Newsbytes - Internationa…ews 1983 May to 1994 June/Newsbytes - International Computing Industry News 1994 Edition - May 1983 - June 1994 - Wayzata Technologies (5045) (1994).iso/pc/text/mac_text/1987/nb870908.221

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EVERYONE GOING TO COMDEX/FALL
LAS VEGAS (NB) -- This year's Comdex/Fall in Las Vegas looks like it
will be the best in years.  The show has attracted virtually all the
industry's big names -- Apple, IBM, Tandy, Compaq, Lotus, Microsoft,
Kaypro, Texas Instruments, Hewlett Packard, Commodore, Atari,
Borland, and AT&T -- the first time all these major players are
putting in an appearance at Comdex in recent memory.  (Thanks to
reader John Pilge for this tip.) Altogether some 1400 exhibitors
will be there, including Adam Osborne's Paperback Software.
The keynote speaker is Jim Manzi, chairman and chief executive
officer of Lotus.  Several conferences should be exciting:  IBM'S PS/2
Machines: Consensus or Confusion, What's Gonna Be Hot: Comdex
Hardware Trends, and The Software Marketplace: Hot Products
for '88.

CONTACT:  THE INTERFACE GROUP, 1-800-325-3330

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MACH 20 SHIP DATE SET: REGENERATES OLD PCs
REDMOND, Wa. (NB) -- As reported previously in NEWSBYTES, Microsoft
will sell a $495 board which will enable an 8088-based PC to operate
as fast, and have as much memory, as an 80286-based machine.
The Mach 20 will ship September 21, says Microsoft, and sell for
$495.  The board provides connections for RAM upgrades, a
multi-media disk drive controller, a mouse, and other input devices.
Microsoft also says the board will enable older PCs to run
software based on Windows 2.0 and the coming OS/2 system.

[***][9/08/87][***]
MICROSOFT REELS THEM IN: NEW LAWSUITS
REDMOND, Wa. (NB) -- Another firm has been caught in the cross-hairs
of Microsoft's assault on piracy -- Carson, California-based MemPro,
a distributor owned by Shahram Bidsel and Ehson Allah Nouri.
Microsoft says the company ordered 10,000 copies of pirated
versions of MS-DOS and 30,000 copies of pirated PC-DOS from
Beltron Berkeley, which was named in the first of three lawsuits.
Microsoft attorney William Pope says MemPro was implicated
through testimony of Beltron Berkeley's proprietor Richard
Lin.  The copyright infringement suits have been filed in U.S.
District Court in San Francisco.

[***][9/08/87][***]
PIRACY RAIDS IN HONG KONG FOR AUTODESK
SAUSALITO, Ca. (NB) -- Autodesk Inc. is profusely thanking the
Hong Kong government for its crackdown on illegal copies of
AutoCAD disks, which it hauled in during a raid in late August.
200 pirated disks and 500 copied manuals were taken from
a store in a shopping complex in Hong Kong.  Autodesk has made
no secret of its campaign against pirates.  For the last few
months, it has worked closely with the Hong Kong government to
track and snare pirates, a process aided by new legislation passed
in that country to facilitate copyright enforcement.

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SOFTWARE PUBLISHING YANKS TWO DESKTOP PACKAGES
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Ca. (NB) -- Software Publishing Corporation
won't be shipping its PFS: Professional Write Plus word processing/
desktop publishing package for PCs any time soon.  And Harvard
Professional Publisher has also been yanked from production
as the company takes a hard look at the problems and sales
figures of its software.  Specifically, PFS:╩Pro Write Plus got
a "thumbs down" response from dealers who previewed it
recently, forcing Software Publishing programmers back to the
drawing boards.  Dealers criticized the program's lack of
integration between word processing and desktop publishing
features, according to sources.  Professional Write Plus does
not have a release date.

As for the termination of the Harvard Professional Publisher,
spokeswoman Valorie Cook says the high-end package could not
be changed fast enough to make it competitive.  She denied
reports that the package, introduced in January, was not selling
well.  Owners of Harvard Professional Publisher can exchange
it for free copies of First Publisher and Harvard Graphics.

[***][9/08/87][***]
COMPUTERLAND UNDERWRITES NEW PUBLIC TELEVISION PROGRAM
HAYWARD, Ca. (NB) -- ComputerLand Corporation, which has been
producing a television program distributed solely to its dealers,
will now get into the business of public broadcasting.  Computer-
Land will underwrite a public television series called "Growing
a Business" which will be about the trials and tribulations of
making a business survive in the 80's and 90's.  No dollar figure
has been disclosed for the underwriting, but ComputerLand
plans to capitalize upon its tax deduction by launching a promotion
aimed at small and medium-sized businesses in conjunction with
the show.  That will include seminars for small businesses, a
give-away of free copies of the book on which the series is based,
and sales of video cassettes of the TV series.  Hired to be the host
is author Paul Hawken, who wrote "Growing a Business," as well as
"The Next Economy."  Hawkins is also the founder of several
businesses including the Smith & Hawkins  garden supply stores.

Bill Graves, ComputerLand's director of product marketing, told
NEWSBYTES the series is aimed at  entrepreneurs and  would-be
entrepreneurs.  Computers are involved, but by no means the unique
focus of the show.

KQED is producing the series.  It is scheduled to air November 7 on
the public television stations that pick it up.

CONTACT:  Bill Graves, COMPUTERLAND, 415/475-3116

[***][9/08/87][***]
APPLE WINS IBM VETERAN FOR TOP EAST-COST SPOT
CUPERTINO, Ca. (NB) -- Apple Computer has announced the appointment
of Harold Copperman, a 20-year Big Blue veteran, as manager of Apple's
east coast sales, support, and training group.  Until recently,
Copperman served as IBM's director of marking for higher education
and is very experienced with the college and university marketplace.
That's an important source of Apple's income and this appointment
is likely to enhance it even further.

[***][9/08/87][***]
APPLE LEAPS FOR AN $800 MILLION ARMY CONTRACT
CUPERTINO, Ca. (NB) -- Apple has teamed up with Magnavox to bid
on an $800 million contract to supply software and hardware for
the Army's battlefield command and control system project.  Apple's
offer  reportedly includes 18,000 Macintosh computers.  Alone,
Apple might have a slim chance, but its teaming up with Magnavox,
a large defense contractor, provides it with a better chance of
success.  Also in the bidding is expected to be Hewlett Packard and
Unisys according to Charles Berger, VP of market development.
The decision is due in the spring.

