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/mar_apr_94/nb032994

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(NEWS)(IBM)(LAX)(00001)

Toshiba Intros Light-Weight, Color Pen-Based Dynapad 03/29/94
IRVINE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994 MAR 29 (NB) -- Toshiba has
introduced the Dynapad T200 Series of "high-performance" color
pen tablet computers. The company says the new computers are
aimed at vertical markets and are light-weight, offer longer
battery life, a larger hard disk drive, and color.

Steve Lair, vice president of marketing for the Toshiba Computer
Systems Division said: "Our success in several pen computing
vertical markets including health care, utilities, and field-force
automation has enabled us to obtain customer feedback that
resulted in the new Dynapad T200 models."

The color screen is one of the new options. Available on the
T200CS, Toshiba offers a 9.5-inch dynamic super twist nematic
(STN) passive matrix dual-scan color screen. For outdoor
applications, users may opt for monochrome and the T200 model
offers a with a 9.5-inch trans-reflective STN-monochrome screen.

Both units weigh in at 4.4 pounds and measure 10.6- by 8.2- by
1.6-inches. In addition, an external Super Video Graphics Array
(SVGA) port is on both models for connection of an external color
monitor.

With three to six hours of battery life, the Dynapad T200 line
offers a 40 megahertz (MHz) 3.3-volt Intel i486DX2 processor,
local bus video, hardware graphics acceleration, an 80 megabyte
(MB) hard disk drive, and 4MB of random access memory (RAM)
expandable to 20MB. It takes three hours to recharge the battery
when the unit is off and eight hours to bring the battery up when
the unit is in use, Toshiba said.

Two separate Personal Computer Memory Card International
Association (PCMCIA) expansion slots, a five millimeter (mm)
Type II and 10.5 (mm) Type III are also included for optional
accessories such as communications and hard disk drives.

In addition, Toshiba is offering users a choice between three
pen-based operating systems: Windows for Pen Computing,
Penright, and Pen DOS.

Pricing information has not been announced, but will be
released when the new Dynapad models ship in April, a Toshiba
representatives said. A three-year warranty and toll-free
technical support is also available.

(Linda Rohrbough/19940328/Press Contact: Howard Emerson,
Toshiba, tel [phone], fax [phone]; Public Contact,
Information or Dealer Referrals, Toshiba, 800-334-3445/PHOTO)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(SYD)(00002)

Report Critical Of Australian Gov't IT Buying Habits 03/29/94
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1994 MAR 29 (NB) -- The Bevis report into
Australian Government Procurement is highly critical of
government buying policies and practices, claiming "appalling
failure of policy administration." It also says there is "totally
inadequate monitoring of expenditure" and "attitudinal problems
among government purchasers."

The recent report contains 45 recommendations, including: the
establishment of a government funded National Procurement Board;
abolition of the Department of Administrative Services (DAS)
Common Use Contract commission; and the adoption of an
electronic trading environment.

The report does not deal exclusively with IT (information
technology) procurement, but many of its recommendations should
be welcomed by the Australian IT industry, comment analysts. It
was conducted by the house of Representatives Standing
Committee on Industry, Science and Technology.

The report finds that the Australian/New Zealand (ANZ) suppliers
share of Australian government procurement is considerably lower
than that of competing OECD nations.

"This is a cause of great alarm" said the report. Calculation of the
benefits which flow to the local economy from using local suppliers
is seen as too complex by many purchasing officers, despite
evidence that government procurement plays an important role in
industry development. The report recommends that the wording of
industry development guidelines that are meant to encourage local
industry be changed from "maximizing opportunities for ANZ
suppliers" to "maximizing ANZ content of purchases."

Responding to the report, the Australian Information Industry
Association (AIIA) warned that the proposed National Procurement
Board could add new levels of bureaucracy and cost, and that
setting up the mandatory local content would be tantamount to
tariff protection.

(Kester Cranswick & Computer Daily News/19940325)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(SFO)(00003)

Trimble Intros Low-Cost Geoexplorer GPS 03/29/94
SUNNYVALE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994 MAR 29 (NB) --Satellite-
based navigation technology is becoming more practical and
economical for many different applications. Now, Trimble
Navigation, developer of the Pathfinder global positioning system
(GPS) product line, has added Geoexplorer to its line of GPS
products.

In order to expand its user-base, GPS technology for land,
seismic, and hydrographic survey use by government, military and
commercial users requires a cost effective and user-friendly
environment.

According to the company, Geoexplorer is a low-cost, palm-sized
unit weighing just 14 ounces, and is designed to attract first-time
buyers who need a multi-purpose, easy-to-learn GPS tool. Typical
applications include public utility projects and studies, resources
management, urban maintenance and development, and general
mapping projects.

Geoexplorer, using Trimble's Geo-PC software, is accurate
down to two to five meters and with Trimble's optional
Decimeter software data may be processed to sub-meter
accuracy.

Another optional software package, PFINDER, allows users to add
descriptive attributes to geographical data. Geoexplorer data is
transferable to a number of different geographical information
systems (GIS).

Barbara Thomas, spokesperson for Trimble, told Newsbytes,
"This is the first time anyone has come out with an affordable,
hand-held unit at this price with all of these features. We believe
that this will enable utility companies to more easily send
technicians into the field with a GPS product that is affordable
and easy to learn. With lower cost and the ease of portability,
companies have the opportunity to put more units in the hands
of their employees."

Continued Thomas: "We are arranging for tests of Geoexplorer
on a scientific research project that will take scientists up
K-2 for soil testing, geographical movement and mapping
activities. We will also be using Geoexplorer on a Himalayan
trip that is being developed to find and remove 2,000 pounds of
debris left by various expeditions over the years."

Earlier GPS products have sold for more that $6,000. According
to the company, the $2,995 price of Geoexplorer will encourage
a lot of first-time buyers. The product, running on AA batteries
or lithium batteries,  should be available at the beginning of May.

(Patrick McKenna/19940328/Press Contact: Barbara Thomas,
Trimble, 408-481-7808)


(NEWS)(IBM)(SFO)(00004)

Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing! 3.0 For Windows Intro'd 03/29/94
NOVATO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994 MAR 29 (NB) -- After selling
more than two million copies of its Mavis Beacon typing tutor
program, The Software Toolworks has introduced Mavis Beacon
Teaches Typing! version 3 for Windows.

According to the company, the new version offers improved
analysis, more customized lessons, new skill games, different
text library, and additional color support.

Using artificial intelligence (AI) technology, the new version
simulates a typing teacher who is able to gauge a student's
problems and improvements and create on-the-fly customized
lessons. The AI is capable of detecting a student's frustration
level and making the necessary changes in the lesson to
accommodate the user.

Speaking with Newsbytes, company spokesperson Tracy Egan,
said, "We are constantly improving our products with the use of
our learning specialists and an ever-improving technology. In
June, we will be releasing our children's (eight and under)
version, Mavis Beacon Keyboard Adventures. Sometime in 1994
we will be releasing a Windows version on CD that will
incorporate the features of multimedia technology and address
carpal tunnel syndrome."

Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing! version 3 requires an IBM-
compatible PC, at least a 386 processor running at 33 megahertz
(MHz), four megabytes (MB) RAM, 6MB of hard disk space and
Windows 3.1 or higher. It should be available in stores by April
1 priced at $49.95.

(Patrick McKenna/19940328/Press Contact: Tracy Egan, The
Software Toolworks, 415-883-3000)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(LON)(00005)

Italy - Olivetti Wins Cellular Telecoms License 03/29/94
ROME, ITALY, 1994 MAR 29 (NB) -- Olivetti, the Italian electronics
company, has won a tender for the second cellular phone network
in Italy.

Olivetti's consortium, known as Omnitel-Pronto, has Olivetti
leading the team with 35.5 percent stake, and Bell Atlantic,
Mannesmann, and PacTel Corporation taking up the remainder.

Details on when the network will go live in Italy are scare,
however, Newsbytes notes that the original tender for licenses
called upon the network service provider to have at least part of
its network online by the late summer.

Olivetti has formed a joint venture with Ferrovie dello Stato (FdS),
the Italian state railway company, to manage its existing private
railway phone network. Now that Omnitel has gained its license, it
is almost certain that Olivetti will run Italy's second mobile phone
network using the FdS phone network to switch calls between base
stations, as well as routing "breakout" calls on to the SIP (Italy's
state phone network).

A breakout call is one where the call progresses as far as possible
over a private phone network, only routing out to the public network
on a local call basis to the destination number which is also on the
public network.

Using the FdS rail phone network will, Olivetti claims, enable its
planned cellular service to undercut existing and planned mobile
networks.

Olivetti has gambled heavily that Omnitel and its planned associated
mobile phone sales division will be a success. Despite laying off
thousands of staff and seeing its share price fluctuate, the Italian
giant is investing 2,000,000 million lire into mobile telephony.

(Sylvia Dennis & Steve Gold/19940329/Press & Public Contact:
Olivetti, tel [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LON)(00006)

Italian-German Telecoms Giant Looms 03/29/94
ROME, ITALY, 1994 MAR 29 (NB) -- STET, the Italian state-controlled
telecoms company, has announced plans to form a joint venture
operation with Siemens, the German electronics group. Both
companies have invested an unspecified amount in the project,
which will create an as-yet unnamed major company in the
international telecoms arena.

According to officials with STET, the joint venture company is
aiming for a slice of the international telephone products and
services marketplace, with some sources quoting plans for a first
year turnover of around $2,000 million.

The deal is the culmination of several months of discussions between
the two telecoms companies, Newsbytes notes. Over the last year,
speculative reports had STET interested in doing deals with AT&T,
MCI and British Telecom, among others.

According to a spokesman for Siemens, the deal will allow both
companies to offer their respective telecoms services outside of
their home countries. "The $2,000 million is a bit high, but it
includes an element of our existing international business," the
spokesman told Newsbytes.

(Sylvia Dennis/19940329/Press & Public Contact: STET,
tel [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(LON)(00007)

UK - BT Slashes Cost Of Int'l High-Speed Data Comms 03/29/94
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1994 MAR 29 (NB) -- British Telecom (BT) has
announced it is cutting the cost of its integrated services digital
network (ISDN) and kilostream/megastream network links to the US.

