AccessoriesApple

Satechi’s Smart Pointer works with remote computer apps

rdp satechi - for some reason we don't have an alt tag here

It’s been a few months since I reviewed the Satechi Smart Pointer, an awesome little remote for presentations on the iPad. I’ve been using it quite a lot since then, and it’s a very neat accessory to have around.

The other day however, something occurred to me that should have occurred to me earlier. The Smart Pointer connects as a keyboard, and has several modes that allow you to switch between it being a media remote, an iOS presentation remote, and a computer presentation remote. Because it does all of this via simple keyboard emulation, however, the effect actually transfers over perfectly when using remote computer software that handles Bluetooth keyboards correctly! The only thing you need to do is make sure to set it in presentation mode for a PC, not for the iPad.

Wheat this means in practice is that you can use apps like the RDP/VNC client Jump Desktop to hold presentations, and still use the Smart Pointer. While Keynote on the iPad is fairly good, I’ve found that it’s not as good as Microsoft’s proper PowerPoint software, and I’ve especially had issues with animations not working correctly; In PowerPoint it does bullet by bullet no matter how many levels of bullets you have, while Keynote will only do bullet by bullet for the main level, not any nested ones.

I think it’s quite interesting to be able to use proper PowerPoint remotely, and still be able to use an accessory like this. It turns the iPad into a no compromise presentation tool, even for presentations that really need proper PowerPoint to work.

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Andreas Ødegård

Andreas Ødegård is more interested in aftermarket (and user created) software and hardware than chasing the latest gadgets. His day job as a teacher keeps him interested in education tech and takes up most of his time.

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