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/nb920820

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(NEWS)(IBM)(HKG)(00001)

Data General Adds 2 386SX PCs To Dasher Line 08/20/92
WAN CHAI, HONG KONG, 1992 AUG 20 (NB) -- In a move to enhance its
Dasher product line, Data General Hong Kong has announced the
addition of the two new personal computers: Dasher II-386SX/25z
and Dasher II-386SX/25A.

The Dasher II-386sx/25z, suited for Windows-based applications,
is based on the 25MHz AM80386SX processor and a standard 8MHz
I/O bus. Its screwless, slimline chassis can be placed
horizontally or vertically on the desktop, a design that
makes maintenance access easier.

The configuration includes either 1MB or 3MB of random access
memory (RAM), a 3.5-inch, 1.44 MB floppy disk drive, a mouse, and a
Super VGA monitor for graphics-based computing.

A LAN version is also available with an integrated LAN controller
and no disk drives for added security.

The Dasher II-386SX/25z may also be configured with an optional
math coprocessor, up to 16MB of RAM, and an additional 3.5-inch
disk drive.

"These features and others combine to make the Dasher II-386SX25z
an elegant yet economical entry into the world of 386-based
computing," said Daniel Ng, regional marketing manager for Data
General Asia North.

The Dasher II-386SX25A offers more expandability than the Dasher
II-386SX25z -- a user can upgrade to a 486SX/25, 487SX/25, 486DX
or 486DX2/50 using the recently established "Chip-up" technology.
It also provides four drive bays for up to 1.1 GB of storage and
four 16-bit expansion slots.

"The simple upgrade capability makes it possible for customers to
enhance CPU performance as their processing needs grow," said Mr
Ng. "It is the feature most often requested by end users, as it
provides tremendous hardware investment protection."

Mr Ng told Newsbytes that the Dasher product line can be marketed
with the AVION system as part of a network solution.
"Data General is selecting one of its value-added resellers to
specialize in marketing the Dasher product line," he said.

Prices for the Dasher line begin at $1,675. The price includes a
software bundle of Windows 3.1 and DOS 5.0, toll-free telephone
assistance for one year and overnight delivery of essential
parts. Both systems are available immediately.

(Brett Cameron/19920819/Press contact: Derek Ng, Data General, tel
[phone];HK time is GMT + 8)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(TOR)(00002)

AST Launches Multiprocessor System 08/20/92
SANTA CRUZ, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 20 (NB) -- AST Research
has launched the Manhattan SMP, a multiprocessor system built
on Intel processors and offering redundant components designed to
make the machine highly reliable.

The new computer is intended as a server running Unix
or local-area network operating systems such as Novell NetWare
and Banyan VINES.

The Manhattan can accommodate as many as four 50-megahertz
Intel 486DX chips in a symmetric multiprocessing design. It has
a 64-bit system bus newly designed by AST. There are bays for
as many as 16 storage devices, four of which are open to the
front of the box to allow for removable media such as diskettes.

The drives snap in and out and can be replaced while the system
is running, as can the dual power supplies and three cooling fans
mounted on a single slide-in tray. A five-channel disk array
controller allows for redundant array of independent disks
(RAID) technology.

The system uses the Extended Industry Standard Architecture
(EISA) expansion bus, with eight EISA slots and two Industry
Standard Architecture (ISA) slots.

It will support future microprocessors such as the P5 (which
some call the 586) that Intel is now working on. Support for
reduced instruction set computing (RISC) chips is a possibility,
and Michael Krieger, AST's vice-president of marketing,
mentioned Digital Equipment's Alpha design as the most likely
candidate at the moment.

The Small Computer Systems Interface (SCSI) is supported with
a SCSI-2 backplane so that the machine can take industry-
standard disk drives and other peripherals, AST said.

"We did not just take a PC and put it sideways and add another
processor," quipped Safi Qureshey, AST's president and chief
executive, in a dig at competitors that entered the multiprocessor
market earlier than AST. Qureshey accused rivals of rushing into
the business, and said AST took two years to design the
Manhattan "because we wanted to do it right."

The Manhattan is still not available for sale. Software developers
are currently testing it, said Krieger, and test machines will go
to the first end users in October. The system is also still awaiting
approval by the Federal Communications Commission. About 15
to 20 of the machines have been built so far, Krieger said.

The major target market for the Manhattan server is users who
want highly reliable server systems, Krieger said at a press
conference during the Santa Cruz Operation's annual SCO Forum.
"This isn't a Tandem," Krieger said, referring to fault-tolerant
systems, "but it is highly available."

SCO's Open Desktop is among the operating systems that will
run on the new machine. At the launch, Doug Michels, SCO co-
founder and executive vice-president, called the introduction "the
culmination of probably the longest relationship I have ever
known," noting that SCO and AST have discussed such a project
over several years.

AST is setting up a separate value-added reseller (VAR) program
to handle the new machine. "As of this morning we're recruiting
Wang resellers," Krieger said, referring to the venerable
minicomputer maker which filed for bankruptcy on the day of the
announcement.

"There's a real volume opportunity that's out there in this new
server market," commented Mike Pope, director of marketing for
Intel's architecture and software technology group, at the launch.

Suggested retail prices for the Manhattan start at $26,995.
Physically it is a floor-standing unit 26 inches (66 centimeters)
high by 30 inches (72 cm) deep by 14.5 inches (39 cm) wide -
exactly the size of IBM's AS/400 minicomputer, Krieger noted.

(Grant Buckler/19920819/Press Contact: Gerry Lynne Baker, AST
Research, 714-727-7959)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(TOR)(00003)

Oracle Exec Boosts Commercial Unix At SCO Forum 08/20/92
SANTA CRUZ, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 20 (NB) -- Unix is being
accepted into the commercial market at an increasing pace, Oracle
senior vice-president, Jerry Baker, said in a keynote address
at the Unix-oriented SCO Forum sponsored by Santa Cruz
Organization, a Unix systems software vendor.

Oracle, a major database software vendor, not only has made its
own software available for Unix -- which Baker said is a
growing part of the company's business -- but has moved in-
house computing from proprietary mainframe computers to Unix
systems in the past two years.

Baker said moving to Unix has reduced his company's data
processing costs by at least a factor of three or four. The shift to
Unix also gave Oracle greater flexibility in choosing hardware
suppliers, he said, though he also noted that mixing hardware
from different vendors can still cause compatibility problems.
Baker also said systems people with a knowledge of Unix are
easier to find today than people trained in working with
proprietary mainframe systems. "Every single person who's
coming out of university these days knows Unix backwards and
forwards," Baker said.

Baker acknowledged there are lingering concerns about Unix as
a platform for critical business applications. One is that Unix
systems do not yet match the performance of mainframes.
However, he said, "in the next 18 to 24 months, we're going to
see some technology coming along that's going to significantly
close the gap between Unix peak performance and mainframe
peak performance," and Unix systems may even come to outrun
mainframes.

"The reliability and robustness of Unix systems have long been
suspect when it came to running mission-critical applications,"
Baker said. But he added that vendors are addressing this
problem with ideas such as cluster architectures and multiple
independent processor complexes.

A lack of system management tools has also been an issue,
Baker said, but various vendors who offer such tools for
mainframes -- such as Computer Associates, Candle, BMC, and
Legent -- are beginning to offer their tools for Unix as well.
Other vendors are launching system management tools purpose-
built for Unix, he added.

A lack of standard operating procedures for commercial Unix
systems is another issue, Baker said, but these standards also are
beginning to emerge.

(Grant Buckler/19920819)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TYO)(00004)

Sony Buys More DRAM Chips From Samsung 08/20/92
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1992 AUG 20 (NB) -- Sony says it will increase
its purchases of memory chips from Korea's Samsung Electronics
this year as part of a bid to reduce trade friction with Korea.
Still, the chips are less expensive than those available in Japan.

Sony is currently purchasing about 500 to 600 million yen ($4.5
million) worth of semiconductor chips. Most of these semiconductors
are 4-megabit and 16-megabit dynamic random access memory
chips. Sony plans to increase its purchases to 2 billion yen
($15 million) by the end of this fiscal year, which ends in March
1993. It is said Samsung's chips are high quality and are also
cheaper than Japanese makers' chips.

