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/nb921009

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(NEWS)(APPLE)(SYD)(00001)

Apple Australia Cuts Prices Again 10/09/92
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA 1992 OCT 9 (NB) -- It's new model time for Apple,
and in Australia the company has reduced the RRP of many models by
an average of 17 percent.

The reductions apply to machines from the bottom Classics to
Quadras. The Classic II 2/40 was AUS$2595 and is now AUS$1995 (around
US$1430). Other models reduced include the LC II, IIsi, IIci,
Quadra 700 and 950, and the PowerBook 100.

Other items reduced include printers, the OneScanner, AppleCD
150, Ethernet cards, Quicktime starter kit, and System 7 group
upgrade. "Reducing our recommended retail prices provides more
aggressive price points across the Mac range and will enhance our
competitive market position," said David Strong, managing director
of Apple Australia. "This year Apple has seen solid gains in market
share, unit share and overall revenue growth while many of our
competitors have struggled to maintain their position. We intend
to continue our offensive posture by attracting new customers
through competitive pricing, excellent products and unmatched
value."

Apple hasn't released the Performa range in Australia, but
observers believe it will soon announce a deal with a leading
Australian department store group.

(Paul Zucker/19921009)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(LON)(00002)

New For Unix: Wordperfect Markup 10/09/92
ADDLESTONE, SURREY, ENGLAND, 1992 OCT 9 (NB) -- Wordperfect has
announced that Markup, the company's Standard Generalized Markup
Language (SGML) conversion program for Sun SPARC workstations
running Unix, has entered the final beta test stages.

Plans call for a fourth quarter shipment of the finished product,
with a DOS version being readied for a first quarter 1993
release, according to the company.

So what does Markup do for computer users? In use, the package
allows documents -- as well as text files -- to be converted
between Wordperfect and the SGML formats. The SGML data format is
fast becoming a de facto standard among SPARC workstation
applications software companies.

Not that Markup stops there -- the package also allows document
conversion between Wordperfect and MS-Word, Word for Windows,
Wordstar, Multimate, Ami Pro and Displaywrite formats, all of
which can also be converted to SGML file formats.

Unlike DOS and OS/2 file format converters, moving data to and
from the SPARC workstation environment means that a lot more
information, including tags and special formatting commands, must
be included. While some Unix applications will import ASCII
files, much of the formatting information is lost. Markup gets
round this problem by allowing the user to edit a file as it is
converted, so as to prevent any problems occurring, once the file
is loaded into an SGML format application under Unix.

Wordperfect claims that the look and feel of Markup's editing
mode is very similar to that of Wordperfect. Text attributes,
such as bolding, underlining, and centering are maintained to
preserve the documents visual appearance. Files converted from
SGML format are not stripped of their Unix format codes. Instead,
the tags are replaced by passive function codes which are brought
back to operation when the file is passed back into SGML file
format.

Pricing on Markup for Unix/SGML has yet to be announced. Formal
shipment details will be announced shortly, the company says.

(Steve Gold/19921008/Press & Public Contact: Wordperfect U.K. -
Tel: [phone]; Fax: [phone])


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(LON)(00003)

UK: Astair Conference Details 10/09/92
DORKING, SURREY, ENGLAND, 1992 OCT 9 (NB) -- The organizers of
the Astair '92 conference and exhibition, which takes place in
London from November 9-11, have announced firm details of the
event to the press.

As reported previously by Newsbytes, the aim of the conference is
to introduce anyone involved with or interested in the air
transport industry with the latest computer hardware and software
systems available.

Sponsors of the event include Lufthansa, LIS (a company that
offers electronic data processing systems to the air travel
industry) and Symbolics Systemshaus, a German systems house.

According to Astair, other sponsors of the three-day event, which
takes place at the exhibition center at One Great George Street
in London, include Prolog System, which will showing applications
of its software at the show; plus Swissair Cargo, which claims to
operate one of the most sophisticated cargo information systems
in the air travel industry.

One company that plans to show its technology at the event is
Marconi Radar and Control Systems. According to the company, with
the increasing amount of surveillance carried in modern times,
there is a growing need for automatic or semi-automatic methods
of processing the resultant data.

GEC Marconi & Control Systems will be demonstrating its
technology that uses this data at the Astair '92 event. Video and
live demonstrations of the company's systems used with a Boeing
737 will be shown at the exhibition. The technology on show at
Astair '92 will be the culmination of four years intensive
research and development, the company claims.

(Steve Gold/19921008/Press & Public Contact: Astair '92 - Tel:
0306-631331; Fax: [phone])


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(LAX)(00004)

HP's New Color Printers Simultaneously Print Black 10/09/92
PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 OCT 9 (NB) -- Hewlett-
Packard (HP) says it will offer November 1 a new laser-quality
printer that allows simultaneous black and color printing. The
new HP printer is called the HP Deskjet 550C for IBM and
compatible personal computers (PCs) and the HP Deskwriter 550C
in the Macintosh version, HP added.

The new printers offer 300 dots-per-inch (dpi) resolution and
use HP's thermal ink jet technology, the company said.

Two print cartridges held simultaneously allow for the printing
of true black and color on the same page, HP maintains. Dual
cartridges also mean printing of a text and color page is up to
four times faster with a speed of 3 pages per minute for text
and 4 to 7 pages per minute for color and text. Actual print
speed depends on the application and the density of the ink,
according to HP.

Up to 16 million colors can be printed, depending on the
software used, by dithering the three process-color inks (cyan,
magenta, yellow) in the print cartridge. A color matching
system is offered for both the Macintosh and PC printers to
match the colors on screen to the colors printed.

Software drivers for Windows 3.1 and 3.0 ship with the HP
Deskjet 550C for PCs and for Macintosh users the HP Deskwriter
550C comes with a Quickdraw software driver that uses
Intellifont font-scaling technology. The software included also
allows for the screen to paper color matching, HP said.

The PC version of the software supports Windows scalable fonts
and Truetype fonts. In addition, under DOS the printer adds
portrait Univers, landscape Letter Gothic, and portrait CG
Times sizes to the fonts available previously on the HP Deskjet
500C printer. All available fonts are offered in plain, bold,
italic, bold-italic in multiple sizes, HP said.

Macintosh users get the same 35 scalable fonts found in the
Apple Personal Laserwriter NT and NTR printers. Time,
Helvetica, Courier, Symbol, ITC Avante Garde Gothic, ITC
Bookman, New Century Schoolbook, Palatino, ITC Zapf Chancery,
and ITC Zapf Dingbats are the fonts included, the company said.

DOS users will find they can print ASCII text in red, green,
blue, cyan, magenta, yellow, and, of course, black. Color
printing of ASCII text is a new feature in the HP Deskjet 550C,
HP said.

The company says both printers allow printing on wider paper
than traditionally possible including envelopes and executive
size ( 7 1/4-inch by 10 1/2-inch) paper. Automatic envelope
feeding, as well as automatic feed of letter, legal, A4 and
executive paper sizes are accomplished via a new paper handling
mechanism with a tray that will hold 100 sheets of paper. The
tray will also hold 100 sheets of transparency film or 20
envelopes, HP said.

The new printers are list priced at $1,099 and HP says it has
lowered the price on its HP Deskjet 500C and HP Deskwriter C
printers from the former $1,095 list price to $799, effective
now. HP says it offers a three year warranty on all the Deskjet
and Deskwriter printers mentioned.

