Tapping Into The Future

The Age

Monday August 14, 1995

Peter Smith

INCLUDED in Sharp's new products at PC 95 are the new 434 gram Zaurus ZR5000 Keyboard-Enhanced Personal Digital Assistant, designed to give the on-the-go executive a mobile office.

Sharp's new JX9680 Networkable Printer offers an advance from the popular JX9660 printer, incorporating a 12 ppm printing speed, 600 dpi resolution, compact footprint and comprehensive LCD display and front panel.

Fujitsu will launch its new 3.5-inch Magneto Optical Drive at PC 95. The DynaMO230 uses both 230 MB and 128 MB removable and rewritable 3.5-inch cartridge drives and can be used for UNIX workstations whose file systems require a minimum capacity of 200 MB. The DynaMO230 is said to be a breakthrough in Magneto Optical technology, covering all hardware platforms for sophisticated graphics and multimedia applications.

The recently launched PrintPartner30 is another of the features at Fujitsu's stand. PrintPartner30 is a compact, high-quality laser printer with standard features of 30 ppm, 600 dpi resolution and A4/A3 capacity.

Melbourne distributor Chips and Bits has several interesting products on display at its stand. The Stealth 64 Video card provides resolutions up to 1600 x 1200 dpi and comes in PCI and VLB models. Included with the board are drivers for Windows 3.x, Windows for Workgroups, Windows NT, OS/2, AutoCAD and other graphics packages. The card will play full-motion (30 frames per second) video and its drivers support Indeo, Cinepak and MPEG formats. An optional daughtercard provides hardware MPEG decoding of audio and video, and accepts input video in NTSC or PAL format. The card is bundled with a copy of CorelDRAW! 4 and Aysmetrix 3DF/X, both on CD-ROM.

Another fun product from Chips and Bits is the new Glidepoint from Cirque. This mouse replacement features a flat surface over which a finger is moved, without any pressure required, to control the ``mouse" cursor. A gentle double-tap replaces a double-click, although buttons are provided too. There are two models, a smaller one for laptops and notebooks, and a larger one for desktop use. The unit takes much less space than a mouse mat and, with no ball to clog up, should be maintenance- free. The unit is provided with a separate wrist rest and does not discriminate against left-handers.

A set of drivers is provided, but the Glidepoint will run out of the box using standard Microsoft drivers.

Chips and Bits' Spiderman is another unusual product a combination of fax, modem, answering machine and power control device. Its unique feature is that it will work with the computer switched off. It will receive faxes, power up the printer, print the fax then turn off the printer. It can also store 60 voice messages in memory.

SyQuest will release its EZ135 removable hard disk cartridge at PC 95. The 3.5-inch cartridge holds 135 MB, is read and write compatible with the existing 270 MB cartridges, and can be used with DOS, Windows or Mac applications. The drive is expected to find favor in SOHO environments, where each user can protect confidential data from accidental misuse by physically removing it no chance of homework accidentally overwriting the business balance sheet.

The drive is available in IDE, SCSI or parallel port versions, and has an average access time of 13.5 milliseconds.

Mitsubishi's new 21-inch display monitor will be on display at PC 95. The screen has an anti-reflective and anti-glare coating giving a clear, high-contrast picture. Mitsubishi's Dynamic Beam Forming ensures sharp image focus at the screen's periphery.

The Diamond Pro 21TX is a high-scan, flicker-free monitor capable of displaying 1600 x 1200 pixels at a refresh rate of 75 Hz or 1600 x 1280 at 70 Hz. It has a wide horizontal scan range of 30 to 93 kHz. The monitor will accept graphics signals from a range of platforms including Macintosh, Windows and workstation systems. The image displayed on the monitor can easily be adjusted from the Macintosh or Windows desktop using Diamond Control software.