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/1989/nb890328.300

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(NEWS)(APPLE)(SFO)(00001)

APPLE II FINALLY BEING PUT OUT TO PASTURE?
CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 27 (NB) -- Speculation is
rampant that the next incarnation of the Apple II, a IIGS upgrade
expected to be unveiled at Applefest in May, will be the last
for the 12-year old line. The handwriting on the wall, say
observers, comes from inside Apple as well as outside -- software
developers are not writing much for the II these days, even
the II community's flagship publication, A+, has been sold off
by giant computer magazine publisher Ziff-Davis.

Apple denies all the speculation and contends the Apple II
is alive and well. But industry observers disagree.  Stewart Alsop,
editor of P.C. Letter, remarks in his latest issue, "Apple seems
to have decided that the Apple II is no longer a strategic
product...I wouldn't be expecting too much more advertising,
promotion, or R&D support for the computer." The II line
continues to make money for Apple, $130 million in 1988, according
to Storeboard Inc., a research firm in Dallas. But that's down
from the $800 million Apple made selling Apple IIs in 1984.

(Wendy Woods/19890324)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(SFO)(00002)

CLARIS SHIPPING MACWRITE II
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 21 (NB) -- Claris has
started shipping MacWrite II, a complete rewrite of the venerable
Macintosh word processor. The product features extensive file
format compatibility with other word processors, such as Microsoft
Word, T-Maker's WriteNow, and Microsoft Works and Write. It features
an online help system which will be part of all new Claris products.
The Help System is based on a built-in HyperCard stack. The product
has, in all, 50 new features not available in its predecessor,
including mail merge, support for up to 10 columns for formatting
newsletters, or other desktop-publishing documents, the ability
to save custom-made templates, complete page-oriented WYSIWYG
capabilities, and support for fonts up to 500 points in size. The
product is priced at $249 but upgrades are available to owners
of previous versions at a lower cost.

(Wendy Woods/19890324/Contact: Dan Rampe, Claris, 415-960-1500)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(LAX)(00003)

SUPER 3D SHIPS
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 17 (NB) -- Silicon Beach
Software has shipped Super 3D version 2.0, a $495, three-dimensional
modeling and animation program for the Macintosh. The new version
adds color, increases animation capabilities and provides support
for the 68881 and 68882 math coprocessors. Upgrades are available
for $200.

Defending a longer-than-expected period of development, company
President Charlie Jackson said, "Development of this product has
taken longer than we expected, but we are extremely pleased with the
result. Even while it was in the development and testing stage,
users in a variety of fields--film and video, product design,
medicine and engineering, to name a few--have established Super 3D
2.0 as the 3-D graphics and animation tool of choice on the Mac."

New features include a dithering technique that can display as many
as 16,000 colors. The new color options allow more realistic
shading of models which can be lit with up to four light sources,
each independently adjustable for direction and intensity. PICT
files can now be imported and manipulated with the program. Both
PICT and EPS files can be exported. Animation has been enhanced by
the addition of user-specifiable key frames or "tweening" which
allows the user to specify the automatic generation of intermediate
frames between two key frames. Coprocessor support provides
increased speed and accuracy when math hardware is present.

(Wayne Yacco/19890324)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(SFO)(00004)

CD-ROM VERSION OF THE WHOLE EARTH CATALOG NOW AVAILABLE
SAN RAFAEL, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 21 (NB) -- Broderbund
Software has released The Electronic Whole Earth Catalog, a HyperCard-
based CD-ROM software package for the Macintosh. The electronic
version of the sourcebook Whole Earth Catalog has more than 3,500
entries on a vast array of subjects -- from building one's own
home to beekeeping -- and offers aspects not found in the book.
For instance, one can listen to excerpts from more than 700
recordings, from blues to jazz to bird calls. The suggested
price is $149.95.

(Wendy Woods/19890324/Contact: Cathy Tom, Broderbund, 415-492-3178)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(BOS)(00005)

AVATAR RELEASE NEW VERSION OF MACMAINFRAME
HOPKINTON, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 20 (NB) -- Avatar has
released an enhanced version of MacMainFrame, version 2.1. The new
product supports MacMainFrame DX, providing the same level of
Mac-to-mainframe communications capabilities found in MacMainFrame
SE, and the other MacMainFrame family of products. Previously DX
customers did not have the same level of communications support.
MacMainFrame DX, including a hardware unit, cabling, and software,
lists for $1,195, and is available immediately. Software-only packages
are $200 per copy.

(Jon Pepper/19890324/Contact: Heidi Palmer, Avatar, 508-435-3000)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(TYO)(00006)

NEW MACINTOSH DUE AT END OF SUMMER, SAYS REPORT
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 MAR 22 (NB) -- The Japanese subsidiary of Apple
Computer will release a Japanese version of its latest model
Macintosh IIcx at the end of the summer, Business and Technology Daily
News reports. Newsbytes tried to confirm this report, but
the company denied giving any news to the publication, said the date
of the machine's release has not been determined, and the company has
never expressed such news to the public. But, according to an
Apple Japan spokeswoman, Apple has started development of
Japanese language capabilities for the IIcx machines.

Apple Computer Japan has appointed a new president and
the organization has been reinforced with head-hunted executives.
Meanwhile, Japanese Mac users are looking forward to the debut of
the Japanese IIcx.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19890323/Contact: Apple Computer Japan 03-224-7000)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(SYD)(00007)

MAC CLONE IN A PC BOX
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1989 MARCH 20 (NB) -- Another type of Macintosh
clone is about to be released, according to Australian importers
of the Powder Blue computer. The machine is called BlueMAQ and
comes in a PC-style case, though with 68000 series processors.
The machines are expected to be priced at around 70 percent of
equivalent Apples in Australia.

An added feature is the ability to run DOS software under
emulation, though this may prove more of a marketing exercise
than a practicality as most emulators are simply too slow. The
company is shipping the boxes without ROMs and expects that
dealers will be able to source them indirectly from Apple, though
Apple has indicated that it has no intention of unwittingly
supplying the chips which are designed as service-replacement
parts for its machines only.

(Paul Zucker/19890324)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(LON)(00008)

APPLE U.K. MOVES TO PURPOSE-BUILT OFFICES NEAR HEATHROW AIRPORT
STOCKLEY PARK, ENGLAND, 1989 MAR 24 (NB) -- Apple U.K. has moved
offices from Hemel Hempstead to Stockley Park, near Heathrow
Airport, London's main airport facility. The new premises have
been purpose-built for Apple, and will improve communications
with the rest of the world, as well as allow room for future
planned expansion.

(Steve Gold/19890324/Apple U.K., 6 Roadwood Avenue, Stockley Park,
Stockley Park, Uxbridge, UB11 1BB, Tel: [phone])


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SYD)(00001)

LOTUS PRICE HIKE ANNOYS DEALERS
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 22 (NB) -- In a move that
has surprised many in the industry, Lotus has increased the dealer
cost price of 1-2-3. This is seen as a strange move as the company
has been losing market share as the product gets increasingly
long in the tooth. Faced with smaller margins, many dealers have
reacted in unusual ways. Storefront software retailer Egghead has
told Lotus what it thinks of the price hike by a simple method.
Where 1-2-3 and Microsoft Excel were the same price a couple of
weeks ago, Egghead has now dropped the price of Excel to make it
the more attractive package.

A source in Egghead told Newsbytes that "These people have
obviously forgotten that they can't interfere with our profit
margins without a squeak from us. We'll react like this every
time a software publisher tries this type of stunt!"

(Paul Zucker/19890324)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SFO)(00002)

THREE HIGH-TECH FIRMS FILE FOR BANKRUPTCY
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 24 (NB) -- Scientific
Micro Systems, Univation, and Plexus Computers have all filed
for protection under Chapter 11 of the federal bankruptcy code.

Scientific Micro, dragged down by a loss of $43.8 million last
year, will continue to "develop, manufacture and distribute its
complete product line," according to a statement from Chief
Executive William Bayer, but wants relief from bank loans on
which it has been unable to make payments. The Mountain View,
California firm employs 300 and there are "no plans" for a
layoff, according to company spokeswoman Melanie McNulty.

Univation, of Milpitas, California, a maker of local area
networks, filed for protection from creditors after losing a
lawsuit against Lifeware Systems Designer Team, Inc. over
marketing rights to LifeNet software.

And Plexus Computers of San Jose has also sought asylum in
federal bankruptcy statutes after its venture capital dried up.
Plexus hopes to recover by selling products for image
processing.

(Wendy Woods/19890324)


(EXCLUSIVE)(BUSINESS)(LAX)(00003)

MIGENT MOSTLY MORIBUND
INCLINE VILLAGE, NEVADA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 24 (NB) -- Migent Software
will be closing its doors and changing its name. The details,
which have just come to light, are an unannounced detail of a deal
Migent revealed March 14. In the announcement, the company had said
that, subject to obtaining necessary regulatory and other approvals,
it would enter into an agreement to acquire an exclusive license for
the manufacture, marketing, and distribution and sale of an office
network utility, from LANware Inc. Newsbytes has just learned that
Migent will also be physically moving its operations to LANware's
headquarters in Markham, Ontario, Canada, changing its name to
LANware Business Products and acquiring LANware President Gordon
Lewchuk as its chief executive officer.

The product, LANware Executive, and an undisclosed amount of
financing, was to be acquired in exchange for a majority share of a
new capital issue with LANware to retain a five percent royalty on all
products sold. For the deal to close, stated the original
announcement, "LANware must receive shares for the license granted
and funds advanced equal to no less than 67 percent of the shares of
Migent that will be issued and outstanding following the closing.
As a result, the transaction will constitute a reverse take over of
Migent which will require stockholder approval."

LANware Executive will be introduced as a surface application to the
Emerald Bay central engine. The program is a network-based office
utility which operates over PC Lan, Novell, 3Com, Token Ring and
Vianet network operating systems to provide a paperless office.
Users within a network can obtain telephone messages, screen
messages, mail, group and individual appointment scheduling. These
group features are joined by common desktop functions such as note
filer, text editor, calculator and report generator. Functions are
accessible with hot keys, and permit the user to pop over both text
and graphic screens. The product also provides network resource
management.

(Wayne Yacco/19890324/Contact: 416-479-5022)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SFO)(00004)

DISK DRIVE COMPONENT SUPPLIER DOMAINE HITS DOLDRUMS
MILPITAS, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 24 (NB) -- Problems with
two major customers have forced Domain Technology to lay off 19
percent of its workforce, or 160 workers, in the second lay-off
this year. A maker of thin-film disks for hard disk drive makers,
Domain Technology bore the brunt of a cutback in orders from
Miniscribe, and says Rodime, its other major customer, failed to pay
its bills on time. The company seeks a partnership that will lead
to a cash infusion. Domain earned $1.8 million on sales of $23
million in 1988 but says its cash on hand is little more than $1
million.

(Wendy Woods/19890324)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SGP)(00005)

OVERCAPACITY STILL A PROBLEM IN DISK DRIVE INDUSTRY
SINGAPORE, S.E. ASIA, 1989 MAR 22(NB) - The current continuing
overcapacity in the disk drive industry is likely to continue to
affect most companies until the second half of 1989, according to
Gerald Atterbury, group vice president of Dataquest, a market
research firm.

Speaking at a one day seminar held in Singapore, he expressed
concern at the high inventories and excess capacity in many
companies, citing as an example Miniscribe Peripherals, which has
yet to overcome its inventory problems.

Singapore, which last year exported around 60 percent of the world's
disk drives, valued at around US$2.4 billion, has somehow managed
to avoid the worst of the troubles. Backed by the Economic
Development Board [EDB], emphasis has been placed on automation,
research, and product development.

Whilst existing and new companies might be attracted to apparently
lower cost countries such as China, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines,
South Korea and Taiwan, disk drive manufacturing is a high-tech
industry, and cheap labor costs alone would not be enough to guarantee
success. In addition, Chua Soo Tian, an EDB director, indicated that
Singapore would continue to maintain its lead in the technology by
supporting the establishment of a Magnetic Technology Research Centre
to be associated with a local university, where specialist engineers
will be trained and encouraged to carry out research and development
work in this field.

(Michael Worsley/19890324)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SFO)(00006)

NATIONAL SEMI CHIEF ROLLS UP HIS SLEEVES
SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 24 (NB) -- Charlie Sporck
has spent the last few years improving the lot of semiconductor
makers as a whole, and will spend the next few taking charge of the
chip-making operations at National Semiconductor. A devastating
$44.6 million loss for the just-ended quarter and the retirement
of James Smaha, who has headed the semiconductor operations since
1984, has prompted the dynamic chief to return to the job he'd
held for 17 years between 1967 and 1984. Sporck has been
active in Sematech, the industry-government technology consortium,
as well as trade talks between the U.S. and Japan.

(Wendy Woods/19890324)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SFO)(00007)

MACROMIND GETS VENTURE CAPITAL
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 20 (NB) -- MacroMind,
the developer of multimedia software for the Macintosh has received
an undisclosed sum of funding from Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield and
Byers, a Silicon Valley venture capital partnership. Observers
say the investment signals the firm's coming-of-age in corporate
America, a concept echoed by MacroMind Chief Executive John Scull.
"Funding from a firm as prestigious as KPCB indicates that multimedia
is emerging as one of the most exciting elements of personal
computing."

MacroMind is in the process of moving its headquarters from Chicago
to San Francisco.

(Wendy Woods/19890324/Contact: Leigh Johnson, Regis McKenna,
415-354-4471)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LAX)(00008)

COMPAQ DEBT GETS NEW RATING
HOUSTON, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 15 (NB) -- Standard & Poor's
Tuesday raised Compaq Computer's subordinated-debt rating from
single-B plus to double-B plus. The change affects $200 million of
debt which was removed from CreditWatch where it had been placed
October 24, 1988.

