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/1992/nb920504

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(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SYD)(00001)

Australia: Software Pricing Inquiry Underway 05/04/92
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1992 MAY 4 (NB) -- After months of speculation and
with plenty of time for "repositioning" by the industry, the
Australian retail software scene is being examined in a public
inquiry by the Prices Surveillance Authority (PSA). Interested
parties are currently making submissions. A report is not expected
until October.

Sales of software in Australia are estimated to exceed AUS$1B
(US$760M) annually, far in excess of the recorded music industry which
was previously a target for PSA investigation. So far, nothing
unexpected has been raised in submissions, with obvious differences in
tack taken by vendors and users.

The Business Software Association of Australia (BSAA) has admitted
that prices are slightly higher in Australia, but that this is in
keeping with added costs. It said that Australians pay only 20
to 25 percent more than US buyers, and 32 percent less than UK
buyers. A survey by APC magazine suggested the local mark-up to be more
like 42 percent.

Microsoft has let it be known that its prices are set at just 10
percent above US prices.

A survey conducted by the Australian Consumers Association in behalf
of the PSA may or may not have impact on the proceedings, as no one
seems quite sure who will tabulate the tens of thousands of doubtless
valuable answers.

Observers believe many distributors have taken advantage of the lead-
up period to drop prices on embarrassingly marked-up lines.

(Paul Zucker/19920504)


(NEWS)(IBM)(SYD)(00002)

Australia: IBM Restructuring For Profits 05/04/92
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1992 MAY 4 (NB) -- IBM has removed four of its six
management levels in Australia and is now focusing on the market
rather than the product. This is reported in the Australian Financial
Review newspaper.

Each business unit will rebuild itself, with emphasis on customers,
not just the continuation of an existing structure and hierarchy,
according to IBM. Operations Manager Doug Elix said the organization
as product-oriented had proven to be "a bitter experience," leading to
drastically shrinking sales.

In particular, Elix said his company would take apart the Personal
Systems Division, which is being considered for movement into the clone
area, as other IBM groups have announced in other areas. It would also
consider almost any method of selling PCs, including mail order.

Another planned change is faster-to-market development cycles, with
low pricing at introduction instead of higher prices and regular price
cuts through a product's life cycle.

(Paul Zucker/19920504)


(NEWS)(IBM)(LON)(00003)

UK: Lotus Claims Windows Market Share Rising 05/04/92
STAINES, MIDDLESEX, ENGLAND, 1992 MAY 4 (NB) -- Lotus UK is
claiming a steadily increasing slice of the Microsoft Windows
applications marketplace, which it backs up with the latest
figures from Romtec, the market research company.

According to Lotus, the key Windows growth areas are for 1-2-3
and Freelance Graphics. 1-2-3 appears to have increased its share
of the Windows spreadsheet market every month since it began to
be shipped last September and now holds 34 percent of the market.

Freelance Graphics, meanwhile, has grabbed a hefty 45 percent of
the Windows presentation graphics marketplace, according to
Romtec's latest figures. Ami Pro sales have also shot up by 164
percent in the first two months of this year, compared to the
same period one quarter previously.

Commenting on the Romtec figures, Dieter Giesbrecht, Lotus UK's
managing director, said that the company is totally committed to
Windows.

"We're now in an extremely strong position with the increasing
numbers of large corporations looking for complete desktops rather
than individual solutions," he said, adding that the recent
addition of the Threadz Organizer will strengthen the company's
position still further.

Detailed examination of Romtec's monthly figures confirms Lotus'
claims. Newsbytes notes, however, the 1-2-3 for Windows was one
of the first spreadsheet packages to support the Windows 3.0/3.1
release and other software houses are now catching up.

(Steve Gold/19920504/Press & Public Contact: Lotus U.K. - Tel:
0784-455445)


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

UK Pricing For Hewlett-Packard Paintjet XL300 Color Printer 05/04/92
BRACKNELL, BERKSHIRE, ENGLAND, 1992 MAY 4 (NB) -- Hewlett-Packard
has unveiled the Paintjet XL300 color inkjet printer, a unit that
supports full-color 300 dots-per-inch (dpi) printing up to A3
size for a UKP 2,895 price tag. HP claims that the Laserjet III-
compatible printer is a breakthrough in pricing terms.

"Color in the office has been discussed at length. After a lot
of waiting, all the elements are now in place for the office user
to take full advantage of color. Printed documents are all about
the business of communication -- office color will now enhance
their use of the art of communication," commented Melanie
Poskitt, HP's peripheral program manager.

HP claims that the Paintjet XL300 is the first unit of its type
to feature the company's color implementation of the PCL 5
printer language, HP PCL 5C. The implementation includes color
extensions for text, raster, and vector graphics.

Unlike some of the earlier color offerings in the UK printer
market, HP seems to be adopting an open attitude to connecting
the printer to non-HP devices. The company has also released a
variety of drivers to interface the printer to applications
software.

Poskitt acknowledges that using color printing effectively
requires a number of elements to work together. "User friendly
software, color monitors, high quality printers and computing
power need to be in place for color to become universal and
effective," she said.

As supplied, the Paintjet XL300 comes with 2 megabytes (MB) of
memory, expandable to 18 MB internally using single in-line memory
modules (SIMMs). The printer can use HP's Jetdirect "black box"
connectors for linking directly to a Novell Netware or a Token
Ring-compatible local area network (LAN).

Jetdirect is HP's system of linking a printer to a network
without the need for a host PC. This cuts the cost of using a
printer on a network. The company is also testing its other
Jetdirect cards with the Paintjet XL300 to check for
compatibility -- details of software compatibility will be
announced this summer.

While the Paintjet XL300 is announced this week, actual
availability is still several weeks away. HP officials estimate
that the printer will ship some time this summer. The unit's one
year warranty can be extended to three years for UKP 70.

(Steve Gold/19920504/Press & Public Contact: HP Customer
Information Center - Tel: [phone])


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(LON)(00005)

 ****Fujitsu Wows With Most Expensive Computer-Generated Film Ever Made 05/04/92
SEVILLE, SPAIN, 1992 MAY 4 (NB) -- Fujitsu, which claims to be
the world's second largest computer manufacturer (after IBM) has
built a permanent pavilion at Expo '92, the six month exhibition
and exposition which opened in Seville, Spain, last week. The
company is using the pavilion to show off its latest computer-
generated film technology.

