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/nb871013.226

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[***][10/13/87][***]
LOTUS AGENDA INCLUDES AGENDA AT FALL COMDEX
SAN FRANCISCO (NB) -- A revolutionary new software product from
Lotus is set to be on stage at Fall Comdex.  Details of Agenda (may not
be the final name), developed by Mitch Kapor, Jerrold Kaplan, and
others,  were leaked by Lotus CEO╩Jim Manzi in a speech before
analysts here.   Agenda, which may defy being put in a category in the same manner Apple's HyperCard does, utilizes several artificial intelligence
features to "manage tasks, ideas, people, plants, and goals" and will
"collect and categorize information 'on the fly,'" according to Manzi.
"It is to textual information what Lotus 1-2-3 is to numbers," he
added.  The program is said to be a free-form textual database
with some word processing capabilities.  It will ship a few weeks
after Comdex, said Manzi.

The product, with its AI techniques and unique features, sounds like
the kind of software that Lotus' start-up Go Corporation, based in
San Francisco, with Agenda developers Kapor and Kaplan at the
helm.  But Kaplan told NEWSBYTES, "It matches the description of
what we are up to, but we are planning to enter a new area of
computer applications.  We are looking to expand the market for
computers rather to compete with existing products or companies."
He adds don't look for products from Go in the very near future.
The firm is set up for long-term research and development.

[***][10/13/87][***]
PS/2 CLONE CHIPS ON THE MARCH...ER..CREEP
SAN FRANCISCO (NB) -- While development of microprocessors that
emulate and even surpass the performance of IBM's Micro Channel
Architecture are underway, two key U.S. players in the project
are now waffling over release dates of their chips.  Chips &
Technologies, which sources tell NEWSBYTES has provided extremely
limited quantities of PS/2 clone BIOS chips to selected manufacturers,
publicly says its first products won't be available until early
1988.  Ditto for Western Digital Corporation.  Both companies'
CEOs reportedly met each other for the first time at a recent
Mongomery Securities conference.  Nobody knows for sure
exactly what they discussed, but it most likely had to do with
markets for their products, and probably the Big Blue legal
hammer.

Meanwhile Western Digital's Faraday Electronics Division announced
it will ship new gate arrays for PS/2 clones to manufacturers
at the start of 1988.  Coupled with Western's disk drive controllers
and its Paradise Systems' VGA chip, a complete PS/2 clone could
be rolled out once the PS/2 clone BIOS is added.

[***][10/13/87][***]
HEWLETT PACKARD'S PS/2 CLONE COMING
PALO ALTO (NB) -- HP has shown a prototype PS/2 compatible
computer as part of its exhibit at the Federal Computer Conference
in Washington, DC.  HP says its Tempest-conforming (i.e. meant
to withstand nuclear war, or at least a hard drop on the floor), 80386-
based Vectra would be part of a complete desktop publishing
system and would include two drives, one 3.5" and one 5.25"
and a 20 megabyte hard disk.  HP says the system will also feature
a Tempest LaserJet and ThinkJet dot matrix printer.  The PS/2
compatible is expected to be ready by sometime next year.

[***][10/13/87][***]
HP OFFERS THE DOOR TO 200 WORKERS
PALO ALTO (NB) -- Hewlett Packard has told its 1,300 manufacturing
workers at four plants in Colorado and New Jersey that they'll
get a year's severance pay if they leave the company.  Hoping to
get at least 200 to voluntarily leave, Hewlett Packard says the
voluntary layoffs are necessary because of increased use of
outside contractors and the consolidation of manufacturing lines.
The affected plants are in Loveland, Greeley, and Fort Collins,
Colorado and Rockaway, New Jersey.  This is the second time
layoff-shy Hewlett Packard has asked workers to voluntarily
put on their walking shoes.  The last layoff in 1986 involved
744 employees.  Altogether, HP currently employs a whopping
82,000 workers worldwide.



[***][10/13/87][***]
MICROSOFT INTRODUCES EXCEL FOR PCS
REDMOND, Wa. (NB) -- Microsoft has introduced a PC AT or compatible
version of Excel, the best-selling spreadsheet program for the Mac, and
it's aimed squarely at the market Lotus has established for its
competing 1-2-3.   Two years in the making, the $495 Excel 2.0
reads and writes to 1-2-3 files, can operate with 1-2-3-like commands,
can execute 1-2-3 macros with the help of a special translator,
can serve a local area network of computers, has more advanced graphics
(including color) and typefaces than the Macintosh version,
and will be upgraded to an OS/2 version once it becomes available
from Microsoft.  Excel 2.0 is expected to begin shipment in November.

Microsoft insists that the product is an improvement over its
competition because it is the first spreadsheet to exploit the
microprocessing and memory power of the 80286 and 80386
generation of computers.  "We really put a lot in here, both by
listening to what users want and by taking two years to do a
really good job," said Bill Gates, Microsoft chairman, at the
New York news conference.

Although some NEWSBYTES contacted were favorably impressed,
analysts were cautious with their praise of the new program.
Many said Excel for the PC will not take a significant spreadsheet
market share  from Lotus until OS/2 does become available.
Then there's the price - which is equal to Lotus' $495 1-2-3.

Macintosh Excel users may be wondering when they'll see
these improvements.  Microsoft's Bill Gates says two new
versions of Excel will be announced in 1988, one of them
will utilize the color capabilities of the Macintosh II.

[***][10/13/87][***]
UNISYS READIES FOR WORKSTATION WARS
SAN FRANCISCO (NB) -- Unisys is preparing to launch its volleys into
the current workstation war by introducing workstations that
run MS-DOS, Xenix, Windows 2.0 and the coming OS/2 at Comdex
Fall in Las Vegas.  Based on the 80286 and 80386 microprocessors,
the Unix Series 300, 500 and 800 are designed for medium to large
sized businesses and Unisys says one of the Series' big selling points
will be their communications capabilities -- they can be networked easily.
The other is their international flavor -- keyboards can be customized
for U.S., German, French, Spanish, Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish,
Danish, or Italian fingers.

Unisys of Blue Bell, Pa. offered a press preview of the machines here.
No price was placed on the workstations but Unisys says the Series
500 and 800 will be available this fall and the Series 300 will
come out in the first quarter of 1988.

[***][10/13/87][***]
WORLDS OF WONDER READIES JULIE FOR CHRISTMAS INVASION
FREMONT, Ca. (NB) -- The high priestess of high-tech talking dolls
is about to make an appearance at your local retail toy store.  Julie,
the latest creation of Worlds of Wonder, is expected to be the most-
wanted doll this Christmas, succeeding Teddy Ruxpin, WOW's last
successful critter.  Julie is no slouch when it comes to strutting
her stuff.  The 2-foot tall doll comes with 64K of resident memory and
a custom 32-bit Texas Instrument microprocessor which is "25
times more powerful than an IBM PC," according to WOW's Product
Manager Pam Nerney.  She has a motion detector, a light sensor,
a heat and cold sensor, all of which can provoke appropriate comments
from her such as "Can you see ok?  It's kind of dark," or "Where are
we going?"  But more than a plastic weather station, she also speaks
when spoken to, with appropriate follow-up.  For instance, when
asked, "Are you hungry?"  she responds, "I want something for
my tummy."

There's a lot to this doll and moms and dads will pay the price --
$90 to $125, depending on options such as special books she reads
through sensors in her fingers, or additional vocabulary cards you
insert into her back.

[***][10/13/87][***]
IN BRIEF --

ALDUS, Seattle, Wa., has opened a European subsidiary called Aldus
Europe.  Headquartered in Edinburgh, Scotland, Aldus Europe employs
53 manufacturing, sales, and customer support people.

ASHTON-TATE, Torrance, Ca., has begun shipments of Byline, a low-end
desktop publishing system for PCs.  The price is $295.

