Newsbytes - International Computing Industry News 1983 May to 1994 June

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(NEWS)(APPLE)(SFO)(00001) MACINTOSH PORTABLE, FREEDOM OF PRESS WIN MACUSER AWARDS FOSTER CITY, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1990 JAN 25 (NB) -- MacUser magazine has presented Apple Computer with its Hardware Product of the Year Award for the Macintosh Portable. "The Macintosh portable was quite an engineering achievement, squeezing an honest-to-goodness, 100 percent Mac into a briefcase-sized package assembled like a jigsaw puzzle without screws," said the judges. The Software Product of the Year award went to Custom Applications International for Freedom of the Press, a product which brings Postscript compatibility to a variety of non- Postscript printers. Other winners include: Most Significant Hardware Product - Voice Navigator speech recognition system from Articulate Systems; Most Significant Software, Adobe Type Manager; Best New Technology - 32-bit Quickdraw. The John J. Anderson Distinguished Achievement award went to the original Macintosh development team, and the Derek Van Alstyne Rising Star award went to Raymond Lau, author of the StuffIt compression/decompression program. Both awards are named after MacUser reporters killed in the October 17, 1989 earthquake in San Francisco. (Wendy Woods/19900126) (NEWS)(APPLE)(SFO)(00002) NEW FOR MAC: OBJECT-ORIENTED LANGUAGE, EXPERTELLIGENCE GOLETA, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1990 JAN 26 (NB) -- The Macintosh just got a new programming tool, one its makers claim is the first integrated symbolic software application development system for the Macintosh II series. Expertelligence, a computer-aided software engineering (CASE) tool, allows the user to develop an application on at a Mac II with least 5 megabytes of memory, compile it, and deliver it stand-alone in record time, according to the company. The set of integrated tools takes advantage of the Common Lisp Object System Standard. The introductory price of the 25-diskette set, with six binders of documentation, plus support and newsletter, is $3,000. A complete seminar program is expected to be announced before April. Dr. John Forge, executive vice president, comments: "With this product, we are answering a growing need of the corporate developer market. More and more corporations are starting to understand that object-oriented programming is the only solution, and symbolic programming the best alternative. We can now provide these corporations and government organizations with the best tools and the most complete service available from any microcomputer developer." Expertelligence is a publicly traded company and a pioneer in the object-oriented programming and artificial intelligence. (Wendy Woods/19900126/Press Contact: Bernadette Bagley, 805-967-1797) (NEWS)(APPLE)(SFO)(00003) TORONTO MACWORLD EXPO PLANNED, OCT, 1990 DEDHAM, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1990 JAN 26 (NB) -- Mitch Hall Associates has announced plans to hold a Macworld Expo in Toronto on October 23 through 25 at the Better Living Centre building. The show is expected to attract hundreds of Canadian, U.S. and overseas companies creating Macintosh products. (Wendy Woods/19900126/Press Contact: Janet Sarofeen, Mitch Hall Associates, 617-361-8000) (NEWS)(APPLE)(SFO)(00004) NEW FOR MAC: CANOPENER RETRIEVES AND SEARCHES THROUGH IMAGES PLEASANTVILLE, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1990 JAN 18 (NB) -- Abbott Systems recently began shipping CanOpener, an information search and retrieval utility, which performs text and picture searches 200-300 percent faster than its previous version 1.0. Version 1.1 supports TIFF, RIFF and MacDraw picture formats to allow printing of retrieved information directly from the program. CanOpener operates on Macintosh computers and sells for $125. (Lori Bragg and Computer Currents/19900119/Press Contact: Call 914 747-3116) (NEWS)(APPLE)(SFO)(00005) NEW FOR MAC: BACKUP SOFTWARE CATALOGUES TOO LA HABRA, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1990 JAN 19 (NB) -- Master Manufacturing Inc., has a combination cataloging and backup program that provides for both archival and mirror image- type backup. Cat Back's documentation alerts users to backup procedures and problems. It also allows users to purge obsolete backup files quickly. Its cataloging capabilities allows for the merging of diskette and hard drive directories and a multiple sort feature that lets users sort by up to 3 of the 10 sort fields. For Macintosh computers, Cat Back sells for $39.95. (Lori Bragg and Computer Currents/19900119/Press Contact: 213 694-6861) (NEWS)(APPLE)(SFO)(00006) NEW FOR MAC: CLIENT/MAC TRACKS PROSPECTS MATAMORAS, PENNSYLVANIA, U.S.A., 1990 JAN 19 (NB) -- Software Complement has upgraded Client/Mac, a tracking software program. Client/Mac is a system designed to track of comprehensive records and general data, typical of large databases. The system offers users a way to establish and maintain up-to-date information about individuals and their affiliations. Each record provides an area to insert customers' names addresses, titles, company, department, telephone numbers, representative and last contact date. Other major features to Client/Mac is a follow-up note capability with letter sets. These notes can be entered and then edited at any time with as many notes per client as needed. Additional functions include the ability to document and track the amount of time spent with any particular contact. Client/Mac operates on Macintosh computers, it also runs on multiuser systems. The single user system costs $595. (Lori Bragg and Computer Currents/19900119/Press Contact: 717 491-2492) (NEWS)(APPLE)(TOR)(00007) COMPUTER ASSOCIATES LAUNCHES MAC ACCOUNTING PROGRAM VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA, 1990 JAN 22 (NB) -- The Micro Products Division of Computer Associates has launched repackaged, slightly enhanced versions of two accounting packages acquired in the purchase of Bedford Software last year. Incorporating the products gives CA its first accounting package for the Macintosh. Bedford Simply Accounting, renamed Accpac Bedford Simply Accounting, is a small-business accounting package for the Macintosh. CA has added security features, network access controls and a mailing label function. The company also streamlined accounts receivable and added a warning to users when they post unprinted invoices and cheques. Spokesman John Schoutsen said the new release has a few cosmetic changes, including the Computer Associates name on the start-up screen, but the structure is unchanged. The price remains C$449 in Canada and US$349 in the United States. Accpac Bedford Integrated Accounting, for MS-DOS, is easier to install and better guards network integrity, CA said. The structure remains the same, with cosmetic changes reflecting new ownership. The price continues at $249 in both the United States and Canada. Registered owners of both packages can upgrade for $100. Subscribers to CA's SupportPlus program can upgrade free. Schoutsen said similar upgrades of the French-language versions of both packages will debut soon. So will repackaged Bedford Toolbox graphics and reporting utilities for Integrated Accounting. Toolbox is being renamed Accpac Bedford Graphic and Custom Reporting. (Grant Buckler/19900126/Press Contact: John Schoutsen, Computer Associates, 604-733-2343) (NEWS)(APPLE)(HKG)(00008) APPLE FAR EAST OPENS SINGAPORE DISTRIBUTION CENTRE SINGAPORE, SOUTHEAST ASIA, 1990 JAN 25 (NB) -- Apple Far East has opened a Far East distribution centre in Singapore to ensure a high level of customer satisfaction in the area. Customer services manager, Tim Wheeler, says, "Apple Far East experienced a 60 percent revenue growth in fiscal 1989 over the previous year; we felt there was a need to establish an independent distribution base to help cope with the increased demand." He believes the new centre will improve the frequency, reliability and quality of product delivery to customers. The Singapore centre will hold stock from Apple's various manufacturing locations as well as OEM's (original equipment manufacturers) in Japan and then organize shipments destined for resellers around the region. All shipment authorizations will be directed from Apple Far East in Hongkong. Plans also include upgrading of information systems at the centre to allow fast order processing and to provide more information to customers. (Norman Wingrove/19900127/Press Contact: Donald Cheng, Apple Computer International Ltd, + 852 844 2415) (NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SFO)(00009) WYSE LAYS OFF 70, REPORTS $7 M LOSS SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1990 JAN 26 (NB) -- Wyse Technology, facing a $7.1 million quarterly loss, plans to axe its workforce by 70 people and let go other contract workers. Company officers take hope in the fact that the loss is smaller than that experienced one year ago -- $7 million compared to $26.4 million. Also, revenue is twice that of last year -- $112.4 compared to $65.5 million a year ago. Wyse Technology recently launched two new families of multiuser Unix machines, the Series 5000i and the Series 9000i. Both new machines are based, respectively, around multiple Intel 80386 and 80486 microprocessors, and run Wyse's Unix System V/386 version 3.2 operating system, an enhanced version of AT&T's Unix System V. The new machines form the basis of a new strategy for Wyse. The company is now into multiuser markets. (Wendy Woods/11900126) (NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LAX)(00010) COMPUTER SCIENCES REPORTS 3RD QTR FINANCIAL RESULTS EL SEGUNDO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1990 JAN 25 (NB) -- Computer Sciences Corp. (CSC) has reported third quarter 1990 net earnings of $14.9 million, a gain of 24 percent over the same period a year ago. Revenues for the quarter ended Dec.29, 1989 were at $368.9 million compared with $345.5 million for the third quarter of fiscal 1989. Revenues from ongoing operations were up 15 percent. The same quarter in 1989 included revenue from two CSC subsidiaries, Infonet and Compufact. CSC reduced its Infonet ownership to a minority interest in January 1989 thus removing Infonet income and costs from its financial picture in fourth quarter 1989. CSC sold Compufact in the fourth quarter 1989. Pre-tax income of $23.5 million represented a 21 percent gain over the income for third quarter last year. Included in the figure for the quarter just ended was an after-tax gain of $1.9 million from CSC's sales of a 10 percent share of its Infonet affiliate. (Janet Endrijonas/19909126/Press Contact: Jim Furlong, Computer Sciences Corp., 213-615-0311) (NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LAX)(00011) DATAPRODUCTS SELLS HEADQUARTERS WHILE INCURRING 3RD QTR LOSS WOODLAND HILLS, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1990 JAN 25 (NB) -- Dataproducts Corp. has sold its headquarters and manufacturing facility for $59.5 million after a long search for a buyer. The company also announced the commencement of a cash tender offer for up to 4 million shares of Dataproducts' common stock at $10 per share. The company reported a small pre-tax operating profit for third quarter 1990 but an after-tax loss caused by taxes on foreign operations and a one-time adjustment on the previously reported gain on the sale of the headquarters real estate. Taxes on foreign operations totaled approximately $1 million while Dataproducts reduced its previously reported gain of $40.2 million on the real estate sale to $3.5 million reporting a net loss for the quarter of $4,069,000. Revenues reported were $79,280,000 and pre-tax profits from operations totaled $426,000 for the quarter ended Dec. 23, 1989. (Janet Endrijonas/19909126/Press Contact: Jack C. Davis, Dataproducts Corp., 818-887-8355) (NEWS)(BUSINESS)(WAS)(00012) THE ULTIMATE GAINS HANDS-ON EXPERIENCE EAST HANOVER, N.J., U.S.A., 1990 JAN 24 (NB) -- Rick Dool, senior vice president of marketing at The Ultimate Corp., which supplies Unix and Pick-based business computer systems, has announced the company's acquisition last week of Hands-on Learning, based in Burlington, Massachusetts since its 1981 founding. Hands-On Learning training courses, which include self-study and/or on-site courses/seminars on computer-related subjects, are offered throughout the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, Germany, the Scandinavian countries, Japan, and Australia, and have more than 500,000 graduates worldwide, with clients including the federal government, large corporations such as IBM and AT&T, and smaller organizations. The acquisition is expected to aid current customers as well as enable Hands-On Learning to institute new training ideas and programs and expand its product line. Ultimate supplies training and maintenance services to a multitude of clients through its U.S., Canadian, British, French, Australian, and New Zealand outlets. (Beth Goldie/1990126/Press Contact: Cheryl Jacobsen, Ultimate, 201-887-9222) (NEWS)(BUSINESS)(WAS)(00013) LOTUS BLOSSOMS WITH HIGHER FOURTH-QUARTER EARNINGS CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1990 JAN 25 (NB) -- Lotus Development Corp. (Lotus) of Cambridge, Mass., has announced substantial improvements in its fourth quarter sales and net income plus end-of-fiscal-year results for 1989. Net sales of $150 million were posted for 1989's fourth quarter, ending December 31, 1989, about one-third more than the $112.4 shown for the same period in 1988. The quarter's net income increase, up 227 percent from 1988's fourth quarter earnings of 21 cents per share ($9 million), was due in large part to Lotus' divestiture of its Lotus Information Network Corporation (LINC), which brought in 11 cents of the total earnings of 69 cents per share ($29.4 million). The entire fiscal year ending December 31, 1989 brought Lotus net sales of $556 million, 19 percent better than 1988's $468.5 million, and net income of $1.61 per share ($68 million), up 15 percent from 1988's $1.29 per share ($58.9 million). According to Lotus' chief executives, many important customers switched to Releases 2.2 and 3 of 1-2-3 after testing these upgrades, and requests for Freelance Plus, Lotus' business graphics software, have also increased. The fourth quarter saw the release of several new products, including Lotus Notes, CD/Investment, and the Japanese version of Freelance Plus, plus customer testing of 1-2-3/G, the graphical version of the extremely popular spreadsheet. Lotus, which began in 1982, produces more applications software and more compact disk information services than any other company. (Beth Goldie/1990126/Press Contact: Susan Yeomans, Lotus Development Corp., 617-225-1540) (NEWS)(BUSINESS)(WAS)(00014) DATA GENERAL REPORTS FIRST QUARTER LOSS WESTBORO, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1990 JAN 25 (NB) -- Data General has reported a loss of 69 cents per share or $20.5 million for the first quarter of fiscal year 1990, ending December 30, 1989, this follows a $19.5 million loss for the same quarter last year, though the loss per share remained the same because of a larger number of outstanding shares. Even worse, the larger loss was on lower sales of $290.7 million verses $308.6 million for the previous year's same quarter. This means that the company is showing bigger losses on lower sales. Administrative costs were cut by nearly $10 million while product costs dropped about $7 million, but service revenue dropped by over $8 million and sales revenue dropped by almost $10 million. Ronald L. Skates, president and chief executive officer of Data General said, "We are encouraged that our cost reduction program is showing results." Newsbytes was unable to speak with him to discuss whether he felt that larger losses on smaller sales was also a good sign. (John McCormick/1990127/Press Contact: Jim Dunlap, Data General, 508-870-8162) (NEWS)(BUSINESS)(WAS)(00015) INTERLEAF LOSES $1.11 PER SHARE FOR THIRD QUARTER CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1990 JAN 25 (NB) -- Interleaf has reported a loss of $15.3 million, or $1.11 per share for its third quarter of the 1990 fiscal year ending December 31. This loss includes a one-time tax restructuring cost of $13.5 million. The same quarter of last year Interleaf reported earnings of 1 cent per share, or $82,000 on revenues of $21.3 million verses revenues of $21.5 million for this year's third quarter. (John McCormick/1990127/Press Contact: Dave Collard, Interleaf, 617-577-9800 X 7949) (NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TOR)(00016) DELRINA DEFINES ITS DIRECTIONS TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1990 JAN 24 (NB) -- Delrina Technology's business is not just forms processing, says its president, Mark Skapinker. The company is interested in both data entry and data reporting, coupled with desktop publishing technology. Commenting on a statement of product directions just released by Delrina, Skapinker told Newsbytes the company's business is "dealing with the business of business graphics as applied to data entry and printing and reporting technology." In the coming year, he said, Delrina plans to build on the success of its PerFORM forms processing software with new releases, eventually supporting Microsoft Windows, OS/2 and the Apple Macintosh as well as the Digital Research GEM environment which Delrina took as its first base. Delrina also plans new products related to forms processing. They will include "peripheral products" such as software to transmit forms by facsimile. Also, Skapinker said, the company is working on products that output data in publication-quality forms. "What people were asking us to do," he said, "was to take the world of the report writer ... and apply desktop publishing principles to that." (Grant Buckler/19900126/Press Contact: Mark Skapinker, Delrina Technology, 416-441-3676) (NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TOR)(00017) NORTEL SHUFFLES EXECUTIVES MISSISSAUGA, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1990 JAN 25 (NB) -- Northern Telecom Ltd.'s chief executive has tightened his control of the company, eliminating the post of president so that heads of three NorTel subsidiaries report directly to him. David Vice, formerly president of Northern Telecom Ltd., becomes vice-chairman for products and technology. The presidents of Northern Telecom Canada Ltd., Northern Telecom Inc., and Northern Telecom World Trade, who formerly reported to Vice, will now report to Stern. The three subsidiaries are the company's marketing operations covering Canada, the United States, and the rest of the world respectively. Bell-Northern Research, Northern Telecom Electronics and the company's Product Line Management Group will report to Vice. Northern also announced the retirement of Robert Ferchat as president of Northern Telecom Canada. His replacement is Gedas Sakus, former president of Bell-Northern Research. George Smyth, a former group vice-president, takes over for Sakus at BNR. (Grant Buckler/19900126/Press Contact: Stephen Bowen or John Strimas, Northern Telecom, 416-566-3020) (NEWS)(BUSINESS)(HKG)(00018) HONGKONG BRANCH OF ITALIAN BANK GOES BULLISH ON BULL CENTRAL, HONGKONG, 1990 JAN 20 (NB) -- Front-line Italian commercial bank Credito Italiano (CI) has become the first Bull DPS 4000 system user in Hongkong. CI placed an order worth more than $0.3 million for two DPS 4000 super minicomputers with Bull HN Information Systems (HK), bringing its newly appointed Asia/Pacific headquarters into line with its other branches worldwide using the same system. The bank's regional business is centred around finance and trading activities, including dealing room transactions, commercial lines of credit and international support funding and lending. The newly acquired system will be used to manage each of the bank's four main application areas. These are real-time foreign exchange, current account real-time processing, anagraphic filing and general ledger automatic processing. Roberto Piana, CI's assistant chief manager of resources and administration, says, "We have the system configured using six disc units with two discs dedicated to file duplication to enable us to make back-up copies of all our files. We send those files daily to the Bull DPS 9000 mainframe at our head office in Italy via General Electric's Mark III secure communications network." CI's DPS 4000 is configured with 1.8 gigabytes of disc storage, 4 megabytes of memory and initial communications support for 25 users. The package also includes 10 terminals and two 900 lines per minute printers. (Norman Wingrove/19900127/Press Contact: Mike Dunn, MDL, + 852 838 3889) (NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TYO)(00019) JAPAN'S TETRIS DISTRIBUTOR TO LAUNCH NEW TITLES IN U.S. YOKOHAMA, JAPAN, 1990 JAN 24 (NB) -- Software house BPS, distributor of Tetris game software for personal computers in Japan has decided to accelerate the sales of its other game software in the U.S. BPS has established