Sony purchases some 36 billion yen ($290 million) worth of
semiconductor chips from foreign makers, including Texas Instruments
and Motorola. Most of these foreign chips are used in Sony's
audio-visual equipment such as video players and camcorders.
13 billion yen ($105 million) worth involve memory chips including
static RAMs and DRAMs. DRAMs amount to six billion yen ($50 million),
which is about half of Sony's total DRAM purchase. The rest of the
half are purchased from Japanese firms such as Fujitsu and NEC.

The quality of Samsung's memory chips are improving and are
almost competitive with Japanese products, according to Sony.
Also, the price has become about 20 percent cheaper than
the Japanese chips. It is said Sony will use these DRAMs for its
personal computers and engineering workstations.

(Masayuki "Massey" Miyazawa/19920820/Press Contact: Sony, +81-3-
3448-2200)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TYO)(00005)

Japan: Layoffs At Oki And Hitachi 08/20/92
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1992 AUG 20 (NB) -- Oki Electric says it will cut
about 2,000 employees by March 1995. This is part of a drastic
rationalization plan. Hitachi will also unveiled a plan to lay
off some of its employees. The layoffs indicate a hard-hitting
slump in the computer and electronics industries in Japan.

Oki Electric reports it will cut 1,000 employees and another
1,000 at its group firms, representing a total of 7 percent of
its 13,000 employees. The employees will not be fired, but the
hiring of new university graduates will drastically be reduced,
the company says, for at least two years.

Oki expects to record a 30 billion yen ($240 million) loss of
profit on sales this fiscal year and may stop distributing
dividends to its stockholders next year if the situation does not
improve. The firm is also planning to reduce the size of debt-ridden
divisions such as its fax machine division.

Meanwhile, Hitachi says it will lay off employees at its
video department for one month. A total of 2,200 employees at its
video-related offices and plants will be forced to stay home
until the end of September. Hitachi last had a layoff in 1974 due
to the so-called "oil shock," making this a first for the company
in 18 years.

The measure won't save much money, however. Even during a layoff
period, 90 to 95 percent of a worker's salary is guaranteed.

The slump in the video industry has been devastating to Japanese
firms. Many have stopped production of camcorders due to the slump.
Hitachi may extended the lay-off if the outlook does not improve.

(Masayuki "Massey" Miyazawa/19920820/Press Contact: Oki Electric,
[phone], Hitachi, [phone])


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(SFO)(00006)

New Unix Processors Speeding Games On GEnie 08/20/92
MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 20 (NB) -- GEnie, the online
service, and Kesmai Corporation, have announced that GEnie now
offers dedicated processors for multi-player online gaming.

The processors are Unix-based RISC computers, part of the
ARIES (Alternate Realities - Interactive Entertainment
Service) project, a joint initiative by Kesmai and GEnie to provide
state-of-the-art multi-player games to GEnie subscribers,
according to an announcement made at a game convention.

Kesmai games on Genie, like Air Warrior and Multiplayer BattleTech,
are said to get plenty of traffic and this ARIES system should
speed them up and enhance their graphics and features.

John Taylor, president of Kesmai said, "This initiative will
allow users to experience more direct immersion in the game
environment including sophisticated graphics and digital
sound as well as superior game-play features." In Air
Warrior, for example, a more thorough and accurate simulation
of combat flight will ultimately result, he contends.

Howard Rosenman, GEnie's product manager for Games and
Entertainment, said ARIES, which is currently in operation,
is "... a reaffirmation of GEnie's commitment to maintain its
position as the industry leader in online multi-player
games."

(Wendy Woods/19920820/Press Contact: GEnie, 301-340-5397)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SFO)(00007)

New For Networks: Lanco Ethernet-Ready Workstations 08/20/92
IRVING, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 20 (NB) -- Lanco is starting to ship
the industry's first Ethernet workstations that are not PCs.

The company sees a need for workstations that are not PCs to be
on the network for several reasons. First, The network workstations
do not have disks on them. This eliminates all possible problems
that could result from viruses being introduced into the system.

Secondly, no software can be installed on the network or any of
its components without the network administrator's
help. Finally, the workstations come with a selection of boot
images so that one can bring up the workstaion once as a Novell
node, another time as a Banyan node, and yet a third time as a
Microsoft LAN Manager node.

The Ethernet model that is being introduced at this time is based
on an 80386SX CPU running at 20 MHZ. The unit comes with 2 MB of
RAM which can be expanded to 8 MB, a pseudo-RAM disk for fast local
intelligent processing of 512K to 1.44 MB of RAM, and a VGA video
interface. Options include a math coprocessor and coaxial
interfaces. Lanco is working on a Token Ring model that will have
the exact same specifications but with the IBM/National
Semiconductor TROPIC chipset in stead of the Ethernet chipset.
The suggested list price for the Lance 320se is $1495.

Newsbytes has learned from Lanco officers that they believe this
approach will work better than the diskless workstations of old
due to the fact that they will be marketing these units through
resellers and to corporate MIS departments. These people are primarily
concerned with security and access issues to their systems and
networks and will therefore appreciate the lack of disk drives
and the like. Another main factor for the potential customers is
the ease of installation that comes from having everything reside
on the motherboard. There is no need to install a network card,
play around with jumpers, and install drivers. It all comes up the
way it should immediately.

The product comes in a small box that can fit under a monitor. The
monitor and keyboard are not included in the price and need to be
purchased separately. Another unusual feature is that the unit is
not cooled by a fan. This leads to extremely quiet operation and
is justified by the lack of moving mechanical devices like hard
drives and floppy drives. The whole unit weighs just over 6 pounds.

(Naor Wallach/19920820, Press Contact:Alex Nelson, Lance, 214-
438-4955/Public Contact:Lanco, 214-438-4955)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(LAX)(00008)

Philips To Intro Portable CD-I, Cuts Retail Price 08/20/92
KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 20 (NB) -- Philips says
it will introduce a Portable CD-I Player in October, is cutting
prices on current CD-I players, and plans to introduce a
cartridge that will add full screen, full motion video
capability to all CD-I players.

The new portable CD-I player looks like the old portable tape
recorders of the past, but with a 6-inch color matrix liquid
crystal display (LCD) screen that can be raised for viewing.
Philips representatives showed Newsbytes one of the first
players available and said volume production of the portable
players is expected in October of this year. The units will be
retail priced at $1,995 each.

The Philips representative said the company doesn't really
expect the consumer market to go for the new portable player,
but is looking instead at the "traveling salesman" market. A
single CD-I disk can hold a company's entire product catalog
with product demonstrations and cross-referencing and the
portable CD-I player can be carried in a briefcase, Philips
said.

The portable player also produces an analog signal in both NTSC
and PAL so the unit can be connected to an available television
set for a demonstration. Development of a CD-I catalog disk is
estimated by Philips to cost between $50,000 to $500,000, the
company added.

Both the new CD-I portable player and the current CD-I player
will be able to display full screen, full motion video thanks
to recent changes in the MPEG compression standard on which CD-
I is based. A cartridge has been developed that can be
added to the CD-I player units to enable the video display.

The cartridge will fit into the standard CD-I player in much
the same way a game cartridge fits into a home video game
player, Philips representatives said. The addition of the video
capability for the portable unit will be accomplished in a
docking of the portable with another hardware unit, the company
added.

While the addition of full screen, full motion video will allow
the playback of movies recorded to CD-I disks, the disks will
only hold 72 minutes of video on each side. Philips
representatives said the disks could be turned over by the user
or a further development of the technology could allow for
player itself to switch to the other side. Either way, the CD-I
platform just doesn't quite make it for the playback of movies
yet.

Philips also is struggling with name recognition in the US.
While the Philips name is the number two name in electronics in
Europe, Americans know little about the company or its
products. Philips is planning to change that by starting up a
television and radio promotional campaign in the US. The CD-I
players are to be called "The Imagination Machines."

The company says it also plans to get a jump on the holiday
season by lowering the price of its CD-I player effective
August 17, 1992 from $999 to $699. Sears and other retail
outlets have priced the CD-I players lower than the $999 retail
price and it is expected these same retail outlets could lower
the price below the new $699 mark.

