Night Owl 9/Night Owl CD-ROM (NOPV9) (Night Owl Publisher) (1993).ISO/034a/cnews328.zip/CNEWS328

Text File | 1993-03-29 | 341KB | 5,701 lines

Computer News from Bundy Chanock MARCH 28, 1993
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Banking System Fast-Tracks Foreign Currencies

An Australian software developer is seeking international distribution
for its international monetary exchange package. IntermoneX processes
international banking products including foreign currency notes,
travellers checks, international drafts, and telegraphic transfers.
Developed on Sun Microsystems' hardware, it is claimed to be the first
international monetary exchange system based on graphical representation
and capable of running stand-alone or on a network. Developers IMX
Consulting Pty Ltd are specialists in providing systems to the banking
and finance sectors. Managing director, Jim Bacskos, said Inter-moneX is
already installed in the Australian bank ANZ.

The latest version was produced in partnership with Sun as part of Sun's
R&D investment in Australian information technologies. This investment
is part of Sun's Partnerships for Development agreement with the
Australian Government. The software was developed under INGRES
Windows/4GL development system and the INGRES database. It is claimed to
be platform-independent. The system automatically calculates exchange
amounts, commissions, and associated charges, updates inventory
holdings, and produces printed checks or payment transmission messages
as necessary. This is designed to aid not only bank officers but also
hotel, airline, and other travel staff to minimize the normal
frustrations and problems suffered by foreign travellers dealing in
foreign currencies. One feature is the ability to display any foreign
banknote onscreen to aid in identification.
---

Australian Telecom Conference Set For May

The Australian Telecommunications Users Group (ATUG) will hold its tenth
annual conference of the telecommunications industry in Sydney over May
10th to 13th. It consists of a number of conference strands as well as a
major exhibition. ATUG has said the conferences is aimed at all
personnel involved in the business of telecommunications and information
technologies, and management who need to upgrade their knowledge of
modern telecommunications services. It promises to show "technology that
will emerge over the next decade; how to implement technology to
increase business productivity; the latest telecommunications services;
the benefits of competitive telecommunications; and who the
telecommunications industry players are." As a special treat for
delegates, the movie "Sneakers" will be screened after the cocktail
party. It shows communications security and toll fraud.

Papers to be presented deal with communications and the law, social
issues, dealing with carriers, multimedia, fibre, wireless networks,
EDI, the future of the modem, and data networking. Full registration
costs AUS$1075 (around US$770) and accommodation packages are available
for AUS$135 or AUS$95 per night at hotels near to the Darling Harbour
conference site.
---

Sigma Offers Sound Cards

Sigma Designs has unveiled Winstorm, its first multimedia card system
for the PC. The card, which supports 16-bit CD quality sound with
accelerated Windows graphics, is claimed to the first of its type in the
industry, According to the London card specialist, around five percent
of all PC users are upgrading to multimedia PC technology, a figure that
is projected to reach the 50 percent mark within three years. The
company claims that Winstorm provides two features that users are
looking for -- true color video and a CD quality sound, all on one card.

"The minimum standard multimedia PC requires an eight-bit sample size
which only provides the dynamic range of AM broadcast radio. That is at
best only adequate for speech, not for music," explained Pier Del Frate,
Aptec's director of marketing, who added that the card's 16-bit audio
system is about equal to CD quality. "Users can easily tell the
difference," he said. Del Frate added that PC sound is rapidly
advancing, as is the plug-in card technology that supports it. "Today,
sound is being supported by a growing number of business applications,
spurred on by the introduction of Windows 3.1, making Winstorm's
video/sound combination a productivity and quality enhancement for most
PC users," he said.

So what other benefits are there from a 16-bit sound board? According to
Del Frate, the ability to add digital sound files to business reports
(e.g. the spoken word) and internal mail makes for much more effective
communications in a company. The Winstorm Super VGA card is based on a
new AVGA3/5422 VGA controller from Acumos/Cirrus Logic and, according to
the company, delivers up to 24-bit 16.8 million pixels color video
images for "effective photo-realistic video imaging on PCs." Bundled
with the UK 399 card is Make Your Point, a Windows-based presentation
application from Asymetrix that adds sound and animation to
presentations; MCS Musicrack, a Windows-based utility for controlling
multimedia hardware in the same way as a home hi-fi; and Music Library,
a collection of MIDI music and sounds from Midisoft.
---

Radius Unveils "Swedish" Low-Radiation Monitors

Radius has announced a series of monochrome displays that it claims are
designed to meet the Swedish MPR II specifications for display system
emissions. The new units also include built-in anti-reflective
anti-static monitor screens. Announcing the monitors, Keith Harris,
Radius UK's managing director, said that they were specially developed
for the European market, and in particular, the Swedish marketplace.
"These systems meet or exceed the guidelines of the Swedish
specification for monitor emissions, one of the most comprehensive
specifications for emission characteristics," he said.

Three monitors are initially available: the full-page display at UKP
595, the pivot at UKP 795, and two-page display 21E at UKP 1,395. The
first two monitors are direct replacements for the existing model,
although the third is complementary to the existing standard two page
Display/21 which costs UKP 1,095.
---

India's Copyright Act Being Amended

Certain sections of the Copyright Act pertaining to software are being
amended to conform to international norms, the Secretary, Department of
Electronics (Government of India), N. Vittal, said recently. A mandatory
punishment of one-month imprisonment and a fine of Rs 50,000 for
violators, are part of the proposals under consideration. A clause to
empower enforcement authorities to conduct search and arrest would also
be included, he added. The DoE, he said, has recommended the setting up
of special courts to expedite settlement of software piracy cases. DoE
has also set up a national committee for the effective enforcement of
the Copyright Act.

The industry, on the other hand, has set up the Indian Federation
Against Software Theft to initiate cases against software piracy. Annual
revenue loss due to piracy is estimated at $25 million in India, while
the figure is $10 billion worldwide. According to a spokesperson of
NASSCOM (the National Association of Software and Service Companies)
some 60 percent of the computer users in the country use some amount of
pirated software. Vittal said the government should exempt computer
software from import duty to help fight illegal copying. Customs duty on
software stands at 85 percent.
---

Incremental Linker For SPARC From PURE Software

Pure Software Inc., whose award winning "Purify" software package has
impressed the entire software development world even though it only runs
on SPARC-based workstations, announced at Uniforum that it has developed
an incremental linker to speed software development. "Purify" is a
debugging and testing package that takes precompiled object code and
reverse engineers it to insert debugging code that checks for common
programming errors such as bad array indexing and memory stomping. The
source code is not needed, and people using Purify have reported finding
errors in packages of other software vendors just by using the system.
Since Purify works at link-time -- the phase where the various compiled
parts of a large software program are molded together -- it made the
linking process rather slow. Large software packages can take a long
time to link under any circumstances, even though they can be compiled
in small modules.

Incremental linking requires more disk storage, but allows the system to
store partial information so that one new module can be compiled and
linked with all others without the full recalculation of all
relationships between data used in all modules. The result is the
ability to make changes in programs and produce a new working version
very quickly.
---

AT&T Presents Unix Awards

Before passing ownership of Unix off to Novell, AT&T and its subsidiary
Unix System Laboratories hosted the "Unix Awards" during the 1993
Uniforum Conference last week. The slick awards presentation, with fancy
video effects and dinner for 600 Unix luminaries and members of the
press, included appearances by most of the major players in the Unix
marketplace. The nominees and winners were many. One of the most
respected presenters was Dennis Ritchie, who was not himself given an
award because in a sense he sits in Unix world status above all those
who received them. Ritchie and Ken Thompson were the authors of the
original Unix system, and Ritchie was also pivotal in the development of
the C programming language which is the basis of almost all major
systems and application programming in the Unix and microcomputer worlds
today.

Ritchie, a man nobody could fire, took a humourous swipe at his
employers during his presentation of the awards for Lifetime Achievement
in the Unix community. Sharing the podium with USL CEO Roel Pieper, he
pretended to read the name of Federal Judge Dickinson Debevoise from the
cards. The judge recently ruled strongly against an attempted injunction
sought by USL against the University of California at Berkeley and small
software firm BSDI to halt the sale of a new operating system based on
the software developed at UCB. USL alleged the violations includes
copyrighted code and trade secrets from an old version of Unix. Some
laughed. Some didn't.

Mike Azzara, editor of Open Systems Today magazine, led off the awards
and also won one for himself later in the evening. His opening address
called Unix the "promiscuous" operating system in the metaphorical
sense. Azzara expressed well a theme that would be heard from others at
the conference. Unix, by being open, promiscuous, and breeding with all
comers, has become the product of "superior evolution" according to
Azzara. He likened it to a life form that has been free to grow and
improve, in contrast to operating systems that are controlled by one
company. Winners in the "Academic Drivers" category of awards included:
Mike DeFazio, USL; Robert Fabry, CSRG at UCB; Deborah Scherrer, LBL; Bob
Schiefler, X Consortium. For Unix Evanglism: Bob Marsh, Uniforum;
Amrando Stettner, DEC. Technology: Steve Bourne, Vinton Cerf, Jon
Mashey, Eric Schmidt Standards: Jim Bell, Walter De Backer, Heinz
Lycklama Applications: Frame Technology, Informix, Oracle, Sybase Global
Market Builders: Larry Crume of Lotus, Geoff Morris of X/Open; Yoshiro
Yoshioka of Fujitsu Special Distinction: Mike Azzara, Open Systems
Today; Maureen O'Gara, Unigram/X; Ed Taylor, Pencom Lifetime
Achievement: Pamela Gray, Uniforum; Bill Joy, Sun; Doug Michaels, SCO

Honored for business commitment among vendors was HP, SCO, Sun, among
users was Burlington Coat Factory, DHL, Federal Express, Hyatt,
Wal-Mart. After the presentation, Open Systems Today hosted a party
featuring a "musical comedy" which was, to put it kindly, embarassingly
bad, however it did feature some pleasant moments when special guests
such as Scott McNeally of Sun made a little fun of their own companies.
---

New Blow To Cray

After a eight-year wait for a Cray-YMP supercomputer, the Indian
Institute of Science (IISc), situated in Bangalore, has decided to opt
for a network of computers. Having received government approval for a Rs
1.8 billion (around $60 million) system, IISc' supercomputer education
and research center (SERC) is evaluating tender bids for six computers
to act as servers on the network.

It will also purchase more than 40 workstations and about 16
single-board computing engines to be networked in parallel architecture.
A fiber optic network will link these systems with SERC's existing
computers (Cyber 992, VAX 8810 and Control Data 4360) and terminals in
various departments. The tender specifications called for a shared
memory high performance system that has the facility to connect up to
four processors with vector processing or superscalar capabilities, with
individual processors having 120 million floating point operations per
seconds (MFLOPS) peak rating. It also invited quotations for a fiber
distributed data interface (FDDI) local area network working at a
minimum transmission speed of 100 megabit per second for a fiber optic
network to link SERC's existing machines.

Among those who bid are Tata-Elxsi (India) Ltd., that has offered Power
Challenge, the latest machine from Silicon Graphics, and Wipro Infotech
with a high-end system from Convex. Digital Equipment India Ltd., is
believed to have volunteered its Cray YMP-EL for the shared memory
performance. The Baby Cray is only about one-seventh as powerful as the
top-of-the-line Cray YMP C-90, but can take up to four processors, with
each processor having a peak rating of 133 MFLOPS. Also in the race are
IBM Singapore, HCL Hewlett-Packard, DCM Data Products, Electronics
Corporation of India Ltd., and OMC Computers Ltd.

However, there is a fear of even these alternatives will be blocked by
the US Department of Commerce. India's refusal to sign the Nuclear
Non-proliferation Treaty and the Missile Technology Control Regime is
seen as the main reason for the apprehensions. The US Department of
Commerce rates computers by their composite theoretical performance
(CTP), an index of the total power of all the processors in the
computer. Only computers with a CTP rating of below 12.5 million
theoretical operations per second (MTOPS) can be sold to India without
clearance from the Department. The department also regulates computers
ordered in bulk to be connected in a network, the CTP rating for export
clearance would be for all computers on the network and for individuals.
Since the CTP rating according to the SERC requirements will go well
over 100, the apprehensions are valid.
---

AutoPlan II -- Project Mgm't For Unix

Project management software is being used increasingly in corporate
computing environments in an effort to organize large projects. Designed
with those workgroup computing capabilities in mind, Digital Tools has
introduced AutoPlan II, which it claims is the first project management
software "designed to solve the problem of managing large projects where
data are located on various platforms in various geographical
locations." Steve Farnsworth, spokesman for the company, told IDG that,
"It is designed as a workgroup product." He said it can also be used as
a stand-alone product. However, "There are an awful lot of stand-alone
products on the market. Project management products are historically
designed as a single user-type products, sometimes forced into
multi-user environments. Given that projects are dynamic in nature, and
that you need to have multiple people involved in the planning and
tracking process, AutoPlan II was designed as a workgroup product from
the ground up."

The company says that the software provides the foundation for a new
open systems project management architecture for workgroups that Digital
Tools plans to release in 1993. AutoPlan II features a graphical user
interface along with project planning and scheduling capabilities. In
announcing the product, Phillip F. Whalen Jr., claims that AutoPlan II
provides the first project management package for Unix that automates
tasks such as planning and tracking projects graphically, managing
multiple projects, and managing and reporting resource requirements. The
software also supports interactive querying. Jim O'Hare, Digital Tools
product manager for AutoPlan II, said: "Project changes were previously
communicated by paper, electronic-mail, telephone, or meetings. Now
managers can enter changes to a project within AutoPlan II, and team
members will be updated instantaneously."

Talking about why a company would use project management software,
Farnsworth told IDG that fierce market competition is a major driving
force. "Optimizing your time and your effort is real critical -
especially time-to-market issues. Unless you have everybody doing things
at the right time and in the right sequence, you can miss windows of
opportunity." The company says that the architecture is designed to
allow other tools or applications to either supply information to the
software, or extract data from it - even across a computer network.
AutoPlan II does this by using filters that enable it to incorporate
data to and from the leading Macintosh and Windows project management
applications. AutoPlan II supports the Motif graphical user interface
(GUI). It will be available this month for Sun Microsystems
workstations, other SPARC-based systems, and Hewlett-Packard Series 700
workstations. An Open Look GUI version of the software is scheduled for
release in second quarter 1993. Pricing starts at $1,495 and multi-user
versions start at $2,995.
---

More On Unix Vendors' Common Interface Alliance

With the dust settling after the 1993 Uniforum show, the big news of the
show was undoubtedly the joint announcement by most major Unix vendors
to adhere to a new standard for user interaction dubbed the Common Open
Software Environment, or COSE. For some time there has been a split in
the Unix community, with two main camps defining user interface and
operating system standards. The OSF, supported by DEC, IBM, and most
others pushed for the adoption of its OSF/1 operating system and Motif
user interface (based on X windows.) Unix International, the venture of
Sun Microsystems and AT&T's Unix System Laboratories (soon to be
Novell's USL) pushed for an interface standard named Open Look and the
SVR4 Unix operating system. At Uniforum, HP, IBM, Sun, SCO, USL and
several others agreed to support the new COSE effort, which is based on
Motif. Several other standards are included, such as HP's Visual User
Environment and elements of Open Look. The key is that all vendors will
support the environment and thus application developers will have only
one interface to program.

Also significant is that the standard will be administered not by either
of the warring factions, but by the X/Open Consortium. X/Open has
existed for some time issuing standards for Unix graphical workstations.
It now has more powerful teeth. Missing from the proposal, however, is
standardization on the underlying operating system, and as such there
will still be problems coding for the System V-based systems from UI,
USL and SCO and the University of California at Berkeley "BSD" and
OSF-based systems. Sun CEO Scott McNealy, who had fought against Motif,
made light of Sun's turnaround, playing at having difficulty saying the
word "M-m-m-m-motif" at the press conference. Members of the new COSE
group also invited Microsoft to join, but there was doubt this would
happen. This action, seen as a positive step by almost all, was probably
driven by the threat of the new Windows NT operating system from
Microsoft. Many fear the encroachment of that powerful company into the
workstation market that Unix has owned. DEC, which has also issued
statements of support for Windows NT, was not on the platform supporting
COSE, but it is free to use the standard if it wishes.
---

Yokogawa Hewlett-Packard Moving Offices

Yokogawa Hewlett-Packard, a joint venture of Yokogawa Electric and
Hewlett-Packard, says it will start a major renovation of its offices in
Tokyo. The firm will move its offices to the suburbs of Tokyo to save
money. The new offices are located in Hachioji. Yokogawa Hewlett-Packard
will spend about 15 billion yen ($125 million) on the move, and
construction of the new buildings will start in June 1994. About 1,800
employees at its management departments will be transferred to these
office. This is a third of the firm's total employees in Japan. Yokogawa
Hewlett-Packard will also close its Tokyo sales office this April and
will move about 400 people at this office to another office in Fuchu, a
suburb of Tokyo. Yokogawa Hewlett-Packard's Hachioji office has 33,000
square meters, which is quite large for the average Japanese firm. It is
currently producing workstations and semiconductor inspection devices.
These plants will also be renovated by 1996. The land price and rental
fees are extremely high in the center of Tokyo. Yokogawa Hewlett-Packard
claims it will be able to save about 30 billion yen ($250 million) with
this renovation plan in the next 15 years.
---

AST Research Releases Low-Cost PCs

AST Research Japan has released a low-cost personal computer line that
is lower in cost that Dell Computer's PCs, which used hold the title of
the least expensive PCs in the Japanese market. AST Research Japan has
released four lines of PCs with 18 models. These PCs are the entry-level
"Bravo," the powerful desktop "Premier" models, the notebook-type the
"Power Executives," and the tower server-type called "Premier SE." The
Bravo 4 has a 33-megahertz 80486DX processor, and costs 149,000 yen
($1,240) to 1,413,000 yen ($11,775), depending on the models. The
entry-level model is 20,000 yen ($170) cheaper than one from Dell
Computer with the same configuration. All of AST's latest computers,
including the desktop and the notebook-type models, are equipped with an
80486 processor, and support the DOS/V operating system. The Premier has
5 ports of 32-bit expansion bus called the EISA. It can be equipped with
a hard disk up to 8 gigabytes in capacity.

There are two types of notebook-type PCs. One is a monochrome version
and the other is a color version with a TFT (thin film transistor) LCD.
They can be used continuously for 6.5 hours with an internal rechargable
battery. AST Research Japan will also beef up its PC maintenance
services by providing on-site service starting this May. The firm will
also provide pre-installation service of DOS/V and MS-Windows. The
actual shipment of these new PCs will be on April 19.
---

Sony, Kyocera Heavy Into LCDs

Sony is planning to enter the small-LCD market with an advanced 0.7-inch
LCD (liquid crystal display) for various devices including viewfinders
of camcorders. Kyocera is also preparing to produce more LCDs, and wants
to double production by the end of this year. Sony's latest small LCDs
are called the SIPPLIX (Sony Integrated Polysilicon Liquid X'tal). The
NTSC version of this LCD supports a whopping 103,000 pixels and the PAL
version supports 123,000 pixels. These active matrix LCDs provide clear
images and quick screen responses, despite the small size of the
screens. Sony is currently creating production lines for the small-LCDs.
These production lines will produce some 200,000 units per month. To
start, Sony will ship 60,000 units per month from these production
lines.

Meanwhile, Kyocera's plan to double production of its color LCDs by the
end of this year, from a current 3,000 units being shipped per month.
These are mainly shipped for overhead projectors but their use in PCs is
increasing. The firm will also ship these color LCDs to the US.
Kyocera's LCDs are STN (super twist nematic) type, which is slightly
inferior to TFT (thin film transistor) as far as the screen image is
concerned. However, they are cheaper than that the TFTs. Kyocera's color
LCDs are 10-inches in size, support 640 x 480 pixels, and are 10-mm
thick. The response speed of these LCDs is 100 millisecond, a speed
capable of supporting major software, including Windows.

Kyocera will spend 1.5 to 1.6 billion yen (around $12.5 million) for a
new production line for color LCDs at its plant. The firm will also ship
more monochrome-type LCDs. Total sales of LCDs in the worldwide market
is about $3.3 billion for 1992, according to the Nikkei newspaper. The
LCD market is expected to be worth about $6.8 billion within two years.
---

East And West Coasts To Meet In Computer Bowl Tie-Breaker

With the score tied at two all, high tech leaders from the East and West
Coasts are gearing up for combat in the next round of the Computer Bowl,
to be held May 14 in San Jose and televised nationally in late May and
June. The team that wins this match will reign supreme until next year,
when the Most Valuable Players, or highest individual point scorers, of
all five previous bowls will test their knowledge of computer trivia in
the Ultimate Championship Computer Bowl. Produced by the Computer Museum
of Boston and presented by the Association for Computing Machinery, the
Computer Bowl integrates the elements of a TV game show, sports contest,
and social event.

Proceeds from company sponsorships go to support the Computer Museum's
125 exhibits, three theaters, historical computer and robot collections,
and other educational programs. The site of the Computer Bowl fluctuates
between East Coast and West, depending on which team is the current
title holder. Because the West Coast grabbed the spoils at the 1992 Bowl
in Boston, the location shifts this year to the San Jose Civic
Auditorium. Taking back the title will pose no problem, predicted East
Coast Captain Mitchell E. Kertzman. "Our team has superior intellect,
more relevant experience, quicker reflexes, better verbal skills,
sharper wits, and better looks.

"If the West Coast actually shows up, we'll just kick butt, but in the
stylish, dignified way that characterizes our modest approach," said
Kertzman, who is also president and CEO of Powersoft Corp. But the East
Coast bravado fails to convince West Coast Captain Dr. Harry J. Saal.
"With the momentum and home team advantage on our side, not to mention
the positive karma we get from our superior West Coast climate, we'll
roll over and crush the East again this year," retorted Saal, who is
president, CEO and chairman of Network General Corp. "Those guys will be
out driving cabs Monday morning." Neither East nor West Coast is likely
to be giving out its strategy ahead of time. But last year, each team
tried to build a competitive edge by dressing up as the other side. A
spokesperson told IDG that the East Coast wore T-shirts and carried
skateboards, while the West Coast was outfitted in formal shirts,
jackets and ties.

Local and regional fans will be able to root for their teams, even
without going to San Jose. Hosted by Stewart Cheifet, executive producer
of "Computer Chronicles," the Bowl will be telecast live to both Seattle
and the Computer Museum in Boston, and then rebroadcast nationally over
PBS. Bill Gates, chairman of Microsoft, will be asking the questions.
The judging will be done by 1992 West Coast Captain John F. Shoch,
general partner, Asset Management Company, and 1992 East Coast MVP Dr.
David L. Nelson, chairman, Fluent Inc. Joining Kertzman on the East
Coast team will be John F. Burton, president and CEO, Legent Corp.; Neil
J. Colvin, senior vice president and chief technology officer, Phoenix
Technologies Ltd.; Alain Hanover, chairman, president and CEO, Viewlogic
Systems Inc., and Patricia B. Seybold, president and CEO, Patricia
Seybold Group.

Saal's cohorts on the West Coast team will consist of Jean-Louis Gassee,
chairman and CEO, Be Corp.; Jerry Kaplan, chairman and co- founder, GO
Corp.; Michael A. McConnell, president and CEO, SuperMac Inc., and Lisa
G. Thorell, director and principal analyst, Client/Server Computing
Service, Dataquest. In a special pregame show, MVPs of previous Bowls
will get a warm-up for the 1994 Championship event. West Coast
participants will include Microsoft's Gates; Bill Joy, vice president of
R&D, Sun Microsystems Inc.; Dave Liddle, president and CEO, Interval
Research Corp., and Jeffrey C. Kalb, president, MasPar Computer Corp.
Representing the East Coast will be past MVPs Mitchell Kapor, chairman,
Electronic Frontier Foundation Inc.; Bob Frankston, product creator,
Slate Corp.; author Pamela McCorduck, and Dr. David L. Nelson. According
to the spokesperson, the Bowl offers five levels of sponsorship to
interested companies: presenter, underwriter, sponsor, satellite, and
table. "Robots and Other Smart Machines," an artificial intelligence
exhibit on display since February, is one example of the kinds of
programs the Bowl helps to support at the Computer Museum.

Coming to the museum April 1 is a new exhibit on programming
languages, "From Words to Code: How People Make Computers Work."
PBS will be airing Part I of the Computer Bowl during the week of
May 25 to 31, and Part II during the week of June 1 through 7.
---

Correction - OnLine Bookstore Offers `Electronic Lit'

OnLine Bookstore has asked IDG to correct some errors that appeared in
the story "Online Bookstore Offers `Electronic Lit' Over Internet" on
March 19. John Ashbery has one "r" in his name, not two. The correct
title of Bernice Chesler's book is "Bed & Breakfast in New England."
"The Internet Companion: A Beginner's Guide to Global Networking," is by
Tracy LaQuey with Jeanne C. Ryer. OnLine Bookstore is releasing a new
essay from Gregory Stock about his forthcoming book Metaman, not the
book itself. Robert Coover's Pricksongs and Descants is a collection of
stories, rather than a novel. OnLine Bookstore also notes that a series
of lengthy power outages in Brookline, MA has delayed its posting of the
Ashbery and Coover data and voice files. The files were originally
scheduled to be posted by March 19.
---

International Telecom Update

With the smashing victory of conservatives in French elections,
attention has once more turned toward privatizing phone companies
worldwide. The fever has struck Europe full-force. The Dutch government
will sell most of its PT, with the first piece to be sold next year.
Western investment bankers are hustling to win the business of taking
the PTT private so it can compete more closely with British Telecom. The
Major government will sell the rest of British Telecom later this year.
The big spending by investors, however, will come in Germany, where the
Deutsche Bundespost Telekom is moving toward the private sector. In
Asia, privatization is also moving ahead. Bankers are looking hard at
Singapore Telecom, with the government claiming their response will
dictate its future moves toward selling state-owned boards. The ST sale
is due to take place in September, with local citizens to be sold stock
at a discount, with the provision they hold it for some time. Even
Pakistan is moving to sell a 26 percent stake in its Pakistan
Telecommunications Corporation.

That's only half the stake the country was planning to sell, thanks to a
low valuation put on it by consultants Coopers and Lybrand, and even
before that, security systems will be spun-off into a new entity,
cutting the price even further. But it remains significant as a
pace-setter for the Muslim world at a time of high anti-Western feeling.
And the risk remains high in many Third World privatization moves.
Bulgaria, which had just signed with Sprint to open a private packet
network, fired its telecommunications chief for disloyalty after he
spoke at an anti-government meeting. The tourism minister replaces him,
and there's no word on the possible policy impact of the change. Even if
policy-makers plot a steady course, bribery can change financial
equations.

Argentina's Telecom and Telefonica phone units are now being hurt by
Italy's political scandals, as charges have been made that bribes were
paid in the late 1980s. The charges come as Argentina approaches a new
round of elections. Contracts continue to be let worldwide. Satellite
Technology Management Inc., won a $3 million contract from the
International Civil Aviation Organization for an upgrade to Ecuador's
air traffic control network. Ericsson of Sweden won a new $30 million
digital switch contract with Liaoning Province in China. And Yazaki
Electric Wire announced a joint venture with AT&T of the US to sell its
fiber cable in Japan. Luther Boggs, who heads the company's cable unit
in Norcross, Georgia, will be the chairman of the new venture.
---

11 Million Business Database On America Online

American Business Information Inc., best known for its mailing lists,
has turned its database into an online service called Business America
Online. The company's listings of 11 million businesses will now be
fully searchable for just 50 cents per minute, product manager, Gina
Cronican told IDG. Searches will be offered based on type of business,
geographic area, company name, and phone number, making the system a
complete reverse-directory service. Cronican said the company plans to
offer gateways to other companies offering services of interest to
businesses, with licensing arrangements to be negotiated. The company
will get a fast start toward marketing the system, since it has 300,000
customers already. The company said in a press statement those customers
have expressed enthusiasm about the service. "We're still hammering out
policies on gateways but we're looking to people coming in to us and
tapping into other services," she added.
---

FCC Gives Go-Ahead For 1st CDMA Phone

The Code Division Multiple Access, or CDMA, digital phone system came
closer to reality as the first phone using the system was cleared for
manufacture by the Federal Communications Commission. Qualcomm, whose
standard for the service is now being considered by the
Telecommunications Industry Association, said its CD-3000 Mobile Phone
has received FCC Type Acceptance. PacTel, US West, and Bell Atlantic
have all said they will begin offering digital services using Qualcomm's
version of CDMA, which sends digital information that can be translated
into calls throughout a cellular calling channel. A competing network
endorsed by the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association, called
Time Division Multiple Access, or TDMA, divides a calling channel into
three parts and sends separate data streams through each part. The Type
certification is a technical standard designed to assure that there is
minimal interference with other radio frequencies, not an assurance of
safety. Lawsuits charge that all hand-held cellular phones emit radio
frequencies near the ear which can cause cancer. Companies licensed by
Qualcomm to produce CDMA phones include Alps, Mitsubishi, Motorola,
Nokia, Oki, Sony, Panasonic and AT&T.
---

Software Piracy Abounds At DoD

The Office of the Inspector General recently dropped a bombshell on
Washington when it published "Controls over Copyrighted Computer
Software," the results of a survey of 22 Department of Defense sites.
Despite the fact that the IG notified each location in advance that it
was going to be examined for possible software piracy, more than half of
the 1,000-plus PCs inspected contained undocumented and possibly illegal
software. Leaving aside the question of just what the Inspector
General's Office expected to prove by a pre-announced investigation,
these appalling results show that the Software Publishers Association is
certainly not crying wolf when it keeps telling us that illegal copying
and use of commercial software is a major problem for the industry. The
US Department of Defense is quite probably the world's largest single
computer hardware and software user, so a finding of major improprieties
in the way it manages computer software licenses is a very big deal.

According to the March 15 issue of Government Computer News, the Deputy
Assistant Secretary of Defense for Information Systems, Cynthia Kendall,
agrees that there is some unauthorized use of copyrighted software, but
she told a GCN reporter that The Pentagon feels that the problem is
mostly due to mistakes rather than willful copyright law violations. A
number of the programs which appeared to be pirated copies might just be
improperly accounted -- that is, the program may be purchased and fully
licensed but the proper documentation is missing. This could be a major
factor because of the common practice of buying site licenses rather
than individual programs for large installations.

Of course, there is no real way to tell for certain right now if this
incredibly high percentage of DoD computers apparently running illegal
software is just a fluke due to sloppy accounting or is an actual view
of how bad the problem is, but, considering the fact that the department
managers were all notified of the time and purpose of the audit, it
seems incredible that so many apparent problems remained for the
Inspector General to find. The Army, Navy, and Air Force all had about
the same percentage of MS-DOS computers harboring undocumented software
and the same number of undocumented programs per computer. The average
computer with an apparently illegal program had two such programs, so,
based on the survey which found that one in two computers was in
probable violation of software copyright laws, that means that there is
about one illegal or potentially illegal copy of commercial software for
every PC in the Department of Defense.

