Newsbytes - Internationa…ews 1983 May to 1994 June/Newsbytes - International Computing Industry News 1994 Edition - May 1983 - June 1994 - Wayzata Technologies (5045) (1994).iso/pc/text/mac_text/1994/jan_feb_94/nb021694

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(NEWS)(GENERAL)(HKG)(00001)

DEC Ships First Alpha AXP Workstation To China 02/16/94
CHAI WAN, HONG KONG, 1994 FEB 16 (NB) -- Digital Equipment Corp.,
has delivered its first Alpha AXP workstation to the Electric Power
Research Institute (EPRI) of the Ministry of Electric Power in
Beijing.

EPRI will use the DEC 3000/300L AXP/OSF workstation to port its
energy management software to the Alpha AXP platform. The
resulting system will be sold to utilities throughout China and to
world markets as a state-of-the-art system for monitoring and
controlling power production and distribution.

The Alpha AXP workstation was handed over at a ceremony attended
by Su Zhewen, former vice minister of the Ministry of Electric Power
(MOEP), Mme Zheng Qi Ren, director of MOEP's Department of Science
and Technology, and Zheng Jianchao, president of EPRI. Present from
Digital were J. Graham Long, vice president of sales at Digital Asia,
Edward Chiu, general manager of Digital China and Matthew Zhou,
Digital China's marketing manager.

"EPRI is the first organization in China to have an Alpha AXP
workstation, which is not only the fastest in China but also reputed
to be the fastest computer in the world," said Mme Zheng. She noted
that China has a rapidly increasing industrial and consumer demand
for energy, with the development of many new power plants that
need to be integrated into China's power grids.

"Digital has a long-standing relationship with EPRI, starting in the
1980s," said Long. "EPRI, with 400 installations, is one of Digital's
largest customers, and is recognized as a leader in energy
management systems throughout the world.

EPRI's Zhen Jianchao said, "Mr Su made an important decision many
years ago by setting the guidelines for imported computers in China.
On the basis of performance and value, Digital's VAX systems
represented good value. With the Alpha AXP workstations and
Digital's networking products, we can cooperate with China's
northeastern power networks to establish object-oriented
technology that allows us to install a flexible, scalable solution
for all levels of energy control centers. The 64-bit CPU (central
processing unit) shows the way for power control for the 1990s
and beyond."

(Keith Cameron/19940214/Press Contact: Bonnie Engel,
852-805-3510, DEC)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(LAX)(00002)

Oracle Alliances, Plans For Info Superhighway 02/16/94
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 16 (NB) -- Known for
its multiplatform database software, Oracle is yet another
company claiming it is in the fast lane of the emerging
information superhighway. The company maintains that it has
the hardware and software to enable it and its allies to deliver
news, information, entertainment, and home-shopping services
on demand to consumers.

Oracle says it will begin at the heart of the system with the
Oracle Media Server, a digital "multimedia library" that retrieves
and manages video, audio, images, text, and tables with the ability
to recall the information on demand.

Developers will use the Oracle Media Objects authoring tool for
creation of multimedia interactive services to access and deliver
the information stored in the Media Server. The Oracle Media Net
is the company's new software enabling connection of smart
televisions to the Media Server, hiding the network mechanisms
from the user. The group that will put all these parts together
is 100 consultants called the Emerging Technologies Consulting
Group.

As far as alliances, Oracle has a whole list. On January 12, Bell
Atlantic and Oracle announced plans to use Oracle's software,
systems and systems integration services as the platform for its
Stargazer programming on demand and interactive home shopping
services this year.

US West and Oracle, already allied from an agreement last year,
have announced an additional agreement to move forward their
joint development of interactive multimedia applications that
will be deployed on a city-wide basis, focusing on video-on-
demand.

Honeywell announced a joint technology and marketing alliance with
Oracle to enable the development of energy management applications
for home and business. Echelon announced it will combine its
LONWORKS control network technology with Oracle's Media Server
to bring  home automation, remote meter reading, energy management
and utility demand-side management to home, businesses, and utility
companies.

Information providers have also allied with Oracle. On January
14, Capital Cities/ABC and Oracle announced an alliance to
develop a new multimedia news-on-demand applications slated
for use in trials this year. Three days later The Washington Post
Company and Oracle announced an electronic publishing alliance
for creation of electronic publications and advertising combining
text, audio, and video.

In the computing world, Oracle has alliances for the support of
its Media Server with: Apple Computer's newly announced
Macintosh-based television set-top boxes; General Instrument
Jerrold's Linx computer-based module; General Magic's Magic Cap
Communicators; Goldstar's set top box; Philips Consumer
Electronics and Compression Labs; Scientific-Atlanta's planned
analog and digital home terminals; Sega of America's advanced
game machines; and Sharp Electronics' personal productivity
products.

Other supporters include: the 3DO Company which will allow the
Media Server to interface to 3DO cable and network licenses;
Kaleida Labs which announced plans to allow developers to use its
Scriptx multimedia authoring language and the Kaleida Media
Player with Oracle's Media product line; Microware Systems
Corporation, which announced that its OS-9 real-time operating
system will support the Media Server; and nCUBE which will provide
hardware technology for the deployment of the Oracle Media Server
with its massively parallel processing nCUBE 2S system -- a
system which can store more than 10,000 feature-length movies.
On the wireless front, Motorola has agreed to work with Oracle
for wireless communications, as has Ram Mobile Data.

Delivery of the first services is slated to begin with Bell
Atlantic in the spring of this year, Oracle said.

(Linda Rohrbough/19940215/Press Contact: Jennifer Keavney,
Oracle, tel [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(SFO)(00003)

Interactive Jobs Network Matches Jobs & Employers 02/16/94
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 16 (NB) -- Watermark
Systems of San Francisco, has announced that Interactive Jobs
Network (IJN) is on-line as a national employment information
service.

The new service has been created to assist job seekers and
employers, by offering what the company describes as an
"affordable access to the national job market."

The first release is a Windows version which offers a menu-driven
interface for filling-out the "search profile." The profile, customized
by "position sought," "location," "salary requirements" and other
special needs, is then entered and matched to any existing
employment positions listed. A user may then post electronic-mail
responses to the applicable matches.

Speaking with Newsbytes, Steve Murray, company vice president,
said, "A process that can take weeks and even months at times can
be completed on Watermark Systems in less than 24 hours. Our
interactive database allows users to alter their search profile, at
no additional cost, if the results are too general or if there are not
enough matches. For the basic subscription fee of $20 a month, a
user may develop one profile off-line and access the database
fifteen times. We have provided an 800 number and a local access
number in our area code."

According to the company, Interactive Jobs Network has built-in
screening capabilities so that all profiles remain private and secure
and faxing services at additional charges. All charges are credited
to the users credit card, upon approval.

Watermark claims that its service outperforms other on-line
employment services which often list a long line of job opportunities
that are not applicable to the searchers specific needs. The network
also offers potential employers the same customizing abilities, so
that they can create a pool of qualified applicants.

(Patrick McKenna/19940215/Press Contact: Judy Marie Merrill,
Shepard Merrill Communications Group, 415-965 7452


(NEWS)(IBM)(LON)(00004)

IBM OS/2 Sales Up 100% In Europe 02/16/94
PORTSMOUTH, HAMPSHIRE, ENGLAND, 1994 FEB 16 (NB) -- IBM has
revealed that its OS/2 sales have risen by around 100 percent in
Europe. At the same time, the company has appointed a new general
manager for personal software sales in the region.

According to Big Blue, Hermann Lamberti has been signed to be
general manager responsible for the Personal Software Products
business in Europe, Middle East, and Africa.

IBM predicts that sales of PSP products, which includes OS/2, have
a healthy future, building on the 100 percent growth it has
experienced so far in Europe. The products have been selling well
so far this year and the company's marketing position has risen
as a direct result, says the company.

Big Blue's PSP product range includes a wide range of local area
network (LAN), database, and communications software, language
and development products, applications, multimedia and speech-
oriented products.

"The formation of PSP Europe has provided the IBM software business
with a focus which translates into dramatically improved sales
results," explained Lamberti. "OS/2 sales alone in Europe, Middle East
and Africa increased by over 100 percent in 1993 over the previous
year. 1994 will see OS/2's market position strengthen further, and
will also consolidate IBM's leading position in emerging markets --
for objects technology, multimedia and speech recognition products."

IBM's Personal Software Products Europe was launched in April,
1993. The division currently employees more than 500 people in
over 28 countries.

(Sylvia Dennis/19940215/Press & Public Contact: IBM UK,
44-329-242728)


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

UK - TI Intros 50MHz TravelMate Portable PC 02/16/94
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1994 FEB 16 (NB) -- Texas Instruments has
announced a new dual Sean Color notebook, belonging to the
TravelMate family of products.

According to the company, the new TravelMate 4000E WinDX2/50
Dual Scan Color notebook comes with four megabytes (MB) of
memory, expandable to 20MB, and standard 200MB hard disk drive.
For fast work with graphics, the machine is equipped with the
latest Windows Graphics Accelerator and dual scan display
capable of showing 256 colors simultaneously at 640 by 480
pixels resolution. On a 1,024 by 768 pixel VGA monitor, the
computer supports 256 colors.