HP has lead the industry for some time with is line of laser
printers for the desktop printing market. The company has also
announced a portable ink jet printer small enough to fit into a
briefcase yet with a print resolution of 300 dpi also set for
release in November.

Palo Alto, California-based HP boasts 90,900 employees and
revenues of $14.5 billion in 1991. The company also
manufacturers workstations, PCs, calculators, and a line of
scientific, test, and measurement tools.

(Linda Rohrbough/19921008/Press Contact: Jeremy James, Hewlett-
Packard, tel [phone], fax [phone]; Public Contact
Hewlett-Packard Co., Direct Marketing Organization, PO Box
58059, MS511L-SJ, Santa Clara, CA 95-51-8059, tel [phone])


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(MOW)(00005)

Old Nokia Cellular Goes To Uzbekistan 10/09/92
MOSCOW, RUSSIA, 1992 OCT 9 (NB) -- Nokia has put its outdated 450 MHz
cellular phone system in one more country of the former Soviet Union.

The Nokia-made MNT-450 cellular system is being put into operation in
Tashkent, the Uzbek capital city, by the joint venture called Uzdunrobita.
Uzdunrobita is made up of the local communications monopoly and the
International Communications Group of Los Angeles, California, which
has also engaged in the "media buying service. The latter also had
sales last year of US$192 million.

The system is due to be available early next week, but Newsbytes
Moscow was unable to obtain information about the service's
pricing.

(Kirill Tchashchin/19921009)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(TYO)(00006)

Parallel Fuzzy Processor From Oki Electric 10/09/92
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1992 OCT 9 (NB) -- Oki Electric says it has developed
a fuzzy processor chip with a parallel processing feature. This
chip has data processing power similar to that of human
brain, according to Oki, which plans to release this chip, a
world's first, in November.

Oki's fuzzy chip, called the "MSM91U112," has multiple processors
which can process data simultaneously. As a result, the processing
speed is extremely fast -- 25 kilo FLOPS (floating point processing per
second) or 25,000 inference calculations per second.

Oki had the assistance of researchers from Kumamoto University in
the development of this chip's architecture. The chip was created
using top-of-the-line CAD (computer-aided design) and 1.2 micron
CMOS processing technologies.

Oki's chip is equipped with inference and calculation features,
meaning that users do not need basic software or application programs,
according to Oki. All users have to do is to set the rules according
to each usage.

This chip is expected to be applied to industrial equipment and
information processing devices which require super-fast data processing.

Oki will start shipping the beta version of this chip November
1, and plans to go into mass production of the chip by March 1993.
The firm is preparing to ship a whopping 120,000 units
per month. The retail price of the chip will be 2,500 yen ($20).

(Masayuki "Massey" Miyazawa/19921009/Press Contact: Oki Electric,
[phone])


(NEWS)(APPLE)(MOW)(00007)

Apple Changes Russian Distributor 10/09/92
MOSCOW, RUSSIA, 1992 OCT 9 (NB) -- As earlier rumored, a new authorized
Apple distributor was appointed in Russia, replacing the Intermicro
joint venture. The new distributor is the RUI company, which will
sell Macintoshes in Russia, Byelorussia, Georgia, Latvia, Lithuania,
and Armenia.

The contract between Intermicro and Apple expired on September
30th, and the new appointment was announced five days later.

As Newsbytes reported a month ago, RUI is a 100% Western-owned company
incorporated in Moscow, Russia. It is headed by James Guidi who, in early
1990, founded Apple's Independent Marketing Company for Czechoslovakia,
TIS, now Apple's most successful distributor in Eastern Europe.

"The key to success in developing new markets lies in the implementation
of Apple's strategy by a local team of professionals with expertise and
understanding of the local market," Guidi was quoted as saying.

Guidi's deputy, sales division manager for large and institutional
accounts, Nicolaj Fedoulov, was until recently vice president of Merisel
Russia.

Apple is said to be using localized hardware and software made by a
number of development teams in Moscow. According to the official press
release, the availability of Russian language software and Apple
products spurred Apple's sales in several sectors, such as car
manufacturing, and business and publishing, during the first year
of distribution of Apple products in the Russian market.

Another source says that first year sales made by the Intermicro joint
venture were not that successful, and it probably was the reason why
Intermicro lost its exclusive status, although it remains one of
Apple's leading value-added resellers.

RUI said it plans to appoint distributors in other former Soviet
Republics. Ukraine and Estonia were dropped from the list of
countries where RUI is expected to work. Newsbytes was told that
sales in Estonia will be made from the nearest Finnish outlet, and some
other arrangements will be made for Ukraine, the second largest
republic in the former Soviet Union.

RUI is located in downtown Moscow at 8, Moskvina Street, 103772
Moscow Russia. Contact phone [phone]; fax [phone].

(Kirill Tchashchin/199201008/Press Contact: Cecilia Ghivarello of Apple
Computer Europe, Paris, 33-1-4901-4901, or Jennifer O'Mahony of Apple
Computer, 408-974-0643)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TYO)(00008)

Japan: ASCII Announces Rationalization Plan 10/09/92
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1992 OCT 9 (NB) -- Deficit-ridden ASCII Corporation
in Japan has announced a rationalization plan to improve the firm's
financial situation. This plan will be backed up by six major
Japanese banks.

The plan calls for the sales and scrapping of subsidiaries and pay
cuts for board members. ASCII's rationalization plan, still
provisional, includes other drastic measures. The firm will retreat
from its satellite telecommunication business and its venture
with a Chinese firm.

ASCII will sell or scrap several affiliated firms, which are
currently operating in red and there is no hope of recovery in the
near future. These firms include ASCII-China Software, Personal
Satellite Telecommunication Network Planning and ASCII Air Network.
Interestingly, ASCII Air Network is a heliport's operating firm and
it has nothing to do with personal computers or telecommunication.
ASCII will also sell off its real estate in overseas. Another plan
is to cut the firm's 100 employees by next April. Currently, total
number of ASCII's employee is 747. ASCII expects to cut 500 million
yen ($4 million) per year in this reduction. Also, ASCII will
concentrate its offices in Aoyama. ASCII has currently a number of
offices in Tokyo and they are scattered. With this rationalization,
ASCII eyes to reduce the rent by another 500 million yen per year.

Meanwhile, ASCII will retain its equity in 11 firms including
software firm Informix.

All these rationalization plans are expected to go far in reducing
ASCII's 32.2 billion yen ($270 million) debt.

(Masayuki "Massey" Miyazawa/19921009/Press Contact: ASCII, +81-3-
3797-6506)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(DEL)(00009)

India: US-Based Quality Group Enlists Firm 10/09/92
NEW DELHI, INDIA, 1992 OCT 9 (NB) -- The Information Technology Division
of Intecos, a Delhi-based consultancy organization, has tied up with
the United States-based Quality Assurance Institute (QAI), claimed to
be the world's largest organization dedicated to quality for the
information systems industry.

Formed in 1980, QAI is a service-oriented institute that shares quality
assurance methods, tools, techniques among its more than 1000 member
organizations like IBM, AT&T, Citibank, Coca Cola, Kodak, and Xerox.
The companies hail from the USA, UK, Canada, Australia, Singapore,
and Saudi Arabia.

In India, Citicorp Overseas Software Ltd. (COSL) is already a
member. This tie-up will also allow Intecos to avail QAI's three volume-
quality assurance manual for various related formalities.

QAI also provides certification services at individual levels -- a company
can get to be a certified quality analyst (CAQ) by fulfilling the
necessary criteria. As a forum for quality improvement, the
organization conducts conferences, seminars, video training programs,
and provides in-house training and support.

