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/nb921027

Text File | 1992-10-27 | 69.4 KB | 1,596 lines

(NEWS)(IBM)(LAX)(00001)

Stacker 3.0 For Windows/DOS Offers On-screen Gauges 10/27/92
CARLSBAD, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 OCT 27 (NB) -- Stac
Electronics has announced that Stacker version 3.0, the latest
edition of its transparent data compression/decompression utility
for hard disks, installs from Windows or DOS and offers on-screen
gauges to Windows users.

A new fast set-up option which extracts 10 percent more
compression, a feature allowing compressed floppy disks to be
read and written by computers without Stacker, password
protection, and additional visual information in the
optimization portion, have been added to the new version.

A new feature -- Stacker Anywhere -- is also featured in the
product, company officials said.

Stac claims that, depending on the type of data a user has on
his/her disk, as well as the type of hard disk used, Stacker can
increase the amount of available disk space by as much as 50
percent, so doubling disk capacity. This is made possible by
transparently compressing data written to or read from the drive
-- as far as the user and any programs are concerned, the drive
is a standard one.

The company also claims that due to the speed of its software
algorithms, even the software-only version of Stacker will
not degrade system performance significantly. Previously,
software-based data compression programs which ran "on the fly"
have slowed down hard disk performance perceptibly.

Gary Clow, Stac's president, told Newsbytes at Comdex Fall 1990
that his ultimate aim was to achieve non-performance degrading
software-based data compression. Stacker 3.0, judging from
Newsbytes' early tests with the package, appears to have achieved
this aim.

Interestingly, Stac now claims that users of Stacker 3.0 may even
see an overall performance gain. It does this by offsetting the
time taken to compress (and decompress) by the writer/verify time
which is shorter due to the reduced amount of data recording on
to the disk's surface.

Stac calls the set of Windows gauges "Stackometer" and says
they show disk capacity, the compression ratio, and
fragmentation levels for one or all drives. DOS users aren't
completely left out as a DOS software tool offers drive
statistics based on the ratios of different file types.

Express Setup, a new installation option, offers installation
of the Stacker product with a minimum of interaction on the
part of the user, the company said. A Custom Setup or advanced
mode allows the user to tune the system, with an option for
10 percent greater compression.

The greater compression ratio might offer more space -- 40
megabytes (MB) on a 200 MB drive -- but it could cost some time
in terms of system performance. Stac asserts users of faster
computers might find the speed difference imperceptible.

Stacker Anywhere is a new feature which allows the compression
of data on floppy disks which can be read and written to by
another computer without Stacker. Stac says this is a step
further than competing product Superstor 2.0 from Addstor
whose similar feature only allows for the reading of compressed
information by a computer without Superstor installed.

A password protection feature offers the choice of
read only or read and write access to a Stacked drive, the
company added. Larger drives are also supported -- up to 1
gigabyte (GB) as opposed to the 512 MB limit of the previous
version, Stac added.

A visual representation of the defragmentation process has been
added to the optimizer portion of the product. Defragmentation
can be time consuming, so the company said it has added a quick
defragmentation option to speed up the process.

When asked if Stacker would face difficulty with traditional
database methods of pre-allocating a large portion of the
drive, Joanne Rush of Stac said many of the database products
have modernized and are now dynamically allocating disk space
and the only exception she is aware of is Oracle. Regardless,
Stacker 2.0's better error checking solved a problem
Stacker had with database data loss in version 1.0, Rush added.

As far as Windows and Stacker is concerned, Rush said Stacker
disables and flushes the write-delay cache facilitated by the
Windows Smartdrive device driver. This means no data is waiting
to be written to the disk during critical times such as during
an optimization of the drive or in the creation of another
Stacker drive, Rush added. Also, Stacker works without a hitch
with Windows 32-bit disk access, Rush maintains.

The company says the product works with hard disk drives,
floppies, Bernoulli disks, Syquest cartridges, Flopticals,
read/write optical drives, or any removable media on any
personal computer (PC).

Stacker 2.0 is retail priced at $149, but a $49.95 upgrade will
be available. However, the upgrade will only work on drives
compressed with a previous version of Stacker, company
representatives said. Those with a Stacker coprocessor card
will find the new version works with it as well, Stacker
representatives said.

Headquartered in Carlsbad, California, Stac Electronics is
currently fighting with Santa Clara, California-based IIT in a
suit Stac filed claiming the IIT co-processor card offered as
an option for the Xtradrive disk compression product is a copy
of its own coprocessor card.

(Linda Rohrbough/19921027/Press Contact: Joanne Rush, Stac
Electronics, tel [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(LAX)(00002)

New HP 600 DPI Lasers Cost Less, Include More 10/27/92
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 OCT 27 (NB) -- Hewlett-
Packard (HP) has announced a new generation of 600 dot-per-inch
(dpi) laser printers, the HP Laserjet 4 and 4M series. The
printers offer increased memory, are network ready, have Truetype
fonts built-in, and come in configurations for mixed computing
environments.

While the company's laser printers have become standard in the
computer industry, HP claims it has aggressively priced this new
series to be less expensive than its comparable HP Laserjet III
600 dpi series.

In addition, the company has been working with Microsoft, and
under an agreement between the two companies, the Windows
Truetype typefaces have been built into the new series printer
eliminating time-consuming downloading and speeding the
printing under Windows.

An HP bitronics parallel port capable of data transfer up to
10 times the speed of standard parallel ports, or an estimated
156 kilobytes per second, has been added to the Series 4.

The bitronics port also claims to provides bi-directional
communication capabilities so printer status messages can be sent
to users' computer screens when the printer needs servicing or
additional paper or toner. The ability to change the printer
settings is available to DOS users via a software utility the
company includes with the printer called HP Explorer.

HP says the new printers have a newly designed 600 dpi engine
rather than an upgraded version of the 300 dpi engine. The
printers still use the company's Resolution Enhancement
technology designed to smooth jagged edges for crisper
images and text, the company said.

Network use of the printer is available via a modular interface
slot to which users can add HP Jetdirect cards that support
Novell Netware, IBM LAN (local area network) Server or Microsoft
LAN Manager running on Ethernet or Token Ring; HP-UX, Sun OS and
SCO Unix running on Ethernet; and an Appletalk Jetdirect card
with Localtalk or Ethertalk connections.

The new HP 4M appears to be geared toward the Macintosh user
with 6 megabytes (MB) of memory expandable to 22 MB. The printer
also offers automatic language and interface switching for
Macintosh and mixed computing environments, plus HP's own page
description language HP PCL 5. The printer also comes with a HP
Jetdirect Localtalk card installed.

Adobe Systems says that the 4M printer is the first from HP to
incorporate its Postscript Level 2 page description language.

The HP LaserJet 4 comes standard with 2 megabytes of memory
upgradable to 32 (MB) HP PCL 5, and replaces the HP LaserJet
III printer.

An Intel 80960 KA-20 megahertz (MHz) reduced instruction set
computing (RISC) processor is the intelligence inside the new
8-page-per-minute printers

The printers offer two trays, a multipurpose tray that holds
100 sheets or 10 envelopes and a 250-sheet letter-size tray. An
output tray to which the printed documents arrive face down
holds 250 sheets, HP added.

HP Series 4 users can expect to have to buy toner from HP. The
new printers use microfine toner particles, which HP says are
20 percent to 30 percent smaller than particles used in typical
laser printer toner. HP asserts that the microfine toner sharpens
edges of text, improves photographic-quality of images, and
results in less toner scatter.

The HP LaserJet 4 is retail priced at $2,199 -- that's $196 less
than the HP LaserJet III printer. The HP LaserJet 4M with
Postscript Level 2 is $2,999 and replaces the HP LaserJet III
Postscript printer, which is $3,395. A Postscript Level 2
cartridge can be purchased for the HP 4 printer for an
additional $499.

