Avocent Corp. has released the SwitchView KVM (keyboard, video and mouse) USB hub that’s compatible with any USB-equipped Mac.
It gives home office and small business users the ability to use one keyboard, monitor, and mouse to switch between connected computers and share access to multiple USB devices, such as a digital camera, external hard drive, external CD-ROM, printer, scanner or PDA. A 4-port audio model can also be used to share one set of speakers and a microphone. Both the 2-port and 4-port models will ship later this month.
The SwitchView features either push-button control for switching between connected computers or switching through the keyboard with hotkey commands. And it offers control of all connected USB devices, regardless of which computer is in use. Both models include color-coded connectors for installation and a flash upgrade cable.
The 2-port SwitchView USB model has a manufacturers suggested retail price of US$149.95; the 4-port model is $179.95 and the 4-port model with audio sharing costs $169.95.