To mark the agreement, a series of seminars on implementation of
a software measurement program and total quality management for
software functions was recently organized.

With the impending possibility of a unified European market despite
the current tangles, Indian companies are increasing warming to the
ISO 9000 certification for quality, declared as mandatory for
exports into Europe.

(C.T. Mahabharat/19921007)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(DEN)(00010)

Another Photo Stock Agency To Use Kodak's Photo-CD 10/09/92
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 OCT 9 (NB) -- Another
professional stock photo agency has signed on to market its photos
on Kodak's recently announced Photo CD.

Kodak recently introduced Photo CD, a technique for 35mm photos to
be stored on a special compact disk (CD) for later viewing on a
television or editing on a personal computer equipped with a
compatible CD-ROM (compact disk-read only memory) drive.

Photo stock agencies manage huge quantities of photographs shot by
professional photographers, marketing the pictures to potential
users like magazines, for a percentage of the fee.

The newest agency to put its catalog on a Photo-CD is Westlight,
said to be one of the largest stock photo agencies in the world.
Kodak is hedging its bets by marketing Photo-CD for both amateur
photo storage and for professional image catalog purposes. A recent
Newsbytes story reported that one commercial photo finisher, with
laboratories across the country, had installed the special equipment
necessary to store the photos on compact disk.

Because of Photo-CD's multi-platform capabilities, Westlight's
catalog will be available for viewing on IBM-compatible or Apple
Computer's Macintosh computers. Special search software will be
included to search for specific types of images. Once an art
director, graphic designer, or multimedia producer selects an image,
the original is ordered from the stock agency.

Westlight's first Photo CD catalog disk will contain 3,000 images,
and is expected to be available in late October.

(Jim Mallory/19921009/Press contact: John Boal, Alpern Laner &
Strong for Westlight, 310-478-1877; Reader contact: Westlight,
800-872-7872)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(DEN)(00011)

Texas Instruments Intros New Chip 10/09/92
HOUSTON, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1992 OCT 9 (NB) -- Texas Instruments
(TI) says it has started selling samples of a new microprocessor it
developed jointly with Sun Microsystems Computer Corporation.

The company says the chip, which is selling in sample quantities for
$500 and is expected to reach volume production in the fourth
quarter, will sell for $179 per chip in 10,000-unit lots.

According to TI the chip, dubbed microSPARC, will allow computer
manufacturers to product smaller commercial workstations at a much
lower cost, making workstations competitively priced with advanced
personal computers (PCs) but offering superior performance. The
single chip reportedly combines the features usually found in
companion chips with the SPARC-compatible processor currently used
in the majority of workstations. More features on a single chip
means smaller commercial workstations can be produced more quickly
at a much lower cost, according to the TI announcement.

"In the near future, businesses desiring workstation performance
will be able to choose among a variety of systems in the same price
range as a high-end personal computer," said Wally Rhines, executive
vice president, TI semiconductor group.

"With microSPARC, we met the challenge of workstation manufacturers
who wanted reduced size, cost and chip count while maintaining
workstation performance and ease-of-use," Rhines said.

The microSPARC processor sets a new standard for next generation,
low-cost full-function workstations, according to Mark Johnston,
executive vice president of Axil Workstations, a division of Hyundai
Electronics America. "microSPARC will allow us to deliver low-cost
systems that will be able to run the entire base of SPARC
applications."

This marks the second in a series of products jointly developed by
TI and SMCC. SuperSPARC, announced in May, is an advanced RISC
microprocessor for the newest generation of workstations and is
already in volume production. In addition, the two companies say
they are developing very high-performance, next-generation
extensions of SuperSPARC.

(Jim Mallory/19921009/Press contact: Rickie Rosenberg, TI,
713-274-2262)


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

Infomart Will Open For Networld Attendees 10/09/92
DALLAS, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1992 OCT 9 (NB) -- Attendees at Networld next
week will have the opportunity to combine business with conviviality
when they visit Infomart Tuesday evening.

Executives at the 1.6 million square foot technology center say it
will open its doors to Networld attendees from 5PM to 8:30PM
Tuesday, October 13th to show the latest in networking products and
technologies.

Jeff Anderson, Infomart director of corporate communications, says
more than a dozen vendors will be hosting hospitality receptions for
Networld attendees. Anderson said the highlight of the evening will
be the demonstration of true multi-vendor connectivity using the
facility's own building-wide data communications network, MartNet.

Anderson said more than 10,000 person-hours have gone into the
planning, development, and implementation of the MartNet since it was
introduced one year ago. An advisory council representing Apple,
Novell, IBM, NCR, and Xerox has worked for eight months to resolve
such issues as communications protocols, security, and availability
of the various vendors equipment used in the network.

InfoMart spokesperson Alan Weinkrantz told Newsbytes that MartNet
includes 700 nodes on its fiber optic network, connecting resident
companies, trade show halls, conference rooms, and an auditorium.
MartNet supports Ethernet and Token-Ring topologies, and will soon
support FDDl, according to Weinkrantz.

Weinkrantz said bus transportation will be provided from Networld.
A Networld badge is required for admittance, said Weinkrantz.

(Jim Mallory/19921009/Press contact: Jeff Anderson, Infomart,
214-746-3605)


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

Toshiba Intros 1.2GB 3.5-Inch Winchester Drive 10/09/92
IRVINE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 OCT 9 (NB) -- Toshiba America
Information Systems Inc., Disk Products Division has introduced
a new 1.2GB (formatted), 3.5-inch Winchester disk drive that the
the company claims is one of the first of that capacity to ship
in volume.

Karen Allen, spokesperson for the company, told Newsbytes that
the MK-538FB is manufactured in the company's San Jose,
California, facility and is available immediately. She added that:
"It's an OEM (original equipment manufacturer) product, but I
also believe it's being sold through distribution as well."

The company says that the 90,000-square-foot San Jose
facility began operation in the second quarter of 1991, and is
the headquarters for all Toshiba high-capacity 3.5-inch hard
disk drive design, development, and manufacturing.

Dave Tovey, vice president marketing, hard disk drives, TAIS DPD,
said: "The MK-538FB represents the second in our family of
high-capacity, high-performance 3.5-inch Winchester disk
drives. It follows the field-proven performance and reliability
of our 877MB MK-438FB drive."

According to the company, the MK-538FB combines a 12
millisecond (ms) average seek time with 512 kilobytes (KB) of
on-board cache memory. The eight-platter drive also features an
in-built SCSI (Small Computer System Interface)-2 controller
and supports a 10 megabyte (MB)/second data transfer rate.

The drive uses only 10 watts of power. The company also claims
that the drive is already qualified with all major controllers and
is Novell NetWare and SPARC certified.

The MK-538FB comes with a three-year warranty is priced at
$2,395 in single quantities. It is available immediately both
directly and from Toshiba distributors. Said Tovey: "As
manufacturing volumes continue to increase, we expect the
MK-538FB will be the first high-capacity drive to break the
$1-per-megabyte barrier for large OEMs (original equipment
manufacturers)."

In terms of target market, Allen also told Newsbytes that the
drive "...would be used in workstations. In PCs, probably ones
that were looking for graphics...(and)...high capacity storage.
It could also be used as a file server as it is Novell certified.
It is also Sparc-verified." Additionally, it could also be used
for disk arrays, she added.

