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/nb020394

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(NEWS)(GENERAL)(BOS)(00001)

New Officers Named By SGML Open Consortium 02/03/93
PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 3 (NB) -- Mary Laplante
has been named executive director of SGML Open, a consortium of
vendors whose products and services support the SGML (Standard
Generalized Markup Language) specification for document interchange
across users, platforms and applications.

In addition, Robin Tomlin, senior manager at Intergraph Corporation
Inc., has joined the SGML Open board of directors as secretary/
treasurer.

As executive director, Laplante will be responsible for business
operations, membership development, event management, and
coordination of marketing and technical activities for the
consortium. SGML Open was formed in February, 1993, to promote
and enable the widespread adoption of SGML, especially in
commercial industries.

Laplante comes to SGML Open from a ten-year background in the
electronic publishing field, officials said. She is founder and
president of Laplante and Associates, a consulting firm providing
marketing and technical expertise in publishing-related
applications.

Laplante previously served as president and COO (chief operating
officer) at Cygnet Publishing Technologies. She has also held
senior-level marketing positions at Avalanche Development
Company and Scribe Systems Inc.

Interest in SGML is currently burgeoning, and this trend presents
tremendous opportunities to SGML Open, according to LaPlante.
"Today's competitive business climate demands that organizations
protect and maximize their investments in information. SGML
enables them to do just that because it makes information portable
and reusable across users, applications and time," she noted.

Observed Larry Bohm, president of the SGML Open board and senior
VP of marketing at Interleaf: "We're very pleased to have Mary on
board. With an executive director of her caliber, we're even more
confident in the consortium's ability to have a major influence on
the continued growth of the SGML market."

Tomlin, the new secretary/treasurer of the SGML board, has spent
a significant portion of her 12-year career in the publishing
industry to promoting and implementing SGML, according to the
consortium.

As senior manager at Intergraph, Tomlin directs the Federal and
Industrial Publishing Group. She has also been employed with
Datalogics and with the Navy Printing and Publishing Service.

Aside from Tomlin, the current SGML Open board includes Bohn;
Jay Cambias, Westinghouse Electric Corporation; Pamela Gennusa,
Database Publishing Systems Ltd.; Paul Grosso, ArborText; Yuri
Rubinsky, SoftQuad Inc.; and David Seaman, InfoDesign Corp.

Other SGML Open members include AIS/Berger Levrault, ATLIS
Consulting Group, AutoGraphics, Avalanche Development Company,
Carnegie Group Inc., Data Conversion Laboratories, Datalogics Inc.,
Electronic Book Technologies Inc., Exoterica, Frame Technology
Corp., and Fujitsu.

Also on the membership roster are Fulcrum Technology, Grif SA,
InContext, InfoAccess, Information Dimensions Inc., Information
Mapping, InterCAP, Object Design, Officesmith, OMI Logistics, Open
Text Corp., Oracle Corp., Passage Systems Inc., Recording for the
Blind, Sturtz Electronic Publishing, Synergy Group, Texcel, US
Lynx, and XSoft - the software division of Xerox.

SGML Open is planning several activities in conjunction with
Documentation '94, a conference to be presented February 21
through 25 in Los Angeles by the Graphic Communications
Association and Publishing Technology Management.

The industry consortium will have a booth at the show, and will
also hold a conference session, product demos, and meetings of
its marketing, membership, and technical committees.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19940202/Reader Contact: SGML Open,
412-264-4258; Press Contact: Mary LaPlante, SGML
Open, 412-264-4258)


(NEWS)(IBM)(BOS)(00002)

Fujitsu Adds Features To 325Point Pen PC, Lowers Price 02/03/94
SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 3 (NB) -- Fujitsu has
enhanced its 325Point pen-based computer with a transmissive
display, an improved battery pack, and larger PCMCIA (Personal
Computer Memory Card International Association) hard drive
capacity, while lowering the price.

Targeted at vertical field applications, the 325Point weighs in
at three pounds, and is powered by a 25 megahertz (MHz) AMD
(Advanced Micro Devices) 386SXLV processor. The pen computer
comes standard with four megabytes (MB) of random access
memory (RAM), expandable to 12MB. Built into the device are two
Type III PCMCIA 2.0 slots, capable of using either Type I, Type II,
or Type III cards.

In the new edition of the 325Point, customers can choose between
the previously offered transflective display and a new transmissive
display supplying VGA support at 640 by 480 resolution, a
spokesperson told Newsbytes.

The transmissive display is aimed at use in poorly lit environments
such as warehouse and vehicle interiors, and under florescent
lighting. Three backlight settings are provided: low, medium, and
high. A built-in power-saving feature will turn off the backlight
when the computer remains inactive for a user-specified period.
Touching the display with the stylus will turn the backlight on
again.

An extended life NiCad battery pack, billed as offering 2.5 times
the charge capacity of a standard NiCad battery, is optionally
available for 325Point PCs with transmissive displays.

Another option is a 105MB PCMCIA hard disk that provides about 2.5
times the capacity of the previously offered 42MB PCMCIA hard
drive.

Base pricing for the newly enhanced 325Point is $1,695, a $500
reduction over the previous price of $2,295. The NiCad battery pack
is priced at an additional $225, and the 105MB PCMCIA hard disk at
$695. The product is shipping.

Other battery options -- available for 325Point PCs with either
transflective or transmissive displays -- include a nickel metal
hydride battery pack, a battery holder (powered by six AA
alkaline batteries), and the standard NiCad battery pack. The
325Point can also be powered by AC adapter.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19940202/Reader Contact: Fujitsu Personal
Systems, 408-982-9500; Press Contacts: Bill Wittmann, Fujitsu,
408-764-9484; Erin Curtis or Robert Walt, Walt & Sommerhauser
Communications for Fujitsu, 408-496-0900)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(SFO)(00003)

Claris Intros ClarisWorks 2.1 For Mac 02/03/94
SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA. U.S.A., 1994 FEB 3 (NB) -- Claris Corp.,
has announced shipment of ClarisWorks 2.1 for Apple Computer's
Macintosh platform.

Speaking with Newsbytes, Ines Anderson, spokesperson for Claris,
said, "Our new release is available in upgrades for our 1.0 users and
for our 2.0 users. The best advantage of 2.1 is for System 7 Pro
users and for the European users of ClarisWorks."

The new version takes advantage of PowerTalk which facilitates
consolidating and sharing for users. A new filter has been added for
Microsoft Excel and another for ClarisWorks 1.0 text. These filters
simplify document sharing between Macintosh and Windows users,
according to the company.

ClarisWorks has been a very popular integrated program in the
European market, according to Claris, and the company says it will
continue to develop and support all of its overseas users. European
users will find greater enhancement with support of hyphenation,
which allows the user to create more professional-looking
documents that include many hyphenated terms, said the company.

ClarisWorks 2.1 will be available for Power PC users when Apple
begins shipping the new computers in the Spring of this year. The
new version will include disks for both the Macintosh and the Power
PC models.

The suggested retail price for ClarisWorks 2.1 is $299 with
upgrades for 1.0 users at $99, and upgrades for 2.0 users at $13
or free from on-line services.

(Patrick McKenna/19940202/Press Contact: Ines Anderson,
Claris Corp., 408-987-7154)


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

Aldus Acquires Desktop Video Products; Posts Record '93 02/03/94
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 3 (NB) -- Aldus Corp., has
announced the acquisition of a line of desktop video software
products from the former desktop division of Digital F/X Inc. Terms
of the deal were not disclosed. At the same time, the company has
announced a record fourth quarter and fiscal 1993. Both periods
ended December 31, 1993.

According to the Aldus, the acquisition includes a program code-
named Hitchcock, a non-linear video editing software application;
and Titlesoft, a Postscript rendering and video title generation
program. Both packages run on Apple Computer's Macintosh
platform. Neither has been released yet.

This is the second digital video-oriented technology acquisition
for Aldus in less than one year. In July, 1993, it acquired the
Company of Science & Art and its special effects and graphics
program CoSA After Effects.

According to the company, Hitchcock and Titlesoft development
will continue, with release scheduled later this year. Development
will be under the direction of three former Digital F/X software
engineers who joined Aldus after the acquisition. Pricing and a
shipping date are still to be determined.

Aldus says Hitchcock will combine Joint Photographic Experts
Group (JPEG) file compression with a suite of professional tools
for random-access, disk-based video editing. While pricing has not
been announced, Aldus says it will be "significantly lower than
current turnkey systems." Hitchcock provides 30 frames-per-
second, 640 by 480 JPEG video, and digital stereo audio. It can
output directly to video or serve as an editing tool for digital
video in Apple Quicktime format.

