Newsbytes - Internationa…ews 1983 May to 1994 June/Newsbytes - International Computing Industry News 1994 Edition - May 1983 - June 1994 - Wayzata Technologies (5045) (1994).iso/pc/text/mac_text/1990/nb900917

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

TECHNOLOGY STOCKS: Market Report, Monday Sep 17
NEW YORK, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1990 SEP 17 (NB) -- Technology
stocks fell as did general business stocks.

On the New York Stock exchange, the Dow Jones average fell
another 18.56 points to 2564.11. The Dow Jones is basically
the aggregate of the prices of the thirty blue chip stocks
examined. Thus, when the average moves up, the value of these
blue chip stocks also increase and when it goes down, the
reverse happens.

IBM ended the week at 104.475 down, 67.5 cents, AT&T was up by
67.5 cents to 30.75 and Digital Equipment, the most active
issue, fell by $2.875 to $56.375, the lowest level the stock
has been in more than 5 years.

In the OTC market, Microsoft rebounded slightly, up $2.25 to
$59.75. MCI Communications was down 67.5 cents to close at
$32.375, Adobe Systems was down $1.25 to $26.875 and Apple
Computer was up 25 cents to close at $34.

Finally, Intel Corporation closed up 37 cents at $32.675.

(John Verhelst/19900917)


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

TECHNOLOGY STOCKS: Business News, Monday Sep 17
NEW YORK, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1990 SEP 17 (NB) -- Companies in
the news include: Systems & Computer Technology, AM International,
Semicon, Megamation, SBT, Laser, Televideo, Datapoint, Cell,
and Dilog.

[] SYSTEMS & COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY announces an increase in revenues
of about $700,000, designed to cover a delinquent Puerto
Rican account.

[] AM INTERNATIONAL reports fourth quarter earnings of $6.9 million
for the period which ended July 31, 1990. Revenues increased 3.9
percent to $238.2 million. Net income in last year's equivalent
period stood at $11.7 million. For the fiscal year, the company
reports revenues up 3.1 percent to $876.5 million compared with
$850.6 million. The net loss stood at $48.4 million which includes
$40 million for implementing strategy plans for the 1990s. AM
provides products for the worldwide graphics industry.

[] SEMICON reports a loss of $3.97 million on revenues of $2.17
million in the fourth quarter which ended June 30, 1990. For the year
the company reports sales of $10 million down from $15.3
million in 1989. Income decreased to a net loss of $4.25 million
from an income of $1.5 million. The company manufactures discrete
semiconductor devices.

[] MEGAMATION reports a loss of $1.06 million on revenues of
$3 million for the year which ended June 30, 1990. In fiscal
1989, the company had revenues of $768,000 and reported a loss
of $572,000. The company manufactures and markets multiple
head robotic systems.

[] SBT CORPORATION reports a loss of $1.5 million for the
quarter which ended June 30, 1990. This compares with income
of $130,000 for the same period in fiscal 1989.

[] LASER RECORDING SYSTEMS reports a loss of $46,435 on revenues
of $707,000 in the second quarter which ended July 31, 1990. In
last year's second quarter, the company reported a loss of $25,038 on
revenues of $332,775. The company markets laser disks and CD-ROM
products.

[] TELEVIDEO SYSTEMS reports a loss of $3.33 million on revenues
of $12.41 million for the third quarter which ended July 29, 1990.
This compares with a loss of $2.9 million on revenues
of $7.19 million during the same quarter in 1989. The company
markets terminals and personal computers.

[] CELL TECHNOLOGY reports a loss of $617,456 on revenues of
$267,708 for the first quarter which ended July 31, 1990.
This compares with a loss of $782,000 and revenues of $405,086
for the same period last year.

[] DISTRIBUTED LOGIC CORPORATION reports a loss of $482,000 on
revenues of $10.0 million for the third quarter which ended
July 31, 1990. For the first nine months, revenues reached $33.4 million
and the loss widened to $2.16 million. The company produces
integrated circuits and instrumentation products.

[] DATAPOINT CORPORATION reports a net loss of $52 million
on revenues of $72.6 milion for the fourth quarter which ended
July 28, 1990. For the year, the company reports revenues of
$267.3 million and a loss of $82.8 million. In the
loss figure there is a charge for $62 million for
restructuring. The company manufactures and distributes
computer products worldwide.

(John Verhelst/19900917)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TOR)(00003)

CHEYENNE SOFTWARE SIGNS TWO AGREEMENTS
ROSLYN, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1990 SEP 17 (NB) -- Continuing a shift
toward selling through other companies, Cheyenne Software has
signed two agreements with companies that will resell its
Arcserve network backup software.

Taiwan-based PC and network vendor Acer will offer ARCserve/286,
ARCserve/386, and ARCserve/Solo as data backup application
options for its computer customers.

Irwin Magnetic Systems of Ann Arbor, Michigan, will offer a
custom version of Arcserve for 286 and 386 NetWare networks with
its four- and eight-millimeter backup storage systems. Irwin will
sell the product under the name EzARC.

Designed for Novell Netware networks, ARCserve provides handles
unattended, continuous backups for file servers and workstations
directly to a shared, central device.

Elliot Levine, vice-president and chief financial officer at
Cheyenne, told Newsbytes the company is in transition, with sales
through third parties "exploding." In the year ended June 30, he
said, 70 to 80 percent of Cheyenne's sales were direct and
through distributors, with the remainder through third-party
agreements. In the coming year, he forecast, the proportions will
be roughly reversed.

