SMART Launches New Wide-Screen Interactive Whiteboard in Middle East


SMART Board 685 provides teachers with more work space as it supports wide-screen computers and projectors

February 6, 2008

SMART Technologies has announced the launch of its new SMART Board(TM) 685, a wide-format interactive whiteboard with a 16:10 aspect ratio that measures 87 inches, or 221 cm, on the diagonal. The extra wide format offers 20 per cent more working space than a SMART Board 680 interactive whiteboard and provides a solution for teachers who choose to adopt 16:10 wide-screen projectors.

The SMART Board 685 interactive whiteboard adds to SMART's existing wide-format interactive whiteboard offering, the SMART Board 690 interactive whiteboard with a 16:9 aspect ratio, making SMART the only company to offer two wide-format interactive whiteboards. The new product caters to the growing number of teachers using native 16:10 laptops and projectors. The 685 also offers an expansion slot on the pen tray, enabling teachers to easily upgrade their hardware by adding other SMART products. Like all SMART Board interactive whiteboards, the 685 comes with feature-rich Notebook(TM) collaborative learning software, the core application for the creation and delivery of lesson activities.

"The Middle East, cognizant of the importance of education to the region's sustained economic growth, has embarked on various initiatives to enhance learning, from policy reforms to technological investments. This has motivated teachers to explore strategies to improve the quality of education in the region, particularly through innovative methods and technologies such as the use of computers and projectors. The SMART Board 685 is perfectly positioned to help technology-enabled educators in the region to further enrich the educational experience, providing an interactive tool that blends the best of technology with stimulating student interaction," said Maher Husseini, Director, Intmark Distribution, SMART's authorised Middle East distributor.

"SMART places tremendous value on input from our customers, and then we work hard to incorporate their input into our products. The SMART Board 685 interactive whiteboard succeeds in meeting teachers' needs for a 16:10 aspect ratio that gives them more work space," concluded Nancy Knowlton, SMART Technologies CEO.

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