With the addition of iOS6, the iPad 2 and 3 now have the ability to become a Presentation Powerhouse. Using Airplay, you’ll be able to pull up the Keynote program and send your Powerpoint style slides across the room wirelessly to a large screen monitor or projector.
Imagine being able to walk around the room with your iPad in hand and send whatever is on the 10 inch screen of your iPad to the large monitor, screen or TV. Imagine being a teacher in a classroom and the flexible teaching power this will give you. Imagine being a presenter and having total slide control in your hand. Airplay opens up a whole new paradigm in training and presentation.
iPad Presentation Tools to make the transformation.
1. iPad 2 or 3 with iOS6. Unfortunately the mirroring feature will not work with the iPad 1. Any version of iPad 2 running iOS6 will perform well. Even the basic 16g model has plenty of room for quite a few presentations. If you will be doing a lot of video presentations, you might consider an iPad with 32 or 64 gigs of storage. As a sidenote, you can store up to 5 gig of data in the iCloud, so your presentations can follow you wherever you go.
2. Apple TV (Second Generation). This $99 dollar unit is worth its weight in gold. Requiring just a power source and a display device that has an HDMI input, you’ll find setup is quick and easy. There are no complicated cords to setup or settings to make. Just plug in and go.
3. Good Wireless Router. While the iPad and Apple TV will work with most wireless routers, buying one that has dual band may give you a performance edge. In a shared environment, using the 5ghz band for video may give you better performance and keep you from interfering with regular 2.4ghz wireless traffic.
Once you have the items, here is what you’ll need to do to make this work.
1. Upgrade your iPad 2 or 3 to iOS6. Use our guidelines here to do the upgrade. (iOS6 here)
2. Update your Apple TV to version 4.4 or later.
To update your Apple TV to the current software version:
- Select Settings > General using your Apple Remote.
- Click Update Software. At this time your Apple TV checks to see if an update is available and a download message should appear if an update is available.
- Click Download and Install to start the download process Important: Do not disconnect your Apple TV during the update process.
3. Connect your iPad2 and Apple TV to the same wireless network. If you have a dual band router use the 5ghz channel.
4. Set you TV or projector input so you can see your Apple TV screen
5. On your iPad2 follow these instructions
- Double click the selection button to pull up the multitasking bar
- With one finger slide the bar to the right
- Click on the airplay button (button with a box with a triangle at the bottom)
- In the AirPlay box select Apple TV
- Click the Mirroring selection on.
- When you are done, click mirroring off to return your Apple TV to normal
6. Now everything that is on your iPad2 screen will be broadcast to your TV or projector. You can send Keynote presentations, play games on the big screen, or show your class a hands-on lesson. You quickly find a myriad of uses for this great presentation tool.
Question: How will you use Air Play Mirroring?
