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/1989/nb890314.298

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(NEWS)(APPLE)(SFO)(00001)

APPLE UNVEILS THREE-SLOT MACINTOSH IICX
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 7 (NB) -- Apple Computer
has introduced the smallest, most compact member of its color
Macintosh family, the IIcx, plus two new monitors and a one-bit
monochrome video card. The IIcx features 68030 performance,
three NuBus expansion slots, and a smaller footprint than its
big brothers, the II and IIx. The roll-out featured an 8-city
satellite viewing of San Francisco event, held for financial
analysts, developers, resellers, and government buyers.

Said Apple Products President Jean-Louis Gassee, "We listened
to our customers. This is a quieter Macintosh II, and takes
up less space on the desktop." But the machine is more than
quiet and small; it's also the computer Apple expects will
become a best-seller. "The Apple IIcx will be the Apple IIe
of the 90s," said Apple Chairman John Sculley.

Like the SE/30, the IIcx features a 68882 math coprocessor and a
1.4 megabyte SuperDrive which reads MS-DOS, OS/2 and ProDOS
diskettes in addition to Macintosh disks. The speed is 16
MHz. The IIcx has a built-in Page Memory Management Unit [PMMU] used
by advanced multitasking operating systems such as A/UX.

The machine is available now, and costs $4669 for a one
megabyte random access memory [RAM] unit, $5,369 for a model
with one megabyte of RAM and a 40 megabyte hard disk, $7,069
for one with four megabytes of RAM and an 80 megabyte hard
disk, and $7,552 for a top-of-the-line model with four megs
on the motherboard and an 80 megabyte hard disk with A/UX
installed.

The machine does not come with a standard monitor. For this reason,
Apple has introduced two monitors of its own, the Portrait
Display, which provides a monochrome, high resolution, 15-
inch screen, otherwise known as a "full page" display, and
a 21-inch monitor called the Two-Page Monochrome Monitor,
which allows two pages of text and graphics to be displayed
side by side.  The Portrait Display, available in May, carries
a $1,099 price tag and its video card is an additional $599.
The Two-Page monitor is $2,149 and is available immediately.
The price of the video card is also $599.

The design efficiency of the IIcx was demonstrated by Gassee
during the presentation when he personally assembled one
on stage, complete with power supply, hard disk drive,
and monitor.

While Apple will announce other machines this year, the company
has clearly positioned this one as an important long-term
cash cow. Gassee said the machine would be a part of Apple's
new thrust into the mid-range computer market and would hold
an increasing market share in the 1990s. He added that future
products will incorporate RISC, or reduced instruction set
computer technology, but would not say from whom the RISC chips
would be purchased.

At a news conference, Apple brass elaborated on upgrades, soon
to be available, to convert Macintosh SEs into the newest SE/30.
The price of an upgrade is now set at $1699; an exact date for
availability has not been set although the firm maintains the
upgrades will be available in the second quarter of this year.
Additionally, new system software should be available "later
this year" for all Macintoshes.

(Wendy Woods/19890307)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(LON)(00002)

APPLE U.K. ANNOUNCES MAC IICX SERIES; CUTS II PRICING TO U.S. LEVELS
HEMEL HEMPSTEAD, ENGLAND, 1989 MAR 10 (NB) -- In parallel with
U.S., Australian and other European launches, Apple U.K. last week
unveiled the IIcx series of Macintosh computers. In addition the
company launched two new high quality monitors and - unique to
the U.K. - slashed Mac II and IIx pricing to just above U.S. levels.
The IIcx family has just three expansion slots [compared to the
standard Mac's six] and is based around a 16MHz 68030/68882
architecture. Three models are initially available in the U.K: 2/40 [two
megabytes of random access memory or RAM and a 40Mb hard
disk] at UKP 3,540; 4/40 [4Mb RAM and 40Mb hard disk] at UKP 4,045;
4/80 [4Mb RAM and 80Mb hard disk] at UKP 4,385.

All models feature Apple's unique 1.4Mb FDHD [floppy drive, high
density] drive that can read/write/format to Mac, MS-DOS and OS/2
type 3.5-inch disks, and a small footprint [12 x 12 inch, compared
to the standard 18 x 18 inches on the Mac II] casing. Price cuts
on the Mac II and IIx series, which take immediate effect in the
U.K., are as follows: Mac II 1/40 [one megabyte of RAM and 40Mb
hard disk, or HD] is UKP 3,295 [down from UKP 4,095]; Mac II 4/40 [4Mb
RAM and 40Mb HD] UKP 4,045 [down from UKP 5,295]; Mac IIx 4/FL [4Mb
RAM and one floppy] UKP 4,330 [down from UKP 4,995]; Mac IIx 4/80
[4Mb RAM and 80Mb HD] UKP 4,720 [down from UKP 6,195].

Why the U.K. price cuts? In the fanfare of publicity surrounding
the IIcx, Apple U.K. isn't saying. Apple industry experts suggest
that the cuts are to partly make way for the IIcx series, and
partly to combat increasing grey market imports from the U.S.,
where prices are so low that unauthoriZed imports of Mac II and
IIx computers can still generate good profits when sold in the U.K.
marketplace.

Apple U.K. has also announced the immediate availability of an A3
[21 inch] and an A4 [15 inch] monochrome monitors at,
respectively, UKP 1,395 and UKP 730. The complimentary video
cards for both monitors cost UKP 395.

(Steve Gold/19891003/Apple U.K. - Tel: [phone])


(NEWS)(APPLE)(SGP)(00003)

APPLE LAUNCHES NEW PC IN HONG KONG AND CUTS PRICES
HONG KONG, 1989 MAR 9 (NB) -- In a move to capture market share
following two recent price increases, William James, the newly-appointed
managing director of Apple Far East announced yesterday the launch of
the Macintosh IIcx, and price cuts of up to 20 percent in various other
models. The SE's price is cut 20 percent, and prices are cut less than 10
percent for the SE 30 and Mac IIx. There was no change in the price of the
Macintosh Plus and Macintosh II.

The basic new Macintosh IIcx has an indicated retail price of around
US$4,700 and comes with one megabyte of memory, a Superdrive, but without
monitor or hard disk. Based on the Motorola 68030, the machine's random
access memory can be expanded to eight megabytes, and the system
comes with three vacant NuBus slots for expansion. The price cuts were
explained as having become necessary due to the recent increase in
the number of clones.

Apple is projecting total revenues to increase by at least 25 percent this
year, to reach some US$5 billion, and its current 19.5 percent market share
is likely to increase so much that Apple could capture the major dollar
share of the Hong Kong computer market.

(Michael Worsley/19890311)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(TOR)(00004)

APPLE CANADA WOOS BUSINESS WITH DISCOUNTS, LEASING PLAN
MARKHAM, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1989 MAR 7 (NB) -- Apple Canada
has announced rebates on some Macintoshes and peripherals, and a
new leasing program for business. The announcements were made
along with the Canadian launch of the Macintosh IICX.

From March 1 to May 31, buyers of Macintosh computers and
peripherals can get rebates up to C$1,000. Buying a Mac SE and a
LaserWriter II NTX printer would qualify for the full C$1,000. A
Macintosh Plus and a 20 megabyte external disk drive would get a
C$350 rebate. Purchases must be from authorized Apple dealers and
the program can't be combined with any other Apple Canada rebate
or discount offer.

The Apple Canada Commercial Credit program is a standard,
nationwide leasing program under the Apple name. Apple is working
with Dana Commercial Credit Canada to offer flexible lease terms
and a variety of payment protection plans.

A base configuration of the Macintosh IICX, without a hard disk,
will cost about C$8,000. With a hard disk drive and color
monitor, the IICX will sell for C$12,500 in Canada. Apple's new
portrait monitor will cost C$1,650 here, and the two-page display
will cost C$3,200.

(Grant Buckler/19890308/Contact: Dan Wojdylo, Apple Canada, 416-
477-5800)


(EXCLUSIVE)(APPLE)(TOR)(00005)

APPLE CANADA TO LET DEALERS TAKE LEAD IN CORPORATE ACCOUNTS
MARKHAM, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1989 MAR 10 (NB) -- Apple Canada has
told its dealers they can take the initiative with corporate
accounts. At a dealer meeting, Apple said it would shift the
emphasis of its corporate accounts program here. Until now,
Apple's direct sales force has dealt directly with large
accounts, as in the United States. The change reflects maturer
dealer channels, said Dan Wojdylo, an Apple Canada spokesman.
When the corporate accounts program began about two years ago,
"we didn't have a large base of dealers with experience in
dealing with corporate sales," Wojdylo said. Decentralized PC
purchasing decisions in many corporations are also a factor.

No Apple Canada employees will lose their jobs, Wojdylo said.
"The people who were servicing the corporate account market will
now be servicing the dealers." He described the move as "more a
shift than a turnaround."

Also this week, Apple Canada opened a Professional Development
Center to train authorized dealers. Courses will cover product
information, support, service, management and sales training.
Courses will also be available to customers who need internal
Macintosh or local-area network expertise.

(Grant Buckler/19890310/Contact: Dan Wojdylo, Apple Canada, 416-
477-5800)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(TOR)(00006)

APPLE'S NEW TWO-PAGE MONITOR MADE IN CANADA
MARKHAM, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1989 MAR 7 (NB) -- Apple's new 21-inch
two-page monochrome monitor will be made in Canada. The agreement
with Philips Electronics of Toronto, Canadian subsidiary of NV
Philips of The Netherlands, is one of three sizeable deals to buy
Canadian which Apple announced today. The company will also be
buying about $5 million worth of 3.5-inch floppy disks from Kao-
Didak, which makes the disks at a factory near Ottawa. Third,
Apple will be buying about 10 percent of the paper it uses for
manuals from Domtar's plant near Cornwall, Ontario.

The deal with Kao-Didak will include both one-megabyte and two-
megabyte diskettes. Kao-Didak plans to be the first company to
manufacture two-megabyte diskettes in North America, starting in
May. Kao-Didak is 80 percent owned by Kao Corp. of Tokyo, which
in 1986 bought into the diskette manufacturing operations of
Didak Manufacturing, a Canadian company established in 1983. The
company's factory in Arnprior, Ontario, is one of the world's
largest diskette plants, turning out more than two million 3.5-
inch diskettes a month.

(Grant Buckler/19890308/Contact: Dan Wojdylo, Apple Canada, 416-
477-5800; Des Farrell, Kao-Didak, 416-890-8590)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(SFO)(00007)

SCULLEY TELLS COMPUTER CURRENTS LOW-COST $1,000 MACINTOSH DUE
EMERYVILLE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 10 (NB) -- Apple Chief
Executive Officer John Sculley says that by 1991 or sooner, Apple
will unveil a low-cost Macintosh with a price tag around $1,000.
The remarks, made to Computer Currents' David Needle in a
published report, included the following quote from Sculley:
"What we have found in talking to large installations of...Macintoshes,
is that they're not ready to put $5,000 to $10,000 computers
from anybody on everybody's desk." Sculley emphasized
a low-cost Macintosh would not be aimed at the home market.

"Essentially what we're going to be doing is building out the
Macintosh experience from the very low end, down in the range of
the $1,000 price point, out to the $10,000 price point."

Sculley said such a Macintosh would probably not have the advanced
features of the SE/30 or II, nor the SuperDrive which allows
Macintoshes to also read MS-DOS, ProDOS, and OS/2 diskettes.
But before it's released, the budget Macintosh, said John
Sculley, would involve major design and engineering changes to
facilitate a low cost. "It does require some radical design
implementations from a hardware standpoint. You shouldn't get any
less than you get now with a Macintosh Plus," he said.

(Wendy Woods/19890310)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(SFO)(00008)

MONITORING APPLE, RADIUS CUTS PRICES
SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 6 (NB) -- In response to Apple's
introduction of new full-page monitors, Radius Inc. has dropped
its own monitor prices. Effective immediately, the Radius Full
Page Display for the Macintosh Plus, SE, and II, is $895, an 18-
percent reduction and $300 less than Apple's competing, 15-inch
Portrait Display. The FPD II Video Interface for the Macintosh II
is now $595, similarly priced to Apple's video card. And the
21-inch Radius Two Page Display, which competes with Apple's $2,149
model, is now $1,000 cheaper at $1,495. Radius has announced
that its products support the IIcx, as well as the other Macintosh
models.

Also, Radius has reduced the prices of its accelerator boards.
The Radius Accelerator 16 family of boards has been reduced by
up to 20 percent.

(Wendy Woods/19890310/Contact: Jeneane Harter, Radius, 408-434-1010)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(SFO)(00009)

CLARIS UNVEILS NEW VERSION OF MACPROJECT
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 7 (NB) -- Claris
Corporation has announced MacProject II version 2.0, an upgrade to
its project management software MacProject II, which it says
accounts for 34 percent of sales in the U.S. micro-based project
management software market. The new version includes automatic and
interactive resource levelling, a cross-project resource analysis
feature, increase precision in Resource Calendars, unlimited
use of calendars, complete subproject calculation, and more data
import and export capabilities. The program costs $499. Owners
of MacProject II can upgrade for $65. MacProject owners can
upgrade for $199.

(Wendy Woods/19890310)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(SFO)(00010)

JASMINE DRIVES DOWN DRIVE PRICES
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 7 (NB) -- Jasmine
Technologies has introduced a new line of six drives with capacities
of 20, 40, 80, 100, 140 and 300 megabytes. Prices range from
$549 for the DirectDrive20 and $699 for the DirectDrive40 to
$2,795 for the 300 megabyte version.

(Wendy Woods/19890311/Contact: Audrey Leeds, Jasmine, 415-282-1111)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(LAX)(00011)

FREE STACK FOR CAD BUYERS
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 1 (NB) -- Versacad
Corporation has introduced a second version of its CAD software for
the Macintosh. VersaCAD Drafter sells for $995 and is 100 percent
compatible with VersaCAD/Macintosh Edition. However, it includes
only the two-dimensional features of the higher-priced system. .
Updates will be available for $95. Purchasers will receive the
Drawing Manager Hypercard Stack when they return their warranty
cards.

The fully interactive system provides users with a variety of
drawing objects and attributes, 16-digit floating-point precision,
and symbol libraries. Editing, grouping, dimensioning, pan and
zoom, grid and snap, cut and paste, extend and trim, parallels and
perpendiculars, fillets, tangents, ellipses, freehand sketching,
Bezier curves, up to 250 drawing levels, and 10 units of measurement
are also featured.