A "wrap-around" computer generated film, entitled "Echoes of the
Sun" forms the centerpiece of Fujitsu's display at Expo '92. The
film is unusual in that it was generated entirely using the
company's range of supercomputers.

"We wanted to demonstrate that computer technology has
applications far beyond conventional data processing and that it
can play a role in cultural activities," explained Kazuo Suziki,
the general manager of the Fujitsu pavilion. ""That's why we made
the film and why it is our main theme at Expo '92."

"Echoes of the Sun" is based on the journey of a particle of
light from the sun to its final conversion into human energy,
passing through the series of biochemical processes on the way.
The 20-minute film is said to be one of the most expensive in
cinematic history, costing around $17 million, the company
claims.

To heighten the wrap-around effect, the film is viewed using
special glasses that incorporate liquid crystal display (LCD)
lenses which become opaque or transparent, according to the
impulses received by a built-in infrared receiver, with pulse
sequences of up to 96 times a second.

(Steve Gold/19920504/Press & Public Contact: Fujitsu Europe -
Tel: [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(LAX)(00006)

 ****New Bernoulli's Priced In Hard Disk Range 05/04/92
SANTA ANA, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 MAY 4 (NB) -- Iomega,
manufacturer's of the Bernoulli drive, a removable mass storage device
for computers is introducing new Bernoulli models with prices in the
range of hard disk drives and portable Bernoulli drives that can be
run from a computer's parallel port.

Sales representative Doug Mee says the new lower prices are due to
some manufacturing efficiencies that have allowed Bernoulli to cut
costs. In fact, Iomega along with AT&T won the 1992 Shingo Prize, an
award given annually for companies demonstrating improvements in
manufacturing. The Shingo Prize is sponsored by the American
Productivity & Quality Center, the Association for Manufacturing
Excellence, and the Association for Quality and Participation, among
others and is administered by the Utah State University's College of
Business.

The Bernoulli new drives support removable cartridges also called
disks that have a capacity of 90 megabytes of storage at an access
time of 18 ms (milliseconds) without cache and 9 ms with a built-in
cache. Those speeds rival those of some of the fastest hard disks,
according to Mee. The cartridges retail for $229 each, which
translates into a street price of $130 to $140 each, Mee said.

The PC Powered Bernoulli drive for IBM and compatible PC/AT & PS/2
computers is retail priced at $713, which Mee says will be right in
the $500 range on the street. The PC Powered 90 Pro with a small computer
systems interface (SCSI), built-in cache, and back-up software retails
for $855, Iomega said. Iomega includes a cartridge with 90 MB of IBM
shareware with the drives, Mee said.

For the Macintosh Quadra, Iomega says it is offering the Macinsider 90
Pro, which has been reduced in price 14 percent. This Bernoulli drive
is retail priced at $855 (reduced from $999) and includes a 90 MB disk
full of Macintosh shareware, interface software, and Mactools Deluxe.

Iomega said it is also offering a portable Bernoulli drive that can
operate at a 40 ms access rate via a connection with a computer's
parallel printer port. Mee said the portable drive is good for
presentations on customer sites software can be pre-loaded and
configured on a cartridge and connected on site to a customer's
computer. Then only the portable drive and the cartridge need to be
transported.

Optional software drivers are available for OS/2, Unix, Netware 286,
Xenix, and the modular device for PCs, Iomega added.

A special version of Stacker software compression from Stac
Electronics is also available for PC versions of the new Bernoulli
drives that will theoretically double the capacity of a cartridge to
180 MB, Mee maintains. The special Stacker software also allows for
the cartridge to be moved to a computer without the Stacker software
and all 180 MB can still be read, Mee said.

Iomega maintains the newly priced Bernoulli's are practical
alternatives to tape back-up and to hard disk drives. Mee says the
biggest advantage is Bernoulli drives can grow with an individual or
an organization with the addition of cartridges.

(Linda Rohrbough/19920504/Press Contact: Doug Mee, Iomega, tel 714-
996-1191, fax [phone])


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

Copia Delivers Multi-Line Fax Engine 05/04/92
WHEATON, ILLINOIS, U.S.A., 1992 MAY 4 (NB) -- Copia
International, producers of the FaxFacts fax-on-demand system,
announced the software has been enhanced to drive up to six fax
boards per workstation, with no limit on the number of
workstations.

The workstations are linked via a local area network, and programmers
can write their applications in Basic, dBASE, Clipper, Foxbase,
Cobol, or any other language capable of producing a simple ASCII
text file.

The capabilities of the new software are based on creation of a
Control File, and the software can accept variable templates. For
incoming calls, the Control Files can record the caller's number
and name, and allow for use of a non-standard fax header.

The result, said President Steve Hersee, is a new ability to
broadcast fax messages from any PC environment. "FaxFacts has
taken a giant step into a new era," he claimed in a press
statement. "Outbound correspondence that took hours or days to
complete can now be set up and left to run itself." Further
information is available via fax at 1-708-924-3030: request
document 8892.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19920501/Press Contact: Copia International,
Dorothy Gaden, 708-682-8898)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(TYO)(00008)

Japanese Silicon Valley Envisioned 05/04/92
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1992 MAY 4 (NB) -- The Japanese Ministry of
International Trade and Industry (MITI) says it will start a
project to create a large-scale software and hardware development
center in the vicinity of Tokyo. The concept is comparable to Silicon
Valley in the US.

MITI's project committee will promote this project starting
this September. The actual location of the software/hardware center
will be within 150 kilometers from Tokyo. Currently, three
Prefectures are expressing interest in hosting the center. These
candidate Prefectures include Yamanashi, Gumma, and Shizuoka.
The project committee is expected to decide the location of the
center by the end of this year.

On this massive plot of land will be located convention halls,
hotels, and research laboratories. A huge software development center
will be created by government and private firms with a total
capitalization of 1 billion yen ($7.5 million). This development
center will be backed up by about 30 firms and organizations, and
will start operation in 1994.

Hundreds of private computer-related firms have already expressed
interest in participating in this project. A total of 450 firms which
will participate include NEC, Fujitsu, Toshiba, IBM Japan, and
Lotus.

The major aim of this center is to solve lack of software/hardware
engineers. According to the government survey, there will be a
serious problem in shortage of software engineers by the year
2,000 -- It is said 970,000 engineers will be short by that time.

