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/nb021894

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

Sony Announcements Include Digital Control 02/18/94
NEW YORK, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 18 (NB) -- Software that
runs on personal computers and workstations and controls video
equipment was among the new products announced by Sony Corp. at
the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) trade show in
New York.

Sony also unveiled data and video projectors that can be used for
computer-driven presentations.

Sony announced the DVS-V6464B, a serial digital routing switcher
with control software that runs on a personal computers under
Microsoft Windows. This device does a job rather like that of a
telephone switch for video signals in a broadcasting or
production facility, a spokesman for the company told Newsbytes.

The company also unveiled BZI-500 interactive status reporting
software, which it said is a new concept in system management,
diagnostics, and administration. The software runs on personal
computers equipped with Microsoft Windows.

At the same time, Sony announced control software for its
BVI-9100 broadcast video editor that runs on Silicon Graphics
Inc.'s Indigo workstations.

New models in the company's line of data/video projectors include
the VPL-350Q -- its first unit with a liquid crystal display --
and the RVP-4010Q, a 40-inch rear projector meant for small
rooms. The VPL-350Q accepts VGA or Apple Macintosh video feeds
directly. The RVP-4010Q works with a variety of computers and
other video signal sources, the spokesman said.

Sony also announced the DVW-700, which company officials said is
the first digital Betacam recorder with digital signal
processing, and the UVW-100, a one-piece betacam camcorder using
analog component recording. And the company announced the Destiny
DES-550, its first non-linear editor, and the FXE-100 integrated
A/B roll editor and video switcher.

Sony said the products are building blocks from which customers
can construct complete digital video systems.

(Grant Buckler/19940217/Press Contact: Gerrie Schmidt, Sony,
201-930-7454)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(BOS)(00002)

 ****Networks Expo - Frame Relay Routers At T1 Speeds 02/18/94
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 18 (NB) -- At Networks
Expo, Newport Systems has introduced routers designed to let end
users get the highest possible speeds out of frame relay.

Newport's LAN /MPR is the first multiprotocol router to provide
data compression for frame relay at speeds up to T1/E1, the maximum
speed available with frame relay, according to the company.

Frame relay allows organizations to save money by providing a
single link to multiple remote connections, eliminating the need to
pay for a separate dedicated line to each remote location,
officials explained. Frame relay networks also break the 56/64
kilobit-per-second (Kbps) barrier of X.25 networks.

LAN/MPR with frame relay will operate on a stand-alone PC,
NetWare 3.x/4.x file server, or on any NetWare Runtime-based
product, the company said. The products supports 64 Permanent
Virtual Channels (PVCs) per adapter, with or without data
compression.

Users can individually configure PVC data rates for both Committed
Information Rate (CIR) and Excess Information Rate (EIR). Frame
relay supports line speeds of 56 Kbps to 2.048 megabits per second
(Mbps), officials added.

LAN/MPR with Frame Relay supports multiple routing protocols,
including IPX, Internet Protocol (IP), MAC Layer Bridging,
AppleTalk, and Source Route Bridging. Newport will add support for
more protocols in keeping with customer demand, according to
officials. The product supports 24 wide area network (WAN) ports.

Another product from Newport, LAN PC, supports all speeds up to
T1/E1 with and without data compression, according to the company.

A single remote PC can connect through frame relay to a LAN/
MPR at the central site local area network (LAN). Once the PC is
connected in this manner, the remote user can access the LAN in the
same way as users at the central site.

LAN/MPR provides the same network management functionality to
both stand-alone and integrated NetWare platforms, the company
maintained. In addition, a private Management Information Base
(MIB) provides full console management through both NetWare NMS and
HP OpenView. The router can be configured and reconfigured online,
eliminating the need for reloading.

In the Newport Systems booth at Networks Expo, the company
demonstrated its support for frame relay. "Our booth configuration
consists of a central LAN connected to two remote file servers over
a frame relay network. We've set up to PVCs, one with and one
without compression. (We're showing) attendees the real difference
that compression can make," said Craig Iwata, product manager.

Newport also claims to have introduced the industry's first data
compression router node. Its routers have received awards as PC
Magazine Editors' Choice, LAN Times Readers' Choice, and Data
Communications' Tester's Choice.

LAN LAN/MPR with Frame Relay is shipping now. The product will
initially be certified with these frame relay providers: AT&T,
MCI, US Sprint, US West, and Wiltel.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19940218/Reader contact: Newport Systems, 714-
752-1511; Press contacts: Harry Noborikawa, Newport Systems, 714-
752-1511; Sherri Walkenhorst, Network Associates for Newport, 801-
225-7888)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(BOS)(00003)

 ****Networks Expo - Artificial Intelligence Helps Tech Support 02/18/94
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 18 (NB) -- At Networks
Expo, The Molloy Group announced a Windows-based package aimed at
assisting tech support professionals in doing their jobs through
artificial intelligence, e-mail, and video.

Top of Mind Advanced Help Desk is designed to let users send
problems and requests to tech support staff by e-mail or other
text-based media, said a company representative in The Molloy
Group's booth.

"Cognitive E-Mail," a new capability in Top of Mind, will
automatically "understand" the message and, on its own, begin to
solve problems or respond to requests, he added.

The new smart e-mail system is based on a "cognitive processor"
that combines techniques from neural networks, fuzzy logic, case-
based reasoning, and text association, he told Newsbytes.

In one feature, "smart picklists," case data is stored as
"concepts" that are ordered by strength of association with
previously learned concepts. In another, "multiple-symptom
diagnostics," cases are analyzed based on a group or series of
symptoms, rather than a single problem statement. This approach is
borrowed from medical diagnostics.

Other capabilities include "automatic priority escalation," in
which any entry logged on one workstation automatically "trains"
the whole system in real time; "automatic priority escalation," in
which case priority levels change based on user-defined parameters,
and "smart routing," where the system automatically "chooses" the
best person to handle each technical support case.

In addition, users can configure triggers in the software to
automatically send e-mail responses and messages, the
representative said.

The ability to communicate with users by e-mail, by itself, brings
considerable "help" to the Help Desk, Newsbytes was told.
"Receiving and sending e-mail can save a lot of time over
constantly having to answer the phone," he noted.

The graphical user interface (GUI) to Top of Mind Advanced Help
Desk is based around templates, forms, and a browser. Print
buttons are available on each form and browser for quick output to
printers, fax machines, fax boards, screen displays, and external
files. Users can also create ad hoc reports.

The product provides links with Simple Network Management
Protocol (SNMP)-based and other outside asset management packages
to supply support staff with users' inventory data, including
config.sys, autoexec.bat, and other text files.

Top of Mind Advanced Help Desk also offers full-motion video,
for access to context-sensitive film clips and sound.

The company's original tech support product, Top of Mind Help Desk
for Windows, is now in use by tech support professionals at a
number of major corporations, including Chevron, Ore-Ida Foods,
Prudential Insurance, Quaker Oats, and Travelers Insurance,
according to the company.

Other Top of Mind software -- currently in use at pharmaceutical
companies and hospitals -- responds to questions about drugs,
medical devices, patient concerns, and other medical matters.

Pricing is $34,000 for a 15-user local area network (LAN) version
of Top of Mind Advanced Help Desk and $24,750 for a 15-user LAN
version of Top of Mind Help Desk for Windows.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19940218/Reader contact: The Molloy Group, 201-
884-2040; Press contact: Joel Strasser, Strasser & Associates,
914-357-5936


(NEWS)(IBM)(BOS)(00004)

Networks Expo - LANshadow 4.0 Mirrors Servers In Windows 02/18/94
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 18 (NB) -- At Networks
Expo, Horizons Technology Inc. (HTI) has unveiled LANshadow 4.0,
the first Windows version of a mirroring software package intended
to "outdo" Novell's NetWare SFTIII, an alternative hardware
mirroring method.

Like other mirroring products, LANshadow prevents data loss and
network downtime resulting from file server failure by "mirroring,"
or copying, the information stored on a "source" server to a back-
up "destination" server, said Shelley Wilson Draminski, product
manager, in a meeting with Newsbytes on the show floor.

In contrast to tape backup systems, which typically store data
remotely from the file server, and require the archived data to be
restored to a production server before it can be accessed by the
user, mirroring provides immediate access to backup data, according
to Draminski. "If a file server fails, all the user has to do is
to log in to the file server to access to up-to-the minute mirrored
data," she told Newsbytes.

Further, unlike NetWare SFTIII, which requires a dedicated backup
server configured identically to the primary server, the backup
server for LANshadow does not need to be either identical or
dedicated to the mirroring process, she said. The backup server
for LANshadow can be another production server. "In fact, multiple
backup servers can be used with LANshadow," she noted.

The new Windows-based version of LANshadow adds an easy-to-use
graphical user interface (GUI) to the mirroring software, according
to the product manager. As with previous DOS-based editions of
LANshadow, the Version 4.0 user can run mirroring activities
continuously or select variable start and stop times. The user can
also back-up an entire source server or, through a process known as
"pairing," copy only a specific volume, directory, file or file
type from a source server to a destination server.

LANshadow also permits the user to back-up either one source server
or many simultaneously, Draminski said. If the user is running two
source servers, LANshadow can mirror them to one another in tandem,
making them destination servers for each other.

SFTIII uses "real-time transaction level mirroring," a process in
which all file input/output (I/O) transactions are instantaneously
mirrored to a backup platform, she explained. In comparison,
LANshadow is a NetWare Loadable Module (NLM) that scans the primary
server, comparing each file against the "same" file on the mirrored
server, and copies the file to the backup if a change is detected.

"Through a scheduling process in LANshadow," she said, "the user
can define whether the scanning will be done continuously or
intermittently -- once a day at 3 am, for example, or three times
a day at 9 am, noon, and 5 pm."

The new Version 4.0 brings further advantages over NetWare SFTIII,
according to Draminski. Unlike SFTIII, LANshadow 4.0 supports
NetWare 4.0. Also in contrast to the competing product, Version
4.0 supports backup of Macintosh files.

Also with Version 4.0, the user can now selectively mirror or skip
open files, she reported. By default, LAnshadow will skip open
files. But the user can configure LANshadow to mirror open files
by using a "Family File" feature that designates groups of files as
related files. Once designated as a "File Family," these files are
mirrored simultaneously to maintain synchronization.

The user can also now classify a specific file, or groups of files,
as "No Lock" files, and flag them to be mirrored during every
LANshadow copy cycle, regardless of whether they are open or
closed.

