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/1994/jan_feb_94/nb011094

Text File | 1994-01-11 | 68.4 KB | 1,518 lines

(NEWS)(IBM)(DEN)(00001)

New For PC-Microsoft Excel 5.0 Ready To Ship 01/10/94
REDMOND, WASHINGTON, U.S.A., 1994 JAN 10 (NB) -- Microsoft
Corporation has announced that version 5.0 of its popular
spreadsheet Excel for Windows is beginning to ship.

Microsoft spokesperson Jannette Gilbert told Newsbytes THAT Excel
went to manufacturing in mid-December 1993 and is now beginning to
ship. Production quantity shipments are expected within a week. The
first 500,000 of the record quantities being built are scheduled to
go to buyers of Microsoft Office 4.0, which shipped with a no-cost
automatic upgrade for the next versions of Excel and the
presentation graphics program Microsoft Powerpoint. Powerpoint 4.0
is scheduled to ship in the near future.

Office is a software suite that includes word processing,
spreadsheet, presentation graphics as well as a workstation license
for Microsoft Mail. The Pro Edition of Office also includes
Microsoft Access, a relational database application. Intellisense, a
Microsoft technology that tries to anticipate what the user wants to
do, is included in Excel 5.0. There is also a feature called
Autofilter which helps the user browse a database, eliminating some
of the steps formerly required. Microsoft Excel 5.0 for Windows
includes the Visual Basic programming system and Applications
Edition, a tool used for building custom applications in Microsoft
Office.

Microsoft says that Excel extensively uses ad-hoc analysis to help
the user access, analyze and share data, and Pivottable provides
dynamic views of data for multidimensional analysis and drag and
drop viewing of worksheet or external data directly within the
spreadsheet. Microsoft Query provides access to external data
sources from within Office applications, and the Workgroup Toolbar
provides point and click performance of various workgroup tasks such
as routing a spreadsheet to multiple users.

Sold standalone, Microsoft Excel 5.0 for Windows has a suggested
retail price of $495. Current Excel users can upgrade for $99 until
March 1, 1994. If you bought your copy of Excel after September 15,
1993 you are eligible for a free upgrade, and users of Lotus 1-2-3
and Borland's Quattro Pro can switch to Excel for $129.

(Jim Mallory/19940110/Press contact: Microsoft Public Relations,
206-882-8080; Reader contact: Microsoft Corporation, 206-882-8080 or
800-426-9400)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(LON)(00002)

Cellnet Predicts 1994 Will Be Year Of Change In Mobile Mkt 01/10/94
SLOUGH, BERKSHIRE, ENGLAND, 1994 01/10/94 -- Cellnet, one of the two
UK analog cellular phone network operators, has predicted that 1994
will be a period of great change in the UK cellular phone industry,
with increasing competition fragmenting the market.

The competition, of course, will come from Hutchison's Microtel as
well as the gradually expanding Mercury One-2-One, but Cellnet's
managing director, Bob Warner, said that Cellnet's main ambition for
'94 is to see off the new competition and address new markets
without confusing customers with complex tariffs.

"I think we've actually complicated life for the end user. For some
of the end users we need to simplify tariff arrangements," he said.

Warner's comments come as Cellnet has revealed it has 906,000
subscribers as at the end of 1993 out of the almost two million
total cellular subscriber base in the UK. Although still lagging
second behind Vodafone's 1.05 million, Cellnet executives are happy
with their 50 percent subscriber base growth in 1993, which compares
well, they claim, to Vodafone's 32 percent growth in subscribers
during the year.

Warner said that he sees two new entrants to the market in 1994 as
posing the greatest threat outside of Vodafone -- DCS-1800 (Microtel
and One-2-One) and the Global Systems for Mobile Communications
(GSM). Interestingly, he says that inter-network roaming agreements
will be the lynch-pin in persuading potential customers to sign with
Vodafone GSM over Cellnet's offerings in the digital mobile market.

Extrapolating Cellnet and Vodafone's sales growth in 1993 out shows
that mobile phone sales rocketed by more than 230 percent over the
year, placing cellular phones firmly into the mainstream market, as
opposed to an "executive toy" that many still view cellular phones
as.

Vodafone and Cellnet sold a total of 560,000 mobiles last year, a
figure that compares well with the 167,000 sold in 1992. Sources in
the cellular phone retail channel in the UK suggest that the 1993
figure has topped the 600,000 mark, thanks to the late arrival of
One-2-One to market.

December's figures, thanks to an impressive marketing campaign from
all the mobile players in the UK cellular marketplace, pushed the
figures towards the magic 600,000 mark. Cellnet sold 120,000 new
mobiles in December, while One-2-One -- which suffered a hardware
shortage in the pre-Christmas period -- estimates its December sales
at between 10,000 and 20,000.

The figures that matter from Cellnet are, of course, the net signups
to the network, taking into account subscribers leaving the network
for one reason or another. Cellnet's net December figures were an
extra 68,700 mobiles added to the network, a figure that puts
Vodafone's December net signup figure of 52,500 into the shade.

(Steve Gold/19940110/Press & Public Contact: Cellnet - Tel: +44-753-
504000; Vodafone - Tel: [phone])


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(LON)(00003)

China Links ATMs To International Nets In Anti-Fraud Drive 01/10/94
SHANGHAI, CHINA, 1994 JAN 10 (NB) -- A new network has been launched
in Shanghai to make it easier to use credit cards. The system will
allow major credit cards to be used at any automated teller machine
(ATM) or electronic funds transfer at point of sale (EFTPOS)
terminal in the city.

Currently, only Chinese cards were acceptable on online systems,
owing to very limited computerised connections. Now most Visa and
Mastercard cards can be used, with guarantees against fraud
problems.

Spearheaded by the Shanghai branch of the People's Bank of China
(PBOC), a total of 13 partners, including local banks and the
Municipal Posts and Telecommunications Administration, have jointly
funded the Shanghai Credit Card Network Company which is setting the
system up.

Wang Huaqing, vice president of PBOC Shanghai, said that the
company's network will be fully operational by the early part of
1995. "The company is intended to shift the development of the local
credit card industry into high gear," he said.

Newsbytes notes that, since the Shanghai branch of the Bank of China
took the lead in issuing the Great Wall credit card back in 1986,
local branches of three other specialised banks and the Shanghai-
headquartered Bank of Communications have followed suit, releasing
Peony, Mastercard, Visa, Golden Spike and Pacific cards.

Since each bank has negotiated its own arrangement with businesses
and installed ATMs and point-of-sale (POS) machines for their own
cards, credit cards sometimes brings trouble rather than the
convenience promised by the promoters.

(Steve Gold/19940110)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(LON)(00004)

Polish Police Unveil Secret Crime Busting System 01/10/94
WARSAW, POLAND, 1994 JAN 10 (NB) -- January 1 saw a new "top secret"
structure being introduced in the Polish police force with the
express aim of combating the problem of organised crime.

Central to the organization of this new squad, Newsbytes
understands, is the installation of new computers at stations across
Poland. These computers will be used to share information on all
aspects of crime fighting, as well as information on criminals and
their activities, between members of the squad.

The secret structure is meant to protect the police against
alleged corruption within the force, as well as ensure that
criminals are "kept guessing" as to the next move by the squad.

Under the scheme, more than 300 police at all levels in the Polish
police force have been recruited to pursue Polish and international
crime rings, dealing, amongst many other things, with drug
smuggling, the arms trade, forgeries and large scale economic fraud.

(Sylvia Dennis/19940110)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(DEL)(00005)

Indian Software Elite Get Together For NASSCOM '93 01/10/94
NEW DELHI, INDIA, 1994 JAN 10 (NB) -- Cricket with teams from around
the globe, golf and visits to the Taj Mahal and Katmandu are hardly
the events that the casual reader would associate with the Indian
software industry, but the four day National Association of Software
Service and Companies (NASCOM) held last week in the Indian capital
mixed a lot of business with pleasure.