In addition to Hitchcock and Titlesoft, Aldus also acquired
hardware products Video F/X, a turnkey video editing tool; and
Titleman, a Postscript-based title generator. Aldus says it is
looking for a buyer for those products, since it is not in the
hardware business. The company says buyer qualifications will
include the ability to provide an upgrade and support path for
the two products.

Aldus says Hitchcock and Titlesoft will be targeted for
professional video products initially, but will incorporate the
products' core technology into new Aldus software for a broader
group of users.

In announcing its financial results, the company says revenues for
the year were $206.8 million, up 19 percent from the previous year.
Net earnings for the year were also up, increasing from $0.47 per
share to $0.70. The 1993 results included one-time charges totaling
$0.37 per share related to the acquisitions of After Hours Software,
The Company of Science and Art, and various restructuring expenses.
Without those charges the earnings per share for the year would
have been $1.07.

Aldus VP of Finance and Chief Financial Officer Bill McAleer called
1993 "a pivotal year" for Aldus. "During the year we refocused our
business strategy, shipped ten new products, restructured our
worldwide operations to improve operating efficiencies, and made
several strategic investments and acquisitions which we expect to
benefit Aldus in the future."

McAleer credited the mid-year release of an updated version of the
high-end desktop publishing program Pagemaker, the company's
flagship product, as being instrumental in the year's results.
Pagemaker upgrade revenues for the fourth quarter were reported
as $9.8 million.

During 1993 Aldus also released Freehand 4.0 for the Macintosh,
and introduced two products -- Touchbase and Datebook -- from
its new consumer division. The company recently announced new
versions of Persuasion for the Macintosh, Home Publisher,
Touchbase for Windows, and CoSA After Effects.

(Jim Mallory/19940202/Press Contact: Brad Stevens, Aldus
Corp., 206-628-2361; Reader Contact: Aldus, 206-622-5500)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(DEN)(00005)

In Focus Expands Projection Panel Line 02/03/94
TUALATIN, OREGON, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 3 (NB) -- In Focus Systems
has announced the release of three additions to its LitePro line of
color computer projection panel systems.

Projection panels allow computer-generated graphics, animation
and slides to be projected on to a large screen for viewing by
groups.

The Litepro 540 measures 20.5- by 11- by 8.5-inches and can project
up to a 15-foot diagonal screen image. The 540 uses an active
matrix liquid crystal display (LCD) and can display more than 1.4
million colors simultaneously. Screen resolution is 640 by 480
pixels (picture elements -- the dots that make up the image on a
computer monitor).

The 540 includes a hand-held remote control device that
incorporates an autodetect feature to send the appropriate
context-sensitive command to the 540 with the touch of a single
button. The remote can be customized to configure it for the most
frequently used commands. A 400 watt user-changeable quartz
halogen is the light source.

The Litepro 540 can be used with an optional video adapter to
project the images to a video monitor, including NTSC (North
American Television Standards Committee) and full PAL/SECAM
signals. The unit is immediately available and has a suggested
retail price of $7,499.

The Panelbook 530 measures 9.5- by 2- by 11.5-inches and uses an
8.5-inch diagonal active matrix LCD. The 530 connects to the users
computer and is placed on an overhead projector. It has built in
support for NTSC and full PAL/SECAM video signals. Like the 540
it has a remote device that can be customized for the most often
used commands. The Panelbook 530 has a suggested retail price
of $5,299 and is scheduled to ship this month.

In Focus has also announced that it has integrated its Liteshow II
electronic presentation manager into its entire line of Panelbook
portable LCD projection panels. Liteshow II has been put on a 3.5-
inch disk drive in a slide-out drawer of the six pound notebook-
sized (9.5- by 2- by 11.5-inches) Panelbooks. The panel electronics
have been placed on the drive rather than being installed around
the screen's perimeter.

"By integrating Liteshow II into the Panelbooks, we've created an
electronic slide projector and eliminated more than 50 percent of
the equipment weight that must be carried by busy presenters,"
says Mark Reed, In Focus Systems VP of sales, marketing and
service.

Liteshow II can capture images, then mix-and-match to build
presentations of up to 50 visuals on a single 3.5-inch disk. The
user can rearrange the slide order and add special effects.

Liteshow has a suggested retail price of $750 and is available for
the Panelbook 450, 525, 530, and 550. A Litetools print driver,
priced at $395, works like a conventional print driver to capture
presentation graphics images on the computer and format them
into 640 by 480 pixel image resolution for display by the
Panelbooks.

(Jim Mallory/19940203/Press Contact: Sharon Van Sickle, KVO
Inc., for In Focus Systems, 503-221-2353; Reader Contact: In
Focus Systems, tel [phone], fax [phone]/PHOTO)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(TOR)(00006)

Powering Up NA - Ottawa Outlines Info Highway Plans 02/03/94
TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1994 FEB 3 (NB) -- Speaking at a
conference on the so-called information highway, Canadian
Minister of State for Science, Research, and Development Jon
Gerrard put a little more flesh on the bones of his government's
recent promise to develop an information infrastructure strategy.

The government's first step will be to form a committee. Gerrard
said his government will shortly name the chair and members of an
advisory council on information infrastructure. Not yet formally
named, this group will include representatives of government,
industry, labor, and consumer groups, he said. It will advise the
government on issues related to the information highway.

The council will be asked for an interim report, based in part on
the Powering Up North America conference at which Gerrard made
his announcement and on a follow-up conference scheduled for May.
But it will also be asked to provide day-to-day advice to
government departments.

Gerrard also outlined the government's priorities for the
development of information infrastructure in Canada. He said
Canada needs a home-grown approach and needs to act right away
in order to be "out in front" in developing such an infrastructure.

Despite the reference to a home-grown approach, the priorities
Gerrard laid out were very like those described by the United
States government, with one notable exception. One of the
Canadian government's three principal priorities is to reinforce
Canadian culture and sovereignty, Gerrard said. "It is critical
that when Canadians go on-line they can learn about Canadian
culture," he said.

Gerrard did not describe measures his government would take to
meet this objective, but based on what Ottawa has done in areas
such as broadcasting and publishing, it is reasonable to expect
this to mean attempts to legislate levels of Canadian content
on new information services and to control foreign ownership of
information providers and service operators.

Gerrard identified two other main objectives: job creation
through innovation and investment, which he said will mean
regulatory changes to encourage investment; and universal access
at reasonable cost.

So it appears the Canadian government, like its US counterpart,
plans to relax telecommunications regulation to allow more
competition in this area, but use its authority to insist that
everyone has access to new services. Gerrard mentioned in
particular the need for Canadians in rural areas and those on low
incomes to have access to services.

He also mentioned in passing, the protection of privacy and the
security of corporate data, but said it is not clear yet what
needs to be done in this area.

(Grant Buckler/19940203)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(SFO)(00007)

Autodesk's Competitive CAD Upgrade Program For Macs 02/03/94
SAUSALITO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 3 (NB) -- Autodesk Inc.,
a major supplier of desktop computer-aided design (CAD) software,
has announced an upgrade program for the users of VersaCAD, the
recently discontinued ClarisCAD, Generic CAD for the Macintosh,
and MacBravo.

The company claims that, with the outlook of diminishing technical
support and no further upgrades, the registered users of these
discontinued programs, with the exception of VersaCAD, are being
offered a one time opportunity to move to AutoCAD.

At this time VersaCAD has not been discontinued, but users are
included in the offer. AutoCAD Release 12 will be made available to
the users as an upgrade for the price of $995, compared to the
suggested retail price of $3,750.

The offer will only be offered until June 30, 1994.

Speaking to Newsbytes, Beth Parkinson, public relations director,
stated, "It is not our intention to take customers away from other
developers. We are offering this upgrade as a means of supporting
CAD users who will be without technical support and a source for
future improvements."

AutoCAD Release 12 for the Macintosh requires System 7.1 or
higher, 30 megabyte (MB) of hard drive space, 8MB of RAM and a
math-coprocessor.

(Patrick McKenna/19940202/Press Contact: Beth Parkinson,
415-491-8709, Autodesk; Compuserve - type GO ADESK)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SFO)(00008)

Nat Semi Cuts Ethernet Network Card Prices 02/03/94
SANTA CLARA,  CALIFORNIA,  U.S.A., 1994  FEB 3  (NB) -- For the
past three months, National Semiconductor Corp., has offered
special promotions to its distributors in order to prepare them
for an 11 to 15 percent price cut on its line of Ethernet local
networking interface card products.

According to the company, the move is designed to challenge Intel
Corp., Standard Microsystems Corp., and 3Com Corp., who with
National Semiconductor make-up the "Big Four" in the network
interface card market.

The new prices places the National InfoMover NE2000plus Ethernet
adapter for 10BASE-T at $87 when purchased in 20-pack quantities
and $97 in single unit purchases.

