Alongside the iPad 2, a series of official Apple accessories emerged, proving quite useful, especially for providing the Apple tablet with a more "standard" connection to other peripherals. We've already discussed the advantages of the HDMI connector a couple of times, which allows us to do everything from watching a movie stored on our computer directly on the living room TV to playing a game on its screen. Now let's talk about the Camera Connection Kit (CCK) . This accessory is actually a bundle with two products, both designed to fit into the iPad's connector, with an SD card slot and a USB port on the other end, respectively. Initially, its use was intended for connecting a camera's memory card or the camera itself and transferring photos directly to the tablet, which happens automatically when the accessory is connected.
But, as almost always, these accessories hide some more than interesting secrets that amortize much more the 29 euros that the pack costs, especially the USB connector.
- Connect MIDI device- Keyboards, drums, and other digital instruments can be connected to the iPad through the CCK. Not all models on the market work but the list it is wide enough to be interesting.
- Connect USB microphones: There are models, such as the Snowbal, that allow you to record directly in GarageBand on the iPad. It is an especially useful accessory for podcasters, who can take the recording studio anywhere.
- USB keyboards: We already mentioned that the iPad can be paired with bluetooth keyboards, but this function is also possible with USB models thanks to the CCK.
- Card readers: You may have a professional camera that uses the CF format instead of SD cards. Well, if you have a USB reader for these cards, you can connect it to the iPad with the CCK.
- Videos: It is also possible to transfer videos to the iPad using the CCK. All you have to do is rename them following the scheme of your camera and put it in the "DCIM" folder. By connecting the CCK to the iPad it will import them into the photo gallery as if it were one from the camera.
- Connect your iPhone or your Android. This works, although with some limitations. If you need to transfer a large number of photos from iPhone to iPad, or from Android, and you do not have a computer with iPhoto nearby (or it is not synchronized with iCloud) it is possible to do it with the CCK. Obviously, the iPhone only has to connect with the USB cable to the CCK to start the import as if it were just another camera. In Android you just have to be careful to create a folder "DCIM" where we will put the photos we want to show.
At the moment this accessory does not show more capabilities, but if we find out about any more we will be continually expanding and editing this tutorial.