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/may_jun_94/nb061594

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(NEWS)(TRENDS)(DEN)(00001)

TI Chip Opens Way To Video CDs 06/15/94
DALLAS, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1994 JUN 15 (NB) -- Texas Instruments has
announced a new set of chips it says will help make video CDs as
commonplace in home entertainment as audio CDs are today.

TI says the three-chip set can produce VHS-quality video and
CD-quality sound for video CD applications such as movies and
music video playback from one or two five-inch compact disks,
video games and karaoke. The video CD players will also be able
to play existing audio CDs.

According to multimedia industry research firm Thorka-TRIMM,
just about every home that has a CD player or a VCR today will
have a video CD player by the end of the century.

A TI spokesperson told Newsbytes the industry expects to
produce as many as three million video CD players annually
by 1997.

TI says the video CD technology standard developed jointly by JVC,
Matsushita, Philips and Sony has a bigger future than just home
video. Several movie makers and record companies have already
announced plans to offer their products on video CD.

The technology is based on the compression standards developed by
the International Standards Organization (ISO) Motion Picture
Experts Group (MPEG). TI's chipset synchronizes and decompresses
audio and video data encoded using MPEG, then outputs a video
signal to your television set encoded in the National Television
Standards Committee (NTSC) format used for broadcast TV.

The players will have "fast-forward," "freeze frame," and "reverse"
features similar to today's VCR systems. "Our new chipset provides
all the playback features that consumers are accustomed to in their
VCRs," says Ron Slaymaker, TI's Semiconductor Group manager of
digital compression products.

TI says the chipset will be sampled to TI customers worldwide this
summer. Production quantities are expected to be available in the
fourth quarter. TI says systems based on its chipset should be in
the marketplace by early 1995. Matsushita already markets a video
CD player using a competitive chipset as part of a $1,500 home
entertainment center.

Slaymaker says systems based on the TI chipset will physically
resemble current audio CD players. "It will be another feature
added onto the existing CD player." He expects pricing to be
about twice the cost of a standard CD player, or $200 to $400.

(Jim Mallory/19940614/Press contact: Dave Nieland, Texas
Instruments, 214-997-5470)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(DEN)(00002)

Alias To Develop 3-D Nintendo Graphics Tools 06/15/94
REDMOND, WASHINGTON, U.S.A., 1994 JUN 15 (NB) -- Video game
maker Nintendo of America Inc., has announced a deal with Alias
Research Inc., to develop customized three-dimensional (3-D)
graphics development tools for Nintendo's new 64-bit Project
Reality home video game systems.

Project Reality hardware is being developed for Nintendo by
Silicon Graphics Inc., and is expected to be available in stores in
North America and Japan in the fall of 1995. Nintendo says the
home version of Project Reality will have a suggested retail
price of less than $250.

The company will preview three new games, one for Project Reality,
at this month's Summer consumer electronics Show in Chicago. The
other new titles being shown at CES are designed to demonstrate
what Nintendo calls "a dramatic increase" in the graphics and audio
performance of its 16-bit Super NES home system.

The deal calls for Toronto-based Alias to develop customized tools
that will form the core of the Project Reality development system
to be used by authorized Nintendo third-party publishers. Nintendo
has purchased a large number of Alias PowerAnimator licenses for
in-house use. alias will incorporate Nintendo feedback into
next-generation tools for game developers.

Previously announced partners in Project Reality include Silicon
Graphics, WMS Industries Inc., Rate Limited, and DMA Design.
Nintendo claims that more than 40 percent of all homes in the
US own a Nintendo system.

(Jim Mallory/19940614/Press contact: Perrin Kaplan, Nintendo,
206-882-2040 or Franca Miraglia, Alias Research Inc.,
416-362-9181)


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

Rock Videos Part Of CD-Interactive Game 06/15/94
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994 JUN 15 (NB) -- Geffen
Records, whose recording label includes Guns N' Roses, Aerosmith
and Peter Gabriel, has joined with Jasmine Multimedia to produce
an interactive game called Vid Grid, and described as a "Rubik's
Cube" of rock n roll.

The Vid Grid interactive game includes rock videos from such bands
as the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Metallica, Ozzy Osbourne, Van Halen,
Jimi Hendrix and Soundgarden. The user has to unscramble the
screen by the end of the chosen video.

Jasmine claims Vid Grid is the first consumer product to take
advantage of Microsoft's new Video for Windows 1.1 software, which
provides a  320 by 240 aspect ratio, and the first time users are
able to manipulate moving videos.

The game can have as few as nine pieces of video or as many as 36
as the game progresses in difficulty. Pieces can be upside-down or
inverted. Players must also pick the video to play as part of the
game strategy.

The product will retail for $34.95 at record, video, computer and
book stores beginning mid-September. The minimum system
requirements are of special interest as the CD product requires a
486SX 25 megahertz processor, four megabytes of RAM, a mouse,
a dual speed CD-ROM drive, an 8-bit SoundBlaster-compatible
audio board and the ability to deliver 256 colors at 640 by 480
resolution.

Speaking to Newsbytes, Norman Beil, head of new media for Geffen,
said, "Chris Cornell, lead singer of Soundgarden, was 'totally blown
away.' Once we get people to play, they find it very addictive. Many
people are highly impressed by the quality of the video, but the real
strong response comes when they begin to play the game itself and
feel the rush that accompanies the effort to complete the puzzle."

(Patrick McKenna/19940614/Press Contact: Bryn Bridenthal,
Geffen, tel [phone])


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SFO)(00004)

Micronics To Merge With Orchid Technology 06/15/94
FREMONT, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994 JUN 15 (NB) -- Motherboards
are expected to include audio chips by 1995. As a result, audio
board companies have been redirecting their efforts to brace
themselves against a predicted slow market, which in the past
has been filled with dramatic rises. Now, Orchid Technology has
announced a merger with Micronics, a producer of system boards
for personal computers (PCs) and workstations.

Under the agreement, Orchid will operate as a wholly owned
subsidiary of Micronics. In return, Micronics has agreed to issue
shares of its common stock in exchange for all the equity
interests in Orchid.

The companies maintain that there will be no major changes
in executive levels, staffing or corporate locations. Completion
of the merger is expected by the end of July.

Steve Kitrosser, chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of
Micronics, told Newsbytes, "This is a great merger for us. These
two companies have two distinct roles in different markets. We
have a very strong position in the OEM (original equipment
manufacturer) market and Orchid is very strong on the retail side.
We are really  excited about the new dimension that this merger
provides Micronics."

He continued: "As well, it gives Micronics a stronger and more
competitive position as a systems board producer who is now
able to offer OEMs a wider and more complete line of products.
Down the road, we plan to include audio chips on our systems
boards."

Orchid has traditionally been strong in retail channels such as
CompUSA and with distributors, Ingram Micro and Merisel.
According to Orchid, they have been wanting to expand their
role in the OEM market and now, with the backing of Micronics
this should come about rapidly.

Further developments in motherboard technology will offer OEMs a
more integrated board which will include a number of peripherals.
Kitrosser went on to say, "In 1993, we began to look into adding
peripherals onto systems boards. We have already included video
chips and we will soon offer systems boards with audio. Modems
are another peripheral that we have discussed as an inclusion on
systems boards."

According to both companies, the merger began with negotiations
earlier in the year. Neither party is anticipating any delay in
stockholder approval.

(Patrick McKenna/19940614/Press Contact: Robert Cambell,
Micronics, tel [phone])


(NEWS)(GOVT)(WAS)(00005)

 ****Wiretaps Up, Efficiency Down, Says Watchdog Group 06/15/94
WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A., 1994 JUN 15 (NB) -- Fueled by the
drug war, the number of federal, state and local legal wiretaps
increased six percent last year, according to a study by the
Electronic Privacy Information Center in Washington.

But the percentage of relevant communication intercepted by
the taps fell to below 20 percent for federal investigations,
continuing a long decline, the group said.

EPIC's report said federal and state courts approved 939
requests for wiretaps in 1993, "The highest number since
electronic surveillance was legalized in 1968." Federal orders
were up 13 percent, while state orders dropped by nine
percents.

"No surveillance requests were rejected or amended," said the
privacy watchdog group. "In 25 years, only 27 requests have
ever been rejected, two most recently in 1988."

Narcotics investigations was the main source of wiretaps,
accounting for 74 percent of federal investigations and 69
percent of state wiretap orders. EPIC says use of electronic
surveillance has increased 240 percent since 1980.

Of the federal district courts, the Southern District of New
York, which includes New York city, and the Eastern District of
Michigan, which includes Detroit, were the areas with the
highest numbers of orders.

The study says, "As the use of electronic surveillance has
increased, its efficiency as a law enforcement tool has
substantially declined. The majority of conversations overhead
are determined by prosecutors to be irrelevant to any
investigation."

What accounts for this? "There are lots of different spins on
that," David Sobel of EPIC told Newsbytes. "At bottom, we don't
really know. It may be that they are casting a wider net rather
than focusing on narrower intercepts, but that's speculation."

Sobel said the data in the report come from the administrative
office of the US Courts, which is required by law to collect
information on wiretaps.

EPIC was created earlier this year by the Fund for Constitutional
Government and Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility.
The organization works on issues such as the Clipper chip, the
administration's digital telephony bill, medical record privacy,
and the sale of consumer data.

