InterTalk allows Acorn users to access and download text-based information, graphics and even full motion video from the Internet, send and receive messages to and from Internet users worldwide and browse global bulletin boards. Inclusion of a World Wide Web browser gives InterTalk users an easy to use, colourful interface to multimedia documents and even virtual museums and art galleries held on the Internet. Users can also send internal electronic mail messages to other users on a school or campus-wide network and create internal bulletin boards.
To ensure Acorn users can talk to an even wider range of email users, InterTalk has been designed using de facto standard protocols, enabling maximum communication with PCs and Macs via the Internet. With more and more information available, controlling pupils' access to unsuitable data has to be considered. Acorn has designed InterTalk so that a designated teacher, IT co-ordinator or network administrator can prevent specified users gaining access to certain services by using password protection facilities.
Peter Talbot, General Manager for UK Education, comments:
"There is going to be a huge explosion of educational interest in accessing the Internet, with thousands of schools gaining access by 1996. With the launch of InterTalk, Acorn is actively promoting this movement by offering a cost-effective, easy to use solution for schools. Email communication and the Internet are an education in themselves. Communicating with fellow pupils locally or across the globe; debating ideas and issues in worldwide discussion groups; downloading free educational, multimedia resources - there are endless opportunities for teachers and students to explore with Acorn InterTalk."Acorn InterTalk is a software solution comprising an email and newsgroup reading application and a World Wide Web browser. InterTalk will be available in the second quarter of 1995 in single user and site-wide versions, priced at £79 and £299 respectively. The World Wide Web browser will not be built into InterTalk until the end of the second quarter of 1995. Users purchasing InterTalk before this time will be sent a free copy of the World Wide Web application as soon as it is available.
InterTalk requires RISC OS 3.1 or later and 2MB of memory. Details of Acorn supported modems and Internet providers are also provided.
Founded in 1978, with 1993 revenues of £54.3m, Acorn Computers is the premier supplier of IT solutions to UK education and has been the first supplier of low cost, 32-bit RISC based personal computers since 1987. Acorn works closely with a strong community of industry partners, users and software developers to provide innovative technology solutions for the education, consumer, publishing and international markets.
Acorn Computer Group plc is the holding company for Acorn Computers Limited, Acorn Australia, Acorn New Zealand, Acorn GmbH and Online Media. Acorn Computer Group owns 43% of Advanced RISC Machines Ltd. Online Media, a division of the Acorn Computer Group, was launched in 1994 with the mission to design world class, interactive multimedia products.
* The World Wide Web is a widely used and extremely attractive Internet service with a colourful, intuitive interface, offering easy access to thousands of text-based and multimedia documents around the world. All documents are connected by Hypertext links, which means that key words, phrases or images within one document, lead, when clicked upon, to another document related to it. This allows users to click their way through large amounts of related information without having to search through directories and filenames.