In July, Cheyenne signed similar agreements with Hewlett-Packard
for its ArcServe+Tape software and with Standard Microsystems of
Hauppauge, New York, for its Monitrix network management and
control program.

(Grant Buckler/19900913/Press Contact: Elliot Levine, Cheyenne,
516-484-5110)


(NEWS)(IBM)(TYO)(00004)

JAPAN: 400,000 COPIES OF LOTUS 1-2-3 SOLD
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1990 SEP 17 (NB) -- Lotus Development Japan, the
Japanese arm of Lotus Development, has announced that it has
shipped 400,000 copies of the Japanese version of Lotus
1-2-3.

As the total shipment reached 300,000 early this year, Lotus
Japan expects the shipment for this year alone to total
200,000 copies.

Japanese Lotus 1-2-3, which debuted here in September 1986,
has been selling at a steady, favorable pace, reaching 100,000
packages by August 1988 and 200,000 by August 1989.

Over the years, Lotus Japan achieved a steady increase in
sales and shipments every year: 400 million yen ($2.9 million)
with from a shipment of 9,000 copies in 1986; 1.8 billion yen
($12.9 million) with 47,000 in 1987; 3.1 billion yen ($22.1
million) with 73,000 in 1988; 5.6 billion yen ($40 million)
with 122,000 last year.

Remarking on the 400,000 shipment milestone, Saburo Kikukchi, the
president of Lotus Japan, says, "We achieved such a large
number in shipments in such a short period of four years
because we continue to make long-range plans without seeking
immediate gain."

Lotus Japan is aiming to make further progress in its business by
moving its headquarters to its own office building, now under
construction in Gotanda, the Shinagawa district of Tokyo, and due
to be complete next spring.

Lotus 1-2-3 is an integrated business program offering spreadsheet,
graphics, and database functions. Since its introduction in
the U.S. in 1983, cumulative shipments throughout the world
have reached 8 million in number.

(Ken Takahashi/19900913)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(TYO)(00005)

JAPAN: EPSON OFFERS CHEAP PC-9801 CLONES
NAGANO, JAPAN, 1990 SEP 17 (NB) -- Seiko-Epson has announced two
low-priced 16-bit desktop personal computers compatible with
Japan's de facto standard NEC PC-9801 series at novice
personal computer users.

One of the new computers, Epson PC-286C, is the first hobby-use
personal computer in the Epson PC series, and comes standard
with sound features, allowing connection to audio equipment.
Epson has priced it at 168,000 yen ($1,200), a low price for
a machine centering around a 286 processor. The keyboard is
built into the main body.

Another model, Epson PC-286LP is a business-use personal computer
with a keyboard, a display, and a printer all built into the
machine. The processor is 286, the display is a sidelit
eight-gradation white LCD (liquid crystal display), and the printer
is a thermal transfer printer with a 48 dot-per-inch head. It is
priced at 298,000 yen ($2,100).

Both personal computers come with two 3.5-inch FDDs (floppy disk
drives). The standard 640 KB (kilobyte) main memory for them is
expandable to 2.6 MB (megabytes) for 286C and 2.1 MB for 286LP.

The two personal computer will be released in the middle of this
month. Epson is aiming to sell 100,000 units of 286C and 30,000
units of 286LP in the first year.

(Ken Takahashi/19900913/Press Contact: Epson PC Information
Center, 03-377-3531)


(NEWS)(IBM)(TYO)(00006)

JAPAN: ALPS SUPPORTS IBM WITH SALES VENTURE
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1990 SEP 17 (NB) -- Alps Electric, a major
electric parts manufacturer, will sell the IBM PS/55 personal
computer by establishing a 100 percent owned sales subsidiary.

In addition to sales of the IBM machine, Alps System
Integration, founded with 100 million yen or $714,000,
will distribute an AX machine which has been produced by
an undisclosed AX machine maker on an OEM (original equipment
manufacturing) basis.

The new firm is not ready for business operation but it is
expected to eventually employ a hundred of people including
system engineers.

Alps has been supplying FDDs (floppy disk drives), peripherals, and
other parts to IBM, Apple, Toshiba and other computer makers.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19900913/Press Contact: Alps Electric, 03-726-1211)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(TYO)(00007)

JAPANESE SUPPORT TOOLS FOR POSTSCRIPT FROM SRA
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1990 SEP 17 (NB) -- SRA or Software Research
Associates has translated into Japanese the original LaserTalk
and TransScript, tools for the PostScript PDL (page
description language) and is marketing them in Japan.

PostScript is a language for page printers, such as laser or
liquid crystal shutter printers, to output data page-by-page
neatly. The LaserTalk allows the user to see the output
image on a display and provides the user with the tools
to write a program with the PDL, such as a debugger, and an
editor, and to shift to Kanji (Chinese character) mode.

On the other hand, TransScript is a tool to convert document
files written on the Unix operating system to control the PDL.

Meanwhile, SRA will start marketing the mini supercomputer
RC6280, the machine developed by U.S.-based MIPS Computer
Systems and Kubota Computer Systems, which Kubota will
produce in Japan in October. SRA promises to provide a
Japanese version of the operating system for the
machine, called RISC/OS 4.5, before shipment in December.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19900913/Press Contact: Software Research
Associates, 03-239-5473)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(MOW)(00008)

ONE MORE PC CLONE PRODUCER IN RUSSIA ANNOUNCED
MOSCOW, U.S.S.R., 1990 SEP 17 (NB) -- Rudnev electronics Factory in the
Central Russian city of Orel announced availability of its PC clones.
Like another Soviet-made clone, Istra, it has non-standard expansion
slots.

