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/nb920727

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(NEWS)(APPLE)(LAX)(00001)

New for Macintosh: Object-Oriented Relational Database 07/27/92
CONROE, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1992 JUL 27 (NB) -- A new software
product to combine object-oriented programming with a
relational database is available called Helix Express version
1.0. The Macintosh database application development product has
been announced by Albara Corporation through its subsidiary
Northcon Technologies (NCTI).

The company says applications can be developed with the product
without knowledge of a formal programming language. Object-
oriented programming allows for objects to represent commonly
used functions, like writing information to the computer
monitor.

Geared toward developing applications on a network, Helix
offers a client/server architecture that allows network
database access, referential integrity across the network, and
data integrity without file server software, NCTI maintains.
The product also offers security and password protection, the
company said.

From within the relational database, applications developed in
Helix can provide document storage and retrieval, automatic
routing and distribution, workflow, and document version
control, the company added.

The developer of Helix, NCTI does business under the trade name
of Helix Technologies. Helix Technologies is located in
Northbrook, Illinois and its parent, Albara, is located in
Conroe, Texas.

(Linda Rohrbough/19920724/Press Contact: Holly Arbuckle,
Albara, tel [phone] ext. 603; Rich Wilhelm, Helix
Technologies, 800-364-4354)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(HKG)(00002)

China Bank Orders NCR ATMs 07/27/92
WAN CHAI, HONG KONG, 1992 JUL 27 (NB) -- The People's Construction
Bank of China (PCBC) has ordered 121 NCR automated teller machines
and 14 NCR System 3000 computers in a contract worth $9 million.
It is said that the new machines will give PCBC one of the largest
ATM networks in China and the biggest in Guangdong province.

PCBC was founded in 1954 to raise funds for large infrastructure
projects and operates directly under the authority of the State
Council. Since 1987, it has been active for both domestic and joint
venture customers.

This order, which follows a $1 million signing by PCBC last year for
16 NCR ATMs, will help the bank to expand its ATM network to cities
throughout Guangdong province.

"Having reviewed and compared all the alternatives, PCBC decided to
base its ATM operation on NCR systems because of their excellent
performance and reliability," said Zhou Jinghua, computer
director of PCBC's Guangdong Branch. "With this series of high
performance systems, the bank will establish the largest ATM network
in Guangdong and further enhance the quality of its customer service."

The People's Construction Bank will offer its large corporate
customers the option of paying salaries by direct credit to employees'
bank accounts. Branches in Guangdong are said to have seen business
increase noticeably after installing ATMs.

An initial 12 System 3000 computers and 61 ATMs will be installed this
year with the remainder added in early in 1993. PCBC will migrate
from its existing computer system based on Bull and Unisys machines to
NCR System 3000 computers for more efficient processing of savings
accounts, accounting and transaction management.

"As a long standing partner in China, NCR has been working closely
with its banking industry and has played a major role in the
automation of many business sectors," said Michael J.I. Lee, managing
director of NCR (China) Ltd. "This is a significant order that
emphasizes NCR's close working relationship with several major banks
on the mainland, especially in the Guangdong region."

"This cooperation is growing rapidly across the province as
businesses improve their operational efficiency through massive
computerization programs," he said.

NCR's ATM systems are said to account for 95 percent off all ATMs in
Hong Kong and 30 percent of those around the rest of the world.

(Brett Cameron/19920724/Press contact: Vivian Kung, NCR, tel +852-859
6021;HK time is GMT + 8)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(HKG)(00003)

Hongkong: Chevalier (Telepoint) Customer Service Centers 07/27/92
TAIKOO SHING, HONG KONG, 1992 JUL 27 (NB) -- Chevalier (Telepoint), a
joint venture between Chevalier (OA) International Holdings and OTC
International (HK) Ltd. launched its new customer service centers this
month.

Chevalier (Telepoint) is a leading Hong Kong office automation and
telecommunications equipment supplier. OTC International (HK) Ltd. is
Australia's national and international telecommunications carrier.

The three centers, in Causeway Bay, Tsimshatsui, and Taikoo Shing,
supplement a network of more than 100 distributors. They are designed
to give customers direct access to Chevalier (Telepoint) for a wide
range of sales and after-sales services.

In his opening address, Neil Montefiore, managing director of
Chevalier (Telepoint) said, "Chevalier has always been committed to
the idea that first class service means talking directly to
customers."

"The service centers will provide strategically located places where
highly trained, professional Chevalier staff have the time and
expertise to give customers in-depth advice," said Mr. Montefiore.

In addition to giving information about the Chevalier network and CT2
technology, the centers will provide product displays, registration,
and payment facilities, service plan transfers and technical
assistance.

"Chevalier is committed to providing the best customer service in Hong
Kong," said Mr Montefiore. "I am proud that we have more direct
customer service outlets than any other network operator."

Mr Montefiore added that Chevalier (Telepoint) is actively developing
more add-on services together with a choice of licences for different
models. The company will also be announcing new CT2 technology such as
clip on pager units later this year.

"The customer service centers will provide an excellent forum for
communicating new services and emerging technologies directly to
customers," said Mr Montefiore. "This is important, not just to
continue our rapid subscriber growth, but to ensure that customers
stay with us in the long term."

(Brett Cameron/19920724/Press Contact: Neil Montefiore, Chevalier,
tel:[phone];HK time is GMT + 8)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(HKG)(00004)

Hongkong: Microsoft Expands Mac Product Distrib 07/27/92
TAIKOO SHING, HONG KONG, 1992 JUL 27 (NB) -- Microsoft Hong Kong has
appointed Senco Systems as an authorized distributor of Microsoft
application software for the Apple Macintosh platform.

"We believe that with the high volume of systems that Apple is now
shipping in the Hong Kong market there is room to expand the width of
our channel aimed at this sector," said Laurie Kan, country manager of
Microsoft Hong Kong Ltd.

"Senco is run by a very experienced team of Macintosh professionals
and has excellent relationships with Apple's dealers and resellers in
Hong Kong. We therefore expect Senco will play a very effective role
in ensuring that Macintosh users in Hong Kong receive the highest
level of service when it comes to Microsoft products."

Senco will carry the full range of Microsoft's Macintosh products,
including the Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Works, Mail and Project
packages.

"Hong Kong's Macintosh user community has grown not only in size but
in sophistication over the last few years," said Senco Systems'
managing director Keith Yeung. "Local customers quite rightly demand
the same level of professionalism from their software vendors as
elsewhere in the world."

"Microsoft is the market leader in Macintosh applications software and
we are committed to backing the product line with the best service and
support in Hong Kong," claimed Mr Yeung.

Senco staff have already gone thorough product training at
Microsoft and will be working closely with Microsoft personnel as part
of the company's recently introduced Product Support Service
program.

(Brett Cameron/19920724/Press contact: Ramny Fite, Microsoft (HK),
tel: [phone];HK time is GMT + 8)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(HKG)(00005)

Hong Kong Stock Exchange Enhances Network 07/27/92
CENTRAL, HONG KONG, 1992 JUL 27 (NB) -- Trading floor communications
at The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Ltd (The Exchange) are to be
upgraded using equipment from Datacraft Asia.

