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/nb041594

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(NEWS)(GOVT)(SYD)(00001)

Australia - BSAA Warns BBS Operators About Piracy 04/15/94
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1994 APR 15 (NB) -- The Business Software
Association of Australia (BSAA) members Autodesk, Microsoft,
and WordPerfect have won permanent restraining orders
against two bulletin board operators in Australian
Federal Court. Both have agreed to pay an undisclosed sum
in damages.

The defendants, Leigh Bowden and Andrew Green, agreed to
surrender all diskettes containing unauthorized copies of
software and have apologized for copying and allowing
unauthorized copies of computer programs to be available on
their BBS. Proceedings were files against the two on January 24.

This is the third BBS to be hit by the BSAA in recent times.
The group said it is using "the full force of the law" against
distributors of illegally copied software. Legal counsel Maurice
Gonsalves said that BBS distribution "was a particularly
insidious form of piracy."

The BSAA recently announced a continuation of the $2500 cash
reward offer for information leading to successful actions
for software copyright infringement. In the first two months
of 1994 it gained settlements against large mining company
Pasminco, the Cooperative Building Society of South Australia,
and a leading business college in Sydney.

(Paul Zucker/19940415)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SYD)(00002)

Merisel To Open Asia Pacific HQ June 1 04/15/94
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1994 APR 15 (NB) -- Large US computer
products distributor Merisel is to establish an Asia Pacific
headquarters in Hong Kong. Managing director will be Australian
Verilyn Smith who is being promoted from the same role in
Australia.

The new MD in Australia is Patrick Woods who was formerly
director of finance and administration at Merisel Australia,
having worked in that position for the last two years. Smith
will report directly to Merisel chairman and CEO, Mike Picket.

He said "Expanding into the fastest-growing global region
requires the management skills of an individual with a proven
ability to meet the demands of the market. Along with Verilyn
Smith's knowledge of the Pacific Rim and Asian markets and her
dedication to the company, she displayed the talents needed
to begin developing a strong position for Merisel in the Asia
Pacific region. Patrick Woods' leadership skills, his
understanding of our business, and commitment, contribute to
Merisel's position as a leader in providing world-class
distribution to the Australian market."

Former managing director of Pacific Rim and Latin America,
John Thompson, will now focus all of his attention on
worldwide logistics and inventory management. Smith ran a
distribution company in Australia called MicroAustralia
which was bought by Merisel to become Merisel Australia.

(Paul Zucker/19940415)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SFO)(00003)

Networking Roundup 04/15/94
PENN VALLEY, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994 APR 15 (NB) -- This is
a regular Friday feature, summarizing networking news not covered
elsewhere by Newsbytes in the past week: Telebit, Meridian Data,
Fast Ethernet Alliance, Technology Research Interoperability Lab,
LANTEC Inc., Cabletron Systems, Xylogics Inc., Xyplex Inc., NetSoft,
NetEdge Systems Inc., and Beame & Whiteside Software.

Dial-up remote LAN (local area network) access company Telebit,
(408-745-3340), announced a new release of software for NetBlazer
dial-up routers. The new software contains a suite of enhanced
features that the company claims will give remote users
"superior access to corporate network resources, greater
flexibility and increased security options. The new capabilities
include TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet
Protocol) access for remote Macintosh users, multi-user log-in,
remote user password assignment, NetWare remote user enhancements,
customized reporting, bill-back tools, and a sophisticated
security option called NetBlazer SecurID. They are set to become
available with the release of NetBlazer 2.3 software on April 18.

Meridian Data, (408-438-3100), announced that its CD Net
Software, designed to retrieve CD ROM information over Novell
NetWare, Banyan VINES and NetBIOS networks, now supports
Pioneer's high-performance double- and quad-speed disc changers.
CD Net Plus software reportedly allows peer-to-peer workgroups to
share single or multiple changers attached to a DOS-based server,
with each changer's CDs mounted in 6-pack caddies. The advanced
multiuser software also provides CD management for Meridian's CD
Net Integrated Servers. The suggested list price of CD Net Plus
Software with 10-concurrent-user license starts at $895.

Meanwhile, the Fast Ethernet Alliance (503-226-8247), and the
Technology Research Interoperability Lab (TRIL) announced the
formation of interoperability test suites for Fast Ethernet at
the TRIL site in Santa Clara, Calif. The independent testing
environment is being developed to ensure that 100Mbps CSMA/CD
Ethernet products will be interoperable when installed in customer
multivendor Fast Ethernet networks. The initial focus of the lab's
Fast Ethernet testing will reportedly be the physical media
dependent and convergence sublayers and implementation dependent
MAC layer parameters for 100BASE-TX products.

LANTEC Inc., (800-352-6832), has announced an OEM
(original equipment manufacturing) agreement that makes FACSys,
Optus Software's fax server product for Novell NetWare, a part
of the company's new XPostWare line of modular messaging products.
Available in May 1994 under the brand name XPostFax, NetWare
will be able to use various fax capabilities including: complete
inbound routing options to automatically direct incoming faxes
to users; and support for the FaxBios and CAS computer fax
standards. XPostFax for NetWare 2.x, 3.x and 4.x will carry a
suggested list price of $895 per fileserver, and $2,695 for a
multiple fileserver license.

Cabletron Systems, (603-337-1079), and Xylogics Inc.,
(617-272-8140), have announced what they claim is the
industry's first in-the-hub remote access module that provides up
to 12 integrated V.32bis modems for dial-in/dial-out network users.
The companies maintain that it allows terminals and serial devices
to be connected directly to Ethernet, token ring and FDDI (fiber
distributed data interface) networks through Cabletron's Multi
Media Access Center (MMAC) line of intelligent hubs. Based on
Xylogics' ANNEX software version 8.1, the Modem Module is
available in several configurations. The MODMIM4 is a single-slot
product that offers 20 ports of connectivity, including four modems.
The MODMIM is also available as a two-slot module for the MMAC with
an additional board and 8 modems. The MODMIM remote access module
supports multiple protocols including AppleTalk Remote Access
Protocol (ARAP), Dial-up IP routing, Point-to-Point (PPP)/Serial
Line Interface Protocol (SLIP), dialback security, LAT and TN3270.
The MODMIM will be available in 90 days, priced at $1,495 per port,
which includes 16 local ports.

Xyplex Inc., (508-952-4700), says it has developed the 520
ATM-to-Ethernet bridge/router module for integration into the
Network 9000 Routing Hub to provide high-speed connectivity
between lower-speed Ethernet devices and ATM (asynchronous
transfer mode)-attached devices. The 520 connects to an external
ATM switch when used as a high-speed backbone for connectivity
between Network 9000 Routing Hubs. The 520 also reportedly
complements the cost-effective premise distribution functions of
the Network 9000, providing hundreds of users with access to ATM
connected file servers and other resources to diverse multi-vendor,
multi-protocol networks. Xyplex's ATM-to-Ethernet bridge/router
module is comprised of two components: a 520 hot swappable
input/output (I/O) module and 401 bridge/router processor module.
Xyplex's 520 ATM router module is priced at $8,995.

PC-to-host communications software company, NetSoft,
(714-768-4013), announced that Novell Inc., Attachmate Corp.,
and Digital Communications Associates Inc. (DCA) are all
incorporating NetSoft's NS/Router software for Windows-to-
AS/400 client/server connectivity into their respective
communications software product lines. NS/Router is a native
Windows router software product for PC-to-AS/400
communications. Novell will bundle NS/Router with their
strategic NetWare for SAA connectivity product. It will be
available for both IPX/SPX (Internetwork/Sequenced Packet
Exchange) and TCP/IP networks. At DCA NS/Router has
reportedly been incorporated into DCA's IRMA WorkStation for
AS/400 2.0. Attachmate will incorporate the software into
their EXTRA! 5250 emulation software for Windows. According
to NetSoft, NS/Router is an implementation of its third-generation
New Systems (NS/) technology, which supports up to 32
concurrent AS/400 sessions, and includes an IBM binary-
compatible EHNAPPC.DLL interface for third-party application
support. The software imports existing DOS-based PCS/400 files
and definitions, so users moving from DOS to Windows do not
have to recreate their work.

Asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) router firm NetEdge Systems
Inc., (800-NetEdge), has announced Release 1.1 software for its
ATM Connect router, which is claimed to feature the first ATM
enterprise-wide virtual network routing capability. The company
says that this allows Ethernet, Token Ring or FDDI LAN attached
devices located anywhere in the enterprise to participate in
secured workgroup teams with ATM-attached servers and hosts.

Finally, Beame & Whiteside Software, (919-831-8989), has
announced that new versions of BW-TCP and BW-NFS connectivity
software products, will be released next month as BW-Connect
TCP and BW-Connect NFS V3.1. The new client software is claimed
to add support for Windows virtual device drivers, and support for
more TCP sockets. The company says it will also offer the same
NFS software to run over Microsoft's TCP/IP protocol stack and
Novell's LAN Workplace. BW-Connect 3.1 is now being offered in
four configurations: BW-Connect TCP; BW-Connect NFS for DOS and
Windows; BW-Connect NFS for Microsoft; and BW-Connect NFS for
LAN Workplace. BW-Connect TCP for DOS and Windows retails for
$245, BW-Connect NFS for DOS and Windows for $349, BW-Connect
NFS for Microsoft for $299, and BW-Connect NFS for LAN Workplace
sells for $199.

(Ian Stokell/19940415)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SFO)(00004)

Personnel Changes Roundup 04/15/94
PENN VALLEY, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994 APR 15 (NB) -- This is
a regular feature, summarizing personnel changes at companies
not covered elsewhere by Newsbytes: OpenVision, Walker
Interactive Systems, Beame & Whiteside Software, Miro
Computer Products Inc., Photronics Inc., and Shiva Corp.

Distributed systems management company OpenVision,
(510-426-6424), has announced that Helen Bradley, formerly vice
president, systems software for Sun Microsystems, has become
senior vice president, applications engineering and executive
committee member. In her role at OpenVision, she will be
responsible for the "design, development and timely delivery" of
the firm's systems management applications. She will also
participate in the evaluation of new areas of technology for
OpenVision. Her previous management experience reportedly
includes directing international telecommunications for Squibb
Corp. and managing software and hardware development for
companies such as Bell Laboratories, Sytek, and Pyramid
Technology.

Walker Interactive Systems (415-243-2851), a business and
financial applications software and consulting company, has
appointed Michael D. Kallet vice president of research and
development. Kallet will oversee the R&D arm of the $65 million
company and will also be responsible for technology direction.
Kallet, 40, was formerly the vice president of R&D at Verity Inc.,
where he managed a development team, which included
engineering, quality assurance and documentation. He also
was a member of the executive staff involved in defining
strategy, tactics, corporate policy and procedures. Before
Verity, Kallet was the director of R&D at Software Publishing
Corp. Kallet received his B.S. in physics and mathematics from
Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Worcester, Mass.

