Those of you that watched Apple’s iPad 2 keynote in it’s entirety may have noticed that Apple has introduced a really cool new feature: HD Mirroring. The feature requires a newly released AV adapter and is compatible with the iPad, iPhone 4, and the latest iPod Touch, and enables you to view anything that you can display on your iDevice’s screen directly on your television. Why is this important? We discuss a few reasons below:
Apple TV Without The Apple TV
With HDMI mirroring comes the ability to project any app onto the big screen. Combined with AirPlay and the new iTunes Home Sharing, this essentially turns your iPhone, iPod, or iPad into the ultimate home theater device! You can access your entire iTunes library, and perhaps most crucially, access all of your apps (such as Netflix, YouTube, Hulu, etc) on your television! Sure, the fact that the iPad isn’t 16*9 is a damper, but I’m quite sure someone will come up with a clever solution for displaying things in 16*9 from your iPad.
Big Screen HD Gaming
Who needs a dedicated game console any more? With the ability to run any number of amazing games from the App Store, such as Need For Speed, Infinity Blade, and so forth (which both look amazing, by the way), why would you spend hundreds of dollars on a device that ONLY does games well, when $500 will net you a device that does TONS of things well.
Demonstrations, Meetings, and Education
HDMI mirroring enables the iPad to connect to any HDMI-enabled projector or monitor, essentially enabling you to run presentations and more from your iPad. Educators could also use this as an interactive sketch pad similar to a white board – any notes a teacher takes on their iPad could be visible on a projector or TV screen. It’d also be great for demonstrations – want to show all your friends the app you created, or even just watch a movie with some friends at your house? Now all such things are made incredibly easy and hassle-free.
Enhanced Document Editing
If you like the idea of using the iPad to edit documents, but you strain to read words on the iPad’s small screen, plugging your iPad into a monitor and using an external keyboard might just be the answer – now you can see your documents, presentations, and more on a much larger display – this could make a world of difference for those that use their iDevice for productivity.
Conclusion
The iPad 2 and iOS 4.3 have really introduced a lot of wonderful possibilities with this feature alone. If anyone was on the fence before, this would be a fantastic reason to be pushed over the edge. I applaud Apple for making this available, and for making it as simple and efficient as all Apple solutions are.
