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

NEW FOR MAC: Compactor Used To Compress Files On GEnie
LUBBOCK, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1990 JUL 29 (NB) -- The Macintosh
RoundTables on the GEnie online information service have become the first
national online areas to announce the acceptance of files compressed with
Bill Goodman's shareware utility, Compactor, for files uploaded to their
software libraries.

Both Compactor, and a companion public domain program,
Extractor, are available in the GEnie Macintosh RoundTable's
Software Libraries and software libraries of other online services.
Compactor requires payment of a $25 shareware fee if used after
a free 30-day trial period.

For several years, the Stuffit shareware program has been the
de facto file compression standard in the Macintosh world. But
Compactor provides even greater compression for most files,
according to Bart Barton, chief sysop for GEnie's Macintosh
RoundTables. "Compactor had to prove itself efficient, reliable,
easy-to-use, and compatible with existing standards." Barton said
the advantage is that it is considerably more efficient in
compressing a file, with the average improvement is about 10 to
30%.

Asked about concern that too many compression utilities are
available today, Barton told Newsbytes, "We've always accepted more
than one, at least for the last three years, and Compactor still will
extract Stuffit files. So it's not as if we're forcing anyone to make
a transition to another."

Bill Goodman has also released additional Compactor
utilities, a free Extractor utility that enables downloaders to
extract Compactor and Stuffit files without having to pay the
shareware fee required for use of the Compactor program itself, and
a SitToCpt file converter which will automatically convert existing
.SIT files to Compactor compressed files.

GEnie's Macintosh RoundTable members can identify Compactor
files uploaded to the Software Libraries by the extension ".CPT".

(Wendy Woods/19900729/Press Contact: Bart Barton, 806-745-2865;
GEnie, 1-800-638-9636, Bill Goodman, 617-731-4802)


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

APPLE IN CONGRESS ON VDT SAFETY
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1990 JUL 27 (NB) -- Apple Computer
Vice President, Advanced Technology, Dr. David Nagel, testified Wednesday
in Washington in favor of bills which call for additional funding
for research on ELF (extremely low frequency) radiation, and said that
Apple itself, is prepared to donate research money. The testimony
comes as Apple has been criticized for radiation levels in its monitors.

House Bill HR4801, submitted by Congressman Pallone of New Jersey,
and the amendment to House Bill HR4873, submitted by Congressman
George Brown, were the objects of testimony before the Subcommittee
on Natural Resources, Agriculture, Research and Environment in the House
of Representatives.

Dr. Nagel stated Apple's position calling for comprehensive research
on the effects of ELF and VLF (very low frequency) emissions, and
called for the computer industry to adopt protocols for the testing
and measurement of VLF and ELF. He also called for a consortium
approach to conducting research, in which government, academia,
and industry collaborate.

Nagel, an Apple vice president, noted the "recent indications in
electromagnetic science...prompting observers that more attention
should be given to the issue." He said the National Academies of
Science and Engineering is uniquely positioned to call on preeminent
scientific and engineering resources to conduct a review of the
entire corpus of reserach concerning the problem.

On balance, however, Dr. Nagel stated Apple's position that the
body of scientific evidence gathered to date supports the belief
that VDTs are safe for people using them.

Apple Computer was featured in an article about the heath
hazards of VDTs in the July edition of Macworld magazine. The
report stated that the AppleColor High Resolution RGB Monitor
had the highest emissions of ten monitors tested. The report
suggested that users keep this and all monitors at arm's length
from their bodies in order to lower their radiation exposure.
The magazine plans to have follow-up reports in its November
and December issues.

(Wendy Woods/19900727)


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

APPLE EXPECTED TO MAKE OUTBOUND ANNOUNCEMENT
CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1990 JUL 29 (NB) -- Apple is expected to
make an announcement Tuesday regarding the purchase of technology from
Outbound Systems, a maker of a lightweight portable Macintosh.

The announcement will have followed a week of speculation on
relations between the two companies; earlier rumors indicated Apple
Computer might purchase the small start-up in Boulder, Colorado.
However, reports indicate that Apple intends to license some of
the technology used to create the Outbound portable, a 9-pound
unit and will not purchase the company.

(Wendy Woods/19900729)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(NYC)(00003)

MACINTOSH NEWS TO FOLD AUGUST 6
MANHASSET, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1990 JUL 27(NB) -- CMP
Publications, Inc. has announced that it will incorporate its publication,
Macintosh News into another of its publications, Computer Reseller News.
The combination will take effect for the August 6th issue of Computer
Reseller News.

According to Ken Cron, vice president and group publisher, the decision to
integrate the two publications is based on important changes in the
Macintosh market, "In recent months, we've seen a convergence of Mac
technology into mainstream PC environments. This resulted in an overlap
of their respective distribution strategies, which caused us to rethink how
we can best serve the important reseller market."

Jeffrey Strief, publisher of both Computer Reseller News and Macintosh
News, said, "Since its first issue in September 1988, Macintosh News
created a very strong identity in the market and we expect to transfer that
strength into CRN, which will significantly enhance its Mac coverage and
commitment to the Macintosh industry.''

A company spokesperson said the majority of Macintosh News' 22 member
staff will be placed elsewhere in the CMP publishing organization,
primarily within Computer Reseller News.

(Barbara E. McMullen & John F. McMullen/199000728/Press Contact: Joe
Bereswill, CMP Publications Inc., 516-562-5519)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(LAX)(00001)

LASERGRAPHICS SHIPPING APPLETALK FILM RECORDERS
IRVINE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1990 JUL 16 (NB) -- Lasergraphics has
begun shipping the LFR and LFR Plus high resolution digital film
recorders with optional MacRascolServer. According to the
company, this is the first product in the market to offer a film
recorder capability that allows multiple users to conveniently
access presentation output tools over any AppleTalk network for
production of boardroom quality slides, paper hardcopy, and
overhead transparencies.

The heart of the system is the new MacRascolServer software that
can be quickly installed on an Macintosh to be used as the
server. The Macintosh is then connected to the LFR or LFR Plus
via the SCSI (Small Computer System Interface) port.

MacRascolServer carries a list price of $995. Users who already
are using LFR and LFR Plus film recorders and MacRascol Print
units which are under warranty or extended warranty can upgrade
for $200 at the Lasergraphics factory.

In a companion announcement, Lasergraphics says the latest
upgrade to its MacRascol image management software is also
shipping. MacRascol serves as a link between a Macintosh and
Lasergraphics LFR, LFR Plus and MacRascol Print. For LFR, LFR
Plus or MacRascol Print owners currently under warranty or
extended warranty, the upgrade diskette will be sent at no
charge. For others requesting the upgrade, there will be a small
shipping fee and a handling charge of $20.

(Janet Endrijonas/19900728/Press Contact: Candice K. Tuttle,
Lasergraphics, 714-727-2651)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(TYO)(00005)

320 MEGS FOR MAC FROM KOBE STEEL
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1990 JUL 24 (NB) -- Kobe Steel, a leading steel
maker which successful diversified into information technology
and electronics, has announced the Data House mass storage HDD
(hard disk drive) unit for Apple Computer Japan's Macintosh personal
computers.

The DH-320 MS with 320-megabytes of storage space and the DH-660 MS
with 660-megabytes of the capacity are slated for shipment in August.
The prices of the units are 898,000 yen or $5,590 for DH-320 MS and
1,280,000 yen or $8,535 for DH-660 MS.

The features of the HDD are: standard 150 megabytes of backup tape,
connection with up to three units, and the ability of multiple computers
to share data on a small scale LAN (local area network) called DH-Net.

Generally, at least 80 megabytes of storage capacity is required
for Macintosh users in Japan due to the excess space required for
Japanese functions and the larger space required for recent applications.
Consequently, the market for 40- to 100-megabyte hard drives is
competitive while the larger storage HDD market is wide open.
Kobe Steel is expecting to sell 1,000 of the drives during the initial year.

The steel maker has been marketing Data House mass storage HDD
versions for most computers available in Japan, including those made by
IBM Japan, NEC, Fujitsu, Toshiba, AX bilingual machines, and
Apple Computer Japan, since 1987.

The specially designed HDD for Apple's Macintosh computers will be
available through Kobe Steel and authorized dealers of Apple Computer
Japan. Kobe Steel has no plan to ship the machine overseas at
this stage.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19900726/Press Contact: Kobe Steel Co., Ltd.
03-218-7111)


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

MICROSOFT LAUNCHES MAJOR LAN PROGRAM
REDMOND, WASHINGTON, U.S.A., 1990 JUL 26 (NB) -- Microsoft is
launching a major effort to unseat frontrunner Novell in the local area
network (LAN) arena by creating a team of "network specialists," supported
by a new sales and marketing structure. Microsoft says the effort represents
both in dollars and development the biggest commitment it has ever made.

Microsoft plans to invest at least $18 million dollars to authorize 600
new U.S. and 400 international resellers during the next year.
These people will be attending classes designed to turn them into
network specialists who deal with Microsoft LAN Manager, due in
August, Microsoft SQL Server, and DCA/MS Select Communications
Workstation and Communications Servers. Microsoft plans to
additionally hire 400 US and international sales, support, developer
and training personnel.

"Traditionally our LAN product has been offered only by our
OEM (original equipment manufacturer) partners," says Mike
Murray, general manager of networks at Microsoft. "We are
augmenting that channel with a sizable increase in the level of
support managed directly by Microsoft." He says Microsoft
intends to emerge as a leading LAN vendor.

The news comes as Microsoft's profits for the last fiscal year
have rocketed up 64 percent over the previous year. Revenues
are up 47 percent. The company is buoyed by sales of more than
800,000 copies of Windows 3.0 to date.

In another development, at a meeting with analysts, Microsoft
founder Bill Gates said his company will spend 10 million dollars on
multimedia products in 1991 and will have new products by the end
of next year based on handwriting recognition technology.

(Wendy Woods/19900727/Press Contact: Brenda Hansen, 206-882-
8080)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(NYC)(00004)

LANDMARK GRAPHICS RESTRUCTURES AND CHANGES DIRECTION
HOUSTON, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1990 JUL 27 (NB) -- Landmark Graphics
Corp. has announced that it has reduced its staff of 335 employees by 25.
The 25 positions were eliminated, according to Landmark, because of
changes in the business direction of the firm.

Landmark President and CEO C.E. Ennis said the reduction is an
adjustment to fundamental changes in the computer-aided exploration
(CAEX) business, and was not motivated by financial performance or
reduced expectations. Those changes, Ennis explained, include the
increasing ability of standard off-the-shelf computers to run the
company's geoscience software, and increased globalization of the
oil business.

Landmark has no plans for further reductions, Ennis says. He adds the
overall impact of Landmark's organizational changes is to put the company
in the best possible position to take advantage of continued industry
growth. "Our expectations of the fiscal 1991 market opportunities, and
Landmark's ability to seize them, are as high as ever," Ennis said.

Bob Peebler, Landmark spokesperson, explained the organizational changes
further in a discussion with Newsbytes, "We had previously done much
more hardware integration work which required engineering and
mechanical work. When we moved our primary delivery system from the
IBM RT to the standard Sun Workstation, we were able to take advantage
of already existing hardware and concentrate primarily on our software.
Similarly, the use of Unix and Motif allowed us to concentrate on our
strength, the provision of our applications software, rather than have to
concern ourselves with user interfaces and special software drivers.
We will soon be adding the IBM R6000 system to our product line but
that will  provide no more difficulty than the Sun. As long as we adhere
to industry standard hardware, operating systems and user interfaces,
we can devote all of our energies to our CAEX software. It was this
redirection that allowed us to streamline our organization."

(Barbara E. McMullen & John F. McMullen/199000728/Press Contact: Bob
Peebler, Landmark, 713-579-4700.


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(NYC)(00005)

WELLS AMERICAN SHOPS FOR PARTNER
WEST COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA, U.S.A., 1990 JUL 27 (NB) --
Wells American Corp. has disclosed that it has entered into negotiations
with multiple third parties in an attempt to raise additional capital. It also
said that it is in the process of determining whether a merger with another
firm is in the best interests of its stockholders.

This announcement comes a little more than seven months after Well
American's January 10th announcement that it was drastically curtailing its
IBM-compatible computer manufacturing activities and suspending
marketing operations. In conjunction with the announcement, the company
said it trimmed staffing to essential personnel and planned to focus its
efforts on the development of new business opportunities. Subsequently,
Wells American formed a new subsidiary to develop and market an Apple
Macintosh-compatible computer product. Its current attempt to acquire
additional funding is said to be partially for placement of the product into
production.

In conjunction with the release of Wells American's year-end results on
July 2, 1990, the company disclosed that it was evaluating current
operations, including, among other things, "exploring the availability of
additional capital, studying ways to reduce expense levels further and
investigating other initiatives."

(Barbara E. McMullen & John F. McMullen/199000728/Press Contact:
Robert K. King, Wells American Corp., 803/731-2922 )


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(NYC)(00006)

AGILIS CHANGES DIRECTION AND DROPS COMPUTER LINE
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1990 JUL 27 (NB) -- Agilis
Corp. has announced that it ceased production and marketing of its portable
computer line and will concentrate on wireless local area networks based
on spectrum radio technology. It states that it will introduce products of
this type for both MS-DOS and Macintosh platforms later this year.

Announcing the change in direction, Ken Biba, president of Agilis, said,
"We see an enormous opportunity in the area of untethered computer
networking, both in and out of the office and both on and off the desk. In
addition, with the increasing importance of laptops, stylus-based
computers and other next generation portable computers, there will be
a tremendous demand for wireless communication. Agilis is uniquely
positioned to satisfy that demand."

Agilis spokesperson Rene Shimada told Newsbytes that "We will continue
to support our current clients through the end of their warranty periods.
We are also attempting to sell the technology and service areas related to
the portable work stations to provide a continued presence for the product."

(Barbara E. McMullen & John F. McMullen/199000728/Press Contact:
Rene Shimada, Agilis Corp., 415-962-9400, IBM, 914-642-5363)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(NYC)(00007)

DIGITAL REPORTS LOSS OF $256.7 MILLION, WILL REDUCE SIZE
NEW YORK, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1990 JUL 27 (NB) -- Digital
Equipment Corp. announced, on July 25th, the first quarterly loss in the
firm's 33-year history. The major contributor to the loss was a $400
million charge against earnings that the company took to fund a voluntary
severance program for 6,000 employees that it plans to pare from its
current workforce of 124,000.

