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/nb930714

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(NEWS)(TRENDS)(TOR)(00001)

Comdex/Canada - Suites, Not Spreadsheets, Central In Future 07/14/93
TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1993 JUL 14 (NB) -- Spreadsheet
programs have been the "defining" personal computer applications
in the past - from VisiCalc through the role of Lotus 1-2-3 in
luring buyers to the IBM Personal Computer. But no more, according
to Steve Ballmer, executive vice-president of worldwide sales and
support at Microsoft. Software suites, such as Microsoft's own
Office and its rivals, are now the most important applications,
Ballmer said.

In the keynote address for Windows World, part of the
Comdex/Canada show and conference here, Ballmer said integration
of applications will be one of the most important software issues
of the 1990s.

That will mean, among other things, more standardization across
applications. For instance, Ballmer said he expects to see the
industry converge on standard ways of implementing ease-of-use
features that various vendors have each developed in their own
way in recent years. Examples are drag-and-drop capabilities that
make it easier to move text or data around in applications and
the "Wizard" functions in some new Microsoft packages that walk
users through common processes.

Sharing information will be more and more vital in coming years,
Ballmer said. On that note, his talk included a demonstration of
Object Linking and Embedding (OLE) 2.0, technology to let
different Windows applications share data and call each other.

With Ballmer on the stage was John Revay of Microsoft Canada
Inc., who showed OLE 2.0 at work by selecting a table of numbers
included in a Microsoft Word word processor document. When he
selected the table, originally created with the Excel spreadsheet
software, the computer switched into Excel, displaying the
spreadsheet's menus (which have been modified in the upcoming
release Revay was running to look almost exactly like those of
Word).

He was able to use spreadsheet functions to work on the table,
then switch instantly back to word processing functions when he
moved to the text.

Revay also demonstrated Visual BASIC for Applications, a
cross-application macro language based on the BASIC programming
language that Microsoft plans to add to its applications software.
It will be available in the next release of Excel, which is due
within six months, Ballmer said.

Ballmer said software of the coming years will be equipped with
more "applied intelligence." It will anticipate what users are
trying to do and save them steps, and it will allow people to
"delegate" functions to software, telling the program what to do
without having to give such detailed instructions as in the past.

Ballmer also maintained Microsoft is on target with its delivery
plans for Windows NT, the operating system formally launched at
Comdex/Spring in Atlanta at the end of May. At that time the
company promised to ship NT by the end of July. Ballmer said the
company is on target, though he also used the phrase "within the
next several weeks," an optimistic description of the time
remaining in July.

(Grant Buckler/19930714)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(TOR)(00002)

Comdex/Canada - ZyXel Intros Cellular Modem 07/14/93
TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1993 JUL 14 (NB) -- ZyXel, an
Anaheim, California-based modem maker, launched a new
high-speed cellular modem and voice and fax software for its
modem line at Comdex/Canada.

ZyXel's new ZyCellular is a compact cellular modem that can
transmit data at speeds as high as 14,400 bits-per-second (bps)
on a clear cellular line and 9,600 bps on typical cellular
connections, the company said.

It is smaller than ZyXel's existing cellular modems, which will
also be getting the ability to carry data at up to 14,400 bps
shortly, said George Vande Bunte, a representative for the
company in Canada.

The new ZyCellular modem is due to be available in the third
quarter of 1993, at a price around C$650, Vande Bunte said. It
will be sold worldwide.

New voice and facsimile software will be offered with all of
ZyXel's high-speed modems. It is intended to be an alternative to
sophisticated telephone systems for small businesses and home
offices, company officials said.

The software, available for Intel-based and Apple Macintosh
computers, can receive and store voice messages like a telephone
answering machine. It can distinguish voice from fax calls and
can send faxes, including broadcast faxes to multiple
destinations. It can also store as many as 10 documents at a time
for faxing to callers on demand. The software can work with
distinctive ring features provided by many telephone companies,
in which more than one number is assigned to a line and each
rings in a different pattern, Vande Bunte said.

The software is now included with ZyXel modems, the company
said. Those who already have ZyXel modems can upgrade for a
suggested retail price of US$50.

(Grant Buckler/19930714/Press Contact: ZyXel, 714-693-0808, fax
714-693-8811, BBS 714-693-0762; George Vande Bunte, for ZyXel,
416-534-1508)


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

Comdex/Canada - Sun/Bell Develop Multi-Screen System 07/14/93
TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1993 JUL 14 (NB) -- Bell Canada needed
multi-screen display technology to help it manage its telephone
network, so the company worked with Sun Microsystems of Canada
Inc.'s Canadian Development Centre to create software that lets X
Window applications run on a mosaic of screens driven by Sun
SPARCstations. Now Bell Sygma, a unit of Bell, plans to sell the
software, called Mosaic Array Technology, or MOSART.

Shown at Comdex/Canada, the software works with mosaics of as
many as 28 screens across by 28 screens high. It allows X
applications on networked workstations to display on the full
mosaic or any part of it, taking advantage of all the resolution
available to display in more detail.

A user at any workstation on the network can work with any
application displayed on the bank of screens, explained Mary
McQueen of Sun's Canadian Development Centre. The MOSART
software supports all X Window applications.

As a display subsystem, it requires a SPARCstation IPX or
SPARCstation 10 with at least 32 megabytes (MB) of memory and
20MB of disk storage, plus the Solaris 1.0.1 operating system,
OpenWindows 3.0 windowing software, and Informix 5.0 database
management system. Any color SPARCstation with at least 16MB
of memory can be used as an operator console. Configurations with
two displays per workstation require an extra GX frame buffer.

Bell Sygma will be selling the MOSART system worldwide,
McQueen said.

(Grant Buckler/19930714/Press Contact: Bell Sygma,
800-26-SYGMA - 800-267-9462)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(TOR)(00004)

SaskTel To Raise Local Telecom Rates 07/14/93
REGINA, SASKATCHEWAN, CANADA, 1993 JUL 14 (NB) -- SaskTel,
the regional phone company service in Saskatchewan, has announced
an across-the-board C$2 boost in local phone line rates. The
provincially owned company said the move is meant to offset a
loss of long-distance revenue due to competition.

SaskTel, alone among Canada's regional telephone companies, does
not currently face competition on its home ground. The province
is the only one left where telecommunications is regulated by the
provincial government rather than the Canadian Radio-television
and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), and the provincial
government, which owns SaskTel, has steadfastly refused to allow
Toronto-based Unitel Communications Inc., or any other company to
offer competitive long-distance service in Saskatchewan.

However, SaskTel earns much of its revenue from long-distance
calls that cross the provincial boundary. It shares in revenue
from those calls through Stentor, the national consortium of
telephone companies. With all other members of Stentor facing
competition since the 1992 CRTC decision that opened the Canadian
market to alternative long-distance providers, combined with
long-distance rate cuts, SaskTel officials say they are expecting
C$40 million less in long-distance revenue this year.

SaskTel may also have to prepare for competition at home in a few
years. Bill C-62, the new federal telecommunications law recently
passed and due to take effect this fall, puts a five-year
moratorium on any change in SaskTel's provincially regulated
status. Ron Podbielski, a spokesman for SaskTel, said it is not
certain the company will come under CRTC jurisdiction after that
time. However, he admitted such a change, which would probably
mean an opening to competition, is possible.

Podbielski said SaskTel, which has a high proportion of rural
subscribers since it serves a sparsely populated province, hopes
to maintain its subsidy of local service from long-distance
revenues. But he said the subsidy is likely to be less in future
than it has been.

The increase, which takes effect August 1, means every phone line
in the province, whether residential or business, will cost C$2
more per month. SaskTel expects it to produce C$6.2 million in
revenues this year.

