Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : Identix (IDNX) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: David who wrote (12490)	2/18/1999 5:43:00 PM
From: David	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 26039

Wherefore art thou, Who? I thought I would go back and take another look at the Who?Vision saga. It may be educational. If you remember, they came on the scene just over a year ago with very big claims. Here is a history of Who: PC Week, November 24, 1997: Who?Vision will have products in keyboards "early next year" (i.e., early 1998) at about $100. Times Newspaper Ltd., January 11, 1998: Who? is "set to announce a deal with Microsoft that will allow any computer running Windows NT to use the [fingerscanning] system." Electronic Engineering News, January 12, 1998: According to Who's CEO, Spot Technology (a sub of MAG Technology) will make only about 100,000 devices in 1998, since they are just building a factory for this purpose in Taipei and "we're talking with a major keyboard manufacturer that makes over a million keyboards per month." Electronic News, January 12, 1998: The CEO "says a Wall Street firm plans on using a TactileSense peripheral to provide computer access to each of 5,000 workstations" and the modules will ship by the middle of the year (1998). PR Newswire, January 15, 1998: Who? has a deal with MAG to ship 35 million units over the next four years. Access Control & Security Systems Integration, February 1998: By 2000, Who? will offer TactileSense devices for $10. Computer Reseller News, February 23, 1998: Who? will have a stand-alone unit by midyear, and integrated units selling by Fall/Comdex. PR Newswire, March 6, 1998: XL Vision, parent of Who?Vision, pays NRID $1.5 million for license fee for SAF technology (after NRID had earlier said there would be a "multi-million" deal made). Financial Times (London), March 17, 1998: Who?Vision says TactileSense product will cost $25 or less. Network Computing, June 1, 1998: Who?Vision cost to manufacturers will be under $50 per device; product not yet complete enough for comparison testing. Orange County Business Journal, June 15, 1998: MAG Technology USA, which is licensing Who?Vision technology, "hopes to have a stand-alone fingerprint scanner in limited distribution by the third quarter ( of 1998)." PR Newswire, July 17, 1998: Safeguard Scientifics announces it has filed an IPO registration statement with the SEC for existing stockholders, making available 6.5 million common shares of Who? at an exercise price of $5 per share. The offering is expected in the third quarter of 1998. Yahoo NRID thread, February 18, 1999: A communication from NRID to a stockholder, posted on the Web, indicates that the Who?Vision scanner is still in preproduction and is not expected until the second quarter (of 1999). As of February 18, 1999, Safeguard has not spun off Who?Vision to its stockholders.