Irvine, California-based AST Research Inc has entered the pen computing market with launch of the PenExec PenTop notebook, a direct result of its strategic alliance with the TE Electronics Grid Systems arm of Tandy Corp: the $3,000 machine comes in a 11.6 by 9.4 by 1.6 5.5 lbs black magnesium box, and runs for up to three hours of continuous computing, supports PCMCIA; offers up to 200Mb disk and up to 20Mb main memory; pre-installed software includes MS-DOS 6.0, Windows 3.1 and Windows for Pen Computing, and Slate Corp is offering an AST pen essentials package of pen software applications and accessories – LooseLeaf Notetaker, Delrina WinFax Pen, Day-Timer Pen Scheduler and PenBook Business Reference Pages; the PenExec also comes with a demo version of PenWare Inc’s PenCell spreadsheet; the machine uses a 25MHz 80386SL and 2Mb RAM and 120Mb disk standard, one Type II PCMCIA slot and one external 3.5 1.44Mb floppy drive; and it includes keyboard with 79 keys as well as the cordless pen.
