Can I load a UIImage from a URL?

You can do it this way (synchronously, but compact):

UIImage *image = [UIImage imageWithData:[NSData dataWithContentsOfURL:[NSURL URLWithString:MyURL]]];

A much better approach is to use Apple's LazyTableImages to preserve interactivity.

You can try SDWebImage, it provides:

1. Asynchronous loading
2. Caching for offline use
3. Place holder image to appear while loading
4. Works well with UITableView

Quick example:

    [cell.imageView setImageWithURL:[NSURL URLWithString:@"http://www.domain.com/path/to/image.jpg"] placeholderImage:[UIImage imageNamed:@"placeholder.png"]];