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/nb920616

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(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TOR)(00001)

 ****BT Sells Mitel Stake To Schroder 06/16/92
OTTAWA, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1992 JUN 16 (NB) -- British Telecom
has finally found a buyer for its 51 percent share in the Canadian
telecommunications equipment maker Mitel. Schroders & Partners,
the Canadian affiliate of British investment group Schroder Ventures,
will pay about C$40 million for the stake, with further payment to
follow if Schroder sells its interest at a profit within five years.

Montreal-based Schroders is to pay C$1 per share for British
Telecom's 40,264,878 common shares in Mitel. If it sells the
shares for a profit within five years, it is to pay British Telecom
one third of the profit up to a maximum of 64 cents per share.
The deal has closed, a Mitel spokeswoman said.

No changes in Mitel management are planned, said Tom Travers,
a Mitel spokesman. Schroders will appoint two representatives to
the Mitel board of directors, replacing two British Telecom directors.
The new Schroders directors are Dr. Henry Simon, a partner of
Schroder Ventures in the United Kingdom, and Gordon S. Byrn,
president and chief executive of Schroders & Partners.

Schroder Ventures, which has been listed on the Stock Exchange
in London since 1959, has major operations in London, New York,
Tokyo,and Zurich, with offices in about 20 countries. The company
employs some 3,000 people worldwide.

Schroder is not entirely new to the Canadian telecommunications
industry, having held a stake in Ottawa-based Newbridge Networks
in the late 1980s. That stake has since been sold, Travers said.

British Telecom bought its stake in Mitel in mid-1986, and has
been trying to sell it since early 1990.

In the year ended March 27, Mitel had an operating loss of C$8.1
million on revenues of C$406.1 million. Net interest income
brought the net loss to C$5.7 million.

(Grant Buckler/19920615/Press Contact: Bonnie Perrigard or Tom
Travers, Mitel, 613-592-2122; Gordon S. Byrn, Schroders &
Partners, 514-397-0700)


(NEWS)(IBM)(TOR)(00002)

New For PC: Multimedia SmartHelp For 1-2-3 Ships 06/16/92
CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1992 JUN 16 (NB) --
Lotus Development has announced the immediate availability of
Multimedia SmartHelp for 1-2-3 for Windows. The single CD-ROM
disk contains Lotus 1-2-3 for Windows and Multimedia SmartHelp.

The product includes an animated and narrated guided tour that
leads users through all aspects of 1-2-3, with many "try it"
sections. There are also animated "show me" movies in the help
system that present the steps needed to complete specific tasks.
Also, all the paper manuals have been replaced with "on-line
books." The only printed documentation in the package is a brief
pamphlet explaining how to load and start up the software.

At a recent product demonstration in Cambridge, Rob Lippincott,
director of product development for Lotus' Multimedia Products
Group, showed how users can switch back and forth between the
multimedia help and their own worksheets, using what they have
learned before returning to the same point in the help system to
find out more.

"Multimedia is not the most important thing about 1-2-3,"
Lippincott said, "but we think this is the first time that
multimedia is important to people who use 1-2-3."

The server edition of Lotus 1-2-3 for Windows with Multimedia
SmartHelp works with CD/Networker, providing multiple users
with network access to Multimedia SmartHelp residing on a single
CD-ROM drive, and will be shipped in the third quarter of this year.

Lotus 1-2-3 for Windows with Multimedia SmartHelp requires a PC
with an 80386 or higher processor, at least four megabytes (MB) of
memory and 10MB of available hard disk space, and a mouse.
It also calls for a standard VGA 16-color graphics adapter and
monitor, a CD-ROM drive with a minimum transfer rate of 150
kilobytes-per-second, an eight-bit sound device supported by
Multimedia Extensions, speakers or headphones.

The package also needs DOS 3.3 or later, Windows 3.0 with
Multimedia Extensions 1.0 or Windows 3.1, and MSCDEX 2.2 for
CD-ROM drive support.

The suggested retail price for Lotus 1-2-3 for Windows with
Multimedia SmartHelp is $595, the same price as the standard
release of Lotus 1-2-3 for Windows.  Anyone who has bought a
DOS or Windows version of Lotus 1-2-3 in the past six months
may upgrade to Multimedia SmartHelp for 1-2-3 for Windows for
a suggested retail price of $49. Licensed users of any earlier PC
version of 1-2-3 can upgrade to the multimedia version for a
suggested retail price of $150.

(Grant Buckler/19920615/Press Contact: Nancy Scott,
McGlinchey & Paul for Lotus, 617-862-4514)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SFO)(00003)

Casady & Greene Release Super QuickDex II 06/16/92
SALINAS, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 JUN 16 (NB) -- Casady &
Greene has issued an update to the free form database program
that they have been selling under the name of QuickDex.

Super QuickDex II is the name of the new version. The reason for
such a title expansion is that Casady & Greene have done more
than just upgrade the program. QuickDex has been upgraded to
QuickDex II and two companion utilities have been added to make
it Super QuickDex II. The two new utilities are called "QuickElope"
and "PrintDex II."

QuickElope is an envelope addressing Desk Accessory for the
Macintosh that is certified by the post office and can take all kinds
of details about envelope addressing into account. The program
has templates for the most common addressing schemes like
shipping labels, folder labels, and envelopes. It will even print a
single label on a sheet in a specific location in order to assist in
reducing waste.

PrintDex II is a powerful new print manager that can be used with
the database itself. Among the new capabilities that this new
utility offers are the ability to do list merges with duplicate checks,
display of deleted cards, and viewing and printing of cards in
WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) format.

An interesting sidenote is the process by which Casady & Greene
have readied this program to be shipped. The computer press has
been complaining mightily about buggy programs that were not
ready for release. To escape such a fate, Casady & Greene
developed a unique approach to the introduction of the program.

First, they underwent a nine-month beta test period. When that was
completed and they thought the program was ready for release, the
company decided to sell and ship only an initial 500 units to
specifically chosen customers. When two to three weeks passed
and no complaints were received by the company, they released
an additional 500 copies for sale. Again a wait ensued. When no
complaints were received, then an additional 1,000 copies were
release. Again, the company waited to hear of problems. Now, that
they are sure that no major bugs or problems exist in the program,
they are releasing it for general distribution.

(Naor Wallach/19920615/Press Contact: Judith Frey, Casady &
Greene, 408-484-9228)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(SYD)(00004)

Australia: Amstrad Prices Satellite TV Bundle 06/16/92
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1992 JUN 16 (NB) -- Amstrad, the leading
supplier of Doc PCs in Europe and Australia has announced
expected pricing on domestic satellite TV reception equipment. The
company is already a leading supplier in the European market.

The company expects to be able to supply a kit comprising a dish,
a receiver and a decoder for as little as $399 retail (US$300). Other
manufacturers have predicted prices at least twice this amount.

