Newsbytes - International Computing Industry News 1983 May to 1994 June

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(NEWS)(APPLE)(SFO)(00001) APPLE ACCUSES TAIWAN MAC CLONEMAKERS} CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1990 MAR 28 (NB) -- Apple has filed a criminal complaint in Taiwan against five individuals related to the company which launched the "Jonathan" Macintosh clone last year and the "MacPort" portable at CeBIT, Hannover, West Germany, this year. Apple claims the five have infringed on its copyright and trademark rights under Taiwan law and says the complaint was filed after several months of careful investigation, and after the individuals refused to comply with Apple's written request that they cease all infringing activity. After the complaint was filed, the Prosecutor's Office of the Taipei District Court, with the assistance of the Taipei police, conducted raids on Flive Computer Corp. and premises occupied by persons doing business under the name Akkord Technology Inc. Akkord Technology shares an office with DTC Technology, which is believed to be the parent company of Akkord. To make matters further complicated, DTC is the Taiwanese division of Qume. Newsbytes attempts to reach a Qume spokesperson at deadline were unsuccessful. At Hannover, DTC was showing, and shipping in small quantities, what it called the MacPort, "the ultimate laptop upgrade kit." With this kit, the customer takes a Macintosh Plus/SE/SE30 main logic board and installs it in a portable case. The company offers a graphics upgrade that brings the resolution up to 640 x 480 pixels. The MacPort is about 1 1/2 pounds lighter than the Apple portable, costs $1,600, but does not come with a power supply. In a prepared statement, Ian W. Diery, president of Apple Pacific, said, "Apple has maintained, and continues to maintain, that it will protect its intellectual property to ensure that its investment in proprietary technology, operating systems and user interface is preserved. We applaud the Taiwan authorities for their timely and responsive actions in upholding international copyright protection." The Prosecutor's Office of the Taipei District Court is now examining the evidence for the purpose of issuing indictments against the five individuals, according to Apple. (Wendy Woods/19900328/Press Contact: Pam Miracle, Apple Computer, 408-974-2559) (NEWS)(APPLE)(ATL)(00002) HAYES ANNOUNCES NEW PRODUCT LINE FOR MACINTOSH NORCROSS, GEORGIA, U.S.A., 1990 MARCH 26 (NB) -- Hayes Microcomputer Products announced a new product line called Hayes For The Mac, a line of software and hardware designed specifically for the Apple Macintosh market. These include the V- series modem line, a Personal Modem 2400plus, Smartcom for the Mac, and a complete dial-up communications system for the home office. Featured is HayesConnect, a software program that provides modem sharing for users on AppleTalk networks, using the AppleTalk Datastream Protocol to link served devices and workstations over LocalTalk and EtherNet networks with the AppleTalk network protocols. The company's top-of-the-line modem, the V.32 compatible Ultra Smartmodem 9600, goes for $1,249 with software and cabling. The V-Series Smartmodem 9,600 will cost $999, the V- Series Smartmodem 2400 will cost $649, but bundled with Smartcom II, HayesConnect and a Hayes V-Series to the Mac cable, it goes for $699. By itself, the HayesConnect package costs $79. As part of the announcement, Hayes has developed new packaging, which will be featured at the MacWorld show April 11-13 in San Francisco. (Dana Blankenhorn/19900327/Press Contact: Sharon O'Brien, Hayes, 404-449-8791) (NEWS)(APPLE)(SYD)(00003) SOUTH AUSTRALIAN WINERY MAKES WINE WITH APPLES} ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA, 1990 MAR 26 (NB) -- Yalumba winery in the state of South Australia, has been making its wines with Apples for the last ten years -- Apple IIs and Macs, that is. The leading producer has 30 Apple PCs, using them in all areas, from administration, to laboratory analysis. Even the plant is fully automated, using several Macs and programmable logic controllers, all networked. In short -- Apples handle grapes at rate of 120 tonnes per hour. (Paul Zucker/19900328/Contact Yalumba phone +61-2-6484511) (NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SFO)(00001) RASTEROPS TO GO PUBLIC} SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1990 MAR 27 (NB) -- RasterOps will appear on the NASDAQ exchange as ROPS, if its offering for the public sale of stock gets the nod from the Securities and Exchange Commission. RasterOps, maker of graphics and imaging subsystems for Apple Macintosh, SPARCstations of Sun Microsystems, and IBM- compatible desktop computers, has filed a registration statement for an initial public offering of its common stock at an estimated price of $9 to $11 per share. The company says that 1,520,000 shares will be offered through an underwriting group managed by Robertson, Stephens & Company and Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette Securities Corp., One Embarcadero Center, Suite 3100, San Francisco, California, 94111. Phone: 415-781-9700. (Wendy Woods/19900327/Press Contact: RasterOps, Ken J. McEwan, 408-562-4200) (EXCLUSIVE)(BUSINESS)(BRU)(00001) TECHNOLOGY STOCKS: Midweek Market summary, Tues Mar 27} NEW YORK, NEW YORK, U.S.A, 1990 MAR 27 (NB) -- Stocks closed higher today even though blue chips started the week on a low note. Over the Counter trading saw Microsoft falling $1 to $110.25, Apple Computer up by $1.50, Intel Corporation up by 50 cents to $42.5 and Oracle Systems 50 cents higher to $25.25. Adobe fell by $1.50 to $38 and Sun Microsystems moved 67.5 cents higher to close at 24.25. On the American Exchange, Amdahl Corporation rose slightly by 12.5 cents to $14.675. Wang Labs has been quiet since the death of the company's founder. The New York Stock Exchange, where the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 3.38 on Monday, gained another 29.27 to 2736.93. The average stood at 2597 at the turn of the year. IBM fell by $3.675 to $105 and AT&T off by 37.5 cents to $41.50. Stocks in the limelight this week include Apple which gained $5.50 over the week, Autodesk which gained $2 and Advanced Micro Devices which ganed 75 cents. AST Research gained $2.25, Chips & Technologies lost $1.375, Cray Computer lost $1, Digital Equipment moved up by $1.75 and Intel Corporation closed at $43.00, up $2.875. Lotus Development moved slightly up to $36 from $34.25, Novell was down to $43.00 from $43.25, Seagate also was down to $16.25 from $18.50 and Zero Corporation of Delaware was down to $13.50 from last week's $15. There were 427 stocks traded on the technology area with a total of 26,246,000 stocks changing hands. This is down from last week's 33,296,900 shares. The NEWSBYTES STOCK INDEX closed at 11.22, slightly higher from last week's 11.19. Total price volume reached 4790.32, up from last week's 4788.06. (John Verhelst/19900328) (NEWS)(BUSINESS)(BRU)(00002) TECHNOLOGY STOCKS: Midweek Quarterly Results, Wed Mar 28} NEW YORK, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1990 MAR 28 (NB) -- Financially active stocks this week are as follows. [] TELECOM CORPORATION announced that Meyer Europe, a wholly owned subsidiary of Meyer Machine Co., has acquired a 27 percent stake in Vitech Conveyors Limuted, a company headquartered in Birmingham, England. [] CYPRESS SEMICONDUCTOR plans to repurchase up to 2 million shares of its outstanding stock. The move has been authorized by the company shareholders and may happen from time to time. Cypress manufactures 1.2 and 0.8 micron integrated circuits. [] PERKIN ELMER accepted approximately 10.1 million shares at $24.50 per share in accordance with the terms of its Dutch auction which expired March 23. The company accepted all the shares at the given price. [] BELLSOUTH approved a dividend of 67 cents per common share which represents an increase of four cents over the previous dividend. [] COMPUTER DEVICES lost $258,000 in the fourth quarter which ended December 31, 1989 on revenues of $607,000. For the year the company reported losses of $231,000 on sales of $2.843 million. Operating expenses were $382,000 directly attributed to the start-up of Neuro-Therapeutics. [] ORACLE CORPORATION reported revenues of $236.4 million for third quarter of 1990 which ended February 28, 1990 with profits at $41 million. The revenues represents a 54 percent rise from last year's $153.4 million. Nine month revenues reached $636.4 million while profits for the nine months exceeded $105 million. Oracle manufactures database management software and services. [] J2 Communications reported earnings of $123,531 for the second quarter which ended Jan 31, 1990. Revenues for the period stood at $1.73 million. [] GTE SOUTHWEST shows fiscal 1989 net of $138.7 million on revenues of $1.21 billion. (John