F O R I N T E R N A L U S E O N L Y COMPETITIVE ACTION - WEEKLY UPDATE AUGUST 12, 1993 **************** FLASH ************* FLASH ************ COMPETITIVE INFORMATION IS NOW AVAILABLE ON POWER TOOLS. The competitive team is currently installing many new topics on Power Tools. To learn how to access Power Tools, send an hpdesk message to: POWER TOOLS/HP6650/AF. The following items are now on the database or are about to be installed: > Competitor's Corporate Profile > Competitor's Product Information including configuration and pricing > HP's Product Line Positioning Information > Competitor's Support, Services, and Solutions > Gartner Group Win/Loss Reports > Competitor's New Product Announcements > Sales Tactics to use against the Competitor including FUD For more information or to learn how to access these topics, send an Hpdesk message to POWER TOOLS/HP6650/AF. ************************************************************* If you would like to be added, deleted or you have changed locations, please send a message to Competitive /HP6650. Include your HPDesk address. Competitive Action is posted to HP-UX notes in the group hp.marketing. The string is entitled "hp.competition for ". BC = Beyond Computing BW = Business Week CC = Corporate Computing CIO = CIO CW = Computer World DM = Datamation DNR = Digital news & review EN = Electronic News IW = Information Week MS = Midrange Systems NC = NCR Connection OST = Open Systems Today RSM = RS/Magazine SE = Sun Expert SO = Sun Observer SJMN = San Jose Mercury News SW = Sun World UGX = Unigram-X UR = Unix Review UW = Unix World WN = Workstation News WSJ = Wall Street Journal Editor, Nadine Halsted *********************************************************** INSTRUCTIONS FOR REQUESTING MORE INFORMATION *********************************************************** Send a message to Competitive /HP6650 and include: 1. Name 2. NON-TELNET (AREA CODE AND TELEPHONE NUMBER) FOR YOUR FAX and telnet fax number. For numbers outside of the US, please note as international. 3. Number that precedes the article you need 4. Limit your request for faxing to a maximum of 3 articles. For 4 or more articles, send your mail stop or street address. Missing or incorrect information may delay delivery of your request. *********************************************************** DG ARTICLES *********************************************************** 844. ** DG ADS TOOLS FOR AVIION SERVERS (CW, 8/9/93, pg. 56) DG is developing distributed document management and workflow capabilities for integration into Uniplex Ltd.'s OnGo office groupware suite. DG recently introduced the OnGo product for use with its Aviion line of Unix servers. *********************************************************** DIGITAL ARTICLES *********************************************************** 845. ** DEC RIVALS HP's PACKAGE DEALS (SW, 8/93, pg. 16) To make sure people not only are aware of DEC's industry presence but continue to buy DEC products, the company offered several incentive packages in the form of pairing servers with X terminals as well as price cuts. Prices start at $42,200 for a starter package which includes a 64-bit server and five 17-inch color X terminals. One analyst says DEC's main competition is HP, which also offers package deals. 846. ** DEC DOWNPLAYS IT APPS - MIDDLEWARE FOCUS WILL ATTEMPT TO PROVIDE COMMON USER INTERFACE (CW, 8/9/93, pg. 2) DEC is bowing out of the application business and plans to concentrate software development on "frameworks" for tying multiple application in multivendor client/server environments. *********************************************************** FUJITSU ARTICLES *********************************************************** 847. ** FUJITSU'S MULTIPRONGED SPARC ATTACK (SW, 8/93, pg. 22) Fujitsu's efforts in the SPARC market have not been as fruitful as those in the mainframe world. Fujitsu owns 50% of HaL and Hal will launch a line of 64-bi , thousand-pin workstations and servers powered by Fujitsu chips. Fujitsu also bought Ross Technology for $23 million. *********************************************************** HP ARTICLES *********************************************************** 848. ** HP PLANS TO INTRODUCE LARGE UNIX SERVERS THIS FALL (CW, 8/9/93, pg. 69) This fall, HP will introduce its largest ever Unix system, which will offer twice the number of processors and incorporate more powerful version of HP's Precision Architecture-RISC chip. The new machines will house up to eight processors and use the 7100 version of HP's PA-RISC microprocessor. 849. ** PILOT PORTS EIS SYSTEM TO UNIX (UGX, 8/2/93, pg. 4) Pilot Software has ported its executive information system, command Center Plus, to IBM's RS/6000 and HP's 9000 Unix machines in response to customer demand for a cost-effective solution for transferring traditional mainframe EIS applications into robust Unix server environments. 850. ** STRATUS MOVES SERVER DOWN STREAM (CW, 8/2/93, pg. 8) Stratus introduced Unix-only versions of its XA/R fault-tolerant computers priced almost 50% lower than current models. Stratus also said it is right on target to shift the XA/R line from the I860 to HP's Precision Architecture-RISC microprocessors in late 1994 early 1995. 851. ** TI RETOOLS FOR CLIENT/SERVER (CW, 8/9/93, pg. 77) Texas Instruments has revamped its mainframe-based development tools to work in the client/server world. The Information Engineering Facility (IEF) for Client/Server will be delivered next month on Windows 3.1, OS/2, HP's HP/UX and DEC's VMS. Sun and Tandem will be available in the next year or two. *********************************************************** IBM ARTICLES *********************************************************** 852. ** IBM PINS AS/400 HOPES ON OBJECT-ORIENTED (CW, 8/9/93, pg. 77) IBM has started shipping the first piece of a planned object-oriented application development environment that it expects will become the key development platform for AS/400 computers by 1996. However, not everyone is convinced AS/400 users will be so receptive. 