a U.S. subsidiary, Bullet-Proof Software in Seattle, with a capital investment of 30 million yen ($207,000) late last year. The subsidiary is now developing game software for Nintendo and other game machines for the U.S. market and plans to release the games in summer of this year. Thanks to the favorable sales of its Tetris in the Japanese market, BPS expects to earn 3 billion yen ($21 million) in domestic revenue in fiscal 1989, ending June this year, which is a 50 percent increase over the past year. BPS will not be bringing Tetris to the U.S. market. Spectrum Holobyte, in Emeryville, California, is the exclusive U.S. distributor for personal computer versions of the game Tetris in the U.S. market. (Ken Takahashi & Wendy Woods/19900125/Press Contact: BPS, 045-931-0151) (NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TYO)(00020) TWO FUJITSU SUBSIDIARIES BUNCHED TOKYO, JAPAN, 1990 JAN 19 (NB) -- Two subsidiaries of Fujitsu will be merged into the single Fujitsu Device starting in April 1990. The subsidiaries are Fujitsu Microcomputer Systems, which has semiconductor engineering technology, and Fujitsu Microdevices, which has a substantial sales force. The mother enterprise of the firms thinks this merger is effective because the two entities enhance each other. Fujitsu Microcomputer Systems, established for developing microcomputers and ASICs (application-specific integrated circuits) in 1981, is expecting to gross 48 billion yen or $331 million in fiscal 1989. On the other hand, Fujitsu Microdevices, established for sales of semiconductors and electronics parts in 1958, is expecting 62 billion yen or $428 million of sales in fiscal 1989. The capital of the new firm is 372 million yen or $2.57 million with 660 employees. Fujitsu Device is aiming to earn 120 billion yen or $828 million in the initial year and to triple it within 10 years. (Naoyuki Yazawa/19900125) (NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TYO)(00021) FUJITSU TO OUTPUT 1M DRAM IN MALAYSIA TOKYO, JAPAN, 1990 JAN 22 (NB) -- Fujitsu will start production of one-megabit DRAM (dynamic random access memory) chips in its Malaysian subsidiary, Fujitsu Microelectronics Malaysia. The plant, now producing 256-kilobit DRAM chips with equipment shifted from its Singapore plant, will ramp up current production to one-megabit DRAM chips due to increased demand in the Asian market. Also, it is planning to increase production in Singapore, where today only a few hundred thousand chips are produced monthly, to one million a month by the spring. (Naoyuki Yazawa/19900125) (NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TYO)(00022) NEC UK TO PRODUCE 4M DRAM TOKYO, JAPAN, 1990 JAN 22 (NB) -- NEC has revealed a plan to start production of the new generation, four-megabit DRAM (dynamic random access memory) chip in Europe. The plant, which is going to output four-megabit DRAM, is NEC Semiconductors UK -- now producing 256-kilobit and one-megabit DRAM. The plant has one diffusion line and one assembling line. The diffusion line has a processing capacity of 9,000 pieces of 6-inch wafer a month and yet has only used up half of the factory floor space. NEC has decided to introduce an equipment available for production of four-megabit DRAM output in the other half of the plant. It is also planning to decrease the 256-kilobit DRAM output and shift to 256-kilobit static RAM. It will also increase the variety of the chips. (Naoyuki Yazawa/19900125) (NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LON)(00023) UK: DATAFLEX DESIGN GETS CASH BOOST FROM GOVT UNIT LONDON, ENGLAND, 1990 JAN 27 (NB) -- Dataflex Design, the London- based modem and communications products company, has received UKP 400,000-worth of equity finding from the Greater London Enterprise (GLE) board. The deal gives the GLE a 28 percent stake in Dataflex Design, along with a nomination for a seat on the company's board. Dataflex plans to use the GLE investment in funding to enhance the company's marketing activities, particularly in Europe. According to Nick King, Dataflex Design's chairman, marketing is an essential area for development if the company is to maintain its current 80 percent year-on-year growth record. "The tie-up with GLE comes at a crucial time in our development. The new funding puts us in an excellent position to capitalize on a rapidly growing market for our existing product range, and will help us make the most of the opportunities that are open to use as a new generation of Dataflex modems comes to market," he said. (Steve Gold/19900127/Press Contact: Phillip Benge, Dataflex Design - Tel: 01-543-6417) (NEWS)(BUSINESS)(BRU)(00024) COMPUTER MEMORIES REPURCHASES 1.2 MILLION SHARES BEDMINSTER, NEW JERSEY, USA, 1990 JAN 27 (NB) -- Computer Memories, the mini and mainframe memory specialist, has agreed to repurchase 1.2 million of its shares for $2.22 million. The bulk of the shares will be purchased from Frederick Helm and the Leslie Group. The purchase reflects the interest of CM to change ownership of shares thus regaining firm control of the company. (Peter Clear/19900127) (NEWS)(BUSINESS)(BRU)(00025) NEWSBYTES' TECHNOLOGY COMPANY REPORTS NEW YORK, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1990 JAN 27 (NB) -- Technology companies in the news this week included: [] COMPUTER TASK GROUP lost $10.1 million in its fourth quarter ended 31 December, 1989. The figures compare badly with losses of $.836 million on a turnover of $223 million for the same period the preceding year. The company has blamed restructuring costs of $13.6 million - including staff severance payments - as the primary reason for the disappointing results. [] AMERICAN BUSINESS COMPUTERS is offering 1,173,000 shares of its common stock at $2.75 each. The placement was made through Gray Seifert Securities in New York. [] RELM COMMUNICATIONS reported $257,000 losses on a sales of $5.274 million for its second quarter ended 31 December, 1989. Steve Wilkening, the company's president and CEO, blamed falling sales and static overheads as the primary reason for the losses. [] COMPUTER SCIENCES reported earnings of $14.9 million on revenues of $368.9 million for its third quarter ended 31 December, 1989. During the same period last year, the company earned $12 million on revenues of $321 million. Adding to the profits was CSC's recent sale of a 10 percent stake in Infonet, one of CSC's subsidiaries. [] ENCORE COMPUTER earned $255,000 in the fourth quarter while revenues stood at $60.107 million. Encore had revenues of $8.758 million in the same period last year. The company recently entered into a major agreement with McDonnell Douglas for its parallel multiprocessing systems. [] SEQUOIA has filed for a public offering for 1,900,000 shares of its common stock to be available at between $9 and $11 each. The offering will managed by Merril Lynch. Sequoia manufactures fault-tolerant systems and general purpose computers. [] AMDAHL ended its fourth quarter with profits of $41.63 million on sales of $625.847 million. The company paid a dividend of 38 cents per share. [] AT&T reported profits of $705 million on a turnover of $9,301 million for its fourth quarter. The profits compare with losses of $3,300 million for the same period last year. The company paid a share dividend of 65 cents. [] DATA GENERAL finished its first quarter ended 30 December, 1989, with losses of $20.5 million on revenues of $290.7 million. The figures compare with losses of $19.5 million on revenues of $308 million the previous year. Data General is rumoured to be introducing cost cutting measures. The company's newly-announced AviIon system is expected to do well in the mid-systems range. [] DATAPRODUCTS announced third quarter results with sales down to $79.28 million and losses of $4.069 million. Previous year results were $94.8 million and $1.63 million respectively. [] LOTUS DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION, the company begin the 1-2-3 spreadsheet, reported higher earnings and revenues. The company ended the fourth quarter ended 31 December, 1989, with sales of $149.95 million against profits of $29.414 million. Lotus paid out a dividend of 69 cents a share. [] WYSE TECHNOLOGY - now owned by a Taiwanese consortium - reported losses of $7.073 million as expected, on revenues of $112.425 million for its third quarter ending 29 December, 1989. In the same period last year, the company reported losses of $26.4 million. [] NYNEX lost $43.7 million in its fourth quarter ending 31 December, 1989. The company reported revenues of $13,200 million for the year. Income for the period amounted to $807.6 million against $1,320 million in the same period the previous year. [] CADMUS CORPORATION ended the second quarter ending 31 December, 1989, with sales of $43.6 million and earnings of $1.342 million. The company reported earnings of $820,000 for the same period last year. (Peter Clear/19900127) (NEWS)(BUSINESS)(BRU)(00026) ASIAN STOCKS CLOSE LOWER ON WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 27, 1990 TOKYO, JAPAN, 1990 JAN 27 (NB) -- Stocks closed lower in Hong Kong as the Chinese New Year holiday came into focus. The Hang Seng Index dropped 6.06 points to end the day at 2,756.39. Stock turnover finished the day at 440 million Hong Kong dollars, a figure unchanged on Tuesday's performance. In Tokyo, meanwhile, share prices plummeted due to fears that Wall Street is heading for a bad patch. Selling spread wide and the Nikkei Dow average fell 599.06 points to end the day at 36,778.98. The markets in Australia and Singapore also fell. The Sydney All Ordinaries Index fell 3.6 to end the day at 1,661.2 while the Straits Index finished down 15.56 to 1,505.07. In Tokyo, Toshiba was active on rumours that the company will be launching a full size flat colour LCD television later this year. (Peter Clear/19900127) (NEWS)(BUSINESS)(BRU)(00027) ASIAN STOCKS FINISH MIXED ON THURSDAY, JANUARY 25, 1990 TOKYO, JAPAN, 1990 JAN 27 (NB) -- Stocks closed Thursday somewhat mixed after several days when the Nikkei Dow average has been sliding to reach its lowest levels for some time. In Tokyo, share prices stabilized with the Nikkei Dow Index climbing 190 points to close at 36,969.11 points. The market changed from a sellers to a buyers, which ensured profitable operations for shrewd investors. (Peter Clear/19900127) (NEWS)(BUSINESS)(BRU)(00028) NYSE CLOSES LOW IN HEAVY TRADING ON WEDNESDAY, 24 JANUARY, 1990 NEW YORK, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1990 JAN 27 (NB) -- Wall Street continued its downward momentum which has started since the beginning of 1990, and closed the day down 10.81 to end the mid week session at 2,604.50. Declines beat advances by a factor of 10 to 3, with the traded volume standing at 209 million shares. Amongst the technology movers, AT&T moved up following reports of plant closures and cost cutting measures, IBM also moved up a little (ending at $97.5) while Motorola remained stable. On the OTC market, Microsoft closed up $1-00 to finish $90.75 after 111.5 million shares changed hands. Intel also moved up $1.25 on news of its agreement with NMBS semiconductor for memory chips. Intel finished the day at $38. MCI Communications was off 37.5 cents ending the day at $38.75. Apple Computer, after suffering lately with a lower than expected earnings forecast, recovered up a little to $34. On the Amex market, Wang Labs remained unchanged at $4, while Dataproducts, the printer manufacturer, moved up 12.5 cents to finish the day at $6.875. (Peter Clear/19900127) (NEWS)(BUSINESS)(BRU)(00029) BULL TO SHED 1,200 JOBS PARIS, FRANCE, 1990 JAN 27 (NB) -- Groupe Bull, France's largest computer manufacturer, has announced plans to shed 1,200 jobs. The staff cuts are part of a complex series of cost cutting measures aimed at coping with the lower demand for computers in the European market-place. Bull said that all the losses will be in France. The company has already lost 2,000 jobs since 1988. Bull, for a time Europe's largest computer manufacturer - before Siemens bought Nixdorf and moved into the number one slot - manufactures large and small scale computer systems. (Peter Clear/19900127) (NEWS)(BUSINESS)(BRU)(00030) NYSE CLOSES LOW AGAIN ON FRIDAY, JANUARY 26, 1990 NEW YORK, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1990 JAN 27 (NB) -- Wall Street kept sliding and closed the week lower again at 2,559.23 - a fall of 123.55 points since the beginning of the year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) closed the week down 1.81 points after closing down 43.46 points on Thursday. This illustrates the current unease in the markets and general mistrust by investors. The fall of 118.6 points for the week was one of the worst since the black week last October when the DJIA fell by 216 points. 4.4 percent of stock value has been lost this week. Declines beat advances 3 to 2 with some technology stocks falling to new lows. IBM, initially gaining $1, dropped back to finish the week at $96.875. AT&T, meanwhile, fell $2 ending at $39.125. Over the Counter (OTC) stocks fared rather better with Microsoft ending the week unchanged at $90.75; Intel at $38.75, up 50 cents; Sun Microsystems up 12.5 cents to $19; Apple Computer sliding $1.325 to $32.75 and Lotus Development Corporation down 25 cents even though the company reported record earnings. On the American Exchange, Amdahl Corporation moved up 12.5 cents to $15.5. (Peter Clear/19900127) (NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SFO)(00031) The BoCoEx Index / Closing Prices on the Boston Computer Exchange for the week ending January 26, 1990 Machine Closing Price Ask Bid IBM PC 176 Floppy $ 550 - 825 400 IBM XT 086 10 MgB 700 - 825 700 IBM XT 089 20 MgB 850 up 50 900 700 IBM AT 099 20 MgB 1450 - 1600 1300 IBM AT 239 20 MgB 1825 - 1850 1700 IBM AT 339 30 MgB 1825 - 1850 1700 IBM PS/2 Model 30 20 MgB 1350 up 125 1525 800* IBM PS/2 Model 50 20 MgB 1800 - 1900 1500 IBM PS/2 Model 60 40 MgB 2425 down 375 2700 2425 IBM PS/2 Model 80 70 MgB 4025 up 125 4225 3960* Compaq Portable I Floppy 650 - 700 550 Compaq Plus 10 MgB 750 - 950 675 Compaq Portable II 20 MgB 1700 - 1725 1550 Compaq Portable 286 20 MgB 1900 - 2000 1600 Compaq Portable III 40 MgB 2350 up 150 2500 2000* Compaq Portable SLT 20 MgB 2700 - 3000 2600 Compaq Portable 386 40 MgB 3500 - 3510 2750 Compaq Deskpro 20 MgB 900 - 1200 800 Compaq Deskpro 286 40 MgB 1525 down 150 2025 1300 Compaq Dskpr 386/16 40 MgB 2475 - 2750 2475 Compaq Dskpr 386/20 130 MB 3800 - 4020 3800 Macintosh 512 Floppy 575 up 20 650 525 Macintosh 512e Floppy 650 - 890 625 Macintosh Plus Floppy 900 down 50 950 850 Macintosh Plus 20 MgB 1400 - 1500 1100 Macintosh SE Floppy 1575 - 1850 1475 Macintosh SE 20 MgB 1875 - 2050 1750 Macintosh SE/30 40 MgB 3160 - 3400 2500 Macintosh II 40 MgB 3750 - 4200 2150 Macintosh IICX 40 MgB 4200 - 4500 3700 Apple IIgs Floppy 1200 - 1475 800 Apple IIe Floppy 650 down 75 800 600 Apple IIc Floppy 550 - 650 400 Toshiba T-1200 floppy 1080 - 1200 900 Toshiba T-3100 20 MgB 1850 - 1850 1500 Toshiba T-5100 40 MgB 3700 - 4200 3100 NEC Multispeed floppy 800 - 900 500 Zenith 183 20 MgB 1275 up 25 1400 600 Zenith SuperSport 286 2000 - 2150 1650 * Top Demand This Week Market Generally Up BY BoCoEx Staff Economists Gainers led losers in an active week on the Big Board of the BoCoEx. Six models were up, four were down, and there was strong activity in the PS/2's. The Compaq Portable 3 took another jump on its rollercoaster. At the IBM desk, the PS/2 MOdel 30 with 20 megabyte hard disk was up $125 closing the week at $1350. Systems with more extensive configurations than the baseline BoCoEx Index system traded at higher figures. The Model 80 with was also up $125 closing the week at $4025. In contrast, the PS/2 Model 60 dropped $375 in idiosyncratic trading. Among the Compaq Models, there was another rebound of the Portable 3 which traded up $150 at $2350. It has been up and down all through the fall and winter. The 20 megabyte Deskpro 286 dropped $150 and ended up the week trading at $1525. Apple trading news showed the floppy-only Macintosh Plus in flux. There were buyers in the market as high as $950, and some sellers willing to settle for $850. The market was mixed, and the Mac Plus ended the week at $900. The 2e was down $75 at $650. The only real news on the Laptop front was the Zenith 183 which was up $25 at $1275. Other models traded at last week's numbers. Index prices are based on configurations of complete systems with keyboard, monochrome monitor and adapter, less the value of any software or other peripherals. Call: 617-542-4414 or the Buyer's Hot Line: 1-800-BoCoExx or FAX: 617-542-8849. (BOCOEX/19900126) (EXCLUSIVE)(GENERAL)(LON)(00032) FOUR NEW AMIGAS FOR CEBIT '90 THIS MARCH? HANOVER, WEST GERMANY, 1990 JAN 27 (NB) -- There is considerable industry speculation on what Commodore is planning for launch at the CeBit '90 computer show in Hanover, West Germany this March. The company is known to be cooperating with Gigatron, a West German manufacturer, on the release of an LCD and a gas plasma laptop version of the Amiga, but now rumours of a high-end Unix range of Amigas are beginning to surface. Sources on the Usenet network have suggested that at least two new Amigas - the A3000 and the A3500 - will be announced at CeBit. Both machines will probably centre around Motorola's 68040 microprocessor, which was formally unveiled in the US last week. In the run-up to Comdex Fall in the US last November, Newsbytes predicted that the A3000 would be launched at the show. In the event, we were wrong, but a 25MHz 68030-based version of the Amiga - the A2500/30 - was announced. Industry sources suggest that the machine is still only available in the US in very limited quantities. Although Commodore is officially saying nothing about the possibility of the A3000 being announced at CeBit, sources close to the company told Newsbytes that a Unix Amiga project is under way, although no firm date has been pencilled in for the machine's introduction. "Products such as this are always up in the air right up until the last moment. It's possible that the machine might be ready in time for CeBit in March, but, then again, it might not be," said one source. Newsbytes has discussed the Amiga 3000 series with several industry figures and concluded that the Unix machines will almost certainly be launched at CeBit in multiple configurations. These are likely to start with a minimum specification of 2 or 4MB of RAM and an 80MB hard disk, making the machine suitable for use in a multiuser Unix environment. (Steve Gold/19900127) (NEWS)(GENERAL)(SFO)(00033) TED NELSON & ALDUS' LARRY SPELHAUG TO DELIVER WCCF KEYNOTES SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1990 JAN 26 (NB) -- The West Coast Computer Faire will feature Ted Nelson, creator of the hypertext concept and a recognized genius, and Larry Spelhaug, vice president of marketing at Aldus Corporation, as keynote speakers. The 15th annual fair is slated for March 1 - 4 at San Francisco's Brooks Hall and Civic Auditorium. Nelson's topic is "Toward a New Clarification," in which the author of "Computer Lib" and now resident visionary at Autodesk in Sausalito, California, will discuss new directions for computing. Says his statement to the press: "Incompatibilities mean repeatedly crushed hopes and blighted working lives, offices crisscrossed with ever-increasing entanglements. We must find a deep unification that returns to the straightforwardness and clarity we once had in a world of paper." Spelhaug will address new factors and future directions in desktop computing and what market factors are predominant. Also new at this year's show will be conference sessions dealing with the social and health issues of computing. Session topics include "The Personal Effects of Personal Computers, a conference which will explore current knowledge of health effects from video display terminals; The Social Effects of Personal Computers, which will examine the way PCs are changing our workplace and natural environment; and Special Access and Enabling Technology will analyze new and existing computer technology for helping the handicapped. The West Coast Computer Faire is produced by The Interface Group in Needham, MA. (Wendy Woods/19900126/Press Contact: Victor Cruz, 617-449- 6600) (NEWS)(GENERAL)(LAX)(00034) NEW FOR IBM AND MAC: NANAO INTROS 16-INCH MONITOR TORRANCE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1990 JAN 23 (NB) -- Nanao USA Corp., has introduced a 16-inch monitor that offers photographic quality resolution for a variety of applications including text intensive, page proofing, desktop publishing, computer-aided design, three dimensional modeling, presentation graphics and workstations. The FlexScan 9070U has a 0.28mm dot pitch and is an enhanced version of the company's FlexScan 9070S with 0.31mm dot pitch. The monitor supports the EGA, PGC, VGA and 8514/A Enhanced VGA graphics standards for IBM and compatibles. Maximum resolution is 1,280 x 800 interlaced and 1,024 x 768 non-interlaced. For Apple Macintosh II users, the monitor supports the 24-bit "true color" graphics display standard that offers a