The Amstrad dish has two LNB units, allowing two channels to be
watched simultaneously on two TV sets. Other promised products
include combined satellite receivers and video recorders and
combined receivers and TV sets. The dishes will be developed and
manufactured in Australia, taking the harsh UV conditions into
account.

Amstrad has called for a simple, uniform standard for satellite
broadcasting and encoding rather than differing and high-cost
options it says are being proposed by some manufacturers. Among
these is the D2MAC encoding system which would broadcast in
the new 16:9 aspect ratio as catered for in some new receivers.
Standard Pal and NTSC broadcasts are in 3:4 format.

(Paul Zucker/199206012)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(LON)(00005)

France Readies For Digital Mobile Phone Network Launch 06/16/92
PARIS, FRANCE, 1992 JUN 16 (NB) -- France Telecom will launch
its Groupe Speciale Mobile (GSM) digital mobile phone network at
the beginning of July. Operating under the name of Itineris, the
service will initially be available between Paris and Lyon, with
coverage in both these cities.

Plans call for the French GSM network to be quickly expanded
with coverage extending across the region from the North-east of
the country down to the Italian border. The expansion will be the
result of France Telecom's FF 4,500 million investment in the
network, company officials said.

The state-owned telecommunications company is taking an
innovative approach to selling the mobile phones. Instead of
marketing phones and their subscription contracts through
specialist phone shops and motor dealers, as is the norm in
Europe, France Telecom will sell through major supermarket
chains such as Carrefour.

According to Mike Bertinetto, France Telecom's director of mobile
telephony, ten agreements have been signed so far on the
comarketing front, with outlets including the manufacturers of the
phones, Sagem and Motorola, as well as Vodafone, the UK mobile
phone company that already has a GSM network operational
across the Channel in London.

In common with all GSM networks, Itineris will feature smart card
technology. Subscribers to the service, who will pay a
subscription of FF 360 a month for their "line," will be able to
remove their "ID card" and slot it into other GSM phones, either
at home or abroad. Since the card is the key to the number,
when it is inserted in a GSM phone, that phone then "becomes"
the subscriber's unit, with the network routing calls to the phone
automatically.

(Steve Gold/19920612)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(LON)(00006)

UK: Wordperfect Claims Lion's Share Of WP Market 06/16/92
ADDLESTONE, SURREY, ENGLAND, 1992 JUN 16 (NB) --
Wordperfect is claiming that it now holds the lion's share of the
UK word processing market, a figure that Context, the market
research company, shows as rising steadily.

According to Context's software sales report, Wordperfect
increased its market share significantly in recent months. Over
the last three, Wordperfect's sales have accounted for 44.2
percent of all word processing packages sold. This figure
compares with 44.2 percent over the last 12 months.

Microsoft's share of the WP market, meanwhile, has dipped
from 31.4 percent over the last 12 months to 29 percent over
three months. In February, the latest report available, Microsoft
accounted for 24.5 percent of sales.

Wordstar is another falling star, according to the Context
figures. Market share in the 12 months to February was 14.6
percent, while in February '92 alone, it was 10.7 percent.

David Godwin, general manager with Context, said that, in terms
of market share, the company has broken away from competing
word processing software vendors and is now heading the market
by a significant margin.

"I attribute the increase in our sales to the success of
Wordperfect for Windows, as well as to the fact that a lot of
people are still buying DOS-based word processors. In the DOS
market, Wordperfect remains unchallenged," he said.

So how accurate are Context's surveys? The company's monthly
software sales reports, using a total sample of 1,288 specialist
and non-specialist outlets, measures the UK word processing
sales.

(Steve Gold/19920613/Press & Public Contact: Wordperfect
UK - Tel: [phone]; Context - Tel: [phone])


(NEWS)(APPLE)(SFO)(00007)

Storyspace Writing Tool For Macintosh Upgraded 06/16/92
WATERTOWN, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1992 JUN 16 (NB) --
Eastgate Systems Inc., has announced the upcoming upgrade of
the Storyspace program. Storyspace is part of the Civilized
Software line that Eastgate markets, and is intended as a tool to
help writers in organizing their materials and in laying the story out
and constructing them.

Storygate is billed as a "serious Hypertext tool." Although it is
available only in a Macintosh version, the tool is not based on
Hypercard. Rather, it is a fully programmed hypertext
environment, claims the company.

The new version of Storyspace (version 1.2) will be shipping in three
weeks. This new version incorporates support for Apple's QuickTime
system extension, Claris' XTND system extension, and also
incorporates performance improvements over the previously released
version. Storyspace has been shipping commercially for about 15
months.

The program is aimed at novelists and other professionals who need
to write documents as well as serious Hypertext practitioners. When
the writer sits down at his computer he is presented with a
graphical view of the impending story. The author can connect
different story elements together in whichever way seems to make
sense and change that configuration at any time. In addition to
the structure view, the program also allows for an outline view and
a text view so that you can see whichever view of the story makes
sense at the time. In essence, the program allows you to deal with
text pieces as objects and manipulate them as such.

Storyspace has been used in many different arenas for all kinds of
projects. The authors delighted in telling Newsbytes of a cultural
anthropologist who is on his way to a remote area in China
equipped only with a Powerbook, Storyspace, and a bunch of
spare batteries.

Storyspace sells for $215 in single units. A 10-pack edition is
available for $599. Educational discounts are also available.

(Naor Wallach/19920616/Press Contact: Mark Bernstein,
Eastgate Systems, 1-800-562-1638)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(SFO)(00008)

New For Mac: Person To Person Calendar Program 06/16/92
SUNNYVALE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 JUN 16 (NB) -- Asante
Technologies has announced that they have begun shipping their
first software product, called "Person To Person."

Person To Person was announced at the San Francisco
MacWorld exposition. However, Asante engineers needed more
time to complete work on it so the company was not able to
release the program at their originally scheduled time.

Person To Person is a personal calendaring program with a couple
of twists. First, it supports a "minimalist" electronic-mail program.
This e-mail package is not intended to compete with the likes of
cc:Mail or QuickMail, but the company claims that it does have
some advantages that the other programs do not. For instance,
Person To Person allows a user to transfer a file of any size across
the network subject only to the amount of available disk space
on the receiving machine.

A second twist is that Person To Person's calendar can be set up
to send reminder notices across the mails. So, for example, if a
user had scheduled a meeting with three others, when the meeting
time approaches, Person To Person will automatically send a
reminder notice to the other people as well as to the user.

A third twist is that Person To Person is designed so as not to
need a centralized server. This is a peer-to-peer product and
operates as desk accessories on the user's Macintosh.