John F. Smith, Digital's senior vice president of operations said that the
reductions, amounting to 4.8% of the workforce, will come "across all
functions" and affect operations in both the United States and Europe.
Smith promised the cuts will not disproportionately affect either
Massachusetts or New Hampshire, two New England states already
economically troubled and reeling from a continuing recession in the
computer industry. In both states, Digital is the biggest private-sector
employer. He said fewer than 2,000 of the company's 32,000 Bay State
workforce would be affected. In New Hampshire, where the company
employs about 7,800, he also said he does not expect disproportionate
cuts.

Smith said no major plant closings were planned although some
smaller facilities would be "consolidated" and closed. He said future
layoffs, plant closings or additional losses could not be ruled out, though
none were anticipated.

Wall Street analysts reacted favorably to Digital's moves and the stock rose
on the day of the announcement 1 3/4 to 77 1/2. Paine Webber analyst
Steven K. Smith was quoted as calling the announcement a "turning point"
for the company and saying "People didn't think they were serious about
cutting costs until today."

(Barbara E. McMullen & John F. McMullen/199000728)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LAX)(00010)

ANTE CORP. II COMPLETES ACQUISITION OF NORTHGATE COMPUTER
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, U.S.A., 1990 JUL 25 (NB) -- Ante Corp. II
has completed the acquisition of Northgate Computer Systems whose
shareholders received shares of Ante stock in exchange for all
the outstanding stock of Northgate.

As a result of the transaction, the former Northgate stockholders
own 87 percent of outstanding shares of Ante Corp. II. Northgate
has become a wholly owned subsidiary of Ante Corp. II with the
resulting operating company to be known as Northgate Computer
Systems to be managed by the existing management of Northgate.
Arthur Lazere, chairman of Northgate and Lawrence G. Greenberg,
president, have become chairman and president respectively of
Ante Corp. II.

In a published statement, Lazere said: "We welcome the additional
financial strength which will help assure the continuing growth
and success of Northgate as well as that of the combined
companies. He added that no changes in the company's operating or
marketing strategies are anticipated."

(Janet Endrijonas/19900728/Press Contact: Arthur Lazere,
Northgate Computer Systems, 612-943-8181)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TOR)(00006)

DCA SWALLOWS A FIFTH OF HELIX
BRIARWOOD, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1990 JUL 26 (NB) -- Digital
Communications Associates of Alpharetta, Georgia, has bought
about 20 percent of Helix Software, Briarwood-based maker of
Headroom and Netroom memory management software.

The relationship provides DCA with technology licenses giving it
access to four-year-old Helix's patent-pending personal computer
memory management technology. DCA will use Helix's technology to
enhance its PC communications products.

"We feel Helix Software's unique technology will help our
customers, and maintain the industry-leading position of our
communications and networking products," said C. "Garry" Betty,
DCA president and chief executive officer, in a prepared
statement. "We also see Helix as a good investment opportunity --
 they are a young, aggressive and innovative company, with great
potential."

Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

(Grant Buckler/19900726/Press Contact: Michael Spilo, Helix
Software, 718-252-8787; Jeff Spruell, DCA, 404-442-4519)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TOR)(00009)

DATA SWITCH, PROTEON ANNOUNCE AGREEMENT
SHELTON, CONNECTICUT, U.S.A., 1990 JUL 25 (NB) -- Data Switch, a
maker of enterprise and host networking products, has entered
into a joint technology development and marketing agreement with
Proteon, a producer of local-area network (LAN) and
internetworking products.

Data Switch will use Proteon technology and products in its lines
of data processing and communications switching and control
systems. Data Switch will announce and market in the fall LAN and
internetworking products resulting from the new relationship.

"Our decision to form this relationship reflects our commitment
to the LAN management business," said Robert Gilbertson, Data
Switch president and chief executive officer, in a prepared
statement. "Proteon is clearly a pioneer and leader in emerging
LAN and internetworking technologies."

Patrick Courtin, president and chief executive officer of
Proteon, called the agreement "an opportunity to extend our LAN
and internetworking expertise in keeping with the well-
established Data Switch approach of providing the data center
manager with comprehensive, enterprise-wide network management."

(Grant Buckler/19900726/Press Contact: Linda L. Bachmann, Data
Switch, 203-926-1801; Maureen MacGregor, Proteon, 508-898-2136)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(BRU)(00001)

TECHNOLOGY STOCKS: Quarterly Results, Week Ending 27 Jul
NEW YORK, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1990 JULY 27 (NB) -- Quarterlies are
in with Microsoft and Compaq both reporting excellent results.
Others include: GENERAL COMPUTER, DATA I/O, ADVANCED TELECOMM,
DATA GENERAL, DIGITAL MICROWAVE, M/A COM, ARCHIVE, SYMBOL
TECHNOLOGIES, DYBAICS, COMPUTER PRODUCTS, STANFORD, CARPENTER,
SMARTCARD, ELECTRONICS ASSOCIATES, ZEOS INTERNATIONAL AND
FRANKLIN.

[] COMPAQ COMPUTER reports $104 million in earnings for the second
quarter which ended June 30, 1990 on revenues of $862 million. The income
represents an increase of 24 percent over the equivalent quarter in
1989 which stood at $84 million while revenues exceeded last year's
results by a 19 percent margin. For the first six months, net income
stood at $196 million while sales reached $1.7 billion, well above
the $1.4 billion recorded for the six month period in fiscal 1989.
Compaq attributes the excellent results to international business
which grew by 48 percent compared to US sales growth of 2 percent.

[] GENERAL COMPUTER posts fourth quarter earnings of $43,000 for the
period which ended May 31, 1990 on revenues of $3.1 million
compared to a loss of $456,000 for the same period in 1989. For
fiscal 1990, the company reported a net operating loss of $1.7
million on revenues of $12 million compared to a loss of $2.7
million and sales of $11.5 million reported for fiscal 1989.
Richard Pilarczyk, General Computer's president, commented "Our
operating performance grew steadily each quarter and we foresee
a return to profitability for fiscal 1991."

[] DATA I/O earns $66,000 for the second quarter which ended June
28, 1990 on revenues of $14.9 million. This compares with
earnings of $400,000 for the same period in 1989. The net
income was unfavorable due to a one-time $540,000  charge and
by about $240,000 in income tax expenses. Data I/O offers systems
to programmable integrated IC users.

[] MICROSOFT earns $45.4 million for the fourth quarter which
ended June 30, 1990 on revenues of $337 million. For the year,
the company reported sales of $1.18 billion while net income stood
at $279.2 million. In 1989, the company reported revenues of $803.5
million  and earnings of $170.5 million. Mike Hallman, Microsoft's
CEO, commented, "These results represent the continued strength of
the company across the various product groups, especially shipments
of Windows 3.0 which contributed to the excellent results." Microsoft
is a producer of software for personal and Unix-based computers.

[] ADVANCED TELECOMMUNICATIONS  earns $6.29 million in the first quarter
of fiscal 1991 which ended June 30, 1990, on revenues of $81.37 million.
Last year the company reported earnings of $6 million on revenues
of $83 million for the equivalent period. Net income was adversely affected
by a one-time payment of $600,000 towards severance payments. ATC is a
Southwest-based telecommunications carrier.

[] DATA GENERAL reports a loss of $23.1 million for the third quarter
which ended June 30, 1990 on revenues of $302.4 million. In last
year's similar period, the  company reported sales of $306.1 million
and a net loss of $23.1 million. Data General, which produces
minicomputer systems and related equipment,  also reported revenues
for the nine month period of $907.9 million and a net loss of $44.4
million. These two figures compare with a net loss of $45.1 million
for the nine month in 1989 and revenues of $957.3 million. Roland Skates,
CEO, said, "Due to our increased cost reduction program, we have shed
operating expenses by almost $14 million."

[] DIGITAL MICROWAVE reports net income of $3.33 million in the
first quarter which ended June 30, 1990 on revenues of $33.33 million.
These figures  represent increases of 4 percent and 51 percent
respectively over last year's comparable period. Digital Microwave,
is a leading supplier of short-haul transmission products.

[] M/A COM posts income of $4.2 million for the third quarter which ended
June 30, 1990 on revenues of $96.19 million. This compares with sales of $64
million and earnings of $2.76 million reported in 1989 for the same period.
M/A Com manufactures and markets radio frequency microwave and radar
components and systems.

[] ARCHIVE reports net income of $962,000 in the third quarter which
ended June 29, 1990 on revenues of $101.4 million. This compares with
income of $4.2 million and revenues of $50.5 million. For the nine
months, Archive reports revenues reaching $200.5 million from $131.7
million and income 8.5 million, down from $11.2 million reported in
1989. Archive manufactures and markets data storage products.

[] DYNAMICS CORPORATION of AMERICA earns $671,000 in the second
quarter which ended June 30, 1990 on revenues of $29.013 million.  These
results show a decline when compared with the similar period last year
when the company reported sales of $31.87 million and income of $1 million.
For the six months, the company recorded net sales of $56.24 million and net
income of $270,000 which unfavorably compares with sales of $60.85
million and income of $1.2 million recorded for the same period in fiscal
1989. The company manufactures electronic components.

[] COMPUTER PRODUCTS earns $1.6 million in the second quarter which ended
June 29, 1990 on revenues of $28.1 million. For the six months the company
reported sales of $57.1 million and income of $3 million. This compares with
sales of $61.5 million and earnings of $3.1 million in 1989. The company
specializes in power conversion products.

[] STANFORD TELECOMMUNICATIONS reports earnings of $858,000 during the
first quarter of 1990 which ended June 30, 1990 on revenues of
$24.385 million compared to earnings of $475,000 on revenues of $23
million.

[] CARPENTER  TECHNOLOGY earns $12.2 million in the fourth quarter
which ended June 30, 1990 on revenues of $154.3 million. For the year,
the company reported sales of $584.4 million compared with $634.3 million
in 1989 and income stood at $45 million compared to $29 million.

[] SMARTCARD INTERNATIONAL  reports a loss of $420,748 for the second
quarter which ended June 30, 1990 on revenues of $7,950. This compares
to revenues of $33,135 and a loss of $213,285 recorded in 1989. For
the six months the company reports a loss of $86,230 and a loss of
$609,208. SmartCard develops and markets smart card systems.

[] SYMBOL TECHNOLOGIES earns $1.35 million  in the second quarter which
ended June 30, 1990 on revenues of  $55.157 million. This compares to
earnings of  $5.988 million and revenues of $58.68 million reported
in the same period in 1989. For the six months, the company reported
earnings of $1.62 million and sales of $106.29 million compared with
$11.412 million and $114.236 million respectively. Symbol manufactures
and markets laser barcode products.

[] ELECTRONIC ASSOCIATES reports net income of $62,000 for the second
quarter which ended June 30, 1990 compared with $169,000 for the same
period in 1989.  For the six months, the company reported profit of $1
million.

[] ZEOS INTERNATIONAL posts income of $1 million for the second
quarter which ended June 30, 1990 on revenues of $28.53 million.
This compares with income of $383,000 and revenues of $7.851
million for the comparable quarter in 1989. For the first six
months of fiscal 1990, the company reported sales of $54.72
million and income of $2 million. Zeos manufactures and markets personal
computer systems including a best selling 386SX-based system.

[] FRANKLIN ELECTRONIC PUBLISHERS reports first quarter loss of
$2.777 million for the period which ended June 30, 1990 on revenues
of $12.036 million compared with a loss of $1.22 million on revenues
of $10.774 million reported for  the same period in 1989. Franklin
manufactures and markets portable hand-held reference works.

(John Verhelst/19900728)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(BRU)(00002)

TECHNOLOGY STOCKS: Market Summary, Week Ending Jul 27
NEW YORK, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1990 JUL 28 (NB) -- Stocks reported gains
and losses this week when the Dow Industrial lost most of the gains of
the past six months.

On the OTC, Microsoft ended the week up 25 cents to $69, Intel down
25 cents to $43.50, MCI Communications off 37.5 cents to $36.375 and
Apple Computer unchanged at $41.375. Sun Microsystems edged up 12.5
cents to $32.75 and Conner Peripherals went up 12.5 cents to $27.50.

On the American exchange,  Wang Labs remained unchanged at $3.875, Amdahl
off 25 cents to $15.25 and Western Digital unchanged at $12.375.

On the big board, the Dow average closed the week at 2898.51 with decliners
leading advancers by 921 to 531.

IBM closed at $1.75 down to $111.375, GE lost $1 to $72 and AT&T lost 75
cents to end the week at $36.25.

(John Verhelst/19900728)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SYD)(00003)

AUSTRALIAN LASER CONTROL INTERFACE BOUGHT BY HP
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA, 1990 JUL 27 (NB) -- Australian
hardware manufacturer Hibbert Computers has sold a laser
interface program to Hewlett-Packard. The company says it
designed the software for an in-house application after finding
no similar applications existed.

Hewlett-Packard will distribute the software internationally.
The software controls a laser interferometer, used for making
measurements to accuracies of millionths of an inch. Hibbert
says even Hewlett-Packard was unable to develop anything to
equal the A$2000 software, which took around 10 man-years
to develop.

(Paul Zucker/19900727)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SYD)(0000)

AUSTRALIA: ASPECT SELLS APP DEVT SYSTEM TO JAPAN
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1990 JUL 25 (NB) -- Australian software
house Aspect has sold its applications development system
Lansa to the Systems Engineering Laboratory (SEL) of Tokyo.

Language problems within the product have been
solved and documentation is due to be translated by SEL over
the next few months. The software can be used to develop
applications in all languages and supports Chinese and
Japanese characters. The selling of Lansa to a Japanese
concern reflects the recent trend within that market of
companies relying less on internal software houses. Lansa
is currently being used in 30 countries and has been on the
market for 18 months.

The deal came about after SEL approached Austrade (the
government's body to assist Australian companies in
developing international markets) to help them find a
software house capable of supplying advanced products,
especially in the computer-aided software engineering
(CASE) field. Once evaluated, Aspect's product was chosen
to be converted for the Japanese market.

(Sean McNamara/19900727)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(NYC)(00002)

PROTESTERS TO MARCH ON LOTUS AUGUST 2
CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1990 JUL 26 (NB) -- The
League for Programming Freedom (LPF) has announced that, on August
2nd, it will march on Lotus Development Corp. headquarters in
Cambridge, MA to protest Lotus' role as a litigant in cases involving
software copyright issues. LPF is on record as believing that the
establishment of copyright protection for software user interfaces
is against the best interests of the public.

LPF, whose members include MIT professors Marvin Minsky and Patrick
Winston and LISP author John McCarthy, has singled out Lotus because of
its successful suit against Paperback Software and its recent filing
of suits against Borland International and the Santa Cruz Organization.
LPF also advocates in its literature that persons concerned about this
issue should not buy products from Lotus, Apple, Xerox or Ashton-Tate
because of their roles as plaintiffs in various copyright cases. It further
advocates that people not buy stock in these companies nor develop
software to work with the companies' products.

