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- (NEWS)(TRENDS)(LAX)(00001)
-
- ****Intel Ships Overdrive Processor; Speeds 486SX 70% 05/27/92
- FOLSOM, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 MAY 27 (NB) -- Intel says
- the awaited Overdrive Processors, whose function is to allow an
- easily installed speed-up of system performance, are now available.
-
- The Overdrive Processors were announced last year by Intel and are
- based on what Intel terms its "speed doubling" technology. Intel said
- it discovered it could double the internal clock speed, measured in
- megahertz (MHz) of its microprocessor chips and create a design
- that could increase the speed of current 486 chips.
-
- The Overdrive Processors available now are geared specifically for
- 486 16, 20, and 25 MHz 486SX microprocessors. The new chip fits
- in the math coprocessor socket, but needs the current central
- processing unit (CPU) to function, Intel representative Michele
- Bourdon told Newsbytes. The new clock-doubler chips contain an
- internal math co-processor as well, the company said.
-
- Intel said two Overdrive Processors are available, one for 16 and
- 20 MHz systems and the other for 25 MHz systems. While the
- design of the computer can be a bottle-neck, causing the Overdrive
- Processor to wait, Intel says it is still faster. Intel said it measured
- performance gains that averaged 70 percent when it added the
- Overdrive Processor to a 486SX running at 20 MHz. Specifically,
- a 62 percent gain was achieved running WordPerfect 5.1 word
- processing software, 77 percent running the Paradox database
- software, and 67 percent running spreadsheet product Lotus
- 1-2-3, Intel maintains.
-
- Intel told Newsbytes last fall that, while it considered the overdrive
- technique for the 386 microprocessor chip, the effort was not
- worthwhile. The problem was due to the design of the components
- on the 386 motherboard, which have no internal cache, so actual
- performance gains would be only around 10%, and not worth the
- effort.
-
- However, Intel said the speed doubling is workable with the 486
- chip because the chip's cache does internal buffering, so if the
- processed data has to wait, it can wait in the cache and the chip
- can proceed with processing.
-
- Mike Fister, general manager of Intel's End User Components
- Division, said: "Depending on system design, PC users can install
- the Overdrive Processor in five minutes." Fister also said the
- Overdrive chip is a cheaper way to boost performance as proprietary
- CPU upgrade cards range from $800 to $2,000 in price, compared
- to the $500 price range of the new Overdrive Processors.
-
- Single-chip Overdrive Processors for both 486 DX and DX2
- microprocessor-based systems are expected to be announced
- in late 1992 and 1993, respectively, Intel added.
-
- Retail price for the Overdrive Processor for 16 and 20 MHz
- Intel 486 SX is $549, while the Overdrive Processor for 25
- MHz Intel 486 SX systems is $699, Intel said. The company
- says the new chips are available through standard retail channels.
-
- (Linda Rohrbough/19920527/Press Contact: Michele Bourdon,
- Intel, tel 408-765-1538, fax 408-765-5677; Public Contact outside
- the US: 503-629-7354)
-
-
- (NEWS)(IBM)(LAX)(00002)
-
- DAK Upgrades "Free Computer" Deal, Offers CD-ROM 05/27/92
- CANOGA PARK, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 MAY 27 (NB) --
- DAK, a mail order electronics firm in Canoga Park, California, has
- upgraded the computer offered in its "Free Computer" deal from a
- 386SX to a 386DX running at 33 megahertz (MHz). The company
- says it is also offering a new two new compact disc read-only
- memory (CD-ROM) bundles to those who order its $199 CD-ROM
- drive.
-
- DAK says those who order its Super Software Bundle get a "free
- computer" thrown in. The bundle includes Microsoft Windows 3.1;
- Word for Windows 2.0 word processing software; Grammatik 5, a
- grammar checker; Norton Desktop for Windows, desktop manager
- and utilities; Adobe Type Manager; Microsoft Productivity Pack 3.1;
- Objectvision 2.0; Paradox 3.5, business database software; Quattro
- Pro 3.0, a spreadsheet package; US Atlas for Windows; World
- Atlas for Windows; Chessmaster 3000 for Windows; Desk Reference
- for Windows; MS DOS 5.0; Keydraw! Plus a drawing program;
- Keychart 2000; Keyboard/Keypad Trainer; 100 Fonts; and a BSR
- three-button mouse.
-
- DAK says it is offering the bundle for $1,499, a deal that would
- normally be $2,019 at retail price for the first 14 name-brand
- software packages at Egghead and $3,081 retail for the whole
- bundle. For an additional $399, or a total of $1,898, DAK maintains
- it will upgrade the 386DX to a 486SX running at 20 MHz.
-
- The computers are DAK's own BSR brand. DAK says the BSRs
- come with super video graphics array (SVGA) displays, a 40
- megabyte (MB) hard disk, 2 MB of random access memory (RAM),
- 32 kilobytes (KB) of cache, a 1.44 MB 3.5-inch floppy disk drive,
- and a 12 month on-site service warranty. An upgrade to 4 MB of
- RAM is $99.90, an upgrade to a Hi-color SVGA board with one
- MB of memory on the board is $129.90, and an upgrade to a
- 120 MB hard disk drive is $149.90, DAK added.
-
- Loading just the software offered in the deal could easily take up
- more than 40 MB of hard disk space and since Microsoft
- recommends 4 MB of RAM minimum for Windows 3.1, the
- purchase of the hard disk and RAM upgrades would be practical.
- The upgrades to the RAM and hard disk make the total cost of
- the deal with the 386DX computer $1,748.80.
-
- DAK is also offering five CD-ROM collections geared toward those
- who will also purchase a CD-ROM drive from the company. The
- collections have between four to six CDs each and include
- reference works, magazines, the Microsoft Statistic pack and
- Small Business Consultant, Historical accounts on The Timetable
- of History discs, desktop publishing clips with Publish-It 2.0
- software, and multimedia nature and wildlife titles. The collections
- range in price from $89.90 to $299
-
- The company is also offering two CD-ROM drives, one priced at
- $199.90 and one for $399. While DAK admits the $199.90 CD-ROM
- drive's 800 millisecond (ms) access time is too slow to meet the
- multimedia personal computer (MPC) standard, the company
- maintains it is workable and the price is attractive to those
- interested in accessing information on CD-ROM disks. The $399
- CD-ROM drive does meet the MPC standard with an access time
- of 380 ms and also includes The Microsoft Bookshelf, The Family
- Doctor, and Battle Chess, DAK adds.
-
- DAK, named after its founder, Drew A. Kaplan, has the distinction of
- doing a large volume mail order business via a catalog that spends
- literally pages of small print describing in detail each electronic
- gizmo offered. DAK representative Bryan Eggers told Newsbytes the
- prices are often some of the lowest anywhere and that is due to the
- volume DAK buys. Eggers said the company chooses carefully what
- to carry, then spends a lot of time, effort, and space promoting those
- items. For example, the latest catalog is 72 pages of explanation
- and color photographs and it describes about 55 products.
