Ipad2, Archos 101, Xoom and other tablets

Interesting problem – had you launched the YouTube app, rather than from within the browser, you might have discovered straight away that the video was Flash-encoded, with a possible non-Flash version available. A quick search via the app shows a long list of available non-Flash versions, including an acoustic version (very Cure- / Echo & the Bunnymen-esque, by the way) that played perfectly well on my iPhone.

As for Apple's decision to eliminate Flash on iOS–seems they're not the only people considering a break with the past, given the numerous security issues with Flash as of late.

The YouTube app plays every video that you can find on YouTube, never encountered this issue as it always automatically directs me to the app when I click a YouTube link.



Considering all the other apps out there there is no real competition for the iPad, even if you like some of the hardware features of other tablets, IMO they struggle to compete.

I have decided to get an iPad2 - didn't really consider any other choices - I agree with Apple's decision to move on from Flash too. Yes some other devices may do somethings better, but with Apple you know there will be plenty of apps and lots of support.

If you do want to play Flash on the iPad or iPhone, just go to the App Store and download Skyfire. It's about £1.79 for iPhone, £3.00 for iPad. It's a browser that converts Flash videos so they'll play on i devices, no problems for me so far.

I've decided to get an iPad2. I don't want it to play videos on; OK I can surf the Net with it but I can do this on my Mac anyway. Don't want the 3G thing 'cos I'm always near a wireless access point. I might store a couple of photos on it. I could use it to access my iTunes via the remote app. but the iTouch is a bit neater and does a pretty good job for this anyway.

I just WANT ONE!!!!

"I just WANT ONE!!!!"...Yes, I completely understand and share the same mindset. Therefore I got back to the store today and continued my test on the Ipad2

This time, instead of trying to access Youtube from the browser, I used the Youtube application, as advised in another post, then I did a search to find my favorite video of Indochine - Mao Boy.
Unfortunately, it turns out that the Youtube application did not return the "original" version of the video. The "official" version was posted by IndochineVevo, which corresponds to the official channel of the band.  I found instead other videos, including an "acoustic" version of the same song. I played this version of the video, but the aspect ratio was incorrect.  Was it due to the video itself, was it due to the Youtube application or to the device? No idea, but I quickly stopped as the overall experience was really bad.

Apparently the Youtube application does not not return the same videos that it does on a laptop. Is filtering out the videos that are in .Flv format?

I did not try yet the Skyfire software indicated above, maybe it is indeed a solution. If there is a possibility to install a demo version, I will try next time.

After being unsuccessful with the Youtube application, I decided to try again from the the safari browser. The safari browser was able to show me in Google the video I wanted to watch, but predictably was not able to play.  When I clicked on the video, the system opened what appeared to be a different application, and then I got a blank screen. I tried to look for the "Back" button, but there was none. I looked for the "Exit" or "Close" button, there was none. In the end I clicked on the "Home" button on the device itself and came back to the main home page of the Ipad. Once there, I decided to re-open the safari browser. To my surprise, the safari browser opened on the last page I had visited, which was the result of the search on Indochine videos. So in the end I was back to where I was before, but in order to get there, I had to press a real button on the device, then open the browser again, instead of the one click action with the traditional "Back" button in the browser.

Probably, when clicking a video in the browser, the video is actually played with a different application, not within the browser.  That would explain the absence of "back" button and the fact that when running the browser again, the system shows the page prior to the blank screen.

After this rather unsuccessful experiment on videos, I decided to move on and try something else: books.

So I picked another application on the Ipad2, called I believe "Ibook".  I chose to ignore the  pre-installed books because I wanted to experience a complete task flow: selecting a book on-line, downloading and then reading it. I decided to get a book called "A tale of two cities",  written by Charles Dickens.
Seeing a "Store" button in the application, I clicked it. I was able to search and got a list of of books including the one I wanted. It was a free book, so I went on to purchase it. At that point, the system asked for my Apple user and password. I did not have one, so I clicked "Create a new user". And then I got a blank page....This was the end of the experiment because I could not figure out a way to get past it.

Results of the second test on Ipad2:
- not able to play the Youtube video I wanted to watch
- not able to download the free book I wanted to read

Am I trying to use this device in a wrong way? Is it me?

Thanks for your feedback.

I believe its entirely possible you cannot create a new user in store on an unpurchased iPad.

As for video, it will display the aspect ratio as provided by the video stream.

Agreed. Haven't seen one or touched one yet, but would love to have it. I don't want to be accused of being a fanboy, but I have a lot of their products, and I know I would enjoy it.

Dave

Download the free BBC iplayer app and you will be able to watch the BBC to your hearts content on the

iPad. It is really rather good.

Alamanka, not sure what you are doing wrong but I have an ipad2, just went to YouTube and looked up your video and it played in browser just fine (YouTube switches to html5 for iOS)







As for your ebook, my guess is the kindle app will support it. Or it cannot create a new user on the demo ipad2







Nick, iplayer app works really well







Must say all in all the iPad2 has surpassed my expectations. except I can't work out how to post a screen print from it!!!