NEC Corp is now shipping a new multimedia communications system with its groupware systems, which it calls the Multimedia Group Work System OfficeMermaid. The system is based on the EWS4800 workstation and its related software. OfficeMermaid comes in two versions, an ISDN version and a Lite version, the former being designed for ISDN line usage for high quality full motion video and sound, with the Lite version designed for economical usage on a local area network using existing phone lines. NEC hopes to ship 3,000 systems in the next two years, with the ISDN version costing $23,380 and the Lite version available at $20,800. The EWS4800 hardware is based on the 40MHz MIPS Technologies Inc R4000PC, which is rated at 78 MIPS and 27 SPECint92.
