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/nb901112

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(NEWS)(IBM)(LON)(00001)

COMDEX: WYSE UNVEILS NEW PC, TERMINALS 11/12/90
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, U.S.A., 1990 NOV 12 (NB) -- Wyse has unveiled
its 1990/91 range of high-power 486 and 386 machines, along with
a family of color VGA monitors, at Comdex Fall this week.
According to Dave Everett, vice president of sales and corporate
marketing with the company, plans for a portable range are still
on the horizon, although he declined to name a time scale for
portables.

"We're pleased to be profitable again after a period of not making
money on PCs. We can now confirm our strategy as pursuing the PC
market as strongly as we have done in the terminals marketplace,"
he told Newsbytes.

(Steve Gold/19901112)


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

COMDEX: MITAC UNVEILS NEW PCS 11/12/90
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, U.S.A., 1990 NOV 12 (NB) -- Mitac has
announced the MPC 4280G, a 33MHz 486 offering destined for
shipment this coming January/February. Alongside the new flagship
of Mitac's PC range is the company's new notebook PC, scheduled
for spring '91 shipment, and two new monitors, a 19-inch color
and 14-inch super VGA non-interlaced unit.

According to John Clarke, Mitac UK's assistant marketing manager,
firm pricing on the new range of machines has yet to be decided.
"Pricing depends a lot on the state of the dollar when the
machines ship," he told Newsbytes.

(Steve Gold/19901112/Press & Public Contact: Mitac UK - Tel:
0952-291776)


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

COMDEX: ATARI ROLLS OUT MEGA STE SERIES 11/12/90
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, U.S.A., 1990 NOV 12 (NB) -- Amid a plethora of
existing products rolled out once again for the Comdex Fall show
crowds, Atari has two new products up its sleeve - the Mega STE
series and the SLM 605 laser printer. The Mega STE series is
essentially an existing STE motherboard fitted into a slimline
TT-style case, and targeted at new Mega ST users who want a
sleek low-profile case version of the Mega ST, plus an improved
desktop user interface.

The Mega STE series can be configured with up to 4MB of RAM. The
standard configuration includes a graphics accelerator chip plus
a number of design improvements over the previous Mega ST
machines launched several years ago.

The SLM605 laser, meanwhile, is bundled as a DTP laser printer
with the Mega STE series. A sample configuration with Mega STE,
50MB hard disk and SLM605 laser will sell for $2,800. This price
includes end-user training as well.

Pricing on the individual Mega ST and SLM605 laser printer had
yet to be confirmed. The systems will be out in time for
Christmas, said a company representative.

(Steve Gold/19901112/Press Contact: Andy Marken, Marlen
Communications - Tel: 408/296-\3600)


(NEWS)(IBM)(HKG)(00004)

COMDEX: HONG KONG'S INFORMTECH PLANS BIGGEST SHOW 11/12/90
SHATIN, NEW TERRITORIES, HONG KONG, 1990 NOV 12 (NB) -- Hong
Kong computer system board manufacturer Informtech is sparing no
effort to provide a showcase for its products at Comdex Fall.
The company's entire range of boards will be on display, arranged
in succeeding generations to show how the company, and system
board technology in general, have evolved.

"This Comdex will be our biggest show ever," said Diana Fung,
Informtech's marketing manager. "When we attended Comdex in 1987, we
had only the Mini-AT motherboard to exhibit. This year, with the
addition of all our current boards, we don't have enough space to
show the Mini-AT."

"We will be presenting Informtech as a Hong Kong-based full-line
manufacturer of 286, 386 and 486 motherboards with supporting add-on
cards," said Fung. "We are among the leaders in the manufacture of
EISA products, with not one, but two EISA systems boards - the
IT386EX and IT486EX - to support our tradition of innovation."

Informtech says its goal for the exhibition is to reinforce its
reputation as an expert in EISA architecture. It is also emphasizing
its worldwide distribution and support. At its 110,000-sq-ft factory,
the company manufactures a wide range of motherboards and peripheral
boards for PC manufacturers in North America, Europe and Asia.

The new company headquarters in Shatin, now a sprawling high-rise new
town, but only 12 years ago still a quiet rural valley overlooking
the sea, supports branch offices in strategic locations. The company
also has branch offices in Australia, Canada, the US, and West
Germany.

(Norman Wingrove/19901108/Press Contact: Jacqueline C.C. Sun,
Informtech, [phone]; HK time is GMT + 8)


(NEWS)(IBM)(LAX)(00005)

COMDEX: ULTRASTOR SHOWS NEW EISA CONTROLLERS 11/12/90
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, U.S.A., 1990 NOV 12 (NB) -- UltraStor
Corporation is showing its enhanced line of EISA (extended
industry standard architecture) storage controllers that
now includes three new EISA bus master controllers that
utilize EISA Type C Burst Mode DMA to achieve 33MB
(megabyte) per second transfers. The three are the
Ultra 22F, Ultra 22C, and Ultra 24F.

The Ultra 22F, which will be available in January with a
list price of $695, is an intelligently buffered ESDI
and floppy drive controller for EISA based systems. It
supports up to 4 ESDI drives and up to 3 floppy drives
including floppy tape. In addition, the Ultra 22F supports
the 2.88MB (4MB unformatted) Extra High Density floppy drive.

The Ultra 22C is currently available at a list price of $895
with 512K of VRAM. It is a caching ESDI controller for
EISA-based systems that has an expandable cache of 512K to
4 MB with ultra fast VRAM. It supports all ESDI drives and
uses the "Principle of Locality" caching algorithm.

The Ultra 24F, which will be available in January at a
suggested price of $695, is an intelligently buffered SCSI
(small computer system interface) that fully supports both
the SCSI-I and SCSI-II protocols in addition to supporting
three floppy devices including FloppyTape and the 2.88MB
Extra High Density floppy drives. It supports the new
"FAST" SCSI rate of 10 MB per second and comes in two
models, Standard and Differential.

In addition to the specific features of each controller, all
three support Netware Duplexing and MIrroring, break the
DOS and OS/2 528 partition limit, may co-reside with any
other controller in the system, provide an enhanced
Ultra BIOS for DOS 32bit transfers and are fully compatible
with Unix, Xenix, Novell, DOS, and OS/2 and their
respective file systems.

(Janet Endrijonas/19901112/Steve Roberts, UltraStor,
714-581-4100)


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

COMDEX: ARTISOFT LANS FEATURE MCA ADAPTERS 11/12/90
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, U.S.A., 1990 NOV 12 (NB) -- Artisoft
is demonstrating three Micro Channel versions of the
LANtastic AE-2 Ethernet, LANtastic 2 Mbps and LANtastic
Voice priced at $449, $349, and $199 respectively. All
three are scheduled to ship in December.