[***][9/08/87][***]
APPLE TO SPEND BIG BUCKS FOR APPLEFEST PROMOTION
SAN FRANCISCO (NB) -- An inside source has told NEWSBYTES that
Apple and Cambridge Marketing will spend an estimated $100,000
on radio and print ads to promote the Applefest, scheduled for
September 18-20 at San Francisco's Civic Center.  The expenditures
will have to compete with the other big news of the week -- the
Pope is scheduled to visit to San Francisco on the 17th.  A host
of Apple luminaries are scheduled to give talks at the show -- which
contrary to popular belief WILL feature some Macintosh products,
including new stackware from Activision.  They are Del Yocum
(Friday), Steve Wozniak (Saturday) and Alan Kay (Sunday).

[***][9/08/87][***]
THE FIRST FROM NEXT IS SAID TO BE BLACK
PALO ALTO, Ca. (NB) -- Sources report that Steve Jobs has an
unique design for his firm's coming academic workstation --
the machine is said to look like a jet black cube -- a far cry
from the Macintosh with which it's expected to compete.  The
design was reportedly created Hartmut Esslinger of Frog Design
in West Germany.  But wait -- there's more.  The rumor mill
tells us that the machine will have a built-in 8-inch speaker
to blast our "extraordinary sound" capabilities, and it will
have some dazzling graphics.  We'll see.

[***][9/08/87][***]
NATIONAL SEMICONDUCTOR COMES TO RESCUE OF FAIRCHILD
SAN JOSE, Ca. (NB) -- National Semiconductor will spend an estimated
$122 million to purchase Fairchild Semiconductor Corporation, ending
the year-long battle to sell the firm to Fujitsu.  National Semi will
make the 30-year old chipmaker a subsidiary, and consequently will
become the U.S. Defense Department's largest supplier of military
chips.  The acquisition will require a great deal of budget-trimming
on the part of National Semiconductor, however.  Fairchild has been
a money-losing operation for years, having lost $93 million in 1986.
National may sell or close parts of the operation, but most likely
will not do away with Fairchild's prestigious research and development
center in Palo Alto.

If the marriage is consummated, National Semiconductor will also
become Silicon Valley's largest chipmaker, surpassing the most
recent owner of that title -- Advanced Micro Devices/Monolithic
Memories -- and will become the third largest in the nation, behind
Motorola and Texas Instruments.

[***][9/08/87][***]
IN BRIEF --

APPLE COMPUTER, Cupertino, Ca., will unveil its newest
Macintosh peripheral, a 300-dpi desktop scanner, at the Seybold
Desktop Publishing conference this week.  The scanner, which
will reportedly sell for $1,500.

ASHTON-TATE, Torrance, Ca., has started shipping the long-awaited
dBASE╩Mac relational database program.  It will retail for $495.

EDUCATIONAL SOFTWARE SERVICE, Novato, Ca., is publishing a
newsletter of interest to parents/educators seeking information
about educational software.  The free newsletter publishes reviews
of outstanding educational software and offers discounts on
over 100 educational software titles.  To get a free copy, call
415-898-2877.

MICROPRO INTERNATIONAL, San Rafael, Ca., is offering a trip to
Las Vegas, Pontiac Fiero car, IBM computers, LaserJet printers,
and more in a new contest aimed at publicizing its sale of the
3 millionth Wordstar package.  All registered users as of July 10
qualify for the give-away.  MICROPRO also corrected our story
regarding the new version of Wordstar....the CPM version is the
4th generation of the popular program.  In mid-October, the firm
will release Wordstar 2000 Release 3.

VICTOR TECHNOLOGIES, Scotts Valley, Ca., is moving its headquarters
to Malvern, Pennsylvania within the next 3 months, but will keep
a service operation in Scotts Valley for its West Coast customers.
"80% of our customers are located east of the Mississippi," says Al
Kraus, Victor president and CEO, of the move.  "It makes good sense
to be where our business is located."



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DISTRIBUTOR TO HANDLE HYUNDAI IN CANADA
TORONTO (NB) -- Hyundai, the South Korean manufacturing
conglomerate, is including Canada in its push to set up dealer
channels throughout North America.  Here, however, the company
has named an exclusive national distributor, MicroTurbo Canada of
Toronto.  The move is in contrast to Hyundai strategy in the
U.S., where Hyundai Electronics America will bypass distributors
and work directly with its dealers.  Stan Katz, vice-president of
MicroTurbo, says his company will fill the role in Canada that
Hyundai America plays in the U.S.

MicroTurbo acquired the exclusive distributorship "just before
IBM introduced the Personal System/2," Katz said, which didn't
make things any easier.  However, he said, Hyundai's high-profile
name and reputation for quality are helpful.  Hyundai currently
sells an 8088-based IBM-compatible called the Super-16 PC and a
similar machine called the 8088-2.  Katz said an 80286-based
computer will be introduced this fall and an 80386 model should
be along in the new year.

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TANDY INTERNATIONAL ARM SUING FORMER EMPLOYEES
BARRIE, Ont. (NB) -- InterTan Canada Inc., the Canadian
subsidiary of InterTan Inc., which in turn is the international
operations wing of Tandy Corp. of Fort Worth, Tex., is suing
three former employees who left to form a new company.

Tom Soper left his job as director of Tandy Business Products at
the end of April to become president of Personal Technologies
Inc., a Barrie-based startup.  In June he hired away Ian Thurston
and James Tocher, both of whom had worked for him at Tandy.

According to CANADIAN COMPUTER DEALER NEWS, InterTan Canada
claims the three used confidential, proprietary information
obtained while working at Tandy for their personal gain, and
breached their "fiduciary duty" by hiring away other Tandy
employees.  InterTan wants $1 million in damages and the return
of books, records, photocopies and information stored on computer
disks that it contends the three men have.

Neither party is commenting on the lawsuit.

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ZANTHE UPDATES DATABASE PROGRAM
OTTAWA (NB) -- Zanthe Information Inc. has introduced Version 3.0
of Zim, its database management system and fourth-generation
development tool.  The new release includes added multi-level
security features that, among other things, allow a particular
user to be given access to some sets of data and not to others.
There are also a number of enhancements that the vendor says will
speed up application development: automatic transaction retry;
scrolling primitives; a halt command; single-step processing; and
three new set operators.

Zim is available in different versions that run on a wide range
of computer hardware ranging from IBM-compatible PCs through Unix
machines up to mainframes.

CONTACT: ZANTHE INFORMATION INC., 1200-38 Antares Dr.,
         Nepean, Ont. K2E 7V2, [phone]
         (Toll-free in U.S.: [phone])

[***][9/08/87][***]
NEW AT&T MICROS IN CANADA TOO
TORONTO (NB) -- Toronto was one of the sites hooked up to AT&T's
teleconference last week when the company introduced more than 40
new products, most notable of which were the 6312 and 6386
personal computers.  Canadian list prices for the 6386 range from
C$7,690 to C$16,320 and the machine will be available in October.
The 6312 will be available in December, and pricing wasn't
announced.

