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The Electronic Whiteboard Goes Mobile: No More Furiously Scribbling Meeting Notes! We’ve all sat in meeting after meeting, finding it hard to pay attention because we were furiously scribbling notes. It always seemed like there had to be a better way, didn’t there? For some time, there has been an answer, but one that has been neither portable nor particularly cost-effective. Electronic whiteboards are not a new concept. For the last several years several companies have had such products. For example, Microtouch has their Ibid series (www.microtouch.com). Panasonic has also had a series of electronic whiteboards as well. What exactly IS an electronic whiteboard--that’s the first question. Electronic whiteboards look like traditional wall-mounted whiteboards. They use colored standard dry-erase markers--in other words, "wipe on, wipe off." What electronic whiteboards accomplish that a legal pad and pens doesn’t is the answer to a lawyer’s dream. Electronic whiteboards let you write or draw whatever you want in front of your attendees. What happens next is the "magic" part - you can then print out whatever appears on the whiteboard. This has traditionally been accomplished either with a built-in printer with some of the the large Panasonic units or alternatively, the image from the board is downloaded to a PC (as is the case with the more compact and less costly Ibid product line of electronic whiteboards). All of this sounds appealing, no doubt. However, there’s one little problem--these can range from big to enormous--not exactly "road warriorable." That’s where a product called mimio from a company called Virtual Ink comes in. (I ‘spose the name is expected to conjure nostalgic memories of mimeograph systems . . . ah . . . there’s nothing like the smell of fresh mimeograph pages in the morning!) (Info is at www.virtual-ink.com). The mimio somehow manages to cram an entire electronic whiteboard into a plastic tube with suction cups that weighs under 3 lbs. What the mimio does, in a nutshell, is that it turns an ordinary whiteboard up to as large as 4 x 8 feet into an electronic version that can transmit to a nearby via infrared technology or by serial cable (standard) or soon-to-be-released (at the time of this writing) optional USB adapter ($49 - info at www.virtual_ink.com/newfeatures/newfeatures_03.html). The mimio consists of a foldable (in half) 28" bar that weighs under 2 pounds, four color-coded dry-erase marker "sheaths" and a pressure-sensitive eraser. The mimio bar which attaches to a standard whiteboard via suction cups, has position-sensing infrared and ultrasound optics that detect and record your strokes as you write or scribble with the marker "sheaths" containing ordinary dry-erase markers. The eraser’s actions in removing writing are also recorded--all in real-time, instantly to the connected PC, whether desktop or laptop. You can see the components pictured at www.virtual_ink.com/meet/hardware.html. Note that if you lose one of the marker sheaths, they are color-sensitive and can be replaced for $39.95 for each of the four colors: red, blue, green and black. The transmitting eraser may be replaced for $49.95 and its felt pad separately replaced for $9.99. The company offers a web store for these supplies. We have been using this product in our office to document meeting notes and find that it works precisely as indicated. The first version of the mimio software didn’t recognize handwriting and convert it to text (but neither does my Crosspad XP which was specifically intend to do that (). According to Virtual Ink, handwriting recognition will be available "soon" as a $99.95 option. The mimio site says that features will include "Batch Recognition" which will allow you to convert multiple whiteboards from handwriting to text rendering an entire whiteboard session, however long, converted to text. It will reportedly include a spell checker as well. Further a "Text to Ink Correlation tool" will let you read your handwriting after converting it to text. In other words, if the text is not recognized accurately, this tool will let you see the written original handwriting and edit the recognized text to confirm them. Regardless, even without handwriting ability available, the ability to print out pages and pages of live meeting notes and distribute them to participants–where there isn’t a "traditional" electronic whiteboard available, is simply incredible. Virtual Ink recently released version 1.1 of the mimio software. It adds a number of fascinating functions. These include integration with Microsoft’s free NetMeeting electronic collaboration utility. What this allows, although we have not tested it yet, is the ability of remote users to share a mimio whiteboard session without having the mimio software on the remote end. According to Virtual Ink, it’s supposed to be a simple three step process:
