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/nb871110.230

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[***][11/10/87][***]
ALDUS OFFERS RANGE OF INNOVATIVE NEW PRODUCTS
LAS VEGAS (NB) -- Aldus has introduced Pagemaker 3.0, a new
drawing program called FreeHand for the Macintosh, and a video
image editing program for the PC called SnapShot.  The latter two
programs are designed to work with PageMaker.

PageMaker 3.0 for the Macintosh and the PC has over 35 new
features,  including the ability to handle larger documents,
style sheets, enhanced graphics capabilities, templates, and
color support.  It is priced at a steep $795 for the PC version
and $595 for the Macintosh version.  Shipping is slated for the
first quarter of 1988.

FreeHand, Aldus' answer to Adobe's Illustrator, is "easier to use"
than Illustrator, according to Aldus' President Paul Brainerd.  Like
Illustrator, it will allow you to trace over scanned images and
edit them.  It allows for freehand drawing, as well.  The
program will display 256 colors on the Macintosh II and uses the
advanced capabilities of the PostScript language drawing tools.
It can bend or shape lines of text along a user-defined baseline,
another unique feature, and it can edit graphics created with
Adobe Illustrator.  Again, first quarter of '88 is the shipping date;
the price will be $495.  The product was purchased by Aldus
from Altsys Corporation of Plano, Texas.

SnapShot is being called an "electronic photography product"
because it enables images from any video source to be edited
and enhanced, made into camera-ready half-tones, and placed
in PageMaker or other desktop publishing programs, then printed.
In a product demonstration at Comdex, a live video camera
captured a still of your author.  The image was then shaded,
painted, and airbrushed, in the same manner as a photographer
would touch up a print.  The image was then placed as a graphic
inside a document running in PageMaker.  All very neat!  The
software will ship in the first quarter of '88 for $495.

[***][11/10/87][***]
ATARI AND STEVE JOBS--THE NEXT CONNECTION
LAS VEGAS (NB) -- NEWSBYTES has learned that Atari and NeXT, Inc.
are indeed involved in some sort of joint venture, most likely
something involving transputer chips, the heart of Atari's
promised ABAQ transputer computer, introduced here at Comdex.
Previously reported as rumor by industry analyst Andrew
Seybold, the story was circulating around the floor of Comdex.
A former Atari official close to the Tramiels indicated there
was truth to the rumor, and an Atari spokesman said, "There
is nothing to report yet."  Since Jobs is looking for advanced
microprocessors for his next-generation workstation, and Jack
Tramiel's Atari needs them for ABAQ, the story is quite logical.
However, further comments from either side have been very
hard to glean.  Stay tuned.

[***][11/10/87][***]
AS APPLE READIES NEW MACINTOSH, DEVELOPERS OFFER UPGRADES
SAN FRANCISCO (NB) -- In development at Apple is an upgraded
Macintosh II that is based around Motorola's top-of-the-line 80386
microprocessor.  When it will be released is still unknown, but
in the meantime, several third-party developers will release
80386 upgrade boards for the II, Plus, and SE.  T.S.I. of Eugene,
Oregon plans one by the second quarter of 1988.  The company's
president says the board will make the II "four times faster."
Also developing 80386 upgrades are MacPeak of Austin, Texas,
SuperMac Technologies, and AST╩Research.  Unfortunatly, the
boards won't come cheap -- $6,000 to $10,000 is the quoted
price range.

[***][11/10/87][***]
FASTEST '286 TO '386 ACCELERATOR CARD FOR PCS
SUNNYVALE, Ca.  (NB) -- Sota Technologies came away from Comdex
as the winner of the speed race when it comes to upgrade boards for
the PC AT.  Its MotherCard 386 comes in 16MHz, 20MHz and 25MHz
versions; the 16MHz version will run $1,595, pricing on the other
two versions will be determined when they are released by the
first quarter of next year. Alan Hsaio, Sota director of marketing,
says the delay is caused by Intel, which is making the 25MHz
version of the 80386, and promises to deliver in quantity by
the second quarter of 1988.

How much faster can a card get? Perhaps 30 or 40MHz, according to
Chips & Technologies' Gordon Campbell, who told a Comdex audience
 "after that we are going to hit the wall."  He says after 30
or 40 megahertz, PC cards "just won't be able to handle" the
speed.

CONTACT:  SOTA TECHNOLOGIES, 408/245-3366

[***][11/10/87][***]
ART THEFT COMPUTER A FIRST FOR U.S.
LOS ANGELES (NB) -- The Los Angeles Police Department is taking the
lead on computerizing art theft data and hopes to link police departments
nationwide on the new database.  Detective Bill Martin of the LAPD's
art theft detail, says stolen art amounts to millions of dollars each
year and so far there has been no nationwide way of tracking it.  Gilbert
Edelson, director of the American Association of Art Dealers, praises
the move, saying "the computer will make it harder to move stolen
paintings.

The database will eventually include information from Interpol,
the FBI, police departments, and art organizations nationwide.

[***][11/10/87][***]
GEORGE MORROW RESURFACES WITH DISK CONTROLLER
LAS VEGAS (NB) -- George Morrow, founder of the now-defunct Morrow
computers, made an appearance at Comdex to promote his new liaison
with DSC╩Nestar Systems of Mountain View, Ca., to which he has sold
his new firm and its first product -- an "intelligent disk controller."
Morrow has created a disk controller which uses a separate coprocessor
to bypass the main processor, thereby increasing speed and performance
of PCs.  The disk controller can manage such tasks as network interface
and indexing sequential operations in database management.  LAN
company Nestar expects to incorporate the new technology in its
software and hardware.


[***][11/10/87][***]
TAKEOVER WATCH: DCA FOUGHT, NDC WRIGGLES, TELEX RECAPITALIZES
ATLANTA, GA (NB) -- Since the stock market, high-tech arbitrage
has continued merrily on, becoming the only game in town.

This week, Ungermann-Bass decided to fight an attempted takeover
by DCA, Alpharetta, GA. Ralph Ungermann of UBI said he didn't
like the fit, but analysts insist do like the fit. DCA is
offering $9.75 in stock for an issue that's trading around
$7/share. National Data Corp., Atlanta, wriggled a little as H&R
Block (CompuServe's owner) said it now earned 9% of NDC common,
more than NDC's management. NDC named a new president from its
small health-care subsidiary. He's Mark Braunstein, 39.
(CompuServe sees a nice fit with NDC's cash management and credit
card authorization operations.) Telex Corp. of Tulsa, OK,
announced a recapitalization plan to fight off a bid from New
York arbitrageur Asher Edelman. Under the Telex plan,
shareholders will get $45 in cash and $15 in debentures while
still holding their common stock -- Edelman is offering $65/share
cash. (Telex would take on new debt and sell old debt to pay for
its maneuver.) Edelman needs to get his own bank loans in order
-- he extended his own deadline for getting loans to November 9.