The program requires a Mac II or IIx with at least two MB [megabytes]
of memory or an SE or Plus with at least one MB. A math coprocessor
is recommended.

(Wayne Yacco/198902)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(LAX)(00012)

MORE MAC MATERIAL MEANDERS TO MARKETER'S MENUS
INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 7 (NB) -- Softsel Computer
Products has added five new vendors with offerings for its
line of Macintosh products. The new vendors include Bitstream
of Cambridge, Mass.; Connect Inc. of Cupertino, Calif.; CTA Inc. of
New York; MacroMind of Chicago; and Maxem Corp. of Tempe,
Arizona.

According to a Softsel spokesperson, the company has embarked on a
recent campaign to acquire software titles for the Mac. Mac
connectivity and color solutions are two of the company's primary
target areas. Softsel is also focusing on Mac technology through
its Macintosh Resource program which features the Macintosh Product
Encyclopedia, Macintosh Hot List, Macintosh Newsletter and Macintosh
Resource Reseller Council meetings.

All of the new vendors are attending Softsel's spring Softeach '89:
Washington D. C. [March 4-5], San Francisco [March 18-19], and
Chicago [April 1-2].

(Wayne Yacco/19890310)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(ATL)(00013)

DCA RELEASES NEW VERSION OF ITS MACIRMA PRODUCT
ALPHARETTA, GEORGIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 7 (NB) -- DCA has released a
new version of its MacIRMA board, which provides communications
between Macintosh computers and IBM mainframes. The new version,
MacIRMA 1.2, includes support for up to 16.8 million colors using
a color wheel. Also, the QuickPad function has been enhanced with
a new "tear-off" and sizing feature, and improved support of Mod
5, an emulation of the IBM 3278/3279 model 5 terminal and display
a full 132 columns of information at once, on the Macintosh. The
list price for the new MacIRMA is $1,195.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890310/Contact: Margaret Owens, DCA, 404-
442-4521)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(TYO)(00014)

APPLE JAPAN LAUNCHES NEW BUSINESS OPERATION
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 MAR 7 (NB) -- Apple Japan has filled its
post of president with a former Toshiba executive, Shigechika
Takeuchi.  Takeuchi worked for Toshiba since graduating from
Waseda University, and had been assigned to posts in both the
United States and Europe for Toshiba.  Before coming to Apple,
he was senior vice president of Toshiba Europe.

At a Tokyo press conference, the new president revealed his
plan to double Apple Japan's current 1,500 sales staff to 3,000
in a business expansion called Project 3000.  Also, Takeuchi said
Apple Japan will achieve sales of over $500 million by 1992.

Meanwhile, one of the largest Japanese general traders, Marubeni
Corporation, will start importing and selling data-compatible floppy
disk drive or FDD units from U.S.-based Dayna Communication for
Macintosh computers. The FDD is called DaynaFile DF-0600 and enables
data to be exchanged between the NEC PC-9801 and a Macintosh.
The FDD will be priced at 158,000 yen or $1,215.

Marubeni has been licensed to sell Apple products in Japan since
1987.  The floppy disk drive is expected to help Apple Japan's
aggressive business expansion plans in this country.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19890309)


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

MICROSOFT WINS BIG FEDERAL CONTRACT
REDMOND, WASHINGTON, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 9 (NB) -- Microsoft Corporation
has snagged a huge contract to supply the Federal Courts system with
7,000 to 8,000 copies of Microsoft Word for the PC over the next
nine years. Worth an estimated $135 million, the contract, which was
also sought by WordPerfect and Samna Corporation, was designed to
modernize the office automation environment of the Federal
Courts system, which currently has a variety of incompatible
dedicated word processors and personal computers.

Version 4.0 of Microsoft Word, boasted company chief Bill Gates in
a prepared statement, has been aimed at the legal community. "Our
superior redlining and document retrieval system are ideal features
for them."

The contract will service court locations in all 50 states.

(Wendy Woods/19890310/Contact: Sarah Charf, Microsoft, 206-882-8080)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SFO)(00002)

MICROSOFT STOCK PLUNGES, INVESTORS SUE
REDMOND, WASHINGTON, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 7 (NB) -- Microsoft, long
a darling of the investment community, got the bum's rush from Wall
Street Tuesday following surprise news that it would have lower
third-quarter earnings. Between the morning of the announcement
and the end of the week, Microsoft stock fell from a high of $62.25
per share to a low of $51, a drop of 18 percent. To appreciate
the significance of this drop, consider Microsoft founder Bill
Gates, owner of some 20.5 million shares, who in one week lost,
on paper, $226 million dollars.

In response to the bad news, Microsoft was hit with a shareholder
lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court, Seattle, charging certain
officers with violation of federal securities laws and related
state claims. The investors, led by Bruce Adelstein, suffered
losses when the stock plunged. Microsoft has stated the suit
is without merit.

Microsoft says the lower earnings, expected to be "somewhat less"
than last year's $37.3 million for this period, are due to technical
problems which have led to delays in the release of Word 4.0 for
the Macintosh and Word 5.0 for IBMs. This has affected other
areas of the company, namely product supply. Because
corporate planners expected to have the new Words by now, they
stopped producing the current versions of the word processing
programs last fall, according to Microsoft spokeswoman Connie
Snyder. Now, the supplies are all but depleted.

When will products be ready to ship? Snyder tells Newsbytes that in
mid-April the Macintosh version of Word should appear and the IBM
version will be in the stores by May.

(Wendy Woods/19890310)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TOR)(00003)

CANADA LEADING CONTENDER FOR MICROSOFT DEVELOPMENT CENTER
MISSISSAUGA, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1989 MAR 10 (NB) -- Canada has
better than a 50 percent chance of being home to Microsoft's
first software development center outside the United States,
according to Malcolm MacTaggart, Microsoft Canada's general
manager. The company is almost certain to establish a new
software development center outside of Redmond, Washington, where
it is based, MacTaggart said. Canada "culturally and
communication-wise is next in line to the U.S.," he said.
Vancouver, British Columbia, just across the border from
Washington state, would be a likely site for the new center,
MacTaggart said. Aside from its proximity to Microsoft
headquarters, Vancouver has the warmest climate among major
Canadian cities and is generally considered a good place to live.

Another factor in Canada's favor is the large number of Microsoft
programmers who graduated from the University of Waterloo in
Waterloo, Ontario. MacTaggart said Waterloo is among Microsoft's
top three sources of programmers. "A lot of the Waterloo people
would be interested in coming home," he said.

(Grant Buckler/19890310)


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

GRID TO ANNOUNCE NEW SYSTEMS, DEMONSTRATION CENTERS
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 10 (NB) -- GRiD Systems
will announce March 14 three new computer systems, will have
a "major networking announcement" involving three of the top
networking companies, and will identify 53 cities where the
company will soon open 61 GRiD Systems Business Centers.
GRiD spokesman Jim Detar tells Newsbytes that the Business
Centers will not be retail stores, but demonstration centers
where corporate customers will be able to view GRiD products.
He emphasized that GRiD has no plans to sell its products
directly to end-users.

(Wendy Woods/19890310/Contact: Jim Detar, GRid, 415-656-4700)


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

ATARI TRIES TO DUMP FEDERATED
SUNNYVALE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 10 (NB) -- Atari Corp.
confirms that it is seeking to unload its Federated chain of
consumer electronics stores, either in a sale, a spin-off, or a
leveraged buy-out. Federated has been draining Atari of revenues
since Atari purchased the chain in 1987; at the time Atari
Chairman Jack Tramiel saw the purchase as a golden opportunity to
secure prominent shelf space for Atari computers and products.
Atari succeeded at that goal, but failed to make the chain
profitable due to intense competition in the retail consumer
electronics market. Tramiel has stated the other reason Federated
never made any money was that it was in far worse shape than
those who sold it to him disclosed at the signing of the deal.
His lawsuit against Wilfred Schwarz, former Federated chairman,
and other former officers, contends they overstated revenues
and understated losses to Tramiel. The defendants deny the
charge. The suit is pending in court.

(Wendy Woods/19890310)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SGP)(00006)

MOTOROLA OPENS US$50 MILLION WAFER FAB PLANT IN MALAYSIA
KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA, 1989 MAR 8 (NB) -- In what was cited as
Motorola's first integrated semiconductor manufacturing facility in
the world, Motorola Electronics recently officially opened its fourth
manufacturing facility in Malaysia, with an initial additional
investment of US$50 million in its new wafer fabrication plant.

With the new plant, Motorola now has invested some US$300 million in
Malaysia, and employs over 9,000 Malaysians.

Malaysia is now the third largest producer of semiconductors in the
world, and the semiconductor industry now has the highest value of
Malaysian exports of all sectors.

(Michael Worsley/19890311)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SGP)(00007)

CONTROL DATA STARTS THIN FILM PLANT IN PENANG, MALAYSIA
KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA, 1989 MAR 8 (NB) -- Following trial production
last year, the Peripheral Components International [PCI], a unit of Control
Data Corporation's Data Strage Products Group, is now producing thin film
head gimbal assemblies for export to its existing Singapore, U.S.,
Japan and European plants in the first phase costing some US$7
million.

A second phase, estimated to add a further US$8 million to its total
investment, is being planned to add production of slides machining and
arm assembly as a further part of its off-shore manufacturing program.

According to Larry Larson, managing director of the Malaysian
plant, Penang was only chosen after a careful search or alternative
sites. He said, "This location offered the best combination of
desirable attributes," which he listed as "a skilled workforce with
experience in the electronics industry; cooperative state and federal
government agencies and ministries; and close proximity to important
customers who depend on PCI for our products."

(Michael Worsley/19890311)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(BOS)(00008)

CAROL GOLDBERG ON LOTUS BOARD
CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 7 (NB) -- Lotus
Development Crop. has appointed Carol Goldberg to its board of
directors. Goldberg is president and COO for the Stop & Stop
Companies of Boston.

Other current members of the Lotus board of directors include Jim
Manzi, the Lotus president and CEO, Alexander V. d'Arbeloff,
Teradyne president, Lawrence Graev, a New York attorney, Chester
A. Siuda, general partner of Crown Associates, and Aldo Papone,
president and COO of American Express Travel Related Services Co.

(Jon Pepper/19890310/Contact: Bryan E. Simmons, Lotus, 617-225-
1697)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(BOS)(00009)

LOTUS EXPANDS INFORMATION SERVICES BUSINESS TO FAR EAST
CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 7 (NB) -- Lotus
Development announced an expansion of its Information Services
business to the Far East, with the immediate available of Lotus One
Source in Japan.

One Source is a family of business and financial databases that is
delivered via CD-ROM disks, combined with Lotus software that
allows screening, analysis, and reporting of the data. The expansion
to Japan is part of Lotus' plan to match the globalization of financial
markets.

System requirements for One Source include an IBM or compatible
computer with 640K of RAM; a CD-ROM reader is provided free
with each subscription. Subscription prices range from $7,000 to
$20,000 annually.

(Jon Pepper/19890310/Contact: Lisa Leonard, Lotus, 617-577-8500)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(BOS)(00010)

AT&T AND HERCULES AGREE TO EXCHANGE TECHNOLOGY
BERKELEY HEIGHTS, NEW JERSEY, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 6 (NB) -- AT&T has
entered into a technology transfer, supply and marketing
agreement with Hercules Inc. of Wilmington, Del., for an AT&T-
developed process that is used in the manufacture of printed circuit
boards.

The proprietary process involves the use of liquid-solder-mask
technology that AT&T uses at its printed circuit board manufacturing
facility in Richmond, Va.

Both companies feel the process offers significant advantages,
including the elimination of environment concerns associated with
solvent-based materials. Commercialization of the product is expected
in early 1990.

(Jon Pepper/19890310/Contact: Mary Lou Ambrus, AT&T, 201-771-
2825)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(BOS)(00011)

CONCURRENT COMPUTER FORMS SUPERCOMPUTER COMPANY
TINTON FALLS, NEW JERSEY, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 6 (NB) -- Concurrent
Computer and General Microelectronics Corp. [GMIC]
have formed a new company to market the GMIC CAPPS parallel
supercomputer, as well as market a commercial version of the
Navier-Stokes computer, which is licensed to Concurrent.

The new company, called Supercomputing Solutions Inc. [SSI] has
equal investments from both firms, who will work toward
development of hardware and software for a family of parallel
supercomputer systems.

SSI will be responsible for project management, marketing, systems
engineering, and scientific applications, according to a GMIC
spokesman. GMIC will be responsible for hardware research and
development, and Concurrent will contribute systems software
development and product service and support.

(Jon Pepper/19890310/Contact: Joseph Kerrigan, Concurrent, 201-758-
7427)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(BOS)(00012)

PRIME DELAYS ISSUING RIGHTS CERTIFICATES
NATICK, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 8 (NB) -- Prime
Computer has announced it will delay form March 8 to March 18 the
date on which separate rights certificates will become issuable. The
company said that until such date, the rights will be evidenced by
and continue to trade with the company's common stock.

(Jon Pepper/19890310/Contact: Joe Gavaghan, Prime, 508-655-8000)


(NEWS)(IBM)(LAX)(00013)

HEAD HEADS JDL
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 6 (NB) -- JDL, the
U. S. Sales Division of Japan Digital Laboratory Co., Ltd., has
announced the appointment of Dave Head as head of its new southwest
district sales office in Dallas. As district sales manager, Head
handles all southwest regional sales activities for the JDL-850 GL+
line of plotter/printers. Two distributors and twenty-five dealers
comprise the eight-state territory.

(Wayne Yacco/19890310)


(NEWS)(IBM)(LAX)(00014)

SOFTSEL INTO INTO
INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 7 (NB) -- Softsel Computer
Products, Inc. intends to distribute INTO, a new turnkey office
automation product from ShareData, Inc. The program is said to
include all of the major office applications and utilities necessary
to support group productivity through enhanced communications and
the sharing of information.

Softsel Vice President of Marketing Robin Citron characterized the
product as "the first true groupware product we've seen." Product
features include network services, office applications and desktop
utilities.

