The other option is our Power over Ethernet solution, the Airtame PoE Adapter. Wireless screen sharing requires power and a constant, stable network connection. That’s why we’re big fans of Power over Ethernet (PoE). If you’ve got an Airtame in a hard-to-reach place and a lot of traffic on your network, you probably are too.

The Airtame PoE Adapter will soon be available for sale. While you’re waiting for the release, we suggest you sign up to our newsletter to receive the latest news on when the Airtame PoE Adapter is ready, plus receive many other cool product updates and inspiring articles.

How does the PoE Adapter work?

In order for a device like Airtame to work, it needs 1. a network connection in order to be able to communicate with the display and your computer, tablet or smartphone and 2. a power connection that delivers the electrical power your Airtame needs to operate.

But what if your power outlet is far away or if you have heavy traffic on your network? Enter the Airtame PoE to USB Adapter! It’s a product that provides the necessary power as well as an Ethernet connection over USB to the Airtame. When a user’s network is set up accordingly to provide Power over Ethernet, the Airtame only needs a network connection as it will receive power from the same cable.

There is nothing the user has to do to actually ‘enable’ PoE for the Airtame – just make sure that the network is all geared for PoE.

When you combine the Airtame PoE Adapter with the Aircord, it is a three-in-one solution that provides the Airtame with power, an Ethernet connection, and connects it to the HDMI port on your display. This gives you a nice, clean setup.

To use the PoE Adapter with the Aircord, our custom power cable supplied with every Airtame 2, simply plug the Aircord’s power cable into the PoE Adapter. On the other end of the PoE Adapter is where you plug in your Ethernet cable.

Note that you’ll need a PoE-enabled network switch (or an injector, whatever works in the setup) already set up on your network. A PoE-enabled switch is a network switch that has Power over Ethernet injection built-in.

Just connect to the switch like you normally would, and the switch will detect whether there is a PoE device (in this case the Airtame PoE Adapter) on the network and negotiate power with it automatically. Take a look at our Help Center for more information on network requirements for Airtame and the PoE Adapter.

Want to learn more? Check out our nerd-friendly deep dive on all things PoE.

Benefits of using PoE

Power over Ethernet is known for making IT admins’ lives a lot easier. These are the reasons IT admins often prefer this setup:

Higher Airtame 2 performance reliability

A wired Ethernet connection is much more stable than a regular WiFi connection. But it’s not just more reliable, it’s faster too. According to our hardware team, you can actually increase the connection speed up to  5 times.

Cleaner setup with fewer cables

Using the Airtame PoE Adapter allows for a single cable (the Aircord) to provide the Airtame with HDMI, as well as power and ethernet. Because the PoE Adapter pulls power from the switch, it removes the need for an AC power adapter and plug.

Lowers operation costs

PoE allows for power to be delivered to more areas in a building without the need to install additional electrical infrastructure or have power outlets at every endpoint. So there’s no need to get an external contractor to install extra power outlets.

With the Airtame PoE Adapter, you can also utilize pre-existing cabling infrastructure and take away the need for added power receptacles in the hard-to-reach places.

Easy to install

No need for expensive, external contractors to come by and help you set things up. Just plug the USB Type-A from the end of the Aircord into the Airtame PoE Adapter, and the other end into a PoE-enabled network cable.

Are you ready for PoE? Reach out to our sales team today to get a free product demonstration or sign up for our newsletter for the latest product updates and interesting articles.

The post Introducing the Airtame PoE Adapter and Extension Cord appeared first on Airtame.

The work that goes into developing a new product is not always obvious, even when the Product teams who develop the products are sitting a few steps away from Sales and Marketing. It takes the motivation of the teams working with product development to create that awareness within their own company.

To help our company better understand the product development process, our Hardware team initiated the Hardware Community project.

The Hardware Community project aims to reinforce Airtame’s strong culture so that our work processes reflect our solid social ties. The project aims to create more transparency and, more importantly, to help the company as a whole identify with the new hardware products we develop as we continue to grow.

Better together

Like in many tech companies, fostering strong work relationships between product teams and user-facing teams takes constant work.