The upgrade coincides with the implementation of an automated trading
system which computerizes the execution of share transactions on the
trading floor of The Exchange.

Datacraft's system will provide the hub of an integrated network
infrastructure that includes personal computers on the trading floor
and Tandem online transaction processing (OLTP) central systems.

Under a HK$4 million (US$ 513,000) contract, Datacraft will supply and
install intelligent Ethernet hubs and 900 units of PC LAN (local area
network) cards to The Exchange.

The Intelligent hubs will provide interactive links between the Tandem
processors and 900 PCs on the trading floor. The project is expected
to be complete late this year.

The PCs, which are replacing the asynchronous terminals previously
used, can carry out transaction processing on the trading floor.

"Some of the transactions will be processed at the PC level. The
Datacraft solution will provide the framework for distributed
processing and it will increase the trading efficiency of The
Exchange," explained Bill Brindle, Datacraft Asia's sales director.

Software specialist and system integrator Logica, the prime contractor
for the project, recommended Datacraft products and services to The
Exchange.

"Datacraft's services and support capabilities, and better
price/performance are the chief reasons for Logica's decision," said
Logica Project Manager Roger Baxter. "Datacraft has the skills and
the technology for implementing a solution that best fits the
requirements of The Exchange."

"Based on open industry standards, the Datacraft solution is in
compliance with The Exchange's Open Systems direction and it allows
for future system growth," said Mr. Baxter.

Datacraft will also provide network diagnosis and management, as well
as services support, to The Exchange.

(Brett Cameron/19920724/Press Contact: Bill Brindle, Datacraft (HK),
tel: [phone];HK time is GMT + 8)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(SYD)(00006)

New Zealand Telecom Loss May Mean Price Hikes 07/27/92
AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND, 1992 JUL 27 (NB) -- Poor overall (and
inconsistent regional) results for New Zealand (NZ) Telecom may see
residential charges increased. The warning came from NZ Telecom
directly, after the results were announced for the NZ year ended
March 31.

The annual figures for NZ Telecom showed a 1 percent increase in
revenue to NZ$1.85B, with profit up 3.1 percent to NZ$205.1M. This
profit was made up by the four regional operations of NZ Telecom in
the following amounts: Telecom Auckland's profit fell 16.4 percent
to NZ$38.1; Telecom Wellington's profit fell 25 percent to NZ$40.7;
Telecom Central's profit rose by 22 percent to NZ$76.1M; and
Telecom South's profit rose 20.5 percent to $NZ60.5M.

The ability of NZ Telecom to raise prices hinges on the Kiwi Share -
the deal made between the NZ Government and the 1990 buyers of NZ
Telecom, Bell Atlantic and Ameritech. One of the provision of the
Kiwi Share was that Telecom is restrained from raising residential
line rate rentals by more that the rate of inflation unless the four
regional operating companies' profits are unreasonably affected.

NZ Telecom's managing director, Tom Burns, said of the earnings that
the four operating companies are "not even returning to Telecom the
cost of providing the capital invested in this line of business."

Over the last nine months NZ Telecom has been publicly stating it
would like to see the provisions of the Kiwi Share deal waived, as
it is proving to be more of a burden than could ever have been
foreseen. Despite this, an approach to the government is yet to be
made and may prove fruitless - the NZ Prime Minister, Jim Bolger,
has said the deal is non-negotiable.

(Sean McNamara/19920707)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SYD)(00007)

Australia: Cray And Swinburne Form Research Center 07/27/92
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA, 1992 JUL 27 (NB) -- Cray Research and
Melbourne's Swinburne College have joined forces to establish the
Australian Computational Research Collaboratory (ACRC). The ACRC is
aimed at increasing the use and awareness of supercomputers by
Australian research bodies, industry, and business.

Under the terms of the agreement between Swinburne and Cray, Cray
will provide access to a wide range of large machines for research
and application work. The announcement coincides with the three-
month workshop being held in Sydney which is also being aimed at the
Australian business community to increase awareness of the problem
solving capabilities of supercomputers.

Swinburne's recently acquired Cray Y-MP EL supercomputer (originally
purchased for its concurrent computing systems laboratory) will be
used by the ACRC in such research areas as increasing the efficiency
of combustion processes in electrical power generation. Cray will
also provide access to machines like the Cray C90, which has a peak
performance of 16,000 million megaflops (million floating point
operations per second). Professor Murray Gillin, ACRC spokesman,
said, "The collaboratory will provide business and industry with the
opportunity to explore and exploit developments in high performance
computing within their operations. Areas will include computational
fluid dynamics, structural analysis, finite element analysis, and
performance and process evaluation."

(Sean McNamara/19920707)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(SYD)(00008)

Australia: Barrister Debate Held Across The World 07/27/92
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1992 JUL 27 (NB) -- Four young Sydney barristers
have taken part in an intercontinental debate using
videoconferencing technology. The team's opponents were in London,
and the hour and a half debate was conducted fully via
videoconferencing.

The debate, "That wigs and gowns should be abolished" (they are
still a common sight in Australian legal proceedings), was won by
the Australians, who were arguing for the negative. The Australians
had the advantage of a 5:30pm start, while, because of time
differences, the Londoners had an 8:30am start. The debate is part
of the local legal profession's examination of videoconferencing for
hearing evidence from foreign witnesses. The cost of the exercise
was AUS$420 using 2 64-bit channels and a basic-rate ISDN link.

The New South Wales Government is currently investigating whether to
establish a fiber-optic link between Sydney's Long Bay Jail and city
courts to cut down on transport costs and escape risks, while a
recent defamation case recently saw a witness give evidence from Los
Angeles and San Francisco on consecutive days. The ISDN coordination
manager for AOTC (Australian and Overseas Telecommunications
Corporation), Tim Playfair, said of the use of videoconferencing
in legal matters, "The main point is videoconferencing reduces
legal costs and expedites legal matters."

(Sean McNamara/19920707)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(SYD)(00009)

Australia: Ruling May Cut Costs And Quadruple Line Capacity 07/27/92
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1992 JUL 27 (NB) -- A ruling by Australia's
telecommunications watchdog, Austel, on compression of voice data on
telecommunications lines may see a reduction in costs to subscribers
and an increase of line capacity of up to four times. The ruling has
approved wider use of voice compression systems, a move which has
advantages for all markets in the telecommunications industry.

The ruling will be especially beneficial to business subscribers who
have private phone networks installed. The compression would allow
private network operators to increase network capacity without
the need for more public lines. This has the added advantage of
reducing the demand for lines, especially on heavy traffic routes
such as Melbourne to Sydney. It also allows more lines to be
available for a greater number of subscribers.

The ruling is also seen as a boon to local industry, as Australian
companies are already producing equipment which compresses phone
voice data. Mike Elsegood, of Austel's industry standards branch,
said that not only is equipment manufactured in Australia, but some
foreign manufactured systems are assembled in Australia as well.

