TECHNOLOGY - June 1, 1993

Hewlett-Packard to Unveil PCs, License Infrared: Hewlett-Packard Co. will announce a new series of personal computers today, including its first models with Intel Corp.’s Pentium chip. The company will also announce plans to license some advancements in infrared technology that will allow PCs to communicate more easily with other office equipment, such as fax machines. Hewlett-Packard has priced its new personal computers, called Vectra, from $1,200 to $3,700. The machines are driven by Intel’s 486 microprocessor and vary in speed and memory configuration, according to a user’s desire. Hewlett-Packard’s first Pentium-based PC will be included in the series when the computer maker begins receiving the new Intel chip this fall. The new personal computers incorporate some of the infrared features, which allow a machine to send and receive data without a cable. Infrared defines a group of rays near red in the visible spectrum that have a heating effect. The technology is used in night photography. Hewlett-Packard is forming an industry association to promote the features as a hardware standard for linking PCs and other office machines. The first participants in the new association are Intel, EO Inc., Sun Microsystems, Zenith Data Systems, VLSI Technology Inc., Extended Systems and Traveling Software Inc.