palette of 16.7 million colors and resolutions as high as 1,024 x 768. The 9070U is already shipping at a suggested retail price of $1,779.00. (Janet Endrijonas/19909126/Press Contact: Keiichi "Dan" Makino, Nanao USA, 213-325-5202) (NEWS)(GENERAL)(LAX)(00035) MCDONNELL D OFFERS NEW DEC VMS SOFTWARE SUPPORT SANTA ANA, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1990 JAN 25 (NB) -- Three new services including telephone software support, remote system management and system organization and setup will be offered to DEC VMS users by the McDonnell Douglas Field Service Co. Telephone software support identifies operating errors and a corrective action. It also identifies the program in which a problem originated and recommends ways to resolve the situation. Remote system management performs routine functions such as adding or removing authorized users, routine monitoring of a system's performance to detect system status changes and error trends. This service will also be used to advise customers of upgrade requirements when necessary. System organization and setup offers a one-time remote service that organizes system software by verifying and organizing directory structure and user account profiles, implementing a full accounting and security program and offering a complete set of site-specific operating guidelines to enhance system performance. Each service has been designed to be accessed electronically from a central location. Initially the telephone support will be available during normal working hours (8 AM to 5 PM, Monday through Friday) with additional hours and off-hours support available on a per-call basis. (Janet Endrijonas/19909126/Press Contact: Pat Dwight, McDonnell Douglas Field Service Co., 714-566-4965) (NEWS)(GENERAL)(WAS)(00036) EPOCH GOES TO VAR FOR INFINITESTORAGE WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A., 1990 JAN 23 (NB) -- At UniForum '90, Epoch Systems Inc. has announced it is incorporating a value-added reseller (VAR) program to market its Epoch-1 InfiniteStorage server technology, which allows nearly limitless online storage, elimination of archival needs, and automated backup and recovery by the alliance of magnetic disk storage with optical disk storage ranging from one gigabyte to one terabyte capacity. The VAR program will save money for customers of Epoch Systems Inc. and give them strategic on-line data storage. (Beth Goldie/1990126/Press Contact: Jay Woodruff, Epoch, 508- 481-3717) (NEWS)(GENERAL)(TOR)(00037) CALGARY STUDENTS GO TO ACM COMPETITION CALGARY, ALBERTA, CANADA, 1990 JAN 22 (NB) -- A group of students from the University of Calgary will compete at the 14th annual Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Scholastic Programming Contest in February. The group will meet 23 other teams from universities around the world. At the competition, sponsored by AT&T Computer Systems, teams from 24 universities in North America, Europe and the Pacific Rim compete to solve programming problems as quickly as possible. The contest is held in conjunction with the ACM's annual computer science conference, scheduled for February 21 in Washington, D.C. (Grant Buckler/19900126/Press Contact: Jim Adams, ACM, 212-869- 7440; Valery Vollenweider, AT&T Canada, 416-756-5034) (NEWS)(GENERAL)(HKG)(00038) CHINESE NEW YEAR GOES HI-TECH CAUSEWAY BAY, HONGKONG, 1990 JAN 26 (NB) -- Hi-tech has invaded the centuries-old traditions of Lunar New Year, the most important festival in the Chinese calendar. Well, not quite hi-tech, perhaps, but the cards - or mahjong tiles - are on the table. One of the most colourful features of the New Year celebrations is the all- night flower market. After a family dinner, everyone goes to the nearest floodlit temporary flower market to stroll among the crowds, admiring and buying one or more of the thousands of flowers and plants on sale. Everything from small kumquat trees to pots of dahlias, narcissi and, most important of all, peach trees with their buds just beginning to open, are traditionally set free to exhibit the good luck they contain. But the more traditional fun is showing signs of modern influences. Among the stalls at this year's fair at Hongkong's Victoria Park are some selling distinctly un-floral items. One of the more fantastic items on sale is a pair of oversized eyeglasses complete with headlights and windscreen wipers, while several stall owners have attempted to blend old and new with shelves full of electronic flowers. Electronic flowers? Yes - miniature plastic sunflowers complete with smiling faces adorned with dark glasses and holding guitars. Stand their pot near any sound source, and they bop to the music. About the only thing not on offer is a computerized cactus, but there's always next year ... (Norman Wingrove/19900127) (NEWS)(GENERAL)(TYO)(00039) JAPAN: EPSON LAUNCHES HISTORY'S BIGGEST COMPUTER RECALL NAGANO, JAPAN, 1990 JAN 25 (NB) -- Major PC maker Seiko-Epson will exchange all defective parts of its 105,500 PCs sold between December 1987 and December 1989. The PC industry has never experienced such a large recall ever in its history. Epson will exchange all the defective power-charger units of its PC-286L, PC-286LE, and PC-286LF PCs, which are compatible with NEC's PC-9801 series. Epson says the units might overheat, emitting a foul odor, and in the worst case, going up in smoke, if connected with an AC (alternative current) adaptor when the internal battery runs down. Distributor Epson-Hanbai estimates the cost of this recall at staggering one billion yen ($6.9 million). Epson rapidly expanded its PC market share with sales of PCs compatible with Japanese defacto-standard PC, NEC's PC-9801, by offering a 20 percent faster speed and a 20 percent lower price. Some industry analysts suggest that Epson had been too rushed to catch up with Japan's PC giant NEC. The accident is expected to diminish Epson's PC delivery numbers from the initially planned 250,000 to 210,000 units in fiscal 1989 ending in March. (Ken Takahashi/19900125/Press Contact, Seiko-Epson, 0266-52-3131, Epson-Hanbai, 03-377-7001) (NEWS)(GENERAL)(TYO)(00040) NEC, TOSHIBA, EPSON TO OFFER NEW BOOK-SIZE COMPUTERS TOKYO, JAPAN, 1990 JAN 19 (NB) -- NEC, Toshiba, and Seiko-Epson are getting ready to introduce new book-size computers, according to Nihon Keizai Shimbun newspaper. The paper says NEC will release a book-size version of its laptop PC-98LT with an embedded V50 microprocessor. The paper expects the new machine to cost about 150,000 yen ($1,000), much lower than its predecessor PC-9801N, which has a list price 248,000 yen ($1,700) with fewer features. Though the PC-9801N runs about 4,700 applications, the new machine will be able to run only 500 different programs, the paper predicts. Toshiba, the paper foresees, will unveil an 80286-based book-size computer, much faster than its popular 80C86-based DynaBook. The paper expects Toshiba to price the new computer with enhanced communication features at 300,000 yen ($2,100), higher than the current 198,000 yen ($1,400) for the DynaBook. On the other hand, Seiko-Epson will launch its new book-size computer with a built-in floppy drive and list price of about 200,000 yen ($1,380), the paper adds. Epson has failed to achieve decent sales of its NOTEexecutive, released in October last year, due to consumer objections to its IC card system for data storage and the high price at 448,000 yen ($3,200). The paper expects the new computer to be compatible with NEC PC-9801 personal computers. Spokespersons at all three companies told Newsbytes that the whole story is the guesswork of the reporter, except for a Toshiba spokesman who said the reporter is very sharp and intuitive, but would not comment on any details. (Ken Takahashi/19900125) (NEWS)(GENERAL)(TYO)(00041) PC-9801 RECORDED BEST SALES IN DECEMBER TOKYO, JAPAN, 1990 JAN 19 (NB) -- The Japanese de facto standard PC, NEC's PC-9801 series, recorded the best monthly sales ever in December last year. December sales of 95,000 units far exceeds the past best record of 75,000 units in March last year. NEC's book-size PC-9801N computer which debuted in November last year, its 16-bit desktop PC-9801RX, and its 32-bit desktop PC-9801RA greatly contributed to the good showing. NEC sold 20,000, 25,000, and 10,000 units respectively. The PC-9801N especially selling briskly, shops are reporting their supplies have been depleted by public demand. NEC is hoping for 800,000 PCs to be sold in its fiscal 1989 ending March this year. (Ken Takahashi/19900125) (NEWS)(GENERAL)(TYO)(00042) JAPAN: ASHISUTO OFFERS MORE LOW-PRICE SOFTWARE TOKYO, JAPAN, 1990 JAN 23 (NB) -- According to Nikkei Industrial Daily newspaper, software house Ashisuto will add another five applications at the low price of 9,700 yen ($67), a price which is the same as its current five software products on the market. Ashisuto has so far released its AshisutoCalc spreadsheet, AshisutoWord Japanese word processing, AshisutoArt graphic, AshisutoCard database, and AshisutoCall communication software programs since last year, and has sold over 70,000 packages. Because of the low price, the five software programs have only the necessary and basic features. As a result, Ashisuto, the paper judges, has decided to release additional software which will supplement the features. The new software will be used for desktop publishing, European language word processing, schedule management, creating documents for customers, and adding features to a personal computer, the paper adds. Ashisuto has not decided on any details yet. (Ken Takahashi/19900125) (NEWS)(GENERAL)(TYO)(00043) HIGH RESOLUTION 32-BIT LAPTOP FROM NEC TOKYO, JAPAN, 1990 JAN 23 (NB) -- NEC is marketing a 32-bit laptop office computer, NEC System 3100 model 10 LA II. The machine, equipped with 16 megahertz 80386SX and clearer backlit 1120 by 780 dots LCD (liquid crystal display), will run the original operating system specially developed for the 3100A series, ITOS-VX. The Japanese office computer market has shown stable growth recently while NEC and Fujitsu struggle for market share. The new machine is NEC's latest attempt to get the jump on its chief competitor by providing a wide range of the products tied into sales of its 3100-series workstation and general purpose computer ACOS series. The machine is scheduled to be shipped in the end of January with a price tag of 1.6 million yen or $11,030. (Naoyuki Yazawa/19900125/Press Contact: NEC, 03-4554-1111) (NEWS)(GENERAL)(TYO)(00044) JAPAN: SHARP ORGANIZER COMMUNICATES WITH DATABASE OSAKA, JAPAN, 1990 JAN 23 (NB) -- In an attempt to beat Casio Computer in the hand-held organizer market here, Sharp has come up with a new way to use its electronic organizer -- Sharp has enabled it to store information from a database. The system is aimed at those who are too busy to read database information online and want to read it during their leisure, such while commuting on a train. The new system works as follows. First, database data such as news stories and timetables are stored into the memory of a personal computer via modem. The user must then transfer the data into the memory of an IC (integrated circuit) card for the electronic organizer. The maximal capacity of the IC card holds 64 kilobytes of data, equivalent to 30,000 Japanese language characters. The new system is being implemented on a trial basis with Tokyo-based personal computer network TeleStar for two months starting February 1st. Sharp will customize the new system after getting feedback from 30 TeleStar subscribers involved in the test. Sharp also plans to gather comments on the system from visitors at its eight show rooms in Tokyo, Osaka and other cities. Sharp eventually plans to enable the organizer to link up online without the intervention of a PC. (Ken Takahashi/19900125/Press Contact: Sharp, 06-621-1221) (NEWS)(GENERAL)(SYD)(00045) WANT TO LIVE IN AUSTRALIA? COMPUTER EXPERTS WELCOME! SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1990 JAN 22 (NB) -- An immigration department scheme to speed the processing of applications from computer and communications skilled applicants is seen as a way of alleviating the national shortage of skilled personnel. The scheme allows for an extra 500 places for permanent residents and 400 temporary residents, plus 100 places for temporary residents to become permanent. To this would be added families. (Paul Zucker and Computing Australia/19900127/Contact ph. 61-62-851926) (NEWS)(GOVT)(LAX)(00046) ANDERSON WINS CONTRACT TO BROADEN INFO ACCESS IN TEXAS AUSTIN, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1990 JAN 26 (NB) -- Anderson Consulting has been awarded a $2.6 million contract by the State of Texas to develop a one-of-a-kind information system that will give elected officials, state agencies and the public greater access to state management information. According to Anderson Consulting Partner Warner Croft, the new system will be an executive information system (EIS) and a decision support system (DSS) to link with the state's new Uniform Statewide Accounting System (USAS). Croft claims that Texas will be the first state to have this capability which is slated to become operational in January of 1991. Systems users will be able to access financial and workload performance data for state services, develop trend forecasts and perform simulation exercises. Croft says that the information will be delivered on-line in layman's terms. (Janet Endrijonas/19909126/Press Contact: Dan Collins, Anderson Consulting, 312-507-6755) (NEWS)(GOVT)(LON)(00047) UK: COMMODORE IN TOP-SECRET CAA AMIGA PROJECT LONDON, ENGLAND, 1990 JAN 27 (NB) -- Commodore has landed a prestigious contract with the CAA (civil aviation authority) for supplying customised Amiga machines for use as advanced flight simulators for training pilots. Contract details first surfaced in the latest Computer Weekly, a UK computer newspaper, although Commodore and CAA officials are refusing to comment on the story. Newsbytes sources within Commodore were less than happy having their A2000 machines referred to as games machines in the Computer Weekly story banner, titled, "Flight controllers to train on games kit." Still, Computer Weekly reports that the CAA plans to install 24 training systems based around the Amiga A2000 machines. The Amiga 2000 systems - currently marketed as business, rather than games, machines - are enhanced with custom graphics cards, working to image resolutions of 1,280 by 1,204 pixels in 128 colours. The cards have been developed by a company called Hitension, while the software has been developed by Forefront Technology. Interestingly, Newsbytes notes that the CAA already has a flight simulation system based on Acorn BBC Master computers, a 6502- based micro. Sources suggest that the CAA was anticipating to enhance its BBC Master-based system into a fully fledged pilot training system, but the organization subsequently decided to put the contract out to tender. Sources close to Commodore suggest that the Amiga won the contract ahead of six other companies due a low project cost of UKP 3,000 ($4,500) per pilot training system. (Steve Gold/19900127) (NEWS)(GOVT)(BRU)(00048) EUROPEAN COMMISSION FORGETS EUROPE - BUYS JAPANESE BRUSSELS, BELGIUM, 1990 JAN 27 (NB) -- The European Commission (EC) - the body that regulates Europe - has broken its own rules and ordered 500 Canon fax machines to replace its aging Infotec units. According to informed sources, the EC had decided that Canon, which has been hit with punitive measures for its laser printers and copiers, makes better fax machines than European manufacturers and at a better price. Although certain sections of the industry are reported to be dismayed at the EC's decision to buy Japanese, some sources suggest that the contract will encourage European manufacturers to reduce what certain EC officers see as outrageous prices on their equipment. (Peter Clear/19900127) (NEWS)(GOVT)(LAX)(00049) NEW PRODUCT: TELEGEN2 ADA COMPILATION SYSTEM UNVEILED SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1990 JAN 23 (NB) -- Beginning in March, TeleSoft will sell and support the TeleGen2 Ada compiler introduced by TeleSoft and Tektronix for the Tektronix XD88 Series graphics superworkstations. According to Pat Welch, general manager, Tektronix Interactive Technologies Division, the TeleGen2 is the first Ada compiler available on Tektronix workstations. TeleGen2 is a validated (having passed the over 2,500 US government tests for use in Department of Defense programs), second generation Ada development system that enables developers of mission-critical applications to create portable, maintainable Ada applications ranging in size from 100-line programs to multiple programmer, million-line efforts. (Janet Endrijonas/19909126/Press Contact: Bruce Sherman, TeleSoft, 619-457-200 or Donna Loveland, Tektronix, 503-685-2838) (NEWS)(IBM)(SFO)(00050) NEW FOR IBM: RBASE 3.0 DATABASE TO SHIP MAR 30 REDMOND, WASHINGTON, U.S.A., 1990 JAN 29 (NB) -- Microrim says it will ship the newest version of R:BASE, an upgrade with 70 new features, by March 30, 1990. The new version is said to be the first database management system to have fully-integrated ANSI Level 2 Structured Query Language (SQL) packed into the 640-kilobyte software, a feature in demand by many corporate computing departments and government purchasers. There is also a graphic style, pull-down menu interface; one main menu to access, set up, and manipulate information; a system requiring fewer keystrokes to get requested results from the program. Also new is an autonumbering feature, 18-character names for tables and columns, and new printer controls for 100 different printers. Like earlier versions, this one also supports most major PC networks and allows multiple users to edit the same record at the same time. Microrim says 650,000 copies of R:BASE have been sold. The upgrade price is $175. New purchases cost $725. A standard version supports up to three users on a network. (Wendy Woods/19900126/Press Contact: Posy Gering, Microrim, 206-885-2000) (NEWS)(IBM)(SFO)(00051) NEW FOR IBM: UTILITY AUTOMATES INTEL FAX BOARD HILLSBORO, OREGON, U.S.A., 1990 JAN 19 (NB) -- Intel Corporation's Personal Computer Enhancement Operation has developed utility software for users of its Connection Coprocessor PC fax board to automate their fax operations. Intel's Command Line Utility Software lets users print incoming faxes automatically as they are received. This utility executes fax commands at the DOS prompt to create batch files of customized fax commands; this function automates repetitive fax operations or quickly executes fax commands without operating the Connection Coprocessor╒s main application. The software utility will send and receive faxes and files from PCs to Group 3 fax machines and other PCs equipped with a Connection Coprocessor or other Group 3 compatible fax boards. Intel PCEO announced that customers who purchase a Connection Coprocessor by June 30 1990, will receive Allen Computing's FAXit for Windows or $19.95. FAXit can be ordered directly from Intel by calling 800 356-3071. The Connection Coprocessor PC fax board retails for $695. Call 800 538-3373. (Lori Bragg and Computer Currents/19900119) (NEWS)(IBM)(SFO)(00052) NEW FOR IBM: COLOR/GRAY SCALE SCANNER FROM MICROTEK TORRANCE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1990 JAN 19 (NB) -- Microtek Lab I is now shipping the IBM PC-XT/AT and PS/2 version of its MSF-300Z Color/Gray scanner. The MSF-300Z offers both color and gray-scale scanning capabilities and operates in three different modes: black and white, 256 gray- scale and 24-bit full color. It sells for $2,695. Call 213 321- 2121 ext. 207. (Lori Bragg and Computer Currents/19900119) (EXCLUSIVE)(IBM)(WAS)(00053) VI-SPY NOW PROTECTS AGAINST MORE THAN 40 VIRUSES WILLOW GROVE, PENNSYLVANIA, U.S.A., 1990 JAN 26 (NB) -- Raymond Glath, developer of Vi-Spy, has announced that RG Software will begin shipping Release 2 of Vi-Spy on Monday. The second edition detects and eliminates about twice as many kinds of virus infections as the initial version and also offers other enhancements. Vi-Spy is a file-checking program which very rapidly checks every executable file on a single system or even on a complete network and can also be used to test floppy discs. When an infected file is located, the variety of the particular virus is reported, and Vi-Spy completely overwrites the file; it doesn't just delete the file name. Vi-Spy runs under DOS 2.0 or higher, comes on both 5.25- and 3.5-inch disks in a single package, and sells for $250, complete with a tutorial manual to help users detect and remove virus infections. Site licenses are unnecessary for corporate or government users who need buy only one copy of Vi-Spy for each location, but for larger operations, with computers at different locations, site license and multiple copy discounts are available. Otherwise, the program is meant to be run from a floppy and used only when needed or on a regular basis by the system guru, so only one copy is needed for each office. Although Vi-Spy is not copy protected, it should not be loaded onto a hard disk as a