dba+@andrew.cmu.edu (David Anderson) (11/08/90)
From: DowJones@andrew Subject: Computer Firm Plans To Unveil Versatile Laptop Date: Wed, 7 Nov 90 06:55:26 -0500 (EST) A small California start-up plans to add a new twist to the computer wars with a jack-of-all-trades laptop machine that runs software for machines made by Sun Microsystems Inc., Apple Computer Inc. and International Business Machines Corp. The company, Research, Development & Innovations Inc. of San Diego, said it plans to display at the Comdex computer show next week a 8.5-pound battery-powered laptop computer that uses the Sparc chip, the heart of Sun's popular workstations. The machines will run Sun, IBM and Apple software unaltered, said RDI president Rick Schrameck. The RDI machine, a Sparc "clone" called the BriteLite, apparently solves one of the biggest headaches of computer makers who are cloning Sun's machines. Sun and its backers want to eat into markets traditionally served by personal computers but are hampered by computer users' reluctance to discard huge libraries of software written for IBM clones and Apple machines. The machine is one of the first Sparc clones that Sun is counting on to help make its chip a de facto standard in the quickly growing market for workstations. About a dozen other computer makers are expected to show Sparc clones at the Comdex convention in Las Vegas. BriteLite is especially unique in that it apparently will be the first computer ever to contain software that allows it to mimic, or "emulate," the Apple's Macintosh machines. An Apple spokeswoman said no non-Apple computer on the market runs Macintosh software, but she added that Apple wasn't familiar with the new machine. "The only way they could do that is in a jerry-rigged manner," said the spokeswoman. "We cannot, nor can our third-party software vendors, verify if this is a usable system for our customers." The BriteLite will "absolutely run all Macintosh software" faster than does the Macintosh SE, said Schrameck, and will run MS-DOS software at the same speed as a PC using Intel Corp.'s 80286 microprocessor. The machines will be manufactured by TriGem Computer Inc., a major South Korean PC maker that builds machines for Japan's Epson Corp. and owns a minority interest in RDI. The company said it will begin shipping the machines, which will list for between $7,000 and $12,000, in December. The machines will include eight megabytes of memory, a 100 megabyte disk drive and a 13-inch monochrome screen.