We’re hopefully going to see an end to the COVID-19 pandemic soon, but there will be some lasting changes to how we work. Even when people go back to work, it’s unlikely we’re all going to be mingling like the before days. Lenovo is all set to make this transition easier, whether it’s working from home or holding virtual meetings across the world, with a line of adorably tiny computers, webcams, a soundbar for better audio (no more “I hear feedback, is it you or me? Hello?”), and ThinkSmart Manager to make the whole thing run smoothly.
Let’s start with the tiny yet adorable ThinkSmart Edition Tiny for Intel Unite. This a wee little desktop that runs Windows 10 with a 256GB SSD and 8GB RAM, but it’s so small it can be mounted next to or behind a monitor. It’s also capable of being managed remotely, which means it can be installed in a conference room or deployed in your home office, but your IT department can still poke around to update and fix anything as needed. Besides being cute and small, it also features several USB ports, including a USB-C, ethernet, and it can support up to four monitors. Basically, this is the ideal mini-desktop for a tight space or even a conference room where the main goal is to get everyone up and running quickly.
To go along with the wee little PC, there’s the ThinkSmart Bar. It features 4 main microphones plus two satellite ones, giving it 180-degree coverage and a 10-meter range, so you’ll have the whole room covered with one bar placement. It’s also wall-mountable, weighs in at a svelte 8 pounds, and is certified for Microsoft Team Rooms and Zoom Rooms. This won’t help with everyone talking at once or when someone busts out the 100-page PowerPoint, but at least the sound quality will be excellent!
And if there’s one thing we all learned this year, it’s the importance of looking nice, at least from the waist up, and Lenovo will make sure you look your HD best with the ThinkSmart Cam. It’s a plug-and-play webcam, compatible with the ThinkSmart Bar and the wee PC, as well as a regular PC setup. You get a wide field of view, AI support for things like autofocus and auto-zoom, and can provide up to 4K video quality. With a camera that clear, the only downside is that you’re definitely going to want to make sure you wear your clean shirt to any video meetings!
Lenovo also knows it’s hard sometimes to manage software and hardware, especially when the setup is in one place, and IT is in another. ThinkSmart Manager 2.0 makes it easier to remotely manage hardware, which is excellent in a pandemic when you don’t want to send people out for unnecessary hands-on work, as well as if you’re working from home and simply don’t have an IT person around the corner (and no, your teenager doesn’t count).
Whether we’re back to the office in 6 months or still working remotely for quite a while, we’re going to need more and more ways to make video conferencing, and remote work run smoother and more efficiently, so be sure to check out all of Lenovo’s new offerings!
via Lenovo