(Kennedy Maize/19940615/Contact: David Sobel,
tel [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(WAS)(00006)

Loral To Lay Off 500, Bid For GOSIP 06/15/94
WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A., 1994 JUN 15 (NB) -- Loral Corp. says
it will lay off 450 employees in suburban Maryland and another
40 at a technical center in New Jersey as a result of the
decision by the Federal Aviation Administration to cancel a
portion of a multi-billion dollar computer contract for the air
traffic control system.

Loral said that it will cancel contracts with a number of its
subcontractors on the project, leading to another cut of some
700 jobs.

Loral's federal systems division, which it bought from IBM
earlier this year, employs about 3,200 in the Washington area,
with about 1,600 of those working at least in part on the FAA
contract.

Some of those losing jobs will probably get picked up when FAA
bids out portions of the project, which was suffering major
cost overruns and delays. Bidders are expected to include BDM
International, Hughes Aircraft, Unisys, and Raytheon.

The layoffs have left the Loral employees, many former
long-time IBMers, despondent. "Morale is in the toilet," one
former employee of Big Blue told Newsbytes, requesting
anonymity.

In a related matter, Loral is leading a team that is bidding on
a $1 billion Defense Department contract for a global, cross-
service electronic-mail system, designed to provide electronic
communications "from the foxhole to the Pentagon."

The Loral team, which includes BBN, Boeing, GTE, and Xerox, has
submitted its technical proposal, spokesman Simon Reubens told
Newsbytes. The cost proposal is due later this month.

The communications system is called the "defense message
system government open system interconnection profile" project.
Characteristically, the Pentagon has turned this into an acronym --
DMS-GOSIP -- which Reubens confirms is known around the
agency as "DMS-gossip."

While it may contain gossip, the new system will be secure. It
will provide the first-ever classified and top-secret messaging
capability across all the military services and introduce
terminal-to-terminal communications to replace paper.

According to Loral, the system will use commercial, off-the-
shelf products to replaces various messaging systems now in
use to spread electronic information. The Pentagon says it will
award the contract in December.

(Kennedy Maize/19940615/Contact: Simon Reubens,
tel [phone])


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(TOR)(00007)

Canada's SaskTel Offers New Telecom Savings Plan 06/15/94
REGINA, SASKATCHEWAN, CANADA, 1994 JUN 15 (NB) -- SaskTel, the
company that provides local and long-distance telephone service
in Saskatchewan, is the first member of the national Stentor
consortium to offer a new long-distance savings plan, called REAL,
to its residential customers.

Other Stentor members, which provide local and long-distance
service in most of Canada, are awaiting federal regulatory
approval to offer the REAL plan, said SaskTel spokesman Don
Savaria. SaskTel is regulated by the provincial government, which
also owns it.

All residential phone customers in Saskatchewan are eligible
for the REAL plan, Savaria told Newsbytes. To benefit from it,
though, a subscriber needs to be spending at least C$15 per
month on long-distance calling.

The plan includes: a 15 percent discount on all direct-dialed and
calling-card calls; 20 percent savings each month on calls to the
three most-called long-distance numbers; an extension of the
35 percent discount calling period to begin at 5:00 pm rather
than 6:00 pm on weeknights and to include all day Saturday; an
extension of the 60 percent discount period to begin at 11:00
pm rather than midnight; and a flat rate of 19 cents per minute
for all long-distance calls within a 40-mile radius of the
customer's home exchange.

Subscribers to the REAL plan can also accumulate points based
on long-distance usage, which they can redeem and apply to
their long-distance bills.

Some provisions of the REAL plan are already available from
other Stentor companies under other discount plans, such as
Bell Canada's Bell Rewards and the Teleplus programs.

There is no charge to participate in REAL as long as the
customer uses at least C$15 worth of long-distance service each
month. In any month when the long-distance bill is less than
C$15, SaskTel will levy a C$2 service charge for REAL, Savaria
said. The plan is available now.

(Grant Buckler/19940614/Press Contact: Ron Podbielski, SaskTel,
tel [phone]; Don Savaria, SaskTel, tel [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(TOR)(00008)

IBM Cuts Prices On MCA Servers 06/15/94
SOMERS, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1994 JUN 15 (NB) -- IBM has reduced
prices on its Server 85 and Server 95 systems, roughly three
weeks after introducing its first server using the Extended
Industry Standard Architecture (EISA) system bus. The 85 and 95
models use IBM's own Micro Channel Architecture (MCA) bus design.

According to company spokeswoman Nancy Meyers, the EISA-based
IBM PC Server is aimed at small business customers and those
constructing local area networks (LANs) for workgroups.

customer surveys by the company found that those customers
wanted compatibility with the Industry Standard Architecture
(ISA) bus, which EISA offers and MCA does not.

IBM still views MCA as the better choice for interconnected
networks and those with more sophisticated requirements, Meyers
said, and will continue to sell its MCA models to that market.
However, there has been more than usual speculation in recent
weeks about IBM's commitment to MCA.

The price reductions on some sample configurations are: the
Server 85 433 with 33 megahertz (MHz) 486DX processor, eight
megabytes (MB) of error-correcting memory, and 540MB hard disk,
is reduced from $5,010 to $4,260; the Server 85 466 with 66MHz
486DX2 chip, 8MB of memory, and 540MB hard disk is cut from
$5,675 to $4,925; the Server 95 466 with 66MHz 486DX2, 16MB of
memory, and one gigabyte (GB) hard drive goes from $9,335 to
$7,535.

Additional examples include: the Server 95 560 with a 60MHz
Pentium processor, 16MB of memory, and 1GB hard disk is reduced
from $11,335 to $8,870; and the Server 95 Array 566, with a
66MHz Pentium chip, three 1GB hard drives, and 16MB of memory,
drops from $19,270 to $16,700.

IBM also said the EISA-based IBM PC Server is now shipping in
volume. Its list price, with a 66MHz 486DX2 chip, 8MB of
memory, and a 728MB hard disk, is $3,099. A model with a 60MHz
Pentium chip, 16MB of memory, and a 1GB drive, is $4,999. The
prices do not include monitors.

(Grant Buckler/19940614/Press Contact: Nancy Meyers, IBM,
tel [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(TOR)(00009)

Percussion Intros 2 Prgms For Lotus Notes Users 06/15/94
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1994 JUN 15 (NB) -- Six-month-
old Percussion Software Inc. has introduced its first products. The
company says that the two software packages will help users of
Lotus Development Corp.'s Notes groupware handle large Notes
databases and retrieve information from databases that are not
compatible with Notes.

Percussion's Notrix is a programming tool for manipulating large
Notes databases and building work-flow applications. It is meant
to be used by professional developers, Notes administrators, or
database designers, to manipulate data in ways they cannot
currently, said Audrey Augun, vice-president of product marketing.

The second package, Notrix Composer, is a tool that lets Notes
users view and manipulate data from more than 50 different
databases. End-users will use Composer, though it will require
some initial setup by information systems people, Augun told
Newsbytes.

Both packages include a program called Notrix Event Manager,
which can automatically trigger events in Notes or other
applications in response to events in Notes databases, documents,
and document fields, Percussion said. For example, a brokerage
firm could use this to develop a Notrix program that updates a
corporate database right away when a broker enters key
information into a customer form in Notes.

Notrix and Notrix Composer are available initially for network
servers that use the OS/2 operating system. Notrix costs $3,495
and is available directly from Percussion Software. A Notrix
Applications Developer's Kit costs $995 from Percussion. Both
require OS/2 2.1 or later, OS/2 REXX, and Lotus Notes 3.0 or later.

Notrix Composer lists at $4,995 and is available from Percussion
Software and from Information Builders Inc. of New York. It
requires Information  Builders' EDA/SQL Server 1.3 or later, the
appropriate EDA/Data Drivers, OS/2 2.1 or later, OS/2 REXX, and
Notes 3.0.

Versions of Notrix and Notrix Composer for Novell's NetWare,
Microsoft's Windows NT, and Unix will be released in late 1994
and early 1995, Percussion said, and the company is talking
with other database and tools providers to provide further
options that link Notes directly with other databases.

(Grant Buckler/19940614/Press Contact: Audrey Augun,
Percussion Software, tel [phone], fax [phone];
Public Contact: Percussion Software, tel [phone])


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(BOS)(00010)

NECC - Scholastic's Internet Educational Services 06/15/94
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1994 JUN 15 (NB) -- Scholastic
Network's new Scholastic Internet Services will give students and
teachers a place for "one-stop educational shopping," said Eadie
Adamson, manager of network development, in an interview with
Newsbytes at the National Educational Computing Conference
(NECC) in Boston.

Launched at the show, Scholastic's new Internet services
include a series of academic subject-specific on-line "libraries;"
a special area that will supply electronic newsletters, lessons
plans and other information free of charge; and the Ultimate
Education Store, an online catalog of Scholastic products.

Each of the new Internet services is fully searchable, equipped
with digitized graphics, and outfitted with a Mosaic graphical user
interface (GUI), according to Adamson. The services are based on
technology developed by Wide Area Information Services (WAIS), a
partner of New York City-based Scholastic Inc.

The new Internet services represent Scholastic's second foray into
the online world, said the manager of network development. The
publisher's experiences with "Scholastic Network on America Online
(AOL)" -- which was rolled out at NECC '93 in Orlando, Florida --
are proving the power and potential of online services in
education, she added.