Jetdirect network cards range in price from $695 to $895 while
HP Jetdirect Appletalk cards using Localtalk or Ethertalk
connections are available for $275 and $695, respectively, the
company said.

(Linda Rohrbough/19921027/Press Contact: Bill Hornung, Hewlett-
Packard, tel [phone], fax [phone]; Linda Prosser,
Adobe Systems, tel [phone])


(NEWS)(GOVT)(TOR)(00003)

Canada: Govt Breakthrough For Psion Hand-held Unit 10/27/92
OTTAWA, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1992 OCT 27 (NB) -- The Psion Series 3,
a British-made pocket-sized computer, is now being offered to
Canadian government purchasers through the government's
self-service stores.

Psion's Canadian distributor, Compulys Data of Montreal,
announced that Ottawa reseller SDS Sage Data Solutions is selling
the device through the government stores along with a battery-
powered printer from Japanese manufacturer Citizen.

Though Compulys sells other products to the government, the Psion
Series III has not made many inroads in the government market here
to date, according to Patrick Taylor, vice-president of sales and
marketing at Compulys. But Taylor said he expects the self-
service stores deal to mean a big increase in government sales
for the little machine.

The Series 3 fits in a jacket pocket and comes with integrated
software including database and time management, a word processor,
and an optional spreadsheet.

The unit will be sold in the government stores as part of a
bundle with the Citizen PN-48 notebook printer, which weighs 2.5
pounds with battery and is 11.7 by 3.5 by two inches, Taylor
said.

Compulys also announced that Psion's HC hand-held computer line has
been given an international protection rating of IP64 by the
International Electrotechnical Commission. The digits 64 indicate
that the computers have maximum possible protection against
intrusion by dust, and will withstand rain and being splashed with
water. The 4 is the water-resistance rating, for which the highest
possible rating is 8, meaning the unit can be submerged in water.

Compulys also appointed two new resellers. Horizon International of
Montreal will distribute the full Psion product line in Quebec and
the Maritime Provinces. A&L Electronics of Richmond, British
Columbia, will sell the Series 3 palmtop and related products in
British Columbia and Alberta.

(Grant Buckler/19921027/Press Contact: Patrick Taylor, Compulys,
514-333-0609, fax [phone])


(NEWS)(UNIX)(TOR)(00004)

Computervision Puts CADDS 5 On DECstation 10/27/92
BEDFORD, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1992 OCT 27 (NB) -- Computervision
has announced that its CADDS 5 computer-aided engineering, design,
and manufacturing (CAE/CAD/CAM) software is now available for
Digital Equipment's DECstation 5000 workstations.

The CADDS 5 for the DEC reduced instruction set computing (RISC)
machines is the first new CADDS 5 version Computervision has
released since announcing in the middle of 1991 that it planned to
make the software available for a range of different platforms. The
software already runs on Sun Microsystems workstations, and the
company has said it plans a version for Hewlett-Packard
workstations by early in 1993.

Running under DEC's Ultrix version of Unix, the new CADDS 5 release
has essentially the same capabilities as the Sun version, according
to company spokeswoman Sharon Israel. However, it uses new graphics
technology, the HOOPS Graphics Development System from Ithaca
Software. It is also the first version of CADDS 5 to be based on
the X Window windows management system.

According to Computervision, HOOPS gives software application
developers a standards-based, common graphics interface to all
major workstation and personal computer platforms, thus making it
easier to port software to different machines.

CADDS 5 offers a series of modules called CVware, each dealing with
a specific product development or management task, Computervision
said. The modules are priced from $1,495 per individual network
license.

(Grant Buckler/19921027/Press Contact: Sharon Israel,
Computervision, 617-275-1800 ext. 5907)


(NEWS)(IBM)(TOR)(00005)

 ****IBM May Match Microsoft Workgroup, Portability Moves 10/27/92
WHITE PLAINS, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1992 OCT 27 (NB) -- IBM is working
on enhancements to OS/2 2.0 that would compete with the
capabilities of Windows for Workgroups, which Microsoft is to
announce today, and the portability of the Windows NT operating
system, which is now expected to reach the market some time in the
first half of 1993, Newsbytes sources said.

A source with knowledge of IBM's OS/2 development activities said
that work is under way on improved work-group computing and peer-
to-peer networking capabilities for OS/2.

The source also said IBM will demonstrate at Comdex/Fall in Las
Vegas in November a microkernel like that to be used in Windows NT,
running with both OS/2 and AIX (IBM's variant of Unix) "personality
modules" on a multiprocessing machine. This technology, based on
Carnegie-Mellon University's Mach 3 kernel, would allow OS/2 to run
on a variety of hardware rather than just machines based on Intel
and compatible microprocessors, Newsbytes was told.

When it appears, Windows NT is to run on Intel systems and on
computers using MIPS Computer and Digital Equipment Alpha reduced
instruction set computing (RISC) chips.

An IBM spokesman declined to comment on the reports.

Meanwhile, analyst Kimball Brown of International Data Corp. said
that Microsoft's delay in delivering Windows NT, which originally
was to ship this fall, will help OS/2. "NT is going to be a great
success when it does ship," he said, but "OS/2's here, and when
NT will be here is a big question mark."

(Grant Buckler/19921027)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(LON)(00006)

UK: Mercury To Open 2nd Customer Assistance Center 10/27/92
WYTHENSHAWE, MANCHESTER, ENGLAND, 1992 OCT 27 (NB) -- Mercury
Communications has announced plans to open its second customer
assistance center. The new center will be based in Wythenshawe,
Manchester and will create up to 1,000 new jobs -- 600 of them in
actual customer telephone service -- by the mid-1990s.

The new center, with a 110,000-square-foot floor area, is based
in Concord Business Park, Simonsway in Wythenshawe. Plans are
already in hand to have around 200 people, mostly drawn from the
local area, to be in place when the center goes live during the
first half of next year.

According to Rod Attwooll, Mercury's managing director, the new
center will augment the company's existing customer service
center in Birmingham. The new center will help Mercury service
its quarter of million existing customers, a figure that is
expanding every month.

"To support this growth and reach out target of two million
customers during the decade, we must provide world class customer
service. Manchester has been able to meet our requirements and I
am delighted that we are able to contribute to the economy of
the city in this way," he said.

Mercury's customer assistance center handles new customer
registrations, customer enquiries and directory assistance plus
operator services.

(Steve Gold/19921027/Press & Public Contact: Mercury
Communications - Tel: [phone])


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(LON)(00007)

UK: Mercury "Happy Hour" Calls To France And Germany 10/27/92
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1992 OCT 27 (NB) -- From now until November 20,
if you make a phone call using Mercury's network between 6 and
8pm in the UK, you'll get the call at half the normal rate.

The idea of the happy hour promotion, as Mercury calls it, is to
stimulate extra business in the gap between the time when
business calls start to run down and the time when the cheap
rates for international calls start (8pm) on weekdays. The happy
hour promo does not apply to Saturdays or Sundays.

The promotion follows hard on the heels of Mercury's first promo
of this type, with a happy hour period for calls to Australia.
This promo, which was launched in June and finished just
recently, proved to be very successful, officials with Mercury
said. Further happy hours promos are planned for the future.

The happy hour promo extends to all calls from residential
subscribers routed over the Mercury indirect (2300 service)
networks, as well as calls placed using Mercury payphones.
Further details of the happy hour promotion are available from
mercury's customer assistance center which can be called toll-
free on 0500-500-194.

The special offer, according to Newsbytes' calculations, means
that a ten-minute call to France or Germany will cost as little
as UKP 1-65.

(Steve Gold/19921027/Press & Public Contact: mercury
Communications - Tel: [phone])


(NEWS)(UNIX)(LON)(00008)

Europe's Openforum '92 Details 10/27/92
UTRETCH, THE NETHERLANDS, 1992 OCT 27 (NB) -- Organizers of
Openforum '92, the open systems event scheduled for November 23/27
in Utrecht, have released final details of the event schedule.

