Software Vault: The Gold Collection/Software Vault - The Gold Collection (American Databankers) (1993).ISO/cdr11/ctm9307.zip/ART2

Text File | 1993-07-02 | 12KB | 194 lines

                             PC Expo -- NYC
                          June 28-July 1, 1993

                             by Tony Curro

    PC Expo is over for another year. This year should set an attendance
    record. You had to wait on line for almost everything.
    Demonstrations were overflowing beyond seating and standing
    capacity. Attendants were going around urging people to move in, as
    they were blocking the passing aisles, while watching the shows.
    There were long lines waiting to purchase food at astronomical
    (show) prices. Some examples: mini (personal size) pizza, which can
    be had for $1.99, or $2.49 with sausage at Pizza Hut, was selling
    for $3.90 and $4.60 respectively. A combination plate of Chinese
    food consisting of beef or chicken dish, fried rice and egg roll was
    $6.95. At most local outlets I patronize two meals could be had for
    that price. My assistant and I had two of the above mentioned and
    two sodas, which came to almost $19.00. So much for the food. On to
    the SHOW!! Due to the amount of products that I will mention, I may
    not say much about some. But, in future issues, I plan to review
    many of the products I mention.

    There were many new releases of hardware and software, and quite a
    few upgrades. One of the largest attractions was WordPerfect. On
    Monday, June 28, they shipped their new version 6.0 of WordPerfect
    for DOS. This product has been much improved, and one that serious
    WP DOS users should get. WordPerfect has also begun shipping
    WordPerfect Office 4.0 for DOS, Windows and Macintosh. A interim
    release of WP Works for MAC v1.2.1. They have also announced that
    the soon to be released WP Presentations for Windows will be the
    first presentation package to support the new Roland Audio Processor
    (RAP-10) card.

    HP was showing its new palmtop and sub-notebook. The HP 100LX fits
    in the palm of your hand, and carries a list price of $749. It
    contains DOS 5.0, 1-2-3, and several other functions including
    database and memo writer. It comes with 640K of memory that can be
    expanded. You can also add a PCMCIA 10MB flash card that has Stacker
    built-in that will give you approximately 20MB of storage. There is
    no disk drive, but I understand you can connect one to add programs
    to the system. It was an interesting unit and one I hope to look at
    closer. Speaking of PCMCIA, Practical Peripherals will be releasing
    a 14.4 V.32 PCMCIA card that has 14.4 send/receive Fax capabilities.
    The OmniBook 300, the other HP entry, retails for under $2000. It
    contains Window 3.1 and weighs in under 3 pounds.

    Also from HP was the 1200C color  printer. This printer is larger
    than the DJ 500 or 550, but smaller than the PaintJet. It carries a
    list price of $1699 or 2399 for PostScript model. I was extremely
    pleased with this unit. The quality was excellent, and would be a
    great addition to those who wish to have color.

    Verbex introduced the first continuous speech recognition system for
    Windows. Listen for Windows 1.1 lists for $495. It comes with speech
    interfaces for MS Windows, MS Word and WordPerfect. Special
    Introductory offer also includes interfaces for: MS Office Suite,
    Compel, Corel Draw!. You can navigate (Switch to Word. Go to page
    14), Command (Set type size 72 points), Data Entry (enter 1764.39.
    OK, next transaction.), Inquiry (Show monthly report for Eastern
    region). All of this by speaking to your computer, and telling it
    what you want it to do.

    Aztech Labs released a new version of their sound card. Sound Galaxy
    NX Pro 16, is a complete sound alternative. It is compatible to:
    AdLib, Sound Blaster, SB Pro II, MS Windows Sound System, Covox
    Speech Thing and Disney Sound Source. The SB 16 ASP does NOT have SB
    Pro II support, nor does it support anything after the first two
    mentioned above. Galaxy also has full CD-ROM support. You can
    upgrade to a daughterboard to support and SCSI CD-ROM. In addition
    you can upgrade to 16-Bit Wave-Table Synthesis. It has full Windows
    and MIDI support. Aztec, is a fairly new company. They have office
    worldwide, and have received recognition for their products on
    several continents. Besides the above,  they make a full line of
    video products, and have a line of multimedia packages. All of their
    audio products come with speakers, microphone or headphone. The
    cards are software configurable, and are affordable priced.

    Egghead Software also has a product on their market. They unveiled
    Egghead Express. Express is an Electronic Software Ordering System.
    The package lists for $595, and is geared toward corporate, Fortune
    1000, and government buyers. The program requires Windows and is
    easy to use. You can browse through an on-line catalog, see and
    download patches and drivers, and even order and download additional
    software licenses for your products. This is available 365
    days-a-year, and 24 hours-a-day.

