Will Apple Let the VLC iPad App Survive?
No matter what kind of computer you have or what OS you use, VLC is usually the best way to play back video. On Mac, Windows, and Linux, VLC is an ultra-lightweight program that plays anything you throw at it, whether it’s a pirated high-def video in .MKV, a ripped DVD in H.264, or a streaming Flash video. It takes a little bit of know-how to get the most out of it, but for most uses, it couldn’t be simpler: drag a video, any video, onto VLC, and enjoy. Applidium announced that it has submitted a version of VLC to Apple’s App Store, for use on the iPad. That’s big news–it’s the first mobile version of VLC on a major American platform, and Applidium even boasts that an iPhone and iPod Touch version are forthcoming. VLC on the iPad is a big deal precisely because of Apple’s tight restrictions on video formats. The iPad (and the iPhone, and every other mobile Apple device) is extremely limited, only playing back a few video types (H.264 up to 720p, MPEG-4 in standard-def, and motion-JPEG
