DisplayLink tools up iPad as wireless Windows screen
Turn tablet into monitor
CES 2011 DisplayLink, the company best known for gadgets that connect monitors through USB ports, has released software that will allow a Windows 7 machine to use an iPad as a secondary display.
And it does it with Windows' Aero UI, wirelessly over Wi-Fi.
You'll need to install code on both devices: the iPad app is available now for "an introductory price" of $1.99 / £1.19 and after you've downloaded it, it will tell you how to get the Windows code.
All done, and you can, for example, show a painting app's main window on your primary display and have all the palettes appear on the iPad's screen.
It's not for everyone, mind. DisplayLink admitted that the app isn't really suitable for video playback support, and certainly shouldn't be used for gaming. It'll only work with Windows machines, not Macs. ®
COMMENTS
idiot
for those of us that already have an iPad, then the cost of using it as a second monitor is only 1.99 which is a fraction of the price it'd cost to go out and buy a second monitor
i don't imagine for a minute that they are pitching this as the sole reason why someone might buy an iPad
Air Display
Oh, I just installed Air Display which does just this but with Mac and PC. Is there some advantage that DisplayLink has over Air Display?
Air Display
has been out for ages - runs on Mac and Windows, and is pretty much faultless. At the moment it's $5.99 on the app store, something tells me we could see that price drop in the very near future.
Whats new?
So how does this differ from air display?- which works well with pcs and macs?
The difference...
Price - Air display is a bit more expensive I think I paid around $10 for it when I purchased it last year. Well worth the cost though, for $8 more you get an app that works as a spare monitor on BOTH Mac and PC as well as touch screen remote control. I use it with my mac book and iPad when coding/debugging and when giving presentations on the road.
And for those of you who complain about the price of the ipad vrs a second monitor, well the ipad is a lot easier to travel with plus it's wireless! I don't think I would want to lug even a small LCD around the country with me, even if it survived the baggage handlers the extra bag fees eat you alive these days! :-)
And yes you can use VNC or similar free remote control products to do the remote control or monitor mirroring, in fact that's what I used to do when driving presentations from my iphone, but it does not give you the option of 2 monitors which is great for development that these products do.
Air Display works great on Macs,I have had no issues on any of my 3 mac systems running it on Leopard or Snow Leopard. I did hear some windows users where having intermittent issues with Windows although I have not had a problem with this when running on my windows 7/Vista test boxes, your mileage may vary.
