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/nb042694

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(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SFO)(00001)

Company Results Roundup 04/26/94
PENN VALLEY, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994 APR 26 (NB) -- This
is a regular feature, detailing company financial results not
covered elsewhere by Newsbytes: Zoom Telephonics Inc.,
Silicon Graphics Inc., PictureTel Corp., Pyramid Technology
Corp., US Robotics Inc., KnowledgeWare Inc., Unisys Corp.,
Sequent Computer Systems Inc.

While modem-makers Zoom and US Robotics both announced
record sales and earnings, Silicon Graphics reported a huge
increase in revenues and income.  PictureTel announced an
increase in revenue but a slight decrease in income, and
KnowledgeWare bounced back from a previous year loss to
record a slight income on increased revenues. Server company,
Pyramid, posted a significant loss for the quarter on decreased
revenue. Both Unisys and Sequent posted incomes, Unisys
substantially higher than Sequent's.

Zoom Telephonics Inc., (617-423-1072),  announced record
sales and earnings for its first quarter ending March 31, 1994.
Zoom's first quarter sales of $19,144,577 were 40 percent
higher than the prior year's quarter and 22 percent above Zoom's
previous record in the fourth quarter of 1993. The company
says this was primarily due to strong sales of Zoom's 14,400
bits-per-second (bps) and 28,800 bps fax-modems, and of
Zoom's voice fax-modems.

Silicon Graphics Inc., (415-390-1516), reported net revenues
totaling $376 million for the quarter ending March 31, 1994,
representing an increase of 39 percent over net revenues of $271
million for the same quarter a year earlier. Net income for the
quarter increased 73 percent to $35 million, or $0.23 per share,
compared with net income of $20 million or $0.14 per share in the
same period for the prior fiscal year. For the first nine months
of the fiscal year, the company reported net revenues of $1.05
billion, an increase of 36 percent over the same period for the
prior fiscal year. Net income increased 76 percent, and was $97
million for the nine month period ended March 31, 1994, or $0.63
per share, compared with net income of $55 million or $0.38
per share in the same period for the prior fiscal year.

PictureTel Corp., (508-762-5208), reported a 22% increase in
revenue for the first quarter of 1994 compared to the same
period in 1993.  Total revenues for the first quarter ended April
2, 1994 were $53.7 million on shipments of approximately 2,000
units, including approximately 650 personal conferencing systems,
compared with $44.0 million on shipments of approximately 980
group systems for the same period in 1993. The firm also reported
first quarter net income of $614,000 or $.04 per share, compared
to $2.6 million or $.17 per share, for the same quarter of the prior
year.

Pyramid Technology Corp., (408-428-9000), announced
financial results for its second fiscal quarter ended April 1, 1994.
Revenues for the quarter were $46.5 million, a decrease of 20%
from revenues of $58 million for the second quarter of fiscal
1993.  Net loss for the second quarter was $16 million, or a loss
of $1.19 per share, compared to net income of $1.4 million, or $0.12
per share, for the second quarter of the prior fiscal year.
Revenues for the six months ended April 1, 1994, were $106.6
million, down 6% from the sales of $113.1 million reported for the
comparable period of fiscal 1993. Net loss for the first six months
of fiscal 1994 was $15.3 million, or a loss of $1.14 per share,
compared with net income of $1.9 million, or $0.16 per share, for
the first six months of the prior fiscal year. Pyramid develops
high-end, large-scale enterprise servers.

Modem-maker US Robotics Inc., (708-982-5244), announced record
sales and earnings for the second quarter and six months ended
April 1, 1994. Revenues for the quarter were $90.6 million, an
increase of 136% over the $38.5 million for the same quarter of the
previous year. Net earnings for the second quarter of fiscal 1994
increased 71% to $6.4 million, from $3.7 million for the second
quarter of fiscal 1993. Earnings per share for the quarter were $.49
on 13,059,000 weighted average shares outstanding compared to
$.31 per share on 11,994,000 shares outstanding for the same
quarter one year ago. Revenues for the six month period were $173.3
million, an increase of 142% over the $71.5 million for the same
period of the previous year. Net earnings for the first six months
of fiscal 1994 increased 74% to $12.2 million, from $7.0 million
for the first six months of fiscal 1993.

KnowledgeWare Inc., released results of the third quarter of its
1994 fiscal year.  Revenues for the quarter ended March 31, 1994,
increased 51 percent to $38,928,000, compared to $25,797,000
in the same period last year. Net income for the quarter totaled
$807,000 or $0.06 per share, compared to fiscal 1993 third
quarter net loss of $30,359,000 or $2.34 per share, which
included non-recurring charges for acquisitions that expanded
the company's product line and direct distribution network.
Revenues for the nine-month period ending March 31, 1994,
increased 26 percent to $111,250,000 as compared to
$88,335,000 for the same period last year.

Unisys Corp., reported that net income for the first quarter
ended March 31, 1994, was $60 million after an extraordinary
charge of $7.7 million for costs associated with repurchase of
debt. In the prior year, net income was $260.6 million including
a net gain of $203.8 million from accounting changes. Total
revenue declined to $1.69 billion in the quarter compared to
$1.91 billion a year ago. The company says that double digit
services revenue growth was more than offset by declines in
product sales and equipment maintenance.

Sequent Computer Systems Inc., announced net income of $4.7
million ($0.15 per share) on revenue of $93.9 million for the
first quarter  of fiscal 1994, ended April 2, 1994. Year-to-year,
first quarter revenue grew approximately 21 percent from $77.6
million in the first quarter of last year. Net income for the
quarter, up more than 38 percent from $3.4 million in the first
quarter of 1993, was reportedly the largest first quarter profit
in the  company's history. The company says that its first
quarter performance resulted from improvement in product
gross margins, among other factors.

(Ian Stokell/19940425)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(DEN)(00002)

Microsoft, WordPerfect Agree On Non-Disclosure 04/26/94
REDMOND, WASHINGTON, U.S.A., 1994 APR 26 (NB) -- Microsoft
Corporation says it has responded to the concern Wordperfect
had over the wording of a proposed nondisclosure agreement
(NDA) by making the requested changes.

The problem was in regard to a nondisclosure statement Microsoft
prepared for signature by companies receiving a pre-release copy
of Chicago, the next version of Microsoft Windows.

Wordperfect sent a letter to Microsoft last week asking that
Microsoft remove references to Wordperfect's OpenDoc technology
from the Chicago NDA.

A Wordperfect spokesperson told Newsbytes the company's
specific concern was in regard to a requirement in the NDA that
developer's working on OpenDoc not be given access to the
Chicago code for three years. "We are developing interoperability
between OpenDoc and OLE. They are asking us to create divisions
within our development department, which is unrealistic and
unreasonable."

The spokesperson said Microsoft wanted to block access by the
developer's because it saw OpenDoc as a competing technology,
although Wordperfect says it does not see it that way. "Chicago
is an operating system and OpenDoc is a component software
framework." Microsoft apparently saw OpenDoc as a competitor
to its OLE (object linking and embedding) technology.

The Wordperfect spokesperson said the company has not been
officially notified of Microsoft's acquiescence, but has no
reason to doubt the Microsoft announcement.

It is common practice for companies to provide advance copies of
software to application developers so their products will be in
synch. That is particularly true of operating systems. An operating
system developer such as Microsoft benefits by sharing advance
technology, since that helps assure that there will be applications
ready to go to market when the newest operating system is
released. Some argue that that is one of the reasons the Unix
operating system has not caught on to the degree MS-DOS and
later Microsoft Windows did - relatively few applications.

Microsoft says it has provided pre-release versions of Chicago
to more than 8,000 software developers in the last six months.
That list includes Apple, Borland, IBM, Lotus, Novell, and Sun.

(Jim Mallory/19940425/Press Contact: Pam Edstrom, Waggener
Edstrom for Microsoft Corporation, 503-245-0905; Deborah
Hendrickson, Wordperfect Corporation, 801-228-5022)


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

AuraVision Gets New VP 04/26/94
FREMONT CALIFORNIA, U.S.A.,1994 APR 26 (NB) -- AuraVision, a
leading supplier of video chips, has announced the appointment
of Wayne Ricciardi as vice president of the marketing and sales.

A spokesperson for AuraVision told Newsbytes that with the
recent product and customer base expansion of the company
the demand for a seasoned sales and marketing strategist
became imperative.

Ricciardi, a graduate of UCLA, has over 28 years experience
in the semiconductor industry and most recently was vice
president of marketing and sales at Zilog Inc., where he
managed worldwide marketing and sales efforts. His twelve
years with Intel gave him numerous management positions,
including director of international sales, according to the
company.

Steven Chan, president and founder of AuraVision, said:
"Wayne's proven track record will be invaluable to us and
I am confident his marketing expertise will help direct
AuraVision to a leadership position in the video IC industry."

AuraVision, a two year old company, designs and markets
high density integrated circuits and software that enable the
capture, management, processing and display of full-motion
video in personal computers. AuraVision technology is used
by many multimedia board manufactures, such as Creative
Labs, Diamond Computers, Orchid Technology, and Hauppauge
Computer Works.

(Patrick McKenna/199404126/Press Contact: Lisa Kimura,
Technology Solutions, 415-617-4514)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(LAX)(00004)

Conner Intros High-Capacity, Fast 3.5-Inch Drives 04/26/94
SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994 APR 26 (NB) -- Disk drive
maker Conner Peripherals has announced the Filepro Advantage
series of 3.5-inch, one-inch-high hard disk drives that it claims
are the highest capacity yet and aimed at the 486DX-, Pentium-,
and PowerPC-based desktop computers. The drives, once formatted,
have capacities of 425 megabytes (MB), 850MB, and 1275MB with
fast 12 millisecond (ms) average access times.

The 425MB model has a single platter, the 850 model holds two
platters, and the 1275 has three hard disk platters, all rotating
at 4500 revolutions-per-minute (rpm). Conner says the three
models are available with either an enhanced Integrated Drive
Electronics (IDE) or a fast small computer systems interface
(SCSI)-2.

Peter Knight, Conner's senior vice president of business
development said: "Disk capacity requirements are exploding on
many fronts. This ranges from a trend toward video mail, which
requires much higher storage capacity than traditional electronic-
mail, to applications that are so large they must be distributed
on CD-ROM (compact disc read-only memory). At the same time,
the size and complexity of new operating systems is also
increasing storage requirements. Users almost never have too
much disk space."