The price of the InfoMover NE4100 Personal Computer Memory Card
International Association (PCMCIA) Ethernet adapter card has been
reduced from $249 to $213 for either the twisted pair or coaxial
versions.

Jim Cansler, vice president of worldwide system sales and
marketing, told Newsbytes, that "With the number of choices
available to network customers, we know we have to be aggressive
in pricing, offer outstanding support and educate users about socket
services and hot insertions. We offer 24-hour tech support and to
date we have not had a single card come back yet."

Currently, National Semiconductor is in an alliance with Novell
Inc., to produce a combination of networking hardware and Novell
software and services. National claims that its networking chip
technology dominates 60 percent of the Ethernet adapter card
market.

(Patrick McKenna/19940203)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(TYO)(00009)

Association For Japanese Font Standardization Formed 02/03/94
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1994 FEB 3 (NB) -- Forty-seven Japanese personal
computer-related firms have set up an association to standardize
Japanese outline fonts. Microsoft's (Tokyo) Chairman Toru
Furukawa has assumed the chairmanship.

The firms have reached an agreement concerning the unification
of the Japanese language outline fonts, which are based on True
Type. These makers include Ricoh, Canon, Apple Computer,
Microsoft, Seiko-Epson, Softbank, Dainippon Screen, NEC, Fujitsu,
Sharp, and IBM Japan.

Currently, each computer firm has their own Japanese True Type
outline fonts, and therefore there is no set standard. These
Japanese outline fonts are already equipped on Microsoft's
Windows 3.1 and Apple's Macintosh.

True Type itself was originally developed by Apple Computer and
Microsoft in 1985. It is supported on various platforms. The
unification of Japanese outline fonts will reportedly enhance
the exchange of texts data between computers. Also, it will save
on font development costs.

The association plans to create a technical committee and a
marketing committee to support the standardization efforts.

(Masayuki "Massey" Miyazawa/19930202/Press Contact:
Microsoft, Tokyo, 81-3-5454-8000)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(HKG)(00010)

Gerry Sheridan Appointed HP Asia Pacific Support GM 02/03/94
CAUSEWAY BAY, HONG KONG, 1994 FEB 3 (NB) -- Hewlett-Packard
Asia Pacific Ltd., has appointed Gerry Sheridan general manager of
its worldwide customer support organization, Asia Pacific.

As such, he will be responsible for the maintenance, site services,
and operational support for customers in a region stretching from
Japan to New Zealand, and as far West as India.

"HP has long recognized the important contribution of support
services to a customer's overall satisfaction," Sheridan said. "We
measure customer satisfaction regularly and focus on process
management to continually adapt and enhance the quality of our
services. The role of our people is key and we make major
investments in their training and development throughout their
careers."

With Hewlett-Packard's credentials in open, distributed computing,
Sheridan sees extensive support business opportunities in the Asia
Pacific region. For example, market research shows that local area
network installation in Japan is at a low level compared to other
developed economies, but is set to rise dramatically over the next
few years.

"The shift to client-server architecture is the driving force behind
rising support service demands, but it requires new thinking from
support service providers to meet them," said Sheridan. "By
developing a thorough understanding of a customer's business
environment, HP can produce customized and specific solutions for
installation, maintenance, and on-going operations."

Sheridan assumes his Hong Kong-based job after four years in
Singapore, latterly as HP Asia Pacific system support organization
manager. He has reportedly held a variety of service and support and
professional services management positions with HP, having joined
the company as a systems engineer in 1982.

Before joining HP, Sheridan worked at Procter & Gamble, and
Honeywell. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in chemistry from
Oxford University, England.

(Keith Cameron/19940131/Press Contact: Alison Butts,
852-599-7909, HP)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(TOR)(00011)

 ****Powering Up NA - Wasting Bandwidth Key To Success 02/03/94
TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1994 FEB 3 (NB) -- Just as wasting
transistors has been a key to success in electronics products in
the past decade, wasting bandwidth will be the way to win in the
coming years, futurist George Gilder told the Powering Up North
America conference.

Gilder, a senior fellow at the Discovery Institute in Seattle and
the author of Telecosm, a forthcoming book on computers and
telecommunications, said telecommunications bandwidth will
soon be nearly free, so it can be used liberally. "Bandwidth can
solve most of the problems that are currently afflicting the
communications business, and companies that can learn to waste
bandwidth will prevail in the next era."

He said this will be similar to the way in which companies that
piled more intelligence into electronic products -- "wasting
transistors" as Gilder put it -- have beaten out their competitors
in the last few years.

Gilder's views on this subject contrasted with those of Nicholas
Negroponte, director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
(MIT) Media Lab. Negroponte called broadband transmission a
"license to be dumb" and said intelligence, rather than more
bandwidth, is what is needed.

But Gilder and Negroponte apparently agree on one thing:
companies that are scrambling to buy up stores of content so
they can be big players in a future that includes hundreds of
television channels are taking the wrong tack. "The best sell
signal for any company is a CEO going Hollywood," he said.

The telephone and television industries are not converging,
Gilder said, they are collapsing. The computer industry is much
better positioned to take advantage of new information conduits,
and is advancing faster.

Another industry that will gain from the information highway,
according to Gilder, is the newspaper business. He argued that
newspapers are already good at gathering and processing
information fast, but have outdated distribution systems that put
them at a disadvantage compared to broadcasters. Once they can
send electronic newspapers to their subscribers' home computers,
to be displayed with the same resolution as is now available on
paper, they will be at an advantage because they can provide text
as well as video and audio.

And Gilder said computers, not television sets equipped with
set-top boxes to bring in a wider variety of information, will
be the average person's preferred vehicle for traveling the
information highway. He maintained that people are already
willing to pay $1,500 for a home computer and the same again
for software and peripherals. "I don't think set-top boxes is the
game."

(Grant Buckler/19940203)


(NEWS)(IBM)(TOR)(00012)

IBM Adds High-End AS/400, Storage Products 02/03/94
WHITE PLAINS, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 3 (NB) -- IBM has
extended its AS/400 line of midrange computers upward by adding
a new model that it said can support as many as 4,800 local
workstations. The company also announced new storage options for
the AS/400 line.

IBM said the new AS/400 9406 Model F97 provides 20 percent more
throughput and supports 30 percent more disk storage than the
previous top model, the F95. Its upper limit of 4,800 addressable,
local workstations is twice what the F95 can support, IBM said.

The F97 is the 19th model in the AS/400 line, and uses four
tightly coupled system processors integrated through N-way
architecture, an approach that IBM said works especially well for
handling multiple batch jobs or simultaneous interactive tasks.
It has main storage of as much as 1,536 megabytes (MB), and can
support as many as 251.7 gigabytes (GB) of external disk storage.

The company said the new model is aimed at large customers
looking to downsize applications.

Tom Willmott, vice-president of Boston consultancy The Aberdeen
Group, told Newsbytes recently the AS/400 line has been doing
well in the market.

IBM also announced a new 3.5-inch, 1,031MB internal disk unit --
a direct-access storage device (DASD) in IBM jargon -- that is
available in single-drive and dual-drive (2,062MB) versions. The
dual-drive version will be standard equipment on AS/400 9406
models including the new F97, the company said, and the single-
drive unit will be included in new 9402 and 9406 systems.

The new 9336 II Disk Unit Model 025 stores 3,428MB using four
3.5-inch, 857MB drives. It will be offered through catalog and
direct-mail channels as an option for 9406 models.

IBM added new models to its 3995 Optical Library Dataserver. The
A43, 043, and 143 models use a new multi-function, double-
capacity drive and attach directly to AS/400 D, E, and F models,
except the 9402 Models D02 and E02, and to AS/400 Server Series
models. They accept single-capacity 650MB or double-capacity
1.3GB cartridges. The A43 can hold 16 of these, the 043 takes
32, and the 143 model can accept 144 cartridges for a total of
188GB of storage, the vendor said.

The company also said it has enhanced the 3995 Models A23, 023,
and 123 with multifunction capabilities that let them use write-
once, read-many (WORM) disks as well as the rewritable type.
These existing models are meant for connection to local area
networks, spokeswoman Carol Keslar told Newsbytes.

The company also added new models to its 3490E magnetic tape
subsystem line. The E01 and E11 models are smaller and lighter
than previous models, IBM said. They can be used with both AS/400
and RISC System/6000 computers. The E01 is a table-top version
and the E11 is a rack-mount unit.

The AS/400 9406 Model F97 is due to be available March 4 and will
cost $1.2 million for the processor plus $199,500 for Operating
System/400, IBM said. The 9336 II Disk Unit Model 025 is to ship
February 25, priced at $19,500 for 3.4GB of capacity.