Connectivity company Beame & Whiteside Software,
(919-831-8989), announced the promotion of two
executives to key administrative positions. Denis Wessler
was named to the newly created position of vice president,
administrations/operations, and Rex Hoppa was promoted to
the newly created position of manager, technical support.
The company says that Wessler was hired as director of
operations/administration when it established its new
corporate offices in Raleigh last October. In his new position,
Wessler will be responsible for coordinating the day-to-day
operations at Beame & Whiteside and managing corporate
assets. Hoppa also joined Beame & Whiteside when it
established its Raleigh headquarters. He was initially hired as
technical support specialist. In his new role he will be
responsible for managing the Beame & Whiteside support team,
and coordinating all telephone and on-line support activities
for the company's PC connectivity software.

Miro Computer Products Inc., (415-855-0940), a company
involved in the development of graphics-based hardware and
software tools for the publishing, design, financial, digital
media and workplace productivity markets announced that
Robert M. Butchko, 46, has been appointed president. Butchko
recently served as director of marketing for Weitek Inc.,
where he was responsible for the development of the firm's
Power 9000 graphics processor. In addition, he managed the
company's marketing operations. Before joining Weitek,
Butchko served as vice president of marketing for Appian
Technologies, a manufacturer of ASIC (application specific
integrated circuits) semiconductors and high-performance
graphics controllers. Prior to Appian, Butchko was president
of Renaissance GRX, manufacturer of graphic controller and
graphics system software products.

Photomask manufacturer Photronics Inc., (203-775-9000),
announced the promotion of Barry Hopkins to vice president/
California Operations, located in Milpitas. Hopkins joined
Photronics after more than 30 years of experience in the photomask
industry, according to the company. He worked for DuPont
Photomasks over the last five years, having served as manager of
its Rousset/France operation and general manager/West Coast
operations in the United States. Before that he held engineering
and general management positions with Harris Semiconductor,
National Semiconductor, AMI, Textron and Microfab Systems.

Finally, Shiva Corp., (617-270-8365), appointed Jean-Pierre
Boespflug as its vice president of international operations. The
company says that Boespflug will be instrumental in creating a
strong market position for Shiva's remote network access
solutions in Europe and Asia. He will report directly to Shiva
President and CEO Frank Ingari, and be responsible for building
and managing all of Shiva's sales, field-based marketing,
distribution, and customer service outside of North America. In
addition, he will oversee the establishment of Shiva's new
European-based engineering organization. Previously, Boespflug
was vice president of European operations at bridge and router
vendor, Wellfleet Communications. Prior to Wellfleet, Boespflug
served as vice president of European operations at Cisco Systems,
also a bridge and router company

(Ian Stokell/19940414)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SFO)(00005)

Company Results Roundup 04/15/94
PENN VALLEY, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994 APR 15 (NB) -- This is
a regular feature, summarizing company results not reported
elsewhere by Newsbytes: Level One Communications Inc.,
Automatic Data Processing Inc., Vicor Corp., and
Corel Corp.

Both Level One Communications and information company
Gannett reported records for their first quarters. Meanwhile,
power system vendor, Vicor Corp., showed a 38 percent
increase in net income for the quarter, while Automatic Data
Processing says its third quarter of 1994 was the company's
131st consecutive quarter of double-digit earnings per share
growth. On the back of sales of its flagship CorelDraw software,
Corel posted a large net income for the first quarter over the
same quarter in 1993.

Level One Communications Inc., reported record results for the
first quarter ended April 2, 1994. The company says that all
earnings per share amounts reflect the 3-for-2 stock split to
shareholders of record on Dec. 30, 1993, which was paid on Jan.
20, 1994, and the effect of the sale of 1,530,168 shares by the
company in a registered public offering. Revenue for the quarter
was $9,926,000, a 95 percent increase from the first quarter
of 1993. Net income for the quarter increased 256 percent over
last year's same period, to $1,730,000, or $.14 per share. In last
year's first quarter ended April 3, 1993, revenue was $5,102,000,
and net income was $676,000, or $.07 per share.

Computing services firm Automatic Data Processing Inc.,
(212-953-5555), achieved record revenue and earnings in the
third quarter of fiscal 1994. According to the company, that
represents ADP's 131st consecutive quarter of double-digit
earnings per share growth. Revenue was $674,405,000 in the
quarter ended March 31, 1994, up 10 percent from last year.
Earnings per share increased 14 percent to $.74 from $.65 last
year. Pretax earnings increased 15 percent; net earnings increased
14 percent after the effect of a higher tax rate.

Power system designer and manufacturer, Vicor Corp.,
(508-470-2900), announced its financial results for the quarter
ended March 31, 1994. Net income for the quarter increased
38 percent to $4,787,000 compared with $3,464,000 for the
corresponding period a year ago. Earnings per share and revenues
for the quarter were 22 cents versus 16 cents and $25,762,000
versus $18,700,000 respectively. Vicor says it sells its products
primarily to the telecommunications, electronic data processing,
industrial control, and military electronics markets.

Finally, software company Corel Corp., reported financial results
for the first quarter, ended February 28, 1994. The company also
announced that unit shipments of its flagship CorelDraw software
product surpassed the one million mark. Net sales of the company's
products for the first quarter were $37.5 million, an increase of
81 percent over 1993's first quarter sales of $20.7 million.
After-tax net income was $4.7 million or an increase of 208
percent over net income of $1.5 million for the first quarter of
1993. The figure translates into earnings per share of $1.14 in
the first quarter 1994, compared to $0.05 per share in the first
quarter of 1993.

(Ian Stokell/19940415)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(LON)(00006)

AI Program Predicts Inventory Needs 04/15/94
SUTTON, SURREY, ENGLAND, 1994 APR 15 (NB) -- Servasure, a software
house, has developed what it claims is a package that represents a
major breakthrough in artificial intelligence (AI).

The package, version 6 of Servasure, is the latest edition of
the company's integrated services management software which has
been enhanced with the addition of AI routines that interactively
assist the user and guide him/her through the application.

Servasure claims that the addition of AI techniques to its software
could save companies millions of pounds or dollars a year.
According to the company, every year firms throw away vast
quantities of unwanted and obsolete spare parts, as they
struggle (and fail) to make accurate forecasts about national
and worldwide stock requirements. The impact of this waste on
business and the environment is massive, Servasure claims.

"But this could all change with the introduction of a parts
forecasting system that uses ground-breaking AI and artificial
experience computer technology," the company says.

According to Servasure, version 6 of its software is a logistics
package that uses a new range of algorithms to analyze current and
past behaviour patterns, and make highly accurate predictions about
stock requirements.

The potential benefits for businesses, the company claims, are
enormous because firms can make big reductions in the working
capital traditionally tied up in warehousing, and slow-moving and
obsolete stock.

The project is billed as the culmination of a seven-year, multi-
million pound project and the brainchild of Douglas Harper, the
company's founder and chairman.

"Every year companies throw away billions of dollars of unwanted
parts. Reducing this wastage not only saves our limited resources,
it also cuts down on the number of unsightly out-of-town garden
sheds needed to store it, and the number of holes we have to dig to
bury it all, afterwards," Harper said.

(Sylvia Dennis/19940415/Press & Public Contact: John Hill Associates
- Tel: [phone]; Fax: [phone])


(EDITORIAL)(TELECOM)(WAS)(00007)

Editorial - Placing Blame On The Info Highway 04/15/94
WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A., 1994 APR 15 (NB) -- Editorial by
Kennedy Maize, Newsbytes Washington Bureau Chief. Who is to blame
for the potholes in the information superhighway? The big guys have
mounted a major campaign to blame government, and particularly the
Federal Communications Commission and FCC Chairman Reed Hundt, for the
cratering of recent telecommunications mergers.

The Wall Street Journal has been most prominent in this
criticism, going after Hundt as the major culprit. Well,
excuse me...but I don't buy it, and I'm not troubled by
the collapse of a bunch of recent mergers, including
Southwestern Bell and Cox, and Bell Atlantic and TCI.
In fact, I think the collapse of the mergers is both an
expected and a healthy development.

The Journal and others argue that the information superhighway
won't happen without further concentration of the information
industry. They say that the new players need deep capital
pockets and access to economies of scale if the game is to work.
It's a compelling argument on the surface. But what they are
saying at the root is that monopoly and oligopoly powers are
the price we, the consumers, must pay for our access to the
information infrastructure. I just don't buy it. It's counter to
economic theory and to my historical experience with the personal
computer industry.

Instead, I support the classic economic argument that
entreprenuership and competition will deliver the real benefits
of the information superhighway to me and my family, far cheaper
and faster than monopolies seeking to extract economic rent
from you and me. Take a look at my office as an example. I have
available for my use a whole range of communications technologies
that were simply unavailable a decade ago -- personal computers,
modems and facsimile machines, laser printers that do excellent
typesetting, and a wide range of telephone services -- that
probably would not have happened had monopolists been
in charge. Does anyone out there seriously believe that I'd
have those products if only IBM made computers, and only AT&T
provided phone service, both local and long-distance?

A word here about Judge Harold Greene, who has also been
portrayed as a villain for his decision to put the brakes
on the AT&T-McCaw merger. He was right. The nation's
telecommunications system is invested with the public interest.
Greene was correct to apply a public interest standard to this
deal. Ultimately, it is competition, not combination and
concentration, that serves the public interest. Entrepreneurs
will compete against each other to offer consumers lower costs
and better services. Monopolists and oligopolists argue that
they understand their markets better than their customers.
(Remember when AT&T wouldn't let you own a telephone?)

But we know better. Firms that understand their customers best are
those which have to compete for the business. And if there are
monopolies? Then they need to be regulated, complete
with...gasp!...price controls.

(Kennedy Maize/19940415)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(WAS)(00008)

Logicon Lands Big DOD Software Dev't Contract 04/15/94
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994 APR 15 (NB) -- Logicon,
a Los Angeles software developer, has landed a major Air
Force contract to provide its integrated computer-aided software
system throughout the Defense Department. DOD plans to use the system
to establish a single software engineering environment for developing
automated information systems.

Logicon says its estimates that the contract is worth $670
million over the 10-year life of the project.

The award came as a result of a competitive procurement by the Air
Force Standard Systems Center. The software engineering environment
will include hardware, commercial off-the-shelf software and Logicon's
Logicore software development tool. Logicore will allow DOD software
development and maintenance at lower cost than is possible today,
according to Logicon's Ralph Webster. Logicore is an integrated group
of programs that, when installed on a client/server network of desktop
computer workstations, guides a team of software developers through a
structured and managed process that produces a computer program.
According to Logicon, it does so by controlling the workflow of the
software developers.

Under the contract, Logicon will provide small, medium and
large software engineering environments. Other government
agencies will be able to buy systems through the Air Force contract.

The software to be developed will be for information management,
intelligence and command and control systems. Logicon will do the work
on the contract from its offices in San Pedro, Calif., Arlington, Va.,
and Montgomery, Ala.

(Kennedy Maize/19940415/Press Contact: Ralph Webster, tel
310-373- 0220)


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

 ****New Media Expo - AOL Chief Envisions Online Future 04/15/94
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994 APR 15 (NB) -- Interactive
multimedia is a powerful new technology, but it's about people
and not computers, televisions or telephones, says the president
of America Online. "The jury is still out on whether people
want to talk to their televisions," Stephen Case told a keynote
session at the New Media Expo here Wednesday.

"But the jury is not at all out on whether people want to
talk to each other," he said. "If you can create ways
for them to interact with people they care about and subjects they
care about, we think that will be an important component of this new
medium."

