ReadWriteWeb

The iPad isn't just a hot new consumer device, it's also an increasingly popular tool for business. Each week we take a look at the new or updated business apps for the iPad, and highlight trends in how tablets are being used in the enterprise.

This week we look at a new app for enterprise microblogging, a new RDP client for the iPad and yet another way of building mobile apps. Plus, an advance look at the forthcoming Skype for iPad app.

Today Adobe released an update to its Flash Builder 4.5 and Flex 4.5 software which now allows developers to build cross-platform applications for Android, iOS and the QNX-based BlackBerry PlayBook. This extends the functionality of the Adobe framework, released back in April. At launch, the software only supported Android, with support for the additional platforms planned for this month.

Mobile social photo app Path launched tonight to huge press attention. Here's our coverage. After a few hours of testing it, though, it's a real surprise to see just how many features this deep-pocketed, heavily pedigreed startup launched without - after a year in stealth mode. Below is our list of 10 surprising things you can't do on Path.

Perhaps the most surprising thing, however, is that the app is still quite interesting. Some number of these missing capabilities will be deemed Features Not Bugs, but for now here's what you shouldn't expect from Path.

Have you ever wondered about the resources and platforms used by the brain trusts and engineering teams behind products like QuickBooks, TurboTax, Quicken, or the extremely popular consumer web success story Mint.com? The company behind all of these products is Intuit.

Let's take a look at the native and federated platforms available today that allow any developer to reach a potential market of 25 million users within 4 million small businesses.

Microsoft's Silverlight 3 and Expression 3 were released on July 9th to favorable reviews. The original Silverlight shipped in Fall 2007 as Microsoft's first programmable web browser plug-in. It's a 4MB Flash/Flex competitor that runs on Mac OS, Windows, Linux, and mobile devices. While Flash definitely holds the market share for machine installs, according to Microsoft, "In less than nine months since its release, more than 1 in 3 Internet devices now have Silverlight 2 installed."

When we put Amazon Web Services (AWS) in our list of top 10 enterprise products of 2008, a few readers were skeptical that AWS was enterprise ready. This is a perception issue that Amazon faces. Amazon needs more partners that build apps for the enterprise. Adobe, meanwhile, wants to convince the kind of developers who love AWS that they should develop more business apps using its LiveCycle platform. This is the context for Adobe's announcement today that LiveCycle will be powered by AWS.