The Optical Library Dataserver Models A43, 043, and 143 will be
available June 24 for $13,650, $32,500, and $80,000 respectively.
The multifunction Models A23, 023, and 123 are to be available
May 27, at $16,490, $40,600, and $101,000. Conversions from
current models 021, 022, 121, and 122 to the new 023 and 123
models will be available July 29 at prices ranging from $16,200
to $37,520.

The Model E01 and E11 tape subsystems will be available March 25
for $27,000, IBM said.

(Grant Buckler/19940203/Press Contact: Barbara McNair, IBM, 914-
642-5357; Karla Feuer, IBM, 914-642-5473; Carol Keslar, IBM, 408-
256-9451)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00013)

McGraw Aims For Wider Municipal Bond Data Distribution 02/03/94
NEW YORK, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 3 (NB) -- McGraw-Hill has
launched an effort to make the municipal bond data of its J.J.
Kenny Co., unit widely available on-line. The company recently
signed deals to make the files available on Knight-Ridder
Financial and Bloomberg terminals.

Newsbytes discussed the move with Mark Harrop of McGraw-Hill.
"We're opening up the municipal securities network to as large an
audience as possible," he said. "We're doing that not only for
traditional information and evaluation services but also for the
KennyDrake inter-dealer trading data, which can be scarce to come
by."

Harrop said the markets will benefit from the move. "Pricing
transparency is a word the regulators like to use," meaning the
spread between bid and asked prices should be at a minimum, and
the current selling price of a security should be obvious.

"So we're teaming up with as many third party providers as
possible, especially electronically, to make the market as open as
possible. With the Bloomberg agreement, along with Reuters and
Knight-Ridder, we hope to go with even more terminal vendors in
the future." Harrop even expressed interest in Telescan, which
runs services used by, among others, Charles Schwab customers,
when it was mentioned by Newsbytes.

"We see a shift in the industry" covering municipal bonds,
Harrop said. It is "increasingly retail oriented. In the old days
it was predominantly institutions and larger block dealers who
prevailed in the market. This opens it up, at a time when
everyone is interested in tax exempt investments and higher
yields. We have data on Unit Investment Trusts and Treasury bills
as well. We own the largest share of the largest vendor of
treasury bill information, and we're putting that together.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19940203/Press Contact: Mark Harrop,
JJ Kenny, 212-770-4000)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00014)

 ****Prodigy Uses AOL Problems To Emphasize Network 02/03/94
YORKTOWN, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 3 (NB) -- Prodigy is using
the technical problems at America Online as an opportunity to
regain respect among press and analysts. It called a telephone
press conference, attended by Newsbytes, at which officials
emphasized that their system is designed to handle up to 40
million  users, and predicted they will turn a profit this year.

The main voice at the press conference was that of Scott Kurnit,
an executive vice president for consumer products marketing,
who came to the company fairly recently from the TV industry.

After taking questions for nearly an hour, he summarized his
company's position. "There is no capacity issue on the largest
city in this information highway," he said. "We grew by 55,000
subscribers in the last month alone. We believe on-line services
have to be as reliable as a phone service. Prodigy is by far the
most heavily used commercial network, with 813,000 sessions
one day last January," after the LA earthquake.

The centerpiece of discussion was Prodigy's distributed
architecture. The company maintains file servers at 214 local
sites around the country, and about 90 percent of user requests
are handled locally. "When someone calls for an Atlanta weather
map, it moves to the local server, and the second person in
Atlanta gets it from that local server," Kernit explained.
"Prodigy is the only service that runs as an intelligent network."

America Online, which doubled its user base to about 600,000 in
just the last six months, recently said it would have to limit
use of its service as it seeks to upgrade its systems to handle
the growth. "When we grew from 300,000 to 600,000 in the same
time frame referenced by AOL, we were able to meet the growth,"
said Kurnit.

But growth has not been steady. Last year, after the company
announced, what many observers said was, a price increase and its
first timed charges, Kurnit acknowledged, some customers left
and the number of subscribers stayed flat.

But, he added, the firm's "Live on Prodigy" TV campaign has drawn
100,000 new users in two months, with 20,000 calling after one
ad on "Monday Night Football." He predicted Prodigy could grow
30-40 percent this year. Analysts have estimated Prodigy has
under one million users, while the service itself claims two
million users, counting each ID on a billing sheet separately.

On user questions, Kurnit said that "chat" services will be
available on Prodigy around mid-year, although it is only used by
a small percentage of users. He said more deals will be signed to
bring third-party providers onto Prodigy, like agreements in
place with the Imagination Network, Cox Enterprises, and 30 cable
networks.

The company said it is presently running its limited Internet mail
services through its central server, but could run them locally if
that were required. The Internet's TCP/IP (Transmission Control
Protocol/Internet Protocol) is not supported now, but may be in
the future.

Prodigy said about 10 percent of its subscribers also subscribe to
America Online, 20 percent to CompuServe, and "churn" rates are
now similar to those for magazines or cable services like HBO.
The company is still looking at international expansion and has
task forces looking at specific countries.

There were questions asked about both Prodigy's past and its
future profitability. "We'll be profitable in 1994," Kurnit
said, although he would not be specific since Prodigy is a joint-
venture between IBM and Sears and does not disclose its finances.

A year ago, Prodigy laid-off about one-fourth of its workforce in
an effort to become profitable, "But profitability is easily
reachable in 1994," the press was told. The huge investment made
by IBM and Sears in starting Prodigy in the 1980s will also start
to be paid-off this year.

On the issue of censorship, Kurnit said Prodigy's policies are
now similar to those of its competitors. "The only difference is
we have a screening process that alerts us to a note that might
be offensive, while others rely on someone raising their hand. A
lot of the criticism of the Internet is you're afraid of kids
being allowed on it. One of the benefits of Prodigy is you have a
comfort level."

Spokesman Brian Eck added that the company's policies have changed
in the last year. Beyond a program which scans for explicit
obscenities, members have been asked to take more responsibility
for policing content, and the posting time for notes on Prodigy
BBSs (bulletin board systems) has dropped from 24 hours to 10
minutes. Kurnit added that electronic-mail is not even read, and
"Some companies feel our systems are safer than corporate e-mail.
We're like the post office."

(Dana Blankenhorn/19940203/Press Contact: Carol Wallace,
Prodigy, 914-448-2496)


(NEWS)(IBM)(BOS)(00015)

Acculogic Ships $85 IDE Controller For New Peripherals 02/03/94
IRVINE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 3 (NB) -- Acculogic is
shipping the sIDE-4/HP, a multi I/O (input/output) IDE (Integrated
Drive Electronics) controller that is designed to let users connect
the latest generation of printers, modems, and floppy disk drives
to ISA (Industry Standard Architecture)-bus 386, 486, and advanced
PCs.

"With a single board, users can upgrade to all of the latest high-
performance peripherals, including high-speed modems, ECP/EPP
(Extended Capabilities Port/Enhanced Parallel Port)-laser printers,
and high-capacity floppy drives," explained Mike Zachan, company
president.

Retail priced at $85, the board features an IDE controller with an
ECP/EPP-compatible high-speed printer port, two 16550-compatible
high-speed serial ports, and a high-capacity 2.88 megabyte (MB)
floppy disk controller.

Developed by Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard, the ECP/EPP parallel-
printer port is aimed at fast bi-directional transfers over the PC
parallel port, said Acculogic officials. ECP/EPP provides
increased throughput when using the new generation of laser
printers, and also supports a wide range of other high-performance
peripherals, the company maintained.

The s/IDE-4/HP's two high-speed serial ports are meant to eliminate
data loss when using 14.4 Mbps (megabit-per-second) and faster
modems. The board's high-capacity floppy disk controller reads
high-density disks and is also compatible with all other floppy
drives currently available.

The s/IDE-4/HP is designed to support all manufacturers' standard
IDE drives. The controller comes with cables as well as complete
driver support for DOS and Windows, according to officials.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19940203/Reader Contact: Acculogic, 714-454-
2441; Press Contact: Les Goldberg or Mike Kilroy, Les Goldberg
Public Relations, for Acculogic, 714-545-3117)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(SFO)(00016)

Apple Power PC Announcement Gets Closer? 02/03/94
CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 3 (NB) -- With the
appearance of daily releases constantly mentioning Power PC and
notifying Macintosh users of the ability to upgrade their computer
to the new technology, one would be forgiven for thinking that the
official announcement of Power PC is only days away.

The latest announcement from Apple Computer lists more
Macintosh computers to be added to the models that have already
been named as upgradable to Power PC. The recent additions to
the list are the LC 520, 550 and the 575.

Apple stated, as well, that future PPC (Power PC) upgrades will be
made available for the LC 475, Qaudra 605, and the Performa 475/76
models.

This announcement follows Michael Spindler's stockholders' address
in which he stated the intention of Apple was to continue to support,
develop and upgrade Macintosh users while aggressively introducing
the technology of Power PC. The bridge to mid-range and high-end
Macintosh users is being extended with the additions.