According to BT, the reason for the price cuts is the arrival of
other telecoms players to market, almost all of whom are
undercutting BT's rates. Also, Newsbytes notes, the liberalization
of the telecoms marketplace has meant that US carriers can now
legally sell their services to UK companies for transmission
circuits to the US.

BT currently has 25 different tariffs for high speed data calls to
the US over its ISDN and packet switched circuits. All of the
tariffs have been cut, Newsbytes understands, but by differing
amounts to meet the competition.

In a prepared statement, BT claims that the cost of a typical
videoconferencing circuit, using two ISDN 64,000 bits-per-second
(bps) data channels, has fallen from UKP123 to UKP92, a reduction
of just over 25 percent.

(Steve Gold/19940329/Press & Public Contact: British Telecom,
44-71-356-5000)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(LON)(00008)

France Telecom Offers Transatlantic Digital Video Link 03/29/94
PARIS, FRANCE, 1994 MAR 29 (NB) -- France Telecom (FT) has
revealed details of a new transatlantic digital video link offer for
both ad-hoc and permanent services. The offer is an initiative
between France Telecom, Keystone Communications, and Maxat.

According to FT, the alliance between the three companies will
provide customers with a global account management service, as
well as "one stop shopping" from their preferred country, at an
identical price.

The backbone to the digital links is a set of permanent two-way data
circuits that all three companies maintain between France, the UK
and the US. Customers will have the choice, France Telecom claims,
of having direct access from New York and Washington in the US and
Paris or London in Europe. All three companies can also provide
onward transmission, if required, from Eastern Europe to the Pacific
Rim.

"This a truly unified service that will establish Keystone, France
Telecom and Maxat, already major players in their own markets, as
companies with global video capability," explained peter Marshall,
Keystone's president, on behalf of the alliance.

"We believe we will effective meet the market needs for very
attractively priced transatlantic video services, thereby
strengthening our relationship with broadcasters, and also creating
a pipeline for other services such as multimedia. A digital service
is the ideal solution in accommodating the forecast increase in
transatlantic traffic," he said.

(Steve Gold/19940329/Press & Public Contact: Maxat (London),
Debbie Smith, 44-71-753-3622)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(LON)(00009)

IBM France To Distribute CA-Unicenter For RS/6000 AIX 03/29/94
PARIS, FRANCE, 1994 MAR 29 (NB) -- IBM France has signed an
agreement with Computer Associates, terms of which call for Big
Blue's French operation to distribute CA-Unicenter for AIX (IBM's
flavor of Unix) on the IBM RISC (reduced instruction-set computing)
System/6000 computer.

According to Computer Associates (CA), the deal gives IBM the
opportunity to offer multi-platform and multi-vendor licenses for
CA's client/server systems management "solution." CA says it will
provide support and maintenance directly to customers, with IBM
supplying its clients with training and on-site assistance.

"Open system administration is dependent on the emergence of
reliable standards," explained Jean-Louis Descharreaux, the director
of IBM France's AIX systems division, who added that CA-Unicenter
is a good "solution" for customers, since it enables "clients to take
advantage of proven systems management for client/server
environments."

CA-Unicenter is CA's multi-platform systems management offering
for the client/server marketplace. The package has just entered beta
test release for the RS/6000 environment, with other versions under
development for OS/2, Netware and Windows, as well as various
other Unix environments.

CA claims that it is the only independent software vendor to offer
distributed systems management that connects Unix, local area
network (LAN), mainframe and other environments, allowing them
all to be managed from workstations throughout the network.

(Steve Gold/19940329/Press & Public Contact: Jerri
Lomas, Computer Associates UK, tel [phone],
fax [phone])


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(TOR)(00010)

Protec Intros Pocket PC Ethernet Adapter 03/29/94
POINTE CLAIRE, QUEBEC, CANADA, 1994 MAR 29 (NB) -- Protec
Microsystems Inc., has announced a pocket Ethernet adapter, aimed
mainly at portable computer (PC) users who need to hook up to a
network when in the office.

Protec's NetAdvantage EPL attaches to the parallel port of any
computer and is about the size of a pack of cards. While it will
appeal mainly to notebook and laptop computer users, company
spokeswoman Blanca Novoa told Newsbytes, it could be used with
desktop computers as well. For instance, it would be a way of
connecting to a network a computer that has no expansion slots
available to take a standard Ethernet adapter. It could also be
used to connect a PC to a network temporarily, she said.

The adapter supports communication at 10 megabits-per-second
(Mbps), the standard speed of Ethernet networks, Novoa said.

According to the vendor, the NetAdvantage EPL can be used with a
range of network operating systems, including Novell Inc.'s
NetWare, Artisoft Inc.'s LANtastic, Microsoft Corp.'s LAN
Manager, and Banyan Systems Inc.'s VINES.

The input/output (I/O) base address and interrupt are set
automatically with no conflict problems, according to Protec.
The NetAdvantage complies with the Institute of Electrical and
Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.3 standard and offers a choice
of BNC 10Base-2 or RJ-45 10Base-T connectors.

It has a 32 kilobyte (KB) memory buffer and electronically erasable
programmable read-only memory (EEPROM) for configuration storage,
plus three diagnostic light-emitting diodes (LEDs) that indicate
power, transmit, and linking/receiving.

The suggested retail price is US$219 or C$289, and the unit is
now shipping.

(Grant Buckler/19940329/Press Contact: Blanca Novoa, Protec
Microsystems, tel [phone], fax [phone]/PHOTO)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(LAX)(00011)

Interactive Ads To Become Major Marketing Tool 03/29/94
SAN MATEO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994 MAR 29 (NB) -- The notion of
consumers being able to choose what advertising information they
receive is already becoming a reality, according to a report in
the April 1994 issue of Newmedia Magazine. Interactive advertising
is expected to become the dominant sales tool in the next 10 to 20
years and is already being implemented with technology currently
available.

The big brother of direct marketing techniques already being
used -- like coupons, 800 numbers, and informercials -- interactive
advertising really is not new. It is just a new way to implement an
old idea.

In France, advertisers are testing a $35 handheld unit that
rewards consumers for watching commercials. The unit collects
"Multipoints," which are redeemable for prizes, which users
gather by pressing the unit against their television screen
during commercials. Code numbers displayed in print and billboard
advertising can be input as well. The next step are set-top boxes
that will print a coupon or some other incentive to entice users to
answer questions, Newmedia says.

It is the collection of demographics on the consumer that worries
those concerned about privacy. Databases containing information
on consumers will be a lot more specific and advertisers will be
able to pinpoint consumers with increased accuracy -- which is
the enticement that makes advertisers willing to turn so much
control over to the consumer. But with smaller market target
segments, more tailored approaches will be needed and economy
will be increasingly important, the article argues, which could
open up opportunities for smaller advertising agencies.

(Linda Rohrbough/19940329/Press Contact: Kelvin Fincher, Criswell
Communications for Newmedia Magazine, tel [phone],
fax [phone])


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(DEN)(00012)

Megahertz Corp Intros PCMCIA Ethernet Adapter 03/29/94
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH, U.S.A., 1994 MAR 29 (NB) -- Megahertz
Corp., has announced a PCMCIA (Personal Computer Memory Card
International Association) Ethernet adapter that allows mobile
computer users to hook into a local area network (LAN).

PCMCIA is the designation of the industry standard for credit
card-sized peripheral devices used in portable computers. Cards are
available as data/fax modems, data storage, network connections,
programs and other services.

According to the company the Megahertz PCMCIA Ethernet Adapter
provides up to two times faster throughput than parallel port
Ethernet adapters. The new card will be available March 31, 1994,
in 10Base-T and 10Base-2 configurations, and will have a
suggested retail price of $259.

Megahertz says its PCMCIA Ethernet Adapter will be compatible
with most notebook and palmtop computers including AST, Compaq,
Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Toshiba, and Zenith. Megahertz provides
drivers that support Novell Netware, Microsoft LAN Manager, IBM
LAN Server, Banyan Vines and other network software.

The company says the adapter is user installable and comes with
menu-driven software that "walks" the customer through the
installation and setup. Once installed the card enables "hot
swapping," the ability to remove the network adapter and install
another PCMCIA device while the computer is running.

According to International Data Corporation (IDC) the PCMCIA
Ethernet adapter market is expected to grow by 250 percent this
year. IDC predicts more than 400,000 adapters will ship in 1994,
compared to about 124,000 last year.

(Jim Mallory/19940329/Press Contact: Andrew Capener, Megahertz
Corp., 801-320-7701; Reader Contact: Megahertz, 801-320-7777)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(DEN)(00013)

Kodak Forms Digital Imaging Business Unit 03/29/94
ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1994 MAR 29 (NB) - Eastman Kodak,
of camera and film fame, has announced it will form a digital
imaging business unit.

The company says the new business unit, dubbed Digital and Applied
Imaging, will initially be comprised of several existing Kodak
units, including Applied Imaging, CD Imaging, Printer Products,
and The Equipment and Software Platform Center.

Jack Thomas, president of Kodak's Imaging Group, says the company's
traditional business will continue to furnish the majority of its
earnings for a long time, but points out that digital imaging is
growing faster than conventional photography. "To share in this
growth we must be successful in exploiting our own electronic
technology in the marketplace. It is time to focus special attention
on both traditional and digital growth opportunities."

Kodak Chairman, President and CEO George Fisher says the
announcement marks the first step in Kodak's strategy to move the
Kodak brand into the electronics world. Fisher was brought in to
head the company recently after a period of economic decline,
replacing Kay Whitmore. Fisher says the new organization will build
on the Kodak brand for capture, storage, communication, soft display
and hard copy output of imaging.

Kodak spokesperson Paul McAfee told Newsbytes existing products
such as Photo CD, digital printers, software, and digital cameras
will be handled by the new unit.

Asked about new products that might be expected, McAfee said the
company does not have a timeline for new products. Like many
companies, Kodak does not comment officially about new
products until they are ready to ship.