LPF President Richard Stallman, the recent winner of a MacArthur
Fellowship, explained his reasons for criticizing Lotus, "No one should be
allowed to exclusively own a user interface. That's against the public
interest. Users of a system invest a great deal of time and effort into
mastering the use of a user interface. That investment should make them
partial owners of the interface and should preclude any one entity from
having a monopoly on the interface."

Stallman added, "Lotus has not been honest in its claims on this issue.
It says that it has always been illegal to copy software. By saying this,
it attempts to confuse the issue. What is illegal is the duplication of a
commercial software product and the selling of the copies -- in other
words, stealing. This is not the same as programmers developing a new
product that looks like another one.

"Lotus also says that programmers who copy standard interfaces
are not innovative," he says. "This statement assumes that innovation
is a good by itself. Innovation is only relevant if it leads to a better
product. The programming of a new user interface simply to
ward off litigation is non-productive."

Stallman contends that the public is not being considered in the
Lotus suit. He says that a person who has invested time in learning
a system should not have to write that investment off if a technically
more appealing product comes along. He says it's to the best interest
of all users to have a variety of competing products with similar or the
same user interface. The user can then select a program from a variety of
choices according to many criteria (ex. price, functionality, etc.). "Users
have choices as to hardware where many, many clones exist," he
concludes. "They should have the same choice in software."

Bryan Williams, a Lotus spokesperson, told Newsbytes "We are aware of
their plan to demonstrate. We respect their rights to hold opinions and to
demonstrate in support of these opinions. They demonstrated here
peacefully last year [NOTE: LPF demonstrated against Lotus in May 1989]
and we will expect them to do the same this year. We will continue to
pursue our legal rights as we interpret them and as the federal courts have
interpreted them."

Mitchell Kapor, founder of Lotus Development Corp. and founder and
present CEO of On Technology, commented to Newsbytes, "My
understanding is that the LPF is opposed to software copyrights for
nonliteral elements, the so-called look and feel of a program and is opposed
to the issuance of software patents. I am in substantial agreement with
these two positions and seek legislation which implements these
objectives. I do not believe, however, that boycotting companies is a
particularly effective tactic towards accomplishing these goals." Kapor
is no longer associated with Lotus.

(Barbara E. McMullen & John F. McMullen/199000725/Press Contact:
Richard Stallman, LPF, 617-253-8830)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(LAX)(00002)

NEW FOR NETWORKS: ReadyNet Zero-RAM LAN From Corvus
SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1990 JUL 29 (NB) -- Corvus Systems
has announced a new version of its ReadyNet LAN (local area
network) that can be completely loaded into Upper Memory,
eliminating software overhead. The new product, ReadyNet 1.2,
which also fully supports DOS 3.x and above and volume sizes
larger than 32 Mb (megabits), is currently shipping.

The ReadyNet executable network software has been redesigned to
allow it to be loaded into memory between 640K and 1 MB
(megabyte). This frees the RAM (random access memory) below 640K
for other applications. ReadyNet is a "do-it-yourself" LAN
designed for over-the-counter consumer sales with a
preconfiguration scheme that automatically sets up the first
users and logical connections at installation.

ReadyNet is available in two versions, a 1 Mbps (megabits per
second) version and a 4Mbps version. Both versions can be
installed without tools and can run on unshielded twisted pair
wiring. The 1Mbps version with complete hardware and software and
two nodes lists for $499. An add-on kit for one node sells for
$249. For the 4Mbps version, the Start-Up Kit lists at $850 with
the Add-On Kit priced at $425. Software for upgrading ReadyNet
1.0 nodes is included in the new version and can also be obtained
from Corvus for a nominal fee.

As of July 17, Corvus emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy
protection under a plan of reorganization that has been approved
by its creditors and the US Bankruptcy Court. Mark Miller, COO
and a director of Corvus commented: "We're all excited by the new
opportunity that our emergence from Chapter 11 brings. Now we can
put the expense and stigma of Chapter 11 behind us and
concentrate on producing high quality networking and peripheral
products that compete effectively in the market today."

(Janet Endrijonas/19900728/Press Contact: Janel Killheffer,
Corvus Systems, 408-281-4100)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(LAX)(00003)

NEW FOR NETWORKS: "NetWare Ready" Server Disk Kit
REDMOND, WASHINGTON, U.S.A., 1990 JUL 29 (NB) -- ADIC and Seagate
have teamed up to provide a complete turn-key NetWare Ready file
server disk kit. The Kit will contain a Seagate NetWare Ready
Wren disk, an ADIC/Novell DCB or EDCB, all required cabling and
hardware, software drivers, users' manuals and a single telephone
number for technical support.

Terry McCauley, president and COO of ADIC noted that since ADIC
began producing and distributing its ADIC/Novell DCB line, the
company has become aware that consumers are concerned about the
multiplicity of vendors required to install a server disk. He
added: "Many resellers were unsure about who to call for which
products. The ADIC Server Disk Kit will, with a single part
number, provide all necessary components and guarantee their
NetWare compatibility."

The ADIC Server DIsk Kits (called the NK Series by ADIC) are
initially available in a range of capacities from 330 MB
(megabyte) to 1 GB (gigabyte) with a 150 MB disk to be released
in the future. List prices for ADIC Server Disk Kits with
ADIC/Novell DCB channel 1 are $3,199 for 330 MB, $4,799 for 650
MB and $7,539 for 1 GB. DCB Channels 2,3 and 4 are available by
calling ADIC and kits shipped with EDCB for NetWare 386
installations or EISA (Extended Industry Standard Architecture)
file servers are available at slightly higher cost.

(Janet Endrijonas/19900728/Press Contact: Ann Revell-Pechar,
ADIC, 206-861-1439)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(LAX)(00005)

NOVELL LICENSES EXOS CONTROLLER TECHNOLOGY TO FTC
PROVO, UTAH, U.S.A., 1990 JUL 25 (NB) -- Novell has granted a
non-exclusive license for its EXOS intelligent Ethernet
controller technology to Federal Technology Corp. (FTC). Under
the agreement, Novell will transfer to FTC the EXOS intelligent
controller technology, the EXOS trademark and current EXOS
business while Novell will retain ownership of the current EXOS
technology.

The agreement continues Novell's move away from the hardware
business and advances its commitment to networking software
development. The EXOS line was originally developed by Excelan,
Inc. with whom Novell merged last year.

(Janet Endrijonas/19900728/Press Contact: Steve Genoa, Novell,
408-473-8381)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(LAX)(00006)

VENTURA SOFTWARE TO OFFER NEW CUSTOMER SUPPORT PLAN
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1990 JUL 25 (NB) -- Ventura
Software has announced a new support plan for customers of
Ventura Publisher and FormBase software.

Under the new plan, registered first time users of current level
software will receive free technical support. Customers who
upgrade to current level software will receive free support for
the first 60 days.

The new support includes four programs, the Corporate Group
Support Plan, Individual Support Plan, Basic support and On-
Demand Technical Support. The Corporate Group Plan offers toll-
free access to support lines for five designated users, top call
handling priority, a 25 percent discount on up to 15 future
upgrades of Ventura Software products, free automatic
distribution of software patches, free subscriptions to Ventura
Professional magazine and five discount coupons for selected
training workshops. The annual fee for this plan is $1,000.

The annual fee for the Individual Support Plan is $150 for
Ventura Publisher users and $100 for the FormBase plan. The plans
are similar to the corporate plan offering support for a single
user, express handling of support calls, a 10 percent discount on
purchases of Ventura Software Products and a discount coupon for
selected training workshops.

The Basic Support Plan is offered free to newly registered users.

(Janet Endrijonas/19900728/Press Contact: Ken Vandergriff,
Ventura Software, 619-673-0172)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(LAX)(00008)

NEW FOR NETWORKS: Tiara Intros LanCard/E*2000
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1990 JUL 12 (NB) -- Tiara
Computer Systems has introduced the LanCard/E*2000, a Novell
NE2000-compatible adapter card. The card supports NetWare 2.0A,
2.1 and 386 v3.0 conforming to all Ethernet protocols as defined
in IEEE 802.3.

The new card uses the National Semiconductor Ethernet controller
chip and is self-configuring to operate in either an 8 or 16 bit
slot. It features jumper selectable interrupts, base I/O and boot
PROM (programmable read only memory) addresses, 16 KB (kilobyte)
of buffer memory, thick and thin Ethernet cabling connections and
sockets for remote boot PROMs.

The LanCard/E*2000 is available through distributors and selected
VARs worldwide for a suggested retail price of $350.

(Janet Endrijonas/19900728/Press Contact: Lisa MacKenzie, Tiara,
415-965-1700)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(LAX)(00009)

NEW OFFICE AND COMPUTER SYSTEMS SHOW ANNOUNCED
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1990 JUL 20 (NB) -- The first
Annual Computer & Office Systems Show will be held October 10-11
at the Long Beach Convention Center in the Los Angeles area.

Exhibits will display what the show managers call "trends in
technology" in all office equipment categories. IBM, Hewlett-
Packard, Borland, Lotus, WordPerfect, Novell, Pitney-Bowes, AT&T
and Sun Microsystems are just a few of the companies expected to
be involved in both exhibits and seminars.

According to Kurt Misar of American Show Management, the company
producing the new show, the show is being held a month before
Comdex in order to offer attendees many of the same products that
will be on display in Las Vegas without having to make that trip.

(Janet Endrijonas/19900728/Press Contact: Kurt Misar, American
Show Management, 503-244-6050)


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

WEST COAST PRESENTATIONS SHOW ADDS EAST COAST VENUE FOR 1991
WALTHAM, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1990 JUL 26 (NB) -- Presentations
'90, Graphics & Multimedia Conference and Exposition, scheduled
to be held September 17-19 in Long Beach, CA will add an East
Coast venue in 1991. Presentations '91 East will be held at the
World Trade Center in Boston, May 14-16.

The new show will follow the formula that has proven successful
on the West Coast. According to Carl Berndtson, executive
director, Presentations '90, the focus will be on providing a
high-quality educational forum, where all of the leading industry
vendors, consultants, dealers and users can meet in an intensive
three day period of workshops, lectures, panel discussions and
product demonstrations.

Presentations '90 West in September will feature more than 40
individual sessions with a faculty of over 100 industry experts.
It will showcase the full range of products and services used to
create, produce and deliver computer-aided presentations. The
event is expected to draw more than 6,000 professionals from
business, education, government and the military.

(Janet Endrijonas/19900728/Press Contact: Peter Kimpton,
Exposition Management, Inc., 617-290-0412)


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

FUJITSU LAUNCHES SUPER-FAST TRON PROCESSOR
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1990 JUL 20 (NB) -- Fujitsu has released a high-end
32-bit TRON microprocessor called Gmicro F32/300 onto the Japanese
market.

At 17 MIPS (million instructions per second), Gmicro F32/300
has the highest processing ability among Japanese microprocessors.
It integrates about 0.9 million transistors on a 15.9 square millimeter
silicon chip and the minimum line width of the circuit is 1.0 micron.

TRON is the computer architecture advocated by Ken Sakamura, the
professor of Tokyo University. Hitachi, Fujitsu, and Mitsubishi
Electric created Gmicro group in 1986 to jointly develop 32-bit TRON
microprocessors and they have shared development of the processors
for their respective computer fields. Mitsubishi and Hitachi each already
developed Gmicro 100 and Gmicro 200 processors and are now marketing
them.

The sample price of Gmicro F32/300 is 160,000 yen ($1,070). Fujitsu
is aiming to market 2,000 units each month.

(Ken Takahashi/19900726)


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

SEIKO-EPSON OFFERS HIGH-END LAPTOP COMPUTER
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1990 JUL 25 (NB) -- Seiko-Epson has put on sale
the 32-bit Epson PC-386LSR, the most sophisticated and fastest
of its laptop computers.

The new laptop sports an 80386SX processor with a 20 megahertz
clock frequency, so it has improved its processing speed by
25 percent compared with its predecessor PC-386LS. The one-megabyte
main memory can be extended to 9.6 megabytes. An optional math
coprocessor speeds up math-intensive applications, such as
engineering and spreadsheets. Two 3.5-inch floppy drives are built-in.

With Japanese MS-DOS extended version 4.01 including EMS
(expanded memory specification) driver, the laptop allows
use of one megabyte of internal memory as EMS memory.

The price is 538,000 yen ($3,600). Seiko-Epson expects to sell
50,000 units in the first year.

(Ken Takahashi/19900726/Press Contact: Seiko-Epson, 0266-52-3131)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(TYO)(00012)

SEIKO-EPSON TO DIVIDE R&D IN THE U.S., EUROPE, JAPAN
NAGANO, JAPAN, 1990 JUL 26 (NB) -- Seiko-Epson has decided to
establish R&D (research and development) centers in the U.S., Europe, and
Japan in order to boost its personal computer business, according
to The Japan Industrial Journal paper.

As an initial step, it will delegate about 100 engineers to
its Hirooka office in Nagano prefecture of Japan and its Technology
Center in San Jose, California, this year, the paper says. Technology
Center is to develop a 32-bit personal computer based on EISA
(extended industry standard architecture), while the Hirooka office
will lay emphasis on development of book-sized computers, the paper
reports.

The paper says that the firm will announce a 32-bit book-sized
computer in the near future and develop a 40-megabyte hard disk model
of a book-sized computer next year.

Though it is uncertain at which site Seiko-Epson will establish its
European R&D foothold, the paper expects it will consolidate
development and sales arrangements for desktop personal computers in
the Netherlands by 1992, timing the moves with the economic
unification of the EC (European Community).

Seiko-Epson has been marketing personal computers compatible with
Japan's de facto standard NEC PC-9801 series in Japan and IBM-
compatible machines in the U.S. and Europe, but it has recently
fallen behind in the development of personal computers. By
establishing the "tripolar" R&D system, it hopes to widen the variety
of its personal computer lineup and do its best to
market advanced personal computers oriented for each region, the
paper says.

(Ken Takahashi/19900726)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(MOW)(00002)

MOSCOW: COMPUTER EXPO OPEN THROUGH MID-FALL
MOSCOW, U.S.S.R., 1990 JUL 27 (NB) -- Joint venture Dialogue is
hosting an exhibition of hardware and software that will stay open
at the Moscow VDNKh (Russian acronym for "Exhibition of people's
industry achievements") park, through mid-fall.

The site is a 10-minute walk from the site of the PC World
Forum concluded two weeks ago.

The joint venture has a many branches around the country and several
abroad. It is the sole distributor of Microsoft software in
the Soviet Union and several other products. Several branches are
engaged in teaching and are popular computer learning
sites.