The rating improvement was due, at least in part, to the Houston-
based personal computer manufacturer's strong revenue and earnings
gains. However, the rating also continues to be limited by Compaq's
modest share of the overall PC market, a relatively narrow product
focus and vulnerabilities to competing industry standards. "The
rating incorporates potential for lower profitability should
competitive pressures intensify," said an S&P news release.

(Wayne Yacco/19890323)


(EXCLUSIVE)(BUSINESS)(LAX)(00009)

COMPAQ: DETAILS OF SPLIT WITH BUSINESSLAND FINALIZED
HOUSTON, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 16 (NB) -- Compaq Computer
Corporation [NYSE: CPQ] today announced that it has finalized the
details for terminating its relationship with Businessland in the
U. S. and Canada. The termination notice, due to take effect April
21, 1989, was first presented to Businessland on February 20, 1989
and announced to the industry a day later. Compaq has now revealed
a plan which will allow its customers to continue servicing their
machines at the stores for an additional year.

Saying that it had become apparent that continuing its relationship
with Businessland was no longer "in the best interest of Compaq or
[the company's] customers" and citing "differences in strategic
direction" as the reason, Compaq gave Businessland the bad news at a
meeting held at Businessland Headquarters in San Jose, California.
A shocked Businessland responded to the sixty-day notice by saying
that the loss of Compaq sales "is likely to adversely affect
Businessland's revenue trends in the short term" and that it would
require the addition of new vendors and continuing sales of the
products of its current vendors to restore its levels of revenue
growth. Businessland representatives claimed that the world's
largest company-owned computer reseller is in full compliance with
the Compaq dealer agreement and that the blow was completely
unexpected.

Some speculation exists that Compaq actually broke off with Businessland
because the dealer was recommending IBM's MCA [micro channel
architecture] PS/2 computers over Compaq's current offerings and
forthcoming EISA [extended industry standard architecture] machines.
EISA has been proposed as an alternative to MCA by a consortium of
vendors led by Compaq. Compaq has now worked out the details of
the split, termed a "deauthorization" in Houstonese. "We have worked
hard to ensure that customers experience minimal disruption while
transitioning their Compaq business to other Authorized Compaq
Computer Dealers," transitioned Michael S. Swavely, vice president
of sales and marketing. Transition, which reflects the one year
warrantee offered on most Compaq products, will end April 21, 1990.

For the eighteen months ended December 31, 1988, Compaq products
accounted for approximately 15 percent of Businessland's net sales.
Businessland, on the other hand, represented approximately seven
percent of Compaq Computer Corporation's revenue for 1988.

(Wayne Yacco/19890324/Contact: 713-370-0670)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(BOS)(00010)

DEC AND RSA DATA SECURITY FORM STRATEGIC RELATIONSHIP
MAYNARD, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 22 (NB) -- DEC
and RSA Data Security have formed a strategic alliance, the two
companies announced. The basis of the alliance is DEC's acquisition
of a license for RSA's public key technology, as well as cooperative
work in various areas of technology exchange.

RSA Data Security has the sole commercial rights to a patented
technology for protecting digital data. DEC plans to use the
technology to help provide more secure solutions in networked
computer environments.

(Jon Pepper/19890324/Contact: Nikki Richardson, DEC, 508-493-6369)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(BOS)(00011)

UNISYS INKS $10 MILLION AGREEMENT TO BUY VIDEO SEVEN BOARDS
BLUE BELL, PENNSYLVANIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 20 (NB) -- Unisys
has signed an OEM [original equipment manufacturer] agreement
with Video Seven of Fremont, California to purchase that company's
video graphics array [VGA] adapters for use in the Unisys
Personal Workstation2 family of PCs. The three-year agreement
is valued at over $10 million.

(Jon Pepper/19890324/Contact: Steve Lubetkin, Unisys, 215-542-2240)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(BOS)(00012)

ENCORE AND GOULD SIGN PURCHASE AGREEMENT
MARLBOROUGH, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 21 (NB) -- Encore
Computer and Gould have entered into an agreement for the
acquisition by Encore of Gould/Computer Systems, for $140 million.
The transaction should be completed on March 31.

(Jon Pepper/19890324/Contact: Charles Anderson, Encore, 508-460-
0500)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(BOS)(00013)

DEC STOCKS TAKES TUMBLE
MAYNARD, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 23 (NB) -- Stock
prices for Digital Equipment Corp. took a plunge after the company
announced that its third quarter revenues would be lower than
previously expected. The problem, according to sources, stems from
the fact that some new lines of computers aren't selling as well as
expected, compounded by relatively slow demand overall in the
minicomputer market.

(Jon Pepper/19890324)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TOR)(00014)

WANG CANADA, PROVINCE OF MANITOBA TO ESTABLISH IMAGING CENTER
WINNIPEG, MANITOBA, CANADA, 1989 MAR 22 (NB) -- Wang Canada will
establish a Center for Imaging Technology in Winnipeg, and use
the provincial government as a showcase for its optical disk
storage and retrieval systems. The office automation company said
it will spend some C$15 million to set up the center, intended to
serve all of North America. Tom Turner, president of Wang Canada,
said the center will create more than 200 person-years of jobs
over the next five years. The center will develop products and
educate Wang customers.

The provincial government has committed to spending C$4 million
on Wang image systems for use in government offices. James Ernst,
provincial minister of industry, trade and tourism, said this
investment "will be recovered through measurable economic
benefits."

The center plans to negotiate worldwide distribution rights for
its products, said Rick Derouin, Wang Canada's central region
director. "Our preliminary discussions with other Wang
subsidiaries and independent businesses have been extremely well
received."

(Grant Buckler/19890324/Contact: Gay-Lynne Potts, Wang Canada,
416-764-2397)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TOR)(00015)

SEMI-TECH RIDES OUT CHALLENGES, APPEARS CLOSE TO WINNING SSMC
MARKHAM, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1989 MAR 24 (NB) -- International
Semi-Tech Microelectronics now appears close to victory in its
bid to buy SSMC Inc., a spin-off of Singer. Malaysian investor
Vincent Tan withdrew his rival bid for the company March 22, days
after increasing his offer to $37 a share. That offer was $3 more
than Semi-Tech's last bid, which a week ago appeared likely to
win the company. At the end of last week, Tan was granted a
temporary restraining order to block Semi-Tech's offer after he
alleged the Canadian microcomputer maker had violated the United
States' Securities Exchange Act by striking a deal with Singer,
which owns 27 percent of SSMC. The deal promised Singer certain
pieces of SSMC if Semi-Tech was successful in buying it.

This week, Tan struck a similar deal with Semi-Tech, agreeing to
withdraw his bid if Semi-Tech would raise its offer to $38 a
share and promise to sell him SSMC's stake in its Malaysian
division for $30 million.

(Grant Buckler/19890324)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TOR)(00016)

DEVELCON TO ACQUIRE WEST COAST COMPANY FOR TAX BREAK
SASKATOON, SASKATCHEWAN, CANADA, 1989 MAR 22 (NB) -- Develcon
Electronics Ltd. will acquire a numbered company in British
Columbia for C$1 million. The company has a pool of tax refunds
coming to it under the now-discontinued Scientific Research Tax
Credit program, from which Develcon expects to gain C$1.2 million
over the next three years. In addition to the purchase price,
Develcon is putting up C$1.6 million in working capital for the
company, 272319 B.C. Ltd., which was founded to acquire SRTC
assets. The SRTC was discontinued four years ago, after a number
of abuses came to light.

(Grant Buckler/19890324/Contact: Heinz Jacob, Develcon, 416-495-
8666)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TOR)(00017)

GANDALF NAMES VP
OTTAWA, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1989 MAR 20 (NB) -- Paul Hession has
been promoted to vice-president of sales and service for Gandalf
Data. Formerly national sales and service manager, he replaces
William J. Stoneman, who has left the company.

(Grant Buckler/19890324/Contact: Janice Drummond, Gandalf, 613-
564-0183)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TYO)(00018)

ONE MEGABIT DRAMS LIKELY TO STAY LONGER IN THE MARKET
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 MAR 17 (NB) -- The leading Japanese semiconductor
makers are trying to milk the one megabit dynamic random access
memory [DRAM] market for all it's worth before rushing into the
four-megabit DRAM age.

The accessing speed of the current one-megabit DRAM is 120 or 100
nanoseconds. But each semiconductor maker began production of the
one-megabit DRAM with 80, 70 or 60 nanoseconds of accessing speed
to use full ability of a 32-bit central processing unit. Typical packages
for the current semiconductors, such as Dual-In-line and Zigzag-In-line,
the type of package called the Small-Out-line-J line, will be increased
because of its smaller footprint, lighter weight and capability to increase
pins.

Diversity of the products is especially noticeable at Toshiba and
Hitachi. The former has 144 and the latter has 152 versions of
one-megabit DRAMs, including specific-use chips for video cassette
recorders or VCRs.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19890323)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LAX)(00019)

INTERPHASE, MOTOROLA JOIN TO DEVELOP TECHNOLOGY
DALLAS, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 15 (NB) -- Interphase Corporation of
Dallas [NASDAQ: INPH] and Motorola, Inc. [NYSE: MOT] have announced
a strengthening of the relationship between the two companies,
including Motorola's purchase of a 20 percent minority interest of
Interphase common stock. As part of the agreement, Motorola will
license Interphase's proprietary VMEbus BUSpacket Interface[SM],
specifically designed and optimized for use in peripheral and
network controllers. Motorola will also be granted one seat on the
Interphase board of directors.

The two companies expect to jointly develop new I/O [input/output]
systems technologies with emphasis on mass storage. "With
Motorola's system and software expertise and with Interphase's
expertise in state- of-the-art peripheral controllers, significant
performance advances will be made in the area of disk subsystems to
the advantage of both Motorola and Interphase customers," said Tom
Beaver, vice president and general manager of the Motorola
Microcomputer Division.

Interphase Corporation products, include disk, tape and networking
controllers. The company holds a prominent position in the market
for high-performance VME disk controllers and is also a major
supplier of networking controllers for the VMEbus. Interphase
peripheral controllers are used in Motorola's Delta Series systems.

Motorola Microcomputer Division, headquartered in Tempe, Arizona,
designs and manufactures computer systems and boards based on the
VMEbus standard architecture. The VMEbus 32-bit open-system bus
architecture is used as the foundation for many computer systems,
workstations and minisupercomputers including Motorola's Delta
Series systems products.

(Wayne Yacco/19890323/Contact: Interphase, Bob Greenfield, 214-350-
1437, or Mark Floyd, 214-350-9000)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LAX)(00020)

SPIFFS, FREE SOFTWARE FOR RESELLERS
DALLAS, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1989 MAR (NB) -- Good Software is sponsoring
a nationwide promotion for Arriba, its new productivity program.
Through the month of June, dealers will be able to "buy three
Arribas, get one free," while sales persons who sell one Arriba will
receive a $50 U. S. Savings Bond. Store managers and customers are
also eligible to earn $50 bonds. Managers receive a bond for every
five sales while customers are entered into a monthly drawing.

Promotional bundles of three Arribas include free literature, demo
diskettes, and other sales aids. A free saleable copy of the
product accompanies each bundle.

Arriba includes applications which can be used to collect, organize
and view both structured and unstructured data. Contact forms,
telephone lists, appointment calendars, and to-do lists are built
into the program. The program can also dial a telephone, create
outline views of information, and print mailing labels.

(Wayne Yacco/19890324)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LAX)(00021)

SOFTKAT SIGNS MICROSOFT
CHATSWORTH, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 17 (NB) -- SoftKat and
Microsoft Corporation have entered into an agreement for the
distributor to carry academic versions of Microsoft products for
Apple Macintosh and IBM personal computers. Microsoft Word, Excel
and Works are now available in academic editions, through SoftKat,
for all Microsoft Authorized Education Dealers. The products can be
sold to faculty of accredited institutions, currently enrolled
postsecondary students or, in ten packs, to educational institutions
for use in classrooms or offices.

(Wayne Yacco/19890324)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LAX)(00022)

TRIPLE-I ACQUIRES DOCUPRO
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 13 (NB) -- Information
International, Inc. [triple-I, NASDAQ: IINT] has reached an
agreement in principle to acquire DocuPro, Inc., of Mountain View,
California. The agreement is subject to a number of conditions
including board and shareholder approval for both firms.

Triple-I is a supplier of commercial and technical documentation
prepress equipment. DocuPro is a closely-held corporation which
supplies electronic publishing systems for professional-level
corporate applications. The company's WYSIWYG composition software
will provide triple-I with the means to fully serve its customers in
the magazine, catalog and high-volume technical publishing areas.

(Wayne Yacco/19890324)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SGP)(00023)

SINGAPORE ATTRACTIVE MARKETING BASE FOR DEFENSE ELECTRONICS
SINGAPORE, S.E. ASIA, 1989 MAR 22 (NB) - Two leading defense contractors
with major involvement in computers and electronics are seeking
ties with Singapore firms as part of their global marketing policies.

Thomson-CSF, Europe's largest defense electronics company, says
it is eager to discuss setting up joint production in Singapore
because of the high-level of skilled labor and the quality of
production possible here. According to Mr. Guiller, area sales
manager for telecommunications, setting up join operations in
Singapore would also give the company easier access to Asian markets,
increase marketing opportunities, and enable Thomson-SCF to take
advantage of lower production costs.

In similar vein, Dr. V.K. Koshy, export general manager for Bharat
Electronics of India, said the company was seeking to gain access to
Asian markets following its recent success in trade fairs held in
Hanover, Bagdad, Turkey, London and Geneva, where it secured orders
for over US$5 million just nine months after setting up its export
division.