The Software Publishers Association recognizes the difficulties faced by
computer managers who must track dozens or even hundreds of programs and
licenses and publishes special guidelines which are intended to help
managers cope with the situation. One major problem often encountered
occurs when a computer is handed down to another employee but not all of
the commercial software is deleted. In some cases, the new user never
accesses the extra programs and therefore isn't technically in violation
of most software licence agreements, but the mere presence of the extra
program on a computer makes it appear that it is being used.
---

GSA Disclosure Demands Remain Onerous

With all the problems involved in The Pentagon's years-long attempt to
negotiate and award the important Desktop IV microcomputer contract, it
is important to point out that the General Services Administration, the
federal agency which negotiates the GSA Schedule Contracts that agencies
use to standardize computer buys in the absence of a viable Desktop IV
contract, is also embroiled in a major ongoing feud with vendors. Since
there are a number of companies anxious to sell microcomputers and
software to federal buyers, it might seem reasonable to the average
person that the sheer competition would ensure that agencies pay the
lowest prices possible. Apparently, though, the GSA doesn't think that
competition is enough and the agency spends a great deal of time and
money trying to determine just how much everyone else pays for specific
hardware and software.

Not only does this appear to many industry observers as a massive waste
of time and money, it also causes a lot of delays in approving contract
prices and has eliminated some competition by companies which declined
to sell "on the schedule" to government agencies specifically because
they feel that the GSA wants too much confidential sales information.
Because of the size of the government market the GSA presumably feels
that it can command and receive details of internal company operations
that no other buyer would even consider asking for. Among the discount
schedule and marketing data asked for by the GSA multiple award
microcomputer contracting department are: pricing and discount manuals;
company organization charts; actual sales price reports; lists of
customers; and copies of customer pricing agreements.

The usual pair of procurement reform Congressmen, Senator John Glenn
(D-Ohio), chairman of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, and
Representative John Conyers (D-Mich.), are again looking into the
possibility of holding hearings on the way the GSA arrives at multiple
award contracts, with an eye to simplifying the process. Government
Computer News reports that the First Circuit US Court of Appeals ruled
late last year that the GSA's information requests are "unrealistically
broad and impractical." That case was brought by Marlborough,
Massachusetts-based Data Translation, which sought to open up the GSA
bidding process by eliminating some of the GSA information requirements
which some manufacturers refuse to supply to vendors for inclusion in
GSA bids. Many vendors thought that the court ruling would cause the GSA
bidding process to open up a bit, but recent statements from the GSA
indicate that companies not disclosing all the information requested in
the GSA guidelines will probably be excluded from consideration for
multiple award contract awards.
---

Japan Chip Imports Hit 20.2% As Market Shrinks

At least for the next quarter, until new numbers come out, the Japanese
computer industry and government negotiators will not have to worry
about very many complaints concerning opening up their microchip market
to imports. Over the weekend the Japanese released an estimate that
foreign-manufactured microchips made up 20.2 percent of the total
domestic market for the last quarter of 1992. For years the US has been
pointing to the magic 20 percent number as having been agreed as the
quota the Japanese would buy, but never actually met. Although the
Japanese government has contended since a few days after the agreement
was negotiated that the 20 percent level was only a goal, not a firm
commitment, there is certain to be rejoicing in Tokyo as the Japanese
industry-compiled semiconductor report actually exceeded the magic
number, up dramatically from what had seemed a solid ceiling of about 16
percent.

Just last week the US imposed very weak punitive tariffs on South Korea
for "dumping" their semiconductor memory chips in other markets. This
practice means that the country's manufacturers were selling their chips
either below cost or at substantially lower costs in other countries
than then do within South Korea, making them unfairly competitive with
manufacturers in other countries. In the past the US has imposed massive
tariffs against Japanese-based semiconductor and other high-tech
manufacturers, tariffs which have had a major impact on availability and
prices of both expansion memory and completed personal computers here in
the US, so the announcement that Japanese imports actually met the 20
percent import goal was very important. Unfortunately, the total
Japanese purchases of semiconductors have dropped sharply because of a
severe Japanese and significant worldwide recession that has lowered the
demand for the sort of high-tech products which use silicon chips. A 20
percent share of the Japanese domestic chip market would be worth about
$4 billion when the country is experiencing strong economic growth.
---

Canadian Govt Funds R&D Projects

The Canadian government and several private companies, universities, and
research groups will support research into parallel computing and speech
recognition at the Centre de recherche informatique de Montreal (CRIM),
or Montreal Informatics Research Center. Canada's federal Ministry of
Industry, Science, and Technology will put a total of C$4.8 million into
the two projects, both of which are three-year undertakings. One project
will aim to develop technologies for recognizing natural spoken language
and continuous speech dictation in both English and French. The
government is contributing C$2.1 million to this project, which will
involve six partners, including CRIM, private firms Alex Informatique,
Tektrend, and CAE Electronics, the Centre de recherche industriel de
Quebec (CRIQ) and IREQ, the research arm of Hydro-Quebec. The total
budget for this project is about C$8 million, officials said.

Yves Normandin, project leader for the speech recognition work, said the
aim is not to produce complete systems but to develop technologies which
the project partners will then be able to commercialize afterward.
However, he said, the researchers will create two prototype systems to
test their work. The second project is aimed at developing
parallel-processing technology. The federal government will contribute
C$2.7 million of a total budget of about C$9 million. Other partners are
Alex Informatique, Digital Equipment of Canada, IBM Canada, and three
Montreal universities: Concordia, McGill, and University of Montreal.
The project will seek to adapt programming languages such as C and C++,
which are not now well suited to parallel processing, so that they can
be used on parallel systems, explained Dr. Jacob Slonim, head of
research in IBM Canada's Centre for Advanced Studies in Toronto.

Most of the work IBM has done with parallel processing up to now has
focused on scientific languages such as FORTRAN, Slonim said. This
project will concentrate on parallel-processing extensions to languages
more suited to business applications. Julian Lebensold, project leader
at CRIM for the parallel computing project, said the researchers will
develop technology that will be portable across various hardware
architectures. He described the work as "pre-competitive research" which
participating companies will be able to build on to create commercial
products later. It is early to say what commercial products might result
from the work, Slonim said, though "we hope, obviously" that the project
will produce saleable technology eventually.
---

IBM Launches New Pen-Based ThinkPad Model

The IBM Personal Computer Co., has replaced its pen-based ThinkPad Model
700T with an updated model offering a choice of operating systems,
support for the Personal Computer Memory Card Interface Association
(PCMCIA) standard, and the ability to attach an external color VGA
monitor. With the announcement of the ThinkPad Model 710T, IBM has added
to its own product line the PenDOS operating system, to which it
acquired rights from California-based Communication Intelligence last
September. IBM began licensing PenDOS to other hardware makers in
January. The company will also continue offering PenPoint, a pen-based
operating system from Go Corp. The ThinkPad Model 710T is to be
available in April in two versions. One version, the ThinkPad File,
comes with both PenDOS and PenPoint and with both Type II and Type III
PCMCIA slots (or three Type II slots). The other has one Type II PCMCIA
slot and a 60-megabyte hard disk and can be preloaded with one of the
operating systems or the other.

The new machine will replace the Model 700T, a company spokeswoman said.
The ThinkPad File model will cost $2,999, while the hard-drive version
will sell for $3,599 with PenDOS or $3,699 with PenPoint.
---

Canadian Product Launch Update

This regular feature, appearing every Monday or Tuesday, provides
further details for the Canadian market on announcements by
international companies that IDG has already covered. This week: IBM's
new ThinkPad and a Canadian representative for US-based Logicon, Inc.

IBM Canada Ltd. announced the new pen-based ThinkPad 710T
computer at the same time as its U.S. parent company (IDG,
March 22). In Canada, the ThinkPad File model will cost C$3,939,
while the hard-drive version will sell for C$4,747 with PenDOS or
C$4,848 with PenPoint.

California-based Logicon, Inc. announced that Megalith
Technologies Inc. of Ottawa will market its Logicon Message
Dissemination System (LMDS) in Canada. The LMDS identifies and
routes incoming information from one or more wire-service feeds
or other data sources based on predefined user profiles. Megalith
will sell it along with its own MegaText text-retrieval software.
---

NCR Chairman Williamson Leaving

Gilbert P. Williamson, who took over the helm at NCR when AT&T acquired
the computer firm in the fall of 1991, has announced his retirement. In
a statement issued by AT&T, the 55-year-old Williamson said he planned
to "give priority to my own personal interests." Williamson will step
down May 1, and will be succeeded by Jerre L. Stead, currently president
of AT&T's Global Business Communications Systems (GBCS). Stead will
assume the title of group executive-NCR and take Williamson's place on
AT&T's management executive committee and the company's operations
committee. The change of from chairman to group executive brings the NCR
boss's title in line with those of the heads of AT&T's three other main
business units, said spokeswoman Connie Olasz. It does not signal any
change in NCR's position within the organization or a difference between
Stead's new job description and Williamson's, she said.

Stead, in turn, will be succeeded by Patricia F. Russo, currently vice
president of national sales and service for the GBCS unit. Williamson,
who will not stand for re-election to the AT&T board of directors at the
company's annual meeting next month, will begin working with Stead
immediately to ensure an efficient hand-off of responsibilities, AT&T
Chairman Robert Allen said in a press release. Williamson joined the
Dayton, Ohio-based NCR in 1962 as a systems engineer. In 1986 he was
named executive vice-president and a member of NCR's executive office
with primary responsibility for the company's U.S. and international
marketing units. He was elected president and a member of the NCR board
in January 1988. After the AT&T acquisition he took over the chairman's
job from Charles Exley, who had fought AT&T's takeover attempt in a
protracted battle. Stead, 50, was chairman, president and chief
executive officer of Square D Company in Palatine, Ill., before joining
AT&T in September, 1991.

Russo, 39, spent eight years with IBM in various sales and
marketing management positions before joining AT&T in 1981.
---

Everex Cuts More Staff; Restructures

No one can doubt that Everex Systems is on the ropes and in danger of
losing its fight for survival. Two months after filing for bankruptcty
Chapter 11 protection, the company has cut another 150 staff and
restructured its product line. Reports in both UPI and the San Francisco
Chronicle suggest extensive restructuring will include discontinuing
most of its computer-peripherals products such as monitors and modems.
Other changes include outsourcing some production and the narrowing of
its distribution. The company does, however, plan to improve its
technical support and customer service. The company is also reported to
be getting out of the cut-throat low-end personal computer hardware
market, in favor of high-end systems and servers that carry a higher
profit margin.

The company is a major casualty of the fierce PC-hardware price war
between the major industry players: Compaq Computer, Dell Computer, and
even IBM. Lower prices have cut huge slices out of profit margins for
many companies. Companies such as Everex, which depend on PC sales for
most of their income, have been especially hard hit. IDG reported that
Everex filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January. At the
time the company had halved its workforce from the 1,850 employees it
had in June. As reported by IDG in December, estimated losses for Everex
for the fiscal year ended August 2, 1992, were between $80 and $120
million on sales of $503 million. At the time Mike Walen, spokesman for
Everex, told IDG that there were 875 employees left with the company.
Concerning future layoffs, Walen said: "There is no number planned. If
the question is 'Do we think that the business will continue to be
downsized?' It is first of all a decision to be made by the court now.
But it is likely." The new cuts, if substantiated, would leave the
company with around 500 employees.

According to UPI, Jack Kenney, chief executive officer for Everex, said,
"These actions are a result of several months work to determine the best
products and methods of distribution for Everex. The market has told us
what they expect from Everex and we have designed a plan to meet their
needs. The combination of our actions will deliver a focused package of
products and services to our customers." No-one was available from
Everex for comment by IDG dead-line.
---

3 New Apple Servers, New Appleshare, AppleSearch

Recognizing the importance of networking environments in today's
corporate computing architectures, Apple Computer has introduced three
new Apple Workgroup Servers. The company has also announced enhanced
versions of AppleShare file and print services with enhanced
performance, and AppleSearch, a new information access and retrieval
service for Macintosh workgroups. The Apple Workgroup Server 60, 80, and
95 are due to be unveiled at a worldwide launch at the CeBIT Computer
Faire, Hannover, Germany on March 25. They are designed for workgroups
ranging from five to hundreds, and can be configured for optimal file
and print performance or high performance relational database use. In
announcing the products, Apple's Enterprise Systems Division's Vice
President and General Manager Morris Taradalsky, said: "The new
Workgroup Server models are designed to provide extremely attractive
price/performance and significantly better return on investment for a
range of enterprises, from K-12 school districts all the way through
major industrial corporations."

The Apple Workgroup Server 60 uses a Motorola 20 megahertx (MHz) 68040
microprocessor and comes with 8 megabytes (MB) of RAM, which is
expandable to 68MB. It also includes a built-in Apple SuperDrive,
built-in Ethernet networking, and a choice of 230MB or 500MB hard
drives. Pricing with 8MB of RAM and 230MB hard drive is $3,079. The
Apple Workgroup Server 80 includes a 33MHz 68040 and comes with 8MB of
RAM as standard, expandable to 136MB, interleaved. It also has a
built-in Apple SuperDrive and built-in Ethernet. The hard drive options
are 500MB or 1000MB. Pricing with 8MB of RAM and 500MB hard drive is
$6,399. The high-end Apple Workgroup Server 95 includes a 33MHz 68040
and 16MB of parity RAM, expandable to 256MB. It also includes a built-in
Apple SuperDrive and built-in Ethernet. The choice of hard drives are
230MB, 500MB, or 1000MB. Pricing for the 95 with 16MB of RAM, 230MB hard
drive, and 128 kilobyte second-level memory cache, is $7,589.

The company has also unveiled Version 4.0 of both AppleShare and
AppleShare Pro, designed for scalable, high-performance file and print
services for Apple Macintosh-mainly workgroups. A new product, AppleTalk
Connection for DOS and Windows, which is based on PhoneNET PC from
Farallon Computing, has also been introduced. The software allows cross
platform file and print services for mixed Macintosh and PC workgroups.
AppleTalk Connection for DOS and Windows allows PC users to access files
stored on Workgroup Servers, along with other AppleShare servers, by
providing an AppleTalk network connection for Windows and DOS computers.
This allows them to access file servers and printers on the network. The
product supports Ethernet, LocalTalk and Token Ring networks. The
company has also introduced AppleSearch, designed to allow users "easy"
access to large libraries of documents on file servers without having to
learn "complicated search commands."

According to Apple, the product offers features found on high-end
bibliographic information retrieval software. The technology uses a
relevance ranking algorithm to, according to Apple, "ensure the
information retrieved is of most value for the user." Said Taradalsky,
"AppleSearch is designed to deliver both easy access to unstructured
information and a way to present that information that is personalized
for individuals. The vast majority of information in any organization is
not in structured databases but rather in memos, letters, reports and
faxes stored on file servers. Prior to AppleSearch, users have had to
choose between relatively unsophisticated single-user search tools and
expensive, complex dedicated search and retrieval systems to find
information." AppleSearch is scheduled to ship in the third quarter of
1993, with pricing to be announced at that time.
---

Micrografx Cuts Jobs, Realigns Operations

Micrografx announced Friday that it is cutting 20 percent of its
workforce and realigning its worldwide operations in response to slow
sales. The company also said it has uncovered mismanagement of corporate
funds in its Japanese subsidiary that could result in a loss of
$500,000. As a result of the staff cuts 65 employees will lose their
jobs, and company chairman, Paul Grayson, said Micrografx will have to
adapt to an industry demanding high-quality products at lower prices.
"By reinventing ourselves, Micrografx will renew its focus on consumer,
business and professional customers." Grayson said the company will
eliminate activities which do not add value for the customer. The
company said it is setting a target of $8-$10 million annually in cost
reductions.

In addition to the staff reductions, Micrografx Chief Financial Officer
and Treasurer David R. Henkel, also a board member and executive vice
president, has resigned his position. Co-founder and former CFO Joseph
Kupke will assume the CFO position while the company seeks a permanent
replacement for Henkel. Micrografx says the manager of its Japanese
subsidiary Micrografx K.K. has "been separated," and an investigation is
ongoing into the loss. Provisions for it and the employee severance
costs will be taken in the fourth quarter. Hancock Institutional analyst
Ben Rose reportedly cut his rating on Micrografx to sell from buy, and
cut his 1993 earnings estimates for the company to a loss of $0.01 per
share from a profit of $0.32. Alex Brown and Sons downgraded its
Micrografx rating to neutral from buy, according to the British news
service Reuters. The company said it expects to report a loss for the
fourth quarter and the fiscal year, which ends March 31, 1993, as a
result of the slow sales.

Last year Micrografx reported record revenues and net income for the
fiscal year, with sales up 60 percent to $47.3 million, and net income
rising 24 percent to $5.1 million, or $0.65 per share. In November 1992
the company experienced a management shakeup when President and Chief
Operating Officer George D. Grayson resigned as an officer and director.
He was replaced by brother J. Paul Grayson. The company said it was
seeking a permanent successor. Micrografx products include ABC
Flowcharter, Graphics Works, Picture Publisher, Designer, Charisma,
OrgChart, PhotoMagic, Windows Draw, and Mirrors.
---

Intel Ships Pentium, Announces Details Today

Intel today announced it has begun shipping the long-awaited next
generation "brain" for the IBM and compatible personal computer (PC),
the Pentium. The company says PCs equipped with the Pentium will be
available in May and users can expect the Pentium to perform five times
faster than the currently available i486 central processing unit (CPU)
The Pentium, estimated to be over 300 times faster the 8088 CPU that was
the basis of the first IBM PC, is a complex instruction set computing
(CISC) architecture chip. Over 3.1 million transistors make up the new
CPU, which is nearly three times more transistors than the i486. Intel
is boasting the Pentium is 100 percent compatible with the $50 billion
worth of software available for PCs worldwide and will give users the
most bang for their computing buck.

Pricing of the Pentium has not been announced, but the new chip has been
clocked at 112 million instructions per second (MIPS) and is available
in 60 and 66 megahertz clock speeds. Intel says the Pentium is
manufactured using 0.8 micron, three-metal layer bicomplementary
metal-oxide semiconductor (BiCMOS) process technology and features
superscalar technology. The Pentium can process two instructions
simultaneously and two eight kilobyte on-chip caches offer increased
processing speed. The chip also offers a floating point unit that can be
five times faster than the floating point unit in its predecessor, the
i486, at the same clock speed. Intel says the Pentium has been designed
to improve software application performance and one of the design
features toward that goal is called "branch prediction." Branch
prediction is intelligence built in the Pentium to "remember" prior
instruction pathways and attempt to anticipate the correct pathway for
the next instruction based on the prior instructions.

Compaq and Hewlett-Packard have already announced Pentium-based PCs for
May delivery. Hewlett-Packard said its network server machines offered
dramatic performance increases when equipped with the Pentium 60
megahertz chip. Compaq announced server models incorporating the Pentium
and a new Triflex Architecture designed specifically for the Pentium.
Intel has said the many more millions of transistors in the Pentium will
generate more heat and a new system board design is required of original
equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to compensate. However, Compaq says it
has developed the Triflex architecture to exploit the power of the
Pentium on single PCs and on multiple Pentium processor-based servers.
The Pentium will make full-motion video, voice recognition, and imaging
on PCs come into reality, according to Intel. The company is predicting
the Pentium will become the processor of choice for the mid-1990s -- a
prediction based on Intel's current domination of over 70 percent of the
estimated 100 million personal computers.
---

Adapter Card Firm Artisoft Expected to Suffer First Financial Loss

Artisoft Inc. could report its first- ever loss this quarter as it
watches more customers turn to other sources for the hardware component
of its LANtastic peer-to-peer networking system. "Our earnings will be
at or slightly below break even," said David Sentman, the company's
treasurer. William Baker, Artisoft's chief financial officer, resigned
earlier in the month. The Tucson, Ariz.-based company said revenues for
the current quarter ending March 31 may be below the $20.3 million in
revenues for the same period last year. The numbers are a change for the
company, which regularly had a 50 to 60 percent growth rate since it
went public in 1991. Because of the high price of Artisoft's adapter
cards, more people are "unbundling" LANtastic, which is creating
problems for Artisoft's bottom line, according to company officials. "We
make three times the revenue on a bundle," said Will Keiper, hired as
president last month. The company has responded by dropping the price on
its NodeRunner Ethernet board from $299 to $259 for a limited time.
Additionally it has raised the price on its LANtastic software from $99
to $119.

Artisoft's decision to enter the hardware market with its own Ethernet
chip may not have been the most profitable path considering the
commodity nature of the market, according to some analysts. "I think it
is questionable to develop an Ethernet chip set and make it a strategic
direction for the company," said Jamie Lewis, an analyst at the Burton
Group, in Salt Lake City. Company officials, however, defended their
direction. "The ALICE chip [Artisoft's LAN Interface Chip for Ethernet]
enables us to produce Ethernet adapters at better cost than we would get
from suppliers," Keiper said.
---

SunSoft to Unveil Solaris 2.0 for Intel Platforms

After considerable delay, SunSoft Inc., a subsidiary of Sun Microsystems
Inc., plans to announce next week the general availability of Solaris
for the Intel platform, with shipments to begin in the first half of
1993. Solaris for the Intel platform will be a full-feature
implementation of Sun's RISC-based operating system. Solaris 2.0
provides pre-emptive multitasking and multithreading, features that
allow the CPU to control multiple series of instructions. (Each series
of instructions executes a Unix process.) Multithreading is only
effective for applications running processes that can be broken into
discrete sets of instructions. Sun has also enhanced the Solaris kernel
to support symmetrical multiprocessing (SMP), where the work load is
evenly divided between each of several processors that enjoy equal
access to shared memory. It will take some time for application
developers to tap the power of these features.

Solaris also improves on some of Unix's inherent weaknesses,
particularly security. It provides such security features as system file
checking, security hazard warnings, password aging, and a variety of
authentication modes. Most importantly, Solaris comes with a full suite
of services for application development, networking, and productivity.
The application development environment, called ToolTalk, addresses
interapplication communication. ToolTalk provides an application
programming interface (API) that makes it easier for applications to
exchange information and automatically update each other through
object-based messaging or procedural techniques. The object capabilities
allow developers to define parts of the application as objects. The
networking services are provided through Sun's Open Network Computing
(ONC), a set of distributed computing services for multivendor networks.
ONC services include naming, file sharing, and security authentication
(using the Kerberos encryption and authentication method). ONC includes
a multithreaded Network File System (NFS) called NIS+, which is used for
enterprise naming and transport-independent remote procedure calls
(RPC). A transport interface makes it protocol independent, capable of
working with multiple transports such as TCP/IP and OSI.

Solaris supports productivity through Open Windows, which includes Open
Look, the Sun GUI, and Deskset, a set of 15 desktop productivity
applications including multimedia mail and workgroup calendaring.
Despite its rich features set and proven track record in the Sparc
environment, analysts aren't enthusiastic about Solaris' prospects in
the PC environment. "They have to attract PC developers and PC
resellers," says Tom Kucharvy, president of Summit Strategies, in
Boston. Although Sun has done a good job encouraging Sparc developers to
port their applications to the Intel platform, Solaris still needs
advanced versions of popular PC products, he says. UnixWare appears to
be an ideal product, mixing NetWare, the most popular corporate network
operating system, and Unix, the most popular open systems operating
system. But because users do not have problems getting Unix systems to
work with Novell Inc. networks, it doesn't offer PC users a compelling
reason to switch. "You still need a reason to want Unix on the desk,"
Kucharvy notes. Besides, UnixWare is expensive despite a $495 price for
the limited- function client version.

UnixWare is built on System V, Release 4.2 (SVR4.2), the latest release
from Unix Systems Laboratories, acquired by Novell this year. Different
versions of SVR4 support multiprocessing and multiple levels of
security. Eventually these versions will be merged in one SVR4 kernel.
UnixWare does not currently support SMP. UnixWare users can choose
either the Motif or Open Look GUI and run both TCP/IP and NetWare
(SPX/IPX) network protocols. It also supports DOS and Windows
applications. The system is more NetWare than Unix, which PC users may
consider a benefit, not a drawback, warns Michael Goulde, senior
consultant at Patricia Seybold Group, in Boston. Early users of
UnixWare, primarily developers, are impressed with the product. "Other
[Unix implementations] are more sophisticated, but UnixWare is
acceptable and fun," says Norm Friedman, vice president of engineering
at Systems Strategies Inc., a New York developer of communications
software. "We've been pleasantly surprised." LAN/Mind Inc., a
Chicago-based training organization, tested UnixWare for a database
application originally developed in dBase. As a DOS application running
under NetWare, certain procedures, such as rebuilding the database when
it got corrupted, ran very slowly. With the pre-emptive multitasking of
UnixWare, however, processes such as rebuilding were dramatically
improved, reports Marshall Olsen, LAN/Mind president.

UnixWare also shines in real-time applications, reports Gary Border,
president of Automation Associates Inc., a Bowling Green, Ohio,
industrial and laboratory automation provider. These applications
involve reading factory or laboratory devices in real time and
performing various processes based on the readings. With real-time
multitasking and multithreading, UnixWare provided "orders of magnitude"
reductions in interrupt response time compared with SVR3.2-based PC
products, which the company previously used, he reports. SCO Unix has
traditionally filled the role of a multiuser operating system for the
Intel platform. In this role it commands by far the dominant share of
the market. However, the future of Unix on the Intel platform, judging
from the actions of Novell, Sun, and The Santa Cruz Operation, is in
client/server, distributed computing, not multiuser systems. SCO has
enhanced SVR3.2 and added services to turn it into a full-feature,
distributed, open, client/server environment intended to rival Solaris.

Like other Unix systems, Open Desktop is multitasking and supports
virtual memory, allowing programs larger than the installed memory to
run by performing automatic paging to disk. It provides built-in TCP/IP
and NFS support for direct user access to remote files and applications.
It also supports NetWare LANs through gateways and DOS and Windows
applications running in emulation mode. With Open Desktop, SCO has
enhanced the capability of the system to perform in a multivendor,
multiprotocol, client/server environment. Via both built-in features and
third-party add-on products, Open Desktop users can connect with
mainframes, minicomputers, and a variety of Unix, Xenix, DOS, Windows,
and Apple systems either locally or over wide-area networks. For
application developers, Open Desktop supports the appropriate standards
and provides an assortment of APIs, libraries, and tools to develop
cross-platform applications.
---

Cray Set to Sell Smaller, Low-Priced Versions of C90 Supercomputer

Cray Research yesterday announced that it plans to offer smaller,
low-priced versions of its 16-processor Cray C916 supercomputer
(formerly the Cray Y-MP C90). Cray will now offer one- to
eight-processor versions of the Cray C916 at list prices starting at
$3.25 million in the U.S. All C90 series systems include 4M-bit static
random- access memory and offer up to one gigaword (one billion words)
of central memory, thereby enabling users to tackle larger problems or
solve problems faster, Cray said. The expanded Cray C90 series includes
the following systems: the Cray C92A air-cooled system, which is
available in one- or two-processor versions at list prices ranging
between $3.25 million and $7.25 million; the Cray C94A, priced between
$5.5 million and $9.75 million; the C94, priced between $6 million and
$13.5 million; and C98 liquid-cooled systems, priced between $12 million
and $24 million; and the Cray C916 liquid-cooled system, which offers
eight to 16 processors and up to one gigaword of memory. The C916 is
priced between $19 million and $30.5 million.
---

IBM Unveils Special PS/1 Edition of America Online Service

The IBM Personal Computer Co. yesterday said that a new offering, the
IBM PS/1 Edition of America Online(B), is available for users of its IBM
Personal System/1(A) line of computers. The offering enables PS/1 users
to access all America Online services as well as the PS/1 Connection(A),
a special area for PS/1 support. The IBM PS/1 Edition of America
Online(B) is slated to be available next month; it will replace
Promenade(A), an IBM offering that provides select America Online
services to PS/1 owners, IBM officials said. Next month Promenade users
will receive written notification of the expanded services and a
transition kit from America Online. The PS/1 Edition of America Online
will be preloaded on future PS/1 product shipments. New users of America
Online will be offered a free trial period of 10 hours of connect-time
during the first 30 days. The America Online service is offered at $7.95
per month with a charge of 10 cents per minute for connect time of more
than two hours. The first month's fee is waived, and 10 hours of
connect-time are offered free.
---

Motorola UDS Introduces Flexible Remote LAN Connector For Europe

Motorola Universal Data Systems (UDS), a wholly owned subisidiary of
Motorola, Inc., today launched a new version of its LanFast remote
access communications server for the European market. The LanFast DS20
connects directly to a Novell Netware-based server via an Ethernet link
and allows remote access to the network over standard telephone lines.
The primary feature over the DM20 model released in the U.S. and Japan
last year is support of a variety of modems and data communications
devices such as Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) adapters.
This allows the same unit to be marketed throughout Europe without
switching modem cards and allows use of high-speed ISDN lines for remote
LAN-to-LAN connections.

In addition to improved flexibility, Motorola UDS claims improved price
performance and ease of use over conventional remote access
configurations using a dedicated network PC and modem. "By directly
connecting to a Netware-based server and using our dedicated software
co-developed with Novell, installation can be completed within a couple
of hours, compared to one or two days for a PC-based remote connection,"
said Patricia De Suzzoni, managing director of Motorola UDS' European
operations. Lower cost implementation is also an attractive feature, De
Suzzoni added. The pan-European list price for the DS20 will be set at
US$1938 for the unit alone, or $2,660 for the DS20 combined with
Motorola UDS's FasTalk FAX32bx V.32bis/V.42bis high-speed fax and data
modem. The DS20+modem package provides the same functionality as the
DM20, De Suzzoni said. The DS20 will be available starting in May. Sales
of the DS20 in the U.S. and Japan will be considered at a later date if
sales in Europe are successful, De Suzzoni said.

With the included software, the LanFast unit combined with a fax modem
also functions as a fax and data modem server, allowing network users to
share one modem for fax and E-mail communications, providing further
cost benefits. Two RS-232C serial ports allow connection of up to two
modems for both dial in and dial out functions. Moreover, multiple DS20
units can be connected to a single server for large-scale network
interconnections. The unit is available only for Netware-Ethernet
connectors due to the overwhelming dominance of Netware-Ethernet
networks in Europe. Over 70% of PC-based LANs in Europe run Netware and
nearly two-thirds use Ethernet, De Suzzoni said.
---

Internationalized Windows Word Processor Offers 20 Language Options

A multilingual word processing package for Windows introduced here at
CeBIT lets users work in 20 different languages and use multiple
international character sets, including Cyrillic. Accent Software
International's first product, Accent, provides Windows-based user
interfaces in languages including English, Russian, French, German,
Italian, Dutch, Polish, Hungarian, Portuguese, Spanish, Danish, Swedish,
Norwegian, Flemish, Finnish, Icelandic, and regional variations of
English, French, German, and Spanish. When a user selects the preferred
language from the menu, the menuing system and all user interface
elements switch to the chosen language. The keyboard or character set
desired is also a menu option, and keyboard maps can be displayed in a
re- sizeable window.

