Pay-for-print Plan Wins Contract For Lexmark
The Age
Monday September 13, 1993
PRINTER manufacturer Lexmark has won a large Australian Government contract by offering a unique payment method on printers. The Department of Social Security will receive 1800 of the IBM 4029 laser printers and only pay a per-print charge to cover hardware, consumables, service, and training instead of a normal outright purchase price.
The system is ``click-charge", which uses the printer's intelligence to differentiate between successful and unsuccessful prints (for which there is no charge). DSS believes the power costs of running these machines will be minimised through Lexmark's Powersaver feature that reduces power consumed when the printer is idle. It estimates this feature will save $1million over the five-year contract.
Versatile PC keyboard Australian keyboard manufacturer ACTek has added another 60 programmable function keys to the new release of its intelligent PC keyboard the Versakey III. One or two sets of keystrokes can be assigned to the extra 60 keys, automating many PC tasks. Some use Versakey to record complicated strings of commands on to keys for jobs such as month-end roll-over of products like accounting packages.
The VersaKey III plugs into any 286, 386, 486 or PS/2 PC. Keystroke settings can be entered manually or from disk. For more information, contact ACTek Technology Pty Ltd on phone (03) 349 1666.
Facts by fax Automated facsimile information services are becoming popular among vendors who are anxious to get information to customers as efficiently as possible. Hewlett-Packard launched its service last week. It uses a voice menu and a touch-tone phone. Selected information is faxed to a telephone number entered by the enquirer.
The system has a database of around one gigabyte of information.
HP says the system differs from other fax-back services because users can request an index of hundreds of available documents. Interested readers can try the service on (03) 272 2627.
Client/server push IBM promises more than 100 new software and hardware products to flesh out its move into client/server and has outlined upcoming releases that will bring the AS/400 midrange machines closer to the market.
Scheduled for delivery at the end of the year, IBM says its three new AS/400 server models _ the 100, 135 and 140 _ offer better performance in client/server environments.
IBM also announced support for Apple Computer's LocalTalk network interface that will allow Macintosh computers to connect directly to the AS/400 and the addition of IBM PS/ValuePoint personal computers configured as a client to an AS/400 server. Programs and controllers to connect Novell NetWare servers, and support for connections to Sun Microsystems and Hewlett-Packard Unix workstations are also part of the AS/400 client/server plan.
OS/2 joins office Lotus Development Corp is bringing OS/2 users into the market for one-stop-shop office software suites with an OS/2 version of SmartSuite, due to ship in October. SmartSuite for OS/2 features native versions of 1-2-3, Ami Pro, Freelance Graphics and cc:Mail that take advantage of OS/2's 32-bit memory management, multitasking, and Workplace Shell integration, the company says. Lotus will not offer OS/2 implementations of either Organiser or the Approach database in the initial OS/2 bundle, although they are included in the $1150 Windows equivalent.
Feeding printer market Price cuts in the laser priner market have spurred Hewlett-Packard in to bundling a cut-sheet feeder with its HP DeskJet Portable printer at a lower price. The cut-sheet feeder holds 50 sheets of A4 and puts the price at $439 (excluding sales tax). The HP DeskJet 500 printer has 300 dots-per-inch resolution, prints up to three pages per minute and is supported by all major DOS and Microsoft Windows 3.X applications.
Package in the bag DB Developments is replacing the paper job bags used by advertising agencies, graphic designers and typesetting bureaus with Job Bag 3.3.1 _ an integrated operations and management software system for Macintosh computers.
Job Bag 3.3.1 controls day-to-day business, including job costing, traffic management, work in progress, internal production management and quoting and estimating. It has full accounting features. DB Developments can be contacted on (02) 954 4687.
ASK's Windows answer The ASK Group (formerly Ingres) has announced shipment of Windows 3.1 and OS/2 2.1 versions of its Windows4GL product, which also provides portability across Unix platforms and various ``legacy system formats". The ASK Windows4GL graphical development environment includes an object-oriented 4GL, interactive debugger, visual interface builder and life-cycle management facility. ASK says Windows4GL can reduce software development projects from four years to 18 months.
Novell security As part of its effort to improve NetWare security, Novell has released a security enhancement to the login utility for NetWare 4.x. The enhancement, a file called LOGIN.EXE v4.02, eliminates a small window of exposure where a user's name and password may be temporarily swapped to disk when running in a DOS environment with a small memory configuration. The NetWare 2.x and NetWare 3.x login utilities are not affected.
Adobe bundle on way Graphics enthusiasts will be able to get their hands on Adobe's new graphics software bundle in two weeks, according to InfoMagic boss Richard Graham. The bundle has Adobe Photoshop for Windows, Adobe Illustrator for Windows and 200 Adobe Type 1 typefaces. It will cost $1590. For details, call Info Magic on (03) 665 2515.
Finding SoundBlaster In last week's Mass Storage we announced the US release of the SoundBlaster 16 Audio card. The product is expected to ship here in mid-October. For further details, contact the local supplier, Creative Pacific on (03) 899 9051.
© 1993 The Age
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