The drives will not disappoint users with their speed either, the
company added. Conner claims the new drives are the first to
offer support for PIO Mode 4, the newest IDE specification for
transferring data at a rate of 16.7 MB-per-second. The drives
also support multiword direct memory access (DMA) in Mode 1 at
13.1 MB-per-second and Mode 2 at 16.7 MB-per-second. The SCSI-2
drives optimize the execution of certain disk operations and
allows those commands to be combined into a single, more
efficient operation that reduces the time required to reach data.

To increase the speed of read and write operations, the Filepro
Advantage drives also include "speed cache" techniques that
anticipate future operations and execute those operations during
the same revolution of the platter.

The drives offer a 1.0 watt low power consumption "sleep" mode
for periods of inactivity in order for original equipment
manufacturers (OEMs) to meet "green" PC power consumption
goals.

Conner claims the new Filepro drives offer a mean time between
failure (MTBF) rating of 300,000 hours and have a standard three-
year warranty. Sample quantities will be available in July with
shipments scheduled for August. In single units, OEM prices for
the drives are: Filepro Advantage 425 is $255, Filepro Advantage
850 sells for $399, and Filepro Advantage 1275 goes for $599.

Headquartered in San Jose, California, Conner reported 1993 sales
of $2.2 billion, but reported losses of about $450 million. The
company was hurt by a large inventory of smaller capacity drives
that no-one seemed to want, as were other disk drive
manufacturers, such as Western Digital.

(Linda Rohrbough/19940426/Press Contact: Mike Seither,
Conner Peripherals, tel [phone], fax 408-456-
3847/Conner940426/PHOTO)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(HKG)(00005)

Hong Kong Universities To Buy Microsoft In Bulk 04/26/94
CENTRAL, HONG KONG, 1994 APR 26 (NB) -- Four Hong Kong
education institutions have signed large-scale, volume
purchasing agreements for Microsoft products.

Under Microsoft's Education Select program purchase of any
combination of Microsoft products can reportedly be streamlined
at a "preferential" rate.

The Chinese University (CU), City Polytechnic (City Poly), Hong
Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), and the
Vocational Training Council (VTC) are all participating in the
program which has been specially tailored for educational
institutions under the overall Microsoft Select offering.

"Microsoft Select was designed so that any organization - be it
corporate or academic in nature - with large or medium-scale
software purchasing requirements, could benefit. Universities are
the most recent customers to realize significant benefits from
the program," said Laurie Kan, country manager for Microsoft
Hong Kong Ltd.

Added Kan: "Several institutions in the territory have already
standardized on Microsoft products but are looking for a more
simple and cost-effective ordering and maintenance process. The
Microsoft Education Select program has been developed to ensure
that we are providing the level of service that they require."

Designed for institutions that expect to purchase a minimum of
1,000 Microsoft software licenses in a two-year period, Microsoft
Education Select has a lower entry point than its commercial
equivalent, and offers a higher discount rate and free maintenance
upgrades during the first year.

According to KH Poon, head of City Poly's Computer Center, there
are now over 3,000 PCs at the City Poly in everyday use by faculty,
students and administration. Every PC runs Microsoft software
and so the City Polytechnic has signed up for 2,000 units of
system and application products over the next two years.

"In the past we had no real purchasing policy. We bought software
on a very ad hoc basis, one copy at a time, and didn't realize any of
the advantages that can be gained from a standard ordering
procedure. We believe that it will make the software easier to get
and that we will eventually save money for the institution," said
Poon.

At the VTC, William Li, senior systems manager, believes that it is
important for students to get hands-on experience with the latest
software technology. "It is very important for us to keep up with
industry standards but price is, of course, an important factor. The
Microsoft Education Select program is ideal because it affords
economies of scale while allowing us to stay current with new
software releases," said Li.

The fast expanding HKUST currently has about 1,500 PCs in use for
teaching, research and university administration. All run Microsoft
Word, Excel, Windows, and MS-DOS.

"As a technology oriented institution it is very important that we
keep up-to-date. The Microsoft Education Select program is
attractive since it gives us the flexibility to buy a basket of
different applications with the added attraction of a guaranteed
lower price," said Lawrence Law, associate director and manager of
systems and operations at HKUST.

CU's head of technical support for microcomputer applications,
Roger So, said that signing up for the Microsoft Education Select
program will make the migration from DOS to Windows-based
applications a lot more streamlined.

"Being a Chinese university we also expect one of the future benefits
of this program will be the number of Chinese language applications.
We have already started installing Chinese Word and Chinese
Windows," said So.

(Keith Cameron/19940420/Press Contact: Sasha Skinner,
852-804-4261, Microsoft)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(LON)(00006)

CompuServe Increases UK Access Speeds By 50% 04/26/94
BRISTOL, AVON, ENGLAND, 1994 APR 26 (NB) -- CompuServe has
announced plans to upgrade its European access network from a
maximum of 9,600 to 14,400 bits-per-second (bps).

Effective immediately, the London, England, dial-up port for
CompuServe has been upgraded to 14,400 bps, while plans are
in hand to upgrade the Munich, Germany and Paris, France,
ports later this year.

According to Compuserve, the fast access service on the London
port has been under test for some time, but it is only now that
the port has been "throttled up" to feed data at a full 14,400 bps.

Andrew Gray, general manager for CompuServe UK, said that the
provision of the new high-speed service is part of the company's
continual upgrading of its facilities to customers.

"It further enhances our services in the UK and so maintains our
position as the leading provider of online services worldwide," he
said.

Newsbytes understands that plans are also in hand to upgrade
CompuServe's non-capital city dial-up nodes across Europe as well,
but priority is being given to capital city access upgrades. Newsbytes
also notes that, in Germany and the UK, where packet data network
(PDN) access is offered on, respectively, the Datex and Mercury PDNs,
access is already available on certain ports at 14,400 bps.

Since the "data pipe" from CompuServe's network has been increased
in Europe from 9,600 to 14,400 bps, subscribers who access via
PDNs that operate at 9,600 or 14,400 bps with data compression
facilities (e.g. MNP or V.42Bis) are now able to achieve data
throughputs of between 9,600 and 14,400 bps. Previously,
Compuserve's network fed all its European ports at a maximum
9,600 bps.

(Steve Gold/19940426/Press & Public Contact: Compuserve UK,
tel [phone], fax [phone]; Electronic-mail
[e-mail])


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LON)(00007)

Iona Plans Object-Oriented Program Dev't System 04/26/94
DUBLIN, IRELAND, 1994 APR 26 (NB) -- Iona Technologies has
announced plans to work with Isis Distributed Systems of Marlboro,
Massachusetts, in the US, to develop advanced object group
technology for, what it calls, "reliable distributed object-oriented
application development."

The aim of the project is to develop an object-oriented (OO)
programming environment for programmers to develop their own
applications for distributed environments. Using OO programming
techniques, Iona claims that, with an off-the-shelf package,
programmers can save a lot of time and expense and no longer
have to "reinvent the wheel" each time they create a program.

Iona's existing development package is known as Orbix. The OO version
of the software will be known as Orbix+Isis. According to Iona, plans
call for the combined Orbix+Isis software to be the industry's first
distributed application development environment that fully conforms
to the CORBA standard.

In addition, the "combi" package aims to provide what Iona calls the
communications guarantees which are necessary to build complex
software fault tolerant distributed applications. Newsbytes
understands that development work has already started at Iona's
Dublin headquarters, with Orbix+Isis expected to be available by
the fourth quarter of this year.

According to Rick Moran, vice president of marketing and sales for
Isis, "The integration of Isis with Orbix brings a new dimension to
CORBA solutions. Orbix+Isis lets the OO developer build sophisticated,
robust, distributed applications without having to deal with the
underlying difficulties of the distributed computing environment."

Annrai O'Toole, vice president for development at Iona Technologies,
said that Orbix+Isis will "combine the best features of Iona's CORBA
conformant object request broker technology with Isis' unparalleled
RDC technology to produce a proven, standards compliant, object-
oriented programming environment to rapidly create reliable,
scalable, distributed business critical applications."

"Because Orbix+Isis will dramatically reduce the time it takes to
develop extremely reliable, distributed, object-oriented applications,
it will equally reduce development costs and allow customers to
bring products and services to market much more rapidly," said
O'Toole.

Plans call for Isis and Iono to jointly market Orbix+Isis to
developers and solutions vendors worldwide. When the package
becomes available in the fourth quarter of this year, it will run on
a wide range of open systems including Sun OS, Solaris, HP/UX,
IBM AIX, Windows 3.1, and Windows NT.

(Steve Gold/19940426/Press & Public Contact: Iona Technologies,
tel [phone], fax [phone]; Electronic-mail:
[e-mail]; Isis, (US) tel [phone], fax [phone];
Electronic-mail: [e-mail])


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

British Petroleum Installs 40,000 User E-Mail Switch 04/26/94
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1994 APR 26 (NB) -- British Petroleum (BP) has
ordered a UKP250,000 electronic mail (e-mail) switch that will link
40,000 users worldwide, Newsbytes has learned.

The project, one of the most ambitious of its type to date, calls for
BP to install an Enterprise Mail Exchange (EMX) to allow is disparate
e-mail systems around the world to communicate transparently
with each other. The network will link all of BP's regions, including
Australasia, the US, the Far East, and Europe.

The EMX is being supplied by Soft-Switch on Reading in England and
runs under Unix, Newsbytes understands. Currently, BP uses four
major e-mail systems on a worldwide basis -- DEC All in One, IBM
Profs, Lotus Notes, and Microsoft Mail.

According to Soft-Switch, even though the system is being
customized to handle these four main network and e-mail protocols,
the software can be configured to handle most other e-mail
standards, including X.400, IBM Office Vision, Wang Office, Lotus
cc:Mail, Novell MHS (Message Handling System), and Banyan Mail.

"BP knows what many other large companies are also discovering,
that e-mail can only reach its full potential as an information and
management tool by the use of a backbone switch to handle
connectivity and management of the integrated network," explained
John Harris, the director of Soft-Switch's Northern European
division.

Keith Stuart, information services consultant with BP Oil Europe,
explained that, since 1989, the company has used a Soft-Switch
backbone switch to links its worldwide operations. "Since then,
e-mail has become a critical component of BP's managerial
working methods," he said.

