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/1993/nb930127

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(NEWS)(GOVT)(HKG)(00001)

Data General Wins Taiwan Army Contract 01/27/93
TAIPEI, TAIWAN, 1993 JAN 27 (NB) -- Data General Corporation, facing
competition from IBM, Hewlett-Packard, NCR, Unisys, and Sun, won a
contract with the Taiwanese Army worth over $5,000,000.

The total contract covers provision of a Data General AViiON based
pilot MIS system at six major sites. The Army MIS installation is to
be provided by Syscom Computer Engineering Company, Data General's
AViiON distributor in Taiwan.

Hardware for this initial phase will comprise one AV5240 equipped with
open storage CLARiiON system, two AV5225 systems, 20 AV4605 systems
and 36 five-gigabyte optical discs.

A further 100 AV5225, AV4605 or AV5240 systems are to be installed in
over 50 Army bases within the next five years.

Also included in the contract are installation of Sybase DBMS to
handle all transactions generated by client systems through TCP/IP
into the servers; IBM communications with Chinese language capability;
and network management with image documents and office automation
systems.

Peter Hsu, Data General's country manager for Taiwan, said, "We had to
convince our customer that installing the AV5240 server in conjunction
with the industry-leading CLARiiON RAID disk subsystem is the best
price/performance solution.

"Data General's flexible approach was also an important factor," Mr
Hsu said. "It not only proved to our customer Data General's
commitment to open systems standards, but gave us the opportunity to
demonstrate the integration of PCs optical discs, network management
tools database manager, workstation, Chinese language terminals, and
laser printers with AViiON systems as a total solution."

This installation is the first reference site showing AViiON's
ability to communicate with IBM systems in a Chinese language
environment. It also represents a significant landmark for Taiwan in
the integration of a Unix-based client/server system with image
document management.

Daniel Ng, regional marketing manager for Data General Asia North,
said, "We are especially pleased to have won this contract against
such stiff competition. In the past the Taiwanese Army has used IBM
and Hewlett-Packard systems."

"The superior power and speed of the AViiON, coupled with the leading
edge technology of the CLARiiON, together with their cost
effectiveness, were important factors in closing this deal," claimed
Mr Ng.

"We look forward with confidence to a long and happy relationship with
this important new customer."

(Brett Cameron/19930126/Press Contact: Daniel Ng, Data General Asia
North, Tel: [phone];HK time is GMT + 8)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(DEN)(00002)

Cray Optimistic About Cray-3 Progress 01/27/93
COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO, U.S.A., 1993 JAN 27 (NB) -- After
losing the only contract it had for its gallium-arsenide based
Cray-3 supercomputer and being unsuccessful in finding a partner to
help finish the system, Cray Computer Corporation says it's
optimistic about the system's future.

The company said that it has run several industry standard
benchmarks to demonstrate the performance of the Cray-3, and the
system is now running routinely under the company's proprietary
operating system CSOS on a daily basis. The system, running two
processors with a clock speed equivalent to 480 megahertz, is
expected to be available to a limited external user base in the near
future. Cray spokesperson William Skolout told Newsbytes that the
company will make the system available to a few potential customers
to run their own applications on a test basis. Skolout declined
to identify the customers. A high-capacity, high-performance on-line
disk storage system using a HIPPI interface has also been added.

"We are pleased with the benchmark performance of the Cray-3 and are
proceeding with the manufacture and checkout of four-processor
systems," said CCC President Terry Willkom. Skolout told Newsbytes
that the company anticipates demonstrating a four-processor system
to the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado
by the end of the quarter. Skolout told Newsbytes that the
four-processor systems have been in production for some time, and
benchmark testing is beginning. "We feel very confident we'll have
processor data there."

(Jim Mallory/19930126/Press contact: Terry Willkom, Cray Computer,
719-579-6464)


(NEWS)(IBM)(DEN)(00003)

Multimedia Version Of Word For Windows 01/27/93
REDMOND, WASHINGTON, U.S.A., 1993 JAN 27 (NB) -- Microsoft has
unveiled Microsoft Word for Windows Release 2.0, a multimedia version
of the word processing program.

Officially titled Microsoft Multimedia Word & Bookshelf, Video and
Sound Edition, the new version adds video and advanced sound
capabilities, and will ship on CD-ROM. The company says users will
be able to play and edit videos as well as embed sound effects in
documents. It also includes what the company described as "improved"
Wordperfect file converters.

Microsoft spokesperson Russ Dorr told Newsbytes the program has a
suggested retail price of $595, with the academic version selling
for $199. Dorr said current users of Microsoft Word Release 1.x and
Bookshelf, which was released in 1991, can upgrade for $199. Users
who have registered Release 1.0 of the multimedia version of Word
can upgrade for $14.95. The package is scheduled to ship in the US,
Canada, and Australia, on February 1.

Microsoft VP of Desktop Applications Pete Higgins says users can
expect to see tremendous growth and acceptance of multimedia
technology in the coming months.

Also included in the new release is a run-time version of Microsoft
Video for Windows that allows users to add, edit, and play video in
Word documents. The program comes with a sample video library, and
additional libraries are available. The sample collection includes
footage of the first walk on the moon, a speech by Dr. Martin Luther
King Jr., and a windsurfer rocking to reggae music.

(Jim Mallory/19930126/Press contact: Lisa Matchette, Microsoft,
206-882-8080)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(DEN)(00004)

Pagemaker Seminars 01/27/93
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON, U.S.A., 1993 JAN 27 (NB) -- Aldus Corporation
will conduct half-day courses on Pagemaker 5.0 for both Macintosh
and Windows versions in cities across the US and Canada beginning
next month.

The company said the $99 seminar will teach attendees how to use
Pagemaker's new features, including rotation, skewing and mirroring,
multiple open publications, the enhanced Control palette, Aldus
Additional, and new color and printing tools. Participants will also
learn how to convert files created in version 4.0 and 4.2 to the 5.0
format.

The forums are designed for intermediate an advanced users of
Pagemaker, and will be held in San Francisco and Atlanta in
February;, Boston and Minneapolis in March; Houston and Chicago in
April; , New York and Washington, DC in May; and Toronto and Los
Angeles in June. A schedule of sessions for the second half of the
year will be announced later.

To register for one of the seminars, readers can
contact Aldus University Seminars on its toll-free number.

(Jim Mallory/19930126/Press contact: Jill Miller, Aldus Corporation,
206-628-2352; Seminar registration: 800-685-3565)


(NEWS)(IBM)(WAS)(00005)

3M To Exclusively Make IBM QIC Tapes 01/27/93
ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA, U.S.A., 1993 JAN 27 (NB) -- 3M is taking over
exclusive manufacturing and marketing rights to IBM quarter-inch data
cartridge tape storage products for the North American market area.
The one-year agreement covers four 3M data cartridges sold under the
IBM brand name and a 5.25-inch data cartridge drive cleaning kit.

IBM has chosen quarter-inch tape as a standard backup system for
Application System/400 minicomputers, RISC/6000 AIX (Unix)
workstations and some PS/2 computers.