"This announcement brings an important new dimension to TI's
TravelMate notebook family," commented Colin Day, marketing
manager for TI's Peripheral Products Division. "The TravelMate
4000E WinDX2/50 Dual Scan Color notebook delivers an
outstanding combination of brilliant color and fast processing
power, thanks to advanced screen technology and a 50 megahertz
(MHz) 486DX2 processor. This new machine really puts
top-of-its-class performance in the users hands at a very
attractive price."

According to the company, the new keyboard and TI high speed video
bus technology brings the notebook standard to desktop PC level.
Theere are 12 separate function keys plus "Page Up," "Page Down",
"Home", "End" keys.

Pricing on the machines is as follows: the TM4000E WinSX/25 Mono,
with a 486SX processor running at 25MHz, with 4MB RAM, and a
120MB hard drive costs UKP1,495; the TM4000E WinSX/25 Color,
with a 25MHz 486SX, 4MB RAM and a 120MB drive costs UKP1,895;
the TM4000E WinDX2/50 with a 50MHz 486DX2, 4MB RAM and a
200MB drive costs UKP2,295; the TM4000E WinDX2/50 Dual Scan
Color, with a 50MHz 486DX2, 4MB RAM and a 200MB drive costs
UKP2,695; and the TM4000E WinDX2/50 Active Matrix Color, with
a 50MHz 486DX2, 4MB RAM and 200MB drive costs UKP3,195.

(Sylvia Dennis & Steve Gold/19940215/Press Contact: Pathway
PR, 44-442-874006; Public Contact: Rita Lewis, Texas Instruments
UK, Mailing Station 36, Manton Lane, Bedford MK41 7PA, UK)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(TYO)(00006)

Japan - PC Shipments Up 15% In 1993; Apple Big Winner 02/16/94
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1994 FEB 16 (NB) -- IDC Japan, a subsidiary of IDG
Group, says that personal computer shipments for the Japanese
market in 1993 increased by 15 percent over 1992.

Among these PCs, Apple's Macintosh sold well, claims the
report. Total shipments of personal computers in the Japanese
market for 1993 were 2,502,800 units -- about 15 percent up
from the 2,172,800 units sold in 1992.

Major reasons for the increase included the decreasing cost of PCs,
the debut of Microsoft's Windows 3.1 graphical user environment
in Japan, and the popularity of the Macintosh, says the IDC report.
Also, many entry-level users purchased more powerful PCs.

Apple Computer Japan gained a 75 percent increase in the shipment
of its personal computers. In 1992, the firm shipped 191,000 units
of the Macintosh. In 1993, the firm shipped 335,000 units. Apple
Computer Japan's share in PC shipments rose from 8.8 percent to
13.4 percent in 1993. It is the second largest share, following NEC,
which has the largest share -- 49 percent.

However, NEC experienced a decrease in market share from 1992.
The shipment decrease was expected due to the introduction of
Japanese Windows 3.1 and low-cost DOS/V-compatible PCs, which
operate both Japanese and English language programs. The sale of
IBM-compatible DOS/V personal computers rose by 77 percent in
1993.

IBM Japan came third in the unit share totals with 6.8 percent. This
was followed by Fujitsu (6.7 percent), Seiko-Epson (6.4 percent),
Toshiba (6.2 percent), and Compaq (1.8 percent).

In 1993, a PC price-cut war emerged, and as a result, lots of
potential users purchased PCs. Among others, Compaq and Dell
Computer gained sales in the low-cost PC market. The release
of PCs with a 486 processor was also a major factor in the
increase of shipments and sales in Japan. The report says about
1.8 million units of 486-based PCs were shipped in 1993, which
was up 3.75 times over that of 1992.

(Masayuki "Massey" Miyazawa/19940215/Press Contact: IDC
Japan, tel [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SFO)(00007)

Artisoft & Eagle Cut Ethernet Card Prices 02/16/94
TUCSON, ARIZONA, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 16 (NB) -- It has been a
high-profile few weeks for Artisoft Inc. First the company acquired
network interface card (NIC) manufacturer Eagle Technology,
best known for its NetWare-compatible products, then it signs a
deal with Novell saying it will license that company's technology
in order for its LANtastic peer-to-peer software to talk directly
to NetWare-based servers. Now the company has jointly announced,
with Eagle, that it has cut the pricing on many of their Ethernet
NICs.

According to the companies, a number of Eagle adapter lines,
including 5- and 20-packs, have been reduced as much as 36 percent,
and Artisoft's NodeRunner/SI adapters, including 5- and 10-packs,
have been reduced by about 18 percent. The new pricing structure
is effective immediately.

In announcing the cuts, Artisoft's President and Chief Executive
Officer William C.  Keiper, said: "We anticipate that this new
pricing structure will strengthen the combined market presence
of both Eagle and Artisoft brand adapters. We also expect that this
price reduction should make our Eagle adapters an even more
attractive solution for Novell NetWare networking environments."

Artisoft's deal with Novell, reported previously by Newsbytes,
covers the licensing of  client-server technology, Novell
certification of interoperability between Artisoft client software
and Novell server-based networks, and the companies' intentions
to cooperate to provide hardware products that meet "mutual
customer needs."

Price cuts on Artisoft Ethernet adapters are: NodeRunner/SI 2000/C
& 2000/T down from $149 to $124; NodeRunner/SI 2000/C & 2000/T
5-Pack, down from $699 to $574; NodeRunner/SI 2000/C & 2000/T
10-Pack, down from $1,299 to $1,074, the NodeRunner/SI 2000/A,
down from $189 to $154; and the NodeRunner/SI 2000M/TC, down
from $239 to $194.

Examples of price cuts on Eagle Ethernet adapters are: the NE1000,
down from $148 to $114; NE1000 5-Pack, down from $685 to $499;
NE2000 and NE2000T, down from $199 to $129; NE2000 and NE2000T
5-Pack, down from $899 to $574; the NE2000plus, down from $124
to $109; NE2000plus 5-Pack, down from $549.99 to $499; the
NE2000Tplus, down from $109 to $104; the NE2000plus-3, down
from $144  to $129; the NE200T, down from $299 to $229; and the
NE200C, down from $349 to $269.

(Ian Stokell/19940216/Press Contact: Joe Stunkard,
tel [phone], fax [phone], Artisoft Inc.)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(TYO)(00008)

 ****NEC Develops 500 MHz RISC Chip 02/16/94
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1994 FEB 16 (NB) -- NEC says it has developed
a powerful RISC (reduced instruction-set computing) chip,
which operates at 500 megahertz (MHz) and a very low-energy
consumption rate.

NEC claims that it is the world's fastest RISC chip. The firm
has also developed a super-fast SRAM (static random access
memory). NEC will announce the details of these chips at the
International Solid State Circuit Conference (ISSCC) in San
Francisco this week.

NEC's latest RISC chip is a 32-bit processor, which is based on
CMOS (complimentary metal oxide semiconductor) and eight-tiered
pipeline technologies. The two technologies reportedly allow for
a powerful parallel processing feature which uses less power.
The company claims that the RISC chip consumes only one-
thirtieth of the power of existing RISC chips.

The  RISC chip is still in the prototype stage. It has a cache
memory of 100 MIPS (million instructions per second). NEC says
it is possible to increase this cache memory to 300 MIPS.

Meanwhile, NEC has also developed a 16-megabit SRAM --
reportedly developed for a cache memory. NEC has applied
wave-pipeline technology and 0.4-micron BiCMOS technology in
the development of the chip. As a result, it operates at 220 MHz
with a cycle speed of 4.5 nanoseconds.

The chips will be able to handle large amounts of data at
high speed, which makes them ideal for multimedia devices,
which need to process data in real time.

(Masayuki "Massey" Miyazawa/19940216/Press Contact: NEC,
tel [phone],fax [phone])


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(BOS)(00009)

Networks Expo - WordPerfect Unveils Mobile Strategy 02/16/94
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 16 (NB) -- At NetWorks
Expo, WordPerfect has unveiled a four-pronged "mobile computing
solution" aimed at letting users access information contained in
WordPerfect Office through the upcoming WordPerfect Office Remote
for Windows and DOS, as well as through new two-way wireless
technology, paging services, and telephone access offerings.

Users will be able to obtain remote access to electronic-mail
(e-mail), calendars and tasks through the upcoming Windows and
Macintosh versions of WordPerfect Office Remote, in addition to
the currently shipping DOS edition, officials said. The new mobile
products and services also encompass paging services from
Motorola, wireless access through RAM Mobile, and telephone
access through the forthcoming WordPerfect Telephone Access
Server (TAS) and public carriers such as MCI.

Users of WordPerfect Office Remote for DOS, Windows or the Mac,
all provide the same functionality as the WordPerfect Office
desktop client, according to WordPerfect. The Windows version is
slated for availability at the end of February, and the Mac edition
in March.