According to Austel, the newly revised standard 12, which defines
the conditions for private network connection to the public switched
telephone network and the ISDN, has set technical standards which
ensure that telephone line quality is maintained.

(Sean McNamara/19920715)


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

Hitachi, Pioneer, Sony Claim Laser Disk Breakthroughs 07/27/92
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1992 JUL 27 (NB) -- Japan's Hitachi, Pioneer and Sony
have each developed technologies related to future laser disks and
compact disks -- all the firms say these technologies will replace
current products in the near future.

Hitachi has developed an erasable and rewritable laser disk
compatible with current laser disks, which were originally
developed by Pioneer Corporation. Hitachi's new laser disk stores
25 minutes of motion picture recording. Hitachi plans to
release this product and a new laser disk player for industrial
use. The price, still undisclosed, is expected to be much higher
than current laser disks and players.

Meanwhile, Japan's Pioneer, the original laser disk creator, has
developed an erasable and rewritable laser disk. This product was
jointly developed with Toyo Ink. Toyo Ink has applied a special
polycarbonate layer on the laser disk which is said to have provided
rewritten images with higher resolution. Pioneer will continue to
develop this product, including a version for low-end users.

Sony has also developed new compact disk technology. It has
employed a "blue laser" to write data on a compact disk. The
technique allows three times more data to be written on a compact disk.
A current compact disk has a maximum storage capacity of 74 minutes
of data, while the new compact disk can hold 3 and a half hours
of data. This technology is still in its infancy and may take years
before it is actually applied to consumer products.

(Masayuki Miyazawa/19920727/Press Contact: Hitachi, [phone]
Pioneer, [phone], Sony, [phone])


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(MOW)(00011)

Eastern Europe: Microsoft Prices Fox Software 07/27/92
MOSCOW, RUSSIA, 1992 JUL 27 (NB) -- Microsoft has detailed the
availability and pricing for its Fox software line in Eastern Europe.

"The Fox installed base of users is one of the most important assets of
Fox Software and we are committed to servicing these users to the best of
our ability. We plan to protect our existing customers' investments
through more attractive update prices, make the products widely and
easily available, and provide quality service and support," said Jurgen
Stranghoener, Microsoft director for the Eastern Europe, in a written
statement.

However, some are saying the offers are not that attractive, and are
far less generous than in the West. If you bought Foxpro 2.0 for
DOS after June 1 in US, you may upgrade for free, while others
must pay US$175 (Deutch Mark DM262) for the same upgrade.
However, owners of Foxpro in CIS, Croatia, Czechoslovakia,
Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, and the rest of Yugoslavia get
no free upgrades. Plus the regular upgrade price of DM340 is
30 percent higher than in the United States.

The regular sales price of FoxPro 2.0 for DOS for users in those
countries is DM1500 (US$1000) for a single-user version and DM1750
(US$1166) for the multiuser 6-pack version.

Microsoft states in the press release that it will keep existing
distribution channels acquired by Fox Software in Eastern Europe
while it will simultaneously add the power of its own distribution
network. DAQUAA of Prague, Czechoslovakia, and Delta Software
of Warsaw, Poland, were named as major vendors of Foxpro. The
program will be actively supported by Microsoft.

"Czechoslovak market has one of the largest installed
base of Fox users in all of Europe," noted Jurgen Stranghoener.

Commenting on the announcement for Newsbytes, Dimitry Kartsev,
Microsoft Moscow press relations manager, said that it did not
mean immediate or same-day availability but simply that
Fox products could be routinely ordered through the growing
network of Microsoft distributors, which company calls Partners,
who, at their own discretion, may or may not sell for local
currency, the ruble.

(Kirill Tchashchin/19920727/Press Contact: Paul Robson, Microsoft GmbH,
phone [phone]; fax [phone]; Public Contact in
Russia: Dimitry Kartsev, Microsoft Moscow, phone [phone])


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SFO)(00012)

New Product: SyQuest 88MB Removable Drives 07/27/92
FREMONT, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 JUL 27 (NB) -- As the market
leader in removable storage, Syquest says it is committed to
constantly improving its product. One of the ways is in
performance. And that is exactly what Syquest has done with its
SQ5110 5.25-inch 88MB drives.

Syquest announced shipment of an improved version of the
SQ5110 to their reseller and integrator channels in the
beginning of this year. This version has several improvements --
the most important is the addition of a "Read/Look Ahead Buffer."
This buffer operates as follows. When a request is received
for a sector of information, the drive actually reads that
sector (512 or 1024 bytes) as well as the following sector until
it completely fills the 32KB buffer that it contains. In theory,
should your program require more data, it is likely to be very
close to the data that was already read and therefore likely to
be present in the buffer which would respond significantly faster
to your program's request for the data. As a matter of fact, there
is a specific benchmark that tests for the improvement in such
matters. Using this benchmark, Syquest discovered that the buffer
gave a 700% increase in performance.

Other speed and reliability improvements have also been incorporated
into the drives. An 8% improvement in the average seek time is
being claimed by the company as well as an 11% improvement in the
sustained transfer rates. Finally, the company is making a change
to its predicted reliability number, upping it to 80,000 hours
MTBF (mean time between failures). The previous figure was 60,000
hours MTBF.

All of these changes are in the drives that you are likely to buy
today. Syquest actually started shipping the new drives in
January to their resellers and integrators but chose to not say
anything about it in order for the "channels to get flushed."

Syquest officials also told Newsbytes that there was an internal
debate on changing the model number of the drive but they decided
not to, in order to decrease any possible confusion regarding which
cartridge works with which drive. The SQ800 cartridge works with
both the old and the new SQ5110 drives. There is also no difference
in price between the models.

(Naor Wallach/19920727/Press Contact: Michelle Mihalick, Neale-May
& Partners for Syquest, 415-328-5555)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SFO)(00013)

Novell Netware Lite 1.1 Bundled With DR DOS 6.0 07/27/92
PROVO, UTAH, U.S.A., 1992 JUL 27 (NB) -- Novell is continuing to
implement pieces of what it calls its Netware Desktop System, a
series of upgrades, bundles, and price breaks.

Netware Lite has been upgraded to version 1.1. This is Novell's
peer-to peer-network that is intended to compete with Artisoft's
LANtastic and others. The new version has several new features but
the two most important are that it now supports Microsoft Windows
version 3.0 and version 3.1. There is also a new disk caching
algorithm implemented in software that can increase performance
by as much as 300% in selected tasks. Other improvements include
a more flexible configuration scheme, the shrinking of the
code to allow for more conventional memory to be available to
other tasks, a user profile that can be saved and restored quickly,
better handling of print job reporting, and better consistency
with command naming conventions between Netware Lite and Netware
v2.X and 3.X.

This is the first time that Novell is bundling its network
operating systems products with its operating systems products.
Up until now, the only way to get the products together was to
purchase them separately. This new arrangement is expected to be
permanent and will enhance the ability of Novell to explore new
avenues for its DR DOS product.

There is a significant price break involved. Each of the
products involved here have been previously sold separately for a
price of $99. Now the two products are being bundled together for
a total customer price of $129. In addition, Novell is offering a
limited time deal to customers. Purchase the bundled products for
$79. This limited time offer has no end date and the company can
decide to end the deal at any time. However, it is a significant
price reduction over previous prices.