SAM BERNSTEIN, last seen quitting the presidency of Steve Wozniak's
CL9, has surfaced at Information Appliance's president.  IA is Macintosh
team member Jef Raskin's new company, responsible for the invention
of the Canon Cat.

BLUE CHIP ELECTRONICS, Chandler, Az., has not exactly parted ways
with Hyundai, maker of PC Classics, which Blue Chips sells.  But "there
hasn't been a shipment in a couple of months," says Blue Chip's president
John Rossi.  Hyundai recently announced that it will sell its AT clones
under the name Hyundai and all current distribution arrangements are
being reconsidered.

BORLAND, Scotts Valley, Ca., has started a division for the creation of
Macintosh software.  Named division head is Ron Posner,  Borland vice
president.  The company statement says software will be developed
for business, education, scientific, and engineering markets (did we
leave any out?).

EPSON, Torrance, Ca., will raise the price of its GQ-3500 laser printer
effective January 1.  The price will go up $300 to $2,499.  Why the
hike? It's that pesky yen vs. the dollar problem.

FAIRCHILD SEMICONDUCTOR CORP., Santa Clara, Ca., has lost its president
Donald Brooks.  Brooks has resigned in the wake of the firm's impending
sale to National Semiconductor.  Reports say he was angry with the
sale of Fairchild to National Semi for $122 million in common stock and
warrants; Brooks and other Fairchild executives had launched an
unsuccessful attempt to buy the company themselves.

INTEL, Santa Clara, Ca., has posted record profits and sales, up 55%
over a year ago.  Sales totaled $501 million.  Clearly the 80286 and
80386 microprocessors are creating the positive cash flow.

TANDON CORPORATION has lost a patent suit it filed against
MITSUBISHI in December 1984.  Tandon claimed that Mitsubishi was
violating its patent on double sided floppy disk drive technology.
The suit also involved Sony and Teac, who waived legal action in
favor of an out-of-court settlement.  But the federal appeals court
has ruled against Tandon, prompting Mitsubishi to issue a statement
saying, "This encourages us to defend ourselves vigorously when
we think we are right."

WORDTECH SYSTEMS, Orinda, Ca., has won a contract with the U.S.
Social Security Administration to supply 5,000 copies of dBXL, its
$169 dBASE╩III Plus clone, to the administration's Telex Federal
Systems division.

[***][10/13/87][***]
MIAMI SWAT TEAM ATTACKS PBX INSTALLATION CREW AT BANK
MIAMI, FL (NB) -- Blame President Reagan and Pope John Paul II
for this August 4 incident. A police helicopter noticed something
going on atop the roof of the Southeast Bank in Miami Springs,
where technicians were installing a fancy new PBX from Northern
Telecom. The pilot became concerned because someone on the roof
could easily see the Miami airstrip where Pope and President
would meet. In minutes, the SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics)
team was kicking in the switch-room door and leveling their
automatic weapons at the technicians. Alba Shumate, a vice
president overseeing a new private voice network between 3
Florida cities, said her Southern Bell representative tried to
stop the SWAT team, but quickly thought better of it. (The
technicians offered no resistance.) Once the SWAT team was
convinced there was no danger, they also left, without
apologizing.

Ms. Shumate is charitable. "They were busy," she says.  "It's a
funny story," she adds. The technicians "were made of Jell-O for
a while" after the incident.  There's even a happy ending.
Techies and switch are now doing fine.

CONTACT: George Owen, SOUTHEAST BANK [phone]

[***][10/13/87][***]
ASHER EDELMAN'S BACK AND TELEX HAS HIM
TULSA, OK (NB) -- Asher Edelman, the New York arbitrageur who was
burned (so Wall Street claimed) a few years ago in the acquisition
of Datapoint Inc., San Antonio, is back in the shopping mood.  This
time the target is Telex Corp., Tulsa, OK. The offer is $65/share,
cash, in a deal valued at about $876.7 million. A Telex
spokesperson said they're evaluating the offer but "it will be
several days before we have a response."

Since taking over Datapoint, Edelman has split off its service
operations as Intelogic Trace Inc., and both companies are
Edelman partners now. Although Edelman had been buying stock for
a while, and already owned about 8% of Telex, the target was
reportedly shocked by the offer, which expires November 6. Telex
had 1986 sales of $709 million and employs about 7,400 making
computer terminals, cartridge players and recorders, and hearing
aids, among other things.  Shearson Lehman Brothers is aiding TLX
Acquisition Corp., an Edelman creation, in the bid.

CONTACT: Mary Ann Stevenson, TELEX, [phone]

[***][10/13/87][***]
WHAT THE FCC WILL DO ABOUT ACCESS CHARGES  *Analysis*
WASHINGTON, DC (NB) -- Look for the Federal Communications
Commission (FCC) to phase-in the $4.50/hour access charges
they're currently considering, but over a number of years. That's
the consensus of NEWSBYTES sources concerning the battle over
online rates now being fought at the FCC between Tymnet and
Telenet (upon which information producers like The Source depend)
and the Regional Bell Operating Companies (which claim such
services are subsidized by free local phone rates). The same
phase-in approach was used to give long-distance companies like
MCI, AT&T and U.S. Sprint equal access to local phone lines over
the last several years, notes Fred Knight, editor of the
"Perspective on AT&T and the Bell Operating Companies," an
Hinsdale, IL newsletter. "In principle it's hard to argue that a
computer calling a network doesn't need to pay access charges but
I should when using the telephone" he points out. "Sooner or
later the basic issue has to be resolved. They'll negotiate it
out."

The result is that maybe $1/hour will be added to your Telenet bills in
1988, maybe $2/hour in 1989, maybe prices rise a little faster, maybe a
little slower. (And maybe competition can hold those price rises
down.) Look for a decision Real Soon Now.

CONTACT:Fred Knight, PERSPECTIVES ON AT&T AND THE BOCS, [phone]

[***][10/13/87][***]
FINANCIAL PLANNERS GET DOWN TO SOFTWARE NITTY-GRITTY
ATLANTA (NB) -- The computer wars aren't being fought at COMDEX
(or even on NEWSBYTES) but in 100,000 places at once, wherever
sellers interact with prospects. The wars are fought through
intense consulting and an honest attempt to make the software fit
the current paperware. Boxes are bought defensively, by people
who know nothing about computers but who feel compelled by real
business pressures to give in.  "Financial planning is switching
from being a labor-intensive to being a capital intensive
business," is the way Richard Wells of International Financial
Data Systems Inc., a computer seller, sums it up.

Wells was at the International Association for Financial Planning
show in Atlanta, on October 6. Here 5,000 innocent money-changers
met 20 different software companies, all promising to lift their
paperware burdens. Such applications are still all MS-DOS, with
Compaq and IBM machines in nearly every booth.  (The only
Macintosh I saw on the show floor was selling an online database
by Unified Management (part of MONY, a New York money company)
and was there for effect. The hot new hardware was the Toshiba
3100/20, with its gas plasma display, 20 megabyte hard disk *and*
15-pound weight.  It can be packed into a foam-filled case which
looks and feels just like any other Wall Street briefcase, and
the display is great for giving presentations. (All that
hullaballoo about them selling secrets to the Soviet Union has
evaporated.)

LESSONS: First guy to run a financial planner's back-office as a
Hypercard application on the Macintosh can make some serious
money here. The first guy to make conversion software which works
will also make money. For now DOS reigns supreme.


CONTACT: Richard Wells, IFDS, [phone]; Richard Ashby,
UNIFIED MANAGEMENT [phone]

[***][10/13/87][***]
A WORM DRIVE WITH THE SPEED OF A HARD DISK FROM MICRO DESIGN
WINTER PARK, FL (NB) -- Micro Design International Inc., which
started life as a mail-order house, now has a full line of
Write-Once, Read Mostly (WORM) optical drives for IBM PCs and
compatibles. Their latest, the Laserbank 800, is based on
Maxtor (Ricoh, actually) hardware and can read a file in 65
milliseconds, about as fast as conventional hard disks.