Another new feature is the ability to mount the mimio horizontally across the top of a tall, narrowly oriented whiteboard. This allows a writing/drawing capture area that extends from the top left corner of the whiteboard down eight feet. Yet another addition is the release of something we viewed at the Virtual Ink booth at COMDEX last November. The Control Panel API (Advanced Programming Interface) is a free feature available by request for programmers. This lets programmers create "control panels" that control software applications from electro-static decals mounted on a whiteboard. An example of this is the way cool calculator function currently available with mimio 1.0. This literally lets you stick a clear plastic calculator on your whiteboard and using the mimio sheathed dry-erase markers, operate the calculator and have the results appear on the captured display. Very interesting. Overall, Virtual Ink’s mimio seems like a "must have" gadget for any law firm, especially as part of a Mobile Road Warrior’s kit for on-the-road meetings. Pros: It works as indicated, meeting notes via PC capture or remotely via Netmeeting Cons: None significant, losing transmitter sheaths is possible, USB not included standard Verdict: If you have people scribbling notes in your meetings, you need this! Mimio 1.1 The Keyboard Battlecry: "Remember Omnikey!" - CVT Answers with the Harley of Keyboards! I’ll bet you can identify with this picture: you just got home after spending the entire day shopping for your lastest home multimedia mega-system at the local computer superstore. After hours excitedly filling your shopping cart with the latest state of the art system and peripherals, you can barely contain yourself. You tear into the PC box and are practically trembling as you pull out the computer. The sunlight practically glinted off the shiny plastic panel covering the DVD drive. And then you pulled out the last box--the one that contained the keyboard. Just one more thing to plug in before multimedia nirvana . . . and what do you find? Your $2900 mega-PC case with a chintzy plastic $10 keyboard; virtually the Bic pen of the keyboard world. It looks like it might work fine for a few months and then die . . . a throwaway. There is an audible "hiss" as your excitement deflates. Ah . . . but there may still be hope for you, and it’s less than $200 away . . . Some of you may not remember the "good old days" when keyboards were as solid as a Toyota Camry -- 5+ pound monster keyboards seemingly forged from blocks of steel. These were keyboards that made their presence known. How could they not? Every keystroke clicked and clacked, loud enough to practically require earplugs (of course to many of us from the early days, this was a digital symphony, to be reveled in). These keyboards were made from honest-to-goodness metal–remember what that is? Many have fond recollections of their original IBM 83-key 5150 keyboards--the prototype for the genre. I actually kept mine through 6 or 7 different desktop PCs, eventually having to migrate to a PS/2 adapter to accept the "old" DIN-connector. When my 5150 died I replaced it with IBM Trackpoint II keyboard. This unit was equipped with that nifty little eraser head pointing stick smack dab in the middle of the character keys. It also had that same familiar tactile click that was so satisfying, as well as great "presence" - solid metal construction that kept it firmly planted in one place on the desk. When my first IBM Trackpoint keyboard gave up the ghost, it was replaced with IBM’s latest Trackpoint IV keyboard . . . and it pales by comparison. IBM took once of those neo-plastic 1 lb. junkers and stuck a pointing stick in it. And I can’t feel any metal anywhere. I hate it and I thought the situation was hopeless. Yeah, now it’s time for the rest of the story . . . I found the Avant Stellar keyboard. The best way to describe this is to say this is actually the old Northgate Omnikey Ultra keyboard resurrected once again. Remember it? Much like its IBM contemporaries, it weighed a ton–over 5 lbs. Why? METAL everywhere–a solid steel base. We’re talkin’ "big iron" here–the Harley-Davidson of keyboards! Typing salvation has returned! And remember that cool pro-WordPerfect feature of the Northgate keyboards? Not only function keys along the top row but also, hearkening back to simpler times, with 10 functions keys along the left side of the keyboard! And you want tactile feedback? A good solid click so you know when you’ve pressed a key? Well the Avant Stellar’s got it–noisy, mechanical clicking to spare. Much like the legendary Omnikey keyboard, the Stellar model comes with utility software to allow you to re-program the 12 top-row function keys. Using this facility, you could assign a macro to one of the keys that might retrieve a certain document or insert a commonly used address block into a