in the dark as Apple decided not to extend the functionality to original iPad owners. If you’re jailbroken, you can display mirror on the original iPad as well. I personally never felt the need to upgrade to the iPad 2. If and when I need to display mirror, I would simply use the jailbreak solution over buying an iPad 2.

So if you have an original iPad still and you’re willing to jailbreak, you can use the display mirroring feature just as easy as iPad 2 users can.

Your reason?

Those are our top 5 reasons to Jailbreak your iPad or iPad 2. If you Jailbreak your iPad or iPad 2, what are your reasons?

Flick Golf HD has been a massive hit for developer Full Fat and it has now brought out a new game based on the same winning formula. Flick Golf Extreme! HD has even more weird and wonderful places to flick your golf ball at and more stunningly beautiful graphics to look at while you do.

The most addictive golf game to blaze its way onto the App Store. Incredibly simple to play, just flick the ball and hit the hole. Our trademark spin control, combined with insanely fun gameplay brings you the world's first truly extreme golf game. There are no rules, no clubs and no laws in Flick Golf Extreme! Play across skyscrapers, an oil rig, aircraft carrier and more in the most insane conditions you've ever seen!

• Shoot for an insane score in classic Quickshot mode.
• Play World Tour across the most extreme courses in the world.
• Try out the challenging Five Ball mode!
• Gorgeous 3D environments.
• See your ball set ablaze with amazing hole-in-one special effects!
• Incredibly accurate in-air spin control.
• Full GameCenter and Openfient leaderboards.
• Over 30 in-game achievements.
• Stunning high resolution graphics for iPad 2.
• Listen to your own music while you play!

Flick Golf Extreme! HD is available in the App Store today for $4.99. It certainly looks great and the reviews all seem to be very positive!

[$4.99 – iTunes link]