Stuart added that it would be unthinkable to consider operating
without e-mail. "EMX will provide all the benefits currently provided
by the Soft-Switch Central backbone, but with a lower cost of
ownership," he said.

The idea of the network, Stuart explained, is to allow users on all
BP networks around the world to address their e-mail quickly and
simply, using a common format to all systems. This, he said,  will
"allow users to easily mail any other as if they were part of the
same local network."

(Sylvia Dennis/19940426/Press & Public Contact: Soft-Switch,
tel [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(LON)(00009)

UK - Elonex Bundles Lotus Ami Pro With PCs 04/26/94
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1994 APR 26 (NB) -- Elonex, the direct-sell PC
manufacturer and supplier, has signed an agreement with Lotus,
allowing it to bundle a free copy of Ami Pro, Lotus' word processor,
with every PC sold.

Elonex is now pre-loading the package on to the hard disk of all PCs
supplied, along with a copy of MS-DOS 6.2 (or later), Windows for
Workgroups 3.11 and Lotus Organizer. The new deal takes effect
immediately, Newsbytes understands.

According to Elonex, the deal makes its PCs even better value for
money in the marketplace. Pricing on an entry-level configuration
such as the PC-425XM, which includes a 25 megahertz (MHz)
80486SX processor, four megabytes (MB) of memory, 130MB hard
disk, 1MB of accelerated local bus video and a color SVGA monitor,
remains at UKP795.

The version of Ami Pro supplied by Elonex features online
documentation only. Customers can acquire program disks, as well as
manuals, for a small additional charge if they wish. Users also have
the option of upgrading to the full Lotus SmartSuite bundle, which
includes the Approach database, 1-2-3 for Windows and Freelance
Graphics packages under one suite.

Commenting on the new deal, Demetre Cheras, the company's systems
director, said that, in discussions Elonex has had with its customers,
"All of them either intended using a full featured word processor or
used one already. So it makes sense for us to preload a high quality
word processor as standard with all Elonex PCs -- it makes for a
more complete configuration."

(Steve Gold/19940426/Press & Public Contact: Elonex,
44-81-452-4444)


(NEWS)(IBM)(LON)(00010)

Fractal Video Art For WIndows Intro'd 04/26/94
READING, BERKSHIRE, ENGLAND, 1994 APR 26 (NB) -- Iterated
Systems has announced it has introduced fractal video clip-art to
Images Incorporated III, its end user image compression package
that runs under Windows.

Four fractally compression video files of varying lengths -- 11
to 30 seconds -- are now included in the package. According to
Iterated, the fractal playback is in software alone, without the
need for any additional hardware.

A clipboard feature now allows still frames to be captured during
video playback and copied to the Windows clipboard for use in other
applications. Plans call for further video clips to be made available
from Iterated in the future.

Images Incorporated III, Newsbytes notes, is a file compression
system that works with either with Iterated's PC compression
card or in software only (although the software only compression
system is slower than the hardware version). The company claims
that the package can compress images down to as little as one
percent of its original size while maintain image quality and fast
decompression speeds.

"For users who typically employ desktop scanners, hand scanners,
digital cameras or Photo CD to capture, edit and manipulate images,
Images Incorporated is a perfect complement, making images more
manageable," explained Alan McKeon, vice president of Images
Incorporated.

According to McKeon, Images Incorporated was always an easy way
for users of desktop publishing applications to take advantage of
the benefits of fractal compression.

"The inclusion of fractal video clips demonstrates how fast this
technology is developing and, given that users are becoming more
sophisticated in their use of multimedia, we are glad to be able to
offer low, as well as high end users to it," he said.

Images Incorporated II retails for UKP299, although special offers,
Newsbytes understands, bring this price down to UKP199.

(Steve Gold/19940426/Press & Public Contact: Iterated Systems,
44-734-880261)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(LON)(00011)

UK - Vodafone Shuffles Radiopaging Options 04/26/94
NEWBURY, BERKSHIRE, ENGLAND, 1994 APR 26 (NB) -- According to
Vodafone, the UK paging market is showing fresh signs of growth,
with almost 20,000 units having been added to Vodafone's
subscriber list in the three months to February 1994 -- 300 percent
more than a year earlier. To encourage even more users to sign up
for service, the telecommunications company has revamped its
product and service pricing.

The new pricing offers two tiers of services -- Premierzone and
Selectzone. Premierzone offers subscribers a choice of wide area
coverage and a range of pagers, allowing customers to upgrade their
service without having to change their pager. Selectzone offers 10
smaller zones to customers whose paging requirements are regional
rather than national. A unique roaming zone facility allows users
to select the area of coverage they require, depending upon where
they are travelling that day.

Announcing the new services, Ian Maxwell, Vodapage's managing
director, said: "Our customers now have the widest choice of extra
services designed to meet their personal requirements. The coverage
can be as comprehensive or localized as they choose, giving them
a greater degree of control over their comms costs. The new
structure will position Vodapage to take advantage of the growth
in both the business and consumer markets for paging."

(Sylvia Dennis/19940426/Press & Public Contact: Vodapage
Limited, tel [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(DEN)(00012)

Windows Software Utility Eases CD-ROM Use 04/26/94
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, U.S.A., 1994 APR 26 (NB) -- Phoenix Technologies
Inc., has released a utility program for Microsoft Windows that the
company says simplifies and speeds up the use of compact disks
(CDs) on personal computers.

Eclipse General Manager Victor Schiller says using CDs is quite
different than using hard disk-based software and can be confusing
to the user. "Using CDs in a PC is non-intuitive. A disk is inserted
in the drive and nothing happens. Since most users only experience
with CDs is in their audio players, it's often a frustrating
experience," he says.

The company says its program, CD Essentials, learns how you use
your CDs and automates the steps needed to access, play, and manage
them. It senses when a disk is inserted in the drive and, based on
how you used that disk last, automatically prompts you with
step-by-step instructions on what to do next.

CD Essentials includes a built-in multimedia player the company
says looks just like a home entertainment system. It recognizes
AVI Video, WAV, MIDI (musical instrument digital interface),
audio, image and Kodak PhotoCD files and automatically launches
the appropriate component to play these files.

the software includes stereo interface that controls the PC's sound
hardware to simplify the playing of audio tracks from the CD-ROM
drive. An integrated database organizes the CDs and allows users
to create their own categories or use the ones included in the
program. There is a key-word search capability to find the CD you
want to use.

CD Essentials can be placed in the Windows Startup Group. It
remains iconized until a disk is placed in the CD-ROM drive.

To use CD Essentials you need a multimedia PC powered by a 386SX or
better, and Microsoft Windows 3.1. The program has a suggested retail
price of $49.95 and comes with a free Electronic CD Reference Guide.

(Jim Mallory/19940426/Press Contact: Jessica Chipkin, Phoenix
Technologies Inc., 312-541-0260; Reader Contact: Phoenix,
tel [phone], fax [phone]/PHOENIX940426/PHOTO)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(TOR)(00013)

Canada - Technology For Learning Project Expands 04/26/94
TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1994 APR 26 (NB) -- The Technology for
Learning Project, an effort to channel donated computer equipment
to education and social services projects, has expanded from Nova
Scotia to Ontario, and organizers hope over time to spread it to
other provinces as well.

Ron Smith, president of the Learning Support Council of Canada,
which runs the project, told Newsbytes that its goal is to
support any worthwhile learning or training initiative, whether
for children or adults, that might otherwise have trouble
obtaining the technology it needs. Recipients of help so far have
included the United Way of Greater Toronto, the Learning
Enrichment Foundation, the province of Nova Scotia, the Cystic
Fibrosis Foundation of Canada, and Youth Employment Services.

The project channels used equipment donated by vendors or users
to institutions or charitable groups that can use it.

Among its present supporters are computer vendors Amdahl
Canada Ltd. and Toshiba Canada Inc., the Canadian Imperial Bank of
Commerce, Inconix International, consulting firm KPMG Peat
Marwick, software vendors Lotus Development Canada Ltd. and
Microsoft Canada Ltd., and New York Life Insurance Co.

The project was launched in Nova Scotia about 14 months ago and
is just now expanding to Ontario, Smith said. He hopes to see the
Technology for Learning Project spread to other provinces as
resources permit.

Separately, Amdahl Canada has announced a donation of about
$10,000 worth of equipment to the Civitan Education Center, which
provides education for teenagers referred by the Children's Aid
Society in the Toronto-area municipality of Halton.

Another backer of the Technology for Learning Project, Microsoft
Canada, recently announced its own corporate program to donate
software and cash to learning-related projects (Newsbytes, April
25).

(Grant Buckler/19940426/Press Contact: Ron Smith, The Learning
Support Council of Canada, 416-429-4822; John Challinor II,
Amdahl Canada, tel [phone], fax [phone])


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

Canadian High-Speed Test Network To Link Regional Nets 04/26/94
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA, 1994 APR 26 (NB) -- The
Canadian government, a non-profit networking initiative funded
by the government, and the two largest private-sector
telecommunications carriers in Canada, have announced plans for a
national high-speed experimental network that will tie together
existing regional networks.

The backers include the Canadian Network for the Advancement
of Research, Industry and Education (CANARIE), the Stentor
consortium of regional telephone companies, and Unitel
Communications Inc., the Toronto-based long-distance telephone
and data communications carrier.

They plan to set up a national network, billed as a test bed for
the "information superhighway," that will link existing regional
test networks. The network will use optical fiber supporting
communications at 45 megabits-per-second, said CANARIE
spokeswoman Lynn O'Keefe.

So far, British Columbia's Rnet test network and the Ottawa
Carleton Research Institute's (OCRI) OCRInet are involved. O'Keefe
told Newsbytes that discussions are now under way to connect
the national network to Largenet, a regional initiative based in
London, Ontario, and to Worknet, a network covering the western
provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta. Plans are in
the works for regional networks in Quebec and the Atlantic
provinces, she added.

CANARIE, which receives funding from the federal government, will
contribute an initial C$2.5 million to the project, with OCRInet
and Rnet each getting $250,000 to begin. Other contributions are
expected to total more than $10 million from regional sources
across the country, officials said.

Stentor and Unitel will provide network connections, worth a
total of about $10 million, a spokeswoman for Unitel told
Newsbytes. Connections are due to begin July 1.

Possible applications include tele-medicine and distance
education, said federal Ministry of Industry John Manley in
announcing the project.