The four day event, held in conjunction with the General Assembly
and Symposium of Asian Oceanic Computing Industry Organisation
(ASOCIO), found its focus on "Information Technology strategies of
end users" getting rather diluted, thanks to the efforts to make the
event a business hub.

With seminars with titles such as "Birds of the Same Feather" and a
series of country activity reports, speakers held forth on their
business cases. The net result of this was that most buyers'
concerns took a back seat at the event.

While Newsbytes notes that this tack might facilitate alliances
between the various vendors, end-users scarcely got a look in at the
event's glitz and glamor. And, while various predictions and
challenges were put in perspective by a few keynote speakers, the
age-old stories of visa problems and (lack of) telecoms
infrastructure were also narrated.

The show's keynote address by Vinod Khosla, the co-founder of Sun
Microsystems, was the main attraction. Other high-profile
discussions were made by Umang Gupta of Gupta Corporation and Kanwal
Rekhi, executive vice president and a director of Novell Data
Systems.

When the projector did not work during Novell's seminar, Bill Gates
became the butt end of the jokes. But the only unique aspect of this
attempt to take down the software champion a notch or two was that
it was made in lighter vein. Blame your opponent for whatever is
wrong with the software industry, seems to have become a standard
technique in the marketplace.

While all this banter between speakers and delegates was going on,
most of the exhibitors realised that it was no longer possible to
monopolize software markets any more, requiring the astute players
to pitch hard for the niche end of the market.

Even though they are positive that Unix will dominate the server
marketplace for some time to come, both Novell and SCO have had to
accept that Microsoft Windows will continue to lead the desktop PC
marketplace for years to come.

"We can not control the sea. So, our future strategy on desktops is
Windows-friendly," explained Bernard Hulme, vice president of field
operations with the Santa Cruz Operation (SCO).

The common underlying message at the event was the growing need to
integrate Windows and Unix in terms of a common computing
environment, not forgetting that there is also a real need for true
open system technology.

"The aim is not to make everything vanilla, but to maintain
diversity and still be able to co-exist,'' explained Royden Disen,
director of international operations with Novell.

The confusing jargon surrounding "sizing" (downsizing, rightsizing
and even "capsizing") was cut down to "downcosting," according to
one speaker. Even though the trend towards downcosting in all its
variants explained a lot which has happened in the computer industry
this past few years, it still does not explain how IBM and Microsoft
are continuing to do well in the Indian marketplace.

The real recipe for success in the computer industry did not go
unnoticed at the show, Newsbytes notes. Volume production of
microprocessors, a standard architecture with multiple suppliers and
good price/performance ratios emerged as the key success factors in
any computer system, delegates agreed.

With NASSCOM '93 being held in the wake of the Manufacturers'
Association for IT Asia '93 and the Computer Society of India (CSI)
'93, no-one was expecting that many new product launches at the
event. As a result, there were few crowd-stealers at the 30,000
square foot show.

Against this backdrop then, it came as no surprise to find that all
the old tricks seen in the US computer industry were being used by
their Indian counterparts in a bid to bring in the crowds. Silicon
Graphics used ice creams, while Tata Information Systems Limited
(TISL) used trendy paper bags, to lure in the masses.

Nor is multimedia a major crown puller any more, Newsbytes notes.
The only multimedia products that attracted visitors were ethnic
clip art and a CD-ROM (compact disc read only memory) travelogue
from a local company, Macro Graphics.

In many ways, what was new at the show was not hot, while what was
hot was old. Virtually every announcement made at the show involved
a small incremental improvement in some existing product or another.
Virtual Designer from Godrej & Boyce Manufacturing Limited showed
off the drafting capabilities of a Windows version of its popular
Unix-based GCAD package.

Several companies primarily known for their software consultancy and
projects were also in abundance at NASSCOMM '93, though Newsbytes
notes that many of them have translated their consultancy expertise
into shrink-wrapped software.

These companies included: Siemens with its SICAD (Geographical
Information System); and Sigraph Design with its Relational Geometry
based mechanical CAD (computer aided design) software,
Telecommunications Management Software) and DIR-X (X.500 directory
services) packages.

K&P Information Technology Pvt. Limited, meanwhile, also used its
expertise in developing engineering software to reveal Quick
Parametrix for AutoCAD users and Pharmasyst for pharmaceutical
industry.

With networking fast becoming standard on most company's PC shopping
lists, electronic mail made a serious appearance at the show.
Products from CMC, Business India Information Technology Limited,
and VSNL attracted a lot of attention.

CMC unveiled Meghdoot.400 for individual and corporate users. The
package allows messages to be exchange between disparate e-mail
systems, such as AT&T Mail, MCI Mail, Gold 400, Telebox, Telecom
Plus, TEDE.400, ARCOM.400 and Emnet.

Price wars between Lotus and Microsoft provided an interesting twist
to the show. Although Microsoft is a major player in the US and
Europe, this was the first NASSCOM that the company that Bill Gates
built had attended. As a result, Microsoft tried to leverage its way
into the show's limelight by slashing the price of Microsoft Office
down to Rs 18,995.

The result was predictable, with ITC offering Lotus' Smartsuite for
Rs 19,000, around Rs 11,000 off its official price in India.

(C T Mahabharat/19940110)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(WAS)(00006)

Eclectic PSU Database Available On Internet 01/10/94
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1994 JAN 10 (NB) -- So you think that
farmers and land-grant agricultural colleges are stuck solidly in
the 19th century? Well, Penn State University in rural Central
Pennsylvania may change your mind with its online database
accessible to anyone with an Internet link.

According to Penn State Uni., PSUPEN is a full-text database packed
full of easy-to-find articles. And, despite the intimidating "This
system is for AUTHORIZED use only" message which PSUPEN displays at
initiation, it is actually an open system with help to get you
logged in and more help in finding what you want.

PSUPEN is accessible to direct users of the Internet by "telnet-
ting" a data channel to psupen.psu.edu.

The service used to be open to anyone knowing the "PNOTPA" password,
but while that account is no longer active, the caller is
immediately given simple logon directions which include picking as a
password the postal abbreviation for your location (e.g. OH for
Ohio) or just "WORLD" for everyone outside the United States.

Newsbytes notes that most users of the service should go directly to
the PENpages provided by the College of Agricultural Sciences, The
Pennsylvania State University.

Locating a topic of interest is simple using a keyword search. For
instance, searching for the herb ginseng brought these topics: GILT,
GINKO, GINSENG, GIRL-SCOUTS, GIRLS-CLUBS-OF-AMERICA, GIRLS-
INCORPORATED, GLADIOLI, GLADIOLUS, and GLASS.

As a matter of interest for Newsbytes readers, the GINSENG article
turned out to be a 21-page August, 1993 paper titled "Herbs: Use and
Abuse" which contains an extensive listing of popular herbal
remedies along with supposed uses and any known dangers.

This article is from the New York Hospital-Cornell Medical
Center Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and is listed as
part of A Nutrition Information Service for the Medical Profession.

Moving on to other topics, if one searches on "dog" one gets the
following selection: DNA, DOCKING, DOG, DOG-TRAINING, DOGWOOD,
DOLLAR-SPOT, DOMESTIC-POLICY, DOSTER-HOWARD, and DOUBLE-CROP.
Newsbytes notes that there were dozens of hits on "DOG," some
available online and others available by mail for free.

Of course that just scratches the surface of the Penn State database
but it does offer a reminder that the University is more than just
the place where Joe Paterno coaches football.

Newsbytes notes that, coming within days of MCI's announcement of a
major move to open up the information highway, it is good to
consider just what sort of information is out there on the net.