The Micro Channel AE-2 Ethernet adapter is a 16-bit
adapter that can be used in either a 16-bit or 32-bit slot.
It is downward compatible with Novell's NE/2 hardware so
it can be used to run LANtastic, Novell ELS, or NETware.
It is fully compliant with the IEEE 802.3 and Ethernet
standards and comes with on-board 16K RAM (random access
memory) that is user expandable to 64K.

The Micro Channel LANtastic 2 Mbps adapter is the ISA
(industry standard architecture) version and includes
a 10 MHz (megahertz) coprocessor, 32K of on-board,
dual-ported RAM, and software-selectable IRQ and RAMBASE
address settings.

The LANtastic Voice Adapter for Micro Channel allows
LANtastic Network Operating System V3.0 and higher
to access the network's voice-mail and voice chat
features. Users can talk in real time across the
network and leave voice messages. Sound can be output
through the PS/2's internal speaker with software-
selectable volume control.

(Janet Endrijonas/19901112/Press Contact: Joe Waldygo,
Artisoft, 602-293-6363 ext. 215)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(SYD)(00007)

AUSTRALIA: TRANSPORT GIANT CHARGED WITH SOFTWARE PIRACY 11/12/90
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1990 NOV 12 (NB) -- Australian transport giant
Mayne Nickless has been charged with software piracy after a raid on its
premises by a team from Lotus Development, Wordperfect Pacific,
and the Business Software Association of Australia [BSAA].
The raid uncovered an undisclosed number of illegal copies of Lotus
and Wordperfect software running on the firm's PCs.

The raid came about after a disgruntled ex-employee of Mayne
Nickless called the BSAA's toll-free hotline, accusing the company
of copyright breaches. After the raid took place, legal action was
seen as the appropriate course due to the large numbers of illegal
copies, according to Philip Argy, a partner in the law firm
representing Lotus and Wordperfect. The raid and subsequent charges
are the first instances of such action to be taken in Australia so
far.

After a Federal Court Hearing, Mayne Nickless were given until
November 21st to produce an affidavit stating the number of
applications, if any, it had illegally copied. When contacted by
Newsbytes, a member of the raiding party could not be drawn into
commenting on any part of the raid, including possible quantities of
software involved.

The charges related to the copying of Lotus 1-2-3 versions 2.01,
2.2, and 2.3, and Wordperfect versions 5.0 and 5.1. If found guilty
of copyright infringement, Mayne Nickless could be fined up to
AUS$250,000 per program copied.

(Sean McNamara & Computing Australia/19901112)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SYD)(00008)

AUSTRALIA: ARCHE TECHNOLOGIES CLOSES AFTER LOSS 11/12/90
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1990 NOV 12 (NB) -- The Australian subsidiary of
Arche Technology is to close after posting an AUS$1.6M loss. The
move comes after only 19 months of operation in Australia, and only
one week after the announcement of the company's new 80386SX-based
notebook computer. Losses are blamed on "mistakes" made during
the first year of operation.

Peter Connelly, Arche's managing director for the Australian
subsidiary, who was brought over from the successful New Zealand
subsidiary, said that "there is nothing wrong with the machines, but
they were presented to the dealers in the wrong way." Another mistake
made was the selling of machines with an NCR warranty when no
agreement had been made with NCR.

The decision was made by Arche Technologies' shareholders, and came
about due to the high operation costs and the lack of success of the
products in the Australian market. The move will not mean Arche
will not consider appointing a distributor in the future, or reopening
a subsidiary here, according to Connelly.

(Sean McNamara/19901112)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(HKG)(00009)

HONG KONG COMPANY OFFERS BUSINESS BY REMOTE CONTROL 11/12/90
WANCHAI, HONG KONG, 1990 NOV 12 (NB) -- Hong Kong systems house
Dynastic Computer Systems Ltd (DCSL) has launched Remote Business
Monitoring Service (RBMS), that allows an emigrant businessman or
expatriate executive to continue to run his company from overseas.
Based on Hong Kong Telecom's Minilink permanently online terminal to
Datapak, the territory's public data network, RBMS enables the remote
executive to call his Hong Kong computer from his local packet
network, and download files, documents and reports to his
workstation.

"Senior business executives are emigrating in large numbers every
year, but they often remain in control of their enterprises in Hong
Kong after they have left," said Kitty Chan, marketing manager at
DCSL. "RBMS is a reliable, secure and cost-effective way for them to
keep in day-to-day contact with their operations in the territory."

Robin Lau, marketing manager at Hong Kong Telecom's Datacom Services,
said Datapak was the ideal vehicle for such a service. "Packet
networks all over the world use the same switching technology, which
can link many different kinds of computer," he said. "The network
automatically resolves differences in speed and communication
protocol."

(Norman Wingrove/19901108/Press Contact: HK Telecom, [phone];
HK time is GMT + 8)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(HKG)(00010)

CSSL TO DISTRIBUTE SYNON/2 2.1 IN HONG KONG 11/12/90
WANCHAI, HONG KONG, 1990 NOV 12 (NB) -- Synon International (SI),
25 percent owned by IBM, will upgrade its distribution pact with
Commercial Software Services Ltd (CSSL) coinciding with
release 2.1 of its computer-aided software engineering (CASE)
package. IBM appointed Synon last April to develop an extended
standard format that will apply on IBM's PS/2, AS/400 and
higher-end mainframe computers.

"The three-fold relationship is working to the benefit of all
parties," said Simon Haig, chief executive of the Asian-Pacific arm
of Synon based in Sydney. "Synon has been developed specifically for
the mid-range AS/400, of which CSSL is one of the IBM-appointed value
added resellers in Hong Kong."

Earlier this year, IBM purchased a 25 percent equity in CSSL, and its
own agreement with IBM saw Synon's sales revenue soar to its highest
total since the company was founded in 1983.

Synon/2 Release 2.1 integrates an end-user reporting function in
addition to the primary data modelling and code generation modules.
Although the system was originally developed for the AS/400, Haig
said that Synon is working on a graphical user interface to
facilitate cooperative processing on IBM PS/2s. He said this version
will be available by the end of 1991.

According to Haig, Synon, which also has offices in the United
Kingdom and the USA, views the Asia-Pacific region as the crucial
market of the nineties. In Asia, he foresees the relationship with
CSSL making further headway in end-user areas such as the
distribution and financial services sector.

The company also plans to produce Kanji and Chinese versions of Synon
for the Japan and Taiwan markets. The Korean market is also a
possibility, added Haig.

