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(NEWS)(GENERAL)(TOR)(00001)

SSA Adds Client/Server Features To BPCS/AS 02/14/94
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 14 (NB) -- System Software
Associates (SSA) has announced it is adding support for
client/server computing to its enterprise business applications and
software development tools.

SSA officials said that the company is adding broad, open
client/server computing capabilities to BPCS/AS Version 5.0
enterprise software applications. That means some 65 applications --
such as accounts receivable and other common business applications -
- will get graphical user interfaces to provide easier access to
data in central databases, company spokesman Glen-Eric Nelson told
Newsbytes.

SSA will also offer a new graphical report analysis tool that will
let users request central data and have it presented to them in
graphical form, Nelson said.

Three client/server applications already offered for the 16-bit
version of IBM's OS/2 operating system will be made available for
32-bit OS/2 and for Microsoft's NT, he added. The applications are
for materials planning, chemical formulation, and financial
planning.

SSA said that its application products offer a configurable, object-
based architecture and graphical environment that works with
multiple hardware platforms, including IBM's AS/400 and Unix-based
RS/6000 and Hewlett-Packard Co.'s HP 9000 business systems.

SSA said its AS/SET Version 4.0 development system will offer same
client/server application development technologies SSA is using
internally for BPCS/AS development. These are scheduled for general
release in the next six months. SSA will announce availability dates
and pricing in March, Nelson said.

AS/SET has three main parts: AS/Innovator, a line of design and
definition tools for procedural and object-oriented programs;
AS/Repository, consisting of the procedural repository of stored
definitions, its object-oriented extension, and the BPCS/AS
repository of system-level shells used for modifications; and
AS/Generator, a group of platform-specific generators and enablers.

SSA said that the client/server capabilities strengthen the open
systems strategy it announced last June with projected product
availability in the second quarter of 1994. SSA is in final
integration and testing of its open enterprise solutions.

(Grant Buckler/19940214/Press Contact: Glen-Eric Nelson, System
Software Associates, 312-258-6158; Cam Granstra, System Software
Associates, 312-258-6151)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(DEN)(00002)

Automap Ships New Macintosh Road Atlas 02/14/94
BELLEVUE, WASHINGTON, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 14 (NB) -- Automap has
announced a new Macintosh Road Atlas software package that plots the
best route between two locations in the US, Canada, or Mexico.

The company says that Automap Road Atlas provides detailed maps,
driving instructions, geographical information, road data, and other
trip information. All the user has to do is enter the starting point
and destination to get the quickest, shortest, and/or alternative
routes. You also get mileage and an approximation of how long the
trip will take.

Automap says that the programs covers more than 410,000 miles of
freeways, toll roads, and state and country roads. The software can
pinpoint any of over 120,000 locations, and multiple maps can be
viewed so the complete trip route can be viewed simultaneously. You
also get telephone numbers for local road conditions, weather
forecasts and tourist information.

Automap Road Atlas includes a database that lists national parks,
historic sites, monuments, mountains, forests, lakes, rivers, and
recreation areas. You can zoom in on any region, state or place for
detailed information about that specific area. Population
information and driving laws are included.

To run Automap Road Atlas for Macintosh you need an Apple Computer
Macintosh Classic II or a Powerbook 140 or higher, a hard drive with
5 megabytes (MB) of available space, at least 2MB of available
memory (Automap recommends 4MB of memory), Apple's System 6.0.7 or
later operating system, and a Superdrive. The program also works
with System 7. It will not run on a Mac Plus, SE, or one of the
original 128K or 512K Macs. It supports color and will print color
maps if you have a color printer.

The program has a suggested retail price of $99.95, but Automap says
that the street price is around $60 in most retail outlets.

(Jim Mallory/19940214/Press contact: Jessica Maco, Automap Inc,
206-455-3552; Reader contact: Automap Inc, 206-455-3552 or
800-440-6277, fax [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(BOS)(00003)

$129.95 Printer Sharing Kit For SOHO Users 02/14/94
RICHARDSON, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 14 (NB) -- SoftWorx has unveiled
a low-cost printer sharing kit for the small office/home office
(SOHO) marketplace.

Priced at $129.95, the new SoftWorx Printer Sharing Kit allows two
users to share up to six printers, and to send electronic mail
between PCs. The product is upgradeable to four users through add-
on modules.

"Another great advantage is that the PCs can be separated up to 200
feet and connected by telephone-type cable," said Buzz Murphy, vice
president of sales for the Richardson, TX-based company.

According to the company, the printer sharing software that comes
with the kit operates in the background, permitting users to select
printers from either Windows- or DOS-based applications through pop-
up menus.

Once a printer has been selected, the PC will send all its printer
output to that printer until other one is selected, even if the PC
is rebooted. Other capabilities of the software include a reserve
printer command and integrated print job spooling.

In addition, users in the small or home office can send electronic
mail to one another through a two-way pop-up messaging window that
lets each user type in or respond to a message.

The kit includes two parallel port adapters, cabling, and dual-media
software. Extra Port Adapter Kits, for adding more PCs, are priced
at $39.95 each. The product is available now through most major
stores, including CompUSA.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19940214/Reader contact: SoftWorx, 214-480-8278;
Press contacts: Liz Wax or Debbie Labinger, S&S Public Relations
for SoftWorx, 708-291-1616)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(LON)(00004)

Apple UK Ships Mac Essentials CD 02/14/94
UXBRIDGE, MIDDLESEX, 1994 FEB 14 (NB) -- Apple UK has announced the
first offering from its Software Dispatch division -- the Mac
Essentials CD (compact disc).

According to Apple, the CD, which is being sold through resellers
for UKP 5-95 to existing Mac users and is being bundled free of
charge with all CDs from Apple, contains more than 70 encrypted
applications, which can be decrypted with a phone call.

The CD is the first in the Software Dispatch plan which Apple
announced last November. The idea is that users can try out the demo
software on the CD and, if they like the package, can phone the
Software Dispatch order line and, "buy" an unlocking code to allow
them access to the full software. The full version of the software,
including manuals and other extras, are then mailed to the customer.

According to Russell Brady, press officer with Apple UK, plans are
in hand for a PC Windows version of the CD, known as PC Essentials,
to ship in the late spring.

(Steve Gold/19940214/Press & Public Contact: Apple Computer - Tel:
[phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(LON)(00005)

IBM Announces OS/2 For Windows 3.1 02/14/94
PORTSMOUTH, HANTS, ENGLAND, 1994 FEB 14 (NB) -- IBM has announced
the availability of OS/2 for Windows 3.1, a special version of the
operating system designed to support 32-bit computing under the
Windows graphical user interface environment.

Big Blue claims that the new product is a low-cost utility for end
users, and a cheaper version of the mainstream OS/2 2.1. The company
claims it offers much more power and performance to integrate the
powerful features of OS/2 with Windows 3.1 software and preserve
users' investment in the Windows graphical user interface.

"OS/2 for Windows 3.1 provides a risk-free solution that gives users
the ability to rise above the limitations of the DOS and Windows
environment. This offering provides users with a much higher level
of power and performance to tap to the computing potential of OS/2
2.1 and their 32-bit PC," explained David Pullin, software director
for IBM United Kingdom.

"Now users can benefit from OS/2's speed and improved reliability
without leaving behind their familiar Windows environment", he said.

According to Pullin, users can operate advanced 32-bit graphics and
the ability to run DOS, Windows and OS/2 applications at the same
cycle. They are also provided with Workplace Shell, which gives
object-oriented interface to OS/2.

Newsbytes understands that the package will be available for 90 days
from May onwards. The package will be sold in the UK for a special
promotional price of UKP 49.

(Sylvia Dennis/19940214/Press & Public Contact: IBM UK - Tel: +44-
256-56144)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(LON)(00006)

UK - Renet Launches Modem Sized As A Floppy Disk 02/14/94
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1994 FEB 14 (NB) -- Lasat Communications, the
Danish modem company, has announced it is offering its products in
the UK. Operating from a new office in Hammersmith in London, the
company has launched the Unique 144 modem, a UKP 399 data modem with
14,000 bits per second (bps) data and fax facilities.

To differentiate the modem from the several dozen others on the
market, Renet has packaged the unit in a case about the same size,
though not thickness, as a 3.5 inch floppy disk. The modem was
designed to act as both a desktop or portable unit, and is powered
by a nicad rechargeable battery.

