Stardraw Control supports Apple iPad

Stardraw.com CEO David Snipp commented; It isn’t really an issue if people say that the iPad isn’t as good as a netbook, or that it doesn’t have a camera or support Flash or multi-tasking. If the worst you can say is that it’s a big iPod touch – and a lot of people are saying that – then it will excel as a touchpanel interface for system control: for Stardraw Control, a big iPod touch is ideal.’
 
‘The form factor and technical specs are such that the iPad could almost have been designed specifically as a user-interface device for system control and, since pricing starts at less than $500, it makes one wonder why anyone would spend maybe ten times more on a ‘proprietary’ touchscreen. The iPad is great way to deliver more to the end user at a lower cost, with the advantage that it’s a sexy gadget.’
 
It is by virtue of support for Webservices that Stardraw Control can employ the iPad, or indeed any device that supports a browser or talks HTTP, as a user interface device. Webservices permit direct machine-to-machine communications, and the complementary technology “Ajax” (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML) makes for a bi-directional user experience delivered through standard HTML. Stardraw Control can now itself be controlled and monitored by anything that is browser- or HTTP-enabled, including the iPad.
 
‘It is important,’ says Snipp, ‘to note that we are not using an App to deliver the control interface: Apps as understood in the context of the App Store are restrictive commercially, logistically and technologically. Instead we are using WebApp technology which delivers a user experience indistinguishable from an App but with far more flexibility and no restrictions. Systems integrators can now build great-looking UIs and deliver them through the device of their choice, including the iPad, to control and monitor any hardware in any system using Stardraw Control.’