LANshadow 4.0 also includes a new "individual mirrored pair
scheduling" option, allowing the user to schedule scanning
activities at the individual pair level. For instance, the user
might program the software to mirror "XYZ" volume continuously, but
only to mirror "ABC" directory once each night at 9 pm, she said.
The user can also select a "Master" backup schedule for all
LANshadow pairings.

Draminski showed Newsbytes a new Network File Browse feature in the
GUI-based Windows edition that is aimed at speeding the process of
selecting mirrored pairs. In the previous character-based
editions, the user had to know the exact path names she said.

The new Windows interface also provides a Windows Console Module,
for quick access to LANshadow functions, and two different Window
views, "standard" and "expanded." Also in Version 4.0, HTI has
improved LANshadow's error handling and reporting capabilities,
with a more detailed log file and the new ability to print out the
log, according to Draminski.

HTI has annual revenues of $43 million, she told Newsbytes. In
addition to LANshadow and other products in its LANexpert! series
of local area networking tools, the San Diego-CA based company
produces software for multimedia, mapping, and compression.

LANshadow and another networking product, the LANtrail
troubleshooting and security tool, were originally developed by
NetWave, a company since purchased by HTI. LANauditor, a DOS- and
Windows-based network inventorying software package, and the third
tool in the LANexpert! suite, was created by HTI.

LANshadow 4.0 is slated to ship in March. Pricing is $995 for the
first server pairing (one source and one destination server) and
$395 for additional server.

Also at NetWorks Expo, HTI announced that it has signed Ingram
Micro as a distributor for all its software products, and that
Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) has been signed to resell
LANauditor with its new Polycenter System Census for PC LANs.

DEC's PolyCenter System Census performs network auditing and
inventorying tasks for Digital's VAX and RISC computers operating
on Open VMS and Ultrix. LANauditor will expand on this capability
by providing auditing or PC LANs operating on popular network
operating systems such as Digital's Pathworks, Novell NetWare,
Microsoft LAN Manager, and Banyan Vines, according to Draminski.

Users will be able to employ LANauditor on a standalone basis, and
also to feed information from LANauditor into Polycenter System
Census for an overall view of the organization's hardware and
software inventory.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19940218/Reader contact: Horizons Technology
Inc., 619-292-8331; Press contacts: Lisa Fisher, HTI, 619-277-
7100; William L. Prichard or Robert J. Fisher, Fisher Business
Communications for HTI, 714-556-1313)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(LAX)(00005)

Hello Kitty Software Multimedia Title For Girls Planned 02/18/94
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 18 (NB) -- Hello
Kitty, the popular character from Japanese Sanrio Incorporated,
will now be the star of a video game for girls from newly formed
Big Top Productions.

Hello Kitty and her companion characters, a Dalmatian dog named
Spottie Dottie and a frog called Keroppi, have sprung up as the
decoration for gift items ranging from erasers to stuffed animals
in mall stores across the US. In Japan, Sanrio's "Small Gift, Big
Smile" products got their start and today the company claims it
controls 70 percent of the children's gift business there. Sanrio
also has two theme parks and produces an animated television
series featuring Hello Kitty and her friends.

Jim Myrick, head of marketing at Big Top Productions, says the
new Hello Kitty title will be aimed at girls. "The gaming and
interactive markets have virtually overlooked girls. There's a
fairly obvious gender bias in our industry, and we hope to help
overcome it by creating an edutainment product for girls that's
fun and intellectually stimulating," Myrick said. Big Top says
"Hello Kitty" is scheduled for release mid-April.

Few software companies have aimed at software for young girls
featuring traditional girl-oriented toys and accessories.
New York-based High Tech Expressions has released a couple of
software titles featuring Mattel's Barbie: a video game and
graphics design program called the Barbie Design Studio.

San Francisco-based Big Top Productions was formed just last
month by software developers from Lucasfilm and Image Smith.
Image Smith recently released multimedia animated software based
on the Peanuts comic strip characters created by Charles Schultz.

(Linda Rohrbough/19940217/Press Contact: Lisa Van Cleef, Big Top
Productions, 415-821-2259; Bill Hensley, Sanrio, tel 415-952-
2880, fax [phone] PHOTO)


(NEWS)(IBM)(TYO)(00006)

Japan - IBM Multimedia Telecom Network 02/18/94
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1994 FEB 18 (NB) -- IBM Japan has
announced a personal computer network service which will open
for business in July. The telecommunication network is expected
to offer powerful graphics features and will link to other
major databases.

IBM hopes to eventually make this the third largest PC network
in Japan, following NEC's PC-VAN and Fujitsu's Nifty-Serve.

IBM Japan's network, called "People," will be accessible
at speeds up to 14,400 bits per second. There will be over
700 access nodes for this network in Japan.

The claim to fame of this network may be its graphical user
interface which will send color picture data to PC screens
at a relatively fast speed.

IBM Japan is preparing to link with newspapers and magazine
publishers. As its first offering, People will offer the news
from the Asahi newspaper and information from a popular Japanese
life-style magazine the "Hanako." Also offered will be
connections to a horse racing network and overseas databases
such as Dialog and those on the Internet.

IBM Japan's telecommunication network is intended for both
corporate and home users. The connection fee will be
10 yen (10 cents) per minute for 2,400 bps and 20 yen
(20 cents) per minute for 9,600 bps and higher. There is no
registration fee or basic monthly fee.

The network will be operated by IBM Japan Service, which is
a subsidiary of IBM Japan. Beta testing is due to start in
April.

IBM Japan expects to gain 80,000 users by the end of this year,
and within a couple of years, more than 100,000 to become the
third largest PC network in Japan. Currently, NEC's PC-VAN
has about 660,000 registered users, and Nifty-Serve
has about 590,000 registered users.

(Masayuki "Massey" Miyazawa/19940215/Press Contact: IBM Japan, +81-
3-5563-4310, Fax, [phone])


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

Computer Industry Almanac Now Available On CD 02/18/94
INCLINE VILLAGE, NEVADA, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 18 (NB) -- The
Computer Press Almanac, recognized by the 8th Annual Computer
Press Awards in the "Best Non-fiction Computer Book Category,"
announced shipment of Computer Industry Almanac CD-ROM.

The almanac is in its sixth edition with the publication of
the 1993 edition, which includes in its databases over 2,900
computer companies, 400 newspapers and magazines, various
associations, organizations, public relations firms, user
groups, book publishers, testing companies, conference
and trade show schedules, a 7,300 "people in the industry"
directory, salary averages for various computer occupations and a
most popular executive salaries category.

The CD-ROM version includes additional entries that are not in
the July 1993 book version of the almanac and in some areas
excludes or limits data published in the book version. The most
notable exclusions are computer company rankings and awards,
people awards, and limited advertising and marketing information.

The Computer Industry Almanac has summaries of computer
market forecasts for trends, hardware, software and peripherals,
as well as estimates of the number of computers in use for the
main industrialized countries of the world.

Egil Juliussen, co-author and publisher, told Newsbytes, "There
are other directories that offer more in-depth information for
more focused areas of the industry and we readily list and work
with them, but we do not think that there is competitive product
that covers the entire computer industry as our publication does."

He continued, "The main advantage of our CD edition is the
search feature, which will provide a much greater ease of use.
When you have the amount of data that we provide in
the almanac, a search of the printed edition can be time-
consuming."

Egil further stated, "We plan to make two releases
each year of the CD-ROM edition with the second one coming out
in July with the 1994 printed edition. The CD gives us a lot more
space, which we have used to increase the number of listed
computer companies and the number of listings in our people
directory.

The CD-ROM version contains dozens of hypertext documents for
eliciting further information and is an MS-DOS compatible CD-
ROM product. The authors expect to produce a Macintosh version
later in the year and have already made arrangements with Apple
Computer to reproduce the almanac on eWorld, which should be
available early in the summer of 1994. The CD-edition of the
almanac is available directly from the authors for $50 plus
shipping. The printed edition is similarly available for
$45/paperback and $55/hard cover plus shipping. The almanac is
available to resellers through Advantage Plus.

(Patrick McKenna/19940217/Press Contact: Karen or Egil
Juliussen, The Computer Industry Almanac, tel. [phone])


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(TOR)(00008)

 ****Small Firms Key To Info Highway - Canada Poll 02/18/94
TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1994 FEB 18 (NB) -- Small technology
companies will provide many of the innovations associated with
the so-called "information highway," according to 86 percent of
those who responded to a poll on the subject taken during a
recent Toronto conference.

Taken during the Powering Up North America conference in Toronto
February 1 and 2, the poll by Toronto-based Decima Research Inc.,
also found that 72 percent of respondents believe Canada's
competitiveness in the next five to 10 years depends on the
country's ability to provide a "sophisticated information
delivery infrastructure."

The conference was largely attended by people involved in the
telecommunications, computer, and media industries.

As Newsbytes reported earlier (Newsbytes, Feb. 4), respondents to
the Decima poll saw key roles for federal and provincial
governments, industry, and academia in developing information
infrastructure.

The poll shows the need for cooperation among those four major
groups, Kaan Yigit, manager of research development at Decima
Research Inc., in Toronto, told Newsbytes.

Other findings:

- 92 percent of respondents believed technological changes now
taking place will fundamentally alter the way we do business in
the future;

- 74 percent felt Canadian society will see more changes in the
next two years than in the last 10;

- 60 percent believed technology has improved the quality of life
for the average Canadian; and

- 85 percent agreed that most businesses and governments have not
yet fully realized the economic potential of the information
highway.

Decima said it received 353 responses to its 27-question survey,
which conference attendees answered using personal computers. The
research firm plans to release a detailed analysis of the poll
this spring.

(Grant Buckler/19940218/Press Contact: Mike Tindal, Decima
Research, 416-480-7366, fax [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(DEN)(00009)

Zenith High Performance Workstations 02/18/94
BUFFALO GROVE, ILLINOIS, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 18 (NB) -- Zenith Data
Systems has introduced a new line of high performance workstations
that include Peripheral Component Interface bus technology and
built-in networking.

The new Z-Station 500 workstations also use IDE hard drives, have
power management capabilities, and support a later upgrade to Intel
Pentium Overdrive processors. Intel recently demonstrated a
Pentium chip that can run at 150 megahertz (MHz), more than twice
the current 66MHz Pentium speed.

The company says the PCI local bus video in the Z-Station 500
provides resolution of 1024 by 768 in a 486DCX/2 66MHz-based
system, and can be upgraded by installed an optional PCI video
card. The system also includes PCI local bus expansion slots to
accommodate future expansion.

Pre-installed network client software includes Novell Universal
Client, Microsoft LAN Manager, Banyan VINES, Microsoft Windows for
Workgroups 3.11, and MS-DOS 6.2. The first time the user starts the
system they choose their network preference from a menu.

