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/nb022394

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(NEWS)(TRENDS)(BOS)(00001)

Networks Expo - Full-Screen VideoConf For 54 Users 02/23/94
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 23 (NB) -- At Networks
Expo, Datapoint rolled out Minx Network Video Systems (MNVS), a
series of desktop products designed to provide voice-activated
switched video to computer as well as non-computer users over a
local area network (LAN) or wide area network (WAN).

Unlike competing software-based, point-to-point (two-user)
systems from companies such as Intel and Picturetel, Minx provides
full-speed, full-motion video, and operates over multipoint links
connecting up to 54 users, said Peter J. Haimovitz, senior analyst
for the San Antonio, TX-based company, in a meeting with
Newsbytes.

Datapoint offers a series of four MNVS desktop systems, according
to Haimovitz. Each system is based on an external box, measuring
10.5-by-5-by-16-inches, that includes a port for attachment to
Datapoint's new Minx Cluster Server through unshielded twisted
pair (UTP) wiring or coaxial cable.

The Minx Cluster Server provides voice-activated switching of both
audio and video among conference participants during a multi-point
video call over a LAN. "You can think of the cluster server as a
kind of 'video PBX,'" Newsbytes was told.

The Cluster Server can also be connected to a switched long-
distance service, such as "switched 56," or to an earth station,
for multi-point video sessions over a WAN, he added.

Minx NVS 100, the least expensive of the four desktop systems,
attaches to an Industry Standard Architecture (ISA)-based PC,
and also provides input/output connections for audio and video
peripherals. Versions of NVS 100 are under development for
Macintosh and Unix, he added.

Minx NVS 200, another desktop system in the new Minx series,
features a numeric-style keypad that lets non-computer users
take part in a session with the video displayed on a VGA monitor.

Minx NVS 300 is aimed at allowing multiple computer and/or non-
computer users to share videoconferencing sessions in a room
equipped with a large-screen Video Graphics Array (VGA) or
television monitor. The system comes in two versions. The version
for non-computer users is equipped with a keypad.

"Feature-Paks" for the NVS 100, 200 and 300 provide options such
as video cameras, microphones, video overlay cards, monitors, and
WiniMinx, Datapoint's new Windows-based software package for
videoconference dialing and control.

Minx NVS 400 is a turnkey desktop videoconferencing system
consisting of an ISA-bus 486-based PC, Super VGA (SVGA) monitor,
video overlay card, two computer speakers, and video camera with
built-in microphone. The PC provides a floppy diskette drive,
preloaded MS-DOS and Windows 3.1, and WiniMinx software.

WiniMinx offers a "personal video directory" that lets the user
initiate a video call by pointing and clicking on a colleague's
name, Haimovitz said. The video directory can be quickly updated
through WiniMinx dialog boxes.

The software offers control panels for setting volume level and
screen size, and for tuning picture quality. Users can also
determine whether to receive visual or auditory signals of incoming
calls, or choose an "Auto Answer" option instead. The software
also provides a full-screen video preview feature that lets the
user identify the caller before answering.

The Minx Video Cluster Server incorporates an 8-by-8 video
crosspoint switch, an 8-by-8-mix-minus audio mixer, a Cluster
Video Adapter, and a Cluster Network Adapter. The Cluster Video
Adapter is a general purpose I/0 port for composite NTSC or
PAL video, audio, and link data.

The Cluster Network Adapter serves as a network connection for
the Minx Network Interface (MNI), and also as a single-coax or
UTP trunk connection to a Cluster Workstation Adapter in another
Cluster Server.

The Cluster Servers use adapter cards for linking to one another,
and for attaching the MNI, NVS desktop systems, codecs, cable TV,
VCRs, and other devices to the network. Up to nine Cluster Servers
can be connected in cascaded fashion.

Codecs are used for coding and decoding video and audio signals and
translating the information into digital form so it can be sent out
over a WAN through public switched networks. If wide area
connectivity is needed, the Cluster Server can be used with any
codec that complies with the CCITT H.320 video standard, according
to Haimovitz.

Datapoint offers its own CCITT H.320-compliant codecs, which are
capable of handling line speeds ranging from 56 kilobits per
second (Kbps) to 2 megabits per second (Mbps), depending on model.

Four FeaturePaks are available for the desktop systems. FeaturePak-
1, for Minx NVS100, includes a video overlay card, a video camera
with a built-in mike, and two computer speakers. FeaturePak-2, for
the NVS200 system for non-computer users, includes a VGA monitor,
a video camera, and two speakers.

FeaturePak-3 and FeaturePak-4 are both tailored to the NVS 300.
FeaturePak-3, for computer control, includes a video overlay
card, video camera, VGA monitor with high output speakers, table-
top microphone, and WiniMinx software. FeaturePak-4, for non-
computer users, provides a keypad, and an NTSC (National
Television STandards Committee) monitor with high output
speakers, a video camera, and a tabletop microphone.

The NVS 100, 200 and 300 desktop systems are shipping now, and
the NVS 400 is scheduled for availability April 14.  Pricing is
$1,795 to $2,995 for the NVS 100, $2,195 to $3,495 for the NVS
200, $2,995 to $6,495 for the NVS 300, and $12,500 for the
NVS 400.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19940222/Reader Contact: Datapoint, 210-593-
7910; Press Contacts: Patricia Coble, Datapoint, 210-593-7910;
Sherry Taylor, The Taylor Group for Datapoint, 210-366-4200;
Robert H. Strayton, The Strayton Group for Datapoint,
508-655-6965)


(CORRECTION)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00002)

Correction - DirecTV Using EDS For Billing 02/23/94
EL SEGUNDO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 23 (NB) -- In a December
21 story on Hughes' DirecTv direct broadcast satellite service,
Newsbytes reported that Computer Sciences Corp., would provide
billing for the new service.

Mary Rhodes, communications director of CSC, has contacted
Newsbytes saying that is not correct. "CSC did not sign a contract
with Hughes to provide billing for its DirecTv satellite service,"
she writes.

We appreciate the opportunity to issue this correction, and
apologize for the error.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19940222/Press Contact: Mary Rhodes,
Computer Sciences Corp., tel [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(SFO2)(00003)

Sony's MD Data File System Supported By Microsoft 02/23/94
SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 23 (NB) -- Now that many
standard PCs come with just one 3.5-inch floppy disk drive bay,
and the 5.25-inch format begins to disappear altogether, Sony
has unveiled a new technology -- MD Data File system -- capable
of storing 114 megabytes (MB) on a small minicassette, measuring
about 3.5-inches.

The drives are not yet available, but late in 1994 or early 1995,
Sony expects to have models that will fit in a standard bay,
similar to a CD-ROM drive. As part of the development, Sony has
announced a support agreement with Microsoft. Under terms
of the deal, Microsoft will provide the necessary data for Sony to
create a Windows-compatible file system. The agreement further
allows Sony to develop the minidisk data storage system for
Windows NT and the anticipated "Chicago" -- Windows 4.0.

The new MiniDisk system will be a read and write format which
Sony hopes will become a world wide standard.

According to Yusho Shichijo, a Sony spokesperson, "With the
increase of file size of single documents the size of 30MB, it
becomes apparent that a portable storage system be made
available for data transfer and storage.  We see the need for this
system in both corporate use and small office use, including both
networked stations and single desktop use."

Sony says it expects to make more announcements in the coming
weeks regarding hardware and media products. The company states
that they are the only company presently in the development of
MD Data File systems, and as the technology grows, a larger field
of competition will develop.

Sony claims that the  announcement of Microsoft support
establishes an open avenue for Sony to continue the development
of the entire system which is planned as a cross-platform
structure.

(Patrick McKenna/19940222/Press Contact: Yusho Shichijo,
Sony, 201-930-7664)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(HKG)(00004)

DEC In Workstation Pact With Leading Chinese Vendor 02/23/94
CAUSEWAY BAY, HONG KONG, 1994 FEB 23 (NB) -- Digital
Equipment Corp., and China's Taiji Computer Corp., have signed a
memorandum of understanding to develop a master reseller
agreement for DEC workstations and network products.

The agreement, signed by Wang Hui Tong, president and professor
senior engineer of Taiji, and J. Graham Long, Digital Asia's vice
president of sales, states that the two companies will jointly
set up a Digital Alpha Technical Center within Taiji. This center
will demonstrate Alpha AXP workstations and servers running
various applications, provide porting and localization, offer
benchmarking services, and support the sales force and resellers.

At a signing ceremony at Taiji's headquarters in Beijing, the two
executives agreed to provide sufficient manpower and technical
support to expedite the development of the Alpha Technical Center.
In addition to Wang and Long, the ceremony was attended by Wang
Zuyong, deputy chief engineer; Feng Changxin, vice general manager
and vice president; Nan Hai, assistant director and general
manager of the Computer Communication System Product Division;
Pan Lihua, director of Chinese applications, Xu Zhongquan,
marketing division manager and other senior Taiji executives.

"Digital's 1,000 plus customers in China are upgrading quickly and
will need the Alpha AXP technical and porting capabilities as soon
as possible," said Wang. "The lifting of US export restrictions will
increase the demand for Alpha AXP 64-bit RISC (reduced
instruction-set computer) computing in China. Taiji intends to
become the reseller of choice for the Digital customer base in
northern China."

Continued Wang: "There are many other industry segments in China
that are eager to upgrade their hardware and software. With the
Alpha Technical Center as our showcase, Taiji can demonstrate
many different applications for a wide variety of industries, such
as banking and finance, health care, telecommunications as well
as television and entertainment. We trust that this is the
beginning of a long and fruitful commercial relationship between
our companies."

Taiji Computer Corp., is backed by the North China Institute
of Computing Technology (NCI), which is supervised by the Ministry
of Electronics Industry. Taiji and NCI employ more than 2,400
employees, including over 750 engineers, giving the two
organizations substantial research and development capabilities
in addition to its manufacturing and marketing operations.

Taiji has developed financial systems for banks, insurance
companies, tax bureaus and post offices; controls for power
stations, metallurgy and petrochemical plants; telecoms
and telephone systems; and MIS (management information
systems) applications for trading organizations.