Verhelst/19900328) (NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SYD)(00005) RESTRUCTURING OF IMAGINEERING FOR SURVIVAL} SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1990 MAR 23 (NB) -- Restructuring of Australian distributor Imagineering, which has recently seen the layoff of 63 staff, is aimed at ensuring the future survival of the distribution group. The company's problems, according to the group's managing director, Jodee Rich, were due to a number of adverse factors over the last fiscal year. These included high interest rates, turnover not meeting operating overhead, high inventory and the collapse of a number of major dealers. The group is made up of Tech Pacific, Telecommunications, OziSoft, and Imagineering's Australian, Asian and New Zealand subsidiaries. The company in the group with the largest problems is Imagineering Australia, which is geared for a turnover of AUS$25M per month and is only doing AUS$10M. Among moves to be taken in regard to Imagineering Australia are: the appointment of New Zealand [NZ] managing director as joint NZ and Australian managing director; moves to emphasize the telecommunications market in the recovery plan; and reduction of an inventory backlog 20 percent by the end of March. (Sean McNamara & Computing Australia/19900328) (NEWS)(BUSINESS)(HKG)(00002) HONGKONG: HILL SAMUEL MOVES TREASURY INHOUSE} WANCHAI, HONGKONG, 1990 MAR 27 (NB) -- Merchant bank Hill Samuel is to move its treasury system inhouse, but will lease hardware from COL Ltd, the independent bureau that formerly provided the service. COL marketing manager, Joseph Chow, says, "COL has always recognized that, after gaining experience, many users will start thinking about moving inhouse. We always offer our help in making this transition." For the past ten years, Hill Samuel has run its treasury system on Digital Equipment (DEC) minicomputers at COL. Under the new agreement, COL will lease the bank a DEC PDP/11-84 minicomputer to run the treasury application and will also provide its disaster recovery service. This service is used by many companies in Hongkong and the region. Clemence K.L. Lee, director of finance and administration at Hill Samuel, says the bank will migrate gradually from the PDP platform to VAX over the next 3-4 years. "We're leasing the PDPs from COL until the migration is complete. We are very satisfied with the service we have had from COL over the years, and will turn to them as our first choice if we need help with our computer systems in the future." COL Ltd was Hongkong's first computer services company and is now its largest, serving more than 100 clients through IBM- and DEC-based bureau operations. (Norman Wingrove/19900328/Press Contact: Joseph Chow, COL, + 852 527 1021) (NEWS)(BUSINESS)(HKG)(00005) AST MAKES BIG ADVANCES IN HONGKONG} CAUSEWAY BAY, HONGKONG, 1990 MAR 28 (NB) -- AST Asia reports sales of nearly two hundred Intel 80286- and 80386-based computer systems to the Hongkong Securities and Futures Commission (HSFC) and power utility Hongkong Electric (HEC). The sales were made through authorized dealer Swire Systems. AST claims the 140 Bravo 286s supplied to the HSFC represent over 99 percent of the Commission's overall personal computer installation. The HSFC, which is the watchdog responsible for monitoring all operations of Hongkong's exchange companies and clearing houses, will use the new machines linked to an IBM AS/400 minicomputer via IBM's token ring network to improve market supervision and personnel and administrative functions. Hongkong Electric, one of the colony's two electric power utility companies, has placed an order for 50 AST PCs, bring its total installed base of AST machines to nearly 200. (Norman Wingrove/19900328/Press Contact: Clara Shek, MDL, + 852 838 3889) (NEWS)(GENERAL)(SFO)(00001) EXCELLENCE IN SOFTWARE AWARDS ANNOUNCED} SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1990 MAR 28 (NB) -- The Software Publisher's Association has announced the winners of its coveted annual awards for outstanding and innovative software products of 1989. The organization says that the original 370 nominated products were whittled down to126 for the final ballot, of which 24 received awards from the SPA membership. At an event Tuesday night in San Diego, hosted by Dennis Miller of NBC's Saturday Night Live, SimCity, The City Simulator (Maxis) topped the award winners, winning three awards in the following categories: Best Simulation Program, Best Entertainment Program and Best Curricular Program. Other products which won awards in two or more categories include HP NewWave (Hewlett-Packard) which won honors in the Best Business Application: Graphic or Display Orientation and Best Design Achievement. Compton's MultiMedia Encyclopedia (Networked)(Britannica Software) won awards in the Best School Productivity/Creativity Program and Best New Use of a Computer categories. EYE RELIEF Large Type Word Processor (MS-DOS) (SkiSoft Publishing) captured awards in the Best Business Application: Word or Text Orientation and Best Special Needs Program categories. Companies that won awards in two or more categories include Lotus Development Corp. for Lotus Notes, which captured the Best New Business Software Product category and Lotus Magellan, which won for Best Utility/Communications Product. Broderbund Software won awards for The Playroom which topped the Best Early Education Program and Where In Time Is Carmen Sandiego which won for Best Home Learning Program. In the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award to honor an individual's contribution to the growth of the software industry, there was a tie between Apple Fellow Alan Kay and Next President Steve Jobs. In addition, the SPA announced the winners of the Journalism Recognition Program to recognize outstanding journalistic contributions to the PC software industry. This year's recipients include Michael Miller (InfoWorld) and Keith Ferrell (Compute!) for Best Software Reviewer, Larry Magid (L.A. Times) for Best News Reporting and Stewart Alsop (PC Letter) for Best Industry Analysis/Editorial. PCW Communications and the SPA also presented the Andrew Fluegelman Award to the NextStep Software Development Team. The Software Publishers Association is the principal trade group of the PC software industry. Its over 625 members in North America and abroad include the leading publishers of business, consumer and education software. (Wendy Woods/19900328/Press Contact: Jodi Pollock, Software Publishers Association, 202-452-1600 ) (NEWS)(GENERAL)(SFO)(00001) NEW PRODUCT: Personal Word Processor Transposes English/Japanese} SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1990 MAR 28 (NB) -- Fujitsu has unveiled a machine designed to eliminate cross-language barriers for people who dobusiness in both the U.S. and Japan. Its OASYS 30AX-W, an international version of its popular Japanese word processor, allows users to convert Japanese words typed phonetically in the English alphabet to Japanese characters at the touch of a key. The Japanese language processor system also features a spreadsheet program, built-in thermal printer, autodialer, calendar, address book and phone directory. Using the Fujitsu OASYS 30AX-W, the end-user can type either in English or in a variety of Japanese input modes, so says the company. Users can touch-type directly in "kana" (the 50-character Japanese phonetic alphabet), using Fujitsu's thumb-shift method, or type phonetically in English (standard Qwerty keyboard arrangement) and convert multiple phrases to "kana" and "kanji" (Japanese ideograms, numbering in the thousands) by pressing a single key. For example, the user can input the phonetic spelling of a Japanese word, such as "sushi" and receive the corresponding Japanese characters. "We are pleased to be able to provide this much needed product to our customers in the United States," said Yasushi Nakamura, president and chief executive officer, Fujitsu America. "While Japanese businesses in the U.S. are the principal market for this product, American companies, professional offices, schools and universities are becoming more interested in developing a Japanese text processing capability." An MS-DOS file conversion program is included in the system software which allows files to be converted from the OASYS format to MS-DOS. A full set of more than 7,000 characters is included, as well as 12 English fonts. Add-on products include an external dot matrix printer, cut-sheet feeder, ten-key numeric keypad, and telecommunications software. The 22-pound Fujitsu OASYS 30AX-W with its built-in printer, keyboard, and internal modem, together with the system software and manuals will sell for $2,000. The new model, available April 2, 1990, will be sold directly to end users by Fujitsu America Inc. (Wendy Woods/19900328/Press Contact: David Gould, Fujitsu America, 408-432-1300) (NEWS)(GENERAL)(SFO)(00001) NEWSBYTES