The dual PowerPC 603-based BeBox from Jean-Louis Gassee’s Palo Alto, California-based Be Inc is designed to meet the demands of shilled computer users and developers that are frustrated by the limitations of current architectures. The company claims it is the first true real-time object-oriented system that features true pre-emptive multitasking, an integrated database, fast input-output and a wide range of expansion options – and an operating system that is the technological heir to Pink, the object-oriented operating operating system that was to have been the foundation of Taligent Inc. It is claimed to enable users to run multiple compute-intensive programs simultaneously, synchronise music and sound, view and edit videos, and access the Internet, all at the same time. It includes software development tools and technical documentation, and the built-in database is accessible at all times, so users can continually store, retrieve, and update key information from multiple sources, Be says. It supports PCI and AT boards, and IDE and SCSI devices. The company says it plans four-processor and portable configurations, and the hardware and operating system are open for licensing. The BeBox will ship in mid-month at $1,600 with the CPU board, operating system, input-output board, CodeWarrior for Be development tools, system case, cables, and documentation. It will be sold direct, and through resellers, value-added resellers and systems integrators. For those put off by the proprietary nature of the new machine, it will also run Mac OS one day.
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