We don’t mean to brag, but we at Airtame have strong social relationships between our teams. This didn’t happen on its own. It took a conscious effort from our founding team early on to create an open culture that encourages cross-team collaboration.

We believe it is vital for every one of our employees to understand the Airtame product from all aspects. It is not unheard of to have someone from the Product team or Marketing team jump into the customer chat support to experience the challenges our users might face firsthand. In fact, we wrote a piece on our all-hands support program last year.

The value this creates for our customers cannot be underestimated. When everyone in the company has a deep understanding of our products and how they’re created and used, it makes it possible for us to create a truly user-friendly solution.

How does the Hardware Community project achieve this alignment within our team? By holding internal info sessions that dive deeper into existing and upcoming products and their features, they give Sales and Customer Success teams a new perspective of our products, which brings huge value to our users.

For example, the Hardware Community project has held talks on topics such as Airtame’s mechanical construction or the form factor of Airtame 2. It helped clear up any confusion around our new Airtame 2 product.

Talks like these give the Sales and Customer Success teams a chance to share their insights from their daily interactions with users. Our software developers, who are part of the Product team but on the software side, join in to share their ideas on performance testing and ideas for optimization.

By combining our product-facing and user-facing knowledge, we make the best product we possibly can.

This project goes beyond the doors at Airtame. The Hardware Community project also aims to build stronger relationships with the external product development community.

Learning from the best

Our team is no doubt talented and passionate about product development. Part of being at the top of your game, however, is finding industry leaders to consult with. This is vital to our research and development on any project, for instance, when we worked on our RSDB WiFi chip for the Airtame 2 with our supplier, Cypress.

An important reason why we reach out to the experts in the product development community is not just to learn from the best. Knowledge sharing is a two-way street, so of course, as part of the community project, our hardware team plans on sharing their learnings publicly.

 

Giving back to the hardware community

As our team grows and learns, we want to share our learnings with our community.  Writing pieces that showcase product development is a nice start, but we also want to meet our community face to face.

We have already hosted two events since the project was initiated.

Our first event was a talk on sustainability at Herningsholm HTX/HHX upper secondary school in Herning. We had the chance to talk about the ways Airtame develops with sustainability in mind, such as our sustainable packaging, product optimization to minimize waste, and logistics and supply chain improvements to name a few topics.

We most recently hosted a student visit from Aalborg University’s Department of Architecture, Design, and Media Technology at our new Copenhagen HQ in March. Students from the Industrial Design program came to tour our office, hear how we do user research and hardware development, and got hands-on in a workshop on product interaction.

The Hardware Community project has more exciting events planned in the coming year, so keep an ear to the ground for more news!

Would you like to talk about collaborating on an event in the future? Reach out to us and be sure to mention the Hardware Community project!

The post How our Hardware team builds products in a community appeared first on Airtame.

Highlights:

• Single Window Sharing provides added privacy
• Quickly switch between single window and full-screen mode
• Updated layout
• New for Mac and Windows users* – and Chromebook users already have this feature, too!

Keep stuff concealed while presenting

When sharing a presentation during a meeting or class session, you might wish to keep some things concealed on your own screen. So far Airtame has only allowed you to mirror your whole desktop, but now that’s changing.

The new update revolutionizes the way you use Airtame. Select what windows you want to share, and which ones you don’t. It means you can hide things you don’t want your peers or students to see, such as notes, test results or personal information.

Do two things at once

Besides the added privacy, Single Window Sharing gives you the opportunity to continue working on your own device, without disrupting what everyone is looking at on the TV or projector.

You can share a presentation window and still be able to look at your notes or keep track of time on your own machine. As a teacher, this will prove helpful when you want to help one student while the rest of the class is following their group assignments on the big screen.

Single Window Sharing can come in handy in a business environment too. Use it to conceal notes when presenting or hide confidential information that you need to see for reference, but don’t want your guests to see.

Small note: you can separate which screens and apps you want to present to your TVs and projectors, but when audio is enabled from the Airtame app it will be full system and not only from the given window.

