10 Great Ways to Get More From Your iPad part3

Of course, multitasking is coming officially in OS 4.0. Notes: ProSwitcher (arguably the best jailbreak multitasking app for the iPhone) didn't appear to be optimized for the iPad (yet) at the time of writing. For jailbreak apps, sticking to those that have been reworked for the iPad will help avoid--though not guarantee against--unnecessary hassle.

Other jailbreak apps include iPad-ready versions of Wi-Fi Sync (wireless iTunes syncing), Winterboard (customized themes), and Dashboard (OS X-style widgets). You can also use your iPad with a mouse, run game console emulators and hand controllers, and otherwise do things Apple doesn’t allow. Benefits will grow as the iPad jailbreaking community expands.
Access Your PC Remotely

You just left for the weekend but forgot to copy an important business file (or hilarious LOLcat) to your laptop. Use an iPad to retrieve the content. Several remote desktop-style tools present a live view of the distant computer, letting you control the PC as if you were sitting right there.

Whether you’re reaching across the Internet, or just into the next room, the process isn’t fast enough to play smooth video. So keep searching for that Hulu fix. But most other applications and slow-moving Flash games —such as Farmville—work if you can handle about 10 to 20 frames per second.

Among many choices, I like LogMeIn Ignition (if you want to configure as little as possible) and iTeleport, plus VNC Viewer if you want to manually set it up. You’ll first configure the PC with a server utility (or an option built into the OS) first, then you can connect anywhere.

All three tools offer similar functionality. You’ll zoom in and out with pinch gesture, and mouse around by touching the iPad. Two-fingered taps activate right-click, and other gestures help with the input. iTeleport includes more keyboard options, such as presets to control media applications, but I thought the implementation got in the way.

If you just want to sit back and control a computer hooked up to a TV, Mobile Mouse can turn your iPad into a wireless keyboard, multitouch mouse trackpad, and media remote.

Turn Your iPad into a Secondary Desktop Display

With its big, high-resolution display, it’s a shame to just park an iPad when switching to a computer. Instead, Air Display makes your iPad a second screen for your Mac, extending the desktop. The tool has just been submitted to the App Store and should be released soon; I checked out a beta.