iPad import photos and video with photo adapter

[scottjl]

for the people who aren't following some of the threads.. it has been discovered that using the iPad Camera Connection Kit that you can import photos and video into the ipad. TidBITS has an excellent article explaining the process and limitations.

TidBITS also covers that using the USB connector included in the same set it is possible to use other devices such as headsets (with microphones) and others have reported success using usb keyboards.

while the iPad may not have included SD and USB slots, they are available and do have functionality beyond importing photos.

it is not possible to export any data via the SD or USB adapters as this is prohibited by Apple at this time.

[lilman]

Thanks for that article, I had been wondering what functionality the camera connection kit offers. I have over 100gb of video that I've converted myself from dvds and was hoping I could connect something like a WD Passport to the iPad... guess not.

It would be nice if you could connect a video iPod to the iPad through the camera connection kit to transfer videos. iPods are self-powered and apple could make the iPad capable of reading the iPod file structure.

[scottjl]

Doubt you'll see that happen as it would enable piracy, something Apple isn't about to do. There's no way to tell the iPad to sync off of one iPod vs. another.

As for hard drives, way too many driver issues. People have even reported problems getting some MicroSD cards mounted (though a SD adapter).

For best results I'd say stick to name brand cards who are likely to follow standard driver implementations.

[lilman]

Originally Posted by scottjl

Doubt you'll see that happen as it would enable piracy, something Apple isn't about to do. There's no way to tell the iPad to sync off of one iPod vs. another.

Wouldn't the videos from the iPod still have drm on them and thus prevent piracy? Sorry I don't about this since I don't buy any videos from iTunes... I rip the videos from my dvds myself and so they are drm free.

In any case I doubt apple would enable iPod to iPad connectivity since it would deter sales of the larger storage iPads.

[scottjl]

it would.. but apple doesn't have control over SD cards.. iPod to iPad transfers they do. or they would have come up with an iPod to iPod transfer system long ago. it's it prevent piracy. not that there aren't ways around it, or 3rd party ipod to ipod systems, so maybe some 3rd party will come up with an ipod to ipad transfer system.

apple doesn't go to extremes to prevent piracy, but they do as little as possible to assist it.

[lilman]

Originally Posted by scottjl

it would.. but apple doesn't have control over SD cards.. iPod to iPad transfers they do. or they would have come up with an iPod to iPod transfer system long ago. it's it prevent piracy. not that there aren't ways around it, or 3rd party ipod to ipod systems, so maybe some 3rd party will come up with an ipod to ipad transfer system.

apple doesn't go to extremes to prevent piracy, but they do as little as possible to assist it.

You seem stuck on the idea that iPod to iPad transfers promote piracy. That's what drm is supposed to prevent. Apple could take it a step further and implement security on the iPad side to only allow connections from iPods that sync with the same iTunes account. I think the real issue here is that apple doesn't want high capacity portable storage devices to be able to connect to the iPad because then there would be little incentive for people to pay extra for the 64gb models.

[scottjl]

years ago someone (belkin or some other name brand manufacturer) came out with a device that allowed ipod to ipod transfers. apple lawyers swarmed down from the heavens and the device was wiped from the face of the earth. such devices do pop up now and then, typically from un-heard of manufacturers. these devices seem short lived.

apple has even come down on developers who have reverse engineered the ipod filesystems and databases to write applications to allow transfer out-of and in-to ipods and iphones. they've also made it difficult with various software methods as well.

it's pretty clear apple doesn't want non-apple-authorized devices poking around in iDevice file systems.

jobs has gone on record stating he has no love for DRM.. and he has no love for piracy. it took apple years of fighting with the music industry to get them to agree to drop DRM, it will take many more to convince the publishing industry to do the same.

i am not saying all users are automatic pirates (i abhor the RIAA) but through their actions apple is pretty clear in not wanting the general public to easily copy music in and out of iDevices (or we'd have the drag and drop filesystem on the iPad many wish for).

i don't think, for an instant, apple couldn't create an ipod to ipad copy system if they wanted to. i could buy a 16G iPad for $499 and a 160G iPod Classic for $249 and have 176g on hand in two small devices and copy across media fairly quickly if apple wanted.

