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.

It was a short business week in the U.S. and there were few new application releases this week. But there was one that caught or eye: Oracle Virtual Desktop for iPad. We also found some interesting articles on use cases for iPads in the workplace.

Windows 8 may be released as soon as April 2012, according to ZDNet's Mary Jo Foley. Foley writes that according to a "trusted source" Microsoft is on track to release all versions of the OS, including Server and ARM versions, to manufacturing ahead of the originally reported Q2/Q3 2012 schedule (Foley also explains her policy for vetting rumors).

The same source reports that Microsoft may release a beta version at the company Build conference in September. It was originally thought that this would be a pre-beta preview.

A new mobile app platform called WiO is set to revolutionize the TV watching experience by allowing customers to immediately get information about the products and services they see advertised on screen, both in TV commercials and within the shows themselves.

Through a mobile app running on customers' phones, marketers can offer a variety of follow-up actions to the TV viewer, including coupons, reminders, contact info and more. In total, there are 10 follow-up actions offered. And the consumer is in complete control of which ones, if any, they respond to.

We covered the story last week about the RIM open letters, and my colleague Klint Finley gave three suggestions about how RIM can survive. And then there was a story by Chris Nerney in ITworld talking about how key developers are ending their support for Blackberry, including Seesmic and others.

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 ERP client, a new project management, a whole new way to look at your enterprise activity stream and more.

Since the publication yesterday of a damning open letter to RIM's senior management team from an anonymous employee, Boy Genius Report has two published more open letters. Also, the Financial Post reports that RIM is forming a committee to examine leadership structure in response to analyst pressures to spit the co-chair and co-CEO roles.

The blogosphere is abuzz with people talking about what RIM did wrong, and what the company should do next. You can tell us what you think RIM's biggest mistake was in our poll, and I've talked about what RIM should do before.

But today I want to focus on what RIM has done right, and why it's too early to dismiss the company and its technology.

An anonymous Research in Motion employee today published a letter to the company's senior management team begging them to change the companies direction by refocusing on end-user experience, among other things. The letter was published by The Boy Genius Report.

While it might be easy to dismiss it as the bitter rantings of a disgruntled employee, I think it's worth reading. Not just for yet another perspective on what RIM is doing wrong, but because it presents the exact series of organization problems that enterprise 2.0/social business tools are intended to solve.

Google has just launched a free mobile website building tool as an extension to its existing Google Sites service. Like its big brother, which is designed to let anyone create a professional, template-driven webpage in minutes, the new mobile service is just as painless to use.

It's also completely free.

EggDrop is a new mobile application for buying and selling goods in real-time with those in your local community. The idea is to improve upon the mobile commerce experience by using the technology that ships on modern smartphones. The app lets you use the camera for posting photos of items for sale, filter searches by location and receive push notifications to stay informed about the items you're watching, buying or selling.

In addition, EggDrop introduces an interesting pricing model - the "falling price auction." This enables so-called "frictionless" transactions that work without any haggling, bargaining, deals or discounts. It's as if eBay has been re-imagined for the mobile, social, location-based age.

Today, Barnes & Noble has been revealed to be the first-ever location where you can unlock the free Mighty Eagle character in Angry Birds Magic, the new game from franchise creators Rovio. The idea behind Angry Birds Magic is to use technology, like GPS and NFC (near field communication), to connect gamers with their surroundings in order to augment gameplay and unlock special location-based rewards.