Under the agreement, 3M becomes the sole source of both 3M- and
IBM-brand data cartridges. 3M already distributed and 3490 half-
inch tape cartridges used by IBM Enterprise/9000 systems and some
AS/400s.

(John McCormick/19930126/Press Contact: Amy Arutt, IBM, 914-642-
5553)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(PAR)(00006)

Daimler Benz Unit Won't Raise Stake In Cap Gemini 01/27/93
STUTTGART, GERMANY 1993 JAN 27 (NB) -- Daimler-Benz
InterServices, or Debis, the services unit of the German auto maker
Daimler Benz AG, said it had disappointing results for 1992, and
said that for the moment it had no plans to increase its stake in
Cap Gemini Sogeti, the French software and services concern.

Debis said that while its sales increased 25 percent last year, to
8 billion Deutsche marks (5 billion US dollars), its profit margins
were eroded by a combination of increased competition and a
depressed economic climate. The company's profit for the year was
only about 123 million DM, roughly the same as year earlier levels.

Debis Systemhaus, the information services branch of the company,
"didn't succeed in reaching the break-even point, as we had hoped
at the beginning of the year," said its chief, Karl Heinz Achinger.
Debis Systemhaus's losses last year were around 13 million DM.

Manfred Gentz, the president of Debis, said that although the
company intended to continue its partnership with Cap Gemini
via a joint company in Germany, Cap Debis, "based on the current
conditions, an increase of our stake in Cap Gemini isn't foreseen
for the moment, even though our original accord called for it."

Cap Gemini's parent, Sogeti, is 34 percent owned by Daimler Benz.

(Andrew Rosenbaum/19930127)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(WAS)(00007)

Softec To Automate Joint Chiefs Of Staff 01/27/93
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1993 JAN 27 (NB) -- SofTec, a company
with about 400 employees and a gross income of about $50 million,
has been selected as a major subcontractor for Chantilly,
Virginia-based GTE Government Systems' Joint Staff Automation for
the Nineties (JSAN) computer modernization project. The
contract, which was initially awarded in December '91, but
immediately protested by Grumman Data Systems, will be worth
nearly $92 million total.

According to a company spokesperson, SofTec will provide custom
software, program conversions, and develop interfaces for the new
network while helping to ensure a smooth transition between the
old Wang network used by the 1500 members of the Joint Chiefs of
Staff and the new IBM RS/6000 Unix workstation-based system which
will run parallel to the old system for several years.

SofTec will receive $2.2 million under the initial contract award
but may get more under optional renewals.

The Pentagon decided to replace the Wang network back in 1990 but
the new system won't be installed until some time later this year.
The original request for proposals was issued by the Air Force
Computer Acquisition Center in January 1991.

Contel Federal Systems was awarded the JSAN contract in December
of 1991 when it was protested by Grumman and re-awarded to Contel
Federal Systems when it was again protested in July of last year,
then finalized just last month with the award going to GTE this
time.

The new JSAN system will provide improved capabilities for
worldwide communications and information analysis through a
sophisticated, secure local area network. Deliveries of the
contracted systems were initially held up by a protest from
Grumman Data Systems, which was the low bidder for the contract
but did not receive the contract because of some technical
questions raised by the Air Force.

(John McCormick/19930126/Press Contact: SofTech, Inc., Norman L.
Rasmussen, 617-890-6900)


(NEWS)(IBM)(DEN)(00008)

Windows Draw Bundled With Mouse, Trackball 01/27/93
RICHARDSON, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1993 JAN 27 (NB) -- Identity Systems,
in an agreement with Micrografx, will bundle Micrografx' Windows
Draw Limited Edition with its standard and infrared mouse and
trackball products.

The company says the software is being bundled with the 3-button
serial mouse, the 3-button infrared mouse, and the 3-button serial
trackball at no extra cost. All three pointing devices are
Microsoft Windows-compatible.

Draw Product Manager Lea Ellermeier told Newsbytes the major
difference between Windows Draw Limited Edition and the full-blown
version is the amount of clip art included. The regular edition
includes more than 2,600 customizable images, while the LE has 350
images. There are also fewer export/import filters, and fewer
fonts.

Draw was first introduced at the industry trade show COMDEX
in Las Vegas in October 1991. It offers the user a selection of
freehand and geometric shape drawing tools, line styles and ends,
and special effects. A clip art manager provides a preview of the
art before its placed in a document. Draw supports the HP Laserjet
printer series as well as Postscript and PaintJet printers, and Draw
files can be placed directly into Pagemaker documents.

Identity spokesperson Alan Weinkrantz told Newsbytes that users who
purchase the package will be able to upgrade to the full edition of
Windows Draw directly from Micrografx for $49.95. The suggested
retail price of Draw is $149.

The serial mouse carries a suggested retail price of $59, while the
infrared mouse is $79. The trackball is $69.

(Jim Mallory/19930122/Press contact: Troy Cooper, Identity Systems
Technology, 214-235-3330)


(NEWS)(IBM)(SFO)(00009)

Windows Games For Kids By Subscription 01/27/93
SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 JAN 27 (NB) -- Children's
Computer Workshop recently announced MonkeyBars Monthly at the
fourth annual Windows & OS/2 Conference. MonkeyBars Monthly is a
subscription service that provides educational computer games for
young children for as little as $2.50 per game for a one-year
subscription of 24 games.

MonkeyBars Monthly takes advantage of the multimedia capabilities of
Windows 3.1. Though the program will work with all sound cards
compatible with Windows 3.1 multimedia specifications, a card is not
required, as the program automatically installs the Microsoft Speaker
Driver. Beeps, squeaks, meows, barks, and children's voices make the
games fun even for kids who can't yet read.

Children's Computer Workshop has taken care to design the games
especially with young children in mind. For example, all games fill
the entire screen, so a child can't accidentally click on a region
outside the game and "lose" the game behind another application. All
game functions speak or make noise. And all major game controls, such
as GO, STOP, YES, and NO are the same for every game, allowing kids to
easily master new games.

Six month subscriptions to MonkeyBars Monthly cost $34.95; full-year
subscriptions are $59.95. The Playground disk is the first
subscription disk, and includes all the sounds used by each game,
several system files, two introductory games, and a bonus game for
children completely new to computers and mice.

The program requires MS-DOS 3.1 or later, Microsoft Windows 3.1,
a 386 or higher processor, 4 MB RAM, a hard disk, VGA video, and
mouse. A sound card is recommended but not required.

Later this year, the company plans to offer language modules in
Spanish, French, and German to allow children to practice and learn
other languages.

(Audry Kalman/19930122/Public Contact: Children's Computer
Workshop, 916-624-5912)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(TYO)(00010)

Japan - Nintendo, Food Producer Create Game 01/27/93
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1993 JAN 27 (NB) -- Japan's major game maker
Nintendo has tied up with a processed food producer, Ajinomoto, to
create a game which features a trip to the kitchen to cook.