(Wayne Yacco/19890310)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(BRU)(00015)

PRAIRIETEK RECEIVES $10 MILLION CAPITAL INFUSION
LONGMONT, COLORADO, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 10 (NB) -- PrairieTek, the
manufacturer of the first 2.5-inch hard disk drive, has received
a cash infusion of $10 million of venture capital from Venture Investors,
Institutional Venture Partners and Sequoia Capital.

The new funding will be used to expand PrairieTek's existing
drive business, finance inventory, and fund the company's growth.
The company is now shipping 2.5-inch 20 megabyte drives and hopes to
announce 40 megabyte units by the middle of this year. The drive is
ideal for laptop computers which require low power consumption,
small size and silent operation.

(Peter Vekinis/19890310)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(BRU)(00016)

IBM BELGIUM ANNOUNCES HEALTHY PROFITS FOR 1988
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM, 1989 MAR 10 (NB) -- IBM Belgium has announced
that it reached sales of BF30.87 billion [about $800 million]
with profits increasing by nine percent to BF 2.2 billion [about
$50 million]. The company employs 2,576 people in Belgium and
Luxembourg.

(Peter Vekinis/19890310)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LON)(00017)

TOSHIBA PLANS WEST GERMAN LAPTOP PRODUCTION FACILITY
REGENSBERG, WEST GERMANY, 1989 MAR 10 (NB) -- Toshiba
has announced plans to build a laptop computer production factory
in the Bavarian region of West Germany. The new factory will be sited
at Regensberg and is scheduled to start production in April, 1990.

The 50,000-square-foot site will cost some $13.4 million and
eventually produce some 50,000 laptop computers a month,
according to Koichi Inagaki of Toshiba Europe. "Bavaria is one of
the leading centres for high technology in Europe and has a high
concentration of qualified labour," he said.

The new factory will be Toshiba's third production facility in
West Germany, after a chip manufacturing plant in Braunschweig
and a VCR/TV plant in Munchen-Gladbach.

(Steve Gold/19891310)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TYO)(00018)

NEC TO STRENGTHEN MICROPROCESSOR BUSINESS
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 MAR 7 (NB) -- NEC has launched a powerful
new microprocessor, the V80, with which it hopes to get a share
of Motorola and Intel's 32-bit market computer market.

NEC says the V80, as high-end successor to the V60 and V70, will
be its flagship microprocessor as it has the industry's highest data
processing speed -- 33 megahertz and 16.5 million instructions per
second [MIPS].  NEC promises a 22.5 MIPS version by the end of 1990,
and a simplified architecture version of the V80, called the V80L,
for specific users.

NEC has just joined forces with Mips Computer of the United
States for the development of a reduced instruction set computer or
RISC processor, the R3000, which is due out this fall.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19890309)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TYO)(00019)

HITACHI URGES COMPUTER BUSINESS EXPANSION
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 MAR 6 (NB) -- Hitachi is beefing up its U.S.
computer marketing with the establishment of a Computer
Support Center in its U.S. subsidiary, Hitachi Computer Products, of
Santa Clara, California.

The center has employed a general-purpose mainframe computer, the
HITAC M-660D, to provide technical assistance for users and to support
software development.  Also, Hitachi is planning to establish a similar
center to support its Japanese customers in overseas markets, such as
New York, London, and Singapore.

Meanwhile, Hitachi has developed its first 32-bit machine -- a laptop
personal computer, HL500 -- for specific customers in Europe and Australia.
It has a 32-bit 80386SX micrprocessor,  a high resolution 680 by 480
dot and eight-shade white liquid crystal display. The machine with a
built-in 20 megabyte hard disk drive will be priced around $5,600 and
with a built-in 40 megabyte HDD will be $6,250.

Finally, Hitachi has reportedly appointed a veteran industrial
designer to make its products more aesthetically pleasing,
as well as easier to use.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19890309)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TYO)(00020)

FUJITSU READY FOR INTENSIVE SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 MAR 7 (NB) -- Fujitsu will consolidate ten of its 13
software development offices in Tokyo.  The one new building has
9,700 square meters of floor space and is located in the Shinagawa
district.  One thousand programmers will be employed at the facility.
Fujitsu isn't fooling around when it comes to security.  The facility
will be equipped with a television monitoring system, and a magetic
ID card access.  Fujitsu expects the consolidation will cut down on
transportation costs and delays as its programmers will no longer need
to commute between facilities.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19890309)


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

J-3100 ATTRACTIVE MARKET FOR OVERSEAS SOFTWARE HOUSES
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 MAR 8 (NB) -- Toshiba has opened the Toshiba J-3100
Software Show '89 in Toshiba Building located in Hamamatsu-cho,
Tokyo. At the show, 123 software houses, both national and
international, exhibited 350 of over 2,000 software programs
for the J-3100 personal computer.  Overseas software houses have
boasted they have 150 software programs for J-3100. Toshiba claims that
there have never been so large a number of overseas software
exhibitors before at a J-3100 Software Show.

(Ken Takahashi/19890309)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TOR)(00022)

ALR ON VERGE OF OPENING CANADIAN OFFICE
MARKHAM, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1989 MAR 7 (NB) -- Advanced Logic
Research is currently looking at office space here. The Irvine,
Calif., PC maker has a set up a Canadian subsidiary, and Dave
Kirkey, vice-president of sales, said ALR is now lining up
dealers and value-added resellers in Canada.

ALR is expanding elsewhere too, with new offices recently opened
in London and Singapore. The timing of the move into Canada,
however, was partly influenced by the Free Trade Agreement
between the United States and Canada, which took effect at the
beginning of the year. The deal removed a 3.9 percent duty on
computer equipment imported into Canada. Kirkey said that was a
factor in his company's decision to take more interest in the
Canadian market.

ALR will deal with dealers and resellers, not directly with end
users. Corporate Computer Systems of Markham will continue as a
value-added reseller of ALR hardware, primarily to the computer-
aided design market.

(Grant Buckler/19890307/Contact: Dave Kirkey, ALR, 714-581-6770)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TOR)(00023)

SSMC ENDORSES SEMI-TECH OFFER
MARKHAM, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1989 MAR 8 (NB) -- SSMC Inc. of
Delaware has advised its shareholders to tender their stock to
International Semi-Tech Microelectronics, which last week offered
$34 a share for the stock. Semi-Tech, a maker of personal
computers based in Markham, Ontario, increased its offer last
week from $30 in response to a competing offer from Inter-Pacific
Acquisition Corp. of Malaysia. SSMC's advice to shareholders is
seen as an endorsement of Semi-Tech's offer over Inter-Pacific's.

(Grant Buckler/19890310/Contact: Michael List, International
Semi-Tech Microelectronics, 416-475-2670)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SGP)(00024)

APPLIED MAGNETICS INVESTS US$5 MILLION IN NEW PLANT
KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA, 1989 MAR 9 (NB) -- Applied Magnetics
Corporation has announced that it is to establish a new plant in Malaysia
as a wholly-owned subsidiary. To be known as Applied Magnetics [M]
Sdn. Bhd., with an initial investment of around US$5 million, it is expected
to employ some 400 local staff. It is planned to export 100 percent of
production to its other plants, currently numbering 15 facilities in seven
countries, and employing a total of 6,500 persons worldwide.

(Michael Worsley/19890311)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SGP)(00025)

AUGAT TO MAKE SINGAPORE ITS REGIONAL HEADQUARTERS
SINGAPORE, S.E. ASIA, 1989 MAR 9 (NB) -- Only 18 months after first
setting up a manufacturing plant in Singapore, Augat Singapore is
planning to increase its local investment from around US$1 million to
some US$5 million to make its new Singapore plant its regional
headquarters.

Howard Hutchinson, managing director, says the plant will open in
May and there would be further news of developments in this region.
Up to now, the Japanese plant has been the leading production centre
for the region, but with the new plant expected to produce over
US$7 million this year, Singapore will assume the role of marketing and
distribution centre for the region.

The 2,300-square-meter plant currently employs some 70 people, runs
24-hours daily, and produces a range of products, such as integrated
circuit sockets, and connectors and panels for the computer, communications
and automotive industries. Currently some 35 percent of production is
shipped to Japan, with the bulk of the rest spread between Malaysia,
Australia, Thailand, Hong Kong and Philippines.

Established in 1934 in Massachusetts, it moved from jewelry to
electronics during the World War II, and now has plants in Japan,
Switzerland, U.K. and U.S., as well as Singapore, with a group turnover
last year of some US$320 million.

(Michael Worsley/19890311)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SGP)(00026)

MICROGNOSIS SETS UP OFFICE IN SINGAPORE
SINGAPORE, S.E. ASIA, 1989 MAR 9 (NB) -- One of the leading suppliers of
specialized dealing room systems, Micrognosis, as a subsidiary of
Control Data Corporation, launched a new office in Singapore following
its selection as a major centre for future growth.

Anthony Martin, president of the U.S.- based group, said at the
opening ceremony, "We want to have a local presence in all key markets
to ensure that our customers get quick and intensive support that this
business demands. The is no question in our minds that the Asia-
Pacific region will be the fastest-growing segment of our business."

Designed to complement the services offered by Telerate and Reuters,
the company specializes in providing the computer support for the
delivery of information used by the dealing rooms of banks and
financial institutions. Their TRADE system consolidates information
from multiple sources and displays it on a single, integrated terminal
display, providing real-time updated information for online analysis.

The firm claims to have over 12,000 dealers form over 200 leading
institutions using their systems worldwide, including such names as
Citibank, Morgan Guaranty Trust, Shearson Lehman Hutton, Prudential
Bache, Mitsui Bank, Dai-Ichi Kango bank, Nomura Securities, Swiss Bank
Corporation and Barclays Bank.

(Michael Worsley/19890311)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SGP)(00027)

MITUTOYO SETTING UP SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT CENTRE IN SINGAPORE
SINGAPORE, S.E. ASIA, 1989 MAR 9 (NB) -- Operating what is claimed as the
only fully equipped advanced industrial measuring instrument system
laboratory in Asia outside of Japan, Mitutoyo Manufacturing
Corporation will build a new facility adjacent to their existing plant
in Singapore to operate as its Asian Regional Headquarters.

Set up in 1978, the company currently markets industrial measuring
instruments to manufacturers in the region through its local
subsidiary Mitutoyo Asia-Pacific. Then last year, the firm opened a
software development centre and took responsibility for the support
of sales to India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh as well as the
six Asian nations. Turnover last year for the region was around US$10
million with some 50 employees now, and sales are expected to grow by
40 percent in 1989.

Mr. T. Yamamura, managing director of the Singapore operation, said
that they are planning to move some research activities to the new centre
from Japan. The Singapore centre will be the fourth Mitutoyo
laboratory worldwide, with existing labs in Tokyo, Los Angeles and
West Germany. Group sales worldwide are currently US$650 million, with
total employment of some 4,000 people.

(Michael Worsley/19890311)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SGP)(00028)

SINGAPORE VENTURE FUND INVESTS IN THE CENTIGRAM CORP.
SINGAPORE, S.E. ASIA, 1989 MAR 10 (NB) -- Transtech Ventures has
purchased a US$5 million stake in California-based Centigram Corp.,
which entered the market for voice processing systems in 1983 and now
claims to have shipped more than 1,800 systems, giving it an estimated
10 percent of the overall market. In a recent survey by Probe Research, it
was estimated that Centigram had close to half of the installed base
of voice systems among service providers such as telephone companies,
service bureaus, paging, cellular, and telephone answering services.

Recently the company announced its VoiceMemo LCVM, which is capable of
supporting several thousand users, and joins its earlier products of
VoiceMemo II and VoiceMemo VS products, which are unique in that they
are modular in nature, allowing the customer to purchase a system to
meet their current needs, and to expand when required without having
to write off their initial investment.

Other Singapore-based investors in the company include DBS Bank,
and Singapore Telecoms International, who are joined by the
Canada-based BCE Ventures. Singapore Telecoms is currently also
negotiating distribution rights for the Centigram products in the
region for its subsidiary Singapore Telecoms International, and many
of its components are sourced from Singapore.

Its newest product just launched is MESANET, a digital networking
facility that will allow customers to link geographically dispersed
locations into a single integrated voice messaging network.

(Michael Worsley/19890311)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(BRU)(00001)

HANOVER FAIR BIGGER THAN EVER
HANOVER, WEST GERMANY, 1989 MAR 09 (NB) -- Once again,
CeBit Hanover Faire is breaking records for computer trade shows,
with an estimated audience this year of half a million people.
Exhibiting are 516 data processing firms, 391 office equipment
manufacturers, 413 companies in communications -- a 34
percent increase over 1988, 460 software houses -- a 38 percent
increase, and 100 security equipment firms -- up 400 percent
over last year. Altogether 3,125 companies are sharing the
spotlight across 2.5 million feet of floor space.

This year's show also has a decidedly international flavor, with
40 percent of exhibitors -- 1,182 companies -- having headquarters
outside Europe. Forty percent come from the United States with
the second-largest overseas showing from Taiwan. A total of 404
companies were from the European Community.

A new press and convention centre has been constructed
with arched elements and glass. The conference rooms are
suspended from a steel framework supported by four pylons. Space
for 6,000 journalists is available with modern telephone
facilities [using the ISDN network] accessed by smart cards, full
video and radio facilities.

(Peter Vekinis/19890309)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(BRU)(00002)

SMC UNWRAPS ULTIMATE SINGLE-CHIP ARCNET LAN CONTROLLER
HANOVER, WEST GERMANY, 1989 MAR 08 (NB) -- SMC has unveiled a
single-chip Arcnet solution for board-level products. The new chip
replaces most of the processors normally found on an Arcnet
board. The 90C63 microprocessor was developed in-house by SMC
and, when used in the PC130 board, cuts the price of typical
Arcnet boards by as much as 25 percent.

(Peter Vekinis/19890308/Contact: Jordan Goldman, 516/249-3366)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(BRU)(00003)

COMMODORE NEWS FROM HANOVER
HANOVER, WEST GERMANY, 1989 MAR 08 (NB) -- Commodore has unveiled a
series of products at the Hanover CeBit show. The new products include
a new Commodore AT family with VGA graphics built-in sporting a
40Mb hard disk, 12MHz operation, and a total integration of all
computer functions on the motherboard.

Also introduced was a desktop publishing configuration for the Amiga 2000
which includes a computer with three megabytes of random access memory,
a 40 megabyte hard disk, and an NEC Silentwriter LC890 printer.
The offering of 4096 colours and full colour separation with films produced
by separate Linotype machines rounds out this new system.

