IBM Corp’s agreement with British Telecommunications Plc on the development of a personal computer-based videophone has not prevented it jumping into bed with another company. IBM Japan in partnership with GC Technology Ltd – has developed a 12 screen per second prototype videophone for use over Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp’s ISDN network (CI No 1,914). The new product is expected to cost around UKP4,000 when released, possibly at the end of this year, and it will consist of a PS/55 Japanese language PS/2 machine, the display monitor which houses the equipment and a camcorder-type camera that sits on top of the screen. The picture compression technology was developed by CG Technology, which incorporated it into the chip set, and based on open architecture multimedia coding systems. IBM will make the technology available to other companies developing similar products, and to this end, is preparing to set up The Research Association for Personal Graphics Communication, a body to be headed by Haruhisa Ishida of Tokyo University. Giving the standard some credibility, the Association will have the backing of NTT and the Japanese Ministry of Posts & Telecommunications.