(Grant Buckler/19930714/Press Contact: Ron Podbielski, SaskTel,
306-777-4476)


(NEWS)(IBM)(DEN)(00005)

Software Customizes Checks On Laser Printer 07/14/93
MOUNT AIRY, NORTH CAROLINA, U.S.A., 1993 JUL 14 (NB) -- A North
Carolina-based company has introduced a software program that
makes it possible to print checks for various accounts on blank
forms, customizing all the information including the special
magnetic coding.

Called BlankCheck 2.0, the software enables uses to print properly
encoded checks on an ordinary Hewlett Packard Laserjet printer,
eliminating the need to buy a separate box of checks for each
account.

Magnetic Software says when it initially released the software in
1991 it was designed for organizations that had 25 or more checking
accounts, such as payroll bureaus, insurance companies, property
managers, and CPAs (certified public accountants). However, the
new version, release 2.0, makes the technology available to anyone
with more than one checking account. The software includes a direct
interface with several  business accounting programs, such as
DacEasy, PeachTree, Quicken, and AccPac.

The key is the rather strange looking numbers at the bottom of the
check.  They comply with an international encoding standard called
MICR, or Magnetic Character Recognition. Printed with magnetic ink
and in a special font called E-13B, they allow the computers used by
financial institutions to read the checks to determine the account
number, the paying bank, and other check processing information.
When you purchase your checks, they come with the numbers pre-
printed on the checks.

Using BlankCheck software and a special magnetic toner cartridge in
the HP Laserjet, users can print the codes for any of their checking
accounts on checks and deposit slips. Magnetic Software says as
many as 68 forms per minute can be printed.

The company offers three versions of BlankCheck. "BlankCheck Basic"
is designed for organizations with two to four checking accounts
that use DacEasy, Peachtree, Quicken or AccPac accounting software.

"BlankCheck Enhanced" is for companies with up to 25 checking
accounts, and includes user-configurable password protections, a
special hardware security key, and a check log feature. It also
interfaces with the accounting packages. The hardware security key
plugs into the port on the printer, and the printer cable in turn
connects to the security device, Magnetic Software's John
Springthorpe III told Newsbytes.

For users having up to 300 checking accounts, the company offers
"BlankCheck Corporate." It has the same features as the Enhanced
version, plus support for international currencies, can print
company or bank logos, and can print duplicate checks. It also
includes design features that allow the user to design their own
unique check forms.

In addition to the accounting packages mentioned, BlankCheck also
has interfaces for various property management programs and other
vertical applications, and supports fixed-length ASCII output so
users of other programs can make use of the program.

To use any of the BlankCheck packages you need an IBM-compatible
personal computer, a Hewlett Packard Laserjet Series III or 4
printer, a MICR Toner Cartridge and laser check forms. In addition
to the BlankCheck software, Magnetic Software also sells the toner
cartridges and the forms. The program can integrate a facsimile
signature created by a drawing program.

The Basic version has a suggested retail price of $149.95. The
Enhanced  version sells for $299.95, while Corporate carries a
$499.95 price tag. Additional accounting package interfaces are
available for $49.95. Springthorpe told Newsbytes the company
also produces custom forms such as payment books.

(Jim Mallory/19930713/Press contact: John Springthorpe III,
Magnetic Software, 919-786-1336: Reader contact: Magnetic
Software, tel [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(UNIX)(ATL)(00006)

Dialog Commits To Sun Equipment 07/14/93
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 JUL 14 (NB) -- Dialog
Information Services, the largest database service in the world,
said it will work with Sun to change its system from a
proprietary, mainframe-based host into a distributed, standards-
based network.

As a start, the company, which is owned by Knight-Ridder, said it
has purchased Sun SPARCstation and SPARCserver computers running
Sun's Solaris system, a version of Unix, as its new development
platform. Dialog said it now stores over two terabytes of data on
its mainframe systems -- that is two trillion bytes.

In addition, Dialog said it entered into a strategic relationship
with Sun and its SunSoft unit for managing information on the
SPARC/Solaris platform, so SPARC/Solaris users will be able to
gain access to information based on Dialog's information services
in the future.

Most important is the fact that Dialog, one of the largest on-line
service companies and one of the larger users of mainframe
computers for database services, has indicated it is moving to a
client-server architecture. It is a strong indication of the trend
away from mainframe-based computing.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19930713/Press Contact: Sun Microsystems,
Leiann Lee, 415/336-0597; Dialog, Judy Hunter, 415/858-7025)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00007)

900 Operator Changes Name 07/14/93
SHERMAN OAKS, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A, 1993 JUL 14 (NB) -- Independent
Entertainment Group has said that shareholders have approved its
name change to Independent Telemedia Group, although its stock
symbol will remain INDE on the NASDAQ National Market System.

The name change was based on the fact that the company is moving
away from merely being a provider of 900-number services,
becoming a service bureau for other providers as well.

Lewis Eisaguirre, the company's chief financial officer, told
Newsbytes that the company is making real progress in that
direction. For example, the company has won agreements with the
regional Bell companies and major independents for exchange of
what is called "BNA" - billing number and address data.

The BNA databases are considered the most accurate way of telling
exactly where to bill someone for phone calls, since they are the
addresses phone bills are actually sent to. The company is also
modifying its main computers to link with this data in on-line, as
calls come in.

Independent Telemedia is competing for the business with AT&T
and MCI, with Sprint having left the market. While the two larger
companies have complex content restrictions aimed at eliminating
objectionable material, Independent Telemedia has run some of its
services on toll-free and local numbers in the past -- such
numbers are often used by sex-based services today.

However, the company hopes to prosper by using a database of
900-number deadbeats it has built. The database will be checked as
people call, and those who have not paid for past calls will not be
allowed future calls. Combined with the BNA data from phone
companies, Independent Telemedia hopes to reduce the loss from
uncollected calls to just 1-2 percent from the high of 66 percent
experienced in past years.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19930713/Press Contact: Independent
Telemedia Group Inc., Lew Eisaguirre, 818-501-4633)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00008)

Sprint Adds New International Calling Plan 07/14/93
WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A,. 1993 JUL 14 (NB) -- Sprint, which has
been falling behind MCI and AT&T as the world moves to worldwide
networks, has made its first move in some time in an effort to
catch up. The company has introduced The Most Worldwide, a new
calling plan offering 20 percent discounts and simplified 12-hour
calling periods.

While AT&T has moved to alliances with other telephone companies,
and MCI has signed to sell 20 percent of itself to British Telecom,
Sprint has stayed on the sidelines. However, there are a number of
unaligned phone companies around the world, and analysts say
these opportunities must be grasped quickly by Sprint before its
rivals move.

France Telecom, for instance, has expressed regret that it could
not tie up with MCI, and might be open to a move from Sprint. So
might the Deutsche Bundespost Telekom due to be partly privatized
later this decade, and the Scandinavian and Dutch phone units
organized as Unisource.

With The Most Worldwide, Sprint has divided the day in each of
its international destinations into day and night, with only two
rates. Automatic discounts apply during all calling periods. The
new calling plan also eliminates an extra-high charge on the
first minute of calls, providing the same rate each minute for
the duration of the call. The discounts also apply to users of
the company's Fon calling card. Sprint also said it is offering
the discounts to 280 foreign destinations, five times the number
covered by rivals. All this costs $3 per month.

According to figures supplied to Newsbytes by Sprint, a 10-
minute call to Japan which costs $7.80 using the AT&T Reach Out
World calling plan will cost $6.16 via Sprint, while a call to
the United Kingdom costing $5.90 with AT&T Reach Out World will
cost $4.64 with the new Sprint plan. Comparisons are even better
with AT&T's regular international rates, Sprint claims.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19930713/Press Contact: Sprint, Juanada
Teas, 202-828-7426)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SFO)(00009)

SCO & Progress Software In Strategic Partnership 07/14/93
SANTA CRUZ, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 JUL 14 (NB) -- Progress
Software Corp., and the Santa Cruz Operation (SCO) have entered
into a strategic and enhanced user support agreement.

