This month's GrapeVine was acquired from segments of information and articles published in selected computer and electronics industry trade publications in addition to several online sources. The information contained within is comprised mostly of factual information, editorial comments, and a few rumors from the electronic industry in general. Each month, we will try to focus on items of interest related to the computer/electronics industries as they become news- worthy, and hopefully, the GrapeVine will be both informative and entertaining to our readers. ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Topic 01. New Thin Browser From Netscape Topic 02. Microsoft IE 4.0 Delayed Till Fall Topic 03. Dell Accused Of Irangate Deal Topic 04. Sprint To Link PCS To The Web Topic 05. Internet Language Detective From Novell Topic 06. 40" Plasma Display Demonstrated By Mitsubishi Topic 07. SLDRAM To Launch In 1998 Topic 08. HDSL2 Offers T1 Performance At POT Prices Topic 09. Update On Encryption Controls Issue Topic 10. HP Offers More Than A Remote Possibility Topic 11. Communications Is The Key For Navigator 4.01 Topic 12. When A Firewall Is Not Enough Topic 13. An ATM In Your Own Home Topic 14. Lotus Organizer 97 Allows Web-Shared Information Topic 15. Tariff Phase Out Has U.S. Passive Manufacturers Upset Topic 16. Cyrix 64-Bit Showdown With Intel Called Off Topic 17. Pentium II Classed As Supercomputer By Government Topic 18. GE Plans To Do $1 Billion Business Online Topic 19. No Captain On The Bridge At Apple Topic 20. Is Your Internet Account Up For Sale? Topic 21. Uunet And Open Port Enables Fax Over Internet Topic 22. Hitachi Introduces Rewritable DVD Topic 23. Candescent To Build First U.S. FPD Factory Topic 24. Plug And Display Standard Approved By VESA Topic 25. ActionTec Modem On The 56-Kbp/s Cutting Edge Topic 26. Rambus Signs Deal With Texas Instruments Topic 27. More Price Cuts Announced By Intel Topic 28. What Ever Happened To Talisman Topic 29. NTSC Specification May Apply To Computers Topic 30. Electronic Commerce Venture By AT&T/HP/IBM Topic 31. Notebook PC Bargains Befall Flooded Market Topic 32. New Canon Printers Should Attract SOHO Business Topic 33. ECC Memory Added To Pentium II Chips Topic 34. PanaFax Multifunction Machine Targets Corporate Trade Topic 35. Updated LaserJet Printer From HP Topic 36. Major Portion Of Internet Service Went Down Topic 37. Microsoft Fails to Sell Resellers On NT Topic 38. /// The Bottom Line /// ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
/// New Thin Browser From Netscape /// A Java-based browser is being developed by Netscape Communi- cations Corp., which targets the network computer (NC) market. According to one trade publication, Netscape's strategy may have become necessary to offset some of its market loss to Microsoft in the general browser category as MS-Internet Explorer keeps gaining ground. The new "Navigator" will be the first product of its kind to move over to 100 percent pure Java language to enable it to run on network computers, as related by Netscape officials. Memory requirements imposed by current versions of both Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer are too demanding for NC applications where disk space and memory are very limited. One observer noted that this situation is made more evident in the beta version of Netscape's Navigator Communicator with all its full-featured bells and whistles making it way too cumber- some for the average NC.
/// Microsoft IE 4.0 Delayed Till Fall /// While a legion of equipment makers, resellers, and other vendors are awaiting the final release of Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0, the software giant has had to announce another delay in the release of final code. Microsoft kept promising that IE 4.0 would release this summer, but the industry watchers saw June go by, then July was gone, and now August is here-- and no big roll-out of IE 4.0. The company is now posting a mid-September date for the official release, which will be ushered in with an extensive TV and media ad campaign to build up steam for sales of the new product.
/// Dell Accused Of Irangate Deal /// Dell Computer Corp. has been accused by the U.S. Commerce Dept. that it falsified key trade documents to allow the company to ship computer equipment to Iran. A Commerce Dept. investigation that covered the four year period from 1993 to this present year, focused on Dell's business dealings with Iran, Russia, and Ireland. The U.S. government issued a three-page civil indictment of the company at the end of June, where an out-of-court settlement was agreed upon. According to the terms of the settlement, Dell will pay $50,000 in fines for its apparent violation of U.S. trade policies. Officially, Dell neither admits or denies that it sold high-tech computer equipment to Iran, but according to government records, the computer company made three shipments to Iran during the noted four year period.