Asante has hinted to Newsbytes of its future plans regarding
Person To Person. Although no products are being announced at
this time, Asante has indicated that a Microsoft Windows version
is probable. They also hinted that a version will be available that
performs calendar merging of several people. This feature would be
useful to people to schedule multi-person meetings without the
need for calling each individual for his time.

Person To Person is shipping now. There are three packages
available for purchase: a two-user pack which sells for $149; a
10-user pack for $399; and a "zone-wide" user pack for $699.

(Naor Wallach/19920616/Press Contact: Chris Inman, Asante,
408-752-8388)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SFO)(00009)

New Company Hopes To Make Easier Networking Tools 06/16/92
SANTA CRUZ, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 JUN 16 (NB) -- A new
company has been formed with the goal of making software tools
for troubleshooting and configuring computer networks for less
money and less trouble.

Empirical Tools and Technologies is being launched with private
funding by Karl Auerbach. Auerbach has recently left Sun
Microsystems where he was one of the people responsible for the
development of the "Sun Network Manager" platform. Prior to Sun,
Auerbach was one of the founders of Epilogue Technology Corp.,
which is one of the main developers of SNMP (simple network
management protocol) and has served on numerous
subcommittees of the IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force).

ET&T's goal is to make a series of very affordable software tools
that will be used to supplement more traditional network
management tools. Essentially, Auerbach feels that to properly
set up a network today requires too much expertise and playing
around.

If successful, ET&T will be the place where people will come to
get the least costly tools that will be needed to keep the network
running. Ultimately, his goal is to have his tools be so useful and
inexpensive that people will install his tools on their network nodes
and leave them there for when they are needed.

There no products being announced at this time as the company
has only just been formed. Auerbach is essentially the only
employee at this time. However, the company is planning on
announcing something in time for the October InterOp show that
will be held in San Francisco.

(Naor Wallach/19920616/Press Contact: Tom Woolf, Media
Relations, 415-508-1554)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(SYD)(00010)

Australia: Optus Launches First Telecom Service 06/16/92
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1992 JUN 16 (NB) -- After weeks of
preparatory press and TV ads, Australia's new and second
telecommunications carrier has introduced its first service. It
is a, much hinted at, mobile telephone service, which is
claiming to be six percent cheaper than the competition.

The service breaks no new ground, and is simply a leasing
of existing telecommunications analog services. However,
the market is very lucrative, and is growing at 40 percent per
year, so Optus should make money almost straight away.
Optus General Manager Steve Evans said: "The new mobile
service will help Optus build a presence, as well as a user
base."

Optus anticipates two-thirds of its initial customers will opt
for the "EconomyPlan." It offers a monthly cost of around
US$30, with 20 minutes free time bonus after the first two
hours use. The "MaxiPlan" costs around US$90 per month
with four hours of free connect time. The basic "SecurityPlan"
costs US$15 per month.

(Paul Zucker/199206015)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(SYD)(00011)

National Index For Australian Police 06/16/92
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1992 JUN 16 (NB) -- An index of data
from eight Australia police jurisdictions is to be established by
the beginning of next year. It will be operated by the National
Exchange of Police Information (NEPI).

Tenders have been called for an MVS mainframe capable of
20 million-instructions-per-second (MIPS), and with 15 gigabytes
(GB) of storage initially. The system will allow all police stations
to have instant access to crime data from around Australia.

While each state has laws that equate offenses committed
in other states with offenses covered in that state, until now it
has been possible for offenders to move around the country for
the purposes of obtaining firearm or driving licenses. With this
new system, these past offenses will be immediately known.
Bail applications will be based on the true history of a person,
not just in one state. It is also intended as an aid in civil
matters such as locating missing persons.

Although there are some existing national police data
services such as fingerprinting and vehicle information,
much data transfer is done manually via fax and phone.

The system will also assist each state in rationalizing
its data and database types, as information will have to
have a consistent make-up.

(Paul Zucker/199206015)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(DEN)(00012)

Microsoft Donates Software To Aid Teachers 06/16/92
REDMOND, WASHINGTON, U.S.A., 1992 JUN 16 (NB) -- Microsoft
has announced that it has formed a partnership with 10 state
departments of education to enhance educational and teaching
resources.

The software giant says it will donate Windows, DOS, and
Macintosh versions of Microsoft Works, as well as various support
materials, in order to empower teachers with effective teaching
materials that support and encourage learning by students.

The 10 states joining in the partnership with Microsoft are Arizona,
California, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, New Mexico, North
Dakota, Washington, and West Virginia. The company already has
a similar arrangement with New York.

The company said the software and training materials will allow
teachers to more effectively use technology to manage student
information, grades, and professional correspondence. The
announcement said once teachers are comfortable using
technology as a tool they will feel more comfortable integrating
that tool into the classroom curriculum.

Each state has identified key teacher training sites and/or model
school sites that would benefit the most by receiving the software
and teaching materials. Some states maintain regional training
sites where software, materials and training are available to
surrounding school districts. In other cases, training is conducted
at various locations including school computer labs, traveling labs
and distance learning studios.

Under terms of the program, the participating states will also
receive on-line support through America Online and CompuServe,
where Microsoft maintains support forums.

States who applied for participation in the partnership were
required to provide a long range vision of how the software and
training materials would assist them in meeting their long-term
technology goals. They will now be asked to share lesson plans,
productivity tips, templates and training materials throughout
their state as well as with educators nationwide.

As an example of how the partnership will benefit students, the
state of North Dakota said it will incorporate Works as an integral
component of its SENDIT program, a computer mediated network
project designed to bring technology to small and rural schools.
The state anticipates that next year more than 118,000 secondary
students and 2,200 secondary teachers will be trained to use the
network.

In New Mexico, educators will incorporate Works into is model
school which is part of a telecommunications project that shares
information regularly with a school in Israel. Works will be used to
upload and download files, including scientific data, to the Israeli
school.

Microsoft Works is an integrated software program that includes
word processing, spreadsheet, charting, database, and drawing
capabilities.

(Jim Mallory/19920615/Press contact: Beverly Auld, Microsoft,
206-882-8080)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(LON)(00013)

 ****BT Unveils "Mailbox," The Successor To Telecom Gold 06/16/92
PARIS, FRANCE, 1992 JUN 16 (NB) -- Buried in a heap of
announcements made at the European Electronic Messaging
Association, which was held recently in Paris, British Telecom
quietly announced its plans for BT Messaging Services, the
successor to its electronic mail Telecom Gold brand name.

BT Messaging Services is the new name for BT's Telecom Gold
service. In fact, Telecom Gold will still be available to
subscribers as normal, but, by using a DOS off-line reader (OLR)
package known as Mailbox, subscribers will be encouraged to
use the service on an automated basis.

Mailbox is a DOS package that automates most of the functions of
Telecom Gold, BT's e-mail service, such as logons, sending and
receiving e-mail and binary files, as well as moving file storage
off the Telecom Gold service and on to the user's local PC.