Those who currently own Netware Lite v1.0 should be assured that if
they are registered they will get the upgrade free from Novell.
Others should contact their Novell sales channel and request the
free upgrade. The upgrade period is scheduled to end on October 31.
The bundle is available now.

(Naor Wallach/19920727/Press Contact: Jessica Kersey, Novell,
408-473-8739)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(DEL)(00014)

Apple May Enter India, Tying With DEC Affiliate 07/27/92
NEW DELHI, INDIA, 1992 JUL 27 (NB) -- Prompted by the recent
liberalization gestures of the Indian government, Apple Computer,
Inc. seems to be in the final steps of entering India, at last.
It is expected to announce formally a tie-up with Digital Equipment
India Ltd. (DEIL) to manufacture the Macintosh series of computers.

Apple has so far been represented in India by Raba Contel which
promoted the Apple systems and Macs predominantly in publishing
and design segments of the market.

The manufacturing proposal of Apple is awaiting clearance from the
high-powered Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) to which
both Apple and DEIL officials made a presentation a few weeks ago.
In fact, the secretary of the Department of Electronics, N.
Vittal, hinted during a recent official function at Bombay, about
the imminent entry of Apple into India.

On the heels of IBM's re-entry into India and the reported
alliances by Compaq and Computerland with Microland here, Apple
has been scouting around for a suitable partner. And the recent
coming together of Apple and Digital Equipment Corp., the DEIL's
parent company, has obviously enabled Apple to decide on the Indian
connection. Apple is also interested in forming a "confederation"
with Indian software companies for software development work too.

(C.T. Mahabharat/19920727)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(DEL)(00015)

India: CD-ROMs, Low-Cost Optical Cards Produced 07/27/92
NEW DELHI, INDIA, 1992 JUL 27 (NB) -- The time has come for
optical disks in India. It seems so, as the "non-resident Indian"
engineer-entreprenuer, Rao S. Channapragada, is preparing to set
up Laser Tech (India) Ltd. to manufacture CD-ROMs and "Opticard"
for medical diagnostic imagery.

Laser Tech is a joint venture by Rao's CDEC Corp. of Champaign,
Illinois (51 percent) and the Madras-based Malladi group,
currently bulk pharmaceuticals manufacturers with a Rs 50-crore
turnover last year. The latter and the Indian public issue will
constitute 41 percent holdings.

The Rs 52-crore ($20.1 million) project is likely to be located
at the "electronics city" of Gandhinagar, near Ahmedabad. A
commitment of $13.6 million from the US underwriters has already
been established, Rao told Newsbytes. The company's public
offering, to come up by the end of this year, will be of Rs 7
crore of which Rs one crore is set aside for NRI investors.

The technical know-how comes from the parent company, CDEC
Corporation (based in Champaign, Illinois, USA) whose chairman
is Channapragada. CDEC is into developing optical data storage
applications for government and industry. It claims to have
developed proprietary aspects to what it calls a compact optical
card (COC). Though it employs the WORM (write once read many)
method, COC is a radical new design, embedding a circular
CD (compact disc) on the back of a card the size of a standard
credit card. This tiny CD, with 64 MB capacity, conforms to the
data standards of full-sized CD-ROMs (known as ISO 9660).

Second, the drive required to read the card differs from the
standard CD-ROM drive. Typical drives spin the CD over a
stationary laser. Since the COC card has no spindle hole, the
CDEC drive moves the laser over the card.

Last, the method of sequentially writing data on the card and
the formats for storing this data are also unique CDEC
developments.

Although CDEC envisions applications of the COC in many fields,
it is initially introducing it in medical diagnostic imagery, as
it is suited to reduce medical costs through the storage of
medical images (MRI, CT, X-ray, endiscopic, EKG/ECG charts) and
data (medical history, insurance carrier, physician details).

Expensive film duplications can be avoided, since each test
performed is stored on the card designed to be carried by a patient,
thus enabling important aging comparisons to be conducted.

Channapragada told Newsbytes that CDEC has developed a PC-based
system, CDEC/Novus, that interfaces directly with CT and MR
equipment to compress and permanently store diagnostic imagery
on a 16/64 MB optical storage card, the Medical Opticard, which
may cost about $8.

(C.T. Mahabharat/19920724/Contact: CDEC Corp., 1000 Trade Center
Drive, Champaign, Il. 61820; 217-351-8880; 217-351-8899


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(DEL)(00016)

India To Get Online Trading Network 07/27/92
NEW DELHI, INDIA, 1992 JUL 27 (NB) -- Bharatnet, a satellite-linked
real-time, on-line computerized communication network for share
brokers and investors, is being developed by Bharat Stock and
Shares Brokers Limited, a company promoted by N.R.I. Financial
Services Limited.

The basic objective behind setting up the network is to make
information regarding stocking activities available to investors
located in far-off places. The system will provide the facility
to confirm and verify the rate and time of transaction from
dealers' daily transaction lists even for remote investors.

Along with the deal, which will be identified by a distinctive
transaction number and the time when it was formalized, the
investor's name or code number will also be mentioned. A
noteworthy aspect of the system is that the investors will
be able to buy and sell stocks at the prices beamed on the
dealers' screens, in contrast to the existing practices by which
the investor has to sell at a price lower than what is
quoted and buy at a higher price than what is listed just
because of the numerous brokers and sub-brokers out to make
their booty from the deal.

The entire project is slated to cost Rs 30 crore ($10 million)
and the company will go public to generate the working capital.

The complete project will constitute: the establishment of a
central office equipped with the central host computer (CHC)
for centralized processing, communication facilities and a
data bank; four trading centers (TC), one each at Delhi, Bombay,
Calcutta and Madras; fifty regional centres (RC) in almost all
the major towns of the country; and a network comprising
approximately 500 dealers with their own workstations which are
connected to the CHC through their respective nearest regional
centers.

A database will be created at the main office at Delhi to provide
the latest and updated financial information to dealers. The
software for the project, based on Ingres, is being developed
by the Delhi-based Intercontinental Computer Systems. Quotes
and transactions can be cross-checked at any time from the
CHC in which records will be maintained.

According to I.D. Kansal, the brain behind the scheme, "the
pilot project, which will connect four centers, will be made
operational in September, and each month more centers will be
connected to the system which will link up all the RCs and
TCs within the following 8 months."

A micro earth station, VSAT (very small aperture terminal),
will be set up the central office and all the trading and
regional centers. All stations will be connected through satellite
for which the RABMN (Remote Area Business Messaging Network) of
the DoT (Department of Telecommunications) will be employed.

N.R.I. has already obtained the green signal from DoT to set
up VSATs at the four metros. Approval for connections to the TCs
is awaited. Each TC will be furnished with data processing
computers, communication servers, application software, VSATs,
X.25 communication facilities, multiplexers, modems, and telephone
and telex lines. The TCs and RCs will remain online during
trading hours and on making the connection with the RCs, the
workstations will also become online. The TCs will also have
input data feeding equipment and securities trading facilities
for trading the securities at the stock exchanges.