(John McCormick/19940110)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(WAS)(00007)

ComNet'94 To Feature Andrew Grove In Keynote Speech 01/10/94
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1994 JAN 10 (NB) -- With a different keynote
speaker for each conference day, ComNet '94, scheduled for January
24-27 here in Washington at the Convention Center, will try to cover
the entire world of network technology and communications in a
single conference and exposition.

Sponsored by IDG, this year's conference will, among other topics,
look at the future of ATM (asynchronous transfer mode)
communications and how government agencies will participate in the
Internet.

Internet coverage is new this year for ComNet and will form one of
the nine conference program tracks, along with wireless
communications (the other new addition), enterprise networking, WAN
(wide area network), LAN (local area network), LiveNet Tech, policy
and industry trends, global internetwork management, and something
called desktop 1995.

LiveNet is a real-world model of a corporate global enterprise
network and this is the second year for this feature at ComNet.

More than 250 new products are already scheduled to be introduced at
ComNet'94, and there will be more than 450 total exhibitors at the
exposition portion of ComNet'94.

Dr. John McQuillan, President of McQuillan consulting, will
present the first keynote address on January 25, talking about
"ATM Strategies for Success."

On Wednesday, January 26, Intel's Chairman and CEO Dr. Andrew
Grove will present the day's keynote speech "Free MIPS Meet Free
Bauds."

The final keynote speech on Thursday will be presented by InfoWorld
Publisher and inventor of Ethernet, Dr. Robert M. Metcalf who will
talk about "How LANs, WAN's, Remote, and Mobile Networking Won't
Converge."

(John McCormick/19940110/Press Contact: Rachel Winett, IDG World
Expo, 508-820-8608 or [e-mail], Public Contact: 508-
879-6700 fax [phone])


(NEWS)(APPLE)(SFO)(00008)

Macworld Expo - Hottest Moving Little Printer At Macworld 01/10/94
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994 JAN 10 (NB) -- Citizen
America has brought out a 2.6-pound printer, Citizen Notebook
Printer II, for the PowerBook and Macintosh computer.

Unveiled at Macworld Expo, the printer is capable of black and white
resolution up to 360 x 360 dots per inch (dpi), has a special built-
in color cassette feature, and is compatible with StyleWriter I and
II. Being completely portable, this printer was clearly designed for
the needs of PowerBook and Notebook users, Newsbytes notes.

The Citizen Notebook II comes with a 110/120 AC adapter/charger,
automatic sheet feeder, and a NiCAD battery which prints 30 to
50 text pages is an optional feature.

Surprised by the eager Macintosh crowd, marketing communications
manager Earle Roddy told Newsbytes: "This is our first Macworld
experience and we had no idea that our product would be so well
received. We emphasize portability but not speed."

The print out of the sample color page was striking and attractive.
The time to print a full color page was approximately ten minutes.

The Citizen Notebook II sells for a suggested retail price of $399.
Citizen America is headquartered in Santa Monica, CA.

(Patrick McKenna/19940110/Public Contact: Tel: [phone])


(NEWS)(APPLE)(SFO)(00009)

Macworld Expo - Apple's Software Dispatch Due For Windows 01/10/94
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994 JAN 10 (NB) -- Apple's CD-
ROM (compact disc read only memory) program-delivery system,
Software Dispatch, is in full operation on the Macintosh side and
soon to be available in the Windows version, officials with the
company announced at Macworld Expo.

Michael Looney, marketing manager for Software Dispatch,
demonstrated the free 80-program disk which allows the user to
window-shop for new products by category, name and price, see a
multimedia presentation developed by the developer of the specific
program, sample the program, and order the applications they want.
To purchase a product, the user calls Apple and provides customer
service with a credit card number in exchange for the password to
unlock the encryption code of the chosen program. This also creates
an instantaneous back-up history of the software.

Michael Looney said: "This gives the customer a double back-up
system with the ability to continue to take the chosen program off
the CD and record of sale kept by Apple. Apple will gladly send the
registered user a copy of the program if the first back-up source
was not available."

To prevent software piracy the disc will only release the encryption
codes registered to the Macintosh on which it is first installed.

The Software Dispatch CD includes a QuickTime movie tutorial that
shows the disc's trial and purchasing process. The programs are
varied from $29 utilities to ten-megabyte applications. To receive a
free Software Dispatch CD, call toll-free in the US on 1-800-937-
2828, ext-600)

(Patrick McKenna/19940110/Public Contact: Apple Computer - Tel: 1-
800-776-2333)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(SFO)(00010)

Macworld Expo - Apple Macintosh Display Card 24AC 01/10/94
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994 JAN 10 (NB) -- Apple
Computer has introduced the Macintosh Display Card 24AC, a graphics
card for presentation professionals, desktop publishers, and graphic
artists who need 24-bit color.

The 24AC claims to provides 16.7 million colors and eliminates color
banding and dithering. Ken Fehan of Apple told Newsbytes: "The user
should see copying, scrolling and polygon fills increase in speed by
about ten times."

This card requires Macintosh computers with an available Nubus slot
and it has been designed for the PowerPC microprocessor. The
suggested retail price is $1545. For further information, potential
buyers should call Apple Computer toll-free at 1-800-538-9696.

(Patrick McKenna/19940110)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(DEN)(00011)

 ***Attachmate Acquires Software Company 01/10/94
BELLEVUE, WASHINGTON, U.S.A., 1994 JAN 10 (NB) -- Attachmate, a
company that develops interfaces for client-host applications, has
announced it has acquired KEA Systems Limited. The cost of the
acquisition, which was finalized on December 31, 1993, has not been
disclosed.

KEA, based in Vancouver, British Columbia, employs 45 people and
develops and markets connectivity programs with VT emulation for
DOS, Windows and Windows NT-based systems as well as other
networking products.

The company's flagship products include KEAterm 420 and 340 which
connect Windows and Windows NT-based PCs to Digital Equipment
corporation's VAX computers and to Unix host applications. Zstem 340
and 320 provide a DOS interface with VAX and Unix systems. KEAterm
340 users can switch their menus between English, French and German
text, and critical parts of the users guide are written in all three
languages.

KEA reported 1993 sales of $12.6 million (in Canadian dollars). The
company says international resellers account for about 35 percent of
it's sales. A network of US resellers accounted for about 50 percent
of 1993's revenue, and the remainder came from Canadian customers.

Attachmate's flagship product is Extra!, a 3270 and AS/400 host
access and programming interface. In 1993 the company created
alliance partnerships with Novell, Lotus, Microsoft, and Powersoft.
Attachmate said the current KEA headquarters in Vancouver will
become Attachmate, Canada.

(Jim Mallory/19940110/Press contact: Dennis Sullivan, Attachmate,
206-649-6551)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(LAX)(00012)

Practical Peripherals Cuts PC, Mac Fax/Modem Prices 01/10/94
THOUSAND OAKS, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994 JAN 10 (NB) -- Practical
Peripherals, makers of small, portable modems for mobile computing
applications, has announced it is cutting prices up to $100 on eight
of its high-speed data and fax modem products for PCs and Apple
Macintosh computers.

Practical says it has reduced its PM14400FX PKT pocket modem $100
from $499 to $399. This modem won PC Magazine's "Best Products
1993," PC/Computing's "Best Value" and Byte's "Best Overall Portable
Modem" awards. The Macintosh version has been reduced from $529 to
$429.

The award-winning PM14400FXMT V.32bis, once $299 is now $259. This
modem is capable of speeds of 14400 bit per second (bps) data and
14400 bps fax and was recently honored as "Most Bang for the Buck"
by PC Magazine and "Best Value All-Around Modem" by Byte. For the
Macintosh, the PM14400FXMT/Mac has been cut $20 from $299 to $279.

