be equally at home in corporate and low-budget environments like education. "The industry has recognised for some time that client/server computing has grown too complex to maintain, upgrade and integrate. Systems based on ICA thinclient/server architectures are changing this," said David Lee, MD of the Acorn Group. "With this agreement with Citrix, Acorn is able to strengthen its commitment to providing low-cost, high- performance networked solutions."
A fresh bunch of Acorn NCs
corn and Citrix, two of server. Users see and work the leading proponents only with the application s of thin-client interface. The ICA network Acomputing, have come component transports together in a licensing keystrokes, mouse-clicks and agreement that promises to screen updates over standard reduce furfher the cost and protocols, consuming just complexity of networked 20Kb of network bandwidth. client systems. The first-fruit Acorn will port Citrix s ICA to of the partnership between its NC operating system in Acorn and Citrix will be an existing and future network ultra-thin Windows NC, appliances. These will be able offering the full functionality to access 32-bit applications and performance of a on Windows NT servers, and "We are pleased to Windows PC for an ultra-low to integrate seamlessly into be involved in Acorn's price. new and existing mixed project to develop the Citrix s ICA (Independent environments, from legacy ultimate thin-client device, Computing Architecture) has systems to intranets. become the de-facto standard This will provide an and are very excited about to enable client hardware of economical solution for MIS the opportunities such all kinds to access business- managers deployment, a device could bring critical applications running on administration, support and to the market" Microsoft NT Server. ICA cost-of-ownership problems, separates application logic without any compromise to EDWARD IACOBUCCI from the user interface, and end-user performance. The Chairman and Chief Technical Officer of executes 100 per cent of the solution will application on the If you heard rumours of to use both industry transfers from disc to up to crowd trouble at Acorn standard expansion cards four drives, although the World 97, chances are that and existing Risc PC ROM-based OS means that it you were hearing about the cards. can be run as a discless desperate hordes trying to The driving force behind this workstation. get a glimpse of the mean machine is the fastest Functioning as a powerful successor to the Risc PC. StrongARM processor Java station and having many Unfortunately, we were only currently available - the 110, applications within the value able to show a motherboard with a design capability that added reseller market (in for the unit, although we allows Phoebe to accept particular, video editing and could now satisfy the full multiple or new StrongARM music composition), Phoebe desire ... processors as they become will offer greatly improved user Code-named Phoebe and available. In other words, the interface and functionality. aimed at the professional motherboard simply slides into Positioned as a high-end market, the finished arficle will the chassis without having to workstation-style product, be several times faster than the be connected to cabling, Phoebe will sit alongside an current model, with enhanced power supply, cards or drivers impressive technology portfolio video and audio features, - all that is taken care of by a that Acorn is developing this including faster, more colourful riser card that sits in the year and will be as greatly graphics and CD-quality sound. middle of the case. loved as the model it Add a four-card 32-bit PCI bus, An E-IDE interface is supersedes. and you are able incorporated to allow very fast
Acorn s senior management has been further enriched with the appointment of two experienced and respected industry figures. Our new Finance Director is Stan Boland, formerly FD of ICL Sorbus and ICL Financial Services. Graham Dodgson, who joins as Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing, has a background in technology product development and marketing, and most recently worked as a consultant advising clients on the licensing of interactive technologies to major consumer electronics companies worldwide.
