New products for the week of February 10
By John J. McLaughlin, FlashBack, Inc.
flash@flashback.com.
Back to the comprehensive index of February's new products.
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Table of Contents
Hardware
Software
Books
Hardware
Product:
PMC/860
- E1/TI interface controller
($1900)
Company: Force Computers Inc.
(San Jose, CA)
Telephone: (408) 369-6276, (408) 369-6000
E-mail: info@fci.com
URL: http://www.forcecomputers.com
Platforms: SS7
Description:
PMC (PCI Mezzanine Card) module includes an E1/T1 interface, TDM (time
division multiplexing), telephony bus connectivity and the Motorola
PowerQUICC processor. Composed of a processor subsystem, an I/O subsystem,
a switching subsystem and a PCI interface, the PMC/860 provides OEMs with a
building block for Signaling System #7 (SS7), Link Access Protocol for the
D channel (LAPD), V5.x and other applications in the telecom market.
Because it is based on open standards, this E1/T1 interface telecom
controller can be used in conjunction with different bus architectures (VME
and CompactCPI) and operating systems (Windows NT, Solaris,and Real-Time)
for a choice of system configurations and design options. Optimized for
SS7 applications, it also features a time-slot multiplexer interface to the
TDM SCbus with a capacity of 2048 time slots. E1/T1 and SCbus connectivity
allow for new configurations and system designs which are not possible with
E1/T1-only platforms. And the open standards-based PMC module offers
flexibility and scalability. Integrated on a CompactPCI or VME baseboard,
the PMC/860 permits migration from small to large systems configurations.
Software
Product:
Application-Specific Architecture (ASA)
- matches attributes of data structures to storage systems
Company: ANDATACO-IPL Systems, Inc.
(San Diego, CA)
Telephone: (800) 475-3678, (978) 461-1090
Fax: (978) 461-1317, (619) 453-9294
E-mail: inquire@andataco.com
URL: http://www.andataco.com
Platforms: Windows NT and Unix
Description:
New technology design process matches the attributes of specific data
structures to unique storage systems to provide the highest level of
performance, availability and scalability in heterogeneous Unix and NT
computer environments. The new architecture was developed to respond to
customer requirements for storage solutions tailored to the demands of
individual business environments. ASA combines storage hardware,
sophisticated data management software for target applications such as on
line transaction processing (OLTP), on line analytical processing (OLAP),
video graphics, seismic processing and technology development.
Product:
CAGE 2.0
- Applet Management System
($7,500 for 25 users)
Company: Digitivity, Inc.
(Los Altos, CA)
Telephone: (650) 947-1904
E-mail: info@digitivity.com
URL: http://www.digitivity.com
Platforms: JavaStation
Description:
A server-based suite of products for the secure deployment and management
of Java applets. Its scalability has been enhanced with flexible
policy-based routing. This allows network administrators to route Java
applets to multiple CageServers located outside the firewall based on the
Internet URL of the Java applet, browser IP address, the browser types
supported, and the user ID. Policy-based routing gives network
administrators control to route applets based on the trust level of known
sources of Java applets originating from the Internet. The core technology
works as follows: internet Java applets execute in a server outside the
company's firewall, while unique remote windowing technology lets users
interact with the applet as if it were executing on the user's desktop.
Release 2.0 gives organizations the ability to scale the product from small
departments to the entire enterprise. Network Administrators have the
ability to route applets to multiple servers while giving more find-grained
controls and policy management over Java, JavaScript and ActiveX controls
originating from the Internet.
Product:
Cdrecord 1.5
- creates CDs on a CD recorder
Company: Joerg Schilling
(Berlin, Germany)
E-mail: joerg@schily.isdn.cs.tu-berlin.de
URL: http://www.fokus.gmd.de/usr/schilling
Platforms: SunOS 4.1.3, Solaris 2.3, Linux, NetBSD/FreeBSD/OpenBSD, SGI
Description:
New features in this release: support for BSD, HP-UX and SGI-IRIX; support
for the new SCSI-3/mmc drives (Yamaha CDR-400, Ricoh MP-6200); support for
the Yamaha CDR-400 and other SCSI-3/mmc conforming drives such as the Ricoh
MP-6200; Pre-alpha support for Teac; Bug fix for Philips CDD-521 and
CDD-522 drives; support for FreeBSD/NetBSD/OpenBSD; SGI/IRIX; and HP-UX.
New options: "-inq": SCSI inquiry; "-checkdrive": check if a driver for
this drive is present; "driver=name": selects a specific driver;
"-scanbus": scan SCSI bus for drives and print description; and "-nofix":
do not fixate the disk.