Karen Whitaker, the company's general manager, told NEWSBYTES
that Federal Express and the IRS are among the early buyers. She
added the company has bigger drives holding 2,000 megabytes and
3,200 megabytes, respectively, with base hardware from Control
Data and Sony, respectively. Her company adds software,
interfaces, and a hard disk for disk caching to the drives; this
speeds them up considerably. Even better, she expects prices to
fall rapidly, maybe 25-40% per year. They'd better -- the Laserbank
800 drive now costs $10,000, the Laserbank 2000 $20,000, and the
Laserbank 3200 costs $27,000. (Disk cartridges cost another $150
each.) She says the company's big problem remains education. "A
lot of WORM drives are only good for archiving. Ours does more
than that" because of its speed.

CONTACT: Karen Whitaker, MICRO DESIGN INTERNATIONAL [phone]

[***][10/13/87][***]
EDS GIVES GM DEALERS THEIR OWN NETWORK
DALLAS (NB) -- GM dealers will be using satellites for training,
pep talks, and passing computerized paperwork under a plan
announced October 5 by GM subsidiary Electronic Data Systems and
the Automotive Satellite Television Network (ASTN). Bill Vande
Water of ASTN says he has 2,250 dealers looking at 6 hours of
programming a day on 2 channels now, including a nightly news
show. The EDS deal could add 5,000 GM dealers to the mix in 2
years. But EDS attached conditions.  For one thing, each GM dealer
will get an encryption box, and GM shows on the network will be
proprietary.  The live, encrypted link will also let EDS and the
dealers pass proprietary data back and forth, maybe for less than
they're now spending on land lines.

There's no threat in all this to existing ASTN shows. Mr. Vande
Water says they only rent 6 hours of transponder time per day
now, and there's plenty available.

CONTACT: Bill Vande Water, ASTN, [phone]

[***][10/13/87][***]
A COMPUTER COUNTS THE FED'S MONEY
DALLAS (NB) -- The Federal Reserve Banks have to count a lot of
money, and now a computer will count it. Recognition Equipment
Inc. of Dallas announced October 6 it signed a contract
in July with the Federal Reserve under which it will fix and
replace the machines which count currency at 35 Federal Reserve
sites around the country. Optical pattern recognition (OCR)
systems (the same technology used to read a page of type after a
scanner reads it into a PC) will be used to count the bills,
determine their denomination, and check to see if they're both
authentic and fit to circulate.  The contract will bring in
between $11-17.6 million, depending on how fast the Fed decides
to replace its current equipment.

[***][10/13/87][***]
PECAN CHIPS

US ROBOTICS, Skokie, IL, won a judgement in San Francisco when
Judge Samuel Conti ruled invalid a key modem patent held by
Bizcomp. U.S. Robotics is also seeking to invalidate a similar
patent held by Hayes Microcomputer Products, Norcross, GA.

INFOMART, Dallas, opened its Integrated Display of Enterprise
Automation (IDEA) Center to serve manufacturing automation
companies and buyers.

INFORUM, Atlanta, hired away the executive director of the Fort
Worth, TX Convention and Visitors' Bureau, Mark L. Jennette.
He'll lure conventions to the Atlanta high-tech mart which opens
in late 1989. (Just 4 years after Dallas' Infomart.)

DATAPOINT, San Antonio, announced at a users' meeting it will
encourage efforts to develop industry-wide Databus standards.
Databus is a computer language for data entry and processing used
in law, medical, and library systems.

MITEK SYSTEMS CORP., Carrollton, TX, announced TCP/6.2, a
communications product line owners of Ethernet LANs and IBM mini-
computers can cheer about. (The rest of you, at ease.)

MAYNARD ELECTRONICS, Casselberry, FL, will supply its MaynStream
60 portable tape backup to Fujitsu for store management systems,
and added ComputerLand, Computer Factory, and CBM to its dealer
list.

STOCKHOLDER SYSTEMS, Norcross, announced it's now selling a
mainframe flow-charting program called Flowcharter for IBM
mainframes running OS. It uses the Job Control Language (JCL)
procedure on a standard IBM/PDS procedure library.

UNISYS, Detroit, announced microCASTS PC/PALS, a DOS-based
management system for small or medium-sized libraries. The
program was created by IME Ltd., a British systems house
specializing in libraries, and handles cataloguing, circulation
and other standard functions. The company also added a new bank
tellers' workstation, the B 24-TWS, to its product line.

UNIVERSAL DATA SYSTEMS, Huntsville, AL, a division of Motorola,
cut $1,000 off the prices on its V.32 compatible 9,600 baud
modems. The cut also affects orders in hand.

[***][10/13/87][***]
UNIVERSITY OF WATERLOO TO USE PORTABLES IN DISTANCE EDUCATION
WATERLOO, Ont. (NB) -- The University of Waterloo, for many years
one of Canada's preeminent universities in computer science and
software development, plans to use Toshiba laptop portable
computers to provide long-distance education for people who can't
come to classes on campus.

The university and Toshiba Canada announced the plan recently at
the grand opening of Toshiba's new Canadian headquarters in
Markham, Ont.  The vendor is to provide laptop computers and
printers worth more than C$250,000 and start-up funding for the
project amounting to about C$60,000.  Both the university and
Toshiba will be approaching government funding agencies in hopes
of getting public support for the plan, which is expected to cost
about C$600,000 over the next three years.

Waterloo plans to provide the Toshiba portables to students who
will be able to connect them to public data networks to obtain
course materials and communicate with faculty and other students.

In a statement, university president Douglas Wright called the
plan a "significant step" toward improving accessibility to
higher education for many thousands of Canadians, particularly
those in remote parts of the country, the disabled and those with
commitments that keep them from attending courses at a university
campus.

CONTACT: Prof. Don Cowan, UNIVERSITY OF WATERLOO, [phone]
         Ext. 4467

         Todd Rehm, General Manager, TOSHIBA CANADA,
         [phone]

[***][10/13/87][***]
APPLE CANADA PRESIDENT CALLS FOR NEW KIND OF WORKER
TORONTO (NB) -- The modern definition of innovation requires a
new kind of worker, according to David Rae, president of Apple
Canada Inc.  Rae told a luncheon address hosted by the Canadian
Advanced Technology Association (CATA), which Apple recently
joined, that innovation must be driven by what people want, not
by technology.  He said this calls for people who do not meet the
classical definitions of engineers or market specialists "but a
combination of the two.  This combination unfortunately exists
only in the abstract since our schools, colleges and universities
are not yet graduating that kind of person," Rae said.

Rae said Apple and other high tech companies need people who are
|familiar with the possibilities of new technologies, self-
confident enough to tackle problems, adaptable and flexible.
They should also be enthusiastic about learning and have the
foresight and zeal to create new uses for technology.  Producing
such people calls for a restructured educational system putting
the emphasis on learning rather than teaching and on active
rather than passive involvement of students.

The luncheon address was part of an industry round-table
sponsored by CATA in conjunction with Canadian High Technology
Week.

[***][10/13/87][***]
BUSINESS CREDIT INFORMATION OFFERED ONLINE
TORONTO (NB) -- Info Globe, the electronic publishing division of
THE GLOBE AND MAIL, and Creditel, a Toronto-based non-profit
association for sharing payment data, have announced that Info
Globe will market Creditel Online, a database of information on
more than a million businesses across Canada.