"People are contributing a wealth of information to the Scholastic
Network," Adamson told Newsbytes. Right after the recent Los
Angeles earthquake, for instance, a bulletin board was started on
Scholastic's AOL service that let students in California and New
York communicate about the quake by electronic mail. "New York
kids could ask questions, and California kids received an outlet."

Other bulletin boards that have sprung up on Scholastic's AOL
service include a "grants center" and a folklore area, she
illustrated. Members of the Scholastic Network on AOL will
have full access to Scholastic's new Internet services.

With the Internet services, Scholastic "will be able to offer the
same kinds of services over the Internet as we do in print, and
more," Adamson maintained. The Internet's electronic mail services
are becoming increasingly important to educators everywhere,
Newsbytes was told. "But the Internet is a lot more than e-mail."

Scholastic is hand-selecting all the items included in its Internet
services, a move that will save teachers as well as students from
"bouncing around from one gopher to another to find everything they
need," Adamson said. Many teachers are not experts in computer
technology, and for most educators, time is at a premium, she
explained.

The first three libraries in the Scholastic Internet Libraries --
which deal with "reading and language arts," "middle-school
science," and "integrating technology" -- are already up and
running. A fourth library, featuring "seasonal" classroom
activities and calendars, is slated to go online by the end of
next week.

The first four libraries will contain more than 50,000 full-text
articles, according to Adamson. "And there will be more libraries,"
she pledged. Scholastic is now looking into possible subject areas,
and will announce more libraries in another month or so, she noted.

The science library already has sections for kids as well as
instructors, Adamson said. The reading/language arts and technology
libraries are currently for teachers only. But all of the subject
libraries will ultimately be geared to both groups of users.

The Scholastic Internet Libraries are available to state education
networks, as well as to regional phone companies and internet
providers for site license to schools and other account holders,
she said.

Several organizations are now evaluating the libraries, including
the New York City Board of Education; the Texas State Network
Telecommunication Service (TENET); the Florida Information
Resource Network (FIRN); Big Sky Telegraph of Montana; and the
Mississippi Libraries Statewide Information Network Task Force.

The new Scholastic Internet Center, in contrast, is available to
all 29 million Internet users free of charge, according to Adamson.
An estimated 100,000 of all Internet users are US teachers and
students in grades K-12, Scholastic estimates.

Scholastic's new Ultimate Education Store is designed to let
users browse through magazines, software kits, curriculum kits,
educational kits, and other materials available for sale from
Scholastic, the network development manager told Newsbytes.

Also available in the online store is an "electronic order form"
that can be downloaded, filled in, and then uploaded for online
buying of instructional materials, she said.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19940614/Reader Contact: Scholastic Inc.,
212-343-6898; Eadie Adamson, Scholastic Networks, 212-343-
4940, electronic-mail [e-mail]; Reader Contact: Todd
Friedman, 212-343-6878, e-mail [e-mail])


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(DEN)(00011)

Cray Computer Gets Temporary Financial Reprieve 06/15/94
COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO, U.S.A., 1994 JUN 15 (NB) -- Cray
Computer Corporation, the supercomputer company that has been
hemorrhaging buckets of money while it seeks its first system
sale, has gotten a transfusion in the form of a $17.5 million line
of credit.

Cray says it has arranged the loan with a New York finance company.
However, at the current rate of expenditure just to keep the doors
open - about $11 million a quarter - the money is only expected to
last through the end of the year.

The loan is secured. Cray had to mortgage just about everything it
owns and company founder Seymour Cray had to put up $5 million
of his own money as collateral in order to convince Congress
Financial Corporation to get the backing.

Cray real estate and equipment assets are reportedly carried on
the books at about $25 million, but Congress would only loan $11.5
million unless Seymour Cray pledged the additional $5 million.

The end of the year, the end of the money and the hoped-for debut
of the Cray-4 will all arrive at about the same time. The company
says the Cray-4 will offer about twice the performance at half the
price of the never-sold Cray-3 system.

Cray President Terry Willkom told the Gazette Telegraph newspaper
the company might consider selling some of its technology to
stay alive. He said Cray's gallium arsenide semiconductor and
printed circuit board designs and its manufacturing processes all
could be sold to other high-tech companies.

Cray got past a similar crisis about a year ago when it sold $30
million in stock to institutional and private investors. The
company lost nearly $48 million last year.

Cray stock is now hovering just pennies above $1 per share,
closing unchanged the past two days at $1.09.

(Jim Mallory/19940615/Press and reader contact: Cray
Computer Corporation, 719-579-6464)


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

 ****Survey Says Pen Computers "Taking Off" 06/15/94
MENLO PARK, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994 JUN 15 (NB) -- Contrary to
the industry picture only a year ago, pen computing is finally
"taking off," with numerous commercial deployments actually in
place, above and beyond mere market trials, according to a new
survey by New Futures World Marketing.

The top three application areas for pen computing today are
"sales," "medical," and a category called "on-site inspection" that
covers everything from field engineering to athletic recruitment,
said Ken Roberts, president of the Menlo, California-based market
research firm, in an interview with Newsbytes.

Due to the greater availability of pen hardware and software,
together with "the accumulation of a critical mass of experience
with pen computing," the tentative pilots of a year or two ago have
coalesced into company-wide regional or nationwide
implementations, according to Roberts.

Users are finding they do not need handwriting recognition, a long-
standing technical bugaboo, to reap the rewards that pen computing
can bring in terms of mobility and keyboardless communications,
the market researcher said.

"In 85 to 95 percent of applications, pen computing does not depend
on handwriting recognition. Handwriting recognition does have a
place, but the technology is still evolving," he told Newsbytes.

Companies are getting around the need for handwriting recognition
by using checklists, Roberts explained. Where handwriting
recognition is used, it tends to be restricted to numbers, which
are much easier than letters for the computer to detect, he said.

In an application within the "on-site inspection" category, the
US Department of Agriculture is using pen computing for
biological surveys, according to Roberts. The biologists fill in
numbers by hand. ("Ten feet, two inches" for "height of plant," for
example.)

In another "on-site inspection" application, he added, basketball
scouts are toting pen computers on to the court, where they jot
down statistics on the numbers and distances of shots completed
by players. These numbers can then be calculated and analyzed in
any number of ways for recruitment purposes.

In more "traditional" kind of application, the city of Englewood,
New Jersey, is using pen computers to check off hazardous materials
and other fire hazards observed on fire inspection tours, Roberts
said.

Field Resources Group, Roslyn Height, New York, has developed an
environmental engineering application that is "going like
gangbusters," he added. Used at outdoor Superfund clean-up sites,
the pen computing application prevents the wind and rain damage
that used to afflict inspection reports back in the days when they
were done on paper.

Most of the new commercial pen deployments, Roberts said, are
being performed on larger machines -- such as pads, tablets, and
convertibles -- although "many people who are doing prototypes
are looking at the Newton and Zoomer."

Also over the past year, computer makers have addressed the
long-standing problem of pen hardware scarcity, according to
Roberts.

Fujitsu, Grid, AST, Toshiba, and NEC have all come out with
"reliable" pen models, the researcher maintained. "I've also
heard a lot of enthusiasm over the IBM units."

Most pen applications are still DOS-based, due to the larger memory
and hard disk space requirements of Windows applications, the need
for longer battery life, and "the fact that Windows applications
don't tend to look as good on a small form factor screen," he said.

Other applications have been developed for proprietary systems,
such as Go and Geos, he noted. "The Go system didn't work out, but
the jury's still out on Geos," Newsbytes was told. Aside from low
power consumption, the "rationale" for the small-kerneled Geos is
that "it will run very quickly on a small platform."

Roberts predicted that personal digital assistants (PDAs) will
soon join larger pen computers in commercial deployment, as their
processing and battery power -- and their ability to run standard
graphical applications -- continue to move ahead in the future.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19940615/Reader and Press Contact: Ken
Roberts, New Futures World Marketing Group, 415-324-9296)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(SFO)(00013)

Virtus VR For Power Mac Ships 06/15/94
CARY, NORTH CAROLINA, U.S.A., 1994 JUN 15 (NB) -- The new
high-end processing platforms are particularly attractive to
users of processor-intensive applications. Now Virtus Corp.,
has begun shipping a Power Macintosh version of its Virtus VR
program, which allows users to "build and explore three-
dimensional (3-D) virtual worlds."

According to the company, the software features construction and
navigation tools, galleries of 3-D objects, and six pre-built scenes
"that illustrate the program's modeling, texture-mapping and
real-time 'walkthrough' capabilities."

Virtus says both Apple and Motorola demonstrated Virtus VR for
the Power Macintosh at this year's Spring Comdex in Atlanta
because the software highlights the speed and power of the
PowerPC microprocessor.

In announcing the product, Frank Boosman, general manager of
Virtus Corp., said: "The speed of the Power Macintosh brings
Virtus' vision of virtual worlds for the personal computer
closer to reality. The Power Macintosh allows Virtus software to
fluidly render complex scenes and -- in the future -- will make it
possible to offer specialized shading techniques and animation."

Virtus VR is shipping with the 68000-based and PowerPC-based
versions in the same package.  A "smart installer" reportedly
installs the appropriate version.