No boss has been selected yet for Digital and Applied Imaging, but
Kodak says a search for candidates is under way outside the company.
Until a general manager is selected, Richard Bourns, general manager
of Imaging Manufacturing and Supply will run the new unit.

(Jim Mallory/19940329/Press Contact: Paul McAfee, Eastman Kodak
Company, 716-724-4513; Reader Contact: Eastman Kodak Company,
716-724-4000)


(NEWS)(IBM)(BOS)(00014)

Seybold - Serif Intros PagePlus 3.0 Windows Desktop Pub 03/29/94
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1994 MAR 29 (NB) -- At Seybold
Boston '94, Serif Inc., introduced an extensive upgrade to its
$59.95 Windows-based desktop publishing package, and took
home a Seybold Award for Excellence for its efforts.

In a meeting on the show floor, Ralf Mellor, vice president of
marketing, showed Newsbytes the built-in word processor and other
new features in PagePlus 3.0, along with companion products for
drawing, typography, tables, and clip art, attracting a crowd of
intrigued onlookers who watched the executive/artist apply
rotation, fill, and outlining tools to the Newsbytes name.

Nashua, New Hampshire-based Serif first launched PagePlus 2.0 in
the US a year ago at Seybold Boston '93, after the low-priced
desktop publishing software had shot to the top of the UK market,
surpassing even Aldus PageMaker.

"Now, with PagePlus 3.0, we're posing a significant threat to
both Aldus and Quark. We're also putting in an opening shot at
Microsoft, Lotus, and Novell," the marketing VP maintained.

PagePlus 3.0 adds 100 new templates to the 60 templates in
PagePlus 2.0, as well as selectable usage levels, event-driven
help, and enhancements to multi-page documents, color processing,
graphics import/export, typography and composition, layout, and
typography and composition, according to the VP.

Version 3.0 also replaces the mini-text editor in PagePlus 2.0 with
a built-in "full-blown" word processor called SerifWritePlus which
includes a grammar-checker, thesaurus, and spell-checker, along
with a set of editing controls such as cursoring controls and
search/replace, Mellor told Newsbytes.

Now in alpha testing, and slated for release in June at $59.95, the
updated desktop publishing program will work with a series of
optional add-on modules. Over the past year or so, Serif has
launched TypePlus 2.0, FontPack, and ArtPack, a clip art package
for PagePlus, each priced at $29.95.

Currently under development are TablePlus, for creating tables, and
TypePlus 3.0, an enhanced add-on for creating special effects with
type.

During the Seybold conference, Serif started to ship DrawPlus, a
new drawing package that can be used with either PagePlus or any
other OLE (object linking and embedding)-compliant Windows
programs. DrawPlus 1.0 is regularly priced at $29.95, but will be
available through May 31 at the introductory price of $19.95.

Mellor told Newsbytes that PagePlus 3.0 lets users import text from
a variety of outside word processors, in addition to offering a
built-in word processor. To the text import capabilities found in
PagePlus 2.0, version 3.0 also adds "smart" character/formats for
inch marks and blank lines between paragraph. Once imported to a
page in PagePlus, the text can be sent to SerifWritePlus for
grammar-checking and spell-checking, if desired.

Also unlike PagePlus 2.0, PagePlus 3.0 lets the user select from
among three usage levels: "intro," "publisher," and "professional,"
Mellor told Newsbytes. Each program component is aware of the
three modes of operation, supplying only those capabilities that
are considered useful at a particular level.

For example, users who opt for the "professional" level receive
access to the grammar-checker, thesaurus, spell-checker, and
search-and-replace feature in SerifWritePlus, while users who
choose "publisher" can access the spell-checker and search-and-
replace features only.

A context-sensitive help function called Quick Help pops up
throughout the program with tips that are tailored to the chosen
usage level, according to Mellor. This "event-driven help"
represents a significant step beyond the cue cards now being
introduced by some major competitors, he asserted.

In the template arena, PagePlus 3.0 brings a template preview, an
auto-replace feature for faster filling in of the template, and
embedded hints for a running commentary, in addition to the
100 new templates.

For multi-page documents, version 3.0 adds left/right "master
pages" for recurring features such as headers, footers, borders,
and page numbers, along with left/right "facing page" display,
automatic page numbers, and a pasteboard common to all pages.

Mellor told Newsbytes that the pasteboard provides "deferred cut-
and-paste." The feature lets the user send text out of the page,
leave it on the clipboard, and then transfer it to another page at
a convenient time. In demonstrating the pasteboard to Newsbytes,
he acknowledged its similarity in functionality to the Windows
clipboard.

Mellor also showed Newsbytes another new feature called
"autoflow." He said: "If you have text that won't fit on the page
you're using, autoflow will automatically move it to another page."

Additional layout enhancements in PagePlus 3.0 include automatic
layout checker, new text wraps such as "automatic irregular wrap"
and "wrap inside an object," and the ability to measure to one-
thousandth of an inch for size/position and one-hundredth of an
inch for rotation. New printing options include automated tiling
of oversized documents, automated imposition, and the ability to
print booklets.

Version 3.0 adds an array of advanced color processing
capabilities, including: a custom CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow,
black) palette; the ability to process time and color mapping of
imported metafiles; support for OPI and pre-separated CMYK TIFF
(tagged image file format) files; automatic trapping; automatic
black generation; and automated image sub-sampling, a feature
aimed at reducing file size in process color separation.

The new release also brings the ability to import and export JPEG
(Joint Photographic Experts Group), Kodak Photo CD (Compact Disk),
and CMYK TIFF files or objects, as well as support for Aldus Filter
Format plug-ins and TWAIN.

Mellor also demonstrated DrawPlus 1.0, TypePlus 3.0 and TablePlus
2.0, surprising Newsbytes by applying some of the tools in DrawPlus
and TypePlus to the Newsbytes name. The VP used TypePlus 3.0 to
create a "starburst," and to type "Newsbytes" above the star-like
shape in "bamboo" font. He then gave the publication's name a
yellow "fill" with a red outline, and converted the font to "bees
nest."

With DrawPlus 1.0, Mellor changed the fill to a multi-color radial
blend.  He also produced a curve in the "Newsbytes" name, and
rotated the name. Switching back to TypePlus 3.0, he gave
"Newsbytes" an "arc down" shape, expanded the size of the name,
and produced a duplicate copy on the same screen.

TypePlus 3.0 contains these special effects: outline; fill; shadow;
starburst; spiral; curve; arc up; arc down; "button" (curved text
on the top and bottom, horizontal in the middle); "increment the
size progressively;" and "decrement the size progressively."
In contrast to many competing products, the package allows
multiple objects to be created on the same screen.

DrawPlus 1.0 uses a button-based interface, without menus. The
package offers a wide range of drawing tools, in addition to curve
editing and the ability to rotate and shear objects, according to
Mellor. Users can generate "masks" from text or other objects or
use linear or radial blends to produce picture-filled text. Other
tools include lines, boxes, ellipses, text, and Bezier tools. Non-
artists can use DrawPlus as an editor for Windows clipart.

TablePlus, like PagePlus, is based on templates. Mellor showed
Newsbytes how the user calls up a template, and then specifies the
number of rows and columns for the table. The $29.95 package can
also be used for spreadsheets, he said. Rules between rows and
columns can be given weights by choosing an item as small as a
cell and specifying the weight of the rule. Mathematical functions
such as adding, dividing and square root can be performed on
numbers in the columns.

Serif products are currently sold on floppy disk. Mellor told
Newsbytes that, for the future, the company is considering offering
all of its software on a single CD-ROM (compact disk - read only
memory) disk, with payment to be based on "keys" used to unlock
specific products. Under this scenario, pricing would range from
about $10 to about $150, the VP estimated.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19940328/Reader Contact: Serif Inc., 603-889-
8650; Press Contact: Melissa Rabin or Steve Simon, S&S Public
Relations for Serif, 603-889-1127)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(TOR)(00015)

 ****Bell Canada & Jones Intercable Modify Deal 03/29/94
MONTREAL, QUEBEC, CANADA, 1994 MAR 29 (NB) -- Bell Canada
International Inc. and Jones Intercable Inc. of Englewood,
Colorado, have announced some changes to their strategic alliance
agreement following rulings by the Federal Communications
Commission (FCC) in the United States.

Bell will pay less for a 30 percent interest in Jones Intercable
because new FCC regulations on the cable industry are expected to
cut cable television rates by about seven percent, Daniel Somers,
a spokesman for Bell, told Newsbytes.

Somers said the prices of cable company stocks have fallen as
much as 25 percent from their peak values as a result of the FCC
ruling, the failure of a plan to merge Bell Atlantic and cable
company TCI, and general stock-market trends. He added that the
terms of the Bell-Jones deal were not based on stock prices, but
said Bell's valuation of Jones has been affected by these factors
nonetheless.

Essentially, the changes mean Bell will pay less up front,
shelling out US$22 per share rather than US$27.50 per share for
the first 2.5 million shares of Jones stock it buys. For the
balance of the stock necessary to get a 30 percent interest, Bell
will pay US$27.50 per share as originally planned. Balancing
this, Bell has increased the amount it is committing to finance
Jones Intercable's growth and maintain its 30 percent interest
from US$125 million to US$139 million.

Bell will also pay only US$52 million for an option to increase
its position to a controlling interest in Jones, instead of US$55
million as originally agreed.

The over-all commitment to invest $400 million over time to
acquire and maintain a 30 percent interest in the Colorado cable
television operator remains unchanged, Bell Canada International
officials said.

Somers said the companies hope to reach a definitive agreement in
the next two to four weeks and close the deal by midsummer.

Bell Canada International is a unit of BCE Inc., which already
has cable television interests in the United Kingdom. When the
deal with Jones Intercable was announced in December, Derek
Burney, chairman, president, and chief executive of BCE's
subsidiary BCE Telecom International Inc., told Newsbytes those
projects have given BCE valuable experience in cable and the
company now wants to gain a foothold in the US.

BCE was already involved with Jones Intercable in a cable
television operation in the United Kingdom. The company is also
working with another Montreal firm, Groupe Videotron, in a
second cable joint venture in the U.K. Both are in the London area.

