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

SYMANTEC SUM BUNDLED WITH HARD DISKS}
TUSTIN, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1990 JUN 1 (NB) -- Symantec has
agreed to provide copies of Symantec Utilities for Macintosh
(SUM II) with the Platinum Series internal and external SCSI
hard-disk subsystems from CMS Enhancements.

The Platinum Series of hard-disk subsystems includes internal
and external models for single users and networks. The disk
subsystems range in capacity from 20Mbytes to 1Gbyte.

Symantec's SUM II is a comprehensive set of disk utilities
that perform crashed-disk and deleted-file recovery, back-up,
disk optimization and data security.

(Wendy Woods/19900601/Press Contact: Ken Shrimplin, CMS
Enhancements, 714/259-5947)


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

APPLE AND AMERICAN FILM INSTITUTE FORM PARTNERSHIP}
CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1990 JUNE 1 (NB) -- The American
Film Institute (AFI) and Apple Computer will combine resources to
integrate computer technology into the film and television
community. Apple will donate over $1 million in Macintosh
equipment to the newly created AFI/Apple Computer Center for
Film and Videomakers in Los Angeles.

Apple Chairman John Sculley, on hand for the announcement,
said the center will open this fall, and proclaimed, "AFI's
history with and commitment to the television and film community
combined with the breadth and power of Macintosh technology,
will provide the tools and information necessary to assist
and inspire the visual artists of today and tomorrow."

The Center is also expected to aid Apple in its development
of multimedia applications for its Macintosh line.

Specifically, the center will feature a variety of Macintosh
systems for demonstrations, training, conferences, and research
and development. The center will offer workshops that explore
and integrate computer technology into all phases of the
creation and production process. Workshop topics will include
issues concerning producing, directing, screenwriting,
animation, editing, cinematography, production design,
scoring, and music editing.

Access to the center will be available to screenwriters,
directors, producers, production designers, editors and all
members of the filmmaking community.

Announcing the new relationship, AFI Director Jean Firstenberg
explained: "Filmmaking is grounded in a rich tradition of
combining creative vision and technical invention. The
institute is dedicated to providing the resources of the
future for filmmakers so that they continue to challenge the
elements of current technology. The AFI/Apple Center can
play a significant role in supporting the synergy of art and
science and promoting growth in the creative realm of film,
television and video."

(Wendy Woods, Barbara E. McMullen & John F. McMullen/
19900602/Press Contacts: Emily Laskin, American Film
Institute, 213-856-7690; Patty Tulloch, Apple, 408-974-5449)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(NYC)(00001)

DISKWORLD MONTHLY DISKETTE INFECTED BY VIRUS}
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA, U.S.A., 1990 MAY 31 (NB) -- SoftDisk
Publishing has announced that it unwittingly sent diskettes
containing the WDEF virus to clients as part of its May 1990
Diskworld mailing.

Michael Amarello, Diskworld editor-in-chief, told Newsbytes
that although approximately 50 clients have called to inform
them of the virus, "We don't know exactly how many received
it. We use a number of machines to make our master disks and
only one of the machines seems to have been infected."

He says that when he was first informed about the virus, he
backtracked and found that it came into SoftDisk's facilities
from four different sources.

Amarillo said that a letter will go out to all recipients of
the mailing informing them of the problem. He added, "When
we first found out about the problem, we wrote a WDEF virus
killer program which we will include on subsequent disks.
We also commissioned a programmer to write a virus-screening
INIT program. When finished, the program will be distributed on
each monthly disk. To protect our customers, we have
committed to insure that the new INIT program is updated whenever
necessary to fight new virus strains."

(Barbara E. McMullen & John F. McMullen/19900602/Press Contact:
Michael Amarello, SoftDisk Publishing, 800 633-1935)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(SYD)(00001)

AUSTRALIAN TELECOM AUTHORITY STANDARDIZES ON MACS}
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1990 MAY 31 (NB) -- Austel, the Australian
telecommunications authority, is to purchase a Macintosh
network for its administrative needs. The system will
consist of SE/30 and IIcx workstations plus a DOS file
server for the existing accounting system.

The Macs were chosen "because of their cost-effectiveness
when considering the total cost of an installation such
as training, ease of use and low support needs," according to
a statement.

The Macintoshes will operate in four zones, each with its
own file server. The four zones will be connected through
Australian-developed Multigate gateways.

(Paul Zucker/19900601)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(LON)(00007)

ALDUS UK RELEASES INTERNATIONAL ENGLISH PAGEMAKER 4.0}
EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND, 1990 JUN 02 (NB) -- Aldus UK has announced
it is shipping the International English version of Aldus
Pagemaker 4.0 for the Apple Macintosh. The new version includes
improved word-processing capabilities, expanded typographic
controls, and enhanced features for handling long documents.

"With more than 75 new features and enhancements, Pagemaker 4.0
represents the beginning of a new era in desktop publishing,"
said Alisdair Boyle, Aldus UK's managing director. "Pagemaker 4.0
is the most complete tool for writing, designing and producing a
wide variety of high-quality publications," he added.

Heading up the features list of Pagemaker 4,0 is the story
editor. This built-in word processor allows users to remain in a
single application to complete most of their work.

The recommended system configuration for Pagemaker 4.0 is an
Apple Mac SE/30, II, IIx, IIcx, IIci, IIfx or Portable, plus a
hard disk and 2MB of RAM. The minimum system configuration is a
Mac Plus or SE with 1MB of random access memory and a 20MB
hard disk

UK pricing on Pagemaker 4.0 International English edition has
been set at UKP 695 (1,100). Registered users of previous
editions can upgrade for a special price based on the current
version held and the date of purchase relative to the new product
announcement date if 07 February this year. Upgrade pricing ranges
from UKP 75 (version 3.5 to 4.0) to UKP 245 (v1.0 or 2.0 or
v4.0).

(Steve Gold/19900602/Press & Public Contact: Aldus UK - Tel: 031-
220-4747)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SFO)(00001)

TELEVIDEO LAUNCHES JOINT VENTURE IN U.S.S.R.}
SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1990 JUN 2 (NB) -- Televideo Systems
says it has signed two joint venture agreements in the Soviet
Union to supply PCs to the Soviet departments of the
Municipality of Moscow and the Ministry of Construction.

The first agreement is between Televideo Systems; ABM Computer
Systems, West Germany; and the Municipality of Moscow. Under the
agreement, computers will be provided to the city of Moscow to
increase the computer capabilities in the city's infrastructure,
Televideo says.

Televideo will provide computers to the venture for resale within
the city structure. As part of the agreement, Moscow is providing
land near the Kremlin which will be developed by the venture into an
office/hotel complex for use by Western visitors.

The complex will include a hotel, an apartment building, an office
building, and a shopping center, and will provide a source of hard
currency earnings.

Televideo believes that significant profits from the venture
are probably two years away, but in the meantime its
participation will not present any significant financial hardship for
the company.

"This agreement has taken me six years to put in place, and it
represents a significant opportunity for Televideo," said Dr. K. Philip
Hwang, Televideo chairman and chief executive officer, who first began
working with the Soviets in 1984. "We were patient and persistent and
finally got what we wanted: it's a solid agreement in which everyone
gains.

Although precise commitments are not being made available, a
Televideo spokesman indicated that initially, they expect to run
quantities of one to two thousand systems per month.

The second agreement is between Televideo, ABM Computer Systems, and
the Ministry of Construction, which is renovating buildings in Moscow.
Televideo will provide computers and computer parts for use within the
Ministry and for resale through a computer store chain that is being
set up in Moscow as part of the venture.

Televideo will be demonstrating many of its computer systems at the
upcoming PC World Forum/Moscow, scheduled for July 10-15.

Televideo's estimates indicate that the demand for PCs in the Soviet Union
will reach more than 28 million by the year 2000. Only 15 percent of
the demand is satisfied today, making the Soviet Union one of the
highest growth market areas in the world.

(Wendy Woods/19900601/Press Contact: Gary Breeding, Televideo,
408/954-8333)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SFO)(00001)

OKI'S PORTLAND-AREA PLANT DEDICATED}
TUALATIN, OREGON, U.S.A., 1990 MAY 30 (NB) -- The sake was
brought out and the tours were underway at Oki Semiconductor's newest
plant in Tualatin, Oregon. The $25 million plant is expected to
produce one megabit dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chips.

Oregon State Treasurer Tony Meeker and other government
officials today joined the presidents of Oki Electric Industry
Company Ltd., Japan, Oki Semiconductor Group and Oki America
for the ceremony.

Oki Semiconductor, a subsidiary of Oki Electric Industry
Company Ltd., based in Japan, added the Oregon manufacturing
plant as part of an effort to expand its manufacturing capability.
Annual sales for Oki Electric Industry Company Ltd. are close
to $3.9 billion, the company says.

The opening ceremony concludes phase I of this three-phase development
constructed on a 60-acre plot in the Tualatin Industrial Park,
located in Oregon's Sunset Corridor, otherwise known as the
"silicon forest."

Phase I of the new plant will house an I.C. (integrated circuit)
assembly and test facility with production capacity of 1
million per month. Mass production of 1M DRAMs and module
assemblies is expected to be underway in June. Plans exist to
expand manufacturing of a full range of semiconductor-related products
within the next three years.

The selection of Tualatin as the site of the new plant was made
after extensive evaluation and review and provides Oki with
the best mix of resources necessary to effectively service their
North American customer base, the company says.

Oki Semiconductor joins several other high-tech Japanese
companies such as NEC, Fujitsu, Epson and Toshiba Ceramics
in locating in the "silicon forest." Approximately
120 new jobs are expected as a result of I.C. assembly and test
facility, with many more resulting from planned expansion.


(Wendy Woods/19900601/Press Contact: Whitman Advertising and
Public Relations, 503-242-0070, for Oki Semiconductor Group)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LAX)(00001)

ASTROCOM FINALIZES CIRCUIT BOARD ONE SALE}
ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA, U.S.A., 1990 MAY 30 (NB) -- Astrocom has
completed the sale of the business and assets of its wholly owned
subsidiary, Circuit Board One, Inc. to Visi-Tour Vision (St.
Paul, MN).

Circuit Board One (Chaska, MN) manufactures and sells printed
circuit boards. The purchase price consists of a combination of
cash, a promissory note and 500,000 shares of Visi-Tour common
stock (18 percent of the shares outstanding). Astrocom has
indicated that proceeds of the sale will be used to reduce back
debt and payables and enable the company to concentrate its
resources on the growth and success of its digital communications
business.

Visi-Tour might seem an unlikely buyer. It is a publicly held
company that used to be engaged in the operation of electronic
advertising and information systems but has been inactive since
1987.

(Janet Endrijonas/19900601/Press Contact: Stephen C. O'Hara,
Astrocom, 612-227-8651)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LAX)(00005)

SIEMENS OPENS NEW SALES OFFICE TO MARKET PRINTERS}
BOCA RATON, FLORIDA, U.S.A., 1990 MAY 31 (NB) -- The Peripheral
Systems Division of Siemens Information Systems (Anaheim, CA) has
opened a sales office in Boca Raton, FL to sell the company's
line of high-speed, non-impact printing systems.

The division now operates 22 offices across the country. The
newest office will provide sales and services in a four county
area in Florida that was previously supported from the company's
facility in Atlanta.

The new office will be headed by Lawrence Greenley who was with
IBM for 18 years before joining Siemens.

(Janet Endrijonas/19900601/Press Contact: Lawrence Greenley,
Siemens Information Systems, 407-994-7694)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TOR)(00010)

LOTUS ACQUIRES ALPHAWORKS INTEGRATED PACKAGE}
CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1990 MAY 30 (NB) -- Lotus
Development has acquired AlphaWorks, a low-priced integrated
software package from Alpha Software of Burlington, Mass.

Lotus plans to rename the package LotusWorks, and will sell it
for US$149. Lotus' personal computer spreadsheet division, also
responsible for Symphony and the PC versions of 1-2-3, will
handle the product.

While Symphony is aimed at Fortune 1000 companies, AlphaWorks
will be sold primarily to first-time computer buyers and home
users, Lotus spokeswoman Martha Isham told Newsbytes. LotusWorks
will be "a good entry point" for PC users, she said.

Packard-Bell, a major PC maker with a focus in the low end of the
market, has agreed to bundle LotusWorks with its personal
computers, Isham added.

AlphaWorks integrates spreadsheet, graphics, word processing,
database and telecommunications functions. The package supports
the Lotus 1-2-3 .WK1 file format, as well as the .DBF format used
by Ashton-Tate's dBASE database packages.

Following the sale, Alpha Software will focus on its database
product line. The company also sells keyboard macro programs.

(Grant Buckler/19900601/Press Contact: Martha Isham, Lotus, 617-
225-1554; Barbara Limoncelli, Alpha Software, 617-229-2924)


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

ALIAS RESEARCH ANNOUNCES PUBLIC OFFERING}
TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1990 MAY 25 (NB) -- Alias Research, a
Toronto developer of industrial design software, has filed for a
public share offering in the United States.

Alias plans to offer two million shares at a price between US$9
and US$11 per share. The company itself will offer one million
shares and certain shareholders will offer the balance. Pat
Hunter, an Alias spokeswoman, told Newsbytes the stock will be
listed on the NASDAQ over-the-counter system.

Alias will use the proceeds for general corporate purposes and
working capital, and possibly for acquisitions, Hunter said.
Robertson, Stephens & Co. and Wessels, Arnold & Henderson will
manage the offering.

(Grant Buckler/19900601/Press Contact: Pat Hunter, Alias
Research, 416-362-9181)


(NEW)(BUSINESS)(TYO)(00004)

TWO NEW SEMICONDUCTOR ALLIANCES}
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1990 MAY 29 (NB) -- There have been two more
international weddings in the semiconductor industry: French-based
SGS-Thomson Microelectronics and Sanyo, and American-based National
Semiconductor and NEC.

SGS-Thomson and Sanyo have agreed to use each others' sales channels in
Europe and Asia. This agreement will benefit both firms:
SGS-Thomson is planning to boost its sales in Japan to 70 billion
yen or $46.7 million by 1994, up from 35 billion yen or $23.5 million
in 1989. Sanyo, in turn, can procure most of its foreign-made
chip needs from SGS-Thomson.

Meanwhile, National Semiconductor has agreed with NEC to receive
256 kilobit SRAM (static random access memory) on an OEM (original
equipment manufacturing) basis following the recent agreement to
receive a supply of ASICs (application specific integrated circuits)
and linear ICs.

Based on this five-year OEM agreement, National Semiconductor will
receive 100,000 to 200,000 units of SRAM chips through its
subsidiary in Japan, National Semiconductor Japan, to sell it under
its brand name in the U.S. and Japan.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19900531)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TYO)(00006)

SONY DATA DISCMAN AVAILABLE IN BOOKSTORES}
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1990 MAY 28 (NB) -- Sony's Data Discman, a portable
CD-ROM (compact disk read-only-memory) player, may find a good
market in bookstores. Major publishing industry distributor Tokyo
Shuppan Hanbai is now selling the player as well as its
CD-ROM software called Electronic Book to bookstores in Japan.

Electronic Book will appear in 18 titles from 14 publishers in
early July. Priced at between 2,800 and 19,800 yen ($18.7 and $132), the
CD-ROM-based software is cheap compared to conventional, rather
expensive 12-centimeter CD-ROM software. Tokyo Shuppan Hanbai
expects heavy sales to people even without a knowledge of personal
computers, which is why it is distributing the player in bookstores.

While Tokyo Shuppan has laid heavy emphasis on sales of several
other media, such as video tapes and compact discs, besides
books, it has never entered into the hardware business before now.
Claiming that Data Discman has been received enthusiastically
among its bookstore customers, the company anticipates
successful sales of both Data Discman and Electronic Book.

The Data Discman and Electronic Book will be also available in
electronics goods shops.

(Ken Takahashi/19900531/Press Contact: Tokyo Shuppan Hanbai Co.,
Ltd., 03-269-6111)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TYO)(00007)

TANDEM GOES NONSTOP INTO JAPAN}
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1990 MAY 28 (NB) -- California, U.S.-based Tandem
Computers, rapidly growing with its NonStop system computers, has
instituted several measures to further develop the Japanese market,
a market which it sees as having the highest growth potential
in the world.