The software is priced at $99. Current registered users of Virtus
VR can upgrade to the Power Macintosh version for $20, including
shipping and handling.

Founded in 1990, the company is privately held, but is also backed
by Motorola's New Enterprises Division. Virtus software has been
employed in the development of major motion pictures, including
"The Abyss" and "The Firm."

(Ian Stokell/19940615/Press Contact: Frank Boosman or Ashley
W. Sharp, Virtus Corp., tel [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(DEN)(00014)

Fault Tolerance Software For Windows NT 06/15/94
CHALFONT, PENNSYLVANIA, U.S.A., 1994 JUN 15 (NB) -- P&W
Technologies has announced the availability of a software package
it says provides real-time data fault tolerance software for
Microsoft Windows NT.

The program, called Octopus, uses "electronic vaulting" technology
to ensure "virtually continuous" operations without loss of data in
the event of electrical failure, natural disaster, or accidental
human error, according to P&W. The term "electronic vaulting"
refers to the secure storage of data and has its roots in the
mainframe community.

Octopus works on a file-by-file basis, allowing the user to
designate the files they want to protect. That keeps the system
overhead lower than the use of disk mirroring, a technique that
makes an exact duplicate of an entire computer disk for use in case
of disaster. Using Octopus, the user selects the files to be mirrored
from a selection screen. The company says files are current up to
the last transaction prior to a system failure.

Once a file is designated for protection, any changes made to it
are captured in real-time by Octopus and routed to what P&W calls a
"guarded file repository," which can be any storage device connected
to a personal computer, workstation or server running Windows NT.
It can be a LAN (local area network) or WAN (wide area network)
connected via Ethernet, Token Ring, X.25 or other standard
networking configurations that are supported by Windows NT.

Octopus can operate in a "one-to-one," "one-to-many," or "many-to-
one" mode. In the one-to-many mode, users can send a single set of
files to multiple locations on the LAN or WAN. That allows data to
be stored both on- and off-site. In the many-to-one mode, files
from various locations can be sent to a single location.

Octopus is shipping now. P&W spokesperson Wayne Fluri told
Newsbytes pricing is server-based, ranging from $3,795 for the
first server license with up to 100 users to $4,975 for a server
with unlimited clients. Quantity discounts apply, and one year of
maintenance is included.

Fluri said P&W is developing a version of Octopus for Microsoft's
"Chicago" software, and if sufficient beta testing can be
accomplished in time, will ship the same time Chicago does. He
said the company is also considering versions for Novell and OS/2.
No Unix version is anticipated due to the manner in which that
operating system handles files.

(Jim Mallory/19940615/Press contact: Wayne Fluri, P&W
Technologies, 215-822-8075; Reader contact: P&W Technologies,
800-919-1009 or 215-822-8075)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TYO)(00015)

Difficulties For Korean Computer Makers 06/15/94
SEOUL, KOREA, 1994 JUN 15 (NB) -- Domestic computer
makers are having difficulties from foreign companies'
low-priced products and an extreme depression in exports.

According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy
and the related industries, foreign companies, including
IBM and Compaq, lowered their overall PC prices twice last
year by 30-40% and are offering 486 computers at 20% off
this year.

Domestic PC makers like Samsung, Trigem, Hyundai, GoldStar,
and Daewoo are inevitably following suit, while competing
against low-priced products from small PC assemblers.

The PC market share of foreign makers increased from below
one percent to three percent last year and will be over five
percent this year, the Ministry said.

Domestic companies are paying royalties of 12 percent of
sales to TI, IBM and MicroSoft of the US. However, IBM decided
to raise its royalty to five percent next year from four
percent.

On the other hand, computer exports for November and December
last year decreased 10 percent and 26.8 percent from the same
period of 1992 and decreased 13.3 percent  during the first four
months of this year.

(Terry Silveria/19940615)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(TYO)(00016)

Korean Semiconductor Equipment Sales Rise 06/15/94
SEOUL, KOREA, 1994 JUN 15 (NB) -- According to a survey
by the Korea Semiconductor Association of 29 domestic
semiconductor equipment makers, sales of domestically
produced semiconductor products are projected to be
162.886 billion won this year, a 95.4 percent increase
from last year owing to a 100-200 percent growth of
process and assembly equipment.

Inspection equipment increased 196.7 percent from last year
to 44.99 billion won and process equipment increased 104.8
percent to 40.975 billion won. Utility and assembly equipment
are also expected to show 72.5 percent and 38 percent
increases to 51.98 billion won and 24.941 billion won,
respectively.

If the companies achieve their sales plans this year, the ratios
of inspection and process equipment in the entire equipment
manufacturing volume are estimated to increase 9.4 percent
and 1.2 percent, from 18.2 percent and 24 percent last year,
respectively, while utility and assembly equipment are
expected to decrease 6.4 percent and 4.2 percent from 21.7
percent and 36.1 percent, respectively.

Domestic market growth last year was led by assembly and
process equipment with 18.071 billion won, a 50.2 percent
increase and 20.002 billion won, a 25.8 percent increase,
respectively.

(Terry Silveria/19940615)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(TYO)(00017)

Korea - Computer News Roundup 06/15/94
SEOUL, KOREA, 1994 JUN 15 (NB) -- In this week's computer
news from Korea: boomerang effect of electronic products
from China, distribution network expansion for multimedia
market, development of PCS system started, Samsung to
create telecommunication, satellite business in Russia.

Boomerang Effect Of Electronic Products From China

Imports of electronic products and parts produced by Korean
companies in China are sharply increasing. According to the
Electronic Industries Association of Korea, such imports from
China reached $95.16 million during January-April this year, up
58.9% from the same period last year. Imports of electronic
parts totaled $53.13 million, a 69.1% increase, leading the
import boom. The industry explains that Korean companies have
established a low-cost Chinese manufacturing base since 1990.
In a dual manufacturing system, they produce high priced,
advanced products in Korea and low priced products in China.
Imports from China will continuously grow as investments in
finished goods plants are increasing.

Distribution Network Expansion For Multimedia Market

According to the related industries on June 1, software
distribution companies including Korea Soft, Myungje, Soft Town
and Dong-a Family are expanding their distribution networks by
adding outlets in anticipation of rapid growth of the
multimedia market including CD-ROMs within one or two years.
Korea Soft signed contracts with 40 stores nationwide and plans
to keep increasing outlets. Soft Town plans to open a large
multimedia shop next month and operate a multimedia business
department in the company to expand outlets. Myungje Ltd.,
importing and selling CD-ROM titles from the US, opened three
multimedia stores in downtown areas.  Dong-a Family Ltd. is
trying to secure branches. Builtin CD, developer of CD-ROM
titles, signed a contract with "CD Generation", a store in Inchon.

Development Of PCS System Started

Korea Mobile Communication Co., Ltd.(KMC) announced a joint
development plan on June 7 for a PCS (personal communications
system) together with six mobile communications-related
companies (GoldStar, Daewoo, Samsung, Hyundai, Optical
Electronics, and Mirae Mobile Communications). The plan aims at
developing domestic equipment for commercial use by '97, which
comply with international CDMA (code division multiple access)
standards. As a first stage for national standardization,
technicians from each company will be sent to KMC's central
research institute. According to the plan, a portable terminal
will be priced at around 100,000 won and a general terminal
with extensive features at around 200,000 won.

Samsung To Do Telecommunication, Satellite Business In Russia

Samsung Electronics is entering Russia's telecommunication and
satellite market by forming a $200 million joint venture with a
state-run electronics company. They agreed to build a plant
this year to produce TDXs and satellites. President Yeltsin
plans to support the project as a national one and will ask
Korea's President, who is now visiting the country, to provide
economic support. Prior to this, Samsung established a joint
venture with ATE, also a Russian state-run company, to produce
TDXs, but operation has yet to begin because of a shortage of
funds on the Russian side. TDX demand in Russia is steadily
increasing as the country is expanding its infrastructure.

(Terry Silveria/19940615)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(TYO)(00018)

Korea - Foreign Info Comms Equipment Dominates 06/15/94
SEOUL, KOREA, 1994 JUN 15 (NB) -- The Korean information
communication market is being led by foreign products in
the early stage, as domestic companies failed to anticipate
the timing for commercial services, and have not sufficiently
improved product quality.

According to the related industries, advanced information
communication equipment, including cable TV transmission
equipment, mobile communication systems, and optical
transmission systems, are being developed by domestic
companies, but are far behind foreign products in
commercialization.

Large companies like Samsung and GoldStar won orders
with foreign products, assuming the $100 billion domestic
market will be dominated by foreign products for coaxial
optical transmission, AM and FM optical transmission
equipment.

Also, foreign companies are being selected as suppliers for
optical transmission systems purchase by Korea Telecom
Corp., (KT), making it difficult for the Korean optical
transmission system jointly developed by domestic
communications companies including ETRI (Electronics &
Telecommunications Research Institute) with a 20 billion
won investment.

Mobile communication facilities have recently been
localized, but are finding no entry into the domestic
market, which is already dominated by foreign products.

(Terry Silveria/19940615)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(TYO)(00019)

Japan - Telecom News Briefs 06/15/94
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1994 JUN 15 (NB) -- In today's roundup of
telecom news in Japan: NTT to reduce F-Net fax service rates
by year end, KDD and AT&T to begin connectivity application
tests with ATM switches, JAL to develop next-generation
communications network which will use frame relay switching
system, JCM to expand Teleterminal service area, MPT lab to
conduct terrestrial digital broadcast tests.