"Most software companies provide localized versions, but we provide an
international version," said Robert Rosenschein, president of the
Jerusalem-based company.  "The thrust of our effort is to support any
user of Windows with a completely multilingual, multicultural product."
Multinational European organizations, with employees from different
countries who speak different languages, may find it easier to buy one
product that can be used by everyone on staff rather than separate
versions, or even totally different products, for each foreign language
needed, said Jonathan Medved, Accent's executive vice president. He
added that one visitor to Accent's CeBIT booth pointed out that the
software solves a simple but common problem for Europeans: printing out
an international mailing list that mixes a variety of character sets.
The Accent package includes Microlytics' Berlitz Interpreter, which
translates to and from five languages: English, Italian, French, German,
and Spanish. The user highlights and clicks on the desired text, and the
word-for-word translation pops up in a window. The current version of
the translation software has a vocabulary of roughly 18,000 words.

A spell checker and thesaurus are currently available for 15 languages.
The WYSISYG package features mail merge, style sheets, a design science
equation editor, encryption, compression, color, and hyphenation. It
uses Microsoft's Dynamic Data Exchange for cutting and pasting between
other Windows applications, and has file import and export facilities
for Microsoft Word, WordPerfect, Wordstar, and Lotus AmiPro. Medved
added that by the time Accent ships in June, it will also use
Microsoft's OLE Object Linking and Extending. Company founder
Rosenschein gained extensive experience with Windows when Microsoft
contracted him in 1990 to help with the Hebrew version of Windows.
Accent remained a small, six-person software shop until last October,
when Medved joined the firm and found venture capital in the U.S. to
back their product launch. The company now has 30 employees and recently
established its European headquarters in Reading, England. Accent also
plans to open a subsidiary in the Boston area in the U.S. and will
launch its product there later this year. Medved said that studies show
that 30% of U.S. computer users speak another language, and he said he
feels there is a significant market for the multilingual word processor
in the U.S. as well as in Europe.

Future versions of the software will provide Hebrew and Arabic
interfaces, and the company also plans to add Asian characters.
Functional enhancements planned include links to fax, E-mail, and
optical character recognition systems. Accent will also offer document
and file management in a future version, Medved said, as these
facilities can be clumsy in non- English versions of Windows. Accent is
priced in Europe at 249 pounds and DM599 (US$380).
---

Intel Introduces Pentium Chip, Pricing to Follow in May

Intel Corp. yesterday took the first step in introducing its
long-awaited Pentium microprocessor here, announcing that about 10,000
production units processors will be delivered to system makers in the
second quarter of 1993 as fabrication grows. In about 60 days, Intel
intends to take the second and final step in the delayed Pentium launch
by announcing introductory prices on 60- and 66- MHz units, said David
L. House, senior vice president of corporate strategy at Intel. The
release of pricing information will coincide with the introduction of
the first wave of personal computer products based on Pentium, said
House, who announced delivery of Pentium processors during the CeBIT '93
show here. At CeBIT, PC makers held back their formal introductions of
Pentium- based systems as part of an agreement with Intel, which said
both it and its customers wanted to avoid a long delay between
announcements and availability of systems.

``We are shipping production units to our customers today. They will be
shipping their products in about another 60 days, around May,'' House
said. ``They have elected to make the next two months a stocking period
to build up their systems and build up channels before announcing
products.'' Officially, the only Pentium-based computers at CeBIT are
unannounced systems featured in Intel's show booth and on stage at a
special exhibit for PC customers. The systems were from IBM,
Hewlett-Packard Co., Siemens Nixdorf, Compaq Computer Corp., NEC, NCR,
Dell Computer, Ing C. Olivetti & Co. SpA, Zenith Data Systems and
International Computers Ltd. One NCR system, called the 3555, contained
four Pentium processors. In addition, House acknowledged that some
system companies were showing preannounced products privately to
potential customers under nondisclosure agreements. ``The only
Pentium-based PCs will be seen [on the stage of the exhibit] and in our
booth,'' he promised.

By June, ``a handful of companies will able to deliver Pentium-based
systems in some kind of market volume,'' he said after the announcement.
House estimated that by the start of 1994 the number of companies
offering Pentium-based systems will grow to over 100 companies --
roughly one-fifth of the current customer base buying Intel
microprocessors. While the number of companies offering Pentium-based
products is expected to grow quickly this year, the new 32-bit
microprocessors will still account for a small fraction of total PC
shipments, according to Intel officials, who added that the current i486
will continue to be the company's high-volume microprocessor for
mainstream applications in 1993. ``Hundreds of thousands of Pentiums
will be shipped in 1993,'' added House. ``The total will be less than 1
million.'' The powerful Pentium will be a hot running semiconductor,
dissipating 13 watts -- about half the heat of a 25 watt light bulb. For
that reason, House said he did not expect to see portable PCs based on
Pentium made from the current 0.8-micron BiCMOS process technology.
However, he said Pentium would make it into laptops and notebook-size
PCs eventually.

The Pentium is designed around a superscalar RISC architecture and has
two 5-stage execution units. It is capable of executing two instructions
in a single clock cycle. Both the i386 and i486 can only executive one
instruction per cycle. Pentium also contains two 8K-byte on-chip memory
caches, improved floating-point performance and a 64-bit burst mode
external bus. It is nearly three times faster than the i486, according
to Intel. Some customers have indicated that Intel itself had sought the
delay of introductions because it was having difficulty producing parts
that were fully functional at the targeted 66-MHz speed. In fact, Intel
said it planned to sell 60-MHz Pentiums as well as the 66-MHz
processors. House said not all tested parts were running at 66 MHz, and
Intel wanted to increase the availability of Pentium. ``Because 60 MHz
met our objectives of 100 millions of instructions per second [MIPs] we
felt it should be made available as a product,'' House said. ``We expect
to see a lot of workstation products running at 60 MHz.''

Early Pentium prototypes were running below 50 MHz, according to some PC
design engineers. House said ``We had a whole range of speeds in the
initial beta testing deliveries of Pentium,'' he explained, adding that
only recently has Intel started testing parts for speed as well as
functionality. ``It took us a while to perfect the high-performance
tester speeds,'' House said. While Pentium-based products were hard to
find at CeBIT, companies were talking a lot about their plans. IBM will
use Pentium in ValuePoints and PS/2 units, according to Bill McCracken,
general manager of Personal Systems at IBM in Europe, based in Paris.
The issue is pricing and when enough units are available for an
introduction, he added. ``Supply will be limited this year,'' McCracken
said. ``I don't see a market shift [to the Pentium] in 1993 because of
pricing and supply.'' But, IBM is planning to eventually build PS/1
units with the Pentium as availability increases.

As unit volume deliveries increase, Intel plans to offer new versions of
the Pentium. One such derivative will be a Pentium upgrade for PCs based
on existing i486-DX2 processors. The Pentium product will be the next
addition to Intel's OverDrive Processor strategy, which allows PC users
to upgrade their systems by plugging in a next-generation central
processing unit. The OverDrive Pentium will be made available in 1994,
House claimed. Also in 1994, Intel will introduce a 100-MHz version of
the Pentium, using a new 0.6-micron BiCMOS process technology.
Eventually, the Pentium processor generation could offer speeds of 133
MHz or faster, he said. ``Traditionally, Intel has gotten a factor of
two in higher speeds from the introduction of a generation,'' House
said. The Pentium is expected to be a viable central processor until the
end of the century, before being replaced by the next-generation CPU,
code named P6, said House. ``The P6 is more than halfway through its
development,'' he added. About 250 people are working on the next-
generation P6, and a team has been formed to develop the P7.

Intel intends to speed up the rate of generation introductions in its
microprocessor line, but each new design will offer smaller increments
of performance improvement in the future, said House. ``We are on about
a four-year cycle, and the work overlaps by a couple of years. So,
instead of seeing a new generation every four years, you will see a new
processor every two years,'' House said.
---

Siemens-Nixdorf to Complete Restructuring Operations on April 1

Siemens-Nixdorf Informationssysteme AG (SNI) will complete the
restructuring of its operations on April 1 by creating a half-dozen new
autonomous business units, covering a wide range of products and
services, in an attempt to return SNI to profitability within three
years. SNI also said more job cuts were necessary over the next three
years to end the losses. The new business units will generally complete
SNI's reorientation of its operations, which began last October with the
launch of the first new business units to handle personal computers,
high-performance printers and systems integration, said Hans-Dieter
Wiedig, president and chief executive officer of Siemens AG's wholly
owned subsidiary. About three quarters of SNI's employees will find
themselves working in a new organization as a result of the changes,
which were announced today during a CeBIT press conference here.

In addition to the new business units, SNI is reorganizing the way it
plans, develops, produces and procures parts for a number of systems
products, including its BS2000 mainframe line, midrange computers, self-
service systems and application software and projects. ``In order to
achieve greater efficiency in preparing products for our
industry-oriented systems business, we have consolidated the functions
of product planning, development, production and procurement in product-
oriented organizational units,'' Wiedig said. To cut costs, SNI plans to
reduce its work force to 44,000, compared with 47,200 today. Another
3,000 jobs will be eliminated in the following two years, said Wiedig. A
total of 9,000 jobs will be eliminated between 1990 and 1995 under the
current efforts to reduce SNI employment. For the current fiscal year,
which ends Sept. 30, SNI expects a slight improvement in its bottom
line, if depressed market conditions do not worsen, he said. In the last
fiscal year, SNI lost DM513 million (US$313 million) on sales of DM13.0
billion ($8 billion). To break even, SNI needs sales of about DM14.5
billion ($8.7 billion), according to estimates presented earlier by
Wiedig.

However, SNI has seen sales decline in the first five months of the
current fiscal year because of weakness in markets outside of Germany.
``We have recorded accumulated sales of DM4.5 billion [$2.7 billion] as
of the end of February. This represents a 6% year-to-year decline due
almost exclusively to our international business,'' he said. ``Two
percent of the drop is attributable to changes in exchange rates.
Approximately the same relationship applies to new orders.'' Under the
new structure to be in place on April 1, SNI's business units will
include the following: network systems, personal computers,
high-performance printers, point-of-sale systems, office automation,
engineering software, training and services, IT services, and system
integration. SNI will also work at cutting product development time in
half, he said, as well as increasing the use of distributors to sell
products. The company is also turning to outside manufacturing sources
for more components used to make products, such as commercially
available printed circuit boards. The move to buy more parts and
components from outside suppliers will save about DM200 million ($122
million) a year, estimated Wiedig.
---

Novell Releases Pilot Version of Enterprise Developer Services

Novell this week announced a pilot launch of its Novell Enterprise
Developer Services, a suite of fee-based information and support
services designed to assist subscribers with application development
tasks ranging from planning to deployment, Novell officials said.
Subscribers to the service receive a development copy of NetWare and
UnixWare operating systems and can choose 10 software developers' kits
from Novell's repertoire of Novell/Univel kits. Subscribers also receive
access to data, products and services that ease rightsizing efforts and
accelerate in-house development of enterprisewide applications on
NetWare and UnixWare, Novell said. Novell also offers Novell Consulting
Services, which conducts a system assessment survey and analysis, and
Novell Technical Services, which acknowledges users' support calls in
less than four business hours after receiving a call and assigns a
support technician to ensure that the incident is resolved. The services
are expected to be available in the U.S. and Canada during the second
quarter of 1993; a one- year subscription costs US$25,000. Localized
versions of these services will be released later this year in the UK,
France and Germany. Companies located outside of these European markets
can also participate in the U.S. program on a limited basis. Pricing for
services offered to the European regions has not yet been determined, a
Novell spokeswoman said.
---

News and Notes from the U.S. Networking Industry

SynOptics lowers price on line of FDDI hubs.

SynOptics Communications Inc. has reduced the prices on its LattisNet
family of FDDI intelligent hubs. The Model 2912A with 12 shielded
twisted- pair master ports is now available for $9,995. The Model 3904
FDDI Fiber Optic Host Module is now priced at $5495. The Model 3910S-04
FDDI Network Management Module can now be purchased for $9,995. CONTACT:
[phone].

                               *   *   *

Compression bridge links remote LANs.

The LANB/220M remote compression bridge, now shipping from Network
Application Technology Inc., provides a solution for interconnecting
remote LANs. Priced at $2,295, the compression bridge offers SNMP agent
support, support for spanning tree protocol, custom filtering, and
bridge status reports. CONTACT: [phone].

                               *   *   *

Andrew Corp.'s adapter cards provide software configuration and
troubleshooting capabilities for Token Ring networks. The Master Series
ISA IIA Token Ring cards support NetWare 286 and 386, and are priced
from $695. The cards include configuration drivers. CONTACT: (708)
349-3300.

                               *   *   *

Platinum Software Corp. is now shipping a Windows module for its LAN-
based accounting software. Platinum Publisher lets users design custom
financial reports from several sources. The $1,995 Windows application
supports interactive on-line data manipulation, Object Linking and
Embedding, and Dynamic Data Exchange. CONTACT: [phone].

                               *   *   *

IBM SNA vendors back Windows NT.

Several vendors in IBM Systems Network Architecture (SNA) connectivity
group have announced support for Microsoft Corp.'s Windows NT. SNA
vendors, including Attachmate Corp., Digital Communications Associates
Inc., Eicon Technology Corp., Network Software Associates Inc., and Wall
Data Inc., will provide users with the tools to build client/server
applications that integrate data across the enterprise.

                               *   *   *

Sequent, TI jointly develop OLTP apps.

Sequent Computer Systems Inc. and Texas Instruments Inc. are working
together to provide client/server on-line transaction processing (OLTP)
applications. TI's Information Engineering Facility (IEF) tool will work
with Sequent's OLTP software to manage and route transactions across an
IS enterprise. The toolset will ship in the second half of the year.
CONTACT: [phone].
---

Information Builders Set to Ship PC-to-AS/400 Cooperative Processing Link

Information Builders Inc. will ship this month a cooperative processing
link that gives PCs transparent access to IBM's midrange AS/400
databases. Focus for AS/400 Advanced PC Communications is composed of
two components: plumbing to link the two hardware systems and a Focus
fourth- generation language-based software component to query data on
PCs and the AS/400 simultaneously. The PC-to-AS/400 link uses the
processing power in the desktop and midrange systems, company officials
said. Links between PCs and IBM's fast-selling AS/400 are rare but in
demand, according to database industry analysts. "There's a lot about
the AS/400 that's very client/server-ish," said Judith Hurwitz,
president of Hurwitz Consulting Group, in Newton, Mass. "It does lend
itself to components of client/server, but most tools that have been
written for the AS/400 treat it as a minicomputer [not as a server].
[Meanwhile], companies are buying into [the AS/400] because it is a
relatively easy migration from IBM host environments."

Process-intensive tasks such as data validation, computations, and
display functions can be executed on the PC where processing is
inexpensive. The strength of the AS/400 can then be used to access data.
"Advanced PC Communications combines the high-quality interface and
low-cost power of the PC with the data processing capabilities of the
AS/400 in a partnership that makes efficient use of both," said Bob
Pogoloff, director of Information Builders' AS/400 division. "With a
minimal amount of coding, this technology enables users to enjoy the
graphical and windowing capabilities of PC/Focus while conserving
processing resources on the AS/400," Pogoloff said. Advanced PC
Communications supports Ethernet, Token Ring, Twinax, Async, and SDLC
communications, requiring only the router technology in IBM's PC/Support
400 program, an LU6.2-based communications protocol. The software
component supports statistics, graphics, and matrix reporting, and it is
designed for established applications such as budgeting, process
control, and inventory tracking. It also supports ad hoc queries and
data extracts.

The software provides users with features such as an automatic window-
driven report writer for nondata-processing professionals. It manages
and controls stored Focus procedures; includes an editor that supports
application building; and provides a matrix-reporting feature for
creating, calculating, and presenting financial data. The product ranges
in price from $6,000 to $147,000 and can be leased.
---

DEC Will Roll out Enhanced Macintosh Version of Pathworks Next Month

Digital Equipment Corp. will ship in April an enhanced Macintosh version
of its Pathworks networking and integration software product that
promises users simpler network management and configuration combined
with the familiar Macintosh look and feel. The Pathworks 1.2 for
Macintosh client and Pathworks 1.2 for Open VMS (Macintosh) server
software lets Mac users participate fully in local- or wide-area
enterprise networks including Pathworks DOS, Windows, OS/2, Open VMS,
and Unix clients and servers. "The new version features a new Pathworks
file server called VAXshare, which enables network managers to create
separate zones for file and print services for different workgroups and
also limit the printers visible to the Mac user," said Katrina Holman,
group manager for PC integration marketing. "This eliminates confusion
and saves time in larger networks." The VAXshare server follows Mac
naming conventions. "These customers chose Macs because they are easy to
use," Holman said. "We want to preserve that ease." New client
capabilities in Version 1.2 include an application called the Pathworks
Listener, which allows users to receive alert signals when mail messages
come in or when messages are broadcast from the server itself. Pathworks
1.2 is $308 per user license.
---

IBM Plans Year-End Shipment of LAN Management Utilities/2 Version 2

IBM is readying an enhanced version of its LAN Management Utilities/2
network administration and management application for remote management
of DOS and Windows clients. LMU/2, Version 2, which goes into beta
testing this summer, will also feature support for Macintosh clients
connected to a NetWare server and an SNMP agent that links LMU/2 to the
NetView/6000 management platform, said Katie Gailes, LMU/2 marketing
representative. LMU/2's OS/2-based administration utilities will offer
system management functions for servers and requesters in Novell Inc.'s
NetWare and IBM LAN Server networks. It provides operations,
configuration, performance, and fault management capabilities. It
supports Ethernet and Token Ring, provides a graphical display of the
LAN, and allows users to remotely manage NetWare and LAN Server
workstations. The application collects a variety of system configuration
data including machine, CPU, disk size, adapter types, and versions of
operating systems. Once captured, this data is stored in a central OS/2
database, Gailes said. In addition, the package tracks changes to files,
monitors server performance, and sends alerts to administrators based on
user-defined thresholds. LMU/2, Version 2, priced at $795, is targeted
to ship by year end.
---

Lotus' Notes 3.0 Poses Management Challenge for Users

When Lotus Development Corp. formally announced Notes 3.0 this week, it
presented IS managers with a host of implementation issues to go along
with its improvements for enterprise networks. Notes 3.0 users will have
to consider how best to manage two new features: a first-ever
centralized data dictionary and the addition of significant storage
capabilities to accommodate full-text search and retrieval. The
centralized data dictionary allows a Notes server to locate all users
and know what information they are authorized to access -- an important
feature in Lotus' attempt to position Notes 3.0 as an enterprisewide
communications platform. But it also means that most new applications
must go through a central IS organization.

"The movement to a centralized data dictionary means that you really
need a centralized approach to the shared information," said a source
familiar with the product, who asked not to be identified. "End users
probably won't be able to spawn applications; it will be the
responsibility of programmers that manage this data dictionary." If a
user wants to create a new form with new data fields, those will have to
be reflected in the data dictionary, the source said. Nonetheless, one
analyst believes the centralization is worthwhile. "You need to set up
global parameters, values, etc., in order to be an enterprisewide
[system]," said John Donovan, director of groupware services at
Workgroup Technologies Inc., in Hampton, N.H. "It has to be located
centrally so that it is protected and maintained." The data dictionaries
are set up through Notes' Design Templates, which allow users to share
Form, Filter, Field, and View definitions among multiple databases.
These templates act as Notes databases and can be replicated, the
company said. This feature eases application development because many
applications can share the same definitions.

Text searching and retrieval will also be an implementation issue for
Notes 3.0 managers. Notes 3.0's text searching and retrieval engine from
Verity Inc., in Mountain View, Calif., can increase database size as
much as 50 percent due to the sophisticated indexing, sources said. The
average increase in database size is 25 percent, Lotus said. Because of
Notes' capability to handle larger databases, server storage and the
size of local hard drives holding indexed replicated databases may have
to be increased. The benefit, according to Donovan, is that users will
be able to search and access information more quickly. Early user
comments suggest that Notes 3.0's broader networking protocol support
may appeal to some who have shunned the product "One of the things that
has held us up is the NetBIOS requirement," said Jude Gartland, senior
vice president for Lehman Bros., in New York. "The support for TCP/IP
and native IPX helps us out." Gartland also looks forward to the Unix
version because many of the firm's traders use Unix workstations. So
far, Lehman Bros. has not made a large-scale commitment to Notes.
---

SunSelect Set to Ship PC-NFS 5.0, DOS, Windows Versions of SelectMail

Sun Microsystems Inc. spruced up its PC Network File System and jumped
into a growing area of the E-mail market this week with a messaging
product that links Windows and Internet mail users. Sun's networking
business unit, SunSelect, will begin shipping PC-NFS 5.0 and SelectMail
next week. SelectMail is based on a TCP/IP network backbone and is
available in Windows and DOS versions. Users welcomed the SelectMail
Windows version. "People are going to beat a path for this," said
Richard Baldwin, administrative services manager at Stanford University,
in Palo Alto, Calif. "They have found the integration of Windows and
Internet mail lacking in the E-mail market." SunSelect spruced up
NetWare integration, printer administration, and setup in Version 5.0 of
PC-NFS, according to Baldwin, a beta tester who said new tools in 5.0
"make setup and printer administration a lot easier" than in 4.0.

It was difficult in Version 4.0 to get Sun's TCP stacks to co-exist with
NetWare drivers. The new documentation includes several approaches to
installing PC-NFS and NetWare simultaneously, Baldwin said. SelectMail
replaces SunSelect's LifeLine mail product, available only on PC-NFS and
DOS. The broader replacement exchanges messages among Windows and DOS
users and Unix hosts or PCs running PC-NFS, or with any other Simple
Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) mail system. The Windows version includes
read-receipt, to check if a recipient has read the sender's mail, as
well as local and global address book support. The DOS and Windows
versions can interoperate with one another and with Sun's Solaris Mail
Tool, said Kim Whipple, SelectMail product manager. SelectMail contains
support for text and binary file attachments (Version 4.0 only supported
binary, not text), a queuing mechanism that supports mobile PC users,
and a spelling checker. PC-NFS 5.0 includes support for NetBIOS,
expanded TelNet support, and a new utility called Netstat, which runs in
Windows and gives the user a running log of what is going on in the
network.

Another new utility in PC-NFS 5.0 is a File Transfer Protocol (FTP)
server for setting up an NFS PC as an FTP server. SunSelect also added a
graphical user interface to its FTP support and has deployed WinSockets
API. WinSockets API lets users develop Windows applications that run
over other TCP/IP products in addition to PC-NFS, said Luiza deRuijter,
SunSelect's product manager of PC networking. PC-NFS costs between $120
and $415 per node, with upgrade discounts available. SelectMail costs
from $60 to $130.
---

Users Call for More X.400-, X.500-based Directory Services, Software

Despite their desire to integrate disparate electronic-mail systems,
many user companies say they are not comfortable yet with messaging
backbone and directory synchronization products based on the X.400 and
X.500 international E-mail standards. The biggest hurdle cited by users
at the recent Interop '93 Spring show was incomplete directory services,
including those based on the X.500 standard. ``Software directory
services are probably more important to us than the X.400 transport
software'' because users need easy access to E-mail addresses, said an
information systems manager at a major financial services company in New
York who asked not to be identified. He said he did not see anything on
the Interop show floor that would satisfactorily coordinate mail
directories across multiple platforms.

The reason is due in part to an X.500 directory standard that is just
becoming stable, said Daniel Blum, principal at Rapport Communication in
Takoma Park, Md. That means that products using the stabilized standard
are in the early stages of development and existing products only
partially implement the standard. Other integration concerns include a
lack of standard administration tools, a lack of knowledge about X.400
products and uncertainty about advantages of an `open' backbone. For
example, Norwest Corp. in Minneapolis committed to moving to X.400 to
get a scalable standard, but first it must learn more about the products
and outline clear business advantages, said Rob Niederman, principal
communication consultant at the firm's technical services division.
Despite their concerns, companies such as Philadelphia Newspapers, Inc.
were clear about the importance of employing messaging standards.
``Eventually we'll want to be able to talk to anybody and not have a
wall thrown up because we don't talk the same protocol,'' said Andrew
Caplan, network manager.

Virtually all E-mail vendors now offer X.400 connectivity through
gateways. And most plan to augment their offerings soon. For example,
Lotus Development Corp. plans to ship a CC:Mail Directory Services
module this year that will integrate with LAN-based `X.500-like'
services from other vendors. Microsoft Corp. said that the unannounced
next generation of its Mail server -- estimated to appear in early 1994
-- will be based on the 1988 version of X.400. Novell, Inc.'s recently
released NetWare 4.0 offers some features of the X.500 directory
standard. In addition, ``you'll see a lot more announcements over the
next nine months'' from companies new to the E-mail integration field,
said Sara Radicati, president of information services at Creative
Networks, Inc., a consultancy  in Palo Alto, Calif.

One such company, Hitachi Computer Products, Inc., announced earlier
this month that it would enter the E-mail market. Hitachi has already
developed private X.400 software for the Japanese market. The company
hinted that the first U.S. products would include directory
synchronization software for Unix and PC platforms in the third quarter
of 1993. Meanwhile, organizations such as the Department of the Navy's
Naval Sea Systems Command will take a different approach. Gifford
Martin, a systems manager at the division, said his long-term goal is to
move to open systems and X.500-based directory synchronization because
``keeping up with all the Internet addresses that are flitting around is
enough to drive you to distraction.'' Although the department currently
uses the Simple Mail Transport Protocol that runs over Transmission
Contol Protocol/Internet Protocol networks, ``to be consistent with the
rest of the command, we are probably going almost immediately to
CC:Mail, which, from an open systems point of view, is a step
backwards.''
---

Network Administrators Find Difficulties Interconnecting Overseas LANs

Network administrators who have had trouble just getting a reliable dial
tone in some parts of the world are experiencing a quantum leap in
stress levels as they try to interconnect their companies' overseas
local-area network installations. Unfortunately, more and more
telecommunications managers cannot afford to wait for the ideal service
to support their corporations' internetworks. Cargill, Inc., for
example, is developing a strategy for setting up a global backbone even
as it implements the client/server LAN systems that the backbone will
connect, said Reuben Lantto, director of international
telecommunications at the Minneapolis-based conglomerate. ``Half the
customers we talk to now have announced that they want to link all their
LANs globally,'' said Len Elfenbein, president of Lynx Technologies,
Inc., a Little Falls, N.J., consulting firm. Unfortunately, that
``driving requirement is a little ahead of reality.''

The two most common types of overseas circuits right now are packet-
switched X.25 networks and leased lines. X.25 links typically do not
support the 64K bit/sec. bandwidth that is a minimum for many LAN
interconnections, Elfenbein said. Leased lines are often too expensive.
The cost of linking 10 European sites at 64K bit/sec. over leased lines
ranges from $80,000 to $100,000 per month, Elfenbein said. Extending
those links outside of Europe greatly boosts that figure. The long-term
solution, users and consultants agreed, is on-demand broadband services
such as frame relay, Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) and Integrated
Services Digital Network (ISDN). Such services promise speeds of between
64K bit/sec. and 155M bit/sec. (for ATM). Furthermore, their usage-based
pricing is ideal for LANs, whose traffic levels tend to be erratic.
Unfortunately, frame-relay services are still limited to pockets around
the globe, Elfenbein said. ATM services will probably start appearing
late next year.

For companies such as Cargill, this simply means using frame relay
wherever possible and leased lines or other services wherever switched
broadband connections do not reach. A few months ago, Cargill became one
of the first users of BT's frame- relay service for LAN connections. The
strategy seems to be paying off: ``I think from the third location on,
we should save about $2,000 per location as compared with leased-line
connections,'' Lantto said. Cargill is now looking to expand its
Minneapolis-to-London connection, possibly going with other carriers in
countries where BT's services do not reach, Lantto said. Nor is frame
relay likely to be the company's sole LAN connectivity strategy, given
that ``the technology is not available everywhere,'' Lantto said. One of
the attractions that broadband switched networking has for Cargill is
that ``it gives you a chance to outsource network planning, managing and
operating, which should help in staffing requirements and budgeting,''
Lantto said. ``It's especially hard to meet staffing requirements
overseas.''

Schindler Informatik AG plans to connect its global LAN installations
via international ISDN services wherever possible and cost-effective,
according to Ed Hodgson, manager of computing and communications at the
Swiss elevator company. When usage costs for a given site reach a
certain level, the company will put in leased lines, he said. Schindler
chose AT&T to provide local ISDN access in the U.S. to a transatlantic
ISDN connection overseas, where the PTTs will pick it up. Other
companies with immediate global internetworking needs are trying
``managed LAN network services'' from companies such as Infonet Services
Corp., AT&T and BT/Syncordia. Such services take care of everything from
design through installing, supplying and managing LAN backbones. Global
outsourcing vendors also take over the onerous task of designing and
provisioning a backbone network across multiple countries, each with its
own regulations, price structures, currency, language and network
interface ``standards.'' Indeed, the lack of standardized interfaces
between user equipment and foreign carriers is one of the biggest
headaches when implementing overseas LAN backbones, users said. European
Postal Telephone and Telegraph (PTT) authorities still pretty much
insist on selling their own brands of, say, ISDN terminals to customers,
Hodgson said. As a result, an ISDN adapter bought in Germany will not
necessarily work with the Swiss PTT's ISDN service, he added. ``They
don't have the equivalent of the ISDN/1 [standard for interfacing ISDN
equipment and services] that we have in the U.S.''

This problem is high up on the agenda of several user groups. The
European Commission's (EC) User Workshop has been working on extending
the EC's Open Network Provisioning Act to include some guidelines for
standardization and more open competition in the broadband market,
according to Iain Stevenson, a senior consultant at London research firm
Ovum Ltd. and a member of the workshop. And the Telecommunications
Council of Multinationals (Telcom, Inc.), a year-old organization of
telecom managers from 12 major corporations, is trying to persuade
carriers to agree to ``some standardization of billing and product
offerings,'' said Lantto, who is a member.
---

Test Results Prove FDDI Acts as Sturdy Backbone for Multivendor Networks

Fiber Distributed Data Interface (FDDI) works well as a network backbone
even in multivendor networks that are heavily loaded with other traffic,
according to test results released recently by an independent lab. ``We
were surprised because it seemed as though the demise of FDDI was some
kind of self-fulfilling prophecy,'' said Kevin Tolly, president of
Interlab, the network testing and consulting organization that ran the
tests. Interlab is a division of Virtual Systems of New Jersey, Inc.
``We're providing the first empirical evidence of how FDDI works in a
real network, and the results are as good as possibly can be
anticipated.'' In one set of tests, data was exchanged between two IBM
Personal System/2 PCs and an IBM mainframe using a peer-to-peer
application built with IBM's LU 6.2. The data was sent across local and
remote Token Rings and an FDDI backbone using various bridges, routers
and concentrators.