Jim Leto, president of AT&T Canada, said that in 1986 the
Canadian subsidiary's PC sales accounted for half the company's
computer sales in Canada.  He added that the company expects to
double its earnings and nearly double its staff in 1987.  And he
hinted that some manufacturing and research and development
operations might be added to what is at present essentially a
sales office.  The company has been exploring joint research work
with Canadian universities and looking for government incentives
to do some research or manufacturing here.  "I suspect that by
the end of the year we'll have found a partner to manufacture at
least a few components," Leto said.

AT&T Canada and Olivetti Canada will have to do some fancy
footwork to avoid stepping on each other's toes in the computer
market.  Olivetti builds AT&T's personal computers and sells the
machines outside the U.S.  Leto said Olivetti Canada will be
distributing some of the products announced last week, and the
two companies are negotiating a distribution relationship.

Finally, Leto said some 515 Canadian McDonald's restaurants are
included in the large hardware sale to the fast-food chain that
AT&T announced along with its new products.

[***][9/08/87][***]
FINANCIAL BITS
-- DIGITAL EQUIPMENT OF CANADA LTD., Toronto, had revenues of
C$772 million in the fiscal year ending June 28, up 22 per cent
over the previous year.  Profits were C$57.6 million, up 28 per
cent.  The revenues included C$261 million from exports to
Digital subsidiaries and affiliates around the world.

-- AES DATA LTD., Montreal, has been fully acquired by Kinburn
Technology Corp. of Ottawa, which bought the office automation
vendor from Canada Development Corp., a Crown corporation.

-- LOGIBEC GROUPE INFORMATIQUE LTEE., of Montreal, made a profit
of C$337,000 on revenues of C$4 million in the nine months ended
June 30, up from a C$123,000 profit on C$1.5 million in revenues
in the same period last year.

-- INTERNATIONAL SEMI-TECH MICROELECTRONICS INC., Markham, Ont.,
says its subsidiary Semi-Tech Microelectronics (Far East) Ltd.,
of Hong Kong, has signed an underwriting agreement with the Asian
Oceanic Group for a private placement worth about C$17 million.

[***][9/08/87][***]
BITS, EH?
-- When NEWSBYTES CANADA  reported the formation of a new federal
department of Department of Industry, Science and Technology a
month ago, we assumed Minister of State for Science and
Technology Frank Oberle would head it.  Not so.  The job goes to
Robert de Cotret, formerly in charge of the Treasury Board.
Oberle stays on as a junior minister under de Cotret.

-- NCR CANADA LTD., Mississauga, Ont., has signed a long-term
agreement with Spectrix Microsystems Inc. of Markham, Ont., that
allows Spectrix to sell NCR's Tower supermicros under its own
label.

-- TELESAT CANADA last week held the official opening of its
first teleport, a collection of satellite dishes on the Toronto
waterfront that can transmit voice and data signals to all
Canadian satellites for customers in the Toronto area.



[***][9/08/87][***]
NEC-IBM COMPATIBLE PC FOR A NEW STANDARD?
TOKYO (NB) -- Japan Personal Computer Software Technical
Laboratory (JPL), an affiliated organization of Japan Personal
Computer Software Association, has decided to propose a new
architecture for a standard personal computer to the Japanese
industry.  Interestingly enough, the new machine, which is based
on this architecture, can be compatible with both IBM PC/AT and
NEC PC-9801 computers.  A report says JPL will soon set up a
committee to carry out this plan, asking for computer makers'
participation.  JPL is already thinking of developing an
operating system dubbed JPL-OS, modifying MS-DOS.  It is likely
that both 80286 and 80386 microprocessing units will be used for
the new machine.

In the past, Japan Personal Computer Software Association, which
is supported by small and major software houses, has made
proposals to standardize personal computers' peripheral
equipment, including printers, but it has not had any major
impact on the hardware industry.

Meanwhile, an IBM-NEC compatible computer is not technically a
problem.  In fact, already a couple of Japanese makers, such as
Proside and TomCat Computer, have reportedly developed such kind
of computers.  But they have not been sold yet.  Apparently,
those makers are afraid of being sued by  Japanese computer
giant NEC, which is extremely protective about sales of its
compatible computers.  So, the newly budding NEC-compatible
computer makers have been taking a "wait and see" attitude regarding
NEC's Seiko-Epson lawsuit (NEC sued Seiko-Epson for copyright
infringement.   From this point of view, the key to JPL's
success largely depends on how JPL gets along well with NEC and
IBM.

[***][9/08/87][***]
NATIONAL SEMICONDUCTOR'S LOW-COST BUY-OUT OF FAIRCHILD
TOKYO (NB) -- National Semiconductor (USA) announced (8/31)
it has purchased Fairchild from its parent company Schlumberger
at US$122 million.  With the buy-out, National Semiconductor has
become a giant semiconductor company with annual sales of
$1.5 billion.  Fairchild will beef up the logic IC field of NS.
Japanese semiconductor industry people were surprised at the
low-cost buy-out price, which is about half of the negotiated
price with Fujitsu.

Meanwhile, the JAPAN TIMES reports Fujitsu will carry out the
plan to supply Fairchild with the 32-bit MPU Clipper on an OEM
basis, despite this takeover by National Semiconductor.  Fujitsu
and Fairchild signed the OEM contract this past May, and
Fujitsu has already supplied samples of Clipper to Fairchild.

[***][9/08/87][***]
ADOBE'S POSTSCRIPT SUPPORTS MULTIPLE LANGUAGES
TOKYO (NB) -- NIKKEI-BYTE magazine reports Adobe Systems
(USA) will soon announce extended versions of PostScript, a
page description language for laser printers.  The new versions
support Japanese, Arabic, and Hebrew.  Japanese firms have
already started developing laser printers for the new versions
of PostScript, and they're expected to be released in mid 1988.
The Japanese fonts for PostScript are being developed by Adobe
and Japan's Morisawa.  Adobe is thinking of setting up a
subsidiary in Japan in the near future.

[***][9/08/87][***]
RICOH TO SELL IBM PS/55
TOKYO (NB) -- The Tokyo-based major office equipment dealer Ricoh
has signed a sales agreement with IBM Japan. With this agreement,
IBM Japan supplies Ricoh with the Japanese versions of IBM PS/2
series called IBM PS/55 on an OEM basis.  Ricoh markets the PS/55
series under its own brand name in Japan.  Ricoh also sells IBM's
System/36 series in the same manner.  The actual sales will start
in April 1988.

CONTACT: Ricoh, 1-15-5 Minami-Aoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo 107

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OKI STARTS 32-BIT TRON CHIP DEVELOPMENT PROJECT
TOKYO (NB) -- Oki Electronics has begun to develop 32-bit
microprocessing units, based on the potential standard open
architecture TRON.  Oki intends to develop two types of TRON
chip -- one is for personal computers, and the other for
minicomputers.  Meanwhile, Mitsubishi, Hitachi, and Fujitsu,
have jointly been developing TRON chips.

