iPad

When we brought you the exclusive first hands-on preview of PlayOn's iOS app last week, the company said it expected the app to be available in the iTunes App Store on July 15. However, Apple has held up the app's release with its review process, according to MediaMall Technologies, PlayOn''s parent company.

PlayOn is an application that runs in the background on a PC on your home network. It streams and converts Web video content from Hulu, Comedy Central, ESPN, PBS, and other sources so it can be played on devices such as an Xbox 360 or … Read more

Can I be brutally honest? Much as I like my iPad, I'm just not using it much. (No, you can't have it.) Turns out my iPhone is still my go-to device for e-mail, e-books, games, and other day-to-day stuff.

Needless to say, it troubles me to see that beautiful (and expensive) screen just sitting there going to waste. Well, waste no more! MaxiVista turns an iPad into a second monitor.

If this sounds familiar, you're probably thinking of a similar utility: Air Display. However, that popular app works only with Macs. MaxiVista is the first such option … Read more

When Snow Leopard came out, a number of people were confused by the sudden increase in free space on their hard drives, but they also were curious about why file sizes seemed to be decreased. This was because in Snow Leopard Apple changed the file size definitions from being based on the binary system to being based on the decimal system (a more logical approach, from some points of view). Despite this change in the Mac, it seems Apple has not included it in portable devices.… Read more

I'm not the first to report this, but it's hit me hard over the last few weekends: it's getting a bit difficult to be an iPad owner amid all this iPhone 4 to-do. As if a front-facing camera and higher-res Retina Display weren't already envy-inducing, to add insult to injury the iPhone already has iOS 4, with multitasking, folders, and other features that aren't available on the iPad yet. So, after a few months, has it come to this, Apple?

There is hope: first of all, the iPad doesn't have a problematic antenna. Secondly, … Read more

This week, the Android army comes out swinging, as we discover that Android fans have now joined the ranks of Linux/Apple/Nintendo fanboys in terms of raw enthusiasm. We also bid a fond farewell to the Microsoft Kin phones and find out why Consumer Reports says to skip the iPhone 4.

In practical news, we test PlayOn for iOS, streaming Hulu to your iPhone or iPad without the $10 per month Hulu Plus subscription; update our list of great games for Netbooks; and check out a collection of tiny man-purse bags for lugging around an iPad or Netbook.

Related … Read more

Microsoft's Windows business faces a real threat from Apple's iPad and the impending crop of similar touch-screen devices running Android, Web OS, and other lightweight mobile operating systems. Windows will remain relevant for years to come, but if even 10 percent of potential laptop or Netbook buyers choose an iPad or other competitor instead, that cuts more than a billion dollars out of Microsoft's largest and most profitable business.

That's right: Microsoft now earns more than $10 billion in profit--not revenue, profit--from the Windows desktop operating system every year.

What's Microsoft's answer? At a … Read more

Computing may indeed be reaching a crossroads where ultraportable devices become as easy to tote as a softcover book or a thick issue of GQ. It certainly seems that way when toting an iPad or a thin Netbook around. Unfortunately, neither has solved the problem of making a bag for these devices that's not semi-humiliating.

The joke about "iPad murses" has circulated the office for months now, yet there still hasn't been a clear-cut bag that's conquered the stereotype. We tried on a few recent offerings for some quick impressions, along with what we call … Read more

Sales of Windows-Intel laptops will take a hit because of iPad and tablet growth, according to research notes released by Barclays Capital.

Sales of the iPad and similar tablets will jump next year, with some of that heady growth coming at the expense of Netbooks and low-end notebooks, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday, citing a series of research notes sent out by Barclays Capital.

Tablet sales are forecast to reach at least 15 million units this year, jumping to 28 million in 2011, Barclays said. "We believe the initial phase of the tablet surge will cannibalize a portion … Read more

Web video streaming has always been a selective experience on Apple devices, limited to specialized apps and HTML5-enabled Web sites. Even the recent announcement of Hulu Plus doesn't fully solve the problem, with its selective library and high monthly cost.

The makers of PlayOn, a useful media-streaming program for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, have a new solution, in the form of an iPhone version of the PlayOn app. It will be available in the iTunes App Store as a free download starting July 15, but it requires you to own the PC-based PlayOn software, which unfortunately recently moved from a one-time purchase to an annual subscription model, with rates running from $5 to $40 per year, depending on whether you're an existing customer (discounted deals are occasionally offered as well).

Previously, I described how PlayOn helped me decide to mothball the media center PC connected to my home theater setup, as it provides for on-the-fly streaming and transcoding of Hulu (and content from a handful of other online sources), plus video files from the local PC the PlayOn server software resides on. It's an imperfect, sometimes clunky solution, but the ability to get Hulu running on a big-screen TV via your game console makes it a killer app.

The new iPhone app works much the same way, streaming the content from Hulu and other sources from a base PC on your network to your iPhone. Simply download and install the PlayOn software on a laptop or desktop (there's a two-week free trial), and have it run in the background. Once you install the PlayOn app on your iPhone, it will see the PC and connect, then let you choose from a variety of media sources. … Read more