Apple recently informed dealers that the Macintosh Portable backlit display upgrade will no longer be available. This upgrade combined a replacement screen with a new ROM and a controller card that could provide original Portable owners with the backlit display of the "new" Portable (no relation to the new PowerBooks that we've heard so much about lately). Considering how many original Portable owners are still out there, it's surprising that Apple would do this with no warning. Perhaps they felt that anyone who really wanted to upgrade would already have done so, or perhaps they simply needed all the backlit active matrix displays they could get their hands on for the PowerBooks.

The 16 September issue of Singapore's "Asian Computer Weekly" publication contained an interesting article describing the "PIC" (Personal Intelligent Communicator), an upcoming palmtop computer that's a joint venture among Apple, Sony, and General Magic. The article says that the PIC, which will bear the General Magic name, is "a Mac-like pen-based palmtop with a built-in cellular modem and a semi-proprietary OS plus a HyperCard-like interface, weighing under two pounds." This actually sounds quite a bit like Sony's existing PalmTop model. The PalmTop's address-book/appointment-diary feature looks very much like a HyperCard stack.

CE Software, Inc., the e-mail industry giant whose only major DOS products to date have been for the sole purpose of interfacing with their Mac products (QuickMail and InOut are the ones that come to mind, though rumour has it there's a Windows 3.0 version of CalendarMaker in the works), has announced that they'll be shipping a Windows version of DiskTop in the fourth quarter. DiskTop for the Mac is a popular file-and-folder navigation desk accessory that provides most of the functions of the Finder and then some. The Windows version will be a real boon for users who've been struggling with DOS file-and-directory management, or even with the Windows Program Manager and File Manager. The $99 product will run on any machine that is capable of running Windows 3.0, and even goes beyond the Mac version in functionality. The Windows version will include multiple File View windows, timed launching and recurring timed launching, and group organization for its launch menu, all features that would be a handy addition to the Mac version.

Information from:
Pythaeus
CE Software propaganda
Sue Nail -- AOL: AFC Sue