Any of the WordPerfect Office Remote clients will be able to access
any user's master mailbox information, independent of desktop
client or server platform, the company maintained. Unlike
competing e-mail systems, WordPerfect says its Office product
defines each user just once in the messaging system. Each defined
user has a personal mailbox, and can download and upload to any
of the remote clients. The remote and master mailboxes also work
together to synchronize mail, scheduling, and other information.

The WordPerfect Office Remote for Wireless product, which became
available last month, is designed to let users send and receive
messages over the RAM mobile data network using the Intel Wireless
Modem. The Intel Wireless Modem communicates via the RAM network
to WordPerfect Office running on host computers and local area
networks (LANs) connected by X.25 or radio link connections.

WordPerfect Office users will also be able to receive paging
services through Motorola's forthcoming Site Connect Server,
WordPerfect announced. When WordPerfect Office is used with the
wireless communications server from Motorola, users will be able to
create rules for filtering and forwarding selected e-mail messages,
tasks, meeting requests, and calendar updates to alphanumeric
pagers.

Through WordPerfect's upcoming Telephone Access Server (TAS),
WordPerfect Office users will be able to access their mailboxes
from any touchtone telephone, officials reported.

TAS will provide telephone access to e-mail messages, personal
and group calendar items, personal or scheduled tasks, and notes,
according to the company. Users will be able to send, respond to,
or forward e-mail messages; accept, decline, or send meeting or
appointment requests; listen to updates of their calendars; accept,
decline or send tasks; and listen to or send notes.

In addition, access to new "workgroup messaging hubs," such as
those being provided by MCI, will provide WordPerfect Office users
with e-mail, calendaring, scheduling, and task management
capabilities over public networks, officials noted.

WordPerfect Office Remote for Windows will be included in
the WordPerfect Office for Windows Client/Administration Pack
that is slated to ship at the end of this month. Users who purchased
WordPerfect Office for Windows before a remote version was
available will be able to order WordPerfect Office Remote for
Windows directly from WordPerfect for the cost of materials and
shipping.

TAS is scheduled for release in the second quarter at a price of
$9,995. The phone access server requires a 386 or higher processor
with eight megabytes (MB) of random access memory (RAM) or
greater, OS/2 2.x (OS/2 2.1 recommended), a WordPerfect Office
Message Server, one or more Dialogic boards, and a telephone line.

RAM Mobile Data is offering four months of flat-rate, unlimited
messaging for $75 per month. Standard charges for using the RAM
network are as little as $25 per month for 100 bundled kilobytes
(KB), according to WordPerfect.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19940216/Reader Contact: WordPerfect,
800-861-2507;  Press Contact:  Brian Chapman for
WordPerfect, 801-228-5037)


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

Apple Intros Digital Camera & Color Printer 02/16/94
TOKYO,  JAPAN, 1994  FEB 16  --  Apple Computer Inc., has
announced QuickTake 100, a digital color camera which
downloads to either Macintosh or Windows-installed computers.
The company has also introduced the Color StyleWriter Pro, a
color inkjet printer for the Mac.

According to Apple, the camera is lightweight with fully automatic
features and a built-in flash. QuickTake 100 is designed to be a
point-and-shoot camera. Users photograph whatever they wish,
download the images into the computer using QuickTake software
and the drag-and-drop copying feature allows the image to be
manipulated into other applications. The download is accomplished
by plugging a serial cable into a printer or modem port.

Apple foresees a large customer base of presentation professionals,
graphic artists, and photographers who look for time-saving
methods of image production, while still requiring high-resolution,
color images. QuickTake 100 captures images in either 320 by 240
or 640 by 480 pixels and can store up to 32 standard resolution
images or eight high-resolution images.

Until recently, color digital cameras have sold for thousands of
dollars or a user had to resort to black and white images at a lower
cost.  QuickTake 100, in the Macintosh version, will be available in
late March priced at $749. The Windows version is scheduled for
release in June.

Apple has also unveiled the Apple Color StyleWriter Pro, a color
inkjet printer for the Macintosh. Targeted for the SOHO (small
office and home office) market, the new StyleWriter prints at
360 dots-per-inch and produces color documents in one of three
ColorSync modes -- photographic, business graphics, or spot
color -- to allow for end-user "cost control."

Apple claims the new individual ink cartridge for each color will
allow users to replace only the color of ink that is empty as
opposed to past methods, where all of the colors were in one
cartridge. Plain paper output also provides another cost-saving
feature.

The Apple Color StyleWriter Pro is priced at $629 and will be
available in March.

(Patrick McKenna/19940216/Press Contact: Natalie Barreiro,
Apple Computer Inc., 408-974-3118)


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

CompuServe Takes CC:Mail Link Live 02/16/94
COLUMBUS, OHIO, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 16 (NB) -- CompuServe took its
previously-announced agreement with Lotus Development's CC:Mail
live, allowing its 4.5 million users quick access to other
electronic-mail users worldwide through the CompuServe Mail Hub.
That agreement to link the program and the mail service was
announced in December.

In addition to CompuServe's own 1.4 million members, the hub also
serves other CompuServe-linked systems including the Internet,
Novell NetWare MHS, Lotus Notes, MCI Mail, SprintMail, AT&T Mail,
AT&T EasyLink, Infonet, Deutsche Bundespost, and the Japanese
NIFTY-Serve service.

The CompuServe Mail Hub is available for $9.80 per hour when
accessing with a 1,200 or 2,400 bits-per-second (bps) modem,
and $14.80 per hour at 9,600 or 14,400 bps. The 14,400 bps
service is available in more limited areas. Users can get
registration details by entering "go ccmail" on CompuServe,
while non-users can be served by calling 1-800-457-mail.

While discussing the latest announcement with CompuServe
spokesman Dave Kishler, Newsbytes brought up recent press reports
that the service will have full Internet connectivity around mid-
year. "Our CEO, Maury Cox, spoke to analysts" recently, Kishler
explained. "Our plans are to introduce in-bound access to the
Internet, via Telnet, initially, then later this year to offer
outbound access." There is no time frame specified for either
move, although the Telnet in-bound access will take at least a
few months to implement, and Kishler said the out-bound access
will not be available until later.

"One of the things we're trying to develop as we introduce the
outbound access is a user interface that will allow access to the
Internet in a friendly manner," Kishler added. "That's one of the
reasons we're taking our time."

(Dana Blankenhorn/19940215/Press Contact: David Kishler,
CompuServe, 614-538-4571; Mark McHarry, Lotus Development,
415-335-6786)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(HKG)(00012)

Hong Kong - Singapore Videoconference Lucky Draw 02/16/94
TAI KOO SHING, HONG KONG, 1994 FEB 16 (NB) -- Hongkong
Telecom CSL's VideoNet video communications service proved its
flexibility as a marketing tool last month when it was used to
host a joint promotion between Hongkong Telecom CSL, Singapore
Telecom, and the Singapore Association in Hong Kong.

The "Meet-the-Family" promotion was open to any Singaporean who
spent more than US$100 on IDD (international direct dial) calls to
Singapore in the month of November, 1993. A lucky draw was then
held and five winners met their loved ones over a live video link in
January.

Ida Chew, used her prize to catch up with a friend in Singapore to
whom she had talked on the phone but had not seen for some time.
"It's very exciting to come along to the VideoNet studio and then
see my friend there on the screen," said Chew. "It's a little like
being on television, but here the TV talks back to you."

Franky Lai, general manager of marketing for Hongkong Telecom
CSL, said, "Most Singaporeans living and working in Hong Kong use
the telephone to keep in touch with their friends back home. But,
with live interactive video they no longer have to miss out on the
pleasure of seeing their loved ones. Something as simple as a
smile can make their day."

The winners of the draw were invited to the Hongkong Telecom CSL
VideoNet studio in Exchange Square, Central, Hong Kong, which is
regularly used for international communications by Hong Kong's
business people.

"Such a family gathering is a perfect example of how new
technology can be applied flexibly," said Lai. "It was an opportunity
for the winners to see their relatives without having to spend time
and money to fly there. It is amazing how technology was able to
add that personal, very human touch."

(Keith Cameron/19940214/Press Contact: Caroline Chung,
852 - 803 6551)


(NEWS)(IBM)(DEN)(00013)

Wordperfect Ships InForms 1.0a Electronic Forms Prgm 02/16/94
OREM, UTAH, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 16 (NB) -- Wordperfect Corp., has
announced it is shipping Wordperfect Informs 1.0a, an interim
version of its electronic forms application.

Informs is an electronic forms design, filler and viewer program
which can print the completed forms or send them via electronic
mail to another party. The program can control form routing for
Lotus cc:Mail, Microsoft Mail, and Office 4.0 mail users.

The form and the form data can be broadcast or sequentially routed
for review, modification, or digital signature, and returned to the
desired database. Wordperfect Office 4.0 users can design macros to
automatically store data from mail-enabled forms into any of the
supported databases. Microsoft Mail custom messages can perform
the same function.

Informs uses the Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) standard to
provide users with an electronic form interface to any database
supported by an ODBC driver. It ships with an ODBC driver for
Microsoft Access and drivers for other database programs should
be available from those vendors.

Wordperfect says the integrated file viewer supports more
than 80 file formats including document, graphic, and multimedia
type files.

