Power Of The Pen Is Growing
The Age
Sunday June 20, 1993
A program developed by the small, privately held Californian company, Aha! Software Corp, might do for pen-based computing what word processing did for typewriters, analysts say. The program, called InkWriter, will enable users of pen-based computers, personal communicators and personal digital assistants to edit texts written with electronic pens, i.e., erase, highlight, italicise or change to bold with a few quick strokes of the pen.
When words are deleted or moved from a passage, the remaining words are rearranged on the page. This process of rewrapping is a standard feature in word-processing packages.
InkWriter can also convert rough sketches and drawings into precision computer graphics. Drawings can be shaded, resized or rotated.
The initial release of InkWriter, which ships in July, runs on Go Corp's PenPoint operating system and on the AT&T's Hobbit family of microprocessors used in the EO Personal Communicator.
An Aha! official said the company was negotiating with hardware vendors on bundling deals but until then, users of any pen-based device running the PenPoint operating system can use the software.
Australian inquiries can be directed to Aha! in California on (415)9882080. They are 17 hours behind Melbourne time.
Power and portability have been drawbacks for pen computing, but vendors are tackling them with 486SL-based pen pads. IBM's 710T digitised tablet series was introduced in April using the 486SLC chip running at 25MHz.
Last week, NEC announced the 1.9-kilogram UltraLite Versapad pen tablet based on Intel's 486SL microprocessor, with 4MB RAM, a full complement of ports, and two PCMCIA Type II slots which provide fax, modem, LAN, flash memory and wireless capabilities.
The UltraLite has a recommended retail price of $5190 and runs under either Go Corporation's PenPoint or Microsoft's Windows for Pen Computing operating systems.
Zenith has also released a 486SL-based unit, the Z-Notepad 425Ln, with 4MB of RAM and a detachable electromagnetic digitised screen on a 60-centimetre cable so you can write at any angle. The Z-Notepad retails for $6393 and comes with Microsoft's Windows for Pens pre- installed.
Grid Systems has a 486 notebook designed to accept keyboard and pen input interchangeably within the same application. The Convertible 486, as it is called, uses MS-DOS6 and Microsoft Windows for Pens 3.1 and the PenCell spreadsheet from PenWare.
© 1993 The Age
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