Case said modern media has moved from a small number of
general media -- a few general circulation magazines and three
television networks -- to highly specialized media with about 12,000
magazines and a planned 500 television channels. The next step is
"personalized" media, made possible by the advent of huge databases
of online information from which people gather the information they
want.

The transition is one which traditional media companies already
missed once: Rolling Stone missed the opportunity which became MTV,
and Time the development of CNN. But they now appear to recognize the
shifting media landscape, Case said.

America Online is a computer-based service, but Case has not
conceded the interactive landscape to more accessible media
such as the ubiquitous television. The ever-popular "video on
demand" multimedia vision is a very complex system, and the
"PC revolution is taking off," Case said.

"I understand that more new PCs are sold than TVs," he said. Now in
30 percent of American homes, PCs will be in 60 percent at the end
of the decade.

Interactive media also pose a great challenge to advertising,
which must make the shift from image advertising, with
its focus on persuasion in 30 second bites, to the very different
medium of interactive advertising. In interactive advertising, people
explore the best way to meet their own needs, finding their way
through information and advice to the products they need.
"It's less intensive, less focused on persuasion and much more
informative. People have the ability to branch to the information
they care about. There's a renewed focus on communication, on
establishing a dialogue with customers."

The challenge, in fact, will be to do advertising in a way
which resembles less the often-unwelcome intrusion of modern
image advertising and more the country store of the past,
where people got personalized service and advice tailored to
their needs. "They will think of it as electronic markets. They
welcome it as opposed to feeling that it's intrusive."

The sense of community found on online systems has also been
critical to their success, Case said. "This is about community,
and not just content," he suggested. The underlying psychology of
something as consumer-oriented as The Home Shopping Network may
be driven as much by the desire for community as for the goods
that are sold, he suggested.

The media of the future will in fact be a hybrid media,
which evolves in a pragmatic, evolutionary manner, Case predicted.
The combination of two new media -- CD-ROM and interactive
services, for example -- combines a medium with enormous capacity
with another which is current and personal. "This is a new
medium and it requires new skills," Case warned. "It's important
not to look forward through a rear-view mirror."

He challenged the notion of "re-purposing" information, a
term used by Apple CEO Michael Schindler, as "trying
to shove pre-existing content through the pipe." Like advertising,
content will have to be re-invented to fit into the multi-media mode.
Case predicted that the media landscape will be "a segmented,
fragmented, complicated advertising market" for the next decade.

As successful as a service like America Online has been (from
300,000 users last year to 700,000 today), all online services
together still reach only four percent of American households.
He called for a "tapestry of alliances," to create the new
interactive media. "No company can do this alone. It requires a
variety of different skills from a variety of different
industries."

Above all, Case said, the media of the future will be tested
against their ability to meet people's real needs, as opposed
to the needs uncovered by quick marketing surveys. "It's about
providing what they want in the way they want it when they
want it."

(Paul De Groot/19940415)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SFO)(00010)

New Media Expo - Optical Drives Gain Speed In Cluster 04/15/94
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994 APR 15 (NB) -- A
new drive array for rewritable optical drives, developed by Pinnacle
Micro, brings hard drive speed to optical drives, the company says.

Named Orray, for Optical Array, the system uses specially prepared
optical platters in color-coded sets of four. Placed in a special
drive tower, they can be configured as a single logical drive. The
company showed the tower at New Media Expo here.

Pinnacle Sales Associate Deanna Thomas says the company sees
the $15,000 system as a good candidate for storage-intensive
video data. Standard magnetic hard disks get much of their
speed from the fact that they typically contain several disc
platters, each with its own read and write heads,
which permit reading and writing data from several platters
simultaneously.

Until now, optical platters have used a single disc surface
and a single head which, combined with their slower rotation,
meant relatively slow access times and data transfer times. By
linking four platters as a single unit, the Pinnacle Orray
imitates some of the design features of magnetic disks. But
the system has the additional advantage of separate control
of each disc surface and head. Each set has its own electronics,
which means that data can be read from several discs
simultaneously. While data from one disc is being transferred
to the computer, data from the other discs can be read into a
buffer with up to 64 megabytes capacity, to be burst to
the disc cache at 10 megabytes a second. The system can be set to
operate in one of two caching modes, depending on what kind of tasks
the user wants to perform.

In streaming mode, useful for audio and video applications,
the system buffers large, adjacent cache segments, to get
high data transfer rates for large files. In transaction mode,
best for database applications, the cache holds the most recently
accessed data in smaller cache segments to ensure that as much
data can be cached as possible. Because optical drives can
only be read one side at a time, an Orray with four 5.25-inch
optical discs has a maximum capacity of 2.6 megabytes. The
removable discs can be flipped over to get another 2.6
megabytes, or replaced entirely with another set of discs
containing another 5.3 megabytes of data on both sides.

While its tentative $15,000 price tag (the system will begin to
ship in about 90 days) makes it an expensive way to get 5.3
megabytes of storage, additional sets of four platters are
available for $799 each.

The Orray can be configured as an array of discs in a single
unit, or in its Standard mode as four separate units. The
latter arrangement will accommodate any compatible ISO/ECMA media,
Thomas said. However, that arrangement reduces the efficiency of the
system. In Orray mode, the disc media are placed in a certain order
into the Orray tower, with the colors of the discs corresponding to
the color of the drive bay in which they are placed. The system will
detect when the wrong disc is put in a slot, or when a disc from one
set is accidentally used in another set, Pinnacle says.

The system includes a special processor to ensure Fast SCSI-2
compatibility; spindle speeds up to 4,500 RPM; automatic detection
of Orray or Standard mode, and of ISO and ECMA media; an Intel
i960 RISC processor which in turn controls slave Intel 80188
processors managing each disc surface; and independent
asynchronous data channels. The last feature lets each head
function independently of the other heads, ensuring
that heads do not remain idle, or are not disabled, while
one head is working.

(Paul De Groot/19940415/Press Contact: Pinnacle Micro is at
19 Technology, Irvine, CA, 92718)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(SFO)(00011)

 ****New Media Expo - System Advances Lip Synching 04/15/94
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994 APR 15 (NB) -- Getting
realistic facial expression and accurate lip synch on animated
characters has traditional been an animator's nightmare.
Now, a powerful computer system makes it as simple as having a live
actor go through the dialogue while cameras watch.

Using new technology, the cameras can capture the movements of
the actor's face and transfer them to an animated character
in the computer. The result is an animated character which
moves just like the real thing.

The system for capturing the movement of the actor's face was
developed by Adaptive Optics Associates of Cambridge, MA, and
combined with SimGraphics VActor real-time character animation
system. It was demonstrated at New Media Expo here.

The system uses two video cameras and a collection of highly
reflective dots attached to the actor's face. The two cameras
triangulate the movement of the dots on the actor's face and
transfer their movement to the computer. It, in turn,
translates the movement to an animated face.

With sufficiently powerful computers, the process of reading
movement on the actor's face and transferring it to the computer
image can be done within a quarter of a second, creating only
a modest time delay. Audio output is delayed by the same amount
to create exact synchronization of the face and speech.

The new system replaces older versions developed by Adaptive Optics
Associates. An earlier product, Facial Waldo, consists of a helmet
worn by actors. Sensors on the helmet were attached to the actors face
and body to track movement accurately. Glove devices such as the
DataGlove or CyberGlove can be used to track hand movements.

The new system dispenses with the awkward helmet and complicated
wiring of Facial Waldo. At the moment, the system is limited to
handling data from facial movement, but Adaptive Optics plans to
extend it to full body movement in the future.

Such performance does not come cheaply. To get the full real-time
effect, including realistic skin textures mapped on the animated face,
users require a Silicon Graphics Onyx workstation, priced between
$100,000 and $600,000. However, users can use less expensive Silicon
Graphics workstations if they don't need real-time texture mapping on
the animated face, a SimGraphics spokesman said. The texture mapping
can be applied by a slower Silicon Graphics computer after the
movements of the actor's face have been captured and stored.

In most applications, the actor's movements are mapped to a
pre-built character. Simgraphics builds the faces on a
client-by-client basis. A sports franchise or business might
want to animate a mascot, for example. A future version,
VActor Producer, will let the user develop their own faces. It can
import files from Alias, Softimage, TDI, Vertigo and Wavefront. It
will also have morphing capabilities, templates of common
expressions and motions which can be applied whenever
required, and a scripting language.

The system can export data to a number of animation
packages and store them in standard image format such as the
Mac's PICT format.

The system has already been used to animate an ant face in the
Sim-Ant Enhanced CD-ROM version, and Mario's face in Mario Teaches
Typing. An interactive cartoon character in Britain, Ratz, is also
animated with the system.

(Paul De Groot/19940415/Press Contact: Adaptive Optics Associates,
54 Cambridge Park Dr., Cambridge, MA, 02140. 617-864-0201;
SimGraphics Engineering Corporation, 1137 Huntington Drive,
South Pasadena, CA, 91030. 213-255-0900)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(BOS)(00012)

Impact Printers No Longer Less Expensive To Own 04/15/94
NORWELL, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1994 APR 15 (NB) -- Impact
printers have traditionally cost less to own than non-impact
printers, but that old adage is fading away fast, according
to a new study by BIS Strategic Decisions.

In a comparison of 17 impact printer models and 12 non-impact printer
models, BIS researchers found that the low end of the market is the
only area where impact printers still hold a strong edge in cost of
ownership, said Sam Shukovsky, market analyst for the Norwell,
Massachusetts-based market research firm, in an interview with
Newsbytes.

At the high end of the market, non-impact printers are now out in
front, and at midrange, the gap is narrowing fast, according to
Shukovsky.

In conducting the study, BIS separated the 29 printers under
evaluation into five basic groups, said the marketing analyst. Dot
matrix or "serial matrix" printers were placed at the low end of the
impact printer market. Line matrix and band matrix models were at the
midrange and high-end, respectively.

Among the non-impact models, BIS placed ink jet printers at the low
end, while laser printers straddled the midrange and the high end of
the market.

The five categories of printers correlated with printing speed. Among
printers running at under 12 pages per minute (ppm), the impact models
were still clearly ahead in cost of ownership. Between 20 and 40 ppm,
their edge lessened. Non-impact printers "ran away with the lead" in
both the 12 to 20 pm and 41 to 50 ppm ranges.

Contributing to the growing advantage of the non-impact printer are
new developments such as the expanded ink cartridge Hewlett-Packard is
offering for the Deskjet 500, Shukovsky explained.

As soon as non-impact vendors are able to bring down the cost of
consumable ink cartridges still further, non-impact printers will pull
ahead of impact printers in the low end of the cost-of- ownership
race, as well, he predicted.

Inkjet printers still cost more to own than dot matrix printers in
terms of equipment costs, but paper and power consumption costs both
favor the inkjet printer, as does print quality, he noted.

At the midrange of the market (20 to 40 ppm), BIS expects impact
vendors to lose sales in the near term, and as a result, to find it
hard to maintain a lower cost through economies of scale, Shuvovsky
added. As sales drop, prices will rise until impact vendors "price
themselves out of the marketplace."

