iPad users may have to wait a little longer than they'd like for features like multitasking and folder support, but at least one new feature is available right now: the iPad now supports Ping, Apple's stab at a social media component to the iTunes Store. Via an update to the iTunes Store's servers, Ping functionality is now available in the iTunes app on the iPad.

You'll find all the usual Ping features in a tab on the iPad's iTunes app: who you're following, who follows you, and so forth. Just like when Ping came to the iPhone in early September, there's nothing you need to do or download in order to get Ping working on the iPad other than open the iTunes app.

For some of us, Ping is a somewhat more enjoyable experience on the iPhone than on the Mac, and the same may be true of the iPad. Let us know in the comments how it works for you, and if this makes you more likely to actually use Ping.

Reiner Knizia's classic Egyptian-themed auction and tile-collecting game Ra is not an easy one to figure out. When playing around a table, you need to collect the right tiles, look over to see what other people are collecting, keep an eye on the status of the sun/bid tiles and, in general, process a lot of changing information. If you enjoy this gameplay but don't like setting up the game or dealing with scorekeeping, the new universal Ra app is sure to please, especially at US$4.99 (it debuted at $6.99, but quickly came down).

Ra for iOS was designed by Sage Board Games, the same people who brought us the excellent Medici and have a lot of wonderful board games in their "convert to app" sights. Because it's such a popular game in the Eurogame community, a lot of people have been waiting for Ra, and it kind of feels like this is an important app for the developers. If it's a success, then we expect more board game apps to come. If not, then what happens? We have no inside information on the company's finances or strategic plan, but it's probably not cheap to produce an app like this, and no one wants to lose money -- even if they're making things they love.

Does Ra make the grade? We think so, but read on to see what its like to get a bit of desert auction sand in your iPad or iPhone.

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Although it's too early to come to any firm conclusions, Apple's new thin and light notebook computer may actually be hurting sales of the iPad. If true, this would be a distinct turn-around of the trend since the tablet landed earlier this year. In the months since its debut the iPad is generally credited with leading to a collapse in netbook sales.

Rodman & Renshaw analyst Ashok Kumar cites anecdotal evidence that some consumers are taking a look at the new MacBook Air and deciding that its more complete functionality makes its a better option despite its slightly higher cost. Having a full keyboard, higher resolution display and USB ports make the Air more useful to anyone that has to do content creation. The lack of I/O other than the dock connector limits the user's ability to work with media files on the iPad or even do more extensive writing.

Kumar also cites supplier checks with his assessment that production of the iPad might not be as high as some other analysts predict. According to Kumar only two million iPads are being produced each month, about one-third less than some projections. It will be very interesting to see how the sales numbers shake out when the October-December quarterly results are released in January. Can the iPad maintain it's momentum? Or will the Air become the new champion?

TUAW received a tip from reader Jared today, who sent us a copy of an email sent to him from Steve Jobs in response to a question he had asked. We verified the email headers, and it looks like the real thing.

In his email to Jobs, Jared asked if the new Apple TV would accept presentations via an iOS device or a Mac, and told his Steveness "if it will, I will go buy two at an apple store tonight." Jobs replied, "It's all coming soon. Stay tuned."

As Jared pointed out, this could explain why iWork '11 was not included in the Back to the Mac presentation in October. The software suite, which is made up of Keynote, Pages, and Numbers, might be ready to roll except for the ability to beam Keynote presentations to the Apple TV via WiFi. If that's the case, we may see a release of iWork '11 soon.

At least once a week, I use the iSight camera on my iMac act as the video source for TUAW TV Live. While it works very well, I sometimes need to add a second camera to the Mac in order to demonstrate something on an iPad or other device. That just hasn't worked out too well, since many of the cameras that I've checked out are USB and tend to conflict with the iSight. And sometimes, I've just wanted a camera that I could take anywhere around my office to capture video.

SHAPE Services, the developer of a number of other iPhone apps such as Business Card Reader and Smart Scanner, has just released Mobiola WebCamera for iPhone (US$4.99). It turns your iPhone into a mobile webcam, and I happy to say that even as a "1.0 release," it works very well.

To use WebCamera on your computer, you need to download a free client software package for Windows or Mac. One download contains the installers for both platforms, so if you have both a Mac and a PC, you're in luck. Once the client app is installed and running on your computer, you use the app on your iPhone to connect to the computer over Wi-Fi and beam the live video to your computer.

