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Technology Stocks : COMS & the Ghost of USRX w/ other STUFF -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Dick Smith who wrote (13135)	2/26/1998 10:23:00 PM
From: Moonray	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 22053

3Com First To Asia With V.90 Modem Spec Newsbytes - February 26, 1998 12:41 HONG KONG, CHINA, 1998 FEB 26 (NB) -- By Neil Taylor, IT Daily. Although the ITU is not due to release the formal specifications for 56 kilobits-per-second (Kbps) communications until September, 3Com [NASDAQ:COMS] has become the first manufacturer to ship modems conforming to the new V.90 standard. And the new product release will also see 3Com drop the long-time US Robotics Courier and Sportster brand-names. The ITU (International Telecommunications Union) agreed upon the new 56Kbps standard on February 6, assigning it the official number v.90. The technical specifications are now frozen, but ratification has yet to be finalized. Users of 3Com's X2 modems -- which will be superseded by V.90 products -- will shortly be able to upgrade their modems through a free software download from 3Com's Web page. Upgrades are available for 3Com's US Robotics, Megahertz, Modem Pool (MP), NETServer, and I-modem ranges. According to a 3Com spokeswoman, the products will arrive in Asian markets within a few weeks of their US release. The product is already being delivered to channel in North America. "We have issues with localization of products," she said. "We're currently testing right now. The products will be appearing over the next few weeks." She also confirmed that the company is gradually phasing out its Courier and Sportster brand names. 3Com will now market its consumer market products simply as Megahertz for PC Cards and US Robotics, for desktop modems. Francis Fong, VP of sales and marketing with 3Com distributor Synergy, said distributors supported the change: "You can't have more than two brand names co-existing. So 3Com will become the brand name and USR will become the product name," he said. "It will be the same as with the Pilot. You can't find a US Robotics PalmPilot any more, you can only find a 3Com PalmPilot." Fong said the transition was not being widely publicized as channels still hold large stocks of Sportster and Courier products. However, he said the basic packaging and design of the products will stay the same and end-users will have no difficulty accepting the name change. "The users have been educated for a while because the existing products already have 3Com's logo on the boxes, so it should be fine," he said. o~~~ O