The program, for Nintendo's best-selling 16-bit game machine the
Super Famicom, is an animated active roll-playing game called
"Motoko-chan no wonder kitchen." The game features a girl's
quest to find the best ingredients for her recipes.

The development of this game doesn't mean Ajinomoto will seriously
enter the game market, but just plans to use the game as a
marketing and promotional tool for its food products. The firm
specializes in an original seasoning called "Ajinomoto,"
mayonnaise, and dressings.

Ajinomoto plans to feature the game during a mayonnaise promotional
campaign in April. This version of the game will feature the
animated character cooking food with Ajinomoto mayonnaise. The recipe
for mayonnaise-related food is also included in this program.

Meanwhile, Nintendo may modify this game program to market it
separately. Ajinomoto's game program is aimed at female users, since
in Japan, the majority of the cooking is done by girls and women.

The popularity of Super Famicom is still growing despite the
slow economy and recent concern about possible epileptic problems
caused by their usage.

(Masayuki "Massey" Miyazawa/19930126/Press Contact: Nintendo, +81-
75-541-6111, Fax, [phone])


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TYO)(00011)

Japan - Sony Increases Mini-Disk Production 01/27/93
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1993 JAN 27 (NB) -- Sony will increase production
of portable Mini-Disk players by about 40 percent due to higher-
than-expected demand.

Sony's Mini-Disk players were announced late last year, and the
firm is shipping various models including portable versions.
According to Sony, demand for the portable Mini-Disk player
is growing so rapidly that production will be increased from
the current 35,000 to 50,000 units within two months. Many of them
are destined for overseas markets.

This is good news for Sony as well as other licensees of Sony's
Mini-Disk players. Increasing sales of the Mini-Disk should give
the firm a needed boost. Its increased production is also seen as
a way Sony will vie with a competing technology, DCC (Digital
Compact Cassette player), of Matsushita and Philips. Sony wants
to gain the major market share before these firms release
portable DCC players by June.

Sony's Mini-Disk allows playback and digital recording on a 64-mm
optical disc. It can store a maximum of 74 minutes of sound
recording and is currently sold for about 79,800 yen ($640). The firm
is also planning to use the disc as a computer memory storage device.

(Masayuki "Massey" Miyazawa/19930126/Press Contact: Sony, +81-3-
3448-2200)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(TYO)(00012)

Japan - HDTV Promotion Reconsidered 01/27/93
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1993 JAN 27 (NB) -- The Japanese Ministry of Posts
and Telecommunications has suggested that it may reorganize its
Promotional Division for high definition television (HDTV). The Ministry
wants to include other telecommunications-related media in this
Division. Some industry people suggest that this reorganization will
mean big changes. They worry that MITI may possibly scrap
the Japanese-type HDTV standard but so far, their fears are
unfounded.

The Japanese Posts & Telecommunication Ministry is currently
supporting the Japanese HDTV standard, which was developed by
the Japanese Broadcasting Corporation (NHK) and is currently
supported by Japanese electronics firms as well as some
American firms.

However, there is a possibility that the Ministry might reconsider
support of this HDTV standard. According to the Nikkan Kogyo
newspaper, the Ministry is planning to reorganize its HDTV
promotional division and will add study and support of "digital"
media such as satellite broadcasting, satellite telecommunication,
and cable TV. The reorganization of this division does not
automatically mean that the Ministry might drop support of
the current HDTV standard. However, the Ministry's remark on
support of "digital" media is a bone of contention. Japanese HDTV
is not totally digital but in fact, uses an analog-type technology.

Meanwhile, NHK and private Japanese TV firms are broadcasting
HDTV programs about 8 hours per day on an experimental basis in
Japan. Many electronics firms are selling developing more sophisticated
HDTV television sets.

Interestingly enough, the next-generation HDTV already in development
is called Ultra Definition TV or UDTV, and it is based on a
fully digital system.

Actual details of the change in the Ministry's Division will be
known this June when the Ministry reorganizes the Division.

(Masayuki "Massey" Miyazawa/19930126)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(PAR)(00013)

Olivetti Wins Job From Canadian Government 01/27/93
IVREA, ITALY, 1993 JAN 27 (NB) -- Olivetti Canada, a unit of the
Italian computer maker Ing. C. Olivetti & Co. SpA, has won a
contract to supply a computer network to the 111 offices of Canada's
diplomatic service around the world. The project, on which work
will begin in April, has a value of around 10 million US dollars.

The computer system to be supplied by Olivetti Canada, with
technical support from its parent company, aims to enable the
8,500 employees of Canada's Foreign Ministry to communicate among
themselves with the maximum amount of privacy and security, the
company said.

Under the agreement, the second large contract announced by the
Italian computer maker this week, Olivetti Canada will install
more than 200 Olivetti LSX 5030 model servers with a Unix operating
system and all the networking software.

"This accord is a significant step in the long collaboration between
Olivetti and the Canadian government and represents one of the most
innovative uses of open systems in the country," declared Robby
Di Stefano, director general of Olivetti Canada.

(Andrew Rosenbaum/19920127/Press Contact: Linda Cena at Olivetti
39-125-522-639 in Olivetti, Ivrea, Italy)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(DEL)(00014)

India Seeks Homegrown Telecom Switches 01/27/93
BANGALORE, INDIA, 1993 JAN 27 (NB) -- Indian Telephone Industries,
ITI, the public sector monopoly in digital switching manufacturing,
is considering an indigenous alternative, perhaps owing to
Alcatel's plan to charge an exorbitant upgrade price for its
switching systems.

ITI has planned to usher in XD-90, a new digital exchange by 1993.
The switch, it is claimed, has a capacity of 16,000 subscriber
lines in local exchange and 4,096 trunks in pure transit or trunk
exchange.

Alcatel CIT has offered to upgrade its E-10B systems, supplied to
ITI during the last decade, with advanced OCB 283.

Based on modular architecture, the Indian product requires
about 25 types of cards for a 10,000-line capacity, making it
more compact than the E-10B switch which requires 100 cards
for the same capacity. Designed by the ITI team, the new switch
also has more BHCA capacity.

While XD-90 is undergoing field evaluation at Athingal between
Quilon and Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala, a larger version,
XD-90L, is in the offing.

ITI, which produces about five lakh lines a year, is Alcatel's first
Indian partner. The Indian telecom company invested Rs 200 crore to
set up a manufacturing unit for E-10B at Mankapur in Uttar
Pradesh. During the last seven years of its production, it has sold
1.7 million lines to DOT. If ITI chooses to get OCB 283, as per an
agreement in 1982, it will have to pay a fee of seven million Francs
(about Rs 42 million) to the French company, besides a burden of Rs
210 crore on DOT for the absorption of upgraded technology. All this
will make ITI lines costlier, almost to the tune of Rs 10,000 per
line, double the present price (Rs 5,034 per line) fixed by DOT for
purchasing switching systems from Ericsson, Siemens, and Fujitsu.