The other Practical Peripheral modems include: PM14400FX, reduced
from $259 to $229; the PM9600FXMT, cut from $249 to $219; the
PM9600FXMT/Mac, slashed from $269 to $229; and the PM9600FX, dropped
from $229 to $199.

The company claims all the modems feature computer to modem (DTE)
speeds up to 57,600 bps, both Class 1 and Class 2 fax support, V.42
error control, V.42 bis data compression, send/receive fax, come
with data and fax communications software, and are fully compatible
with the industry standard Hayes Standard AT Command Set. They come
with data and fax communications software. The products are also
covered by a lifetime limited warranty.

Newsbytes notes that no general reason for the price reduction has
been given by Practical. However, modem prices have been falling
steadily in the market over the last year, meaning that many more
budget-priced modems have started appearing in ads alongside those
of Practical Peripherals.

(Linda Rohrbough/19940110/Press Contact: Nancy Stokesberry,
Practical Peripherals, tel [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(ATL)(00013)

 ****Winter CES: Commercial Brake Keeps Ads Off Tapes 01/10/94
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, U.S.A., 1994 JAN 10 (NB) -- One of the hot booths
at the Winter CES show was that of Arista Enterprises, which offered
a product called Commercial Brake designed to blank out commercials
from your VCR TV recordings.

According to Michael Harvey of Arista, here's how it works. You
connect the device, which looks a little like a CD player, between
your TV and VCR. As you make tapes, the device looks for, and marks,
black-outs, those 1-2 second intervals of emptiness you see before,
and between, commercials.

"All commercials are bracketed by a fade to black, so affiliates can
insert ads," Harvey explained. And in a standard 2 1/2 minute block,
these blank spaces come thick-and-fast. A station might run a 5-
second ad for its station ID, a 10-second ad hyping its next show,
interspersed with three or four 30-second ads for products, or even
more 15-second ads.

Commercial Brake simply applies a pattern recognition pattern to
detect these signals, and attaches a number, internally, to each
tape made with it. "The VCR records everything," including the
commercials, Harvey explained. The Commercial Brake can memorize
the location of breaks in up to 256 tapes, at which point it
begins over-writing starting at the beginning.

But Arista has found most people record shows simply to "time-shift"
them for later viewing, and don't usually save them. But, if you're
a compulsive, Harvey admitted, it might be your commercials will
"return" after a year of hard wear on the unit.

What happens when you're watching a tape through Commercial Brake is
it detects the point at which a commercial break occurs, fast
forwards through it, and delivers a blank screen to the TV. "Prior
technology tried to recognize commercials on the fly," either
through their louder sound or faster-paced video. Commercial Brake
can be used with any brand of VCR and patents are pending.

Richard Doherty, editor of Envisioneering, a Seaford, New York
newsletter on consumer electronics, computers and communications
retailing at $395 per year, wrote in his January 6 issue that
Commercial Brake is "the first 'killer' app for home video." He
noted that the product was the result of a technology alliance among
Arista, Arthur D. Little Enterprises and inventor Jerry Iggulden.

While it's debuting as a stand-alone device, at a retail price point
of about $200, Little wants to license the technology as a built-in
feature of select VCRs. Doherty asked Iggulden how the unit would
react if ad agencies try to defeat it by putting in more abrupt
breakaways to commercials, or sequencing ads from a single
advertiser so they're seen as a multi-minute block.

Iggulden claimed confidence in the technology, not only in those
cases but in international broadcasts, saying he's tested it at many
Little offices in Europe and Asia. Doherty told his readers he'll
soon test the product on satellite feeds from around the globe.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19940110/Press Contact: Michael Harvey, Arista
Technologies Inc., 516-435-0011; Fax: [phone]; Richard
Doherty, Envisioneering, 516-783-6244; FAX: [phone])


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(BOS)(00014)

Blyth Wins MacUser Awards For Omnis 7.1.2; Names New VP 01/10/94
FOSTER CITY, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994 JAN 10 (NB) -- The latest
edition of Blyth Software's Omnis 7 cross-platform client/server
application development tool has been recognized with major awards
from MacUser and International MacUser magazines.

Blyth has also announced the appointment of Keith Toleman as vice
president of product marketing. Toleman was most recently VP of
marketing for TechGnosis. In this new job with Blyth -- a company
headquartered in Foster City, CA, with offices in the UK -- Toleman
has been assigned overall marketing responsibility for Omnis and
related products.

Omnis 7 Version 2.1 has been granted the 1993 MacUser Eddy Award in
the "Best New Data Management Tool" category, in addition to the
International MacUser Best Product Award in the "High-End Business
Tool" category.

In an article showcasing its award winners, MacUser stated: "Omnis
7 Version 2.1 is the premier development environment for large
organizations looking to build cross-platform mission-critical
applications. With built-in connections to large-scale SQL
(Standard Query Language) databases, the client/server environment
provides a host of well-designed features that help corporate
developers prototype, develop, deploy, and maintain large-scale
applications across multivendor networks."

MacUser International, a magazine based in the UK, said that Omnis
7 is "a fine cross-platform development tool for programmers who
need to deliver workgroup and enterprise applications. The Mac
has not seen its like before."

Toleman, Blyth's new VP, has also worked in product marketing for
Information Builders, Microsoft, and Oracle. "(Toleman's)
expertise in the client/server marketplace will help us not only to
successfully solve customers' current problems, but to anticipate
their future needs," commented Michael J. Minor, president and CEO
of Blyth.

Noted Toleman: "In my opinion, there is no company better
positioned to take a leadership role in client/server computing
than Blyth Software. By combining the only true cross-platform
solution with a full application life-cycle product, Omnis 7
becomes the product to beat."

Blyth's Omnis 7 allows for the development of database applications
that run unchanged across Macintosh and Windows. Version 2.1, a
product unveiled in September, added greater support for Sybase and
Oracle to Version 2, a major upgrade introduced last May.

Version 2 was engineered to provide enhancements across all phases
of the application life-cycle: prototyping, development,
deployment, and maintenance and revision. New capabilities
included localization, a "notation" feature for application
cloning, and the ability to keep unlimited numbers of Omnis
databases, libraries and tables open at one time.

Also new in Version 2 are two add-ons. The Virtual Control
System (VCS) add-on is aimed at letting teams of developers work
collaboratively, sharing and reusing source code libraries stored in
either a central relational database management system (RDBMS) or on
a SQL database server.

The Change Management System (CMS) add-on allows developers to
deploy and update database applications by storing the applications
as series of linked objects, and then downloading the objects to
end-users' Macs and PCs.

Version 2 of Blyth's Omnis 7 supplied direct support for Sybase,
Oracle 5 and 6, SQL Server, and RDB. Version 2.1 added direct
support for Oracle 7, as well as the ability to store code in
Sybase under VCS. Databases that are directly supported can be
accessed by the developer without the use of middleware.

Middleware that can be used with Omnis 7.2.1 includes Data Access
Language (DAL), Technosis' SequeLink, and Information Builders'
EDA/SQL. DAL provides access to Ingres, Informix, and DB2 servers,
as well as to Oracle, SQL Server and RDB. Blyth produces a Windows
version of DAL. An edition of DAL for Macintosh is available from
Apple.

SequeLink provides access to SQL/DS, Ingres, Informix, and DB2, in
addition to Oracle, Sybase and RDB. EDA affords access to
Ingres, DB2 and SQL/DS, plus Oracle, Sybase and RDB.

Also last year, Blyth announced Omnis 7.2 for AS/400, a version of
Omnis that lets users access data running on IBM's AS/400
midrange systems from Mac and Windows client workstations.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19940110/Reader contact: Blyth Software, tel
800-346-6647; Press contact: Phyllis Grabot, Capital Relations for
Blyth, tel [phone])


(NEWS)(APPLE)(DEN)(00015)

Kodak Intros Photo CD Authoring Program 01/10/94
ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1994 JAN 10 (NB) -- Eastman Kodak
Company has introduced computer software for Apple Computer's
Macintosh platform that allows users to create their own interactive
photo presentations, store them on Photo CD disks and play them.