The current list of  Macintosh computers that can be upgraded
includes: Macintosh Quadra 840AV, 800, 660AV ,650 and 610 models;
the Macintosh Centris 660AV, 650 and 610 computers; and the
Macintosh IIVX, vi and Performa 600 products. Users of the Apple
Workgroup server 60, 80, and 95 will be offered logic upgrades
and Apple continues to work with third party developers to provide
options to upgrade to PPC technology.

(Patrick McKenna/19940203/Press Contact: Maureen O'Connell,
Regis McKenna Inc., 408-862-6689)


(NEWS)(IBM)(DEN)(00017)

Xing Intros Picture Management Software 02/03/94
ARROYO GRANDE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 3 (NB) -- Xing
Technology Corp., has introduced a toolkit for its picture
management software for Windows that it claims speeds up
image decompression and display.

Xing says its Picture Prowler Access Kit is a companion to Picture
Prowler, the company's image color and greyscale management
software, and includes utilities and sample code that allows
develops to easily access Picture Prowler's fast JPEG (Joint
Photographic Experts Group) decompression and display engine.
The access kit is marketed for use by Windows developers who are
designing multimedia applications that use full-screen 24-bit
color or greyscale images.

Included in the kit are demo applets that show how to use a driver
for Multimedia Control Interface (MCI) applications or functions
callable from Visual Basic, Pascal, C/C++ and other Windows
programming languages.

Picture Prowler creates thumbnail sketches of JPEG images and
decompresses them for full-screen viewing. Interactive thumbnail
scrolling provides quick search and retrieval. Keyword, filename,
directory and drive searches are also supported. A file association
feature allows cataloging and playback of video files.

"People don't like to wait while an image paints across the
screen," says Xing Product Manager Holly Webb. "Applications
developed with the Picture Prowler Access Kit can provide real-
time, no-wait viewing."

According to Webb a full-screen image can be rendered in one
second or less, or at least five times faster than competitive
products. She says Picture Prowler imagebases, even ones that
contain thousands of color images, can be one-tenth the size of
those created by other applications.

Picture Prowler imports BMP, TIF, TGA, GIF, PCX, WMF, and WPG
files, converting them to the JPEG format. To use the access kit
you need a PC powered by a 386 or better chip, at least four
megabytes (MB) of memory, and 3MB of available disk space.
The kit has a suggested retail price of $249.95.

(Jim Mallory/19940203/Press Contact: Holly Webb, Xing
Technology Corp., 805-473-0145; Reader Contact: Xing
Technology, 805-473-0145 or 800-294-6448)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(DEN)(00018)

Microsoft Cuts Price Of Works For Windows, Reports Sales 02/03/94
REDMOND, WASHINGTON, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 3 (NB) -- In a number
of announcements, Microsoft has cut the price of Microsoft Works
for Windows, reported better than expected shipments of Microsoft
Access in Japan, announced strong sales of a book about Microsoft's
object linking and embedding (OLE) technology, and provided some
free utilities for users of Microsoft Mail on Appletalk networks.

The company has reduced the suggested retail price of its Works
3.0 for Windows program from $199 to $139. Works for Windows,
which includes word processing, spreadsheet, database and
communications capabilities, has been shipping since November.

At an initial special introductory price of $89, Microsoft said sales
have far exceeded expectations, with nearly four times the number
of packages shipping than in the comparable period last year.
Works is available for DOS, Windows, multimedia PCs, and
Macintosh platforms.

Microsoft spokesperson Lisa Prather told Newsbytes users of
earlier versions of Works for Windows and several competitive
programs can upgrade by purchasing the 3.0 version and sending in
the rebate coupon that is enclosed in the software box. The
coupon is good for $20 from Microsoft.

Microsoft also says that its database management system
(DBMS) program, Access version 1.1, has shipped more than
67,000 copies to Japan distributors in the first month the program
was released there. Microsoft says it had forecast shipment of
about 100,000 copies of Access to Japan in all of 1994. Worldwide
shipments of Access exceeded one million units in September
1993. The product was released in December, 1992, and is
available in 10 languages.

The company has also announced that the book "Inside OLE 2,"
written by Microsoft developer Kraig Brockschmidt is doing well,
with 25,000 copies now in circulation in a second printing.
Microsoft Press Associate Publisher Jim Brown says the sales
indicate the tremendous amount of interest in OLE 2.0 and OLE
Automation. "We're scrambling to keep up with demand," says
Brown. The 1,000 page book is written for programmers and
software developers to help them understand how to implement
OLE 2.0 technology. The book has a suggested retail price of
$49.95 and comes with two floppy disks.

Also announced is a set of administrative utilities shipping with
Microsoft Mail version 3.1 for Appletalk networks. Microsoft says
the utilities provide administrators with new methods of
maintaining user directories and monitoring the electronic mail
(e-mail) system.

The upgrade is available at no cost to all current users of Microsoft
Mail 3.1 for Appletalk and will also be included in the new retail
version of the product. Version 3.1 allows an e-mail administrator
to run an out of office server that will automatically reply to or
forward any mail sent to a user who is away from the office.
Better prediction of the minimum amount of memory required by
the server, one-command reset and tracking of server statistics,
on-command network scanning, viewing of queued messages by
date or size, and return of queued messages to their senders is
also provided.

(Jim Mallory/19940203/Press and reader contact: Microsoft
Corporation, 206-882-8080 or 800-426-9400)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(DEN)(00019)

SPA Says 1993 A Bad Year For Software Pirates 02/03/94
WASHINGTON, D.C. U.S.A., 1994 FEB 3 (NB) -- The Software
Publishers Association (SPA) says 1993 was a bad year for
software pirates.

SPA is a trade association of personal computer software
publishers. The group operates an active public awareness and
prevention campaign, actively pursues settlements in audit
actions. It also works with local law enforcement agencies
conducting raids of suspected software pirates.

It also publishes and distributes SPAudit, a software inventory
management tool that allows companies to take inventory of
software already installed on their computers so they can be sure
they have purchased the requisite number of licenses.

SPA's public awareness activities include distribution of a 12-
minute informational videotape  entitled: "It's Just Not Worth The
Risk," and an eight-minute video for computer-using school children
called, "Don't Copy that Floppy."

SPA spokesperson, Terri Childs, told Newsbytes the school video
is done in rap format. "The kids really love it," said Childs. Each
video sells for $15. SPA also distributes an $80 Software
Management Guide, and operates a speaker's bureau. SPA speakers
delivered 134 anti-piracy presentations across North America in
1993.

The group says it received phone calls regarding possible
software piracy at the rate of nearly 30 per day. Based on those
leads, SPA took action against 577 organizations. It conducted
245 audits and lawsuits, which resulted in the payment of $3.6
million in fines and penalties. They also were able to get 332
cease-and-desist orders issued. Five of the audits resulted in
settlements of over $100,000 each. The organization says about
95 percent of the cases were against corporate entities.

In one highly publicized activity SPA initiated the first action
against software pirates in Asia, conducting raids on three
operations in Singapore in cooperation with Singapore police
officers.

SPA Executive Director Ken Wasch says more companies are
taking responsibility for the legal use of software. "There are,
however, still areas that require our attention, and our anti-piracy
program has continued to be active as we begin the new year."

(Jim Mallory/19940203/Press Contact: Terri Childs, Software
Publishers Association, 202-452-1600 ext 320; Reader Contact:
800-388-7478 or 202-452-1600)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(DEN)(00020)

Sound Blaster Trademark Threat Settled 02/03/94
EUGENE, OREGON, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 3 (NB) -- Covox Inc., and
Creative Technology have settled the differences that could
have challenged Creative's right to the Sound Blaster trademark.

While the two companies would not discuss how much money was
involved, Covox said it has sold certain trademarks to Creative
Technology "in exchange for a substantial infusion of capital."

Covox manufactures sound and voice systems for personal
computers under the Voice Blaster, Fax Blaster and Phone Blaster
names, and under the settlement has transferred to Creative the
trademark rights to those products. Covox also agreed to provide
Creative with the option to obtain licenses under certain Covox
products now in development in exchange for royalty payments.

Covox also said Charles Saunders has stepped down as Covox
president and will be replaced by Kevin Corson, formerly VP of
marketing, sales, and product development.

(Jim Mallory/19940202/Press Contact: Charles McHenry, McHenry
& Associates for Covox Inc., 503-772-2382; Reader Contact: Covox
Inc., 503-342-1271)


(NEWS)(IBM)(LON)(00021)

Borland UK Extends Quattro Pro Price Promotion 02/03/94
TWYFORD, BERKSHIRE, ENGLAND, 1994 FEB 3 (NB) -- Borland UK has
announced the extension of its UKP49.95 price promotion on Quattro
Pro. Originally, the scheme was due to end on January 15, or while
stocks lasted, but the company has extended the promotion until
May 15, due to "popular demand."