ON AUDIO TAPE} SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1990 MAR 28 (NB) -- Newsbytes news stories are now on audio tape in a new service called CompuTape, created by Publis C.V., a Dutch publishing house. Twice a month, CompuTape provides highlight news stories from the Newsbytes wire service, which publishes over 600 reports each month from 11 worldwide bureaus, and presents them, read by professional announcers, on audio cassette tape. The product is designed for the busy professional who wants to get an "executive briefing" from the news service, but finds the most convenient listening time when driving, on a plane, or even while jogging. Introduced at COMDEX in Las Vegas last year, Computape is no longer an introductory product, subscriptions are already being delivered worldwide. The cost is $25 for a five-issue trial subscription. To order call in the US or Canada, 800-835-2246, extension 215. Elsewhere call 31-3465-63997 or write for information from CompuTape/ Publis, PO Box 220, 3600 Maarssen, The Netherlands. (Wendy Woods/1990032) (NEWS)(GENERAL)(NYC)(00001) AN WANG DIES; FAMILY TO MAINTAIN CONTROL OF FIRM} LOWELL, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1990 MAR 27 (NB) -- Dr. An Wang, a 1946 immigrant to the United States who founded one of the world's largest computer firms, died on Saturday, March 24 of cancer. The 70-year old Dr. Wang, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Wang Laboratories, Inc., had battled cancer of the esophagus for most of the past year and underwent surgery for the disease last July 14th. Dr. Wang is survived by his wife, Lorraine, two sons, Frederick and Courtney, and a daughter, Juliette. Dr. Wang came to the United States from Shanghai to study physics at Harvard University and received a doctorate from there in 1948. Since that date, Dr. Wang has received 23 honorary degrees and holds more than 40 patents including the development of magnetic core memory, the forerunner of microchip memory. He founded Wang Laboratories in 1951 and led the companies growth as it developed desktop calculators, dedicated word processors, minicomputers and, finally, microcomputers. The firm, originally started on the second floor over a storefront in Boston, was moved to Lowell, Mass. where it was a leading factor in the revitalization of the city and reached its peak in 1988 when annual revenue reached $3.07 billion. Within the last two years, Wang Laboratories has faced a number of difficulties as its sales of microcomputers have been hurt by the increased power of high-end personal computers and workstations. Dr. Wang, who continued to be active in the firm's management throughout his illness, was considered to be the driving force behind the resignation of his son, Frederick, as president last August and the appointment of Richard Miller, a former General Electric executive, as his successor. Miller, Wang's president and chief operating officer, issued the following statement, "One of the pioneering giants of the computer industry has left us. It is with deep sadness that we mark the death of our founder, chairman, chief executive officer, and friend, Dr. An Wang. On behalf of all of us who are members of the company which Dr. Wang built I extend to Mrs. Wang, Fred, Courtney, and Juliette our sincerest condolences. We join them in honoring his memory. Dr. Wang's legacy is a life distinguished both as inventor and entrepreneur, and as a good and decent man. In the laboratory and the boardroom, in the wider community which his generosity embraced, Dr. Wang will be long remembered." Frederick Wang, who with his mother, Lorraine, remains on the board of directors of Wang Laboratories, speaking on Monday on behalf of the surviving Wang family, expressed the Wang family plans to remain closely involved with the firm. "The Wang family believes that the long-term plan now being implemented to return the company to profitability will achieve its objectives and that implementation of the plan remains the best means through which to maximize stockholders' value in the company. We support Rick Miller and the other members of the Wang management team in their efforts to build a strong and growing company. Accordingly, the Wang family intends to retain their ownership position in Wang Laboratories." (Barbara E. McMullen & John F. McMullen/19900328/Press Contact: Paul Guzzi, Wang Laboratories, 508-967-5094) (NEWS)(GOVT)(SYD)(00006) AUSTRALIA: COMPUTER GAMING MACHINES CLAIMED ILLEGAL} MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA, 1990 MAR 27 (NB) -- A proposal by the Victorian state government to introduce computerized gaming machines in hotels has been labelled as illegal by the Opposition spokesman on Sports and Gaming, Phillip Gude. After receiving legal advice on the proposal, Gude said, "The Lotteries, Gaming and Betting Act specifically prohibits betting with tokens on any mechanical, electrical, telephonic, electronic or other equipment or device, board, charts or screen, or any form or means of recording, storing or transmitting information. Taberet's computer poker machines fit this description." The Act was amended in 1988, but the amendments do not make the Tabaret machines valid, Gude claims. The claims of the Opposition have been refuted by the Minister responsible for Sports and Gaming, Neil Trezise, who says the computers used in the system were not poker machines, and that they were covered by the amendments introduced in 1988. The system will allow punters to bet on computerized games such as golf, football, basketball, tennis and bowling, as well as any sporting event throughout the world. The first machine is expected to be installed by July, and the system is expected to earn the government AUS$120M a year. (Sean McNamara & Computing Australia/19900328) (NEWS)(GOVT)(HKG)(00003) IBM TO SPONSOR HONGKONG SCIENCE MUSEUM GALLERY} CENTRAL, HONGKONG, 1990 MAR 28 (NB) -- IBM China/Hongkong Corporation is to provide computer equipment and funds to a total value of $0.5 million to set up a computer hall at Hongkong's new Science Museum. IBM will also provide computer programs and information on the latest developments in information technology. Officiating at the signing ceremony, Urban Council chairman, Gerry Forsgate, said "The main objectives of the museum are to promote public awareness of science and technology and to keep the community abreast of the latest development." IBM China/Hongkong Managing Director Bob Savage added, "A science museum is important to a modern society like Hongkong, especially at a time when science and technology is affecting every aspect of our life at an accelerating pace." The Hongkong Museum of Science and Technology is due to open in March next year. The four-storey building will have a total of 7,500 square metres of exhibition area housing 500 exhibits, 300 hundred of them hands-on items. The Museum's first major exhibit was moved into place late last year. Betsy is the first aircraft owned by Hongkong's flag carrier airline, Cathay Pacific Airways (CPA), when it was founded in 1946. A former military DC3, Betsy was discovered by a happy chance still working passenger routes in Australia several years ago. She was bought back by CPA and flown home to Hongkong for a complete overhaul before being presented to the embryo Museum of Science and Technology. (Norman Wingrove/19900328) (NEWS)(IBM)(SFO)(00001) WINDOWS SHOW SLATED FOR SANTA CLARA APR 20-21} EMERYVILLE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1990 MAR 28 (NB) -- Muscle machines and muscular software will be on parade at the 386 Power Expo and Windows/Spring '90, a joint trade show to be held April 20-21 at the Techmart Center in Santa Clara, California. Software developers showing their latest products that work with Microsoft's Windows graphical interface and '386-based PCs, will include IBM, Gupta, Micrografx, Zenographics, and Precision. Hardware vendors will include IBM, Compaq, Everex, Hewlett-Packard, and Toshiba. There will also be a conference program with over 25 sessions featuring these products and their applications. New products expected to be announced include Reference Software's Grammatik III for Windows, the QMSWriter PM10, the industry's first color printer for OS/2, Presentation Manager applications, and Microphone II for Windows from Software Ventures. Exhibit hours are 10-6 Friday April 20, and 9:50-5 PM on Saturday, April 21. For attendee and preregistration info call CM Ventures, the show sponosors, at 415-601-5000. (Wendy Woods/19900328) (NEWS)(IBM)(NYC)(00003) LOTUS SHIPS 1-2-3/G; ALSO ANNOUNCES SQL PRODUCTS} CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS., U.S.A.,1990 MAR 27 (NB) -- In announcements coming one day after the other, Lotus Development Corporation announced this week both the shipping of 1-2-3/G, its OS/2 version of its popular 1-2-3 spreadsheet, and the availability of new data access products to link versions of 1-2-3 to data residing in OS/2 SQL Server databases. 