(Masayuki Miyazawa/19920504)


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

 ****World's Fastest Workstation Processor Debuts 05/04/92
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1992 MAY 4 (NB) -- Toshiba has developed a floating
point processor which it claims is as powerful as a supercomputer.
Toshiba reports it is the fastest floating point calculation
processor in the world.

Toshiba's latest processor has a parallel processing feature, making
it able to process four types of calculations simultaneously
in a 32-bit chip. It is said 320 mega FLOPS (floating point
processing per second) calculations or 320 million instructions
per second can be made. On a 64-megabit chip, this processor
can handle 160 mega FLOP calculations. This speed is comparable
to a regular supercomputer.

This processor has a double speed mode which enables it to
allocate calculation of data within the processor. This processor
is especially good at dealing with graphic data, which is often
32-bit.

Toshiba's processor is designed to be on a RISC (reduced instruction
set computing) chip. This processor is still a prototype, but
Toshiba expects to commercialize it soon.

(Masayuki Miyazawa/19920504/Press Contact: Toshiba, +81-3-3457-
2100)


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

 ****Versatile Device Designed For Airline Entertainment 05/04/92
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1992 MAY 4 (NB) -- Matsushita Electric has developed
a versatile audio-visual device designed especially for captive aircraft
passengers. It can be a TV set, a video tape player, a game machine,
and a home shopping device. The "System 2000" can be attached to
each seat of the aircraft.

There are 76 channels for TVs and 12 channels for video
tapes. The passengers need to insert their own credit cards in
this device to see a movie of their choice. Matsushita will use movies
made by MCA, which was acquired by Matsushita last year.

System 2000 also offers game software in a ROM (read
only memory), and a telephone. An international telephone call can be
made via space satellite. Online shopping for duty free goods is also
said to be possible.

Matsushita has already received a massive purchase order for
the devices from Airbus Industry. They will be installed
on the A330 and the A340. The sales price of the device per
aircraft is expected to be around 50 million yen ($370,000) to
60 million yen ($444,000).

(Masayuki Miyazawa/19920504/Press Contact: Matsushita Electric,
 [phone])


(NEWS)(GOVT)(DEL)(00011)

India/Russia Join In Technology Development 05/04/92
NEW DELHI, INDIA, 1992 MAY 4 (NB) -- India and Russia have agreed to
cooperate in the field of computer sciences under the modified
Integrated Long Term Programme (ILTP) in science and technology,
which had been going on between India and the erstwhile Soviet
Union.

This puts an end to the uncertainty prevailing over the collaborative
arrangement between Indian and Russian research institutes, since
the break-up of Soviet Union. The program is being executed
under the umbrella of Indian National Science Academy from the
Indian side and will be coordinated by Russian Academy of Sciences
in Russia.

According to the agreement signed between Pune-based Centre
for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC) and the Russian
Institute for Computer-Aided Design (ICAD), scientists from
both sides will conduct research in areas of mutual interest
like parallel processing. ICAD scientists will try to develop
new software programs on Param, the parallel-processing
supercomputer developed by CDAC, particularly in areas of
application like medicine, aircraft design, and fluid dynamics.

Development of advanced materials for electronics is another
likely area of Indo-Russian collaboration, according to N.
Vittal, Secretary, Department of Electronics (DoE). At
present, India has to import about 80 percent of its requirements
and the needs will rise with many foreign companies setting up
units to manufacture electronic goods, he feels. He points out
that both sides could gain from a partnership between the
Centre for Materials for Electronic Technology (C-MET),
set up by DoE and a Russian organization like the Institute
of Inorganic Chemistry in Novosibirsk.

(C.T. Mahabharat/19920504)


(NEWS)(IBM)(SFO)(00012)

 ****DECWorld: Digital Plans Book-Type PC For September 05/04/92
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1992 MAY 4 (NB) -- In September,
Digital Equipment Corporation is planning to ship a book-type, DOS-
based PC, bundled with new electronic mail software, Newsbytes has
learned.

PCBook can run as either a portable desktop CPU or a plug-in module
on a DECHub "smart" wiring chassis, said Eli B. Perlman, system
engineering manager in Digital's Integrated Office Systems. The
book-sized device is equipped with an 180 MB hard disk drive, 64 MB
of memory, and a modem, Perlman told Newsbytes.

When used in a desktop mode, PCBook can be connected to a monitor
and keyboard, forming a full-fledged personal computer, according
to Perlman. For an extra 2 GB of storage, the portable CPU can be
augmented with the "PopcornBox," another new module from Digital,
he said. Configurations of PCBooks and PopcornBoxes can be housed
on the desktop in pairs of BookEnds that DEC has designed for the
purpose, he explained.

Snapping a PCBook unit into a DECHub slot will supply instant
connectivity to a network backplane, he suggested. Slots in the
"smart hub" can also accommodate a range of other modules,
including DECBridges and DECRepeaters.

PCBook will come equipped with MailWorks PostMaster, a major
upgrade of DEC's previously released All-in-1 Mail Manager for
LANs/WANs, Perlman told Newsbytes. The new software will also be
available as a separate package for conventional PCs, he reported.

Although the PC and the software are both being shown at DECWorld
'92, neither has been publicly announced, he said. Both products
are scheduled to ship in September, but prices have yet to be set,
added Perlman, whose statements were corroborated by other DEC
officials.

"It is intuitively obvious that this stuff is good," commented the
engineering manager.

PostMaster permits users of the Novell NetWare, Banyan, 3+, and
PathWorks operating systems to access DEC's e-mail capabilities at
lower cost than before, by doing away with the need to license
Digital's entire All-in-1 integrated office system, he told
Newsbytes.

The package adds virus protection, security encoding, and document
conversion, while continuing to integrate the gateway and LAN-to-
mail backbone synchronization features of MailBus, he indicated.

In the future, PostMaster will be ported to other hardware
platforms, and support will be added for Lotus CC:Mail and
Microsoft Mail, said Perlman.

Digital is also exploring the idea of bundling PCBook with
additional applications, according to Perlman. Voice recognition
software is one possibility, he noted.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19920504)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(SFO)(00013)

 ****DECWorld: Digital Runs 200 MHz Chip - 1st Demo of Alpha 05/04/92
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1992 MAY 4 (NB) -- At DECWorld
'92, Digital Equipment Corporation is bringing up the curtain on a
chip billed as the fastest in the world, the initial implementation
of its new 64-bit, RISC-based Alpha architecture.

