NCD Announces NCD ThinSTAR Connectivity Suite; Thin Client Terminal Emulation Software for Accessing Legacy Systems.NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 16, 1998--Network Computing Devices Inc., (NASDAQ NASDAQ in full National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations U.S. market for over-the-counter securities. Established in 1971 by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), NASDAQ is an automated quotation system that reports on :NCDI NCDI Northern Centre for Digital Imaging (West Yorkshire, UK) ), the leading manufacturer of thin client desktop hardware and software, today announced the NCD NCD - Network Computing Devices ThinSTAR Connectivity Suite. This suite of three terminal emulation Using software in a desktop machine to make it perform like a hardware terminal. The emulated terminal is typically in the VT100-500 family, designed originally by Digital Equipment. software packages provides thin client access from desktop devices -- including NCD's recently announced NCD ThinSTAR 200 and 300 Series Windows-based terminals -- to a variety of legacy environments. NCD is the only company offering emulators that are based either on the server or the client via multi-user Microsoft NT Server 4.0, Terminal Server Edition or from NCD ThinSTAR terminals. NCD is demonstrating its new ThinSTAR Family of products at PC Expo A trade show for resellers, corporate managers and technical professionals from CMP Media LLC, a subsidiary of United Business Media. First held in New York in 1983 with 120 exhibitors and 9,600 attendees, the show grew from the personal computer's early years to 550 vendors and more than in New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of , June 16 - 18, in NCD's booth 1740, Intel's booth 3934, Citrix's booth 902, Computer Associate's booth 4304 and the Microsoft Partners Pavilion C7. "NCD ThinSTAR Connectivity Suite extends the capabilities of the NCD ThinSTAR family of Windows-based terminals and other thin clients beyond Windows to include legacy systems," said Jim Fulton, vice president of product management for NCD. "NCD's recently announced NCD ThinSTAR Windows-based terminals combine with NCD ThinSTAR Connectivity Suite provide the perfect character terminal upgrade. Users get simultaneous access to Windows and legacy applications, while IT managers continue to manage their users centrally." Three Terminal Emulation Packages The NCD ThinSTAR Connectivity Suite include NCD Thin Client RUMBA, NCD Thin Client Xware and NCD ThinSTAR Connect. These packages are differentiated by the host environments they access and by whether they run on a multi-user NT server or as a local client on an NCD ThinSTAR Windows-based terminal. NCD Thin Client RUMBA Created in partnership with Wall Data Inc., whose RUMBA software is a market leader in host connectivity, NCD Thin Client RUMBA provides thin client legacy access via network-based servers. These server environments include Microsoft Windows See Windows. (operating system) Microsoft Windows - Microsoft's proprietary window system and user interface software released in 1985 to run on top of MS-DOS. Widely criticised for being too slow (hence "Windoze", "Microsloth Windows") on the machines available then. NT Server 4.0, Terminal Server Edition, Citrix WinFrame WinFrame was a multi-user version of Windows NT 3.51 which was fully repackaged by Citrix Systems. At this stage of the product development Citrix Systems licensed the Windows NT 3.51 base operating system from Microsoft. or Citrix Metaframe. With NCD Thin Client RUMBA, users can access applications and data on host systems such as mainframes, IBM (International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY, www.ibm.com) The world's largest computer company. IBM's product lines include the S/390 mainframes (zSeries), AS/400 midrange business systems (iSeries), RS/6000 workstations and servers (pSeries), Intel-based servers (xSeries) AS/400 systems, Digital VAX (Virtual Address eXtension) A venerable family of 32-bit computers from HP (via Digital and Compaq) introduced in 1977 with the VAX-11/780. VAX models ranged from desktop units to mainframes all running the same VMS operating system, and VAXes could emulate PDP models , Hewlett-Packard 3000 and UNIX systems, all simultaneously with standard Windows applications. "We are excited about our partnership with NCD, the leader in thin client computing See thin client. ," stated