New update, smarter layout

After updating you’ll immediately see a visual change to the Airtame application. The Airtame app has grown a bit wider and also more intuitive – plus a brand new logo, colors, and fonts. When hovering over devices, you will now see two options: Share Screen or Share Window.

Share Screen will be Airtame as you know it already – when you need to mirror the whole screen. The Share Window option lets you choose the single window you’d like to share. We’ve made it as easy as regular screen sharing, so you don’t have to use an excessive amount of time clicking on buttons.

When choosing Share Window, the app will let you click on the window you wish to share on the big screen. You can also use the taskbar or keyboard shortcuts to navigate to the window you want to share.

Yes, there’s more!

From now on, you won’t be able to close our streaming notification while streaming. Instead, you can minimize it and easily draw it out via the taskbar or use the keyboard shortcut for switching between windows. That way, your streaming functionalities are always available without you having to search for it.

For those of our Windows users who have also requested presenter mode for PowerPoint, we’ve got you covered. While it does take a few more clicks than the essential Single Window Sharing, it’s possible to do with these extra commands:

Press Alt+F5, then go to Single Window Sharing in the app and choose the full-screen PowerPoint window to be shared. Your presentation is now being shared, and you can open the window with the presentation and notes without anyone seeing it.

The Airtame app 3.3.0 is currently available for Windows and Mac. But don’t worry, Chromebook users, you already have Single Window Sharing capabilities. With that said, we’ll soon be releasing the 3.3.0 app for Chromebook. Stay tuned to hear more about the new functionality in this release.

*Single Window Sharing is available by default on Windows 8 and 10. Windows 7 users can activate it from the app preferences but might experience inconsistent behavior. For video streaming on Mac, we recommend streaming in fullscreen share mode, as window streaming isn’t performing as smoothly.

For more info on Single Window Sharing and setup, please visit the Airtame help site

The post Introducing our new feature: Single Window Sharing appeared first on Airtame.

Already set up and ready to go wireless? Download the Airtame app directly from your computer.

1) Setting up and powering Airtame

Plug Airtame into the HDMI port on your TV or projector. Use an adaptor if there’s no HDMI input. Use the included AC adaptor to ensure Airtame has power or alternatively power Airtame through the TV via the micro-USB to USB cable. You will only be able to set up Airtame through a computer, as you need access to the Device Management Panel.

2) Placement for best stability and performance

If your WiFi signal is blocked, your streaming performance may be inhibited. Make sure that the AIrtame is placed as close to the edge of the TV as possible and preferably pointed towards the nearest access point. The distance from the access point to Airtame should be no more than 10 meters/32 feet, and with no WiFi blockers in between.

3) WiFi or Ethernet connection

Airtame relies on a good connection to stream without interruptions. We recommend using an Ethernet connection between Airtame and the network for optimal performance and minimal delay.

Many of the obstacles found with WiFi are not adherent with Ethernet. If you’re using a WiFi connection, however, make sure to limit the number of obstacles in between Airtame and the network, as described above. Remember that walls, other access points and physical objects will impair the connection.

Before setting up Airtame, we suggest to map out where your access points are and how your Airtame will be set up in relation to them. If you’re unsure whether your WiFi signal is strong enough to carry a good connection with Airtame, use a signal strength app or go to Airtame Cloud to check it.

4) Access and installation

We’ve made installing your Airtame as easy possible. Once you have plugged in the device via the HDMI port, select the correct HDMI input on your TV or projector. You’ll be presented with a welcome screen, and asked to visit airtame.com/setup to download the Airtame app to your laptop or computer.

Once the app is installed and launched, just follow the simple set-up instructions: name your Airtame, and connecting it to your preferred network.

5) Get the most out of Airtame Cloud

Go to https://airtame.cloud/ and set up a fee Airtame Cloud account. Add the Airtames in your organization It’s your cloud management tool where you can manage and monitor all of your devices.

In addition, you’ll be able to select the content shown on screens when no one is streaming to Airtame. Create groups of devices and set permissions in the Cloud, perform reboots or update chosen devices. In the cloud, you’ll see Homescreen. That’s your screens when Airtame is idle.