(Keith Cameron/19940221/Press Contact: Bonnie Engel,
852-805-3510, DEC)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(DEN)(00005)

Multiple Bus Mgr Allows 49 Drives Per Mac NuBus Slot 02/23/94
BOTHELL, WASHINGTON, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 23 (NB) -- Software
Architects Inc., has announced disk management utility software
for Apple Computer's Macintosh systems that allows as many as
40 SCSI (small computer system interface) drives to be connected
to a single computer.

Called MultiBus Manager, the software also provides asynchronous
data transfer capability for SCSI Manager 4.3 users. You can
display, mount, setup, format, partition and test drives on the
Macintosh's SCSI bus and on additional buses provided by the ATTO
Silicon Express II accelerator and ATTO SCSI Expander logical unit
translator. Hard disk, removable cartridge, and magneto-optical
drives are supported.

Software Architects says the combination of SCSI Manager 4.3 and
the custom-tuned drivers included with MultiBus Manager makes it
up to 33 percent faster than non-4.3 compliant Macintosh driver
software packages. When used on the Macintosh SCSI bus, MultiBus
Manager automatically selects and loads the appropriate custom-
tuned drivers.

According to the company, MultiBus Manager is unlike other
formatting utilities that provide driver tool kits for the user to
modify driver parameters to improve performance. Instead, says
Software Architects, MultiBus Manager drivers are custom-tuned for
maximum speed and performance by engineers who test and tune the
driver for each drive model. SA provides custom drivers for more
than 750 popular drives models. There is also a generic driver if
your drive is not on the list of supported devices.

MultiBus Manager allows the user to scan the connected drives and
select one from any bus in a single window. Volume information
about each drive can be displayed, and SA says any drive can be
partitioned in just a few seconds. You can also select the
interleave, split old partitions, selectively lock partitions for
read-only security, test for correctable and non-correctable
errors, selectively re-allocate defective sectors on the media,
and create, print and save test logs to track media degradation.

Software Architects says MultiBus Manager version 1.0 is
immediately available and has a suggested retail price of $99.95.
If you are currently a user of SA's FormatterOne software you can
upgrade for $39.95. FormatterOne was released in November 1993
and has a suggested retail price of $49.95. Foreign language
versions of MultiBus Manager are available on request.

(Jim Mallory/19940223/Press Contact: Marlowe Fenn, Software
Architects, 206-487-0122; Reader Contact: Software Architects
Inc., tel [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(APPLE)(DEN)(00006)

Aldus Ships Persuasion 3.0 For Mac 02/23/94
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 23 (NB) -- Aldus Corp.,
has announced it is now shipping Persuasion 3.0 for Apple
Computer's Macintosh platform. The company calls the new
release "a major upgrade."

Persuasion is a cross-platform software package for creating
and managing slides, overheads, and computer-based onscreen
presentations. The cross-platform capability means presentations
prepared on a Macintosh can be displayed on a Microsoft
Windows-based PC. Aldus says the new version has a redesigned user
interface, a new object linking and embedding (OLE) charting module,
new controls for slide design and output, and better support for
multimedia and onscreen presentations.

The re-worked user interface includes the addition of a floating
toolbox and palettes that are easier for beginning users to get to.
Users can arrange the text, color, fill, line, and other palettes so
they are immediately accessible on the desktop without getting in
the way of the presentation being prepared.

Aldus says the new release has an extensive selection of slide and
chart styles for users to preview. When an autotemplate is selected
from the thumbnail preview, the user is immediately taken to the
slide view and receives on-screen prompts on creating titles,
subtitles, bulleted text, and charts.

The autotemplate feature also includes slide masters that
automatically format title slides, text-heavy slides, text plus
graphics slides, and organizational charts with unique
characteristics. The autotemplates come with background colors,
compatible typeface, and design elements. Aldus says the latest
release has 60 new autotemplate designs included.

Persuasion's chart module now offers 84 different chart types and
a wide array of special effects. Both two- and three-dimensional
chart formats are included, accessible through a gallery of
thumbnail images.

Release 3.0 has four color models: red, green, blue (RGB); cyan,
magenta, yellow (CMY); hue, lightness, saturation (HLS); and hue,
saturation, value (HSV). Color and grayscale elements can be present
in a single presentation and users can view and print grayscale
representations of the colors in a presentation for black-and-white
overheads, speaker notes, and audience handouts.

Other enhancements include the ability to specify line weights and
create custom arrowheads and line endings. Straight lines, curved
lines, and geometric shapes are accessible from a floating palette,
and the program comes with a library of 500 ready-to-use color
clip art images. An auto jump feature lets the user interrupt a
presentation and branch to another slide, another screen show, or
another application in response to audience questions. You can even
run a Quicktime movie or display the Excel spreadsheet range from
which displayed data was derived.

Recommended system configuration includes a Macintosh IIcx or
greater, Centris, LC III, Powerbook 160 or greater, or a Quadra
computer; five megabytes (MB) or more of system memory available
for Persuasion; an 80MB hard drive; and System 7 or later operating
system.

Persuasion 3.0 for the Macintosh has a suggested retail price of
$495. Aldus says pricing and availability of the Windows version
will be announced later. Users of earlier versions of Persuasion
can upgrade for $150.

(Jim Mallory/19940223/Press Contact: Belinda Young, Aldus
Corporation, 206-386-8819; Reader Contact: Aldus Corporation,
tel [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TYO)(00007)

Sanyo Links With Taito On 3-D Video Game System 02/23/94
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1994 FEB 23 (NB) -- Sanyo Electric says it has
signed an agreement with Tokyo-based amusement software
maker Taito. The deal calls for both firms to jointly develop
a video game device and software, which supports three-
dimensional (3-D) pictures.

Under the agreement, Sanyo will develop a game device with a
3-D 40-inch screen for arcade game facilities or amusement parks.
Taito will develop the 3-D video game software. Sanyo's 3-D
screen system is claimed to be unique, in that it does not require
goggles or eye glasses. This is due to the company's original 3-D
screen, which creates the pictures.

The technology is called the auto-stereoscopic LCD (liquid crystal
display) 3-D display system, and was jointly developed with NHK
Engineering System and Toppan Printing in Tokyo last year.

On the screen, there are hundreds of convexed lenses which
create the 3-D pictures. The prototype video game system for
arcade game facilities has already been developed. It is used
with both a flight simulation and a car simulation game. The
game player sits in front of the large screen and controls a
car or an airplane, which is shown on the display.

Taito is planning to show the system at the Japan Amusement
Machine Operation Union Show in Tokyo this week. Taito will
start testing the system at major amusement parks in Japan in
April. The system is expected to become commercially available
this fall.

Meanwhile, Sanyo is also seeking to develop a home-use version
of the 3-D video game machine, which is based on a CD-ROM.
However, Sanyo is becoming very cautious due to the intense
competition in the low-end video game machine market. A number
of manufacturers are already getting involved, such as Sony and
Matsushita Electric, as well as Nintendo, Sega Enterprises, and
NEC Home Electronics.

(Masayuki "Massey" Miyazawa/19940222/Press Contact: Sanyo
Electric, [phone], Fax, [phone])


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

Pioneer Develops 3-D Software For Laser Disk Player 02/23/94
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1994 FEB 23 (NB) -- Japan's Pioneer Electric
has developed laser disk software which reportedly supports
three-dimensional (3-D) motion pictures.

The software comes with two sets of eye-glasses and the disk.
They are priced at 12,621 yen ($126) and will be released
at the end of this week.

Pioneer's latest 3-D laser disk software is called 3D Museum.
The software operates on Pioneer's laser disk ROM player, which
was released last summer. It is said Pioneer has incorporated
over 100 kinds of 3-D elements on one side of the disk. On the
other side of the disk, scenic pictures of mountains or fields
are included.

Connecting with a television set, the user will be able to view
the pictures in four ways, according to Pioneer. First, they can
use the glasses with paper lenses which are black on one side
and transparent on the other side. Secondly, they can view the
picture with the glasses with paper lenses in red on one side and
blue on the other side.

Thirdly, the user can use LCD (liquid crystal display) shutter
glasses, which change the picture every one-sixtieth of a second,
which is reportedly like seeing a picture through a camera's
shutter. This LCD shutter costs an additional 10,000 yen ($100).

Users of Pioneer's laser disk player will also be able to play video
games. As a result, the firm is planning to develop game software
for the laser disk ROM player in the future.

Meanwhile, Pioneer has announced its expected sales for fiscal
1993, which is ending in March. The company will reportedly
suffer from a sales deficit for the first time since it listed its
stock on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

(Masayuki "Massey" Miyazawa/19940222/Press Contact: Pioneer
Electric, tel [phone], fax [phone])


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

Japan - Matsushita Cuts Price Of Multimedia Player 02/23/94
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1994 FEB 23 (NB) -- Matsushita Electric has
unexpectedly announced that it will cut the price of its multimedia
player, which is scheduled to be released on March 20 in Japan.

Matsushita Electric latest multimedia player is called the "Real"
in Japan. It was jointly developed with 3DO in the US. The player
is already available in the US and was released last year.

The major reason for Matsushita to lower the price of the player
before it is even released in Japan is that it has not sold well in
the US market. As a result of the poor sales, the firm has decided
to cut the price from 79,800 yen ($798) to 54,800 yen ($548) in
Japan.

Matsushita's CD-ROM-based Real multimedia player was only
announced in Japan in January. It is reported that Matsushita
received strong feedback from software makers that the price
of the device was too high compared to other products on the
market.

Matsushita's Real supports not only video games, but music
and educational software. With the price cut, Matsushita hopes
to sell total one million units in Japan for the first year.

(Masayuki "Massey" Miyazawa/19940222/Press Contact:
Matsushita Electric, tel [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00010)

CompuServe Signs Network Deal With NIB 02/23/94
COLUMBUS, OHIO, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 23 (NB) -- CompuServe has signed
a network access agreement with the National Information Bureau
Ltd., Princeton Junction, New Jersey, under which NIB will
deliver its credit reports over CompuServe's packet network.

Spokesman David Kishler told Newsbytes that some media outlets,
most notably the Associated Press, accidentally reported that NIB
reports would be available to all members of the CompuServe
Information Service, the nation's largest, but that is not true.

"It's a network application, not a service application," he
explained. "NIB will be using our network to deliver their credit
reports to their own existing customer base. We simply provide a
local dial-up. Over 400 companies use the network for their
applications."

