July 10, 1999

·        I’m giving away three more copies of my new book, “Personal Computer Secrets” today and during every show for the next few weeks. In addition, don't forget the live radio broadcast and book signing on Saturday, July 24 at the new Barnes & Noble bookstore in San Mateo, right near the Hillsdale mall. You can find more information, including directions, on my web site.

·        Compaq is finishing work on a new ultraportable notebook computer that promises to offer some attractive advancement to this burgeoning market. The new machine, which will be part of the Armada line and is expected to be released around July 26, apparently has a case similar to the company’s current Aero 8000 Windows CE portable, but the new Armada will be a full-fledged Windows machine based around either 333 MHz Celeron or Pentium II processors. In addition, the 3-pound computer will offer the option for three spindles—meaning a floppy disk, hard drive and CD-ROM—all available simultaneously through the addition of a bundled expansion unit that attaches to the bottom of the notebook. Even with the expansion device, the unit is only expected to weigh about 4 ˝ pounds. The new Armada will feature an 11.3” screen with 800 x 600 resolution, 64 or 128 MB of RAM, a 4 or 6 GB hard drive, optional CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, and/or LS-120 drive, a built-in mini-PC Card 56K modem, a PC Card slot, USB, serial, parallel, monitor and keyboard connectors, and a 4 MB ATI video card built-in. A docking station with Ethernet support will also be available for corporate LAN use. Prices for the device are expected to start around $2,000.

·        Speaking of forthcoming portables, Apple’s consumer-oriented iMac portable, or whatever they finally call it, is expected to make its debut on July 21 at the Macworld Expo in New York. The device, which is expected to cost around $1,500 to $1,700 dollars, will apparently offer a colorful, curvy, translucent case—a la the iMac—and be shaped somewhat similarly to the ill-fated eMate of a few years back. The computer may offer a 300 or 333 MHz G3 processor, 11.3” passive matrix screen, 32 MB of RAM and a 4 GB hard drive, although the final specifications have not been announced and may end up being fairly different. Some reports are suggesting the company will try to start selling the machine right around the time of its introduction, but that too is still unclear at that point. I’ll probably have more details for you next week.

·        Computer maker Micron has entered the free PC bonanza, but with kind of a strange and rather disconcerting twist. Essentially, you pay around $1,000 for a package of services that include three years of ISP service, a year of Micron University online training classes, a membership to their discount online peripherals store, a three-year warranty and on-site service agreement and Microsoft Works 99 and they “throw” in a PC. And actually, the PC isn’t a bad one: it’s a 400 MHz Celeron with 32 MB of RAM, 4.3 GB drive, CD-ROM, speakers, a 56K modem and a 15” monitor. But the problem is, other than the ISP service, most of the other “services” are bundled with Micron’s PCs when you buy them at normal price. The company claims the system can be upgraded over time, but it still sounds like a shaky deal to me.

·        In other low-cost PC news this week, a company called Ebiz and their Linux Store announced a deal with the Prodigy Internet Service in which the Linux Store will sell a $199 computer (without monitor) called PIA that will run Linux and provide Internet access through Prodigy. The PIA box, which stands for Personal Internet Appliance, will feature an AMD processor, 32 MB of RAM, and a 2.1 GB hard drive when its released later this month. As its name suggests, it’s designed to be an appliance-like device that provides low-cost access to the Internet. In this way, it’s similar to the Microworkz iToaster, which is another $199 PC-like appliance that’s designed to access the ‘net. In the case of the iToaster, however, the underlying operating system is the BeOS.

·        The big “Digital Divide” report was released this past week, outlining what the US government sees as inequities in the access to the Internet and other online information services. The bottom line is that lower-income and rural households are much less likely to have a computer and/or Internet access in them. Lots of different numbers were included in the report, but it looks to me to be simply a reflection of our current socio-economic issues. Nothing that I can see is different about online access than income-related problems.

·        Looking for a new keyboard for your PC? If so, you might want to check out the new BTC 9000 and BTC 9000A from Behavior Tech. Both keyboards, which are expected to retail for $20 to $30, include a volume control for your speakers—the 9000 has a rotary control and the 9000A a set of up-down buttons—as well as 15 additional buttons. Some of the buttons provide quicker access to your web browser and search engine, others provide control over power management sleep settings, and still more let you control the playback of audio CDs.