protection against infection of Vi-Spy and, in any case, it is licensed so that one person, the one in charge of software security, can take it from machine to machine or run it on a network and test all files. Among the new features in this version is a self-check feature which first tests Vi-Spy for the presence of a virus and shuts down immediately if anything is wrong with the files. There is also a memory check where Vi-Spy looks for any virus already hiding in RAM or random access memory. In addition to checking for executable files containing virus signatures, the latest edition also looks for virus code in .OV*, .PGM, and .BIN files. Mr. Glath, who is a leader in the fight against computer vandalism, expressed satisfaction with the conviction of Robert Morris this Monday, saying that he thought it sent the right message to the industry and potentially destructive hackers, but he is still concerned that Mr. Morris will receive too lenient a sentence. Vi-Spy is available from RG Software, Inc., 2300 Computer Ave., Suite E28, Willow Grove, Pa. 19090, U.S.A. 215-659-5300. An upgrade service costing $150 gives subscribers free updates as new virus programs are detected and incorporated in Vi-Spy. Note: Those who purchase Vi-Spy (and remember to register it) get one free quarterly upgrade. (John McCormick/1990126/Press Contact: Beverly Ann Glath, RG, 215-659-5300) (NEWS)(IBM)(ATL)(00054) NEW FOR IBM: RIGHTWRITER AVAILABLE FOR DESKMATE SARASOTA, FLORIDA, U.S.A., 1990 JAN 20 (NB) -- Rightsoft announced it is producing a version of its RightWriter proofreading program for Tandy's Deskmate interface. The program analyzes sentence style, pointing out wordy and redundant phrases, weak sentences, and overused words or phrases such as "consensus of opinion." The consensus of opinion is that this is already a fast-selling package with about 250,000 users. (Dana Blankenhorn/19900126/Press Contact: Carolyn Mullins, 800- 992-0244) (NEWS)(IBM)(ATL)(00055) NEW FOR IBM: KNOWLEDGEWARE SHIPPING OS/2 CASE TOOLS ATLANTA, GEORGIA, U.S.A., 1990 JAN 20 (NB) -- KnowledgeWare, the company headed by former quarterback and "Real People" host Fran Tarkenton, is shipping an OS/2 Presentation Manager version of its computer-assisted software engineering, or CASE tool, the Application Development Workbench. The ADW contains all the functions of the company's current Information Engineering Workbench which runs under DOS. The programs are a set of 4 products which work in planning, analysis, design and construction of software programs, helping to speed the development cycle. They support IBM's AD/Cycle and Systems Application Architecture. (Dana Blankenhorn/19900126/Press Contact: Kim Addington, KnowledgeWare, 404-231-8575) (NEWS)(IBM)(HKG)(00056) HONGKONG BUSINESS LEADER JOINS IBM TRADE GROUP BOARD CENTRAL, HONGKONG, 1990 JAN 22 (NB) -- David Gledhill, chairman of John Swire & Sons (HK) Ltd, one of Hongkong's two oldest companies, has become a member of the IBM World Trade Asia/Pacific Group Board. The Board supports IBM operations in 18 countries in the region from Australasia in the South to Japan and Korea in the north, providing counsel on socioeconomic, academic and national issues. It covers Southeast Asia, China and other Asian nations. Mr Gledhill, who is also a member of key committees at the University of Hongkong, became chairman of Swire in 1988, having been affiliated with the company since 1958 after graduating from Cambridge. Swire, which is still a private business, has been a leading Hong (big company) since the founding of this British colony 148 years ago and has operations worldwide. It covers a vast field of interests, from property development through information technology to one of the world's leading airlines, Hongkong's flag carrier Cathay Pacific Airways. (Norman Wingrove/19900127/Press Contact: May Chow, IBM/China Hong Kong Corporation, + 852 825 6907) (NEWS)(IBM)(TYO)(00057) JAPAN: IBM CUTS PRICES FOR ITS LATEST OS TOKYO, JAPAN, 1990 JAN 22 (NB) -- IBM Japan is discounting its late operating system for general purpose computers, MVS/ESA. The OS is made from several software programs and each element of the OS has been cut in price. For example, there is an 18 percent discount on system control instruction management software MVS/SP JES Release 3, 17 percent on time sharing system TSO/F Release 2 and 11 percent on a confirmation program for occupied expanded memory field, RMF Release 4. With this discount, the price of the operating system is now about 10 percent cheaper than the old version MVS/XA. IBM Japan is trying to accelerate the generation shift and also is expecting to sell 500 packages of the OS this year, 2.5 times more than last year's sales. (Naoyuki Yazawa/19900125) (NEWS)(IBM)(TYO)(00058) JAPAN: COMPAQ 486 TO BE DISTRIBUTED BY CATENA TOKYO, JAPAN, 1990 JAN 23 (NB) -- Catena Corp., a Japanese sales agent of U.S.-based Compaq, will market the fast 32-bit Compaq Deskpro 486/25 starting in February. The processing speed has been dramatically improved by the adoption of the Intel 80486 CPU (central processing unit) and an EISA (extended industrial standard architecture) data bus. The machine runs three times faster than 25 megahertz 80386-based machines while maintaining compatibility with IBM PC/AT. The Deskpro supports three operating systems, MS-DOS, OS/2 and Unix, and comes standard with four megabytes of main memory, expandable to 100 megabytes. The series has model 120 with 120 megabytes of built-in HDD (hard disk drive), model 320 with 320 megabytes HDD, and model 650 with 650 megabytes of HDD. The prices range between 2,617,900 yen and 3,833,400 yen or $18,050 and $26,440. (Naoyuki Yazawa/19900125/Press Contact: Catena, Compaq Center, 03-582-6061) (NEWS)(IBM)(SYD)(00059) IBM AUSTRALIA GROSS INCOME UP 17 PERCENT SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1990 JAN 23 (NB) -- With 1989 gross income of AUS$1478M (up $212M over 1988), IBM Australia profits are up $31M after tax. "This is well ahead of the information industry as a whole," said Managing Director Brian Finn. "Sales of PS/2s were up 40 percent, and OS/2 has been widely accepted by customers. One of the fastest growing areas was services and we established a strong presence in the Unix marketplace. While the economic climate is a source of concern, we believe we are well positioned to participate in the growth of the information industry," Finn also said. Other figures reported by IBM for 1989 include: revenue per employee $353M; total assets $306M; dividends remitted overseas $110M; shareholders equity $367M. (Paul Zucker/19900127/Press Contact Ros Gordon ph. 61-2- 6348688) (NEWS)(IBM)(LON)(00060) NEW FOR IBM: ELONEX LAUNCHES SLIMLINE BUDGET PC-XT LONDON, ENGLAND, 1990 JAN 27 (NB) -- Elonex has announced the 88M, a slimline XT-compatible laptop based around a 10MHz NEC V20 (8088-compatible) microprocessor. Pricing starts at UKP 645 ($970) for a 640K RAM, 720K 3.5-inch disk drive-equipped machine, complete with Hercules-compatible monochrome monitor, Microsoft- compatible mouse, MS-DOS 4.01, MS-Works and GW-Basic. A diskless version of the 88M is also available for UKP 565 ($850), which includes an Ethernet card and boot ROM chip at no extra cost. A VGA colour version of the 88M pushes the price to UKP 945 ($1,400). All prices include a 12-month 'back-to-base' warranty and technical support hotline. Third party maintenance is available as an optional extra. (Steve Gold/19900127/Press Contact: David Bridson - Tel: 0442- 874006; Public Contact: Ari Gershuni - Tel: 01-965-3225) (NEWS)(TELECOM)(LON)(00061) NEW PRODUCT: MITSUBISHI LAUNCHES 32-GREY SCALE SUPER FAX HATFIELD, ENGLAND, 1990 JAN 27 (NB) -- Mitsubishi Electric UK has begun shipping the FA-770, a fax machine capable of dither- processing half tone images to yield a 32-level grey scale, while normal text and line drawings are transmitted as standard black and white prints. The machine retails for UKP 1,750. At this price level, the FA-770 is pitched at the mid-range Group III (9600bps) fax machines currently available in the UK market- place. The unit features 25-number programmable memory transmission, broadcasting and time-controlled transmission, as well as polling and confidential transmission facilities. The FA-770 is unusual in supporting a proprietary superfine mode. When used to transmit to or receive from, other FA series machines, the unit produces a resolution of 8 x 15.4 dots per millimetre - twice that of the fine mode seen on other fax machines. Other features include an automatic voice/fax switching mechanism to allow the machine to be used on the same telephone line as a standard phone. (Steve Gold/19900127/Press & Public Contact: Peter Elliott, Mitsubishi Electric - Tel: 0707-276100) (NEWS)(TELECOM)(LON)(00062) STORM WREAKS HAVOC WITH UK TELECOMMUNICATIONS NETWORK LONDON, ENGLAND, 1990 JAN 27 (NB) -- Last week's storms, which hit the UK and subsequently Belgium, France and other areas of Northern Europe with winds of up to 110 miles per hour, caused damage estimated at UKP 1,100 million ($1,650 million) in the UK alone. Worse still, the storms cost 45 lives in the UK alone, with dozens more deaths reported on the continent. Whilst residents in the UK picked up the pieces after the storm as Newsbytes went to press, the UK telecommunication networks were assessing the damage. At its height, scores of telephone exchanges were knocked out of commission, along with trunk and international switching centres. At least one major switching centre on the Mercury network was out of commission for several hours on Thursday, causing several thousand calls in-route to south London on the Mercury network to fail completely. The BT/Mercury interconnect centre in Morden, South London, was blacked out completely as power failed. According to one Mercury engineer contacted by Newsbytes at the storm's height, no calls in or out of the London area were processed for several hours by Mercury, due to exchange failures. On the British Telecom network, meanwhile, trunk call service was patchy, especially to and from the London and Southeastern area. Trunk callers were greeted with a network engaged tone or, more frequently, nothing at all. One BT operator told Newsbytes that dozens of exchanges were listed as out of contact on the trunk network. In one incident, it took Newsbytes more than four hours to get a call through to Croydon in Surrey from Northern England. Eventually the call got through - via MCI in the United States! As with great storms of November, 1987, the cellular telephone networks in the UK proved the most resilient to the effects of the winds. Service was maintained over most of the network, although calls to the BT network were patchy, owing to problems on the BT network itself. (Steve Gold/19900127) (NEWS)(TELECOM)(TOR)(00063) CANADA'S INFO GLOBE TO OFFER SOVIET NOVOSTI PRESS SERVICE TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1990 JAN 26 (NB) -- News from the Soviet Union's Novosti Press Agency will be available on the Toronto-based Info Globe online service starting in March. Novosti, an independent Soviet news agency, has agreed to supply Info Globe with at least 50 pages of articles each week, said Phil Faughnan, marketing manager for Info Globe. Info Globe is the exclusive distributor for Novosti in North America, he said. Info Globe is the electronic publishing division of The Globe and Mail, a Toronto-based, nationally distributed daily newspaper. The online service provides a variety of news and financial databases in addition to the full text of The Globe and Mail. Novosti is the first news agency to have its output made available on Info Globe, Faughnan said. He noted that most western agencies, such as Associated Press, are already widely available online. Though Faughnan did not rule out making other such services available through Info Globe, he said the Novosti deal was partly chance. "We happened to come together," he said, "and it looked like a good fit." (Grant Buckler/19900126/Press Contact: Phil Faughnan, Info Globe, 416-585-5250) (NEWS)(TELECOM)(SFO)(00064) NEW FOR IBM: SET UP YOUR OWN VIDEOTEX SERVICE WITH SERVOTEL PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1990 JAN 19 (NB) -- Servotel Videotex Systems has released a multiprotocol version of its videotex server which converts IBM PCs into multichannel servers for 72 simultaneous users. Servotel's servers operate on every North American gateway and network including those of NYNEX, US West, Southwestern Bell, Bell Atlantic, Bell South, Bell Canada's ALEX network and Minitel Services. In addition to its 72 channel product, Servotel manufactures 16, 28, and 40 channel version. Each of these products include two videotex communications boards, graphic page composing hardware, cables and break-out boxes. The products operate on the IBM PC and compatibles It is priced at $8,900 for the 28 version; $16,900 for the Servopac 72 and $4,770 for the Servocompo kit. Call 415-494-0117. (Lori Bragg and Computer Currents/19900119) (NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00065) SPAIN TO GET SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM MADRID, SPAIN, 1990 JAN 23 (NB) -- Spain signed a contract with Matra of France for the construction of its first satellite communications system, Hispasat. Matra will provide two orbiting multi-purpose communications satellites handling telecommunications, data transmission and television for both civil and military use, plus spare parts, in June. The two satellites are to be launched at four-month intervals from July 1, 1992. The satellites are to be launched by the Ariane system of the European Arianespace consortium. (Dana Blankenhorn/19900126) (NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00066) LOS ANGELES SIGNS FOR COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1990 JAN 23 (NB) -- Newbridge Networks signed a $2.68 million agreement with Los Angeles County to provide a communications backbone network. The network will be used for emergency and administrative services and will utilize T-1 lines as well as digital microwave for maximum reliability during emergencies. Installation of the network will take place over the next 3-5 years. Twelve nodes are currently being installed, with 10 more to follow immediately. Upon completion, the network is projected to be between 50 and 100 nodes. (Dana Blankenhorn/19900126/Press Contact: William A. Flanagan, Newbridge Networks, 703-834-5303) (NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00067) WESTERN UNION HOSTS X.500 CONSORTIUM UPPER SADDLE RIVER, NEW JERSEY, U.S.A., 1990 JAN 23 (NB) -- Western Union hosted the first meeting of major electronic mail service providers in North America in an effort to hasten the development of a universal messaging directory based on the X.500 protocol. With the assistance of Rapport Communications, the meeting was attended by representatives from AT&T, Sprint International, BT Tymnet, GE Information Services, MCI, Pacific Bell, IBM Information Network, Teleglobe Canada and CNCP Canada. The goal of the X.500 effort is to link online directories, so that messages under X.400 standards will automatically be routed, and senders won't have to know what networks the recipients belong to. Western Union proposed the formation of an X.500 VAN consortium as the first step in what Casey expects to be an ongoing effort spearheaded by the company. The goal is to achieve full implementation of the directory protocol developed by the Consultative Committee for International Telephone and Telegraph. Western Union is an active member of CCITT. Donald Casey, director-external affairs for Western Union, told Newsbytes the directory is necessary to take advantage of the services X.400 offers. "If they can't find the target address, they won't send a message." He added that while all the vendors voiced approval of the project, it's going to take a long time to implement. "This is an area where public service providers are just getting into, learning how to deal with it, and learning how to deal with each other. That's what we have to focus on, how do we deal with each other operationally -- how much am I going to charge for forwarding directory listings to another vendor." Not all networks yet have X.400 connection agreements, he added, so X.500 is obviously years away. He added, "We asked everyone to come back by February 9 with a response. If it's yes, and they all think it's a good idea, we'll host a 3-day meeting in March or April to get this underway, and rotate the chairmanships after that." (Dana Blankenhorn/19900126/Press Contact: Jean Stritt, Western Union, 201-818-5843) (NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00068) RZW VENTURES BUYS CONTROL OF PREMIER NETWORK SERVICES BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1990 JAN 23 (NB) -- RZW Ventures purchased a 60% equity interest in Premier Network Services of Dallas, Texas, in exchange for $100,000 cash plus a commitment to arrange $900,000 and $1.90 million in financing over the next 2 years. Premier has developed a telephone system which allows hotel owners to share directly in revenues generated from operator assisted long distance calls. (Dana Blankenhorn/19900126/Press Contact: RZW, (718) 436-2080) (NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00069) AT&T TO OFFER ECONOMY RATES FOR AUSTRALIA DAY NEW YORK, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1990 JAN 23 (NB) -- AT&T will offer economy rates on calls to Australia from New York City and six other large American for a four-day celebration of Australia Day, Thursday, January 25 through Sunday, January 28. The special Australia Day rates will also be available in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Diego, Denver and Seattle. (Dana Blankenhorn/19900126/Press Contact: Susan C. Dessel, AT&T, 212-605-6677) (NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00070) BELL ATLANTIC TO SPONSOR LEARNING TELECONFERENCE ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA, U.S.A., 1990 JAN 23 (NB) -- The Bell Atlantic Charitable Foundation sponsored a nationwide teleconference broadcast into classrooms January 26. The conference, "Return to the Moon," featured Apollo XI astronaut Mike Collins, and was designed to teach concepts inherent in space flight, including telecommunications, critical thinking skills, science, and math. The teleconference was also scheduled to coincide with the anniversary of the Challenger disaster, which occurred January 28, 1986. The program originated from studios on the George Washington University Campus in Washington. The program was viewed by an estimated 150,000 students in 750 schools. (Dana Blankenhorn/19900126/Press Contact: Suzanne Cleary, Bell Atlantic, 703- 974-5431) (NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00071) NEW DEVICE TO BRING RURAL AREAS BIG CITY PHONE SERVICE RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NORTH CAROLINA, U.S.A., 1990 JAN 24 (NB) -- Northern Telecom announced the general availability of its DMS-10 400E switch, designed to give rural phone companies the same advanced services now being put into major cities. It's based on the MIPS R2000, a reduced instruction set computer processor from MIPS Computer Systems of Sunnyvale, California. The 400E recently completed field trials in North Central Telephone Cooperative's central office in Lafayette, Tennessee. Lafayette, located about 60 miles northeast of Nashville, is a host office which supports approximately 7,000 lines. The switch allows the small phone company to provide Signaling System 7 services for its subscribers, including Caller ID. The 400E is installed simply by removing 11 line cards and replacing them with three new line cards. Upgrading software to the 404 generic stream is also required. The new processor increases processing speed, expands memory sixfold, and increases the maximum line size from 10,800 to 12,000 lines. Northern Telecom said it has already received orders for 100 of its new processors. (Dana Blankenhorn/19900126/Press Contact: Beth Schnackenberg, Northern Telecom, 919/992-0653; Beverly Jerman, MIPS Computer Systems, 408/991-7736) (NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00072) EDS BUYS CONTROL OF INFOCEL DALLAS, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1990 JAN 22 (NB) -- Electronic Data Systems reached an agreement to acquire 30% of Infocel, a Raleigh, North Carolina specialist in information systems for local governments, education and public safety. Terms of the purchase of the privately held shares were not disclosed. The agreement includes an option for full acquisition of the company and provides for joint marketing of Infocel's software products. Infocel was founded in 1976, and has annual sales of $15 million. (Dana Blankenhorn/19900126/Press Contact: Jack Pridgen, EDS, 703- 742-1291) (NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00073) REPUBLIC ANNOUNCES PACKET-SWITCH FOR VOICE AND DATA BOULDER, COLORADO, U.S.A., 1990 JAN 15 (NB) -- Republic Telcom announced a private networking system which integrates voice, fax, and data, and runs them through packet switches