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- (NEWS)(IBM)(SFO)(00001)
-
- Acer Ships Multimedia, Pentium Systems 02/11/94
- SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 11 (NB) -- Hoping to
- remain competitive with Dell, Compaq, IBM, and Packard
- Bell, Acer America Corp., has announced shipment of five PC
- systems with internal multimedia capabilities that includes a
- new Pentium-based system.
-
- Michael Culver, director of product marketing for PC desktops
- and portables, told Newsbytes, "The focus for Acer in 1994
- is threefold. We will strive to be a leader in the expansion
- of multimedia, a leader in delivery of Pentium technology,
- and a leader in the color notebook market. We believe we
- are the first to offer the Microsoft bundle of Encarta,
- Golf and Cinemania and we are committed to a more aggressive
- entry-level availability of multimedia."
-
- According to Acer, sales results of two earlier
- multimedia-capable systems indicated a growing trend of the
- acceptance of and demand for CD-ROM technology.
-
- The newest systems consist of three under the Acer ACROS
- model, ranging from a 486SX33 to 486DX2/50, one as the
- AcerPower model 8681TG, a 486/DX2/66, and the last as the
- AcerPower model 9697TG, a Pentium-based mini-tower
- configuration. The Acer ACROS models are designed for the
- home "edu-tainment" user and small office user who need a
- cost-effective turnkey system that ranges from $1199 to
- $1799. The AcerPower models, ranging from $1999 to
- $2999, are designed for small business and office users who
- require high-performance graphic and processing power.
-
- The introduction of AcerPower model 9697TG, to be shipped
- next week, is Acer's first mainstream desktop offering of a
- Pentium-based configuration. Culver further stated, "We still
- project a strong demand for the 486 and believe that will
- continue for some time. The Pentium chip requires 8 megs of
- RAM and that alone will extend the sales life of 486 systems.
- In the last quarter, Pentium chip systems accounted for 10 to
- 15 percent of our sales. We expect to see a steady growth in
- the coming quarters from users who are looking to protect
- future investment and still have a system compatible with
- existing software."
-
- (Patrick McKenna/19940210/Press Contact: Kate Blocker,
- Acer America Corp., tel 408-432-6200)
-
-
- (NEWS)(GENERAL)(LON)(00002)
-
- SAVA Smart Card Network Security System 02/11/94
- ST PETERSBURG, FLORIDA, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 11 (NB) -- SAVA Research
- Corporation has announced the Series 20 Secure Cell network security
- system -- a hardware plus software identification and
- authorization (I&D) device using a smart card ID card, a smart card
- reader, and a PC half card to monitor workstation activity and access
- to a network.
-
- According to the Florida-based company, the I&A system helps
- administrators to log security breaches and boot protection. The
- smart card system is said to provides access control, locks the
- keyboard, and will blank the screen when removed.
-
- SAVA also claims that the card/password combination eliminates
- password-only system compromises. The $279 system is claimed to
- be compatible with SAVA's Series 500 Secure-Cell and
- Secure-Stations, is configurable for Windows or DOS PCs,
- and comes with a one-year warranty and free technical support.
-
- (Steve Gold/19940210/Press & Public Contact - SAVA Research,
- 813/578-0490; Fax: 813/576-5126)
-
-
- (NEWS)(TRENDS)(SFO)(00003)
-
- CD-ROM-Based Automobile Global Positioners 02/11/94
- PASADENA, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 11 (NB) -- Sony
- Corporation has joined in an effort with Etak, Inc., to produce
- Sony GPX-M1 technology, a global positioning system (GPS) for use
- in American Cars.
-
- Etak, a unit of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, is a leader
- in the development of digital map databases and has
- introduced EtakGuide of California which is the map database for
- GPX-M1.
-
- The guide, in a pair of CD-ROMs, contains geographical data and
- tourist information on the entire state of California and areas of
- Las Vegas, Reno and eastern Lake Tahoe.
-
- More detailed maps are presented for nine regions which include
- San Diego, Los Angeles/Orange County, Central Coast, the desert,
- Bay Area, Sierras, Wine Country and Northern California.
-
- Etak states more maps on CD-ROM will be made available as the
- positioning system expands. Currently, maps of Florida and
- the East Coast are being developed for the next release.
-
- The Sony GM\PX-M1 will be available in an installed or
- transportable model, either of which can be plugged into a cigarette
- lighter, and comes with a color monitor, a small GPS antenna, and a
- handheld, laser joystick for moving through the software.
-
- Etak claims pointing the joystick at the monitor will allow users
- to access the data and pinpoint locations, specific buildings and
- attractions. A video keyboard for entering data can be accessed
- with the joystick and an Address Finder features specific
- addresses and a City Finder reveals detailed street maps.
-
- The Sony GPS sensor receives signals from orbiting satellites,
- that allow EtakGuide to show the car's location on the map.
- A "POS" (position) button centers the map to the position of the car.
-
- Les Goldberg, president of Les Goldberg Public Relations, told
- Newsbytes, "This positioning system is patterned after a Japanese
- version that has sold over 170,000 units. In the US, California and
- Nevada will be the first test sites and eventually we will include
- all 50 states. The individual unit picks up the signal from the 24
- satellites of the Navstar satellite system and can access 8 of
- those satellites at a time."
-
- The company plans to make the system available late in 1994
- through retail electronic outlets for the suggested price of
- $2,200, a bit more expensive than your average road atlas.
- Sony is currently working to establish a built-in unit with various
- auto manufacturers.
-
- (Patrick McKenna/19940209/Press Contact: Les Goldberg, Les
- Goldberg Public Relations, tel 714-545-3117, fax 714-5451197)
-
-
- (NEWS)(TRENDS)(SYD)(00004)
-
- Australia - Osborne Ships Keyboardless Computer 02/11/94
- SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1994 FEB 11 (NB) -- Osborne, Australia's
- largest manufacturer and supplier of PCs, has released a new
- model which has a keyboard, although according to Osborne you may
- not need it. The Speech Dictation System computer uses IBM's
- new software of the same name.
-
- Based on an Osborne Gold Series DX/266 computer with the new
- IBM software, it sells for just under AUS$10,000 (around US$7100),
- taking it well above standard PCs.
-
- Unlike other speech recognition systems that have to learn the
- user's pronunciation of every word it is to recognize, on this
- system new users have to spend around two hours reading a
- series of sentences into the machine. It then goes away
- and analyzes the voice, "tuning" it to that person's
- pronunciation patterns.
-
- Once this has been done, the user can employ the voice input
- to either enter just text, or control the system as well.
- Osborne said this lends the system to applications such as
- word processing, preparing faxes, reading and preparing email,
- and so on. In particular, the company claims the system will allow
- professional users such as lawyers to prepare their own word
- processing, passing their file to a secretary to complete
- it (read "fix it up").
-
- By doing this, a number of steps are avoided, and the user
- gets basically what he or she wants the first time, avoiding
- multiple drafts and checks.
-
- In use the system must be treated as a little hard of
- hearing - each word must be spoken separately, and relatively
- slowly at around 70-100 words per minute, which is considerably
- slower than normal speech, though faster than all but the
- fastest typists. Additional users can be trained at a system
- cost of around four megabytes each.
-
- The standard system has a 20,000-word dictionary, but allows
- for 5000 user-defined words to be added. Presumably, beyond
- this you have to delete words. There are also some specialized
- dictionaries for special interest groups.
-
- During a demonstration, the system got only one word wrong.
- On the other hand, while the standard OS/2 navigation commands
- were understood by the system, once the user was inside
- applications such as WordPerfect, only the text input could be
- handled by the voice system, not the application commands such
- as running the spelling checker.
-
- At present, the only voice input possible is via a microphone
- boom which is worn on the head (like a sportscaster). Newsbytes
- asked why it was not possible to record the dictation on tape
- and feed this to the machine, or why the user could not
- telephone his/her computer to give some commands. The answer
- given was that either of these systems changed the voice so
- much that it sounded to the computer like a new (and
- unrecognizable) person.
-
- One advantage of the system is the verbal equivalent of macro
- keys - the word "AXE" for instance might become "Axelrod Trading
- Company" on the screen.
-
- (Paul Zucker/19940211/Contact John Linton at Osborne on phone
- +61-2-844 8448/PHOTO)
-
-
- (NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SYD)(00005)
-
- Commodore Australia Reported Close To Failure 02/11/94
- SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1994 FEB 11 (NB) -- Entrepreneurial types
- interested in buying their very own multinational computer company
- subsidiary in Australia will have their chance next week.
- Commodore Business machines is the Australian distributor of
- Commodore, but it is expected to be sold next week due to
- financial problems.
-
- "Everything's up for sale: goodwill, badwill, the lot," joked
- Max Donnelly of accountancy firm Ferrier Hodgson. He has been
- appointed administrator of the company after directors considered
- the personal implications arising from the financial problems
- of CBM. Donnelly said the company is unable to service
- a bank bill due to roll over today, despite having made sales
- of AUS$40 million over the past year. The two major creditors
- are Commodore International and the Westpac bank. The main
- asset is the stock of Amiga and IBM-compatible computers.
-
- CBM MD Pat Byrne is believed to be a possible buyer for the
- company. When interviewed last year he expressed interest should
- the company ever be available.
-
- IDC analyst Graham Penn said Commodore's declining fortunes
- in Australia are partly due to the push into retail channels by
- the heavyweight manufacturers. "Retailers don't have unlimited
- space and the entry of brand names such as IBM, Compaq and
- Packard Bell are squeezing out the likes of Amstrad, Atari,
- and Commodore."
-
- (Paul Zucker and Computer Daily News/19940211)
-
-
- (NEWS)(GENERAL)(BOS)(00006)
-
- Software Support Pros Assn To Hold Events 02/11/94
- BURLINGTON, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 11 (NB) -- The Software
- Support Professionals Association (SSPA) plans to present two
- national events for support professionals later this month, each to
- be hosted by Interleaf.
-
- The SSPA National Roundtable, set for February 22, will be followed
- on February 23 by Support Automation Showcase. The back-to-back
- events will be held in Burlington, MA.
-
- The National Roundtable is subtitled "Transitioning Software
- Support to Professional Services." Highlights include a panel
- discussion on "The Role of Professional Services in Software
- Support," a tour of the Technical Support Center at Interleaf, and
- two keynotes: "An Overview of Interleaf and How They Deliver
- Support," by Dorene Woodrow, services marketing manager for
- Interleaf; and "How to Transition Your Software Support to a
- Professional Services Program."
