A couple days before the iPad is set to be released, Apple has gone ahead and launched the current selection of new applications for the device on the App Store, meaning that anyone with iTunes can go ahead and see what will be available on launch day.
The iPad App Store works a bit differently to the current one for the iPhone and iPod touch, so we"ll explain it to help clarify things. At the moment, to access the iPad App Store you"ll have to search "iPad" on the iTunes Store, then click "See All" under "iPad Apps", as not everything is in place yet (such as promotional images on the main iTunes Store page). Doing so, you should see two types of apps: one type would be the dedicated iPad apps, which will appear to be the same as iPhone apps (except there"s normally a hint in the title as to which device it is aimed at) in the search panel. The second type is the "universal" selection of apps, which will show up with a + symbol near the name. This means that you can buy a single app, and it will work on both the iPhone and iPod touch, as well as the iPad, saving money and hassle.
If you"d like to see the array of applications that will be available to day-one iPad users, head over to iTunes and search for "iPad". It"ll be interesting to see just how well they perform on those who get the device as soon as possible, as a vast majority of developers haven"t had the chance to test their creations on actual hardware (which can be quite different from simply trying it out in the simulator); however, if things go badly, the iPad is currently limited to the United States, so the complaints will be kept to a relative minimum.