CONTACT: Oki Electronics, 1-7-12 Toranomon, Minato-ku, Tokyo
         105, JAPAN

[***][9/08/87][***]
JAPANESE LOGO WRITER DEBUTS
TOKYO (NB) -- Logo Japan has released a sample version of
Japanese LOGO Writer, a turtle graphic-oriented educational
computer language program.  The program has a Japanese word
processor, and runs on NEC PC-9801 and Fujitsu FMR50 and 60.
It will be released in volume quantity in March 1988.  Logo
Japan also plans to rewrite the program for the 32-bit operating
system TRON in the near future.

CONTACT: Logo Japan, Aoyama-Honey Bldg., 2-24-12 Minami-Aoyama,
         Minato-ku, Tokyo 107

[***][9/08/87][***]
SONY'S 32-BIT UNIX WORKSTATION + CD-ROM SYSTEM
TOKYO (NB) -- Sony has developed a CD-ROM system, the NWS-891,
based on its 32-bit Unix workstation called  NEWS.  Sony wants to
use a powerful CD-ROM search system called KRS for the NWS-891.
Thus Sony and Knowledgeset Corp., a California-based developer of
the original KRS, will start modifying KRS for Unix and Japanese
language environment.  Sony's NWS-891 system has a 4-megabyte
main memory, and 86-megabyte hard disk.  It costs US$10,915.

CONTACT: Sony, 4-10-18 Takanawa, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108

[***][9/08/87][***]
<<< SUSHI BYTES >>>

PS/2-COMPATIBLE COMPUTERS FROM SEIKO-EPSON -- Seiko-Epson, Nagano
Pref., Japan, has started developing IBM PS/2-compatible
computers, including the 32-bit Model 80-compatible computer,
says a report.  The shipping dates have not been reported yet.

JAPAN DEC SUFFERS 17% LOSS -- Japan Digital Equipment Corp.,
Tokyo, gained a 6%-sales increase during the period between July
'86 and June '87.  However, the net income dropped by 17% due
to a sluggish domestic demand.

SHARP'S 80386 MICRO -- Sharp, Osaka, will release an 80386-based
32-bit personal computer next spring.  It can be linked with
the company's 68020-based workstation.  It is expected that the
new machine will support MS-DOS and XENIX as its operating
system.

PC HOTLINE -- NTT PC Communications, Tokyo, started (9/1) an
online news service in its personal computer network, in coopera-
tion with Kyodo Press.  The registration fee for PC Hotline is
$1,408 (200,000 yen) and the monthly charge is $704.

MATSUSHITA MERGES ITS SUBSIDIARY -- Matsushita Electronics,
Osaka, will merge its subsidiary Matsushita Boeki, which has
been dealing with overseas trading business, in April 1988.  The
merger will be made in order to compete with south-east Asia's
highly competitive companies in overseas market.

CANON STRICTLY ABIDES BY COCOM RULES -- Canon, Tokyo, has set up
a large-scale committee to follow COCOM rules and reduce
friction in overseas businesses.  The special committee consists
of 100 people from 50-60 firms of Canon group.  Several major
Japanese companies, including Mitsubishi, Hitachi, and NEC, have
also set up the similar organization within their own companies.

MAJOR TOKYO SHOW ANNOUNCEMENT -- Annual major computer exhibition
DataShow will open at Harumi exhibition site in Tokyo on Sept. 16
through 19.  Major Japanese and American computer makers,
including IBM Japan and Apple Japan , will participate.  A total of
132 companies will exhibit at the show this year.


RUMOR DEPARTMENT -- NEC will announce its 80386-based workstation
on September 10.  The machine supports MS-DOS 3.1.  That's the
upper version of business-oriented PC-9801 XL.  Nothing has been
confirmed yet.


[***][9/08/87][***]
IBM, ERICSSON TEAM TO STUDY PHONE NETWORK
STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN (NB) -- IBM and Ericsson, the big Swedish
communications giant, will join forces in a study of how
telephone software can be made more efficient.  This announcement
was made by an Ericsson spokesman, in conjunction with an
announcement made by IBM in New York, but the statement did not
say how much this effort would cost, nor how long it will last.
IBM said that this team will find ways to enhance the software
available for telephone networks, which currently not only carry
voice signals but also credit card transactions, data communications
such as The Source, and others.

The non-exclusive agreement made by the two companies also insures
that the companies' computers and switching equipment will speak
the same language. Ericsson spokesman Nils Lundin said the agreement
calls for joint research, but this does not mean that new products
will be developed.

Analysts say IBM and Ericsson have been too insular in the past
and this agreement will open new roads for both of them. Analysts
have also said that this "agreement was waiting to happen." "For IBM and
Ericsson, this agreement means they will be getting nearer to their
customers," said one.

[***][9/08/87][***]
COMPUTERVISION WINS AIRBUS CONTRACT
TOULOUSE, FRANCE (NB) - Computervision, the American CAD/CAM products
manufacturer, has announced that the company has won an 8.2 US$ Million
contract to supply integrated CAD/CAM system to Airbus Industries, the
European consortium that builds the Airbus range of aircraft.

The contract calls for more than 150 CAD workstations, which will be
used in the development of the new Airbus A330 and A340 aircraft. The
software that will be supplied with this hardware includes the CADDS 4X
package that performs mechanical design, and is highly recommended for
the design of complex parts. The package also calls for the supply of
various other software tools such as database managers, graphics managers
and project management programs.

Computervision's support of international standards with its upcoming
eight bit character set -- Ethernet and TCP --  was a major
factor in Airbus's decision, something a lot of European companies
want of their suppliers in contrast to US needs.

The systems will be shipped to the plant in Toulouse and then to
Nantes and St. Nazare. This equipment will be installed in the next
18 months.

[***][9/08/87][***]
TULIP COMPUTERS REPORTS DOUBLE TURNOVER
AMSTERDAM, HOLLAND (NB) -- Tulip Computers, the high flyer of the
Dutch computer industry, reported turnover doubling in the first six
months of 1987 against the same period last year. The company reported
a turnover of 65 million Dutch florins (about 31 million US$) while
profits were up by 32% to 6 million Dutch florins (about 3 Million US$).
The company has attributed its success to its range of personal computers,
including the highly acclaimed AT-286 model that is offered in half
the size of the IBM AT. The company has also opened offices in
West Germany, France, and Belgium that allow customers in these
countries take advantage of Tulip's excellent record in customer support.

A few months ago, the company launched a 386-based system, which is
expected to carry the company well into the next year and beyond, according
to a company spokesman.