According to the organizers, every aspect of open systems, from
business strategy to programming and standards, will be covered at
the event. More than 100 speakers from 17 countries on both sides
of the Atlantic and other parts of the world will give what the
organizers -- the Openforum '92 Secretariat -- claim will be "a
multi-faceted perspective on the present and future of open
systems."

Tutorials planned for the event range from "an introduction to
open systems for business managers" to "how to program Unix
device drivers." User and expert panels will be debating "the
protection of investments" and "distributed file system," as well
as issuing papers covering topics such as "microkernel
performance evaluation" and "downsizing for competitive
advantage."

Announcing the event details, Dr Michel Carpentier, the director
general of the European Commission, said that he "welcomes and
supports the Openforum Conference as a major user-led
contribution to the development and spread of open systems."

Openforum is sponsored by Europen and Uniforum, two of the
computer industry's major open systems users' associations.

Full details of the Openforum '92 event, including a brochure and
program information, are available free of charge from the
organizers.

(Steve Gold/19921027/Press & Public Contact: The Openforum '92
Secretariat - Tel: [phone]; Fax: [phone])


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(DEN)(00009)

Maynard's Round-the-Clock Support 10/27/92
LAKE MARY, FLORIDA, U.S.A., 1992 OCT 27 (NB) -- Maynard Electronics
has joined a small but growing list of computer industry companies
that offer around the clock, seven-day-a-week technical support.

Maynard's "24 X 7" Support Plus program offers customers access to
technical support in addition to its free electronic bulletin board
for an annual fee of $995.

"We introduced the Support Plus program in response to customer
requests for a new standard of support," explained Carl McKinley,
Maynard's director of customer service.

Maynard Electronics markets computer backup systems including
cassette, cartridge, minicartridge, 4mm DAT, and 8mm tape drives for
IBM-compatible, PS/2, RISC, DEC, Next, Sun and Apple Macintosh
computer systems.

The "any time, any day" service should be welcome to businesses that
perform back-up functions during non-business hours or on weekends.
Maynard says a trained technical representative will return a call
for help within 30 minutes. The service is also available to other
Maynard equipment users who are not annual subscribers, on a $75 per
call fee billable to a major credit card.

Other Maynard support includes remote diagnostics, on-site support,
extended warranties, and 48-hour turnaround on product service and
same-day replacement for products installed in the continental US.

(Jim Mallory/19921027/Press contact: Anne Lardner,Maynard
Electronics, 407-263-3500 or 800-821-8782, fax [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(DEN)(00010)

New For PC: PC-Kwik Power Pak, Super PC-Kwik 10/27/92
BEAVERTON, OREGON, U.S.A., 1992 OCT 27 (NB) -- PC-Kwik Corporation
has announced version 3 of its Power Pak for DOS utility program,
and version 5 of Super PC-Kwik.

The company says the new version of Power Pak includes major
enhancements to its disk caching program Super PC-Kwik; Power Disk,
a disk reorganizer previously available as a separate product; and
KwikBoot, a program that allows the user to set up multiple DOS boot
configurations.

Disk cache Super PC-Kwik stores data to be written to a disk, doing
the writing during periods when the processor is not occupied with
other tasks. Disk caching eliminates or reduces the delays caused
when data is written directly to the floppy or hard drive.

Maynard said that Power Disk has now been integrated into Power
Pak and uses a graphical interface with Windows-like screens.
Power Disk allows the user to schedule disk defragmenting, file
sorting, and disk testing when the computer is turned on. Disk
reorganizers take the parts of files stored in various locations
on the disk and places them in contiguous sections for faster
access. The company claims that Power Disk can handle disks with
partitions of over one gigabyte, or one million bytes, in size.

KwikBoot allows a computer to be booted, or started up, in up to 26
different configurations. The use of KwikBoot allows the user to
select various configuration (Config.sys) or Autoexec (autoexec.bat)
files. Those files control what resources the computer uses, such
as the number of files that can be opened by the computer
simultaneously, and what the computer does, such as automatically
load memory resident programs or start a particular application.

Super PC-Kwik also allows the DOS user to create short commands to
replace long, complicated, or multiple DOS commands, and a feature
called ReView allows the screen buffer (the information on the
screen) to be saved to a disk file. There's also an expanded
keyboard buffer that allows a fast typist to type ahead of what's
appearing on the screen.

Both programs are scheduled to ship on November 2. PC-Kwik
spokesperson Lee Kufchak told Newsbytes Super PC-Kwik will have a
suggested retail price of $79.95, while Power Pak, which includes
Super PC-Kwik, will sell for $129.95. PC-Kwik was formerly known as
Multisoft Corporation.

(Jim Mallory/19921027/Press contact: Lee Kufchak, PC-Kwik
Corporation, 503-644-5644 or 800-759-5945, fax [phone]; Reader
contact: PC-Kwik Corporation, 503-644-5644 or 800-759-5945, fax
503-646-8267)


(NEWS)(IBM)(LAX)(00011)

New For Windows: Virtual Workspace In Compton's MM Encyclopedia 10/27/92
CARLSBAD, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 OCT 27 (NB) -- Compton's
Newmedia, developers of the Compton's Multimedia Encyclopedia,
plan to offer Windows users a new version of its compact disc
read-only memory (CD-ROM) multimedia encyclopedia with a new
feature in the user interface the company calls Virtual
Workspace.

As expected the company says it is offering more sound, video,
and photos in the new version, but changes have been made to
enhance the product for researchers. Newsbytes saw a
demonstration of the Virtual Workspace and found it to be
uniquely functional and innovative.

The Workspace is a visual representation of the subjects the
user has open in the encyclopedia. Rather than spreading icons
all over the desktop, Compton's fills the center of the screen
with a large green space in which work takes place. The
Workspace, or Virtual Workspace, looks like a small Window with
eight white squares and one green square, which represents the
central field.

If the user was working on a report, just as books would be
opened and spread out, so the topics can be opened in the
central field. Compton's Vice President of Marketing Tom McGrew
demonstrated by preparing a report on the presidents. As each text
topic for each president was opened, a small box with that
president's name appeared in the workspace in the green square.

If McGrew wanted to move a president's information out of the
way, he moved the mouse to the workspace, selected the box that
represented that president, and moved the box with the
president's name off the green square onto an adjacent white
square. The movement was instantly reflected in the larger
central workspace with the open information of the president
moving off the screen away from view.

Using the small labels that represented the open president's
files, the presidents could be grouped together and a needed
president could be moved quickly from one of the outside
squares to the green square, which moved it into view in the
central field.

Also, by clicking the right mouse button on the Workspace, a
white square could be selected as the one to be the central
space -- the square would become green and the open president
files in the square would suddenly fill the screen.

In this manner, a researcher can have several related topics at
their fingertips, including photographs, and quickly move
between them, McGrew said. Compton's says the Workspace
represents an 18 by 13 foot work area.

Considerations over intellectual property issues prevent the
Compton's from providing cut and paste features to users,
McGrew told Newsbytes, so users are still faced with copying
either with pencil and paper or from another open application.

Compton's says that the Interactive Encyclopedia for Windows with
Virtual Workspace will be available in November for $395. It
requires a 386 or higher based PC with a minimum of 4 megabytes
(MB) of memory and 2 MB available on the hard disk drive, DOS
3.1 or higher, Windows 3.0 with Multimedia Extensions or
Windows 3.1, Microsoft CD-ROM Extensions 2.2 or later, a CD-ROM
drive, a video graphics array (VGA) display, and a mouse.