According to Mike Hill, Borland's sales director, the original plan
was to sell half a million copies of the package during the three
month promotion, but, by the beginning of this year, the sales had
topped the million mark. "We decided that the public liked this
offer, so we decided to extend it, both here (in the UK) and in the
US," he told Newsbytes.

Borland cites research conducted by Computer Intelligence/Infocorp
in the US that it claims shows that half of buyers for Quattro Pro
for Windows are first time spreadsheet purchasers. This, the company
claims, reveals an untapped new market for high value, low cost
Windows applications software.

In the US, Philippe Kahn, the chairman and CEO of Borland
International, said that the company welcomes the many new users
of Quattro Pro. "With their help, over the last four months, Quattro
Pro has become the best selling Windows spreadsheet. We are
committed to maintaining their trust through our continuing efforts
to enhance Quattro Pro as the best selling, best of breed Windows
spreadsheet," he said.

Borland is claiming that it is keeping up with the majors in the
software industry (e.g. Lotus and Microsoft) in the sales battle.
Company officials cite the November, 1993, launch of a UKP100
holiday voucher promotion open to all buyers of Borland's software
products. This promotion, Newsbytes notes, has now been extended
through until the end of March this year.

(Steve Gold/19940203/Press & Public Contact: Borland
International, 0734-320022)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LON)(00022)

Xircom Teams With Dayna On Mobile Comms 02/03/94
ANTWERP, BELGIUM, 1994 FEB 3 (NB) -- Xircom has announced it is
teaming up with Dayna Communications in the US to develop, what it
calls, "mobile connectivity and network printing solutions" to the
Apple Mac and Newton Markets. At the same time, both companies
are cooperating on a cross-licensing agreement to work towards
the same goal.

According to Xircom, the deal marks the company's first moves
towards broadening its product range for the Apple Mac, as well as
signaling Dayna's plans to enter the wireless local area network
(LAN) marketplace.

Under the terms of the agreement, the connectivity companies will
work together to develop mobile network adapters based on Dayna's
existing SCSI (small computer systems interface)/Link technology .
Plans call for these adapters to be operate as cordless LAN units
that include Xircom's Netwave software.

Plans also call for a second wave of adapters, operating as
multiprotocol print servers, supporting the Appletalk network
protocol.

The agreement allows both companies to market, distribute and
support these planned products under their own brand name and label.
This will allow Dayna to supply the US, leaving Xircom to supply
Europe, as well as parts of the US reseller channel, Newsbytes
notes.

Surprisingly for an agreement of this type, products resulting from
the alliance should be out in a matter of weeks, Xircom claims.
Plans are in hand for the Xircom Pocket Ethertalk Adapter to begin
shipping on both sides of the Atlantic by the end of the current
quarter year.

Based on Dayna's new Pocket SCSI/Link technology announced at
Macworld Expo earlier this year, Xircom claims that the new products
lined for release throughout this year will provide a simple, low
cost method of connecting "nomadic" Powerbook users to an Ethernet
LAN, integrating the Mac with Windows environments, as well as DOS-
based PCs using a common backbone network.

Marc Davis, vice president for European operations and managing
director of Xircom Europe, said that the company's mission statement
is "to deliver the mobile connectivity solutions that nomadic users
demand, no matter where they are or what operating system hardware
platform or networking technology they are using."

"By joining forces with Dayna, we are able to extend our vision of
nomadic networking solutions, both wired and wireless, to a much
broader user base," he said.

(Steve Gold/19940203/Press & Public Contact: Xircom Europe,
tel [phone], fax [phone]; Dayna (US),
tel [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(LON)(00023)

HP Doubles HP100LX Palmtop Memory; Cuts UK Pricing 02/03/94
BRACKNELL, BERKSHIRE, ENGLAND, 1994 FEB 3 (NB) -- Hewlett-
Packard has announced it has doubled the memory of its HP100LX
palmtop PC to two megabytes (MB). At the same time the company
has cut UK pricing on the original 1MB-equipped system -- which
will continue to be marketed -- from UKP640 to UKP490.

The HP100LX-2MB, which becomes the new standard version, will sell
for the same price as the old version did, at UKP640. The larger
memory capacity will allow users to accommodate larger data files
and lengthy electronic-mail (e-mail) correspondence, the company
claims.

As well as this, the extra memory will extend the usefulness of the
palmtop's existing industry-leading features, company officials
said. These features include compatibility with off the shelf PC
programs and built-in Lotus cc:Mail Mobile for portable electronic
mail (e-mail) functionality for users worldwide.

Joanne Talfourd-Cook, HP's PC product manager, said that the 11-
ounce HP100LX and HP 100LX-2MB palmtop PCs are designed as
companion PCs to the corporate enterprise. She claims that they
meet the needs of mobile professionals with e-mail, personal
information software (with built-in database) and the pocket-
portability of PC applications.

"The HP 100LX expanded the functionality of palmtop PCs by satisfying
users' needs to access and communicate information from any
location," she said. "With an additional 1MB of memory, the HP
100LX-2MB will help increase customers' productivity on the road
by providing more room for e-mail storage and larger data files."

(Steve Gold/19940203/Press & Public Contact: HP Customer
Information Center, 44-344+369222)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(LON)(00024)

UK - Merisel Recognized By Pace Micro 02/03/94
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1994 FEB 3 (NB) -- Merisel, a major distribution
company in the UK, has been awarded by Pace Micro Communications,
the modem manufacturer, for its achievements in 1993 and has been
given the title of "the Master Distributor for 1994."

According to Pace, during 1993, Merisel easily exceeded one million
of turnover in Pace products. Newsbytes notes, however, that Pace
has recently cut ties with another of distributors -- DMST.

Pat Harvey, DMST's managing director, told Newsbytes that he was
unwilling to comment on Pace's moves, but was working with the
company to ensure the best possible support for the company's
existing Pace customers.

According to Pace, 1993 was the first year of Merisel trading with
the modem manufacturer. The comms company claims that Merisel
"easily passed" the Distributor and Premier Distributor level in
12 months to become a Master Distributor for Pace.

"Since we appointed Merisel as a Pace distributor in January last
year, the company has achieved excellent sales figures with our
connectivity products and we are delighted to present Merisel with a
commemorative award in recognition of its success, and appoint the
company as a Pace Master Distributor," explained Dave Downie, Pace's
sales and marketing director.

"We are mindful of our well-established reputation within industry
and therefore select our channel partners with care. Merisel has
been an excellent choice of partner and we look forward to the
continuation of its success with our products this year," he added.

Pace Micro Communications is a member of the privately-held Pace
Micro Technology group and specializes in the design and manufacture
of data communication products, offering full data, fax, and voice
capabilities. Pace is perhaps best known in international circles
for its dominance of the satellite hardware industry.

(Sylvia Dennis & Steve Gold/Press Contact: Pace Micro
Communications, 44-274-532000)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(LON)(00025)

Wordperfect Beats Wordstar In Upgrade With UK College 02/03/94
ADDLESTONE, SURREY, ENGLAND, 1994 FEB 3 (NB) -- WordPerfect UK
claims to have been chosen by on of the Britain's largest further-
education establishments -- Stoke-on-Trent College -- to upgrade
users from WordStar to new WordPerfect word processing.

According to the college, in comparison with Microsoft Word and
Lotus Pro, WordPerfect was decided to be the best software product
of its type, taking into consideration its Customer Advantage
Program (CAP), which met its decision-making criteria, flexible
licensing arrangements, producer's support, and competitive price.

Zyg Nilski, head of the School of Information Technology and
Computing at the college explained that, recently, staff and
students of the Stoke-on-Trent College have identified the need of
adopting the new technology, market-leading processor.

"Our requirements are based on what is happening in the real world.
WordPerfect is a quality product which is widely used. It has
particularly strong presence in industry in the North Staffordshire
area. We found that WordPerfect's CAP arrangements provide the
best infrastructure to support our plans. It is simple to administer
and we were attracted by the competitive business rate," he said.

The college with its 25,000 students every year is obliged to make
extensive use of information technology (IT) for resource-based
learning. By 1997, the college plans to increase its 700 student-
dedicated PCs to 2800, all connected using fibre optic technology.

(Sylvia Dennis/19940203/Press & Public Contact: Wordperfect UK,
tel [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(LON)(00026)

UK - Cristie Intros Parallel Port Drive Sys For LAN Servers 02/03/94
STONEHOUSE, GLOS, ENGLAND, 1994 FEB 3 --  Cristie, the British data
recording company, has announced a range of new tape drives for
local area network (LAN) Server-based systems.