Those who have already purchased a CD-I player will receive a
coupon for $100 which can be redeemed for discs that include up
to three CD-I titles and a Kodalux Photo CD processing mailer
for 24 exposures on a single CD. This ties into the
introduction by Philips and Kodak of the ability to develop
photos onto CD-I discs for viewing. Music CD-I discs are
available as well, Philips added.

While the number of CD titles is anticipated to be only 65 by
September, Philips is hoping the added ability to place family
photos on CD-I discs, which can be added to until a disc is at
capacity, will help sell the units.

Industry analysts are reported as saying the price cuts for the
home CD-I unit are necessary to spur sales, even if the company
has to take a loss. It is speculated a loss could be made up in
sales of the CD-I titles, once the units are in place.

Philips Consumer Electronics Company (PCEC) has North American
offices in Knoxville, Tennessee and also manufactures and
markets Magnavox, Sylvania, and Philco products.

(Linda Rohrbough/19920820/Press Contact: Jon Kasle, Philips,
tel [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(UNIX)(LAX)(00009)

$99 Unix OS -- Faster, Smaller, Cheaper, But No GUI 08/20/92
NORTHBROOK, ILLINOIS, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 20 (NB) -- While the
$99.95 Unix operating system clone, Coherent, has been around
for several years, the latest version is attempting to steal
away market share from its biggest competitor, The Santa Cruz
Operation (SCO).

Produced by Mark Williams Company, Coherent 4.0 doesn't offer
the graphical user interface (GUI) that SCO Unix does, but it
doesn't have the overhead either. A command line interface offers
users faster access and a smaller kernel and no payment of royalties
to AT&T, which accounts for the low price, Williams said. Coherent
is $99.95 compared to SCO Unix which retails for about $2,500.

The 32-bit operating system comes with a C compiler, assembler,
and 200 Unix commands for development, administration,
maintenance, and text processing, the company added. And
Coherent's multi-user capability can support up to 32 users,
Williams said.

The company says several off-the-shelf Unix applications will
run under Coherent without modification and others can be
recompiled under the OS to run. Williams lists Promula's
Fortran to C translator Promula.Fortran, Basis International's
BBxprogression/3, Gimpel Software's Flexelint 4.0, and
Acucobol's Acucobol-85 as packages that run on Coherent 4.0.

Williams says the software only has 1 manual, 6 disks, has a
100 kilobyte kernel, requires only 10 megabytes (MB) of hard
disk space, needs only 1 MB of random access memory (RAM), and
performs faster than SCO Unix/386 3.2v2 in benchmark tests. The
operating system has been well-received by Unix industry
analysts, but it ties users to a command line interface which
is losing popularity in the computing world.

Some companies, like La Jolla, California-based Coconut
Computing are endorsing the new version of Coherent as an
inexpensive way to run Unix-based, multiuser application
development software on 386 or 486-based IBM or compatible
personal computers (PCs).

Coconut offers Coconet and add-on package Cocomedia, software
for multimedia, multi-user conferencing and bulletin board
systems. Coconet and Cocomedia support video graphics array (VGA)
resolution and sound support as well as support of Joint
Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) compressed of video images on
the host.

The City of Glendale has adopted Coconet for its planned online
information system that will be accessible by city residents
via modem and via kiosks in shopping malls.

Northbrook, Illinois-based Mark Williams Company says it has
been developing programming tools since 1976 and has sold
40,000 copies of Coherent since its introduction in 1990. Users
who own Coherent 3.x can purchase the upgrade for $59.95, the
company added.

(Linda Rohrbough/19920820/Press Contact: Stephen Davis, Mark
Williams Company, tel [phone], fax [phone]; Public
Contact 800-627-5967)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(SYD)(00010)

 ****Taligent To Supercede OS/2, AIX 08/20/92
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1992 AUG 20 (NB) -- IBM expects Taligent, its
joint object-oriented software venture with Apple Computer, to
eventually supercede OS/2 and AIX in the optimized object segment
of the operating system market, IBM's programming systems director,
Lucy Baney, has told an OS/2 Developers Seminar in Sydney.

"Taligent will bring us a compatible extension to the object
technologies that we introduced in AIX and OS/2," Baney said in a
keynote speech. It had been designed from the ground up to
support the enormous case of use and productivity expected from
the object-oriented world.

"We are going to start that technology now, on OS/2 and AIX, and we're
going to introduce Taligent as an optimized object environment and
build compatibility around it for OS/2 and AIX applications. And
over time, we expect it to eventually supercede that segment of the
market," said Baney.

However, Baney said OS/2 would first be enhanced with support for
multimedia, pen, and speech interface capabilities, multiprocessor
support and portability to RISC and other architectures. "You can
expect to see from us, perhaps, different versions of OS/2 that are
targeted at the high end server market versus the client side,"
she added.

(David Frith/19920820)


(NEWS)(IBM)(SFO)(00011)

New For PC: Microphone Pro For Windows 08/20/92
BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 20 (NB) -- Just three
months after the company cut the price of the 2.0 version of its
Microphone II communications package for Windows to $74 in the
hope of enticing DOS users to migrate to Windows, Software Ventures
is demonstrating the new MicroPhone Pro for Windows.

In a prepared press release, the company claims that the package
represents "the first communications package to integrate fax,
multimedia support and interactive telecommunications."

According to the company, MicroPhone Pro includes a "powerful
yet easy-to-master scripting language, coupled with support for
Windows 3.1," and it lets users send and fax data anywhere by
"dragging and dropping." This is capable because the product
integrates WinFax Lite send and receive fax software from
Delrina Technology Inc., which allows "MicroPhone scripting
commands to entirely automate fax operations."

The company claims that, what was once a "four or five-step
process -- choose a fax program and driver, select a document,
select a destination, print to fax -- becomes a one-step drag
and drop." The operation works by allowing users to drop files
on customizable fax icons, set up to broadcast faxes to one
address or a 100-person distribution list, instantly or at
scheduled times.

The company maintains that other new features include an icon
bar, dialing directory, and customizable status line.

Software ventures also says that, by fully supporting the MPC
standard for multimedia, MicroPhone Pro for Windows can play
sounds from various sources, including CD (compact disk) and
MIDI (musical instrument digital interface) files, play multimedia
movies, send multimedia files to remote computers, and, through
scripting, control a multimedia presentation.

At the time of the price cutting of Microphone II 2.0 for Windows
in May to $74, Greg Ogarrio, spokesman for the company, told
Newsbytes that Microphone has considerable "dominance in the
Mac" market, but that the Windows market is still a "completely
different field" for the company. He said that Software Ventures
sees the Windows "field as wide open for us."

P. Schmidman, vice president of sales and marketing for Software
Ventures, said at the time: "Windows gives users so much more
power and flexibility, especially when they go on-line. Windows
users are moving their mainstream Windows applications to the
new environment, but are mainly reverting to DOS for
telecommunications."

Windows-based communications packages have not been particularly
well received in the marketplace because of their speed. DOS-
based packages are usually considerably faster in operation,
prompting many Windows users to exit Windows in order to use
their familiar tried-and-tested DOS communications package, rather
than switch to a graphical user interface-based product, even at
the expense of improved ease-of-use. The Windows-based
communications software market has got more competitive lately
with the release of Data Storm's Procomm Plus for Windows.

(Ian Stokell/19920820/Press Contact: Eileen Ebner, McLean Public
Relations, 415-358-8535; Paul P. Schmidman, Software Ventures
Corp., 510-644-3232)


(NEWS)(IBM)(BOS)(00012)

 ****Windows & 0S/2: 150 0S/2 Apps Shipping, 1000 More Due 08/20/92
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 20 (NB) -- A total of 160
OS/2 applications are shipping now, and 1000 will be delivered by
the end of this year, IBM announced during a press briefing
at the Windows & OS/2 Conference, now going on in Boston.

