SlideShark on Tuesday updated its popular productivity app for iPhone and iPad to version 3.0, introducing a feature that lets users broadcast live PowerPoint presentations to clients, colleagues, and other viewers at remote locations.
With the new feature, users can broadcast a live presentation at a tap, even inviting remote attendees via an email generated from within the app. Viewers can log in on any Web-enabled device—including a desktop computer—using the URL and password assigned in that email; the presenter can also send along a conference call number so the invitee can follow the conversation in real-time. (A video below shows how the feature works.)
The broadcasting feature also lets presenters get a sense of how effective their presentation has been—they can receive alerts when a remote viewer enters or exits the broadcast, and they can generate in-depth reports on who attended and which slides generated the most discussion.
SlideShark also now includes the ability to annotate slides, letting the presenter draw and take notes on top of slides, live during a presentation. A new “ laser pointer” allows the presenter to point out highlights within a slide as well.
The SlideShark app for iPhone and iPad is free, as is the basic SlideShark Web service. Individual users can pay $50 or $95 a year to store up to 500MB or 1GB of PowerPoint slides, respectively; they can also invite up to ten remote attendees per broadcast. Team accounts run $149 a year, and include the ability to invite up to 25 remote attendees per broadcast. Users of the free service can test the broadcast function through May 31; after that it will be available only for pro accounts.
Author: Joel Mathis
Joel Mathis is a regular contributor to Macworld and TechHive. He lives in Philadelphia with his wife and young son.