As things stand, ITI will suffer a rough ride if it chooses to go
ahead with the agreement with Alcatel. Indigenous development may well
be the only viable alternative with the Indian telecom leader. ITI in
any case is fully geared up for this.

(C.T. Mahabharat/19930126)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(SFO)(00015)

Tandem Offers Online Transaction Toolkit 01/27/93
SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 JAN 27 (NB) -- Addressing
the continuing trend towards client/server computing within
business environments, Tandem Computers has introduced
a software toolkit that extends on-line transaction processing
(OLTP) to leading desktop platforms. The company has also
introduced new services in support of its client/server OLTP
strategy.

According to the company, the products in the Client/Server
OLTP Toolkit simplify interoperability by minimizing programming
complexity between client and server platforms in an OLTP
application, allowing users at the desktop to access Tandem
NonStop servers.

Gary Sabo, Tandem's director of product marketing, told
Newsbytes that, "primarily, Tandem strengths have been in the
world of, what I would call, 'industrial-strength, mission-critical
or business-critical' applications in OLTP. What we are doing is
taking all that experience and strength and bring it to the world
of client/server."

He explained that most of client/servers in the past have been on
small systems - 100 or less workstations or PCs doing decision
support. "What we see is the world of OLTP really moving into that
world and so the two technologies are coming together."

The company says that the toolkit is part of its premier
application development environment.

The Client/Server OLTP Toolkit includes the Pathway Open
Environment Toolkit (POET) and Tandem Dynamic Data Exchange
(DDE) Gateway, both of which accelerate OLTP applications
development with Microsoft Windows operating system-based
clients.

Speaking of the toolkit, Sabo told Newsbytes that, "The Toolkit
is primarily used to build client/server applications today for
Windows-based applications. The toolkit allows customers to
pick any Windows-based tool for the client side. Then our
toolkit integrates that and creates the transaction messages
that then come into the fault-tolerant capabilities of a Tandem
system and then get transaction protection."

In summary he said, "It's a way to easily marry a Windows-based
client to all of the data and transaction integrity of a Tandem
system for transaction processing."

The Toolkit also includes Remote Server Call (RSC), which the
company claims now supports clients that run on the Hewlett-
Packard HP-UX operating system, Sun Microsystems Sun O/S
Unix operating system, the Santa Cruz Operation (SCO) Unix
operating system, and the Apple Macintosh operating system.

RSC is an application programming interface (API) that delivers
messages between clients and the server. It already supports
clients that run IBM OS/2 with Presentation Manager, the
Microsoft MS-DOS operating system, and the Windows operating
system.

"A client/server architecture enables each component in a
heterogeneous environment to do what it does best, while
providing customers choice and flexibility in implementing
applications," explained Sabo. "Most client/server applications
today typically involve database queries and decision support.
We are broadening applications availability by extending the
Tandem OLTP benefits of fault-tolerance and data integrity to
the realm of client/server computing."

The company has also announced commitment to deliver drivers
and software in the fourth calendar quarter of 1993 that support
the Microsoft Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) specification.
According to the company, ODBC is a broadly supported, open and
vendor-neutral database API (application programming interface)
that provides access to data on a variety of personal computers,
minicomputer and mainframe systems. ODBC allows developers
to write one set of code that accesses different structured query
language (SQL) databases.

Tandem will support ODBC Level 1 and the ODBC Core SQL. According
to the company, users of ODBC client programs, such as Microsoft
Access and Powersoft PowerBuilder, will be able to retrieve and
manipulate data in NonStop SQL, Tandem's relational database,
as well as other ODBC-compliant databases. In addition, Tandem's
product will support stored procedure execution, which will
improve performance in client/server applications using the
ODBC interface.

Tandem also announced immediate availability of product and
service packages that allow customers to implement "reliable"
OLTP on Tandem servers and leading desktop clients.

Speaking of the announcements, Sabo told Newsbytes that,
"the server packages allow customers to easily move in with
Tandem as the fault-tolerant servers. (There are also) some
professional services, because we feel that many customers,
as they move into the mission-critical applications, are asking
for help. So we have a series of professional services, from
needs-assessment through workshops, to easily allow customers
to move their applications into a client/server business-critical
environment."

Tandem's Client/Server Ready Program offers customers three
choices of preconfigured, specially discounted 386- to 486-
based PCs installed with the Windows operating system. The
offer includes a trade-in allowance for existing desktop systems.

An additional credit or allowance may be applied toward a
variety of Tandem professional services or education courses
for different levels of users implementing client/server
applications.

(Ian Stokell/19930126/Press Contact: Joanne Hasegawa,
408-285-7662, Tandem Computers Inc.)


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

Net Tools In Norwegian, German, French, Italian, Spanish 01/27/93
ATLANTA, GEORGIA, U.S.A., 1993 JAN 27 (NB) -- Automated Design
Systems (ADS) has announced the shipment of Norwegian, German, and
French versions of its Net Tools network management software, along
with plans to release Italian and Spanish editions this summer.

In an interview with Newsbytes, Kerry Leeburn, product manager,
said that ADS expects the localized versions to double Net Tools'
installed base outside the US this year, bringing the worldwide
installed base for the award-winning Windows utilities to 400,000
desktops.

"Microsoft Windows and many of the popular Windows-based
applications are already available in most of the Europe's local
languages. Local language support boosts productivity by about
80%. This advantage, combined with the increasingly global
economy, means that there's a tremendous demand," Leeburn
commented.

The first Norwegian, German and French versions of Net Tools
operate with Netware and LAN Manager only, but support will be
added next month for Banyan VINES and Windows for Workgroups,
Leeburn told Newsbytes. The Italian and Spanish editions will
support all four network operating systems from initial release.

Known until this past October as the "Windows Workstation" product
line, Net Tools are positioned to provide group menuing, usage
tracking, and printer management features not found in desktop
or network operating systems.

The Norwegian version is needed because of the strong base of
distributors and customers for Net Tools in Norway, Leeburn
informed Newsbytes. Norwegian users include STAT oil and several
other major businesses, he explained.

"There's also been some talk (at ADS) about the possibility of
bringing out Net Tools in Flemish and `Canadian French,'" the
product manager revealed.

Net Tools already boasts an installed base of more than 300,000
desktops worldwide, making ADS the leading third-party supplier of
Windows utilities for networks, according to Leeburn. About
200,000 desktops in the current installed base are within the US
and most of the remaining 100,000 are in Europe. The company
intends to bring the total number of desktops outside the US to
200,000 by this time next year.

The suite of Net Tools utilities includes three products. Net
Tools Menu provides central creation, updating and control of group
menuing, security for unattended workstations, and a simple script
language for management of software updates and .INI files.

Net Tools Meter tracks software usage of Windows- and text-based
applications on local and network drives across multiple file
servers. LAN managers use the utility to monitor software use
against a baseline of licensed copies, making sure the
right number of copies is being used.

Net Tools Print allows central configuration and management of
network printers. Network printer connections can be changed by
simply clicking on an icon, eliminating the need to load
printer drivers or configure the Windows control panel.

