Just for a change of pace, how about some facts?
globalcomms.co.uk
Global Communications Interactive '97
On the Threshold of a New Industry in Telecommunications
Copytele
D.A. Krusos and F.J. DiSanto have been long time contributors to the fax industry. Their work with CopyTele has resulted in the MAGICOMr 2000 a personal communications product offering many features including a patented high resolution flat panel display screen. Current work is set to lead to a new era in imaging telecommunications.
There are millions of fax machines in use today and Denis A. Krusos and Frank J. DiSanto were among the pioneers who put the fax revolution in motion. They have been pioneering engineering breakthroughs together for over forty years, including helping shape facsimile development and technology which has changed the way the world communicates.
They first teamed up in 1955 when they founded and directed the growth of Automation Laboratories. Jointly, they worked on projects for the US Army, Air Force, Navy and NASA, including a TV facility for the NASA space program, TV and night vision programs for the Army, guidance systems for missiles for the Air Force, a platform evaluation of the Polaris program, and a navigational plotting system for the Navy.
Their work in telecommunications began in 1968 when Visual Sciences Inc. was founded and the Krusos and DiSanto team designed and developed their first fax machine, the KD-111 Remotecopier. It weighed 100 pounds and featured automatic start and record, dry copy, automatic answer connector, self contained paper roll, and boasted no odours or fumes. The purpose of Visual Sciences was to design, develop, sell and lease facsimile equipment.
In an effort to attain the goals set at Visual, Krusos and DiSanto went to Japan in search of a manufacturer for the KD-111 Remotecopier. They approached a small company called Toho Denki Co Ltd which specialised in weather and railroad fax, a technology which required special dedicated telephone lines. The Japanese company was interested in manufacturing fax equipment for Visual Sciences and agreed to build a factory specifically for Visual's KD-111 Remotecopier. This new facility was funded by Visual Sciences. Toho Denki eventually changed its name to Matsushita Graphic Communication Systems Inc., a subsidiary of Matsushita Electric Industrial Co Ltd (MEI), of which Panasonic is a subsidiary. MEI is one of the largest companies in Japan with extensive experience in manufacturing equipment for world-wide markets.
The KD-111 Remotecopier was the first fax machine to utilise public network telephone lines and the first business fax machine to be sold in Japan. This was the beginning of commercial fax technology world-wide. Japan has always received credit for the fax revolution; even though Krusos and DiSanto played a major role, they have been given little recognition for their efforts. Toho Denki continued to manufacture fax equipment for Visual until 1982.
In 1968, when the Krusos and DiSanto team designed their first fax machine, there were no industry standards or guidelines upon which to base fax equipment specifications which would have aided in encouraging world-wide compatibility. However, in the mid 1970's when the CCITT of Geneva (today it is the ITU), developed a forum for setting the standards for the fax industry, Krusos and DiSanto were there to help assist in the formulation of these standards which are now employed worldwide.
Initially, Visual utilised Plessey Company of the United Kingdom and 3M Company in the United States to assist in the marketing and servicing of the KD-111 and KD-211. In 1977, a joint ownership company between Visual Sciences and Matsushita Graphics was formed called Panafax Corporation to market and service a wide range of fa~ machines in the United States, including the MV-1200 and the MV-3000, which were designed and developed by Krusos and DiSanto at Visual Sciences. Panafax eventually established sales and service offices across the country. Visual Sciences additionally coordinated worldwide sales, with more than 20 companies assisting in the service and distribution of their fax machines.
The MV-1200 was the first solid state technology Group 11 fax machine. It was microprocessor controlled and featured an automatic document feeder (manufactured by Matsushita according to Visual's design). In 1980, Visual designed the MV-3000 fax machine. The MV-3000 was the first desktop multi-functional digital Group III fax machine It was capable of communicating with a computer, word processor, and telex in under one minute. The Krusos and DiSanto team also designed, developed and sold the first peripheral facsimile products including automatic document feeders, automatic dialers, line connection units, and broadcasting and polling units.
In 1983, Matsushita bought out Visual Sciences share of Panafax, which is now the office automation arm of Panasonic.
With their extensive knowledge in the fax and imaging communications field, this dynamic team began working towards their next dream which included founding CopyTele Inc. in 1982. CopyTele is staffed with top engineers, chemists, and marketing personnel, and based in Huntington Station, New York.
MAGICOMr 2000
r 2000>The technology harnessed by the Krusos and DiSanto team and incorporated in its MAGICOMr 2000 product is a charged particle display. MAGICOMr is the result of intensive research and development at CopyTele. More specifically, the ultra-high resolution flat panel display incorporated in MAGICOMr possesses a combination of features that are not presently available in other display screens, such as ultrahigh resolution, compatibility with facsimile terminals (200 lines per inch in the horizontal direction and vertical directions with up to a full page of information with real-time display), a minimal amount of inactive space between pixels or picture elements (allowing the image to appear smoother), image retention without refreshing (eliminating the need for image repetition with resulting flicker and operator fatigue), approximately 180 degree viewing angle, low power consumption for writing and image retention with minimal power consumption. CopyTele has developed flat panels with viewing areas whose diagonals are 7.8, 7.2 and 5.7 inches, containing approximately 1 150 000, 800 000 and 630 000 pixels, respectively. The Company's 7.8 inch diagonal flat panel is one of the principal features of the MAGICOMr 2000 product. This flat panel has 1280 lines by 896 lines with a resolution of 200 lines per inch in both directions and has an image area of approximately 6.4 x 4.5 inches.