As a first step, it will increase the capital of its Japanese
subsidiary Tandem Computers Japan from the current 5,500 million
yen ($3.7 million) to 1.5 billion yen ($10 million) early this June,
in order to consolidate its management platform in Japan.

In July, it will open a technical support center called SSG or
System Support Group in Tokyo, where its engineers from the U.S.
will offer immediate system support for users of its
computers in Asia-Pacific regions, including Japan.

Furthermore, it will open High-Performance Center which will offer
potential customers a way to get hands-on comparison of its
computers and other makers' computers. The opening date and
location of the facility has not been announced, but a spokesperson
from Tandem Computers Japan says that it will not be too long before
the opening.

Tandem Computers has been steadily growing at a rate of more than
20 percent each quarter, despite recent dull achievements in the
U.S. computer industry as a whole. Its Japanese subsidiary also
has attained more than 50 percent annual growth for four
consecutive years, led by favorable sales of the NonStop
system computers.

(Ken Takahashi/19900531/Press Contact: Tandem Computers Japan,
03-234-9561)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TYO)(00008)

MITSUBISHI IN VENTURE TO MAKE TINY HARD DRIVES}
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1990 MAY 30 (NB) -- The major cement maker of
Mitsubishi Group, Mitsubishi Mining & Cement, has tied up with
Sunnyvale, California-based mini-HDD (hard disk drive) venture Kalok
to establish a joint venture in Tokyo.

Mitsubishi Mining & Cement and Kalok each own 45 percent
of the joint venture Kalok Japan, which is capitalized
at 50 million yen ($33,000). The remaining 10 percent comes
from Ichiro Emori, a man who has assumed the president's post
of the new firm. The president is a cofounder of U.S.-based
Kalok and now is an emeritus professor of Seikei University.

Starting business in June, Kalok Japan will launch exclusive sales
of the 3.5-inch mini-HDD in Japan, where it is not currently
available. It is now negotiating with several domestic makers to
supply the HDD on an OEM (original equipment manufacturing) basis.
Kalok Japan expects to achieve annual sales of about 5 billion
yen ($330 million) in 1993 from the sale of its HDDs.

In the immediate future, the joint venture will sell a 40-megabyte
version of 3.5-inch HDD with SCSI (small computer system interface).
It is planning to release the 80-megabyte version next year.

Kalok is a venture firm which has rapidly grown from sales of its
low-priced, high-quality, and highly reliable products since it was
established in February 1987. With its mini-HDDs, it attained
$100 million sales in 1989, and expects to grasp $600
million sales in 1993. Analysts predict it will become the third
largest HDD maker, following Seagate and Conner Peripherals in
the U.S., by 1993.

Mitsubishi, for its part, intends to further diversify
by entering the computer peripheral business. With the Kulok
tie-up, it has obtained ownership of 4 percent of U.S.-based
Kalok by investing $2.4 million, and has assigned one of its
directors there.

(Ken Takahashi/19900531/Press Contact: Mitsubishi Mining & Cement,
03-211-7412)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(BRU)(00003)

TECHNOLOGY STOCKS: Company Quarterly Results, Friday June 01}
NEW YORK, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1990 JUN 01 (NB) -- June 01 marks a
busy time for US financial analysts, as companies, now into
their third quarter, begin to report second quarter results en-
masse. Among this week's many companies reporting were:

[] ANALOGIC earned $3.02 million in its third quarter ended April
30, 1990, on revenues of $35.44 million. During the same period
last year, the company reported profits of $2.45 million on sales
of $34.4 million. Analogic manufactures high performance data
conversion and signal processing instruments. Analogic closed the
week at $9 with a total of 23,300 shares changing hands on
Friday.

[] VIDEO COMMUNICATIONS AND RADIO (VCR) reported earnings of
$117,313 in the first quarter which ended March 31, 1989 on
revenues of $447,478. The figures compare to losses of $101,356
on revenues of $356,374 recorded for the same period last year.
VCR distributes video and radio programming and associated
electronic products.

[] DIGITAL SOLUTIONS reported loses of $166,661 in its second
quarter ended March 31, 1990, on revenues of $976,579. The
figures compare with losses of $13,121 on revenues of $962,752
during the same period last year.

[] NETWORK ELECTRONICS reported losses of $105,600 in its third
quarter which ended March 31, 1990, on revenues of $1.77 million.
Last year's similar period produced earnings of $85,200 on
revenues of $1.58 million.

[] SOFTWARE TOOLWORKS posted earnings $2.34 million for the
fourth quarter which ended March 31, 1990, on revenues of $21.94
million. Last year's comparable quarter saw revenues of $12.322
million and earnings of $740,000.

For the full year, the company reported revenues of $68.68
million, up from $34.97 million, and earnings of $2.59 million,
up from a loss of $4.27 million recorded in 1989. Software
Toolworks is currently enjoying a profitable period thanks to
sales of its software for the Nintendo games system. The company
closed on Friday at $22.875 with a total of 10,293,000 shares
changing hands.

(John Verhelst/19900602)


(EXCLUSIVE)(BUSINESS)(BRU)(00004)

TECHNOLOGY STOCKS: World Market Summary, Week Ending Jun 01}
YORK, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1990 JUN 01 (NB) -- The US stock markets
reached all-time highs during the week with the Dow Jones
Industrial Average (DJIA) topping the 2,900-point mark, close
to the magic 3,000 figure.

The DJIA, which is the aggregate of the prices of 30 major stocks
representing a variety of industrial sectors, theoretically -
and, to most intents, practically - indicates the state of the US
economy.

The DJIA closed up 24.31 on Friday, at 2,900.97. On January 1,
1990, the DJIA stood at 2,557.1.

Among the many active issues on the New York Stock Exchange
(NYSE), IBM lost 37.5 cents to end at $119.50, while GE was up
$1.375 to end at $69.50. AT&T ended the week down 12.5 cents at
$43.375, while Westinghouse Electric ended up $1.075 at $37.25.

On the American Exchanges, Amdahl ended the week down 25 cents at
$15.875, while Wang stood at $4.125.

On the Over the Counter (OTC) stocks, Adobe Systems, which lost
more than $15 after reporting much lower than anticipated figures
last week, managed to regain lost ground a little, although at
the end of the week, the stock closed down 87.5 cents at $34.75.

Apple Computer ended off 50 cents at $40.75 while Intel
Corporation ended down 75 cents at $47.50 and Microsoft moved up
$2.125 to end at $75.125, making up for losses sustained at the
beginning of the week.

Other OTC issues in the spotlight included MCI Communications, up
37.5 cents, at $43; Novell, up 87.5 cents at $31.25. Lotus
Development Corporation was down 50 cents at $37.25.

(John Verhelst/19900602)


(EXCLUSIVE)(GENERAL)(SFO)(00001)

CES: COMPUTER SYSTEM COMBINES PC & NINTENDO}
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, U.S.A., 1990 JUN 2 (NB) -- Duo Computers of
Miami, Florida, has announced a new PC system that combines a fully
functional IBM-PC-compatible and a Nintendo game system in one
unit.

The Duo FC contains a 8088 processor, 640K memory, a Ad-Lib
sound card, and a 5 1/4" floppy as well as a standard Nintendo
game system. The Duo FC+ is an upgrade to the FC and includes a
286 processor, one megabyte of memory, and a 20 megabyte hard
drive.

Both systems come bundled with entertainment and educational
software. The PC has open architecture including fee slots for
system enhancements.

Both systems allow for dual processing. The system can use
two monitors simultaneously so the PC and Nintendo can be operated
at the same time. The manufacturer claims that its is the first
system that will allow for full color EGA and VGA color on a TV
monitor. In addition, any Nintendo or PC screen output can be
saved to a VCR.

The systems are slated to be released this August. The FC
will list at $999 and the FC+ at $1,899. Duo has no affiliation
with Nintendo and has not heard from the company. They state
carefully in their promotional material that their system is "not
designed, manufactured, sponsored, endorsed, or warranted by
Nintendo."

(Saul Feldman/19900602/Press Contact: Leigh Rothschild, president,
Duo, 305-252-9040)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(LAX)(00004)

NETWORK NEWS: Novell Intros NetWare 386 Version 3.1 Platform}
SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1990 MAY 30 (NB) -- Novell has
introduced NetWare 386 v3.1.

The new release combines the 32-bit real-time network operating
system, fault tolerance and security of release 3.0 with
enhancements to improve overall network performance and system
reliability, facilitate network administration, provide software
applications developers with an open server environment and offer
users a variety of Novell-certified network components.

(Janet Endrijonas/19900601/Press Contact: Susan Richards, Novell,
801-429-5894)


(EXCLUSIVE)(GENERAL)(NYC)(00003)

FRANKSTON REJOINS BRICKLIN AT SLATE}
WATERTOWN, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1990 JUN 1 (NB) -- Slate
Corp. has announced that Robert Frankston, codeveloper of
industry-spawning VisiCalc, will leave Lotus Development and
join Slate. The move reunites Frankston with Dan Bricklin,
the other VisiCalc codeveloper.

Frankston and Bricklin founded Software Arts in 1979 and launched
VisiCalc, the first electronic spreadsheet and the program
generally attributed with the proliferation of personal
computers throughout the business world. Frankston remained
with Software Arts until its acquisition by Lotus Development
Corp. and was chief scientist at Lotus.

Slate is developing software that focuses on those computers
such as the GRiD Pad which use pen or stylus input rather
than the traditional keyboard. Industry analysts say that
Slate is working on software for computers that GO Corporation
will introduce later in the year.

Bricklin, a cofounder and vice president of Slate, told
Newsbytes, "I am thrilled to be working with Bob again. We
have been close friends for a long time and I am sure that
Bob will make immense contributions to Slate's progress."

(Barbara E. McMullen & John F. McMullen/19900602/Press Contacts:
Dottie Hall, Slate, 602 443-7322)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(HKG)(00001)

BULL HN IN HONG KONG CELEBRATES 10TH ANNIVERSARY}
WANCHAI, HONG KONG, 1990 JUNE 1 (NB) -- Bull HN has celebrated
its first ten years of phenomenal growth in Hong Kong with
a reception for industry and information technology press
members.

The company began in Hong Kong in 1980 as Honeywell and was
transmuted into a US/French/Japanese corporation called Honeywell
Bull in 1987 to become Bull HN Information Systems last year.

Bull HN now claims to be the world's seventh largest systems
supplier.

At the reception, given in Hong Kong's palatial new Convention and
Exhibition Centre under the slogan, "We've come a long way in ten
years," Asian managing director, Ed Kong, told guests of Bull's
growth plans for Asia during the 1990s. "Asia will be a key player in
Bull's goal of being one of the top five IT (information technology)
suppliers by 1995 and our regional goal is to grow to six times our
current size by the mid-1990s."

Bull's partnership with Korean giant Goldstar made it
one of the first firms to enter the South Korean market
and develop partnerships with the country's, then infant, IT
suppliers. Kong said that in 1982, as Honeywell, the company
was one of the first IT companies to sign a major contract in
China, while it was also one of the first multinational computer
companies to set up operations in Taiwan.

"The Hong Kong office has grown from a very small operation
into the regional headquarters for Bull HN," Mr Kong continued.
"We now have direct representation in all the major Asian
countries and an extensive network of distributors. We have
mainframes in 14 of the leading Chinese universities and our
midrange Unix systems have been very successful in Taiwan,
where we have over 150 systems installed."

Con Conway, original managing director of Honeywell Hong Kong
and now a director of the Hong Kong Telecom group, said,
"Honeywell was one of the last international companies to
set up in Hong Kong, but it has certainly come a long way
since I was managing [Honeywell] Hong Kong."

On a personal note, Bull HN vice president, Ray Robinson,
told Newsbytes that while he is very happy to be retiring, he will
greatly miss his twice-yearly visits to Hong Kong on company
business. He flew out especially for the tenth anniversary
celebrations, but was also determined to make the most of his last
opportunity for the foreseeable future to visit a place he has grown
to love. "It's my kind of city. You can make anything happen here. Of
course, we did-otherwise you and I wouldn't be talking together here
tonight."

For the record, Bull HN is jointly owned by Groupe Bull of France
(69.9 percent), NEC of Japan (15 percent) and Honeywell of the US
(15.1 percent). The Groupe Bull revenue base of $7,000 million is
reckoned to make it the world's seventh largest computer company.

(Norman Wingrove/19900602)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(HKG)(00003)

DOW CHEMICAL PACIFIC UPGRADES INFO SYSTEMS}
EXCHANGE SQUARE, CENTRAL, HONG KONG, 1990 JUN 1 (NB) -- Dow Chemical
Pacific Ltd, has upgraded its information systems network in Hong
Kong with the installation of an IBM ES/3090 Model 120 J.

Edith Mok, director of information services for Dow, says "The
new installation will be used to support Dow's growing business
activities in the Asia Pacific region. The aim is to improve response
time in serving customers and enhance communications with our
business partners."

The new general purpose processor is from the latest 16-model series
of the IBM ES/3090 family, announced in late 1989.

To complement the upgrade, Dow has also purchased related equipment
and applications, including an IBM 3745 Communications Controller and
two large systems printers. Dow has plans for a further upgrade of
its information processing requirements with an IBM ES/3090 Model 150
JH.

Dow opened its first Hong Kong office in 1957 and established its
Pacific Area Headquarters here nine years later. This headquarters
oversees Dow's operations in 14 countries in the region and
consequently has experienced continuous growth in its data processing
and communications needs, says Ms Mok.

(Norman Wingrove/19900602/Press Contact: Chris Chan, IBM,
[phone])


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(LON)(00003)

US COMPUTER FIRM TAKES OVER US EMBASSY IN LONDON}
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1990 JUN 02 (NB) -- Convex Computer is hosting a
conference on 'Supercomputing and Finance - New Directions'
organized by the US Embassy and the University of London computer
centre. The one-and-half-day seminar takes place at the US
Embassy in London on 25/26 June.

As well as Convex Computer, participating companies in the event
include Cray Research and IBM. Also featured will be a variety of
users and independent experts, as well as the expected array of
product vendors, according to Steve Nutt, managing director of
Convex Computer.

"High-powered financial applications can now exceed the
processing capability of mainframe computers and represent a
major growth market for supercomputers, shifting supercomputers
into the mainstream business environment," he said.

(Steve Gold/19900602/Press & Public Contact: Ilana Ron, Convex
Computer - Tel:[phone])


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(LON)(00005)

MCS INTROS HEAVY-DUTY PRINTER SHARER}
NOTTINGHAM, ENGLAND, 1990 JUN 02 (NB) -- Micro Control Systems
(MCS) has Epshare, a printer sharer which allows up to six
users to gain access to a heavy-duty Epson-compatible printer.

Announcing the unit, MCD Director Richard Tavener said that it
was developed in liaison with Epson UK and is compatible with the
Epson GQ, TLQ, SQ, LQ and DFX series of laser, inkjet, and dot
matrix printers.

"We're delighted to have collaborated with Epson on this project.
Not only was it a great endorsement of our product development
expertise, but also if our company as a whole," he said.

Each Epshare unit comes with three serial and three parallel
ports. Each port supports data transfer rates of up to 19,200
bits per second. The basic unit costs UKP 249 ($400) plus UKP 100
($160) extra for a 256K printer buffer or UKP 250 ($400) extra
for a 1MB printer buffer. A two-year warranty comes as standard.

(Steve Gold/19900602/Press & Public Contact: Richard Tavener, MCS
- Tel: [phone])


(EXCLUSIVE)(GENERAL)(MOW)(00001)

PHILIPPE KAHN AMONG SPEAKERS SLATED FOR MOSCOW COMPUTER SHOW}
MOSCOW, U.S.S.R., 1990 MAY 31 (NB) -- Moscow International Trade
center will host the First International Computer Forum (ICF),
organized by Moscow-based International Computer Club (ICC).
The Forum and Exhibition will be held June 14-17, 1990 in
Moscow and Borland's flamboyant president will be among its
keynote speakers.