at speeds of under 1.544 megabits/second, called T-1 circuits. RNET is pitched as a cost-effective solution for linking multiple low and mid-range traffic locations on a unified, digital private network of so-called fractional T-1 lines. (Dana Blankenhorn/19900126/Press Contact: Jennifer Sleek, Republic Telcom, 303-530-8600) (NEWS)(TELECOM)(SYD)(00074) AUSTRALIAN INTERNAL SATELLITE CARRIER MAY BE ABSORBED SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1990 JAN 22 (NB) -- Aussat, the Australian internal satellite carrier may merge with either Telecom (the national carrier) or OTC (the international carrier), according to a federal government review. Two of the topics under scrutiny as outlined by the review will be the scope, costs and benefits of merging one or more of the carriers, and the capital structure of Aussat and options for meeting its financial needs. Aussat posted a AUS$2.22M loss for last year after adjustments. (Paul Zucker and Computing Australia/19900127) (NEWS)(TELECOM)(LON)(00075) UK: RACAL LOOKS TO THE 1990S WITH SUSTAINED GROWTH NEWBURY, ENGLAND, 1990 JAN 27 (NB) -- At a presentational meeting with UK institutional investors last week, Mr G A Whent, Racal Telecom's chief executive, said that he was confident of continuing strong growth during the 1990s. Whent's comments come in the wake of industry comments that the current expansion in the cellular telephone industry in the UK cannot be maintained forever, since both the networks and available subscribers, are fast reaching saturation levels. Whent's predictions are not based on the existing TACS (total access communications systems) and ETACS (extended TACS) systems currently in use in the UK, however. He see two mobile communication systems as taking over in the early 1990's - macro and mobile cellular. The macro cellular market will be based on digital technology offering similar facilities to the current TACS/ETACS analogue systems, but with the digital benefits of error-free voice channels and more effective use of bandwidth. The micro cellular market, meanwhile, will also use digital technology, but will based on small, highly-portable subscriber hardware that could be use in urban and city areas at reduced tariffs. Assuming that the three new PCN (personal communication network) operators recently licensed by the UK government impact the market in 1993/4, said Whent, then the year 2000 will see four to five million macro cellular subscribers, along with similar numbers of micro cellular users. The PCN system operates at frequencies of around the 1.7 gigahertz mark. Despite the ambitious plans for PCN and its successors, Whent still predicts a considerable market share for the existing cellular systems. He said that the eight year lead that the 900 MHz TACS/ETACS networks (based on the US AMPS technology) will have over 1.7GHz PCN technology will give the current cellular operators a 70 percent share if the enlarged market by the year 2000. At this stage, he said, UK operating revenues from mobile telephony will be in the range of UKP 5,000 to UKP 6,500 million ($7,500-$10,000 million) making its one of the highest growth sectors in the British economy. (Steve Gold/19900127/Press Contact: The Racal Group - Tel: 0734- 782158) (NEWS)(TRENDS)(LAX)(00076) NEW IC EXPECTED TO BOOST AUDIO-BASED PRODUCTS RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1990 JAN 23 (NB) -- Hughes Aircraft Co.'s Sound Retrieval System is a patented sound reproduction system based on a soon-to-be-released integrated circuit (IC) that is said to recreate the ambience and dynamic range of an original live performance or studio situation. The system has been introduced in selected Sony television receivers and is currently being licensed to a number of consumer electronics manufacturers for incorporation in their new products. Key to the performance of equipment incorporating this system is the system's ability to retrieve and restore the spacial information that enables listeners to discern the source and location of a sound. According to Hughes, this is accomplished by using real-time processing techniques that simulate the way in which a human ear recognizes the direction from which a sound emanates. Hughes has disclosed that the circuitry involved in creating this effect, on which the company holds several patents, has been reduced to a single microchip. (Janet Endrijonas/19909126/Press Contact: Bill Herrman, Hughes Aircraft, Microelectronic Systems Division, 213-568-6307) (NEWS)(TRENDS)(WAS)(00077) NEW U.S. HDT CONSORTIUM NEW YORK, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1990 JAN 25 (NB) -- The National Broadcasting Company has announced that it, the David Sarnoff Research Center, Philips Consumer Electronics Co., and Thomson Consumer Electronics Inc. have formed the Advanced Television Research Consortium, aimed at giving U.S. consumers a preview of high-definition-television (HDTV) and competing with foreign HDTV development efforts. The consortium will design an enhanced television system, Advanced Compatible Television, which is expected to go to the Federal Communications Commission for approval by 1992; if the FCC approves, sales should begin in 1993, and HDT may become a reality before the decade ends. This enhanced system won't be a replacement for HDTV; rather, it features improved picture resolution on a wide, movie-like screen. Concurrently, HDTV will be developed as a future offering to U.S. customers. Although HDTV will appear in Europe and Japan in a few years, the Consortium doesn't perceive Japan as being far in front on HDTV, as its system is geared to homes with satellite reception; such homes are not yet common in the U.S. However, a Consortium spokesman stated that without this wide screen technology, which the U.S. lacks, it will lag far behind foreign markets. (Beth Goldie/1990126) (ADVANCE)(TRENDS)(WAS)(00078) AT&T BELL LABS TO ANNOUNCE MAJOR OPTICAL COMPUTING ADVANCE SHORT HILLS, NEW JERSEY, U.S.A., 1990 JAN 26 (NB) -- Mike Miller, media relations manager for AT&T Bell Laboratories, told Newsbytes Friday that a major press conference would take place Monday to describe a breakthrough in optical computing. (John McCormick/1990126/Press Contact: Mike Miller, AT&T, 201- 564-3836) (NEWS)(TRENDS)(WAS)(00079) IBM, SIEMENS AGREE TO DEVELOP 64MB MEMORY CHIPS ARMONK, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1990 JAN 24 (NB) -- IBM Corp. and Siemens AG have signed an agreement for a joint venture to develop 64-million-bit memory chips, plus possible future teamwork on semiconductor memory generations. Development of the 64-million-bit dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chips will begin at once at IBM's East Fishkill, New York, Advanced Semiconductor Technology Center as well as at its Essex Junction, Vermont facility and the Siemens site in Munich, West Germany, with chip production scheduled at both companies' manufacturing sites. The plan is to have a world-standard 64-million-bit DRAM chip commercially available in about five to six years, by using the most advanced materials possible. Because IBM and Siemens are already so technologically advanced, it is likely they will continue to hold their lead in the memory chip arena, a lead enhanced by production of last year's 4- million-bit DRAM chip. Meanwhile, individual efforts toward development of a 16-million-bit DRAM chip are in progress. Last year's global semiconductor market, of which memory chips are more than 25 percent, brought in about U.S. $50 billion, a 15 percent growth rate. (Beth Goldie/1990126/Press Contact: Paul Bergevin, IBM, 914-765- 6630, or Earnest Thompson, Siemens, 408-980=4546) (NEWS)(TRENDS)(WAS)(00080) COMPUTERS TO DISSECT HIGH MEDICAL PAYMENTS NEW YORK, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1990 JAN 24 (NB) -- Dun & Bradstreet's Erisco, has announced "ClinicaLogic," an important new software package that checks medical claims for errors while processing them. The first public display of ClinicaLogic will take place on February 5 in Palm Springs, California, at the IBM Insurance Industry Executive Conference. It is hoped this unique system, which rapidly locates coding errors, "unbundling" of bills, and other unethical billing procedures as the claims are processed, is designed to dam the omnipresent flood of medical overpayments. During a test run of more than three million old claims, ClinicaLogic discovered possible overpayments of some $18 million, out of $1 billion in charges. (Beth Goldie/1990126/Press Contact: Tony Bellomo, Erisco, 212-765-8500) (NEWS)(TRENDS)(LAX)(00081) MOTOROLA UNVEILS 68040 CHIP AUSTIN, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1990 JAN 22 (NB) -- Motorola has begun making the 68040 microprocessor, which will shortly provide Apple Macintosh users, among others, a projected upgrade path for their favorite computer. A total of 35 other manufacturers have endorsed the chip as the base of a new line of advanced computers. The chip was announced nearly a year ago, at the same time as Intel's 80486. But due to the delays in shipment, some makers of engineering workstations committed to buying other chips, including RISC chips from MIPS, Sun and even Motorola's own 88000, in the meantime. The Motorola 68040 is a 32-bit microprocessor that delivers 20 MIPS (million instructions per second) at 25 MHz. According to the company, the 68040 is more than 25 percent faster than the competing 80486 chip from Intel and several available RISC (reduced instruction set computing) microprocessors. The 68040 is said to deliver an average of 3.5 MFLOPS (million floating point instructions per second) and a peak of 8 MFLOPS. Future clock speed versions are expected to offer even higher performance levels. The 68040 can perform a number of operations at one time. Including integer unit, floating point unit, two memory management units and data and instructions caches on a single chip, is credited with increasing the processing rate of the chip. According to Motorola, 35 computer manufacturers including Apple, Bull Commodore, Hewlett Packard/Apollo, NCR, Nixdorf, Philips and Unisys have endorsed the new chip. The new chip is made at the company's plant in Austin, Texas, plant, and is available in limited quantities for $795 each. Volume shipments will begin by the end of June. The microprocessor also is targeted for use later as an "imbedded controller" for such devices as laser printers. Motorola expects to sell about 100,000 of the chips in the next year. (Dana Blankenhorn & Janet Endrijonas/19900126/Press Contact: Dean Mosley, Motorola, 512-891-2839) (NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TYO)(00082) JAPAN: MOTOROLA TO SHIP SAMPLE 68040 TOKYO, JAPAN, 1990 JAN 23 (NB) -- Nippon Motorola, a Japanese subsidiary of U.S.-based Motorola, has announced its speed demon MC68040 following its U.S. headquarters. The new chip, developed by 0.8-micron line width sub-micron process technology, has integrated 1.2 million of transistors on 14 by 15 millimeter-sized chip. By separating instructions and data processing structure, it performs 20 MIPS (million instructions per second) and 2.5 million floating point operations per second. The sample price of the chip is slightly more expensive in Japan than the $795 of the U.S. It costs 140,000 yen or $965 here. Meanwhile, Tohoku Semiconductor or TSC, a joint venture of Motorola and Toshiba established in 1987, will start production of 32-bit Motorola 68020 central processing units. TSC will finish the diffusion process and supply it for both Motorola and Toshiba. They will inspect and assemble the MPU and sell it under their own brand names. (Naoyuki Yazawa/19900125/Press Contact: Nippon Motorola, 03-280-8301) (NEWS)(TRENDS)(TOR)(00083) VARS NEED MORE VENDOR SUPPORT, IDC CANADA FINDS TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1990 JAN 26 (NB) -- Value-added resellers (VARs) are concerned about their profit margins and need more marketing and technical support from vendors, according to a recent study by International Data Corporation (Canada). IDC surveyed some 125 VARs for its 1989 Canadian VAR Analysis, said research analyst Catherine Hodgson. The survey found VARs emphasizing industry-specific product offerings where they could add a lot of value. They emphasize hardware as little as possible, the survey found, since margins there are smaller. VARs are also very concerned with keeping operating costs low, the study found. Hodgson said the VAR market is highly competitive and becoming more so, with vendors vying to offer VARs more services. The study found IBM has the most formal agreements with Canadian VARs, with Digital Equipment and Unisys in the next two spots. The vendor whose VARs are most satisfied with their profit margins, advertising and marketing programs and market research assistance, however, was Compaq. Canadian VARs buy 67 percent of their products from manufacturers, 22 percent from distributors, five percent from authorized resellers, one percent on the grey market and five percent from other sources, IDC said. (Grant Buckler/19900126/Press Contact: Catherine Hodgson, IDC Canada, 416-369-0033) (NEWS)(TRENDS)(TYO)(00084) JAPAN: THE MERCEDES OF GAME SYSTEMS DUE OSAKA, JAPAN, 1990 JAN 24 (NB) -- Following Sega Enterprises, arcade video game unit maker SNK will launch a 16-bit video game system for home use at the end of this March, a system which has a whopping 330-megabit memory. The new machine called NEO-GEO will come with an embedded Motorola MC68000 and a Zilog Z80A processors. The special game cartridge with many ROM (read only memory) units will have a storage capacity of maximal 330 megabits, which will run most arcade game programs without any modification. This is an enormous increase over the current, ROM-based cartridge, which cannot hold more than 4 megabits of data. Also, the accompanying IC card allows a player to record his results. The new video game system will be as high-priced as its memory is huge; the machine itself will cost 58,000 yen ($400) and a 40-megabit game cartridge will cost 28,000 yen ($190), the highest prices ever in the home video game market. SNK will initially release six game cartridges with memory ranging between 40 and 50 megabits. SNK aims to sell 300,000 units of the machine and 1.2 million game cartridges in the first year. (Ken Takahashi/19900125/Press Contact: SNK, 06-338-7007) (NEWS)(TRENDS)(TYO)(00085) NTT CREATES FLOPPY TRANSFER UNIT FOR ISDN TOKYO, JAPAN, 1990 JAN 19 (NB) -- NTT has developed a unit to transfer the data on a floppy disk via an ISDN (integrated services digital network) line. The new equipment allows transfer of one megabyte of data, equivalent to about half million Japanese language characters, in only three minutes, no matter how far apart a sender and receiver are. There are two types of the unit. Type-A is a combination of a personal computer with a floppy data transfer unit; Type-B is only the transfer unit. Both types can read a 3.5- or 5-inch floppy disk with data storage of one megabyte. The type-A has a special feature which allows transfer of only what the sender wants to send from the floppy. The transmission of one-megabyte of data via a conventional phone line takes about 40 minutes and costs 4,330 yen ($30) when the sender is over 320 kilometers away from the receiver. The new floppy transfer unit via an ISDN line, however, allows for transmission of the same data for the same distance in only three minutes, and 330 yen ($2.30). NTT has already provided 100 units as a sample to Japanese major firms such as Nippon Steel. NTT intends to customize the new units according with the wishes of the makers, and launch it in the market commercially by this year's end. (Ken Takahashi/19900125/Press Contact: NTT Corp., 03-509-5035) (NEWS)(TRENDS)(TYO)(00086) NTT CREATES A PERSONAL PHONE NUMBER TOKYO, JAPAN, 1990 JAN 22 (NB) -- Japan's telecom giant NTT has created a new-generation communication method to allow a subscriber to catch a phone call anytime and anywhere. Instead of a conventional telephone number, the new method called Personal Communication, will give each subscriber an ID (identification) number, like a bank account number. A subscriber with the ID number will be able to catch a phone call even when he is out of his home or office. They will be able to do this by connecting an ID registration unit almost as large as a wrist watch, to an outside telephone. The subscriber can register the location of the telephone, and receive every phone call on it. The ID registration is even possible with a car phone or a mobile cellular phone, and the subscriber can receive any phone call if the subscriber repeats the registration every time he moves. NTT, however, will create a method to combine the ID with password, to increase security. NTT intends to start operation of the personal ID number in metropolitan areas in 1992. NTT expects 60 million subscribers -- half of the entire Japanese population -- by setting phone rates almost the same as the current phone charges. NTT will propose the ID phone method at the International Communication Conference, to open in Atlanta, U.S. in April this year. (Ken Takahashi/19900125/Press Contact: NTT, 03-509-5035) (NEWS)(TRENDS)(TYO)(00087) FUJITSU SECOND-SOURCES HITACHI TRON CHIP TOKYO, JAPAN, 1990 JAN 24 (NB) -- According to industry sources, Hitachi has started offering its TRON-based Gmicro 200 chips to Fujitsu under a second-source license agreement. TRON, which its creators hope will become an open computer architecture in the 1990s, requires TRON-based semiconductors. Hitachi, Fujitsu, and Mitsubishi Electric organized Gmicro group to develop 32-bit TRON microprocessors, and later Oki Electric Industry joined the group. Hitachi developed Gmicro 200 with 730,000 transistors integrated on a chip in 1988, Mitsubishi developed Gmicro 100 with 340,000 transistors in 1989, and later Fujitsu made Gmicro 300 with 900,000 transistors in 1989 . The chips were traded between the companies on an OEM (original equipment manufacturing) basis and the plan was to second-source the chips as a response to market demand. Fujitsu has decided to second-source the Hitachi Gmicro 200 chip because the chip has been improving in quality and is expected to be in demand from customers. (Ken Takahashi/19900125) (NEWS)(TRENDS)(TYO)(00088) JAPAN: GLASS USED TO MAKE HARD DRIVE TOKYO, JAPAN, 1990 JAN 19 (NB) -- One of the leading general traders, C.Ito & Co. and Glass Techno, have a different drive in store -- a glass HD (hard disk). The disk is said to have a five to ten times greater storage capacity than current aluminum disk drives. The glass HD stores about 200 megabytes on a 2.5-inch and about 500 megabytes on a 3.5-inch disk. The material of the disk is so-called Glass Ceramic Substrate. The firms also developed a new method for surface finishing, called Etching Texture method. This is a high stakes entry into the computer peripheral market battle. However C.Ito and Glass Techno are expecting their new drive to account for four billion yen or $27.6 million in sales by 1992. Some member of the Toshiba group will commercialize the product and C.Ito will distribute it. (Naoyuki Yazawa/19900125/Press Contact: C.Ito, Mr. Nogami, 03-497-3972) (NEWS)(UNIX)(SFO)(00089) NEW FOR UNIX: WINGZ FILES FOR NEXT MENLO PARK, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1990 JAN 19 (NB) -- Informix Software Inc. has released Wingz, a graphic spreadsheet designed to access data from Informix's OnLine database while using NeXT computer systems. The product enables users to access data directly into Wingz worksheet or Informix's HyperScript programming language; both functions gives users the power to create a customized graphical database application. A shrink-wrapped version of Wingz on NeXT including NeXT read/write optical disk is available through Businessland, its exclusive commercial distributor, for $699. Businessland plans to distribute Wingz via an electronic distribution scheme for $599. Call 415 926-6316. (Lori Bragg and Computer Currents/19900119) (NEWS)(UNIX)(WAS)(00090) OSF SHOWS FIRST OSF/1 OPERATING SYSTEM WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A., 1990 JAN 25 (NB) -- In town for UniForum '90, the Open Software Foundation (OSF) has announced the premier snapshot of its OSF/1 operating system, a novel operating environment developed from advanced systems architecture. Advance copies of the snapshot were given to those OSF members who elected to license the technology, with the $1,000 early- access cost applicable toward the total fee when OSF/1 Rel. 1.0 officially debuts in November 1990. OSF/1 grew from the key needs expressed by OSF members for an operating system viable in this decade, such as compatibility with current systems, enhanced security, interoperability, scalability, standards compliance (POSIX and XPG3), and support for internationalization, and totally symmetric multiprocessing. After some study, a combination of technologies, among them Carnegie Mellon University's Mach kernel, was suggested and agreed upon as the operating system. A buildable system, OSF/1 incorporates BSD4.3 