Digital whiteboards are a curiously popular project for big companies to dabble with lately. It’s one of those things companies build because they can – because they’ve already figured out all the tech involved with their other projects. Google has the Jamboard. Microsoft has the Surface Hub. And now, Samsung has the Flip.
Details are still light, but the company dropped word of the Flip into its press conference here at CES.
If you’re unfamiliar with the concept of a digital whiteboard, think “TV you can use a stylus to draw on”. They’re meant more for the office meeting room, and less for your living room.
Samsung’s entry packs a sort of neat NFC trick: tap a phone (presumably Samsung only) to the bottom of the display, and it’ll immediately start mirroring the phone wirelessly. Its a two way connection, allowing you to tap the whiteboard screen to control your phone. I’m not sure how getting up and tapping your phone to the screen is easier than tapping a button on your phone itself, but it’s a good quick trick to throw into a demo.
They’ve announced just one model so far, with a screen size coming in at 55″.
Multiple people can interact with the screen at once – in the on stage demo, one person drew with a stylus while the other erased with their hand.
Samsung didn’t announce the price on stage… which is weird, given that according to this product page tucked away on Samsung’s business site, it seems to be a good bit cheaper than the competition at $2699. Google’s Jamboard starts at $5,000 (albeit with a bunch of cloud collaboration stuff that Samsung didn’t mention its own alternatives for) while Microsoft’s Surface Hub ranges from $8k to $21k. Seeing as most of the folks buying digital whiteboards (read: offices) are probably buying a few, that lower price point seems key.
Samsung says the Flip should start shipping in the US and Europe later this month.