/// Sprint To Link PCS To The Web /// Sprint Communications Corp.'s Internet Access Services division is in the process of developing a link between its PCS (Personal Communications Service) and Sprint provided Internet Web service. Forecasters say that by the end of this year, PCS users should be able to send messages via the Web, which can be delivered in the form of e-mail or voice mail.
/// Internet Language Detective From Novell /// The Advanced Technology division of Novell Inc. has developed an Internet language detective that aids users in retrieving information from around the world. Called the "Collexion Language Identifier," the Novell product can rapidly identify information from 15 languages. E-mail, word processing documents, Web pages, and other documents can be sorted through and identified by Collexion, according to a Novell spokesman. The Novell spokesman elaborated by stating that with as little as three words, his new product can correctly identify a written language. Although INSCO Corp. and Xerox Corp. have proclaimed similar products, Novell is claiming its Collexion product is the fastest language identifier on the Net.
/// 40" Plasma Display Demonstrated By Mitsubishi /// At 40 inches, Mitsubishi Electronic's "Leonardo" gas-plasma color display screen is not only big, but is also more or less a radical departure from the traditional LCD (liquid crystal display) technology employed by most flat-panel makers. Because of the high-cost associated with the production of gas- plasma displays, the intended market for the new screens will be the large corporate boardroom, or anyplace where very high- quality color displays are required, and where price is no object. The Leonardo display incorporates thousands of pixel-sized tubes within a glass envelope. Each of the tubes is filled with a mixture of neon/xenon gas that glows when an electrical charge is applied. Digital signal processing circuitry within the unit can support a wide range of resolutions and scanning rates. The 66 pound display measures only 4 inches deep, and can dis- play 16.7 million colors. Power consumption is 400 watts. No price information was indicated in the June 30 press release.
/// SLDRAM To Launch In 1998 /// A confederation formerly known as the SyncLink coalition has been renamed as the SLDRAM Consortium, and according to a recent market report, will soon reveal the results of its validation efforts to the International Solid State Circuits Conference (ISSCC) next February. The "SL" of the SLDRAM acronym obviously comes from the Sync- Link name, and the "DRAM" portion of the identity stands for "dynamic random access memory." The backers of the platform are a number of DRAM suppliers who are promoting SLDRAM as the new age memory solution for a variety of computer applications. Hyundai Electronics America and Mitsubishi Inc. are teaming up to develop a SLDRAM test chip that should be ready for I/O (input/output) evaluations by September, as related by one industry source. If those tests prove noteworthy, work will continue in an effort to introduce a full-blown 64-Megabit SLDRAM memory chip in time for the 1998 Fall Comdex Show.
/// HDSL2 Offers T1 Performance At POT Prices /// The ANSI T1/E1.4 Committee has been presented with a proposal from three equipment and semiconductor manufacturers for a second-generation high-bit-rate Digital Subscriber Line format called HDSL2. ADC Telecommunications Inc., PairGain Technologies Inc., and Level One Communications are saying that they can expedite the development and deployment of HDSL2 technology. The new technology is said to offer performance levels of the T1 standard, but at a much lower cost resulting from the use of only a single twisted-pair cable as opposed to the two twisted-pair cables required to complete a two-way transmission over a HDSL T1-based system.
/// Update On Encryption Controls Issue /// During the last week of June, the House International Affairs Economic Subcommittee voted to put an end to all restrictions on encryption code that is already available on the global market. At about the same time, the House Judiciary Committee confirmed a similar ruling that eliminated most encryption restrictions. The U.S. Senate however, has taken a completely different view of the controversy by proposing a bill to retain all the basic controls as dictated by the Clinton Administration, which demands that encryption systems shipped overseas must contain a key-escrow trapdoor to allow law enforcement agencies the ability to decipher information intercepted by wiretapping. The U.S. Commerce Dept. Earned some smiles from the computer industry when it followed through on a previous promise to allow export of code-word encryption systems as high as 128-bit without the key-escrow specification. One stipulation to that ruling is that the sales would be limited to banks and financial institutions. Both Microsoft Corp. and Netscape Communications Corp. offer their standard office software suites using the 128-bit word encryption code that was approved by the Commerce Dept.