commands/libraries/Tahoe Fast File System, BSD4.4 Virtual File System (VFS and vnodes)/NFS-compatible distributed file system, tool-building, CMU's Mach 2.5, documentation, Encore parallelization enhancements for multiprocessor support, the Free Software Foundation's compilers and tools, IBM AIX ver. 3 commands/libraries and IBM logical volume manager, Internet protocols (TCP/IP), machine-dependent code for Encore Multimax and Intel 80386, and Mentat Inc.'s STREAMS. A non-profit research and development entity, OSF was founded to produce a standards-based open operating environment for the industry; it welcomes industry-wide technologies and members' involvement in channeling development ventures. (Beth Goldie/1990126/Press Contact: Donna Ruane, Open Software Foundation, 617-621-8772) (NEWS)(UNIX)(WAS)(00091) MT XINU UP TO SPEED ON MACH OPERATING SYSTEM WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A., 1990 JAN 23 (NB) -- Mt Xinu Inc. has announced supported source versions of its Mach operating system for Digital VAX, IBM RT and Sun 3 computers at Uniforum '90. A contract with Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, which created Mach, calls for Mt Xinu to prepare such releases (2.6 MSD or Mach Standard Distribution, grown from CMU's 2.5 Mach kernel) to those involved in research and development. Mach, which the Open Software Foundation has chosen as its base technology, may be the foundation on which to develop higher- level interface systems as well as Unix and Unix-clone software for current and future computer architectures. Distribution of 2.6 MSD, for which orders are now being taken, is expected late next month and will cost $3,000. (Beth Goldie/1990126/Press Contact: Alan Tobey, Mt Xinu, 415- 644-0146) (NEWS)(UNIX)(WAS)(00092) MATROX, PHOENIX APPLYING MS-DOS VGA TO X-WINDOWS NORWOOD, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1990 JAN 23 (NB) -- Matrox Electronic Systems Ltd. and Phoenix Technologies Ltd. have announced a joint development and marketing agreement that will bring VGA-compatible, DOS-based applications into the Unix/X- Windows marketplace through use of the Matrox PG2-1281 graphics board and Phoenix VP/ix systems software. (Beth Goldie/1990126/Press Contact: Bruce Crane, Phoenix, 617- 551-4130, or Ray Snow, Matrox, 514-685-2630) (NEWS)(UNIX)(WAS)(00093) ERASABLE OPTICAL JUKEBOX ANNOUNCED AT UNIFORUM WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A., 1990 JAN 23 (NB) -- Epoch Systems Inc. has announced, during UniForum '90, the addition of an erasable disk library unit (a "jukebox") to its high-capacity Epoch-1 InfiniteStorage server family. The jukebox totally eliminates backup tapes through automation of online backup service, which is stored to Winchester disk drives so that magnetic disk space is constantly accessible. Made by Hitachi Ltd., each unit, which has a total capacity of nearly 31 billion bytes, can take up to 48 5.25-inch optical cartridges. Prices range from $158,500 for the Model 31B to $471,500 for the Model 153B. Epoch Systems Inc., based in Marlborough, Massachusetts since its 1986 founding, is the foremost primary supplier of network storage management systems, with nationwide sales and support offices plus European and Japanese distributors. (Beth Goldie/1990126/Press Contact: Jay Woodruff, Epoch, 508- 481-3717) (NEWS)(UNIX)(WAS)(00094) WANG SHOWS NEW PRODUCTS AT UNIFORUM LOWELL, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1990 JAN 23 (NB) -- Wang Laboratories Inc. has presented the premier members of its new line, the OPEN/Server Unix mid-range systems, plus other Unix products that show how Wang incorporates innovation into industry standards. The Open/Servers, slated for the international government market, range in price from $22,690 to $27,690 and will be available in second quarter 1990. (Beth Goldie/1990126/Press Contact: Hanne Herwick, Wang Labs, 508-967-6405) (NEWS)(UNIX)(ATL)(00095) TOUCH COMMUNICATIONS TO LICENSE NETWISE CAMPBELL, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1990 JAN 23 (NB) -- Touch Communications licensed and agreed to market the RPC TOOL development product of Netwise. Both companies will implement the products, now available under MS-DOS, under Unix System V.3. The RPC TOOL provides developers the ability to write distributed client/server applications, based on the RPC mechanism, across multiple platforms and multiple networks. Touch Communications is privately held and was founded in March 1985 to develop transparent end-user communications products based on Open Systems Interconnection standards such as MAP/TOP and GOSIP. Based in Boulder, Colorado, Netwise is a leading independent software company producing products that simplify development of client/server applications. (Dana Blankenhorn/19900126/Press Contact: Ann Theriault, Netwise, 303/442-8280, Denise Bowden, Touch Communications, 408/374-2500) (NEWS)(UNIX)(ATL)(00096) NCR INTRODUCES NETWORK MANAGEMENT TOOLS DAYTON, OHIO, U.S.A., 1990 JAN 23 (NB) -- NCR introduced a set of OSI-compliant network management and communications products for its family of Unix-based NCR Tower computers. NCR Tower OSI Networking will let the TOWER operate in multivendor, wide-area networks. The product set is composed of OSI Network Services; OSI Application Services; X.400 Message Handling Services; OSI File Transfer, Access and Management; and Central X.500 Directory Services. Also new is NCRMail, an X.400 message handling system that runs on NCR Tower and NCR System 10000 ITX-based systems. NCRNet Manager is a network management system for users of Token Ring and EtherNet local-area networks and X.25 wide-area networks. (Dana Blankenhorn/19900126/Press Contact: Dave Sacash, NCR, 513/445-4168) (NEWS)(UNIX)(ATL)(00097) UNIX INTERNATIONAL UNVEILS NEW UPGRADE STRATEGY NEW YORK, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1990 JAN 23 (NB) -- Unix International, the marketing arm for AT&T's version of Unix, called System V, unveiled its strategy for future upgrades of the System V software. Unix System V Roadmap was simultaneously introduced in Washington, D.C., New York, Brussels, Belgium, and Tokyo, for Unix users in North America, Europe and Asia. One key feature is a higher security option, including safeguards against unauthorized access, data alteration and viruses. Users, particularly government agencies, have been increasingly concerned about such possible intrusions. Another feature of the Roadmap is a multiprocessing architecture that will allow users to expand the management file's structure and increase access to a wide range of data. The more flexible computer architecture is targeted at large-scale data management, including multiple databases and transactions processing. The feature will also allow several languages to be used, helping companies dealing in international transactions or expanding their foreign operations. The multi-processing architecture can produce complex documents in different languages, such as Russian, Korean and Chinese. (Dana Blankenhorn/19900126) (NEWS)(UNIX)(HKG)(00098) HONGKONG: WORLDPOLE PICKS UNISYS WANCHAI, HONGKONG, 1990 JAN 24 (NB) -- Leading value added reseller - VAR - Worldpole Control Systems Ltd (WCS) has ordered five Unisys Unix systems based on the Pick operating system, within four months of becoming a Unisys VAR (value-added reseller). The orders - for Unisys U6000/30 systems - include four for Worldpole customers and one for its own use in software development and demonstration purposes. Sales Director Anthony Law explained that his company's operations are based on the Pick operating system. "Unisys has supplied Worldpole with a software system called Universe, which gives the functionality of Pick on the Unisys U-series Unix computers, allowing immediate conversion of Worldpole's Pick-based applications." Mr Law says this approach enables the company to offer users its tried and tested Pick-based software and provide a greater degree of customization of its applications in a shorter space of time. (Norman Wingrove/19900127/Press Contact: Peter Mallen, Marcom, + 852 834 3750) (NEWS)(UNIX)(TYO)(00099) JAPANESE & U.S. SUPERCOMPUTERS VIE IN JAPANESE MARKET TOKYO, JAPAN, 1990 JAN 24 (NB) -- Nihon Alliant Computer Corp., a Japanese subsidiary of U.S.-based Alliant Computer Systems, has announced the FX/2800 series supercomputer. The machine is priced between 99.5 million and 400 million yen or $686,210 and $2.75 million, here. The high-end model of the parallel processing supercomputer performs 1.1-giga FLOPS (floating point operations per second). The FX/2800 series has three models, each with a different number of CPUs (central processing units). The upper-end model FX/2828 has 28 sets of Intel i860 RISC (reduced instruction set computer) chips. The FX/2816 has 16 and the FX/2808 has eight. The series supports the Unix operating system. Meanwhile, supercomputer giant Cray Research is aiming to get the jump on its competitors by developing low-price models. One of them is a one-CPU version of its Y-MP series, so-called Baby Cray, and another is a One-Chip Cray which integrates everything from the Cray-1 into one chip. The Baby Cray ($2.5 million) is expected to be released within six months and is expected to perform 500-mega FLOPS per second; One-Chip Cray is expected within one and half years, will have a speed of 160-mega FLOPS, and a price tag of one million dollars. The Japanese supercomputers competing with Alliance's machine are the Fujitsu VP2000, Hitachi S-820/60 and NEC SX-3 model 11. In the crowded Japanese supercomputer market, all Japanese makers lowered prices of their supercomputers last fall, but the prices of their machines are still considerably higher than American makers. (Naoyuki Yazawa/19900125/Press Contact: Nihon Alliant Computer, Ms. Akimoto, 03-222-1766) (REVIEW)(IBM)(ATL)(00100) Review of: Hotline II, Version 2.2, a RAM-resident phone book for PCs Runs on: PC, XT, AT, 80386, and 100% compatibles From: General Information, 401 Parkplace, Kirkland, Washington, 98033 Price: $99 PUMA Rating: 3.9 ( 1 = lowest to 4 = highest ) Reviewed for Newsbytes by: Dana Blankenhorn, 1/25/90 Summary: Hotline II offers phone listings, phone management, and more -- without bugs. ====== REVIEW ====== I tried Hotline when it came out a few years ago. The idea was neat -- to turn phone management into a RAM-resident function and offer regular updates through a major producer of printed phone directories. Unfortunately, the version we reviewed didn't work and play well with other RAM-resident utilities. I used it, but was carefully to keep it away from AUTOEXEC.BAT files, and to carefully load and unload it from memory when needed. When Version 2.2 arrived, I quickly tested this old problem. Like many people, I now have a lot of RAM-resident tools, including a 5-year-old copy of Sidekick. I loaded them all, then added Hotline. There were no problems at all. If I have any problem with the new version of Hotline 2.2, it's the shortage of InfoPacks with lists of numbers in specific industries. Right now, there are 8, including a toll-free listing. I wish there were more. While the handling of overseas calls and listings could be more elegant, they can now be handled -- a major improvement. The only other problem with Hotline 2.2, in fact, is my problem. I keep a separate phone line for my modem, and so can't use the superb call logging function here as much as I'd like. For those of you unfamiliar with what Hotline does, let me go over it briefly. Once loaded into memory, pressing Shift-F1 brings up a page of phone listings, with the cursor at the top of the line marked NAME. Enter in the company you want, or any part of its name, and Hotline finds the listing. (If it's not there, you can add it after getting it from directory assistance.) To dial that number immediately, press Enter and pick up your phone handset. Beyond that are a ton of enhancements. You can log your calls, adding notes to them. You can import added directories -- including the Infopacks produced by General Information at about $49 each. You can export directories -- lists of sales contacts, for instance. You can add speed dialing and redialing, adjust to different calling methods like your company's internal phone system, and change all settings quickly, so the program won't get in the way of other RAM-resident offerings you may have. If you just need a quick source of out-of-town listings, Hotline 2.2 is useful. If you can run your phone line through your computer, Hotline will become your best friend. If you're a salesman and can get your fellows to standardize on this product, you'll be making money hand over fist with it. =========== PUMA RATING =========== PERFORMANCE: 4. The efficient operation in the background is much improved over previous versions. Also, it's very flexible -- you can change the keys used for various functions quickly. And it doesn't get in the way of other utilities. USEFULNESS: 3.5. If you can run your phone line through your PC, and if you stay at your PC most of the day, working the phones, make this a 4. MANUAL: 4. The manuals are well done and extensive. AVAILABILITY: 4. It's available at a store near you. And the firm's InfoPacks, listing toll-free numbers, numbers in specific industries, are available directly. (Dana Blankenhorn/19900126/Press Contact: Penelope Standal, 206- 828-4777) (REVIEW)(APPLE)(SFO)(00101) Review of: MacDraw II Version 1.1 for the Macintosh Runs on: Any Macintosh From: Claris Corp. 440 Clyde Ave., Mountain View, CA 94043 (415) 960- 1500 Price: $334.99 at Egghead outlets; prices will vary elsewhere PUMA rating: 4 Reviewed for Newsbytes by: Naor Wallach, 1/20/90 Summary: An excellent general purpose drawing program that can be put to many uses. ====== REVIEW ====== MacDraw was one of the original programs released by Apple that was intended to show the world the power of the Macintosh. It was also the first really useful program for the Macintosh and, in addition, it paved the way for a whole generation of computer users who could finally do things that before needed special assistance or were simply unavailable. Over the years, MacDraw seemed to languish and most of its original breakthrough features have been copied an improved upon by other programs. Now comes Claris (Apple's software subsidiary) and releases MacDraw II. MacDraw II contains all of the features and ideas that made the original MacDraw great. In addition, Claris has been listening to MacDraw users and have added literally hundreds of features and operations that extend the original MacDraw in many useful and important ways. It is simply impossible to list in a review like this all of the myriad features, enhancements, and improvements that are part of MacDraw II. I will instead concentrate on a few that I found particularly useful to me and hope that those few will give you enough of a flavor of the program to convince you to get a copy. For veteran MacDraw users, starting the program creates a bit of a shock. The program looks different. After some hunting around and leafing through the manual, it is possible to find out where are all the things that you are used to. In most cases, once I got over the initial bewilderment, I agreed with Claris's software designers about the new way of doing things. It certainly seems as though Claris did not change things just for the sake of change! Once you get past this minor hurdle, the joys of all the new things consume your interest and you will spend a lot of time exploring the different things contained in the program. Let me elaborate on three improvements that struck my fancy in particular. The first is the addition of Layers to a drawing. In MacDraw II you can break up a drawing into component parts that are then put together like a stack of transparencies to create the final drawing. So, for instance, let us say that I am putting together a new organizational chart. In my first layer I may choose to have the blocks that represent the different functions and their reporting relationships. In the second layer, I put the titles and responsibilities. In the third layer I put the names of the people involved and so on. Later, I may need to use just the blocks and function layers to try and sell the idea to my bosses. I may need to use just the functional breakdown in another presentation and I will need to use the whole thing when it is time to announce the new structure to the organization. To allow for all of this MacDraw II allows you to create the layers separately, arrange them in any order that you like, and print them while hiding any layers that you choose to omit. The layering concept is so powerful that I am sure that you can think of many other uses once you initially understand it. The second major feature that I want to dwell on is the idea of libraries. Any MacDraw II drawing and component within that drawing can be made into a library. What this allows is for you to transfer drawings made in one document to many others. Gone are the days in which you must cut and paste individual parts of a drawing from many areas to create your final masterpiece! Libraries can now be made public and placed in the public domain to aid others who may have similar needs to yours. The third and final improvement that I will report on concerns the text handling capabilities of MacDraw II. You can still place text anywhere you like, but now MacDraw II allows for such word processing features as word wrap and spelling checking. In addition, text is just a normal object for MacDraw so any of the special tools that you have available will operate on text as well. It is now very easy to put together forms using MacDraw II, distribute them in your organization, and have the various users fill them out right on their computers. I would love to spend more time and tell you about the improved zooming, line measuring, notational improvements and the hundreds and hundreds of new things in MacDraw II. But, alas, I would be repeating sections of the manual here and that is not my job. Therefore I would urge you to go out and buy or upgrade to this package and see for yourself. ============ PUMA RATINGS ============ PERFORMANCE: 4. It works well and is much faster at some functions than its predecessors. USEFULNESS: 4 . There are very few programs that are as universally useful as this program. It can be used for making presentations, drawings, and even as a poor man's CAD (computer-aided design) package. MANUAL: 4 . In the tradition of Claris, it is clear, concise, and logically laid out. It is very easy to find the feature you need, and even easier to use it. AVAILABILITY: 4. Available from mail order and software stores. Support is given via telephone or bulletin boards. (Naor Wallach/19900123) (NEWS)(BUSINESS)(BRU)(00102) NEWSBYTES STOCK REPORT FOR WEEK ENDING 26 JANUARY, 1990 NEW YORK, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1990 JAN 27 (NB) -- Stocks were traded over the last week, as follows: TICKER NAME PRICE VOLUME(00s) AAC Anacomp 3.62 1724 AAPL Apple Computer 32.75 16183 ACAD 38.75 1927 ACE Acme Elec 9.12 8 ACOM Astrocom 0.81 0 ACXM Acxiom 21.75 167 ADBE 24.00 3283 ADGE Adage 1.50 165 ADI Analog Devices 7.75 489 ADPT 16.37 998 ADVC Advance Circuits 8.12 276 ALDC 17.25 1398 ALMI Alpha Microsystems 4.50 11 ALNT Alliant Computer Sys 6.75 1911 ALOG Analogic 9.75 97 ALOY Alloy Computer Prods 2.25 163 ALRN Altron 5.50 1 ALTI 3.25 0 ALTO Alts Cmptr Systms 5.25 382 ALTR Altera 7.50 248 AMAT Applied Matls 27.25 413 AMD Advncd Mcro Dvcs 7.37 3060 AMH Amdahl 15.50 6037 AMMG AM Magnetics 5.37 256 AMP Amp 45.50 3034 AMSW 20.12 233 AMSY 11.00 459 AMTC Amtech 20.25 470 ANLY Analysts Intl 15.50 247 AQM Qms 12.62 492 AREL Alpharel 0.37 4 ASII Automated Sys 2.00 3 ASKI Ask Computer Sys 8.12 492 ASMI Advncd Smcndctr Mtl 6.12 0 ASTA Ast Research 13.12 684 ASTR Astrosystems 3.62 305 ATC Atari 7.37 405 ATRO 1.05 0 ATTC Auto Trol Technology 3.56 34 AUD Atmtc Dta Prcssng IN 48.25 2804 AUG Augat 11.87 142 BBGS Babbages 5.87 520 BBN Bolt Beranek&Newman 5.75 278 BELF Bel Fuse 4.25 426 BGSS Bgs Sys 14.87 0 BHC Bhc Communications 45.75 1749 BIS Brrstr Infrmtn Sys 1.37 2 BMC Bmc Inds Inc Minn 7.50 48 BMCS 29.50 244 BOOL Boole&Babbage 15.75 1 BORL Borland Intl 11.37 426 BQC Qantel 0.20 61 BSTN 6.37 12150 BTEC Banctec 16.37 420 BVSI Brite Voice Sys 8.00 148 BYTX Bytex 8.00 108 CA Computer Assoc Intl 11.00 7131 CAER Caere 20.75 1998 CAII 3.50 210 CALL Clllr Infrmtn Sys 8.75 108 CAMD CA Micro Devices Cor 3.50 115 CBU Commodore Intl 8.87 886 CCTC Cmptr&Cmmnctns TE 0.56 40 CCUR Cncrrnt Cmptr Crp NW 2.75 75 CDA Cntrl Dta Crp DL 16.62 946 CDNC Cdnce Dsgn Systm 19.62 1464 CDO Comdisco 22.50 408 CEFT 19.75 28 CERN 12.00 169 CHEY 3.75 1795 CHPS Chips&Technologies 18.00 1364 CHRZ Computer Horizons 8.69 0 CIDN Computer Identics 1.50 0 CIFR Cipher Data Prods 6.75 413 CISI 2.69 353 CKCP Cybertek 5.62 32 CLRI 4.37 4 CLRX 7.75 271 CME 7.12 142 CMIN Computer Memories 1.50 4 CMPX Comptronix 2.75 18 CMTK Cimflex Teknowledge 2.06 12 CNET Comnet 9.50 0 CNU Continuum 24.75 21 CNX Convex Computer 15.50 190 CNY Cntnntl Infrmtn Sys 0.28 113 CODN 4.50 6 CODS 4.44 62 COHR Coherent 11.87 348 