(Norman Wingrove/19901109/Press Contact: Donough Foley, MDL,
[phone]; HK time is GMT + 8)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(HKG)(00011)

BIS RETAIL BANKING SYSTEM FOR AS/400 11/12/90
ADMIRALTY, HONG KONG, 1990 NOV 12 (NB) -- A new retail banking system
for the IBM AS/400 computer has been announced by BIS Banking
Systems. BIS says BIS Retailplus is said to give financial
institutions the ability to introduce new retail products and services
quickly, in response to changing market demands and competitive
innovations.

"Controlling costs while simultaneously developing customer service
is one of the major challenges that financial organizations face
today," said Bruce Quick, BIS' general manager for East Asia. "With
Retailplus, we can deliver an advanced yet cost-effective solution
that meets both requirements."

BIS Retailplus is to be marketed together with a full range of
services including consultancy, training and customizing to the
requirements of individual users.

BIS says use of the mid-range IBM AS/400 computer gives Retailplus a
significant cost-performance edge over mainframe-based systems.

(Norman Wingrove/19901109/Press Contact: Bruce Quick, BIS,
[phone]; HK time is GMT + 8)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(TOR)(00012)

CANADA: SLOWING GROWTH IN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY 11/12/90
TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1990 NOV 12 (NB) -- Last year brought a
steep drop in growth in the Canadian information technology
industry, and 1990's figures will be the lowest since 1986,
according to Evans Research, an information industry research
firm here. Evans reported in its recent Top 200 report that
Canada's top 200 information technology companies grew at an
average of 9.1 percent in 1989, down from 17.4 percent in 1988.

In another report, Trends and Forecasts for the Information
Technologies Industry 1990-1994, Evans forecasts overall industry
growth will stay below 10 percent for the next four years.

However, the researchers say the news is not all bad. Some
industry sectors, including software, professional services,
workstations, and personal computers, will continue to show
strong growth in the next few years, according to Evans.

Evans predicts the Canadian workstation market will grow at 24
percent in 1990, while the personal computer industry grows at 17
percent. Software sales are forecast to grow at 16.1 percent, and
professional services at 14 percent. General hardware sales and
processing services are the areas dragging the industry average
down.

(Grant Buckler/19901109/Press Contact: Charles Whaley, Evans
Research, 416-498-6664)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TOR)(00013)

WANG, BANYAN ANNOUNCE GLOBAL RESELLER AGREEMENT 11/12/90
LOWELL, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1990 NOV 12 (NB) -- Extending a
relationship that began in the spring of 1988, Wang Laboratories
and Banyan Systems, of Westboro, Massachusetts, have signed a
strategic business agreement that makes Wang the first global
reseller of Banyan's microcomputer networking products. The deal
means the two firms' sales forces will work together to sell and
service Banyan products worldwide, said Linda Volpe Kincaid, a
spokeswoman for Wang.

Kincaid said the two companies have worked together since April,
1988. The new agreement extends the relationship with closer
cooperation between Wang and Banyan sales forces, she explained.

Kincaid said Wang chose to work with Banyan because "they offered
the best technological products," and because the two companies
had matching philosophies on customer support.

"This relationship has important implications for both Banyan and
Wang," said James D'Arezzo, vice president of marketing at
Banyan, in a prepared statement. "For Banyan, it will
significantly enhance VINES penetration into the world market.
Wang, in turn, will gain the ability to deliver worldwide the
most technologically advanced corporate-wide PC networking
solution available today."

(Grant Buckler/19901109/Press Contact: Linda Volpe Kincaid, Wang,
508-967-6425; Gary Wolfe or Jennifer Jester, Banyan,
508-898-1000)


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

IBM DONATES NEARLY C$1 MILLION TO CANADIAN UNIVERSITY 11/12/90
KINGSTON, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1990 NOV 12 (NB) -- Queen's University
has opened a Geographic Information Systems Laboratory that will
apply computer imaging technology to applications ranging from
land management to modeling the human heart. As part of its
University Co-operative Program, IBM Canada has contributed
C$944,000 worth of hardware, software, and services to the new
lab.

In opening the lab, Queen's Principal David Smith said its work
is expected to continue well into the next century, although the
joint project with IBM is due to finish in 1994. John Thompson,
chairman and chief executive of IBM Canada, said the Queen's lab
is the 29th research facility IBM has funded at Canadian
universities over the past eight years. He said it is important
for Canadian business to invest more in education to develop an
educated work force and promote research.

Assistance for the project also came from the Canadian Centre for
Geographic Information Systems in Education (CCGISE), a
non-profit organization based in Ottawa. CCGISE provided
C$500,000 worth of software for the lab, according to Rowland
Tinline, director of the laboratory.

The lab will use a mixture of IBM PS/2 and RISC System/6000
hardware in its central facility and five satellite locations in
the university's biology, geology, geography, health sciences,
and education departments.

Joint projects with outside agencies include use of the lab's
facilities to plan the flight paths of Ontario Ministry of
Natural Resources airplanes that drop baits containing a vaccine
to control the spread of rabies among foxes. Carolyn Fielding,
operations manager for that project, said GIS technology helps
the ministry identify prime fox habitats.

In another project, the Cataraqui Region Conservation Authority
is using the GIS software to study waterfowl habitats and plan
land use in rural areas surrounding Kingston. "The GIS will let
us see what areas we should be focussing in on," said Allen
Hansen, who works with the conservation authority.

(Grant Buckler/19901109/Press Contact: Martha Terdik, IBM Canada,
416-474-3900; Tim Lougheed, Queen's University, 613-545-2869)


(NEWS)(IBM)(TOR)(00015)

COMDEX: EICON UPGRADES PRINTER CONTROLLERS 11/12/90
MONTREAL, QUEBEC, CANADA, 1990 NOV 12 (NB) -- Paper-handling
features are the major news in a new release of the EiconScript
line of Postscript-emulating printer controller cards from Eicon
Technology here. The new versions add duplex printing, with
double-buffering capability so one side of a page can be
processed while the other is printed, Marc Jette, vice-president
of Eicon's image division, told Newsbytes.

The cards make it possible to output to a non-Postscript printer
using software that expects Postscript. The cards support
Hewlett-Packard LaserJet II and III printers as well as models
from Canon, Ricoh, and Mannesmann-Tally, Jette said. At Comdex,
Eicon is showing a feature that will let the EiconScript cards support
both Postscript and Hewlett-Packard's PCL-5 page description
language with 800 by 400 dots-per-inch resolution.

Besides the support for duplex printing, new releases of the
EiconScript 100, 200, and 300 cards offer a variety of
tray-selection commands for printers with more than one input or
output tray. The latest EiconScript cards also support 50 fonts
rather than the standard 35, Jette said.