In the meeting, IBM marked the applications achievement by
presenting copies of the operating system to four early developers
-- Micrografx, Spinnaker, Corel, and Proportional Software -- and
also celebrated a recently reached delivery milestone. Similar
software presentations went out to two early users -- Caterpillar
Corporation and the University of Missouri School of Journalism --
and IBM set off a chain of 20,000 dominoes to represent the first
1 million copies of OS/2 2.0.

Officials of IBM and the other organizations stressed the wide
range of users and applications for OS/2 2.0, as well as the
extensive beta testing that went into the product and its superior
performance over earlier releases. Of the first 1 million copies
shipped, only 5% have been giveaways, stated Fernand Sarrat, head
of 0S/2 marketing for IBM. "As numbers go in this industry, these
are some of the most solid you'll find," he noted.

Beta testing on 2.0 has involved 100,000 users at 30,000 sites,
numbers far higher than for earlier versions, emphasized Lee
Reiswig, IBM's chief of OS/2 development. In addition, he
asserted, 2.0 contains 10 times fewer bugs than Version 1.2, and
five times fewer bugs than Version 1.3. "OS/2 1.2," acknowledged
Reiswig, "is an example of a product we'd like to have back."

At first, IBM experienced difficulties in attracting third-party
developers for 2.0, suggested John Soyring, IBM's chief of software
development programs. "We started out on our knees," he remarked.
As of April, 1991, only 13 outside vendors had committed to
developing applications. By June, 1991, that number stood at only
30, and by August of last year, at 60 to 70, according to Soyring.
"But now, our biggest problem is in answering the phone," he
stated.

Vendors that have committed to developing applications range from
major players in the software market to small companies, said
Soyring. Lotus is porting its entire line, WordPerfect is porting
its flagship word processor in along with other products, and
Borland is developing an edition of Object Vision for OS/2, he
elaborated.

Vendors at the briefing gave a variety of reasons for supporting
OS/2. "OS/2 fundamentally competes with DOS, not Windows," said
George Grayson, president of Micrografx, a company that, like many
of OS/2's developers, is producing applications for both platforms.
An OS/2 version of Picture Publisher will be delivered this fall,
he added.

The 32-bit architecture of Version 2.0 is giving a 25% performance
boost to Corel Draw, said Susan Vericchia, OS/2 product manager for
Corel. In addition, the company expects that customers will make
use of the system's multitasking capabilities to print and open and
close files in the background. The OS/2 version of Corel Draw will
ship this week, Vericchia vowed.

Spinnaker sees OS/2 as a good fit for PFX Works, an application
that will be available for Version 2.0 in September, David Seuss,
company president, told the reporters. The market for PFX Works
consists of home office and small business users, who tend to be
early adopters of new technologies, he explained.

Max Eideswick, president of Proportional Software, a maker of tools
for compression and functions, said his company finds OS/2 useful
for applications requiring high performance, multitasking, and
peer-to-peer networking. "I'm an old computer guy, and I can tell
you that OS/2 has power," he stressed.

At the University of Missouri, OS/2 has been highly effective on a
300-node network for students and faculty, attested a professor
from the Journalism School. The network is used not only in the
classroom, but at a newspaper, TV station and radio station run by
the school.

IBM's Sarrat set off the domino chain just after the awards
ceremony, in an area right off the exhibition floor. IBM
considered using 1 million dominoes, but a number that high would
have taken up a prohibitive 60,000 square feet of floor space, said
a representative of Domino F/X, the group that performed the hands-
on work of building the chain.

As it was, the 20,000 dominoes took two days to set up in a
painstakingly designed, railroad-type configuration that
incorporated a large logo in IBM blue and a series of detours,
including a spiral.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19920820)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(BOS)(00013)

 ****Lotus Expands into New Areas 08/20/92
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 20 (NB) -- Profound changes
in available technology, together with a shift in customer needs
from the "data centric" to the "information centric," are the
factors behind Lotus Development Corporation's current expansion
from volume desktop products into communications, device-type
software, and other new areas, said Frank Ingari, vice president of
marketing, in a Lotus Strategy Briefing at the Windows & OS/2
yesterday.

On the technological side, hardware miniaturization, wireless
communications, object-oriented programming, richer applications,
and a new convergence between computing, telecommunications and
television are all influencing Lotus' plans, Ingari explained.

On the customer side, the target market is evolving from the
pre-1990 base of office workers to a post-1990 group that encompasses
professionals, he added. Increasingly, these customers are
demanding softer, "fuzzier" applications -- as opposed to hard
numeric and ASCII data -- and they're also interested in software
that helps them work together as a group.

Hardware miniaturization can be seen not only in the size of
devices and CPUs, but right on down to modems and displays, as
chips become ever smaller and more powerful, pointed out
Ingari. Meanwhile, the marriage of computing with telecom is
bringing about such phenomena as the V.32 bis modem, which enables
high-speed communications over wide areas not circumscribed by
fixed network structures.

These trends, together with the new explosion in wireless
communications, are leading to a new network paradigm oriented to
"occasionally connected" users, according to the Lotus VP. Already
in Japan, the use of a single portable computer, hitched to a
docking station when network communications are needed, is starting
to replace the use of separate desktop and portable computers, he
observed.

"We're only three or four years away now from the mobile computer
being the dominant platform," commented Ingari. Lotus is
projecting that, by the latter half of the nineties, portable
computers will be outweighing desktop computers in worldwide sales,
he elaborated. Lotus' collaboration with Hewlett-Packard on the HP
Palmtop is driven by these industry movements, he suggested.

At the same time, though, the future will see a continuation of the
recent thrust toward integrating multivendor computers into
distributed networks, Ingari predicted. "Networks were really
quite good when they were based on mainframes or minicomputers, and
all the equipment came from one vendor. But that is not what
customers want," he asserted.

Object-oriented programs, supplied for multivendor platforms,
present the best hope for achieving real compatibility among the
disparate equipment, and the need for this software will intensify
as customers ask for more intragroup applications, he said. "We've
pretty much reached the individual productivity gains that are
possible on the desktop. The new challenge is group enablement,"
he reported.

Ingari indicated that Lotus is taking this step with object-
oriented products like Notes, which runs as a layer above DOS, OS/2
and Windows, and cc:Mail, a communications package that works on
top of Notes. Ultimately, the industry will need a common object-
oriented architecture, he emphasized, but until that architecture
emerges, Lotus will do its utmost to support the applications
development environments of other vendors.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19920820)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(SFO)(00014)

O'Reilly & Associates Offers Networking Books 08/20/92
SEBASTOPOL, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 20 (NB) -- O'Reilly &
Associates have carved themselves a nice little niche over the past
few years as publishers of specialized books specifically dealing
with the Unix operating system. Now, O'Reilly & Associates have
decided to try and expand their role and visibility by launching a
series of new titles that are aimed at the networking world.

O'Reilly spokespeople told Newsbytes that the company feels that
the networking world is a natural move for them since many of the
standards and tools of networks have been derived either directly
from Unix concepts, or have been developed on Unix machines and in
Unix laboratories.

O'Reilly & Associates first offering is a book by Craig Hunt called
"TCP/IP Network Administration." This 502-page book is intended to
fill a gap that O'Reilly & Associates believes exists between the
knowledge contained in the various pages of existing Unix books and the
information needed to properly tend to a TCP/IP-based network. Craig
Hunt is the leader of the National Institute of Standards and
Technology's Network Engineering Group.

The book starts out by presenting the basic principles of TCP/IP. It
then discusses how to configure the nodes, how to set up routing,
and how to set up name services. It then covers a bunch of common
applications that exist in most Unix environments and how they should
be set up for best operation.

O'Reilly's editor for "TCP/IP System Administration" had this to say
about the need for such a book: "I don't think a system administrator
exists who doesn't need to worry about networking issues. We're
proud to publish Hunt's book as the network resource in O'Reilly's
system administration library."

The book is available now for $29.95. It's ISBN number is
0-937175-82-X.

(Naor Wallach/19920820, Press Contact:Brian Erwin, O'Reilly &
Assocates, 707-829-0515/Public Contact: O'Reilly & Associates, 800-
998-9938)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SFO)(00015)

New For Networks: Token Ring Card, Thomas-Conrad Price Cuts 08/20/92
AUSTIN, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 20 (NB) -- Thomas Conrad has unveiled
a new version of the TC4050 Token Ring card. The new version is
distinguished in two significant ways from the original version of
the TC4045 that has been shipping to date.