Finally, Computone Systems Inc. bought Intellicom Corp. of
Atlanta in an exchange of common stock. Computone was taken out
of Chapter 11 earlier this year by a Philadelphia investment
banker. Intellicom was started by dissatisfied Computon
executives. (Some stories have happy endings.)

[***][11/10/87][***]
QUADRAM ACCELERATES NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
NORCROSS, GA (NB) -- Two years ago Quadram was crying with heavy
board inventories and a poor reputation, while AST Research was
exalting. Times have changed. Quadram now has a better quality
reputation thanks to Venkat Mohan, an Indian engineer since
promoted to executive vice president-marketing. And at Comdex the
company once again expanded its line with boards which should be
hot.

Some of these products have been mentioned before in NEWSBYTES,
but the totality of Quadram's announcements bear repeating. Start
with the $399 IRMA-clone, MainLink II, offering IBM 3270 terminal
emulation using CHIPSlink, a single-chip protocol controller from
Chips and Technologies, Milpitas, CA, on which Quadram has a 6-
month exclusive. (A PS/2 version was included in the
announcement.) Add a VGA graphics board called QuadVGA which also
supports EGA, CGA, MDA and Hercules' monochrome standards, again
for just $395. Don't forget the JT Fax line of inboard facsimile
boards from the Asher Technologies subsidiary, including a 9600
baud product and a $695 product for the Macintosh. And of course
there's the QuadMEG PS/Q, a PS/2 memory board which adds up to 4
megabytes without breaking IBM rules that others' boards can only
get up to 2 megabytes. (The LIM 4.0 Expanded Memory Specificaton
will do that trick, the QuadFolks say.)

CONTACT: Jane Bator, CAM Group [phone]

[***][11/10/87][***]
SOUTHWESTERN BELL BREAKS RANKS AND JOINS WITH ACCESS FEE FOES
ST. LOUIS, MO (NB) -- Southwestern Bell has become the first
phone company to ask the Federal Communications Commission to
delay implementation of an online access charge that could make it
lots of money. The company asked that only 69 cents per hour
charge be implemented starting next July. The FCC has promised
a decision before the end of the year which could impose $5/hour
in charges on online users starting January 1. Users and online
service providers charge this would cripple the industry. (It
wouldn't help NEWSBYTES, that's for sure.)

It now looks like the FCC won't take any draconian action. 2 of
the 5 seats on the commission are vacant, and support for
imposing the $5/hour charges has been weak, even from those who
stand to benefit. Look for a compromise.

[***][11/10/87][***]
PECAN CHIPS

TANDY, Ft. Worth, announced Varsity Scripsit, a $100 package
based on Tandy's old Scripsit word processor. They also announced
that Microsoft Excel is now available for PC compatibles,
including the Tandy line, and a new version of Xenix, called SCO
Xenix 386, for the Tandy 4000.

NOVELL, Orem, UT, made its first splash into the Macintosh market
with Pcox/Coax-M, Pcox/Multi-M, and Pcox/3270 SR-M, all slated
for December delivery. The new products let Macs work in IBM-
based networks.

WATERLOO MICROSYSTEMS, Norcross, announced Version 2.41 of its
Waterloo PORT PC-LAN. It also announced support for Arcnet, the
PS/2 line, and broadband environments.

EDS, Dallas, opened a new processing center in Paris, France. The
French office employs 125.

THE SOFTWARE LINK, Atlanta, announced a comarketing agreement
with Aox Inc., Waltham, MA, and strengthened its developer
relations program for better compatability.

MSA, Atlanta, announced a deal with Tandem Computers to jointly
develop and market a factory control and management system.

SAMNA, Atlanta, announced Version 2.0 of its Word IV and Plus IV
programs. Pre-release versions were shown at Comdex. They include
a "preview" mode with true WYSIWYG which lets you see a page
before printing.

UNISYS, Detroit, announced anew line of PC compatible
workstations which will support OS/2, and a new version of its
Usernet local area network.

===
[***][11/10/87][***]
CROWNTEK GOES ON THE BLOCK
MARKHAM, Ont. (NB) -- It was going to be Canada's high-tech
conglomerate.  But Crowntek Inc. has never made money, and now
its parent company is bailing out.

Crownx Inc., a diversified Toronto firm that operates financial
services and health care businesses, has announced it will sell
its computer services and distribution company, Crowntek, as soon
as possible.  In announcing its financial results for the nine
months ended Sept. 30, Crownx took an extraordinary charge of
C$101.2 million for divesting "assets not related to financial
services and health care" -- which means Crowntek.

Crowntek began life as Datacrown Inc., a computer service bureau
set up by Crown Life Insurance Co. of Toronto to do the insurance
company's data processing and contract out the rest of its
capacity.  It became one of Canada's top mainframe service
bureaus, but suffered when declining hardware costs and the
arrival of the personal computer cut into the service bureau
business.

So in 1983, Datacrown changed its name to Crowntek and began
diversifying.  It began selling communications services as well
as processing, and bought Computer Corp. of America, a developer
of mainframe database software, as well as a handful of other
companies.  Its interests also include a piece of Waterloo
Microsystems Inc., the Waterloo, Ont., developer of the Port
network operating software.  Crowntek also launched a chain of
computer stores called Crowntek Business Centres.  Meanwhile,
parent Crown Life was acquired by Extendicare Inc., a nursing
home operator, and the company became Crownx.

The Canadian operations may be sold separately from Crowntek's
U.S. businesses, which include Computer Corp. of America and a
handful of smaller companies, according to company officials.

CONTACT: CROWNTEK INC., 3000 Steeles Ave. E., Markham, Ont.
         L3R 4T9, [phone]

[***][11/10/87][***]
CIRCUIT MANUFACTURER IN RECEIVERSHIP
OTTAWA (NB) -- Siltronics Ltd., a manufacturer of integrated
circuits that employs about 100 people, went into receivership
and locked out its employees Nov. 5, the TORONTO STAR reported.

A major creditor called a C$3.6-million loan at the end of
October, leaving the company scrambling for cash to stay in
business.  Placing the company in receivership -- the Canadian
equivalent of the U.S.'s Chapter 11 proceedings -- may allow it
to reorganize and return to normal operations, as hardware
manufacturer Geac Computer Corp. recently did.

In the quarter ended Sept. 26, Siltronics lost C$1.1 million, a
significantly worse loss than its C$354,000 shortfall in the same
three months a year earlier.  Revenue fell from C$1.9 million to
C$850,000.

[***][11/10/87][***]
TRADE DEAL STRENGTHENS INDUSTRY, ASSOCIATIONS SAY
TORONTO (NB) -- Canada's information technology industry strongly
supports free trade with the United States, according to
officials of two major associations representing the industry.

Graeme Hughes, president of the Information Technology
Association of Canada, said in a statement following an ITAC
meeting that reviewed the October 6 agreement between the two
countries that growing U.S. protectionism is a major threat to
the Canadian economy.  He claims that while the deal offers no
ironclad guarantees, it provides a workable way of dealing with
the Americans.  "We need the market access and the framework for
cooperation that this deal provides," Hughes said.

