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/nb012094

Text File | 1994-01-20 | 73.6 KB | 1,648 lines

(NEWS)(UNIX)(HKG)(00001)

SAS Institute's Open Systems Performance Analysis Prgm 01/20/94
CAUSEWAY BAY, HONG KONG, 1994 JAN 20 (NB) -- The SAS Institute
has unveiled SAS/CPE software for Open Systems, which it claims
is the first network performance analysis tool for managing and
analyzing Unix systems and networks.

Incorporated in the latest release of the SAS System -- version
6.09 -- SAS/CPE software runs under Sun Microsystems' Solaris,
Hewlett-Packard's HP-UX and IBM's AIX operating systems. The
software takes data collected by SunNet Manager, Cabletron
Systems' Spectrum, HP's Performance Collection Software, Unix
Accounting Data, Landmark Systems' Probe/X and Probe/Net, and
Concord Communications' Tracker. It then creates a performance
database for front-end analysis, data reduction and reports.

"This is the first application of its kind for users of Solaris, HP-
UX and AIX systems," said Nigel Gasper, general manager of the SAS
Institute Hong Kong Limited. "Until now, the only way to manage a
large network was to go through logs manually or keep screen dumps
from performance monitors. With SAS/CPE software, all that
information is processed and put at users' fingertips, allowing the
site to become proactive in performance management."

He continued: "For two decades, the SAS System has been the de
facto standard for mainframe performance management. Now that
standard is available for the entire enterprise within an easy-to-
use application, enabling managers to get answers immediately."

SAS/CPE software for Open Systems is a data management, analysis
and presentation system designed to improve the operation,
monitoring and asset management of distributed computer systems.
The software's easy-to-use interface guides users through systems
analysis from data processing and reduction to final presentation,
which can be done through either the extensive library of
standardized reports or the design report facility.

SAS/CPE software also provides analytical and reporting tools
which can help organizations to spot trends, patterns, problem
areas and bottlenecks in a network, according to the company. This
enables them to improve end-user response time, use network
resources more effectively or make cost effective capacity
upgrade decisions.

In addition, the software can be used to summarize and save
historical data for long-term trend analysis; analyze data through
on-line queries; resolve problems and make network decisions;
produce and save customized reports; and produce reports
suitable for management.

(Keith Cameron/19940119/Press Contact: Rory Stoddart,
852-568-4280, SAS)


(NEWS)(IBM)(DEL)(00002)

India - MBT Plans Civil Engineering Software 01/20/94
BOMBAY, INDIA, 1994 JAN 20 (NB) -- Primarily known for its
software projects, Mahindra British Telecom (MBT) Ltd., a joint
venture between British Telecommunications and India's Mahindra
Group of Industrie, is soon to launch its first product. Expected to
be available in April this year, the Windows-based civil
engineering software has not yet been named.

The package is designed for tender estimations of civil construction
projects. Useful for purposes like determining the cost of the tender
for constructing dams, hotels and the like, the package can be used
by a company submitting a tender proposal. It comprises of six
modules: resource management, bid preparation analysis, take off
quantities, bid closing, extensive reports, and a maintenance module
for housekeeping purposes.

MBT is a joint venture with 60 percent equity from Mahindra &
Mahindra Ltd. and 40 percent from UK's British Telecom. MBT's foray
into the generic software arena is because of "user demand moving
towards packaged software since project development takes longer,"
said Milind Padhye, chief executive of MBT.

MBT, which caters to five percent of British Telecom's computer
requirements, is presently developing a customer support system on
IBM 3090 and ES 9000 mainframes for BT. BT, which provides 80
percent of MBT's work, is its client for a network management
system as well.

MBT gets 10 percent of its work from M&M. Presently, it is
developing a manufacturing system on an IBM AS 400 for automating
plant operations such as production planning and control. "Outside"
projects executed include the automation of a Frankfurt post office,
and development of a shop floor system for Saudi Telecom.

The six year-old company grossed revenue of over R100 million
($3.2 million) in 1992-93, thus recording a growth of 130 percent
over the previous year. The projected figure for the ongoing
financial year is "more than R150 million (about $5 million)."
In its bid to expand, MBT is also in the process of setting up a
subsidiary in the US as well, and open its second office in India
at Pune.

(C.T. Mahabharat/19940120)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(WAS)(00003)

 ****Nature's Cold War Shuts Down Federal Govt 01/20/94
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1994 JAN 20 (NB) -- The former Soviet
Union could not do it, but mother nature's own cold war has
succeeded in shutting down virtually the entire federal
government - at least for a day or two.

Power shortages due to the extreme cold led the US government
to shut down all non-essential services in the greater Washington,
DC, area at 3 pm on Wednesday afternoon and offices will also be
closed on Thursday - perhaps longer.

Along with the federal offices, most local governments, many
businesses, and schools were also closed - all in an effort to
conserve electricity after urgent appeals from electrical
utilities and rolling blackouts which were implemented to force
conservation of power consumption by selectively shutting down
power to different areas for short periods.

It is currently snowing in Washington and 10 degrees fahrenheit,
so 360,000 federal employees from the White House and Congress
to the Pentagon, and even the Central Intelligence Agency, have
been told not to report to work today. Those who are designated
"essential" have been told that office heat will be turned down
and that they should go to work prepared.

Those not familiar with Washington winters will not understand
the impact of a few inches of snow. Even four wheel drive
vehicles are of little use, because so many drivers are unused to
winter driving conditions that even were businesses and
government open, many people would be unable to navigate the
roads when several inches of snow falls.

But the real problem is the heavy demand on power supplies as
people use space heaters and even electric cooking stoves in an
effort to boost the temperature in their homes and apartments
which are not generally insulated and provided with heating
systems suitable for temperatures which have been hovering near
zero fahrenheit.

Late Wednesday, Washington DC Mayor Sharon Pratt Kelly declared
a state of emergency for Washington where yesterday's high
temperature at National Airport (just across the Potomac River
from Washington) registered seven degrees, and the low hit minus
four degrees. The high of seven degrees was the lowest high for that
date this century, so worries about extreme cold are not imaginary.

(John McCormick/19940120)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(WAS)(00004)

Deep Freeze Grips Mid-Atlantic, Affects Businesses 01/20/94
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1994 JAN 20 (NB) -- Washington will see
a high of 10 degrees today, and businesses are feeling the cold as
offices experience power outages, brownouts, and even heating
problems. Fearing a massive, uncontrolled power grid outage on
the scale of the one which hit the northeast in 1965, power
companies have instituted rolling power outages in several states
to enforce power conservation.

Power utilities normally purchase extra power from other systems
during temporary periods of high demand, but this week's wide-
spread extreme cold has caused many areas to be over-stressed
simultaneously, resulting in general voltage brownouts in some
areas. These five percent voltage drops cause most electrical
appliances to draw less power - enforcing across the board power
conservation. But in the Washington area, power demands were so
great as people got up on Wednesday morning and began to turn on
appliances that the brownout was not enough, and Pepco had to
begin short periods of planned power outages which went from
region to region.

These rolling outages shut off all power for about 15 minutes at
a time, and are used as a last-ditch emergency effort to prevent a
major grid shutdown which would result in damage that might take
hours or even days to repair and fully restore power.

This Newsbytes bureau was affected twice yesterday by planned
power outages, but telephone service was not interrupted and the
bureau did not experience any computer problems because of a
large-capacity Best Technology uninterruptable power supply.

Eighty-eight people have already died in cold-related incidents
and although forecasters predict a slight improvement in
temperatures today and tomorrow, it is important to remember that
the National Weather Service forecasts for many areas were as
much as ten degrees higher than actually experienced.

Temperatures in the mid-west are even worse. Indianapolis,
Indiana hit a record 36 below zero yesterday, but the power
situation does not appear to be critical in that region. Most
problems are occurring in the mid-Atlantic region because it
includes areas which do not normally experience extreme cold
even in the depths of Winter.

The regional electrical utility cooperative which normally
provides power-sharing to the Washington and northern Virginia
area includes Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Maryland, all of
which are under extreme stress due to the cold.

Mid-western utilities are not, as yet, experiencing planned
outages or brownouts, but are also under stress and are unable
to provide extra power to the mid-Atlantic area.

