NEW FAX HAS NO STRINGS ATTACHED
 By Dan Gutman

 Hot on the heels of the cordless phone and the cordless razor is the next
wave in hassle-free electronics-- the cordless fax.

 Ricoh has announced a device which will allow a standard fax machine to
communicate over radio frequency channels.  The company has yet to name it,
give it a price tag or say when it will be available, but they do indicate the
unit will provide access to ten frequency channels as well as voice
communication up to 30 miles.

 When the technology is in place, it will be most commonly used by traveling
salespeople, fire departments and others who need
mobile communications.  According to Ricoh, a team that climbed Mt. Everest
recently was using a Ricoh wireless fax to send and receive messages during
their expedition.

 The interesting thing about a wireless fax is not that it will be wireless,
but that it will be FREE. Conventional faxes go over telephone lines, so we
pay for them just like phone calls.  I recently sent some faxes to Guam and
was astounded to see a $25 charge on my next telephone bill for the time I
spent online.

 Wireless faxes, like radio itself, won't cost a dime.  That's good news for
high-volume fax users, although I could see the wireless fax becoming a junk
mail advertising medium sometime in the future.

 Ricoh has also announced their intention to market a car fax the size of a
cassette deck that will fit right into a dashboard.  The company has already
had talks with automobile manufacturers about making the device an option for
new models.

 In other news, glasnost is reaching high-tech heights.  Smith Corona has
announced an agreement to sell their electronic typewriters and word
processors in the Soviet Union through the foreign trade organization
Vneshtogizdat.

 Up until this point, it has been commonly known that merely owning a copy
machine in the USSR is severely regulated.  Once the people have word
processing, can desktop publishing and homemade political newsletters be far
behind?...

 Blue Chip, makers of popular low-cost IBM compatible computers, have
introduced their first laser printer. The Blue Chip Compact Laser Printer
($2,499) is only 17 X 18 inches, can handle 10,000 pages per month and is
aimed at the home office market...


                                     
 A press release from NCR Corporation boasts that 36 NCR PCs, 18 NCR laser
printers and 16 NCR fax machines were used to help organize the inauguration
of President Bush.

 According to NCR, 20 computers connected via a local area network coordinated
sales of all the personalized license plates that were sold via mail order to
commemorate the event.

 "License plate sales are going through the roof," says director of promotions
Jill Collins.

 Glad to see the technology is being put to worthwhile use...

 After a recent column describing how difficult it is for handicapped people
to use our current user- hostile computers, I received a two- page letter from
IBM informing me that:

 "From a hardware standpoint, you might be interested to know that there are
37 separate features on the IBM Personal System/2 family of systems which
provide better access for persons with all types of disabilities."  That's an
encouraging development...

 Besides the fact that their screens are so hard to read, laptop users share a
familiar problem--"Where's the cursor?"  It can become maddening when you
glance away from the screen for a moment and lose track of your place.

 Software developer Ken Skier has created an elegant solution to the
problem--"No Squint".  This IBM program slows down the blink rate of the
cursor so that it attracts your eye's attention.  The program takes up just
one K of computer memory.

 For more information, contact Skier's company SkiSoft at 617-863-1876.  The
cost is $40, plus $2.50 for shipping.


                               

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