1-2-3/G contains a number of enhancements directly related to the use of OS/2 including: dialog box previews to see the effect of a setting, including fonts and borders, before the change is made; color palettes, to select text, background and conditional colors from a tablet; direct manipulation of objects such as graph titles on-screen with the mouse; and ''collections,'' to work with multiple spreadsheet cells, as if working with a single range. Lotus Director of Marketing Jeffrey Bier told Newsbytes that "feedback from users concerning these features has been phenomenal. It is apparent that 1-2-3/G is the application that OS/2 has been waiting for. It fully demonstrates the power of OS/2 and the Presentation Manager environment and should dramatically hasten the migration to OS/2." 1-2-3/G also contains the spreadsheet enhancements found in 1-2-3 Release 3, including true three dimensional worksheets, file linking across worksheets and files in memory or on disk, and database enhancements, such as the ability to perform relational database joins. It further incorporates two Lotus technologies, DataLens and Solver into the system. DataLens allows users access, from within the spreadsheet, to external data sources through the use of Lotus-provided drivers. A driver for use with Ashton-Tate's dBASE III Plus will ship with 1-2-3/G and a driver for the OS/2 SQL Server would be available on April 16th. It was also announced that DataLens drivers are presently under development for database products such as Paradox from Borland International, Model 204 from Computer Corp. of America, Extended Edition Database Manager from IBM, SQLBase from Gupta Technologies Inc., NetWare SQL from Novell Inc., Vanguard & R:Base from Microrim Inc., ORACLE from Oracle Corp. and DBC/1012 from Teradata Corp. Solver is a goal-seeking tool that solves problems defined in the familiar spreadsheet environment and attempts to automate the tedious ''what-if'' process to allow the user to see 'how-to'' achieve desired results. 1-2-3/G requires an IBM PC AT, IBM PS/2 models 50Z, 60, 70, P70, 80, Compaq 286, 386, Compaq Portable 386, or 100 percent compatibles with OS/2 Version 1.1 or higher and a minimum of 4 megabytes of RAM. Lotus recommends the use of a 386-based computer with 5 megabytes of RAM (the additional RAM is necessary if users are running the DOS compatibility box or network software). 1-2-3/G is designed for use with networks that support OS/2 Version 1.1 or higher, including IBM LAN Server 1.0, 3Com 3+ Open LAN Manager 1.0, 1.1, and Novell OS/2 Requester 1.1. In addition to the coming availability of the OS/2 SQL Sever DataLens driver, Lotus SQL, an add-in product for its 1-2-3 MS-DOS versions 2.01 and 2.2 and a DataLens SQL Server driver for its MS-DOS 1-2- 3 version 3.0, will also go to market. "Availability of these two new products for SQL Server means that all 1-2-3 users can easily retrieve data from powerful SQL databases and bring it into their spreadsheets for analysis, graphing, and reporting,'' said Alex Morrow, general manager for Lotus' Systems Technologies Group. ''By enabling 1-2-3 users to work with a shared pool of data we are providing much-needed, easy access tools for end users, regardless of whether they're using the advanced functionality of 1-2-3 Release 3 or 1-2-3/G, or the industry-standard spreadsheet capabilities of 1-2-3 Release 2.2." The suggested list price of 1-2-3/G is $695 and registered users of 1-2-3 Release 3 and 1-2-3 Release 2.2 may, through September 30, 1990, upgrade to 1-2-3/G for a special price of $75 directly from Lotus (details of this procedure may be obtained by calling 1-800-TRADEUP). The access products for SQL Server are priced at $75 each and will be available both through Lotus Authorized Resellers and directly from Lotus. (Barbara E. McMullen & John F. McMullen/19900328/Press Contacts: Martha Isham, Lotus, 617-225-1554; Alexandra Trevelyan, Lotus, 617-225-1580.) (NEWS)(IBM)(NYC)(00005) IBM TO USE KODAK IMAGING SOFTWARE} ROCHESTER, NEW YORK., U.S.A.,1990 MAR 27 (NB) -- Eastman Kodak Company will provide imaging application software for the new PS/2 offering in IBM's ImagePlus system family. The Kodak software in the IBM system allows users to index, search for, view, and distribute images of documents stored on optical disk or magnetics. It also provides users with electronic file folders to group related documents for retrieval, and work-in-process options to automate routing of incoming documents. In addition to the software, Lawrence J. Matteson, group vice-president and general manager of Kodak's Imaging Information Systems Group, indicated that Kodak peripherals, such as paper scanners, microfilm scanners, optical storage libraries and printers, would be made available to IBM customers. "We are pleased that IBM has incorporated our imaging expertise into their system," said Matteson. "This project continues to demonstrate Kodak's commitment to provide customer-driven products and services for prevailing information system environments." According to Matteson, arrangements with major computer manufacturers as well as sales through value-added resellers and systems integrators are part of Kodak's plan to infuse the market with Kodak imaging products and services. "We are on the edge of an imaging explosion in business," said John P. White, vice-president and general manager of Kodak's Integration and Systems Products Division. "We have expertise in imaging technologies, and experience in knowing how people use images. We want customers to look to Kodak for the pieces that allow them to capture, store, manage, and share images - no matter what computing environment they've chosen." (Barbara E. McMullen & John F. McMullen/19900328/Press Contact: Paul C. Allen, Eastman Kodak(716) 724-5802) (NEWS)(IBM)(NYC)(00006) IBM CUTS SALARIES OF TOP EXECUTIVES} NEW YORK, NEW YORK., U.S.A.,1990 MAR 28 (NB) -- According to a story appearing in the Westchester Rockland Gannett Newspapers, the salaries of IBM Chairman John F. Akers and other key IBM executives were reduced in 1989 from the compensation received by these individuals in 1988. Gannett staff writer Mark Land compared the most recent IBM proxy statement, sent to shareholders this month, to previous statements and found that Akers' 1989 compensation, $1,940,713, was 3% less than his 1988 figure of $2,000,500. Akers' compensation and that of other key executives is determined by the board of directors' five member compensation committee with each executive being judged on individual contribution as well as the company's financial performance. A Newsbytes source within IBM who asked not to be identified said that "the reductions are consistent with IBM policy and are not a reflection on Akers' individual performance. From the level of director on up, total compensation is based on performance versus commitment. While it is true that last year, we had positive revenue growth within the United States for the first time in three years, we did not, for a number or reasons including market softness, do as well as we had expected. Therefore, compensation at many executives levels was less than it would have been if the firm's performance had exceeded our commitment. In Akers' case, the buck stops with him and the adjusted compensation simply reflects the firm's performance." (Barbara E. McMullen & John F. McMullen/19900328) (NEWS)(IBM)(TOR)(00004) NEW FOR IBM: Matrox Shows 8514/A Boards} DORVAL, QUEBEC, CANADA, 1990 MAR 22 (NB) -- Matrox Electronic Systems showed two new graphics boards at the National Computer Graphics show March 18-22. Matrox said the boards are the first 8514/A-compatible boards to offer 1,280 by 1,024 non-interlaced resolution. The Magnum 124 board provides 16 colors, the Magnum 128 provide 256 colors, both from a palette of 16.7 million. They will run all 8514/A- compatible software, the company said. To be shipped in April, the Magnum 124 costs US$1,995 and the Magnum 128 costs US$2,595. An upgrade from the 124 to the 128 costs US$595, and a VGA option US$395. The boards were created specifically for the computer-aided design marketplace, spokeswoman Sarah Macdonald told Newsbytes, and come with a driver for the popular AutoCAD software. Drivers for other CAD packages are planned, she added. Matrox also announced the MP-860, a bus-master parallel processor for Extended Industry Standard Architecture (EISA) PCs. It is designed for finite element analysis, modeling and simulation, signal and image processing, rendering and ray tracing, the company said. With two megabytes of RAM, the MP-860 will be available in the third quarter of 1990 for US$6,300. (Grant Buckler/19900328/Press Contact: Sarah Macdonald, Matrox Electronic Systems, 514-685-2630) (NEWS)(IBM)(TOR)(00001) NEW FOR IBM: New Versions of F9 