Steve Zamierowski, spokesman for Progress Software, told
Newsbytes that the deal involves "both marketing and development."
He said that there are three levels, "One is to improve the technical
link and the performance between the SCO operating system and
the Progress application development and database. The next one is
a joint training relationship, where we will train the SCO
personnel and they will train us, so we can offer more efficient
customer service and technical support. The other part is a joint
marketing agreement."

Under terms of the partnership, the two companies will undertake
joint engineering to "optimize software performance between the
Progress Application Development Environment (ADE) and SCO
operating system products."

The two companies also intend to establish programs designed
to support one another through trade shows, publicity, and other
marketing activities. The agreements also call for both companies'
application providers to be trained on each others' products. In the
words of the companies, this is intended to "create additional
joint business opportunities through the reseller channel."

In announcing the deal, Scott McGregor, SCO's vice president of
products, said: "The close relationship formalized between
Progress Software and SCO gives business users the confidence to
choose Progress databases and application development tools on
SCO platforms. When a customer bets their business on a computing
solution, they look for this highest level of integration between
both the products as well as the supporting companies."

Progress claims to have shipped more than 170,000 licenses of the
Progress Application Development Environment, which consists of a
fourth-generation language (4GL), relational database management
system (RDBMS), links to other data managers, and associated tools
for application development and end-user query and reporting.

(Ian Stokell/19930713/Press Contact: Steve Zamierowski, or David
Smith, 617-280-4000, Progress Software Corporation; Rebecca
Somers, 408-427-7103, The Santa Cruz Operations, Inc.)


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

GO & SunSelect In Pen Product Deal 07/14/93
FOSTER CITY, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 JUL 14 (NB) -- GO Corp.,
has signed a deal whereby it will assume all responsibility for
marketing, support and distribution of SunSelect's PenTOPS and
PenCentral pen networking products to OEMs (original equipment
manufacturers) and end-users of GO's PenPoint operating system.

A SunSelect source told Newsbytes that, "There was a joint
development between SunSelect and GO that has been in existence
for a couple of years now. That was the Pen product line - the
PenTOPS and the PenPoint products. It was a joint marketing and
development relationship. At this point in time, both GO and
SunSelect decided that, because the products are operating system
(OS)-based products - based around GO's PenPoint OS - that the
products should be marketed and distributed directly through GO.
This is part of the evolution of the relationship that Sun and GO"
already have.

According to the companies, the established agreement is designed
"to develop and promote networking technology for the PenPoint
platform."

In announcing the deal, Mike Homer, GO vice president of marketing,
said: "Having an effective means of exchanging information between
personal communicators and desktop machines is a key capability
for any mobile user. Through our support of PenTOPs and PenCentral,
we are ensuring that our PenPoint customers will continue to have
the ability to take advantage of these important desktop integration
solutions, with technology that is here today."

PenTOPs allows tablet users to connect their tablets to IBM PCs
running PenCentral, which in turn connects pen tablets to DOS-based
PCs via serial port, parallel port, or modem. The company says that
PenCentral works with PenTOPs client to provide tablet users easy
access to drives and printers on DOS-based PCs.

The deal calls for GO to provide customer support and technical
assistance to all existing users of PenTOPS and PenCentral
products for PenPoint.

Both products will be available for PenPoint 1.01 direct from
GO. PenTOPS is currently bundled with the PenPoint operating
system and is available to OEMs. PenCentral is now available
from GO for a suggested retail price of $179.

(Ian Stokell/19930713/Press Contact: Renee Risch,
415-358-2075, GO Corp.; Beth Byer, 508-442-0271,
SunSelect)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(SFO)(00011)

Lotus Intros cc:Mail Link To UUCP 2.0 07/14/93
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 JUL 14 (NB) -- For
electronic mail (e-mail) systems, interconnectivity between
multiple platforms is vital if the product is to be accepted
enterprise-wide. Now, Lotus Development has announced that it
is shipping Lotus cc:Mail Link to UUCP 2.0, a gateway connecting
cc:Mail e-mail users to Unix systems via the Unix-to-Unix
Communications Protocol (UUCP).

According to the company, Lotus cc:Mail Link to UUCP translates
outbound cc:Mail messages to UUCP-format messages, where they
can then be sent to, and read by, users on a Unix host computer.
Incoming UUCP mail messages are translated to the cc:Mail format.

Lotus claims that key features in the new release are: enhanced
reliability through the provision of additional error checking and
more robust asynchronous communications protocols; support for
the transfer of multiple file types, including fax files and the
transmission of Macintosh file attachments in Apple's bin/hex and
AppleSingle formats; and simpler, more flexible procedures for
installation and configuration.

A Smart Addressing feature enables Lotus cc:Mail Link to UUCP to
automatically match names in an existing cc:Mail Post Office with
incoming UUCP messages, claims the company. This saves LAN
(local area network) administrators from having to manually
create and maintain address-translation files.

UUCP is one of two widely used communications protocols for
messaging to and within Unix-based wide-area networks. Simple
Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP), is the other. According to Lotus,
SMTP is a high-performance protocol for networks with greater
levels of e-mail traffic.

In announcing the product, Rex Cardinale, vice president and general
manager of Lotus' cc:Mail division, said: "cc:Mail Link to UUCP
complements our SMTP product by providing a cost-effective
solution for smaller sites looking to send e-mail to and from Unix
networks, including the rapidly growing Internet."

Lotus cc:Mail Link to UUCP offers a number of tools for network
administrators, including a menu-driven installation and
configuration utility that allows network administrators to
customize the UUCP gateway.

A multiple-level logging feature provides a detailed report of
events during installation and troubleshooting, then allows
administrators to reduce the amount of detail so routine
monitoring of message traffic levels can be performed faster.

Lotus cc:Mail Link to UUCP 2.0 is available immediately at a
suggested retail price of $495, and free upgrades are available to
registered users of any previous version of cc:Mail LINK to UUCP.

Lotus says that cc:Mail Link to UUCP conforms to Internet mail
protocols RFC-822,-821, and -1154. The product requires an IBM PC,
XT, AT, PS/2 or compatible computer, 640 kilobytes (KB) RAM, a
network adapter card and network connection hardware appropriate
to each cc:Mail Post Office LAN. Software requirements are MS-DOS
3.1 or later and a cc:Mail Post Office at Level 6 or greater.

(Ian Stokell/19930713/Press Contact: Mark McHarry,
415-335-6786, Lotus Development Corp.)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SFO)(00012)

NCD Intros Large-Screen Color X Terminals 07/14/93
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 JUL 14 (NB) -- Claiming
it is responding to customer demands for audio and graphics
capabilities, Network Computing Devices Inc., has expanded its
MCX line of sound-equipped color X terminals, with the new MCX19.

According to the company, the new high-end unit features a large
19-inch display screen and a new low-profile base. The new MCX19
is priced at $4,695 and offers 100,000-Xstone performance.

In announcing the new product, Judy Estrin, executive vice president,
said: "After seeing our MCX announcement last winter, a number of
our customers, notably those accustomed to using workstation-size
screens, said they wanted MCX features - such as audio support and
low-cost PEX (3D X graphics) - in a 19-inch product. Besides
addressing the screen-size issue, the MCX19 offers a new base that
combines MCX electronics with the low-profile packaging of our
other X terminals."

The MCX19's 19-inch low-emission (MPRII) monitor, with .28 dot
pitch and a 72-hertz (Hz) non-interlaced refresh rate, offers user-
selectable screen resolution of 640 by 480 to 1152 by 900 pixels.

The company claims that the MCX19's integrated 16-bit audio
input/output support is network directed, which allows multiple
sound applications.  The terminal features a 20 megahertz (MHz)
MC88100 RISC (reduced instruction-set computer) processor,
along with support for up to 72 megabytes of memory, which,
according to the company, permits support for advanced
applications such as PEX, color imaging, and Display PostScript.

The MCX19 runs NCDware, NCD's optimized version of the X11 server
software. The terminal also supports xdcmp (X display manager
control protocol); multiple local Telnet or LAT clients; VT320
emulation, including dynamic font selection and scroll bars; and
SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol)-based network
management with NCD MIB extensions.