The Z-Station 500 is shipped with a built-in Ethernet 10Base-T and
AUI connector on the system board. A dedicated module slot is
available for a factory-installable 10Base2 connector. The system
is available is a variety of 486 processors, including a 33 MHz SX,
50 MHz DX/2, and 66 MHz DX/2 chip. Intel has certified it as
upgradable to its Pentium Overdrive processor.

The standard 128 kilobytes (K) of secondary write back cache can be
upgraded to 512K. System memory starts at eight megabytes (MB) and
can be upgraded to as much as 128MB. The unit can accommodate
additional hard and floppy drives, a CD-ROM drive, tape backup and
a data/fax modem. It comes in desktop and mini-tower cabinet styles.
Hard drives of 245MB, 340MB and 510MB capacity are available.

Pricing for the Z-Station 500 line starts at $1,829 and they are
immediately available. ZDS says it plans to add DX4-powered models to
the Z-Station 500 line in the second quarter of this year.

(Jim Mallory/19940218/Press contact: Steve Basak, Zenith Data
Systems, 708-808-4848; Reader contact: Zenith Data Systems,
708-808-4855 or 800-553-0331, fax [phone]/PHOTO)


(NEWS)(IBM)(SFO)(00010)

Acer America Intros New Notebook Line 02/18/94
SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 18 (NB) -- With new
notebooks being introduced almost daily, it seems that the only
way to gather attention is to add even more bells and whistles.
Turning their back on that trend and seeing a greater market in a
fundamental "workhorse" notebook that is aggressively priced,
Acer America announced the introduction of their AcerNote 735
series of high-performance notebooks.

John Chang, senior director of product marketing, told Newsbytes,
"We look at the notebook market in three segments. First there is
the high-end user who needs all of the latest technology and can
afford it. Secondly, we see a value-oriented customer who needs
a basic, high storage, fast, PCMCIA-ready notebook. And third,
we see a price sensitive market in which the main concern is price.
We have designed the 735 series to attract the value-oriented
customer."

With a monochrome or a dual-scan passive matrix color screen, the 735
series offers 486sx/33 processing power, 210 MB of hard disk
storage, 4MB of RAM, local bus video, expansion card capability,
and DOS 6.0 with Windows. Both models also feature an industry-
standard PCMCIA slot that can accommodate one Type III device
or two Type II devices for modem, Ethernet, or SCSI cards and an
integrated trackball with palm rests.

The monochrome model's estimated street price is $1,799 and
the color model is $2,399.

Acer America's name may not be as recognizable as other brand
name computer producers, as its AcerNote notebook designs are
found with many different brand names. Acer has currently
committed revenues to a new advertising program that nearly
doubles the current budget to a total of $6.5 million. According
to the company, the new advertising will be geared towards
direct sales as its products are available through mail order
in various catalogs.

Acer offers three service and technical support programs that
include a 24-hour replacement program. Support is free for the
first year to all customers.

John Chang further stated, "Acer was one of the first manufacturers
to support PCMCIA standards and we continue to bring new technology
to the market. We see a 340MB hard drive being available for the
notebook late in 1994 and a 500MB hard drive sometime in 1995."

(Patrick McKenna/19940217/Press Contact: Kate Blocker, Acer
America Corp. tel [phone])


(NEWS)(GOVT)(WAS)(00011)

Korea, Japan, Brazil Worst For Piracy, Says BSA 02/18/94
WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A., 1994 FEB 18 (NB) -- The Business Software
Alliance has named Korea, Japan and Brazil as among 30 countries
with inadequate protection for US property, and particularly
computer software.

The annual filing to the US Trade Representative is designed to
give the US government information it can use in imposing trade
sanctions against countries that tolerate software piracy.

"Software piracy continues to plague the industry around the
globe, stifling innovation and growth, with an annual price tag
exceeding $12 billion," said BSA President Robert Holleyman.
"Past filings have proved successful in convincing countries to
adopt and enforce more stringent copyright protection
laws."

BSA said that in Asia, South Korea and Japan pose difficult
intellectual property problems. In Korea, dollar losses to US
publishers were over $370 million in 1993. While Korea has
beefed up its software protection laws, "implementation of
statute has been delayed until June," said BSA.

In Japan, losses totaled more than $850 million last year, the
largest in the world. Even worse, the government in Japan is
considering changes in its copyright laws to make piracy easier,
says BSA, by allowing reverse engineering so that Japanese
software companies could decompile existing programs, make
insignificant modifications in the code, and then recompile and
peddle the programs for profit.

"If adopted," said Holleyman, "these amendments would harm US
software publishers' competitiveness in Japan, one of the few
industries where American companies have successfully gained a
majority of the Japanese market."

BSA cites Taiwan as a demonstration that the provisions of the 1988
US Trade Act which set up the listing provisions, known as
Special 301, work. Taiwan was named to the "priority watch list"
in 1993, but was downgraded to the "watch list" this year,
because "the Taiwan government has illustrated a strong commitment
to enforcing its copyright laws," Holleyman said.

"Taiwan has really done a very good job," Diane Smiroldo of
BSA told Newsbytes. "They not only strengthened their law,
but have gone full force in enforcing it."

BSA named Brazil to its "priority foreign country" list,
along with Korea and Japan, because of lack of progress in
that country. Last year, the US gave Brazil additional time
under the Special 301 program to clean up its intellectual
property act. But the software group, whose members include most
of the major US software companies, says "no notable improvements"
have been made in Brazil.

BSA calculates the damage figures by using hardware sales data
from International Data Corp., and software sales from a variety
of sources, and an estimate of the number of pirated software
applications, based on what the publishers know about intellectual
property protection in a country. The estimates use wholesale
software prices, reflecting losses only to publishers.

(Kennedy Maize/19940218/Press Contact: Diane Smiroldo, tel
202-872-5500, fax [phone])


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(WAS)(00012)

 ****Zenith Wins Digital HDTV Race 02/18/94
WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A, 1994 FEB 18 (NB) -- Zenith Electronics
Corp.'s vestigial sideband technology for high-definition
television has won the endorsement of the grandiloquently named
Digital HDTV Grand Alliance as the HDTV standard for terrestrial
broadcast and cable.

The HDTV standard is expected to play a major role in the
development of the "national information infrastructure" or
information superhighway, because it can serve as an engine
to drive development of receivers with high-resolution
displays and can offer a fast data lane into the home for
information, education and entertainment services.

Zenith won over competing technology, quadrature amplitude
modulation, offered by General Instrument. The alliance said
the Zenith technology offered better coverage area, minimal
interference with existing TV signals, and a robust digital
signal.

The selection was the result of six weeks of performance tests
at the Advanced Television Test Center in Alexandria, Va.
The alliance is scheduled to present its test results to
the Federal Communications Commission's Advisory Committee on
Advanced Television Service for approval next week.

But the selection of Zenith's HDTV does not mean that movie
quality television is coming tomorrow. The technology must
be refined to accommodate the proposed international Moving
Picture Expert Group's MPEG-2 standard for video compression,
data packet standards, six-channel, CD-quality Dolby audio, and
scanning formats that offer progressive scanning that computers
like and interlaced scanning important to some broadcasters.

The complete HDTV system is scheduled for final verification
testing late this year and field testing early next year, with
a commercial rollout in 1996.

HDTV will not come cheaply, at least in the early years. Zenith
estimates the first HDTV system will cost $3,500 to $5,000.
The Glenview, Ill., firm says it expects two million consumers
will buy HDTC sets in the first three years and the industry
will see a one percent penetration of the market in the first
year.

The HDTV alliance, announced last May, merged three groups that
had developed all-digital HDTV technologies that they hoped
the FCC would adopt as the US. The merger was designed to come
up with the "best of the best" technology.

One group was made up of Zenith and AT&T, another consisted of
General Instrument and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
and the third was a consortium of Thomson Consumer Electronics,
Philips Consumer Electronics and the David Sarnoff Research
Center.

"As we were developing the technology," Cynthia Gray of the
Sarnoff center told Newsbytes, "we found that the systems were
looking more and more alike. Also, testing is expensive and
testing competing system could set the process back. So we
talked among ourselves and with the FCC and announced the alliance."

(Kennedy Maize/19940218/Press Contacts: Mary Lou Ambrus, AT&T,
tel [phone]; Ken Campbell, MIT, tel [phone]; Jon Kasle,
Philips, 615-521-3274, Cynthia Gray, Sarnoff, 609-734-3038;
Frank McCann, Thomson, 317-587-3669, John Taylor, Zenith,
708-391-8181)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(WAS)(00013)

Training Center Raid Results In $60,000 Settlement 02/18/94
WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A. 1994 FEB 18 (NB) -- A computer training
center at Colorado Free University in Denver has agreed to pay
$60,000 to settle copyright infringement claims after US Marshals
and Business Software Alliance auditors, under order from a
federal court, raided the center and found unlicensed computer
software.

The raid was the result of a tip to BSA's anti-piracy hotline,
BSA's Diane Smiroldo told Newsbytes. The marshals and auditors
founds products published by Aldus, Lotus and WordPerfect in the
computer training center. All those companies are BSA members.

In addition to the payment, the school has agreed to purchase
original software to replace the illegal copies. The $60,000
goes to BSA for its anti-piracy programs.

Since its inception, BSA says it has filed more than 400 lawsuits
worldwide against suspected copyright infringers.

"It is important that the public understands that computer
training centers, like all businesses, are subject to copyright
laws," said Bob Kruger, BSA/s enforcement director. "In fact,
schools using software as a teaching tool need to be especially
careful that they do not send the wrong message about
software piracy to their instructors and students."

BSA regularly distributes information about software copyright
rules to schools and other organizations, the group said, and
encourages computer instructors to including messages about
the importance of legal software in the curriculum.

"CFU recognizes the importance of compliance with licensing
requirements," said John Hand, president of CFU, "and has in
the past sought to ensure than an adequate number of legitimate
copies were on hand to support CFU's operations. Obviously our
efforts were inadequate."

According to BSA's Smiroldo, the vast majority of the cases
they get for software piracy are a result of calls to the
hotlines. The group operates 20 hotlines around the world to
detect unauthorized software copying. The largest settlement,
Smiroldo said, was with an Alabama firm for $232,500.

(Kennedy Maize/19940218/Press Contacts: Diane Smiroldo, Kim
Willard, BSA, tel [phone], fax [phone]; U.S.
anti-piracy hotline [phone], CFU computer training,
303-329-6666)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(DEN)(00014)

Cray Research Superserver "Faster Than Ever" 02/18/94
EAGAN, MINNESOTA, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 18 (NB) -- Cray Research says its
new Cray Superserver 6400 system has achieved "the fastest ever
performance" during recent benchmark testing.