First, the card is physically smaller than its predecessor. Its
length has been reduced from 13.25 inches to 7.75 inches. This
allows the card to fit in more PC models that cannot accommodate
full size cards. Thomas Conrad does not have a comprehensive
list of all the models that their card will now work in but
they were able to cite two specific examples in the
Austin 386sx/16 and the Everex 486/33.

Additionally, Thomas-Conrad personnel spoke of the new DX2
chips which run at 66 MHz and their need for a heat sink as
a potential problem area for full-sized cards.

The second enhancement is in the addition of several new features to
the card. Specifically, the card's driver is now a self-configuring
piece of software. There are two LEDs on board and some more
diagnostic software on the disk. There is also expanded support for
the board's DMA chip. This version can use all four of the DMA
channels on-board. Finally, the board can be set up for any of eight
interrupt request lines.

The TC4045 is shipping now. Thomas-Conrad offers it in three bundled
configurations. A single board costs $795. A 6-pack of boards cost
$4320 and a 50-pack of boards cost $34,500.

In addition to the introduction of the new TC4045, Thomas Conrad has
also announced that they are reducing the price of one of their
Ethernet boards. The TC5043-T is the company's Ethernet board with a
10Base-T and AUI connections. The product sold previously for $239
and will now sell for $199. 6-pack pricing has dropped from $1369
to $1155.

The company also sells two other models in this line -- the
TC5043-2 and the TC5043-TIO which are the coax and AUI, and the
combination card versions of the same board. However, pricing on
those items has remained unchanged.

(Naor Wallach/19920820, Press Contact:Marty Kulczyk, Thomas Conrad,
512-836-1935/Public Contact:Thomas Conrad, 800-332-8683, 512-836-
1935)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(WAS)(00016)

SPA Pushes To Make Piracy A Felony 08/20/92
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 20 (NB) -- The Software
Publishers Association or SPA has come out in favor of a US
Senate bill which would make intentional software piracy a felony
from the current status of a misdemeanor.

Senate bill S-893, introduced by Orin Hatch, Republican Senator
from Utah, would only target big-time pirates, including: illegal
bulletin board operations, dealers who "sweeten" hardware
purchases by loading up computers with illegal copies of
desirable software, and those who specifically make copies to
resell them at deep discounts on a regular basis.

Speaking before Congressman William Hughes' (Democrat, New
Jersey) House Intellectual Property and Judicial Administration
Subcommittee of the Judiciary Committee, Gail Penner, an Autodesk
(AutoCAD) attorney, spoke on behalf of the SPA's official
position, citing three major reasons why the software industry
thinks a felony law is needed.

First, computer programs are so easy to copy that this industry
is particularly susceptible to piracy.

Second, civil remedies (lawsuits) and misdemeanor criminal
penalties have not made a significant dent in the piracy problem
as witness the continuing SPA raids against major violators.

Third, although software piracy has a major financial impact on
the industry, software publishers' attorneys have an extremely
difficult time interesting federal prosecutors and law
enforcement officials in investigating pirates when the best
possible result would only be a misdemeanor conviction.

S-893 was passed by the Senate on June 4 and is now undergoing
the hearing process in House Committees despite the fact that an
actual bill has not yet been submitted in the House.

An SPA spokesperson told Newsbytes that she does not expect any
further hearings and is optimistic that Congressman Hughes will
soon introduce the bill in the House, perhaps with a few
amendments attached.

Karen Casser, director of public policy and legal affairs for the
SPA, told Newsbytes, "We are hoping that this legislation will be
introduced in the US House of Representatives and enacted
before the end of the current session."

Although the Bush administration has not spoken out on this
particular bill, the SPA expressed the belief that the
administration will support rather than veto S-893 if it reaches
the President's desk.

The Piracy Felony bill would cover illegal copying for "purposes
of commercial advantage or private financial gain" making it a
crime punishable with a fine of up to a quarter million dollars
and up to five years for those making more than 50 copies in a
single 180-day period.

The same $250,000 upper fine limit and a maximum prison term of
two years could be imposed for those "willfully" making and
selling between 10 and 50 copies.

(John McCormick/19920820/Press Contact: Terri Childs, SPA, 202-
452-1600)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(WAS)(00017)

2nd Virtual Reality And Disabilities Conference Slated 08/20/92
NORTHRIDGE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 20 (NB) -- The
California State University, Northridge's (CSUN) Office of
Disabled Student Services has announced the schedule for its
second annual Virtual Reality and Disabilities Conference. The
first (1992) session drew 2,200 participants.

March 17-20, 1993, is the date selected for the second conference
which will again be held at the Los Angeles Airport Marriott
Hotel as part of the Eighth Annual CSUN Technology and Persons
with Disabilities Conference.

At the same time that the second Virtual Reality and Persons with
Disabilities Conference was announced, Dr. Harry Murphy,
Conference Director, said that single copies of the "Proceedings"
of the first annual conference would be available from his office
at CSUN, 18111 Nordhoff Street-DVSS, Northridge, CA 91330.

The "Proceedings" include a dozen papers, including the keynote
address by Jaron Lanier, founder and chief scientist of VPL, Inc.

Dr. Murphy is still seeking speakers for the March 1993
conference who are actively working with applying virtual reality
to problems of the disabled.

The first conference drew 2,200 attendees, 276 speakers, and more
than 100 exhibitors.

(John McCormick/19920820/Press Contact: Dr. Murphy, CSNU, 818-
885-2578 or fax [phone])


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(WAS)(00018)

PC Expo Scheduled For October 27-29 08/20/92
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 20 (NB) -- Chicago's PC Expo,
which is held annually at McCormick Place, will be held on the
27th, 28th, and 29th of October. Lectures and seminars will begin
at 8:45 a.m. and the exhibition will take place during the hours
of 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

This year's keynote address, scheduled for 9-10 a.m. on Tuesday,
October 27, will feature Intel's Senior Vice President David L.
House speaking on the topic: "The Future of Computing" in which
he will introduce a new paradigm of personal computing, "Computer
Supported Collaboration."

Last year's PC Expo saw more than 25,000 persons attending the
conference programs and more than 225 vendors are expected to
exhibit at this year's show.

Seminars will cover such diverse subjects as disaster recovery;
windows; managing the multi-vendor environment; CASE (computer
aided software engineering); virus threats; OS/2; and various
local area network-related topics.

Fees for attending the exhibits range from $25 for advance
registration for a single day to $60 for on-site registration for
all three days. Seminars are priced at $80 per day for late
registration, while tutorials cost $325 after October 19 and $300
before that date.

(John McCormick/19920820/Public Contact: Blenheim Group, 800-829-
EXPO, 201-346-1400 or fax [phone])


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(DEN)(00019)

Qualex To Process Kodak Photo-CDs 08/20/92
DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 20 (NB) -- Qualex
has announced six of its labs will offer Kodalux Photo CD
imaging services.

The six labs, located in Manteca, California; Fair Lawn, New Jersey;
Rockville, Maryland; Findlay, Ohio, Dallas, Texas; and Long Beach,
California, will be the only national source for transferring images
to Photo CDs from 35mm film, negatives, or color slides, said
Qualex. The Qualex labs also offer traditional film processing for
camera stores, drug stores, and supermarkets.

The company says it will expand the number of retail outlets
offering the Photo CD service to more than 2,500 by the end of the
year. Photo CD, announced by Eastman Kodak and reported by
Newsbytes in September 1990, transfers images from traditional film
to a CD, which can then be viewed on a television set. The
digitized images stored on the CD disk can also be imported into
graphics editing programs and edited on personal computers equipped
with a special CD-ROM XA type drive. The Qualex labs offer users
toll-free numbers for each of the labs to learn the location of the
nearest retail outlet for the service.

Qualex spokesperson Steve Stovall told Newsbytes that the equipment
required to produce the Photo-CDs costs about $100,000 to equip one
lab. The system is built around a Unix-based Sun Microsystems
SPARCStation computer. Stovall said processing costs for a
24-exposure roll of 35 mm film will be $28.63, which includes one
set of 3X5 prints, and $19.99 without the prints. A 36-exposure
roll will cost $41.61 with prints and $28.85 without.

