Magic Mouse syncs with jailbroken iPad, enabling cursory cursor control (video)
The pun is so obvious it practically insults your intelligence, but we just can't help ourselves -- the iPad has just gotten a little more magical. Using the BTstack application that brought Bluetooth mouse support to iPhone, enterprising individuals discovered the same technique works on a jailbroken iPad as well, and hooked up Apple's own Magic Mouse to show it off to the world. Mind you, while this implementation does look quite useful, we do detect the barest hint of lag -- so it may not be your weapon of choice for pixel-doubled Doom sessions. Video after the break.























OMG its a laptop!
....Again!
but... much much less....
@painfull2006
I just thinks its cool people are doing stuff that Apple dont approve of.
Soon its a full featured Tablet you can do whatever you want with..
Goodjob!
@painfull2006 Sad when you have to void your warranty to get this kind of control...
@Engagged
How long before we get Ubuntu on board...lol...with flash support.
Honestly, using a keyboard and a mouse on the iPad completely kills the whole purpose of a large touch screen...but it does seem more usefull now...albeit less portable than a netbook, and more expensive when considering all the peripherals required...and well, the fact that it downright is slow compared to a firstgen atom netbook...
/rant
@painfull2006
See I think the reason they didn't make a netbook is because Mac sales have grown so slowly over the past few years. Macs do well, but they really don't sell that much compared to PCs. They didn't want another situation like that with netbooks, 4% global market share (thought it's 7% in the US right?) and no real presence, so they thought instead of downscaling a mac, lets upscale our biggest success: the iPhone (and iPod).
Add to that the fact that a $500 macbook would cannibalise the sales of their expensive models and it's a no brainer. It would probably add customers but given the price drop, in the end they wouldn't make any more money.
So the claim that it is better than a netbook is a bogus Steve Jobs phrase that he spouts out, because it is deliberately different. That makes it the best portable tablet out there by a country mile, but that wasn't hard so he compared it to netbooks so he could use hyperbole. Really though, I don't think iPad users want it to be a netbook. They want it to be a big iPod touch.
(disclaimer: I don't hate the iPad, I don't love it either, so no trolls please)
@Engagged it's part of the point of a tablet that you don't need a mouse.
@Charlik exactly, not only is it the worst tablet around, it is also the worst desktop around :P
@IPADISHORRIBLE
Deary me, at least the hardcore Apple fanboys (jack, atkins, reader1) don't have names like yours, even if they do troll the place for Mr Jobs. It's just begging for a flame war.
@David Bailey
I wouldn't say that. I believe Apple didn't build a netbook because they want to hold their position in the "high class" market. A cheap netbook would hurt this view of the brand and, well an expensive netbook would not really be a netbook by definition.
@IPADISHORRIBLE
Does your ipod do 3G? No? Then stfu telling people to stfu..
@SeeKo Agreed. Apple stuff will always be expensive otherwise it wouldn't be as desirable. People like to say "I can have this, and most people can't!"
@SeeKo apple is not about usefulness at all its more of a fashion statement, this guy with his keyboard and mouse is just trying to reassure himself that it wasn't money wasted but deep down he and everyone else knows it was... it was...
@painfull2006
Yeah except I dunno of any netbook that requires you to void your warranty just to multitask!
On another note...does anyone besides me find the placement \ design of the dock annoying? Wouldn't it have been more useful if the ipad had a landscape dock?
@SeeKo
Apple has a netbook, it's called the macbook air, and it sucks.
omg. now my dad is sold on the system...
@DoctarPeppar A netbook in the sense of the weight yes. but not in the sense of the hardware or possible.
the whole idea of a 'netbook' is a device for email, AIM, web browsing etc. and yet a number of so called netbooks AND the Macbook Air are really gimped notebooks. trying to be everything for everyone, but small. just doesn't work.
so in this regard, Apple got it right. You just wanna have something to carry around to be online, the ipad works. You want/need a full powered computer, you get a Macbook/pro or a desktop.
@Charlik "a 'netbook' is a device for email, AIM, web browsing etc." You mean like a... phone? ok so its an expensive phone that cant make calls and people are doing all they can to turn it into a laptop/desktop?
@cherryboom
In a very weird way you actually strengthen my argument and weaken your own.
You say that netbooks are "throw away devices." And that's exactly what Apple don't want. They want to be a high class manufacturer. You don't throw their stuff away. You see how your argument lacks there? That's why they didn't build one.
@painfull2006
hazaa!
@IPADISHORRIBLE An iPod runs iPhone OS 3.1.3 whereas an iPad runs iPhone OS 3.2.
There are a number of differences but ignorance is bliss, right?
@David Bailey Couldn't you just buy a somewhat decent product from China and have the same feeling? LOL XD.
Aside from that, I agree with your points.(I dont'hat or like the iPad either.)
@painfull2006 Pretty amazing that it works with a keyboard and external mouse.
I wish my netbook were that practical.
Apart from the fact that it's the most powerful netbook with the largest screen, oh wait, that makes it a laptop. Idiot.
Looks like that "no mouse" anti-Flash argument is out the window...
@Firehazel Sensible people know this (like people buy Sony Vaios) and to some extent they are desirable, but when you look at a Mac you know right away that it was extremely expensive. Since there are many cheap PCs and most people have them, the effect is not the same with an upmarket PC. If everyone had an iPad it wouldn't be anything exciting to see. That's where Apple and Microsoft differ, the Microsoft model is a PC in everyone's home, and the Apple model is a Mac/iPad in some people's homes.