(Linda Rohrbough/19921027/Press Contact: Tom McGrew, Compton's
Newmedia, tel [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(APPLE)(SFO)(00012)

New For Macintosh: Lapis Board Lets TV Operate As Display 10/27/92
ALAMEDA, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 OCT 27 (NB) -- Lapis
Technologies has announced L-TV, an NTSC interface card that
lets a Macintosh LC, LC II or Performa 400 use a television
as a display device.

The device allows for a variety of applications, including
QuickTime movie presentations, and recording onto video tape.
Additionally, David Glickman, spokesman for Lapis, told
Newsbytes that he sees the potential market for the card as
"definitely education."

Said Glickman, "Educators used to have the IIgs and IIe, which
could plug right into NTSC, so they could display their lessons
on a television. When school districts started switching to
Macintosh, there wasn't a solution -- mainly for the LC, which
is (a major) platform in the education market -- to go from Mac
to TV. In other words, Apple didn't build that into the product."

The accompanying TV-Show software allows for the television to
be used as a presentation device while the presenter watches and
controls the same action on an Apple 12-inch RGB display.

Also, Glickman explained that the L-TV, "is a card that goes in
the LC, and lets you drive any television monitor. So that
whatever a user does on the LC screen, the audience will see on
the television. Or you can record it on videotape... (for showing
at a later date)."

The company maintains that L-TV drives any television or video
monitor in 1, 2, 4, 8, and 16-bit modes at a maximum of 640 by
480 resolution. No special connectors are required, and a
maximum cable length of 25 feet can be used. There is a
standard "VCR-style" RCA connector on the interface board.

Glickman told Newsbytes that the device would also be used for
business presentations. "We've had a lot of interest from people
who usually use LCD (liquid crystal display) panels or show
projectors, which are anywhere from $1,500 to $5,000." Priced
at $349, the L-TV is scheduled for shipment in November.

The company also says that the device comes with a socket for
a 68882 math processor. Additionally, the TV-Show software
includes keyboard-selectable flicker filters for adjusting the
picture quality on a television.

(Ian Stokell/19921027/Press Contact: David Glickman,
510-748-1600, Lapis Technologies Inc.)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SFO)(00013)

HP Acquires Colorado Memory Systems 10/27/92
PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 OCT 27 (NB) -- Just two
weeks after announcing plans to cut 2,700 jobs, Hewlett-
Packard has completed its acquisition of PC tape back-up systems
manufacturer Colorado Memory Systems Inc., based in Loveland,
Colorado. The company has declined to disclose terms.

According to HP, Colorado Memory, which had revenue of $131.5
million in its 1992 fiscal year, markets quarter-inch cartridge
(QIC) tape back-up systems used primarily with entry-level and
mid-range stand-alone personal computers and with entry-level
network servers.

The company maintains that acquiring CMS' tape back-up product
family will complement and expand its existing four millimeter
digital audio tape (DAT) backup products.

Colorado Memory Systems has become a wholly owned HP
subsidiary and will be managed within HP's Mass Storage Group,
said the company. Ed Harper, who led Colorado Memory Systems
as its president and chief executive officer, continues as head
of the new subsidiary.

Colorado Memory Systems employs 600 people, 12 of which are
at its European sales and support office in Marlow, England.

At the beginning of October, Newsbytes reported that, with an
eventual target of about 2,700 employees leaving the company
by early 1993, Hewlett-Packard had 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.

(Ian Stokell/19921027/Press Contact: Andrew Ould, 415-857-2367,
Hewlett-Packard Co.)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(LAX)(00014)

New For Macintosh: Multimedia Lesson Tool For Teachers 10/27/92
HUNT VALLEY, MARYLAND, U.S.A., 1992 OCT 27 (NB) -- Digital
Imaging Associates (DIA) has announced Peak, a multimedia
authoring system for teachers who want to develop self-paced,
customized classroom learning tools for the Macintosh.

Peak is an acronym for personal educational authoring kit and
the software is a Hypercard application geared toward
assembling color images, text, narration, and sound effects,
DIA said.

The company says the applications for Peak are unlimited, and
says the software has already been used to develop "bloodless"
biology dissection lessons for high school students.

To train teachers on building Peak applications, the company
licenses the product to the entire school so teachers can share
applications and offers 10 teachers eight hours of on-site
training in the use of Peak, the company said. A self-paced
guided tour on an included compact disc (CD) is also offered
with the Peak software which walks the user through creation of
an educational walk through the woods with pictures of birds
and sounds.

As a separate product, DIA is also offering four CDs with
digital images that can be used with Peak to develop lessons.
The CDs are Volume I: The Birds of Hugh Brandenburg, Volume II:
Mollusks, Seashells, & Palaeontology, Volume III: General
Biology, and Volume IV: Cell Biology.

Each volume offers between 500 and 700 digitized images and are
licensed to a school so teachers can share the images, DIA
said.

Peak is $1,495 for the first school, and $795 for additional
schools. However, the $795 figure does not include training,
but the company says a school district interested in the
software could send 10 teachers from 10 schools if it purchased
licenses for 10 schools.

Peak requires at least a Macintosh II LC or IIci with a hard
disk, compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) drive, color
monitor, and System 7 with Quicktime multimedia extensions.

DIA says is has also developed Pop Quiz??? for the development
of study aides and tests by teachers that runs on IBM
compatible personal computers (PCs) and on Apple II computers.

(Linda Rohrbough/19921027/Press Contact: Ana Conant, Digital
Imaging Associates, tel [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(UNIX)(LAX)(00015)

Sun Cuts 600MP Prices, Intros Larger Data Center Server 10/27/92
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 OCT 27 (NB) -- Sun
Microsystems is offering its largest capacity data center server
for the lowest cost ever, and has also cut prices on its SPARCserver
600MP Series of multiprocessor servers.

This is the second round of cost cuts Sun has made this year as
the company announced a series of cuts on its workstation and
600MP servers of up to $7,000 on some models.

This round of price cuts in the 600MP series is even greater.
Sun said it reduced the entry-level configuration of the
SPARCserver 670MP by $10,000, to a new price of $50,000.

Sun says it is reducing prices even though market research firm
Infocorp says the company holds the largest installed base of
Unix multiprocessors. Sun's aim is to take advantage of the
move in the market from mainframes to Unix client/server
systems, according to the company. Sun says it has shipped
7,800 units shipped in less than a year, more than any other
vendor.

To further entice corporate downsizers, Sun says 690MP data is
the lowest-cost data center package and doubles the storage
capacity of most data centers with a 10-megabyte-per-second,
2.1-gigabyte differential SCSI-2 disks per cabinet. The
configuration and speed also provides improved input/output
(I/O) throughput, Sun maintains.

Sun says it offers up to 25 gigabytes of disk capacity and 25-
gigabyte unattended back-up in a single, space-saving cabinet.

Sun also said it is working with companies to offer software
system administration tools for its servers. The company named
Tivoli Management Environment (TME) from Tivoli Systems and CA-
Unicenter from Computer Associates as two packages available
for the Sun platform. A new agreement with Legent was also
announced with plans for Legent to port its system management
tools to Sun SPARCservers and SPARCstations.

New prices for the 600MP series are as follows: the 690MP Model
120 with two processors, 64 megabytes of memory, 4.2 gigabytes
of disk and a SunCD compact disc read-only memory (CM-ROM) is
$70,000; the 690MP Model 41 with one SuperSPARC processor, 64
megabytes of memory, 4.2 gigabytes of disk and a SunCD CD-ROM
is $76,000; the 690MP Model 52 with two SuperSPARC processors,
128 megabytes of memory, 8.4 gigabytes of disk, a SunCD CD-ROM
and 5-gigabyte tape drive is $101,500; and the 690MP Model 54
with four SuperSPARC processors, 128 megabytes of memory, 8.4
gigabytes of disk, a SunCD CD-ROM and 5-gigabyte tape drive is
$119,500.

