Intel-based products make European debut at CeBIT

Hannover, Germany Ð Two months before NeXTWORLD Expo, excited crowds examined NeXTSTEP and third-party applications running on Intel-based hardware during the CeBIT show here. Over 25,000 attendees were estimated to have visited one of the two booths devoted to NeXTSTEP technology.

At its main booth, NeXT featured several hardware platforms running NeXTSTEP, while a partner booth organized by d'ART, a $10 million NeXTSTEP-only reseller, showcased third-party software applications Ð many running Intel.

"The reception to our offerings by both customers and partners was extremely positive, even more so than we anticipated," said Bernhard Woebker, NeXT vice-president for European sales and marketing.

Among the news makers:

• NeXT completed a major OEM agreement with Siemens-Nixdorf, the second-largest PC supplier in Europe, to sell PCs preloaded with NeXTSTEP software. Linotype-Hell will use Siemens' PC as the base for its Signastation prepress machine.
• Intel formally introduced the Pentium processor, which promises performance two to three times faster than the '486. d'ART took orders for several hundred of its d'ARTstation, an OEM box made by Intel.
• d'ART showed a new version of Dots, a program for using non-PostScript laser, dot-matrix, ink-jet, and dye-sublimation printers running under NeXTSTEP. It also showed VarioData, a flat-file database.
• HSD showed improved Scan-X Color software incorporating CIE color-space capability.
• tms GmbH premiered three modules for its 1Vision publishing system. The Lanston, Cranache, and Manet modules are for layout, image processing, and drawing, respectively. English versions will be available and final pricing determined at Expo.
• i·Link announced an en-hanced Intel version of its Mix phone product that does not rely on the DSP chip formerly in NeXT hardware.
• Rounding out the new software offerings were radio-station-management software by Digital Collections; an accounting package by Wehsner that comforms to European standards; and U.S. third-party applications, including Concurrence and DataPhile.