Canon Inc has concluded a new OEM agreement with Ing C Olivetti & Co SpA, for the supply of optical memory cards – the Canon OC-20 optical cards and the RW-20 readers that with them. The cards are similar to the tape-covered ones developed by Drexler Technology Corp, but it is not clear whether Drexler licences are involved. The two companies will also co-operate on devel oping software for the readers. Canon has had the cards available since April and is already selling them in Europe, with announcements set for Japan in August. Olivetti plans to market first to the Itali an medical profession before moving out to the whole of Europe. The cards store much more data than do the magnetic stripe or Smart Cards.