According to Zane Ryan, Renet's managing director, the modem was
designed by Jacob Jensen Design, the company that designs all of the
Bang & Olufsen audio equipment. The idea, he told Newsbytes, was to
create a modem that was uniquely different (hence the name of the
unit) from the rest of the marketplace.

Ryan's comments were backed up by Claus Christensen, the president
of Lasat in Denmark. "We wanted to create a whole concept, rather
than just make products," he said.

"Our engineers were not allowed to see the prototype until it was
complete, so they had no choice but to build into a design which was
already imposed on them. We learned a lot from this. Innovative
design is a very important parameter," he added.

Christensen said that the new modem is a designer product, but
refuted suggestions that it was unsuitable for the UK market. "It is
a misnomer that the British don't appreciate style when it is linked
with technology. I really believe this is the fax-modem the British
executive is waiting for," he said.

The Lasat Unique 144 supports two and four wire operation and works
to V.42, V.42Bis and MNP Class 2-5 plus 10 systems of error
correction and (where appropriate) data compression. Support for the
Hayes AT command set is integral, along with V,25bis dialling.

The new modem is available now on 24 hour delivery and comes with a
10 year warranty in the UK.

(Steve Gold/19940214/Press & Public Contact: Renet Limited - Tel:
[phone]; Fax: [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(LON)(00007)

UK - Manugistics Launches Statgraphics Plus For Windows 02/14/94
BRACKNELL, BERKSHIRE, ENGLAND, 1994 FEB 14 (NB) -- Manugistics has
launched a Windows version of its DIS statistical graphical analysis
utility. Known as Statgraphics Plus, the package is billed as a true
Windows applications and retains all the intuitive facilities of the
DOS edition, the company claims, while introducing several new
Windows functions to the mix.

One key feature of the Windows version is Starfolio, a facility by
which users can save and rerun statistical procedures and analyses
automatically. The company claims that the package is pitched at
statisticians and non-statisticians alike and includes support for
Windows dynamic data exchange (DDE).

"With Statgraphics Plus for Windows, we can offer the only true
Windows implementation of a statistical software package designed
for both the expert and the novice user," explained Mike Sullivan,
the company's director of statistics products.

"Its ease of use, combined with an uncluttered user interface, has
resulted in a statistical analysis tool that places the emphasis on
the exploration of data and the interpretation of results," he said.

According to Sullivan, the package will be available from next month
(March) onwards with a UKP 299 price tag. The software requires a
386-based or better PC with at least 4 megabytes (MB) of memory.
Windows 3.1 is also required. UK pricing will be announced when the
package is ready to ship, Newsbytes understands.

In use, Statgraphics Plus for Windows contains what the company
claims is the most common statistical functionality including simple
and multiple regression; one, two and multiple-variable analyses;
distribution fitting; tabulation and cross tabulation. Extra modules
such as quality control, experimental design and time series
analysis are being readied to ship in April of this year.

(Steve Gold/19940214/Press & Public Contact: Jhana Shumizu - Tel:
(US) 301/984-5000; Fax: (US) 301/984-5094)


(NEWS)(IBM)(LON)(00008)

Novell UK Announces Service Center Program (NASC) 02/14/94
BRACKNELL, BERKSHIRE, ENGLAND, 1994 FEB 14 (NB) -- Novell, which
claims to be the leading networking company, has started recruiting
what its calls top service professionals to provide quality
customers service across Europe. These staff, Newsbytes notes, will
form the basis of the Novell's Authorised Service Centre Program
(NASC) in the UK.

According to the company, users will be provided with comprehensive
assistance in the installation, maintenance and extension of
networks from its partners.

The first three organisations to join the programme have also been
announced: Thorn EMI Computeraid, Digital Computer Services and
Digital Equipment Corporation (Digital).

All of the partners will be receiving full assistance from Novell's
European Support Centre (ESC), a free subscription to the Network
Support Encyclopaedia and have access to the latest patches, updates
and production information from Compuserve and Internet.

"As the first global participant in the Novell Authorised Service
Centre (NASC) programme, Digital is uniquely based to offer Novell
customers hotline and on-site support via its worldwide network of
trained CNEs. Supported by Digital's established service
infrastructure, their skills and experience will enable them to
tackle even the most complex interoperability issues facing today's
Information Service (IS) professionals", commented Alan Blank,
director of Multivendor Customer Services (MCS) at Digital.

Blank claims that, in order to ensure the best possible standards,
all of Novell's partners need to have an excellent service and
support business unit. Two certified NetWare Engineers (CNEs) must
be employed. One of them must have attended a Novell's NetWare 4.x
series of courses, while the other one must possess Novell ECNE
(Enterprise CNE) qualifications.

Hotline telephone support and on-site assistance must be provided by
partner organisations as well as response time of less than two
hours per query as an addition to maintaining a support laboratory
for fault replication and diagnostic purposes.

(Sylvia Dennis/19940214/Press & Public Contact: Novell UK - Tel:
[phone])


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(SFO)(00009)

 ****Kubota Opens Toy Fair With Virtual Reality 02/14/94
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 14 (NB) -- Kubota
Pacific Computer Inc. (KPC) opened the Toy Fair in Manhattan with
long lines waiting to see their latest development in virtual
reality adventures. KPC in collaboration with Visions of Reality
Corp. (VOR) is producing their "pod" interactive virtual reality
games with the use of Digital Equipment Corporation's Alpha AXP
microprocessor. VOR, a creator of virtual reality adventures plans
to open game centers in malls, amusement parks, casinos and hotels
throughout the United States and in London and Paris. KPC will
supply the Kubota 3300 high-performance, three-dimensional
workstations that will deliver scalable 3d graphics and the player's
interactivity in a distributed computing environment as opposed to a
centralized system.

A VOR entertainment center contains six to thirty-six spaceship-like
pods each of which seats a player using a head-mounted display for
viewing the virtual reality images and interacting with other
players and characters who are part of the game. According to the
company, Kubota's workstations provide more than 30 frames per
second of highly detailed graphics creating the realistic motion
necessary to make players feel that they have entered another world.

Speaking with Newsbytes, Jeffrey W. Dunn, vice president of
marketing for Kubota, said: "We are bring the most advanced virtual
reality adventure possible to the general public."

"We are starting with a dinosaur ride adventure and a space game
adventure. Prior to this time, the cost of a product of this nature
was prohibitive, but with the technology that we have developed
using the DEC Alpha AXP computers we can produce units in the range
of $30,000. For $8 to $10, participants in our adventure will get a
short briefing, enter the virtual environment where they play, ride,
and interact for about 10 minutes. After the ride they gather
together to see the results. The entire adventure will last about 30
or 40 minutes," he added.

Kubota has been a leader in mechanical computer-aided design (MCAD)
for medical, defense, and geoscience applications. Visions of
Reality Corp., developer of the concept of multivenue virtual
reality adventures, is the creation of Dan K. Rice and The Black
Diamond Group. The first publicly available adventures will appear
in southern California, sometime this summer.

(Patrick McKenna/19940214/Press Contact: Cynthia Lempert, Rourke &
Company, tel [phone])


(NEWS)(UNIX)(TOR)(00010)

Andersen Consulting Canada Allies With Next 02/14/94
TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1994 FEB 14 (NB) -- Andersen Consulting
Canada, has announced an alliance with Next Computer, that will let
the technology consultancy use Next's object-oriented software tools
in developing systems for its clients.

Andersen will join Next's Object Channel, a group of systems
integrators and value-added resellers (VARs) who use technology from
the Redwood City, California firm to provide client/server systems
and custom software.

Next, in turn, will become a key technology supplier in Andersen's
Business Integration Partnership (BIP) program.

The deal applies only to Canada at the moment, said Steve Elliot,
managing partner for technology integration services at Andersen
Canada. "We have a fairly strong advanced computing practice" in the
Canadian operations of Andersen, he said. However, Elliot
acknowledged that the Canadian deal could be a precursor to a
similar arrangement in the United States.

Initially, the deal will focus on three business sectors where
Andersen has seen a strong demand for the kind of mission-critical
applications where the firm wants to use Next's technology: health
care, telecommunications, and financial services.

Next, which began as a maker of advanced workstations, abandoned the
hardware business at the beginning of last year to focus on
NextStep, its object-oriented software, which is now available for a
range of hardware from other manufacturers.