The company says a 32-bit processor CS6400 performed 90 percent
faster than the fastest performance previously recorded on one
benchmark and 35 percent faster on another test. Martin Buchanan,
general manager of Cray Research Superservers, says the tests
demonstrated near-linear scalability as more processors were added.

The CS6400 is available with from four to 64 SuperSPARC processors,
up to 16 gigabytes of memory, more than two terabytes of online
storage and up to 64 input/output (I/O) channels. The company started
shipping systems with up to 32 processors earlier this month. Shipment
of 64-processor systems are scheduled for later this year, and
Cray plans to conduct benchmark testing on the 48 and 64 processor
models later this year. Cray says it has signed a deal with Apogee
Software Inc., to make Apogee-C and Apogee-FORTRAN compilers available
for the 6400. Pricing starts at under $400,000 for the symmetric
multi-processing SPARC/Solaris compliant system.

Cray Research reports it will install a Cray C916 supercomputer in
the United Kingdom Meteorological Office later this quarter. The
16-central processor unit (CPU) system will be equipped with 140
gigabytes of disk storage and 256 million words of central memory.
The British agency says it will be used for climate prediction
research and to improve operational weather forecasting. The
purchase is being funded jointly by the UK Ministry of Defence and
the UK Department of Environment.

Cray will also install a 128-processor Cray T3D massively parallel
processing system at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in
the second quarter of this year. The system will be available to
the institute's users and for collaboration with Cray Research to
develop targeted software applications for the system in the areas
of fluid dynamics, plasma physics, and material sciences. Cray
says it has received 15 orders for the T3D system, which came to
market in September 1993.

(Jim Mallory/19940218/Press contact: Steve Conway, Cray Research,
612-683-7133)


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

AOL Adds More Content, Alliances 02/18/94
VIENNA, VIRGINIA, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 18 (NB) -- America Online
added new features, Reuters, Scientific American and the
Interactive Services Association, and licensed new messaging
software.

Reuters, whose reports are also on other services like
CompuServe, will now offer continuously updated top
news, sports, business and entertainment stories on AOL's "Top
News" area, and soon add other forms of news as well. Through a
partnership with Variety, the entertainment publication, the
service will also cover news from that area.

Scientific American signed a deal much like other recent
publishers' agreements, putting editorial content online and
offering interactive discussions.

The Interactive Services Association, which has 200
members, will have its own section on the service, with bulletin
boards, e-mail, and other services -- AOL itself is a member of
the group.

The software license may prove more important in the long run.
Logicon said it had licensed its Logicon Message Dissemination
System software to the service, and has a contract to develop a
comprehensive electronic information management system for AOL,
based on LMDS, providing real-time dissemination of information
from newswires and other electronic sources to AOL's subscribers.

The program employs user-defined criteria to move electronic
documents in real-time, and has an open architecture so it can be
embedded in other applications on a variety of computers,
including IBM/MVS,S IBM/OS/2, and such workstations as SUN, DEC,
IBM, AT&T, Data General, Hewlett-Packard, and 80386 and 80486
PCs.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19940218/Press Contact: Pam McGraw, America
Online, 703-556-3746; Ralph L. Webster, Logicon, 310-373-0220)


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

Interactive Network Tests Cable Fee Structure 02/18/94
SUNNYVALE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 18 (NB) -- Interactive
Network Inc., said it will test a variety of charging methods
as it moves its service to cable television.

The company said it will test a monthly fee approach with Tele-
Communications Inc., and Jones Intercable, in northwest Chicago,
the Sacramento Valley in California, and Northern Indiana. The
idea is to test different combinations of monthly fees and
security deposit for the company's terminals, which allow people
to play real-time games along with TV shows. "It's a market
test," said a spokesman. The idea is to make IN a cable add-on
more like other monthly channels like HBO.

Interactive Network, which holds patents on its system,
presently offers its wireless control units at $199, and charges
$15 per month for its services. Consumers in the tests will be
offered subscriptions for solely a monthly fee, with a deposit
against the return of the control unit. IN won what it called a
"very attractive agreement" with TCI for financing its control
units when the service is rolled-out nationally in the fourth
quarter of this year. TCI is a major stockholder in IN. Other
major owners of IN include General Electric's National
Broadcasting Co., Gannett, and A.C. Nielsen.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19940218/Press Contact: Joan Cear, for
Interactive Network, 212-750-7770)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00017)

Georgia Rewrite of Telecom Law Stalled 02/18/94
ATLANTA, GEORGIA, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 18 (NB) -- A deregulation bill
supported by BellSouth is stalled in the Georgia state
legislature.

S566 would allow for competition for local phone services, with
franchises granted by the state's Public Service Commission. It
is sponsored by Sen. Sonny Perdue, but critics claim it was
written by Southern Bell, the BellSouth unit serving the state.
This is a charge Southern Bell spokesman Lynn Bress denied to
Newsbytes News Network, although she acknowledged the company
helped in the drafting of the bill.

Opponents include the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the state's
largest newspaper, the Cable Television Association of Georgia,
and the state's Public Service Commission. PSC Chairman Bobby
Baker expressed grave concern about the bill in testimony
delivered to the Senate's public utilities commission a few weeks
ago. The PSC's objections involve the elimination of oversight
over possible future rate increases by Southern Bell,
possibilities of service termination in unprofitable areas, and a
reworking of toll charges so that calls of equal distance no
longer have the same price. Bress of Southern Bell told Newsbytes
the bill would keep charges level unless inflation exceeds 4
percent, that it maintains universal service, and that the
company continues to support the bill.

For now, the bill remains in committee, and there has been no
companion bill prepared for the State House. The legislature must
end its session in mid-March, and the chances for passing any
bill appear remote unless a compromise is reached.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19940218/Press Contact: Georgia PSC, Harriet
Van Norte, 404-658-4501; Southern Bell, Lynn Bress, 404-391-2484)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(TOR)(00018)

Chemical Bank ATM Glitch Garbles Accounts 02/18/94
NEW YORK, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 18 (NB) -- Chemical Bank
said all account balances had been corrected as of Friday morning
after a bug in new software caused automated teller machines in
New York City to double the amounts of customers' withdrawals and
transfers on Tuesday and Wednesday.

No customers will lose any money as a result of the problem, Ken
Herz, a bank spokesman, told Newsbytes. Nor will the bank face
any significant costs as a result of the problem, Herz added.

Herz said the problem affected about 900 teller machines in the
New York metro area. It began on Tuesday evening, as a result of
problem with new software. The software error was corrected on
Wednesday afternoon after customer complaints alerted the bank to
the errors, Herz said. As of Friday morning, the bank said it had
corrected all account balances that were affected by the error.

Herz said the bank takes full responsibility for the error. He
could not say whether the software was developed internally or
provided by an outside contractor.

(Grant Buckler/19940218/Press Contact: Ken Herz, Chemical Bank,
212-270-6000)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(LAX)(00019)

Apple Spanish Language Connections 02/18/94
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 18 (NB) -- Apple
Computer announced it is producing a Spanish version of its
Language Connections literature-based language arts program aimed
at kindergarten through second grade Spanish speaking students.

The announcement was made in Los Angeles at the National
Association for Bilingual Education (NABE) conference held this
week.

Described as a reading, writing, listening and speaking
curriculum, the Apple Spanish Language Connections package will
be available this summer. The package includes the new Macintosh
LC 575 computer with a built-in 14-inch color display; an AppleCD
300i Plus compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) drive; a
microphone; stereo speakers; the Apple Color Onescanner scanning
device; the Apple ImagewriterII color printer; a classroom
library of more than 300 books with 6 by author Alma Flor Ada;
and a selection of story and music audio tapes.

The Macintosh LC 575 also comes pre-configured as a teacher
"station," including desktop publishing and teacher productivity
software, and a student "station," which includes education
software applications. Included teacher's manuals feature seven,
four-week thematic curriculum units -- two each for grades K
through 2, with an additional four-week unit for kindergarten.

Further, the Grady Profile-Portfolio Assessment: Spanish Language
Connections Edition from Aurbach & Associates has been
specifically customized for the package and allows both parents
and students to analyze, assess and monitor on-going student
development, Apple said. Ideas for classroom organization, parent
involvement, and newsletter development are also included.

Multiple configurations of the Apple Spanish Language Connections
package are available, including 4- and 6-Station Classroom
Bundles designed for single classroom implementation, and a 9-
Station Classroom Bundle designed for use in three classrooms at
the same school site. Pricing information is available from Apple
via the Apple Customer Assistance Center or from the school's
Apple Computer representative.

Apple said in conjunction with the show it will also award
winners of the 1994 NABE Student Essay Contest, honored at a
Coca-Cola hosted banquet, a Macintosh Color Classic computer, a
printer, and the Clarisworks software program.

(Linda Rohrbough/19940218/Press Contact: Kerry Mayhle, Regis
McKenna for Apple Computer, tel [phone], fax [phone];
Public Contact, Apple Customer Assistance Center, 800-776-2333
after May 15)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SFO)(00020)

Company Results Roundup 02/18/94
PENN VALLEY, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 18 (NB) -- This is
a regular feature, summarizing company results not reported
elsewhere by Newsbytes: Sigma Designs Inc., Zoom Telephonics Inc.,
Trend Micro devices Inc., Newbridge Networks Corp., Brite Voice
Systems Inc., PictureTel Corp., MicroAge Inc., Telebit Corp.,
Tseng Labs Inc., BroadBand Technologies Inc., Hewlett-Packard Co.,
Credence Systems Inc., Optical Data Systems Inc., International
Microcomputer Software Inc., and Mirror Technologies Inc.

Sigma Designs Inc., (510-770-0100), has reported financial
results for its fourth quarter and fiscal year ended January 31,
1994. Net sales for the quarter were $11,297,000, a 40 percent
increase from the $8,054,000 reported in the like quarter a year
ago, and 37 percent higher than the $8,220,000 reported for the
third quarter ended October 31, 1993. Net income for the quarter
was $75,000 compared with a net loss of $2,074,000 for the like
period last year. Net sales were $34,989,000, a 29
percent increase from $27,058,000 a year ago. Net loss was
$29,550,000 (including $21,791,000 restructuring and acquired
R&D charges) compared with a loss of $7,166,000 last year.

