Hi everybody.

I've had two people ask me this now, and after researching it I can't come up with a good solution: Is there a product that will advance (and reverse) through a keynote presentation?

A tablet is a great way to carry your presentations around with you, but I've never gotten why the companies that make them always show people making presentations while holding the tablets. Because of the wires coming out of them, this doesn't seem like a great solution until a completely wireless one comes along. It really tethers you to where the projector is located.

I have two people who want to get some sort of mouse or remote that will advance through a Keynote presentation, but so far I haven't found a single product that will do this. Logitech makes a mouse for Android 3.x, I have it, and it works great, but I've seen no such solution for iPads. This shocks me a bit because I'd certainly expect better accessory support for the iPad than Honeycomb tablets.

So do you guys have suggestions? I found a solution that uses an iPhone as a remote, but these users don't have iPhones (corporate/financial folks, they're stuck on Blackberrys, those poor guys).

A bluetooth keyboard or mouse should work with iOS 5, though I haven't tested this myself.

The best solution for a corporate presentation however, assuming the facility can accommodate an HDMI connection, would be to pick up an AppleTV and then use video mirroring or whatever other airplay feature is supported in iWork apps. This way the iPad is the remote.

The person giving the presentation, holding the iPad, will even be able to read all their notes and other presenter information that shouldn't/won't be displayed as part of the presentation through the AppleTV (and projector).

No wires connected to the iPad. AppleTV with a single power cable and HDMI cable.

I'm doing a bit of consulting for a friend who's currently part of a task force at his fortune-100 workplace to determine how they can better use technology in the workplace. He's already intended to look at the iPad and this was one of my suggestions to him.

I'll be interested to see this. From what I'm reading the keyboard definitely doesn't work to advance Keynote slides in iOS 4. I'll tell one of these guys to try upgrading to 5 before the next time we try connecting my mouse. You think all bluetooth mice are going to automatically work with it? There certainly aren't any mice designed specifically for it.


That's a BIG assumption. I haven't seen anyone actually use a projector with HDMI yet. I know they're out there, but for these types of uses I've only seen VGA.


That's a bit klugey for temporary setups, IMO, but you're right it would work. Still, despite how tiny the Apple TV is, carrying that around with its power chord and HDMI cable would be a little more awkward than a little bluetooth remote and the VGA adapter.


That's a good point, and might be a big enough reason to overlook any awkwardness with the setup. Are you certain this would work, though? You seem unsure of how Airplay would work with Keynote...


Obviously, I'm not very familiar with the iPad, the new Apple TV, or Airplay, so I was wondering how this all worked. How does Airplay talk to the devices? Does it require that they all be on the same WiFi network? That would be a problem.

Yes, I know it works for a fact - seen video of it online, but I've yet to try it myself because I don't have AppleTV. The only thing I wasn't sure of is whether it was the "mirror" or other Airplay term.

You can also use a DVI adapter with the AppleTV, though going to VGA might be problematic.

I also forgot to mention the network thing. Yeah, that might be a hurdle unless you can create an ad-hoc network to pair the two devices or if bluetooth could be used instead. I'll be looking that up as it's info I need to provide my friend with as well.

Reports on the net seem to indicate that AIrplay will work over any connection, including wired ethernet, wifi or bluetooth.

Should one not want to use bluetooth, but wifi instead, it would only take another small plug-sized device, an Airport Express. Just pre-configuring that and the machines would be enough to take it anywhere, plug it in and have an instant wifi network - no need for internet to communicate between devices of course.

Does the Apple TV have bluetooth? Or at least, in a manner that will connect to the iPad?


See, now you're adding yet more stuff, when only a small remote is necessary. Yes, it would be nice to have your speaking notes, but the preference would be for mobility, and having a small presentation remote would be preferable to this elaborate setup.

But a small remote won't do because there isn't one that will work with the iPad.

Yes, AppleTV has Bluetooth and as far as I know, it should work with the iPad - that's the primary device one would AIrplay with, not counting Airplay enabled audio systems and speakers which are audio-only.

I'm trying to find a demo to look at, but I haven't found one yet. I'll probably pick up an AppleTV but I was hoping Apple would bump the specs on a new version before I pulled the trigger. I'd like 1080p output.

Sadly, I don't see that happening. They really seem down on 1080p for some reason. They'd have to work on improving the quality of their own content if they upgraded. That's certainly the only thing they intend for you to play on the device.

Quickly responding to a few points here:

AirPlay is WiFi/Ethernet only, not bluetooth. Some confusion exists here because the airplay icon is also used to change the sound only input to a bluetooth audio device. Full video based airplay, or the audio multiple speaker airplay is IP networking only. It uses bonjour, so if the network in question is not bonjour friendly, it's not going to work.