Prices for the EiconScript cards vary with the printer model
supported, Jette said. For the Hewlett-Packard models, prices are
C$1,695 for the EiconScript 100, C$2,795 for the EiconScript 200,
and C$3,195 for the EiconScript 300. The 200 model offers about
three times the performance of the EiconScript 100, he said,
while the EiconScript 300 offers about four and a half times the
100's performance.

(Grant Buckler/19901109/Press Contact: Marc Jette, Eicon
Technology, 514-631-2592)


(EXCLUSIVE)(TELECOM)(MOW)(00016)

MOSCOW: MASSIVE SOVIET MARITIME COMMUNICATIONS UPGRADE 11/12/90
MOSCOW, U.S.S.R., 1990 NOV 12 (NB) -- The Soviet Union's merchant
marine telecommunication manager has released details of an UKP
5 million deal with British Case Communications. The project will
completely automate routine daily communications among all
ships sailing under the Soviet flag.

Sergey Starik, technical director of Morflot's (U.S.S.R. merchant
marine ministry) communication center, told Newsbytes that the
automation of routine bureaucratic communication began 10 years ago
when Morflot bought Alcatel's Text Handling Computer (THC), which was
replaced two years ago with newer Case products to add communications
capacity.

Over the past 10 years, due to the advantages of computerized
systems, almost all Soviet shipping companies in major ports have
used the THC. The computer is located on the second floor of the
Morflot building in downtown Moscow, where messages are stored
and forwarded, Newsbytes has learned.

The new deal will provide each of 10 participating shipping
companies with an on board telecommunication system that can
store and forward telexes and weather reports, and which is
linked with Ministry of Communication networks and with
gateways to Inmarsat and Gorizont satellite telecommunication systems.

In addition, Mr Starik told Newsbytes, the new system
will handle all the shortwave traffic with ships. "It was a biggest
challenge in the whole project -- to make it work," he said of the
shortwave project.

Morflot plans to add X.400 capabilities to these installations which
would make the services available to all shipping agencies and vessels.

The systems will cost approximately UKP 450,000 to each of
participants making the total contract worth UKP 5 million.

The first new text handling system will be installed in a Leningrad
shipping company's headquarters in early January, 1991 and the last
will be installed in the Black Sea port of Ismail in December, 1991.
Each site will have two similar sets of equipment which will ensure
24 hour, non-stop performance.

Mr Starik told Newsbytes that after a 6-month search they decided to
use Case equipment because it "best fitted for our needs, with better and
faster service." Among the firms rejected in the bid were Olivetti,
Marconi Communications and AEG Telefunken.

(Kirill Tchashchin/19901109/Press contact: Sergey Starik, Morflot
communication center, phone [phone] fax [phone])


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SFO)(00017)

 BoCoEx Index 11/12/90 / Closing Prices on the Boston Computer Exchange
 for the week ending November 9, 1990

 Machine    Closing Price Ask Bid

 IBM PC 176  Floppy 375 -  450 200

 IBM XT 086  10 MgB 500 -  550 450

 IBM XT 089  20 MgB 550 -  625 400

 IBM AT 099  20 MgB 650 -  975 500

 IBM AT 239  20 MgB 875 -  1025 750

 IBM AT 339  30 MgB 925 -  1100 900

 IBM PS/2 Model 30 20 MgB 900 down 200 1250 775

 IBM PS/2 Model 30-286 20 MgB 1250 -  1300 1125

 IBM PS/2 Model 50 20 MgB 1250 down 100 1450 1200

 IBM PS/2 Model 50Z 30 MgB 1300 -  1600 1200

 IBM PS/2 Model 55SX 60 MgB 2300 -  2500 2100

 IBM PS/2 Model 60 40 MgB 1500 -  1800 1400

 IBM PS/2 Model 70 60 MgB 2700 down 100 2900 2600*

 IBM PS/2 Model 70P 60 MgB 3425 -  3450 3175

 IBM PS/2 Model 80 70 MgB 3000 down 175 3325 2900*

 Compaq Portable Floppy 400 -  500 400

 Compaq Portable II 20 MgB 900 -  1050 875

 Compaq Portable III 20 MgB 1300 down 125 1425 1300

 Compaq Portable 286 20 MgB 1275 -  1450 1100

 Compaq Portable 386 40 MgB 2600 -  2800 2500

 Compaq SLT-286  20 MgB 2500 -  2625 2000

 Compaq LTE-286  20 MgB 2000 -  2100 1850

 Compaq LTE-286  40 MgB 2500 -  2800 2500

 Compaq Dskpro  20 MgB 500 -  550 500

 Compaq Dskpro 286 40 MgB 1175 -  1400 1100

 Compaq Dskpro 386/16 60 MgB 2500 -  2600 2200

 Compaq Dskpro 386SX/16 60 MgB 2200 -  2300 1800

 Compaq Dskpro 386/20 60 MgB 2900 -  3100 2400

 Macintosh Plus  Floppy 550 -  750 500

 Macintosh Plus  20 MgB 750 -  975 700

 Macintosh SE  Floppy 900 up 150 1025 700

 Macintosh SE  20 MgB 1150 -  1250 1100*

 Macintosh SE  40 MgB 1150 -  1450 1100

 Macintosh SE-30 40 MgB 2250 -  2400 2200

 Macintosh SE-30 80 MgB 2850 -  3000 2700

 Macintosh II  40 MgB 3100 -  3400 3050

 Macintosh IIX  80 MgB 3900 -  4450 3800

 Macintosh IICX  40 MgB 3500 -  4100 3400

 Macintosh IICX  80 MgB 3800 -  4400 3800

 Macintosh IICI  80 MgB 4700 -  4875 4225

 Macintosh IIFX  80 MgB 6600 -  7100 6500

 Macintosh Portable 40 MgB 2925 -  3400 2600

 Apple 2e  Floppy 325 -  400 300*

 Apple 2gs  Floppy 1000 -  1100 850*

 Apple Imagewriter II  325 -  350 275

 Apple Laserwriter 2NT  2400 -  2500 2000

 Toshiba T-1200HB 20 MgB 1050 -  1230 1000

 Toshiba T-1200XE 40 MgB 2000 -  2050 1600

 Toshiba T-3100  10 MgB 850 -  900 800

 Toshiba T-3100  20 MgB 1375 -  1550 1200

 Toshiba T-3100 SX 40 MgB 3125 -  3200 2800

 Toshiba T-3200  40 MgB 1950 -  2150 1800

 Toshiba T-5100  40 MgB 2700 -  2800 2400

 Toshiba T-5200  100MgB 3800 -  3900 3200

 Zenith SuperSport-286 20 MgB 1450 -  1625 1400

 Zenith TurboSport-386 40 MgB 1900 -  2150 1900

     *Top Demand This Week

It was a week of watchful waiting in the used computer
marketplace. Increased availability of Intel 486 processors and
the widely held belief that Big Blue will shortly obsolesce the
Model 70's and Model 80's contributed to a slide in the upper end
of the PS/2 line.