The company felt that cable "was an appropriate entry for BCE
into the world's most dynamic market for telecommunications,
namely the US," Burney said. He added that BCETI officials
"came to know and respect" Jones Intercable over the past 18
months of working with the Colorado firm on the Encom cable
venture in the UK.

(Grant Buckler/19940329/Press Contact: Daniel Somers, Bell
Canada International, 514-392-2260; Patrick J. Lombardi, Jones
Financial Group, 303-792-3111)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TOR)(00016)

IBM Canada, Air Canada In Reservations Deal 03/29/94
WINNIPEG, MANITOBA, CANADA, 1994 MAR 29 (NB) -- Two new
companies are being set up as a result of a deal between Markham,
Ontario-based IBM Canada Ltd. and Montreal-based Air Canada. The
agreement finally appears to settle the fate of the Gemini airline
reservations system, a joint venture of Canada's two major
airlines which has been in doubt for some months.

IBM Canada and Air Canada have agreed to form a new company that
will combine the computer and communications network run by Air
Canada and Gemini with IBM's existing Network Services Company.

The new entity, which has not yet been formally named, but is
being called Newnetco for the time being, will have about 1,000
employees, IBM Canada spokesman Mike Quinn told Newsbytes, with
some 500 of these coming from the former Gemini organization and
the balance from IBM and Air Canada itself.

The new company will provide the computer and communications
facilities for the reservation systems of Air Canada, Via Rail
(Canada's national passenger rail service) and the Department of
National Defence. It will also take over the running of Air
Canada's information systems, and the existing business of IBM's
Network Services Company. Clients of the latter include major
retailers such as Sears Canada and George Weston Ltd., the
National Hockey League, and others, Quinn said.

The new operation is expected to have annual revenues of about
C$190 million, officials said. It will be based in Winnipeg.

Meanwhile, Gemini's computer reservation service business will be
taken over by a new company, Galileo Canada Inc., which will be
fully owned by Air Canada. Galileo will market to Canadian travel
agents the same Apollo software that has been provided by Gemini
in the past, using the new services company's network. Galileo
will be based in Toronto.

Gemini was a joint venture of Air Canada and Canadian Airlines
International Inc. of Calgary. Its future has been in doubt since
Canadian, after abortive merger talks with Air Canada, entered
into an alliance with American Airlines, which runs its own
reservation system, and sought to pull out of the Gemini
partnership.

(Grant Buckler/19940329/Press Contact: Sue Melanson, IBM Canada,
905-316-2253; Mike Quinn, IBM Canada, 905-316-2255; Ronald
White, Air Canada, 514-422-5921; Sandra Dexter, Air Canada,
604-643-5660)


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

 ****DEC Backs WordPerfect For OpenVMS 03/29/94
MAYNARD, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1994 MAR 29 (NB) -- Digital
Equipment Corp. is giving its endorsement to the WordPerfect word
processing software for its OpenVMS operating system. DEC said
it will work with Orem, Utah-based WordPerfect to integrate the
software more closely with its own All-in-1 office automation
suite.

DEC said it will distribute WordPerfect for OpenVMS as a
"migration option" for its own WPS-Plus word processing
software and an "upgrade option" for All-in-1.

Asked if this meant WordPerfect will replace the home-grown
package, DEC spokesman David Price stopped short of confirming
that WPS-Plus's days are numbered, but told Newsbytes that,
while DEC will continue supporting the software, no
enhancements are planned.

DEC already distributes WordPerfect for OpenVMS and for its
Ultrix variant of Unix, as well as the DOS, Windows, Macintosh,
and OS/2 versions of the software, Price noted.

Don Hedman, group manager of DEC's product management group,
told Newsbytes that engineers from his company and WordPerfect
will be working together to integrate WordPerfect more tightly
into All-in-1. For instance, a WordPerfect document sent to another
user via All-in-1's electronic mail function would be flagged as
being in WordPerfect format so the recipient could retain all
formatting, he said, adding that WordPerfect, "could become the
default editor" within All-in-1.

Current users of All-in-1 and WPS-Plus can buy WordPerfect 5.1
for OpenVMS for $99, and those who do so will receive WordPerfect
6.0 for openVMS, which is scheduled to be available in the fourth
quarter, at no extra charge.

Company officials said WordPerfect 6.0 for OpenVMS will offer
"many of the same functions and benefits" as version 6.0 of the
software on other hardware. It will run on DEC's Alpha AXP and
VAX systems.

Earlier this month, WordPerfect announced plans to merge with
local area network software vendor Novell Inc., of Provo, Utah.

(Grant Buckler/19940329/Press Contact: David Price, Digital
Equipment Corp., 603-881-0638; Deborah Hendrickson,
WordPerfect, 801-228-5022)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(BOS)(00018)

 ****HP Intros High-End Hardware, Discusses Convex Deal 03/29/94
PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994 MAR 29 -- Hewlett-Packard
has expanded the high end its technical computing lineup with a new
workstation billed as "the fastest in the world," in addition to a
set of preconfigured HP 9000 Series 700 workstation clusters and
seven new third-party technical applications for HP 9000 Series
800 servers.

In an audioconference attended by Newsbytes, HP officials
elaborated on the newly unveiled HP 735/125 workstation, Model
735CL clusters, and third-party applications, as well as a recently
announced joint selling agreement with Convex around the Exemplar
SPP (Scalable Parallel Processor) supercomputers, and how the new
supercomputers from Convex will fit into HP's overall parallel
computing strategy.

Carl Freund, marketing manager for HP's Advanced Systems Division,
told journalists taking part in the telephone briefing that the new
HP Model 735/125 workstation is based on HP's new PA-7150
microprocessor, and delivers 136 SPECint92 and 201 SPECfp92, for
better price performance than any of HP's competitors.

HP's new computational cluster is shipping now in 735/99
configurations, and is slated for availability in the
735/125 configurations during the second quarter, he added.
Customers can choose between a four- and eight-node cluster
configurations, and between Ethernet and FDDI (fiber distributed
data interface).

Diana Headrick, technical server program manager for HP's General
Systems Division, explained that, beyond technical workstations and
clusters, the technical server market is also "extremely important"
to HP.

"Many of our workstation customers require large server
solutions that extend beyond the range of our current workstation
line," Headrick said. The HP 9000 Series 800 servers further the
product line by providing capabilities, including "high
availability features," that technical customers require in
server-class machines.

Technical applications are a "key ingredient" in HP's program for
the technical server market, Headrick reported. HP has now added
the following third-party technical applications for its Series 800
servers: Computervision's EDM and Design Manager; Mentor Graphics'
Version 8.0 Falcon Framework; and Cooper & Chyan's SPECCTRA PCB
(Printed Circuit Board) Autorouter.

Also new for the Series 800, she said, are four applications from
CXSoft, a newly formed business unit of Convex: MLIB, ConvexPVM
(Parallel Virtual Machine); ConvexNQS+ (Network Queuing Software
Plus), and LSF.

Freund then took to the microphone again, to talk about HP's joint
selling deal with Convex, and HP's strategy for parallel computing.

The recently unveiled Exemplar SPPs from Convex, he said, are based
on a Mach kernel implementation of HP-UX, so that the new Convex
supercomputers are able to run "all the software that runs today on
the HP 9000 Series 700 and 800."

The supercomputers from Convex "fill a market that our Series 700
and 800 are not really intended to fill," he explained. The
Exemplars will be complementary to, rather than competitive with,
the HP workstations and servers. "That's the reason why we entered
into a cooperative selling agreement," continued Freund. "If we see
an opportunity for our systems that cannot be met with one of our
technical servers, we'll bring Convex in."

Moving on to HP's parallel computing strategy, Freund noted that,
over the past 15 years, computers have become increasingly faster
due to improvements in both architecture and VLSI (very large scale
integration) logic. "To offer more dramatic improvement, the
industry and HP will exploit various kinds of parallelism," he
added.

Parallelism has been appearing for years in the uniprocessor or
"single chip" market, in pipeline architectures as well as in newer
"superscalar" architectures, according to Freund.

HP's Series 735/135 workstations offers "advanced superscalar"
performance either for single or multiple tasks where parallelism
is implemented at the chip level. Superscalar computing is ideal
for the individual who wants to quickly solve problems in
mechanical CAD (computer-aided design), EDA (electronic design
automation), or other technical areas at the workstation level, he
told the journalists.

HP's Series 800 servers, on the other hand, offer another form of
parallelism known as symmetric multiprocessing (SMP), which
allows multiple jobs to be operated in parallel, and supplies "an
outstanding throughput engine," he said. SMP also works as "a great
NFS file server." The Series 800 servers provide "up to twelve-way
SMP."

The new massively parallel processing (MPP) architecture, used in
Convex' Exemplar models, is "focused on meeting customer needs for
the fastest possible application completion," he explained. By
using a threaded microkernel, Convex "gives us parallelism at a
job level, so you can take a single task, and through the use of
compiler technology from Convex, be able to split that task up into
multiple threads, (running on) different CPUs (central processing
units) -- up to 128, in fact."

The Exemplar SPPs are available with from one to 128 processors.
This highly scalable architecture will also help users to "grow
their applications," said Freund.

In addition to being able to run in parallel mode, the Exemplars
provide "outstanding throughput," he elaborated. Examples of
applications that can benefit from MPP include seismic analysis,
computational chemistry, and automobile crash simulation.

Clustering, another form of parallel computing, also supply
high throughput, and at relatively low cost, according to
Freund. "You can use workstations, which (offer a) dramatic
price/performance benefit, to provide more throughput. Simply by
ganging a bunch of HP 700s together in a rack, (and adding) some
software to make (them) easier to manage...you can get more 'bang
for the buck.'"

HP's clusters are currently based on 735 uniprocessors, he said,
but "in the future, we'll be introducing clustered SMP systems,
allowing the performance of SMP to scale even further and to offer
dramatically improved throughput and price performance."

Throughout the audioconference, Freund and Headrick emphasized the
wide range of technical workstations and servers available in HP's
Series 9000 line, and the compatibility of models within the
series.