[***][9/08/87][***]
AMERICAN PCs OVERWHELM GERMAN MARKET
MUNICH, WEST GERMANY (NB) -- American PCs have 78% of the West German
market according to a study just released by International Data Corporation
in West Germany. Second on the list is European manufacturers with a
pitiful 12% and third are the Far East suppliers with 10%. However,
as so often statistics lie, the picture can only be correct when the
figures for the production of these systems is taken into account, which
show that 82% of all the computers sold in the German Republic are
made in the Far East, followed by Europe with 12% and the US with 6%.
In fact a lot of computers, which are normally seen to be American, such
the AST-PREMIUM, are made in Hong Kong and not in the US or Europe. However
results expected for next year would indicate an ever-greater increase
in computers "made in Korea," according to an IDC spokesman.

This is due to the fact that Korea is becoming a cheaper
alternative for companies seeking off-shore production
facilities. Currently some IBM products, various screens and systems,
including the Hyundai PC are made in Korea, apparently for a lot
less than products made in Singapore or Hong Kong.

Additionally, the company has also issued a report on the best-seller
list for the West German market for 1986. This has, in order of
importance, IBM first, followed by Siemens, Olivetti, Commodore,
HP, NCR, Tandon, Schneider/Amstrad, Epson, Toshiba, Triumph-Adler,
Nixdorf, Apple, Unisys and Computervision. However, in order of units
sold, IBM is still first followed by (believe it or not) Schneider and
Commodore. Considering the fact that Commodore was almost filing for
Chapter 11 just a few years ago, its recovery is indeed magnificent.
The best seller (as stated below) is the evergreen Commodore 64 model,
now in its 6th year.

[***][9/08/87][***]
FRENCH GOUPIL LAUNCHES GREAT LOOKING PC/AT SYSTEM
PARIS, FRANCE (NB) -- Goupil, the French PC manufacturer, has released
an AT Compatible system  called the G5 286. The system is supplied in a
totally black finish (except for the screen, of course) similar
to the lines that MAD (the computer company, that is) had in its line
of computers a few years ago. Goupil (which means fox, in French)
started a revolution by creating systems with designer looks, something
the French just ate up. The G5 286, which is just like any
other AT compatible computer, is in fact expected to sell a lot of units.
According to a company spokesman, the system will appeal to those
who want something special to put on their "black desks." After all,
black on  black ought to look nice (at least is a great break
from the now drab-looking beige systems).

The screen is offered in light blue/white color while the keyboard
has keys in two colors for easy recognition.  (Just think of the ads:
"if you wear Calvin Klein, smell of Aramis, drive a BMW and live on
Park Avenue, then you owe it to yourself to get a Goupil."

[***][9/08/87][***]
BEST COMPUTER JOBS: IN GERMANY TRY SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT
FRANKFURT, WEST GERMANY (NB) -- According to a study done by SCS
Personalberatung, a personnel consultant in West Germany, the best
jobs in computing involve software developers, followed by
applications programmers, data processing MIS managers, and
system engineers; the least desired are systems programmers. According
to the company, "the market today needs solutions to individual
needs and not new operating systems." The trend is expected to continue
over the next few years. In fact, the company is predicting that in  the
90s the best job to have will be in artificial intelligence research,
followed by software development.

[***][9/08/87][***]
APPLE MAC STILL NO 1
MUNICH, WEST GERMANY (NB) -- According to CHIP Magazine, the best
selling systems in Germany during the month of June 1987 were Apple
Macintoshes, followed by the surprise of the month -- the IBM PC/XT
286, which seems to be doing exceptionally well here in Europe. Next
in sales is the IBM PC/AT, followed by the Commodore PC10,
the Tandon PCA, the Commodore PC20, the IBM PC/XT (which is still
selling), the Tandon XPC, the Schneider PC-Hard Disk and the
Commodore PC-40.

As far as home computers are concerned, the list leads with the
Commodore 128D followed by the evergreen Commodore 64, the Atari 800XL,
the Schneider CPC6128 (a CP/M Plus type system with 128K) and the
Schneider CPC 464 (a cassette based system).

In semi-professional computers, the Atari 1040ST leads, followed by
the Atari 520ST-M, the Amiga 500, the Schneider PC/Floppy Disk and
the Schneider Joyce (a word processing system that also runs CP/M).

The fact that the IBM PC/XT 286 is on the list seems to indicate that
the AT and similar PCs are too advanced for European users. Having
spoken to quite a few users over the last few months, this author finds
most of them satisfied with the speed of their PC. Thus IBM's move with
the PC 286 was certainly a reply to a market need - that is "give
them a little more power to play with."

[***][9/08/87][***]
COMPUTER MISCARRIAGES CITED
STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN (NB) -- According to new research just released,
the magnetic fields emitted by computer displays, such as the one
you are using now, can cause chromosomal changes to unborn children,
thereby causing their mothers to miscarry. Studies at the University
of Umea in Sweden, which used human cells from amniotic fluid (the
water that protects the fetus) showed chromosomal changes after
being exposed to magnetic fields similar to those created by CRTs.
Previous studies involved mice and other sub-human species and thus
no definite conclusion had been reached.

Normally changes in chromosomes are corrected by the body itself, but
there are some that cannot be corrected and thus cause either
miscarriages or babies with birth defects such as Mongolism.
This study is sure to fuel the fires of the controversy.

[***][9/08/87][***]
COMPUTER SYNDROME AFFECTS YOUTH
COPENHAGEN, DENMARK (NB) -- We have had the China Syndrome, the
President syndrome, the Analyst syndrome, the Super-car syndrome.  Now
make room for the Computer Syndrome.

Computer syndrome is apparently a psychosis that affects young
people and is defined as an inability to differentiate between
the real world and the dream world.

According to the "Danish Physicians Weekly," an 18-year-old has
contracted the disease, a form of rare psychosis, called "the
Computer Syndrome" after sitting in front of his computer for up
to 16 hours a day.

Doctors at Copenhagen Nordvang Hospital say that the youth kept
waking up at night saying things like "line 10 goto bathroom; line 20
goto bed" etc. Apparently, the youth kept saying that man is a machine
and that a machine is a man.

The report comes at a time when a lot of young people are spending
a great deal of time in front of their computers, "a problematic situation
in today's society," according to psychologist Bent Brok.

(Additionally, and I wonder whether this is happening in your home,
a computer freak is a person aged between 14 and 16 who gets up
at 2 in the afternoon, sits in front of his PC till 4 in the
morning, drinks 3 liters of Light Coke and has no girlfriend,
except his computer, that is.)

(If you are still with me after all this, it ought to make
you think twice about giving your child a machine.  Better to rent
one - for no more than 6 hours a day, eh?)




[***][9/08/87][***]
NEWSBYTES PC-EXPO ROUND-UP/SEPTEMBER 8, 1987
NEW YORK CITY - JACOB JAVITS CONVENTION CENTER
Written by Wendy Woods

BILL GATES SAYS MAC-LIKE INTERFACE TO BE STANDARD
Microsoft founder Bill Gates was keynote speaker at the 5th
annual PC EXPO, which drew a modest crowd in New York.
Gates said the Mac-like interface of icons and pull down
windows will be standard equipment on PCs within three
years.  "80 percent of all PCs will use a graphical interface
compared to 10 percent today," he told the audience of
some 700 people.  "This is a very dramatic change."  He
added that IBM's decision to equip its PS/2 series with built-in
graphics boards represents an "incredible endorsement of
bit-mapped graphics."