With the newest firmware update, you’re also able to customize Homescreen to show images, websites, custom backgrounds or app integrations. Currently, we offer these four app integrations for Homescreen: Trello, Unsplash, World Clock and Google Slides. They’re perfect for digital signage purposes, something we believe every business can benefit from exploring and utilizing.

Invite other users by clicking on “Invite user” in the upper right corner of the Cloud and entering their email. In the overview of users, your coworkers will now show up.

You can set-up your colleagues as any of the three user roles: Administrator, Manager and User, each featuring different levels of maturity and access to the Cloud. If you need to remove a user, you can do so by going to the “Team” tab and removing the person.

6) Set up more than one Airtame

Mass deployment to more than one computer is also possible. For Windows users, download a mass deployment installer here to pre-configure and install on many PCs.

For Mac OS, use a third party deployment service along with the existing .dmg file along with Soundflower for audio capturing. The Soundflower driver is included in the .dmg package, but for mass deployment you need to install it separately.

Here’s some more general points about mass Airtame installation and deployment in business environments, and here for schools.

7) Calibrate your display ?

Pre-set image settings on most TVs and projectors work best with watching satellite TV. To improve image quality when streaming, you can calibrate your screen to best fit Airtame. Adjust screen settings by opening a blank spreadsheet document for color reference.

Find standard mode or reset adjustments on your screen and reduce contrast (often around 70-80% of max value) until all lines in the spreadsheet are visible. Reduce sharpen until the text is easy to read (often 0-20% of max value). See more tips on how to adjust display settings here.

8) Troubleshooting

If a problem should occur either with the connection, updates or other, we recommend first checking the source of the problem. If you have no connection, check your WiFi signal. With update issues, you should look at your firewall restrictions.

We also have a help center with many useful articles on troubleshooting and getting the most out of Airtame. If you aren’t able to fix the issue yourself, we’re always ready to assist you. Go to our website and chat directly with one of our competent Customer Success team members by clicking the chat icon in the bottom right corner.

9) Customize your Airtame settings

There are many ways you can personalizing Airtame for your workplace. Beyond the digital signage options outlined above, you can find the many settings for your device(s) in the Airtame app, such as framerate (Frames Per Second) and buffer time. You can even download your log files if you need to troubleshoot, and contact us directly via the chat functionality.

 

10) Audio and video streaming

Click the sound button in the Airtame app to enable audio. Audio is disabled by default to minimize latency, but with a stable connection, you can stream both audio and video with sound.

11) Setting up guest networks

Creating guest networks within your internal networks is not only smart for security purposes, it’s great for organizations with a steady flow of guests too. We also offer a Windows Guest app for one-time users so they don’t have to install the regular app.

We’ve created a list of network configurations and requirements to accommodate internal and guest users. See more recommendations for Airtame and guests here.

Enjoy your wireless working experience! Feel free to reach out to us if you have any questions.

The post 11 important steps to consider for your first Airtame installation appeared first on Airtame.

This 1.8 application update continues to bring improvements to design and user experience. This update includes a new app design that we’re excited to show you!

Highlights

The 1.8 application update includes a new app design, among a few other important bug fixes.

• New app design
• New Electron software framework
• Known bug fixes on Windows

New app design

It’s always been our aim to make the Airtame application simple to use. Our new design is a result of lots of customer feedback and research.

The average Airtame user is using our product during stressful situations: a big sales pitch to a client, a lecture in front of a full classroom, and so on. By removing any unnecessary steps to start a stream, we’re making the Airtame app as dead easy to use as possible.

How to stream with the new Airtame app

Along with removing unnecessary steps, the new design includes handy guides that help the user through the streaming process.

To start a stream, simply click “Start” next to the Airtame device you want to stream to. The stream will start instantly. Once you’re streaming, you’ll be asked if you want to add audio to the stream. Clicking this button lets you play audio and will also optimize the stream to play videos. If you do not need audio, then do not click the button and your stream will continue as usual.