Plans call for a Windows version of Mailbox to be developed by
Microsoft. Sources within BT suggest that a Windows Mailbox
OLR package will be launched before the end of the year.

More immediately, the Mailbox software will be made available to
new and existing users of Telecom Gold around the middle of July.
The software is being issued free of charge.

The Mailbox software communicates with the Telecom Gold
computers using the Kermit file transfer protocol for all transactions.
This technique is similar to the HMI error-corrected protocol
that Compuserve's graphical front end package, the Compuserve
Information Manager (CIM), uses. It allows for all data sent to
and received from the mainframe computer to be verified for
integrity, even over non error-corrected modem links.

According to BT, the introduction of the Mailbox OLR package for
Telecom Gold will increase user's efficiency in using Telecom
Gold. It also allows BT to launch the Telecom Gold service --
under the new BT Messaging Services brand name -- in Europe,
without worrying that excessive packet data network (PDN)
charges will dampen subscriber's enthusiasm for the e-mail
service.

According to a representative of BT Messaging Services,
Telecom Gold will continue to be sold as the basic e-mail product,
but no further development work on the user interface will be
carried out, since the DOS Mailbox software is now the primary
user interface.

BT has ambitious plans to promote its "new" messaging service in
Europe, which will be accessible using the BT global network
service (GNS) packet data network, which is an amalgam of BT's
old European PDN and the BT Tymnet PDN services.

The idea of the introduction of BT Messaging Services, both in
Europe and the UK, according to Martha Scanlon, BT's director
of applications services, is to offer a single brand name for what
is actually an umbrella group of services.

"The emergence of a global economy means that businesses need
to communicate on a worldwide basis, often between dissimilar
electronic messaging systems. BT Messaging Services now
provides companies throughout the world with a one stop shop for
all their messaging requirements," she said.

The DOS Mailbox OLR package has one seemingly unpromoted
advantage over direct access to Telecom Gold, Newsbytes
notes -- that of inter-system e-mail. For the first time, subscribers
to Telecom Gold -- accessing the service using the Mailbox
software -- can now exchange messages with other e-mail services
which conform to the CCITT X.400 e-mail standard.

The CCITT, an international regulatory body in the world of
telecommunications, defined the X.400 standard a few years ago to
allow e-mail services to exchange messages using a common format.
Using the DOS Mailbox software, Telecom Gold subscribers can
exchange messages with subscribers of other services, such as
Compuserve, MCI Mail, and several other on-line services.

(Steve Gold/19920615/Press Contact: Jenny Bailey Associates -
Tel: [phone]; Email on Dialcom 10082:JOU010)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(LON)(00014)

UK Survey Shows Fax Usage And Costs Increasing 06/16/92
ARLOW, ESSEX, ENGLAND, 1992 JUN 16 (NB) -- According to
a survey from Gallup, usage of fax machines is skyrocketing.
However, perhaps more worryingly, is that the survey indicates
that the growth is being paralleled by a massive increase in costs,
which Gallup claims is out of control.

The survey, carried out on behalf of Pitney Bowes' fax division,
reveals that 31 percent of users have increased their usage of
fax machines on the past year, despite the recession. Ninety-one
percent of users believe that fax machines help increase their
productivity.

The survey, which covered the Financial Times top 500 companies
in the UK, showed that regular fax users in the US and UK
now send an average of 40 documents a day, with UK users
topping the league with an average of 61 documents a day.

Interestingly, almost half of the major users of fax machines are
now using plain paper rather than expensive and "curly" thermal
paper. Additionally, while only 29 percent of those who use a
thermal paper machine said they wished they had plain paper, 59
percent said they needed to make copies of their thermal paper
faxes for filing purposes all or some of the time. This is because
thermal fax paper fades after a few months.

Meredith Fischer, vice president of marketing for Pitney Bowes
fax division, said he believes that some of the findings will
surprise senior management.

"While fax usage has increased considerably over the past 12
months, operational costs are not being controlled, given that
the technology to do this is readily available, often on machines
already installed. Thermal paper, for example, is relatively
expensive, tends to fade and has to be copied if it needs to be
kept. At 1.7 pence per copy, for paper and toner, that can add
more than UKP 950 a year per machine," he said.

Perhaps more worryingly, only 20 percent of UK users said that
their company had guidelines on fax usage, compared to 28
percent in the US and 32 percent in Canada. Only four percent
of UK users had had any formal training on fax machine usage.

Fischer said that he knew that fax volumes were increasing, but
the Gallup figures were beyond what anyone had expected. He
also said that companies seem to be missing an opportunity to
cut costs using the features of the latest fax machines.

"In many cases, for example, if they upgraded their fax networks
with new 14.4 kilobits per second modem plain paper fax
machines, the savings in transmission charges and supplies
costs could actually pay for the machine," he said.

It also seems that fax machine users waste a lot of money on
telephone charges. Only six percent of UK users said they used
cheap rate phone periods to send their faxes -- most of the
latest fax machines can be programmed to send faxes during
off-peak times, Newsbytes notes.

The overall theme of the report is that users are gaining an
awareness of what fax machines are capable of, but that they
are unaware of what fax machines cost to use.

(Steve Gold/19920615/Press & Public Contact: Pitney Bowes -
Tel: [phone]; Fax: [phone])


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(LON)(00015)

 ****Hayes To Unveil Smartcom For Windows At PC Expo 06/16/92
NEW YORK, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1992 JUN 16 (NB) -- Hayes will
unveil Smartcom for Windows at the PC Expo computer show in New
York. The package, which runs under Windows 3.0 or 3.1, will sell for
UKP 119, though actual shipment worldwide is not expected until
September.

According to a representative for Hayes UK, Smartcom for
Windows is a graphics intensive version of the existing Smartcom
for DOS and Mac packages, but enhanced to take account of the
Windows user interface. The package will be available in five
languages (English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish) and has
been designed for use with high-speed modems, Integrated Services
Digital Network (ISDN) technology, local area networks, and the
Hayes enhanced serial port specification (ESP).

In use, the package includes a special asynchronous Windows
driver that extends the conventional Windows communications driver
for use with the Hayes ESP hardware standard. The ESP standard
allows the user to by-pass the PC's serial port for block transfer of
data into, and out of, the computer, rather than on a byte by byte
method, as is normal for serial port transmissions.

Smartcom's simple communications programming environment
(SCOPE) scripting language is fully supported by Smartcom for
Windows. The language on the Windows version is backwards-
compatible with the DOS and Apple Mac versions.

Hayes is encouraging users of the package to submit their
SCOPE scripts in a competition. The best SCOPE script entries
can win $4,000 plus an expenses-paid trip for four to a Disney
theme park.

