By David Danto Director of Emerging Technology, IMCCA How much money are you wasting on technology today? Many technology products have failed at organizations (or in the marketplace) because its owner assumed it was just so cool that everyone would flock to using it. Regrettably, that’s just not reality. No matter how “cool” the technology […]

By David Danto Director of Emerging Technology, IMCCA A funny thing happened to me last year. I woke up early at a hotel in the middle of a business trip because I had to give a presentation to a client. I ate some breakfast in my room, showered and dressed and then gave that presentation […]

Sometimes, in my role as the general manager of a small AV company dealing with large clients, and being part of planning both their permanent installations and their events, I stand at a crossroads that can give me some perspective. Or get me hit by a car. The key for me, and for all of […]

There is an encouraging shift happening in the AV Integration industry.  This shift is happening at the integrator level and at the manufacturer representative level. If you are a not a part of it, you will absolutely need to be or you will be left behind — barefoot and in the cold. This shift illustrates […]

The recent success of the new MX Series from Cisco is driving Sharp Imaging, a division of Sharp Electronics Corporation, and its 80-inch (diagonal) AQUOS BOARD (PN-L802B) to partner with Crestron (for the RL) and the Polycom (for the CX8000) group collaboration solutions. The interactive display comes as part of Crestron and Polycom’s Lync Room […]

Clary Icon OneScreen users will have immediate access to live technical support via video. Once a user touches the Screen Skills Guru button, they are instantly connected to a live tech support person who can answer product usage questions, teach users new screen skills, or help diagnose any product issues. For teams and students working […]

By Cindy Davis InfoComm international Until fairly recently, when technology managers got a request to set up videoconferencing and collaboration systems, the options were separated by a chasm of options and price. At one end were very expensive, immersive telepresence rooms offering the highest quality audio, video and collaboration technologies to enable remote meetings. At […]

By Patrick Lee Vice President, Entertainment & Corporate – Barco We’ve all been there: Sitting around a conference table fidgeting while awaiting the arrival of the IT specialist to untangle the mass of cables, get the presenter’s PowerPoint on screen, the clock ticking away as attendees lose interest and contemplate life beyond the meeting room. […]

In today’s new global economic state, many companies are looking to improve their bottom line through efficiency gains, productivity tools, and collaboration as opposed to more traditional models of market growth. Large companies are now seriously re-thinking just about everything in their business processes. In the quest to make a workspace more productive, almost nothing […]

Sharp’s new LL-S242A-W is a 24” LED-lit LCD touch screen that offers 1,920×1,080 resolution monitor with a viewing angle of 178 degrees, both horizontally and vertically. It includes 10-point multi-touch capability that also features handwriting support via a fine-tipped touch pen. One cool feature is that a palm cancelation function prioritizes pen recognition, so you […]

InFocus Corporation has launched two new applications: BigNote 1.2 interactive whiteboard software for PC and BigConnect PC video calling software. InFocus designed the applications to improve how people communicate ideas and capture information wherever they are located. BigNote: BigNote 1.2 interactive whiteboard software, which runs on either a Windows 7 or 8 operating system, enables […]

Practically everyone now offers a collaboration solution was the clear take away from my recent visit to InfoComm 2014. From telecons to document sharing; from video calling to video conferencing; solutions in all shapes and sizes could be had. I met with a number of companies at InfoComm and learned about many solutions, but clearly […]

Sure disruptive, it’s just about become my middle name. However, the industry is almost ready to re-name itself as a newly formed arena of disruption to go along with the standards like digital signage, control systems and more. But then again if I search hard next year, I’ll likely come up with disruptive technologies there […]

A week past my return from InfoComm, I’m finally getting to write my overall reflections on the show and what technology I saw there. For further perspectives, visit my esteemed colleague Alex Mayo, who offers his own perspective. Alex is a bright man and a very talented designer with whom I’m quite fortunate to work. […]

A new study finally sheds light on how important proximate collaboration can be. Those of us in the technology and software space all know about the now apocryphal story of a defiant Marisa Mayer ending the long-standing work from home policy at Yahoo in an attempt to create a more vibrant culture. Of course, Marisa […]

By David Danto IMCCA The InfoComm 2014 conference — the world’s largest communications expo — has come to a close — and after this year’s jaunt to Las Vegas, the world will never be the same. Over the next few days I and countless others will be writing blogs, reviews and wrap-ups describing the details […]

Barco has introduced a new piece of software called the ClickShare Management Suite. This new Web-based tool allows administrators to manage the entire fleet of ClickShare units throughout the enterprise from a central position. Features include performing or scheduling updates, consulting a range of information, and making sure all Base Units perform optimally. Barco’s ClickShare […]

