| 120-MB Disks For multimedia files and graphics, 1.44-MB floppy disks just don't cut it anymore. Compaq, 3M, and Matsushita are reviving the Floptical concept: an optically indexed magnetic disk. The disks will hold 120 MB and work five times faster than regular floppy disks. The new drives will also read and write 1.44-MB and 720-KB disks. Compaq hopes to ship its PCs with these drives in 1996. Contact: Compaq Computer, Houston, TX, (800) 345-1518 or (713) 378-8820, fax, (713) 378-1442; http://www.compaq.com.  Lots More Data, Faster Access
Connectix QuickCam Whiteboarding and document-sharing are the most useful commercial applications for videoconferencing, but visual images will find a place, too. The Connectix QuickCam (about $99) transmits a low-resolution gray-scale image and plugs directly into a parallel port on a PC or a serial port on a Mac, so it doesn't need a video digitizer. In five years, little cameras like this could be as common in PCs as built-in microphones are in today's Macs. Contact: Connectix, San Mateo, CA; (800) 950-5880, (415) 571-5100, or fax (415) 571-5195; connectix@aol.com.  Cameras: The Next Common Component
Intergraph TD/TDZ Workstations Desktop PC Cards allow easy plug-and-play expansion without opening the system, and you can share cards with mobile computers. Contact: Intergraph Computer Systems, Huntsville, AL; (800) 763-0242, (205) 730-5441, or fax (205) 730-6188; http://www.intergraph.com/ics.  Easy Expansion Without Opening Anything
Sceptre Desktop LCDs It'll probably be 10 years before color LCDs challenge the dominance of CRTs on desktops, but you don't have to wait that long — if you're willing to pay. Active-matrix and dual-scan color LCDs for desktop PCs are here now. Sceptre's LCD monitors range in size from 10.3 to 11.4 inches (diagonal), are less than 2 inches thick, and weigh less than 3 pounds. Prices range from $1595 to $2395. Contact: Sceptre Technologies, City of Industry, CA; (800) 788-2878, (818) 369-3698, or fax (818) 369-3488.  Big Bucks Now...or Wait a Decade
Integrated Telephony Built-in telephony is now standard in desktop PCs from several vendors, most notably AT&T, Compaq, and Packard Bell. Typically, these PCs come with the hardware and software required to work as speakerphones, answering machines, voice mailboxes, and fax machines (with fax-on-demand).  More Convenient than a Shoe Phone
NeoMagic MagicGraph NM2070 Highly integrated components offer more functionality while cutting costs and reducing power consumption. NeoMagic's new MagicGraph NM2070 is a single chip that replaces three or four separate chips in notebook systems, integrating a Super VGA graphics accelerator, a 1-MB frame buffer, a 128-bit memory interface, a RAM digital/analog converter (RAMDAC), an LCD controller, and PCI/VESA local-bus interfaces. The first notebooks with the MagicGraph NM2070 will be announced this fall. Contact: NeoMagic, Santa Clara, CA; (408) 988-7020, or fax (408) 988-7032; info@neomagic.com; http://www.rahul.net/neomagic. Chip Integration for Notebooks
Jabra-Net TelephonyThe Jabra-Net $99 package includes Jabra's Ear Phone, AlgoRhythms' PC Phone program, and VocalTec's Internet Phone software that turns your PC into a hands-free telephone that can place global long-distance voice calls over the Internet for the cost of a local call. The Jabra Ear Phone is a clever gadget all by itself — it fits in your ear and picks up your voice with a unidirectional mike concealed in the earpiece. Contact: Jabra, San Diego, CA; (800) 327-2230, (619) 622-0764, or fax, (619) 622-0353; sales@jabra.com; http://www.jabra.com. James Bond Will Want This Gizmo
Copyright 1994-1998 BYTE |