(Steve Gold/19920615/Press & Public Contact: Hayes - Tel:
081-848-1858; Fax: [phone]; email on Internet -
[e-mail])
(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00016)

NBC Signs For Grocery Ad Network 06/16/92
CHATSWORTH, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 JUN 16 (NB) --
General Electric's NBC television unit signed a deal to start
NBC On Site, a new advertising network for grocery stores.

The company is a joint venture among Silentradio, which came up
with the technology, The Fleming Companies, the nation's largest
grocery wholesaler, NBC and Site Based Media, which created the
Shoppers' Video advertising system.

Here's how it works. Signboards will be installed at participating
grocery stores, which can display news, sports, finance, and
entertainment headlines sent by radiowave. The markets can
also program the displays from PCs in the store to advertise
specials, even spur-of-the-moment specials, which customers
can consider while they're going through the market, or waiting
on line. Since the displays are noiseless, almost subliminal,
the partners feel they'll be more successful than the TV and
radio systems presently in use for in-store advertising,
and the programmability makes it easier for stores to balance
stocks.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19920616/Press Contact: Silentradio, Lewis
Solomon, 516/489-2800)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00017)

 ****America Online Offers Soviet Secrets Exhibit 06/16/92
VIENNA, VIRGINIA, U.S.A., 1992 JUN 16 (NB) -- The America
Online network has launched an on-line exhibit, held in
conjunction with the Library of Congress.

The US library, in conjunction with the Committee of Archival
Affairs of the Russian Federation, will display highlights of
previously secret Soviet records on the America Online system
called "Revelations from the Russian Archives."  The "exhibit"
will run concurrently with the opening of a more extensive
exhibit of the documents which opens June 17 at the Madison
Building of the Library of Congress.

The exhibit features approximately 300 historically significant
documents, photographs and films which have been previously
inaccessible from the Russian archives, including those of the
Central Committee of the Communist Party and the Foreign
Ministry.

This collection, selected by a team of scholars led by
Librarian of Congress Dr. James H. Billington, is expected to
shed new light on some of the major events and controversies
involving the former Soviet Union, from the revolution to the
present time.

America Online will offer portions of representative documents,
with translations, captions and graphic images of each
document.  The America Online service will also enable
subscribers around the country -- and electronic mail
users around the world -- to have real-time conferences and
electronic mail discussions about the documents.

One highlight of the exhibit will come on Thursday, June 18, from
2-3 p.m. Eastern Time. At that time Billington, Dr. Rudolph G.
Pikhoia, chairman of the Committee on Archival Affairs of the
Russian Federation, and General Dmitrii Volkogonov, head of the
KGB archives, will participate in an electronic conference with
America Online subscribers. "As far as we know, this will be the
first time in history that an institution has offered both a
landmark exhibit and electronic access to the contents of the
exhibit," said Billington.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19920616/Press Contact: Liz Sara, America
Online, 703-883-1503)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00018)

Brooktrout Wins Fax Board Order From Sharp 06/16/92
NEEDHAM, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1992 JUN 16 (NB) --
Sharp Electronics will use hardware from Brooktrout Technology
in its Sharp's Facsimile Information Network Database
(Sharp FIND).

Sharp is the largest distributor of fax machines in the US.
The contract is estimated to be worth over $1 million.

The product, which is aimed at sales by office machine dealers,
will combine Brooktrout's fax-on-demand technology with
Sharp's ease-of-use and in-store presence so that the dealers
can sell fax-on-demand systems.

Fax-on-demand systems are essentially on-line databases
accessed from fax machines, with voice prompts used to lead
callers to the pages they want. The pages are then delivered
back to the caller's fax machine, on the same call.

The product is aimed at companies which need to distribute
extra copies of their sales brochures, technical sheets, repair
manuals, instructional material and other literature to customers.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19920616/Press Contact: Steve Ide, Brooktrout,
617-449-4100)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00019)

AT&T EasyReach Slowly Winning State Approvals 06/16/92
BASKING RIDGE, NEW JERSEY, U.S.A., 1992 JUN 16 (NB) --
AT&T's EasyReach 700 service, which offers people their own
"personal phone number" on the 700 exchange, is slowly winning
state approvals.

The company has sent out press releases noting that state
commissions have approved the service in Florida, Michigan,
Indiana, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. Eventually all 50 states are
expected to approve the service, which links a subscribers' home
number with a special number on the 700 exchange which can
follow that person wherever they go. Theoretically the service
could follow the subscriber for a lifetime, eliminating the number
changing most people go through. The average American will
move about 10 times in their lifetime.

The service is designed primarily for long-distance calling and
subscribers are expected to retain a local telephone number.
EasyReach 700 calls will be billed at fixed per-minute prices,
regardless of distance.  Out-of-state rates will be 25 cents per
minute on weekdays, 15 cents per minute at all other times.

PINs (personal identification numbers), like the four-digit codes
used for bank teller machines, also allow subscribers the flexibility
to decide who pays for calls made to the subscriber's EasyReach
700 number. Calls made with a PIN appear on the subscriber's bill --
sorted by PIN -- and are toll- free to callers, just like those to 800
numbers.

The service has now been approved in 38 states. The company is
trying to get a total of 48 states to approve it. They are not
planning to have the service effective in Alaska and Hawaii.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19920616/Press Contact: Gene Regan, AT&T,
404-810-8657)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00020)

Bell Update: Special Pac Bell Deals For South Central LA 06/16/92
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 JUN 16 (NB) --
Pacific Bell has asked California regulators for permission to offer
special deals to businesses and residents who relocate to South
Central Los Angeles, scene of recent riots.

Pacific Bell wants to waive up to $1,000 in installation charges
for any new customer who moves into the area.  Businesses can
upgrade to PBX (private branch exchange) or Bell-provided Centrex
systems, with payments spread over two-12 months. Free loans of
terminal equipment will be available to those Centrex customers.
The California Public Utilities Commission should approve these
services for six months.

In the Midwest, Southwestern Bell began offering CareRing, a
service where operators make calls to local numbers at designated
times. They can be used for wake-up calls, to check on latchkey
children, or to assure that sick or aged relatives are okay.
Southwestern Bell is the first Bell company to offer these types
of services, and the company claims they are the result of the
lifting of information service restrictions by the US courts
last year. The company could not help noting in a press release
that Rep. Jack Brooks' telephone antitrust bill, House Bill 5096,
might prohibit the service.

Ameritech has been even more direct in opposing Brooks at every
opportunity, although Chairman William Weiss has also pointed
out that he expects his company to lose its monopoly on local
services over time. Its latest move is an exhibit called SuperSchool,
a 10,000 square-foot display at the SuperComm trade show that
recreates an electronic "school"  with more than 30 applications
of communications technology.

Ameritech claims the services would never exist if the Brooks bill
passes, claiming that without the right to sell information directly
on its lines the company will never install the high-capacity lines
needed.

