As my office shift further away from my home, the daily commute stretched from 45mins to almost an hour or more. To make it more bearable, I will try to catch up on some old movies and TV shows I get from DVDs. However, these can take hours to sync if you have a lot of them in your computer. Or if you have movies on different formats – avi, MKV or DivX and don’t want to convert for your iOS device?

Air Video by In Method is one app that can make that possible. At US$2.99 – this is one solution for those who wants their videos anytime and anywhere.

Air Video lets you watch most of the DRM-free format available (see the supported list here) – except those you buy from Apple – over WiFi or 3G. All you need is to install their free Air Video server (Mac or Windows), configure the various folders with all your video files and activate the server, you are done!

If you want to watch it outside your LAN, you can configure the Remote Access function and take note of the server PIN number which you use to connect to the server. For that to work, your home network needs to have UPnP or NAT-PMP protocols running.

Next is to install the Air Video app on your iOS device – this works universally on both iPhone and iPad. To configure, you just need to add the computer running the server software. Like me, I set up both my server in LAN and also added the server PIN number when I access it outside.

To watch, you just need to connect to the server, and select the videos you want to watch. If it is in a format that can be watch directly with iOS device, it will let you stream. If not, you need the server to convert the file first before watching it. If you have a decently good machine, you can stream the video with LIVE CONVERSION - which converts and streams the video as you watch.

My set up at home is a 2.26GHz Core 2 Duo Mac mini connected via Starhub’s MaxOnline Express plan. As you can see in the screen grab below, the quality of the streaming is pretty good – both on WiFi or on the Singtel 3G network (disclaimer – haven’t try it on the move).

If you are one video junkie – this app is a must-have in your iOS app list! If unsure, try it with their FREE version that limits the number of videos displayed. Let us know if this work for you!

• read more about Air Video
• purchase Air Video or download the free version

We are getting quite close to the 10 Billion app downloads in iTunes. Last check it is at 9.935 billion..and counting. Some predict it will hit 10 billion mark sometime on Friday…so keep a look out and start clicking in the coming hours.

Meanwhile, Apple had released their all time downloads of iOS apps in iTunes. Looking at the Singapore store and compared it with the US, we notice a few common trends, and also some results which are quite Singaporean.

Under the paid iPhone app section, WhatsApp Messenger came out tops – no surprise considering how we are into SMS/Messaging. Then the next 5 in the list are games, with Tap Tap Revenge 3 and Angry Birds leading the way. Next in the list is a weird choice – Pee Monkey Toilet Trainer … erm?

For the free iPhone app section, no surprise that FaceBook app is top, with eBuddy Messenger coming in second followed by Skype. We are quite the social animal…This is also where we see the appearance of our local apps – SG Buses, Straits Times and ChannelNews Asia App, to name a few. The never-ending Coin Dozer also appears in there – auntie gamers?

For the paid iPad app section, the surprise is seeing SoundHound at the top. Maybe it is boosted by the fact it is an Universal app and the downloads for the iPhone help pushes it up. Games are still the main draw for the iPad though there is BibleReader in there as well.

For the free iPad app section, we have Google Mobile App, followed by Adobe’s Photoshop Express and then Apple’s own iBook app.

So have you got these apps in your iOS devices? If not go download and you might just be the lucky winner to get the US$10,000 iTunes Store Gift credit!

EA is offering more than 70 games for your iOS device for a low, low 99cents (US$) during this holiday period.

Some of the must-grab games are Battlefield Bad Company (iTunes link), Fifa 11 (iTunes link), Command & Conquer Red Alert (iTunes link) and Scrabble for iPad (iTunes link).

Go grab them now (opens in iTunes) and tell us which game you bought for this holiday!

If you forget to get presents for your loved ones and friends, you can now send apps as gift to your friends. Just click on the drop-down arrow and select “Gift This App”, fill in your loved one’s details and they will get the code to download the app for free!

Don’t wait!

In my review of the iPad, I said that the iPad is a blank canvas that can become what you want it to be, to be more precise, what kind of apps you install in there. Air Display by Avatron Software is a good example of this.

Ever wish you had an extra display for your computer? There’s an app for that! With Air Display, you can use your iPad as a wireless display for your Mac OS X computer.
Read more →

MacHeist’s latest offering is a cool 5+1 bundle, worth US$154 for…FREE! The 5 apps available now are ShoveBox, WriteRoom, Twitterrific, TinyGrab and Hordes of Orcs. The last app is Mariner Write which will be unlocked when they get 500,000 participants.

But note that this offer is available for the next 6 days – so don’t wait! Go to MacHeist now and grab your apps for free!