Traditional whiteboards were simple — write and draw on them, and during a meeting, people copy down what you wrote. Then the world of interactive whiteboarding came along. Now the board was tethered to a computer so you could copy what was written to a file. Now, it’s time to un-tether.
The line of interactive whiteboards from Calgary, Alberta-based SMART Technologies, including the SMART Board (in sizes of 47, 60, and 72 inches measured diagonally), the Rear Projection SMART Boards and the SMART Board for Plasma Displays interactive overlay now have an option to use Wi-Fi to communicate directly with a PC.
The company’s whiteboard products traditionally have used either a universal serial bus (USB) cable or serial cable to connect to a computer. SMART Board products require the use of the company’s software on MacOS 8.5 and higher or Windows 95 or higher.
The $399 optional wireless connection package consists of two one-quarter pound radios with their own Integrated dipole antenna and power supplies that plug into an RS-232 25-pin serial port. The units support standard 2.4GHz 802.11b with 11 channels and 64- and 128-bit WEP.
Eric Griffith is the managing editor of 802.11 Planet.