He said the agreement will help protect Canadian access to U.S.
markets, and noted that 87 per cent of all computer equipment
made in Canada is exported, most of it to the U.S.

Roy Woodbridge, executive director of the Canadian Advanced
Technology Association (CATA), told NEWSBYTES CANADA that his
association doesn't expect the agreement under discussion will
have a major impact on the industry either way, but "we're
strongly supportive of any move toward opening up the
international high-technology market."

High technology is by definition an international business,
Woodbridge said, and Canadian companies need access to world
markets to operate efficiently.  However, he said there has been
a trend toward freer trade with the U.S. in high technology
anyway, and if the October 6 agreement goes through it will not
improve Canadian access to U.S. markets substantially.

Support for free trade also comes from John Thompson, president
of IBM Canada Ltd., who said in a recent statement that the
agreement will "promote economic growth, create more jobs,
sharpen the ability of Canadian companies to compete worldwide
and spur progress in multilateral trade discussions."

[***][11/10/87][***]
Q.W. PAGE DROPS SOFTSEL, RAISES PRICE OF NEWVIEWS
TORONTO (NB) -- Q.W. Page Associates Inc., the creator of
NewViews accounting software, has decided to deal directly with
its U.S. dealers, ending its relationship with SoftSel effective
Nov. 1.  President Phil Quackenbush said the company has never
used a distributor in Canada and "we're very comfortable with
that situation, dealing directly with a base of good dealers."
Also effective Nov. 1, the price of NewViews has gone up to $995
U.S. of C$1,295.

Q.W. Page is beginning to work on international sales of
NewViews.  Quackenbush said the company has already signed a
distributor in South Africa and is looking at other English-
speaking countries.  Eventually, he said, NewViews will be
translated for sale to France, Germany and other countries.

NewViews is unusual accounting software because it departs from
the menu-driven system of modules found in most accounting
packages and doesn't do a closing at the end of each accounting
period.  This has provoked some critics to say it won't provide
proper accountability, while enthusiasts praise its ease of use
and flexibility.

CONTACT: Q.W. PAGE ASSOCIATES INC., 1 St. Clair Ave. W.
         Toronto, Ont. M4V 2Z5, [phone]

[***][11/10/87][***]
WATERLOO MICROSYSTEMS PORT TO SUPPORT 80286 PROTECTED MODE
WATERLOO, Ont. (NB) -- Waterloo Microsystems Inc. has introduced
Version 2.41 of its Port network operating software.  The new
version will the support the Intel 80286 chip's protected mode,
the company said, and will also offer fault-tolerant operation
and support for broadband networks.

Waterloo Microsystems, based in Waterloo, Ont., with a U.S.
subsidiary in Norcross, Ga., also announced: plans to sell a Port
Network Interface Card for the IBM PS/2's Microchannel bus;
Gatekeeper, an internet gateway control program to help join
small LANs into larger networks; a broadband version of its
Backbone Internet Gateway for connecting two or more LANs; Port
Internet Mail messaging software; and an SNA server for Port
networks.

CONTACT: WATERLOO MICROSYSTEMS INC., 175 Columbia St.,
         Waterloo, Ont. [phone]
         OR
         3597 Parkway Lane, Suite 200, Norcross, Ga. 30092
         [phone]

[***][11/10/87][***]
BITS, EH?
-- CMQ COMMUNICATIONS INC. of Toronto, which provides electronic
stock quotation services, has been sold to Teleword Systems of
New York for C$98 million.

-- BELL CANADA ENTERPRISES INC., of Montreal, will sell a number
of European subsidiaries to Bell Atlantic Corp. of Philadelphia.
They will include computer maintenance, distribution and data
applications companies.  Bell Canada Enterprises is the parent of
Northern Telecom Ltd. as well as Bell Canada, the country's
largest phone company.

-- COMPUTER INNOVATIONS DISTRIBUTION INC., Brampton, Ont.,  made
a profit of C$1.089 million in the 27 weeks ended Oct. 3, on
revenues of C$128 million.  That's up from C$820,000 on C$108
million in the comparable period last year.  Computer Innovations
runs a chain of ComputerLand franchises across Canada.

-- GREYHOUND COMPUTER OF CANADA LTD., Toronto, reported profit of
C$2.12 million in the nine months ended Sept. 30, up from
C$563,000 in the same period a year earlier.  Revenues were
C$14.4 million, up from C$10.4 million.



[***][11/10/87][***]
IBM BUYS SOFTWARE INFORMATION FROM HITACHI
TOKYO (NB) -- The ASAHI Daily reports IBM will receive supercomputer
software and information from Hitachi for an undisclosed sum.
Both companies are hammering out an agreement and an accord is
expected to be reached soon.  According to the report, IBM is
interested in Hitachi's scientific technical calculation programs
in order to raise the quality of its software.  IBM is expected
to bundle the Hitachi software with its machines.  IBM will be able
to drastically cut down the cost of developing programs with this
agreement.  It will certainly be an unprecedented move for IBM.
Meanwhile, the news has apparently given confidence to Japanese computer
makers that their technologies are becoming more competitive in
the world market.

[***][11/10/87][***]
IBM JAPAN'S SECOND LARGEST R & D CENTER
TOKYO (NB) -- IBM Japan has decided to build a large scale
research center in Makuhari, Chiba prefecture, near Tokyo.
The new R & D Center, expected to span 125,000 square meters,
will be smaller than its U.S. counterpart, but it will be IBM's
second largest research center in the world.   It will be completed
by 1990 and will cost $1.09 billion.  At the new R & D center, IBM
Japan plans to mainly develop software, including general purpose
programs and data communication tools.  The center is expected to
play a big role as a strategic base in Asia, aiming to conquer
the market in the newly industrialized countries in the region.

CONTACT: IBM Japan, 3-2-12 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo 106

[***][11/10/87][***]
32-BIT REAL-TIME JAPANESE OPERATING SYSTEM DEBUTS
TOKYO (NB) -- The LSI Laboratory of Mitsubishi Electronics has
developed a 32-bit real-time operating system, MR32, based on
I-TRON architecture.  Currently, MR32 runs on National
Semiconductor's NS32000 series MPUs.  But Mitsubishi will adopt
the operating system for its first 32-bit TRON operating system due
next year.  TRON is a potential 32-bit standard operating system,
currently supported by over 40 computer makers.

CONTACT: Mitsubishi Electronics, 2-2-3 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku,
         Tokyo 100

[***][11/10/87][***]
JAPANESE PAGEMAKER FOR MAC AND PC-9801
TOKYO (NB) -- Two Japanese software ventures, Bridge (Hokkaido)
and East (Tokyo), will release Japanese versions of Aldus' desktop
publishing program PageMaker in January.  Bridge is now preparing
to ship the program for Macintoshes, while East is doing a version
for the NEC PC-9801s.  Both companies have already displayed the
Kanji versions of PageMaker at the DataShow trade show in Tokyo last
September.  They now say they will set up training centers for the
programs next year.

