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iDea: iPad as secondary display

silkyjohnson said:
The thing I miss about using my PC is the dual monitors. Whether I can look at two files and reference them back and forth without having to switch windows or "Spaces". I also like to stream live sports like Euro soccer, basketball, boxing, etc. while I'm working on my assignments. An extra monitor would really come in handy for me.

I'm pretty set on buying an iPod Touch but if the iPad has that functionality I'm looking for, I'm thinking it might be worth the extra benjamin or two to upgrade to it.
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While I think it's unlikely that the iPad could act as a second monitor for your desktop/laptop computer, the things you mention could be done on an iPad by running separate apps on it. Like you could open a document reader on an iPad and open the document you want to reference, or you could run a sports info app on the iPad while working on your laptop. If you are set on getting an iPod touch, then I believe the iPad is definitely worth a look.
 
Night Spring said:
While I think it's unlikely that the iPad could act as a second monitor for your desktop/laptop computer, the things you mention could be done on an iPad by running separate apps on it. Like you could open a document reader on an iPad and open the document you want to reference, or you could run a sports info app on the iPad while working on your laptop. If you are set on getting an iPod touch, then I believe the iPad is definitely worth a look.
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It just wouldn't be the same though. I'm a computer science student, and with dual monitors I'm editing back and forth between documents. On my desktop it's easy because I can have files on both screens and make changes to both on the fly. After getting used to that, it's kind of a pain on my Macbook, Spaces and that other thing help a bit, as opposed to a windows laptop, but dual-monitors would make things much easier.

Also, Gamecasts are nowhere near the same as watching the actual game. I already have a Droid phone so it's not like I lack a sports info app. I could also just stream the vid in the background on my macbook and just listen to the audio. But nothing would beat being able to stream the game onto an iPad and just be able to keep an eye on the game while I'm getting work done on the main screen.

But that's just me though.
 
MikhailT said:
The multi-touch screen that Apple uses doesn't work well with a stylus, it's not precise enough and it's not pressure sensitive. It's designed for fingers.
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It works fine with a capacitive stylus, and because it's designed for finger use, it actually has to be more precise than a standard consumer touch glass.

It is not pressure sensitive, but it is roughly as accurate as Wacom's Bamboo line and has the added advantage of the screen. There are probably some people who would prefer the convenience of the screen over pressure sensitivity.
Fast Shadow said:
It would have been great if the iPad could have doubled as a 10" input device for the Mac, similar to the Wacom Cintiq. No luck, though.
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Says who? There are touch mouse and VNC applications available for the iPod touch--the iPad is a very attractive platform for combining the two. Wacom might even do it.

It won't play video and it's not pressure-sensitive, but as an input device, it'll do.
applesupergeek said:
Oh, I see, thanks for explaining that to me. What exactly are the pressure sensors used for in a wacom, imitating a stronger brush stroke say?
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Exactly. In order to respond like a pencil, charcoal, or a paintbrush, the thickness and the darkness have to respond to artist pressure.

The iPad won't ever be great for digital painting, but it could easily handle many of the other uses for Wacom tablets.
 
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e.g. Moving mouse of computer matti :)
 
Xenious said:
Thin client would be ok but I really want it as a 3rd display or multi touch input panel + display. Imagine a whole bank of faders and knobs to mix a song or use as a remote transport in Logic. That would be fantastic in my home studio.
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I am going to to use the open source iPhone (and soon, hopefully, ipad) app to use ableton live in this way... it will be a touch-screen DJ mixer for me.

Also hope to hook up my iphone as a basic kaoss-pad style fx unit
 
Maybe I'm not understanding exactly what function you guys are looking for with the iPad as a secondary display. :confused: You're talking as if there's nothing like that out there, so I may be missing something, but wouldn't Jaadu VNC accomplish what you guys are talking about?

www.jaaduvnc.com

It's an iPhone app that allows you to view and control your PC remotely, from basically anywhere. There's even a touchscreen mode that allows you to navigate your desktop like you would Safari mobile, ie. tapping things to click them as opposed to dragging a cursor around. It also supports multi-touch gestures. From what I understand, the company is working on a version specifically for the iPad, so you can imagine the big screen will make this app even more useful than it is on the iPhone.
 
matticus008 said:
Exactly. In order to respond like a pencil, charcoal, or a paintbrush, the thickness and the darkness have to respond to artist pressure.

The iPad won't ever be great for digital painting, but it could easily handle many of the other uses for Wacom tablets.
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Wouldn't it be possible for a stylus to communicate pressure through blue tooth? The touch screen could communicate the location of the strokes/lines and the pen could be equipped with a pressure sensitive tip and blue tooth communication to communicate pressure.
 
thehellobob said:
Wouldn't it be possible for a stylus to communicate pressure through blue tooth? The touch screen could communicate the location of the strokes/lines and the pen could be equipped with a pressure sensitive tip and blue tooth communication to communicate pressure.
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That's one feasible option. I would also keep an eye on Ten One Design, the company that designed the Pogo Sketch. They've recently come out with an application called Inklet that purports to turn the Macbook Pro trackpad into a graphic tablet. Now, I've tried the free demo of this app and while I can't seriously recommend it, (you can't take the Pogo off the trackpad without losing control of where the cursor will be once you put the Pogo back ON the trackpad) I will testify that it DOES register pressure sensitivity with the use of a Pogo Sketch. I've played with ArtRage and Sketchbook Pro using Inklet, and both programs responded decently to the pressure sensitivity; I can only imagine all pressure sensitive art programs (Photoshop, Painter) would do the same. If TenOneDesign can come up with something like this for the iPad, then... seriously, YAY. The problem with Inklet on the MacBook Pro would be eliminated on the iPad because it's a touchscreen that doesn't need a cursor dragged around the interface.