COMS 3com 11.37 1799 COPY 11.62 615 CPCI 3.37 1 CPQ Compaq Computer 79.75 3834 CPRD Computer Prods 2.37 799 CPTC C P T 0.37 2723 CPTD 10.25 2 CRAY Cray Computer 3.50 1708 CRNR Chronar 1.37 54 CRNS Cronus Inds 12.75 92 CRUS 12.37 1223 CSC Computer Sciences 49.00 589 CSIM 16.37 35 CSOF 8.75 38 CSOL 2.31 1 CSPI Csp 5.75 10 CSRE Comshare 33.75 22 CTK Comptek Resh 6.12 2 CTS Cts 22.75 608 CY Cyprss Smcndctr 9.37 864 CYR Cray Resh 43.62 3452 CYS Cycare Sys 8.75 58 DAIO Data I O 3.37 82 DASW Data Switch 2.75 95 DAZX Daisy Sys 0.69 432 DBAS D B A Sys 4.50 368 DC Datametrics 0.87 0 DCA Dgtl Cmmnctns Assc 19.37 1328 DDL Dta Dsgn Lbs Inc DL 5.25 226 DEC Digital Equip 76.12 8959 DELL Dell Computer 4.87 60 DGII Digi Intl 9.25 353 DGN Data Gen 9.75 4697 DHTK D H Technology 12.75 101 DICN Diceon Electrs 5.25 33 DIO Diodes 1.62 4 DKEY 8.25 15 DLPH Dlphi Infrmtn Sys 6.62 12 DOTX 2.00 20 DPC Dataproducts 6.37 652 DPT Datapoint 3.75 213 DSCC Datasouth Computer 1.94 3 DSMI 6.62 144 DTM Dataram 9.62 0 DYTC Dynatech 16.50 100 EA Electronic Assoc 2.50 280 ECC Ecc Intl 5.00 78 EDAT 8.25 139 EFIC 4.56 1 ELMG 6.25 137 ELXS Elxsi 0.25 1471 EMC E M C Corp Mass 4.25 232 EMLX Emulex 5.37 47 ENCC 2.06 332 EPSI Epsilon Data Mgmt 8.75 3 ERTS 7.75 198 ESCC Evns&Sthrlnd Cmptr 21.75 13 ESL Esterline 10.37 71 ESP Espey Mfg&Electrs 17.87 0 EVRX Everex Sys 8.37 1795 EXAR 7.00 2 EXBT Exabyte 12.00 593 FBRX Fibronics Intl 5.75 3 FDOS 5.37 69 FDPC Fdp 5.00 71 FELE 8.00 17 FERO 12.62 91 FFMC 1st Financial Mgmt 28.25 1538 FICI 6.00 18 FILE Filenet 12.25 93 FISV Fiserv 21.25 3 FLP Floating Point Sys 1.62 27 FSII Fsi Intl 6.00 5 GA Gnrl Atmtn Inc Clf 0.56 3 GAND 3.75 22 GBND 25.62 100 GCCC 3.87 10 GDYN 8.75 7 GECM Genicom 1.12 3 GEOX 6.37 16 GOAL Goal Sys Intl 14.25 295 GPAR General Parametrics 4.00 11 GRB Gerber Scientific 12.62 293 GRCO Gradco Sys 8.12 1528 GRL General Instr 39.00 822 GSOF 8.62 0 GTCH Gtech 16.50 8 GTI Gti Corp Del 3.00 19 GWAY Gtwy Cmmnctns 1.94 60 HATH 1.87 1 HBOC 13.87 945 HDCO Hadco 4.50 244 HEII Hei 1.50 14 HOGN Hogan System 4.00 177 HRLY Herley Microwave Sys 1.12 10 HTEK Hytek Microsystems 0.48 0 HUN Hunt Mfg 19.75 5 HWP Hewlett Packard 44.12 3771 IBM Int Bus Machs 96.87 18364 IDTI Intgrtd Dvce Tchnlgy 5.75 904 IISL I I S Intllgnt Info 4.50 59 IMET Intermetrics 4.00 12 INAI Intellicorp 4.25 35 INDX Technology 7.50 0 INFD 2.12 20 INFN Infotron Sys 7.00 5 INGR Intergraph 17.75 1701 INP Intllgnt Sys Mstr L 2.12 105 INPH Interphase 6.50 1 INRD Inrad 3.37 0 INSI Information Sciences 0.37 0 INTC Intel 38.75 45252 INTE 1.25 3 INTF 5.12 35 INTP Interpoint Corp Wash 7.25 3 INTR Intermec 23.25 1289 INTV 22.50 755 IOMG Iomega 3.31 780 IPLS Ipl Sys 6.62 21 IRF Int Rectifier 6.50 637 IRIC Information Res 10.12 1385 ISY 1.87 433 IT Intelogic Trace 1.87 234 ITSI Int Totalizer Sys 4.19 157 IVT Iversion Technology 3.50 11 JET Jetronic Inds 2.56 0 JKHY Henry Jack&Assoc 1.81 3 JPS Jones Plumbing Sys 2.75 1 KEA Keane 20.62 104 KNOW 20.00 415 KTCC Key Tronics 4.62 62 KVLM Kevlin Microwave 2.00 55 LB LA Barge 0.66 0 LCSI L C S Inds 3.81 0 LDGX Lodgistix 1.19 1 LEAF Interleaf 6.25 158 LEDA Lee Data 1.87 233 LEXI 0.25 561 LGN Logicon 19.12 34 LGNT Legent 25.25 278 LIT Litton Inds 75.87 1434 LLB Computrac 2.75 10 LLTC 9.00 14 LOTS Lotus Dev 27.50 10286 LSI Lsi Logic 7.12 1039 MANA 1.81 0 MBF Mai Basic Four 3.12 360 MCRN Micron Technology 8.00 1821 MCRS Micros Sys 4.37 39 MDST 11.50 44 MDTA Megadata 0.81 0 MENT Mentor Graphics 18.25 3019 METH 5.12 653 MGNC 6.50 85 MILT Miltope Group 4.62 642 MIND Mindscape 7.25 308 MINQ Miniscribe 0.44 2183 MIPS Mips Computer Sys 23.50 8122 MLIS Micropolis 4.12 73 MNPI 15.00 1408 MNS Macneal Schwendler 9.62 49 MOLX 36.75 1316 MPSG Mpsi Systems 2.62 2 MRAC 4.62 723 MSCC Microsemi 1.87 92 MSCO Masstor Sys CP 1.87 635 MSFT Microsoft 90.75 4728 MTRM Moniterm 2.00 176 MWAV Microwave Labs 0.62 163 MXC Matec Corp Del 6.25 2 MXIM Mxm Intgrtd Prds 8.75 1 MXTR 9.25 1308 NATL North Atl Inds 3.19 0 NBI Nbi 0.37 171 NCR Ncr 65.87 4740 NDTA 27.75 914 NETG Network Gen 20.37 1032 NEWP 9.00 273 NIIS New Image Inds 9.50 33 NLCS 6.75 874 NMIC Nat Micronetics 0.37 0 NOHL North Hills Electr 1.50 45 NORK Norsk-data A S 5.56 64 NOVL 30.00 2580 NRES 9.25 24 NSM Nat Semiconductor 6.25 6967 NWK Ntwrk Eqp Tchnlgs 28.87 602 O 5.12 30 OPTX 3.75 182 ORBT Orbit Instr 3.37 16 ORCL 20.37 5622 OSI ON Lne Sftwre Intl 9.87 250 PAYX 18.50 41 PBI Pitney Bowes 43.12 1375 PCEP Prcptn Tchnlgy 4.12 122 PDAS Pda Engineering 3.75 25 PKE Park Electrochemical 13.00 1 PLXS 6.00 58 PMSC Policy Mgmt Sys 31.25 1288 PNS Pansophic SY 16.00 290 PRLX Parlex 4.00 10 PRM Prime Computer 5.50 546 PSC Phil Subn 13.50 37 PTC Par Technology 4.56 0 PTNX Printronix 9.62 63 PYF Pay Fone Sys 2.75 0 PYRD Pyramid Technology 24.50 852 QNTM Quantum 9.25 4103 QTEC Questech 2.31 0 QUIX 5.37 213 QUME Qume 6.00 131 RCG Rsrgns Cmmnctns Gro 4.12 19 REC Recognition Equip 6.25 1187 REFC 6.12 3 RELL 9.25 0 RELY Ingres 7.87 593 REUT Reuter 7.37 39 REXN Rexon 6.12 300 REY Reynolds&Reynolds 19.50 191 RNIC 4.50 0 ROBC 8.00 19 ROBV Robotic Vision Sys 3.12 101 SATI 1.37 4 SBM Sped O Prnt BS Mch 3.25 8 SCIX Scitex 15.37 155 SCO Smith Corona 11.50 607 SCOM Scs Compute 5.75 0 SDRC Strctrl Dynmcs Rsh C 29.75 374 SEEQ Seq Tchnlgy Inc DL 3.12 256 SEIC Sei 16.00 196 SFE Sfgrd Scntfcs 13.25 18 SFEM Sfe Technologies 0.25 50 SGAT Seagate Technology 15.75 9387 SGIC 29.50 1835 SGSI Sage Software 8.87 174 SHBS Sharebase 0.44 753 SHEL Sheldahl 4.62 3 SHKI 8.37 12 SIER 20.25 27 SIGM 9.00 223 SILI Siliconix 2.62 41 SLTM Selecterm 6.00 0 SMBX Symbolics 0.75 418 SMED 12.50 156 SMH Semtech 2.12 110 SMSC Stndrd Mcrsystms 7.00 283 SMX Systems Ctr 21.75 336 SNDT Sungard Data Sys 20.50 214 SNPX 25.50 908 SNTC Synetic 14.75 209 SOCR Scan Optics 2.69 26 SOD Sltrn Dvcs Inc DL 1.62 13 SOFS Sftsl Cmptr Prds 5.62 175 SOFT Softech 3.75 15 SOLR Applied Solar Energy 6.00 0 SPCO Software Pubg 18.25 594 SPEC 1.25 98 SPG Sprague Technologies 6.25 512 SPKR Spinnaker Software 1.50 5 SQNT Sequent Computer Sys 20.25 922 SRA Stratus Computer 22.25 361 SSAX Systm Sftwre Assc 20.00 898 SSFT Scntfc Sftwre Intrcm 3.00 35 SSIA Stockholders Sys 8.00 3 SSOA 0.78 107 SSW Sterling Software 8.50 115 STEC Serv-tech 12.00 61 STK 16.50 1014 STRR Star Technologies 0.41 299 SUGR Summagraphics 10.75 200 SUNW 19.00 30659 SUPX Supertex 2.50 1 SVGI Silicon VY Group 6.37 172 SYI System Inds 2.00 125 SYMC Symantec 16.25 99 SYNE Syntech Intl 0.25 20 SYNR 4.75 292 SYST 32.50 182 TCOR Tandon 0.69 673 TDAT Teradata 23.75 1921 TDCX 2.56 39 TDK Tdk 43.50 33 TDM Tandem Computers 26.12 9889 TDX Tridex 3.87 3 TECN Technalysis 12.75 26 TELV Televideo Sys 0.28 1060 TERM Terminal Data 1.19 0 TLOS 15.25 8 TLXN 6.00 987 TMAX Telematics Intl 4.75 212 TMBS 6.19 0 TNL Technitrol 40.87 11 TOTE United Tote 10.25 1 TRNT Transnet 0.94 29 TRSC Triad Sys 2.87 393 TSIC Transducer Sys 0.69 0 TSK Computer Task Group 9.12 19 TSNG 3.44 673 TSRI Tsr 2.81 0 TTN Titan 2.00 86 TTOI Tempest Technologies 1.12 41 TWRX 18.37 1470 TXN TX Instrs 31.50 4988 TYGR 0.69 385 UBS U S Bioscience 10.25 417 UIS Unisys 14.12 13983 ULT Ultimate 7.75 193 UT United Telecomm KA 33.00 14189 UTR Unitrode 5.62 20 UTRX Unitronix 6.50 50 VAR Varian Assoc 20.25 1301 VBND Velobind 4.87 240 VIDE Video Display 4.75 114 VLID Valid Logic Sys 3.00 1725 VLSI Vlsi Technology 6.50 189 VMXI Vmx 2.37 1090 VSH Vshy Intrtchnlgy 18.50 237 WAC Wells Amern 0.31 6 WAN 3.87 2550 WCAT Wicat Sys 1.87 465 WCP Warner Computer Sys 4.62 302 WDC Wes Digital Corp Del 9.12 1656 WDST Wordstar Intl 0.94 485 WGA Wlls Grdnr Elctrs 3.12 138 WHT Whitehall 13.50 54 WMIC Wes Microwave 0.87 5 WOTK 2.31 33 WSCI WA Scientific Inds I 8.00 175 WSVS Wiland Svcs 2.75 0 WWTK 16.62 899 WYS Wyse Technology Del 9.75 126 XICO Xicor 3.25 1274 XRX Xerox 53.50 2419 XSCR Xscribe 0.44 2 XYVI Xyvision 2.87 62 ZCAD Zycad 2.37 583 ZENT Zentec 0.17 0 ZITL Zitel 2.50 460 ZMOS Zymos 0.62 40 ZRO Zero Corp Del 15.00 96 Total stocks traded: 429 Total volume traded: 27,958,100 Due to a technical problem, the Newsbytes Stock Index (NSI) figure is not available this week. Our apologies for any inconvenience caused. (Peter Clear/19900127) (INDEX)(GENERAL)(SFO)(00103) NEWSBYTES INDEX/Week of January 30, 1990/Issue #347 SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1990 JAN 30 (NB) -- These stories in the early week's edition. More on Thursday in the Mid-Week edition of Newsbytes. Newsbytes is now twice a week! ===== APPLE ===== MACINTOSH PORTABLE, FREEDOM OF PRESS WIN MACUSER AWARDS MacUser magazine has presented Apple Computer with its Hardware Product of the Year Award for the Macintosh Portable. NEW FOR MAC: OBJECT-ORIENTED LANGUAGE, EXPERTELLIGENCE The Macintosh just got a new programming tool, one its makers claim is the first integrated symbolic software application development system for the Macintosh II series. TORONTO MACWORLD EXPO PLANNED, OCT, 1990 Mitch Hall Associates has announced plans to hold a Macworld Expo in Toronto on October 23 through 25 at the Better Living Centre building. NEW FOR MAC: CANOPENER RETRIEVES AND SEARCHES THROUGH IMAGES Abbott Systems recently began shipping CanOpener, an information search and retrieval utility, which performs text and picture searches 200-300 percent faster than its previous version 1.0. NEW FOR MAC: BACKUP SOFTWARE CATALOGUES TOO Master Manufacturing Inc., has a combination cataloging and backup program that provides for both archival and mirror image- type backup. NEW FOR MAC: CLIENT/MAC TRACKS PROSPECTS Software Complement has upgraded Client/Mac, a tracking software program. COMPUTER ASSOCIATES LAUNCHES MAC ACCOUNTING PROGRAM The Micro Products Division of Computer Associates has launched repackaged, slightly enhanced versions of two accounting packages acquired in the purchase of Bedford Software last year. Incorporating the products gives CA its first accounting package for the Macintosh. APPLE FAR EAST OPENS SINGAPORE DISTRIBUTION CENTRE Apple Far East has opened a Far East distribution centre in Singapore to ensure a high level of customer satisfaction in the area. ======== BUSINESS ======== WYSE LAYS OFF 70, REPORTS $7 M LOSS Wyse Technology, facing a $7.1 million quarterly loss, plans to axe its workforce by 70 people and let go other contract workers. COMPUTER SCIENCES REPORTS 3RD QTR FINANCIAL RESULTS Computer Sciences Corp. (CSC) has reported third quarter 1990 net earnings of $14.9 million, a gain of 24 percent over the same period a year ago. DATAPRODUCTS SELLS HEADQUARTERS WHILE INCURRING 3RD QTR LOSS Dataproducts Corp. has sold its headquarters and manufacturing facility for $59.5 million after a long search for a buyer. The company also announced the commencement of a cash tender offer for up to 4 million shares of Dataproducts' common stock at $10 per share. THE ULTIMATE GAINS HANDS-ON EXPERIENCE Rick Dool, senior vice president of marketing at The Ultimate Corp., which supplies Unix and Pick-based business computer systems, has announced the company's acquisition last week of Hands-on Learning, based in Burlington, Massachusetts since its 1981 founding. LOTUS BLOSSOMS WITH HIGHER FOURTH-QUARTER EARNINGS Lotus Development Corp. (Lotus) of Cambridge, Mass., has announced substantial improvements in its fourth quarter sales and net income plus end-of-fiscal-year results for 1989. DATA GENERAL REPORTS FIRST QUARTER LOSS Data General has reported a loss of 69 cents per share or $20.5 million for the first quarter of fiscal year 1990, ending December 30, 1989, this follows a $19.5 million loss for the same quarter last year, though the loss per share remained the same because of a larger number of outstanding shares. INTERLEAF LOSES $1.11 PER SHARE FOR THIRD QUARTER Interleaf has reported a loss of $15.3 million, or $1.11 per share for its third quarter of the 1990 fiscal year ending December 31. This loss includes a one-time tax restructuring cost of $13.5 million. DELRINA DEFINES ITS DIRECTIONS Delrina Technology's business is not just forms processing, says its president, Mark Skapinker. The company is interested in both data entry and data reporting, coupled with desktop publishing technology. NORTEL SHUFFLES EXECUTIVES Northern Telecom Ltd.'s chief executive has tightened his control of the company, eliminating the post of president so that heads of three NorTel subsidiaries report directly to him. HONGKONG BRANCH OF ITALIAN BANK GOES BULLISH ON BULL Front-line Italian commercial bank Credito Italiano (CI) has become the first Bull DPS 4000 system user in Hongkong. JAPAN'S TETRIS DISTRIBUTOR TO LAUNCH NEW TITLES IN U.S. Software house BPS, distributor of Tetris game software for personal computers in Japan has decided to accelerate the sales of its other game software in the U.S. TWO FUJITSU SUBSIDIARIES BUNCHED Two subsidiaries of Fujitsu will be merged into the single Fujitsu Device starting in April 1990. FUJITSU TO OUTPUT 1M DRAM IN MALAYSIA Fujitsu will start production of one-megabit DRAM (dynamic random access memory) chips in its Malaysian subsidiary, Fujitsu Microelectronics Malaysia. NEC UK TO PRODUCE 4M DRAM NEC has revealed a plan to start production of the new generation, four-megabit DRAM (dynamic random access memory) chip in Europe. UK: DATAFLEX DESIGN GETS CASH BOOST FROM GOVT UNIT Dataflex Design, the London- based modem and communications products company, has received UKP 400,000-worth of equity finding from the Greater London Enterprise (GLE) board. The deal gives the GLE a 28 percent stake in Dataflex Design, along with a nomination for a seat on the company's board. COMPUTER MEMORIES REPURCHASES 1.2 MILLION SHARES Computer Memories, the mini and mainframe memory specialist, has agreed to repurchase 1.2 million of its shares for $2.22 million. The bulk of the shares will be purchased from Frederick Helm and the Leslie Group. NEWSBYTES' TECHNOLOGY COMPANY REPORTS Technology companies in the news this week included: ASIAN STOCKS CLOSE LOWER ON WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 27, 1990 Stocks closed lower in Hong Kong as the Chinese New Year holiday came into focus. The Hang Seng Index dropped 6.06 points to end the day at 2,756.39. Stock turnover finished the day at 440 million Hong Kong dollars, a figure unchanged on Tuesday's performance. ASIAN STOCKS FINISH MIXED ON THURSDAY, JANUARY 25, 1990 Stocks closed Thursday somewhat mixed after several days when the Nikkei Dow average has been sliding to reach its lowest levels for some time. NYSE CLOSES LOW IN HEAVY TRADING ON WEDNESDAY, 24 JANUARY, 1990 Wall Street continued its downward momentum which has started since the beginning of 1990, and closed the day down 10.81 to end the mid week session at 2,604.50. BULL TO SHED 1,200 JOBS Groupe Bull, France's largest computer manufacturer, has announced plans to shed 1,200 jobs. The staff cuts are part of a complex series of cost cutting measures aimed at coping with the lower demand for computers in the European market-place. NYSE CLOSES LOW AGAIN ON FRIDAY, JANUARY 26, 1990 Wall Street kept sliding and closed the week lower again at 2,559.23 - a fall of 123.55 points since the beginning of the year. ======= GENERAL ======= TED NELSON & ALDUS' LARRY SPELHAUG TO DELIVER WCCF KEYNOTES The West Coast Computer Faire will feature Ted Nelson, creator of the hypertext concept and a recognized genius, and Larry Spelhaug, vice president of marketing at Aldus Corporation, as keynote speakers. NEW FOR IBM AND MAC: NANAO INTROS 16-INCH MONITOR Nanao USA Corp., has introduced a 16-inch monitor that offers photographic quality resolution for a variety of applications including text intensive, page proofing, desktop publishing, computer-aided design, three dimensional modeling, presentation graphics and workstations. MCDONNELL D OFFERS NEW DEC VMS SOFTWARE SUPPORT Three new services including telephone software support, remote system management and system organization and setup will be offered to DEC VMS users by the McDonnell Douglas Field Service Co. EPOCH GOES TO VAR FOR INFINITESTORAGE At UniForum '90, Epoch Systems Inc. has announced it is incorporating a value-added reseller (VAR) program to market its Epoch-1 InfiniteStorage server technology, which allows nearly limitless online storage, elimination of archival needs, and automated backup and recovery by the alliance of magnetic disk storage with optical disk storage ranging from one gigabyte to one terabyte capacity. CALGARY STUDENTS GO TO ACM COMPETITION A group of students from the University of Calgary will compete at the 14th annual Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Scholastic Programming Contest in February. The group will meet 23 other teams from universities around the world. CHINESE NEW YEAR GOES HI-TECH Hi-tech has invaded the centuries-old traditions of Lunar New Year, the most important festival in the Chinese calendar. JAPAN: EPSON LAUNCHES HISTORY'S BIGGEST COMPUTER RECALL Major PC maker Seiko-Epson will exchange all defective parts of its 105,500 PCs sold between December 1987 and December 1989. The PC industry has never experienced such a large recall ever in its history. NEC, TOSHIBA, EPSON TO OFFER NEW BOOK-SIZE COMPUTERS NEC, Toshiba, and Seiko-Epson are getting ready to introduce new book-size computers, according to Nihon Keizai Shimbun newspaper. PC-9801 RECORDED BEST SALES IN DECEMBER The Japanese de facto standard PC, NEC's PC-9801 series, recorded the best monthly sales ever in December last year. December sales of 95,000 units far exceeds the past best record of 75,000 units in March last year. JAPAN: ASHISUTO OFFERS MORE LOW-PRICE SOFTWARE According to Nikkei Industrial Daily newspaper, software house Ashisuto will add another five applications at the low price of 9,700 yen ($67), a price which is the same as its current five software products on the market. HIGH RESOLUTION 32-BIT LAPTOP FROM NEC NEC is marketing a 32-bit laptop office computer, NEC System 3100 model 10 LA II. The machine, equipped with 16 megahertz 80386SX and clearer backlit 1120 by 780 dots LCD (liquid crystal display), will run the original operating system specially developed for the 3100A series, ITOS-VX. JAPAN: SHARP ORGANIZER COMMUNICATES WITH DATABASE In an attempt to beat Casio Computer in the hand-held organizer market here, Sharp has come up with a new way to use its electronic organizer -- Sharp has enabled it to store information from a database. The system is aimed at those who are too busy to read database information online and want to read it during their leisure, such while commuting on a train. WANT TO LIVE IN AUSTRALIA? COMPUTER EXPERTS WELCOME! An immigration department scheme to speed the processing of applications from computer and communications skilled applicants is seen as a way of alleviating the national shortage of skilled personnel. The scheme allows for an extra 500 places for permanent residents and 400 temporary residents, plus 100 places for temporary residents to become permanent. To this would be added families. ======================= GOVERNMENT & THE COURTS ======================= ANDERSON WINS CONTRACT TO BROADEN INFO ACCESS IN TEXAS Anderson Consulting has been awarded a $2.6 million contract by the State of Texas to develop a one-of-a-kind information system that will give elected officials, state agencies and the public greater access to state management information. UK: COMMODORE IN TOP-SECRET CAA AMIGA PROJECT Commodore has landed a prestigious contract with the CAA (civil aviation authority) for supplying customised Amiga machines for use as advanced flight simulators for training pilots. Contract details first surfaced in the latest Computer Weekly, a UK computer newspaper, although Commodore and CAA officials are refusing to comment on the story. NEW PRODUCT: TELEGEN2 ADA COMPILATION SYSTEM UNVEILED Beginning in March, TeleSoft will sell and support the TeleGen2 Ada compiler introduced by TeleSoft and Tektronix for the Tektronix XD88 Series graphics superworkstations. === IBM === NEW FOR IBM: RBASE 3.0 DATABASE TO SHIP MAR 30 Microrim says it will ship the newest version of R:BASE, an upgrade with 70 new features, by March 30, 1990. NEW FOR IBM: UTILITY AUTOMATES INTEL FAX BOARD Intel Corporation's Personal Computer Enhancement Operation has developed utility software for users of its Connection Coprocessor PC fax board to automate their fax operations. NEW FOR IBM: COLOR/GRAY SCALE SCANNER FROM MICROTEK Microtek Lab I is now shipping the IBM PC-XT/AT and PS/2 version of its MSF-300Z Color/Gray scanner. VI-SPY NOW PROTECTS AGAINST MORE THAN 40 VIRUSES Raymond Glath, developer of Vi-Spy, has announced that RG Software will begin shipping Release 2 of Vi-Spy on Monday. NEW FOR IBM: RIGHTWRITER AVAILABLE FOR DESKMATE Rightsoft announced it is producing a version of its RightWriter proofreading program for Tandy's Deskmate interface. NEW FOR IBM: KNOWLEDGEWARE SHIPPING OS/2 CASE TOOLS KnowledgeWare, the company headed by former quarterback and "Real People" host Fran Tarkenton, is shipping an OS/2 Presentation Manager version of its computer-assisted software engineering, or CASE tool, the Application Development Workbench. The ADW contains all the functions of the company's current Information Engineering Workbench which runs under DOS. HONGKONG BUSINESS LEADER JOINS IBM TRADE GROUP BOARD David Gledhill, chairman of John Swire & Sons (HK) Ltd, one of Hongkong's two oldest companies, has become a member of the IBM World Trade Asia/Pacific Group Board. JAPAN: IBM CUTS PRICES FOR ITS LATEST OS IBM Japan is discounting its late operating system for general purpose computers, MVS/ESA. JAPAN: COMPAQ 486 TO BE DISTRIBUTED BY CATENA Catena Corp., a Japanese sales agent of U.S.