(Michael Worsley/19890324)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SGP)(00024)

JAPAN STILL LARGEST INVESTOR IN SINGAPORE FOR THIRD YEAR
SINGAPORE, S.E. ASIA, 1989 MAR 22 (NB) - For the third year, Japan
topped the list of investors in Singapore, with a total of some 113
new projects worth an estimated US$250 million. Also, in the
manufacturing sector, computers, electrical and electronics attracted
the greatest number of projects, with some 14 new projects announced,
although down from 30 in 1987.

According to Masayuki Sueda, director of economic information of
the Japan External Trade Organization, the main reason for the fall in
the number of manufacturing projects was the tight labor market in
Singapore. In fact, the Singapore government has indicated that it is
content to see the more labor-intensive projects go to neighbouring
countries, whilst continuing to entice the more capital-intensive and
service facilities to come to Singapore.

(Michael Worsley/19890324)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SGP)(00025)

MATSUSHITA MAKES SINGAPORE ITS REGIONAL HEADQUARTERS
SINGAPORE, S.E. ASIA, 1989 MAR 22 (NB) - As part of a major
restructuring, Matsushita Electric Trading [Singapore]
will be renamed Asia Matsushita Electric [Singapore] or AMS in
conjunction with its application for operational headquarters status
to be granted by the Economic Development Board.

Effective April 1st, the new company will form the fourth
arm of the group, with United States, Europe and Japan. Currently, the
group has eight companies operating in Singapore, and represents the
largest Japanese investor with a total investment of around US$600
million, some 10,000 employees, and 1988 exports of some US$540
million in electronic products. The group plans to invest a further
US$598 over the next three years. Already, with over one fifth of the
group's total offshore workforce, Singapore accounts for 16 percent of
the group offshore production.

(Michael Worsley/19890324)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(LON)(00026)

DATABASE SOFTWARE ACQUIRES AMS SOFTWARE RIGHTS
MACCLESFIELD, ENGLAND, 1989 MAR 24 (NB) -- Database Software has
purchased the manufacturing rights for all AMS packages for the
Atari ST, Amstrad CPC/PCW series and the Commodore 64/128 series.
The product rights, which were purchased for an unspecified sum,
mean that AMS's 11 packages -- including Stop Press, Extra! Extra!, Max,
Flair Paint and Art and Mouse -- will now be distributed under the
Database Software label.

(Steve Gold/19890325/Database Software: 0625-878888)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LON)(00027)

DATAFLEX SECURES MITSUBISHI LAPTOP MODEM CONTRACT
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1989 MAR 24 (NB) -- Dataflex Design, the London-
based modem manufacturer, has landed a major contract to supply
internal modems to Mitsubishi for use in laptop PCs.

The contract calls for Dataflex to supply a compact internal modem
for use with the Mitsubishi's MP286L 80286-based AT-compatible
laptop. The new Hayes-compatible modem will support 300/300,
1200/75, 1200/1200 and 2400/2400 baud to CCITT standards, and
include MNP Class 4 error-correction and data compression
facilities.

Pricing on the modem has yet to be decided by Mitsubishi, but
will be advised shortly, after the modem has gained BABT modem
approval for connection to U.K. telephone networks.

(Steve Gold/19890324/Dataflex Design - Tel: [phone])


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(BRU)(00028)

PHILIPS BUYS VENDEX; PLANS TO TAKE ON U.S. PC MARKETING
EINDHOVEN, THE NETHERLANDS, 1989 MAR 23 (NB) -- Philips, one of
the world's largest industrial conglomerates, has acquired
Vendex, a PC systems specialist, for an unspecified sum. Industry
watchers have interpreted the move as indicative that Philips is
pitching for the U.S. marketplace, where Vendex is bundling
various packages at budget prices.

(Peter Vekinis/19890323)


(EXCLUSIVE)(GENERAL)(BOS)(00001)

CANON SET TO RELEASE MAJOR NEW LASER PRINTER LINE
LAKE SUCCESS, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 24 (NB) -- Canon
will be announcing a major new line of printers in a press conference
set for the first day of Comdex/Spring in Chicago, during the week
of April 10th. The new printers will for the first time pit Canon
directly against Hewlett-Packard in the laser printer market. Until now,
Canon has primarily served as the source for laser printer engines for
Hewlett-Packard's best-selling LaserJet line of products.

The new printers will include an upgrade to PostScript, the first time
that Canon will make Adobe's page description language available on
one of their own products. However, a source told Newsbytes that,
"PostScript isn't the real story here -- the real story is that what we
are coming out with will far outperform PostScript and we will have
the support of all of the major software companies for our new
products."

Though the Canon printers were on display at the Hannover
Computer Fair in West Germany last week, a company source would
not release any further details regarding the product to Newsbytes
prior to Comdex.

(Jon Pepper/19890324)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SFO)(00002)

CATS AND DOGS TO BE EMBEDDED WITH CHIPS
NOVATO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 24 (NB) -- Tiny microchips
embedded in the flesh may suggest a Brave New World, but for
cats and dogs who have them, they could mean life or death. The
Marin County Humane Society is among the first in the nation to adopt
a new pet identification technology from International Infopet
Systems. Tiny microchips the size of a grain of rice and encased
in glass are being injected into the skin of a pet's shoulders before
it is adopted; a handheld scanner can then be used to read the
microchip's number and match it against a list kept by the
Los Angeles-based company. Should the pet ever return to a shelter
with an Infopet system, it can be traced and returned to its owner.

Marin County's is among several shelters nationwide that are
adopting the new technology. Shelter Director Mary Wright thinks
it has come of age. "A few people have said to me that
it's kind of weird, unnatural. To me, to destroy 15 million animals
that can't be identified around the United States each year is
kind of weird too."

International Infopet maintains a toll-free number for pet
identification: 1-800-INFOPET.

(Wendy Woods/19890324/Contact: Michael Thomas, International Infopet,
818-707-9942)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SFO)(00003)

DESKTOP CD-ROM PUBLISHING FROM MERIDIAN
CAPITOLA, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 21 (NB) -- Meridian Data
has announced a desktop CD-ROM [compact disk, read-only memory]
production configuration for offices featuring a Yamaha laser
recorder. The $98,000 system, set to be available May 1, allows
CD-ROM disks, each with the equivalent of 200,000 pages of copy,
to be mastered in-house without need for outside services. The
set-up can also be used by recording studios to create "demo-CDs."

The CD Professional system can copy approximately 5,000 pages or
ten megabytes of information per minute onto blank CD media.

(Wendy Woods/19890324/Contact: Monica Meyer, Meridian, 408-476-5858)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SFO)(00004)

COMMODORE INTRODUCES 80286-BASED ADD-IN BOARD FOR AMIGA 2000
WEST CHESTER, PENNSYLVANIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 22 (NB) -- For those
who crave an Amiga but hate to part with DOS, Commodore has
introduced the A2286D Bridgeboard coprocessor card that gives the
Amiga 2000 the ability to run AT class MS-DOS programs. The new
board plugs directly into the Amiga and allows the machine to
run MS-DOS program. Since the Amiga is multitasking, an MS-DOS
application can be run in one window while an Amiga program runs
in another.

The Bridgeboard contains an 80286 central processing chip running
at 8 MHz, has one megabyte of random access memory, and a socket
for an 80287 math coprocessor.

Available from Amiga dealers, the Bridgeboard costs $1,599.

(Wendy Woods/19890324/Contact: Valerie Bellofatto, Fleishman-Hillard,
213-629-4974)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(BOS)(00005)

ROWLAND REDINGTON NAMED ENGINEER OF THE YEAR
NEWTON, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 23 (NB) -- Rowland
W. Redington was named the Design News Engineer of the Year, as
announced in the March 27 issue of Design News.

Redington helped GE enter and dominate the field of CAT scans, a
major new diagnostic tool in medical technology. Other awards went
to Jack Telnack, designer of the Ford Taurus, and Ronald Runge,
who designed a lightweight filter system that services a computer's voice
input/output capabilities.

(Jon Pepper/19890324/Contact: Bob Boggs, Design News, 617-558-
4321)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(BOS)(00006)

COMPUTERIZED LIGHTING COULD SAVE $800 MILLION IN U.S.
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 21 (NB) -- A new study by
Honeywell indicates that computer-controlled lighting systems could
save as much as $800 million from the lighting bill for America's
office buildings.

Most of the savings could come from reducing light output in areas
that are overlit, as well as adjusting indoor lighting levels in response
to available daylight. According to Honeywell, sophisticated
computer-controlled lighting systems could make numerous
adjustments that would save money while keeping lighting more than
adequate in all work and meeting areas.

(Jon Pepper/19890324)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(TYO)(00007)

NINTENDO LICENSES GAME BOY SOFTWARE
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 MAR 21 (NB) -- Nintendo has entered into a
license agreement with 21 major software vendors on the
new video game machine called "Game Boy," which Nintendo will ship on
April 21 in Japan. Nintendo will decide which software vendors'
products are best-suited for Game Boy and will choose among
the best-suited software cartridges for each game, such as golf or
baseball, from each vendor. Nintendo says it is looking for high
quality. A company spokesman told reporters, "In order to open
up a new market, high-quality software will be indispensable to us."

The portable Game Boy, priced at 12,500 yen or $96, will come with
an 8-bit central processing unit, and is best suited for action
games. Nintendo hopes the new gadget will become as successful as
the family computer or Famicom. The monthly output of the new
machines will be 300,000, and it will also be available in the
United States at the end of July. The price is to be decided by
the end of June.

(Ken Takahashi/19890323/Contact: Nintendo Co., Ltd., 075-541-6111)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(TYO)(00008)

CRAY Y-MP LANDS IN JAPAN
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 MAR 16 (NB) -- Cray Research Japan has
released 19 models of the Cray Y-MP, following its parent company
in the U.S. The company, which always prices its products in U.S.
dollars, says the products range between $6 million and $28.4
million. Shipment is slated for July.

The company says it has already received orders from four companies,
one of which is Mitsubishi Motors; the others have not been
disclosed. The company expects to sell eight units of its super-
computers this year -- one unit more than the last year.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19890323/Contact: Cray Research Japan: 03-239-0711)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(TYO)(00009)

TRON EVANGELISTS PROLIFERATE
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 MAR 20 (NB) -- The TRON Council has held a final
party and has formally dissolved, because the TRON Association, led
by Professor Ken Sakamura of the University of Tokyo, was
established last March from the council to promote and develop TRON
computers in the industry. The association is currently gaining
momentum, and each member is very aggressively promoting the
TRON architecture.

It has been rumored among industry analysts that Professor
Sakamura's charismatic leadership has supported the TRON Project,
which is starting to take on the characteristics of a religion. Though
Professor Sakamura used to be very angry with the rumor,
curiously enough, he counter-attacked by saying, "I am the founder
of the religious corporation TRON Association, aren't I?" at the party.

One thing is certain -- Sakamura's leadership has resulted in
major strides for the TRON operating systems, including BTRON,
because major corporations have used it as the basis of practical
products, such as a TRON chip. Moreover, two chief figures of the
TRON Association, Kazuhiro Oda, Toshiba's personal computer
design manager, and Kazuaki Mayumi, Matsushita Electric Industry's
technology training manager, also said that they will devote themselves
to missionary works and the recruitment of more missionaries for the
spread of TRON.

(Ken Takahashi/19890323)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SYD)(00010)

NEWS BRIEFS FROM AUSTRALIA THIS WEEK
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1989 MARCH 23 (NB) --

Microsoft has dropped prices in Australia, between six and forty
 percent. Excel was $875, now $775, Word was $695, now $625 and
 Macintosh Write was $225 now $125. Managing Director Daniel
 Petre admitted that this was partly an attempt to counter lowered
 U.S. retail prices [as much software is mail ordered from the U.S.
 into Australia].

The $690 million tender for the Australian Tax Department looks
 like it will be going to IBM. Observers are amused that main tenderers
 have resorted to specifying each others products to satisfy the
 requirements.

Agricultural group Elders Pastoral is swapping out its IBM
 equipment in favor of DEC. Observers put the move down to a
 reorganization within Elders, which is 'sweeping clean.'

Some clone manufacturers reportedly will ship 40MHz machines when
 Intel announces the 33MHz 80386 chip. They can do this because
 they will test the new chips and select those which are capable
 of the higher speed.

The Mac IIcx has received more than favorable response from
 observers in Australia and orders are expected to outstrip
 supply for some time to come.

(Paul Zucker/19890324)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(LAX)(00011)

LASER VIDEODISK SUPPLY TO GROW
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 14 (NB) -- Image
Entertainment has entered into a long-term manufacturing arrangement
with Sony's Digital Audio Disc Corporation [DADC]. A significant
increase in the number of domestic laser videodiscs is expected as a
result of the deal. Sony is to begin manufacturing the products
immediately with the first discs scheduled to be available for
consumers within 60 days.

The accord was jointly announced by Martin Greenwald, president of
Image Entertainment and Michael P. Schulhof, vice chairman of Sony
Corporation of America. "Sony places a high value on the synergy
between hardware and software in the creation and expansion of new
markets," said Schulhof presumably implying that Sony wants the
additional software to spur its player sales. According to
Greenwald, "With increased pressing capacity making software more
available, the sale of hardware should accelerate substantially."

Sony's Digital Audio Disc Corporation, based in Terre Haute, Ind.,
is one of the largest manufacturing facilities of compact discs in
the world. Addition of new capacity at DADC is expected to enable
the delivery of several million discs per year.

Greenwald says Image Entertainment will be able to utilize a major
portion of Sony's new pressing capacity. Over the past four years,
Image Entertainment has licensed, manufactured and distributed, on
an exclusive basis, approximately 1,000 feature films and
alternative programs in the laser videodisc format. It claims to be
the largest licensee and distributor of laser videodiscs in the
United States.