The company site isn't divulging details, but they seem to have something in the works for the iPad. Wait to see.
 
lotusindigo said:
That's one feasible option. I would also keep an eye on Ten One Design, the company that designed the Pogo Sketch. They've recently come out with an application called Inklet that purports to turn the Macbook Pro trackpad into a graphic tablet. Now, I've tried the free demo of this app and while I can't seriously recommend it, (you can't take the Pogo off the trackpad without losing control of where the cursor will be once you put the Pogo back ON the trackpad) I will testify that it DOES register pressure sensitivity with the use of a Pogo Sketch. I've played with ArtRage and Sketchbook Pro using Inklet, and both programs responded decently to the pressure sensitivity; I can only imagine all pressure sensitive art programs (Photoshop, Painter) would do the same. If TenOneDesign can come up with something like this for the iPad, then... seriously, YAY. The problem with Inklet on the MacBook Pro would be eliminated on the iPad because it's a touchscreen that doesn't need a cursor dragged around the interface.

The company site isn't divulging details, but they seem to have something in the works for the iPad. Wait to see.
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Yea, they said that right after I bought the pogo sketch for the iPad. I just hope whatever they have, it'll work with the sketch.
 
lotusindigo said:
Maybe I'm not understanding exactly what function you guys are looking for with the iPad as a secondary display. :confused: You're talking as if there's nothing like that out there, so I may be missing something, but wouldn't Jaadu VNC accomplish what you guys are talking about?

www.jaaduvnc.com

It's an iPhone app that allows you to view and control your PC remotely, from basically anywhere. There's even a touchscreen mode that allows you to navigate your desktop like you would Safari mobile, ie. tapping things to click them as opposed to dragging a cursor around. It also supports multi-touch gestures. From what I understand, the company is working on a version specifically for the iPad, so you can imagine the big screen will make this app even more useful than it is on the iPhone.
Click to expand...

if they develop that app for ipad, im there! looks great :)

but yea, i dont think you are understanding the sectiondary display features that some of the users would want. it would be really nice to be able to add the ipad as an extended 2nd monitor, not just a mirrored one (mirrored is what all the VNC clients including jaadu do).

being able to drag a window from your laptop to the iPad screen so that you can work simultaneously (e.g. read from one thing, write to the other) so that you dont have to always switch between apps is a cool feature. or maybe you could have your Adium chat window on the ipad and if the app is clever enough, you could type directly from your ipad? i dont know... would just be sweet.
 
lotusindigo said:
THIS should be the secondary display they were looking for. Looks really nice, actually. I wonder how fast it is?

iDisplay
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You beat me to it! This is totally what I was hoping for. So far it seems a bit buggy, but for $5, I think this is great. Hopefully in version 2 it will be much better, but yes, this pretty much answers my hopes and dreams :D
 
lotusindigo said:
THIS should be the secondary display they were looking for. Looks really nice, actually. I wonder how fast it is?

iDisplay
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OMG! terrific! it doesnt say the connection method on the website though, i presume that you need to have it plugged in via USB - is thats the case then YEW! will be quite responsive, if its via wifi then good friggen luck.
 
DoFoT9 said:
wifi.. ugh... no thanks.
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Very...very..........very.....dissapointing.....

Why can't someone develop this using the USB cable or even the VGA cable adapter? Really don't understand this....
 
Icaras said:
Very...very..........very.....dissapointing.....

Why can't someone develop this using the USB cable or even the VGA cable adapter? Really don't understand this....
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its REALLY disappointing!

but if you think about it, apple probably doesnt even give the proper APIs to do something like that, all this wifi program is is some wierd VNC type thing that tricks the computer into thinking that its got another screen connected. (Screen recycler works in a similar fashion).
 
Icaras said:
Why can't someone develop this using the USB cable or even the VGA cable adapter? Really don't understand this....
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As has been said before, that wouldn't be that much better in reality.

USB would be an improvement over WiFi, but would still be useless for games, videos, and other fast-moving images. You need something an order of magnitude faster than USB to begin to handle performance as a passable monitor.

The VGA cable adapter is one-way. There's no input physically possible with it.
DoFoT9 said:
but if you think about it, apple probably doesnt even give the proper APIs to do something like that
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There ARE no APIs for something like this. A monitor is hardware, connected via a dedicated, extremely high bandwidth pathway. Implementing that in software is not currently possible in a satisfactory way.

There are plenty of USB monitors out there, and they all suck for anything but a few specialized uses (e.g. offloading tool palettes in content production suites).
 
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