In Digital's first public demonstration of Alpha, the 200 MHz
semiconductor is being run in a dozen different desktop, deskside,
and data center hardware configurations, operating 23 VMS and DEC
OSF1 third-party applications that have been ported over from VAX.

In one corner of the "Alpha Showcase," a live comparison shows an
Alpha workstation running a Mandelbrot floating equation program at
twice the speed of an HP 9000 Model 750 under the HP O/S (Hewlett-
Packard operating system), and 10 times more quickly than a Sun
workstation under the Sun O/S.

But Digital officials stress that although the new chip works in
real time, it is slow in contrast to the speeds anticipated for the
future, and that the applications on view, which lean toward
CAD/CAM, represent a only a tiny fraction of Alpha's ultimate uses.

"The Alpha architecture has been designed to increase its
performance more than 1000 times during the course of its
lifetime," stated Edward J. Pastor, market development manager at
Digital's Alpha Business Office. Out of a desire for ubiquitous
deployment, DEC intends Alpha to last well into the 21st century,
he added.

"We expect that, over the next five to ten years, the industry will
stabilize on one or two open, standardized architectures. And we
plan to make Alpha one of them," he told Newsbytes.

The most powerful incarnations of Alpha will appear on
workstations, mainframes and supercomputers, said Pastor. But
Digital is also developing additional implementations, lower in
speed and power requirements, he noted.

The smaller semiconductors will be used in palmtops and laptops, as
well as in medical imaging, telecommunications, industrial control,
and other embedded applications, he explained.

Alpha's current thrust toward CAD/CAM is spurred by the needs of
manufacturing and engineering to integrate applications and push
time to market, said Z. Alan Fink, manager of Discrete
Manufacturing Solutions for DEC. Multimedia and artificial
intelligence will join the ranks of targeted areas later on,
according to Pastor.

The spread of Alpha will be aided by its unbiased technology,
Pastor predicted. "There's nothing in Alpha that dedicates the
architecture to any particular operating system, language, or style
of computing," he informed Newsbytes.

To further facilitate deployment, Digital is establishing extensive
business relationships with outside vendors, he said. A recently
announced pact with Microsoft, in which the two parties agreed to
run Windows NT on Alpha, is only one example, he suggested.

Digital has also established a set of "open business practices" for
Alpha involving licensing arrangements with software and
semiconductor vendors and sales of chips, boards, and systems to
computer makers, Pastor said.

Semiconductor companies are taking out licenses to fabricate exact
replicas of DEC's designs, as well as to develop their own variants
for specialized applications, such as military electronics,
according to Pastor.

Some 15 computer companies have already announced plans to purchase
Alpha technology, including Cray Research, which has stated the
intention to use Digital's chips in its first generation of
massively parallel computers, he asserted.

In addition, more than 450 software vendors have signed up for
licenses to run VMS and DEC OSF1 implementations of their software
on the Alpha hardware platform. Listed on a "Wall of Fame" in the
Alpha Showcase, the vendors range literally from "a" (a/Soft
Development) to "z" (ZPC International Inc.).

Roughly half of these applications fall into the categories of
manufacturing and engineering, Pastor remarked. Other prominent
areas include distribution, retailing, databases, and networking.

Alpha-based applications, including Windows NT implementations,
will probably start to ship by the end of the year, said Kenneth H.
Olsen, chairman of Digital.

The Alpha demonstration is going on at DECWorld through May 15, the
final day of the three-week show.

(Jacqueline Emigh/050492)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(LAX)(00014)

 ****One Billion BPS Fiber Optic Hard Disk Cabling Planned 05/04/92
CAMARILLO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 MAY 4 (NB) -- Fast and secure
fiber optic connectors between computers and fast hard disk drives
is the goal of the agreement between chipmaker Vitesse, hard disk
manufacturer Seagate Technologies, and disk drive controller
manufacturer Interphase Corporation. Vitesse announced an agreement
under which it will provide a low-cost, low-power chip set compatible
with the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) X3T9.3 Fibre
Channel standard to Seagate and Interphase.

Vitesse says its chips can help provide fiber optic serial data
communications at speeds up to 1 billion bits per second (1Gbps).
Plans are to use the new communications to link file servers to
supercomputers, and to link computers to high performance disk drives
or disk clusters, Vitesse said.

The fiber optic connections are especially suited to long distances,
Vitesse said, while coaxial cable can be used to transfer data over
shorter distances. The three companies said they plan to work together
to integrate their specific areas of expertise into a product for
consumers.

Vitesse expects samples of the new chipsets for the new fiber optic
links to be available by the year's end and production is scheduled
for the first quarter of 1993.

Vitesse is based in Camarillo, California and most recently announced
the introduction of the 1Gbps chipset in conjunction with Digital last
week. Seagate is headquartered in Scotts Valley, California and
Interphase is headquartered in Dallas, Texas.

(Linda Rohrbough/19920504/Press Contact: Robert Turnage, Vitesse, tel
805-388-7503, fax [phone])


(NEWS)(UNIX)(SFO)(00015)

Spry Licenses Novell Software 05/04/92
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON, U.S.A., 1992 MAY 4 (NB) -- Spry is committed to
trying to provide seamless connectivity between Unix and other
networked computers. To that end it has just announced it has
licensed the LAN workplace for DOS TCP/IP package from Novell.

Spry intends to develop products using this software that will add
to its stable of products that already connect Novell, Banyan
Vines, Microsoft LAN Manager, and others to Unix workstations. The
new products will be additions to the AIR for Windows line that the
company already markets.

Typically, Spry will add the Microsoft Windows User Interface,
DEC VT100 and VT220 emulations, FTP and lpr support and other
enhancements that will let any package that uses LAN Workplace for
Windows sockets.

Financial terms of the arrangement were not disclosed.

(Naor Wallach/19920504, Press Contact: Kevin Britt, Spry,
206-286-1142)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TOR)(00016)

Alias Research Reports $17.6-M Loss 05/04/92
TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1992 MAY 4 (NB) -- Graphics software
maker Alias Research has reported a loss of US$17.6 million in the
fiscal year ended January 31. That compares to net income of US$2.8
million last year.