-
- Dave Brown, vice president of the Rancho Bernardo, CA-based SSPA,
- will moderate the keynote panel. Panelists will include Paul
- Simpson, director of customer support, Interleaf; Tom Rich,
- director of North America programs, Prognostics; Dean Carmeris, VP
- of product service, Progress Software; and Mike Bunch, manager of
- professional products and services, Aldus Corporation.
-
- In the next day's event, Support Automation Showcase, a series of
- presentations will be capped by a Vendor's Showcase. After
- welcoming remarks by Bill Rose, founder and director of the SSPA,
- Jim Gerber, marketing manager for Clarify, will discuss "The Value
- of Automation."
-
- Other talks on the showcase agenda include "Managing Knowledge
- Assets in the Support Center," by Mike Malone, regional manager for
- Verity; "The Financial Side of Implementing an Automated Support
- Plan," by Keith Larson, director of marketing, Astea International;
- "The Impact of Automation on the Support Center," by Will Herman,
- president of Scopus Technology; and "Advanced Technologies Pave the
- Road to Service and Support Excellence in the '90s," by Chip
- Anderson, director of ServiceSoft.
-
- The SSPA's National Roundtable will take place from 8:30 am to 6 pm
- on the 22nd, and the Support Automation Showcase from 8:30 am to 7
- pm on the 23rd.
-
- (Jacqueline Emigh/19940211/Reader and press contact: SSPA, 619-
- 674-4864)
-
-
- (NEWS)(IBM)(TOR)(00007)
-
- Electronic Resumes On Disk 02/11/94
- TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1994 FEB 11 (NB) -- The Electronic
- Resume Network is using diskettes to bring job-seekers into
- contact with would-be employers. The Toronto company will launch
- its Resumes on Disk service March 1.
-
- Perry Shoom, president of the Electronic Resume Network, told
- Newsbytes his firm plans to have about 4,000 resumes, covering a
- wide range of job categories in its database when its first
- quarterly diskettes go out to subscribers. The network will send
- out updates quarterly for the C$5,000 fee it charges businesses.
-
- Job-hunters will pay C$25 to keep their resumes on the database
- for six months. Shoom said individuals can have their resumes
- entered in the system for them and sent out for checking for that
- fee. People who work with organizations that buy the service can
- add their resumes free of charge. To help get the service
- started, the Electronic Resume Network is offering free resume
- listing for two weeks, Shoom said.
-
- Resumes on Disk is a national service, but Shoom said the
- database will have a heavy concentration of Toronto-area and
- Ontario listings initially.
-
- Businesses using the system can choose the skills or
- characteristics they are looking for and only those resumes that
- match will be printed. The system works with DOS and Microsoft
- Windows-based personal computers, the company said.
-
- The Electronic Resume Network will also do one-time searches for
- companies, charging C$499 to supply 10 resumes of qualified
- candidates within one business day.
-
- (Grant Buckler/19940211/Press Contact: Perry Shoom, Electronic
- Resume Network, 905-889-0472)
-
-
- (NEWS)(TELECOM)(TYO)(00008)
-
- Japan - NEC Beefs UP PC-VAN Network 02/11/94
- TOKYO, JAPAN, 1994 FEB 11 (NB) -- NEC plans to take steps
- to beef up membership in its personal computer-based
- telecommunication network called PC-VAN. Several advanced
- multimedia features will be added. The goal is to gain
- one million members by the end of fiscal 1995.
-
- PC-VAN will offer interconnection with cable TV as well as
- "digital books." Also, PC-VAN will offer online audio to "read"
- texts to users while they are online. This feature is also to
- be adapted to allow users to listen to their electronic mail
- or database through the telephone. NEC anticipates that the
- read-aloud service will start this September.
-
- Another new service will be its rapid data transmission
- capabilities. PC-VAN will start 14.4-kilobits-per-second
- service within a year. NEC plans to install 40 more
- host computers for this rapid data transmission service.
-
- NEC plans to triple its database offerings to 50 different
- information databases, within a year.
-
- Through all these new services, NEC hopes to gain 850
- corporate memberships, and one million regular members by the
- end of fiscal 1995, which is March 1996. PC-VAN currently
- has 660,000 members and is the largest PC network in
- Japan. NEC has recently connected with Dialog, and
- is testing a connection with Japan's ASCII network.
-
- (Masayuki "Massey" Miyazawa/19940207/Press Contact: NEC, PC-VAN,
- +81-3-3454-6909, Fax, +81-3-3798-9170)
-
-
- (NEWS)(GENERAL)(SFO)(00009)
-
- Networking Roundup 02/11/94
- PENN VALLEY, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 11 (NB) -- This is
- the first of what is planned as a regular Friday feature,
- summarizing networking news not covered elsewhere by Newsbytes
- this week.
-
- SynOptics Communications Inc., has introduced a stand-alone switch
- that translates data between 10 megabits-per-second (Mbps)
- Ethernet frames and 155 Mbps asynchronous transfer mode (ATM)
- cells, called EtherCell. The product acts as a front-end to the
- SynOptics LattisCell ATM switch to allow customers to build
- networks that consist of Ethernet and ATM devices.
-
- According to the company, EtherCell can be used to create power
- workgroups or to connect Ethernet segments to ATM backbone
- networks. In the power workgroup, Ethernet end stations can be
- connected directly to EtherCell ports for dedicated 10 Mbps
- bandwidth. In an ATM backbones, EtherCell can connect Ethernet
- segments from intelligent hubs to an ATM network fabric.
- Two versions of the product are available. The $9,995 Model
- 10328-F features 12 10BASE-T Ethernet ports and one ATM port
- with a multi-mode fiber SONET (Synchronous Optical NETwork)
- /SDH (Synchronous Digital Hierarchy) interface, and scheduled to
- ship in April. The $9,495 Model 10328-C features 12 10BASE-T
- Ethernet ports and one ATM port with a Category 5 UTP (unshielded
- twisted pair) SONET/SDH interface.
-
- Microcom Inc., is shipping LANexpress, an integrated system
- for connecting individual remote users to corporate LANs (local
- area networks). The product combines Windows-based client
- software with a high performance server that comes standard
- with up to eight integrated 28.8 Kbps V.fast modems. LANexpress
- is available in both Ethernet and Token Ring versions, both of
- which are available immediately through Microcom's certified
- resellers in either two-port, four-port or eight-port server
- versions, with pricing ranging from $3,499 to $8,899, including
- the server, network management tools and an unlimited license
- for Carbon Copy.
-
- Xircom Inc., has announced volume shipment availability of the new
- CreditCard Token Ring Adapter, claimed to be the first Personal
- Computer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA) LAN
- adapter based on the Texas Instruments Token Ring chipset. The
- CreditCard Token Ring Adapter is already available through
- Xircom's worldwide network of distributors and resellers, priced
- at $599.
-
- Router and internetworking vendor, Cisco Systems Inc., has announced
- that its board of directors, at the company's regularly scheduled
- board meeting on Tuesday, has authorized the splitting of the stock
- on a 2-for-1 basis for shareholders of record on March 4, 1994.
- Shares resulting from the split are expected to be distributed by
- the transfer agent on March 18, 1994.
-
- Network Systems Corp., and Essential Communications have signed
- a partnership agreement to build and market gigabit-speed networking
- products including HIPPI switches and workstation adapter cards;
- ATM and SONET gateways; and "other high-performance enterprise
- LAN devices." Under terms of the deal, Network Systems will hold
- a 40 percent equity position in Essential, valued at $2.5 million,
- and will market Essential products.
-
- XNET Technology has introduced a server-based switching hub card
- that increases the number of Ethernet 10 Mbps paths. The Series 1800
- ParallelSwitch ServerHub switching hub card combines a six port,
- "high performance full-bandwidth" Ethernet switching hub,
- supporting up to 60 total Mbps of total throughput. The company
- says it is targeted toward 20-100 port Ethernet networks.
-
- While the Series 1800 ISA (Industry Standard Architecture) versions
- will be ready for volume shipments in April, volume shipments of the
- EISA (Extended ISA) version will be in May. The ISA version is priced
- at $2,488 for 10Base-T and $2,688 for the BNC version. The
- 10Base-T EISA version will be priced at $2,988. The EISA BNC model
- will be priced at $3,288.
-
- On the peer-to-peer front, Artisoft Inc., says that its products are
- now available through distributors throughout the Middle East,
- India, and the Commonwealth of Independent States.
-
- The Network Management Forum has announced the election of
- new officers: Keith Willetts of BT will remain as chairman of
- the Board of Trustees; Ian Sugarbroad of Northern Telecom will
- serve as president; John Kitchener of GPT will be vice president
- for Europe; Dr. Makoto Yoshida of NTT will be vice president of Asia;
- and Nancy Goguen of AT&T Global Information Systems will be vice
- president for North America. The Network Management Forum is a
- consortium of over 120 computer and communication systems
- suppliers, service providers and users in 20 countries, focused
- exclusively on management issues.
-
- Wellfleet Communications has joined the Fast Ethernet Alliance, a
- multivendor group focused on developing specifications for 100
- Mbps) CSMA/CD (carrier sense multiple access with collision
- detection) Ethernet technology.
-
- Research firm Dataquest says that the worldwide intelligent hub
- market exhibited significant changes in 1993. The nonmodular
- managed Ethernet hub market, which includes entry-level stackable
- hubs for computer networks, was three times larger in 1993 than
- it was in 1992, illustrating a major shift in demand from large
- companies to small and medium-size companies. In 1992, according
- to Dataquest, the Token Ring market was larger than nonmodular
- managed Ethernet shipments, but there were 2.3 million more
- nonmodular managed Ethernet shipments than Token Ring shipments
- in 1993.
-
- NetWorth Inc., has formed a new business unit to "address the
- burgeoning market for low-cost remote office internetworking
- applications." The new division will be an operating unit within
- NetWorth, and will complement the company's current hub business
- to provide simplified routing and switching products for mass
- distribution.
-
- Accton Technology Corp., has announced the formation of the RedBox
- Division, a new business group devoted to creating workgroup
- computing "solutions" designed specifically to support Novell
- NetWare environments. The company says that the first products
- being developed by the division will incorporate Novell's Universal
- NetWare Client software.
-
- SofNet has announced that its FaxWorks Pro LAN product has begun
- shipping and FaxWorks Pro Server will ship February 28 to end
- users through the company's international network of resellers and
- distributors. FaxWorks Pro LAN, a network-independent LAN fax
- product, is designed for small to medium sized networks.
-
- The company says that the product does not require a dedicated fax
- server and is compatible with most DOS-based LANs including
- Artisoft's LANtastic, Novell's NetWare and NetWare Lite, and
- Microsoft's Windows for Workgroups. Pro LAN is priced at $199
- for a two-user pack is $199, a 10-user pack is $599, a 25-user
- pack is $999, and 50-user pack is $1,799. FaxWorks Pro Server
- costs $1,499 per file server license or $799 for 10 users.