Add-Ins} VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA, 1990 MAR 26 (NB) -- Synex Systems has announced two new versions of F9 The Financial Reporter, its Lotus 1-2-3 add-in. Synex has added versions of Financial Reporter for the Great Plains and SBT accounting systems, sales representative Dave Rakhra told Newsbytes, and plans several more versions this year. The original version works with Computer Associates' Accpac accounting software. F9 Financial Reporter provides hot links between a Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheet and an accounting system's general ledger, so the spreadsheet can be used for financial reporting. The new versions sell for US$395 to US$595, or C$469 to C$699, depending on the accounting package supported, Rakhra said. (Grant Buckler/19900328/Press Contact: Murray Hendren or Dave Rakhra, Synex Systems, 604-688-8271) (NEWS)(IBM)(TOR)(00002) COREL WINS U.K. AWARD} OTTAWA, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1990 MAR 27 (NB) -- You win some, you lose some: Corel Systems' graphics package didn't collect a Software Publishers' Association award, but was named best graphics program of the year by the British magazine PC User. Corel accepted the PC User award in mid-March. Company spokeswoman Jennifer Poulsen told Newsbytes that although Corel Draw did not walk away with a Software Publishers' Association award this week, the firm was pleased to have been nominated, having just recently joined the SPA. (Grant Buckler/19900328/Press Contact: Jennifer Poulsen, Corel Systems, 613-728-8200) (NEWS)(IBM)(TOR)(00003) LOTUS CANADA SHIPPING 1-2-3/G} TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1990 MAR 26 (NB) -- Lotus Development Canada is now shipping 1-2-3/G, the version of its popular spreadsheet program for OS/2 Presentation Manager. The package is priced at C$839 in Canada. Users of 1-2-3 Release 3 and Release 2.2 can upgrade for C$95 until Sept. 30. Other 1-2- 3 users can upgrade for C$185. All prices are Lotus' suggested retail; dealers often sell for less. Upgrades are available directly by calling Lotus Canada at 800-668-1509 or 416-979-7878. (Grant Buckler/19900328/Press Contact: Cathy Browne, The Communications Group, 416-447-8591) (NEWS)(IBM)(SYD)(00002) COMMODORE AUSTRALIA INCLUDES INSTALLATION IN PC PACK} SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1990 MAR 28 (NB) -- Entry-level Commodore PCs can now be bought with on-site installation included. The four packs from Commodore Australia are titled "Home, Student, Admin and Account." Although the packs include software, blank disks, installation and a training course, they cost less than the list price of the hardware alone. The Home pack consists of a dual-floppy PC or hard disk PC, CGA monitor, Bank Street Writer, First Choice integrated software, Typing Tutor and the game Sim City, for AUS$1799 (diskette) or AUS$2499 (hard disk). The Business and Accounts packs have EGA monitors and 40 Mbyte hard disks plus appropriate software, for AUS$3299. Installation is being done under contract by local dealers or PC consultants. (Paul Zucker/19900328/Press contact: Howard Needleman, phone +61-2-9065088) (NEWS)(TELECOM)(SFO)(00001) SF HAS LARGEST FREE AIDS-INFO BBS} SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1990 MAR 28 (NB) -- Fog City Online Information Service, a computer bulletin boards, has announced free access to its online AIDS information resources. Online AIDS publications cover a wide range and include a book, newsletters, and a 7-megabyte database. "We are the only system in California with the entire book, "Surviving and Thriving with AIDS," available for reading online," says system operator Bill Essex. The PWA Newsline and the AIDS Treatment News, newsletters, provide the latest treatment information online. So is ABAS, which stands for the AIDS Bibliographic & Abstract Service, an online AIDS computer resource database. The Fog City Online service also offers an international message area where people from all over the world leave messages related to the condition, and a service matching people with computer skills to non-profit AIDS organizations which can use their help. Access to the BBS can be had by calling 415-863-9697 (data) or the sysop's voice line 415-863-8867. (Wendy Woods/19900328) (NEWS)(TELECOM)(SFO)(00001) VIDEOTEX INDUSTRY MEETS MAY 28-JUN 1/INT'L GROUP EARLIER} SILVER SPRING, MARYLAND, U.S.A., 1990 MAR 28 (NB) -- The Videotex Industry Association has slated the Royal York Hotel, Toronto, Canada, as the venue for its annual convention. The birthplace of the rollar coaster, Toronto is a fitting location for the industry's 9th annual meeting, which will feature conferences which analyze critical business issues related to electronic information delivery, "gateways," and mass market acceptance of the medium. Organizers contend that while the industry's growth isn't as quick as optimists predicted, it is growing at a healthy rate of 30% a year. Members of the Videotex Industry Association include the Regional Bell Operating Companies, General Electric Information Services, Minitel USA, Quantum Computer Serrvices, U.S. Videotel, and many other member companies. Among topics to be discussed are electronic marketing, basics for new information and service providers, the home videotex appliance of the future, entertainment services, education via videotex and alternatives to telephone delivery. The show also features a few international exhibits but the main international show takes place two days earlier. On May 28 and 29, the International Videotext Industry Association Forum takes place. Called "Worldwide Videotex" Building an International Industry," the event is also at the Royal York Hotel. This one will attract people from Italy, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, and it will provide the latest videotext results from Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America. It will address the issues of interconnection of videotex systemsm, among other issues. The keynote speaker is expected to be Mr. P.S. Weltevreden, Director of Telecommunications, Commission of the European Communities. (Wendy Woods/19900328/Press Contact: Robert Smith, VIA, 301-495-4955) (NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00001) AT&T OFFERS UNIVERSAL CARD, LINKS UP WITH TOTAL SYSTEMS NEW YORK, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1990 MAR 26 (NB) -- AT&T finally confirmed rumors from the last month by announcing the AT&T Universal Card, a credit card which combines features of its own phone cards with a Master Card or Visa to be used for purchases and cash advances. In a New York news conference which was also broadcast to Washington, D.C., Jacksonville, Florida, Columbus, Ohio, and Atlanta, Georgia, and delivered to other reporters over a free line at 1-900-200-1300, AT&T Group Executive Vic Pelson said "We're responding to what our customers have been telling us. They want a single credit card that's convenient and a good value. A single card that combines the quality and service of AT&T with the purchasing power of Visa and Master Card. We're enhancing AT&T's ability to compete in the long distance business, since the Universal card connects to our network. And we're adding to the AT&T brand with a product unmatched in the marketplace." The terms on the new card are these. AT&T will waive annual fees for anyone who signs up over the next year. Calling card customers who use the card get a 10% discount on all calls. The interest rate will start at 18.9%, and float quarterly at 8.9% above the prime rate. Cash advances bring in an added 2% fee. Calls placed with the card cannot be charged like purchases, however. Those which are unpaid after 30 days become past-due as well as interest-bearing. There are also features such as purchase protection, extended warrantees, and collision damage reimbursement on rental cards, found on other banks' gold cards, which have become increasingly popular as well as expensive in terms of fees. AT&T spokesman Bruce Reid wants to make sure consumers realize it is not AT&T providing the 10-percent discount, but Universal Bank, which is issuing the card. The discount is achieved because Universal is buying AT&T's receivables, and discounts them when the consumer uses its card. The design of the card is also somewhat unusual, and AT&T promised to remain a leader in credit card design through its Bell Labs unit. For AT&T, the deal cements a close tie with Synovus Financial Corp. of Columbus, Georgia and its Total Systems Services unit. Synovus Financial Chairman James Blanchard emerges as the biggest winner in the AT&T deal, and TSS stock's price rose sharply in the days following the announcement. TSS was the largest third- party processor in the nation even before this deal, which promises to lengthen its lead. AT&T has an option to buy 1.5 million TSS shares, 9% of the