-
- (Linda Rohrbough/19920527/Press Contact: Bryan Eggers, DAK,
- tel 818-716-6219, fax 818-348-2642; Public Contact: 800-325-0800)
-
-
- (NEWS)(IBM)(LAX)(00003)
-
- DAK Offers Fax/Modem, Winfax, Quick Link II For $99 05/27/92
- CANOGA PARK, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 MAY 27 (NB) --
- DAK Industries, a mail order firm in Canoga Park, California, has
- announced it is offering an internal fax/modem card with Winfax
- 2.0 for Windows and Quick Link II software for DOS.
-
- The card is DAK's own BSR brand and offers 9,600 Group III send
- and receive fax capability with a 2,400 baud Hayes-compatible
- modem, the company added. Bryan Eggers, software products
- manager for DAK, said Winfax 2.0 is especially attractive software
- for faxing as it allows the user to "print" to the fax, so translation
- or multiple steps to send a fax are not necessary.
-
- Drew Kaplan, president of DAK said in a prepared statement:
- "...what you see on the screen is exactly what your fax will look
- like, complete with graphics and Truetype and Adobe fonts." Kaplan
- says the Winfax program installs itself as an optional printer in all
- Windows applications, so the user simply selects the fax card as
- the printer, selects "print," picks a name from the database of fax
- phone numbers or types in a new number, clicks on send, and the
- fax is sent.
-
- For those who are not Windows users, Quick Link II allows faxing
- and modem functions in the DOS environment, DAK added.
- Newsbytes called mail order software house Dustin Discount
- Software and was quoted a retail price for Winfax at $79 and a
- retail price for Quick Link II of $65. Both of those prices did not
- include the fax/modem.
-
- What's the catch? There doesn't seem to be one. According to
- Eggers, the company can offer lower prices by volume buying.
- DAK is the same company who this year started offering a
- compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) drive for $199.90.
- Like most of DAK's offerings both the fax/modem card and the
- CD-ROM drive come with a 12 month warranty.
-
- (Linda Rohrbough/19920527/Press Contact: Bryan Eggers, DAK,
- tel 818-716-6219, fax 818-348-2642, Public Contact: 800-325-0800;
- Dustin Discount Software, 818-719-9174)
-
-
- (NEWS)(IBM)(TOR)(00004)
-
- CA Announces Accpac Accounting Enhancements 05/27/92
- ISLANDIA, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1992 MAY 27 (NB) -- Computer
- Associates has announced a new purchase order system, support
- for dynamic link libraries (DLL) under Microsoft Windows, and an
- updated Windowing System Manager for its Accpac Plus
- accounting software.
-
- CA acquired the new purchase order system for Accpac Plus from
- Crystal Services in Vancouver, British Columbia, where CA's Accpac
- development group is also based. Crystal Services is a CA Access
- Development Partner. The module lets users monitor their purchase
- orders, and links them to the general ledger, accounts payable,
- inventory control, order entry, and job costing modules of Accpac
- Plus, CA said. It is scheduled to be available early this fall.
-
- The addition of DLL support to the Accpac Plus Accounting
- DynaView Data Application Programming Interface (API) means
- third-party Windows applications will be able to let users read data
- from Accpac Plus from within the applications, Computer Associates
- said. Accpac Plus does not have to run within Windows to do this,
- explained Anders Vinberg, senior vice-president of research and
- development at CA, although a Windows version of Accpac Plus is
- scheduled for 1993.
-
- The DLL capability will be added to the DynaView Data API in
- September. The complete package sells for $349.
-
- The Accpac Plus Windowing System Manager version 6.1A, which
- controls the operation of all Accpac Plus modules and provides
- common functions, is as much as 40 percent faster than the
- previous release and allows multitasking under Windows enhanced
- mode and OS/2 2.0, Computer Associates said.
-
- Vinberg noted that the new Windowing System Manager does not
- make Accpac Plus into a Windows application -- that will come
- next year -- but does let it take advantage of Windows or OS/2
- multitasking while running as a DOS application under either
- system.
-
- The new release replaces three separate System Managers that
- formerly let Accpac Plus run under straight DOS, under Windows,
- or in the DOS compatibility box of OS/2.
-
- The new release also provides enhancements such as additional
- password protection, an integrated pop-up calculator, and
- improved printer support, the company said. It is currently
- available for $195, and users of version 6.1 can upgrade for $49.
-
- (Grant Buckler/19920527/Press Contact: Bob Gordon, Computer
- Associates, tel 516-342-2391, fax 516-342-5329)
-
-
- (NEWS)(TRENDS)(TYO)(00005)
-
- Fujitsu Releases Pocket Telecom Word Processor 05/27/92
- TOKYO, JAPAN, 1992 MAY 27 (NB) -- Fujitsu has shipped an
- extremely light-weight and powerful word processor. It is the firm's
- word processor family called the Oasys, which is a well-known
- Japanese word processor. The latest pocket version is equipped
- with a telecommunication program.
-
- Fujitsu's pocket word processor is called the Oasys Pocket 2.
- It weighs only 470 grams, but it has a full keyboard and a 40- by
- 11-line LCD (liquid crystal display) screen.
-
- Although it is a word processor, it is equipped with a
- telecommunication program. The proprietary card modem is
- provided as an option. It will support 2,400 bits-per-second (bps)
- and MNP Class 5.
-
- A printer socket is equipped with the device. Through this
- socket printers for personal computers can be connected with
- the word processor. Interestingly, NEC's personal computer
- printer can also be connected with this device.
-
- The Oasys Pocket 2 is equipped with a 147,000 word dictionary
- and regular business organizers such as a scheduler and an
- address book. It also supports MS-DOS file format.
-
- The retail price of this pocket word processor is 98,000 yen
- ($750). The modem card costs 42,000 yen ($320). The AC
- battery unit is also available at 5,800 yen ($45). The device
- operates 10 hours with removable batteries.
-
- (Masayuki Miyazawa/19920527/Press Contact: Fujitsu,
- +81-3-3213-4160)
-
-
- (NEWS)(IBM)(TYO)(00006)
-
- ****IBM Japan Develops Pocket-Sized Hard Disk 05/27/92
- TOKYO, JAPAN, 1992 MAY 27 (NB) -- IBM Japan has developed
- pocket-sized, low-cost hard disks for its personal computers.
- There are three types: 40 megabyte (MB), 60 MB, and 80 MB.
-
- IBM Japan's latest pocket hard disks are called Personal
- Storage. These hard disks are measured 8.6 by 12.4 by 2.54
- centimeters (cm). They can be connected to IBM Japan's
- notebook-type personal computer, the PS/55 note, via the
- AT-bus with a proprietary cable.
-
- These hard disks will be released in June. The retail prices
- of these small hard disks are relatively cheap. For example, the
- 60 MB model costs less than 100,000 yen ($770). There
- are three colors -- black, red, and blue -- in these hard disks
- boxes.