/// HP Offers More Than A Remote Possibility /// Hewlett-Packard Co. Offers its value-added resellers more than just a remote possibility to make money, as related in a special report published in the June Reseller Week news letter. The HP workgroup NetServer model E40 6/200 allows resellers to initiate self-supported workgroups in a network of up to 25 workstations using the new HP server. Included in the E40 6/200 is the Novell IntranetWare software, which works in con- junction with HP's set of monitoring capabilities to enable a reseller to pick up some extra revenue from the built-in alert and monitoring abilities of the new server. A remote-console feature allows the reseller to become an online technical support facility for an E40-based workgroup. HP has equipped the E40 6/200 with a 200-MHz Pentium Pro CPU and 32-Mbytes of ECC (error code correcting) memory. The ECC memory can be upgraded to 384-Mbytes. A 2.1-Gigabyte hard drive is included in the machine, which carries a $2,629 price tag.
/// Communications Is The Key For Navigator 4.01 /// Netscape Communications Corp. is touting its Navigator 4.01 as a complete communications package. It lists such features as: Netscape Messenger for E-Mail; Composer for HTML publishing; Collabra for discussion groups; Conference for real-time voice conferencing; and more. One component, called Netscape Net- caster, allows information to be automatically delivered to the browser. The basic 4.01 package sells for $59, but there is an add-on package called AutoAdmin, which permits centralized managements by requesting centralized information at start-up. A $1,995 add-on called Mission Control can be used by resellers to distribute new software aromatically throughout a network. One major advantage of Mission Control to the resellers is that they can maintain a consistent configuration across a whole network and also provide a higher level of security management.
/// When A Firewall Is Not Enough /// A division of Hughes Electronics Corp., NetLock, is about ready to ship its NetLock 1.3 application that is advertized as an end-to-end network security solution for NetWare and TCP/IP (Transmission Protocol/Internet Protocol) local area networks. The company said that NetLock has the ability to protect net- works from users that have remote access capabilities, where conventional firewall solutions fail to defend the system. Not only the body of messages and data files are protected by NetLock, but the TCP/IP headers are covered to guard against parties using password generators, as told by one company official. A system of "agents" and "managers" is utilized to protect the server and work stations as selected by the system admin- istrator. The agents take up an average of only 1-Mbyte of memory, and work in concert with Windows NT, 95, 3.1, and DOS. NetLock will also run on desktop computers that support SCO Unix, IBM/AIX, and Solaris operating systems.
/// An ATM In Your Own Home /// The Chairman and CEO of Verifone Inc., Hatim Tyabji told CRN (Computer Reseller News) last month that his company plans an October launch for a pilot program of personal ATM (automatic teller machines). The initial products will employ Verifone's emerging smart card readers and will be linked to banks and financial institutions over traditional telephone lines. Tests will be conducted in New York with follow-up trials to be performed in Jakarta, Indonesia and Sweden. Low monthly fees of $2 to $3 will be assessed for the lease of the card reader. Additional plans call for the card reader to be included in several computer peripheral devices, according to Tyabji. He said that ultimately, Verifone plans to license the system for use by equipment manufacturers in their design of TV set-top boxes and cellular phones.
/// Lotus Organizer 97 Allows Web-Shared Information /// Targeting a customer range that encompasses everything from the home office to large corporate enterprise systems, Lotus Development Corp.'s new Lotus Organizer 97 GS application allows users to share general information and appointment schedules via the Internet. The new GS package is integrated with Lotus Notes and Domino 4.5 to allow users to handle tasks such as scheduling and confirming meetings and appointments over the Internet with the added advantage of remote access. Users presently running Domino can publish documents directly to Web Organizer 97 Web Calendar through 97 GS. An upgrade package for registered users of Organizer 97 who want the advantages of GS is available for $15. The full-blown version of Organizer 97 GS will retail for about $79.
/// Tariff Phase Out Has U.S. Passive Manufacturers Upset /// The United States last month launched its plan to phase out tariffs that protect foreign capacitor and resistor makers, and the U.S passive manufacturers are upset. Our government, in order to comply with the Information Technology Agreement (ITA), began the tariff phase out, but American companies who are members of the Passive Electronics Coalition have sought a temporary restraining order through the U.S. Court of International Trade to oppose to the cancellation. The Coalition has brought forth one suit against U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky and another suit against the U.S. Commissioner of Customs, George Weise, in an attempt to block the phase out.