CANARIE is a non-profit corporation with some 100 members,
including private companies and public agencies. Its mandate
includes establishing a high-speed experimental test network --
the initiative just announced -- as well as upgrading the
existing CA*net research, development, and educational network
and stimulating the development of new networking technology. The
federal government has provided C$26 million of the C$100 million
budget for the first phase of CANARIE's seven-year business plan.

(Grant Buckler/19940426/Press Contact: Lynn O'Keefe, CANARIE,
613-660-3507; Bill Milliken, Minister of Industry's office,
613-995-9001; Roxanne Halverson, Stentor, 613-660-3320;
Carleen Carroll, Unitel, 416-345-2114; Bill Collins, OCRInet,
613-592-8160; Brent Sander, Rnet, 604-689-0551)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(TOR)(00015)

Celera Upgrades AboutThatMac Management Utility 04/26/94
NORTHBOROUGH, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1994 APR 26 (NB) -- Celera
Software has announced an upgrade of AboutThatMac, its shareware
systems management tool for the Apple Computer Macintosh.

Charlie Cassidy, president of Celera Software, told Newsbytes
that AboutThatMac has been on the market for about eight months.
It allows remote monitoring of processes and memory use on
Macintoshes, and is aimed mainly at network administrators and
at help desk personnel who need to see what is happening on an
end-user's computer without having to go to where the user is, he
said.

The new Version 2.0 fixes several bugs and adds a display of CPU
(central processing unit) usage to the existing memory-usage
display. It also lets users sort displays by process name, age,
size, or CPU usage in ascending or descending order, Celera said.

According to the company, AboutThatMac's display is somewhat like
the About box in the Macintosh finder, but shows information on
background processes and CPU usage.

The software is available as shareware through the Internet, and
Celera asks a registration fee of $25 for AboutThatMac, plus $10
for each copy of its CS PerfMonitor, which must be running on
each Macintosh to be monitored by AboutThatMac. Site licenses and
educational and volume discounts are available.

The software requires Macintosh System 7.0 and does not need any
special hardware.

Cassidy said AboutThatMac is the first product from Celera --
formerly named Software Toolsmiths -- and the company is working
on a similar, but more powerful, utility that will add monitoring
of input/output activity and the ability to save data for
historical analysis, among other features.

(Grant Buckler/19940426/Press Contact: Charlie Cassidy, Celera
Software, 508-393-5723, Internet [e-mail])


(NEWS)(IBM)(TOR)(00016)

 ****Chairman Sees Brighter Future For Bruised IBM 04/26/94
TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1994 APR 26 (NB) -- The scars of
drastic cost-cutting and six consecutive quarters of losses are
very evident, but IBM is back in the black and Chairman Louis
Gerstner told shareholders he expects it to stay there.

Gerstner, completing his first year on the job after replacing
John Akers last spring, spoke with cautious optimism about IBM's
prospects at the company's annual shareholders' meeting, held
Monday, April 25.

"We are not in a position to blow the horn and declare victory,"
Gerstner told about 1,000 shareholders and reporters at the
Metropolitan Toronto Convention Center, "but I think it's safe to
say the funeral dirge is over."

Gerstner's positive message gained some credibility from the fact
that a few days before the annual meeting, the company posted
first-quarter net earnings of $392 million, representing its
second consecutive quarterly profit after six losses running.

However, profitability came at a price. In his report to
shareholders, Gerstner referred to the decision last summer to
take a $9 billion writedown and cut another 35,000 jobs from
the company's worldwide payroll, which had already been
substantially chopped under Akers.

He repeated his assurance that this is likely to be the last
major staff cut for IBM in the foreseeable future. "I said in
July, and I still believe today, that's about the right number."

But the impact of the cuts on employee morale is not in the past.
During the question period at the annual meeting, two IBM
employees rose to challenge Gerstner about the increased workload
facing the remaining employees -- "survivors," as one of the
questioners put it -- and the impact of cost-cutting on their
standard of living.

There were particularly bitter references to the "golden
parachute" handed to Akers when he departed the company last
year, and to the amount paid the company's senior officers.

After initially evading the question of IBM's settlement with
Akers, Gerstner later replied to a second question on the subject
by saying such transitions are difficult and "dangerous if
they're not handled well," an apparent reference to the risk of a
legal battle with Akers had a mutually agreeable settlement not
been reached.

He admitted some employees are being overworked since the staff
cuts, and said IBM management is looking for ways to eliminate
unnecessary chores to correct this. But he added that he believes
the company's employees know that IBM must make a profit if it is
to have the cash flow to support continued product development
and thus remain competitive.

On that note, Gerstner proudly pointed out that in 1993, IBM won
more US patents than any other company in the world. It was
first time since 1985 that an American company has taken that
honor, he noted.

But while claiming IBM is second to none in its technology,
Gerstner admitted the company is still struggling to improve its
marketing of that technology and its relations with customers. "I
believe we have been the victims of what I call success inertia,"
he said.

He admitted that before coming to IBM, as an executive at RJR
Nabisco and American Express, he had himself sometimes
experienced "What some people call an arrogant attitude to
customers" on IBM's part.

"I think it's safe to say that the marketplace has driven any
arrogance out of us," Gerstner said. But he said the company is
still working to change its corporate culture to respond better
and more quickly to customer needs.

That there is still work to be done in this area was illustrated
by comments from shareholders who are also IBM customers. One
complained that in 20 years he has been in business no IBM sales
person has ever called on him. Another derided the "user-hostile"
documentation of IBM's OS/2 operating system.

Gerstner told shareholders he expects the company will make a
profit in 1994, "barring the unforeseen."

Just before the annual meeting, IBM's board of directors approved
a 25 cent quarterly dividend to shareholders of record as of May
11, payable June 10.

The slate of directors proposed by IBM, most of whom were
previous board members, was approved by a shareholder vote, as
was a five-year Long-Term Performance Plan governing the awarding
of stock options and other cash and stock awards to executives
and employees. A shareholder initiative calling on the company to
affirm its political non-partisanship was defeated. IBM
management opposed that initiative, saying it agreed with the
spirit of the move but felt its existing policies were sufficient.

(Grant Buckler/19940426/Press Contact: Rob Wilson, IBM,
914-765-6565)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(DEN)(00017)

SI Diamond Gets $1M Govt Display Research Contract 04/26/94
HOUSTON, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1994 APR 26 (NB) -- SI Diamond Technology
Inc. (SIDT) says it has received a two year contract from the
government's Advanced Research Projects Agency worth nearly $1
million to perform advanced research in display technology.

SIDT got the $975,000 contract after it submitted a proposal titled
"Diamond Cold Cathode Technology for Field Emission Display
Manufacturing." The project will be part of the federal government's
National Center for Advanced Information Components Manufacturing
(NCAICM) program.

The government says development of flat panel display and related
technologies is critical and could result in the advancement of
domestic electronics capabilities such as very large, flat
television screens that hang on the wall like a picture. That
belief led the government to establish NCAICM with a budget of $60
million. Of that, $48 million is applied to industry research by
private sector companies in conjunction with the government labs.

In addition to the potentially lucrative television market, flat
panel displays can be used in computers, process controls, auto
dashboards and avionics. Estimates of market potential go as
high as $100 billion annually by the end of the century.

SIDT uses a laser to create a microscopically thin diamond film at
room temperature. Screens coated with the film glow when hit
with electrons. The displays would be bright and have low power
requirements.

If SIDT can get the cost of the technology low enough, diamond
screens could supplant the current liquid crystal displays (LCDs).
That market is presently dominated by Japanese manufacturers.

The contract calls for SIDT to evaluate and optimize its Amorphic
Diamond thin films for flat panel display manufacturing. It will
also test and evaluate diamond film fabricated using various
techniques. Other research tasks to be conducted will determine
electron emission mechanism from these films and apply what is
learned to developing better field emitters using diamond and
other wide bandgap materials.

Partners David Sarnoff Research Center, Sandia National
Laboratories, and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory will
work with SIDT to evaluate various flat panel manufacturing
issues such as large area manufacturability, diamond production
cost, reliability, machine up-time, factory integration, and cost
of ownership for various diamond deposit technologies.

(Jim Mallory/19940426/Press & Reader Contact: Marijane
Ensminger, SI Diamond Technology Inc., 713-529-9040)


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

DCA Launches IWOS, Plus Upgrade To QuickApp 04/26/94
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1994 APR 26 (NB) -- At a
"Spring Fling" press conference in Boston, Digital Communications
Associates (DCA) has launched new software for accessing
multi-vendor host computers from the PC desktop simultaneously,
and for integrating data from legacy systems into graphical
point-and- click client-server applications.

The two new products include IRMA Workstation for Open Systems
(IWOS) and QuickApp for Windows Version 2.1, officials told a group
of journalists and analysts who gathered for the event in the
indoor garden courtyard at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.

Also at the briefing, which was attended by Newsbytes, DCA and
Gupta announced a technology agreement that calls for the new
version of QuickApp to support Gupta's SQL (structured query
language) Windows, and for the two companies to team up on sales
and customer service, as well. Version 2.1 of QuickApp also brings
support for Knowledgeware's ObjectView.

"DCA's key focus is the integration of host and desktop business
applications," said Tom Lenahan, director of marketing, speaking at
the press conference. The company's products include client-server
tools for desktop platforms such as Windows, Macintosh, OS/2, DOS,
and NT, in addition to "multiple ways of connecting the tools" to
multivendor hosts, he added.

The new IWOS is the first product from DCA to integrate the ability
for simultaneous access to multivendor hosts, according to Lenahan.
The desktop or portable PC user can employ IWOS for simultaneous
access to Unix, VAX and Hewlett-Packard host computers, either
through direct connection to the host or terminal, or through a
local area network (LAN) with the use of the DEC LAT, TCP/IP
(Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) Telnet, NASI,
or INT 14 protocols.

Lenahan noted that QuickAPP for Windows 2.1, the latest version of
a DCA's software for integrating information from legacy systems
into graphical desktop applications, adds support for four more
legacy systems, as well as for DCA's new IWOS and the
client/server development tools from Gupta and Knowledgeware.

Developers can now integrate information from VAX, HP, Unisys and
Unix hosts, in addition to the IBM mainframes and IBM AS/400
systems previously supported, he said. When QuickApp for Windows
2.1 is used with IWOS, developers can automatically "record" the
host sessions for use in customized graphical user interface (GUI)
applications written with SQL Windows or ObjectView.

