The launch of the new Transputer-based Tram range of board products from Inmos International Plc, Bristol, Avon has brought to light confirmation of a rumoured worldwide deal between the company and Apollo Computer, which has been buying the modules for use in its DN3000 and DN4000 Series workstations (CI No 847). Apollo has yet to announce the product and will not reveal quantities or value, but it did say that a prototype system using the boards, which plug into the AT bus in the workstations, has been implemented and could be available next month for running within a window on the system. A full co-processor function is expected to be available by the middle of the year, giving a theoretical performance of 90 MIPS. Although prices have not yet been set, the Apollo driver is likely to cost around $2,000, giving a total cost of around $7,000 for the total package using the Tram starter kit. Seen as a specialist tool for the likes of Occam programmers and for defence contracts that need Occam, the co-processor option will be an alternative to the higher performance RISC workstations that are expected from Apollo next month.