Informs 1.0a comes with seven desktop database engines, which
the company says offers support for more databases than any other
electronic forms application. That also allows you to create a new
database file in one of the seven formats without actually launching
the application.

The formats supports include ASCII delimited, Btrieve, Clipper,
Dataperfect, dBase, Foxpro, Paradox, and Wordperfect Secondary
Merge File. Structured query language (SQL) databases are also
supported, including DB2, DB2/2, Informix, Microsoft SQL Server,
Netware SQL, Oracle, Gupta, Sybase and XDB in their native mode.
That allows data to be read or written directly to the databases
without the need to import or export data.

Other features of Informs 1.0a include joins between databases of
different types and querying any combination of SQL and desktop
databases. Once retrieved, the results of a query can be printed,
electronically mailed, or saved into any of the supported database
formats for re-use later.

The program offers security at the form data level and at the
security database level as well as tamper detection on every
record created in a form that has been digitally signed. There is
also a DOS Text Mode feature to support Informs 1.0a Filler For DOS,
which is scheduled to ship in the second quarter. Other features
include Calculations, an Object Library, a Speller, Print and Zoom,
and improved performance to querying and linking, text handling and
form layout.

Informs 1.0a has a suggested retail price of $495 which includes
both the design and filler modules. You can get filler only, with
documentation, for $199. If your are a registered user of Informs
1.0 you can get the upgrade at no cost.

(Jim Mallory/19940216/Press Contact: Frank Sessions,
Wordperfect Corporation, 801-228-5053; Reader Contact:
tel [phone] or 801-225-5000, fax [phone])


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(TOR)(00014)

EyeTel Updates Videoconferencing System 02/16/94
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA, 1994 FEB 16 (NB) -- EyeTel
Technologies Inc., has released a new version of Communicator III,
its full-function desktop videoconferencing system, adding video
mail, point-to-multipoint capability, a voice command option, and
cellular support.

The company also dropped the price of Communicator III by 40
percent with the release of Generation 3, to US$4,495.

Communicator III is the most complete of three desktop
videoconferencing products from the company, a spokeswoman for
EyeTel told Newsbytes. Communicator I is a software-only video
mail package that sells for US$99. Communicator II includes
software and a video capture board for US$249.

Communicator III includes the software, video capture board,
camera, microphone, speakers, and an H.320 coder/decoder (codec).

Communicator III requires a personal computer with a 386SX or
better processor. EyeTel recommends a 486DX chip. The system
needs four megabytes (MB) of memory and a Super VGA display,
5MB of hard disk space, audio input and output, and Microsoft
Windows 3.1 or later. For local communication it requires Novell
NetWare 3.11 or higher, and for long-haul videoconferencing it
requires access to T-1, switched 56 kilobit per second, or
integrated services digital network (ISDN) lines.

(Grant Buckler/19940216/Press Contact: Valdis Hellevik,
InterActive Public Relations for EyeTel, tel [phone],
fax [phone]; Public Contact: EyeTel Technologies,
tel [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(TOR)(00015)

IBM Launches Document Management Products 02/16/94
SOMERS, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 16 (NB) -- IBM has announced
two document products, both meant for client/server computing
installations, but aimed at customers with different kinds of
document management needs.

The Visual Document Library is intended for a general office
environment where document control is a major concern, Jon Prial,
manager of document management solutions at IBM, told Newsbytes.

Version control and check-in and check-out facilities ensure
control of documents, according to IBM. Visual Document Library
also lets users find documents using more sophisticated
techniques than simple keyword searches, Prial said. For
example, a request for documents containing the word "dog"
might also retrieve those that contain the word "poodle."

The software provides integration with five major personal
computer applications: WordPerfect, Microsoft Word, Lotus
1-2-3, Microsoft Excel, and Lotus Ami Pro, Prial said.

The second product -- ImagePlus VisualInfo -- extends IBM's
existing ImagePlus line of image processing software into the
client/server market, Prial explained. The ImagePlus line is
aimed at customers who are using image processing as part of an
effort to re-engineer or improve critical business applications.
Prial called this market "operational image" and claimed IBM is
strong in this area. "The ImagePlus family of products has been
very, very successful in this market," he said.

VisualInfo links business applications with electronic folders of
supporting information, including faxes, scanned images, photos,
spreadsheets, and other objects, according to IBM. It can support
small groups or thousands of users, and allows information to be
stored in libraries close to those who use it but made available
to others anywhere in the system. Both PC and mainframe servers
can be used.

Selected customers will be testing Visual Document Library
starting in June. Pricing has not been set. ImagePlus VisualInfo
will be available for the OS/2 operating system in May, and for
mainframe servers running the MVS/ESA operating system in
September. Client software starts at $395 per workstation, OS/2
library and object servers range from $19,950 for 10 users to
$172,875 for 100 users.

IBM also enhanced two existing ImagePlus products. The company
said new facsimile and electronic mail features, support for the
CompuServe on-line service, improved storage options and added
scanner support will be available in September for ImagePlus/2,
a local area network offering. ImagePlus/400, for the AS/400
midrange system, will get more flexible work management and
document routing, expanded search capability, and additional
optical storage options in July, company officials said.

(Grant Buckler/19940216/Press Contact: Rick Bause, IBM,
914-642-3778; Linda Segervall, Burson-Marsteller for IBM,
212-614-5205)


(NEWS)(IBM)(DEN)(00016)

Microrim Ships "In The Black" Accounting For Windows 02/16/94
BELLEVUE, WASHINGTON, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 16 (NB) -- Microrim Inc.,
has announced it is now shipping In The Black, a Windows accounting
software package that can be used for small  business or home
finance accounting.

In The Black combines accounting with contact database and basic
to-do functions, with the three interacting. When you enter a
customer in the accounts receivable or a vendor in the accounts
payable sections they are automatically available in the contact
manager. The to-do function, called a Task Minder uses information
from the accounting elements to tell the user when its time to pay
bills, write checks, call customers about their overdue bills and
other recurring functions. You use the contact manager to follow up
on sales calls and keep track of other customer information.

Art Miller, Microrim president and CEO says many small business
owners manage both their business books and their personal
finances. "In The Black enables them to do both with one
inexpensive, easy-to-learn package," he said.

In The Black uses generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP)
and a double entry system with an audit trail. The program comes
with several established charts of accounts for different types of
businesses, which you can modify to meet your own situation. You
get a general ledger, accounts payable, accounts receivable,
invoicing, budgeting, financial analysis with several type
reports, income statements, balance sheets, and pie and bar
graphing. for home users you can also do credit card and bank
account management, financial planning with the loan principal and
interest calculator, and net worth analysis.

The contact manager permits an unlimited number of business and
personal contact that include personal notes (unless you run out of
disk space). A unique feature of the program is the ability to
switch between accounting terms (chart of accounts, for example)
and plain English, such as categories, by clicking on the language
button. The user can arrange the icons on the tool bar in order of
preference, or let the program automatically arrange them in order
of frequent use. You can also click on any field of the various
screens to get a help dialog box.

In The Black has a suggested retail price of $89.95 and runs on any
personal computer that uses Microsoft Windows.

(Jim Mallory/19940216/Press Contact: Peter Card, Microrim Inc.,
206-649-2551; Reader Contact: Microrim, tel [phone] or
800-628-6990, fax [phone])


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(DEN)(00017)

Practical Electric Car Predicted By 1998 02/16/94
BELLEVUE, WASHINGTON, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 16 (NB) -- A Bellevue,
Washington company says it will have a fast, long-range, stylist
electric car in production and ready to replace gas-powered autos
by 1998 in time to comply with zero-emission standards.

American Flywheel Systems Inc., recently displayed its AFS20
prototype car, which with its rounded surfaces and aerodynamic
styling resembles a Lexus rather than a golf cart. It is also roomier
than other designs and will go faster, according to AFS. It has
seating for five passengers and the company says it will travel as
far as 350 miles on a full charge from normal household current.
Power is provided by 18 magnetic flywheel batteries under that
hood. There is no drive train.

The development of alternate sources of transportation is becoming
increasingly pressing as more states implement zero-emission
standards. In California, at least ten percent of the vehicles sold by
the year 2003 must be pollution free. In New York a judge recently
upheld that state's zero-emission standards.

AFS says it developed its flywheel batteries in cooperation with
Honeywell Inc. The company says the batteries will last as long as
the car, which is expected to cost about the same as a gasoline-
fueled luxury car.

Edward Furia, AFS chairman and CEO, says the "Big Three"
automakers were not interested in pursuing electric cars, so his
company built its own.

(Jim Mallory/19940216/Press & Reader Contact: American
Flywheel Systems Inc., 206-454-1818)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(ATL)(00018)

Motorola's Galvin Conciliatory In Japan Trade Dispute 02/16/94
WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A., 1994 FEB 16 (NB) -- Motorola President
Christopher Galvin took a conciliatory tone at his press
conference announcing that his Tokyo cellular system will be the
first test of the President's new trade policy toward Japan.