(Wayne Yacco/19890323/Contact: Sony, Jason Farrow, 201-930-6440)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(LAX)(00012)

DOCUMENTATION AWARDS PRESENTED
IRVINE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 20 (NB) -- Toshiba's PageLaser12
laser printer and T5100 portable personal computer have won awards
for their end-user documentation. According to a company
announcement, the Society of Technical Communication gave both
products awards of excellence in its annual Regional Arts and
Publications Competition.

The PageLaser12 received the Distinguished Technical Communication
Award for the "Pictorial Guide" designed to give users easy-to-
understand-and-use instructions on installation, use and
maintenance. The T5100 was honored with the society's Award of
Achievement for its technical manuals. The competition, held in San
Diego, judged entries on writing, editing, graphics, integration and
how well the publication fulfilled its intended goals.

(Wayne Yacco/19890324)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(LAX)(00013)

SECOND ANNUAL CLIPPER CONFAB
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 10 (NB) -- Nantucket will
sponsor its second annual Clipper Developers Conference June 11 -
14, 1989 at the Airport Marriott in Los Angeles. The three-day
conference will offer developers an opportunity to discover the
company's future product directions and to share ideas in an open
forum. The conference program consists of lectures and workshops
for both novice and veteran developers and is expected to host the
year's largest gathering of Clipper developers worldwide.

The three days of more than thirty two-hour workshops will be
organized into four major divisions: The Anatomy of Clipper,
Language Related Topics, DBMS Software Development Support and
general-interest subjects. Topics will include: running a
consulting business and developing accounting systems, networking
with Clipper, writing user-defined functions, advanced C and
assembler routines for Clipper, database design theory and practice,
and methods of linking. A keynote address will detail Nantucket's
future direction in areas such as SQL, multi-operating systems,
virtual memory and object-oriented programming.

Conference lectures and workshops will be led by Nantucket staff and
industry leaders including: Jason Matthews, president of Genesis
Development; Tom Rettig, president of Tom Rettig Associates; Neil
Weicher, president of Communications Horizons; Stephen Straley,
president of SJS Software; Dirk Lesko, president of dLESKO
Associates and Arthur Fuller, president of Artful Applications, Inc.

The conference will feature a trade show with over 50 clipper add-on
products. A 24-hour computer center will also be open throughout
the conference where developers can solve problems and try new
ideas.

Additional information on the $695 event is available at 800-848-
CLIP [2547] or 2080664-8371. Registration before May 11 obtains a
reduced rate of $595. Only 750 reservations are available.

(Wayne Yacco/19890324)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SGP)(00014)

SINGAPORE-BASED COMPUTER RESERVATIONS GET JAPANESE LINK
SINGAPORE, S.E. ASIA, 1989 MAR 24 (NB) -- The race to develop the
leading computerized airline seat reservation system in Asia took
another turn when it was revealed that the Japanese All Nippon
Airways [ANA] system might be linked to the Singapore-based
Abacus system toward the end of 1989. Meanwhile, it is anticipated
that Abacus Travel Systems Pte. Ltd. will be inaugurated next week
with Lim Yeok Chiang as chairman.

According to Eiji Tanaka, general manager of ANA, who was in
Singapore this week, detailed discussions to link the ANA's system,
known as ABLE, with Abacus will take place in the next few weeks.
Ranked as the sixth largest airline in the world based on its 28
million passengers carried last year, ANA would join the five founding
airlines supporting Abacus: Singapore Airlines, Malaysian Airlines,
China Airlines, Philippine Airlines and Cathay Pacific. Earlier,
Qantas, Japan Airlines and Thai Airways, have also been involved in
talks to join Abacus, but have all currently pulled out.

(Michael Worsley/19890324)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SGP)(00015)

SINGAPORE TO HOST MORE MAJOR INTERNATIONAL TRADE SHOWS
SINGAPORE, S.E. ASIA, 1989 MAR 22 (NB) - Within the next five years,
Singapore will hold major events and trade shows involving over
20,000 square meters of exhibition space, as found now in Europe
and the United States, according to a former Singapore Trade Development
Board official.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of Defence Asia '89, Singapore's
first comprehensive defense show, Chandra Das, a former chairman of
the Singapore Trade Development Board, said, "I'm glad that Singapore
is now rapidly developing into a leading exhibition centre for the
region. Exhibitions and conventions are of great economic and trade
importance, with many spin-offs generated by overseas trade visitors
and exhibitors attracted to international exhibitions in Singapore."

Seminars, trade shows and conferences in Singapore involving the
computer industry during the coming months include: "Defense Forum 89,"
covering the impact of technology on the defence industry, Mar 23-
24; "Making Effective Information Security Decisions" on Mar 29;
InstrumentAsia'89, May 23-26; "Technology & the Future Bank," Jun 6-8;
and SICON '89 - Singapore International Conference on Networks - A Key
to Future Communications, July 17-20.

(Michael Worsley/19890324)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SGP)(00016)

HIGH-TECH SINGAPORE NATIONAL LIBRARY COMING
SINGAPORE, S.E. ASIA, 1989 MAR 22 (NB) - Following the completion of the
first stage of a US$3 million computerization program, Seet Ai
Mee, the minister of state for community development, announced that it
had been agreed in principle to build a new central library with
modern and up-to-date facilities. Currently, the National Library has
some 300,000 members.

The present computerization program for the library was introduced in
1987, and covers the online recording and retrieval of the nation's
lending and reference library collections. During 1989, it is
anticipated some 100 private, government and departmental library
collections will also be linked to the central database records
to enable all major libraries to have access to a central database
for the quick location of wanted titles.

(Michael Worsley/19890324)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SGP)(00017)

LATEST TEACHING AIDS AT SINGAPORE WORLD EXPO IN MAY
SINGAPORE, S.E. ASIA, 1989 MAR 22 (NB) - Asean Worlddidac Expo'89 will
be held in Singapore in May at which educational aids will be shown by
120 exhibitors from 25 countries. Held at the same time will be the
Worlddidac Congress '89 with the theme "Education Faced with
Scientific and Technological Innovation."

Dieter Zeller, the Expo's promotion manager, says Singapore was
chosen as the venue because of its central position and importance
as a finance and trade centre in the Far East. It is scheduled for
May 9 to 13th at the World Trade Centre Exhibition Complex, and
will feature robots, talking dictionaries, and a wide range of
sophisticated audio-visual devices, as well as computer hardware
and software for use in the educational field.

The fair will be the second to be staged in Singapore in six years, and
is sponsored by Worlddidac, and worldwide association of manufacturers
and distributors of educational materials, based in Switzerland.

(Michael Worsley/19890324)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(LON)(00018)

BUROCARE ANNOUNCES AMIGA-DEDICATED GRAPHICS TABLET FAMILY
HARROW, ENGLAND, 1989 MAR 24 (NB) -- Burocare has unveiled the
CRP Graphics Tablet for the Commodore Amiga. The graphics tablet,
which was developed specifically for the Amiga in West Germany,
will initially be available in A4 and A3 sizes.

According to Burocare, the tablet is virtually indestructible and
is totally nonmagnetic. An interface lead, steel-tipped pen and
suitable software are bundled in the unit's price of UKP 395 for
the A4 version, and UKP 595 for the A3 version. An optional four-
button puck, for increased accuracy, is available at UKP 85.

(Steve Gold/19890324/Burocare - Tel: [phone])


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(BRU)(00019)

HANOVER CLOSES AFTER ATTRACTING MORE THAN HALF MILLION VISITORS
HANOVER, WEST GERMANY, 1989 MAR 23 (NB) -- The Hanover CeBit
computer fair, which closed its doors earlier this month, was a
great success, according to show organisers. More than half a
million people attended the event, which lasted seven full days.

This year, the number of overseas visitors dramatically increased.
The number of Far East show-goers soared from 3,800 last year to
7,000 this year. This is representative of the fact that
companies in the region are interested in setting up offices in
Europe, following the European Community's decision to levy taxes on
printers and dynamic random access memory, or DRAM, chips last year,
and threats of similar anti-dumping levies on other PC-related products.

The next Hanover fair has been scheduled for 21/28 March, 1990.
More than 90 percent of those attending this year's fair
expressed an interest in attending the 1990 show.

(Peter Vekinis/19890323)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(SFO)(00001)

JASMINE SUES FORMER EXECUTIVES FOR $25 MILLION
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 24 (NB) -- Jasmine
Technologies has filed suit in Superior Court, alleging that officers
of disk drive firm Rodime and several former Jasmine Technologies
executives conspired to weaken Jasmine in order to stage a takeover
of the company. The suit seeks $25 million in damages.

The company names former Jasmine officers Bryan Speece, once chief
operating officer, Marcia Mason, who was senior sales director,
Alan Brunner, cofounder and engineer who was fired from Jasmine
earlier this year, and Michael Mikel, another fired employee and
minority shareholder. The complaint states that the four conspired
to withhold important operational and financial information from
Jasmine President Dennis Chang and created dissension among Jasmine
employees. The scheme, which also allegedly involved shipment of
defective disk drives that were purchased as part of an OEM, or
original equipment manufacturer agreement, is said to have been
designed to weaken Jasmine financially, reduce its net worth,
impair its credit, and make it vulnerable to takeover on unfavorable
terms.

Also named in the suit were Rodime Vice President Timothy Mahoney,
President Mervyn Brown, and William Daniel, vice president of Rodime's
peripheral systems division.

"Jasmine has been besieged with numerous problems -- shipment
delays, inventory and supplier problems, and lawsuits intended to
harass the company -- all part of a concerted and coordinated
conspiracy among the defendants," claims Barry Schuler, Jasmine
executive vice president.

Rodime was closed for the holidays as the story broke, so Newsbytes
could not get a comment on the suit.

(Wendy Woods/19890324/Contact: Audrey Leeds, Amidei and Company,
415-788-1333)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(SFO)(00002)

MICROPRO SUES WOULD-BE MACINTOSH PRODUCT DEVELOPER
SAN RAFAEL, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 22 (NB) -- MicroPro
International has decided to sue Challenger Software of Homewood,
Illinois for failure to produce a Macintosh product that would
incorporate word processing, desktop publishing, and graphics features.
The $3 million contract called for the product to be offered by
MicroPro in June, 1988. When the product still wasn't available
in January, 1989, MicroPro charged the firm with breach of contract and
wanted the product delivered within 60 days in order to avoid
trouble. The product never arrived.

MicroPro says in the suit that it has invested one million dollars
in the project so far. Deb Lovig, MicroPro spokeswoman has told
Newsbytes, "We're still committed to offering a Macintosh product.
Unfortunately it will now be delayed."

(Wendy Woods/19890324)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(BOS)(00003)

INDICTMENT DROPPED AGAINST SPERRY AND UNISYS
BLUE BELL, PENNSYLVANIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 22 (NB) -- Unisys
announced that the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of
Alabama has dismissed an indictment against Sperry and Unisys,
which alleged that Sperry had mischarged the government in 1983.
Sperry was the corporate predecessor of Unisys.

(Jon Pepper/19890324/Contact: J. Peter Hynes, Unisys, 215-542-6948)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(ATL)(00004)

SUPREME COURT SAYS COMPUTER-MADE RAP SHEETS SHOULD BE SECRET
WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A., 1989 MAR 22 (NB) -- The Supreme Court,
recognizing the power of computers to erode privacy, ruled 9-0
March 22 that the public, through the press, has no right to
online FBI "rap sheets" collected with help from state and local
police. Justice John Paul Stevens wrote there is a "vast
difference" between local legal records and "a computerized
summary" such as those collected by the FBI. The FBI collates legal
actions against 24 million Americans which police can access from
offices or terminals in their police cars. FBI Director William
Sessions decided a few weeks ago not to put investigation records
in those files, citing privacy concerns.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890324)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(LAX)(00005)

FREE REPORT ON VDT-RADIATION LIABILITY AVAILABLE
SANTA MONICA, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 13 (NB) -- A report on
legal liability for injuries from video display terminal [VDT]
emissions is being made available by NoRad Corp., a local developer
of radiation protection and optical-improvement products. Copies
can be obtained by writing to the company at 1549 11th St., Santa
Monica, Calif. 90401; by calling: 213-395-0800, or by fax at 213-458-
6397.

The same report was recently presented for the American Bar
Association [ABA] by C. David Anderson, a Los Angeles attorney.
Anderson's report was researched and written for NoRad Corp. of
which Anderson is a board member. The presentation was given before
the ABA's mid-year Workers' Compensation and Employers' Liability
Law Committee on March 11 in Scottsdale, Arizona.

The report outlines scientific findings from a legal perspective,
possible liabilities resulting from VDT use and ways in which
employers and others potentially liable for VDT-related injuries
might reduce their risk.

Video display terminals are increasingly viewed as potential health
hazards in light of recent studies reporting increased miscarriages
among female VDT operators, damage to the eye's focusing mechanism
and skin disorders. Concern over VDT safety prompted Suffolk
County, N.Y., legislators to enact a 1988 law regulating VDT use in
the workplace and mandating expanded medical benefits for VDT
operators.

According to Anderson, personal injury claims and potential
liability resulting from VDT use can be expected to increase if
further studies indicate a clearer connection between VDTs and human
injury.

"Extensive coverage of VDT safety questions in The New York Times,
The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Fortune, Time and other
publications have shown a significant interest in this growing
controversy," said Anderson.

"I've seen the concern spread from the VDT operators to the
employers who may be liable for personal injuries. As a board
member for NoRad Corp., a company working to neutralize VDT
radiation dangers, I have become increasingly aware of the legal
ramifications of VDT health hazards. This awareness and extensive
research led to the legal liability report, and I was very pleased
to be chosen by the Workers' Compensation Committee to represent
this area of expertise."