/// Cyrix 64-Bit Showdown With Intel Called Off /// At least one trade publication suggested last month that the expected showdown between Cyrix Corp. and Intel Corp. over the next-generation microprocessors might not happen. Cyrix will apparently not accelerate its efforts to match the 64-bit Merced chip due next year, but will lay back on the project until the market for that technology fully develops, according to company officials. It was also reported that both Cyrix and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Inc. have their own versions of a next-generation MMX (Multimedia Extensions) instruction set technology in the works. Intel is rumored to make such a move to improve MMX in 1998 when it introduces its Katmai processor chip. Even present-day MMX technology has given some enhancement to PC video, audio, and 3-D graphics performance. According to statements from the partnership of Intel and the Hewlett-Packard Co., the Merced chip will also debut in late 1998 or early 1999.
/// Pentium II Classed As Supercomputer By Government /// The Fiscal 1998 Defense Authorization budget bill as passed by the House of Representatives, will reinstate export restrictions on "supercomputers." But it appears that within the congress- ional definition of supercomputers lies the lowly Intel Pentium II-class PC, which now may require U.S. approval before it would be granted permission for export to customers in some 50 countries. A similar bill has been proposed in the U.S. Senate that would administer controls over the supercomputers as defined back in 1995. According to sources, the recent legislation was in response to disclosures that some U.S. manufactured high- performance computers that were shipped to Russia and China for commercial purposes, in fact ended up being diverted to military nuclear arms research.
/// GE Plans To Do $1 Billion Business Online /// General Electric Corp. announced to the press last month that it will transfer all of its corporate purchasing operations to the Internet by the year 2000. The significance of the move is more than just a major change of operations by GE. According to business analysts, it will have a major impact on electronic commerce in general by contributing about $1 billion per year to online business totals. GE created its own online procurement service called Trading Process Network (TPN) system, which it has now made available for sale to other companies as well. TPN amounts to a portfolio of Web-based applications and services that allow buyers and sellers to communicate and conduct business online. Participants of TPN can exchange sales, marketing, and purchasing information.
/// No Captain On The Bridge At Apple /// The CEO and Chairman of Apple Computer Inc., Gilbert Amelio, suddenly abandoned his post at the floundering computer company last month. Amelio's departure drew attention to a full page of questions about the future of Apple and certain repercussions down through the distribution channel. Upcoming products, licensing agree- ments with other computer manufacturers, and the flood of red ink at Apple are among the critical situations that have arisen of late. And as stated by most business sources, without clear leadership, the company is now in a very formidable set of circumstances. The company's stock had dropped to $13.06 on July 1, which is the lowest point in twelve years. Failure to sign final licensing agreements for its upcoming MacOS 8 operating system and the next-generation Rhapsody O/S with the clone makers has cast an even darker shadow on the company. No one seems to know where Apple stands in its pending agreements with IBM, UMAX Computer, Motorola, or Power Computing Company because no contracts have been signed.
/// Is Your Internet Account Up For Sale? /// Some resellers think they may soon walk into a gold mine by obtaining Internet customer lists. The larger Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are offering in the neighborhood of $100 cash for dial-up subscribers that small ISPs and resellers may not find profitable to continue with. Mounting server-side costs involving such expenses as customer support and increases in Internet usage are some of the reasons listed by some sources as to why some ISPs want to trim their operations. One Pasadena-based ISP is openly advertising that it wants to buy off dial-up accounts from its competitors. Of those accounts would be a mixture of small business, large business, and individual subscribers. MindSpring Enterprises Inc., Atlanta, Ga., last year bought the entire 100,000 member dial-up list from PSINet Inc. at a price of almost $23 million. Of that list, approximately 46,000 subscribers were recovered and signed up with MindSpring. A story in the July 14 issue of CRN noted that the average account recovered by MainSpring netted the company from $80 to $100 per subscriber.
/// Uunet And Open Port Enables Fax Over Internet /// Uunet Technologies Inc., Open Port Technology Inc., and Ascend Communications Inc. have co-developed a fax-over-Internet service called Uufax. The partners are said to be looking for resellers and providers to help promote the concept. The service is designed to help businesses find an economical solution to manage and track fax transmissions. A Uunet spokes- man said that his company hopes to market the service through the distribution channel with companies experienced in computer- telephone integration and networking. Uufax will reside on some 100 custom fax processors over a network of 1,000 or more business centers across the U.S., Europe, and Asia. The Uunet spokesman stated that the cost savings afforded by Uufax would be in the range of 35 to 55 percent as compared to standard fax solutions.