Other recent news concerning Sun was the company's exposure as
the secret backer in a suit brought by tiny Unix software
developer Addamax against the Open Software Foundation (OSF)
which the OSF says challenges its right to exist.

While industry analysts say they don't expect the move to hurt
Sun's market share or the Addamax case against the OSF, Sun's
deceptive behavior shocked the Unix community.

(Linda Rohrbough/19921027/Press Contact: Laura Shuldener, Hi-
Tech Communications, tel [phone]; Carrie Dillon, Sun
Microsystems, tel [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(BOS)(00016)

New For PC: WatchIT!TV From New Media Graphics 10/27/92
BILLERICA, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1992 OCT 27 (NB) -- New Media
Graphics has introduced a low-cost PC video board that lets the
user watch TV in a window and grab video frames for hard disk
storage, while at the same time work on another program at the
computer.

A company spokesperson told Newsbytes that WatchIT!TV offers many
of the same capabilities as high-end frame grabbing boards from New
Media Graphics, but at a price of only $349.

The new full-slot ISA (industry standard architecture) board
keeps users from having to choose between watching their favorite
TV shows at night or doing work brought home from the office, she
said. In addition, users who must stay constantly on top of
financial reports or other news sources will no longer have to
bounce back and forth between the PC and a TV, she noted.

WatchIT!TV accepts single-source video from a VCR or camcorder as
well as television, and can work side-by-side with either a DOS or
Windows-based application. Video-in-a-window is displayed at 640
by 480 pixels resolution.

An on-screen pop-up control pad that looks like a hand-held TV
remote control lets users change channels, adjust volume, color and
screen size, and grab frames, without leaving the application
program. A programmable timer turns on the TV at a time and
channel selected by the user.

The board supports frame grabbing in several popular image formats,
including PCX, BMP, BMP-24, and TGA. After being grabbed and saved
to the hard disk, the frozen still images can be imported into
other PC applications for enhancement of reports and other
applications.

The spokesperson told Newsbytes that WatchIT!TV differs from the
company's more expensive boards mainly in the size of the video
window and numbers plus types of video sources.

Although the window in WatchIT!TV can be positioned anywhere on the
display, its size is restricted to 1/16, 1/4, or 100% of the
screen. This is in contrast to the more costly boards that offer
unlimited sizing, she explained.

In addition, the more expensive boards can accept output from
multiple video sources simultaneously, and laser disks can be used
as a video source.

Also unlike WatchIT!TV, the company's high-end products offer
resolution of up to 800 by 600 pixels, and come in Micro Channel
versions, she added.

WatchIT!TV can be installed inside the PC in minutes, and comes
with connectors for ready attachment to an antenna, cable, VCR, or
camcorder, according to the spokesperson.

The new board requires an AT-compatible PC with an 8- or 16-bit ISA
slot, a VGA with a feature connector providing 640 by 480
resolution, and Windows 3.0 or higher or DOS 3.01 or higher. The
product is being sold in computer retail stores.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19921027/Press contact: Jessica Solodar, Rogers
Communications for New Media Graphics, tel [phone])


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

NEC Releases Multimedia PCs In Japan 10/27/92
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1992 OCT 27 (NB) -- NEC has released a swathe of
new PCs in Japan. Amidst the five new families of machines
are a selection of multimedia PCs, which company officials claim
are compatible with the best-selling PC 9801 series of machines.

The new machines, according to NEC, are designed to give the
company a slice of the lucrative market for the multimedia PCs in the
Japanese domestic marketplace.

NEC's latest multimedia personal computer is called the PC-9821.
It comes equipped with a 32-bit processor, a CD-ROM (compact disc
read only memory), Microsoft Windows and the Windows Multimedia
Extension. It features a dual display mode that can be switched
between 640 x 480 and 640 x 400 pixels resolution.

NEC supports only 640 x 400 pixels in its current crop of
PCs. By supporting the new 640 x 480 pixels resolution, the
company claims that Windows users are better served.

At first glance, the PC-9821 bears more than a passing similarity
to an Apple Macintosh Classic -- a 15-inch color display and the
main system all come in a single box.

The retail price of this entry model is 318,000 yen ($2,650),
which is about $200 more expensive than that of Fujitsu's FM
Towns multimedia PC. NEC has also released a color notebook
machine, the PC-9801NA/C. This features a 20 megahertz (MHz)
80486SX microprocessor and a choice of hard disks up to 120 MB in
size. The overall speed of the machine is around twice that of its
predecessors, despite the fact that, at 498,000 yen ($4,150), it
is one of the lowest-priced PCs of its type here in Japan.

Other models in the new series include the PC-H98T, which has a
dual mode color LCD (liquid crystal display) that supports 1,120
x 750 and 640 x 400 pixels resolutions. A 66 megahertz 80486 PC
has also been released.

All these announcements came as something of a disappointment for
individual Japanese consumers because of the prices. Many of the
consumers were expecting powerful but low-cost PCs which compete
with Compaq's or Digital Equipment's offerings. Also, NEC's
latest multimedia PC does not have major advantage over the
existing competitor the FM-Towns of Fujitsu -- the FM-Towns has
hundreds of multimedia programs, and the price is cheaper.

(Masayuki "Massey" Miyazawa/19921027/Press Contact: NEC, +81-3-
3451-2974)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(DEN)(00018)

Cray Research Upgrades Unicos OS 10/27/92
EAGAN, MINNESOTA, U.S.A., 1992 OCT 27 (NB) -- Cray Research has
announced it has begun shipping version 7 of Unicos, its Unix-
based operating system. Unicos was first released in 1986.

According to Irene Qualters, software vice president of the
company, the newest version is important because it provides the
base development environment and operational support for the
company's MPP (massively parallel processing) system due out next
year. Unicos is based on AT&T's Unix system V with Berkeley
extensions.

Qualters said that the new release is easier to install and
includes several new features and support tools designed to
increase the productivity of both users and system
administrators.

An Autotasking feature automatically distributes and concurrently
executes a program on all the central processing units (CPUs) of the
system. That speeds problem solving, and is the essence of parallel
processing. Cray supercomputers use from one to 16 CPUs.

Release 7 adds an application development toolset which provides
tools that show program performance statistics in a visual format
instead of the previously-used numerical print-outs.

One of the tools from the toolset is ATExpert, an X-Window based
expert system that analyzes an application's potential parallel
performance and displays performance information as an on-screen
plotted graph. ATExpert interprets the data and can offer suggested
actions to enhance parallel performance.

XBrowse, another toolset component, can speed Fortran source code
editing and debugging. Fortran, an acronym for formula translation,
is a programming language that expresses computer programs by
arithmetic formulas. XBrowse provides information at the routine,
file, or program level and includes variable tracing and parallel
processing analysis information.

The company says more than 90 percent of the 350 systems installed
world-wide utilize Unicos as their operating system.

(Jim Mallory/19921027/Press contact: Steve Conway, Cray Research,
612-683-7133)


(NEWS)(IBM)(DEN)(00019)

 ****Shiva Remote Server For Windows For Workgroups 10/27/92
CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1992 OCT 27 (NB) -- One of the
first companies to jump on the Microsoft Workgroup For Windows
bandwagon is Shiva Corporation, announcing its remote networking
server for WFW.

Called NetModem/E for Windows For Workgroups, the server is designed
to allow WFW users to access their workgroup resources remotely
through conventional telephone lines. The device is a dedicated
hardware system that plugs into the workgroup's Ethernet cable and a
phone line. Remote users connect to it using a standard modem.
Once connected they can use all the capabilities of WFW including
file sharing, Microsoft Mail, and Microsoft Schedule+ just as if they
were using a workstation on the network.

Shiva President Dan Schwinn says Shiva and Microsoft worked closely
during the development of NetModem/E to ensure reliable, high
performance connections. "We're extending the Windows for
Workgroups-based environment out to remote users whether they're
traveling with a laptop, working from home or working in a remote
office," said Schwinn.