The MCX19 is priced at $4,695 with six megabytes (MB) of DRAM
(expandable to 72 MB), mouse, keyboard, serial port and Ethernet
controller. The software license is $50 per unit.

(Ian Stokell/19930713/Press Contact: Judy Estrin,
415-694-0650, Network Computing Devices Inc.)


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

Software Toolworks In Bundling Deals With Apple & Tandy 07/14/93
NOVATO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 JUL 14 (NB) -- Bundling deals are
a good way for software companies to get their products into the
hands of new users. Now Software Toolworks Inc., has signed OEM
(original equipment manufacturing) product bundling deals with
both Apple Computer and Tandy Electronics.

The multi-year agreement with Apple Computer calls for Software
Toolworks to supply up to three CD-ROM products for bundling with
several Apple Computer products, with initial shipments expected
to begin by the end of 1993.

The deal with Tandy calls for the bundling of Tandy PCs with the
MPC versions of the "Software Toolworks Reference Library," "World
Atlas," "U.S. Atlas," and "The San Diego Zoo Presents ... The Animals!"
Shipments under this agreement are expected to begin this quarter.

In announcing the bundling deals, Bob Lloyd, chief executive officer
of The Software Toolworks, said, "These agreements are significant
in that they position our products with outstanding companies in
the computer and home electronics industry.  The new business
arrangements also testify to the breadth and strength of our
products and technology."

(Ian Stokell/19930713/Press Contact: Vincent L. Turzo,
415-883-3000 ext 568, The Software Toolworks)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(DEN)(00014)

 ****Dell Predicts Big 2Qtr Loss 07/14/93
AUSTIN, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1993 JUL 14 (NB) -- Dell Computer is
expecting to report a loss of $1.65 to $1.85 per share for the second
fiscal quarter, and could default on some of its revolving credit
agreements.

The company said the projected loss for the quarter, which ends
August 1, is due to significant writedowns and restructuring
charges of $75 million to $85 million stemming from restructuring,
inventory writedowns, and costs associated with delayed and
canceled notebook projects. The restructuring consolidated some
common functions to improve efficiency of operations, principally
in the international market

Regarding the possibility of being in default of some of its
financial agreements, Dell Chief Financial Officer Thomas Meredith
said he is working with Dell lenders to resolve the situation, and
that he does not expect a default to occur. "I'm confident that we
will be able to secure alternative financing or obtain a waiver
before any default would materialize," Meredith said.

In February Newsbytes reported that the company had withdrawn
a planned four million share common stock offering, citing what it
called "unfavorable market conditions." At the time the company
said it was still confident of its ability to fund significant growth.

Dell Chairman and CEO Michael Dell called the loss "disappointing,"
and said the company is determined to take the steps necessary to
strengthen the company for the future. "We have aggressively
provided for known exposure with these charges. However, there is
still work to be done as we further identify the systems and process
improvements needed to support the increasing complexity of our
business and the three billion dollars in revenue we expect to
generate this fiscal year," said Dell.

In January Newsbytes reported that Dell had created a new
position to oversee operational planning, supply chain management,
new product introductions, operations strategic planning, and
distribution.

The company also promoted three sales executives within the US
organization and named Dell USA President Joel Kocher president of
worldwide sales, marketing, and service operations. Andrew Harris
resigned as president of Dell's international unit after reportedly
losing out in the competition for the position Kocher got. Last
month Dell named former Apple Computer executive Eric Harslem to
the position of senior vice president of the product group, replacing
Glenn Henry, who was named to the newly created office of chief
technology officer.

Dell also hired John Medica to rebuild its notebook business. Medica
stopped development on most of the dozen or so notebook products
that were to have been introduced this summer, and went to Japan to
search for partners there to help rebuild the company's notebook
business, including the possibility of an OEM (original equipment
manufacturing) agreement with one or more Japanese manufacturers
or a financial partnership.

The company says it expects to report revenues of $710 million to
$730 million for the second quarter. If that estimate is accurate,
it will be an increase of 55 to 60 percent over the same period last
year and will keep Dell on track towards the estimated revenues of
about $3 billion it expects for the current fiscal year. The company
reported $2 billion in revenues for fiscal 1993. Dell reported
record revenues of $672 million for the first quarter for per-share
earnings of $0.25, and also called those results disappointing.
First quarter pre-tax income was lowered by more than $20 million
due to poor results from the notebook computer business, and the
company predicted the problems with the notebook delays and
cancellations would negatively affect earnings for the following
two quarters.

Last month Newsbytes reported that several shareholders had filed
suit against the company, charging that Dell failed to disclose the
problems in the notebook division. Dell stock dropped more than
seven points when the first quarter results were announced. Dell
officials claimed that the losses were not known until a few days
before the earnings statement was released. The suit reportedly
alleged that Dell had artificially inflated its stock price by
failing to provide investors with accurate information..

Michael Dell said overall sales are continuing to grow rapidly
despite soft demand in the European market and is taking steps to
maintain that growth. "We have strengthened our management team
with experienced executives from many leading company. We are
focused on rebuilding our profitability quickly, developing the
systems we need to support our growth and reentering the notebook
business in a major way."

In April Dell announced that is had started shipping its Precision
line personal computers to discount warehouse outlets Price Club
and Sam's, and announced a distribution deal that would see Dell's
Dimension line PCs sold in Wal-Mart stores.

(Jim Mallory/19930714/Press contact: Michele Moore, Dell Computer,
512-728-4100; Reader contact: Dell Computer, 800-289-3355)


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

AT&T Announces TrueVoice 07/14/93
NEW YORK, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1993 JUL 14 (NB) -- AT&T is putting a
technology called TrueVoice into its network which, it claims,
will mean a big improvement in sound quality. The technology, once
in place by the end of 1994, will cost consumers nothing, and is
intended to give AT&T a leg-up in its competition with MCI and
Sprint. The roll-out will be city-by-city starting in September.

TrueVoice enhances the bass end of the sound spectrum, and boosts
the volume of the call by an average of four decibels, according to
Mark Siegel. This makes for richer sound. He could not go into the
further details, he added, for competitive reasons, indicating
that if MCI or Sprint found out how AT&T was doing, they would do
it, too. Once your city has the TrueVoice technology, he added, and
you are an AT&T customer in that city, you will hear TrueVoice
when you call-out. But the person on the other end of the line
will not hear TrueVoice until their town, too, has the technology.

AT&T is advertising TrueVoice heavily. An ad which debuted during
the Major League Baseball All-Star Game had a voice-over urging
consumers to call a toll-free number and hear the difference
between the current network and TrueVoice. The number to call is
800-932-2000, or 800-792-1900 in Spanish.

In a press conference July 13, AT&T claimed it tried-out the
technology among 2,500 customers of all three major long distance
companies and eight in ten thought it sounded "clearer, closer,
and more natural." But AT&T has so far refused to explain how
TrueVoice works, although it does seem to boost the bass notes in
a voice call. Thus, its rivals are calling the claims "smoke and
mirrors." In fact, for the last few years, sound quality on all
three major networks has been very similar. AT&T's advantages in
the time it took to set-up a call evaporated recently when its
rivals were forced to meet new government standards early this
year.

The move by AT&T is the latest shot in a continuing war for long
distance supremacy, where AT&T had been losing market share
steadily until recently. Most of the battle is over price. MCI,
which won big with its "Friends and Family" calling circle plan,
is now going after business customers with a "Proof Positive"
claim in which it reports quarterly on savings over AT&T. Sprint
has launched "The Most Worldwide," a new cut-rate calling plan on
international calls. AT&T's own entry in this is the "i Plan," a
customized calling plan for everyone who calls its special toll-
free number in response to commercials.