Interlab used Systems Network Architecture devices to measure the
throughput of the application, then increased network traffic in
increments of 10% up to 90% utilization. The application, which ran at
10.13M bit/sec. on an empty network, ran at 9.79M bit/sec. on a 90%
loaded network. FDDI equipment was contributed by 3Com Corp., Ascom
Timeplex, Inc., Crescendo Communications, Inc. Digital Equipment Corp.,
Du Pont Co., FiberNet Research, Inc., Hewlett-Packard Co., Interphase
Corp., Madge Networks, Inc., National Semiconductor Corp., Proteon, Inc.
and Wandel & Goltermann, Inc. ``As a backbone technology, FDDI certainly
has a market window over [Asynchronous Transfer Mode],'' which ``won't
threaten FDDI for a couple of years because of the high price tags on
initial products and unfinished standards, said Marty Palka, senior
industry analyst of networking data at Dataquest, Inc. in San Jose,
Calif. The tests could help companies such as PMA Reinsurance Corp. in
Philadelphia make decisions about high-speed backbone technology.  ``As
long as their comparisons are apples to apples, they are very useful,''
said John Cunningham, PMA's vice president of MIS.
---

Reach, Imagery Software in Licensing Deal to Meld Imaging, E-mail Tools

Imagery Software, Inc. and Reach Software Corp. this week announced a
licensing agreement under which Imagery's imaging technology will be
incorporated into Reach's work flow and electronic mail products. The
combination will enable users to capture, display and manipulate data
images within E-mail or work flow applications. Work flow applications,
for example, could include insurance claims processing applications that
integrate paper-based images of claim reports along with adjusters'
photographs. ``Imaging adds the next level of content -- beyond
spreadsheets and word processing -- to work flow applications,'' said
Anand Jagannathan, president of Reach, which is based in Sunnyvale,
Calif. Reach sells the MailMan E-mail client software and WorkMan work
flow software, which began shipping this month.

Imagery, a Bedford, Mass., subsidiary of Eastman Kodak Co. that sells
document imaging software, recently announced it would be working with
Novell, Inc. to build an image-enabled version of NetWare. Under the
Imagery-Reach agreement, a copy of Imagery's client software will be
included with each copy of Reach's MailMan and WorkMan software at no
extra cost, said David Hanson, vice president of business development at
Imagery. The firms hope to complete the integration effort by May, he
said. Kim Peyser, chief operating officer at Reach, said the imaging
technology will be included in the second version of WorkMan, which the
company expects to unveil in the fall. Reach will also offer add-on
software products from Imagery for shared image scanning and optical
character recognition capabilities. Imagery will assist Reach in
supporting Novell's Image Enabled NetWare platform, which will be
available later this year. The server-based imaging system will enable
users to perform document management functions, while the client
software will be limited to viewing and sending images.
---

Tandy Shows Grid 486 Notebook Line, "Zoomer" Personal Communicator

Tandy Corp.'s Geneva-based subsidiary, Tandy Grid Europe S.A., staged a
worldwide launch of its new line of 486SL- based notebook computers and
offered a glimpse of its forthcoming pocket- size, pen-based personal
communicator this week's CeBIT '93 exhibition here. Howard Elias, vice
president in charge of Tandy Corp.'s computer operations, demonstrated
the company's "Zoomer" pen-based personal communicator, which Tandy is
co-developing with Japan's Casio Computer Corp. and plans to release
this fall. The new 4025 notebook line includes the following three
models based on Intel Corp.'s 25MHz 486SL processor: the GRiD 4025N with
a backlit monochrome liquid crystal display, the 4025NP with a
passive-matrix color LCD, and the 4025NC with an active-matrix color
LCD.

All models take advantage of the 486SL's 3.3-volt low-power design and
low-speed idling feature to cut power consumption by 20% over their
5-volt 486SX predecessors, boosting battery life to up to six hours,
according to Tandy officials. Other features include a slim, lightweight
case that measures 11.5 by 8.5 inches and is slightly less than two
inches thick. The unit weighs in at about six pounds. A miniature
trackball plugs into the front of the 4025N to allow thumb operation
without removing the fingers from the keyboard. The 120M- and 200M-byte
hard drives sport a modular design to facilitate upgrades and disk
swapping, and a docking station, called a port replicator, is available
for connecting desktop devices such as an external monitor, printer or
keyboard with a single connection. Prices for the standard configuration
with 4M bytes of RAM (expandable to 32M bytes) and a 120M-byte hard
drive are US$2,300 for the monochrome version, $2,900 for the
passive-matrix color model and $4,200 for the active-matrix color unit.
Tandy's Zoomer personal communicator is suit-pocket size at
approximately 4 inches wide, 7 inches long and 3/4 inch thick. The unit,
accepts handwritten input from a pen on its 3-by-4-inch LCD screen.

Design features include battery life "measured in weeks or months,"
Elias said, as well as fax and modem communications options via a PCMCIA
card slot and data compatibility with IBM-compatible and Apple Computer,
Inc. Macintoshes. The unit will run the GEOS for Pens operating system
as well as Grid's own PenRight OS. Pricing has not been set but will be
low enough to appeal to average consumers, Elias asserted. Tandy is
developing the Zoomer jointly with Casio, which will manufacture the
unit for worldwide release this fall under the Tandy, Grid and Casio
brand names.
---

IBM Adds Leapfrog Pen-input, Multimedia Portable to Prototype Pond

IBM this week displayed a prototype pen-based multimedia notebook PC
that offers a glimpse of IBM portables to come. The Leapfrog
Experimental Workstation is a 4.8-pound, 50MHz 486-based tablet that
accepts handwriting and audio input. Though the prototype unit will
probably not be released in its current form and configuration, IBM
officials said, its technology will likely be incorporated into IBM's
existing product lines, such as the ThinkPad notebook. The Leapfrog
prototype, demonstrated here at CeBIT '93, is one of only 25
manufactured by IBM Japan, said William Strohm, a general specialist
with IBM's Computer Science Department in Yorktown Heights, N.Y. It is
similar to IBM's ThinkPad 700 tablet, he explained, with the addition of
CD-quality audio capabilities, a dedicated digital signal processor for
audio processing, a microphone and speakers. The Leapfrog has a unique
case design with beveled edges that allow it to stand at a 45-degree
angle on a desk or be comfortably held in one hand, Strohm said. Users
can work with the tablet in a landscape or portrait position, and
left-handed users can turn the unit upside down for more comfortable
use. IBM also showed the machine with a docking station that provides a
floppy disk drive and parallel and serial ports. The computer was
running the unreleased OS/2 2.1 with extensions for accepting pen input.
IBM will release the prototype to selected customers in order to get
feedback on it, Strohm said. IBM hopes to "learn from its mechanical
design and hardware" to help it improve the usability of its multimedia
and portable product lines, he said.
---

Lotus Enhances Networking, Operating System Options of Notes

Lotus Development Corp. yesterday unveiled a major upgrade to its Notes
software that will extend its reach to a variety of new operating
systems and networks and provide tighter integration with what Lotus
officials hope will be a new generation of workgroup productivity
applications. Notes 3.0, which was unveiled simultaneously in New York
and at CeBIT `93 here, adds a long-awaited Macintosh connection as well
as the ability to run on Microsoft Corp.'s Windows NT and four versions
of Unix, said Jim Manzi, president and chief executive officer of the
Cambridge, Mass.-based company. The new release of Notes, which
previously ran on Windows and OS/2 clients and required an OS/2-based
server, will also run on a Windows 3.1 server, opening the environment
to very small workgroups, Manzi said. In addition to new client and
server options, Notes 3.0 works with a range of new networking
protocols, including Novell NetWare's native IPX, TCP/IP, X.25, IBM's
SNA and Apple's AppleTalk. The previous release used only NetBIOS for
communicating across LANs and X.PC for remote asynchronous modem
connections. Version 3.0 also features new administration services and
remote-user facilities, greater integration between applications and the
Notes environment and new end-user tools.

Lotus is hoping that Notes' new features and cross-platform capabilities
will help the product become as essential to workgroup computing as word
processors and spreadsheets have become to personal productivity, Manzi
said. "Notes has become the centerpiece of our strategy as a company,"
he said. "Having a great word processor and spreadsheet is only half the
battle." The Windows server version can connect to NetWare and Microsoft
Corp.'s LAN Manager and Windows for Workgroups networks. Notes'
messaging functions can now work with any mail-enabled application that
uses the Vendor Independent Messaging (VIM) interface and can exchange
mail with other VIM-complaint mail software, said Terry Rogers, vice
president of Lotus' communication products division. New administration
features include a Notes server loading and performance monitor, new
alarms and tools that let Notes be managed remotely by typing server
console commands from a Notes workstation, Rogers said.

Lotus has standardized its pricing of the new version across operating
systems and across the Atlantic. Notes 3.0 will cost US$595 for either
the client or server portion in the U.S. and the equivilent in local
currencies throughout Europe. The company also introduced a new Notes
Starter Pack that includes software for one Windows server and two
Windows clients priced at $1,250 in the U.S. Notes 3.0 lets users create
"replication formulas" that allow them to replicate only selected
documents or parts of a database when updating a remote Notes
workstation, Rogers said. The Windows and OS/2 client versions of Notes
3.0 can perform replication in the background so users can execute other
tasks while performing the "Tools Replicate" function. The new Notes
version provides tighter integration between Notes and its cc:Mail
electronic mail software, allowing cc:Mail to replace Notes own mail
facility and serve as the interface to Notes databases. By taking
advantage of Windows' Object Linking and Embedding capability, Notes 3.0
also lets users create "objects" such as text or graphics using other
applications, then incorporate them into Notes documents that can be
distributed and shared across the network, Rogers said. This lets Notes
act as a network shell that provides other applications with its
distributed database, directory services, security, messaging and
document browsing features, he explained.

Enhancements to Notes' "usability" include a text indexing and search
utility for quickly querying a large database, Rogers said. A new
feature called Automatic Versioning generates a new version of a
document each time a user edits it, making it easier to track changes to
a document. Graphical user interface enhancements include SmartIcons for
quick access to most frequently used Notes commands, a SmartStatus Bar
that shows network, hard disk and database status and the ability to
create pop-up annotations of text or multimedia objects. Version 3.0
also includes new tools for automating tasks and routing forms across a
network and for adding workflow capabilities to Notes applications,
Rogers said. In late April, Lotus plans to release client portions of
Notes 3.0 for OS/2, Windows and the Macintosh worldwide along with the
server versions for Windows and OS/2, Rogers said. Notes client and
server software for SunSoft, Inc.'s Solaris, Hewlett-Packard Co.'s
HP/UX, IBM's AIX and the Santa Cruz Operation Inc.'s SCO Unix are
scheduled for release in the second half of this year, as is a version
that runs as a NetWare Loadable Module on a NetWare server. Client and
server versions of Notes 3.0 that exploit the 32-bit capabilities and
Workplace Shell in O/2 2.0 and client and server versions for Windows NT
are all planned for release in the second half of the year as well, he
said.

Lotus also announced yesterday that CompuServe will develop private and
public data centers that will be accessable to Notes users. Also, the
company will allow customers who purchased Notes through resellers to
receive support directly through those resellers, said Paul Bailey, vice
president of Lotus Europe. Lotus is also exploring additional reseller
relationships -- such as the one existing between Lotus and IBM -- in
particular with Unix workstation vendors, he added.
---

Interoperability Group Discusses Pilot Network Plan at Novell Conference

In Salt Lake City this week people were talking about more than Novell,
Inc.'s NetWare. In conjunction with Novell's Brainshare Developer's
Conference, the Open User Recommended Solutions (OURS) interoperability
group held its second annual Information Technology Summit and set the
stage for a pilot network. OURS is unique among industry open-systems
consortiums in that it is user-driven, rather than vendor-driven.
Although vendors such as Microsoft Corp., Novell and IBM are consortium
members, the group's agenda is set by user members, which are mostly
large organizations such as MIT, Pacific Gas & Electric Co. and Wells
Fargo. Service providers such as BSG, Electronic Data Systems Corp. and
Ziff-Davis Labs are also members of the organization. ``OURS' goal is to
explore and help solve multioperating environment computing
challenges,'' said Elaine Bond, President of OURS. ``Where else can
users get multiple vendors in a room to discuss here-and-now problems?''

At the three-day Summit, four of OURS's technology task forces presented
their findings, along with recommendations for further action. First,
the OURS Security Task Force defined the requirements for a pilot
network. Participants in this pilot, according to OURS, include
financial institutions, manufacturers and software vendors. Pilot
vendors and users will work from April to October testing their first
topic, single user sign-on; results will be presented at the October
OURS workshop. The OURS Software Licensing Task Force found, to no one's
surprise, that software licensing is a mess. Their paper, titled
``Software Licensing Principles and Glossary,'' analyzes software
licensing problems and proposes new license models. It also attempts to
clarify the various licensing terminologies used by different vendors
and users. The Multivendor Education Task Force released the findings of
a study done by the Gartner Group, Inc., a Stamford, Conn.-based
research firm, which sought to discover which technical skills and
training are most in demand. The Task Force also released a core
curriculum for ``basic training'' for the computer industry, including
objectives and course outlines.

The ``What Works With What'' Task Force presented an early design for
OURS' propsed multivendor database, which, in its final form, will
provide planners and architects with the information they need to design
networks. The group also presented the first draft of a document called
the ``Connectivity Primer.'' ``The value of the OURS group is that it's
made up of people down in the trenches looking for solutions now,'' said
Stanley Jarocki, a vice president at New York-based CitiBank NA's
Business Systems Review department. ``Unlike open systems standards
groups, OURS, with its large- buyer membership clout, can pressure
vendors for immediate answers to real- world problems in our multivendor
systems.''
---

News and Notes from Uniforum

The Open Software Foundation unveiled a new pricing structure, effective
May 15, for its Distributed Computing Environment (DCE) ``middleware''
software. With the goal of fostering high- volume deployment by system
vendors, the pricing change offers new licensing options such as an
annual, paid-up DCE 1.0 Executive option for $500,000 per operating
system, which allows unlimited distribution of DCE object code for one
year. Under the old system, vendors might have paid as much as $5
million for a high-volume deployment of DCE, which at this point has
only shipped to some 200 early user sites. Other pricing options include
a one-time fee of $50,000 for application developers to distributed
unlimited copies of DCE client/server object code. The new DCE
source-code license fee is $25,000 for limited distribution and $250,000
for full distribution rights.

                               *   *   *

Unisys Corp. next month will launch its first desktop Unix-based
workstations specifically designed and marketed to run Univel, Inc.'s
UnixWare, an operating system that combines Novell, Inc. NetWare and
Unix System Laboratories, Inc.'s System V Release 4.2. Unisys' new
commercial Unix workstations, intended for use as network clients, are
based on Intel Corp. I486DX and 486DX2 microprocessors and will be
priced from $4,700 to $6,200.

                               *   *   *

NCR Corp. announced availability of several enhancements to its Top End
distributed transaction processing system, including IBM 3270 terminal
support, Microsoft Corp. Windows Dynamic Link Library (DLL) support and
enhanced international language support. The changes mark Top End as the
first open systems transaction processing product to offer 3270 support,
according to company officials. Top End is available on the NCR System
3000 line of Intel Corp.-based systems, and also, through Independent
Technologies, Inc., on Hewlett-Packard Co. 's 9000 line of Unix-based
systems.
---

Hitachi Data Offers 13 GX Series Mainframes in Answer to IBM's New ES/9000s

Just when you thought there were too many mainframes, Hitachi Data
Systems, Inc. has come up with 13 more. But in this case, it's not
quantity that matters. It's the ``flavors'' of the various computer
models that should appeal to users, as HDS attempts to allow them to
upgrade in smaller steps than competitors IBM or Amdahl Corp. In all,
there are now 26 models in HDS' flagship GX Series of IBM- compatible
mainframes. They range in power from 18 million instructions per second
(MIPS) to 390 MIPS and include an eight-way processor. HDS expects to
follow its mainframe news with the announcement of a far-reaching open-
systems strategy on April 6. That will start with a mainframe that runs
the Open Software Foundation's OSF/1 version of Unix and will extend to
Unix workstations and Unix supercomputers, some analysts said. But for
now, HDS' March 16 announcement has shortened the leaps customers must
make between mainframe models, industry analysts said. HDS has regulated
the speed of the central processor engine to come up with many
variations on a theme, said Susan Gannon Middleton, a senior analyst at
International Data Corp. in Framingham, Mass.

HDS made sure to match the new IBM Enterprise System/9000 models
announced Feb. 9 and to add models that span gaps in the IBM lineup.
``You can announce as many mainframes as you like, but basically they're
building blocks,'' said Marc Butlein, chairman of Meta Group, Inc. in
Westport, Conn. Several IBM-compatible special features will be
developed separately by HDS and offered as options for all HDS GX
mainframes. Analysts said they expect it will take HDS and Amdahl at
least a year to match IBM's firmware- based data compression and IBM's
Asynchronous Data Mover, which saves cycles while moving data from
expanded memory to the central processor. In general, IBM's mainframe
line requires bigger jumps in power for each upgrade and ties the new
IBM features to future upgrades, analysts said. ``HDS is positioned to
provide much better granularity [in pricing] than IBM or Amdahl,'' said
Mark Hess, vice president of the Gartner Group, Inc.'s Large Computer
Strategies group in Stamford, Conn. Some jumps in the IBM upgrade path
are as much as 80 or 115 MIPS, he said.

Users at some large HDS sites said they like the new GX lineup. ``Our
business tends to grow in leaps, but we don't like to buy more excess
capacity than we need,'' said Sheri Anderson, senior vice president of
production and systems services at Charles Schwab & Co. in San
Francisco. ``It's very good for us to have options.'' Schwab is in the
process of expanding its six-way HDS computer to a seven-way HDS GX
model, she said. Dow Chemical Co. in Midland, Mich., has no immediate
plans to upgrade HDS mainframes, but the options are welcome in the
multivendor shop. ``Any time you have more choices, the buyer is at an
advantage,'' said Wayne Garner, Dow Chemical's manager of technical
architecture. The state of Wisconsin negotiated an upgrade option last
summer and installed an HDS GX 8320 last fall. Now, it is going ahead
with its $1.2 million upgrade, as planned. ``If we didn't have such a
good price, we could have used the new options,'' said Neal Steinhoff,
administrator of the Info-Tech division of the state's department of
administration in Madison, Wisc.

Hess said IBM will begin to deliver its special features in October, and
that HDS would probably begin to do so next year. Amdahl has not
announced when it would ship them, Hess said. As of this week, HDS had
not released a price list for the new machines. In February, IBM dropped
its practice of list-pricing mainframes. Within days of IBM's
announcement, Amdahl released several new multiprocessor machines and
boosted the Amdahl 5995M lineup's power by 10 to 28, depending on the
machine.
---

Siemens Uses E-mail as Basis for Suit Against Atlantic Richfield

More and more organizations are finding that employees' electronic-mail
messages can land them in very hot water. The latest example is Atlantic
Richfield Co. (Arco), which must defend against a $146 million lawsuit
triggered by its own E-mail. In a Feb. 26 lawsuit, electronics giant
Siemens Corp. accused Arco of committing fraud in the 1990 sale of
Arco's solar energy subsidiary to Siemens. The suit, filed in U.S.
District Court here, alleged that Arco knew its solar products would not
be commercially viable and hid that information from the buyer. Siemens
said its charges are supported by numerous E-mail messages that
allegedly were exchanged among Arco employees prior to the sale. One
E-mail message, written about two weeks before the deal closed, said:
``We will attempt to finesse past Siemens the fact that we have had a
great amount of trouble in successfully transitioning technology from
the laboratory to the manufacturing floor.'' Another presale message
read: ``As it appears that TFS [Arco's solar technology] is a pipe
dream, let Siemens have the pipe.''

In a prepared statement, Arco said it rejects the contention that a
sophisticated company like Siemens was ``hoodwinked'' into buying the
solar business unit and added that it will fight the lawsuit. Arco said
it did not misrepresent the facts about its technology or business. The
lawsuit did not say how Siemens got the E-mail or provide any technical
details. The disclosure of E-mail messages also played a major role in
the Iran-Contra scandal of the Reagan administration [CW, Jan. 11] and
in the current dispute between Symantec Corp. and Borland International,
Inc. over allegedly stolen trade secrets [CW, March 8]. Furthermore,
experts in the field of records management said there is a growing trend
toward lawyers obtaining access to opponents' E-mail through the legal
``discovery'' process and searching for the proverbial ``smoking gun''
[CW, March 2, 1992]. Companies with a records management program can
avoid E-mail embarrassments, experts said, either by not retaining
E-mail at all or by having a regular, systematic procedure of purging
unnecessary E-mail files.
---

Danish Researchers Develop New Erasable Optical Storage Material

Researchers at the Danish semi-public research institute Risoe
Forskningscenter are working on a new film material for optical storage.
The molecules in the film are initially in disarray, but when they are
exposed to laser beams they gather to form regular patterns, which can
be used for representing data. These patterns are very tight. The Risoe
scientists have calculated that one gigabit of data can be stored in one
square centimeter. "It is the same density as existing optical storage
media such as CD-ROM and WORM. However, this material is very easy to
produce," said P. S. Ramanunjam, researcher at Risoe. The material is so
easy to produce that P. S. Ramanunjam and his colleague, Soren Hvilsted,
have almost been able to make it "in their kitchen." There is no need
for a clean room. Storing the data on the material is similar to
producing a hologram. The material is exposed to blue laser light so the
molecules gather in patterns. To read the data the material is exposed
to red laser light. Until now erasing data from optical storage media
has been a problem. According to Ramanunjam, it is very simple with the
new material because when it is heated to 80 degrees C, all data is
removed and it can be used for storing new data.

"We have erased and rewritten on the same piece of film more than a
hundred times, and it can still be used. We wrote on a film 11 months
ago and haven't changed it since; the structure is intact, so the
durability for the new material is very promising," Hvilsted said. Next
September a new research project begins under the EC BRITE/EURAM
II-program. Researchers from Risoe will participate in the project by
examining the new material together with scientists from Italy and
Germany. They will also examine variations of the material. "We are not
talking of one specific material, but of variations of a `theme.' We may
find a variation with even better qualities than then one we have just
made," Hvilsted said. Two foreign companies have joined the EC-project,
France's CSF-Thomson and and an Italian chemical group. They have first
priority on the commercial use of the results from the project, which
will last three years.

Practical use of the new material is five to 10 years in the future. One
of the obstacles for using it as a storage media in PCs today is the
read/write equipment. "We can get the red lasers which consist of
semiconductors. But the blue lasers are still only on a prototype level
as for the semiconductor-based ones," Ramanunjam said.
---

Olivetti Demonstrates Prototype of Its First Alpha-based Workstation

Italy's Ing. C. Olivetti & Co. SpA this week is demonstrating here a
prototype of what will be its first workstation product based on the
Alpha RISC processor from Digital Equipment Corp. The showing at CeBIT
'93 was Olivetti's first public demonstration of an Alpha-based product
since the company announced it would use DEC's RISC architecture last
June. Olivetti is now ready to formally introduce the workstation when
Microsoft Corp. announces availability of its long-awaited Windows NT
operating system, said Alberto Marcalli, director of corporate marketing
for systems platform products. ``It could be by early June,'' he said.
The prototype was running a beta version of Windows NT and the system
contained a 32-bit EISA expansion bus, Ethernet local-area network
connection and SCSI peripheral controller. Olivetti is aiming to fill a
void in its product portfolio by using the Alpha processor to produce a
workstation running at 200 MHz and offering up to 180 SPECmark 89
performance, company officials said.

Inside the prototype, however, the DEC-made 64-bit Alpha processor was
running at less than 50 MHz, according to Marcalli. Still, at that
speed, the unit was able to achieve 100 SPECmark 89 performance. ``The
use of Alpha in a workstation falls in line with Olivetti's open system
architecture strategy,'' Marcalli said. ``We will serve this open system
environment with systems based on processors from Intel, Mips [Silicon
Graphics' subsidiary] and DEC. The Alpha product will fill in an area we
do not now offer. It adds a new dimension of power for applications
needing high-performance graphics, for example, and the customers asking
for RISC-based workstations.'' Olivetti is also planning to introduce
personal computer products based on Intel's Pentium microprocessor,
which has the potential of rivaling the power of Alpha in some
applications. A prototype of Olivetti's unannounced Pentium-based PC was
on display here in an Intel exhibit promoting the microprocessor.

``Over time Alpha- and Pentium-based systems will pass each other as
being the most powerful. For six months it might be Alpha and then for
another six months it might be the Pentium-based systems,'' Marcalli
said. ``There are some customers who simply just want a RISC-based
product, and they will go with Alpha.'' To set the stage for the
eventual launch of its Pentium-based PC, Olivetti announced today that
it was creating a new high-end series of business systems, called the M6
Suprema family. The initial members of the M6 Suprema series are based
on Intel i486 microprocessors. The following three models were
introduced at CeBit: one based on a 33- MHz i486 SX; one based on a
33-MHz i486 DX; and another based on an Overdrive i486 DX2, which is
capable of running at 66 MHz internally. In Germany, the systems will
cost between DM3,800 (US$2,345) and DM5,790 ($3,575). Pricing outside of
Germany was not made available at the introduction, but Olivetti intends
to apply a common pricing structure across Europe, according to Fabrizio
Gimona, director of marketing and sales for personal computers at
Olivetti. Some of the M6 Suprema models are designed to be upgraded to
Pentium processor technology once it becomes available in sufficient
quantities, Gimona said.
---

SNI Working on Deal With EO to Enter Personal Communicators Arena

Siemens-Nixdorf Informationssysteme AG plans to offer personal
communicator products based on AT&T Corp.'s Hobbit architecture and
licensed by by U.S.-based start-up EO Inc., said the vice chairman of
SNI in an interview today at CeBIT 93 here. SNI is in the final stages
of striking an agreement with EO and a product announcement could be
made within the next couple of months, said Horst Nasko. Only two weeks
ago, Siemens Private Communication Systems Group announced it had
entered into an alliance with Apple Computer, Inc., supporting a
competing architecture for personal digital assistants (PDA). Nasko said
the wholly owned computer subsidiary of Siemens has the freedom to
decide which architecture to support in the emerging field of portable
communication systems that merge telephone, fax and computer
capabilities. The EO system, along with the PenPoint pen-based operating
system from Go Corp., is more attractive to SNI than the Apple PDA
[system] architecture, Nasko said. Under the Apple agreement with
Siemens Private Communication Systems Group, the two companies have
agreed to apply each other's technology to telecommunications and future
PDA products. Siemens is planning to offer a new line of communication
products, called NotePhones, using the Newton architecture inside
Apple's PDA.

If SNI completes the deal with EO, it would be the second European
company to back the personal communicator architecture using AT&T's
Hobbit processor. Earlier in March, Olivetti announced a marketing
alliance with EO and an investment in the Mountain View, Calif.-based
company. Last week, Olivetti officials said the company would be
shipping EO-designed products in the fourth quarter of the year after
marketing prototypes in the United Kingdom in May.
---

Clarification - 11 Million Business Database

American Business Information Inc., best known for its mailing lists,
has turned its database into an online service called Business America
Online. (Note: This is no relation to America Online, the major online
service.) The company's listings of 11 million businesses will now be
fully searchable for just 50 cents per minute, product manager, Gina
Cronican told IDG. Searches will be offered based on type of business,
geographic area, company name, and phone number, making the system a
complete reverse-directory service. Cronican said the company plans to
offer gateways to other companies offering services of interest to
businesses, with licensing arrangements to be negotiated. The company
will get a fast start toward marketing the system, since it has 300,000
customers already. The company said in a press statement those customers
have expressed enthusiasm about the service. "We're still hammering out
policies on gateways but we're looking to people coming in to us and
tapping into other services," she added.
---

Power Plant Simulator Software

Macmet India Ltd., a Bangalore-based company, has launched a low-cost
computerized simulator for power plants. Based on four 486 systems
connected in parallel, the simulator can be customized to suit the
requirements of individual power plants. According to V. Srinivas,
general manager, Macmet in India, there are only four large simulators
in India and importing such simulators cost Rs 3-4 crore. Macmet's
simulator, which is customized for the Calcutta Electrical Supply Corp.,
costs Rs 75 lakh. Simulators are used to train power plant workers and
operators of various equipment to enable them to achieve a certain
degree of accuracy during actual operation of the plant. High import
costs have prevented power plants from buying them. Macmet's simulator
has four 486 machines connected in parallel with look-alike hard panels,
accompanying the four modules: turbine, condensate seed water,
electrical and boiler systems. Each module has its own operator station.

Srinivas says that the system can be upgraded to a full-fledged
simulator adding on trackers and other associated equipment. Even in
that case the cost will be well below that of imported systems.
According to Srinivas, the same simulator can be customized to a nuclear
plant too. The market potential for Macmet's simulator is pegged at 25
systems per annum at present.
---

Entry level Accounting Combats Imports

Australian accounting software manufacturer Sybiz has released a package
to compete with the popular imported products like MYOB and Quicken. "We
were astounded by both user and channel reaction when we launched it at
PC 93 show in Sydney," said Sybiz spokesperson Katrina Shearer. SyBiz
QuickAccounts was designed and manufactured in Australia to suit
Australian needs and conditions. It is intended for those who don't need
a full-blown or multi-module accounting system. "Primarily it's aimed at
small office/ home office users, which includes partnerships, small
businesses, and small companies that until now have used a cashbook and
bank statements as their basic accounting system," she said. "It's also
ideal for clubs and associations and even lends itself perfectly to home
use to keep track of where your money comes from - and where it's going
to. If you can write a check, you can use QuickAccounts. You don't need
to type - just point and shoot with the mouse."