-
- Legato Systems Inc., has signed deals under which Ingram Micro,
- SunExpress, and Tech Data Corp. will resell Legato NetWorker,
- the network-wide backup and recovery software product. Legato
- NetWorker is a software application that backs up users' files on
- the network server or desktop systems and allows recovery when
- a needed file is destroyed or damaged.
-
- (Ian Stokell/19940211)
-
-
- (NEWS)(IBM)(BOS)(00010)
-
- PC-Write Sold To Starlite, Will Continue As Shareware 02/11/94
- HADLOCK, WASHINGTON, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 11 (NB) -- Starlite has
- acquired the rights to PC-Write, and plans to keep the popular,
- 11-year-old word processing program available to users as
- shareware.
-
- The deal between Starlite, producer of the Galaxy shareware word
- processors for novice computer users, and Seattle-based developer
- Bob Wallace, creator of PC-Write, also includes the rights to PC-
- Write add-ons and related products, and Wallace's assistance in the
- development of enhanced versions of PC-Write.
-
- In addition, Starlite intends to continue the PC-Write forum on
- CompuServe, according to Gordon Wanner, president of Starlite.
-
- PC-Write, a program reportedly licensed by 50,000 individuals and
- firms worldwide, was first released by Quicksoft, a company then
- owned by Wallace, in 1983. Wallace sold Quicksoft in 1991, and
- continued to develop PC-Write for the new owners. When Quicksoft
- went out of business in October, 1993, the PC-Write product
- returned to Wallace.
-
- Explained Wallace: "Many loyal PC-Write users have called and told
- me that they want to continue with PC-Write. I'm looking forward
- to helping Starlite continue to serve PC-Write users, and to adding
- the new features and platforms that our users want."
-
- Like other shareware, PC-Write is offered free of charge on an
- "honor system" to users who want to try out the software. Users
- who then register for the software, and pay a license fee, are able
- to receive printed manuals, technical support, and add-ons.
-
- PC-Write and Galaxy Pro-Lite will complement each other well,
- according to Wanner. "PC-Write's fast and easy operation, combined
- with its support for complex documents with detailed formatting,
- including graphics and columns, makes it an excellent word
- processor. And particularly important for Starlite, it is an
- excellent upgrade for our Galaxy users," he noted.
-
- Shareware is "a great system that gets software into a lot of
- users' hands, and lets them see for themselves how hot it is,"
- Wanner added.
-
- PC-Write 4.15 is available immediately through Starlite. The
- single-user license fee is $69 with one year of technical support
- or $49 with 30 days of "getting started" assistance. Existing PC-
- Write users can receive technical support from Starlite at a
- special discount, the company said.
-
- (Jacqueline Emigh/19940210/Reader contact: Starlite, 800-888-8088;
- Press contact: Richard Leeds, Computer Product Introductions Corp.
- for Starlite, 206-451-9788)
-
-
- (EDITORIAL)(GENERAL)(WAS)(00011)
-
- Editorial - A New Paradigm - Again 02/11/94
- WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 11 (NB) -- By John McCormick.
- I have a great new idea for an entertainment system - all I
- need is some PR hype and strong backing from the electronics
- press to get it off the ground.
-
- The problem.
-
- People are not satisfied with what we have now. In particular,
- they have a lot of trouble with all those digital controls where
- you have to press keys in a number pad to select among those 130
- cable channels. You are always hearing complaints from
- malcontents who can't learn to program their VCR.
-
- The situation is even worse for individuals with home satellite
- systems who have dozens of satellites and literally hundreds of
- transponders to choose between, all selected digitally from
- keyboards.
-
- Also, people are getting tired of seeing more of the same old
- thing on TV. Talk shows, movies, sitcoms, news, and game shows
- are all basically unchanged from years ago and are, frankly,
- getting more than a bit boring. What people want is something
- radically new both in format and in the entertainment content
- networks present.
-
- Here is my idea.
-
- Get rid of those number pads and instead use a simple linear dial
- with a moving indicator to select channels. The stations will
- still be tightly restricted as to frequencies, but the ability to
- gradually tune between adjacent stations using a continuously
- changing analog frequency setting controlled by a dial rather
- than a number pad will give the important appearance of more
- control. Don't even include click stops; just have a smoothly
- varying tuner.
-
- My studies have shown that people really want some sort of
- change, and this appears to be it.
-
- Now to revamp the content.
-
- Many people loudly complain about what we have now. Images
- constrained to a specific screen format and resolution really bug
- them, as do the actual images.
-
- My new home entertainment system eliminates all the barriers
- present in current television and not just by making screens
- larger, changing them to letterbox format, or increasing
- resolution. No, my new system opens up the entire environment to
- the imagination of the user.
-
- Sound familiar? It's called AM radio!
-
- Ridiculous, right? Well, is that idea really any more far-fetched
- than the current push for pen computers? Aren't companies, their
- flacks, and hype artists just pushing for an idea that was
- discarded years ago?
-
- General-purpose pen computers are based on the idea that,
- although every business in the past century changed from
- handwritten records and correspondence to typewritten text and
- nearly all of them have now moved on to using computers based on
- the same paradigm, these businesses will all now want to reverse
- that trend and input data with a pen.
-
- What an exciting idea!
-
- Does it make any sense that vast numbers of people will rush to
- move backwards to handwriting-based business communications? Even
- if pen computers were as accurate as a keyboard-based system, you
- couldn't do the most important thing that people have come to
- rely on keyboards for - touch-type! Most typists and experienced
- computer users working with a lot of text can input data at 40 to
- 100 words per minute without ever looking away from their
- reference texts. Don't expect to do better than 10 wpm with any
- pen computer.
-
- Handwriting- or, more accurately, handprinting-based computers
- don't work very well yet. They will improve. They will even do a
- decent job of recognizing continuous cursive writing someday if
- enough money is put into developing them. But that doesn't mean
- they are a good idea, so have your kids take typing classes in
- school.
-
- If you do want a technology to bet on, look to business once
- again. Ten years ago no executive would have been caught dead
- using a typewriter. Executive style called for dictating letters
- and memos to a secretary who did the typing, even if this took
- twice as long as it would for the original person to just type it
- him or herself. Following this idea, look for speech recognition
- to be the real new paradigm for small computers - but don't look
- for it soon; good speech recognition is every bit as tough to
- implement as is handwriting recognition.
-
- (John McCormick/19940211)
-
-
- (REVIEW)(IBM)(WAS)(00012)
-
- Review of - National Lampoon's Chess Maniac 02/11/94
-
- Runs on: MS-DOS compatible fast 386 SX with 27 MB (megabytes) of
- hard drive space; DOS 5 or 6, VGA; mouse; 560 K (kilobytes) free
- memory; and 1 MB EMS memory. Sound board optional.
-
- From: Spectrum Holobyte; 2490 Mariner Square Loop, Alameda, CA
- 94501. 800-695-GAME (sales).
-
- Price: $70 (floppy) $60 (CD-ROM)
-
- PUMA Rating: 4 on a scale 1=lowest to 4=highest
-
- Reviewed for Newsbytes by: John McCormick
-
- Summary: Moderately strong chess program packed with humor and
- animated board pieces - getting your rooks off.
-
- ======
-
- REVIEW
-
- ======
-
- Chess Maniac comes on 12 high-density floppy diskettes so it
- should come as no surprise to learn that it takes about 30
- minutes of disk swapping to get it copied onto your hard disk,
- but that is just the start because it will take up to several
- hours for the software to generate all the fantastic graphics
- which are its major claim to fame - fortunately this processing
- time doesn't require any user attention.
-
- You can play CM5 using the traditional Staunton chess pieces
- (rightly described as "boring" mode), but this is not the world's
- strongest chess program so if you aren't anxious to play the
- animated "bawdy" version then you are loading the wrong software.
-
- Bawdy chess pieces include hooch dancing belly dancers as pawns
- on one side and very tricky Bishops who are shown as wizards.
-
- On the basic "Beginners Luck" level, any novice should have no
- trouble beating the computer. I actually played to lose to see
- how the game would deal with winning, but during the last ten
- moves I tried to win and did so.
-
- As you move toward level 10, otherwise known as "Tie me up and
- whip me!" this program becomes a more formidable opponent. Of
- course it also takes a long time to play the more sophisticated
- games unless you have a reasonably fast 486.
-
- My wife was watching me or I would have tried the final
- difficulty option, "Strip Chess," but as it is I can't report on
- that feature.
-
- You can save and reload games as well as re-orient the board at
- will and change from 3-D to 2-D.
-
- Documentation should be read carefully, not because there is
- anything tricky about learning the program but because it is
- funny. One interesting advertisement carried in the documentation
- is for a product described as "Hand-Tooled Crap."
-
- This is a fun game and is certainly one I will keep loaded to
- show to visitors, but I have real doubt that I will actually want
- to play it more than once or twice. The animation is certainly
- fantastic, but even when you set the software to play a
- reasonably strong game it isn't much fun to play because in the
- more interesting graphics mode the board is difficult to see due
- to all the large characters.
-
- I wisely loaded it onto a removable optical disc so I won't miss
- the more than 25 MB of space taken up by CM5 -- otherwise I feel
- certain that it would get wiped in a few months when I filled up
- my hard drives again and went looking for something that I just
- didn't use.
-
- By all means order the CD-ROM version if you have a drive - it is
- cheaper and easier to install, but it will still use up an
- estimated 27 MB of hard disk space.
-
- Not for small children. Sure there is more violence in TV
- cartoons, but be reasonable folks. For instance, I seem to
- remember seeing one belly dancer kick a court jester in his cod
- piece.
-
- ============
-
- PUMA RATING
-
- ============
-
- PERFORMANCE: 4 Great, no make that fantastic animation, good
- chess play.
-
- USEFULNESS: 4 Generic rating for a game, it is definitely fun but
- fun is in the eye of the beholder.
-
- MANUAL: 4 Only because there is no higher rating available.
-
- AVAILABILITY: 4 This is marketed by a major player in the
- entertainment software business and is widely available.
-
- (John McCormick/19931201/Press Contact: Tom Byron, Spectrum
- Holobyte, 510-522-3584 or fax 2138)
-
-
- (REVIEW)(GENERAL)(WAS)(00013)
-
- Review of - Stan Veit's History of the Personal Computer 02/11/94
-
- From: WorldComm Press, 65 Macedonia Road, Alexander, North
- Carolina 28701, 704-252-9515. By Stan Veit, ISBN 1-56664-023-7.