NetModem/E is a stand-alone, secure device that requires no attached
PC, keyboard, or display screen. It sends standard data packets
using the protocol used by WFW using point-to-point protocol. The
device can be attached to thin, thick, or 10BaseT Ethernet cabling
using Shiv's EtherModules. A built-in modem utilizes the V.32 and
V.32bis protocols to provide data transfer up to 14,400 bits per
second (bps). It also utilizes V.42 error correction and V.42bis
data compression, which the company says will provide throughput up
to 57,600 bps.

Security features include user names, passwords, and dial-back phone
numbers. The company says it expects to ship NetModem/E later this
quarter. NetModem/E carries a price tag of $1,699.

(Jim Mallory/19921027/Press contact: Kathy Dowling, Schwartz
Communications for Shiva Corporation, 617-431-0770)


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

 ****DFI To Pre-Install Windows For Workgroups On PCs 10/27/92
SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 OCT 27 (NB) -- Diamond Flower
Electric Company announced today it has signed an OEM agreement to
pre-install Microsoft's Windows For Workgroups on its new Premium
Series personal computers.

Windows For Workgroups is a superset of Windows 3.1 that includes
peer-to-peer networking capabilities, and is being announced
formally by Microsoft in New York today.

DFI says it will offer special workgroup pricing for multiple system
orders. The Premium series PCs are scheduled to ship later this
quarter. The company's flagship product in the Diamond series will
be a 33 megahertz (MHz), 486-based local-bus super VGA (video
graphics adapter). Local-bus video sends video signals directly
to the central processing unit (CPU) for faster screen redrawing.

DFI's Diamond series also includes four desktop systems and three
tower models, ranging in price from $1,847 for the 386-based Model
320-SX to $4,950 for the 486-based model 433T. The company says
that the Premier series is targeted at both the business and home
user markets.

Standard configuration of the 486-33 includes MS-DOS 5.0, 4 megabytes
(MB) of system memory (RAM), two high density floppy drives, a 200
MB hard disk, two serial ports, one parallel port, eight expansion
slots, and a high resolution .28 mm dot pitch color monitor.

The fastest computer in the Diamond series will be a 66 MHz
486DX2-based system, with a price tag of $4,539. In addition to the
standard configuration of the 486-33, the faster system will also
include 1 MB of video RAM, a mouse, a non-interlaced color monitor,
and a one-year on-site warranty.

DFI's entry in the upgradable arena will be the model 420VSX, a 20
MHz unit powered by a Intel 486SX chip, which can be upgraded to 49
MHz by inserting an Intel Overdrive processor into a socket. With a
price tag of $1,895, the 420VSX also uses local-bus SVGA. The 420SVX
will be configured like the 486DX2 except it will have a 130 MB hard
drive.

Prior to entering the PC market with the Premier series, DFI was
known as a maker of motherboards, interface cards, and other
peripherals, and was founded in 1981.

(Jim Mallory/19921027/Press contact: Sherri Berman for DFI,
708-291-1616, fax [phone])


(NEWS)(UNIX)(SFO)(00021)

Sun Licenses Qualix's Personal Postmaster 10/27/92
SAN MATEO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 OCT 27 (NB) -- Electronic
mail systems are becoming an increasingly important means of
communication within large companies. Along those lines, Sun
Microsystems Computer Corp. has signed a world-wide site
license agreement with Qualix Group Inc., for the internal
use of its Personal Postmaster software.

Personal Postmaster works on Sun workstations, sorting,
prioritizing and forwarding electronic mail messages, and
notifying users when messages are received. According to the
companies, Qualix provided the software to Sun in August,
and it is already being used by employees.

Personal Postmaster is published by Qualix and produced by
MindWork Inc., and is designed for use with the Solaris operating
environment, and the standard Unix electronic mail system.

According to the company, the software organizes mail for quick
review by placing messages in separate mail folders. Each mail
folder can be identified by a mail tool which has its own
distinctive color so users can quickly identify the importance of
individual messages.

Announcing the software, Jean Kovacs, executive vice president of
marketing for Qualix Group, said: "Anyone receiving more than 30
electronic mail messages a day needs Personal Postmaster.
Obviously, SMCC saw the value in their employees using it to
increase their personal productivity."

Qualix claims that Personal Postmaster is one of the products
available under its Qualix Cheap Seats program, in which the
company brings the price of networked licensed Unix software
below that of PC and Macintosh software.

(Ian Stokell/19921027/Press Contact: Jean Kovacs, Qualix
Group Inc., 415-572-0200)


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

Apple Launches Unix VAR Recruitment Program 10/27/92
CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 OCT 27 (NB) -- Hoping to
expand sales of its A/UX version of AT&T's Unix, Apple Computer
has launched a new value-added reseller (VAR) recruitment
campaign in the US.

According to the company, the new Quick Start program "was
launched as Apple broadens the scope of its A/UX 3.0 marketing
efforts from the open systems desktop market to include a
multi-user, host-based computing environment."

Apple maintains that A/UX complies with Unix System V
definitions and includes Berkeley release 4.3 extensions.
The company claims that its Quick Start program features
strong financial incentives for VARs to become authorized
A/UX resellers.

Bruce Cleveland, senior director, Open Systems Business Unit in
the Enterprise Systems Division at Apple, said: "This program is
a direct result of customer response. For some time, users have
combined A/UX hosts and desktop Macintosh operating system
clients to give them the combination of powerful multi-user
business applications and great Macintosh personal productivity
applications. We are encouraging VARs to port their vertical
business applications to A/UX."

Apple claims that A/UX 3.0 offers VARs an easy way to port
their products to A/UX, as most applications written in the C
programming language only need to be recompiled to run under
A/UX. Apple is also offering one year of free technical support
via a toll-free hotline for all A/UX buyers.

Apple is offering some financial incentives to VARs. The Quick
Start program features a $6,000 reimbursement to VARS
authorized through Apple's distributor VAR program for
purchasing three specially configured Macintosh Quadra 700
A/UX systems between November 1, 1992 and January 31, 1993.
The systems must be purchased from Ingram Micro, Merisel, or
Tech Data.

Apple maintains that A/UX supports up to 32 Macintosh computers,
ASCII terminals, and PCs. These systems can be connected using
AppleTalk, TCP/IP or intelligent serial communications cards.

In August Newsbytes reported that Apple had begun offering a
32-user license for A/UX 3.0. The license doubled the number of
users able to access A/UX on a single CPU, which was formerly
just 16.

Said Cleveland: "The Quick Start program is also designed to give
traditional Unix VARs an easy way to sell Apple A/UX solutions
to their customers. Additionally, A/UX versions of their products
greatly expand their prospective customer base, and the huge
array of Macintosh third-party add-ons substantially increases
their aftermarket opportunities."

The company says that systems qualifying for credit in the Quick
Start program are Apple Macintosh Quadra 700 that are ready to
run A/UX out of the box. The bundle features a Motorola 68040-
based CPU (central processing unit) running at 25 megahertz
(MHz), eight megabytes (MB) of RAM, a 230 MB hard disk with
A/UX pre-installed, a C compiler, and AppleTalk and Ethernet on
the motherboard.

A/UX 3.0 was announced by Apple last fall, at the same time
IBM and Apple announced Poweropen, the two companies' joint
operating system. However, Apple says its implementation of
Poweropen will be A/UX.

(Ian Stokell/19921027/Press Contact: Emilio Robles, Apple
Computer, 408-862-5671)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(LON)(00023)

Infonet & Telecom Finland Team Up In Telecom Venture 10/27/92
HELSINKI, FINLAND, 1992 OCT 27 (NB) -- Infonet Services and
Telecom Finland have taken the unusual step of teaming up to
establish a joint venture company called Infonet Finland Limited.

