================================
+   MICRO-UPDATE  #23   1987   +
+        by John Brent         +
================================

<<<<<<<<<<<< RUMOURS >>>>>>>>>>>

(1)....The 1987 Canadian Computer
Census  (78  pages  for  $175.00)
showed DEC  with  3,853  and  IBM
with   3,642   far    ahead    of
Hewlett-Packard     with      864
computers in Canada.  Since  they
only count  computers  with  OVER
$1000.00  per  month  rental  (or
purchase) value,  your  micro  is
not  likely  ever  going  to   be
counted!

(1)....The GE  Computer  Services
Division   of    CGE    is    now
Canada-wide distributor for  Star
Micronics printers.

(1)....Prime Computer  of  Canada
claims they will be marketing the
highest performing interactive 3D
graphics  workstation  available.
It'll be called the PXCL.

(1)....CNCP    Telecommunications
and Purolator Courier  Ltd.  will
jointly market 'LASERCOURIER',  a
messaging   service   to    major
Canadian  centres.  High  quality
printed messages  go  via  CNCP's
network to 28 Purolator sites for
delivery  in  as  little  as   90
minutes. Canada Post watch out!

(1)....EMJ Data Systems  Inc.  of
Guelph  has  been  appointed   as
national      distributor      of
Mannesmann Tally printers.

(1)....DEC  of  Canada  will   be
producing the new  VAX  8250  and
8350 minicomputers at its Kanata,
Ont. plant. 100 new jobs will  be
created by  this  export-oriented
production.

(1)....ESSO  is  connecting   450
G-CAT terminals from self-service
stations to its host computer  in
Toronto. The terminals,  made  by
Gilbarco  in   Brockville,   will
record  pump   transactions,   do
credit     authorization      and
print-out the transaction for the
customer  with  the  push  of   1
button!

(1)....Rodime     Plus     Series
hard-disk  drives  are  said   to
operate  at  the  fastest  access
speed  available  using  an  SCSI
interface.

(1)....Control  Data  Canada   is
hoping its new  mini,  the  Cyber
930 which was designed and  built
in Mississauga, will compete well
with the new VAX 8350 and 8530 as
well as IBM's 9370, models  60  &
90.  The  Cyber  930  sells   for
'under $100,000'!

<<<<<<<<<  HARDWARE  >>>>>>>>>>

(1)....ZILOG  Inc.  has  upgraded
the old Z80 eight  bit  CPU  with
the Z280 CMOS version.  The  Z280
has   on-chip    cache,    memory
management,   clock   oscillator,
wait state generator and  support
for 'burst memory'.  The  current
version runs at 10 Mhz  and  will
run existing Z80 software with no
additional development. (A 25 Mhz
version is coming in 1988..  some
'old'  CP/M  systems  may  see  a
sudden quantum leap in speed with
those installed!)

(1)....IBM has been shipping  its
new Model 30 PC with 3.5in.  disk
(but not the multiuser  operating
system, OS/2) and it is the usual
unexciting offering we have  come
to expect from  'Big  Blue'.  The
screen resolution IS  better  and
the high end (Models 50,  60  and
80)  will  have   'micro-channel'
architecture allowing  16  or  32
bits of data I/O to  &  from  the
80286 (or 80386...  depending  on
model).

<<<<<<<<<  SOFTWARE  >>>>>>>>>>

(1)....MicroType,    an    MS-DOS
program  from  EPSON  Canada,  is
supposed to produce LASER QUALITY
text on Epson 24  pin  dot-matrix
printers.  It  works   with   any
wordprocessor that produces ASCII
files.

(1)....University   of    Alberta
Hospitals   are    reaping    the
benefits      of       developing
fully-integrated,       real-time
software   primarily   addressing
patient reporting needs.  Several
sites in Albera have licenced the
system    and    L'Hopital     du
Sacre-Coeur  in  Montreal  has  a
French-language version.

(1)....ISAC  2200  comes   on   a
plug-in card for IBM PC/XT/AT and
compatible   computers   and   is
designed to prevent  unauthorized
access to (or through!)  the  PC.
If the PC is turned on or  reset,
ISAC automatically  requests  and
checks the user ID  and  password
BEFORE booting the DOS. Since  it
also automatically  encrypts  ALL
DATA   written   to   disk   (and
automatically decrypts data  when
read), the data disks are secured
too. It allows for several  users
to  use  the   same   PC,   while
restricting access to those files
for which the user is authorized.

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

<<<<<<<<  REFERENCES  >>>>>>>>>

(1) Data Product News
         May 1987