GlobeWave Inc, a fledgling communications company based in Rochelle Park, New Jersey has introduced what it bills as the only all-inclusive mobile PC communications device. The Com.plete PC Card, the first product to market from the year-old GlobeWave, is a PCMCIA Type III card that combines data, fax and voice communications over cellular and land-based networks. The thing that makes Com.plete different from other cellular-ready card modems is that it is actually a cellular product – essentially a cellular phone built into a PC card. With a laptop and the card, mobile users can fax, email or access the internet without a phone line or a cellular phone. The device, which has a small antenna built onto the end of it, also allows for the use of a laptop simply as a phone. Using a tiny combination earphone/microphone that slips into the user’s ear, calls can be made over a cellular network. With a land-based line plugged into the card, calls can be made and received. The main drawback to the product is its speed, when compared to other card modems. When used as a cellular device, the card effectively runs at about 9,600bps and, when hooked to a phone line, only improves to 14,400bps. GlobeWave says it plans to offer faster versions of the product in the near future, as well as a small plastic shell with a keypad that will house the card and allow for its use as a normal cellular phone. The current version has a suggested retail price of $500 but, as with cell phones, it could end up costing considerably less due to subsidies by cellular carriers who are interested in generating air-time charges. Although essentially a start-up first envisioned about two years ago, GlobeWave has the luxury of relying on the financial resources of its privately- owned parent companies, Israeli defense electronics firm Teliran Electronics Ltd and Austrian diversified industrial concern Altro GmbH. It plans to market its products globally and, for now, has no need or desire to go public.
