By far the biggest display of network computers (NCs) at Oracle Open World in Tokyo this week are from Japanese manufacturer Funai Electric. The company had no less than four different NC client models on display and two other devices based on its NC design.

The most pervasive NC was its Intel based client, with around a thousand connected to a local area network at the show, although the company has switched to ARM central processors in subsequently designed machines.

It's "E-design" machine, the latest out of the labs, is designed for business use on a fast network and includes a 233-megahertz (MHz) Strong ARM microprocessor, 16-megabytes (MB) of synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), 10Base-T network connection and infra-red receiver. Slots of the front are provided for the user's personal ID card and a read only memory (ROM) PC- Card.

The latest consumer version of the "E-design" is very similar to the business version. A CD-ROM drive features prominently on the front of the machine, and in use will hold a disk with most of the software required by the machine. Downloading software across a network is not currently feasible for domestic users with slow modem links so the CD-ROM is fitted to alleviate the problem. The ROM PC-Card slot is gone, as is the 10Base-T network connection, and a 33.6- kbps modem has been added.

The full line-up of connectors on the NC includes: monitor output (VGA or 160,000 color 1280 by 1024-pixels), NTSC video output (custom options include S- Video and PAL format video), headphone out, audio line out, 16-bit digital stereo and microphone input, parallel printer port, PS/2 mouse port, PS/2 keyboard port, IrDA standard infrared sensor, Ethernet port, analog telephone line port (option), digital telephone line port (ISDN) (option).

The Intel-based model is very similar to the Strong ARM versions and can be fitted with a variety of Pentium processors, depending on customer needs. A model based on the 40-MHz ARM processor is also being offered, with 8MB of memory and many of the same features as the Strong-ARM version.

In addition to the NC clients, Funai had also produced two innovative products with NC clients as their base. They were being shown under the banner of the Card Computing Initiative Japan (CCIJ), a group that promotes the use of smart cards.

It's first machine is designed for Internet access in the home and public places and is slightly less functional than the NC client. The machine has two smart card slots on the front, one for the user's own identification card and one for a "home page card." The latter is a smart card embedded with the addresses of various Internet home pages.

The idea is that the home-page cards will be sold or given away as promotional items. When inserted into the machine, with a valid ID card present, the user is taken automatically to the home-page addresses stored in the card. Full operation of the device is by a very simple remote control and users are free to visit anywhere on the Internet by entering addresses via an on-screen keyboard.

It is envisaged that companies like magazine publishers would give away the cards, packed full of the Web addresses of their online sections and advertisers. The only sticking point might come in price of the smart cards. A typical dumb smart card costs around $1, a spokesman told Newsbytes, but the home-page card includes a microprocessor and this raises the price to around $10 a card.

Why the need for a processor? The group hopes the same card may be used for some type of electronic commerce and so it needs to be much smarter than a typical IC card.

Funai's second variation on the NC client came in the shape of a large machine similar to the "Print Club" system, which Bandai made a smash hit in Japan. The conventional "Print Club" allows users to take a picture of themselves and get a sheet of small plastic stickers of the picture, complete with user chosen borders and personal or pre-set messages.

The Funai version works in a similar way but also provides the user with a home page address, printed on the sheet of stickers. Users can then distribute the home page address so others can see the same picture on the World Wide Web. The company has already set up a home-page allowing users to browse the images, at http://www.houkago-club.ne.jp .

Source: Newsbytes