Splashtop Inc said on Thursday that it has released Win8 Metro Testbed, a remote desktop app for Apple's iPad that will stream a Windows 8 environment straight to the tablet. Now developers can test native Metro UI touch gestures on an iPad as they code and compile new apps on their Windows PC. The idea is for developers with an iPad to develop for the new Windows platform without having to actually purchase a separate Windows 8 tablet, thus saving money.
"Since Apple’s App Store generates over 80% of all tablet app revenue, nearly every software developer that writes apps for tablets has an iPad," noted Mark Lee, Splashtop CEO and co-founder. "With Windows 8 Metro expected to ship on over 400 million new PCs and tablets annually, these developers have high expectations for an enormous new market. Splashtop lets them turn their iPad into a development testbed to evaluate touch gestures and functionality of their app in a Windows 8 environment."
To get a streaming Windows 8 environment up and running on an iPad, users/developers will need to purchase Splashtop's $25 remote desktop client app from the iOS App Store (opens in new tab). Also needed is Splashtop's streamer program that's installed on a PC (1.6 GHz or better dual-core CPU, 1 GB of RAM) running Microsoft's Windows 8 Consumer Preview. The $25 price tag is a special promotion -- Win8 Metro Testbed will eventually be cranked back up to its original $50 fee.
According to the developer, the Win8 Metro Testbed enables native Windows 8 Metro touch gestures, including the ability to:
* Swipe from the right to view the Charms menu
* Swipe from the left to switch apps
* Swipe left/right in Internet Explorer to move between pages
* Swipe down to bring up additional menus
* Swipe down on an item to select it
* Pull down from the top to close an app
* Swipe slowly from the left to run two apps side-by-side ("snapping")
* Swipe from left-and-back to show running apps
* Pinch to navigate files, folders, apps and data with Semantic Zoom
* And more!
Win8 Metro Testbed joins the company's popular Splashtop Remote Desktop service which allows users to stream their PC or Mac on a smartphone or tablet. Users can load up and stream movies and music stored on the hard drive, or stream installed games that would otherwise be unavailable on a small device. Users can even work on their files by remote without ever having to access their desk. Remote Desktop is currently available in iOS, Android, Windows Phone and other tasty flavors.