SlideShark is the popular app from Brainshark, Inc. for showing PowerPoints from the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch. SlideShark can be downloaded for free in Apple's App Store (https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/slideshark/id471369684?mt=8) and through www.slideshark.com.
SlideShark was created to solve a problem facing business users worldwide. That is, the iPad - for all its innovation and "whizbangery" - can't display PowerPoint presentations. Not without major distortions, that is. Yet with the device relied on by 94% of the Fortune 500, and with PowerPoint the #1 business presentation tool (with 30 million+ decks created daily), this problem needed to be bridged. It severely hindered the productivity and agility of sales reps, educators, healthcare professionals, conference presenters/attendees, consultants and road warriors across industries. They always needed to lug their clunky laptops or else face garbled decks and frustration.
Problem solved: SlideShark, a free cloud-based app (version 3.0 launched March 2013), lets iPad, iPhone and iPod touch users:
* View and show PowerPoints the way they were meant to be seen - with fonts, animations, graphics, hyperlinks and videos intact.
* Broadcast their presentations, live and intact, over the Web - an industry first. Mobile presenters also get data on who attended their sessions/for how long (more detail below).
* Draw on and annotate slides.
* Securely distribute, track and manage presentations in the cloud.
* Take advantage of integrations with Box, Dropbox, Google Drive, EMC's Syncplicity, Citrix ShareFile and Microsoft SkyDrive.
* Click to share presentation content.
* Track viewing activity on presentations they've shared (who saw it, when, how much was viewed, etc.).
* Use the iPhone/iPod touch as a remote control and laser pointer on presentations shown from the iPad.
* Hide and/or reorder slides, to adapt presentations to various audiences.
* Project presentations on a TV/screen.
* Show decks in "Presenter Mode" (Users can see their slide notes on the iPad while presenting, while the audience sees only the slide content, projected on a separate screen, in full-screen mode).
* View content offline.
* And more.
Much more than a PowerPoint viewer (an important asset no doubt!), SlideShark is also a presenter's best friend. Brainshark frequently issues new releases of SlideShark (see product evolution page: https://www.slideshark.com/Products/slideshark-evolution.aspx) - bringing users new, creative and important functionality. SlideShark Broadcasting (a significant part of 3.0, as mentioned above) is a recent example - helping companies reimagine their business meetings while supercharging productivity. Here's the gist: Mobile presenters (on their iPad, iPhone or iPod touch) now have the unprecedented ability to broadcast their presentations live over the Web. Meeting attendees, whether across the table or across the globe, simply click a link to tune in on any Internet-connected device (no downloads required) - viewing slides as they're advanced in real time, animations as they unfold, etc. So for those who can't physically attend a meeting, it's easy to be looped in. And in-person attendees can also follow along, close up, on their own devices - enabling the presenter to better focus audience attention. According PCWorld: "SlideShark Broadcasting... is as practical as it is cool." Leading blog iPad CTO reported: "No other app and service comes better prepared to transform the culture of business meetings. The newly announced SlideShark Broadcasting... has pushed the science of presentations to new heights."
SlideShark is easy to use (see 1-min intro: http://bit.ly/ss-intro) and free, with business upgrades available that include advanced analytics (measuring presentation usage in the field), enhanced security, the ability to apply permissions-based access to content, and more. All users can access dedicated support via email and live chat (phone support available 13 hours/day for SlideShark's business version). The app has significant penetration in the channel - with technology resellers worldwide offering SlideShark's business version (SlideShark Team Edition - http://www.slideshark.com/Products/For-Business.aspx) to customers. These resellers (including Tech Data, Softchoice, En Pointe and more), who provide Microsoft and Apple offerings, view the app as a complementary technology - solving the PowerPoint-on-iPad problem their customers faced daily, and providing important and unprecedented mobile broadcasting features.
Widely regarded as the industry standard for showing PowerPoints on the iPad, SlideShark sees explosive usage, in part, because there's nothing like it. Other programs (e.g. Keynote) can open PowerPoints on the iPad, but don't preserve formatting. Mobile presenters are likewise stymied by Web conferencing products (e.g. Go-to-Meeting), which don't accurately display slides for remote participants. And Microsoft recently introduced Office for iPhone (NOT iPad), but enthusiasm has been tempered due to limited PowerPoint functionality, lack of iPad support and the paid Office 365 subscription requirement.
In creating an easy-to-use iOS app that faithfully renders PowerPoints - while also offering innovative and popular presentation features, such as broadcasting - Brainshark has empowered on-the-go and in-the-field workers to leave their laptops at home, while enhancing mobile user productivity. These employees can accomplish tasks previously only in the domain of their desktop/laptop-clad counterparts (and then some!). See market success and real-world testimonials below:
MARKET SUCCESS AND TRACTION:
* 5 million+ presentations uploaded to SlideShark by users.
* Individual and corporate users in 150+ countries - from Canada to China to Saudi Arabia, and nearly half the countries in Africa.
* 2 million+ app downloads and counting (2 downloads/min., 24x7!).
* 145 million+ slides uploaded to SlideShark.
* One SlideShark presentation viewed every 3.6 seconds (25,000+ viewed every day).
* Rated a top "Productivity App" in Apple's App Store (consistently in the top 50 - and often top 10 - productivity apps since its launch).
* In the top 2% of all 1 million App Store apps, based on number of downloads.