ICF will be officially opened on June 15th by the president of
ICC, Corresponding Member of U.S.S.R. Academy of Sciences Professor
S.R. Kurdyumov and Vice-President of U.S.S.R. Academy of Sciences
Academician E.P. Velikhov.

Keynote speeches will be given by Philippe Kahn, president of Borland
International, and Greg Herrick, President of ZEOS International. Other
speakers include top Soviet and Western computer experts, Soviet
economy specialists, and government officials, Levon Amdilyan, ICC
executive, told Newsbytes.

The Forum will cover a broad range of issues from the legal aspects
of the Soviet market to Unix perspectives in the U.S.S.R. and
significant trends in microelectronics.

An exhibition will be the second part of this show. According
to an ICC press release, dozens of Soviet and foreign companies already
confirmed their participation in ICF. The forum will be a good
marketplace, Mr Amdilyan said.

Several prominent Western computer journalists are also expected
to participate in the Forum, according to press release.

(Kirill Tchashchin/19900601)


(EXCLUSIVE)(GENERAL)(MOW)(00002)

MOSCOW: WESTERN MAGAZINE READERS SERVICE WORKS}
MOSCOW, U.S.S.R., 1990 MAY 31 (NB) -- Newsbytes Moscow Bureau
conducted a research project concerning the effectiveness of
Western magazines' Readers Service cards to U.S.S.R. addresses.
40 days later, the results are trickling in.

Newsbytes sent to PC World by mail and Byte magazine by fax
readers service cards, otherwise known as the insert "bingo
cards," with requests for information from some 50 companies.
The companies had been advertisers in the magazine;
classified catalogs were not sought.

Unfortunately, the PC World card was lost somewhere on the
way to the editorial office and Newsbytes Moscow got nothing
from their advertisers. This isn't surprising since official
statistics for last year say that goods worth 400,000 rubles
"were lost while shipping."

But the Byte-faxed page with circled numbers worked well
because it bypassed the mail system.

40 days after faxing the request, on April 25th, Newsbytes
Moscow received the first reply from British-based Tenset
Technologies. More letters kept flooding our mailbox
for more than a month.

The Soviet postal service is very slow, and it can be
proven by the fact that European and U.S. letters take
approximately the same time to arrive. U.S. first class mail
envelopes are as slow as other classifications. Two envelopes
were found in Newsbytes' Moscow mailbox opened supposedly
by postal officials.

One possible explanation of why mail service is so slow
is that few Soviet postal workers speak any foreign language;
consequently addresses written in English must all be re-addressed,
and arrive marked with somebody's Russian handwriting with the
Soviet city and street address. This procedure is most
time-consuming.

But how good is the reader's card service itself? Newsbytes
requested information from 50 Byte advertisers and received 17
replies, or one third, in response. Only one, however, from BIX (Byte
Information Exchange), was customized to fit our local Moscow needs.
All the rest were the same materials sent in States or in
Europe.

(Kirill Tchashchin/19900601)


(EXCLUSIVE)(GENERAL)(MOW)(00003)

MOSCOW: NEW MAGAZINE AIMED AT HOME COMPUTING MARKET}
MOSCOW, U.S.S.R., 1990 MAY 31 (NB) -- Joint Soviet/ U.S. venture
Interunity, which has published "Intercomputer" magazine since
November, has announced "Bytic," another magazine for Soviet home
computer users and children, will be launched in September.

Anatoly Eides, publisher and editor in chief of these magazines,
is a U.S.S.R. computer publishing industry pioneer responsible for
the launch of PC World U.S.S.R. a year ago.

Mr Eides told Newsbytes that the new magazine will emphasize
the home computer market, teaching the general population
and children what computers are and how they work. People with
experience in this field will find the Intercomputer monthly
magazine more interesting for them.

According to Mr Eides both magazines will be a great opportunity for
advertising, since the magazines are very attractive with both
interesting information and good design.

(Kirill Tchashchin/19900601/Press contact: Anatoly Eides, phone +7 095
202-9280 fax [phone])


(EXCLUSIVE)(GENERAL)(MOW)(00005)

LENINGRAD: NEW COMPUTER MAGAZINE LAUNCHED}
LENINGRAD, U.S.S.R., 1990 MAY 31 (NB) -- File, a new publication of
the Leningrad subsidiary of Dialogue, the Moscow-based exclusive
Soviet Microsoft distributor, is a quarterly computer
magazine with a circulation of 100,000.

The first 3,000 full-color copies have just being printed
in Moscow and will be distributed via the Dialogue distributors
network. The rest of the run, 90,000 copies, will be printed later
this month.

About a third of the new magazine will be devoted to the interests
of computer experts and the rest will be aimed at less
experienced people, Mr Boris Vagapov, File editor-in-chief told
Newsbytes.

Mr Vagapov says he has had a major problem finding the paper on
which to print the magazine. All the paper for the first issue
came from abroad. He said the magazine could become a joint
venture with a Western publishing house.

Since the issue was prepared with assistance from Dialogue, the new
magazine will carry a lot of advertising to provide a fast commercial
return to the founder.

The magazine is expected to be monthly next year, Mr Vagapov told
Newsbytes.

(Kirill Tchashchin/19900601)


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

ABODE STOCK DROP PROMPTS 3 LAWSUITS}
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1990 MAY 30 (NB) -- Adobe's sudden
30-percent stock plunge last week shook loose three shareholders
suits and an investigation by the Pacific Stock Exchange. The
disgruntled investors say company executives manipulated the
stock price. The PSE says its investigation is "routine."

The initial Adobe earnings forecast came May 25 when Adobe cited a
projected 23 percent decline in its revenue from Apple
as a major reason for its reduced earnings. After Apple Computer
strenuously denied any reduction in its orders from Adobe,
Adobe later issued a statement confirming that the Apple falloff
was not as sharp as it had said the day before.

The stock fell $15.25 a share Friday to close at $35.25 a share
compared to Thursday's high of $50.50 a share.

The lawsuits filed by investors in San Francisco and San Jose
all accuse Adobe founders John Warnock and Charles Geschke
with stock price manipulation, and the dissemination of false and
misleading information "in order to artificially inflate the
market price of Adobe securities..."

Adobe issued this statement in response to only one of suits: "The
company believes that the lawsuit is completely without merit
and intends to vigorously contest the action."

(Wendy Woods/19900601)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(LAX)(00002)

WESTERN DIGITAL SETTLES PATENT SUIT WITH QUANTUM}
IRVINE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1990 MAY 30 (NB) -- Western Digital
has agreed to pay Quantum Corp. $4 million as a settlement to
their two-year-old patent infringement lawsuit.

The suit, filed in May 1988, alleged that Western Digital
infringed on Quantum patents for its Plus Hardcard hard disk
drive that is built into a plug-in expansion card for personal
computers. Specifically, it was Quantum's "wedge-servo"
architecture that was at issue.

Western Digital acquired the line of disk drives in question from
Tandon in March 1988. Western Digital says it has stopped making
the drives and is planning no further products that use the
contested technology.

Quantum has already won three other judgments resulting from
infringement suits regarding the same technology against Mountain
Computer, Computer Memories and NEC Information Systems.

(Janet Endrijonas/19900601/Press Contact: Robert Blair, Western
Digital, 212-867-4490)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(ATL)(00013)

PENNSYLVANIA COURT JUST SAYS NO TO CALLER ID}
PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, U.S.A., 1990 MAY 30 (NB) -- By a 5-0
count, the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court dealt a real blow to
Caller ID, the technology that displays a caller's phone number
on the recipient's phone as the call is made. The court ruled the
technology violates the state's anti-wiretap law.

By a narrower 3-2 margin the court also ruled the technology
violates privacy rights, whether or not the Bell company permits
callers to block receipt of their numbers, as is permitted under
California law.

Groups which filed the suit against Pennsylvania regulators who
first approved Caller ID last year hailed their win. They include
the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence, who feared
abusive husbands might find the hiding places of their wives and
kill them; the state Consumer Advocates' office and Consumer
Education and Protective Association, concerned about the
commercial implications of the technology; and the American Civil
Liberties Union, which pushed the argument that callers have a
privacy right to identify themselves and not have their numbers
displayed against their will.

Bell of Pennsylvania said it was disappointed by the ruling,
which went farther than even opponents of the service had asked.
"We will carefully study this ruling before deciding our next
action, but a clear option is to ask for judicial review by the
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania," said Bill Harral, Bell of
Pennsylvania's vice president-external affairs.

Under an earlier court order, police, fire and other emergency
services had been using Caller ID to speed help to people in
need. The court ruled that Enhanced 911 service, which displays
numbers in police stations, is allowable, however. This ruling
may impact Bell's ability to provide Caller ID to these emergency
agencies in small cities. Ironically Bell of Pennsylvania's
sister company, New Jersey Bell, has been among the most
aggressive in bringing Caller ID to its lines, and claims 60,000
consumers have ordered the service at roughly $12 per month.

In Georgia, which is considering a Southern Bell request to offer
Caller ID, a Public Service Commissioner said his group would be
unaffected by the Pennsylvania action, but that "anyone who wants
to can sue."

(Dana Blankenhorn/19900601/Press Contact: Eric Rabe, Bell of
Pennsylvania, 215-466-5611)


(EXCLUSIVE)(GOVT)(NYC)(00007)

KAPOR SCRUTINIZES HACKER CONFISCATIONS}
CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1990 JUN 2 (NB) -- Mitch
Kapor, founder of Lotus Development Corp. and developer of
industry standard spreadsheet 1-2-3, is interesting in
the establishment of a defense fund to aid the hackers
implicated in the Secret Service's Operation Sun Devil
investigation.

Kapor, who was quoted as saying of the investigation, "It's
plausible that there's a witch hunt going on," confirmed
his involvement to Newsbytes saying that reports of heavy
handedness by Secret Service agents and questionable
allegations have made him extremely concerned about this
issue.

"There have been reports on the Well (a California based online
service) of Secret Service agents accosting 14 year-olds
at gunpoint as though they expected armed resistance. The
reports are pretty outrageous. Additionally, there have been
only a few indictments to show for the mass confiscation of
equipment that went on. These actions have a chilling effect
on bulletin board operators throughout the country. If the
allegations of the use of terrorist search tactics are
accurate, it's certainly disproportionate to the acts
under investigation."

Kapor told Newsbytes he is attempting to collect information
on the specifics of the early May Sun Devil execution of 27
search warrants at suspected hacker's homes. These searches, which
resulted in the seizure of approximately 40 computer systems, are the
subject of many of the complaints that have reached Kapor.
He says it's difficult to collect the data to get a complete
picture of the case. There has been very little specific
information released by government, he added.

He added that he is working with the two law firms, Silverglate
& Good of Boston and New York's Rabinowitz, Boudin, Standard,
Krinsky and Lieberman to obtain as much information as possible
concerning these cases. "When we have enough information to get
a better picture of what's happened here, we'll decide what
steps we may take," said Kapor, referring to a published
statement that he was about to launch a $200,000 defense fund.

Secret Service spokesperson Richard Adams, speaking to Newsbytes
about the quotes attributed to Kapor, said, "I can't believe
that Mr. Kapor is familiar with the facts of these cases. We're
not talking about kids' pranks here. We're talking about people
tampering with 911 emergency codes and critical hospital records.
I'm sure the public will agree that these activities are beyond
what we might see as kids exploring computer use."

Robert Corbin, Attorney General of the State of Arizona and a
participant in the May 9th press conference which made the Sun
Devil operation public, told Newsbytes that, while he had not
seen the Kapor quotes, "We are very capable and knowledgeable
in the law and are not going to violate anyone's civil liberties.
For us to prosecute anyone, there must be probable cause of a
crime. If he (Kapor) is concerned about this case, let
him follow it through the jury process." It is in Corbin's
jurisdiction that the alleged attempt to electronically break
into and alter a medical database at Barrow Neurological
Institute occurred.

Stephen McNamee, U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona and
another participant in the May 9th news conference, told
Newsbytes that he could not comment on Kapor's statements other
than to say that "We only prosecute cases in which there is
probability that a crime was committed."

Tim Holtzen, Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Arizona District
and directly involved in the investigation, commented further
to Newsbytes, "One of Kapor's concerns seems to be that
over-zealous Secret Service agents may be going too far in
their investigations of this case. One of the beauties of
our legal system is that judges must review search warrants
before they can be executed as a safety protection against
such over-zealousness. In the carrying out of the Sun Devil
investigation, judges all across the country signed these warrants."

Industry pioneer Dan Bricklin, codeveloper of the landmark
VisiCalc program, told Newsbytes that, while he was not
familiar with the Sun Devil details, he had discussed the issue
briefly with Kapor and feels that the concern is healthy,
"We cannot lump criminals and those simply exploring
the uses of computers together under the term hacker. Some
people, while exploring computer communications, may perform
inappropriate actions but, if they are without malice, they
may not be criminal activities. There are certainly criminals
using computers but we must be able to distinguish the difference.

"Additionally, we are entering into new fields of first
amendment protection concerns. Most computer bulletin board
operators set them up because they believe deeply in opening
lines of communications to the public. Should their equipment
be seized because someone else puts illegal information onto the
system? If we extend the logic of such seizures, what happens if
I call a major corporation and leave an illegal item on its
voice mail system? Will the government seize the corporation's
telephone system? There are many troubling issues here and
I applaud Mitch's involvement."

(Barbara E. McMullen & John F. McMullen/19900602)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(NYC)(00009)

IBM TO PROVIDE PCs TO SOVIET SCHOOLS}
ARMONK, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1990 JUNE 2 (NB) -- IBM and the
U.S.S.R. State Committees for Education and Informatics say
that IBM will supply over 13,000 personal computers for use
in schools in the Soviet Union. Shipment of the machines will
begin in September 1990 in time for some schools to begin using
them at the start of the 1990/91 school year.

While terms of the contract were not released, Barry Bosak,
an industry analyst at Smith Barney, Harris Upham & Co., was
quoted as saying the contract could be worth $20 million to
$30 million, depending on the discount and the types of printers
and other equipment included. He said it probably ranks among the
largest sales of computer equipment to the Soviet Union
by a Western company.

In announcing the agreement, Michael Armstrong, chairman of IBM
World Trade Corporation, said, "IBM is pleased to be associated
with the Soviet Union in this program. In the United States and
countries around the world, IBM is involved in education with
both classroom products and support. We are delighted to be
extending these offerings to the Soviet Union."

It was stated that this initiative to introduce personal computers
into Soviet schools came from the U.S.S.R.'s Supreme Soviet
Committee for Science, Education and Culture. Its chairman,
Academician Yuri Ryzhov, said, "In my view, the success of reform
in the Soviet Union depends on progress in the spheres of
education and culture. We value greatly IBM's decision to
participate in a major project in this area."

(Barbara E. McMullen & John F. McMullen/19900602/Press Contact: Mac
Jeffery, IBM, 914-765-6443)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(SYD)(00002)

AUSTRALIA: OTC SET TO SPEND AUS$1.3M ON EDUCATION PLAN}
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1990 MAY 28 (NB) -- In a move to help
alleviate Australia's technology skills shortage, OTC,
Australia's international carrier, has announced a plan to
contribute AUS$1.3M in educational funding.

The plan is expected to raise student and public awareness
of the opportunities in technology-related career fields.

The launch of the plan featured Steve Burdon, OTC's managing
director, and Dr Terry Metherell, New South Wales state Minister
for Education, as well as an exhibition by students
from six new Technology High Schools.

"At a time when technology is having an increasing impact on
our lives we have fewer students attracted to
technology-related subjects in our universities.
The new education strategies announced today represent
a major commitment to encouraging more young
Australians into technology-related careers," said Dr
Metherell.

The plan includes scholarships, cooperative educational
programs with government and industry and support
for research and development centers.

(Sean McNamara/19900601/Contact: Kathy Jones, phone in
Australia [phone])


(NEWS)(GOVT)(SYD)(00003)

IBM TO FUND SYDNEY TECHNOLOGY HIGH SCHOOL}
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1990 MAY 26 (NB) -- IBM has announced a
donation of AUS$1M worth of computer equipment, software,
support services and teacher training to one of the
recently announced technology high schools in the state of
New South Wales.