-
- These pocket hard disks are said to be shake or vibration
- resistant to allow them to be carried in a bag. IBM Japan thinks
- that many business users will not carry computers in the near
- future, but they will just carry the hard disks. They are much
- lighter than a computer. In fact, many Japanese hard disk makers
- are developing pocket-size hard disks. Some analysts predict that
- there will be a pocket-size hard disk boom in Japan in the near
- future.
-
- (Masayuki Miyazawa/19920527/Press Contact: IBM Japan,
- +81-3-3586-1111)
-
-
- (NEWS)(TRENDS)(SYD)(00007)
-
- Australia: IDC Survey Of IT Users Forecasts Directions 05/27/92
- SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1992 MAY 27 (NB) -- IDC Australia said
- the IT industry had a watershed year in 1991 with companies
- attempting to "rightsize" and ready themselves for regrowth and
- profitability.
-
- While the leading 25 computer companies in Australia had an 18
- percent drop in revenues, they can expect a modest four percent
- growth this year, though this will not show the even higher
- per-employee returns caused by continuing staff reductions. The
- 25 companies cut staff by an average 6.5 percent.
-
- IDC's survey of IT users show that they have frozen their budgets
- for this year, spending less in some areas, but more in others.
- Large system sales will continue to drop, having fallen by more
- than 50 percent last year - from AUS$772 million to AUS$333
- million. IDC believes 1993 will see an upturn in spending as
- systems become incapable of coping with corporate needs, and
- as supercomputing platforms become viable choices.
-
- Desktop PC sales are expected to grow by six percent annually
- for many years, but mobile computing will grow at more like 23
- percent per year. Windows is tipped to dominate the desktop in
- the next year, with OS/2 having around 12 percent of the new
- operating systems market.
-
- Unix was a high growth area, and average unit prices for
- workstations fell by more than 25 percent in the last year. Unix
- sales on mainframes increased by a massive 400 percent (it
- actually jumped from one sale to five sales in successive years).
-
- (Paul Zucker/19920527)
-
- (NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00008)
-
- International Phone Update 05/27/92
- ATLANTA, GEORGIA, U.S.A., 1992 MAY 27 (NB) -- Americans
- troubled by their domestic phone system will really be angry
- when they see how international PTTs are catching up.
-
- In the Middle East, the United Arab Emirates and Iran completed
- an $8.6 million marine cable project, which will increase their call-
- handling capacity to as many as 184,320 calls, when TV signals
- are taken off-line. Previously, the two countries were linked by
- 149 access lines. The cable is part of Iran's move to normalize
- relations with its former enemies on the Arabian peninsula and
- elsewhere, a move hastened by President Rafsanjani's victories
- in recent elections. More than 100,000 Iranians live in the UAE,
- Tehran's largest trading partner among the Gulf Arab states.
-
- In Vietnam, which was recently the subject of a long visit by
- America's C-SPAN cable network, France said it will offer nearly
- $10 million in credits to improve microwave radio links between
- Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City, formerly called Saigon. The
- French, who lost the first Vietnam war in 1954, said they will
- increase total aid to $24 million in the next year. Since the US
- made moves to normalize telecommunications relations with the
- Communist government there, other Western countries have
- seen a green light for investment.
-
- Elsewhere in the Communist world, where nearly one-fourth of the
- world's people still live, Ericsson signed a $42 million contract
- for the extension of the cellular telephone network in Guangdong,
- China. Guangdong is in southern China, near Hong Kong, and its
- economy has been growing very rapidly. The Communist
- government in Beijing has recently been praising Guangdong's
- economic miracle, hoping to extend it nationwide, while reserving
- comment on its freewheeling social mores and desire for democracy.
-
- With the order, Ericsson's Guangdong cellular network will be able
- to serve 150,000 subscribers by 1993. Separately, Ericsson and
- Motorola agreed to swap present and future patents on GSM
- cellular phone systems. Motorola has recently been changing its
- wireless strategy, dumping proprietary systems in favor of
- industry standards in hopes of attracting faster growth.
-
- In Eastern Europe, Hungary named NM Rothschild & Sons to
- advise it on privatizing its telecommunications industry.
- Rothschild will help Hungary with issues of competition, regulation,
- consumer protection, and ownership structure, then take the
- MATAV unit through the equity-sale process. The company is
- estimated to be worth $1.4 billion, but nearly $10 billion will
- actually be needed to bring it up to Western European standards.
-
- In South America, meanwhile, Octel has announced an
- exclusive distribution agreement with Telesis Sistemas em
- Telecomunicacoes of Sao Paulo, which will become its sold
- distributor in Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay.
- These countries, with the exception of Chile, are all part of the
- Mercosul trading bloc, which has been experiencing record growth
- in recent years.
-
- Octel makes voice messaging systems. Telesis had sales of
- roughly $5 million in 1991. Separately, NEC received a $112
- million order from Embratel, the nation's long distance network.
- The company will build a fiber cable system between the
- two major cities of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, and link the
- area between Porto Velho and Cuiaba with microwave relays.
- NEC has the largest share of Brazil's digital microwave market.
-
- (Dana Blankenhorn/19920527/Press Contact: Ericsson, Kathy
- Egan, 212-685-4030. Octel, Barbara Burdick, 408-321-3245)
-
-
- (NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00009)
-
- ****AT&T Faces Strike Threat 05/27/92
- WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1992 MAY 27 (NB) -- The
- Communications Workers of America have authorized a strike
- against AT&T, following a similar vote earlier this month against
- a unit of GTE.
-
- The strike could take place as early as May 30 if negotiations
- fail. The CWA said its 100,000 members authorized a strike by
- a 4-1 margin, and that 27,000 members of the International
- Brotherhood of Electrical Workers also authorized a strike.
- Negotiations on a new three-year contract began March 30.
-
- AT&T put the best face on the situation, calling it a routine
- part of contract negotiations, but stock in AT&T fell in price
- after the vote, and stock prices on the regional Bell companies,
- which also face contract negotiations this year, also fell in
- sympathy.
-
- The unions badly need to win a negotiation somewhere, but
- management has a powerful weapon in permanent replacements,
- and Nynex was able to take a four-month strike three years ago
- with major service disruptions. A four-month walkout against
- Caterpiller, a heavy equipment maker, was broken earlier this
- year by its threat to permanently replace workers.
-
- (Dana Blankenhorn/19920527/Press Contact: Herb Linnen,
- AT&T, 202-457-3933)
-
-
- (NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00010)
-
- AT&T Offers 3 Megabit Speeds On Copper Wire 05/27/92
- LARGO, FLORIDA, U.S.A., 1992 MAY 27 (NB) -- AT&T's
- Paradyne unit said it can run three megabits of data per second on
- a four-wire copper cable, meaning phone companies will be able to
- offer multimedia services on existing telephone networks. The news
- is a big blow to fiber cable makers, who had been expecting the
- nation's phone companies to replace their existing copper plant
- before offering TV pictures and other services.
-
- The company calls its technology Carrierless, Amplitude/Phase
- modulation, or CAP. CAP transceivers use programmable
- computer chips and thus can be adapted to a wide range of
- transmission media, distances and data rates.
