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/nb930611

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(NEWS)(TELECOM)(DEL)(00001)

AT&T Links With Tata In India 06/11/93
NEW DELHI, INDIA, 1993 JUN 11 (NB) -- AT&T and Tata Industries Ltd.
announced today the formation of a joint venture to manufacture and
market the former's flagship telecom digital switching system, 5ESS,
for the Indian telecom market.

In the joint venture, AT&T Switching Systems (India) Pvt. Ltd.,
AT&T holds a 51 percent majority in equity partnership and Tatas
the remaining 49 percent in the agreement valued at approximately
$35 million (Rs 1.1 billion). The manufacturing facility will be
located in Bangalore, India's high-tech city for R&D, and
manufacturing of electronic products and software.

5ESS switch manufacturing will go into operation within one
year of the start of construction, scheduled to begin later
this year.

Meanwhile, as part of the recent tenders by the Department of
Telecommunications (DoT), a 10,000-line 5ESS switch was recently
installed in Ahmedabad and successfully met validation
requirements and performance capabilities which are greater
than most of the other systems in the fray. It is now poised
to pick up further orders in the next round of tendering for
digital switching by the government's DoT.

The joint venture combines the strengths of two major giants, the
world leader in telecommunications and India's leading industrial
group. "India is a country of considerable strategic importance to
AT&T," said Randall L. Tobias, vice chairman of AT&T who addressed
a crowded press conference, along with Ratan Tata, chairman of
Tata Industries. Also present on the occasion were Edward Prell,
Switching Systems International vice president, AT&T Network
Systems, and Bala E. Kuchinad, who has just been appointed
president of AT&T India.

As a part of AT&T's move to firmly establish itself in India,
Kuchinad, formerly director of strategy and market development,
 will also assume the role of AT&T corporate lead manager for
the entire country.

In 1992, AT&T Network Systems formed its first joint venture in
India with a 50 percent stake in Trans-India Network Systems Pvt. Ltd.,
with Tata Telecom Ltd., a subsidiary of Tata Industries, to
manufacture and market telecom transmission products.

Working in partnership with VSNL, AT&T Communications Services
offers advanced services between India and the United States.
These include long distance voice services on mostly digitized
communications links and high speed digital data services. Specific
services available in India include AT&T USADirect Service, allowing
callers in India to reach directly an English-speaking AT&T
operator in the United States; AT&T USADirect Namaskarr Seva,
one of AT&T USADirect's in-language services, which enables
callers to reach nearly 58 countries with the help of an AT&T
operator, and Skynet, a satellite data communications service
that operates at 64 kb/s for software export from India.

On the other hand, AT&T NCR is also believed to be starting up its
operations in India -- a 100 percent export-oriented unit. Krishna
Tanuku, managing director of AT&T India Ltd. Liaison Office, has
left for US to finalize those arrangements.

(C.T. Mahabharat/19930611)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(TYO)(00002)

NEC Offers Disk-Based Digital Book Player 06/11/93
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1993 JUN 11 (NB) -- Japan's NEC has developed a
digital book player whose floppy-disk-based volumes can also be
read on existing PCs. Due for release this fall, the digital book
player will be half the size of a B5-sized document and will weigh
about 650g. The price will be around 50,000 yen ($455).

NEC's version is slightly larger than Sony's compact disc-based
book player but is more flexible in that its books are on
PC-readable 3.5-inch floppy disks. The proprietary software
to operate this book player is expected to be sold for NEC's
best-selling personal computer the PC-9801.

Data equal to about 1,000 pages of a standard book can be stored on
each disk. On a desktop PC's large screen, users will be able to
display two pages of data at a time instead of just one page,
as would appear on the book player.

NEC is planning to link with major Japanese book publishers such
as Iwanami or Shogakukan, and aims for the release of about 50
software titles by this September. The prices of the titles
will be about 2,000 yen ($18) -- or about the cost of a hardcover
book.

NEC is also enlisting the help of printing firms such as Dainippon
printing and Toppan printing which will actually input data and
make the disk software-based books from those that are already
in print.

NEC expects to sell more than 650,000 book players within three
years. Due to its compatibility with the million-seller personal
computer, the PC-9801, the book player is expected to be
well-accepted in the Japanese market.

Currently, Sony has been selling a CD-ROM (compact disc)-based book
player. Despite its high price, the product is selling well in
Japan. Matsushita Electric and Sanyo have also released these
book players after receiving an OEM (original equipment
manufacturer) supply from Sony.

(Masayuki "Massey" Miyazawa/19930611/Press Contact: NEC, +81-3-
3451-2974, Fax, [phone])


(NEWS)(APPLE)(TYO)(00003)

 ****Intel Version Of Macintosh OS Seen 06/11/93
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1993 JUN 11 (NB) -- Japan's industry newspaper says
Apple Computer and Novell are discussing joint development of
the Macintosh operating system for Intel chip-based personal
computers. Apple Computer's (Tokyo) spokeswoman would not
comments on the report.

According to the Nikkan Kogyo newspaper (June 11), Apple Computer
and Novell in the US are discussing development of a version of
the Macintosh operating system for Intel's 80486-based PCs.
The idea behind the joint project is to go beyond Motorola
chip-based computers to gain market share in the larger 80486
PC arena, according to the report.

Apple Computer and Novell have previous agreements which resulted
in Novell's being granted a license for use of the Macintosh
operating system in Netware for Macintosh. Joint development of
an Intel version of the Macintosh operating system is seen as
presenting Novell with big advantages because it will also be
able to sell its LAN software on the same PCs.

Any joint development of a PC-based Macintosh is being regarded
by observers as risky for Apple since it could eat into sales
of existing Macintoshes.

(Masayuki "Massey" Miyazawa/19930611/Press Contact: Apple Computer,
Tokyo, [phone])


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(BOS)(00004)

System Uses Motorola Paging To Spell Out Emergencies 06/11/93
BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA, U.S.A., 1993 JUN 11 (NB) -- Detailed data
on fire alarms, security breaches, hospital Code Blues, and other
emergencies will soon be just a "beep" away, due to a new alliance
between Motorola and Simplex Time Recorder Co.

In the first major deal to involve Motorola's new Site Connect
paging product family, Motorola's Alert Central paging technology
will be integrated with Simplex alarm equipment so as to let
critical information show up instantly on pagers.

During an interview with Newsbytes, officials of the two companies
said that the newly integrated system is not only faster but more
cost effective than traditional emergency warning methods for
medical, industrial, and corporate campus environments.

Ron Kirby, director of Building Systems Marketing for Gardner, MA-
based Simplex, told Newsbytes that, up to now, Simplex customers
have been using a system in which alerts are sent digitally to
a central site, for viewing on an LCD (liquid crystal display) or
CRT (cathode ray tube) called a "central enunciator."

At the central location, a person keeps an eye on the enunciator,
contacting a nurse, security guard, or other roving employee by
two-way radio whenever an emergency arises, he added.

In Simplex's new, Alert Central-based system, though, data will be
transmitted digitally from end-to-end, sparing the need for a
central enunciator and human interpreter. "The economic
implications of not requiring human intervention at the central
location are obvious," commented Kirby. Notification and response
time are speeded, as well.

To illustrate applications, Kirby cited the example of a patient in
a severe stage of Alzheimer's disease, who is outfitted with a
special bracelet to prevent the risk of unsupervised travel outside
a hospital unit. The bracelet activates a receiver in the door
which is hard-wired to the paging system. "A nurse can be
immediately summoned to meet the patient at the door," he noted.

The Simplex system incorporates a "black box" that is used to
convert data from Simplex format to Motorola format, plus the same
Motorola pagers that are being utilized in Motorola's Site Alert
alarm service and the other two members of the new Site Connect
family: Site Call and Site Message.

Site Call will add paging capabilities to office voicemail. Site
Message will send faxes, e-mail, and calendar messages from the
user's PC to a pager.

The Motorola pagers are alphanumeric, meaning that words as well as
numbers can be displayed. This capability allows transmission
of highly detailed information, stressed Steve Spiro, director
of Motorola's Boynton Beach, FL-based Customer Owned Paging
Operations. The pagers can be set by users to either vibrate
silently or emit a beep.

Motorola is now training Simplex field sales engineers in ways of
surveying prospective customer locations to find out how much RF
(radio frequency) power will be required at each site.

The engineers will use this information in preparing proposals and
sales quotes for prospects. "The level of enthusiasm among our
customers is extremely high," Kirby reported.

Simplex manufactures and markets a complete line of systems for
fire detection, alarms, security and access control, nurse call,
time recording and time management, and engineered sound and
communications. The company maintains more than 130 sales and
service branch offices in North America, as well as distribution in
other countries throughout the world.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19930611/Press contact: Marianne Radwan, Capital
Relations for Motorola, tel [phone])


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

Telecom Software For Hearing Impaired 06/11/93
HOUSTON, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1993 JUN 11 (NB) -- Futuresoft
Engineering has announced that it is shipping an enhanced version
of its DynaComm 3.1 Windows communications program which
features special on-screen visual clues for hearing impaired
users.