Commodore unveiled the Amiga 2500UX which offers AT&T's Unix
coupled with an 80MB hard disk, 3MB of RAM, a 68881 coprocessor and
support for multiuser operation [although no information is provided on
the number of serial ports available]. The system also has a SCSI [small
computer system interface] connection which allows the system to support
hard disk peripherals.

And finally, there was the Amiga A590 expansion unit for the A500
Amiga. It contains a 20Mb hard disk and two megabytes of RAM.
This product was first shown at the Which Computer? Show in the U.K.
last month. European pricing has yet to be announced.

(Peter Vekinis/19890308)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(BRU)(00004)

MICRON HITS MEMORY BOARD MARKET WITH AGGRESSIVE PRICES
HANOVER, WEST GERMANY, 1989 MAR 08 (NB) -- Micron Technology,
the U.S.-based memory chip manufacturer, is entering the dynamic
random access memory [DRAM] board market with promises of low chip
costs and immediate product availability.

The company now offers products fully-populated with DRAM chips
starting at $499 for one megabyte up to $1999 for a four megabyte board,
the lowest prices in the business.

(Peter Vekinis/19890308)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(BRU)(00005)

SOFTWARE PIRATE REOPENS OPERATION
JOHOR BAHRU, WEST MALAYSIA, 1989 MAR 10 (NB) -- Wise Marketing,
a famous software pirate house operated out of the Far East,
initially from Hong Kong and then from Singapore, has now set up
shop in West Malaysia. Selling more than 1,000 titles at less than 10
percent of retail cost, the company ships copies of software
to more than 5,000 customers on its mailing lists around the world.

Linked with the fact that West Malaysia does not have copyright
protection laws, the company seems to be able to operate without
due concern. And prices are really low -- for example dBase IV costs
$180, compared to $400 retail U.S.

(Peter Vekinis/19890310/Contact: Wise Marketing, P.O.Box 239,
Pejabat Pos Besar, Johor Bahru, West Malaysia)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SFO)(00006)

SUN FONTS CHALLENGE ADOBE
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 7 (NB) -- Sun Microsystems
has launched technology with which it hopes to compete with Adobe
and others in the font arena. Unlike Adobe's, however, OpenFonts
will be supported by multiple type suppliers, including Linotype,
Monotype, Berthold, and Bigelow & Homes, making scalable
fonts widely available. OpenFonts, used to create typefaces for
output to laser printers, typesetters, or any raster device, is
based on technology Sun acquired in September 1988. It consists of
an outline font description called F3 format. TypeMaker software
creates F3 fonts while TypeScaler software generates bitmaps for the
output device. Sun is making the technology widely available to
end-users and developers and estimates that within a year, more
than 700 brand-name typefaces will be on the market.

Adobe, which sells proprietary fonts based on its PostScript page
description language, has dominated the market for digital typefaces.
The Sun technology, however, stands as a challenge to Adobe's
supremacy, since it not only will be virtually given away, but
has already been endorsed by major typesetter manufacturers.

(Wendy Woods/19890307/Contact: Ciondee Mock, Sun Microsystems, 415-
336-3563)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SFO)(00007)

SEYBOLD LAMENTS LACK OF GOOD PIM
SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 6 (NB) -- Until there is
a personal information manager [PIM] program which can import and
export data from a wide variety of programs, the desktop computer
will not be fully exploited, so says publisher Andrew Seybold,
speaking before the Federal Office Systems Expo in Washington.
Seybold, who heads Andrew Seybold's Computer Insiders, says without
a good PIM, the computer is a support unit, rather than the focus
of a user's workday.

"The key factor in the battle of the PIMs will be their ability
to import and export data from a multiplicity of sources," he said.
"The company that permits the best use of data already residing on the
computer will win the PIM war."

He said the PIM should include notepad, calendar, scheduler,
task organizer, message station, address and phone book -- and
these programs do exist -- but they do not link the key
components of a user's work as they should. He said such a
program should surface when PCs have a lot of memory and
multitasking.

(Wendy Woods/19890311/Contact: Seybold's Outlook on Professional
Computing, 408-746-2555)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SFO)(00008)

TV SHOW COMBINES TECHNOLOGY AND EDUCATION
PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 7 (NB) -- The Computer
Learning Foundation has announced sponsorship of School Vision,
a weekly public broadcasting television show devoted to the
integration of technology in the classroom. The show will
focus on examples of how technology has been brought into the
classroom learning environment. All educators are invited to
send videotapes highlighting how computers are being used in
their schools. Schools submitting videos selected to air on the
program will receive free software programs. All video submissions
should be addressed to the Foundation at PO Box 60400, Palo
Alto, California, 94306.

(Wendy Woods/19890311/Contact: Sally Bowman, director, Computer
Learning Foundation, 415-327-3347)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(BOS)(00009)

NEW COMPUTERIZED CAR RENTAL SYSTEM OFFERED BY COVIA
ROSEMONT, ILLINOIS, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 6 (NB) -- Covia has
announced CarMaster, a computer program designed to streamline
car rental bookings at travel agencies and alleviate the rental
reservation process for travellers.

CarMaster is designed to replace a system which is currently part of
Covia's Apollo computer reservation system, at use in more than
10,000 locations worldwide. The new system has a suite of ease-of-
use features that provides answers to the most frequently asked
questions during the rental process, according to a Covia spokesman.

(Jon Pepper/19890310/Contact: Chris Allen, Covia, 312-518-4188)


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

KODAK ACCESSORY KIT MAKES FAST COLOR PRESENTATIONS
ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 9 (NB) -- Eastman
Kodak has announced the availability of an accessory kit for its Kodak
ColorEdge color copier machines that will enable users to produce
full-color paper copies or overhead transparencies from slides.

The accessory uses a Kodak Ektagraphic slide tray and permits color
copying of up to 80 slides in sequence at rates of up to 23 copies per
minute. Suggested retail price for the accessory is $4,500, with
availability planned for April.

(Jon Pepper/19890310/Contact: Margaret Baranowski, Kodak, 716-724-
1336)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(BOS)(00011)

NEW BOOK OFFERS HELP FOR COMPUTER NOVICES
ROCKVILLE, MARYLAND, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 8 (NB) -- A new book,
"PC Crash Course and Survival Guide" is touted as offering help for
computer phobics and eager beginners.

The book, from Scandinavian PC Systems, comes with its own disk
of tutorials, games, and public domain software. The basics of
computer life are covered, from starting a PC and formatting disks to
displaying a directory and managing a hard disk.

The introductory price until May 31 is $19.95, according to author
Peter Harrison. After May 31, the book will be $29.95, while a
bookstore edition, without the disk, will be $19.95. The book can be
ordered direct from Scandinavian PC Systems.

(Jon Pepper/19890310/Contact: Steven Frankel, Scandinavian PC
Systems, 301-294-7450)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(ATL)(00012)

MODCOMP RELEASES NEW REALTIME SUPERMINI
FORT LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 9 (NB) -- Modcomp
announced the latest member of its Classic Tri-Dimensional line
of super minicomputers, which are specially designed to handle
real-time applications like analyzing data from satellites.
Modcomp emphasized the computational power, interrupt handling
and I/O throughput of its new Tri-D 9300 machines, which use a
single circuit card containing application specific integrated
chips, called ASICS, and complementary metal oxide
semiconductors, called CMOS chips. The ASICS contain Modcomp
programming implementing its Tri-D features, while the low-power
CMOS chips are fast. If you need faster, the 9300 has a floating
point accelerator chip, too. The 9300 is designed for the
industrial process control and other real-time applications, like
data acquisition and technical computing.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890310/Contact: Modcomp, Robert J. Turkovic,
305-977-1823)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(BRU)(00013)

MOUNTAIN OFFERS 2.2 GIGABYTE TAPE BACKUP SYSTEM
HANOVER, WEST GERMANY, 1989 MAR 08 (NB) -- Mountain Computer
has announced a 2.2 gigabyte tape storage system which uses the
8mm video tape format and rotating heads. The 2100 series is the
first of a new product range which offers 1.5 megabytes per second
transfer speeds and sustained data transfer of 246 kilobytes per
second.

In addition, the company also announced the TD8000 system which
provides backup onto a 3.5-inch DC2000 cassette. The system can
back up to 83 megabytes of data on a single tape. The TD8000 is designed
to be used with the proprietary Mach2 controller, and offers 2.2 megs
per second back-up speed.

(Peter Vekinis/19890308)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(BRU)(00014)

COMPAQ DESKPRO STILL NUMBER ONE IN GERMANY
MUNICH, WEST GERMANY, 1989 MAR 10 (NB) -- Compaq's 286 Deskpro is
still holding best-seller status in West Germany, closely
followed by the IBM XT286, which shot up from ninth place last
month. The Apple Mac II, Tandon's PCA, the Schneider PC2640, the Atari
PC3, the Apple IIgs, the Commodore PC10, the PS/2 Model 30 and the
Schneider PC1512 follow suit.

On the home computer front, the Commodore 64 is still number one
followed by the Amiga 500 and the Amiga 1000.

(Peter Vekinis/19890310)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(BRU)(00015)

TAXAN LAUNCHES NEW LOW-RADIATION COMPUTER MONITORS
HANOVER, WEST GERMANY, 1989 MAR 08 (NB) -- Taxan has released two
new monitors which offer better protection against x-ray radiation
emanating from computer screens.

Since colour monitors are similar to colour TVs in that they
require very high voltages to operate, they generate more x-rays than
comparable monochrome or green/amber-screen video display
units.

Taxan claims to have solved the problem with its Supervision 780
VGA and Multivision 770 Plus screens by treating the image tubes
with special conductors that do not affect the quality of the
screen image. Several European countries have been concerned
lately over x-rays emitted by computer screens and are looking
towards the European Commission [EC] for new directives
concerning such emissions.

(Peter Vekinis/19890308)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(LON)(00016)

POSTSCRIPT LANGUAGE JOURNAL GOES INTERNATIONAL
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1989 MAR 10 (NB) -- The Postscript Language
Journal, which has been published in the U.S. for more than a year,
is coming to Europe. This month sees the first issue of an
international edition of the quarterly magazine for users of
Adobe's Postscript language published in the U.K., for distribution
throughout the U.K. Other than this publication, only the
so-called Red, Blue and Green books from Adobe itself
officially cover the Postscript language .

The Postscript Language Journal, International Edition will be
published in the U.K. by Izone Limited. According to a spokeswoman
for the London-based company, the magazine already enjoys a
healthy European readership. The international edition is
designed to service this growing user base.

"Postscript is becoming increasingly important as the desktop
publishing revolution takes hold. We believe that the journal will be
useful to all kinds of different businesses, not just software
developers, or those working directly in the trade. We want to
help people get the most out of their Postscript device," she
said.

Subscription rates of the PSLJ-International Edition start at UKP
36 for a one year [four issues] subscription, European and rest-
of-world subscriptions, plus a discounted two-year rate, are also
available.

(Steve Gold/19890310/Izone Limited - Tel: [phone])


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(LON)(00017)

CITIZEN UNVEILS WORLD'S SMALLEST 3.5-INCH DRIVES
HANOVER, WEST GERMANY, 1989 MAR 10 (NB) -- Citizen Europe has
unveiled two new 3.5-inch drives which are claimed to be the
world's smallest. The teeny drives, dubbed the UO series, measure
19.5 by 101.6 by 130 millimetres, and weight just 320 grams
[about 7 pounds].

Both models feature one megabyte of unformatted disk storage and operate
using standard 26-pin cables and a five-volt power input. The small
size and resultant low weight are due to incorporation of a side-
mounted disk head mechanism, along with a specially-designed
carriage and head movement system and disk-chuck mechanism.

Citizen Europe will ship the new drives in Europe - models UO-DC
[3ms track access] and UO-DD [6ms track access] - at prices to be
decided in May. The drives will be formally launched in the U.S. at
Comdex Spring [Chicago - 10/13 April] next month.

(Steve Gold/19891003/Citizen Europe - Tel: [phone])


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(TYO)(00018)

MATSUSHITA'S EDUCATION PC HAS TROUBLED START
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 MAR 2 (NB) -- Matsushita has unveiled its
first computer aimed at the education market, but its future in that
market is less than certain.  It has a BTRON, or Business-TRON
operating system, which is expected to become the standard
educational operating system required by the government-affiliated
Computer Education Development Center [CEC].

The new system consists of a 16-bit personal computer, the M500, a video
cassette recorder, a video processor which transmits moving picture
signals from optical disks onto the PC's screen, and a new Japanese
Industrial Standard or JIS keyboard.

The problem is that Matshushita has not decided when to release or
how to price the new educational configuration.  The reason is that the
CEC has yet to define the standard education computer architecture and
investigate various vendors' offerings in this arena.  And the Ministry
of Education has yet to endorse BTRON as the educational computer
standard.  Despite the bureacratic confusion, Matshushita decided to
at least announce, if not manufacture, a machine aimed at the lucrative
educational market in Japan.

(Ken Takahashi/19890309)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(TYO)(00019)

HITACHI'S REWRITABLE OPTICAL MAGNETIC DISK SYSTEM DEBUTS
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 MAR 3 (NB) -- As a part of a joint development
project with Japan's telecom giant NTT, Hitachi has unveiled its first
5.25-inch rewritable optical magnetic disk drive, which is based
on the standard adopted by the International Standardization
Organization or ISO last fall. The disk drive can erase, record, and
reproduce data on an optical disk at a fast transfer speed of 925 kilobytes
per second.

The price is 600,000 yen or $4,600 including an optical disk
control unit. Sample shipment starts at the end of next month.
Hitachi expects to ship 20,000 units in the initial year.

(Ken Takahashi/19890308)


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

TOSHIBA TO RELEASE HIGH-SPEED, LOW-PRICE CD-ROM UNIT
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 MAR 6 (NB) -- Toshiba will sell two types of
low-priced compact disk read-only-memory or CD-ROM drive units.
Compared with current CD-ROM prices, this one is fifteen to 35-percent
lower.  A Toshiba spokesman claims that both drives  are also "two to four
times faster" than offerings from competing manufacturers.

Toshiba's CD-ROM unit can be connected to Toshiba, NEC,
and IBM personal computers.

