This fall, Sharp plans to roll out the first notebook PC in the industry to use a "wide format" screen, officials revealed, during a press conference at PC Expo in New York City. Sharp has not yet named the less than four-pound unit, being demonstrated at the show in prototype form.

Although the wide format screen will later be available to other PC makers on an OEM (original equipment manufacturer) basis, Sharp will be the first to incorporate the screen into a commercial product, to make sure the screen is readily identifiable with the Sony brand name, said Brian Greer, national marketing manager for Sharp's Computer Products Division, speaking at the press conference, which was attended by Newsbytes.

The wide format screen will easily accommodate the two facing pages used in "landscape," as opposed to "portrait," mode, according to Greer.

The new screen will also allow simultaneous viewing of two World Wide Web pages, he told the journalists and analysts. The screen will consume "one-third less power than a standard LCD (liquid crystal display)." It will provide 1024 by 680 resolution.

Sharp decided to develop the new screen due to the results of market research on the preferences of notebook PC users, Greer added, speaking with Newsbytes at the close of the press event.

Sharp determined that, when users say they want a "larger" screen, what they are actually looking for is a "wider" screen, he elaborated.

With this and other upcoming portable PC products, Sharp's underlying strategy is to continue to provide "the most features at every price point," said Rob Rosborough, director of marketing for the Sharp division, also during the press conference.

Sharp, he added, will also keep "taking risks." Sharp was the first portable PC manufacturer to come to market with four megabits-per-second (Mbps) infrared (IR) IRDA technology, color screens, and PC card slots, Rosborough asserted.

Sharp now rates among the "top ten" in the hotly competitive notebook PC market under IDC rankings, and intends to enter the "top five" by 1997, contended Brad Garrison, director of sales for the division.

The company has doubled its sales growth every six months over the past two years, according to Garrison. Plans call for sales of 150,000 units in fiscal year 1996, and more than 250,000 units in fiscal year 1997.

Also in the future, Sharp expects to further extend the "intelligence" of its Intellilink file synchronization capability, Greer reported. An IR-capable Sharp notebook will be able to "sense" the presence of another IR-equipped device, such as a Sharp Wizard, and to automatically initiate file synchronization, he illustrated.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19960618/Reader Contact: Sharp Electronics, 800-BE-SHARP; Press Contact: Heidi Donato or Dulcie Neiman, Shandwick for Sharp, 212-420-8100)