-
- Paradyne said in a press statement its CAP systems are designed
- to complement fiber while accelerating the provision of new services
- in the local phone network.
-
- In addition, Paradyne said, CAP technology can provide
- T1 data rates of 1.544 million bits-per-second on ordinary two-wire
- copper cable, the same type of cable found in most homes. The
- technology emerged from Bell Labs.
-
- (Dana Blankenhorn/19920527/Press Contact: Garrick Case,
- AT&T Paradyne, 813-530-8221)
-
-
- (NEWS)(TELECOM)(SYD)(00011)
-
- Australia: Nortel Signs AUS$188M Deal With Optus 05/27/92
- SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1992 MAY 27 (NB) -- Australia's new
- second carrier, Optus, has signed an AUS$188 million deal with
- Canada's Northern Telecom (Nortel) for the supply of switching
- systems. Nortel will supply the systems before the introduction
- of Optus' services in October.
-
- The contract was signed by Nortel's Chairman and Chief Executive
- Dr Paul Stern. The deal covers the supply of 20 models of Nortel's
- DMS range of digital switches, and installation has already begun in
- Sydney and Melbourne. Nortel will also supply its Groupe Speciale
- Mobile (GSM) switch for Optus' mobile cellular network. The GSM
- installation is Nortel's largest outside of Europe to date. Local
- electronics company Exicom (which is a Nortel strategic partner
- along with another local firm, Techway) will be manufacturing the
- DSM and ISDN terminals.
-
- Nortel has recently signed an AUS$270 million contract with
- Australia's other carrier, AOTC (Australian and Overseas
- Telecommunications Corporation) for the supply of digital switching
- systems over the next five years. This trend in the local
- telecommunications market is also reflected in Nortel's winning of
- contracts for both of New Zealand's carriers, Telecom New Zealand,
- and Clear Communications.
-
- (Sean McNamara/19920527)
-
-
- (NEWS)(GOVT)(SYD)(00012)
-
- Australia: Customs Service Moves Against Paperless Abuse 05/27/92
- SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1992 MAY 27 (NB) -- The Australian
- Customs Service (ACS) is set to crack down on abuse of its
- paperless export system, EXIT. The moves could see consignments
- held up before loading (or unloading), and fines and prosecution
- may be considered in some cases.
-
- The EXIT system has been used generally in Australia, and has
- been quite successful in reducing the use of paper in export
- consignments. However, abuse of the system not only hinders
- genuine users of the system, but could also lead to incorrect trade
- balance figures (the ACS provides information to the Australian
- Bureau of Statistics, which compiles trade balance figures).
- Another fear is that smugglers may abuse the system to export
- items such as guns if a crackdown is not initiated soon.
-
- EXIT was introduced in 1988, and has since been updated. It
- replaced a paper-based system which sometimes saw information
- being written on the back of envelopes rather than official forms.
- Since its introduction, the system has seen acceptance in a
- broad area of the docks and terminals.
-
- Commenting on the system, Richard Janeczko, Customs NSW
- regional manager for imports/exports, said: "Although the export
- industry overall has widely embraced EXIT, there are still problems.
- The shipping and air companies have led the way but many of the
- forwarders are still relying on paper handling. This affects the
- shippers, who then have to deal in paper rather than electronically,
- and customs because we have to deal also with the paper and
- electronic reports."
-
- (Sean McNamara/19920527)
-
-
- (NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SYD)(00013)
-
- Australia: Sega Moves To Increase Market Share 05/27/92
- SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1992 MAY 27 (NB) -- Japanese video
- game and entertainment giant Sega Enterprises has announced
- plans to buy a controlling interest in its Australian distributor,
- Ozisoft. The move is aimed at increasing Sega's market share
- in Australia.
-
- Sega will pay AUS$14.5 million for a 50 percent share in Ozisoft,
- with the remaining 50 percent being divided up between Japanese
- trading firm Nissho Iwai and two Ozisoft directors. The directors,
- Kevin Bermeister and Mark Dyne, founded Ozisoft in 1982, and in
- 1989 sold 65 percent of the company to local distributor,
- Imagineering. In 1991, the directors sold the remaining interest
- to another distributor, Tech Pacific.
-
- The latest move represents a re-investment in the company, and
- they are hopeful of good results. "We made some money when we
- sold out to Imagineering and First Pacific. Now we hope to do it all
- over again," said Bermeister. Ozisoft sees many advantages to
- Sega's move -- including an AUS$9 million marketing budget and
- a more willing approach to negotiating prices. Sega currently
- accounts for around 70 percent of Ozisoft's turnover (Ozisoft
- accounts for around 49 percent of the local games market).
-
- This buyout follows Sega's purchase of its European distributor
- from Britain's Virgin group.
-
- (Sean McNamara/19920527)
-
-
- (NEWS)(APPLE)(SYD)(00014)
-
- Australian Firm Produces Shows For Burbank Animation 05/27/92
- SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1992 MAY 27 (NB) -- Unlimited Energee,
- a Sydney-based animation company, is to produce a series of
- animation programs for Burbank Animation Studios. The AUS$2.1
- million contract involves a first-up series of 13 shows, with a
- possible 13 more shows.
-
- A condition of the contract is that the episodes be completed on
- Macintosh computers. The computer clause of the agreement
- originally had US traditional animators up in arms, but the benefits
- of doing the series on computer by Unlimited Energee was a major
- part of their winning of the contract.
-
- Unlimited Energee were competing against traditional animators,
- who could utilize "sweat-houses" for the tedious parts of the
- animation process. However, Unlimited was able to show that
- producing the series on computer would be more economical
- than this.
-
- The series is to be based on traditional stories, such as
- Frankenstein and Robin Hood, with each being re-written and
- modernized. Some of the stories will also depart from the original
- story basis. Frank Enstein, for example, still has the creation of a
- monster as a central theme, but the main focus is a water-powered
- car.
-
- Unlimited is producing the shows on three Macintosh Quadra 900s
- and five Quadra 700s. A show has to be delivered every seven weeks,
- with the first due for delivery on June 8. As part of the deal, Unlimited
- is also responsible for the production of the sound track.
-
- (Sean McNamara/19920527)
-
- (NEWS)(GENERAL)(DEN)(00015)
-
- Compaq Counters AST Performance Claims 05/27/92
- HOUSTON, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1992 MAY 27 (NB) -- Compaq
- Computer has send a field communiquΘ to its sales force designed
- to counter claims AST performance advantage claims over Compaq
- products.
-
- Specifically, the memo addresses the comparison made between
- the QVision 1024/E Controller and the Compaq Systempro/LT.
- Compaq said it was issuing the memo to set the record straight.
-
- Included with the memo is a reproduction an AST Computer ad
- which appeared in The Wall Street Journal of May 4th, 1992. The
- ad claims that AST's Power Premium computers run Windows 3.5
- times faster than Compaq. The ad reportedly also ran in Infoworld.
-
- According to the Compaq memo, the AST ad compares an
- accelerated 1024 by 768 controller against a VGA controller in 640
- by 480 mode. The memo states the comparison was not valid,
- saying a more valid comparison would have been the AST Western
- Digital Power Premium against the Compaq QVision 1024/E.