Five-year-old, Atlanta-based ADS has received numerous industry
awards for Net Tools, including LAN Magazine's Product of the Year,
PC Week's Analyst's Choice, PC Magazine's Editor's Choice, Windows
Magazine's Top 100, and PC Week's Top Products of 1991.

Leeburn told Newsbytes that the tools are built to allow for
quick updates to local languages, as well as to the latest releases
of network operating systems.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19930126; Press contacts: Ruth Rainey, ADS, tel
404-394-2552, fax [phone]; Randy Renbarger, Crescent
Communications for ADS, tel [phone], fax [phone]; Reader
contact: ADS, tel [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(APPLE)(LAX)(00017)

PenMac To Ship This Quarter In Japan 01/27/93
REDWOOD SHORES, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 JAN 27 (NB) --
Japanese Macintosh users can expect to get a new pen-based
interface from Communication Intelligence Corporation (CIC).
The company says it will ship PenMac for the Kanjitalk 7
operating system this quarter in Japan.

Japanese users face challenges in computer use because their
alphabet is literally hundreds of characters, making pen-based
handwriting recognition systems particularly attractive over
typing. MacHandwriter II, the company's handwriting recognition
product, will be bundled with the new PenMac operating system.

CIC says it is demonstrating PenMac and MacHandwriter II at
PenExpo in San Francisco, California this week and at MacWorld
Expo in Tokyo in February.

The company boasts its Handwriter Recognition System is
multilingual with users worldwide, while PenMac allows users to
point and enter commands, handwritten text, and graphics
directly into Macintosh applications with electronic ink
displayed for feedback. PenMac also makes use of new Macintosh
System 7 features such as World Script and Text Services
Manager (TSM).

CIC offers PenDOS and its Handwriter Recognition Systems and
Handwriter Dynamic Signature Verification which works with Microsoft
Windows for Pen Computing, GO's PenPoint, as well as its own
operating environments.

MacHandwriter, a CIC product, is currently distributed in Japan
by Apple Computer Japan, located in Shibuya-ku, Tokyo.

(Linda Rohrbough/19930126/Press Contact: Anne Butler, CIC, tel
415-802-7888, fax [phone])


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SFO)(00018)

HP High-Capacity Storage 3.5-Inch Drives 01/27/93
PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 JAN 27 (NB) -- As the
wealth of business information and data increases, so the demand
for high-capacity storage rises too. To fill that need,
Hewlett-Packard has introduced 3.5-inch disk drives with
2.1 gigabytes (GB), 1.6GB and 1.2GB of formatted capacity,
designed specifically with original-equipment manufacturers
(OEMs) and systems integrators in mind.

Sharon C. DeLaHunt, spokesperson for HP, told Newsbytes that the
target market for the high-capacity line "is high-end engineering
workstations, multiuser transaction-based systems, mainframe
systems via multi-mechanism sub-systems a disk-arrays, as well
as high-end PC servers."

According to HP, the HP C2490A, C2488A and C2486A series disk
drives are the third-generation in HP's 3.5-inch product family,
now spanning capacities from 234 megabytes (MB) to 2.1GB
(formatted).

According to estimates by market research firm, International
Data Corp., HP's 1992 unit share of the 3.5-inch noncaptive
disk-drive market (with capacities of 1 GB and greater) was 23
percent worldwide.

Speaking of the new products, Bruce F. Spenner, general manager
of HP's Disk Memory Division, said, "HP's 1GB 3.5-inch drive, one
of the first high-performance drives to market at that capacity,
has been well-received. We fully expect the new drives to build
on that success by providing a reliable, high-performance
solution for storage-intensive applications."

The company claims that the new drives feature HP's highest
reliability rating to date -- a projected mean-time between
failure (MTBF) of 500,000 hours. The company also offers a
five-year limited warranty on the drives.

Among the new drives' specifications are: up to 57 MB-per-second
burst data rate; 8.9 millisecond average seek time; 6,400
revolutions-per-minute (RPM) spin speed; and 20 MB-per-second
synchronous data transfer rate with HP's fast and wide SCSI-2
(Small Computer Systems Interface-2) interface.

The company says that the SCSI-2 controller is backward-
compatible with SCSI-1 disk devices and available in single-
ended, wide single-ended, differential and wide-differential
configurations, The wide single-ended option is a new feature
of the new drives.

DeLaHunt told Newsbytes that, ""We see the demand for 2.1GB
drives being strong. That it will be a strong demand market."
In terms of pricing she said that it works out at "around 80
cents per MB."

(Ian Stokell/19930126/Press Contact: Sharon C. DeLaHunt,
208-323-6001, Hewlett-Packard)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TYO)(00019)

NEC Home Electronics, Sansui Abandon VCR Production 01/27/93
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1993 JAN 27 (NB) -- NEC's subsidiary NEC Home
Electronics has stopped manufacturing video cassette recorders,
and has shifted its production to Sanyo. Sansui Electric
has also decreased production of VCRs and plans to abandon
manufacture of VCRs completely in the near future. Their actions
are due to a general slump in audio-visual equipment sales.

NEC Home Electronics has signed an OEM (original equipment
manufacturer) agreement with Sanyo Electric to supply NEC
with two kinds of VCRs, including the one with a satellite TV
adaptor. NEC Home Electronics will continue to produce TV sets
and game devices.

Although NEC Home Electronics will receive an OEM supply of VCRs
from Sanyo, the firm is not planning to sell a lot of them. Sales
will be handled solely through NEC's direct dealers. NEC
Home Electronics' former VCR plant is being refitted to make CD-ROM
drives, including those for TV broadcasting stations.

Meanwhile, Sansui Electric has decreased production of
VCRs, and is only accepting new production of VCRs on an OEM basis.
Sansui started production of VCRs in 1990, and made
about 3 billion yen ($25 million) in sales during 1991. Since then,
sales decreased due to competition and the industry slump.

Other Japanese electronics firms have also stopped or decreased
production of electronic products. Major firms such as Mitsubishi
and Toshiba are now concentrating their efforts only on their
top-selling products. The slump is expected to continue until
the end of this year.

(Masayuki "Massey" Miyazawa/19930126/Press Contact: NEC Home
Electronics, [phone], Fax, [phone], Sansui
Electric, [phone])


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(TYO)(00020)

Kodak Japan Cancels Employment Guarantee Of Students 01/27/93
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1993 JAN 27 (NB) -- Eastman Kodak (Japan) has
surprised the Japanese public with an announcement that it will
cancel the planned employment of eight university students who had
previously been given an employment guarantee, to be fulfilled
upon their graduation, this March, according to a published report.

This is quite unprecedented in Japan and the students are
reportedly furious about the cancellation.

Eastman Kodak gave an employment guarantee notice to the
eight students in June of last year. These students
were supposed to work for Eastman Kodak's research and development
center in Yokohama, Japan. However, the firm recently decided
to reduce the size of the center. Also, due to a slump in the
industry, Eastman Kodak chose to cancel the hiring guarantee
of these students, according to the Asahi newspaper.