(Grant Buckler/19940214/Press Contact: Hal Koblin, Andersen
Consulting Canada, 416-695-5166; Karen Logsdon, Next Computer, 415-
780-3786; Public Contact: Andersen Consulting Canada, 416-695-5050,
fax [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(BOS)(00011)

Xerox Adds New OCR Features In TextBridge 2.0 For Windows 02/14/94
PEABODY, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 14 (NB) -- Xerox has
announced TextBridge 2.0 for Windows, a new version of its PC-based
optical character recognition (OCR) software that adds an
application server, an OCR (optical character recognition) driver,
and other new and enhanced features while retaining the original $99
price tag.

In an interview with Newsbytes, Stan Swiniarski, VP of software
products for Xerox Imaging Systems (XIS), said that TextBridge 2.0
provides better accuracy and ease-of-use than competing OCR
products, at about one-third the cost to the user.

In addition, Delrina and Wang have recently announced licensing
agreements to incorporate TextBridge into their software, Swiniarski
noted. Resumix is also using TextBridge in its software, and Epson
and Fujitsu are now bundling TextBridge with their scanners,
Newsbytes was told.

First introduced for Windows at Spring Comdex last year, TextBridge
works with fax and scanning software to recognize text within a
document, and to convert the information into word processing,
desktop publishing, or other computer files.

The Xerox software uses neural networking and other artificial
intelligence techniques to "learn" as it reads, employing
information from "clean" sections of text to help interpret
difficult-to-read areas, Swiniarski explained.

One capability, the "lexifier," is able to recognize lexical
classes, or known "patterns of information," such as social security
numbers, postal zip codes, and month/day/year configurations. When a
postal code is being scanned, for example, the lexifier will
automatically recognize that the first character must be the number
"0," not the letter "O."

The new application server in TextBridge 2.0 for Windows lets the
OCR software be launched directly from other Windows applications,
according to Swiniarski. The application server is typically used
with word processing or desktop publishing programs, but it can also
be used with spreadsheets, communications programs, or almost any
other Windows 3.0- or 3.1-based application.

"The new OCR print driver works kind of the other way around," the
vice president told Newsbytes. From an imaging software component
such as a fax viewer, the user can output directly to TextBridge by
selecting the OCR print driver as printer.

TextBridge 2.0 for Macintosh, a product unveiled at MacWorld San
Francisco in January, does not include the application server or OCR
print driver, Swiniarski acknowledged. But the first release for
Macintosh does support AppleScript, meaning that when more
AppleScript-compliant applications become available, similar
capabilities should become possible on the Macintosh side, he added.

Other new features in TextBridge 2.0 for Windows do appear in the
Mac-based OCR software from Xerox, including the "word verifier,"
Multiple Zone Capability, Multiple Tagged Image File Format (TIFF)
processing, and support for TWAIN.

The "word verifier" lets the user view, confirm and correct words
while recognition is in progress, Swiniarski maintained. In a
manner a little bit like a spellchecker, the feature highlights any
words it is uncertain about, and presents the user with a list of
possible interpretations. The user responds by providing the right
answer. "Unlike a spellchecker, though, the word verifier is
able to learn from experience," he elaborated.

Multiple Zone Capability features a preview window, supporting up
to 127 zones, that lets users view images on-screen to assess
image quality. The first version of TextBridge for Windows only
allowed creation of one zone per page, according to the VP.

The multiple TIFF file processing feature permits users to quickly
process large batches of TIFF files as a single document, and to
handle multiple-page TIFF files received from fax applications.

The new TWAIN support broadens the range of scanners that
TextBridge can be used with by assuring compatibility with any
other products that also adhere to TWAIN, Swiniarski said.

Other features of TextBridge software, carried over from the first
edition, include automatic page orientation and automatic
segmentation. The automatic page orientation capability corrects
the placement of a skewed, or crooked, page.

Through automatic segmentation, TextBridge can distinguish the
number of columns, locations of images, and correct read order of
text in a compound document.

Wang is incorporating TextBridge in its Open/image document
management software, and Delrina into all its upcoming fax software,
according to Swiniarski.

Resumix is employing the OCR software in its resume software,
allowing organizations to bring scanned resumes together into a
single, searchable application. The Clinton administration's job
search team is one very well known Resumix user.

TextBridge 2.0 for Windows is available now, with support for
English, French, German, and Spanish languages. The software is
available through Ingram Micro or directly from Xerox. Upgrades
from TextBridge 1.0 are priced at $49.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19940214/Reader contact: Xerox, 800-248-6550;
Press contact: Janet Knudsen, Xerox Imaging Systems, 508-977-2125;
Jennifer Prahl, Cunningham Communications for Xerox, 617-494-8202)


(NEWS)(IBM)(BOS)(00012)

Tech Data To Distribute Watermark In US And Latin America 02/14/94
BURLINGTON, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 14 (NB) -- Watermark has
signed Tech Data to distribute its Watermark Discovery Edition
image-enabling package as well as future Watermark products to
value-added resellers (VARs) throughout the US and Central and South
America.

"We needed a major national distributor with a VAR orientation, and
Tech Data certainly fits the bill," said Peter Brumme, senior vice
president for sales and marketing, in an interview with Newsbytes.

Tech Data will also provide Watermark with its first distribution
reach into Latin America, Brumme told Newsbytes. "We didn't choose
Tech Data specifically for its Latin American business. But, because
of support requirements there -- and because, in many Latin American
countries, there is no single, dominant player -- it makes sense for
a small software company like ourselves to work with a much larger
support organization like Tech Data," he added.

Watermark will also continue to work with a variety of other
wholesale distributors and VARs, to participate in co-marketing
arrangements with its partners, and to arrive at some volume
agreements directly with end users, according to the senior VP.

Watermark Discovery Edition is designed to allow paper- and fax-
based documents to be embedded as objects into any OLE (object
linking and embedding)-compliant Windows application. Once the
documents are embedded, they can be electronically viewed,
scanned, distributed, annotated, filed, retrieved and processed.
Applications typically used with Discovery Edition include
workflow, electronic mail, document management, database, and
accounting packages.

Aside from the newly signed Tech Data, additional distributors of
Discovery Edition include Merisel and about five other companies
in the US; Information Access, a "master VAR" located in Canada;
and distributors based in the UK, Germany, France, the Netherlands,
Sweden, Greece, South Africa, and Australia.

Watermark's relationship with Merisel, another major national US
distributor, has more of a "retail orientation," noted Brumme.

Tech Data provides more 11 distribution centers in North America,
serving 40,000 VARs and retail dealers. The company represents a
current trend among VAR distributors to branch from imaging
hardware, or from hardware in general, into software, allowing the
software "to flow to the VAR base," Newsbytes was told.

Tech Data has traditionally been a hardware generalist, said
Brumme. "But for well over a year now, they've been taking on a
very aggressive posture with regard to software, particularly in
the imaging area," he explained.

In addition to Discovery Edition, Tech Data's product line
encompasses computer systems, peripherals, and networking,
communications and mass storage products, among other hardware and
software. Tech Data also provides pre- and post-sale training,
service and support to value added resellers (VARs).

To allow Tech Data VARs to get hands-on experience with Discovery
Edition and talk about applications for the product, Watermark will
take part in the upcoming Tech Data Showcase, set for February 25
to 26 in Miami, Florida. In addition, Tech Data will feature
Watermark in the upcoming edition of Solutions Series, a technical
imaging journal targeted at Tech Data's customers and prospects.

Watermark's volume arrangement with large end users are typically
serviced through VARs and distributors, Brumme told Newsbytes.
Watermark is now participating in co-marketing activities with such
partners as SoftSolutions and Pentax, but these activities are
carried out through the partners' distribution channels rather than
through Watermark's.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19940214/Reader contact: Watermark, 617-229-
2600; Press contacts: Kevin Lach, Watermark, 617-229-2600; Leahanne
Hobson or Peter Gorman, Copithorne & Bellows for Watermark,
617-252-0606)


(NEWS)(IBM)(TOR)(00013)

CD-ROM Contains Canadian Telephone Listings 02/14/94
MARBLEHEAD, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 14 (NB) -- When major
Canadian telephone companies starting charging for every call to
long-distance directory assistance recently, they created a
promising market niche for Pro CD, a vendor of telephone listings on
compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM). The company has moved into
the Canadian market with Canada Phone, a CD-ROM containing all white
pages phone listings from across the country.