She said most small businesses need to be able to present their basic
operating details to the accountant at tax time. QuickAccounts is able
to do that but Sybiz claims it can easily do the extra that gives a
small business the information it needs to operate much more effectively
day-to-day. The company claims it can save on accountants fees because
the information is presented in just the right form. "And it will also
impress the bank manager and tax inspector," said Shearer. SyBiz said
one advantage of the package was that the startup accounts and reports
were already designed, so most businesses would need to make only minor
adjustments, if any. The reports include payments, receipts, cashbook
report, trail balance, chart of accounts, income, expense and balance
sheet. As with the full-featured Sybiz system, QuickAccounts runs under
Windows 3.1.
---

Borland Pushes Workstation Database In Japan

Borland (Tokyo), jointly with Seiko-Epson, has created a firm to provide
technical support to its software users. Borland has also set up a
technical sales division in its Tokyo office to push the firm's new
database software for workstations. Borland's new office, called Base
Technologies, was jointly created by Seiko-Epson and Trans-Ivel (Tokyo)
with a total capitalization of 15 million yen ($125,000). The firm aims
to make 40 million yen ($333,000) in its first year with a new product,
Inter Base JA3.2, a Japanese relational database program due to be
released on April 12. The price of the software is expected to be
between 2 million yen ($16,600) and 30 million yen ($250,000) depending
on the hardware configuration. The program operates on Sun Microsystems'
SPARC workstations.

Borland plans to sell the program in various ways including bundling it
with hardware and linking with VAR (value added retailer) dealers and
system integration firms. Borland also will provide consulting services
and sales of imported VAR products in Japan through Base Technologies.
---

Apple Signs New Service Agreement

In an attempt to keep its burgeoning customer base in Japan satisfied
with prompt, efficient maintenance services, Apple Computer (Tokyo) has
signed an agreement with Japan's major software maker CSK which calls
for CSK to provide maintenance service for Macs through its Japanese
maintenance network. Apple Computer's (Tokyo) maintenance agreement is
not its first. Apple has also linked with NCR Japan, Uchida Esco, and
Bit System. The agreement with CSK, however, may be the largest
maintenance agreement in terms of breadth of coverage. CSK operates not
locally, but nationwide in Japan. An Apple Computer spokesman told IDG
that Apple is currently pondering other services that can be offered to
end-users.

Currently, Apple Computer (Tokyo) has 55 dealers in Japan, most of which
are new to Apple products and do not offer support and service for Apple
products. They are strictly sales-oriented and include such names as
Mitsubishi Trading and Seibu Department store. The 55th firm is Sony
Computer, a subsidiary of Sony, which has just announced it will sell
Macintoshes as servers for Sony's NEWS workstations. Macintosh sales are
growing rapidly, especially for the newest machines. The Apple Computer
spokesman told IDG that 14,000 orders for the new color Powerbook
Macintoshes, unveiled at Macworld Expo in Tokyo in February, flooded
into Apple on its introduction day alone.

The phone lines of Apple Computer (Tokyo) are always busy due to public
inquiries about the products and orders from Macintosh dealers, he said.
Apple plans to increase its personnel to deal more effectively with the
traffic in the near future, he said. Better service policies are
extremely important due to not only a down-sizing trend in computing but
due to the PC price war going on in Japan, as elsewhere. In Japan,
Compaq has started providing three-year warrantees to buyers of its PCs.
Other rival firms are also planning to beef up user services in Japan.
---

Videoconferencing Introduced

Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (VSNL), the government-owned telecom company,
plans to introduce three important value-added services:
videoconferencing, electronic document interchange, and INMARSAT
aeronautical services. The company claims that it will set up
videoconferencing studios in Delhi, Bombay, Calcutta and Madras by May,
this year. This will enable inter-city and international conferencing at
a notice of six to 48 hours. Bombay will have a multi-point unit, which
will control and join the same conference at the national and
international level. Even though the Department of Telecommunication
(DOT) of the government of India is yet to issue a tender inviting bids
to set up videoconferencing facilities, BPL Systems and Projects has
signed a memorandum of understanding with ITI Equatorial Satcom Ltd. to
form a joint venture company to provide this facility in India. BPL will
have 55 percent shareholding in this joint venture.

Though the rates are yet to be finalized, they are expected to be
cheaper than setting up a personal facility. According to reports a
half-hour conference with the US will cost around Rs 10,000 (around
$333) to Rs 15,000 (around $500), for Europe and West Asia it will be
much cheaper. The inter-metro rates are expected to be a couple of
thousand rupees. Electronic Document Interchange (EDI) is a facility by
which important commercial documents can be tele-transferred and legally
accepted. The EDI services are extensively used for trade and commerce
in the developed world. Applications vary from invoicing within the
company through PCs to transferring orders and manifests from one part
of the globe to another. With the liberalization of the economy, EDI
services are necessary to facilitate increasing trade and commerce
activities.

Equipment for EDI has already been ordered by VSNL. The company expects
that by the end of June, this service will become available. INMARSAT
aeronautical services have many applications. Primarily they are aimed
at providing air-to-ground passenger communication. Other considerations
are communications of distress air safety and air traffic control. VSNL
plans to introduce the facility through its INMARSAT land earth station
Arvi. VSNL is coordinating with commercial airlines, and the national
and international airport authorities to introduce the facility in air
services. Air India has decided to fit four of its Boeing 747s with the
facility. Meanwhile another government-owned telecom company Mahanagar
Telephone Nigam Ltd. (MTNL) is ready to introduce the videophone
facility in India.
---

Digital May Buy 50% Of CMC

Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) of the United States is likely to
acquire a 50 percent stake in the Indian public sector corporation, CMC
Ltd. Alternatively DEC has also suggested setting up a separate joint
venture company with CMC in India. CMC Ltd., formed as Computer
Maintenance Corporation at the exit of IBM in 1977 to support IBM and
other systems, soon gained in strength as a monopoly in not only
maintenance but, gradually, systems integration, training, and
consultancy and software development. Hence it changed its name to that
abbreviation to reflect wider scope of its business.

Being a public sector company, CMC did enjoy a monopoly in garnering
major government projects at home and venturing out in export markets.
Endowed with some of the best qualified staff in the country and
well-admired work culture and office environment, the company is, all
the same, under pressure to earn its own colors by the national policy
of public sector disinvestment. Commenting on the proposal, chairman and
managing director of CMC, K. Krishnan Kutty said the offer (from DEC)
was submitted a few months ago and CMC is likely to take a decision
after results for financial 1992-93 are declared. The proposed tie-up
will provide relief to the cash-strapped government-owned company, which
recorded meagre profits of Rs 15.6 million (around $520,000) for the
year ended March 1992, over a turnover of Rs 1.14 billion (around $38
million). Turnover this year is expected to touch Rs 1.35 billion
(around $45 million) and net profit is expected to be Rs 20 million
(around $660,000) in 1992-93, says Dr. Kutty.

However, keeping DEC's poor performance in the world market in mind, CMC
is not yet sure of going in with the US giant. CMC top brass are looking
at other options also to raise cash. One of them is a planned public
issue. CMC is considering both options and will go in with whatever
gives it more leverage for raising funds, said Kutty. The rationale
behind this proposed venture, say industry sources, is that a majority
of CMC personnel are accustomed to work on Digital system platforms.
Thus, Digital can make use of qualified CMC personnel for maintenance
and other software operations internationally. DEC already has a joint
venture in India with Hinditron. The company, called Digital Equipment
India Ltd., is into software exports, systems hardware, and is also
planning to introduce Cray supercomputers in India. However, the CMC DEC
venture will not compete with Digital as it will concentrate on specific
areas like systems integration which is one of CMC's strengths,
according to Kutty.
---

Deutsche Bundespost Telekom Lumbers Towards Privatization

Deutsche Bundespost Telekom (DBT), in a rare moment of openness, has
announced it is considering the privatization of its major customer
operations. The move is close to a revolution for what is Europe's
staunchest state telecom authority. Announcing the fact that he is
considering the benefits of privatization, DBT's chairman of the board,
Helmut Ricke, said a decision will have to be made by the supervisory
board. Speaking at one of the first of the many expected press
conferences for the CEBIT computer fair, which opens in Hanover this
Wednesday, Ricke revealed that the Systems group, which handles the
company's major customer, may have to be privatized if it is to attract
the caliber of staff it needs. In addition, a privatized division would
be free to mix and match third-party products and services, rather than
be locked into DBT services.
---

US Robotics Cuts UK Modem Prices

Following the price lead of its US parent a few weeks ago, US Robotics
has launched its budget Sportster 14,400 fax modem in the UK with a
price tag of UKP 399 -- around 60 percent of the "going rate" for a
14,400 bits per second (bps) modem in today's marketplace. Clive Hudson,
the company's marketing director, reckons that this price tag will fall
to around UKP 300 at "street prices." He acknowledges that this could
cause his company problems selling the Courier range of high-speed
modems, which sell for around the UKP 500 mark at street prices. "We
estimate that we could lose between 10 and 15 percent of our low end
Courier sales to the new Sportster, but what we lose on that will be
more than compensated for by increased sales from the new Sportster," he
told IDG.

US Robotics is planning to carefully differentiate the Sportster 14,400
Fax modem from its Courier range by intensive advertising of the "no
frills" status of the Sportster. "We're targeting the Sportster as the
people's modem," Hudson told IDG. He said that, once the stand-alone
version has started shipping in early April, PC card and Apple versions
will follow shortly. "As we've done in the US, the Mac version will be
called the Macinfax," he said. All three versions of the Sportster
14,400 fax support all modems speeds to V.32Bis (14,400 bps), as well as
CCITT Group III fax at 9,600 bps. The PC versions will be bundled with
US Robotics Blast Fax telecom software for DOS, while a copy of Winfax
Lite for Windows users will also be available. The Macinfax version will
be bundled with an Apple Mac telecom package, plus all necessary cables
to get the modem up and running.
---

Britain To Ban Red TV's Porn By Satellite

After a lot of public discussion, both by the broadcasting authorities
and the leader writers of several national newspapers, the British
Government has announced plans to ban the broadcast of hard core
pornography into the UK via satellite. Ironically, the Government may
have shut the door on the problem too late, as Red Hot Television, which
used to be called Red Hot Dutch, the broadcaster of hard core
pornography over one of the Eutelsat satellites to the UK, is conducting
tests on a new encryption method. Currently, Red Hot TV uses a
proprietary encryption system that requires subscribers to pay a
substantial deposit and rent a special decoder from them. The company is
currently testing the Enigma encryption system which it claims is
compatible with the Videocrypt "smart card" system used by many channels
operating on the Astra satellite.

Assuming that an Enigma card works in a Videocrypt/Astra satellite
decoder, then all subscribers would need would be to buy an extra low
noise block (LNB) and arm for the Astra satellite dishes at a cost of
UKP 90 and feed the second aerial lead into their decoder/receivers.
Perhaps worse for the British Government, the smart cards are thinner
than credit cards and could easily be mailed to Red Hot TV's 25,000-
plus subscribers in the UK, regardless of whatever legislation the
government passed to prevent them operating in the UK. For Red Hot TV,
this would mean relocating its Continental Television sales office from
Manchester to outside of the UK. Red Hot TV is not making any formal
comment on any proposed legislative changes. National Heritage Secretary
Peter Brooke has said that the government wants to ban Red Hot TV's
broadcasts to Britain on the grounds that it infringes the European
Commission's broadcasting directive on the protection of minors.

IDG understands that, under the directive, broadcasts are forbidden
which "might seriously impair the physical, mental or moral development
of minors." On British national TV over the weekend, Brooke said that
the sexually explicit nature of Red Hot TV had the potential to cause
great harm to children and "repeatedly offends against good taste and
decency." "I believe our action will send a clear signal that this
country and this government will not tolerate explicit material which is
of a sexually exploitative or gratuitously violent nature," he said.
Brooke added that there will now be a two-week consultation period
between Denmark, Britain and the EC to discuss the matter. Denmark is
involved in the matter, because that is where Red Hot TV programs
originate.
---

Evergreen Intros 486 CPU Upgrade

Evergreen Technologies has announced its first 486 central processor
chip upgrade for personal computers using 386 microprocessors. Called
the 486 Doubler, the new chip replaces the factory-installed 16 or
20-megahertz (MHz) Intel or AMD chip and doubles the system clock speed.
Evergreen says that can increase performance of the PC as much as five
times. The 486 Doubler is the second upgrade Evergreen has announced,
following a chip that upgrades 286-based systems to 486 performance.
That CPU was announced last year. Evergreen says the 486 Doubler is user
installable, using a tool included to remove the existing chip. "The
entire CPU upgrade requires about the same effort as removing and
installing a new math chip," according to Evergreen Technical Director
Jeff Weger. The company says users of Microsoft Windows and OS/2 Release
2.x will see a dramatic increase in system performance, quoting as
typical a Compaq Portable 386-20 that jumped from 14.7 to 48.2 using the
Norton 6.0 System Performance Rating test. Evergreen also says Autodesk
AutoCAD users will greatly benefit from the increased math performance.

The company says the 486 DLC CPU needed for the upgrade is priced
separately according to the speed required. It can be purchased along
with the 486 Doubler from Evergreen, and both chips are currently
shipping. The 486 doubler is priced at $199, or $249 with the onboard
math chip. The additional CPU is $219 for a 33 MHz processor to replace
a 16 MHz chip, while a 40 MHz replacement for a 20MHz system is priced
at $289.
---

Microsoft Ships 32-Bit Fortran Compiler

Microsoft Corporation is now shipping its Fortran PowerStation 1.0
compiler, described as "the most significant version of Fortran we've
ever released." Fortran is an acronym for "formula translation," and is
a programming language primarily used to express computer programs by
arithmetic formulas. Developers using PowerStation can develop 32-bit
protected-mode DOS-based applications which the company says will run as
fast as the Unix executables created on a workstation. Speed isn't the
only benefit according to Microsoft. "In addition to speed, you also get
a graphical user interface and integrated development environment for
maximum ease of use," says Jim McCarthy, Microsoft director of marketing
and user education for the development tools group. Included with
PowerStation is Visual Workbench, a Windows-hosted integrated
development environment similar to the one that ships with Microsoft
Visual C++ that allows developers to move between the compiler, editor,
and debugger. PowerStation is certified by the National Institute of
Standards and Technology as being fully compatible with ANSI Fortran 77,
and also includes a subset of Fortran 90 constructs plus a full suite of
VAX and IBM extensions, designed to simplify the process of porting code
from mainframes and minicomputers.

Fortran is popular with scientists and engineers who develop programs to
help them with their numerically intensive work, so speed is an
attractive benefit, particularly since large Fortran programs can
sometimes take several days to execute. Microsoft says PowerStation 1.0
delivers executable files that are as fast as those created in a
workstation Fortran, citing as an example a 66 megahertz (MHz) 486-based
PC that runs the Linpack benchmark at 2.5 megaflops using PowerStation.
The company says that's the same speed as a Fortran 77 compiler running
on a Sun 4/330 SPARCServer. The 32-bit executable files and libraries
created with PowerStation can be distributed royalty-free. PowerStation
supports 32-bit graphics in VGA, Super VGA, and VESA formats, and it can
handle programs of up to four gigabytes. The bundled Visual Workbench
includes an editor with syntax coloring that provides up to six
differently colored columns, with comments colored differently from the
code; a make file generator that uses point-and-click to specify the
files to be added and the desired compiler options; and a syntax error
locator that automatically loads the editor when the user double clicks
on a syntax error. There is also a feature that displays the program
structure and allows the programmer to jump to a specific routine or
variable.

Microsoft says it will continue to sell and support its Fortran version
5.1, a 16-bit language that can be used to develop applications for the
16-bit Windows operating system. It says it will ship a Fortran compiler
for Windows NT when that product ships that will allow users to create
full 32-bit applications for both Windows NT and MS-DOS. To use
Powerstation you need an IBM-compatible PC using a 386 or higher chip;
at least 4MB of system memory, although Microsoft recommends 6MB; 10MB
of available hard disk space; a VGA graphics card or better; and Windows
3.1 or higher if you want to use Visual Workbench. A mouse is also
recommended. The product has a suggested retail price of $495. Licensed
users of previous Microsoft Fortran versions can upgrade for $199.If you
bought Microsoft Fortran 5.1 on or after February 15, there's no charge
to upgrade to PowerStation. Users of competitive Fortran products can
switch for $249.
---

Pen-Based System For China To Include IBM AS/400

Under a newly announced OEM deal, IBM will sell AS/400 midrange computer
products to Communications Intelligence Corp. (CIC) for use in a
pen-based computer product line CIC is designing for the Chinese market.
James Dao, CIC's president and CEO, said the arrangement with IBM is the
first step in company plans for China that will involve marketing a
localized pen-based office automation system through partnerships with
the Chinese government. The first of these systems will ship within the
next 12 months, Dao added. The new system will combine CIC's pen-based
technology, IBM's AS/400, and desktop and mobile pen-based PCs,
according to the announcement. CIC's Dynamic Signature Verification
software will provide computer security for the multi-user system.

In an earlier agreement on January 26, IBM was named distributor and
exclusive sublicensor of CIC's PenDOS and Handwriter Recognition System
(HRS) for PenDOS to other pen hardware manufacturers worldwide. An
extension of DOS, PenDOS allows pen input to existing DOS applications,
and also enables development of applications designed for a pen
interface. CIC's other current offerings include the PenMac operating
environment, MacHandwriter, and HRS for Microsoft's Windows for Pen
Computing. CIC's handwriting recognition technology is already available
in English (US and UK), German, French, Italian, and Spanish, as well as
in Japanese. "The CIC agreement represents a key example of IBM's new
strategy -- to focus on establishing OEM relationships with select
companies to develop targeted markets," commented William Stuek, IBM's
assistant general manager of marketing for Application Business Systems.

"CIC's Chinese business automation system represents a unique
opportunity to maximize the efficiency and productivity of the Chinese
computer user. Instead of having to deal with a training intensive and
awkward Chinese-language keyboard entry system, CIC's pen-based products
allow more natural pen input and require minimal training." CIC
officials explained that rapid economic progress recently made in China
has resulted in a need for greater computerization, but that, because
the Chinese language consists of thousands of ideographic characters,
data input using a European-style keyboard is very difficult. In 1992
alone, the Chinese economy grew by 12%, and foreign trade amounted to
$170 billion, the company reported. CIC also noted that entry into the
Chinese market represents a logical extension of the company's efforts
in the Pacific Rim. CIC's licensees and strategic partners now hold a
combined share of more than 80% of the Japanese PC market, officials
asserted. In addition, CIC's MacHandwriter is being marketed by Apple
Japan.
---

Boston Computer Exchange for the week ending  March 19, 1993. Closing
Prices from the Boston Computer Exchange

Machine                         Main  Closing    Price      Ask     Bid
                               Drive    Price   Change
IBM AT 339                    30 MgB      390  DOWN 10      400     350
IBM PS/2 Model 30 286         20 MgB      400               450     300
IBM PS/2 Model 50Z            30 MgB      450               500     400
IBM PS/2 Model 55SX           60 MgB      875               900     800
IBM PS/2 Model 60             40 MgB      450  DOWN 50      500     325
IBM ThinkPad 300             120 MgB     1550              1600    1400
IBM ThinkPad 700C            120 MgB     3200              3400    3200
IBM V\P 3/25T MOD. 80         80 MgB     1500              1600    1500
IBM PS/2 Model 95-OKF        400 MgB     3300              3500    3000
IBM PS/2 Model 95-OJF        400 MgB     3000              3300    2700
Compaq Portable II            20 MgB      225               500     200
Compaq Portable III           20 MgB      350  DOWN 50      400     200
Compaq Portable 386          100 MgB      750               800     700
Compaq SLT-286                40 MgB      650               700     600
Compaq LTE-286                 40MgB      700               700     600
Compaq LTE-386                 30MgB      750               850     700
Compaq LTE-LITE\25C            120MB     2400              2600    2300
Compaq Systempro LT-486      510 MgB     2200              2400    2100
Compaq Syspro 386/25LT       340 MgB     2100              2300    1950
Compaq Deskpro 486 /33I      120 MgB     1850              1900    1750
Compaq SysPro 486/33        2040 MgB     6800              7000    6300
Compaq DeskP 486DX2/66i      240 MgB     2100              2400    1900
AST Prem Exec 386SX20         40 MgB      900              1000     800
NEC UltraLite 286             20 MgB      550 DOWN 100      600     500
NEC UltraLite 386SX/20        40 MgB      900               950     800
Zenith Mastersprt-386SX       60 MgB      950              1100     900
Zenith SuperSport 386SX       40 MgB      750               900     650
Macintosh Classic             40 MgB      650               700     600
Macintosh Classic II          40 MgB      800               850     750
Macintosh SE                  20 MgB      575  DOWN 75      650     550
Macintosh SE-30               80 MgB     1150              1250    1100
Macintosh LC                  40 MgB     1000              1300     800
Macintosh II                  40 MgB     1400              1500    1300
Macintosh II SI               80 MgB     1600              1700    1500
Macintosh II CX               80 MgB     1600  DOWN 50     1700    1600
Macintosh II CI               80 MgB     2250  DOWN 50     2350    2200
Macintosh II FX               80 MgB     2800 DOWN 100     3000    2800
Macintosh Quadra 700         160 MgB     3250              3500    3200
Macintosh Quadra 900         160 MgB     4000              4300    3900
Macintosh Powerbk 160        120 MgB     2600              2700    2500
Macintosh Powerbk  140        40 MgB     1350              1400    1250
Macintosh Powerbk 170         80 MgB     2200              2300    2100
Apple Imagewriter 2                       200               225     175
Apple Laserwriter LS                      550               600     500
HP Laserjet II                            750               800     750
HP Laserjet III                          1050    UP 50     1100    1000
Toshiba T-1200 XE             20 MgB      575  DOWN 75      650     550
Toshiba T-1600                40 MgB      625  DOWN 25      700     600
Toshiba T-2000 SX             40 MgB      900  DOWN 50     1000     900
Toshiba T-2000 SXE            40 MgB      950              1050     900
Toshiba T-2200 SX              80MgB     1250              1300    1200
Toshiba T-3100 SX             80 MgB     1000              1300     900
Toshiba T-3200                40 MgB      650               800     600
Toshiba T-3200 SX             40 MgB      850               900     800
Toshiba T-3200 SXC           120 MgB     2250              2400    2100
Toshiba T-6400SX             120 MgB     2400              2700    2200
Toshiba T-4400SX             120 MgB     1900              2100    1800
Toshiba T-5200               100 MgB     1400              1500    1400
---

Novell Netware 4.0 For Asia

Novell's regional headquarters in Hong Kong is unveiling the long
awaited Novell Netware 4.0 to Asia. "The new product has a lot more to
offer and will make a big impact in Asia," Andrew Lai, regional
director, told IDG. "As hardware is becoming much cheaper and data
communications faster and more reliable, more companies are turning to
networking." Netware 4.0 adds Netware Directory Service (NDS) to its
features. This global, distributed and replicated database allows
networks to operate anywhere. There can be multiple servers in different
locations. "The entire global network is seen as one entity," said
Kelvin Lam, regional sales manager, Novell. "The user logs onto the
network no matter where it is in the world. This is very important to
our clients in Asia who will want to link up between their Asian and
overseas head offices."

"Netware 4.0 really helps make connections transparent to users. Just
like two people talking to each other on the telephone don't need to
know what type of network that's being used, whether it is by submarine
cable or via satellite," said Lam. Novell Netware 4.0 utilizes double
byte capacity which means that Chinese, Japanese, and Korean and other
languages are now supported. The Japanese version of Novell Netware 4.0
is currently being developed with a joint venture partner in Japan and
is expected to be available some time this year. "The Japanese market is
very well developed. Novell already has a lot of installations there. In
Asia there are tens of thousands of installations and 1,000,000 world
wide," said Lai. "We are looking for a company to help us develop the
Chinese version." Two versions are intended. Taiwan and Hong Kong will
use a traditional character set while mainland China will use the
simpler character set.

In China, however, there are still many companies with illegal Novell
Netware installations. The exact number is not known. "We are not too
perturbed because sooner or later they will need support from us and
they will be encouraged to buy the original product," Lai told IDG.
"Companies with networks of 50 or so users can not afford [to have]
their system go down." Lam says the matter of software piracy is already
on the mend. Two years ago, he says, the Chinese government recognized
the need for stricter control and "today we are seeing promising
results." He says Novell does not police illegitimate users. "We need to
do our part first by giving our distributors and resellers the best
support, training and friendly service." In other more developed Asian
areas illegal installations of Novell Netware pose less of a problem.
Independent sources reveal that the PC market, especially in Singapore
and Hong Kong, is so saturated that the competition is very tight. PC
dealers are now turning to compete through value-added services,
including networking.

"For many networking consultants Novell Netware is seen as the only
solution," said Andre Meyer of Orchard Software, a company that provides
network consulting in Hong Kong. "Novell is the most widely used in Asia
with 85 percent of the market share compared to 67 percent of world
market share," said Mr Lam "Netware 4.0 fits our customer's needs
completely." Novell Netware 4.0 will be available in Hong Kong at the
end of March.
---

Taiwan Orders 54 Million Phonecards

DGT, Taiwan's national telecom company, has ordered almost 54 million
pre-paid optical phone cards for its Landis & Gyr-supplied public
payphones, Landis & Gyr of the UK has announced. The deal, the largest
of its kind in the world for optical cards, will see Landis & Gyr
produce optical phone cards at the rate of more than a million a week
over the next year. A total of 53.3 million 100-unit and 0.5 million
200-unit cards have been ordered. The order is so big that the company
has had to delegate some of the production out to its Taiwan and
Switzerland plants, as well as the UK facility. The delivery schedule
has been set for April, 1993 running through to June, 1994.

According to a spokesman for the Locks Heath, Southampton-based telecom
company, the sheer size of the order illustrates the popularity of what
the company claims is a fraud-proof, yet low-cost telecom technology.
Taiwan was the first country in the Far East to install Landis & Gyr
optical card payphones, IDG notes. Other countries taking the technology
include Thailand and Malaysia.
---

Mobile Data Service Tracks Vehicles

Securicor Datatrak, which claims to have pioneered vehicle tracking
technology in the UK, has unveiled a new, dedicated mobile data services
which it claims offers a two-way data facility for the first time. The
new service runs on the company's own land-based network which has been
in operation since 1988 and now covers around 95 percent of the UK. This
is more than any other network operator, the company claims. The system
works with a mobile user linking to the network using a radio data
modem, supplied by Datatrak. The vehicle can link a variety of hardware
to the Datatrak modem, using a conventional serial port. This allows
users to employ their own software if they wish, the company claims.

The Datatrak system uses a variety of VHF and UHF channels, with several
thousand mobiles occupying a single channel if required. Data is
transmitted at 10,000 bits per second full duplex over the link, which
allows each mobile to interleave their own digital data in a time
division multiplex system. Although the system is error-checked, IDG
notes that only 95 percent of messages "get through" the first time.
This can be due to a variety of reasons, but is usually due to radio
channel fading and interference. An acknowledgement system for all data
packets ensures that any unreceived data packets are automatically
retransmitted over the radio network.

In theory, each vehicle can be polled over the Datatrak network by the
main computer every ten seconds or so. In reality, most vehicles are
polled every few minutes, freeing up "air time" on the network, so that
high priority data can be immediately transmitted. This is useful, the
company claims, in security situations where a vehicle has to transmit
information over the network in addition to its location. Mike Cooper,
the company's managing director, claims that Datatrak is superior to
other packet radio networks because, since the network "knows" where a
vehicle is at any given time, it can allocate bandwidth much more
efficiently, and poll a mobile very efficiently in terms of data
packets. "Take up of dedicated mobile data services has been slow to
date. Potential users have been put off by complicated billing
arrangements which make it difficult to assess payback and lack of
geographical coverage," Cooper said. According to Cooper, the company
has addressed these problems and is now offering a simple three band
billing arrangement for low, medium and high network usage. "Our network
has proven its resilience over four years of running our own Fleetrak
systems and we offer wider coverage than any other system," he said.
---

British Telecom, HP & Sun Work To Connect LANs

British Telecom (BT) has revealed it is working with Hewlett-Packard and
Sun Microsystems to develop technologies that will manage the
interconnection of local area networks (LANs). The announcement has been
hailed as a major step forward. Traditionally in the UK computer
industry, BT has shied away from liaising actively with a computer
vendor on the subject of LAN technologies. Usually, the integration of
the dissimilar technologies is completed by a value-added reseller (VAR)
who deals directly with the customer. In the recessionary 1990s,
however, BT wants a slice of the profits. It is for this reason that the
telecom giant has started talking to the computer companies. According
to BT, discussions with HP and Sun have been going on for some time.
Despite this, commercial products and services are not expected until
the early part of next year. Plans now call for all three companies to
cooperate on the development of hardware and software technology that
will allow the monitoring of HP and Sun networks, as well as BT's wide
area network services. The idea is that the companies will produce
technologies that conform to the Network Management Forum's Omnipoint
specifications, which are themselves based on the Common Management
Interface Protocol (CMIP).

So far, all the companies have done is talked about the technologies
involved. It remains to be seen whether the talk can be turned into
commercial, shipping products and available services.
---

Siberian Fiber Line Still Planned

The Russian Ministry of Telecommunications and the Intertelecom company
has once again announced further developments in the plan to finance and
build a transcontinental network of fiber optic lines. This proposal was
previously stopped by strict export restrictions. The first of two
projects would lay fiber optic lines from Moscow southward to Istambul,
Turkey, in a contract worth US$120 million, and another would build the
Moscow-Nakhodka, Russian Far East fiber cable, worth US$300 million,
according to the Business MN newspaper. According to US West
representative Stan Crampton, the cost of the line would be jointly
covered by the consortia of the large US and Canadian phone carriers.

Northern Telecom's Ian Latremoille was quoted as saying that he thinks
it's possible to override the strict export regulations, prohibiting the
export of high speed fiber optic communications equipment into Russia by
reason of "national security." Communications over the fiber cable
cannot be intercepted by any means, he suggested. Northern Telecom is
also said to be negotiating fiber optic equipment development and
manufacturing in Russia, according to Latremoille. Russian
communications authorities, US West, and Northern Telecom are currently
trying to set up a joint venture agreement to get things started,
although the vast amount of bureaucratic red tape makes it questionable,
according to Business MN estimate.
---

Frame Relay WilTel Details ATM Plans

WilTel Inc., which was the leader in providing frame relay services in
1992, announced a migration path to faster ATM services. WilTel and
Sprint are the main competitors in the race to be first with a
commercial ATM service. Frame relay sends data in frames, with limited
error detection, at speeds up to 1.544 million bits/second. Dataquest
analyst Joe Noel says WilTel had 38 percent of the $7 million market in
1992, a lead he called significant. Frame relay services can replace
private data lines, which remain a multi-billion dollar market. But even
as the frame relay market develops, vendors and large users of data
services are looking to the next step, Asynchronous Transfer Mode, or
ATM. While ATM standards are not yet set and some critics claim the
whole ATM move is vapor, all major vendors have been announcing plans to
move customers to it once it develops, in order to encourage them to
have confidence in frame relay.