The network project, valued at Rs 8.25 crore, has been assigned
to Modi Olivetti Ltd., which will provide the entire hardware,
communications protocols and networking software as well as
other equipment. MOL claims it to be the largest single PC
order in the country, as hundred of dealers on the network
will be equipped with 386-based workstations. The central
host computer and the regional nodes will be 486-based high-end
LSX 5025 and LSX 5030 which, incidentally, are about to be
introduced by MOL into the market.

In a stiff bid for this order, Modi Olivetti managed to nudge
over Wipro Infotech's offer, when the former's chairman. B.K.
Modi himself, jumped into the fray and signed it off as a
"joint venture" the very next day.

(C.T. Mahabharat/19920724)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(TYO)(00017)

 ****Canon Color Copier Refuses Bank Note Forgery 07/27/92
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1992 JUL 27 (NB) -- Canon says it has developed a
color copier which refuses to copy bank notes or paper money.
The copier recalls major bank notes in a memory chip.

According to Canon, the new color copier has a read-only memory
(ROM) chip that contains bank note designs for 15 to 16 different
bank notes. If a user tries to copy a bank note, the protection
feature would kick on, resulting in a black, blank copy, some
message or stamp displayed on the paper, or a shut-down of the
machine. Canon is still considering ways in which the copier would
handle attempts at forgery.

Canon has registered for a patent on this technology. Starting next
year, the ROM chip will be installed on color copiers as an option
on request from customers. Within a couple of years, it is expected
that Canon will equip this forgery protection feature on all of
its color copiers.

Bank note forgery on copiers is rampant. According to the central
bank of Germany, about half of the forged bank notes in Germany were
printed on Japanese color copiers. The same thing has been
happening in Japan. 10,000-yen ($80) notes were forged on
color copiers.

Color copiers were first shipped about 5 years ago and some
40,000 of them are shipped every year in the world market. Most
of the color copiers take the colors into the system
as digital signals. Under this digital color analysis system,
the copier can produce crisp and nearly identical copies of the
original image.

Other Japanese electronics firms are also talking about protection
of bank notes from forgery. But so far, Canon is the first to have
developed this system.

(Masayuki Miyazawa/19920727/Press Contact: Canon, [phone])


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

Largest BBS in North America Ships Own "Navigator" 07/27/92
MISSISSAUGA, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1992 JUL 27 (NB) -- North
America's largest bulletin board systems are taking on the
attributes of their larger competitors. Canada Remote, the
largest BBS in Canada and, it says, now the largest in North
America since Exec-PC of Milwaukee shut down its chat board, has
even come out with its own "navigator" program, aimed at making
its services easier to use.

CRSEasyLink can be used with a mouse or keyboard, and offers
context-sensitive help. It automatically configures modems, sets
up correct phone numbers, then uses pull-down menus to allow
access to all of Canada Remote's features.

While Canada Remote runs PCBoard software and Clark Development,
the creator of PCBoard, has written a new communications program
called PBComm configured for it, this is a separate system,
written by CRS programmers. CRS has a number of features unique
to bulletin boards, including an expanded Reuters news feed,
access to the international Internet network, and an 8-line
international trunk to Buffalo, New York, so that US callers
can reach the board using standard packet networks. The system
also has a variety of shareware software available on CD-ROM
disks.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19920727/Press Contact: Neil Fleming, Canada
Remote, 416-620-1439)


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

Data Race to Supply TI Modems 07/27/92
SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1992 JUL 27 (NB) -- Data Race
reached an agreement with Texas Instruments to become an
original equipment supplier for its internal V.32BIS fax modem.

The new product, which sends data at 14,400 bits/second under the
V.32BIS modulation standard, and handles 4-page-per-minute fax
traffic as well, will go inside Texas Instrument's line of
TravelMate laptop computers, including the new TravelMate 4000
line.

DataRace also has OEM contracts with Apple, AT&T, Compaq, Dell,
Grid, IBM, NEC, Tandy and Toshiba. In addition to modems, the
company also makes a line of multiplexers, which can combine
modem calls onto a single telephone trunk line.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19920727/Press Contact: Garrick Colwell,
Data Race, 412-558-1900)


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

Data-Star Snags Online Rights To Frost & Sullivan Reports 07/27/92
WAYNE, PENNSYLVANIA, U.S.A., 1992 JUL 27 (NB) -- Data-Star, the
online service of Radio Suisse of Switzerland, said it has an
exclusive contract for online access to the market research
reports of Frost & Sullivan.

The company produces over 250 market reports each year, in 20
industrial sectors. The reports cover results of face-to-face
interviews with manufacturers, buyers and trade association executives,
supplemented by a search and summary of secondary sources.

As of today, only reports on the pharmaceuticals, medical
devices, electromedical instruments, chemicals, and plastics
industries are online. By September, the company's full range of
reports should be available. Data-Star is a leader in the
European online market, but has a low profile in the US.

The company has also launched other new services, including
Tenders Electronic Daily, a database of European Community
contract offers, IMSWorld Pharmaceutical Company profiles, and a
new full-text health care database from Predicasts called
PharmaBiomed Business Journals. By offering exclusives on hard-
to-find medical databases, the company hopes to build a niche in
the US market while expanding its reach among its European
users.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19920727/Press Contact: Data-Star, Susan
Norris, 215-687-6777)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(ATL)(00021)

PI Systems Snags Hewlett-Packard Exec 07/27/92
PORTLAND, OREGON, U.S.A., 1992 JUL 27 (NB) -- PI Systems, which
makes the Infolio pentop computer, hired Kermit Yensen as its
new director of marketing. Yensen had been product marketing
manager for calculators and palmtop PCs at Hewlett-Packard in
Corvallis.

PI's Infolio, unlike most pentop computers, uses a Motorola-
based chip, and the company says its proprietary operating system
is an opportunity for programmers with Macintosh savvy. Yensen
was called instrumental in doubling sales of the HP 95LX from
initial projections. Before that, he ran H-P's calculator program
for Europe. The appointment indicates PI may try hard in that
market.

The pen-based market, however, has proven a disappointment in
general to its boosters. The current generation of machines,
which look something like overgrown legal pads, have not sold
well, due to hardware problems like weight, hard-to-read screens and
a lack of software. Boosters of the technology have recently
turned to so-called personal digital assistants, or PDAs, like
the Apple Newton, for hype. But the previously-discussed huge
market for pen-based systems has yet to be proven. PI must hope
that, by creating custom applications for large customers who now
use field computing terminals from companies like Itron and
Telxon, it can find a niche in the marketplace while a mass-
market fails to develop.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19920727/Press Contact: Sarah Rollins, PI
Systems, 503-293-9585)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(SFO)(00022)

Sun Extends Licensing Of Sybase Products 07/27/92
EMERYVILLE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 JUL 27 (NB) -- Extending its
original 1987 licensing agreement, Sun Microsystems (SMI) has
purchased unlimited use of various Sybase products on Sun hardware
platforms.