/// Hitachi Introduces Rewritable DVD /// Officials at Hitachi America Ltd. believe the introduction of their rewritable DVD (Digital Versatile Disk/Digital Videodisk) drive could replace the standard CD-ROM and/or the floppy drive by the year 2000. The Hitachi DVD-RAM drive is slated to ship in November of this year to "select" customers, according to company officials who also stated that their DVD offers a storage capacity of 5.2- Gigabytes-- the equivalent of 3,600 3.5" floppies. The optics and circuitry within the new drive also allow it to be backward- compatible with existing CD-ROMs. Internal versions of the Hitachi DVD will be priced at $794, and external units will carry a $953 price tag. Sales of both units should tally up to quite a lump sum if the company's estimate of 30 million units sold by the year 2000 becomes a reality.
/// Candescent To Build First U.S. FPD Factory /// It was a long six year financial ordeal, but Candescent Tech- nologies Corp. raised almost $277 million to achieve its goal of starting construction of the first flat-panel display (FPD) plant in the U.S. Preparations for construction are now in progress for the San Jose-based company to do its part to go head-to-head with the Asian FPD dynasties, according to a press release from Calif. last month. Actual site construction will begin this fall, and will cost about $400 million when completed. Eventual production levels there are expected to reach 1.5 million notebook PC display screens per year by 1999.
/// Plug And Display Standard Approved By VESA /// First there was Microsoft's Plug and Play architecture, which utilized the Windows operating system and available computer technology to make some system upgrades a little less painful, but now a new techno-phrase has emerged-- courtesy of the Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA). The newly designated "Plug and Display" catch phrase brings with it a an operating system-independent standard for desktop and flat panel displays. Soon, monitors and flat panel displays will be able to combine analog and/or digital video via a Universal Serial Bus and other VESA standard platforms through one standard cable and connector arrangement. Digital interfaces currently on the market are highly dependent on the choice of the equipment manufacturer and have to traverse an electronic trail that takes a digital signal input, converts it to analog output and then must convert it back to digital again. P&D allows a video display to be "hot-plugged" into a system... even while the power is turned on. One phase of the new strategy involves the TMDS (Transition Minimized Differential Signaling) protocol for flat panel displays that permits data to be passed at 195-Mbytes per second at low power consumption. The TMDS protocol technology became necessary to overcome the greater advances in CRT display performance as opposed to that of flat panel displays in recent years, as explained by a spokesman from the VESA P&D committee.
/// ActionTec Modem On The 56-Kbp/s Cutting Edge /// ActionTec Electronics Inc., Sunnyvale, California, recently introduced its 56K DeskTalk modem, which supports the x2 standard, and is software upgradable to guarantee compatibility with future international standards. In addition to its 56-Kbits/second speed and Plug and Play compatibility, the new ActionTec product has advanced features that make it ideal for home and office use. Voice attributes designed into the DeskTalk modem make it ideal for voice mail, speaker phone, and videoconferencing applications. The Desk- Talk modem also supports caller ID, and will operate under DOS, Windows 3.x, Windows NT, Windows 95, and OS/2 Warp. A July 14 trade report noted that the new modem is now on the market, and is priced at about $169.
/// Rambus Signs Deal With Texas Instruments /// Rambus Inc. signed a license deal with Texas Instruments last month that should turn out to be one of its most extensive and important agreements to date. An assessment of the agreement printed in the July 21 issue of the Electronic Buyers' News (EBN) noted that Rambus licensed its complete technology set to TI for use in semiconductor products such as digital signal processors (DSPs), dynamic RAMs (DRAMS), and application specific integrated circuits (ASICs). Analysts stated that the deal indicates that Rambus is coming forward as a dominant figure in the memory industry, and that the company's RambusDRAM (RDRAM) memory architecture, as supported by Intel Corp., will triumph over new competing memory technologies-- SyncLink DRAM and double-data-rate synchronous DRAM (SDRAM).
/// More Price Cuts Announced By Intel /// After its announced price cuts in June, Intel Corp. is following that feat with plans to slash OEM (original equipment man- ufacturer) contract prices by another 18 percent in November. According to industry sources, the upcoming price cuts will mainly consist of Pentium MMX-enhanced processors. A 233-MHz Pentium MMX chip that went for $583 in June will ship to OEM customers for only $331 in November. Even the high-end Pentium II 233-MHz CPU will sell for $446 in November-- compared to the OEM asking price of $624 back in June. On the low-end of the scale, Intel will cut the price of its non-MMX Pentium 133-MHz chips from $131 to just $85.
