01/29/96 COMPAQ'S SCANNER IN THE WORKS

COMPAQ'S SCANNER IN THE WORKS

ALMOST EVERY PC GEARED toward the home-office market now features a fax-and-data modem. That allows home-office workers to receive faxes easily, but sending faxes other than computer- generated documents still requires buying and setting up a separate page scanner. At the Winter Consumer Electronics Show held in Las Vegas Jan. 5-8, Compaq Computer Corp. displayed an elegant solution.
Compaq's approach is to integrate Visoneer Communications Inc.'s PaperPort scanner right into the keyboard. The keyboard, which is just three inches longer than a standard keyboard, will also come with software to organize scanned documents and help the scanner work with the PC's fax modem. Company officials say the device will work with any IBM-compatible PC, including Compaq's popular Presario line. Pricing and availability haven't yet been decided.
EDITED BY PAUL M. ENG