Although it is apparent that visually impaired computer users
face formidable obstacles when it comes to using
telecommunications software, it may not be as obvious to most
people that hearing impaired users will also require special
software to make bulletin board and other services easy to use.

The latest release of DynaComm provides special animated Windows
icons that activate during operation to display the same
information normally provided by audio signals from the user's
modem.

Since most feedback for dial tone acquisition and exchange of
protocol settings are signaled by sounds, the lack of this
feedback for hearing impaired users can make telecommunications
tasks quite difficult.

Although external modems do provide signal lights or a
combination of lights and LCD text display to indicate modem
status, this is not true for most internal modems and in any
case, the visual indicators supplement, but do not replace the
audio indicators.

Icons supplied by the new FutureSoft communications software
include those which indicate a busy signal, a broken connection,
and other normally audible signals.

These same icons are also highly useful for non-hearing-impaired
workers who are either situated remotely from the actual modem or
can't hear the signals for other environmental reasons such as
being in a noisy location.

A free copy of the upgrade is available to hearing impaired users
of registered copies of DynaComm 3.1.

(John McCormick/19930610/Press Contact: Contact: Dawn Whaley,
Alexander Communications, 404-325-7555, or fax [phone])


(EDITORIAL)(BUSINESS)(WAS)(00006)

Editorial - Good Reviews And Bad Marketing 06/11/93
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1993 JUN 11 (NB) -- By John McCormick.
According to reports initially aired on CNBC, Sony has
apparently given up on cracking the US personal computer
market, but just what caused this failure for a company which
has proven to be solid-gold in the consumer electronics field?

Well, I may be a bit prejudiced here but, as a computer
journalist who has written more than 1,500 reviews which have
appeared in nearly 100 different computer publications, I have
seen many companies' products come and go and, while they may all
have had major flaws that caused them to fail, a number of them
shared one important marketing position - they didn't send out
review units to freelancers.

The Japanese keep telling us that the real reason foreign
companies can't compete with Japanese firms in that country is
that they don't play by Japanese rules. Well, Sony, I have news
for you; in this country people pay a lot more attention to
computer columnists opinions than they do to full-page color
ads.

Sony may make great computer devices. Personally, I don't know,
because I have never had one here in my office where I can really
evaluate it.

I do know that IBM, Apple, Compaq, AST, ALR, Dell, Swan, Hayes,
Practical Peripherals, Boca, and hundreds of other companies have
some fine products (along with a few real dogs) and I have said
so in my columns and reviews, but all I know about Sony products
is what I have read or seen at trade shows and you can't believe
anything you see or hear at a trade show.

Over the years I have often tried to obtain Sony products for
review in my columns, buyer's guides, and books, but even when I
am one of a handful of journalists covering a particular area in
depth (optical storage is a prime example, with my two books and
several print columns) I get nothing from Sony, or most of the
other Asian-based companies, beyond press releases.

Since European and US companies often fall all over themselves
to get products into my hands for review, I can only assume that
this lack of review units is due to some Japanese cultural bias,
or else a reluctance to expose their products to my scrutiny.

Sony isn't alone in this among Asian companies, nor is the
problem confined to Asia; it is just more common there. Hewlett-
Packard is also notoriously difficult to get products from for
review purposes, providing them to some magazines but making it
quite hard for freelancers to make contact. I would like to point
out that virtually no one has bought a copy of NewWave and,
whether HP was afraid I wouldn't like it or just because they
didn't think my columns and reviews were important, it also
happens that I failed in five separate attempts to obtain a
review copy.

On one occasion I was told that the only person who could approve
a review copy of NewWave would be out of the office for several
weeks -- now that's real PR savvy! In my experience, Sony is even
worse.

By contrast, I have about 12 copies of Microsoft Windows 3.1
lying around. I don't particularly like it, but I have honestly
evaluated it and pointed out that for some users it is a very
important product, even while it isn't for me.

Needless to say, Windows gets coverage in my books and my
column in the largest newspaper targeted to federal
government buyers, while HP's NewWave barely gets a mention both
because it has a tiny market share and because I have never seen
it so I can't say much about it anyway.

Sony products haven't appeared in my columns at all but did get
limited coverage in two of my books because they at least sent
press kits with photographs of their products.

By contrast, Philips sent a review unit of their "Imagination
Machine" which has an entire chapter in "The New Optical Storage
Technology," John A. McCormick, Business-ONE Irwin, July 1993.

This isn't prejudice, nor was the limited coverage of Sony's
optical products revenge for their not loaning a product for
review; it's just that I couldn't say much about Sony hardware
because I had nothing but their press releases to work from while
I actually had a Philips machine to run through its paces so I
had a lot more to say about it.

Many other Asian-based companies get no reviews from me because
they also fail to make it easy (or even possible) to obtain
loaners.

I must point out that NEC doesn't suffer from this marketing
blind spot; I have always found them cooperative and therefore I
have reviewed their products.

Most US companies recognize that the best way to stand out from
the crowd is not to buy bigger ads but to get their products
reviewed by respected journalists. There is no comparable network
of freelance journalists in the consumer electronics field, so
Sony has not suffered from this blind spot there.

Maybe that isn't the way it is done in Japan but if you want to
really make a hit in the computer market you had better have some
good independent reviews to back up your claims.

No, I don't think that Sony has trouble in the US PC market
because they don't send me review units; my ego isn't that big,
thank you, but they do regularly fail to send review units to
dozens of other well-known journalists and a number of us,
especially those with large circulations in important
publications, only write about products we have personally
tested.

(John McCormick/19930608/)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(DEN)(00007)

Zenith Tests 16-VSB Digital Cable TV Technology 06/11/93
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 JUN 11 (NB) -- Zenith
Electronics Corporation tested a digital cable television technology
that demonstrated the ability to transmit and receive two high
definition television signals simultaneously on a single cable
channel earlier this week.

The test, conducted by Zenith in conjunction with Viacom Cablevision
of San Francisco, was intended to show the transmission capabilities
of Zenith's 16-level vestigial sideband digital modulation
technology, known as 16-VSB. The technology complements any video
compression techniques.

In the test, two digital signals recorded on a compressed videotape,
were transmitted on channel JJ (channel 46) from Viacom's cable
head-end through a 19-amplifier cascade to the receiving site, a booth
at the National Cable Television Association convention held in San
Francisco this week. At the receiving end the signals were
demodulated and decompressed using hardware from the Zenith-At&T
digital high definition television (HDTV) system, and displayed on a
prototype Zenith 34W HDTV receiver. Zenith says the 16-VSB system was
tested by Cable Television Laboratories this spring and by Videoway
Communications in Canada last month.

The testing was significant, says Zenith Cable Products Division
President John Bowler, because it shows that the system can provide
33 percent more data than the proposed 64-QAM (quadrature amplitude
modulation) approaches used in cable television transmissions. "In
addition to the capability of transmitting two full HDTV channels,
the system will be able to deliver as many as 23 movie channels or
nine live video channels in each 6 megahertz analog cable channel,"
according to Bowler. Most important, we can do this using current
video compression techniques."

The system includes a unique synchronizing signal system that
includes a pilot carrier, allowing it to acquire and lock the digital
signal even in adverse nose and interference conditions sometimes
found in cable distribution systems. Zenith division VP of advanced
television research and development Wayne Luplow says data can be
received error free even with micro-reflections, commonly known as
ghosts, and white noise conditions, because of the synchronization
signals and forward error corrections.

Zenith spokesperson John Taylor told Newsbytes the successful test
will help HDTV get off the ground more quickly. "The ability to
transmit 43 megabits per second down a six megahertz channel is a
unique capability of this digital modulation technique. Until now
cable operators planned to carry a single HDTV signal on each cable
channel. With channels being a precious commodity, that is
important." Taylor said the technology also expands the cable
channel's 500-channel system to a 1,000-channel system.

Taylor said the FCC is expected to adopt an HDTV standard by 1994.
Recently the companies that were competing agreed to combine their
technologies into a single system. Taylor says that will benefit both
the companies involved and the viewing public. "We all win. We share
the costs and the benefits," according to Taylor. Zenith expects to
have the system ready for testing within a year.

Zenith also announced plans to work with "TV Guide On Screen" on an
interactive electronic program guide which would capitalize on the
flexibility and advanced display capabilities of Zenith's HT-2000
addressable cable converter to receive the program service. The
HT-2000 is an addressable decoder with built-in capability to receive
and display electronic program guide and other data services from
multiple providers.