NTT To Reduce F-Net Fax Service Rates By Year End

NTT is considering reducing the rates for its F-Net facsimile
communications network service by the end of the year. The cut is
expected to be in the region of 10% and is aimed at strengthening
NTT's lead in this market in the face of competition from rival
Recruit. Recruit's rates are currently up to 10% cheaper than
NTT's. F-Net, which offers such functions as store-and-forward
and multi-destination delivery, was launched in fall 1981, and
NTT had gained about 61,000 subscribers as of the end of last
year.

KDD, AT&T Begin Connectivity Application Tests With ATM Switches

KDD and At&t, which have been conducting joint ATM
(asynchronous transfer mode) switch connectivity tests since July,
1993, will shortly begin full-scale application tests. Tests will
cover use of LANs (local area networks), phones, and
teleconferencing and database systems, and they will run for six
months to a year. The tests are being carried out using the
Trans-Pacific Cable 4 (tpc- 4) linking KDD's headquarters with
AT&T's Bell Labs in New Jersey at a transmission rate of 4.5Mbit/s.
This fall, KDD will also begin connectivity tests with other major
overseas carriers, including Deutsche Telekom.

JAL Developing Comms Network Using Frame Relay Switching

Japan Airlines will develop a next-generation communications
network which will use a frame relay switching system consisting
of 31 Fujitsu-made frame relay switches, 180 PADs (packet
assembler/disassemblers), and monitors. The airline company will
invest 3.5 billion yen ($33.7 million) in network construction,
which it estimates will be recovered in about two years, since line
operating costs will be substantially lowered compared to the
packet network it uses.

JCM To Expand Teleterminal Service Area

Japan City Media (JCM) will expand the service area for its
Teleterminal digital data communications service. The service is
currently offered primarily in Tokyo's 23 wards, but JCM plans to
invest about 1.0 billion yen ($9.6 million) over the next two years
to add 10 radio base stations and expand coverage into Kanagawa,
Ibaraki, and Chiba Prefectures. JCM adopted fixed service rates
and started selling personal communications terminals in April,
and together with the service area expansion hopes to boost its
subscribership approximately tenfold to 30,000-40,000
subscribers in fiscal 1995.

MPT Lab To Conduct Terrestrial Digital Broadcast Tests

MPT's Communications Research Laboratory will shortly begin
terrestrial digital broadcast tests which are expected to begin
in fiscal 1995. It will construct a prototype OFDM (orthogonal
frequency division multiplexing) device in order to conduct lab
transmission tests. The field tests are expected to use a vehicle
to test reception of digital images outdoors. Used to transmit
images and audio, OFDM supports the international MPEG-2 (Motion
Picture Experts Group) compression standard. The ministry plans
to set technical standards for digital broadcasting by 1996.

(Terry Silveria/19940615)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(TYO)(00020)

Japan - Computer News Briefs 06/15/94
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1994 JUN 15 (NB) -- In today's roundup of items
making news in Japan: Matsushita Electric develops 200MHz
16Mbit synchronous DRAM, Micromachine market forecast to
balloon to 1.9 trillion yen ($18.27 billion) by 2010,
Fujitsu and Sun To negotiate workstation development plans,
Matsushita Electric Works develops virtual reality system,
NEC to double CD-ROM drive sales to 2.5 million units in
fiscal 1994,  Matsushita Electric to market page printer
priced below 90,000 yen ($865) and Oki Electric to shift
some fax and printer production to Thailand.

Matsushita Electric Develops 200MHz 16Mbit Synchronous DRAM

Matsushita Electric has developed a 16Mbit synchronous DRAM
which operates at a clock speed of 200 megahertz (MHz). Sample
shipment is slated for April 1995. Designed using a 0.3-micron
process, a 64Mbit DRAM production process, the chip measures
5.82x14.26 millimeters (mm), about 20% smaller than conventional
synchronous DRAMs. The stacked memory cell is 1.7 microns square.
The company claims that the 1Mword x 16-bit chip can transfer data
at 3.2Gbit/s, about 10 times faster than conventional DRAMs.
Featuring a block access mode, the chip is suited for processing
video images at high speed. Matsushita Electronics will start
volume production at a new plant it is building in Tonami, Toyama
Prefecture, in the fall of 1995.

Micromachine Market Worth 1.9 Trillion Yen By 2010

Japan's market for micromachines is likely to balloon to 1.9
trillion yen ($18.27 billion) by 2010, according to estimates by the
Micro- machine Center. The estimate, which represents a 14-fold
increase in size over the current market, is based on an
anticipated huge growth in the multimedia market. The technology
for micromachines is still in its infancy, the center said. The
center added that it hopes the new report, which was commissioned
as part of a study by the Japan Machinery Federation, will serve
as a guide for companies and research institutes.

Fujitsu, Sun To Negotiate Workstation Development Plans

Fujitsu and Sun Microsystems will in September start a negotiation
in which they will discuss integrating their engineering workstation
development plans. Fujitsu, which OEM (original equipment
manufacturer)-procures Sparc workstations from Sun, plans to
release in the fall a Sun-compatible model based on the Hypersparc,
a 32-bit RISC (reduced instruction-set computer) processor. The
Japanese company wants to clearly identify development
responsibilities in order to avoid competition with Sun which
recently introduced new models.

Matsushita Electric Works Develops Virtual Reality System

Matsushita Electric Works has developed a low-cost, PC-based
virtual reality system which simulates kitchen interiors. In
contrast to conventional virtual reality systems which use a
workstation connected to an expensive head-mounted display,
Matsushita's system uses a 32-bit IBM- compatible PC and low-
cost three-dimensional (3-D) glasses. Matsushita claims the
system, which can be built for about 2 million yen ($19,231),
is the world's first full-fledged virtual reality system to be
based on a PC. It will display the system at Osaka and Tokyo
showrooms later this month.

NEC-HE To Double CD-ROM Drive Sales To 2.5 Million Units

NEC HOME Electronics plans to nearly double sales of its
CD-ROM drives in fiscal 1994 to 2.5 million units. Demand for
CD-ROM drives for use with PCs, particularly in the US, has
been climbing sharply. The company aims to boost sales in the
North American market more than two-fold to 1.5 million units,
and for the Japanese and other markets by at least 60% to one
million units. The company, which has been suffering from
pre-tax losses, has designated CD-ROM drives as a strategic
product that should help earnings recover. The company's sales
of the product in fiscal 1993 came to 1.3 million units, up more
than three-fold from the previous fiscal year.

Matsushita Electric Page Printer Priced Below 90,000 Yen

On July 1, Matsushita Electric will begin marketing a compact
page printer priced at 89,800 yen ($856). The KXI PN300W is
reportedly the first printer of this type to be priced below the
100,000 yen ($962) level, and is the company's first to use an
LED (light emitting diode) printing method. The printer, which is
used with Windows PCs, requires no cooling fan and is about
40% more compact than products from other makers on the
market. The company also plans to release a Macintosh version,
the Pn300m, on September 1. The price of the PN300M has yet
to be determined, but is expected to be about the same as the
Pn300w.

Oki To shift Some Fax And Printer Production To Thailand

Oki Electric plans to reorganize its facsimile and printer
production operations. It will start producing half of its
domestically made faxes and printers to its parts factory in
Thailand after doubling the plant's output capacity. The move,
which will result in 55% of the output of the two products being
made abroad, up from the current 10%, is aimed at improving the
earnings of the division, which is now suffering losses due to
the appreciation of the yen. Oki managed to post pre-tax gains
for fiscal 1993, ended March.

(Terry Silveria/19940615)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(LON)(00021)

UK - Mercury Cuts Pricing, Intros One-2-One Offer 06/15/94
BOREHAMWOOD, MIDDLESEX, ENGLAND, 1994 JUN 15 (NB) -- Mercury
One-2-One, one of the two GSM-1800 (global system for mobile
communications - 1,800 megahertz) digital phone networks in the UK,
has revamped its service pricing for business customers. Personal
customers are unaffected by the changes, which begin on June 20.

Under the changes, call charges are reduced and there are new
options for flat-rate off-peak local calls, plus discounted
international calls, which Mercury claims are cheaper than those
of British Telecom.

The monthly line rental falls from UKP20 to UKP17.50, while peak
rate calls fall from 16pence (p) to 14p a minute. Off-peak calls
remain at 8p a minute, but the off-peak time rate has been
extended to include all day at the weekend.

The flat rate local calls option costs UKP10 a month. After 9pm and
before 7am weekdays, as well as all weekends, customers get their
local calls free of any extra charges. The real savings are for
international calls. In return for UKP 2.99 per month extra, calls
to international destinations are guaranteed to be at least 10
percent cheaper than British Telecom charges on an equivalent
per minute basis.

Announcing the new business customer charges, Richard Goswell,
One-2-One's managing director, said that he is determined that
One-2-One will offer its customers the best value for money
"and to introduce appealing new ideas that show we are different."

He continued: "For weekday mobile phone users that means the best
weekday value, coupled with the chance to make free off-peak
local calls at evenings and weekends. It's the best of both worlds.
What's more, if they have our new international calls option
Mercury One-2-One customers can call abroad at very attractive
rates and without the fear of sky-high charges."

