LoveFilm app streams movies to your iPad

LoveFilm has an iPad app that streams the silver screen directly into your tablet over a Wi-Fi connection.

The app itself is free, then you sign in with your LoveFilm account (you'll need to be on at least a £5.99 per month package) and start streaming movies. We've been using it this morning, and it seems very slick, with movies starting up without much delay.

Once a flick is playing, you can pause, fast-forward or rewind 30 seconds, or if you want to find a particular point in the movie, there's the usual Apple slider control at the top. The video quality seemed fine to us, though it doesn't outshine a proper Blu-ray.

Alas, there's no pay per view option, so you can only access movies via your subscription package. It would have been handy to be able to pay just for movies we fancied watching, without having to fork out for the monthly charge.

You can, however, use the app to manage your by-post rental list, so if you only have your iPad to hand when you realise you need quirky 2006 Jack Black-em-up The Holidayposted to you immediately, this app has you covered.

Another gripe is that you can only link two streaming devices to one LoveFilm account. So if you already use LoveFilm on your PlayStation 3 and Internet-enabled TV, you'll need to deactivate one of those on the device itself, or from the My Account bit of the LoveFilm website.

Nevertheless, the interface is clear, and while the movie selection isn't amazing, it's getting better -- just the other day LoveFilm signed a deal to stream movies from distribution company Studio Canal, which has the rights to recent sci-fi corkers Attack the Block and Source Code.

Are you hooked on LoveFilm, or is physical media still king? Inform us in the comments section below, or on our Facebook wall.