The newly unveiled HP Model 735/125, priced at $39,995, is
"completely object-code compatible" with all other models in HP's
Series 700, allowing customers to run the same applications, said
Freund. HP's latest workstation also brings a dramatic boost in
graphics performance. "When we increase the central processor
performance, graphics performance scales linearly," he explained.

Customers who have invested in the earlier HP Model 735/99 can
upgrade to the faster chip through a board swap, paying only $9,100,
or the difference in selling price between the two models. Later
this year, HP will extend the PA-7150 processor technology,
together with upgrades, to Model 755 customers, according to
Freund.

Remarked Headrick: "The HP 9000 (Series 800) servers use the same
PA-RISC chip and the same HP-UX operating system as the (HP 9000)
Series 700 (workstations). Together with the workstations and
computational clusters, they make the HP product line the broadest
line of technical solutions."

HP 90000 Series 800 servers are used in a variety of functions in
technical markets, including NFS (Network File Server) file
serving, database serving, and general purpose computation, she
added.

Headrick also listed a series of technical capabilities offered by
the Series 800 servers: cache of up to two megabytes (MB) per CPU;
"high capacity" memory; input/output (I/0) capacity supporting up
to 1.9 terabytes of fast wide small computer systems interface
(SCSI) disk; and "high availability" features such as automatic
switchover, uninterruptible power supply, "graceful power
shutdown," and mirrored disks.

The newly announced third-party technical applications for the
Series 800 are targeted at the mechanical design, electrical
design, and scientific markets, Headrick explained. The two new
applications from Computervision are geared to mechanical design.

Computervision's EDM is "an enterprise-wide data management
solution which works well with Computervision's CADDS 5 products,
and is now available on HP for the first time." Design Manager, a
new application from Computervision, "provides an easy-to- use
product data management solution for small workgroups of 15
workstations or less."

Among products in the electronic design market, Metrographics'
Version 8.0 Falcon Framework, is now available, according to
Headrick. The framework provides tools for ASIC (application-
specific integrated circuit), ISICs (industry-specific integrated
circuits), and PCB design, she added.

Cooper & Chyan's SPECCTRA PCB autorouting and autoreplacement tool
is compatible with most CAD systems on the market today, and is
expected to ship by the second quarter of the calendar year, she said.

The four new applications from CXSoft are aimed at the scientific
market, and are slated for availability by summer of this year.
CXSoft's MLIB has been "hand-tuned for PA-RISC" to "significantly
boost the performance of technical and engineering applications."

ConvexPVM is a "productized and enhanced version of a message-
passage library PVM," she said. The software is used "to tie
multiple machines together in a loosely coupled parallel computer."

Headrick described ConvexNQS+ as "an efficient batch queuing
system for distributing jobs across multiple systems," and LSF
as "an advanced and user-friendly cluster load balancing tool."

In a Q&A session at the end of the audioconference, a reporter
asked the HP officials about sales of HP's new workstations and
clusters. "We've sold quite a few 735s by now, and we've also
actually sold quite a few upgrades to the 125," said Freund. The
upgrade appeared on HP's price list prior to the official
announcement, he explained. "Demand (for the upgrade) has been very
impressive, to say the least," he added.

Sales of HP clusters have also been brisk, both by HP and by
Convex, which acts as a value-added reseller (VAR) for the
clusters, according to Freund. Customers are using the clusters
for applications in the petroleum industry, the automotive
industry, scientific research, and computational chemistry.

Another journalist asked for a performance comparison between the
HP 735/125 and competing models from vendors such as IBM, DEC,
Sun, and Silicon Graphics.

In the IBM arena, comparable performance can only be achieved
through deskside workstations such as the 58H, 580 or 590,
answered Freund. The 58H offers less integer performance than
the 735/125, but a little more floating point performance, with
numbers of 117 SPECint and 242 SPECfp, he said.

IBM's 58H, however, "costs 60,000, a full 20,000 more than what
we're introducing here," Freund maintained. The 590 from IBM
"offers the same level of performance, with a little more
expandability, but costs 77,000." Sun "doesn't have anything in
this space," Freund added. Sun workstations "require extensive use
of SMP to get higher levels of performance," he explained.

A third reporter requested statistics on graphics and three-
dimensional (3-D) graphics performance. Freund cited figures
showing superior performance with regard to vectors per second,
3-D vectors per second, and 3-D triangles per second.

Speaking with Newsbytes afterward, industry analysts who had been
separately briefed by HP predicted that the deal between HP and
Convex will help to further the spread of high-end parallel
computing.

"HP's agreement with Convex gives HP a high performance top end to
its product line. HP and Convex have thought this out well in terms
of making the Convex Exemplar very compatible with the HP line,"
said Nancy Stewart, senior industry analyst at Dataquest, San Jose,
California.

Noted David Weisberg, publisher and editor of Engineering
Automation Report, Englewood, Colorado: "The deal is very important
from the point of view of making the same software available on
everything from less than $10,000 workstations on up to extremely
powerful parallel systems offered by Convex."

Chris Willard, International Data Corporation (IDC), Mountain View,
California, pointed out that MPP systems such as the new Exemplars
can run as either MPPs or SMPs. "When they're running as MPPs,
they're using all their processors on a single problem," he
explained. Where the MPP mode is really needed is "when you have
a job that is either too large to run on any other computer, or
would take too long to run effectively," he told Newsbytes.

Up to now, use of "MPP as MPP" has been relatively scarce,
according to Willard. "MPP has done very well in signal processing,
and in some seismic analysis applications, and has a great deal of
potential in database. But bringing large numbers of general
purpose applications from a Unix workstation or a VAX, for example,
to MPP hasn't worked out. And there is a $300 million market for
that right now."

(Jacqueline Emigh/19940328/Reader Contact: Hewlett-Packard,
415-857-1501; Press Contacts: Vicki Kravitz, Hewlett-Packard,
508-436-5254; Jim Barbagallo, Hewlett-Packard, 508-436-5049;
Sue Stevens, Copithorne & Bellows for Hewlett-Packard,
617-252-0606)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(BOS)(00019)

Seybold - EBT's SGML Tools For End Users, Organizations 03/29/94
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1994 MAR 29 (NB) -- At Seybold,
Electronic Book Technologies (EBT) introduced tools for extending
the use of SGML (Standard Generalized Markup Language) to end
users, as well as for easing storage of SGML-based documents for
large organizations ranging from auto and aircraft manufacturers
to computer companies and commercial publishers,

In a meeting with Newsbytes, Kent J. Summers, director of
marketing, said that EBT's new DynaTag is aimed at bringing
indexing, hypertext links, fast search-and-retrieval, and the other
benefits of SGML to all users who create documents, even those
who are not affiliated with organizations that use the emerging
standard for document interchange.

EBT's new DynaBase, on the other hand, is designed to allow large-
scale storage of SGML documents in object-oriented form, to track
even minor changes across document revisions, and to let users in
an organization "check out" specific items for editing in various
third-party desktop publications.

DynaTag and DynaBase, said Summers, both work with EBT's flagship
DynaText multi-platform software for indexing, viewing, navigating,
and editing electronic documents in SGML.

The new DynaTag lets users work in any of a variety or proprietary
word processing formats, including Microsoft Word, WordPerfect,
Frame, or Interleaf, and then quickly convert their documents into
SGML through a point-and-click graphical user interface (GUI),
according to Summers.

Users can also work in the recently developed Rainbow SGML
format, and convert documents in the same manner, Summers added.
DynaTag's GUI "hides the complexities of SGML from the user," he
explained.

To illustrate, the marketing director told Newsbytes about a
Seybold attendee who had used DynaTag the previous day. With no
prior experience in SGML, and without instruction in using DynaTag,
the attendee was able to "completely browse and tag" a 25-page
WordPerfect document in 90 minutes, just by reading the
documentation, he maintained.

Newsbytes asked Summers why an end user would use SGML unless the
document interchange language was being implemented by an employer.
SGML is much more than just a cross-platform document interchange
tool, Summers responded.

SGML can help virtually everyone who writes or edits materials
online to organize their work, and to quickly find the passages of
text, graphics, tables, or other pieces of information they need,
he asserted.

End users can employ EBT's DynaText browsers to view a "dynamic"
table of contents (TOC) that is built "automatically" from the
structures in SGML documents, according to Summers. In addition,
users can search for information by typing in key words or phrases.
The TOC will instantly indicate the locations and numbers of search
occurrences.

DynaText users can also annotate reference materials for public or
private viewing, and build their own hypertext links to associated
materials for cross-referencing.

Meanwhile, though, the use of SGML for cross-platform document
interchange is growing fast, according to Summers. The standard got
its start in the defense industry, and then moved into areas like
auto and aircraft manufacturing. Organizations use SGML for
communicating internally, as well as with other organizations.

Now, SGML is starting to be used in applications that run the gamut
from computer documentation to trucking, Summers maintained.

Silicon Graphics, one of EBT's customers, has used EBT's DynaText
Systems Integrator Toolkit to develop Iris Insight, a product
family that provides online documentation, on-line help, support
information, systems diagnostics, and electronic access to
technical assistance. Novell, another EBT customer, and other
major systems vendors are placing their documentation online,
likewise.

In addition, EBT recently gained four large accounts in the
trucking industry, Newsbytes was told. Ryder, the first of EBT's
customers in this field, is using the DynaText system as a "key
component" of its recently announced Ryder Fast Track Maintenance
Service.

Ryder's new program, the result of a company-wide reengineering
effort launched early last year, is intended to boost productivity
with faster and better quality maintenance service, as well as to
provide customers with more highly detailed fleet performance
information, Summers said.

Providence, Rhode Island-based EBT also has a number of other
big organizations in its customer base. The Boeing Company, for
example, has incorporated DynaText into its new Digital Data
Delivery Service, which provides electronic delivery of about
1,200 aircraft service bulletins per year to airlines worldwide,
according to Summers.