853. ** 'PINK' MAY GET A PINK SLIP (BW, 8/16/93, pg. 32) Apple has been shopping around some of its shares of Taligent, one of its two software joint ventures with IBM. Taligent, founded in 1991, by Apple and IBM is developing a operating system code-named Pink. Analyst and competitors confirm that Apple has offered to sell shares to Sun and HP, though neither has made any commitment. 854. ** PC CHIPS (IW, 8/2/93, pg. 6) Trying to steal some thunder from Intel, IBM introduced its Blue Lightning line of 486 microprocessors, which includes a clock-tripling 33/100-MHz version. Available in the fourth quarter, the 32-bit chip is the equal of Intel's forthcoming 100-MHz 486 chip, and runs 16-bit applications just as fast as Intel's 64-bit Pentium processor. 855. ** NEW RS/6000 34H USES 41.6MHZ RISC (UGX, 8/2/93, pg. 2) IBM announced the 34H, available in server and workstation models. A system with 16MB of memory, 400MB disk, 34KB cache and an 80Mbytes-per-second Micro Channel, cost $11,600. 856. ** AIX XSTATION MANAGER/6000 (UGX, 8/2/93, pg. 2) XStation Manager/6000 version 1.4.1 provides configuration support for the Xstation 150 machine and the ability to access fonts and the Xserver file lists. Users no longer need EPROM changes to update booting programs or to add code to support new displays or routers. Instead, it uses the XStation 150's flash memory to update code. 857. ** CICS FOR AIX ON RS/6000 (UGX, 8/2/93, pg. 2) IBM released its CICS/6000 On-Line Transaction Processing system for AIX. It provides support for transactions needing relational database access. Databases supporting this include Informix and Oracle. Sybase and Ingres hope to add support later this year. *********************************************************** MICROSOFT ARTICLES *********************************************************** 858. ** POINTING FINGERS (CW, 8/2/93, pg. 12) The Federal Trade Commission has dropped its investigation into Micorsoft's business practices. Bill Gates blamed Novell for instigating the three-year FTC investigation. Given that Novell controls the server market, Gates implied that Novell's alleged pushing of the investigation hints of the pot calling the kettle black. 859. ** WINDOWS NT (IW, 8/2/93, pg. 6) Windows NT appears to have won an early victory at the Department of Defense. The DOD has agreed to add Microsoft's 32-bit operating system to the technologies it offers the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and the Defense Information Systems Agency. 860. ** MOTOROLA LINKS WINDOWS NT TO ITS POWERPC (WSJ, 8/9/93, pg. B1) Motorola bought the rights to use Microsoft's Windows NT and is modifying it to run on Motorola's PowerPC. The PowerPC line is being developed in partnership with IBM and Apple. *********************************************************** NCR ARTICLES *********************************************************** 861. ** NCR BACKS NT WITH CA AGREEMENT (UGX, 8/2/93, pg. 2) Having committed to setting up a chain of NT support centers, NCR joined with Computer Associates to announce that NCR's System 3000 family will be the first line of computers to support CA-Unicenter for Windows NT. *********************************************************** SUN ARTICLES *********************************************************** 862. ** SUN MICROSYSTEMS CONTRACT WITH U.S. IS SUSPENDED AFTER RIVALS COMPLAIN (WSJ, 8/9/93, pg. B8) At least three rival bidders lodged complaints about Sun's bidding procedures after NSA awarded the contract in June. The contract would initially have been valued at about $75 million, with likely growth to as much as $200 million over the contract's five-year lifespan. HP, SGI, and IBM said Sun unfairly manipulated data used by the NSA to award its workstation contract. *********************************************************** OTHER *********************************************************** 863. ** NOVELL PUMPING UP SERVICES FOR ENTERPRISE NEEDS (CW, 8/9/93, pg. 1) Novell is getting ready to introduce multiple phases of its campaign to snare the hearts and information systems budgets of rightsizing corporations. This month, Novell will introduce its blueprint for enterprise client/server services and applications on the complementary operating systems of NetWare 4.0 and Unix. 864. ** COSE ATTACKS NET ADMINISTRATION (CW, 8/9/93, pg. 8) The COSE alliance of leading Unix vendors hopes within about six months to equip its common desktop environment with system administration tools similar to what Microsoft provides for its Windows and Windows NT products. 865. ** NO TECHNICAL FOULS (CIO, 8/93, pg. 14) Some NBA teams have given IBM's notebook a formal tryout. Loaded with basketball specific software the notebooks quickly became first-string decision-support technology. The notebooks function as electronic playbooks and clipboards that coaches can use to diagram and store plays during a game. 866. ** LOANING BANKS SOME COURAGE (IW, 8/2/93, pg. 13) The newly formed Retail Client-Server consortium hopes to identify and overcome obstacles that have kept many banks form employing client- server technology. Participating banks include Barclays, Mellon, and Chemical. Vendors include IBM, DEC, and Unisys. 867. ** THE PARALLEL UNIVERSE GROWS - UNISYS, INTEL, AND IBM ARE MOVING INTO "ALTERNATIVE MAINFRAMES" (BW, 8/16/93, pg. 32) Unisys and Intel join AT&T's NCR unit, IBM, Sequent, Pyramid and some other small supercomputer companies in the rush to exploit parallel computing. Unisys and Intel are teaming up to build a commercial "mainframe" based on Intel's high-powered Pentium microprocessor. IBM is preparing to go parallel when it ships a parallel-processing add-on for its System/390 in 1994. IBM already markets a parallel system for scientific use. ******************* END OF DOCUMENT ********************