Activity at the IBM desk was active as several foreign buyers
moved into the market to take advantage of price drops. PS/2
Model 80's were the big looser with a drop of $175 to close at
$3000.

The Compaq desk reported slow but solid trading as the market
seemed to be absorbing news of recent high end model shipments by
clone-makers AST and Dell. The only real movement in price was
with the older Portable III closing down $125 at $1300.

Meanwhile, the MacMarket has stabilized somewhat after recent
giant drops caused by the introduction of their new models. The
20 megabyte SE was traded actively as buyers interested in its
expansion capabilities moved to take advantage of the new low
prices.

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]. To access the
BoCoEx Database on-line or read the BoCoEx Index: CompuServe: GO
BCE, Delphi: ME BO. BoCoEx Index appears in PC Week,
ComputerWorld, UPI and IDG Wire Service, Newsbytes, CompuServe,
Delphi, Boston Business Journal, Boston Globe, and in other
publications around the world.

(BOCOEX19901110)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(BRU)(00018)

ACER SETS UP IN EUROPE, DESIGNING PS/1 CLONE 11/12/90
EINDHOVEN, HOLLAND, 1990 NOV 12 (NB) -- Taiwanese
computer maker Acer will establish a production facility
in Holland before the 12-nation European Community is declared a
border-free trade zone, a company spokesman said. The firm is
also setting up a joint venture with Smith Corona to build computers
that will compete with IBM's PS/1, Newsbytes has learned.

Regarding the new European base, Acer looked at sites in
England, Germany and Spain, before making a decision to
settle for a facility in Holland near the German
border, practically in the middle of the EC. There, in
Eindhoven, it bought local PC screwdriver facility
Kangaroo last year.

Sales Manager Marc Pauly said that production would reach
10,000 PCs a month by 1991 at the former Kangaroo plant
but a new facility would be built before the end of 1992.
Acer was looking for a 25,000 square meters industrial
estate and Holland was a likely choice, Pauly said.

Dutch computer weekly Computable reports that it has
learned that Acer will assemble the 1120SX -- a 386SX-based
PC -- at the Eindhoven plant as of Jan 1991. Managing Director
J. Wei said, "The start-up numbers would be 100 systems daily
with a five-fold rise by the end of that year."

Acer will be making around 10,000 PCs a month in Eindhoven
by the end of the year. This covers the demand from Europe
and makes up for some 20 percent of its 1990 total production.

On July 24 Acer announced a joint venture with German aviation,
space and electronics giant Messerschmitt-Bolkow-Blojm. More
details on the deal were announced recently. The $8.3 million
deal will establish a research unit at the Industrial Park of
Hsinchu near Taipeh, Taiwan. It will design high-density
chips and solutions for vertically integrated microelectronics
products.

Acer also has established a 50-50 joint venture with
Smith-Corona that will give the American typewriter
and word processor maker an entry into the personal computer
market. The office and home computer products will be
assembled at the Smith-Corona factory in New York. Although
both companies declined comment on the product line, it will
be a direct competitor for IBM's PS/1, an Acer source said.

(Eric Dauchy/19901110)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(BRU)(00019)

EC STRENGTHENS EAST-WEST COOPERATION 11/12/90
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM, 1990 NOV 12 (NB) -- The European
Commission approved ECU 200 million for support to Czechoslovakia,
Bulgaria, Yugoslavia and East Germany. Poland and Hungary are already
benefitting from the multi-million ECU funded PHARE program while
Romania is currently excluded from aid.

The Commission proposed to strengthen industrial cooperation
with countries of Central and Eastern Europe it said by helping
to establish the right framework conditions for joint activities
between industrial firms. "Taking into account the considerable
deficiencies of their industrial set-up (out-of-date and
polluting plants, high energy consumption, superfluous
personnel, out-of-date technology etc) these countries
need to establish an entirely new legal, administrative,
banking and taxation environment. They must improve
production, attract investment and integrate into world
trade. The support of G24, a group of 24 rich Western
countries, with the PHARE action is already working
towards this, but the Commission thinks there must be
specific complementary action to the benefit of all the
Eastern European countries, including the USSR," it said.

The 12-nation European Council of Ministers agreed on Sept.
17 to eliminate import restrictions on industrial goods from
Eastern Europe. The liberalization measures cover only
Czechoslovakia and Bulgaria as Poland and Hungary already
benefit from them. Yugoslavia enjoys a special bilateral
agreement that dates back many years while East Germany
now effectively forms part of the EC. Romania is currently
being excluded after savage incidents during the run-up to
the national elections a few months ago. The National
Salvation Front, in power then and still running the country,
put thousands of mine workers on busses and trains to the
capital city of Sofia to quell anti-NSF demonstrations. The
mine workers roamed through the streets like paramilitary
gangs beating up people without police interference in
violent scenes that caused the EC and other G24 nations,
including the United States, to convey its indignation in
the strongest terms. Romania's demand to be included in
the program will be examined at a later date, the G24 decided.

(Eric Dauchy/19901110)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(BRU)(00020)

EC ASSISTS IN R&D WITH EASTERN BLOC 11/12/90
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM, 1990 NOV 12 (NB) -- The 12-nation Council
of Ministers "welcomes the possibility of progressively including
Central and Eastern European countries undergoing reforms" and
looks favorably to R&D cooperation, the European Commission said.
The cooperation however should have "clear scientific
justification, be mutually beneficial and take place after
a careful examination of the overall implications of such
an enlargement,╙ it said.

Tiptoeing toward this goal, the EC has set up a series of
conferences that will cover these topics. On 22-25 October
a conference was held in Prague called "Strategic Management
in an International Perspective" while on 14-15 March 1991
the prospects for continuing education and training will be
discussed in Berlin. Thirdly, the Association of German
Technology Centres has, equally in Berlin, held their annual
conference under the banner "East-West Cooperation between
Innovation Centres."

Several Innovation Centres have been set up in Eastern Europe.
Newsbytes obtained this list, which was released by the European
Commission; Innotech, Dr. Z Palmai, POB 350, H-1519 Budapest, Hungary;
Mr K Zasiadly, Wielkopolska Innovation Centre, Al. Niedpolesglosci
16/18, PO-60967, Poznan, Poland; Mrs M Misinecz, Clean-Tech, Otos
Janos n. 1-3, H-1021 Budapest, Hungary; Mr Pavel Svejda, Society of
Science Parks, Lopatecka 13, 140 00 Prague 4, Czechoslovakia,
Tel [phone], Fax : [phone].