[***][11/10/87][***]
EPSON'S LAPTOP COMPUTERS CHALLENGE NEC
TOKYO (NB) -- Seiko-Epson has announced three models of an NEC-
compatible laptop computer, the PC-286L series.  The 3.5-inch FDD
models and the HDD model have color CRT interface, a rechargeable
battery, and a built-in 1,200bps modem.  The screen image has
become remarkably clear due to Epson's original New Twist Nematic
LCD.  The prices are between $2,304 and $3,391.

CONTACT: Seiko-Epson, 3-3-5 Yamato, Suwa-shi, Nagano-ken 392,
         Japan

[***][11/10/87][***]
32-BIT DESKTOP AND LAPTOP COMPUTERS FROM SANYO
TOKYO (NB) -- Sanyo Electronics will soon release its 32-bit
desktop computer and a laptop computer in the U.S.  The desktop
computer the MBC-18PLUS is equipped with an 80386 CPU (16MHz),
and is compatible with IBM PC/AT.  The laptop computer, the
MBC-16LT, has an 80C88 CPU and is compatible with the IBM PC/XT.
Meanwhile, Sanyo Electronics is currently supplying its laptop
computers to Zenith in the U.S. on an OEM basis.  Sanyo's laptop
won the order from the U.S. Air Force through Zenith last spring.

[***][11/10/87][***]
TAIWANESE IC MAKER RAIDS IN JAPAN
TOKYO (NB) -- The electronics companies in newly-industrialized
Asian countries have been exporting more and more electronics
products to Japan.  Taiwan's major semiconductor maker, United
Microelectronics Corp. (UMC), has recently decided to export a
large quantity of ICs to Japan.  Those ICs are mainly peripheral
ICs for a CPU, including a floppy disk controller, and the ICs
for music and telecommunications. Product sales are
handled by Japan Mcnics (Kawasaki, Kanagawa pref.), which has a
sales agreement with UMC.  Japan Mcnics expects to sell  $7
million worth of the ICs in the initial year.  Meanwhile, UMC
expects to rake in $100 million for total sales in fiscal 1987.

[***][11/10/87][***]
CAPTAIN VIDEOTEX TERMINAL FOR AUTOMOBILES
TOKYO (NB) -- Japan's telecom giant NTT has started developing
a compact videotex terminal for cars.  The company is reportedly
planning to complete the prototype terminal before year's end.
NTT expects to tie up with car makers to install the terminals
in cars as early as next summer. Unfortunately, NTT's CAPTAIN
videotex has not taken the market by storm, having grown little
since its introduction to the Japanese people two years ago.
NTT hopes the placement of terminals in cars might turn the tide
for the struggling service.

CONTACT: NTT, 1-1-6 Uchisaiwaicho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100

[***][11/10/87][***]
<<< SUSHI BYTES >>>

FUJITSU-ESPANIA'S 80386 MACHINE -- Fujitsu Espania, Fujitsu's
subsidiary in Spain, plans to develop its own Unix machine, based
on an 80386 MPU next year.  The Spanish subsidiary will also
raise the production of personal computer printers to 8,000
systems per month in January 1988.

HAPPY FUJITSU TO BOOST COMPUTER SALES -- Having settled a
copyright dispute with IBM, Fujitsu is putting sales of its general
purpose computers in full swing.   The company expects to ship
1300 systems, or 16% more units in the last half of this year.
Fujitsu's M series computers are particularly popular among
financial industries and wholesalers.

SONY'S POWERFUL CD-ROM -- Sony, Tokyo, has developed a powerful
CD-ROM drive, CDU510.  The product is only half as thick as the
current versions, and the access speed is only 0.5 second.  Sony
will start producing the CDU510 on an OEM basis.  The retail
price is expected to be under $1,000.  The product was shown
at last week's Comdex show in Las Vegas.

PHILIPS AND SONY -- Philips and Sony have agreed to set up a
standard for the basic architecture of a RAM-type CD-ROM.  It is
expected to be announced early next year.

DEC SHOW OPENS -- Japan Digital Equipment Corp., Tokyo, will hold
the fifth Expotec Japan show in Tokyo on November 18 through 20.
Twenty seven companies will exhibit their hardware and software.
DEC User Group will also hold a symposium then.

RICOH'S $100 MILLION EXPANSION PLAN -- The Tokyo-based office
equipment maker Ricoh has started a $100 million expansion project
in the U.S.  As part of the project, the company will soon set up
a new plant to produce facsimile machines, copiers, and laser
printers.  Currently, Ricoh has 2,600 workers under wing in
the U.S.

NTT AMERICA BORN -- Japan's telecom giant NTT has merged its
offices in New York and Los Altos (Ca.,USA), and established NTT
America in New York.  The capital invested is estimated at $2 million.

===
[***][11/10/87][***]
LOTUS HAS A NEW AGENDA
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (NB) -- Lotus Development Corp. has rolled out a
new program aimed at managing text instead of numbers. The $395
program called Agenda, available early next year, will help users
organize ideas, notes, messages, reminders, schedules, and the
like. "With Lotus Agenda, we're introducing a product that will
help people manage textual data more intelligently," said Lotus
President Jim Manzi.

Agenda allows users to attach notes to text, create categories to
organize textual items, and assign items to special categories
using artificial intelligence techniques. Each item of text can
be assigned to several categories.

[***][11/10/87][***]
GENERAL ELECTRIC TO ANNOUNCE MAJOR NEW BUSINESS VENTURE
NEW YORK (NB) -- General Electric Co. is set to announce a new
business venture aimed at commercializing digital video
interactive technology, or DVI. DVI brings together motion
picture sequences, music, text, data, high-resolution still
images, audio, and three-dimensional graphics on one medium, the
compact disc. GE announced the new technology last March. The
upcoming announcement in New York will unveil a market strategy
for commercializing the technology, according to GE.

[***][11/10/87][***]
BRAZIL SAYS NO DICE TO DOS
WASHINGTON (NB) -- Angering Commerce and State Department
officials, Brazil has said it will not allow sale of Microsoft
Corp.'s MS-DOS operating system for the IBM PC and compatibles.
The move indicates Brazil intends to extend its restrictions on
high-tech imports, rather than relax them, according to sources
in Washington. The U.S. government has been pushing Brazil to
open its doors to U.S. computer hardware and software. Brazilian
officials have decided that an indigenous product, SISNE
developed by Scopus Technologia, performs about the same as MS-
DOS, justifying locking out the U.S. company from the lucrative
Brazilian market. Microsoft says its operating system software is
far superior to the Brazilian competitor, a claim which Brazil
has not accepted. By Scopus has acknowledged that a portion of
the SISNE program was copied from Microsoft code. The U.S. is
expected to retaliate against the Brazilian action, in an as-yet
unspecified fashion.