XT and AT clones called SM 1810.62 and SM 1810.61 were developed and
produced in Orel, Russia on the local computer equipment factory. They
are available immediately and sold for mere Soviet roubles.

Price range for 8088 CGA computers with 20 MB (Megabytes) of hard disk
is 22,000 - 27,000 roubles. Standard configuration ships complete with
printer and monitor, which are Soviet-made. Factory bough hard drives
abroad, according to Vladimir Kargalov, factory spokesman.

Mr. Kargalov didn't explained why they developed computer with
incompatible slots although told that they plans to produce a range of
expansion units in the nearest future.

Immediate availability and relatively low price gives them a number of
buyers, Mr. Kargalov concluded.

According to Mr. Bashkatov, independent market analyst, prices for
imported XTs are slowly lowering now and should this trend continue,
this factory will face a lot of Western competitors.

(Kirill Tchashchin/19900914/Press contact: Vladimir Kargalov, Rudnev
Factory, Orel, phone [phone])


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(ATL)(00009)

GTE AIRFONE AND COMSAT SEAL WORLDWIDE AIR-CALLING DEAL
OAK BROOK, ILLINOIS, U.S.A., 1990 SEP 17 (NB) -- GTE
Airfone and Comsat announced a service agreement that will let
airline passengers make telephone calls over anywhere in the
world.  The companies will start operating the global, satellite-
based aircraft-communications system in mid-1991.   Terms and
conditions of the agreement were not disclosed.

Under the agreement, GTE Airfone will use Comsat's network of
ground earth stations in Southbury, Connecticut and Santa Paula,
California to expand passenger telephone service on international
flights. Comsat will also provide the space segment through the
International Maritime Satellite Organization global satellite
network.

Currently, users of the GTE Airfone service can place an Airfone
call while flying over the U.S. and southern Canada, including
Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, or within 200
miles of the U.S. coastline. The FCC is considering licensing
other companies for the domestic service including In-Flight
Services, run by Airfone founder John D. Goeken.

Comsat has been constructing ground earth stations for
aeronautical communications since 1989. Comsat also began
handling the commissioning process for aircraft seeking approval
from Inmarsat for their Aircraft Earth Stations, with the first
such commissioning taking place this past August. There are
several U.S., as well as European and Asian airlines, currently
making plans to equip their planes to provide both data and voice
services.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19900914/Press Contact: Kevin Petschow, GTE
Airfone, 708-575-1448; Patricia Whalen of Comsat, 202-863-6157)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(ATL)(00010)

LAST MAJOR U.S. ROBOT MAKER SOLD TO SWISS
CINCINNATI, OHIO, U.S.A., 1990 SEP 17 (NB) -- Cincinnati
Milicron, the last major U.S. maker of industrial robots, is
being sold to Asea Brown Boveri AG of Zurich, Switzerland.
Milicron will concentrate on machine tools, plastics machinery
and consumable industrial goods like grinding wheels. Robots
represented less than 10% of Milicron's $850 million in revenue
for the last fiscal year, although they were once the heart of
the company. Milicron entered the robot market in 1977. The
largest U.S. robot supplier is GMFanuc, a joint-venture between
General Motors and Fanuc of Japan, but most of the robots from
that venture are made in Japan. A few small U.S. companies remain
in the robot business, mainly creating simple machines for doing
things like spraying paint.

Analysts said the Japanese took over the market for two reasons.
First, they recognized that robots aren't mechanical men, but
computerized devices for performing specific functions. Second,
they bought robots heavily, giving manufacturers a thriving home
market.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19900914)

(NEWS)(TELECOM)(LAX)(00011)

BELL CANADA BUYS SEVERAL OCTEL VOICE PROCESSING SYSTEMS
MONTREAL, QUEBEC, CANADA, 1990 SEP 17 (NB) -- Bell Canada
has purchased a number of voice processing systems from
Octel Communications Canada, the Canadian subsidiary of
Communications in Milpitas, CA.  The systems will be
used to offer central office-based voice processing
applications to Bell Canada's Centrex customers.

Under the agreement, Bell Canada Centrex customers
will be able to take advantage of Octel's technology
through rental mailboxes on the Centrex service.

In a published statement, J. Kim Fennell, general
manager of Octel Canada said: "To best meet the Centrex
central office requirements, we knew we needed to position
a voice processing system that combined high performance,
high reliability, high capacity, and a user-friendly
interface... We view the emerging central office-based
services market as a key area for growth in
telecommunications."

The agreement with Bell Canada is said to be valued at
approximately C$2 million.

(Janet Endrijonas/19900917)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(LON)(00012)

UK: HAYES BRANCHES OUT IN LAN ETHERNET HARDWARE
UXBRIDGE, MIDDLESEX, ENGLAND, 1990 SEP 17 (NB) -- Hayes, a name
the computer industry normal associates with modem technology,
has branched out into Ethernet LAN (local area network) cards.
Last week saw the company unveil "Hayes for LANs," a global
family of Ethernet LAN adapters for the PC AT and the PS/2,
Models 25 and 30, as well as mainstream ISA and EISA PCs.

Three cards initially comprise the Hayes for LANs family: the
Ethermate 8 - an eight-bit half card designed for "thick" or thin
Ethernet systems, the Ethermate 8 UTP - another eight-bit half
card that supports "thick" Ethernet and unshielded twisted pair
cables, and the Ethermate Trio 16, a 16-bit, 3/4 length card that
supports all transmission media - thick, thin and unshielded
cables.