(Wayne Yacco/19890324/Contact: NoRad, 213-395-0800)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(SGP)(00006)

THAI GOVERNMENT TO POST SCIENCE ATTACHES IN JAPAN AND U.S.
BANGKOK, THAILAND, 1989 MAR 22 (NB) - The Thai government has
approved the appointment of two attaches overseas in an attempt to keep
up with new developments in science and technology. They are expected
to take up their posts in Japan and the United States in the third
quarter of 1989.  It is hoped that they will be able to send back
details of new products and other information that can help Thailand
in its effort to catch up with the "Four Little Dragons" -- emerging
economic powers in Southeast Asia. If the initial appointments
bring good results, it is expected that at least one more will be
appointed to cover developments in Europe.

(Michael Worsley/19890324)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(BRU)(00007)

ANT REWARDED $4 MILLION CONTRACT BY TRW
BACKNAG, WEST GERMANY, 1989 MAR 23 (NB) -- ANT, a West German
telecommunications systems firm, has landed a $4 million contract
with the TRW Group in the U.S. to supply KU-Band satellite amplifiers
and associated equipment to NASA as part of TRW's main
contract with the U.S. government.

ANT has already supplied other communications products for U.S.
satellites and was polled as a hot favourite to win this
contract.

(Peter Vekinis/19890320)


(NEWS)(IBM)(SYD)(00001)

LOTUS REVEALS RELEASE THREE DETAILS
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1989 MAR 22 (NB) -- "Release three will ship
in June!" said Lotus last week, addressing press and beta testers
around the world. The much-delayed new version of the most
popular PC application package, Lotus 1-2-3, has firmed in
specification, and as reported in last week's Newsbytes, will be
joined by a new version of release two.

Release 3.0 is aimed at the user with 286 and 386 machines. It
will incorporate the '16M' system from Rational Systems which
lets the machines operate in protected mode, taking advantage of
extra system memory, such as the segment above 640K in one
megabyte machines. Lotus claims that this memory will be seamlessly
addressable, rather than via slow paging systems as at present.

Both DOS and OS/2 versions will be shipped with version 3.0 which
will have the same US$495 price tag as the existing version 2.01
and 2.20 which is to ship "third quarter." Three will have the
first implementation of Blueprint which is code that allows
two-way access to external databases. It also includes the
existing LEAF which allows independent developers to seamlessly
add applications and additional features.

Main features of version 3.0 include: three dimensional
worksheets; optimal recalculation; undo; perspective mode to show
three consecutive models; zoom; search and replace; up to 60-line
display, depending on monitor; worksheet map; password
protection; worksheet annotation; automatic data type formatting;
group formatting for multiple worksheets; instant update graphs;
multiple worksheet graphs; new graph types; relational database
management; external database access; presentation quality output;
improved macro facility; network version and support; improved
and added functions; no copy protection.

Version 2.0 is an upgrade of the existing version and is aimed
primarily at the 8088/86 market or those users who don't want to
learn the new features of version three. It introduces a number
of features already common on competitive products, such as
multiple file linking, minimal recalculation, undo, autoexecuting
macros, search and replace, better graphics and Allways output
enhancement. System requirements are DOS 2.0 or higher and 384K
of RAM [512K recommended].

Analysts believe that Lotus will still maintain much of its
market, despite the extended delays in bringing new products to
market. Version 2.2 is especially welcomed as many observers feel
that at least half of the installed base won't be able to use
version three due to hardware requirements. Meanwhile, competitive
products, such as Supercalc V and Excel, continue to gain market
share from Lotus.

(Paul Zucker/19890324)


(NEWS)(IBM)(LAX)(00002)

XEROX ANNOUNCES FORMBASE
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 13 (NB) -- Xerox Corp. has
announced FormBase, a fully integrated forms-processing program for
IBM and compatible personal computers developed by Columbia Software
Inc., of Northridge. Xerox, which holds the exclusive worldwide
marketing rights, hopes to start a new category of desktop software
which will lower the cost of designing, producing and using business
forms and for organizing and storing associated data. The company
also hopes that its early entry will allow it to dominate the new
market.

Xerox FormBase is designed for users who create or fill in forms and
for people who need to manage the data collected in forms. In
addition to serving administrative and clerical business users, it
is intended for professionals in the forms industry, including forms
manufacturers, designers and graphic artists, typesetters, printers
and forms distributors.

Xerox FormBase automates the design, manipulation and management of
forms and forms-related data. Operating under Microsoft Windows,
the product employs a graphical user interface that transparently
integrates a forms-drawing package and a relational database
manager. The software provides a variety of fonts, sizes and
colors, with shaded areas, rounded-corner boxes, logos and other
graphic elements.

Data is organized automatically by Xerox FormBase. As the user
draws forms, the program sets up the underlying database. Different
forms and their related data can be linked or cut and pasted
together. Forms can be modified even during data entry. Users need
not employ data definitions, screen definitions or report-generation
languages. The database can be accessed using query by example and
data import and export is supported for files from Microsoft Excel,
Lotus 1-2-3 and dBASE III.

"Forms processing is destined to do for business forms what word
processing has done for text," said Arthur E. Coles, vice president
and general manager of the Xerox Desktop Software Business Unit.
"By combining forms processing and database management in a single
program, Xerox FormBase offers an easy, new way to create, store and
manage forms and data. This product gives Xerox an opportunity to
define the standard for forms-processing software, and to capture
and hold a major share in this new market."

Xerox FormBase runs on IBM PC AT and PS/2 compatibles, as well as
80386-based computers. It supports a variety of printer drivers,
including Hewlett-Packard soft fonts and PostScript. The $495
package includes Bitstream Fontware and a run-time version of
Microsoft Windows. Volume distribution in the United States is
scheduled for the second quarter of 1989.

(Wayne Yacco/19890324/Contact: Xerox Customer Support Center, 1-800-
822-8221)


(NEW)(IBM)(SYD)(00003)

USER GROUP FOR MOST POPULAR DOS PRODUCT
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1989 MAR 23 (NB) -- Microsoft has announced
the formation of user groups worldwide for its most successful,
yet little-talked-about product. A company spokesperson told
Newsbytes, "A lot of us forget that the best-selling computer
software is DOS and the utilities that come with DOS. We've
finally acknowledged that the most common [and most popular] text
editor in the world deserves more user support."

As a result, Microsoft has announced that it is setting up EDLIN
user groups around the world. This will be known as EDLIN Lovers
International User Group, or ELIUG, which will be fully backed by
Microsoft. Already, inaugural April meetings have been planned
for major cities around the world in conjunction with existing
local PC User groups. Meeting topics for the year include
TSR spell-checkers and Edlin, mail-merge using EDLIN, how Arthur C.
Clarke writes all his novels using EDLIN, formatting -- why you
don't need it, patching EDLIN for PostScript compatibility,
seven great AUTOEXEC.BAT files that feature EDLIN, emulating
EDLIN on the Mac, upgrading from Wordperfect to EDLIN painlessly,
and EDLIN user-of-the-year awards.

Microsoft suggests that people interested in attending ring
their local Microsoft office and ask for April.

(Paul Zucker/19890324)


(NEWS)(IBM)(SFO)(00004)

PC-WRITE PRICE INCREASE
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 24 (NB) -- Bucking
conventional wisdom, Quicksoft has decided to raise the price of its
popular word processor due to increased costs. PC-Write 3.0 will
cost $99 for full registration. Full support means a year of
free technical support, a newsletter, free updates, free
add-on utilities, discounts, and commissions for selling copies to
others. The product is marketed as shareware.

"The price increase enables Quicksoft to cover the additional costs
in going from PC-Write 2.71 to PC-Write 3.02," said Quicksoft President
Bob Wallace. Improvements in the new version took 100 more pages
to describe in the PC-Write manual, and one additional diskette
for shipment to customers.

(Wendy Woods & Dana Blankenhorn/19890324/Contact: Miriam
Harline, Quicksoft, 206-888-8088)


(NEWS)(IBM)(BOS)(00005)

IBM BLAMES SLOW MAINFRAME DELIVERY ON CHIP PROBLEM
WHITE PLAINS, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 23 (NB) -- IBM has
blamed a manufacturing problem in their East Fishkill, New York
factory on the slow delivery of their 3090S mainframe computer.
Though demand is strong for their leading mainframe product, which
is used by leading companies around the world, sources say the
problem seems to be in the design of a particular logic circuit for
the product. Yields for the chip are much lower than expected,
creating a backlog of orders.

Company officials say they have solved the manufacturing problem
and will catch up with the backlog soon. However, IBM stock
dropped on the announcement, and earning estimates have been
revised somewhat.

(Jon Pepper/19890324/Contact: Scott Brooks, IBM, 201-930-5231)


(NEWS)(IBM)(BOS)(00006)

UNISYS INTRODUCES NEW LINE OF HIGH-END PERSONAL COMPUTERS
BLUE BELL, PENNSYLVANIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 21 (NB) -- Unisys
has introduced a new line of high-end personal computers based on
the Intel 80386 processor. The new Personal Workstation 2 [PW2] line
is available immediately.

The PW2 Series 800/25A computer uses a 25Mhz processor, and is
available in four configurations: Basic, with no disk drives; Diskette
System, with a 3.5" floppy disk; an 80MB hard disk system, and a
140MB hard disk system. Prices are $7,315, $7,790. $9,690, and $10,685
respectively.

The company will also make available a line of VGA [video graphics
array] monitors and cards, as well as release 4.01 of Microsoft's
MS-DOS operating system for the new computers.

(Jon Pepper/19890324/Contact: Steven Lubetkin, Unisys, 215-542-2240)


(NEWS)(IBM)(BOS)(00007)

UNISYS CONTRACTS WITH INTEL FOR PC PLATFORMS
BLUE BELL, PENNSYLVANIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 21 (NB) -- Intel and
Unisys have signed a contract for Unisys to deliver the new Intel
OEM Platforms Operations 386 microcomputers.

Intel's OEM [original equipment manufacturer] Platform technology
will enable Unisys to provide customers with a high level of
performance across various PC operating environments, including
DOS, Xenix, and OS/2. Intel will be providing Unisys with a
customized version of its Intel386 microcomputer Model 302,
using the 25Mhz 80386 microprocessor.

(Jon Pepper/19890324/Contact: Steve Lubetkin, Unisys, 215-542-2240)


(NEWS)(IBM)(BOS)(00008)

IBM INTRODUCES TWO NEW COMPUTERS
WHITE PLAINS, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 21 (NB) -- IBM has
introduced two new computers that are designed for manufacturing
plant environments. The new products, the 7541 and 7561 Industrial
Computers, can run software for IBM's OS/2 environment.

The 7541 uses the 80286 Intel central processor, and comes with a
30MB hard disk drive and three expansion slots. The 7561 uses the
Intel 80386 central processing unit, has 60MB of hard disk space
and four expansion slots. Both products come in rack-mounted
versions. List prices are $4,700 for the 7541 and $8,500 for the 7561.

(Jon Pepper/19890324/Contact: Scott Brooks, IBM, 201-930-5231)


(NEWS)(IBM)(BOS)(00009)

NEW UNIVERSAL VERSION OF PICTUREPAK TO BE RELEASED
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 17 (NB) -- Marketing
Graphics will begin shipping on April 1st a new version of
PicturePak, its collection of professionally-drawn clip-art images.
The new version uses a universal file format solution, including both
PCX/Raster format and CGM/Vector format in the same set. A
Macintosh-compatible version will be out in the second quarter.
The new solution lets a user work with PicturePak on almost all their
software, from Word Perfect to PageMaker to Harvard Graphics,
without needing a specialized version for each product.

(Jon Pepper/19890324/Contact: Louise Beller, MGI, 8040747-6991)


(NEWS)(IBM)(ATL)(00010)

A COMPLETE LIST OF IBM USER GROUPS IS PUBLISHED
FORT LEE, NEW JERSEY, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 24 (NB) -- Public Relations
Agent Daniel Janal has compiled a list of over 1,000 IBM PC user
groups in all 50 states and published them as "The Definitive IBM PC
User Group Mailing List." Such lists change fast, since most user groups
depend on volunteers. "User group members make the key buying
decisions in their companies and governmental agencies," Janal
told Newsbytes. "Therefore every hardware and software company
should target user groups in their marketing plans." Janal's list
is available on mailing labels for one-time use at $495, $795 for
four updated sets of labels a year, and $1,500 for an unlimited use
license and the quarterly updates.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890324/Contact: Daniel Janal, Janal
Communications, 201-847-9839)


(NEWS)(IBM)(ATL)(00011)

TWO GEORGIA SCHOOLS AMONG IBM TEACHING SCHOOL HOSTS
ATLANTA, GEORGIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 27 (NB) -- IBM and the Alfred
P. Sloan Foundation are giving away $2.5 million in networked
computers and support in hopes of improving teaching in the
liberal arts. Two of the five host schools, which will get $60,000
each and coordinate programs at other colleges, are in Georgia.
Savannah State College in Savannah, Georgia, will coordinate
programs at Armstrong State, Brunswick, and Georgia Southern.
Spelman College of Atlanta, a school founded for black women and
the alma mater of one of Bill Cosby's real daughters, will host
programs for other black colleges including Morehouse, Morris
Brown, and Tuskegee University. The other host schools are Mount
Holyoke in South Hadley, Massachusetts, Pomona College in
Claremont, California, and Trinity College in Hartford,
Connecticut.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890324/Contact: Jane Butler, IBM, 201-783-
7311)


(NEWS)(IBM)(TOR)(00012)

DELL CUTTING PRICES ON 286, 386 MODELS IN CANADA
MARKHAM, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1989 MAR 23 (NB) -- Dell Computer is
cutting prices on several 286- and 386-based personal computers,
diskette drives, memory chips and math coprocessors. All Dell PCs
with a 90- or 150-megabyte hard disk drive are now C$400 cheaper,
those with 100-megabyte drives are reduced C$300 and those with
322-megabyte hard drives are marked down by C$1,950. Prices for
the hard drives sold separately are similarly reduced. Prices for
several floppy disk and tape drives have been reduced by $100 to
$200, and the price of the 20-megahertz Weitek 3167 math
coprocessor has been cut C$100 to $1,559.