[***][11/10/87][***]
JAPAN SANCTIONS EASED, BUT STRAINS REMAIN
WASHINGTON (NB) -- As predicted, President Reagan has ordered
easing of trade sanctions against Japan, after evidence that
Japanese semiconductor makers are no longer dumping chips in
third countries. But punitive tariffs will remain on about $164
million worth of goods, in retaliation for continued failure to
open the Japanese market to U.S. computer goods. Originally, the
sanctions totaled $300 million.

But a WALL STREET JOURNAL analysis noted that despite the White
House action, "the two nations' microchip industries remain as
antagonistic as ever." The article quotes Wilfred Corrigan, LSI
Logic Corp. chairman, that "the U.S.-Japan chip accord has worked
in areas favorable to the Japanese, but it has failed in areas
that are favorable to Americans."

[***][11/10/87][***]
MIT NIXES SUPERCOMPUTER AFTER WASHINGTON PRESSURE
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (NB) -- Massachusetts Institute of Technology
has cancelled plans to buy or rent a new supercomputer, after
Washington pressured the university to reject a Japanese-made
machine. MIT Provost John Deutch, a former Energy Department
official in the Carter administration, said U.S. government
officials told MIT "it would not be in the nation's best interest
to obtain the machines from Japan." The heavy-handed move by
Washington is likely to inflame U.S.-Japan relations even further
and make it more difficult for Japan to break into the U.S.
market now dominated by Cray Research. According to MIT sources,
Honeywell-NEC Supercomputer Inc., offering an NEC supercomputer,
had the inside edge for the contract, worth about $7.5 million.
Other bidders included Cray, IBM, ETA Systems, and Amdahl Corp.
(46 percent owned by Fujitsu). Deutch said a letter to MIT from
Commerce official Bruce Smart threatened an anti-dumping suit if
the university bought either the NEC machine or the Fujitsu
offer.

[***][11/10/87][***]
EIGHT INDICTED IN EXPORT SCHEMES
WASHINGTON (NB) -- A federal grand jury in North Carolina has
indicted two Japanese businessmen and two Hungarian diplomats for
allegedly conspiring to ship advanced semiconductor manufacturing
equipment to Hungary in violation of U.S. export laws. Also, a
federal grand jury in San Francisco has indicted four persons,
including a suspect in Canadian custody, for attempting to divert
U.S. supercomputer designs to the Soviet Union. A Commerce
official said that both cases involved attempts to move Star Wars
technology to the Eastern Bloc. "We're a decade ahead of the
Eastern Bloc in this Star Wars technology," said Paul
Freedenberg, acting undersecretary for export administration.
"We're determined to keep that lead." Authorities foiled the
California supercomputer diversions. But the Japanese-Hungarian
group succeeded in shipping a laser trimmer to Budapest. The
device entered Japan on a manifest claiming it was an "electronic
carpet trimmer," and then was smuggled to Hungary in a
diplomatically protected cargo shipment.

[***][11/10/87][***]
TECHNICAL GRAPHING FOR SCIENTISTS AND ENGINEERS
WALTHAM, Mass. -- Binary Engineering has developed a new graphics
that is aimed at scientists and engineers, not financial whizzes
who plot with 1-2-3. According to President Kevin Shea, his new
Tech*Graph*Pad will do log/log plotting, multiple X-Y axes, curve
fitting, with complete labeling control. Most data programs are
geared to pie charts and bar graphs, Shea maintains. He also says
his program is so easy to use that "if you can't use it
;effectively in less than half an hour, we'll take it back." The
product costs $275 and will read data from 1-2-3, Symphony, or
any ASCII file.

CONTACT: Binary Engineering, 100 Fifth Ave., Waltham MA, 02154,
       617-890-1812.

[***][11/10/87][***]
IBM ANNOUNCES NEW FINANCIAL SYSTEMS
RYE BROOK, N.Y. (NB) -- International Business Machines Corp. has
rolled out new and enhanced systems aimed at banks and financial
institutions. Among the offerings as a new family of financial
workstations, based on the PS/2 line of personal computers, with
software to operate as a full-function branch automation system
running with the Token-Ring local area network. Also in the new
IBM offering is an automated teller machine that reads and cashes
checks and a 1,000-document-per-minute check reader-sorter.

[***][11/10/87][***]
APOLLO GOES INDIAN
CHELMSFORD, Mass. (NB) -- Apollo Computer Inc. will license HCT
Ltd. in India to make Apollo's 3000 series workstations at a new
factory outside New Delhi. The new facility will make more than
500 workstations for the Indian market in the first year and
eventually reach an output of 2,000 systems a year, Apollo said.
HCL will price the workstations at about $5,000 and will pay
Apollo a licensing fee and royalties. HCL expects to begin
deliveries in January. HCL already markets U.S.-made Apollo
workstations in India. Also, Apollo had sold $6 million worth of
its workstations to Manufacturing & Consulting Services, which
will add software and resell the machines.

[***][11/10/87][***]
NEWS NIBBLES FROM AROUND THE REGION

MATRIX INSTRUMENTS of Orangeburg, N.Y., has a $5,000 package out
that can animate and add sound effects to business graphics such
as pie charts and bar graphs. The product is called VIP Producer
and includes a digital library of sounds and images.

REALITY TECHNOLOGIES of Philadelphia will have its Business
Advantage simulation software bundled with specially-marked boxes
of Maxell floppies. The free disc contains one case study, of
Microsoft. Look out, Bill Gates.

TRANSITIONS RESEARCH CORP. of Danbury, Conn., a major player in
industrial robotics, will see its Helpmate, a robot nurse's aide,
tested at Danbury Hospital. The robot will start by delivering
meals from the commissary to nursing stations.

DIGITAL EQUIPMENT CO. President Kenneth Olsen says "demand is
still growing" for his company's computers. Olsen says the slide
of the dollar "may very well cause a recession," but that Digital
isn't predicting one.

BELL ATLANTIC will buy eight European computer repair and service
firms from Bell Canada, in order to get into the computer service
business abroad. Bell Atlantic's Sorbus subsidiary is a major
player in the repair and service business in the U.S.
====

[***][11/10/87][***]
C O M D E X   S P E C I A L   R E P O R T S
Thursday, November 5, 1987

CANADIANS TACKLE VERTICAL MARKETS, WIN HOT PRODUCT AWARD
LAS VEGAS (NB) -- New vertical market applications are popular
among Canadian exhibitors at Comdex this year.  A handful of
companies are using this show to introduce vertical packages to
the U.S. market.

SoftKey Software Products Inc. of Toronto last month began
shipping three new applications: KeyRetailer, KeyWholesaler and
KeyAutoService.  SoftKey's president, Kevin O'Leary, said the
company shipped 60,000 copies of the new applications in the
first month and expects to sell another 100,000 this month.

