BlackBerry Presenter moves PowerPoint decks from hand to big screen

Stephen Withers
Thursday, 07 January 2010 04:42

Your IT - Mobility

Tired of lugging a notebook around just to deliver a PowerPoint presentation? Don't want to risk using an unfamiliar computer? RIM reckons its new BlackBerry Presenter is the answer.

The BlackBerry Presenter is a small (8.6 x 6.0 x 2.3cm / 3.4 x. 2.4 x 0.9in) and light (140g / 5oz) PowerPoint playback device controlled by a BlackBerry smartphone (you're out of luck if you have a BlackBerry from either the Curve 8300 or Pearl Flip series).

It plugs into the VGA or S-Video ports of a PAL or NTSC video projector, provides the choice of 640 x 480, 800 x 600 or 1024 x 768 resolutions, and uses a Micro USB socket as the power connector.

The Presenter can show "most" animations and transitions from PowerPoint 2003 and 2007, according to BlackBerry officials.

Controlling software running on the BlackBerry itself provides navigation, display of speaker notes, and access to slides other than the one currently shown by the Presenter.

The phone communicates with the Presenter via Bluetooth.

"Mobile professionals are always looking to carry less when travelling," said Glenn Laxdal, vice president, product management, Research In Motion.

"BlackBerry Presenter equips mobile professionals with a simple, secure and convenient way to deliver presentations directly from their BlackBerry smartphone, giving them the freedom to leave their laptops behind."

BlackBerry Presenter will go on sale at an unspecified date for $US199. Australian pricing has yet to be announced.