Today Apple announced the new iPadOS will support USB thumb drives. The iPad has long been toughted a workers tablet from Apple, but the relaity is their iPad didn’t provide much functionality. In addition, the devices have limited storage.
With today’s announcement the above argument could get a little muted.
Update: We learned the iPad will allow other storage devices such as external hard drives and SD or microSD cards (with USB adapters). The USB port will also allow for HID devices, such as a USB mouse and keyboard. We are not sure if the iPad will support Bluetooth mouse and keyboard, but we’ve got to assume, right!
There is no word about the connection. The connection could be one of three; an adapter, USB-C socket size or the classic USB type A socket size.
Voltaic is a company that deals with voltage. They specialize in the solar charging to create volts. Their latest entry is the Spark. The Spark is a solar panel design for tablet and notebooks.
Voltaic is marketing the Spark for the iPad – and why not as there’s plenty of marketing spin going on for Apple tablets.
The Spark will generate 8watts of solar power. So for those who don’t have an electrical engineering degree, or simply can’t do the math – one hour of sun to the Spark will generate enough power to run one hour of video off the iPad. Not bad.
Weather:Â Panels are waterproof, lightweight and built to withstand abuse.
Charge times: About 10 hours in direct sun will fully charge an iPad, other tablets may take less time.
Peak Output: 6 Volts, 1,333mA or 12 Volts, 667mA
Connector:Â USB and 5 standard adapters
So here is the price – $299 USD. To learn more, visit
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As we just mentioned, Apple doesn’t license their female connector technology, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get it. Take for example, the USB Fever iPad iPhone cable extender. This cable makes it easy to extend the iPad or iPhone from it’s original point.
Some possible applications would include: A developer testing the device and doesn’t want to wear down the contacts of the Apple device. Connect where other accessories get in the way. Your other cable is worn down and you don’t want to drop the $50 on the Apple branded version.
The Apple cable extender is $12 and ready for the taking.
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Nest is a contemporary looking storage slash stand for Apple products. The Nest is a device-stand small enough to prop up your iPhone and sturdy enough to hold up your iPad [via the back door sliding tray].
Very clever indeed. It would be great to see their creative genius make up a solution for multi Apple products as well. As I’ve mentioned before, my house alone has 3 iPhones and one iPad. We are constantly searching for a bulk charge center that will keep the USB power cords organized and the devices available.
Back to the Nest – different color insert lining for padded storage. The rubber insert folds over the top so that when an iPad is set flat on the top, it will not slip. Making it easy for the user to read, type and browse the device while in use.
Doing a bit of research for iPhone chargers I came across the Dynamic8 iPhone and iPad charger. The look is fantastic and is very contemporary. No protrusive charger sticking out half way into the drivers console, but rather flush, stylish looking accessory.
Enjoy full use of your iPhone or iPod during car trips, and arrive with your battery fully charged
Amber/green charging status light
Detachable dock connector to USB Type A cable that you can also use to connect your iPhone or iPad to your computer
Easily replaceable 2 Amp automotive blade-type fuse to protect against spikes and surges
Works with iPhone, iPad models that feature full-size dock connector, and iPad shuffle (1st generation)
The AirStash, in one word, Amazing. This device solves all the problems of lack of storage with Apple products. With the AirStash you can now budget down to purchase the cheapest iPad or iPhone because the AirStash gives you the extra storage you need.
The AirStash, in simple terms, is a wireless storage dongle you carry around which provides unlimited storage.
The AirStash uses self powered WiFi to sync with your iPod, iPad or iPhone. The AirStash uses an SD slot for unlimited storage. The controller on the AirStash will recognize up to 32GB SD cards…from there you just swap out memory and keep saving.
Since the AirStash is wireless you can stream audio or video from the device to your Apple product. This means you can run GBs of music or videos without bogging down all the memory on your iPhone or iPad.
The only drawback I see is that you cannot dump photo’s from your Apple product to the AirStash [I’ve emailed the company to make sure my info is correct]. But you can easily take pictures using a digital camera [that uses SD cards] and simply pull the SD card from the digital camera and upload those photo’s to your iPhone / iPad.
The AirStash [kudos on the creative name] is available for $99 and is well worth the money rather than paying $100s more for a bigger Apple product.