Finally, Ameritech's cellular phone unit, which was the first to
be experimentally licensed in the US, way back in the mid-
1970s, said it will conduct trials of both Time Division Multiple
Access, or TDMA, and Code Division Multiple Access, or CDMA,
digital technology. Its local competitor, Southwestern Bell's
Cellular One unit, has already committed to installing TDMA gear.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19920616/Press Contact: Nancy O'Connell,
Ameritech Mobile [phone]; Ameritech, Mike Brand, 312/750-
5219; Sherry Smith, Southwestern Bell, 314-247-6771; Pacific
Bell, Kathleen Flynn, 213/975-4074)
(NEWS)(GENERAL)(DEN)(00021)

 ****Perot Almost Bought Microsoft, Considered Paralyzing GM 06/16/92
SEATTLE WASHINGTON, U.S.A.,  1992 JUN 16 (NB) -- According
to a story reported by the Seattle Times and confirmed by Newsbytes,
Texas billionaire and almost-Presidential candidate Ross Perot once
considered buying Microsoft Corporation.

According to the copyrighted Times story, Perot met with Microsoft
Chairman Bill Gates in 1979 to discuss the possibility of buying the
$2 billion startup software company.

While sketchy on the details, a source close to Microsoft told
Newsbytes that it was her understanding that Perot had approached
Microsoft regarding the purchase. "It was a long time ago," the
source said.

Apparently Perot and Gates met through Warren Buffet, now head
of Shearson Lehman. According to the Times story, Perot told a
Seattle Times reporter in an interview last fall: "He did give me an
opportunity to buy a ringside seat." Perot reportedly said Gate's
asking price was too high.

The Newsbytes source, who asked not to be named, told Newsbytes
that Gates and Perot have communicated occasionally over the years
since that meeting.  Asked if Gates would support Perot's presidential
candidacy, the source said Gates has not made a public statement in
support of Perot, and probably wouldn't come out in support of any
candidate.

Microsoft is now worth about $21 billion, with Gates owning about
one-third of the company's stock.  Gates is presently estimated to
be worth about twice as much as Perot.

In a related story, a Los Angeles Times story says that during a
1986 feud with General Motors, Perot considered paralyzing the
auto maker by shutting down its computer systems. The story
claims that Perot's aides at Dallas-based Electronic Data Systems
were dumbfounded when Perot outlined a strategy to "nuke" GM by
shutting down its computers. Perot later sold EDS to GM for $2.5
billion.

Quoting a former EDS official who spoke on condition of anonymity,
the Times reported that Perot considered "pulling the plug" on
GM's computers, forcing GM's President Roger Smith to accede to
Perot's wishes.  Although the plan was never carried out, the
official said EDS executives were convinced it was a serious option.
"Ross doesn't bluff," said the official, who claimed he was present
during the discussions.

Perot has declined comment, with inquiries being referred to former
EDS President Morton Meyerson, now chairman of Perot's present
computer firm and a senior adviser in his unofficial presidential
campaign.  Meyerson did not deny the charges when questioned by
the Associated Press.  "It was said in the heat of battle. There was
never any serious plan to implement those things," Meyerson told
AP.

(Jim Mallory/19920616)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(DEN)(00022)

CompuAdd Wins $2.2 Million Air Force PC Contract 06/16/92
AUSTIN, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1992 JUN 16 (NB) -- CompuAdd
Computer Corporation has announced that it has been awarded a
contract to provide more than 1,200 multimedia computer systems
to the United States Air Force Academy.  The contract specifies
386SX-based PCs equipped with TV/video adapter cards.

For the past two years, the academy has issued each cadet his
or her own PC, which becomes the cadet's property when they
graduate. The cadet pays for the computer through a monthly
payroll deduction.

The computers are connected in an Academy-wide local area
network which includes common-use printers.  The cadets receive
homework assignments, communicate with instructors, write
homework, and monitor schedules through the network.

A CompuAdd spokesperson told Newsbytes that under terms of
the contract, each PC will include a TV/video board, a single-slot
add-in card that integrates audio and live, full-motion and
digitized video.  The board has "frame grabbing" capabilities,
allowing instructors and cadets to capture individual frames from
a television set or video and combine that image with sound and
graphics.

"Multimedia has brought a whole new dimension to teaching in
the  1990s," said CompuAdd CEO Bill Hayden. Hayden said the
academy's innovative use of computer technology will serve as a
model for other educational institutions.

"Air Force Academy students are very technologically literate,"
said the Academy's Major Jim Nilson. "By owning their own
systems, the students can capitalize on this expertise to
enhance their future opportunities."

CompuAdd was originally the successful bidder on the Air Force
Desktop IV contract, a multimillion dollar contract. Other bidders
protested that award, and a decision is still pending.

(Jim Mallory/19920616/Press contact: Wendell Watson,
CompuAdd, 512-250-2530)


(NEWS)(IBM)(DEN)(00023)

Laplink Pro Now Available In Corporate 10-Pack 06/16/92
BOTHELL, WASHINGTON, U.S.A., 1992 JUN 16 (NB) -- Traveling
Software  has announced that its Laplink Pro is now available in a
corporate 10-Pak that significantly reduces the cost to multi-users
of the program.

Laplink Pro is a software program that allows users to transfer
files between computers via parallel, serial or modem connection.
If the software is not already loaded on the destination computer,
it can be automatically installed from the originating system.
Laplink supplies a special cable for parallel and serial
connections with the program.

The 10-Pak, which includes ten user packets, five serial and five
parallel cables, two user guides, and one 5.25-inch program disk.
The user packets contain a 3.5-inch program disk, a quick start
guide, a modem tips booklet. It sells for $799. A single user copy
of the program costs $169.95. Users will also have the opportunity
to purchase additional cables and manuals at a reduced price, the
company told Newsbytes.

Laplink Pro is a menu driven program that allows the user to select
the files to be transferred, the drives and directories for the source
and destination, and other necessary choices without having
to know about baud rates, parity, and other communications
parameters.  Transfers can be initiated from either computer.

Traveling Software also makes programs to link laptops, palmtops,
pentops, and Macintosh computers, as well as products to transfer
files between Windows-based computers.

(Jim Mallory/19920616/Press contact: Marci Maule,
206-483-8088)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(DEN)(00024)

Cray Research Intros Ada 3.0 06/16/92
EAGAN, MINNESOTA, U.S.A., 1992 JUN 16 (NB) -- Supercomputer
maker  Cray Research has announced the release of Cray Ada 3.0,
its enhanced Ada language programming environment.

Ada was developed by use by the US Department of Defense, and
is also used in commercial markets including petroleum, chemical
engineering, and management information systems. The program is
named after the daughter of the program developer.