-
- Price: $19.95 U.S. or $24.95 Canada
-
- PUMA Rating: 4 on a scale 1=lowest to 4=highest
-
- Reviewed for Newsbytes by: John McCormick
-
- Summary: The nitty gritty history of the computer industry as
- seen by the founder of the world's second computer store, Stan
- Veit, who later went on to build a tiny trade newsletter into
- Computer Shopper, the world's largest computer magazine (the
- February, 1994 issue has more than 870 pages).
-
- ======
-
- REVIEW
-
- ======
-
- Did you ever wonder how the personal computer industry got
- started, what it was like trying to buy a computer in the early
- days, and how people coped with finding the parts and information
- they needed?
-
- If so, then who better to learn from than Stan Veit, the man who
- gave Steve Jobs and his partner "Woz" a place in his booth at the
- world's first real computer show (August 27, 1976, Atlantic City,
- New Jersey.)
-
- Although Stan doesn't claim to the best businessman in the world
- (he once turned down a 10 percent piece of Apple Computer for
- $10,000), he was certainly a pioneer and knows where all the
- skeletons are hidden.
-
- But while this book does offer a revealing glimpse into some of
- the personalities and infighting of the early personal computer
- industry, it also provides a vital look at the how the industry
- developed, if not from its birth, then certainly from the time it
- was in diapers.
-
- Stan eventually left the computer sales arena for publishing, but
- during his time as operator of New York's Computer Mart (which
- was actually owned by his wife) Stan once stopped traffic on busy
- 5th Avenue by putting a computer monitor in the window of his
- store, and he shares this, along with dozens of other war stories
- with readers in this very interesting book.
-
- Based on the long-running column he wrote in Computer Shopper,
- Stan Veit's History not only brings much of that information into
- one easily accessible source, but also expands on many of the
- subjects covered in the column.
-
- Whether you lived through the PC revolution (as I did) or are
- just getting involved in computers and want to understand how
- they developed the way they have, Stan's book provides a unique
- look at the people and hardware that have shaped the highly
- polished multi-billion dollar industry we see today.
-
- Personal note, I have known and worked with Stan for years and
- have great respect for his knowledge of this industry. I thank
- him for sharing his experiences, both good and bad, with the rest
- of us in this book.
-
- (John McCormick/19940121/Press Contact: WorldComm Press, 704-252-
- 9515)
-
-
- (REVIEW)(IBM)(WAS)(00014)
-
- Review of - The Best 1001 WordPerfect Tips Ever 02/11/94
-
- Runs on: Disk is 3.5-inch MS-DOS compatible.
-
- From: Osborne McGraw-Hill, Blue Ridge Summit, PA 17294-0701.
- 800-722-472. By Mary Campbell, ISBN 0-07-881819-2, book
- and included floppy disk.
-
- Price: $39.95
-
- PUMA Rating: 4 on a scale 1=lowest to 4=highest
-
- Reviewed for Newsbytes by: John McCormick
-
- Summary: A good substitute for a personal trainer learning
- WordPerfect 6.0 or 5.1 for DOS, most useful for someone new to
- word processing in general.
-
- ======
-
- REVIEW
-
- ======
-
- First of all I want to point out what this book is not. In these
- days when about half of the books I get for review are nothing
- but rewrites of the original documentation, it was refreshing to
- see this book which is truly a supplement to the WordPerfect docs
- rather than an attempt to replace them.
-
- The object of this book is to provide hints and useful shortcuts
- for WordPerfect and they cover a range from the most simple to
- some fairly advanced concepts.
-
- I think the best way to understand this book is to quote a couple
- of tips.
-
- Tip 37 reminds the reader not to mistake a 0 (zero) for an O
- (letter). This is a good tip but obviously meant for rank
- beginners.
-
- Tip 44 explains that you should use "hard spaces" to separate two
- words that you want formatted together, but fails to explain just
- how to insert a "hard space" (use HOME-SPACE).
-
- Tip 982 explains in considerable detail how to create booklets
- and the disk enclosed with the book carries a pair of macros
- which can make this basic desktop publishing task quite simple.
-
- These three tips should make it clear that although there are
- some more advanced topics covered, many of the 1001 are extremely
- basic. This is not a criticism, in fact I think that the book
- makes a fine supplement to the WordPerfect documentation which is
- available online and in print form with the program.
-
- Although there is little in this book which was new or useful to
- me, you need to remember that I use WordPerfect up to ten hours
- per day and I can remember giving a number of similar
- explanations or tips to less experienced users.
-
- While I wouldn't recommend the book to a user who works at my
- level, the average office user will find it very useful, as will
- an office manager who has more productive things to do than
- provide advanced word processor training on a continuing basis.
-
- It is also useful for more sophisticated users who seldom make
- use of many features and would have to spend a lot more time
- experimenting or digging through documentation than it will take
- to find an appropriate tip in this book which provides a
- shortcut.
-
- This is not a replacement for the documentation but it isn't
- intended to be. What it is is a solid collection of useful tips
- and explanations of how WordPerfect works, what you can do with
- all those strange features packed into the documentation, and a
- nice set of useful clip-art, macros, forms, and templates on the
- enclosed floppy diskette. The macros included on disk are only
- compatible with version 6.0.
-
- (John McCormick/19931210/Press Contact: Lisa Kissinger, McGraw-
- Hill, 717-794-2191)
-
-
- (NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SFO)(00015)
-
- Company Results Roundup 02/11/94
- PENN VALLEY, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 11 (NB) -- This is a
- regular feature, summarizing company results not reported
- elsewhere by Newsbytes: Sierra On-Line, Cisco Systems,
- Key Tronic, NAI Technologies, Egghead Software, Informix,
- Digital Microwave, Ingram Micro, SPSS.
-
- Router and internetworking product manufacturer, Cisco Systems Inc.,
- has reported that net sales for the second quarter ended January 30,
- 1994, were $302,166,000 and net income was $77,472,000, or $0.29
- per share. This compares to net sales of $145,071,000 and net income
- of $38,694,000, or $0.15 per share in the same period last year, and
- are increases of 108 percent, 100 percent, and 93 percent,
- respectively.
-
- Said John Morgridge, president and CEO of Cisco, "It is my pleasure
- to report the sixteenth consecutive quarter of growth in revenue and
- profitability since the company went public in February 1990."
-
- For the third quarter of fiscal 1994, revenue from Sierra On-Line's
- core software publishing business increased to $26.7 million from
- $17.6 million for the same quarter in fiscal 1993, an increase of
- 52 percent. Pre-tax income for the business was $5.5 million, an
- increase over the pre-tax loss of $156,500 reported for the
- same period a year ago. For the nine months ended December 31,
- 1993, revenue from core software publishing business increased
- to $48.8 million from $36.2 million for the same period in fiscal
- 1993, an increase of 35 percent. Pre-tax income for the business
- rose to $1.9 million from $325,000 for the same period in fiscal
- 1993, an increase of 485 percent.
-
- Spokane-based manufacturer of computer keyboards and other input
- devices, Key Tronic Corp., increased sales for the second
- quarter of fiscal 1994 ended January 1, but the company sustained
- a net loss of $2,302,000 or $0.28 per share, compared to earnings
- of $1,446,000 or $0.15 per fully diluted share in the same period
- last year. The company reported sales of $41,262,000, compared to
- $32,613,000 in the same quarter of 1993. Reflected in the second
- quarter's results are the operations of the former Honeywell
- Keyboard Division, which Key Tronic acquired on July 30, 1993.
- The company says that the operating loss contrasts with continued
- major increases in unit deliveries of Key Tronic keyboards,
- reflecting price decay still dominating the computer industry.
-
- Computer and telecommunications electronics company, NAI
- Technologies Inc., announced record annual results for the year
- ended December 31, 1993. For the full year 1993, net income was
- up eight percent to $5.5 million or 83 cents per share, compared
- with $5.1 million or 83 cents per share the prior year. Revenues
- increased 20 percent to $81 million from $67.3 million in 1992.
- Net income for the fourth quarter of 1993 was $0.7 million or 10
- cents per share, compared with net income of $1.3 million or
- 22 cents per share in the same period last year. Revenues for the
- quarter declined three percent to $18.4 million from a year
- earlier $19 million.
-
- Egghead Software announced earnings of $1.4 million, or eight
- cents per share, for the third quarter of fiscal 1994 ending January
- 8, 1994, down from earnings of $2.3 million, or 14 cents per share,
- for the third quarter of fiscal 1993. Sales of $208.6 million for
- the third quarter of fiscal 1994 were up $20.3 million, or 11
- percent, compared to $188.3 million in the third quarter a year ago.
- Retail sales of $114.9 million increased $21.5 million, or 23 percent,
- compared to last year. Comparable retail store sales increased 18
- percent compared to the same quarter a year ago. The company also
- reported an increase in mail order sales due partly to the acquisition
- of a new mail order subsidiary, during the second quarter of fiscal
- 1994.
-
- Software vendor Informix Corp, announced results for the fourth
- quarter and full year ended December 31, 1993. Informix's 1993
- revenues increased by approximately 35 percent to $352,915,000
- compared with revenues of $261,790,000 in fiscal 1992. Pretax
- profit for 1993 increased by 64 percent to $87,679,000 compared
- with pretax profit of $53,607,000 in 1992. Net income for 1993
- increased by 31 percent to $56,115,000 compared with pretax
- profit of $42,805,000 in 1992. Fully diluted earnings per share
- were $0.83 in 1993, an increase of 24 percent over fully diluted
- earnings per share of $0.67 in 1992.
-
- Said Phil White, Informix chairman and CEO, "Our database
- business had great momentum in 1993 capped with our December
- shipment of the first of our newest generation of database
- servers, Informix-OnLine Dynamic Server 6.0. 1994 promises
- to be an exciting year for Informix, as we continue to roll
- out our Dynamic Scalable Architecture, (DSA) database servers
- and work towards the planned introduction of our object
- oriented 4GL (fourth generation language), Informix-4GL++."
-
- Digital Microwave Corp reported a quarterly loss of $25.4 million,
- or $2.03 per share, on sales of $30.6 million for the third quarter
- ended December 31, 1993. For the same period in the prior fiscal
- year, the company had net income of $1.1 million, or $0.09 per
- share, on sales of $26.8 million. The company said the loss resulted
- from non-recurring charges of $27 million associated with the
- settlement of a class action lawsuit and the anticipated liquidation
- of its DMC Telecom (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd. joint venture. For the third
- quarter, before non-recurring charges, the company had income
- before tax of $1.6 million, compared to income before tax of $1.1
- million for the same period in the prior fiscal year.