The database joins an assortment of others offered by Info Globe,
including the full text of THE GLOBE AND MAIL for the past 10
years, stock market data, corporate reports and the text of a
handful of specialized publications.  Each record in the Creditel
Online database contains a name, address, year the business
entered the database, Creditel's reference number for the
business, the number of creditors and the total dollar amount
reported outstanding by a representative sampling of suppliers.

Creditel was established in 1910 and has 10,000 members who are
also its owners.  It is also Canada's largest commercial
collection agency.

CONTACT: Rick Noble, National Sales Manager, INFO GLOBE,
         444 Front St. W., Toronto ON M5V 2S9, [phone]

         Ian MacDonald, Vice-President, CREDITEL,
         P.O. Box 532, Station F, Toronto ON M4Y 2N1,
         [phone]

[***][10/13/87][***]
NORTHERN RAISES STAKE IN BRITISH TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMPANY
MISSISSAUGA, Ont. (NB) -- Northern Telecom Ltd. has bought
another 24 per cent of STC PLC, the British telecommunications
equipment firm, raising its total stake in the company to 27.8
per cent.  The deal will give Northern a foot in the door in
British telecommunications markets, and access to STC's expertise
in fibre optics and submarine cables.

Northern bought the stock from ITT Corp. of New York for $730
million (U.S.).  At the same time, STC bought a 40 per cent
interest in the British subsidiary of Northern Telecom for an
undisclosed price.

Moody's Investors Services and Standard & Poor's Corp., both of
New York, reaffirmed Northern Telecom's favorable debt ratings
after the deal, signalling their approval of the move.

[***][10/13/87][***]
POSTAL CODE SOFTWARE ENHANCED
VANCOUVER (NB) -- Mail a letter in Canada these days and you
don't know when it will get there, since postal workers have been
on rotating strikes across the country for about two weeks.  But
a Vancouver software vendor is making it a little easier to
ensure that if the mail goes anywhere, it ends up in the right
place.  Kreiger Data International Corp. has announced a new
release of its postal code search software, PostLink, which can
now be linked directly to dBase III, Revelation and several other
database packages and programming languages.

The new release also can be linked to Kreiger's mailing list
manager ProMark.  ProMark -- essentially a specialized database
program designed for names and addresses -- also has a couple of
new capabilities, including the ability to fill in the full name
of a city, province and country when the user types an
abbreviation.  Users can set up their own definition tables of as
many as 100 abbreviations, Kreiger says.

Canada Post uses PostLink in its own customer information centres
across Canada.  The software costs from C$49 to C$249 depending
on the size of the postal-code database included.  ProMark costs
C$249.  Kreiger says it is considering a U.S. version of PostLink
with a database of zip codes.

CONTACT: KRIEGER DATA INTERNATIONAL CORP., Suite 404,
         935 Marine Dr., North Vancouver, B.C. V7P 1S3,
         [phone]

[***][10/13/87][***]
CNCP ANNOUNCES ADDITIONAL SERVICES
TORONTO (NB) -- CNCP Telecommunications has announced that it and
MCI International Inc. will expand cross-border
telecommunications services to include a wide variety of high-
speed digital and voice-grade lines.  The agreement will mean all
the products MCI and CNCP offer on their own systems will be
available across the Canada-U.S. border as well.

CNCP also announced it will use Messenger 400, the universal
electronic mail system software from Sydney Development Corp. of
Vancouver, to extend its Dialcom electronic mail service to
connect to most other e-mail services.  Messenger 400 conforms to
the international X.400 standard for electronic mail
transmission.

CONTACT: CNCP TELECOMMUNICATIONS, 3300 Bloor St. W.,
         Toronto, ON M8X 2W9, [phone]

[***][10/13/87][***]
BITS, EH?
-- GANDALF TECHNOLOGIES INC., the communications equipment maker
based in Manotick, Ont. (near Ottawa), reported profits of C$6.3
million in the year ended July 31, up from C$3.3 million the year
before.  Revenue was C$130.2 million, up from C$107.8 million.

-- INTERTAN INC., the international marketing arm of Tandy Corp.,
has approved some "shark repellent" measures to ward off a
potential takeover by Toronto-based Unicorp Canda Corp.  Unicorp
has 8.95 per cent of InterTan and has expressed interest in the
rest.  InterTan directors reacted by agreeing to measures that
would let all other rights holders buy shares at bargain prices
if one party acquired 20 per cent or more of the stock, and that
would reject all takeover offers except an "any-or-all" offer
approved by a majority of outside directors.

-- NAS CANADA INC. is a new joint venture just officially
approved by National Advanced Systems, a division of National
Semiconductor Corp., and Sand Technology Systems (Canada) Inc.
National Advanced will own 60 per cent, Sand the other 40.

-- DATA GENERAL (CANADA) INC., Mississauga, Ont., has won a
three-year, C$3-million contract to provide hardware maintenance,
software support and on-site consulting to Public Works Canada, a
federal department.  Public Works bought six Data General
MV/20000 computers in July.

-- MCMASTER UNIVERSITY in Hamilton, Ont., has received a C$2.6-
million federal government grant for a program designed to help
Canadian businesses adopt new technology.  The grant will pay a
third of the operating expenses for the university's Management
of Technology Institute, which is to provide management
education, educational materials, research and consulting to
Canadian companies.

-- WYSE TECHNOLOGY (CANADA) LTD. has named Lou Brault to head up
its sales operations.  He will be sales manager at Wyse's
Canadian head office in Toronto, recently opened when the company
beefed up its Canadian operations.
, 859 Kennedy Rd., #203, Scarborough, Ontario, Canada M1K
2E3.
[***][10/13/87][***]

B U L L E T I N ....October 6, 1987

MICROSOFT INTRODUCES EXCEL FOR PCS/SPREADSHEET WARS ARE ON!
NEW YORK (NB) -- Microsoft has introduced a PC version of Excel,
the best-selling spreadsheet program for the Macintosh, and it's
aimed squarely at the market Lotus has established for its
competing 1-2-3.   Two years in the making, the $495 Excel PC
version offers compatibility with 1-2-3, can operate with 1-2-3-
like commands, can serve a local area network of computers,
and will be upgraded to an OS/2 version once it becomes available
from Microsoft.  Excel PC begins shipments next month.

Although some NEWSBYTES contacted were favorably impressed,
analysts were cautious with their praise of the new program.
Many said Excel for the PC will not take a significant spreadsheet
market share  from Lotus until OS/2 does become available.
Then there's the price - which is equal to Lotus' $495 1-2-3.

Microsoft insists that the product is an improvement over its
competition because it is the first spreadsheet to exploit the
microprocessing and memory power of the 80286 and 80386
generation of computers.  "We really put a lot in here, both by
listening to what users want and by taking two years to do a
really good job," said Bill Gates, Microsoft chairman, at the
New York news conference.

Meanwhile, Lotus announced Monday that it will offer a Macintosh
version of 1-2-3.  (This should make things very interesting!)

   -- Wendy Woods






[***][10/13/87][***]
LOW-END MODELS OF TOSHIBA J3100 LINE DEBUT
TOKYO (NB) -- Toshiba Corp. has released two low-end models of
its laptop computer, the J3100, a Japanese version of the T3100.
The J3100SLs are equipped with an 8086 microprocessing unit and
are IBM PC/XT-compatible.  The model 011 has a 10M HDD and a 3.5-
inch FDD, while the model 002 has two 3.5-inch FDDs.  Japanese
MS-DOS is bundled with the machines, and the original (English)
MS-DOS is also available as an option.  The prices are quite
reasonable - the 002 costs $2,055, and the HDD version is $2,745.
As low-end models, both laptop computers have a liquid
crystal display instead of a plasma display.  So, the screen is
not as clear as the original J3100, but the systems weigh
slightly less than their predecessors.  Toshiba has also released
a compact printer for the J3100 line.