Photo CD is a technology introduced 18 months ago by Kodak that
stores pictures taken with 35 mm cameras on compact disks. The
images can then be viewed on a personal computer or television set
equipped with a Photo CD-compatible CD-ROM drive. Up to 100 images
are placed on the disk by specially equipped photo processing
vendors. There is also a professional version which can store images
from film sizes up to 4 inches by 5 inches.

Three software packages are available for Macintosh computers.
Create-It Photo CD presentation software lets Mac users create
presentations with simple interactive menu choices and has nearly
unlimited options for designing individual frames.

Arrange-It Photo CD Portfolio layout software lets users design more
advanced multimedia programs with sophisticated interactive branched
disk layouts. Users can import images and frame designs from Create-
It or from applications such as Adobe Photoshop software.

Both programs create a script language that lets Kodak's Build-It
Photo CD Portfolio disk production software structure the images,
text, and sound clips on a Photo CD Portfolio disk. Build-It is also
a new Kodak product, announced in December 1993. Kodak says it will
publish the script language and make it available to software
developers at no cost.

Playback of the packages is accomplished through the use of Kodak's
Photo CD Access Plus software, which has a suggested retail price of
$49.95. It is also included with the Create-It and Arrange-It
software packages. Create-It has a suggested retail price of $245,
while Arrange-It is priced at $395. All the products were on display
at Macworld Expo in San Francisco and at the Consumer Electronics
Show in Las Vegas. Both shows closed last week.

The company says that target applications for Photo CD Portfolio
disks include business presentations, informational kiosks, trade
show displays, multimedia titles, and educational programs.

(Jim Mallory/19940110/Press contact: Paul McAfee, Kodak, 716-
724-6404' Reader contact: Eastman Kodak Company, 800-335-
6325/PHOTO)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(ATL)(00016)

 ****Winter CES: The Key, A New Kind of Musical Instrument 01/10/94
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, U.S.A., 1994 JAN 10 (NB) -- Perhaps the most
elegant new consumer product seen at this year's Winter CES show was
The Key, a new kind of electronic musical instrument released by
Lonestar Technologies Ltd.

We found inventor Frank Eventoff, dressed casually and with a
graying ponytail swaying majestically behind him, standing in rapt
attention before a demonstration of his invention, smiling broadly.
After we sat down, he explained that it's based on an invention he
started working on in 1972 called a "force resistor," which he
described as "a membrane keyboard -- the harder you press on it, the
louder you can make a sound.

Or you can use force to act as a position setting, filter sweep,
whatever you want." He used it in a polyphonic saxophone, and in a
Milton Bradley toy from 1982 called the Electronic Orchestra, but
found the technology of the day really couldn't support it. After
starting a company called Interlink Electronics, then selling it, he
began working on what became the Key full-time in 1989 at his new
home in northern Washington state.

The Key looks most like a guitar. There are a series of white
keys along the neck, where the frets are on a normal instrument,
and six "strummer veins" in place of the strings. There are also
a series of 10 buttons on the sides of the instrument, and two
smaller buttons nearer the veins. When played by itself it's
essentially a synthesizer, one which could let a pianist handle
his instrument while standing up like a guitarist.

But that's just the beginning. By feeding The Key with digital
information called "Key Codes" from a videotape, a CD-ROM, or a
ROM pack, even a television, users can play along with their
favorite bands. The Key puts the right notes and chords in the
user's hand so they're always in tune.

At CES, people were brought out of the audience to play along on
some encoded songs, and quickly got into spirit -- one woman we saw
was, after just 30 seconds, doing an impressive Eric Clapton
imitation and sounding just like him.

"We ship in April," Eventoff said. "All the record companies are
releasing their live music so we can key-code it -- that's never
been done before." He compared it to the advanced player pianos
of the 20s, now found at some elegant bars, for which rolls were
recorded by people like George Gershwin. When played, they're not
just delivering Gershwin's notes, but his tonations -- Gershwin
is actually playing.

"My vision is of a universal language," Eventoff continued.
"Everyone can speak through music. We'll be able to do global
simulcasts and have millions of people playing music together around
the globe -- I don't know what that is going to do to the collective
consciousness."

Eventoff himself is looking forward to traveling the world on
behalf of The Key. His daughter, Rain, is now a professional
singer-actress in Los Angeles. He'll also work on three more
products -- a new guitar controller, a woodwind controller, and a
hybrid guitar-piano.

And he'll work up a version for the professional market. He's also
working on something called the "bowing mode," through which
musicians can pull on the veins rather than strum them and get
violin-like sounds.

"I showed it to Robert Smith from the Cure and he's ready to use it
as he saw it," Eventoff said proudly. And after we shook hands, he
went right back into the audience before his booth, watching his
demo with the same dreamy smile we'd found him with.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19940110/Press Contact: Michael Harvey, Arista
Technologies Inc., 516-435-0011; Fax: [phone]; Richard Doherty,
Envisioneering, 516-783-6244; FAX: [phone]/PHOTO)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00017)

Bell Update: More California Layoffs 01/10/94
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994 JAN 10 (NB) -- Both of
California's major telephone networks announced a new round of lay-
offs as Bell Atlantic and US West made major new investment
announcements in Los Angeles.

GTE said it would eliminate 514 jobs in March -- its network covers
Orange County and some other areas. The firm said most of the jobs
to be lost are cable splicers and frame maintainers. With the
continuing recession in California, employees who are mainly working
at opening new service are no longer needed. But increased
competition and new technology were also blamed in a press
statement. Most of the cuts will be straight lay-offs -- the firm
said it had already done all it could through attrition and early
retirement.

Pacific Bell said it will cut 10,000 jobs, 3,000 of them this year,
as it prepares for the spin-off of its cellular operation and los of
its monopoly. PacBell said it will try to use lay-offs and
attrition, but some management lay-offs are expected. Pacific Bell
faces new competition for its in-state long distance business, and
many businesses are expected to move the local portion of their long
distance traffic to cable television companies. Pacific Bell had
61,500 employees at the end of 1989, but that's now down to about
52,000, and will drop to about 42,000 when the present cuts are
final.

Bell Atlantic chairman Raymond Smith and TCI head John Malone set a
press conference for 12 PM Pacific Time. Details were unavailable at
press time, but the two were expected to launch a new educational
initiative, and display examples of distance learning. Bell Atlantic
and TCI are hoping to win approval of their merger and need the
goodwill wiring schools to their networks would bring. The two are
holding their press conference just a day before Vice President Al
Gore arrives to deliver a key address on the government's plans to
change communications laws for the coming information superhighway.

Bell Atlantic is also holding a separate press conference Wednesday,
at which point it's expected to offer details of its agreements with
Oracle. Press reports indicate that Oracle will enter the video
server market and provide pay-per-view movie services to Bell
Atlantic in the Washington, D.C. suburbs, where it hopes to boost
the capacity of its phone lines up to 6 million bits/second by 1995
with Asynchronous Digital Subscriber Line, or ADSL technology. That
would give it the ability to offer pay-per-view movies, and Oracle
would also manage the databases.

Finally, US West said it began construction of its hybrid fiber and
coax network in Omaha, Nebraska and said it would next begin
building the network in Denver, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Portland,
Oregon and Boise, Idaho, spending $750 million over the next two
years.

The hybrid network will run telephone fiber to groups of 400 homes,
at which point signals would transfer to coax, and would offer fiber
phone service to groups of 8 homes, at which point signals would
transfer to twisted pair wires at the equivalent of cable television
taps.

A shielded hybrid of twisted pair and coax would then be offered to
subscribers, with the former going to telephones and related
equipment, the latter to a cable-like set-top converter. The 3DO
company is now working with US West and Scientific Atlanta on the
converter.