Dell also announced the appointment of Darren Ward as marketing
manager for its Canadian operation.

(Grant Buckler/19890324/Contact: Darren Ward, Dell Computer,
416-881-3513)


(NEWS)(IBM)(TYO)(00013)

THE SECOND COMPATIBLE MACHINE WAR STARTS
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 MAR 16 (NB) -- The battle has intensified
between IBM Japan and two IBM-compatible computer makers Fujitsu
and Hitachi. IBM Japan has developed a new system, to be shipped
in June, which allows its large general-purpose computer ESA/309
0S to run software designed for the IBM-compatible general-purpose
computers of Fujitsu and Hitachi. IBM calls the system SMAF, an
acronym for "system migration assist feature." When coupled with
the processor resources/system management or PR/SM, in which up
to seven operating systems can operate simultaneously, SMAF
can run IBM's operating system MVS, as well as Fujitsu's MSP
and Hitachi's VOS3, under one unit of the 309 0S.

The general-purpose M series of Fujitsu and Hitachi are
IBM-compatible on the operating system level. Therefore it
will be hard to maintain the compatibility when IBM upgrades its
operating system. On the other hand, as IBM Japan's new
system allows compatibility on the hardware level with the
machines of Hitachi and Fujitsu, users will not need to rewrite
their applications.

This has put intense pressure on Fujitsu and Hitachi to
retain their IBM-compatibility in the face of IBM's new
SMAF technology, and is expected to encourage software developers
to migrate to the IBM camp. Analysts also expect the technology
to redraw the map of Japan's computer industry.

(Ken Takahashi/19890323/Contact: IBM Japan, 03-586-1111)


(NEWS)(IBM)(TYO)(00014)

YOKOGAWA HEWLETT-PACKARD EXPANDS PC BUSINESS
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 MAR 16 (NB) -- Yokogawa Hewlett-Packard or YHP
has announced a new line-up of IBM PC/AT-compatible personal
computers, named Vectra AX series, which support both Japanese and
English languages.

The company is well known as a leading superminicomputer
and engineering workstation maker. However, it is attempting to
expand its business to the field of personal computers. The
company has prepared a toll-free telephone information center,
called AX-Hotline, to provide PC information to the public.

The price of the new model with a 40 megabyte hard disk drive
is 780,000 yen or $6,000 and a 20 megabyte hard drive is 650,000 yen
or $5,000. YHP will gradually replace its former personal computer
series, called HP-Vectra DES/12 with the AX machines. An upgrade of
these series will be available with replacement of a display and
a central processing unit for 350,000 yen or $2,540.

Furthermore, the new models can be a terminal for its engineering
workstations and minicomputers. Shipment is scheduled for April
3rd, and the company expects 60,000 to be sold in the initial year.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19890323/Contact: YHP, 03-331-6111,
toll-free: AX-Hotline, 0120-140-150)


(NEWS)(IBM)(TYO)(00015)

MICROSOFT DOES NOT EXCEL AT WINDOWS
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 MAR 17 (NB) -- Microsoft has run into snags
in its hopes to make the current version of Excel for the PC as
popular as Lotus 1-2-3. The main problem is Windows.
Microsoft has been distributing Windows 2.0 actively
in Japan, but unfortunately this version causes problems when
run in conjunction with the new Excel. Windows 2.0 causes
ghosting effects in Excel when operated along with a laser printer.
Consequently, a new version of Windows, Windows 2.1, must be used
with the current version Excel.

Not only is ghosting a problem, but so is speed. Excel is
extremely slow when it runs with the Windows 2.0 distributed by
some Windows vendors. For instance, it has been found that the
Windows of one of Japan's first Windows distributors, NEC, is
slow when it comes to mouse operation and rewriting windows. Though
NEC is striving to release its Windows 2.1 quickly, NEC says the
product will not be available soon, saying that the shipping date is
"under consideration."

(Ken Takahashi/1980323)


(NEWS)(IBM)(LAX)(00016)

NEW LIGHT PENS GOOD FOR WHAT AILS YOU
EL CAJON, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 7 (NB) -- Design Technology
has announced the DT200 series of light pens for a range of medical
applications. The series includes two new pens for radiology,
ultrasound, and diagnostic imaging equipment. The DT242 and DT244
light pens can be used in new designs with black and white, color or
monochrome CRTs [cathode ray tubes] with up to 1024-by-1024
resolution. Prices for the DT200 series range from $135 to $210 in
single-unit quantities.

(Wayne Yacco/19890324/Contact: 619-440-7666, fax [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(LAX)(00017)

A-T LAUNCHES PROMOTION FOR RAPIDFILE
TORRANCE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 16 (NB) -- Ashton-Tate
[NASDAQ:TATE] has announced a promotion for RapidFile, the company's
$295, flat-file database. The promotion, which continues until June
30, includes coupons worth up to $300 for products that enhance
productivity when working with RapidFile. Two of the coupons offer
free products.

"Ashton-Tate is giving its dealers a way to add value to RapidFile
without incurring administrative costs associated with promotions.
This promotion is entirely turnkey for the dealer," said Mike
Arrigo, product manager for RapidFile. The RapidFile promotion will
be supported with Ashton-Tate pre-approved advertising slicks, radio
spots, in-store displays and updated product packaging.

Coupons included in each RapidFile package are redeemable for:

 -- A free copy of General Information's Hot Line [suggested retail
price: $99], phone management/autodialer software that automatically
dials numbers from RapidFile databases. Hot Line also includes
national directories of business and government organizations.

 -- A savings of up to $175 on Prime Solutions' Disk Technician, a
utility that finds and corrects hard disk problems before data is
lost.

 -- A free copy of the Proximity/Merriam Webster Electronic
Thesaurus [suggested retail price: $50], containing over 470,000
synonyms.

 -- A 10 percent discount on Deluxe Business Forms, plus an on-disk
RapidFile template pre-set for the most popular statement, invoice
and check formats.

  -- Free samples of Avery Laser Printer Labels.

Coupons will be inside the shrink wrap and can be redeemed directly
through the manufacturers.

RapidFile shares data with dBASE III PLUS and dBASE IV, as well as
Framework III, MultiMate Advantage II, Lotus 1-2-3 and PFS:
Professional File. The program is positioned as the entry path to
Ashton-Tate's database product line and users can upgrade from
RapidFile to dBASE IV, whenever they want, for $295.

Designed for management of lists, mailing labels, reports and form
letters RapidFile was recently awarded an 8.0 score in an InfoWorld
review.

(Wayne Yacco/19890324)


(NEWS)(IBM)(LAX)(00018)

RAT INFESTS NETWORKS
ESCONDIDO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 23 (NB) -- Networks are
girding their electronic loins as they prepare to face the latest
invasion of their turf by group-productivity software. Polaris
Software is coming out of hiding [that's English for escondido if
you're not picking grammatical nits] with its first copies of
Polaris PackRat for Networks. The product is a groupware release of
its PackRat personal information management software. It includes
the individual product's text-database and searching capabilities.

PackRat for Networks allows networkers to share and exchange
appointment scheduling and other information. Facilities include a
Phone Book, Phone Log, Expense Log, Calendar, Agenda, Task List,
Index Cards, and Disk File Log. Information can be kept private,
available only to members of a group, or public. Users that have
the same access privileges can participate in the development of
common information, allowing group interaction.

New features in the network version include the ability to determine
the time when a selected group of users are available to attend a
meeting, the ability to notify the members and the ability to
request an RSVP. Meetings can be coordinated with the availability
of resources such as conference rooms. The program's InBox facility
provides electronic mail functions for communicating between group
members.

PackRat for Networks requires Microsoft Windows/286 or Windows/386
[run-time Windows/286 is included], appropriate hardware and a
network server. Volume production and distribution to dealers will
begin in mid-April. Until then, the $695 three-user base
application and its $150 additional-user licenses are available
directly from Polaris software.

(Wayne Yacco/19890324)


(NEWS)(IBM)(LON)(00019)

AMT RELEASES 47 MHZ PERFORMANCE 386-BASED PC SYSTEM
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1989 MAR 24 (NB) -- Applied Microsystems
Technology has launched the Platform 307, a 30MHz 80386-based PC
with a claimed 47MHz effective system performance. The machine
ships immediately to a two-week order list, with a price tag of
UKP 8,990.

According to Andrew Lappage, assistant manager for AMT's new
technology division, the Platform 307 is the fastest 80386-based
PC on the market at the moment, thanks to the use of a 64K RAM
caching system to improve hard disk performance. AMT rates the
machine at an astonishing 7 MIPS [million instructions per
second].

As supplied, the Platform 307 comes with two megabytes of 32-bit main
memory, in 256K or 1Mbit chip configurations. With the 1Mbit
chips, RAM expansion to 24Mb is possible. Also included on the
machine is a 620 megabyte hard disk and colour VGA monitor,
plus single parallel and twin serial ports.

Steve Gold/19890324/AMT - Tel: [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(LON)(00020)

PCQT ANNOUNCES THE UNBREAKABLE COMPUTER
KISTA, SWEDEN, 1989 MAR 24 (NB) -- PCQB, the Swedish computer
company, will unveil the world's first unbreakable PC at Comdex
Spring in the U.S. next month. The PC/QT machine is claimed to be
dustproof, shock-resistant, waterproof...and even coffee-proof...
yet will be priced comparably with conventional PCs. Firm pricing
will be announced at Comdex Spring [Chicago 10/13 April, 1989].

PCQT says that the new PC is totally dust- and water-resistant,
thanks to the use of a detachable silicon ring around the seams
of the machine. All circuit-boards within the PC are located in a
special shock-resistant mountings, allowing the machine to
withstand shocks and jolts, even whilst running.

Interestingly, the new PC has twin battery sources, with
sufficient power in either battery to last up to 20 minutes in
the event of an external power failure. Complex power-surge
circuitry prevents any external power problems causing the
machine to fail.

Internally, the PC/QT is driven by a switchable 16/10 MHz 80286
microprocessor, running into two megabytes of random access
memory. Data storage is via a 40, 100 or 350 megabyte hard disk,
with an optional floppy drive which can plugged in as required,
making the machine totally self-sufficient. On some models of the
PC, the hard disk module can be removed, allowing two floppy drives
to be plugged in.

(Steve Gold/19890324)


(NEWS)(IBM)(BRU)(00021)

IBM INTRODUCES NEW PRINTERS
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM, 1989 MAR 23 (NB) -- IBM Belgium has announced
two new full-page printers, the IBM 3825 and the 3816. Pricing on
the machines will be announced near the European shipment
date of May, 1989.

The IBM 3825 is a large-scale printer that incorporates the new
AFP [Advanced Function Printing] support system which offers new,
powerful printing commands. The printers churn out paper at 58
pages per minute at 300 DPI [dots per inch] in either single or
double-sided format. It also allows the user to mix graphics and
text which can be up to 72 points large. This printer joins other
AFP printers such as the 3812, 3820, 3816, 3827 and 3835 series.

The IBM 3816, meanwhile, is an electro-photographic printer, with
a printer engine similar to the 3825, which can be placed in a
table top and produces up to 24 pages per minute. The 3816 can be
connected to the IBM 3174 and 3274 controllers which connect to
IBM System/36 and /38 series, as well as a the AS/400 or ES/9370
families of computers.

(Peter Vekinis/19890323)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(SFO)(00001)

PACIFIC BELL GETS GO-AHEAD FOR NEW "900" INFORMATION SERVICE
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 25 (NB) -- Pacific Bell
has been given permission by the California Public Utilities
Commission to launch a new "900 Information Calling Service"
designed to provide callers with a wide variety of information via
phone.

Businesses which pay for a 900 number will set the price of their
services, up to a maximum of $20 per call; Pacific Bell will bill
callers on behalf of the information providers, and keep a portion
of the money it collects for each call.

Pacific Bell spokesman Jim Herold says businesses and non-profit
organizations are interested in selling financial, medical,
investment, and legal information, as well as consumer buying
tips. The service might be used by customers to obtain travel
and entertainment information by entering code numbers on
touch-tone phones.

To safeguard callers against bill-shock at the end of each month,
they will have to hear information about the price of the call
before hearing a message. They can then hang up at no charge.

(Wendy Woods/19890324/Contact: Steve Maita, Pacific Bell, 415-542-3790)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00002)

AT&T PRICE CAP PLAN APPROVED BY FCC
WASHINGTON, D.C. U.S.A., 1989 MAR 20 (NB) -- Impressed by AT&T
figures showing its share of the long-distance market plunged
from 94 percent to 70 percent in the last few years, the Federal
Communications Commission, or FCC, has freed AT&T from profit
regulation and instituted a price cap plan, effective July 1.
Starting on that date, AT&T will be able to drop rates below the
ceilings by itself. Increases, however, will be held at 3 percent less
than the rate of inflation -- a 5 percent inflation rate would allow a
2 percent increase. The FCC also put in a price floor which observers
say is designed to prevent AT&T from attacks against MCI and Sprint.

Two price cap opponents, Rep. John Dingell of Michigan, and Rep.
Edward Markey of Massachusetts, will introduce a bill calling for
monitoring of the the action's effects, but there seems no chance
the Congress will vote to overturn the FCC action.

