TECHNOLOGY & TELECOMMUNICATIONS
From Times Staff and Wire Reports
Apple Readies Chatty PCs: The Cupertino, Calif.-based computer maker plans to introduce a new line of mid-priced Macintosh personal computers that talk, recognize voice commands and read text back to the user. The Macintosh Centris 660AV and Quadra 840AV PC line will be available next month. Depending on features, models will sell for $2,139 to $6,249. The new models will allow users to connect to voice mail via a new telecommunications adapter, to be sold separately for $129. They also can serve as a hands-free speaker phone, an answering machine and a video-conferencing terminal.