Telecom Finland has a 90 percent share in the venture, with
Infonet holding the remaining minority stake. The aim of the
joint venture is to allow Telecom Finland to service, sell and
install Infonet international packet switching services in its
home country without worrying about any overlaps in its and
Infonet's product portfolios.

For Infonet, Newsbytes notes, the joint venture will allow the
company to expand its data network in the country. Currently, to
access the Infonet dial-up packet data network (PDN) service in
Finland, callers dial 92919, a special national access code that
frequently triggers trunk call tariffs. For local access, Infonet
callers must subscribe to the Danpak PDN provided by Telecom
Finland. Sources suggest that a national network of Finnish
Infonet nodes is quite likely in the coming months.

Newsbytes notes that Infonet already has two major customers in
Finland -- Neste, the state-controlled oil firm and Nokia, the
private telecom conglomerate.

(Steve Gold/19921027/Press & Public Contact: Infonet Europe -
Tel: [phone]; Fax: [phone])


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(LON)(00024)

Spanish Telecom Market Unaffected By European Recession 10/27/92
MADRID, SPAIN, 1992 OCT 27 (NB) -- Telefonica has announced that
it is beating the recession and plans to announce a 16 percent
increase in revenues for the current calendar year.

The news has come as a surprise to industry watchers, although
the Spanish telecom company attributes the surge in income
to the combined effects of the Olympics and the Seville World
Fair. Telefonica has upgraded its network over the past few years
in preparation for these events.

According to Jesus Gimena, Telefonica's financial services
director, the increase in revenue will allow the company to
lessen its burden on the Spanish government. Speaking at an
analysts meeting in Frankfurt, Western Germany, Gimena said that
he expects the company to self-finance around 80 percent of its
network expansion plans this year.

This makes Telefonica one of the most self-sufficient telecom
companies in Europe in terms of its investment finance plans. It
will also, Newsbytes notes, act as a positive inducement for
other telecom administrations to invest for the future, while
many governments are reining in plans for subsidies on their
national telecom networks due to the recession.

Telefonica does have the advantage of having most of the Spanish
telecom market to itself. Plans call for the country's packet
data network (PDN) services to be opened up to competition next
year, followed by the mobile telephony market in 1994.

(Steve Gold/19921027)


(NEWS)(IBM)(LON)(00025)

Microsoft UK Claims Word For Windows "De Facto Standard" 10/27/92
WOKINGHAM, BERKSHIRE, ENGLAND, 1992 OCT 27 (NB) -- Microsoft has
announced that in tests, eight of 10 DOS Wordperfect users actually
preferred Word for Windows over the Windows version of their own
software. This has arisen from user tests that were conducted
in recent months.

The tests, carried out at the National Testing Laboratory (NSTL)
in the UK, concluded that Word for Windows 2.0 was easier
to learn and use, plus was quicker when it came to completing
everyday tasks.

"Most people assume that they should upgrade to a Windows version
of the same product they are currently using because they think
it will be the easier one to learn," explained Shelagh Marsh,
Word for Windows product marketing manager with Microsoft.
"The NSTL tests conclusively shows that Wordperfect users' found
Word for Windows 2,0 easier to transition than Wordperfect for
Windows," she added.

The comparative usability test, which was conducted independently
by the NSTL, aimed to tests aspects of usability for Microsoft
Word for Windows 2.0 and Wordperfect for Windows. In a series of
blind tests, the NSTL attempted to find whether users of
Wordperfect for DOS would state a preference based on a
comparison of eight basic formatting and printing tasks in each
of the two packages.

The results of the test were that 86 percent of test subjects
said they preferred Word for Windows for DOS 2.0, with 82 percent
confirming they would buy the package over Wordperfect for
Windows. 78 percent said they found Word for Windows 2.0 easier
to use, while 88 percent found the package easier to learn than
Wordperfect for Windows.

Interestingly, the average time taken for users to complete the
test on Word for Windows 2.0 was 43 seconds, compared to 71
seconds on Wordperfect for Windows.

A full set of the results is available from Microsoft on request
on 081-879-7979.

(Steve Gold/19921027/Press Contact: Microsoft - Tel: [phone];
Public Contact: Tel: [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(LAX)(00026)

 ****AST Cuts Prices In War With IBM/Compaq 10/27/92
IRVINE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 OCT 27 (NB) -- AST has come out
swinging into the IBM and compatible personal computer (PC) price
war and is attempting to steal the market away from the new IBM
PS/Valuepoint plus Compaq's midrange computer line with
significant price cuts on its Bravo line.

Recently, IBM announced a new line of computers that falls
between the PS/1 and PS/2 line called the PS/Valuepoint series,
while Compaq last month lowered prices on its computers geared
toward the same market. These are the same market at which AST is
pitching its machines.

AST says that its Bravo 486SX machines start at a suggested
retail price of $895 and a 486SX Bravo with a single 3.5-inch
floppy, 120 megabyte (MB) hard drive, 4 MB of random access
memory (RAM), a super video graphics array (SVGA) display,
Windows 3.1, a mouse, a mouse pad, and one-year on-site service
is projected to start around $1,400, according to Dan Sheppard,
AST's director of Bravo system marketing. Sheppard says that the
AST prices rival those of mail order houses.

In comparison, IBM's new PS/Valuepoint 425SX with an 80 MB hard
drive, 4 MB of RAM, a 3.5-inch single floppy drive, a VGA
monitor, and OS/2 2.0 is listed from IBM at $1,629. A similarly
configured Compaq, the 486-based Prolinea Model 120, with
Windows factory installed starts at $1,259.

In additional comparisons to Compaq's line, AST notes that the
Bravo is expandable to 64 MB of maximum RAM while Compaq's
Prolinea expands to a maximum of 16 MB. AST claims it offers
optional cache while Compaq offers no optional cache, provides up
to a 486DX2/66 while the Compaq Prolinea's highest processor is a
486DX2/50, and AST has four drive bays and four slots versus
Compaq's three drive bays and three slots.

In comparison to IBM, AST maintains its clock doubler models
offers 256 kilobytes (K) of cache while IBM offers 128K of
cache on the PS/Valuepoint models.

AST said that price cuts on the Bravo line are as high as 31
percent. Some Bravo line models have an Ethernet controller for
network access built into the motherboard, Newsbytes notes.

The company was listed in Fortune Magazine's 500 top companies
in April of this year, as opposed to IBM and Compaq which have
both faced large losses and layoffs.

(Linda Rohrbough/19921027/Press Contact: Emory Epperson, AST,
tel [phone], fax [phone]; John Sweney, Compaq, tel
713-374-0484, fax [phone]; Public Contact, IBM, 800-772-
2227)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(WAS)(00027)

 ****Microchip Prices Soar 10/27/92
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1992 OCT 27 (NB) -- Following rapidly on
the US Department of Commerce's preliminary determination that
Korean microchip makers were dumping (selling below cost) chips
on the US market, some microprocessor and memory prices have
soared.

Samsung, a major Korean manufacturer which may be hit with a
tariff of nearly 90 percent, has released a statement saying that
the company was surprised by the DOC preliminary determination
but that it expects that no tariffs will be imposed at the final
determination due in March of 1993.

Mark Miner of the Public Affairs office, International Trade
Administration, DOC, told Newsbytes that while no actual tariff
has yet been imposed the Department of Commerce has ordered
Korean companies to post bonds based on the preliminary estimates
of illegal dumping discounts.

The bonds assigned to be collected on imports from specific
companies are as follows: Goldstar, 52.41 percent; Hyundai, 5.99
percent; Samsung, 87.40 percent; and an average of 61.88 percent
for all other Korean manufacturers. This means that, although the
companies may eventually get the money back, they are currently
required to, in effect, pay a preliminary tariff on their imports
which might cause them to raise prices dramatically.