While he praised Trade Representative Mickey Kantor's view of the
facts in the case, he took every opportunity to narrow the focus
and limit any rancor in the dispute. "The Japanese are great
friends, both government-to-government and as individuals, and
we've been partners for years," he said. "Speaking of a trade war
makes no sense for either side, and no one has the intention of
letting one take place. I'm sure that will be avoided." The
cellular phone dispute is not part of the "framework talks" which
failed last week, which is one reason they make a good test case
of the new policy.

Motorola has been fighting for over a decade to gain a foothold in
Japan, since Galvin's father Robert headed the company. The elder
Galvin is still chairman of the board's executive committee. Still,
the dispute is very narrow, he said, involving the slow pace with
which a Japanese partner, IDO, has built-out a Motorola-based
cellular system covering Tokyo and Nagoya.

While Galvin said Motorola is losing $250-$300 million in annual
sales as a result, he expressed the hope that the formal notification
Japan is violating a 1989 trade accord will merely bring it to the
bargaining table. The big problem, Galvin said, is that IDO is
supporting both Motorola's system and a competing standard offered
by NTT, which uses narrower calling channels. He noted that a
similar Motorola system in Osaka has 440,000 customers, 48
percent of the market, while the half-built Tokyo-Nagoya system
has just 12,000 customers, and hardly any market share.

For now, however, some of the rhetoric from Japan is getting
hotter. Chief government spokesman Masayoshi Takemura said the
government will wait until a list of specific products and tariff
levels are published before responding, but warned of a possible
trade war. He also indicated Japan will appeal any tariffs to the
General Agreement on Tariffs of Trade, or GATT. Once the latest
GATT round is approved, that organization will become the World
Trade Organization, or WTO. On the specific issues, Japan and IDO
say they have fulfilled their obligations under the 1989 agreement
and the issues now in dispute belong to the private sector.

In remarks before the Diet, Japan's parliament, Prime Minister
Morihiro Hosokawa said he would begin to improve market access
unilaterally, along the lines of concessions previously made in
the framework talks.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19940216/Press Contact: Michael Kehs,
Motorola, 202-833-4296)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(ATL)(00019)

Gov't Education Address Barely Grazes Technology 02/16/94
WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A., 1994 FEB 16 (NB) -- In his first "State
of American Education" address, Education Secretary Richard Riley
lightly grazed the subject of technology.

In his prepared remarks, he expressed hope that all schools will
be linked to the Information Superhighway, as suggested by Vice
President Gore, and praised technology as a good thing in
schools. No specifics were offered, however.

Instead, Riley tried to whip-up parental involvement in
education, saying parents should set-aside time for homework,
read to young children and listen to older children read, and
that they should "slow down" in a frenetically paced "world of
fax machines, car phones and beepers." He also said that, while
the department would support innovations like public school
choice, charter schools, schools within schools and even
contracting-out of school management, he would draw the line
against vouchers for private education.

This last drew a large cheer from his audience -- the speech was
televised on C-Span -- but put him at odds with leading Republican
education spokesmen like former Tennessee Governor and
Education Secretary Lamar Alexander. Despite making this
controversial point, Riley asked for an end to "name calling,"
politics and an "ideological divide" within education institutions,
which often sets university professors and teacher unions against
religious conservatives.

Like many other department heads, Riley was late getting his team
together, and a special assistant on technology, Linda Roberts,
has been on-board less than a year. Roberts, formerly with
Congresses' Office of Technology Assessment, has mainly been
working internally, getting department personnel onto an
electronic-mail system, for instance. In the past, however, she
has supported such innovations as re-engineering schools to make
computer purchases more effective, as recommended by the Center
for Technology in Education and other groups.

But such efforts have not filtered down to vendors, who see
education mainly as a new market. Compaq, for instance, recently
launched a program for the education market, under nine-year
company veteran Alicia Goodwin, but that effort is focused on
basic marketing functions, the "four ps" as spokesman Mike Berman
described them, of pricing, products, promotion, and placement.
The company itself has developed no position on the use of its
equipment. Instead, it has set up a Compaq Computer Foundation
which gave out $1.4 million last year to support innovative
experiments in the uses of computers.

"Computers are a tool -- they're not going to solve the crisis"
in education, he told Newsbytes. But he added the company is
willing to learn and change as needed. "This is our first effort.
We've never done it before. We're just getting the channel in
place." He said the company moved after learning the education
market now spends $2.5 billion annually on computers.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19940216/Press Contact: Mike Berman, Compaq,
713-374-0484; Kathryn Kahler, US Department of Education, 202-
401-3026)


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

Wireless Cable Group Calls 1994 Its Year 02/16/94
WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A., 1994 FEB 16 (NB) -- With DirecTv just
starting to market its direct satellite broadcast system, and the
CellularVision offering still in the experimental stages, seeking
FCC approval to use frequencies around 29 gigahertz (GHz),
wireless cable operators predict this will be the year they finally
get a chance to impact the market.

Andrew Kreig of the Wireless Cable Association said operations
are underway in 23 of the top 25 markets, with prices usually
about a third less than conventional cable operators. However,
there are only about 500,000 wireless cable subscribers in the
US today, against 56 million regular cable subscribers. Kreig
noted that, by contrast, Mexico City alone has 250,000 wireless
cable subscribers.

Still, he said, the industry has brought $400 million in capital
to the table, bringing competition to the market, and a company
called Videotron has become the first billion-dollar firm to buy
into the business, with a goal of grabbing a potential market of
five million. Videotron is itself, however, a major cable operator,
with 1.3 million subscribers. The association is also hopeful
that broadcasters will become involved in wireless cable, selling
their wares through conventional broadcast stations.

Wireless cable operators use frequencies from 2.5 to 2.7 GHz,
designated for "Multichannel Multipoint Distribution Service." A
lottery for such licenses became the subject of controversy, as
companies quickly sprang up promising riches to people who
would make minimal investments for a place in the lottery.

While wireless cable has lower costs and lower prices than
conventional cable, it also offers less service -- as few as 33
channels available, many of which must be used for education
programming. Also, Kreig noted, the biggest expense remains
marketing, which is why many wireless cable operators are
hoping to interest conventional broadcasters in their business.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19940216/Press Contact: Andrew Kreig,
Wireless Cable Association International, 202-452-7823)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TOR)(00021)

Fisher-Price, Davidson In Multimedia Deal 02/16/94
NEW YORK, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 16 (NB) -- At the Toy Fair
trade show in New York, Davidson & Associates Inc., and Fisher-
Price Inc., have announced a licensing deal giving Davidson rights
to use the Fisher-Price name, logo, and product names in a new
line of Davidson-developed multimedia software for children
aged three to seven.

Davidson plans a number of multimedia titles, the first of which
will be available late this year. These products will be offered
on compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM) and also on magnetic
diskette for personal computers running Microsoft Windows. The
companies say they will also consider versions for various game
machines.

Spokeswoman Linda Duttenhaver of Davidson & Associates told
Newsbytes no further details on the titles are available yet. She
did say that they will make full use of all multimedia
capabilities, including video, audio, animation, and graphics.

Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed. The products
will be distributed through Davidson's existing distribution
channels, Duttenhaver said. The company hopes also to make use of
Fisher-Price's distribution network, including toy stores and
mass-market retailers, but that has not yet been confirmed, she
added.

Davidson & Associates publishes multimedia educational software
for homes and schools. Founded in 1982 by educator Jan Davidson,
the company produces the Math Blaster series, Kid Works 2 and Kid
CAD for home use, as well as English Express and Story Club for
schools.

Fisher-Price, a wholly owned subsidiary of Mattel Inc. based in
East Aurora, New York, makes infant and preschool toys and
juvenile products.

(Grant Buckler/19940216/Press Contact: Linda Duttenhaver,
Davidson & Associates, 310-793-0600 ext 230; Carol Blackley
or Laurie Strong, Fisher-Price, 716-687-3395)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(WAS)(00022)

 ****30-day Clock Starts On Japan Trade Sanctions 02/16/94
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A, 1994 FEB 16 (NB) -- With the ruling by US
Trade Representative Mickey Kantor that Japan has reneged on the
deal to let Motorola into the cellular phone market in the
Tokyo-Nagoya metropolitan area, a 30-day clock has started
ticking on the possibility of 100 percent punitive tariffs against a
range of Japanese imports.

At a Washington press conference, Kanton would not detail the
sanctions, but said they could total hundreds of millions of dollars,
equaling what Motorola says it lost in the Japanese market.

While Kantor claimed that the ruling on cellular phones was
independent of the failure of high-level trade talks between the
US and Japan four days earlier, congressional sources say it is
unlikely that the ruling would have come had the talks succeeded.

"What we need to do is open markets, expand trade," Kantor said.
"All we're asking for is a two-way street." Of the 33 bilateral
trade deals between Washington and Tokyo, "many off these -- if
not most -- are not working well," Kantor said. "They are not
opening up the Japanese market."

He said the Motorola case represents "a classic case of the
determination of Japan to keep its markets closed -- particularly
to leading-edge US products." While claiming to be opening up the
market to Motorola, Kantor said Japan engaged in foot-dragging
and regulatory run-arounds. "Each barrier has been removed, only
to be replaced by another one," He said. For example, it took
Motorola five years to get an operating frequency from the
government.