Canada Phone contains nearly 10 million listings from every Canadian
directory. The listings include full mailing addresses with postal
codes, company spokesman Jim Bryant told Newsbytes, and they can be
searched by name, address, telephone number, or type of business.

While businesses make up the largest part of the market for the
disk, Bryant said, some 40 percent of orders come from private
homes. Many people use the directories "as a way to find old friends
or for genealogical purposes," he said.

The Canada Phone disk is to be updated quarterly, with each update
adding new information from local phone directories that have been
re-issued in the previous three months. A single disk will cost
US$149 or C$199, and an annual subscription, including updates, is
US$299, he added.

Canada Phone is compatible with other Pro CD titles including its
Direct Phone disk of US white-pages listings, its Free Phone disk
of toll-free numbers in the US, and the four-disk Select Phone,
which covers all US business and residential listings. The package
requires a personal computer with at least a 386 processor, 4
megabytes (MB) of memory, Microsoft Windows 3.1, and a CD-ROM drive.
Now available direct from Pro CD, the product is also soon to be
sold through software stores across North America.

Canada's three largest regional telephone companies -- Bell Canada,
BC Telephone, and AGT -- began charging 50 cents for every long-
distance directory-assistance call late in 1993. Three others --
Maritime Telephone and Telegraph, Island Telephone, and Manitoba
Telephone System -- began charging for the calls earlier.
Newfoundland Telephone, New Brunswick Telephone, and Saskatchewan
Telecommunications do not charge for long-distance directory
assistance calls.

(Grant Buckler/19940214/Press Contact: Jim Bryant, Pro CD,
617-631-9200; Public Contact: Pro CD, 617-631-9200 or
800-99-CD-ROM, fax [phone])


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(TOR)(00014)

Canadian Product Launch Update 02/14/94
TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1994 FEB 14 (NB) -- This regular
feature, appearing every Monday or Tuesday, provides further
details for the Canadian market on announcements by international
companies that Newsbytes has already covered. This week: Compaq's
Contura Aero subnotebook.

Compaq Canada of Richmond Hill, Ontario, announced the Contura Aero
4/25 and 4/33C subnotebook computers (Newsbytes, Feb. 7). Canadian
list prices start at C$2,199 for the 4/25 and at C$3,399 for the
4/33C. Compaq Canada is also offering the Desktop Convenience Base
docking station for C$149.

(Grant Buckler/19940214/Press Contact: Joh Robinson, Compaq
Canada, 416-229-8808; Public Contact: Compaq Canada, 416-733-7876,
fax [phone])


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

Lawsuit Could Delay TCI-Bell Atlantic Merger 02/14/94
BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 14 (NB) -- A class action
lawsuit charging Tele-Communications with racial discrimination
could slow its acquisition by Bell Atlantic.

Stephen L. Snyder & Associates of Baltimore filed the suit on behalf
of two former TCI employees, and it's seeking other people to
participate in the class action. Bob Weltchek, a partner with the
firm, described three categories of possible plaintiffs -- "African-
Americans who've applied for work with TCI at any of their 690 cable
systems throughout the US, and who've been denied employment based
on the color of their skin. The second class would be TCI employees
denied any promotion as a result of the color of their skin. The
third class would be African-American employees terminated because
of the color of their skin." The suit demands over $1 billion in
damages.

This suit may not be trivial. Weltchek said the firm previously won
a $100 million settlement from TCI on behalf of an African-American
man who wanted an ownership interest in the Baltimore franchise as
part of a minority set-aside program. And the pending merger is
mentioned in the suit.

"We have included in the lawsuits a count to attempt to prevent any
further acquisitions by or of TCI until they get in compliance with
federal laws on equal employment. The bases are private enforcement
of federal statutes. The courts have recognized that private
citizens can enforce federal laws," he said.

TCI denies the charges of discrimination, but formal papers on the
suit have not yet been filed, and the company has not formally
replied to the suit. The case is called Palumbo vs. TCI, and was
assigned to the US District Court in Washington, D.C., with Judge
Stanley Sporkin due to preside.

Weltchek added that the National Association for the Advancement of
Colored People, or NAACP, also based in Baltimore, has filed its own
discrimination proceeding against TCI, through the Federal
Communications Commission. "We've cooperated in pursuit of the same
goal," he said.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19940214/Press Contact: Stephen Snyder &
Associates, Dan Weltchek, 410-653-3700)


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

US Administration Denies It's Backing Off Clipper Chip 02/14/94
WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A., 1994 FEB 14 (NB) -- The Administration is
trying to back away from remarks by Vice President Al Gore which
might indicate it's retreating from a plan to use "Clipper Chip"
encryption.

Under the "Clipper Chip" plan, computer chips containing an
encryption algorithm would be required in all digital
telecommunicating equipment used by the government, in hopes of
making the chips an industry standard. Export of other encryption
algorithms would also be prohibited. Keys to de-crypt any
transmission would be held by the National Institute of Standards
and Technology, or NIST, a Commerce Department agency which helped
develop the technology, and the Treasury Department. Keys would be
given to law enforcement only under a court order.

But the industry and civil liberties groups are up-in-arms, saying
they don't trust the government to protect citizen privacy, and
noting that use of the technology could hurt US technology exports.
The chief critics are the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and
Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility. The EFF has
started a e-mail letter-writing campaign through the Internet, while
the CPSR has been passing around a petition opposing the "Clipper
Chip."

Gore's remarks, made at a National Information Infrastructure
Advisory Committee meeting, which advises the President on the
Information Superhighway, were quickly passed around the Internet,
where some interpreted them as meaning the Administration is seeking
a face-saving way out of the controversy. But Lorraine Voles, a Gore
spokeswoman, denied this to Newsbytes: "He's not off the reservation
at all," with the Clipper Chip. "All the Vice President was trying
to do was say we'd look at better ways to do it," declining to
elaborate further.

That could mean offering the decryption keys to different agencies,
but that's unlikely to satisfy opponents. The CPSR has said its
objections don't involve who controls the keys, but the fact that
the government is controlling encryption. The controversy began
during the Bush Administration as law enforcement agencies demanded
the right to continue wiretaps as the country moves toward a digital
telephone network.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19940214/Press Contact: Lorraine Voles, the
White House, 202-456-1414; Electronic Frontier Foundation, 202-
347-5400)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(WAS)(00017)

Bill & Al's CD-ROM Budget 02/14/94
WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A., 1994 FEB 14 (NB) -- Those techie guys at
the White House are at it again. For the first time, the entire FY
1995 proposed budget, a printed document suitable for use as a
doorstop, is available on a compact disc read only memory (CD-ROM).

"In the spirit of [Vice President Al Gore's] National Performance
Review," said White House Office of Management and Budget Director
Leon Panetta, who added that he is pleased to use CD-ROM technology
"to make the 1995 Budget proposal readily available to more
Americans at a lower cost."

Newsbytes notes that the four budget documents available on CD-ROM
will be cheaper than the printed versions, as well as more
versatile. Users will be able to display exact images of the printed
pages, search for key words, and copy or print portions for further
reference.

The CD-ROM-based budget can be ordered from the Department of
Commerce for $30, compared with $56 for the printed versions of the
four documents ordered from the Government Printing Office (202/
783-3238). The CD-ROMs are available for pickup, by first class
mail, or via overnight delivery ($10 extra).

The documents are also available (in compressed, self-extracting EXE
format) free to subscribers of the Commerce's Economic Bulletin
Board at [phone], which provides rapid online delivery of all
major Federal economic news releases. But be forewarned. The BBS
itself cost $45 annually to subscriber.

The White House is also making ASCII text versions of the documents
available from other sources. On the internet,
[e-mail] telnet to NTIABBS.NTIA.DOC.GOV
[e-mail] or gopher to: ace.esusda.gov. It is also
available on other boards, including NTIA (202-482-1199), NTIS
FEDWORLD BBS (703-321-8020), and from commercial vendors including
America Online, Compuserve, GEnie, and MCI Mail.

(Kennedy Maize/19940214/Commerce Department Contacts: Ken Rogers,
202-482-0434 or Paul Christy, 202-482-0123)


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

 ****Novell, Artisoft Ink Interoperability Deal 02/14/94
TUCSON, ARIZONA, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 14 (NB) -- Network software
publisher Novell and client-server software maker Artisoft exchanged
their own kind of valentine today by signing a deal to assure their
products work well together.