The confusion may have originated with the fact that both
CompuServe's on-line service and its packet network carry the
same name. Also, the network service's division press release on
the deal was headlined "Users Access Credit Reports Through
CompuServe Network." In fact, the users identified are NIB's users,
not CompuServe's.

In addition to credit information, NIB offers special software to
help its customers "score" the credit reports, and download the
data in a usable format. The company also manages the regulatory
approval process which must be followed by inquiring companies to
execute valid requests for credit information, which is otherwise
private.

In addition to credit reports, the company provides access to
Department of Motor Vehicle records, workers' compensation
records, social security indexes, real estate records, Universal
Commercial Code liens and judgements, Secretary of State
registered corporate and limited partnership records, criminal
histories, education and employment verification, and tax records.
All these private records can only be secured through a valid
request authorized by the person whose records are held, usually
through a job or credit application.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19940223/Press Contact: Andy Boyer,
CompuServe, 614-798-3351; James Stuart, NIB, 609-936-2941)


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

Spectrum Announces Big Loss 02/23/94
MANHASSET, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 23 (NB) -- Spectrum
Information Technologies reported a $12.1 million loss for the
quarter ending in December.

Spectrum, which offers technologies allowing delivery of data
over a wireless phone link, is now probably best known now for
having hired former Apple Computer Chairman John Sculley as
its head in October. Sculley later quit on February 7 and sued Peter
Caserta, the former Spectrum chairman who had recruited him to
the job. Caserta and Spectrum have since counter-sued Sculley.
There are also private Securities and Exchange Commission
investigations continuing involving Spectrum and its management.

Spectrum and its technology still have fans, such as analyst
Heiko Thieme, who said on CNBC after Sculley quit he still
thought the company is a buy. But the stock, which once traded as
high as $12 per share, fell to $2-$2.50 per share after Sculley
quit, and the latest news will not help either.

Spectrum blamed the loss on charges of $7.6 million covering a
shareholder class-action lawsuit which Sculley settled, and the
costs of closing its Data One subsidiary, which acted as a value-
added reseller for field computing solutions. Spectrum also noted
costs of two patent infringement suits Sculley settled, and the
costs of his hiring, in its earnings statement.

During the quarter Spectrum had total sales of $24.4 million,
against sales of $15.4 million a year earlier. For the first three
quarters of the 1994 fiscal year, Spectrum has lost $17.4 million
on sales of $65.4 million, against a loss of $6.6 million on sales
of $46.6 million a year earlier.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19940223/Press Contact: Dae Chang,
Spectrum, 516-627-8992)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(ATL)(00012)

 ****Industry Going To Court Over Cable Rate Cuts 02/23/94
WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A., 1994 FEB 23 (NB) -- The National Cable
Television Association will launch a court fight against rate
reductions finalized February 22 by the Federal Communications
Commission.

The NCTA's president, Decker Anstrom, released a press statement
following the televised meeting where the regulations were
approved. "Simple business economics tell us that additional
government-mandated revenue cuts will damage the cable
industry's ability to invest in new technology and programming
and to create new jobs," he said.

"While many of the details of these new regulations are still
missing, the FCC chairman predicted they will reduce industry
revenues by a total of $3 billion. No industry of our size can
withstand that sort of financial hit without serious consequences."
He also called the decision arbitrary, and said it would result in
more paperwork, forms and confusion.

The NCTA, which led the fight against the 1992 act reregulating
the industry, filed a court appeal of the original October rate
cut order on First Amendment grounds, as explained to Newsbytes
by Dan Brenner, vice president for law and regulatory policy at
the NCTA. "When you regulate the rates of a First Amendment
entity and affect content that raises questions," he explained.

Time Warner and other cable operators have also joined lawsuits
against the original order, while the city of Austin, Texas has a
lawsuit claiming the orders do not go far enough. The average
cable bill for "expanded basic service" is supposed to go down
by an average of seven percent once the regulations are final,
starting with bills sent in June.

On the new order, Brenner added, "We haven't seen the text of the
decision yet. They have up to 30 days to issue that. From then
they have to print it in the Federal Register, which can take up
to a week." At that point, the NCTA will ask the courts to stay
the rate cuts. Brenner indicated that a cost of service
proceeding may also be filed against the cuts, in which case
courts will have to rule whether the FCC action violates the
Fifth Amendment protection against government taking of
property without due process. Such claims have been used to
vitiate land use planning laws in the past, and are popular among
conservative legal scholars.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19940223/Press Contact: NCTA, Sally
Follmer, 202-775-3629)


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

AT&T Intros Disaster Recovery Options On Frame Relay 02/23/94
BASKING RIDGE, NEW JERSEY, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 23 (NB) -- AT&T,
hoping to boost its share of the market for frame relay services,
has announced a number of disaster-recovery options on its
InterSpan service.

Frame Relay offers dial-up data channels from 56,000 bits-per-
second (bps) to 1.544 million bps, the so-called T-1 trunk line
speed. Many companies have begun using frame relay to replace
private leased lines for sending data between mainframes or
local area networks. Some universities and other big data service
users also use frame relay for connections to the global Internet.

AT&T said it would offer two Site Recovery Options, using
Permanent Virtual Circuits, so if a data center customer suffers
from a fire or natural disaster, it will be able to quickly
re-route traffic to another site.

The company also signed a co-marketing agreement with Comdisco
Disaster Recovery Systems, Rosemont, Illinois, under which AT&T
customers will also be offered a Comdisco disaster recovery site
as an alternative to maintaining their own alternate facilities.
Comdisco now has 10 major computer recovery facilities and 30
network recovery facilities across North America, acting as
insurance for firms which depend upon their computers.

AT&T said once a disaster recovery "solution" has been
implemented, a single toll-free call can initiate re-configuration
of a customer's network. Most customers will have service
restored in as little as 15 minutes and those needing new sites
for their computers will typically have service restored in a few
hours, said Kevin DeRidder, InterSpan's Frame Relay Service
product manager, in a press statement.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19940223/Press Contact: Jan Baskin,
AT&T, 908-221-7738)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(ATL)(00014)

AOL Reorganizes Finance Services 02/23/94
VIENNA, VIRGINIA, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 23 (NB) -- America Online has
organized a new personal finance unit and signed a new deal for
bundling its software with Dell portable computers.

The new unit will be headed by Katherine Borsecnik, formerly vice
president-operations for the Software Publishers Association.
There are similar business units covering media, computing and
education/special interests.

Among the services offered through the new unit are Morningstar,
which offers information and ratings on mutual funds, which will
also have a forum where subscribers can exchange views on
investments and participate in live chats with Morningstar
analysts and fund managers.

Also the Nightly Business Report, a nightly TV show on business
headlines, will post information on its show and host discussion
areas. A tax forum is also being set-up, hosted by Charles Bish of
the firm Bish & Haffey. It will feature message boards, files, and
a weekly "tax help" chat each Wednesday evening. Also on the list
is Reuters news and forums on personal finance and tax software
products.

America Online also expanded its bundling agreement with Dell
Computer to include AOL software on Dell's new Dell Latitude
notebooks, a series of 486-based laptops made by AST Research.
The product's CommCentral software will include an icon for the
service under Microsoft Windows.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19940223/Press Contact: Pam McGraw,
America Online, 703-556-3746)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(BOS)(00015)

 ****DEC In 7 Video Trials, "Production Center" Planned 02/23/94
MAYNARD, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 23 (NB) -- DEC has
signed deals to take part in seven major trials using its Alpha AXP-
based video server technology. It will also soon announce a media
production center, to be located in the Northeast, that will
transform content into digital format for transmission over a
broadband network, Newsbytes has learned.

In an interview with Newsbytes, Charlie Christ, VP of Digital's
Storage Business unit, said that Digital is able to discuss its
participation in broadband trials by Nynex in the
Providence/Warwick area of Rhode Island, and by US West in
Omaha, Nebraska, along with a third trial by USA Video in the
Northeast.

DEC is currently precluded from talking about its role in the other
four trials, but will make an announcement on one of these trials
in the mid-March time frame, he added.

At the forthcoming media production center, Digital plans to work
with content providers, he noted. "We are emerging very strongly
as a leadership provider in this business. It started out at the
video server system level, but we're now expanding beyond that
and getting into offering services as a content integrator. An
announcement will come shortly in terms of major customers that
we now have who will be participating in the (media production)
center with us," Newsbytes was told.

Christ also reported that, to his knowledge, Digital is involved in
more major network trials than any of the company's competitors
in the video server arena.

Unlike competing mainframe-based products, DEC's AXP-based
video server technology is based on a distributed client-server
architecture that will allow video servers to be placed either in
a central office or anywhere else on the network, he maintained.

"We also use a modular architecture that allows us to be very
flexible in terms of the ability to deal with the unique
requirements of the telephone and cable companies we're
dealing with," said Christ.

Further, DEC is now re-architecting the AXP chip for a video server
processor that will provide much higher bandwidth, along with the
ability to handle anywhere from 100 to 100,000 concurrent video
streams, according to Christ.

The re-architected chip that DEC will use as its video server
processor is code-named Rawhide, and it is not the PCI-based
DECchip 21030 product that Digital announced this week,
Newsbytes was told.

In addition to the AXP processor, said Christ, Digital's video
server technology incorporates the company's StorageWorks disk
storage arrays, for hierarchical storage; Digital Linear Tape (DLT)
library subsystems, for archival or bulk video storage; hard disks
for active storage; and solid state storage, for buffering and
video management on the network.

Other components include an interactive gateway unit, a "server
management unit," and Gigaswitch, a high-speed networking switch,
first introduced in 1992, that has been used up to now in FDDI
(fiber distributed data interface) networks.

The "server management unit" consists of Unix-based video server
management software, written in an object-oriented language that
allows users to port in billing systems, systems administration
software, and other applications of their choice, said Christ. "If
you use our competitors' video server software, you get their
billing systems, whether you like it or not," he maintained.

DEC's AXP-based video server is also built to be able to
accommodate any vendor's set top box and any type of network
interface, including ATM (asynchronous transfer mode), he added.

At the set top level, Digital is currently partnering with
Scientific Atlanta, General Instrument, and Zenith, plus Philips
in Europe, according to Christ.