Cray Research said Cray Ada allows the user to write efficient
computer programs without extensive knowledge of the hardware.
The Cray program includes: the compiler, which puts the user's
program into a form the hardware can run at optimum speed;
library manager tools; a linker, which binds and links compiled
Ada source code into executable programs; a debugger, to locate
defective code; language tools; and a profiler, which gathers
subprogram calling statistics and program timing information to
allow developers to identify areas of the program that might be
improved.

Cray Ada 3.0 also adds multitasking, which allows Ada tasks to
take  advantage of the parallel processing capabilities of Cray's
computer  systems.  Cray introduced parallel processing to its
line in 1982 and says it will continue to develop parallel processing
systems. Cray's first massively parallel system is expected in
mid-1993, the company told Newsbytes.  Massively parallel
systems utilize hundreds or even thousands of processors to solve
problems. Today's personal computers utilize a single processor.

(Jim Mallory/19920616/Press contact: Mardi Schmieder, Cray
Research, 612-683-3538)


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

 ****Austin To Intro 33 MHz 486 PC For Under $1,100 06/16/92
AUSTIN, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1992 JUN 16 (NB) -- Austin Computer
Systems, which recently broke the $1,000 barrier for a 25 megahertz
(MHz) 486 PC, will soon announce a 33 MHz 486 for under $1,100,
Newsbytes has learned. The pricing breakthroughs are attributable
to new CPU (central processing unit) technology from a relatively
unknown chip manufacturer named Cyrix.

Jonathan Langley, vice president of product development for Austin,
told Newsbytes that the Cyrix chips contain all the performance of
a 486 CPU in a form factor the size of a standard 386 SX chip.
"Because the chips use a less expensive 386 SX motherboard,
our pricing can be lower," he explained.

Austin's new $995 Cyrix 486SLC-25 computer comes standard
with a 43MB hard drive, one MB RAM, one 3.5-inch floppy drive,
and a 14-inch color VGA monitor.  DOS and Windows are not
included, but the system does comes preloaded with McAfee
Associates' virus protection software, ViruScan.  The purchase
price also covers 24-hour technical support, plus a one-year parts
and labor warrantee.

"This a very good kit, and we're quite proud of it," commented
Langley. "Some customers might want more RAM included, but
even if you start to load up the machine, it's not going to cost
you a lot."  Additional RAM is available at $50 per MB, he said.

Austin will announce the 33 MHz model -- the Cyrix 486 SLC-33 --
in about two weeks, at a price of $1,095, Langley told Newsbytes.

The chips the new Austin computers are based on -- the Cyrix 486
SLC-25 and SLC-33 -- each contain one kilobyte cache memory,
added Langley. "So unlike 386 SX chips, they have numeric
processors."

This is the first time Austin will be using chips from the
Richardson, TX-based Cyrix Corporation. The new products will
not replace any other computers in the Austin lineup, he said.
The lineup ranges all the way from a 386SX machine, based on a
chip from Advanced Micro Devices, to a 486 DX 50 MHz system,
based on an Intel CPU.

"In our ongoing market research, customers have been telling us
they don't necessarily hold much loyalty to the chipmaker.
Consequently, they'll buy whatever they consider to be the best
value for the money," Langley remarked. "When the Cyrix chips
came along, the technology seemed like an excellent idea to us."

(Jacqueline Emigh/19920615; Press Contact:  Sheri Goodwin,
Austin, 512-339-3500;  Public Contact:  512-339-3500)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(LON)(00026)

Microsoft Offers Free Quicktime Add-On For MS-Word 5.0 06/16/92
WOKINGHAM, BERKSHIRE, ENGLAND, 1992 JUN 16 (NB) --
Microsoft has unveiled a Quicktime add-in for Microsoft Word 5.0.
The add-in, which is available free of charge to registered Word
users, is also available on the AppleLink network under the third
parties/Microsoft/Word area.

Support for Quicktime has been implemented as part of Word's
plug-in module architecture so that, when Quicktime is installed
in the Word Commands folder, an "insert/movie" command is added
to the menu. Any movie developed in Quicktime format can then be
pasted into a Word document and played back. Quicktime will also
be implemented as an integral part of Excel 4.0, the latest version
of Microsoft's spreadsheet software, that begins shipping later this
month.

Andrew Lees, product marketing manager with Microsoft, claims
that Quicktime brings multimedia to the desktop of the Mac, and
notes that Microsoft is one of the first Mac vendors to integrate
Quicktime into the company's product line.

Quicktime will be bundled with all new copies of Microsoft Word
as they filter into the retail channel in the UK. Existing
registered users should contact their upgrade center for the free
disk upgrade. Newsbytes notes that the upgrade is also available
in the Apple Mac forum on Compuserve, as well as on AppleLink.

(Steve Gold/19920616/Press & Public Contact: Microsoft - Tel:
0734-270001)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(LAX)(00027)

Acer Offers 50 MHz Modular System, Upgrade To Sys 4500 06/16/92
SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 JUN 16 (NB) -- The Acer
Group has announced it is adding two new models based on Intel's
top of the line 50 megahertz (MHz) i486 central processing unit
(CPU) to its Altos System 4500 product line.

Acer says the 4500 line is the first systems based on modular
CPUs that are designed to be Unix servers, multi-user systems, or
workstations. The CPU is on a subsystem on a plug-in board so
users can upgrade easily, the company said. Those who now own
4500 models in either the i486 SX or 33 MHz DX CPU can upgrade
to the new 50 MHz CPU module, Acer added.

Acer says the new models feature 256 kilobytes of level-2 cache.
Also, an integrated chip set from Intel that combines the Intel 82359
dynamic random access memory (DRAM) controller and the 82353
Data Path allows for faster CPU-to-memory transfers to increase
performance in memory-intensive applications.

The 4500 models also offer an extended industry standard
architecture (EISA) input/output (I/O) bus that allows the flow of
information at 33 megabytes (MB) per second. EISA I/O controllers,
Small Computer Systems Interface (SCSI)-2 hard drives, and six
EISA expansion slots are also included, the company maintains.

Acer says the 4500 will execute its own flavor of Unix, Altos/SCO
Unix System V/386, release 3.2, which the company maintains is
100 percent compatible with Santa Cruz Operation (SCO) Unix
System V/386, release 3.2 version 4.0. However, the Altos Unix is
not included, the company said.

(Linda Rohrbough/19920616/Press Contact: Rebecca Hurst, The
Acer Group, tel [phone], fax [phone], 6222)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LAX)(00028)

Wordstar Acquires Israeli Partner, Looks For Govt Grants 06/16/92
NOVATO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 JUN 16 (NB) -- Wordstar
has formed a corporate partnership with an Israeli company, Elron
Electronic Industries. Wordstar says the partnership is to give it
inroads into software products being developed in Israel and help
with obtaining Israeli government funding.

