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iDisplay extends your display with an iPad or iPhone

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Think you don’t need an iPad because you already have a Macbook? Well, iDisplay from Shape Services may change your mind: it extends your display over to an iPad, giving your display an extra 768×1024 pixels with multi-touch screen control.

Compared to other side displays, the iDisplay solution has several advantages. While the price of an iPad is much higher than most side displays (a touchscreen Mimo runs $229 at ThinkGeek), it is multi-touch, larger (9.7″ vs. 7″ for the Mimo), and can run on its own power supply. And of course, you can also use it for other things. While I wouldn’t buy an iPad just to use as an extended display, the option to do so is a big value added proposition. The app itself is currently $4.99.

Currently the software is limited to Mac, but a Windows solution is in the works. It is compatible with iPhone and iPod touch, but judging from the comments in the iTunes app listing, that usage sounds problematic due to the resolution differences, though I don’t see the point of using such a small device as a display extension anyway. I find it better to use an iPhone independently to play music, check email, etc. But extending to an iPad looks like it would be an appealing solution to power users on the go.

Via Gizmodo

7 Comments

7 Comments

  1. turn.self.off

    04/03/2010 at 10:07 am

    so basically you have to install a program on the mac side?

    • Sumocat

      04/03/2010 at 10:35 am

      Forgot to mention it connects via wifi so server type software is required on the desktop side.

      • turn.self.off

        04/04/2010 at 4:07 am

        sounds like its basically pulling something similar to putting vnc on a non-existent display, and then connects the ipad to that.

  2. Warner Crocker

    04/03/2010 at 10:10 am

    Yes, you do. Haven’t tried this yet but looking forward to it.

  3. 66sweep

    04/03/2010 at 10:49 am

    I tried it on my iPhone 3GS and unibody MacBook Pro last night. Be sure to turn off mirroring once the OS X client is installed before trying to run the app. It was incredibly laggy, to the point of being unusable, on the iPhone. Be careful with the Mac side client. It causes the mac to believe there is a second monitor attached all the time, even when the app is not running on the iPhone. This leads to a disappearing menu bar and dock on a restart of the Mac. I had to connect an external monitor to the Mac to get access to both. Uninstalling the Mac client is not for the faint of heart either. The client download comes with what appears to be an uninstaller app but when launched you find out it’s actually just some very ambiguous terminal command instructions that you’re on you own to figure out how to use. I don’t think the average Mac user, like my wife, would have a clue on this. Actually, I think she would be stopped cold in her tracks when she rebooted her Mac and didn’t see the menu bar and dock. Bottom line, be careful with this app. It could lead to a ton of frustration for some users. Hopefully the app will be revved and work better on the Mac and iPhone OS in the future. For now, this is truly the first app I wish there was some way to get my money back on.

  4. Mediabw

    04/03/2010 at 11:35 am

    I read this from Engadget.
    Forgive me if I’m not to post another blog’s link.
    It sounded soo utterly horrorifying, that I wanted to let you guys know about their experience.

    https://www.engadget.com/2010/04/03/idisplay-the-best-concept-most-horrific-execution-award-goes-t/

    Comments included various people’s experience and thoughts about how to remedy and possibly un-install the program.

  5. Cary

    04/03/2010 at 12:39 pm

    This is actually one of the first things I was wishing for when the iPad was first announced. I was thinking that it would allow for a dual monitor setup when working away from the office (Panera, Starbucks, etc).

    I hope they get the bugs worked out.

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