You’d think Apple’s iPad Camera Connection Kit would be locked down to only work with things like, you know, cameras and stuff. But, you’d be wrong. New reports indicate that the Camera Connection Kit works well with other peripherals, like USB keyboards, USB headphones/headsets, and even USB microphones.
The iPad’s Camera Connection Kit is essentially an adapter that allows iPad users to connect a camera to their Apple tablet via USB port and move images taken with a camera to the iPad’s Photo Gallery app. The photos are imported in the equivalent of 3-megapixel resolutions. That’s a departure from the iPhone, which down-samples images to 800 x 600. The iPad will import in 2048 x 1536 for images formatted in the 4:3 aspect ratio that many point-and-shoot cameras use, or 2048 x 1364 for images formatted in the 3:2 ratio typical with DSLR cameras. The adapter will also preserve the EXIF data embedded in the digital images.
Seeing as how the iPad already works with its the Apple iPad Keyboard Dock through the iPad’s dock connector, it makes sense that the camera adapter would work with other USB keyboards. You won’t get the added functionality of the dock itself, but at least you can that old USB keyboard out of the closet and put it to good use.
It’s also good to see that the USB camera adapter is compatible with USB headphones, headsets and microphones. That opens the door to using your VoIP headset to make internet phone calls. And, if you use a USB headset with a digital signal processor to clean up the audio, call quality should be stellar.
Check out the video below to see the iPad Camera Connection Kit in action.
[Via: AppleInsider]