In one example of how DEC's video server technology might
ultimately be used, remote video servers could be combined with
storage to create "video warehouses," said Christ. "The remote
servers could be connected in through a series of regional servers
or content providers, in an architecture built around a coast-to-
coast ATM (asynchronous transfer mode) backbone."

(Jacqueline Emigh/19940223/Reader Contact: DEC, 508-493-5111;
Press Contacts: Gloria Bates, DEC, 508-841-6544; Lisa Burke, The
Weber Group for DEC, 617-661-7900)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(TOR)(00016)

Gandalf Intros LANLine "i" Bridges 02/23/94
OTTAWA, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1994 FEB 23 (NB) -- Making the best
use of wide area network bandwidth is the key point of new bridges
just announced by Gandalf Technologies Inc., according to John
Pelkola, brand director for the company's LANLine products.

Gandalf said the new LANLine 5225i and 5240i intelligent bridges
build on its existing LANLine 5220 bridge. The new models are
intended mainly for branch-office networking.

The 5225i is meant for on-demand dial-up or switched 56K and
64K digital links. The 5240i is an intelligent integrated services
digital network (ISDN) bridge with integral ISDN terminal
adapter, Gandalf officials said.

The LANLine 5225i and 5240i conserve wide area bandwidth in three
main ways, Pelkola told Newsbytes. First, they make connections
only when needed, over dial-up lines, instead of relying on leased
lines. Second, they use data compression to move data more
efficiently. Third, they use several tricks to cut down on the
amount of overhead traffic sent over wide area links when using
Novell Inc. IPX (Internetwork Packet Exchange) protocols.

Gandalf uses a technique it calls IPX spoofing to eliminate three
kinds of signals from wide-area IPX traffic. Devices on Novell
networks typically send out service advertisement protocol (SAP)
and routing information protocol (RIP) messages every 60 seconds
to let other devices know where they are and that they are
available for use. When a workstation is connected to a server,
there are also regular "keep-alive" messages in which the server
essentially asks the workstation if it is still there, Pelkola
said. IPX spoofing eliminates these messages from the wide area
network, he explained, simulating them locally.

Pelkola said organizations are increasingly eager to tie remote
branch offices into their corporate networks, and even to hook up
telecommuters' homes. They are also seeking to eliminate leased
lines and rely instead on connections that they pay for only when
they need them, he said.

Jay Batson, an analyst with Forrester Research Inc.'s Network
Strategy Service in Cambridge, Massachusetts, said technology
aimed at making the best use of wide area bandwidth is likely to
be a hot seller in coming months.

The LANLine "i" series bridges are available now, Gandalf said.
The 5225i has a list price of US$2,495, and the 5240i lists for
US$2,695. An optional U interface for the 5240i, eliminating the
need for an NT1 box, brings the price to US$2,895.

(Grant Buckler/19940223/Press Contact: Rodney G. Wilson,
Gandalf Technologies, tel [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(TOR)(00017)

Four-Port Print Server From Microplex 02/23/94
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA, 1994 FEB 23 (NB) --
Microplex Systems Ltd., has announced the M202, a four-port,
multi-protocol print server that it says can balance printer
loads by directing jobs to the printer with the shortest print
queue.

The M202, a stand-alone unit, has two parallel and two serial
ports, company spokeswoman Kim Parker told Newsbytes. All four
ports can be used for printers, or terminals can be attached to
the serial ports, turning the M202 into a combination print and
terminal server.

The load balancing feature lets users put slower six- and
eight-page-per-minute printers on a network and use them in
tandem to handle network printing, the company said.

The server also provides auto sensing and auto switching,
allowing printers without those features built in to handle jobs
using different protocols. It can also convert ASCII files into
Postscript, the company said.

Bi-directional parallel ports allow two-way communication with
printers equipped to support it, and alternatively printers can
send status information such as paper out and paper jam warnings
through serial ports while print jobs are being sent in the other
direction through the parallel ports, according to the vendor.

The server supports unshielded twisted-pair and thin-wire
Ethernet connections, and supports TCP/IP (Transmission Control
Protocol/Internet Protocol) , IPX/SPX (Internetwork/Sequenced
Packet Exchange), and Apple EtherTalk networking protocols.

The M202, due to begin shipping before the end of February, has a
list price of US$595. Microplex sells its products primarily in
North America and Europe but also in Australia and the Far East,
Parker said.

(Grant Buckler/19940223/Press Contact: Steve Balaban, Microplex
Systems, tel [phone] or 604-444-4232, fax [phone])


(NEWS)(UNIX)(TOR)(00018)

AT&T System 3000 To Run Transarc's Encina 02/23/94
DAYTON, OHIO, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 23 (NB) -- AT&T Global Information
Solutions (formerly NCR) has announced that Pittsburgh-based
Transarc Corp. will make its Encina on-line transaction processing
software (OLTP) available for the AT&T System 3000 hardware.

The System 3000, which runs Unix, will join a list of Unix-based
systems running Encina. That list also includes Sun Microsystems
Inc., and Hewlett-Packard Co. machines, among others. Encina is
also available for other systems, including IBM hardware. And in
early February, Transarc signed a deal with Digital Equipment
Corp. to offer Encina for that firm's OSF/1 variant of Unix later
this year.

AT&T also offers its own OLTP software, company spokesman
Chris Stellwag told Newsbytes, but wanted to provide a choice.

Encina is distributed client/server software able to support
multiple locations, hardware from multiple vendors, and a
variety of databases, Transarc said.

Officials said Transarc has completed a reference port of Encina
to Unix-based System 3000 platforms, and the software is now
going into beta testing. General shipment is planned in the third
quarter of this year.

Encina on the System 3000 is based on AT&T's StarPro Distributed
Computing Environment (DCE). DCE provides the networking,
communications, and security functions needed in an OLTP system,
the company said.

(Grant Buckler/19940223/Press Contact: Chris Stellwag, AT&T
Global Information Solutions, 513-445-4178; Mark Power,
Transarc, 412-338-4483)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TOR)(00019)

Bull IS Group Becomes More Autonomous Business Unit 02/23/94
BILLERICA, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 23 (NB) -- Bull HN
Information Systems has turned its internal information systems
unit into a semi-autonomous division that will provide computer
outsourcing and disaster recovery services to other companies.

The former US Information Systems Group of Bull becomes
Integris Data Services, and will continue providing information
services to Bull but also seek outside business, said Bruce
MacDonald, a company spokesman.

The target market for Integris Data Services will be "primarily
and initially" existing Bull customers, MacDonald told Newsbytes.
Company officials said the new unit will focus on both Bull's own
GCOS operating system and Unix.

The unit, which has about 200 employees, will have "increased
autonomy," MacDonald said. He added that this is part of a
general trend within Bull, in which the company is moving more
aggressively into individual lines of business. Earlier examples
are the creation of a manufacturing unit, a customer services
organization, and UniKix Technologies, created in late January to
tackle the downsizing market.

Integris Data Services will do processing for customers on site,
or manage their data centers through high-speed communication
links from its own operation in Billerica, the company said.

Jonathan Burbank, formerly vice-president of Bull US
Information Systems, has been given the new title of president
of Integris Data Services.

"We're finding that customers today are more willing than ever to
buy rather than make those MIS (management information systems)
functions that are not deemed core competencies," Burbank said
in a prepared statement.

(Grant Buckler/19940223/Press Contact: Bruce MacDonald, Bull
HN Information Systems, 508-294-6602)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SFO2)(00020)

"End-User" Computer Show Debuts In San Francisco 02/23/94
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 23 (NB) -- With
so many trade shows going on around the country, the task of
attracting an audience requires new concepts and increasing
budgets. Now SuperStores Inc., of New York, has produced the
first of a series of trade shows, designed to have end-users
meet manufacturing representatives and provide an immediate
superstore in which to make purchases.

Computer Authority debuted at Moscone Center, San Francisco,
California, to a small audience of attendees who were able to
visit representatives of more than one hundred computer
hardware and software companies.

Speaking with Newsbytes, Eleanor Packer, a SuperStores partner,
said, "We approached computer and hardware companies with the
idea of bringing them together with end-users, so that a consumer
can actually talk to someone in a company instead of a reseller
and then walk across the show floor and purchase the product at
a competitive price."

Among the many companies represented were: Borland, Microsoft,
Colorado Memory Systems, Canon, Microsoft, NEC, CompuServe,
Okidata, Traveling Software, Texas Instruments and Wyse
Computers. Speaking at various seminars and tutorials, were
Lawrence Magid, Computer Currents; Jim Forbes, Windows
magazine; Leslie Gartner, The Gartner Group; Crystal Waters,
MacHome Journal and Lisa Picarille, previously of MacWEEK.

According to SuperStores, this is the only show to provide end-
users direct contact with the manufacturers and developers, as
well as a computer superstore.

Said Packer, "It is not our intention to come in and outsell the
local resellers; we try to price products competitively and give
buyers a chance to learn directly from the manufacturers in
seminars and person-to-person conversations at the different
show floor booths. We have learned from this first show and will
be making changes in the future for taking the show to other
locations in Anaheim, Washington D.C., Boston, and Philadelphia."

SuperStores kept the registration costs low -- $8 for a single
day on the floor and $20 for a three-day pass that includes
seminar participation.

(Patrick McKenna/19940222/Press Contact: David Reich, Reich
Communications, 212-573-6000)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(BOS)(00021)

Networks Expo - 50 Vendors Unveil SIDF Storage Standard 02/23/94
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 23 (NB) -- In a standing-
room-only, two-part press conference at Networks Expo, Cheyenne,
Novell, Exabyte, Empise, and about 50 other vendors unveiled the
System Independent Data Format (SIDF), a new standard for data
interoperability in multivendor environments.

Also at the press conference, which was attended by Newsbytes,
Cheyenne announced the Architecture for Reliable Managed Storage
(ARMS), a company strategy for providing a wide range of storage
management services across diverse platforms. ARMS is
designed to ensure consistency in data interchange, system
reliability, user interfaces, and other elements of data storage,
according to Cheyenne officials.

As a key component of the ARMS introduction, Cheyenne rolled out a
series of new storage management products, and previewed other
products planned for 1994. Cheyenne also announced a strategic
relationship with Artisoft that calls for certification and co-
marketing of existing products from each vendor, plus a technical
alliance aimed at resulting in a native data management application
for Artisoft's recently announced dedicated server product.

