Intel Unite vs Airtame

Are you interested in learning about the differences between Intel Unite and Airtame? To help you make the right decision about a solution that best fits your needs, we’d put together a guide that compares the two.

The main difference: Intel Unite is software for meetings that requires a screen connected to a mini-factor PC running Windows while Airtame is a combination of hardware and software that works with all kinds of screens and devices, including TVs not connected to a computer, right out of the box.

Highlights

To use Intel Unite with a display, you need to connect the display to a PC computer running Windows OS. Airtame can work with standalone TVs.
A hub for Intel Unite will cost $200+ plus additional costs for a Vpro enabled computer. Unless you are using Intel Unite Enterprise (for which you will also need a server), you will not be able to connect mobile Apple and Android devices to a collaboration session.
Airtame costs $299 or less if purchasing multiple devices and is compatible with various types of devices, including iOS and Androids. Airtame setup is 2 to 4 steps.
If you are looking for a user-friendly device-agnostic wireless streaming option for your school or business, Airtame is the product for you.

Oh, by the way, we’re always happy to tell you more about Airtame.

Let’s find a time to talk ☎️.

Windows-based vs device agnostic

Intel Unite solution has two versions: enterprise and standalone.

Enterprise version of the software has three parts: an enterprise server, a hub and a client. The hub needs to be a mini-form factor PC with Intel vPro processor plugged to a display that will serve as a presenter screen and connect to other devices. The hub needs to run Microsoft Windows 7 SP1, 8.1 or 10.

The enterprise server needs to be either a virtual machine or a physical server. It needs to run Microsoft Windows Server 2008 or greater, Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 or greater, and Internet Information Services (ISS). The server software has an admin web portal that allows remote creation and management of hub profiles.

Intel Unite standalone edition only needs the hub. Client software for both the enterprise and the standalone editions of Intel Unite can run on Windows or Mac OS.

Enterprise edition has iOS and Android client apps. The apps are not available for the standalone edition of the software. Chromebook support on the Intel Unite also requires the Enterprise server to work.

With Airtame, you can plug Airtame into any screen and manage the screen from the Airtame app. The app is available for Windows, Mac OS, Linux, Android and iOS.

Connectivity

Intel recommends using a wired network connection for hubs in both editions of Intel Unite software to improve display quality and optimize wireless bandwidth.

To connect to the enterprise edition of Intel Unite, all mobile client devices need to be a part of the corporate network. Personal devices that connect to the Internet not via the corporate network but via their own carrier provider will not be able to connect to Intel Unite sessions.

Intel Unite standalone version only works on networks where devices can reach each other without using any intermediary devices such as bridges or routers.The Intel Unite hub creates its own WiFi hotspot that clients can access after they download Intel Unite client software to their devices. All client devices need to have exceptions in their firewalls for Intel Unite software.

Intel Unite also works with third-party hardware, such as Logitech and Sennheiser, and software such as Skype or Zoom. To enable third-party hardware or software, a network administrator will need to download and install additional software plugins for the Intel hosting hub.

Airtame enables users to share screens in seconds. It has its own built-in WiFi and it can work with an existing cabled or WiFi network.

Features

Intel Unite allows users to connect to a session and view a display on their screen or their own screen on a display. Up to 4 users can connect to the same hub display and share the space on the display at the same time. Users can also make annotations on the display of the presenter.

Intel Unite iOS app (available only with the enterprise edition of the software) allows presenting and sharing files in the following formats: Adobe Acrobat, Keynote, Numbers, Pages, text, rich text, Microsoft Word, Powerpoint, and Excel.HD video and audio sharing is only available on Windows-based devices.

Intel Unite hub display can have an image or a URL as a background. The display can also show instructions about connecting to the hub.

With Airtame, a user can mirror a screen of a device to multiple Airtame-enabled devices on the same WiFi network. AirPlay iOS mirroring is now available in public beta. With AirPlay iOS mirroring, you are able to mirror your iPhone or iPad screen to the Airtame device. When using AirPlay iOS mirroring with Airtame, the user will not use any Airtame software. iOS users can mirror directly from most of their favorite apps, such as Keynote, PowerPoint and more.

The background of a TV connected to Airtame is a web browser. For this reason, you can customize what is happening with the background of a screen that you share with Airtame in a similar way you would customize a screen with Intel Unite, featuring images, dashboards, public websites or a Google Slide presentation.

With Airtame’s 3.2 product update, Homescreen offers 4 new overlays to choose from, two of which offer custom text formatting and color customization. You can change the overlay on the home screen and the text displayed when the device is not being streamed to. You can even change the transparency of the overlay, which is useful when you want to show instructions on screen, but don’t want to cover up your nice background image. You can also display images and public websites.

Administration and Maintenance

You can manage all of your Airtame devices from one central place. Airtame Cloud is a free device management platform that allows you to manage and monitor all Airtame devices.

From here, you can check network connection settings, WiFi signal strength (RSSI), as well as update, reboot, and edit device settings either for individual devices or multiple devices at once. For example, if you want to change the Homescreen image on multiple Airtames, you can do this easily from Airtame Cloud.

With Intel Unite standalone edition, you will need to install and configure hub and client software.

Installation of the enterprise edition requires pre-installation, installation, plugin configuration and updates of the server and the hub. Intel also recommends rebooting the hubs, wiping temporary files and patching the software on a daily basis.

Bottom Line

Intel Unite is a complex system to set up and maintain. To work best, it requires managed Windows PCs for each screen plus an enterprise server linked to the same network as the computer. Meanwhile, Intel Unite also doesn’t have the strongest mobile device support and lacks mirroring on both iOS & Android. In addition to this, configuring an Intel Unite device is a bulky process that will require both cabling and mounting.

In comparison, Airtame is an easy to setup turnkey solution that plugs straight into a display and allows for both streaming from all devices and having light signage on all of your organization’s displays.

Finally, there is an approximate factor 2-to-1 in terms of cost of Intel Unite vs. Airtame depending on your chosen setup and a significant difference in labor costs over time between running Airtame and following Intel’s maintenance recommendations for Intel Unite.

As with Intel Unite, we recommend you take a closer look at the features Airtame currently has to offer and what’s to come. Here is a good place to start:

We aim to be as objective as we can in this article to give a fair comparison between Intel Unite and Airtame.