Kodak is expected to begin advertising its CD players in September.
Qualex is not an exclusive processor for Photo CD, so other film
processors might also be offering the service. Stovall said it could
take six months for the demand for Photo CD to catch on with the
camera-using public. But he's optimistic. "The computer desktop
graphics market has been screaming for this," he told Newsbytes.

Recently Kodak and Phillips Electronics announced that Phillips
would produce a $400 player which would allow the images to be
viewed on a home television set.

(Jim Mallory/19920820/Press contact: Steve Stovall, Qualex,
919-383-8535; Reader contact: 800-345-6973)


(NEWS)(IBM)(DEN)(00020)

Zeos Jumps On 66-MHz Bandwagon 08/20/92
ST PAUL, MINNESOTA, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 20 (NB) -- PC maker and direct
marketer Zeos International says it is now offering upgradable
personal computer systems based on Intel's new 66-megahertz i486 DX2
microprocessor. The new chip will be shipped in combination with the
company's new systems reported by Newsbytes last week.

Zeos says it will offer four basic system configurations designed to
compete directly with the 66-megahertz systems announced by Dell and
Compaq. The company says it will target business system buyers, and
will offer a number of add-on options, including a secondary cache
of 128K or 256K. SCSI (small computer system interface) I and II
options are also available to connect SCSI-based peripherals such as
CD ROMs, high capacity disk drives, and tape back-up systems, by
adding a plug-in chip to the basic system.

Spokesperson Rick Apple told Newsbytes that Zeos will offer systems
ranging from a minimum configuration of 1MB of RAM and a 40MB hard
drive with a monochrome monitor, to the 8MB of RAM 245MB hard drive,
configuring the systems to the customers needs.

The BIOS on Zeos systems can be upgraded by loading the new BIOS
from a floppy disk, or via a modem. System memory can be expanded
up to 64 MB, and support for IDE hard disk drives or floppy drives up
to 2.88 MB is available.

Processor upgrading is provided through Zero Insertion Force socket
technology which allows the user to upgrade the microprocessor between
the Intel 486SX-25, 486DX-33, 486DX2-50 or 486DX2-66, as well as the
P24T. The systems use a 300 watt power supply, and desktop cases
with seven drive bays or vertical cases with eight drive bays are
available.

The P24T is an overdrive version of Intel's recently announced P5
microprocessor, expected to ship next year, Apple told Newsbytes.
Intel has not announced the performance specifications of the P24T,
said Apple.

Zeos President Greg Herrick says the new systems are upgradable
starting with the 486SX processor right up through Intel's new 1993
processor code-named P24T. The systems also incorporate two VESA
standard local bus expansion slots that allow users to add video
cards to improve the performance of Microsoft Windows.

Zeos says a typical system configured with 8MB of memory, a 245MB
hard drive, two floppy drives, a VESA standard local bus video card,
one megabyte of video memory, a SuperVGA color display will carry a
price tag of $3,395. Microsoft Windows, DOS 5.0, a Microsoft mouse,
Lotus 1-2-3 for Windows, Ami Pro word processor for Windows, and
round-the-clock technical support are all included in the base
price.

(Jim Mallory/19920820/Press contact: Rick Apple, Zeos, 612-633-5877)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(DEN)(00021)

Intelogic Will Provide Wang Support 08/20/92
SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 20 (NB) -- In the wake of news
that computer and office information systems provider Wang
Laboratories has filed for protection under US bankruptcy law, a
Texas service provider says it will continue to provide service for
Wang systems.

Intelogic Trace, Inc., says its confirming its continuing commitment
to the North American community of Wang system users. The company
says it is the largest alternative provider of Wang system service
and support, with major offices in 27 US and Canadian cities, and a
number of smaller field locations.

Intelogic's John Reynolds told Newsbytes that Intelogic can provide
on-site response within four hours for peripherals and two hours for
system problems. Reynolds said service is available on a contract
basis, or based on time and materials. Intelogic also provides
held desk for telephone support, and can train Wang system users to
perform maintenance on their own hardware.

Reynolds told Newsbytes Intelogic has been providing Wang hardware
and software support for four years, and "will continue our
consistently professional level of service and support, as Wang
system users migrate to networks and open systems, or to other
computing solutions."

Asked if the downsizing and possible demise of Wang would cause
Intelogic's business to shrink, Reynolds said he didn't think that
was a problem. "We're not trimming down, in fact we're adding to our
program in anticipation." Reynolds said Intelogic anticipates growth
in the Wang service market from customers who are unsure of Wang's
long term viability.

According to Reynolds, Wang users have been sitting tight waiting to
see what would happen. He thinks the Wang announcement will push
them into other platforms, and the service Intelogic provides will
relieve some of the pressure to make that move. "We want to make
sure they [Wang users] don't have to make an irrational decision,"
said Reynolds. He's well familiar with Wang equipment, having
worked at Wang for seven years, he told Newsbytes.

(Jim Mallory/19920820/Press contact: John Reynolds, 512-593-5482;
Reader contact: Intelogic, 512-593-5482)


(NEWS)(IBM)(BOS)(00022)

Windows & OS/2: 486 Upgrade Boards for PS/2s 08/20/92
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 20 (NB) -- Windows and
OS/2 products are bringing a need for extra processor cycles, and
Sigma Data has joined the race to meet this requirement with 486
upgrade boards for PS/2 that are being billed as more efficient
and less expensive than others in their class.

Introduced this week at the Windows & OS/2 Conference, the boards
are being resold from Australia-based Hypertec, and run on non-
caching versions of model 70 and 80 PS/2s.

Pete Kusinski, sales manager at Sigma Data, told Newsbytes that
the Hyperace 486SX/25 and 486DX/33 plug directly into the 80386SX
and 80386DX processor slots, providing direct upgrades from a
386SX to a 486SX, or from a 386DX to a 486DX. In contrast, every
other comparable product now on the market is a larger bus-master
processor board, he said.

Andrew Carroll, business development manager for Hypertec, added
that each of the L-shaped Hyperace boards is only about the size
of two credit cards. The boards are easy to install, and require
no memory-consuming drivers, he maintained. Prices are $925 for
the 486SX upgrade, and $1,495 for the 486DX upgrade, levels that
are much lower than those of comparable products, he stressed.

Each board comes with 8K of cache. The 486DX version includes a
math coprocessor, as well. Kusinski said that in benchmark tests
the 486DX edition increases the speed of a 386 SX five times
over, but in actual use, performance is typically raised two to
three times over. A 386SX processor upgraded with the 486SX
board runs at about 75% the speed of a 386DX processor enhanced
with a 486DX board, he estimated.

Windows, OS/2, and other GUI products demand additional processor
cycles because graphical screens contain large numbers of pixels,
the officials said. Whenever a change takes place on the screen,
many of these pixels must be rewritten.

Both of the Hyperace boards are shipping. Kusinski told
Newsbytes that Sigma will soon unveil editions for cached PS/2s.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19920820; Press Contact: Monica Novak, Sigma
Data, tel [phone]; Public Contact: Pete Kusinski, Sigma
Data, tel [phone])


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SFO)(00023)

Collection of MIDI Sequences On CD-ROM 08/20/92
COLUMBUS, OHIO, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 20 (NB) -- More than 300 MIDI
sequences representing a variety of musical styles are now
available on a single CD-ROM disc from Metatec Corporation.

The disc, entitled The Best of MIDI Connection, is a compilation
of MIDI sequences featured on Nautilus, the multimedia information
service published monthly on CD-ROM by Metatec.

The Best of MIDI Connection includes full-length classical keyboard
masterworks by composers such as Bach, Beethoven and Chopin, as well
as several ragtime piano pieces; excerpts from orchestral works by
Handel, designed to be used in a multi-tibral MIDI environment;
and improvisational aids for students of jazz, such as common chord
progressions and more than 80 short drum patterns. The improvisational
aids comprise a library of musical "building blocks" which can be
used in composition or as a means of enhancing performance skills,
according to the company.