Dialogue will have presentations from all its branches during the
show.

This months-long exhibition primarily focuses on education and
is designed as advertising for the business.

(Kirill Tchashchin/19900728)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(LON)(00004)

UK: MANNESMANN TALLY RELEASES LOW-COST LASER PRINTER
WOKINGHAM, BERKSHIRE, ENGLAND, 1990 JUL 28 (NB) -- Mannesmann
Tally has released a low-cost (UKP 2,390) laser printer which,
despite its entry-level pricing, features full Postscript
compatibility.

The MY-906PS laser printer is based on the high-speed Jade
controller, developed by Mannesman Tally to provide performance
printing on its mid to high-end laser printers. The company
claims that the controller is capable of handling the most
complex multiple fonts and graphics.

Why a budget Postscript machine? David Allison, the company's
marketing manager, said that demand is increasing for Postscript
machines, even at the low end of the market.

"Desktop Publishing is only just becoming a reality for many
companies. The launch of this low-cost machine comes at a time
when many first-time users will be looking around for a laser,"
he said.

Despite its low pricing, the MT-906 comes with both parallel and
serial ports, as well as 2.5MB of RAM. A 4.5MB-equipped version
is available at UKP 500 extra. Both versions are capable of six
pages per minute, and include 35 Type 1 Bitstream fonts as
standard.

(Steve Gold/19900728/Press & Public Contact: David Allison,
Mannesman Tally - Tel: [phone])


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

UK: SHARP LAUNCHES MULTI-FUNCTION ORGANISERS
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND, 1990 JUL 28 (NB) -- Following on from last
year's launch of the IQ personal organiser - known as the Wizard
in the US - Sharp has launched two new low-end organisers, the
ZQ-2250 and ZQ-5200 featuring, respectively, 32 and 64K of RAM.

The ZQ-2250 has seven built-in functions including a calendar,
scheduler, phone directory, memo pad and clock/calculator. The
5200 has the same features, but a 'do list,' time/expense
manager, world clock, PC-Link and optional printer functions as
well.

Both units feature raise Qwerty-style keyboards and wide-angle
viewing LCD displays. The 2250 has a 12 digit by 4 line display,
while the 5200 has a 16 digit by 8 line display. UK pricing has
been set at UKP 69-99 for the 2250 and UKP 129-99 for the 5200.

(Steve Gold/19900728/Press & Public Contact: Sharp Electronics -
Tel: [phone])


(EXCLUSIVE)(GENERAL)(HKG)(00001)

HONGKONG: SYGNOS RELEASES LATEST FLAT-SCREEN MONITOR
QUARRY BAY, HONG KONG, 1990 JUL 27 (NB) -- Sygnos Technologies of
Hong Kong has announced the release of its latest flat screen
monitor, the Sygnos-68 VGA. It has a resolution of 640 by 480
pixels and uses a high contrast 25.8 cm diagonal black and white cold
cathode fluorescent tube backlit LCD. The unit is capable of producing a
32-tone grey scale and is compatible with CGA, EGA, HGC and MGA
graphics standards.

Sygnos, which was founded three years ago as a high technology
development and manufacturing venture, has concentrated so far on a
line of flat screen monitors using the latest liquid crystal diode
(LCD) techniques.

Its first model, a small free-standing unit, was designed to CGA
standards, producing an exceptionally sharp white image on a dark
blue background. It attracted immediate attention in many countries,
particularly from banks and other institutions needing a display
small enough to fit in front of a teller without the screen being
visible to members of the public at the other side of the counter, or
where desk space is at a premium.

Apart from the low resolution typical of all CGAs, the original model
needed its own adaptor card and power supply.

The CGA monitor was followed earlier this year by an EGA version, the
ST-64 EGA with 640 by 400 pixels resolution. This has a larger, 27
centimetre (cm) diagonal screen which runs direct from a PC's
standard EGA adaptor.

The new monitor comes complete with its own graphics adaptor, which may
be used with any other industry standard VGA CRT or LCD monitor, but
which also supplies the Sygnos monitor with power through its own
custom cable, eliminating the usual need for two cables.

The recommended Hong Kong FOB list price is US$1,099 for the complete
set, including the Sygnos VGA adaptor.

Sygnos founder, James Henry, told Newsbytes, "We have had an
incredible response to our flat screen monitors around the world,
especially in Europe. We have already had many enquiries about the
Sygnos-68 VGA, although it is only now becoming available."

Henry also told Newsbytes his company is deeply involved at present
in research into radiation from conventional cathode ray tube (CRT)
monitors. "We understand that some governments may ban the use of
CRTs in their own offices. We think this is a matter that must be
taken seriously, though our own flat screen monitors are free of the
problem."

Henry went on to say that, apart from concern over possible health
hazards to users of CRT screens, data security was also an important
consideration. It is possible, in theory, to pick up the radio
frequency signals radiated by a CRT monitor and decode information
from them without any direct wire connection.

"We are investigating the implications of CRT radiation very
seriously because we wish to be sure we are approaching the matter
correctly," Henry said.

The Sygnos Technologies range of flat screens is complemented by a
compact PC XT/AT keyboard, released earlier this year.

This has a full set of 101 keys, yet is only 40.5 cm wide. With the
exception of the special function keys, which have been reduced in
size and placed in two horizontal rows along the top left of the
keyboard, all keys are full-sized and laid out with normal spacing. A
full-size numeric keypad is included.

(Norman Wingrove/19900728/Press Contact: James Henry, Sygnos
Technologies Head Office, [phone], Fax [phone], London
Office: [phone], Fax [phone])


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(HKG)(00002)

NCR JOINS BANK IN PIONEER SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT
WANCHAI, HONG KONG, 1990 JUL 27 (NB) -- NCR and Hong Kong's Chekiang
First Bank are jointly developing an online billing system based on the
client-server principles embodied in NCR's Open Cooperative Computing
Architecture (OCCA).

Chekiang First Bank is a subsidiary of Japan's Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank
and has 14 branches in Hong Kong. It will be one of the first local
banks to adopt an open systems approach to applications development.

"The advantage of using an open systems approach is that it allows us
to tie different systems in together in a very flexible way," said
Lim Chun-kong, senior manager in the bank's EDP department. "By
processing computer-intensive tasks at the server level, we avoid
using expensive mainframe resources, while at the same time
minimizing network overhead. And we can reduce development time by
using standard interfaces and tool sets."

The central database will use the Unify database management system,
while the Accell/SQL fourth generation language will be used to
create screen enquiries and reports.

"This project is a good real-world example of cooperative
processing," said Andrew Liu, NCR financial systems division manager.
"Common application services can be concentrated in the server, while
the PCs can be employed for the local processing of data. This places
processing where it is needed to achieve a more cost-effective
solution."

The system will be implemented by Chekiang First Bank on 50 NCR PC286
and PC386 personal computers, supported through a local-area network
by a Unix-based NCR Tower 32/700. The Tower will act as a server,
maintaining the bills database, while the PCs will process the
information at client level. A second Tower 32/700 will provide
backup.

Through the Tower system, PC users will have access to the bank's
central management information system (MIS) applications, which run
on an IBM 4381 mainframe. This means that the proceeds of bills may
be credited directly to customers' current or savings accounts, while
foreign exchange transactions or SWIFT funds transfers can be
initiated from the bills department.

NCR will provide consultancy and project management during the
development phase, though most of the systems design will be done by
the bank's own staff. The resulting applications will be marketed by
NCR to other banks in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia.

Multiple servers in the network may be arranged hierarchically or in
a peer-to-peer structure in the future, thus implementing the concept
of enterprise-wide client-server relationships, Liu said. "Through
the use of Ethernet TCP/IP networking, clients can access information
or resources anywhere within the network in a transparent mode."

The 50 NCR PCs will be configured with hard discs and 14 inch colour
monitors. They will be linked to the Tower via NCR's implementation
of Ethernet.

(Norman Wingrove/19900728/Press Contact: Andrew Liu, NCR,
[phone])


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

3COM OFFERS LIFETIME WARRANTY ON ETHERNET ADAPTORS
ADMIRALTY, HONG KONG, 1990 JUL 27 (NB) -- 3Com Corporation's Hong
Kong office has announced a lifetime warranty covering the company's
entire line of Ethernet adaptors worldwide.

Previously, all Etherlink adaptors came with an automatic three-year
warranty. By completing and returning a registration card that comes
with all Etherlink products, customers can extend the cover to a
lifetime warranty.

A defective adaptor will be repaired or replaced, at 3Com's option,
for as long as the board is in use in its original IBM PC, PS/2,
Apple Macintosh or compatible computer. This warranty applies
retroactively from 1st June 1990.

William Messer, 3Com's general manager for Asian operations, said
"Today's networking customers want products that work in multivendor,
multimedia networks and provide the highest levels of performance and
reliability."

The warranty also covers 3Com's Ethernet adaptors for the emerging
10BASE-T standard - the Etherlink II TP and Etherlink/MC TP.

(Norman Wingrove/19900728/Press Contact: William Messer, 3Com,
[phone])


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

SOFTWARE PUBLISHING AND COMPUTER SUPPORT END CLIP ART SUIT
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1990 JUL 26 (NB) -- Software
Publishing Corp. and Computer Support Corp. have settled their copyright
infringement dispute centered around graphic "clip art" images the
two companies market.

Computer Support Corporation (CSC), a Texas-based graphics software
developer affiliated with Control Data Corp., sought an injunction
to halt the sale of three Harvard Graphics Software products, the current
program along with Harvard Graphics Military Symbols and Business
Symbols Accessory Paks. The company alleged that hundreds of clip art
images contained in Computer Support products were copied without
permission by SPC. The suit was in response to one filed by SPC in
April alleging that CSC's software programs and clip art are not
protected by US copyright laws.

The settlement calls for "mutually agreeable licenses," according to a
statement issued by Software Publishing Corporation, indicating
that Software Publishing has agreed to license the clip art images
from Computer Support Corp. , thereby avoiding a court fight over
copyright of the images. The statement says that "Customers of
both companies can continue to use existing products without
violating any proprietary rights. "

"We're glad it's over with, and we're getting back to work," Paul Abney,
director of international sales and marketing, tells Newsbytes. He said
the matter was settled before a Federal District magistrate who served
as mediator in the dispute. The agreement occurred Wednesday, July
25, in the magistrate's chambers in San Jose, California.

(Wendy Woods/19900727/Press Contact: Paul Abney,
Computer Support Corp., 214-661-8960; Mary Jane Reiter,
SPC, 415/335-6440)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(NYC)(00008)

GOVERNMENT DROPS PROSECUTION OF HACKER NEIDORF
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, U.S.A., 1990 JUL 27 (NB) -- The federal
government has dropped all charges against Craig Neidorf, a so-called
"hacker" who was standing trial in Chicago, IL for publishing in his
electronic newsletter, "PHRACK," a document illegally obtained from
computer files of the Atlanta-based BellSouth Corporation. Although
Neidorf had not been accused of partaking in the theft of the
document, he was charged with 10 counts of wire fraud, receiving
stolen goods and interstate transportation of stolen goods.

The 20-year old University of Missouri pre-law student had been
indicted in February of this year and, had he been convicted, could
have received up to 31 years in prison and $122,000 in fines. Neidorf
was assigned to a three-year pretrial diversion program, which court
sources informed Newsbytes, is "similar to probation in that it
requires the person to check in with a responsible party regularly and
not engage in any illegal behavior during the period. It is quite
different, however, in that the accused has not pleaded guilty to any
charges and admits no guilt."

Though the details of the actual arrangement are still unclear, Newsbytes
understands that Neidorf could be subject to prosecution should he
involve himself in certain computer-related activities.

The document in question is an administrative overview of the 911
Emergency System used in Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Tennessee,
Kentucky, Louisiana, North and South Carolina and Florida. Robert
Riggs, an admitted member of the "Legion of Doom" group of
hackers to which Neidorf allegedly belonged, was the person charged
with illegally obtaining the document and has pleaded guilty to charges
of wire fraud and transferring goods across state lines. Riggs and
three co-defendants are due to be sentenced in U.S. District Court in
Georgia on Sept.14th and could receive up to 15 years in prison and
$500,000 in fines.

At the time of Riggs guilty plea, Ken Alexander, Assistant U.S. Attorney,
told Newsbytes that the plea agreement holds out the possibility of
reduced sentences, "The plea agreement allows the United States
Attorney's office to, in return for substantial assistance from the
defendants, ask for a downward departure from the sentencing
guidelines. The substantial assistance referred to includes debriefing
by the Secret Service and truthful testimony in other related computer
cases." Riggs did testify in the Neidorf case but, according to a court
witness, said nothing damaging to Neidorf.

Assistant US Attorney William Cook was quoted as saying that one of
the main reasons that the case was dropped was that some of the
information that Neidorf was accused of transporting, in fact, turned
out to be public property. He was also quoted as saying about
Neidorf's act of publishing the documents, "He was just doing this to
put it into his newsletter -- to say, 'See what I got.' It was just for ego
gratification -- an ego trip." Neidorf attorney Sheldon Zenner, who
was described by a courtroom observer as impressive with a
"brilliant" opening argument, was quoted as saying, "We are just
grateful that the U.S. Attorney╒s office took the evidence into
consideration."

The Neidorf case had attracted the attention of a large segment of the
computer community when constitutional issues concerning both the
free speech rights of an electronic publisher and the legitimacy of
government seizure of equipment were raised. It become one of the
focuses of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) launched on July
10th by Mitchell Kapor and John Perry Barlow. The EFF funded the
participation of the New York law firm of Rabinowitz, Boudin,
Standard, Krinsky & Lieberman in the Neidorf case in an advisory
position.

EFF co-founder John Perry Barlow told Newsbytes, "We are
extremely pleased with the result and we are proud of our government
for the willingness to take what must have been a loss of face when
confronted with the true nature of the case. We recognize that these
are complex issues and it takes time for the non-technical to become
familiar with everything involved."

Jim Warren, long time computer insider and founder of the West
Coast Computer Faire and InfoWorld Magazine, told Newsbytes that
he had a much more mixed reaction to the outcome, "I am delighted
that Neidorf was exonerated; saddened that the government avoided a
serious loss that might have set useful precedents regarding electronic
press freedoms and civil liberties; infuriated that adequate defense of
constitutional issues is only available via the wealthy; and satisfied that
the other three will get what they deserve for having plea-bargained a
guilty plea, agreeing to serve the prosecution."

(Barbara E. McMullen & John F. McMullen/199000728)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(WAS)(00001)

USGS AWARDS THREE-YEAR CD-ROM CONTRACT TO DATAWARE
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1990 JULY 25 (NB) -- The U.S. Geological
Survey has awarded a three-year contract to Dataware
Technologies, Inc. of Cambridge Mass, a CD-ROM service bureau.
The contract allows the U.S.G.S. to distribute unlimited numbers
of Dataware's CD Answer Retrieval Software with forthcoming CD-
ROMs.