Meanwhile, Toshiba is apparently planning to announce a Japanese
version of its 32-bit laptop computer, the J5100, soon.  NEWSBYTES-
JAPAN has seen the name "J5000" printed in the newly-released
J3100SL brochure.  The company may be adding a Japanese language
feature to the 80386-based T5100, which has already been announced in
the U.S. and Europe.

CONTACT: Toshiba Corp., Computer Division, 1-1-1 Shibaura,
         Minato-ku, Tokyo 105

[***][10/13/87][***]
TRIPLE COMPATIBLE PC BEING DEVELOPED
TOKYO (NB) -- The Tokyo-based personal computer venture Tomcat
Computer has started developing an ambitious computer architec-
ture which runs programs for three major personal computers -
NEC PC-9801, IBM PC/AT, and IBM 5550.  Tomcat has already
developed a "dual" compatible PC architecture to run programs for
IBM PC/AT and NEC PC-9801.  Proside is said to have already
assembled a prototype computer that utilizes this multi-purpose
operating system.  The new architecture uses emulation programs
and clone I/O systems to run all three kinds of programs.

Analysts see this product as another blow to NEC.  And IBM Japan will
not be happy either, since the IBM 5550 is the company's long-cherished
popular Japanese business computer that has quite a big share of the
market, following NEC PC-9801 in Japan.  The triple architecture is
expected to be announced around the end of the year.

CONTACT: Tomcat Computer, 4F Yaguchi Bldg., 3-6-4 Nish-Waseda,
         Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160

[***][10/13/87][***]
JAPANESE UNIX 386 DEBUTS
TOKYO (NB) -- The first Japanese version of UNIX for an 80386 micro
has made a public appearance at the Software Show in Ikebukuro,
Tokyo. The UNIX is called UNIX System V/386 Release 3 and was jointly
developed by AT&T and Intel Corp.  The Japanese language feature was
developed by the Tokyo-based software house Vacs Sorp.  The powerful
System V/386 makes the most out of Intel's 32-bit MPU.  AT&T has begun
to accept licensing requests for the Japanese UNIX, as well as the
English version.

CONTACT: AT&T International Japan, Japan Press Center Bldg.,
         2-2-1 Uchi-Saiwaicho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100

[***][10/13/87][***]
GENIE LANDS IN JAPAN
TOKYO (NB) -- General Electric (U.S.A.) has signed a basic
agreement with NEC to provide its popular personal computer
network service GEnie in Japan.  With the agreement, Japanese
users can access GEnie via NEC's international VAN (Value Added
Network).  NEC will provide about 130 access points across the
nation.  Thus, the access charge is expected to be fairly cheap.  A
report says both firms are now hammering out the details of the
agreement.

[***][10/13/87][***]
TAIWANESE ARRESTED FOR COPYING IBM PROGRAMS
TOKYO (NB) -- The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department has
arrested a the Taiwanese president, Ma Paoching, of Ma's Marketing Co.,
and the head of its Osaka branch office.  The police say the
software dealer has illegally copied and sold IBM programs at
extremely low prices.  It is reported that Ma continued to sell
the illegal programs, even after a police raid this past May.
Authorities say Ma had raked in over $1.4 million from the illegal
sales in and outside Japan.

[***][10/13/87][***]
TRON + MS-DOS PC FOR JAPANESE SCHOOLS
TOKYO (NB) -- The Computer Education Development Center (CEC), the
Japanese government affiliated organization, has decided to add
MS-DOS as a sub-operating system for its TRON-based standard
educational PC.  NEC has reportedly given this request to CEC.
NEC wants to maintain compatibility with its machines currently
installed at Japanese schools.  With the decision, NEC is
planning to develop the computer, which supports the 32-bit TRON
operating system, as well as MS-DOS, within a year.  Meanwhile
other makers, such as Matsushita and Fujitsu, have already
started to develop the TRON personal computer for Japanese junior
high schools.

[***][10/13/87][***]
U.S. GOVERNORS EAGER TO LURE JAPANESE COMPUTER MAKERS
TOKYO (NB) -- Currently in Japan, many American state governors
are competing to invite Japanese industries in their own regions.
Many of them have already visited Japan, and three governors from
Arizona, Nevada, and Oregon are visiting Japan this month,
followed by the governors from Wisconsin and Colorado next month.
They are doing their best to publicize various advantages of
their regions, and to encourage Japanese firms to start businesses
in their areas.  Already, a number of Japanese enterprises,
including high-tech firms, have set up their factories in the U.S.
One of those governors said, "this kind of arrangement is
beneficial to both parties in the two countries. Those new
Japanese firms promise to raise job opportunities for the
Americans, while the Japanese firms do not have to worry about
trade imbalance which is caused by excess exports to the U.S."

[***][10/13/87][***]
<<< SUSHI BYTES >>>

YOKOGAWA ELECTRONICS PRINTERS -- Yokogawa Electronics, Tokyo, has
stopped manufacturing personal computer printers under its own
brand name.  It is due to intense competition, a spokesman
explains.  The company, however, will keep its OEM production of
the printers for NEC, Toshiba, and Sharp.

YOKOGAWA'S 32-BIT COMPUTER TO U.S. -- Yokogawa Electronics has
signed a contract with the Illinois-based agricultural machinery
maker Deere to supply its 68020 factory automation computer.
Yokogawa's computer runs six programs simultaneously, and can be
linked to IBM's and Fujitsu's host computers.  The number of
computers to be exported to Deere from Yokogawa is not reported
yet.



[***][10/13/87][***]
MICROSOFT DOS 3.4 RELEASE IMMINENT
MUNICH, GERMANY (NB) -- Microsoft will soon release version 3.4
of MS-DOS. This DOS promises to have fewer "bugs" than earlier
versions and one or two major enhancements.

Firstly, the product will allow for big single files more than
32 megabytes in size, a feature which first appeared in Compaq
products. Most of the DOS will be in expanded RAM, so the user will
get an extra 90K more for his software.

Meanwhile, Microsoft released PCWORKS and well as a latest version
of WORD, 4.0.  PCWorks is a 4-in-1 product, seen to compete head-on
with Word Perfect's Executive. PCWORKS integrates word processing,
spreadsheet, database and telecommunications in one package.

WORD 4.0, the latest version of the word processing program,
has improved speed, more printer support, and a preview
mode (similar to that of Lotus' Manuscript) which allows
users to view the document completed on the screen and thus judge
the overall layout.

[***][10/13/87][***]
OS/2 DEVELOPED JOINTLY WITH ZENITH
HOOFDORP, HOLLAND (NB) -- If you're wondering how Zenith will have
an OS/2 before everybody else in the world, wonder no more.  Microsoft
has announced that it is codeveloping OS/2 with Zenith here in Europe.

According to Patrick De Smet of Microsoft, Zenith helped
Microsoft put together the Adaptation Kernel (AK), which links
the OS/2 Kernel. The AK is, in fact, the BIOS that exists currently
in PCs and ATs. It is for this reason that Zenith announced the
availability of OS/2 on their systems, getting the jump on all
the competition, including IBM, by November 1987.

[***][10/13/87][***]
DECISION INDUSTRIES FILES SUIT AGAINST ECONOCOM
PARIS, FRANCE (NB) -- Decision Industries, currently being
purchased by Econocom (see last week's NEWSBYTES EUROPE) filed
suit against Econocom and its managing director and president,
Jean Louis Bouchard, alleging that Econocom filed a false and
misleading Schedule 13D under the US Securities Exchange Act and
that defendants have engaged in acts intended to manipulate the
price of Decision's common stock in violation of the Exchange
Act.

Decision Industries filed the lawsuit in US District Court in
Pennsylvania. Earlier the company had rejected Econocom's offer
for a merger worth $11 a share or about $100 million for all of
its shares. Econocom owns 13% of Decision Industries.

