| KeySpan Presentation Remote |
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| Written by David Herd | ||||||||||||||||||
| Monday, 03 March 2003 | ||||||||||||||||||
Speaking in front of a crowd is intimidating for most people. It has become commonplace when speaking to project a presentation on a large screen. This gives the speaker another reason to stay at the podium - to control the presentation software. Occasionally the speaker may wander toward the audience only to jump back to the podium for the next slide. Some speakers can get as far as a mouse cord will allow, but most speakers prefer to stay behind the relative safety of the podium.
At the top of the remote is a small button for the laser pointer. The laser is bright and easily seen. Below this a four-way "rocker" control moves the pointer (it functions like the 'pointing stick' within the keyboard of some laptops). I found the pointer control a little 'jerky'. There is a left and right mouse button. The right mouse button accesses contextual menus in Mac OS X. On the right side at the top of the remote is a Composite switch, which provides an 'up-down' control as well as a push button for click-and-drag. Finally there is a translucent white multimedia 'mode' button which glows green when activated. This 'mode' button changes the functions of the other buttons to control Windows Media Player and originally did nothing in Mac OS. Recently KeySpan have released a Mac OSX and Windows 2000/NT/XP 'Map Editor' to allow customisation of all the button functions (www.keyspan.com).
Installation is a breeze on Mac OS. X or 9.1 with no drivers required. Installation of the 'Map Editor' software was easy also. For each button you can launch a program, perform a text action, a mouse action or change the system volume. These can even be application specific (Keynote, QuickTime etc). Unfortunately the construction of the remote is not as excellent as its function. The remote is silvered plastic, which photographs well but is easy to scratch. It is however small and fits into your hand and is not distracting to the audience. You can even use it from a trouser pocket, but that would definitely distract the audience. The remote comes with a leather-like case that holds the remote and receiver unit. Included were one CR2450 3V battery and an A5 double-sided instruction "manual". Over several months I have yet to drain the battery. I recommend purchasing a spare battery prior to any important presentation. Being a long-time Mac user I initially ignored the manual and when I couldn't get the laser pointer to work a quick call to my local distributor revealed that pressing the 'mode' and laser button simultaneously for a few seconds activates the laser. The laser is deactivated this way as well or switches off automatically after 30 minutes. This was of course in the manual had I decided to read it. Also within the manual are instructions of how to have several remotes working within range of each other.
One potential problem is that the receiver may obstruct access to a second USB port, particularly when the USB ports are stacked on top of each other. In one Windows laptop I could not fit the receiver device at all as the USB ports were recessed. Current Macintosh USB ports are easily accessed and the device worked well when plugged into a standard keyboard. On the KeySpan website there is a conflict documented with the Microsoft Intellimouse software causing some mice and keyboards to be disabled while the remote is plugged in. In the market there are many devices that do similar tasks to the KeySpan presentation remote and some that do more. I have looked at the competition and give three pieces of advice. Firstly, although cheaper, I would not choose infrared devices that require 'line-of-site' as the act of pointing your device at the computer would be distracting to an audience. Secondly, if accurate mouse control were important for you then I would recommend a track-ball-based system. Finally if you can afford it, look for upcoming Bluetooth enabled remotes. The only improvement I can think of for the KeySpan presentation remote (apart from construction) would be to have some flash memory in the receiver to act as a USB Flash drive to store my presentations. Overall the KeySpan Presentation Remote works well, is smaller than most, includes a laser pointer, does not require line-of-sight, and is competitively priced. Related Articles
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The
KeySpan Presentation Remote is a product designed to free the speaker from
the podium - if they so wish. A job it performs exceptionally well;
so well that it improves the ability of the speaker to communicate with the
audience. The small battery-powered remote combines a laser pointer with
the functions of a wireless multi-button mouse. It works from up to 10 metres
and does not require line-of-sight as it communicates using a radio frequency
with a small receiver plugged into a USB port. The receiver draws its power
from the USB port.
The
Bluetooth Future
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