-
- Ingram Micro reported record worldwide fourth quarter and year-
- end sales for the period ending December 31, 1993. For the fourth
- quarter, the company had sales of $1,193,000,000 and for the
- full year $4,023,000,000. According to the company, the figures
- represent increases in sales of 46 percent for the fourth quarter
- and 48 percent for the year over 1992's results, when the company
- had sales of $820,000,000 for the fourth quarter and $2,716,000,000
- for the full year. Domestic year-over-year sales grew by 36 percent.
-
- Statistical software publisher, SPSS Inc., reported record results
- for its fourth quarter and fiscal year, 1993. Net income for the
- quarter totaled $1,537,000, a 143 percent increase over the prior
- year. Earnings per share increased 45 percent to $0.24 cents from
- the $0.16 cents in the last year's fourth quarter. Revenues for the
- fourth quarter, 1993, were $11,864,000, an increase of three
- percent over the fourth quarter, 1992, revenues of $11,507,000.
-
- (Ian Stokell/19940211)
-
-
- (NEWS)(TELECOM)(TOR)(00016)
-
- Canada - Stentor 711 Service For Hearing Impaired Set 02/11/94
- OTTAWA, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1994 FEB 11 (NB) -- The nine regional
- telephone companies across Canada that make up the Stentor
- consortium will launch their national 711 service for the
- hearing- and speech-impaired February 14. The telephone companies
- will also begin offering a single national toll-free number that
- callers can use to contact hearing- or speech-impaired people
- through a relay operator.
-
- The 711 number will connect callers from almost any telephone
- with a relay service operator. A relay operator allows someone
- with a hearing or speech problem to communicate by phone using a
- Telephone Device for the Deaf, which lets the caller type a
- message and have the operator read it aloud to the person on the
- other end.
-
- The 711 service is meant for use by hearing- and speech-impaired
- people. The toll-free number, 800-855-0511, is meant for callers
- who want to contact someone with a hearing or speech impairment.
-
- There will be no extra charge to use the 711 service, Stentor
- spokeswoman Gail Carroll told Newsbytes, and some Stentor member
- companies will offer long-distance discounts to users.
- Subscribers will have to register with their phone companies to
- be eligible for those discounts, Carroll said.
-
- Stentor said the new numbers will be available from about 90
- percent of Canadian telephone exchanges initially. A few
- exchanges "will require a little extra time" to switch over,
- Carroll said. The patchwork of local and toll-free numbers used
- to reach relay operators in the past will keep working for the
- time being, and will remain for some time in the rural and remote
- areas where 711 won't be available for a while.
-
- The move adds another to the list of x11 numbers in use in
- Canada. Telephone users are familiar with 911, used for emergency
- services, and 411, used for directory assistance within one's own
- area code. Calling 611 reaches telephone company repair services,
- and 011 is the access code to dial overseas calls. In the United
- States, 511 is being used in some areas to provide special
- information services, and some cellular telephone carriers are
- using 711 and 811 for roaming information and technical support.
-
- (Grant Buckler/19940211/Press Contact: Gail Carroll, Stentor
- Communications, 613-785-2821)
-
-
- (NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00017)
-
- MFS Makes International Push 02/11/94
- OAK BROOK, ILLINOIS, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 11 (NB) -- MFS
- Communications, best-known for its fiber "rings" in major US
- cities which offer an alternative for local access to long
- distance networks, is now making a major push for international
- traffic, mainly through its Datanet data subsidiary.
-
- The company announced what it called the first end-to-end
- international service under the Asynchronous Transfer Mode, or
- ATM standard, which can pass data at multi-megabit speeds. The
- service is possible because MFS offers both local and long
- distance services, in contrast to both its regional Bell and
- long-distance competitors. In order to get the service, of
- course, your building must be within reach of one of MFS' fiber
- networks, which generally serve central business districts and
- major office parks in the suburbs. The company currently serves
- 14 markets, but has announced it will begin service this year to
- nine more for a total of 23.
-
- In Atlanta, for instance, MFS serves the downtown, midtown,
- Buckhead, and north Perimeter areas, and just recently extended
- service to the Emory University area, home of the Centers for
- Disease Control and Prevention and American Cancer Society,
- among other things. But MFS does not yet serve booming Cobb or
- Gwinnett counties, where most high-tech businesses are still
- located, nor does it serve the area south of the city near the
- Atlanta airport. Because it serves only high-density business
- neighborhoods, in fact, companies like MFS have been accused of
- "cherry picking" by regional Bell companies, taking their best
- customers and leaving them with higher cost, lower profit
- residential customers.
-
- For large businesses, however, companies like MFS offer big
- bargains, and with long distance and now international data
- services at multi-megabit speeds, the bargains are even bigger.
- Many companies can digitize their voice calls, in fact, and load
- them onto data lines to get even more savings. MFS' Datanet
- launched its US ATM service last August, and will initially
- offer international service to the United Kingdom, with expansion
- planned to Western Europe and the Pacific Rim. The company's
- local area network connection services will also be offered
- through the international network.
-
- As part of its marketing effort, MFS also signed a letter intent
- with Rogers Network Services of Canada to do joint promotions of
- the two companies' services. The deal will also simplify cross-
- border traffic termination in the two markets. RNS is the largest
- company of MFS' type in Canada, and part of Rogers Cablesystems
- Ltd., the country's largest cable company with over two million
- subscribers.
-
- (Dana Blankenhorn/19940211/Press Contact: Claire Fennell, MFS,
- 708-218-7232)
-
-
- (NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00018)
-
- AT&T Plans More Job Cuts 02/11/94
- BASKING RIDGE, NEW JERSEY, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 11 (NB) -- AT&T
- announced plans to cut 15,000 more jobs from its long distance
- division over the next two years. This is on top of 3,500
- operator service job cuts previously announced but not yet
- implemented. AT&T has 309,000 employees worldwide, about 256,000
- in the US. Its communications services group, from which the
- present cuts are coming, has 96,500 employees.
-
- While the layoff notices actually won't start going out until
- March, spokesman Burke Stinson told Newsbytes, the company has
- already accounted for the changes. "There was an accounting rule
- that all corporations have to accrue for people who retire. The
- second part of that is companies have to accrue for people
- expected to take incentive packages. That was done in the last
- quarter -- a $1.3 billion charge" against that quarter's
- earnings. When completed, the latest changes should save about
- $900 million a year, AT&T says.
-
- The changes are based on technology, the company has noted, and
- are occurring industry-wide in response to competition.
- Computerized networks don't require the amount of maintenance, or
- operator service, as older networks. They apparently don't need
- as many layers of management, either -- over half the new cuts
- will be among managers. Affected employees will be offered a
- variety of payments to leave, up to 2 years' wages for non-
- management workers and up to 42 weeks' salary for managers.
-
- (Dana Blankenhorn/19940211/Press Contact: Burke Stinson, AT&T,
- 908-221-2062)
-
-
- (NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00019)
-
- Defense Dept Frequencies Going Private 02/11/94
- WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A., 1994 FEB 11 (NB) -- In a preliminary
- report, the National Telecommunications and Information
- Administration, or NTIA, has designated 200 MHz in new
- frequencies which will be converted from Defense to private use
- in the next 10 years.
-
- This is on top of 160 MHz of spectrum for so-called personal
- communications services or PCS networks, most of which is due for
- auction later this year. Of that total, 120 MHz will be
- auctioned while 40 MHz will be unlicensed frequencies for things
- like in-building wireless networks and cordless phones.
-
- A spokesman emphasized to Newsbytes, "This is a preliminary report.
- We accept comments for 90 days, then file the final report in
- March 1995." An exception is a 50 MHz block being turned over
- immediately into private use. "The other 150 are up for
- negotiation." Eventually, "the FCC has to decide what to do with
- it. It could be used for low earth orbit satellites, microwave
- links, any commercial purpose."
-
- By way of comparison, the cellular phone industry uses 50 MHz of
- frequency, the FM broadcasting industry uses 20 MHz, and TV
- broadcasters use 400 MHz of frequency.
-
- The first frequencies to be allocated are very high, at 4.66-
- 4.685 GHz. They'd previously been used for military airborne data
- transmissions and communications -- they might now be used for
- fixed or mobile radio and satellites. Two other slots, between
- 2.390-2.4 GHz and 2.402-2.417 GHz, previously used for military
- radar testing and enemy radio simulations, with potential for
- radio local and fixed or mobile communications, were also
- allocated immediately. By way of comparison, most of the PCS
- frequencies lie between 1.8 and 2.4 GHz.
-
- In January 1996, the agency, an arm of the Commerce Department,
- plans to release 10 MHz between 2.3-2.31 GHz, from military radar
- applications. In January, 1997, the frequencies 4.635-4.660 GHz
- will be released from military airborne use. Two years later, in
- January, 1999, two lower frequency ranges will be released,
- between 1.390-1.400 GHz and 1.427-1.432 GHz, as will frequency
- slots between 1.670-1.675 GHz and 3.650-3.700 GHz, a large block
- now used by the Navy for air traffic control on aircraft
- carriers. Finally, in January, 2002, a block from 1.710-1.755
- GHz, now used by microwave communications and military tactical
- relays, would go private.
-
- A complete report on all this is available to the public through
- the NTIA bulletin board, at 202-482-1199. Technically, it's NTIA
- Special Publication 94-27, a preliminary spectrum re-allocation
- report in response to Title VI of the 1993 Omnibus Budget
- Reconciliation Act. Written comments can be delivered until May
- 11, with a representative contact and 10 copies, to Norbert
- Schroeder, Program Manager for Spectrum Openness at the NTIA,
- Room 4092, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and
- Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20230. His phone
- number is 202/482-3999. A public hearing by the staff will be
- held on April 7, and meetings will be scheduled with government
- users of the spectrum and commercial representatives starting
- June 24.
-
- (Dana Blankenhorn/19940211/Press Contact: Larry Williams, NTIA,
- 202/482-1551; BBS: 202-482-1199)
-
-
- (NEWS)(TRENDS)(DEN)(00020)
-
- Computers Aid Anthropologists To Study The Past 02/11/94
- AUSTIN, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 11 (NB) -- Three Texas companies
- have been selected by scientists at The University of Texas to
- participate in a project the scientists say could revolutionize the
- way they record and study archaeological data.
-
- In the project, which involves DTM Corporation, Digibotics Inc and
- Scientific Measurement Systems, scientists scan ancient human
- skeletal remains and other artifacts using Digibotics 3D Laser
- Digitizer. Additional information is collected using the Smartscan
- Computer Tomography system from SMS, and the data is stored on disk
- or CD-ROM. DTM's Sinterstation 2000 System then creates three
- dimensional nylon and polycarbonate replicas of the scanned objects.
-
- Initially the project will involve the scanning and replica creation
- of a small sample of Native American skeletal remains. The tribe
- whose ancestor's remains are being scanned have granted permission
- for the project. The scientists say the system will allow them to
- study the artifacts long after they have been scanned and re-buried.