company's common, which is traded on the New York Stock Exchange. But 80% of the present common is still held by the parent company, Synovus Financial, whose control is not threatened. AT&T is also capitalizing the new Universal Bank, which will be the bank of record for the cards, but it too remains under the Synovus Financial umbrella. AT&T followed up on its press conference with a $1 million time buy during the annual Academy Awards show. Ads there had an emotional punch, with images of glasnost and the tag-line "one world, one card." The card, however, is available only to U.S. consumers. AT&T will solicit those among its calling card customers who have good credit records, starting immediately. Anyone else who wants the card can dial 00 and ask the AT&T operator for the Universal Card. Or they can apply directly by dialing 1-800-66-APPLY. No one will get the card without a credit check. Paul Kahn, a former executive with First Chicago, Mellon Bank, and Wells Fargo, will head the new AT&T Universal Card Services operation from offices in Jacksonville, Florida. Customer service lines for both calling card and credit card questions will also be in Jacksonville, but credit card processing will be handled by Total Systems in Columbus, Georgia. AT&T is also moving over 3,000 new employees into Atlanta, Georgia, and broadcast the press conference to all three cities along with Washington, D.C. Kahn defended the high interest rate by pointing to other benefits. "In our research consumers told us they're tired of complexity. They're trying to simplify their lives. They want uncomplicated, easy to use products that meet their needs, with service to match. They're tired of annual fees on credit cards. We've designed this product to deliver what the consumer wants. The AT&T Universal Card offers the quality, technology and service of AT&T, plus the purchasing power of Visa and MasterCard." In a dig at Sears, Kahn noted that AT&T could have launched its own card, like Sears' Discover, but found in research consumers prefer Master Card and Visa cards, which are now accepted at 7 million locations and 300,000 bank branches or automated teller machines worldwide. Perhaps the most interesting statement of future direction came from Master Card President Alex W. "Pete" Hart, who predicted other companies will follow AT&T's lead and produce corporate affinity cards. "What we see is the natural evolution of cobranding, the sharing of global acceptance marks for a variety of powerful consumer brand. We see the entry of other players." Technically, the new AT&T Master Card is on the same level with the NFL team cards promoted by Citibank, the Working Assets cards from Indiana National Bank, and college alumni cards hawked by a number of banks nationwide. In answers to questions, AT&T spokesmen insisted that the 10% discount won't be a problem, because the bank is buying time in bulk, at normal AT&T rates. The company insists, however, that the bank is not a reseller for AT&T. Spokesmen said the company's profits will come from new calling card customers, as well as discounts, fees, and interest through Universal Bank. The bank's acceptance of receivables will also prove profitable. In the wake of AT&T's announcement, speculation centered on whether its strategy might be copied. In some ways, it already has been, by AT&T's main rivals. US Sprint has had its own Visa card since November, through State Street Bank and Trust Co. of Boston, which includes calling card features. MCI has, since July, offered all Visa cardholders the option of billing their MCI calls through their credit cards. This deal also cements a growing union between two related technologies, credit card and phone billing. Credit cards require 12-digit account numbers, 15-second replies from the system, and a raft of back-office messaging between the cardholders' bank, the merchants' bank, and a central switch. A phone charge must be captured by the system, but can be posted at leisure, and the 10- digit phone number seldom changes. AT&T is going about this union slowly, but many analysts expect it to eventually run both credit cards and calling cards through the same computers. This could make it a potent competitor to American Express' FDR unit, to Visa International, which is building new processing centers in Japan and Virginia, and to Total Systems itself. (Dana Blankenhorn/19900327/Press Contact: Brian Reid, AT&T, 201- 221-8422) (NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00008) MCI OFFERS TOLL-FREE NUMBER FOR 1990 CENSUS} WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A., 1990 MAR 20 (NB) -- MCI will join the U.S. Census Bureau in offering Americans a nationwide toll-free number for the first time ever, for assistance in completing their census questionnaires, obtaining forms and answering general inquiries about the census process. A general number -- 1-800-999-1990 -- and seven foreign language numbers will be offered for citizens posing questions in Chinese, Thai, Korean, Cambodian, Vietnamese, Laotian or Spanish. In addition, MCI will provide a specially-equipped 800 number for the hearing impaired at 1-800-777-0978. (Dana Blankenhorn/19900323/Press Contact: Debra Shriver, MCI Corporate News Bureau, 1-800-289-0073) (NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00003) US SPRINT ANNOUNCES BINARY FILE TRANSFER FOR SPRINTMAIL} WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A., 1990 MAR 20 (NB) -- With increasing number of electronic mail systems being used to mail binary files such as spreadsheets and graphic files, US Sprint announced an X.400-based binary file transfer facility for its SprintMail electronic messaging service. SprintMail has been offering binary transfers on its own for some time, but this is the first time it has offered the ability to transfer binary files to other systems. SprintMail will now allow for the transfer of binary files between systems which use a version of the X.400 Message Handling Standard recommended by National Institute of Standards and Technology. The first vendor to be certified With SprintMail is SoftSwitch, which produces an X.400 gateway for the exchange of software programs, engineering drawings CAD/CAM information, spreadsheets and other binary information in revisable form. (Dana Blankenhorn/19900323/Press Contact: US Sprint, Robin Carlson, 703/689-5664) (NEWS)(TELECOM)(SYD)(00001) AUSTRALIA: CELLULAR PHONE CATCHES CAR THIEVES} SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1990 MAR 26 (NB) -- A car is back in the hands of its rightful owner after thieves made a mistake and answered the phone. When a Sydney driver had his car stolen from a parking lot on Monday, the first thing he did was inform the police. The second thing he did was dial the number of the cellular phone in the car. The thieves answered ... and stayed on the line and chatted ... and even referred to each other by name. All the time, the owner was listening for a clue as to their location. Eventually his patience paid off, and by the sound of braking and gear changes, he determined that the car was going down a long, winding hill a few suburbs away. A quick phone call to the police ensured that a welcome party was waiting at the bottom of the hill for the missing Mazda. (Paul Zucker/19900328) (NEWS)(TRENDS)(NYC)(00002) XEROX UNVEILS SMART, SELF-MONITORING COPIER} ROCHESTER, NEW YORK., U.S.A.,1990 MAR 27 (NB) --Xerox has introduced the 5065 copier, the first of its product line that features, as standard equipment, the Xerox Remote Interactive Communications (RIC) capability. RIC allows the on-going automatic monitoring of the components of the copier and the transmission of the results of such monitoring over telephone lines to a dedicated maintenance computer at Xerox headquarters. The computer then analyzes the data and triggers a service alert if it perceives that the 5065 is deviating from preset performance standards and is likely to malfunction. The RIC service is offered to all 5065 users who have either a term-lease or full-service maintenance agreement with Xerox. It is offered at no cost to the customer except for installation of a dedicated telephone line and local charges for its use. The Xerox 5065, which has a list purchase price of $30,650, operates at a speed of 62 copies per minute, produces copies as large as 11 by 17 inches from a variety of originals, including computer forms and bound documents, and can reduce and enlarge documents in a range of 64 to 142%. It also offers automatic duplexing, margin shift, and automatic covers insertion. Dan Minchen, Xerox spokesperson, describing the use of RIC, told Newsbytes that "the vast majority of clients having machines of this capability would already be users of the Xerox maintenance service." Minchen also pointed out that the use of the communications link also automates the administrative functions that leasers of equipment