you're right. apple could try and lock it down my only allowing devices that synced to the same computer. but it would cause hassles with consumers as well. mom and dad wanting to know why little johnny's ipod at school can't come home and upload pictures into their new ipad (because he syncs it at school). i'm sure there are other reasons. apple chooses the path of least hassles and just doesn't come up with such a system.

you'll always find people willing to pay more money for the higher memory system anyway. personally i'd rather have 64G on hand than to deal with a stack of SD cards. 8G cards are fairly common these days, but i don't want to be carrying around a 16G iPad and 6 cards to make up for the 64G. and those 8G cards aren't cheap either. looking at supermediastore.com 8G cards range from $15 (on sale) to $25 depending on manufacturer and speed. say we go with the $20 cards, that's $120. Your $499 + $120 iPad just shot up to $620, not far off the mark from the $699 for the 64G iPad is it? You also don't have the hassle of dealing with 6 SD cards.

[Trubu]

Originally Posted by lilman

I think the real issue here is that apple doesn't want high capacity portable storage devices to be able to connect to the iPad because then there would be little incentive for people to pay extra for the 64gb models.

As long as people are buying iPads, I doubt Apple cares much which model they're buying. The 16GB model may have a higher margin anyway, for all we know. I think it's more likely that they just don't want to support a feature that's contrary to the entire iTunes/iDevice ecosystem they've established.

I'm gonna have to get the Camera Connection Kit and try this out with the old ShareSteno drive I have laying around. It's a self-powered 2.5" HDD enclosure - assuming the iPad will mount it, which it should, I could pop a 320GB drive in there and carry around every movie in my collection when I travel.

[dmaul1114]

I'd have to assume the margins are higher on the higher capacity models. There's just no way 16gb of memory costs apple anywhere near the $100 more they charge for the 32 GB model over the 16. As illustrated by the 64 GB only costing $100 more than the 32 despite being twice the jump in capacity.

I'm sure that wanting to rake in $$$ isn't the only reason for not allowing such things, or SD cards or USB hard drives etc.--as part of it is the closed system, inaccessible file system etc. But it's definitely part of it. I'm not bashing them for it, plenty of other companies have devices (MP3 players) etc. that don't have SD card slots etc.

[lilman]

Originally Posted by Trubu

As long as people are buying iPads, I doubt Apple cares much which model they're buying. The 16GB model may have a higher margin anyway, for all we know. I think it's more likely that they just don't want to support a feature that's contrary to the entire iTunes/iDevice ecosystem they've established.

You're absolutely right. Regardless of which model they make the most money on, the real money to be made here is all the after market and app purchases. So as long as you have an iPad in your hands Apple is happy.

I was just thinking iPod to iPad connectivity would be a nice feature since I keep a lot of movies on my iPod and the last time I went on a road trip none of the hotels had tvs with composite inputs. Luckily I had brought along my laptop (which I almost didn't do) and it had Amarok on it which allowed me to copy videos off of the iPod.

Originally Posted by Trubu

I'm gonna have to get the Camera Connection Kit and try this out with the old ShareSteno drive I have laying around. It's a self-powered 2.5" HDD enclosure - assuming the iPad will mount it, which it should, I could pop a 320GB drive in there and carry around every movie in my collection when I travel.

Good luck, let us know if it works for you.

[scottjl]

I've read somewhere that the Photos application on the iPad expects content on a card to be in a standard camera file system format. This possibly means the presence of a DCIM directory with photos stored within there. So you could conceivably trick the iPad into loading your movies and video from your 320G drive as long as it's formatted FAT/FAT32 and your files are in the right locations. But then again is the driver issue, if the iPad will interface with whatever chipset is inside your enclosure.

I've had my camera kit on order for a week now, still no shipping update. The 3 Apple stores in my area do not have them in-stock either and have no idea when they will have them.

[nikkie]

Apple says on their website that you can transfer pictures from iPhones to the iPad using the camera kit. No word about iPods though.

[scottjl]

More interesting information about the camera kit. Apparently it does mount USB jump drives, just developers don't have access to the mount out, yet. Something Apple could enable in the future.

Jailbroken iPads will likely have access to this mount point.