If you’re not convinced yet, watch this 3 min YouTube video and get hooked.
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You might have heard the next gen iPad will include a miniUSB port, but for those looking for an easier interface today, or want a standard USB interface for even the upcoming iPad, you should get the USB connector kit from USB Fever.
The kit has a SD and USB connector which talks with the iPad through the female Apple connector you use for synchronizing or connecting to your computer.The kit gives you an easier way to upload images, video and PDF documents. It also gives you an easier way to connect your iPhone or other digital camera or video recorder to your iPad. Hell, you could almost toss out the PC…oh way, you’ve still got to sync and update.
The USB port could also be used to connect your keyboard to the iPad for typing emails, etc. Sure you all love the keypad on the iPad, but it’s still not as easy to use as a traditional keyboard.
USBFever webpage [$35].
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Yet another “i” product for all those Apple gadgets, but this time we feel it’s a product worth mentioning. The iPADock is a dock station to power or sync all your Apple gear in one handy location. The iDevices has designated USB power ports, designated USB-to-PC sync ports and additional flash memory ports for SD cards, SDHC and Compact Flash downloading.
So if you haven’t asked yourself how to clean up your sync area at work or home for the Apple gear…don’t worry, that day will come. For example, at our house we have 4 iPhones, two iPods, a FlipVideo and several cameras. All of them will receive power via USB.
First off, we have 4 iPhones because we’ve migrated from 3G or 3GS to the 4. The iPods are legacy products we had before the phones, yet we still use them for workouts…and the cameras, well those are good anytime.
What I like about the iPADock station are all the power and sync options.
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Don’t dismiss this post because you think a cork sleeve would be cheezy for your $700 iPad. It’s not. This tutorial helps you create a well designed, cool looking, durable cork case.
Sure, cork isn’t very strong, but with added cloth and fleece the end result creates a strong sleeve and something which will protect your iPad and last for quit some time.
The materials are not difficult to find and should run you about $20 at most.
Bobber does an excellent job of point out the details and making sure you don’t miss the important steps for making a quality DIY iPad sleeve. He includes a ton of well documented pictures, after all, nothing is better than a picture for projects you’ve never tried.
Full tutorial here.
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It’s fairly well known from user complaints over the weekend the iPad charges a bit differently then the logic used in our brain. Here is the low down on the iPad USB power issue if you don’t feel like reading 20 paragraphs for these simple points:
The iPad will power over USB ports with “high power” while in use.
The iPad will [obviously] charge when used with the supplied 10 watt power adapter.
The iPad will not charge over lower powered USB ports while “in use” however, they will charge when asleep.
If the user gets the iPad message “Not Charging” you must take this literally. This means the use of the iPad will equal the draw of power and only when it goes to sleep will it recharge…so it’s like a break even.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock [like my neighbor], you know this weekend is the big release of the iPad from Apple. Well, to kick things off lets take a look at one amazing iPad Drawing App called “Drawing Pad.”
We’ve seen some of the authors work before, and for this new release of the iPad Drawing App there is no better way to explain the functionality and features, than watching a [very entertaining] video.
The iPad Drawing App includes an extensive pallet of paint brushes [two sizes], colored pencils, crayons, markers, roller pens, background paper and stickers [incredible clip art]. I don’t know the exact count, but it looks like the iPad Drawing App has well over 125 colors to choose from.
If you are anxiously awaiting your iPad to arrive tomorrow, go ahead and pre order the iPad Drawing App so it will sync immediately with your new toy. You can’t go wrong, especially when it’s already the 50th best selling iPad application currently available!
Yup, today was the day that Apple announced their iPad product. The very first thing we noticed was a lack of USB ports for storage and connection; however, Job’s didn’t forget it.
The iPad camera connection kit comes with a male adapter card to connect either USB or SD cards. Given the slim dimensions of the iPad we can understand the lack of design integration for USB, but SD or even microSD, now that makes sense. Our only conclusion is a lack of real-estate on the PCBA used to make the iPad.
Interesting side note: Apple has the exclusive patent on the 30 pin female connector it uses and plans to NEVER license it out. I know the USB kit has a male connector, it just reminded me of reading that info a couple weeks back.
Source:Â StumbleTweet.
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