I have tried to connect a flash thumb drive to my iPad using the Camera Connection Kit. The iPad does not recognize the thumb drive. Will the next version of iOS support thumb drive connection for reading/storing data?
iMac, MacBook, iPad, Time Capsule, iPod Touch,
Mac OS X (10.6.5),
VM Fusion, Win 7, Win XP, Ubuntu
iOS does not have a traditional file management system like your computer does. Are there pictures on the thumb drives? If so, you will be able to import these into the Photos application.
If the storage medium is formated in either Fat 16 or 32 (the standard) and has a folder labeled DCIM in the root directory, you can add photos and video in the formats supported by the iPad and import them into the iPad just like if a camera was used. However, like for the camera you can't add photos to the storage device but you can delete from it. Some older storage devices may not work. I tried it on an old 2GB USB stick and got message that it dew too much power.