(Dana Blankenhorn/01101994/Press Contact: Bell Atlantic, Larry
Plumb, 703-974-3614; Pacific Bell, Dan Theobald, 415-542-4589;
GTE Telephone Operations, Dick Jones, 214-718-6924; US WEST
Communications, Terri Howell, 402/422-3587; Oracle, Jennifer
Keavney, 415/506-4176)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(DEN)(00018)

New for Mac - MasterCook II Recipe Program 01/10/94
AUSTIN, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1994 JAN 10 (NB) -- Want to know how to
determine how much meat you get from five pounds of almonds
in the shell? Or what can substitute for baking powder?

The answers to these and a myriad of other cooking questions
are available in Mastercook II, a computerized cookbook for users
of Apple Computer's Macintosh that provides a wide spectrum of
recipes along with nutritional information and even cost analysis.

Mastercook II is published by Arion Software, and Arion President
David Macdonald calls it a "thinking cookbook." "Not only is it
packed with over 1,000 exceptional recipes, but users can also
enter their own recipes which can be automatically organized and
analyzed for nutritional and cost information," says Macdonald.

The company says the nutritional analysis feature can provide the
nutritional value of a single dish, a meal or even an entire
month's menu.

The software itemizes 28 nutritional elements that include calories,
fat content, vitamin, and sodium level. When users enter their own
recipes, Mastercook II checks the ingredients entered against those
stored in the program's database and generates a nutritional
analysis for the user's recipes. It even tries to anticipate what
you are entering. For example, if you type "cinn" Mastercook II will
finish the entry to read 'cinnamon."

Mastercook II will generate shopping lists by food group or even
store location, and can automatically scale the recipe up or down
for the number of diners the user specifies. Recipes are stored as
collections which include Family Favorites, Kitchen Classics, Great
Chefs of America, and a bartender's guide. Recipes can be printed on
3 inch by 5 inch or 4 inch by 6 inch index cards or standard size
paper.

Other features include a wine list manager, a basic shopping list
for frequent purchases, a cooking glossary, seasoning suggestions, a
yields and equivalents database, and a search engine that can search
for any part of a recipe, nutrition values, or cost by serving.

System requirements include a Mac running System 6.0 or greater,
three megabytes (MB) of free hard disk space, and at least 1MB of
system memory, or RAM. There is also a Microsoft Windows version of
the program that requires an IBM-compatible PC powered by at least a
286 microprocessor, 3MB of RAM, and 3MB of hard disk space. A mouse
is optional.

Mastercook II has a suggested retail price of $29.95. Arion Software
was founded in August 1991 and shipped its first product, Mastercook
PC for Windows, in March 1992. Mastercook II for Windows was
announced in August 1993. Prior to forming Arion software Macdonald
was co-founder and vice president of Styleware, a software company
that was purchased by Claris Corporation. Macdonald says Arion is
currently working with several print publishers to create electronic
version of their cookbooks.

(Jim Mallory/19940110/Press contact: David Macdonald, Arion
Software, 512-327-9573, Reader contact: Arion Software, 512-327-
9573 or 800-444-8104, fax [phone])


(NEWS)(APPLE)(SFO)(00019)

Macworld Expo - Keynote Address 01/10/94
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994 JAN 10 (NB) -- Accompanied
by full wall video screens showing charts, video clips and
simultaneous video, David Nagel, senior vice president and general
manager of AppleSoft division, presented a ten-year review of the
Macintosh. A year-by-year tracking of the developments of the
Macintosh compared to the developments of the of the IBM/DOS
Platform, drew loud applause from the crowd.

Stating that the aggressive policy of Apple Computer is to produce
an affordable and competitive product in a tough economy, develop
ease of use, and commit to RISC processing, he outlined the new
developments that are currently or soon to be ready for 1994.

The Power PC, PowerShare, open doc framework, Apple Search,
Active assistance and speech, and Software Dispatch were each
briefly introduced. He stated that Apple's approach to the
information superhighway would emphasize usage, customer needs,
mobility, and speed as opposed to an emphasis on greater volume
and extension of the highway.

A demonstration of the Power PC versus the Pentium and the new
Software Dispatch were given a warm reception from the audience of
approximately eighteen hundred attendees.

The entire presentation was simultaneously signed for the
hearing impaired.

(Patrick McKenna/19940110)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SFO)(00020)

Pete Townshend's Rock Musical "Tommy" Now On CD-ROM 01/10/94
SCOTTS VALLEY, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994 JAN 10 (NB) -- Publishers of
interactive multimedia CD-ROMs (compact disc read only memory) are
increasingly seeking to link up with entertainment figures in their
efforts to bring new products to market. The rock musical "Tommy"
has been very successful over the years since the band, The Who,
introduced it more than two decades ago. Now RoundBook Publishing
Group, an interactive multimedia publisher, has signed an agreement
with Kardana Productions, co-producer of the Broadway musical, "The
Who's Tommy," and the band's Pete Townshend.

The companies maintain that the new team will collaborate on a
"multimedia exploration" of Tommy "in all its forms, from
Townshend's original compositions and recordings, including the now
legendary sunrise performance of "Tommy" in 1969 at Woodstock, to
the current 1993 Tony award-winning Broadway musical."

Townshend has reportedly joined Roundbook as a "corporate advisor
and consultant" for a number of "interactive projects." Both Kardana
and Townshend plan to become equity investors in the company.
However, terms have not been disclosed.

Said Greg Smith, president of RoundBook: "Pete's creative works and
insights have been the driving force behind every version of `Tommy'
and the CD-ROM will be no different."

Said Townshend: "The Broadway production proved that there was an
audience in the '90s for the themes of `Tommy.' They called me
revolutionary when I first released it. I guess I'm evolutionary
too. The CD-ROM will offer an even wider audience access to this
work. We'll let the audience be the ultimate critics."

Additionally, Compton's NewMedia, will distribute the "Tommy" CD-ROM
to more than 5,000 retail outlets beginning this fall. The CD-ROM
will be published initially for the Windows and Macintosh platforms,
with retail shipments set to start in September, 1994.

(Ian Stokell/19940110/Press Contact: Kim Freeman, 212-254-3794,
RoundBook Publishing Group)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(SFO)(00021)

Cypress Intros FPGAs 01/10/94
SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994 JAN 10 (NB) -- Cypress
Semiconductor has entered the field-programmable gate array (FPGA)
market and claims to have introduced "the world's fastest" FPGAs.
Cypress says its ASIC380 FPGA family includes devices ranging from
1,000 to 8,000 gates, providing "unconstrained routing" and low
power.

John Hamburger, spokesman for Cypress told Newsbytes that, "Cypress
is making a major foray into the programmable logic area, and with
this introduction is now a player in the very fast-growing FPGA
market, which has done very well over the past few years, and we
expect to continue to grow exponentially."

Announcing the products, Dan McCranie, Cypress' vice-president of
sales and marketing, said: "Cypress has entered the FPGA market with
the industry's highest performance products. Our advanced
fabrication facilities and off-shore assembly, allow us to provide
these devices on a high-volume, low-cost basis."

The pASIC380 line includes: the 1000-gate CY7C381 and CY7C382; the
2000-gate CY7C383 and CY7C384; the 4000-gate CY7C385 and CY7386; and
the 8000-gate CY7C387 and CY7C388.

The pASIC380 FPGAs combine ViaLink programming elements with
Cypress' VL2.6 CMOS (complimentary metal-oxide semiconductor)
process technology (0.65 micron). The programming element is claimed
to be one-third the size of the nearest competitive technology.

The company claims that the smaller programming element allows the
pASIC380 FPGAs to achieve counter frequencies greater than 200
megahertz (MHz).