Two project in the works at the U.S.G.S., which Kurt Mueller,
president of Dataware Technologies, said "has been a pathfinder
in implementing CD-ROM for distributing vast and varied
information" will include the Aerial Photography Summary Record
System and the State Water Data Reports databases developed with
Dataware's CD Author Development System during 1988.

Dataware Technologies, Inc., Suite 3300, 222 Third St.,
Cambridge, Mass. 02142 [phone], is an internationally
known consultant and developer of CD-ROM discs and authoring
tools.

(John McCormick/1990727/Press Contact: Kathleen Hunter, Dataware,
617-621-0820)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(WAS)(00002)

NIST SEEKS GOSIP TESTING FACILITIES
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1990 JULY 23 (NB) -- The National
Institute of Standards and Testing (NIST, formerly the Bureau of
Standards) has announced that it is soliciting test systems
needed to establish a testing program to ensure that products
meet the Government Open Systems Interconnection Profile (GOSIP)
Federal Information Processing Standard 146.

Applications for listing of qualified test systems and accredited
laboratories (to be published by NIST this fall) can be obtained
by writing to Stephen Nightingale, GOSIP Testing Program, B141
Technology Bldg., NIST, Gaithersburg, Md. 20899 or calling him at
301-975-3616 or 3665.

After August 15, 1990, all federal agencies must purchase network
systems that conform to the GOSIP standard.

(John McCormick/1990727/Press Contact: Jan Kosko, NIST, 301-975-
2762)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(LAX)(00011)

TWO NEW US GOVT CUSTOMERS BUY CRAY COMPUTERS
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, U.S.A., 1990 JUL 26 (NB) -- The Naval
Oceanography Command and Eglin Air Force Base have each purchased
a Cray Y-MP8 computer system.

The Navy order was placed by Grumman Data Systems for a system
valued at approximately $27 million. It is to be installed in the
fourth quarter of 1990 and will be used with the development and
operational use of global oceanographic and meteorological
models.

Advanced Integrated Technology is the contractor that has ordered
the Cray system for Eglin Air Force Base. This system, with 128
million words of memory, is valued at approximately $18 million.

In announcing the purchases, John Rollwagen, Cray chairman and
CEO noted that with the addition of these two new government
customers, Cray now has seven installations at five US Air Force
sites and four installations at four US Navy locations.

(Janet Endrijonas/19900728/Press Contact: Kate S. Neessen, Cray
Research, 612-333-5889)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(TOR)(00002)

ANDERSEN CONSULTING, ONTARIO MINISTRY PLAN IMAGING SYSTEM
TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1990 JUL 24 (NB) -- Andersen Consulting
will work with the Ontario Ministry of Consumer and Commercial
Relations on a C$7-million imaging system project.

Currently, the Ministry's Office of the Registrar General stores
over 18 million birth registrations, marriage licenses, name
change forms and death registrations in thousands of bound
volumes at its Toronto headquarters.

Andersen will act as the systems integrator in a multi-year
effort to develop an optical imaging system to capture the
province's more than 10 million vital statistical records. Wayne
Schnur, Andersen's manager in charge of the project, told
Newsbytes that existing records will occupy about 500 gigabytes
of optical storage. The initial system will support 52
workstations, he said. The major hardware supplier is Hewlett-
Packard, with an assortment of other suppliers providing various
components of the system.

Andersen will be responsible for the information plan, technical
design, hardware selection and acquisition, system software
installation, custom software development, communications network
and training. The first phase of the system will go into
operation in Thunder Bay, Ontario, in February, Schnur said.

(Grant Buckler/19900726/Press Contact: Nancy Katris, Andersen
Consulting, 416-863-1530)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(TOR)(00004)

SHAREHOLDERS ACCUSE CA OF SECURITIES VIOLATIONS
GARDEN CITY, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1990 JUL 27 (NB) -- Computer
Associates, its directors and certain others are the target of a
shareholder lawsuit, according to documents filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington, D.C.

Plaintiffs seeking to represent certain Computer Associates
shareholders as a class accused the defendants of violating
securities laws by making misleading statements before a July 12
announcement of anticipated quarterly results.

That announcement, allegedly based on preliminary information,
said CA's revenues for the fiscal quarter ended June 30 were
significantly lower than those of the comparable 1989 quarter,
and that earnings would be lower as a result. Computer Associates
stock fell US$6.25 per share on the New York Stock Exchange after
that announcement.

(Grant Buckler/19900727)


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

AUSTRALIA: STATE GOVERNMENT INTRODUCES PURCHASING NETWORK
PERTH, AUSTRALIA, 1990 JUL 27 (NB) -- The West Australian
state government has launched its $1.2B electronic purchasing system.
The network uses electronic data interchange (EDI) techniques to
connect over 200 government departments and sites with 4500
suppliers.

The installation was relatively inexpensive to install as
it utilizes the existing 3000 terminal government network.
The system gives vendors information on tenders and
contracts and can be used for electronic messaging as well
as purchasing. Total Australian government purchasing
exceeds $30B annually and some observers believe a national
EDI purchasing system is only a couple of years away.

(Paul Zucker/19900727)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(SYD)(0000)

AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY TO UPGRADE SUPERCOMPUTER
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1990 JUL 24 (NB) -- The Australian
National University (ANU) is facing the possible need for
a supercomputer 2 or 3 years before previously expected due
to the increasing needs of its academic staff and outside users.

The ANU Supercomputing Facility's Facom VP-100 (which has
approximately has the same power as a Cray X-MP), was
installed in 1987 and was due to be replaced in 1993.
However, due to increasing demands placed by internal and
external users, the Facility is discussing the possible
upgrading or replacing of the machine with Fujitsu.

External usage has increased dramatically over the last
year, with external universities using the machine with 48
projects in progress. Dr Bob Gingold, the head of academic
services at the facility has said that if the supercomputer
cannot be upgraded, users may need to seek the computing
power they need elsewhere.

(Sean McNamara/19900727)


(NEWS)(IBM)(NYC)(00001)

IBM PULLS ADS BECAUSE OF GOLF CLUB'S EXCLUSIONARY POLICIES
NEW YORK, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1990 JUL 26 (NB) -- IBM has
contacted the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) and asked that
IBM's advertising not be shown during the PGA Championship golf
tournament to be held from August 9th to August 12th at the
Shoal Creek golf club in Birmingham, Alabama. IBM based its
action on the fact that the host golf club has no black members
and is said to be exclusionary.

Gina Chew-Holman, an IBM spokesperson told the press that "When
we learned that this tournament was being played at a club that was
exclusionary, we decided it was not an appropriate vehicle for our
advertising. Supporting even indirectly activities which are
exclusionary is against IBM's practices and policies."

Chew-Holman explained to Newsbytes that IBM had contracted
with ABC Sports to advertise on a number of sporting events
including the Tour de France, Monday Night Football and
the PGA Championship. She said that ABC had agreed to remove
the PGA from the list of events on which IBM's advertising
would appear.

Attention had focussed on the choice of Shoal Creek as the site
of this year's PGA when the media found that the club had no black
members. At that time, Hall Thompson, founder of the club, was
quoted as saying that the club would not be pressured into
accepting blacks, remarks that are generally credited with
enlarging the controversy. Mr. Thompson later apologized for the
remarks and said that he was quoted out of context. Shoal Creek
officials have since stated that the club does not have any
policy against blacks and that some have been guests.

Shoal Creek opened in 1977 and was the site of the 1984 PGA and
the 1986 U.S. Amateur Championship. The racial composition of the
club's membership did not become an issue at the time of those
tournaments. Steve Bradley, publicity chairman for the tournament,
was quoted as saying that IBM's decision was "a matter between an
advertiser and ABC. The contract was between the PGA and ABC. I
don't think it's proper for me to comment on it."

Chew-Holman told Newsbytes that she was not aware of any other
advertisers taking similar action but "that would not have entered
into our considerations." Shortly after this interview, Toyota and
American Honda announced that they were dropping their advertising
spots on ESPN for the same tournament.

(Barbara E. McMullen & John F. McMullen/199000725/Press Contact:
Gina Chew-Holman, IBM, 914-642-5363)


(NEWS)(IBM)(LAX)(00004)

NEW PRODUCT: SimplSoft Products Releases The Magic Package 1.1
BOULDER, COLORADO, U.S.A., 1990 JUL 29 (NB) -- The Magic Package,
version 1.1, has been released by SimplSoft Products. It consists
of The SuperCalc Macro Book published by Scott, Foresman, Inc.
and Macro Magic, published by SimplSoft Products.

Using Computer Associates' major enhancements to SuperCalc 5, The
Magic Package takes advantage of a powerful spreadsheet macro
language providing users with the applications and tools to
create applications that no longer look like spreadsheets.

Lester Karplus, president of SimplSoft Products, has told Newsbytes that
while The Magic Package is a comprehensive macro and application
library, it is not a conversion of other spreadsheet add-on
products.

The Magic Package includes 125 applications and a tutorial for
building macro applications. For the applications developer,
there are light bar menus and context sensitive help screen
builders that can be integrated into existing applications or
used in constructing new applications. According to the company,
The Magic Package also provides word processing, instant graphics
with slide shows, financial analysis and sophisticated database
creation and maintenance for everyday use.

The Magic Package, written by Lester Karplus and Ed Karl required
SuperCalc 5, Revision C and is available in both 5.25 inch and
3.50 formats for $69.95

(Janet Endrijonas/19900728/Press Contact: Lester Karplus,
SimplSoft Products, 303-444-8771)


(NEWS)(IBM)(TOR)(00003)

NEW FOR IBM: String Of Optical Storage Products From Sony
PARK RIDGE, NEW JERSEY, U.S.A., 1990 JUL 18 (NB) -- Sony's
Optical Products Division has introduced seven new optical
storage products, including CD-ROM drives, a CD write-once system
and two expansion cards for CD-ROM multimedia applications.

The four new CD-ROM drives include two internal and two external
models, spokesman Jonathan Hirshon told Newsbytes. Two use a
proprietary Sony interface, while the other two use a variant of
the Small Computer Systems Interface (SCSI) called SCSI II. This
delivers a burst transfer rate of 1.5 megabits per second, the
company said. All four new drives have an average access time of
0.38 seconds -- "about 25 percent faster than the previous
generation," Hirshon said. They can also play audio CDs.

The drives are designed for system integrators and large
customers, Sony said. Consumer models are planned later this
year.

Sony also launched its CD Write-Once System, designed for CD-ROM
prototyping and mastering and for publication of small quantities
of CD-ROM-compatible disks. The system records data on a writable
CD-ROM disk which can be used in a standard CD-ROM drive, Sony
said. A CD-ROM Write-Once system including data encoder and disk
recorder has a suggested retail price of US$30,290, with
additional recorders available for US$18,200 each. The special
disks cost US$35 apiece.

Finally, Sony launched two expansion cards for IBM AT and
compatible computers. The cards support CD-ROM XA, a standard
supported by Sony, Philips and Microsoft for creating multimedia
applications using CD-ROM. CD-ROM XA is compatible with standard
CD-ROM and with the Compact Disc Interactive (CD-I) standard.

The PCY-311 audio encoding card is designed to compress digital
audio information for longer play than traditional pulse code
modulation techniques, extending CD-ROM audio playing time to as
much as 16 hours. The CDB-X10 is an interface card for CD-ROM
drives, allowing them to play both CD-ROM and CD-ROM XA disks.

The PCY-311 carries a developer's price of US$2,695. The CDB-X10
costs US$399.

"CD-ROM is finally coming of age as a publishing medium,
especially for computer manufacturers, resellers, integrators and
major institutional users who have large-scale information
distribution requirements," said Olaf Olafsson, vice-president of
Sony's Optical Products Division, in a prepared statement.

(Grant Buckler/19900727/Press Contact: Jonathan Hirshon,
Technology Solutions for Sony, 212-505-9900)


(NEWS)(IBM)(TOR)(00007)

GROUP TO DEVELOP MODELLING SOFTWARE FOR DOS
OAKVILLE, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1990 JUL 25 (NB) -- A consortium of
Canadian manufacturers plans to develop computer modelling
software to help design dies for manufacturing.

The Canadian Die Cast Group, managed by the Manufacturing
Research Corporation of Ontario (MRCO), will use software
developed at Carleton University in Ottawa as the basis of a new
package. The Carleton software runs on Unix systems; the
consortium plans to adapt it to DOS, explained Kathryn Porteous,
a spokeswoman for MRCO.

Canadian firms developing new manufactured products often invest
up to C$500,000 in die design and another C$1 million in tooling,
the consortium said.

Initially, Porteous said, the software will be available only to
consortium members. It could be sold to other firms later, she
said.

The Canadian Die Cast Group is one of four industrial consortia
managed by MRCO, which was created by the Ontario government to
support research and technology transfer from universities to
industry.

(Grant Buckler/19900725/Press Contact: Kathryn Porteous, MRCO,
416-847-0170)


(NEWS)(IBM)(MOW)(00001)

MOSCOW: NEW PC GAME EXPLAINS RUSSIAN LIFE
MOSCOW, U.S.S.R., 1990 JUL 27 (NB) -- A youth center in Moscow has
created a new game designed to give the West a taste of life in
Russia. The game is called Queue, a name taken from an everyday element
of a Soviet citizen's life, according to the Variant youth center's
director, Dimitry Pashkov.

This high resolution EGA strategic game includes pictures of about
250 famous Russian characters and has a quiz on everyday facts known to
the Soviet people, from the truth about caviar to instructions on
how to cook the nalivka popular in Russia since ancient times.

After completing a game a user gets an unique Russian Cook Book with 300
recipes of what Russians eat every day and on holidays.

Shipping of this game will begin later this month and detailed pricing
information is not available yet. According to Mr Pashkov, it won't
be expensive.

More details can be requested direct from Variant at
[phone] fax [phone].

(Kirill Tchashchin/19900728/Press contact: Dimitry Pashkov, Variant,
phone [phone] fax [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(LON)(00002)

UK: IDC SHIPS 386 MEMORY MAXIMISER PACKAGE
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1990 JUL 28 (NB) -- International Data Security
(IDC) has released an 80386 microprocessor version of its
Memorymax memory maximiser utility package.

According to the London-based company, 386Max v5.0 recovers
pockets of memory address space that often unavailable for use
with PC applications software. When installed, the program allows
even the most novice of users to load conventional DOS packages
into RAM above the 640K DOS level, the company claims.