And there's a fourth player - LDDS/Metromedia, created by the
merger of many smaller carriers, which is aiming first at
business customers, and recently won the contract to serve
Mirage Resorts.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19930714/Press Contact: AT&T, Mark Siegel,
908/221-8413)


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

Cellular One Helping Flood Victims 07/14/93
ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, U.S.A., 1993 JUL 14 (NB) -- As with
Hurricane Andrew a year ago, the Cellular One units of McCaw
Cellular are trying to help Mississippi flood victims with some
free calls.

McCaw said the Northeast Region of its Cellular One network,
which is based in Pittsburgh, is shipping cellular telephones,
antennas, batteries and other support equipment to the St. Louis
chapter of the American Red Cross, for free use to the business
community and emergency management or public safety
organizations during the crisis.

Last year, the company provided over 2,000 phones, along with its
portable cell-on-wheels cell-sites, to victims and relief workers
in the wake of Andrew.

In a statement from the company, McCaw estimated the value of
last year's donations at $1 million in equipment and manpower,
and $20,000 per day in service.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19930714/Press Contact: Paula McWilliams,
Cellular One, 412-427-9268)


(NEWS)(IBM)(ATL)(00017)

Digi Offers New ISDN Board For PC 07/14/93
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, U.S.A., 1993 JUL 14 (NB) -- Digi
International has announced PC IMAC/4, a PC expansion card for
standard PC/AT slots that creates an ISDN (Integrated Services
Digital networks) communications hub. The company said up to
four of the cards can be installed in a single PC.

The result is that up to 20 ISDN connections can be housed in
the PC to support up to 40 simultaneous calls. This helps ISDN
connection management by reducing the number of boxes that
need to be stored in the wiring closet. The company's products
also include PC IMAC, a digital board for remote workers that
acts as a client system on an ISDN network.

All the boards work with the company's ISDN Data Pump, or IDP
module. Up to four IDP modules can be installed on a single card,
supporting one Basic Rate ISDN connection, which means two
digital channels with a total capacity of 128,000 bits-per-second
(bps).

The company claims that the modules are easy to install, so more
capacity can be added as needed, and each module has a built-in
channel protocol analyzer which works on the 16,000 bps signaling
channel which is a standard part of ISDN.

Software can also be upgraded in the field. The board supports
Novell's NetWare network operating system as well as Microsoft
Windows NT operating system. Costs run from $1,195 to $3,980,
depending on the number of IDP modules.

The board will get its first public display at Interop Fall in
August, a show for users of the Internet networks and TCP/IP
(Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) protocols.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19930714/Press Contact: Julie Thometz,
DigiBoard, 612-943-0469)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(ATL)(00018)

Dialog Moves Toward Natural Language With PLS Buy 07/14/93
PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 JUL 14 (NB) -- Dialog has
made what it calls a "significant minority investment" in
Personal Library Software which could bring natural language
searching to Dialog's database services in time.

Dialog said it will gain representation on the PLS board from its
investment. The amount invested was not disclosed, nor did either
company discuss how much of PLS Dialog is buying, except to say
it is a "minority interest." The move comes the same week Dialog
announced it would become a major customer of Sun Microsystems
and would, in time, move its multi-terabyte database to a Sun-
based client-server architecture from its present mainframe.

Newsbytes discussed the transaction with Richard Black, PLS' vice
president-business development. "PLS has Sun products, and has
been shipping them for a number of years," he said. "We're in the
process of moving our graphical user interface into the Sun
environment, most likely under Solaris. We keep abreast of the
latest shipping environments from Sun.

"PLS is most famous for the fact we've been advocating automatic
relevance ranking and automatic data feedback technology, which
we've been doing since the early 1980s," he said. "All our products
have this. This lends itself to natural language searching. To the
layman we have algorithms that are able to make automatic
decisions about what's important and what's not important in a
query. When we deliver information back, it's not just in the
normal chronological order. We rank by what seems to be closest
to the query."

Dialog, by contrast, is known for requiring searchers to use
complex Boolean algorithms involving and, or, parts of words, and
lots of parentheses. "Boolean operators are different from what
PLS software does. But if you do Boolean queries we have all the
operators, and we handle structured data well," he said. "You can
do the kinds of things that trained Dialog searchers might want to
do - nested queries with multiple fields and various operators.
However, we feel our post-Boolean technology makes that
unnecessary. Most people will get very good results just saying
what they're looking for. One nice thing about our approach is
it's extremely interactive - the user can participate in the query."

Dow Jones News Retrieval has been getting very good results with
a system called DowVision, and Black said there are similarities
to what PLS offers. "That system is what we'd call query by
example. PLS supports query by example in a strong way." In other
words, you can say, "this is a good paragraph, show me others like
it" or "this is a good thing, show me other documents that look
like this." This kind of natural language interaction could, in
time, make Dialog far more accessible to a broader audience -
it is presently used mostly by corporate and public librarians.

Patrick J. Tierney, president of Dialog, said in a press
statement that, "PLS has excellent technology, strong performance
and knows where the information business is heading." PLS
President Matthew B. Koll noted that, "Dialog has the market
presence to move the information business into the future." He
added that Dialog's CD-ROM businesses will be the first target of
opportunity for his company.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19930714/Press Contact: Richard Black, Personal
Library Software, 2400 Research Boulevard, Rockville, Maryland,
20850, 301-990-1155, FAX [phone])


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(HKG)(00019)

 ****Hongkong Telecom Completes Digital Conversion 07/14/93
WAN CHAI, HONG KONG, 1993 JUL 14 (NB) -- Analog
telecommunications in Hong Kong has become history as the
territory's Governor, Chris Patten, made the last analog phone call
at the official celebrations of the completion of Hongkong Telecom's
digital conversion program. The event was held at the Marriot Hotel
in Wan Chai and Newsbytes was present.

Hongkong Telecom has spent several years gradually replacing the
analog equipment used in the territory's numerous exchanges, with
digital technology. The entire business districts have been digital
for about four years and able to offer advanced services still not
available in many developed nations. Now Hong Kong's domestic
telecommunications have been made fully digital.

Planning for a digital network commenced about twelve years ago
and the transformation began at the end of the 1980's with the
standardization of seven digit telephone numbers. Previously
telephone numbers carried an area code prefix for Kowloon, Hong
Kong, and the New Territories. The change in numbers allowed
Hongkong Telecom to convert some of the existing lines from
analog to digital, where the new digital exchanges existed.

Customers were encouraged to take advantage of the new digital
services, such as call waiting, automatic call forwarding, and IDD
passwords. In many instances this involved a change of telephone
numbers, but it was justified by the additional facilities.

Now the full range of digital services is available everywhere in
Hong Kong.  Hong Kong's digital program stretches throughout
dozens of outlying islands which form part of territory.

"Hong Kong's productivity has been boosted by more than 25,000
man-hours a day as a result of network digitalization," said Peter
Howell-Davies, deputy chief executive of Hongkong Telecom. "Our
fiber optic cables and digital network provide a cost-effective
and convenient means of providing fast access to the services
that we expect our customers to want in the future."

Services provided for residential customers are claimed to be
among the lowest priced in the world. Local phone calls in Hong Kong
remain free of charge. Installation and monthly subscription fees
are also very low. International call tariffs, while not the lowest,
are at the lower end of the worldwide charging spectrum.

With the high number of expatriates in Hong Kong and the ever
expanding nature of international firms, international
telecommunications traffic is high by any global comparison.

According to Howell-Davies, this year alone Hongkong Telecom's
on-going development called for investments of more than $500
million (HK$3.9 billion) but he said that this would ensure that
Hongkong remains the hub of advanced telecommunications for
the region and the business gateway to China.

Hongkong Telecom is the territory's largest publicly listed company
and largest single private employer, its major shareholders include
Cable and Wireless PLC of Britain, and the People's Republic of
China through its external investment corporation, CITIC.