(Jim Mallory/19930610/Press contact: John Taylor, Zenith Electronics
Corporation, 708-391-8181)


(CORRECTION)(IBM)(LAX)(00008)

Correction - Stacker 3.1 Ships, Requires MS-DOS 6.0 06/11/93
CARLSBAD, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 JUN 11 (NB) -- Stac
Electronics says the new version of its data compression
product, Stacker 3.1, is now shipping. Stacker 3.1 fits right
into the MS-DOS 6.0 "hooks" for data compression, can replace
Doublespace, and in fact, requires DOS 6.0 in order to run.

The product works with Windows 3.1 and DOS 6.0 and offers a
conversion utility to allow Doublespace users to convert to
Stacker. Like Doublespace, Stacker 3.1 offers another level of
transparency to users by loading before DOS reads the
environment files AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS. In Windows, the
product offers the Stackometer, a graphical gauge so users can
monitor the disk space left, the compression ratio, and
fragmentation levels on the drive.

Stac also claims Stacker will compress drives up to one
gigabyte (GB) in size, which gives the user a two GB compressed
drive. On the other hand, Doublespace will only compress a
drive up 512 megabytes (MB) in size. Users wishing to compress
larger drives with Doublespace must use DOS partitions.

Other features include: Stacker Anywhere, which allows users to
write compressed data to any removable drive and the data can
be read any IBM compatible personal computer, even those
without Stacker installed; Unstack to uncompress a drive;
Autoprotect to detect disk errors dynamically at boot; and
Autorecovery to repair errors on the disk.

Suggested retail price of Stacker 3.1 for Windows & DOS is
$149. Upgrades from Stacker 3.0 are $19.95. Stacker 3.0 users
who purchased the product after March 30, 1993 can upgrade
free, the company added. A competitive upgrade from another
compression product to Stacker 3.1 is available for $79.95.
Stac has also announced versions of Stacker for the Macintosh
and for IBM's graphical operating system OS/2 which are
expected to ship this month as well.

Stac Electronics is fighting for its survival. The company laid
off 20 percent of its work force last month and is fighting
a legal battle with software giant Microsoft, author of DOS
6.0. Microsoft negotiated with Stac last year to use its LZS
compression scheme in MS-DOS 6.0, but Stac company officials
maintain Microsoft refused to license the technology from the
company. Microsoft says it offered Stac several different deals
that would have meant "real money" to the software compression
maker, but Stac officials rejected all the offers. Microsoft
ended up licensing the basis for its Doublespace compression
from Verisoft.

In January, before the release of DOS 6.0, Stac filed suit
against Microsoft charging the beta version of DOS 6.0 was
violation of its patents regarding its LZS technology.
Microsoft counter-sued in February charging Stac deliberately
stalled Microsoft's entry into the marketplace and Stac's
products are in violation of one of its patents.

In addition, Stac is fighting its stockholders who filed suit in
July, shortly after the company's initial public offering
(IPO), charging they were misled about the company's
performance by statements from the management. Microsoft has
made it clear it has evidence that will help Stac's
stockholders, claiming Stac withheld the knowledge that
Microsoft was preparing to enter the data compression market
from potential investors.

Stac is hoping reports of problems with the compression in MS-
DOS 6.0 will be of use in promoting Stacker 3.1. In fact, Stac
has announced it plans a DOS 6.0 "rescue mission" this month,
offering DOS 6.0 users a scaled down special edition of Stacker
3.1 to replace Doublespace. The furor over Doublespace is dying
down, as reports of serious bugs have turned out to be
unconfirmed. Microsoft has confirmed two Doublespace problems,
neither of which are serious. A third bug, found by Stac, can
only be replicated under special circumstances. However Stac is
still betting users will switch.

(Linda Rohrbough/19930610/Press Contact: Lois Leslie, Stac
Electronics, tel [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(BOS)(00009)

Samsung PC Line To Be Sold Direct To Users 06/11/93
RIDGEFIELD PARK, NEW JERSEY, U.S.A., 1993 JUN 11 (NB) -- Samsung
has announced a new series of low-cost, 486-based PCs that will be
sold direct to customers.

Samsung's new ValuePlus+ line includes one notebook, the Model
S3800V, plus three desktop systems: models SD933V, SD966V, and
SD760V. All three PCs will be available direct to customers
through an 800 number starting June 15.

The SD933V and SD966V desktop computers each feature an Intel 486
architecture, two VESA local bus slots, and five ISA expansion
slots.

The high-end SD966V, priced at $2,199, offers a 66 MHz processor,
a 250 MB hard drive, and 8 MB of RAM. The other Intel-based
system, the SD933V, provides a 33 MHz processor, a 120 MB hard disk
drive, and 4 MB of RAM for $1,600.

The SD760V, a desktop machine sold for $1,099, is based on a 25 MHz
486SLC processor from Cyrix. Other capabilities include a 120 MB
hard drive, 2 MB of RAM (expandable to 16 MB), and flexible storage
options.

Also three desktop systems also come with 3.5- and 5.25-inch floppy
drives, a PS/2-style mouse, DOS 6.0, Windows 3.1, and a Samsung
SVGA monitor optimized for Windows applications. The PCs are
covered for one year of on-site service through an agreement with
General Electric.

Samsung's new 5.9-pound S3800SV Notebook includes a Cyrix 486/25
MHz processor, 2 MB of RAM (expandable to 8 MB), a removable 2.5-
inch 120 MB hard disk drive, a 3.5-inch floppy, a 10-inch LCD
screen supplying 64 shades of gray, Windows 3.1, and Samsung's
advanced Power Management System (PMS), which incorporates low
battery alarm, suspend/resume, and the company's Smart Sleep Mode
function.

One-year membership in Samsung's Executive Support Program (ESP) is
also covered by the $1,499 price of the notebook.

In announcing the ValuePlus+ line, C.H. Park, executive vice
president of Samsung's Information Systems Division, said that all
PCs in the series will be shipped to customers within 24 hours of
order placement.

Users will be able to order the new PCs by calling 1-800-724-6638.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19930610/Press contact: Lydia Trettis or Bob
Rinklin, HWH Public Relations for Samsung, tel [phone])


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SFO)(00010)

Corel, New Media In SCSI Bundling Deal 06/11/93
CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 JUN 11 (NB) -- The Small Computer
Systems Interface (SCSI) is an increasingly popular way to
attach peripherals to a computer. And the trend towards portable
computing has meant that some notebook vendors are unable to
keep up with demand. Hoping to address the combined market,
Corel and New Media have signed an agreement which calls for
New Media to bundle CorelSCSI for DOS and Windows with the
its PCMCIA SCSI cards.

The New Media/CorelSCSI package is set for shipment in July,
and is claimed to be the world's first SCSI system to provide
laptop and notebook users access to multimedia applications
available on CD-ROM media.

In announcing the deal, Dr. Michael Cowpland, president and CEO of
Corel, said: "Users....will be able to benefit from the performance
and power of SCSI through the ability to connect with virtually
any SCSI device available on the market."

New Media's president, Carl Perkins, echoed the sentiment,
claiming that, "Our Visual Media PCMCIA SCSI adapter card bundled
with CorelSCSI is a highly integrated solution that allows users to
effortlessly install peripherals such as SCSI CD-ROMs, disk and
tape drives to their computers."

The companies say that the New media SCSI adapter card fits into
PCMCIA card slots available on many laptops. The board includes
on-card DMA with 32 kilobytes (KB) buffer on-card; on-card active
termination; Microsoft Windows and Multimedia PC (MPC)
compatibility; and 512KB of "publish" space on-card. The card
also supports up to seven logical devices including all
devices supported by CorelSCSI.

(Ian Stokell/19930610/Press Contact: New Media Corporation,
714-453-0100; or Janie Sullivan, 613-728-8200 ext 1672,
Corel Systems Corporation)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(LON)(00011)

Ericsson To Work On Microsoft Integration 06/11/93
STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN, 1993 JUN 11 (NB) -- Ericsson Business Networks,
a division of LM Ericsson, the Swedish telecoms giant, has revealed
it is one of the companies working with Microsoft on its new
telecoms hardware/software standard.

According to Ericsson, the company is currently working on
integrating its MD110 private branch exchange (PBX) and DECT digital
mobile phone systems with the new Microsoft architecture. The
eventual aim is to integrate Ericsson's ATM and wide area network
(WAN) technology with the Microsoft standard.

According to Ericsson, by working so closely with Microsoft,
Ericsson hopes to integrate its electronic mail and voice messaging
technology with the desktop PC environment within a very short space
of time, so fulfilling Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates' projection of
an "all in one" desktop system.

"By integrating Microsoft software capabilities and Ericsson
communication infrastructures, we will be able to provide solutions
to our customers that substantially enhance the possibilities for
effective collaboration," explained Lars Boman of Ericsson Business
Networks.

(Steve Gold/19930616)


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

Egghead To Host Business Software Seminar In San Diego 06/11/93
ISSAQUAH, WASHINGTON, U.S.A., 1993 JUN 11 (NB) -- Egghead Software
announced this week that it will host a seminar next month that will
showcase the industry's latest software releases, including
applications, upgrades, operating systems, and technologies.