The loss was expected: Alias had warned investors several weeks ago
that it would lose money this year. The company blamed the loss on
restructuring costs, accounting reforms, and steps taken to correct
cash flow problems.

Revenue for fiscal 1992 was US$29.7 million, up from US$22.8
million in 1991.

In the fourth quarter, Alias lost US$9.6 million on revenues of
US$8.1 million.

The cost of restructuring was a major factor in the company's
losses over the past few months, company spokeswoman Susan Spencer
told Newsbytes.

In the third quarter, Alias named Robert Burgess president and
Norman Wright as executive vice-president. Founder and former
president Stephen Bingham kept the post of chairman. Spencer said
management realized it needed people with more of the skills to
manage the company's day-to-day operations.

Alias' chief financial officer, William McClintock, resigned on
December 2, the same day the third-quarter loss was announced. In
mid-November, Alias laid off 35 employees, citing a need to become
more efficient and to focus on its most profitable activities.

Spencer said the company believes it knows what its problems are,
has corrected many of them, and will iron out the rest in the next
few months. Alias expects to be profitable again by the end of the
1993 fiscal year, she said. "We do feel that we have the right
people in the right places, especially the new management team."

(Grant Buckler/19920504/Press Contact: Susan Spencer, Alias
Research, 416-362-9181 ext. 398; fax [phone])


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

 ****Lotus Plans Major 1-2-3 For Windows Upgrade 05/04/92
CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1992 MAY 4 (NB) -- Lotus
Development will release a major upgrade to its 1-2-3 for Windows
spreadsheet software before the end of the year. Release 2.0 of
1-2-3 for Windows will offer performance improvements and new
features, a company spokeswoman confirmed.

In his letter to shareholders in the company's annual report, Lotus
Chairman and Chief Executive Jim Manzi promised an upgrade to 1-2-3
for Windows by year-end. Spokeswoman Alexandra Trevelyan confirmed
the new version is under development, but said no more specific
release date was available.

It will be a "major upgrade" carrying the version number 2.0, she
said. The current release of 1-2-3 for Windows is 1.1, a minor
upgrade released April 6 to improve performance and address some
customer concerns about the original release.

Release 2.0 will concentrate on four areas, Trevelyan said:
continued performance improvements; useability or what Lotus calls
"radical simplicity;" better integration and more common
user-interface features with other Lotus products for Windows; and
new features.

One of the new features will be Lotus' Chronicle technology,
designed to make the spreadsheet software more useful for work
groups. Chronicle will make it possible for more than one person to
make changes to the same spreadsheet at the same time.

At present, once one user on a LAN is working with a particular
file, others can view it but cannot change it. That is necessary to
avoid one user's changes being lost when another saves a different
version of the file. With Chronicle, two or more users will be able
to make changes and the same time and each will be able to see the
changes the other makes.

Chronicle will also keep track of who makes which changes and allow
users to attach notes explaining why they did what they did,
providing a sort of audit trail that will be useful when more than
one person is working with a particular file.

Lotus demonstrated the Chronicle technology in January at the Demo
'92 conference in Indian Wells, California.

(Grant Buckler/19920504/Press Contact: Alexandra Trevelyan, Lotus
Development, 617-693-1580)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TOR)(00018)

D&B To Sell Unit To Systems & Computer Technology 05/04/92
MALVERN, PENNSYLVANIA, U.S.A., 1992 MAY 4 (NB) -- Systems &
Computer Technology has agreed to buy Information Associates, a
subsidiary of Dun & Bradstreet Software, for $22.5 million.

Information Associates supplies administrative software to
universities and colleges. It had 1991 revenues of about $30
million. Systems & Computer Technology sells applications software
and computing management services to universities and colleges,
local governments, and utilities. It had revenues of $40.2 million
in the six months ended March 31, and net income of $2.6 million in
that period.

Systems & Computer Technology will finance the purchase from
internal funds and bank financing, to which the deal is subject.

Information Associates has an installed base of more than 500
colleges and universities with 430 clients on maintenance
agreements. It sells administrative software for Digital Equipment
and IBM systems. Founded in 1968, the company has 230 employees at
its Rochester headquarters and in sales and service offices in San
Diego, Dallas, and Reston, Va.

In a prepared statement, Michael J. Emmi, SCT's chairman and chief
executive officer, said the purchase will broaden his company's
software base and open up new growth opportunities. Meanwhile Mike
Choukas, executive vice-president of D&B software, said selling the
subsidiary would help his firm focus on its core products:
financial, logistics, human resource, and manufacturing software.

Information Associates was D&B Software's only separate subsidiary,
company spokesman George Cohen said. It was inherited from
Management Science America, which merged with McCormack & Dodge to
form D&B, and the company felt it did not fit in with the rest of
D&B's business.

The companies said they expect the acquisition, which is subject to
the approval of the board of directors of Dun & Bradstreet and
other customary conditions, to close by June 30.

(Grant Buckler/19920504/Press Contact: Eric Haskell, Systems &
Computer Technology, 215-640-5175; George Cohen, D&B Software,
508-370-5146)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SFO)(00019)

TGV Planning Major Upgrade To MultiNet 05/04/92
SANTA CRUZ, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 MAY 4 (NB) -- TGV is using the
occasion of the DEXPO Spring show being held this week in Atlanta to
demonstrate the capabilities of the upcoming upgrade to its
MultiNet product.

Version 3.1 of Multinet is slated to begin shipping at the end of
this month. As a part of the roll-out of this new version, TGV is
making several announcements. First, it is announcing the new
features that are contained in this new version which
include support for a "remote magnetic tape client," support of the IP
part of TCP/IP over X.25 WAN links, improved support of File Transfer
Protocol (FTP) and Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP), support of
an X-Windows transport gateway, and new license management
capabilities.

In a second announcement, TGV is also talking about enhancements to
its MultiNet NFS Client and MultiNet NFS Server packages for VMS.
These new version offer support for NFS over TCP, Access Control
List (ACL), file locking, and automatic fail-over features. Version
3.1 of these packages will be rolled out on May 26 to coincide with
the roll-out of MultiNet v3.1.