had to perform such as the sending of monthly meter readings to Xerox. This information will now be automatically uploaded to Xerox's system. (Barbara E. McMullen & John F. McMullen/19900328/Press Contact: Daniel C. Minchen, Xerox, 716-423-3539) (NEWS)(TRENDS)(SYD)(00004) AUSTRALIA: IT FIRMS WILL NOT ESCAPE SMALL BUSINESS FAILURE} SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1990 MAR 26 (NB) -- Small business failures are expected to increase up to 40% in the 1989/90 financial year in Australia, according to Ernst & Young's corporate recovery and insolvency services director, James Millar. Information technology [IT] companies will not escape from this alarming increase, which is seen as flowing from cuts in private and public sector expenditure. A NSW State Government report predicts only a 12% increase in small business failure. "Some sectors will be hit worse than others, with service industries, such as computing companies which supply equipment to manufacturers, the worst affected, " Millar said. Millar also pointed out that good management and the will to survive are not sufficient to ensure the survival of small businesses. (Sean McNamara & Computing Australia/19900328) (NEWS)(UNIX)(NYC)(00004) AT&T INTRODUCES RHAPSODY FOR BUSINESS ORCHESTRATION} NEW YORK, NEW YORK., U.S.A.,1990 MAR 27 (NB) -- AT&T Computer Systems today announced Rhapsody, a networking product which integrates hardware and software components into a cohesive system. To express the market niche for this product, AT&T has utilized a new term, "Business Orchestration," which it defines as "the function of enhancing the efficiency of business activities that, by their nature, require the involvement of multiple people for their successful completion." The Rhapsody system, Release 1, is scheduled to be available in late third quarter of this year and is a combination of server and client hardware and software. The server configuration is 33MHz Intel 80386 system running Unix host software and containing 8 million bytes (MB) of random access memory (RAM), a 300MB fixed disk, a 120MB tape cartridge unit and a 9600 baud modem. The client hardware configurations may be 80286 or 80386-based running at speeds from 12 to 33MHz and will run under the MS-DOS operating system utilizing Microsoft Windows and Hewlett- Packard's NewWave desktop environment. An entry-level client system will contain a VGA monitor, 4MB of RAM, a 40MB fixed disk and a mouse. The entry level configuration running on a 12MHz 286 complete with software and networking capability has a list price of $7,295 while the same configuration running on a 16MHz 386/SX-based system has a list price of $8,975. The list price of the server unit complete with Unix operating system and networking support for up to 20 clients is $99,995. AT&T estimates that, with appropriate volume discounts, a typical 20-client networked system will cost less that $70,000 for the server and under $5,000 per client system. Additionally, Rhapsody will make use of existing 286s and 386s within an organization and will, therefore, not necessarily require the purchase of an entirely new hardware configuration. Rhapsody contains two applications, AT&T Meeting Manager and AT&T Task Manager, within it and these products are bundled with the server and client configuration. Additionally, one of the Rhapsody-supported third party software products (Microsoft Word for Windows, WordPerfect, Microsoft Excel, Lotus 1-2-3, Micrografx GraphPlus) is bundled with each client station. Clients desiring more than one of the third party products may choose them as options; other options include AT&T Desktop Fax, a server for the transmission of facsimile print output directly from client applications, and DynaComm Terminal Emulator, a desktop resident object- based asynchronous communications program. Additionally, users may use Rhapsody communications options to facilitate communications with 3270, SNA/RJE LU 6.2 and HLLAPI protocols. One of the important new features of Rhapsody is the Workflow Automation System, an upgraded version of the original Unix-based groupware product from Workhorse of Dublin. The workflow processing allows users to define the people, activities and processes necessary to complete tasks and to control the passage of information along the completion path. Analysts see Rhapsody's unification of activities under multiple vendor software and operating systems to be a dramatic improvement over previous groupware products. Esther Dyson, a leading industry analyst and publisher of the influential Release 1.0, told Newsbytes, "Rhapsody should be one of the first large scale-systems to show the value of client-server architecture and to make visible the point that this is a fine way to have different operating systems where each is most appropriate." In describing her reaction to Rhapsody, Dyson also related to Newsbytes a comment that will appear in her publication's April 10th commentary on the product. "The purpose of Rhapsody is not to provide new instruments but to turn a ragtag group of jazz players into an ensemble." (Barbara E. McMullen & John F. McMullen/19900328/Press Contacts: Don Ferenci, AT&T, 201-898-3748; Sarah Charf, Microsoft, 206-882- 8080) (NEWS)(UNIX)(SYD)(00007) AUSTRALIA: PRIME CHAIRMAN SAYS COMPUTERS NOT "STAR WARS STUFF"} SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1990 MAR 26 (NB) -- During a whirlwind tour of Australia, Prime Chairman Russell Planitzer has stated that computing is more involved than just "gee-whiz star wars stuff" contrary to recent publicity in the computer market. He claims that technology exists for implementation, and many Prime users felt the cost of installations in equipment and training in Unix systems would not begin to pay off until there were more Unix programmers available to the market. He said this was a reason why many customers choose alternative systems or delay Unix purchases. (Norman Wingrove/19900328) (NEWS)(UNIX)(HKG)(00001) CHINA INSURANCE GIANT MAKES BIG NCR RE-ORDER} BEIJING, CHINA, 1990 MAR 28 (NB) -- The People's Insurance Company of China (PICC) has added another 27 NCR Tower 32/400 and 32/450 Unix- based computer systems to its existing base of 50 Towers. The original 50 systems were installed at PICC's branches throughout China in 1988, making it the largest single Tower user in China. The company has adopted an all-Unix policy for all its computer purchases. PICC's Towers are used more for administrative than for directly insurance-related applications at present. Christopher Chung, manager of the general systems division of NCR (China), hopes his company's leverage within PICC will lead to the inclusion of online policy and claims applications in future. Mr Chung says, "With such a widespread installed base, it would be logical to consider some form of networking. However, in some locations this would be dependent on improvements in the telecommunications infrastructure." Mr Chung also says NCR has built up the largest Unix customer base in China over the past five years. "Initial sales were to the banking sector, but now two thirds of the 700 Towers in place are used for non-banking applications, especially in retail and commercial organizations.╙ NCR is currently working with the Ministry of Commerce to implement a countrywide barcode standard. (Norman Wingrove/19900328/Press Contact: Vivian Kung, NCR, + 852 859 6021) (EXCLUSIVE)(BUSINESS)(BRU)(00001) TECHNOLOGY STOCKS: Complete Stock Results, 28 Mar} NEW YORK, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1990 MAR 28 (NB) -- Stocks trading as follows: TICKER NAME PRICE VOLUME(00s) AAC Anacomp 3.12 468 AAPL Apple Computer 42.00 7554 ACAD 48.75 759 ACE Acme Elec 8.87 9 ACOM Astrocom 1.06 3 ACXM Acxiom 21.50 119 ADBE 40.25 5547 ADGE Adage 1.31 85 ADI Analog Devices 8.25 93 ADPT 22.50 1640 ADVC Advance Circuits 8.37 197 ALDC 20.75 1140 ALMI Alpha Microsystems 3.62 41 ALNT Alliant Computer Sys 6.50 500 ALOG Analogic 9.37 72 ALOY Alloy Computer Prods 1.56 0 ALRN Altron 6.00 75 ALTI 3.50 10 ALTO Alts Cmptr Systms 5.62 453 ALTR Altera 10.50 678 AMAT Applied Matls 28.25 527 AMD Advncd Mcro Dvcs 9.75 3854 AMH Amdahl 15.00 1240 AMMG AM Magnetics 4.62 8 AMP Amp 53.62 2994 AMSW 23.37 364 AMSY 12.87 114 AMTC Amtech 18.75 73 ANLY Analysts Intl 16.50 3 AQM Qms 13.62 264 AREL Alpharel 0.25 0 ASII Automated Sys 2.75 34 ASKI Ask Computer Sys 9.12 310 ASMI Advncd Smcndctr Mtl 8.37 17 ASTA Ast Research 17.25 1982 ASTR Astrosystems 2.87 9 ATC Atari 5.87 388 ATRO 1.19 2 ATTC Auto Trol Technology 2.37 101 AUD Atmtc Dta Prcssng IN 52.00 1942 AUG Augat 14.12 230 BBGS Babbages 6.12 89 BBN Bolt Beranek&Newman 6.62 722 BELF Bel Fuse 4.87 193 BGSS Bgs Sys 12.50 12 BHC Bhc Communications 47.50 187 BIS Brrstr Infrmtn Sys 1.25 27 BMC Bmc Inds Inc Minn 7.75 7 BMCS 25.25 482 BOOL Boole&Babbage 19.87 233 BORL Borland Intl 15.50 1634 BQC Qantel 0.28 100 BSTN 5.00 357 BTEC Banctec 18.12 