A New product and a sale of subsidiaries are the latest aftershocks following the restructuring of Dayna Communications. The company's wide-area-wireless subsidiary, newly dubbed AirGo (reachable through Dayna, at 800-531-0600 or 801-269-7200), has announced its first product, the AirGo PhoneCard System. Dayna has also sold its remote-access business.
The AirGo PhoneCard is a Type III PC Card that contains both a modem (14.4 kbps, V.32bis) and a cellular phone. Users can make voice, fax, or data calls with the integrated card, which is compatible with PowerBooks and PC laptops. Connectors on the PhoneCard support the use of a handset, a DAA (data-access arrangement, for connecting the modem to an RJ-11 phone jack), or an external antenna (for wider reach than the integrated antenna can provide).
The AirGo PhoneCard System also includes a telephone handset of AirGo's design and AirGo PhoneBook software. The software stores contact information and can dial either the fax modem or the cellular phone.
Final pricing for the PhoneCard System was not available at press time. AirGo estimated the cost of the full package (including the PC Card, the handset, and software) at under $1,000, and the cost of a package containing the PhoneCard, software, and a Jabra Earphone Connector (for supporting voice calls) at under $800.
AirGo is partially funded by Dayna and uses technology developed there before the company reorganized earlier this year. In addition to splitting off the wireless subsidiary that became AirGo, the reorganization created another subsidiary that manufactured and marketed DaynaLINK remote-access servers. Dayna recently sold the remote-access subsidiary to Ascend Communications (510-769-6001), known for its WAN connectivity products.