/// What Ever Happened To Talisman? /// Some hardware vendors last year were placing their hopes on a new concept conceived by Microsoft Corp. and several semi- conductor makers that would have allowed some manufacturers of PC clones to build high-performance multimedia systems using older-technology Pentium-class processors. The "Talisman" specification would have taken CPU-dependent complex multimedia instructions and re-routed them to less expensive media processor chips. It was planned that Talisman would provide greater throughput and performance/efficiency that would challenge machines that employ high-end chips such as the Intel Pentium II. If Talisman has fallen by the wayside, some analysts attribute its limited use to the $45 to $75 adder cost of the technology and the complexity of its design. At present, only a few PC manufacturers such as Compaq Computer Corp. and Gateway 2000 are using the chip-based architecture in their top-line DVD machines.
/// NTSC Specification May Apply To Computers /// Computers may be required to have the ability to output a video signal to large-screen TV sets, PC monitors, and various flat panel displays in the near future. A spokesman for ATI Technologies Inc. noted that many PC makers are being asked to drive TV monitors, which require National Television Standards Committee (NTSC) output from the multi- media video controller. The addition of DVD technology to multimedia computers is another reason that NTSC specifications need to be built into the next-generation PC. The DVD player necessitates the use of a video controller that produces NTSC output that is compatible to both a TV set and a computer monitor, according to the ATI spokesman.
/// Electronic Commerce Venture By AT&T/HP/IBM /// The three electronics giants of AT&T Co., Hewlett-Packard Co., and IBM Corp. have released products designed to promote the expansion of electronic commerce within the business community. HP and AT&T have formed a partnership to develop an assortment of products and services to simplify the use of the Internet as a means to conduct business. The plans also call for trans- actions to be conducted via "electronic storefronts" operating on the Internet or corporate intranets and extranets. IBM added to its lineage of electronic commerce products with the 4758 PCI Cryptographic Coprocessor/Adapter. Working with security sensitive applications, the 4758 PCI will allow users to conduct high-volumes of Internet e-commerce at high-speeds. The new coprocessor is undergoing beta testing, and should be ready for market by the end of this month.
/// Notebook PC Bargains Befall Flooded Market /// 42,000 notebook computers, which are part of an over-stocked market, translates to a five month surplus of IBM and Compaq notebooks alone, as related by several distribution sources last month. There are reports of excess inventory in both low-end and high- end models, but with mention of further price cuts by Intel on the Pentium processors, the next few months could contribute to an even greater push to dump low-end units through the resale channel. In the 133- to 150-MHz CPU range, IBM has about 25,000 notebooks warehoused, and Compaq shows about 17,000 in surplus stacked up in distributor warehouses. One analyst said that the problem may stem from customers who have decided that the features of the high-end notebooks-- even with their 13.3" displays and MMX Pentium processors are just not worth the extra amount of money the PC makers are asking.
/// New Canon Printers Should Attract SOHO Business /// Canon Computer Systems Inc.'s new printers released last month were designed to attract small office/home office customers. Three new products delivered by Canon, the BJC 7000, BJC 4304, and BJC 250, offer what the company calls its latest break- through technologies. A prominent breakthrough noted by Canon is based on the attempt to duplicate the anti-bleeding, water-resistant attributes of coated paper and apply them to the ink cartridges of the BJC- 7000 printer. A Plain Paper Optimized Printing (P-POP) system was devised for the BJC 7000 cartridges that first coats the paper with a special primer/sealer ink just before any of the seven colors contained in the cartridge system are applied. The BJC 4304 model is an enhanced version of the current BJC- 4200 printer, and has been made directly compatible with the new Canon Color Sheet-fed Scanner. For the low-end or entry-level color printer, the BJC 250 is billed as the new black and white/color workhorse printer. List prices show the BJC 250, BJC 4304, and BJC 7000 at $179, $239, and $450 respectively. All three printers are shipped with Canon's Creative 3 graphics software.