The aim of the school is to provide future students with
the skills needed to enter technology-related careers.

Terry Baker, IBM Australia director and assistant general
manager, operations, Australia and New Zealand, said at
the announcement, "Teachers will benefit through opportunities
for greater contact with business, and a more direct
understanding of the application of leading edge
technology."

Construction on the school (which just happens to be in
the same suburb as IBM) is expected to commence in July,
and the school is due to open in 1992, accommodating 800
students.

(Sean McNamara & Computing Australia/19900601)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(LON)(00004)

UK: HM SYSTEMS SECURES $1.3 MILLION ORDER FROM US MILITARY}
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1990 JUN 02 (NB) -- HM Systems, the London-based
computer hardware company, has secured a prestigious $1.3 million
order to supply its 80486-based single board computers to C3
Incorporated, a Virginia-based US military contractor.

The boards, similar to those used in the 486-based Minstrel
Workstation series, will form the basis of a series of ruggedised
portable computers that C3 will supply to the US Marine Corp and
the US Army. The computers will weigh 35 pounds each and comply
to the Tempest anti-electronic eavesdropping standards.

Bruce Eldridge, senior vice president of engineering and design
of C3, said that the HM Systems' 486 board were selected in
preference to other suppliers, including those in the US, because
of their power and compactness. "After looking at both 386DX and
486 boards, we decided that the 486 represented a better long-
term investment, providing a quantum leap in terms of
performance," he said.

(Steve Gold/19900602/Press Contact: Tony Harris, managing
director, HM Systems - Tel: [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(SFO)(00001)

HCOPY RELEASED TO PUBLIC DOMAIN - HAS VIRUS PROTECTION}
MONROE, MICHIGAN, U.S.A., 1990 JUN 1 (NB) -- HCOPY, a file
copy utility designed to filter out viruses during file transfers
in real-time, has been released to the public free of charge
and can be found on GEnie, and other networks.

HCOPY, according to its creators at Hilgraeve Inc., works like
the COPY command found in the DOS operating system, and adds a
level of protection against virus infections.

HCOPY detects 68 different viruses by using data from IBM
and its Virus Scanning Program. If a requested file is infected
with any of the known viruses, HCOPY displays a warning identifying
the virus and allows the user to abort the file copy request
before the virus has a chance to infect the computer, according
to the company.

On GEnie, the program can be found by accessing, in this order,
the following menus: Computing, IBM PC Compatibles Roundtable,
IBM PC, Software libraries, then Download a File.

As more viruses become known and new versions of the program are
available, they can be downloaded from the Hilgrave BBS at 313-
243-5915.

Hilgraeve also makes HyperAccess/5, a telecommunications program
with front-end virus screening, for $199.

(Wendy Woods/19900601/Press Contact: Robin Shepherd, 408-
354-2441)


(NEWS)(IBM)(LAX)(00003)

DELL COMPUTER LOWERS PRICES TO STIMULATE SALES}
AUSTIN, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1990 MAY 31 (NB) -- In an effort to spur
sales of its fully configured computers, Dell Computers has
lowered prices on its 286-, 386- and 486-based personal computer
systems, desktop and laptop models.

The price reductions, which take effect as of June 4, range from
$50 to $1,100 depending upon the model, the amount of memory and
the size of the hard disk. Dell sells its computers directly to
individual end-users, small to medium-sized businesses, corporate
accounts and the education and government markets.

(Janet Endrijonas/19900601/Press Contact: Brian Fawkes, Dell
Computer, 512-338-4400)


(NEWS)(IBM)(LAX)(00007)

TANDON SELLING 486-BASED SYSTEMS FOR UNDER $5000 IN EUROPE}
MOORPARK, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1990 JUN 1 (NB) -- Tandon has made
what it claims is a major breakthrough in 486 technology and
price performance with the introduction of its 486-sl computer
which it has begun shipping to Europe with a representative
configuration with 110 MB (megabyte) hard disk selling for under
$5,000.

This computer is described as a fully IBM compatible, entry-
level, 25 MHz (megahertz) product. According to the company,
the price/ performance breakthrough has been made possible by
its "MIAT" chip set that has integrated memory management
functions enabling the product to be manufactured in slimline
form. This chip set allows for a flexible definition of
"cacheability" and "shadowing." Tandon also credits the
breakthrough to its proprietary circuitry known as "PowerPoster"
that is said to enhance the system's throughput.

(Janet Endrijonas/19900601/Press Contact: Ranjit Sitlani, Tandon
Corp., 805-523-0340)


(NEWS)(IBM)(TOR)(00014)

PHOENIX ANNOUNCES 14 EISA LICENSEES}
NORWOOD, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1990 MAY 30 (NB) -- Phoenix
Technologies has announced licensing agreements for its Extended
Industry Standard Architecture (EISA) compatibility software with
14 computer vendors. Several more contracts are currently under
non-disclosure agreements, Phoenix added.

The software, including a ROM basic input-output system (BIOS),
Video BIOS, Keyboard BIOS and EISA configuration utility, will
help the vendors build machines conforming to the EISA
architecture. EISA, a rival to IBM's Micro Channel Architecture,
is backed by a group of IBM-compatible PC makers, including
Compaq.

The companies named by Phoenix are: Advanced Logic Research,
Altos Computer Systems, Asus Computer, Copam Electronics, Epson
America, Intel, Micronics Computers, Mylex, NEC, Tandy (with its
subsidiary Grid Systems), Tatung, Tulip Computer, Wyse Technology
and Ztech Electronic.

(Grant Buckler/19900601/Press Contact: Richard Levandov, Phoenix,
617-551-4005)


(NEWS)(IBM)(TOR)(00016)

NEW FOR IBM: Network Courier Supports Windows 3.0}
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA, 1990 MAY 28 (NB) --
Consumers Software has announced that its electronic mail
software, The Network Courier, will support Microsoft Windows
3.0.

The announcement is not Consumers' first foray into Windows,
spokesman Michael Shandrick told Newsbytes. Consumers sold a
Network Courier version for Windows 1.0. The company also
developed a version for Windows 2.1, which was provided to a few
customers but not actively sold. But Windows 3.0 was needed to
support what the company really wanted to provide. Consumers,
which was a beta-test site for Windows 3.0, has been champing at
the bit to get its Windows 3.0 product to market, Shandrick said.
"Our users obviously wanted to upgrade a long time ago," he
added.

Windows support requires a US$595 user interface module which
resides on the network server along with the basic Network
Courier software.

Consumers also announced that Network Courier will interconnect
with the worldwide Notice 400 messaging service operated by
Infonet of El Segundo, California. Notice 400 carries electronic
mail, facsimile and telex transmissions to more than 100
countries, according to Infonet.

(Grant Buckler/19900601/Press Contact: Michael Shandrick,
Consumers Software, 604-688-4548; Infonet, 213-335-2875)


(NEWS)(IBM)(TOR)(00017)

NEW PRODUCT: Data General Launches 286, 386 PCs}
WESTBORO, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1990 MAY 31 (NB) -- Data General
has launched two personal computers using the Intel 80286 and
Intel 80386 processors.

Both can run MS-DOS, and the 386 model can also support Unix,
Data General spokeswoman Lisa Gillson told Newsbytes. Data
General does not have a licensing agreement with Microsoft for
the OS/2 operating system, she added.

The Dasher/386-25k can be configured as a LAN server, as a
multiuser Unix system, or as a workstation for applications such as
desktop publishing, computer-aided design, imaging and database
management. The Dasher/286-12j is designed for stand-alone and
network use.

Both machines come with a Super VGA graphics controller on the
system board, two serial ports, one parallel port and a choice of
diskette drive sizes. Quarterdeck Office Systems' QEMM-386 memory
manager and the MS-DOS operating system are bundled with the
system. The 386-25k also has 32K of cache memory. The 386 unit
has four full-size expansion slots available, the 286 has three.

The Dasher/386-25k lists at US$4,995 with four megabytes of
memory (expandable to 16 megabytes) and a 100-megabyte hard disk.
The Dasher/286-12j with one megabyte of memory, two diskette
drives, and a 40-megabyte hard disk, is priced at $2,375. Volume
discounts are available.

Both machines will be available at the end of June, Gillson said,
but quantities of the 386 may be limited.

(Grant Buckler/19900531/Press Contact: Lisa Gillson, Data
General, 508-898-4072)


(NEW)(IBM)(TYO)(00003)

JAPAN: MASSIVE PC LAUNCH BY AST RESEARCH}
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1990 MAY 25 (NB) -- A total of eight models
and 28 types of personal computers released by AST Research
in the U.S. recently have been introduced to the Japanese market
by its subsidiary.

The machines released by AST Research Japan includes a 33 megahertz
i80486 based machine, which the firm calls Premium 486/33 TE
EISA Tower. The hard disk drive of the machine is expandable up
to two gigabytes. The 28 machines are priced between
1,700,000 and 2,900,000 yen or $11,335 to $19,335.

The firm expects to sell more than 3,000 of the computers to
research organizations and companies in the computer-aided
design/manufacturing field in the initial year.

The Japanese arm of the U.S.-based firm was established in September
1988 and distributes its products through the U.K.-based conglomerate,
John Swire & Sons, and Okura & Co., a medium-sized trader and a
member of Fuyo group.

It is widely believed that in order to succeed in Japan, American
PC manufacturers must offer both the West's and Japan's PC standards.
The standard here is NEC's PC-9801 series. AST Research is
expected to release dual-compatible machines, which are
compatible with the Japanese de facto standard NEC PC-9801 series
and world's de fact standard IBM PC/AT around August of this year.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19900531/Press Contact: Ms. Atsuko Endo, AST
Research Japan, 03-818-0710)


(NEWS)(IBM)(BRU)(00002)

LATTICE OFFERS NEW C COMPILER AT LOW COST}
LOMBARD, ILLINOIS, U.S.A., 1990 JUN 02 (NB) -- Lattice has
announced a major upgrade to its C compiler package version 6.0,
designed to run on 80286-based systems or better under OS/2 or
DOS.

The upgrade costs $195, compared to a retail price of $495. Users
of version earlier than v6.0 can trade up for $275. Upgrade and
full version packages are available to users immediately, on both
3.5 and 5.25 inch media.

The Lattice C development system for DOS and OS/2 allows
software developers to create programs that break the 640K DOS
limits. This is made possible by the inclusion of DOS extender
which allows a programmer to run applications modules -
transparent to the users - in memory space not normally available
under DOS.

(John Verhelst/19900602/Contact: Lattice Inc., 2500 South
Highland Avenue, Lombard, IL 60148, U.S.A., Tel: [phone],
Fax: [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(MOW)(00004)

HUNDREDS OF RUSSIAN FONTS AVAILABLE}
MOSCOW, U.S.S.R., 1990 MAY 31 (NB) -- 180 LaserJet and more than 250
Postscript Russian fonts are available from Moscow-based Joint
Soviet-U.S. venture Paragraph, Alla Oligenkaya, Paragraph Information
and Advertising division chief, tells Newsbytes.

She said that font sales are huge and even big companies like IBM and
Microsoft are extensively using them. Several Moscow-based publishing
houses and computer magazines are using Paragraph designed fonts.

These fonts, although expensive for end-users, are affordable
for corporate buyers, she says. Their superior quality make
Paragraph the Soviet market's number one supplier, she said.

One LaserJet font costs 215 rubles, while a Postscript font costs
1500 rubles for a local buyer. Prices for foreign customers and
volume discount information can be obtained direct from Paragraph.

(Kirill Tchashchin/19900601/Press contact: Alla Oligenkaya, Paragraph,
phone [phone] fax [phone])


(EXCLUSIVE)(IBM)(MOW)(00007)

ADD-ONS HELP WESTERN SOFTWARE DISPLAY RUSSIAN}
MOSCOW, U.S.S.R., 1990 MAY 31 (NB) -- Paragraph, Soviet-U.S. joint
venture lead by a well-known Soviet programmer, is creating the
technology which will enable foreign programs to display Russian
language commands and menus.

The programs are based on Beta, which is a set of software drivers
that enable monitors, printers and other hardware to display
the Cyrillic alphabet. Developed by Anton Chizhov, a programmer
from the U.S.S.R. Academy of Sciences Computer Center, these
programs are used all over the country and most PC users in
the U.S.S.R. have some Beta drivers in use.

Now Mr Chizhov is a general director of new joint venture designed
to help Russians speak to Western computer software with their
own language.

Currently Paragraph is offering new Beta versions with
test designing capabilities, as well as special memory-resident
programs for the localization of the most popular software
packages, Alla Oligenkaya, Paragraph Information and
Advertising division chief, told Newsbytes.

Users of Microsoft Word 4.0 and 5.0, Ventura Publisher, Paradox,
Framework II, and dBASE can now have them speaking Russian. The
drivers made by the Paragraph team are memory resident and do
not change the programs themselves. If you run the program
without these drivers they will still display English.

Sales are brisk, says Mr. Chizhov who is now in the
U.S. looking for other business possibilities, according to Mme
Oligenkaya.

(Kirill Tchashchin/19900601/Press contact: Alla Oligenkaya, Paragraph,
phone [phone] fax [phone])


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

NEW PHONE/COMPUTER ITEMS SHOWCASED AT CONSUMER ELECTRONICS SHOW}
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, U.S.A., 1990 JUN 2 (NB) -- DesignTech, a
Springfield, VA company involved in the design and manufacture
of "smart" control products, is showing several items at the summer
Consumer Electronics Show of special interest to computer users.

The Interruption Blocker is especially designed for the home or
small office that can't afford a dedicated line for modem or fax
transmission.  Such communications will be interrupted if someone
picks up a phone line during transmission.  Phones connected to the
same line as the fax or modem (those most likely to cause
interruption) are plugged into the Interruption Blocker which has
been already plugged into the phone line.  Anyone picking up a
phone during modem or fax transmission will not interrupt the call.

The Interruption Blocker retails for $14.95.

Call-In-Control will allow people to turn on a computer or
any appliance from a remote location.  Individuals who forget to
turn on a computer for automatic downloading or who don't want the
risk of leaving a computer unattended for extended periods, may
simply dial their home or office number.  Call-in-Control will
respond to a touch-tone signal and activate any electronic device.
Call-In Control will also be useful to activate air conditioners,
coffee pots, lights, and hot tubs.  It retails for $79.95.

Saul D. Feldman/19900605/Press Contact: Michael Weiss, DesignTech
International, 703- 866-2000)


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

GE INFORMATION CONNECTS TO MCI E-MAIL}
ROCKVILLE, MARYLAND, U.S.A., 1990 JUN 1 (NB) -- GE Information
Services (GEIS) says it has connected its global electronic
messaging services to MCI Mail, enabling customers on both
services to exchange electronic messages for the
first time.

GEIS' QUIK-COMM System and its EDI-EXPRESS System have been
interconnected to MCI Mail's XChange 400 service using the
international X.400 standard for connecting dissimilar
messaging systems.

X.400 is a set of guidelines for the format, delivery and
receipt of electronic messages recommended by the international
standards organization, the International Telephone and
Telegraph Consultative Committee (CCITT).

This X.400 interconnection is the third that GEIS has made with
other public electronic messaging services in the U.S.
GEIS previously announced X.400 interconnections between its
QUIK-COMM System and Western Union's EasyLink service and AT&T Mail.

Five other QUIK-COMM System X.400 interconnections to public
mail services are currently in operation under pilot conditions
with a view to future commercialization, according to GEIS. GEIS
officers say they are actively involved in the industry forum to
develop an electronic directory service based on the CCITT X.500
recommendations.

In addition to the QUIK-COMM X.400 Access Service, GEIS offers a
range of interconnections to various private mail systems,
including: IBM PROFS, IBM DISOSS, DEC ALL-In-1, VMSMail, Wang
OFFICE, IBM AS/400, System/3X, 3COM 3+Mail LAN Mail, and Novell
CC:Mail Lan Mail. For further information on QUIK-COMM
X.400 Access Service, call GE Information Services at
1-800-433-3683 or contact your local GEIS sales office.