Simone Otis, spokesperson for the companies, told Newsbytes
that the agreement is essentially an extension of the one
that was signed in 1987, except that there are "greater
purchases involved and there are new applications being built."

According to Sun, it introduced the Sybase system into its operations
in 1987, which is now is used "extensively" throughout SMI's worldwide
operations for a variety of on-line applications in such areas as
sales, manufacturing, customer service and finance.

The Sybase system is a client/server-based relational database
management system (RDBMS) for on-line, enterprise- wide
applications. Sybase first developed its RDBMS product on Sun in
1986, and the two companies have had a joint marketing relationship
since 1988.

Otis said that the previous licensing agreement was "basically,
purely for manufacturing applications, and it was for a certain
number of licenses.....and they've extended that." According to
Otis, the agreement involves "a certain number of SQL Server
licenses and tools."

According to the company, the Sybase Oracle Gateway enables users to
transparently retrieve and update information from Oracle as if the
information were in a Sybase SQL Server database.

(Ian Stokell/19920727/Press Contact: Mary Bilz, Blanc
& Otus, 415-546-8080)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SFO)(00023)

Convex Posts Small Profit 07/27/92
RICHARDSON, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1992 JUL 27 (NB) -- Claiming the highest
quarterly earnings in the company's history, supercomputer-maker
Convex Computer has announced $57.5 million revenue for the second
quarter ending June 30, 1992.

Additionally, the company reported net income was $0.8 million,
or $0.03 per share. This compares to revenue of $50.5 million, and
a loss of $1.4 million, or $0.06 per share for the second quarter
of 1991.

In what seems to be a trend among many US-based computer companies,
international sales were good, particularly in Germany and the
Pacific Rim, and accounted for about 60 percent of second quarter
revenue. Many US companies are targeting overseas markets in an
attempt to compensate for sluggish domestic sales.

Robert J. Paluck, Convex chairman, president and chief
executive officer, said: "Strong C3800 shipments drove
quarterly revenue to the highest level in our history."

Fifteen of the 36 systems shipped during the second quarter were
C3800s, Convex's high-end, gallium arsenide-based supercomputer.
"All of the new C3 Series supercomputers that we announced in 1991
are now fully available. This has been a key factor in returning
Convex to profitability in 1992," he said.

"Even in an uncertain economic environment, we are seeing a high
level of customer interest in our entire product line," said Paluck.
"For example, during the quarter, both Mercedes-Benz AG and Arnold
Air Force Base ordered their second Convex C3 Series supercomputer
in less than a year."

The company said that other major orders during the quarter included
C3800 orders from General Electric Research and Development Center,
Japan's Sharp Electronics, and Taiwan's National Center for High-
Performance Computing.

Paluckwas still concerned about the economy, however, saying:
"Our view of the future, however, is tempered by the fact that the
worldwide economic environment is still weak. While we feel that
this conservative outlook is realistic, it will not lessen our
efforts to continue to improve the company's financial performance."

(Ian Stokell/19920727/Press Contact: Bill Cool, 214-497-4956, or
Donna Burke, 214-497-4230 Convex Computer Corporation)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SFO)(00024)

WordStar And Israel's Elron Finalize Alliance 07/27/92
NOVATO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 JUL 27 (NB) -- Just over a month after
signing a memorandum of understanding with Elron Electronic Industries
Ltd. of Israel, WordStar International says the two companies have
now finalized an agreement to form a technology alliance.

Under the terms of the agreement, WordStar will establish an Israeli
subsidiary to develop, outsource, and distribute personal computer
software products worldwide. The deal also's gives WordStar access
to the $550 million multi-national technology holding company's software
expertise. The agreement also contains provisions that allow WordStar
to receive an influx of as much as $8 million capital from Elron over
the next four years.

Ron Posner, president and CEO of WordStar, said: "We have chosen
Israel as a great place for WordStar to continue its revenue-boosting
strategy of acquiring state-of-the-art software technology in
high-growth niches that complement our document processing
strategy."

The company claims that its new Israeli subsidiary will develop
projects that will be marketed through WordStar's global distribution
channels.

"The Israeli software industry owes some of its incredible growth -
more than tripling in size in the last eight years - to its highly
skilled, well-schooled labor force and its technology-friendly
government," said Posner. "WordStar is tapping one of the world's
most concentrated sources of software knowledge."

According to WordStar, Israel has the largest number of software
developers per capita in the world, with more than 120 software
houses and 12,000 computer specialists.

Interestingly, WordStar claims that "the pool of talent available
to WordStar continues to grow through ongoing immigration of
technologists from the former Soviet Union."

In a prepared statement the company also said that: "Along
with a highly educated population, Israel has a government
that encourages investment in the technology sector by
providing generous tax breaks and government incentives
designed to boost Israeli export business."

In the original report by Newsbytes in June, WordStar said
that the agreement allowed for Elron to take an initial $2
million investment in Wordstar common stock and also
allowed Elron to purchase additional Wordstar common stock through
two investment options over the next four years.

Wordstar disclosed at the time that Elron had the right to buy Wordstar
common stock at a discount and have a seat on the board of directors.
Elron's initial investment was set at $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. A second option allowed 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, the company said at the time that any purchase
that would give Elron more than 25 percent of the total stock
outstanding must be approved by WordStar's board of directors.

(Ian Stokell/19920727/Press Contact: Brian Johnson,
Kahn Communications Group, 212-889-0202)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LAX)(00025)

Windows & OS/2 Conf Organizers CM Ventures Sold 07/27/92
EMERYVILLE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 JUL 27 (NB) -- CM
Ventures, owner of the Windows & OS/2 Conference, has been
bought by Carole Patton, editor of Acknowledge, The Window
Letter, and chair of the advisory board for the Conference.
Details of the terms of the purchase were not disclosed.

The Windows & OS/2 Conference has been successful in the past
with over 250 vendors and 16,000 attendees, conference
organizers said. The summer session of the third annual
Conference is scheduled for August 18-21, 1992 at the World
Trade Center in Boston, Massachusetts and over 18,000 attendees
are projected. The next winter conference is planned for
January 20-22, 1993 and is to be held in San Jose, California.

Past conferences have been sponsored by PC Week and presented
by Computer Currents with cosponsors Windows Magazine, and
Acknowledge The Window Letter. Stan Politi, one of the three
principles of the show is also president of Computer Currents.

As a result of the buy-out, CM Ventures will take over the
publication Acknowledge The Window Letter. Irreconcilable
differences among the principles Politi, Steve Hollis, John
Bourgein was the reason given for the sale.

Politi told Newsbytes Patton has been very involved in the
Conference from her position on the Advisor Board and he
expects the transition to be a natural one. Politi said he will
help with the next scheduled Conference and but then plans to
concentrate his efforts on Computer Currents magazine.

