The VLC Media Player app for the Apple iPad has now been approved and is ready for download in the iTunes store.

The application is free and allows you to stream multimedia content from another device to the VLC Media Player app on the iPad. The description explains that most media files can be played and that the app also supports a number of streaming protocols.

VLC has all codecs built-in. It comes with support for nearly all codec there is. And what is more it can even play back the file or media if it is damaged! Missing or broken pieces are no stop to VLC, it plays all the video and audio information that’s still intact.

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Another rumour is going around about the iPad 2 release date. We have heard previously that a new iPad will be launched in November this year, then it was December and now it is end of Q1 2011.

Most people expect that Apple [AAPL] will release the iPad 2 based on how the iPhone and iPod touch gets updated, which is generally yearly. This would make it an early April launch for the iPad 2 which means Digitimes isn’t that far out with it’s guess. [Read more…]

When the iPad launched in the UK, O2 offered 3GB of data for £15 per month or 500MB of data for £2/day.

For those using these plans the limits have changed. This isn’t good news though as O2 has lowered the data allowance for the £15/month plan to offer 2GB rather than 3GB. For the £2/day plan, the allowance has dropped to 200MB.

It isn’t clear when these plans changed (other than some time in June), although Apple site still shows prices for the original plans that were available for the iPad. [Read more…]

Apple [AAPL] has released iOS 4.2 beta to developers. The first beta brings along with it the AirPrint wireless printing technology for developers to test out.

When the final iOS 4.2 is released in November, it will bring the AirPrint service to all iOS devices that can run iOS 4.2 which of course includes the iPad, the iPhone and iPod touch.

“AirPrint is Apple’s powerful new printing architecture that matches the simplicity of iOS—no set up, no configuration, no printer drivers and no software to download,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “iPad, iPhone and iPod touch users can simply tap to print their documents or photos wirelessly to an HP ePrint printer or to a printer shared on a Mac or PC.”

[Read more…]

Over the past couple of days we heard some rumours that Target in the US could start selling the Apple iPad. The release date in Target for the iPad is pencilled in as October 3 which is just a few weeks away.

The reason for the rumours is that a new device appeared in the Target inventory system. The new item is listed as being a PDA that will come in six variations (which the iPad comes in 6), and to top it off, the prices all match as well.

Although a “PDA” style device in six variations with the exact pricing as the iPad might exist, we are not aware of what that is and all indications point to the iPad it’s self. [Read more…]

If the 10+ hour battery life of the Apple iPad isn’t enough for you then perhaps this Kensington iPad battery extender case could work for you.

The Kensington PowerBack will add about another 5 hours on to the battery life of your iPad allowing it to run for a total of 15 or so hours between charges. The case also brings a microUSB connector to the iPad allowing you to charge it with a regular USB cable rather than the USB Apple sync cable. [Read more…]

Apple has announced that the WiFi iPad model will be launching in China this Friday the 17th September.

The iPad will go on sale at 10am at Apple [AAPL] retail stores. All three WiFi models will be made available starting at the lowest end which is the 16GB version. This model will cost CNY3988 which is the equivalent of $590 USD.

The 32GB model will cost CNY4788 ($708) and the 64GB model will cost CNY5588 ($826). [Read more…]

The second gen iPad is expected to land around April time in 2011. This would follow the pattern that Apple [AAPL] uses for the iPhone in that a new model is released each year.

However, we are still hearing more rumours that Apple want to push FaceTime in a big way which could mean that in November when iOS 4.2 for iPad launches, we could also see a second generation iPad.

New features on the second iPad would of course include front and back facing cameras allowing FaceTime to be used. We also expect a bump up in RAM from 256MB to 512MB and perhaps a higher resolution display. [Read more…]

Maynard Um with UBS Investment Research has suggested that in 2011, Apple [AAPL] might sell 28 million iPads.

Maynard Um with UBS Investment Research issued a note to investors this week, in which he increased his price target for AAPL stock to $350, up from $340. He said there is no evidence that the iPad is having a negative effect on Mac sales, but it is “adversely affecting the PC industry.”

The report goes on to say that sales of traditional notebooks seem to be pressured by the launch of the iPad. [Read more…]

We’ll take this one with a pinch of salt, but there are rumours going around that the Apple iPad could get an external camera to make FaceTime calls with it.

This rumour started because of the iOS 4.2 release date of November being mentioned last week at the Apple Special Event. In that presentation, Steve Jobs said that everything goes to the iPad for iOS 4.2 which included HDR photography amongst other things. The problem is that the iPad can’t do HDR without a camera and certainly can’t make FaceTime calls. [Read more…]

The iPad 2 when launched next year, is expected to have a couple of cameras installed. One of which will be used for FaceTime calling.

This rumour has been further strengthened by the image above which shows a video call debug screen running on the current iPad. [Read more…]

Apple [AAPL] has uploaded a new page to it’s website that provides the official details of iOS 4.2 for iPad. The iOS 4.2 release date is November this year which will bring everything to iPad which includes multi-tasking, folders as well as the ability to print among a number of other enhancements.

On the official iOS 4.2 page, Apple mention that over 100 enhancements will be added to the iPad with the update. These features include the much wanted multitasking that allows you to switch quickly between apps. This works exactly how it does on the iPhone running iOS 4.

Folders is another feature wanted by many. Folders also works the same was as the iPhone/iPod touch running iOS 4 in that you drag 1 icon on to another to create a folder. [Read more…]