The deal covers the licensing of client-server technology, Novell
certification of interoperability between Artisoft client software
and Novell server-based networks, and an agreement to cooperate in
providing hardware products.

The benefit to end users is the assurance that their LANtastic
network can talk to their Novell-based network. "We believe that
Novell's NCPs provide an excellent infrastructure for departmental
and corporate computing. LANtastic users in a workgroup or branch
office will now have the ability to seamlessly connect to a main
Netware enterprise network," explained Artisoft President and CEO
William Keiper.

A key component in the alliance according to Artisoft is its recent
acquisition of Eagle Technology. Eagle produces network interface
cards that are Netware compatible. Eagle will continue to supply
Novell-licensed and branded Ethernet adapters, and Artisoft and
Novell say they hope to expand the existing relationship between
Novell and Eagle.

The two companies say that another key component of the agreement is
the sharing of client-server technology. Artisoft says it plans to
develop a server-based product for LANtastic network operating
system users that is based on Novell's Netware 4 network operating
system. An Artisoft spokesperson told Newsbytes that product is
scheduled to ship before the end of the year.

They are also collaborating to provide Novell-certified
compatibility between LANtastic and Netware environments. Artisoft
says it has licensed Novell's Netware Core Protocols and will
include NCP support in future versions of LANtastic. NCP support is
designed to enable LANtastic network clients to seamlessly access
Netware 2 through 4 servers for network services. It's also
scheduled to be available later this year.

(Jim Mallory/19940214/Press contact: Joe Stunkard, Artisoft, 602-
670-7145; Reader contact: Artisoft, 602-670-7100, fax [phone])


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

New TI Chip Extends Battery Life, Cuts Portables Cost 02/14/94
DALLAS, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 14 (NB) -- Texas Instruments has
introduced a new set of computer chips that combines a 486 central
processing unit with other key system components. The company says
that the new chip will result in portable computer designs that
require fewer chips, are smaller and lighter, are less expensive,
and reduce power consumption for longer battery life between
charges.

Called Rio Grande, the three chip system includes an enhanced
integrated 486SX microprocessor; a controller for the credit-card-
sized PCMCIA accessory slots that add memory and provide fax,
network connection and modem capabilities; and a system function
controller. TI Semiconductor Group Senior VP Rich Templeton says Rio
Grande will create a fundamental change in the way notebook
computers are designed.

TI says that battery life between charges for Rio Grande-based
machines can be as long as eight hours. It also expects cost to come
down. TI spokesperson Melody Wolfe said that a 486SX-based laptop
running at 50 megahertz could sell for around $1,500 compared to the
present price of about $2,500 for the same machine using present
chip technology.

Wolfe told Newsbytes sampling quantities of the chip will be
available in the second quarter of this year, and the company
expects to have production quantities available in time for PC
makers to introduce computers using the new technology at Comdex in
Las Vegas in November 1994.

The chip set design uses a technology known as Peripheral Component
Interconnect (PCI) for moving data through the bus, or data path to
the various internal components of the system.

(Jim Mallory/19940214/Press contact: Melody Wolfe, Texas Instruments
Semiconductor, 214-997-5470)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00020)

Cable System Offers Internet To Schools 02/14/94
ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 14 (NB) -- Jones Intercable
is linking two Virginia schools to the global Internet using its
cable systems and Internet-in-a-Box, a "point and click" Internet
solution from SPRY Inc. and O'Reilly & Associates.

In the first phase of a pilot project, software from SPRY and access
to O'Reilly's Global Network Navigator was installed recently at the
Minnie Howard School and T.C. Williams High School, then linked to
an Internet service provider through the cable. Also cooperating in
the project is Mind Extension University, a distance learning
channel available on many cable systems.

The schools load the software onto a PC, connect that PC to a cable
modem, then pass that over the cable system to a frequency
translator, a cable-to-ethernet converter, and finally a router,
which passes data to an Internet service provider.

Internet-in-a-Box offers Windows-based access to Global Network
Navigator, an Internet resource center with access to over 600
information sources, as well as a customized version of the best-
selling Internet book, "The Whole Internet User's Guide and
Catalog," by Ed Krol, and an automatic GNN subscription. Also
available are file transfers, telnet functions. Gopher, e-mail,
Usenet news groups and World Wide Web services.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19940214/Press Contact: Ron Pernick, for
O'Reilly, 415-615-7891)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(LAX)(00021)

 ****Second Newton, Lindy, Expected For March Launch 02/14/94
CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 14 (NB) -- Apple has
announced that the Newton Messagepad is the first of several
personal digital assistants (PDAs) it plans to introduce. Reports
are the second Newton, code-named Lindy, will be officially
announced in March with features borrowed from other PDA's such as
Tandy's Zoomer.

The Lindy is expected to be software compatible with the Messagepad,
but with a slimmer and longer design, according to Macweek reports.
Macweek also said Lindy will change from the Messagepad's long, flat
pen to a round, telescoping wand that is spring-loaded into the case
-- a description that fits the stylus of the Tandy Zoomer. Also like
the Zoomer, the Lindy reportedly will include a folding cover.

Imitating Aha! Software's Inkwriter, introduced in June of last year
for the American Telephone and Telegraph (AT&T) EO PDA, the Lindy is
also expected to include the ability to store handwriting for later
recognition.

Due to the disappointing battery life and the low memory capability,
Macweek reports the Lindy will offer longer-lasting AA batteries
instead of the Messagpad's AAA batteries and 1 megabyte of random
access memory instead of the 640 kilobytes in the Messagepad.

Apple is offering briefings in various cities nationwide in the
coming weeks on the new Messagepad, according to company
representatives. No pricing information was available, however.

(Linda Rohrbough/19940214/Press Contact: Jeni Johnstone, Apple
Computer, tel [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00022)

Riley, Alexander Spar Over School Choice 02/14/94
WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A., 1994 FEB 14 (NB) -- Two former Southern
governors are becoming the point men for conflicting arguments on
how to reform schools.

Republican Lamar Alexander, a former Tennessee governor and
Secretary of Education, is beating the bushes on behalf of public-
private school choice, under which students would be given financial
aid to attend private schools instead of public schools. Alexander
is a potential Presidential candidate for 1996, and has been running
his own talk-show on a conservative satellite network as well as
making speeches before Republican groups.

Democrat Richard Riley, a former South Carolina governor, is now
Secretary of Education, and strongly opposes that idea. The same day
Alexander was pushing his ideas, keynoting an Illinois Republican
convention, Riley was attacking it before the convention of the
American Association of School Administrators.

Riley told the group that public tax dollars should be spent on
public schools, and pointed to the President's 1995 budget, which
hikes US government education spending 7 percent despite a freeze
on total discretionary spending, as proof the schools can improve.

Alexander is pushing ideas like a school voucher initiative which
failed last year in California, saying that the problem with schools
is bureaucracy. In his Illinois speech he took a page from President
Clinton's book and wrapped his rhetoric around the image of Abraham
Lincoln. Clinton quotes Lincoln extensively, but Alexander said that
Lincoln today would be highly critical of Clinton's security
schemes, favoring individual responsibility instead.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19940214)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(MSP)(00023)

NewsPix Images For Newsbytes Publishers 02/14/94
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 14 (NB) -- These are the
photos that have been digitized and correspond to stories
Newsbytes has reported recently. These photos are not available to
the general public, but are designed for use by licensed Newsbytes
publishers who log into our private bulletin board system in
Minneapolis. For information on how to become a licensed Newsbytes
publisher in any medium call Newsbytes at 612-430-1100.

Newspix weekly summaries will appear Mondays on the Newsbytes
wire. All photos are in JPEG format. Photo file names
correspond to year-month-day-story number-brief name of picture
contents.

---------------------------

Week of January 14-19,1994

---------------------------

94020909HPtoner - B&W of printer, toner cartridge and
remanufacturing program brochure.

94020820Netpwr - B&W of terminal and drive towers.

94020821Kodak1580 - Color from slide of copier.

94021120skel - Color from slide of workstation with skull in
foreground.

94012715ATIGWondr - Color from slide: view of ATI Technologies
windows accelerator card and product box.

94020428MTouch - B&W shot of TruePoint DS-17 flat
square touch monitor. With hand coming off frame to touch
screen.

94012118CLIRad - Color of desk setup showcasing Compression
Labs Inc new Radiance videoconferencing system. Product and
people shot.

