With its Macintosh clone business dwindling away fast (CI No 3,246) Umax Data Systems Inc must look elsewhere for its future revenues. So at the Oracle Open World Show in Los Angeles this week, the company teamed up with Oracle Computer Corp’s Network Computer Inc division to announce a software licensing agreement that will enable it to bring a series of Intel X86-based Network Computers to market. The desktops, running NCI’s NC desktop client software, will be manufactured by Fremont, California- based Umax and sold through its existing sales channels and systems integration partners to corporate customers. It has to move fast, and says it should have systems out as early as November this year. It will initially concentrate on the European market, with North America to follow. The first machines in the UMax NC line will use Intel’s 200MHz Pentium, and should have a price tag of under $700 according to the company. They will include standard network interfaces including built-in Ethernet and graphic/sound card, Smart Card reader and standard PC keyboard and mouse.