Modem vendor Zoom Telephonics Inc., (617-423-1072), announced record
sales for its fourth quarter and fiscal year ending December 31, 1993.
Zoom's fourth quarter sales were up 28.6 percent from the prior year's
quarter and up 40 percent from the third quarter of 1993. This
leader in low-cost modems says the year's sales of $55,230,360
were up 31.8 percent from 1992, the prior record. Net income was up
166 percent from the third quarter of 1993, and rose from 3.4 percent
of sales to 6.5 percent as Zoom's sales and gross margin improved
significantly.

Virus protection software and network security product vendor Trend
Micro Devices Inc., (310-782-8190) announced year end results showing
134 percent growth worldwide in 1993. The privately held company
announced record growth in Europe and Asia. The company, which
claims to command over 95 percent market share in its home country
of Taiwan, has expanded its sales effort to the worldwide market over
the past two years, and currently has offices in Taiwan, Japan,
Switzerland and the United States, with plans underway for an office
in Korea.

Newbridge Networks Corp., (613-591-3600), which designs, manufacturers,
markets and services multimedia, standards-based networking products
for global LAN (local area network) and WAN (wide area network)
applications, has announced financial results for the third
quarter of fiscal year 1994. Sales were recorded at $145.1 million,
representing a 73 percent increase over sales of $83.8 million for
the corresponding quarter of last year. Net profit for the third
quarter was $41.4 million, a 134 percent increase over the net income
of $17.7 million for the third quarter of the last fiscal year.

Brite Voice Systems Inc., (316-652-6500), reported a 34 percent
increase in revenues for the fourth quarter ended December 31,
1993. Revenues were $12,944,000, compared to $9,645,000 for
the same period in 1992. Operating income was $925,000,
compared to an operating loss of $382,000. For the year
ended December 31, revenues were $46,857,000 compared to
$35,599,000 a year ago, a 32 percent increase.

Videoconferencing hardware vendor PictureTel Corp, (508-762-5208),
reported a 25 percent increase in revenue for the year ended December
31, 1993 compared to 1992. Total revenues for 1993 were $176.3 million
on shipments of approximately 4,600 units, including systems and
bridges, compared with $141.4 million on shipments of approximately
2,850 units in 1992. Revenues in the fourth quarter were $48.7 million
which represents an increase of 24 percent from the previous quarter's
revenue of $39.4 million and an increase of 13 percent from revenues
of $43.0 million for the same period of 1992. Net income for the year
ended December 31, 1993 was $8.4 million.

Reseller MicroAge Inc., (602-929-2414), reported its 29th consecutive
profitable quarter with record net income of $4.5 million for the
first quarter ended January 30, 1994, up 158 percent from the $1.8
million reported for the first quarter of fiscal 1993 ended December
31, 1992. First quarter 1994 earnings per share were 36 cents, an
increase of 79 percent over the 20 cents reported for the like quarter
last year. First quarter 1993 earnings per share of 20 cents is
adjusted to reflect a 3-for-2 stock dividend effective January 13,
1994. Revenue increased 43 percent to $470 million compared to $328
million in the first quarter of fiscal 1993.

Telebit Corp., (508-441-2181), which manufactures and markets a family
of global switched LAN and host access products, reported financial
results for its fourth quarter ended December 31,1993, with
revenues at $23.6 million. Revenue was $21.8 million for the fourth
quarter of 1992. The company reported net income of $2.3 million or
17 cents per share for the fourth quarter of 1993 which included a
one-time income tax benefit of $0.6 million or five cents per share
relating to a refund of taxes paid in prior years. Revenue for the
fiscal year 1993 was $80.8 million, compared to revenue of $87.3 for
the like period in 1992. The company reported a net loss of $10.4
million for fiscal 1993 or (83 cents) per share which included a
$9.0 million pre-tax charge resulting from the merger and
restructuring and a $1.6 million pre-tax charge related to the
settlement of litigation.

Graphics accelerator and video product supplier Tseng Labs Inc.,
(215-968-0502), announced that revenues in 1993 reached record levels
for the tenth consecutive year. For the year ended December 31, 1993,
revenues increased to a record $75,526,000 from $75,346,000 in 1992.
Net income for 1993 was $10,782,000 or $.56 per share as compared to
1992 net income of $14,120,000 or $.73 per share. Fourth quarter
1993 revenues were $19,092,000 compared to $19,605,000 in the fourth
quarter of 1992. Net income in the 1993 fourth quarter was $2,264,000
or $.12 per share versus $4,002,000 or $.21 per share in the same
period last year.

BroadBand Technologies Inc., (919-544-0015), which designs and
manufactures an electronics and software platform for fiber optic-
based telephone networks, reported results for the fourth quarter
and year ending December 31, 1993. Net sales for the quarter
increased to $8.1 million from $1.6 million recorded for the same
period in 1992. The net loss for the quarter was $4.6 million, or
37 cents per share, compared with a net loss of $3.5 million, or 44
cents per share, for the same quarter in 1992. Net sales for the full
year increased to $15.1 million from $5.3 million in 1992, while the
net loss was $18.9 million, or $1.89 per share, compared to a net
loss of $11.8 million, or $1.54 per share, for the year ended
December 31, 1992.

Hewlett-Packard, (415-857-2387) reported a 41 percent increase in net
earnings and 24 percent growth in net revenue for the 1994 fiscal
year's first quarter, which ended January 31. Net earnings totaled
$1.42 per share, compared with $1.03 per share in the same quarter
last year. Orders for the quarter were a record $6.1 billion, up 18
percent from the $5.2 billion reported in the year-ago quarter. US
orders totaled $2.6 billion, up 23 percent over 1993, while orders
from outside the US grew 15 percent to $3.5 billion, or 58 percent
of the company's total this quarter. Net revenue for the quarter
totaled $5.7 billion, compared with $4.6 billion in the first quarter
of fiscal 1993. Net revenue in the US was $2.6 billion, an increase of
25 percent over the year-ago quarter, while net revenue from outside
the US rose 24 percent to $3.1 billion. Net earnings for the quarter
were $368 million, or $1.42 per share on approximately 259 million
shares of common stock outstanding. The company said that orders in
its computer business grew 23 percent over the year-ago quarter.

Credence Systems Corp., (510-657-7400), a manufacturer of automatic
test equipment for the semiconductor industry, reported record results
for its first quarter ended January 31, 1994, with net sales of $22.8
million, a 37 percent increase over the $16.6 million for the
comparable quarter of fiscal 1993. Net income rose 402 percent to
$3.3 million compared to $0.7 million for the comparable period last
year. Earnings per share were 29 cents per share, up from 8 cents
per share for the prior year's first quarter.

Optical Data Systems Inc., (214-234-6400), a LAN intelligent hub
manufacturer, reported its 1993 financials with record fourth quarter
results. For the year ended December 31, 1993, net income was $4.9
million or $.60 per share -- a 2 percent decrease from the $5.0
million or $.67 per share in 1992. For the fourth quarter 1993, net
income reached a record $1.9 million or $.23 per share -- an 8
percent increase over the $1.7 million or $.21 per share achieved
in the fourth quarter 1992. Net sales in the fourth quarter 1993,
reached a record $17.3 million -- a 27 percent increase over the
$13.6 million achieved in the fourth quarter 1992.

International Microcomputer Software Inc., (415-454-7101) announced
net revenues and earnings for the company's second fiscal quarter
ended December 31, 1993. Net revenues were $6,163,361, an increase
of 88 percent from last year's second quarter net revenues of
$3,283,265. Net income for the quarter was $61,824, or $0.03 per
share, compared to last year's second quarter net income of $204,803,
or $0.12 per share. For the six months ended December 31, 1993, net
revenues were $11,808,517, an increase of 98 percent from the first
six months of last fiscal year net revenues of $5,949,867. Net
income for the first six months was $1,072,142, or $0.51 per share,
compared to net income of $330,778, or $0.20 per share, for the same
period last year.

Mirror Technologies Inc., (612-633-4450), a developer and marketer of
peripheral equipment for the Apple Macintosh, reported sales for the
third quarter ended December 31, 1993 of $2,275,620, versus $4,491,440
for the same period a year earlier. The operating loss for the third
quarter before adjustments for discontinuing operations was $422,000
versus $2,137,000 for a comparable operating loss in the three month
period in the previous year. The company recorded a net loss of
$2,719,986 for the third quarter, compared to a net loss of
$2,192,887 in the previous year.

(Ian Stokell/19940218)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SFO)(00021)

Networking Roundup 02/18/94
PENN VALLEY, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 18 (NB) -- This is
a regular Friday feature, summarizing networking news not covered
elsewhere by Newsbytes this week: SynOptics Communications Inc.,
Accton Technology Corp., Legato Systems Inc., ACSYS Inc., Intel,
Novell, Xylogics Inc., Oracle Corp., Dataquest, Microsoft,
Wellfleet Communications, Wollongong Group, and Tricord
Systems Inc.

SynOptics Communications Inc., (408-764-7352), says that Samaritan
Health System (SHS) has standardized on SynOptics intelligent hubs.
SHS plans to deploy the SynOptics equipment as part of a three-year
project to interconnect all facilities. Initial installation has
already begun.

Accton Technology Corp., (408-452-8900), has introduced the first
NetWare-specific products to come from the company's new RedBox
Division, the NET 2000 PCMCIA (Personal Computer Memory Card
International Association) Series. The PCMCIA laptop LAN adapter
cards will reportedly plug-and-play with NetWare workgroup
environments, are fully NE2000 compatible, and incorporate Novell's
new Universal NetWare Client. There are two PCMCIA adapters in the NET
2000 series. The RedBox NET 2000T PCMCIA is a 10BASE-T adapter for
twisted-pair networking environments. The RedBox NET 2000CT PCMCIA
has auto media sensing for both 10BASE-T (RJ-45) and 10BASE-2 (BNC)
connectors. The RedBox NET 2000T PCMCIA will carry a list price of
$199, while the RedBox NET 2000CT PCMCIA will retail for $299.

Legato Systems Inc., (415-812-6112), has announced that Itochu Corp.,
formerly C.Itoh, and Legato have agreed to establish a long term
business relationship to penetrate the Asia Pacific market. Under
the terms of the agreement, Itochu will become Legato's primary
distributor in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, China, Singapore, Malaysia,
Philippines, Hong Kong, and Thailand. Itochu has developed a Kanji
version of Legato's flagship product, NetWorker. The entire NetWorker
family of products for the Asian market is now shipping and is
presently available at a price range of $1,000 to $40,000 from Itochu.

ACSYS Inc., (617-275-4455), a global provider of LAN infrastructure
products and services, will begin shipping its new MAU Manager Token
Ring hub and ACSYS MAU Management software Windows-based, multi-
platform and multi-vendor management software for 8228 LANs. The
company says that the MAU Manager enables companies to gain the
benefits of management using existing IBM 8228 or compatible MAUs.
Example pricing puts a 16-port model of the hub with universal data
connectors (UDC) for shielded twisted-pair applications, which
supports 256 stations at $4,950 list price.