Finally, TGV is also announcing a new program that is intended to
make MultiNet more affordable and attractive to educational
institutions. Unlike normal pricing in the marketplace, TGV will
make MultiNet and its associated products available to universities
and other, qualified, educational institutions for a fixed annual
price. This price - currently $6000 - is an annual fee and includes
support for the product for the duration of the license. Each
runs for a duration of one year. This program is slated to begin
on June 1, 1992 and is consciously modeled after Digital Equipment
Corporations's educational discount program.

(Naor Wallach/19920504, Press Contact: Tom Woolf, Media Relations,
415-508-1554)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SFO)(00020)

New For Networks: 4 Network Interface Cards From Accton 05/04/92
FREMONT, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 MAY 4 (NB) -- Accton is beginning
to unveil products based on its own Ethernet interface chip, the
EN50903. This chip is the basis of four new Ethernet interface cards
that the company is unveiling now and will begin shipping in June.

The cards are intended to answer the most common needs of a site
that is adding a network node based on a PC. The four models are
equipped with either a BNC connector for Thin-wire Ethernet wiring,
or an RJ45 connector for 10Base-T wiring. Both types of models also
have an AUI connector for thick wire Ethernet installations.

A further breakdown between the models occur in the kinds of bus
structure that they support. Two of the models are configured as
8-bit cards and two of them are configured as 16-bit cards. The
16-bit cards can be configured via software to be installable in an
8-bit environment.

Each of the cards comes with a complete set of drivers on a
configuration disk which also includes diagnostic software.

All of these cards will begin shipping in early June. Retail pricing
has not been established yet.

(Naor Wallach/19920504, Press Contact: Tom Woolf, Media Relations,
415-508-1554)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00021)

International Phone Update 05/04/92
ATLANTA, GEORGIA, U.S.A, 1992 MAY 4 (NB) -- Second thoughts
highlight the telecommunications agenda, primarily about the
efficiency of the Western networks whose owners are busy buying
Latin American phone systems.

The stock price of Stet, with heavy investments in Argentina,
fell 6.5 percent, mainly because state holding company IRI said
it would sell more stock in the company. Stock in Argentina's
phone companies rose when the government sold stock. Political
uncertainty and charges of corruption complicate the Italian
situation.

Speaking of Argentina, the Telecom Argentina network run by Stet
and France Telecom said it expects higher profits this year, with
most to be distributed in the form of cash dividends. Telecom
operates a concession in the northern half of Argentina,
including half of Buenos Aires, the capital, while Telefonica de
Argentina, run by a consortium led by Spain's Telefonica de
Espana and Citicorp of the U.S., runs the other half of the
former EnTel state monopoly.

Germany's phone network began feeling the impact of strikes by
public employees over wages. The state-owned Deutsche Bundespost
Telekom has been subject to privatization talks, but remains the
most rule-bound network in Europe, with strict curbs against
installation of fax machines, modems, or even second extensions.
It can take months to get Telekom to install a phone in any case,
according to some reports.

Finally, the Middle East News Network reports that Bahrain's
Batelco phone network launched direct-dial service to Libya,
Russia, South Africa, Poland and Czechoslovakia. Bahrain is the
most "liberal" country in the Persian Gulf area, and its phone
network now links with 162 countries. Their number does not
officially include Israel, however, which tried in April to
launch direct-dial service for its citizens to the Arab world.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19920504)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00022)

Motorola Sells Secure Phone Equipment 05/04/92
PHOENIX, ARIZONA, U.S.A., 1992 MAY 4 (NB) -- Motorola announced
a new generation of secure telephones, data communications
equipment and fax machines. The devices were initially created
for the US government, but are now available in the commercial
market, where spying has become an increasing problem.

Motorola's Sectel telephones look like normal, full-feature
business phones, but encrypt transmissions with a public key
algorithm which can be changed with each new message. The company
said over 100,000 of the units are now in use.

While Motorola acknowledged there are some classified differences
between the phones and faxes sold to the US military and the
equipment sold to private businesses, these are essentially the
same units that linked the White House to General Schwarzkopf's
Desert Storm headquarters during the Persian Gulf war. The units
allow sensitive information to pass through wires, microwave
dishes and satellite links with an assurance of privacy. The
units cost about $3,000, but Motorola claims that's a bargain
considering the travel costs which can be saved through use of a
secure phone channel.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19920504/Press Contact: Robert Wade, Motorola,
602-441-2045)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00023)

GTE Florida Seeks Rate Hike 05/04/92
TAMPA, FLORIDA, U.S.A., 1992 MAY 4 (NB) -- GTE Florida officially
asked the Florida Public Service Commission to raise its base
residential rates from $11.35 to $16.64, and business rates from
from $29.11 to $48.87, so it can compete more effectively in the
long distance market and recoup costs. The overall increase
sought is $111 million. Any approved rates will take effect in
early 1993. This is GTE's first request to increase local rates
since 1981.

Lower long distance rates are supposed to soften the blow for
ratepayers, with basic daytime in-state rates due to be cut 33
percent, and in-county toll calls prices cut by 60 percent. GTE
also wants to raise costs for some optional services, including
Centrex-based SmartCall services, non-published and non-listed
telephone numbers, operator-assisted long-distance calls, Message
Rate Service and Seasonal Service.

In a press statement, GTE Florida noted that its operator
services, coin telephone service, long-distance service, cellular
telephone networks, satellite networks and links to long-distance
carriers are now subject to competition from unregulated
companies which have great flexibility in pricing, hinting that
its subsidies of local ratepayers tie its hands.

Public hearings on GTE Florida's rate case will be held late this
summer in the company's service territory of West Florida. A
decision is expected in December. Any rate changes approved
would be effective early in 1993.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19920504/Press Contact: Jan Morris, GTE, 800-
282-7751)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00024)

US West Annual Meeting Highlighted by Union Statement 05/04/92
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON, U.S.A., 1992 MAY 4 (NB) -- US West's annual
meeting, held May 1, was highlighted by messages from the
Communications Workers of America, which represents many of the
firm's workers. They're concerned about job security and
deregulation, and used their thousands of proxies to speak about
those concerns.

CWA Vice President Sue Pisha tied CWA's support or opposition to
US West's own deregulation efforts to the company's decisions on
union job security issues in contract bargaining. "If management
is willing to seize these growth opportunities by offering the
new job openings to current employees and by working with us to
improve their working conditions and quality of life, then we
will have every reason to support management in its proposals for
deregulation," she said. "On the other hand, if management does
not offer to current employees a share of these opportunities, if
it denies them first rights to new jobs, if the terms and
conditions of these new jobs are used to undermine those of our
core telephone employees, if these new jobs are denied union
representation, then we have every reason to oppose management in
its attempts to deregulate the industry...Just as management
hopes to grow US West in this new environment, we expect to grow
with it."