In addition, Cheyenne announced support for SIDF, stating that the
new specification will promote data interchange across
participating vendors' storage devices and data backup "solutions."

SIDF 1.00b, a standard two years in the making, was recently
approved in a joint meeting of the SIDF industry consortium and
the European Computer Manufacturers Association (ECMA), said the
first speaker at the event, Jeff Platon, chairman of SIDF and
director of software production for Exabyte.

Hailing SIDF as "a landmark for the storage industry," Platon
explained that the new specification was originally speadheaded
by Novell, and was then spun off to the specially created SIDF
consortium to permit multivendor input into its contents.

SIDF is working with ECMA, he said, to "fast-track the
specification to acceptance by the ISO (International Standards
Organization)," and to "avoid being tied down by the bureaucratic
overhead of ANSI (American National Standards Institute.)" ANSI
is a traditional route to ISO standardization.

About 60 percent of the standards published by the ECMA have been
adopted by international bodies such as ISO and the International
Electrotechnical Committee (IEC), and their European counterparts,
the European Standardization Committee for Electrotechnics (CEN)
and the European Standardization Committee (CENELEC), according to
Mr. Jan Van Den Beld, secretary general of the ECMA.

Platon told the journalists that the Geneva, Switzerland-based ECMA
counts among its members such major international players as Apple,
DEC, IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Alcatel, British Telecom, Sony, Sun,
Storagetek, and Xerox. Novell will join the ECMCA to support the
further development of SIDF, he added.

Barbara Goldworm, director of management services, NetWare
Systems Group, for Novell, then presented an overview of the
evolution of SIDF and its relationship to Storage Management
Services (SMS), a Novell storage architecture that is part of
Novell's NetWare Distributed Management Services.

SIDF emerged out of Novell's Storage Management Services Data
Format (SMSDF), an earlier component of SMS, she recalled. "We
began working with our partners with the idea that this
specification might be used as an industry (standard). A lot of
issues were raised to make it a better platform for
interoperability, so now we're turning it over to (the SIDF
consortium)," she told the journalists.

SIDF is a data interchange format aimed at "vendor interoperability
in a mixed enterprise environment," as well as "software version
independence, media independence, and robust error recovery," she
said. In contrast, Novell's SMS is an architecture and set of
services designed to simplify development and provide operating
system-, hardware-, and platform-, and file system-independence.

SIDF focuses on representing file system information in a way that
will preserve native file system data, allow extensibility into new
environments, and permit vendors to add new features that will make
their products unique, without compromising SIDF compatibility,
according to the industry consortium. SIDF represents file system
information in groups or blocks. Each block is accompanied by an
indicator identifying the type of file information contained within
the block.

SIDF now supports the DOS, Unix, OS/2, NetWare, and File Transfer,
Access and Management (FTAM) file systems. In the future, the
standard will be enhanced to support new file systems without loss
of compatibility from previous versions, officials said. The group
plans to add new file system support through committee member
participation.

"(SIDF) really is a win-win," asserted Goldworm. Software
developers and hardware vendors will benefit from software
interoperability, while users will gain "reliable data exchange,
protection of historical data, and the freedom to choose between
vendors," she maintained.

Speaking next, James P. McNiel, executive VP of business
development for Cheyenne, explained that Cheyenne's new, two-tiered
ARMS architecture is comprised of "essential" storage services for
stand-alone and peer-to-peer workgroup, and "advanced" storage
services for client-server and enterprise computing at the second
level.

With Cheyenne's existing product line, plus the new products
launched at the press conference, Cheyenne has now completed 100
percent of the "essential" storage services needed for ARMS, and 50
percent of the "advanced" ARMS services, Cheyenne officials told
Newsbytes.

At the press conference, Cheyenne launched the ARCsolo family of
storage management products for DOS-, Windows-, and OS/2-based
standalone and workgroup PCs. The company also added
ARCserve for Macintosh to its ARCserve product line, which already
includes ARCserve for NetWare and ARCserve/Open for Unix
platforms.

In coming months, Cheyenne will expand ARCserve/Open to support
HP/UX, Sun Solaris and IBM AIX, according to McNiel. ARCserve/Open
already supports Santa Cruz Operation (SCO) and Interactive
Unix environments already supported, according to McNiel. Cheyenne
will launch ARCserve/Open for HP/UX next month, and the versions
for Solaris and AIX at a later time, he said.

In the "advanced" storage arena, Cheyenne introduced the Cheyenne
Optical Storage Manager for OS/2 at Networks Expo, and also
announced plans to roll out Cheyenne HSM within the next six
months. Cheyenne HSM will automate intelligent storage,
management and movement of data among on-line, near-line,
off-line and archival storage levels, according to McNiel.

Cheyenne also announced that DBagents are in the works for Lotus
Notes and Sybase. Designed to provide continuous backup to
databases, Dbagents are already available for Oracle, Gupta,
NetWare Btrieve, and NetWare SQL (structured query language).

Other advanced storage services now available from Cheyenne include
client agent services and Changer Option, according to McNiel.
Aimed at providing backup and restore services in heterogenous
environments through individual backup applications, Cheyenne's
client agent services include DOSagent, WINagent, OS/2agent, and
MACagent. Changer Option supports a wide range of tape changers
for automated high capacity data storage management.

In Cheyenne's new strategic alliance with Artisoft, which
constitutes another component of ARMS, Cheyenne's new ARCsolo
for Windows has been certified by Artisoft for compatibility with
its LANtastic peer-to-peer operating system. ARCsolo will also
support Simply LANtastic, Artisoft's recently announced entry-
level product.

In addition, Cheyenne will provide a native data management
application for Artisoft's dedicated server product that will take
advantage of the multi-tasking, 32-bit architecture to be used in
the product, according to McNiel.

Cheyenne introduced the ARMS architecture to provide a set of
standards to which all users are entitled, regardless of operating
system, computing model or storage device, McNiel added. "We refer
to these standards as `The Storage Bill of Rights.'"

Cheyenne's Storage Bill of Rights calls for data integrity and
system reliability; "optimal performance;" a common user interface;
data interchange; interoperability; local language support; device
and vendor independence; industry standards support; "complete
storage automation;" and choice of operating system and platform.

Industry standards to be supported through ARMS will include
storage formats and specifications, such as SIDF and SMS, as
well as transport protocols, such as Transmission Control
Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) and Novell's Internetwork
Packet Exchange/Sequential Packet Exchange (IPX/SPX), McNiel
said.

During a panel session at the close of the press conference, a
group of seven officials discussed the new SIDF standard, and what
they think the specification will mean to their companies and the
industry. "Novell is very excited to be building on top of SIDF,"
responded Novell's Barbara Goldworm.

"At Computer Associates (CA), we've been concerned about storage
for some time," noted CA's Mike Bunting. SIDF will help to make
storage more "manageable" for CA, because the company will no
longer need to adapt to various vendors' file formats, he added.

Concurred Marshall Barton, VP of marketing for Exabyte:
"Standardization is becoming more and more important, because
increasingly, storage is a hardware/software product. Portability
is becoming vital to growth."

"I view (SIDF) as very positive," observe Chris Christiansen of
International Data Corporation (IDC), who referred to himself as
the "token non-vendor" on the panel. Standardization on the
storage front should help to further the cause of PC local area
networks (LANs) by reducing the operating and maintenance costs
associated with these networks, Christiansen suggested.

Other speakers on the panel include Cheyenne's McNiel; Joel Davis,
VP of sales for Artisoft; and Greg Coticchia, VP of sales and
marketing for Empise.

In a Q&A session at the close of the press conference, Goldworm
was asked how Novell planned to provide continuing support to
users through SMS, in light of changes made to the NetWare
operating system from versions 3.x to 4.0.

"It took us some time to understand what the (SMS) interfaces
would be," Goldworm answered. "But we are very committed to
achieving continuity." Without SMS, she added, it would have
taken longer for the SIDF consortium to arrive at the SIDF
specification.

McNiel was asked to comment on the support Cheyenne has
received from other vendors for ARMS. McNiel responded that
Novell, Microsoft, and Hewlett-Packard are among the vendors that
have been particularly supportive.  Due to Cheyenne's especially
"strong relationship" with Hewlett-Packard, ARCserve/Open for
HP-UX will be ready sooner than other new versions of the product
for Unix, he added.

The 51 companies contributing to the new SIDF standard include
Cheyenne, Novell, Exabyte, and Empise, in addition to Hewlett-
Packard, Microsoft, IBM, Sun, DEC, AT&T, Intel, 3M, Sony, Compaq,
Eastman Kodak, and many small to mid-sized storage industry
vendors.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19940222/Press & Reader Contact: Jeff Platon,
SIDF, at Exabyte, 303-442-4333; Reader Contact: Cheyenne, 516-
484-5110; Novell, 800-453-1267; Press Contacts: Denise
Behringer, Cheyenne, 516-484-5110; Robin Lutchansky, Neale-May
and Partners for Cheyenne, 415-328-5555; Mark L. Dayton, Novell,
800-453-1267)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(BOS)(00022)

Networks Expo - Cheyenne's ARCserve for Mac, ARCsolo 02/23/94
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 23 (NB) -- At Networks
Expo, Cheyenne introduced the ARCsolo family of storage
management software for DOS, Windows-, and OS/2-based
workgroup and standalone Pcs, in addition to a Mac version of its
ARCserve backup software for networked and standalone computers,
and the new, OS/2-based Optical Storage Manager (OSM).

The products were rolled out at a news conference, attended by
Newsbytes, that also featured Cheyenne's introduction of its new
Architecture for Reliable Managed Storage (ARMS) storage
management strategy and the announcement of the System
Independent Data Format (SIDF) data interchangeability standard
by an industry consortium that includes Cheyenne and several
dozen other vendors.

The ARCsolo family, ARCserve for Macintosh, and OSM are all key
components of ARMS, Cheyenne's architecture for ensuring delivery
of consistent data interchange, system reliability, user interface
and other elements of storage management across diverse computing
environments, according to James McNiel, Cheyenne's executive VP of
business development.

