BYTE Magazine Picks Best Products at CeBIT '96

Editors Give Best of Show Award to Nokia 9000 Communicator at World's Biggest Computer Fair

HANNOVER, Germany -- The editors of BYTE Magazine gave the Nokia 9000 Communicator their Best of Show award at CeBIT '96 today. BYTE's Best of CeBIT awards recognize the most important and innovative products at CeBIT. The Nokia 9000, from Nokia Mobile Phones (Espoo, Finland), combines digital voice and data communications with personal organizer functions in a small, easy-to-use package. z

The winners and finalists in other categories are:

Best Technology

The Cyrix 6x86, from IBM and Cyrix. Cyrix, with its manufacturing partner IBM, has created a superscalar, superpipelined, x86-compatible processor that outperforms the Intel Pentium on most applications. Although Cyrix's sixth-generation P166+ actually runs at 133 MHz, it delivers equivalent or better application performance than a Pentium processor running at 166 MHz.

Best System

Compaq Computer's Deskpro M2100. A 166-MHz Pentium-based PC, the Deskpro M2100 includes the LS-120, a next generation, 120 MB floppy drive with an optional scanner keyboard.

Finalists:

UPKE 2626, from UPKE Systems, a Pentium-based multimedia PC for the home.

G6-200, from Gateway 2000, a 200-MHz Pentium Pro-based PC.

Best Portable

The Pilot, from the Palm Computing Division of U.S. Robotics. This personal organizer easily fits into your pocket and features one-touch synchronization with your PC.

Finalists:

Toshiba's Tecra 720CDT, a high-end, 133-MHz Pentium-based notebook.

Digital Equipment's HiNote Ultra II, a 133-MHz Pentium-based small notebook.

Best Internet Product

Visual Web, from Innovative Software. Available now for Win 95, Win NT, and OS/2 Warp (and soon, PowerMac, HP-UX, and Sun Solaris), this browser and offline reader provides a panoramic view of World Wide Web sites and lets you download pages for offline browsing.

Finalists:

MicroTouch's Prospector, a Web browser for use on public touchscreen kiosks.

Iterated Systems' Fractal Imager, a fractal compression utility for the Web.

Best Peripheral

Tektronix' Phaser 550. A 1200-by-1200 dots-per-inch color laser printer that prints at up to five pages per minute in color (14 ppm in monochrome), the Phaser 550 delivers excellent quality images and includes a Web-based management tool.

Finalists:

Vierte Art's X-Ist Facial Expression Tracker, a real-time animation software companion.

The SwapSmart PCMCIA smart card reader from SCM Microsystems.

Best Communications Hardware

The Nokia 9000 Communicator. This GSM phone incorporates Web browsing, personal organizer applications, fax/send receive, e-mail, an IrDA port, and other features in a device that weighs less than 400 grams.

Finalists:

AVM's Mobile ISDN-Controller M2, a PC card that provides ISDN and GSM connectivity.

Xylan's Pizza Switch, a 12-port, 10BaseT switch that supports multi-switch virtual LANs.

Best Communications Software

RVS-COM, a suite of programs for ISDN connectivity. From RVS Datentechnik.

Finalists:

Aries Australia's PhoneControl, an information tool for PBXes and keyphone systems.

MediaPhonics' Easycom 1.5, an integrated communications program for small offices.

Best Multimedia Hardware

A four-way tie went to companies that released 2D/3D graphics accelerator cards based on S3's ViRGe chip, which accelerates three-dimensional DOS and Windows (including forthcoming Direct3D) applications. The four companies, Diamond Multimedia, Number Nine Visual Technologies, Orchid (a Micronics company), and STB Systems expect to release these boards for about $200.

Finalists:

Fast Multimedia's AV Master, which delivers broadcast quality video for under $1000.

Virtuality's Elysium Ultrascaler, a hardware platform for creating virtual reality applications.

Best Multimedia Software

DataPath's Realimation. This Windows-based environment lets you create virtual worlds and interactive 3D multimedia presentations that can run on a variety of operating systems.

Finalists:

NetPresenter's NetPresenter 2.0, a tool for creating networked multimedia presentations.

Perceptix' Perweb+, a Web browser that lets you graphically create dynamic animated Web pages.

Best Application

Star Division's StarOffice. This multiplatform office suite delivers a consistent interface across Windows, OS/2, Power Mac, and Unix, and also offers Internet integration.

Finalists:

NewLog's Open Backup 3.0, a distributed, multiplatform backup application.

Siemens Nixdorf's SmartAssist, a personal task and workflow tool for Windows.

Best Development Software

The ComUnity Open Technology Framework from Siemens-Nixdorf. ComUnity, a development environment for Microsoft's Visual Basic 4.0, provides a framework for building large-scale client/server applications.

Finalists:

Oberon Microsystem's Direct-to-COM compiler introduces "Safer OLE" technologies.

Aladdin's HOPE provides granular version control for a team of C, C++, or Java developers.

BYTE magazine is the worldwide technical authority for computing experts. The magazine provides in-depth coverage of emerging technologies and leading-edge products. Now in its 21st year, BYTE is read by nearly one million people worldwide each month.

BYTE is part of the Computers and Communications Information Group of the McGraw-Hill Companies. Other publications and operations serving this market include LAN Times, Data Communications, National Software Testing Labs, Datapro, and Business Week.

Editorial contacts:
Rainer Mauth, bureau chief, BYTE European Headquarters, Frankfurt: +49 69 5801 123.
Rich Friedman, executive editor international, BYTE Magazine, USA: 603 924-2523.