The company says the free "Smarter Computing" event will be held at
the Holiday Inn Montgomery Field in San Diego, California July 13th.
Egghead requests that you make reservations if you plan to attend,
and has a toll-free number, 800-344-5569. The company says in addition
to the software in display, various seminars will be offered, and
representatives of several software companies will be present to
answer questions.

Seminar topics include "Improving System Performance: Microsoft
System Strategies," "Increasing Productivity: Software Upgrades"
"Bringing Multimedia To Business," and "The Power Of Information: New
Database Developments." Representatives of Microsoft, Lotus, Borland,
IBM, Media Vision and Creative Labs will lead seminars.

Egghead's Cory Brown, Southern California district manager of
corporate and government computers, will discuss Egghead's Electronic
Commerce program, including Egghead Express, Electronic Data
Interchange, and Electronic Software Distribution. The latter service
is expected to be available by the end of the year.

Egghead says attendees will also have the opportunity to purchase
software.

(Jim Mallory/19930610/Press contact: Tamese Robinson, Egghead
Software, 206-391-6247; Registration: Egghead Software, 800-344-5569)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(SYD)(00013)

Australia - Apple Cuts Prices 20% 06/11/93
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1993 JUN 11 (NB) -- Apple has announced another
round of price cuts on its computer range. (Did someone just say
there must be new models coming?) Models affected include PowerBooks,
desktops and imaging products.

Marketing Director David Rigg said the reductions reflect Apple's
goal of strengthening Apple Australia's position as the leading
personal computer vendor. "It's the next in a range of strategies
aimed at increasing our leadership market share. For some time
we've progressively enhanced the Macintosh as the most
innovative personal computer platform with technologies such as
QuickTime, personal file sharing and World-ready system software
architectures."

"In addition we've broadened the use of Apple technologies by making
many of them cross platforms, such as QuickTime for Windows and a
range of imaging products. With today's announcement, our
aim is to drive the market share through aggressive pricing."

Some examples of the Australian dollar pricing are: Mac IIvi 4/160
down to $2995 from $4295; Centris 650 8/230CD now $5985, down
from $7495; Quadra 800 24/1000 $8195 from $8995 and the Apple
Color Printer now $2495, down from $4495. (US$2 buys AUS$3 at
present).

(Paul Zucker/19930611)


(REVIEW)(APPLE)(SFO)(00014)

Review of Prince of Persia, Game For Mac 06/11/93

Runs on: Macintoshes

From: Broderbund Software 500 Redwood Blvd., Novato, CA 94948,
415-382-4700

Price: $49.95

PUMA rating: 3.75 (on a scale of 1=lowest to 4=highest)

Reviewed for NEWSBYTES by: Naor Wallach

Summary: An action game with some adventuring elements. Save
the princess from the evil vizier before time runs out by getting
out of the dungeon and killing all of the vizier's henchmen.
Great graphics.

=======

REVIEW

=======

The Sultan has left the capital to fight a war. The evil Grand
Vizier is ruling in his stead with an iron fist and much cruelty. In
addition, the Grand Vizier has decided to marry the fair princess.
You are the princess's real love but the Grand Vizier has placed
you deep within the dungeons and has given the princess an ultimatum:
either marry him within the hour, or die!

So, is your challenge clear? All you have to do is escape the dungeon
and get to the princess in less than an hour. Simple right? Well...
given that the dungeon has about twelve levels, that it is guarded by
armed guards while you are not armed, that there are various traps
and pitfalls along the way, and that you do not know the way out -
the answer is no.

Each level of the dungeon and the castle above it is a maze. In
this game you have to be both an intrepid explorer as well as a
master swordsman and accurate runner. Anything less means that
you may die a horrible death and so will the princess.

The game takes over the whole screen on your Macintosh. You control
your character using either the keyboard or a joystick. When using
the keyboard, you need to learn how to use seven keys. Their function
may change slightly between the normal explorations and the fighting
scenes but overall, it is very easy to get the hang of what's what.

The dungeon from which you are trying to escape is full of
surprises. Each screenful may show up to three stories. At times,
you will have to fight and kill some of the Grand Vizier's guards.
At other times you must rely on your quickness and speed to get
you through, and there are those times when you must solve some
rudimentary puzzles to get through.

In addition to all the bad things, there are also various good
things strewn throughout the dungeon. For instance, somewhere on
the first level is a sword. This comes in very handy for beating
some of the guards who are armed. If you approach an armed guard
without a sword of your own, hell slice you to little bits.

The dungeon contains all kinds of traps. You will encounter sections
of floor that give way under you, to sections of flooring that raise
or lower gates, to hidden stakes that pop out of the ground, to big
gaps that must be jumped over. At length, you will reach a door
that allows you to go up to the next level. However, the door is
normally closed.

This pulls in the adventuring aspects of the game. To open the door
to the next level, you need to find the lever that opens it. Sometimes
that lever is right there and it is clear how this must be done.
At other times, an almost fiendish sequence of events has to happen
to allow you to get to the lever and open the door. In at least one
level, you must solve several problems in quick succession on your
way BACK to the door to be able to get through it in time.

The game comes with three diskettes and a 20-page manual. The three
diskettes contain the actual application and the files necessary
for running the game on a black and white Macintosh. If you have
a color equipped Macintosh, or a Macintosh LC, then the necessary
files are present on the other two diskettes. Installation is
simply a matter of copying the necessary files from the appropriate
diskettes to your hard disk.

One of the more special features in this hand-eye coordination
game is the beauty of the graphics and animation. The dungeon that
you're trying to escape from is rendered in a very appealing way.
The various elements like floors, and the stone walls really
gave me the creeps. As they should have. When you reach the castle
the whole mood changes and so does the rendering. In between
levels, little scenes are played out that show the princess in
various states of repose waiting for her hero.

The animation is superb. According to Broderbund, the programmers who
created this game had access to a set of videotapes of actors
performing the actions of the hero. Then they rendered the hero's
actions to look as realistic as possible. In that they succeeded
admirably. The first few times that I played the game, I spent
almost as much time watching the hero move around as I did actually
playing the game. When the hero jumps across a chasm and, at the last
moment, grabs onto a chink in the wall and pulls himself in, the effect
is just short of amazing.

As I said before, this game relies on hand-eye coordination. As
a person who is older than 15, it took me several tries to master
each series of steps that are necessary to complete a level.
In several cases, it took many attempts before I figured out the
proper sequence of moves and finger placements to get my hero
through that level. Thankfully Broderbund has included a save
feature in this game that saves your game at the beginning of the
level you last reached. On the other hand, the amount of time left
when you save is what gets saved as well. So, if you finally reach
level 4 with only 3 minutes to spare, that's all you'll get from
that point on. You are allowed to save games under different names,
so it is possible to have several games in progress.

The game is copy protected. The copy protection kicks in once in
every saved game and after you have climbed out of the first level.
A special, untimed, maze is displayed and you have to solve it. In
this scene, you must find the right bottle to drink to get the door
to the next level to open. Each bottle is labeled with a letter. You
are given a page number in the manual and instructions on which letter
within that page should be chosen. You have two chances to get it
right. If you succeed, the door is opened to continue the game.
If you do not succeed, you are booted out of the game.

I cannot say what happens when you finally save the princess. In the
period of time allocated to this review I only managed to get as far
as level 8. I do know what happens when time runs out. I'll leave it
to your imagination, though.

In all, I really like this game. It has a good blend of action and
thinking needed to solve the puzzle. It is a pleasure for me to
play a game that does not require constant and unstoppable finger
tapping to get through. In Prince of Persia I felt that I could
take a second or two to catch my breath after getting through a
tense spot and reflect on what should be done next. Yet, there
was enough action to leave even the most devoted action fan feeling
satisfied. Rumor has it that a Prince of Persia 2 is in the works.
I Hope it is as good or better than this one and intend to add it
to my collection when it comes out.

=============

PUMA RATINGS

=============

PERFORMANCE: 4 Things run smoothly. The animations are without pauses
and the action sequences are believable.

USEFULNESS: 4 This is certainly an entertaining game that kept me
coming back for more. On several occasions I would take a break
vowing that I had it with the game only to come back to it in a
couple of hours with a new idea to try.

MANUAL: 4 It tells you everything you need to know.

AVAILABILITY: 3 I have seen the game advertised by the mail order
houses and seen it at Computer City and other outlets. Broderbund
does not maintain a toll-free number for support.

(Naor Wallach/19930516/Karen Omholt, Broderbund Software)


(REVIEW)(IBM)(WAS)(00015)

Review of Translate English-Spanish Translator, For PC 06/11/93

Runs on: PC with 8088 or faster microprocessor, DOS 3.0 or
higher, 512 K (kilobytes) of memory (640 K recommended), and hard
disk drive with 10 megabytes available.