-
- "New laws require the repatriation and reburial of
- tribally affiliated Native American human remains and artifacts if
- the culturally affiliated tribe makes that request, and this is
- what initially prompted this project," according to Dr. John
- Kappelman, University of Texas Associate Professor in the Department
- of Anthropology. Dr. Kappelman is the founder of the project.
-
- The technique can also be beneficial to museums. A 1990
- repatriation law requires the return of cultural remains presently
- located in museums or other institutions receiving federal funds if
- the tribe requests that.
-
- Dr. Kappelman says the scientific study of skeletons and artifacts
- can yield clues that can help reveal details on the lifestyles of
- early cultures, such as the types of diseases that afflicted the
- population, what the average life span was, the content of their
- diet, and other details regarding lifestyles and overall health.
-
- (Jim Mallory/19940211/Press contact: Kent Nutt, DTM Corp,
- 512-339-2922; Wayne Winkelman, Digibotics, 512-832-9040; John
- Steude, SMS, 512-837-4712; Reader contact: Dr. John Kappelman,
- University of Texas, 512-471-0055/PHOTO)
-
-
- (NEWS)(IBM)(DEN)(00021)
-
- New Services For OnTime Scheduler Software 02/11/94
- SOUTHFIELD, MICHIGAN, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 11 (NB) -- Campbell Services
- has announced an upgrade to its OnTime group scheduler and several
- new products the company says will broaden the program's
- functionality.
-
- On February 28, 1994 Campbell plans to ship its new Ontime
- Enterprise for Netware, a client/server product that enables
- realtime scheduling across a wide area network (WAN). Enterprise
- supports DOS and Windows clients and is implemented as a Novell
- Netware Loadable Module that works with Netware 3.1x and 4.x.
-
- The company is also currently shipping its Interactive Voice
- Response System, which uses text-to-speech conversion technology to
- turn OnTime real-time calendar data into voice messages that users
- can pick up from a touchtone phone while out of the office. Suppose
- your department head schedules a meeting for early morning the
- day you are to return from a business trip. By calling the office
- and pressing some buttons on any touchtone phone, you'll know about
- the meeting and can be prepared. Campbell says it will soon add a
- feature that allows users to fax their schedule to any location
- equipped with fax capability.
-
- Campbell says it will ship OnTime version 3.0 in the third quarter.
- That version of the program will add a basic event manager that will
- eventually evolve into a program that that will be able to trigger
- various events such as the unattended downloading of electronic mail
- (e-mail) or even the printing of reports, using program linking and
- macro scripting.
-
- Version 3.0 is also scheduled to get a user interface facelift that
- will include a new tool bar, a multiple document interface and the
- ability to customize Ontime's screen layout. The network version
- of OnTime will have a dedicated resource scheduler to help users
- coordinate facilities and equipment for group meetings. It will also
- include a new print engine that will provide some new features.
-
- Campbell spokesperson Craig Settles told Newsbytes those features
- will include additional schedule printout formats in addition to the
- currently available Fil-O-Fax-fax and Daytimer as well as the standard
- Campbell Services tri-fold. "They have a grab bag of different user
- wishes," says Settles. Color support is also planned.
-
- Version 3.0 is scheduled to include a store and forward capability
- for e-mail that will add bi-directional wireless technology that
- includes packet switching, paging, and cellular communication. The
- current version of Ontime can use PC-to-pager communication to
- automatically send meeting notifications to users' alphanumeric
- pagers.
-
- The company says a future version of Ontime will support the
- Braille n'Speak hand-held system from Balzie Engineering that will
- be built into an upgrade of the single user and network versions of
- Ontime.
-
- In the second quarter of this year Campbell plans to release a
- phone book for Ontime that displays names that meet retrieval
- criteria as soon as the user begins to type. Users will be able to
- search by specific fields or use free-form search. The product
- will support the use of aliases, so if you type "Robert" you will
- also get entries that include "Bob" or "Bobby."
-
- (Jim Mallory/19940211/Press contact: Don Campbell, Campbell
- Services, 810-559-5955; Reader contact: Campbell Services,
- 810-559-5955, fax 810-559-1034)
-
-
- (NEWS)(GENERAL)(LAX)(00022)
-
- Automap Offers California Quake Update File To Travelers 02/11/94
- BELLEVUE, WASHINGTON, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 11 (NB) -- Automap,
- producers of the Automap Road Atlas, announced a supplement to the
- software, available on Compuserve, to help travelers avoid
- freeways damaged by the Los Angeles earthquake.
-
- The program features detailed electronic maps of the
- United States, Canada, and Northern Mexico that depict 410,203
- miles of freeways, tollways, state and country roads and
- more than 120,000 locations.
-
- The software, geared mainly toward long distance traveling,
- allows the user to input information as to freeways that are
- under construction or otherwise undesirable so an alternate
- route can be planned. Automap says the update available for
- download provides details as to down or damaged freeways in Los
- Angeles. Not only does the software offer alternative routes, but
- it provides information on problems associated with the damage
- and telephone numbers for further information. For example, the
- earthquake-damaged 114, also known as the Antelope Valley
- freeway, can be traveled, but in places drivers are forced off
- onto one lane side access roads which are backed up several
- hours.
-
- The software is geared toward main highways only, however, and is
- not designed to map out alternate route plans for streets within
- Los Angeles blocked due to earthquake damage.
-
- The download is free, except for normal Compuserve connect
- charges, and is available in the United Kingdom forum (GO
- AUTOMAP), since Automap is a UK-based company. The update file is
- CAQUAKE.ZIP and works with DOS, Windows, and Macintosh versions
- of the software, company officials said.
-
- The company also is planning a series of add-on products for the
- Automap Road Atlas for release this spring that add data and
- features to the atlas database. For example, the Automap
- Destination Ski allows the user to look up ski areas, find
- detailed information as to ski resorts in any given area, and
- routes to reach those resorts. A Destination Europe product will
- also be available soon.
-
- A compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) version of the product
- will also be available soon so users who want to save their disk
- space will need only 1 megabyte (MB) of hard disk space instead
- of the 5.5 MB the product usually requires.
-
- (Linda Rohrbough/19940211/Press Contact: Jessica Maco, Automap,
- 206-455-3552; Bob Bogard, Conners Communications for Automap, tel
- 415-771-3940, fax 415-771-3970; Public Contact, Automap, 1-800-
- 440-6277; PHOTO)
-
-
- (NEWS)(TRENDS)(LAX)(00023)
-
- Compton's Fight -- Patent Office Reverse On Prior Art 02/11/94
- ANNAPOLIS, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 11 (NB) -- The United
- States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has decided it will
- reverse its standard policy and consider prior art from the
- public during the re-examinations of the Compton's "multimedia"
- patent. The next round of public hearings on the subject is
- scheduled for February 10-11 at the Crystal City Forum in
- Arlington, Virginia.
-
- The Compton's patent number 5,241,671, issued in August but
- announced at Fall Comdex, caused an uproar in the computer
- industry because its claim is that Compton's owns the concept of
- multimedia. Compton's said anyone producing multimedia from
- compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) titles to electronic
- services would need to pay, and even announced a royalty schedule.
-
- This isn't the first "broad, non-technical" patent the USPTO has
- issued, according to the Interactive Multimedia Association
- (IMA).
-
- In December Patent and Trademark Commissioner Bruce Lehman
- ordered a reexamination of the Compton's patent and announced
- public hearings to be held in San Jose, California and Arlington,
- Virginia. Now the office has further opened its policies to
- include accepting examples of prior art from the public.
-
- Philip Dodds, executive director of the IMA, praised the move,
- and added that statues require the materials be in the form
- of patents and printed publications, though evidence of prior
- public use or sale is allowed.
-
- Dodds also cautioned companies to carefully consider whether they
- want to submit prior art for re-examination at this point, since
- some of the Patent's 41 "claims" may survive re-examination,
- strengthening those claims. "If this patent then ends up in
- court, as many suspect it will, it will be virtually impossible
- to use the prior art considered during the re-examination to
- overcome those claims," Dodds said. "Some of our members are
- choosing to withhold prior art so that it can be evaluated by a
- judge instead of the patent examiner."
-
- The IMA is made up of 280 member companies and organizations,
- including leaders in the multimedia industry such as Apple
- Computer, Paramount Technology, IBM, Kaleida Labs,
- Videodiscovery, Philips, 3DO, Eastman Kodak, and Sun
- Microsystems. Dodds has already previously announced the IMA is
- willing to fight the Compton's patent in court.
-
- PTO says interested parties can view the Compton's patent and
- reexamination documentation at it's Public Search Room, 9 am to 5
- pm Monday through Friday in Crystal Plaza 3, Crystal City,
- Arlington, Virginia.
-
- (Linda Rohrbough/19940211/Press Contact: David Kaufer, Kaufer
- Miller Communications for the Interactive Multimedia Association,
- tel 206-450-9965, fax 206-450-9963)
-
-
- (NEWS)(UNIX)(SFO)(00024)
-
- Chinese Ministry Adopts Novell's Tuxedo OLTP 02/11/94
- PROVO, UTAH, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 11 (NB) -- When Novell acquired
- Unix Systems Laboratories (USL), part of the deal included USL's
- Tuxedo on-line transaction processing (OLTP) system. Now Novell
- says that the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) Ministry of Electronic
- Industries, and Unix System Technologies (UST) of China, have
- announced the adoption of Tuxedo as the Ministry's OLTP system.
-
- According to the company, the PRC will use the Tuxedo system
- for developing client-server transaction applications for China's
- major commercial industries, including agriculture, banking,
- communications, energy, government, and insurance.
-
- Unix Systems Technologies (UST)-China is a joint venture between
- Novell, the Ministry of Electronic Industries, and DASCOM Holdings
- Ltd., a Hong Kong-based software organization formed in November,
- 1992. UST claims to be a group of independently operated firms
- providing localized expertise and support for Unix-based
- technologies.
-
- Said professor Jian Yao Ling, president of UST-China. "The presence
- of Tuxedo in the PRC marketplace signifies a new phase in the
- scope and capabilities of UST-China. UST, along with Novell's direct
- involvement, will be key to promoting the broad use of Tuxedo-based
- applications in the PRC."
-
- Tuxedo is a network service that provides mission-
- critical transaction-processing capabilities in Novell's NetWare
- and UnixWare network and computer operating system environments.
-
- According to Novell, the Tuxedo system is a layer of software that
- "improves performance, ensures data integrity and provides the
- essential transaction processing and tracking services for business-
- critical networked applications."
