“The Redpark Ethernet Cable ($89) for iPad and iPhone enables field service technicians to use iOS devices in their work – it means they won’t need to carry laptops, netbooks or single use proprietary terminals to get things done,” Jonny Evans writes for Computerworld.
“The cable is a specialized version of a USB to Ethernet adaptor (limited to 5Mbps) that works with the RedSocket SDK and enterprise developed apps to enable field technicians to connect iOS devices to equipment via an Ethernet cable in order to configure or troubleshoot this kit,” Evans writes.
“So why is this more exciting than the hidden port on the Apple Watch? (Given that Apple is unlikely to deliver straps equipped with their own battery and 4G support just yet),” Evans writes. “It’s all about the enterprise.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Anything that helps Apple take another step towards viability in the enterprise market is a good thing.
The physical connector is a Lightning connector. The article doesn’t say this but the photograph clearly shows a Lightning connector.
Hello
Well spotted — you are quite right — at one end it is a Lightning connector which you plug into your iOS device — and — at the other – it is Ethernet — so you can do things like read the built in HTML pages that control everything in items like routers, or oil rigs. That’s kind of the point.
For any one thing Apple might do to entice enterprise IT folks, they do 6 more to piss them off.
Trust me, it’s my living and while I wish it were not the case, it most certainly is.
Is that right? So how does that account for Apple’s growing share in enterprise sales?
Something not quite right there, methinks.
The 6 things that piss them off is because they want specialist complex or wide ranging things just to suit them and often to the disadvantage of the greater public, industry and technical standards. So keep pissing them off Apple it’s why we don’t have the spaghetti version of an operating system designed to annoy everyone but boost the wallets of IT fraudsters.
Indeed. I support ipads used as pilot efbs for a major airline and it’s a world of pain dealing with Apple.
This is also very cool (from the comments on Evans’ article): http://www.get-console.com/airconsole/
There is one huge problem with this product: it doesn’t have a way to also provide power through the lightning connector. As such it can only by used for short temporary Ethernet connections, not as part of a static solution leveraging the iPad’s graphical UI with a reliable network connection. Very sad although a step in the right direction (if you have specific apps written for that interface BTW).