A booklet in German is available which lists over 200 innovation and
technology transfer institutions. "Technologietransfer und Technika
in der DDR" can be obtained from Mr H Fiedler, ADT, Gustav-Meyer-Allee
25, D-W-1000 Berlin 65. Tel : [phone] or Fax
+49-30.463.3095. The price is 50 DM.

For information on East German innovation centres contact
Dr Lehmann or Prof Daƒmichen, Zentralinstitut fur Hochschulbildung,
Aristotelessteig 4, D-O-1157 Berlin. Tel : [phone].

Meanwhile, having promoted the research and scientific work of
Soviet authors for the past 30 years, the British Library Document
Supply Centre has produced a series of translated journals
covering a wide range of fields in science and technology.

These journals enable researchers to keep up to date with Soviet
research and to spot business opportunities. They are International
Polymer Science and Technology, Organometallic Chemistry in the
USSR, Russian Chemical Reviews, Russian Journal of Organic Chemistry,
Russian Journal of Physical Chemistry, Russian Mathematical
Surveys and Thermal Engineering. Contact address is : Mrs A
Seed. British Library Document Supply Centre, Wetherby, West
Yorkshire, England LS23 7BQ. Tel : [phone], fax
+44-937-54.6333.

In view of the assistance for economic restructuring in the former
East Bloc countries, the European Commission has set aside a 300
million ECU program to support the economic and social reform in
Hungary and Poland. Called PHARE, it covers a wide range of
issues one of which is a program of basic technical assistance
for the Polish privatization agency. The agency will ultimately
be responsible for drawing up legislation and establishing
procedures and conditions for the privatization of the nearly
6,000 state-held companies in Poland.

Companies willing to invest in Eastern Europe are urged to
contact the respective Eastern European governments to find out
which agency to approach before getting involved in a joint venture.
The Polish privatization agency dubbed Foundation for Ownership
Changes is a good example. It will serve two roles -- make
presentations for privatizations and help create a securities
market. The address is Ul. Mysia 5, PO-Warszawa, Tel :
+48-22-28.3261.

(Eric Dauchy/19901110)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SFO)(00021)

COMDEX: INTERFACE GROUP PORTRAYS AVERAGE JOURNALIST 11/12/90
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, U.S.A., 1990 NOV 12 (NB) -- The average journalist
attending COMDEX is white, male, 40 years or older, has at least six
years behind him covering the computer industry, has attended three
COMDEX/Fall shows, and stays for three days. That's what the Interface
Group says in its survey of the 1800 press members attending the show
The Interface Group says its results were compiled from a sample of
200 returned surveys.

80 percent of the journalists said they favor PCs. Only 6 percent said
their favorite writing instrument is an Apple Computer, and 1%
still preferred the typewriter. Over 40 percent said they would file
stories from the event, either by fax or modem.

Most survey respondents said they worked for more than one type
of media. Trade publications ranked first at 60 percent, with newsletters
at 53 percent. Business and general publications represent 28 percent
of the journalists, and 27 percent write for technical journals.

In terms of education, the survey found that 34 percent had majored
in journalism and 22 percent specialized in computer sciences in
college. 8 percent studied engineering, four percent had majored in
English.

(Wendy Woods/19901112)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(SFO)(00022)

JUDGE GIVES AMD GO-HEAD TO USE '386' ON CHIPS 11/12/90
SUNNYVALE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1990 NOV 12 (NB) -- A federal judge
has denied Intel's request for a restraining order stopping Advanced
Micro Devices permission to use from using the number 386 on
versions of microprocessors that compete with Intel's.
The oral ruling from Judge William Ingram may not hold in the long-term
but at least allows AMD to use the name until a trial in the matter
is resolved.

AMD was delighted. "We believe that we can use the number 386
pending a trial," John Greenagel, AMD spokesman, said. AMD, according
to court documents, has created a chip compatible with Intel's which
it calls the AMD386DX. Although AMD has not publicly announced such
a device, published reports indicate there are over 20 manufacturers
"seeded" with the device.

AMD has argued in court that Intel does not have the right to own a
number as a trademark, a matter which Intel has vigorously fought.

(Wendy Woods/19901112)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(SFO)(00023)

NEW FOR MACINTOSH: Rasterops Lowers Color Board Price 11/12/90
SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1990 NOV 12 (NB) -- Rasterops
has announced that through Jan. 5, its Video ColorBoard 364, which it
calls the industry's first 24-bit color graphics product with live
digital TV-in-a-window capability, will be $1,295, which it says is
thousands of dollars below comparable offerings. The
promotion includes NTSC and PAL versions of the 364 product.

Rasterops uses custom VLSI chip technology in its boards, meaning
lower cost and faster product turn-around, according to the company.

The product offers 24-bit color, framegrabbing and real-time video
display, all of which are useful in multimedia applications

(Wendy Woods/19901112/Press Contact: John Barco, Rasterops,
408/562-4200)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(LON)(00024)

SPARC-BASED MAC & PC-COMPATIBLE PORTABLE UNVEILED 11/12/90
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, U.S.A., 1990 NOV 12 (NB) -- Trigem of Korea
and RDI of San Diego unveiled the Britelite, a 12-pound portable
driven by LSI Logic's SPARC chip. The machine clocks at a
respectable 12.5 MIPs. Its key features include DOS and 68030
Apple Mac emulation wholly within software.

Two screen options are available - 640 x 480 pixel 10.5 inch mono
LCD or 1,152 x 900 pixel 11.25 inch. A choice of hard disks are
available, along with a minimum of 8MB of RAM. Despite the
machine's impressive performance, pricing, complete with Sun OS -
starts at $7,000, rising to $11,000.

Orders will be taken for the machine in December, according to an
RDI spokeswoman, with shipping slated for the first two weeks of
January.

According to RDS, the Mac emulation closely follows the Mac BIOS
chipset, but does so legally. Apple representatives are reported
to be watching developments at RDS closely, but are not
considering taking any action at present.

(Steve Gold/19901112/Press & Public Contacts: RDS - Tel: 619/944-
6381)


(NEWS)(IBM)(SFO)(00025)

IBM ENTRY SYSTEMS GETS NEW PRESIDENT - ROBERT CORRIGAN 11/12/90
PURCHASE, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1990 NOV 12 (NB) -- IBM's new president for
its PC division is Robert Corrigan, former IBM vice president of the
Systems Technology Division, Technology Products. He reports to James A.
Cannavino, IBM vice president and general manager, who was president
of the ESD.