The price is 99,800 yen or $770 for office use and 138,000 yen or
$1,060 for factory automation. Toshiba has bet that CD-ROM will
be prevalent as a large-capacity external memory unit, and the
company is hoping to establish a lucrative market with  its low-price
CD-ROM. Toshiba expects to sell 10,000 units in the initial year.

Though the total number of CD-ROM units shipped in Japan is
only about 10,000,  major manufacturers are warming up to the idea of
CD-ROM drives.   For instance, NEC's game machine, called
PC-Engine, has the game industry's first CD-ROM drive.  Sony is now
offering a CD-ROM unit with its personal computers, and
Fujtitsu's 32-bit FM-Towns personal computer comes standard
with a CD-ROM.

(Ken Takahashi/19890308)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(TYO)(00021)

EPSON, NEC & MATSUSHITA TO BAN USE OF CFC BY 21ST CENTURY
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 MAR 8 (NB) -- The environmentally hazardous
chlorofluorocarbons or CFC will not be used by Matshushita, NEC,
and Epson, by the year 2000.  The three computer manufacturers made
the pledge following an international conference on the ozone layer,
held last week in London, which urged a 50-percent cut in production
of CFCs before the year 2000.  CFCs are used in the computer industry
to clean computer chips.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19890309)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(TYO)(00022)

NEC TO SUPPORT INTERNATIONAL BRIDGE GAME
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 MAR 2 (NB) -- Using its personal computers, NEC
will support the next international contest of contract bridge. To start,
NEC will develop a data-processing and communication system which swiftly
conveys the on-going contest to reporters.  A 32-bit personal computer
or PC as a host machine will be located at the contest office, and laptop
machines will be at the contest site and reporters' rooms. NEC expects to
complete the trial system this month.

NEC hopes to provide the completed system to the international
contest hosted by the World Bridge Federation, Switzerland.
NEC will implement it at the 29th Bermuda Ball this September,
and at the 7th Venice Cup to open in Perth, Australia this
September.

(Ken Takahashi/19890309)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(TOR)(00023)

DIGITAL CANADA SIGNS RESEARCH PACT WITH UNIVERSITY
WATERLOO, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1989 MAR 10 (NB) -- Digital Equipment
of Canada and the University of Waterloo have signed a three-year
agreement to do joint computer-graphics research. Digital will
give the university C$1.8 million worth of graphics workstations
and related equipment, as well as C$160,000 in operating funds,
over three years. The government of the Province of Ontario will
throw in C$160,000 from its University Research Incentive Fund.
The work will be done in the university's Computer Graphics
Laboratory. Digital and the University of Waterloo have often co-
operated on research in the past.

(Grant Buckler/19890310/Contact: University of Waterloo, 519-885-
1211)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SGP)(00024)

NEW BOOK ON COMPUTERIZATION OF FINANCIAL SERVICES
SINGAPORE, S.E. ASIA, 1989 MAR 10 (NB) -- Asian Business Press has
announced it is producing a book on the computerization of financial
services, scheduled to be published in May '89, compiled by the editorial
staff of Asian Computer Weekly.

Targeted for distribution to data processing and the financial services
industry professionals, as well as visitors to major regional exhibitions such
as Banque Asia 1989, a total circulation of around 25,000 is envisaged.
The closing date for bookings to that show, by the way, is 31st March 1989.

(Michael Worsley/19890311)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(SFO)(00001)

JUDGE HANDS PRELIMINARY VICTORY TO ADVANCED MICRO IN INTEL DISPUTE
SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 10 (NB) -- A Superior
Court judge has issued an initial decision favorable to Advanced
Micro Devices [AMD] in a dispute between Intel and AMD over rights
to manufacture the Intel 80386 microprocessor. Intel had
contended that Advanced Micro had failed to meet its obligations
under the agreement, and therefore was not entitled to "second
source" or manufacture Intel's best-selling microprocessor, the 80386.
Specifically, Intel charged AMD with failure to abide by
conditions for cross-licensing several products, starting with AMD's
Quad Pixel Display Manager [QPDM]; had those conditions been met,
Intel argued, AMD could have had access to the 80386 technology.

But the judge has decided against Intel's arguments. Honorable J.
Barton Phelps, retired Superior Court Judge, said the two parties
had actually never reached agreement on the QPDM and that
Intel breached its contract by not allowing AMD to make the 80386.
Intel, he said, is liable to AMD for damages and other types of
relief. As the case progresses, AMD spokesman John Greenagel told
Newsbytes, the judge may rule that further transfers of
technology are in order, including the 80386.

The court case is expected to drag on through the fourth quarter
of 1989. Advanced Micro Devices has stated that its failure to
second-source the 80386 microprocessor has cost it a million
dollars in revenues each month.

(Wendy Woods/19890310/Contact: John Greenagel, AMD, 408-749-3310)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(SFO)(00002)

NINTENDO/ATARI BATTLE SPARES RETAILERS
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 7 (NB) -- A San Francisco
federal judge has ruled that Nintendo cannot threaten retailers who
carry video games made by Tengen, a subsidiary of Atari Games. Atari
and Nintendo have countersued; Atari believes Nintendo is violating
antitrust laws and Nintendo accuses Atari of breach of contract.
Nintendo recently sent letters to dealers of Atari Games'
Nintendo-compatible cartridges, telling them that the products
infringed on Nintendo's patent. But the injunction obtained by
Atari prohibits the Japanese video game company from suing any
retailers until the matter between it and Atari is formally resolved.

(Wendy Woods/19890310)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(BOS)(00003)

SOFTWARE FIRMS WINS LOOK AND FEEL SUIT
BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 8 (NB) -- A West
Springfield, Mass. software company has won a copyright
infringement case that could bear on other look and feel lawsuits.
In a decision in federal court in Bridgeport, Conn., Manufacturers
Technologies Inc. prevailed over CAMS, Chempro Data Sciences, and
ABR Business Systems. Manufacturers Technologies claimed that
the other companies copied the on-screen appearance and screen-to-
screen sequence of its Costimator software program, a product
designed to estimate the time and cost of manufacturing parts.

The better known cases under way include two suits filed by Lotus
Development and a suit by Apple Computer against Microsoft and
Hewlett-Packard.

(Jon Pepper/19890310)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(BOS)(00004)

CLAIMS AGAINST LOTUS DISMISSED IN LAWSUIT
CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 6 (NB) -- All
claims against Lotus Development Corp. and founder Mitch Kapor
have been dismissed in the lawsuit filed by SAPC, formerly Software
Arts.

A federal judge dismissed the SAPC claim that Lotus had infringed
on its copyright. The judge based the action on the ground that
SAPC gave up all right to sue when it sold most of its assets to
Lotus in 1985. SAPC was also denied in their motion to appeal. A
hearing on the counterclaim by Lotus seeking full compensation for
expenses related to the suit has been scheduled for March 29.

(Jon Pepper/19890310/Contact: Bryan Simmons, Lotus, 617-225-1696)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(BOS)(00005)

PENTAGON MAY INCREASE HIGH-DEFINITION TV SPENDING
WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A., 1989 MAR 9 (NB) -- According to a
published report, the Pentagon intends to increase its funding for
development of high-definition television beyond the $30 million
already committed for various projects.

High-definition television, or HDTV, will be critical to future
electronics for both civilian and military uses according to most
analysts and experts. Analysts contend that the country that corners
the development and manufacturing market will have a strategic
advantage in future electronics.

(Jon Pepper/19890310)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(ATL)(00006)

FUTURE OF HDTV DEBATED IN CONGRESS
WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A., 1989 MAR 7 (NB) -- Commerce Secretary
Robert Mosbacher told a skeptical House committee that private
business should set the rules for public aid in developing a
high-definition television [HDTV] industry in the United States. The hearing
was broadcast on C-Span, a cable TV service.

Rep. Edward J. Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat, asked for
quarterly updates on progress towards an HDTV manufacturing
capacity, which witnesses at the House hearing said was crucial
to U.S. competitiveness in the next century. Markey asked
Mosbacher if a government-industry consortium would help the
United States overcome a big Japanese lead in technology that
promises wall-sized TV screens with motion-picture clarity. The
Defense Department is presently offering $30 million to private
companies who will help it develop HDTV technology for military
use, but Markey said, "What we would clearly like to see is a
civilian orientation."

Mosbacher added the government is considering tax incentives and
possible antitrust exemptions for U.S. companies that wish to
band together in the HDTV effort. Establishing government policy
in this area has the "highest priority" at the Commerce
Department, Mosbacher added. A recommendation on how to proceed
is expected in the next two months. State Department Ambassador
Sonia Landau added the U.S. wants one world standard for HDTV
transmission in order to protect the U.S. motion picture and TV
industries, which command 85 percent of the world market.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890310)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(BRU)(00007)

EUROPEAN COMMISSION APPROVES GERMAN AI RESEARCH
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM, 1989 MAR 08 (NB) -- The European Commission
[EC] has approved aid for a West German governmental program
to promote research into artificial intelligence [AI] systems,
knowledge representation, acquisition, development of expert
systems, language processing and robotics.

The European Commission will provide a 50 percent aid grant [ECU 1.15
million] to the project, which is worth a total of ECU 2.30
million.

(Peter Vekinis/19890308)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(TOR)(00008)

FILES FOUND ON HOME COMPUTER, FORMER HCR EMPLOYEE CHARGED
TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1989 MAR 10 (NB) -- Unix software
vendor HCR Corp. expects a quick settlement after a former
employee was charged with unauthorized use of a computer. Kok
Weng Lee, who left HCR on good terms late last year, was charged
with unauthorized use of a computer after files belonging to HCR
were found on his home computer in early February. But Michael
Tilson, president of HCR, told Newsbytes the incident has been
overplayed in the local press. "From what we understand," he
said, "it's possible there was no criminal motive involved." A
trial has been set for March 20, but Tilson said the incident
will probably be resolved "without any lengthy proceedings." He
stressed that no files belonging to or affecting HCR customers
have been compromised. "We are completely confident that
everything that should be in our hands is in our hands and not in
anybody's else's," Tilson said.

(Grant Buckler/19890310/Contact: HCR Corp., 922-1937)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(SGP)(00009)

NATIONAL UNIVERSITY TO LINK INTO SUPERCOMPUTER SOON
SINGAPORE, S.E. ASIA, 1989 MAR 11 (NB) - An NEC SX-1A
supercomputer is being installed in the Singapore Science Park,
adjacent to the National University of Singapore [NUS] campus, and is
planned to be linked to various departments in the NUS, as well as to
researchers located in various other organizations such as the Nanyang
Technological Institue and the Metrological Services of Singapore.

With an initial main memory of 64 megabytes and a performance of up to
665 MFLOPS, the system is capable of being upgraded if required as
demand dictates. Initially, most applications will initially be
transferred from the NUS IBM3081 system, for which NEC has written a
special interface, and which will offer a 'transparent' interface for
authorized users requiring the more powerful performance of the new
system.

(Michael Worsley/19890311)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(SGP)(00010)

MALAYSIAN GOVERNMENT EASES WAY FOR FOREIGN INVESTORS
KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA, 1989 MAR 9 (NB) -- The Malaysian Government
has changed its regulatory procedures so that foreign investors are
now able to deal with just a single agency to handle almost all their
requirements, instead of having to deal with several separate
departments at different locations.

Known as the Coordination Centre for Investments [COI], the Malaysian
Industrial Development Authority [MIDA] is now authorized to handle
almost all applications for approval previously required from the
various government bodies, saving considerable time and inconvenience.

The government now also permits 100 percent foreign equity in a number of
areas for an initial five year period where they cannot find suitable
local partners.

Another feature in the latest budget is the reduction of corporate
income tax from 40 percent to 35 percent. Added to the recent fall
in the value of the Malaysian ringget against the United States dollar,
new investment for 1989 from the U.S. alone is expected to exceed
last year's US$100+ million.

(Michael Worsley/19890311)


(NEWS)(IBM)(SFO)(00001)

AST CUTS PRICES OF RAMPAGEPLUS BOARDS
IRVINE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 3 (NB) -- AST Research has cut
the price of its 512K RampagePlus 286 memory/multifunction board by $200
to $695. The promotion runs from March 13 to April 30. RampagePlus
is designed for the IBM AT, XT, PS/2 Model 30 and compatibles. The
expanded memory permits creation of large spreadsheets with Lotus
1-2-3, SuperCalc5 or Excel. The board can also meet the
memory demands of integrated software packages such as Lotus
Symphony or Ashton-Tate's Framework III. Since the board supports
EMS 4.0 [extended memory specification] in hardware, it enables
several programs to run concurrently when used with various
multitasking operating environments such as Microsoft Windows or
Quarterdeck's DESQview.

(Wendy Woods/19890311/Contact: Joel Don, AST, 714-756-4942)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(BOS)(00002)

PRODUCT CLAIMS TO MAKE PCS UP TO 95 PERCENT MORE PRODUCTIVE
WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A., 1989 MAR 7 (NB) -- FileNet Corporation
claims its products can make users of personal computers up to
95 percent more productive. The company, which makes a wide range of
image processing products, claims that 95 percent of the workload of an
organization is based on paper. Therefore, they reason, automating
paper processing tasks can gain back that 95 percent productivity.

While the company could make no scientific validation of these
claims, it said that government users of its products are
realizing large productivity and efficiency gains. FileNet products are
currently installed in locations that include the U.S. House of
Representatives and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

FileNet products integrate with a wide range of systems, including
those from IBM, DEC, and Sun Microsystems.

(Jon Pepper/19890310/Contact: Don Schnitter, FileNet, 714-966-3400)


(NEWS)(IBM)(BOS)(00003)

IBM STRENGTHENS BUSINESS PARTNER ROLE FOR PC CUSTOMERS
WHITE PLAINS, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 8 (NB) -- IBM has
expanded its service support to its Business Partners for their
Personal System/2 and Personal Computer customers.

The enhancements include technical support and increased parts
availability and allow IBM authorized dealers act as primary
providers of service solutions for PS/2s and PCs.

The moves are designed to increase overall service satisfaction to end
users, according to George Conrades, IBM senior vice president and
general manager for U.S. Marketing and Services.

(Jon Pepper/19890310/Contact: John CLark, IBM, 201-930-5127)


(NEWS)(IBM)(BOS)(00004)

COMPANY CLAIMS FASTEST PC IN MARKETPLACE
HUNTSVILLE, ALABAMA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 9 (NB) -- Digipro
says its Model 302 PC is the fastest in the industry as measured by the
various industry benchmark tests. The Model 302 computer is designed
as a file server, CAD workstation, or large database platform.