With the rapid proliferation of data today, standardization of
storage products is becoming increasingly necessary, McNiel
explained at the press conference. The data explosion is being
fueled by the growing use of storage-hungry video, graphics, and
voice files, the executive VP added. "With the rise of (desktop)
telephony, we'll soon have voice files all over the network," he
predicted.

Cheyenne's new ARCsolo products for the PC desktop are designed to
operate independently of a server in the workgroup setting,
supporting most industry-standard drives, host adapters and storage
devices, including 4 millimeter (mm) digital audio tape (DAT), 8 mm
DAT, and quarter-inch cartridge (QIC), as well as optical devices.
ARCsolo also provides storage backup for DOS-, Windows-, and OS/2-
based PCs not attached to a network.

"ARCsolo brings the same highly reliable program and data file
storage management capabilities to the workgroup as our ARCserve
product brings to the entire enterprise. This is especially
(important for) small businesses," McNiel said.

ARCsolo features a File Tracking System (FTS) database aimed at
automatically maintaining a record of all files and directories
that have been backed up and archived, including their locations.
FTS lets users search for and access files based on their original
locations, without having to know the exact tape, according to
Cheyenne. Users can also print database reports, including tape
usage, lists of session, and activity logs.

The FTS database is also intended to streamline the restoration
process through a backup file tracking capability that allows users
to track how many versions of a file have been saved, and where
those versions are, rather than merely the locations of the most
recent backups. Backup sessions can span to subsequent tapes,
reducing operator intervention.

ARCsolo provides the ability to schedule a backup scheme for an
entire workgroup, including notebook PCs, instead of for one
machine at a time. Several backup scheduling configurations are
available, including backup scheduling on a monthly, daily or
hourly basis.

In addition, workgroup administrators can target certain drives or
selected workstations for backup. On most platforms, users can
employ up to seven tape drives with a small computer systems
interface (SCSI) host adapter, a feature designed to facilitate
unattended backup.

ARCsolo uses the same tape format as ARCserve, allowing ARCsolo
to act as a compatible supplement to ARCserve, or as an upward
migration path to the ARCserve server-based enterprise backup
system.

Also at the press conference, Cheyenne and Artisoft announced a
strategic relationship that includes support by the Windows edition
of ARCsolo for the LANtastic peer-to-peer operating system and
Simply LANtastic, Artisoft's recently announced entry-level
product.

In addition, the new pact calls for Cheyenne to develop a native
data management solution for Artisoft's recently announced
dedicated server product. The data management solution for the
dedicated server product will exploit the multi-tasking, 32-bit
architecture to be used in the dedicated server product, according
to officials. A migration path will be available from ARCsolo to
Windows to the backup solution for Artisoft's new product.

Joel Davis, VP of sales for Artisoft, said at the press conference
that Artisoft's products are targeted at the needs of small and
medium-sized businesses. Effective storage backup is essential for
these customers, he indicated, because otherwise, "If the network
goes down, their business is over."

ARCsolo for DOS 2.11 and ARCsolo for Windows 3.0 are available now.
ARCsolo for DOS and ARCsolo for Windows are list priced at $195,
and ARCsolo for OS/2 at $395. Competitive upgrades to ARCsolo for
Windows or ARCsolo for OS/2 will be available through June 30 for
$79.

Macintosh workgroup and stand-alone backup is offered through the
new ARCserve for Macintosh, officials said. In addition, NetWare
LANs running Cheyenne's ARCserve for NetWare are able to accept
storage jobs from Macintosh workstations using ARCserve for
Macintosh. Macintosh and NetWare backup can also take place in a
mixed environment, when Macintosh jobs are submitted to NetWare
servers running ARCserve Windows Edition and an optional MACagent
from Cheyenne.

ARCserve for Macintosh works with most industry-standard tape
devices, including 4 mm or 8 mm DAT and QIC format tape drives, as
well as write-once and rewritable optical drives, according to the
company.

In addition, unmounted AppleShare-compliant file servers can be
viewed and mounted as needed when creating job scripts. These
scripts can be saved to user-defined file names, and transferred
from one machine to another using the built-in Finder Copy feature.

ARCserve for Macintosh performs full and incremental backup, based
on date/time stamp, on individual folders, servers and machines.
The product also provides multiple filter options that let the user
include or exclude files based on date, size, file type, creator,
name, application and label.

A capability called Quick File Access lets the user search for
files. Restoration then begins immediately, according to the
company. Users can also perform real-time browsing on local and
remote machines, as well as volumes, to obtain information such as
name, type, AppleTalk version, format date, and last modified date.

ARCfile, an archiving option that creates one destination file per
job, lets the user organize cluster groups of related files for
category identification and retrieval. The product also offers
automated scheduling, password protection, and the ability to
configure individual machines to shut down after backup is
complete.

ARCserve for Macintosh is scheduled to ship in March at the
following suggested retail pricing: $245 for a five-user version;
$495 for a 20-user version; $295 for a 15 additional user pack;
and $895 for a 50 additional user pack. In a special introductory
offer, the five-user version will be offered through June 1 at 50
percent off the suggested retail price.

Cheyenne's new OS/2-based OSM, which is interoperable with DOS,
Windows and OS/2 clients, uses OS/2's Installable File System
capability to provides support for over 40 optical drives and
jukeboxes, including products from Hewlett-Packard, Sony, Laser
Magnetic Storage International (LMSI), and Maxoptix, officials
said.

Through transparent drive support, users can store and access data
as they normally would from a magnetic hard drive at a lower cost
per megabyte, the company added. OSM also allows LAN
administrators to handle the management and movement of files
from a stand-alone workstation or LAN server hard drive to optical
drives and/or jukeboxes transparently.

A file caching capability is OSM is designed to resolve the
bottleneck traditionally associated with accessing optical disk
jukebox storage, and a platter management and indexing strategy is
aimed at providing users up to 99 percent efficiency of optical
platters, minimizing storage costs.

OSM provides three levels of disaster recovery. Dynamic Platter
Backup performs fault tolerant real-time platter mirroring with
OSM automatically writing to two disks simultaneously. Periodic
Platter Backup carries out incremental platter backup at specified
times. Platter Copy creates full copies of complete platters. In
case of magnetic failure, OSM performs index reconstruction by
reading all optical platter files to extract index information.

OSM can be installed on any OS/2-compatible workstation or LAN
server (running under OS/2 version 1.3, 2x). Up to ten logical OSM
drives can be configured per system. Multiple SCSI adapter boards
can be installed on each server or workstation. Each SCSI adapter
board can support up to seven optical drives.

OSM is scheduled to ship at the end of this month, at prices
ranging to $15,000, based on minimum jukebox storage capability.
The Optical Drive Version supports an unlimited number of
standalone optical drives, and lists for $995.

The Optical Jukebox, which initially supports a five gigabyte (GB)
jukebox, lists for $3,495. Additional Jukebox Storage Options can be
purchased in different unit combinations to support larger capacity
jukeboxes. Storage Options are available in 5, 10 and 50 GB units
for list prices of $375, $750, and $3,750, respectively. Once 150
GB of Jukebox Storage Options are purchased, OSM will support an
unlimited amount of jukebox storage, according to Cheyenne.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19940222/Reader Contact: Cheyenne Software,
516-484-5110; Press Contacts: Denise Behringer, Cheyenne,
516-484-5110)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(WAS)(00023)

Bell Atlantic Mobile Offers Digital Cellular 02/23/94
BEDMINSTER, NEW JERSEY, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 23 (NB) -- Car phone
users in the Washington-Baltimore area now have access to
digital cellular service from Bell Atlantic Mobile. The new service
reportedly offers static free phoning, greater privacy, and greater
capacity in one of the hottest cellular phone markets in the country.

According to Dennis Strigl, Bell Atlantic Mobile president and
chief executive officer, the move to digital will help his company
meet heavy customer demand in the Washington-Baltimore corridor,
which grew by 49 percent last year.

BAM, a subsidiary of Philadelphia-based Bell Atlantic Corp., signed
up its millionth customer last December. "This digital platform
gives us the capacity to provide tomorrow's wireless choices for
voice, data and beyond," he said.

BAM is in the final steps of a three-year, $100 million plan to
move to digital channels. The company's rich Washington-Baltimore
market is the first to offer digital, using AT&T network
infrastructure.

According to BAM's Steve Fleischer, McCaw Cellular has a digital
network running in Florida and Southwestern Bell has a small digital
cellular system up in Chicago. Customers who want access to digital
service can purchase digital phones, which also operate on analog
systems where digital isn't available, through all the company's
sales channels, including its chain of Bell Atlantic Mobile
Communications Stores.

Currently, only Motorola digital phones are available, but Bell
Atlantic says it will add phones from other manufacturers soon.
The basic, permanent car model and the larger portable are $599
and rent for $19.95 per month, Fleischer told Newsbytes. The
micro-portable is $729 and runs for $24.95. Digital service is the
same price as analog.

According to Strigl, the addition of digital service will not orphan
consumers with analog phones. Bell Atlantic Mobile will still
support analog service, he said, noting that "there are almost 14
million cellular customers today in the United States with analog
cellular phones." For those who want to switch to digital, the
company is offering trade-in allowances on analog equipment and
rental programs.

Analog service treats telephone conversations as a continuous
signal. Digital service converts speech into bits of data that can
be compressed and reconstructed at the receiving end. That means
that they filter out static entirely, said Fleischer, and that
conversations can't be picked up on scanners, as is the case with
analog cellular.

(Kennedy Maize/19940223/Press Contacts: Steve Fleischer,
908-306-7539; Audrey Schaefer, 301-236-0222)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(WAS)(00024)

Telemedicine System Debuts in Washington DC 02/23/94
WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A. 1994 FEB 23 (NB) -- First there was
telecommuting, now there is telemedicine. United Medical Network,
MCI Business Markets and PictureTel, at a press conference at the
George Washington University Medical Center, have rolled out a
visual communications network aimed at healthcare.

The heart of the network is a group of videoconferencing systems
designed for healthcare applications by UMN, with MCI providing
network services and PictureTel providing the videoconferencing
technology.

According to UMN, hospitals, clinics, teaching and research
facilities, individual physicians and patients, can all be linked
together anywhere in the world through either point-to-point or
multipoint connections over telephone lines. The technology could
offer significant cost saving to providers and patients. The cost
for a one-hour, cost-to-cost teleconference would run about $55,
according to UMN, while a satellite or microwave hookup would
run as much as $3,000. The system can also bring patients in
rural areas access to medical experts and services not otherwise
available.

