Daily Record from Morristown, New Jersey • 69

Daily Record, Northwest N.J. Sunday, April 28, 1985 E7 Oompdflto woM timming on liemiC mew But at the Hanover Fair in West Germany last week, H-P introduced a new model of that computer, the Touchscreen II, with a number of added features. This time, however, the touch screen is optional. It will cost an extra $300. IBM took out ads in 33 newspapers last week to proclaim, in Mark Twain's words, that the news reports proclaiming the death of the PCjr "are greatly exaggerated." IBM insists that it will continue to market the PCjr (until current supply runs 38th-largest company in the Fortune 500.

Ross Dove, the San Mateo, auctioneer, says he is negotiating with Xerox to hold two auctions -one in San Jose, and one in Houston each for 500 of the Toshiba-made Xerox computers. Depending on their success, Dove could go on the road with thousands more of the machines. Observers say Xerox might have between 5,000 and 15,000 of the computers, which means the auctioned goods could have a retail value of more than $30 million. Dove, who says he's also negotiating with other large manufacturers, is convinced that even at deeply dis- Personal Touch Corp. will unveil at Comdex in Atlanta next month its Touch Window, a transparent screen that attaches with Velcro to the front of an Apple or IBM computer.

In that position, the window serves as a simple touch screen. With his finger a user can give commands or move the cursor in any direction on properly customized software. More unusual, though, is that the 8-by-10-inch panel can be removed. Once in a user's lap, Touch Window becomes a vehicle for making books come alive for children. A child might put a drawing under the transparent screen and trace it Although Xerox won't tip its hand, observers expect the machine to be none other than the same 8086-based computer made by Olivetti and sold by as the 6300.

Touch Window have a good chance of going down in history as gimmicks. Like so many others, its success will depend largely on support. On the software side, companies such as the Learning Co. of Menlo Park, are considering tailoring their software to Touch Window, just as they have to the Koala Pad. As for book publishers, Personal Touch is still lining up companies willing to publish materials, either educational or business, that lend themselves to partnership with a computer.

Personal Touch is also hoping to line up more financing. The company has been bankrolled largely by its founder and president, Arie Kurtzig. Kurtzig conceived the idea for the product, designed it and then started Personal Touch with the money from a secondary stock offering of Ask Computer Systems, which was founded and headed by his former wife, Sandra. Touch me not. Although Kurtzig is pushing touch screens, Hewlett-Packard Co.

seems to be losing some of its enthusiasm for the device. H-P has been the champion of such screens since 1983 when it introduced its 150 computer, on which users give commands by intercepting infrared beams that criss-cross the screen. Taxing issue. The IRS has put out a request for bids for 15,000 laptop computers. The tax man says it wants portables that weigh 15 pounds or less.

The portables will be used by agents who conduct field audits of taxpayers. out) and that it will introduce more than 100 new programs for the PCjr this year. A spokesman told us recently Big Blue is committed to the market served by the PCjr. As Twain said on another occasion: "It is easier to stay out than get out." A child might put a drawing under the transparent screen and trace it through the tablet and onto the computer screen. Or, with specially configured books and software, Touch Window can trigger responses on the computer screen to choices children make in the book.

The Granddaddy of By EVELYN RICHARDS Knight-Ridder Newspapers SAN JOSE, Calif. It's safe to say that Xerox first fling with personal computers ended on the rocks. This month, when it vows again to serve that market, the copier giant will have in hand everything you'd expect from a bride intent on a long and serious relationship: something old, new, borrowed and blue. At a news conference Tuesday, Xerox is expected to feature a whole host of new office automation products. Among them, sources say, will be something borrowed and blue a Big-Blue-compatible personal computer "borrowed" from Olivetti.

Although Xerox won't tip its hand, observers expect the machine to be none other than the same 8086-based computer made by Olivetti and sold by as the 6300. As for the something old, it has been kept well hidden. Sources say that Xerox has stashed away thousands of IBM-compatible personal computers made for it by Toshiba of Japan. As recently as last fall, Xerox was apparently considering marketing this computer in the United States, but it never did. Because Xerox isn't talking, one can only assume that it decided Olivetti's machine was preferable to Toshiba's.

Now, Xerox seems to be seeking a painless way to rid itself of this remnant from the past, and it might have settled on an intriguing method of spring cleaning: an auction. The man who has made himself famous around the Silicon Valley for distressed-goods sales at such companies as Gavilan and Osborne, both under bankruptcy protection, is poised to take on business from the Shows! May 1 and 2 Noon to 9:00 PM At the Aspen Hotel 1905 through the tablet and onto the computer screen. Or, with specially configured books and software, Touch Window can trigger responses on the colhputer screen to choices children make in the book. In a simple example, the book might contain pictures of 10 presidents with 10 names. If the child points first to a photograph and then to the correct name, a short biography will appear on the screen, with musical accompaniment, of course.

In a more complex example, a user might trace a path on a map, and the computer will clock the distance on an on-screen odometer. When it goes on the market for $250 or so, Touch Window will come with software customized for touch screens and one sample book. The technology is intriguing, but will it succeed? Devices such as counted prices, companies would be better off selling new goods at auction than paying the high costs of marketing and distribution. Could auctions become the showplace for designer goods as retail stores slip to close-out forums? So far, Xerox is saying little. A vice president from its Dallas operations, Michael Chulick, said recently he was "working with Ross Dove" but also that he was "working with a lot of people" on "all kinds of equipment." When contacted, Chulick was in Dove's office.

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