Milpitas, California-based OEM printer and terminal company Qume Corp, now controlled by Wearnes Technology Pte Ltd of Singapore, has acquired the technology of troubled X-terminal hybrid manufacturer GraphOn Inc, and in a move likely to put a cat among the X-terminal pigeons is introducing a product based on the technology for just $700. Qume has the technology on a non-exclusive basis, and has adapted the terminal to run both as an X-terminal and as a standard ASCII/ANSI terminal, which enables it to attack the market from the character-based end something its competitors cannot do. The company is looking for high volumes and is after major distributors to handle the product, which will lever off of the 80386-80486 server market rather than addressing the higher-end Netwrok Computing Devices Inc-dominated sector. It expects to get an endorsement of the product from the Santa Cruz Operation Inc. First production runs start January. Traditional X-terminal makers were often snobbish about the GraphOn product, which included the X-server software within the terminal and ran over the serial line – but the economics make sense, at least in its reincarnated form. The QX 14 uses a Motorola 68000 and can emulate Digital Equipment Corp VT, Wyse Technology Inc, Televideo Systems Inc, AT&T Co’s Applied Digital Data Systems and PC Term terminals. The screen is 800 by 600 at 78Hz.