From: Finalsoft Corporation, 3900 NW 79th Ave., Suite 215, Miami,
FL 33166-9791. 305-477-2703 voice, 305-477-0680.

Price: $170

PUMA rating: 2.5 on a scale 1=lowest to 4=highest

Reviewed for Newsbytes by: Rick Bender, Washington Bureau,
06/11/93

Summary: Translate is a useful English-Spanish translator for the
intermediate student or teacher of Spanish and somewhat less
useful in a business setting.

======

Review

======

Translating from Spanish to English and vice versa is becoming
more crucial in American society as an increasing number of
Hispanics become US citizens. Therefore computer translators
are becoming ever more popular.

Unfortunately, translation between languages is an extremely
complex task even for the most advanced software, and no PC-based
program can actually translate text without extensive
intervention by someone who knows both languages. Nevertheless, a
good translation program can greatly lighten the workload for a
human translator.

As an eighth-year Spanish student with speaking and writing
abilities in the intermediate range, I can report that Translate
is a fairly useful all-purpose English-to-Spanish translation
program. Work can be done either by entering text directly from
the keyboard or by importing an ASCII text file. In both modes,
the translator operates a line at a time. It must be noted that
the program only supports ASCII input files, so word processor
text must be converted to ASCII format before translation can
begin.

Translate works at a variable rate, depending on sentence
complexity, but on a 16 MHz 386SX Zeos PC the program can
produce the Spanish equivalent of a simple sentence such as
"Johnny went home" in three to four seconds in both keyboard
entry and ASCII modes. This would be faster on a more advanced
machine.

A few major problems were encountered in the test run. Translate
could not render this sentence properly into the imperfect: "I
always used to go to his house," translating it as "Acostumbrar a
siempre ir a su casa." The program also confused the use of "ser"
and "estar:" "He is dead" and "Where are you" were translated as
"Es muerto" and "Donde es Ud." (Both of these should be "estar").

More problems had to do with pronouns - the program confused
direct and indirect object pronouns, putting "Le" instead of "La"
in the sentence "Le llamo por telefono" (I call her on the
telephone). Improper pronoun gender could prove very
embarrassing! Translate also could not properly order pronouns in
"I give them to him," rendering it as "Le a ellos doy" instead of
"Se los doy." Improper pronoun order can cause trouble.

The dictionary is functional but not excellent, as often only one
translation of an English word is given -- for example, entering
"try" prompted the response "intentar" without options such as
"tratar" which may be more common. For Translate to be a really
powerful translation assistant it would be important to have more
alternatives offered.

A special feature of Translate in ASCII text mode is the marking
option, which allows the exclusion of untranslatable material,
such as addresses, from text to be processed.

Translate is a basic translator useful to the intermediate
student but is not recommended for a novice or beginning student
due to its lack of grammar help.

If I were working in a company translating letters and other
short documents, would I prefer to work on my own with a
dictionary for help, or would I want to work with this program?
That is actually difficult to say because in many cases I could
do a faster translation on my own, but I have no doubt that I
would want Translate or a similar program if I were working on
longer documents.

===========

PUMA Rating

===========

PERFORMANCE: 2 Has plenty of power and speed, but translation
accuracy is poor; editing is essential to make the translation
intelligible.

USEFULNESS: 2 Useful as basic translator/dictionary only, or to
do a lot of the repetitive work in longer translations.

MANUAL: 2 Difficult to follow, but on-screen menus help
compensate.

AVAILABILITY: 4 Mail order only - but readily available.

(Rick Bender/19930610/Press Contact: Mario Teuffer, FinalSoft,
305-477-2703, fax [phone])


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(WAS)(00016)

Roundup - Stories Carried By Other Media This Week 06/11/93
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1993 JUN 11 (NB) -- Roundup is a brief
look at some computer stories carried in other publications
received here this past week.

Computer Reseller News dated June 7 says that the "Allocation
Nightmare Eases," meaning that the shortage of IBM and Compaq
systems may be coming to an end. Taiwanese makers of monitors,
DRAM and ISA chipsets are, according to the front-page article,
rapidly ramping up production.

Federal Computer Week dated May 31 reports that Zenith Data
Systems, co-winner of the infamous Desktop IV contract, has
increased the base configurations for its systems to include a
486SX/25, 14-inch non-interlaced SVGA monitor, 115-megabyte hard
drive, 4 megabytes of memory, 512 kilobytes of fast local bus
video memory, built-in Ethernet network card, and Windows. New
government price: $1,549, up from $1,395 for the 486SX/20 with
VGA monitor originally specified in the ZDS bid.

Informationweek for the week beginning June 7 highlights the big
CAT (Caterpillar) and shows how the beleaguered US construction
equipment maker has fought off Japanese competitor Komatsu
through massive use of information technology to cut costs and
raise profits through a closer link between production and
computer technology.

The June 7 Network World says that the new 800 number portability
has generated a lot of marketing incentives geared to entice
users to switch providers. 800 number holders can expect to be
offered giveaways and service guarantees to tempt them away from
their present telecom company. The article also provides a lot of
technical details on how the new 800 call processing architecture
works.

(John McCormick/19930611/)


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

The Enabled Computer 06/11/93
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1993 JUN 11 (NB) -- The Enabled Computer
by John McCormick. A new book, a major conference on implementing
the ADA, and an important decision from the EEOC make up this
issue of The Enabled Computer.

Your intrepid columnist, along with GEnie's well-known disABILITY
advocate Mari Sheppard (GEnie MARI.S), will be sharing both an
exhibit booth and participating in the educational programs at
the July 26-29 conference, which will be held at the Washington
Hilton (DuPont Circle, Washington, DC.)

Mari will be speaking on both days on behalf of the GEnie ENABLE
forum, while I will be speaking on Tuesday afternoon in
conjunction with the publication of my new book, "Computers and
the Americans with Disabilities Act: A Manager's Guide," John A.
McCormick, August 1993, Windcrest/McGraw Hill (#4422), ISBN 0-
8306-4445-8 (paperback) $22.95, 400 pages.

Mari, who has long been active in trying to expand coverage of
disabilities-related topics on commercial bulletin board systems,
will speak on that subject.

Any readers who are planning on attending are invited to
stop by the McGraw-Hill/General Electric booth and say hello, but
this is a business-oriented conference and won't deal with many
issues of concern to the disabled community other than by
addressing the ways companies can provide a friendly work
environment for disabled employees.

Despite the focus of the conference, I urge all readers in the
area to attend on either the 27th or 28th because while the
conference is too expensive for casual attendance, the conference
organizers have made the exhibit area open to all on those days.

You will have to register, but the exhibit passes are free from
USPDI, 1734 Elton Road, Suite 221, Silver Spring, MD 20903, 301-
445-4400 or fax [phone]. Send them information on your
company size, number of employees, and area of interest (visual
impaired, etc.).

Mari will be in the booth, which is co-sponsored by GEnie
(General Electric Information Services) and Windcrest/McGraw-Hill
(book publisher), both days except during her scheduled talks
and on Tuesday there well be Windcrest representatives in the
booth all day.

I will be at the booth during early Tuesday afternoon and most of
the day Wednesday while Mari is busy elsewhere.

You might even see some high-level (very high-level) Clinton
Administration members and Senators who are scheduled to attend
or speak at the conference.

This major conference should be a real consciousness-raiser for
both government agencies and private employers who are currently
struggling to learn how they can comply with the ADA and hire
more disabled workers by using adaptive computer technology.

On another work-related topic, the Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission (EEOC), the federal agency charged with enforcing
anti-discrimination laws like the Americans with Disabilities
Act, has just released a major ruling that puts extra teeth into
the ADA and greatly strengthens the position of seriously ill
workers such as those with AIDS.

In the early June ruling the EEOC stated that while companies can
set some boundaries on the health benefits coverage they offer
employees, such as offering more coverage for physical than
mental illnesses, they must show why the limitations are needed,
and companies must provide equal access to insurance for all
employees, no matter what their pre-existing conditions.

Of course they are still free to reduce overall coverage or even
eliminate it as long as they do it for every employee, but
pressure from the Clinton Administration's forthcoming health
insurance plan is expected to make it difficult or impossible for
most companies to fail to provide coverage.

As any disabled person knows, the threat of losing Medicare
protection while being excluded from other insurance plans makes
it nearly impossible for most individuals to decide to get a job
in the first place.

(John McCormick/19930610/Press Contact: SYSOP, The Enabled
Computer BBS, 814-277-6337 8N1 all speeds)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(WAS)(00018)

Support For Clinton Trade Stand 06/11/93
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1993 JUN 11 (NB) -- Considering the
number of political hits he has taken lately, President Clinton
must have been relieved this week when his on-again, off-again
relationship with high-tech managers appeared to be back on track
as The American Electronics Association came out in public
support of the announced tough stand on opening up Japanese
markets which the Administration has said it will take beginning
in today's trade talks.