Datrek Computer Services Ltd. of Calgary is at Comdex to find
U.S. dealers for COMFORT, a new hotel administration package.
Intelligent Transportation Systmes Corp. of Saskatoon is showing
Fleet Manager, another vertical-market package that was unveiled
in October at a Toronto trucking show.  And Vertical Technology
Inc. of Vancouver is in Las Vegas with Dental I, a vertical
application package for dental offices.

Another Canadian firm seeking U.S. dealers at Comdex is Sonnet
Systems Ltd. of Richmond, B.C.  Sonnet has been selling its
compputer-aided design software, SonnetCAD in Canada for a year
now, and is using the show to launch a U.S. marketing effort.

A Scarborough, Ont., company that is more established in the U.S.
market was pleasantly surprised by a SoftSel Hot Product award
during the show.  ATI Technologies Inc. received the 1987 Hottest
Product award in the boards, modems and interfaces category for
its EGAWonder graphics adapter.  A company staffer at the booth
said ATI hadn't even known the product was nominated.

 -- Grant Buckler
[***][11/10/87][***]
C O M D E X   S P E C I A L   R E P O R T S
Thursday, November 5, 1987

FCC TURNS INTO PAPER TIGER -- SEIZES NOTHING, TESTS NOTHING
LAS VEGAS, NV (NB) -- The Federal Communications Commission,
which descended on past Comdex show floors en masse to seize
computers which disrupt the radio spectrum, was a paper tiger at
this show. At a November 5 press conference, FCC engineer Phil
Inglis bragged that 75% of computers surveyed at 200 booths were
in compliance with FCC regulations at this show. Last year, only
55% of surveyed machines were in compliance. But behind that
claim were these facts. All the FCC did was check to see if
machines had their stickers showing compliance, or signs in the
booth indicating a lack of compliance. No machines were tested,
and none were seized.

At Atlanta in June, an FCC official showed one of many machines
he said were seized on that show floor. As reported in NEWSBYTES,
the machine shown by the FCC then had two different brand names -
- one on the front, one on the back.  Fines of $2,000 per day can
be levied against flagrant violators of FCC regulations, we were
told. At this show, Inglis (who wasn't in Atlanta) denied the
Atlanta incident ever happened.

All this is dangerous for two reasons. First, computers can
interfere with radio signals, everything from police radios to
communications between jet airplanes and control towers. Second,
requiring FCC compliance is one way to slow down the flood of
cheap overseas PC clones.

             -- Dana Blankenhorn



[***][11/10/87][***]
C O M D E X  S P E C I A L  R E P O R T S
Thursday, November 5, 1987

THE SECRET MANUFACTURER OF IBM MOTHERBOARDS  *EXCLUSIVE*
LAS VEGAS (NB) -- NEWSBYTES has learned that IBM has farmed
out manufacture of PS/2 motherboards to Huntsville, Alabama-
based SCI Manufacturing Inc.  (And you thought IBM made them
themselves!)  SCI has, in fact, been working with IBM since
the early the early eighties under contract to build other PC boards.

SCI Manufacturing, a division of SCI, is currently the OEM for
IBM's PCBs (printed circuit boards).

According to the company's 1987 fiscal results, revenues
increased to $552 million from $470 million in 1986. Net income
also increased to $16 million from $14 million a year earlier.

When asked about future plans with IBM, SCI "would not
comment on any future agreements," Willis Hofenhauer of SCI
told NEWSBYTES.

Along with the main boards, SCI also manufactures various other
products, including other boards and the color graphics card.

 --- Peter Vekinis
[***][11/10/87][***]
GOSSIP UP AND AWAY AT COMDEX
LAS VEGAS (NB -- Vegas at
Comdex time generates more gossip than Charles and Di do in the
London tabloids. The most difficult problem for us is figuring
out which party to cover. There are the good ones and there are
those best avoided. Then there are the secret ones, most notably
the "Secret Dvorak party" hosted by John Dvorak of "PC Magazine"
and publisher Will Hearst, usually held three times at different
locations in an attempt to keep out the hoi-polloi. There are
also the breakfast sessions which not only provide free food to
start the day but also teach the fine art of being agreeable with
people we can't stand.

Your NEWSBYTES news team spent endless hours going up and down
halls and corridors, even peaking into lavatories, just to get
you this list.

Best Parties:

        The Dvorak secret party No. 3 where Pournelle was hassled
by drunks guy while Bill Gates answered charges that it's his
fault that the software industry is going down the tubes.

Worst Party:

        The Dvorak party No 1 where about 1000 people turned up
to share 124 bottles of Heineken.

Best Evening (apart from the one with the editor):

        Blue Chip Electronics's evening extravaganza in the Las
Vegas museum of Natural History where the Dinosaurs move in tune
with the music. Where all the food was great (especially dessert
-- raspberries, cream, meringue, and a little plastic bird
surrounded by spun sugar), all the people were friendly, and the
shop-talk was kept to a dull roar. (Anyone who said "386" got a
nasty look from Tyrannasaurus Rex.)

Worst evening:

        The International Data Group party Monday night at the
Thomas & Mack Center (a 15,000 seat basketball arena) where at
least 8000 people showed up to hear The Temptations -- at least
one sang "My Girl" better than they did.  There were also
helicopter rides -- or at least, a line waiting for helicopter
rides.

Worst party:

        The Microsoft-3Com "bash" at the Shark Club Wednesday
night. Slow drinks, horrible food, boring conversation. "Come
meet your peers" the invitations said. (If I hear another VAR
I'll die.)

Best Product

        Although people will tell you that the PC Magazine award
ceremony was not fixed (although Compaq won just about everything -
including 'best restaurant napkin aiding the software business by
keeping itself clean ') our favorite product was Lotus' Agenda --
if it does what it says it's really neat.

Worst Product

        Every Taiwanese 386 board (and there were tons of them).
If the FCC did its job these guys would be walking out in
handcuffs.

Worst News Conference

        The FCC on Thursday morning. After bragging they had "75%
compliance" they admitted the compliance was only technical
(correctly posted stickers did the trick) and they only checked
200 booths (out of 1700).

Best Iceware

        The Atari 386. Will remain on ice till sometime in 1988 unless
of course it gets the Axe. I mean it did not really work at the show,
did it? (It was in fact a hologram).

Best new buzzword

        "Virtual party participation" by Jan Lewis, Palo Alto's
Research Group's President. She used this term while explaining
that she sends a video camera to parties as an extension of
herself. The PC that I am using to write this, you see, happens
to be an extension of my brain.. (Uh, sure.)

Worst Line

        IBM's "We will come down hard on PS/2 clone makers" at
the same time Western Digital was saying "we have nothing to fear
but IBM" in reply to their PS/2 chip set availability.

Most hopeful line

        IBM's "OS/2 will ship December 4."