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Recently departed Apple Senior VP Mark Papermaster has landed a new gig, signing on with Cisco as vice president of the Silicon Switching Technology Group. Papermaster's resume includes time working on chip design for IBM as well as his brief tenure running the hardware engineering group at Apple.

The Cisco job certainly won't have the same kind of profile as the Apple position but it is certainly important. Papermaster will lead the development of chips for Cisco switching equipment. Cisco hardware runs a lot of the infrastructure that makes up the internet as well as corporate networks.

Papermaster's relationship with Apple was marred by controversy before he even started working there. IBM sued Apple in an attempt to prevent Papermaster from joining the company. After only a year and a half in Cupertino, Papermaster left Apple in the wake of reception problems with the iPhone 4.

Like anyone, we always appreciate free stuff. While it's important to be aware that sometimes you get what you pay for, sometimes you get more. Such is the case for a batch of Mac utilities from DEVONtechnologies. For anyone that makes a living sitting in front of a computer screen, little tools that help speed your way through various tasks are always welcome, and at least one of these apps might be just what you've been looking for.

When you have a bunch of windows open for various tasks and you need a file or application, using Exposé to get to a Finder window is one approach, but you might find Xmenu to be a more efficient path. Xmenu adds a menu extra to the right side of the Apple menu bar that provides quick access to files and folders on your drive. If you're not sure where the item you want is located, EasyFind supplements Mac OS X's built-in Spotlight with the ability to search for hidden files, search inside packages, and even allows the use of Boolean operators to narrow searches.

ThumbsUp enables batch operations on clusters of images to switch formats, resize, sharpen and more. It's not quite like creating a Photoshop action, but for some quick and dirty operations it will do. PhotoStickies is less productivity oriented, but it allows you create an automatic collage of images that you select from your drive. The sticky images can even include live webcam feeds that automatically update.

You can grab all four utilities for free at DEVONtechnologies.

Spirits for iPad, which I saw and played back at Indiecade this year, is out now on the App Store. The game is US$4.99, but as a premium iPad experience, it's worth it. The whole thing is extremely relaxing, and the art style is quite well done. If you enjoy Lemmings-style puzzle gameplay where your goal is to get a set of autonomous creatures to a level exit using their various abilities, you'll really enjoy finding your way through the 40 handmade levels in Spirits.

I was told a while back that an iPhone version is coming, but the iPad version was ready to go first, so here it is. Unfortunately, there's still no Game Center achievements or any other extra modes or gameplay, but that's ok. The point of the game is just to sit back and explore the world with these weird spirit creatures, so if you're looking to spend some quality gaming time with the iPad this weekend, Spirits won't let you down.

Man, it's about $*#(ing time. The storied (and dare I say classic?) Grand Theft Auto trilogy, featuring GTA 3, GTA Vice City, and GTA San Andreas, is finally coming to the Mac thanks to Transgaming. Of course, it's about ten years late -- the first game in the grouping came out in 2001 on the PS2. On current-gen gaming consoles, gamers have enjoyed Grand Theft Auto IV for a few years, and Rockstar released Red Dead Redemption earlier this year and is priming for a game called L.A. Noire. I'm surprised these haven't been released on the Mac yet; especially with Steam on the platform, you'd think there would have been a port at some point.

You can order the Mac versions of the Grand Theft Auto trilogy right now for $15 each online, and in about a month they'll be showing up in various retail stores. If you somehow missed these the first time around, or if you just want a few terrific older games to play on your Mac, you can pick and play these. Just keep them away from the kids -- they're all very mature games.

Black Friday ads have slowly started to leak out, and the latest is Best Buy's Black Friday ad. As usual, there aren't any deals to be had on Apple hardware, but Best Buy is going to have quite a good deal on a $50 iTunes giftcard. During its Black Friday sale, Best Buy will offer the $50 gift cards for a whopping 20% off -- so it's only $40. If you do a lot of iTunes Store purchasing, that's actually quite a good deal -- you might want to stock up on the cards while they're on sale.

Other Apple products featured in the Best Buy Black Friday ad:

-- The entry level 13-inch MacBook Pro and 21.5-inch iMac (no discounts)

-- All 8GB iPod nanos (no discount, but you can get a package with an iPod nano, Gumy Earbud Headphones, an Aerosport Case, and a PowerBlock Wall Charger for an added $10 over the price of a nano alone)

-- An 8GB iPod touch with a free $30 Best Buy gift card

Apple Stores usually offer slight discounts on select Mac hardware on Black Friday. We'll keep you updated on other Apple-related Black Friday deals as we hear about them, and we'll feature a recap of all the deals a day or two before the shopping madness begins.