In the first implementation of SGML at sea, the US Navy has
converted a 200-page reference manual into the document
interchange standard. Command and Control personnel aboard
the USS Abraham Lincoln are using DynaText, running on Hewlett-
Packard workstations, to search through online manuals
concerning the operation of the Mission Display System of the
Tomahawk cruise missile.

Other large DynaText users include AT&T, Ericsson, General Motors,
Sikorsky Aircraft, British Telecom, Cray Research, Eastman Kodak,
Rockwell, Shell, and Sybase, to name a few, said Summers.

In addition to helping these and other customers store and manage
SGML documents, EBT's newly announced DynaBase will allow
integration with outside authoring, conversion, and workflow
management tools, he noted.

DynaBase will be implemented on top of a commercial object-
oriented database management system, Object Design Inc.'s
ObjectStore. The system will run on Unix and Windows NT clients
and servers as well as on Windows clients.

EBT's new DynaTag will operate on Windows, and through an optional
batch graphics converter, on a variety of Unix platforms, Summers
added. DynaTag and DynaBase are both slated for release in the
third quarter.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19940329/Reader Contact: Electronic Book
Technologies, 401-421-9550; Press Contacts: Paul Lamoureux, EBT,
401-421-9550; David Brousell or Linda Pendergast Savage, Miller
Communications for EBT, 617-536-0470)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(LAX)(00020)

 ****Apple Peripheral Sales To Double Worldwide By 1999 03/29/94
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994 MAR 29 (NB) -- A new
study by Frost & Sullivan, a subsidiary of Market Intelligence, says
sales of peripherals for Apple Macintosh computers, such as disk
drives, scanners, and monitors, will more than double worldwide
by 1999. Storage devices, such as hard disk drives, are predicted
to be the biggest sellers.

Macintosh computer peripheral sales are expected to grow world-
wide at a 15 percent compound annual rate, from a projected $8.9
billion in 1993 to over $21 billion by 1999. Storage peripherals
will increase from 47 percent in 1993 to 61 percent by 1999.
However, the percentage of revenues from printers and plotters is
expected to decline correspondingly from 48 percent to 35 percent
in the same period.

A decline in the percentage of printers and plotters does not
necessarily mean a decline in the overall revenue volume, a Frost &
Sullivan representative told Newsbytes, but simply means those
peripherals are a comparatively smaller part of the overall
revenue pie.

The growth in the peripherals market is due to Apple's emphasis
on the worldwide market and its open systems approach evidenced
by the introduction of the PowerPC-based Power Macintosh. For
example, the market research firm is predicting the company's
relative market share in Europe will grow faster by 1999 than its
North American market share.

Historically, Apple users have upgraded the standard Apple unit
after a Macintosh purchase. Frost & Sullivan claims within 18 to
24 months of purchasing a Macintosh central processing unit
(CPU), users either add to or upgrade the unit's peripherals. This
is because users often find themselves needing more storage
capacity or visual display capability than is provided by the
standard Apple unit.

However, declining street prices of peripherals such as color
scanners, monitors, and copiers mean upgraded or enhanced
products are being provided at similar prices to older products.
The bottom line is profit margins could continue to feel the
squeeze, Frost & Sullivan asserts.

(Linda Rohrbough/19940329/Press Contact: Amy Arnell, Frost
& Sullivan, tel [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(DEN)(00021)

 ****Microsoft, Mtel To Build Nationwide Wireless Net 03/29/94
REDMOND, WASHINGTON, U.S.A., 1994 MAR 29 (NB) -- Microsoft
has announced an alliance with Mobile Telecommunications
Technology Corp., to build a nationwide wireless network for
sending and receiving data.

Microsoft says it will invest $30 million in the project. In
addition, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates will put in $10 million of
his own money. Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen says he will also
invest $10 million, while Mtel plans to invest $100 million in the
project. Investor Integral Capital Partners will invest $2 million.
Microsoft will also work with the Mtel engineers to develop the
necessary software.

Called Nationwide Wireless Network (NWN), the venture will offer
two-way data/messaging services to portable computers, special
pagers and a new breed of pocket-data communicators. The network is
expected to be operational by mid-1995 and will piggyback on Mtel's
paging system.

Some of the applications to be offered are expected to connect
desktop computers to Mtel's portable data devices so mobile
workers can share data with their offices. Microsoft has a product
called Microsoft At Work which is designed to allow office
equipment such as computers, copiers, printers, phone and fax
machines to exchange data.

NWN is being deployed by Mtel under a "pioneer preference" rating
granted in June 1993 by the Federal Communications Commission.
The designation gives Mtel nationwide rights to a radio spectrum
without requiring the company to participate in the upcoming FCC
spectrum auction.

Based in Jackson, Mississippi, Mtel says it has nearly 350,000
paging units in operation as of the end of 1993.

(Jim Mallory/19940329/Press Contact: Microsoft Corp.,
206-882-8080)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(DEN)(00022)

Novell, AT&T To Sell Phone Network Software 03/29/94
PROVO, UTAH, U.S.A., 1994 MAR 29 (NB) -- Novell Inc., best known
for its NetWare computer network operating system (NOS) software,
and long distance phone service provider AT&T, say they will soon
market software that links personal computer networks with
telephone networks.

The product will eventually allow voice, fax and electronic mail
messages to be stored and sorted in one location. Customers could
also set up phone conferences by clicking with the computer mouse
on a series of names. In its simplest form the software will allow
PC users to make phone calls by clicking on the name of the caller.

Novell will market the system as Netware Telephony Services, while
the AT&T version will be known as Passageway Telephony Services
Solution. The price tag per computer is expected to be between
$75 and $200 depending on the number of packages purchased. Some
users may have to add additional hardware and/or software to their
computers in order to use the system.

In addition to the more than 20 companies who announced they were
developing similar software, Novell and AT&T say 16 more firms
have agreed to write software to work in conjunction with the
computer-telephone linkup.

(Jim Mallory/19940329/Press & Reader Contact: Novell Inc.,
801-429-7000)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(LAX)(00023)

Compton's Multimedia Patent Fight Not Yet Over 03/29/94
ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND, U.S.A., 1994 MAR 29 (NB) -- The US Patent
and Trademark Office has said that while it has rejected all 41
of Compton's claims in its patent on multimedia, this is not the
final word. The Tribune subsidiary has two months to respond to
the reversal of its patent number 5,241,671 issued in August,
1993, which appeared to give the company a corner on the entire
concept of multimedia.

The USPTO has come under strong criticism for issuing "broad,
non-technical patents," and the Compton's patent is not the first
that has raised controversy in the computer industry. After
considerable industry protest, USPTO Commissioner Bruce Lehman
agreed to reexamine the Compton's patent and hold public hearings.

Just recently, Lehman announced the rejection of all 41 claims in
the patent, on the grounds that, as written, the claims were
obvious and not new.

However, Compton's has several options according to the USPTO: it
can argue the claims, delete some of the 41 to narrow its claims,
re-word some or all of the claims, or simply not respond.

Ruth Ford of the USPTO said it is unlikely that Compton's will not
respond, as it is a rarity for a company to simply throw up its hands
and walk away after a first office rejection such as this one.

The Interactive Multimedia Association (IMA), a trade group with
260 member companies which has spear-headed the fight against
the patent, said it is aware that Compton's has options. "When is it
ever over?" quipped IMA representative Ken Christie. "We find
this move by the USPTO very encouraging. Remember, there are
probably still patents that are awaiting approval that are overly
broad like this one."

Christie also pointed out that the US is a "first to invent" country,
as opposed to "first to patent," so if Compton's can prove it was
the first with multimedia, it might still have a chance.

Norm Bastine, executive vice president and general manager of
Compton's Newmedia told Newsbytes at the time the patent was
announced that it submitted its "pioneering work" for a patent in
the mid-1980's and was granted patent pending status in 1989.

Tribune's legal counsel Bob Carr told Newsbytes the Compton's
patent is jointly owned by Encyclopedia Britannica, and the
companies will need to get together to decide what action to
take. Right now, however, Carr said nothing has been decided.

(Linda Rohrbough/19940329/Press Contact: Ruth Ford, United States
Department of Commerce Patent and Trademark Office, tel 703-305-
8600, fax [phone]; David Kaufer, Kaufer Miller
Communications for the Interactive Multimedia Association, tel
206-450-9965, fax [phone]; Ken Christie, Interactive
Multimedia Association, tel [phone], fax [phone];
Tom McGrew, Compton's New Media, 619-929-2500)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(WAS)(00024)

 ****FASB Backing Off On Options Accounting Ruling? 03/29/94
WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A., 1994 MAR 29 (NB) -- The Financial
Accounting Standards Board appears to be backing away from a
proposal to deduct the costs of employee stock options from
earnings that has set off a storm of protest from the computer
and software industries.

FASB's recent hearing on its April, 1993, proposal in Silicon Valley
prompted some 4,000 employees of high-technology firms to rally
at a conference center nearby. Led by a brass band, the protesters
jeered the FASB proposal and heard addresses by state and federal
officials opposed to the proposal.

FASB is set to meet April 18 in Norwalk, Conn., to act on the
proposal. That meeting is expected to be the most contentious in
the FASB's 20-year history.

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the accounting board is
looking for a compromise proposal. A high-tech industry source,
who requested anonymity, told Newsbytes, "They are looking for
some way to get out of this mess they put themselves in."

The American Electronics Association has been lobbying against
the FASB proposal, and supporting federal legislation that would
block the board from implementing its proposal.

A recent survey for AEA found that FASB's proposal would reduce
earnings per share at AEA member companies by "an average of
28.4 percent -- and by 39.7 percent for companies with revenues
of less than $100 million."

It is common for small, growing companies that cannot pay big
salaries to reward key executives with stock options that they can
later exercise to buy company shares. FASB's proposal would force
companies to deduct the value of the options from corporate
earnings using a complex options-pricing model.

"It would force companies to come up with far-fetched values for
options and hit the companies that are generating jobs in America,"
John Mancini, AEA senior vice president, told Newsbytes.

According to AEA, FASB (pronounced faz-bee by aficionados) first
brought up the idea of including stock options and employee stock
purchases as a compensation charge against income since 1983.
But for a number of reasons, the idea was dormant for the better
part of a decade. However, in 1990 and 1991 tales of the
compensation packages of some high profile business executives
spawned moves in Congress to modify corporate compensation
practices.

Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) proposed to force companies to reflect
the "present value" of stock options as an expense.

That move rekindled FASB's interest in the subject and the board
last April announced its intention to require that companies
charge options against earnings. On June 30, FASB released its
draft of how it proposed to do that and then held three public
hearings, including the Silicon Valley hearing that generated
such a protest.

(Kennedy Maize/19940329/Press Contact: John Mancini, AEA,
202-682-4452)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(WAS)(00025)

 ****CD Sales Soar In Fourth Quarter 03/29/94
WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A., 1994 MAR 29 (NB) -- Sales of software
on compact disk exploded in the fourth quarter of 1993, according
to the Software Publishers Association, hitting $102 million on
unit sales of just over four million CDs. More than half of all sales
for the year were in the fourth quarter.

For the year, sales totaled $202 million on eight million CDs sold.
According to SPA, 52 percent of the CDs reached the user from
the original equipment manufacturer (OEM), bundled with the
hardware.

But the dominance of the OEM channel is over, according to David
Tremblay, SPA research director. "The third quarter of 1993 will
likely be remembered as the lift off point for CD software sales,"
he said.

He continued: "For the first time, non-OEM unit sales exceeded OEM
unit sales. In other words, consumers started going out and buying
individual CD titles, rather than just acquiring them as part of
a  package bundled with their new computer or add-on multimedia
kit. That trend continued through the fourth quarter holiday season,
when 52 percent of units and nearly four-in-five dollars were
from stand-alone sales."

Reference CDs such as encyclopedias and dictionaries were the
largest selling category, accounting for 31 percent of sales in the
fourth quarter and 40 percent of sales for the full year. Games
and other home software made up 30 percent of sales in the year
and 33 percent in the final quarter.  Home education software was
the only other type of software to account for more than 10
percent of sales. Home education software made up 24 percent of
sales for the full year, and 28 percent in the fourth quarter of 1993.

Information for the fourth quarter report is based on the aggregate
sales information of 62 participating companies, including
Broderbund, Comptons New Media, Knowledge Adventure, Microsoft,
The Software Toolworks, and World Library. The companies provide
sales information to the Chicago accounting firm Ernst & Young,
which prepares the report for the SPA.

(Kennedy Maize/19940329/Press Contact: David Tremblay, SPA,
202-452-1600 ext 317)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00026)

 ****AOL's CFO Asserts The Positive 03/29/94
VIENNA, VIRGINIA, U.S.A., 1994 MAR 29 (NB) -- America Online
Chief Financial Officer Lennert Leader emphasized the positive
in a Newsbytes interview, even as the company's stock price
continued its recent slide.

Leader noted that the company has expanded its Internet Center
product by offering Usenet newsgroups, one of the Internet's
most  popular features, and it is previewing access to databases
under  WAIS and Gopher. "The important point here is people will
be able to use our interface -- the Internet functionality will be
part of the regular pricing package," Leader said.

The company's electronic-mail gateway with the Internet now
handles over five million messages a month, making it one of the
service's most popular features.

Leader also asserted that the company has increased its ability
to handle calls by 50 percent over the last few months, that it
now has 700,000 members, and that Macintosh subscribers can
now access the service at 9,600 bits-per-second.

However, he could not discuss what is moving the stock, namely
reports that Asymetrix head Paul Allen wants to sell his 18
percent stake in the company. "We can't speculate on what Allen
is planning to do. As a policy we don't want to speculate what an
investor is trying to do. We don't think that's appropriate."

America Online has kept its independence by carefully balancing
the interests of major investors -- including Time Warner, Knight-
Ridder, the Tribune Co., Hachette, IBM, and Apple -- through
negotiated stand-still arrangements in exchange for seats on its
board. Allen's investment last year was uninvited, and he has
been kept off the board. Some speculate he may be tired of trying
to get the company's cooperation. Others note he has earned a huge
profit on his AOL stock and might want to cash-out.

Regardless of the reason, speculation about Allen's move has the
firm's stock heading south, where it is traded on the NASDAQ over-
the-counter market under the symbol AMER. The stock fell to under
$75 per share before rebounding on the Internet and capacity
increase press release to close at slightly over $81.

It is often seen as normal that stocks which run-up quickly in
value, beyond what might be justified by fundamentals like earnings
or cash flow, see their values become fragile, and some analysts
feel that this is the case with AOL. Prudential Securities, for
instance, lowered its rating on the stock recently from a "buy" to
a "hold," citing its current high price.

At its March 28 low, however, the stock's price would still be
about where it was before a run-up caused by speculation that
Time Warner might bid on the company, and predictions it could
fetch $150-200 in a buy-out. Its high of over $90 per share was
called "ridiculous" by some analysts, however, given the fact the
reports of a takeover were strenuously denied.

Any takeover of AOL would have to be invited or at a very high
price, since the company implemented a "poison pill" on Allen's
first moves to buy-in in 1992. This would give directors new
shares to thwart an unwanted takeover, and block an unwanted
suitor from holding over 25 percent of the company, a level Allen
approached before backing off. If Allen can sell-out at these
levels, he will reportedly triple his money, earning $120 million
on a $40 million investment.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19940328/Press Contact: America OnLine,
Jean Villanueva, 703-883-1675)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00027)

Telxon Signs OEM Deal With Dauphin 03/29/94
AKRON, OHIO, U.S.A., 1994 MAR 29 (NB) -- Telxon has signed an OEM
(original equipment manufacturer) deal with Dauphin Technology to
supply its wireless LAN (local area network) products for Dauphin's
pen-based DTR-1 computer. It could be the first of many.

Newsbytes discussed the deal with Bill Whelan, marketing manager
for Telxon's AIRONET unit. Under the deal, a LAN radio, along with
an extended battery pack, will be housed in a cover which slips
onto the DTR-1. The product was first introduced at a health-care
convention in Phoenix, for use by doctors in tracking patient
charts, and at the Mobile World show in Dallas.

AIRONET was formed after Telxon bought Telesystems SLW of
Canada, which designs wireless LAN hardware, in 1992. It also
includes Telxon's former radio frequency (RF) group, which designs
radio components, and a software engineering group which focuses
on LAN connectivity. Dauphin will market the total "solution,"
Whelan said.

"It uses both the 902-928 frequency band and 2.4-2.45 gigabit
band," available for short-haul wireless service without specific
FCC licenses. "As is clear from the press release, we want to
leverage the technology, both RF networking and spread spectrum,"
he said. In addition to selling the technology on an OEM basis
through others, Telxon sells the solution itself in conjunction
with its small handheld terminals.

All this emerged from an OEM arrangement Telxon originally
struck with Telesystems in 1990, Whelan added. Telxon bought
Telesystems after winning a major deal with Wal-Mart, under
which the company automated Wal-Mart's warehousing and
distribution so salesmen can query databases from aisles, and
orders can be passed from central computers in warehouses to
people pulling orders off shelves. That deal took a long time to
implement, and only in the last year has the combined company
begun "focusing on opportunities in PC LANs with these products,
outside Telxon and portable data collection.

"Wireless is so broad," Whelan added. "The in-building LAN market
is just in its infancy. Then there are PCS (personal communication
services) applications, which remain all talk, and field service
applications, which are just starting."

In the company's press release, AIRONET was called "one of the
best-kept secrets in the industry," with an installed base of over
65,000 spread spectrum units at over 1,000 customer sites, the
largest such installed base in the industry. Whelan said the
company hopes to sign other OEM deals in the future.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19940328/Press Contact: Richard Heller,
AIRONET, 800-800-8001)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(TYO)(00028)

Japan - Softbank & NTT In Video-On-Demand Venture 03/29/94
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1994 MAR 29 (NB) -- Tokyo-based book publisher
Softbank, and NTT Data Communication, have announced that
they will start a video-on-demand service within a year. The
firms plan to create the joint venture firm in Tokyo in April.

The new firm, called "Media Bank Planning," will be capitalized at
50 million yen ($500,000). Sixty percent of the stake will be
paid by Softbank and the rest by NTT Data. Softbank's President
Masayoshi Son will assume the presidency of the new firm.

The new firm will reportedly start a video-on-demand service,
using NTT Data's network, within a year. With this system,
users will be given an adaptor, called a set-box, free of
charge. Users will then be able to access their desired video
programs by accessing NTT Data's "Media Server." They will be
required to pay a basic monthly fee of 2,000 yen ($20). Each
video program will reportedly cost around 300 yen ($3).

The new firm is also planning to provide Karaoke and video game
software, along with a ticket reservation service through the
network.

Because of the high start-up costs of such an operation, the
new firm will likely be seeking financial partners for the project.

(Masayuki "Massey" Miyazawa/19940329/Press Contact:
Softbank, tel [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(TYO)(00029)

Japan - Intec/Sprint, Mitsubishi/Northern Telecom Link Up 03/29/94
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1994 MAR 29 (NB) -- Japan's value-added network
(VAN) firm, Intec, has signed an agreement with US-based telecom
firm Sprint International. The agreement requires Intec to provide
telecom services to overseas firms through Sprint's network.
Meanwhile, Mitsubishi Electric has linked with Canada's Northern
Telecom concerning the sale of telecom switching devices in Japan.

The agreement between Intec and Sprint International will give
Intec users connections to an additional 40 countries. Under the
agreement, Intec will link its packet network, called Ace Telenet,
with Sprint's Sprint Net. This is the first time that Sprint has
entered into an agreement with a domestic VAN firm in Japan. It
is also a first major agreement for Intec concerning an
international network.

Meanwhile, Mitsubishi Electric has signed a deal with Canada's
Northern Telecom. Under the agreement, Mitsubishi will import
advanced telecom switching devices from Northern Telecom,
for sale in Japan.

The switching devices will include products for frame-relay and
asynchronous transfer mode (ATM). Mitsubishi expects to sell 250
to 300 units within the next three years. It is expected that the
firm will gain seven to eight billion yen ($70 - $80 million) in
sales.