94011423gore - Head and shoulders portrait vice president Al
Gore, (b&w).

94010708sumer - Color from slide. Wide shot
of Sumerian ziggurat courtesy Sumeria, producers of the CD-ROM
Ancient Cities images of historical sites.

94011019nagel - David Nagel, senior vice
president and general manager of Apple's AppleSoft Div. Color
from slide.

94011310gryph - Gryphon software in action,
Mona Lisa morphs into wacky grin. Color from slide.

93111611spindl - Michael Spindler, Apple's
president and chief executive officer (CEO). Color from slide.

94011207mosc - Very wide angle, almost fish
eye, shot of Moscone center, site of recent Macworld Expo.
Color from slide.

94010428Eworld - View of E-world, Apple's
coming online service, screen.

94011423LaTime - Color group shot of Pacific
Telesis and Times Mirror execs signing agreement for the
creation of "the home-shopping lane of the communications
superhighway." Includes Richard T. Schlosberg III, publisher &
CEO of the LA Times; Hal Logan, general manager of the
Pacific Telesis Electronic Publishing Services; Robert F.
Erburu, chairman, president and CEO of Times Mirror; Lee Camp,
president of Pacific Telesis Electronic Publishing Services and
VP of Pacific Bell.

93111613bastien - B&W portrait of Gaston
Bastiaens, general manager for the P.I.E. division of Apple
Computer.

94010608SirSp - B&W shot of Sir Speedy
franchisee at workstation with Team CD.

94011321philip - B&W of fullmotion video
cartridge and box. Cartridge is being inserted in back of CDI
unit with Maganavox monitor in background.

9401008citiz - B&W product shot of new
lighweight Citizen printer.

94011015photoCD - Basic product shot of PhotoCD.

94011817qms - Color (from slide) view of QMS desktop office
system: monitor, keyboard, and printer.

94011317Ident - Color (from slide) view of Identity Systems
Technology Select notebook computer.

94011912Dbeam - Color view (from slide) of Farsite screen
which allows a virtual 'electronic whiteboard' to be shared on
computers.

(Newsbytes/19940214)


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

MacHandwriter Being Shipped By Communication Intelligence 02/14/94
REDWOOD SHORES, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 14 (NB) --
Communication Intelligence Corporation, developer of Handwriter for
Windows, has announced shipment of MacHandwriter, a desktop
peripheral for pen-inputting of data.

According to the company, MacHandwriter is shipped with the
company's Handwriter Recognition System software which is available
in numerous languages. Dennis Maxwell, corporate communications
director, told Newsbytes: "The real advantage of our handwriter is
its use as an editorial tool. It makes proofreading remarks, can
edit work in almost all data-entry applications, can be learned in
one hour for use, and mastered in one day. Our studies have shown
that it can cut editing time by as much as 50%."

MacHandwriter is shipped with PenMac, an electronic stylus, and an
ultra-thin graphics tablet, about the size of a standard mouse pad
and weighs nineteen ounces. According to the company, one of the
main features is the long cord which allows the user to sit back and
edit from different positions and avoid desktop problems with a
mouse. CIC has developed handwriter recognition systems to free
users from repetitive keyboard and mouse actions and thereby reduce
tendonitis and carpal tunnel syndrome.

CIC licenses CIC technology to Kurta and Wacom, but at this time CIC
claims that there are no competitive products in this particular
area. MacHandwriter is available to Macintosh users at all levels of
experience. The suggested retail price is $399 and a current
promotion is making it available for $199. For small companies and
corporations, volume discounts are available. MacHandwriter II is
the Japanese version currently available in Japan.

(Patrick McKenna/19940214/Press Contact: Beverly Scott, CIC,
tel [phone])


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(SFO)(00025)

HP Develops Extra Bright LEDs 02/14/94
PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 14 (NB) -- Light emitting
diodes (LEDs) are not just used in the computer industry - they
are also used in such markets as the automobile industry and
cellular phones. Now Hewlett-Packard claims to have developed a new
technology that can be used to produce what it believes will be the
world's brightest LEDs.

Northe Osbrink, spokesman for the company, told Newsbytes that the
technology could also be implemented on notebook computers, saying:
"The whole idea is that, as far as any battery operated portable
equipment, that this represents the possibility of much lower
battery consumption for a certain amount of light."

According to HP, versions operating in the amber portion of the
spectrum can be up to four times brighter than current-production
amber LEDs from other manufacturers. HP says that it expects the
next-generation LEDs will replace incandescent lamps in "many
situations."

Announcing the new technology, Mark Chandler, marketing manager of
HP's Optoelectronics Division, said: "By combining higher brightness
with high reliability and reduced power consumption, this new
technology will extend the benefits of LEDs to new markets."

The company expects the technology to become available within the
next six months. The new LEDs will offer improved performance in the
reddish-orange spectrum. HP says that the new technology can be used
in a broad range of industries, such as: rear turn signals and stop
lights for automobiles; indicators and displays in cellular
telephones, which will help preserve battery life; and in
outdoor informational applications, such as traffic signs and large-
area displays where extra brightness is more effective for daylight
viewing.

The new technology uses a new transparent substrate structure that
lets more light emit from the diode, rather than being absorbed by
the substrate material. HP says it has replaced the existing
technology, light-absorbing gallium arsenide (GaAs) substrates on
aluminium indium gallium phosphide (AlInGaP) LEDs, with a
transparent gallium phosphide (GaP) substrate, producing a new
transparent substrate AlInGaP or TS AlInGaP structure.

According to HP, the new TS AlInGaP devices have typical luminous
efficiencies of 40 lumens/ampere in both the reddish-orange and
amber portions of the spectrum. They are reportedly twice as bright
as HP's highest-performance AlInGaP LED devices with absorptive
substrates (AS AlInGaP).

HP says that the first production units will be available mid-year.

Osbrink told Newsbytes that the difference in implementation between
different applications would involve the packaging. "It might be
that, on a notebook computer, if it does use LEDs, it might be a
surface-mount packaging as opposed to a lamp with leads on it (for
an automobile implementation). All that will eventually become
available. There is nothing to prevent this technology from being
put into any package currently being used for LEDs."

(Ian Stokell/19940214/Press Contact: Northe Osbrink, 408-435-6765;
or Dan Kolody, 408-435-6063, Hewlett-Packard; Reader Contact: 800-
537-7715 ext 8003)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SFO)(00026)

Iomega Cuts Price of Bernoulli 90MB Drives 02/14/94
ROY, UTAH, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 14 (NB) -- The cost of disk and tape
storage continues to decline in the face of intense hardware
competition.

Now, just a month after cutting eight percent of its work force and
reporting less than favorable results for its last quarter, Iomega
Corp., has lowered the price of its Bernoulli 90 removable storage
drives and 90 megabyte (MB) cartridges by up to 29 percent.

The company says that the Bernoulli 90 drives for both the PC and
Apple Macintosh have been lowered to $419, while single Bernoulli
90MB cartridges now cost $112. Also, packages of three 90MB
cartridges are priced at $323, or $107 per cartridge.

The company has also cut the price of other drives. Examples of the
new pricing are: MacTransportable 90 PRO down 29 percent from $589
to $419; The PC powered 90 down 24 percent from $549 to $419; the
Insider 90 PRO down 16 percent from $499 to $419; the Transportable
90 PRO down 17 percent from $599 to$499; the Dual 90 PRO down nine
percent from $1,099 to $999;the MacTransportable 150 down 16 percent
from $699 to $589

Iomega's Bernoulli products come with a two-year warranty on drives,
a five-year warranty on cartridges, and free customer service.

At the beginning of January, Newsbytes reported that the company
had cut its salaried staff by 50 positions, although no direct labor
production workers were included.

At the time, acting CEO Leon Staciokas was quoted as saying: "The
company needed to reduce its infrastructure and the associated
overhead expenses in order to improve Iomega's competitive
position in the industry."

The company previously said that a loss for the fourth quarter,
ended December 31, 1993, was the result of lower than expected
revenues, a lower than expected gross margin percentage, and
higher than expected operating expenses.

In November Newsbytes reported that the company had released a new
internal model of its Bernoulli Multidisk 150 150MB drive with an
Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE) interface. While disks of varying
capacities are available for the 150 drives -- such as 35MB, 65MB,
105MB, and 150MB -- the drives can also reportedly read and write to
the Bernoulli 90MB disks and can read Bernoulli 44MB disks.