(Wendy Woods/19900601/Press Contact: Steve Haracznak, GE
Information Services, 301/340-4494)


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

AT&T HOSTS POLISH ENGINEERS}
MORRISTOWN, NEW JERSEY, U.S.A., 1990 MAY 25 (NB) -- Ten of
Poland's top telecommunications engineers are on their way
to the states for a one-month, tuition-free training program
designed to help them upgrade Poland's telecommunications network.
The country's telecommunications capabilities are so poor that
the current wait for a residential telephone is 12 years,
according to AT&T.

The engineers are participating in the U.S. Telecommunications
Training Institute, a joint venture between the U.S. government
and leaders of the U.S. telecommunications industry to
provide training in that technology for developing countries.

USTTI, since its creation in 1982, has given training to
1,751 people who manage telephone and broadcast facilities
in 111 developing nations.

The Polish engineers will stop first at AT&T in New Jersey
where they will spend two weeks studying telecommunications
transmission and switching, basic traffic concepts, network
planning, and the essentials of financing. Then it's on
to Motorola. BellSouth, Digital Equipment, and MCI will host
two other groups over the next few months.

Of the engineers' training, wrote Poland's representative in
its Ministry of Posts and Telecommunication, Jack Lewinski,
it's "a unique opportunity to get in touch with modern technology
which is to be applied to the telecommunications network in
Poland as soon as possible."

(Wendy Woods.19900601/Press Contact: Michael Miller, AT&T
International, 201-953-7139)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00001)

AMERICOM NOW 92% OWNED BY DEI UNIT}
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, U.S.A., 1990 MAY 29 (NB) -- E.F. Johnson,
the radio communications unit of Diversified Energies of
Minneapolis, increased its ownership in AmeriCom, a privately
held Atlanta-based maker of network switching systems for mobile
radios, to about 92%. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Through two previous investments, E.F. Johnson acquired the
majority interest in AmeriCom and became the sole manufacturer of
AmeriCom's trunked mobile network switching systems.

In a related action, Julian H. Edwards was named president of
AmeriCom. He replacing Charles Parrish, who had sold his
ownership interests to E.F. Johnson. Edwards previously held
management positions at Control Data and was at one time
president of TRES Systems, a software development unit of Control
Data.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19900601/Press Contact: Betty .J. Gibson,
Diversified Energies, 612-342-4782)


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

CENTEL DIVESTING COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS UNIT}
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, U.S.A., 1990 MAY 30 (NB) -- Centel reached an
agreement in principle to sell its Communications Systems
operation to a group headed by Edward H. Lavin Jr., former
president of TIE Systems. Financial details were not revealed.

Centel announced plans to sell its Business Systems group, which
included Centel Communications Systems, Centel Federal Systems
and Centel Information Systems, in May 1988. Centel sold its
Federal Systems unit to a group of the operation's managers in
March. The company is still seeking bids for its Information
Systems subsidiary.

The transactions bring Centel back to its roots as a local phone
company serving 1.6 million lines. It also runs cellular phone
operations in 44 states, and supplies electric power in 2 states.
Cental had 1989 revenues of $1.19 billion.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19900601/Press Contact: William K. White,
Centel, 312-399-2735)


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

ERICSSON SELLING SWITCHES TO NYNEX}
RICHARDSON, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1990 MAY 29 (NB) -- Ericsson, bidding
to crack a U.S. telephone switch market dominated by AT&T and
Northern Telecom, announced a letter of intent from NYNEX
Corporation which will put some of its AXE digital switching
systems into New York's Westchester County.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19900601/Press Contact: Ericsson, Kathy Egan,
212/685-4030)


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

NYNEX DELAYS SALE OF PAGING COMPANY TO PAGEAMERICA}
PARAMUS, NEW JERSEY, U.S.A., 1990 MAY 29 (NB) -- The sale by
NYNEX of its NYNEX Paging Company to PageAmerica Group was held
up until no later than July 15. PageAmerica needs the extra time
to complete its financing. This postponement is subject to an
amendment to the underlying purchase agreement. Until the closing
NYNEX continues to operate the NYNEX Paging businesses as a
subsidiary.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19900601/Press Contact: NYNEX Paging, Jim
Gerace, 914/577-5377; PageAmerica Group, Steven Sinn, 201/342-
6676)


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

FINGERHUT ACQUIRES TELEMARKETING ASSETS OF YOUNG AMERICA}
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, U.S.A., 1990 MAY 29 (NB) -- Fingerhut
Companies, through its COMB subsidiary, acquired the
telemarketing assets of Minneapolis-based Young America
Corporation, principally telephone systems and communications
facilities.

The equipment will be used to take telephone orders
for merchandise sold through the COMB catalogs, which specialize
in electronics close-outs. By the end of the year, the equipment
will be adapted to take orders for the Fingerhut giftware
catalogs. About 100 operators will be employed.

Fingerhut is the fourth largest direct mail marketer of consumer
products in the United States, with revenues in 1989 of
approximately $1.1 billion.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19900601/Press Contact: Ted Deikel, Fingerhut,
612-936-5410)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00007)

AT&T PROVIDES MESSAGE CENTER FOR BUSH-GORBACHEV SUMMIT}
WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A., 1990 MAY 29 (NB) -- AT&T, acting as a
"point of light" for the Bush Administration, is providing a
computerized message center, telephones, and fax machines for the
estimated 5,000 journalists and technicians covering the summit
meeting between Bush and Soviet Union President Gorbachev.

The equipment was installed at the Smith Center of the George
Washington University under the command of the United States
Information Agency.

AT&T spokesman Herb Linnen told Newsbytes about 3,000 calls
per day are going out overseas through the center, amounting
to 50,000 minutes of calls. "We'll make money on that," he
added. A $50 deposit is also paid on each phone, which will
be returned after the Summit.

AT&T's gift to the Summit is a message center first used at the
1988 political conventions. Those seeking to reach reporters can
call a single number, 202-416-5773, where AT&T operators can take
a message on terminals. Lists of those who have messages are
alphabetized and listed on 5 35-inch monitors mounted in 12-foot
columns. Names scroll continuously until the recipient retrieves
the message from an AT&T attendant at the Message Center.

AT&T also supplied 800 telephones for reporters making outbound
calls who ordered service in advance from C&P Telephone. For
those who did not place orders, AT&T supplied 30 phones equipped
to handle credit card calls and 5 pay-phones. 6 AT&T fax machines
completed the set-up. Similar operations were also planned for
Gorbachev's other U.S. stops, in Minneapolis and San Francisco.

C-SPAN covered the Summit Press room, where on May 31 most
journalists were seen watching live feeds from CNN, doing stand-
ups about the press room for their home TV or radio stations, or
entering stories into Toshiba and Tandy laptop computers for
transmission via modem to their offices.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19900601/Press Contact: Herb Linnen, AT&T, 202-
457-3933)


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

INFONET CONNECTS WITH WORLDTALK, MCI MAIL, SOFTSWITCH}
EL SEGUNDO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1990 JUN 1 (NB) -- Infonet,
the packet network which is 25% owned by MCI, has
announced that it will interconnect its Notice 400 E-mail service
with Touch Communications' Worldtalk 400 which will allow
Infonet's NOTICE 400 customers to expand their reach to over 4
million E-mail users on local area networks (LANs) or Unix-based
systems worldwide.

Touch Worldtalk 400 will permit NOTICE 400 clients to exchange
messages through X.400 gateways with users of Unix STMP and UUCP.
cc:Mail, Action Technologies' MHS, Microsoft Mail, QuickMail and
TOPS' InBox Plus LAN E-mail packages.

This announcement closely follows Infonet's announcements that it
will interconnect Notice 400 messaging service with MCI Mail and
Atlas 400. Tests are also in progress to certify the
interoperability of Notice 400 with SoftSwitch X.400 Gateways and
Consumers Software's Network Courier 400.

Notice 400 is based on the X.400 standard for passing messages
between systems, approved by the Switzerland-based CCITT, and is
accessible in more than 100 countries. Users may also transmit
binary files via Notice 400 without first converting them to
ASCII text.

Infonet also announced it will interconnect its Notice 400
service with Soft Switch X.400 Gateways. Soft Switch X.400
Gateways will connect Notice 400 users through Soft Switch
Central on an Infonet client's IBM mainframe. Soft Switch
Central is a mail exchange program designed to link 40 different
Local Area Network schemes, including IBM's Office Vision, PROFS
and DISOSS; Digital's All-in-1 and VMS Mail; Wang OFFICE;
Hewlett-Packard's Desk Manager; Banyan's VINES Mail; 3Com's
3+Mail, Consumers Software's Network Courier; cc: Mail and
Enable's Higgins Mail.

(Dana Blankenhorn & Janet Endrijonas/19900601/Press Contact:
Mike Radice, Infonet, 213-335-2875; Jane Levene, MCI International,
914-934-6480; Donald Fisher, Soft Switch, 215-640-9600)


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

GE, COMSAT LEND EARTH STATIONS TO UNIVERSITIES}
WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A., 1990 MAY 30 (NB) -- General Electric's
AstroSpace Division and COMSAT Laboratories, in a letter to the
National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Advanced
Communications Technology Satellite Program, announced they
intend to purchase and operate two ground terminals for use with
the ACTS spacecraft, and make those ground stations available to
the nation's schools.

The two companies are contractors on the satellite program.
NASA had asked for ACTS experiment concepts May 1, mainly
aimed at universities.

In a letter to ACTS Program Manager Dean Olmstead, the
organizations stated: "We recommend that NASA announce to
potential educational institution participants the availability
of the earth terminals at COMSAT and GE. ... We would make each
terminal available for such use at no charge during the initial
2 year experiment period and at a nominal time plus materials
costs thereafter."

ACTS is the centerpiece of NASA's satellite communications
research efforts. Planned for launch in May of 1992, ACTS will
demonstrate the feasibility of incorporating advanced
technologies into future communications systems.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19900601/Press Contact: Laura Randall, ACTS,
202-863-0890)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00009)

MICHIGAN BELL CHANGES NAME OF DIRECTORY ASSISTANCE}
DETROIT, MICHIGAN, U.S.A., 1990 MAY 30 (NB) -- Positioning itself
for an age when it will be free to offer more than subscriber
phone numbers, Michigan Bell changed the name of its directory
assistance service to "Information." Michigan Bell is owned by
Ameritech, one of the seven regional Bell companies.

"We do furnish more than telephone numbers from the directory.
For example, customers can call for area code information and
emergency numbers," said Roger D'Hondt, Michigan Bell district
manager of public market staff. "In the future, we hope our
operators will be able to provide other kinds of information
customers need."

Michigan Bell also stopped reconnecting customers to operators
after an automated system states their requested number. The
reconnect was eliminated to speed handling of additional
directory assistance calls, the company said. "Callers who need
more than one number should tell the operator at the beginning of
the call," D'Hondt said. "Our operators will be glad to provide
multiple numbers to customers who need them."

(Dana Blankenhorn/19900601/Press Contact: Phil Jones, Michigan
Bell, 313-223-7194)


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

ALLTEL TO ACQUIRE SYSTEMATICS}
LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS, U.S.A., 1990 MAY 30 (NB) -- ALLTEL will
acquire Systematics for 1.325 shares of ALLTEL common stock for
each Systematics share. The companies expect the merger to be
completed on May 31.

ALLTEL Corporation provides local telephone service to 1.1
million customers in 25 states and has subsidiaries or
investments in companies that provide cellular telephone and
long-distance service, communications products and other related
services. Systematics, based in Little Rock, is a provider of
data processing management, services and applications software
used by banks, savings institutions, mortgage companies and
credit unions. One of its major competitors, Stockholder Systems,
was recently acquired by a larger firm.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19900601/Press Contact: Ron Payne, ALLTEL
501-661-8989)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00011)

BELLSOUTH EXPANDS WIRELESS STRATEGY GROUP}
ATLANTA, GEORGIA, U.S.A., 1990 MAY 30 -- BellSouth Enterprises,
already one of the largest cellular phone operators in the
nation, added a trial planning and implementation function to its
Wireless Strategy Group which will study the market of other
wireless systems.

Included are CT2, a cellular radio system with
tiny phones which can't make but can receive calls, and PCN, a
more advanced technology which is undergoing tests by Millicom in
Orlando, Florida and Houston, Texas.

The new BellSouth group is currently conducting a nationwide
study of market opportunities for personal communications systems
and is expected to begin trial implementation of something in
late 1990.

"BellSouth Enterprises is firmly committed to the growth and
development of wireless communications as part of our
corporation's overall commitment to being the leader in
communications," said Earle Mauldin, group president of Mobile
Systems, BellSouth Enterprises. "We are studying all of the new
wireless technologies currently being discussed, including CT2
and PCN," added Eric Ensor, director of Worldwide Wireless
Strategy. "By first assessing the customer needs and market
opportunities, we can then determine which technologies BellSouth
Enterprises will pursue."

The Wireless Strategy Group, headquartered in Atlanta, is part of
the BellSouth Enterprises Mobile Systems Group, which consists of
BellSouth's two domestic cellular telephone service companies,
BellSouth Mobility and American Cellular Communications, along
with MobileComm, a nationwide paging company. BellSouth's
domestic cellular operations serve over 480,000 customers and are
the 2nd largest in the United States. The company failed last
year in its attempt to buy LIN Broadcasting and become the
largest such firm. In addition to its domestic mobile operations,
BellSouth operates paging and cellular services in the United
Kingdom, Australia, Argentina and soon will begin service in
Mexico and Uruguay.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19900601/Press Contact: Carlton Hill, BellSouth
Enterprises, 404-249-4135)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00013)

PENNSYLVANIA COURT JUST SAYS NO TO CALLER ID}
PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, U.S.A., 1990 MAY 30 (NB) -- By a 5-0
count, the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court dealt a real blow to
Caller ID, the technology that displays a caller's phone number
on the recipient's phone as the call is made. The court ruled the
technology violates the state's anti-wiretap law.

By a narrower 3-2 margin the court also ruled the technology
violates privacy rights, whether or not the Bell company permits
callers to block receipt of their numbers, as is permitted under
California law.

Groups which filed the suit against Pennsylvania regulators who
first approved Caller ID last year hailed their win. They include
the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence, who feared
abusive husbands might find the hiding places of their wives and
kill them; the state Consumer Advocates' office and Consumer
Education and Protective Association, concerned about the
commercial implications of the technology; and the American Civil
Liberties Union, which pushed the argument that callers have a
privacy right to identify themselves and not have their numbers
displayed against their will.

Bell of Pennsylvania said it was disappointed by the ruling,
which went farther than even opponents of the service had asked.
"We will carefully study this ruling before deciding our next
action, but a clear option is to ask for judicial review by the
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania," said Bill Harral, Bell of
Pennsylvania's vice president-external affairs.

Under an earlier court order, police, fire and other emergency
services had been using Caller ID to speed help to people in
need. The court ruled that Enhanced 911 service, which displays
numbers in police stations, is allowable, however. This ruling
may impact Bell's ability to provide Caller ID to these emergency
agencies in small cities. Ironically Bell of Pennsylvania's
sister company, New Jersey Bell, has been among the most
aggressive in bringing Caller ID to its lines, and claims 60,000
consumers have ordered the service at roughly $12 per month.

In Georgia, which is considering a Southern Bell request to offer
Caller ID, a Public Service Commissioner said his group would be
unaffected by the Pennsylvania action, but that "anyone who wants
to can sue."

(Dana Blankenhorn/19900601/Press Contact: Eric Rabe, Bell of
Pennsylvania, 215-466-5611)


(EXCLUSIVE)(TELECOM)(TOR)(00011)

CONNECTION OF CANADA'S ALEX, NYNEX'S INFO-LOOK PLANNED}
TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1990 MAY 30 (NB) -- Noting that
interconnecting systems is one key to the success of videotex,
Bell Canada President Jean Monty has announced that his company
NYNEX is negotiating to link Bell's Alex to Nynex's Info-Look
system.