Meanwhile, Intel, (503-629-7049), and Novell, (408-747-4901), announced,
what the companies called, a unified end-to-end solution for desktop,
data and network management, allowing from a single location, users
to access centralized management and backup services for the entire
computing environment, from the desktop through the network to servers
and network services. The products will be available by the end of
March. Specifically, Intel said its desktop-management software,
LANDesk Manager and LANDesk Virus Protect, and Intel's data-management
solution, StorageExpress system, are now integrated with Novell's
NetWare Management System (NMS) management console.

Xylogics Inc., (617-272-8140), has introduced the MicroANNEX NCS, a
dual-port remote networking server for NetWare users that combines
dial-in, shared dial-out and dial-up routing capabilities in a single
low-cost communications server. The MicroANNEX NCS is priced at $995
for a dual-port unit. For a limited time, the MicroANNEX NCS includes
both Delrina's WinFax Pro 3.0 for faxing, and Mustang Software Qmodem
Pro. Dual ports allow simultaneous dial-in and dial-out with user's
choice of compatible high-speed modems. For satellite offices,
MicroANNEX NCS' dial-up routing capability connects two NetWare LANs
(local area networks) without requiring expensive leased phone lines.

Oracle Corp., (415-506-4176), has announced Oracle Media Net, billed as
an open, high-level protocol that hides the various network mechanisms
(such as phone lines, satellite broadcasts and cable connections)
that will be used to deliver interactive services to the home.
Oracle Media Net connects users requesting on-demand services
through TVs to the Oracle Media Server which delivers the requested
services. Oracle Media Net is claimed to support any network used
for multimedia distribution. Asymmetric networks with two
unidirectional channels of different bandwidth are supported. Oracle
Media Net will be available at the end of the first quarter, 1994,
to "strategic customers."

A new market study published by Dataquest, (408-437-8312), indicates
that following a developmental period the video server market will
grow to a $5 billion market in 1997. Although video server revenue
will more than double in each of the next two years, high growth will
occur between 1995 and 1997, according to the company. Dataquest
forecasts video server revenue will grow from a $296 million market in
1995 to a $5.189 billion market in 1997. The results are part of the
data and analysis contained in the 1994 Multimedia Market Trends
report, now available from the company.

Microsoft, (206-882-8080), made a couple of announcements. The company
announced the immediate availability of TCP/IP (Transmission Control
Protocol/Internet Protocol) and data link control (DLC) protocol
support for the Microsoft Windows for Workgroups operating system
with integrated networking version 3.11. The TCP/IP product allows
IP- based connectivity to Windows NT and Windows NT Advanced Server
operating systems as well as Unix-based LANs and wide-area networks.
Microsoft Data Link Control for Windows for Workgroups will allow
Windows for Workgroups-based PCs to operate in IBM SNA environments
and to connect to mainframes and minicomputers, such as the AS/400.
The product supports terminal-emulation products. Both TCP/IP and
DLC for Windows for Workgroups 3.11 can be downloaded at no charge
(toll or on-line charges may apply) by modem from the Microsoft
Download Service at [phone] or CompuServe (go msclient);
or accessed from the Internet (ftp.microsoft.com -
/advsys/msclient/wfw).

Also available from Microsoft, is the Point-to-Point Server for the
Microsoft Windows for Workgroups operating system with integrated
networking version 3.11. The server enables a Windows for Workgroups
3.11-based system to accept incoming calls from other Microsoft
Remote Access clients. The Point-to-Point server allows access to
shared files and printers from any remote PC. The Windows for
Workgroups 3.11 Point-to-Point Server enables remote users to have
access only to the resources shared on the local machine. If
remote users need access to all shared network resources, the
computer answering the incoming calls must be running Windows NT or
Windows NT Advanced Server. The product can be obtained free of
charge (toll or on-line charges may apply) from the Microsoft
Download Service [phone] and CompuServe (go mswrkgrp), or
can be accessed from the Internet (ftp.microsoft.com -
/peropsys/wfw/public).

Wellfleet Communications, (508-436-3636), announced a variety of network
management enhancements to its line of router/bridges. In combination
with the company's SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol)-based
network management software, its new network management features
significantly increase network performance, security, and
manageability. The network management enhancements operate with the
company's two SNMP-based tools, Site Manager and the Technician
Interface, for node configuration, monitoring, and control.

Additionally, Wellfleet has established a technical support center
in Australia, providing increased technical support and on-site
service to its users building enterprise-wide networks. The company
says that its Sydney-based support center joins the company's two
other technical support centers located in Billerica, MA, and
Valbonne, France.

Wollongong Group, (415-962-7156), has announced PathWay Access 3.0 for
Windows, a TCP/IP product designed for complex enterprise network
environments. With Access 3.0, the core TCP/IP protocols are kept
active and in memory, so the node does not lose its identity when
the user transitions from a DOS to a Windows application, says the
company. Redirected printing and network management agent functions
are always available and active. Access 3.0 also includes an
enhanced version of the PathWay Runtime for DOS and Windows, Version
2.0 - supporting enhanced dial-up access to TCP/IP networks and to
the Internet. PathWay Access 3.0 lists for $350 per single user
license with special discount pricing available. The firm has also
announced PathWay API Developer's Took Kit, Version 2.0, which has
been enhanced with new Windows-integrated APIs (application
programming interfaces) including Windows Sockets and Telnet.

Tricord Systems Inc., (612-557-9005), and Network Specialists Inc.,
have formed a strategic technology alliance that will result in the
support of NSI's Balance, Redundancy, Route-Off, and NetBIOS-Off
NetWare Loadable Modules (NLMs) on Tricord's PowerFrame family of
enterprise servers. The companies claim that the combination enables
an added level of performance, fault tolerance and throughput to
users of PowerFrame systems. NSI's Balance NLM allows multiple
network interface cards (NICs) to concurrently share a single
network address between servers and MAC-layer devices, such as
bridges and switches. It reportedly increases network server
utilization by accelerating the amount of packetized data from
MAC-layer devices to a server, and provides load balancing for
incoming and outgoing IPX (Internetwork Packet Exchange), AppleTalk,
and TCP/IP traffic -- eliminating I/O (input/output) bottlenecks,
says the company.

(Ian Stokell/19940218)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(MSP)(00022)

Newsbytes Off Monday -- President's Day 02/18/95
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 18 (NB) -- Newsbytes
News Network will not publish Monday, February 21, in
observance of President's Day in the US.

We will resume publication on Tuesday, February 22.

(Wendy Woods/19940218)


(NEWS)(IBM)(LAX)(00023)

 ****Intel Demos 150 MHz Pentium 02/18/94
SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 18 (NB) -- Intel, which
has been making private demonstrations of its new triple-speed of
Pentium chips, publicly demonstrated a 150 megahertz (MHz)
Pentium at the IEEE Solid State Circuits Conference (ISSCC) in
San Francisco, California on Thursday. The speedy Pentium offers
more than double the clock speed of the currently available 66
MHz Pentium.

The demonstration was a technology display only, and not a
product introduction announcement, Intel officials said. However
it appears the company may be attempting to fend off rumors that
a new rival microprocessor, the PowerPC from Apple, IBM, and
Motorola, is more scalable and therefore has more speed potential
than the Pentium.

The 100 MHz Pentium is currently in production and will be
available "shortly," company officials said. A 486DX3 chip is
also expected soon.

The Pentium, running at 5 volts and dissipating 13 watts to a
maximum of 15 watts in a very compacted piece of real estate, has
faced heat as its biggest enemy. The PowerPC, with fewer
transistors than the Pentium, doesn't face the same thermal
demands.

However, Joseph Schutz, program manager in Intel's Portland
Technology Group, presented a paper at the conference describing a
processor, which comprises 3.3 million transistors, runs at 3.3
volts, and is much cooler, dissipating only 4 watts of power at
100 MHz.

According to sources close to the company, versions of the high-
speed chipset are now in production at Intel's newly opened
production facility -- the company's largest in the world -- in
Leixlip, Ireland.

Mike Bond, field applications engineer with the company, tells
Newsbytes, "Current Pentiums are 66MHz and, while I don't
expect 150MHz versions to appear this year, 100MHz chips
should be available this year, thanks to the technology
advances."

Current Pentium chips are based on 0.8 micron three layer metal
technology. The prototype 150MHz Pentium shown at the San
Francisco show is based 0.6 micron four layer metal technology.

"I remember when we made the move from 1.0 to 0.8 micron designs in
the transition from 386 to 486 technology. The design change was
relatively simple, but it allowed the processors to run a lot
faster," Bond said.

Bond refused to draw a precise timescale on when 100MHz Pentium
PCs will be available in worldwide retail channels.

The new ultra-fast 150 MHz Pentium processor family is still on
the drawing board, Intel officials told Newsbytes. But, it took
three years for the 486DX2 chip to make it out of development and
onto the market and Intel fully anticipates the 150 MHz Pentium
will come to market even faster.

Intel is currently the dominant supplier of microprocessors
worldwide with 74 percent of the market share. Motorola is second
with 8 percent.

(Linda Rohrbough & Steve Gold/19940218/Press Contact: John
Thompson, Intel, tel [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(LON)(00024)

IBM Withdraws Ambra From Europe 02/18/94
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1994 FEB 18 (NB) -- Just weeks after IBM in the US
combined several elements of its Valuepoint and Ambra PCs into one
range, IBM Europe has announced it is withdrawing its Ambra range
from the UK and European channel.

According to IBM UK, full details of how the Ambra machines will be
withdrawn from the reseller channel have yet to be worked out. The
policy decision will take effect from the end of March, allowing
time for IBM's dealers to sell off their remaining stock of
machines.

In an official statement from IBM, company officials said that
increased price competition from standard IBM PS/2 machines such as
the Valuepoint, as well the PS/1 series and the IBM Thinkpad, had
placed increasing pressure on the Ambra series.

Over the last few months, officials said, the price differential
between the "true blue" IBM PCs and the Ambra range -- a series of
machines designed to the clone producers on in the no-name
generic marketplace -- had become almost imperceptible. As a result,
the machines are being withdrawn.

(Steve Gold/19940218/Press & Public Contact: IBM UK
- Tel: [phone])


(NEWS)(GOVT)(LON)(00025)

UK Continues Fight Against Online Porn 02/18/94
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1994 FEB 18 (NB) -- New proposals have been issued
to tighten the law which controls pornography. Newsbytes understands
that these changes include updates to the term "publication" under
the Obscene Publication Act 1956.