(Linda Rohrbough/19920727/Press Contact: Stan Politi, CM
Ventures, tel: [phone], fax: [phone]; Jack Ellioth,
Consultech Communications for Carol Patton, tel [phone],
fax [phone])


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(NYC)(00026)

Bellcore And 2600 Dispute Publishing Of Article 07/27/92
MIDDLE ISLAND, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1992 JUL 27 (NB) -- Eric Corley,
also known as "Emmanuel Goldstein," editor and publisher of 2600
Magazine: The Hacker Quarterly, has told Newsbytes that he will
not be deterred by threats from Bellcore from publishing material
which he considers important for his readership.

Earlier this month, Corley received a letter from Leonard Charles
Suchyta, general attorney, intellectual property matters, at Bellcore
taking issue with the publication by 2600 of material that
Suchyta referred to as "portions of certain Bellcore proprietary
internal documents."

The letter advised him that if he or his magazine should come
into possession of or publish any Bellcore information which
is proprietary, Bellcore will "vigorously pursue all legal
remedies available" including injunctive relief and monetary
damages.

While the letter did not mention any specific material published by 2600,
Corley told Newsbytes that he believes that Suchyta's letter refers to an
article entitled "US Phone Companies Face Built-In Privacy Hole" that
appears on page 42 of the Winter 1991 issue. Corley said, "What we
published was derived from a 1991 internal Bellcore memo as well as Bell
Operating Company documents that were leaked to us. We did not publish
the documents. However, we did read what was sent to us and wrote an
article based upon that."

He said the story focuses on how the phone companies are in an
uproar over a "significant and sophisticated vulnerability" that
could result in BLV (busy line verification) being used to listen
in on phone calls.

The 650-word article said in part, "By exploiting a weakness,
it's possible to remotely listen in on phone conversations at
a selected telephone number. While the phone companies can do
this any time they want, this recently discovered self-serve
monitoring feature has created a telco crisis of sorts."

The article further explained how people might exploit the security hole,
saying "The intruder can listen in on phone calls by following these four
steps:

"1. Query the switch to determine the Routing Class Code assigned
to the BLV trunk group.

"2. Find a vacant telephone number served by that switch.

"3. Via recent change, assign the Routing Class Code of the BLV
trunks to the Chart Column value of the DN (directory number) of the
vacant telephone number.

"4. Add call forwarding to the vacant telephone number (Remote Call
Forwarding would allow remote definition of the target telephone
number while Call Forwarding Fixed would only allow the
specification of one target per recent change message or vacant
line).

"By calling the vacant phone number, the intruder would get routed to
the BLV trunk group and would then be connected on a "no-test
vertical" to the target phone line in a bridged connection."

(Newsbytes note: Items 1-4 apparently come directly from the
documents in question).

The article added that, according to one of the documents,
there is no proof that the hacker community knows about the
vulnerability. The article concludes "even if hackers are denied
access to this "feature," BLV networks will still have the
capability of being used to monitor phone lines. Who will be
monitored and who will be listening are two forever unanswered
questions."

Corley responded to Suchyta's letter, saying "I assume that
you're referring to our revelation of built-in privacy holes in the
telephone infrastructure which appeared on Page 42. In that
piece, we quoted from an internal Bellcore memo as well as Bell
Operating Company documents. This is not the first time we have
done this. It will not be the last.

He contends that as journalists, "we have a certain obligation
that cannot be cast aside every time a large and powerful entity
gets annoyed." He continues, "And, as a lawyer specializing in
intellectual property law, you know that you cannot in good faith
claim that merely stamping 'proprietary' or 'secret' on a
document establishes that document as a trade secret or as
proprietary information."

He says that if his First Amendment rights are challenged, "we
will be compelled to respond by seeking all legal remedies against
you."

Corley told Newsbytes "Bellcore would never have attempted this with the
New York Times. They think that it would, however, be easy to shut us up
by simple threats because of our size. They are wrong. We are responsible
journalists; we know the rules and we abide by them. I will, by the way,
send copies of the article in question to anyone who request it.
Readers may then judge for themselves whether any boundaries
have been crossed."

Corley, who hosts the weekly "Off the Hook" show on New York City's
WBAI radio station, said that he had discussed the issue on the
air and had received universal support from his callers.

Bellcore personnel were unavailable for comment on any possible response
to Corley's letter.


(Barbara E. McMullen & John F. McMullen/Press Contacts:Eric Corley,
2600 Magazine, 516-751-2600, [e-mail] - email;
Leonard Suchyta, Bellcore, 201-740-6100/19920726)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TOR)(00027)

IBM Canada, ISM, DMR Sign Outsourcing Alliance 07/27/92
MONTREAL, QUEBEC, CANADA, 1992 JUL 27 (NB) -- Systems management
firm ISM Information Systems Management, of Regina, Saskatchewan, a
Montreal-based consulting firm DMR Group, and IBM Canada of
Markham, Ontario, have announced an alliance to offer computer
outsourcing services.

The alliance will focus on the province of Quebec, and Ray
Lancashire, spokesman for ISM, described it as a way for his
company to fill the major gap in its cross-Canada presence.

"If there was any area where we were weak," Lancashire said, "you
could say it was Quebec." DMR, on the other hand, has its head
office in Quebec and built its business there, although the
consulting firm now has offices across Canada and internationally.

The alliance will work in "selected" areas outside Quebec, but the
focus will be on Quebec, Lancashire said.

The alliance plans to offer "application development outsourcing,"
meaning that it will not only run customers' computer centers for
them, but help them develop, maintain, and operate applications
such as payroll, accounting, and reservation systems.

DMR will provide the expertise in applications development, ISM the
systems management background, and IBM Canada -- which owns a stake
in ISM -- will bring to the deal its national presence and
marketing expertise, the companies said.

ISM is Canada's largest outsourcing and computer services firm,
with annual revenues of more than C$350 million and upwards of
3,000 employees working in seven offices across the country. DMR
employs more than 2,200 people in Canada, the United States,
Europe, and Australia.

(Grant Buckler/19920727/Press Contact: Ray Lancashire, ISM,
416-351-6301 or 306-781-5151; Stan Didzbalis, IBM Canada,
800-563-2139 or 416-474-3900; Michel Gelinas, DMR Group,
514-877-3301; Public Contact: DMR Group, 514-877-3301; ISM,
306-781-5151; IBM Canada, 416-296-8888)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(TOR)(00028)

Canada: Long-Distance Competition To Proceed Despite Appeal 07/27/92
TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1992 JUL 27 (NB) -- Unitel Communications
plans to go ahead with competitive long-distance telephone service
in Canada, despite a court's decision to hear an appeal of parts of
the federal order making competition possible.

The Federal Court of Appeal granted six telephone companies leave
to appeal parts of a decision by the Canadian Radio-television and
Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) that would allow Unitel and a
consortium of two other companies to offer competitive
long-distance services in several provinces. The phone companies
are protesting the way the decision divides up the cost of
connecting the new competitors' systems to their own, and the
amount each must pay to subsidize local telephone service.

Unitel spokesman Peter Janecek told Newsbytes his company will
begin offering competitive long-distance service this fall despite
the appeal, which is scheduled to be heard in late October. Pending
a decision on how the costs of connecting the networks will be
shared out, Unitel will hook up to the telephone companies'
networks using individual phone lines that look to the phone
company system as if they were subscriber lines, he said. This will
mean customers will have to dial extra digits to use the competing
service, which they were expected to have to do for the first few
months anyway.