[***][10/13/87][***]
THYSSEN AG BUYS SOFTWARE COMPANY
KOLN, WEST GERMANY (NB) -- Thyssen, one of the world's largest
steel producers, has bought 33.3% of Ikoss Software Services, saying
the purchase will coordinate more effectively computer and software
activities in its diversified business.

Thyssen has in recent years diversified into the engineering
and trading fields, thus lowering its dependence on the steel business.

Its stake in Ikoss is its first venture in computer business.
Ikoss' sales are expected to reach 76 million DM (about $41 million)
in 1987.




[***][10/13/87][***]
E D I T O R I A L.....October 13 - 26


A FEW MINUTES WITH MR. MANNERS
                            (........aka BARRY PROWELL)

Dear Gentle Readers,

Have you ever wondered what software vendors do with those little cards you
send back to register your product? It seems that some of them do a great
deal with them. They creates a mailing list to keep you informed of changes
in your software. Some of them even send you a newsletter and catalogs so
you can be informed of their new product offerings.

On the other hand (if you have one), some of them take the little card and
put it in a shoe box, put it on a roll and hang it in a small room, or use
them for playing cards (warranty rummy). They haven't heard or don't
understand we customers love attention. We like to know you don't forget
about us after we throw our money in your direction. If you forget about
us, then we forget about you the next time we are spreading the green stuff
at the local computer store.

Ever think you are being hassled buy the software vendor when it is time to
get an update or enhanced version of software you currently own?

".....you must send your original disk along with a check or money order.."

Why? Did they lose my warranty card? Are they afraid I have a clone living
with me that has the same name but didn't happen to buy a copy of the
software?  When they tell me to do this "INDIAN GIVER" leaps into my mind.
What do they do with the disks that are returned? I like to fold them in
half, staple them, and send them in a regular letter.  It saves postage and
the expense of buying disk mailers. 3.5 in disk will fit in a letter size
envelope but that creates yet another problem for me. You see, if the
software has proven to be unfit for computer consumption, I take the
platter out and let my hamsters use it as a frizbee. Now they tell me I
have to send it back. So, I reinsert it in the plastic case and off it
goes. However, several times a day I have to walk past the hamsters and
they sit up on their hind legs and look at me with sad beady eyes because I
took their toy away. I strongly suspect they also give me the paw when my
back is turned. (NOTE: anyone receiving a new release and notices cedar
shavings and seed coming from the shutter PLEASE contact me.)

".......send a check for $15.00 and the cover from your manual........"

Ahhhhh, I realize I might not have to point this out to most vendors but it
is pretty common knowledge that in most cases the sucker is AT-TACH-ED to
the manual. I have severe hang ups about defacing the printed word. Also, I
cannot cope with the emotional strain of sending you my manual cover. You
see, some of my covers are part of our family history. I have covers with
teeth marks from when the kids were young. I have yellow covers from when
the dog was a puppy. I have covers with water marks from glasses of brew
shared with friends who are near and dear to the Manners household. I
cannot and will not part with these cherished manual covers! If I am left
with no other choice, I usually take a marker and write, "May the fleas of a
thousand buffalo infest your shorts" on the back of the cover as a form of
mild protest.

I notice that some vendors include a page in the manual to be extracted as
proof of ownership. I applaud such vendors. They show some insight as to
how the customer may feel about their manual cover.

I hope some vendors read this and understand the point of the message.

Deepest personal regards,

Mr. Manners

-----------------
[***][10/13/87][***]
IBM SLASHES PRICES ON PS/2 MODEL 60
NEW YORK (NB) -- In a move that took analysts by surprise,
International Business Machines Corp. has cut the price of its
new PS/2 Model 60 by about eight percent. Dealers say that the
price cut came because the powerful Model 60 isn't moving as well
as Big Blue expected, while the slightly less muscular and pricey
Model 50 is selling better. IBM dropped the suggested retail
price on the Model 60 by $500 to $5,795 from $6,295 for the
version that features a 70 megabyte hard disk. The Model 60 is
based on the Intel 80286 chip. "I think that's the fastest price
cut they've ever had on a product," commented Michele Preston, an
analyst with Salomon Brothers.

Big Blue has been bragging about sales of the new PS/2 line,
which the company says led to a record third quarter for PC
sales. IBM says demand for the Models 30 and 50 has outstripped
production capacity. On the other hand, IBM's rivals are also
setting new sales records and research firms say IBM hasn't
picked up market share and may actually be losing a bit of the PC
market.

[***][10/13/87][***]
LOTUS FOR THE MAC, EXCEL FOR THE PC
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (NB) -- Lotus Development Corp. struck first in
the spreadsheet skirmish, announcing that it will develop a
version of 1-2-3 for the Macintosh, with an arrival date early
next year. The next day, Microsoft struck back, announcing Excel
for PCs and clones. Excel will be available next month, Microsoft
said. The moves are attempts by each company to break into
lucrative markets pioneered by the other. Lotus has a
66 percent strangle-hold on the big spreadsheet market in the DOS
world, while Microsoft easily ousted Lotus's lame Jazz program to
take over spreadsheets in the Apple orchard. Excel has about 90
percent of the Mac spreadsheet market.

Speaking of Jazz, Lotus also will being shipping a new version of
the integrated program called Modern Jazz, starting early next
year. (Did Dave Brubeck write the code?) Jim Manzi, Lotus president
and chief executive officer, said, "Modern Jazz and 1-2-3 reflect
a renewed commitment by Lotus to the Macintosh environment and
represent the first in a series of future products we will
develop for the Macintosh.

[***][10/13/87][***]
INVESTORS SUE MBI
ROCKVILLE, Md. (NB) -- In the latest assault on the staggering
retailer, a group of investors have sued MBI Business Centers,
accusing the firm of lying about the company's prospects in
documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The
suit comes hard on the heels of MBI's filing for Chapter 11
bankruptcy protection after Maryland National Bank called in its
loans. The investors charge that MBI's top management, including
Chairman Ronald Watkins and founder and former CEO Avner Parnes,
hyped the company's prospects when they new that the retailer was
headed for the rocks. Damages were not specified, but would be in
the millions, according to a lawyer for the investors. One the
East Coast's largest company-owned computer chain, with sales in
excess of $100 million, the company has shrunk to 20 stores, and
recorded a $13.8 million second quarter loss on $20 million in
sales.

[***][10/13/87][***]
SEC CHARGES RETAILER WITH VIOLATIONS
BOSTON (NB) -- The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged
a former Sudbury, Massachusetts computer retailer with aiding and
abetting the company's filing of misleading financial reports.
Without admitting guilt, Richard Schmader, former chairman and
president of Computer Store, Inc., consented to an injunction
that bars him from making future filings. The store is in
Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation. The SEC said the company
under-reported 1984 losses and overstated assets. The company said
the losses stemmed from theft, the SEC said, while there actually
wasn't any evidence of significant theft.

[***][10/13/87][***]
COMMODORE NAMES TOY AS PRESIDENT
WEST CHESTER, Pa. (NB) -- The eponymous Max Toy, 40, will be the
new chief of U.S. operations for Commodore International Ltd. Toy
was formerly vice president for sales and government products for
ITT's Xtra Business Systems division. As president of Commodore
Business Machines, Toy will report to Commodore International
chairman Irving Gould, who ousted Thomas Rattigan as Commodore
CEO last April. The disappointing sales of the U.S. unit figured
prominently in Rattigan's firing. Toy is a computer industry
veteran, having worked for IBM and Compaq before moving to ITT.