Pennsylvania's lieutenant governor declared a statewide disaster
emergency after utilities in Pennsylvania and in southern New
Jersey started rolling blackouts on Wednesday.

(John McCormick/19940120)


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

Gateway Intros 66MHz 486 PCI-Based System 01/20/94
NORTH SIOUX CITY, SOUTH DAKOTA, U.S.A., 1994 JAN 20 (NB) --
Gateway 2000 has announced a 66 megahertz (MHz) Intel 486-
based PC that uses PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect)
technology.

Gateway 2000 says its new P4D-66 using the 32-bit PCI local bus
architecture moves data as much as 15 percent faster than PCs
using VESA (Video Electronics Standards Association) local bus
and boosts performance by reducing the load on the central
processing unit (CPU) by monitoring bus activity and allowing two
bus-mastering cards to run concurrently.

The P4D-66 standard configuration includes a PCI video card with
two megabytes (MB) of video memory, a 424MB hard drive, 8MB
of system memory, a double-speed CD-ROM drive, and one 3.5-inch
high density floppy drive.

PCI-equipped systems eliminate the need for system
reconfiguration when an additional device such as a modem or
network card is added, since the technology automatically
recognizes PCI-compatible peripherals and performs the
reconfiguration automatically. Peripherals operating on the
PCI bus run at 33MHz.

Gateway says the PCI video card in the P4D-66 yields a Winmark
3.11 score of approximately 40 million. The Winmark test is one of
several used to test the PC performance, although some industry
experts do not believe it's results are accurate.

The P4D-66 has two PCI slots, one PCI/ISA slot, and four ISA
(Industry Standard Architecture) slots. The ISA slots
accommodate peripherals with are not PCI-compliant. The system
comes with a Gateway 15-inch non-interlaced Crystalscan
monitor, a programmable keyboard, Microsoft mouse, MS-DOS
6.2, windows for Workgroups 3.11, and a choice of application
software. Non-interlaced monitors tend to have less flicker than
interlaced displays.

Software choices include Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Word, the
CD-ROM edition of Microsoft Word and Bookshelf, MS Powerpoint
presentation graphics, MS Project project tracking, the Microsoft
Entrepreneur Pack, MS Access database, and Borland's
Paradox/Quattro Pro database/spreadsheet package. Gateway
pre-installs the selected software at no charge.

P4D-66 buyers also get Kiplinger's CA-Simply Money financial
management software, QAPlus Diagnostics, the Gateway System
CD with Microsoft Multimedia Pack, Multimedia On-Line Users
Guide, Gateway Mail On-Line Catalog, Gateway Computer
Glossary, and a Gateway mouse pad.

The P4D-66 has a suggested retail price of $2,395 and is
immediately available.

(Jim Mallory/19940119/Press Contact: Mike Schmith, Gateway
2000, 605-232-2189; Reader Contact: Gateway 2000,
tel [phone] or 800-523-2000, fax [phone]/PHOTO)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(DEN)(00006)

Wordperfect's New North American Support Programs 01/20/94
OREM, UTAH, U.S.A., 1994 JAN 20 (NB) -- Wordperfect Corp., has
announced an expanded customer support program that includes a
registration system for free support, a new instant access
Priority Service, and a new program for small- to medium-sized
accounts.

Kim Cooper, VP of customer services at Wordperfect, says the
company has handled more than 60 million questions in the 14
years it has provided toll-free technical support. "With these new
support programs, we will continue to provide outstanding free
and toll-free technical support to our registered users for a
substantial period of time between projected upgrade releases
and will also provide fee-based support options for users with
more technical needs," says Cooper.

The new program includes 180 days of free and toll-free support
for registered users of business applications and 90 days of free
support for workgroup applications in the US and Canada. The
support period begins with the first call for assistance.

A Newsbytes story recently outlined Wordperfect's support policy
for European users. Free support includes a fax-on-demand system
and an electronic bulletin board service.

The fee-based support options include priority access to
technicians on a per-incident or per-minute basis, as well as a
variety of annual contracts for large accounts. The per-incident
charge is $25 while the per-minute cost is $2 for business
applications and $1.50 for workgroup applications. The priority
service program will begin March 1 for workgroup applications
and April 4 for business applications.

Large account customers can choose from options that include: a
$2,500 per year Silver Support program for organizations with 50
to 300 users; a $15,000 per year Platinum program; and a $10,000
per year Gold program. Silver subscribers also get monthly
updates to Wordperfect's customer support infobase on a CD-ROM
disk.

To qualify for the free support, customers must register their
Wordperfect software. Beginning February 1, 1994, customer
support representatives will begin issuing customers a personal
identification number (PIN) much like bank ATM (automated teller
machine) card users get.

Each time the user calls for support they will give the tech support
representative their PIN. That allows Wordperfect to track a
caller's usage of the program and establishes their eligibility. One
PIN is good for multiple products. Beginning July 1, 1994, an
automated system will verify that customers are registered and
eligible to receive the free support.

(Jim Mallory/19940119/Press Contact: Deborah Hendrickson,
Wordperfect Corp., 801-228-5022; Reader Contact: Wordperfect,
tel [phone] or 800-451-5151, fax [phone])


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(TOR)(00007)

Long-Running Canadian Computer Magazine To Close 01/20/94
TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1994 JAN 20 (NB) -- Trade magazine
publisher Maclean-Hunter Ltd., has announced that two
technology-related publications, including Canada's oldest data
processing publication, are among the victims of cutbacks.

I.T. Magazine is being sold to rival Laurentian Technomedia Inc.,
of Toronto, which will fold the publication, Newsbytes has
learned.

Laurentian, which has a relationship with worldwide
computer-magazine publisher International Data Group, recently
launched CIO Canada, a monthly magazine that, like I.T., is aimed
at information technology managers. Laurentian also publishes
monthly Canadian versions of IDG's flagship newsweeklies
Computerworld and InfoWorld, under the titles Computerworld
Canada and InfoCanada.

I.T. Magazine (the letters stood for Information Technology) was
relaunched under its present title at the beginning of 1993, but
had been published since 1968 as Canadian Datasystems magazine.

Despite the relaunch, which included design and editorial
improvements, the magazine had been losing money over the past
year. According to Newsbytes sources, the quantity of red ink
made it an easy target.

Also axed was Office Productivity, the latest incarnation of a
magazine that had evolved from traditional office equipment to
office automation. Recently renamed, it had been published as
Office Systems & Technology since late 1990, when Maclean-Hunter
bought the struggling OA Magazine from Plesman Publications Ltd.,
also of Toronto, and merged it with its own venerable Office
Equipment and Methods.

Both magazines were published monthly.

Maclean-Hunter, whose trade publications division owns about 30
magazines, is also selling a hospitality-industry publication.
The company also publishes a weekly newsmagazine, Maclean's, has
interests in cable television and other businesses, and owns 62
percent of Toronto Sun Publishing Corp., which publishes daily
newspapers in four Canadian cities as well as the daily Financial
Post, a business newspaper based in Toronto.

(Grant Buckler/19940120/Press Contact: Terry Malden,
Maclean-Hunter, 416-596-6078)


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

Interactive TV Companies Settle Most Arguments 01/20/94
SUNNYVALE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994 JAN 20 (NB) -- Interactive
Network and NTN Communications, both players in interactive
television, have patched up some of their differences.

Interactive holds patents on interactive television technology,
while NTN is best known for its successful "QB1" game, played in
bars during NFL (National Football League) football games. The
two companies had been in court last year, with Interactive
winning on its patent rights, but the situation really boiled over
when Interactive tried to market its own version of "QB1," called
"In The Huddle," and made a strategic alliance with NBC, which
televises NFL games.

In the settlement, which Interactive Network Chairman David
Lockton noted in a letter to Newsbytes was made at the request of
the NBC network and the NFL, Interactive Network will license its
technology for use with QB1 through the end of the 1994 football
season. NBC, now a part-owner of Interactive Network, also owns
rights to televise NFL games, while NTN has an exclusive
agreement with the NFL for use of the NFL logo in its programming
and promotion. Interactive Network, however, was planning on
rolling out its own game to home users in late 1994, and NBC was
stymied in promoting it, absent an agreement.