-
- Additionally, Tuxedo is described as a suite of integrated software
- development tools that facilitate the development of applications
- for distributed computing environments, managing application
- transactions between clients and servers, as well as large system
- resources such as corporate databases. The product reportedly also
- simplifies the management and integration of applications between
- diverse computer operating system environments.
-
- A Tuxedo partners and users conference is being held in Provo,
- Utah, this week. The conference is intended to provide developers
- and OEMs with information that will help them "more effectively
- use the Tuxedo system as they build powerful, flexible and cost
- effective distributed applications."
-
- (Ian Stokell/19940211/Press Contact: Kelli Christensen,
- 801-429-5933, Novell Inc.)
-
-
- (NEWS)(IBM)(DEN)(00025)
-
- Windows Software Gets You Internet Mail And News 02/11/94
- LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 11 (NB) -- If you are a
- Windows user and want an easy way to communicate on the rapidly
- growing Internet, you may want to check out the software from
- a Louisville, Kentucky-based company.
-
- Computer Witchcraft Inc., has announced WinNET Mail and News Version
- 2.0, a free software package that allows a Windows user to access
- the Internet without having to navigate a terminal emulator, use a
- character-oriented menu or remember Unix commands.
-
- Witchcraft's WinNET software is only half the company's Internet
- access package. WinNET Mail and News works gives you access to
- Internet through the company's WinNET Internet Access Service, a
- pipeline into the Internet which is akin to the driveway from your
- house (the PC) to the highway (Internet).
-
- WinNET Mail software lets you send and receive electronic mail
- (e-mail), reading and/or posting messages in any of the thousands of
- discussion groups, and send and receive files. It uses a folder
- metaphor for organizing mail and news, an address book, and a news
- reader that will follow the thread of a conversation topic and a
- message search capability in any of the thousands of Internet
- user groups, known as news groups. You can automate the sending and
- pickup of messages, adjust fonts and colors for the most desirable
- display and use a utility system editor to prepare very large
- files.
-
- Computer Witchcraft President Michael Tague told Newsbytes the
- strength of WinNET is that it keeps the user online the minimum
- amount of time. Consequently there are a few Internet services it
- doesn't support. However Tague says some additional features are
- being added.
-
- Once the free software is installed, which Witchcraft says takes
- about 15 minutes, you launch an automatic account registration
- routine that very shortly has you on the Internet. Witchcraft
- provides free technical support during the hours of 9AM to 8PM
- Eastern time, and the software can handle communications at speeds
- up to 14,400 bps with V.42bis and MNP-5 compression.
-
- The company says since most work - reading and writing of messages
- - is done while you are offline, costs are low. It estimates an
- average cost of $25 per month, although like any online service
- it's easy to run up your charges if you aren't careful. The WinNET
- access rates are $8.00 with a monthly minimum of $9.95. The company
- offers access through 800 numbers in some areas of North America.
- US 800 number rates are the standard rate plus $0.12 per minute
- during evening hours and $0.18 per minute during the business day.
- In Canada rates are $0.30 and $0.40 for night and day rates
- respectively.
-
- Computer Witchcraft also has a WinNET node in London, England and
- will soon launch a node in Germany. The company also publishes Mega
- Edit, a fast text editor for Windows.
-
- (Jim Mallory/19940211/Press contact: Michael Tague, Computer
- Witchcraft Inc, 502-589-6800; Reader contact: Computer witchcraft
- Inc, 502-589-6800, fax 502-589-7300)
-
-
- (NEWS)(TRENDS)(SFO)(00026)
-
- HP Takes Lead In Back-up Tape Sales 02/11/94
- SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 11 (NB) -- International
- Data Corp. has announced the conclusions of a study, "93 Tape
- Storage Review and 94 Forecast." To the surprise of many,
- Hewlett-Packard overtook Conner as the leader in the tape
- business and IBM placed third in percent of market share.
-
- The results showed HP with 17.5%, Conner 14.6% and IBM 13.2%.
- The study used OEM (original equipment manufacturing) value for
- tape units sold in each segment to derive the total value of the
- tape business. In 1992, Conner was the leader with a 15 percent
- market share and HP placed second with a 14.2 percent share.
-
- Hewlett-Packard contends that the purchase of Colorado
- Memory Systems, Inc., and a strategy of developing the
- potential markets for tape-backup uses, has been a major
- contribution to their number one position in the market share.
-
- Speaking to Newsbytes, Roger Archibald, mass storage
- group marketing manager for HP, said, "Our strategy for
- distribution contains two main elements. One, we have
- worked hard to develop the reseller market to become the
- number one supplier of tape and, two, we are working with
- computer companies to have tape back-up systems built-in to
- their delivered units. We are continuing to target a broad
- range of tape uses."
-
- According to HP, there is a tremendous untapped market in
- the millions of computer users who continue to work without
- a means of back-up capabilities. They further state that
- networks make up the strongest segment of back-up system
- users at this time.
-
- At deadline time for this article, Conner was unavailable for
- comment.
-
- (Patrick McKenna/19940211/ Press Contact: Lou Hoffman,
- Hoffman Agency, 408-286-2611)
-
-
- (NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LON)(00027)
-
- Amstrad Issues Losses Warning 02/11/94
- LONDON, ENGLAND, 1994 FEB 11 (NB) -- Alan Sugar, the chairman of
- Amstrad, the multimillion computer manufacturer, has warned that
- the computer and consumer electronics group is close to falling into
- the red this year after poor trading.
-
- In a statement to analysts and financial brokers, Sugar said that,
- as the second-half sales were usually lower, the target set for the
- company would be very difficult to reach. The upturn in the English
- economy, he said, did not persuade customers to spend more.
-
- Pre-tax profits for Amstrad approached UKP 1.7 million in the six
- months to December 31, 1993, compared with UKP 5.6 million in the
- six months in the previous year. Sales in the first half, meanwhile,
- fell from UKP 202.2 million to 139.9 million, a figure which
- Newsbytes notes is very unusual, since sales in the first half year
- are normally Amstrad's strong selling season.
-
- Sugar explained the problems away by saying that profit margins in
- the consumer electronics industry were under pressure "due to an
- over-supply of product, price-cutting and depressed demand."
-
- As Sugar made his announcement, the company's shares tumbled by 4.25
- pence to 40.75 pence. He warned the press that "shareholders should
- recognize the possibility of the company turning in a loss for the
- full year."
-
- Despite the tumble in the company's shares, Newsbytes notes that the
- stock price is still comfortably above the 30 pence mark, the slot
- which it was in late 1992 when Sugar unveiled his plan to take
- the company back into private ownership.
-
- (Steve Gold/19940211/Press & Public Contact: Amstrad - Tel: +44-277-
- 2288888)
-
-
- (NEWS)(TRENDS)(LAX)(00028)
-
- ****Directv - 150 Channels By April 02/11/94
- ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 11 (NB) -- Directv
- announced it will offer 150 channels to consumers for less than
- $30 a month via the new RCA-brand Digital Satellite Systems (DSS)
- receiving units equipped with 18-inch satellite dishes which
- should be in retail channels by April. The service will include
- cable television, the Bloomberg Direct business television news
- network, Music Choice compact disc (CD) quality music
- programming, and optional pay-per-view movies.
-
- A unit of GM Hughes Electronics, Directv said two packages will
- be available to consumers -- the Personal Choice package for
- $21.95 and the Total Choice package for $29.95. The service is
- slated to begin in April with a modified version of the Personal
- Choice package, but the Total Choice package won't be available
- until the fall of this year.
-
- In April the Personal Choice package will include ESPN, CNN, TBS,
- USA, A&E, CNBC, Headline News, TNT, Sci-Fi, The Discovery Channel
- and Encore. Primetime 24 will be sold a la carte for $3.95 a
- month. Pay per view movie titles from Universal Pictures,
- Paramount, Columbia/Tristar, Sony Pictures Classics and now Walt
- Disney Television will be priced from $1.95 to $3.95.
-
- Later, the Personal Choice package will include approximately 25
- basic cable services including ESPN, CNN, TBS, Discovery, USA and
- Headline News as well as the Disney Channel, Digital Cable
- Radio's 30-channel Music Choice audio service, and one $3.95 pay-
- per-view credit per month. Customers will be able to personalize
- their package either by choosing 10 of the 25 services from a
- list of more than 20 cable favorites or by selecting the seven-
- channel Encore multiplex movie service, Directv said.
-
- The Total Choice package will include approximately 40 basic
- cable services including ESPN, CNN, TNN, CMT, USA, Headline News,
- Sci-Fi Channel, C-SPAN, TBS, TNT, Cartoon Network, the Disney
- Channel (east & west feeds), Music Choice, Encore multiplex
- (seven channels of movies) and two $3.95 pay-per-view credits per
- month.
-
- Of course, consumers will need to have the DSS, which retails for
- $699 and consists of the 18-inch satellite antenna, a digital
- receiver box, and a remote control. Thomson Consumer Electronics
- is manufacturing the DSS units initially.
-
- (Linda Rohrbough/19940211/Press Contact: Linda Brill, Directv,
- tel 310-535-5062, fax 310-535-5225)
-
-
- (NEWS)(GENERAL)(SFO)(00029)
-
- RasterOps Price Cuts, Next-Day Lemon Replacement 02/11/94
- SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 11 (NB) -- The
- battle for the consumer's dollar extends to service after
- sales, and in that department Rasterops is offering a new
- approach to those who get faulty or defective add-on boards
- or displays -- next day replacement.
-
- RasterOps' new service program, "SureThing," provides next-day
- replacement of a faulty or defective add-on board or display
- product for the first year of ownership. The customer must be
- the original owner of the product and must agree to return the
- defective product to RasterOps. The program applies to all
- RasterOps and TrueVision products, including most RasterOps
- large-screen color displays.
-
- According to the company, the new program is retroactive to
- qualifying products purchased after March 1, 1993.
-
- In addition, RasterOps announced the following price cuts:
- the CorrectPrint 300i dye-sublimation printer products, with
- 36MB version, $9,249 to $4,999, and the 16MB version,
- $6,499 to $3,999; its MoviePak2 Pro Suite professional video
- editing system, $4,999 to $4,199. The company claims that
- the cuts are a means of keeping competitive in the market
- and an aggressive step to develop more customers.
-
- Speaking with Newsbytes, Diane Scott, director of marketing,
- said, "The dye-sublimation market has not been as strong as we
- would like to see it, so we have dropped the price so that the
- technology is available to a larger segment of the market."