For the foreseeable future, the only real market remaining for impact
printers is the "multipart form niche marketplace," according to
Shukovsky. If the non-impact vendors develop a suitable alternative
for multi-part forms, the impact printer could cease to exist
entirely, he theorized.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19940414/Reader Contact: Sam Shukovsky, BIS
Strategic Decisions, 617-982-9500; Press Contact: Martha Popoloski,
BIS Strategic Decisions, 617-982-9500)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(SYD)(00013)

Australia - Telecom Slammed For "Bad Attitude" 04/15/94
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1994 APR 15 (NB) -- Australia's main
telecommunications carrier Telecom has been reprimanded by
the regulatory authority Austel. It was found to be "less than
a model corporate customer" over its treatment of customers.

A small number of Telecom customers who claimed to have had bad
treatment at the hands of Telecom formed a group called Casualties
Of Telecom (COT) and took their grievances to Austel for help.
Most were small businesses which relied on the phone to a large
extent in daily operation. They had all complained to Telecom
that there were problems with the service but Telecom replied
that there were no faults.

Problems included a ring tone for the caller but no ring at the
phone, constant busy signals despite the phone not being busy, or
even recorded messages saying that the service was discontinued.

After persistent complaining, some of the customers had their calls
recorded by Telecom -- in some cases thousands of hours of calls.
Telecom used these recordings to "prove" that nothing was wrong with
the lines, but Austel found that this merely proved that Telecom
could not find the faults. It also found that while recording
calls could be a legitimate procedure, in these cases Telecom
had done so without the permission nor even knowledge of the
customers.

The Australian Federal Police are currently looking at the
report to see if Telecom is guilty of an offense under the
Telecommunications Interception Act.

Austel found that hundreds of businesses had been affected; some of
the Telecom exchanges were using outdated and faulty equipment;
Telecom monitoring could not have found many of the faults;
Telecom's testing procedures were inadequate in many cases;
Telecom breached its own guidelines by mistreating customers;
some Telecom staff were hostile and that there exists in Telecom
a culture of reluctance to admit fault; Telecom staff had misled
customers by not admitting that Telecom could be liable.

While not public knowledge, it is believed that Telecom has already
sought to settle some of the grievances with the payment of
damages. The total bill is believed to be tens of millions of
dollars.

(Paul Zucker/19940414)


(NEWS)(IBM)(TOR)(00014)

IBM To Offer Workgroup Bundle With Lotus Notes 04/15/94
AUSTIN, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1994 APR 15 (NB) -- IBM has announced
plans to offer a software bundle aimed at work groups, made up of
its own software and Lotus Development Corp.'s Notes.

IBM's Advanced Server for Workgroups bundle will include OS/2
2.11, LAN Server Advanced 3.0, System Performance Monitor/2 2.0,
and Notes 3.0 with an OS/2 server and six clients. The software
collection comes on a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM)
along with a single integrated manual and a videotape giving
installation instructions.

According to the vendors, the Notes component provides
knowledge-sharing applications, mail and messaging capabilities,
a development environment for distributed applications, and
discussion and collaboration databases. OS/2 2.11 provides the
"workplace shell" graphical user interface (GUI) and lets users
run OS/2, DOS, and Microsoft Windows applications at the same
time.

IBM's LAN Server Advanced provides high performance resource
management across the network with fault tolerance and security
features, officials said, and System Performance Monitor/2 2.0
enables load balancing and performance tuning.

IBM's own sales force has sold Notes, as well as Lotus' cc:Mail
electronic mail software, since 1991, and the agreement between
the firms was extended last fall to include IBM selling and
supporting the OS/2 version of Lotus' SmartSuite applications
bundle.

When that was announced during the Comdex/Fall trade show in
November, Lotus' president and chief executive, Jim Manzi, also
promised that his company would deliver OS/2 versions of future
releases at the same time as versions for other platforms.

The new bundle comes with 90 days of IBM customer support and a
US promotional offer for a discount on IBM consulting services
for application design, implementation, and customization of
Lotus Notes applications.

The list price is $4,695, and the Advanced Server for Workgroups
is due to be available today from IBM and soon from software
resellers in the United States and Canada.

A recent study by Forrester Research found that surveyed
companies using Notes reported returns on investment of better
than 100 percent on average. The study was partially funded by
Lotus.

(Grant Buckler/19940414/Press Contact: Deborah Wood, IBM,
512-823-3258)


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

IBM Disk Arrays For RS/6000 04/15/94
SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A, 1994 APR 15 (NB) -- The Storage
Systems Division of IBM has added to its 3514 High Availability
Disk Array line two new models meant to work with IBM's RISC
System/6000 workstations and servers.

The new 3514 models 212 and 213 use redundant arrays of
inexpensive disks (RAID) Level 5 architecture. This means users
still have access to their data if a single disk drive or power
supply fails, IBM said.

According to IBM Storage Systems officials, the new 3514 models
complement IBM's 7135 RAIDiant Array, which can run RAID levels
0, 1, 3, and 5 concurrently. The 7135 array, IBM's first RAID
product for the RS/6000, offers more capacity than the new 3514
models, but at a higher price, a spokeswoman for IBM told
Newsbytes.

RAID technology spreads data over a number of small disks that
work together as if they were a single large drive. IBM's new
3514 models use the company's one- and two-gigabyte (GB),
3.5-inch drives.

One advantage of RAID is that data spread over multiple disks can
be written retrieved faster because a technique called disk
striping lets all the drives work simultaneously. RAID Level 0,
the simplest approach, does only this.

Higher levels of RAID also guard against hardware failures by
storing data on more than one disk, so that if one disk fails,
all the data is still available.

In RAID 5, both data and parity information are mixed on all the
disks in the array. The new models of the 3514 can also be
operated in RAID 0 mode.

When operating in RAID 5 mode, IBM said, the new models can also
be set up with an extra disk drive so that if one drive fails,
data can be reconstructed automatically on a stand-by disk drive
without operator intervention. This minimizes the risk of a
second disk drive failure shutting the array down before the
first failing drive is replaced.

Models 212 and 213 have a one-megabyte write cache that reduces
response time and increases total sustainable throughput while
maintaining high data availability, IBM said. Data protection is
enhanced by storing a mirrored copy of the data in the write
cache in a non-volatile removable memory module that retains the
data even when the module is separated from a power source.

Models 212 and 213 provide maximum usable storage capacities of
about 6.9 GB and 13.8 GB respectively in RAID 5 mode. Maximum
capacities are 7.9 GB and 15.7 GB in RAID 0 mode.

IBM said the new models cost from $2.98 per megabyte when used in
RAID 0 mode and $3.40 per megabyte when used in RAID 5 mode. Both
are due to be available April 22.

(Grant Buckler/19940414/Press Contact: Carol Keslar, IBM Storage
Systems, 408-256-5555; Lisa Ritter, GCI for IBM Storage Systems,
213-930-0811)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LON)(00016)

Russia - Dell Contracts With Bank Of Russia 04/15/94
MOSCOW, RUSSIA, 1994 APR 15 (NB) -- Dell Computer Corporation,
which has been setting up operations behind the former Iron Curtain
for several years, has secured a highly prestigious contract with
the Central Bank of Russia.

The contract, reported to be worth around $850,000, calls for Dell
to supply a wide range of its PC hardware to the bank, in a move to
migrate the bank's systems from stand-alone PCs to a Russia-wide wide
area network (WAN).

Despite the economic problems affecting Russia at the moment, the
government of the country appears to be taking the view that
investment for the future is necessary and, in order to ensure
that Western-loaned investment cash can be routed around the country
quickly and efficiently, is upgrading the bank's money transmission
services.

The move has been helped, Newsbytes understands, by the switch
earlier this year from a dollar-led to a dollar-banned economy.
Apart from the ubiquitous taxis in Moscow, which have always favored
dollars and continue to do so, many shopkeepers are now forced
by government regulations to only accept roubles.

With inflation reaching 40 percent a month, many shops are opening
foreign exchange bureaus so that customers can "exchange" their
dollars at cash tills for roubles, which are then "paid" into the
till, and switched back into dollars at the end of the day (at the
same exchange rate, of course) to be banked by companies which do not
want to be landed with what they consider as worthless roubles.

Ironically, because of the poor money transmission systems in Russia
at the moment, credit cards are starting to lose favor in the
country. This is because the credit card slips cannot legally be
filled out in dollars and rouble slips must be processed through the
banks' networks, then converted into dollars after a period of
several days have elapsed.

(Sylvia Dennis/19940415)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(LON)(00017)

Apple UK - File Assistant For Powerbooks 04/15/94
UXBRIDGE, ENGLAND, 1994 APR 15 (NB) -- Apple Computer UK has
announced File Assistant, a software application for use on the Mac
Powerbook range of portables. The idea behind the package is to
allow users with a desktop and a portable Mac to keep their files
fully synchronized.

In addition to the "synch" facilities, Apple also includes a range
of tools designed to address issues specific to mobile computing,
including battery life management, deferred printing, and automatic
server remounting.

Newsbytes notes that there is at least one other package on the
market designed to put Powerbook and desktop machine files in
synch, called "Inline Sync" from Inline Design, Lakeville, CT.

According to Apple, the Powerbook File Assistant software is a
synchronization application that will automatically ensure that
files on a portable and a desktop Mac are updated whenever the user
connects the machines.

"Making it easy has always been a hallmark of Apple products,"
explained Paul Gardner, director of Enterprise solutions and
software with Apple UK. "Powerbook File Assistant draws on Apple's
strength in software and integration."

"Powerbook users who work frequently on another machine -- either in
their office of at home -- have told us that having a simple
mechanism to ensure consistency between files would be of tremendous
value to them."

The File Assistant is billed as working with all of Apple's
portables, from the original Powerbook 100 through to the latest
180c. Other features of the package include: deferred printing
(where the printout is delayed automatically until the printer is
attached); server mounting (auto-connection and file linking to a
network when connected); mouse tracker (an image enhancer for the
mouse's on-screen pointer; and the latest "Everwatch" battery
conservation technology.

File Assistant will be offered through dealers in the UK this
summer with a retail price of UKP 50. Worldwide shipment is
also planned for this time frame.

(Steve Gold/19940415/Press & Public Contact: Apple Computer UK -
tel: [phone])


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(LON)(00018)

UK - Electricity Company Gets Full Telecoms Licence 04/15/94
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND, 1994 APR 15 (NB) -- Norweb (the Northwestern
Electricity Board) has announced it has obtained a full telecoms
licence from the Department of Trade & Industry (DTI).

The DTI is a division of the British government. Newsbytes notes
that, with the awarding of the licence, Norweb could, if it so
wished, compete head to head with British Telecom (BT), Mercury
Communications and others in the field of provision of telecoms
services in the UK.

Norweb has no major plans to take on BT or Mercury head to head. The
company says that the licence, for the moment at least, will
allow the electricity company to offer surplus capacity on the
private telecoms network it uses in its electricity distribution
activities.

Newsbytes understands that the Norweb network currently consists of
a series of voice and data circuits, trunking over fiber optic
links, running in parallel with the high voltage circuits spanning
the Northwest of the UK.

