New AST-Tandy PC Can Be Run by Keyboard or Electronic Pen : Technology: Portable machine, to be made by unit of Tandy in a joint venture, will sell for $2,895 to $3,295.
Teaming up with a unit of Tandy Corp., AST Research Inc. said Thursday that it will begin selling a portable computer that can recognize input from both a keyboard and an electronic pen.
The PenExec pen notebook computer will be made by Tandy’s TE Electronics unit in Ft. Worth, Tex., and will sell for $2,895 to $3,295. The computer is based on technology developed by Tandy’s Grid Systems Corp. portable computer subsidiary, which is marketing its own version, the Convertible.
With the computers, a customer can run programs by using a stylus to tap the computer screen. The machine comes with software from Microsoft Corp. and Slate Corp. that enables the computer to recognize printed characters and capture notes written in cursive. However, the machines cannot convert cursive writing into digital text.
The futuristic pen technology has been hailed for several years as the key to the next generation of PCs, for pens are far easier to use than the typical computer mouse or keyboard. But the first pen computers by companies such as Momenta Corp. fell flat because of flaws in the early machines and a lack of market acceptance. Of those early players, Grid Systems was one of the few survivors.
AST’s entry is a sign that the market has matured, said Debra Williams, a product manager for AST. She said the software applications for pen computers and the accuracy of the pens, known as digitizers, have improved dramatically.
“We hope to take this from a niche product to the mainstream,” she said. “AST has never been a niche company. We mass-produce our products. This one is aimed at mobile executives.”
At least one competitor, however, disagrees about the market for the machines. Toshiba America’s Computer Systems Division in Irvine is selling its pen machine as an “electronic clipboard” to particular customers such as hospital nurses, insurance adjusters, salespeople and delivery drivers.
“I don’t believe the pen computer is a mass-market product,” said Steve Lair, vice president of marketing for the Toshiba unit.
The Toshiba Dynapad T100X machine, which after a delay of several months is now expected to be shipped this month, does not have its own keyboard to go along with the stylus. The 3.3-pound Toshiba machine sells for $3,499 and can be held in one hand, whereas AST’s is relatively heavy: six pounds.
The AST model comes with a keyboard and will operate for two to three hours before recharging is required. AST engineers enhanced the computer developed by Grid with AST’s own notebook computer technology.
Rather than make and manufacture its own model, AST decided that a joint venture with TE Electronics would enable it to use existing technology, Williams said.