Liffy Franklin, vice president of Enterprise Products for Wall Data. "By combining the strengths of our respective companies we can offer robust solutions to organizations moving to the thin client model." "We've installed NCD Thin Client RUMBA and have seen no differences between the NCD product and the Wall Data Version," stated Dave Sellinger, network analyst for REI. "It installed easily and we had very little trouble customizing it for our situation. By using NCD Thin Client RUMBA on a server we can drastically cut down on our implementation time for Rumba products." Orderable today, NCD Thin Client RUMBA will be available in four versions: NCD Thin Client RUMBA AS/400, Office, Mainframe and UNIX UNIX Operating system for digital computers, developed by Ken Thompson of Bell Laboratories in 1969. It was initially designed for a single user (the name was a pun on the earlier operating system Multics). , each providing access to different environments. All versions of the software will ship in Q3 1998. Five-user pricing for Thin Client RUMBA starts at $1,000 U.S. list price. NCD Thin Client Xware Also included in the NCD ThinSTAR Connectivity Suite is NCD Thin Client Xware. Integrating NCD's own award-winning PC-Xware X Windows See X Window. technology, NCD Thin Client Xware provides access to UNIX/X11 protocol applications. NCD Thin Client Xware will include both server and client-based versions in one package. "By including both server and client-based versions, NCD Thin Client Xware provides significant user flexibility," states Fulton, "NCD Thin Client Xware can be run on an NT server running Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0, Terminal Server Edition or Citrix MetaFrame. Users or systems administrators may elect to install and run NCD Thin Client Xware locally on an NCD ThinSTAR Windows-based terminal." NCD Thin Client Xware can be ordered today for shipment in Q3 1998. Five-pack U.S. list pricing for NCD Thin Client Xware starts at $1,725. NCD ThinSTAR Connect NCD ThinSTAR Connect provides a series of client-based emulators that enable NCD ThinSTAR Windows-based terminals to access a variety of environments including IBM mainframes Following are the mainframe architectures used in IBM mainframes since the original System/360 introduced in 1964. Year Architecture Model numbers System/360 1964 System/360 2xxx (2020 to 2195) System/370 , AS/400, UNIX, Tandem, DEC and other hosts. Exclusive to NCD ThinSTAR terminals, NCD ThinSTAR Connect emulators reside locally in flash memory and run inside the terminal. "By running the NCD ThinSTAR Connect emulator locally in the NCD ThinSTAR Windows-based terminals, users can have direct connection to the legacy systems and minimize NT server load," according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. NCD's Jim Fulton. NCD ThinSTAR Connect will be available in two packages. The basic package includes text-based UNIX emulators. A second package adds 3270 and 5250 client emulators. Availability and associated pricing will be announced in Q3 1998. About NCD Founded in 1988, Network Computing Devices (company) Network Computing Devices - (NCD) Producer of X terminals, PC-Xware and Z-Mail. http://ncd.com/. Inc. provides thin client hardware and software that delivers simultaneous, high-performance, easy-to-manage access to any application from thin client, UNIX and PC desktops. NCD's products include the NCD ThinSTAR and NCD Explora family of thin clients, NCD ThinSTAR Connectivity Suite, NCD WinCenter multi-user Windows NT server software and NCD PC-Xware software that delivers PC access to UNIX. Over 600,000 NCD thin clients are installed with over 2 billion hours of operation. NCD's technology is incorporated into products sold by IBM. In March of 1998, Intel made an equity investment and signed a three-year agreement with NCD to collaborate and produce Lean Client desktop devices. The company can be reached on the Internet at: www.ncd.com. Note to Editors: Network Computing Devices, NCD WinCenter and NCD PC-Xware are registered trademarks of Network Computing Devices Inc. NCD ThinSTAR and NCD Explora, are trademarks of Network Computing Devices Inc. Other trademarks are the acknowledged property of their respective holders. CONTACT: Network Computing Devices Arlene Dickson, 650/903-7444 arlene@ncd.com or Phase Two Strategies Michelle Stevens, 415/772-8437 michelle_stevens@p2pr.com |
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