Most Useful Gimme Gift

        IBM's giveaway press agendas. A nice leather case,
clearly marked pages for phone numbers and notes, and an
inobtrusive notice it's an IBM giveaway on the first page. (Not
to be confused with Lotus' Agenda.)

Worst gadget

        Useless CD ROMs given by Laser Magnetic Storage.

Most controversial attendance

        Gates's and Shirley's attendance at the Lotus Agenda
presentation, a few months before they announce Microsoft Diary.

Amazing feat

        Bill Gates drinking beer.

Even more amazing feat

        Jerry Pournelle drinking water.

Even more amazing than that feat:

        Coffee missing from the press room everyday between 2 and
3pm.

Feats don't fail me now feat

        Ben Rosen in the "SuperStar Suite" at the Dvorak party
telling venture capitalist jokes. (It's a closed room off the
main party where tired superstars can go to relax and talk about
somethingh besides computers.)

Dumbest line (I just walked in department)

        A woman asking "Who's that nerdy guy asking OS/2
questions?" at the OS/2 conference. It was Bill Gates.

Nicest line (Entrepreneurs never sleep department)

        "I do not mind answering people's questions at a party
after I've had a good sleep." -- Bill Gates at the Dvorak party,
when asked whether he minds talking shop at a party until
midnight.

Most helpful company

        Toshiba lent us a T1200 portable PC after the networked
PCs and Novell LAN in the press room blew up. (Tom O'Neill of
Novell did his best, really.)

Most unhelpful company

        Televideo, where people ran off in all directions
whenever they saw a press badge.

Most refreshing experience

        Foot massage at Jan Lewis' Palo Alto Research Group party
Tuesday night.

Most unbelievable story

        Being driven from the Stardust Hotel to the Blue Chip
Party at the Las Vegas Natural History museum by a couple in a
jallopy without springs. The 1 1/2 mile ride was like being in
New York subway, at midnight.
[***][11/10/87][***]
C O M D E X   S P E C I A L   R E P O R T S
Thursday, November 5, 1987

SAHARA, RIVIERA OFFER NEAT STUFF -- IF YOU CAN GET THERE
LAS VEGAS, NV (NB) -- The Sahara and Riviera Hotels are the
venues of last resort for Comdex visitors. Here among the
Taiwanese, Hong Kong Chinese, and Koreans hawking 286 boards for
under $1,000, and 386 boards for around $1,500, there arSe some
new inventions to be found, like gold nuggets on a sandy beach.
Here are a few:

*The Tone Talker from BCB Electronic Sales Ltd., Bolton,
Ontario, Canada, drew a huge crowd. Plug the board into an IBM PC
and you can connect to its programs through any touch-tone phone.
You can store about 600 words in a 32K buffer on-board. Other
letters or words are synthesized. The system can also connect to
mainframes. Robert Cook of BCB's American distributor in Tampa
was showing connections to Lotus 1-2-3, telemarketing, and
security systems. (CONTACT: Robert Cook, BCB ELECTRONICS,
[phone])

*Computer Music Supply, Walnut, CA, had one of NEWSBYTES' favorite
inventions of the whole show. It's a $199 MIDI connection board
for the IBM PC. Along with Cakewalk, a $150 program from Twelve
Tone Systems, Watertown, MA, and a $3-400 synthesizer, you can
give that old 8088-based IBM PC with its floppy disk drives to
your kid as a complete music system. (CONTACT: CMS Music Supply,
[phone])

*Telegence Corp., Westlake Village, CA, was showing a
LAN you can actually run alongside your current phone system.
Plug a full-size card into each PC, plug your hub system into the
telephone punch block, and your PCs can pass data at 1 million
bits/second without rewiring your office. (Phone line LANs have
been around for years, but until now you had to run separate
phone lines for them.) New for this show are a hot key function
which puts your spreadsheet on hold when you need to send a file
over the network, a file dump facility for sharing printers, and
binary file transfer capability, so you can pass executable
programs and Lotus spreadsheets. (CONTACT: Denis Fielhauer,
TELEGENCE. [phone])

*Soricon Corp., Boulder, CO, haas a scanner called the
DataSweep that looks like a mouse. Sweep it over a line of type
and it can read a half-dozen of the most popular typestyles
(courier, elite, pica) at 120 words per minute. (CONTACT:
Soricon, [phone])

*If the QMS color printer is too pricy for you, $495 will
get you the Color Pipe Press from Toner Research, San Marcos, CA.
Simple place a color film over your laser output, run it through
a device that looks a little like a pipe (hence the name) and the
color of your choice will replace the black of your printer. (The
film costs about 50 cents per sheet.) (CONTACT:Leslie Tencer,
TONER GENERIC, [phone])

*Need a 1200 baud modem for your new Sinclair Z-88?
Sunhill-NIC was selling just such a box, the Discovery 1200
Pocket modem, for $95, quantity 5. (A few booths away, a
competitor showed a similar modem for $89, quantity 5, or $99
quantity one. Both modems are supposed to retail for $199.)
(CONTACT: SUNHILL-NIC, [phone]).

 -- Dana Blankenhorn
[***][11/10/87][***]
C O M D E X  S P E C I A L   R E P O R T S
Thursday, November 5, 1987

KODAK HAS OPTICAL STORAGE SYSTEMS, COFFEE-RESISTANT FLOPPIES
LAS VEGAS (NB) -- Eastman Kodak Co. is displaying an assortment
of optical storage products at Comdex.  They include 14-inch
optical disk systems and a storage subsystem for personal
computers that uses 3-1/2-inch magneto-optical disks.

Kodak's 6800 optical disk library system stores 6.8 gigabytes of
data.  The system was introduced last March, but the product on
display here is not the same one originally announced.  Kodak
says the 6800 now inserts and removes disks 35 per cent faster
than it originally did.  That means the system will find any data
within seven seconds, according to Kodak.

Kodak's external optical storage subsystem for personal computers
will be formally introduced and begin shipping in the middle of
1988, a spokesman said, but the company is showing the 50-
megabyte units now.  They use removable 3-1/2-inch magneto-
optical disks, which unlike true optical disks are erasable.
Magneto-optical storage technology uses a laser beam to read and
write on specially designed magnetic media.  The spokesman said
this has several advantages over conventional magnetic storage,
including higher capacity and reliability.  Because the systems
don't use a magnetic head that "flies" close to the disk, head
crashes don't happen.  And magneto-optical disks aren't erased
accidentally when they get close to a magnet.

Kodak has not yet put a price on the magneto-optical drives, but
the company spokesman said the prices will be competitive with
those of high-capacity storage subsystems that use megnetic
media, such as the Bernoulli Box.

For those who aren't yet ready to move to optical disks, Kodak's
Verbatim subsidiary offers Teflon-coated floppy disks that the
company says will stand up to having coffee and food spilled on
them.

