New product highlights from Comdex Fall '96<\/p>\n
By Zatni Arbi<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): As far as I can remember, June was the month
\nthat Corel Corp. of Ontario, Canada, launched its yearly upgrade
\nto its venerable graphics software suite, CorelDRAW!. Corel
\nseemed to need more time this year to prepare its Version 7.0. It
\nwas finally announced Oct. 8 and was showcased during the recent
\nCOMDEX Fall '96.<\/p>\n
We are very fortunate since less than two weeks after that big
\nevent in Vegas the people from Corel have come to Jakarta and
\nwill present a one-day seminar on their latest products at
\nAryaduta Hotel, Central Jakarta, on Dec. 3, 1996. If you happen
\nto be a CorelDRAW! fanatic like myself, just make sure you get a
\nseat there at nine in the morning.<\/p>\n
In the meantime, here are some of the new features we'll find
\nin CorelDRAW! 7.0: It is an optimized 32-bit version that has
\nspeedier Open, Save, Import Export and redraw operations. It will
\nprovide us with more guidance by giving advice and
\nrecommendations through its CorelTUTOR and Hints. There will be a
\ncontext sensitive Property Bar, which works more like the Tool
\nPalettes in PageMaker 5.0 and 6.0 and QuarkXpress. The interface
\nwill be more streamlined and customized than ever. We will also
\nbe able to drag and drop colors, fills, clipart, photos, and
\nstyles. Click and drag is also possible for transparencies,
\nfountain fills and blends; this is the strength of CorelXara.
\nThis version also supports pressure sensitive line drawing if you
\nhave the necessary tool.<\/p>\n
CorelDRAW will come bundled with CorelPHOTO-PAINT 7.0,
\nCorelDREAM 3D and the other familiar utilities. The biggest news
\nfor Mac users is probably that CorelDRAW! 6.0 is now available
\nfor the Mac operating systems. Throughout the seminar, Corel will
\nalso demonstrate other great products in its line-up, including
\nCorel Office Professional Suite 7.0, CorelVENTURA 7.0, Corel
\nWeb.Designer, Corel Web.Gallery, Corel Web.Data -- these three
\nare bundled in Corel Web.Graphics Suite, CorelXara!, Corel
\nClick&Create, Corel Visual CADD and CorelCADD, as well as a slew
\nof fast-paced action games. Even NT 4.0 version of WordPerfect
\nSuite will be available shortly.<\/p>\n
Incidentally, according to PC Data, the sales of Corel
\nWordPerfect 7.0 have exceeded those of Microsoft's Office by
\neight points. While this doesn't mean there are more WordPerfect
\nusers out there than Winword lovers (Winword has been around much
\nlonger), it does indicate a strong revamp of this word processor
\nclassic. Dying to see what's in store for you? Just be at the
\nseminar tomorrow.<\/p>\n
HPC is the word<\/p>\n
As I wrote last week, the personal digital assistants were one
\nof the main attractions at the last Comdex. But because of my
\nlimited eyesight, I will probably never use any of these cute
\ndevices myself. Still, I have to admit they have come a long way.
\nAnd at this big exhibition they got a boost from the launch of
\nWindows CE. And because they are essentially PCs that you can
\nhold in your hands, the new buzzword is HPC for Handheld PC.<\/p>\n
These PDAs do more than just wake you up with their alarms,
\nthey keep track of your expenses, schedule of appointments and
\nlist of phone numbers, they help you calculate exchange rates,
\nand even record your voice notes. They allow you to surf the Web,
\nsend and receive E-mails and print to standard printers.<\/p>\n
As you may have suspected, some of the new gadgets come with
\ntheir own proprietary operating systems. But the majority now
\ncome with Windows CE, which ensures smooth data communication and
\ndata synchronization with Windows-based desktop or notebook PCs.
\nThese models also come with "pocket" versions of Word, Excel and
\nInternet Explorer. Some even offer handwriting recognition
\ncapability.<\/p>\n
To give you an idea of the pervasiveness of the HPC
\npopulation, here is a short list of PDA makers that took part in
\nthe show: HP (OmniGo 100, OmniGo 200LX and Windows CE-based
\npalmtop), Philips (Velo 1), Psion (Psion Series 3c), LG
\nElectronics (Model GP 40M), Casio, Sharp, Hitachi, US Robotics
\n(Pilot), Motorola (Envoy & Marco), Apple (Newton Message Pads 130
\nand 2000) and Compaq (Compaq PC Companion). Their prices range
\nfrom US$150 to US$1,000.<\/p>\n
I came across the prototype of a particular Zaurus HPC that
\nwas very interesting. It had a sharp, bright and colorful TFT
\ndisplay, and it came with a digital camera that connected to the
\nZaurus by a PC Card: Interesting, interesting.<\/p>\n
More and more companies have come up with flat panel products.
\nThese include familiar names like CTX (you can see its product in
\nthe accompanying picture), NEC, Hitachi, LG Electronics and
\nSceptre. As I mentioned last week, these are welcomed products
\nexcept for their price tags.<\/p>\n
NEC also boasts its huge, 33"-color plasma display module
\nwhich has a VGA resolution with 262,144 colors. It uses digital
\nRGB input and has a wide viewing angle. Eventually, I guess,
\nyou'll have one of these for your home Web TV or for
\nvideoconferencing at your office.<\/p>\n
Our choice of CD-writer drives has just expanded. Yamaha has
\ncome out with a fast quad speed writer and six speed reader, CDR
\n400. There is also the CDR 100 that delivers quad-speed writing
\nand double-speed reading. Yamaha's CDR 102 writes at double speed
\nand reads at quad speed. Philips has joined the growing crowd
\nwith its double-speed writer and four-speed reader, the CDD2000
\nrecorder.<\/p>\n
To my surprise, Philips has entered the PC industry in a big
\nway. Its products range from MPEG cards to CD-ROM drives to sound
\ncards. I could not believe that somebody really thought there was
\na place for peripheral makers now that the MMX technology is on
\nthe horizon.<\/p>\n
By the way, are you looking for a very fast CD-ROM drive? LG
\nElectronics has come out with its CRD 8160B and CRD 8161B drives,
\nboth of them will give you a maximum of 2.400 KB\/sec data
\ntransfer rate, which equals 16 speed. The latter features a
\ntrayless mechanism. It has a slot instead of a tray. To play a
\nCD-ROM, you just insert it through the slot. But I wonder
\nwhether this will scratch the surface of CD-ROMs.<\/p>\n
To tell the truth, folks, I'm still overwhelmed by the range
\nof new products -- 10,000 of them. I guess the important question
\nis what shall we do with them. Do you have any suggestions?<\/p>",
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