Lockton added that the agreement does not affect ongoing
litigation Interactive Network still has against NTN, and
its request for a judgement that "In the Huddle" does not
violate QB1's copyrights.

(Dana Blankenhorn/01120994/Press Contact: David Lockton,
Interactive Network, 415-960-3331)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00009)

Prodigy Usage Record After LA Quake 01/20/94
WHITE PLAINS, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1994 JAN 20 (NB) -- Prodigy said
the earthquake in Southern California provided its second busiest
day ever, with over 11,000 notes posted on a special free bulletin
board set-up about the quake, and over 813,000 total on-line
sessions.

The service said that dozens of prayers were also sent
up on the service, while many members in the quake area posted
notes on their experiences, while people outside made open offers
to call relatives of those affected. Prodigy, which began
charging for on-line time above pre-set maximums last year,
turned the clock off for users of the earthquake bulletin board.

Prodigy said the busiest day in its history was on the eve of the
1992 election, when there were 890,000 on-line sessions. The
company said it averages 600-700,000 sessions each day.

CompuServe has not issued any press statements about usage
since the quake. "We don't view an earthquake as a marketing
opportunity," explained CompuServe spokesman Dave Kishler.
But that service, too, has done some extra work.

"We set up an Earthquake Area," Kishler explained, combining a
newsclip feed with the existing Global Crisis Forum, the SafetyNet
Forum used by law enforcement and emergency personnel, and the
California Forum. "It's similar to what we did with Hugo, the 1989
Earthquake and Operation Desert Storm," Kishler explained.
Traffic on the Global Crisis Forum, he added, has increased ten-
fold since the quake.

(Dana Blankenhorn/01120994/Press Contact: Carol Wallace,
Prodigy, 914-448-2496; Dave Kishler, CompuServe,
614-457-8600)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00010)

Magazine Devoted To Education Use of Internet 01/20/94
SEBASTOPOL, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994 JAN 20 (NB) -- O'Reilly &
Associates devoted the second issue of its Internet magazine,
GNN Magazine, to educational uses of the Internet.

GNN is an attempt to bridge the current Internet, dominated by
researchers and non-profit groups, with the future Internet,
which is business-oriented and profit-making. The publication is
available free, on-line, and can be subscribed to, free, by
Internet mail.

But it does include advertising. Among the advertisers to the
education number are The MIT Press, the National Education
and Technology Alliance (NETA), and Mobile Fidelity Sound, as
well as O'Reilly itself. The ads appear as icons at the top and
bottom of articles.

Among the articles in the issue are: "Teaching and Learning in a
Networked World," by Donna Donovan; "Librarians and the
Internet," by Mary Ann Neary; and "K-12 Schools on the Internet:
One School's Experience," by Mike Showalter. The text of Vice
President Gore's December speech on the Information Superhighway
at the National Press Club is also featured.

GNN stands for Global Network Navigator, and it is a free service
which provides comprehensive information on what is available
through the Internet, as well as direct links to over 600
information sources and up-to-date news, as well as the magazine,
an interactive catalog, and advertising. It was launched in
October, and claims a subscriber base of 15,000.

O'Reilly is best known for its "Whole Internet User's Guide," by
Ed Krol, which was issued in late 1992 and is still the best-
selling book on the Internet, with 200,000 copies sold so far.
The company is also producing "Internet in a Box," which will
combine the book with access to an Internet-linked network. That
product, the first shrink-wrapped desktop access to the Internet,
according to O'Reilly, will ship in this quarter.

(Dana Blankenhorn/01120994/Press Contact: Ron Pernick, for
O'Reilly & Associates, tel [phone], fax: [phone];
electronic-mail [e-mail]; Customer Contact:
800-998-9938; e-mail [e-mail])


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00011)

Ericsson & Reliance Test Video-On-Demand Market 01/20/94
RICHARDSON, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1994 JAN 20 (NB) -- Ericsson Network
Systems and Reliance Electric's Comm/Tec unit said they will
cooperate in an attempt to enter the video-on-demand market.

The two companies said they are looking for office space in the
Dallas Metroplex, somewhere between Ericsson's offices near
Dallas and Reliance's near Fort Worth, where they will seek to
implement trials of the technology based on Ericsson's
asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) switch system and Reliance
Comm/Tec's fiber and coaxial cable delivery systems. The two said
they will work with other suppliers as well to provide "complete
solutions" to cable and phone companies.

Newsbytes discussed the news with officials of both reliance and
Ericsson. Reliance Comm/Tec spokesman Toby Hoopes of Reliance
said: "The team will consist of four people from each company. Our
company has access technology. Ericsson has years of experience
in switching and they're conducting ATM trials in Europe. What
we'll be doing is looking for customers who'd like to give us
active trials in the domestic market, for ATM. Because that's the
future for broadband switching."

Already, however, a number of major cable and phone companies
have announced plans to deploy upgraded networks capable of
delivering video-on-demand services. Bell Atlantic will use ADSL
modems in the Washington DC area and newly upgraded fiber
networks in New Jersey and Pennsylvania for its "Stargazer"
program. US West has planned a hybrid fiber-coax network, while
Pacific Telesis has a similar plan. TCI has its 500-channel
network, Time-Warner Cable its Full Service Network, and all the
major cable operators are building fiber backbones to increase
the capacity of their coaxial cable plant.

Asked who the new venture might team with, Hoopes said, "I'm sure
the team has targets and I'm not sure who they are. Among them
would be the major phone companies. This addresses both the cable
and telco market."

Hoopes and Jim LeoGrande, director of product management for
Ericsson's Network Systems Division, also addressed the question
of ATM. "ATM is a much more efficient means of delivering
broadband services," said Hoopes. "It's as big as the jump from
analog to digital switches, in terms of efficiency." LeoGrande
said many elements of a coming ATM standard are already in place.
"We've been participating in standards committees. Many lower
level protocols are in good shape. Higher level standards will
evolve soon." He added that, "We'll announce who we're trialing
with when we start the trials."

ATM is an emerging standard for fast delivery of data between
phone switches, and to customers. The slowest speed it works at
is 1.544 million bits-per-second (bps), known as a T-1 trunk
line. Slower lines operate on a standard called frame relay, and
some makers of ATM equipment have promised they will make sure
that ATM is backward-compatible with that standard. Some
companies, like Fujitsu, have already shipped ATM switches running
at 622 million bps, but faster switches in the multi-gigabit range.

(Dana Blankenhorn/01120994/Press Contact: Toby Hoopes, Reliance
Comm/Tec, tel [phone], fax [phone]; Kathy Egan,
Ericsson, tel [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(DEN)(00012)

BRS Intros Business Plan Software For Windows 01/20/94
AUSTIN, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1994 JAN 20 (NB) -- If you want to start a
business  or get a business loan you need a viable business plan
to present to the bank. But how do you go about preparing such a
plan?

An Austin, Texas, company thinks they have the answer.
Business Resource Software says its Plan Write for Windows
software will be ready to ship February 14. The company
calls Plan Write, "a tool for preparation of a business plan by
small- to medium-sized businesses and Fortune 1000 product
managers."

Plan Write for Windows includes a word processor, spreadsheet,
chart generator, outline processor, spreadsheet templates,
checklists, and examples of the various documents that comprise
a business plan. There are also on-line tips, a glossary of
business terminology, and a spelling checker.

BRS says the plan is created using the word processor, which
supports multiple fonts and font sizes and bold and underlined
characters. The integrated spreadsheet includes templates for
the profit and loss, cash flow and balance sheet forms. The chart
generator to display the financial information can create 14
different type charts from the numbers in the spreadsheet.

The only system requirement for Plan Write for Windows is a
personal computer that runs Windows 3.1 or higher. The program
has a suggested retail price of $129.95. Current users of the DOS
version can upgrade to the Windows edition for $49.95 direct
from BRS.

(Jim Mallory/19940120/Press Contact: James Brawner, Business
Resource Software, 512-251-7541; Reader Contact: Business
Resource Software, tel [phone] or 512-251-7541,
fax [phone])


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(DEN)(00013)

Microsoft Profits Up 22% For 2Qtr 01/20/94
REDMOND, WASHINGTON, U.S.A., 1994 JAN 20 (NB) -- Microsoft
reported a 22 percent jump in profits for its fiscal second quarter,
partially due to the sales of the latest edition of Microsoft Office
software. The period ended December 31, 1993.