CONTACT: EASTMAN KODAK CO., 343 State St., Rochester, N.Y.
         14650, [phone]

           -- Grant Buckler


[***][11/10/87][***]
NEW UK VIEWDATA NETWORK UNVEILED
Lincoln, UK (NB) -- Less than a year after its sudden departure
from Prestel, British Telecom's public viewdata service
Timefame International, has returned to the online scene, this time
with its own network called Epnitext.

Based in Lincoln, Epnitext is aiming for the online
business community, both as subscribers and as information
providers (IPs).  Charges are broadly equal to Prestel's for
business membership at #300 per year, and IP-ship at #5,000 per
year.  Home users get a higher rate than Prestel's, starting
at #250 per year.

Several unique features are found on Epnitext, including
automatic screen updates (as data is updated by an IP) and a
radio paging link with subscriber mailboxes.  Extra services such
as mailbox radiopaging cost #150 a year, plus 15 pence per pager
alert.

Timefame MD Roy Norman claims that Epnitext is streaks ahead of
Prestel.  "We were reluctant to launch Epnitext earlier this year
until it was structured and ready," he said.  "Instead, we took
the decision to wait until the system was refined enough to leave
the competition behind."

Will Epnitext succeed?  Possibly.  Timefame plans a big market
presence, with sales and display premises planned for several UK
cities.  Who knows, you might even be reading NEWSBYTES on
Epnitext as the system expands!

CONTACT: Timefame Epnitext PLC - 0526-861136

[***][11/10/87][***]
FARMERS GO ONLINE
London, UK (NB) -- Taking a leaf out of Prestel Farmlink's book,
the MicroLink service on Telecom Gold has opened the British Farm
Computer User's Group (BFCUG) on its database.

The service is administered by Andrew Cooley, the project
coordinator for on-farm systems with the Milk Marketing Board.
"My experience is that many farmers are already exploring the
potential of micros beyond their use in day-to-day management,"
he said, noting that because of the nature of the job farmers
are relatively isolated.

"The primary aim of BFCUG is to overcome such isolation, so farm
computer users can share their ideas and experiences and get the
maximum value from such management tools," he added.

Initially, the BFCUG will have a section on the MicroLink
bulletin board system, but will eventually have its own closed
user group on the network.

CONTACT: Andrew Cooley, BFCUG...   0789-204056
         Mike Cowley, MicroLink... 061-456-8383

[***][11/10/87][***]
APPLE CUTS ITS UK MAC PRICES
Hemel Hempstead, Herts (NB) -- In an unexpected move, Apple has
slashed the prices on its UK Macintosh series.  Effective as of
now, the whole Mac range drops in price by approximately 10 per
cent.  A Mac II with twin 800K drives, for example, drops in
price from #2,495 to #2,195. In addition, the Mac II systems sold
in the UK drop by about 5 per cent.

Why the change?  Apple UK isn't saying, although a spokeswoman
did reveal to NEWSBYTES UK that the price cuts were rushed
through, so it seems likely the weakening dollar has something to
do with the cuts.

Keith Phillips, Apple UK marketing director is pleased with the
price reductions.  "We're delighted with these new prices," he
said.  They reflect the high level of sales across the whole Mac
range and will enable us to continue our penetration into the
business and corporate markets in the UK."

CONTACT:  Apple UK, Eastman Way, Hemel Hempstead,
          Hertfordshire HP2 7HQ.
          Tel: [phone].

[***][11/10/87][***]
AMSTRAD PPC - PORTABLE PRICE WARS IMMINENT?
Brentwood, UK (NB) -- The Amstrad PPC portable range, launched
last month amidst a flurry of press activity, may spark off a
price war amongst its competitors, according to the latest
COMPUTING magazine.

Speaking at the PPC launch, Amstrad chairman Alan Sugar told the
audience that his competitors will have to have to reduce their
prices.  "If that's possible," said Sugar, "we've given them two
months to do something."  The magazine quotes Marek Vaygelt of
Romtec, a leading computer market survey firm, as saying that
Amstrad's PPC will have sell to a very wide audience to succeed.
"Sugar's got to create the market, because winning even 100 per-
cent of the market won't be enough," he said.

Vaygelt refers to recent Romtec figures which show the UK
portable market as accounting for just 3 per cent of overall PC
market - hardly enough on which to get rich.  Bob Garret, marketing
manager for Olivetti, is ambivalent on the subject of the PPC.
"My initial reaction is that the portable market is primarily for
corporate buyers," he said.  "That's not to say that (the PPC)
won't be a success in the home market."

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

[***][11/10/87][***]
+ BRITBYTES - Bytes of news from around the UK... +
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

WORDPERFECT for the Apple Macintosh gets its first public airing
at the Mac User show this week.  The #299 package is, according
to a company spokeswoman, "just part of the several new machines
that Wordperfect will be released on in the coming months."

NESTAR SYSTEMS will staging its first UK showing of Planstar, a
low-cost multinetwork fileserver, and Costar, an intelligent
disk subsystem, at the Compec Show in London later this month
(November 17-19).  The systems will, according to Robert Thorpe,
Nestar's general manager, "give users all the benefits of a file
server network for the price of a PC-based network."

APPLE has started shipping Hypercard with new Macs sold through
its dealer network.  Existing Mac owners can buy the package for
a mere #35, or upgrade their systems and get it for free.

SILICON ARRAYS (0865-715998) has unveiled a low-cost
telecommunications tester - the T-073.  Pricing in at under
#1,000, the unit provides ringing, dialling, and other
supervisory tones to phone equipment without the need to plug
into the standard phone network - illegal using unapproved
telecomms kit.

PC DITTO, the Ms-Dos emulator for the Atari ST, is in the middle
of a row between Microdeal and Robtek, who both claim exclusive
rights to the package and are selling it at #49.95 and #89.00
respectively.  John Symes, MD of Microdeal is quoted as saying
that Robtek "is just trying to monopolize the business at
exorbitant prices."

Despite COMMODORE's recent price cut on the Amiga (from #499 plus
15% tax to #499 including tax), prices in the real world are
still dropping.  Several firms are now openly advertising the
A500 for #399 including tax and modulator.  How long before the
price falls officially?

BRITISH TELECOM has just quietly hiked its rates for
international calls.  The raises, which took effect from the
beginning of the month, hike international call rates by about 3
per cent -- bad news for international BBS users.

LOTUS Graphwriter II, a major upgrade on the original, has been
announced in the UK.  The #395 package, which produces and
updates charts created under 1-2-3 and Ashton Tate's dBase
products, will consolidate Lotus' position in the spreadsheet
market, according to Simon Rogers, Lotus UK's marketing manager.
"Figures recently released underline our dominance in the
market," he said.  "Graphwriter II will build upon that dominance
still further."

SEIKOSHA - part of Epson's parent group - is back in the UK after
a long absence.  Two printers have been launched - the SBP-10 at
#2,500, and the SL-130 at #595.  The SBP-10 whirrs along at a
blistering 800cps, whilst the SL-130 runs at a more sedate
216cps.  Both printers will go on widespread sale in the UK
before Christmas.
====