According to the British Government, these changes were undertaken
to make illegal all electronic transmissions between computers that
contain obscene material.

At the moment, under certain circumstances, defense lawyers can
argue that digitized images transferred between computers over the
public switched telephone network (PSTN) are not obscene, on the
basis that, in order to view the image, special software is
required.

The proposed changes will also, Newsbytes understands, include the
transmission of data over private links, as well as the PSTN. In a
statement from the British Government made today, officials say that
even storing digital images on a public or privately accessible
bulletin board system (BBS) could be prosecuted under the changed
legislation.

The key changes to the Act, Newsbytes understands, involves the
clear and unambiguous explanation of the terms "video recording" and
"video work." Although previously redefined in the 1970s to take
account of video cassette recorders, the government claims that they
need further redefinition to take account of images stored on
computer chips and/or cartridges.

(Steve Gold/19940218)


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

 ****IBM Unveils Combined Notebook/Portable TV 02/18/94
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1994 FEB 18 (NB) -- IBM is a name more readily
associated with computers than portable TVs, but the company has
just released a peripheral known as TV Tuner for its Thinkpad
notebook PC.

According to IBM, the device operates in a manner similar to the TV
tuner unit for the popular Sega Gamegear handheld computer games
console, allowing TV pictures and sound to be seen and heard on the
main machine.

IBM officials claim that the Thinkpad has been a good seller, and
that its appeal will be even better enhanced by the addition of the
ability to view TV pictures on the machine's 10-inch screen.

IBM officials say that, as with portable TVs such as he Casio Mini
series, reception will be best if the Thinkpad is viewed while
static. When on the move, the signal received may be subject to
variation due to adverse reception.

The Thinkpad TV tuner slots neatly in place of the floppy disk drive
on the machine. In the UK, the tuner sells for UKP 800, which
officials admit is rather expensive for a portable TV function. The
UK version of the tuner, suitable for PAL 625 line transmissions,
should begin shipping in May.

Newsbytes notes, however that, since the TV Tuner only works on
high-end color Thinkpads, typically costing in excess of UKP 3,600,
that customers will probably note complain at this price tag.

Nick Eades, portable computer marketing manager for the IBM PC
Company, said that the price of the TV Tuner could drop a lot if
there is enough demand on the market, especially in Europe.

"One leading high street retailer wants several hundred TV Tuners so
that it can broadcast internal television programs to staff on
their portables, and use them to show company videos," Eades said.

(Sylvia Dennis & Steve Gold/19940218/Press & Public Contact: IBM UK
- Tel: [phone])


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(LAX)(00027)

Intel Has 75% Of Microprocessor Market - Survey 02/18/94
SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 18 (NB) -- Intel is the
dominate supplier in the worldwide microprocessor market in 1993
with 74 percent of the worldwide market share, up from 69
percent, according to market research firm Dataquest. Intel's
processors, including the x86 family and the Pentium, are the
brains of the vast majority of IBM-compatible personal computers
(PCs) on the market today.

The PowerPC chip, a new microprocessor developed by Apple Computer,
IBM, and Motorola, has been heralded as having more speed potential
than the Pentium and some analysts are saying the chip will
become the Pentium's biggest rival. IBM has already introduced a
PowerPC workstation computer and Apple is expected to shortly
introduce PowerPC Macintoshes.

While current popular applications will need modification to run
native with the PowerPC, both Apple and IBM are boasting
emulation software can produce compatibility. Compatibility,
however, comes at the price of slower performance.

But the PowerPC doesn't stand a chance to dominate the personal
computer market, according to Dataquest. Jerry Banks, director
and principal analyst at the market research firm, said: "Although
the PowerPC will arrive in 1994, Intel will maintain its
position as the foremost microprocessor supplier to the world."

Intel's rival in the IBM-compatible market, Advanced Micro
Devices (AMD), slipped to third on the list and was the only
supplier in the top 10 whose revenue declined in 1993. Dataquest
claims AMD was unable to increase 486 production fast enough to
offset the fall in 386 sales.

Motorola, number two with 8 percent of the market, got there
partly because Apple Computer initiated a price-cutting campaign
on its Motorola 68xxx processor-based Macintosh computers.

A newcomer to the Dataquest microprocessor top ten, Texas
Instruments, increased its microprocessor revenue by 213 percent
based on strong sales of Super SPARC microprocessors to Sun
Microsystems and the sale of 486-derivative microprocessors,
which it acquired from Cyrix. IBM, also new on the top ten list,
experienced growth by supplying 486 look-alikes as well,
Dataquest asserts.

(Linda Rohrbough/19940218/Press Contact: Paul Wheaton, Dataquest,
tel [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(LAX)(00028)

AMD Offers Low-Priced 486SX 50 MHz Microprocessor 02/18/94
AUSTIN, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 18 (NB) -- Advanced Micro Devices
announced it has introduced the first clock-doubled 486SX device
running at 50 megahertz (MHz). The 486SX chip offers potential
users a lower price tag because it doesn't include a math
coprocessor, used to give graphics and other math intensive
operations a boost.

Bob McConnell, vice president of AMD's Personal Computer Products
Division, said: "This addition to AMD's 486 product line brings
affordable clock-doubling technology to value-conscious end users
who typically operate word processing, database, desktop
publishing, project management or other Windows software
applications which don't require the floating-point computing
capability provided by a 486DX processor."

The Am486SX2-50 microprocessor includes an Am486 central
processing unit (CPU) core, an 8 kilobyte (K) internal write-
through cache and is available in a DX2 168-pin grid array (PGA)
package. The 486SX2-50 is designed so it will fit in the slot
available for a speed doubling chip in existing DX2 motherboards,
simplifying system design and speeding time to market, AMD added.

How does AMD make the 486SX-50 chip? Like Intel's 486SX, AMD
simply disables the math coprocessing functions built into the
chip and then sells it for less, according to AMD company
officers. In 1,000 unit quantities, the Am486SX2-50 sells for
$165 each, compared to the $280 retail price for the AM486DX2-50
with the math coprocessor intact.

Advanced Micro Devices, which was second in the Dataquest top ten
world microprocessor manufacturers in 1992, slipped to third on
the list and was the only supplier in the top 10 whose revenue
declined in 1993. The market research firm said AMD's decline was
due to its inability to increase 486 production fast enough to
offset the fall in 386 sales.

However, Intel still dominates with 74 percent of the worldwide
microprocessor market share. Motorola is second with 8 percent
and AMD has 6 percent, Dataquest maintains.

(Linda Rohrbough/19940218/Press Contact: David Frink, Advanced
Micro Devices, tel [phone], fax [phone]; PHOTO)


(REVIEW)(IBM)(ATL)(00029)

Review of - Grolier Multimedia CD-ROM Encyclopedia 02/18/94

Runs on: Windows under the MPC specification, a minimum 396-SX
chip, MS Windows 3.1, a VGA monitor, a Windows-compatible sound
card, 1.5 megabytes of hard disk space, 4 megabytes of memory
and a mouse, as well as a MPC-compliant CD-ROM drive.

From: Grolier Electronic Publishing Inc., Sherman Turnpike,
Danbury, CT, 06816, 203-797-3530

Price: $149.95

PUMA rating: 3 (on a scale of 1=lowest to 4=highest)

Reviewed for Newsbytes by: Dana Blankenhorn

Summary: Multimedia becomes a reality in a CD-ROM combining
sound, animation, movies, pictures, and text.

=======

REVIEW

=======

Grolier, an old-line producer of encyclopedias, is trying hard to
out-flank Microsoft's attempts to enter the market with Encarta.
It priced its CD-ROM encyclopedia low, at $150, and it's worth
the price.

As a computer creation, the Grolier's encyclopedia is fine and
up-to-date. It installs simply, through Windows, creating its own
program group. Double-click on the Grolier's icon and you're
brought to a main menu, through which you can search the database
in a number of ways. You can look for text through the "knowledge
tree," or browse collections of audio, video, and animation
clips.

The video clips run in small windows which can be expanded, but
that's not a good idea. When expanded, their slow frame refreshes
and small number of pixels become a distraction. The photos and
audios, on the other hand, are of uniformly high quality.

The version reviewed by Newsbytes ends its time-line in mid-1993.
Among its last entries are the Chicago Bulls' third NBA title,
the early box-office records of "Jurassic Park," and the bombing
of the World Trade Center. While there's a photo of President
Clinton, there's little additional information -- no clip from
his inaugural, for instance.

Arguing with the content choices in this work is really beyond
the scope of this review, but I will mention a few of them. In
"The Civil War," the battle names are all those used by the North
-- Bull Run instead of Manassas, for instance. There's a speech
by Calvin Coolidge, but little on later campaigns. These are
editing, not technical choices, however, and typical of what's
done when you're doing an encyclopedia which doesn't want to have
a point-of-view but which must in order to present information.

Overall, this is the kind of disc which can bring your kids to
the computer and the encyclopedia, if your machine has the power
to run it. It's still not a good idea to slam the door in the
face of your encyclopedia salesman, however -- this isn't a total
replacement.

=============

PUMA RATINGS

=============

PERFORMANCE: 3. Easy to install, friendly service desks.
Surprisingly slow on our review machine.

USEFULNESS: 3. Won't replace your printed encyclopedia, but
comes pretty close.

MANUAL: 3 Manual? Forget it. More important is getting through
the program's menus to reach what you want.

AVAILABILITY: 3. Available at most computer superstores.

(Robin & Dana Blankenhorn/19940211/Press Contact: Maryanne
Piazza, Grolier director of marketing, 203-797-3365: Press
Contact: Dan Janal, 510-831-0900)


(REVIEW)(APPLE)(MSP)(00030)

Review of - Expert Office Design, 02/18/94

Runs on: Macintosh

From: Expert Software, 800 Douglas Entrance, North Tower,
Coral Gables, FL 33134, [phone]

Price: $49.95

PUMA rating: 3 (on a scale of 1=lowest to 4=highest)

Reviewed for NEWSBYTES by: Naor Wallach

Summary: A competent drawing program for use in the
design or remodeling of small offices. Is probably most
useful for the amateur architect or small business owner.

=======

REVIEW

=======

All of the Expert programs that I've seen to date use the
same basic program and then customize it to the task at hand
via the specific libraries that are present. This case is no
different.

If you have seen either Expert Landscape Design or Expert
Home Design, you already know how to use this program.
However, for those not familiar with these programs,
a brief explanation is in order.