Microsoft reported earnings of $289 million, or $0.95 per share,
for the second quarter. That is up from $236 million, or $0.78 per
share, for the same period last year. Revenues for the period rose
to $1.22 billion from $938 million the previous year.

Ragen MacKenzie analyst Scott McAdams told the British news
service Reuters the growth was fueled mainly by strong US
sales of Microsoft Office, a collection of software which includes
the Microsoft Word word processing software and spreadsheet
program Microsoft Excel, as well as sales of Microsoft Windows.

Sales of the latest edition of the computer game Flight Simulator
were also strong during the period. Strong sales of personal
computers, many shipped with a Microsoft operating system
installed, was also a factor.

Microsoft said its European revenue, which accounted for 37 percent
of total revenues in the second quarter last year, dropped to 29
percent for the same period this year. US and Canadian revenues
accounted for 37 percent of the total, unchanged from a year ago.

Analysts said earnings were slightly better than expected due to
cost control measures and higher than expected profits. Microsoft
shares rose 7/8 to 84-1/8 in active after-hours trading after the
earnings announcement.

In other company news, Microsoft says it has joined the Association
for Retail Technology Standards (ARTS) and has been selected to
lead that organization's retail distributed systems management
subcommittee. ARTS is a retail industry association dedicated to
establishing open system standards for in-store computing.

The distributed systems management subcommittee defines
system-level and network computing standards for software
distribution, configuration control, and help desk support for the
major areas of retail store management. Those include point-of-
sale systems, hand-held devices, and back office systems.

(Jim Mallory/19940120/Press Contact & Reader Contact:
Microsoft Corp., 206-882-8080)


(NEWS)(IBM)(DEN)(00014)

Parsons Ships American History Atlas For Windows 01/20/94
HIAWATHA, IOWA, U.S.A., 1994 JAN 20 (NB) -- Parsons Technology
has announced it is now shipping its educational program American
History Atlas for Windows.

Parsons says the program is an educational tool for students,
teachers, parents, and historians that allows the user to discover
the people, places, and events that shaped America's early
history.

Director of Corporate Communications Joan Dyal told Newsbytes
the program is suitable for junior high students and up, as well
as for teachers and historians.

American History Atlas contains approximately 90 full color maps
and over 1,200 articles that describe the significant events of the
period beginning with the exploration of America to
reconstruction after the Civil War. There is also the text of more
than 80 historical documents that include inaugural addresses for
the first 21 US presidents, the constitution of the United States,
the Articles of Confederation, and the Declaration of Independence.

Parsons says the political, topographic and event maps included
in the program are provided by the US Defense Mapping Agency,
prepared using the latest and most accurate mapping technology
available. They give the user a visual point of reference for
important events such as battles, journeys, and elections. Users
can also create their own maps from scratch using the map
templates included with the program.

The articles in American History Atlas are from the Encyclopedia
of Historic Places and Houghton Mifflin's The greatest American
History Fact Finder. They put into historical perspective the
people, places, and events of the nation's history. By double
clicking on any event marker on a map, the associated text
appears in a window. Double clicking on colored key words
activates a hyperlink to a related article.

American History continually displays latitude and longitude at
the bottom of the screen, and mileage is also shown. By
positioning the cursor, the user can click and drag along any path
to display the distance between the two points.

American History Atlas has a suggested retail price of $49 and
will run on any personal computer equipped with Microsoft
Windows 3.1 or higher running in standard or enhanced mode.
Eight megabytes of disk space is required for the program.

(Jim Mallory/19940120/Press & Reader Contact: Parsons
Technology, 319-395-9626)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TOR)(00015)

 ****DEC Loss Is Worse Than Expected 01/20/94
MAYNARD, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1994 JAN 20 (NB) -- The hoped-
for turnaround at Digital Equipment Corp., is not happening, at least
not yet.

The company has reported a net loss of $72.144 million, or 53
cents per share, on revenues of $3.254 billion, in its second
fiscal quarter, which ended January 1. That loss is slightly smaller
than the $73.859 million or 57 cents per share deficit in the
same quarter a year ago, though revenues fell from $3.689
billion. However, it is worse than analysts had expected, and
signals that DEC's attempts to get back in the black are not bearing
fruit as quickly as the company had hoped.

"If you want to buy a turnaround," said David Wu, an investment
analyst who follows Digital for S.G. Warburg & Co. in New York,
"Digital would not be the first stock that came to mind."

Wu said the results are significantly worse than expected and DEC
now looks unlikely to turn a profit before the fourth quarter of
calendar 1994 (the second quarter of the company's next fiscal
year).

The company admitted its own disappointment with the figures.
"While we expected revenues to decline somewhat, we are not
satisfied with the level of revenues or the loss for the quarter,"
said Robert Palmer, president and chief executive, in a prepared
statement.

DEC officials said they are "cautious" about the outlook for the
rest of fiscal 1994.

Digital's problems are largely related to falling revenues from
its proprietary VAX minicomputers, which for many years were
the mainstay of its business. DEC said its sales of personal
computers have doubled in unit terms year-over-year and are
showing double-digit revenue growth, but as Wu pointed out, the
company would have to sell very large numbers of PCs to make up
for lost revenue from the costlier and more profitable VAX line.

Revenue from other products, including DEC's new Alpha AXP
workstations and various networking and peripheral products, also
grew in the second quarter. However, over-all profit margins
declined as sales shifted toward less profitable products such as
PCs and workstations, the company said.

In the six months ended January 1, DEC reported a net loss of
$155.329 million, or $1.15 per share, on revenues of $6.269
billion. This compares to a loss of $334.405 million, or $2.60
per share, on revenues of $7.004 billion in the first half of
fiscal 1993. The 1994 figure includes a one-time benefit of
$20.042 million due to a change in accounting principle for
income tax.

(Grant Buckler/19940120/Press Contact: Bradley Allen, Digital,
508-493-8009; James Chiafery, Digital, 508-493-7182)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TOR)(00016)

CA Income Up, Kumar Named President 01/20/94
ISLANDIA, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1994 JAN 20 (NB) -- Still swimming
against the computer industry's tide of red ink, Computer
Associates International Inc., has reported a 55 percent jump in
net income and a 15 percent increase in revenue in its third
fiscal quarter, which ended December 31. The company also
elevated Sanjay Kumar from the post of executive vice-president
of operations to president and chief operating officer.

In the third quarter, CA reported net income of $124.188 million,
or 72 cents per share, on revenues of $574.38 million. This
compares to income of $80.209 million, or 48 cents per share,
on revenues of $501.525 million in the same quarter last year.

In the nine months ended December 31, net income was $242.475
million, or $1.41 per share, on revenues of $1.515 billion. In
the same period of fiscal 1993, CA had net income of $146.442
million, or 86 cents per share, on revenues of $1.301 billion.

Kumar, who came to CA when the company acquired Uccel Corp.,
in 1987, has held various positions in development, planning and
operations at the company and was named executive vice-president
of operations in January, 1993. He will also become a member of
the board of directors.

Richard P. Grasso, executive vice-chairman, president, and chief
operating officer of the New York Stock Exchange, was also named
to the CA board.

(Grant Buckler/19940120/Press Contact: Deborah Coughlin,
Computer Associates, tel [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(TOR)(00017)

Lotus Ships Windows SmartMaster For Graphics 01/20/94
CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1994 JAN 20 (NB) -- Lotus
Development Corp., has announced the Freelance Graphics for
Windows SmartMaster Business Pack, a package of presentation
styles and clip-art images for the company's graphics software.
The pack is available now.

SmartMasters are ready-made presentation formats that let users
of Freelance Graphics plug in text, charts, and graphics without
worrying about the design of their presentations. The idea is
increasingly common in presentation and publishing packages.

The new package includes SmartMasters intended for typical
business situations such as weekly meetings and project updates,
the vendor said. It also includes 13 SmartMasters made for
particular industries such as manufacturing, banking, and
construction.

Also in the package are 15 new international maps, including the
United States, Canada, Australia, Japan, and major European
cities. The clip art selection includes symbols often used in
business presentations, such as a credit card and a newspaper,
international currency symbols, and some common
business-presentation cliches such as "crossing the finish line"
and "hitting a home run."