The company claims that sixteen modifications allow the machine to
increase speed dramatically without putting stress of the
microprocessor or increasing heat in the system.

The 386-based PC uses some parallel processing according to Dr.
Keith Suggs, who developed the technology for Digipro.

(Jon Pepper/19890310/Contact: Kari Hawkins, Huntsville 2000, 205-
535-2028)


(NEWS)(IBM)(LAX)(00005)

LABEL PROGRAM REVISED
EVERGREEN, COLORADO, U.S.A., 1989 FEB 28 (NB) -- POP Computer
Products is shipping version 2.1 of its Labels! label-printing
software. The $29.95 program can print up to 4,000 entries in ten
different formats. A built-in facility allows the user to capture
data directly from the inside address of letters written with
character-based word processors.

The software supports free-form data entry. Labels! also features a
"look-up engine" that can recall names and addresses using only part
of a name or street address. Besides label management, the program
can be used to create, update and sort other types of lists.

(Wayne Yacco/19890306/Contact: 303-674-0200)


(NEWS)(IBM)(LAX)(00006)

NEW DRIVERS FOR DRAW APPLAUSE
TORRANCE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 6 (NB) -- Ashton-Tate has
released several new device drivers for its Draw Applause
presentation graphics software. The drivers expand the rather
limited selection of output devices which was shipped with the
original release of the program. Included on one diskette, they are
immediately available to registered users free of charge.
Interested parties should call 203-926-1112.

The new Draw Applause drivers include: Apple LaserWriter II [Postscript];
General Parametrics VideoShow Executive; General Parametrics VideoShow
Professional; General Parametrics PhotoMetric SlideMaker Image Recorders;
Hewlett-Packard PaintJet Printer [for both serial and parallel ports;
Matrix Instruments PCR Digital Film Recorder [enhanced]; Presentation
Technologies Montage FRI Film Recorder.

"The addition of these drivers further expands Draw Applause output
options and provides users with more ways to take advantage of the
product's strong color capabilities," said Richard H. Dym, Ashton-
Tate's Draw Applause product manager. Draw Applause's support of
output devices--including film recorders, laser printers and
electronic presentation systems--allows users to create on-screen
presentations, slides, transparencies, and color and black-and-white
hard copy on the desktop. [See also: related note in WYSIWYG.]

(Wayne Yacco/198902/Contact: 203-926-1112)


(NEWS)(IBM)(ATL)(00007)

NCR ANNOUNCES ITS OWN BRAND OF OS/2
DAYTON, OHIO, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 8 (NB) -- NCR began shipping its
own branded version of Microsoft's OS/2 Version 1.1 on March 10.
NCR's version will run all standard OS/2 applications, including
those written for the Presentation Manager, and support NCR's
existing line of 80286 and 80386-based personal computer
products.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890310/Contact: Kim Warnock, NCR, 513-445-
4732)


(NEWS)(IBM)(ATL)(00008)

SAMNA OFFERING A HEFTIER VERSION OF AMI WORD PROCESSOR
ATLANTA, GEORGIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 2 (NB) -- Samna, which bet the
company on its $199 Windows-based word processor, Ami, has
announced a heftier version of the product called Ami
Professional. The new version will cost $495, and includes
features like customized viewing of parts of a page, a built-in
drawing program, a system for formatting tables for more
attractive appearance, and some basic math capability within the
tabling function.

Other new features include the ability to create your own icons
for sets of functions you design, the ability to export all major
formats and import DCA, the ability to open two documents at
once, and features such as automatic indexing, bookmarks, footnotes,
and work with any size document. But wait, there's more! How
about the ability to use more than one layout in any document,
alternate headers and footers, or handle even-odd page layouts?
Plus, you can now anchor frames to text and automatically
reposition them back to their anchored positions.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890310/Contact: Judy Sappington, Samna, 404-
876-4482)


(NEWS)(IBM)(ATL)(00009)

QUADRAM OFFERING A JT-FAX INCENTIVE ONLY REPORTERS GET
NORCROSS, GEORGIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 13 (NB) -- Quadram is offering
an incentive to buyers of its JT-Fax boards which is usually
given only to reporters. Take it home for 30 days, drive it
around the block a few times, kick the tires, and if you don't
like it return it, free, no questions asked. Reporters, of
course, have to write reviews of products to get this kind of
treatment, but the writing requirement is waived for this special
promotion. It covers the full line of four JT fax boards,
including the JT fax Internal, the 9600, the PS/Q and the
Portable, for laptop computers.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890310)


(NEWS)(IBM)(BRU)(00010)

IBM ANNOUNCES NEW AS/400 PRODUCTS
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM, 1989 MAR 10 (NB) -- IBM is expanding its
AS/400 product line with model upgrades and new models.
The AS/400 model B10 and B20 now offer additional memory and disk
storage expansion capacities while the new model 70 system
extends the range with a faster processor and workstation
attachment possibilities.

In addition, IBM has also introduced new software for the AS-400
series. The new operating software is called Operating
System/400 [OS/400] and already supports more than one thousand
applications, according to IBM officers.

IBM also announced new higher speed models of its dot band
printers and a new IBM 9332 600 disk drive which offers up to
600 megabytes of data storage. All of these products will be available
from the fourth quarter of 1989.

In related developments, IBM also announced the AIX operating system
for the PS/2 range will ship in April. The product was first shown at
Uniforum in San Francisco last month. The AIX/370 system line will be
delayed and will now be available towards the end of 1989. The delays
are due to an additional testing period required to ensure that the
product conforms to specifications.

And IBM says it has developed the world's fastest computer memory
chip, a 128K static memory chip which boasts a speed of more than
six billion bits per second, which equals 175 picosecond data time.
Currently chips can reach about 500 picosecond speeds. The new chip is
not built with gallium arsenide technology but with CMOS and pipelining
circuits, which means that data streams past the memory chip
sequentially, thus there is no need to set up an address before using it.

(Peter Vekinis/19890310)


(NEWS)(IBM)(BRU)(00011)

RACORE ANNOUNCES NEW WORKSTATIONS FOR LANS
HANOVER, WEST GERMANY, 1989 MAR 08 (NB) -- At a press conference
at the CeBit Hanover Fair, Racore announced two new workstations
specifically designed for Novell software. The workstations
offer up to 23 times improved performance over the standard
IBM PC/XT.

The SL and SLE-80 LANstations can achieve 20MHz performance
using the Intel 80286 chip from Harris. With retail prices in the upper
$1,000s, they are expected to "perform like more expensive 386-
based machines," according to a company spokesman. The stations
carry a one year guarantee and are available off-the-shelf.

(Peter Vekinis/19890308/Contact: Racore, Roger Bailey, 408/374-8290)


(NEWS)(IBM)(TYO)(00012)

MATSUSHITA TO SELL NEW PANACOM PCs
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 MAR 2 (NB) -- Matsushita Electric Industries
will sell three models of its 16-bit desktop personal computers
with two 3.5-inch disk drives. Adopting the same architecture as
the company's previous Panacom M500 series, the M530 series is
capable of using its predecessor's software, expansion cards, and
peripheral units without modification. Also, it has 30-percent smaller
footprint than its older sibling which has two  5 1/4-inch floppy disk
drives.

The new Panacom machines will come with an eight megahertz, no-wait
80286 central processing unit,  will have an internal one-megabyte main
memory expandable to nine megabytes and four expansion slots including
a memory slot.

Matsushita will offer Japanese MS OS/2 V1.0, Japanese MS-DOS
V3.1, and Japanese MS Windows V2.1 for the new Panacom series.

The price range is from 295,000 yen or $2,300 to 525,000 yen or
$4,040 depending on hard disk drive variations. Matsushita will
sell the machines starting March 20.

(Ken Takahashi/19890308/Contact: Matsushita Electric Industrial,
06-908-1151)


(NEWS)(IBM)(TYO)(00013)

MICROSOFT HOPES TO USHER IN THE AGE OF OS/2
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 MAR 3 (NB) -- Microsoft Japan has announced
new OS/2 software, starting with Multiplan ver.4.1 for NEC
personal computers. Microsoft is preparing to sell its OS/2 on a
commercial basis in June, and expects to accelerate the spread of
the operating system with the release of the programs.

Similar to the way the MS-DOS version of Multiplan was distributed,
Microsoft will provide this one to hardware makers so they can bundle
it with their machines.  NEC and IBM will be two early customers.

The company expects intends to market 40 thousand programs in the first
year and hopes to usher in the age of OS/2 in Japan.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19890309)


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

PINETREE TURNS OVER THE MAXIMIZER TO SPINOFF
RICHMOND, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA, 1989 MAR 1 (NB) -- Pinetree
Software has given newly created Richmond Software exclusive
rights to market and further develop The Maximizer, Pinetree's
sales support software. Pinetree's marketing and software
development staffs, and President Tom O'Flaherty, will move
intact to Richmond Software. Pinetree will concentrate on its
original business, computer software, services and consulting for
the real estate business.

Richmond is a privately held company. O'Flaherty is part owner,
and venture capital came from Vancouver-based Discovery
Enterprises.

(Grant Buckler/19890310/Contact: Tom O'Flaherty or Greg Pelling,
Richmond Software, 604-299-2121; John Ebert, Pinetree Software,
604-270-3311)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(SGP)(00001)

PICTURE PHONES LIKELY TO BECOME NEW STANDARD
SINGAPORE, S.E. ASIA, 1989 FEB 27 (NB) -- You are likely to be seeing as
well as hearing the person you are talking to over the phone if the
prediction by a senior Singapore Telecoms official comes about.
Speaking at the Asia Telecom89 conference held in Singapore last week,
he said that most Singapore homes and offices would be fitted with
"information sockets" which would allow the connection of voice, data,
pictures and text on a single cable.

He said that Singapore was leading the way with the introduction of a
basic rate ISDN service last year, which will extend throughout the
Island State by the end of 1989. In his paper entitled 'Application of
Modern Technology - The Singapore Experience,' he also predicted the
rapid proliferation of value-added networks which can process,
package, and transport information sought by users for various trade
and commercial operations.

For instance, Singapore has operated TradeNet for the electronic
filing of customs documentation since last year, and expects to have
several additional dedicated services operating within the next year,
both locally, and in conjunction with similar services being developed
overseas.

Another example highlighted was the unique Teleview services, now on
trial in Singapore, which offers a low cost videotex service using
Picture Prestel/CEPT standards, and combining a telephone link with
the return data broadcast over a dedicated VHF channel, providing what
is believed to be the first hybrid videotex service in the world.

(Michael Worsley/19890311)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(BRU)(00002)

AT&T ACUNET-PACKET POSES STIFF COMPETITION FOR TELENET
HANOVER, WEST GERMANY, 1989 MAR 9 (NB) -- AT&T is entering in the
data service supplier market with the introduction of Acunet-
Packet in Europe. A main competitor to Tymnet and Telenet, AT&T's
product will offer rates up to 35 percent cheaper than those of
Telenet, as well as fibre optic lines linked to AT&T's satellite
system, resulting in a higher degree of guaranteed line quality.

The battle for telecom carriers in Europe is stiffening up since
the opening up of the European marketplace last year. The
European Community [EC] has been pushing for liberalization of
communications services and seems to have opened the door for big
international suppliers, such as AT&T. An AT&T spokesman said, "We
hope to beat our competition and become the number one carrier
across the Atlantic within the next two years."

(Peter Vekinis/19890309)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(BRU)(00003)

SOME U.S. PHONE EQUIPMENT FIRMS IGNORANT OF EUROPEAN WAYS
HANOVER, WEST GERMANY, 1989 MAR 08 (NB) -- While it's clear many
international firms are trying to market their wares in Europe, it's
also clear that many have not done their homework. For instance,
One of the newer products on display at this year's show is
the automated marketing response system. These device work by
accepting incoming phone calls automatically, and, by requesting
the caller to key in numbers on his/her touch-tone phone, route
the call to the appropriate department or human answering
service.

Such devices have proliferated in the U.S., where most telephone
exchanges now work with touch-tone dialling systems, as opposed
to the rotary pulse [Strowger] exchanges seen in yesteryear. In
much of Europe, however, touch-tone dialling is the exception,
rather than rule. Unfortunately, if the caller doesn't have a
touch-tone phone, then such calls cannot be routed by touch-tone
controlled call routing devices.

Newsbytes asked one of the many companies showing touch-tone
call routing systems how they coped with non-touch-tone
exchanges, and pointed out that pulse-dialling is still the
predominant exchange system in Europe.

"We realize that this system does not work with pulses but there
are many parts of Europe where tone systems do exist," said one
entrepreneur who was full of confidence. "If you remember in the
U.S. a few years ago, no one had heard of telemarketing, but look
at today. It is used everywhere," he concluded.

In other areas of the show, many telecommunications companies were
promoting cordless telephones which are outlawed in many parts of
Europe. In many other countries, such as the U.K. and Italy, the
U.S. frequencies are allocated for government or emergency service
use, therefore U.S.-originated cordless phone equipment is banned.

Observers suggested that many of the U.S. telecommunications
companies appear to be unaware or unconcerned about such
regulations, much to the chagrin of their European distributors.

(Peter Vekinis/19890310)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(BOS)(00004)

AT&T INTRODUCES TWO ISDN PRODUCTS IN JAPAN
BERKELEY HEIGHTS, NEW JERSEY, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 8 (NB) -- AT&T has
announced two new products for the Japanese market, a
high-speed, fiber optic data link specifically developed for Japan and
an Integrated Services Digital Network [ISDN] microchip.

The ISDN microchip will allow Japanese phone users to have easier
access to a digital network providing data, voice, and some image
transmission over ordinary phone lines.

Both products will be marketed form AT&T's Tokyo office, which
includes Bell Laboratories' first product design organization located in
a foreign country.

(Jon Pepper/19890310/Contact: Trish Geoghegan, AT&T, 201-291-3368)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00005)

GEORGIA PLAN TO PUT COURTS ONLINE GOING AHEAD
ATLANTA, GEORGIA, U.S.A. 1989 MAR 6 (NB) -- Georgia moved another
step closer to a networked system of county courthouses as a bill
to let clerks collect databases of legal records cleared the
State House. The way now seems clear to connecting local and
state courts, said Valerie Hepburn, director of administration in
the Secretary of State's office. "All things being equal the
system comes up in September," she said. The county systems will
be "companions" to the existing state network.

