Three months after announcing UKP1.5m in financing from 3i Plc (CI No 1,553), the Rainow, Cheshire-based Eden Group Ltd has finished the two-year development phase of Papertalk. The company is claiming that Papertalk is the first write-on screen device to be designed and financed in the UK. Called the VPi386, the provisional specifications are for a shatterproof writing surface measuring 13.4 by 10.6 by 1 thick. It uses an Intel 80386SX processor, running at 16MHz or 20MHz, and system memory includes 1Mb or 2Mb Flash EEPROM, 1Mb DRAM with an optional 2Mb or 4Mb, and two JEIDA, Japan Electronics Industry Development Association, standard memory cards. It can be mains or battery-powered, and communications include two serial and one battery port, and there is support for local area networks, external peripherals and external disk drives. An electronic pencil is connected to the writing tablet, said to be suitable for both right and left-handed users, and operators can use the pen to underline, insert, circle and arrow changes which the software will recognise. The software is proprietary and supports MS-DOS applications, Pen Windows, the Microsoft flash file system and Go Corp’s Penpoint. The Eden Group won’t be manufacturing Papertalk, and it is planning to sell patents to manufacturers, not necessarily based in the UK since it is currently in discussions with companies in the US, Japan and the rest of Europe. No definite price, but possibly between UKP1,000 and UKP1,500.