The administration's opening move against Japan won support in
Congress. House Majority Leader Richard Gephardt (D-Ma.), a
leading trade hawk, said, "The Japanese government signed an
agreement that they haven't lived up to. This isn't a political issue,
for the decision was made simply on the merits of the case."

In Japan, officials rejected Kantor's ruling and said the country
would protest any sanctions to the GATT international trade forum.
"I regret the United States unilaterally determined that our country
violated the (1989) trade accord," Post and Telecommunications
Minister Tekenori Kanzaki said in a statement. "If the (United
States) adopts counter-measures against Japan as a result of the
ruling, we will take appropriate measures according to international
rules including GATT."

(Kennedy Maize/19940216)


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

Law Firm To Purchase 100 Power PC Macs 02/16/94
CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 16 (NB) -- Howrey and
Simon, a law firm providing domestic and international litigation
services, has committed to the purchase of 100 Macintosh with
PowerPC (PPC) computers from Apple.

In addition, the company says it will upgrade its existing base of
450 Macintosh computers to the PPC technology.

Speaking with Newsbytes, Matt Ghourdjian, director of technology
at Howrey and Simon, said, "The legal community of going through
a great transition that accounting went through in terms of
adapting to computerization. The successful law firm is the one
that can deliver the most professional service in its hourly
segments and the only way to do that is through automation."

He continued: "When we took a look down the line towards the
future, we concluded that we could only have an advantage by
upgrading our entire line; by doing so we also make our training
more effective throughout the company."

According to the firm, they have been conducting beta tests of the
Macintosh with PowerPC at their offices in Los Angeles and
concluded that it is advantageous to convert the entire system.

Eric Wee of Apple has told Newsbytes that, "We hope to announce
the transition of other companies to the PowerPC technology and
there are other companies, but because they see their
implementation of the PowerPC technology as an advantage over
their competition, they do not wish to be publicized."

Apple has not yet officially announced the date for the debut
of the Macintosh platform with Power PC.

(Patrick McKenna/19940215/Press Contact: Eric Wee, Apple
Computer Inc., 408-862-7797)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SFO)(00024)

Ziff-Davis Plans NetWorld+Interop In Las Vegas 02/16/94
FOSTER CITY, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994  FEB 16 (NB) -- Ziff-Davis
Exposition and Conference Co., has outlined the schedule for its
NetWorld+Interop, The Networking Summit, to be held in the Las
Vegas Convention Center.

The Summit combines NetWorld, a Novell-licensed service, and
Interop, a subsidiary of Ziff-Davis Exposition and Conference Co.
The schedule is divided into groups for networking education,
tutorials, workshops, conferences and "Quick Hits."

Quick Hits is a new area where attendees learn about "hot"
technologies at eight sessions, presented by different vendors
discussing their new technologies. Ziff-Davis says the primary
focus of the summit will be networking education and that focus
will be carried out in classrooms and floor demonstrations and
exhibitions designed to highlight business, technology and products
in the networking environment.

The keynote speaker list includes: Ray Noorda, president and CEO
of Novell Inc; David Mahoney, chairman and CEO of Banyan Systems
Inc.; John Morgridge, president and CEO of Cisco Systems Inc.; and
Larry Ellison, CEO of Oracle Corp.

The exhibit floor is free for all who pre-register, or $50 at the
door. The price of the conferences and tutorials will range from
$400 to $1,500.

(Patrick McKenna/19940215/Press Contact: Cathy Thompson,
The Weber Group, 415-325-8300)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(BOS)(00025)

Networks Expo - Interface Group Teams With Blenheim 02/16/94
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 16 (NB) -- In a surprise
press conference at Networks Expo Boston, The Blenheim Group and
The Interface Group announced plans to present The Interface
Group's "Windows World," along with a new show to be entitled
"Communications '94," at Blenheim's Networks Expo Dallas this fall.

Collaboration on the upcoming Dallas event will be just the first
of a series of joint efforts between the two major international
trade show producers, said James F.X. O'Rourke, CEO of Blenheim IT
(Information Technology) Events Division, and Milt Herbert, senior
VP of The Interface Group, at the briefing, which was attended by
Newsbytes.

In answer to one of a long string of questions from reporters,
Herbert said that Blenheim and The Interface Group -- the company
that puts on Comdex in the US, Canada, Mexico and Brazil -- "do not
want to take a defensive posture" against the producers of the
competing Interop shows. "The reason we want to do this is
because there are opportunities out there we can fulfill."

Blenheim, which now produces more than 260 events worldwide,
began to hold networking shows in Dallas and Boston in the late
1980s. In December, 1992, Novell, owner of the NetWorld name the
shows had been known under, transferred rights to the name from
Blenheim to the Interop producers. Blenheim then changed the title
of its networking shows to Networks Expo. Meanwhile, the Interop
producers have been forging plans to present events in Las Vegas
and Atlanta, the two US homes of The Interface Group's Comdex.

According to Herbert, The Interface Group projects that "Windows
World" and "Communications '94" will bring about 250 new exhibitors
to the Dallas event in 1994, and will raise attendance by 10 to 15
percent to a total of approximately 100,000.

The Interface Group will continue to hold "Windows World" at
Spring Comdex in Atlanta, and the company does not expect that
participating in Networks Expo Dallas will cause "significant
fallout" to Comdex, he told reporters at Networks Expo Boston.

Blenheim and The Interface Group have no plans at present to add
"Windows World" to the Boston networking show, due to the
smaller size of the trade show facilities available in Boston, said
O'Rourke, in response to another question. Even before teaming up
with The Interface Group, Blenheim had been talking with City of
Boston officials about the prospect of coming up with a way of
expanding the available facilities, he added.

Despite the size of available venues, though, Blenheim will
continue to present Networks Expo in Boston, O'Rourke maintained.
"We will not leave Boston," he vowed. "The audience is here, and
it's a qualified audience. (Boston attendees) really know what
they're looking for, and they have a lot of buying power."

As trade shows continue to proliferate, and travel budgets remain
restrictive, "national" shows are becoming increasingly "regional,"
he noted. "If you're looking for a distributor in Boise, Iowa, you
don't go to PC Expo in New York," he added, in reference to one of
Blenheim's other major trade shows.

The collaborative effort between Blenheim and The Interface Group
represents The Interface Group's first joint venture outside the
US, as well as the very first joint venture for Blenheim, according
to the officials. "We usually buy other companies instead,"
quipped O'Rourke.

Many details of the agreement have yet to be finalized, since the
deal was reached little over an hour before the press conference,
according to O'Rourke. "We haven't discussed the color of the
carpet yet," he said.

"We have definitely agreed on Dallas, and we're close to agreeing
on Chicago and San Francisco," stated Herbert. Chicago and New
York are the two cities where Blenheim's PC Expo is held each year.
Blenheim recently added San Francisco as a third site for its
networking trade show, with plans to present Networks Expo
there in April.

"I would say that (the Chicago and San Francisco) events are the
first of several more (joint ventures) to follow. And the coming
together of these two great trade shows will not be restricted to
the US," Herbert added.

At the close of the event, O'Rourke indicated that friendship
between Blenheim and The Interface Group is really nothing new.
Both O'Rourke and Herbert previously held the jobs of VP of sales
and marketing at their respective companies. "After smashing
heads, we'd call a truce and go have lunch," O'Rourke told
Newsbytes.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19940216/Reader Contact: The Blenheim Group,
800-829-3976; Press Contacts: Annie Scully or Mark Haviland, The
Blenheim Group, 800-829-3976)


(NEWS)(IBM)(DEN)(00026)

Dell Intros OmniPlex 486 PCs 02/16/94
AUSTIN, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 16 (NB) -- Dell Computer Corp.,
has introduced the Omniplex 486 line of desktop personal computers,
saying the PCs are designed for "techno-critical" customers.

Several months ago Newsbytes reported that Dell had created several
classifications for its customers. "Techno-critical" is Dell's
category for users interested in high performance and advanced
features.

Dell says the Omniplex systems are upgradable to Intel's Pentium
microprocessor and Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus
architecture. Other features include a chassis with a removable
expansion card cage, three Extended Industry Standard Architecture
(EISA) expansion slots and two EISA/PCI expansion slots. Three
5.25-inch front-accessible drive bays support snap-in drives, and
thumbscrews allow for easy cover removal for service and upgrading.

Buyers also get 32-bit processing, integrated PCI/SCSI (small
computer system interface)-II local bus technology, 256 kilobytes
(KB) of secondary write-back cache, accelerated video with up to
1,280 by 1,024 resolution non-interlaced monitors, and support
for network operating systems from Novell, Banyan, and Santa
Cruz Operation.

Dell spokesperson Kellie Leonard told Newsbytes the standard
configuration is four megabytes (MB) of memory, a 3.5-inch high
density floppy drive, a 170MB hard drive, and a 486DX microprocessor
running at 33 megahertz. You also get Microsoft Windows, a mouse,
and a color 14-inch monitor. Leonard said pricing for the standard
configuration is $2,599.

Like other Dell products, Omniplex systems come with one year of
guaranteed next-business-day on-site service, unlimited lifetime
toll-free telephone support around the clock with guaranteed
five-minute response, and a 30-day money back guarantee.