(Steve Gold/19940615/Press & Reader Contact: Mercury One-2-
One, [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(LON)(00022)

Notebook PC Sales Soaring In UK 06/15/94
WEYBRIDGE, SURREY, ENGLAND, 1994 JUN 15 (NB) -- Figures released
by several market research companies in the UK have confirmed that
sales of notebook computers are really starting to take-off.

During March of this year (the latest month the figures are available
for), the highest ever volume of notebook PCs were sold. According to
Toshiba, which came first with 44.2 percent of the market in March,
this is because the majority of government and government
information technology (IT) departments go on their end of year
"annual spending spree" during this month.

Romtec's figures show Toshiba ahead of Compaq (19.1 percent) and
IBM (9.1 percent), closely followed by AST and Apple Computer with,
respectively, 7.1 and 6.1 percent of notebook computer sales. The
rest of the notebook market had a 14.4 percent market share,
Newsbytes notes.

According to Toshiba, this trend is not just confined to the UK.
Toshiba cites the Dataquest and IDC figures from France and
Germany for March 1994 as showing the company ahead in sales
terms.

"With Toshiba being the market leader in both the major mainland
European markets, as well as in the UK, we have gained a triple win
and the crown of being number one in notebooks," Andy Bass,
Toshiba's UK marketing manager told Newsbytes.

Interestingly, Bass claims that Toshiba's own figures show that color
notebooks are starting to take off as never before, moving from being
a minority sales item to securing 50 percent of the installed base as
of March.

The trend towards color notebooks has been another reason why
Toshiba has done well in sales terms, despite the price differences
with other machines. Bass said that, customers have now abandoned
many of the lesser-known brands in favor of Toshiba, which has a
proven track record in color notebook sales.

Bass cites the annual readership survey by Banner & Co, a London-
based company, which investigated the buying habits of IT specifiers
and decision markets. The findings, Bass said, confirm Toshiba'
position in the market -- of the companies questioned, more than
60 percent were already using portable PCs, while in companies
with 200 or more staff, that figure rose to 70 percent. Toshiba,
he said, accounted for the bulk of these notebooks.

(Steve Gold/19940615/Press & Public Contact: Toshiba Information
Systems (UK) tel [phone], fax: [phone])


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(LON)(00023)

UK - Mercury Announces "Follow Me" Call Service 06/15/94
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1994 JUN 15 (NB) -- Mercury Communications has
unveiled a computerized call intercept service known as Mercury One
Call. The idea is that callers to a business person dial one number
and have the exchange track down the called party.

"The flexibility of One Call will appeal to businesses whose staff
travel frequently yet need to stay in touch," explained Ian Lunn, One
Call's product manager. "It eliminates the hassle of managing a
hat-full of different phone numbers -- such as office, home, fax,
pager and mobile -- for users and callers alike.

According to Lunn, One Call can be highly customized to meet the
needs of major companies, at whom the service is pitched at. "For
example, we can tailor One Call to integrate with existing voice-
mail systems, specific computer applications, or to route calls
over private networks -- and as a network-based service, all users
benefit from upgrades and investments in the core platform," he said.

Initially, One Call is only available on new 071, 081, Freecall 0500,
and Localcall 0645 numbers. Service will be rolled out in line with
customer demand. "Obviously, if a national company wanted service
across the UK, we'd do our best to accommodate them," Emma
Tarring of the Mercury press office told Newsbytes.

"We're concentrating on the London area in the main at the moment,
as that is where the bulk of our business will be initially," she said.

No upfront call charges are payable with One Call. According to
Mercury, "it expects" call revenue of between UKP40 and UKP90 per
mobile professional on the service. In use, callers dial the One Call
number and it tries all the available numbers programmed into its
memory banks, before routing calls to voice-mail.

From the users' perspective, a dedicated One Call number is given and
the user dials this number to retrieve voice-mail and fax messages.
Outgoing calls from any location can also be charged to the user's
account, regardless of where the calls starts from. The service can
even "call back" the user to avoid high hotel bill surcharges.

The system is based around Mercury's existing network infrastructure
and services, supplemented by software developed by Prairie Systems
in the US. Mercury claims that flexibility of the service allows the
company to digest any feedback from the customer and develop the
service further to meet customer needs.

According to Tarring, the One Call service is aimed at medium to
large businesses. A smaller user service, suitable for one-man
businesses and the like, will be launch in the fall of this year,
she told Newsbytes.

(Steve Gold/19940615/Press & Reader Contact: Mercury
Communications, tel [phone], fax: [phone])


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(DAL)(00024)

Sony's New Playstation Uses LSI's Computer-On-A-Chip 06/15/94
NEW YORK, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1994 JUN 15 (NB) -- Sony's new Sony
Computer Entertainment division says LSI Logic is manufacturing
a single application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) that has
three high-performance subsystems, including a MIPS central
processing unit (CPU), to do the work inside its new CD
Playstation home gaming system.

LSI claims the Playstation will offer performance of up to 500
million instructions-per-second (MIPS), roughly twice as fast as
any gaming system currently on the market.

Also called Playstation, the LSI ASIC for the game system is part
of a vertical marketing strategy the company calls "computer-on-
a-chip." The miniaturization of components in a sub-micron
manufacturing process coupled with the previous licensing of RISC
(reduced instruction-set computing) technology from MIPS makes
it possible for LSI to put workstation capability on a chip small
enough to fit in a shirt pocket, claims the companies.

Playstation actually offers three processors: a built-in 32-bit
MIPS RISC processor that software developers will write to; a
Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) decompression processor;
and a graphics transformation engine for doing the calculations
necessary for two- and three-dimensional images.

The MIPS processor alone is capable of speeds up to 200 MIPS. The
graphics engine, or graphics processing unit (GPU) can generate
images up to 360,000 polygons-per-second and can move up to
4,000 two-dimensional images, also known as "spites," in a field.

Sony officials said JPEG was chosen instead of the Motion Picture
Experts Group (MPEG) compression standard because it is easier to
use for computer graphics. No plans are in the works to make the
unit MPEG-compatible so it can play movies, although the unit
will play audio CDs, company officials said.

The system is expected to be available in Japan this year at a
retail price of 50,000 yen, or about $500. About 170 licensees
are working on titles in Japan, and while there are US licensees,
company officials could not say how many. Sony is planning
release of the system in the US in 1995.

Surprisingly, company officials said they do not feel the
Playstation is a competitor with the RISC-based 3DO Real CD
Multiplayer game system, built and marketed by Panasonic and
designed by 3DO.

(Linda Rohrbough/19940615/Press Contact: Jeffrey Fox, Sony
Electronic Publishing Company, tel [phone], fax 310-449-
2412; S. Fujishima, Sony Computer Entertainment, 011-81-3-
3475-7309, Bruce Entin, LSI Logic, Bruce Entin, 408-433-4067)


(CORRECTION)(IBM)(SFO)(00025)

Correction - AST Ascentia 900N Notebook 06/15/94
IRVINE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994 JUN 15 (NB) -- In a story of
this title which ran June 13 on the Newsbytes wire, the AST
AST Ascentia 900N notebook computer was described as having
a 500 gigabyte (GB) removable hard drive. In fact, the
drive is 500 megabytes in size.

Newsbytes regrets the error.

(Wendy Woods/19940615)


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

 ****MCI-BT Deal Cleared By US Justice Dept 06/15/94
WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A., 1994 JUN 15 (NB) -- The US Justice
Department gave conditional approval to MCI's proposed joint
venture with British Telecom, under which BT will buy 20 percent
of MCI for $4.3 billion. The joint venture between the two
companies, called Concert, immediately opened for business.

According to BT and MCI, Concert is now the world's most far-
reaching advanced network, linking more than 5,000 network
access points in 55 countries by next spring. Chris Earnshaw
of BT is the group's chief executive officer.

The companies are establishing five Global Customer Support
Centers in London, Paris, Sydney, Tokyo and Cary, North Carolina.
They will all offer multi-currency billing support and 24-hour
customer support, in multiple languages.  The Paris center, for
instance, will accommodate customer queries in 15 European
languages and dialects.

Among the company's offerings are virtual network services,
videoconferencing, electronic data interchange (EDI) electronic
invoicing, and customer management services, including facilities
and network management, under the Syncordia brand.

Both MCI and BT will distribute the company's products and
services. Some 20 initial customers were announced, including
Holiday Inn Worldwide, First Data Corporation, Glaxo, and British
Petroleum. The management services company is based in Reston,
Virginia.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19940615/Press Contact: MCI, 202-887-3000;
James Barron, British Telecommunications, 212-297-2724)


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

Sprint Deal With Int'l Firms Draws Muted Reaction 06/15/94
NEW YORK, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1994 JUN 15 (NB) -- When MCI
announced its tie-up with British Telecom, its stock shot-up in
price. Sprint's announcement that it will link with France Telecom
and Deutsche Bundespost Telekom actually sent its stock tumbling
nearly 10 percent in price.

The fall in Sprint's price is based on skepticism about whether
the deal will go through, and how long it might take if it does.
DBT and France Telekom agreed to pay prices of $47-50 per share
for their stakes, amounting to 20 percent of Sprint's current
equity, but currently you can buy the stock for about $37.