The Best of MIDI Connection is compatible with both Macintosh and
PC platforms. Macintosh system requirements include a Mac Plus or
higher, 1.6MB of RAM and a CD-ROM drive. PC users need MS-DOS
version 3.3 or higher, required memory for MIDI software plus
32K of free RAM for the CD-ROM drive, a MIDI or MPC card, and a
CD-ROM drive.

The Best of MIDI Connection, with a suggested retail price of $49.95,
can be purchased from Metatec by calling 800/637-3472.

(Computer Currents/19920820)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(LAX)(00024)

 ****Atari To Unveil Under $1,000 Multimedia Computer 08/20/92
SUNNYVALE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 20 (NB) -- A multimedia
computer for less than $1,000 is coming from an unexpected
source, Atari. Atari plans to announce the Falcon'030
multimedia computer this weekend at a computer show in
Dusseldorf, Germany.

Atari doesn't want to talk much about the new computer before
the announcement in Germany, but Atari enthusiasts have been
talking about the Falcon in the ST forum on the GEnie.

Newsbytes understands the concept behind the Falcon is its
functionality as a personal media system, which can accept
television input, video, and digitized sound. All the
multimedia support built into the Falcon is available for other
computers, like the Macintosh or the IBM personal computer
(PC), but at greater expense, Newsbytes sources said. One of
the applications mentioned for the built-in multimedia
capability include utilization as a color video phone.

The operating system is based on a graphical user interface
(GUI) operating system originally developed at Digital
Research. Apple sued Digital Research over the operating
system, but Atari purchased the rights to the system before the
Apple suit and since its resolution has made its own changes to
it, Atari representatives said.

Detailed descriptions of the "insides" of the compact, desktop
Falcon are available on the Atari forum. The Falcon is
described as based on a Motorola 68030 Microprocessor running
at 16 megahertz (MHz) that has multitasking capabilities and
is backed by a Motorola 68881 or 68882 16 MHz floating point
coprocessor. A Motorola DSP 56001 digital signal processor
(DSP) is the engine behind the compression and decompression of
high resolution images and sound.

Color on the Falcon is 16-bit and is being called "True Color."
The display is capable of 320 x 200 pixel resolution and 32,768
colors, or 640 x 480 pixel resolution and 256 colors from a
264,144 color palette.

The Falcon can have from 1 to 16 megabytes (MB) of memory and
512 kilobytes (K) of read-only memory (ROM). It is equipped
with a built-in IDE 2.5-inch hard drive interface (but a hard
drive is an added option), a small computer systems interface
(SCSI) II interface for peripherals such as a hard drive or a
compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) drive, a local area
network (LAN) interface, an RS232 serial port, built-in
"processor direct" expansion connectors, a real-time clock and
battery back-up random access memory (RAM), musical instrument
digital interface (MIDI) input and output, a parallel printer
port, and a keyboard controller that allows for 300 dots per
inch (dpi) mice.

Other features were listed as: a video graphics array (VGA) or
Video 320 resolution, RF modulator and VGA monitor connections,
overscan support, enlock and multimedia capability, graphics
overlay and video tiling, an enhanced high-speed 16 MHz Blitter
graphics coprocessor, stereo 16-bit analog to digital inputs,
stereo 16-bit digital to analog outputs, record/playback with
up to 50 kiloherz (KHz) sample rates, stereo microphone inputs
and headphone outputs connected to a 16-bit stereo codec, a
digital signal processing (DSP) digital audio connector with up
to 1 MHz data transfer rate, and an a built-in monophonic
speaker.

A catalog of third party software is to be announced at the
show in Germany along with the Falcon. The first US release of
the Falcon is to be at the Boston Computer Society this fall,
Atari officials said.

Atari, probably best known for its introduction of home video
game units that attached to a television set, is still offering
game units. The Lynx is its current hand-held game machine, but
the company has been offering computers as well. Sunnyvale,
California-based Atari offers a desktop computer, the ST, and a
palmtop, DOS-compatible computer that weighs less than one
pound called the Portfolio.

(Linda Rohrbough/19920820/Press Contact: Art Pruzynski, Atari,
tel [phone], fax [phone])


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

New For PC: Domino Computer's Teletext Decoder 08/20/92
FREMONT, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 20 (NB) -- Domino Computer
has introduced a product from International Teletext Communications
Inc. (ITC) which allows personal computer users to receive broadcast
data services, including stock quotes, news, sports, traffic,
and weather -- without any phone lines or subscription charges,
according to the company.

The Teletext Decoder is a PC-compatible card which receives the
broadcast data services listed above and also features a built-in
television tuner. With the Teletext Decoder installed and hooked
to an ordinary TV antenna or a cable hook-up, users can receive
teletext broadcasts free of charge.

Teletext consists of text and graphics information broadcast in
selected markets via an unused portion of a TV station's signal.
In California ITC transmits services over the air and on cable.
In the San Francisco Bay Area, computer enthusiasts can receive
the information as part of the signal of Action 36, KICU Television.
Today, San Francisco Bay Area business owners and residents can
track symbols from the NYSE, AMEX, NASDAQ and money funds. This
software will continue to run in the background under Microsoft
Windows.

The suggested retail price of the Teletext Decoder is $199. The
package includes the hardware card and the software needed to
capture, view, store and recall pages of Teletext information.
Call Domino at 510/623-7181 for more information.

(Computer Currents/19920820)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(DEN)(00026)

Commodore's $21.9M Loss For 4Q, Stock Drops 08/20/92
WEST CHESTER, PENNSYLVANIA, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 20 (NB) -- Commodore
International says it lost $21.9 million, or $0.66 per share,in its
fourth quarter, with profits dropping 43 percent for the fiscal year.

The company said discontinuation of its less expensive personal
computers and a soft market for the venerable C64 model in Europe,
particularly Eastern Europe, contributed to the decline in sales.
Earnings for the fiscal year dropped to $140.7 million from $216.5
million for the previous year.

Commodore stock dropped $2.25, closing at $6.87 at the close of
trading yesterday.

Commodore Chairman Irving Gould is quoted as saying that the
company plans to introduce new products in its Amiga multimedia
line before the Christmas season. Amiga revenues were flat from
91 to 92, said the company. Gould also said Commodore was
"redoubling our efforts to expand our PC business and achieve
substantially greater cost efficiencies."

In a survey released yesterday by the Software Publisher's Association,
Commodore did not fare well. Sales of recreation applications
running in the Apple II, Commodore, and Atari ST formats
steadily declined since 1988, the report said. Sales of recreation
software in the Amiga format declined in 1991 after growing in
1989 and 1990, the SPA reported.

In addition to the C64 line, which helped popularize home computing,
Commodore manufactures and markets the Amiga multimedia line,
DOS-based PCs, and CDTV compact disk-based systems. Used Commodore
systems are available for as low as $250 including a color monitor,
and for $500 you can buy a used system that includes lots of
software, a printer, and a hard drive for around $500.

(Jim Mallory/19920820/Press contact: Ron Alexander, Commodore Intl,
215-431-9100)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(SFO)(00027)

Everex Settles Discrimination Suit With Govt 08/20/92
FREMONT, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 20 (NB) -- Everex
Systems has reportedly settled a discrimination suit with the
US Department of Labor. The dispute involves allegations of
racial and gender discrimination of employees and employee applicants.

According to published reports, the Labor Department claims that Everex
will pay a total of $166,000 to a group of 39 black and Hispanic
job applicants who were denied employment at the company although
they were qualified. Additionally, those workers involved will all
now be offered positions with Everex.

A Labor Department spokesman told Reuters that the agreement
resulted from a government audit of its contractors, not from
any complaints by disgruntled individuals.

Reuters reported a spokesman for Everex, as saying that the
discrimination problems occurred during a "period of rapid growth"
in employment. "Obviously, we wish it hadn't happened," the
spokesman is quoted as saying. The spokesman claimed that
in 1988, Everex employed 1,050 people and in 1990, its
employment jumped to 24,080.

No one in Everex Systems' press relations, public relations,
legal departments, or human resources departments were
available for comment by Newsbytes' press time.