Monty made the announcement in his keynote address at the
Videotex Industry Association (VIA) conference held at the Royal
York hotel here May 30 to June 1. He said the two companies hope
that by late this year NYNEX customers will have access to Alex
services, and early in 1991 Alex customers will have access to
NYNEX videotex services. The deal must still be closed, and then
approved by regulators.

Monty told the VIA delegates four key factors will ensure
videotex's success. Services must be aimed at specific target
audiences, including business. Service providers must be
dedicated to service value. Messaging applications must be
explored, and finally systems need to be interconnected.

"The average consumer today takes for granted that his local
telephone system is compatible with all those around the world,"
Monty said, "It will not be long before our community of videotex
users comes to expect the same interconnectivity with other
videotex systems."

Monty also said Bell is open to discussing interconnection with
other videotex service operators.

(Grant Buckler/19900601)


(EXCLUSIVE)(TELECOM)(TOR)(00012)

MOOD UPBEAT BUT BUSINESSLIKE AT VIDEOTEX INDUSTRY FORUM}
TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1990 MAY 30 (NB) -- Videotex has a
bright future if it is treated like a business, delegates to the
Videotex Industry Association annual conference were told.

The setting of the conference invited recollections of North
America's first videotex conference, Videotex '81, also held at
Toronto's Royal York Hotel. That was the conference where the
North American Presentation Level Protocol Syntax (NAPLPS)
videotex standard was born. It was also a conference filled with
extravagant predictions of videotex's impact through the mid-
1980s. As more than one speaker noted at this conference nine
years later, most of the predictions did not come true.

The videotex industry is itself partly to blame, said Mitch
Rapoport, president of Comtex Scientific. Too many companies have
launched videotex projects as "businoids" with no real
expectation of profit and no clear goals, he argued. They have
sunk large amounts of money into the projects, made no profits,
and provided fodder for those who argue videotex cannot be
profitable. But it can be, Rapoport claimed, for those who
seriously set out to make it so.

He added that his own company, which provides online news
services, is "not quite profitable" but expects to be shortly.

Nancie Ann Moebius, managing director of information services
development for Bell Atlantic, said the industry must provide
content of value to its users. Customers want local information
and transactional services most, she said. She added that
cooperation among videotex industry players is essential.

Bruno Leps, director of research and business development for
Southam Business Information and Communications Group, a Canadian
publisher with significant online activities, agreed with Moebius
that giving customers the services they want is vital. The
problem, he said, is that "the technologies are not good enough
yet to meet the customers' market needs."

Stephen Case, executive vice-president of Quantum Computer
Services, said directory services will grow in coming years. Case
also predicted that the regional Bell operating companies will be
major factors in the videotex industry, and forecast that the
Prodigy system, despite some skepticism, will prosper.

(Grant Buckler/19900601)


(EXCLUSIVE)(TELECOM)(TOR)(00013)

VIA CONFERENCE VENUE FOR HANDFUL OF ANNOUNCEMENTS}
TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1990 MAY 30 (NB) -- A handful of
products and business alliances emerged at the Videotex Industry
Association conference here this week.

France's Alcatel Business Systems announced an agreement with the
Canadian company Norpak, which will develop for Alcatel a
videotex decoder compatible with the North American Presentation
Level Protocol Syntax (NAPLPS) videotex standard. Although France
is historically associated with the Teletel standard developed
there, David Buckley, product director at Alcatel, told Newsbytes
his company is not wedded to any standard. NAPLPS has potential
not only in North America but in Europe, he said, and Alcatel
regards Norpak as the best company at engineering NAPLPS
products.

Support for NAPLPS also came from Baseline of New York, which
introduced a new version of its MegaServer videotex host system
supporting all three major protocols: ASCII, Teletel and NAPLPS.
A primary package that supports one standard and is upgradable to
three is also available.

Vicorp Interactive Systems extended its Enhanced Services
Platform (ESP) server to handle voice and facsimile processing.
Stuart Patterson, Vicorp's managing director, told Newsbytes the
move reflects a trend toward integrating data, voice and image.
Vicorp's market includes operators of public videotex services,
he said, but even more customers are found among private
businesses that want to use the software internally.

NYNEX announced an agreement to make business telephone listings
for the Boston and New York areas available to users of the
French Minitel system starting in September. CTL, a French
systems and software provider, will develop and host the
database.

J. Walter Thompson/Online, of Detroit, announced that Ford Motor
Co. will redesign and expand its marketing application on the
American Prodigy system. Ford and the associated Ford Motor
Credit Co. were Prodigy's first major advertisers.

(Grant Buckler/19900601/Press Contact: Alcatel, 33- 88.67.77.00;
Tom Harter, Baseline, 212-254-8235; Rebecca Scarlott, Vicorp,
617-542-9233; Edward McGrath, NYNEX, 508-762-1330; Kim Kozlowski,
J. Walter Thompson, 313-568-3800)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(HKG)(00004)

HONG KONG TELECOM EXPANDS DIRECT DIALING TO CHINA & VIETNAM}
WANCHAI, HONG KONG, 1990 MAY 31 (NB) -- Hong Kong Telecom's
subsidiary, Hong Kong Telephone Co. has announced International
Direct Dialling (IDD) facilities to five more cities in China and
Vietnam.

The Chinese routes are an extension of the steadily-growing IDD and
other telecommunications services between Hong Kong and China.

The four Chinese cities involved in this latest extension are Taishan
in Guandong, the southern province adjoining Hong Kong, and Dehui,
Nongan and Yanji in Jilin Province. The fifth member of the latest
IDD extension is Vietnam's Ho Chi Min City, formerly known as Saigon.

Call charges are HK$0.37 (US$0.5 approx) per six second unit to
Taishan and HK$0.95 (US$0.12) to the other three cities.

Off-peak bonus charges are available on calls to Ho Chi Minh City at
HK$0.67 per unit, compared with the HK$0.79 standard rate.

Bonus rates are available on many IDD services out of Hong Kong
between 7 pm and 7 am Monday to Friday, midnight to 7 am and 1 pm to
midnight on Saturday and all day Sunday.

Hong Kong, with its high percentage of families having members
living, working, or studying overseas, and its vigorous international
trade, coupled with modest telecommunications charges, has one of the
world's highest per capita rates of international telephone traffic.

(Norman Wingrove/19900602)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(LON)(00001)

DACOM INTROS UKP699 V.32 MODEM}
MILTON KEYNES, ENGLAND, 1990 JUN 02 (NB) -- Dacom Systems, a UK
modem manufacturer that has been a little on the quiet side this
past few years, has launched the Fastlane Dial, a V.32 modem
costing UKP 699.

The tri-speed modem features support for V.32 (9600bps), V22Bis
(2400bps) and V22 (1200bps) modem speeds, as well as the V.42
error-correction and data compression system which encompasses
the LAP-B and MNP Class 4 error correction/data compression
protocols.

Also included in the modem is support for MNP Class 5, which,
when combined with the V.32 modem facility, allows modem-to-modem
data transfers of up to 19,200bps, the company claims.

As the name suggests, the Fastlane Dial is based on Dacom's
existing Fastlane modem for four-wire and leased lines. The new
modem has been adapted for use on two-wire public switched
telephone network (PSTN) links.

Although fuller technical details of the Fastlane Dial modem were
not available at Newsbytes' press time, the preliminary details
of the modem supplied by Dacom appear to meet at least some of
similar-specification modems from Hayes (at UKP 999) and US
Robotics (at UKP 1,295).

The latter two modems, however, include support for the CCITT
V.42Bis standard, which features data compression ratios of up to
500 per cent, as well as slower modem speeds such as 300bps and
1200/75bps. The price differential between the Dacom unit and the
Hayes/US Robotics units is explained by recent press reports that
the V.42Bis standard - an amalgam of software algorithms from
British Telecom, Hayes and Unisys - costs at least $55,000 to
license for use in modems.

(Steve Gold/19900602/Press & Public Contact: Joanne Williams,
Dacom Systems - Tel: [phone])


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(LON)(00006)

NEW BOOK: Inside X.25, A Manager's Guide}
MAIDENHEAD, ENGLAND, 1990 JUN 02 (NB) -- McGraw-Hill Books UK has
launched a 320-page book which aims to explain the complexities
of the CCITT X.25 public data network (PDN) standard. Entitled
"Inside X.25: A Manager's Guide," the book is available
immediately at UKP 39-95 ($64).

Authored by Sherman Schlar, the book aims to act as an essential
reference for communications and management information service
(MIS) managers, as well as for network planners. The ISBN
(international service book number) is 007-055-3270.

(Steve Gold/19900602/Press & Public Contact: McGraw-Hill Books -
Tel: [phone])


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(SFO)(00001)

TRAVELMATE: A HAND-HELD TRAVEL DATA BASE}
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, U.S.A., 1990 JUN 2 (NB) -- Whistler, a major
manufacturer of radar detectors based in Westford, MA, is showing
its recently released Interstate Travelmate at the summer Consumer
Electronics Show. The company states that its hand-held unit is
"an electronic guide to over 30,000 highway services along every
major interstate, thruway, parkway, and turnpike in the continental
United States." The unit includes information about gas stations,
motels, restaurants, hospitals, and information centers.

The data bank has data for over 14,000 exits along highways in
the lower 48 states. Users enter a two digit code for their state.
The Travelmate asks what highway you are on, the direction you're
headed, and what exit or mile marker you're near. Select the
service you are interested in and the unit will provide the exit
number, direction, and distance to your desired destination.

Additional features include a listing of telephone numbers for
police, weather, and road conditions. Users can even specify the
brand of gasoline they want to buy.

The unit will be updated annually for what the company calls
"a nominal fee." The unit, which looks much like a portable
calculator, has 30 keys and an eight character LCD display. It
sells for $99.95.

(Saul Feldman/19900602/Press Contact: Linda Gallagher, Whistler,
508-692-3000)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(SFO)(00001)

INTEL TO BANISH CFCS BY 1992}
SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1990 MAY 29 (NB) -- Intel Corp.
is promising to eliminate all use of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) by
1992, and calls its decision "one of the most aggressive programs
in industry."

Citing the environmental damage of CFCs, which are known to
destroy the earth's thin ozone layer, Intel Chairman Gordon
Moore proclaimed that his company, "has undertaken an aggressive
worldwide program to immediately reduce CFC emissions by
implementing good control and conservation practices."

Specifically, Intel is replacing CFC-based circuit board
cleaning equipment with machinery that uses an aqueous-based
cleaner. The change affects facilities in Oregon, Ireland,
Puerto Rico, and Singapore. The new equipment is expected to
be on line in all of Intel's Systems manufacturing plants
by the end of 1990.

Intel says it instituted a comprehensive CFC Tracking Program in
1987 to assemble data of its worldwide usage. Since that time,
using control, conservation, and alternative manufacturing
methods, the company has reduced its CFC use by 30 percent.

(Wendy Woods/19900601/Press Contact: Howard High, Intel,
408-765-1488)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(SFO)(00001)

HANDHELD ELECTRONIC ENCYCLOPEDIA DEBUTS AT CES}
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, U.S.A., 1990 JUN 1 (NB) -- Franklin Electronic
Publishers, who've put dictionaries, thesauruses, and even the
Bible on microchips, have taken on the biggest volume yet --
The Concise Columbia Encyclopedia -- and promise to put it in
a palmtop case by this fall.

Unveiled at the Summer Consumer Electronics Show in Chicago,
the electronic edition of the encyclopedia provides
electronic searching and cross-referencing capabilities to
retrieve instantly specific information buried in scattered
articles. By simply typing in key words a user calls up every
article related to a request, categorized by subjects such as:
history, politics, science, the arts, international affairs, people of
interest, and more.

The company has also employed its phonetic spelling technology
so that keywords do not need to be precisely spelled.

The unit measures just 5-1/2 inches by 5 inches by 1 inch and
weighs only 12 ounces. All text is displayed on an easy-to-
read, jumbo size display.

Franklin's electronic Concise Columbia Encyclopedia will be available
in late 1990 and will carry a suggested retail price of $299,
according to the company.

(Wendy Woods/19900602/Press Contact: Mindy Savar, 609-261-4800)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(ATL)(00003)

GLOBAL NAVIGATION SYSTEM BEING DEVELOPED}
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, U.S.A., 1990 MAY 30 (NB) -- Honeywell and
Northwest Airlines announced an agreement with Soviet aviation
officials that could lead to a global system of navigation which
is free of ground-based equipment.

Under the agreement, Northwest will become the first Western
airline to test-fly GLONASS, the Soviet satellite positioning
system. Honeywell wins U.S. rights to develop GLOSNASS for
commercial aviation.

The agreement takes the form of a Memorandum of Understanding
regarding integration of the U.S. Global Positioning System with
the U.S.S.R. Global Orbiting Navigation Satellite System.
Discussions began last September and were concluded May 18 in
Leningrad. The agreement is for 5 years, subject to approval by
both governments.

Flight testing will take place onboard a Northwest 747 next
year. The Soviet participants will loan two sets of GLONASS
airborne navigation equipment to Honeywell and Northwest. The
GLONASS equipment will be compatible with international
standards. Delivery of GLONASS equipment to Honeywell and
Northwest will take place in December with installation in a
Boeing 747 freighter next February. Flight testing would take
place from March-September 1991 and a complete report would be
due in December 1991.

GPS and GLONASS are satellite-based navigation systems. Both
are intended to perform as a "sole means of navigation" for
commercial aviation, providing accurate positioning data in three
dimensions, with similar levels of accuracy. Both systems will
use 24 satellites in orbit, including three spares, although orbital
configurations and other details differ.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19900601/Press Contact: James Veihdeffer,
Honeywell, 602-869-2203; Bob Gibbons, Northwest Airlines, 612-
726-2331)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(NYC)(00002)

IBM TO HELP DEVELOP PROTOTYPE MEDICAL IMAGING SYSTEM}
YORKTOWN HEIGHTS, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1990 MAY 31 (NB) -- IBM and
the University of Washington plan to design and build a
state-of-the-art, prototype medical imaging system and
supporting software that promise to improve patient diagnosis and
treatment dramatically.

As a part of this collaboration, IBM will commit to the
University of Washington some $4.5 million, to include
hardware, software, faculty grants, student fellowships,
and a full-time IBM coordinator to work with university
faculty on the project. IBM spokesperson Kathleen Ryan told
Newsbytes that the majority of the equipment donated under
this program will be personal computers and workstations.

The medical imaging system will give physicians instant
access to enhanced X-rays and other diagnostic images,
allowing them to plan surgery, joint replacements, radiation
therapy and other medical treatment simply by viewing and
interacting with the computer screen.

The prototype medical imaging system will link IBM computers
into a hospital-based, medical imaging network.

In a three-year joint project, university professors, and
physicians, led by Dr. Alan Rowberg, from the university's
medical center, will work with IBM scientists to build
enhancements to existing IBM hardware and design new
communications and applications software to meet emerging
medical imaging needs.

"For this project to be a success," said Dr. Marcus B.
Heritage, the IBM senior scientist coordinating the project,
"we must know what doctors need. We need to understand how
fast we must transmit images from the radiology department to
a patient's bedside in intensive care and how good
the resolution of tumors must be to treat cancer patients.
That's why it's so important that university physicians are
working with engineers and scientists to plan and test
the system."

The prototype system will include three different types of
medical imaging stations, linked together by a computer
network, all three will draw images from a hospital-wide
database. The computer system will hold digitized
versions of standard hospital X-ray films and ultrasound
images, as well as computer-aided tomography (CAT) scans and
magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans.

(Barbara E. McMullen & John F. McMullen/19900602/Press Contact:
Linda Post, IBM, 914-945-2885;)


(NEW)(TRENDS)(TYO)(00002)

FUJITSU DEVELOPING HIGH DENSITY 2.5-INCH HDD}
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1990 MAY 29 (NB) -- Fujitsu is developing a
2.5-inch, 40 megabyte hard disk that is destined
for today's lightweight, book-sized computers.