Memorymax also automatically analyses the Config.sys and
Autoexec.bat files by loading - under its own control - all
resident programs into conventional memory. It them computes the
optimum loading order, making the required changes to the
Config.sys and Autoexec.bat files automatically.

386Max 5.0 retails for UKP 79 with a UKP 4 per package discount
for sales over ten packages. The software works with a variety of
DOS environments, requiring a 386 or 486 microprocessor to run
effectively.

(Steve Gold/19900728/Press & Public Contact: International Data
Security - Tel: [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(LON)(00006)

DPA RELEASES LASERJET FONT CONVERTER FOR HP DESKJET MACHINES
OXFORD, ENGLAND, 1990 JUL 28 (NB) -- David Pollard Associates
(DPA) has released version 4.0 of its LJ2Desk utility software for
HP Deskjet printers. The software converts from HP Laserjet fonts
to both Deskjet and Deskjet Plus format.

Although the UKP 34 package is not the only software on the
market to complete this function, Newsbytes notes that in a
recent edition of Elfring Soft Fonts' Desknews magazine, LJ2Desk
received a four star rating, while the two competitors received
two and one stars, respectively.

Users of earlier versions of LJ2Desk are invited to upgrade to
the new version for UKP 9. The package is marketed in the US by
Skeene Moody.

(Steve Gold/19900728/Press & Public Contact: David Pollard
Associates - Tel: [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(SYD)(0000)

AUSTRALIA: COMPAQ ANNOUNCES NEW SYSTEMPRO & DESKPRO PRICES
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1990 JUL 24 (NB) -- Australian prices to
recent additions to Compaq's Systempro and Deskpro ranges
of computers have been announced.

The computers, based on the Intel 80386 and 80486
microprocessors, range in price from AUS$15,995 to
AUS$47,995. Also announced was the price for the 486/33
System Processor Board - AUS$10,995. This board allows 386
based Systempro computers to be upgraded to take advantage
of the enhanced features incorporated in the Intel 80486.

The new Systempro models are: Systempro Model 486-840
(Intel 80486 with 840 megabyte hard disk drive) -
AUS$47,995; Systempro Model 486-420 (420 megabyte hard disk
drive) - AUS$39,495; and the Systempro Model 486-240 (240
megabyte hard disk drive) - AUS$34,495. The Systempro range
of computers is aimed at the network server market.

The new Intel 80486 based Deskpro models were: Deskpro
486/33L Model 650 (650 megabyte hard disk) - AUS$32,495;
Deskpro 486/33L Model 320 (320 megabyte hard disk) -
AUS$27,495; and Deskpro 486/33L Model 120 (120 megabyte
hard disk) - AUS$22,495. With the same memory
configurations and model number designations, the 386/33L
models will be available at AUS$25,995, AUS$20,995 and
AUS$15,995 respectively. All prices are excluding the 20%
sales tax payable on computing equipment

(Sean McNamara/19900727)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(TOR)(00001)

VU/TEXT, PHILADELPHIA PAPERS CREATE "AUTOS ONLINE" DATABASE
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, U.S.A., 1990 JUL 26 (NB) -- Vu/Text
and Philadelphia Newspapers, publisher of The Philadelphia
Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News, have developed a
computerized automotive classified service to be offered through
Bell Atlantic's IntelliGate videotex service.

Autos Online, made up of the used car classified ads from both
papers, is Vu/Text's second such joint project with newspapers.
Last spring, Vu/Text and The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta
Constitution launched a service that gives Atlanta residents
access to the Journal-Constitution's publication library via Bell
South's videotex gateway.

Vu/Text spokeswoman Tonia Kimbrough said the company, best known
for its full-text offerings of newspaper articles, hopes to do
more such projects. "We're in a good position to help newspapers
do that sort of thing," she told Newsbytes, "since we've been
putting their information online."

Though Autos Online is limited to used car advertising at the
moment, it may be extended to include other classified ads later,
Kimbrough said.

Vu/Text, a Knight-Ridder company, is the largest U.S. newspaper
databank with 61 newspapers online, including the Philadelphia
Inquirer, Philadelphia Daily News, Atlanta Journal, Atlanta
Constitution, Boston Globe, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune and
Los Angeles Times.

(Grant Buckler/19900726/Press Contact: Tonia Kimbrough of
Vu/Text, 215-574-4469; Carol Carmichael, Philadelphia Newspapers,
215-854-2000)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(TOR)(00005)

MEAD ADDS INVESTEXT TO LEXIS AND NEXIS
DAYTON, OHIO, U.S.A., 1990 JUL 27 (NB) -- Mead Data Central is
tripling the number of brokerage house reports available through
its Lexis and Nexis online services.

Under an agreement just announced, company and industry research
reports from the Investext database will be available September
1. Investext, a service of Thomson Financial Networks of Boston,
includes reports from more than 100 brokerage and financial
research companies. The full-text reports cover more than 11,000
public companies.

Nexis contains general and business news from more than 750 full-
text sources, and is the exclusive online source for the full
text of The New York Times. Other sources include the
Institutional Investor, Business Week, Forbes and Fortune, as
well as the Associated Press, United Press International and
Reuters wire services. The Nexis service also includes abstracts
from more than 2,000 sources, including The Wall Street Journal.

Lexis is a full-text legal research service, with state, federal
and international case law, statutes and specialized law
libraries.

(Grant Buckler/19900727/Press Contacts: James M. Joseph, Mead
Data Central, 513-865-6958; Cynthia Costello, Thomson Financial,
617-345-2372)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(TOR)(00008)

BELL CANADA FILES FOR RATE CUTS
OTTAWA, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1990 JUL 25 (NB) -- Bell Canada has
filed with federal regulators a proposal to cut certain long-
distance telephone rates.

The cuts would reduce the cost of calls from Ontario and Quebec,
the provinces Bell Canada serves, to the rest of Canada and to
the United States. Rates to other Canadian provinces would drop
about 15 percent, Bell said, while calls to most of the United
States would cost an average of six percent less and calls to
Alaska and Hawaii would cost 26 percent and 22 percent less
respectively.

Bell also proposed rate cuts for several special services
involving calls outside its own territory.

The cuts, which Bell has asked the Canadian Radio-television and
Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to approve by year-end,
would be the sixth long-distance rate reduction in four years for
the company's customers. The CRTC is currently considering an
application by Unitel Communications of Toronto to offer long-
distance service in competition with Bell and several other
Canadian phone companies. Unitel has asked regulators to fix its
rates 15 percent below those of the phone companies.

(Grant Buckler/19900727/Press Contact: Linda Gervais, Bell
Canada, 613-781-3724)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(TYO)(00006)

NEC OFFERS LSI FOR BROADBAND ISDN SERVICE
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1990 JUL 25 (NB) -- NEC has developed a special
LSI (large-scale integrated circuit) which is essential for ATM
(asynchronous transfer mode) switching for broadband ISDN (integrated
services digital network) service. NEC claims that the LSI allows
fast data transfer at 310 megabits or about 4,800 phone calls per
second.

The LSI consists of nine chips made of CMOS (complimentary metal
oxide semiconductor) which consume little electric power. Three
of the chips exchange data and the other six chips put data in and
out.

The broadband ISDN allows data transmission of several information
sources, such as voice, color video, and computer data, through optical
fiber cable. As such, data is divided into 53-byte chunks for
transfer through one optical cable. The broadband ISDN requires
ATM switch technology which divides data for each destination.

The broadband ISDN service for consumers is expected to start in
the advanced nations such as the U.S. and Japan in the middle of
1990s. Several Japanese telecommunication equipment makers, such as
Fujitsu, have already developed prototypes of the ATM switch and
special LSIs, but NEC claims its LSI best meets the international
standard being created by CCITT (International Telegraph and
Telephone Consultative Committee).

NEC has already started to make a prototype of the ATM switch with
the LSI, and promises to complete it by this fall. Expecting the
broadband ISDN market to partially open in Japan in fall, 1995, NEC
expects to start marketing commercial ATM switches by
1993.

(Ken Takahashi/19900726/Press Contact: NEC Corp., 03-454-1111)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(LON)(00003)

PC COMMUNICATIONS SHIPS QUATTROCARD CLASSIC COMMS PACKAGE
WEST DRAYTON, MIDDLESEX, ENGLAND, 1990 JUL 28 (NB) -- PC
Communications has launched Quattrocard Classic, a comms package
that combines Dowty's Quattrocard PC card modem with the
recently-released version 2.00 of Breakout Plus, PC
Communications' telecommunications software.

Pricing in at a hefty UKP 795, the package's modem supports all
modem speeds from 300 to 2400 bits per second to European (CCITT)
and US (Bell) standards, MNP Class 5 error-correction and data
compression is supported as a hardware feature of the modem.

Breakout Plus, meanwhile, is billed as the ultimate
communications software. As well as the usual multiple terminal
emulation and file transfer protocol features, the package has an
auto-sensing feature. This allows the user to type in the distant
number of another similarly equipped PC and the software will
autodial the distant system, communicating using the optimum
parameters.

New features included as standard in Breakout Plus v2.00 are:
VT220 terminal emulation - including a 132 column screen; full-
feature Z-Modem file transfers; the VIA (Videotext Industry
Association) secure printing protocol; and Repro terminal mode.
The Repro facility operates in a similar fashion to Carbon Copy
Plus, PC Anywhere and other remote PC comms software.

Backing up the package is PC Communications' free technical
hotline service. The package is available immediately.

(Steve Gold/19900728/Press & Public Contact: PC Communications -
Tel: [phone])


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(SYD)(00001)

AUSTRALIA: TELECOM STARTS MARKETING PUSH ON ISDN MICROLINK
CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA, 1990 JUL 27 (NB) -- Australian
domestic carrier Telecom is to launch a major ad campaign
for its entry-level ISDN services, aimed at small business.
Microlink consists of two 64 kbits/sec data channels.

The larger Macrolink service, already in use, consists of
30, 64 kbits/sec channels.

Microlink service costs AUS$1200 for the first year, including
installation and rental, plus data charges. Most users can connect to the
link via their PABX or computers. Telecom says that
Microlink can be used for data, voice, fax and even low
resolution or slow-scan video. The advantages include lower
data costs, digital transmission techniques, single-point
connections, and better interface to modern equipment.

(Paul Zucker/19900727)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(WAS)(00003)

R&D SPENDING DRASTICALLY REDUCED, SAYS NSF REPORT
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1990 JULY 27 (NB) -- A newly released
report on research and development (R&D) spending in the U.S.,
showing drastically reduced spending in recent years, is now
available to the public from the National Science Foundation.

Real R&D spending (after inflation) has increased every year
since 1975, but the real spending rate increased by 40 percent
during the period from 1980 to 1985, while in the last five years
the real growth has only totaled 11 percent, one-quarter as much.

At 2.7 percent of the GNP (Gross National Product), R&D
expenditures for 1990 are also slightly lower than the 2.8
percent ration in 1985, with only 28 percent going to direct
defense research versus 30 percent in fiscal year (FY) 85.

In 39 tables and 16 charts, "National Patterns of R&D Resources:
1990" compares the U.S.'s spending on research with the amounts
spent by other countries, notably its economic competitors. The
NSF report says that, due to continuing budgetary constraints,
federal R&D support is expected to rise only 5 percent over last
year's spending, only 1 percent or less after inflation.

Copies of the report (NSF 90-316) are available at no charge from
the Science Resources Studies Division of the National Science
Foundation, 1800 G Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20550.

(John McCormick/1990727/Press Contact: Cheryl Dybas, NSF, 202-
357-9498)


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

HITACHI RECYCLES PAPER, SHUNS WOODEN CHOPSTICKS
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1990 JUL 24 (NB) -- Hitachi's plan to use recycled
paper, and to abandon use of disposable wooden chopsticks, are just
two of the measures it has instituted in an effort designed to help
save the earth.

Hitachi's Green Center is a new facility staffed with 60 researchers
whose job is to design methods to combat acid rain, the greenhouse effect,
the destruction of ozone layer, and other environmental issues.

Hitachi says it currently consumes 1.7 million business cards,
0.5 million of envelopes, 1.3 million interoffice mail messages, one
million copies of press releases, 59 million sheets of copy paper
and 4.8 million computer pages annually. It also estimates total
consumption of paper is 10 times larger when all its offices
in Japan are taken into account.

Hitachi will switch to recycled paper in September and
disposable chopsticks have already been replaced with plastic chopsticks
at its cafeteria.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19900726/Press Contact: Hitachi Co., Ltd.
03-258-1111)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(TYO)(00004)

NEC DEVELOPS 33MHz R3000 RISC CHIP
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1990 JUL 25 (NB) -- In technical cooperation
with U.S.-based MIPS Computer Systems, NEC has developed a 33 MHz
(megahertz) version of the R3000 RISC (reduced instruction set
computer) processor. NEC's R3000 series RISC chips now come in
three speeds, including 20 and 25MHz.

To achieve the high clock frequency version of the processor,
NEC says it introduced a submicron process of 0.8 micron line
width, and applied double-layer aluminum circuit technology to
integrate 115,000 elements on a 6.43 by 7.5 millimeter CMOS
(complementary metal oxide semiconductor) chip.

The processing speed of the latest R3000 averages 26.4 MIPS
(million instructions per second) and its maximum speed reaches
33MIPS. NEC claims the performance of the chip is the highest among
currently available chips in the commercial marketplace.

The sample price of the chip is 70,000 yen or $465 and mass
production of 10,000 units per month is slated for October.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19900726)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(TYO)(00007)

ONE-EYED MONITOR TO BE SOLD IN JAPAN
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1990 JUL 25 (NB) -- Tomen Electronics, the subsidiary
of one of Japan's largest general traders Toyo Menka, has started
sample shipments of a monitor called Private Eye developed by
Massachusetts, U.S.-based Reflection Technology. This tiny, portable unit,
mounted on the head, enables a computer user to see the screen with
one eye.

Despite its small size, which fits on the palm, the monitor
presents a user with the illusion of viewing a monitor as large as a
12-inch CRT (cathode ray tube) screen from a distance. The monitor
reflects light emitted from a 280-element LED (light emitting
diode) with its rotating mirror, and the afterimage allows a user
to see an image with a resolution of 720 by 280 pixels. The displayed
image cannot be seen by others.

The sample price, including the connection board and software for
IBM PC/AT, is 128,000 yen ($850). The monitor itself measures
30 by 88 by 33 millimeters and weighs only 64 grams. By offering
samples for the immediate future, Tomen Electronics will
invite ideas on how to use the Private Eye.