(Ian Stokell/19921010/Press Contact: Karen Allen, The
Benjamin Group, 714-753-0755)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00014)

 ****Law Against Cellular Scanners Passed 10/09/92
WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A., 1992 OCT 9 (NB) -- With almost no
fanfare or opposition, Congress passed and President Bush is
expected to sign a law banning certain types of radio scanners.
The scanners in question are those which can be easily modified
to listen-in on cellular phone frequencies.

Such scanners have been used in the past by electronic "peeping
Toms," but also more seriously by business and political spies.
The most notorious case of such a use came in Virginia, where
eavesdropped conversations of Gov. Douglas Wilder about Sen. Charles
Robb spurred a running feud which hurt both men. From now on such
scanners will not be able to get Federal Communications
Commission certification, and can't be sold.

While there have been laws against listening to cellular calls
since 1986, scanners which could pick up those frequencies have
not been outlawed until now. The only prosecutions under the 1986
law have involved taped conversations that became public. But
now, scanners capable of picking up cellular frequencies are
themselves illegal.

The law anticipates the coming conversion of US cellular networks to
TDMA or CDMA digital standards by also banning digital converters,
which could descramble conversations on those systems. The bill also
requires that operators of caller-paid 900 numbers give consumers
more details on charges before demanding payment.

But 37 state attorneys general called for further action on the
900-number front. They charged that some marketers are luring
consumers into calling 800-numbers, which tell the consumers to
wait for the marketer to call back. The return calls may be
charged to consumers at a rate of up to $4 per minute, the
officials said. Pennsylvania Attorney General Ernie Preate said
that, once consumers are connected by a schemer to a toll-free
line, they may get the victim to hit some buttons or charge for
staying on the line to get further information.

Another scam noted by Wisconsin officials is switching consumers
between the toll-free 800 exchange and the caller-paid 900 exchange
without their knowledge. The attorneys want the US government to ban
the use of toll-free lines by pay-per-call telemarketers.

A spokesman for the FCC told Newsbytes the agency began holding
hearings with the industry today. The hearings are aimed at seeing
what can be done to halt those abuses.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19921009/Press Contact: FCC Press, 202-632-
5050)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00015)

FCC Moves on PCN, Foreign Competition 10/09/92
WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A., 1992 OCT 9 (NB) -- The FCC granted
tentative approval for three "pioneer preferences" on microwave-
based PCN phone systems, and moved to increase competition in the
US telecommunications market from international phone
companies.

American Personal Communications, which is 70 percent owned by
the Washington Post, along with Cox Enterprises and Omnipoint
Communications, were given the preferences. A total of 53 other
applicants were turned down, and might be expected to press their
cases in court. APC was named for its spectrum-sharing
techniques, Cox for links to its own cable television systems,
and Omnipoint for new techniques that would promote still other
new services and developments.

British firms are most likely to benefit from a mutual
agreement the FCC proposed to let their companies into the U.S.
provided they maintain open home markets. The agency said it
would also ease its rules on "dominant" carriers, on a route-by-
route basis, if those carriers let US companies into their
markets. That would mean ending discrimination between how their
own outgoing calls are handled and how incoming calls from other
carriers are handled. The change was requested by AT&T, which
fears letting carriers like Deutsche Telekom into the US market
when it can't get recipricol access to the German market.

Among the beneficiaries will be US companies like Global Net Link of
Lakewood, Colorado, a service bureau which can link international
offices of US companies to their home offices at claimed
savings of 80 percent over using local carriers.

In other action, Fonorola and EMI Communications were authorized
to sell private line and switched telephone services, using
satellites, between the US and Canada, because equivalent
opportunities are available in Canada. And regulators approved the
setting aside of frequencies for satellite-delivered digital radio.
Before Satellite CD Radio, the only applicant for the license,
can get into business, however, it must raise $200 million,
launch a satellite in 1996, and receive final approve to offer 30
channels of commercial-free music at $5-10 per month. Another
small company, Afrispace, wants to use similar technology to beam
commercial radio broadcasts internationally. The National
Association of Broadcasters opposed that action, claiming it
could put them out of business. They prefer to be given the
rights to offer digital radio on a local basis.

Finally, the FCC asked AT&T to better explain how they can use
credit cards on pay phones. The problem is new AT&T cards can
only be used at pay phones linked directly to AT&T, unless
special access numbers are used. The long distance competitors
had complained about the new card. In the long run, the FCC wants
to find simpler ways for consumers to use the credit card of
their choice at any pay phone without entering the codes.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19921009/Press Contact: FCC Press, 202-632-
5050; Carl Rogers, Global Net Link, 303-988-3003)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00016)

International Telecom Update 10/09/92
ATLANTA, GEORGIA, U.S.A., 1992 OCT 9 (NB) -- US companies
continue to expand their international influence.

NYNEX said it has a 13-year contract to publish the Czech Yellow
Pages and White Pages. NYNEX' Mediatel subsidiary is now the
"real Yellow Pages" publisher for SPT-Praha, the Czech national
telephone company. NYNEX bought Mediatel from Deficom of Belgium
in 1991.

Ameritech extended its control over Telecom Corp. of New Zealand
by naming two of its executives to the company's board.
Ameritech and Bell Atlantic hold 69 percent of the company's
outstanding share capital.

Over the Atlantic, MCI turned on a VSAT satellite network for
Holiday Inns Worldwide, the hotel chain owned by the Bass Group
of England. The network carries data over the Intelsat VI
satellite, and will be used to link the chain's US data center
to reservation information in 400 Western Europe hotels. General
Motors' Hughes Network Systems unit did the actual work.

In Mexico, Telmex ordered two more Ultraphone systems, for $2
million. The International Mobile Machines Ultraphone uses
digital TDMA technology and a fixed base station to deliver the
equivalent of wired phone service to rural areas. To date, total
Ultraphone orders from Telmex are worth $24 million. Southwestern
Bell, which owns 11 percent of Telmex, is a big booster of the
TDMA technology over a competing standard called CDMA.

Elswhere in Latin America, Compania de Telefonos de Chile said
it could take 40 percent of that nation's long distance market
if allowed in . CTC, a public company which is 43.6 percent owned
by Telefonica de Espana of Spain, is trying to get into a market
dominated by Empresa Nacional de Telecomunicaciones, known as
Entel. CTC wants Chile's Congress to liberalize its
telecommunications law, claiming it could offer lower prices.

Also, Brazil said its privatization efforts will continue
following the replacement of impeached president Fernando Collor
by vice president Itamar Franco. Privatizing state agencies
including the Telebras phone monopoly would raise capital that
can lower the country's foreign debts. Still, Brazil's stock
market has been falling in value since the power transfer.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19921009/Press Contact: Judy Blake, Hughes
Network Systems, 301-428-7113; FAX: [phone]; David L. Smith,
IMM, 215-278-7831; NYNEX, Neil Connors, 508/762-1329; Ameritech,
Mike Brand, 312/750-5219)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(TOR)(00017)

DEC Breaks Ground For Semiconductor Plant 10/09/92
HUDSON, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1992 OCT 9 (NB) -- Digital Equipment
has broken ground for what it said will be one of the world's most
advanced semiconductor plants. The 526,000-square-foot factory will
produce future generations of Digital's Alpha 64-bit
microprocessor.

Scheduled for completion in 1994, the plant is currently the
largest privately funded construction project in Massachusetts.
Manufacturing of Alpha products in Hudson will begin in 1996, DEC
officials said.

