As nice as it is to have the world's content at your fingertips online, the online reading experience leaves much to be desired when compared to the experience of sitting down and reading a well-designed magazine. The combination of rich imagery and text that you find in print has been sadly missing from the online formats of most publications. When the iPad came out, the magazine industry collectively shared the same excitement that it could help usher in the era of high-quality digital versions that people might pay for.

Less than a year since the iPad first came out, the one app has helped iPad users come closest to a print experience isn't from a magazine at all--and it works for all kinds of content. The Flipboard app was named Apple's "App of the Year" last year and recently launched an updated version that makes it indispensable for iPad users. You can now bring all kinds of content into the app for an amazing reading experience, and the new version is compatible with Twitter and Facebook too.

For creating an app that unlocks the potential of the iPad, the Flipboard is Character Approved.

[Image: Flipboard]