Comdex and Other News and Events

News

Toshiba introduced at Comdex its new Dynapad T100X pen computer. The machine sports the AMD 25MHz 386SLV low voltage CPU, a 9.5 inch transflective sidelit display, two PCMCIA slots, 40 MB hard disk, and supports either PenWindows or PenPoint. The Dynapad weighs 3.3 lbs., making it very competitive with the NCR 3130 and 3125 in the weight department. The machine that we saw looked well designed and constructed. The Dynapad is scheduled to ship in January, 1993, priced at $3499. Contact Toshiba at 714-583-3925 or write to Toshiba, P.O. Box 19724, Irvine, CA 92713-9724.

IBM’s Charlotte, N.C., Electronic Card Assembly and Test plant will build the TelePad SL pen computer, as one of its first contract manufacturing projects for other companies. TelePad, based in Reston, VA, will supply the design and manufacturing specifications and the product will carry the TelePad label. First units from this manufacturing arrangement are expected early next year. For more information, contact: TelePad Corp. at 708-834-9000.

Grid Corp. announced formation of a new business unit for selling and marketing the company’s Pen-Right! pen computer software development environment. The new business unit will remain in Fremont, California, although Grid is moving its headquarters to the Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas area. Contact Grid at 510-656-4700.

Photonics demonstrated at Comdex its infrared network called Collaborative PC, operating on several pen and laptop computers as well as on a desktop server. The infrared network will operate in a room with dimensions up to 30 by 30 feet. The network operates at 1 mbit/second and includes drivers for all major network operating systems including Novell Netware and Microsoft LAN Manager. The transceiver is about the size of a cigarette package and is available in ISA bus and PCMCIA versions. Photonics also has several OEM arrangements in which the transceiver will be built into the computer, residing on a board about the size of a matchbook. Collaborative PC is available commercially for $250. Contact Photonics at 408-955-7930.

Proxim demonstrated at Comdex a series of wireless spread spectrum networking products with an operating range of up to 800 feet. The products include a PCMCIA RangeLAN adapter and a similar version that connects to the parallel port of IBM PC compatibles. Proxim’s RangeLAN operates at 242 kilobits per second and supports Novell Netware and Microsoft LAN Manager. The RangeLAN PCMCIA and parallel adapters both sell for $595. Contact Proxim at 415-960-1630.

Intel has announced the availability of the 80486SL low voltage microprocessor in 25- and 33 MHz versions. The fully static 3.3 V CPU includes power management functions, which Intel claims reduce system board power consumption by 50%. The new chip also has a smaller footprint than its 80386SL predecessor, allowing for smaller system boards. The 80486SL will be available in production quantities in early 1993 with evaluation kits available immediately from Intel. Contact Intel at 408-765-4412.

PenMagic Software has announced a new product called LetterExpress, a “writing assistant” application for creating form and business letters on pen computers with the aid of “scripted templates.” LetterExpress runs on PenPoint and joins the Numero financial worksheet application in PenMagic’s product lineup. Contact PenMagic at 604-988-9982.

Microsoft has announced a Japanese edition of Windows for Pen Computing. The Japanese version supports Kanji, Katakana, and Hiragana characters. Japanese PenWindows is only available as an OEM product through Microsoft’s Japan-based OEM Sales Department. Phone 03-5484-0702.

NCR announced that it will sell the Xircom PCMCIA 10Base-T LAN Adapter directly to its customers at a price of $340. The adapter allows NCR 3170 and 3130 machines with PCMCIA slots to connect to a variety of networks that support the 10Base-T standard, including Novell NetWare, Banyan Vines, and Microsoft LAN Manager, among others. Contact NCR at 513-445-5000.

Momenta’s software development department has been acquired by a German company called Artificial Intelligence Transfer or A.I.T. A.I.T. is a management consulting and software development company based in Kaiserslautern, Germany. For more information, contact Rudi Porten of A.I.T at 49 631 3400341, Fax: 49 631 3400351.

Grid and Trimble Navigation Ltd. (Sunnyvale, CA) demonstrated a Global Positioning System (GPS) integrated with a Grid PalmPad RF pen computer. Using software developed by Technology Solutions, Inc. of Minneapolis, MN, the Grid system was demonstrated at the Detroit Police department in a simulated vehicle accident, showing how the system could be used to quickly collect accident and incident data, including the geographic location. For more information, contact Grid at 703-734-9600 or Trimble at 408-481-2905.

Dauphin Technology of Lombard, IL, has introduced a 486SL-based notepad system with a new 85 MB removable 2-1/2 inch diskette, called the Dauphin Dynadrive. In addition, the Dauphin 550 notepad machine includes internal Ethernet support and fax/data modem. The Dauphin 550 weighs about 7 pounds and will range in price from $2500 to $3500, depending on configuration. For more information, contact Dauphin at 708-627-4004.

Notable Technologies introduced at Comdex two new communications applications for PenPoint called Mobile Access and Shared Whiteboard. Priced at $195, Mobile Access provides terminal emulation for linking to desktop and mainframe host computers and sending and receiving documents. Shared Whiteboard, priced at $99, allows multiple pen users to work simultaneously on the same image displayed on each of the connected machines. Contact Notable at 415-312-0800

Integral Peripherals has joined the PCMCIA bandwagon with a new family of 1.8 inch hard disks available in 40 and 85 MB versions. Integral claims that the new drives have an operating shock rating of 100 Gs and non-operating shock of 500 Gs. Volume production is scheduled for early 1993. For more information, contact Integral at 303-449-8009.

GO Corp. has announced a variety of communications services to PenPoint users called the GO Message Center. The GO Message Center includes GO Mail, a full-featured electronic mail and messaging interface, the GO Address Book system-wide directory, and a communications link to AT&T Mail, which is a component of AT&T’s EasyLink services. The GO Message Center is also fully integrated with GO Fax, allowing users to send faxes through the GO Message Center directly from their pen systems. The GO Message Center will become a standard component of PenPoint and provided through OEMs such as SkyTel, RAM Mobile Data, Novell, and Motorola. GO is publishing the GO Message Center application program interfaces (APIs), so that both OEMs and commercial developers can develop components of their applications that interface with the GO Message Center. GO Fax is available from GO and GO VARs for $199. For more information, contact GO at 415-345-7400.

Events

SRI International is holding a two-day conference entitled the “Portable Intelligence Expo” in San Francisco at the S.F. Hilton, January 19 and 20. SRI is co-organizing the event with Cardiff Publishing and is emphasizing “strategic planning and market positioning issues” as the focus of the conference. Contact Cardiff Publishing at 303-220-0600.

Boston University Corporate Education Center will host PenExpo ’93, January 25-29 at the San Francisco Hyatt in San Francisco, CA. For more information, call 800-733-3593 or 509-649-4200.

Technologic Partners will host a Mobile ’93 conference on mobile computing and data communications February 16-18, 1993, at the San Jose, California, Convention Center. Contact Technologic at 212-696-9330.

CeBIT ’93 will be held in Hannover, Germany March 24-31. One of the world’s largest computer and telecommunications expositions, expect a major presence of pen computing products. Contact:

Hannover Fairs USA
103 Carnegie Center
Princeton, NJ 08450
609-987-1202

The National Computer Graphics Association (NCGA) holds its annual conference and exposition in Philadelphia April 26-29. Contact NCGA at 703-698-9600.