(Ian Stokell/19940214/Press Contact: A. Cory Maloy, 801-778-3712,
Iomega Corp.)


(NEWS)(IBM)(BOS)(00027)

 ****IBM's Ambra Intros First PC To Use Blue Lightning 100 02/14/94
RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 14 (NB) -- Ambra, a wholly
owned IBM subsidiary, today announced the Lightning 100, a PC billed
as the first to use IBM's Blue Lightning 100 megahertz (MHz)
processor, along with another platform, the 466I/VL, that is
designed to let users quickly upgrade from VESA (Video Electronics
Standards Association) to PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect).

"Our first Blue Lightning and DX2/66 products have enjoyed
tremendous market success, and our continuing research shows a
growing demand for even more feature-rich systems based on these
platforms. We believe the Lightning 100 and 466I/VL systems will
more than meet user demands," said David B. Middleton, Ambra's
president and CEO.

The Lightning 100's Blue Lightning 100 MHz processor triples
internal clock speed to outperform current DX2/66 processors by over
10 percent, according to Ambra.

Other key features of the Lightning 100 include BlueMath math co-
processor support, 16-bit kilobytes (KB) L1 cache, 128KB L2 cache
expandable to 256KB, an integrated 32-bit local bus graphics
accelerator, and an integrated IDE (Integrated Drive Electronic)
disk controller. In addition, the system is Pentium overdrive ready.

Systems based on Ambra's new 466I/VL platform can be upgraded from
VESA to PCI technology simply by replacing the riser card and
flashing the BIOS, officials said.

Other features of the 466I/VL systems include Intel's DX2/66MHz
processor, 256KB L2 writeback cache, random access memory (RAM)
configurations up to 64 megabytes (MB), 32-bit local bus graphics,
an integrated VL/IDE controller, four ISA (Industry Standard
Architecture) slots, and one VL slot. The systems are Pentium
Overdrive ready as well as Energy Star-compliant.

"The inherent value of this system is that it protects the user's
investment. You can buy VESA today and upgrade to PCI tomorrow,"
Middleton noted.

Ambra's 466I/VL systems are available immediately, and the Lightning
100 systems are expected to ship March 21. Both systems will be
available in desktop and mini-tower configurations, hot-loaded with
MS-DOS 6.2 and Windows 3.1.

Like other Ambra systems, the latest offerings are customizable to
user specifications. A sample Blue Lightning configuration, priced
at $2,160, features 16KB of onboard L1 cache, 8 MB of RAM
(expandable to 64 MB), a 540 MB IDE hard drive, an integrated local
bus graphics accelerator with 1 MB (expandable to 2 MB) of dynamic
random access memory (DRAM), an integrated local bus IDE hard drive
controller, four 16-bit ISA and one 32-bit VL bus slots, a 3.5-inch
diskette drive, and a 14-inch SVGA (Super Video Graphics Array)
color monitor.

A mini-tower 466I/VL system, priced at $2,798, comes with a
486DX2/66MHz processor, 256KB L2 write-back cache, 16 MB of RAM
(expandable to 64 MB), a 540 MB IDE hard drive, a 32-bit local bus
graphics accelerator with 1 MB, seven 16-bit ISA and one 32-bit VL
bus slots, six drive bays, a 32-bit local bus IDE disk controller, a
double-speed CD-ROM (compact disk - read only memory), a 3.5-inch
diskette drive, and a 14-inch SVGA color monitor. Customers can
upgrade to PCI technology for $99.

The Ambra systems are available through Ambra's toll-free order
number in the US -- 800-25AMBRA -- Monday through Friday, 8:00 am to
11 pm, and Saturday and Sunday, 10 am to 4 pm., Eastern Standard
Time. All system purchases are protected by a 30-day money-back
guarantee and a one-year limited warranty. Customers can also
purchase an optional one-year IBM on-site service contract for $29.
Toll-free technical support is available 24 hours a day, seven days
a week.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19940214/Reader contact: Ambra, 800-25AMBRA;
Press contacts: Craig Conrad, Ambra, 919-713-1550; Anne Marie
Clark, Cunningham Communication for Ambra, 617-494-8282)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(LAX)(00028)

Error-Free Cellular Digital Transmission Discovery 02/14/94
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 14 (NB) -- A team of
researchers at the University of Southern California (USC) say they
have developed a way for systems to automatically check for and
detect errors for quicker and error-free electronic communications.

The researchers say the new signal coding can be used in everything
from routing telephone calls to the transmission of pictures from
space probes.

The error correction coding is similar to the technique used for
years in spelling out names with works by saying "That's 'M' as in
Mary..." when communicating over noisy voice transmission lines.

According to P. Vijay Kumar, Ph.D. and A. Roger Hammons, Ph.D, the
error correction code is a technique used to transmit or store
digital data by transforming each bit of data into a longer code
group. That way, even when a signal suffers interference in route,
it will still be recognizable at the receiving end.

Kumar and Hammons say they came upon the discovery by accident, but
expect the technique to breed several families of highly efficient
error codes for general use in communications.

Kumar said: "Almost every time digital information is transmitted or
stored in a real-world application, some form of error coding is
required."

The Hughes Network Systems division of Hughes Aircraft, where Dr.
Hammons now works, has already patented an application of this
technique for cellular telephone use.

(Linda Rohrbough/19940214/Press Contact: Eric Mankin, University
of Southern California, tel [phone])


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SFO)(00029)

NCD Offers Adobe PostScript 2 On X Terminals 02/14/94
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 14 (NB) -- Hoping to
appeal to prospective users as a less-expensive option than
workstations, Network Computing Devices (NCD), claims it is the
first vendor to offer Adobe Systems' Display PostScript on X
terminals. The $200 software option is expected to be available
from NCD in April.

The company says that the PostScript extension allows NCD's X
terminals to support a wide variety of PostScript language-based
software applications that were previously accessible only on
workstations -- including professional publishing and graphic arts.

The Display PostScript Level 2 system is a systems software that
allows end users to use graphically-oriented applications. The DPS
system also reportedly allows application developers to save time
since it uses the same imaging model for both display and printer,
and a device-independent graphics code for portability.

Said Judy Estrin, NCD president and CEO, said: "Our users will now
be able to bring their Display PostScript-based applications
unmodified to our X displays, which cost about half as much as
workstations and are much easier to administer. Having the Display
PostScript system running locally on the X terminal instead of on a
remote host will reduce network traffic and provide a significant
performance boost, especially if the user is doing interactive
editing or image manipulation rather than just viewing documents."

NCD says that its X terminal users can also access PostScript
language-based custom applications developed in-house for mission-
critical programs. The Display PostScript Level 2 extension includes
35 of Adobe's Type 1 fonts, and gives users access to more than
1,700 scalable fonts in the Adobe Type Library and 14,000 Type 1
fonts available from Adobe and other type vendors.

The DPS Level 2 extension is available for the following NCD X
terminals: MCX14 (14-inch) and MCX15 (15-inch), with a screen
resolution of 1024 by 768 pixels; MCX17 (17-inch) and MCX19 (19-
inch), with resolution of 1152 by 900 pixels; NCD17cr (17-inch) and
NCD19c (19-inch), with resolution of 1280 by 1024 pixels; and NCD19g
gray-scale.

In July, Newsbytes reported that NCD had expanded its MCX line of
sound-equipped color X terminals with the MCX19. Featuring a large
19-inch display screen and a new low-profile base, the MCX19 was
priced at $4,695.

(Ian Stokell/19940214/Press Contact: Judy Estrin, 415-694-0650,
Network Computing Devices)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(LAX)(00030)

Sanctuary Woods Buys MADS For Interactive Television Use 02/14/94
SAN MATEO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 14 (NB) -- Multimedia title
developers Sanctuary Woods has purchased the Microprose Adventure
Development System (MADS) from Hunts Valley, Maryland-based
Microprose, a division of Spectrum Holobyte. Sanctuary Woods claims
its acquisition of MADS will eventually allow the company to develop
multiplayer titles for interactive television and bi-directional
cable.

MADS is considered to be one of the best development systems
because it allows for more cost-effective development and better
cinematic presentation of stories. Microprose said it used MADS
to create its top-selling interactive adventure game titles "Rex
Nebular" and "Return of the Phantom."

