INDUSTRIAL conglomerate Rockwell International has unveiled new modem chipsets that will allow mobile computer users to transmit and receive data - including faxes - via conventional cellular telephones.
Launched at the Computex trade fair in Taipei, the chipsets will be built into PCMCIA (Personal Computer Memory Card Industry Association) modems that will range in transmission speeds from 2,400 bits per second (bps) to the current top end of the market at 28,800 bps.
The enabling technology underlying the new product is a set of mobile phone software drivers that will allow the modems to connect directly to various brands and models of cellular phones. If the modem is connected to a standard hard-wire telephone line, it functions as a standard fax/modem.
Rockwell, through its digital communications division, maintains that modems based on the new chipsets have a major advantage over conventional devices because they will support both the desktop and landline computing set up as well as wireless communications, and will do so using existing (and familiar) communications software programs.
Rockwell International Asia Pacific marketing manager Edwin Chen said the result was a more versatile communications tool which was reasonably priced in comparison with conventional devices.
It is expected that a 14.4-Kbps PCMCIA modem with cellular capability will retail for about US$100 more than a standard device in a similar form. PCMCIA modems operating at 14.4 Kbps are currently pric-ed between US$249 and US$299, a level that continues to fall steadily.