WilTel said it will offer a commercial ATM service by the end of 1993.
It was the first into the frame relay market in early 1991, which Noel
believes helped give it its present lead. Since standards are not yet in
place, WilTel said it will start by selling what's called "channel
extension" service, a fast private line system used by mainframes. It
signed agreements with two makers of the equipment, Computer Network
Technology Corp. and Network Systems Corp. Both will enable companies to
switch from channel extensions, which requires the use of private lines,
to ATM when it becomes available. Spokesman Gil Broyles emphasized that
channel extension is a real application for ATM, and more applications
will be announced soon. WilTel President Roy Wilkens acknowledged in a
press statement that "It doesn't make technical or economic sense to
rush to an ATM solution for many current applications." Channel
extenders run either between major computer systems or to peripheral
devices across a wide area. While customers can take advantage of
WilTel's private line-based channel networking service now, WilTel's ATM
platform will be available to customers on a limited basis in the third
quarter. It will be deployed on a fully commercial basis by the end of
1993.
---

Ericsson's European Telecom Wins

Ericsson announced two major contract wins in Europe, and a strategic
alliance for fast data services. Ericsson said its Mobitex technology
was selected by both of France's radio data networks, France Telecom
Mobiles Data and Cofira. Ericsson expects to make $65 million from the
contracts. They're a big win for the company, since Motorola has the
contracts for Germany's major radio data network, while Ericsson has
been promoting Mobitex as a world standard. The deal could isolate
Motorola in the European radio data network. RAM Mobile Data, a joint
venture between RAM Broadcasting and BellSouth, operates the U.S.
Mobitex network. There are similar networks, at different frequencies,
in Canada, the UK, Sweden, Norway, Finland and Australia.

Ericsson's second major European win is a piece of the $230 million
Bulgarian communications modernization, which appears to be going ahead
despite the firing of the nation's telecom minister for speaking at an
opposition meeting. Siemens AG of Germany, Alcatel Alsthom of France,
and Norden Telecom of Norway were also approved for the contract, by the
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the European
Investment Bank. The EEC financing pretty much excluded US suppliers,
according to analysts.

For the future, the most important deal may be with Cisco Systems, which
makes routers used for linking LANs under standards like frame relay and
ATM. Ericsson signed a worldwide marketing agreement with Cisco to sell
its complete line of internetworking routers, including the Cisco AGS+,
IGS, 3000, 4000, and 7000, and other Cisco internetworking products and
software. The company has been reselling the routers only in conjunction
with sales of its Telecommunications Management and Operations Support
systems. The move lets Ericsson call on computer networking clients, not
just telephone service customers. Lars Berg, president of Ericsson
Business Networks AB, noted that the company is using Cisco routers in
its own corporate network.
---

BellSouth Buys Stake In French Mobile Network

BellSouth has bought a 12.5 percent equity stake in France Telecom
Mobiles Data, a unit of France Telecom which will be building a radio
data network in France under the Mobitex standard. BellSouth owns half
of RAM Mobile Data, which runs Mobitex networks in the US and UK. When
it made its investment in RAM, BellSouth executives said their aim was
to offer mobile data services around the world under the Mobitex
standard, so the deal with France Telecom is a move toward that end.
Construction on the network has already begun, with service scheduled to
be introduced in Paris in 1993 and in other metropolitan areas in 1994
at a total cost to BellSouth of more than $80 million. MATRA
Communications will also be a supplier of Ericsson equipment in the
initial phases of the project. FTMD will compete with Cofira, which also
said it selected Mobitex technology for its network. The Cofira network
will be operational before the end of 1993.
---

Conner Reorganizes Into 4 Groups

A month after bowing to market demand by restructuring its hard disk
manufacturing operations, Conner Peripherals has now reorganized around
four market groups. According to the company, the four units are: the
OEM (original equipment manufacturer) Products Group, headed by David
Ludvigson, senior vice president; the Distribution Products Group,
headed by Ray Weadock,vice president; the Software Products Group,
headed by Robert Wight,vice president; and the Storage Systems Group,
headed by George Rea, executive vice president. In announcing the
restructuring, Finis Conner, chairman and chief executive officer for
the company, said, "In today's highly competitive and dynamic business
environment, this new structure gives us both the flexibility and the
focus to meet the distinct product and support requirements of our
customers, and take advantage of the storage solutions business
opportunities within these market groups."

The company says that the OEM Products Group will market disk drives,
tape drives, storage management software, and storage systems to OEMs.
The Distribution Products Group will market the same products to
distributors and resellers. The company says that its Storage Systems
Group, formerly Maynard Electronics, will market bundled hardware and
software primarily to corporate end users. Meanwhile, the Software
Products Group will market storage management software to PC users and
network administrators through retail and OEM channels. The Software
Products Group will also will build upon its product development
relationships with such operating system companies as Microsoft and
Novell.

In February, IDG reported that Conner had made a "series of changes in
its operations in response to a decline in market demand for disk drives
with capacities of 120MB or less due to newer computer system
requirements for higher capacity and performance." As a result, the
company plans to increase production of some of its new products,
including its Filepro and Aegean Series of 3.5-inch disk drives. The
company will also decrease production of those tape drive and disk drive
products which "do not meet its profitability objectives as a result of
faster price erosion than expected." Two weeks ago IDG that Conner had
filed suit in the Northern District of California against Western
Digital for patent infringement. Conner acquired Archive in December,
1992. The company has since merged Archive's manufacturing, finance,
management information systems and other operations into its business.
Conner had 1992 sales of $2.2 billion.
---

Novell Drivers To Support UnixWare, Windows NT/3.1

One of Novell's greatest market strengths is its support for so many
different platforms and operating systems. Continuing that strategy the
company has now announced that it has broadened its 32-bit ODI (Open
Data-link Interface) network server drivers to run on all major
operating system platforms. These include UnixWare, Windows NT, Windows
3.1, OS/2 and 32-bit DOS desktop clients, as well as its own NetWare 3.x
and 4.0 servers. Novell's ODI interconnectivity strategy allows NetWare
to support multiple protocols and drivers. ODI is also claimed to allow
for the use of multiple protocols without the need to add additional
networking boards to the workstation. The technology also allows for the
communication with other systems using different protocols with the need
to reboot the workstation.

The company claims that the enhanced drivers make it easier for
developers and networking board manufacturers to support systems on a
number platforms in a NetWare environment through a single driver. As
well as using ODI's combined client and server driver to support more
operating system platforms and increase client performance, the company
also claims that its Novell's ODI drivers facilitate communications
between Novell's ODI standard and Microsoft's NDIS (Network Driver
Interface Specification) specification, by using Novell's ODINSUP
module. The module permits ODI drivers to communicate with NDIS protocol
stacks, without modification. The ODINSUP utility means developers do
not have to allocate engineering time to develop an NDIS driver for an
adapter when connecting into LAN Manager or LAN Server. NDIS is a device
driver specification developed by Microsoft and 3Com that supports both
MS-DOS and OS/2 operating systems. It is intended as a way of providing
protocol and hardware independence for network drivers. It also supports
protocol multiplexing.

The company says that, when fully implemented, developers writing 32-bit
ODI LAN (local area network) drivers are able to write one driver that
will support NetWare 3.x and 4.0 servers; Windows NT and Windows 3.1,
ODI, and NDIS clients; as well as UnixWare, Windows 3.1, OS/2 and 32-bit
DOS, ODI clients. The ODI driver development kit is available through
Novell Labs. ODINSUP can be licensed from Novell for distribution with
drivers to facilitate support of Microsoft's NDIS environment.
Developers registered with Novell Labs will automatically be updated.
All others can download the update, entitled "LAN Driver Developer
Bulletin, 1," from the Internet or NetWire.
---

Autodesk, ESRI Honor Those Helping World Environment

Award winners in an effort to encourage use of computing to solve the
world's environmental problems have been announced. Autodesk and
Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) have announced the
winners of the Geodyssey Environmental GIS Research Grants Initiative.
Winners are using GIS (geographic information systems) technology in
order to: control the malaria epidemic in Sri Lanka, by Monash
University, Australia; balance industry, tourism and preservation along
the Nile River, by Mansoura University, Egypt; ease the transition to
private land ownership in Lithuania, by GIS-Centre, Lithuania; and
perform risk assessment and contingency planning for hurricanes in
western coastal Trinidad, by the University of the West Indies.

The Geodyssey grant program is designed to bring PC-based computer-aided
design (CAD) and GIS tools to 100 universities and research
organizations in 28 countries. The award scheme was inspired by the 1992
Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It was developed by the two
organizations, and endorsed and administered by the International
Geographic Information Foundation (IGIF). In announcing the awards, Joe
Nicholson, senior manager of Autodesk's Mapping, GIS and Infrastructure
Division, said: "Powerful PC-based CAD and GIS software will allow more
countries and academic institutions to use technology to help resolve
critical issues, such as conservation of natural resources, management
of economic development and other environmental concerns." Autodesk and
ESRI plan to donate more than $1 million in software and support for the
Geodyssey Initiative. Scholarships for training, including travel and
expenses up to $3,000, were awarded to 10 proposals. All other winners
are set to receive a 50 percent discount on training. The winners are
required to provide a "professional" paper on their findings to the IGIF
by February 15, 1994.

GIS data is referenced by location, and not by numbers and text as in
traditional databases. It also allows the user the ability to manage and
analyze information specifically as it relates to geography. The IGIF
has four sociaty organizations: American Congress on Surveying and
Mapping, AM/FM International, American Society for Photogrammety and
Remote Sensing, and URISA. ESRI was founded in 1969 as a research group
intent on improving methods of handling geographic data.
---

New Mac Version Of Adobe Illustrator

Adobe Systems promises a new version of Adobe Illustrator, Version 5.0
for the Macintosh, in the second quarter of this year. Adobe calls it "a
major new release" of the graphics illustration and design application.
Version 5.0 will also include 40 of Adobe's Type 1 typefaces. New
features include layers, multiple levels of undo and redo, edit in
preview, custom views, gradient fills with multiple colors, unlimited
custom page sizes, and support for a pressure-sensitive calligraphic pen
with variable nib. User interface improvements include floating palettes
for paint styles, gradient fills, layers, tools, and character and
paragraph styles.

Adobe Illustrator Version 5.0 plug-in filters enable users to search for
objects by stroke or fill, adjust colors globally or interactively and
create new lines on either side of an existing path. Adobe's new
Pathfinder technology is a unique feature within the plug-in filters.
With Pathfinder filters, users can create special effects and techniques
such as shadowing, transparency and preview overprinting. The plug-in
architecture allows third parties to enhance the program Adobe says, by
adding new effects and features. Following the release of Adobe
Illustrator 5.0, Adobe will publish a developer's kit for independent
software developers interested in creating filters for the program. The
suggested retail price of the program is $595. Registered owners of
Adobe Illustrator have various upgrade options.
---

Sun Offers PC To Unix E-Mail

Sun's business unit, Sunselect, is shipping Selectmail, an electronic
mail package that will allow IBM and compatible personal computers (PCs)
to send and receive mail and a package that works with popular PC
networking software. The company is also offering a new version of its
PC to Unix networking software, PC-NFS 5.0. Sunselect is offering two
versions of Selectmail, one for PCs running MS-DOS and one for the
graphical operating system Microsoft Windows 3.1. Designed for TCP/IP
networks, the company says Selectmail will share mail with any computer
that can run on the network.

The company is placing emphasis on the Windows version of Selectmail,
saying it supports the Windows Sockets Application Programming Interface
(API), a standard interface based on the "sockets" paradigm and allows
any Windows network application written to the API to run unchanged over
any TCP/IP network. This allows users to work in the PC environment with
which they are familiar and still communicate on the Unix network, Sun
representatives said. The Windows Selectmail product offers
text-or-binary file attachment capability, a spelling checker,
confirmation to the sender when a mail message has been read, local and
global addressing capabilities so users and system administrators can
set up local and global aliases, and a queueing facility that allows
mobile computer users to have electronic mail capabilities when they're
away from the network.

One of the TCP/IP networks that is compatible with Selectmail is Sun's
own PC-NFS (network file system) version 5.0, just released. To attract
users of other TCP/IP network products, Sun says other TCP/IP network
users can get the PC-NFS 5.0 product for as little as $79 per user.
Those other TCP/IP products include PC/TCP from FTP Software, Chameleon
from Netmanage, BW-NFS from Beame & Whiteside, LAN Workplace for DOS
from Novell, and Pathway Access from The Wollongong Group. In quantity,
the upgrade price goes down even further, Sunselect said. Ten-license
upgrade packs are $59 per node, and 100-license packs are $41 per node.
The upgrade pricing will be offered from April 1 to June 30, 1993.
---

DB/EXPO Vendor Sell-Out

Show organizers NDN Enterprises for the DB/EXPO '93 show scheduled for
May 3-7, 1993 in San Francisco's Moscone Center say exhibitor space for
the show is completely sold out and projections are 20,000 will attend.
The show's organizers are crediting the vendor sell out, despite a
thirty-five percent increase in the show size, to Microsoft's surprise
announcement last year at the show that it was buying Fox Software.

Speakers for this year's show are Bill Gates, president of Microsoft;
Borland International's President Philippe Kahn; Steven Jobs, co-founder
of Apple Computer and current head of Next Computer; Larry Ellison,
president of Oracle; Dr. Patricia Selinger of IBM; Dr. Robert Epstein
from Sybase; Jim Groff from Apple Computer; and Umang Gupta, founder of
Gupta. DB/EXPO was started in 1989 and focuses on database,
client/server, and information technology for information systems
executives, data processing personnel, and others. The first show had
100 exhibits and 2,000 attendees, but show organizers say they've
increased the size of the show to over 200 exhibitors in 500 booths.

Topics to be covered at the show include client/server applications
development, desktop databases, object-oriented and evolving
technologies, data warehousing, open systems and Unix on-line
transaction processing (OLTP), and Windows.
---

Dell, Compuadd Cut Prices Again

Austin-based Compuadd Computer Corporation and its cross-town neighbor
Dell Computer Corporation have both announced price cuts to some of
their 486-based systems. CompuAdd, which recently announced it will
close its retail outlets and rely on the direct marketing channel, said
it has cut the price of its top-of-the-line EISA (Extended Industry
Standard Architecture)-based 466EDX2 tower unit, and the Model 433DX
desktop system. The biggest cut is for the 466DX2, a system that comes
with six drive bays, eight expansion slots, 8MB of system memory, a 256K
high speed cache, a 340MB hard drive, dual floppy drives, a 15-inch
super VGA color monitor, and a local bus accelerator with 2MB of VRAM.
That system dropped 23 percent, from $3,871 to $2,995. The 466EDX2, a
486-based 66 megahertz (MHz) system, dropped from $4,856 to $3,795.

Compuadd CEO Bill Hayden said this is the first in what he described as
"a series of aggressive steps" the company plans as CompuAdd transitions
to a direct marketing company. A source close to Compuadd told IDG the
company will join other clone makers in announcing a system based on
Intel's Pentium chip, which was formally announced yesterday. At Dell,
prices were cut from $50 to $300 on six Dimension systems, including
three mid-size desktops and three floor-standing, or "tower" 486-based
systems. A Dell 486DX/33 with 4MB of memory, a 170MB hard drive, and a
super VGA 14-inch 1024 X 788 interlaced monitor, was reduced from $1,899
to $1,699, an 11 percent drop. Dell cut its 486DX2/50s tower unit,
equipped with 8MB of memory, a 320MB hard drive, and an Ultra VGA
14-inch 1024 X 788 non-interlaced monitor, to $2,499, an 11 percent
reduction. Price cuts were expected from most manufacturers once Intel
announced it was ready to ship its Pentium chip. Dell spokesperson Lisa
Rohlf told IDG Dell expects to ship Pentium upgrade cards for its
upgradable DE and SE 486-based systems. "We are planning a true
Pentium-based design later, probably in the summer." The upgrade cards
are expected to ship in late May. Dell also plans to ship a
Pentium-upgradable system.
---

Cray's Programmer Toolkit, RAID Products

Cray Research has announced a programmer toolkit that includes windowing
and graphics tools, and two disk arrays that use RAID (Redundant Array
of Inexpensive Disks) technology. The Cray Visualization Toolkit 2.0
consists of the most recent releases of six standard windowing and
graphics tools that software programmers can use to create the user
interface for their programs. The company says the toolkit will also
make it easy for applications that use the six tools to be ported to
Cray Research systems. The CVT 2.0 tools consist of libraries and
toolkits used to create common user interface elements such as menus and
icons. The components include the X Windows System Release 5, Sun
Microsystem's XView Toolkit 3.0, Open Software Foundation's Motif
Toolkit 1.2, Silicon Graphics Distributed Graphics Library, the PEXlib
library, ad the Tk/Tci toolkit command interpreter. Using these tools
the programmer can create items like menus and scrollbars.

Cray says it has ported each of the standard toolkits in the CVT 2.0 to
its entire product line. "To be the most productive, developers require
the latest software tools to build easy-to-use applications," says Cal
Kirchof, manager of Cray Research's visualization group. He says
developers can create visual interfaces that give applications the same
look and feel, whether they are running on supercomputers or
workstations. Cray also announced two new disk array systems that use
RAID level 3 technology which the company says increases reliability and
provides up to a four-fold increase in data transfer. The DA-60 array
can sustain a sequential I/O (input/output) transfer rate of 80 million
bytes (MB) per second and has a storage capacity from 7.8 billion to
62.72 billion bytes (gigabytes). The second system, the DA-62, can
sustain transfers at 32MB per second and has a capacity from 10.92 GB to
87.36GB. The company has also reduced the price of the two drives that
are used in the new arrays. The DD-60 drive was cut 20 percent, while
the DD-62 has been reduced 28 percent. Those drives were announced in
1991 and 1992 respectively.

The disk array systems use Cray's DCA-3 channel adapter, which provides
a direct disk channel connection between the I/O subsystem of Cray
Research supercomputers and the disk arrays, which can be used with all
the Y-MP model E supercomputers and with Y-MP C90 systems. DCA pricing
starts at $190,000, while the DA-62 begins at $120,000.
---

FedWorld Gateway To Federal BBS

FedWorld at the National Technical Information Service has built a major
coordinating bulletin board system (BBS) to serve anyone wishing to
contact other federal bulletin board systems. Whether it makes any sense
for you to call a Virginia BBS which will then dial out to another BBS
depends on where you are located. FedWorld claims that it operates 24
hours a day, utilizing a 486 50 megahertz (MHz) system with two 1.4
gigabyte (GB) hard drives. The 46 high-speed modems are intended to make
for easy access during busy business hours. One hundred and nine other
federal bulletin boards are available to callers directly from within
FedWorld by selecting from a menu that includes the FAA Headquarters
BBS; Public Taxpayer Statistical Information; Some Congressional
Committee Press Releases; Federal Register Electronic News Delivery;
Pesticide Information Network; and Library of Congress News Service. All
of these boards are free to the public, as are most of those available
through the gateway.

As for FedWorld itself, if you ever wanted to browse through a MIL-spec
manual then this board is heaven, because it is just loaded with text
file versions of government documentation. CALS or Computer-Aided
Acquisition and Logistic Support-related files also occupy a significant
portion of the board, amounting to more than 500 files, and this should
be of some interest to companies wanting to do business with the
Pentagon. Of much more general interest are the 75-plus GIF-format
weather satellite images which are downloadable from the SAT-IMGS file
library. These files, which cover everything from full-Earth images (one
side only) to images of areas as small as a part of one state, average
about 150 kilobytes (KB) in size. There is also a zipped GIF viewer
program available for downloading. Apparently, older maps are removed
from the system regularly because some of the map files were taken by
satellites and are just a week old. Nearly 90 White House press releases
and other administration documents are available in ASCII TXT files in
the W-HOUSE Library.

How do you reach this major federal BBS coordinating board? Simple; set
your communications software for maximum speed and have it dial
703-321-8020. Address on-line e-mail questions and comments to: Tom
Walker - FedWorld Project Director; Ken Royer - Manager, FedWorld System
Development/Tech. Services; Bob Bunge - Manager, FedWorld Info.
Resources/GateWay Support; or SYSOP.
---

Reference Software For Windows, Mac

Microlytics has announced shipment of an encyclopedia, a language
translator, and a thesaurus in Microsoft Windows and Macintosh versions.
The products include the Random House Encyclopedia in compressed form on
diskettes, the five-language Berlitz Interpreter, and an updated Word
Finder thesaurus - called Word Finder Plus - that provides definitions
as well as synonyms. Microlytics claims its Random House Encyclopedia is
the only on-line encyclopedia that does not require a CD-ROM. Company
spokesman Peter Mason said data compression is used to fit the complete
20,000-entry encyclopedia on three diskettes, and it does not have to be
decompressed when loaded onto the computer's hard disk. Mason also
maintained that the compression does not affect the speed of text
retrieval.

The Berlitz Interpreter contains 12,000 words in each of English,
French, German, Italian, and Spanish - allowing users to look up
translations from any of these languages to any other. Parts of speech
and gender are also covered, and there is a quiz feature intended to let
students test their knowledge. The new Word Finder Plus adds definitions
to about one million synonyms. As an example, Microlytics said the word
"wrote" would return "authored" as a synonym. The program's database is
not based on a printed thesaurus but was put together by Microlytics
with input from "a number of periodicals," Mason said. Suggested retail
prices are: $99.95 for the Random House Encyclopedia; $49.95 for the
Berlitz Interpreter; and $59.95 for Word Finder Plus.
---

McAfee Intros New Anti-Virus Software For DOS

McAfee Associates has introduced Pro-View, a menu-driven product for
viewing and editing system memory, hard disks, floppy diskettes, network
drives, and CD-ROMs. According to the company, users of Pro-View can
view the system interrupts, drivers and programs resident in memory, or
view data specified at physical memory locations. Data can be viewed in
Hexadecimal, ASCII, or in assembly language. Jim Lynch, spokesman for
the company, told IDG that the product is designed for the DOS platform.
"It runs on a workstation. Like any DOS program is could be accessed
from a file server. It is not a network product per se, because what it
does is analyze what's going on in the memory of the workstation it's
on."

In announcing the product, John McAfee, founder and chief executive
officer of the company, claimed: "Pro-View represents a major milestone
in the evolution of our product-line and overall business strategy. We
believe electronic distribution has enormous market potential, and our
strategy is to continue to capitalize on the benefits of electronic
distribution over shrink-wrapped software packages." The company says
that electronic distribution is a simple, low-cost means of accessing
products from a bulletin board system or on-line service such as
CompuServe or the Internet. Users download products on a free trial
basis and later license those products they choose to keep. The company
claims that its products available through electronic distribution are
updated more frequently than shrink-wrapped products. The company claims
that it releases regular product updates on an accelerated schedule
compared to shrink-wrapped software products.

Pro-View is only available through electronic distribution and can be
obtained by calling the company's BBS at 408-988-4004, or through
CompuServe or the Internet. Lynch told newsbytes that, "If someone
decides to use it, we offer a two-year licensing program. We do not sell
our software, we license the use and support of it, and access to
updates." Lynch said that a single-user product license costs $80 for
two years. License pricing is also available for multiple machines. For
example, up to ten machines costs $395. Site licensing is also
available.
---

Raytheon Bags $106 Million Indian Airport Order

Raytheon, of the US, has signed an agreement with the National Airports
Authority of India (NAAI) for modernizing the airports at Bombay and New
Delhi. The turnkey project, estimated to cost $106 million, involves
installation of state-of-the-art aircraft landing facilities at both
locations. The Indian project will include radar, navigational aids,
displays and air traffic automation systems. Its open architecture
automation system is similar to those being delivered to Norway and the
Netherlands by Raytheon. It will also feature the high resolution color
display unit that Raytheon is providing for civil aviation controllers
internationally.

The company will manufacture short range airport and long range
surveillance radars for the modernization program which is aimed at
facilitating the handling of up to 40 aircraft landings per hour against
the 10 landings per hour currently. The Tatas, one of India's major
industrial houses, will provide in-country support. The decks for the
agreement were cleared when the Delhi High Court dismissed a petition by
the French company Thomson CSF, challenging the award of the contract to
Raytheon, a company release said.
---

India Playing To Asiasat Satellite Tune

When the minister of state for Information and Broadcasting of the
Government of India - K.P. Singh Deo - told the Rajya Sabha (the upper
house of the Indian Parliament) that the ISRO-(Indian Space Research
Organization)- made INSAT series of satellite's footprints are limited
to Indian borders, it not only surprised ISRO, but others connected with
the INSAT utility in the Department of Telecommunication (DoT). Some
satellite experts contend that the Information and Broadcasting Ministry
is playing into the hands of Asiasat and Star TV by trying to hire a
transponder at a huge annual fee of $2.5 million. Satellite Television
for Asian Region (Star), a Hong-Kong based company, Hitchison,
introduced the concept of satellite television in this region. Some are
also surprised at this sudden turnaround of the ministry. For the I and
B ministry had rejected an earlier offer from Asiasat for a transponder
at a lower price. In fact, the ministry even wanted to ban dish antennas
in the country, or at least regulate their use, stating that such
international media invasion was not in the country's interest.

All the more interesting is the ministry's eagerness to strike a deal,
with Asiasat, even as the next series of India's own INSAT 2-B satellite
is to be launched in July this year, adding to the already existing
transponder facility for broadcast and telecom purposes. A close look at
INSAT's satellite footprints shows that it covers the area from West
Asia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries to
Singapore and parts of Indonesia. The Asiasat-2 footprint extends from
the middle of Africa to parts of New Zealand. The footprint also touches
Eastern Europe and Russia, almost up to Siberia. However, critics
contend that there are already a number of satellites with the same
footprint, available at a cheaper rate. Sources said that ISRO had given
a presentation on the transponder facilities over India to the I&B
ministry, as any hire of transponders involves foreign exchange in
millions.

However, it is claimed that the ministry has ignored such
considerations. They feel that advertisers are abandoning Doordarshan,
the national television company, for Star TV, and hence if Doordarshan
shifts to the same satellite, it can get back the advertisers. Critics
contend that the ministry does not seem to realize that it is due to the
poor quality of programs on Doordarshan.
---

Asymetrix Ships Windows Multimedia Software

Asymetrix has announced Compel, a software package that allows users to
create interactive multimedia business presentations. Compel can combine
text, video, animation, and sound for on-screen presentations, slides,
overhead projections, or hard copies. A hyperlinking feature allows the
user to click on any word, bullet or graphic to display supporting
information in response to questions or comments, or to skip to another
part of the presentation. Compel supports MCI-compatible multimedia
devices under Microsoft Windows, include Microsoft's Video for Windows,
CD, WAVE and MIDI (musical instrument digital interface) audio,
animation, and videodisc. The program has a built-in sound recorder that
allows objects to have voice annotation attached, and animation can be
triggered automatically. Compel ships with over 100 megabytes (MB) of
multimedia clips, including sound files and clip-art drawings that can
be edited. Kodak's Photo CD, which stores pictures taken with a
conventional 35 millimeter camera on a CD disk, is also supported.

A run-time module, Compel Show, allows royalty-free distribution of
prepared presentations, while Package Presentation compresses files and
can automatically split large files, such as video, across multiple
disks to aid distribution. MAPI support allows the user to package and
send a fully-formatted interactive multimedia presentation through
Microsoft Mail. The program also supports Windows OLE (object linking
and embedding). Compel includes a selection of slide transitions, bullet
transitions, graphical bullets, and can customize, dim, and build
bullets. More than 100 templates are included in the software, as are
charting and drawing tools and a selection of palettes. A slide sorter
displays thumbnail views of available slides for easy sorting, claims
the company. Asymetrix' companion product, Media Blitz!, is bundled with
Compel, allowing the user to create synchronized multimedia storyboards
which can be inserted in Compel presentations.

The company says Compel will carry an introductory price of $99 until
the end of June, when the price is scheduled to return to the regular
$295 suggested retail price. Asymetrix is offering a trade-in program
for users of competitive presentation software programs, also for $99.
System requirements include an IBM-compatible PC using a 386 or higher
CPU (central processing unit), Windows 3.1, a minimum of 2MB of system
memory (Asymetrix recommends 4MB), a VGA or Super VGA video card, and a
Windows-compatible mouse or other pointing device. A sound card and a
CD-ROM drive are also recommended.
---

Apple To Open AppleLink To Regular Users

Apple Computer (Tokyo) says it is planning to open its international
AppleLink network to regular Macintosh users in April. It is expected
that the network will be well-accepted by Japanese Macintosh users due
to the increasing popularity of the Macintosh. Apple Computer's
AppleLink is currently available only for its dealers in Japan.
AppleLink contains the latest technical information on the Macintosh,
and includes product information, library search capabilities and a
bulletin board system.Apple Computer (Tokyo) is preparing the network
menus for regular users. Apple Computer (Tokyo) is thinking of
providing, not only information, but an opportunity for users to
exchange ideas through the network. Some analysts predict that the
network will grow as large as Japan's major PC networks, such as NEC's
PC-VAN and Fujitsu's Nifty-Serve. In Japan, about 700 firms and
organizations currently use the network. A major advantage of AppleLink
is easy operation using a mouse. Regular users need to get proprietary
telecom software and a modem.
---

Sharp Intros All-In-One Notebook Word Processor

Sharp has developed an all-in-one-type Japanese word processor. It is
A5-size, which is smaller than regular notebook-type PCs or word
processors. It can also be used as an English word processor. The
WV-S250 weighs only 920 grams and is 28 millimeters thick. This device
has a thermal printer at the back. The screen is backlit-type. Due to
the all-in-one-type feature, almost all the necessary features are
built-in to the device. It includes a scheduler, an address book, a memo
pad, a spreadsheet program, a calculator, and a database program. The
word processor can be switched between Japanese and English modes. A
spelling-check program is also built-in in the device, along with a
560,000 user dictionary. Sharp has added its original program called the
"Action List." Under this mode, the program automatically places jobs in
order of priority. The built-in printer can print 81 letters per second.
It is claimed that the word processor can operate for 19 hours with
removable batteries. It includes power management capabilities and it
has a switch to vary the brightness of the screen.

The word processor has a feature to exchange data with a desktop word
processor using optical data transmission through infrared technology.
The retail price of this device is 150,000 yen ($1,250).
---

KDD Develops Low-cost Color PC Transmission Board

KDD claims it has developed a low-cost color picture transmission board
for personal computers. With this extension board, color pictures can be
transmitted at fast speed. KDD's new picture transmission board has
pictorial processing feature, ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network)
transmission chips and telecom software. The board compresses full-color
pictorial data and can transmit this data at four to five seconds per
screen via ISDN network. It is said the quality of the picture is
extremely high. Interestingly, the board also support the data
transmission speed of one second per screen with an inferior picture
mode. Under this mode, the quality of the picture is slightly degraded.
A low-cost version of a television conferencing system can be created
with this board in combination with a camcorder.