NEW PRODUCTS (AND SOME VAPORWARE)

BORLAND INTERNATIONAL, Scotts Valley, Ca., showed beta versions
of the Sprint word processor and SideKick Plus.  Neither program
has a release date, although the price of the Sprint program is
set at $195.  Sprint features a chameleon-like interface, able to
take on the "look and feel" of WordStar, Microsoft Word, and
WordPerfect, depending on a user's preference.  It has several
desktop publishing features, including multi-column formats.
Borland did not show off its other "look and feel" product, the
announced Quattro, which is aimed at the market for Lotus
1-2-3.

HYUNDAI ELECTRONICS AMERICA showed off a new AT-compatible
with a smaller footprint than IBM's original.  The Super-286C
comes with a basic 640k, one floppy drive, six slots and full
keyboard.  It's also bundled with three programs from Alpha
Software:  Spellchecker, KeyWorks, and Electric Desk.  Retail
price is $1499.

MICROSOFT, Redmond, Wa., showed version 4.0 of Word and
promised to ship its first CD-ROM title, the Bookshelf, composed
of a dictionary, thesaurus, zip code director, world almanac,
and more, this week.

OWL INTERNATIONAL, Bellvue, Washington, was the hit of the
show with its Guide Version 2.0, a HyperCard-like program for
the PC.  Similar to Apple's recently announced HyperCard for
the Macintosh, Guide has the ability to display more than one
card at a time, and operates some "six times faster," says
Alan Boyd, president.  He says Guide is already in use by GM
and Hewlett Packard, and will be available to the public
before year's end.

TRANSIMAGE, Sunnyvale, Ca., demonstrated a hand-held scanner
that reads a variety of typefaces and is priced at just $2595,
compared to over $5,000 for most scanners of this quality.
The TransImage 1000, consisting of a hand-held camera,
peripheral board for the PC, and software, can input text
from typewritten, laser-printed, or typeset documents.
The device is in use at the Library of Congress where it is being
used to transcribe documents for Congressional hearings on
Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork.


AT&T's NEW WORSTATIONS INTRODUCED
NEW YORK (NB) -- AT&T has introduced two powerful new desktop
microcomputers that run both Unix and MS-DOS applications.
The 6386 WorkGroup Systems, built by Olivetti, come in a
desktop and "deskside" model.  The desktop version, the 6386,
has 1 megabyte of RAM, expandable to 48 megabytes.  The
deskside version has a basic 2 megabytes of RAM, and can
support up to 64Mb.  Both are multiuser machines that
run between $4800 and $10,395.    AT&T also announced
that the McDonald's hamburger chain will be its first big
customer; McDonald's has purchased enough systems to
supply all their 7,500 franchises.  Also announced were some
38 other products, including a minicomputer, the 3B4000,
capable of supporting up to 300 users simultaneously.

The announcement is significant in that AT&T has clearly
decided to stay in the computer business and further promises
to introduce two new machines each year for the next
few years, all of which will be fully integrated with previous
products.


WANG SHOWS NEW DESKTOP MINICOMPUTER
LOWELL, Ma. (NB) -- Wang Laboratories has introduced a minicomputer
that performs the job of other Wang minis, but at half the size.
The compact Wang Personal Computer 240, which runs MS-DOS
programs, comes in three models priced from $2,125 to $2,895,
depending on disk controller and disk storage options.
The 80286-based system offers a basic 640KB of RAM, four
expansion slots, MS-DOS 3.2 and Microsoft Windows.


DIGITAL EQUIPMENT BOOKS THE QEII FOR BIG BLOWOUT
BOSTON (NB) -- Attendees of DEC's annual DEC World trade show are
aboard the Queen Elizabeth II in Boston harbor for a 10-day
extravaganza that is expected to draw 50,000.  DEC is
showing off some 300 of its own and third-party products.
Among DEC's own announcements is availability of the MicroVax
III, a faster version of the MicroVax introduced two years
ago.



[***][9/08/87][***]
ASK DR. JOHN #7...WEEKS OF SEP. 8 - SEPT. 19
Copyright 1987
                  ***DR. JOHN ANSWERS QUESTIONS EXCLUSIVELY FOR SOURCE
                         NEWSBYTES READERS. ALL HARDWARE/SOFTWARE QUESTIONS
                         ARE ANSWERED, ALL PROBLEMS SOLVED. ADDRESS YOUR
                         QUESTIONS FOR THE DOC TO IP1039

                  IN THIS WEEK'S ISSUE DR. JOHN ADDRESSES THE FOLLOWING...

                    - FLOPPY DRIVE DOORS, SHOULD THEY BE OPEN OR CLOSED?
                    - HOW DO YOU USE A BIG DISPLAY WITH A COMPAQ II


DEAR DR. JOHN:

     I HAVE A HARD DISK DRIVE INSTALLED IN MY COMPAQ II PORTABLE, AND
RARELY USE FLOPPY DISKS.  THE FOLKS AT COMPUTERLAND TELL ME I SHOULD
LEAVE THE FLOPPY DRIVE DOORS OPEN BECAUSE CLOSING THEM WILL CAUSE
HEAD WEAR.  ON THE OTHER HAND, MY IN-HOUSE GURUS SAY CLOSING THE
DRIVE DOORS WILL NOT WEAR THE HEADS BUT IT WILL CUT DOWN ON THE
AMOUNT OF DIRT GETTING INSIDE THE DRIVES.  WHAT SHOULD I DO?

- DK

Dear DK:

     Unless you have some pretty unusual diskette drives, "closing
the doors" will not produce anything like a dust/dirt seal.  On most
diskette drives, "closing the door" simply moves the top head inside
the drive down onto the floppy diskette surface.  If you do this with
a diskette in place, the heads will be in contact with the rotating
diskette surfaces and they will wear.

     On the other hand, "closing the door" on an empty diskette drive
presses the read/write heads together but causes little wear as long
as the computer is stationary.  If you move the computer (as we often
do with portables) the heads may scratch one another if they are
touching.

     In any event, pressing the heads together can cause a small
amount of magnetic flux buildup on the heads.  While this can be
corrected by a regular routine of cleaning and demagnetizing, there is
little reason to encourage magnetization.

     One thing that does concern me is your comment that you rarely
use your floppies.  Does this mean that you do not back up your hard
drive regularly?

     Anyway, in general, the best way to protect the diskette drive
heads in your portable computer is to insert drive head protectors in
the drives and close the doors.  These are special cardboard sheets
that are similar in size and shape to a diskette but do not rotate.
They cushion the heads during movement and prevent them from becoming
misaligned, as they might if they were moved with the drive doors
open.

