New Mobility

have you ever been lecturing and suddenly realized that you had a mistake on your slides? or you were moving around the room and wished you could magically make things appear on the board without you having to walk all the way there to write it down?


now there is a legit way to use your iphone or ipod touch as a mobile touchpad / keyboard / and presentation remote. all of this can be done for the cost of $4. it is called, touchpad elite and can be purchased through the apple app store.

here we have the mobile keyboard. taking advantage of one of the best aspects of the iphone / itouch, the program will allow different orientations and your display will always be pointed up. want a wider keyboard? just tilt sideways.

this is the presentation remote. now all i need to do is rig a laserpointer onto my iphone and it'll be a fully fledged presentation remote.

the default black surface makes the entire device a giant mobile touchpad.

one of the main drawbacks to this setup is it's connectivity. both your computer and the iphone/itouch must be on the same wifi network. if your school doesn't happen to offer wifi (like my school) then you're in trouble.

here is a simple solution. get an old wireless router if you have one. otherwise, you can probably get a cheaper older model for not too much. the wireless router doesn't need to be connected to the actual internet for it to function as a wireless connector for two computers. in this case, i picked up my old 11mb/sec wireless router that is quickly going on 6 years old. i plug it in and join its network with both my devices. BAM. success.

now all i need to do is convince my superintendent to make itouches standard issue for new teachers.