Alpha Neo to iPad/iPod

[richardoz]

Not sure if this is the right place for this post but no doubt it will get to where it should be.

Just been looking at how to get files from my Neo to iPod Touch so that I can send by dropbox etc.

Thought I should share this info as other might be interested.

You can use the apple photo adapter on the iPad:

vimeo.com/11754480

Then there is this which should work with the iPod Touch and an iPhone as well as iPad:

vancefry.com/notes/alphasmart-bl … -keyboard/

which leads to this:

handheldsci.com/kb

I haven’t ordered it yet. Thought I’d post here in case someone knows more.

Cheers from Oz

[InklingBooks]

Alas, my iPad refuses to accept the Neo (or Apple’s own USB) keyboards and instead complains that each “uses too much power,” even if I place an unpowered hub in between. iOS used to let you bypass that warning, but no longer. Control freaks!

At $60, the adapter mentioned above is a bit pricey. I checked Amazon and Googled to see if there’s an inexpensive gadget that’d attach to a USB cable from a keyboard and drew a blank. That’s because most such keyboards are not like the Neo. They need that USB for power.

Maybe we’ll soon see a Neo 3 with Bluetooth.

[InklingBooks]

You’ll need a Mac in between your Neo and your iPad, but this $5 Mac app, Type2Phone, reviewed by MacWorld, should do the trick:

macworld.com/article/2031575 … vices.html

It lets the keyboard that’s attached to your Mac send text to an iPhone or iPad linked via Bluetooth. In essence, it turns your Mac with keyboard into a Bluetooth keyboard using the Mac’s built-in Bluetooth. Make the Neo that keyboard and set it up to send text and you should be fixed up.

Here’s a summary of its features:

With your devices paired, any time Type2Phone is the frontmost app, whatever you type on your Mac’s keyboard is sent to your iOS device. Switch to a different Mac app, and your keyboard acts as a normal Mac keyboard. Usefully, Command+Tab is always sent to your Mac, making it easy to switch both to and from Type2Phone using the keyboard. In fact, it’s this seamless switching that ultimately made me a Type2Phone convert. (If your Mac is paired with multiple iOS devices, you can choose which one Type2Phone targets using the Click Here To Connect menu in the app’s window or by choosing File → Reconnect To → [Device Name].)

And more intriguing for me, it can serve as a quick way to move some text (say a password) from your Mac to an iDevice:

If you’re using an iOS app that supports common Mac keyboard shortcuts such as Command+C (copy), Command+V (paste), and Command+A (select all), Type2Phone correctly sends those shortcuts to your iPad or iPhone. Similarly, if you’ve enabled multiple keyboard layouts on your iOS device, you can switch between them by pressing Command+Spacebar; however, if you’ve already got that key combo assigned to another third-party utility on your Mac (such as LaunchBar, Alfred, or Butler), you’ll need to use OS X’s keyboard-shortcuts feature (in the Keyboard pane of System Preferences) to change Type2Phone’s shortcut.

Here’s that feature described in more detail:

One of my favorite features is that you can paste text from your Mac to your iOS device (but not the other way around). This means you can compose longer pieces of text, or URLs and other bits that need to be processed in some way, on your Mac and then paste them to your iPad or iPhone. Or if you have a password stored on your Mac that you need on your iPhone, you can just copy and paste it, rather than having to manually type it on the phone while looking at your Mac’s screen. The paste feature also means that Type2Phone supports TextExpander: Type a snippet abbreviation in Type2Phone, TextExpander expands the snippet, and Type2Phone deletes the abbreviation characters on your iOS device and replaces them with the full snippet. You can also process text using AppleScripts or other tools and then send that text to your iOS device.

I’m tempted to get it just to play around with. And those with an Apple TV in the same room as their Mac, might note that it will also work with it.

–Mike

[InklingBooks]

I just checked and the Mac app, Type2Phone, does work with a Neo 2 and an iPad 3 using iAWriter.

The Neo keyboard attached to my Mac served as a Bluetooth keyboard for the iPad, as did my USB Mac keyboard. The Neo send function also successfully sent a document at the Neo’s “3. Fast” rate, which I’d guess is about 100 wpm, without a hitch, although at times the app was falling behind in displaying the sending. It didn’t work at the Neo’s quite-a-bit faster “4. Fastest speed” though.

So if you’re looking for a way to transfer documents from a Neo directly onto a text application on an iPad or iPhone, this nifty little $5 application is one way to go.

And if you’ve got an iPad/iPhone and only occasionally need to use a keyboard with it, this $5 app will save you the cost of a $60 and up Bluetooth keyboard. In addition, the ability to cut and paste quickly between a Mac and an iPad is also a plus.

There are a number of other features I’ll try to describe later in a separate post. The one that most impressed me was the ease of switching my Mac keyboard between my Mac and my iPad. Choose the Type2Phone app and click on “Click here to connect” and your Mac keyboard takes over as your iPad keyboard. Switch to some other Mac app, and the iPad’s own touch screen keyboard appears and your Mac keyboard is your Mac’s keyboard again.

Also, since Type2Phone is simply enabling your Mac to become a Bluetooth keyboard, it should work with most other Bluetooth-keyboard-ready smart phones. The app has a menu so you can choose which to connect with. And if I remember right, the MacWorld reviewer said that the app could also enable one Mac to serve as the Bluetooth keyboard for another Mac.

You can find out more about Type2Phone here:

houdah.com/type2Phone/

–Mike Perry, Seattle

[InklingBooks]

I just got $2 Tuesday’s weekly email. Type2Phone, regularly $4.99, is $1.99 today (4/2/13). I’m not sure how long the discount will last, but if you’re interested, now is the time to buy.

–Mike Perry

[richardoz]

Received the gizmo today. Very happy. Use as a keyboard and/or Send file to iPod iPhone iPad. See original post for full details. Can now travel lighter and send files from Neo via email or dropbox.

Cheers.