The base of all the Expert programs is a general purpose,
object oriented, drawing program. Essentially, this program
operates in a very similar manner to the MacDraw style of
programs. You are given a drawing area in which to place
the different objects. To the left of the screen is a tool
bar that contains a selection of tools that you will need.
On the right part of the screen will be one of several
libraries that are unique to the specific application.

The menus allow you to define your work environment and
set various variables and parameters that are unique to
your setting.

In our case, Expert Office Design, the program comes with six
different libraries. The libraries are: Bathroom,
Chairs|Desks|Accessories, Conference|Waiting Room, Electrical,
Filing Cabinets|Plants, and Kitchen.

When each of these is opened, we see a collection of images
that represent real life objects as they are viewed from
directly above.

Making a layout of an office is a relatively simple process.
First, you must lay out the walls of the space with the wall
tool which lets you draw the walls at whichever angle you need.
After the walls are drawn in, you use the copy tools to bring
in the various objects that are placed in the space that
created.

The libraries contain different furniture pieces including
such modern essentials as wall dividers, copiers, computers,
and fax machines.

Once you've placed an object inside your drawing space, you
can rotate it any number of degrees in any direction,
stretch or shrink it, or modify its colors and
other attributes.

Now let's talk about the downside. Locations for wall
switches and plugs are nice, but what about telephone jacks
and local area network hookups? Also missing, in my opinion,
are symbols for heating and air conditioning ducts. Finally,
I find it incomprehensible as to why there is no symbol at all
for windows!

To add to the list of missing items, I find that there is only one
kind of wall divider which is certainly contrary to my own
experience in the corporate world.

Since this program seems to share much of the code of the
other programs in the Expert programs, it was probably
inevitable that some of the problems of those other
programs would find their way here as well. For instance,
the program is very slow and memory-hungry. Even in my
Centris 610 with 8 MB of RAM, it took several long
seconds for the library windows to open.

Finally, I could only open two libraries at a time before
the program complained of the need for more memory. In
addition, placing several items and rotating them seemed
to take an inordinately long time. Finally, some of the
more obscure bugs that I've encountered before are present
here as well -- if you use the zoom capability,
be prepared for trouble.

All in all this is a competent program with some problems.
I would not want to be a professional office architect
who has to rely on this program for my livelihood.
On the other hand, for the occasional remodeling job
in a small company, or at home, this is probably as
good as it gets.

=============

PUMA RATINGS

=============

PERFORMANCE: 2 Very slow at times. Extremely memory-hungry.

USEFULNESS: 3 Should be used by those with relatively
simple needs. A complex layout or one that needs to be handled
professionally will not fare well with this program.

MANUAL: 4 The manual is very thorough and contains a
reasonable tutorial. I could find no typos or problems
in correlating the text to what the program actually did.

AVAILABILITY: 3 Available from mail order and software
stores. Expert Software does not maintain a toll-free number.

(Naor Wallach/19940124)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(MSP)(00031)

Newsbytes Daily Summary 02/18/94
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 18 (NB) -- These are
capsules of all today's news stories:

1 -> Sony Announcements Include Digital Control 02/18/94 Software that
runs on personal computers and workstations and controls video equipment
was among the new products announced by Sony Corp. at the National
Association of Broadcasters (NAB) trade show in New York.

2 ->  ****Networks Expo - Frame Relay Routers At T1 Speeds 02/18/94 At
Networks Expo, Newport Systems has introduced routers designed to let
end users get the highest possible speeds out of frame relay.

3 ->  ****Networks Expo - Artificial Intelligence Helps Tech Support
02/18/94 At Networks Expo, The Molloy Group announced a Windows-based
package aimed at assisting tech support professionals in doing their
jobs through artificial intelligence, e-mail, and video.

4 -> Networks Expo - LANshadow 4.0 Mirrors Servers In Windows 02/18/94
At Networks Expo, Horizons Technology Inc. (HTI) has unveiled LANshadow
4.0,  the first Windows version of a mirroring software package intended
to "outdo" Novell's NetWare SFTIII, an alternative hardware mirroring
method.

5 -> Hello Kitty Software Multimedia Title For Girls Planned 02/18/94
Hello Kitty, the popular character from Japanese Sanrio Incorporated,
will now be the star of a video game for girls from newly formed Big Top
Productions.

6 -> Japan - IBM Multimedia Telecom Network 02/18/94 IBM Japan has
announced a personal computer network service which will open for
business in July. The telecommunication network is expected  to offer
powerful graphics features and will link to other  major databases.

7 -> Computer Industry Almanac Now Available On CD 02/18/94 The
Computer Press Almanac, recognized by the 8th Annual Computer  Press
Awards in the "Best Non-fiction Computer Book Category,"  announced
shipment of Computer Industry Almanac CD-ROM.

8 ->  ****Small Firms Key To Info Highway - Canada Poll 02/18/94 Small
technology companies will provide many of the innovations associated
with the so-called "information highway," according to 86 percent of
those who responded to a poll on the subject taken during a recent
Toronto conference.

9 -> Zenith High Performance Workstations 02/18/94 Zenith Data Systems
has introduced a new line of high performance workstations that include
Peripheral Component Interface bus technology and built-in networking.

10 -> Acer America Intros New Notebook Line 02/18/94 With new  notebooks
being introduced almost daily, it seems that the only  way to gather
attention is to add even more bells and whistles.  Turning their back on
that trend and seeing a greater market in a  fundamental "workhorse"
notebook that is aggressively priced,  Acer America announced the
introduction of their AcerNote 735  series of high-performance
notebooks.

11 -> Korea, Japan, Brazil Worst For Piracy, Says BSA 02/18/94 The
Business Software  Alliance has named Korea, Japan and Brazil as among
30 countries  with inadequate protection for US property, and
particularly  computer software.

12 ->  ****Zenith Wins Digital HDTV Race 02/18/94 Zenith Electronics
Corp.'s vestigial sideband technology for high-definition  television
has won the endorsement of the grandiloquently named  Digital HDTV Grand
Alliance as the HDTV standard for terrestrial  broadcast and cable.

13 -> Training Center Raid Results In $60,000 Settlement 02/18/94 A
computer training  center at Colorado Free University in Denver has
agreed to pay $60,000 to settle copyright infringement claims after US
Marshals  and Business Software Alliance auditors, under order from a
federal court, raided the center and found unlicensed computer
software.

14 -> Cray Research Superserver "Faster Than Ever" 02/18/94 Cray
Research says its new Cray Superserver 6400 system has achieved "the
fastest ever performance" during recent benchmark testing.

15 -> AOL Adds More Content, Alliances 02/18/94 America Online  added
new features, Reuters, Scientific American and the  Interactive Services
Association, and licensed new messaging  software.

16 -> Interactive Network Tests Cable Fee Structure 02/18/94 Interactive
Network Inc., said it will test a variety of charging methods  as it
moves its service to cable television.

17 -> Georgia Rewrite of Telecom Law Stalled 02/18/94 A deregulation
bill supported by BellSouth is stalled in the Georgia state
legislature.

18 -> Chemical Bank ATM Glitch Garbles Accounts 02/18/94 Chemical Bank
said all account balances had been corrected as of Friday morning after
a bug in new software caused automated teller machines in New York City
to double the amounts of customers' withdrawals and transfers on Tuesday
and Wednesday.

19 -> Apple Spanish Language Connections 02/18/94 Apple Computer
announced it is producing a Spanish version of its Language Connections
literature-based language arts program aimed at kindergarten through
second grade Spanish speaking students.

20 -> Company Results Roundup 02/18/94 This is  a regular feature,
summarizing company results not reported  elsewhere by Newsbytes: Sigma
Designs Inc., Zoom Telephonics Inc., Trend Micro devices Inc., Newbridge
Networks Corp., Brite Voice Systems Inc., PictureTel Corp., MicroAge
Inc., Telebit Corp.,  Tseng Labs Inc., BroadBand Technologies Inc.,
Hewlett-Packard Co., Credence Systems Inc., Optical Data Systems Inc.,
International  Microcomputer Software Inc., and Mirror Technologies Inc.

21 -> Networking Roundup 02/18/94 This is a regular Friday feature,
summarizing networking news not covered  elsewhere by Newsbytes this
week: SynOptics Communications Inc., Accton Technology Corp., Legato
Systems Inc., ACSYS Inc., Intel, Novell, Xylogics Inc., Oracle Corp.,
Dataquest, Microsoft,  Wellfleet Communications, Wollongong Group, and
Tricord  Systems Inc.

22 -> Newsbytes Off Monday -- President's Day 02/18/95 Newsbytes News
Network will not publish Monday, February 21, in  observance of
President's Day in the US.   We will resume publication on Tuesday,
February 22.   (Wendy Woods/19940218)

23 ->  ****150MHz Pentium 2/18/94  Intel, which has been making
private demonstrations of its new triple-speed ofPentium
chips, publicly demonstrated a 150 megahertz (MHz) Pentium at
the IEEE Solid State Circuits Conference (ISSCC) in San Francisco,
California on Thursday. The speedy Pentium offers more than double the
clock speed of the currently available 66 MHz Pentium.

24 -> IBM Withdraws Ambra From Europe 02/18/94 Just weeks after IBM in
the US combined several elements of its Valuepoint and Ambra PCs into
one range, IBM Europe has announced it is withdrawing its Ambra range
from the UK and European channel.

25 -> UK Continues Fight Against Online Porn 02/18/94 New proposals have
been issued to tighten the law which controls pornography. Newsbytes
understands that these changes include updates to the term "publication"
under the Obscene Publication Act 1956.

26 ->  ****IBM Unveils Combined Notebook/Portable TV 02/18/94 IBM is a
name more readily associated with computers than portable TVs, but the
company has just released a peripheral known as TV Tuner for its
Thinkpad notebook PC.

27 -> Intel Has 75% Of Microprocessor Market - Survey 02/18/94 Intel is
the dominate supplier in the worldwide microprocessor market in 1993
with 74 percent of the worldwide market share, up from 69 percent,
according to market research firm Dataquest. Intel's processors,
including the x86 family and the Pentium, are the brains of the vast
majority of IBM-compatible personal computers (PCs) on the market today.

28 -> AMD Offers Low-Priced 486SX 50 MHz Microprocessor 02/18/94
Advanced Micro Devices announced it has introduced the first
clock-doubled 486SX device running at 50 megahertz (MHz). The 486SX chip
offers potential users a lower price tag because it doesn't include a
math coprocessor, used to give graphics and other math intensive
operations a boost.

29 -> Review of - Grolier Multimedia CD-ROM Encyclopedia 02/18/94 Runs
on: Windows

30 -> Review of - Expert Office Design, 02/18/94 Runs on: Macintosh

(Wendy Woods/19940218)