IBM’s Network Computer May Go Wireless
September 10th, 2007
Among the options IBM is mulling for its forthcoming network computer, or Network Station, is a wireless version, a company executive said this week.
IBM intends to introduce only a limited number of Network Station designs, according to Bob Dies, general manager of IBM’s Network Computer Business Unit. We don’t plan five or ten models, said Dies, who spoke in Paris on Tuesday at the business unit’s official launch. The Network Station was announced in September and is scheduled to ship late next month.
The designs for the Network Station are influenced most by corporate users’ needs, he added. IBM’s customers have expressed interest in acquiring wireless Network Stations. Although Dies stressed that his division has not committed to manufacturing a wireless device, he did not rule out the possibility. We have the option to do it later this year, he said.
A wireless Network Station could connect to a server via a cellular modem placed in the PC card slot or via an infrared link. Such a product would require some flash memory, Dies added. One model of the Network Station that IBM is planning will come with Ethernet and Token Ring connections, Dies said.
The Network Station’s features will depend on corporate users’ needs, with IBM able to integrate functions such as an MPEG chip for those customers that require it, according to Dies. Smartcard readers will also be integrated into the Network Station this summer, with European banks among those users most interested in Smartcard technology.
Dies said the Network Station is best suited to what he termed transactions, including groupware, pulling information off the Internet via a browser, accounting tasks, and making airline reservations.
Although the Network Station hardware has been ready since the end of 1996, software will not be ready until next month, putting therelease date at March 28, according to Dies. IBM has shipped the unit to a limited number of selected customers, officials said.
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