Company spokesman Richard Price told Newsbytes earlier that the
cost of the plant is estimated at about $425 million.

Robert E. Caldwell, DEC's vice-president of semiconductor
operations, hosted a ground-breaking ceremony. Massachusetts
Governor William F. Weld, Lieutenant Governor Paul Cellucci, Hudson
Board of Selectmen Chairman Joseph Durant, and Digital President
and Chief Executive Officer Robert B. Palmer also attended.

In his remarks Palmer called Alpha the foundation of a sound
business strategy into the next century, and said the company's
investments in semiconductor technology will form the basis for
leadership in open systems.

Earlier, in his inaugural speech as DEC's president and chief
executive on October 1, Palmer cited the Hudson plant as an example
of his company's intention to focus on "core competencies,"
including semiconductors.

Code-named Fab-6, designating the sixth version of Digital's
semiconductor fabrication operation, the project includes a
three-storey building of about 434,000 square feet, a separate
utility building of 82,000 square feet, and 8,800 square feet of
underground tunnels.

Fab-6 is adjacent to the current semiconductor facility which will
produce the first two generations of Alpha products. The older
plant will be converted for administrative purposes when the new
building is complete.

Because of the complexity of making chips, Price said, "it is more
cost-effective to build a new facility than to retrofit an old
one."

Digital also makes Alpha chips in South Queensferry, Scotland.

(Grant Buckler/19921009/Press Contact: Richard Price, Digital
Equipment, 508-493-2743)


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

Easel, Enfin Software Complete Merger 10/09/92
BURLINGTON, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1992 OCT 9 (NB) -- Easel
Corporation have completed a merger announced in August. Enfin has
become Enfin Technology Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of
Easel.

The deal gives Enfin shareholders 652,018 shares of Easel common
stock and Enfin option holders the right to purchase 293,422 shares
of Easel common stock. The total value of the transaction is about
$7.8 million, the companies said. The merger is being accounted for
as a pooling of interests, resulting in one-time additional
expenses of $1 million to $1.5 million in the third quarter of
1992.

As previously announced, Peter Eichhorst, currently the president
and chief executive of Enfin, will become senior vice-president of
Easel and president of the new subsidiary. He will report to R.
Douglas Kahn, president and chief executive of Easel.

Easel, based in Burlington, is the maker of Easel Workbench, a
software development environment meant for creating client/server
applications. Enfin, based in San Diego, offers Enfin/2 and
Enfin/3, sets of visual programming tools for programming in the
object-oriented language Smalltalk in client/server environments.

Easel will continue to sell and support both companies' products,
officials said. The company said it is committed to continued
development on both product lines and the Easel and Enfin
development teams will begin to work closely on the sharing of
features between the products. Longer term development will focus
on interoperability between the product lines.

Enfin Software employs 40 people and had annual revenues of about
$3 million in 1991. Easel has about 275 employees and reported
revenues of $28.3 million last year, a spokesman said.

(Grant Buckler/19921009/Press Contact: Douglas Clauson, Easel,
617-221-3088, fax [phone])


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TOR)(00019)

Virtual Reality Signs Financing Deal 10/09/92
PLEASANTVILLE, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1992 OCT 9 (NB) -- Virtual
Reality, Inc., has announced a financing agreement with the
Staubach Group of Wiesbaden, Germany, which has agreed to raise a
minimum of $4.5 million for VRI through licensing, joint venture
arrangements and equity financing.

No details of the transaction terms were disclosed. Once the
Staubach Group has obtained the financing, VRI officials said, the
company plans to apply for listing on the over-the-counter NASDAQ
stock trading system.

Virtual Reality's core technology group currently designs and
manufactures high-resolution graphic displays and optics --
critical elements in virtual reality -- for the medical,
entertainment, and education sectors.

Officials said the agreement will allow VRI to accelerate and
expand its high-resolution three-dimensional display work. The
company will also be able to go beyond creating components and
develop and market complete virtual reality systems, a spokeswoman
said.

VRI expects to take advantage of the Staubach Group's international
affiliations to license and market the virtual reality systems now
in development. The company expects to deliver its first
multi-component virtual reality prototype systems to the medical
and entertainment industries by January.

VRI was launched in January, 1991. Its chief executive officer is
Nelson Merritt, who was technical director of the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Apollo Mission
Simulator Program and a pioneer in virtual reality.

The Staubach Group is headed by Dr. Rainer Staubach, an
international corporate lawyer and merchant banker who has arranged
more than $75 million in financing.

(Grant Buckler/19921009/Press Contact: Valerie Shields, Shields
Communications for VRI, 312-489-6072; Public Contact: VRI,
914-769-0900)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(WAS)(00020)

ROUNDUP: Stories Carried By Other Media This Week 10/09/92
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1992 OCT 9 (NB) -- Roundup is a brief
look at some computer stories carried in other publications
received here this past week.

November's Boardwatch Magazine lists nearly 500 BBS in
Connecticut and explores the right and wrong way to put images
online legally.

The October 5 InformationWeek looks at Digital Equipment's
problems and new direction.

Software Magazine for October says that Travelers insurance is
successfully reengineering old COBOL code to reduce mainframe
costs.

CommunicationsWeek dated October 5 reports that users of Open
Shortest Path First protocol are finding that the present crop of
routers are not easy to integrate into existing systems.

October's High Tech Marketing News says that personal computer
makers are combating the recession by spending a lot more on
advertising. Zeos spent $18 million in the first half of 1992, up
44 percent; DEC bought 1,383 pages for $28 million, up 108
percent, and Gateway 2000 doubled its spending on ad space.

Computer Reseller News for the week of October 5 says that 486
sales are soaring so high that Compuadd and Leading Edge will
both stop making 386s.

Global Telephony for October 5 looks at the problems facing those
who want to migrate to broadband data transmission.

The October 27 issue of PC Magazine tests super-light subnotebook
computers.

IEEE Spectrum for October explores pervasive e-mail in the office
and also looks at fuzzy logic.

(John McCormick/19921009/)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SFO)(00021)

 ****HP To Eliminate 2700 Jobs 10/09/92
PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 OCT 9 (NB) -- With an
eventual target of about 2,700 employees leaving the company
by early 1993, Hewlett-Packard has begun offering a voluntary
severance-incentive (VSI) program to employees in selected job
categories. Two thousand of that number will be in the United
States.

HP intends to take a charge of approximately 40 cents per share
in the fourth quarter of its 1992 fiscal year, which ends October
31, to cover the costs of the VSI program and related facilities
consolidations.

Mary Lou Simmermacher, spokesperson for HP, told Newsbytes
that: "The sign-up period will be from November 30 through
January 6, and most people will leave by early 1993. Some
people may stay around until April if they have projects to
finish."

The company says that the VSI program in the United States
includes six months' pay plus one-half month's pay for each year
of HP service to a maximum of 12 months' pay. That figure
varies according outside the United States.

Simmermacher told Newsbytes that HP is offering the program
to: "...specific pockets of jobs in all our major business
organizations. It is really very focused on specific pockets."
She added that she could not give specifics until all the
employees eligible had been notified. She also declined to
name specific US locations affected.

John A. Young, HP president and chief executive officer, said:
"The VSI program is one of a number of workforce balancing
and expense-control options that we've used in the past to help
manage the changing needs of our business. Programs like this
have proven to be successful and equitable ways to adjust our
employment."

Said Simmermacher: "We have used these programs in the past
and they have been very successful. We expect this one to be
successful too."

