iLounge iPad 2 Buyers' Guide

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Ask iLounge 2-26-10

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By Jesse Hollington

Applications Editor, iLounge
Published: Friday, February 26, 2010
Category: Ask iLounge

Ask iLounge offers readers the opportunity to get answers to their iPod-, iPhone-, iPad-, iTunes-, or Apple TV-related questions from a member of the iLounge editorial team. We'll answer several questions here each week, and of course, you can always get help with more immediate concerns from the iLounge Discussion Forums. Submit your questions for consideration using our Ask iLounge Submit Form. We reserve the right to edit questions for grammar, spelling, and length.

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And now, for this week's Ask iLounge column:

Q:

Has there been any word on sharing files between applications on the iPad? Will I be able to open a Pages file with another word-processing application? Will I be able to download an email attachment and edit it? How will file sharing work between the computer and the iPad? I use Dropbox, which simply allows me to sync files between computers, and while there’s a Dropbox app for the iPhone, it’s basically a means to access files stored on line and is read-only. It would be nice to share files without having to drag and drop them back and forth so that when I’m finished editing a file on my computer it’s available for editing (after wireless sync) with my iPad, without copying and pasting into a separate folder.

- Wes

A:

The information that is available at this point indicates that it will be possible to have documents opened by more than one application. The iPad is expected to use a shared document folder that can be accessed by any application and there is apparently a framework in the 3.2 OS that will allow documents to be associated with applications. Whether or not the iPad will have a file browser application is unclear, but it would seem that as long as a third-party application such as a word processor can register to support a given file type then it will be able to open that file.

File sharing on the iPad itself is expected to work via USB mass storage access where the shared file space will be directly accessible to a computer connected via USB. There has been no word on any kind of wireless file transfer capabilities in the iPad OS itself, but it’s safe to assume that third-party developers will be pretty quick to provide this capability if Apple doesn’t. It should be a relatively trivial matter for most of the existing iPhone OS file storage applications to add support for reading and writing files into the shared storage space. Even the cloud-sync apps such as Dropbox could be updated to provide this capability, although the lack of background support in the iPhone OS means you’d still have to actually open the app in order to sync your files with the cloud.

Q:

I have a question about the iPad. On the iPhone there are just a few fonts, but with iWork being available for the iPad does this mean there will be more fonts? Will I be able to install my own fonts which I have on my Mac?

- David

A:

There are definitely indications that the iPad will include more font options for applications such as iWork and other third-party apps that wish to leverage the new Core Text Framework. Several reports have also indicated that custom font support will be available as well, but it is unclear whether this means that Mac OS X fonts can simply be ported to the iPad or whether it will end up support its own custom font format.

Q:

I notice that there’s a new cable connector to get the iPad connected to a projector, but without a drive to load up software or drivers, how will the two communicate? Are all such drivers available for download now thus bypassing the need for an actual disk? Secondly, are you aware of any wireless VGA adaptors that would make wireless communication between the iPad and the projector possible? I’ve looked everywhere and so far only come up with are Windows based material like AddLogix and InFocus Liteshow II.

- Rob

A:

The “drivers” that come with most VGA- or DVI-based digital projectors are not necessary for basic video output through the projector any more than they’re necessary to connect your computer to a monitor. The iPad VGA connector cable will provide 1024x768 VGA output from the iPad which any digital projector with a VGA input port should be able to display natively. For projectors with DVI inputs a VGA-to-DVI adapter cable can be used, and it’s also likely that some third-party accessory maker will produce an iPad DVI cable at some point.

Connecting to a wireless projector is generally a more complicated issue, since as you’ve noted most of the wireless projector solutions don’t connect via VGA but rather provide their own connectivity solution over Wi-Fi. The iPad won’t support such solutions natively, but this is also something that could be addressed by a third-party application, since the iPad itself will support Wi-Fi.

Note that wireless VGA extenders do exist, but these are impractical as an iPad solution as they are generally bulky devices that require external power and tend to be in the same price range as the iPad itself.

Q:

I am a great fan of Apple products and am eagerly waiting for the iPad as it is really sexy, but I need to know whether it can be connected to a portable hard disk? In his speech Steve Jobs said that the iPad is between the iPhone and MacBook, so is it a kind of netbook that I can use for my education purposes?

- Shasikanth

A:

There has been no indication that the iPad will natively support external hard disks, although this seems very unlikely. The OS on the iPad is based on the iPhone rather than Mac OS X so it won’t work in the same way as a full MacBook would—the iPad has more in common with the iPhone and iPod touch than it does with a laptop of netbook computer.

As with the iPhone, it doesn’t seem that the iPad will have a fully browsable file system like a desktop or laptop computer would, although there will be a shared document area that applications can access and that can be mounted on your computer via USB. This will likely be the only storage area support natively in the iPhone OS, although it could be possible for a third-party developer to produce an application that could be used to transfer files between an external storage device and the iPad storage area.

Q:

If you download music from, say Amazon, with the iPad, will it sync automatically with the iPad iPod software. Will you be able to copy it from the iPad to a Mac when you sync it? Will the iPad sync wirelessly?

- Stephen

A:

There has been no indication as of yet that the iPad will support importing media from third-party applications on the iPad itself. Although the media player application on the iPad appears to be more sophisticated than the one on the iPhone and iPod touch, it still seems to be designed to sync primarily with iTunes on your Mac or PC in much the same way that the iPhone does. It is possible that it could support importing files from the shared file area, but there has been no evidence of this as of yet.

However, based on Apple’s usual media strategy this seems very unlikely. Apple has always taken the approach that iTunes on your computer is the central database of your media, and other devices such as the iPhone, iPod and iPad are merely playback devices for your iTunes media. Apple will likely provide access to the iTunes Store from the iPad for purchasing and downloading music in the same way they do on the iPhone and iPod touch, but it would be very surprising if they provided easy access to directly import content from other sources.

Q:

Does the iPad have a dictionary built in that I can use while reading iBooks?

- Marco

A:

The specific features of the iBooks application have not yet been announced, although it’s important to note that the iBooks app will be a separate download from the App Store, as opposed to a built-in application. This makes it possible for Apple to easily add new features to the application via updates, and also means that you certainly aren’t required to use the iBooks application—there are already numerous third-party ebook readers for the iPhone that should work fine on the iPad and will likely receive iPad-specific updates. Many of these applications such as Stanza and eReader do in fact include dictionary features.

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Ask iLounge Archives:

2-3-12: Deleting pictures from Photo Stream, Transferring Apps to a new iTunes library, Apple Universal Dock and iPhone 4S, Getting Track Names after CD Import, Video Playlists on the iPad

11-25-11: Removing music after activating iTunes Match, Smart Playlists and iTunes Match, Backing up data from an iPhone, Syncing MP3s to an iPod nano, Migrating Playlists to a new Computer

11-11-11: Configure Apple IDs on family iOS devices, Recovering lost audiobooks, Unable to disable passcode lock on iOS devices, Buying an iPod for audio-only use, Preventing deleted tracks from coming back from an iOS device

11-4-11: iPhone 4S storage capacity doesn't match, Transferring HD video from iPhone 4S to a computer, Recovering photos from iPod touch, Notification Center and iMessage in iOS 5

10-21-11: Using iCloud's Find My iPhone on older devices, Batch deleting photos in Camera Roll, Using iTunes Gift Cards internationally, Audiobooks and iCloud, Merging contacts from two devices into iCloud

See the rest of the Archives...

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Comments

1

if i download music onto my 5g nano on diffrent computers will it erase my music

Posted by nicholas cruz on February 26, 2010 at 8:21 PM (PDT)

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