CWA will begin negotiations with US West this summer
for a new three-year contract. The current contract expires in
August.

US West Chairman Richard McCormick, meanwhile, said he'll keep
cutting costs and rolling out new services like voice messaging
in an attempt to increase profits. US West has been active in
pursuing profits from the controversial "Caller ID" service and
has tested versions which actually display a phone-holder's
number of the called party's screen. The company has also been
working closely with TCI, the nation's largest cable television
company, on both video-on-demand and microwave-based PCN phone
tests.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19920504/Press Contact: US West, Lisa
Bowersock, 206/345-6885; Jeff Miller, Communications Workers of
America, 202-434-1172)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(LAX)(00025)

 ****Atari Loses Round To Nintendo 05/04/92
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 MAY 4 (NB) -- Atari has lost
one of three counts to Nintendo in a Federal Court ruling on Friday.
The jury found that Atari had not suffered harm at the hands of
Nintendo, but was hung on whether or not Nintendo used its monopoly
position to discourage competition.

The controversy stems from Atari and other video game makers
accusations that Nintendo is attempting to prevent the sale of
compatible games for its video home game system.

Michael Crick, president of third-party software development company
for Nintendo machines, Mica, said Atari split into two divisions,
one run by former Jack Tramiel, formerly of Commodore, and one Atari
Tengen. While both Atari companies have suits against Nintendo, Jack
Tramiel's company is the one involved in the anti-trust suit decided
on Friday. Reports are Tramiel's Atari plans to appeal the case.

While Nintendo definitely had a monopoly with nearly 80 percent of the
market during the time period of 1984 and 1988 according to Crick,
reports are the jury was unable to rule on whether or not it misused
its monopoly. Crick said his experience with Atari was that it was
very poorly run but he told Newsbytes he feels Nintendo did try to
freeze Atari out of the market.

This case and the case of Sega vs. Accolade has drawn attention from
the computing community at large because these cases will set
precedents as to how other compatible software cases will be judged,
Crick said.

Nintendo and Sega are attempting to force third party developers to
license from them and follow their rules for production of game
titles. While such practices are illegal, Crick told Newsbytes a good
deal of what the third party developers are calling unfair competition
Nintendo and Sega are calling attempts at quality control.

If fewer game titles can be released by third party developers for a
system, those titles will be better quality titles, as the developers
places concentration of his resources on a few titles, Crick said.
While Nintendo is not using litigation to force developers to comply,
it is using hardware lockout schemes and has developed a seal it
places on games it has tested for quality, Crick said.

In Nintendo's case, Paul Liu, chairman of American Video Entertainment
(AVE), told Newsbytes Nintendo changed the internal design of its
hardware so the machines will no longer play his company's game
cartridges. Liu is in the process of suing Nintendo for $105 million.
Atari Tengen is pursing a similar suit against Nintendo.

Crick says while the Atari verdict may satisfy the courts, it will not
deter the current Federal Trade Commission investigation. Last year
alone the FTC fined Nintendo $25 million for anti-trust violations,
Crick added.

(Linda Rohrbough/19920504/Press Contact: Susan Bach,
Konami/Nintendo, tel [phone] ext 145, fax [phone];
Michael Crick, Mica, tel [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(APPLE)(TYO)(00026)

Toshiba-Apple May Link On Multimedia 05/04/92
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1992 MAY 4 (NB) -- Toshiba has been talking with
Apple Computer concerning joint development of multimedia
products, according to the Nikkei Newspaper. The project is
expected to involve IBM, which may mean it is a large-scale project.

Apple Computer flatly has a "no comment" to the report. In
Japan, however, a Toshiba spokesman told Newsbytes that it
is still too early to make comments on this issue. However, he
suggested that Toshiba is talking with unnamed firms concerning
joint development of multimedia products including a CD-ROM.
Other products may include video disk terminals for corporate
users and the educational market. There will be further possibility
for these firms to develop different type of multi-media products
in the future.

Toshiba and Apple have their own allies concerning development of
multimedia products -- Toshiba has entered a joint venture with
Time-Warner, while Apple has signed an agreement with IBM.
The Nikkei says the agreement between these four firms will be
signed by the end of this month.

(Masayuki Miyazawa/19920504/Press Contact: Toshiba, +81-3-3457-
2100)


(NEWS)(IBM)(SFO)(00027)

AST Intros Power Premium Desktop PCs 05/04/92
IRVINE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 MAY 4 (NB) -- Hoping to appeal
to power users wanting high performance graphics- and Windows-
intensive systems, AST Research has introduced its Power
Premium upgradeable desktop computer line that the company
claims significantly accelerates system performance in Windows
environments.

According to the company, the EISA (extended industry standard
architecture)-based systems also feature AST's Cupid-32 upgrade
design as well as AST FlashBIOS. The series includes the Power
Premium 4/50d, 4/33, and 3/33 configurations.

Julie McEnally, spokesperson for the company, told Newsbytes
that the accelerated performance comes from a Premium VGA
subsystem that is built around the Western Digital WD90C31
graphics chip with BitBLT (bit block transfer) and "hardware
cursor." McEnally added that "hardware cursor" provides a
flicker-free screen.

The company claims that, according to tests performed using PC
Magazine Labs, Windows Benchmark, Graphics WINMARK version
2.50, the Power Premium 4/33, an i486-based, 33 megahertz (MHz)
system, performs four and one-half times faster than Dell, three and
one-half times faster than Compaq and twice as fast as IBM and NEC
systems with similar base configurations. WINMARK is the weighted
geometric mean of twelve Windows graphics operations that are
most frequently used by major Windows applications.

With the Power Premium systems, the company maintains that users
can increase processor speed and system memory through its
Cupid-32 upgradeable architecture. Users can also advance to
EISA peripherals while maintaining compatibility with current ISA
(industry standard architecture) peripherals through the EISA bus,
and update the system's BIOS (basic input/output system) through
the company's FlashBIOS, a simplified, software-based BIOS
upgrade.

