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For all the wonders of Apple's iPad, one feature that's always been a little underwhelming is its native Web browser. Like on the iPhone, Safari for the iPad definitely gets the job done and is overall a pretty solid browser in terms of performance, but there are few features that are inexcusably absent.

Fortunately, there have been a number of third party browsers that have made their way into the App Store. Atomic Browser and Opera Mini are both very popular, streamlined browsers that support tabbed browsing. Skyfire offers rich social integration and can even play Flash videos. The newest entrant into this space is Dolphin HD, a tablet-optimized version of the popular Android browser, which just launched for iPhone a few weeks ago.

Talk of an Apple TV has stirred again lately with financial analyst Gene Munster predicting Apple will release in the 2012-2013 timeframe. Many arguing against an Apple TV point to the significant margins they have commanded in the industries they traditionally operate, and that these margins would not be attainable without Apple charging a significant premium over cheaper sets. The TV industry has been in a race to the bottom on price, or so the argument goes.

Apple fans and the technology press have been wondering aloud for months about what new features will be included in the next iteration of the iPhone. As the iPhone 5's rumored October launch gets closer, that speculation grows more feverish, as details are leaked and rumors turn into facts.

We're reaching that point with the iPhone 5 (or is it iPhone 4s? Or both?), which is widely expected to launch within a matter of weeks. With a barrage of new rumors and purported leaks everyday, it's hard to know for sure what's true. A few things are practically guaranteed: the phone will be faster with upgraded tech specs. It will probably have a better camera than the iPhone 4. One thing that's always been unclear is whether the device will support NFC.

When Steve Jobs unveiled iMessage, Apple's new cross-device mobile messaging feature, at the WWDC in June, fans of the company's products were excited to see a potential "SMS killer" coming down the pike. What the company's then-CEO failed to mention is that the service will work with their iChat desktop client as well.

iMessage, which will be rolled out to iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch users when iOS drops this Fall, will apparently be available to users of OS X Lion via the iChat application, according to Mac Rumors.

In our continuing tradition of rounding up new mobile application releases we found interesting and/or exciting over the past month, we present you with this new list of apps for August 2011. Last month there were some interesting iOS apps and updates along with some dynamic Android apps.

The list, as always, is a bit subjective so please let us know in the comments if we missed an app or you have found one that you cannot live without.

The first time I stood in a Major League Baseball clubhouse was a month after the original iPad came out. My editor at the time was standing next to me and joked how Apple products were like a fever in the MLB. Whenever the newest and coolest was released from Cupertino, all the players rushed to buy.

I nodded and shrugged. These are rich men that want their toys. I looked over and saw a starting pitcher sitting on a leather couch, playing Plants vs. Zombies on his iPad (he was not pitching that night). Yet, iPads and other devices permeating baseball are not all about watching YouTube or killing zombies. Combined with an era of abundant data, iPads have revolutionized the game.

Breezy, a mobile printing startup, recently launched a version of its app for the iPhone.

Once installed, the app lets you print documents and other files from your iOS device, whether to a printer at your home, office or a public location. The application comes equipped with a feature that uses GPS to find nearby public printers, many of whom have partnered with Breezy.

Analyst firm Research2Guidance studied download numbers for all the major mobile apps stores and it has some choice words for Apple and Android - they are over hyped.

Research2Guidance says that the results from its second quarter 2011 smartphone application monitoring report indicate that applications published on the "lesser" app stores (Windows Phone Marketplace, BlackBerry App World, OVI Store) generate significantly more downloads compared to the Apple App Store. It is a gutsy statement to call Apple and Android "over-hyped" but Research2Guidance does make an interesting point.

Newspapers and magazines still clinging to hopes that tablets will help revitalize their businesses have something to look forward to this Fall. That's when Apple with launch Newsstand, a marketplace for digital publications that will be rolled out with iOS 5.

Adobe announced today that its Digital Publishing Suite will be ready when iOS 5 and Newsstand go live. Using DPS, media companies will now be able to publish directly into Newsstand, just as they can now publish stand-alone apps for iPads and other tablet devices.

Apple's new subscription rules requiring publishers to fork over 30% of revenue generated from apps in the iTunes Store have claimed their biggest victim to date. As of last night, the iPhone and iPad apps for the Financial Times went missing from the App Store.

The new rules have not thrilled publishers, but reactions have been mixed. Some media companies, like Hulu and the New York Times, have decided to play along with Apple and offer a significant cut of their subscription revenue to the tech giant in exchange for access to millions of iTunes customers. Others, like Amazon, have opted to build HTML5 Web apps as a way to circumvent the new rules.