Hewlett-Packard Company [NYSE:HWP] gave the press a glimpse of the prototype of its NetPC during a press tour here. HP's version of the NetPC will be called the Net Vectra and will debut worldwide in mid-June, making it one of the first NetPC vendors.

The NetPC is a new line of commercial desktops slated for use by corporate intranets with specifications jointly announced by Intel, Microsoft, Hewlett- Packard, Dell and Compaq Computer.

A range of products, including HP's offering, are likely to be announced at the New York PC Expo, beginning June 17.

The NetPC is a client hardware positioned against the network computer (NC) designed by Oracle Corporation, with Sun Microsystems Computer Company as a prime mover. The single most significant difference between the two clients, Newsbytes observed, is the absence of a storage unit in the NC.

Built in an off-white case, HP's NetPC box resembles a typical central processing unit (CPU) minus the floppy drive. In effect, the NetPC is a full-featured PC without a floppy drive, which denies the user access to the server's resources unless otherwise specified by the company's management information system (MIS) department. While users could use applications and update files using the NetPC, physical transfer and uploading of files from a floppy has been eliminated.

The NetPC and NC extend the desktop landscape which now include Unix workstations, (Windows) NT workstations, the PC, portables, and the X and text terminals.

HP said the new HP Net Vectra PC series was designed to further reduce the costs and complexity of managing a distributed PC environment. The new PC series is targeted at users performing mission-critical, task-oriented functions in centrally managed environments. It will be using Microsoft Windows operating systems and other industry-standard applications, without modifications.

The NetPC is expected to boost HP's lead in the overall desktop arena, as its current Vectra product line has been addressing the needs of mobile, small business, sophisticated desktop and high-end commercial users. HP incorporated several important management capabilities to the Net Vectra including HP's TopTOOLS, a desktop and system management solution now available on HP's Vectra PC models, and the ability to remotely and simultaneously perform BIOS upgrades. Net Vectra PCs that have been turned off can also be powered-up remotely to perform routine MIS activities.

Citing a PC ownership cost model from the Gartner Group, HP estimates that these tools could possibly reduce PC-management costs by up to 15%. HP also announced its Web site tool that would help MIS staff enter specifications of their IT environments to create an estimate of potential operating cost savings derived from using HP Vectra PCs and HP TopTOOLS http://www.hp.com.go/vectracommercial.

A significant add-on to the product is the integration of a smart card authentication mechanism, which is expected to provide a new level of hardware security. The keyboard-based device allows users to log on to an internal network at any smart-card enabled PC. HP says the technology will increase user productivity and lower costs of improving utilization of PCs that today sit idle because only the authorized user can log on to the network.

Hewlett-Packard is set to make its new range of NetPCs at its Singapore facility and is increasing capacity to add this line to the commercial and home desktop computers already being produced there, reports the Singapore Business Times.

HP's France-based general manager for the commercial desktop computing division, John Gannon, said that Singapore would be one of the seven sites where HP plans to manufacture the Net Vectra on a large scale. The others are in France, China, Brazil, Mexico, and California and Alabama in the United States.

Typical end-user prices would range from US$1,000 to $1,500 depending on the configuration. A standard Vectra Net would be powered by a 133MHz Pentium processor and have 32MB RAM, 2- gigabyte hard disk, a color monitor and cards to enable connection to an intranet or the Internet, and would run Microsoft's Windows NT as the operating system.

HP hopes to make the Vectra Net available worldwide by summer.

HP has 13 manufacturing units in Singapore, with desktop systems being the largest of the lot in terms of output value.

Source: Newsbytes