Said Tom Freeze, vice president of marketing for Cypress'
programmable products group, "Our 4000-gate CY7C385 and CY7C386
devices are faster than any other FPGAs on the market. In addition,
ViaLink's small cell size insures a technology migration path to
devices of 20,000 gates and more."

Field programmable gate arrays give system designers the ability to
make design decisions late in the design cycle, reducing cycle time
and speeding time to market.

Cypress' 1000-gate CY7C381 and CY7C382, as well as the 2000-gate
CY7C383 and CY7C384 are already available in production quantities.
The 4000-gate CY7C385 and CY7C386 will be in full production in
March, according to the company, while the 8000-gate CY7C387 and
CY7C388 will be sampled in the third quarter.

All of the pASIC380 FPGAs are available in PLCC, TQFP (thin quad
flat pack), and PGA (pin grid array) packages. The CY7C387 and
CY7C388 are also offered in BGA (ball grid array) packages.
Introductory 100-piece pricing for the CY7C385 in PLCC packages
is $95.50 each. The 1000-gate pASIC380 FPGAs are expected to
be under $10 per part in volume in the second half of 1994.

Most recently, in October, Newsbytes reported that Cypress had
signed a letter of intent to acquire Performance Semiconductor
Corporation in an asset purchase.

In May, 1993, Cypress raised some eyebrows by signed a letter of
intent to sell its Ross Technology SPARC microprocessor subsidiary
to Fujitsu for about $23 million.

(Ian Stokell/19940110/Press Contact: John Hamburger, 408-943-2902,
Cypress Semiconductor Corp.)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(SFO)(00022)

Macworld Expo - Crystal Caliburn Pinball 01/10/94
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994 JAN 10 (NB) -- Crowds of
game players waited patiently to play the newest solid-state pinball
for Apple Macintosh computers at the recent Macworld Expo in San
Francisco. Developed by Littlewing Co., Ltd., the producer of
Tristan and Eightball Deluxe for the Macintosh, Crystal Caliburn
Pinball traces the Legend of King Arthur, challenging the player to
win the Holy Grail and return it to Camelot Castle.

Crystal Caliburn has expert flipper control, bumpers and spot
targets, ramps and underground lanes, nudging, kickout holes, quick
move, shields, knights and the holy grail. The game is designed with
novice to expert levels and offers colorful screens with sound
effects.

Scott Mesch, Starplay's president, told Newsbytes that "We have
developed a HighScore contest that will let players from all over
the world compete for the high score."

According to Mesch, the program automatically records the high score
and provides a verifiable form to be mailed to StarPlay. Prizes are
awarded for attaining specific high scores.

All Macintosh computers with 13-inch or larger monitor, 256 colors,
hard disk and 4 MB of RAM will operate Crystal Caliburn Pinball. The
game is available in most stores that sell Macintosh software and in
mail-order catalogs.

(Patrick McKenna/19940110/Public Contact: StarPlay Productions,
800-203-2503)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(SFO)(00023)

 ****Macworld Expo - DayStar Power PC Upgrade Gard 01/10/94
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994 JAN 10 (NB) -- DayStar
Digital, licensed by Apple, has announced the PowerPro 601, a new
PowerPC upgrade card that plugs directly into Quadra 650, 700, 800,
900, 950 and Centris 650 PDS connectors and runs at a blazing 80
MHz.

Using the core system-level ROM code from Apple, DayStar is offering
an upgrade path to the PowerPC that will support up to 128 MB of
additional memory, and features high throughput 64-bit memory and an
optional 512K secondary cache. The company's licensing agreement
with Apple allows DayStar to offer 100 percent Macintosh
compatibility. The 64-bit data path increases speed by taking
advantage of the additional memory.

Greg Erickson, sales manager, told Newsbytes the card was designed
to accommodate speeds even greater than 80 MHz as the technology
develops. By the end of the year the company expects to announce a
100 MHz version. This new card uses 32-bit wide SIMMs which are the
same as the 72-pin SIMMs used on the PowerPC.

The PowerPro 601 is a simple plug-in card and does not require
additional software support, making installation easy and fast.
DayStar is aiming the 601 to high-end Mac users who are intensely
involved in the color publishing market.

DayStar will ship concurrently with the Power PC and expects the
street price to be in a range of $1,200 to $1,700. DayStar customers
of Universal PowerCache or Universal Turbo 040 will receive a rebate
based on the suggested retail price.

For more information regarding PowerPro 601 contact DayStar toll-
free at 800-962-2077.

(Patrick McKenna/19940110)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(SFO)(00024)

Macworld Expo - CompuServe Purchases Online Fonts 01/10/94
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994 JAN 10 (NB) -- CompuServe
Information Service had a strong showing at last week's Macworld
Expo in San Francisco. Copies of its MacCIM kits were quickly
purchased by show attendees who crowded the Compuserve booth.

The online service announced a new service called DTP Online (GO
DTPONLINE), in which CIS subscribers view the entire ITC Font
Library of FontHaus, Inc. The collection of fonts are searchable by
keyword and viewed through CompuServe Information Manager or
downloading of a GIF file of the font.

The fonts are immediately available for use and the purchase is
added to the member's CompuServe bill. The cost of each font is $29.

This first release is offering Macintosh PostScript fonts only.
During 1994, more fonts will be made available in Windows TrueType,
Windows PostScript and Macintosh TrueType formats, the company says.
Debra Young, Compuserve manager, told Newsbytes that: "This is just
the beginning of this service for desktop publishing. We are
planning on adding licensed clip art, drawings and photos during the
year."

Depending on modem speed, members pay an hourly rate ($8 or $16)
when accessing DTP OnLine.

In a related story, Compuserve has now announced it is officially
supporting eight-bit character sets in many of its forums. Although
still at an early stage, the introduction of eight-bit character
sets allows foreign languages (i.e. non-English) to have their
character sets more fully represented, using suitable communications
software.

(Patrick McKenna/19940110)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(SFO)(00025)

Macworld Expo - No Hands Software Gets Behind The Mac 01/10/94
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994 JAN 10 (NB) -- No Hands
Software announced a new release for the Macintosh version of Common
Ground, its award-winning, document distribution software. After a
successful release of its Windows version last November, Common
Ground began the development of a version that would offer Apple Mac
users similar features as well as meet customers' requests to more
easily transfer documents between platforms.

Speaking with Newsbytes, Tony Rayner, vice president of marketing,
said, "We have worked hard to develop a means of transferring
smaller documents by taking advantage of technological advancements
from Apple. We can now send fully formatted documents to any
platform."

Common Ground 1.1 allows Macintosh users to share documents with any
other platform, regardless of the applications or fonts used to
create the document.

Built-in JPEG compression aids in the transfer of 24-bit graphics
(continuous-tone grayscale and color images) without increasing file
size. Stand-alone Mini-Viewers (run-time versions of Common Ground)
which decompress JPEG-compressed images are shipped with the product
and will be available through online services.

Common Ground 1.1 supports Apple's PowerTalk software from System 7
Pro so there is no need for other stand-alone communications
packages, and users are able to work easily with Snapshot files.
Editing and exporting in other applications is eased by support of
Apple's Easy Open, a System 7 extension.

The program also supports AppleSearch to allow users faster
access to Common Ground documents.

No Hands Software will ship Common Ground 1.1 in the first quarter
of 1994. The program requires System 6.05 or later, and 700K of free
memory. System 6.05 requires 2MB of RAM and System 7.0 requires 3MB
of RAM. The introductory price will be $99.95 and a free upgrade is
available for registered 1.0 owners.

(Patrick McKenna/19940110/Public Contact: 800-598-3821)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(SFO)(00026)

Macworld Expo - Artbeats' Two Gigabytes Of Marbleized Paper 01/10/94
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994 JAN 10 (NB) -- Marbled Paper
Textures, a multiple CD-ROM set of digitized hand-marbled paper
backgrounds and borders, is now shipping for Macintosh and IBM-
compatibles.

