Penril DataCommunications Network Inc, Gaithersburg, Maryland has taken its modem line firmly into the high-speed category with the announcement of a proprietary 19.2Kbps model. The Datalink V.32/19.2M facsimile modem accommodates standards as far as they have been defined (the CCITT V.32 bis extension to 14.4Kbps) but then uses the company’s own technology to extend to 19.2Kbps. The company says that in September it will launch a version compliant with the V.32terbo proposal championed by a group of companies headed by Sonix Communications. Until then, it says its proprietary technology offers performance for leased line communication which is as good as that from V.32terbo. Dial-up users will have to wait for the V.32terbo launch. V.32/19.2M modems will be upgradable, via software download, to the V.32terbo version. The facsimile modem costs UKP1,000; users content to do without liquid crystal diode displays and push-buttons – such as where the unit is used as a slave in a remote office, need pay only UKP700.
