I am one of those people who made a point of stopping by an Apple  Store just days after the iPad went on sale.  I didn’t go there to buy one because I knew that I wouldn’t be happy with anything less than a 3G model, and that won’t be available until next month, and also because I’m ‘economically challenged’ since leaving my last job. But as my readers and friends know I’m a gadget guy, a Tech Geek if you will, and the iPad has geek written all over it. Of course I wanted to play with one, and to find some logical or illogical reason to dip into my dwindling savings in order to add this tech wonder to my geek arsenal.

I couldn’t justify buying an iPad until last Saturday, while attending the annual North East Astronomy Forum (NEAF).

Richard Wright is the brain behind Software Bisque’s Seeker program, and he delights in showing off his latest widgets and apps to tech geeks like me.  Last year I half-jokingly asked Richard when we would see an iPhone app that would allow telescope control through The Sky 6, and he whipped out his iPhone and showed me a mini-Sky concept he’d been toying with.

So this year, after getting dazzled by Bisque’s latest version of The Sky X Pro, and their new mount, a smaller and less expensive version of the famously popular Paramount ME that I call the mini-ME (my name, not theirs), I moseyed on over to say hello to Richard. “Got The Sky X running on an iPhone yet Richard?”, I asked. And he reaches into his briefcase, turns to me and says, “No, but have a look at this!” Richard unfolded a book-sized grey cover to reveal an iPad.  And on the iPad was something that looked like a pared down version of The Sky X!

Unreleased screen shot of Software Bisque's The Sky X on an Apple iPad. Isn't it beautiful?

This almost-top-secret iPad app is still in development, and may never be released, but after Richard’s demo I want it – I finally found the ‘killer-app’ that would make me shell out beaucoup bucks that Apple is getting for their newest Geek Toy. What I was looking at wasn’t exactly TSX running on the iPad; the memory and processor are too wimpy to run the computationally and graphically intense full version. No, what I saw was a smaller app, specially designed for the iPad, wirelessly connected to one of the nearby desktops running the full version. Richard has harnessed the computing horsepower of the PC (or Mac), linked it wirelessly to the iPad, and managed to squeeze the essentials of the program onto the generous 9.7″ diagonal, 1024 x 768, super-sharp portable display. Just link the PC and iPad on a network and you can carry around the equivalent of a full version of the Sky X on this 1/2″ thick tablet. I tell you, Richard is a genius!

It was only a prototype, a proof-of-concept. On the screen were some rudimentary telescope controls, “programmer art” as Richard calls it, “(there are) … controls on the screen to move the scope around and change things”. But it was connected, and the mount moved on command.

Richard went on to say that there are three concepts being tossed  around;

1. “A remote observing tool that remotely controls your scope, cameras…” and perhaps other equipment (like maybe a dome?)

2. “A full blown interactive star chart version of TheSky for the iPad and iPhone.”

3. “… an iPad version of our current Mac Widget.”

Of these, #1 is the most likely, followed up by #2.

Software Bisque’s official stance on this hot new product is, ”No promises, no announcements, and we might just say ‘forget it’ tomorrow. Oh, Richard also told me, “If only we had three more programmers, and the days were 36 hours long…”

I sure hope Richard turns my dream into reality…