Designed by Artbeats for video, slide and multimedia presentations,
color desktop publishing and other design uses, Marbled Paper
Textures includes high-resolution TIFF and EPS images, frames, and
textures that allow the user to make any design larger than the
original image. Also included are numerous beveled buttons and
mortices built from paper, brushed gold and steel images, as well as
metallic samples for building borders and creating custom lettering.

The company believes that marbled paper is growing increasingly
popular for book covers and background art.

Minimum suggested configuration is a 2MB 68030 Macintosh or 386 IBM
compatible with a CD-ROM drive. Artists interested in three
dimensional texture-mapping should have at least 8MB of RAM,
according to Artbeats, as well as 60MB of hard-disk space available.
Suggested retail price is $349.

(Patrick McKenna/19940110/Public contact: 503-863-4429)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(SFO)(00027)

Macworld Expo - Apple Video Goes On The Road 01/10/94
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994 JAN 10 (NB) -- Tucked in a
corner of Macworld Exposition, behind the Accounting Software
Pavilion, Desktop Video World magazine sponsored a special exhibit
called "Plug Into the Future of Desktop Video."

The exhibit featured the new Apple Professional Video Production
System, as well as products from Radius, Apple New Media, Adobe,
VideoFusion and Storage Dimensions.

A large tractor-trailer truck decorated with these company logos
housed a theater in which attendees viewed work created using the
companies' equipment and software.

According to Peg Brown, event coordinator for Desktop Video World,
"Desktop video saves thousands of dollars for traditional video
producers... desktop video is where desktop publishing was five
years ago; the traditionalists still need convincing, but price and
time savings are piquing their curiosity."

To assist in the task of educating video producers nationwide about
the benefits of desktop video production, the companies showing in
the pavilion are sponsoring the tractor-trailer/theater on a trip
around the US, and perhaps beyond. Rumors have it that the truck may
be airlifted to Japan for Macworld Tokyo.

Desktop Video World is a monthly publication of TechMedia Publishing
(an IDG company), written for creators and producers of analog and
digital multimedia.

(Patrick McKenna/19940110/Press & Public Contact: Desktop Video
World - Tel: [phone])


(NEWS)(APPLE)(SFO)(00028)

Macworld Expo - Broderbund Adds Three Titles 01/10/94
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994 JAN 10 (NB) -- Broderbund
Software of Novato, California showcased three sequel programs at
Macworld Expo in San Francisco, including the interactive storybook,
"Little Monster at School" by Mercer Mayer.

Mayer also authored the acclaimed Living Book "Just Grandma and Me."
Also shown was "Prince of Persia 2: The Shadow and the Flame," a
sequel to the award-winning Arabian Nights-inspired Prince of Persia
action game. "The Backyard," by Leslie Grimm and Lynn Kirkpatrick,
follows in the footsteps of those authors' award-winning "The
Playroom" and "The Treehouse."

"Little Monster at School" finds children ages three to eight
following Little Monster as he prepares for and attends school and
learns numbers and letters along the way. Little Monster has an
interesting pet, a Zipperump-a-zoo. Suggested retail price of the
program is around $50, according to Broderbund, and the program
requires a color Macintosh with 4MB (megabytes) of RAM, a CD-ROM
(compact disc read only memory) drive and System 6.0.7 or higher.

"Prince of Persia 2" features high-quality animations and an
original musical score, which accompanies the returning Jaffar
through his evil deeds. Players take part in life-like sword fights
and chases through the palace and beyond.

"Prince of Persia 2" requires a 256-color Macintosh with 4MB of RAM
and System 6.0.7 or higher. Suggested retail price is approximately
$55.

In "The Backyard," kids ages three to six place animals in the
correct habitat and search for buried treasures, among other
activities. The program is designed for children to explore
animal behavior and anatomy, develop directional skills, and
use strategy and logic in activities they pursue at their
own pace. Animations, brightly-colored graphics, and digitized
voices and sounds are meant to keep children's attention and
make the application easy to understand and use.

The Backyard requires a 256-color or monochrome Macintosh,
4MB of RAM (for System 7; 3MB for System 6.0.7 or higher),
9MB of hard-disk space, and a high-density floppy disk drive.
The Backyard should be available for $35 in stores.

(Patrick McKenna/19940110/Public Contact: Broderbund Software - Tel:
415-382-4400)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(SFO)(00029)

Macworld Expo - DiskTop Adds Flexibility, Better File Mgt 01/10/94
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994 JAN 10 (NB) -- PrairieSoft
Software, hailing from West Des Moines, Iowa, announced DiskTop 4.5,
the latest version of the Macintosh file-management utility made
famous by CE Software.

Gil Beecher and Paul Miller, both formerly of CE Software, bought
the rights to DiskTop, Amazing Paint, Alarming Events, In/Out, and
MockPackage from CE after founding PrairieSoft in June 1993. Miller,
president of PrairieSoft, said to Newsbytes: "We chose these
products because they were successful and had a wide customer base."

DiskTop 4.5 has one main window in which users may specify multiple-
criteria searches on all mounted disks. Once a
document/folder/application list is created, users can "go to" the
location of the file, or double-click to open, just as on the
desktop. DiskTop Launch allows applications to be launched directly
from the Apple Menu, a pop-up menu, or a window accessible by a hot-
key combination.

Most impressive is DiskTop's ability to remember the Preferences for
each customized search-criteria view. Custom views are created by
adding or removing column headings, such as a file type,
modification date, or size. Column headings are on buttons, and
pressing a button will re-sort the found information by that column.

DiskTop 4.5 now recognizes aliases and displays them in italics. One
use for this feature includes finding all applications and allowing
DiskTop to create a folder enclosing all the aliases, without the
"alias" tag usually found at the end of each. Another new feature
includes the capability to save DiskTop lists as tab-delimited text
for import into spreadsheets or word processors chart features.

Suggested retail price is $99.95; upgrade price from version
4.0.2 direct from PrairieSoft is $30.

(Patrick McKenna/19940110/Press & Public Contact: PrairieSoft - Tel:
515/225-3720)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(SFO)(00030)

Macworld Expo - PhotoDisc Offers New Images 01/10/94
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994 JAN 10 (NB) -- Expanding an
award-winning collection of CD images, PhotoDisc, of Seattle, has
announced the addition of two new image collections. In
collaboration with Index Stock Photography, a well-known
photographic stock agency, PhotoDisc is producing what it calls the
"Retro Collection."

This first collection of Index Stock's archives is the
work of George Mark who photographed America from the 1920's
through the 1960s.

The second production of work, the "Fototeca Storica Nationale,"
is gathered from the collection of Italian collector, Antonio
Gillardi. These photographs of sculpture, illustrations, vintage
photographs, and paintings represent Italian art, folklore,
opera, medicine and social customs.

Speaking to Newsbytes, Mark Torrance, CEO of PhotoDisc, said: "We
have worked carefully with the Italian government to bring this
collection out of Italy and reproduce the artistic content in the
highest resolution possible."

PhotoDisc adds the two collections to an existing library of more
than 2,800 total images in eight current CD volumes. Their audience
for CD images include presentation designers, CD developers, art
collectors, artists and hobbyists.

PhotoDisc also announced its ArtOnSite program that brings 2,800
images and new collections to local art stores. Customers will be
able to select individual images to purchase and the art store copy
them to floppy disks. Depending on the specific content and the
resolution, the cost of an image will be $39 to $99 per photograph.

PhotoDisc currently has ten trial sites available and will be
working with the Font Company and two clip-art vendors to provide
additional, essential products to desktop designers.

(Patrick McKenna/19940110/Press & Public Contact: Tel/Fax: 206-441-
9355; AppleLink: PHOTODISC)