(Jim Mallory/19940216/Press Contact: Kellie Leonard, Dell
Computer Corp., 512-728-4100; Reader Contact: Dell Computer,
800-289-3355 or 512-728-8499)


(NEWS)(IBM)(LAX)(00027)

Stacker 4.0 For DOS/Windows, Microsoft Verdict Soon 02/16/94
CARLSBAD, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 16 (NB) -- Stac
Electronics has announced Stacker 4.0 for Windows and DOS, a
product the company claims can squeeze data the most of any
real-time software compression product available. Stac officials
also said a verdict is expected this week in the suit it brought
against software giant Microsoft.

Software compression as a tool to garner more disk space has
become increasingly popular, especially since Microsoft
introduced Doublespace compression in DOS 6.0 last year.
Data is compressed as it is written to the hard disk drive and
decompressed each time it is used. In many cases, however, users
do not notice a difference in computer performance because the
compression time is offset by the time saved by the hard disk
drive in reading and writing a smaller amount of data.

Stac Electronics claims that Stacker 4.0 is the first to offer
compression ratios of better than 2:1, while compressing and
decompressing data on-the-fly. Users of the new product under
Windows will also find it has a new look with a new Stacker
Windows Toolbox.

The new Toolbox offers a toolbar with Stacker commands Compress,
Check, Report, Optimize, Tune, Password, Stacker Autosave,
Configure, Warning, and Details, available at the click of the
mouse. The company said the product also offers both audio and
visual cues can now alert users to how fragmented the disk has
become or how much free space is available.

While the program requires the same amount of memory space, it
takes up less of the critical memory space below the one megabyte
(MB) level, freeing up memory needed by many software
applications. By incorporating Novell's DOS Protected Mode
Service (DPMS), Stacker now needs 17 kilobytes (KB) below 1MB,
while the Stacker device driver is moved to extended memory and
executed in protected mode on 386 and 486 computers. According
to Stac, protected mode execution has the added benefit of making
the Stacker device driver less susceptible to interference from
other applications.

Stac also maintains that its product offers an Autosave feature,
maintaining a duplicate set of both the DOS and Stacker file
system information in an uncompressed state. There is some
controversy as to how much good this does, because in a crisis
the question arises as to which file to use, the original or the
duplicate. However, Stacker officials maintain the duplicate
files offer an added degree of confidence.

Stacker 4.0 for Windows & DOS is compatible with MS-DOS versions
3.2 through 6.2 and with Novell's DOS (formerly DR DOS) through
version 7. The software can replace the compression software
drivers and operate transparently in MS-DOS 6.0 and 6.2, PC-DOS
6.1 and Novell DOS 7, meaning it can replace Doublespace or IBM's
Superstor/DS compression. The product can also convert drives to
its own LZS compression scheme from Doublespace or Superstor/DS
at the time of installation.

For large Novell-based network installations of 100 personal
computers (PCs) or more, Stac offers Enterprise Licenses at an 80
percent savings that allow the electronic transfer of Stacker
from a network server for installation on individual systems.

The inclusion of Novell's software functionality aimed at
networks is a result of a cross-licensing agreement forged by
Stac and Novell last year.

Stacker 4.0 for Windows & DOS has a suggested retail price of
$149, but previous users may upgrade for $49.95. Enterprise
Licenses are available through corporate resellers as well as
directly from Stac, the company added.

Stac officials also said a verdict is expected soon in the
case against Microsoft in which it claims in part that
Microsoft's Doublespace violates copyrights on compression held
by Stac. Closing arguments in the case were offered Friday,
February 11 and a verdict could be forthcoming this week.

(Linda Rohrbough/19940216/Press Contact: Lois Leslie, Stac
Electronics, tel [phone], fax [phone]; Greg
Peverill-Conti, Jennings & Company for Stac, 415-974-6200)


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

Toshiba Says New Chip Could Help Introduce HDTV 02/16/94
IRVINE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 16 (NB) -- Toshiba America
Electronics says its Japanese developers have come up with the
next step toward high definition television (HDTV) broadcasting.
The company says its new Motion Picture Experts Group (MPEG) video
decoder integrated circuit (IC) meets the proposed MPEG Level 2
(MPEG2) standard and can handle (HDTV) images.

The popular MPEG format is a compression scheme designed to
squeeze video information down small enough that movies can be
recorded and played back from compact discs (CDs) on home video
players that connect to television sets.

Widely heralded as the compression format that will allow an
entire full-length movie to be recorded on a single CD, the next
generation MPEG2 has been talked about for over a year. MPEG
Level 1 is the format in current use in home video players, such
as the Philips Compact Disc Interactive (CD-I) player, but about
an hour of video could be recorded on a CD using this compression
format. This means a full-length movie required either two CDs or
the user had to get up and turn a CD over part of the way through
a movie.

Toshiba plans to announce its MPEG2 decoder IC at the
International Solid State Circuits Conference (ISSCC) in San
Francisco this week. However, the company's focus is on the
broadcast of HDTV.

One minute of HDTV could fill a standard compact disk, making
such volumes of data impractical to store or transmit. Toshiba
said its new IC reconstructs a moving picture from compressed
data and can reproduce a real-time, HDTV-quality picture from
HDTV signal of a 1,152 by 1,024-line image displayed at the full-
frame rate of 30 frames-per-second.

The decoder is described as a single-chip 0.5 micron triple-
level-metal complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS)
structure integrating 1.1 million transistors on a 225 millimeter
(mm) (squared) 15mm by 15mm chip. With four peripheral four
megabit dynamic random access memory chips (DRAMs), the chip
can decode the US standard NTSC-quality signals at the low-power
consumption of 3.3 volts operating voltage. High-speed
synchronous DRAMs are required along with the decoder's 70
megahertz (MHz) clock speed to garner the access speed required
for an HDTV-quality digital signal, Toshiba added.

Specially developed for HDTV signal decompression are the IC's
inverse discrete cosine transform (DCT) processor macrocell and
variable length decoder (VLD) macrocell. The Parallel decoding in
the VLD and the built-in reduced instruction-set computing (RISC)
microprocessor allows both the VLD and RISC microprocessor to
decode data bitstreams at the same time, providing the processing
speed required for information-rich signals. Toshiba claims this
capability avoids conflicts and speeds operation.

(Linda Rohrbough/19940216/Press Contact: Annette Birkett, Toshiba
America Electronic Components, tel [phone], fax 714-859-
3963; Judith Kahn, Shafer & Shafer for Toshiba, 714-553-117;
Public Contact, TAEC, 800-879-4963)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(LAX)(00029)

New Apple User Group Connection Formed 02/16/94
CAMPBELL, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 16 (NB) -- Apple Computer's
Apple USA Division says the newly formed User Group Connection
will continue overall management of the company's user group
program for the next least three years.

The User Group Connection is a privately held company, formed out
of the nucleus of Apple's former user group department, that will
handle relationships with the thousands of Apple computer
enthusiasts that meet around the world. The announcement came
after Apple signed a three-year contract with the User Group
Connection.

Ray Kaupp, president of the User Group Connection, said: "We will
continue with the services we've always provided to user groups.
Now, however, we are able to include non-Apple vendor information
as well. As an independent company we can broaden our scope of
information to user groups and open up new marketing opportunities
for developers."

The new marketing opportunities include: customized mailings;
sponsorship of the Macworld user group breakfast meetings in San
Francisco and Boston; and promotion of developer products on UG-
TV, a periodic satellite broadcast to user groups.

What do user groups get out of this? Knapp said the User Group
Connection will be able to provide non-Apple vendor information
as well. In addition, a new User Group Member Purchase Program is
being instigated under which Apple Authorized user groups can buy
refurbished Apple equipment at reduced prices.

A toll-free number is being established for user groups
interested becoming Apple Authorized. Also, a special
representative from the User Group Connection has been
assigned to interested vendors.

(Linda Rohrbough/19940216/Press Contact: Jayme Curtis, Apple
Computer, tel [phone], fax [phone]; Andrea Sutera,
User Group Connection, 408-461-5729; Apple Authorization, User
Group Connection, 800-538-9696 ext 500; Sam Decker, Vendor
Information, 408-461-5725)


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

CEOs No Longer Fear Information Technology, Says IDC 02/16/94
FRAMINGHAM, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 16 (NB) --
International Data Corporation (IDC) says chief executive
officers (CEOs) have lost the fear of information technology
(IT). Once removed from the decision process in IT matters,
deferring to others with more knowledge, the majority of CEOs
are now taking an active interest in technology decisions.

A high 83 percent of CEOs from companies with over $100
million in revenue said management information systems (MIS) was
a primary or major influence in the IT decision-making process,
IDC said. Forty-eight percent consider MIS the primary decision
maker or the primary influencer in the company's overall IT
decision-making process.

Another 35 percent consider MIS a major influencer, while less
than 20 percent regard MIS as merely one of many influencers or a
minor factor in the decision process. In addition, 84 percent of
the CEOs indicated that they have a central MIS organization.