(Brett Cameron/19930713/Press Contact: Virginia Chiu, Hongkong
Telecom, tel [phone])


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TYO)(00020)

 ****Toshiba/NatSemi/Motorola In Joint IC Dev't Deal 07/14/93
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1993 JUL 14 (NB) -- Toshiba has agreed with
National Semiconductor and Motorola on the joint development of
next-generation logic integrated circuit (IC) chips.

The agreement calls for the three firms to develop ICs by the
end of this year. They have also agreed to second source to each
other. Toshiba and National Semiconductor have already been
cooperating on the development of a logic IC. Now Motorola has
joined in.

The new chip will be a low-electric consuming CMOS
(complimentary metal oxide semiconductor) type. It consumes
only three volts and supports the fast processing of data at four
nanoseconds (ns). Also, the chip will be able to switch between
three volts and five volts.

The new chip will be targeted at notebook-type PCs or hand-held
PCs which use removable batteries. The companies are hoping
sales to reach 55 billion yen ($500 million) market by 1997.

The firms' first chip will be shipped by the end of this year
under their own respective brand names. The development deal
lasts five years. The deal is also expected to save the three firms
development costs.

For Toshiba, the deal is important in its ongoing battle against
US criticism over semiconductor exports and imports. However,
Toshiba has already been cooperating with Motorola for several
years involving the development and sales of DRAM, as well as
central processing units (CPUs). The two companies already have
a joint venture firm in northern Japan.

(Masayuki "Massey" Miyazawa/19930714/Press Contact: Toshiba,
[phone])


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(TYO)(00021)

Japan - Chip Market Recovering? 07/14/93
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1993 JUL 14 (NB) -- The Japanese Ministry of
International Trade and Industry (MITI) has announced a survey
of expected microprocessor shipments for the last half of 1993.
According to the survey, most manufacturers are planning to
increase production of computer memory chips.

The Ministry's recent survey involved 18 chip manufacturers,
along with 56 major users. The manufacturers replied that
expected shipments of four-megabit DRAM chips for the last
half of this year (July-December) will be 248.7 million units.
That figure represents a 25 percent increase over the first half
of 1993. Regarding 16-megabit DRAM, 12.3 million units will be
shipped. This is over three times that in the first half of 1993.

The report says that chip demand is extremely strong in the US
and South East Asian markets, where many low-cost PCs are
produced. However, the demand for other home electronics
products such as televisions is still slow, says the report.

According to Intel Japan, the firm has gained $2.13 billion in
sales of microprocessors during this second quarter. This is an
increase of 61.4 percent over the same period last year. The
increase was due mainly to the popularity of the 486 processor.

(Masayuki "Massey" Miyazawa/19930714/Press Contact: Intel
Japan, [phone])


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(DEL)(00022)

India - Tandem In Alliance With BFL Software 07/14/93
NEW DELHI, INDIA, 1993 JUL 14 (NB) -- Calcutta-based BFL Software
Ltd., has entered into a strategic alliance with US-based Tandem
Computers Inc. According to the agreement, BFL will develop
software both on-site and offshore for Tandem customers worldwide.

Tandem could also engage BFL's services for the development of
software at the latter's export-oriented unit (EOU) at the Bangalore
software technology park for execution of global contracts. BFL's
EOU at Bangalore is being set up at an estimated cost of Rs 6 crore
(around $2 million). To part finance the project, the company has
recently entered the capital market with a public issue of shares
aggregating Rs 4.5 crore (around $1.5 million).

Tandem Computers is claimed to be a major player (annual turnover
$2.5 billion) of financial services software development and
fault-tolerant systems for mission-critical operations.

The present alliance, claimed to be "Tandem's first of its kind in
India" will help the Indian firm cater to the needs of Tandem's
clientele in the US as well as in the South East Asian region. In
India, Tandem's systems are sold by Wipro Infotech.

With the view to making the arrangement fruitful, Tandem has agreed
to offer to BFL all required hardware at 50 percent of its US market
value. The required Tandem software will be supplied free of charge.
In fact, BFL has already placed a Rs 30 lakh (around $100,000)
purchase order for Tandem's CLX series hardware.

(C.T. Mahabharat/19930714)


(NEWS)(IBM)(BOS)(00023)

NEC Rolls Out PC Servers, Some For Deskside Use 07/14/93
BOXBOROUGH, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1993 JUL 14 (NB) -- NEC has
rolled out a series of PC servers that includes a family of 486-
and Pentium-based machines specifically designed for deskside
use of graphics-intensive applications.

The new Express/II Series, NEC's second generation of servers,
encompasses the ST Family of 486- and single Pentium processor-
based deskside servers, along with the LT Family of single and dual
Pentium processor-based network servers.

All of the deskside servers in the ST Family offer CPUs (central
processing units) with 256 kilobyte (KB) write-back secondary cache
and 64-bit memory data path, features aimed at optimizing system
performance on large applications.

The Pentium model, the Express/II P60ST, is billed as a native 64-
bit system, and also as the first server to incorporate PCI local
bus architecture. The server comes standard with 16 megabytes
(MB) of memory, expandable to 192MB.

The two deskside models with i486 processors, the Express/II
433ST and 466ST, come standard with 8MB of memory, expandable
to 192 MB. The 433ST provides an i486DX processor running at 33
megahertz (MHz), along with six available EISA (Extended Industry
Standard Architecture) bus-master slots. The 466ST supplies an
i486DX2 processor running at 33/66 MHz, plus seven available I/O
(input/output) slots.

The Pentium-based P60ST comes with five EISA bus-master slots,
one PCI slot, and one shared slot that can be used for either ISA
(Industry Standard Architecture) bus-mastering or PCI.

Each deskside server incorporates a choice of 540MB and 1.37
gigabyte (GB) SCSI-2 (Small Computer Systems Interface-2)
drive, and a flexible drive bay design that allows for installation
of up to nine devices. SCSI-2 enhances multitasking by doubling
the data transfer rate of earlier SCSI implementations, officials
noted in making the announcement.

A drive array controller, for increasing I/O performance and data
integrity, is available as an option. The controller supports RAID
(redundant array of inexpensive disks) levels 0, 1, 3 and 5 and up
to 64MB of disk cache.

The Express/II LT Family of network servers is intended for use by
medium-sized and large organizations as a high-end file server or
midrange application server. The family includes two single
Pentium processor-based systems - the P601LT running at 60 MHz,
and the P661LT running at 66 MHz - and one dual Pentium processor-
based system, the P662LT, operating at 66 MHz.

The LT servers offer an EISA architecture that has been optimized
for Pentium, according to officials. A 16KB superscaler write-
back cache (8KB data, 8KB instruction) is complemented by a large
secondary cache and a 64-bit memory path for high CPU performance.

Secondary cache is 256KB in the single-processor models and 512KB
in the P662LT. With an optional memory expansion card, system RAM
can be expanded to 384MB of parity memory or 256MB of ECC memory.

Models in the LT Family comes standard with an integrated dual
channel, a fast SCSI-2 controller that supports up to 14 SCSI
devices, eight available Fast-EISA bus master slots, eleven drive
bays, a 384 watt power supply, and a pre-installed NEC MultiSpin
CD-ROM reader for easing installation of operating systems
distributed on CD-ROM.

The models offer a choice of 540MB or 1.37GB SCSI-2 drives.
Eight of the available drive bays provide a distributed cable
design, and are organized for easy installation and serviceability
of a hard disk drive array. An optional drive array controller
supports RAID levels 0, 1, 3 and 5 and up to 64MB of disk cache.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19930714/Press contact:  Geoff Spillane or
Stephanie Allman, Golin/Harris for NEC, tel [phone] or
508-264-8835)


(NEWS)(IBM)(DEN)(00024)

Vendors Accept JPEG Format For Windows Images/Sound 07/14/93
REDMOND, WASHINGTON, U.S.A., 1993 JUL 14 (NB) -- Twenty multimedia
software and hardware vendors have agreed to standardize on a common
Joint Photographic Expert Group (JPEG) file format for bit-mapped
images and compressed video data under Microsoft Windows.