The board is claimed to be useful for various industries, such as design
firms, the housing and automobile industries. Color pictures of cars,
houses and designs can be sent quickly to allow customers to see them at
shops or offices. The board supports database structured query language
(SQL). Also, the JPEG data compression technology is applied in the
board. The board is expected to be released this summer through OSI
Plus, which is a 90 percent-owned subsidiary of KDD. The retail price of
this board is expected to be around $5,000.
---

PictureTel Intros Video App Development Environment

Hoping to expand the market for videoconferencing by encouraging others
to develop specialized applications, PictureTel has announced a video
application development environment made up of hardware and software
that third parties can use to create their own applications. Steve
Johnson, manager of developer programs for PictureTel's applications
business line, said the company has packaged and priced its technology
for end users in the past. Now it will also offer that technology to
developers, he said. Johnson added that PictureTel will focus on three
application areas it sees as especially promising: medical applications,
remote monitoring, and professional services such as financial services
kiosks.

The PictureTel Application Developer's Program includes the PictureTel
Developer's Toolkit, the VM-4000 video modem, the Developer's Response
Center, technical consulting, and the PictureTel Connection program. The
company said its developer's toolkit is the first in a series of
development tools for writing applications based on its visual
communications technology. Running on IBM and compatible PCs, it gives
programmers access to major system functions for set up and control of
video, audio, windowing, configuration, and network communications.  The
kit includes an application program interface (API), code samples,
international language tools, and documentation. The VM-4000 video modem
is compatible with the PictureTel System 4000 family of
videoconferencing products, PictureTel said. The PictureTel Developer's
Response Center provides technical and educational assistance through a
toll-free phone line, electronic bulletin boards, and videoconferencing.
All the pieces are available now to qualifying value-added resellers
(VARs), Johnson said. To qualify, he added, VARs must have a combination
of expertise in telecommunications, computing, video, and their own
application area. The PictureTel environment will work with hardware and
software from third parties, Johnson added.
---

KeyData Plans Lightweight Notebook

Leaving out the diskette drive will be one key to producing two smaller,
lighter, notebook computers that Keydata International hopes to begin
shipping in April. A smaller screen will also help. Keydata officials
said their two 33 megahertz (MHz) 486-based notebooks will be 40 percent
smaller than most such machines and weigh four pounds. One will come
with a monochrome screen, the other with an active-matrix color screen.
A spokesman for the company said there will be no diskette drive built
into the machines, although an external one will be available as an
option. From talking to users, he said, Keydata concluded that most need
a diskette drive only for loading software and thus can use an external
one that they can leave at home while on the road. The two units will
also come with 8.5-inch screens, smaller than those used in some other
notebook computers. Both the Monochrome Keynote Compact and the Color
Keynote Compact will come with an 86-key keyboard with palm-rest, a
recessed trackball, parallel and serial ports, and a Personal Computer
Memory Card Interface Association (PCMCIA) Type 2.0 slot for memory
cards and expansion options such as modem and fax cards. Keydata also
said the machines will use nickel-cadmium batteries and run three to
four hours per charge.

The Monochrome Keynote Compact is to have a $1,695 price tag. The Color
Keynote Compact is to sell for $3,295. Both will come with a choice of
bundled software including Borland's Quattro Pro spreadsheet and
Symantec's Norton Desktop, the company said.
---

Fulcrum Text Search Tools Supports SQL

Fulcrum Technologies has introduced its Fulcrum Search Tools software
for developing full-text search applications. In a bid to make the
software easier for corporate information processing people to use,
Fulcrum has put in support for structured query language (SQL), the de
facto standard for requesting information from database software. Peter
Eddison, vice-president of corporate marketing at Fulcrum, stressed that
the company is not making its full-text search technology more like
relational databases. Full-text search software deals with unstructured
information, such as correspondence or manuals, where users need to be
able to search for any word or combination of words, rather than the
structured data stored in databases.

SQL support will make Fulcrum Search Tools easier for those used to
database software to understand, Eddison said. As a result, Fulcrum
expects to sell more of the software to corporate information systems
departments as opposed to its traditional market, commercial
applications developers that build their own applications for resale.
Fulcrum Search Tools are based on the company's Ful/Text search
technology, which a variety of major vendors use in their own products,
Eddison said. The product line includes: SearchTools, a developer's
toolkit for creating text-searching applications in Visual BASIC or C;
SearchServer, an indexing and retrieval engine needed on the server to
support client applications built with SearchTools; and an extended
version of SQL, called SearchSQL. SearchServer can run on "most flavors
of Unix," OS/2, and Microsoft Windows, Eddison said. A version for
Digital Equipments VAX minicomputers is also planned. Client
applications can run on Unix, OS/2, Windows, and Apple Macintosh
computers.

Prices for the SearchTools development kit start at $7,500. Prices for
SearchServer depend on the number of users and start at $1,000. Fulcrum
sells its software mainly in the United States and Europe, with about
five percent of its sales in Canada and about five percent elsewhere,
Eddison said.
---

Syquest Intros 3.5-Inch SCSI Removable Drive For Mac

Syquest Technology is now shipping a fast, 3.5-inch SCSI (Small Computer
System Interface) removable Winchester disk drive. The small form factor
SQ3105S drive offers 100 megabytes (MB) per cartridge of storage and a 4
MB per second transfer rate. The company said it has been shipping an
integrated drive electronics (IDE) version of the drive, but the SCSI
version is expected to be attractive to the Macintosh market. Syquest
says it is also addressing, with its vendors, the problems associated
with using cartridges from different vendors in its SCSI drives. The
problem has arisen because each vendor for Syquest writes their own
drivers for the Syquest cartridges, and the drivers are resident on the
cartridge when it is mounted.

If a user changes from one vendor's cartridge to another, a new driver
for the new cartridge needs to be recognized and loaded or the cartridge
will not mount. The SCSI probe is a specification developed by Syquest
to solve the interchangability problem. Syquest representatives told IDG
the company feels it has gotten its system integrators to comply with
the SCSI probe standard, so any vendor's cartridge will be recognized in
any Syquest drive. Syquest says the new SQ3105S drive is reliable with a
100,000 hour mean-time-between-failure (MTBF) rating. It is also able to
be used in laptop and notebook computers as it uses only three watts of
power and requires only a single five-volt power source. IDG discovered
the French company Nomai is not making 3.5-inch Syquest compatible
cartridges, according to Syquest representatives. Syquest is currently
embroiled in a legal battle with Nomai to try to prevent the marketing
of Nomai 5.25-inch Syquest-compatible cartridges which Syquest claims,
not only violate its patents, but could also harm user's drives.
---

Texas Instruments Intros PostScript Laser Printer

Texas Instruments has announced a family of page printers that can use
Adobe Systems' PostScript software. The company says the three new
microWriter laser printers are designed for small business users using
Macintosh and Windows- based personal computers and use a LED (light
emitting diode) print engine that can produce five printed
pages-per-minute (ppm) at a resolution of 300 by 300 dots-per-inch
(dpi). The entry level system can be upgraded to support PostScript
software, while the other two models incorporate PostScript and Adobe's
Type 1 fonts as a standard feature. All three models include AppleTalk
and parallel interfaces, with an optional RS-232C serial interface
available as an option. A 250-sheet paper supply tray that can handle
letter and legal paper, and an optional universal media feeder is
available for use when feeding envelopes, labels, and transparencies.

The basic model comes with 512 kilobytes (KB) of memory, which is
expandable to 4.5 megabytes (MB). The other two models, designated the
PS17 and PS35, come with 2MB of memory which can be expanded to 4MB. The
PS17 includes 17 Adobe Type 1 fonts, while the PS35 comes with 35 Type 1
fonts. An optional second paper tray allows the printing of a letterhead
for the first page, then plain second pages and envelopes during the
same print job. All models include a Windows driver. TI spokesperson
Jerry Rycaj told IDG that the basic microWriter has a suggested retail
price of $729. Rycaj said the 33-pound printers are 13.8-inches wide by
14.8-inches deep, and are just over 10-inches high. The PS17 carries a
price tag of $999, while the PS35 sells for $1,299. The printhead has a
five year warranty.
---

BellSouth On Track For Pan-European Radio Data Net

BellSouth is adding its own radio data network in the Netherlands to its
newly-announced venture with France Telecom on a French radio data net
under the Mobitex standard. "We're going it alone in the Netherlands,"
spokesman Tim Klein told IDG. "That does not preclude the potential of
partners down the road. The significant element in the France Telecom
investment is that this is the first time France Telecom has allowed an
equity interest from a foreign company in an in-country project. And
with France and the Netherlands added to the other countries with
Mobitex in Europe, and with Germany and Belgium beginning the licensing
process, you could have a pan-European Mobitex net in two years." Klein
said that all the European Mobitex nets are within roughly the same
frequency range. "The bottom is 402, the top is 460 something," he said.
"Most are 412-421, and every nation has its own allocation."

BellSouth expects to see radio data modems which can access all these
systems through a "frequency list." Said Klein, "It's not just scanning,
because there are synchronization patterns. You come into a country,
turn on, and it will find its first frequency on the list. Then the unit
will tune the whole band. You'll be able to take your portable device
and use it anywhere" in Europe, even the United Kingdom. BellSouth's
strategy is to have as many investments as possible in that coming
pan-European Mobitex network, Klein said. Eventually it wants to see
that messages sent on it can be received by Mobitex networks in the US
and Canada, which operate at much higher frequencies, around 900
megahertz. The US Mobitex net, RAM Mobile Data, is a joint-venture
between BellSouth and Ram Broadcasting. "They're working on the
trans-Atlantic technology," Klein said. "Unlike some of the other mobile
data systems, at least Mobitex has a distinct capability and potential
of trans- Atlantic roaming." Still, he warned, no one should expect fast
profits. "This is not the cellular business. It's not that easy."
---

Some Industry Leaders Back Clinton Telecom Plan

In testimony today before the US House and Senate, some leaders of the
telecommunications industry are giving a strong endorsement to the
Clinton Administration's telecom infrastructure plans. Executives and
lobbyists from AT&T, Bellcore, Sprint, Ameritech Bell Atlantic,
BellSouth, Cincinnati Bell, GTE, MCI, Nynex, Pacific Telesis Group,
Southwestern Bell, Southern New England Telephone, and US West, all
signed a statement endorsing the plan's goals. However, they claim that
private industry, not the government, should run the resulting networks.
In fact, the Clinton Administration may be unclear as to its own policy.
Vice President Gore, while in the Senate, expressed continuing
frustration at the reluctance of phone firms to improve the capacity of
their networks at the local level. He bemoaned the limited capacity of
residential ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) service, which
offers total data throughputs of 128,000 bits-per-second (bps), plus a
16,000 bps signaling channel, and chided the industry for rolling out
the network too-slowly. He also urged support for a research network
running at speeds measured in gigabits-per-second.

In the last year, however, many phone companies have stepped up their
activities. New technology may make it possible for phone companies to
offer TV pictures on their existing copper wires. Breakthroughs have
also been announced in increasing the capacity of single fiber pairs,
and in optical switching, which could spur development of the
gigabit-per-second network. Bell Atlantic is experimenting with delivery
of TV pictures in Virginia, has a joint-venture with a local cable
company to build a new cable- phone infrastructure in Pennsylvania, and
has new rate-making power in New Jersey to fund installation of fiber
cable throughout that network. Under Donald Linberg of the National
Library of Medicine, the Administration is also moving toward adding
support for a National Information Infrastructure, or NII, to its High
Performance Computing Consortium initiative. That could mean more
government research funding to groups like AT&T's Bell Labs and the Bell
companies' Bellcore research consortium. Spokesmen for Dr. Linberg have
had difficulty delineating, however, where business' interests end and
government support should stop, but have expressed interest in finding
such a line.

The move by the executives seems aimed at securing just such a line. In
testimony before Rep. Edward Markey's House telecommunications
subcommittee, and then before the Senate Commerce committee, AT&T
chairman Robert Allen is expected to encourage research funding, but
insist that private industry be given total authority to invest and
expand the networks as they see fit. What's coming? Some observers see a
telecom summit in the Vice President's future, with executives
committing to increased funding to upgrade their networks while the
government lends its support to the effort, perhaps with more liberal
depreciation rules.
---

BellSouth Expands VoiceMail Throughout System

BellSouth has placed orders with Boston Technology which will help it
provide its MemoryCall voice mail system throughout its network.
MemoryCall, first introduced in Georgia a few years ago, is a low-priced
voice mail service which was at first highly controversial. Georgia
regulators attempted to learn how the service was being priced, with
voice mail service vendors fearful that, at $6.95 per month, the service
would drive them out of business. In the end, the Federal Communications
Commission preempted any state regulation, and has since issued no rules
controlling how or what phone companies charge for that service. Boston
Techology's Co Access systems go into phone switch offices and provide
the service. Other companies also provide similar equipment which
BellSouth has purchased. In the latest order, Louisiana is slated to get
the MemoryCall service through Co Access equipment, with New Orleans
being turned-on later this month. Boston Technology also supplies the
MemoryCall equipment used in Alabama, Florida, North Carolina, South
Carolina, and Tennessee.
---

IBM PS/1s To Include Support For America Online

IBM is dropping its Promenade program and offering the interface
software of America Online for its PS/1 family of computers. IBM hosts a
special support section on America Online, which was accessed by the
Promenade package. It also hosts a service called the "PS/1 club" on
Prodigy. Instead of Promenade, users will get the standard America
Online interface software under the name "IBM PS/1 Edition of America
Online for the IBM Personal System/1" in April, which will let them
access the entire service. As with Promenade, the software will be pre-
loaded onto users' computers at the factory. In recent months America
Online's graphics-oriented access software has won a number of important
industry endorsements, which has helped the company in its moves to rise
from its current number four status among the nation's consumer on-line
services. The top three networks remain Prodigy, CompuServe, and GEnie.

On America Online, IBM PS/1 users can access their own answer bank of
answers to common questions, their own forum for getting tips from other
PS/1 owners and IBM support people, posted tips, a suggestion box, a
software library, and an interactive classroom environment called "PS/1
Live." IBM support people can even be reached through pager technology,
through the system, to offer individual help to PS/1 users at a small
surcharge. The PS/1 Edition of America Online will be preloaded on
future PS/1 product shipments. There will be cost to this, IBM added.
Jill Balmuth told IDG that Promenade offered both pay-as-you-go pricing
or a monthly fee. The former option is now gone, in favor of America
Online's monthly charge. She added that the decision by IBM to pre-load
America Online software is not an endorsement of that network over
Prodigy. "If anything, it's now more equal," she said.
---

Canadian Show And Conference Schedule Busier

Computer shows and conferences have been multiplying in Canada in recent
years, with an assortment of specialized events added to the roster, and
with major show operators from the United States entering the market in
competition with established contenders. This April, Toronto's Canadian
Exposition and Conference Centre will host the second Canada's Pen-Based
Systems Conference. Expanded to two days, the event will take place
April 21 and 22, with the exhibition floor open only to conference
registrants on the first day and to the general public on the second.
Conference sessions are organized into general and technologies streams,
a series of workshops, and a "show-me" stream focused on hands-on looks
at pen-based hardware and software. Speakers are to include: Vern
Raburn, chairman and chief executive of Slate; Alain Rossman, president
and chief executive of Eo; Stratton Sclavos, vice-president of sales at
Go; and Norm Francis, president of PenMagic Software.

An old standby returns to Place Bonaventure in Montreal June 2-4. The
Montreal International Computer & Office Exhibition is now in its 11th
year. This year's show will include Interoperability Expo, a special
section devoted to open systems and networking. The first Toronto FoxPro
Developers' Conference is set for June 11 and 12 at the Sheraton East
Hotel in Toronto. Seminars, workshops, and panel discussions are on the
agenda, with a trade show focused on FoxPro development tools,
applications, and other database-related products. The first
Comdex/Canada is slated for the Metropolitan Toronto Convention Centre
July 13-15. The Interface Group, US-based producer of the mammoth Fall
Comdex show in Las Vegas, has combined the former PC/Canada and LAN Expo
shows, and is projecting there will be about 200 exhibitors and more
than 20,000 visitors at the 1993 event, up from 120 exhibitors and just
under 9,500 visitors at PC/Canada and LAN Expo, which were held together
in 1992.

LAN Expo remains as a section of Comdex/Canada, and there will also be a
Windows World section. Montreal consulting firm DMR Group, with
Toronto-based trade show company International Conferences + Exhibitions
and marketer Motivational Strategies, will stage InfoTech '93 at the
Metro Toronto Convention Centre September 27 and 28. DMR calls the
conference Canada's only national symposium and showcase for strategic
technological issues. The 16th Ottawa Business and Government Computer
Show will take place at Landsdowne Park September 29 and 30. More than
150 exhibitors and 6,500 visitors are expected, organizers Industrial
Trade & Computer Shows said.
---

Sony Develops 1.5-Gigabyte 2.5-inch Disk Technology

Sony says it has developed a technology capable of creating a 2.5-inch
hard disk, which can hold 1.5 gigabyte od data. The firm has already
produced a prototype version of the disk. It is reported that the
technology is the combination of a Mini-Disks and a compact disk (CD).
Sony's latest 2.5-inch original hard disk technology is called the
Pre-Embossed Rigid Magnetic, or the PERM. The disk has embossed tracks
or grooves on both sides of the disk. Basically, it uses the same
mastering and stamping process as that of a music CD. Sony claims that
it is a totally new technology. A prototype 2.5-inch hard disk prototype
has already been developed, which has 5,000 tracks per inch and can
store 200 megabytes (MB) of data. The disk measures 10 by 7 by one
centimeter in size. The grooves on the disk prevents noise, which is
usually created by the friction between the tracks. With narrower
grooves, Sony is preparing to produce a disk with 15,000 tracks per inch
in the near future. This disk will hold 1.5 gigabyte of data.

Sony will unveil the details of this technology at Electronics Data
Communication Meeting in Nagoya on March 30. Sony's 2.5-inch hard disk
has lots of potential. It can be applied to notebook-type personal
computers as well as regular desktop computers. According to Sony, the
hard disk will be commercially available in about two years.
---

Ricoh Upgrades Neuro-Computer

Japan's major office equipment maker Ricoh has developed an upgraded
version of its neuro- computer that is claimed to be 20 times more
powerful than its predecessor. Ricoh says it is more practical than the
previous version and wants to apply it to computers and industrial
robots. Ricoh's upgraded neuro-computer simulates the human brain. It is
called the RN200 and comes in a computer board, which has seven units of
Ricoh's original digital neuro chip and a multiple number of memory
elements. Each neuro chip has 16 neurons and 256 units of Synapse or
neuron circuits. The board itself measures 45 by 45 centimeters. This
neuro-computer is extremely powerful compared with its first version the
RN1000, which was developed by Ricoh in June 1992. The new
neuro-computer has 16 times more neurons per chip, and the processing
speed is almost 20 timers faster.

The company claims that the computer is capable of processing at a
maximum speed of six billion calculations per second. It can recognize a
written letter at 0.1 second. Ricoh is thinking of applying this
neuro-computer to various industrial robots. It can also be connected
with a personal computer. Ricoh is also said to be developing a general
purpose neuro-computer.
---

HCL HP Steps Up Customer Support

HCL Hewlett-Packard, the joint venture company between Hewlett-Packard
and HCL of India, has launched a nationwide network of 14 independent
units to provide increased support services. Through these units -
called Frontline Solutions Ltd., (FSL) - HCL HP will strive to regain
its share of the non-corporate market that has diminished to 10 percent
from a whooping 40 percent in the eighties. "The increased focus on
larger accounts caused the slip down," said Sujit Baxi, program manager
for the FSL project. "These smaller units have been launched to woo lost
clients and ensure swift redress of their woes and needs." While HCL HP
will handle only 1,000 national accounts, the balance of the business
will be handled by these independent units spread across the country.
Operating as exclusive sales outlets for HCL HP products, these centers
will provide support services to the large localized accounts and
clients requiring specialized integrated systems. Working closely with a
dealer network, the FSLs will have the freedom to chose the software
vendors, but the selected packages will have to undergo quality audits
by HCL HP.

The three-tier strategy to strengthen its support services network is
seen as another bid on part of HCL HP to sustain its lead in an industry
market where customer support makes all the difference. "The aim of the
FSLs is to  provide the same level of service to those customers who got
ignored as we expanded operations," explained Ajai Choudhry, director,
HCL HP. The company will use the HP expertise and techniques to make up.
It will have 80 percent equity stake in each of the FSLs while the
remainder will be with the respective CEOs. The HCL HP stakes in these
units is expected to lower to 51 percent as the employees' share
increases to 30 percent, with the rest being made public. While the FSLs
at Calcutta, Baroda, Ahmedabad, Delhi, and Pune are expected to be
opened shortly, those at Bombay and Madras have been operational since
September 1992. Set up with a paid up capital of about Rs 1.5 million,
Frontline Solutions Bombay has already raked in a net profit of Rs 1.15
million over a billing of Rs 350 million (around $11.6 million) in the
past five months. While another Rs 600,000  has come in through
Frontline Solutions Madras that has managed Rs 20 million billing in the
same period.

"We are expecting these FSLs to bring an incremental increase of about
Rs 350-400 million from the same market within a year," added Baxi. The
company also expects these units to generate about Rs 650-700 million in
their first year of operation. FSLs are being planned for all those
areas where the HCL HP business ranges to about Rs 20-30 million. "Once
this experiment is successful in India, HP proposes to introduce the
same in the far east," revealed Baxi.
---

Lotus Intros Notes 3.0

Lotus Development has unveiled Release 3.0 of Notes, its work-group
application development software. The new release, which is to ship in
April, includes a new Notes client for the Apple Macintosh computer as
well as a new server component that runs on Microsoft Windows. Lotus
said Notes will be available for the most popular Unix systems later
this year. Lotus also introduced new support options for the software
and revealed distribution deals with major PC distributors Merisel and
Ingram Micro in the United States and Canada, and its availability
through major corporate resellers such as Egghead Software, Corporate
Software, Softmart, and Software Spectrum. A new developers' program is
meant to encourage other software developers to build applications on
top of Notes, and new packaging and Starter Pack options will make the
software - once aimed almost exclusively at large users - more
accessible to smaller customers, the company said.

Lotus also announced an education program to try to make Notes-related
training more widely available. Lotus said enhancements to the software
include support for new networks; usability and feature enhancements for
end users; application development tools and an improved development
environment; changes aimed at making Notes installations easier to
administer; and new technologies ways of integrating with other
applications.
---

42 Vendors Form Int'l Computer Fax Association

To promote the benefits of fax boards, fax servers, and other aspects of
computer-based faxing, 42 companies have come together to form the
International Computer Facsimile Association (ICFA). Hewlett-Packard,
Microsoft, Intel, DEC, WordPerfect, NEC, Hayes, National Semiconductor,
Canon, and Xerox are all on the initial membership list, and so are many
smaller vendors specializing in the areas of modems, OCR (optical
character recognition) software, fax machines, LAN (local area network)
servers, and printers. "Our members felt we needed a united front to
bring the many advantages of computer-based faxing to the computer user.
Computer faxing is simple, saves time and money, and increases
productivity," said Ken Ryan, president of the ICFA and vice president
of BIS Strategic Decisions, a Norwell, MA-based information technology
research firm that is also a member.

Added Janet Fugazzotto, senior market analyst at BIS: "Computer- based
faxing is still an emerging technology, and many of the vendors believed
their voices needed to be louder. Now they can speak as one big voice."
Computer faxing lets users send and receive faxes right on their PCs and
workstations, instead of trekking to a departmental fax machine and then
standing in line, Fugazzotto explained.  The technology also provides
fax management features that simplify document flow and help reduce
costs. One capability, fax broadcasting, allows simultaneous
transmission of multiple faxes, saving the user from feeding the same
document through a fax machine over and other again. Another feature -
automatic scheduling - defers fax transmission to a user-specified time.
By delaying transmission to off-peak hours, for example, the user can
cut down on fax-related phone bills.

Fax broadcasting, automatic scheduling, and many other functions,
including notification of incoming faxes, are available through
standalone PC fax boards and associated software, the analyst said.
However, more sophisticated management capabilities are coming into play
with the rising new market segment of fax servers. Fugazzatto told IDG
that fax servers come in three basic configurations: a computer equipped
with a board and software; an external box containing the same
components; and the even newer technology of a fax machine outfitted
with a fax board and software. Traditionally, mainframe- and
midrange-based systems have used a dedicated PC as a fax server, she
said. Unix- and PC-based networks have employed either a box or a PC
with a board and software. In the LAN environment, the fax server is
used in conjunction with a file server residing somewhere on the
network, Fugazzatto noted. Client workstations are equipped with fax
software. On some LANs, the same machine doubles as file server and fax
server.

Fax servers can be interfaced to both network management and corporate
electronic mail (e-mail) systems, permitting them to carry out such
tasks as tracking billing codes by department and converting e-mail
messages into fax format. According to Ryan, the new ICFA intends to
launch an aggressive public education program on computer-based faxing
this spring. Also in the works are plans to promote technology and
compatibility standards for the new industry. Other members of the group
include Alcom, All the Fax, American International Forest Products,
Artisoft, Ascom Telecommunications, Brooktrout Technology, Calculus,
Castelle, Cheyenne Software, Communique, Cracchiolo & Feder, DCE
Communications Group, Dex Business Systems, Dialogic, and Eicon
Technology. Also on the roster are Gammalink Graphics, Hitachi Telecom,
Human Communication, Konica Business Machines, Nuntius Corp., OAZ
Communications, Okidata, Optus Software, Pure Data Research, Samsung
Software, SofNet, T4 Systems, Tele-Data, Teubner & Associates, Ubitech
Systems, and US Robotics.


Apple PIE Division Intros Portable CD Player

Apple Computer, at the Cebit show in Hanover, Germany, has announced
PowerCD, a compact disk (CD) player for compact disc read-only memory
(CD-ROM) discs, Kodak Photo CDs, and audio CDs. The company maintains
that this is the first product to come out of its Personal Interactive
Electronics Division (PIE), which is the same division working on the
Newton personal digital assistant (PDA). Apple says the PowerCD is
portable, battery operated, and can be connected to a television for
replay of digitized 35 millimeter photographs or negatives stored on a
Kodak Photo CD or to a stereo system for replay of audio CDs. A built in
Small Computer Systems Interface (SCSI) port enables connection to the
Macintosh and a remote control for image viewing that works with a
television or a Macintosh comes with the unit, which allows users to
zoom in, rotate, crop, and view images in any order.

Users with Quicktime - Apple's multimedia extension to the System 7
operating system for the Macintosh - will also have the ability to
access, cut, copy, and paste high-quality digitized images into
documents, and edit them using Macintosh graphics applications. The
portability of the PowerCD may cut into a market Philips and other
CD-Interactive developers had hoped to penetrate. Apple says sales
people can use the PowerCD to connect to a television and give sales
presentations. The high storage capability of a single CD makes it
possible for an entire product catalog with photographs, images, video
clips, and text to be placed on a single CD. The corporate sales force
is a market Philips and Sony have been boasting they could capture with
the portable CD-I player. However, CD-I is a new format and one not
widely accepted, while Apple claims its PowerCD supports the ISO/High
Sierra file format and the CD Digital Audio Format (CD-DA).

Apple says the PowerCD will be available this summer. The company has
not released any pricing information. Company representatives said the
PowerCD is planned to come with a remote control for Photo CD and CD
playback, an AC power adaptor, and a CVBS cinch-style video cable to
connect the unit to a television.
---

Apple Claims Japanese Market Share Growing

Apple Computer says it is experiencing strong growth in its Japanese
market. Apple Japan is reporting revenues in excess of $500 million for
fiscal year 1992 and International Data Corporation (IDC) is reporting
Apple is the second in market share in the Japanese personal computer
market. Apple currently holds 8.8 percent of the personal computer
market share in Japan. The company says its current market share is an
increase of 2.8 percent over last year. NEC still holds the number one
spot in personal computer market share and has held steady at 51.7
percent. Apple is crediting the introduction of Kanjitalk 7, the
Japanese version of System 7, and the availability of over 1,000
localized applications, for the growth.

Apple entered the Japanese market in 1983 and since then has translated
nearly all of its products to Japanese, as well as offering help and
resources to third party software developers to aid in the translation
process. As a result, Apple says the number of software products for the
Macintosh on the Japanese market has increased 100 times since 1989.
---

Add Landscaping To Virtual Reality With Vista Pro

Virtual Reality Laboratories says its new version of Vista Pro makes
landscapes you create more real than ever. The company says you can add
surfaces with texture, trees with shaded leaves, and even generate
images that you can view with three dimensional glasses and it is
getting ready to release a product that will perform morphing. Vista Pro
allows users to create three dimensional landscapes, then with a product
called Flight Director, move through the landscapes. However, the types
of landscapes you could create were very barren and rocky, based on the
capabilities of the product. Now the company says it has added trees
such as oak, pine, palm, cactus, and sagebrush with three dimensional
leaves which users can add to Vista Pro landscapes. Granite texturing
has also been added so rock surfaces can be made to appear more
realistic.

In addition, users can now add roads, buildings, animals or other
landscape additions because PCX files can now be superimposed on the
landscape. Clouds, waterfalls, and buildings have also been added to the
product for use in landscapes. Larger landscapes are possible in version
3.0 with support for up to 1,026 by 1,026 data points. The company says
images can be rendered in 24-bit color in both AT&T Targa and Windows
3.1 BMP formats and 24-bit backgrounds and foregrounds may be loaded
either behind or in front of landscapes. Screen resolutions up to 1,280
by 1,024 are supported, but the image resolution can be as high as 4,096
by 4,096, Virtual Reality Labs added. Vistamorph, a product expected for
release in April of this year, was also announced by Virtual Reality
Laboratories. Morphing is a process by which one image is visually
transformed into another and is popular in television and movie special
effects.

The company says Vistamorph will allow personal computer users, through
the use of morphing, to create landscapes that are changing as the user
moves through the landscape. Only landscape features can be used and one
landscape feature can only morph into another landscape feature, so for
example, you can turn a mountain into a molehill. The company says users
will be able to create landscapes to fly through that have moving
clouds, a rising and setting sun, shadows traveling across the
landscape, moving waterfalls, and trees growing. Vistamorph will retail
for $69.95 and is only geared toward use with Vista Pro. Vista Pro
version 3.0 is $129.95, but current users may upgrade for $45, the
company added.
---

Microsoft's Gates To Wed Co-Worker

Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates has reportedly become engaged. Gates, is
considered to be America's wealthiest individual with an estimated net
worth of about $7 billion, and has been called the nation's most
eligible bachelor. He apparently will relinquish the latter titles when
he marries 28-year old Microsoft product manager Melinda French. Gates,
37, and French, reportedly became engaged this past weekend. Microsoft
spokesperson Marty Taucher said the couple has dated off and on for the
past five years. No date has been set for the wedding. French, a native
of Dallas, Texas, works as a product manager on one of Microsoft's
products, Microsoft Publisher, a low-end desktop publishing program. She
reportedly holds a bachelor's degree in Computer Science and a master's
degree in business administration, both from Duke University. The
company is not saying much about the  engagement, but one spokesperson
described French as "a very strong computer science person."