According to Dennis Hayes, the company's president, the cards are
a logical step for the communications company. "We have had network
oriented products for years and Hayes Ethermate adapters are a
natural step in broadening the scope of our business as a
computer communications supplier," he said.

All the cards come with a four year guarantee. The Ethermate 8 is
available immediately at UKP 175, with the Ethermate 8 UTP
to follow in mid-October with a retail price of UKP235. The
flagship Trio 16 will ship in mid-November at UKP 250.

(Steve Gold/19900917/Press & Public Contact: Hayes Microcomputer
Products - Tel: [phone])


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(LON)(00013)

UK: S&S INTERNATIONAL RELEASES "FUTURE PROOF" ANTI-VIRUS KIT
CHESHAM, BUCKS, ENGLAND, 1990 SEP 17 (NB) -- S&S International
has released Version 4 of its Anti-virus toolkit software for the
IBM PC. Pricing on the package ranges from UKP 59 for the
software only, to UKP 99 for a copy with four quarterly upgrade
packages to keep the user up to date.

The software comes on read-only disks - i.e. with disk notches -
so as to prevent the master disks from becoming corrupted by
virus programs or logic bombs. As an additional precaution, every
program in the toolkit is self-checking - if a copy is made on a
write-enabled disk and an infection occurs, the program refuses
to run.

Dr. Alan Solomon, the chief executive of S&S International, is
matter of fact about computer virus programs: "Viruses are just
another PC problem - given the right tools, users can easily deal
with an outbreak themselves. Although, when an outbreak is
discovered, it is important to deal with its as soon as possible,
there really is no need to panic. Rather, it's a case of taking
sensible precautions with disks whose origins are uncertain," he
said.

As well as the UKP 59/99 versions of the package, Solomon plans
to release a UKP 275 version which, the company claims, will
provide comprehensive protection against virus infection for
users for whom PC security is vital. The pack will include a one-
year subscription to Virus News International, a monthly
newsletter published by S&S International, which has extra disk
anti-virus updates and faxed notification of virus outbreaks as
they are discovered.

(Steve Gold/19900916/Press & Public Contact: S&S International -
Tel: [phone])


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SYD)(00014)

AUSTRALIA: NEW 386SX AND 486 BASED COMPUTERS FROM WYSE
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1990 SEP 17 (NB) -- Wyse Technology has released
386SX and 486 based computers aimed primarily at the networking
user.

The low profile 16 MHz (megahertz) 386SX based model comes in three
configurations: diskless, floppy, or hard disk. The system is 3
inches high, 14.6 inches wide and 15.7 inches long. The Decision
386SX/16S has both standard VGA (640x480) and Super VGA (800x600)
capabilities, and by upgrading the video memory of the system, the
computer also supports 1024x768 resolution in an interlaced mode. The
computers are aimed at networking, general and home users who
require a small footprint computer. Memory can be upgraded to 8 MB
(megabytes) on the motherboard, has two full-size expansion slots,
two 3.5 inch half-height mass storage bays, and serial, parallel,
and mouse ports.

Also released is the 33MHz 486 based Decision 486/33E, featuring a
64-bit asynchronous bus and Wyse's implementation of the Extended
Industry Standard Architecture (EISA). The Decision 486/33E has 9
EISA expansion slots, 2MB of memory standard (it can also handle two
expansion cards of 96MB each), the Wyse EISA turbo ESDI disk
controller, and easy access to the inside of the computer.

(Sean McNamara/19900917/Press Contact: Fran Newberry, phone in
Australia [phone])


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(TOR)(00015)

CANADIAN REGULATOR NEEDS BUSINESS VOICE, GROUP ARGUES
TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1990 SEP 17 (NB) -- The federal body
that regulates Canadian telecommunications needs a representative
of business telecommunications users, a group of such users has
told the government.

The Communications Competition Coalition has asked
Minister of Communications Marcel Masse to fill a vacancy on the
Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
(CRTC) with a business person.

"If you look at the list of the people that are on the CRTC," the
coalition's executive director, Monty Richardson, told Newsbytes,
"not one of them has any telecommunications background. In fact
they haven't any bottom-line background."

Richardson called the makeup of the commission, set up originally
as the Canadian Radio and Television Commission, a throwback to
the days when it existed only to regulate broadcasting.

Responding to reports this week that CRTC Chairman Keith Spicer
will appoint a commissioner with a telecommunications background,
Richardson added that telecom expertise in itself is not enough.
The new commissioner should also come from the user community,
not the telecommunications industry, he said.

"Our concern is that that would be someone from one of the
broadcasters or monopoly telephone companies," Richardson
remarked.

(Grant Buckler/19900914/Press Contact: Monty Richardson,
Communications Competition Coalition, 416-882-1940)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(BRU)(00016)

NEW FOR AMIGA: Utilities for CanDo Multimedia Authoring System
DALLAS, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1990 SEP 17 (NB) -- INOVAtronics
has announced a new product, CanDo Pro Pak 1, a collection of
utilities and sample decks for CanDo, its multimedia authoring
system for the Commodore Amiga.

The disk contains several example decks of games: Shooting
Gallery, Solitaire, CanDoMan, and CodeBuster, and three
utilities: a paint program, a new layout editor tool, and a
cross-referencer.  All the decks can be reloaded into CanDo for
examination and modification if required.

Version 1.02 of CanDo is required and the package retails
for $39.95.