Norweb has created a new management set-up over the last 12 months,
known as Norweb Communications, whose primary aim is to offer voice
and data circuits to private and public companies, primarily in the
Northwest of England, but plans are in hand for national service, if
customers want such facilities.

Commenting on the public announcement of his new division, John
Seddon, general manager of Norweb Communications, said: "In the last
12 months we have created the infrastructure for the new
communications division and are now ready to install, operate and
maintain services on behalf of external customers."

"The granting of the PTO licence is a key component of our business
strategy and means that we can now compete head on with both BT and
Mercury. We have already signed contracts with regional utilities
and local authorities who are now sharing traffic between competing
operators and Norweb Communications," he said.

"In the next five years we see a major opportunity to build a
successful communications business based on competitive pricing and
a high standard of customer service," he added.

(Steve Gold/19940415/Press & Public Contact: Norweb Communications
Tel: [phone])


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LON)(00019)

Germany -- Data Security Firms Merge 04/15/94
OBERURSEL, GERMANY, 1994 APR 15 (NB) -- Two software companies that
specialize in data security software are to merge. Uti-Maco
Software and Safeware will become one company known as Utimaco
Safeware on July 1.

The deal, just signed, was concluded at the CeBit Computer Faire,
held in Hanover, Germany, last month.

According to the companies, the aim of the merger is to offer
clients "powerful, integrated security solutions for PCs and client
server systems with all the necessary services from one supplier."

Since the company was formed in 1983, Uti-Maco Software has been
carving out a niche for itself as a supplier of data security
systems in Germany and around Europe. Last year, the company
achieved sales of DM 13.5 million with 52 employees.

Safeware, meanwhile, was founded in 1988 and has operations in
Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The company achieved sales of DM 7
million last year and has 24 staff on board.

In a prepared statement from the two companies, they said that
Utimaco Safeware AG (the name of the new operation from July 1)
"will continue to develop the existing product palette and
to extend it with powerful security systems for OS/2, Windows 4.0
Chicago and for application-oriented requirements."

The new company, according to officials with Uti-Maco Software, will
aim for combined sales of DM 20 million. No redundancies or layoffs
are planned, Newsbytes understands. The new company will have sales
outlets in 19 countries around the world.

(Sylvia Dennis/19940415/Press Contact: Jutta Stolp, Uti-Maco
Software - Tel: [phone]; Fax: [phone]; Frank
Glesen, Safeware - Tel: [phone])


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

Fodor's Travel Manager For Newton Messagepad 04/15/94
CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994 APR 15 (NB) -- If you are
traveling to major US cities with your Newton Messagepad, you'll
want to get the Fodor's 94 Travel Manager. The package offers
detailed information and on-screen maps for eight major US
cities.

With the Fodor's Travel Manager you can find out how much cab
fare averages from the major airports to the most important areas
of the city, find a Chinese restaurant near your hotel, and get
the low-down on the best spots to see. The Fodor's Travel Manager
covers New York, Los Angeles, Dallas, Atlanta, Boston, Chicago,
San Francisco, and Washington, DC.

Each city has an introduction, including cultural aspects; city
maps; airport information; dining and lodging information; free-
time activity topics such as the arts, nightclubs, sports, and
shopping; and services such as doctors, fax services, and travel
agents. Specifically useful to travelers, the airport information
includes a map of the airport with labels as to what airline is
in each concourse and includes the toll-free and local numbers
for airlines that serve the city.

The package uses the Geosystem's Geolocate Technology, so if
you're lost, you can enter your starting point and destination
and the Newton will map out the route on-screen.

The software comes on its own credit-card sized flash memory card
for insertion into the Messagepad's Personal Computer Memory Card
International Association (PCMCIA) slot. The Fodor's Travel
Manager is distributed by Apple Computer's Starcore division and
retail price is $119.95.

(Linda Rohrbough/19940415/Press Contact: Christopher Escher,
Apple Computer, tel [phone], fax [phone])


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

40 Mysteries For Newton In Columbo's Capers 04/15/94
CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994 APR 15 (NB) -- One of the
more unusual games for the Newton Messagepad, Columbo's Mystery
Capers is a graphically based set of 40 who-dun-its where the
clues are hidden in humorous, cartoon-like line drawings of the
murder scene.

Each case starts with an explanation of who, what, when, where,
and why, then allows the user to point to different areas of the
crime scene to find clues. The clues come in several forms, such
as the victim's purse, which reveals with another click a clue
such as a handwritten note and a revealing postmark on a letter.

The user's job is to pick out the correct solution from a list of
possibilities, once the clues are viewed, then pick those that
would indicator to a jury the same conclusion. A "clues" button
at the bottom of the screen allows the user to see if any clues
remain.

Once the user correctly solves a case, the infamous Inspector
Columbo from television's mystery series shows up to congratulate
the user and offer his take on the mystery.

Columbo's Mystery Capers comes on a credit-card sized flash
memory card for insertion into the Messagepad's Personal Computer
Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA) slot. The title is
distributed by Apple Computer's Starcore division and retail
priced at $79.95.

(Linda Rohrbough/19940415/Press Contact: Christopher Escher,
Apple Computer, tel [phone], fax [phone])


(REVIEW)(APPLE)(LAX)(00022)

Review of - Newton Messagepad, 04/15/94

From: Apple Computer

Price: $499 to $599

PUMA Rating: 3.5 (1 lowest, 4 highest)

Reviewed for Newsbytes by: Linda Rohrbough

Summary: The original Newton Messagepad gave me moments of pain
as well as delight, but it is still one of the best new gizmos to
come on the scene in several years. Also, it appears Apple has
fixed several of the most painful problems in the latest version
just released.

======

REVIEW

======

True to its reputation, Apple Computer has sparked the interest
of the world by attempting to digitize the tasks now performed by
people with organizers. With handwriting recognition, battery
operation, and a size that is almost small enough, the original
Newton Messagepad is the company's first attempt and it is an
admirable one. But true to Apple's history, those who bought the
first ones may find that their needs are more fully satisfied by
the next version.

The Newton sucks you in from the start with sounds and pictures.
It is full of surprises, most of which are familiar to those who
have followed reports about the unit. The most famous one is
deleting a document, which brings up a trash can, the page is
wadded up to a crinkling sound, and thrown into the can with a
echoing metallic sound.

It's easy to find your way around the Messagepad. Interacting
with the unit happens either by tapping on-screen icons or pick
list items or by writing. Pen strokes become digital lines that
are supposed to be converted to text as though it was typed.
Either way, there's a long flat pen for use to communicate with
the Newton that fits into a built-in pocket on the right side.

The unit comes with a built-in names database, notepad, and
calendar represented by icons permanently drawn at the bottom of
the screen. In addition, there are up and down arrows, an
"Extras" box icon that holds functions like setting the time or
practicing handwriting, a search icon called "Find" and an
intelligent help icon "Assist."

Also, in the handwriting conversion, what the Newton types isn't
always what you've written. The unit works by recognizing entire
words at once, instead of letter by letter. This is great with
most simple dictionary words, but entering proper names, such as
those in personal contacts or street addresses, can be an
excruciatingly long and painful process. And, of course, entering
names and addresses is one of the basic activities for which the
Newton was designed.

I tried to be smarter than the average bear when I was in a hurry
to write down a contact's name by switching to ink mode, where
the strokes remain and are not recognized. I planned to write
down the information I was in a hurry to record and later
transfer it to the address book portion of the unit.
Unfortunately, that didn't work either. I was half way through a
name and address in the notepad portion when the Newton
interrupted with a message that said I had to start another note
-- I had run out of room and electronic ink couldn't proceed any
further with the current one. I suppose I could have kept adding
one note after another, but I got stalled and quit.

That definitely stunted my use of the Newton for a name and
address organizer. I never really got to do the neat stuff, like
schedule lunch with my friend Suzanna in the calendar portion and
have the Newton bring up the right Suzanna from the name and
address database. I never got Suzanna in there.

The second biggest problem was the battery life. It takes time
for me to get accustomed to organizing my life around a new
gizmo, so I forget about it for several days at a time. With the
Newton, when I remembered it after two or three days and went to
use it, the batteries were dead. While the batteries are
rechargable, I only had one set, so I had to spend time
scrounging up a new set of batteries while the rechargable ones
spent an afternoon in the wall outlet. It was often the case that
by the time I got it operational again, the time I set aside for
using it was gone.

The third and final big problem was the size of the Newton. With
nothing to protect the screen from the scratches sure to come
when schelpped around, it was not a hard decision to put the unit
in the well-crafted leather case Apple sent along with it (which
is available at extra charge). The problem was the thing was just
too big to put in my sizable purse and too small to carry
comfortably like a small notebook. Also, while the case had extra
room for three credit-card sized Personal Computer Memory Card
International Association (PCMCIA) cards, it had no room for
extra batteries.

Smaller annoyances bothered me as well. The pen is flat, too
long, and weightless with the overall effect of never seeming
comfortable in my hand. Also, since I'm right-handed, I seemed to
always have my hand over the speaker at the lower right-hand
corner of the unit, which muffled the sounds. In addition, moving
from place to place means varying lighting conditions, and
adjusting the screen contrast required a trip through several
menus -- also a hassle.

I had to reset the unit several times when it locked up for
reasons I couldn't determine. I tried to repeat the problem and
couldn't. Frankly, resetting the Newton wasn't as aggravating as
I thought it might be and I didn't mind most of the time. I never
lost any data, and the unit is fun enough to use that I found it
a small price to pay for the enjoyment I got out of it.

However, after all these problems, I was coming to the conclusion
that the Newton might be just a vertical market tool for data
input by people like hospital personnel or insurance agents.
Still I enjoyed using the Newton because, frankly, it is simply a
great toy. If you spend time sitting in waiting rooms or
airports, there's nothing better than a Newton and a few games to
while away the time. I tried everything from gambling programs to
tax software with it and each package was intriguing and easy-to-
use. This is even more encouraging with almost daily
announcements of new applications software Messagepad, both from
Apple and from third party vendors.

Further, the beaming capability, while not especially fast, is
intriguing and just plain fun. I sat across from a colleague with
a Newton at a restaurant and we "beamed" things to each other. I
can imagine, if these things get cheap enough, someone will come
out with a set of personal digital assistants (PDAs) with
infrared capability that will be like digital walkie-talkies, so
kids can draw or write things and then "beam" those items to each
other.

Apple, however, has upgraded the Newton Messagepad since I test
drove the original and I was able to go to a prerelease
demonstration of the new Messagepad 110, code named "Lindy"
internally at Apple. The new 110 solves many of the items I found
to be problems with the original Messagepad.

First off, it comes with a cover built-in and a slimmer design,
so it is a lot more portable and easier to hold with one hand. It
also comes with a telescoping pen that is round and weighted like
the more expensive ink pens on the market. The pen is much easier
to hold and has a comfortable feel. The speaker for the sounds
has been moved out of the way so neither right or left handed
people will cover it and a contrast button is built into the side
so the contract may be adjusted with a single finger.

Apple has extended the battery life of the 110 so it is twice as
long with alkaline batteries and three times as long using the
rechargable Nicads. In addition, a base station that doubles as
a charger is included, so when you're not using the Newton, it
can be laid in the station so its Nicad batteries can be charging
without taking the batteries out.