Corrigan's replacement in the STD department is IBM Vice President
Lutz F. Hahne who was assistant general manager, financial analysis,
IBM.

Corrigan is a nearly 30-year veteran of Big Blue, having joined IBM in
1962 as an engineer in East Fishkill, N.Y. and rising up through the
ranks. In 1978 he joined the IBM Eurocoordination staff in Paris,
returning to the U.S. in 1981 as manager of manufacturing planning,
General Technology Division. He became director of the
department in 1982, was named STD president in 1988 and was
elected an IBM vice president in 1989.

Hahne has been with IBM since 1967, starting in field engineering
management, in 1974, joining the Data Processing Product Group
as a financial analyst and later becoming manager of business evaluation.

In 1977, Hahne went to IBM Europe where he worked in financial
planning, became controller of IBM Europe and later became IBM Europe
assistant general manager for IBM United Kingdom and IBM France.
In 1985, he was named vice president of display products,
Communication Products Division. In 1986 he was named vice president
of hardware development, CPD, and in 1987 assistant group executive
of plans and controls, Information Systems and Storage Group.

(Wendy Woods/19901112/Press Contact: James E. Smith, IBM,
914/697-6626)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(ATL)(00026)

COMDEX: AT&T PROVIDES HARDWARE FOR THE PRESS ROOM 11/12/90
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, U.S.A., 1990 NOV 12 (NB) -- For the second
consecutive show, AT&T is managing the COMDEX press room. The
appointment gives AT&T the chance to show off its best to the
world's computer press, and win some goodwill. This show the
company is featuring its StarLAN Local Area Network, running
on AT&T 6286 and 6386 PCs. Company representatives demonstrated
that it's very easy to set up the StarServer software to accept
new DOS applications, which can then run off a menu for the
duration of the show.

The point for AT&T is to show off the new StarServer S, a new
network server based on the Intel 80486 chip and the Extended
Industry Standard Architecture slots pushed by Compaq, Tandy and
others. EISA competes with the new Micro Channel Architecture
plug of IBM and, increasingly, clonemakers who pay IBM
royalties. The StarServer S provides 2-3 times more processing
power than servers using the Intel high-end 80386/33 chip, which
speeds up workgroup processing when the network gets busy. The
new AT&T server also offers SCSI peripheral support as a standard
feature, again making for faster disk accesses. DOS applications
run as task under AT&T's Unix operating system; StarLAN is
designed to run under Unix.

In addition to all this, and a few Apple Macintoshes and fax
machines, AT&T is also providing phones with which U.S.
reporters can call their offices using long-distance credit
cards. Newsbytes learned, however, that the phones
will make direct-dialed international calls. Whether AT&T realizes
its mistake was unknown at press time, although it's sure to learn
of it when it gets the bills.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19901112/Press Contact: Lisa Wilson, Microsoft,
206-882-8080)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(ATL)(00027)

COMDEX: CANON FEATURING BUBBLE JET TECHNOLOGY 11/12/90
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, U.S.A., 1990 NOV 12 (NB) -- Canon U.S.A.
is featuring bubble-jet technology at this year's Fall COMDEX,
rather than its lines of PCs or hard drives. Featured are the
company's new BJ-300 and BJ-330 Bubble Jet printers, and a new
computer interface for the company's Bubble-Jet Color Copier A1,
which can copy documents as large as 22 inches by 33 inches.
These are follow-ons to the BJ-10e Bubble Jet printer, a light,
inexpensive unit designed for use with portable computers.

The new Bubble Jet printers are designed to replace dot matrix
printers, and offer a print resolution of 360 dots-per-inch,
more than the 300 dots-per-inch offered by ink-jet and laser
printers at a low price. The suggested list price of the Bubble
Jet Printer BJ-300, for instance, is $799 at its ship date, and
street prices can be expected to be much lower within 6 months,
based on the performance of other products.

The new printers come with emulators for popular IBM and Epson
dot matrix printers, and can also handle Courier, Prestige and
Gothic typefaces. When operating, they make only 45 decibels
of noise, less than most dot matrix printer models. They also come
with a number of options, including a 128,000-byte memory
expansion card and a two-bin automatic sheet feeder that takes
envelopes.

The computer interface for the large color Bubble-Jet copier is
expected to win the most attention from Comdex attendees. Not
only does the copier take large sheets of paper, it also offers a
print resolution of 400 dots-per-inch. The copier also has
computer functions which allow users to merge or overlay photos,
graphics and text from two originals, produce multiple images of
an original on a single page, reverse an original image, frame and
edit originals, and make large-format copies from the 35 millimeter
film used by most amateur photographers.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19901112/Press Contact: Gordon Clark, for
Canon, 212-527-8800)


(NEWS)(IBM)(ATL)(00028)

POQET SHIFTS TOPIC TO SOLUTIONS 11/12/90
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, U.S.A., 1990 NOV 12 (NB) -- Poqet Computer,
whose 1-pound Poqet PC has not been the runaway hit over the last
year the company thought it would be, is showing off peripherals
that will work with the machine at this year's show. Poqet's new
acting senior vice president for sales and marketing is Ed
Esber, former head of Ashton-Tate, the software maker.

The company introduced a ThinCard PC Card Drive made by Databook
Inc. which can link the machine to the 3.5-inch drive of any
standard PC and allow the quick transfer of data and programs to
the lighter unit. The ThinCard will be delivered by next March
and carry a retail price of $495.

Poqet, which is 46% owned by Fujitsu of Japan, also introduced
the Poqet/WorldPort 2400 modem for its machine. This is a 2400
bit/second modem, a private label version of a portable modem
from Touchbase Systems. It weighs just 8 ounces, of .2 kg., and
runs from 6-10 hours on a 9-volt alkaline battery, although it
can also be powered with an AC adapter. The suggested retail
price of the new modem is $345.

Finally, the company announced the availability of popular
applications from Lotus on the Poqet, using read-only memory
cards which are inserted into one of the computer's drive slots.
Release 2.2 of Lotus 1-2-3 carries a list price of $495, while a
Version 1.01P of Lotus Agenda costs $395.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19901112/Press Contact: Terri Hodges, Poqet
Computer, 408-522-8105)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(NYC)(00029)

SPINDLER'S STRONG HAND ATTRIBUTED TO HIS RISE AT APPLE 11/12/90
CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1990 NOV 12 (NB) -- Apple Computer's
appointment of Michael Spindler to its board of directors, and to the
president's post shows he has become a valuable partner to CEO John
Sculley, and is "a positive step," according to Richard Shaffer of
Technologic Partners, an influential group of analysts.