Usually, university students look for jobs during their
fourth year and most firms grant employment guarantees to
them. This guarantee is extremely important for Japanese
students, most of whom will then work for the firm all their
lives.

This cancellation was reportedly a big shock to the Japanese people.
A Labor Ministry spokesman was quoted by the newspaper that it
considers the cancellation as a "firing" of the students.
NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) reports that Japanese law
is extremely strict about the firing of people. The report
says that a similar case existed in Japan, it was brought to
the court, and the fired defendant won the case.

A spokesman for Eastman Kodak Japan said that the reduction of the
size of the center was due to the cancellation of a project by
its parent firm in the US. He expressed sorrow for the students
and said Eastman Kodak would pledge to find the students other
jobs. However, one student was quoted by the newspaper as
saying that he is thinking of engaging in some kind of protest
against Eastman Kodak (Japan).

(Masayuki "Massey" Miyazawa/19930127/Press Contact: Eastman Kodak,
Tokyo, [phone])


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(LAX)(00021)

 ****1st Electronic Toll Road Slated For L.A. 01/27/93
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 JAN 27 (NB) -- The first
toll road in decades is being built in Los Angeles, adding four
lanes in the middle of the 14-mile, 8-lane stretch that is
State Route 91 (SR-91) connecting Orange and Riverside
Counties. But drivers who want to use the new lanes and have
their transponders, won't have to stop to pay tolls.

A transponder looks much like a thick credit card and when set
on the dashboard of a car can be read at speeds as high as 100
miles per hour (mph) by an Automatic Vehicle Identification
(AVI) radio-based Electronic Toll and Traffic Management (ETTM)
system.

SR-91, whose current daily average is 225,000 vehicles, is
expected hit a daily average use by 340,000 vehicles by the
year 2010. However, transponder use is expected to help
motivate commuters to carpool, as carpoolers will be able to
travel the toll lanes for free.

The transponder can function in two ways. One is to offer an
identification code to the reader which in turn could generate
a monthly bill or perhaps debit a credit card for payment of
the toll each time the vehicle with the transponder passes. The
other is to have the transponder carry a prepaid amount which
is then debited each time the vehicle passes.

Commuters traveling SR-91 will have the option, once the toll
lanes are in place in 1995, to use the existing lanes which
will remain without charge. In order to keep traffic moving in
the toll lanes, the charge will be adjusted upward to be sure
commuters paying to use the lanes don't face the traffic snarls
associated with SR-91. Carpoolers will enter via a special
entry lane where the occupants of the car will be verified to
be sure there aren't two mannequins and the driver.

The transponder is a Texas Instruments Registration and
Identification System (TIRIS) device and can be simply
programmed without a battery supply to be read-only (passive)
or can have a battery power to store and update information
(active). The transponder has to be within 15 feet of a special
antenna which charges the unit, allowing it to return a signal
carrying data to the antenna which is connected to a computer
system.

The antenna can be placed next to, over, or even under the
highway and data can be read and written to a transponder in
less than one tenth of a second.

The California Department of Transportation (CALTRANS) has set
standards the ETTM system must meet in order to be implemented,
such as the ability to process 2500 vehicles an hour per lane.
Other requirements include a video enforcement system that
captures a video image of a violating vehicle's license plates;
a fiber optic communication network linking video, voice, and
data subsystems; variable messages to advise motorists of
highway conditions; vehicle detection and video surveillance to
survey traffic conditions; a command and control center
computer system; and a mobile communication system linking toll
road operations to the California Highway Patrol and CALTRANS.

MFS Network Technologies and Texas Instruments have developed
the AVI technology to be implemented on SR-91 by the California
Private Transportation Company (CPTC). CPTC will hold the
franchise on the toll lanes until 2030 and the toll lanes are
expected to be operations in 1995.

(Linda Rohrbough/19930127/Press Contact: Roger Bridgeman,
Bridgeman Communications for MFS Technology, tel [phone];
Steve Ingish, MFS Communications, tel [phone], fax 708-
218-0018)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LAX)(00022)

Synoptics Says 4Q Income Up 273% 01/27/93
SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 JAN 27 (NB) -- Synoptics,
provider of hardware products to interconnect computers in
local area networks (LANs), said its income for the fourth
quarter is $16,889,000, up a whopping 273 percent from the
$4,532,000 reported the same time a year ago.

While income was high, revenue only increased by 104 percent
from $63,859,000 in the fourth quarter a year ago to
$130,467,000 in the current quarter.

For the fiscal 1992 year, Synoptics said revenue was up 51
percent from $248,255,000 in 1991 to $388,846,000 in the 1992
year. Net income was $42,437,000, ($1.99 per share) an increase
in earnings per share of 51 percent over the $26,807,000 ($1.32
per share) reported in 1991, but earnings per share jumped 230
percent in the fourth quarter compared to the fourth quarter of
1991.

Included in the fourth quarter results was $2,250,000 paid out
in settlement of two consolidated class action stockholder
suits against the company.

The company offers LAN products such as optical FDDI networking
tools, Token Ring products for customers who are transitioning
their IBM/SNA environments to LAN based systems, and 10BASE-T
Lattislink Ethernet workgroup hubs and as well as the
Lattislink workgroup hub.

Santa Clara, California-based Synoptics moved its manufacturing
operations in the fourth quarter into a new 118,000 square-foot
facility next to its headquarters. The company says the new
facility has helped it substantially increase production
capacity.

(Linda Rohrbough/19930127/Press Contact: Synoptics, tel 408-
988-2400, fax [phone])


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00023)

Time Warner Cable Going Two-Way 01/27/93
STAMFORD, CONNECTICUT, U.S.A., 1993 JAN 27 (NB) -- Time Warner
Cable announced plans to begin converting its systems into two-
way "full-service networks" starting in Orlando, Florida. It will
add fiber "trunk" lines but leave existing coaxial cable to
customer homes in place.

Time Warner is the second-largest cable operator, and its
announcement follows a decision by TeleCommunications Inc., the
largest cable operator, to install digital compression technology
that might bring its customers as many as 750 channels.

The Time Warner system would go further, coupling computers and
digital switches to its systems, not only letting customers
choose from a huge menu of pay-per-view programs, but providing
access to databases, video calling capability, interactive
shopping, games, and local access to long distance telephone
companies.

Telephone companies have responded in two ways. Bell Atlantic has
sought to adapt its network to carrying video signals. In New
Jersey, where it won friendly rate deregulation, it has even
proposed replacing copper with fiber so it can compete in the
program delivery business. Other companies, like BellSouth, see
moves like Time Warner as an historic opportunity to eliminate
regulation on their rates and business practices under the 1982
decree which broke up the Bell System.

Under the Time Warner plan, digital switches and fiber trunk
lines like those used by the phone companies would be combined
with video compress and huge computers storing massive amounts of
programming. These "video server" would send compressed programs
to set-top converters, which would decompress them on command. It
combines several technologies the cable industry, through its
Cable Television Laboratories research group in Colorado, has
been working on.

