When I got my iPad last October, I was astounded that there was no way to mirror your display to a larger screen. This seems like a no-brainer — for training or even demo purposes, you would think that Apple would have some way to mirror the display to an external monitor or LCD screen. I researched this extensively and even talked to the geniuses at the Apple Store. Everything pointed to the same answer: it simply wasn’t possible.
The closest thing to it was the A/V cable, which allowed you to output some video streams to an external display. The built-in video player, the YouTube and Netflix apps all supported this feature. This was nice, but it still didn’t give you a way to mirror what you saw on your iPad — an essential capability if you want to demo an app (for example) to an audience.
Fortunately, this is one of the features the iPad 2 supports. It does require the new Apple Digital A/V Adapter ($39) and an HDMI cable. With this, I’m now able to mirror the display of my iPad to my 47″ Visio flatscreen TV and pipe everything through my Pioneer VSX-820 amp.
I’ll be using this at upcoming meetings in the very near future.
Want more? iLounge has a great, in-depth review of the new adapter.
LunaTik and TikTok are a pair of wrist bands specifically designed to turn your iPod Nano into a multi-touch wrist watch. These beautiful watch straps were designed by Scott Wilson, former creative director at Nike Watches and founder of the 
(affiliate link) is very compact, and when I hook up the Mac Mini to my 47″ Vizio LCD TV, I can simply bring the keyboard and mouse over to the coffee table and control everything from there. The Apple keyboard looks amazing, and is really easy and comfortable to type on (your mileage may vary; it’s a personal thing). I really like the form factor. Compact, good looking, space-saving. And I’ve even used it with my Windows 7 laptop, just for kicks. Works fine.
(affiliate link) was, for me, a much better choice than the funky Apple mouse. Coming to the Mac as a former Windows guy, I like the left/right buttons and the scroll wheel. Plus I read reviews that the little roller ball that Apple was using at the time in lieu of a scroll wheel tended to gum up quickly. This mouse has worked perfectly.
(affiliate link) is a sweet little brick-sized speaker that first catches your eye, then impresses the hell out of everyone who hears it. It’s essentially a rechargeable external speaker that can double as a speaker-phone. It is sturdy and looks and sounds great. Friends who had one of those Bose table-top speakers said it sounded as good as that, although I suspect if you put them side-by-side, the Bose would win out. But for the price and the portability, you can beat this.
(affiliate link) is a very specific device that is designed to work with certain models of Pioneer A/V receivers. Of course, most receivers today come with front-facing jacks that allow you to plug in peripheral devices such as an iPod or iPhone. But being able to accomplish the same thing without cords or cables? Perfection! I have paired three devices with my receiver: my Mac Mini, my iPhone 4 and my iPad. It works beautifully with rich sound. It’s a joy to sit on the couch with my iPad and browse through music or setup a new channel on Pandora. Highly recommended.
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(affiliate link) plugs into a power port with a gooseneck to the nicely designed controls and display. The rest is purely cord-free bliss. I pair my iPhone via Bluetooth, and the FlexSmart plays my music on an unused FM frequency through my car stereo. Now I’ve got all my music (at least, all that I carry on my iPhone) and I can crank it right through the car stereo.