There are three products in a series: the entry product is the
Cristie Personal based on DC2000 technology with an uncompressed
capacity of 120 megabytes (MB); the next one up in the range is the
TS4000 Series of QIC drives; and the third is the TS5000 Series of
DAT drives. The second and the third product has an uncompressed
capacity range of 250MB to four gigabytes (GB). All the new drives
can transfer data at the rate of 20MB a minute.

According to Robin Burton, marketing director with Cristie, all the
units are packed in rugged metal casings with integral power
supplies and handles for carrying. The TS4000 and TS5000 drives
have a built-in SCSI (small computer system interface) ports to
allow third party adapter cards and software to be used.

Burton said that the software included with the drives can provide
features such as the ability to backup and restore all file attributes,
data compression, script operation, and ability to run from OS/2.
That feature reduces a lot the time to restore in some unfortunate
recovery situation.

Prices for the new tape drives start at UKP799 for the LAN Server
version of the Cristie Personal.

(Sylvia Dennis & Steve Gold/19940203/Press & Public Contact:
Cristie, tel [phone], fax [phone])


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

Kodak & Apple In Deal On Color "Standard" 02/03/94
CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 3 (NB) -- Apple Computer
announced an agreement with Eastman Kodak Company to use Apple's
ColorSync Device Profile Format as a "standard" for Kodak's color
management products.

Speaking with Newsbytes, company spokesperson, Carol Fricke,
stated, "This agreement will develop uniform color management so
that everything falls under one format and colors will be the same
across different platforms." Kodak is also currently working with
Microsoft to develop a Windows color management "standard" as well.

ColorSync Device Profile Format is a multi-platform, device-
independent description of any color peripheral (e.g., scanner,
monitor, or printer) that allows the peripheral's color capabilities
to be accessed by Macintosh, Unix, and Windows-based color
management systems.

This agreement has produced a ColorSync Profile Format which is
a document that describes the data that needs to go into a device
for color management.

Mike Stokes, Color Engineer for Apple, told Newsbytes that,
"The problem in the industry has been a lack of devices to interpret
color across all platform uses. This format is a beginning of an
industry-wide standard."

A committee has been formed to further develop the standards,
said the company. After weeks of negotiations, the first meeting
of a committee that includes Apple, Kodak, Taligent, Sun,
Microsoft, IBM, AGFA, and Adobe, will convene next week.

(Patrick McKenna/19940203/Press Contact: Michelle Soleau,
Regis McKenna, 415-354-4465)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(BOS)(00028)

 ****Dataquest - Apple PC Shipments Beat IBM In 1993 02/03/94
SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 3 (NB) -- In a race that
went right to the wire, Apple edged out IBM for total PC shipments
in 1993, nailing down the number one spot in the US marketplace for
the second straight year, according to a new report from Dataquest.

A slim margin of only 23,000 units kept Apple in front of
runner-up IBM, researchers said, in a report based on Dataquest's
final shipment totals for 1993.  Officials added that Dataquest's
findings contradict published reports from other market research
firms, which give IBM the lead for 1993.

"Apple led after the third quarter, but many believed that IBM's
traditionally strong fourth quarter would make up the difference,"
said Philippe de Marcillac, director and principal analyst of
Dataquest's personal computers worldwide research group.

Although IBM did wind up selling 130,000 more units than Apple in
the fourth quarter, the end-of-year surge was not quite enough to
push IBM ahead of Apple for 1993, according to the report.

Compaq took third place in the 1993 PC race, experiencing more
growth than either IBM or Apple by more than doubling in both
shipments and market share, researchers said.

Dataquest's results show 1993 US shipments of 2,086,000 units for
Apple, 2,063,000 for IBM, and 1,540,000 for Compaq. Comparative
figures for 1992 are 1,529,700 unit shipments for Apple, 1,465,400
for IBM, and 644,000 for Compaq.

IBM added about 600,000 units in shipments over the year, moving
from a 11.7 percent market share in 1992 to a 13.9 percent share in
1993. Apple added more than 550,000 units, and also rose in market
share, from a 12.2 percent share in 1992 to a 14.1 percent share
last year.

For third-place PC vendor Compaq, shipments soared by 900,000
units, and market share skyrocketed from 5.1 percent in 1992 to
10.5 percent last year.

The market share figures also mean that the top three PC companies
increased their collective share of the US market from 29 percent
in 1992 to 38.5 percent in 1993, Dataquest said. The researchers
theorized that this statistic illustrates the current consolidation
of the PC market within the top tier of companies.

Total industry shipments of PCs in the US were 12,544,400 units
in 1992 and 14,755,000 in 1993, a gain of over two million units,
according to Dataquest.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19940203/Reader & Press Contact: Dataquest,
408-437-8000)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SYD)(00029)

 ****Microsoft's Bill Gates Visits Sydney, Australia 02/03/94
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1994 FEB 3 (NB) -- Bill Gates visited Sydney,
Australia, in a trip covered by Newsbytes. It was not the first
time the Microsoft boss has visited to represent his company, but
something was different this time. It was no longer an insider's
event, but something that attracted attention from everyone,
including Australia's leader.

Microsoft has made a big deal of the event, hitting the direct-mail
list and placing some strategic ads in the press, but the turn-out
surprised most people.

Gates has come down to introduce the "Microsoft Home" range of
products, but it coincided with the installation of the new
Australian Microsoft Managing Director Chris Kelliher who has
transferred from New Zealand.

In addition, Gates is heading to the capital Canberra this week
where he will address a record gathering of more than 1,000
journalists at the National press Club. Just prior to that he is
giving Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating a private audience
at Keating's request.

Microsoft chose the large and prestigious Sydney Opera House,
to stage the event, and presented a morning and an afternoon
session to those attending. Gates said he had often looked from
his Sydney Hotel room windows and wondered what went on in
there. "Now I know," he quipped, "its computer industry events!"

As is usually the way with this sort of event, while some time was
spent talking about industry directions, Gates spent much of his 90
minutes on stage talking about, and demonstrating Microsoft
products. He talked about the information superhighway (IS), and
suggested that it was inevitable around the world.

Gates said that the home computer market was growing much faster
than any other segment, and that Microsoft was putting a major
effort into developing products that would help meet Gates
long-time prediction that there would be a computer in every home.

He explained that rather than develop products for this market,
Microsoft was developing products "with" the market. As an example,
he showed a team of developers working for months with a group of
elementary school students, developing and refining the Creative
Writer and Fine Artist products which are aimed at the 8-14 age
group.

Although the initial Microsoft Home range of products includes many
existing Microsoft products, the company expects to have around
100 new products on the market within the next 18 months. Many of
these will be CD-ROM-based. Said Gates: "The CD gives us the  best
demonstration of how the IS will be able to deliver information to
individual users, on a one-to-one basis."

He explained that today's dial-up information services were fine for
mail and news applications, but were all but useless for delivering
personalized and high-density information such as graphics and
sound. As part of the demonstration he showed how the IS would
not only replace traditional entertainment and information
delivery systems, but be infinitely more flexible.

After the morning Opera House event the press were bussed up the
hill to the Sheraton Hotel in the business district. There we were
treated to a less formal "chat from Bill" and demonstration of the
Creative Writer product by a schoolgirl. Each attendee was given
their own copy of the package to take home, plus a copy of the
Microsoft Home CD Sampler which is being bundled with some PCs.

Then, a select thirty or so computer journalists headed downstairs
to the bus, and back down the hill to the Bennelong restaurant
which is part of the Opera House. While the press ate barbecued
giant shrimp and beef, Gates barely got more than the odd mouthful,
spending the whole time fielding questions.

(Paul Zucker/19940203/PHOTO)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(TYO)(00030)

Japan Chip Makers Expect Move From 4Mb To 16Mb DRAM 02/03/94
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1994 FEB 3 (NB) -- Japanese memory chip makers
are expecting that the demand for 16 megabit (Mb) dynamic
random access memory will increase, while the demand for 4Mb
products will gradually decrease by the end of this year.

As a result, Japanese chip makers are eager to invest in 16Mb
products rather than expanding 4Mb chip production lines.
However, currently, the demand for the 4Mb DRAM is still quite
strong. Due in part to the downsizing trend of companies,
many of the Japanese memory chip makers see the shift towards
16Mb.

NEC has been shipping 9.5 million 4Mb units per month and will
increase that number to 10 million units monthly this March.
However, the firm has decided not to further increase shipments
after that date.

Hitachi and Toshiba have the same view. According to Hitachi, the
firm is currently shipping monthly, 10 million units, and will
increase it to 11 million this March. But the firm will not
raise the output after that date.

Toshiba is currently shipping eight million units per month, but
the firm will not raise the shipment further, according to an
executive of the firm. It is also expected that Mitsubishi will
not increase shipments of 4Mb DRAMs.