The agreement will allow users to select from a variety of products
that use JPEG compression technology to lower the storage space
requirements for color still-images and improve the quality and
performance of full-motion video.

Microsoft says JPEG still-image files will be supported under
Microsoft Windows as device independent bitmap (DIB) files, and JPEG
video files will be supported under Video for Windows as audio/video
interleaved (AVI) files.

Microsoft says a standard DIB extension is one in which the data
format is clearly defined so that any codec which claims to
understand the standard will be able to process the image data
correctly. In addition, the image data created by any codec must be
readable by any other codec. In other words, it must conform to the
standard. The standards are extensions to the DIB format defined by
Windows 3.0.

Vendors who have endorsed the JPEG standard include AMDRIX
Software, C-Cube Microsystems, Cirus Logic, Creative Labs, Dolch
Computer Systems. Fluent Inc., Intel, LSI Logic Corp., Microsoft,
Motorola, New Media Graphics, Optibase, SuperMac, Telephoto,
Texas Instruments, Truevision, U-Lead Systems, Videologic, Xing
Technology, and Zoran.

Interested developers can obtain the JPEG file format by calling
Microsoft's PhoneFAX server, or by downloading it from the Windows
Extension forum (GO WINEXT) on Compuserve. The file to download on
Compuserve is JPEG.ZIP

(Jim Mallory/19930714/Press contact: Microsoft, 206-882-8080;
Reader contact: Microsoft PhoneFAX server, 206-635-2222)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(DEN)(00025)

Microsoft To Host Usability Professionals' Conference 07/14/93
REDMOND, WASHINGTON, U.S.A., 1993 JUL 14 (NB) -- Microsoft
will host the second annual Usability Professionals' Association
(UPA) conference on its Redmond, Washington, campus July 21-23,
1993.

The company says the conference is designed to promote the
usability movement as a means to benefit consumers. Usability
professionals from a broad range of industries will discuss the
direction of trends in usability and practical applications to their
individual disciplines.

In addition to host Microsoft, support will be provided from Lotus
Development, Apple Computer, Hewlett-Packard, American Airlines,
WordPerfect, Sunsoft Inc., National Information Technology of
Maryland, and IDS, an American Express company.

Microsoft Senior VP of Desktop Applications Pete Higgins says
making products work the way users expect them to requires a
focus on usability issues throughout the development process.

The theme of this year's conference is "Usability Makes the
Difference." The first annual conference was held in Orem, Utah.
Microsoft says this year's affair will be bigger and will sharpen
the focus on professional development. About 250 usability
professionals are expected to attend, representing such industries
as hardware, publishing, research, software development, travel,
and financial services.

American Airlines' Janice James says the conference is an
opportunity to increase usability professionals' knowledge and
expand their insights into effective methods of working usability
in the products used by customers.

This year's event will feature two concurrent tracks. Topics include:
"What Is a Usability Professional;" "Engineering Usability Into the
Lab Design;" "Organizational Issues;" " Usability Lab Tools;" and
"The Developer's View." Speakers include Jakob Nielson of Bellcore;
Thomas Grubb from PC world magazine; Mary Dieli of Microsoft; Judy
Ramey from the University of Washington; and Hewlett-Packard's
Amanda Prail.

James, with Jeff Schueler of Usability Sciences, formed the UPA in
1991 in order to provide a means for usability professionals to
share information and exchange ideas about methods and
methodologies, tools and technology, skills and skill development,
and organizational issues that may impact the success of usability
testing.

(Jim Mallory/19930714/Press contact: Erin Carney, Microsoft
Corporation, 206-882-8080)


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

Exabyte 2Qtr Income, Earnings Down Significantly 07/14/93
BOULDER, COLORADO, U.S.A., 1993 JUL 14 (NB) -- Exabyte has
announced its second quarter financial results, with net income
reported at $1.61 million, or $0.08 per share.

Net income for the same period last year was $11.66 million, or
$0.54 per share. Revenues for this year's second quarter were
reported at $75.7 million compared to $76.6 million for the
same period last year.

The company also said its net income for the six month period
ending July 3, 1993, was $7.62 million, or $0.36 per share compared
to $23.42 million, or $1.08 per share, for the comparable 1992 period.
Revenues for the six month period were $151.969 million compared
to $152,744 million for the equivalent period last year.

Using a word that is becoming heard more frequently in connection
with financial results, Exabyte Chairman Peter Behrendt said the
company is "disappointed" with the results. "We are clearly
disappointed with the results of the second quarter and are
escalating our efforts to both reduce costs and optimize the
revenue and margin opportunities for the coming quarters," he said.

Behrendt said the results were due in part to weakness of the dollar
relative to the yen and the resulting adverse impact on the
significant Japanese material content of the company's eight
millimeter (mm) tape drives. To counteract that, Behrendt said that,
beginning this month, all full-height 8mm drive production will be
returned to the US.

Behrendt said the cost of new technology is also a factor in the
quarter's results, with the company heavily involved in research and
development activities in the 4mm and quarter-inch drive areas.
"Product costs are still very early in the learning curve, and
marketing and administrative costs are being incurred without
substantial amounts of revenue yet realized from these new lines."

Behrendt says the 4mm business ramped up significantly in the
second quarter and a third quarter backlog indicates a probability
that trend will continue.

Behrendt said the company will attempt to further cut production
costs by moving its 4mm production to Malaysia later this year.

Exabyte recently acquired Tallgrass Industries, and Behrendt said
the company is concentrating its distribution efforts through the
former Tallgrass sales force, focusing sales efforts on the OEM
(original equipment manufacturer) and value-added reseller (VAR)
channels.

(Jim Mallory/19930714/Press contact: Exabyte Corporation,
303-447-7800)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LAX)(00027)

AST To Post Loss - Tandy Purchase Blamed 07/14/93
IRVINE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 JUL 14 (NB) -- AST has announced
that, not only is its acquisition of Tandy's personal computer (PC)
manufacturing operations complete, but that the acquisition is going
to put the company in the red for its 1993 fiscal year. Part of
AST's strategy is to obtain access to the personal digital assistant
(PDA) technology that Tandy and Casio have already announced.

The company has purchased Tandy's PC manufacturing operations
as well as the Grid North American and European pen-based
computing sales divisions, excluding Tandy/Grid France. The
operations were purchased for $15 million in cash, with the balance
not expected to exceed $160 million, to be paid with a three-year
promissory note. The final purchase price will be determined based
upon an audit, AST added.

Safi Qureshey, AST president and chief executive officer, said
in a prepared statement: "The acquired production capabilities,
product technologies, and marketing and sales organizations
represent important enhancements to AST's growth strategy. In
addition, we are pleased to combine the many talents and
resources of the Tandy and Grid employees with those of the AST
team and become a valued supplier of PC products to the Tandy
retail operations."

AST will double its manufacturing capability with the acquisition
of the four Tandy manufacturing facilities - including three in Fort
Worth, Texas, and one in East Kilbride, Scotland.

The deal is going to cost AST, however, as the company has
reported the purchase and an accompanying restructuring charge
will mean taking a pre-tax charge of up to $125 million, which will
be reflected in the company's fourth fiscal quarter which ended
July 3, 1993. This charge is expected to cause a loss in AST's fourth
quarter, as well as a loss for the overall 1993 fiscal year.

Plans are to combine and restructure AST's manufacturing,
marketing, engineering, distribution, sales, and service operations.
It restructuring charge also covers inventory adjustments to reflect
the realignment of product lines, as well as estimated charges to
integrate management information systems.

The arrangement also includes: a three-year supply agreement
with Tandy to provide personal computers to Tandy's Radio
Shack, Computer City, and Incredible Universe retail operations;
assumption by AST of two research and development groups, relating
to Tandy's pen-based and multimedia PC technologies, and more than
110 computer patents; the assumption of Grid's sales operations and
all product trademarks including the Grid and Victor brand names;
and the assumption of the employment of about 2,200 former
Tandy/Grid employees worldwide.