(Peter Jones/19900913)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TYO)(00017)

LOW-PRICED CRAY EXPECTED TO DO WELL IN JAPAN
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1990 SEP 17 (NB) -- Cray Japan expects to
sell 15 units of its latest supercomputer Cray Y-MP2E in Japan,
30 percent more than its previous target for fiscal 1991.

Prices of the low-end machine, released in May of this year,
now range from 300 to 1,000 million yen or US$2.14
to US$7.14 million, according to configuration.

The Y-MP2E was developed to lure business users rather than science
computing users with the low cost while maintaining Y-MP class
performance. This aim had a side effect -- collapse of the belief
"Cray means expensive."

Since price cuts are expected among Japanese users, NEC has
announced lowered prices on version of its supercomputer
SX-3 recently.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19900913)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(TYO)(00018)

FUJITSU TO HAVE UNIX R&D CENTER IN U.S., REPORT SAYS
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1990 SEP 17 (NB) -- On the drawing board at
Fujitsu is a blueprint for a research and development center
in the U.S. with which it plans to end routine porting work
of Unix programs and develop new versions of the Unix OS
(operating system), according to the Business and Technology
newspaper.

The paper mentioned that the plan is not fixed, and outlines
possible fates of the center depending on the outcome of the
current power struggle between UI (Unix International) and
OSF (Open Software Foundation) for standardization of the
Unix OS, including the possibility of further cooperation
among UI, Fujitsu, and leading members, such as AT&T
and Sun Microsystems.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19900913)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(TYO)(00019)

APPLE PLANS TO DOUBLE 7 YEARS OF SALES NEXT YEAR
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1990 SEP 17 (NB) -- Apple Computer Japan is planning
to sell 100,000 units of its Macintosh personal computers in the
fiscal 1991, starting in October this year.

Since 1983, the Japanese arm of the U.S.-based Apple
Computer has sold 100,000 Macintoshes with half of the
number reportedly sold in fiscal 1990.

Apple machines have a reputation for having the best
interface in Japan. But their relative expense compared
to U.S. prices, and the lack of Japanese software titles
and lack of Japanese software have combined to keep
purchasers away.

The firm, however, has cut prices on its lineup twice in the
past year to minimize price difference with the U.S. and has
increased the number of Japanese application programs tenfold
to over 100.

Apple Computer Japan is expected to accelerate its
acceptance here when the entry model Macintosh priced
under 200,000 yen or $1,430 is introduced this fall.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19900913)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(TYO)(00020)

SONY SAYS OLD CRT DISPLAY IN STRONG DEMAND
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1990 SEP 17 (NB) -- Although next generation
flat-panel display are eventually expected to dominate the
market, Sony is enjoying a booming market for its Trinitron
cathode-ray-tube (CRT) and a display unit based on it.

Sony plans to ship two million units of the CRT in fiscal 1991,
starting in April, up from over one million units expected
to be produced in fiscal 1990.

Meanwhile, it will expand domestic CRT display plants as well as
its year-old San Diego plant in the U.S. Sony's CRT display
production will be up 50 percent from last year and further, a
30 to 50 percent increase is expected in fiscal 1991.

Few Sony Trinitron-type CRT displays have been distributed
under its brand name while most of it have been supplied
on an OEM (original equipment manufacturing) basis.

This strong demand for CRT and CRT displays is led by active
introduction of high performance engineering workstations in the
U.S., Europe and Japan.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19900913/Press Contact: Sony Corp., 03-448-2111)

(NEWS)(IBM)(LON)(00021)

INFOWORLD REVEALS POSSIBLE IBM-MICROSOFT SPLIT
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1990 SEP 17 (NB) -- Before the edition
hit newsstands, Infoworld issued a press statement warning of
its intention to report on a major story.  According to Infoworld,
IBM is planning to assume primary responsibility for the development
of OS/2, the much-vaunted operating and graphical user interface
from Microsoft. If true, the story means a possible split between
IBM and Microsoft, two companies that have, until now, co-operated
closely on developing the operating system.

In today's issue of Infoworld, reporters say that Microsoft
has already removed some software developers from the
OS/2 project and that "all communication between the two
organizations' technical staffs has ceased." The magazine says
that it has reports that, despite the split, Microsoft will
continue to sell OS/2.

According to Infoworld, the split between the two companies has
occurred due to a problem of divided loyalties that developed when
Microsoft had to choose whether to actively promote Windows 3.0
or OS/2. As scarcely anyone in the computer industry can have
failed to notice, Windows 3.0 has come out on top in sales in the
Microsoft stable - a fact that will have done nothing to curry favor
between IBM and Microsoft executives.

In a story in Monday's New York Times, reporter Andy Pollack quoted
James A. Cannavino, vice president and general manager of IBM's
Personal Systems Business, commenting on the Infoworld article, as
saying: "The gist of the article is not true.  We are not going our
own ways on OS/2 development."  From Microsoft, a spokeswoman
was quoted as saying that there is no "divorce" of the two
companies.

Newsbytes spoke with an IBM executive who said: "The use of the word
'divorce' is too strong; irritation would be more accurate.  There
is an increasing strain between the two parties revolving around OS/2
development because they [Microsoft] have slowed down.  Microsoft
has committed less resources to OS/2 development than IBM expects.
This has led to lots of high level conversations between the firms."

Esther Dyson, editor and publisher of EDventure 1.0 told Newsbytes:
"It seems to me analogous to Ivana Trump's problems in that it
should come as no surprise.  The issue is not the formal arrangement
but how well the firms are working together on a long-term basis.
IBM's recent deals with Go and Metaphor [Dyson is referring to
arrangements IBM has made with each of these companies for new
technology development] are fairly clear signals that it is looking
elsewhere for technical assistance."

