Scribbles

MicroSlate Inc.—The Montreal-area developer of stylus-based computers announced that it has entered into a strategic alliance with Promatek Industries to manufacture the company’s portable Pen In Touch notebook computers. Promatek will perform the work at its manufacturing facility in Dorval, a suburb of Montreal.

MicroSlate and Promatek value the contract at over $8 million over the next three years. For more information, please contact Harvey Kofsky of Promatek at (514) 631-3515, or Jan Rowinski of MicroSlate at (514) 444-3680.

TekNow, Inc.—Providing wireless access for Windows users seems to be the rage, with Phoenix-based TekNow announcing that it has an agreement with NEC Technologies to bundle its Mobile Express for Windows wireless messaging software with NEC’s VersaPage Card.

Using the bundle, people will be able to display wireless messages received through the card using SkyTel’s or U.S. Paging’s network. For more information, please contact Ken Morrow of TekNow, Inc. at (602) 266-7800.

Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. (NTT)—The Asian telecommunication market is perhaps the fastest growing in the world, which explains why Britain’s Cable and Wireless Plc (C&W) has recently joined forces in the personal handy phone system (PHS) market. PHS is a Japanese digital mobile phone technology that relies on a microcell architecture.

While more restrictive than traditional cellular systems, the network infrastructure is simpler and less costly. C&W is investing 10 million sterling, or 1.5 billion yen, in return for which it will receive five percent of NTT’s PHS operations in Japan.

IBM Corp.—Speech recognition technology is steadily advancing, with IBM’s still-massive research capability hard at work at the problem. The company recently announced the availability of the UK vocabulary for its VoiceType Dictation system.

This follows the recent releases of French and German language versions. For more information, please contact IBM UK at +44 1705-561780, +44 1705-385081 (fax).

Federal Communications Commission—Since the current round of auctions began on December 5th, 1994, the FCC has received $6.3 billion in bids for 99 wireless licenses as of February 17, 1995.

The auction is now in its final phase, with the FCC planning to continue until the participating companies stop bidding on available licenses.

MicroTouch Systems, Inc.—The leading manufacturer of touch screen systems and technology announced that it has purchased Factura Composites, Inc.

U.S.-based Factura is the largest manufacturer of kiosk housings, with an estimated 30% of the U.S. installed base. The company will continue to operate as Factura, a Division of MicroTouch Systems.

General Magic—Analysts are scratching their heads in response to the dramatic first day rise in General Magic’s stock. On its initial day of trading, the shares rocketed from the offering price of $14 to $26 5/8.

As outlined in last month’s issue, the company has plenty of opportunity along with plenty of obstacles. Analysts are recommending against a buy-and-hold strategy at this early stage, that is if you are lucky enough to have bought near the initial price.

Mitsubishi Electric Corp.—PDAs may not have lived up to their early promise, but this isn’t stopping the Japanese giant from tossing its hat into the PDA ring. Through a spokesperson, Mitsubishi announced that it should have a, as yet unnamed and un-priced, PDA based on General Magic’s Magic Cap on the market before the end of 1995.

The company tried to squelch rumors that the device will be based on the PowerPC processor, but admitted that it is “a possibility.”

NEC Corporation—Pretty soon, 640 KB or 1 MB on a handheld computer will seem as ridiculous as it now seems on desktop computers. In a sign of things to come, NEC announced that it has successfully developed the world’s first 1 Gigabit DRAM.

NEC plans to introduce engineering samples in 1998, but we will have to wait until the turn of the century before we can expect to see these chips in actual devices.

BrainTech Inc.—Promising 100 percent recognition accuracy together with a unique user interface, Scottsdale, Arizona-based BrainTech, Inc. has announced the PenTron System.

BrainTech claims that its neural and fuzzy-based technology is suitable for both printed and cursive handwriting, in addition to being scalable to different languages including Chinese. For more information, contact BrainTech Inc. at (602) 443-1286.

Wireless Industry—Companies that are collectively bidding billions of dollars for new wireless licenses in the U.S. noted an important landmark to cheer them up: the wireless industry reached its 25 millionth customer, translating to a ten percent market penetration. The Sioux Valley Hospital was honored as the milestone customer.