Also, as in the past, QuickApp can be used in conjunction with
Microsoft Visual Basic, Microsoft Visual C++, or Powersoft
PowerBuilder, according to Lenahan.

Also at the event, Ron Wolf, director of product management for
Gupta, said that the new alliance with DCA is the first of a series
of pacts that Gupta plans to form with independent software
developers in order to broaden Gupta's "solution space."

Gupta was originally established to fill a void that then existed
in the marketplace for application development tools for the local
area network (LAN) environment, according to Wolf. The partnership
with DCA will allow the company to meet users' current desire to
"add a graphical look and feel to some of their legacy
applications," he said.

The DCA alliance will also help Gupta to grow beyond its current
base of small- to mid- sized customers into the "enterprise
environment," according to Wolf.

In live demonstrations conducted on a notebook PC, Stephen M.
Johnson, network communications advisor for DCA's National Account
Services, showed a graphical interface, developed with the use of
QuickApp for Windows 2.1, that is designed to simplify use of a
mainframe-based customer service application.

Johnson also showed how IWOS can be used for simultaneous remote
access of VAX and RS 6000 applications. The mainframe, VAX and RS
6000 were accessed over public phone lines from DCA's corporate
headquarters in Alpharetta, Georgia.

QuickApp is more flexible than traditional "screen scraper"
software, allowing users to generate a single GUI screen, for
example, from multiple text-based screens, Johnson reported. To
demonstrate how this had been accomplished with the customer
services application, Johnson showed the GUI screens running in a
window in the foreground, with the complex text-based screens from
the legacy application operating in the background.

In an interview with Newsbytes at the close of the press
conference, Lenahan explained that QuickApp speeds and eases
development by means of a "navigation" interface that automatically
generates code from HLLAPI (High Level Language Application
Programming Interface), a set of standard interfaces between
Windows and legacy applications.

DCA's new IWOS communications software emulates more than 20
terminal types, including DEC VT320/220/100/52, Wyse 60/50 and HP
700/94, and also supports popular file-transfer protocols such as
Kermit, X-, Y-, Z-Modem, CompuServe B and INDS$File file transfer
for IBM 3270, DCA officials said.

IWOS also includes several built-in productivity tools originally
introduced in previous editions of DCA's IRMA, such as the QuickBar
button bar; QuickPad, a user-configurable pad for frequently used
keys, macros and scripts; and QuickHits, a feature that permits a
mouse to be used in activating programmable functions displayed on
the screen.

QuickApp for Windows 2.1 and IWOS are both slated to ship in
May. Single-user pricing is $295 for IWOS and $995 for QuickApp.
IWOS will also be available in a 10-user MultiPak ($2,095), 50-user
MultiPak ($6,895), and 100-user MultiPak ($11,595)

(Jacqueline Emigh/19940426/Reader Contact: Digital Communication
Associates, 404-442-4000; Press Contact: Meg Owens, DCA,
404-442-4521)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(BOS)(00019)

 ****Bull & EDS Team With UN To Find Refugee Children 04/26/94
BILLERICA, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1994 APR 26 (NB) -- Bull
Worldwide Information Systems and EDS Corp., have teamed up
with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to
help find refugee children who have been displaced throughout the
world by the ongoing crisis in the former Yugoslavia.

The joint effort, known as Project ReUNite, uses CD-ROM (compact
disk - read only memory) disks to distribute information about the
missing children, including photos where possible, to UNHCR
officials at refugee sites worldwide, said Gary Olin, Bull's
director of imaging and office systems integration for North
America, in an interview with Newsbytes.

Officials at the UNHCR refugee sites are using notebook and desktop
PCs outfitted with CD-ROM drives to view the records, and to try to
achieve child-parent reunions, according to Olin.

The PCs for Project ReUNite have been donated by Bull. Bull, EDS
and UNHCR have worked together in creating the system being used
to locate the children, which incorporates Bull's ImageWorks
application development technology, an Oracle database, text
retrieval technology from Fulcrum, and Hewlett-Packard scanners.

"The need is unbelievable," Olin told Newsbytes. The UNHCR
estimates that strife in the former Yugoslavia has produced
millions of refugees and displaced persons. Almost four million
refugees are displaced within the former Yugoslavia, while about
one million more have fled for asylum to other European countries,
ranging from Albania and Austria to the Turkey and the United
Kingdom. Other refugees have ended up in the US.

Project ReUNite is aimed at the more than 40,000 "unaccompanied
minors," or children under the age of 18 years, who have been
separated from their families, and who are already registered as
displaced or refugee children.

In many cases, children in the regions constituting the former
Yugoslavia have been placed on passing trucks, just to get them
away from the fighting in their homeland, according to Olin. Now,
many of the children are without identifying papers. Some are too
young to know their full names, their previous addresses, or the
names of their parents.

Project ReUNite's use of photos is designed to help identify
these children, and so is the use of descriptive data on the forms
distributed to UNHCR workers, the Bull official added.

Olin and a team of about a dozen technicians from Bull and EDS
worked with the UNHCR in France for a couple of months to get the
identification system ready for use. UNHCR staff developed and
tested the forms being employed in the effort.

To eliminate the possibility of jeopardizing the children's safety,
UNHCR redesigned the amount of data to be included on the forms,
and how the information would be collected and manipulated,
several times, Olin told Newsbytes.

In their final configuration, the forms call for information on
whether the present location of the parents is "known or unknown,"
in addition to the child's first name, last name, nickname, date
and district of birth, date of registration, hair color, eye color,
and any "identifying marks," such as scars or birthmarks.
Information on the child's whereabouts is listed only as "available
through the aid organization providing care."

Aid organizations responsible for the children's welfare fill out
paper-based versions of the forms by hand, and forward the
paperwork along with photos to the UNHCR in Geneva, Switzerland.
As the forms and photos are received, they are sorted and validated.
They are then sent to the EDS office in Paris to be entered into a
refugee database.

EDS scans the photos into the ReUNite system with the use of HP
Scanjet 2C scanners. Then the information provided on the forms is
recorded in the system's full-text database. Information about the
missing children is captured into an Oracle database running on a
Bull DPX20 server, and indexed and retrieved with the use of text
retrieval technology from Fulcum.

EDS performs data integrity checks daily. As the volume of data
dictates, information is extracted from the refugee database and
sent to EDS facilities in Detroit, Michigan, to be placed online.
The CD-ROMs and reports are then sent to the UNHCR, which
distributes them to more than 200 UNHCR locations.

Trained personnel at the UNHCR sites use PCs with CD-ROM drives
and application software to search the refugee database, using
several criteria, including name and birthplace, according to Olin.

The information on the missing children is also being made
available in paper directory form and on listings designed for
broadcasting into the former Yugoslavia. Once a parent or
relative has located a child through Project ReUNite, the aid
organization responsible for the child's welfare is contacted to
set up a reunion.

"There are a lot of problems in the world, and obviously, nobody
can solve them all, but this is an area where we think our computer
technology can make an important difference," Olin told Newsbytes.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19940426/Reader Contact: Bull, 508-284-6000;
Press Contact: Bruce MacDonald, Bull, 619-698-4924)


(CORRECTION)(TRENDS)(BOS)(00020)

Correction - Intel Says Its Embedded Chip Equals PowerPC 04/26/94
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1994 APR 26 (NB) -- In "Intel Says
Its Embedded Chip Equals PowerPC Performance," a story that ran
April 25 in Newsbytes, Intel's upcoming superscalar 32-bit RISC
embedded microprocessor was misidentified as the i960 CA, and an
erroneous shipment date was given.

Intel's i960 CA embedded chip is already on the market, and the
upcoming superscalar chip is actually codenamed the P110, according
to an Intel spokesperson. An embedded microprocessor from Intel
will ship in June, the availability date mentioned in the story,
but the chip to be delivered in June is codenamed the P100, and is
without superscalar capabilities, she explained.

An officials shipment date has not yet been established for Intel's
P110 superscalar embedded microprocessor, according to the
spokesperson. However, the superscalar chip will probably ship in
the fourth quarter, she added. Newsbytes apologizes for the errors.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19940426/Press Contact: Sara Killingsworth,
Intel, 602-554-2388)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TYO)(00021)

Japan - Citizen Links With DEC On Notebook PC 04/26/94
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1994 APR 26 (NB) -- Tokyo-based watch-maker
Citizen has signed an agreement with Digital Equipment Corp.
(DEC) concerning the development of a notebook personal
computer. It is scheduled for introduction worldwide by the end
of the year.

A Citizen spokesman told Newsbytes that the firms have reached
an agreement and have already begun development. The notebook
will be supplied to DEC and sold under a company brand name.

The notebook is expected to be a DOS/V-compatible PC
equipped with a number of multimedia features, as well as
telecommunication and powerful graphics features.

Citizen specializes in small and thin liquid crystal displays.
The firm used to supply notebook PCs to Compaq. However,
the company reportedly stopped this supply last March due
to the rapid appreciation of Japanese currency.

(Masayuki "Massey" Miyazawa/19940426/Press Contact:
Citizen, tel [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TYO)(00022)

Japan - Hitachi & Ramtron Link On FRAM 04/26/94
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1994 APR 26 (NB) -- Hitachi has inked an
agreement with Colorado-based Ramtron concerning the joint
development of ferroelectric random access memory (FRAM).

Under the agreement, both firms will develop a powerful FRAM,
and will reportedly sell it under their own brand names. It is
claimed that Hitachi will be the first Japanese chip maker to
sell this chip in Japan.

The companies will jointly develop the FRAM chip, incorporating
Ramtron's ferroelectric technology, and Hitachi's CMOS
(complimentary metal oxide semiconductor) technology.

To start, both firms will develop a 256 kilobit FRAM. Hitachi
will begin mass production of the chip by the end of 1995.
A FRAM chip has extra powerful writing speed compared with
flash memory chips. Also, the FRAM chip consumes less
electricity.

Many Japanese chip makers are also working on the development
of FRAM chips. However, it is reportedly difficult to maintain
the quality of the chip when it is produced in quantity.

Never-the-less, Hitachi is planning to release a one-megabit and
four-megabit FRAM chip within a couple of years. The actual
production of the chips will be accomplished at Hitachi's
Kodaira plant in Tokyo.

Ramtron has reportedly signed a similar FRAM deal with
Kyoto-based Rohm. The agreement with Hitachi lasts until
1998.