Apple products are extremely expensive for what they are. At least that's how us people in Scotland view them. Realistically Macs and PCs aren't that different. They are both mature systems, the differences end up being essentially cosmetic. People like to bitch on the internet, but really they aren't THAT different. The reason people want a Mac is because it is a premium product.
Bearing that initial lust for Apple products in mind, plus the crazy snappy performance makes the iPad desirable. At least, that's how I see it.
@retro77 Jailbreaking doesn't void the warranty.
I jailbroke my iPhone and then one day when the WiFi completely stopped working, I did a wipe/restore and brought it back into Apple.
They did some diagnostics and then gave me a new one under warranty no problems.
@DoctarPeppar "Yeah except I dunno of any netbook that requires you to void your warranty just to multitask!"
Adding a touchscreen to a lot of netbooks would void the warranty though :)
@darksharpie
why go through all of this and not just buy a netbook or a 500 dell or hp laptop? apple fans are some really stupid people!
@painfull2006
I'm more impressed with somebody using a tripod in one of these videos than i am with the mouse lol.
Thank you for a non-shaky, non-blurry film. Bravo.
@David Bailey
no, us people in Scotland dont. STFU generalising your entire nation.
@Engagged
This is true and emulation beats any app on the market!
@painfull2006 It's pathetic to see how much effort people are putting into simulating the LAPTOP experience with the IPAD. Isn't this exactly what El Jobso was arguing against - saying that ipad is a legitimate replacement for the netbook and laptop experience.
@David Bailey amazingly well said.
@kapanak You have either never used a netbook or never used an ipad. Or you are flat out lying.
@Engagged hmm lets see have to carry around an ipad, seperate keyboard, mouse, and some sort of cradle/stand to hold up the ipad around in a bag all day, or buy a netbook with everything in one neat compact case.
Theres no way you could convinently use this kind of setup anywhere like sitting at an airport gate waiting for a flight, etc. love to see how youre going to balance all that on you lap LOL
Netbook WIN!
@DoctarPeppar With the size of the ipad, and how much free empty space we now know it has inside, they could have just put a dock port on the bottom and the side and you could use either orientation without some stupid jumpper cable
@David Bailey
Mac book air - netbook
Thats ironic...its kills the whole concept of that thing being a tablet!
But it still is cool!
@retro77 It doesn't really void your warranty as all you have to do is reinstall the factory IPSW.
@painfull2006
Nokia Booklet 3G anyone?
@travisonfire
apple sucks! apple fans are a bunch of sissies... real men use microsoft. good luck paying so much for a glorified ipod touch.. bunch of idiots... nobody in the hood buying yo stupid macs LOL
@painfull2006 Combine this with the clamshell ipad dock and we have a close resemblance to a laptop already. http://j.mp/ipad-laptop-convert
@David Bailey "See I think the reason they didn't make a netbook is because Mac sales have grown so slowly over the past few years. Macs do well, but they really don't sell that much compared to PCs."
I would have to disagree here. Mac Sales are in fact doing pretty well (you can check it all over the internet, plenty of stats), although surely they can't keep up with cheaper PC (but they aren't competing with them). You say they are scared of not having a "real presence", yet look at their presence in the above 1000$ PCs:
2008
http://blogs.eweek.com/applewatch/content/channel/macs_defy_windows-gravity.html
2009
http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-has-91-share-of-premium-computer-market-research-firm-says-2009-7
For the iPad, mostly I would agree with you, though IMO there are two more things to consider: with this device Apple is really entering the media distribution and second, I see it as stepping stone to multitouch productivity.
"If everyone had an iPad it wouldn't be anything exciting to see."
I see your point here, but I really think that the device has some appeal on its own. I am talking here mostly about the interface, of course.
"Apple products are extremely expensive for what they are.(...) Realistically Macs and PCs aren't that different. They are both mature systems, the differences end up being essentially cosmetic. People like to bitch on the internet, but really they aren't THAT different."
No, they aren't. Still I do think that there are some good points for buying a Mac, and some of the models aren't that expensive (consider the iMac).
Las, but not least:
"...at least the hardcore Apple fanboys (jack, atkins, reader1) don't have names like yours, even if they do troll the place for Mr Jobs."
Now, I don't know what is the exact definition of trolling, but mostly it goes like posting inflammatory, off-topic, being deliberately provocative etc. I do not see my comments as being any of the above, but maybe I am biased, so can you show me where exactly I did that? :)
@painfull2006 OMG more ttoll comments by pc fanboys who don't actually own an iPad.
This looks very cool, I'm just not brave enough to jailbreak.
@retro77 how sad is this if you can get it back whenever you want?
No matter how hard you try, iPad is still a giant ipod and it will never be a real tablet.
@wakeup depends on your own definition of tablet computing,
@wakeup well you dont see many 'real' tablets out there?
@wakeup There is no reason not to jailbreak it's litteraly so easy a child could do it and it's reversable as well. I have had jailbroken iPhone replaced under apple warranty for a hardware issue. Apple gets a free dev community which drives them on the legit side if anything they are semi supporters of the jailbreak community. I'd say the majority of people don't steal apps or jailbreak at all so the business losses are negligible.
@werty1432k
my real definition involves more than fart apps and "crappier versions of websites" disguised as apps