- Compaq has included a graph to depict that comparison. The graph
- shows PC Labs Windows Benchmark test that indicate QVision
- controllers outperform AST by up to 3.77 times.
-
- Another bone of contention between the two companies is price
- comparison. An AST press release carried on Business Wire in late
- April said that AST's Premium SE 4/33, Model 663 is priced 11
- percent lower than Compaq's Systempro LT Model 486/33-510.
- However, Compaq says that isn't true, claiming that the AST
- system is more than 36 percent higher.
-
- Asked by Newsbytes if Compaq planned to take further action,
- such as filing a lawsuit, company spokesperson Hedy Baker told
- Newsbytes she wasn't aware of any such plans.
-
- (Jim Mallory/19920527/Press Contact: Hedy Baker, Compaq
- Computer, 713-374-4619)
-
-
- (NEWS)(APPLE)(DEN)(00016)
-
- New For Mac: Aldus PressWise 1.0 05/27/92
- SEATTLE, WASHINGTON, U.S.A., 1992 MAY 27 (NB) -- Aldus
- Corporation has released Aldus PressWise 1.0, a page imposition
- program for the Macintosh computer.
-
- PressWise provides page handling and page adjustment tools for
- film strippers and production artists. With PressWise those
- professionals can impose almost any PageMaker or QuarkXpress
- file from the desktop, says Aldus. For example, you can merge
- the pages of multiple publications and sort them in a special page
- list palette.
-
- PressWise is intended for organizations that utilize electronic
- page layout and imaging devices to create printed documents.
- Commercial printers, service bureaus, in-house printers and color
- prepress providers all fall into that category.
-
- PressWise uses ready-made or custom imposition templates to
- automatically accommodate binding options and other parameters.
- The pages are then arranged in the correct order and orientation
- (vertical or horizontal) for printing. The user can also design
- their own library of templates to meet their particular needs. A
- reduced view of the imposition form provides visual feedback.
-
- PressWise carries a price tag of $2,295, and is available directly
- from Aldus. It is also being bundled as part of a complete prepress
- system from some imagesetter manufacturers. Aldus said
- localized versions for the European market will be available later.
-
- Aldus recommends an Apple Macintosh II series or a Quadra 700
- or 900 running System 7, at least two megabytes of RAM, and
- a hard drive. The company says PressWise will run on a Mac
- Classic with the same memory and drive configuration.
-
- (Jim Mallory/19920527/Press Contact: Brad Stevens, Aldus
- Corporation, 206-628-2361; Reader contact: Aldus Corporation,
- 206-628-2320)
-
-
- (NEWS)(GENERAL)(LON)(00017)
-
- UK: Fujitsu Unveils 125ppm Non-Impact Printers 05/27/92
- WATFORD, HERTS, ENGLAND, 1992 MAY 27 (NB) -- Fujitsu
- has unveiled a range of IBM compatible printers that it claims are
- capable of speeds of up to 125 pages-per-minute (ppm).
-
- The printers are badge-imported versions from Groupe Set
- International (GSI), the French specialist manufacturer, and are
- based around a Fujitsu engine. The printers will be marketed in
- Europe by both companies under a joint partnership arrangement.
-
- Both companies have been cooperating for the last ten years and,
- according to Mark Marsh, GSI UK sales manager, the long term
- partnership has created a substantial user base throughout
- Europe.
-
- "With around 20 percent of the IBM mainframe environment printer
- market in France and over 70 printers installed in the UK, users
- value Fujitsu's dedication to cold and flash fusion technology and
- reliable print quality," he said.
-
- Flagship to the new range of non-impact printers is the M3067,
- which is the 125ppm machine. This is reflected in the UKP 157,500
- price tag of the printer. For the money, users get a printer that
- both companies claim is the only unit on the market with A3 and
- cold fusion processing.
-
- The heart of the M3067 is a light emitting diode (LED) array
- system that prints at 240 dots-per-inch (DPI). This, the company
- claims, results in zero image distortion as each dot on the drum
- is less than 0.1mm in diameter.
-
- The printer uses an unusual, but high-speed printing process
- known as cold fusion. This is a non-contact system that uses a
- Xenon flash lamp to generate a light and heat burst signal that
- imprints itself on the paper surface. Since the paper only skims
- over the lamp, the paper path and general paper handling of the
- machine is simplified, GSI claims.
-
- For users on a tighter budget, SET has produced the M3053, a
- 106ppm and simpler version of the M3067. Retailing at UKP
- 94,000 the printer is available in five flavors designed for a variety
- of user situations, which include mail order to color printing labs.
-
- Groupe Set International is headquartered in Paris with branch
- offices in Lyon, Brussels, and Milan. The UK operation is
- located in Watford.
-
- (Steve Gold/19920527/Press & Public Contact: Fujitsu Europe,
- tel 081-573-4444, fax 081-573-2643; Groupe Set International,
- tel 0923-232055, fax 0923-223744)
-
-
- (NEWS)(IBM)(LON)(00018)
-
- UK: LPA Updates Windows Software Tool Packages 05/27/92
- LONDON, ENGLAND, 1992 MAY 27 (NB) -- Logic Programming
- Associates (LPA) has announced an updated family of its Windows
- software tools for 80386- and 80486-based PCs. The Windows
- series consists of LPA 386-Prolog for Windows, Flex/386 for
- Windows and Prolog++/376 for Windows.
-
- The versions, all under the "version 1.2" banner, include support
- for Windows 3.1, as well as an integrated source level debugger
- dialog with a choice five different debugging modems, plus a
- dedicated dBase III interface and various extensions and
- improvements to the original releases.
-
- Two releases of each 1.2 package are available - programmer and
- developer. The developer edition includes a run time generator
- for producing standalone applications. All the packages require
- an 80486-based PC with at least four megabytes (MB) of RAM plus
- Windows 3.0 or later.
-
- According to marketing director Clive Spenser, programmer pricing
- on the packages is as follows: LPA 386 Prolog for Windows -- UKP
- 745; Prolog ++/386 for Windows -- UKP 995; and Flex/386 for
- Windows -- UKP 1,245. Developer editions are, respectively, UKP
- 1,495, UKP 1,995, and UKP 2,495.
-
- Spenser claims that Prolog is a superior programming language
- than C, which many programmers still use. "Over time, the
- shortcomings of languages like C and C++ will become more
- apparent and we believe that prolog offers a better long-term
- solution," he said.
-
- As part of special summer promotion, LPA is offering its Prolog
- packages at around half price. For example, LPA 386-Prolog for
- Windows sells for UKP 395 for the programmer edition or UKP
- 795 for the developer edition. These prices are available when
- customers order the packages at trade shows.