-
- (Patrick McKenna/19940211/Press Contact: Anne-Lise
- Stannard, RasterOps Corp., tel 408-562-4200)
-
-
- (NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LAX)(00030)
-
- ****MCA Buys Into Software Developer Interplay 02/11/94
- LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 11 (NB) -- MCA, a
- subsidiary of consumer electronics giant Matsushita Electric
- Industrial, has invested in interactive software company
- Interplay Productions of Irvine, California. Interplay is
- probably best known for its Battle Chess, Mario Teaches Typing,
- and Clay Fighter for Super Nintendo game titles.
-
- Matsushita is also manufacturing the 3DO interactive multiplayer
- under the brand name Panasonic. Under the arrangement, MCA is
- Interplay's sole minority investor, with the option to increase
- its minority position. The deal comes on the heels of an
- announced merger between Electronic Arts, also heavily involved
- in production of 3DO titles, and educational software producer
- Broderbund Software.
-
- Brian Fargo said: "Interplay has been courted by virtually every
- major entertainment company in Hollywood but this transaction
- offered us the opportunity to bring together everything MCA has
- to offer -- books, movies, records, licensing, and theme parks --
- with our expertise in interactive entertainment."
-
- Skip Paul, executive vice president at MCA said: "Our involvement
- with Interplay will not be a passive investment. We will be
- working through our newly formed Universal Interactive Studios
- unit to develop MCA properties with Interplay."
-
- The convergence of interactive computer software development
- companies with entertainment and hardware firms has been sparked
- by the opportunities seen in the "information superhighway." On
- Thursday, Apple Computer announced a deal with Oracle for set-top
- boxes aimed at delivering the information superhighway to
- consumers.
-
- Interplay develops software for a variety of computer and
- entertainment platforms including: DOS, Windows, Macintosh, the
- Amiga, the Sega Genesis, compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM)
- titles, 3DO, and the Super Nintendo Entertainment System.
-
- (Linda Rohrbough/19940211/Press Contact: Kevin Horn, Interplay,
- tel 714-553-6655, fax 714-252-2820)
-
-
- (NEWS)(GENERAL)(MSP)(00031)
-
- Newsbytes Daily Summary 02/11/94
- MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 11 (NB) -- These are
- capsules of all today's news stories:
-
- 1 -> Acer Ships Multimedia, Pentium Systems 02/11/94 Hoping to remain
- competitive with Dell, Compaq, IBM, and Packard Bell, Acer America
- Corp., has announced shipment of five PC systems with internal
- multimedia capabilities that includes a new Pentium-based system.
-
- 2 -> SAVA Smart Card Network Security System 02/11/94 SAVA Research
- Corporation has announced the Series 20 Secure Cell network security
- system -- a hardware plus software identification and authorization
- (I&D) device using a smart card ID card, a smart card reader, and a PC
- half card to monitor workstation activity and access to a network.
-
- 3 -> CD-ROM-Based Automobile Global Positioners 02/11/94 Sony
- Corporation has joined in an effort with Etak, Inc., to produce Sony
- GPX-M1 technology, a global positioning system (GPS) for use in
- American Cars.
-
- 4 -> Australia - Osborne Ships Keyboardless Computer 02/11/94 Osborne,
- Australia's largest manufacturer and supplier of PCs, has released a
- new model which has a keyboard, although according to Osborne you may
- not need it. The Speech Dictation System computer uses IBM's new
- software of the same name.
-
- 5 -> Commodore Australia Reported Close To Failure 02/11/94
- Entrepreneurial types interested in buying their very own multinational
- computer company subsidiary in Australia will have their chance next
- week. Commodore Business machines is the Australian distributor of
- Commodore, but it is expected to be sold next week due to financial
- problems.
-
- 6 -> Software Support Pros Assn To Hold Events 02/11/94 The Software
- Support Professionals Association (SSPA) plans to present two national
- events for support professionals later this month, each to be hosted by
- Interleaf.
-
- 7 -> Electronic Resumes On Disk 02/11/94 The Electronic Resume Network
- is using diskettes to bring job-seekers into contact with would-be
- employers. The Toronto company will launch its Resumes on Disk service
- March 1.
-
- 8 -> Japan - NEC Beefs UP PC-VAN Network 02/11/94 NEC plans to take
- steps to beef up membership in its personal computer-based
- telecommunication network called PC-VAN. Several advanced multimedia
- features will be added. The goal is to gain one million members by the
- end of fiscal 1995.
-
- 9 -> Networking Roundup 02/11/94 This is the first of what is planned as
- a regular Friday feature, summarizing networking news not covered
- elsewhere by Newsbytes this week.
-
- 10 -> PC-Write Sold To Starlite, Will Continue As Shareware 02/11/94
- Starlite has acquired the rights to PC-Write, and plans to keep the
- popular, 11-year-old word processing program available to users as
- shareware.
-
- 11 -> Editorial - A New Paradigm - Again 02/11/94 By John McCormick. I
- have a great new idea for an entertainment system - all I need is some
- PR hype and strong backing from the electronics press to get it off the
- ground.
-
- 12 -> Review of - National Lampoon's Chess Maniac 02/11/94 Runs on:
- MS-DOS compatible fast 386 SX with 27 MB (megabytes) of hard drive
- space; DOS 5 or 6, VGA; mouse; 560 K (kilobytes) free memory; and 1 MB
- EMS memory. Sound board optional.
-
- 13 -> Review of - Stan Veit's History of the Personal Computer 02/11/94
- From: WorldComm Press, 65 Macedonia Road, Alexander, North Carolina
- 28701, 704-252-9515. By Stan Veit, ISBN 1-56664-023-7.
-
- 14 -> Review of - The Best 1001 WordPerfect Tips Ever 02/11/94 Runs on:
- Disk is 3.5-inch MS-DOS compatible.
-
- 15 -> Company Results Roundup 02/11/94 This is a regular feature,
- summarizing company results not reported elsewhere by Newsbytes: Sierra
- On-Line, Cisco Systems, Key Tronic, NAI Technologies, Egghead Software,
- Informix, Digital Microwave, Ingram Micro, SPSS.
-
- 16 -> Canada - Stentor 711 Service For Hearing Impaired Set 02/11/94 The
- nine regional telephone companies across Canada that make up the Stentor
- consortium will launch their national 711 service for the hearing- and
- speech-impaired February 14. The telephone companies will also begin
- offering a single national toll-free number that callers can use to
- contact hearing- or speech-impaired people through a relay operator.
-
- 17 -> MFS Makes International Push 02/11/94 MFS Communications,
- best-known for its fiber "rings" in major US cities which offer an
- alternative for local access to long distance networks, is now making a
- major push for international traffic, mainly through its Datanet data
- subsidiary.
-
- 18 -> AT&T Plans More Job Cuts 02/11/94 AT&T announced plans to cut
- 15,000 more jobs from its long distance division over the next two
- years. This is on top of 3,500 operator service job cuts previously
- announced but not yet implemented. AT&T has 309,000 employees
- worldwide, about 256,000 in the US. Its communications services group,
- from which the present cuts are coming, has 96,500 employees.
-
- 19 -> Defense Dept Frequencies Going Private 02/11/94 In a preliminary
- report, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration,
- or NTIA, has designated 200 MHz in new frequencies which will be
- converted from Defense to private use in the next 10 years.
-
- 20 -> Computers Aid Anthropologists To Study The Past 02/11/94 Three
- Texas companies have been selected by scientists at The University of
- Texas to participate in a project the scientists say could revolutionize
- the way they record and study archaeological data.
-
- 21 -> New Services For OnTime Scheduler Software 02/11/94 Campbell
- Services has announced an upgrade to its OnTime group scheduler and
- several new products the company says will broaden the program's
- functionality.
-
- 22 -> Automap Offers California Quake Update File To Travelers 02/11/94
- Automap, producers of the Automap Road Atlas, announced a supplement to
- the software, available on Compuserve, to help travelers avoid freeways
- damaged by the Los Angeles earthquake.
-
- 23 -> Compton's Fight -- Patent Office Reverse On Prior Art 02/11/94 The
- United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has decided it will
- reverse its standard policy and consider prior art from the public
- during the re-examinations of the Compton's "multimedia" patent. The
- next round of public hearings on the subject is scheduled for February
- 10-11 at the Crystal City Forum in Arlington, Virginia.
-
- 24 -> Chinese Ministry Adopts Novell's Tuxedo OLTP 02/11/94 When Novell
- acquired Unix Systems Laboratories (USL), part of the deal included
- USL's Tuxedo on-line transaction processing (OLTP) system. Now Novell
- says that the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) Ministry of Electronic
- Industries, and Unix System Technologies (UST) of China, have announced
- the adoption of Tuxedo as the Ministry's OLTP system.
-
- 25 -> Windows Software Gets You Internet Mail And News 02/11/94 If you
- are a Windows user and want an easy way to communicate on the rapidly
- growing Internet, you may want to check out the software from a
- Louisville, Kentucky-based company.
-
- 26 -> HP Takes Lead In Back-up Tape Sales 02/11/94 International Data
- Corp. has announced the conclusions of a study, "93 Tape Storage Review
- and 94 Forecast." To the surprise of many, Hewlett-Packard overtook
- Conner as the leader in the tape business and IBM placed third in
- percent of market share.
-
- 27 -> Amstrad Issues Losses Warning 02/11/94 Alan Sugar, the chairman of
- Amstrad, the multimillion computer manufacturer, has warned that the
- computer and consumer electronics group is close to falling into the red
- this year after poor trading.
-
- 28 -> ****Directv - 150 Channels By April 02/11/94 Directv announced it
- will offer 150 channels to consumers for less than $30 a month via the
- new RCA-brand Digital Satellite Systems (DSS) receiving units equipped
- with 18-inch satellite dishes which should be in retail channels by
- April. The service will include cable television, the Bloomberg Direct
- business television news network, Music Choice compact disc (CD) quality
- music programming, and optional pay-per-view movies.
-
- 29 -> RasterOps Price Cuts, Next-Day Lemon Replacement 02/11/94 The
- battle for the consumer's dollar extends to service after sales, and in
- that department Rasterops is offering a new approach to those who get
- faulty or defective add-on boards or displays -- next day replacement.
- RasterOps' new service program, "SureThing," provides next-day
- replacement of a faulty or defective add-on board or display product
- for the first year of ownership. The customer must be the original owner
- of the product and must agree to return the defective product to
- RasterOps. The program applies to all RasterOps and TrueVision
- products, including most RasterOps large-screen color displays.
-
- 30 -> ****MCA Buys Into Software Developer Interplay 02/11/94 MCA, a
- subsidiary of consumer electronics giant Matsushita Electric Industrial,
- has invested in interactive software company Interplay Productions of
- Irvine, California. Interplay is probably best known for its Battle
- Chess, Mario Teaches Typing, and Clay Fighter for Super Nintendo game
- titles.
-
- (Wendy Woods, Editor/19940211)
-
-
-