Product:
Coda
- Java-based Web site publishing solution for Solaris 2.5
Company: RandomNoise, Inc
(San Francisco, CA)
Platforms: PC, Macintosh, Solaris
Description:
Coda is now available for the Solaris 2.5 platform. It is the latest
development tool for Solaris developers creating Java applications. It
enables developers to create interactive, Java-based Web applications on
Solaris, with no programming required. This Java Web site builder combines
the layout metaphor of desktop publishing applications with a variety of
customizable Java controls. Features include: precision layout and
control of objects, a component architecture that is completely extensible,
an object-oriented approach to Web page design, support for object
interactivity and communication, and true WYSIWYG output on any
Java-compatible Web browser.
Product:
EZ-EDIT For Unix 2.2C
- Online HTML Editor
($149.95)
Company: Relative
E-mail: ez-edit@relative-web.com
URL: http://www.relative-web.com/dynamic/ez-edit/
Platforms: Windows, Sun Solaris (2.x), Linux (Intel), BSD (Intel)
Description:
Version 2.2c adds new features: added support to allow spaces in usernames
(ex. "joe smith"), and added two new tags: and
which return the CGI username and the real username with
a "+" in place of any spaces. This allows the passing of these variables
to another CGI script. It also can ignore selected directories. This was
added for FrontPage users, to ignore FrontPage's virtual directories.
(This feature could also be used to restrict users from accessing certain
directories.) Improved file locking functions have been added to keep
different processes from writing to the same config file.
Product:
Fast.Serv and Fast.Serv Pro
- FastCGI plug-in for Netscape Web servers
($479 per server for Fast.Serv and $2,000 per server for Fast.Serv Pro)
Company: North American Media Engines Inc.
(Toronto, Ontario)
Telephone: (416) 943-1010
E-mail: fcgi-info@name.net
URL: http://fastcgi.name.net
Platforms: Solaris, Irix, HP-UX, Aix, Digital Unix
Description:
FastCGI plug-in for Netscape Enterprise Web servers provides increased
performance of Web standard CGI applications. The CGI (Common Gateway
Interface) standard is a programming environment for connecting Web Servers
to live applications such as databases and news feeds. Because all CGI
scripts run as complete programs, performance is limited by the high server
overhead incurred each time a CGI program runs. FastCGI, an open standard,
allows CGI programs to stay active at all times, resulting in a significant
performance gain. CGI programs require only minor changes to execute in a
FastCGI environment. Until now, FastCGI was available only for Web servers
from OpenMarket, the originator of the standard, and for shareware servers
such as Apache. Fast.Serv extends support for FastCGI to the Netscape Web
server family and comes in 2 versions. The standard version of Fast.Serv
is designed for sites with moderate traffic and users have found a 2-3
times improvement over standard CGI applications. Fast.Serv Pro users have
seen a 5 to 8 times speed improvement in their CGI applications and is
targeted at commercial sites with high performance requirements. Fast.Serv
is currently being used by several international telcos and financial
institutions.
Product:
InterScan VirusWall 2.0
- Anti-Virus Software for Sun's Netra i Server
Company: Trend Micro Incorporated
(Cupertino, CA)
Telephone: (800) 228-5651, (408) 863-6362
E-mail: sales@trendmicro.com
URL: http://www.antivirus.com
Platforms: Intel, Netscape, Sun, Lotus, Oracle, Control Data Systems,
Description:
Stops viruses in HTTP, FTP, and SMTP traffic at the Internet gateway before
they enter a network. Uses multi-threaded processing by incorporating the
POSIX thread library. In addition to faster scanning, the product now has
the capability to route traffic directly to the Internet without the need
for a separate proxy server. Other new features include a configuration
option to enable or disable virus scanning components, Java blocking for
HTTP access, and support of the Sun Mail Tool for SMTP scanning. Network
administrators also now have a virus notification option which allows them
to decide whether the sender, recipient or administrator will receive virus
detection notification. Enterprise anti-virus software no longer requires
separate proxy server. Users no longer need to send traffic through a
proxy server since the product now includes some proxy capabilities.
Product:
JChart 2.1
- charting tool for Java
($595)
Company: Rogue Wave Software
(Corvallis, OR)
Telephone: (541) 757-8077
E-mail: info@roguewave.com
URL: http://www.roguewave.com
Platforms: Win95, Win NT 4.0, and Solaris
Description:
Charting tool for Java offers a palette of overlay charts built from
JavaBeans components. Overlay charts, a composite of two or more chart
types in a single chart, are commonly used in industries such as investment
banking and securities to display stock analysis and financial information.