-
- (Steve Gold/19920527/Press & Public Contact: LPA , tel 081-871-
- 2016, fax 081-874-0449)
-
-
- (NEWS)(IBM)(LON)(00019)
-
- UK: Lotus Ships 1-2-3 For DOS Release 2.4 05/27/92
- STAINES, MIDDLESEX, ENGLAND, 1992 MAY 27 (NB) -- Lotus
- Development has announced that 1-2-3 for DOS Release 2.4 is now
- available. The major update includes several major enhancements,
- such as the Lotus Smarticon technology -- which provides one-click
- access to software features, and Backsolver -- a single/multiple
- goal-seeking utility. Printer support facilities have also been
- greatly expanded.
-
- Announcing the package in the UK, Jeff Beir, vice president of
- Lotus' spreadsheet division, said that Lotus is committed to
- delivering innovative solutions to DOS spreadsheet users.
-
- "Smarticons, first seen in 1-2-3 for Windows, now provides DOS
- users with one-click access to commonly used spreadsheet
- commands and represent the next step in our long term plans,"
- he said.
-
- Backsolver is beginning to come bundled with several of Lotus'
- latest products, Newsbytes notes. The package logs a user's
- required results and, using data selection techniques, backtracks
- through the necessary spreadsheet calculations to arrive at a
- number of goals that must be met. Essentially, the package
- automates the "what-if" scenario by asking the user what he
- wants to achieve and backstepping from there.
-
- 1-2-3 For DOS 2.4 requires an 8088-based or better PC with at
- least 384 kilobytes (KB) of RAM. DOS 2.1 or later, plus a hard
- disk is required. When WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get)
- graphics are required, at least 512KB of memory is required.
-
- (Steve Gold/19920527/Press & Public Contact: Lotus
- Development, 0784-455445)
-
-
- (NEWS)(IBM)(LON)(00020)
-
- UK: Samsung Updates Notebook PC Family 05/27/92
- SURBITON, SURREY, ENGLAND, 1992 MAY 27 (NB) -- Samsung
- has updated its notebook PC family with the addition of four new
- machines designed to flesh out its product offerings in the area.
-
- At the entry level, the NM386S/20, a 20 megahertz (MHz) 386SL-
- based machine comes with a 40 megabyte (MB) hard disk at
- UKP 1,499, and a 60MB hard disk for UKP 1,999. Further upmarket,
- the 25MHz version, the NM386S/25 costs UKP 1,299 for a 60MB
- hard disk and UKP 2,399 for an 80MB hard disk version.
-
- Announcing the shipment of the machines, Hugh Dalgleish,
- Samsung's product manager, said that the new machines are
- competitively priced and "demonstrate that Samsung is taking the
- varied needs of the business user more seriously. With this range,
- our business partners (the company's resellers) can offer their
- customers the most cost-effective and reliable computing solutions
- currently on the market."
-
- The NM386S/25 is unusual in that it is based around the Applied
- Micro Devices (AMD) 386SL chipset. Like the NM386S/20, the
- machine weighs in at 5.5 pounds and is 1.75-inches thick. Battery
- power is four hours on single charge. All four machines come with
- 2MB of memory, expandable to 8MB internally if required.
-
- All the new machines come with DOS 5, Windows 3, Traveling
- Software's LapLink III package, and a carry case as standard
- features.
-
- (Steve Gold/19920527/Press & Public Contact: Samsung
- Electronics, 081-391-0168)
-
-
- (NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TYO)(00021)
-
- ****Sega Links With General Electric On Graphics Board 05/27/92
- TOKYO, JAPAN, 1992 MAY 27 (NB) -- Sega Enterprises says it
- will sign a joint development agreement with General Electric to
- develop a computer graphics board.
-
- A Sega spokesman told Newsbytes that both firms have already
- reached a basic agreement. The actual contract is expected to
- be signed around the end of July.
-
- Sega and GE will develop a low-cost computer graphics board,
- which incorporates multimedia features. With this board, quality
- graphic data can be processed. So, the screen pictures will be
- comparable to photographs or theatrical movies.
-
- The computer graphic board will be based mainly on GE's
- technology. In fact, GE has already been developing the board for
- industry use. Sega will provide the technology to add a so-called
- "virtual reality" feature, which allows for three-dimensional graphics.
-
- So far, Sega has developed game programs with the virtual reality
- feature. Sega wants to use the new computer graphics board for
- simulation games, while GE wants to apply the board mainly for
- the aircraft industry. It will take about a year for both firm to actually
- develop the product. Both firms are also expected to cooperate
- with the development of game software.
-
- (Masayuki Miyazawa/19920527/Press Contact: Sega
- Enterprise, +81-3-3743-7447)
-
-
- (NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TOR)(00022)
-
- ****Alliant Files For Chapter 11, Cuts Staff To 60 05/27/92
- LITTLETON, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1992 MAY 27 (NB) --
- Falling short in the leap from an old to a new product line, Alliant
- Computer Systems has plunged into Chapter 11 of United States
- bankruptcy law. The company filed for protection from its creditors
- May 26, and announced that it is cutting its staff from 225 to 60
- people.
-
- Alliant was caught in a transition from its old supercomputer
- products to a new line of massively parallel machines announced
- late last year. Patrick Scannell Jr., vice-president of finance and
- administration, told Newsbytes sales of the old products fell off
- faster than Alliant had expected, leaving the company dependent
- on service revenues and sales of its new hardware several months
- earlier than expected.
-
- "Our cash position to continue future operations is at an extremely
- low level," Scannell said. Alliant was in danger of running out of
- cash if it did not make the Chapter 11 filing, he said.
-
- On May 15, Alliant announced increased losses and a sharp
- drop in revenue in its first quarter.
-
- Alliant announced it would let go 165 of its 225 employees,
- keeping on only enough management and staff to provide service
- and support to existing customers. At that level, Alliant officials
- said, the company believes it can be profitable. Scannell said this
- will give Alliant time to "refocus and get a business plan put
- together." Once the company has a business plan for restructuring,
- he said, it can try to attract new financing.
-
- Alliant owes $39 million on outstanding subordinated convertible
- debentures, Scannell said, in addition to other obligations.
-
- The company hopes it can get back on its feet and continue with
- the new product line. However, Scannell admitted, "now we're not
- only dealing with technological uncertainty in customers' minds.
- Now we're dealing with company uncertainty in their minds." It is
- hard for a vendor to "be convincing when we're going through a
- bankruptcy," he said, but Alliant officials hope customers will
- understand that the Chapter 11 filing is a way for the company to
- survive and not a sign of its demise.
-
- (Grant Buckler/19920527/Press Contact: Patrick Scannell, Jr.,
- Alliant Computer Systems, 508-486-4950)
-
- (NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LAX)(00022)
-
- Retix To Use New Intel CF RISC i960 In Network Router 05/27/92
- SANTA MONICA, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 MAY 27 (NB) --
- Retix and Intel have announced that Retix will be the first company
- to implement the new Intel i960 CF reduced instruction-set
- computer (RISC) microprocessor. The implementation will be
- in the Retix Routerxchange 7000 multiprotocol router for
- computer networks.