--------------------------------------------------------------------
DEAR DR. JOHN:

     I WOULD LIKE TO TO BE ABLE TO INSERT AN IBM MONOCHROME ADAPTOR
CARD INTO MY COMPAQ II PORTABLE SO I CAN INSTALL A LARGE DISPLAY WHEN
I USE THE MACHINE AT MY DESK. IS THIS POSSIBLE?

-- DK

Dear DK:

     According to Compaq, the Portable II has a standard internal
expansion slot.  While I have not tried installing a monochrome
adapter in that computer, it should, from all indications work just
fine.  One thing I'd suggest, (if you don't already have the
monochrome adapter card).  Try a clone board instead of the IBM.  The
IBM board may use or produce some signals that are unique to IBM's
computers while a clone board would tend to be more generic.


------------------------
DR. JOHN WILL ANSWER -YOUR- QUESTIONS.... ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS DROP
SOURCEMAIL TO HIM AT IP1039.... USE "SEND MAIL TO THE EDITOR" ON THE
MAIN NEWSBYTES MENU.


[***][9/08/87][***]
INSIDE SILICON VALLEY...WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 8, 1987
By Denise Caruso
Special to Newsbytes

    -- Industry analyst Jan Lewis loses her company, starts another
    -- Infocom's "romance novel" text adventure gets Denise hissing
    -- "Intercap" new word for those double capitals in one word or name
    -- Bad disks from Boyd & Fraser will be replaced

JAN LEWIS AND PARG: Industry analyst Jan Lewis 's Palo Alto
Research Group and her parent company, the Connecticut-based
Technology Finance Group, have parted ways. The PARG office is
now closed. Lewis, who had the legal option to purchase PARG
from Technology Finance, last week declined it and is now
renegotiating the terms "to make them something I feel more
comfortable with."

Lewis, who made her name at InfoCorp, wouldn't admit to any animosity,
but I'd heard that Technology Finance had actually destroyed some
of her research as a result of the parting of the ways. Lewis claims
that what actually happened is TFG moved some PARG files back to
its home office.

"Technically speaking, they do own [the information] as long as I
haven't bought out the company," says Lewis.

She claims that from the point of view of her operation as an
industry analyst, "there really is no difference" in what she's
doing on a daily basis. She's in business as Lewis Research Corp.
in Sunnyvale, and the PARG phones are forwarded to the new locale.

THERE'S A KIND OF HISSSSS: Hoping to plumb the depths of the
"women's" market,the Cambridge text-adventure company InfoCom
(owned by Activision  in Mountain View) has released a romance-novel
computer game called "Plundered Hearts."

Author Amy Briggs  supposedly read "hundreds" of romance novels and
researched 17th century costumes and ships in preparation for the
arduous task. That's real interesting, considering that InfoCom sells
text adventures -- in other words, interactive fiction. No pictures.
So I guess she needed to do all that research so she could adequately
describe a heaving bodice.

The package contains more cliches than an est seminar. The female
protagonist sails to the West Indies to care for the archetypical
ailing father -- and encounters, among other travails including
crocodiles, an attack by pirates.

Their plans for her, according to the game package, include "a fate
worse than death," yet of course she goes bonkers for the requisite
handsome pirate captain, Nicholas Jamison . He is, of course, "tall
and lean with azure eyes that penetrate deep into your soul." You
don't suppose HIS plans included the ol' fate worse than death, eh?

In the press release, InfoCom tries to make us feel better by saying
that "pre-release testers (the majority of whom are male) have had
an overwhelmingly favorable response" to the game. It's a relief to
know that the hommes in this industry are schmaltzier than the femmes.

FRED'S NEW WORD: Fred Davis , editor of A-Plus magazine in tide-tossed
Foster City, has come up with a new word. I vote that it be included
in Webster's right along with "perfory," the word that won a National
Public Radio contest by describing those little perforated strips
attached to computer paper.

Davis's new word is "interCap." Used as either a noun or a verb,
it describes those company and product names, ubiquitous in high
tech, that have capital letters inside a single word.

The word may help eliminate idiotic conversations like the following:
"Is MicroPro  one word?" (Yes.) "Does it have a capital P?" (Yes.)
Instead, just ask, "InterCap p?" and get your answer.

ANOTHER CRISIS NARROWLY AVERTED: Speaking of MicroPro, Boston-based
educational book publisher Boyd & Fraser Publishing Co.  had a close
call last week in relationship with the San Rafael-based software company.

B&F sells a book called "Computer Fundamentals with Application
Software" which contains crippled versions (with some features cut)
of the popular business applications dBase III by Ashton-Tate ,
SuperCalc3 by Computer Associates International , and MicroPro's
WordStar 3.3 . Schools seem to be upgrading their IBM PCs to new
Model 30s -- which use 3.5-inch disks instead of 5.25-inch -- and
have been copying the crippled programs from the big disk to
the small. A simple operation -- except, that is, with WordStar.

After buying the book, some educators found they just couldn't
convert WordStar. Calls to the copy protection company were
fruitless, as were calls to MicroPro, who told their customers
there was "nothing we can do about it."

B&F, faced with scores of needy customers, contacted their disk
manufacturers and will send replacement 3.5-inch disks to customers
who need them.

Lee Lensky, product manager for WordStar, said that MicroPro did
indeed copy-protect Version 3.3, though it happened "another
administration ago."

[***][9/08/87][***]
AMSTRAD #1 - BUYING INTO VIDCO
BRENTWOOD, Middlesex (NB) -- Now there's a surprise!  Amstrad
announced late last week that it is to pay $7.56m for its US
distributor, Vidco Inc., of Longbrook in Texas.

The deal - whereby Vidco's owners collect $2m in cash, and 2.2
million Amstrad shares - was rumoured in last week's SUNDAY
TIMES, when reporter Jane Bird suggested that Amstrad was on the
verge of making a #5m acquisition in Europe.  Right price, wrong
continent.

Alan Sugar, Amstrad's founder and chairman, is ebullient about
the deal: "Amstrad has been active in the US for more than two
years, during which time we've learned a lot, often at the
expense of other companies... Our cautious approach is the reason
why we've made money from our activities in the US - unlike other
casualties of the non-US computer manufacturers," he said.

[***][9/08/87][***]
AMSTRAD #2 - AUTUMN RANGE/PRICING POLICY ANNOUNCED
BRENTWOOD, Middlesex (NB) -- Amstrad surprised the computer
industry last week with a blitz of price cuts, marketing deals
and new machines.  Confirming rumours of recent weeks, the
company has slashed the price of its PC1512 PC compatible back to
its 1986 post-launch price - the entry level single disc
monochrome PC for example, will cost #399, compared to a current
price of #449.  On top of this, the Amstrad PCs are to be shipped
with a bundled package of Migent's Ability software and four US
Gold games titles.