(Masayuki "Massey" Miyazawa/19940329/Press Contact: Intec,
tel [phone], fax [phone], Mitsubishi
Electric, tel [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SFO)(00030)

CMS Changes Name To AmeriQuest Technologies 03/29/94
IRVINE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994  MAR 29 (NB) -- Effective March
31, CMS Enhancements says its name will be changed to AmeriQuest
Technologies with a corresponding NYSE stock symbol of AQS.

CMS Enhancements is a computer distributor of PC systems,
subsystems, peripherals and accessories for network file servers
from such hardware vendors as Acer, Apple, IBM, Data General,
and DEC.

Along with the new name, the company has appointed Hal Clark
as president and CEO.

Mike Rusert, executive vice president for the company, told
Newsbytes, "We have been a active player computer mass storage
products and will continue to do so. Our new strategy will expand
our role as a distributor that focuses on high-end client/server
products and systems. We are well aware of the trend away from
mainframes and towards the network environment and it is our
intention to serve as a distributor to that environment."

The company claims that through private placement they have
received a capitol infusion of $5.6 million and acquired two
regional computer distribution companies in Rhino and MSG
(Management Systems Group). According to AQS, its new
corporate strategy includes "building through additional
acquisitions."

(Patrick McKenna/19940329/Press Contact: John Shaw,
818-783-2400)


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

Newsbytes Daily Summary 03/29/94
PENN VALLEY, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A.,1994 MAR 29 (NB) -- These are
capsules of all today's news stories:

1 -> Toshiba Intros Light-Weight, Color Pen-Based Dynapad 03/29/94
Toshiba has introduced the Dynapad T200 Series of
"high-performance" color  pen tablet computers. The company says
the new computers are  aimed at vertical markets and are
light-weight, offer longer  battery life, a larger hard disk
drive, and color.

2 -> Report Critical Of Australian Gov't IT Buying Habits 03/29/94
The Bevis report into  Australian Government Procurement is highly
critical of  government buying policies and practices, claiming
"appalling  failure of policy administration." It also says there
is "totally  inadequate monitoring of expenditure" and
"attitudinal problems  among government purchasers."

3 -> Trimble Intros Low-Cost Geoexplorer GPS 03/29/94 atellite-
based navigation technology is becoming more practical and
economical for many different applications. Now, Trimble
Navigation, developer of the Pathfinder global positioning system
(GPS) product line, has added Geoexplorer to its line of GPS
products.

4 -> Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing! 3.0 For Windows Intro'd 03/29/94
After selling  more than two million copies of its Mavis Beacon
typing tutor  program, The Software Toolworks has introduced Mavis
Beacon  Teaches Typing! version 3 for Windows.

5 -> Italy - Olivetti Wins Cellular Telecoms License 03/29/94
Olivetti, the Italian electronics  company, has won a tender for
the second cellular phone network  in Italy.

6 -> Italian-German Telecoms Giant Looms 03/29/94 STET, the
Italian state-controlled telecoms company, has announced plans to
form a joint venture operation with Siemens, the German
electronics group. Both  companies have invested an unspecified
amount in the project,  which will create an as-yet unnamed major
company in the  international telecoms arena.

7 -> UK - BT Slashes Cost Of Int'l High-Speed Data Comms 03/29/94
British Telecom (BT) has announced it is cutting the cost of its
integrated services digital network (ISDN) and
kilostream/megastream network links to the US.

8 -> France Telecom Offers Transatlantic Digital Video Link
03/29/94 France Telecom (FT) has  revealed details of a new
transatlantic digital video link offer for  both ad-hoc and
permanent services. The offer is an initiative  between France
Telecom, Keystone Communications, and Maxat.

9 -> IBM France To Distribute CA-Unicenter For RS/6000 AIX
03/29/94 IBM France has signed an agreement with Computer
Associates, terms of which call for Big Blue's French operation to
distribute CA-Unicenter for AIX (IBM's flavor of Unix) on the IBM
RISC (reduced instruction-set computing) System/6000 computer.

10 -> Protec Intros Pocket PC Ethernet Adapter 03/29/94 Protec
Microsystems Inc., has announced a pocket Ethernet adapter, aimed
mainly at portable computer (PC) users who need to hook up to a
network when in the office.

11 -> Interactive Ads To Become Major Marketing Tool 03/29/94 The
notion of consumers being able to choose what advertising
information they receive is already becoming a reality, according
to a report in the April 1994 issue of Newmedia Magazine.
Interactive advertising  is expected to become the dominant sales
tool in the next 10 to 20  years and is already being implemented
with technology currently  available.

12 -> Megahertz Corp Intros PCMCIA Ethernet Adapter 03/29/94
Megahertz Corp., has announced a PCMCIA (Personal Computer Memory
Card  International Association) Ethernet adapter that allows
mobile  computer users to hook into a local area network (LAN).

13 -> Kodak Forms Digital Imaging Business Unit 03/29/94 astman
Kodak, of camera and film fame, has announced it will form a
digital  imaging business unit.

14 -> Seybold - Serif Intros PagePlus 3.0 Windows Desktop Pub
03/29/94 At Seybold Boston '94, Serif Inc., introduced an
extensive upgrade to its $59.95 Windows-based desktop publishing
package, and took  home a Seybold Award for Excellence for its
efforts.

15 ->  ****Bell Canada & Jones Intercable Modify Deal 03/29/94
Bell Canada International Inc. and Jones Intercable Inc. of
Englewood, Colorado, have announced some changes to their
strategic alliance agreement following rulings by the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) in the United States.

16 -> IBM Canada, Air Canada In Reservations Deal 03/29/94 Two new
companies are being set up as a result of a deal between Markham,
Ontario-based IBM Canada Ltd. and Montreal-based Air Canada. The
agreement finally appears to settle the fate of the Gemini airline
reservations system, a joint venture of Canada's two major
airlines which has been in doubt for some months.

17 ->  ****DEC Backs WordPerfect For OpenVMS 03/29/94 Digital
Equipment Corp. is giving its endorsement to the WordPerfect word
processing software for its OpenVMS operating system. DEC said it
will work with Orem, Utah-based WordPerfect to integrate the
software more closely with its own All-in-1 office automation
suite.

18 ->  ****HP Intros High-End Hardware, Discusses Convex Deal
03/29/94 Hewlett-Packard  has expanded the high end its technical
computing lineup with a new workstation billed as "the fastest in
the world," in addition to a set of preconfigured HP 9000 Series
700 workstation clusters and seven new third-party technical
applications for HP 9000 Series  800 servers.

19 -> Seybold - EBT's SGML Tools For End Users, Organizations
03/29/94 At Seybold, Electronic Book Technologies (EBT) introduced
tools for extending the use of SGML (Standard Generalized Markup
Language) to end users, as well as for easing storage of
SGML-based documents for large organizations ranging from auto and
aircraft manufacturers  to computer companies and commercial
publishers,

20 ->  ****Apple Peripheral Sales To Double Worldwide By 1999
03/29/94 A new study by Frost & Sullivan, a subsidiary of Market
Intelligence, says  sales of peripherals for Apple Macintosh
computers, such as disk  drives, scanners, and monitors, will more
than double worldwide  by 1999. Storage devices, such as hard disk
drives, are predicted  to be the biggest sellers.

21 ->  ****Microsoft, Mtel To Build Nationwide Wireless Net
03/29/94 Microsoft has announced an alliance with Mobile
Telecommunications  Technology Corp., to build a nationwide
wireless network for  sending and receiving data.

22 -> Novell, AT&T To Sell Phone Network Software 03/29/94 Novell
Inc., best known  for its NetWare computer network operating
system (NOS) software,  and long distance phone service provider
AT&T, say they will soon  market software that links personal
computer networks with  telephone networks.

23 -> Compton's Multimedia Patent Fight Not Yet Over 03/29/94 The
US Patent and Trademark Office has said that while it has rejected
all 41 of Compton's claims in its patent on multimedia, this is
not the final word. The Tribune subsidiary has two months to
respond to the reversal of its patent number 5,241,671 issued in
August, 1993, which appeared to give the company a corner on the
entire concept of multimedia.

24 ->  ****FASB Backing Off On Options Accounting Ruling? 03/29/94
The Financial  Accounting Standards Board appears to be backing
away from a  proposal to deduct the costs of employee stock
options from  earnings that has set off a storm of protest from
the computer  and software industries.

25 ->  ****CD Sales Soar In Fourth Quarter 03/29/94 Sales of
software  on compact disk exploded in the fourth quarter of 1993,
according  to the Software Publishers Association, hitting $102
million on  unit sales of just over four million CDs. More than
half of all sales  for the year were in the fourth quarter.

26 ->  ****AOL's CFO Asserts The Positive 03/29/94 America Online
Chief Financial Officer Lennert Leader emphasized the positive  in
a Newsbytes interview, even as the company's stock price
continued its recent slide.

27 -> Telxon Signs OEM Deal With Dauphin 03/29/94 Telxon has
signed an OEM   (original equipment manufacturer) deal with
Dauphin Technology to  supply its wireless LAN (local area
network) products for Dauphin's  pen-based DTR-1 computer. It
could be the first of many.

28 -> Japan - Softbank & NTT In Video-On-Demand Venture 03/29/94
Tokyo-based book publisher Softbank, and NTT Data Communication,
have announced that they will start a video-on-demand service
within a year. The firms plan to create the joint venture firm in
Tokyo in April.

29 -> Japan - Intec/Sprint, Mitsubishi/Northern Telecom Link Up
03/29/94 Japan's value-added network (VAN) firm, Intec, has signed
an agreement with US-based telecom firm Sprint International. The
agreement requires Intec to provide telecom services to overseas
firms through Sprint's network. Meanwhile, Mitsubishi Electric has
linked with Canada's Northern Telecom concerning the sale of
telecom switching devices in Japan.

30 -> CMS Changes Name To AmeriQuest Technologies 03/29/94
Effective March  31, CMS Enhancements says its name will be
changed to AmeriQuest  Technologies with a corresponding NYSE
stock symbol of AQS.

(Ian Stokell/19940329)