From: david@llustig.palo-alto.ca.us (David Schachter)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.pen
Subject: More on the EO press conference (4-Nov-92)
Date: Thu, 05 Nov 92 14:28:18 PST
Organization: Greenwire Consulting, Palo Alto, CA, USA

A few more notes on the EO announcement are in order, to answer questions I've
received and to correct an error of omission.

First, the correction:

In my note from last night, I may have left the impression that EO wrote all
the software.  Actually, as a kind EO-ite pointed out, GO wrote PenPoint, the
fax and mail software, and MiniNote; Pensoft wrote Personal Perspective
(address book, calendar, to-do list, notetaker); Sitka wrote PenTops/PenCen-
tral (the file transfer and networking software); and EO wrote EO Phone,
EO Sound, EO Calc, and EO Lock (security software.)  The EO person (whose name
I'll omit for reasons of email courtesy) concludes:

     "Our partners deserve their share of the credit for our achieve-
      ment -- without them the package wouldn't be so compelling."

My apologies for the error.


Now some additional info:

EO 440 w/ 4 MB RAM:     $2000
EO 440 w/ 4 MB + modem: $2500
EO 440 w/ 8 MB + modem: $2800

EO 880 w/ 4 MB + modem: $3000
EO 880 w/ 8 MB + modem: $3300

EO Cellular phone:      $ 800
(the innards of an OKI 910)

EO 440 20 MB disk:      $ 500
EO 880 64 MB disk:      $ 700

Floppy drive:           $ ???
4 MB RAM expansion:     $ ???
(Total maximum of 12 MB)

Extra batteries:        $ ???
Extra chargers:         $ ???
EO 440 seven-hour
  battery pack:         $ ???

Batteries: NiCad @ 6 volts (five cells)
   EO 440: 2.3 AH good for four or seven hours-- conflicting information
   EO 880: 2.6 AH good for four hours (because of the backlighting).  The
   batteries will also power the cellular phone in standby (listening for
   incoming calls) for 30 hours.  Of course, battery life is reduced if the
   cellphone is used heavily.  Batteries recharge in 90 minutes.

Screens: 640x480
   EO 440: 110 dpi reflective; 5.9 x 4.3 inches
   EO 880:  85 dpi backlit;    7.6 x 5.7 inches

Weight and size:
   EO 440: 2.2 lbs (1.0 kg), roughly 11" x 7" x 1"
   EO 880: 4.0 lbs (1.8 kg), roughly 13" x 9" x 1"

   (If someone locally has a scanner and an FTP-able
    filesystem, I've got photos from the press kit.)

Ports:
   Serial port w/cable for EO <-> PC transfer
   Parallel port for printers and optional floppy drive
   PS/2 keyboard port
   Type-2 PCMCIA slot: one in the EO 440, two in the EO 880, with a cute
       "doggy-door" for networking cables and stuff.
   VGA and SCSI-II ports on the EO 880
   Datacomm port for the cellular phone and other similar devices; includes
       connection for power management circuitry so the datacomm device can
       wake up the EO CPU.
   Built-in microphone and tiny speaker for voice annotation.
       Unfortunately, the microphone and speaker aren't connected to the
       phone circuitry, so there is no "speakerphone" capability.  I'm told
       this would require more space for the audio chambering needed to
       eliminate boominess and feedback and stuff.  I don't know if there is
       a port for an external microphone and speaker.  Nor do I know what
       happens if you have the cellular phone attached; does it's handset
       take over the speaker/microphone function?
   Phone line connection for the built-in modem; no loop-through RJ-11.
   No monthly fee AT&T Mail -- usage charges only -- counts as an additional
       port, I think.  Gateways to the Internet, CompuServe, GE, MCI Mail,
       SprintMail, Novell MHS (huh?  That's a protocol, not a network.), and
       cc:Mail (ditto).

Beta availability in December '92; sales to vertical accounts and more
extensive beta testing in Q1 '93; general availability through, for example,
CompUSA and Office Depot in early Q2 '93.

Drawbacks:

1. The EO 440 screen has a narrow field of view; only one person can see it
at a time.  This will make the CIA happy, but not users.  EO will be making
changes in the screen between the machines we saw yesterday and production
units, but the changes will be to reduce pressure-induced blooming and to
provide a more pen-on-paper feel to the screen.

2. The lack of a SCSI port on the EO 440 means the low-end machine is
expandable only through the PCMCIA slot.  I wonder if some clever company
will introduce a PCMCIA SCSI port?  The industrial designers (Frog Design, I
think) were smart enough to include fixturing on the back for add-ons;
perhaps someone will create a PCMCIA bus expander, to give the EO 440 more
slots.  Alternatively, a parallel-to-SCSI adapter could be connected.  (Both
solutions will require software along with the hardware.)

3. The press conference ran out of fruit juice.  Horrors.

One requirement to make these machines reliable will be automated, reliable
backup.  I suspect there is money to made offering a service to automat-
ically backup an EO machine at night, with all the usual safeguards.  Then,
if my machine is lost or stolen or broken, I can easily replace it and its
data.  Try THAT with a DayTimer.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

An administrative note: If you are coming to next Thursday's WPDO meeting and
have a camcorder you would be willing to let us use, please contact me.  Of
course, if we break it, we'll nibble on it for a bit, laugh hysterically, and
then run for the hills.  Thank you.



______________________________________-______________________________________
David Schachter                                 david@llustig.palo-alto.ca.us
801 Middlefield Road, #8                  ...!{mips,decwrl,sgi}!llustig!david
Palo Alto, CA  94301-2916                 After 10 am, voice: +1 415 328 7425