Although intended for Windows users, McEnally said that the
system is also suitable for anyone using graphics-intensive
applications.

The new AST systems come in a small-footprint chassis measuring
15.5-inches wide by 6.25-inches high by 16.5-inches deep. Available
immediately through the company's nationwide network of computer
resellers, suggested list prices begin at $2,595.

McEnally told Newsbytes that: "AST is always trying to address
what the market is demanding," and currently, "the market is
demanding flicker-free screens" with the extra colors provided
by the Power Premium systems.

(Ian Stokell/19920504/Press Contact: Gerry Lynne Baker, AST
Research, 714-727-7959)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(SFO)(00028)

Apple Intros K-2 Student Learning Package 05/04/92
ORLANDO, FLORIDA, U.S.A., 1992 APR 4 (NB) -- In an effort to
provide elementary school teachers with additional learning tools,
Apple is continuing its push into the educational markets by
announcing the Apple Early Language Connections program.

According to the company, the product is a literature-based early
language arts package designed to provide kindergarten through
second grade students with a balanced reading, writing, listening,
and speaking curriculum.

Available for purchase by K-12 institutions later this summer, the
hardware/software package features a Macintosh LC II computer,
an AppleCD SC CD-ROM drive, an Apple OneScanner scanning
device, an Apple ImageWriterII printer, a classroom library of
more than 350 books from Scholastic Inc., and a selection of
story and music audiotapes.

The package also features EdMark Corp.'s TouchWindow
transparent panel that converts a Macintosh computer monitor into
a touch-sensitive screen and the Muppet Learning Keys by WINGS
that provides a keyboard alternative for younger children.

Anne Anderson, manager of K-12 education marketing for Apple,
claims that the Apple Early Language Connections package
provides a multi-dimensional supplement to an elementary teacher's
existing language arts curriculum that enhances each teacher's own
unique style of teaching. Apple claims that teacher training and
on-going support will be important components of this package,
and plans to offer in-service training and newsletter updates for
teachers, and a toll- free hotline.

The hardware component comes pre-configured as either teacher
or student "stations," with software already installed on the Macintosh
LC II computer's hard drive. The teacher's station software includes
desktop publishing and teacher productivity software from
educational software providers, as well as all the software programs
students will use. The student's station software includes education
products.

The package includes a two-volume comprehensive teachers
manual featuring seven, four-week thematic curriculum units-two each
for grades K through 2, with an additional four-week unit for
kindergarten. Teachers can also create or enhance their own lessons
using the thematic units as models. Instructors are also provided with
easy-to-use software instructions and ideas for classroom
organization, parent involvement, and newsletter development.

In February, Newsbytes reported that Apple had introduced
a new publication aimed at the educational market, called
"Teaching, Learning and Technology -- A Planning Guide."
Available in two different versions -- a print-based "basic kit"
and a multimedia-based "interactive kit" -- the publication is
geared toward institutions, administrators, and educators.

(Ian Stokell/19920504/Press Contact: Bill Keegan, Apple
Computer Inc., 408-974-5460)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(LAX)(00029)

 ****Japanese Chip Decline Seen, US Growth To Triple 05/04/92
SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 MAY 4 (NB) -- In a newly released
market survey from Dataquest, semiconductor growth is predicted to go
up 17 percent in North America, but the Japanese are expected to lose
market share in 1992.

The demand for semiconductors is expected to be from the portable
personal computer (PC), client/server, and network markets in North
America, Dataquest said. The market research firm is saying Motorola
and Intel are the US companies to watch in 1992.

However, the Japanese are expected to lose market share and those
losses are due to more than just weaker export markets. Gene Norrett,
vice president and general manager of Dataquest semiconductor research,
says three factors are contributors to the predicted Japanese decline.

"Direct competition from Korea and Taiwan for the chips and systems
market; weakened chip prices due to excess worldwide fab capacity; and
dependence on maturing and price-sensitive markets have also strongly
contributed," Norrett said.

The numbers are a 4.5 percent decline in the Japanese slice of the
semiconductor pie, based in dollars in 1992. The decline, if it
happens, will be the first since 1985, Dataquest said. Overall
semiconductor growth is expected to be lower than 1991 with only 7.1
percent growth.

North America's predicted 17 percent for 1992 will nearly triple its
6.4 percent actual growth in the semiconductor market in 1991,
Dataquest maintains. Europe is expected to experience 8.0 percent
growth as opposed to 5.4 in 1991, Dataquest added.

(Linda Rohrbough/19920504/Press Contact: Mary Hand, Dataquest, tel
408-437-8312, fax [phone])


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(LAX)(00030)

Lowest Power-Eating 4MB DRAMS Intro'ed By Toshiba 05/04/92
IRVINE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 MAY 4 (NB) -- Toshiba America has
announced a series of 4 megabytes (MB) dynamic random access memories
(DRAMs) that offer a smaller size and fast 70 nanosecond (ns)
operation combined with the benefits of the lowest power consumption
in the industry so far.

The new DRAMs are important because they cut power consumption down to
100mA which is 30 to 40 percent less than competing DRAMs, according
to Toshiba. Only 0.6 microns in size, compared to other x16 4 MB
DRAMs, these chips require 4 volts (V) of internal voltage. Toshiba
says reducing the power needed for DRAMs from 5V for 0.7 micron DRAMs
to the 4V for 0.6 micron DRAMs makes it safer to include other 0.6
micron components that could otherwise be destroyed at voltages
approaching 5.5V.

Toshiba also said demand is increasing for 4 MB DRAMs to facilitate
data processing speed because of the faster, high-performance
microprocessors becoming available.

The new TC514260 series consists of 12 devices organized 256K x 16
bits and available in 70 and 80 nanosecond (ns) versions. The devices
are available in three types of packages: 40-pin 400 milimeter (mil)
single outline J-lead (SOJ) packaging, 40-pin 475 mil high zigzag
inline packaging (ZIP), and 44-pin 400 mil thin small outline
packaging (TSOP).

Toshiba says it is shipping samples and expects mass production will
start in July, at an estimated rate of 300,000 units a month.

(Linda Rohrbough/19920504/Press Contact: Avo Kanadjian, Toshiba, tel
714-455-2000, fax [phone]; Public Contact, Toshiba, 9775 Toledo
Way, Irvine, CA 92718, telephone [phone])