While "video on demand" could hurt video rental shops like the
huge Blockbuster Video chain, those stores have hit back against
"pay per view" in the past by demanding, and getting, delays in
the "windows" during which programs are offered. Currently,
movies go to stores weeks before they're offered on a pay-per-
view basis.

Mike Luftman, a spokesman for Time Warner Cable, told Newsbytes
that a number of decisions have yet to be made. "We have a very
large complex of systems" in Orlando, and the company hopes to
decide within a few weeks which 4,000 customers will get access
to the new system first. But he emphasized, "It's not a test. We
made it clear this is a commitment, the first step. Ultimately
all our systems will be configured this way."

The company has also made no decision on who will supply
equipment for the new system. "We'll be putting out requests for
proposals in the next few weeks on supplies, and may announce
details at that time." He could not say how long it will take to
complete the purchase process.

Luftman also hit back on Bell company demands for deregulation in
the wake of his company's actions. "I would expect them to blow
that kind of smoke, but keep one thing in mind. The smallest
Regional Bell company generates as much revenue per year as the
entire cable industry. The telephone industry continues to have
the resources to be anticompetitive, they've shown that's the way
they tend to behave, cross-subsidizing non-regulated businesses
from local telephone businesses. We think for those reasons they
do not belong in this business. You can't simply say, just
because we can get into their business, they can get into ours.

"And we're not proposing to get into the switched telephone
business. We're forbidden from entering it, and don't have any
plans. We're talking about entering only that part of the
business that provides access for local phone companies to long
distance carriers," an area already served by companies like
Teleport and Metropolitan Fiber.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19930127/Press Contact: Mike Luftman, Time
Warner Cable, 203-328-0600)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00024)

FCC Protects "900" Industry 01/27/93
WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A., 1993 JAN 27 (NB) -- The Federal
Communications Commission has struck down, or pre-empted, a South
Carolina law which would have forbidden the 900-number "pay per
call" industry from operating in that state.

The ruling was made quietly on January 22, and has yet to be
published. It is in line with a 1992 ruling against Georgia
regulators, who sought to regulate Southern Bell's Memory Call
voice mail service. In essence, the commission ruled that since
900 numbers are an interstate activity, only the FCC can regulate
it.

Unlike the voice mail industry, however, where the FCC has
refused to take action, there are rules governing the pay per
call industry. Local phone companies must let customers block the
exchange. Operators of such services are required to offer
preambles on costs, during which callers can hang up at no charge,
and they are subject to strict content restrictions aimed at
preventing sexually explicit material from going over the phone
network. While the industry has tried to "clean itself up," it is
still rife with such things as psychics and joke lines,
while the sexual calls have simply moved to local exchanges,
charging callers for toll calls and then taking credit card
numbers. Some services have even moved to overseas numbers.

While Southern Bell won the voice mail pre-emption, the 900-
number order was based on a petition from the National Association
for Information Services and the Council for Audio
Communications, two groups which represent the industry. The
industry claimed revenues of $600 million in the last year, down
from over $1 billion a few years ago, before regulation.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19930127/Press Contact: FCC Press Office, 202-
632-5050)


(NEWS)(IBM)(TOR)(00025)

IBM Offers PCs For Schools 01/27/93
ATLANTA, GEORGIA, U.S.A, 1993 JAN 27 (NB) -- EduQuest, an IBM
company, has launched three new personal computers designed for
school use. The DOS-based, AT-bus computers have features
specially suited to use in schools, such as diskette
dust-shields, a special mouse in which the roller ball cannot be
removed without a special tool, and a selection of keyboards
including a space-saver model and one with an integrated trackball.

EduQuest officials said the machines can also be customized to
fit the needs of a specific district, school, or classroom.

The EduQuest Model Thirty has an IBM 386SLC processor, while the
Model Forty and Model Fifty use Intel's 486SX chip. All three
models have three bays for storage devices and two expansion
slots, a company spokesman said. EduQuest offers a choice of 85,
129, or 212-megabyte hard drive.

The computers can be ordered with as much as 20 megabytes.
Options include a CD-ROM drive, Token Ring or Ethernet local area
network support, a 128-megabyte removable read/write optical
drive; and an audio subsystem.

The front panel design includes two headphone jacks, one
microphone jack, a volume control, and a built-in speaker. As a
security measure, the computers are made so they can be bolted
down.

All three models will be available in April. Prices for the Model
Thirty will start at $987 with one megabyte of memory and no
audio option. The Model Forty will start at $1,469 with four
megabytes of memory and no audio option, and the Model Fifty at
$1,634 in the same configuration. The prices include display
monitors.

According to EduQuest, the new line of computers was developed
with the direct input of EduQuest customers, educators, and IBM's
research and development people.

(Grant Buckler/19930127/Press Contact: Tom Wall, EduQuest,
404-238-2950; Public Contact: EduQuest, 800-769-8322)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(TOR)(00026)

Mitel To Cut At Least 125 Jobs 01/27/93
KANATA, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1993 JAN 27 (NB) -- Mitel Corporation is
laying off 125 people at its headquarters, citing excess
capacity. The company probably will be cutting up to 15 jobs in
the United Kingdom in the next month as well, company spokeswoman
Bonnie Perrigard said.

A statement from Mitel said the company's increased focus on
"select programs" and a drive to improve efficiency have made
some positions redundant. The jobs will be cut through immediate
layoffs, Perrigard said.

It is the first staff reduction at Mitel since cuts roughly two
years ago, Perrigard said. The maker of telephone switching
systems and other communications products has about 3,700
employees worldwide.

In the year ended March 27, 1992, Mitel had a net loss of C$5.7
million on revenues of C$406.1 million. In the most recent
quarter for which results are available -- the second quarter,
ended Sept. 25 -- the company lost C$3.7 million on revenues of
C$97.9 million.

Perrigard said results for the third quarter are due early in
February and the company expects a significant improvement.

(Grant Buckler/19930127/Press Contact: Bonnie Perrigard, Mitel,
613-592-2122, fax [phone])


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

Wang Shuffle Continues With New VPs 01/27/93
LOWELL, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1993 JAN 27 (NB) -- Continuing an
executive shuffle that began last week with the resignation of
Chairman and Chief Executive Richard W. Miller, Wang Laboratories
has named two vice-presidents to head regional operations in
North America and in Latin America and the South Pacific.

Wang appointed William P. Ferry to the job of senior
vice-president and general manager, North American operations.
The company appointed Harold S. Fischer vice-president and
general manager of South Pacific and Latin American operations.

Both will report to Joseph M. Tucci, who was earlier named
president and chief executive officer of Wang as part of a
three-man "executive office" that will replace Miller.

Ferry has been Wang's general manager in Europe for the past six
months, before which he had been senior vice-president of
applications since joining the company in 1990. He will oversee
operations in the United States and Canada, except the Federal
Systems Division, which will remain a separate unit.

Fischer was most recently vice-president and general manager of
US commercial operations, where he oversaw sales and service
for the company's largest customers in the U.S. He will now be
responsible for sales, services, and marketing in Australia, New
Zealand, and all of Latin America.