Darlene Eynon at Samsung Technologies told Newsbytes that as far
as she knew Samsung had not increased prices on its chips sold in
the US.

When asked whether recent price increases were due to increases
in import prices or distributors increasing prices in
anticipation of higher costs, Lisa Croel at Samsung's PR firm,
Edelman Technology Communications, told Newsbytes that Samsung
had not informed her of any price increases, but she could not
confirm that prices had not in fact been increased.

But while the origin of price increases remains a minor mystery,
there is no doubt that prices are climbing daily.

Some US companies which build microcomputers are reporting to
Newsbytes that end user microchip prices are already soaring
and suppliers are not guaranteeing prices for more than a day or
two at a time.

Michael Hansen, vice president of sales and marketing for AEC
Solutions, Baltimore, Maryland, a VAR which supplies turnkey
systems for architectural firms, told Newsbytes that he had been
quoted prices from a source at Ingram Micro at about 60 percent
higher than just last week and was told that the price was only
good for 24 hours instead of the usual 60-day price guarantee.

Fortunately for its customers, AEC, according to Mr. Hansen, is
not particularly affected by the increases because memory is such
a small part of their total package, but he told Newsbytes that
he expects prices to continue to climb on both memory and other
imported chips.

Dore Perler, president of Sunrise, Florida's Bedrock Technology,
a clone manufacturer which sells mostly to Fortune 500 companies,
told Newsbytes that in the past two weeks prices on 486 DX Intel
microprocessors have gone up by $85.

Mr. Perler said today that he can't predict how future 486 prices
will be affected because Intel's new Pentium (formerly called
in the trade press the 586) will soon be on the market.

An inside source at another manufacturer, Swan Technology, State
College, Pennsylvania, confirmed that they were aware of
significant price increases on foreign memory chips but said that
they were experiencing no problems because Swan almost
exclusively uses US-manufactured chips and the company's
suppliers have told Swan that they will continue to honor
previous contract prices.

Other companies, which did not want to be identified, report that
some US chip makers are taking advantage of the international
chip turmoil by raising the cost of domestically made chips.

The US Department of Commerce is charged with investigating
accusations of dumping made against foreign companies and
remedying any unfair advantage this gives them by imposing
appropriate tariffs on those companies' products.

Dumping, a charge which has often been leveled against various
Asian-based manufacturers, is the practice of charging high
prices in their relatively closed markets, where US
manufacturers are barred from competing on an even basis, and
using those profits to subsidize products sold in Third World or
other markets.

Recent investigations by major news organizations have shown that
some Japanese companies carry this subsidization to such an
extent that Japanese retailers are actually re-importing
Japanese-made products which had been shipped to the US and
selling them below domestic prices in Japan.

The Department of Commerce has now made a preliminary
determination that most Korean-based microelectronics component
manufacturers are engaged in such dumping and they now have
several months to prove otherwise before tariffs go into full
effect.

The bonds the companies are now required to post will be refunded
if it is later determined that they are not guilty of dumping. The
money will go to the government if tariffs are finally imposed next
March.

(John McCormick/19921027/Press Contact: Mark Miner, Department of
Commerce, 202-482-3808)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(WAS)(00028)

SPA Membership Hits 1,000 10/27/92
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1992 OCT 27 (NB) -- The Software
Publishers Association (SPA), a major trade organization
representing software publishers, announced this week that the
association's roster has topped 1,000 members.

The SPA, which acts as the industry representative to the federal
government and works to stop software piracy, was begun in 1984
with only 25 member companies.

Among the SPA's other activities, the Association holds seminars
to aid its members in marketing and product development and
publishes important quarterly software sales numbers which show
which segments of the industry are growing fastest.

In addition to the SPA's offices in Washington, DC, the
Association also maintains a European presence with an office in
Paris, France.

(John McCormick/19921027/Press Contact: Terri Childs, SPA, 202-
452-1600)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(TYO)(00029)

 ****NTT Develops Next-Generation Hologram Memory 10/27/92
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1992 OCT 27 (NB) -- NTT, the Japanese electronics
and telecom company, has developed a next-generation computer
memory known as the hologram system. According to the company,
the hologram memory can store as much as 1,000 times the volume
of data that current technology optical systems can take.

NTT's hologram memory uses special optical fibers which are 0.5
millimeter (mm) in diameter and 4mm in length, bound into the
shape of a disk. Data is stored vertically in each optical fiber,
with each fiber being capable of storing 60 to 100 units of data.

According to NTT, the fiber is designed for the maximum possible
data storage. Made of strontium-barium-niobium and cerium,
combined into a crystal format, the fibers can store data almost
indefinitely.

Don't rush out and order a disk at your computer store just yet,
however, as NTT notes that its technology is still at the
prototyping stage. Plans call for the technology to be developed
to commercial levels, but this will take some years.

As well as traditional computer data, the hologram disk can store
visual and audio data. This could result in the appearance of
ultra-small video disks, possibly 1cm in diameter, but with a
storage/recording capacity far in excess of current videodisks.

(Masayuki "Massey" Miyazawa/19921027/Press Contact: NTT, +81-3-
3509-5035)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00030)

Two-Way RadioMail Up And Running On RAM 10/27/92
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 OCT 27 (NB) -- At the
Electronic Messaging Association conference here in San
Francisco, a company called RadioMail announced that its two-way
RadioMail gateway to RAM Mobile Data's wireless packet data
service is now online. A simplex (one-way) gateway came online a
year ago.

RadioMail, formerly called Anterior Technology, said that the
gateway works with any DOS laptop or pen-based computer accessing
the RAM network using a device like the Ericsson GE Mobidem. The
network supports transparent nationwide roaming and store-and-
forward features, meaning you can take it on a plane from Atlanta
to Los Angeles, turn it on, and automatically receive messages
which were sent while you were en-route.

Subscribers are assigned a Radio Mailbox and a RadioMail address.
To reach a subscriber, the sender sends electronic mail to
the subscriber's RadioMail address. As mail arrives at the
RadioMail gateway, it is reformatted and routed to the
appropriate radio carrier or wired network for transmission.

Two-way RadioMail service is available for a one-time software
activation fee of $149, which includes a $25 usage credit, plus
$89 per month to send up to 100 memos. Each memo unit is 50
words. Additional 50-word memo units are 29 cents each. The one-
way gateway, available at a flat rate of $20 per month, operates
in 220 regions across the country, and services the paging
networks of SkyTel, Pac Tel, MobileComm, Metromedia, McCaw,
American Paging and others.

Along with Ericsson GE, RadioMail also announced a special
introductory plan in the San Francisco area for the Viking
Express wireless electronic mail software package. The "Jump
Start" program is a 90-day trial program that offers both the
Viking Express kit from Ericsson GE as well as RadioMail software
and gateway services.

The kit includes a Mobidem Portable Wireless Modem, an extra
battery and battery charger from Ericsson GE; an HP 95LX palmtop
computer from Hewlett-Packard; RadioMail Remote software and a
zipper case, all for $1995 or $500 less without the computer. In
response to Motorola's announcement of a competing product, the
InfoTAC, Ericsson GE reduced the price of the Mobidem with
battery charger and extra battery to $1395.

Finally, Lotus Development said it formed a business partnership
with RAM to develop wireless wide-area network technology. The
first product to be developed will allow mobile cc:Mail users to
send and receive electronic mail messages instantly, without
having to access phone jacks while traveling. Lotus called it the
first in a series of announcements designed to demonstrate Lotus'
commitment to field computing. Lotus expects to deliver a
wireless version of cc:Mail in 1993.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19921027/Press Contact: RadioMail, Geoff
Goodfellow, 415/328-5615; Public Contact: 415/349-5683,
Internet, radiomail-info(at)radiomail.net; Ericsson, Kathy Egan,
212/685-4030; McGlinchey & Paul, for Lotus, David Grip, 617/862-
4514)