-based Compaq, will market the fast 32-bit Compaq Deskpro 486/25 starting in February. IBM AUSTRALIA GROSS INCOME UP 17 PERCENT With 1989 gross income of AUS$1478M (up $212M over 1988), IBM Australia profits are up $31M after tax. "This is well ahead of the information industry as a whole," said Managing Director Brian Finn. NEW FOR IBM: ELONEX LAUNCHES SLIMLINE BUDGET PC-XT Elonex has announced the 88M, a slimline XT-compatible laptop based around a 10MHz NEC V20 (8088-compatible) microprocessor. Pricing starts at UKP 645 ($970) for a 640K RAM, 720K 3.5-inch disk drive-equipped machine, complete with Hercules-compatible monochrome monitor, Microsoft- compatible mouse, MS-DOS 4.01, MS-Works and GW-Basic. ================== TELECOMMUNICATIONS ================== NEW PRODUCT: MITSUBISHI LAUNCHES 32-GREY SCALE SUPER FAX Mitsubishi Electric UK has begun shipping the FA-770, a fax machine capable of dither- processing half tone images to yield a 32-level grey scale, while normal text and line drawings are transmitted as standard black and white prints. The machine retails for UKP 1,750. STORM WREAKS HAVOC WITH UK TELECOMMUNICATIONS NETWORK Last week's storms, which hit the UK and subsequently Belgium, France and other areas of Northern Europe with winds of up to 110 miles per hour, caused damage estimated at UKP 1,100 million ($1,650 million) in the UK alone. Worse still, the storms cost 45 lives in the UK alone, with dozens more deaths reported on the continent. CANADA'S INFO GLOBE TO OFFER SOVIET NOVOSTI PRESS SERVICE News from the Soviet Union's Novosti Press Agency will be available on the Toronto-based Info Globe online service starting in March. NEW FOR IBM: SET UP YOUR OWN VIDEOTEX SERVICE WITH SERVOTEL Servotel Videotex Systems has released a multiprotocol version of its videotex server which converts IBM PCs into multichannel servers for 72 simultaneous users. SPAIN TO GET SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM Spain signed a contract with Matra of France for the construction of its first satellite communications system, Hispasat. LOS ANGELES SIGNS FOR COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK Newbridge Networks signed a $2.68 million agreement with Los Angeles County to provide a communications backbone network. WESTERN UNION HOSTS X.500 CONSORTIUM Western Union hosted the first meeting of major electronic mail service providers in North America in an effort to hasten the development of a universal messaging directory based on the X.500 protocol. RZW VENTURES BUYS CONTROL OF PREMIER NETWORK SERVICES RZW Ventures purchased a 60% equity interest in Premier Network Services of Dallas, Texas, in exchange for $100,000 cash plus a commitment to arrange $900,000 and $1.90 million in financing over the next 2 years. BELL ATLANTIC TO SPONSOR LEARNING TELECONFERENCE The Bell Atlantic Charitable Foundation sponsored a nationwide teleconference broadcast into classrooms January 26. NEW DEVICE TO BRING RURAL AREAS BIG CITY PHONE SERVICE Northern Telecom announced the general availability of its DMS-10 400E switch, designed to give rural phone companies the same advanced services now being put into major cities. It's based on the MIPS R2000, a reduced instruction set computer processor from MIPS Computer Systems of Sunnyvale, California. EDS BUYS CONTROL OF INFOCEL Electronic Data Systems reached an agreement to acquire 30% of Infocel, a Raleigh, North Carolina specialist in information systems for local governments, education and public safety. Terms of the purchase of the privately held shares were not disclosed. REPUBLIC ANNOUNCES PACKET-SWITCH FOR VOICE AND DATA Republic Telcom announced a private networking system which integrates voice, fax, and data, and runs them through packet switches at speeds of under 1.544 megabits/second, called T-1 circuits. RNET is pitched as a cost-effective solution for linking multiple low and mid-range traffic locations on a unified, digital private network of so-called fractional T-1 lines. AUSTRALIAN INTERNAL SATELLITE CARRIER MAY BE ABSORBED Aussat, the Australian internal satellite carrier may merge with either Telecom (the national carrier) or OTC (the international carrier), according to a federal government review. UK: RACAL LOOKS TO THE 1990S WITH SUSTAINED GROWTH At a presentational meeting with UK institutional investors last week, Mr G A Whent, Racal Telecom's chief executive, said that he was confident of continuing strong growth during the 1990s. =================== TRENDS & TECHNOLOGY =================== NEW IC EXPECTED TO BOOST AUDIO-BASED PRODUCTS Hughes Aircraft Co.'s Sound Retrieval System is a patented sound reproduction system based on a soon-to-be-released integrated circuit (IC) that is said to recreate the ambience and dynamic range of an original live performance or studio situation. NEW U.S. HDT CONSORTIUM The National Broadcasting Company has announced that it, the David Sarnoff Research Center, Philips Consumer Electronics Co., and Thomson Consumer Electronics Inc. have formed the Advanced Television Research Consortium, aimed at giving U.S. consumers a preview of high-definition-television (HDTV) and competing with foreign HDTV development efforts. AT&T BELL LABS TO ANNOUNCE MAJOR OPTICAL COMPUTING ADVANCE Mike Miller, media relations manager for AT&T Bell Laboratories, told Newsbytes Friday that a major press conference would take place Monday to describe a breakthrough in optical computing. IBM, SIEMENS AGREE TO DEVELOP 64MB MEMORY CHIPS IBM Corp. and Siemens AG have signed an agreement for a joint venture to develop 64-million-bit memory chips, plus possible future teamwork on semiconductor memory generations. COMPUTERS TO DISSECT HIGH MEDICAL PAYMENTS Dun & Bradstreet's Erisco, has announced "ClinicaLogic," an important new software package that checks medical claims for errors while processing them. MOTOROLA UNVEILS 68040 CHIP Motorola has begun making the 68040 microprocessor, which will shortly provide Apple Macintosh users, among others, a projected upgrade path for their favorite computer. A total of 35 other manufacturers have endorsed the chip as the base of a new line of advanced computers. JAPAN: MOTOROLA TO SHIP SAMPLE 68040 Nippon Motorola, a Japanese subsidiary of U.S.-based Motorola, has announced its speed demon MC68040 following its U.S. headquarters. VARS NEED MORE VENDOR SUPPORT, IDC CANADA FINDS Value-added resellers (VARs) are concerned about their profit margins and need more marketing and technical support from vendors, according to a recent study by International Data Corporation (Canada). JAPAN: THE MERCEDES OF GAME SYSTEMS DUE Following Sega Enterprises, arcade video game unit maker SNK will launch a 16-bit video game system for home use at the end of this March, a system which has a whopping 330-megabit memory. NTT CREATES FLOPPY TRANSFER UNIT FOR ISDN NTT has developed a unit to transfer the data on a floppy disk via an ISDN (integrated services digital network) line. The new equipment allows transfer of one megabyte of data, equivalent to about half million Japanese language characters, in only three minutes, no matter how far apart a sender and receiver are. NTT CREATES A PERSONAL PHONE NUMBER Japan's telecom giant NTT has created a new-generation communication method to allow a subscriber to catch a phone call anytime and anywhere. FUJITSU SECOND-SOURCES HITACHI TRON CHIP According to industry sources, Hitachi has started offering its TRON-based Gmicro 200 chips to Fujitsu under a second-source license agreement. JAPAN: GLASS USED TO MAKE HARD DRIVE One of the leading general traders, C.Ito & Co. and Glass Techno, have a different drive in store -- a glass HD ==== UNIX ==== NEW FOR UNIX: WINGZ FILES FOR NEXT Informix Software Inc. has released Wingz, a graphic spreadsheet designed to access data from Informix's OnLine database while using NeXT computer systems. OSF SHOWS FIRST OSF/1 OPERATING SYSTEM In town for UniForum '90, the Open Software Foundation (OSF) has announced the premier snapshot of its OSF/1 operating system, a novel operating environment developed from advanced systems architecture. MT XINU UP TO SPEED ON MACH OPERATING SYSTEM Mt Xinu Inc. has announced supported source versions of its Mach operating system for Digital VAX, IBM RT and Sun 3 computers at Uniforum '90. MATROX, PHOENIX APPLYING MS-DOS VGA TO X-WINDOWS Matrox Electronic Systems Ltd. and Phoenix Technologies Ltd. have announced a joint development and marketing agreement that will bring VGA-compatible, DOS-based applications into the Unix/X- Windows marketplace through use of the Matrox PG2-1281 graphics board and Phoenix VP/ix systems software. ERASABLE OPTICAL JUKEBOX ANNOUNCED AT UNIFORUM Epoch Systems Inc. has announced, during UniForum '90, the addition of an erasable disk library unit (a "jukebox") to its high-capacity Epoch-1 InfiniteStorage server family. WANG SHOWS NEW PRODUCTS AT UNIFORUM Wang Laboratories Inc. has presented the premier members of its new line, the OPEN/Server Unix mid-range systems, plus other Unix products that show how Wang incorporates innovation into industry standards. The Open/Servers, slated for the international government market, range in price from $22,690 to $27,690 and will be available in second quarter 1990. TOUCH COMMUNICATIONS TO LICENSE NETWISE Touch Communications licensed and agreed to market the RPC TOOL development product of Netwise. Both companies will implement the products, now available under MS-DOS, under Unix System V.3. NCR INTRODUCES NETWORK MANAGEMENT TOOLS NCR introduced a set of OSI-compliant network management and communications products for its family of Unix-based NCR Tower computers. UNIX INTERNATIONAL UNVEILS NEW UPGRADE STRATEGY Unix International, the marketing arm for AT&T's version of Unix, called System V, unveiled its strategy for future upgrades of the System V software. Unix System V Roadmap was simultaneously introduced in Washington, D.C., New York, Brussels, Belgium, and Tokyo, for Unix users in North America, Europe and Asia. HONGKONG: WORLDPOLE PICKS UNISYS Leading value added reseller - VAR - Worldpole Control Systems Ltd (WCS) has ordered five Unisys Unix systems based on the Pick operating system, within four months of becoming a Unisys VAR (value-added reseller). JAPANESE & U.S. SUPERCOMPUTERS VIE IN JAPANESE MARKET Nihon Alliant Computer Corp., a Japanese subsidiary of U.S.-based Alliant Computer Systems, has announced the FX/2800 series supercomputer. ========= EDITORIAL ========= PET PEEVES -- EDITORIAL BY JOHN MCCORMICK One of the great things about writing for a living is that you get to blow off steam; that is, you do if you write editorials. ======= REVIEWS ======= Review of: Hotline II, Version 2.2, a RAM-resident phone book for PCs Review of: MacDraw II Version 1.1 for the Macintosh (Wendy Woods/19900127) (EDITORIAL)(GENERAL)(WAS)(00104) PET PEEVES -- EDITORIAL BY JOHN MCCORMICK MCGEES MILLS, PENNSYLVANIA, U.S.A., 1990 JAN 26 (NB) -- One of the great things about writing for a living is that you get to blow off steam; that is, you do if you write editorials. I consider this to be a great "safe" method for keeping bias out of actual news stories, first because almost no one reads editorials so I can say what is on my alleged mind, and, second, those who do read them usually understand that they are often not meant to be taken seriously or at least not as major statements of eternal truths so much as they contain topics tossed out for thought. With that said, I must point out that editorials do contain some truths and by their very nature often stir up controversy. I will leave you to decide which of the following is serious, and I bet no two of you will completely agree. When I made some comments about Unix the other week, I knew I would get outraged responses, although they were, thankfully, quite mild, but while Unix certainly has its good points some things in the computer industry just don't make any sense at all, and those which would be so easy to correct are the worst, at least when you work with computers 12 hours every day. First of all, why haven't more software companies noticed that many people have 3.5-inch floppy drives? I ask this because most software still comes packaged with 5.25-inch disks and a postcard telling you that for only an additional $ (fill in your own experience here) you will be sent disks that actually fit your machine. Please allow 6-8 weeks for mailing (if we are still in business then). It really doesn't cost all that much to include both "standard" sizes of disk in the same package, certainly not much compared to the incredible ill-will this sort of stupidity engenders in the hapless customer. The absolute worst offenders are the ones who fail to mark what size disks are contained in the box. Even though I have just about every computer available and certainly have a number of floppy disk drives (even an old Amdek 3", yes, three-inch, not 3.5"), this isn't a lot of help when the installation program requires a certain size drive be drive A, so even well-equipped users can run into problems with this disk dimension disparity dilemma. Another thing, why doesn't Microsoft sell software such as compilers with instructions as to where to copy files rather than with complex installation programs that more often than not take a half hour or so to run, whereupon you either find that a disk is missing, unreadable, or that you didn't want it installed that way? All three of these things have happened to me using both Borland and Microsoft programs. Also, why do some of these jokers (not Borland or Microsoft this time) include three or four disks all labeled neatly "1" through whatever, but fail to make disk #1 the first one you stick in the computer to install the program? This just happened to me about an hour ago, and certainly not for the first time. Avoiding the documentation, as I nearly always do, I picked up these two disks, one labeled #1 and the other #2. Naturally I stuck in disk #1 and looked for the inevitable install batch file. Failing to find it, I copied the files to a hard disk directory, then followed the same procedure with the second disk. It didn't work, so I wasted 10 minutes reading 30 pages of documentation until I found the installation instructions. Lo and behold, although you run this program from a hard disk, the disk you start the installation from is the one marked #2!! Now does that make any sense? Is it just me, or is that really stupid? It didn't make any sense to me, so I tossed it in the trash. That may seem extreme, but I get about a dozen new programs to test out every day, and if help isn't on "F1;" if disk #1 isn't the first one I should use; if the documentation isn't decent; if the outside of the package doesn't tell me what the program is supposed to do; or if I can't get it to install without copying all the files onto another size disk, I don't bother with it. Some of those examples may seem extreme, but I have actually been assigned reviews of products (if they are assigned I look at them no matter what my initial misgivings) which changed my AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS files without asking permission or even telling me they had done so, and one memorable program is still a mystery. After more than two hours of reading the documentation and experimenting with the software, I still hadn't figured out what the program was supposed to do. Another pet peeve involves expensively printed documentation with a large number of spelling and grammatical errors. I can just imagine what their technical service line is like, and if their English, which is visible to everyone, is so sloppy how much care did they take with the code which I can't see? I am also getting pretty tired of people calling and immediately asking, "What is your fax number," without once identifying themselves or their company. Needless to say, they don't get my number; I get enough junk mail from the post office where I don't have to pay for the privilege. CompuServe earned my wrath recently when I discovered that they were charging me a monthly fee for an account they had created (without my approval) when they bought out and closed down The Source. I already had a CS account and never once used the one they activated, but they still thought it was a good business practice to bill me for the one I hadn't ordered. To make it worse, when I called to complain, they wouldn't refund my money, and, rubbing salt in the wound, the salesman warned me that if I didn't use the new account I wouldn't get any of the special offers (read that advertisements) which would tell me how to save money with the account. I have been told by the Computer Press Association (that account on The Source was a free part of my membership in the first place) that I will get a refund from CompuServe, but I wonder about those others, the ones who aren't members of a powerful association, who are still being billed for accounts they didn't order and don't want but haven't yet realized they have. More complaints? Why does anyone design (or buy) word processing software that can't be used effectively unless you take your hands off the keyboard and fumble for a mouse to perform some tasks? Do they have their geneticists working away breeding typists with three hands? Why do many publishers charge as much or more for data published on a CD-ROM (the Oxford English Dictionary leaps to mind) as for the printed version, despite the fact that the CD-ROM costs $2 to duplicate in quantity, while the big bound version must cost nearly $100, not to mention storage and shipping costs? A friend of mine at Electronic Text Corporation has taken exactly the opposite tack, putting novels, legal documents, government publications, and even Shakespeare on a single CD-ROM, figuring that, while a single customer would only buy the $250 disc for one or two of its volumes, it costs him less to put everything on a single disc; therefore he can charge less and if someone actually wants to look at the Utah State code, a Mark Twain novel, and the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FARs), then the customer has just gotten an even bigger bargain. Why does it take a computer magazine 6-8 weeks to change your address when you move? Don't they use computers? Why do you have to curse at someone in the business office at the telephone company before you can get to talk to someone who knows something about telephones, or who might actually be in a position to answer your question or help you? Try it sometime, politeness certainly doesn't work. Why do people use ATMs (automated teller machines), then complain to their friends about the high unemployment level and the fact that they can't get "personal service" anymore? Why do companies use electronic answering systems instead of human beings, then not make certain that the system actually works? Personally I would far rather get a busy signal than an electronic voice which drones on for about a minute before dumping me to a human operator. And, come to think of it, why is something you are looking for always in the very last place you look? Why would anyone in their right mind use Windows for anything? You can always buy a slower computer if yours is too fast! Why can't IBM design a laptop computer that anyone would use? Who is this Bill Gates guy everyone is talking about, and would he like to meet my sister? Why does the Department of Motor Vehicles bother listing their phone number when it is always busy and if your call does get answered the person you get doesn't know anything? Why does the printing on a box of breakfast cereal cost more than the food it contains, and why do people buy it? Why is Shipping and Handling always listed separately? Didn't they know they would have to ship the junk after they sold it? Does anyone watch those half-hour-long commercials disguised as news reports on hair restoration or as talk shows about some kitchen appliance? Does anyone watch Geraldo, and isn't there anything we can do about it if they do? Do school boards and other politicians ALWAYS have to make the wrong decisions for the best of motives? Will anyone notice in time that cutting down all the trees and throwing lots of garbage in the ocean will soon leave us without any oxygen to breathe? Does it make any sense to spend billions on diet soda instead of just drinking water instead? If people had it to do all over differently, does anyone think they actually would? Is anyone else as amazed as I am when I remember that the oldest known MS-DOS computer still running is less than 10 years old? These and other cosmic questions plague me no longer because I have passed them along to you; at least, that is the theory. (John McCormick/1990126/)