(Masayuki "Massey" Miyazawa/19940426/Press Contact:
Hitachi, tel [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00023)

Telescan Signs For Press Release Service 04/26/94
HOUSTON, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1994 APR 26 (NB) -- Telescan has signed a
deal with a new company called Public Information Online, which
will develop a press release service for Telescan's users.

Telescan, which is publicly traded on the NASDAQ under the symbol
TSCN, has about 100,000 users for financial database services
sponsored by firms like Charles Schwab & Co. It also has
agreements with magazines like Billboard, which just opened its
service for the record industry, and Editor & Publisher, the
newspaper magazine, to produce specialized services for those
niche audiences.

PIO is based on Albuquerque and headed by long-time marketing and
public relations executive Larry Tonning. He told Newsbytes that
he is looking to create a system that is more affordable than the
PR Newswire and BusinessWire, and use Telescan's database
technology to let his users search an extensive database of
releases. The system will be hosted by Telescan, and he said he
is already working on agreements with content providers.

"There are a great many releases, and you can't save them," he
said. "If they're not useful when you're working, their chance of
seeing the light of day is slim. But many times you'll wish you
had saved them later. The volume has gone up, and information
you can't manage is useless. It's tough." And "For every large
company that can afford PR Newswire, there must be hundreds
who'd use our service for its lower cost and longer retention."

He continued: "The nice thing about Telescan's database software
technology is you can quickly click a relevance search for an
existing release. That makes it easy to find things." Tonning
hopes to get his service running by early in the fourth quarter
of the year, and offer it to Telescan's other users, like those
of the new Billboard service.

Newsbytes also discussed the agreement with Telescan President
David Brown. "Our host configuration, combined with the design of
our software system, allows an English-language query of a very
large database, which is presented in order of relevance to your
request," he said. The software's speed is based in-part on
extensive use of assembly language, and much of the programming
staff has experience in compression or artificial intelligence,
he added.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19940426/Press Contact: Lanny Tonning, Public
Information Online Inc., 505-242-5334; David L. Brown, Telescan,
713-952-1060)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(DEN)(00024)

Cray Research Earnings Up, Sponsors Nat'l Science Bowl 04/26/94
EAGAN, MINNESOTA, U.S.A., 1994 APR 26 (NB) -- Supercomputer
maker Cray Research Inc., has posted its first quarter financial
results, reporting a 46 percent increase in net earnings for the
period. The company has also announced that it was the main
corporate sponsor of the US Department of Energy's (DOE) 1994
National Science Bowl for high school students held this week
in Washington, DC.

The company's research arm, the Cray Research Foundation, provided
$85,000 to underwrite this year's event. The contest brings together
more than 6,000 students from 1,200 high schools across the country
that compete in regional tournaments. The 52 teams that made it to
the finals had to answer questions on subjects that include
astronomy, biology, chemistry, computer science, earth science,
mathematics, and physics.

Final awards were presented on Monday, April 25, at a luncheon in the
Washington (DC) Convention Center. Cray Research Chairman and CEO
John Carlson and US Energy Secretary Hazel O'Leary addressed the
competitors and presented awards.

Cray Research spokesperson Steve Conway told Newsbytes the team
from the Westminster Schools in Atlanta Georgia, an independent
co-educational K-12 day school took top honors in the competition.
For the first time in the history of the Bowl, girls dominated the
team, occupying three of the team's four positions.

Teams competed not just for the National Science Bowl title, but
for US and international science education trips, computer
equipment and software, and scholarships. The top team gets free
access to the National Education Supercomputer, a system donated by
Cray Research to the Department of Energy's Lawrence Livermore
National laboratory.

The National Science Bowl is one of more than 800 DOE-sponsored
education activities that involved more than one million students,
teachers, and parents last year.

The company also released its first quarter financial results,
reporting a 46 percent increase in net earnings for the period.
Carlson said a combination of new products and an increase
in low-end systems deliveries were the primary factors in the
period's performance. Of the 53 shipments accepted during the
quarter, 34 of them were Superserver 6400 series symmetric
multiprocessing systems or C90 series parallel vector systems.

Cray Research signed orders worth $59 million in the first quarter,
compared to $124 million in orders for the same period last year.
Carlson called the first quarter orders "disappointing," blaming a
difficult market environment.

The company reported total revenue of $248.8 million for the 1994
1Qtr compared to $202.6 million last year. Gross profit this year
was $108.1 million compared to $91.7 million in 1993. Earnings per
common and common equivalent share was $0.84 compared to $0.58
for the same period last year.

All segments of the market showed improvement for the quarter.
Government orders totaled 19, up from 11 last year. University
orders came in at 23 compared to three in 1993, while 11
commercial system orders were received compared to six last year.

(Jim Mallory/19940426/Press Contact: Chris Malecek, 612-832-
5000 (financial) or Steve Conway, (Science Bowl), 612-683-7133,
both of Cray Research Inc.)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(MSP)(00025)

NewsPix Images For Newsbytes Publishers 04/26/94
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, U.S.A., 1994 APR 26 (NB) -- These are
the photos that have been digitized and correspond to stories
Newsbytes has reported recently. These photos are online on the
Newsbytes menu on GEnie and the Newsbytes private bulletin
board system in Minneapolis. For information on how to become
a licensed Newsbytes publisher in any medium call Newsbytes at
612-430-1100.

Newspix weekly summaries will appear Mondays on the Newsbytes wire.
All photos are in JPEG format. The tag name and NB issue/story number
will be
is now reversed; the tag name proceeds the number. Formerly:
94xxxxxxWidget.jpeg, now - Widget94xxxxxx.jpeg (or pict).  If there
is a numeral in the tag name, such as a model number, a hyphen will
separate it from the issue number.  Newsbytes hopes this will
make things a bit more user friendly. PLEASE NOTE: starting this
week the number will get smaller.  The story number at the end of
the string, which corresponds to the story number that day,
is being dropped.  Now the photos  will simply be tagged with
title/year/month/day instead of title/year/month/day /story number.

One further note for publishers -- Apple has a new policy
regarding its photos. An official 'Apple Computers' courtesy
along with the photographers name must be printed when an
Apple Computer photo is used.  The bulletin will indicate
this on a picture-by-picture basis.  It can be assumed
that unless otherwise noted, all Apple product shots are courtesy
Apple.

---------------------------

Week of April 25 - April 29,1994

---------------------------

CIC940402 - Color from slide / Shot of monitor, palette and pen
on a white background.  Screen has a butterfly on it.

Milestone940420 - Color from slide / basic screen shot of software.

GSIboard940418 - Color from slide / shot of Model 4C accelerator
board.

AT&T940421 - B&W from photo / Shot of videophone which is now be
licensed by AT&T.

ALR94041226 - Color from photo /  An array of ALR multimedia gear.
Items include a microphone, two mini-speakers, cd's and ALR's
board and cd rom drive.

Newton M Pad - B&W from photo / There is no particular story tag
here.  This is a good all purpose Newton Messagepad shot. Note
on screen says 'Airport 4:30, Flight 137.' photo by Frank Pryor.

SGIndyPS94041225 - Color from slide / View of Silicon Graphics
screen and keyboard with Photoshop image on the screen.

NewtCon94041417 - Color from slide / Overhead view of Newton
MessagePad and charging station.  photo by Frank Pryor

NewtCon2-94041417 - Color from slide /  Woman at kitchen table,
(ext. garden in view through window), working on MessagePad.

AppleMM94041214 - Color from slide / View of gear for Macintosh
multi-media set up. Array includes: 2 Apple speakers, cd rom player,
headphones and cd rom disk in caddy.  photo by John Greenleigh

94032417ReSource1 - Color from disc / View of Main Menu screen of
Pacific Bell Information Services' Re:Source Network Solutions.
IMPORTANT NOTE:thumbnail is pict (as usual) but full size is TIFF,
NOT jpeg as usually is the case.

94032417ReSource2 - Color from disc / View of one of the dialogue
screens from Pacific Bell Information Services' Re:Source Network
Solutions. IMPORTANT NOTE: thumbnail is pict (as usual) but full
size is TIFF, NOT jpeg as usually is the case.

94032901Dynapad - Color from slide / 2 workers in white coats hold
a Dynapad between them.  Woman left, man right.

94032806ZDS-AER - Color from transparency / view of the new
lightweight,long life, zinc-air battery being developed by ZDS &
AER.   The battery is seen with a sky background (illustration) and
a grid field in lower part of the frame.

94030301Pentium - B&W from disc / View of chip worker in clean
garb. We see chip/wafter disks on control monitor.

94031826radius - Color from transparency / Shot of 0381-Intelli-
Color Display/20. Nice background & screen display of name.

94032313Verbatim - Color from slide / CDR disc cover and CDR disc
in foreground.  Disc has multiple colors refracting.

94032404Absolut - Color from color print ad /  Reduced view of ad
promoting the Absolut Museum 3D program. Typically festive Absolut
ad.  Free samples are available on CompuServe and all net proceeds
go to AmFAR (American Foundation for AIDS Research).

94032423UniF - B&W from photo / Informal portrait (at desk in
shirt- sleeves) of Andrew S. Grove President/CEO Intel Corporation.
He was a keynote speaker at UniForum 1994 in S.F.

94032506/4D - Color from slide / Graphic to explain 4th Dimension
Software's Enterprise Control Architecture.  Caption for this slide
reads "Using the Enterprise ControlStation, operations data is
automatically translated and shared across distributed systems."

94030805Envoy - B&W from photo / Looking down at the Motorola Envoy
personal wireless communicator.  It's being held by a mans hands
with suits sleeves visible.

94031717Orray - Color from slide / Straight on view of the Orray
optical drive system.  Hardware is on white background.

94030422Lundin - B&W from photo / Close two shot portrait of
Kathleen and William Lundin.  They are authors of 'The Healing
Manager' and hold seminars on downsizing.

94031001Navig - B&W from photo / Screen shot of Packard Bell's
Navigator 2.0; the Kidspace section. Files and applications can be
organized on the bookshelf (frame left) or the chest drawers (frame
right).

94031720Notes - Color from slide / screen shot of AT&T's
collaboration with Lotus notes.