Registered North American users of Freelance Graphics for Windows
can get the SmartMaster Business Pack now from Lotus Direct for a
shipping and handling charge of $10, a spokeswoman said. It can
also be downloaded from the Ziffnet and CompuServe on-line
services at no charge other than regular connect-time rates.

Starting in February, Lotus will be including a coupon with new
copies of Freelance Graphics release 2.01 to tell buyers about
the SmartMaster package. Users are free to copy the files, the
company added.

(Grant Buckler/19940120/Press Contact: Nancy Prendergast or
Barbara Ewen, McGlinchey & Paul for Lotus, 617-862-4514)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(DEN)(00018)

Aldus Sells Supercard Rights To Allegiant 01/20/94
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON, U.S.A., 1994 JAN 20 (NB) -- Aldus
Corp., has announced the sale of all rights to its Supercard
software, an application development tool kit for the Apple
Macintosh computer.

Aldus said it sold Supercard to Allegiant Technologies Inc., a San
Diego, California-based company. Supercard was originally
developed and published by Silicon Beach Software Inc., and
acquired by Aldus when it purchased Silicon Beach in 1990.

Aldus says Supercard "no longer fits into our future product
plans." Supercard developer Bill Appleton is now at Allegiant
Technologies along with other developers of the program.

Allegiant will take over publishing, technical support and
customer service for Supercard after a transition period of
about 30 days, said Aldus. During the transition period Aldus'
Consumer Division will continue to provide technical support.

(Jim Mallory/19940120/Press Contact: Brad Stevens, Aldus
Corp., 206-628-2361; Reader Contact: Aldus Corp., 619-558-6000;
Allegiant Technologies, 619-535-4803)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SFO)(00019)

 ****Newsbytes CD-ROM Sells Out; Volume IV Due Soon 01/20/94
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, U.S.A., 1994 JAN 20 (NB) -- The most
recent edition of the Newsbytes CD-ROM Volume III, which
contains more than 51,000 news stories written about the
worldwide telecommunications and computer industries by the
Newsbytes reporting team, is sold out. All 500 discs in this
limited edition have been sold and advance orders are being
taken for Volume IV, the first Newsbytes CD to contain
digitized photos, due in mid-February.

Newsbytes Volume IV, published by Wayzata Technologies,
will contain the full contents of Volume III plus another six
months of news stories. Volume IV offers keyword searching
of all stories written by the Newsbytes News Network
from May, 1983 through December, 1993.

Volume IV will also  be the first CD-ROM in the Newsbytes
series to display digitized graphics and photographs to go
along with the text, products of the new Newsbytes Newspix
photo service, available to licensed publishers.

The Newsbytes CD-ROM series are "hybrid" in that they run on
both the Apple Computer Macintosh and PCs, so one disc can be
used on either platform.

Volume IV will be priced at $29.95 (plus $4.50 shipping and
handling) for all first-time buyers of a Newsbytes CD-ROM and
$19.95 (plus $4.50 shipping and handling) to all current
Volume III Newsbytes disc owners. Current owners of a Newsbytes
disc should send a photocopy or the original of the Volume III
CD-ROM jewel case cover art to qualify, or the $10-off coupon
included in some Volume III orders. The cover art will be returned.

"Newsbytes Volume IV CD-ROM represents the fourth annual disc in
the Newsbytes archives series, but the first to offer graphics. We
now will have shots of the products, people, and places we're
writing about. These images can be viewed onscreen to accompany
the related news story. It is an exciting new addition to our
previously text-based CD-ROM," said Wendy Woods, editor-in-chief.

"Newsbytes, the new 1994 edition, provides an insightful 11-year
historical time-line on the development of the computer industry
and with the addition of images this year, is a fantastic resource,"
said Mark Englehardt, CEO of Wayzata Technology Inc.

The digitized photos included on the Volume IV disc are
taken directly from Newsbytes' new picture service, Newspix,
which provides publishers and on-line services with at least
30 digitized product, people, place, and event shots to
supplement text-based news stories.

Newsbytes is the world's largest source of independent computer
and telecom industry reporting, available to magazines,
newspapers, newsletter, on-line services, and other media for
publication. Newsbytes files 30 stories a  day -- 600 a month.

The stories are first-hand reported and gathered by the
Newsbytes team of 19 daily reporters in Los Angeles, San
Francisco, Denver, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Atlanta, Washington
DC, Boston, Toronto, London, Tokyo, Hongkong, Sydney, and New
Delhi. Newsbytes reporters provide on-site coverage of dozens
of trade shows each year, focusing on the latest marketing,
legal, business, and product trends.

A Textware search engine enables CD-ROM discs in the series
to be keyword searched for stories in which individual words
or text strings appear, or Boolean searched ("keyword1" plus
"keyword2" but not "keyword3"). This makes it an invaluable
tool for researchers and libraries.

Newsbytes, a pioneering electronic publication, has provided daily
coverage of the dynamic and complex computer and telecoms
industries since 1983. Newsbytes can be read daily on Genie,
America Online, Applelink, Bix, Dialog and Newsnet. A select group
of stories can also be read daily on Ziffnet. Newsbytes is also
distributed to Internet sites by Clarinet Communications of
San Jose, California, by FM subcarrier to customer sites by
Desktop Data, and distributed by fax and electronic-mail by
Individual Inc.

In addition, Newsbytes is distributed to bulletin board services
by Boardwatch Magazine and by Associated Information Services
of Andover, Minnesota. Newsbytes stories are also printed by over
100 magazines, newspapers, and newsletters worldwide.

Newsbytes coverage has won Best Online Publication awards five
times from the Computer Press Association, the largest
organization of professional computer journalists worldwide.
Newsbytes is an independent, privately held news organization.

Those interested in ordering the CD-ROM should send a check or
money order, or their Visa or Mastercard number, with expiration
date (no American Express please) to CD-ROM Offer, Newsbytes
News Network, Carriage House, 406 West Olive St., Stillwater,
MN 55082, or fax to 612-430-0441.

Electronic mail orders should be sent to [e-mail]
(Internet), NEWSBYTES1 (Applelink or Bix), NEWSBYTES (MCI Mail),
72241,337 (Compuserve), or NEWSBYTES on America Online. Include
shipping address.

(Newsbytes Staff/19930120)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(ATL)(00020)

Newsbytes Launches "Computing In Education" Beat 01/20/94
ATLANTA, GEORGIA, U.S.A., 1994 JAN 20 (NB) -- As an enhancement
to its current comprehensive coverage of worldwide computer and
telecommunications issues, Newsbytes News Network will now
offer the latest information concerning computing in education,
an increasingly important topic of concern not only to parents
and educators, but builders of the so-called information
superhighway.

Dana Blankenhorn, Newsbytes' telecommunications expert,
will also be covering this new beat.

"My goal is to use our technology focus to cover this beat from a
new angle," he said. "Education is a highly political area, but
many technology issues cut across it." Issues include the
information superhighway, the Internet, client-server and
multimedia technologies, and education reform movements
spawned by those technologies will be a special focus of his
work.

"Computers in education doesn't just mean educational drill
software for children in computer labs. Although that is
important, the topic also means computerized classrooms,
multimedia educational materials, and political, social, and
funding issues. Since many Newsbytes readers have children
and computers at home, and many people are using computers
to learn new careers, computers in education are increasingly
a mainstream issue."

In addition to covering education and education-technology
issues, Blankenhorn will also concentrate on reviewing
educational software.

(Wendy Woods/01118994/Press Contact: Dana Blankenhorn,
Newsbytes Education Editor, 404-373-7634)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(BOS)(00021)

 ****HP's New Servers Targeted At Firms Of All Sizes 01/20/94
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1994 JAN 20 (NB) -- Hewlett-
Packard's new HP 9000 E-class business servers reflect the
effectiveness of a "stealth marketing" strategy that HP has
been pursuing over the past few years, according to Carol Mills,
general manager of HP's General Systems Division.

"We've quietly infiltrated the marketplace, taken advantage of our
competitors' weaknesses, and liberated their customers," quipped
Mills, during a press conference attended by Newsbytes in Boston.