Sanctuary Wood plans to incorporate MADS and its own Woodscript
cross-platform deployment language and engine to create more
multiplatform products with fewer resources and in less time. The
company hopes moving to "proprietary" development tools as opposed
to tools available off-the-shelf will give it an advantage over its
competitors. In the interactive television and bi-directional cable
fronts, the company hopes to take advantage of the ability to have
many players participating in games from various geographic
locations.

No specifics were available as to how much Sanctuary Woods paid
for MADS, which includes a run-time engine and 15 development
tools.

(Linda Rohrbough/19940214/Press Contact: Kristy Sager, Sanctuary
Woods, tel [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(LON)(00031)

Newsbytes Daily Summary 02/14/94
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1994 FEB 14 (NB) -- These are the capsules of all
of today's stories...

1 -> SSA Adds Client/Server Features To BPCS/AS 02/14/94
System Software Associates (SSA) has announced it is adding support
for client/server computing to its enterprise business applications
and software development tools.

2 -> Automap Ships New Macintosh Road Atlas 02/14/94
Automap has announced a new Macintosh Road Atlas software package
that plots the best route between two locations in the US, Canada,
or Mexico.

3 -> $129.95 Printer Sharing Kit For SOHO Users 02/14/94
SoftWorx has unveiled a low-cost printer sharing kit for the small
office/home office (SOHO) marketplace.

4 -> Apple UK Ships Mac Essentials CD 02/14/94
Apple UK has announced the first offering from its Software Dispatch
division -- the Mac Essentials CD (compact disc).

5 -> IBM Announces OS/2 For Windows 3.1 02/14/94
IBM has announced the availability of OS/2 for Windows 3.1, a
special version of the operating system designed to support 32-bit
computing under the Windows graphical user interface environment.

6 ->UK - Renet Launches Modem Sized As A Floppy Disk 02/14/94
Lasat Communications, the Danish modem company, has announced it is
offering its products in the UK. Operating from a new office in
Hammersmith in London, the company has launched the Unique 144
modem, a UKP 399 data modem with 14,000 bits per second (bps) data
and fax facilities.

7 -> UK - Manugistics Launches Statgraphics Plus For Windows 02/14/94
Manugistics has launched a Windows version of its DIS statistical
graphical analysis utility. Known as Statgraphics Plus, the package
is billed as a true Windows applications and retains all the
intuitive facilities of the DOS edition, the company claims, while
introducing several new Windows functions to the mix.

8 -> Novell UK Announces Service Center Program (NASC) 02/14/94
Novell, which claims to be the leading networking company, has
started recruiting what its calls top service professionals to
provide quality customers service across Europe. These staff,
Newsbytes notes, will form the basis of the Novell's Authorised
Service Centre Program (NASC) in the UK.

9 -> ****Kubota Opens Toy Fair With Virtual Reality 02/14/94
Kubota Pacific Computer Inc. (KPC) opened the Toy Fair in Manhattan
with long lines waiting to see their latest development in virtual
reality adventures. KPC in collaboration with Visions of Reality
Corp. (VOR) is producing their "pod" interactive virtual reality
games with the use of Digital Equipment Corporation's Alpha AXP
microprocessor.

10 -> Andersen Consulting Canada Allies With Next 02/14/94
Andersen Consulting Canada has announced an alliance with Next
Computer, that will let the technology consultancy use Next's
object-oriented software tools in developing systems for its
clients.

11 -> Xerox Adds New OCR Features In TextBridge 2.0 For Windows 02/14/94
Xerox has announced TextBridge 2.0 for Windows, a new version of its
PC-based optical character recognition (OCR) software that adds an
application server, an OCR (optical character recognition) driver,
and other new and enhanced features while retaining the original $99
price tag.

12 -> Tech Data To Distribute Watermark In US And Latin America 02/14/94
Watermark has signed Tech Data to distribute its Watermark Discovery
Edition image-enabling package as well as future Watermark products
to value-added resellers (VARs) throughout the US and Central and
South America.

13 -> CD-ROM Contains Canadian Telephone Listings 02/14/94
When major Canadian telephone companies starting charging for every
call to long-distance directory assistance recently, they created a
promising market niche for Pro CD, a vendor of telephone listings on
compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM). The company has moved into
the Canadian market with Canada Phone, a CD-ROM containing all white
pages phone listings from across the country.

14 -> Canadian Product Launch Update 02/14/94
This regular feature, appearing every Monday or Tuesday, provides
further details for the Canadian market on announcements by
international companies that Newsbytes has already covered. This
week: Compaq's Contura Aero subnotebook.

15 -> Lawsuit Could Delay TCI-Bell Atlantic Merger 02/14/94
A class action lawsuit charging Tele-Communications with racial
discrimination could slow its acquisition by Bell Atlantic.

16 -> US Administration Denies It's Backing Off Clipper Chip 02/14/94
The Administration is trying to back away from remarks by Vice
President Al Gore which might indicate it's retreating from a plan
to use "Clipper Chip" encryption.

17 -> Bill & Al's CD-ROM Budget 02/14/94
Those techie guys at the White House are at it again. For the first
time, the entire FY 1995 proposed budget, a printed document
suitable for use as a doorstop, is available on a compact disc read
only memory (CD-ROM).

18 -> ****Novell, Artisoft Ink Interoperability Deal 02/14/94
Network software publisher Novell and client-server software maker
Artisoft exchanged their own kind of valentine today by signing a
deal to assure their products work well together.

19 -> New TI Chip Extends Battery Life, Cuts Portables Cost 02/14/94
Texas Instruments has introduced a new set of computer chips that
combines a 486 central processing unit with other key system
components. The company says that the new chip will result in
portable computer designs that require fewer chips, are smaller and
lighter, are less expensive, and reduce power consumption for longer
battery life between charges.

20 -> Cable System Offers Internet To Schools 02/14/94
ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 14 (NB) -- Jones Intercable
is linking two Virginia schools to the global Internet using its
cable systems and Internet-in-a-Box, a "point and click" Internet
solution from SPRY Inc. and O'Reilly & Associates.

21 -> ****Second Newton, Lindy, Expected For March Launch 02/14/94
Apple has announced that the Newton Messagepad is the first of
several personal digital assistants (PDAs) it plans to introduce.
Reports are the second Newton, code-named Lindy, will be officially
announced in March with features borrowed from other PDA's such as
Tandy's Zoomer.

22 -> Riley, Alexander Spar Over School Choice 02/14/94
Two former southern governors are becoming the point men for
conflicting arguments on how to reform schools.

23 -> NewsPix Images For Newsbytes Publishers 02/14/94
These are the photos that have been digitized and correspond to
stories Newsbytes has reported recently.

24 -> MacHandwriter Being Shipped By Communication Intelligence 02/14/94
Communication Intelligence Corporation, developer of Handwriter for
Windows, has announced shipment of MacHandwriter, a desktop
peripheral for pen-inputting of data.

25 -> HP Develops Extra Bright LEDs 02/14/94
Light emitting diodes (LEDs) are not just used in the computer
industry - they are also used in such markets as the automobile
industry and cellular phones.

26 -> Iomega Cuts Price of Bernoulli 90MB Drives 02/14/94
The cost of disk and tape storage continues to decline in the face
of intense hardware competition.

27 -> ****IBM's Ambra Intros First PC To Use Blue Lightning 100 02/14/94
Ambra, a wholly owned IBM subsidiary, today announced the Lightning
100, a PC billed as the first to use IBM's Blue Lightning 100
megahertz (MHz) processor, along with another platform, the 466I/VL,
that is designed to let users quickly upgrade from VESA (Video
Electronics Standards Association) to PCI (Peripheral Component
Interconnect).

28 -> Error-Free Cellular Digital Transmission Discovery 02/14/94
A team of researchers at the University of Southern California (USC)
say they have developed a way for systems to automatically check for
and detect errors for quicker and error-free electronic
communications.

29 -> 2NCD Offers Adobe PostScript 2 On X Terminals 02/14/94
Hoping to appeal to prospective users as a less-expensive option
than workstations, Network Computing Devices (NCD), claims it is the
first vendor to offer Adobe Systems' Display PostScript on X
terminals. The $200 software option is expected to be available from
NCD in April.

30 -> Sanctuary Woods Buys MADS For Interactive Television Use 02/14/94
Multimedia title developers Sanctuary Woods has purchased the
Microprose Adventure Development System (MADS) from Hunts Valley,
Maryland-based Microprose, a division of Spectrum Holobyte.

(Steve Gold/19940214)