MacExpo kicks off with huge RasterOps sponsored competition, new RasterOps displays
Santa Clara-based RasterOps Corp says it will give away more than $100,000 in computer hardware, software and peripherals at the 1991 Macworld Expo in San Francisco as part of the biggest vendor contest in the show’s history. The contest theme, Building Total Solutions, highlights RasterOps as a solutions provider in six major business areas – pre-press, business presentations, multimedia, business productivity, computer-aided design and imaging. The company says that it has rounded up the best products from 20 leading vendors to demonstrate integrated hardware and software solutions in these arenas and is giving away its Video ColorBoard 364, TV Tuner and Expander, True Color Calibrator, 24L display system with Accelerator (24-bit display system with 19 monitor), Business Color System (8-bit display system with 19 monitor), ClearVue/XL (monochrome display system with 21 monitor) and ColorCAD 228 (8-bit high resolution display system with 19 monitor). Among the companies donating their products to the contest are Acius, Adobe, Aldus, Apple, Barneyscan, Claris Digidesign, Dynaware, Engineered Software, IDD, Letraset, Logitech, MacroMind, Microsoft, Paracomp, Silicon Beach, Strata, Symantec and Quark. RasterOps is also taking the opportunity of MacWorld to launch some new products such as its ClearVue/Classics, 19 and 21 monochrome display systems for the Apple Macintosh Classic. The 19 system has a screen format of 1,024 by 768 pixels, while the 21 system has a screen format of 1,152 by 870 pixels. Each monitor ensures consistency between screen and printer, and features a 75Hz screen refresh rate to eliminate the flickering associated with large screen monitors. RasterOps also announced 24STV, which is a real-time video processing system that combines 24-bit True Color, digital television integration, graphics acceleration, video overlay and video compression in a product that fits into one NuBus slot. With the 24STV, users can display 24-bit images, capture images from a variety of video sources, and overlay graphics onto live video through the basic NuBus adaptor. To increase the performance of True Color, graphics-intensive applications up to 600%, users can add on-board acceleration through a daughterboard which connects via the RasterOps’ high speed expansion connector. The 24STV enables user to view full motion video from any NTSC, PAL, SECAM or S-Video source on an Apple 13 RGB or compatible monitor. The overlay plane enables graphics to be superimposed over incoming video images, while accompanying XCMD and X-object software enables users of MacroMind’s Director or MediaMaker, SuperCard and HyperCard to access all features of the display adapter. The 24STV will be available in late February. Suggested retail price of the display adapter, with frame grabbing and video overlay, is $1,800. The daughterboards, one with graphics acceleration and another offering both acceleration and video compression / decompression ships in March.
With Meridian Data’s MacCD more users can put applications onto CD-ROM
Meridian Data introduced MacCD, which is designed to lessen the cost of low volume in-house CD ROM production by eliminating the need for outside mastering facilities. MacCD includes Meridian’s CD Publishing software, which enables users to copy information directly onto a CD, run a full simulation of their application as if it already resides on a disk and then copy the information onto a physical CD. Available now, pricing for the MacCD, including the Authorware Professional Working Model and Paracomp Swivel 3D and FilmMaker software with which it is bundled, starts at around $30,000.
Apple helps you move to client-server computing via its SpeedStart service
The Apple USA division of Apple Computer Inc has a new support programme called SpeedStart, designed to help large businesses revitalise host-based applications by integrating them with graphical desktop interfaces. Via the programme, users receive a customised ap
plication prototype developed by ExIS in co-operation with the customer. Using HyperCard and MitemView, graphics-based application prototypes will be developed for terminal or transaction-based applications which reside on mainframe or minicomputers. Via object-oriented tools from Mitem and Claris Corp, SpeedStart customers will be able to shorten the development time for a new graphically-based front-end for host-based applications. The Macintosh platform will provide seamless integration software such as spreadsheets, databases and word processors. Jointly marketed by Apple, ExIS – formed as an alliance between KPMG Peat Marwick and Apple – and Mitem, SpeedStart is aimed at large companies seeking to begin the migration from their old terminal-based host applications to cooperative client-server computing.
SuperMac slashes prices on its Spectrum graphics cards, SuperMatch displays
SuperMac Technology Inc, based in Sunnyvale, California took the opportunity to announce that its Spectrum/8 Series III, large screen 8-bit colour graphics card is now $1,000, while it also announced significant price reductions of $1,000 on its Spectrum/24 PDQ and Spectrum/24 Series III 24-bit graphics cards for 19 and 21 displays. Both the Series III products include SuperMac’s Virtual Desktop software feature, a capability that enables users to create a workspace up to eight square feet, for work on large documents such as blueprints, designs or tabloid layouts. SuperMac also announced price reductions on its line of displays including its 19 SuperMatch display now $2,800 from its previous price of $3,200. The SuperMac 21 SuperMatch display has been reduced to $4,400, a $400 savings from its previous price of $4,800, and the 16 Trinitron Display is now $2,700, a saving of $100 from its previous price of $2,800. SuperMac believes it can afford these cuts because over the last year it manufactured tens of thousands of 8-bit and 24-bit colour graphics cards. Because of this volume and continued improvements in manufacturing efficiencies, it says it can afford to provide these cost reductions. All SuperMac graphics cards include SuperMatch software, which provide the continuous-tone colour matching and spot-colour matching for Macintosh displays.
