iPad owners may have heard about Air Display, an app that turns your tablet's nearly 10-inch screen into a second computer monitor.

A free software update for the $9.99 app lets you use the iPad with a Windows PC or a Mac -- it was an Apple-only product to start -- plus it offers better iPad 2 support, including the ability to rotate the tablet between portrait or landscape view and smoother scroll-wheel support. A half-dozen or so bugs were also addressed in this update.

In case you haven't tried this clever tool, Air Display lets you prop up your iPad to the right or left of a computer monitor, allowing your mouse to smoothly scroll between the two screens as if it were a dual-monitor setup. For example, you might open your Outlook e-mail and drag the window over to the iPad so you can surf the Web full screen on your computer while keeping an eye on your inbox. Or in Adobe's Photoshop, you might have your computer screen as the canvas and the iPad screen reserved for your palette. You can still use your finger on the iPad's touch-screen, if desired. Setup takes less than two minutes. Simply download and launch the app on the iPad, and you'll be prompted to install the Air Display software on a PC or Mac by visiting avatron.com/d in a Web browser. Download the correct installer for your operating system, and after you reboot the machine, you can simply launch the app and place the iPad next to the monitor. Air Display settings can be tweaked on your Mac or PC.

While the colors on my desktop PC looked somewhat muted when the iPad was connected, the app worked like a charm by providing more screen real estate. Keep in mind, Air Display connects your computer to the tablet over a local wireless (Wi-Fi) network.

Once the app is closed on the iPad, the nearby computer automatically returns to single-screen mode.

An iPhone version of the app is also available (same price) but seems less useful, as it's a 3.5-inch screen opposed to the iPad's larger display.
Source:Usatoday