Inside, the Newton has new read-only memory (ROM) and 1 megabyte
of read-only memory (RAM), giving the user 480 kilobytes (K) of
RAM for applications. This is a significant increase over the 640
K of RAM in the original Messagepad.

Changes in the ROM include deferred handwriting recognition and
the ability to adjust the recognition to be character by
character instead of word recognition. These changes are
specifically aimed at those who are entering name and address
information, as the Messagepad now sets itself to letter-by-
letter recognition in the "Names" portion. For entering numbers,
the user can set the Newton for number only recognition, which
reduces the possible set of choices and speeds along numerical
data entry.

The infrared is also faster, Apple said, so beaming larger
amounts of data can be done in less time. The screen on the 110
is a couple of picture elements smaller than the original, but if
Newton application developers have followed Apple's directions,
the company claims applications moved to the 110 should not be
cut off at the bottom. I didn't see any problems when I tried the
110.

The original Messagepad is getting an upgrade to be the
Messagepad 100, which means it will still have the same design,
and the same amount of memory, but Apple will upgrade the unit's
read-only memory.

The best part is Apple cut the price $200 for the top-of-the-line
110, to $599. A Messagepad 100 is $499 and original Messagepad
owners may upgrade their Messagepads for $99 and get two Newton
software products as well.

My recommendation to anyone purchasing a Newton would be to buy
the Messagepad 110. The 100 model will work well for vertical
market applications, but anyone who expects to use the Newton as
an electronic organizer will be much happier with the 110.

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

PUMA RATING

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

PERFORMANCE: 3.0 The original Messagepad I reviewed had some
problems, but the Messagepad 110 solves many of those problems.

USEFULNESS: 3.0 I like the Newton and enjoyed using it, but
I had problems with handwriting recognition when entering
names and addresses as well as battery life. Those problems
appear to be solved in the 110 model, however.

MANUAL: 4.0 No problems there. You don't really need the
manual to use the Newton or applications for the unit. The
only time you need a manual is to change the battery.

AVAILABILITY: 4.0 I didn't have any trouble finding Newtons
in retail outlets.

(Linda Rohrbough/19930408/Press Contact: Jennie Shikashio, Apple
Computer, tel [phone], fax [phone]/PHOTO)


(REVIEW)(IBM)(ATL)(00023)

Review of - The Reading Carnival CD-ROM, 04/15/94

Runs on: PCs with 386-SX chip minimum, 4 megabytes RAM, DOS 5.0
or higher, SoundBlaster or other MPC-compatible sound card, CD-
ROM drive, Super VGA monitor, and mouse.

From: Digital Theater, 5875 Peachtree Industrial Blvd., Ste 150,
Norcross, Georgia, 30092, 404/446-3580; FAX: [phone]

Price: $69.95

PUMA rating: 2.75 (on a scale of 1=lowest to 4=highest)

Reviewed for Newsbytes by: Robin and Dana Blankenhorn

Summary: An educational CD-ROM which shows off the technology but
has flaws.

=======

REVIEW

=======

The Reading Carnival is among the CD-ROM titles being tested in a
rental and sale program by Blockbuster Video. It's aimed at
enhancing reading and thinking skills in elementary school
children.

Fortunately, we have one right here. Robin turns 6 this month,
and has lots of experience with computers, having reviewed her
first package at age 3. She uses both Macs and PCs at Horizons
School, where she's in kindergarten.

Dad, however, loaded the software. He turned thumbs-down on this
disk when he learned that it required him to change his
AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS files in order to run the disk. While
this disk runs under MS-DOS and doesn't require Microsoft
Windows, any program which demands changes to crucial start-up
files has problems in his book.

On the disk are a number of stories with three exercises. Some
stories are told through cartoons, others through cartoon-like
pictures, others through film clips and still others through
slides. Topics include the first ice cream cone, the Statue of
Liberty, and a fanciful story of a girl who blows a bubble gum
bubble to rescue a cat from a tree. The words to each story are
read by a variety of voices, many of them kids.

On some stories, you can click parts of the picture to see
various actions. On the ice cream story, however, there's only
one place to click, and that always performs the same action,
telling the entire story through a short cartoon in a window. In
other places, however, the technique works well. Four animals are
shown in one panel, and a question is asked. When Robin clicks on
the wrong animal, it noisily runs off the picture.

Each story has about 8-10 panels, but there are problems. Both
dad and Robin found that, if they tried to move among the panels
randomly, the entire system would hang-up. Fixing this required a
"cold boot," turning the computer on-and-off. This is not good
for the computer.

Each story is accompanied by three exercises. There's a matching
game, a word game, and a coloring book. Robin liked the coloring
book best. You click on a color, then click somewhere on the
picture to color it. There are soft buttons on the screen to
print the pictures, to erase what you've just colored, and to
move on to other pictures.

While Robin and dad both said "stupid program" a number of times
while testing "The Reading Carnival," Robin liked it well enough
to want to play with it more after dinner.

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

PUMA RATINGS

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

PERFORMANCE: 2 The program hung up a number of times during its
operation, and required changes in the AUTOEXEC.BAT and
CONFIG.SYS files.

USEFULNESS: 2.5 There is educational content here, but not enough
to make any school's curriculum.

MANUAL: 3 The manual isn't needed. The lower grade is due to
problems found in the installation procedure.

AVAILABILITY: 3 Available not only at retail computer stores, but
at many Blockbuster Video locations.

(Robin & Dana Blankenhorn/19940204/Press Contact: Jolie Newman,
Digital Theater, 404/446-3580)


(NEWS)(IBM)(BOS)(00024)

PhoneSoft To Handle Phone Calls From Desktop Over LANs 04/15/94
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1994 APR 15 (NB) -- On an East Coast
press tour this week, AnswerSoft announced a June delivery date for
the first release of PhoneSoft, a client-server, local area network
(LAN)-based method of handling telephone calls that is expected to
be enhanced with fax, electronic mail, calendaring, and a variety
of other capabilities in the near future.

At a meeting with Newsbytes in Boston during the tour, Jeanne
Bayless, company president, and Martin J. Lattman, VP of strategic
relations, said that the initial release of PhoneSoft will let
networked Windows users carry out functions like placing and
answering phone calls, call conferencing, and call forwarding by
pointing and clicking on a GUI (graphical user interface).

SoftPhone will provide an OS/2- or Unix-based "telephony server" as
well as a Windows-based client, according to the officials. The
telephony server contains a call directory database for quick
desktop access to information on incoming and outgoing calls,
Bayless told Newsbytes. Because call logging is performed on the
server, all phone activities can be tracked, even when the client
PC is turned off, the company president noted.

SoftPhone will also support automatic number identification (ANI)
and Caller ID, allowing the desktop user to identify callers and
look up records of past conversations before getting started on a
phone call, she said.

Another key feature is the ability to automatically launch other
applications, added Lattman. The software can be configured to open
up a specific document in another application -- such as a meeting
report prepared in WordPerfect, for example -- when it senses
through ANI that a particular caller, such as the chairman of the
board, is on the line. At the same time, the user can
automatically bring up a history of previous conversations with the
caller.

SoftPhone's telephony server, which was developed with an "open
architecture" in mind, communicates on one side to a telephone
switch, and on the other side to the network file server, according
to Bayless. The connection between the server and phone switch is
called the "CTI (computer/telephone integration) link."

The network file server will access the CTI link through the use of
Novell's Telephony Services Application Programming Interface
(TSAPI) or AnswerSoft's own API on the telephony server.

Bayless told Newsbytes that AnswerSoft will initially offer CTI
links to telephone switches from AT&T and Shared Resource Exchange
(SRX). Support for additional switch vendors will be added in
the future, she reported.

Lattman explained that the PhoneSoft application will consist of
three core products -- "basic," "extended," and "advanced" -- along
with a series of optional add-on modules. The user will be able to
choose between the three core products, he added.

The basic core product, with features such as call conferencing and
call transfer, will be a subset of the extended core product, and
the extended core product will, in turn, be a subset of the
"scriptable" advanced core product. "Straightforward upgrades" will
be available from one core module to the next, Newsbytes was told.

The first release of PhoneSoft, which is slated for general
availability on June 20, will include the basic and extended core
products, to be priced at about $99 and $149 per user,
respectively, according to Lattman. The advanced core product will
ship later this year at a price of about $199 per user.

Also later in 1994, the company plans to unveil a series of add-on
modules that will include fax, electronic mail, and calendar.
"There are lots of calendaring applications on the market, but ours
is different from anything that's come before," Lattman maintained.
The PhoneSoft calendaring module will provide a calendar that can
be automatically updated through voice calls, he said.

PhoneSoft will initially support the DTMF telephony standard, and
will also be adding support for the VIM (Vendor Independent
Mapping), MAPI (Messaging Application Programming Interface), and
MHS (Message Handling Service) electronic mail standards.

AnswerSoft's modular software approach will provide users with
price/performance flexibility, the VP emphasized. "Users will
only be paying for what they need," he informed Newsbytes.

Computer/telephone integration (CTI) has been tried before, but
PhoneSoft represents the arrival of the concept in workable form,
said Bayless. When other vendors broached the approach back in the
1980s, the desktop environment was still characterized by
mainframes and dumb terminals, and by stand-alone PCs with 8088
processors, running DOS, she recalled.

By now, though, the GUI is here, along with local and wide area
networking, distributed processing, and powerful processors like
the Pentium, PowerPC, and Alpha, according to the company
president.

Bayless told Newsbytes that the seeds for PhoneSoft were planted in
1992, when SRX, a major vendor of modular PBX (private branch
exchange) equipment, recognized the potential for an open systems-
based PBX that would be capable of integrating with computer
networks.

SRX began work on an integrated call management platform, and
started to look for a partner to develop client-server applications
on this platform. During the same time frame, Blyth Software, which
produces the Omnis 7 line of crossplatform client-server software,
was studying other potential investment opportunities in the
client-server marketplace.

Bayless, who was Blyth's CFO at the time, brought Blyth and SRX
together. Ultimately, other Blyth executives decided to help out in
obtaining finances for AnswerSoft, a new venture, to be headed by
Bayless, that would pursue PC-based telephony applications.

Plano, Texas-based AnswerSoft will initially aim PhoneSoft at
small- to mid-sized companies, a match that is particularly
suitable, according to Lattman, for Novell-compliant software,
because so many of these companies have NetWare LANs. In addition
to supporting Novell's TSAPI, PhoneSoft can be "seamlessly
integrated" with Novell's NetWare 4.0 Directory Services.

Lattman said that PhoneSoft will be distributed through selected
value-added resellers (VARs), with an "initial thrust" toward
Novell and AT&T resellers. The VARs will receive sales leads from
AnswerSoft staff. "We consider it highly important to keep the
channel very clean," the VP pledged.

At some point in the future, AnswerSoft would like to bring out an
edition of PhoneSoft for Centrex users, added Lattman. The
installed base of Centrex switches remains quite large, yet the
switches provide relatively unsophisticated analog phone services,
he noted.

Also on AnswerSoft's drawing board are versions of the product for
other platforms and operating systems, along with more add-on
modules. An OS/2 client version of PhoneSoft is coming this summer,
and a Macintosh edition is definitely in the cards as well,
according to Bayless.