Fujitsu's development project, code-named Project Hornet,
is proceeding at Intellistore, a U.S.-based venture acquired
by Fujitsu in 1987. Engineers expect to create a
2.5-inch HDD (hard disk drive) with more than 40 megabytes
of capacity before next year.

The two-and-a-half-inch HDD is expected to supplant current
3.5-inch units eventually. In Japan, 2.5-inch HDDs have been built
in quantity by Victor since January and have been developed
by several American firms. The current 2.5-inch HDD with 20-
megabyte class capacity, however, is far from the 320 megabytes
which some 3.5-inch disk drives have been capable of storing.

As an example of how much power computer makers want in their
tiniest computers, Fujitsu seeks to offer at least 30 megabyte
of storage on its book-sized PCs. It also predicts further
application of the 2.5-inch HDD in facsimiles, expansion RAM
(read only memory) and system equipment for automobiles in the
future.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19900531)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(TYO)(00009)

KOREA AND JAPAN JOIN FORCES DEVELOPING SOFTWARE}
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1990 MAY 26 (NB) -- Korea's major computer maker
PriGem Computer has tied up with Japan's software company Software
Research Associates or SRA to jointly develop software in Japan.

With the tie-up, PriGem will acquire 25 percent of the capital
from SRA's subsidiary Software Business Corporation or SBC and
dispatch two of its directors and 10 of its engineers there this
June. PriGem and SBC will jointly develop online system software
and consult for banks and securities companies starting this summer.

As phone circuits are to be liberalized in Korea next year, there
is a growing interest among private firms in the network arena, such
as VANs (value added networks). In a hurry to establish
telecommunications technology under such a situation, PriGem
proposed this venture with SBC, a software house which creates
major network systems for such customers as banks.

For SRA, the tie-up helps solve a shortage of engineers
and secures a foothold in PriGem's established distribution
networks in Korea as well as Southeast Asia.

PriGem now ranks as the leader in sales and manufacture of
personal computers and workstations in Korea. In the international
market, it is not only exporting its computers to the U.S. and
Southeast Asia, but also supplies them to Japanese firms on an
OEM (original equipment manufacturing) basis. Its sales marked $300
million for last year.

(Ken Takahashi/19900531/Press Contact: Software Business
Corporation, 03-234-4510)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(TYO)(00010)

SHARP PLANS TO DOUBLE R&D SPENDING BY 1992}
OSAKA, JAPAN, 1990 MAY 25 (NB) -- In efforts to develop advanced
technology for the late 1990s and the dawn of the 21st century,
Sharp is planning to double its research and development (R&D)
spending to equal 10 percent of its sales by 1992.

With the increase in R&D, it will consolidate efforts in the
areas of AI (artificial intelligence) and semiconductors.

Sharp's R&D costs for fiscal 1989 amounted to 79 billion yen ($530
million), about 7.5 percent of total sales of about 1,060
billion ($7,100 million). Sharp intends to increase the R&D
percentage by 1 percent annually to more than 10 percent of sales
by 1992, a year for which it expects sales of about 1,610 billion yen
($10.7 billion).

The R&D costs include expenditures for equipment for its
R&D facilities, including a basic research center in
Oxford, England, this March, and an R&D foothold building for
advanced technology it will set up in Makuhari, Chiba
prefecture, Japan, in two years.

(Ken Takahashi/19900531)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(TYO)(00011)

NISSHO IWAI SELLS U.S. SOFTWARE VIA ONLINE NETWORK}
OSAKA, JAPAN, 1990 MAY 31 (NB) -- Major general trader Nissho Iwai
Corp. has signed a business agreement with California, U.S.-based
wholesaler Softsel Computer Products to sell U.S.-made
personal computer software in Japan via an online network, starting
this June.

Nissho Iwai will sell the software through the NIFTY-Serve online
network operated by N.I.F., a joint venture with Fujitsu. Online
sales of U.S.-made software to personal computer users have
never occurred before now in Japan.

The trading company will convey the order list received from online
network users to Softsel, and import the U.S. software to them,
using an international door-to-door service. The ordered software
should then arrive at a customer's location within a few weeks from the
order date. To order, software purchasers will be required to
use a credit card for their order.

The software for sale will include business, graphics, and game
software for IBM and Apple Computer personal computers. It is said
that about 5,000 personal computer software packages are now
available in the U.S., and Nissho Iwai has decided to sell the
top-selling 2,000 packages as an initial step. In the next few years,
it intends to grab about 1 billion yen ($6.7 million) in annual
sales from the U.S. software. In the future, it plans to
increase the number of the software packages to 3,000.

Sales of U.S.-made personal computers here in Japan are said to
be quite low due to shortages of the software. The
distribution of U.S. software by Nissho Iwai is, therefore, expected
to increase the hardware sales in Japan.

(Ken Takahashi/19900531/Press Contact: Nissho Iwai Corp.,
06-209-2111)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(TYO)(00012)

CANON OPENS RESEARCH CENTER IN U.S.}
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1990 MAY 31 (NB) -- Canon has decided to open its
first U.S. research center in Palo Alto, California by this year's
end.

Researchers at the center will develop software for U.S. products
such as photocopier and facsimile machines, and will then focus
on development of computer software, and specifically an
original operating systems for personal computers and workstations.

Canon has already secured the building site near Stanford
University. To start, it will employ ten researchers, and
in the future, will increase the staff number tenfold.

The center will be one of the three nucleus research
centers where Canon plans to engage in research and
development designed for the production of products to be sold
in the 21st century. The other two research centers are
Canon Research Center Europe, which was set up in the U.K.
two years ago, and Canon Kansai Research Center, slated to
open in Kansai area of Japan in 1992.

With its research centers in the U.S., U.K., and Japan, Canon will
be able to develop products oriented to each region. Canon has
a project to set up research and development centers in its
production facilities all over the world, with support from the
three research centers.

Canon now focuses its research and development on the existing
arenas of pictures and information, and plans new fields of
research, such as ecology. Canon Kansai Research Center is scheduled to
research an ecological approach to technology, but man-machine
interfaces will be jointly studied by the three research institutes.

Canon invested 86 billion yen ($570 million) or more than ten percent
of its sales to its research and development last year.
Regarding the number of acquired patents in the U.S., it ranked
in first place with its 949 patents obtained last year.

(Ken Takahashi/19900531/Press Contact: Canon Inc., 03-348-2121)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(MOW)(00006)

U.S.S.R.: MORE VCRS WILL BE MADE}
VORONEZH, U.S.S.R., 1990 MAY 27 (NB) -- A new video cassette recorder
(VCR) manufacturing plant, a subsidiary of Scientific and Production
Amalgamation "Electronica," has starting production of 1200 VCRs
daily, Pravda newspaper report says.

New factory buildings in this city of one million residents,
700 kilometers south from Moscow, were developed by a Finnish
construction company. All the equipment inside was bought from
South-Korea's Samsung company, according to the report.

The News VCR will cost 3,000 rubles on the Soviet market
($4,500 by the official rate, or about ten times their relative
cost in the U.S.). According to Moscow video experts
although new VCR will be better than previous models, it's
still less reliable than foreign ones.

(Kirill Tchashchin/19900601)


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

IBM'S AIX SEEN AS WORTH $19 BILLION BY 1995}
LOS ALTOS, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1990 JUN 1 (NB) -- IBM's AIX
systems and software will be the heart of a $19.1 billion
dollar marketplace by 1995, so says a new study by
International Technology Group.

The IBM RISC (reduced instruction set computing)-architectured
System/6000, new AIX PS/2 machines, and an enhanced version
of AIX/370 are expected to fuel the growth.

The study projects that by 1995, AIX will represent hardware
and software sales of $4.4 billion in workstation-like applications,
garnering 23.1 percent of the market; $2.72 billion in commercial
multiuser applications, owning 14.2 percent of the market;
$7.06 billion in PC sales (37 percent of the market), and $4.91
billion in mainframe AIX sales with 25.7 percent of the market.

The report says that the RISC System/6000 family will be expanded
to include low-end diskless workstations and multiprocessor
systems. Multiprocessor configurations during the 1993 to 1995
years will realize performance of more than one billion
instructions per second (BIPS) with the capacity to support
more than 2,500 users.

All this information is in the pages of the company's $995
report, "IBM AIX Market and Futures," which can obtained
from International Technology Group, 4984 El Camino Real,
Suite 119, Los Altos, California 94022. Phone [phone].

(Wendy Woods/19900601)


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

NEW FOR UNIX: Tool Offered For Motif, X Window Interfaces}
CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1990 MAY 30 (NB) -- The Builder
Xcessory is an interactive paint-like software tool to
prototype, build, and test Motif user interfaces for the
X Window System. Integrated Computer Solutions, its creator,
says the program cuts development time since testing and
modifying of the interface can be done without compiling.

The Builder Xcessory "creates graphical user interfaces in
hours rather than weeks," claims Peter Winston, president
of ICS.

The Builder Xcessory also includes the following features:
reliance on standard libraries to facilitate porting to
other systems; modules called the Palette, Resource editor,
and Browser, which illustrates "widget instance hierarchy."

The Builder Xcessory, $2,500, is available for Sun,
DECstations, DG AViiON, Silicon Graphics, Sony News,
and Macintoshes running A/UX. It will soon be available on
the VAX/VMS and IBM RISC System/6000 as well.

(Wendy Woods/19900601/Press Contact: Pia Bertelli, ICS,
617-547-0510)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(NYC)(00004)

AT&T AND RETIX AGREE TO INTEGRATE TECHNOLOGIES}
NEW YORK, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1990 MAY 30 (NB) -- AT&T has signed
an agreement with Retix (Santa Monica, CA) that paves the way for
the integration of the current Open Systems technologies of Retix
and AT&T's Unix Software Operation. The pact also covers future
codevelopment and marketing of a broader spectrum of OSI-
oriented applications for Unix System V.

Retix is a world leading OSI (Open Systems Integration)
internetworking company and the Unix Software Operation sees this
agreement as a way to supply OEM (original equipment
manufacturer) customers with comprehensive OSI capabilities. The
Unix operating system represents the de facto standard in the
Open Systems environment while the OSI model represents the
worldwide standard for interoperability and communications
architectures.

Because TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol)
has been widely used by communications professionals,
particularly in the US government, Retix and Unix Software
Operation are committed to offering users a migration path for
efficient co-existence between TCP/IP and OSI. The integrated
product line will provide users will full OSI functionality
designed to be integrated with Unix System V STREAMS operating
environment via AT&T's OSI Communications Platform (CP-1). The
resulting OSI applications should provide high performance levels
and throughput.

The newly integrated OSI product will be marketed as an unbundled
family of products. It will provide compatibility with AT&T's
Unix System V release 3 and release 4. OSI functionality in the
initial product will include X.400 messaging and X.500 directory
services, file transfer, access and management (FTAM) network
management services and virtual terminal (VT).

Unix Software Operation's Dick Muldoon commented on the
announcement to Newsbytes, "This may be the first time that
you have this level of commitment to open systems in OSI.
We think that it particularly important that the market leaders
in Unix and OSI are putting their money where their mouth is."

(Janet Endrijonas, Barbara E. McMullen & John F. McMullen/
19900602/Press Contacts: Dick Muldoon, AT&T, 201-829-7212; Rebel
Brown, Retix, 213-399-2200)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(NYC)(00005)

PYRAMID INTRODUCES NEW OSX RELEASE}
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1990 MAY 31 (NB) --
Pyramid Technology today announced a new release of their standards-
compliant Unix operating system, OSx 5.1, for their MIServer line of
RISC-based open systems servers.

The release incorporates a number of new features including the
National Computer Security Center C2 level of security,
providing an equal or greater level of security than can be
found on traditional mainframe operating systems.

Additionally Pyramid says that the new release has
substantially improved OS performance by enhancing the kernel
routines that run the I/O utilities, providing as much as 25
percent I/O performance improvement over previous releases.

Also available in OSx 5.1 is the System V Korn Shell for
advanced system administration.

(Barbara E. McMullen & John F. McMullen/19900602/Press Contact:
Doug Free, Pyramid, 415-965-7200)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(NYC)(00006)

ALTERED IMAGE ANNOUNCES OSF/MOTIF PRODUCT FOR INFORMIX}
SURREY, ENGLAND, 1990 MAY 31 (NB) -- Altered Image Software
Limited has announced two products, Altered Image-SQL and
Altered Image- Graphics, which bring a graphical user
interface (GUI) to the most widely used Unix relational
database, Informix-SQL.

Altered Image-SQL provides an OSF/Motif front end to Informix-SQL
while Altered Image-Graphics allows data from an underlying
Informix-SQL database to be displayed in a variety of high quality
graphic formats. Altered Image says that, through the use of Altered
Image-SQL, developers can migrate character-based Informix-SQL
applications to a windowed graphical environment without
modification to existing applications.

Alter Image Software was founded by the same group of people
that had formerly formed the UK subsidiary of Informix Software
and concentrates on providing software applications for graphical
Unix environments.

Altered Image products are available for OEM licensing. The
company has stated plans to introduce Open Look versions of
their products following user demand.

(Barbara E. McMullen & John F. McMullen/19900602/Press Contact:
Laurie Reidman, Reidman Communications, 716-396-9246)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(HKG)(00002)

NEXT LAUNCHES COMPUTER IN ASIA, JOBS ATTENDS}
SINGAPORE, SOUTHEAST ASIA, 1990 MAY 29 (NB) -- Steve Jobs has
launched his Next computer in Asia with a major presentation in
Singapore, soon to be followed by the system's introduction in
Hong Kong, South Korea, Malaysia and the Thailand markets.

Founding director of Next, Steve Jobs, is personally demonstrating
his new computer's capabilities. In Singapore, he also played
host to a delegation representing Hong Kong information
technology industry and educational institutions.

Canon, which owns 16.7 percent of Next Inc. with an investment
of $100 million in June, 1989, has the exclusive right to sell
Next Computer Systems in Asia, and is marching with this flag
into the Southeast Asian market.

Canon expects to sell 200 systems in those countries each
month. The modest numbers are due to Canon's marketing of the machine
as a workstation, not as a reasonably priced personal computer.
Canon has sold an estimated 1,000 systems since marketing
efforts started in September in Japan. The geographical sales
territory is being expanded now that a Japanese operating
system for the machine is near.

Overall host for the Singapore presentation was Jardine Office
Systems, recently appointed by Canon Inc as authorized distributor of
Next computers in Hong Kong. Shipping will be handled via the
Tokyo-based Canon. The complete distribution and sales
configuration will then be triangular -- the machines are made
at the company's Fremont, California factory, shipping to
Japan, and then distributed to other Asian destinations.

In South Korea, Canon's will introduce the Next Computer System
in conjunction with Lotte Canon Co., a joint venture with Korea's
Lotte, this year.

Hong Kong saw its first practical demonstration of Jobs' new software
system - Nextstep - at the unveiling of IBM's RISC System 6000
earlier this year.

Some industry observers, however, say they do not expect any dramatic
jump onto the Next bandwagon in Asia. They suggest that commercial
success, if it comes, is still at least a couple of years away. They
point to the progress of Jobs' latest effort in the US and say that
traditional Asian caution will cause potential buyers to wait and see
how well Next computers and software fare in the West.

If they do well there, potential Asian users are more likely to turn
that potential into reality. On the other hand, the observers say,
Next's association with IBM will inevitably act in its favour.

(Naoyuki Yazawa & Norman Wingrove/19900602/Press Contact: Steve Lo
or Thomas Wan, Jardine Office Systems, [phone])


(NEW)(UNIX)(TYO)(00005)

KUBOTA STARTS WORKSTATION BUSINESS WITH MIPS}
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1990 MAY 30 (NB) -- Kubota Computer, a subsidiary of
Kubota Ltd., which is one of the leading engineering firms for
agricultural technology, has acquired an exclusive right to
produce and sell U.S.-based MIPS Computer Systems' workstations
in Japan.

The machine to be produced and sold by Kubota Computer is RS3230,
which performs 20 MIPS (million instructions per second) with MIPS'
RISC (reduced instruction set computer) processor R3000. The cost
of the workstation is 1,990,000 yen or $13,265. The main memory of the
machine is expandable to 128 megabytes and there is up to
600 megabytes of internal storage 6.2 gigabytes of external unit
memory.

