Accton Technology Corporation today announced the release of the Accton NC workstation with support for the NC Access operating system from NCI (Network Computer, Inc.), a wholly owned subsidiary of Oracle Corporation. This is the first of Accton's NC Access products, which will eventually include clients, servers, and software. Accton Technology first announced an alliance with NCI in April, which would result in a new line of products that would carry both the NCI and Accton brand names.

The new Accton NC product line was designed to meet the needs of cost-conscious users who are looking specifically for efficient network access solutions. For customers, Accton NC products offers standards-based network devices that can be used for education, business, and entertainment, providing information and services from the Internet or corporate Intranet servers. For network managers, the Accton NC product line offers a new networking paradigm that is simple to install and manage. Since all network resources are located at a central server, there is a single point of administration, which simplifies backing up local data and upgrading to new software. NC computing will also allow Accton to extend its offering with new products for the consumer and educational markets.

"The NC Access platform is the perfect complement to our line of workgroup computing products," noted James Lo, NC Product Manager for Accton Technology. "Accton has always been committed to delivering high-quality, trouble-free products. By developing new breed of products that utilize NCI's NC Access strategy, we will be able to offer our customer easy-to-use, and easy-to-manage solutions for both the Internet and corporate Intranets."

Accton's NC product line will encompass NC servers, NC clients, NC adapters, and NC application software. Accton's NC Servers will be designed to support NC workstations, provide central administration of NC-based workgroups, and provide centralized access to NC applications. NC applications will include personal and office productivity tools and selected vertical applications, such as electronic mail and Internet access. In addition, Accton Technology will develop its own NC software on top of NC OS to further increase the manageability and usability, including system software and multimedia tools. The first Accton NC products to ship are client workstations.

The Accton NC Workstation Family

Accton Technology plans to introduce a family of NC client computers, including a thin client: for home or home office users and corporate NC workstations. The primary difference between these various client solutions is the CPU type, and the amount of memory needed to support network applications.

For example, a thin client solution would typically use 2-16 MB of RAM with a 2 MB-16 MB ROM for limited network access, as in retail applications, for example. An embedded NC technology would utilize about 2-4 MB of RAM and 2-4 MB of ROM and would included an embedded, real-time operating system for consumer applications, such as NCTV solutions.

The first NC clients to be offered from Accton will include stand-alone workstations suitable for home office or corporate workgroup applications. For home office use, Accton's NC-based workstation will include 4-16 MB of RAM, 4-8 MB of ROM, and software to handle moderate network bandwidth. These units are expected to retail for from $500 (U.S.). Corporate NC clients will feature 4-64 MB of RAM with software to support faster network access and will sell for $850 (U.S.).

Accton is currently shipping its first Accton NC workstation for corporate applications. The Accton NC features either an Intel Pentium CPU (75-200 MHz up) or an AMD K5 CPU with from 2 to 64 MB of RAM and 256 MB of cache. BIOS includes a power management feature as well as VGA and RPL boot ROM support. Network connectivity is provided through an RJ-45 connector with a 16K boot ROM and a 16K RAM buffer. The workstation also features a sound card to support multimedia applications, and an optional CD-ROM drive. Prices start at less than $900 (U.S.).

About Accton Technology

Accton Technology Corporation has its international headquarters in Taiwan Science-based Industrial Park, and manufactures workgroup connectivity hardware and software. Accton Technology Corporation address No. 1, Creation Road III, Science-based Industrial Park, Hsinchu 3007, Taiwan, R.O.C. Tele: 3-577-0270, Fax: 3-577-0267. Accton USA, which handles mass-market product distribution throughout the Western Hemisphere, is located at 1962 Zanker Road, San Jose, CA 95112; telephone (408) 452-8900; FAX: (408) 452-8988. Accton also has sales offices in Tokyo, Sydney, London, Berlin, Beijing, Dubai, Bombay, Vancouver, Oslo, Istanbul, Paris, Seoul and Taipei.