Mixes and matches JavaBeans components, combining them to create custom
overlay charts. Thirty-nine JavaBeans charting components permit chart
characteristics to be easily set and modified through individual property
sheets. In addition to the new overlay charts, it contains 2D, 2 1/2D and
3D versions of bar, area, line, pie and scatter-plot charts. Using a
flexible Model-View-Controller architecture based on the JavaBeans event
model, charts can be updated in real time or at defined intervals to
reflect data changes. JChart 2.1 includes JavaDocs, a User Guide, examples
and online help.
Product:
Media/MR
- accesses large data warehouses
($4,995)
Company: Speedware Corporation
(Toronto, Ontario)
Telephone: (510) 867-3300
E-mail: moreinfo@speedware.com
URL: http://www.speedware.com
Platforms: Windows NT, HP-UX, AIX, and Solaris
Description:
Uses a hybrid technology for accessing the largest data warehouses.
Integrates the strengths of both multidimensional and relational OnLine
Analytical Processing (OLAP) to provide a multidimensional view of data
regardless of where it is stored. It delivers excellent performance in
accessing large volumes of detailed data. It mirrors the way business
professionals think, allowing for more intuitive and powerful analysis.
Allows companies to choose where they want to store each item of data.
Features: dimensions can be dynamically updated, multidimensional view
based on RDBMS metadata, fast access at all levels of aggregation, easy
aggregate maintenance, and compact aggregate storage. The product is the
intelligent combination of Relational Online Analytical Processing
technology (ROLAP), with its dynamic access to relational data; and
Multidimensional Online Analytical Processing (MOLAP), with its analytical
flexibility and superior response time. End users can transparently access
detailed data in their data warehouse or RDBMS while simultaneously gaining
access to summary data, commonly known as aggregates, stored in the
Media/MR multidimensional database.
Product:
QuadSpan
- family of voice and digital network interface products
($14,985)
Company: Dialogic Corporation
(Parsippany, NJ)
Telephone: (973) 993-3000
Fax: (973) 993-3093
E-mail: info@dialogic.com
URL: http://www.dialogic.com
Platforms: Windows NT and Solaris
Description:
Family of products providing high density voice and digital network
interface products offering up to 120 ports of DSP processing and four T-1
or E-1 interfaces in a single slot. Delivers a 100 percent increase in
density and higher call throughput at a lower cost. This enables OEMs,
integrators and developers to build large-scale, standards-based computer
telephony (CT) systems for many applications, including switching and
routing, call centers and intelligent peripherals with media processing
capabilities. Supporting full media stream processing for every network
interface port, the product is available in PCI, cPCI or VME form factors.
Increased density and performance enables open systems to achieve new
levels of upward scalability, paving the way for developers of large-scale,
open computer telephony and switching systems to compete in an area
currently dominated by proprietary systems. The product family will
include a DualSpan PCI and a low cost, quad digital trunk interface (DTI),
with full tone signaling capability.
Product:
Roaster 4.0
- Java development environment
($99)
Company: Roaster Technologies
(Cambridge, MA)
Telephone: (617) 876-4031
E-mail: info@roaster.com
URL: http://www.roaster.com/
Description:
Latest release is written entirely in Java, utilizing the Java Foundation
Classes. Gives users a consistent development experience across all major
operating system platforms. Supports new technologies through the
extensibility of the development environment. This enables third-parties
or end-users to integrate new features. Many parts of the development
environment include Java API's to access custom features from Java.
Features include: plug-in architecture to customize Roaster at startup;
plug-in compilers; wizards; preferences; GUI-builders; toolbar tools; new
menus or existing menus with new functionality; custom control over the
editor; customized file support; and integration of third-party
applications as modules.
Product:
SpotCheck
- Java language-based editor
Company: GenieWorks
E-mail: info@genieworks.com
URL: http://www.genieworks.com
Platforms: Java
Description:
A language-based editor that "knows" the Java language. It is designed to
help a Java programmer produce correct code without relying on confusing
and untimely feedback from a compiler. It identifies syntax and semantic
errors (undefined names, type mismatches, etc.) -- those errors normally
returned by a compiler. This analysis is performed after each edit, giving
the programmer immediate feedback on errors. Additional features include:
smart links to name declarations, cross-referenced Java APIs, editing with
popup menus, interfaces to helper apps to compile & run, hierarchical
project browsing, and color-coded syntax.
Product:
TeamWave Workplace 2.0
- Internet groupware product
($50 per team member)
Company: TeamWave Software Ltd.