/// ECC Memory Added To Pentium II Chips /// In an effort to strengthen its dominance of the low-end server market and also eliminate some bothersome data errors, Intel Corp. will be adding Error Correction Code (ECC) memory to the next release of Pentium II chips. Sources indicated that the 233-MHz and 266-MHz Intel processors will be given the ECC treatment, which the company claims will add some stability to transactions on low-end Web servers and workgroup level server systems. The ECC memory will be embedded in the Level 2 cache of the Pentium II chips. In earlier versions, the processor had to rely on the companion chip sets to accommodate the memory. Intel officials stated that the chances of data glitches are lessened by placing the memory in closer proximity, ie, within the processor itself. In wholesale volumes of 1,000, the 233-MHz Pentium II will cost $666, while the 266-MHz version will sell for $805.
/// PanaFax Multifunction Machine Targets Corporate Trade /// Panasonic Office Products Co. has introduced a modular multi- function machine called the PanaFax UF-560, which the company has billed as a cost efficient device because of its speed and ability to use plain-paper. Designed specifically for corporate use, the UF-560 features PC/LAN faxing within a local area network (LAN) and a full five page per minute output as a copy machine, printer, or fax. The UF-560 also functions as a scanner. It will render 400 by 400 dots per inch resolution in its laser printer mode and 400 by 200 dpi while in scanner mode. The machine can scan a document in as little as 10 seconds. An internal 14.4 Kbit per second modem handles the fax transmission chores. Panasonic sources say that photos and text can be reproduced on the same page with excellent clarity through a "Facsimile Image Processor" chip technology developed by the company. The basic UF-560 machine is priced at $2,095. Optional soft- ware is required to use the device as a networked laser printer.
/// Updated LaserJet Printer From HP /// The venerable old Hewlett-Packard LaserJet 5L printer has been replaced with the newer model 6L, which offers its users a significant gain in speed over the older models. Priced at $399, the LaserJet 6L has an output speed of 6 pages per minute as compared to just 4-ppm for the antiquated 5L. Not only the production speed is faster, but warm-up time for the new laser printer has been cut to just 18 seconds, where other laser printers may require several minutes before the first page of a job can be printed. Full 600 by 600 dpi resolution is rendered by both of the new versions of the LaserJet. The 6Lse is sold with the LaserJet Internet Publishing kit and a two- month free Internet package through the Microsoft Network. The 6Lxi comes with the LaserJet Custom News package, which provides free business news updates to customers for 30 days via the AT&T Worldnet Service.
/// Major Portion Of Internet Service Went Down /// When a major portion of the Internet went down last month, one company took the blame when two of the four top root servers failed. On July 17 the Internet took a dive due to a programming error that incorrectly routed Internet protocol addresses. The blame for the info-disaster falls squarely on a company called Network Solutions Inc., which is the Internet's ONLY naming service. Immediately, questions arose from Internet Service Providers and resellers as to why one company alone should be vested with that much power and control over the Internet. Apparently the .com and .net zone files became corrupted due to bad programming to the main Name System server furnished by Network Solutions Inc. Maintenance of the root servers however is conducted by the InterNIC organization in conjunction with Network Solutions and AT&T Corp., as disclosed in a Reseller News article dated July 21. Network Solutions acknowledged that seven of its nine file servers received corrupted data. In addition to the complaints voiced by the ISP's, Webmasters, and resellers, it is on record that early on in July that the U.S. government asked Network Solutions to produce documents relating to an investigation of alleged anti-competitive practices.
/// Microsoft Fails to Sell Resellers On NT /// Microsoft Corp. went to all the trouble of setting up a big pow-wow with all the leading Sun Microsystems value-added resellers (VARs) last month in an attempt to persuade them to switch over to Windows NT instead of their tried and true Unix- based systems. The software giant should have saved their time and money on that little ploy. As noted by several resellers who attended the huge info-mercial at Redmond, Washington, they were not about to change their minds based on what Microsoft had to say. Some attendees said that the meeting actually turned hostile at one point. When one reseller told the Bill Gates gang that they [Microsoft] did not understand the needs of Unix resellers, he received a standing ovation from the crowd. Microsoft co-hosted the event with Hewlett-Packard Co., and used the enticement of being able to mingle with Bill Gates to attract the VARs to the meeting, said one vendor. He said Gates did stick around and talk for a while at the meeting and socialized during the ensuing dinner cruise, but the resellers were not likely to be swayed. Most of them noted that Sun's program allows them to make a better profit on service, soft- ware, and hardware than if they were to take on Microsoft's Solution Provider program under Windows NT. @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@