[3:00 PM] Rantic Labs Goes On A FireWire Rampage, Mactell Product Line Not Involved
by Staff
The story of Rantic Labs has taken a twist from our originally reported story that they would be acquiring the FirePower product line from MacTell. The company has announced a new FireWire product line called Rampage. The Rampage line includes hard drives, DAT drives, MO drives, two ORB devices, and two CD/RW drives. According to Rantic Labs:
Rantic Labs, Inc. today announced that the company is launching a complete line of FireWire(TM) (IEEE-1394) storage products under the Rampage(TM) brand and the products will begin shipping in the US on November 24th.
Rantic Labs has developed a complete line of storage products including the following new products:
- Rampage(TM) HDD FireWire(TM) Hard Disk Drives from 8.4GB to 37GB
- Rampage(TM) DAT FireWire(TM) DAT Backup and Desktop VCR Solution
- Rampage(TM) CD/RW FireWire(TM) CD/RW 4x4x16 bundled with Adaptec's Toast
- Rampage(TM) MO 640MB FireWire(TM) MO 640MB Drive
- Rampage(TM) ORB 2.2GB FireWire(TM) ORB 2.2GB Removable Media Drive
The company plans to expand the product line beyond mass storage with the aim of developing a comprehensive FireWire line for both the Apple and PC markets.
As President of Rantic Labs, FireWire market pioneer, Reed Hinkel, brings to the company his vast experience in the development, marketing, and sales of FireWire(TM) products throughout the world. Also, long time Macintosh market veteran, Clint Giles, Vice President of Sales, contributes his long standing expertise in channel and retail sales management, and Shaun Mohle, Chief Technical Officer, and his team bring an the world's most extensive knowledge of FireWire(TM) technology.
Interestingly enough, this announcement comes at the same time that a story about MacTell and Rantic Labs ran in the Austin American Statesman:
The Macintosh peripheral maker known as Mactell Corp. may be no longer, but its products are being revived by former employees.
Rantic Labs Inc., incorporated by former Mactell executive Reed Hinkel the day that Mactell closed its doors, is advertising FirePower storage devices under the same names and pictures once used by Mactell. A sales rep at Austin's Bottomline Distribution, one of the computer supply sites running the ads, said the Rantic products won't be available for a couple of weeks but would be "similar" to what Mactell once sold.
An incensed former Mactell Chief Executive Roy Stocker said last week that Rantic does not own the rights to manufacture or market any Mactell products.
Mr. Stocker was not available for comment.
As of now, the company is no longer advertising the FirePower product line and is instead advertising the Rampage product line. We contacted Shaun Mohle, CTO of Rantic Labs, and former Mactell employee, who told us that the company is no longer selling the FirePower line. According to Mr. Mohle:
"The Rampage product line utilizes our own drivers, though we too are working with IBM. We are using some remaining cases that had been intended for MacTell, but we will be switching to a new form factor when those supplies are gone."
There is no information on what may be happening to MacTell orders and products that were open when the company closed its doors. Mactell stockholders and customers have been discussing this in our Forums.
The Mac Observer Spin: We are not sure what happened to the arrangements between Mactell and Rantic Labs, though we are certain that our information that Rantic Labs would be using the FirePower line was accurate at the time. At some point, a breakdown in the agreements between Rantic Labs and Mactell must have occurred, though we do not know why.
One thing is certain; The more FireWire devices on the market, the better for Apple and PowerMac G3/G4 owners.
Rantic Labs
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