CopyTele's first commercial product, the MAGICOMr 2000, has been well received in demonstrations and trade shows. Its patented high resolution flat panel display screen is trademarked "E-Paper". This product is a multifunctional telephone-based unit that can send and receive hand written communications as well as simultaneous voice and electronic handwriting. This personal communications product offers many features, including digital voice, fax with full page transmission and paperless reception, full duplex speaker phone, email communications, data transmission, storage and computer interface, as well as being capable of sending alphanumeric messages to pagers using a touch sensitive keyboard screen.
In April 1995, CopyTele Inc. and Shanghai Electronic Components Corporation (SECC) entered into a Joint Venture Agreement (SECC is wholly-owned by the government of China and is the largest electronics components company in China, it is also engaged in the assembly and manufacture of components for electronics systems including communications, transportation and instrumentation).
Under the Joint Venture Agreement, a joint venture company called Shanghai CopyTele Electronics Co Ltd was formed in China. Shanghai CopyTele now manufacturers MAGICOMr 2000 in its new 30 000 square foot facility located in Songjiang County; when this facility is in full operation, it will have the capacity to produce up to 700 000 units per year.
At a press conference held at the Shanghai World Field Convention Hotel in Shanghai in October and in the PT/EXPO COMM China '96 trade show in Beijing in November 1996, MAGICOMr 2000 was launched. Several representatives of the media, including TV, trade magazines and newspapers were present. Also present were two vice mayors of Shanghai and many members of the business community. MAGICOMr 2000 was well received. It was also written up in local newspapers and aired on the evening news in Shanghai. For users in China and other Pacific Rim countries which use an alphabet containing over 4000 characters, being able to write in any language on MAGICOMr 2000 is especially attractive. This feature of being able to hand write in any language on MAGICOMr 2000 electronic screen is providing an easy means for people to communicate in countries around the world.
CopyTele is presently engaged in the research and development of a colour panel with video capability. In light of the new digital video standards that are being formatted in the telecommunications industry, the company increased its efforts to develop digital video and colour capability for its overall flat panel display technology. In an effort to achieve these goals, the company expanded its technical staff with leading scientists in the field; it also acquired new facilities and equipment. The display under development utilises a unique proprietary solid state and optical technology, which is suitable for obtaining ultra-high resolution in colour at video speeds, with minimal power, high contrast and long life. CopyTele anticipates that colour implementation will be achieved without the use of the traditional colour filters currently used in LCD's. Feasibility models have already been fabricated and have demonstrated the capability of its technology in achieving the required video response time, contrast, colour and resolution. The company is now in the process of fabricating flat panels incorporating this technology which boasts a resolution of approximately 240 lines per inch in both horizontal and vertical directions. The technology under development could be universal in computers, digital television, videoconferencing, multimedia devices, personal communications and network computers, as well as accessing online information services and the Internet.
Further, in the area of colour and video development, in February 1997 CopyTele announced that it had entered into an agreement for a joint development program with a Russian company. The agreement provides for the Russian company to develop a colour video control system for the video flat panel display, and additional technological features for MAGICOMr 2000. The Russian company was formed by a group of specialists in military and aerospace technologies and specialises primarily in the development of specialised computers and computer systems architecture, software and hardware; the development of communication equipment and communication software; the development of multimedia and hypermedia systems; and investigation and experimentation in projects for future electronic and information technologies. Under the Agreement, CopyTele will be the sole owner of the technology.
Since the product launch of MAGICOMr 2000 in October 1996, CopyTele has exhibited at trade shows in Egypt, Tunisia, Russia, and most recently at the Hannover trade show in Germany. The results have been marked consistently with enthusiasm and excitement. MAGICOMr 2000 is the next wave in telecommunications innovation, a frontier which will enable greater ease of communication. Once again the "Pioneers of Fax' are on the threshold of a new industry in telecommunications.
In January 1997 CopyTele announced that it had entered into three year distribution agreements for the sale and service of MAGICOMr 2000. These agreements provide for the purchase of the distributors requirements of the MAGICOMr 2000 units in Russia and surrounding countries, the Philippines, North Africa, Egypt and Indonesia. CopyTele's goal is to penetrate the world-wide markets in progressive stages. As of the end of May the total quantities contracted for sale under all agreements is approximately $272 million.
CopyTele went public in 1983 and presently has 140 employees, including their joint venture company and outside consultants.
Denis A. Krusos and Frank J. DiSanto have been partners for more than 40 years and are now the longest working partnership in electronics since the team of Hewlett and Packard. Together they have over 130 patents in CopyTele's flat panel display technology. On the threshold of a new frontier, a whole new industry in imaging telecommunications, these pioneers hope to fill a void and enhance the means by which people communicate. When asked to what they attribute their longevity and overall success, their response was simple, "Keep looking to the future and always have a dream."
MAGICOMr 2000
the revolutionary telephone that
speaks and writes.
Imagine the possibilities.....................
COPYTELE
200 Summit Lake Drive
Valhalla NY 10595
Tel: +1 (914) 747-5050
Fax: +1 (914) 747-5097
WWW: magicom.com
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