AEA Chairman Arnold Silverman said on Thursday, "The impact of
electronics and information infrastructure requires that it be
given prominence in the US/Japan framework. "We [members of the
high-tech trade association] have been assured by the
administration that it is committed to gaining full access to
Japan for US electronics products and will address barriers
identified by AEA, such as government procurement, intellectual,
property protection, and regulatory areas."

The American Electronics Association, which represents 3,000 US
technology companies, has been working closely with the new
administration's trade negotiation team since the election.

While the US has outlined a tough position regarding cutting
the massive Japanese trade surplus with both the US and much of
the rest of the world, Japan has claimed that the US is trying
to practice managed trade, a code word for protectionism, and
rejected calls by US negotiators to meet specific trade deficit
benchmarks.

One administration official pointed out that having Japan
complain about managed trade was very strange since that country
is well known to have the most successful managed trade-based
economy in the world.

In a related trade story which shows the problems facing the
Clinton Administration's move to open up markets, the European
Community has charged Germany with violation of EC trade
agreements to keep Europe a closed telecom market because the
country reportedly agreed to allow US telecommunications
companies to bid on German government jobs. Bonn quickly rejected
the EC complaint saying that it had only reaffirmed a bilateral
trade agreement made with the US back in the 1950s.

Those watching these bellicose preliminary trade moves should
remember that presidential candidate Clinton constantly railed
against human rights violations in China during his election and
called in the strongest terms for Congress and then-President
Bush to reject most favored nation trade status for the last
major Communist country. Just a few weeks ago President Clinton
approved MFN status for China.

(John McCormick/1993611/Press Contact: John Hatch or Debra
Waggoner, AEA, 202-682-9110)


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

AT&T Working With KDD On ATM 06/11/93
BASKING RIDGE, NEW JERSEY, U.S.A., 1993 JUN 11 (NB) -- AT&T is
beginning a technical trial of asynchronous transfer mode, or
ATM, fast-data service with KDD of Japan, but an international
ATM service is not expected to be available until 1995 at the
earliest.

AT&T spokesman Shelly London told Newsbytes the trial will link
KDD offices in the Shinjuku neighborhood of Tokyo, which is the
local equivalent of Midtown Manhattan, with AT&T Bell Labs'
offices in Holmdel, New Jersey, a distance of 9,000 miles. "We'll
test whatever is needed to create a global service and
infrastructure that will carry current services. The trial starts
in July, and will last three years." But, while AT&T will launch
domestic ATM service in the first half of 1994, "We don't have
specific plans for an ATM service globally." In any case, "We
would not be able to offer a service to Japan until the TPC-5
fiber cable goes into service, in 1995." The test will be
conducted on an older, existing cable.

ATM is an emerging standard for passing data at speeds from 1.544
million bits/second up to 622 million bits/second and, perhaps,
beyond that. For many long distance carriers, it's seen as a
follow-on to Frame Relay, which in turn is seen as a replacement
for X.25 systems found on networks like Sprintnet. ATM is also
seen as a standard that can be used for backbone links in the
National Research and Education Network being built at the behest
of the Clinton Administration. In the trial, AT&T GCNS-2000 ATM
switches will be at both ends of the link, although Fujitsu
builds ATM switches which BellSouth, among others, is depending
on for future ATM service. In the KDD trial, two 45 million
bit/second lines will be operated and evaluated through Libra-II,
a system developed by KDD.

In other AT&T news, the company hired away Ron Ponder from Sprint
as its chief information officer. He had been in a similar
position with Sprint for two years after leaving the same post
with Federal Express, where he was a key man in developing that
company's package tracking system. Ponder, 50, will concentrate
on making sure that the company is making optimal use of its own
information management resources, and will report to CFO Alex
Mandl.

Finally, AT&T formally asked the Clinton Administration to remove
most Cold War trade barriers with China and the CIS, formerly the
Soviet Union. In a Commerce Department petition, the company
called the COCOM restrictions on such things as fiber cable
"outdated and ineffective" against its competitors.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19930611/Press Contact: AT&T, Shelly London,
908/221-4355)


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

IDB Mobile Deals 06/11/93
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 JUN 11 (NB) -- IDB
Communications Group finished a week of deal-making by signing
two agreements for its IDB Mobile unit.

IDB Mobile, a joint venture with Teleglobe International of
Canada, signed a two-year agreement with Sea Link Ltd. for
Inmarsat-A services, through which Sea Link will coordinate
mobile satellite voice, data and fax links with Canada and points
overseas, through IDB earth stations in California, New York and
Australia. The deal means Sea Link can also offer 56,000
bit/second data links, telex, phone-card charging, and high-speed
broadcast services, according to Sea Link. The services are aimed
at fishing vessels, offshore oil, and gas platforms and shippers.

IDB's Worldcom unit, which handles private line and international
long distance services, also signed a deal with Unitel, the
Canadian long distance company 20 percent owned by AT&T. Under
the deal, Unitel will handle calls into and out of Canada for
Worldcom's network, which has routing to every region of the
world.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19930611/Press Contact: Kim Dewling, IDB
Communications, 212-607-2036; Nils Helle, Sea Link, 709-334-2405;
John Marra, IDB MOBILE, 908-431-2002)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00021)

International Phone Update 06/11/93
ATLANTA, GEORGIA, U.S.A., 1993 JUN 11 (NB) -- In a slow week for
world telecommunications news, Cable & Wireless sought to mend
fences in the Philippines. The company refused to participate in
a plan by Digitel there to expand service on the island of Luzon,
cutting its stake from 40 percent to 27 percent, and Digitel has
threatened a lawsuit.

Cable & Wireless made the move after the Philippine courts
ruled its Eastern Telecommunications Philippines unit
could not operate an international gateway in the country.
Digitel, which also wants the gateway, has threatened to raise
its capital in a way that would cut C&W's holding to 4 percent.
C&W says it could re-enter the market if its gateway is approved.

In Poland, which is marching toward democracy and free markets in
double-quick time, Digital Microwave Corp. of the US signed to
provide microwave equipment and services to Telefonia
Komorkowa/Centertel, the local cellular licensee, for linking
cell sites and mobile switching centers in Warsaw, Gdansk,
Poznan, and Katowice. The operator is a consortium among the main
Polish network operator TPSA, Ameritech, and France Telecom.

Also in eastern Europe, Ericsson signed yet another contract to serve
Hungary's fast-growing cellular system, which could have 40,000
customers by year-end.

Finally, Latin America breathed a sigh of relief over the failure
of a coup by Guatamala's President, and celebrated the defeat of
former military ruler Hugo Banzer in Bolivia's elections. Gonzalo
Sanchez de Lozada, known as Goni, introduced free market reforms
to the country, and drew 36 percent of the vote. Goni is expected
to press hard for the privatization of the state's Entel phone
network.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19930611/Press Contact: Digital Microwave, Tom
Drohan, 408/943-0777)


(CORRECTION)(GENERAL)(TOR)(00022)

Correction - Enterprise Computing Show Planned For 1994 06/11/93
NEEDHAM, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1993 JUN 11 (NB) -- The
Enterprise Computing Exposition and Conference, a new
show and conference organized by The Interface Group,
will take place in Chicago July 26-28, 1994.

A story published by Newsbytes yesterday incorrectly gave
the show dates as July 26-28, 1993. Newsbytes regrets the
error.

(Grant Buckler/19930611/Press Contact: Kim Pappas, The
Interface Group, 617-449-6600, fax [phone])


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TOR)(00023)

Corel Setting Up International HQ In Ireland 06/11/93
OTTAWA, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1993 JUN 11 (NB) -- Corel Corp. has
announced plans to set up an office in Dublin, Ireland, that will
oversee all of its operations outside Canada.

The new international headquarters of Corel -- which will keep
its head office in Ottawa -- will be responsible for the
company's business in the United States as well as in the rest of
the world, said John Hladkowicz, an investor relations officer at
Corel.

Company officials said the move will lead to the creation of at
least 40 specialized jobs in Ireland over the next four years.
Only a handful of people will start work at the new office right
away, but Hladkowicz said that as contracts to translate the
company's flagship CorelDraw graphics software into other
languages expire, work will be brought in-house at the Dublin
location, and manufacturing for the international market will
also gradually shift to Ireland.

Some jobs will be lost in Canada as a result of the move, he
admitted, but he said it is too early for the company to give
specific numbers. About 300 people work full-time for Corel in
Ottawa now, he said.

Hladkowicz said Ireland was chosen partly because of Corel's
healthy sales in the United Kingdom and partly because the
country offered a suitable infrastructure. And he agreed that the
Irish government's favorable tax treatment of corporate earnings
was a factor.

Corel is the first Canadian software company to set up operations
in Ireland.

Eight-year-old Corel is best known for CorelDraw, but also makes
software used in attaching peripheral devices to personal
computers through the Small Computer Systems Interface (SCSI).