Shaffer told Newsbytes that "While many of the results of Spindler's
activities as chief operating officer will not become apparent for a
year to eighteen months, industry consensus indicates that he is doing
a lot of right things. Apple needs a strong hand at the top and Sculley
seems to have a good deal of confidence in Spindler. I think that this
is a positive step for Apple."

Spindler is presently the chief operating officer of the firm and will
continue to exercise that responsibility.

Of the appointment, John Sculley, Apple chairman and chief
executive officer, said, "These actions represent strong
votes of confidence in Michael Spindler and ringing endorsements of the
excellent job he has done at Apple since becoming chief operating officer
in February, 1990."

Joseph A. Graziano, the company's chief financial officer, and
Albert Eisenstat, Apple's Secretary, were also named as executive
vice presidents last week; they will report directly to Sculley. Also,
Bernard Goldstein, an investment banker at Fort Lee, New Jersey-based
Broadview Associates, has been nominated to Apple's board of directors.

The board membership nominations will be submitted
to a shareholder vote at the Annual Shareholders meeting on
January 30, 1991.

(Barbara E. McMullen & John F. McMullen/19901112/Press Contact:
Barbara Krause, Apple, 408-974-3719)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(NYC)(00030)

AT&T UNIX LABS ENTER INTO AGREEMENT WITH 88OPEN 11/12/90
MORRISTOWN, NEW JERSEY, U.S.A., 1990 NOV 12 (NB) -- AT&T
Unix System Laboratories has established a liaison agreement
with the 88open Consortium in which the two organizations will
coordinate activities in the areas of Unix System V Release 4
compatibility, independent software vendor (ISV) programs, and
support for industry standards.

88open is an independent member organization of software and systems
suppliers supporting Motorola's 88000 family of RISC microprocessors. It
has more than 50 members worldwide and focuses on the certification of
software applications across a variety of 88000 based platforms, including
servers, workstations, personal computers, portables, fault tolerant
systems, and real time systems. The consortium employs 25 people in the
San Jose office, and maintains 88open International Centres at member
company facilities in Maidenhead, U.K.; Oslo, Norway; and Frankfurt,
Germany.

Dick Muldoon of USL told Newsbytes that "The association is another
indication that there is a convergence in the Unix community on the
realization that there is a need to build a shrink-wrapped software
market."

(Barbara E. McMullen & John F. McMullen/19901112/Press Contact:
Joseph Kerrigan, AT&T's UNIX System Laboratories, 201-644-3804 )


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(NYC)(00031)

SPSS GETS VENTURE CAPITAL FOR STATS SOFTWARE 11/12/90
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, U.S.A., 1990 NOV 12 (NB) -- SPSS, Inc. has
announced a major new investment in its business by a group lead by
Morgan Stanley Venture Capital Fund L.P. It states that this investment
will help the firm speed up its statistical software development.

Other investors in the group include Westinghouse Credit Corp.;
Geocapital Partners, a venture capital fund affiliated with Broadview
Associates; and Cooke & Andrews Investments Inc., which is an affiliate of
SPSS' partner in Japan, Japan Systems Engineering Corp. SPSS senior
management remains the largest equity holder in the company.

SPSS, Inc., a 15 year-old privately held firm, has more than 2 million
mainframe, workstation and personal computer users of its statistical
software and projects its 1990 revenue as approximately $34 million. The
firm states that it has had an annual compounded growth rate during the
past 10 years of 25 percent.

Dr. Norman H. Nye, SPSS president and CEO, said that the investment will
allow SPSS to launch a major development effort to product a new
generation of statistical software products, develop a family of applied
statistics products for non-statisticians, upgrade its existing products and
boost its customer support activities.

(Barbara E. McMullen & John F. McMullen/19901112/Press Contact:
Randolph Pitzer, SPSS Inc., 312-329-3405)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(NYC)(00032)

NEW FOR UNIX: Borland Paradox SQL Link To DEC's RDB/VMS 11/12/90
SCOTTS VALLEY, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1990 NOV 12 (NB) --
Borland has releases Paradox SQL Link support for Rdb/VMS, the
relational database management system from Digital Equipment Corp.
This availability will provide users of Paradox 3.5 database manager
transparent access to data residing on VAX VMS database servers.

As part of the announcement, Borland formally announced future SQL
connectivity support for the IBM DB2 database management system, via
Micro Decisionware's gateway for DB2; Tandem's NonStop SQL database
under its Guardian operating system; and Sybase Server under Unix.
Previously shipped server support includes IBM OS/2 Extended Edition
version 1.2, Microsoft SQL Server version 1.0 and higher, and Oracle
Server version 6.0.

Commenting on the Borland announcement, Jim Steiner, manager of
Database Systems' business development group at Digital, said, "Digital is
extremely pleased that Borland will be providing Paradox users
connectivity to Rdb through SQL Services, a standard feature of Rdb. Now
Paradox users will have a powerful integrated solution that transparently
links their applications to Digital's Rdb information network."

Paradox SQL Link for Rdb/VMS has a suggested retail list price of $395.
Paradox SQL Link for IBM, Microsoft and Oracle lists for $495. All
versions of Paradox SQL Link require Paradox 3.5, sold separately for a
suggested retail price of $795.

(Barbara E. McMullen & John F. McMullen/19901112/Press Contact:
Marguerite Padovani, Borland International Inc., 408-439-1622)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(SFO)(00033)

MICROSOFT/Z-NIX SETTLE DISPUTE 11/12/90
POMONA, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1990 NOV 12 (NB) -- Z-Nix Company
and Microsoft have buried the hatchet in an antitrust dispute which
arose last week. The settlement calls for Microsoft to license
Windows to Z-Nix through the end of 1991, at which time both parties
will negotiate for renewal. The Z-Nix complaint will be dismissed
and the two companies will mutually release each other from any claim.

The dispute involved Microsoft's claim that Z-Nix was guilty of patent
infringement by its SuperMouse II product, as well as later contract
conditions for the bundling of the SuperMouse with Windows 3. Z-Nix
counterclaimed that Microsoft kept changing the conditions and upping
the royalty rate in various generations of contracts over the course
of the last year.

Z-Nix says it has withdrawn its allegations about Microsoft's conduct.
The exact conditions of the settlement have not been made public.

"Now that our differences are resolved, Microsoft looks forward to a
mutually beneficial business relationship with Z-Nix," said Richard
Fade, director of OEM sales at Microsoft.

(Wendy Woods/19901112/Press Contact: Claudia Zimmer or Adam
Trunkey, Z-Nix, 213/822-4669)