In other action related to the FCC and phone bills, the toll paid
by phone consumers for access to the long-distance network goes
up 30 cents April 1, to $3.50 per month. The charge was put on
the bills under an FCC formula which trades those rises for cuts
in long-distance rates.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890324)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00003)

BELLATRIX TO OFFER NATIONAL AUDIOTEX FOR PRICE OF LOCAL CALL
MORRIS PLAINS, NEW JERSEY, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 14 (NB) -- Bellatrix
Corp. is opening an audiotex service bureau which can put you
behind the wheel of a 900-number for just $2,000, plus a share of
revenues, plus your marketing costs. John Lindholm of Bellatrix
says information providers, for instance astrologer Jeanne Dixon, who now
buy local 976 codes from local phone companies, will be asked to
use Bellatrix' gateway instead so they can save money and
advertise the same number nationwide. Lindholm told Newsbytes the
direct costs of using the Bellatrix gateway will be comparable to
the costs of using some local 976 exchanges. If callers pay $2
for the first minute, and 50 cents for each additional minute,
Lindholm said, Bellatrix gets 35 cents for the first minute, 30
cents for each added minute, plus charges for management reports.
At 25,000 calls/month, he estimated, up to half the gross will
flow to the information provider, Ms. Dixon in our hypothetical
example.

Astrologers, sports touts, sex-talk, and blind dates are the
current mainstays of the audiotex business, but phone companies
have had difficulty collecting the bills. But the search for
steadier, more collectable 900 audiotex services continues.

MGM/UA has demonstrated a system of interactive TV using 900
numbers and computerized operators. The data processing
subsidiary of American Express is working on a similar system for
direct marketing. "Forbes" magazine calls the result relationship
marketing, with mass merchants able to learn details of one's
lifestyle and target their merchandising directly at individual
consumers. Newspapers and magazines may also be able to record
their columns on the automated 900-services, and earn income
directly from readers.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890324)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00004)

OVER 200 MEDICAL DATABASES ONLINE
LOS ALTOS, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 22, (NB) -- Forty new online
healthcare databases were added last year, a record. There are
now 202 in the 1989 Directory of Online Healthcare Databases,
published by Medical Data Exchange, Los Altos, California. That
comes to 50 million records from 100,000 publications. William
M. Helvey, M.D., president of MDX, noted that more than half of
300,000 doctors in a recent MacMillan study had PCs, with 15 percent
more planning to buy one soon.

Principal sections of the MDX directory provide information on
database producers and vendors, along with file sizes, costs per
hour and descriptions of each database. The 62-page directory is
spiral bound and lies flat for easy use. It costs $26 plus $3
processing.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890324/Contact: Medical Data Exchange, 445
South San Antonio Road, Los Altos, Calif., 94022, 415-941-3600)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00005)

NEW ENGLAND JOURNAL OF MEDICINE REPORTS ON COMPUTER VIRUS
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 22 (NB) -- The latest
issue of The New England Journal of Medicine includes a report on
two computer viruses which infected three hospitals around Troy,
Michigan last fall.

Dr. Jack Juni, a staff physician at two of the hospitals, wrote in a
letter to the journal that one virus infected case records used as a
basis for diagnosis, and could have been dangerous had it not been
caught in time. The viruses got into the hospital through a hard disk
which CMS Enhancements Inc. of Tustin, California, supplied to
Medical Image Processing Specialists Inc. in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Medical Imaging put together the computer systems the hospitals used.
CMS quickly disinfected its supplies on learning of the infection.
The viruses were spread through a floppy disk by a resident
writing a term paper.

Somewhere, Juni wrote, the harmless nVIR virus CMS shipped
mutated into something that would hang up Macintoshes and
destroy data.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890324)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00006)

GARTNER GROUP GOES ONLINE WITH GE INFORMATION SERVICES
STAMFORD, CONNECTICUT, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 23 (NB) -- The Gartner
Group has put its market studies online through GE Information
Services, known as the GEIS network. Gartner Online lets clients
of its Research, Advisory and Strategic Planning services check
for full-text analyses of the markets in which they work. Clients get
software and passwords free, but the time is billed at $55-$85 an
hour. Gartner's Charlie Penner told Newsbytes that price compares
favorably with services such as Newsnet and Dialog. The GEIS
network, unlike GEnie, can take calls at 9,600 bits/second.
Penner said electronic mail services between clients and
consultants is not available with Gartner Online at this time.

Gideon Gartner, the company's chairman, said in a press release
the Gartner Online system has been under development for two
years. He expected a large number of the firm's 5,000 clients
will add online access to their regular arsenal of Gartner
analytic decision-support tools.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890324/Contact: Charlie Penner, Gartner
Group, 203-967-6880)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(BOS)(00007)

COMPUTER TELEPHONE TO MARKET NEW SERVICES IN CONNECTICUT
WELLESLEY HILLS, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 22 (NB) -- Computer
Telephone will act as an agent of Southern New England Telephone to
market various telecommunications services in Connecticut, effective
April 1st.

Computer Telephone markets, designs, and installs microprocessors-
based telephone systems. The company feels the agreement now puts
it on a competitive par with other companies.

(Jon Pepper/19890324/Contact: John Kudzma, Computer Telephone,
617-237-6900)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00008)

BASELINE ADDS TO CROWDED NEW YORK CITY ONLINE MARKET
NEW YORK, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 20 (NB) -- New Yorkers now
have a third source for Minitel-based online services. New York
Networks, a service of Baseline Inc., which provides electronic
publishing services for the entertainment industry, has opened
its online doors. For $15 per month, New York Networks offers an
unlimited amount of online time to look at Baseline's list of
coming attractions, film reviews and awards, or to chat with
other users. The chat services, New York Networks says, show a
constant list of people who are online, and keep conversations
private. As a three-month introductory offer, the company will give
Minitel-supporting packages like Mirror II and MacTell, free.

Newcom Link's Aline service, which is linked to France's largest
information provider and has its American offices in New York, is
now offering a Transatlantic interactive chess game among its
French and American users. The game is based on EE, developed by
Newcom's French parent, le nouvel Observateur, and Europe Echecs,
Europe's leading chess magazine. Aline bills users at 30 cents
per minute, and rents terminals for $10 per month plus a $95
deposit. EE uses Minitel graphics to give players a picture of
the chess board they're playing on, with the current position of
the pieces.

James Monaco, president of Baseline, told Newsbytes his service
and Aline aren't really competitors. Both, he said, are working
to create a credible mass of programming which will encourage
people to buy or rent Minitel terminals. "The concept is of the
virtual company, where everyone looks bigger than they are
because of whom they're associated with," he explained. Monaco
added that, to save money for users nationwide, New York Networks
will be available on Nynex' Infolook gateway when it opens for
business, probably in May.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890324/Contact: James Monaco, New York
Networks, 212-254-8235)


(EXCLUSIVE)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00009)

THE COMING BATTLE BETWEEN PRODIGY AND MINITEL FOR U.S. MARKET
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 24 (NB) -- James Monaco
has been an electronic publisher since 1982. He spun out Baseline,
an electronic publishing company, out of his New York
Zoetrope in 1982. Zoetrope publishes such trade books as "The
Encyclopedia of TV Game Shows" and "Who's Who in American Film
Now," and Monaco himself is a recognized author on entertainment
with such titles as "The Connoisseur's Guide to the Movies" and
"How to Read a Film."

In an exclusive interview, Monaco told Newsbytes the real battle
for the mass online market is developing now between NAPLPS-based
services such as Prodigy and Minitel-based services like Baseline's
New York Networks. The small fry, he says, will be appearing on
gateways like Nynex's Infolook and Southwestern Bell's U.S.
Videotel. "One of the interesting aspects is the question of
whether pure ASCII will work on a gateway. I doubt it. You may
have 800,000 people in New York who have home computers. That's
not enough" for a mass market. "The key is a cheap box my mother
can use, and a simple visual protocol where I don't have to think
twice." Both Prodigy and Minitel offer that. Monaco predicts
Minitel will win out because it's faster, and offers more
opportunities for small information providers. In a test Infonet
conducted last year, he says, the most popular offerings were his
entertainment database and "a one-man service for the deaf. It
was extremely valuable, well-targeted."

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890324/Contact: James Monaco, New York
Networks, 212-254-8235)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00010)

HAYES ANNOUNCES 2400 BAUD VERSION OF PRODIGY MODEM
NORCROSS, GEORGIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 20 (NB) -- Hayes Microcomputer
announced the Personal Modem 2400, a 2400 baud version of the
plug-in modem it created for the Prodigy service. The modem uses
a subset of Hayes' Standard AT command set, and will be sold by
Prodigy with its start-up kits. The full price of the modem,
including Prodigy software and three months of service, is $220.
Prodigy's normal charge is $10 per month.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890324/Contact: Sharon O'Brien, Hayes, 404-
339-8791)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(TOR)(00011)

LAST SPLICE COMPLETES ONTARIO PORTION OF FIBER SYSTEM
THUNDER BAY, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1989 MAR 22 (NB) -- Working the
historical overtones for all they were worth, Bell Canada fused
the last splice in its cross-province fiber-optic transmission
system. The link will ultimately be part of the National Fiber
Optic Transmission System, running 7,000 kilometers across
Canada. The Ontario portion alone cost C$200 million and took
four years to complete.

On hand for the Last Splice Ceremony, along with Bell Canada
Executive Vice-President Jack Sinclair, were author Pierre Berton
and Ontario Minister of Culture and Communications Lily Oddie-
Munro. Oddie-Munro placed a telephone call over the fiber link to
her counterpart in neighboring Manitoba, Glen Findlay, minister
responsible for the Manitoba Telephone System. Berton, one of
Canada's best-known nonfiction writers and author of numerous
books on Canadian history in general and the Canadian railways in
particular, drew parallels between the completion of rail links
across the country and the building of the fiber-optic system.

(Grant Buckler/19890324/Contact: Douglas Peck, Bell Canada, 416-
979-8251)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(TOR)(00012)

LEGAL DATA ADDED TO CCOHS DATABASE
HAMILTON, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1989 MAR 17 (NB) -- The Canadian
Centre for Occupational Health and Safety is adding to its online
database summaries of 176 cases from Canadian Labour Law
Reports. The summaries, donated by legal publisher CCH Canadian
o7 3 Ltd., will be added to the Case Law data base in CCINFO,
the online data base service available from CCOHS online or on
CD-ROM. The Case Law data base contains summaries of cases and
decisions dealing with occupational health and safety. They may
in be in English or French and the data base can be searched in
either language.

(Grant Buckler/19890324/Contact: David Cohen, CCOHS, 416-572-
2981)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(SGP)(00013)

SINGAPORE TELETEX SERVICE TO BE LOW COST
SINGAPORE, S.E. ASIA, 1989 MAR 22 (NB) - Singapore's communications
minister says that if the new Teleview teletex service currently
undergoing trials is a productive tool, the price of the terminals will
be kept low so that a large number of Singaporeans will be able
to afford them.

Speaking in Parliament, Minister Dr. Yeo Ning Hong, said that his
department was expecting to work with experienced manufacturers to
produce an affordable terminal. For the trials, which are expected to
last for another 6-8 months, some 1,000 terminals were manufactured,
with 400 placed with businesses for evaluation, and another 390 in the
homes of selected students from three schools.

(Michael Worsley/19890324)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(LON)(00014)

DIALCOM #1: TELECOM GOLD HIGH-SPEED MNP LINKS COMING
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1989 MAR 24 (NB) -- Dialcom U.K., the parent
company of Telecom Gold, has announced it will be offering 2400
baud links with Microcom Networking Protocol error-correction and
data compression on its London dial-up ports.

At present, U.K. dial-up to Telecom Gold is limited to a maximum
1200 baud without error-checking. The enhancement to 2400 baud
and MNP Class 5 will allow seven-bit data transfer at some 4,000
bits per second [bps] compared to the 1,200 bps maximum currently
available.

According to Steve Wood, head of Dialcom U.K.'s messaging services,
the enhancements will mean it will be cheaper for all Telecom
Gold's 138,000 subscribers to dial direct to London, rather than
use BT's X.25-compatible Packet Switch Stream [PSS] data network.

"We know that PSS is readying a series of V.42, 2400 baud network
enhancements to its network, but our new London network will go
live toward the end of April. It's a major enhancement for
subscribers, and will go some way towards cutting their online
costs," said Wood.

(Steve Gold/19890324)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(LON)(00015)

DIALCOM #2: PRESTEL READIES ADVANCED MESSAGING SOFTWARE
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1989 MAR 24 (NB) -- Prestel, the U.K.'s public
viewdata network, will shortly receive a major boost to its
electronic mail service, known as Prestel mailbox to the
service's 90,000 subscribers. A new version of the mailbox system
software, known as as 'advanced messaging' is currently
undergoing tests at Dialcom U.K., pending an introduction later
this year.

According to Dave Wood, head of applications development with
Dialcom U.K., the advanced messaging service will run in parallel
with Prestel's existing single-frame mailbox service, and at a
premium rate. The premium rate has to be decided, but will be
nominal to cover data processing costs, as well as avoiding a
conflict situation with Dialcom's Telecom Gold e-mail services.

"We'll be testing out the advanced messaging software on our
internal computers during April, ready for an introduction later
this year," Wood told Newsbytes.

Features available to Prestel subscribers via advanced messaging
will include multiple-frame mailboxes, requiring a single address
for large file transmissions, as well as auto-reply and express
mail facilities. Full details of the service enhancements will be
revealed to Prestel subscribers in due course, said Wood.

(Steve Gold/19890324)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(LON)(00016)

THIRD MILLENNIUM SYSTEMS FORMED TO MARKET MULTIUSER GAMES
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1989 MAR 24 (NB) -- Neil Newell, the author of
the Shades multiuser game, and Mike Brown, former technical
director of Telemap and Micronet, have formed a new company,
Signdial, to develop, operate and market multiuser services in
the U.K., Europe and the U.S.

The new company, operating under the trade name of Third
Millennium Systems, becomes the licensor of Shades [available on
Prestel and Telecom Gold] and the Dialtalk teleconferencing
system [available via Micronet on Prestel]. The company will also
announce a new multiuser game, Trash, for licensing to online
systems very shortly.

Third Millennium Systems has ambitious plans to develop, operate
and market its multiuser games system software around the world.
Central to the firm is the usage of MUGICK, Newell's development
language and run-time engine, as used to develop Trash. Brown and
Newell plan to develop new games for distribution via the French
Minitel network.

