Motorola Inc’s Information Systems Group is expected to next week announce plans for analog modems and other communications products implemented entirely in software on the main processor, eliminating the need for dedicated hardware. Modem manufacturer Hayes Microcomputer Products Inc was unfazed by Motorola’s plans to circumvent traditional modems and confirmed it’s planning its own version of a soft modem possibly for release in 1997. Hayes was lean with details and wouldn’t say how long it had been developing the product. It claimed there would still be demand for external modems from users who demand better features and performance and said it was unclear what kind of features the Motorola soft modem would contain. Motorola’s Mansfield, Massachusetts-based division is expected to release the product, which will run on the IAPX-86, by the end of the year.