One prospective add-on for the future is a "follow-me" module that
would be aware of the user's whereabouts throughout the day, and
would be able to route calls to the appropriate locations, Lattman
told Newsbytes. Other possibilities include a paging module and a
series of vertical market applications.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19940415/Reader Contact: AnswerSoft, 214-612-
5100; Press Contact: Denise Burrows, Capital Relations for
AnswerSoft, 805-494-0830)


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

Printer Deal Expected To Net $50 Million For Bull 04/15/94
BILLERICA, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1994 APR 15 (NB) -- Officials of
Bull HN and Instant Publisher are predicting that a newly announced
systems integration, maintenance, and distribution deal between the
two companies will result in $50 million in revenues for Bull.

The agreement calls on Bull to carry out systems integration,
installation, maintenance, service, and worldwide distribution for
the IPS950, a stand-alone "instant printing" unit from Instant
Publisher.

The printing unit incorporates a 486 PC, a color monitor, and
specialized Windows-based software, plus a thermal printer billed
as able to perform multi-color printing on paper, card stock, and
waterproof stock as well as polyester, aluminum, plastic, acetate,
cloth, and leather.

In an interview with Newsbytes, Jim Gonyo, an account executive for
Bull, said that his company first became aware of the IPS950
through Instant Publisher's appearances at trade shows. "Since we
first saw the unit, market demand has grown even stronger," Gonyo
added.

As previously reported in Newsbytes, Instant Publisher projects
that more than 30,000 of its IPS950 printing units will be sold
over the next few years, for use at locations ranging from "quick
print shops" and kiosks to home offices, small businesses, and
corporate and manufacturing enterprises.

Since then, Newsbytes has learned that the IPS950 can print at the
rate of 2500 cards per hour or 10,000 labels per hour. Further,
printing starts in approximately 10 seconds, according to Instant
Publisher officials. The unit boasts 250 available fonts, and is
able to print in black, red, green, blue, silver, gold, maroon, and
brown.

The turnkey system is compatible with Corel Draw in addition to
Windows, and can accept paper-based input when used with a scanner,
officials said. Up to 40,000 customer files can be stored at a
time. Software for the system is multilingual.

Potential applications for the IPS950 run the gamut from business
cards, flyers, invitations, logos, and mailing labels to bar codes,
polyester garment labels, and plastic luggage tags.

The system offers a choice of 15 bar code options, and is also able
to print sequentially numbered items. Printing can be done on heavy
card stock up to 13 points.

Gonyo told Newsbytes that he expects the new printing system to do
especially well at quick copy centers and shopping mall kiosks. The
printing unit prevents the need to use traditional typesetting and
printing services, which tend to be costlier as well as much more
time consuming, the Bull account executive maintained.

Up to now, Instant Publisher has distributed the unit in the US,
Canada, and the Caribbean, according to Jack Banks, president of
Instant Publisher, a company based in Barbados, and with offices in
Toronto.

Instant Publisher's desire for sales expansion into Europe is a
major reason behind the deal with Bull HN, said Banks. Instant
Publisher has also been impressed with Bull's "strong reputation
for service" and "extensive service network."

Bull HN will perform systems integration and service on the
printing units at its plant in Lawrence, Massachusetts, said Dave
Dearborn, business manager for both Bull Electronics and Bull's
Contract Management Services Division.

Bull HN manufactures, supports, and integrates products ranging
from printed circuit boards (PCBs) to entire networks, he reported.
The PCBs are made at the Bull facility in Brighton, Massachusetts,
while other work is conducted in Lawrence.

Dearborn told Newsbytes that the IPS950 printing unit provides an
impressive array of colors and fonts. When used with a scanner, the
product can rapidly turn out high quality color copies of high-
demand items like business cards and invitations, he noted.

Bull HN, a company based in Billerica, Massachusetts, is part of
Groupe Bull, a French-based corporation with presence in more than
100 countries, over 28,000 employees, and combined revenues of $5
billion.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19940414/Reader Contacts: Bull HN, 508-294-6000;
Bull Contract Management Services Division, 800-444-3CMS; Press
Contact: Bruce McDonald, Bull HN, 508-294-6602; Reader and Press
Contact: Jack Banks, Instant Publisher, 416-754-9293)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(SFO)(00026)

Portable MicroSPARC Workstation To Be Sold By RDI 04/15/94
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994 APR 15 (NB) -- In an
effort to bring the latest portable technology to the SPARC
workstation environment, RDI Computer Corporation announced
an agreement with Sun Express to sell PowerLite, a portable
microSPARC workstation in a notebook-style package.

SunExpress is a direct marketing subsidiary of Sun
Microsystems, offering Sun and third party products,
and will provide ordering and immediate delivery of the
PowerLite workbook. The agreement gives SunExpress an exclusive
"telesales only" distribution agreement in North America.

RDI has also agreed with Sun Microsystems' software
subsidiary, SunSoft, to ship unmodified Solaris 2.3 and
Solaris 1.1.1 on its portable workstations. RDI also announced
the addition of PowerLite on Sun Microsystems Federal Third Party
Offerings which develops direct sales with government end-users,
contractors, and resellers in the US market.

The working relationship with Sun began three years ago with RDI's
first portable workstation, BriteLite. According to RDI, the new
PowerLite is the first to offer a portable workstation with
1024x768 color active matrix in an 8.5lb. notebook. The basic
workbook comes with built-in Ethernet, a 340 MB hard drive,
and 16MB RAM. It is expandable to 1GB of internal disk storage
and 80MB RAM.

An optional Peripheral Expansion Unit (PXU) offers 2 SBus slots,
up to an additional 2GB of internal disk storage, which could
result in a total configuration of 3GB of storage. The basic
PowerLite pricing begins at $9,995. The unit is aimed at
engineers, medical professionals, CAD users and various
government workers who operate demanding technical
applications.

(Patrick McKenna/19940415/Press Contact: Lisa Heller, RDI,
tel [phone])


(NEWS)(APPLE)(SYD)(00027)

Apple Australia Gets Boss From IBM 04/15/94
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1994 APR 15 (NB) -- The search for a new
boss at Apple Australia is over. Thirty-six year-old Steve
Vamos has given up his 15 year career at IBM to join the company.

Vamos was most recently general manager of IBM Australia's Personal
Computer Division where he is regarded as having turned the unit's
fortunes around, making IBM PCs once again popular. He is believed
to have been offered the job as general manager of WordPerfect
Pacific earlier this year.

The Apple job had been expected to go to a US employee.

In late October, David Strong stepped down as managing
director of Apple Computer Australia in order to take over
responsibility for building new businesses of mobile services
and general messaging. He is still chairman of the Australian
organization. Apple Pacific president is John Floisand.

(Paul Zucker/19931028)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(LAX)(00028)

Quantum Wins Ruling In Controversial Rodime HD Patent 04/15/94
MILPITAS, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994 APR 15 (NB) -- Disk drive
maker Quantum said it has just won a major victory against
competitor Rodime in a suit over a very controversial hard disk
drive patent. The United States District Court for the District
of Minnesota has ruled in Quantum's favor in its motion for
partial summary judgment denying Rodime has a claim on the size
of hard disk drives, as well as other assertions made in the
patent.

Rodime brought the claims to Quantum's attention, asking for
royalties, and Quantum filed a suit against Rodime in March of
1993. Rodime claims its patent covers hard disk drives using 3.5-
inch disks and specifies an architecture making claims on the
head positioning mechanism consisting of a rotary actuator moved
by an open loop stepper motor. The company has made claims
against hard disk drive makers Quantum, Conner, Western Digital,
Seagate, and IBM.

Headquartered in Glasgow, Scotland, Rodime's only US office is in
Minnesota, hence the Quantum legal battle has been fought there.
IBM decided to pay and not fight, as did Conner and other drive
makers, but Quantum chose to battle the Scottish company in
court.

In this, the first ruling on the Rodime patent, the US District
Court said the patent was invalid and unenforceable and that it
had not been infringed by Quantum. Quantum Chairman and Chief
Executive Officer William Miller said, "This patent has been a
topic of considerable interest and controversy in the hard disk
drive industry over the past few years. We view this ruling as a
very favorable development for Quantum in our ongoing dispute
with Rodime. We also believe this ruling is a positive event for
our industry and expect that it will be well received by other
hard disk drive manufacturers."

Milpitas, California-headquartered Quantum describes itself as
the largest supplier of hard disk drives. The company has been
ranked in the Fortune 500 since 1991 and sales for fiscal were
$1.7 billion.

(Linda Rohrbough/19940415/Press Contact: Catherine Hartsog,
Quantum, tel [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SFO)(00029)

DEC Posts Another Huge Loss 04/15/94
MAYNARD, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1994 APR 15 (NB) -- Digital
Equipment Corp., (DEC) has posted another huge loss, this time
for the third quarter, which ended April 2, 1994. With operating
revenues down, the company's losses for the quarter totalled
$183,306,000.

Robert B. Palmer, president and CEO tried to put a brave face on
the results, saying: "The financial results are unacceptable to this
management and obviously disappointing. This is especially true
because results of the quarter stand in contrast to the progress
Digital people have made on so many fronts and the five quarters
in a row of improved year over year results. Growth in our new
products is beginning to overtake the declines in our other
products, but we have not yet achieved a competitive cost
structure."

For the quarter, the company reported a net loss of $183,306,000,
or $1.34 per share, compared with a net loss of $30,121,000, or
$.23 per share for the comparable quarter a year ago.

For the nine months ended April 2, 1994, DEC reported a net loss
of $338,635,000, or $2.50 per share, compared with a net loss
of $364,526,000, or $2.81 per share for the comparable period a
year ago. The company added that the net loss for the first nine
months of fiscal 1994 includes a one-time benefit of $20,042,000,
or $.14 per share, related to the adoption of a change in accounting
principle for income taxes.

Palmer added that restructuring will be expedited, saying: "I have
instructed our senior managers to take actions to achieve
competitive lead times for high demand products, to accelerate
our on-going restructuring efforts, to further sharply reduce
spending, to conserve cash and to do all this without losing our
emphasis on building demand and supporting our customers. We
will also consider further restructuring to achieve our goals."

For the quarter, the firm reported total operating revenues
of $3,258,789,000, down six percent from $3,453,676,000 for the
comparable quarter a year ago. That figure reportedly includes
product revenues of $1,749,621,000, down one percent and service
and other revenues of $1,509,168,000, down 11 percent from the
comparable quarter a year ago.

For the nine months ending April 2, 1994, DEC reported total
operating revenues of $9,527,816,000, down nine percent from
$10,457,418,000, from the comparable period a year ago. That
figure includes product revenues of $4,966,549,000, down 10
percent and service and other revenues of $4,561,267,000, down
eight percent from $4,954,991,000 of the comparable period a
year ago.

However, according to Palmer, the company's PC and workstation
market is looking good, in terms of demand, if not supply. Said
Palmer: "One contributor to our disappointing results was our
inability to satisfy rapidly increasing customer demand for PCs,
Alpha AXP workstations and some storage products. Our total
workstation business is now growing again both in units and in
revenues, driven by the success of our Alpha AXP systems. Alpha
systems now represent nearly 50 percent of total system revenues
excluding PC's, and are almost equivalent to VAX system revenues."