(Grant Buckler/19930611/Press Contact: John Hladkowicz, Corel,
613-728-0826 ext. 1194)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TOR)(00024)

Motion Works Acquires Vision Software 06/11/93
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA, 1993 JUN 11 (NB) -- Motion
Works Corp., a developer of multimedia tools and CD-ROM titles,
has acquired San Francisco-based Vision Software International.

Vision, which publishes the CameraMan personal training software
for the Apple Macintosh and Microsoft Windows, will become a
subsidiary of Motion Works, said Bob Lunde, a spokesman for the
Vancouver firm. Vision's five employees will remain with the
company, he added.

Terms of the agreement were not released, but officials said the
purchase was paid for in Motion Works shares. Only legal
formalities remain to complete the deal, Lunde said.

Motion Works hopes to use some of Vision's technology in its own
products, Lunde said. These include animation software for the
Apple Macintosh and Microsoft Windows as well as one compact disc
read-only memory (CD-ROM) title, the PrimeTime CD.

A marketing agreement that Motion Works signed with Ottawa-based
Corel Corp. in February will not be affected by this deal, Lunde
added. Under that deal, Corel took over the marketing of Motion
Works' existing products, leaving the smaller company to
concentrate on software development.

Motion Works had revenues of about C$1 million in 1992.

(Grant Buckler/19930611/Press Contact: Bob Lunde, Motion Works,
604-685-9975)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(TOR)(00025)

 ****CA Swamped With Calls For Free Software 06/11/93
ISLANDIA, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1993 JUN 11 (NB) -- It seems the
price is right.

Since announcing it would give away copies of its new personal
finance software to the first million callers in the United
States, Computer Associates International has been
struggling to keep up with the calls.

CA started with 168 operators answering its toll-free telephone
number after launching Kiplinger's CA Simply Money on June 8. By
Monday, company spokesman Bob Gordon said, the company expects to
have 525 people working the phones.

The operators have been unable to keep up with the calls. In one
15-hour period, CA said, 785,000 calls were placed to its
operators at company headquarters here and in Omaha and
Cincinnati. Of those, 15,000 got through to place their orders.

As of Thursday night, CA had processed 50,000 orders for the
software, officials said.

CA is giving away the software, only in the United States, free
except for a $6.95 shipping and handling fee. Once the million
free copies are gone, Simply Money is to sell for $69.99.

CA's promotional tactic has already attracted at least one
imitator. Minnesota Software Systems Development of Minneapolis,
which sells financial software packages called Living Trust
Software and Business Strategy Development, announced this week
it will give away two million copies of the packages (Newsbytes,
June 10).

Kiplinger's CA Simply Money, developed with the aid of The
Kiplinger Washington Editors, Inc., publisher of a personal
finance magazine, runs on personal computers using a 386 or later
processor and equipped with Microsoft Windows 3.1.

The toll-free order number is 800-FREE-MONEY.

(Grant Buckler/19930611/Press Contact: Bob Gordon, Computer
Associates, 516-342-2391)


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

Control Data Completes Evernet Acquisition 06/11/93
ARDEN HILLS, MINNESOTA, U.S.A., 1993 JUN 11 (NB) -- Control Data
Systems says it has completed the acquisition of Evernet Systems Inc,
a network systems integration company. The intent to merge was
announced in March 1993.

Control Data says it paid about $22 million, half in cash and half in
CDC common stock, for all of the outstanding capital stock of
Evernet. Based in Los Angeles, Evernet specializes in the design,
integration, and support of multi-vendor network-based systems which
include desktop, midrange, and mainframe computers.

CDC says the approximately 180 Evernet employees will join the CDC
family. Former Evernet chairman, president and CEO, Michael Caglarcan,
has been named vice president of systems integration services for CDC
as well as an executive officer of the company. Caglarcan has worked
at Computer Sciences Corporation, and at Electronic Data Systems.

Control Data Systems President Jim Ousley says the acquisition will
allow CDC to better serve its customers. "We have been working closely
with Michael Caglarcan and his team over the last few months to merge
our two organizations and develop new services for both our customer
bases. In addition to supporting current customers of Evernet and
Control Data, we see significant growth opportunities as we join
forces, particularly in the commercial integration market."

(Jim Mallory/19930611/Press contact: Charlotte Fransen, CDC,
612-482-4857)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(DEN)(00027)

StorageTek Sues EMC for Patent Infringement 06/11/93
LOUISVILLE, COLORADO, U.S.A., 1993 JUN 11 (NB) -- Storage Technology
Corporation announced today that it has filed a patent infringement
suit against Hopkinton, Massachusetts-based EMC Corporation.

The company says the suit alleges three of Storagetek's patents, all
granted in 1985 or earlier and dealing with what the company calls
"fundamental disk storage caching technology" have been infringed.

While declining to discuss specifics, spokesperson David Reid told
Newsbytes that prior to filing suit, StorageTek officials had
notified EMC of the alleged infringement claim. Chris Byrne,
StorageTek senior intellectual property counsel, told Newsbytes the
suit seeks an injunction to stop the alleged infringement "and
monetary damages where appropriate." However he said discussion of
damages is premature at this point in the process. US law provides
for award of three times the amount the aggrieved party was damaged if
the infringement was willful.

Byrne said StorageTek is using the same attorneys to try the suit
that represented Hewlett-Packard in the Apple Computer suit
against Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard alleging that the "look and
feel" of Hewlett-Packard and Microsoft software violated Apple
copyrights. That court was dismissed by the court recently after
three years.

Byrne declined to specify how StorageTek determined that EMC was
violating its patents. He said the trial process is not a speedy
one, and hopes that the matter can be settled prior to coming to
trial. "We certainly don't prefer litigation," said Byrne.

"We have made concerted efforts to protect our investment in our
future by assembling a strong portfolio of patents," says StorageTek
general counsel Russell Wayman. "These efforts have accelerated over
the past couple of years and the action taken today is consistent
with a comprehensive program of strategic patent protection. When
appropriate, this program includes cross-licensing agreements with
key members of the industry."

Wayman says Storagetek views intellectual property as a strategic
corporate asset. The company says it spent $148 million for research
and product development in 1992. That's about 9.7 percent of its
total revenue. Storagetek filed 47 patent applications in 1991, 62 in
1992 and expects the number of filings to be even greater this year.

The patents in question cover the general area of intelligent queuing
of data from disk to cache. In the computer world, the term "cache"
refers to a high speed storage buffer that contains the most
frequently accessed data and is used to reduce access time, a key
measurement of effectiveness of a disk drive.

No one was answering the phone at EMC Corporation when Newsbytes
attempted to contact the company for a statement.

(Jim Mallory/19930611/Press contact: David Reid, Storagetek,
303-673-4815; EMC Corporation, 508-435-4655)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(BOS)(00028)

New Lotus Training Centers For Notes And cc:Mail 06/11/93
CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1993 JUN 11 (NB) -- Lotus
Development's Consulting Services Group has formed a network
of companies in the US, Canada, Europe and Australia that are
certified to provide training at all levels on Notes and cc:Mail.

The Lotus Authorized Education Centers (LAECs) are aimed at end
users as well as systems administrators and applications designers,
officials said in making the announcement.

The new network is designed to expand Lotus Notes and cc:Mail
course offerings to many new locations, giving customers greater
flexibility in deciding on their training solutions.

"Lotus is committed to providing basic and advanced education and
training programs that meet the requirements of our growing
installed base of Lotus communications products," reported Jim
Krzywicki, director of Lotus Education and Training. Effective
training will bring about highly successful rollout of Notes or
cc:Mail within an organization, he added.

Approximately 50 training centers are under proposal, and about a
dozen, located in the US, have been certified so far. In addition,
Lotus is encouraging its Notes Business Partners -- an alliance of
some 300 VARs (value-added resellers), consulting firms and systems
integrators -- to provide training.

Victor Cruz, a company spokesperson, told Newsbytes that the
already certified centers include CompuCom, Hi-Tech Resources, Info
Image, Productivity Software Resources, Professional Training
Services, Quality Inc., Trellis, Wordlink, and Workflow Designs.

To be chosen by Lotus to take part in the new program, a company
must meet a set of criteria that includes permanent training
facilities, at least a year of being in business, and a proven
background in offering scheduled courses to the public in high-end
software, networks and operating systems.

Instructors at participating organizations will deliver courses in
Lotus Notes and cc:Mail that have been developed by Lotus. The
instructors proceed through a structured educational program that
culminates in passing exams administered by Drake Text Centers, an
independent testing agency.

Once accredited, authorized LAECs receive software, course
materials, and assistance with the operation of their Lotus
communication product training businesses. To maintain top
quality, Lotus will audit classes routinely and also organize
Train-the-Trainer sessions.

Industry analysts expressed enthusiasm about the new program from
Lotus. "When you're dealing with network issues, basic levels of
phone support can sometimes fall short," stated Kurt Johnson,
senior analyst four IDC Market Research Group, Framingham, MA.

