But I like my mouse...

[jbiggley]

The combination of VMware View 4.6 and the iPad app were about enough to send shivers up our spines, until we learned that there wouldn't be any Bluetooth mouse support.  Dashed were our deluions of gradeur, of replacing laptops with iPads and extending the desktop (and the crazy support applications we all tend to gather) onto a highly portable platform.  (Not to mention the extreme 'cool' factor so desperately needed by any IT department)

A few questions.

1)  Is this app in development for other platforms?

2)  Do any of those other platforms support mice?

3)  For a highly portable desk/laptop replacement, does anyone else have a recommendation for an enterprise-ready platform?

Here's hoping that Apple let's us wield our Bluetooth mice in the iPad playground.

[wayneoakley99]

just as an fyi the Citrix app provides a mouse by using an iphone connected wirelessly to the ipad to provde a touchpad type mouse when using their receiver.

a bit weird but shows that a mouse is possible.

[jbiggley]

So, I guess the question would be could you use a iPod/iPhone as a wireless touchpad mouse, connected to the iPad, using the View client connected to your desktop while using a BT keyboard and external display?

If so, then that would be portability trifecta!  Desktop functionality, tablet portability and seamless transition, and the convenience of having your iPhone with you everywhere you go.

Man - I love my job! :smileygrin:

[admin]

Apple does not have a mechanism to add a mouse (bluetooth or wired)  If they do, we will add it in.

The new clients we are developing for other platforms may add this in if it is allowed.

Tedd

[Have_Blue]

Has anyone tried using the BTstack Mouse app on a jailbroken iPad with the View client?

http://www.redmondpie.com/control-ipad-with-magic-mouse-9140743/

[Datanuts]

Check out my post: http://communities.vmware.com/thread/317838  I answered the question in great detail.

Good luck!

[jwidener]

Tedd - Citrix has a way to turn the iPhone into a mouse with Citrix Receiver. Seems to work pretty flawlessly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFn1jd_u-Tc

and

http://www.xenappblog.com/2010/use-iphone-as-a-mouse-on-ipad-with-citrix-receiver/

Would be great if the same could be enabled within View. Most users that carry and iPad also carry an iPhone.

--Joey

[admin]

Oh I know....  I really do! Google is your friend 😉

BUT a VERY small percentage use that feature. It takes many videos and a few articles to teach normal end users how to use it because of hurried design. 

It is a novel idea, but in the big picture, the amount of people asking for this has been surprisingly small. We are always looking for awesome ways for the normal end user to interact on the iPad so stay tuned.

[jwidener]

Google is clearly OUR friend!  😉  Thanks for the quick reply. I would have thought more end users would have asked for this feature. Interesting.

Any thoughts on the commentary on this post - http://communities.vmware.com/thread/392048?tstart=0

--Joey

[keiooz]

Thanks a lot for sharing this link. Google leads me here and it delivers a very quick answer. So you are right about that, pal..

[miket_stiguns]

If you jailbreak the iPad you can hook up a bluetooth keyboard and mouse...

BT Stack Mouse is the cydia app if I remember correctly.

[Datanuts]

Yea, but it doesn't work very well. Whenever the iPad goes to sleep, the keyboard disconnects and you have to delete the mouse and keyboard connections then redirect. It's a real pain. You can get around it by buying a USB to 30 pin adapter for the iPad. Connecting it to a powered usb hub (because the iPad usb port does not have enough juice to power the keyboard), then plug in a usb keyboard to the powered usb hub. You will then need an apple magic mouse. (compatibility is the key with iPads). I had a magic mouse and a cheap bluetooth 3 button mouse I bought on ebay for 10 bucks. The magic mouse works perfectly through BTStack mouse (downloaded for free from cydia.) The cheap bluetooth mouse would connect, but it would jump all around and not function correctly at all. However, it worked perfectly on my mac and PCs. The biggest hurdle you have to overcome is being able to have an iPad Home Button on either your mouse or keyboard. I found an easy trick for this. Download Activator for your iOS version from cydia and you can assign your right mouse button or gestures to simulate the home button press. (Remember, you need home button access in order to minimize or quit ipad apps.) Using these tools, you can finally turn your iPad into a comfortable workstation. (If you want to go overboard, you can get a multi purpose iPad dock (not Apple supported) that gives you via, dvi, component, hdmi out ports as well as usb in/out, and multi card reader support. (do an ebay search) It works alright if you use the display out app from cydia, ($4.99) however, unless you use an iPad 2 or higher, the display resolution is a but lacking. I researched the heck out of this and came pretty close to nirvana, but I wasn't willing to buy an iPad 2 just to test my theory. Overall, if you want to have a workstation like feel on your iPad, follow the above steps and you should get what you're after.

Let me know if you have any questions.

[virtualseed]

So I've investigated this heavily, and jailbreaking an iPad isn't, and shouldn't be the answer for many reasons.   The way Citrix does it is there is a companion app that is run on the iPhone that presents the trackpad commands to the Citrix app on the iPad, and VMware could do this but it's kind of a cheesy work-around.  I would like to use both my full-sized BT keyboard and regular mouse when using my iPad for VDI, and my message to Apple is thusely (and if someone knows how to get this to Apple outside of the suggestions forum I'm all ears!):

"Dear Apple, your iPad device is really nice and wonderful, and in my experience I have found a use for your iPad above and beyond what you have anticipated, and this use could represent a market that was not anticipated by Apple and could increase the revenue of your company as a result.  What is this use you ask?  Well it's VDI, or Virtual Desktop Infrastructure, and it's where I'm using your iPad device as a Thin Client to access my corporate desktop.  Using VMware's View, this works very well, but one added item on your part would enable the replacement of my PC and laptop by an iPad, and that would be an API for third-party developers to access a bluetooth mouse from within the application.  With that, I could connect an iPad to my monitor, and use my bluetooth mouse and keyboard in the VMware application and duplicate the Pc or laptop experience completly.  Why would this benifit Apple?  I'm glad you asked.  What this would do is shift the conversation IT departments have around should I by a dedicated device for my VDI and maybe an iPad as a secondary device for select users to I will just buy an iPad for all my needs across the board.

I believe this is a simple API addition that would not represent any major risk to the core iOS security and open up a new enterprise market for Apple in the space of the iPad devices."

[jbiggley]

I am out of the office for returning Monday, January 7th, 2013.

I will have periodic access to email and voicemail during this time. If you require immediate assistance, please contact the bilingual Bulletproof Solutions service desk 24 hours a day at 1-877-274-2349.