Concluded Palmer, "We are providing leadership products at very
competitive prices, revenues from low end products and indirect
channels are expanding, but product gross margins continue to
decline. Similar pressures on revenue mix and margins are also
having an impact on our services business. As a result, our cost
structure is not yet competitive for the level of revenues we are
generating."

(Ian Stokell/19940415/Press Contact: Bradley D. Allen,
or James A. Chiafery, 508-493-8009, Digital Equipment Corp.)


(NEWS)(IBM)(SFO)(00030)

Novell's Version 2.1 Of LANalyzer For Windows 04/15/94
SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994 APR 15 (NB) -- Novell, the
leading network operating system publisher with its NetWare
software, has introduced version 2.1 of its LANalyzer for Windows.
According to the company, it is the first Microsoft Windows-based
network analysis tool which supports NetWare, UnixWare, Apple
Macintosh, Unix, and IBM networks

Newsbytes notes that, once a network has been set up and is
running, keeping it operational and optimizing its day-to-day use
can be a huge headache for network administrators, especially if
different platforms and protocols are being used. For users of
small networking environments, the use of a full-featured local
area network (LAN) analyzer is not needed, both because of cost
and, often, the difficulty of learning to use it.

However, based on Novell's NetWare Distributed Management
Services (NDMS) architecture, the firm says that LANalyzer for
Windows 2.1 provides users with a "portable, standalone tool
for managing small networks." The software also supports high-
bandwidth, technologies for 100 megabits-per-second (Mbps)
Ethernet networks.

A company source told Newsbytes that the increased network
speed support is significant, because for anyone using version
2.1 with either 10Mbps Ethernet or 16Mbps Token Ring, if they
move to the higher bandwidth, they can continue to use the
protocol analyzer as they move into the 100Mbps network.

The source added that version 2.1 supports all of the most
popular adapter cards, where version 2.0 was more limited in
its support of adapter cards for both Ethernet and Token Ring.

Additionally, according to the company, 2.1 has the same look-and-
feel characteristics as NetWare LANalyzer Agent, which can be
deployed as user networks grow into larger environments. NetWare
LANalyzer Agent is a NLM (NetWare Loadable Module) version that
supports multiple network segments from a central server location.

In announcing version 2.1, Gerry Machi, vice president and general
manager of Novell's NetWare Enterprise Products Division, said:
"With LANalyzer for Windows 2.1, customers can take advantage of
a powerful expert tool that quickly teaches a novice how to
troubleshoot and manage a network with ease. With a simple click
of the mouse, users can display critical network information,
including traffic rates, bandwidth utilization, and network errors."

Novell says that version 2.1 offers an expert analysis tool to
facilitate troubleshooting and improve the reliability and
performance in Ethernet and Token Ring networks, automatically
discovering and diagnosing common networking problems, and
proactively recommending ways to fix the problems.

The software can also be put on a portable computer in order to
troubleshoot remote networks. It can also provide a test platform
for applications software development.

LANalyzer for Windows 2.1 is already available priced at $1,495.
Users of LANalyzer for Windows 2.0 can upgrade to 2.1 for $250.

(Ian Stokell/19940415/Press Contact: Cheryl Hall,
408-747-4901, Novell Inc.)


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

Newsbytes Daily Summary 04/15/94
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, U.S.A., 1994 APR 15 (NB) -- These are
capsules of all today's news stories:

1 -> Australia - BSAA Warns BBS Operators About Piracy 04/15/94 The
Business Software  Association of Australia (BSAA) members Autodesk,
Microsoft, and WordPerfect have won permanent restraining orders
against two bulletin board operators in Australian  Federal Court.
Both have agreed to pay an undisclosed sum  in damages.

2 -> Merisel To Open Asia Pacific HQ June 1 04/15/94 Large US computer
products distributor Merisel is to establish an Asia Pacific
headquarters in Hong Kong. Managing director will be Australian
Verilyn Smith who is being promoted from the same role in  Australia.

3 -> Networking Roundup 04/15/94 This is a regular Friday feature,
summarizing networking news not covered  elsewhere by Newsbytes in the
past week: Telebit, Meridian Data, Fast Ethernet Alliance, Technology
Research Interoperability Lab, LANTEC Inc., Cabletron Systems,
Xylogics Inc., Xyplex Inc., NetSoft, NetEdge Systems Inc., and Beame &
Whiteside Software.

4 -> Personnel Changes Roundup 04/15/94 This is  a regular feature,
summarizing personnel changes at companies not covered elsewhere by
Newsbytes: OpenVision, Walker  Interactive Systems, Beame & Whiteside
Software, Miro  Computer Products Inc., Photronics Inc., and Shiva
Corp.

5 -> Company Results Roundup 04/15/94 This is  a regular feature,
summarizing company results not reported  elsewhere by Newsbytes:
Level One Communications Inc.,  Automatic Data Processing Inc., Vicor
Corp., and Corel Corp.

6 -> AI Program Predicts Inventory Needs 04/15/94 Servasure, a
software house, has developed what it claims is a package that
represents a major breakthrough in artificial intelligence (AI).

7 -> Editorial - Placing Blame On The Info Highway 04/15/94 Editorial
by Kennedy Maize, Newsbytes Washington Bureau Chief. Who is to blame
for the potholes in the information superhighway? The big guys have
mounted a major campaign to blame government, and particularly the
Federal Communications Commission and FCC Chairman Reed Hundt, for the
cratering of recent telecommunications mergers.

8 -> Logicon Lands Big DOD Software Dev't Contract 04/15/94 Logicon,
a Los Angeles software developer, has landed a major Air Force
contract to provide its integrated computer-aided software system
throughout the Defense Department. DOD plans to use the system to
establish a single software engineering environment for developing
automated information systems.

9 ->  ****New Media Expo - AOL Chief Envisions Online Future 04/15/94
Interactive multimedia is a powerful new technology, but it's about
people  and not computers, televisions or telephones, says the
president  of America Online. "The jury is still out on whether people
want to talk to their televisions," Stephen Case told a keynote
session at the New Media Expo here Wednesday.

10 -> New Media Expo - Optical Drives Gain Speed In Cluster 04/15/94 A
new drive array for rewritable optical drives, developed by Pinnacle
Micro, brings hard drive speed to optical drives, the company says.

11 ->  ****New Media Expo - System Advances Lip Synching 04/15/94
Getting  realistic facial expression and accurate lip synch on
animated  characters has traditional been an animator's nightmare.
Now, a powerful computer system makes it as simple as having a live
actor go through the dialogue while cameras watch.

12 -> Impact Printers No Longer Less Expensive To Own 04/15/94 Impact
printers have traditionally cost less to own than non-impact
printers, but that old adage is fading away fast, according  to a new
study by BIS Strategic Decisions.

13 -> Australia - Telecom Slammed For "Bad Attitude" 04/15/94
Australia's main  telecommunications carrier Telecom has been
reprimanded by  the regulatory authority Austel. It was found to be
"less than  a model corporate customer" over its treatment of
customers.

14 -> IBM To Offer Workgroup Bundle With Lotus Notes 04/15/94 IBM has
announced plans to offer a software bundle aimed at work groups, made
up of its own software and Lotus Development Corp.'s Notes.

15 -> IBM Disk Arrays For RS/6000 04/15/94 The Storage Systems
Division of IBM has added to its 3514 High Availability Disk Array
line two new models meant to work with IBM's RISC System/6000
workstations and servers.

16 -> Russia - Dell Contracts With Bank Of Russia 04/15/94 Dell
Computer Corporation, which has been setting up operations behind the
former Iron Curtain for several years, has secured a highly
prestigious contract with the Central Bank of Russia.

17 -> Apple UK - File Assistant For Powerbooks 04/15/94 Apple Computer
UK has announced File Assistant, a software application for use on the
Mac Powerbook range of portables. The idea behind the package is to
allow users with a desktop and a portable Mac to keep their files
fully synchronized.

18 -> UK - Electricity Company Gets Full Telecoms Licence 04/15/94
Norweb (the Northwestern Electricity Board) has announced it has
obtained a full telecoms licence from the Department of Trade &
Industry (DTI).

19 -> Germany -- Data Security Firms Merge 04/15/94 Two software
companies that specialize in data security software are to merge.
Uti-Maco  Software and Safeware will become one company known as
Utimaco  Safeware on July 1.

20 -> Fodor's Travel Manager For Newton Messagepad 04/15/94 If you are
traveling to major US cities with your Newton Messagepad, you'll want
to get the Fodor's 94 Travel Manager. The package offers detailed
information and on-screen maps for eight major US cities.

21 -> 40 Mysteries For Newton In Columbo's Capers 04/15/94 One of the
more unusual games for the Newton Messagepad, Columbo's Mystery Capers
is a graphically based set of 40 who-dun-its where the clues are
hidden in humorous, cartoon-like line drawings of the murder scene.

22 -> Review of - Newton Messagepad, 04/15/94 From: Apple Computer

23 -> Review of - The Reading Carnival CD-ROM, 04/15/94

24 -> PhoneSoft To Handle Phone Calls From Desktop Over LANs 04/15/94
On an East Coast press tour this week, AnswerSoft announced a June
delivery date for the first release of PhoneSoft, a client-server,
local area network (LAN)-based method of handling telephone calls that
is expected to be enhanced with fax, electronic mail, calendaring, and
a variety of other capabilities in the near future.

25 -> Printer Deal Expected To Net $50 Million For Bull 04/15/94
Officials of Bull HN and Instant Publisher are predicting that a newly
announced systems integration, maintenance, and distribution deal
between the two companies will result in $50 million in revenues for
Bull.

26 -> Portable MicroSPARC Workstation To Be Sold By RDI 04/15/94 In an
effort to bring the latest portable technology to the SPARC
workstation environment, RDI Computer Corporation announced  an
agreement with Sun Express to sell PowerLite, a portable  microSPARC
workstation in a notebook-style package.

27 -> Apple Australia Gets Boss From IBM 04/15/94 The search for a new
boss at Apple Australia is over. Thirty-six year-old Steve  Vamos has
given up his 15 year career at IBM to join the company.

28 -> Quantum Wins Ruling In Controversial Rodime HD Patent 04/15/94
Disk drive maker Quantum said it has just won a major victory against
competitor Rodime in a suit over a very controversial hard disk drive
patent. The United States District Court for the District of Minnesota
has ruled in Quantum's favor in its motion for partial summary
judgment denying Rodime has a claim on the size of hard disk drives,
as well as other assertions made in the patent.

29 -> DEC Posts Another Huge Loss 04/15/94 Digital Equipment Corp.,
(DEC) has posted another huge loss, this time  for the third quarter,
which ended April 2, 1994. With operating  revenues down, the
company's losses for the quarter totalled  $183,306,000.

30 -> Novell's Version 2.1 Of LANalyzer For Windows 04/15/94 Novell,
the  leading network operating system publisher with its NetWare
software, has introduced version 2.1 of its LANalyzer for Windows.
According to the company, it is the first Microsoft Windows-based
network analysis tool which supports NetWare, UnixWare, Apple
Macintosh, Unix, and IBM networks

(Wendy Woods/19940415)