"The beauty of certification is that Lotus can now outsource areas
not strategic to their core business, yet still have a voice in
shaping the curriculum. This is further proof that Lotus is
serious about providing services that its customers require, beyond
onsite support," he continued.

Commented John Donovan, director of Business Groupware Services for
Workgroup Technologies, Hampton, NH: "If an organization wants to
realize the full capabilities of Notes, if they want the most bang
for their buck, they are going to need training on all levels. By
authorizing training centers, Lotus is bringing Notes' strength as
an open application development platform to a wider base of
customers."

(Jacqueline Emigh/19930611/Press contacts: Victor Cruz or Peter
Bartolik, McGlinchey & Paul for Lotus, tel [phone]; Reader
contact: Jill Guardia, Lotus Education and Training, tel 617-693-
1232, or call the Education Helpline at tel [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(LON)(00029)

Fifth Generation's Fastback Plus 6.0 06/11/93
HIGH WYCOMBE, BUCKS, ENGLAND, 1993 JUN 11 (NB) -- Fifth Generation
Systems (FGS) has announced the availability of Fastback Plus 6.0,
the latest version of its hard disk backup software. In parallel
with this new version, FGS has announced what it calls an aggressive
new pricing structure for the UK.

Fastback Plus for DOS, Windows and the Apple Computer's Macintosh
will now sell for UKP 99, with existing users allowed to upgrade to
version 6.0 for UKP 30. Users of competing hard disk backup software
can also upgrade for UKP 46.

Kim Bergeron, FGS' managing director, said that Fastback has always
been a market leader in terms of backup software. He said that this
version has strengthened its leadership in two ways.

"Firstly, we have added security and network features. Secondly, we
have simplified the interface. We invited 40 users of Fastback with
various levels of user experience to our head office, where they
participated in 30 days of interface design and usability testing,"
he explained.

As a result of this testing, Fastback 6.0 was coded. According to
Bergeron, the package is now based "on their concept of an ideal
backup utility, both in technological superiority and ease of use."

Other key enhancements of Fastback Plus 6.0 include:
virus protection (v6.0 includes the scanner section of Untouchable -
Search and Destroy, another FGS product), support for small computer
system interface devices, backup to tape drives across
networks, and a new notebook backup (to desktop) facility.

Bergeron described these enhancements as improving Fastback Plus
several times over, but moving back to the simple operation
interface that version 2.xx had. "For example, we now list backup
and restore operations as separate menus," he said.

Bergeron claims that FGS has surpassed the virus protection
offered by competing packages, "addressed the need of network
users, added the most extensive tape support on the market and
provided backup for notebook users, making Fastback 6.0 the
fastest, most complete, most reliable and safest backup program
in the industry."

(Steve Gold/19930611/Press & Public Contact: Fifth Generation
Systems - Tel: [phone])


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(LON)(00030)

NEC "Scanned And Delivered" Printer/Scanner Deal 06/11/93
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1993 JUN 11 (NB) -- NEC UK has announced a special
promotion whereby it gives a free Logitech Scanman 32 handheld
scanner with every one its Silentwriter S62P laser printers.

The Scanman normally costs UKP 119 for the DOS, and UKP 249 for the
Apple Computer Macintosh versions. NEC claims that is equivalent
to a healthy discount off the normal retail price of the printer,
UKP 1,359.

The idea behind the bundling offer is to offer users a complete
input/output system for all their publishing requirements. The
offer runs from July 1 until August 31 of this year.

Announcing the deal, Martin Taylor, NEC UK's group product manager,
said that the ability to input graphic images and documents into the
computing systems is becoming as important to users as having a
printer which can faithfully reproduce the quality of their new
screen display.

"As the importance of DTP and presentation applications grow and new
technologies like document image processing (DIP) emerge, users need
the standard of hardware to match their application requirements.
The purpose of this NEC promotion is to offer users everything they
need to take full advantage of these new technology developments,"
he said.

The Silentwriter S62P is billed as a good all-purpose laser printer
with a six pages per minute (ppm) output. Using what NEC calls its
"sharp edge" technology, the printer gives a virtual 600 dots per
inch (dpi) print output using a 300 dpi laser engine. Printer
emulation modes include Adobe Postscript level 2 and HP PCL5, as
well as others such as Epson and IBM. As supplied, the printer comes
with an 8,000-page, one-piece toner cartridge and a 300-page
cassette with an optional second cassette give a total 550-page
capacity.

(Steve Gold/19930611/Press & Public Contact: NEC UK - Tel: 081-993-
8111)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(LAX)(00031)

AT&T EO Gets Hard Drive 06/11/93
SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 JUN 11 (NB) -- The new
AT&T/EO Personal Communicator 880, a personal digital assistant
(PDA) device, will be available with a 40-megabyte (MB) hard
disk drive provided by Ministor Peripherals. The AT&T/EO PDA
has been described as a lightweight, mobile unit that combines
the capability of a cellular phone, a fax machine, and a
personal computer.

Mountain View, California-based Ministor indicates the 40 MB
hard disk has an integrated drive electronics (IDE) interface
and the highest level of shock resistance available at 200 Gs
both operating and non-operating. The drive is from a family of
Ministor drives, the Portables Series, which include 42, 64,
and 85 MB capacities.

The AT&T/EO Personal Communicator is based on the reduced
instruction set computing (RISC) chip, the Hobbit. The unit
offers a pen-based user interface and screen resolution of 110
picture elements (pixels) per inch. The AT&T/EO 440, available
to consumers now, offers 4 megabytes (MB) of random access
memory (RAM) and comes in four models that each in turn add a
modem, more memory, and a hard disk drive. Prices start at
$1,999 and go to $3,299 for the 8 MB of RAM, modem-equipped 440
model with a 20 MB hard disk. The 880 model, offering 40 MB of
hard disk capacity, is expected to be available later this
summer.

EO was founded in 1991 and has major funding from American
Telephone & Telegraph (AT&T), Marubeni, Olivetti, and
Matsushita Electric Industrial.

EO employs approximately 100 people between its headquarters in
Mountain View, California and its European office in Cambridge,
England.

(Linda Rohrbough/19930611/Press Contact: Paige Burgess, Walt &
Sommerhauser, tel [phone]; Jim Miller, MiniStor
Peripherals, tel [phone], fax [phone]; Public
Contact, EO, 800-458-0880)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(LAX)(00032)

Sound, PCMCIA Available For X Windows Terminals 06/11/93
SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 JUN 11 (NB) -- Human
Designed Systems (HSD) announced it was adding stereo sound and
the ability to add PCMCIA (Personal Computer Memory Card
Industry Association) interfaces to its line of X Windows
terminals.

The sound option, HDSperx Multimedia, is 16-bit compact disc
(CD) quality sound compatible with industry standard protocols.
The company says the compatibility factor means users don't
need to purchase new software and developers don't need to
write new versions of applications, since HDSperx Multimedia
will support any sound that currently works on Sun or Hewlett-
Packard workstation platforms.

The sound package comes with an internal speaker and a
microphone for voice input. External speakers can be added and
a CD player can be connected to play compact disc recordings,
according to HDS. HDSperx Multimedia is available immediately
for a factory-installed option price of $199 per X terminal or
it can be added to existing HDS X terminal models for $249 per
terminal.

PCMCIA adapters, commonly used in laptop, palmtop, and notebook
computers, can now be added to the HDS X Windows terminals. The
company says the addition of PCMCIA capability opens the door
for the terminals to be equipped with more random access memory
(RAM), flash programmable read-only memory (PROM), modems, and
network adaptor cards. The adapters are priced at $99 per unit.
In addition, 2.6 megabyte (MB) and 5 MB flashPROM cards are
also available for $399 and $499 respectively.

FlashPROM memory allows the X terminal to store server code,
local clients, and fonts, with the effect of reducing traffic
on the network and the work load on the host computer.
Also, because flash memory can be reprogrammed, system
administrators can update X terminals remotely by downloading
new software over the network and eliminate the need to open
individual X terminals to install new PROM chips.

The company further announced that it is supplying versions
of Hewlett-Packard's 1.3-inch PCMCIA Kittyhawk hard drive in 20
MB and 42 MB versions for $599 and $699 respectively. Drives up
to a capacity of 200 MB are available in the 1.8-inch form
factor, HDS added.

King of Prussia, Pennsylvania-based HDS claims there is strong
growth in the X Windows terminal market. The company recently
announced that it was awarded two large US government
contracts, one to supply 58,000 X terminals to aircraft company
Boeing, and another for over 43,000 X terminals to PRC. The
contracts are estimated to be over $40 million each. Even
though HDS says it has shipped $10 million worth of equipment
on the two contracts, the shipments accounted for less than 35
percent of HDS' business over the past six months, the company
said.

(Linda Rohrbough/19930611/Press Contact: Michael Kantrowitz,
Human Designed Systems, tel [phone], fax [phone])