musictomysoul

Reflection App

I have so many things I want to blog about this evening and only time for one blog. I’ve made some amazing technical discoveries over the last few days that I will share across the week. I’m also very excited about the new MBP announced today and the new information about Mountain Lion and iOS6. However, that will have to wait for another day.

Since my LCD Projector doesn’t have an HDMI port, I was wondering how to see what I was doing on my iPad without a way to connect to the projector. I know that Apple TV is one option but what happens if you don’t have a way to get the ATV and your laptop on the same network?

The first option I discovered and have used is AirServer . It works fine but I did run into some issues and had no response from customer support.  I know that Apple TV is one option but what happens if you don’t have a way to get the ATV and your laptop on the same network?

Enter Reflection. This App was introduced to me by a fellow blogger and as I’ve been planning for my workshop, I thought it would be great to share with teachers. However, when it was first released it was a Mac-only piece of software. Of course, I love my Apple products but teachers still have PC computers and need ideas! So, last week, I saw an announcement that Reflection is now available for PCs. Perfect timing!!

I purchased a copy of Reflection this evening and in seconds I had it downloaded, installed, and up and running with my iPad. I used it to show a Keynote with audio and the audio from my iPad was playing via my computer speakers. I love the effects – Reflection includes an iPad image–black and white–so it looks like a real iPad screen on your computer. Of course, if you connect the projector to your computer, what is showing on your computer screen including your iPad screen will be projected. To connect your iPad, all you do is double click the “home” button so you can see the icons in the tray. Swipe the tray to the right and click the AirPlay button (see image blue). Be sure to select your computer and Mirroring ON and you are set to go. I’ve include a few photos to help.

Of course, this is all working because all of my devices live happily on my WiFi network. Next up, creating a closed network so my computer and iPad can “speak” to each other even when they are in a location with protected WiFi, or worse, no WiFi at all.