Wednesday, January 9,2008 @ 5:00am
Smart Board 685 unveiled, 600i upgraded
Smart Technologies today unveiled the Smart Board 685 interactive whiteboard, and also re-issued its Smart Board 600i, featuring improved performance over its earlier incarnation. The 685 provides a large 87-inch surface area when measured diagonally, and uses a 16:10 aspect ratio. Smart says this offers 20-percent more working space than its 680 model, catering to a growing number of 16:10 laptops and projectors in schools. The pen try has an expansion slot that allows teachers to upgrade their hardware with other Smart products. Although pricing has not been announced, Smart said the Smart Board 685 will see distribution in April, with costs available at that time.
The updated Smart Board 600i system combines the company’s 680 model whiteboard with the Unifi 45 projector. The DLP projector is capable of producing a 1024 by 768 image at 2000 lumens, while the board offers a 77-inch active screen area. Users can control any computer application from the display, and can write notes in digital ink. The Smart Pen Tray detects when a user has picked up a pen or eraser, and adjusts software controls accordingly. Smart includes its Notebook collaborative software with the both systems; the Smart Board 600i whiteboard system sells for $3300, and will to ship in February.