-
- Intel, in the January/February issue of its "Microcomputer Solutions"
- magazine describes the previous version, the CA i960 as the
- computer-shared collaboration (CSC) connection for
- communications. The i960 is designed to provide high-bandwidth
- data compression for the transmission of output to other personal
- computers and peripherals on a network, Intel said. Intel described
- the CA i960 as the first "superscalar" device, as it is able to begin
- two new instructions every clock cycle, so at 40 megahertz (MHz)
- it can run at 80 million instructions per second (MIPS).
-
- This new member of the i960 family however can outperform the
- CA i960 by 100 times but still is 100 percent compatible with the
- CA i960, Intel said.
-
- Retix says the new CF RISC i960 microprocessor is critical to the
- speed and performance the Routerxchange needs to handle large,
- traffic-intensive networks with multiple protocols and media. For
- example, Randy Phillips vice president and general manager of
- Retix' Internetworking Product Unit said the Routerxchange will be
- able to support TCP/IP's Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) and
- OSSI's Intermediate System to Intermediate System (IS-IS)
- protocols without sacrificing speed or efficiency.
-
- (Linda Rohrbough/19920527/Press Contact: Lori Hultin, Retix,
- tel 310-828-3400 ext 526, fax 310-828-2255; Sara Killingsworth,
- Intel, tel 602-554-2388)
-
-
- (NEWS)(TELECOM)(SFO)(00024)
-
- Bids Galore As India Opens Telecom Industry 05/27/92
- NEW DELHI, INDIA, 1992 MAY 27 (NB) -- Last month, when the
- government announced that it was opening telecommunications
- to the private sector, industry was pleasantly agitated. The
- big industrial houses are quickly squaring up collaboration
- agreements with international giants.
-
- Apart from the manufacture of big telephone exchanges, the other
- areas of private enterprise are in value-added equipment like car
- phones, electronic mail, and paging systems. The Department
- of Telecommunications (DOT) invited tenders for cellular phones
- for the main metros in March. The response has been
- overwhelming. Some 150 companies have written in. Finally,
- some 30 big corporations have chosen to form mini consortia.
- The tenders are scheduled to be processed this week.
-
- The communications minister, Rajesh Pilot, is equally gung-ho
- about it all. Indeed, he is quite excited that, for a change,
- foreigners are wooing the Indian market. Less than a year ago, the
- whole show was managed by the government agencies,
- manufacturing of switching being the monopoly of the public
- sector Indian Telephone Industries Ltd. which has been
- manufacturing E10B exchanges of CIT Alcatel. CDOT
- (Center for Development of Telematics) developed its own digital
- switching system, slated to be manufactured by the ITI. Not any
- more. Private firms are expected to give both ITI and CDOT
- a tough run.
-
- Presently, India has about six million telephone lines. The wait
- for connections is more than two million. Also, in the next five
- years, according to one estimate, the demand is expected to grow
- to nine million lines more. At present, less than 10 percent of that
- demand, just under a million lines, are added every year.
-
- The eighth "Five Year Plan," announced last month, talks of Rs
- 40,500 crore (over $13 billion), set aside for investment in the
- telecom sector by the government, public sector, and private
- industry.
-
- Meanwhile, eight equipment manufacturers are already in the
- race for bagging DOT's order for 200,000 lines of large digital
- exchanges. Next month, all the eight are expected to announce
- the cut over date of the 10,000-line exchange they are installing
- at various sites allotted to them to enable the Department to
- validate and evaluate their performance.
-
- Busy with the exercise of the installation are: AT&T's 5 ESS
- system at Ahmedabad; Alcatel's E10-based OCB 283 at Delhi;
- GPT's System X at Hyderabad; Fujitsu's FETEX 150; Siemens'
- EWSD, and Ericson's AXE 10, at Calcutta and Madras respectively.
- NEC of Japan with its NEAX and Orintal Telecom of South Korea
- with TDX 10 are also doing the same at their respective sites at
- Jaipur and Pune.
-
- Once the cut over dates of these companies are announced, DOT
- is expected to take three month to evaluate, before placing the
- order. That's not going to be easy for DOT. For, many have
- already questioned the logic of the move to invite such a
- multiplicity of technologies.
-
- (C.T. Mahabharat/19920527)
-
-
- (NEWS)(GENERAL)(WAS)(00025)
-
- Perot Leaves Perot Systems Chairmanship 05/27/92
- WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1992 MAY 27 (NB) -- In Herndon,
- Virginia, about twenty miles west of Washington, a group of
- computer company employees are starting today with a new boss.
- It is a story that is worth reporting only because their old boss was
- H. Ross Perot, the man who might be President.
-
- In another move that strengthens the feeling among supporters
- that he really intends to make a run for the job of President of the
- United States, Perot yesterday resigned as Chairman of
- Herndon-based Perot Systems, a local computer company with
- annual sales of several hundred million dollars.
-
- Perot, who has said that he will run for President if his
- supporters get him on the ballot as an independent candidate in
- all 50 states, will remain on the company's board of directors by
- virtue of his 40 percent ownership of Perot Systems.
-
- Replacing Perot at the helm will be long-time friend and
- business associate (also former head of Electronic Data Systems,
- the company Perot eventually sold to General Motors) Morton H.
- Meyerson.
-
- Independent polls have shown that support for H. Ross Perot's
- Presidential candidacy has been gaining momentum and he has
- actually surpassed President Bush in both Texas and California.
-
- Interestingly enough, after one ill-fated attempt to help the
- US Postal Service, Perot Systems, despite its proximity to
- Washington, DC, is not thought to be engaged in any government-
- related business, although it does hire a lot of ex-military
- people. The company is privately held by the Perots and
- employees of the company, so it is not required to disclose
- details about its activities or revenues to the Securities and
- Exchange Commission or to make them public.
-
- (John McCormick/19920527)
-
-
- (NEWS)(GOVT)(WAS)(00026)
-
- Extended Training For Former Defense Employees 05/27/92
- WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1992 MAY 27 (NB) -- Trying to ease
- the move to civilian-oriented production, the Office of Personnel
- Management (Department of Labor) has decided that Department
- of Defense civilian employees who are let go due to the cutbacks
- in military spending will receive transition services for six full
- months after termination.
-
- JTPA (Job Training Partnership Act) training, which can apply to
- people anywhere in the country through local agencies and is not
- limited to former military employees, is usually based on
- financial need and skills, but the special benefits for former
- DoD civilian employees will, since the recent decision, extend
- three times beyond that normally available.
-
- According to the Washington Post, there are about 90,000
- civilian employees of the DoD in the Washington area, with
- another 900,000 around the world (and elsewhere in the US).
- The Pentagon says that it will cut worldwide civilian jobs by
- nearly 87,000 by the end of 1993.
-
- Many Pentagon civilian employees have computer-related jobs
- and part of the JTPA training will involve teaching programmers
- and other specialists the new languages and skills needed for
- civilian employment in the computer industry.
-
- Besides training, the employees being let go will have priority
- for similar jobs in other government agencies. The defense
- industry, which was traditionally hungry for former DoD
- employees, is cutting back drastically and is not expected to
- take up any of the employment slack, contributing to it instead
- with its own flood of highly skilled but defense work-oriented
- former employees.
