iPad Farmville launched, as games named tablet's top category

Gaming appears to be most popular app genre for Apple's iPad, according to a recent survey by Nielsen.

While findings revealed that 32 per cent of iPad owners rather surprisingly claimed they were yet to download any Apps, 62 per cent of those who had revealed they're tried games.

In total, 38 per cent of the iPad owners surveyed online had downloaded games, making it the top paid App category.

However, only 400 iPad owners were questioned in total, as part of an online survey covering 5000 owners of tablet devices - also including Kindles and smartphones.

Game companies are fast taking advantage of the iPad's seven million worldwide sales to date, with yesterday seeing Zynga release a new version of Facebook titan Farmville for the iPad.

Like the earlier iPhone version, the title is free to play, microtransaction-funded and runs in a client independent of Facebook (though nonetheless requires an account).

"The iPad is a spectacular gaming device, and the new FarmVille app leverages its larger touch screen interface and enhanced graphics," said Zynga's president of studios Steven Chiang. "FarmVille on the iPhone was an instant hit and now we are giving people another Apple device to play on."

Meanwhile, Rovio studios have immediately leapt to the top of both the iPhone and iPad App Store charts with a new Hallowe'en-themed version of the ubiquitous Angry Birds.

Nielsen's iPad user survey also found that the audience was 65 per cent and 63 per cent under 35 years of age. 39 percent of those surveyed earned more than $80,000 per year.