Bond-rating agencies were far more enthusiastic. Standard &
Poor's, Duff & Phelps, and Fitch all put the stock on "alert" for
a possible rating upgrade. But the upgrade would be from low
levels. Sprint already has $5 billion in debt, and S&P would only
consider raising its rating to single-A from BBB, Duff & Phelps
is considering a rise from BBB+, and Fitch is thinking of a rise
from the same level.

The big problem remains the fact that the French and German
telephone service markets remain closed to foreign competition.
Their equipment markets are somewhat open, a point the two firms
made repeatedly at a June 14 teleconference, and the services
market is due for opening in 1998.

Officials also asserted the French and German markets are more
open than other European markets. This was a point made by
Helmut Ricke, chairman of the management board at Deutsche
Telekom, in Sprint's teleconference. Marcel Roulet, chairman of
France Telecom, said much the same thing.

AT&T has already said it will formally object to the Sprint deal,
saying the French and German markets remain locked "tighter than
a drum." French unions are also objecting to the deal, fearing
US competition and job cut-backs. MCI's reaction was more laid-
back.

There was no press statement issued, and a spokesman told
Newsbytes that the company would welcome the competition. The
call from Newsbytes came just moments before MCI issued a press
statement noting that the Justice Department had approved its
deal with British Telecom.

Sprint will argue that the US needs this deal, since the French
and German networks, combined with Sprint's own, carry more
international traffic than either AT&T or BT-MCI.

The deal is still preliminary, and will not be fully negotiated
until the end of this year. After that the Federal Communications
Commission and Justice Department would both have to approve
it from the US side, as would European authorities. Some states
might get involved as Sprint owns both local and cellular networks.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19940615/Press Contact: Sprint, Sue Kraus,
212-554-2420)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(ATL)(00028)

Education Technology Newsletter Launched 06/15/94
NEW YORK, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1994 JUN 15 (NB) -- Jupiter
Communications, best known for its coverage of
telecommunications, has launched a newsletter on education
technology.

The letter, Learning On Demand (LOD), will be edited by Denver-
based writer Mary McFall. It made its debut at the National
Educational Computer Conference in Boston.

Jupiter has been actively soliciting help in putting LOD
together, and said in a press statement the publication will
feature regular articles from Jeanne Hayes, president of Quality
Education Data, a leading resource for educational technology
deployment data.

Citing QED reports, Jupiter estimated the education technology
market at $220 billion, adding the publication will cover
technology trends, software development, interactive CD-ROM,
computer hardware, edutainment, cable in the classroom, online
services, interactive television, school-home links, educational
research, homework assistance, university initiatives, advanced
degrees, vocational education, curriculum needs, school funding,
and government policy.

CD-ROM is of special interest, as the number of schools using
the technology doubled in the last year, according to QED.

Newsbytes discussed the start-up with Jupiter's Gene DeRose.
McFall, he said, "has written articles in places like New Media
and other publications. She's also done work for people like QED.
It seemed a logical move," to base the new letter in Denver, he
added.

"The fact that many people like QED, Express," a company
working with TCI on cable-in-the-classroom, "and others are in
Denver makes that location appealing. Mostly we found her as a
writer who, as we'd been planning this, sold us on her." He added
that McFall also has another company all her own, called Rodeo
ROM, which makes educational CD-ROMs.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19940615/Press Contact:  Jupiter
Communications, Gene DeRose, 212-941-9252; editorial contact:
Mary McFall, 303-758-7136; customer contact: 594 Broadway,
Suite 1003, NY, NY 10012, tel [phone], fax: [phone])


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

 ****BellSouth Chooses TDMA Cellular Technology 06/15/94
ATLANTA, GEORGIA, U.S.A., 1994 JUN 15 (NB) -- In a mild surprise,
BellSouth said it would upgrade its cellular phone systems to
time division multiple access (TDMA) technology, instead of
the competing code division multiple access (CDMA) scheme.

BellSouth Cellular has 2.2 million customers in 190 cities in
15 states. It operates under the name BellSouth Mobility in the
Southeast, and American Cellular Communications outside
BellSouth's service region.

The estimated cost of the upgrade is $100 million over what it
would have spent on its analog network, all spent over the next
12-18 months, after which costs will stabilize, BellSouth
officials said. The company indicated the number of customers
the industry has will grow 45 percent this year, as much as 30
percent next year.

TDMA and CDMA have been competing for the US cellular market
for a few years. Present TDMA schemes offer three times the
capacity of analog cellular systems, CDMA 10 times the capacity.
But a GM-Hughes offering, Enhanced TDMA, would offer 15 times
analog capacity. TDMA is related to the groupe speciale mobile,
or GSM, scheme used in Europe and elsewhere.

BellSouth said last November it would convert over 50 markets
to use Hughes' GMH 2000 switches. Deployment of those switches
should be completed by the middle of next year. BellSouth also
buys cellular switches from AT&T and Ericsson.

Users of analog cellular phones will not be left out in the cold,
BellSouth said. Following the policy of their trade group, the
Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association, the new system
will be "dual-standard," allowing analog and digital phones to
co-exist. The new network will also have support for cellular
digital packet data (CDPD), a packet system that turns unused
calling channels into 19,200 bits-per-second (bps) digital
systems. BellSouth said it is still negotiating on handsets.

Ben Holcomb, executive vice president for BellSouth Cellular,
said at a press conference attended by Newsbytes that the
change-over will take 18-24 months, starting this winter.
"TDMA will give us adequate capacity for the foreseeable
future," with greater privacy and better sound, he said.

Eric Ensor, president of BellSouth Wireless Inc., which develops
the company's wireless strategies including PCS and paging,
talked about the technology decision. He said the company will
deploy the newest version of TDMA, IS-54C, which includes a
"sleep mode" that improves phone battery life, and messaging
support features.

In response to a question, Holcomb noted that, "Two years ago BS
decided not to decide on a digital technology, and to study both
CDMA and TDMA. Today we're announcing TDMA as the ultimate
solution." He added that the company tested both E-TDMA and
CDMA before making its decision. Ensor said there will be few
differences between technologies deployed for PCS and cellular.

Asked about pricing, Ensor said, "The big issue is providing
capacity, features and functions the customer will want. There's
been an awful lot of talk about PCS pricing generally, but it's
only when they get in the marketplace that we'll see what
pricing they will have and how cellular will relate to that."

Newsbytes pressed the question of capacity with Ensor, noting
that CDMA advocates claim they offer more capacity than TDMA.
"The capacity issue isn't that straight-forward," he said.
"Current forms of TDMA get three times analog capacity, but you
have the ability to deploy micro-cells, do dynamic channel
allocation, and use smart antennas to get even more capacity.
We think TDMA can get us to eight times analog capacity plus,
without too many new breakthroughs."

On the other hand, "The CDMA issue seems to be one of shrinking
expectations, from 20 times to 15 times to 10 times, and now
we're told seven is the more likely range. We see it as
comparable in capacity. Couple that with the fact you can deploy
TDMA now, that supplies of handsets are certain, and that CDMA
will still take 24 months to wring out its system once it's done."

Newsbytes then asked about comparisons between TDMA and GSM.
"It is true the IS-54 standard is TDMA, and the GSM standard is
also digital, but they have different bandwidths," noted Ensor.
"They're not identical. We think it will be tough going forward
to blend them. We did not make this decision based on the
similarities between TDMA and GSM."

Finally, Holcomb addressed the question of E-TDMA. "We have spent
time with Hughes, doing the only trial of E-TDMA. We think the
ultimate capacity of E-TDMA would be a straightforward upgrade.
But there are a number of things we'll do in the meantime" to
increase TDMA capacity before considering E-TDMA.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19940615/Press Contact: Nicole Lipson,
BellSouth Cellular, 404-713-0081)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(DEN)(00030)

Control Data Gets Russian Automation Contract 06/15/94
ARDEN HILLS, MINNESOTA, U.S.A., 1994 JUN 15 (NB) -- Control Data
Systems Inc., says it has been awarded a systems integration
contract with one of Russia's largest oil producing districts, to
assist in the creation of an energy resource infrastructure.

The one-year $7.1 million deal is with the Khanty-Mansiysk
autonomous district in Western Siberia. The district, about the
size of the state of Texas, produces four to five million barrels
of oil per day.

Acting as the project integrator, CDC will assemble a group of
technology and administrative suppliers to help the district
create an energy resource administration and a resource information
management system. On the administrative side, the CDC team will
advise on the preparation of legislation and regulations for
resource management and help establish a government agency to
administer oil exploration and petroleum production.

The team will also design, install, and assist in the management
of a computer network that will collect, process, and distribute
exploration and production data. CDC says that study showed that a
lack of updated equipment and technology has been a contributing
factor in the 11 percent decline in oil production in the area over
the past couple of year.

CDC will provide system design and engineering, hardware,
software, and services. The network will utilize 39 Sun systems
and 139 personal computers, as well as plotters, printers, digitizers,
and scanners. Application software will include Wellscan, Prodscan,
Rescan, Oracle, and Arcinfo, as well as other petroleum and network
management programs.

Jim Ousley, president and chief executive officer (CEO) of CDC said
the project will help bring Western world investment money to the
region once standard data is available on the computer network.

He added that it will be the first time accurate and complete data
on gas and oil resources and production levels for the area will be
available.  "Such data is essential as the petroleum industry seeks
to increase production, reduce environmental damage, attract
investment, and move toward privatization."

