Lenovo ThinkSmart, a range of devices to enhance remote collaboration

Source: HW Upgrade added 14th Dec 2020

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ThinkSmart Cam, ThinkSmart Bar and ThinkSmart Edition Tiny for Intel Unite are video conferencing solutions designed for small and medium-sized meeting rooms. They will be available in 2021 along with version 2.0 of ThinkSmart Manager

by Alberto Falchi published , at 16: 31 in the Device channel

Lenovo

The remote work , in its many facets, it was the great protagonist of the 2020: the pandemic forced most part of the companies to review the way of living the office and managing work, also by adopting new tools capable of facilitating remote collaboration. A trend that will also accompany us for the 2021 and, according to analysts, also at the end of the sanitary emergency. Manufacturers have quickly adapted to the new needs, developing solutions designed to simplify and make more efficient the smart working , such as Lenovo’s ThinkSmart series devices .

ThinkSmart Cam, ThinkSmart bar and ThinkSmart Edition Tiny for Intel Unite, Lenovo’s proposals for remote work

One of the watchwords of the pandemic was videoconferencing: travel limits have not stopped business, which has sought new technological ways to continue. The ever increasing number of videoconferencing meetings has pushed companies to find more effective solutions to communicate remotely. In particular, there was a need for high quality video cameras and microphones, easy to use and compatible with the most used communication platforms, such as Zoom and Teams. For the 2021, Lenovo announced a series of new products designed for small and small meeting rooms medium size.

ThinkSmart Cam is a compact 4K HDR USB camera with a field of view of 100 ° and equipped with functions of artificial intelligence : the integrated VPU (Visual Processing Unit) manages functions such as automatic framing and zooming, counting of people present in the room and detection of speakers and the blackboard.

ThinkSmart Bar , on the other hand, is a soundbar equipped with an array consisting of four microphones beamforming (two of which can be positioned as desired in the room) capable of capturing sounds up to a distance of 10 meters. It connects via Bluetooth or USB and includes four speakers from 14 W + 20 W.

Both products support Microsoft Teams Rooms and Zoom Rooms. They can be connected directly to any computer, but Lenovo has also listed a dedicated device: ThinkSmart Edition Tiny for Intel Unite , a 10th Gen Intel Core processor equipped mini-computer with vPro designed to work with Windows 10 IoT . ThinkSmart Edition will ship with Intel Unite, Intel’s remote content sharing and collaboration solution.

ThinkSmart Manager 2.0: remote IT management according to Lenovo

ThinkSmart Manager is the solution as- a-Service from Lenovo which aims to simplify the work of IT teams, which today find themselves having to provide assistance remotely. Supports the implementation and analysis of ThinkSmart assets including ThinkSmart Hub 500, Hub , Cam, Bar, ThinkSmart Edition Tiny, and supported Logitech peripherals. The solution will be updated to version 2.0 (it will be available from March ), which includes dashboard analysis functions during meetings on the Microsoft Teams Rooms platform and user-configurable e-mail notifications. The new version will also include an app for iOS and Android that will offer status and notifications claim is push on the dashboard of the connected devices.

” The 2020 demonstrated that technology can foster effective collaboration in distributed work environments. By evaluating new configurations of workspaces, the ability to meet and be creative with colleagues and clients wherever they are highlights the need of collaboration solutions that are easy to use, deploy and manage “- commented Joseph Mingori, WW General Manager, Lenovo Smart Collaboration Business Group – “ Continue to expand our solutions Intelligent Collaboration is central to our ambition to offer customers the best experiences to hold productive meetings. Whether it’s a flexible computing device, meeting room accessories or end-to-end managed services, Lenovo can help customers accelerate digital transformation “.