"Today more than ever, telemedicine has the potential to
revolutionize healthcare delivery and access throughout the United
States," said Michael O'Connor, president of UMN. "With the
integration of services and products through this alliance, we now
have the power to reach out with interactive visual communications
into operating room suites and rural clinics alike to provide access
to America's best doctors, reduce costs and increase the quality of
healthcare."

UMN says it spent more than a year testing its system design with
Doctors Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. During that period, more than
two dozen live, interactive surgery sessions were transmitted to
locations throughout the United States.

"The picture quality far exceeds our greatest hopes," said Robert
Potts, director of continuing medical education for Doctors Hospital.
"The systems allow us to present many types of visual images from
X-rays and CAT scans to pathology slides. The results have always
been outstanding and everyone has a hard time believing that the
interactive audio and video is being transmitted through standard
(digital) telephone lines."

Telemedicine also has boosters in Congress. "In 1993, I introduced
in Congress one of only three bills designed to promote the use of
telemedicine," said Rep. Larry LaRocco (D-Idaho). "In 1994, I expect
there will be many additional proposals. For my part, I will be
introducing my new telemedicine legislation in the House this
week, and I hope it will help promote the rapid development of
healthcare services delivery through electronic and
telecommunications technology.

(Kennedy Maize/19940223/ Press Contacts: Valerie Oravetz of
UMN, 612-330-0990; Ron Taylor of PictureTel, 508-762-5178;
Barbara Brabec of MCI, 312-819-6741; Terry Abdoo of The GWU
Medical Center, 202-416-0050


(NEWS)(GOVT)(WAS)(00025)

SPA Targets Brazil & Thailand For Piracy 02/23/94
WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A., 1994 FEB 23 (NB) -- The Software
Publishers Association has asked US Trade Representative Mickey
Kantor to target Brazil and Thailand under the Special 301
copyright protection program for failing to protect computer
software.

The Special 301 program gives the US government the ability to
investigate foreign countries that are not taking steps against
software piracy.

"Special 301 remains an effective means of prodding foreign
governments to fight software piracy and counterfeiting, and
secure intellectual property protection in their countries," said
SPA Counsel Mark Traphagen. "The software industry loses billions
of dollars each year to piracy, and Special 301 helps give software
publishers a voice in securing protection and enforcement of
copyright and other intellectual property rights."

"Picking Brazil was a judgment call," Traphagen told Newsbytes,
because Kantor's office faces a February 28 deadline to complete
an investigation of Brazil, which has been a problem for software
publishers for more than a decade. That investigation, Traphagen
said, could convince Brazil to change its practices. While Brazilian
law does protect copyrighted software, regulations restricting
market access for US software remain on the books. "If the
investigation leads to a bilateral agreement," Traphagen said,
"many of the problems may go away."

Thailand lacks specific statutory protection for computer
programs, Traphagen said. Legislation is pending in the Thai
legislature, he said, "but it hasn't been enacted."

SPA, the Washington trade association for software companies,
also recommended that the USTR place five countries -- Egypt,
India, Korea, Peoples Republic of China and Taiwan -- on the
"Priority Watch List."

"Piracy is a serious problem in these countries," said Traphagen.
"While many have laws that protect software, there is still
improvement needed in providing criminal penalties severe enough
to deter infringement."

(Kennedy Maize/19940223/Press Contacts: Terri Childs, Mark
Traphagen, tel [phone], fax [phone])


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

Windows Show UK - Zetafax 3.0 Fax Prgm Intro'd 02/23/94
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1994 FEB 23 (NB) -- Equisys, the Windows and
OS/2 connectivity specialist, has announced a major upgrade to its
Zetafax network fax software. According to the company, Zetafax
3.0, which is announced at the Windows Show in London this week,
allows network managers to control how users send and receive
faxes on their PC workstations.

Chris Oswald, the company's managing director, claims that the
package now includes the widest possible range of management
features, all of which can be configured under Windows. For example,
users can be restricted on what type of faxes they can send --
international calls may be prohibited, as peak rate phone calls
might also be. Itemized billing is available to track the cost of
each users' fax.

The fax viewer within Zetafax has been enhanced for use with
electronic mail and File Manager. Support for graphics has also
been enhanced to cater for GIF, JPEG, PCX, Targa and TIFF file
formats. It has also possible now to fax directly from within a
third-party application running under Windows.

"Our strategy is to offer the most powerful fax software for PC
networks a price similar to less sophisticated products," explained
Oswald, who added that, now that PC fax technology has taken off
in such a big way, he is finding that customers now need network
management features for fax, which, he said, is where Zetafax
comes into the picture.

Equisys has also introduced a new entry-level price point for
Zetafax with the arrival of v3.0 of the package. According to the
company, the new price of UKP350 for up to five users allows
smaller workgroups to enjoy network management facilities on
their fax software. In parallel with the new entry-level price,
larger site license prices have been cut by more than 30 percent.

Zetafax is still relatively light on system requirements, not
requiring a dedicated PC fax gateway. The package is available
for both Windows and OS/2, with a Windows New Technology
(NT) version under active development.

The package is billed as supporting Netware, LAN manager,
Windows NT Advanced Server, Windows for Workgroups, Banyan
Vines and NetBIOS-compatible network environments.

(Steve Gold/19940223/Press & Public Contact: Equisys,
tel [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(LON)(00027)

Windows Show UK - VMX Voicemail Debuts 02/23/94
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1994 FEB 23 (NB) -- VMX's Client Server
Software Division (CSSD), which claims to be a pioneer in the field
of voice messaging in the US under Windows, electronic mail
(e-mail), was demonstrating the latest version of VMXMail, the
company local area network (LAN)-based voice integrated Windows
e-mail system at the Windows Show this week.

The package is claimed to be the only software of its type on the
marketplace, something that Managing Director Ian McCalla views
as unexpected.

"As pioneers of LAN-based voice messaging software under Windows,
we have developed the product considerably over the past 18 months.
However, it is remains the only voice-integrated e-mail system on
the market," he said.

According to McCalla, VMX has a considerable lead on the
competition. The demonstration of the company's software, which
has yet to have a price attached to it in the UK, was staged on a
Novell Netware network linked with private automated branch
exchange (PABX) running Microsoft cc:Mail and Microsoft Mail.

(Steve Gold/19940223/Press & Public Contact: VMX CSSD,
44-71-351-5522)


(NEWS)(IBM)(LON)(00028)

Windows Show UK - Ethan Adams Unveils Worldox 02/23/94
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1994 FEB 23 (NB) -- World Software
Corp., which unveiled Worldox, its document management system
at Comdex Fall, last November, has signed an agreement with Ethan
Adams & Associates to distributor the package in the UK.

The key factor of Worldox is the package's ability to deliver a
common file interface to Windows applications, including
Microsoft Word, Wordperfect, Ami Pro, and Lotus 1-2-3.

According to Des Desai, Ethan Adams' commercial director, whether
the package is running on standalone PCs or over a local area
network (LAN), it will pop up in response to the supported programs'
native file commands such as "Open" and "Save As." Users can also
elect to run an application directly from Worldox, simply by
selecting a file.

According to Ethan Adams, Worldox was designed from scratch to
adhere faithfully to the principles of a Windows application,
claiming to make the most of a Windows' graphical user interface
(GUI). The package comes with a customizable tool bar that provides
push-button access to the its most commonly used commands and
features.

In use, the package's display supports "drag and drop" positioning
of data elements, including extended name facilities of up to 60
characters, file name and file size.

The profiling engine in the package lets users create up to 50
discrete profile groups. Each profile group is a complete profile
description, the company claims, including up to seven user-
configurable profile fields for files.

Pricing on Worldox is the UK has yet to be confirmed, Newsbytes
understands.

(Sylvia Dennis/19940223/Press & Public Contact: Ethan Adams,
44-530-560266)


(NEWS)(IBM)(LON)(00029)

 ****Windows Show UK - Lowest-Cost Laser Printer 02/23/94
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1994 FEB 23 (NB) -- Mannesmann Tally (MT) has
announced T-WIN, a personal Windows laser printer. The company
claims that the printer, which was launched at the Windows Show
in London this week, offers inkjet printing prices, despite the fact
that it is actually a laser unit.

The UKP395 laser printer is billed as the cheapest laser on the
market, yet it is still capable of four pages-per-minute, Newsbytes
notes. The need for electronics in the printer is kept to a minimum
(and so is the price) by using Microsoft Windows to do most of the
"driving" of the laser printer. As a result of this, the T-WIN looks
unusual in that it has few of the usual front panel controls -- most
of the functions are controlled by software.

According to Rob Lyszyk, an MT representative at the Windows
show, while this reduced the cost and size of the laser, the reduction
in processing power of the unit means that power consumption is
reduced. This circuitry automatically switched the machine off
when it is not being used.

Unusually, the printer does not emit any ozone, since it used a
special microfine toner cartridge. All consumables, the company
claims, can be recycled.

In use, T-WIN can be used with DOS applications, provided they run
under Windows, by using the PCL4 printer driver disk. There is also
an optional Postscript Language Compatible (PLC) driver.

Externally, the printer does not look like a laser, bearing more
resemblance to an inkjet printer. The unit has a standard inkjet
printer footprint, with a concave sloping from and a convex sloping
back. At the apex of the printer, the blank sheet feed unit slots
in, with printed paper coming out of a slot at the front of the
unit. Power is a standard 240 volts AC.

(Sylvia Dennis/19940223/Press & Public Contact: Mannesmann
Tally, tel [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(GOVT)(DEN)(00030)

 ****Compaq Carpal Tunnel Ruling Could Be Landmark 02/23/94
HOUSTON, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1994 FEB 23 (NB) -- A court ruling in favor
of Compaq Computer Corporation could lead to a landmark decision
regarding the responsibility of PC makers in carpal tunnel syndrome
injuries.

A Texas state court recently ruled in favor of the computer maker in
a case brought by a customer who claimed to have been permanently
injured by using a computer keyboard. The plaintiff, a former legal
secretary, said she suffered wrist injuries because she used a
Compaq keyboard and claims she can't lift more than five pounds with
her hands. She asked for $800,000 in damages and lost wages, but
jurors took less than an hour following the 2.5 week trial to
decide women and her attorney had not proven their case. Compaq
outside counsel Ed Hubbard told Newsbytes he expects the ruling to
be appealed.