Of the 130 former Tandy/GRiD engineers joining AST's development
organization, approximately one-half will focus on pen-based and
portable technologies, while the balance will concentrate on
multimedia and other desktop technologies. Grid is Tandy's
pen-based computer.

Newsbytes asked if AST is planning a personal digital assistant
(PDA) device and while no specific product announcements have
been made, company representatives said users can expect such
an announcement. AST has access to the Zoomer technology as
well as the Grid technology. Tandy and Casio have teamed up to
offer the Zoomer PDA, a pen-based, hand-held IBM PC-compatible
unit that is expected to be available to consumers for around
$700 beginning this fall.

Tandy keeps its trademarks, such as "Tandy," "Sensation!" and
"WinMate," and plans to continue to sell computers manufactured
to its specifications with its brand name on the units, Tandy
officials told Newsbytes. AST will also continue to market its
PCs under the Premmia, Bravo, Manhattan SMP, Premium SE,
PowerExec and Advantage! brands, adding the Grid and European
Victor product lines.

AST was first ranked in the Fortune 500 for the year 1991,
taking the 431 slot. In 1992, the company moved up to be number
367 in the list of America's largest industrial companies
based on sales. Revenue for 1992 was reported at $944.1 million
and for the first three quarters of 1993 the company reported
$1.003 billion. Represented in 100 countries, Irvine,
California-headquartered AST operates 41 international
subsidiaries and sales offices worldwide.

(Linda Rohrbough/19930714/Press Contact: Emory Epperson,
AST Research, tel [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(LON)(00028)

UK - US Robotics Offers V.Fast Upgrade Voucher 07/14/93
SLOUGH, BERKSHIRE, ENGLAND, 1993 JUL 14 (NB) -- US Robotics
seems to be getting fed up with waiting for the CCITT, the
international telecoms regulatory committee, to formally ratify
the V.Fast modem standard. For this reason, it has announced its
intention to offer a UKP99 upgrade voucher to buyers of its
existing high-speed modems.

The V.Fast standard, which has been under discussion by the CCITT
for almost two years, pushes the modem transmission rate from the
current 14,400 bits per second (bps) speed to 28,800 bps, using a
special sampling system.

Newsbytes notes that this 28,800 bps data speed, though subject to
good telephone line conditions, is quoted without data compression,
so, with the V.42Bis data compression system enabled, effective
data transfers of 50,000 bps and more are possible.

This perhaps explains why US Robotics is issuing its vouchers to new
buyers of its high speed modems. There is evidence to suggest that
major companies are delaying the purchase of new modems until the
CCITT agrees on the standard (an agreement is expected before the
end of the year).

From now until the end of September, anyone buying a Courier V.32Bis
or HST Dual Standard modem will be able to buy a voucher through his
or her dealer for UKP99 that will allow an upgrade to the V.Fast
standard once it is fully ratified by the CCITT.

Announcing the voucher scheme, Clive Hudson, US Robotics' sales and
marketing director, said that the Courier high speed modems can be
upgraded using a simple daughterboard swap approach. "All the
customer has to do is to complete the warranty card and they are
registered on the program. Then, when they are ready to upgrade,
they simply send the modem back to us and we will carry out the
board change within 24 hours," he said.

Hudson wants US Robotics to be seen as a leading light in the V.Fast
modem saga. "Other manufacturers have adopted a wait-and-see
approach to V.Fast. We felt it was better to offer a high speed
product here and now with a V.Fast upgrade option," he said.
"Customers who urgently need something beefier than V.32Bis are
opting for modems with our new HST 16.8 Kbps protocol with a view
to upgrading next year."

(Steve Gold/19930714/Press & Public Contact: US Robotics -
Tel: [phone])


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

IBM & Stac In Int'l Marketing Deal For Stacker 07/14/93
PORTSMOUTH, HAMPSHIRE, ENGLAND, 1993 JUL 14 (NB) -- IBM Personal
Software Products (PSP) Europe and Stac Electronics have signed a
joint marketing agreement, terms of which will allow Big Blue to
market Stacker for OS/2 and DOS in Europe, the Middle East and
Africa.

As part of the agreement, IBM will be free to bundle Stacker with
its OS/2 2.1 operating system and market the product alongside
Stac Electronics.

The agreement, though logical for both companies, will clearly
benefit Stac, which is currently embroiled in litigation against
Microsoft, which (according to Stac) infringed on its patents with
the data compression facilities in MS-DOS 6.0.

For IBM, Dave McAughtry, the director IBM PSP Europe, said he is
excited at the prospect of bundling Stacker with OS/2 2.1. "The
power of OS/2. and its ability to run DOS, Windows, and OS/2
applications has made it a huge success, but some customers have
been inhibited from fully exploiting OS/2 because of inadequate hard
disk space on their existing hardware. The inclusion of Stacker will
enable us to reach a much wider user base with the power but not
the hard disk space to run OS/2 efficiently," he said.

As reported by Newsbytes previously, Stacker for OS/2 and DOS,
which shipped earlier this month, automatically and transparently
doubles the storage capacity of systems running OS/2 2.0 or later,
and DOS 5.0 or later. Users can now compress OS/2, Windows, and
DOS files.

Chris Mossing, European General Manager for Stac Electronics, said
that Stacker for OS/2 and DOS is a means of making OS/2 accessible
to more users. "On a 100 megabyte (MB) OS/2 boot drive, OS/2 and a
typical collection of applications including word processor,
spreadsheet, graphics and database, will occupy 76MB of space,
leaving just 24MB free. Add Stacker for OS/2 and DOS to the system
and the amount of free space grows to 122MB," he said.

Like its sister package for Windows and DOS, Stacker for OS/2 and
DOS is based on Stac's patented LZS compression technology. IBM and
Stacker claim that the system is 100 percent-compatible with OS/2,
its applications and hard disk file allocation tables. The package
retails for UKP139 in the UK.

(Steve Gold/19930714/Press & Public Contact: Sally Llewelyn-Davies
of IBM - Tel: [phone]; Nick Spencer of Stac Electronics - Tel:
0344-873445)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(LON)(00030)

UK - Olivetti Intros "Cost-Effective" Bubblejet Printer 07/14/93
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1993 JUL 14 (NB) -- Olivetti has added the JP250
to its family of bubblejet printers. Designed as a personal printer
for text and graphics, the printer features, what Olivetti claims is,
a revolutionary print cartridge that reduces printing costs by as
much as 40 percent.

According to Olivetti, this makes the UKP249 unit one of the most
competitive inkjets available on the market today and more cost-
effective than laser printing.

The revolutionary aspect of the print cartridge is its "clean hands"
replaceable ink barrel, which the company claims can be changed as
many as seven or eight times before the print head has to be renewed.

The printer has a specification of 300 dots-per-inch (dpi) and
speeds of up to three pages-per-minute. Users can choose between
two print quality modes: 180 characters-per-second (cps) for
drafting text or graphics, or 120 cps for letter quality (LQ) print.
The printer comes with 13 bit-mapped and 25 scaleable fonts as
standard.

Mark McEvoy, Olivetti's printer product manager, says he believes
that the arrival of the JP250 will help the company maintain its
position at the vanguard of inkjet technology. He claims it will
build on the success of its sister products, such as the JP150 and
350s, plus the Color 8000, the company's combined color printer
and plotter device. "More and more customers are choosing to buy
inkjets, as they recognize the competitive price/performance edge
they have over other printer technologies."

According to McEvoy, inkjets can now offer the quality of a laser
printer at the price of a dot matrix. "And they are quieter and more
environmentally friendly than both," he said. "Olivetti's development
of the JP250 eliminates the last remaining drawback to inkjet
printing - the cost of printing per page - because the JP250 is not
only inexpensive to buy, but also to run."

(Steve Gold/19930714/Press & Public Contact: Olivetti UK -
Tel: [phone]; Fax: [phone])