After Miller stepped down January 22, the company named a
triumvirate of top executives. Along with Tucci, the group
includes Donald Casey, president and chief development officer,
and Michael Mee, chairman and chief financial officer.

Wang has been operating under the protection of Chapter 11 of
United States bankruptcy law since August, 1992. The company has
been cutting costs and trying to re-establish itself with a focus
on image processing systems. Its prospects remain uncertain,
however. Analyst Tom Willmott, vice-president of The Aberdeen
Group in Boston, described the company recently as "flopping
around like a bluefish on the dock."

(Grant Buckler/19930127/Press Contact: Frank Ryan, Wang,
508-967-7038; Ed Pignone, Wang, 508-967-4912)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(DEN)(00028)

Hitachi, Texas Instruments Announce Chip Alliance 01/27/93
DALLAS, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1993 JAN 27 (NB) -- Texas Instruments
(TI) and Tokyo-based Hitachi Limited have announced an agreement for
the joint development of a future generation of memory chip that will
hold the equivalent of 11,000 pages of text.

The first step in the project will be a feasibility study for
development of the 256-megabit dynamic random access memory (DRAM)
chips. The agreement is significant for computer users because DRAM
chips are used largely for the internal memories of computers. The
two companies said they would each have access to the other's
technical information relevant to the development of the chips. "By
teaming up on this project, each company can explore more technology
paths than would be possible alone, " according to Pat Weber,
president of TI's components sector.

In November 1991 Newsbytes reported that the two companies had
signed a ten-year agreement to jointly develop 64-megabit chips.
They said the joint agreement between rival companies would help
alleviate development costs, which could run to hundreds of millions
of dollars. A 64-megabit chip could store about 2,800 pages of text.
TI spokesperson Sheree Fitzpatrick told Newsbytes that project is
presently in the design verification stage.

Fitzpatrick said the 256-megabit DRAMs would probably be available
by the end of the decade. No increased staffing is expected to work
on the project.

Larger capacity memory chips are important to the computer industry
because of the increasing demands for memory by applications such as
graphics program and computer aided design.

The 256-megabit chips will require process technology to fabricate
features just 0.25 microns wide, about 400 times narrower than a
human hair.

(Jim Mallory/19930127/Press contact: Sheree Fitzpatrick, Texas
Instruments, 214-995-2984)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SFO)(00029)

Quarterdeck Plans To Cut Workforce 15% 01/27/93
SANTA MONICA, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 JAN 27 (NB) -- While
most job cuts in the computer industry have centered around
hardware vendors, some software publishers are also feeling
the pressure. One is Quarterdeck Office Systems which is reducing
its workforce by about 45 people, or about 15 percent.

In confirming the reduction in workforce, Charles McHenry
a spokesperson for Quarterdeck, told Newsbytes that, the
company was calling it, "a reduction in force," and that
"about 45 employees have been eliminated, as part of a
company-wide cost-cutting program."

In response to a question as to what else the "program"
includes, McHenry told Newsbytes that, "it is definitely not
a hyper-serious situation. In other words, this reduction
was taken, and the company has tailored back some of its
other areas."

The company suffered a reduction in net income for the fiscal
quarter ended December 31, 1992, to $415,000, which was
down from $3.7 million for the prior-year period.

Some industry observers believe that sales of some of
Quarterdeck's products may be down because the market is
waiting to see what Microsoft's new MS-DOS 6.0 operating system
software product looks like.

Quarterdeck's Qemm product is an expanded memory manager
and processor control program that provides a number of tools
for integrating the current installed base of DOS packages into
the Windows environment. Desqview, another popular Quarterdeck
software product, provides an environment where Windows applications
can run alongside existing DOS programs.

(Ian Stokell/19930127)


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

Seagate, Sundisk In Strategic Alliance 01/27/93
SCOTTS VALLEY, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 JAN 27 (NB) -- Alliances
and cooperative agreements are pretty much the name of the game
in the computing industry these days, as companies try to ally in
order to pool resources, share the cost of research, or take
advantage of another's distribution channels. Along those lines
Seagate Technology and Sundisk Corp., have signed a strategic
agreement under which Seagate has taken a 25 percent equity position
in Sundisk.

According to the companies, the agreement calls for Seagate to
market and distribute solid-state, non-volatile storage products
worldwide, using both the Seagate and Sundisk brand names.
Sundisk will continue to market and distribute its own products
using the Sundisk brand name.

Brian P. Ziel, spokesman for Seagate, told Newsbytes that the
main benefit in the alliance for Seagate would be "access
to their unique solid-state technology. One of the benefits for
them is our distribution and sales network. The strength we
have there and in our manufacturing processes."

As part of the deal, Al Shugart, Seagate's chairman, president
and chief executive officer, will fill a newly created seat on
the Sundisk board of directors.

The companies say that, Seagate will begin shipping Sundisk
products in volume to its OEM (original equipment manufacturer)
and distribution channels in February 1993. The two companies
also will jointly develop data storage products.

Speaking of the deal, Shugart said, "This is an exciting event for
the mobile computing market as one of the world's largest
manufacturers of hard disk drives and the leader in solid-state
mass storage products have merged their resources and
experience to address this rapidly expanding market segment. We
believe that with Sundisk's breakthroughs in solid-state
technology, Seagate's sales and distribution strength, and the
future opportunities for technology development, this alliance
brings a new dimension to the mass storage industry."

Eli Harari, founder, and chief executive officer, believes the
agreement will spur the growth of a mobile computing market
that will feature major product introductions by several large
hardware manufacturers this year. "New pen computers, PDAs (personal
digital assistants) and other mobile systems will require our
reliable, rugged and lightweight storage products."

The companies intend to expand the market for flash technology
beyond the standard computing environment.

Ziel told Newsbytes that "the companies are looking at
jointly developing flash memory products. Right now Sundisk
is shipping their solid-state products. And Seagate will begin
shipping those products in February."

Market Intelligence Research Corp., predicts that revenues for
the flash memory market will jump 164 percent in the next year
as the flash market expands into such diverse areas as bar codes,
scanners, digital cameras, musical instruments, autos, aircraft,
telephones, and factory automation.

Sundisk claims an advantage in the mobile computing market
because it is currently shipping products compatible with the IDE
and PCMCIA interfaces. According to the company, many major
manufacturers of hand-held electronics products such as PDAs
and pen computers, are already designing to the PCMCIA standard,
while most already have designed to the industry-standard IDE
interface.

Ziel concluded to Newsbytes that "The main advantage is that
we have such a large distribution network, that we have the
opportunity to get their products out there."

The company claims that products are currently available in
2.5-inch and 1.8-inch form factors, with an IDE interface, in
capacities up to 40 megabytes (MB). Products also are available
with the PCMCIA card interface with capacities up to 20 MB.

(Ian Stokell/19930127/Press Contact: Julie A. Still,
408-439-2276, or Brian P. Ziel 408-439-2838, Seagate
Technology)