Yes, Airplay and Keynote work fine, and the iPad will either do direct mirroring, or output a different video feed (in this case the presentation) while showing something else on the iPad.

Paring a Bluetooth mouse to an iOS device does nothing. The OS has no concept of a mouse, mouse cursor, or mouse clicks.

Really, the proper solution here appears to either just use a laptop, and the iOS Keynote Remote app to drive it as a controller. Or use the iPad directly, using an AppleTV for wireless, or using the VGA/HDMI dongles.

And as far as 1080p, it will come in time. 720p was picked for a number of reasons. Yes, the A4 can mostly handle 1080p. Add in some overhead though (such as processing an incoming AirPlay stream while possibly downloading an OS update in the background), and the experience may fall below the thresholds Apple finds acceptable.

I'm sure the studios pushed back on Apple for 1080. I'm also sure Apple didn't have the server capacity at the time.

Tom, I'm seeing a lot of people saying Airplay will connect over Bluetooth. I don't think I can test that out with only an iPad and iPhone though.

Keynote remote for the iPhone will work with an iPad, so you don't need a computer at all. And it will work over Bluetooth as I've seen reports and specific instructions for this as well.

I've also seen one person talking about playing the presentation from an iPhone connected to a projector and running the remote app on the iPad.

You could potentially alo use wired headphones or BT headphones with buttons if they're supported in Keynote to advance/reverse slides. The ultimate is still the Airplay setup, and IMO, if it can't be made to work over BT, it's worth carrying an Airport Express and AppleTV. Of course it's only software changes necessary to obviate the need for the base station, since Apple could create an ad-hoc network with the iPad (or AppleTV), allowing the other device to connect to it, even automating the process for a direct-link Airplay without an underlying third device providing the network.

You can also use a mouse or pretty much any other BT device with an iPad, but it will require a jailbreak and BTStack.

Or use an iPod touch.

Edit: remote is not an iPad app so the usual compromises of running it on an iPad apply.

Umm, the A4 can't handle 720p. Decode yes, DP/HDMI output no. Believe me, I know

What does the ATV2 output if not 720p over HDMI?

That might be the best solution, but the proper solution would be for an extremely simple accessory that could merely talk to the device, like this (except bluetooth).


This is clear, but it doesn't have to be a mouse. Wasn't there an Apple keynote a year or two ago where they touted all the incredible accessory capabilities of iOS, and how there was so much potential for making use of all parts of the operating system? Please correct me if I'm wrong, I'm having trouble pin-pointing it.

Meanwhile, I bought this $39 mouse, turned it on, paired it with my tablet like any bluetooth device, and a mouse cursor popped up on the screen! I doubt this is something Google intended, and I don't even understand how it works!

I'm not sure how, but I'll double check my AppleTV later. Bluetooth bandwidth I think would have a hard time coping with what would be needed for video. Under the releases prior to the most recent, the AppleTV never exposed any Bluetooth functions to the user, including the necessary pairing/discoverable toggles.

Bluetooth and AppleTV appears to be a worthless google search, due to the echo chamber effect of the rumor of Bluetooth keyboard support coming in iOS5 for ATV. No solid confirmations at a quick glance now that the update is out.

And good to know about the keynote remote working iOS to iOS.

What most amazes me about Airplay is that you can't Airplay between iPads and iPhones.

At least two apps have come out to expose that capability, both making it into the official App Store and both being pulled some while later - with no stink made. Likely because they were doing some undocumented API calls. This all happened in 2010 and early 2011, so again, it blows me away that with iOS 5 we still don't have Airplay between iOS devices that are not the AppleTV. Or with Macs for that matter.

Glenn's suggestion is the most economical if you can't have the devices on a network easily (or at all).

iPad with a video out adapter plus an iPod Touch running Keynote Remote. Turn off WiFi on both devices, turn on BlueTooth, open Keynote Remote on the iPod and Keynote on the iPad. Pairing is done from these apps, not the device's settings. Bluetooth should allow pairing the remote to Keynote after a few seconds. You'll need to type a confirmation code. Ignore any warning on the remote all about WiFi.

Is this an elegant solution? Somewhat, but it's not an elegant process. And it could be done a lot better, including with other possibilities already mentioned, BT remotes, better iOS to iOS connectivity, etc. No idea why Apple hasn't gone there yet.

Keynote Remote costs 99 cents and it does let you see the slides, including next slide and presentation notes. If you notice that some BT presentation remotes cost upwards of $100, I suppose it's not a terrible deal to pay $200 for an iPod touch and this app if it's something you'll use quite regularly.



Of course if the network situation was possible, you wouldn't even need an iPad. Just an iPod Touch with Keynote and an AppleTV.