iPad App Highlights: Air Display, CoPilot Live HD, and BeejiveIM

[MacRumors]

The iPad has been available in the U.S. for nearly two months now and is officially rolling out to nine more countries this Friday. At its U.S. debut, about 2,000 iPad-specific apps were available in the App Store and this number has since swelled to over 7,000 with more arriving every day. Here are a few notable ones that have been released over the past couple of weeks.

Air Display

Avatron Software, the makers of the Air Sharing HD document sharing app, recently released a new app, Air Display, that turns an iPad into an extra external display. In order to work, the app requires a desktop companion application - which is available for Macs running OS 10.6 only for now though a Windows version is coming – and for the Mac and the iPad to be on the same Wi-Fi network.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alOxsYmTel0

Set-up is pretty easy and we found that the app works as advertised, though video lags a little behind the accompanying audio and it's probably best suited for more static items such as Inspector windows, iChat buddy lists and the like. You’re also not restricted to using your computer’s mouse to navigate the display on the iPad – you can use its multi-touch display to click links and buttons. To enter text, you’ll need to use your computer’s keyboard since the iPad’s virtual keyboard won’t pop up when you get to a text field.

For $9.99, turning your iPad into a extra display is pretty cheap compared to buying a dedicated display and this app could be invaluable for laptop users who need a little more screen real estate while on the go.

CoPilot Live HD

ALK Technologies, the developer of GPS applications for a wide variety of mobile devices, was the first to put out a turn-by-turn navigation app specifically for the iPad. CoPilot Live HD North America debuted in the App Store earlier this month and it's priced aggressively relative to other GPS apps at $29.99. We've been trying it out and it is a joy to have navigation guidance on such a large screen, though we wish there was a setting to let the map take over the majority of the screen and force the next turn guidance section to be smaller.

CoPilot Live HD will work only on iPads with 3G connectivity since these models possess a GPS receiver while the Wi-Fi only models do not. Additionally, this version of the app works only on the iPad and not the iPhone, though ALK Technologies does offer CoPilot Live North America specifically for the iPhone, priced at $19.99.

BeejiveIM

BeejiveIM has been one of our favorite IM apps for the iPhone and the company put out an iPad-speciic version of the app just a few days ago. BeejiveIM for iPad lets you set up multiple IM accounts under the most popular instant messaging protocols used today and offers push notifications to let you know about incoming messages even when the app is closed. It also lets you send images and voice notes as attachments to your instant messages.

BeejiveIM for iPad is available at an introductory sale price of $5.99 right now for a limited time only.

Article Link: iPad App Highlights: Air Display, CoPilot Live HD, and BeejiveIM

 

[TheSlush]

I guess BeejiveIM will be even more useful with iPhone OS 4.0 multitasking, huh?

 

[JAQ]

It's going to be a while before wireless networks will have the proper bandwidth to run streaming video. This has nothing to do with the quality of the app or the iPad; it's a limitation of the networking technology.

 

[AidenShaw]

Shouldn't this be in the Ipad forum rather than the "News" forum?

It doesn't seem to be relevant for people looking for Mac news.

 

[Mexbearpig]

Man, I wish I had an iPad. I would buy Air Display in a heartbeat.
Anyone know if touchscreen can be used on the iPad to control the computer?

 

[Warbrain]

I've been debating about Beejive and maybe the 6 bucks is worth it.

 

[macduke]

I bought Air Display as soon as it was released the other day and must say that it's great. Maybe even the best $10 I've spent on my iPad since launch day. However, I'm hoping that Avatron will make a few updates:

Two finger scrolling
Right click
Popup keyboard
Ability to activate screen from the iPad instead
Performance setting tweaks

Overall it runs great most of the time. Highly recommend, as the iPad display is gorgeous, especially compared to any model Macbook Pro.

Man, I wish I had an iPad. I would buy Air Display in a heartbeat.
Anyone know if touchscreen can be used on the iPad to control the computer?

Yes it does. Please refer to the article as it clearly states this.

 

[kenypowa]

I've been debating about Beejive and maybe the 6 bucks is worth it.

Beejive is worth it. It's the best IM client on the iPhone.