In 1993, HP rose to number two in the mainframe computer market,
with unit shipments surpassed only by IBM, she noted. Earlier in
the event, Lew Platt, HP's president, chairman, and CEO, pointed
out that HP's growth rate in the Unix market has risen to twice the
industry average.

"Now, with the new business servers, we're adding a low-end
extension to our systems, at an unprecedented price point," added
Mills.

Priced starting at $5,969, HP's three new Unix-based PC servers are
targeted at small and medium-sized businesses, as well as use
with "replicated applications" on enterprise networks.

On large networks, the RISC-based Model E25, E35 and E45 servers
offer a cost-effective way of distributing frequently performed
applications to multiple remote branch or store locations, putting
information directly into the hands of those who need it most, she
explained. The distributed systems can be managed from a central
location with HP OpenView.

For small, medium-sized, and large businesses alike, the low-cost
servers offer extensibility, allowing companies to easily expand
and upgrade their systems as required, according to the general
manager.

Mills illustrated the advantages of the E-class servers with a
video showing use of the systems by Hyatt Hotel Corp., a chain of
over 100 hotels in the US, and Wall Street Deli Inc., a nationwide
chain of 15 restaurants. At the close of the event, officials of
Hyatt and Wall Street Deli elaborated on these applications in
meetings with Newsbytes.

Like HP's new Model 712 desktop workstations, also announced at the
press conference, the E-class series run on HP-UX 9.04, the latest
version of the same operating system used with other systems in the
HP-9000 series, according to Mills.  HP can preload system software
and preconfigure system resources so that the E-class servers are
ready to run immediately, she said.

Also like the Model 712 workstations, the Model E25, Model E35, and
Model E45 servers are based on HP's PA-7100LC, a RISC (reduced
instruction-set computer) processor, announced last month, that is
designed to raise reliability and lower system cost by integrating
the memory controller, the input/output controller, and multimedia
capabilities into the CPU (central processor unit).

To boost performance, a second integer unit is also built into the
chip, providing two-way superscalar design for executing two
instructions simultaneously.

Mills told the journalists that, as a result, HP's E-class servers
offer better price/performance than either Intel-, PowerPC-,
Pentium-based, or competing Unix-based servers. The entry-level
E25, for example, achieves SPECint92 compute performance of 45.0
and SPECfp92 of 66.6, according to Mills. In comparison, the Sun
Sparc Classic supplies 26.4 SPECint92 and 21.0 SPECfp92. The 486-
based NCR 3350 is rated at 32.0 SPECint92 and 16.0 SPECfp92.

On the industry-standard TPC-C benchmark, the Model E35 achieves
401 transactions per minute (tpmC) at $1,895/tpmC running the
Informix database, exceeding the IBM PowerPC (310 tpmC at $1,204)
by 29 percent, she said.

Videos accompanying Mills' presentation explained that the 55,000-
room Hyatt Hotel Corp. is using HP's E-class servers for replicated
financial and customer service applications, and that Wall Street
Deli, a medium-sized restaurant chain with annual revenues of $48
million, has installed a single E-class server.

In a meeting with Newsbytes just after the press conference, Gordon
S. Kerr, senior VP, management information systems, for Hyatt Hotel
Corp., said that the hotel management company has already purchased
15 of the new HP servers, and plans to buy 15 to 20 more over the
next six months.

Hyatt selected the E-servers following a 17-vendor evaluation,
conducted after a decision was made to upgrade from a set of AT&T
and HP G Series servers bought in the 1980s, Kerr added. The speed
and reliability of HP's new servers were factors in the choice, as
was HP's willingness to "configure the servers as a system."

Hyatt is running an Informix database on the E-servers, Newsbytes
was told. The servers are being used for SQL (structured query
language) queries, in addition to file transfers with terminals
throughout the hotel chain.

In another meeting in Boston, Steven G. Barrow, director of
information systems for Wall Street Deli, told Newsbytes that the
move to the E-server was made as part of a sweeping upgrade from
a system consisting of six IBM text terminals and an old IBM 36
midrange system, produced before the advent of the AS/400.

Also in the system upgrade, Wall Street Deli has purchased
15 HP Vectra PCs, and 10 HP Laser Jet printers. Prior to the
upgrade, data was exchanged between the terminals and the IBM
36 by shipping floppy disks via overnight mail, said Barrow. "The
IBM 36 was a pretty good system for the early days, but by now
it's become archaic," he observed.

Wall Street Deli has been able to maintain its legacy applications
by running IBM 36 code on the HP system, added Barrow. The Vectras
are being polled for financial updates by modem. For the future,
the restaurant chain is considering installing more E-servers,
along with point-of-sale applications.

The HP models E25 and E35 are available immediately. The E45 is
scheduled for delivery in May. Prices range from $5,969 to $11,319
for base systems, which include two I/O (input/output) slots
(expandable to four slots), the CPU, 16 megabytes (MB) of RAM, a
535MB disk, eight RS-232 ports, an integrated LAN (local area
network) interface, integrated single-ended SCSI-2 (small
computer systems interface type 2) interface, and parallel
centronics support.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19940119/Reader Contact:  Hewlett-Packard
Company, 800-751-8900; Press Contacts:  Melissa Calvo, HP,
408-447-5456; Jim Christensen, HP, 408-447-1678; Tim Hurley,
Copithorne & Bellows Public Relations for HP, 617-252-0606)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(BOS)(00022)

HP's Entria Brings Advanced Features To X Terminals 01/20/94
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1994 JAN 20 (NB) -- Hewlett-
Packard's new Entria X terminals provide Energy Star compliance,
ten-minute installation, local windows management, and other
highly advanced features in a low-priced, ergonomic package,
according to HP officials.

The graphical terminals were rolled out along with new servers,
workstations, and software in a gala press conference attended by
Newsbytes at the Park Plaza Castle in Boston. The new software
includes HP Enware, a suite designed for the new Entria family as
well as HP Envizex and HP 700/RX stations.

The Entria stations offer performance ratings of up to 104,000
Xstones for prices beginning at $995, executives told the 100-or-so
journalists who braved the sub-zero temperatures and icy streets
outside to throng the medieval-style castle for the event.

The new 14- to 19-inch color and monochrome X terminals were
developed for users who want to replace character-based terminals
with a sophisticated windowed environment while avoiding the
systems maintenance and administration costs associated with
PCs and workstations, officials said.

HP holds the largest share of the X station market today,
maintained Gary Eichhorn, VP and general manager of the Workstation
Systems Group. Key features of the market leader's latest entry
include plug-and-play installation, same-screen display of Unix-
and mainframe-based applications, energy efficiency, and a small
footprint, he said.

The simultaneous introduction of the Unix-based HP 9000 E-class
servers with Entria will spell even greater growth for HP's X
terminal business in the future, predicted Lew Platt, HP's
chairman, president, and CEO, in response to a question from
Newsbytes at the end of the press conference.

Entria achieves ten-minute, plug-and-play installation through
compliance with the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP),
according to Eichhorn. The Entria terminals are billed as the
first X terminals to conform to DHCP, which automatically assigns
an IP address to the device when it is connected to the network.

The X terminals provide access to legacy host systems through local
IBM 3270 and DECVT320 emulation. Unix- and mainframe-based
applications can be viewed simultaneously through multiple
windows on the screen. Users can cut and paste between windows,
and deliver information from a mainframe-based to a Unix
application by pointing and clicking.

The Energy Star-compliant terminals shut down automatically when
the system is not in use for a prescribed period of time, a feature
aimed at government users as well as customers concerned with
energy consumption.

The small, low-profile package design measures 13- by 11- by 2.5-
inches. Other features include fan-free quite operation, an icon-
driven startup screen, and multiple keyboard support. The
terminals offer a dynamic keyboard mapper feature, together with a
choice of industry-standard PC 101 and IBM 3270 terminal keyboards.

The new HP Enware software for HP's X stations includes HP Enware
X server software 5.1 for system management, HP Enware terminal
manager 1.0 for network management, and HP Enware 3270 1.0, an
optional Motif-based local client implementation of 3270 emulation
for IBM host access. The server software is billed as including
the industry's only local user environment for X terminals, HP
Visual User Environment/RX, which allows users to effectively
manage multiple windows.