document. Note that this software primarily supports Windows 95 and 98. The website lists a semi-tortured process to go through to work with Windows NT--the best advice would seem to be for Windows NT users to skip it for now--the keyboard will work under NT without the utility however. There is not yet any mention of Windows 2000 compatibility. The Avant Stellar is available from Creative Vision Technologies at 888-770-0500 (www.cvtinc.com/kybdfeatures.htm) and runs $189 (there is a version called the Avant Prime as well for $149--the difference is that it doesn’t have duplicate function keys on the left side of the keyboard). Expensive? Maybe? But so are Rolex watches and Rolls-Royces . . . but if you want the best . . . Pros: Sturdy construction, excellent tactile feel, dual function key sets Cons: Consumes lots of desktop real estate Verdict: For power typists who miss the days of heavy-duty keyboards Avant Stellar Keyboard Going Cordless - Webboard Wireless Keyboard Lawyers everywhere are cutting the cord and going wireless with all sorts of technology. We have wireless mice (or is that "mouses"?), wireless modems, wireless network connections. And we’ve had full-size wireless keyboards such as Logitech’s unit. But sometimes you may not want a full-size keyboard in your lap or may want to carry a lighter wireless keyboard when on the road. Or maybe you want a wireless keyboard just because you can . . When looking at traditional wireless keyboards (admittedly, it feels odd to use the words "traditional" and "wireless" and in the same sentence") the problem normally is that you still have a separate mouse. I’ve never quite figured out how one is supposed to hold both a wireless keyboard in one’s lap and operate a wireless mouse--something just isn’t quite right with that picture. This is where Unicomp’s Webboard comes in. This is a compact 88-key wireless keyboard. It connects to a desktop or laptop system with with a PS/2 keyboard and PS/2 mouse connector on an infrared receiver which in turn, communicates with the keyboard. I tested the unit from as far away as 15 feet (although the manufacturer claims performance up to 42 feet)--a direct line of sight seemed to be required between the keyboard and the receiver unit--typical of infrared technology. Note that the dual connectors--both keyboard and mouse--can pose problems for laptops that only have a single combined mouse/keyboard port. The sleek black keyboard is light in feel at just about 2 lbs. It is shaped similarly to laptop keyboards with no separate numeric keypad--the numeric keypad is embedded as selectable keys in the midst of the alpha character set. Thus, anyone entering lots of numbers may find this less than suitable. In terms of typing feel, I would classify it as a medium-weight keyboard. There is noticeable but pleasant resistance with each quiet key depression, courtesy of the rubber dome mechanism used. Typing on the keyboard felt immediately natural and comfortable. What is especially interesting about the Webboard though is something certain laptop users will find very familiar. Much in the fashion of IBM Thinkpads, Toshiba laptops and the new Dell Inspiron 3700 series laptops, the Webboard has a built-in pointing device in the form of a pointing stick. That’s a little eraserhead embedded between the "G", "H" and "B" keys. It’s moved with one’s fingertip. Personally as a Toshiba laptop user, I prefer this pointing method. It keeps my fingers in the character key area where I think they belong. Interestingly, there is a second, duplicate pointing stick in the upper right corner of the keyboard along with two mouse buttons vertically below it. To accomodate lefties, at least to some extent, the mouse buttons are also duplicated on the far left side of the keyboard. There are also mouse buttons where one would see them on a laptop, just below the space bar. Overall, this offers significant flexibility in pointing--and without a wayward cordless table rodent looking for some surface on which to scurry around. The keyboard runs on four AA batteries, rated by the manufacturer at up to 330 hours of operation--we’d recommend alkalines or rechargeables if you hope to see that kind of battery life. The keyboard also includes a software utility package that allows you to control your PC’s CD-player with standard music controls (forward, reverse tracks, play, pause, stop, etc.). Further, it includes a number of keys that can be programmed to allow direct launching of your web browser, your e-mailer, etc. The software and the keyboard will work on Windows 3.x, 95, 98 and NT systems--the test PC ran Windows 98. Pros: Light and compact, key feel, dual pointing sticks Con: Dual connectors not practical with many laptops Verdict: If you need to cut your input cords, this makes a lot of sense Webboard Wireless Keyboard Unicomp, Inc.
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