71 BVSI Brite Voice Sys 7.00 571 BYTX Bytex 10.00 467 CA Computer Assoc Intl 14.62 2660 CAER Caere 24.50 32 CAII 3.75 41 CALL Clllr Infrmtn Sys 7.75 163 CAMD CA Micro Devices Cor 3.56 244 CBU Commodore Intl 8.37 508 CCTC Cmptr&Cmmnctns TE 0.62 1952 CCUR Cncrrnt Cmptr Crp NW 1.87 35 CDA Cntrl Dta Crp DL 19.25 1730 CDNC Cdnce Dsgn Systm 25.25 1716 CDO Comdisco 27.50 419 CEFT 20.75 9 CERN 13.75 3 CHPS Chips&Technologies 20.00 7056 CHRZ Computer Horizons 8.50 0 CIDN Computer Identics 1.87 36 CIFR Cipher Data Prods 8.12 9325 CISI 3.87 218 CKCP Cybertek 6.00 20 CLRI 5.12 0 CLRX 7.00 1776 CME 8.12 46 CMIN Computer Memories 1.50 4 CMPX Comptronix 3.00 11 CMTK Cimflex Teknowledge 1.69 92 CMW Canadian Marconi 9.37 20 CNET Comnet 11.25 15 CNU Continuum 35.87 24 CNX Convex Computer 17.75 609 CNY Cntnntl Infrmtn Sys 0.31 126 CODN 5.62 0 CODS 3.00 182 COHR Coherent 12.87 962 COMS 3com 13.50 4665 COPY 13.12 205 CPCI 3.56 0 CPQ Compaq Computer 98.12 4493 CPRD Computer Prods 2.94 299 CPTC C P T 0.44 280 CPTD 10.37 6 CRAY Cray Computer 4.75 8736 CRNR Chronar 1.25 41 CRNS Cronus Inds 12.62 106 CRUS 12.12 1376 CSC Computer Sciences 45.50 443 CSCO Cisco Sys 24.75 553 CSIM 21.00 210 CSOF 12.75 79 CSOL 2.25 120 CSPI Csp 6.75 2 CSRE Comshare 41.25 208 CTK Comptek Resh 5.37 2 CTS Cts 21.12 28 CY Cyprss Smcndctr 12.12 1562 CYE Cheyenne Software 5.00 119 CYR Cray Resh 47.37 1226 CYS Cycare Sys 7.00 7 DAIO Data I O 3.12 130 DASW Data Switch 2.56 488 DAZX Daisy Sys 0.59 465 DBAS D B A Sys 4.12 174 DC Datametrics 1.00 4 DCA Dgtl Cmmnctns Assc 20.87 383 DDL Dta Dsgn Lbs Inc DL 4.25 104 DEC Digital Equip 78.12 6338 DELL Dell Computer 7.87 289 DGII Digi Intl 10.75 440 DGN Data Gen 9.00 942 DHTK D H Technology 13.62 209 DICN Diceon Electrs 5.62 1903 DIO Diodes 1.50 15 DKEY 9.50 3 DLPH Dlphi Infrmtn Sys 5.87 102 DOTX 1.56 10 DPC Dataproducts 5.62 90 DPT Datapoint 2.87 100 DS Dallas Semiconductor 7.87 520 DSCC Datasouth Computer 2.12 1 DTM Dataram 13.06 0 DYTC Dynatech 16.25 27 EA Electronic Assoc 3.00 30 ECC Ecc Intl 5.00 184 EDAT 9.00 20 EFIC 3.62 10 EIF Elctrchmcl Inds Frtr 1.81 0 ELMG 6.37 144 ELXS Elxsi 0.16 42 EMC E M C Corp Mass 6.37 440 EMLX Emulex 5.75 134 ENCC 2.19 53 EPSI Epsilon Data Mgmt 9.62 89 ERTS 8.62 333 ESCC Evns&Sthrlnd Cmptr 26.75 107 ESL Esterline 11.50 64 ESP Espey Mfg&Electrs 16.25 0 EVRX Everex Sys 10.00 1250 EXAR 8.50 2 EXBT Exabyte 17.12 1252 FBRX Fibronics Intl 7.37 131 FDPC Fdp 4.87 10 FELE 8.87 7 FERO 14.75 2 FFM 1st Financial Mgmt 24.50 518 FICI 5.25 6 FILE Filenet 14.00 372 FISV Fiserv 22.00 63 FLP Floating Point Sys 1.37 41 FPUB Frnkln Elctr Pblshrs 4.50 314 FSII Fsi Intl 4.25 24 GA Gnrl Atmtn Inc Clf 0.66 0 GAND 2.62 10 GBI Granada Biosciences 6.37 26 GBND 24.00 159 GCCC 3.87 7 GDYN 8.62 0 GECM Genicom 3.00 336 GEOX 6.75 2 GOAL Goal Sys Intl 14.25 11 GPAR General Parametrics 3.37 233 GRB Gerber Scientific 13.62 25 GRCO Gradco Sys 9.25 331 GRL General Instr 34.25 307 GSOF 8.00 23 GTI Gti Corp Del 2.75 10 GWAY Gtwy Cmmnctns 2.06 235 HATH 2.44 157 HBOC 10.87 419 HDCO Hadco 5.12 73 HEII Hei 1.50 9 HOGN Hogan System 4.37 762 HRLY Herley Microwave Sys 1.22 43 HTEK Hytek Microsystems 0.33 0 HUN Hunt Mfg 19.25 224 HWP Hewlett Packard 46.62 3623 IBM Int Bus Machs 104.50 13232 IDTI Intgrtd Dvce Tchnlgy 7.00 8 IISL I I S Intllgnt Info 4.62 1 IITC Intra Infrmtn Tch 15.37 240 IMET Intermetrics 3.12 15 INAI Intellicorp 6.00 72 INDX Technology 7.00 52 INFD 1.62 421 INFN Infotron Sys 5.25 14 INGR Intergraph 21.75 2088 INP Intllgnt Sys Mstr L 2.25 54 INPH Interphase 5.25 60 INRD Inrad 3.31 11 INSI Information Sciences 0.44 0 INTC Intel 43.00 20519 INTE 1.37 3 INTF 4.37 49 INTP Interpoint Corp Wash 6.75 15 INTR Intermec 18.62 6134 INTS Integrated Sys 11.75 292 INTV 25.00 231 IOMG Iomega 3.94 239 IPLS Ipl Sys 10.00 13 IRF Int Rectifier 7.25 125 IRIC Information Res 13.12 247 ISY 1.62 86 IT Intelogic Trace 1.87 118 ITSI Int Totalizer Sys 4.12 160 IVT Iverson Technology 4.00 13 JET Jetronic Inds 2.06 0 JKHY Henry Jack&Assoc 2.06 0 JPS Jones Plumbing Sys 2.50 0 KEA Keane 14.12 69 KTCC Key Tronics 4.87 5 KVLM Kevlin Microwave 1.50 25 LB LA Barge 0.69 0 LCSI L C S Inds 3.81 0 LDGX Lodgistix 1.06 2 LEAF Interleaf 6.25 177 LEDA Lee Data 1.62 25 LEXI 0.69 54 LGN Logicon 18.00 33 LGNT Legent 29.25 443 LIT Litton Inds 74.37 253 LLB Computrac 2.12 1880 LLTC 9.75 4 LOTS Lotus Dev 36.00 3143 LSI Lsi Logic 9.00 491 MANA 2.12 4 MBF Mai Basic Four 2.87 102 MCRN Micron Technology 12.12 811 MCRS Micros Sys 5.12 812 MDST 13.25 14 MDTA Megadata 1.03 0 MENT Mentor Graphics 19.00 2315 METH 5.12 65 MGNC 5.00 10 MILT Miltope Group 4.25 11 MIPS Mips Computer Sys 24.00 475 MLIS Micropolis 4.62 800 MMIC 7.25 675 MNPI 18.75 832 MNS Macneal Schwendler 10.62 29 MOLX 42.00 2486 MPSG Mpsi Systems 2.50 6 MRAC 5.62 311 MSCC Microsemi 1.75 16 MSCO Masstor Sys CP 1.81 353 MSFT Microsoft 112.50 3647 MTRM Moniterm 1.69 55 MWAV Microwave Labs 0.50 0 MXC Matec Corp Del 6.25 2 MXIM Mxm Intgrtd Prds 10.62 392 MXTR 12.50 900 NATL North Atl Inds 3.62 552 NBI Nbi 0.31 68 NCR Ncr 70.00 1065 NDTA 28.75 7919 NETG Network Gen 24.00 809 NEWP 8.87 33 NIIS New Image Inds 12.00 1590 NLCS 7.75 403 NMIC Nat Micronetics 0.37 36 NOHL North Hills Electr 1.50 22 NORK Norsk-data A S 6.37 0 NOVL 43.00 2434 NRES 9.75 960 NSM Nat Semiconductor 8.00 2234 NWK Ntwrk Eqp Tchnlgs 32.25 135 O 5.25 12 OPTX 3.37 240 ORBT Orbit Instr 3.87 213 ORCL 25.37 13262 OSI ON Lne Sftwre Intl 9.50 262 PAYX 16.25 34 PBI Pitney Bowes 47.62 1296 PCEP Prcptn Tchnlgy 3.50 486 PDAS Pda Engineering 5.87 30 PKE Park Electrochemical 13.62 1 PLXS 6.62 100 PMSC Policy Mgmt Sys 34.62 382 PNS Pansophic SY 16.75 57 PRLX Parlex 3.62 0 PSC Phil Subn 14.37 222 PTC Par Technology 5.00 5 PTNX Printronix 11.62 99 PYF Pay Fone Sys 2.75 0 PYRD Pyramid Technology 28.62 395 QNTM Quantum 13.87 1930 QTEC Questech 1.94 0 QUIX 5.87 24 QUME Qume 6.12 269 RCG Rsrgns Cmmnctns Gro 5.25 92 REC Recognition Equip 5.37 87 REFC 6.00 37 RELL 9.50 7 RELY Ingres 9.50 962 REUT Reuter 6.25 282 REXN Rexon 9.00 257 REY Reynolds&Reynolds 19.50 46 RNIC 4.00 5 ROBC 7.00 185 ROBV Robotic Vision Sys 2.75 132 SATI 1.31 1 SBM Sped O Prnt BS Mch 3.75 0 SCIX Scitex 23.25 728 SCO Smith Corona 10.00 408 SCOM Scs Compute 5.25 78 SDRC Strctrl Dynmcs Rsh C 38.75 78 SEEQ Seq Tchnlgy Inc DL 2.87 5 SEIC Sei 18.50 241 SEQS Sequoia Sys 7.75 715 SFE Sfgrd Scntfcs 15.25 1 SFEM Sfe Technologies 0.44 17 SGAT Seagate Technology 16.25 14460 SGI Silicon Graphics 36.75 511 SGSI Sage Software 13.00 165 SHBS Sharebase 0.50 24 SHEL Sheldahl 6.00 184 SHKI 5.00 41 SIER 18.25 270 SIGM 9.50 178 SILI Siliconix 2.50 270 SLTM Selecterm 5.75 1 SMBX Symbolics 0.75 161 SMED 13.12 1090 SMH Semtech 1.75 6 SMSC Stndrd Mcrsystms 7.75 674 SMX Systems Ctr 24.37 21 SNDT Sungard Data Sys 19.25 1944 SNPX 35.75 543 SNTC Synetic 14.37 226 SOCR Scan Optics 1.50 90 SOD Sltrn Dvcs Inc DL 1.50 5 SOFS Sftsl Cmptr Prds 5.25 1173 SOFT Softech 3.37 10 SOLR Applied Solar Energy 6.25 30 SPCO Software Pubg 23.50 2202 SPEC 1.44 20 SPG Sprague Technologies 5.62 78 SPKR Spinnaker Software 1.62 45 SQNT Sequent Computer Sys 25.25 1250 SRA Stratus Computer 21.50 516 SSAX Systm Sftwre Assc 28.75 511 SSFT Scntfc Sftwre Intrcm 3.50 25 SSIA Stockholders Sys 8.00 0 SSOA 0.59 210 STEC Serv-tech 13.37 0 STK 23.75 5613 STRR Star Technologies 0.28 55 SUGR Summagraphics 13.62 473 SUNW 24.00 8016 SUPX Supertex 2.87 30 SVGI Silicon VY Group 6.75 486 SYI System Inds 2.37 155 SYMC Symantec 19.75 227 SYNE Syntech Intl 0.69 60 SYNR 4.00 90 SYST 42.00 570 TCOR Tandon 1.50 2838 TDAT Teradata 33.25 1519 TDCX 2.75 40 TDK Tdk 39.00 3 TDM Tandem Computers 28.50 3493 TDX Tridex 3.81 0 TECN Technalysis 13.00 294 TELV Televideo Sys 0.22 21 TERM Terminal Data 1.37 63 TLXN 6.87 765 TMAX Telematics Intl 3.12 640 TMBS 7.00 258 TOTE United Tote 8.62 0 TRNT Transnet 0.78 83 TRSC Triad Sys 3.25 543 TSK Computer Task Group 10.62 14 TSNG 4.69 1957 TSRI Tsr 2.87 16 TTN Titan 2.25 39 TTOI Tempest Technologies 0.94 0 TWRX 24.25 1508 TXN TX Instrs 37.50 2282 TYGR 0.75 15 UBS U S Bioscience 10.50 100 UIS Unisys 15.12 3280 ULT Ultimate 6.50 311 UT United Telecomm KA 39.25 6670 UTR Unitrode 4.75 82 UTRX Unitronix 6.75 3988 VAR Varian Assoc 24.75 333 VBND Velobind 5.75 32 VIDE Video Display 5.00 31 VLID Valid Logic Sys 3.37 397 VLSI Vlsi Technology 7.87 1181 VMXI Vmx 2.25 407 VSH Vshy Intrtchnlgy 18.62 26 WAC Wells Amern 0.34 0 WAN 5.87 2561 WCAT Wicat Sys 2.75 325 WCP Warner Computer Sys 4.25 23 WDC Wes Digital Corp Del 12.25 2628 WDST Wordstar Intl 0.87 515 WGA Wlls Grdnr Elctrs 3.37 15 WHT Whitehall 16.75 617 WMIC Wes Microwave 1.37 0 WOTK 2.25 75 WSCI WA Scientific Inds I 8.50 49 WSVS Wiland Svcs 2.50 41 WWTK 21.62 256 XICO Xicor 3.12 244 XRX Xerox 56.00 819 XSCR Xscribe 0.44 27 XYVI Xyvision 1.87 61 ZCAD Zycad 1.44 151 ZENT Zentec 0.08 0 ZITL Zitel 3.62 28 ZMOS Zymos 0.69 39 ZRO Zero Corp Del 13.50 611 Total stocks traded: 427 Total volume traded: 26246000 Total price volume : 4790.32 NEWSBYTES STOCK INDEX (NSI): 11.22 (John Verhelst/19900301)