(Ian Stokell/19920820)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SFO)(00028)

Trigo Offers Free Money Manager To BBS/800 Callers 08/20/92
COSTA MESA, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 20 (NB) -- Trigo is
offering a "free version" of its Tree Based Money Manager to anyone
who logs onto their BBS (bulletin board system) or calls their
800 number. Tree Based is described by the company as a cross
between Quicken and Lotus 1-2-3.

According to Jon Berry, author of Tree Based Money Manager: "It's
completely free. And it's not shareware. With shareware, the user
is obligated to pay a registration fee after a specified time period.
With our free promotional version, there is no obligation. A user
can continue to use the 'free version' legitimately without paying
a dime."

Matt Berry, brother of Jon and spokesman for the company,
told Newsbytes that the free version "will always be free"
on the BBS. In October, anyone wanting the version mailed to
them will be charged $3.

The company claims that the free software is not a crippled
working model and it does not have an expiration date attached to
it. According to Berry, "We want to be the 'number one' money
manager and we can't do that if people don't know us or our unique
way of managing money. We also expect Tree Based users to like
the program so much that they'll upgrade to our latest...versions."

According to the company, as well as being free, the "Tree Based
Free Version" can be copied for others. The company also lets
companies bundle the Free Version with other products -- at no
charge. Also, vendors are allowed to collect small distribution
fees and bulletin board system operators can have the free version
on their BBSs.

The software requires 512 kilobytes (KB) RAM and DOS 2.1 or
higher, and supports both monochrome and color monitors.

Anyone interested can get the free promotional version via
Trigo's BBS at 714-642-7627 (1200/2400 N,8,1) or via mail
(call 800-MNY-TREE).

The latest version, 2.5E, has an official list price of $89.95
but Trigo is offering a user drive special of $49.95 until
April 30, 1993. Tree Based 2.5E comes with a 200 page manual,
"context sensitive help," online prompts, and eight on-line
tutorials.

Matt Berry told Newsbytes that the free version and the 2.5E
version have two main differences. The "E" stands for "expanded"
which designates that the 2.5E version can handle expanded
memory. Also, the free version can handle 100 accounts per file,
which Berry maintained as perfectly adequate for a working
version. The 2.5E version, meanwhile handles "a maximum of
1,000 accounts per file."

(Ian Stokell/19920820/Press & Public Contact: Matt Berry,
Trigo, 714-642-5387)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SFO)(00029)

Maxell Claims New Floppies Enhance Laptop PCs 08/20/92
FAIR LAWN, NEW JERSEY, 1992 AUG 20 (NB) -- Hoping to take
advantage of the current trend in portable computing,
Maxell has announced a new high-density floppy disks that are
claimed to increase durability to withstand the harsh
environments often associated with laptop computing applications.

The company claims that the new disks, called Super RD II,
incorporate a variety of enhancements to secure the integrity of
data on the road.

Leesa Young, Maxell's product and marketing services manager,
said: "With the proliferation of laptop computers and other
mobile computing applications, floppy disks are no longer confined
to the relatively clean environment of the office. Floppy disks are
now exposed to a variety of new hazards, from dusty jacket pockets
and airborne dirt to airline snacks."

The company claims that the 3.5-inch Super RD II diskettes
incorporate a shock-resistant shutter mechanism, found only in
Maxell disks. The firm maintains that the "unique Flex-Shutter will
not pop off the disk if it is dropped or subjected to other accidental
shocks."

"When a disk is dropped, it often causes the shutter to pop off,
rendering it useless and losing valuable data," said Young. "The
dual interlocking mechanism molded into the flex shutter firmly
affixes the shutter to the shell so it will not pop off, even if
thrown against a wall."

The company maintains that the Flex-Shutter is composed of a
non-abrasive, pliable material that firmly adheres to the disk
shell. The material is claimed to keep out minute particles that
contaminate the disk surface and the read/write head of the
floppy disk drive. It is even claimed that repeated openings of
the shutter -- as many as 40,000 times -- will not create slide
dust, the metal shavings that can damage the magnetic surface of
the disk. Also, an anti-static agent added to the resin of the shutter
eliminates static electricity, which attracts dust and dirt like a
magnet.

The company also claims that, if foreign particles or dirt from
the floppy disk drive heads make contact with the magnetic media,
a multi-layer cleaning liner will remove them so they cannot
scratch the surface of the disk. Particles picked up by the surface
of the liner are transferred to an inner layer, where they cannot
make contact again with the disk surface.

Additionally, the new disks reduce the strain on the floppy disk
drive by controlling the lubricant on the disk surface. This
contributes to a smoother disk surface that reduces the torque,
or energy required to rotate the disk.

The company's release maintains that Super RD II high density disks are
now shipping in 3.5-inch blank and formatted configurations.
By Newsbytes' deadline, spokespeople from Maxell and its public
relations agency had not returned calls to provide the retail
cost of the new disks.

(Ian Stokell/19920820/Press Contact: James Sciales, Dorf &
Stanton, 212-420-8100)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SFO)(00030)

In Focus And Motorola To Make Liquid Crystal Displays 08/20/92
TUALATIN, OREGON, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 20 (NB) -- Hoping to
capture a major share of the domestic liquid crystal display (LCD)
market, In Focus Systems and Motorola have agreed, in principle,
to form a joint venture to manufacture LCDs in the United States.

Steven R. Hix, chairman of the board for In Focus, told Newsbytes
that the joint venture with Motorola is very important to the
company.

"From a financial point of view," he said, In Focus has been "doing
very well" on its own, and the company does "not have to have"
the deal. The most important thing coming out of the agreement is
the joint venture, he said. LCD manufacturing, Hix told Newsbytes,
is something In Focus has been "wanting to get into for a long time."
Teaming up with Motorola, Hix said, "increases the chances of
success" of the project a great deal.

According to the companies, nearly all of the world's
high resolution LCDs are currently manufactured in the Pacific
Rim. The companies claim that the new Portland-based
manufacturing facility, if constructed, will allow the two
companies to apply In Focus' proprietary new Active Addressing
technology to a broad range of portable computing and
communications display products.

Additionally, as part of the agreement, and subject to the execution
of definitive agreements, Motorola will take a minority shareholder
position of 20 percent in In Focus by purchasing 2.2 million shares
of In Focus stock at a price of $10 per share.

"We believe Active Addressing technology will substantially
improve the price/performance of passive matrix liquid crystal
displays," said Hix. "We are also pleased that a company with
Motorola's reputation for high quality and technological excellence
shares that vision."

The companies hope that the joint venture will begin producing
small LCDs (6.5 inches or less) by the end of 1994 for initial use in
products such as projection systems and personal communications
devices. Plans call for later expansion of the plant's capacity
to produce larger format displays for the broader market.

The joint venture will also be responsible for marketing
application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) manufactured
by Motorola that embody the Active Addressing technology.
The companies expect these ASICs to be in production and
available worldwide by the end of 1993. The Active Addressing
technology is designed to deliver video speeds and high contrast
to a broad range of applications using the proven high yields and
low cost of passive matrix LCD technology.

Robert Growney, senior vice president and general manager of
Motorola's Paging and Wireless Data Group, said: "In Focus has
developed a key core technology that we believe will dramatically
impact the LCD industry. In this joint venture, we will be bringing
together unique skill sets from each partner to firmly establish
this breakthrough in the market."

In April Newsbytes reported that In Focus Systems has settled
its patent suit with Proxima Corporation. The suit sought to recover
damages from Proxima for infringement of a color display system
patent held by In Focus. Proxima denied infringement and filed
counterclaims alleging that the patent was invalid. Proxima
also alleged unfair competition and violation of the federal
antitrust laws. Eventually, each company has granted the
other a nonexclusive license under certain of their respective
color display technology patents.

In February Newsbytes reported that In Focus Systems had
announced four new LCD projection panels, including the 7600XGA,
which the company maintained was the industry's first 1024 by
760 resolution LCD projection panel.

(Ian Stokell/19920820/Press Contact: Joseph I. Martin, In Focus
Systems, 503-692-4968; George Grimsrud, Motorola, 708-576-
2346)