Fujitsu Ltd this week released FM-Towns Marty, a new 2Mb 32-bit processor-controlled CD-ROM player that plugs directly into a colour television. The announcement signals Fujitsu’s move into consumer products in the multimedia FM-Towns range. All the CD-ROM titles available for the FM-Towns – now numbering 250 are usable on Marty, which in addition plays CD audio disks, CD dictionaries and CD-G music with graphics. Marty uses a TV to display personal computer-quality high-resolution images. Fujitsu was able to overcome previous limitations on achieving this by developing what it claims is the world’s first full-digital one-chip video converter, using Line Interpolation Scanning Technology. It is available for around $800 and Fujitsu will be selling it through department stores, supermarkets and appliance stores, aiming at home education and family fun markets. Fujitsu said it is aiming for sales of 200,000 units in the product’s first year, compared with the 280,000 units of FM Towns it has sold since launch four years ago.