94022811Kiss - Color from transparency / An array of KISS (Keep It
Simple Software) products for the powerbook.  These are solar cells
for portability. 1) Laying down, the SunPak Jr. 2) Standing up with
the SP Jr. on it, the SunPack.  3) Standing behind the Newton, the
PAD pouch. 4) Folded out in front of the Powerbook, the SunPack/PB.
ADVISORY: This transparency was very dark, and the scan however
adjusted make not satisfactory.

94030815P'Turbo4MP - Color from slide / Shot of the ProTurbo 4MB
PCI board.

94030815P"Turbo2MV - Color from slide / Shot of the ProTurbo 2MB
VLB board.

94030816Davidson - B&W from photo / Portrait of Jan Davidson,
President and Founder Davidson & Associates, Inc.

94011811ReelMagic - Color from slide / ReelMagic image on monitor
with various 'movie' props about (reel, popcorn, etc)

(Newsbytes/19940425)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(SFO)(00026)

 ****Apple Intros Power PC Workgroup Servers 04/26/94
CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994 APR 26 (NB) -- Apple has
introduced three new Workgroup Servers with Power PC and, in
collaboration with Novell, announced NetWare 4.0 for PowerPC.

Apple also said, from an Apple campus press conference,
attended by Newsbytes, that ten major independent software
vendors have already announced support for the new Workgroup
Servers.

Jim Groff, vice president of LAN (local area network) systems
for the Apple Business Systems Division, was conference MC,
accompanied by featured appearances from Michael Spindler,
president and CEO of Apple Computer, and Robert J. Frankenberg,
the new president and CEO of Novell.

Michael Spindler emphasized Apple's intention to aggressively
deliver RISC architecture to the network environment, saying,
"We promise to bring RISC processing power to workgroup
servers and to do that with aggressive price points. This
announcement builds on our strategy to make Apple technologies
more open to a  broader range of customers across multiple
platforms."

Spindler continued, "As with our Macintosh PowerPC, we will
continue to build our Workgroup Server line, emphasizing
backward-compatibility of applications as the base upon
which native applications will be built."

The announcement of Novell's NetWare 4.0 for the PowerPC marks
a historical moment, claims Apple, as it is the first time the firm
has used an operating system developed outside of its own systems.

The final name for the product has not been determined as it was
referred to as "NetWare 4.0 for the PowerPC" and "Novell's 'Redbox'
NetWare 4.0 for the PowerPC." Newsbytes learned that by the time
it is released late in 1994, it will become version 4.1.

Robert Frankenberg told the audience, "The corporate networking
environment is becoming more and more heterogeneous and as it
does, the growth of multiple platforms demands operating systems
that stress ease of use and interoperability. We will work with
Apple to continue their mission to fit in and stand out in the
networking environment."

Part of the working agreement will include both companies
working together to train Apple and Novell sales representatives
as well as respective resellers.

The entry-level Workgroup Server, 6150 is based on a 60 megahertz
(MHz),  PowerPC 601, and the 80MHz PowerPC 601 commands the
8150 and the 9150.

The 6150 comes with 256 kilobytes (KB) level-2 cache, eight
megabytes (MB) RAM (up to 72MB), a 500MB hard drive, an internal
double speed CD-ROM drive, a slot for processor-direct card or
NuBus expansion card, SCSI (small computer system interface) to
support up to seven devices (two internal, five external), eight
ports for peripherals, built-in Ethernet and LocalTalk capabilities,
and Apple RAID (reduced array of inexpensive disks) software.
System 7 and AppleShare 4.0.2 software come preinstalled.

The Workgroup Server 8150 differs by offering 16MB RAM (up to
264MB), a one gigabyte (GB) internal hard drive, three NuBus slots,
one processor-direct slot, an internal DDS-2 digital audio tape
drive, support for eight SCSI devices (three internal), nine ports
for peripherals and Retrospect Remote automatic server and
client backup software.

The Workgroup Server 9150 differs by featuring four NuBus slots,
two internal 1GB hard drives, space for five internal 3.5-inch
half-height hard disk drives, two SCSI DMA buses to support 14
devices (seven internal) and 512KB level-2 cache. The workgroup
server series is ready for immediate shipping.

(Patrick McKenna/1994/Press Contact: Emilio Robles, Apple,
408-862-5671)


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

Intel/CNN Plan Multimedia News Broadcast Over LANs 04/26/94
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994 APR 26 (NB) -- Chip giant
Intel and the Turner Broadcasting System subsidiary Cable News
Network (CNN) have announced plans to test multimedia news
services on business personal computers (PCs) in May. The two
companies plan to run CNN news, business, and information, as well
as Headline News, over local area networks (LANs) using Intel's
multicast video technology.

Intel claims its technology can allow a single stream of video
packets to be received by multiple stations on existing network
wiring. Using the company's Indeo compression and decompression
technology for the video, Intel claims the video will take less
than five percent of the average LAN's available data path, also
known as the bandwidth. Indeo has the added advantage of not
requiring special hardware, but needs a PC with some muscle in
order to display the video in a way that is acceptable for viewing.

The companies believe the business sector will have both, the
interest in the news, and PCs with the necessary muscle, to
make the multicast technology work. Market research firms
International Data Corporation (IDC) and Dataquest have both said
more than 29 million PCs with 486 or Pentium microprocessors
will be linked to LANs in the US by the end of 1995.

Intel is not talking about who the test sites are, but said it
will start with about a half dozen large corporations that have
a diverse LAN population. Intel Architecture Lab Marketing
Relations Manager Ken Harper said up to a dozen sites may be
involved altogether and the testing is expected to continue
through the summer.

(Linda Rohrbough/19940426/Press Contact: Ken Harper, Intel,
tel [phone], fax [phone]; Steve Haworth, CNN,
404-827-1547)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(LAX)(00028)

Apple Claims Power Macs Beat Compaq Pentium PCs 04/26/94
CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994 APR 26 (NB) -- Apple Computer
claims its Power Macintosh far-surpassed Compaq's Pentium-based
computers, in side-by-side price/performance tests. The company
commissioned the tests from Ingram Laboratories, a personal
computer testing firm, and has released a preliminary report from
the study.

Apple representative Maureen O'Connell told Newsbytes the full
study will not be available until the end of the week, but the
company is releasing preliminary results that assert the Power
Macintosh was in some cases 54 percent faster than a Pentium-
based Compaq running Microsoft Windows.

Newsbytes talked with Apple technical representative Steve
Doherty, who admitted that the products used for comparison are
desktop publishing tools, an area in which the Macintosh has been
traditionally strong.

The products used for the 25 timed tests were Adobe Photoshop,
Aldus Freehand, Frame Technology Framemaker, and Fractal Design
Painter. Each product has a Windows version that was run along-
side the same product on the Power Macintosh. All of the products
on the Power Macintosh had been optimized for the new PowerPC
microprocessor, and all but Photoshop were beta test versions.

The computers were configured as closely as possible, each with
16 megabytes (MB) of random access memory (RAM) and hard disks
of similar size. However, the largest difference in average
performance, that of 54 percent, was between the 66 megahertz
(MHz) Pentium-based Compaq and the top of the line Power
Macintosh 8100/80 running at 80MHz.

The closer the clock speed between the Macintosh and the Compaq,
the closer the results. The Power Mac 7100 66MHz was reported 38
percent faster than the 66MHz Compaq, the Power Mac 6100 at
60MHz was said to be five percent faster than a 66MHz Compaq
Pentium-based machine and 24 percent faster than a 66MHz Compaq.

In price comparisons, Apple claims to have used the prices available
this month and said they were verified with CI Infocorp, a market
research firm. The Apple Power Macintosh 8100/80 was $4,952,
while the Compaq Deskpro 5/66M retailed for $4,933.75. The Power
Macintosh 7100/66 was listed at $3,588.50 and the Power Macintosh
6100/60 was $2,321.50, compared to the $3,598 price of the
Compaq Deskpro XE 560.

Apple also claimed memory prices were lower for the Power
Macintosh than for the Compaq computers. Eight MB of RAM was
said to be $390 at CompUSA for the Power Mac, compared to $549
for the same amount of RAM for the Compaq models.

In the price/performance comparison, Apple said the small
computer systems interface (SCSI), networking hardware and
software, and 16-bit audio that come on the Power Macs was not
figured into the comparison. If the additional costs of those
features had been added to the Compaq list price, the Compaq
computers would have compared even less favorably, Apple
asserted.

Macintosh industry publication MacWorld magazine recently ran
similar tests with software optimized for the Power Macintosh
versus the same titles for Windows running on the Compaq. The
results were less dramatic, with the top of the line Power
Macintosh running up to 33 percent faster than the Compaq
computers used.

At the time, Compaq said the MacWorld comparisons were not fair,
as the fastest Compaq, the Deskpro 5/66M was not used. However,
Ingram claims it used the Deskpro 5/66M in its comparisions.

Compaq representatives were unavailable for comment on the
Ingram comparison by Newsbytes' deadline.

Software optimized for the reduced instruction-set computing
(RISC)-based Power Macintosh appears to make the difference.
However, software designed for the 68XXX-based Macintosh, when
run on the Power Mac is much slower than when run on the older
Macintoshes. That is also true of DOS and Windows applications
run under the SoftWindows emulation mode available for the Power
Macintosh. About 50 software titles are available specifically
for the Power Macintosh, and Apple counts 150 developers working
on titles for the new architecture.

(Linda Rohrbough/19940426/Press Contact: Aner Menendez, Apple
Computer, tel [phone], fax [phone]; Maureen O'Connell,
Regis McKenna for Apple, 408-862-6689; Nora Hahn, Compaq, 713-
374-8316)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00029)

Teleport Asks To Compete in Illinois 04/26/94
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, U.S.A., 1994 APR 26 (NB) -- Teleport
Communications Group has asked the Illinois Commerce Commission
for authorization to provide local phone service in the Chicago area.

Teleport already has such authority in New York State, and has
applied for similar authority in Washington state, where such a
request was recently granted.

Teleport spokesman Roger Cawley said the permission would be the
first part of a three-part process leading to Teleport offering
local business phone service in the Chicago area, competing with
Centel and Ameritech. "What these states are doing is addressing
prerequisites that are essential to competition. It's got to be
legal, it's got to be technically feasible, and then it must be
economically feasible."

Once a state like Illinois gives Teleport legal authority to proceed,
rules must be established to make the system work technically,
Cawley added, then negotiations with local phone companies like
Ameritech and Centel must make it financially feasible. That
second step, technical feasibility, should be the easiest, since
its networks are built to accepted industry standards.

