IBM to Offer PC-Cellular Phone Device

International Business Machines Corp. said Tuesday that it will soon offer a hand-held PC that can talk to larger computers by radio or cellular telephone, can receive and send faxes, or can simply be used as a telephone.

The new computer line--called 9075 PCradio--is designed for people who work away from databases they need to tap into or to which they want to send information.

“PCradio gives mobile workers the electronic link they need to be efficient and responsive to their customers,” Ralph Clark, an IBM vice president, said in a statement.

As examples, IBM cited service technicians seeking repair data from their home offices, and police officers who will be able to check license plates or criminal records directly from their patrol cars.

Sales representatives will be able to give customers immediate information on inventories or deliveries, IBM said.

“I think there’s a fairly large market for this kind of thing,” said Marc Schulman, an analyst with UBS Phillips & Drew. “The important thing is that it frees you from having to use a telephone and a modem.”

Most computer communicating requires a regular telephone and a modem, and one version of PCradio will still work this way.

Two others, however, will either let users communicate with far-away computers by radio network or to talk to them over cellular telephone systems. An optional, integrated thermal printer allows some data to be printed from PCradio, while an optional handset turns it into a mobile telephone.

The cellular phone version of PCradio can be used as a fax machine, while the regular telephone version will be able to send, but not receive, faxes. The radio version will do neither.

A spokeswoman for Armonk, N.Y.-based IBM said the devices will be available “sometime in the fourth quarter.”