The company says it signed a Memorandum of Understanding with
Elron providing for an initial $2 million investment in Wordstar
common stock and allows Elron to purchase additional Wordstar
common stock through two investment options over the next four
years.

Wordstar plans to invest in and acquire Israeli personal computer
software companies and to take advantage of research and
development opportunities, a relationship it says is beneficial on
a cost/performance basis.

The company has said it has already identified Israeli software
companies that have technology it is interested in that it says
complement its direction of document management and office
automation products. Wordstar also said it is counting on Elron
for advise on how to obtain Israeli government incentive programs
and other development grants.

Wordstar disclosed Elron has the right to buy Wordstar common
stock at a discount and have a seat on the board of directors.
Elron's initial investment is $2 million in Wordstar common stock
at a price of $2.125 per share, with the option to purchase an
additional $1 million at 20 percent below the then-current market
price, Wordstar maintains. A second option allow for Elron to
purchase an additional $5 million at between $4 and $7 per share
depending on the time of the investment and the market price of
the common stock.

While Elron has the option of purchasing Wordstar stock on the
open market, any purchase that would give Elron more than 25
percent of the total stock outstanding must be approved by the
company's board of directors, Wordstar added.

Elron describes itself as a multinational high technology holding
company based in Israel. The company is engaged in medical
diagnostic imaging, advanced defense electronics, data
communications, manufacturing automation, semiconductor
products, software products, and productivity tools.

Wordstar has purchased several companies or products which it
says is part of its new direction of developing products for office
automation in general. The company purchased Lifetree software
and entered the Macintosh market and acquired three writing tools
products from Calabasas, California-based Nova. Most recently the
Novato, California-based company released a network version of its
flagship word processor, Wordstar version 7.0.

(Linda Rohrbough/19920616/Press Contact: David Russian,
Wordstar, tel [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(GOVT)(LAX)(00029)

Radius Settles Out Of Court With Envisio 06/16/92
SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 JUN 16 (NB) -- Radius
says it has settled the suit it brought against Minneapolis,
Minnesota-based Envisio charging copyright infringement. Radius
originally said Envisio had copied software it used in its Powerview
product for Envisio Notebook Display 030 Adapter.

Both the Envisio product and the Radius Powerview are designed
to offer external display capability for Apple Macintosh Powerbook
notebook computers. While Radius President Barry James Folsom
is making strong public assertions about the company's intention to
defend its technology, a statement from Radius says the suit was
settled amicably. No terms of the agreement are being disclosed.

Radius claims its product was the first to allow Powerbook and Apple
Macintosh Classic II owners to connect the computers to a color
external display or large screen projection system. Radius also
pointed out is has a presentation mode which the Envisio product
lacks that can allow the simultaneous viewing of the display on the
built-in screen as well as on the external display or projection
system.

The Envisio product is an internal board, as opposed to the Radius
product, which fits externally on the system. Envisio says its
product also comes with random access memory (RAM) in
quantities of 1 to 4 megabytes (MBs) which also can be used by
the Powerbook.

(Linda Rohrbough/19920616/Press Contact: Jamie Strohecker, Radius,
tel [phone], fax [phone]; Maria Gagliardi, A&R Partners for
Radius, 415-363-0982; Thomas Burke, Envisio, tel [phone], fax
612-339-1369)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(SFO)(00030)

 ****Daewoo Licenses New US "Pixel Mirror" Display Tech 06/16/92
EL SEGUNDO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 JUN 16 (NB) -- A US-
based vendor known as Aura Systems Inc. has licensed a
breakthrough display technology based on "pixel mirrors" for the
exclusive use of Daewoo, a Korean electronics giant that makes
10 percent of the TV sets produced on the market.

Larry Shultz, president of Aura Distributed Systems, a corporate
subsidiary, told Newsbytes that the pixel mirror technology creates
brighter and bigger pictures than older CRT (cathode ray tube) and
LCD (liquid crystal display) display methods, at costs that are
equivalent or less. In addition, he stressed, the new technology
supplies better support of high resolution formats, such as HDTV
(high definition television) and cinema.

"This is all pretty historic, actually.  We've invented an entirely
new way of creating electronic images, and we've formed a
partnership with a major Korean company," commented Shultz.

Under terms of the agreement, profits will be split 50/50 between
Aura, a company specializing in electromagnetic and electro-optic
systems, and Daewoo, which sells its products under a variety of
labels worldwide.

The new display technology rests on electronic micromirrors that
tilt to various angles, reflecting and deflecting the appropriate
amounts of light, Schultz explained.  "If the mirror reflects 100
percent of the light outward to you, you'll see a bright spot. If the
mirror deflects 100 percent of the light away from you, you'll see a
dark spot. And if it deflects only part of the light, you'll see a gray
spot," he illustrated.

The higher brightness provided by the technology permits the
displays to be used in sunlit outdoor settings, he informed
Newsbytes.  The brightness is achieved through greater efficiency.
A CRT display produces only five watts of light for every 100 watts
of energy it uses, meaning its efficiency is only five percent. In
contrast, the efficiency of an LCD is somewhat under 10 percent,
and the efficiency of a pixel mirror display is 25 percent, he said.

Pictures can be bigger, resolution can be higher, and costs can be
kept down due to the way the mirrors are arrayed.  On TV screens,
he noted, pixels, or "picture elements," are aligned in vertical
lines and horizontal columns.  Pixel mirror technology requires the
use of only one micromirror per line.  The system scans across
the mirror to pick up the reflections for all columns in that line.

"For an ordinary, NTSC TV display, you need a stack of 515
micromirrors, because there are 515 lines of pixels.  For HDTV,
you essentially double that number, and for movies, you triple it,"
he elaborated.

LCD technology, on the other hand, requires the use of a separate
liquid crystal element for each pixel.  So, for example, in the
case of HDTV, where resolution is 1,000 lines by 1,500 columns,
1,500,000 elements would be needed, in comparison to the 1,000
electronic mirrors demanded by pixel mirror technology.

The far higher number of elements involved tends to drive up costs
for LCD, and also to increase the chances of technical failure,
according to Shultz.  Further, these difficulties tend to intensify
on larger displays, he suggested.

The CRT -- less efficient, dimmer, and lower in resolution than
either an LCD or a pixel mirror display -- also carries a further
problem, said Shultz.  Because the CRT is manufactured from
blown glass, it cannot be produced at a screen width greater than
35 inches. "Once the glass gets blown to a certain size, it
breaks -- just like a wad of bubble gum," he noted.

In producing the new, pixel mirror displays, the two companies
will carry out engineering in Korea as well as El Segundo, CA,
where Aura is headquartered, he said.  Manufacturing sites are
being left to the discretion of Daewoo, he added.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19920616/Press Contact: John Lukomnik,
Mallory Factor Inc. for Aura, 212-242-0000)