In an added effort to reduce costs, many of the company's US
operations will close for three working days during the December
holidays. Additionally, some international operations also will
close for the holidays. Employees in the United States will be
required to take paid vacation December 29, 30 and 31 along
with paid holidays December 25, 28 and January 1.

(Ian Stokell/19921009/Press Contact: Mary Lou Simmermacher,
Hewlett-Packard Co., 415-857-7794)


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

Telxon Finishes Wal-Mart Contract 10/09/92
AKRON, OHIO, U.S.A., 1992 OCT 9 (NB) -- Financial markets
expressed concern as Telxon completed a major project with Wal-
Mart Stores. Telxon, a leading maker of bar code readers linked
to wirelesss LANs using spread-spectrum technology, finished
installing such networks based on its Dataspan 2000 system in all
of Wal-Mart's 1,804 stores nationwide. As a result, concern was
expressed on Wall Street concerning Telxon's December quarter,
along the lines of "what can they do for an encore."

Telxon won its award from Wal-Mart in February, and has since
supplied what amounts to a wireless, portable data transaction
system in each store, consisting of a central processor, a spread
spectrum communications controller, 8-16 Telxon terminals with
bar code scanners, and spread spectrum radios from Telesystems
SLW of Canada, which Telxon bought earlier this year. Wal-Mart
uses the system to verify prices, manage inventory and order
merchandise from anywhere in the store, linked to an in-store
computer running under Unix under the TCP/IP protocol. Each
wireless LAN is connected through the Unix-based systems from
NCR or Hewlett-Packard to Wal-Mart's satellite data network.
Telxon said it's the largest such installation in the world.

Telxon officials, meanwhile, have announced revised earnings
estimates for the quarter ending in September from 30-36
cents per share to 24 to 28 cents per share. Revenues were
about $66 million dollars. The price of the stock fell from $20 to
$17 in advance of the revision on Thursday.

The company blamed delays in the completion of some sales, and the
negative impact of foreign currency fluctuations, primarily in
Italy, for the lower estimate.

Another statement from the company is due later today.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19921009/Press Contact: Julie L. Ganim, Telxon
216-867-3700)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(DEN)(00023)

Miniscribe Executive Settles With Feds 10/09/92
DENVER, COLORADO, U.S.A., 1992 OCT 9 (NB) -- A former executive
of now defunct Miniscribe has settled his case with federal regulators
and agreed to pay a $20,000 penalty. The Longmont, Colorado resident
was accused of participating in a scheme to ship bricks labeled as
computer parts, and is the eighth Miniscribe official to reach an
agreement with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

In a suit filed last year in US District Court in Denver, the SEC
claimed executives of the Longmont-based disk drive company
performed a three-year charade with MiniScribe's financial
statements. The commission accused MiniScribe of shipping bricks as
finished disk drives and breaking into accountants' locked trunks.
MiniScribe filed for bankruptcy protection in January 1990. It
later was sold to California's Maxtor Corp.

This settlement, which has to be approved by federal court,
permanently bars him from violating certain securities laws,
including those against manipulation and falsifying accounting
records. It also calls for him to repay $37,022, representing
losses he avoided by selling the company's stock before its price
collapsed. However, the court has waived all but $20,000 on the
basis of the man's inability to pay."

The accused executive, formerly head of Miniscribe's in-house
computer operations, neither admits nor denies guilt in the
settlement. An internal report prepared by the company's outside
directors identified him as one of seven employees who packed the
bricks on Dec. 19, 1987. The seven other defendants have agreed to
repay $139,402 in losses they avoided, plus interest, along with
civil penalties of $99,885. The SEC wants the other defendants to
repay nearly $250,000 in bonuses regulators say were fraudulently
obtained and $2.3 million they avoided losing on MiniScribe stock.

(Jim Mallory/1921009)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(DEL)(00024)

India: Tandons, Tatas Among Export Leaders 10/09/92
NEW DELHI, INDIA, 1992 OCT 9 (NB) -- The Electronics and
Computer Software Export Promotion Council (ESC), under the
Indian Government's Department of Commerce, has recently honored
electronics hardware and software exporters for their
outstanding performance in the year 1989-90 and 1990-91.

Tata Unisys Ltd. (TUL), Ramtech Industries Ltd., Tata Consultancy
Services (TCS), Eastern Peripherals Ltd. (of the Tandon Group) and
Weston Electroniks Ltd. were recognized for their export
performance in various sectors.

TCS, the largest Indian software house, has bagged the highest
exporter award for software and services category. It achieved a
turnover of Rs 1.3 billion ($4.3 million) from software exports
alone in 1991-92. Among the major orders was a Rs 200-million
contract from Sun Life Insurance Society of UK. Ramtech
Industries Ltd., a Calcutta-based 100 percent export-oriented unit,
was honored for highest exports in the small scale industry (SSI)
sector for 1989-90 and 1990-91.

Eastern Peripherals Ltd, a member of the Tandon group, tops the
list of hardware exporters in the FTZ/100 percent EOU category.
Over a decade, Tandon India has emerged as the largest manufacturer
and exporter of computer hardware and has exported over 15 million
floppy disk drives, 8 million Winchester head stacks, 2 million
switched mode power supplies and over one lakh computer systems
to countries like US, Europe, Singapore and Thailand. While TUL
got the distinction for software and services in the non-SSI
category for 1989-90 and 1990-91, Delhi-based Weston Electroniks
Ltd. bagged the credit for consumer electronics exports.

(C.T. Mahabharat/19921008)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(DEL)(00025)

India: Accounting SW May Go Abroad 10/09/92
BANGALORE, INDIA, 1992 OCT 9 (NB) -- Peutronics, the aggressive
promoter of Tally, the codeless accounting software, is now
seriously exploring markets abroad to push its single product.

According to Bharath Goenka, Peutronics's proprietor, the
potential markets for Tally would be Middle East and Africa.
While the marketing details are still being worked out, Goenka
hopes to pick up about Rs 9 million from exports this year.

Tally, so far on DOS and LAN (Netware), is also in the process
of becoming a multi-platform package. Tally release 5 would be
available on Unix, OS/2 and Macintosh platforms by next year.
Goenka expects those version to be ready by the end of first
quarter next year, though deliveries would begin only by late
1993.

The market today is flooded with codeless accounting packages,
most of them priced much below Tally. "This," says Goenka, "has
not made much of a dent into our market. In fact, it has helped
our sales cycle" He claims there are instances where Peutronics
has sold Tally to customers using E-X of Tata Consultancy
Services (which is similar to Tally in many ways and costs
one-third the price of Tally). TCS has been on a constant
marketing blitz for E-X (E-X's byline reads: "Everything else
is complex").

Still, the less-than-half-a-million-dollar-earner Petronics gives
a formidable competition to the Tatas' E-X.

(C.T. Mahabharat/19921009)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(DEL)(00026)

India: Wipro Enlists Software Developers 10/09/92
BANGALORE, INDIA, 1992 OCT 9 (NB) -- With the launch of its
Software Solutions Partnership Program (S2P2), Wipro Infotech
is now poised to make greater inroads into the manufacturing
and commercial market segments -- two segments where Wipro is yet
to establish a lead over its rivals.