David Vellante, senior vice president of systems, software and
storage research: "Today, CEOs are much more involved in
communicating information systems initiatives and setting
corporate strategies, business directions and priorities. Their
priorities tend to be focused on improving organizational
competitiveness and accelerating the return on IT investment."

The results are part of IDC's annual Global IT Survey, which will
be presented in full at the research firm's 29th consecutive
Computer Industry Briefing Session, "Directions '94: Charting
the Course of Information Technology." The event is to be held
twice, once on March 9 at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston
and again March 31 at the Fairmont Hotel in San Jose, California.

(Linda Rohrbough/19940216/Press Contact: Chris Whelan,
International Data Corporation, tel [phone], fax
508-935-4015)


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

Newsbytes Daily Summary 02/16/94
PENN VALLEY, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 16 (NB) -- These
are capsules of all today's news stories:

1 -> DEC Ships First Alpha AXP Workstation To China 02/16/94
Digital Equipment Corp.,  has delivered its first Alpha AXP
workstation to the Electric Power  Research Institute (EPRI) of
the Ministry of Electric Power in  Beijing.

2 -> Oracle Alliances, Plans For Info Superhighway 02/16/94 Known
for its multiplatform database software, Oracle is yet another
company claiming it is in the fast lane of the emerging
information superhighway. The company maintains that it has the
hardware and software to enable it and its allies to deliver
news, information, entertainment, and home-shopping services  on
demand to consumers.

3 -> Interactive Jobs Network Matches Jobs & Employers 02/16/94
Watermark  Systems of San Francisco, has announced that
Interactive Jobs  Network (IJN) is on-line as a national
employment information  service.

4 -> IBM OS/2 Sales Up 100% In Europe 02/16/94 IBM has  revealed
that its OS/2 sales have risen by around 100 percent in  Europe.
At the same time, the company has appointed a new general  manager
for personal software sales in the region.

5 -> UK - TI Intros 50MHz TravelMate Portable PC 02/16/94 Texas
Instruments has  announced a new dual Sean Color notebook,
belonging to the  TravelMate family of products.

6 -> Japan - PC Shipments Up 15% In 1993; Apple Big Winner
02/16/94 IDC Japan, a subsidiary of IDG Group, says that personal
computer shipments for the Japanese  market in 1993 increased by
15 percent over 1992.

7 -> Artisoft & Eagle Cut Ethernet Card Prices 02/16/94 It has
been a high-profile few weeks for Artisoft Inc. First the company
acquired  network interface card (NIC) manufacturer Eagle
Technology, best known for its NetWare-compatible products, then
it signs a  deal with Novell saying it will license that company's
technology  in order for its LANtastic peer-to-peer software to
talk directly  to NetWare-based servers. Now the company has
jointly announced,  with Eagle, that it has cut the pricing on
many of their Ethernet  NICs.

8 ->  ****NEC Develops 500 MHz RISC Chip 02/16/94 NEC says it has
developed  a powerful RISC (reduced instruction-set computing)
chip,  which operates at 500 megahertz (MHz) and a very low-energy
consumption rate.

9 -> Networks Expo - WordPerfect Unveils Mobile Strategy 02/16/94
At NetWorks Expo, WordPerfect has unveiled a four-pronged "mobile
computing solution" aimed at letting users access information
contained in WordPerfect Office through the upcoming WordPerfect
Office Remote for Windows and DOS, as well as through new two-way
wireless technology, paging services, and telephone access
offerings.

10 -> Apple Intros Digital Camera & Color Printer 02/16/94
 Apple Computer Inc., has  announced QuickTake 100, a digital
color camera which  downloads to either Macintosh or
Windows-installed computers. The company has also introduced the
Color StyleWriter Pro, a  color inkjet printer for the Mac.

11 -> CompuServe Takes CC:Mail Link Live 02/16/94 CompuServe took
its  previously-announced agreement with Lotus Development's
CC:Mail  live, allowing its 4.5 million users quick access to
other  electronic-mail users worldwide through the CompuServe Mail
Hub.  That agreement to link the program and the mail service was
announced in December.

12 -> Hong Kong - Singapore Videoconference Lucky Draw 02/16/94
Hongkong  Telecom CSL's VideoNet video communications service
proved its  flexibility as a marketing tool last month when it was
used to  host a joint promotion between Hongkong Telecom CSL,
Singapore  Telecom, and the Singapore Association in Hong Kong.

13 -> Wordperfect Ships InForms 1.0a Electronic Forms Prgm
02/16/94 Wordperfect Corp., has announced it is shipping
Wordperfect Informs 1.0a, an interim version of its electronic
forms application.

14 -> EyeTel Updates Videoconferencing System 02/16/94 EyeTel
Technologies Inc., has released a new version of Communicator III,
its full-function desktop videoconferencing system, adding video
mail, point-to-multipoint capability, a voice command option, and
cellular support.

15 -> IBM Launches Document Management Products 02/16/94 IBM has
announced two document products, both meant for client/server
computing installations, but aimed at customers with different
kinds of document management needs.

16 -> Microrim Ships "In The Black" Accounting For Windows
02/16/94 Microrim Inc.,  has announced it is now shipping In The
Black, a Windows accounting software package that can be used for
small  business or home finance accounting.

17 -> Practical Electric Car Predicted By 1998 02/16/94 A
Bellevue, Washington company says it will have a fast, long-range,
stylist electric car in production and ready to replace
gas-powered autos  by 1998 in time to comply with zero-emission
standards.

18 -> Motorola's Galvin Conciliatory In Japan Trade Dispute
02/16/94 Motorola President  Christopher Galvin took a
conciliatory tone at his press  conference announcing that his
Tokyo cellular system will be the  first test of the President's
new trade policy toward Japan.

19 -> Gov't Education Address Barely Grazes Technology 02/16/94 In
his first "State  of American Education" address, Education
Secretary Richard Riley  lightly grazed the subject of technology.

20 -> Wireless Cable Group Calls 1994 Its Year 02/16/94 With
DirecTv just  starting to market its direct satellite broadcast
system, and the  CellularVision offering still in the experimental
stages, seeking  FCC approval to use frequencies around 29
gigahertz (GHz),  wireless cable operators predict this will be
the year they finally  get a chance to impact the market.

21 -> Fisher-Price, Davidson In Multimedia Deal 02/16/94 At the
Toy Fair trade show in New York, Davidson & Associates Inc., and
Fisher- Price Inc., have announced a licensing deal giving
Davidson rights  to use the Fisher-Price name, logo, and product
names in a new  line of Davidson-developed multimedia software for
children  aged three to seven.

22 ->  ****30-day Clock Starts On Japan Trade Sanctions 02/16/94
With the ruling by US Trade Representative Mickey Kantor that
Japan has reneged on the  deal to let Motorola into the cellular
phone market in the  Tokyo-Nagoya metropolitan area, a 30-day
clock has started  ticking on the possibility of 100 percent
punitive tariffs against a  range of Japanese imports.

23 -> Law Firm To Purchase 100 Power PC Macs 02/16/94  Howrey and
Simon, a law firm providing domestic and international litigation
services, has committed to the purchase of 100 Macintosh with
PowerPC (PPC) computers from Apple.

24 -> Ziff-Davis Plans NetWorld+Interop In Las Vegas 02/16/94
Ziff-Davis  Exposition and Conference Co., has outlined the
schedule for its  NetWorld+Interop, The Networking Summit, to be
held in the Las  Vegas Convention Center.

25 -> Networks Expo - Interface Group Teams With Blenheim 02/16/94
In a surprise press conference at Networks Expo Boston, The
Blenheim Group and The Interface Group announced plans to present
The Interface Group's "Windows World," along with a new show to be
entitled "Communications '94," at Blenheim's Networks Expo Dallas
this fall.

26 -> Dell Intros OmniPlex 486 PCs 02/16/94 Dell Computer Corp.,
has introduced the Omniplex 486 line of desktop personal
computers, saying the PCs are designed for "techno-critical"
customers.

27 -> Stacker 4.0 For DOS/Windows, Microsoft Verdict Soon 02/16/94
Stac Electronics has announced Stacker 4.0 for Windows and DOS, a
product the company claims can squeeze data the most of any
real-time software compression product available. Stac officials
also said a verdict is expected this week in the suit it brought
against software giant Microsoft.

28 -> Toshiba Says New Chip Could Help Introduce HDTV 02/16/94
Toshiba America Electronics says its Japanese developers have come
up with the next step toward high definition television (HDTV)
broadcasting.  The company says its new Motion Picture Experts
Group (MPEG) video  decoder integrated circuit (IC) meets the
proposed MPEG Level 2 (MPEG2) standard and can handle (HDTV)
images.

29 -> New Apple User Group Connection Formed 02/16/94 Apple
Computer's Apple USA Division says the newly formed User Group
Connection will continue overall management of the company's user
group program for the next least three years.

30 -> CEOs No Longer Fear Information Technology, Says IDC
02/16/94 International Data Corporation (IDC) says chief executive
officers (CEOs) have lost the fear of information technology (IT).
Once removed from the decision process in IT matters, deferring to
others with more knowledge, the majority of CEOs  are now taking
an active interest in technology decisions.

(Ian STokell/19940216)