The Secretary charges $200-250 per tape to provide its records to
commercial online systems, producing four tapes per week.
Hepburn said the price is based on the cost to produce it. The
state does not discriminate among database service providers,
she added. Clerks will be able to get up to $2 for the first
page, and 50 cents per additional page for handing over these
public records directly. There's more to all this than selling
court records to lawyers, however, Hepburn emphasized. "They'll
be electronic mail for the clerks, and judges." Connections to
the prison system and notaries public are also planned.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890310)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00006)

APPEALS COURT OVERTURNS MEAD WIN IN LEXIS-LEXUS CASE
DAYTON, OHIO, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 8 (NB) -- An Appeals Court in New
York on March 8 struck down Mead Data Central's attempt to keep
Toyota from using the name Lexus for its new luxury car line.
Mead had won a trial court judgement that the name infringed on
Lexis, its legal database service. An appeal to the Supreme Court
is possible. Mead spokesman Sharon Williamson told Newsbytes Mead
was disappointed in the Appeals Court ruling, but had not yet
decided on a possible appeal.

Mead currently has about 200,000 active users in 50 countries,
who make 50,000-75,000 searches every day. During the peak
afternoon hours, Mead computers handle up to 900 calls
at once. Mead Data Central is a subsidiary of Mead Corp., a giant
forest products company.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890310/Contact: Mead Data Central, Sharon
Teague, 513-865-6800)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00007)

BULGARIA IS THE BIGGEST ONLINE MARKET IN EAST BLOC
NORTH HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 8 (NB) -- International
Message Switching of North Hollywood, California has signed an
exclusive five-year deal with Bulgaria under which it will build a
factory and work to create additional Bulgarian jobs by building
high-speed data and image transmission systems developed by Israeli
scientists behind the Rusty Curtain. Amiran credited improved U.S.-
Soviet relations for making the deal possible.

Chairman Ron Amiran told Newsbytes he first thought, like many
people, that Bulgaria would be an online backwater. Then he
visited the country and found to his surprise, "They have the
most advanced equipment from Sweden installed, so from our
business point of view this is a major deal." Still, "They have
made a decision to expand exports. The average salary is $100 per
month. So they have asked us to start several joint ventures and
we're now negotiating to open a telecommunications equipment
plant there, all American-licensed for export." A total of $5
million in facilities and knowledge will be exchanged under the
contract, he says.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890310/Contact: International Message
Switching Corp., Ron Amiran, 818-985-9990)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00008)

IBM BEGINS USE OF A 800 MEGABIT LINE
LOS ALAMOS, NEW MEXICO, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 8 (NB) -- IBM has begun
use of what it calls the High Speed Channel, an 800 megabit/second data
communications line installed on a 3090-600 mainframe computer at
the Los Alamos National Laboratory, which is studying supercomputers.

The line has enough bandwidth to transmit full-motion, computer
simulations or take data directly off a satellite. The new line is eight
times faster than the data lines presently available in the commercial
market. Los Alamos and IBM are working together on a study of
supercomputers.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890310)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00009)

MICROTEL SAYS CATCHING HACKERS IS EASY, PROVES IT
ATLANTA, GEORGIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 7 (NB) -- Advanced
Telecommunications, a long-distance company which sells its
services under both the names ATC and ATC Microtel, sent out
press releases March 7 praising itself for sending a 19-year old
kid to prison for six years because he hacked some of their
authorization codes. Reached by Newsbytes, ATC Fraud Control
Director Louis Calhoun said of hackers, "It's not tough to catch
them. It usually takes two to four days" of investigation before
Calhoun has enough to call the police in.

The long jail sentence came on a second conviction in state
court after the perpetrator, who lives in Clayton County,
violated parole by stealing more codes after he'd already been
caught. Calhoun said penalties for selling codes have risen so
high that hackers are now using stolen codes themselves, which
could make them easier to catch. Calhoun told Newsbytes that
levels of online fraud are currently stable. "You get a new crop
every year. You knock down one bunch and another bunch takes its
place." He says the company has caught several people Calhoun
calls "code abusers" in the last year, many of whom have already
paid their bills to his company.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890310/Contact: Advanced Telecommunications
Corp., Diane Renis, 407/750-2655)


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

SPRINT BUYING HALF-INTEREST IN TRANS-ATLANTIC FIBER CABLE
WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A., 1989 MAR 7 (NB) -- US Sprint
Communications has bought a McLean company that is half-owner
of a high-capacity, fiber-optic cable being strung across the
Atlantic Ocean. Sprint, a joint venture between GTE and United
Telecom, based in Kansas City, Missouri, is expected to pay
several hundred million dollars for PTAT System Inc., a five-
year-old privately held company that owns a half-interest in the
cable project. The other half is owned by British communications
giant Cable & Wireless. The 4,600-mile cable is scheduled to go
into service in August and handle up to 85,000 calls at once.
Sprint made its move after Judge Harold Greene barred Nynex
Corp., a Bell Operating Company in the Northeast U.S., from
buying PTAT System Inc. on the grounds that such a purchase would
violate terms of the 1984 breakup of the Bell telephone system.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890310)


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

MICROTEL ENTERS OUTBOUND WATS BUSINESS
ATLANTA, GEORGIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 7 (NB) -- Heavy users of online
systems now have another alternative to AT&T's Reach Out America
plan or GTE's Telenet. Buy an out-bound WATS line. Advanced
Telecommunications Corp. of Atlanta, which also uses the trade
name Microtel, announced Standard PLUS WATS, which it says will
benefit the business caller whose monthly long distance bill
exceeds $150. An Advanced spokesman said the service's per-minute
rates are 10-15 percent lower than even AT&T's PRO WATS product, and
offer volume discounts of up to 21 per cent for the heaviest
users, six second incremental billing and free call detail. The
new service also works on standard business lines.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890310/Contact: Advanced Telecommunications
Corp., Diane Renis, 407/750-2655)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00012)

COLUMBINE TELENET TO BUY TULSA METROLINK SYSTEM
DALLAS, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 8 (NB) -- Folks at Telenet were
scrambling on learning a Dallas start-up called Columbine Telenet
had agreed to buy Tulsa Metrolink, a local fiber optic network,
from Public Service Co. of Oklahoma, which had developed it for
internal use. Newsbytes reached Tom Smith of Columbine, who
confirmed that his company is no relation to Telenet, a joint-
venture between United Telecom and GTE. Smith said the company
was named two years ago in ignorance that another company called
Telenet existed. Columbine will rent fiber capacity to Tulsa
businesses which want to bypass local phone companies, but Smith
said long-distance service is not currently part of the package.
Telenet operates a long-distance packet switch.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890310/Contact: Columbine Telenet, Tom Smith,
214-954-0022)


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

A CAUTIONARY TALE OF LOVE ON THE HIGH SEAS
HAMPTON, VIRGINIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 10 (NB) -- It's dangerous to
give out your credit card or telephone calling card number over
an open radio line. Just ask Tom Scott, who took a two minute call
from his wife in New York on the open seas last month. After
reading his calling card number over his tugboat's radio to a
marine operator, he woke up recently to a 244-page bill totaling
$11,178.84. Police theorize a New Yorker might be behind the
theft of service, as 48 calls were billed to Smith's calling card
number from New York in one hour. Most of the calls were billed
through National Telephone Service in Texas.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890310)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00014)

DIALCOM MAKES ITS NETWORK AVAILABLE TO PAYFAX MACHINES
ROCKVILLE, MARYLAND, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 6 (NB) -- FaxPlus of San
Jose, California signed an agreement with Dialcom, a British
Telecom unit based in Rockville, Maryland, under which users of
PayFax pay-per-call fax machines can send messages to Dialcom electronic
mail users. PayFax machines are unattended workstations in
airports, hotel lobbies, car rental agencies, convention centers
and office buildings with which you can send or receive fax
messages, paying with a credit card. The PayFax workstations
include telephones, fax machines, and eventually will enable computer
terminals, and FaxPlus says there will be 1,000 installed by the end of
March. The company's goal is to install 30,000 over the next 3-5 years,
and Dialcom would be the official online service for all of them.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890310)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00015)

STRATUS COMPUTERS TO HELP PUT SEC ONLINE
WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A., 1989 MAR 9 (NB) -- The Securities and
Exchange Commission is installing eleven Stratus XA2000 non-stop
computer systems to run its new Electronic Data Gathering,
Analysis and Retrieval system, known as EDGAR. Stratus is one of
three subcontractors in the EDGAR project, along with Bechtel and
Mead Data Central. The general contractor is a unit of the Ford
Motor Co. Full implementation of the system is expected by early
1992. The public will have access to EDGAR through Mead,
publishers of Lexis and Nexis. A Mead spokesman said the SEC data
will triple the amount of data Mead presently has online.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890310/Contact: Stratus Computer Inc.,
David Hayward, 508-460-2796)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(LON)(00016)

IBC CONFERENCE ON TELECOM NETWORK MANAGEMENT SCHEDULED
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1989 MAR 10 (NB) -- IBC Technical Services has
scheduled a special conference on telecommunications and network
management. The course will be held in London on 20 March, 1989.

Topics to be covered in the one-day conference include an
overview of Open Systems, voice network, AI techniques and IBM's
role in the networking marketplace. The course costs a weighty
UKP 245.

(Steve Gold/19890310/IBC Technical Services - Tel: [phone])


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(LON)(00017)

PROFILE DATABASE GOES EUROPEAN
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1989 MAR 10 (NB) -- The Profile Information
database, run by the Financial Times group, has expanded its
services to include several European information databases. The
new databases accessible via Profile include the FT Mergers and
Acquisitions, ICC Company, Keynote and Stockbroker research
reports, plus the Hoppenstedt, a database of 46,000 companies in
West Germany.

The Profile database is accessible on a pay-as-you go basis on
Telecom Gold [the U.K. Dialcom affiliate e-mail service] at 140
pence a minute, as well as on direct subscription.

(Steve Gold/19891003)


(EXCLUSIVE)(TELECOM)(LON)(00018)

DORTEC READIES ALPHA TEST VERSION OF PROCOMM PLUS VIEWDATA
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1989 MAR 11 (NB) -- As promised last year, Shareware
Marketing, the U.K. shareware and software marketing company, and
Dortec, the Danish software house, have developed a viewdata
edition of Procomm Plus.

According to Steve Townsley of Shareware Marketing, the alpha
test version of the package is now under test, with shipment of
the finished product scheduled for some time later this year.
Newsbytes was pleased to have exclusive access to the alpha test
package and can report that the emulation is impressive.

Included in the package is a comprehensive viewdata mailbox
editor which can be adapted for use as a viewdata editor. These
features, along with several others, will be refined in the final
version of the package, according to Townsley.

"Dortec has approached the package from a modular viewpoint, with
a view to use marketing various modules with Procomm Plus itself.
The end result will be that users will be able to buy only the
modules and features they need. This will keep the end user price
down," he told Newsbytes.

Procomm Plus U.K., with viewdata, has been provisionally pencilled
in for a third quarter 1989 launch in Europe.

(Steve Gold/19890310/Steve Towsley, Shareware Marketing -
Tel: [phone])


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(BRU)(00019)

AT&T UNVEILS NEW DATA COMMUNICATIONS SUBSIDIARY
HANOVER, WEST GERMANY, 1989 MAR 7 (NB) -- AT&T announced that its
recent purchase of Paradyne has resulted in a wholly-owned
subsidiary in Data Communications products. Called AT&T Paradyne,
the company is expected to focus on selected vertical markets and
will have profit and loss responsibility for AT&T's data
communications equipment.

Frank Blount, AT&T's group executive and chairman of AT&T
Paradyne said, "The new subsidiary is consistent with AT&T's
recently announced decision to create businesses that focus on
specific product and customer groups."

AT&T Paradyne is headquartered in Largo, Florida, U.S., and employs
4,000 people with 57 U.S. offices, over 100 service locations and
foreign subsidiaries and distributors in over 45 countries.

(Peter Vekinis/19890307)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(BRU)(00020)

NETWORK INNOVATION INTRODUCES FIBRE OPTIC BOARD
HANOVER, WEST GERMANY, 1989 MAR 08 (NB) -- Network Innovation
has announced the availability of new fibre optic Arcnet boards
that are fully software-compatible with previous products, also
designed for the same network.

The two models cover different distances, the first one offers up to
4,000-foot separation, while the second board increases possible
separation of notes to 11,500 feet.

(Peter Vekinis/19890308/Contact: Verlie Ellis, 913/894-2277)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(TOR)(00021)

TORONTO COMPUTES! GOING ON LINE
TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1989 MAR 6 (NB) -- The monthly tabloid
Toronto Computes! now has an electronic edition, available on
Canada Remote Systems. Beginning with the March issue,
subscribers to Canada Remote can read the editorial content of
the monthly computer newspaper online. At present the service is
just a six-month trial. Toronto Computes! said it plans to add
other features if the trial turns out well. The bulletin board
version contains only the text of articles: there is no
advertising, and charts that appear in the printed publication
don't appear on Canada Remote. Readers can also subscribe to the
printed version of the publication by filling out a form on line.

(Grant Buckler/19890307/Contact: David Carter, Toronto Computes!,
416-925-4533)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(BRU)(00001)

TOSHIBA INTRODUCES COLOUR VGA LAPTOP
HANOVER, WEST GERMANY, 1989 MAR 08 (NB) -- Toshiba is showing
a prototype of a full-color laptop computer, called the T-6100,
at the Hanover Faire trade show. The colour laptop has
a 640 by 480 VGA-compatible screen. Toshiba officers say the
laptop is scheduled for shipment to dealers starting in mid-1990.

Norman Dyer of Toshiba said, "Our goal is to enable people who use
PCs to take laptops home and become more acquainted with personal
computers. We have found that many managers have problems with
computers because they are afraid of them. By offering laptops
which they can take home and play, their views become more
liberal and start to realize that a computer is indeed a friend
instead of a foe."