    ITI, a small company with a vision, has released a new keyboard.
    CompuPhone, is a 101-key AT style keyboard, and phone in one unit.
    You do not have to open your computer or insert any cards. Just
    unplug you keyboard, and plug in CompuPhone. Add a telephone handset
    or headset, plug in your phone line, and discard your phone. From
    now on you will be able to use your keyboard as a telephone. The
    keypad has the same keys you would see on a touch-tone phone, and
    gives you full telephone functionality. Included is DOS and Windows
    software that will also allow you to dial a number. The Windows
    version will seek out a number on screen and ask if you wish to
    connect to this number, or you can enter a number. ITI, is also
    coming out with CompuTrac, which along with the above contains a
    trackball mouse built into the spacebar. Just about anyone can
    release a product, be it hardware or software, but only a few can
    release innovative products, that are useful and practical. I think
    that ITI has succeeded in this area. I will be reviewing CompuPhone
    in an upcoming issue.

    Speaking of innovative and useful, Alacrity has a software package
    that can be called "Office-In-A-Box." The program is truly
    remarkable. E-Quip, which is the name of the product, is a complete
    office for Windows right on your desktop. Features include: Document
    Image File Cabinet - to store anything on paper, and then quickly
    retrieve it. You can search a 200MB hard disk in under 10 seconds.
    Personal Copier - enlarges, reduces and collates. Plain Paper Fax -
    Sends faxes from your scanner or Windows, and prints incoming faxes
    on plain paper. OCR - (add-on program) converts faxes and scanned
    images into over 35 formats. Retail price in $99 for a limited time.
    OCR is $69.00. For those who do not have a fax modem or scanner, you
    can get the E-Quip Office-in-a-Box that includes:  software,
    internal fax modem and compact desktop full page scanner.

    NDI, makers of the multiple award-winning Volante Warp 10 Plus, is
    releasing new hardware and software. Warp 24LB, is a Local Bus video
    card. Warp 20, is an accelerated video card for ISA, that comes with
    1 or 2MB of fast VRAM installed. Volante Point-and-Click Desktop for
    Windows, is a simplified way to do everything in Windows without the
    need of Program or File Manager. It is the desktop for those who
    feel  bogged down in PC Tools or Norton's Desktop. The ease of use
    of Point-and-Click, will not require users to spend days learning
    the features. Rather, they can spend days enjoying the product. I
    will be reviewing Warp 10 Plus in my next issue. Warp 20 and
    Point-and-Click will be in future issues.

    Stac Electronics has released versions of Stacker for Macintosh and
    OS/2. They have upgraded their 3.0 DOS version to include DOS 6.0
    support. The new version 3.1 is currently shipping. Stacker is still
    the leader in its field.

    Toshiba unveiled its next generation of advanced portable computers
    that combine multimedia mobility with all the features of the most
    powerful desktop systems. The T6600C Series is a 66MHz i486DX2
    mobile multimedia computer that bridges the gap between notebook
    portability and desktop performance for sophisticated power users.
    The T6600C Series integrates a large hard drive, CD-ROM
    capabilities, multimedia software, voice and stereo sound, digital
    video, graphics and animation all combined in a complete portable
    multimedia solution. List prices range from $7699-9499.

    UMAX announced the UC1260. This is a flatbed color scanner for users
    who demand high resolution, yet are price-sensitive. The UC1260 is
    designed for creators of multi-media presentations and computer
    graphics, high-end desktop publishing and the printing industry. It
    is a 24-bit scanner with an optical resolution of 600 x 1200 dpi and
    a maximum resolution of 2400 x 2400 through UMAX's software
    interpolation procedure. I have reviewed UMAX products in a previous
    issue, and feel that they have a solid product. Of the several
    scanners I reviewed, I opted for the UMAX scanner as my personal
    favorite.

    ZyXEL announced two new products. A cellular high-speed modem and
    voice/fax software. The software will give DOS users the ability to
    have voice messages, faxes, or even data transfers done from a
    single U-series modem. Windows and MAC users cannot do data
    transfers automatically. You have the further ability to use call
    forwarding, receive a message on your pager, or have your faxes sent
    to you. ZyXEL is a leading modem manufacturer, and has won many
    awards from leading computer publications. They also have a rack
    system, that is geared toward SYSOPS. I found the software for the
    rack system, and the voice/fax package very intuitive. The modems
    run at 16.8 with 14.4 send/receive fax capability. The new Ultra
    series run at 19.2. They run on a variety of platforms such as: DOS,
    Windows, OS/2, MAC and others. They are V.32/V.32bis, are compatible
    with many modems on the market, and while doing fast transfers are
    very reliable. I hope to be able to review the voice/fax package and
    their high speed modem in a future issue.

    3M, the leader in magnetic recording media, has unveiled a new 750
    MB quarter-inch minicartridge. It will store up to 750MB in native
    capacity, and up to 1.5GB with data compression. Some may not
    understand the term, native capacity. It means the actual storage
    capacity of the tape without using compression. For example, a DC
    2120 tape is 120 megabytes. This is native format. You can achieve
    up to 250MB using data compression from your software.

    Finally, in closing, you will find a file named DATA.AWD in the
    magazine. 3M, in association with personal computer users groups,
    has established a formal, merit-based awards program honoring
    individuals who have created outstanding personal computer data
    backup and protection policies for organizations. If you know of
    anyone who should be so honored, please use the enclosed form to
    nominate them.

    There were many others that interested me at Expo. I hope to bring
    you reviews of many of the above, and those that I did not write
    about here.