The S2P2 program has been designed more or less along the same
lines as Sun Microsystems' Catalyst Program (Sun is Wipro's
collaborator in India). Under the program, Wipro Infotech would
enter into an arrangement with software companies where the latter
would develop software on Unix V.4 and Unix V.4 MP and mostly
Wipro's own hardware platforms. Wipro would be providing these
companies a range of services which include information services,
joint marketing programs, and migration services. Marketing
support allows the software companies access to Wipro's own
channels and migration services imply migration paths from MS
DOS to Unix V.4, IBM to mid range Unix, VMS to Unix SVR4, Ultrix
to Unix SVR4 and AIX to Unix SVR4.

To enable software developers to port their software on to the
target platforms, Wipro Infotech has established a porting center
in Bangalore at a cost of Rs 40 lakhs. The porting centre is
equipped with Intel, Sun and Tandem platforms. Unix, Sun
OS/Solaris, Guardian and SCO figure largely in its menu of
operating systems.

A key strength of S2P2 is number of endorsements Wipro has
managed for the program. Besides Unix international and SCO,
Wipro has got endorsements from Oracle, Unify, Ingress and
Sybase which account for all the major RDBMSs available on
Unix. The porting center has all the four RDBMS. The company is
yet to take a decision on whether to charge its partners for the
facilities at the center. "We would let our partners under S2P2
decide that," says Sudhir Sethi, marketing manager, Wipro
Infotech.

Offering Wipro platforms at concessions to the partners is another
aspect where S2P2 emulates Sun's catalyst program. Another major
incentive for the developer is in the form of subcontracting
the software portion of Wipro's own projects to S2P2 signatories.
The S2P2 agreement is non-exclusive in nature.

Though the primary thrust of S2P2 would be in the areas of
commercial and manufacturing segments where integrated systems
are preferred, Wipro is examining a variety of other areas. "We
are looking at a number of other niche segments," explains Sethi,
"we will venture into every segment where there is a good
business opportunity."

Recently Wipro had organized a high-level presentation on the
program which was attended by as many as 75 managing directors
of various software companies in the country. Wipro is confident
of getting a good response for the program. A similar program
launched by Wipro's rival Digital Equipment India Ltd a few years
ago met with a fair amount of success and the program helped the
company pick up a couple of good orders. If precedent is anything
to go by, Wipro must be able to leverage S2P2 to bring in big
business.

(C.T. Mahabharat/19921009)


(REVIEW)(IBM)(SFO)(00027)

Review of: What's my Angle? Educational PC Game 10/09/92

Runs on: IBM compatibles - 80286 @ 8 MHz or higher with 640K RAM

From: Davidson & Associates, P.O. Box 2961, Torrance, CA 90509,
800-556-6141

Price: $49.95

PUMA Rating: 3.5 (on a scale of 1=lowest to 4=highest)

Reviewed for Newsbytes by: Naor Wallach

Summary: A program that teaches geometry through the use of real
life situations and miniature golf games. This program is a good tutor
in geometry.

======

REVIEW

======

What's my Angle is a course on Geometry taught to 14-year-olds and
older. This product cannot really be called a game as there are
relatively few game-like elements. However, it also cannot be called
a purely educational utility as it tends to take a somewhat light-
hearted approach to the teaching of this subject.

What's my Angle is really five programs in one. All of the programs
emphasize certain elements that a student must achieve in order to
completely learn the subject. The program's goals is to teach one
full year's worth of high school geometry within the confines of
the program. Does it succeed?

As a program that is intended for teenagers, this program
practically overflows with little touches intended
to keep interest high. For instance, in several games, you
are supposed to help some of the characters achieve
a desired result. Let us say that Anthony the Athlete needs your
help to score a touchdown. The help by solving the problem
given to you. Figuring out angles and distances on the
football field is sure to draw the attention of some of the teen
crowd.

The program is very colorful and there are even moments when
sounds are played to increase the level of interest.

The five activities are called GeoBoard, GeoLife, GeoConclusions,
GeoProofs, and GeoGolf. Each of these activities has a
difficulty level that can be tailored to one's level of achievement.

GeoBoard lets you draw various shapes and deduce various data from
the form with the computer's help. This is a very easy way to
introduce concepts encountered later on and is useful
also for some theorem testing. GeoLife is the game cited above,
that puts day-to-day situations to the test.

GeoConclusions requires drawing and the ability to support
conclusions from given data. GeoProofs requires one to unscramble
the proof and establish items in their correct order. Finally,
GeoGolf is kind of the highlight of the program. This is a
computerized version of miniature golf which proves to you how
important angles and the understanding of geometry can be in a
real life situation.

Even without running through windmills and other common miniature
golf attractions, it quickly becomes apparent that geometry is very
useful in this instance.

The program comes on both 5.25 and 3.5-inch diskettes. Both types of
diskettes come with Davidson's installation and uninstall programs.
When it comes time to take the program off your computer, the
uninstall program goes in and completely cleans up. This is done
extremely well and is a shining example of how such programs should
work.

There is also a 40-page manual which goes through every detail
of the program's operation and options.

At the beginning of this review, I posed the question as to the
efficacy of this type of program. After playing with it for a while
I've come to the conclusion that it does work. It is important to
realize however that this program is not really a game. If you are
discussing the use of this program with a recalcitrant teenager, I
would certainly hold back on emphasizing the game aspects of the
program. On the other hand, those game elements will tend
to draw the student into the program and keep them interested
in the program to use it some more.

This is definitely a program that emphasizes learning. The practical
aspects of the subject are a bit contrived but much less than the
standard types of problems that one is given in the traditional high
school. All in all I think this is a useful program that fulfills its
function relatively well.

===========

PUMA RATING

===========

PERFORMANCE: 3 The program ran very smoothly on my machine. However,
some of the "delays" are perhaps a tad too long as on occasion
I found myself ready to get on with the next activity only
to be forced to wait.

USEFULNESS: 3 This program focuses on its task to such a degree that
I cannot see it being used "just because."

MANUAL: 4 Very well written with no typos or errors. Contains all the
information that is needed to play the game. Also contains several
extras that are nice to have.

AVAILABILITY: 4 I found it in several software stores and saw it
advertised in some mail order firms' catalogs. There is also an 800
number of orders and a separate one for customer support.

(Naor Wallach/19921001/Press Contact: Liz Rich-Reardon, Davidson &
Associates)


(NEWS)(IBM)(LAX)(00028)

New PARTS Turns Existing Code Into Objects 10/09/92
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 OCT 9 (NB) -- Los
Angeles, California-based Digitalk, developer of Smalltalk/V,
says it has come out with PARTS Workbench, a product for
object-oriented programming that can turn existing code in
languages like Cobol into an object that can then be used to
build an application.

Newsbytes saw the Parts Assembly and Reuse Tool Set (PARTS)
technology and like most object-oriented programming
applications, the programmer draws lines between icons,
"parts," that represent functions to build a program. The main
difference between PARTS and other object-oriented languages is
PARTS has parts for "wrappering" existing code, such as Cobol
code on a mainframe, so it can be turned into an object and
addressed by an object-oriented front end such as IBM's OS/2 or
Microsoft Windows.

While none of this capability eliminates the need to know how
to design a program, the need to know what the Cobol function
does, and the information about where the variables in the
program get their values (from user screen input or passed from
another Cobol program), PARTS does allow for less technical
expertise in the mechanics of program building.

Custom parts can also be built in Smalltalk/V for addressing
specific needs, such as "wrappering" Fortran, Basic, or Pascal
code; talking to certain types of modems or networks; or
performing repetitive functions or calculations done by certain
organizations such as insurance companies.