Likewise, the PCW8256 and 8512 machines drop by #100 to #299 and
#399 respectively, thereby clearing the way for the PCW9512
machine at #449 - first seen at the Chicago Consumer Electronics
Show in June.

On the games computer side, Amstrad has cut the price of the disc
drive-equipped Spectrum Plus 3 from #249 to #199 - not bad for
machine that was officially launched just a few weeks ago.  The
CPC series, meanwhile, gets a shot in the arm with some neat
bundling deals to attract buyers in the pre-Christmas runup.

Officially, all this action takes place on September 23rd - day
one of the Personal Computer World Show.  Unofficially, many
dealers will be revising their prices to the new levels as of
this week.

CONTACT: AMSTRAD PLC, Brentwood House, 169 Kings Road, Brentwood,
         Essex CM14 4EF.  Tel: [phone].

[***][9/08/87][***]
SIR CLIVE'S PORTABLE SURPRISE
LONDON, UK (NB) -- Amidst the plush surroundings of the London
Waldorf Hotel, Sir Clive Sinclair took time out to tell the press
of the latest developments on his Z88 laptop computer project.

As reported in last week's NEWSBYTES UK, the machine is now on
retail sale at #250 plus tax in the UK.  What came as a surprise
to us all, however, was the announcement by Sir Clive that the US
electronics giant SCI is to manufacture the Z88 at its Irvine,
Scotland plant.  "Production of the Z88 is currently running at
about 200 a week," explained Sir Clive, who went on to say that,
once production starts at SCI's Irvine plant, that figure will
rise to 400 a week.

Previously, Sinclair had intimated that Thorn EMI would be
manufacturing the laptop, although there have been several recent
rumours to suggest that Thorn had not actually started
production.

Accompanying Sinclair on the podium at the Waldorf were actress
Lala Ward - best-known for her appearances on the Doctor Who TV
series - and Barry Eames, MD of SCI UK.  Ward told us how she was
"impressed with the Z88's size and capabilities," hence she
became one of the first people to order a machine by mail order -
something that Sinclair was obviously quick to capitalize on.
Eames, however, explained why SCI had chosen to team up with
Sinclair on production of the Z88.  Team up?  Sinclair revealed
that SCI has taken a stake in Cambridge Computing.  No figure was
mentioned, but its was, both parties admitted, "a large amount."

* Whilst not well-known to end-users, SCI's financial status
merits it a Fortune 500 placing in the US share tables, along
with production facilities in the US, Europe, and the Far East.

CONTACT: CAMBRIDGE COMPUTER, Sidney House, Sussex Street,

         Cambridge, CB1 1PA.            Tel: [phone]

         SCI SYSTEMS INC, 5000 Technology Drive, Huntsville,
         Alabama, 35805.                  Tel: [phone]

[***][9/08/87][***]
ACORN SPLITS WITH DISTRIBUTOR
CAMBRIDGE, UK (NB) -- In a move that no-one expected, Acorn
Computers has split with Eltec, its distributor of six years,
leaving it with just one other distributor - Kelator - to handle
the whole of the UK.

According to the latest COMPUTER TRADE WEEKLY, the split was
caused by Acorn's decision to oust several of its dealers in the
summer, along with a cut in the number of distributors from five
to two in June.  "We felt we couldn't proceed under the
conditions Acorn is putting down for its distributors," Eltec's
sales and marketing director Roger Purseglove is quoted as saying
in the magazine.  "They wanted to go a certain route and we
decided not to go with them," he added.

The split leaves Acorn - with its Risc-based Archimedes machine -
very vulnerable, and dependent solely on Kelator for distribution
to its 160-plus UK dealer base.  Kelator is reported to have
responded to the news of Eltec's departure by taking on more
sales reps.

[***][9/08/87][***]
TRANSATLANTIC DIGITAL PHONE CALLS SOON
WIDEMOUTH BAY, Cornwall (NB) -- Whilst the US enjoys its holiday
weekend, the UK telecommunications business rolls on with the
news that British Telecom International has started work on the
UK landfall for TAT-8 - the first optical fibre transatlantic
cable.

The cable - scheduled to come into service next May - is capable
of supporting up to 40,000 simultaneous phone conversations, as
well as TV, data and high-quality voice channels.  Work on
landfalls for the US and France is also expected to commence
shortly.  As well as being the first optical cable between the
two continents, TAT-8 will be one of the first cables to use a
'float-and-sink' method of installation.  The first seven miles
of cable from the UK landfall at Widemouth Bay in Cornwall will
be floated out to sea, and sunk under the guidance of an expert
team of divers.

Digital quality phone service to the US won't come cheap however.
Latest estimates put TAT-8's installation costs close to #240m.
Still, if it means that NEWSBYTES UK can use a 2400 baud modem
internationally, who cares about the cost?

[***][9/08/87][***]
+ BRITBYTES - Bytes of news from around the UK... +
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

MERCURY COMMUNICATIONS has signed a deal with KDD of Japan to
provide leased network services between the UK and Japan.  This
is Mercury's first direct link with the Far East and will enable
the company to cut its call tariffs to Japan.

ADVANCED MEMORY SYSTEMS will release its Stop Press desktop
publishing package for the Amstrad PCW series at the Personal
Computer World Show later this month.  The #49-95 package has
notched up sales approaching 15,000 on the Amstrad CPC and BBC
Model B micros.

A computer magazine in the Netherlands sold out within hours last
week.  The secret of its success, reports the BBC CEEFAX teletext
service, was a program listing that enables micro and modem
owners to make free phone calls to anywhere in the world.  The
Dutch PTT is on record as saying the program system is perfectly
legal, but "they'd make sure it didn't stay that way for long."

The latest MICROSCOPE trade computer magazine reveals that Atari
will announce an 80386-based PC at next year's Hanover CeBit
Computer Fair in West Germany.  The magazine quotes Atari
president Sam Tramiel as expecting to launch an 80286-based PC
about this time, but plans have been revamped for an 80386-based
machine for next year instead.  NEWSBYTES UK wonders if the
machine might be PS/2 compatible...

The BRITISH MICRO FEDERATION is moving towards issuing a 'seal of
quality' mark to software it feels merit such approval.  "The
seal will be an indication to end users that the software offers
good value for money," BMF chairman David Fraser told NEWSBYTES
UK.  "We're discussing the idea at the BMF AGM later this month."

The latest POPULAR COMPUTING WEEKLY has some interesting
speculation on a probable price cut for the Amiga 500.  "A new
price as low as #299 has been predicted," reports the magazine.
Currently, existing Commodore users can get #100 off the
machine's #499 price tag on presentation of a special voucher.
The vouchers have been distributed to registered users of CBM kit
in the UK.  Anyone wanna buy a voucher?