(Ken Takahashi/19900726/Press Contact: Tomen Electronics
Corporation, 03-506-3683)


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

NEC OFFERS LOW-PRICED SUPERCOMPUTER FOR PRIVATE SECTOR
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1990 JUL 26 (NB) -- NEC has released its lowest-
priced supercomputer, called SX-3 Model 1L, the low-end of its SX-3
supercomputer line-up, a model designed for private
enterprises. It has set the monthly rental charge at 28 million yen
($187,000), twenty percent lower than that of the previous low-end
Model 11.

The new supercomputer has a processing ability at 680 million FLOPS
(floating point operations per second) in vector operation
performance, which indicates the power of a supercomputer.
The ability can be expanded 32 times to that of the world's
fastest SX-3 Model 44 supercomputer. The main memory of the Model lL
is expandable to 512 megabytes.

As operating systems, NEC has adopted its original SXOS as well as
SUPER-UX, the extended version of Unix for the SX series
supercomputers. The low-end supercomputer not only runs a wide
variety of Unix applications after a slight porting, says NEC, but also
its original software such as visual simulation system SXview.

The shipment commences in December this year. NEC aims to sell 30
units in the coming five years.

(Ken Takahashi/19900726/Press Contact: NEC Corp., 03-454-1111)


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

JAPAN MOVES TO SOUTHEAST ASIA FOR CHEAP, ABUNDANT LABOR
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1990 JUL 26 (NB) -- Several Japanese makers
have started production lines in Southeast Asian regions where
labor is abundant and labor prices are cheaper than in Japan.

Nagano-based Seiko-Epson, for instance, has started production of
5-inch FDD (floppy disk drive) units in Singapore. It also plans to
start 3.5-inch FDD production there this October.

Singapore was chosen as the initial overseas FDD production site
for 3.5- and 5-inch FDD units although it is currently producing about
300,000 units each month at its Takagi factory in Nagano prefecture.
Seiko-Epson aims to output 500,000 FDD units per month by this
year's end, by combining domestic and overseas production.

Toshiba has begun production of 17-inch color display units for
office automation equipment, including personal computers and
workstations, in Singapore, in its first attempt to produce the
display overseas. 15-inch units also will be produced starting next
month.

The manufacturing site is Toshiba Singapore, the manufacturing
foothold for color TVs, where Toshiba has invested 400 million yen
($2.27 million) to set up a production line for display units. Toshiba
will provide the finished products to IBM Japan through IBM
Singapore for the immediate future, and to other makers later. It is
planning to produce 40,000 units for this year and 110,000 units for
1992 in Singapore.

Meanwhile, Nagano-based Sinano Fujitsu, the keyboard and
printer maker of the Fujitsu Group, will move its volume production of
keyboards and the manufacturing of OEM (original equipment
manufacturing) keyboards for overseas customers to Fujitsu
Component Malaysia.

Sinano Fujitsu used to produce all the keyboards for Fujitsu Group
as well as OEM keyboards for overseas and domestic makers. Fujitsu
Group, however, has moved the mass-production of low
value-added keyboards to Southeast Asia due to the high
appreciation of the yen. Sinano Fujitsu, as a result, has moved most
of its keyboard production to Malaysia and is putting great effort
into production of customized keyboards and the design and testing
of keyboards as the keyboard development center of the Fujitsu Group.

(Ken Takahashi/19900726)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(LON)(00001)

UK: ONE QUARTER OF PC USERS DO NOT READ COMPUTER PRESS
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1990 JUL 28 (NB) -- Sapphire International, the
London-based computer software and systems company, has concluded
that almost 40 percent of PC users have little or no commitment
to the computer press.

In a survey just completed, Sapphire found that 23.8 percent of
PC users do not regularly read any computer magazines, while 18.8
percent of regular readers have no magazine preference. The
survey concludes that, while PC User - a UK fortnightly magazine
- is the most popular computer publication, readership levels are
declining overall.

The survey - the fifth in an annual series - shows that, while
13.1 percent of UK respondents did not regularly read a computer
magazine five years ago, that figure has now reached the 23.8 percent
mark. Only five titles achieved over 3.0 percent regular
readership in one of more of first, second or third choice
preference categories.

In order of preferences, these were: PC User, PC Magazine,
Personal Computer World, Computer Weekly and Which Computer.
61.9 percent of PC User readers placed it in their top three,
while 29.7 percent of Which Computer readers placed it in their
top three. According to Sapphire, this illustrates the low level
of reader loyalty towards most titles.

"These readership and magazine preference listings seem to
suggest that computer magazine readership is a factor of habit and
free availability," said Harry Everett, group marketing manager
for Sapphire. "If each magazine had a cover price and were not
mainly free controlled circulation, those magazines with low
preference values could find themselves losing over half their
readers."

While the editors of the top three magazines will no doubt be
congratulating themselves on their respective positions,
Newsbytes notes that the 1990 readership figures - PC User (41.7
percent), Computer Weekly (29.6 percent) and Which Computer
(23.5 percent) - were down on the 1989 figures, which were,
respectively, 47.2, 32.2 and 24.8 percent.

Of the survey's top ten publications, only PC Magazine (22.3 percent),
Personal Computer Magazine (18.0 percent) and PC Business
World (14.8 percent) increased their readership compared with
last year's survey results.

(Steve Gold/19900728/Press Contact: Fraida Silver, marketing
communications manager, Sapphire International - Tel: 081-554-
0582)


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

NEW FOR UNIX: SCO Unix System V/386 Release 3.2 Version 2.0
SANTA CRUZ, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1990 JUL 29 (NB) -- The Santa Cruz
Operation is shipping SCO Unix System V/386 Release 3.2 Version 2.0,
which is said to offer improved speed and new features that make it the
most advanced Unix System developed for 386 and 486 PCs.

SCO says its new version supports all 386 and 486 computers based on
Industry Standard Architecture (ISA), Extended Industry Standard
Architecture (EISA), and Micro Channel Architecture. It's also the
foundation of Open Desktop, SCO's graphical operating system.

SCO Unix System V/386 Release 3.2 Version 2.0 adds several new
features to the earlier version, including I/O performance
improvements, simplified management of C2-level trusted systems,
job control under the Korn shell, support for several new peripherals,
and support for extended memory.

SCO Unix System V/386 Release 3.2 Version 2.0 is available now on
5.25" and 3.5" diskettes and on cartridge tape from domestic SCO
Authorized Distributors and Resellers for a U.S. list price of $595
for a two-user license and $895 for an unlimited-user license. An
update package for users of SCO Unix System V/386 Release 3.2 is available
through these same channels and from SCO at a U.S. list price of $150.

(Wendy Woods/19900726)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(LAX)(00007)

INTERACTIVE LICENSES SUN/OS TO SPARC SYSTEMS DEVELOPERS
SANTA MONICA, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1990 JUL 24 (NB) -- Interactive
Systems has licensed the SunOS operating system and related
software products to four SPARC (Scalable Processor Architecture)
systems developers including KFW, Solarix Systems, TriGem
Computer and Twinhead Corporation.

In addition, Interactive has also provided system software and
consulting services to Fujitsu Microelectronics and Star Technologies,
both of which are developing product lines based on Sun's version of the
Unix operating system and microprocessor architecture.

In a published statement, Fred Simmons, vice president of
software development at Interactive said: "We believe SPARC-based
systems with SunOS are a powerful platform for open systems
computing and are pleased to see OEMs (original equipment
manufacturers) and system integrators moving to this standard
architecture. These licensing agreements confirm the viability
and potential for standard system software in the SPARC-
compatible market. We expect to announce additional licensing
agreements in the near term."

(Janet Endrijonas/19900728/Press Contact: Anne Hamlin,
Interactive Systems, 213-453-8649)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(TYO)(00002)

JAPAN: IBM OFFERS UNIX PORTING ON ITS RISC WS
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1990 JUL 25 (NB) -- To encourage sales of its Power
Station, a Unix/RISC (reduced instruction set computer) WS
(workstation), IBM Japan is arranging to offer a port support system.

The Porting Center at its Tsukiji office will support porting of
applications to its new machines slated for shipment at
the end of this month and its Hakozaki office's 40-members staff
will assist direct salespeople and sales through agents.

It also plans to name 80 independent software vendors and
general traders as exclusive sales agents in addition to the current
20. IBM Japan's goal is to attain 20 percent of the Japanese Unix WS
market within few years.

IBM Japan announced its strategic Unix-based WS RS/6000, the successor
to the current 6100 or RT/PC, in February of this year and claims it has
received 5,000 orders to date. 80 percent of the demand is said to be
coming from the automobile and engineering markets, 10 percent from
the electric and electronics sectors, with the rest from others
including office automation vendors.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19900726)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(TYO)(00003)

UNISYS, MITSUI EXPECTED TO MAKE UNIX MACHINES
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1990 JUL 25 (NB) -- Mitsui & Co., one of the leading
general traders in Japan, and U.S.-based Unisys have agreed to
co-manufacture computers in Japan and to designate Japan
as their distribution base for the Asian market, according to The
Japan Industrial Journal.

The paper says, both firms will start work at their manufacturing
firm Oki-Unisys immediately and the production of the Unix-based
computer U-6000 will be their first product. The machine has
been produced by Unisys' plant in Salt Lake City, Utah, but
Oki-Unisys will assume production for part of the world's supply.

Oki-Unisys has been manufacturing the general purpose computer Series
2200/400, a terminal, and magnetic disk drives for the Japanese
market for the past year.

The paper also referenced a past plan in which Unisys intended to
set up an Asian base in China, but it was dashed following the
Tienanmen Massacre last June. Mitsui and Unisys have agreed to place
the base in Japan due to the reliable inspection and quality control
facilities there, the paper says.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19900726)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(HKG)(00004)

LEADING HONG KONG GARMENT TRADER MOVES TO UNIX, EDPS SOFTWARE
WANCHAI, HONG KONG, 1990 JUL 24 (NB) -- Seatoman Far East Ltd., a
leading Hong Kong garment trading firm has ordered a Unisys U6000
Unix computer system, plus an export sales software package from
EDPS Systems Ltd.

The order, valued at $27,000, comprises the Unisys U6000 processor
with 4 megabytes (MB) of memory and 380 MB of internal disc storage,
four terminals and one printer, coupled with EDPS' Export Sales Order
Processing System (ESOPS), which handles order processing and quota
management.

EDPS project manager, O.F. Tse, said Seatoman selected this
replacement for existing computer system from a wide range of
options. Commenting on the final choice, Tse said "By adopting an
industry-standard Unix system, the garment trader has the greatest
choice of options for future growth."

EDPS is an independent reseller of Unisys systems and has an
installed base of 10 ESOPS with garment traders and manufacturers in
Hong Kong and Macau.

(Norman Wingrove/19900728/Press Contact: R.J. Weston, Unisys,
[phone])


(REVIEW)(APPLE)(SYD)(00004)

Review of: LapLink Mac Release III

Runs on: Macintosh Plus and higher and IBM PC/XT/AT/PS/2 or
compatibles

From: Travelling Software, 18702 North Creek Parkway,
Bothell, WA 98011, U.S.A.

Price: US$113

PUMA Rating: 4

Reviewed for Newsbytes by: Sean McNamara 07/29/90

Summary: LapLink Mac allows the transfer of files from Mac
Laptops or IBM compatibles to other Macintosh machines via
cable, network or modem.

======

REVIEW

======

LapLink Mac is a fairly high-level Mac-Mac and Mac-PC-Mac
transfer program, following the idea of LapLink to allow
easy transfer from a laptop computer to a desktop one. Both
programs also allow, however, the transfer between two
laptop or two desktop machines just as easily.

Overall, the program works well, and such extras as the
serial cable and the Mac Accelerator greatly increases the
value of the software. The program is intuitive to use, and
if reference to either of the manuals is needed, they are
clear and concise, and feature many screen prints to allow
the user to see what should be on screen.

For Mac to Mac transfer, the program features such features
as accelerated transfer (up to 750,000 bits per second or
baud) and background access to files (files can be
transferred while the machine is being used for other
programs). For those not quite familiar with the Mac
interface and navigating the Mac file structure, a quick
explanation is included in the manual.

Access can be via cable, AppleTalk network, or via modem.
The user can set such security measures as passwords and
access notifications, allowing the control of transfers
from the machine. For modem transfer, there is a phone book
facility which allows the storage and retrieval of often
used numbers for dialling.

Users can locate files by name or date, and these criteria
can be applied to the displayed files to allow only
specific files to be selected and transferred. Whole
folders or all displayed files can be selected for
transfer, and there are several "mappings" LapLink Mac to
recognize file types for transfer. All screens and dialogs
are clear, and allow the user to gain the most
functionality possible from the program. The user-interface
is what we've all come to expect from most Mac programs -
consistent.

For Mac to PC (and back) transfers, the program operates
very much in the same way as Mac to Mac. The screen is,
although text-based, very similar to the Mac screen, and
the menus are almost exactly the same. Manuals for both
modes are comprehensive.

LapLink Mac is a highly useful program if you need to
transfer files from Mac laptop to another Mac, or from a
Mac to PC. The whole package has been well thought out, and
would cover the needs of most users who require file
transfer capabilities for their computers.

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

PUMA RATINGS

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

PERFORMANCE/PRICE: 3. The consistent interface between the
two environments when using Mac-PC transfers allows the
user to get the most out of the program. The user can use
either machine as the "local" or "remote" machine. Overall
the program performs the jobs you would expect a Mac-Mac
and Mac-PC-Mac transfer program to do, and would be a
worthwhile addition to the software library of those who
require easy-to-use but powerful transfer options.

USEFULNESS: 4. For transfer of Mac-Mac, the program does
its job well, and the accelerator allows extremely fast
transfer of files. The remote installation of software when
"controlling" a computer over cable or phone is a great
help when the remote system is unattended (but obviously
switched on). For transfer Mac-PC-Mac, the options for
conversion (where programs allow it) helps when using such
files as Pagemaker publications, or in converting word
processor formats. Conversion "mappings" (the name
Travelling Software gives them) can be added to the list to
accommodate file conversions not on the list.

MANUAL: 4. The two manuals (one for Mac-Mac transfer and
one for Mac-PC-Mac transfer) are very well set out, and
really only needed when you think "I wonder if it can
do..." The program can be up and running without
significant reference to the manuals, which is a great boon
for users who just want to start transferring files and
worry about the bells and whistles later.

AVAILABILITY: 4. The program is widely available LapLink
through the normal distribution channels. Support can be
received on a special support hotline, although this is not
toll-free.

(Sean McNamara/19900711)


(REVIEW)(APPLE)(SYD)(0000)

Review of: PageMaker 4.0 for the Mac

Runs on: Macintosh Plus and higher with at least 1 Megabyte
of memory and hard disk drive

From: Aldus Corporation, 411 First Avenue South, Seattle,
WA 98104-2871, Tel [phone]

Price: US$499

PUMA Rating: 3.75 on a scale of 1=lowest to 4=highest

Reviewed for Newsbytes by: Sean McNamara 07/29/90

Summary: PageMaker 4 0 is an extensive update of Aldus'
popular desktop publishing program which offers more
advanced features than previous versions.

