It’s been a busy Spring between the iPad2 launch, update releases, and of course trying to answer all your email. We really do try to get back to everyone who writes in, but don’t always get to – rest assured we do read all our mail, and your feedback is very helpful in prioritizing updates and new releases.
One request we’ve heard from a number of people is to provide video support as an add-on for Air Projector. This would be useful as an overhead document camera or an easy-to-use scanner. We took a hard look at this problem – it turns out that doing any kind of video processing is not easy – and think we’ve ben able to come up with a useful new App.
Announcing Air Scanner: Turn your iPhone or iPod Touch into a wireless HD document camera!
If you are familiar with Air Projector, Air Scanner works the way you would expect. Fire it up and anything you point the camera at is projected to a web browser on the local network, in full 720P HD quality. It turns out that the camera on the iPhone 4 and iPod Touch 4th Gen is more than good enough to transmit high-quality images of a full page legal-sized document or picture. Air Scanner works by taking rapid photos and sending them to the browser wirelessly – with a good network connection updates should happen about once per second.
This works great with a homemade DIY cardboard stand, which you can easily make out of scrap cardboard. Here are a couple sites with instructions to build one (Lifehacker, VitaminCM). If you’re lazy, we found that a standard cardboard document box is the perfect size when you place it on it's side (handle-holes facing up and down), and put your iPhone’s camera over the top hole and what you want to scan below it. The only downside is you need to face the open end of the box to a light source.
While we don’t expect your iPhone to replace fancy document cameras that cost hundreds of dollars, this would be a great tool for projects such as show-and-tell, or for letting large groups of people view a physical object simultaneously.
Beta Testers Wanted!
Air Scanner is currently in final Beta and we are looking for more Beta Testers. If you are interested, just drop us a note via the feedback page with a brief blurb about what you think you would use Air Scanner for. We have a limited number of download codes, but if you receive one, it’s good for a free download of the full version of Air Scanner plus future updates. All we ask in return is that you use it and send us your feedback on what you think:
1. Do you find it useful on a regular basis? i.e. how do you actually use it as part of your work?
2. What do you like and not like about it / what would make it a more useful tool? Did you run into any issues using Air Scanner?
3. Do you know anyone who might find this App useful? Please let them know and help us spread the word!
Air Scanner requires an iPhone (3GS or higher, but supports lower-resolution on 3GS), or iPod Touch 4th Gen (the one with a camera).
Bloggers and reviewers: If you are interested in writing an article or review on Air Scanner, drop us a note too – we have a few codes reserved for you.
Thanks for your feedback.
We appreciate all your continued support in the form of feedback and App Store ratings. Please keep them coming. 2011 is shaping up to be an exciting year. We have a few more products as well as updates planned. Stay tuned!