INDIAN WELLS, California--Taking a different tack from other vendors showing off low-cost Net devices here at Demo 96, a Canadian company called TransPhone is demonstrating an appliance that can be used three different ways.
Currently in the test stage, TransPhone will be available for less than $500, according to officials from the Ottawa company. The device can be used as an Internet terminal, an online service access device, or a point-of-sale device.
The TransPhone comes with a complete telephone with a handset, a digital answering machine, caller ID, and a phone keypad powered by 512K of memory. The device also includes a magnetic card swipe, two PCMCIA slots, a full computer keyboard, and two phone lines digitally controlled by fax-modem. All of these features are controlled by built-in software.
Designed to conform to an open architecture, the device works with servers running Unix, Windows NT, and Solaris.