(Steve Gold & John McMullen/19900917)


(EXCLUSIVE)(TELECOM)(NYC)(00022)

PRODIGY USERS ORGANIZE PROTEST AGAINST E-MAIL CHARGE
NEW YORK NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1990 SEP 17 (NB) -- A group of
Prodigy subscribers have organized a  planned boycott of
Prodigy advertisers to protest Prodigy's planned imposition
of a surcharge on electronic mail.

The surcharge, to become effective on January 1, 1991, will
add a charge of 25 cents to e-mail messages posted. This charge
will not apply to the first 30 messages posted by a household
in any calendar month but will take effect on their 31st message
of any month. Dawna Rowland, founder of the Cooperative Defense
Campaign which is organizing the campaign, told Newsbytes: "We
are not anti-Prodigy in any manner. We are extremely
happy with the Prodigy service and many of us have become
dependent on it. We are, however, extremely disturbed by this
proposed increase and plan to do everything to roll it back. We
are contacting Prodigy advertisers and explaining to them our
plans to boycott their products as a method of protesting
the increase. A number of these advertisers, when made aware
of the problem,  have pledged support and told told us that they
will write to Prodigy to support our position."

Rowland added: "We have not complained about the Prodigy flat-fee
increase of 30 percent from $9.95 per month to $12.95, which is
also to take effect on January 1. We understand that costs go up.
The charge on the e-mail service will, however, cause people who
have come to depend on the service to have to do without it. There
are dozens of support groups that have set up communications
through this service and most of these groups will not be able
to afford such charges. These groups include mothers of
disabled children, AIDS support groups, groups of the terminally
ill and AA groups. These people cannot afford such an increase and
their ability to communicate will effectively be cut off."

Rowland also charged that Prodigy had introduced the price change
in an underhanded manner. "The flat rate increase was publicized
through statements in the press. The e-mail charge was buried in
a section of Prodigy called 'About Prodigy.' It was only through
a few of us finding it there and publicizing it that the word
has gotten out. Thousands of negative responses have come in since
it became common knowledge."

Peter Stephenson, an electronic journalist who has assumed the
responsibility of media relations for the protest group, told
Newsbytes: "This group is extremely serious about pursuing
these actions. We see areas of protest -- against Prodigy directly,
against Sears and IBM, the Prodigy partners, and against the
Prodigy advertisers. This charge will squash e-mail for thousands
and this should not be allowed to happen. There are handicapped
and environmental groups dependent on the service. Most of
these persons are computer neophytes and know only Prodigy. They
would have no way of even considering alternative e-mail services.
It's very troubling."

Stephenson questioned statistics that Prodigy had used to come up
with a 30 message base. "They talk about average client usage and
base their client figures on the number of kits they have sold or
given away. Many of these people never have used Prodigy at all
and certainly should not be included in any statistics. Many
others may use the service for specific things like
weather, airline schedules or the new encyclopedia and never
use e-mail. They should also not be included. Prodigy is getting
a bad name for this whole thing. The kits they give out mention
only a flat fee. There is no indication of additional charges
for e-mail. It's reminiscent of a 'bait and switch' operation."

Brian Eck, Prodigy spokesperson, told Newsbytes: "We have gotten
complaints on this increase from a very small percent of our
472,00 members. The large majority of members are using less
than 30 messages per month. We did find that a small group of
users are using a large amount of the capacity. Approximately
1,000 customers are sending 2,000 or more messages a month,
a few dozen are sending in excess of 13,000 per month
and one person, during August, sent over 20,000 messages. Some
people have set up businesses on the service. We have to recover
costs in some manner and we were faced with 2 choices -- to spread
the cost among the entire base or to have the heavy users pay
for the use. It seems much fairer to us to choose the latter. All
we are asking is that people pay their fair share. The 25 cent
charge for heavier users is still the cheapest form of instant
communications that we are aware of. It is no more than the
cost of a postage stamp."

(Barbara E. McMullen & John F. McMullen/19900917)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(NYC)(00023)

GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE ISSUES STATEMENT ON HACKER ISSUES
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, U.S.A., 1990 SEP 17 (NB) -- James Gallaway,
Republican candidate for governor of the State of Nevada
has issued a statement taking issue with some recent law
enforcement activities related to alleged crimes by
so-called "hackers". Arrests for such crimes have gone
on throughout the country since March of this year and have
involved such cases as Operation SunDevil, Steve Jackson Games,
The Neidorf Phrack, and the recently arrested New York
"Zod group."

The statement said, in part, "These are my positions, relative to
some of the recent law enforcement practices by some government
agents:  1. Government responses to alleged misdemeanors and
crimes must be no more than comparable to the seriousness of
the wrong-doings; 2. Simple electronic trespass without harm
must be treated as any other simple trespass.  It does not
justify armed raids on teenagers, forced entry of private homes,
nor seizure of telephone handsets, answering machines,
computer printers, published documentation, audio tapes and the
like; 3. The notion that equipment can be "arrested" and held
inaccessible to its owner, without promptly charging the owner
with a crime, is absolutely unacceptable.  The practice of holding
seized equipment and data for months or years is a serious penalty
that must be imposed only by a court of law and only after a fair
and public hearing and judicial finding of guilt; 4. Tele-
conferencing and BBS systems must have the same protections
against suppression, prior restraint, search or seizure as
do newspapers, printing presses and public meeting places;
5. The contents of electronic-mail and of confidential or closed
teleconferencing exchanges must have the same protections against
surveillance or seizure as does First Class Mail in a U.S. Post
Office, and private discussions among a group in a home or
boardroom."