[***][10/13/87][***]
HEADROOM TO THE MAX FROM MARYLAND FIRM
BETHESDA, Md. (NB) -- Qualitas, Inc., has become one of the
earliest software developed to deliver a product for 80386
machines. It's 386-to-the-Max, a memory manager that takes full
advantage of the chip's advanced features, including the ability
to address memory up to 32 megabytes. Qualitas President and
Founder Bob Smith says, "The 80386 microprocessor is a rich,
mature chip that can better serve the future needs of users and
developers. For many users, 80386-based microcomputers can offer
a wider range of applications and features than an 80286-based
machine, even with OS/2." Qualitas, founded in 1983, has
developed two DOS products, PrintMan, a printer manager, and Tall
Screen, a full-screen DOS session manager.

CONTACT: Qualitas, Inc., Bethesda, Md., 301-469-8848.

[***][10/13/87][***]
ACCESS 87: MINITEL, PRESTEL, BILDSCHIRMTEXT
WASHINGTON (NB) -- It may have been the nation's smallest
computer trade show. Communications consultant Sam Simon brought
the U.S. and worldwide videotex industry to one smallish hearing
room in Dirksen Senate Office Building and dubbed it, Access 87.
His aim was to show just what's available in the world of
videotex and telecommunications. On hand were representatives
from the major European videotex vendors, including the French
Minitel, the British Prestel, and West Germany's tongue-tangling
Bildschirmtext. Also showing off their wares were specialty U.S.
products including a voicemail demo from Pacific Bell, the new
Inet service, and an online science teaching program from
National Geographic. Heady stuff, all.

[***][10/13/87][***]
RAMBO AND PEPPERONI TO GO IN OHIO VIDEOTEX VENTURE
WASHINGTON (NB) -- The star of Access 87 was the independent
telephone company in little Chillicothe, Ohio, which offers
subscribers ($5 per month) local news and information, electronic
mail, and advertising and shopping. Best idea of all - a local
entrepreneur has combined a pizza parlor and video store, and
hooked it into the network. Subscribers can order Rambo and a
pepperoni pizza over their terminal and have the order delivered.
Manager Charles "Buzz" Cook says the notion behind the
Chillicothe product is that other videotex endeavors, such as
Knight-Ridder's flop, have failed because they tried to be too
big. "We believe videotex industry growth will develop around
smaller community systems featuring strong local news and
information, plus gateways," he said. The Chillicothe service,
called Vicom, employs four full-time, professional reporters, who
compete for news against the local Gannett paper.

[***][10/13/87][***]
VIDEOTEL TO WORK WITH BABY BELLS ON VIDEOTEX
WASHINGTON (NB) -- U.S. Videotel Inc. of Houston says it wants to
work with any of the Bell operating company to deliver videotex
services. In comments prepared for a briefing session with
congressional leaders and the press at Access 87, USV President
Amin Rahme said that  a recent ruling by Judge Harold Greene
permits Bell companies to transmit videotex information, but
prevents them from generating and delivering it. That's where
U.S. Videotel wants to step in, Rahme said. USV is the
exclusive U.S. importer and distributor of the snazzy little
terminal that is the heart of the French Minitel service.

In the meantime, the Baby Bells appear divided by Greene's
ruling. At the congressional and press briefing, a spokesman for
Ameritech denounced the ruling in harsh terms. Greene displayed
"zero vision," and the ruling "turns the clock back and will
limit evolution," the official said, adding that the ruling "does
nothing to make those [videotex] services available to the
consumer or small business." But at the same time, a NYNEX
official downplayed the ruling, saying his company would ask
Greene for a "clarification of this ruling," and stressing that
what NYNEX wants from Greene is "flexibility," while refusing to
clarify what that means. Later, an aide advised that what the
company wants to clarify is whether the regional operating
companies can offer data storage under Greene's ruling.


[***][10/13/87][***]
SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS NARROW COPYRIGHT RULING
WASHINGTON (NB) -- Does copyright protection apply only to the
exact details of a computer program or does it extend to the
general organization and structure of the code? In a case
involving a farm cooperative in Texas and Oklahoma, the U.S.
Supreme Court has upheld a narrow ruling by the a Circuit Court
of Appeals. Plains Cotton Cooperative Association of Lubbock,
Texas, sued Goodpasture Computer Service of Brownfield, Texas,
saying the company was pirating a program the cooperative
developed and selling it commercially. Four former cooperative
employees who worked on the program went to work for Goodpasture
and wrote the program the company offered for sale. The
cooperative sued, arguing that although Goodpasture's program was
not a line-by-line lift, it did substantially resemble the
cooperative's program. A federal district court disagreed, the
appeals court upheld the district court, and the Supreme Court,
without comment, refused to hear the cooperative's appeal from
the appeals court.

[***][10/13/87][***]
AT&T MAKES EQUIPMENT AWARDS
NEW YORK (NB) -- AT&T has awarded $40 million in computer and
networking products to some 46 colleges and universities for use
in physical or biological science projects. Equipment to be
awarded includes AT&T 3B minicomputers with UNIX operating
systems, AT&T personal computers, AT&T STARLAN networks for
connecting PCs, and AT&T Information Systems Network, a campus-
wide network connecting PCs, minicomputers, and mainframes. AT&T
has donated more than $130 million in computer and network
products to colleges and universities since it started the
program in 1984.

[***][10/13/87][***]
DATA GENERAL AND NTT INK $140 MILLION JOINT VENTURE
WASHINGTON (NB) -- Nippon Telephone and Telegraph Corp., hoping
to relieve some of the pressure coming from a trade-conscious
U.S. Congress, has agreed to a $140 million deal with Data
General Corp. of Westboro, Mass. for a new generation of digital
communications systems, with delivery in early 1989. The
announcement came at an uncharacteristically high-profile press
conference in Washington, and was followed by an evening
reception on Capitol Hill. Data General sources said that was an
attempt to influence legislation in Congress aimed at opening the
Japanese market to greater U.S. penetration. The advanced system
will allow switching of voice, data, and image transmission on
one network.

Assistant U.S. Trade Representative Douglas Newkirk called the
deal "an encouraging sign" that NTT is serious about buying more
U.S. goods and services. But he added, "This is still not enough.
NTT needs to purchase more from the United States."

[***][10/13/87][***]
NEWS NIBBLES FROM AROUND THE REGION

APEX SOFTWARE CORP. of Pittsburgh has announced Frontrunner,
which permits Dbase applications to become memory resident. It
allows creation of terminate and stay resident applications
without knowing how to write assembler code. Price: $295.

IBM has unveiled a new voice and data phone exchange developed by
its Rolm Corp. subsidiary. The IBM 9750 Data Systems will carry
as few as 100 or as many as 20,000 telephone lines.

DATA GENERAL CORP. of Westboro, Mass. has confirmed that last
year its management considered, but dismissed, the possibility or
a leveraged buy-out by management that would take the company
private. DG has long been a potential takeover opportunity.

WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC CORP. of Pittsburgh has bought up Mictron,
Inc., from Litton Industrial Automated Systems Inc. Mictron has
developed interfaces between programmable controllers and IBM
factor floor computers. Westinghouse had owned 45 percent of the
Troy, Michigan company.

AT&T of Morristown, N.J., and Computer Consoles Inc. of
Rochester, N.Y., will develop a link between AT&T's 5ESS digital
switch and CCI's listing services gateway. It will be the first
such agreement to use the Integrated Services Digital Network
technology now available on the AT&T 5ESS switch, the flagship
of the AT&T network products.

APOLLO COMPUTER INC. of Chelmsford, Mass., will post a third-
quarter loss because an unauthorized foreign exchange transaction
will be larger than expected. The company said the write-off
resulting from the transaction will be $6.5 million, not the $5.7
million originally expected.

MICROFAB, INC., an Amesbury, Mass., circuit board maker, has
filed for bankruptcy and put 230 surprised employees on the
street. The company lost about $300,000 in July and August.
Microfab was acquired by Semicon Inc. in 1965 and Semicon got
about 40 percent of its revenue from the Massachusetts mainframe
board maker.