======

REVIEW

======

Pagemaker 4.O has been developed to allow users of previous
versions (especially version 3) to upgrade without
significant trauma, while also allowing first-time users to
master the program as quickly as possible. Although the
program does act differently at times (with over 70 new
features, it would need to), overall, the program acts as
if there has only been an extension of version 3.

Basically, PageMaker offers fairly advanced desktop
publishing (DTP) capabilities on both the Macintosh and PC-
compatibles (version 4.0 for the PC is due to be released
late 1990). There have been numerous reviews of PageMaker's
previous versions, so I will concentrate here on the new
features Aldus has incorporated in the program.

One of the most asked-for-features in the past has been
some sort of word processing capabilities within PageMaker.
With version 4.0, Aldus has developed the Story Editor, a
text editing utility within the main program which allows
users the edit stories in a non-formatted view. The Story
Editor features search and replace capabilities, not only
for pieces of text, but also for specific formatting which
may be applied to that text. These operations can cover an
individual story, or even all stories within a publication.
The Editor also allows the user to spell-check a story (or
all stories) in up to eleven languages (each language
dictionary is an add-on to the original product).

Typographic controls have been much enhanced in this
version, with such capabilities as: the ability to limit
consecutive hyphens; tracking (how closely letters sit to
each other); text rotation (only in 90-degree increments);
stretched and condensed text; the capability to tie
graphics to text to allow graphics to stay in position as
text changes are made; increased point-size, leading and
kerning control; the ability to set the percentage of full
point size for sub- and superscripts; widow and orphan
control; and the inclusion in the package of the Table
Editor (a stand alone table generator which closely follows
the PageMaker user-interface while allowing the output to
be used in other programs as well).

Aldus has now greatly enhanced the ability of PageMaker to
handle long documents. Publications can now be up to 999
pages (version 3 only allowed 127 pages a publication).
This limit, however, is probably way above what will ever
be needed, as PageMaker now incorporates a book feature
whereby all documents (chapters) in a book are tagged
internally and can be printed from one of the publications.
PageMaker 4.0 also allows the creation of table of contents
and index files for use over a single publication or a
complete book.

One of the nicer features in the new PageMaker is the
ability to automatically update (with or without
notification of the user) text and graphic files placed in
the publication. If the automatic update feature isn't
used, the user can call up a list of placed documents to
see when a file was last placed and if it has been modified
since that time.

Overall, the update to PageMaker 4.0 has been well-done,
with a solid product being the result. There have been some
rumblings about memory, but who would have thought 5 years
ago we would be looking at ONE program for a personal
computer being 1.5 MB in size? With the increase in program
size and the decrease in memory costs over the last few
years, users will have to get used to larger systems and
programs. Any user who expects to use PageMaker 4.0 with
all their fonts installed and only 1 MB of memory is asking
for trouble. This is a power product which requires a
powerful machine to get the full benefit from it.

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

PUMA RATINGS

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

PERFORMANCE/PRICE: 3. The performance of PageMaker 4.0 is
highly dependent on the amount of memory available. With
only 1 megabyte (MB) of memory, a pared down System running
with the Finder would be the physical minimum. However,
with the proliferation of fonts for DTP work, even 2 MB of
RAM would be the realistic minimum, and the Multifinder is
still out of the question. The amount of reasonable memory
to suffer minimum speed loss would be around 4 MB. Other
than these memory considerations, PageMaker performs well
and although the price may be daunting to the first-off
user looking for a DTP package, it is what people are
coming to expect from software with the power PageMaker
has.

USEFULNESS: 4. PageMaker has always been a useful program
with limitations. The limitations have been much reduced in
version 4.0 but some still exist nonetheless (no doubt,
Aldus will have a "much improved" version 5.0 ...). Overall
the program is a solid DTP product, and such features as
the table of contents and index creation facilities, when
combined to the book feature and increased publication
size, help PageMaker address it's previously weak large-
publication handling. Although some programs (Ventura on
the IBM, and soon on the Mac, or Xpress on the Mac) offer
many features not found in PageMaker, it still retains a
very clear user-interface, which allows users to master the
program quicker, thereby increasing the usefulness of the
product.

MANUAL: 4. As is always the case with Aldus, the PageMaker
manual is clear and comprehensive. For users of previous
versions, the manuals are only needed to grasp the more
esoteric of the new features. The manuals have been divided
into logical topics, and each section has numerous
illustrated examples.

AVAILABILITY: 4. As with all Aldus products, PageMaker 4.0
is widely available through normal channels. Support is
available through Aldus, or though the distributor in
countries other than the U.S.

(Sean McNamara/19900713)


(EDITORIAL)(GENERAL)(HKG)(00005)

THE AGE OF (LACK OF) COMMUNICATIONS - Editorial by N. Wingrove
KOWLOON BAY, HONG KONG 1990 JUL 29 (NB) -- So you thought
all the modern businessman had to do these days was jump on a plane
to the other side of the world, conduct the day's negotiations,
return to his hotel, prepare his daily report and zip it down the
line for his colleagues to act on first thing in the morning, their
time. Think on.

Until the 1860s, when a telegraph link was established from London to
India and Ceylon, a Governor of Hong Kong, involved in negotiations -
possibly of an unfriendly military nature - with the Imperial Court
of China in Beijing, had to report to, and await instructions from,
Her Majesty's (Victoria's) Government at the Court of St James in
London. The round trip for the most urgent of messages took, with a
little bit of luck and the wind blowing in the right direction,
anything up to eight months.

Things improved somewhat with the inauguration of the cable to India.
Nevertheless the resident of Government House, while the missives
were sailing sedately to and from the nearest cable office, still had
time to play a few games of bowls and even grow, cook and eat a whole
crop of garden vegetables before he could expect a reply telling him
what his next move should be.

It is probably true to say that in the middle nineteenth century, the
business entrepreneur, with his sleek clippers, had a far more
efficient mode of communication with his home base than any mere
colonial governor, nothwithstanding the latter's gold braid and ostrich
feathered hat or the serried ranks of crimson-tuniced, bristling
moustachioed, solar topeed Soldiers of the Queen that stood guard
over even his least significant public appearance.

How things have changed.

Not, you understand, because of any failing on the part of the
businessman.

But, alas things are, so to speak, as they weren't.

It is now possible to travel half way around the world in half a day
and then, in microseconds, to send a message back home and receive an
instant response.

In theory.

Enter the real world in the age of high technology.

Computer consultant, writer, university lecturer and former Newsbytes
Hong Kong correspondent, Keith Cameron, has just returned to Hong
Kong from a ten day business trip to the USA.

His main reason for making the journey was to attend DECWorld, the
trend-setting annual exhibition cum symposium cum thinktank cum
information blitz organised by Digital Equipment Corporation.

This year the it was held in Boston.

Cameron told Newsbytes it was an event of great significance,
covering more fields of interest than any one person could hope to
take in.

"But there was I, in the very middle of Harvard, unable to find a
simple way to get information back home to Hong Kong."

Cameron's problem was finding a personal computer on which to prepare
reviews and reports he had agreed to supply to Hong Kong's South
China Morning Post newspaper, for which he writes a weekly column.

"No Hong Kong hotel would be seen dead without, at the very least, a
business centre equipped with every modern facility. Any self-
respecting hotel in the whole of Asia would have some sort of up-to-
date provision to meet the needs of the modern business executive,"
he said. "Some Hong Kong hotels provide a personal computer and
associated equipment in at least some of their rooms, complete with a
modem for data communications."

In Boston, however, things were rather different.

"I stayed at the Charles Hotel," Cameron said. "They had no
facilities of their own, but they were very helpful. They directed me
to a company called APC, where, they assured me, I could rent a
computer."

The computer in question - at a charge of $108.75 - turned out to be,
in Cameron's words, "The oldest original IBM PC I have ever seen, with an
Epson LX-85 printer. At least an XT would have had a hard disk. In Hong
Kong, I could have bought the computer for a fraction of the hire price - if
I could find one."

Matters were not made any easier by the fact that APC refused to
include a word processing package in the deal, because - they claimed
- of licencing conditions.

"Most enlightened software publishers these days permit a program to
be used on a one-copy-per-machine basis," said Cameron. "If they were
speaking the truth, they should change their software suppliers."

He said: "To make things worse, when the machine was delivered, it was
accompanied by only half of the MS-DOS operating system. This was on
a floppy disc already in the drive! Fortunately, it had not been
damaged, so I was able to start the PC. But without a word processing
package it was useless. There was no EDLIN text editor, no BASIC, no
CHKDSK and no DISKCOPY.

"At a pinch, if BASIC had been provided, I could have
written a simple 80-column editor (though what a non-technical
businessman would have done is another matter) and used that to
prepare my copy. Needless to say, no modem was included in the rented
package."

In the event, he had to buy a simple word processing program
("excellent, though simple and the company has many products that
deserve to succeed"), then print the text on the LX-85 and fax it to
Hong Kong. "I ended up writing my copy on unfamiliar software at four
o'clock in the morning in the middle of Harvard, of all places, while
still in a daze from jet lag."

So you are wondering why he was so frustrated and upset. "Why didn't
he take a portable?" you ask.

"After my experience last year at Frankfurt Airport, there was no way
I would take a laptop," says Cameron. "Thanks to security measures,
I virtually had to dismantle my laptop. The battery was flat, but
this teutonic guard kept insisting 'You VILL demonstrate zis
mascheen.'"

He says the hastle and embarrassment of holding up a long queue of
passengers at the departure gate was enough to dissuade him from ever
again taking a laptop computer on an overseas trip. He would rather
rely on the facilities provided in any modern-thinking hotel.

So what will he do next time he makes a trip to a part of the world
still living in the past? What use is the latest miracle to emerge
from the world's information technology laboratories if it is not
there to use when it is most needed?

A camel may be an excellent means of transport, but it does not meet
the needs of today's world, any more than Hong Kong governor Sir
Henry Pottinger's fastest sloop.

Hoteliers and IT rental companies, please copy.

(Norman Wingrove/19900721)


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

 BoCoEx Index / Closing Prices on the Boston Computer Exchange
 for the week ending July 27, 1990

 Machine                          Closing Price    Ask    Bid

 IBM PC 176             Floppy      400 -          660    250

 IBM XT 089             20 MgB      675 -          825    475

 IBM AT 099             20 MgB     1050 -         1375    850

 IBM AT 239             20 MgB     1125 up 50     1325    700

 IBM AT 339             30 MgB     1375 -         1400    900

 IBM PS/2 Model 30      20 MgB     1075 -         1385   1025

 IBM PS/2 Model 50Z     30 MgB     1650 -         2000   1550

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

 IBM PS/2 Model 60      40 MgB     2500 -         2600   2400

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

 IBM PS/2 Model 80      70 MgB     3680 -         4225   3600

 Compaq Portable II     20 MgB      975 down 75   1150    875

 Compaq Portable 286    20 MgB     1400 -         1675   1300

 Compaq Portable SLT    20 MgB     2375 -         2900   2100

 Compaq Portable SLT    40 MgB     3100 down 275  3800   3000

 Compaq Portable 386    40 MgB     3200 -         3650   2750

 Compaq LTE 286         20 MgB     2850 up 100    3125   2500*

 Compaq Deskpro 286     40 MgB     1400 -         1625   1300

 Compaq Deskpro 386/20  40 MgB     2800 -         3100   2700
 Macintosh Plus         Floppy      800 -          950    775*

 Macintosh Plus         20 MgB     1175 -         1275   1000

 Macintosh SE           Floppy     1350 -         1525   1200

 Macintosh SE           20 MgB     1625 down 25   1750   1400

 Macintosh SE           40 MgB     1900 -         2350   1800

 Macintosh SE-30        40 MgB     2500 -         2600   2400

 Macintosh SE-30        80 MgB     3200 -         3400   3100

 Macintosh II           40 MgB     3200 -         3500   3050

 Macintosh IIX          80 MgB     4350 -         4600   4000

 Macintosh IICX         40 MgB     3900 -         4200   3600

 Macintosh IICX         80 MgB     4350 up 100    4600   3800*

 Macintosh Portable     40 MgB     3200 -         3400   3000

 Toshiba T-1000SE       Floppy      860 -          900    750

 Toshiba T-3100         20 MgB     1375 -         1650   1200

 Toshiba T-3100SX       40 MgB     2900 down 100  3400   2700

 Toshiba T-5100         40 MgB     2675 -         3000   2600

 Zenith 183             20 MgB      975 -         1100    850

 Zenith SSport 286      20 MgB     1600 -         2200   1400

 HP Laserjet 2          512  K      900 -         1050    850

                                        *Top Demand This Week

Intel Computers Abound BY BoCoEx Staff Economists

This past week was a hectic one for the BoCoEx international
computer brokers.  Russian orders abound for what has become
known as Standard Russian Configurations and suppliers are
rushing to fill them.  Owners of IBM AT type machines should note
that the market is prime to sell these models into an active
international market.

As a result of the Soviet enthusiasm for American-made,
Intel-based machines, IBM continues to do well in the summer
market.  For the third week in a row, the AT-339 holds steady at
$1375, a five month high, and is followed in volume by the AT-239
which rose $50 this week to close at $1125 and reach a ten week
high.

Lately, Compaq computers have not received the same enthusiasm as
IBM machines because foreign buyers are  opting for either Big
Blue or lesser grade clones.   While the Compaq desktop computers
have remained relatively stable in light trading, portable prices
have fallen.  The Portable II, a popular machine for volume
buyers, fell $75 this week to close at $975 while the 40 megabyte
Portable SLT dropped $275 to close at $3100.

At the Apple desk, the Macintosh Plus continues to be a market
favorite, stable this week at $800.  The 20 megabyte SE dropped
$25 to $1625 this week while the 80 megabyte IICX rose $100 to
$4350 fueled by rumors that the 68030 chip was back in
production.

Laptop computers traded lightly this week with Toshiba leading in
volume.  The T-3100 was an active trader and remained stable at
$1375. Further, while the T-3100SX dropped $100 to $2900 it is
nevertheless still a favorite for 386 buyers.  Despite price
drops amongst Compaq's portables, the Compaq LTE 286 once again
reigns supreme rising $100 to close the week at $2850.

The Boston Computer Exchange announced that it has recently
opened new licensed affiliates in Moscow, Russia and in
Novosibirsk, Siberia to augment its 125 affiliates around the
world.

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/19900729)