Gallaway added: "As Governor of the State of Nevada,
I will vigorously support all of these positions -- both
statewide and nationally."

Gallaway, a principal in several telecom and computer company
start-ups in the course of his 20 years in the private
telecommunications industry, said that he had been briefed on
current concerns of the industry by Jim Warren, founder of
InfoWorld and the West Coast Computer Faire and principal
organizer of the Technology, Freedom and Privacy Conference
to be held early next year. He told Newsbytes: "I think it
is a problem with understanding. What I see out there is
a lot of people who grew up with pencils are not sufficiently
aware of the new technologies. They are fearful
of it because it is unknown. I'm very much a law and order
type of individual. When a crime is committed, there should be
quick and just penalties. It seems that now the computer folks
are a little more sophisticated than law enforcement officials
and that, in an effort to catch up, over-reaction may occur. It
is time to make sure that this is not a trend."

(Barbara E. McMullen & John F. McMullen/19900917)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SYD)(00024)

AUSTRALIA: SIGMA DATA APPOINTED AT&T LOCAL DISTRIBUTOR
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1990 SEP 17 (NB) -- Sigma data has been appointed
local distributor for AT&T computer systems in a move described as
having "set the cat among the pigeons."

The deal includes distribution of AT&T's workstations, data
terminals (including X terminals), local area networking (LAN)
platforms, Unix computers and network server products, LAN and data
management software. The move is seen as extremely timely for Sigma,
as they recently lost local distribution for Sequent computers when
that company set up its own local operations. The agreement marks
the end of an "informal arrangement" AT&T had with Olivetti.

(Sean McNamara & Computing Australia/19900917)


(NEWS)(IBM)(SYD)(00025)

AUSTRALIAN BANK SIGNS RIGHTS AGREEMENT WITH IBM
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1990 SEP 17 (NB) -- Westpac Banking Corporation
has signed a deal with IBM for the world-wide rights to the bank's
CS90 (Core Systems for the 90s) software technology.

The deal is in three parts: IBM gains rights to use, modify and
distribute certain parts of the CS90 technology; IBM is granted
world-wide marketing rights to the software; and the terms and
conditions under which Westpac will provide services in relation to
IBM. The deal is expected to offset much of Westpac's AUS$125M
development costs through some upfront payments from IBM followed by
royalties and technology transfer fees. The core of the CS90
technologies to which IBM has bought rights center on the methodologies
and tools for the development of systems applications within CS90.
Westpac has retained the right to sell the system to other banks
around the world.

(Sean McNamara & Computing Australia/19900917)


(NEWS)(IBM)(TOR)(00026)

NEW FOR IBM: FaceLift Adds Soft Fonts To WordPerfect
CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1990 SEP 17 (NB) -- BitStream
says a new font scaling program being developed jointly with
LaserTools will let WordPerfect users build soft fonts for
Hewlett-Packard LaserJet and compatible printers on the fly.

FaceLift for WordPerfect will offer users of the popular word
processing program capabilities similar to those BitStream's
FaceLift for Windows offers to Windows users. Catherine Hartley,
a spokeswoman for BitStream, said WordPerfect users will select
fonts in the usual way, and when a document is printed FaceLift
will download the necessary soft fonts to the printer.

The software will work with all models of the LaserJet line and
with compatible printers that use the HP-PCL page description
language, Hartley said. However, it will not work with HP's
DeskJet ink-jet printers.

FaceLift will carry a list price of US$99, and is expected to
ship in the middle of October, Hartley said.

(Grant Buckler/19900914/Press Contact: Louise Domenitz or
Catherine Hartley, BitStream, 617-497-6222)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(TOR)(00027)

CANADA: CA OFFERS GST UPGRADES
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA, 1990 SEP 17 (NB) -- Computer
Associates has announced software upgrades to help Canadian users
of its Accpac accounting packages handle the new Goods and
Services Tax (GST) scheduled to take effect January 1.

CA will provide upgrades for Accpac Plus, Accpac BPI Accounting
and Accpac Bedford packages to support the new tax, which applies
to a wide range of goods and services and will call for a number
of changes in accounting for sales and purchases in Canada.

John Schoutsen, marketing manager for CA's Micro Products
Division here, said the company will also provide a software
utility to help Accpac Plus users update accounting data. "These
are the customers that have very large databases," he said. The
utility will help users group customers and inventory items into
logical batches for mass changes in tax status.

Schoutsen said preparing for the GST should be relatively simple
for smaller businesses that use the Accpac Bedford software.
However, he added, Computer Associates is "really recommending
that they talk to an accountant to examine all these things
beforehand."

Upgrades to Accpac Plus will cost C$195 per module for users of
versions 5.0 and 5.1. Users can also purchase CA's SupportPlus
support package, which includes the upgrades, for C$250. Users of
versions before 5.0 must pay C$450 for SupportPlus, including an
upgrade to the latest version.

Accpac BPI users can pay C$125 for the GST upgrade only, or C$150
for SupportPlus.

Users of Accpac Bedford Integrated Accounting on MS-DOS machines,
or Accpac Bedford Simply Accounting on the Apple Macintosh, can
get SupportPlus, including the GST upgrade, for C$100.