Hubbard said the case is significant in that it is the first trial of
a PC manufacturer in a carpal tunnel injury. Hubbard said the key to
the verdict was that the plaintiff did not prove a connection between
the aches and pains and the use of the keyboard. Hubbard told
Newsbytes Compaq is just one of a number of computer makers,
including IBM and Apple, that face such lawsuits.

Asked by Newsbytes if this is a landmark decision, Hubbard said it
is always important to win the first case and sends out a good
message, but he is skeptical about it setting precedent. "It rarely
stops the litigation. You need to have several wins before you
begin to put a dent in it." He also feels there is a much better
chance of the Compaq ruling setting precedent if it is appealed
and the ruling is upheld on appeal. "That truly would be a landmark
decision."

The injuries frequent computer keyboarders are most often diagnosed
with is known as carpal tunnel syndrome, a tissue alternation
caused by force. Hubbard said medical researchers say it takes
about 80 ounces of pressure to start that tissue change. He told
Newsbytes that research shows even users who pound their keys only
apply about 8 ounces of force. Wrist braces are often elected by
frequent keyboard users or prescribed by their doctors to preclude
the condition. There are also wrist rests available which are placed
directly in front of the keyboard. They are marketed as reducing
the causes of carpal tunnel syndrome.

New York attorney Steven Phillips, who says he is representing
some 2,000 alleged keyboard-wrist injury plaintiffs in a case that
could go to trial this summer, downplayed Compaq's victory. "In all
these mass torts, the deck is stacked at the beginning for the
defendant. It always takes the plaintiff's attorneys a year or so
to get up to speed. I'm extremely confident," said Phillips.

Compaq still has three lawsuits pending in the state of
Texas.

(Jim Mallory/19940223/Press contact: Compaq Computer Public
Relations, 713-374-1564)


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

Newsbytes Daily Summary 02/23/94
PENN VALLEY, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A.,1994 FEB 23 (NB) -- These are
capsules of all today's news stories:

1 -> Networks Expo - Full-Screen VideoConf For 54 Users 02/23/94 At
Networks Expo, Datapoint rolled out Minx Network Video Systems
(MNVS), a series of desktop products designed to provide
voice-activated switched video to computer as well as non-computer
users over a local area network (LAN) or wide area network (WAN).

2 -> Correction - DirecTV Using EDS For Billing 02/23/94 In a
December  21 story on Hughes' DirecTv direct broadcast satellite
service,  Newsbytes reported that Computer Sciences Corp., would
provide  billing for the new service.

3 -> Sony's MD Data File System Supported By Microsoft 02/23/94 Now
that many standard PCs come with just one 3.5-inch floppy disk
drive bay, and the 5.25-inch format begins to disappear altogether,
Sony  has unveiled a new technology -- MD Data File system --
capable  of storing 114 megabytes (MB) on a small minicassette,
measuring  about 3.5-inches.

4 -> DEC In Workstation Pact With Leading Chinese Vendor 02/23/94
Digital  Equipment Corp., and China's Taiji Computer Corp., have
signed a memorandum of understanding to develop a master reseller
agreement for DEC workstations and network products.

5 -> Multiple Bus Mgr Allows 49 Drives Per Mac NuBus Slot 02/23/94
Software  Architects Inc., has announced disk management utility
software  for Apple Computer's Macintosh systems that allows as
many as  40 SCSI (small computer system interface) drives to be
connected  to a single computer.

6 -> Aldus Ships Persuasion 3.0 For Mac 02/23/94 Aldus Corp., has
announced it is now shipping Persuasion 3.0 for Apple Computer's
Macintosh platform. The company calls the new release "a major
upgrade."

7 -> Sanyo Links With Taito On 3-D Video Game System 02/23/94 Sanyo
Electric says it has signed an agreement with Tokyo-based amusement
software  maker Taito. The deal calls for both firms to jointly
develop  a video game device and software, which supports three-
dimensional (3-D) pictures.

8 -> Pioneer Develops 3-D Software For Laser Disk Player 02/23/94
Japan's Pioneer Electric has developed laser disk software which
reportedly supports  three-dimensional (3-D) motion pictures.

9 -> Japan - Matsushita Cuts Price Of Multimedia Player 02/23/94
Matsushita Electric has  unexpectedly announced that it will cut
the price of its multimedia  player, which is scheduled to be
released on March 20 in Japan.

10 -> CompuServe Signs Network Deal With NIB 02/23/94 CompuServe
has signed  a network access agreement with the National
Information Bureau  Ltd., Princeton Junction, New Jersey, under
which NIB will  deliver its credit reports over CompuServe's packet
network.

11 -> Spectrum Announces Big Loss 02/23/94 Spectrum  Information
Technologies reported a $12.1 million loss for the  quarter ending
in December.

12 ->  ****Industry Going To Court Over Cable Rate Cuts 02/23/94
The National Cable  Television Association will launch a court
fight against rate  reductions finalized February 22 by the Federal
Communications  Commission.

13 -> AT&T Intros Disaster Recovery Options On Frame Relay 02/23/94
AT&T,  hoping to boost its share of the market for frame relay
services,  has announced a number of disaster-recovery options on
its  InterSpan service.

14 -> AOL Reorganizes Finance Services 02/23/94 America Online has
organized a new personal finance unit and signed a new deal for
bundling its software with Dell portable computers.

15 ->  ****DEC In 7 Video Trials, "Production Center" Planned
02/23/94 DEC has  signed deals to take part in seven major trials
using its Alpha AXP- based video server technology. It will also
soon announce a media  production center, to be located in the
Northeast, that will  transform content into digital format for
transmission over a  broadband network, Newsbytes has learned.

16 -> Gandalf Intros LANLine "i" Bridges 02/23/94 Making the best
use of wide area network bandwidth is the key point of new bridges
just announced by Gandalf Technologies Inc., according to John
Pelkola, brand director for the company's LANLine products.

17 -> Four-Port Print Server From Microplex 02/23/94 Microplex
Systems Ltd., has announced the M202, a four-port, multi-protocol
print server that it says can balance printer loads by directing
jobs to the printer with the shortest print queue.

18 -> AT&T System 3000 To Run Transarc's Encina 02/23/94 AT&T
Global Information Solutions (formerly NCR) has announced that
Pittsburgh-based Transarc Corp. will make its Encina on-line
transaction processing software (OLTP) available for the AT&T
System 3000 hardware.

19 -> Bull IS Group Becomes More Autonomous Business Unit 02/23/94
Bull HN Information Systems has turned its internal information
systems unit into a semi-autonomous division that will provide
computer outsourcing and disaster recovery services to other
companies.

20 -> "End-User" Computer Show Debuts In San Francisco 02/23/94
With so many trade shows going on around the country, the task of
attracting an audience requires new concepts and increasing
budgets. Now SuperStores Inc., of New York, has produced the first
of a series of trade shows, designed to have end-users meet
manufacturing representatives and provide an immediate superstore
in which to make purchases.

21 -> Networks Expo - 50 Vendors Unveil SIDF Storage Standard
02/23/94 In a standing- room-only, two-part press conference at
Networks Expo, Cheyenne,  Novell, Exabyte, Empise, and about 50
other vendors unveiled the System Independent Data Format (SIDF), a
new standard for data interoperability in multivendor environments.

22 -> Networks Expo - Cheyenne's ARCserve for Mac, ARCsolo 02/23/94
At Networks Expo, Cheyenne introduced the ARCsolo family of storage
management software for DOS, Windows-, and OS/2-based  workgroup
and standalone Pcs, in addition to a Mac version of its  ARCserve
backup software for networked and standalone computers,  and the
new, OS/2-based Optical Storage Manager (OSM).

23 -> Bell Atlantic Mobile Offers Digital Cellular 02/23/94 Car
phone  users in the Washington-Baltimore area now have access to
digital cellular service from Bell Atlantic Mobile. The new service
reportedly offers static free phoning, greater privacy, and greater
capacity in one of the hottest cellular phone markets in the
country.

24 -> Telemedicine System Debuts in Washington DC 02/23/94 First
there was  telecommuting, now there is telemedicine. United Medical
Network,  MCI Business Markets and PictureTel, at a press
conference at the  George Washington University Medical Center,
have rolled out a  visual communications network aimed at
healthcare.

25 -> SPA Targets Brazil & Thailand For Piracy 02/23/94 The
Software  Publishers Association has asked US Trade Representative
Mickey  Kantor to target Brazil and Thailand under the Special 301
copyright protection program for failing to protect computer
software.

26 -> Windows Show UK - Zetafax 3.0 Fax Prgm Intro'd 02/23/94
Equisys, the Windows and  OS/2 connectivity specialist, has
announced a major upgrade to its Zetafax network fax software.
According to the company, Zetafax  3.0, which is announced at the
Windows Show in London this week,  allows network managers to
control how users send and receive  faxes on their PC workstations.

27 -> Windows Show UK - VMX Voicemail Debuts 02/23/94 VMX's Client
Server  Software Division (CSSD), which claims to be a pioneer in
the field  of voice messaging in the US under Windows, electronic
mail (e-mail), was demonstrating the latest version of VMXMail, the
company local area network (LAN)-based voice integrated Windows
e-mail system at the Windows Show this week.

28 -> Windows Show UK - Ethan Adams Unveils Worldox 02/23/94 World
Software Corp., which unveiled Worldox, its document management
system at Comdex Fall, last November, has signed an agreement with
Ethan Adams & Associates to distributor the package in the UK.

29 ->  ****Windows Show UK - Lowest-Cost Laser Printer 02/23/94
Mannesmann Tally (MT) has announced T-WIN, a personal Windows laser
printer. The company claims that the printer, which was launched at
the Windows Show  in London this week, offers inkjet printing
prices, despite the fact  that it is actually a laser unit.

30 ->  ****Compaq Carpal Tunnel Ruling Could Be Landmark 02/23/94 A
court ruling in favor of Compaq Computer Corporation could lead to
a landmark decision regarding the responsibility of PC makers in
carpal tunnel syndrome injuries.