Digitalk says the parts can be built by a programmer with
expertise in the particular application and then used by
everyone in the organization, so code building is consistent
and a function is the same across the organization. Currently
code is often built by different groups in a large company who
don't talk to each other and nothing is standard. When a change
has to be made to a certain function, say the company alters
its form design, the entire suite of programs for addressing
those forms has to be rewritten by each group.

The actual PARTS Workbench itself is an impressive product,
elegantly designed, and it takes advantage of the object-
oriented environment. Newsbytes saw a dial connected to a
slider on a graph and the slider and graph were both connected
to an Excel spreadsheet using dynamic data exchange (DDE) under
OS/2 2.0. The sample application reflected any change the user
made using the mouse and sliding the slider on the graph in
real time on the dial and in the spreadsheet. The reverse was
true as well, meaning a change in the spreadsheet moved the
slider and dial, and movement of the dial moved the slider and
reflected the values of the dial in the spreadsheet.

The PARTS Workbench uses the notebook metaphor with "pages of
icons and tabs to indicate the sub directories. Icons on each
page can be moved to the "workbench" were they can be "wired"
together or connected to form applications. The connections are
intelligent and will let the programmer know if something has
been left out or undone that will create an error, Digitalk
said.

Digitalk offers parts with the PARTS Workbench, including the
module to wrapper Cobol code and is encouraging third party
vendors to build and offer parts. A search utility is included
in the PARTS Workbench to find parts based on their
description.

The downside of the PARTS Workbench is it is only available now
for OS/2 2.0 and only in a 16-bit version. Digitalk is
"married" to IBM as a partner in IBM's AD/Cycle program and so
serves IBM's interests first. Company representative and
founder Barbara Noparstak said a 32-bit version for OS/2 2.0 is
on the way and those who purchase the 16-bit version now will
be upgraded free when the 32-bit version arrives.
Also, Noparstak said a Windows version is planned as well.

While the PARTS Workbench itself doesn't require Smalltalk V,
it does require a 386 or higher IBM or compatible personal
computer with 12 megabytes of memory for development of PARTS
applications. The same horsepower PC but with 8 MB of memory is
required to run the finished PARTS applications.

The PARTS Workbench for OS/2 2.0 is available for a retail
price of $1,995 and includes an online tutorial, sample
applications, and three user manuals; a user's guide, a
language guide for the scripting language, and a reference for
developers currently using Smalltalk/V. The right to distribute
unlimited runtime applications and deliver components or
modules is included as well, the company said.

Current Smalltalk/V users can get the PARTS Workbench for $595
until the end of October, Digitalk added.

(Linda Rohrbough/19921009/Press Contact: Barbara Noparstak,
Digitalk, tel [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LAX)(00029)

Symantec To Purchase Virus/Security Firm Certus 10/09/92
CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 OCT 9 (NB) -- Symantec,
developers of the Norton Antivirus and Norton Desktop for
Windows products, announced it is purchasing virus and security
software developer Certus International. Certus is
headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio.

Symantec says it plans to add Certus' technology in virus
detection to its own, but is also planning to move into the
systems security market with this purchase. Certus markets the
product Novi for security and virus protection on IBM and
compatible PCs.

The purchase is to be accounted for as a pooling of interest
and Certus will merge with Symantec in exchange for between
394,000 to 533,000 shares of Symantec common outstanding stock.
Symantec stock is selling for just over $6 a share making the
purchase worth between $2.36 and $3.3 million.

Symantec has purchased several other companies lately. The
company said the purchases of the Whitewater Group, who makes
developer's tools, and Multiscope, which makes a debugger tool
for programmers, were completed recently. A one-time charge to
the company of 2.1 million was taken in its last quarterly
financial announcement for the purchase of the two companies.

Symantec has had its share of problems lately. The company
announced it expected substantially lower earnings and profits
for its latest quarter. Its stock has fallen from an average
price of $17 a share in August to the current price of just
over $6 per share. Also, the company's top executives are
facing criminal charges in a civil suit levied by software
giant Borland International.

Gene Wang, formerly with Borland and who joined Symantec on
September 1 of this year, has been accused of sending Borland's
confidential trade secrets by electronic mail over the
company's MCI account to Symantec executive Gordon Eubanks.
Borland's aggressiveness in the affair has stunned the computer
industry as Wang's private residence and office has been
searched by police.

Cupertino, California-based Symantec offers software products
for IBM and compatible personal computers as well as Apple
Macintosh computers. The company says it was founded in 1982
and has offices in the US, Canada, Australia, and Europe.

(Linda Rohrbough/19921009/Press Contact: Brian Fawkes,
Symantec, tel [phone], fax [phone]; Public Contact
800-441-7234)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LAX)(00030)

 ****Borland Devaluation Over-reaction, Says Analyst 10/09/92
SCOTTS VALLEY, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 OCT 9 (NB) -- Borland's
stock is dropping and reports are analysts are lowering ratings
for the company's performance, but some analysts think the
stock market is over-reacting.

Borland stock took two major drops two consecutive days in a
row this week, a drop of $6.625 on Wednesday and another $3.125
on Thursday to close at $27.625. Overall the company's stock
has been falling steadily since the first of the year, however,
these drops account for a devaluation of nearly 25 percent.

Reports are Goldman Sachs dropped the stock from its
recommended list, Kidder Peabody issued a rating downgrade as
did Dean Witter Reynolds, and Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette
Securities also the company's earnings estimate as well,
according to the United Press International.

However market analyst Dan Ness of Computer Intelligence told
Newsbytes he thinks this is all over-reaction, perhaps brought
on by to Microsoft's directions seminar to which it invited press
and analysts last week in Bellvue, Washington. Ness sees Borland
as remaining strong in many of the key areas, Quattro Pro for
Windows hasn't been out long enough for anyone to really have
any good numbers for sales, and there's just no fundamental
reason for a 25 percent devaluation of the company, Ness
maintains.

"I haven't driven by the Borland offices lately, but I don't
think the place is on fire," quipped Ness.

In fact, the only preliminary figures Ness has for performance
of Borland products in the retail chain show sales for Paradox
are up. Ness said there's no doubt Borland is behind Excel in
the Windows spreadsheet market, but Foxpro, Microsoft's new
database addition has less than 10 percent of the entire
database market. Borland has an extremely strong presence in
that market, especially compared to Microsoft, who is just
coming in, Ness added.

Borland is fighting fire with fire and has announced a
corporate roll-out for Quattro Pro For Windows in a companion
demonstration with Microsoft Excel 4.0. The demonstration is to
be held Wednesday, October 14 at the Herbst Theater War
Memorial in San Francisco and Borland is inviting the press and
analysts.

Borland has made a few moves that surprised the computer
industry. It was very aggressive in taking civil and legal
action against former employee Gene Wang, who is accused of
stealing the company's trade secrets and giving them to
Symantec. Wang was hired by Symantec September 1 and both he
and Symantec executive Gordon Eubanks are under fire for the
alleged trade secret theft, reportedly done via Borland's MCI
electronic mail account.

Also, Borland has lost a summary judgement in the case Lotus
brought against it concerning the similarities between 1-2-3
and Quattro Pro. However, Borland has removed the offending
menus from the DOS product and the Windows version offers no
such conflict. Some industry analysts were saying the company
might have to pay as much as $10 to $100 million in the suit,
but no monetary figures have been named by either the court or
Lotus.

(Linda Rohrbough/19921009/Press Contact: Dan Ness, Computer
Intelligence, 619-535-6733; Mara Stefan, Borland, tel 408-439-
4704, fax [phone])