-
- (John McCormick/19920527)
-
-
- (NEWS)(IBM)(WAS)(00027)
-
- Japanese PenDOS/TouchPen Driver For PenPoint Intro'd 05/27/92
- WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1992 MAY 27 (NB) -- There were
- two interesting pieces of news in the pen computer industry in the
- past week. One involved Communications Intelligence Corp's
- introduction of a Japanese language version of its PenDOS
- operating system. The other was Microtouch System's release
- of TouchPen drivers for PenPoint.
-
- CIC's software was introduced in Tokyo by Justsystem, the
- Japanese company which holds more than 75 percent of the word
- processing market for Japanese language users.
-
- PenDOS is the first pen computing operating environment ported to
- Japanese language computers and makes use of Justsystem's
- ATOK kana to kanji character processing.
-
- A CIC spokeswoman says that NCR (owned by AT&T) is already
- marketing the NCR 3125 Notepad computer in Japan with the
- English language version of PenDOS and that it has proven very
- popular.
-
- Wilmington, Massachusetts-based Microtouch Systems has
- announced that the TouchPen digitizer system is now available
- in a Go PenPoint configuration for evaluation by prospective
- pen computer manufacturers.
-
- TouchPen, a high-resolution handwriting recognition digitizer
- designed for portable computers, was first introduced last year
- with the NEC Ultralight SL/20P notebook computer and
- previously run under MS-DOS and Windows for Pen Computing.
-
- Founded in 1982 and with sales in the vicinity of $20 million
- annually, Microtouch is a privately held company with nearly
- 200 employees.
-
- CIC is a publicly traded (NASDAQ) company based in
- Redwood Shores, California.
-
- (John McCormick/19920527/Press Contact: Germaine Gioia, CIC,
- 415- 802-7888 or fax 415-802-7777; Janet Pannier, Microtouch,
- 508-694-9900 or fax 508-694-9980)
-
-
- (NEWS)(BUSINESS)(WAS)(00028)
-
- Softech To Develop DSP Support Software 05/27/92
- WALTHAM, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1992 MAY 27 (NB) --
- Softech has announced an agreement with Array Microsystems
- and Samsung Electronics to develop software development tools
- for use with the two companies' jointly developed a77 family of
- digital signal processing (DSP) chips.
-
- The a77 DSP chips, which will not be in production until sometime
- next year, have many applications in consumer electronics, office
- automation, and all forms of graphics processing, including
- computers and multimedia.
-
- The a77 is a single-chip parallel-processing device which can be
- programmed to compress and decompress Joint Photographic
- Experts Group (JPEG) and Motion Picture Experts Group (MPEG)
- video signals. Samsung and Array have not released details of the
- chip yet, which is based on Samsung 0.8 micron CMOS or
- complimentary metal oxide semiconductor technology and will
- have a large amount of internal memory.
-
- Competition for the a77 programmable device will come from hard-
- wired and programmable compression systems already available
- from Integrated Information Technology and Intel's Digital Video
- Interactive group.
-
- Softech is developing the basic software which will be used by
- systems designers to program the DSPs which will go into
- consumer and business hardware.
-
- Softech's expertise in the systems engineering area is generally
- with client-server applications, and manufacturing enterprise
- integration, for customers in finance and government. The
- company currently has a contract with the Air Force to integrate
- enterprise systems for the Manufacturing Technical Office by
- developing standard procedures.
-
- (John McCormick/19920527/Press Contact: Jon Wroblewski,
- Softech, 719-570-9400)
-
-
- (NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LAX)(00029)
-
- HP Gives $138 Million In Profit-Sharing To Employees 05/27/92
- CORVALLIS, OREGON, U.S.A., 1992 MAY 27 (NB) -- Hewlett-
- Packard announced it has shared its profits with its employees
- who received profit-sharing checks that totaled $138 million.
- Employees in HP's Corvallis, McMinnville, Wilsonville, and
- Eugene facilities, nearly 2,700 strong, received checks
- totaling $3.9 million after HP's announcement of its second
- quarter earnings.
-
- HP says this isn't new and says it has been sharing its profits in
- one way or another with its employees for its entire 53-year history.
- Currently, its employees are eligible for profit-sharing after six
- consecutive months of service with the company. The company
- says it issues two checks annually -- one in November and the
- other in May. When combined, the checks represent from two
- to four weeks of extra pay. The company maintains it initiated
- this profit-sharing plan in 1962.
-
- HP also took a different approach when it saw hard times coming
- and asked its employees to choose voluntary severance measures
- that cut 3,300 people from the payroll last year.
-
- The company said in its second quarter earnings announcement
- that it has managed to cut expenses so earnings are increasing
- faster than revenue. The gains this quarter are being attributed to
- management of expenses which includes the elimination of
- management lawyers, reorganization of sales, and the voluntary
- severance, HP added.
-
- The company reported second quarter earnings of $326 million, or
- $1.28 a share, as opposed to $233 million, or $.93 cents a share,
- posted last year. Overall revenues were up $8.05 billion, a 13
- percent increase from $7.14 billion of 1991, but earnings have
- increased 44 percent to $632 million or $2.49 per share compared
- to $438 million or $1.76 a share a year ago.
-
- HP is probably best known for its very successful line of desktop
- laser printers, but the company also makes IBM compatible
- personal computers, test and measurement devices, workstations,
- and other electronic devices.
-
- (Linda Rohrbough/19920527/Press Contact: Jerry Fisher, Hewlett-
- Packard, tel 503-757-2000 ext 2022, fax 503-752-7811)
-
-
- (NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LAX)(00030)
-
- Gain Tech Buys Santa Fe To Implement Multimedia Software 05/27/92
- PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 MAY 27 (NB) -- Gain
- Technology, a multimedia software company, says it has acquired
- Santa Fe Interactive, has made it the nucleus of a new venture
- called Gain Interactive, and plans to increase and broaden the
- implementation of multimedia systems to businesses.
-
- Headquartered Santa Fe, New Mexico, Santa Fe Interactive has
- been developing multimedia business systems for well-known
- businesses such as American Express, Hallmark Cards, Andersen
- Windows, and DOW Chemical, Gain said. Santa Fe focused on
- a high degree of user interactivity in its multimedia applications,
- Gain added.
-
- Gain plans to implement its multimedia software products in the
- business market using Santa Fe's experience in multimedia. Mark
- Carpenter, president of Santa Fe Interactive said: "We are delighted
- to be participating in the evolution of an organization that is
- committed to bringing the power of multimedia to mainstream
- business information systems."
-
- Gain, founded in 1989 and headquartered in Palo Alto, California,
- has only 85 employees who own the entire company. Gainexposure,
- the company's first software product went into production at the
- beginning of this year. On May 11 the company announced
- Gainmomentum, a object-based multimedia software product.
-
- (Linda Rohrbough/19920527/Press Contact: Bob Runge, Gain
- Technology, tel 415-813-8236, fax 415-813-8333)
-
-