(Grant Buckler/19900914/Press Contact: John Schoutsen, Computer
Associates, 604-737-3322)


(NEWS)(IBM)(TOR)(00028)

COMPUTER ASSOCIATES HAS FREE CONVERSION UTILITIES
GARDEN CITY, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1990 SEP 17 (NB) -- Computer
Associates has announced new data conversion utilities to help
customers trade up within its line of accounting software
packages.

The utilities will help users convert data from one Accpac
product to a more powerful one, explained John Schoutsen,
marketing director in Computer Associates' office in Vancouver,
British Columbia. CA has three levels of accounting software:
Accpac Bedford Integrated Accounting and Simply Accounting at the
low end, Accpac BPI Accounting and Accpac Plus.

The utilities are free. Schoutsen said CA is also offering
rebates to users who move up within the product line. Users who
buy a higher-level Accpac package can send in proof of ownership
of a lower-level package to receive a rebate ranging from $50 to
$100, he said.

(Grant Buckler/19900914/Press Contact: John Schoutsen, Computer
Associates, 604-737-3322)


(NEWS)(IBM)(TOR)(00029)

CODENOLL SHIPS MCA FIBER OPTIC ETHERNET CARDS
YONKERS, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1990 SEP 17 (NB) -- Codenoll
Technology has announced three high performance fiber optic
Ethernet Micro Channel adapter cards for IBM PS/2 personal
computers and compatibles.

The CodeNet-832X cards are available immediately. Codenoll now
offers fiber-optic Ethernet network support for Industry Standard
Architecture (ISA) or AT bus machines, Extended Industry Standard
Architecture (EISA) systems and Micro Channel computers.

In a prepared statement, Michael H. Coden, president of Codenoll,
said the cards are "another part of Codenoll's plan to support
open systems and industry standards such as Ethernet and the
PS/2."

Codenoll spokesman Robert Neilly told Newsbytes the company
expects significant growth in sales of Micro Channel machines in
coming months, although Codenoll believes that "no one of those
buses is going to dominate."

The new series consists of three cards. The CodeNet-8320 uses a
low-cost passive star to create an economical network that
retains the distance, performance, security and expandability
advantages of fiber.

The CodeNet-8321 conforms to the IEEE fiber optic inter-repeater
link (FOIRL) standard  for connecting Ethernet networks over
fiber links. It connects to Codenoll's active star or any other
FOIRL hub. The CodeNet-8322 connects Micro Channel systems to
existing Codenoll passive star networks.

The suggested retail price for either the CodeNet-8320 or the
CodeNet-8321 is US$895. The CodeNet-8322 lists for US$995. The
new cards are available immediately in limited quantities, Neilly
said. Codenoll will be working up to full production in the
fourth quarter, he added.

The CodeNet-832X cards have a 16-bit data bus interface and
onboard dual-ported 16K-byte memory that is shared with the
computer's processor. They support 10 megabits-per-second network
data transmission.

(Grant Buckler/19900913/Press Contact: Robert Neilly, Codenoll,
914-965-6300)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00030)

SOUTHNET HEARS LONDON CALLING
TAMPA, FLORIDA, U.S.A., 1990 SEP 17 (NB) -- Southnet
received an order from Metro Communications Limited of London for
5,000 World Cards to be delivered to Trans World Airlines. The
cards will be given to TWA employees and members of their
frequent flyer club. Southnet estimates revenues of $1.8 million
annually from this sale.

The World Card is an international long distance calling card
that lets people make calls from 17 countries to anywhere in the
world. Users have pre-approved credit for their calls, no
requirement for special phones and no local currency needs.
Southnet says the card also provides discounts of 30-50%,
compared to the cost of calling directly.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19900914/Press Contact: Robert J. Zradicka,
Southnet, 813-287-2880)

(NEWS)(IBM)(SFO)(00031)

IBM RESPONDS TO INFOWORLD STORY
WHITE PLAINS, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1990 SEP 17 (NB) -- IBM has
issued a statement in response to a story in Infoworld which
claimed it had decided to part ways with Microsoft by assuming
responsibility for the development of OS/2. The statement denies
that there has been a split in their relationship, but admits
that development efforts will be handled differently.

The IBM statement confirms that some development efforts will
be shifted, "Although both IBM and Microsoft will define
requirements for these products, each company's development
efforts will primarily focus on certain products, which will
be licensed to the other company. In most cases, development
efforts will be centralized in one location." IBM says that
the shifting of locations will "increase overall development
responsiveness, reduce development cycles and enable streamlined
migration and growth alternatives for users of DOS, Windows
and OS/2."

The statement, attributed to James A. Cannavino, IBM vice
president and general manager, Personal Systems, says that
IBM will have the primary role for developing 16-bit and
32-bit OS/2, with Microsoft making development contributions.
Microsoft continues to develop Windows and will be the primary
developer for DOS.  Both companies intend to contribute to
the development of a 32-bit version of OS/2 that is portable
to other computer instruction sets, such as RISC. Microsoft
will have the primary role of developing this portable version,
with IBM making development contributions.  All of these
products will be cross-licensed by both companies.

IBM also reaffirmed its intention to reduce the entry
requirements for OS/2 to 2 MB, to converge LAN Manager and
LAN Server and to make the functions of OS/2 EE and LAN Server
available to all IBM and OEM OS/2 users.  In addition, IBM will
begin delivering limited shipments of a 32-bit version of OS/2
to selected accounts in 1990, and the product will be generally
available in 1991.

(Wendy Woods/19900917/Press Contact: Tracy O'Neill, IBM,
914-642-5412)