Before we released the update, we showed the new app to testers who are customers like you. The feedback we received was mostly along these lines …

Just updated to the latest 1.8 software. The new interface is much more clean. I like the new button for connecting and think choosing modes is much easier now. 

Jacob Olsen, IT Support, Semler Services

General Fixes

New Electron Framework

Our current Electron framework has been updated to the latest version 1.7, providing better stability, better support, and newer features that we’re excited to tinker with.

Windows bugs fixed

There were some Windows users experiencing an issue with the Airtame application capturing the content of the computer screen, in order to stream to the TV. This problem affected those with a newer Intel Graphics driver and specific screen resolutions.

There were also some who couldn’t see the application on the computer. Both of these bugs are fixed

Go update your app

You’ve heard what’s new, now go update your software! When a software update is available, the Airtame application shows a green alert banner that asks you to restart the app.

Update your Airtame computer software.

IMPORTANT: If you experience any problems related to this update, please go to our website and download the latest version of our software and install it. This will replace your old version and fix any issues caused from the update. If you are still experiencing problems, please let us know.

The post App Update 1.8: New app design appeared first on Airtame.

This 1.7 update continues on that track to keep improving the foundation before we move on to begin adding new features.

Highlights

The 1.7 widget update includes some different bug fixes and improvements that will greatly improve the ease of use. The more noteworthy improvements we’re proud to share are:

• Improved Discovery feature
• Added a “Device Busy” message
• Fixed a “Cannot Connect” bug
• Improved search field
• Fixed Windows bug causing crashing
• Fixed bugs on Linux

The 1.7 release for the desktop application improves our discovery functionality, which has been an ongoing process for a while. We’re excited about this release, because we know it will make a lot of our users happy.

Attila Sukosd, Airtame CTO

Improved Discovery feature

Discovery is when the Airtame software finds (or “discovers”) the available Airtame devices connected to your WiFi network. We made a lot of improvements to this and fixed several bugs related to this process.

Connect to IP to Discovery

If the widget discovers a device after you have connected to it with its IP address, it will automatically merge the new device with the IP. This will make your user experience much more consistent and organized.

Changing a network

Changing a network is now detected by the Airtame software. This is a bug fix that will now allow your list of available devices to refresh.

Windows bug fixed

There was a bigger Windows bug that was not discovering devices. This is now fixed and your Airtame devices should show up nicely in your app.

Note: If you’re interested in reading a bit more about the technology behind Discovery and how to enable/disable it, check out our help page on Discovering Airtame in Your Organization.

General Fixes

Device busy message

If you try to connect to an Airtame device that is already in use, you will now receive a “Device busy” message.

Previously, you would receive no indication if you tried connecting to a device that was being used by another person. This added feature will make Airtame even easier to use in a multiple user workplace.

Fixed a cannot connect bug

There was a bug that was not allowing some people to connect to Airtame devices. There should no longer be any problems connecting to a device that appears on the widget’s list of available devices.

Try again button fixed

When you use the search field in the widget to try and connect with an Airtame’s IP address and it fails to find a device, there is a “Try Again” button that shows to the right side of the search field. In some cases, this button didn’t work, but now there should be no problems.

Fixed Windows bug causing crashing

There was a bug on Windows that was causing the widget to crash at startup. The widget would crash if the app icon was clicked repeatedly 3 or more times. This is now resolved.

Fixed bugs on Linux

Several fixes and changes were made for Linux users. For example, the application was renamed from electron to airtame-application. In addition, a bug that was crashing the widget because of Discovery was fixed.

Go update your app

Now that you’re caught up on the changes included in this new desktop update, go update your software!

When a software update is available, the widget shows a green alert banner that asks you to restart the application.

Update the Airtame computer software.

Not sure what version you’re running? Check here.

IMPORTANT: If you experience any problems related to this update, please go to our website and download the latest version of our software and install it. This will replace your old version and fix any issues caused from the update.

If you are still experiencing problems, please fill out a form on support.

The post Desktop Update 1.7: Improved discovery, notifications, and more appeared first on Airtame.