Speaking with Newsbytes during an informal session with journalists
just after the press conference, Platt said that many users today
are combining HP's X stations with workstations on the same server-
based networks, using the less expensive X stations in situations
where the power of a workstation is not required.

Questions posed by other reporters covered topics ranging from
HP's activities in Latin America to the CEO's thoughts on Pentium,
PowerPC, and Windows NT.

HP is becoming highly involved in the markets of such countries as
Brazil, Argentina and Mexico, said the HP chief. With regard to
systems based on competing chips, HP views Pentium as being
oriented more to personal use, and PowerPC to business
applications, he responded.

"Windows NT hasn't been getting as much use as I would have
expected," Platt noted. But, he added, Windows itself started out
relatively slow, before becoming a major market phenomenon.

HP's new color and monochrome terminals range in performance
from 91,000 Xstones to 104,000 Xstones, and in price from $995
to $2,895. For all five models, resolution is 1,024-by-768.

HP Enware X server software is priced at $695, and HP Enware X
terminal software at $495. Only one copy is required per customer
site.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19940120/Reader Contact: Hewlett-Packard
Company, 800-751-8900; Press Contacts:  Lynn Wehner, HP,
508-436-5017; Tim Hurley, Copithorne & Bellows for HP,
617-252-0606)


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

Ambra's New Features, Lower Prices For Pentium PCs 01/20/94
RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA, U.S.A., 1993 JAN 20 (NB) -- Ambra
Computer Corp., a wholly owned IBM subsidiary that produces custom
PCs for North American "enhanced users," has announced new
features for its Pentium-based systems, along with price reductions
of more than 10 percent for all Ambra Pentium-based PCs.

The new features include a pair of options -- the Matrox MG II+
video card, delivering 90 million WinMark performance, and an
one gigabyte (GB) hard drive with 8.5 millisecond (ms) access
speed -- along with a standard expansion of the PCI/IDE (Peripheral
Component Interconnect/Integrated Drive Electronics) controller.
The number of peripherals the controller can manage has been
increased from two to four.

"These new offerings reflect Ambra's continued commitment to
provide users with the utmost in system performance. And we are
fully leveraging our worldwide product sourcing abilities, while
taking advantage of industry pricing trends, to provide the most
affordable high-end PCs in the market today," said David B.
Middleton, president and CEO.

Under the new pricing structure, pricing is $2,669 for a sample
configuration offering an Intel 60 megahertz (MHz), 64-bit
Pentium processor with eight megabytes (MB) of RAM, a 540MB hard
drive, 256 kilobyte (KB) L2 processor cache, a 3.5-inch diskette
drive, seven expansion slots -- four ISA (Industry Standard
Architecture), two PCI, and one ISA/PCI -- a fast PCI IDE controller,
a PCI graphics accelerator, and a 14-inch SVGA color monitor.

For greater graphics performance, a customer can order the same
system with 16MB of RAM, a Diamond Viper graphics accelerator
with 2MB video RAM, and a 15-inch FST color monitor for $3,449.

On the very high end, a sample configuration priced at $4,370
provides 16MB of RAM, a 1GB IDE hard drive, a PCI Matrox MGA II+
graphics accelerator with 2MB of VRAM, a double-speed CD-ROM
drive, and a 15-inch FST color monitor.

All systems come loaded with MS-DOS 6.2 and Windows 3.1. All
system purchases are protected by a 30-day money-back guarantee
and a one-year limited warranty. The Ambra systems are available
through a toll-free number -- 800-25AMBRA. Toll-free technical
support can be obtained 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19940114/Reader Contact: Ambra, 800-25AMBRA;
Press Contacts: Craig Conrad, Ambra, 919-713-1550; Anne Marie
Clark, Cunningham Communications for Ambra, 617-494-8202)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(BOS)(00024)

Mercedes-Benz Subsidiary Downsizes To HP Workstations 01/20/94
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1993 JAN 20 (NB) -- "Hewlett-
Packard is already delivering on the promises made for the new
HP 9000 Series 700 Model 712 workstations," said Walter Uhi.

At a press conference in Boston where the workstations and other
new HP products were introduced, Siegfried Alack of Mercedes-Benz
Lease Finanz (MBLF) and Uhi, an official of HP's arm in Germany,
described the effectiveness of HP workstations in streamlining and
speeding operations for MBLF.

MBLF, a $4.7 billion, Stuttgart, Germany-based subsidiary of
Damiler-Benz's Debi Group, arranges for the purchase and lease of
Mercedes Benz vehicles through Mercedes dealerships.

In a presentation at the press conference, which was attended by
Newsbytes, Alack said that in November, 1992, MBLF began to replace
its IBM mainframe- and PC-based network with HP9000 Series 700
workstations and Series 800 servers. By December, 1993, MBLF had
installed HP 250 workstations and eight HP servers.

The ultimate goal of the downsizing effort is to reduce the time
needed to approve a leasing arrangement from three days to 30
minutes, he explained.

In a meeting with Newsbytes after the press conference Alack and
Uhi said that the HP workstations are providing much higher
reliability and security than the PCs, which were prone to a
variety of time-consuming technical troubles.

The new HP configuration is also promoting a standard user
interface, open systems integration, and greater uniformity among
the applications accessed by end users throughout the company.

Previously, users had relied an eclectic range of PC-based
applications, Alack told Newsbytes. MBLF is now running existing
PC applications, in conjunction with software specifically
developed for the new client-server system.

The Benz subsidiary is currently planning to add 250 new HP
workstations to its X.25- and ISDN (integrated services digital
network)-based network, along with more than 30 new HP servers,
according to Alack.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19940120/Reader Contact: Hewlett-Packard,
800-751-8900; Press Contacts: Heidi Sullivan, HP, 508-436-5096;
Lynn Wehner, HP, 508-436-5017; Tim Hurley, Copithorne & Bellows
Public Relations for HP, 617-252-0606)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TYO)(00025)

Hitachi & Mitsubishi Link Up On Flash Memory 01/20/94
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1994 JAN 20 (NB) -- Hitachi and Mitsubishi Electric
have signed an agreement concerning the joint development of
flash memory chips.

Both firms hope to standardize flash memory chips used in the
industry. France's Thomson is expected to join the alliance at a
later date. Hitachi and Mitsubishi Electric were already
developing such products on their own.

To begin with, both firms will develop a 16-megabit DINOR-type
flash memory by January 1995. By mid-1995, both firms want to
start quantity production of the chip. Also, Hitachi and Mitsubishi
plan to release a sample 64-megabit AND-type flash memory in
April 1995. By the end of 1995, both firms hope to ship the
64-megabit version in quantity.

The basic technologies of both DINOR-type and AND-type chips
have already been developed by Mitsubishi and Hitachi respectively.
As a result, the companies will just have to create the improved
versions, and set up quantity production technologies and
facilities.

With this joint development and production agreement, both firms
hope to be able to reduce costs and development times. Reports
have both firms' flash memory chips being small in size, but having
fast processing capabilities, and a low-energy consumption feature.

This is not the only link between flash memory firms. Intel has a
deal with Japan's Sharp and commands about a 70 percent share of
the market. Toshiba also has a deal with National Semiconductor
and Korea's Samsung concerning flash memory.

(Masayuki "Massey" Miyazawa/19930120/Press Contact: Hitachi,
tel [phone], fax [phone])


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

Olivetti's Sub-Notebook Offers Audio Dictation/Messaging 01/20/94
SPOKANE, WASHINGTON, U.S.A., 1994 JAN 20 (NB) -- Olivetti says it
was thinking of the mobile user when it designed its sub-notebook
computer line with a built-in microphone and loudspeaker for
dictation or messaging.

The company offers a sub-notebook personal computer (PC) -- the
Quaderno 33 -- that is about the size of a sheet of paper folded in
half (8.25- by 8 7/8 by 8 5/8-inches) powered by a 20 megahertz
(MHz) Advanced Micro devices 386SXLV processor and equipped
with a video graphics array (VGA) backlit screen. At under three
pounds, the Quaderno offers six hours of battery life, and a 93-key
keyboard with an integrated trackball and separate number pad.

