AppleInsider StaffElectronista provided a roundup of the findings yesterday, first noting that one test by TidBITS discovered that the kit will work with most any USB headphone, headset or microphone. This makes it possible to either listen to music or take a VoIP call through off-the-shelf computer accessories. The call quality via VoIP was reportedly "terrific," making it more appealing to use Skype if you don't have a Bluetooth headsets.
Meanwhile, TUAW found that USB keyboards will work as well, although this was partly expected given the functionality of the official iPad Keyboard Dock. The convenience of the USB keyboard is also reduced as there's no stand when using the adapter.
For its intended role, the adapter imports images to the iPad's Photos app when plugged in. Besides supporting RAW from high-end cameras, iLounge notes that the iPad will import any captured photos at full 2048x1536 resolution, including the EXIF metadata from the original shot.
Video is also supported with tools that let photographers trim videos much as they do with the iPhone 3GS' simple editor. Clips are cut short, however. Any video larger than 640x480 and 5MB will be shrunk in resolution and length to fit the length.
A video demoing the iPad Camera Connection kid can be seen above.
Charles Martin
Malcolm Owen
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
Wesley Hilliard
107 Comments
Far out. This should open things up for a lot of stuff (as long as it does not require power).
Far out.
My daughter saw my post and said I was out of date - happens to the best of us I guess.
Peace. Keep on truckin!
P.S. Would it have been to oldster to say "what a rush man"?
Somebody needs to test out a USB audio interface! I kind of doubt it will work because of drivers etc, but if I had some way to get an Xlr mic signal into this thing I would be in heaven. I do on location recordings often and I usually need only 1 mic for voiceovers, if I could ditch the laptop and just take my iPad, a small interface, mic and stand, it would make my life so much easier.
A stand, or keyboard stand, with at least one built-in USB port would be incredibly useful.
It would enable the iPad to assume a light-duty desktop PC role. If the stand also had audio output, even more so.
A 10 watt desktop you can just grab and walk around with at any time. Truly a new class of device.
That's awesome. Hopefully 4.0 will open it further. In a post on MR, someone said they plugged in a Compact Flash card in a CF reader into the USB connection kit and it worked. Sooooo... not limited to SD. But a headset for Skype, etc.... awesome.
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