* 4.5 stars out of 5 in the App Store, based on 4,000+ user reviews.
* More than 25 industry awards, including a recent Gold-level win in the Stevies' International Business Awards.
* 950+ media mentions, including in Forbes, CNN, USA Today, etc.
* Rave reviews from analyst firms, including Gartner, Forrester, Wainhouse Research, SiriusDecisions and more. Gartner calls SlideShark 3.0 "a significant product."
CORPORATE USAGE EXAMPLES AND TESTIMONIALS:
* NASA tapped SlideShark to prepare for asteroid exploration. During two recent missions, international crews used SlideShark to properly view PowerPoints with embedded training videos on their iPads - while living 62 feet below sea level and even when Internet access was unavailable! See http://www.brainshark.com/company/in-the-news/press-releases/2012/september/9-26-pr.aspx.
* Skincare company Nerium International deployed SlideShark to 5,000 sales reps ("brand partners"). Per Trevor Scofield, SVP for global operations: "SlideShark 3.0 enables our brand partners to 'wow' their audiences, and deliver presentations on our skincare products in a compelling, professional manner - conveniently and right from the iPads and iPhones they always carry. From an administrative standpoint, we're thrilled SlideShark lets us instantly provide partners with timely content and measure its usage in the field."
* Nine Network, a top-rated television broadcaster in Australia, and part of Nine Entertainment Company, uses SlideShark. Per Warwick Sharp, group sales operations manager: "The 115 members of our sales team are equipped with iPads, yet PowerPoint is - and always has been - the tool we use to build presentation materials. We wanted sales staff to be able to access and give presentations instantly from their mobile devices - without having to 'dumb down' and rebuild all their PowerPoint assets to function in an iOS environment. SlideShark Team Edition solves this challenge for us. In addition, as a TV broadcaster, video quality is very important to us. SlideShark lets us display high-resolution program clips that are embedded in our slides - effortlessly and intact - for maximum impact with advertisers."
MEDIA REVIEWS:
* "Looking to add 'pow' to your PowerPoint presentations? ... SlideShark is a killer presentation tool." - Inc.
* "SlideShark [puts] PowerPoint in your pocket." - InformationWeek
* "SlideShark Broadcasting... is as practical as it is cool." - PCWorld
* "Perfect for that elevator pitch!" - PC Magazine
* "If you're a business development executive, you just hit the lotto. SlideShark... is about to change your day, possibly your entire professional life." - iPad CTO
* "SlideShark is the presentation app to beat." - Chronicle of Higher Education
* "Giving iPad PowerPoint presentations just got a lot better... This is a game changer." - ReadWrite
* "If it's a reliable presentation viewer you need... SlideShark should do the trick." - USA Today
* "SlideShark Broadcasting... is the perfect way to keep all of your colleagues in the loop with a presentation. It's the logical next step for SlideShark, which has cemented itself as one of the simplest ways to pitch a presentation without dealing with a clunky laptop." - VentureBeat
* "For anyone who gives presentations on the go, an app like SlideShark can be a tremendous asset." - PCWorld
* "Got problems with PowerPoints on iPad? This free app could be your fix." - Forbes
APP STORE FEEDBACK (RAVE REVIEWS FROM REAL-WORLD USERS):
* "SlideShark ROCKS... Guaranteed this will make my life better."
* "This is the best and easiest app there is. I now can do a presentation without lugging my laptop and power cord to the event. Thanks for the great work!!"
* "Best presenting app ever! Best app ever!"
* "This is the most useful presenting app I've seen and it gets better with every update. Absolutely perfect!"
* "Keynote screws up the formatting every time, and this just works perfectly."
* "By far one of the best productivity apps in the store!"
* "This is a game-changing app for me."
* "I am a sales rep and do many lunch and learns and on-on-one meetings with customers. I have absolutely no complaints with this app and it's free! Can't beat it. Great for business and exactly what I need."
* "I've looked for months for an app that does this. Thank you so much for the thought and effort that was put into this to make it work!!"
* "Best program on my iPad!"
* "Finally, a PowerPoint tool that allows me to easily make presentations from my iPad or iPhone. This is a must-have app for professionals who make presentations!!!"
* "Fabulous app and great support. Use it regularly for business presentations."
* "Really love this app! Easy to maneuver and very reliable."
* "Can't imagine life without it! I use this app every week and love it! These folks have made my life easier and they keep making it better. If you use PowerPoint, you need this app!"
* Reviews in multiple languages too - for example: "Excelente herramienta. Es un excelente producto. Mis presentaciones se ven geniales." ["Great tool. It's an excellent product. My presentations render great."]
INSTALL INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Download the free app from the Apple App Store: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/slideshark-powerpoint-presentations/id471369684?ls=1&mt=8
2. Register for free right from the app or at www.slideshark.com
DEMOS/VIDEOS:
* Intro to SlideShark (1 min.): https://www.brainshark.com/brainsharkinc/vu?pi=zCSz8KvXSz0z0
* SlideShark Team Edition demo (3.5 min.): https://www.brainshark.com/brainsharkinc/vu?pi=zIUzV1PVyz9uwyz0
* SlideShark Broadcasting demo (2.5 min): https://www.brainshark.com/brainsharkinc/broadcasting
* Video testimonial from Nerium International (3 min.): https://www.brainshark.com/brainsharkinc/vu?pi=zHfzCkaSWz6cZfz0