Extras for new PowerBook arrive

While Apple Computer garnered a lot of attention this week with the introduction of new Macintosh notebooks, a number of other companies were busy introducing their own Mac-related products.

Buyers of the brand-new PowerBook G3s are being offered a number of add-on peripheral devices.

iRez Research is offering a PC card that can capture video images at 30 frames per second at pixel resolutions of 640 by 480. The card uses the ZoomedVideo feature of the PowerBook to deliver data to the screen, making notebooks a viable platform for video editing. The card is priced at $129.95.

VST Technologies will serve up a number of new peripherals, including a new 100MB Zip drive for use in the expansion bay of the PowerBook G3. Other items include a battery charger that can be used in two of the PowerBook's slots and a variety of hard drives for use in the expansion bay. All new products will be available by June. No pricing was announced.

For connecting back at office, Newer Technology is offering a desktop docking station for the PowerBook that features a variety of ports for connecting to video devices, monitors, and other peripherals. The BookEndz G3 will ship in June for an estimated street price of $250.

IXMicro said it will speed up graphics on the PowerBook G3 with its new ix3D Road Rocket product. The CardBus graphics accelerator uses a 128-bit chip and 4MB of graphics memory to support pixel resolutions up to 1280 by 1024 as well as dual monitors. Meanwhile, CardBus cards double the width of the data pipe to 32-bits and send the information to the notebook faster, compared to a regular PC Card.

Road Rocket will begin limited shipping June 15, 1998 for an estimated $299.