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Technology Stocks : THREE FIVE SYSTEM (TFS) - up from here? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jim Armstrong who wrote (744)	1/14/1998 12:26:00 PM
From: Jim Armstrong	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3247

Three-Five Systems Inc. Receives Order from A.T. Cross BusinessWire, Wednesday, January 14, 1998 at 11:54 Three-Five Systems Inc.(NYSE:TFS) Wednesday announced that it has received an order for the design and production of LCD modules from A.T. Cross Co. (AMEX:ATX.A) for its new CrossPad(TM), the industry's first portable digital notepad (PDN). The Pen Computing Group (PCG) division of A.T. Cross Co. unveiledCrossPad at the COMDEX show in November 1997. CrossPad, which incorporates Three-Five's prototype LCD modules, was a PC Week "Best Of COMDEX" award finalist in competition with 4,000 products. CrossPad is the first PDN that enables users to write in ink on standard paper and transfer their handwriting directly to a PC. Once in the PC, the user's handwriting can be filed, reorganized, faxed, e-mailed, printed out in hand-written form or converted to standard ASCII text for use in virtually all Windows 95 applications. "As a developer of new display technologies, we think it very fitting to be participating in this exciting new product category with Cross," said David Buchanan, Three-Five Systems' president and chief executive officer. The CrossPad PDN features a specially designed electronic pen and pad developed by Cross, and software developed by IBM Research. Three-Five Systems' custom LCD text and graphics module and related components display page, file and memory information to the CrossPad user. "Three-Five is making an important contribution to this new category and its technology will enhance the functionality and benefits of the CrossPad," said Robert Byrnes, Cross PCG's CEO. Three-Five Systems Inc. designs and manufactures user interface devices for operational control and information display functions in products of original equipment manufacturers. The company specializes in liquid crystal display (LCD) and light emitting diode (LED) components and technology in providing its custom design and manufacturing services for customers in the communications, medical electronics, industrial process control, wireless data collection and office automation marketplaces. At its Tempe, Ariz. headquarters, Three-Five operates the highest volume LCD manufacturing line in North America and a research and development laboratory dedicated to advanced display technologies. The company's website is located at threefive.com . Cross PCG is a division of A.T. Cross Co. that develops, manufactures and markets innovative pen-based digital writing products. The Cross PCG's website is located at cross-pcg.com . A.T. Cross Co., headquartered in Lincoln, R.I., is a major international manufacturer of fine writing instruments and distributor of quality gift products and other gift items.

To: Jim Armstrong who wrote (744)	1/15/1998 5:40:00 AM
From: Toby	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 3247

Jim, It's a data projector, so it doesn't have the normal 16:9 or 4:3 footprint. It is fully addressable. The projector uses 3 SLMs, a halide lamp split, polarized, imaged and recombined before projection. It's not a cheap approach by any means, but the resolution is unmatched at present. IBM had a lot of trouble engineering this projector. It's non-trivial to put LCD/Si and make a reflective display look good. The optical system is very complex. I expect that TFS/NSM are finding some of these facts out the hard way. As Kopin abundantly demonstrates, it's easy to get a prototype out the door and show it at the trade shows, but TFS/NSM have to announce OEM deals and ship product in volume before all the buzz on this thread is validated. The projector SLM market is pretty brutal these days. There are a lot of ways to skin that cat.