Eventually, Unitel wants to connect trunk lines to the phone
company switches and implement a system like that in the United
States, where customers can choose a long-distance carrier through
which all their calls will be routed without the need to dial extra
digits.

Janecek said Unitel could not predict what the impact might be if
the telephone companies won their appeal and Unitel was required to
pay a larger share of connection costs and/or local-service
subsidies. "Our economists would have to plug it into the model and
come up with some numbers," he said. The impact might be
negligible, Janecek said, or it could possibly be significant
enough to make competitive long-distance service unprofitable for
Unitel.

(Grant Buckler/19920727/Press Contact: Peter Janecek, Unitel,
416-345-2365; John Morris, Bell Canada, 613-781-2443; Public
Contact: Unitel, 416-345-2000)


(NEWS)(IBM)(LAX)(00029)

 ****Cyrix Can Keep Making The 486, Court Rules 07/27/92
SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 JUL 27 (NB) -- Cyrix will
be able to keep making and selling Intel 486 compatible
microprocessor chips, at least for the time being. A decision
handed down in U.S. District Court in Dallas on Friday, June
24, 1992 by Judge Paul Brown said Cyrix is immune from patent
infringement because is it producing the 486 chip through its
foundry Intel-licensed SGS Thomson.

Intel has accused Cyrix of practicing "patent laundering" and
says Cyrix is using Intel patents in their chips, passing the
devices through Intel licensee SGS, and then claims the chips
are clean. Now Intel is saying the current ruling condones
patent laundering and contradicts a preliminary injunction US
District Court Judge Helen J. Frye of Oregon imposed against
ULSI last year preventing it from doing the same thing,
according to a published report.

Intel attempted to get a preliminary injunction against Cyrix
as well, but was unsuccessful. Cyrix has since been able to
make deals with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) like
Tanden, who are offering less expensive 486-compatible
computers as a result.

While Intel is saying the Cyrix chip violates four of its
patents, it also says the Cyrix 486 chip is not a true 486 at
all. According to Intel, the Cyrix chip looks to the software
like a 486 yet looks to the hardware like a 386 and is pin-
for-pin compatible with 386 motherboards.

Intel is under investigation by the FTC, who is looking into
allegations of unfair trading practices made by other
chipmakers such as Cyrix, Chips and Technologies, and Advanced
Micro Devices.

Until recently, Intel was the sole source of the basic
microprocessor essential to nearly all current MS-DOS
compatible computers. The company has been accused of treating
the market as a monopoly, sometimes failing to promptly deliver
supplies of new chips to some companies and often not having a
large enough stock of microchips.

While on one hand Intel has publicly stated it will not let
others "help themselves" to its intellectual property, the
company did agree in April of this year to pay $35 million to
Los Angeles-based Hughes Aircraft to settle a patent
infringement suit Hughes filed against it in 1983. Hughes
charged Intel violated patents it filed in the 1960s
concerning an implantation process used in the manufacture of
microprocessors. Hughes said the patents applied to the entire
microcomputer market as they have to do with processes that
helped the industry as a whole develop smaller chips, but it
went after Intel first as the largest chip maker.

While both Chips and Technologies and AMD are under legal
attack from Intel over compatible chips they are producing, the
Cyrix chip has gotten the most attention. Intel is even saying
it might rename the next generation chip it is planning, which
the industry assumed would be called the 586. Intel also
announced it will not deliver the P5 this year as promised, but
instead is holding back the new chip until the first quarter of
1993.

Intel has said it plans to appeal.

(Linda Rohrbough/19920727/Press Contact: Michael Bruzone,
Cyrix, tel [phone], fax [phone]; Nancy Pressel,
Intel, tel [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(GOVT)(LAX)(00030)

 ****Z-Nix Files Antitrust Suit Against Microsoft 07/27/92
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 JUL 27 (NB) -- Z-Nix has
turned around to chase Microsoft and has filed an antitrust
suit and eight other claims against the software giant.

Microsoft filed against Z-Nix and got a temporary injunction
earlier this month prohibiting Z-Nix from offering Windows 3.1
with its mouse hardware and charging the company with illegally
selling the software without the mouse hardware. Z-Nix,
however, got the order reversed by the same judge that granted
the order -- US District Court Judge David Kenyon.

Essentially, Z-Nix is saying Microsoft is harassing it and
claims the Microsoft suit is over competition, the Z-Nix Mouse
vs the Microsoft Mouse, and not over any real licensing issues
at all. Z-Nix claims Microsoft is punishing it for a fight the
two companies had in 1990.

Microsoft and Z-Nix were fighting in court in 1990 over the
mouse issue. Microsoft then claimed Z-Nix was guilty of patent
infringement by its Supermouse II product, as well as later
contract conditions for the bundling of the Supermouse with
Windows 3.0. Z-Nix counterclaimed that Microsoft kept changing
the conditions and upping the royalty rate in various
generations of contracts over the course of the last year.

In November of 1990 both companies agreed to drop allegations
against each other and Microsoft agreed to license Windows to
Z-Nix through the end of 1991, at which time both parties would
negotiate for renewal. That agreement ended six months ago.

Z-Nix is charging Microsoft with a list of violations including
Violation of Sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act. Section 1
says the law against "tie-in" prohibits a company in control of
one market (in this case the Windows market) from using its
position to control another (the mouse market); and Section 2
states the law states that one company cannot adopt policies or
commit actions with the intent and inevitable effect of
restraining trade, controlling prices and monopolizing the
market.

Z-Nix is also accusing Microsoft with abuse of the judicial
process, tortious (devious) interference with prospective
business advantage, disparage of property and slander, breach
of contract, breach of covenant of good faith and fair dealing,
unfair competition, and trespassing.

Regarding the trespassing claim, Z-Nix alleges that "...on or
about June 25, 1992, at approximately 10:30 p.m. agents
operating under the direction of Microsoft entered a Z-Nix
facility at 1521 Los Palos, Los Angeles, California without
authorization or consent from Z-Nix or any of its agents."

Z-Nix attorney Thomas T. Chan, of the law offices of Chan &
Jodziewicz said: "What Z-Nix and others have realized is that
when dealing with Microsoft there are two sets of rules:
Microsoft's and the rest of the computer industry."

Since February of 1991 Z-Nix has been shipping the Super Mouse
for the IBM and compatible personal computer (PC), a two-button
mouse using infrared technology for cordless operation and
powered by with internal, rechargeable batteries. The company
says the product's batteries are lifelong and the unit
communicates with the computer via a stand that doubles as a
charger. In October of last year Z-Nix started shipping a
Macintosh version of the product. Both products have been very
successful, making the company a $50 million operation and the
third largest supplier of mice in the country, Z-Nix said.

Microsoft was not available for comment on deadline.

(Linda Rohrbough/19920727/Press Contact: Michael Terpin, The
Terpin Group for Z-Nix, tel [phone], fax [phone];
Katy Ehrlich, Waggener Edstrom for Microsoft, 206-637-9097)