[***][10/13/87][***]
CODE NAME OF THE WEEK

Secretive computer companies usually use code names to disguise
their efforts. The best one this week is the code name Data
General gave to its unfolding $140 million deal with Nippon
Telephone & Telegraph: Asparagus. Why? Because the vegetable takes
two years after planting to produce edible shoots. Once
established, it produces indefinitely. Ah, those inscrutable Bay
Staters.

[***][10/13/87][***]
SAGESOFT GOES MULTIUSER
Newcastle-upon Tyne, UK (NB) -- Following the release of its low-
cost Sagenet networking system (see NEWSBYTES UK 6th October),
Sagesoft has announced networking versions of its Accountant,
Accountant Plus and Financial Controller packages.

Networking software isn't new, but - like its networking system -
Sagesoft products are very low-cost.  The company is pricing the
multiuser/networked version of its packages at just twice the
price of the single-user edition.  Sage Accountant, for example,
prices in at #299, whilst Accountant Plus costs just #399.  The
top of the range Financial Accountant, which is designed to cope
with most financial needs of a major company, will cost just #599
in its multiuser format.

"True multiuser accounting has never been cheaper," said Tom
Maxfield, Sagesoft sales and marketing director.  "A four station
system based on Sage Financial Controller and Sagenet can now be
bought for less than #4,000, with each add-on (workstation)
costing just #648."

CONTACT: Tom Maxfield, SAGESOFT PLC, NEI House, Regent House,
         Gosforth, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, NE3 3DS.
         Tel: [phone].

[***][10/13/87][***]
FILE TRANSLATION SOFTWARE DEBUTS
Bracknell, Berkshire (NB) -- UK retailer Inmac has introduced WP
Text Converter - its own PC file translation software - to the
UK.

The #99 package does much that is covered by cheaper packages,
such as file conversion between several popular w/p packages on
the PC (Wordperfect, Volkswriter, Wordstar, etc), but has an
interesting feature to squeeze an eight-bit binary file from one
word processor over a seven-bit data link using a modem.

As well as coping with w/p files, the package can also cope with
program files, and is thus suitable for sending programs etc.,
via electronic mail - a rare feature.  This facility is
particularly useful for non-US readers of NEWSBYTES, many of whom
only have access to seven-bit data networks and online services.

CONTACT: Lesley Hawkins, INMAC UK LTD., Westerley Point,
         Market Street, Bracknell, Berkshire, RG12 1EW.
         Tel: [phone].

[***][10/13/87][***]
Z88 SOFTWARE DEBUTS; MACHINES RECALLED
Leyland, Lancashire (NB) -- The first Z88 software has come to
market - only a week after NEWSBYTES UK reported it.  Problem is,
it isn't the package we mentioned (blush).  Sector Software is
first out of the starting gate with QZ - a utility package for
file transfer between the 68000-based Sinclair QL, and the Z88
laptop.

The #15 package will - say Sector - print Z88 files on a QL
printer, run directories on both machines with file sizes and
transfer all or just part of a file between the QL and Z88.  A
specially-configured serial lead between the two machines is also
available at #8-50.

On the Z88 hardware front, meanwhile, the first few hundred Z88
laptop machines have been recalled by Cambridge Computers, who
are upgrading the Rom-based software in the machine.  The company
say that only those machines with version 1.0 and 1.4 - and other
numbers less than 2.0 - are affected.

CONTACT: SECTOR SOFTWARE, 39 Wray Crescent, Ulnes, Leyland,
         Lancashire, PR5 3NA.
         Tel: [phone].

[***][10/13/87][***]
#200/2400 BAUD MODEM BARRIER BROKEN
Harrogate, North Yorkshire (NB) -- 2400 baud modems cost an arm
and a leg in the UK.  And this is despite a plethora of cheap
Taiwanese 1200 baud modems coming in at less than #200.  Now
Frontier Software has come to the rescue with a plan to import
high-quality, low-cost modems - capable of 300, 1200 and 2400
baud full duplex baud rates - into the UK.

The modems, which are being imported from an unnamed US source,
are fully Hayes-compatible and work to European (CCITT) and
US/Japanese (Bell) frequencies.

"The majority of imported modems in the UK today work to US tones
only," Frontier's marketing manager Dave Fields told NEWSBYTES
UK.  "This is okay at 1200 and 2400 baud rates, but no good at
300 baud, which a lot of UK services still work on.  The Frontier
modem is the most flexible Hayes-compatible modem (in its price
range) in the UK to date."

As yet, the modems are en-route from the US to the UK, but Fields
is confident of sales by next month.  "We've got several samples
on their way to us," he confided, "and, once UK power supplies
have been arranged, they'll go straight out to our dealers and
customers."

CONTACT: Dave Fields, FRONTIER SOFTWARE, PO Box 113,
         Harrogate, North Yorkshire, HG2 OBE.
         Tel: [phone].

[***][10/13/87][***]
+ BRITBYTES - Bytes of news from around the UK... +
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

ONLINE PUBLICATIONS has released the Vans Handbook, a 216 page
book on value added networks.  The book isn't cheap at #48 ($80
US edition), but includes a lot of information that modem users
will find useful.  Ask your library for a copy.  The ISBN number
is 0-86353-117-2.

ONLINE has also announced a network security seminar in London
for 1/2 December this year.  The seminar/conference aims to cover
topical subjects including electronic eavesdropping and computer
cracking.  Call 01-868-4466 for details.

BRITISH TELECOM is due to start using Band III cellular radio
frequencies in the next few weeks in the UK.  The service - which
uses the 'old' 405 line TV system phased out last year - covers
larger areas than the existing TACS cellular system (as used in
the US and UK), and is ideally suited for cellular modem
technology.

COMMODORE is about to do what everyone's been asking for in
recent weeks - reduce the price of the Amiga A500 in the UK.  The
current price is #499 plus 15% sales tax (VAT).  Most of the
industry expected a #100 cut to #399 plus tax.  Instead, the
company is absorbing the tax, and the Baby Amiga will sell for
#499 including VAT in the UK.

There is still no sign of the much-vaunted blitter chip on the
ATARI Mega ST series sold in the UK.  This is despite the Mega
going on sale last week in the US, complete with blitter on all
machines.  UK users (apart from a very lucky few) will have to
wait for 'dealer retro-fits,' as Atari UK calls them.

The ALDUS CORPORATION has set up a wholly-owned subsidiary -
Aldus Europe - to service the needs of Europe as a whole.
Previously, the company had set up Aldus UK to service Pagemaker
users in the UK.  Aldus UK and Aldus Europe will exist in
parallel with each other.

AMSTRAD is rumoured to be working on a laptop portable for
release at Comdex in Las Vegas next month.  COMPUTER TRADE WEEKLY
and POPULAR COMPUTING WEEKLY both report that the machine - the
LT-1 - complete with LCD screen and 3.5 inch floppies, is in the
pipeline.  CTW quotes Amstrad's Alan Sugar as saying: "I hope you
print all of this, as you aren't half going to make a  fool of
yourself."

Bristol-based METACOMCO (0272-428781) has released its Pascal 2
Compiler and Development System for the Atari ST.  The #89-95
($99-95 in the US) package replaces its MCC Pascal version 1.35,
and includes Gem AES, VDI, Gem-Dos, Bios and X-Bios libraries, as
well as the latest version of Metacomco's Gem-based screen
editor, which allows up to four windows on-screen at once.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK:

'The rating of a game (in a computer magazine) roughly
corresponds to the number of courses at the press launch
multiplied by the expenses allowance excess, (and) doubled for
each full page colour advert - quadrupled for cover positions.'

 -- Writer T. J. Wright in the latest POPULAR COMPUTING WEEKLY.
====