(Peter Vekinis/19890308)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(BOS)(00002)

SOFTWARE FIRMS WINS LOOK AND FEEL SUIT
BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 8 (NB) -- A West
Springfield, Mass. software company has won a copyright
infringement case that could bear on other look and feel lawsuits.
In a decision in federal court in Bridgeport, Conn., Manufacturers
Technologies Inc. prevailed over CAMS, Chempro Data Sciences, and
ABR Business Systems. Manufacturers Technologies claimed that
the other companies copied the on-screen appearance and screen-to-
screen sequence of its Costimator software program, a product
designed to estimate the time and cost of manufacturing parts.

The better known cases under way include two suits filed by Lotus
Development and a suit by Apple Computer against Microsoft and
Hewlett-Packard.

(Jon Pepper/19890310)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(BOS)(00003)

AT&T OFFERS PATENTED POLYMER-HYBRID ADVANCE
BERKELEY HEIGHTS, NEW JERSEY, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 7 (NB) -- AT&T
announced a significant advancement in copper thin-film,
multilayer hybrid integrated circuit technology, called the POLYHIC.
The announcement was made at the opening of the NEPCON trade
show in Anaheim, Calif.

The POLYHIC offers unique benefits include precise signal characters
at a reduced cost and size versus other technologies.

The company claims that the POLYHIC is particularly well-suited for
ISDN equipment, switching systems, computer data bus designers,
and medical diagnostic equipment. The technology is available now.

(Jon Pepper/19890310/Contact: Trish Geoghegan, AT&T, 201-771-2824)


(EXCLUSIVE)(TRENDS)(LAX)(00004)

NEW TECHNOLOGY TO DRIVE DRIVE PRICES DOWN
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 1 (NB) -- Manufacturers of
hard disks are beginning to switch their design efforts to new
smaller form factors. The new drives will cost less to produce
after development costs are recovered and production volume reaches
economic levels. Then, prices will fall.

The process has already begun. At least two manufacturers are
producing, or are about to produce, 2.5-inch drives. According to
the president of one of those companies, Jim Spinehelfer of
PrarieTek Corporation, manufacturers are no longer designing 5.25-
inch drives smaller than 380 MB [megabytes]. Newly designed 3.5-
inch drives account for smaller sizes. Within 18 to 24 months,
Spinehelfer says, new designs for drives under 80 or 100 MB will all
be 2.5 inches. The smaller form factor should be the most
economical to produce by that time.

Meanwhile, manufacturers of drives with larger form factors will
begin to offer lower prices to compete against the superior
characteristics of the new technology. Lower mass and advances in
technology, such as head ramps which prevent head-to-disk contact
from occurring on shut-down, make the new drives more durable and
rugged. A 2.5-inch drive also consumes less power and requires far
less space than existing products.

(Wayne Yacco/19890306/Contact: PrarieTek, 303-772-4011)


(NEWS)(IBM)(LAX)(00005)

STUDY SAYS POTENTIAL 1000 PERCENT RETURN ON INVESTMENT OVERLOOKED
TEMPE, ARIZONA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 6 (NB) -- MicroAge Computer Stores
has sponsored a study titled "Management Measures in End-User
Computing." MicroAge claims that the study, conducted by management
consultants at Nolan Norton Institute, a research organization of
Peat Marwick, shows organizations can achieve up to a tenfold return
on investment by implementing microcomputer technology as a
strategic resource. However, the study, released Feb. 3, shows that
"productivity improvements are not dropping to the bottom line as
quickly as they could be," according to MicroAge President William
C. Keiper.

"Management Measures in End-User Computing" confirmed and extended a
1987 Nolan Norton Institute effort. Based on three months of
research, the study included a look at personal computing management
in large and small business organizations in a variety of industry
sectors. Jan Duffy of Peat Marwick/Nolan Norton stated, "With a
planned strategy and effective management, a company can
realistically expect to improve its bottom line by as much as ten
times its end-user computing investment." Furthermore, Keiper said,
"It was discovered that under-utilization of PC resources limits the
development and execution of new business strategies."

"Few businesses, small or large, have realized the strategic
importance of the information flowing within their organization.
While they have made considerable investments in computer
technology, they are not taking full advantage of the technology's
benefits," counselled Keiper.

(Wayne Yacco/19890310/Contact: MicroAge, Colleen Parker, 602/968-
3168, ext. 2274)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(BRU)(00006)

DATAQUEST SAYS LOTUS 1-2-3 STILL A BEST-SELLER IN EUROPE
MUNICH, WEST GERMANY, 1989 MAR 10 (NB) -- Dataquest has put Lotus
1-2-3 as the best-selling U.S.-made software package in the
European market for the second year running. Microsoft Word has taken
the second position from Ashton-Tate's dBase which falls into fifth
place behind IBM DisplayWrite and WordPerfect.

The biggest chart gain is from Microsoft's Excel spreadsheet
package that is expected to overtake the number one spot some time
next year. Symphony, Multiplan, Pagemaker and Framework finish
the list. Note that this list includes software bundled with
systems, which is why Symphony and Multiplan occupy top sales spots.

(Peter Vekinis/19890310)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(TYO)(00007)

16.7 MILLION COLORS ON PC FROM FUJITSU
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 MAR 8 (NB) -- Japan's computer giant Fujitsu
has released a personal computer capable of displaying 16.7 million
colors on screen.  Called FMR-50VT, the full-color machine is based
on the firm's 16-bit desktop personal computer FMR-50HX, and can send
natural-appearing graphics online when connected to an
integrated services digital network or ISDN. The price is 650,000
yen or $5,000. Fujitsu expects to sell 10,000 units in the next
three years.

(Ken Takahashi/19890308)


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

DRAM PRICES LIKELY TO DROP
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 MAR 7 (NB) -- The dealing price of one-megabit
dynamic random access memories [DRAM] between Japanese spot markets,
such as Akihabara, Tokyo and overseas buyers, such as Hong Kong
Korea, and Taiwan, have shown sharp drops recently.

Production of DRAMs is increasing with exports to the United States
sharply decreasing.  Consequently, the balance of demand and supply
on the spot markets has triggered a 20 to 30 percent depression of
chip prices.  Current dealing prices of around 2,000 yen per chip are
expected to drop to 1,500 yen by April.

Meanwhile, Japan's semiconductor giant  NEC has announced
mass production of four-megabit DRAMs in its Sagamihara plant, with
100 thousands units per month expected this fall. The announcement of
volume production of four-megabit DRAMs is expected to
accelerate the DRAM race.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19890309)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(LAX)(00001)

UNIX TITLES EXPAND DISTRIBUTION
INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 7 (NB) -- Softsel Computer
Products has expanded its distribution of Unix software titles
with the addition of offerings from Quality Software Products,
Southwind Software, Telebit and Visix Software. According to newly
hired Unix software manager Gale Russel, the new titles are intended
to help make Softsel "a prime source for Unix-based software."
Company co-chairman Dave Wagman added that the acquisitions are part
of a program which follows "months of research and planning."

The new line includes a 1-2-3 work-alike spreadsheet [Q-calc
Standard] and project-management system [Masterplan] from Santa
Monica-based Quality Software Products.

Softsel's product line also includes software and hardware offerings
from several of its established vendors. Intel 80386-based systems
from AST, AT&T, Everex, and Samsung; minicomputers from AT&T;
terminals from AT&T and Televideo; memory products from Everex; and
Digiboard Multiport Controllers are represented in the company's
hardware offerings. Softsel also carries software from the
following vendors: AT&T, Information Builders, Microsoft
Corporation, Quality Software Products, Ryan McFarland/Austech,
Santa Cruz Operations, SouthWind Software, Telebit, Visix Software
and WordPerfect.

(Wayne Yacco/19890310)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(ATL)(00002)

ETA SYSTEMS LOOKING FOR BEST PARALLEL COMPUTING APPLICATION
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 8 (NB) -- Control Data's
ETA Systems unit, which makes the ETA supercomputers, which
operate under Unix System V, is sponsoring the ETA Parallel
Computing Challenge, which carries a $50,000 prize for the
demonstration of a massively parallel computer complex able to
perform a set of real-world benchmarks at true supercomputer
speed. The contest was first announced at a supercomputing
conference in Florida, and begins April 1. It ends in April,
1990.

Said ETA Systems President Carl Ledbetter, "The difficulty with
these massively parallel systems is that, although they can
perform a limited number of special tasks at high speed, they
have yet to demonstrate their usefulness on a range of real-world
problems. Control Data and ETA Systems issue this challenge in
the hope that it will promote and encourage development of
effective approaches to the production use of massively parallel
computer systems for general-purpose applications." ETA defines a
massively parallel supercomputer as having at least 1,000
processors. Performance comparisons will be based on a collection
of eight programs, four selected by ETA Systems from current user
programs, and four chosen by the challenger.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890310/Contact: David Lindsey, Control Data
Corp., 613-853-6137)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(TYO)(00003)

SONY EXPANDS ITS "NEWS" BUSINESS
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 MAR 2 (NB) -- Sony will market a high performace
Unix workstation which incorporates reduced instruction set computer or
RISC R3000 chips from MIPS of the United States. Sony will position
the new workstation as the high-end machine of its NEWS line of
workstations. The new machine operates at 25 million instructions per
second, which is the highest speed in the computer industry. Sony
will ship the new system in Japan within the year and in the U.S.
early next year.

At the same time, Sony has joined both Unix International headed
by AT&T and Open Systems Foundation led by IBM. Sony will equip
both group's Unix operating systems with its NEWS workstations
which currently run on Sony's Unix; A user will be free to choose
among those Unix operating systems and Sony's Unix to run on the
NEWS workstations.

(Ken Takahashi/19890308)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(TYO)(00004)

SUN RELEASES JAPANESE SUNOS
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 MAR 4 (NB) -- Nihon Sun Microsystems K.K., a
Japanese subsidiary of Sun Microsystems in the U.S., has announced
that it has successfully developed a Japanese version of the Sun
operating system [OS].

The OS is based on Sun OS release 4.0 and provides the Japanese
environment with the standard window tool Sun view. Applications
for the OS will be developed by over 60 companies, such
as Just Systems, AutoDesk and CSK. The price of the OS is 10,000
yen or $769 with a Japanese keyboard and a manual.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19890309)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(TYO)(00005)

X/OPEN BEGINS ACTIVITIES IN JAPAN
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 MAR 8 (NB) -- The Japanese office of X/Open has
begun operation in Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo. Japanese members of the
organization are Fujitsu, Hitachi, and NEC, and  Fujitsu
has dispatched its representative to set up a Japanese office of
X/Open.

The organization has technical and marketing divisions, but
the Japanese office will concentrate on marketing activity to
increase Japanese membership in X/OPEN.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19890309)


(EDITORIAL)(APPLE)(LAX)(00001)

W Y S I W Y G - Wayne Yacco's Gazette

DAEDALUS AND ICARUS
BURBANK, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A, 1989 MAR 10 (NB) -- If you've been to a
major microcomputer conference any time during the last year or so,
you may have been to the Informix booth and had a look at Wingz.
Thousands did, if only to get one of the spiffy sports bags that
were given as the reward for traversing the Cretan Labyrinth that
Informix had set up to display its Wingz demonstration. The wait
probably seemed worth it for most who got to see Leonard Nimoy host
a video that put the Mac spreadsheet through some fancy paces.

For me though, the experience fell somewhat short of heaven, so to
speak. I was hopeful when Kim Dodge, a recent transplant from
troubled Migent, offered to take me into the demo by the back door.
Regrettably, before we were ready, an individual from the Boston
Computer Society showed up; my hope quickly faded.

Not only did Mr. Charm insinuate himself between me and my expected
source of information, expropriating her for himself--exclusively--
like a cuckoo chick horning in on another's nest, but he spent
virtually every second of the presentation following the cursor
across the face of the monitor with his hand pressed against the
glass. It was irritating as hell and made it impossible to
concentrate on anything while the dolt amused himself with his
dexterity. Perhaps, he thought he was conducting an ornithoid
symphony. On top of everything else, he made little cooing noises to
accompany his smug cleverness. Such a gross lack of consideration
might be taken for rudeness but this guy was probably just a few
feathers short of airworthiness.

I managed to get some of the important points about the product from
Nimoy's narrative and what I could see on other, more distant,
screens. As a PC user, I couldn't figure out what the big flap was
all about. Wingz has some nice graphics but it didn't look like
something off the Enterprise. It was harder to judge the
programming language which replaces the macro facilities of other
spreadsheets.

Since Kim immediately left me to accompany the dodo--one can only
hope it was to rush to a taxidermist--I didn't learn any more than
I'd already seen. A close comparison might disclose some
superiority over either Lotus with Always or PC Excel.

Wingz was finally released on February 15 but it could already be
too late even if it outperforms the current high flyers. Someone,
in whom I have a great deal of confidence, tells me there's an
application on the horizon that will pluck Wingz when it arrives.
He mentioned a development team with a spectacular track record.

How will Wingz withstand the exposure of a comparison under bright
sunlight? Will it melt and lose its feathers or will it retain the
favor of the gods? We'll know before too long. The new competitor,
from a large software developer, should touch down by mid-year.

APPLE SAUCE

Earlier this week, the Los Angeles site for Apple's Mac IIcx rollout
nearly turned into the scene of a minor disaster. Those who
attended will recall that the program began with Jean Louis Gasse
assembling one of the new machines from scratch on the satellite
feed. I remember thinking as he struggled to make connections that,
if the machine didn't work, it would be a cable failure. It's such
a common problem. But the system worked flawlessly.

After the presentation, Apple opened one of the Mariott's ballrooms
to those of us who wanted to try the machines for ourselves. It was
chock full of systems running applications. Most of us at the event
couldn't have asked for more. But there are always spoilers in
every crowd. Unfortunately, Apple invited me anyway.

I asked for a system that I could take apart myself just like Gasse
had done. Apple naively agreed and soon there were parts scattered
everywhere. Putting the system together again seemed far easier
than Gasse had made it look. The cables slipped right into their
connectors. But when we turned it on nothing would get it to work
again.

There had been some problems with the disassembly until an Apple
technician showed me where a hidden catch was located. I was afraid
that the motherboard might have cracked under the hard pull of a
well-meaning stagehand. Two days later, the technician still hadn't
called with the promised news and my anxiety was at its peak. I
called the victim who had approved my misadventure and soon my
answer came--a bad cable connection. Too bad Apple didn't follow
IBM's lead and eliminate cables altogether as Big Blue did on the
PS/2.

I hate hardware.

(Wayne Yacco/19890311)