(Calgary, Alberta)
E-mail: info@teamwave.com
URL: http://www.teamwave.com/
Platforms: Windows 95/NT, Macintosh, SunOS, Solaris, SGI, AIX and Linux
Description:
Lets teams work together in shared electronic rooms across the Internet
from Windows, Macintosh or Unix platforms. The rooms are customized with
shared tools for whiteboards, chat areas, calendars, bulletin boards,
documents, brainstorming and voting, so one can design the rooms to a
team's tasks. Team members can work together in rooms any time, whether
meeting in real-time or leaving information for others to pick up or add to
later. A communication solution for telecommuters, branch offices,
business teams, road warriors -- any teams whose members sometimes work
apart. Version 2.0 adds new features and enhancements over previous
releases: an enhanced look and feel on Macintosh and Windows platforms,
performance enhancements throughout the program, room-by-room access
control, better administrative support, and many user interface
enhancements throughout the system. Version 2.0 also adds five new
groupware tools: a message board supports news-like threaded discussions,
a brainstorming tool lets teams quickly generate new ideas, a vote tool
lets groups quickly decide on issues, a meeting roster helps plan meeting
times, topics and attendees, and a drawing board provides structured
graphics support.
Product:
TeraSpell 97 For Emacs and XEmacs
- Spell Checker
($9.99)
Company: Teragram Corporation
URL: http://www.teragram.com/html/emacs_spell/
Description:
Spell checker for Emacs and XEmacs incorporates visual highlights for
misspelled words and on-the-fly spell checking. Features: no spelling
dialog, on-the-fly spell checking, and industrial strength spelling
correction. An evaluation version is available. Eliminates the
traditional spelling dialog and speeds up the process of spell-checking
documents. Visual highlights identify all spelling errors in documents and
ignore all non-words. When you click on a misspelled word, a list of
suggestions appears. TeraSpell recognizes several modes, including, text,
TeX, LaTeX, and html.
Product:
Uniximager DCS v2.5
- Acquires images from high-end Kodak digital cameras
Company: Oceana Matrix Ltd.
(Orchard Park, NY)
Telephone: (716) 662-8973
Fax: (716) 662-6724
E-mail: rod@oceana.com
URL: http://www.oceana.com/Uniximager/dcs.html
Platforms: Sun, SGI, RS/6000 and HP9000 workstations
Description:
Motif-based application for acquiring images from high-end Kodak digital
cameras (DCS420, DCS460, EOS-DCS5, etc).
Books
Product:
Internet in a Nutshell
- Internet book for ordinary computer users
($19.95)
Author: Valerie Quercia
ISBN: 1-56592-323-5
Company: O'Reilly & Associates
(Sebastopol, CA)
Telephone: (707) 829-0515, (800) 998-9938
Fax: (707) 829-0104
E-mail: info@oreilly.com
URL: http://www.oreilly.com
Platforms: Netscape Communicator 4.01 and Internet Explorer 3.02
Description:
This book starts with a quick tour of the Internet, focusing on the
technology that makes it work. It then describes both basic and "power
user" features of the popular browsers, mail and news readers, file
handling, Web authoring, and more. Topics: Tips and reference for
Netscape Communicator 4.01 and Internet Explorer 3.02; A "living glossary"
to the Internet--a fast-moving introduction for the impatient; Comparisons
of the strengths of the most popular search engines; and Coverage of Web
authoring, with topics ranging from basic HTML to creating animated GIFs
and using JavaScript.
Product:
Tcl/Tk Tools
- Tcl scripting language and the Tk toolkit
($49.95)
Author: Mark Harrison
ISBN: 1-56592-218-2
Company: O'Reilly & Associates, Inc.
(Sebastopol, CA)
Telephone: (707) 829-0515, (800) 998-9938
Fax: (707) 829-0104
E-mail: info@oreilly.com
URL: http://www.oreilly.com
Platforms: Solaris and Linux
Description:
Covers extensions that enhance the Tcl scripting language and the Tk
toolkit. Tcl/Tk is easy to learn, is capable of producing good interfaces
quickly, great for prototyping applications, and infinitely customizable.
One of Tcl/Tk's strong suits is the range of extensions written for it;
this book provides a guide to these extensions. The book is written by the
extension authors and leaders of the Tcl/Tk community. The book shows how
to use Tcl/Tk extensions to write robust object-oriented programs ([incr
Tcl] and [incr Tk]), produce complex interfaces with one-line commands
([incr Widgets] and Tix), layout graphs and tables (BLT), display 3D
graphics with rich textures (TSIPP), interact with Oracle and Sybase
databases (Sybtcl and Oratcl), network over sockets and remote procedure
calls (Tcl-DP), create collaborative multi-user environments (GroupKit),
automate programs that call for human users (expect), use complex data
structures and Unix system calls (TclX), embed Tk calls in C programs (ET),
display tree structures (Tree), and replay and prototype user interactions
(TKReplay). In addition to documenting the extensions, the book covers
configuration, debugging, and other tasks. It comes with a CD-ROM that
includes Tcl/Tk, the extensions, and other tools documented in the text,
both in source form and as binaries for Solaris and Linux.
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Last updated: 10 February 1998