A battery-operated cordless handset with magnetic-stripe or smart-card reader LCD display, PINpad, and built-in infrared transmitter communicates with the base unit. A single power supply in the base terminal operates the telephone, modem, and printer in Chinese and English at 4.2 lines per second and can serve multiple handsets. The LCD display can be in Chinese, English, Japanese, Korean, Thai, or other Asian languages. Model S9000i terminals can be integrated with most IBM, NCR, Fujitsu, and Olivetti electronic cash registers. Cost for a single base unit with handset is in the $900 range depending on quantity and configuration.

Spectra Technologies was formed in 1993 and sold its first POS terminal one year later. Today it claims that 60% of Hong Kong merchants with electronic draft capture terminals use either its model S9000i or an earlier version. Spectra's total installed base includes merchants in China, Taiwan, Thailand, and Indonesia. Point-of-sale terminals are manufactured in China along with other card-activated hardware including devices for utility companies, automatic phone ordering and ticket dispensing for movie theaters, vending, bank-balance inquiries (off premises), and loading of monetary value into smart cards. Spectra also sells systems-integration services to retailers and transaction-processing software systems to hotels, mail-order companies, and department stores. Alfred Hung is Marketing Director at Spectra Technologies Co. Ltd. In Hong Kong, China, (852) 231-92918, fax (852) 231-92631.