It comes with four megabytes (MB) of random access memory
(RAM) expandable to 12MB, a Personal Computer Memory Card
International Association (PCMCIA) type 2 slot, and a 60MB hard
drive. MS-DOS, Windows 3.1, Microsoft Works for Windows,
Lotus Organizer, and a file transfer utility, are also included.

A built-in fax/modem supports communications, but the unit has an
analog mode for voice messages and can be used as an answering
machine. Audio jacks are also included, as are serial and
parallel ports, a VGA monitor interface, and an external keyboard
or mouse port.

Olivetti also offers the Phlios line of four notebook PCs which
are 8.5- by 11-inches in size and come equipped with Intel 386SL
or 486SL processors. Options vary on the four models, but include
VGA screens in color or black and white, Business Audio, and as
much as six hours battery life.

The Quaderno 33 begins at $1,750, while the Philos line ranges
from $1,329 to $2,451. Price cuts are expected in late January of
this year, company representatives added, but no definite figures
were available.

(Linda Rohrbough/19940120/Press Contact: Ulla Nylin-Reinelt,
Olivetti North America, tel [phone], fax [phone];
Public Contact, 800-633-9909/PHOTOS)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(LAX)(00027)

Interbase 4 Client/Server Upsizing Tool Intro'd 01/20/94
SCOTTS VALLEY, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994 JAN 20 (NB) -- Borland
International has announced Interbase 4, a relational database
Borland has been working on since its acquisition of Ashton-Tate
in 1991. Interbase is described as a scalable relational data base
server designed for client/server applications.

Philippe Kahn, president, chairman, and chief executive officer
(CEO) of Borland International explained the main benefit to
software application developers. "Borland has designed Interbase
4 with a unique client perspective that will enable our customers
to continue using familiar desktop tools while they scale their
applications into client/server and workgroup solutions," Kahn
said. Borland claims developers will be able to use Interbase 4
to "upsize" network applications to be secure client/server
applications.

Interbase 4 will be available on popular Intel-based platforms
including Microsoft NT, Novell NetWare and IBM OS/2, the company
said. Borland has also enhanced and included new features within
InterBase for the mission-critical, embedded systems market.

Borland claims the product has been developed to handle mission-
critical applications with the addition of American National
Standards Institute (ANSI) structured query language (SQL) 2
entry-level support. It also includes a number of SQL language
extensions including stored procedures, triggers, event alerters,
and declarative referential integrity constraints. Interbase's
new Shared Cache feature also allows all client connections to
share a single copy of database buffers while also retaining
scheduling and monitoring.

Other features include: Express Link to enable the server to
respond directly to native desktop commands; Scrollable Cursors
for allowing the user to browse backwards and forwards through
data as if it were local to the desktop via the use of bi-directional
pointers between all records; Cursor Context Preservation, so the
user can browse through multiple updated records without
additional work to reopen and reposition the cursor; Cache Update
enabling users to maintain data integrity and consistency without
having to poll the server that also reduced network traffic; and
Explicit Locks providing desktop-style control over data by enabling
users to explicitly request locks to remain on records even after
updates are committed.

(Linda Rohrbough/19940120/Press Contact: Cathy Caplener,
Borland, tel [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(LON)(00028)

UK - Group Formed To Define PCMCIA Compatibility 01/20/94
SOUTH WIMBLEDON, LONDON, ENGLAND, 1994 JAN 20 (NB) -- Dataflex
Design, the modem manufacturer, has set up a "Quickswap" Special
Interest Group (SIG) of manufacturers who have the brief of
defining a clear set of compatibility requirements for x86-based
PCs.

The move stems from Dataflex's announcement dating from last
October when the company announced it was offering free Personal
Computer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA)-
compliance testing to help ensure that a uniform standard is
reached for PCMCIA technology users.

According to Dataflex, around ten (notebook and modem)
manufacturers took advantage of the offers. Dataflex says it will
pass the results of the tests to the SIG and any other interested
parties.

Members of the newly-formed group include: Dataflex, Cirrus Logic,
Intel, National Semiconductor, NEC Technologies, Ordinal Associates,
Phoenix Technologies, Systemsoft, Toshiba, Ventura Micro, Xircom,
and Zenith Data Systems.

Dataflex claims that the efforts of the SIG and the PCMCIA are
complementary. While the PCMCIA controls the technical standards
and the compatibility guidelines, the SIG has charged itself with
compatibility testing and promotional activities relating to X86-
based products.

"We've long been aware that PCMCIA, despite being a remarkable
achievement as a standard, still has compatibility limitations.
That's why we set up our own testing facility and offered it as a
service to the industry," explained Gerry O'Prey, Dataflex's
technical director.

According to O'Prey, although the response was not as great as the
company had hoped, "now that a new industry-wide group has been
formed, I'm confident that compatibility issues will be taken very
seriously. We will be working with the SIG and passing our results
to them, as well as submitting all future PCMCIA technology for
testing by the group," he said.

Newsbytes understands that the Quickswap architecture specification,
which was formerly known as ExCA and developed by Intel, has been
proposed as a standard to the PCMCIA. Plans call for the SIG to create
and maintain a Quickswap test specification and test suite based on
the output of the PCMCIA process.

These tests will be offered to all interested companies from several
independent test laboratories and will be available to SIG member
companies.

(Steve Gold/19940120/Press & Public Contact: Dataflex Design,
tel [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(LON)(00029)

UK - Softklone Updates Talking Windows Comms Prgm 01/20/94
MAIDENHEAD, BERKSHIRE, 1994 JAN 20 (NB) -- Softklone UK, the PC
communications company, has released version 2.4 of Talking
Windows, its terminal emulation software.

According to the company, Talking Windows 2.4 supports 3270
terminal emulation sessions using the Telnet protocol, via the
TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) kernel
resident in the package and other TCP/IP stacks.

A new "Mensa Mouse" facility has been introduced with TW 2.4 to
assist users working in an IBM environment. The facility allows a
table to be pulled up on request detailing the facilities of the PF1
to PF24 keys.

"The key message to the marketplace regarding this latest version of
Talking Windows is that with the new support for IBM 3270 block
mode terminals, TW 2.4 is now the most suitable terminal emulation
product currently available for those sites running multi-vendor
host systems and networks," said Lee Wood, SoftKlone's managing
director.

"In earlier versions of Talking Windows we had an excellent product
for the DEC and Unix environments. This pedigree has been continued
in Version 2.4, but is now considerably bolstered by the IBM
capabilities," he added.

According to Wood, Talking Windows 2.4 is one of the first terminal
emulation packages for the Unix environment which provides support
for Wyse 60 terminal. The package also works across local area
networks (LANs) that support the TCP/IP protocol, Cterm under
DECNet, as well as a range of X.25 cards and asynchronous gateways.

New in version 2.4 of the package is an improved on-line help system,
an enhanced macro language, and support for external DLL (dynamic
link library) and DDE (dynamic data exchange) commands. There is
also a new Frozen Windows feature, allowing users to take a
snapshot of the present active session and the place it in the
"frozen window."

According to Softklone, just by clicking in menu options of Frozen
Window, the active session reacts accordingly to the option chosen.
Up to 20 frozen windows can be opened at any one time.

Talking Windows 2.4 will be available from mid-February 1994
and will cost UKP295.

(Steve Gold/19940120/Press & Public Contact: 44-628-819200)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(LON)(00030)

UK - Unisys Secures Major Post Office Contract 01/20/94
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1994 JAN 20 (NB) -- Claiming to have reaffirmed
its position as a leading supplier of international postal systems,
Unisys has secured a major contract with the General Post Office in
the UK. The contract is worth around UKP1.8 million, the computing
giant claims.

The new contract includes the supply and installation of 1,500
counter workstations, following a successful collaboration between
the two companies with the roll-out of almost 7,000 workstations
into the largest 700 Post Offices all over the UK during the last
couple of years.

According to Unisys, maintenance services and project management
will also be a part of the contract and will enable Post Office
Counters to use the workstations more efficiently and in a wider
range of outlets.

The workstations, which were built to the Post Office Counters'
specification, are PC-based and use classical open systems
hardware and software. A spokesman for Unisys said that the
machines are very similar to the 43,000 workstations which
have been supplied by the company to the US Postal Service.

(Steve Gold/19940120/Press & Public Contact: Unisys,
44-81-453-5250)