From its branch office in Aix-en-Provence, France, the company
will shortly be running its own entertainment service for the
four million-plus Minitel terminals in France, as well as
assisting Telemap's operation of the French version of its Shades
online game, for distribution via Minitel later this year.

(Steve Gold/19890325/Signdial Limited - Tel: (France) 042-515783,
electronic mail: Dialcom 87:SQQ826 & Compuserve 72571,61)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(TYO)(00001)

REPEATEDLY REWRITABLE OPTICAL DISK DUE FROM MATSUSHITA
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 MAR 17 (NB) -- Matsushita Electric Industry
has developed a rewritable optical disk drive capable of recording,
erasing, and reading data by changing the power of a laser beam at
three levels. Matsushita has covered the recording medium with
oxidized silicon film and claims this new technology enables data
to be erased and written to the disk 100,000 times.
The company claims the disk is the world's first practical
optical disk because others can rewrite data only 1,000 times
or so.

Currently Matsushita has a 3.5-inch prototype optical disk
and it plans to sell its 5.25-inch optical disk drive with a
memory capacity of 640 megabytes as a peripheral unit for a personal
computer next spring.

(Ken Takahashi/19890323)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(TYO)(00002)

MATSUSHITA HAS PROTOTYPE MEMORY FOR HDTV
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 MAR 18 (NB) -- Matsushita Electric Industry has
successfully developed an 8-megabit memory for the speedy input and
output of high-definition television, or HDTV pictures, on the screen.
Matsushita says the data access speed is 20 nanoseconds -- over
twice the speed of the world's fastest dynamic random access memory
[DRAM] -- in order to satisfy the specifications of HDTV.

An HDTV set will, it is expected, need a 20 megabit video
picture memory, and to memorize the video data, the set will need a
16-megabit memory. So Shiro Horiuchi at Matsushita's semiconductor
research and development center explained, "We will use two units
of the product we developed this time, and fill up the remaining
space with a small-capacity product." Matsushita expects to start
sample shipment late next year with full production slated for 1991.

(Ken Takahashi/19890323)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(BOS)(00003)

LASER PRINTERS MOST SOUGHT-AFTER PRODUCTS
MANHASSET, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 23 (NB) -- A recent
poll by Computer Reseller News and the Gallup Report ranked the
most sought-after products for Fortune 1000 companies.
Laser printers were the most sought-after office products, with 97
percent of the companies surveyed using laser printers. The other top
five products used by the Fortune 1000 companies are color monitors,
hard drives of 80MB or less, nine-pin dot matrix printers, and
plotters.

92 percent of the companies reported their systems are compatible with
MS-DOS, compared to 38 percent for the Mac. The survey also showed
major computer store chains are the primary source for peripheral
equipment.

(Jon Pepper/19890324/Contact: Liz Caginalp, CRN, 516-562-5598)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(BOS)(00004)

ACTIVITY IN ELECTRONICS INDUSTRY MOVES UP
MANHASSET, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 23 (NB) -- Business
activity in the electronics industry rose in February to its highest
level since last October. However, purchasing agents are still
reluctant to declare a full-fledged rebound, according to a survey
in the latest issue of Electronic Buyers' News. Purchasers are more
optimistic about commercial business, though such semiconductors
as DRAMS, and static RAMS are still in short supply, the survey
indicated.

(Jon Pepper/19890324/Contact: Paul Hyman, Electronic Buyers' News,
516-562-5608)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(ATL)(00005)

U.S. COMPUTER INDUSTRY HAD A $3 BILLION SURPLUS IN 1988
WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A., 1989 MAR 21 (NB) -- U.S. computer and
business equipment produced a $3.05 billion trade surplus in
1988, 60 percent more than in 1987, according to the Computer and
Business Equipment Manufacturers Association. Exports rose 25.7
percent to $26.18 billion, while imports increased 22.2 percent to
$23.14 billion.

The only area with which the United States suffered a trade
deficit in computer and business equipment during 1988 was the
Far East, where the deficit widened 17 percent to $12.12 billion.

American exports were up 43 percent to $6.36 billion while imports
increased just 25 percent. Total imports from the Far East, however,
were $18.48 billion, 80 percent of all imports.

Against Europe, U.S. computer makers had a big surplus, with
exports of $12.6 billion and imports of $2.55 billion. A healthy
surplus was also registered with Canada and Mexico, where exports
totaled $4.3 billion, imports $1.97 billion, the association
said.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890324/Contact: Computer and Business
Equipment Manufacturers Association, 202-737-8888)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(SGP)(00006)

COMPUTERISED SKYTRAIN TRAIN ARRIVES AT CHANGI AIRPORT
SINGAPORE, S.E. ASIA, 1989 MAR 22 (NB) - The first three fully
automatic carriages that will form the Changi Skytrain arrived in
Singapore today, the result of a joint venture between Keppel
Corporation and AEG-Westinghouse Transportation Systems.

On display at a press preview, the Skytrain is expected to be
the first such fully automatic public transportation vehicle outside
the United States and England in mid-1990. Expected to cost a total
of US$20 million when completed, the driverless coaches will carry
up to 9,000 passengers an hour between the current Terminal 1 and
the new Terminal 2 of Singapore's airport -- a distance of 600
meters [1,800 feet] in just over a minute.

(Michael Worsley/19890324)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(SFO)(00001)

NEXT DEAL WITH BUSINESSLAND, IBM?
PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 24 (NB) -- NeXT, Inc. has
slated a news conference on March 30 for a "major business
announcement," that insiders say involves both Businessland, a
huge retail chain, and IBM. While Cathy Cook, NeXT spokeswoman,
would not confirm the report, The San Francisco Examiner says
that NeXT will announce an agreement with Businessland in which
the retail chain will sell NeXT workstations in its 112 stores
nationwide. Businessland is also widely expected to carry
new IBM PC RT workstations that use Next software.

Cook told Newsbytes, however, that the news conference will involve an
update regarding the firm's fortunes and software development for
the NeXT workstations. The announcement sent to reporters,
written by NeXT founder Steve Jobs, says he will discuss
"nontechnical" factors which will help determine which computer
workstation makers will win in the market.

(Wendy Woods/19890324/Contact: Cathy Cook, 415-922-9014)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(SFO)(00002)

SUN TO RELEASE NEW VOLLEYS IN WORKSTATION WARS
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 24 (NB) -- Sun
Microsystems will release five new microcomputers on April 12,
including a $12,000 to $13,000 workstation code-named Hydra and
another code-named Campus, which will be based on Sun's
reduced instruction set SPARC chip, so says Computer Reseller News.

The trade weekly says Hydra will come with eight megabytes
of random access memory, a 200 megabyte hard disk, and a 19-inch
monochrome monitor. The speed will be six or seven million
instructions per second, according to the report. For $1,000
more, Sun will offer The Campus which is expected to have a speed
of 12 to 14 million instructions per second.

A Sun spokesman told Newsbytes there has been no public announcement
of such machines and had no comment on the report.

(Wendy Woods/19890324/Contact: Sun Microsystems, 415-336-6411)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(SFO)(00003)

ADD A SUN TO YOUR CRAY
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 23 (NB) -- Sun
Microsystems has announced a strategic alliance with Cray Research
in which Cray supercomputers will be integrated with Sun
workstations. The first products of the alliance include the
Cray FEI-3 channel interface which provides high-speed data
transfer between the Sun workstations and Cray supercomputers.
Under the joint development and cooperative marketing agreement,
the two sides will work together to improve the connectivity
between the machines.

The Cray FEI-3 channel adapter is a two-board VME set for Sun-3
and Sun-4 workstations that connects to low-speed, 100-
megabit Cray channels, in case you were interested.

Sun also announced the 58TE which allows Sun workstations to
emulate the widely-installed IBM 5080 graphics terminal.

(Wendy Woods/19890323)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(TOR)(00004)

MULTI-USER COMPUTER SHOW SCHEDULED IN MAY
TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1989 MAR 24 (NB) -- The second annual
Multi-User Computer Show will be held at the Metro Toronto
Convention Centre here May 17-19. The show will combine Unix 89,
sponsored by the national user group usr/group/cdn, and Comgraph,
the annual trade show of the Electronic Desktop Publishing
Association.

(Grant Buckler/19890324/Contact: Fawn Maureen Lubman,
Communications 2000, 416-239-3043)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(LON)(00005)

PEGASUS ACQUIRES SPHINX LIMITED
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1989 MAR 24 (NB) -- Pegasus Software, the
business accounting company, has acquired Sphinx, the U.K. Unix
systems specialist, for UKP 2.75 million. According to Derek
Moon, Pegasus's group chief executive, the deal gives Pegasus
access to Sphinx's dealer distribution network for Unix software.

"During the last six months, we've clearly targeted the market
segments that we considered to be important for the future.
Shipments of Unix-related products are growing and Sphinx is a
major player in this field," he said,

Sphinx's last audited accounts to 30 September, 1987, showed
pre-tax losses of UKP 198,000 on a turnover of UKP 4.6 million.
Unaudited annual accounts to 30 September, 1988, show a pre-tax
loss of UKP 259,000 on a turnover of UKP 6.1 million. Nett
assets of the company have been valued at UKP 500,000.

(Steve Gold/19890324/Pegasus - Tel: [phone])


(EDITORIAL)(GENERAL)(SFO)(00001)

W Y S I W Y G - Wayne Yacco's Gazette

WEST COAST COMPUTER WOES
BURBANK, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A, 1989 MAR 24 (NB) -- I wasn't able to get
out of Los Angeles for some recent trade shows; so, once again, we
had the need for a guest column. Fortunately, Random Walker was in
San Francisco to defend some controversial research before a group
of xenobiologists. The symposium overlapped the first day of the
West Coast Computer Faire and he graciously consented to extend his
stay for a few days to cover the following events for us. Here is
his report . . .

Schedule conflicts made me late for this year's West Coast Computer
Faire. I missed the first day on Friday and had to fight the crowds
on Saturday. Aisles could barely be traversed for all the jostling
bodies. However, I didn't regret missing the first day as I
normally would have -- even though the three-day show was a day
shorter than those of recent years. A single day was enough this
time to see a show that used to take me two or three.

The show was a disappointment to many of those who participated,
either as vendors or as attenders. The epithet heard most often was
"swap meet" or "flea market" depending only on the regional
variation of the speaker.

A few vendors expressed frustration at being charged several
thousand dollars for an event that seemed no better than many
regional shows, shows that sell booths for a few hundred bucks.
Some attenders expressed disappointment at the lack of major
players. Old timers vociferously longed for the days when Jim
Warren roller skated through the aisles.

None of the big boys showed up, perhaps because of the old Brooks
Hall venue. There were only a few ISVs in attendance and only one
that I discovered showing a new product. Genie and Prodigy were the
giants of the event. As a result, the show wasn't even able draw
enough vendors to fill Brooks. Vendors originally booked for a
second hall were allegedly moved into Brooks and large areas were
cordoned off for serving refreshments and conducting behind-the-
scenes activities that might have otherwise been staged elsewhere.

Where, usually, there are too many folders to carry, I didn't see a
single press kit in the press lounge. Almost all of the vendors
have learned to withhold announcements until one of the two COMDEX
shows.

A large number of the companies that did show up were low-end
resellers offering cheap imported systems and boards, liquidators
selling outdated version of software, and a bunch of shills who were
reportedly paid plenty to fly prominent banners promoting Tandon.
Tandon itself didn't show.

There were a number of consultants and VARS with interesting though
specialized products. The main saving grace, though, was the
complement of conference sessions which still featured many industry
luminaries in interesting discussions and presentations.

But promoters don't usually pay for the people who provide those
conferences. So, everything appeared consistent with a limited
effort designed to wring the last drop of good will out of a dead
show. It doesn't seem likely that the West Coast Computer Faire
will be able to continue much longer without serious rejuvenation.
Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be much need for a Faire when
so many interested end users are able to finnagle a ticket into
COMDEX. I'd bet against a strong resurgence of interest.

Meanwhile, in Burlingame a few miles south of the Faire, Softsel was
hosting a Softeach that might have been hurt by the rain. Maybe it
simply lost some of its dealers to the show up in the city.
Whatever the reason, there weren't as many dealers in attendance as
Softsel vendors have come to expect from the nomadic event. The
program itself was as good as ever but even Andre Peterson,
WordPerfect's wizard of whoopie, complained about the lack of
enthusiasm. WordPerfect didn't even need to issue tickets as many
chairs went empty.

The day after Softeach, things faired a little better for a smaller
series of special connectivity seminars. The hit of the conference
was Kinetics. Their Mac connectivity sessions were practically
devoid of promotion and chock full of the tutorial that dealers came
for. Softsel's connectivity people could be heard after the
evening's reception wooing Kinetics near the leftover pretzels.
They were apparently trying to bottle the company's presentation as
a standard for use by other vendors. Kinetics was playing coy.

Anyway, the whole weekend didn't really satisfy my need for a trade-
show fix and I'm desperate for COMDEX to start in Chicago. Some
very interesting new products should debut at that show: a killer
portable featuring novel use of 2.5-inch hard-disk technology and a
HyperCard-like program for the PC are just two.

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE:

Although Random Walker continues his practice as a xenobiologist
specializing in silicon-based life forms, he has recently fallen
into disrepute with a small segment of the scientific community. It
seems he has acquired a reputation as a vivisectionist for his
current work dissecting a species know as laptops. When reached for
comment, Mr. Walker would only say, "We like to use them because
they're small and breed fast. They are the silicon equivalent of
laboratory mice." It seems that, on the whole, his professional
stature has not diminished because the laptops are widely disliked
for their annoying habit of constant high-pitched yapping.

Contact Random Walker care of Newsbytes News Service; Post Office
Box 269; Burbank, CA 91503.

(Wayne Yacco/19890324)