The resource management system will be modeled after a system
currently in use in Alberta, Canada. Four Canadian firms will work
on the Russian project to provide consulting services and systems.

The project is the result of a $1 million 1993 CDC study funded by
CDC, the US Trade and Development Agency, and the Canadian Task
Force for the Reconstruction of Eastern Europe, to assess the
potential benefits of introducing information technology to
Western Siberia's petroleum sector.

(Jim Mallory/19940615/Press contact: Pat Kelly, Control Data
Systems Inc., 612-482-4444; Reader contact: Control Data
Systems, tel [phone], fax [phone])


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

Newsbytes Daily Summary 06/15/94
PENN VALLEY, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994 JUN 15 (NB) -- These
are capsules of all today's news stories:

1 -> TI Chip Opens Way To Video CDs 06/15/94 Texas Instruments has
announced a new set of chips it says will help make video CDs as
commonplace in home entertainment as audio CDs are today.

2 -> Alias To Develop 3-D Nintendo Graphics Tools 06/15/94 Video game
maker Nintendo of America Inc., has announced a deal with Alias
Research Inc., to develop customized three-dimensional (3-D) graphics
development tools for Nintendo's new 64-bit Project Reality home video
game systems.

3 -> Rock Videos Part Of CD-Interactive Game 06/15/94 Geffen Records,
whose recording label includes Guns N' Roses, Aerosmith and Peter
Gabriel, has joined with Jasmine Multimedia to produce  an interactive
game called Vid Grid, and described as a "Rubik's  Cube" of rock n
roll.

4 -> Micronics To Merge With Orchid Technology 06/15/94 Motherboards
are expected to include audio chips by 1995.
As a result, audio board companies have been redirecting their efforts
to brace themselves against a predicted slow market, which in the past
has been filled with dramatic rises. Now, Orchid Technology has
announced a merger with Micronics, a producer of system boards  for
personal computers (PCs) and workstations.

5 ->  ****Wiretaps Up, Efficiency Down, Says Watchdog Group 06/15/94
Fueled by the drug war, the number of federal, state and local legal
wiretaps increased six percent last year, according to a study by the
Electronic Privacy Information Center in Washington.

6 -> Loral To Lay Off 500, Bid For GOSIP 06/15/94 Loral Corp. says it
will lay off 450 employees in suburban Maryland and another 40 at a
technical center in New Jersey as a result of the decision by the
Federal Aviation Administration to cancel a portion of a multi-billion
dollar computer contract for the air traffic control system.

7 -> Canada's SaskTel Offers New Telecom Savings Plan 06/15/94
SaskTel, the company that provides local and long-distance telephone
service in Saskatchewan, is the first member of the national Stentor
consortium to offer a new long-distance savings plan, called REAL, to
its residential customers.

8 -> IBM Cuts Prices On MCA Servers 06/15/94 IBM has reduced prices on
its Server 85 and Server 95 systems, roughly three weeks after
introducing its first server using the Extended Industry Standard
Architecture (EISA) system bus. The 85 and 95 models use IBM's own
Micro Channel Architecture (MCA) bus design.

9 -> Percussion Intros 2 Prgms For Lotus Notes Users 06/15/94
Six-month- old Percussion Software Inc. has introduced its first
products. The company says that the two software packages will help
users of  Lotus Development Corp.'s Notes groupware handle large Notes
databases and retrieve information from databases that are not
compatible with Notes.

10 -> NECC - Scholastic's Internet Educational Services 06/15/94
Scholastic Network's new Scholastic Internet Services will give
students and teachers a place for "one-stop educational shopping,"
said Eadie Adamson, manager of network development, in an interview
with Newsbytes at the National Educational Computing Conference (NECC)
in Boston.

11 -> Cray Computer Gets Temporary Financial Reprieve 06/15/94 Cray
Computer Corporation, the supercomputer company that has been
hemorrhaging buckets of money while it seeks its first system  sale,
has gotten a transfusion in the form of a $17.5 million line  of
credit.

12 ->  ****Survey Says Pen Computers "Taking Off" 06/15/94 Contrary to
the industry picture only a year ago, pen computing is finally "taking
off," with numerous commercial deployments actually in place, above
and beyond mere market trials, according to a new survey by New
Futures World Marketing.

13 -> Virtus VR For Power Mac Ships 06/15/94 The new high-end
processing platforms are particularly attractive to users of
processor-intensive applications. Now Virtus Corp.,  has begun
shipping a Power Macintosh version of its Virtus VR program, which
allows users to "build and explore three- dimensional (3-D) virtual
worlds."

14 -> Fault Tolerance Software For Windows NT 06/15/94 P&W
Technologies has announced the availability of a software package it
says provides real-time data fault tolerance software for Microsoft
Windows NT.

15 -> Difficulties For Korean Computer Makers 06/15/94 Domestic
computer makers are having difficulties from foreign companies'
low-priced products and an extreme depression in exports.

16 -> Korean Semiconductor Equipment Sales Rise 06/15/94 According to
a survey by the Korea Semiconductor Association of 29 domestic
semiconductor equipment makers, sales of domestically  produced
semiconductor products are projected to be  162.886 billion won this
year, a 95.4 percent increase  from last year owing to a 100-200
percent growth of  process and assembly equipment.

17 -> Korea - Computer News Roundup 06/15/94 In this week's computer
news from Korea: boomerang effect of electronic products  from China,
distribution network expansion for multimedia  market, development of
PCS system started, Samsung to  create telecommunication, satellite
business in Russia.

18 -> Korea - Foreign Info Comms Equipment Dominates 06/15/94 The
Korean information  communication market is being led by foreign
products in  the early stage, as domestic companies failed to
anticipate  the timing for commercial services, and have not
sufficiently  improved product quality.

19 -> Japan - Telecom News Briefs 06/15/94 In today's roundup of
telecom news in Japan: NTT to reduce F-Net fax service rates  by year
end, KDD and AT&T to begin connectivity application  tests with ATM
switches, JAL to develop next-generation  communications network which
will use frame relay switching system, JCM to expand Teleterminal
service area, MPT lab to  conduct terrestrial digital broadcast tests.

20 -> Japan - Computer News Briefs 06/15/94 In today's roundup of
items making news in Japan: Matsushita Electric develops 200MHz 16Mbit
synchronous DRAM, Micromachine market forecast to  balloon to 1.9
trillion yen ($18.27 billion) by 2010, Fujitsu and Sun To negotiate
workstation development plans, Matsushita Electric Works develops
virtual reality system, NEC to double CD-ROM drive sales to 2.5
million units in fiscal 1994,  Matsushita Electric to market page
printer  priced below 90,000 yen ($865) and Oki Electric to shift
some fax and printer production to Thailand.

21 -> UK - Mercury Cuts Pricing, Intros One-2-One Offer 06/15/94
Mercury One-2-One, one of the two GSM-1800 (global system for mobile
communications - 1,800 megahertz) digital phone networks in the UK,
has revamped its service pricing for business customers. Personal
customers are unaffected by the changes, which begin on June 20.

22 -> Notebook PC Sales Soaring In UK 06/15/94 Figures released  by
several market research companies in the UK have confirmed that sales
of notebook computers are really starting to take-off.

23 -> UK - Mercury Announces "Follow Me" Call Service 06/15/94 Mercury
Communications has unveiled a computerized call intercept service
known as Mercury One Call. The idea is that callers to a business
person dial one number and have the exchange track down the called
party.

24 -> Sony's New Playstation Uses LSI's Computer-On-A-Chip 06/15/94
Sony's new Sony Computer Entertainment division says LSI Logic is
manufacturing  a single application specific integrated circuit (ASIC)
that has three high-performance subsystems, including a MIPS central
processing unit (CPU), to do the work inside its new CD Playstation
home gaming system.

25 -> Correction - AST Ascentia 900N Notebook 06/15/94 In a story of
this title which ran June 13 on the Newsbytes wire, the AST AST
Ascentia 900N notebook computer was described as having a 500 gigabyte
(GB) removable hard drive. In fact, the drive is 500 megabytes in
size.

26 ->  ****MCI-BT Deal Cleared By US Justice Dept 06/15/94 The US
Justice Department gave conditional approval to MCI's proposed joint
venture with British Telecom, under which BT will buy 20 percent  of
MCI for $4.3 billion. The joint venture between the two companies,
called Concert, immediately opened for business.

27 -> Sprint Deal With Int'l Firms Draws Muted Reaction 06/15/94 When
MCI announced its tie-up with British Telecom, its stock shot-up in
price. Sprint's announcement that it will link with France Telecom
and Deutsche Bundespost Telekom actually sent its stock tumbling
nearly 10 percent in price.

28 -> Education Technology Newsletter Launched 06/15/94 Jupiter
Communications, best known for its coverage of  telecommunications,
has launched a newsletter on education  technology.

29 ->  ****BellSouth Chooses TDMA Cellular Technology 06/15/94 In a
mild surprise,  BellSouth said it would upgrade its cellular phone
systems to  time division multiple access (TDMA) technology, instead
of  the competing code division multiple access (CDMA) scheme.

30 -> Control Data Gets Russian Automation Contract 06/15/94 Control
Data Systems Inc., says it has been awarded a systems integration
contract with one of Russia's largest oil producing districts, to
assist in the creation of an energy resource infrastructure.

(Ian Stokell/19940615)