Meanwhile, chip makers are hoping for a smooth transition
towards 16Mb DRAM chips at the end of this year. Currently, each
maker ships a monthly average of about 500,000 to one million
units of the 16Mb chip.

(Masayuki "Massey" Miyazawa/19940203/Press Contact:
Hitachi, tel [phone], fax [phone], Toshiba,
tel [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SFO)(00031)

Newsbytes Daily Summary 02/03/94
PENN VALLEY, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 3 (NB) -- These are
capsules of all today's news stories:

1 -> New Officers Named By SGML Open Consortium 02/03/93 Mary Laplante has
been named executive director of SGML Open, a consortium of vendors whose
products and services support the SGML (Standard Generalized Markup
Language) specification for document interchange across users, platforms and
applications.

2 -> Fujitsu Adds Features To 325Point Pen PC, Lowers Price 02/03/94 Fujitsu
has enhanced its 325Point pen-based computer with a transmissive display, an
improved battery pack, and larger PCMCIA (Personal Computer Memory Card
International Association) hard drive capacity, while lowering the price.

3 -> Claris Intros ClarisWorks 2.1 For Mac 02/03/94 Claris Corp., has
announced shipment of ClarisWorks 2.1 for Apple Computer's Macintosh
platform.

4 -> Aldus Acquires Desktop Video Products; Posts Record '93 02/03/94 Aldus
Corp., has  announced the acquisition of a line of desktop video software
products from the former desktop division of Digital F/X Inc. Terms  of the
deal were not disclosed. At the same time, the company has  announced a
record fourth quarter and fiscal 1993. Both periods ended December 31, 1993.

5 -> In Focus Expands Projection Panel Line 02/03/94 In Focus Systems has
announced the release of three additions to its LitePro line of color
computer projection panel systems.

6 -> Powering Up NA - Ottawa Outlines Info Highway Plans 02/03/94 Speaking
at a conference on the so-called information highway, Canadian Minister of
State for Science, Research, and Development Jon Gerrard put a little more
flesh on the bones of his government's recent promise to develop an
information infrastructure strategy.

7 -> Autodesk's Competitive CAD Upgrade Program For Macs 02/03/94 Autodesk
Inc.,  a major supplier of desktop computer-aided design (CAD) software, has
announced an upgrade program for the users of VersaCAD, the  recently
discontinued ClarisCAD, Generic CAD for the Macintosh, and MacBravo.

8 -> Nat Semi Cuts Ethernet Network Card Prices 02/03/94  For the past three
months, National Semiconductor Corp., has offered special promotions to its
distributors in order to prepare them for an 11 to 15 percent price cut on
its line of Ethernet local networking interface card products.

9 -> Association For Japanese Font Standardization Formed 02/03/94
Forty-seven Japanese personal  computer-related firms have set up an
association to standardize  Japanese outline fonts. Microsoft's (Tokyo)
Chairman Toru Furukawa has assumed the chairmanship.

10 -> Gerry Sheridan Appointed HP Asia Pacific Support GM 02/03/94
Hewlett-Packard  Asia Pacific Ltd., has appointed Gerry Sheridan general
manager of its worldwide customer support organization, Asia Pacific.

11 ->  ****Powering Up NA - Wasting Bandwidth Key To Success 02/03/94 Just
as wasting transistors has been a key to success in electronics products in
the past decade, wasting bandwidth will be the way to win in the coming
years, futurist George Gilder told the Powering Up North America conference.

12 -> IBM Adds High-End AS/400, Storage Products 02/03/94 IBM has extended
its AS/400 line of midrange computers upward by adding a new model that it
said can support as many as 4,800 local workstations. The company also
announced new storage options for the AS/400 line.

13 -> McGraw Aims For Wider Municipal Bond Data Distribution 02/03/94
McGraw-Hill has  launched an effort to make the municipal bond data of its
J.J. Kenny Co., unit widely available on-line. The company recently signed
deals to make the files available on Knight-Ridder  Financial and Bloomberg
terminals.

14 ->  ****Prodigy Uses AOL Problems To Emphasize Network 02/03/94 Prodigy
is using  the technical problems at America Online as an opportunity to
regain respect among press and analysts. It called a telephone  press
conference, attended by Newsbytes, at which officials emphasized that their
system is designed to handle up to 40  million users, and predicted they
will turn a profit this year.

15 -> Acculogic Ships $85 IDE Controller For New Peripherals 02/03/94
Acculogic is shipping the sIDE-4/HP, a multi I/O (input/output) IDE
(Integrated Drive Electronics) controller that is designed to let users
connect the latest generation of printers, modems, and floppy disk drives to
ISA (Industry Standard Architecture)-bus 386, 486, and advanced PCs.

16 -> Apple Power PC Announcement Gets Closer? 02/03/94 With the appearance
of daily releases constantly mentioning Power PC and notifying Macintosh
users of the ability to upgrade their computer  to the new technology, one
would be forgiven for thinking that the official announcement of Power PC is
only days away.

17 -> Xing Intros Picture Management Software 02/03/94 Xing Technology
Corp., has introduced a toolkit for its picture management software for
Windows that it claims speeds up  image decompression and display.

18 -> Microsoft Cuts Price Of Works For Windows, Reports Sales 02/03/94 In a
number of announcements, Microsoft has cut the price of Microsoft Works  for
Windows, reported better than expected shipments of Microsoft  Access in
Japan, announced strong sales of a book about Microsoft's  object linking
and embedding (OLE) technology, and provided some  free utilities for users
of Microsoft Mail on Appletalk networks.

19 -> SPA Says 1993 A Bad Year For Software Pirates 02/03/94 The Software
Publishers Association (SPA) says 1993 was a bad year for software pirates.

20 -> Sound Blaster Trademark Threat Settled 02/03/94 Covox Inc., and
Creative Technology have settled the differences that could have challenged
Creative's right to the Sound Blaster trademark.

21 -> Borland UK Extends Quattro Pro Price Promotion 02/03/94 Borland UK has
announced the extension of its UKP49.95 price promotion on Quattro Pro.
Originally, the scheme was due to end on January 15, or while stocks lasted,
but the company has extended the promotion until May 15, due to "popular
demand."

22 -> Xircom Teams With Dayna On Mobile Comms 02/03/94 Xircom has announced
it is teaming up with Dayna Communications in the US to develop, what it
calls, "mobile connectivity and network printing solutions" to the Apple Mac
and Newton Markets. At the same time, both companies  are cooperating on a
cross-licensing agreement to work towards  the same goal.

23 -> HP Doubles HP100LX Palmtop Memory; Cuts UK Pricing 02/03/94 Hewlett-
Packard has announced it has doubled the memory of its HP100LX palmtop PC to
two megabytes (MB). At the same time the company  has cut UK pricing on the
original 1MB-equipped system -- which  will continue to be marketed -- from
UKP640 to UKP490.

24 -> UK - Merisel Recognized By Pace Micro 02/03/94 Merisel, a major
distribution company in the UK, has been awarded by Pace Micro
Communications, the modem manufacturer, for its achievements in 1993 and has
been given the title of "the Master Distributor for 1994."

25 -> Wordperfect Beats Wordstar In Upgrade With UK College 02/03/94
WordPerfect UK claims to have been chosen by on of the Britain's largest
further- education establishments -- Stoke-on-Trent College -- to upgrade
users from WordStar to new WordPerfect word processing.

26 -> UK - Cristie Intros Parallel Port Drive Sys For LAN Servers 02/03/94
Cristie, the British data recording company, has announced a range of new
tape drives for local area network (LAN) Server-based systems.

27 -> Kodak & Apple In Deal On Color "Standard" 02/03/94 Apple Computer
announced an agreement with Eastman Kodak Company to use Apple's ColorSync
Device Profile Format as a "standard" for Kodak's color management products.

28 ->  ****Dataquest - Apple PC Shipments Beat IBM In 1993 02/03/94 In a
race that went right to the wire, Apple edged out IBM for total PC shipments
in 1993, nailing down the number one spot in the US marketplace for the
second straight year, according to a new report from Dataquest.

29 ->  ****Microsoft's Bill Gates Visits Sydney, Australia 02/03/94 Bill
Gates visited Sydney, Australia, in a trip covered by Newsbytes. It was not
the first time the Microsoft boss has visited to represent his company, but
something was different this time. It was no longer an insider's  event, but
something that attracted attention from everyone,  including Australia's
leader.

30 -> Japan Chip Makers Expect Move From 4Mb To 16Mb DRAM 02/03/94 Japanese
memory chip makers  are expecting that the demand for 16 megabit (Mb)
dynamic random access memory will increase, while the demand for 4Mb
products will gradually decrease by the end of this year.

(Ian Stokell/19940203)