"The direction of the commission gave us the incentive to make
the petition," he added. "We're looking to be regarded by the
other telephone companies in the Chicago area -- Ameritech and
Centel -- as a pure carrier. With the ICC studying this and its
encouragement, that will take place."

This is the second petition of its type to be filed with the ICC,
Cawley added. MFS Communications, which is based in the Chicago
suburb of Oal Brook, has filed a similar petition. "We have this
authority in New York. We're seeking the same principle as there.
Once you have legal authority, you can work out arrangements for
technical and operational feasibility, then economic feasibility.
We hope that by the end of the year, or sooner, we might be able
to hear something from the commission.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19940426/Press Contact: Teleport, Roger
Cawley, 718-983-2122)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(ATL)(00030)

InfraLAN Offers New Wireless Ethernet 04/26/94
ACTON, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1994 APR 26 (NB) -- InfraLAN
Technologies has been acquired by a unit of Safeguard Scientifics.
Meanwhile, the company has announced availability of the
InfraLAN Wireless Ethernet system.

The new system is claimed to be "fully compliant" with the IEEE
802.3 Ethernet standard, but requires no wiring. Instead, data is
sent using infrared beams up to 90 feet in length with an optical
wavelength of 870 nanometers. The new network can also be
linked to existing networks for companies that do a lot of moving
of desks. Installation requires no changes to standard network
adaptor cards or software drivers and the infrared technology
requires no special licensing.

In addition to offices, where a spokesman told Newsbytes the
company is developing a niche in areas like banking, the system
can also be used on retail floors or as a back-up in case of a
disaster on another network. Optical nodes can be mounted on
walls, partitions, or floor standards

Specifically, InfraLAN was acquired by Laser Communications Inc.,
itself a unit of Safeguard Scientifics, traded on the New York
Stock Exchange under the symbol SFE. It will operate as a
division of Laser, and its products will be integrated into
Laser's product line. The company also makes wireless LAN
products under the Token Ring system, and its customers include
Travelers Insurance, Citicorp, UCLA, and Lehman Brothers.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19940426/Press Contact: Phil Hall, for LCI,
212-714-3575)


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

Newsbytes Daily Summary 04/26/94
PENN VALLEY, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994 APR 26 (NB) -- These are
capsules of all today's news stories:

1 -> Company Results Roundup 04/26/94 This  is a regular feature,
detailing company financial results not covered elsewhere by
Newsbytes: Zoom Telephonics Inc.,  Silicon Graphics Inc.,
PictureTel Corp., Pyramid Technology  Corp., US Robotics Inc.,
KnowledgeWare Inc., Unisys Corp., Sequent Computer Systems Inc.

2 -> Microsoft, WordPerfect Agree On Non-Disclosure 04/26/94
Microsoft  Corporation says it has responded to the concern
Wordperfect had over the wording of a proposed nondisclosure
agreement  (NDA) by making the requested changes.

3 -> AuraVision Gets New VP 04/26/94 AuraVision, a  leading
supplier of video chips, has announced the appointment  of Wayne
Ricciardi as vice president of the marketing and sales.

4 -> Conner Intros High-Capacity, Fast 3.5-Inch Drives 04/26/94
Disk drive maker Conner Peripherals has announced the Filepro
Advantage series of 3.5-inch, one-inch-high hard disk drives that
it claims are the highest capacity yet and aimed at the 486DX-,
Pentium-, and PowerPC-based desktop computers. The drives, once
formatted, have capacities of 425 megabytes (MB), 850MB, and 1275MB
with fast 12 millisecond (ms) average access times.

5 -> Hong Kong Universities To Buy Microsoft In Bulk 04/26/94 Four
Hong Kong  education institutions have signed large-scale, volume
purchasing agreements for Microsoft products.

6 -> CompuServe Increases UK Access Speeds By 50% 04/26/94
CompuServe has  announced plans to upgrade its European access
network from a  maximum of 9,600 to 14,400 bits-per-second (bps).

7 -> Iona Plans Object-Oriented Program Dev't System 04/26/94 Iona
Technologies has  announced plans to work with Isis Distributed
Systems of Marlboro,  Massachusetts, in the US, to develop advanced
object group  technology for, what it calls, "reliable distributed
object-oriented  application development."

8 -> British Petroleum Installs 40,000 User E-Mail Switch 04/26/94
British Petroleum (BP) has ordered a UKP250,000 electronic mail
(e-mail) switch that will link 40,000 users worldwide, Newsbytes
has learned.

9 -> UK - Elonex Bundles Lotus Ami Pro With PCs 04/26/94 Elonex,
the direct-sell PC manufacturer and supplier, has signed an
agreement with Lotus, allowing it to bundle a free copy of Ami Pro,
Lotus' word processor, with every PC sold.

10 -> Fractal Video Art For WIndows Intro'd 04/26/94 Iterated
Systems has announced it has introduced fractal video clip-art to
Images Incorporated III, its end user image compression package
that runs under Windows.

11 -> UK - Vodafone Shuffles Radiopaging Options 04/26/94 According
to Vodafone, the UK paging market is showing fresh signs of growth,
with almost 20,000 units having been added to Vodafone's
subscriber list in the three months to February 1994 -- 300 percent
more than a year earlier. To encourage even more users to sign up
for service, the telecommunications company has revamped its
product and service pricing.

12 -> Windows Software Utility Eases CD-ROM Use 04/26/94 Phoenix
Technologies Inc., has released a utility program for Microsoft
Windows that the company says simplifies and speeds up the use of
compact disks (CDs) on personal computers.

13 -> Canada - Technology For Learning Project Expands 04/26/94 The
Technology for Learning Project, an effort to channel donated
computer equipment to education and social services projects, has
expanded from Nova Scotia to Ontario, and organizers hope over time
to spread it to other provinces as well.

14 -> Canadian High-Speed Test Network To Link Regional Nets
04/26/94 The Canadian government, a non-profit networking
initiative funded  by the government, and the two largest
private-sector telecommunications carriers in Canada, have
announced plans for a national high-speed experimental network that
will tie together existing regional networks.

15 -> Celera Upgrades AboutThatMac Management Utility 04/26/94
Celera Software has announced an upgrade of AboutThatMac, its
shareware systems management tool for the Apple Computer Macintosh.

16 ->  ****Chairman Sees Brighter Future For Bruised IBM 04/26/94
The scars of drastic cost-cutting and six consecutive quarters of
losses are very evident, but IBM is back in the black and Chairman
Louis Gerstner told shareholders he expects it to stay there.

17 -> SI Diamond Gets $1M Govt Display Research Contract 04/26/94
SI Diamond Technology Inc. (SIDT) says it has received a two year
contract from the government's Advanced Research Projects Agency
worth nearly $1 million to perform advanced research in display
technology.

18 -> DCA Launches IWOS, Plus Upgrade To QuickApp 04/26/94 At a
"Spring Fling" press conference in Boston, Digital Communications
Associates (DCA) has launched new software for accessing
multi-vendor host computers from the PC desktop simultaneously,
and for integrating data from legacy systems into graphical
point-and- click client-server applications.

19 ->  ****Bull & EDS Team With UN To Find Refugee Children
04/26/94 Bull Worldwide Information Systems and EDS Corp., have
teamed up with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR) to help find refugee children who have been displaced
throughout the world by the ongoing crisis in the former
Yugoslavia.

20 -> Correction - Intel Says Its Embedded Chip Equals PowerPC
04/26/94 In "Intel Says Its Embedded Chip Equals PowerPC
Performance," a story that ran April 25 in Newsbytes, Intel's
upcoming superscalar 32-bit RISC embedded microprocessor was
misidentified as the i960 CA, and an erroneous shipment date was
given.

21 -> Japan - Citizen Links With DEC On Notebook PC 04/26/94
Tokyo-based watch-maker  Citizen has signed an agreement with
Digital Equipment Corp.  (DEC) concerning the development of a
notebook personal computer. It is scheduled for introduction
worldwide by the end  of the year.

22 -> Japan - Hitachi & Ramtron Link On FRAM 04/26/94 Hitachi has
inked an  agreement with Colorado-based Ramtron concerning the
joint  development of ferroelectric random access memory (FRAM).

23 -> Telescan Signs For Press Release Service 04/26/94 Telescan
has signed a  deal with a new company called Public Information
Online, which  will develop a press release service for Telescan's
users.

24 -> Cray Research Earnings Up, Sponsors Nat'l Science Bowl
04/26/94 Supercomputer  maker Cray Research Inc., has posted its
first quarter financial  results, reporting a 46 percent increase
in net earnings for the period. The company has also announced that
it was the main  corporate sponsor of the US Department of Energy's
(DOE) 1994  National Science Bowl for high school students held
this week  in Washington, DC.

25 -> NewsPix Images For Newsbytes Publishers 04/26/94 These are
the photos that have been digitized and correspond to stories
Newsbytes has reported recently. These photos are online on the
Newsbytes menu on GEnie and the Newsbytes private bulletin  board
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26 ->  ****Apple Intros Power PC Workgroup Servers 04/26/94 Apple
has introduced three new Workgroup Servers with Power PC and, in
collaboration with Novell, announced NetWare 4.0 for PowerPC.

27 -> Intel/CNN Plan Multimedia News Broadcast Over LANs 04/26/94
Chip giant Intel and the Turner Broadcasting System subsidiary
Cable News Network (CNN) have announced plans to test multimedia
news services on business personal computers (PCs) in May. The two
companies plan to run CNN news, business, and information, as well
as Headline News, over local area networks (LANs) using Intel's
multicast video technology.

28 -> Apple Claims Power Macs Beat Compaq Pentium PCs 04/26/94
Apple Computer claims its Power Macintosh far-surpassed Compaq's
Pentium-based  computers, in side-by-side price/performance tests.
The company  commissioned the tests from Ingram Laboratories, a
personal  computer testing firm, and has released a preliminary
report from  the study.

29 -> Teleport Asks To Compete in Illinois 04/26/94 Teleport
Communications Group has asked the Illinois Commerce Commission
for authorization to provide local phone service in the Chicago
area.

30 -> InfraLAN Offers New Wireless Ethernet 04/26/94 InfraLAN
Technologies has been acquired by a unit of Safeguard Scientifics.
Meanwhile, the company has announced availability of the  InfraLAN
Wireless Ethernet system.

(Ian Stokell/19940426)