One thing I don't get is why an IM client has to take the whole screen? I know iPad can't multitask yet but it just seems so much screen estate is wasted.

 

[goobot]

air display looks ill.

 

[gkarris]

Air Display would be cool.

Wonder if you can use it as a primary display for your Mini. Take the iPad on the go and use it as a display for your Mini at home - truly a minimal/mobile system like the Duo system back in the day...

 

[Me1000]

So for Air Display what is the experience like quitting the app? For example, you might quit the app for a minute, do something on your iPad, then open it again… How exactly does the app handle that?

 

[DetroitBORG]

So for Air Display what is the experience like quitting the app? For example, you might quit the app for a minute, do something on your iPad, then open it again… How exactly does the app handle that?

You loose your session with the iMac so you'll have to reconnect once you bring the app back up.

 

[CFreymarc]

Totally awesome!!!

 

[DanielSw]

Shouldn't this be in the Ipad forum rather than the "News" forum?

It doesn't seem to be relevant for people looking for Mac news.

Hey, how 'bout reading the article before you criticize it? Air Display has everything to do with Macs, for example.

Most iPads are used in conjunction with Macs for one thing, and, besides, the iPad is Apple's new "baby" and its next step in rounding out its product line to reach even more new people to bring them into the Apple culture.

 

[Pachang]

Is it just me or is it a bit sad that there are over 7,000 aps and only a few notable ones. 1/1000 apps are actually good?

 

[Mac Eagle]

Beejive is a nice app, but the developers should have made it a Universal app . Purely double dipping here and I am reluctant to buy it again considering it is one of the more expensive apps I have on my iPhone.

 

[sean00]

this could be cool for using it for a logic studio controller for mixing and transport bar (ie stop start record)

 

[Reaktor5]

Is it just me or is it a bit sad that there are over 7,000 aps and only a few notable ones. 1/1000 apps are actually good?

Give it time, developers are still getting their hands on iPads to test with.

 

[bytethese]

Wow, I was thinking about an app like this for a while now, Air Display. I'm glad this is out and I'm pretty sure I'm going to give this a try!

 

[bacaramac]

Beejive is a nice app, but the developers should have made it a Universal app . Purely double dipping here and I am reluctant to buy it again considering it is one of the more expensive apps I have on my iPhone.

I refuse to pay for this app again. I paid $10 or $15 (can't remember) for the iphone and there is absolutely no reason to be double dipping an app like this. This is "universal app" worthy. Now Flight Control HD is an app the deserves to double dip, but not IM, Twitter, etc. I am pissed, but guess I will just stick with the iphone app running on iPad as much as I hate the pixel double feature.

I hope iChat is part of iPad 4.0 software and that would stop these developers from pulling this crap. Now if it was 99 cents, I wouldn't care, but $10+ for IM is steep.

 

[CrAkD]

Beejive is a nice app, but the developers should have made it a Universal app . Purely double dipping here and I am reluctant to buy it again considering it is one of the more expensive apps I have on my iPhone.

yep. I have the free aim for ipad. thats good enough I dont really IM as much as I did when I was younger. I usually ignore people the im me when I get beejive notifications on my phone. So not really worth buying beejive again. I was waiting for it to be ipad capable but since their charging for it again screw that.

 

[moonsabie]

iPad for primary display

Will the iPad ever become the primary display for the mini mac

 

[lifeinhd]

I look at this list and I see two apps that can/have already been executed on the iPhone, and one that can be done much more cheaply with dedicated hardware. I have yet to see an app for the iPad that does something an iPhone or a cheaper device cannot. It's for this reason that I see the iPad as pointless-- not only isn't there an app that absolutely needs the larger display, but there won't be an app that absolutely needs the larger display, unless it's a game that has many controls that it needs to display all at once.

 

[NeuralControl]

Air Display looks fantastic. I was hoping developers would come up with something just like this. When I decide to get an iPad, Air Display will be one of my first app purchases.

 

[skellener]

I hope Air Display is better than iDisplay. I tried it the day it came out and it's a piece of crap. Don't buy iDisplay!!!

Beejive is one of the best purchases I have made for the iPhone. It was the first app I bought when I got the iPhone a year ago and is probably the app I use the most. Great at any price!