Graham Dodgson, Senior Vice Acorn has reaffirmed its commitment President, Sales and Marketing to Digital Interactive TV (DiTV) with the appointment of a new management team drawn from the top echelons of the industry. Acorn has the DiTV market s strongest offering, a range of set-top boxes able to cope with any server and any delivery system - satellite, telephone line or cable. The team picked to take Acorn s DiTV products into the next millennium includes VP Business Development Manager Andy Mee, formerly Sega s European Marketing Director, Marketing Manager Ben Allen, whose background is in consumer electronics at Matsushita/Panasonic, and Product Manager John Rand from Acorn s set-top box and iTV team. Stan Boland, Finance Director Nothing on offer from games main processor board design console manufacturers looks or and shoe-horning our powerful sounds like it. Thinko operating system into the implements a standard Acorn smallest possible ROM. expansion bus in addition to an Thinko is now ideally placed RS232 port that enables it to be hen two of the leading to break into other markets networked or connected to a around the world. Ultimately, it suppliers in consumer W modem or printer, and is driven could be used as a purely electronics and by the low-cost, but powerful, educational tool: networked in educational/games computing Cirrus 7500FE processor language laboratories, for get together, the result is bound produced by ARM. example. With nearly two to be a milestone in edu- Acorn and Samsung first decades experience of tainment. Thinko, which will hit discussed Thinko at Acorn educational computing, and an World 1996. Since then, Acorn unrivalled resource of the Korean market this year, s Japanese agents, MP educational packages, Acorn is uses Acorn technology to meet Technology, specified the tablet the ideal partner for this market. a demanding specification from and pen, and designed the Samsung. The result is a fun keypad and casing. Acorn s consumer device, offering contributions were the maximum computing functionality for minimum cost. Thinko is arranged like a picture book that is viewed through a television screen. As you turn the pages, the screens change, each one offering a rich mix of story-based exercises which progressively develop language, mathematical and other skills. Samsung is taking parficular care to ensure that only good- quality educational packages will be available for Thinko, never just games. Thinko offers CD-quality stereo audio and screens based on Acorn s TVCentric™ technology. t COM Japan, the most widely supporfed of Japan s IT trade shows, Acorn shared the DTI s AAction Japan stand with six other British companies. "Britain has an image as the land of tea and bowler hats, so visitors were surprised at the high levels of technology they saw," said Philip Thacker, the DTI s exporf promoter for Japan. Acorn s set-top boxes were of The show s a kind of catalyst to particular interest, he says, and Acorn crystallise people s vague ideas about received visits from many of the world s UK technology" biggest television manufacturers. "They Following the show, a Web site has came to look, and favourable been set up to provide news of the UK impressions were made." s high-tech products. Acorn has "Although we try to promote UK featured prominently. Philip Thacker, technology in other ways, a show like who is on secondment to the DTI from COM Japan gives us an opportunity to Dialog, one of the world s largest get out and meet people, and show them suppliers of online information, adds: "I our products in the flesh. like to pick winners and, in my view, Acorn is a winner."
as Vegas USA recently hosted In particular, Acorn presented its Fall Comdex 97 and Consumer coNCord Network Computer which Electronics Show 98, trade contains a Digital Semiconductors Lshows that collectively pull an influential SA110 processor, Acorn RISC OS, audience from the worldwide corporate browser and plug-ins such as Java. and consumer electronics markets. On Looking to the future, Acorn and Digital both occasions, Acorn presented its presented technology that provides technology in parfnership with Digital exciting solutions for future multimedia Semiconductors. Acorn provided applications such as Digital Interactive demonstrations of current and future TV. operating system technology and Acorn and Digital are now following application software. Digital up an excellent set of demonstrations Semiconductors showed both current and are in detailed discussions with and future StrongARM-based potential customers around the world. processors.
19-25 MARCH 1998 Contact us: Marketing Team, Acorn Group plc Tel: +44 (0)1223 725000 CeBIT email: [email protected] Hannover, Germany Agents in Asia: L R Huang, Lumax Technology Inc., TAIWAN The World Business Centre for Tel: +88 6 22788 3656 http://www.lumax.com.tw Office, Information and Telecommunications Masuo Yoshimoto, MP Technology Inc., JAPAN Technology http://www. Tel: +81 3 3358 9800 http://www.mptech.co.jp messe.de/cb98 Henry Kim, Conhan Co Ltd, KOREA Tel: +82 2 3444 2328 http://www.conhan.co.kr
18-20 MAY 1998 CABLE SATELLITE 98 For furfher information and updates on these and other stories, see our home Earls Court 2, London, UK page http://www.acorn.com Come and visit Acorn s stand at Every effort is made to ensure that the information in this newsletter is correct at the time of going to press. However, Europe s leading broadcast technology is subject to continuous development and improvement and Acorn Group plc reserves the right to change specifications at any time. Acorn is a trademark of Acorn Group plc. All other brand names mentioned are trademarks communications event http: of their respective holders and are hereby acknowledged. © 1998 Acorn Group plc. All rights reserved. //www.cabsat.co.uk AGP37.89.20
Published by: Acorn Group plc, Acorn House, 645 Newmarket Road, Cambridge CB5 8PB, United Kingdom Telephone: +44 (0)1223 725000 Fax: +44 (0)1223 725902