SMART Technologies used InfoComm to launch SMART kapp, a new digital capture board that has the easiness of a dry erase board combined with advanced collaboration features. While SMART claims that kapp is just as easy and intuitive to use as a dry-erase board, it allows users to write, draw, diagram and brainstorm using an […]

Circle Technology, a Vancouver, Washington-based company formed by InFocus Systems founder Steve Hix has announced the debut of CircleHub and CircleBox, two new wireless, Internet-free presentation system solutions that stand to revolutionize the way groups present and share information. CircleHub and CircleBox are screen sharing solutions installed with software compatible with Windows 7 and 8 […]

ClearOne is launching a new set of so-called “all-in-one COLLABORATE appliances,” as well as a cloud-based collaborations service at InfoComm here in Vegas. Called Spontania, the cloud-based solutions include virtual video switching (via the network), videoconferencing, a 9-party MCU, streaming, recording and content creation and presentation. All of it will be sold as a cloud-based […]

Clary Icon’s new OneScreen SoftServe is a cloud-based collaboration hub for video, audio and web conferencing, whiteboarding, presenting, innovating, selling and more. Clary says that the OneScreen SoftServe removes the barriers to workflow and bridges the gaps between disparate technologies so that teams don’t have to be concerned with technology, they can simply choose their […]

Microsoft. The AV industry giants. The ever growing market of communications and collaboration. Digital signage and video walls. Interactive displays and whiteboards. Cloud and virtualization — strategic technologies enhancing enterprise collaboration, infrastructure and more. BYOD — the fastest growing trend in the enterprise today. The new market disrupters. And of course, the integrators and end […]

Kramer announced today that it has acquired 50 percent of WOW Vision, a Singapore-based manufacturer of wireless and collaboration products for the corporate, hospitality meeting spaces and education markets. Its products enable wireless connection to, and the sharing of, large screen displays from laptops and mobile devices, offering efficient two-way collaboration. rAVe founder Gary Kayye […]

By Tim Kridel Special to InfoComm International WebRTC is one of the hottest topics in pro AV, with plenty of hand-wringing about whether it will commoditize video conferencing or grow the market by creating more endpoints that SIP and H.323 systems can connect to. Either way, it’s clear that there’s already enough customer interest that […]

First, it billed itself as an eco-friendly room management system and then it was a simplified control system architecture. Now, three years after its USA debut and having never shipped a working system in America, ARRIVE Systems is back calling itself a “collaboration solution” — today’s buzzword for wireless room systems. Am I being too […]

Distributor BTX Technologies announced this week that it has released a Mersive-approved appliance solution for Solstice collaboration software. Solstice enables multiple presenters to connect simultaneously to a shared display using a range of devices over an existing Wi-Fi or Ethernet network. With a Solstice-enabled display in a meeting room, any number of presenters can connect, […]

OK, I’ll admit it, I’m a social media junkie. Without social media, I’m not sure I’d have even been doing such a series in the first place — I’ve gotten a very good idea of what the companies involved in this bring to the table either through certain individuals or collectively. And this company is […]

The newest from wePRESENT is a wireless presentation system that’s capable of sending wireless video and audio from Android or iOS mobile devices, as well as PC or Mac computers in resolutions up to 1920x1080p. Basically, the wePresent technology acts as its own wireless access point, so participants can log in to the system wirelessly, […]

Next up in the series is a company who approaches this new age of video communications from a bit of a different angle, one that may look to be more IT-centric mirroring what is currently occurring in enterprise IT, as organizations move toward replacing hardware in the infrastructure with software and virtualized technologies. Based in […]

SMART Technologies Inc. has announced the SMART Board 6065 interactive flat panel (IFP) for education. The first in a new line of SMART Board interactive flat panels, the 6065 IFP offers improved image quality and new features. Measuring 65 inches (165 centimeters) on the diagonal, the SMART Board 6065 interactive flat panel offers ultra-HD 4K […]

I saw Sara’s story on Epson’s 39% marketshare as well as listened to Gary’s almost daily Rants and Raves episode on the subject and felt uniquely qualified to make a couple comments on the subject given some recent experiences. I have had the opportunity to do a couple events with Epson in both Portland and San […]

Extron’s new TeamWork 601 system that supports up to four digital laptops or tablets, and two legacy analog computer-video and audio sources, is shipping. Analog signals are digitized so that they can be switched to the display, along with native HDMI signals, on a single HDMI cable. TeamWork 601 works with most flat panel displays, […]