Production of the machine will begin at Kubota Computer's
Yamanashi plant this July. Kubota Computer expects to sell
5,000 units the first year.

Kubota Computer currently is in the supercomputer business
with MIPS. Last December Kubota decided to produce and sell
the MIPS R6000 RISC processor-based graphical supercomputer
RC6280.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19900531/Press Contact: Kubota Computer,
03-225-0971)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(BRU)(00001)

OSF INTRODUCES DISTRIBUTED COMPUTING ENVIRONMENT}
MUNICH, WEST GERMANY, 1990 JUN 02 (NB) -- The Open Software
Foundation (OSF) has announced plans to integrate several
technologies into its Distributed Computing Environment (DCE),
which is planned for release later this year.

Conceptually, DCE builds upon the open systems strategy pioneered
by Unix. In theory, software created for a DCE system will run on
that system, regardless of the hardware platform and/or operation
system environment. In practice, DCE software is likely to need
installation on the system concerned, thus requiring quite complex
installation modules and support software.

According to the OSF, DCE will take several of its features from
different vendors: Hewlett Packard's NCS/RPC; DECdns
from Digital; DIR-X from Siemens; Kerberos Security service from
MIT, PC-NFS from Sun Microsystems, AFS 4.0 from Transarc
Corporation; diskless operation from HP and Transarc; LM/X PC
from Microsoft; CMA (Concept Multithread Architecture) from
Digital; and Decdts time service from Digital.

Announcing the plans, David Tory, OSF president and CEO, said:
"Inter-operability is the fundamental goal of open systems and
empowers users by providing them with power of choice."

(John Verhelst/19900602)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(MOW)(00008)

MOSCOW: FIRST SOFTWARE TESTING LABORATORY RATES UNIX MACHINES}
MOSCOW, U.S.S.R., 1990 MAY 31 (NB) -- Probirnaya Palata
(Test Chamber), the first Soviet software testing laboratory,
will report its first working results in the coming issue of
Intercomputer magazine. The first test involved Unix machines
available in Russia.

Probirnaya palata, supported by Interunity, the very same enterprise
which issues Intercomputer magazine, start working at the end if this
year. Its organization complete, Probirnaya Palata will publish
its first evaluation of different Unix clones available in U.S.S.R.
in the magazine this month, according to Anatoly Eides, Interunity
executive.

The new laboratory will do independent research of Soviet
programmers' products as most Western testing sites do,
Mr Eides told Newsbytes.

(Kirill Tchashchin/19900601/Press contact: Anatoly Eides, phone +7 095
202-9280 fax [phone])


(REVIEW)(IBM)(WAS)(0000)

Review of: IBM Model 70 486-B21

From: IBM Corp., Old Orchard Rd., Armonk, NY 10504. 800-426-2468
or 914-765-1900

Price: $12,990 (with 2 MB RAM and 120 MB hard disk)

PUMA Rating: 3.95 on a scale of 1=lowest to 4=highest

Reviewed for Newsbytes by: John McCormick, 6/1/90

Summary: A small but powerful desktop 80486 computer for those
with exceptional computing needs. The Model 70 is a desktop unit
without the expansion potential to act as a server.

======

REVIEW

======

IBM has had the reputation for years as being slow out of the
gate with new computer designs, letting other makers build and
market systems based on the latest Intel chips. This has
generally left IBM to come out with its PCs after the others had
a chance to work the bugs out of the systems.

But, lest we forget, IBM invented the true PC (thus the word
IBM-compatible was vital in any review of a clone system for many
years) and when the 486 was announced IBM was right there with
the $4,000 Power Platform that let users of the IBM Model 70
upgrade to the powerful new chip.

IBM also briefly marketed a Model 70 486 with the Power Platform
already installed and thus one of the very first 486s was born;
unfortunately for IBM, this would have been a good time to sit
one out because the early i486 chips proved defective and
production of the Model 70 486 ceased.

Now IBM has replaced all the defective chips supplied by Intel
and is again marketing both the Power Platform upgrade and
several models of the 70/486. The one I tested came with a 120
megabyte (MB) hard disk and a full 8 MB of RAM or random access
memory, although the price listed in this review is for the base
2 MB system.

I liked this machine very much, as I liked the earlier Model 70
(now I suppose it would be designated the 70 386). Despite early
descriptions of the 80486 as a chip intended for network servers
because no one would need that power on a desktop, the Model 70
is definitely a single user system, with only three expansion
slots and a maximum hard disk size of only 120 MB.

A diminutive 14.1 inches wide by 16.5 inches deep and standing
only 5.5 inches high, with a weight just over 20 pounds, the
physical appearance of the Model 70-486 isn't impressive; in
fact, except for laptops, it is the lightest computer I have, but
when you unleash the power of the 486, the single user gets solid
486 performance in a very compact package.

As with other IBM PS/2s, all Model 70s lack room for an internal
5.25-inch floppy drive, although external units are available
both from IBM and third party vendors. This isn't nearly as
important as it was when the PS/2s first came out and does make
the entire line fully compatible with the laptop standard.

All Model 70s have a VGA graphics port; one serial, one parallel,
and one mouse port; one 16-bit and two 32-bit open expansion
slots; maximum memory of 8 MB on the mother board and 16 MB total
(using one of the two 32-bit expansion slots).

For those who don't know, I suppose a brief description of the
iAPX486 (official Intel designation) chip family is in order.
This is bound to become the new power user's standard (I already
have three) but, unlike the move from the 80286 to the 80386,
those who fail to move up won't be penalized by missing out on
new software.

The 80486 is identical to the 80386 as far as software is
concerned; this includes anything now on the market and anything
which will be written.

What Intel has done with the 486 is essentially put an 80386
microprocessor, a cache, and an 80387 coprocessor on one chip and
integrated them into a seamless package.

This results in a MIPS or million instructions per second rating
of a bit over 10 MIPS for the 25 megahertz or MHz Model 70 486 as
opposed to only 5.8 MIPS for the 386 version of the same computer
with the same clock speed.

Norton Utilities Advanced ver. 4.5 gives a Computing Index (CI)
of 39.0 for the 70/486 versus only 30.4 for the Model 70 386 (25
MHz) and only 17.6 for a 16 MHz Model 80 386.

IBM did recall some of its early one-inch-thick 120 MB hard disks
which were installed in some Model 70s because of an oil leak,
but reportedly no customer lost data and the replacements were
made free of charge. There is a significant performance boost
with the new 120MB hard disk used on the Model 70 486, with
access times about 20% lower.

============

PUMA RATING

============

PERFORMANCE: 4.0. For a non-cache 486 this is about as fast as
any on the market, and it is backed by IBM.

USEFULNESS: 4.0. This is a very fast desktop system, one that
finally provides enough speed to make normal Windows applications
scream and even massive programs like the symbolic math package
Macsyma and the notoriously slow Ventura Publisher run at
acceptable speeds.

MANUAL: 3.8. Actually the manual, what there is of it, is
excellent; unfortunately it is far from enough for the beginner
and probably doesn't provide enough information for average
users. It rates so high anyway because this really isn't a
machine for average users.

AVAILABILITY: 4.0. IBM dealers abound; just check the phone
book.

(John McCormick/1990601)


(EDITORIAL)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00014)

CALLER ID: WHAT'S THE PROBLEM? - Editorial by D. Blankenhorn}
ATLANTA, GEORGIA, U.S.A., 1990 MAY 31 (NB) -- Judges in
Pennsylvania have dealt the first major legal blow to the Caller
ID service. Caller ID is the consumer offering of a technology
called Automatic Number Identification. ANI was, in turn, at the
heart of a technology called ISDN in the 1980s.

Many people called ISDN "I Still Don't Know" or "I Still Don't
Need It," but as it's been rolled out nationwide it comes to mean
two things, digital and two-way communication.

First, each phone line will be digitized, with 2 channels of
64,000 bits/second which can be used for voice, fax, or data
service. While most voice lines can take the whole 64,000 kilobit
line, voice can also be compressed, and some services have
used compression to offer video conferencing within that
bandwidth. A fax machine can send a page every 15 seconds at
9,600 bits/second, and most PC users are familiar with modems
which work at 2,400 bits/second. Henceforth, all these devices
can share the same phone line.

The second meaning of ISDN is a two-way signaling channel,
running at up to 16,000 bits/second. This is being used, first,
to carry callers' numbers to the called party. That's ANI. When
ANI is sold to consumers, it's called Caller ID. Until the
Pennsylvania decision, the main threats to Caller ID were
legislative, a California law mandating the right of people to
block their numbers from going out on a per-call basis, and a
proposal by Sen. Herbert Kohl, a Wisconsin Democrat, to offer
blocking nationwide.

ANI is already being used, successfully, on three types of calls.
For emergencies, a service called Enhanced 911 sends your number
to the police as you call. This not only cuts out false alarms,
but helps police find panicked victims, even if they can't state
their address. On toll-free 800 and caller-paid 900 numbers, ANI
is now creating databases and mailing lists, so merchants can
know what their customers are like, and learn of other likely
prospects.

Police agencies are of two minds on Caller ID. On the one hand,
the technology cuts crank calls, and makes the activities of
criminals easier to trace. On the other hand, the same technology
can be used by criminals to unmask undercover cops, and by
abusive husbands to find their wives.

To some merchants, ANI is just an extension of current mailing
list technology. If you give money to an abortion-rights group,
for instance, you'll soon get mail from feminist magazines. If
you give to Pat Robertson's 700 Club, you'll get mail from like-
minded organizations. The same is true in packaged goods. Mailing
list management is a multi-billion dollar industry, and although
the lists could be combined to create a profile of your life,
most consumers don't object to the practice.

ANI, in fact, doesn't yield nearly the kind of detail on your
habits that so-called "frequent shopper programs" are picking up
without trouble. Here, shoppers get cards which record their
purchases, and "instant coupons" which save them money. In
return, retailers learn what other goods their customers need,
and sell this data to marketers.

Industry has already recognized this power in ANI. The Direct
Mail Association is campaigning against it, knowing that ANI will
create mailing lists faster, and for less money. Illinois Bell
is holding meetings this week with local businesses, helping
them create applications for ANI. Dun & Bradstreet is selling its
direct-mail subsidiaries to concentrate on the online businesses,
and you can expect them to use ANI there in some way. Two phone
companies, Telesphere and US Sprint, are already selling mailing
lists based on their collection of ANI data in 1-900 and toll-
free 1-800 calls.

To the industry, then, ANI just means better marketing, more
targeted messages and less junk mail.

But here's the beef. ANI is the last step in a process which will
make your lifestyle an open book to anyone who wants to open it.
With ANI, every call you make could put you into a database for
resale. Using the advanced computers of the 1990s, anyone big
enough to access a mainframe, be they a politician, corporation,
a private investigator or the government, could "profile" your
lifestyle with pinpoint accuracy, and, perhaps, use that against
you.

With ANI, you'll have no secrets anymore. This has privacy
advocates alarmed. They see the past, and realize we've all lost
the war to be left alone. They see a future of politicians
blackmailed or citizens harassed because their consuming or
calling "profile" matches that of some type of criminal, and
they're scared. They want rules, now, to control ANI, and harsh
penalties for violators of those rules.

The battle over ANI will be fought first in places like
Pennsylvania, which are the most favorable territory for privacy
advocates. But ANI is also being rolled out in harsher legal
climates, from Europe to Asia to Latin America. That's why the
alarm is going out, now. And it had best be made as loud as
possible.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19900601)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SFO)(00001)

The BoCoEx Index /
 Closing Prices on the Boston Computer Exchange
 for the week ending June 1, 1990

 Machine                       Closing Price    Ask       Bid

 IBM PC 176          Floppy      350 down 50    660       250

 IBM AT 099          20 MgB     1150 -         1375       850

 IBM AT 239          20 MgB     1100 down 100  1325       700

 IBM AT 339          30 MgB     1200 down 50   1400       900

 IBM PS/2 Model 30   20 MgB     1050 down 100  1400       875

 IBM PS/2 Model 50   20 MgB     1300 -         1700      1050

 IBM PS/2 Model 50Z  30 MgB     1900 down 160  2200      1800

 IBM PS/2 Model 55   30 MgB     1925 -         2000      1700

 IBM PS/2 Model 55SX 60 MgB     2700 -         2900      2525

 IBM PS/2 Model 70   60 MgB     3200 -         3800      3000

 IBM PS/2 Model 80   70 MgB     3800 down 225  4225      3600

 Compaq Portable     Floppy      525 -          525       400

 Compaq Plus         10 MgB      650 down 100   750       650

 Compaq Portable 286 20 MgB     1700 -         2000      1500

 Compaq Portable III 40 MgB     2275 -         2500      1900

 Compaq Portable SLT 20 MgB     2400 -         2500      2100

 Compaq Portable SLT 40 MgB     3375 -         3800      3000

 Compaq Portable 386 40 MgB     3200 -         3650      2750

 Compaq Deskpro 286  40 MgB     1400 -         1625      1300

 Compaq Dskpr 386s   40 MgB     3050 -         3100      2900

 Macintosh 512       Floppy      500 -          775       450

 Macintosh Plus      Floppy      900 -         1000       850*

 Macintosh Plus      20 MgB     1100 -         1200      1000*

 Macintosh SE        Floppy     1400 up 15     1570      1300

 Macintosh SE        20 MgB     1650 up 25     1750      1400

 Macintosh SE        40 MgB     2200 -         2350      1900

 Macintosh SE-30     80 MgB     3300 -         3400      3100

 Macintosh II        40 MgB     3300 -         3500      3050*

 Macintosh IIX       80 MgB     4550 -         4600      4000

 Macintosh IICX      40 MgB     3800 -         4000      3600

 Macintosh IIFX      40 MgB     7100 -         7400      7100

 Apple IIc           Floppy      475 down 100   600       400

 Apple IIe           Floppy      350 down 50    600       350

 Apple IIgs          Floppy      900 -          950       800

 Toshiba T-3100      20 MgB     1425 -         1650      1200

 Toshiba T-3100SX    40 MgB     3000 -         3400      2900

 Toshiba T-5100      40 MgB     2825 -         3000      2825

 Zenith SSport 286   20 MgB     1650 down 50   2200      1400

                                       * Top Demand This Week

Used Computer Handbook Announced BY
BoCoEx Staff Economists

The Boston Computer Exchange and Microsoft Press announced the
release of Alex Randall's Used Computer Handbook at Comdex Spring
and the American Booksellers Association Conferences.  The book
contains the first publication of the seven year history of
BoCoEx Index which appears in graphic form with analysis.  The
Used Computer Handbook is a compendium of useful information
gleaned from 8 years of operating the Boston Computer Exchange.
It is loaded with tips, pointers, and techniques for computer
users to establish value, buy, sell or trade in the secondary
market.  Alex Randall's Used Computer Handbook will be in all
major bookstores starting on June 18th.

This weeks trading was fast paced and active.  The IBM PS/2's
were generally down in anticipation of new announcements at
Comdex.  Two Macintosh models rose in value while laptops were
stable at last week's prices.

Among the IBM's there was renewed interest in PS/2 models but at
lower prices than past weeks.  The top of the line Model 80
dropped $225 to close at $3800, a new low.  The Model 50Z dropped
$160 to a new low of $1900 and the Model 30 was down $100 to end
the week at $1050.  The older AT-339 dropped $50 to $1200 and the
original PC, was off $50 to close at $350. The AT-239 dropped
$100 and closed at $1100.

The Compaq market was very stable.  The earliest two models made
volume appearances after long absences from the market.  The
floppy drive portable closed at $525 and the 10 megabyte Plus
traded at $650 which is $100 less than its last closing price.

Among the Macintoshs, the floppy drive Plus was steady at $900 in
active trading, and the 20 megabyte Plus was as active at $1100
unchanged. There were trades of the Macintosh 2 CX at $3800 with
loads of goodies.

Index prices are based on configurations of complete systems with
a 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: [phone].

(BOCOEX/19900601)