Gates is well known for his propensity for work to the exclusion of
socializing, but company observers are now wondering if that might be
tempered once the couple marry. However, the spokesperson said Melinda
understands the company's work ethic. "I expect Bill and Melinda to
continue to work very hard. I don't see any change forthcoming in the
way we do business." Gates dropped out of Harvard in 1975 to co-found
the company that has since grown into the world's largest computer
software firm. This is reportedly not his first public relationship. In
the book "Hard Drive-Bill Gates and the Making of the Microsoft Empire"
authors James Wallace and Jim Erickson claim that Gates dated a Digital
Equipment computer sales representative, describing that as "his first
serious relationship." Wallace and Erickson quote the woman as saying
"Girl friends are clearly peripheral in the whole scheme of things."
That relationship reportedly ended in 1984.

The company declined to comment on whether French would continue to work
at Microsoft. Gates is building a huge house on four acres fronting on
415 feet of Lake Washington, east of Seattle. The house has been called
San Simeon North, a reference to the William Randolph Hearst castle in
San Simeon, California. About 80 percent of the house will reportedly be
below ground level. The home is estimated to be worth about $40 million,
and will reportedly have dozens of wall-size computer screens to display
artwork and video programs, a pool, a 20-car garage, three kitchens, a
movie theater, two elevators, a library and game room, and a reception
hall that can accommodate more than 100 people.
---

Lucid Utility Pack For PC Laptops

Lucid is now shipping the Battery Boost Notebook Utility Pack, a
collection of six utilities for laptop users. Included in the pack,
which has a suggested retail price of $179.95, is: Battery Boost, a
power management utility; FastLynx, a program to transfer files between
PCs; Double Density, for disk compression; screen enhancement program
Laptop Ultravision; COP, which provides security for your laptop; and
NoMouse, a cursor enhancement program. "We identified the six primary
problem areas that most portable computer users face, and assembled a
collection of utilities that addressed each of these concerns," says
Lucid President Mark Lambright.

Battery Boost is published by Lucid, and is designed to extend battery
life, a critical concern for mobile computer users. Battery Boost
includes a battery gauge that acts like the gas gauge in your
automobile, and a deep discharge feature to eliminate the "memory
effect" experienced by laptop batteries when they are recharged after a
partial discharge. According to Lucid, the Battery Boost power
management features can extend battery life up to 50 percent. FastLynx
transfers files between computers. It uses a split-screen technique to
show the files on each computer simultaneously. A special cable is
included that connects the parallel ports of the two machines, allowing
data transfer at up to 8 megabytes per minute. FastLynx by itself has a
suggested list price of $169.95. DoubleDensity is a file compression
program that performs "on-the- fly" data compression and decompression
so more files can be stored on an existing hard disk without having to
install a larger-capacity disk. When DoubleDensity is in use, hard disk
password protection is also provided.

UltraFont, a derivative of Laptop UltraVision, is designed to enhance
the screen clarity of the LCD (liquid crystal display) displays used in
many laptop computers. The program provides larger, bolder characters.
NoMouse eliminates the need to carry a mouse with your laptop but still
be able to work in Microsoft Windows. NoMouse allows you to move your
cursor in any direction using the cursor control keys. NoMouse also
includes an EasyFind triple-size cursor, an inverse mouse pointer, an
enlarged hour glass and enhanced I-beam cursor. COP is designed to
protect your computer against theft by embedding a unique encrypted
serial number on your notebook's hard drive for positive identification
if the stolen machine is recovered. Lucid spokesperson David Hayden told
IDG buyers of the utility pack also receive a free subscription to PC
Laptop magazine. Present users of Battery Boost can upgrade to the
utility pack for $79.95. Lucid says it plans to release a CD-ROM version
of its DOS-based Lightning, a performance enhancer for CD-ROM drives.
---

Community College Computer Lab For Disabled

It looks like any other small computer training center, equipped with a
few IBM-compatible PCs, but it can open up a whole world for some of its
users. At the Computer Access Center for the Disabled, operated by Pikes
Peak Community College (PPCC) in Colorado Springs, Colorado, instructors
George Mahoney and Jerry Kabbe teach students who are blind or otherwise
physically challenged to use special software that interfaces with
off-the-shelf programs like Wordperfect. Those special programs, along
with hardware like page scanners, can make the disabled productive in a
way some of them may never have dared dream about otherwise.

The center is funded through a joint effort between PPCC, the Colorado
Community Colleges occupational educational system, the Colorado
Rehabilitation Services, and the Governor's Job Training Office. The
program was established about 14 months ago with the purchase of three
computer workstations, a selection of software, a screen reader, a voice
synthesizer, and some peripheral equipment. A program called
Mastertouch, running in the background, allows the voice synthesizer to
read aloud on-screen text in text-oriented programs for the computer
user who is visually impaired. Text can be read a word, line, or
paragraph at a time, and the reading speed can be controlled by the
user. A touch of the "space bar" suspends the reading until the user is
ready to resume. The specially equipped keyboards have Braille
characters embossed on the keytops, which also have large labels. An
earphone jack provides privacy and eliminates disturbing adjacent users.
Mastertouch also speaks each key action, such as "space" or even mouse
actions such s "double click." Multiple key combinations are assigned to
specific keys, much like macros - a feature that aids users with limited
dexterity. Mastertouch can also act as a spelling checker, sounding out
words a letter at a time.

A device called Morse WSKE, made by Words Plus, uses an interface
between a sending device similar to a telegrapher's key and the
computer, to perform keystrokes. The key can be pressed with an elbow,
finger, or even a pointing stick held in the teeth. Morse WSKE users tap
out each letter individually, and special code combinations perform
functions like carriage returns. The lab also has a tool called Mind
Reader, a program used in conjunction with Morse WSKE that makes typing
easier by predicting the next word the student wants to type. It seems
slow, but as Mahoney told IDG, "For some people it might be a Godsend."
Another piece of equipment to aid the visually impaired can scan printed
documents onto digital tape. The tape can then be played in a
conventional tape player, allowing a blind or partially blind person to
hear the text. Kabbe told IDG two chapters of an average textbook will
fit on one tape. Kabbe says the device also aids dyslexics, who can
follow the text in the book as the tape plays.

Six community colleges initially participated in the program, with that
number having expanded to 11. Students normally spend one to four weeks
learning the adaptive equipment, and an audio tape is available to teach
them key placement if they do not already know the keyboard. The PPCC
lab had eight students enrolled last semester, and there are nine this
semester. It is a two semester-hour course, and students spend about 2.5
hours per week in the lab. Mahoney says that from a practical point of
view, the lab offers adaptive technology and the accompanying
instruction for the physically challenged. "It helps severely disabled
people access the computer." Both Mahoney and Kabbe are themselves
disabled, so they can appreciate the challenges their peers face. They
say the ultimate goal of the lab is to help the physically challenged
become productive members of society. "We want to help people achieve
their vocational and academic goals. By doing so, they enhance their
employability. We help them get the skills that will help them become
employed, and help them become competitive." Mahoney says his students
often do not realize they have the potential to do that.
---

Cray Research Intros Scaled-Down C90 Supercomputer

Cray Research says it is now shipping a scaled down, lower priced
version of its most powerful supercomputer, the 16-processor C916. The
C916 was originally introduced in 1991 as the Y-MP C90, with a price tag
of $30.5 million. The smaller versions will offer from one to eight
processors at list prices starting at $3.25 million. Lester Davis, Cray
Research chief operating officer, says the new systems were introduced
due to strong customer demand. The company claims it has already taken
five orders for the new systems, and has about another dozen prospects
worldwide. All the C90-series systems feature four megabit SRAM (static
random access memory), providing up to one gigaword, or one billion
words, of central memory. Cray says that is currently the largest
high-speed memory available in any supercomputer, and four times the
C90's previous capacity.

Larger memory is important to supercomputer users because of the size of
the problems scientists and engineers regularly work on. It can also
lead to faster problem solving. The complete C90 product line now
includes the C92A, an air- cooled system available with one or two
processors and priced starting at $3.25 million. Not needing special
cooling or a motor generator set, the company says the C92A is suitable
for installation on ships and at remote processing sites. The C94A is
similar to the C92A, is also air-cooled, and comes with two to four
processors. The C94 is a liquid-cooled system equipped with two to four
processors, while its bigger brother, the C98, provides up to eight
processors. The C90 series CPUs (central processing units) have the same
one-gigaflop (billion floating point operations per second) as the
original C916, which when fully configured has a peak performance of 16
gigaflops. Cray Research says it will begin shipping the Cray T3D, its
first massively parallel processing system later this year. Technology
VP Steve Nelson says MPP systems will overcome shortcomings of
present-day RISC (reduced instruction-set computing) microprocessors by
surrounding the RISC chips with powerful communications hardware, and
exploit supercomputer packaging and cooling techniques.

"We plan to transform thousands of commodity RISC processors into a
supercomputer-class MPP system that can address terabytes of memory,
minimize communication overhead, and provide flexible, lightweight
synchronization. Programs running on our MPP system will operate in a
normal Unix environment," says Nelson.
---

Analyst Cuts IBM Earnings Estimate

Investment firm Brown Brothers Harriman now expects a loss rather than a
profit from IBM in 1993, and less of a profit in 1994 than previously
forecast. William Milton, who follows IBM for Brown Brothers Harriman,
told IDG he had several reasons for lowering his estimates. Milton has
cut his forecast of IBM earnings in 1993 from a 35- cent-per-share
profit to a $1.10-per-share loss. For 1994, he has reduced his earnings
forecast from $2.55 per share to $2.10. Milton added that the 1993
figures is "little more than a guess" this far ahead. "Information I'm
getting from various people is that the decline in demand for large
systems is a little sharper than previously expected," Milton said.
Large mainframe computers still account for a large part of IBM
earnings.

Intense price competition across IBM's product line and the impact of
staff cuts on employee morale and productivity are also factors, Milton
said. "With the company remaining so unsettled and adrift," he said,
"there's been a noticeable decline in employee productivity." Economic
weakness in Europe, particularly in Germany, is also hurting IBM, Milton
said. Milton said he expects IBM to announce within about a week that it
will name Louis Gerstner, currently chairman of RJR Nabisco Holding
Corp., to replace John Akers as its chief executive officer. However, he
said the appointment is unlikely to make much difference to IBM's
immediate prospects. Noting that IBM is already in the midst of a
reorganization and the company has been cutting jobs at a rapid rate,
Milton said: "There's no obvious action that a new CEO could take that's
not already being taken."

He questioned the choice of an executive from outside the computer
industry. "This is not the Oreo cookie business," he said, though he
added that John Sculley, who came from the soft drink business to head
Apple Computer, is a promising precedent.
---

Sprint Networks To Start Local Manufacturing

Sprint Networks and the Central Communications Research Institute has
announced an agreement to manufacture Telenet packet switching equipment
in Russia. The special laboratory and production facilities are to be
created within the Institute, which is the leading design center for
communications equipment in the former Soviet Union, according to Sprint
Network representatives. The joint facility will make packet assemblers-
disassemblers (PADs) and network control centers, producing the complete
set of equipment to set up an X.25 network. According to Mikhail Muraev
of Sprint Moscow, production should reach the local market in mid-summer
1993, with the resulting products being "attractively priced."
---

Lotus "Dramatically Broadening" Notes Market

The real news in Lotus Development's announcement of Notes 3.0 is not
the changes to the software itself, but in changes to the way Lotus
plans to sell and support it. Notes, a work-group applications
environment, started life as high-priced software for a select few large
organizations. In the early days, the simplest configuration Lotus sold
cost more than $50,000 and was designed to serve a large number of
users. That has changed gradually, to the point where a single Notes
client can now be had for $495. Completing the change, Lotus has now
authorized two major software distributors and several resellers to
carry the product, and has announced a Starter Pack for Microsoft
Windows that will let a customer get started with Notes for less than
$1,000. "We are dramatically broadening the availability of the
product," said Brenda Kelly, Notes product marketing manager at Lotus.

As reports had speculated, Lotus is moving to two-tier distribution for
Notes, which it formerly sold direct. Merisel and Ingram Micro, two of
the largest North American software distributors, have been authorized
to carry the software in the United States and Canada. Resellers
Corporate Software, Egghead Software, Softmart, and Software Spectrum
were also named to handle it. "There are plans in the works for
additional distributors" in North America and around the world, Kelly
said. Because Notes is a complex product, Lotus wants to back the new
broader sales strategy with more education and support for customers. So
the company also announced new education and support plans. The new
Notes Open Education Program will authorize 15 additional independent
centers by midsummer to provide Notes training. Lotus also announced
four support programs. "Automated Support" will provide technical
information by fax on demand. "Basic Telephone Support," is aimed at
users with just one Notes server, and will deal with questions about
installation, commands and functions, desktop application integration,
client-to-server communication, and remote access.

"Premium Telephone Support," for customers with more complicated
installations, will deal with issues such as server-to-server data
replication and multiple networks. "On-Site Services" will offer Lotus
engineers on the customer site to help with installation and use of the
software. Basic and Premium Telephone Support will be available on a
subscription or per-call basis. In the United States, Basic support is
$295 per year or $50 per call and Premium is $2,500 per year or $150 per
call. New features meant to make Notes easier to use may also contribute
to broadening the software's use. Among these, Kelly said, is an updated
graphical user interface that adds some of the features found in other
Lotus software, such as the SmartIcons that allow common operations to
take place with one click of the mouse.

Familiar applications - whether from Lotus or otherwise - will play
another role in the new version. Support for Microsoft's object linking
and embedding (OLE) - which allows one application to call another -
will let Notes users utilize a familiar application such as Lotus' 1-2-3
spreadsheet or a word processing package to create documents within
Notes, said George Gilbert, a product marketing manager. Notes will
handle these documents exactly as if they had been created with its own
editor, he said. To build on Notes, Lotus is setting out to encourage
third-party developers to create their own applications around the
software. Kelly said existing third-party applications include some
designed for specific industries, such as financial services, and some
that are more general, such as work-flow automation applications. More
than 400 Notes "partners" are already developing Notes applications for
resale, Kelly said. Notes 3.0 is to ship in April in the United States
and Canada, with English language versions also shipping in other parts
of the world at about that time. Work will begin on translation into
other languages immediately, Kelly said.
---

IBM's CADAM Subsidiary Becomes Altium

CADAM, the design-automation software subsidiary of IBM, has changed its
name and said it will pursue a broader market. The newly named Altium, a
$150-million subsidiary known for its design-automation software, will
now consider itself to be in the business of selling desktop software
related to manufacturing, said spokeswoman Antonia Inman. That means the
company will not limit itself to design software but will consider any
opportunity with a connection to manufacturing, she said. "We want
Altium to be known for more than just the best design- automation
software tools for the desktop," said Lee Murray, president of the
company, in a press release. "We want to be recognized as the people who
redefined the way industry conceives, engineers, builds, and supports
products of all kinds."

Officials said Altium is working on improvements to existing products,
including design-automation software sold under the Micro CADAM, IBM
CAD, and P-CAD brand names. The company said it invested more than 30
percent of its revenues in product- related development efforts in 1992,
and resulting new products will be announced throughout this year.
Altium has already been showing its independence by acquiring rights to
sell software developed by other companies and adapting its own software
to run on hardware from companies other than IBM. "In the old IBM, these
events may never have occurred," said Murray. The company's new name was
chosen by employees and derives from the Latin for "mountain," Inman
said.
---

Cypress CEO To Testify Against Clinton's "Data Highway"

The planned high-speed "data superhighway" is a mainstay of President
Clinton's information technology strategy. However, T.J. Rodgers,
president and chief executive officer of Cypress Semiconductor, is
scheduled to testify against the idea at the Congressional Subcommittee
hearing on high-performance computing today. According to a company
press release, "Rodgers' testimony will convey the growing mood of
discontent among many of Silicon Valley's prominent leaders regarding
President Bill  Clinton's recently unveiled technology policy, including
the 'data  superhighway' initiative." Rodgers' also plans to "challenge
the perception that all high- technology chief executive officers are in
accord with the Clinton administration's technology agenda." His
testimony is also set to include comments from other prominent chief
executive officers who support Rodgers' stance. The hearing is being
conducted by the House Subcommittee on Science, Space and Technology.

Other witnesses include Dr. Donald A.B. Lindberg, director, National
Coordination Office for High Performance Computing and Communications;
Salim A.L. Bhatia, president, BroadBand Technologies; Dr. Sidney Karin,
director, San Diego Supercomputer Center; and  Dr. Stephen Gage,
president, Cleveland Advanced Manufacturing Program. Dr. Rodgers founded
Cypress Semiconductor in 1982. The company has now grown to become a
$300 million firm. Rodgers was previously invited to testify at the July
1991 hearings of the House Subcommittees on "Critical Technologies:
Semiconductors." As reported already by IDG this week, a number of
industry leaders have come out in support of the Clinton
telecommunications plan. Executives and lobbyists from AT&T, Bellcore,
Sprint, Ameritech Bell Atlantic, BellSouth, Cincinnati Bell, GTE, MCI,
Nynex, Pacific Telesis Group, Southwestern Bell, Southern New England
Telephone, and US West, have all signed a statement endorsing the plan's
goals. However, they claim that private industry, not the government,
should run the resulting networks.
---

SCO Wins Unix Awards; Gets Marketing VP

SCO won two awards in the industry-wide Unix Awards ceremony held at the
UniForum Trade Show in San Francisco's. The company has also announced
the appointment of Michael Skelton as vice president of marketing, the
Americas and Northeast Asia. SCO received the Business Commitment Vendor
Award for its "longstanding commitment" to Unix System technology, and
Doug Michels, SCO's executive vice president and chief technical
officer, received the Lifetime Achievement Award for service to the
industry. AT&T and Unix System Laboratories sponsored the Unix Awards to
"recognize individuals and organizations from across the industry who
have contributed to the development and commercialization of the Unix
System." The Awards Selection Committee included leading journalists,
market and securities analysts, and user group representatives from
throughout the worldwide Unix System community.

According to the Awards Selection Committee, the Business Commitment
Vendor Award went to SCO for "building their business around Unix
technology, for being early to adopt the Unix operating system, and for
remaining committed to the technology as the basis for solutions they
provide to their customers." The Lifetime Achievement Award, given to
Doug Michels, recognizes "individuals who have distinguished themselves
in the Unix community through their dedication and lifelong commitment.
They have given selflessly, and have frequently accepted increased
responsibilities for the good of the industry. They represent the best
of the Unix culture." Michael Skelton will oversee SCO's expanding,
multi-channel marketing programs in the United States, Canada, Northeast
Asia, Mexico, and throughout Latin America. Skelton is reported to have
15 years of marketing and sales management experience in the
international computer industry. Most recently, he served as vice
president and general manager of the Laser-Optic Filing Systems Division
of TAB Products Co.
---

Telecom Execs Spar With Congress, Each Other

A day after issuing a press statement endorsing the Clinton
Administration's telecom policy as one, top telephone industry
executives were back at each others' throats in a hearing before Rep.
Edward Markey's House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on
telecommunications and finance. At issue was whether the Regional Bell
Operating Companies have invested heavily enough in their local loops to
make fast data networks useful, and when they should get the authority
over pricing they seek. Ameritech has proposed the most far-reaching
plan in this area, offering to open its network to local competition if
it can immediately enter the long distance business and set prices as it
sees fit. However, AT&T Chairman Robert Allen, in his opening statement,
questioned whether the plan goes far enough. "Local exchanges are locked
tighter than a drum," he said.

Spokesman Jim McGann later confirmed the view to IDG. "He said the local
network needs to be wider, faster, more responsive, and at some point
not a monopoly." AT&T's view on the Ameritech proposal remains that it
is encouraging, but doesn't go far enough. "You can't declare
competition. Competition has to arrive" before pricing restrictions are
removed. Of course, Ameritech Vice Chairman Richard Brown did not see it
that way. He called present regulations, "outmoded" and "antiquated,"
and the assumption that his company even holds a monopoly today false.
Comcast President Brian Roberts agreed with Allen, however, and
disagreed with Brown, stating that the regional Bells do indeed hold
monopolies that stifle competition. McCaw Chairman Craig McCaw said the
whole emphasis on who controls wiring is misplaced. With 200 megahertz
of new frequency being opened up, and highly-advanced services operating
at even higher frequencies between 18-20 gigahertz, they are more like a
"leash that chokes us" than anything else.

All four agreed on one thing, however, McGann said. "They agreed that
the government should not mandate" new services like ISDN (Integrated
Services Digital Networks), no matter how desirable. If local phone
companies follow through on their present commitments, to make ISDN
standard on most phone lines by 1995, doing nothing will appear to be a
sage policy. Doing nothing seemed to be Markey's conclusion, too. "The
role of government in actually building a telecommunications
infrastructure for the country is limited," he said. "There is a lot of
consensus on the government's role," added McGann. Funding for
experiments will continue, mandates on investment will not start soon.
---

Fleet Call Becomes Nextel

Fleet Call, which has been working to turn a series of radio licenses
into a competitor to local cellular services, said it is changing its
name to Nextel Communications. The company has no effective date for the
change, but it will likely happen in a few months or so. Nextel said it
will have an all-digital, fully integrated wireless service later this
year, with service throughout most of California by January, 1994.
Nextel owns a number of, what are called, "Specialized Mobile Radio"
licenses in major markets. These are frequency channels close to those
of cellular service providers. The licenses were first given out in the
early 1980s, mainly for use by local ambulance and taxi companies, with
one antenna and calling channel per license. Nextel is using a Motorola
technology called Enhanced SMR, related to TDMA, which transforms those
frequencies into digital networks capable of handling both voice and
data. The company is also adding antennae to its service areas to extend
the reach of its service, and linking its licensed service areas with
the same roaming technology used by cellular companies. The result, it
hopes, is a full competitor to cellular, fully- digital now instead of
at some future date.

Once the California market is linked-up, the company expects to put New
York and Chicago on-line in mid-1994, with its Texas markets of Dallas
and Houston being activated in mid-1995. The advantages for customers,
the company says, include one billing for such services as vehicle
dispatch and paging, as well as wireless telephone service. The
disadvantage, however, is reach. Most cellular service providers allow
nationwide roaming, so customers can get the service from anywhere.
Nextel's system will not be able to do that for years, since many SMR
licensees still run standard analog networks, or digital systems using
different schemes, like one sold by Racotek of Minneapolis. "We are part
of what's known as the Digital Mobile Network Roaming Consortium, which
will cover the major population centers, starting with the top 30
markets," spokesman John Hayden told IDG. "That consists of companies
like ourselves in the SMR business who will join together and form
roaming capabilities in major cities. Discom, which is the third-largest
SMR provider, is being merged with us, and we should then provide a
single seamless network from Maine to Virginia. We'll also get into
Minneapolis, Phoenix, and Tucson." Motorola plans on installing similar
systems, but their final role has yet to be determined, Hayden said.

As Nextel rolls-out, he added, its marketing thrust will change. "We see
because we'll offer a robust inter-connect we can broaden our audience.
But our initial target will be commercial and business-oriented."
---

Rolm To Resell Intervoice Applications

InterVoice has announced that Siemens' Rolm unit will re-sell its
RobotOperator interactive voice response system with its software and
flagship CBX private branch exchange (PBX). It is the second major win
in a month for Intervoice. Earlier, MCI had said it will buy $4
million-worth of the company's equipment for use in its voice response
systems. RobotOperator is based on the IBM PS/2 platform, but interfaces
with any computer and/or PBX. It offers voice recognition and fax-back
capabilities, and can connect to digital lines and trunks, handle Caller
ID data, and send calls to multiple locations. Many companies are
interested in marrying the reliability of their PBXs with the processing
power of their computer systems, noted spokesman Dorothy Botnick to IDG.
The problem in the past was that PBXs lacked intelligence while the
computers lacked reliability.

"Our system is extremely reliable," she said, using industry- standard
hardware from a third party. We have maintenance agreements with IBM for
on-site maintenance. We've installed over 3,000 systems, everything from
call-ins in Istanbul to replacing time cards at Northrop. Simon &
Schuster is using us for order entry, and the list of applications goes
on and on." That includes many overseas sites. Intervoice has sales
offices in Paris and Singapore.
---

IBM, Lotus Expand Notes Marketing Pact

As Lotus Development was announcing an updated version of Notes - its
work-group application environment - IBM announced plans to offer its
customers three add-on options for Notes by expanding a marketing
agreement with the Cambridge, Massachusetts, software firm. The
companies said their existing joint US marketing agreement will be
expanded to include Lotus Notes: Document Imaging, Lotus Notes Optical
Character Recognition (OCR) Server, and Lotus Notes Inbound Fax Gateway.
Notes is already available through IBM, along with Lotus' cc:Mail
electronic mail software, as part of IBM's OfficeVision suite of
software. Under terms of the new agreement, IBM and Lotus will co-market
Lotus Notes: Document Imaging, OCR Server, and Inbound Fax Gateway. The
add-on products are designed to be used with Notes Release 2.x and the
new Release 3.0.

Developed by Lotus and Imagery Software, a subsidiary of Eastman Kodak,
Lotus Notes: Document Imaging lets users capture documents as images,
then manipulate, store, and display them in Notes. Lotus Notes OCR
Server, developed with Calera Recognition Systems, will convert scanned
documents or incoming faxes to editable text and store them as Notes
documents that can be edited or searched. The In-bound Fax Gateway,
developed using GammaLink technology, complements the Notes outbound fax
facility. The gateway can route received fax messages to the OCR server
or the document imaging product, or store them in a Notes database. It
will also support Direct Inward Dialing, routing incoming faxes directly
to individual users. Lotus began shipping the document imaging product
and announced the other two add-ons last September, saying that when
taken together they open up new work-group application possibilities.

For example, a spokeswoman said, an organization might use Notes to
implement an enterprise-wide resume tracking system that captures faxed
resumes, searches them for key skills and archives them.
---

Oracle Intros GenerAda Code Generator

Oracle's Federal Division has introduced GenerAda 1.0, an Ada code
generator developed jointly with Meridian and Verdix. According to the
company, GenerAda makes it realistic for software developers to generate
Ada code directly from system design information created using Oracle
computer-aided software engineering (CASE) tools. GenerAda reportedly
reduces development time and maintenance costs by eliminating most of
the tedious and error prone work associated with manually coding
applications. Also, new development efforts take advantage of code and
design work from existing applications. Maintenance costs decrease due
to fewer program coding errors and through the use of CASE technology on
the front end of a project. GenerAda translates into Ada an Oracle
Dictionary description of a database and the related functions and
modules for accessing the database. The company says that version 2.0,
planned for release later this year, will "build on the functionality of
version 1.0 to provide full-functioned graphical user interface-based
management information systems (MIS) screens and reports in Ada."

In announcing the product, Jack Pellicci, vice president, strategic
plans and business development for Oracle's Federal Division, said: "As
an industry leader in providing MIS software solutions, Oracle
recognizes the importance of supporting the US Department of Defense in
its drive to more fully utilize Ada in its MIS systems." GenerAda costs
$50,000 for a six user license and, according to the company, runs on
virtually any hardware platform.
---

Microsoft To Intro MS-DOS 6.0 Next Week

Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates will take time out from planning his
wedding to attend the unveiling of version 6.0 of MS-DOS next week. As
reported recently by IDG, Microsoft is planning a $7 million ad campaign
called "Upgrade Your World" to encourage software users to upgrade to
the newest version of the operating system that is the heart of nearly
120 million personal computers. The campaign also promotes upgrading to
the latest version of other Microsoft programs. The introduction will be
made at a special meeting of PC User Group members nationwide March 30
in a 6pm PST satellite-fed rollout from San Francisco's Moscony Center
to sites around the country. A Microsoft spokesperson told IDG that
Gates will speak at the San Francisco meeting. Microsoft stock rose
3-1/8 yesterday, closing at 86-1/4. Analysts attributed the upswing to
optimism about the DOS 6 rollout as well as the Windows NT operating
system, which will probably ship before the end of the second quarter.
Windows NT will reportedly be introduced to the public in May.

The introduction of DOS 6 is not without controversy. One of the
features of the new operating system is said to include data compression
capabilities, allowing users to store more data on their hard disks
without having to install a higher-capacity drive. However Carlsbad,
California-based Stac Electronics has filed suit against Microsoft
claiming the compression features of DOS 6 infringes on data compression
technology used in Stac's popular program Stacker. The two companies are
reportedly discussing ways of settling the dispute, but no settlement
has been announced yet.

Undoubtedly millions of users of DOS 6 will be rushing to their
retailers to buy the new DOS, even though its new features may not have
any real benefit to them, particularly if they are standalone PC users.
However, every time an upgrade is offered to a major software program,
large numbers of users feel they have to have the latest edition.
Microsoft says it expects the street price for DOS 6  to be "under $50"
during the initial promotional period.
---

Micrografx Shareholders Charge Securities Violations

Micrografx shareholders have filed at least one, and possibly two suits
in a Texas district court charging the company and some of its officers
and directors with securities violations. The suits, which seeks class
action status, allegedly charge the company published misleading
financial reports and public statements. Micrografx stock dropped from a
March high of 9-1/8 to close yesterday at 4.75 after the company
announced earlier this week that it expected to report a loss of over
$1.5 million for the fourth quarter, which ends March 31. The company
also said it is instituting a major cost cutting program that will
include staff cuts of 20 percent. The company has also reported that it
has uncovered mismanagement of corporate funds at its Japan subsidiary
that could result in a loss of as much as $500,000.

This is not the first time Micrografx has been sued for allegedly
violating securities laws. In August 1991 IDG reported a similar suit
filed by shareholders in a New York district court. That suit alleged
misleading information was disseminated through press releases,
communications with financial analysts, and interviews when the some of
the company's officers and directors knew they were issuing misleading
information. No-one at Micrografx was unavailable for comment by IDG
press time.
---

Tandy To Open Third European Computer City Store

Tandy says it will open its third Computer City superstore in Europe.
The company declined to reveal the location, but a company spokesperson
told IDG the opening will be in the fall. Computer City already operates
two European stores, one in Stockholm, Sweden, and another in
Copenhagen, Denmark. Both of those outlets were opened in May 1992,
average about 25,000 square feet of display and warehouse space, and
handle products from Apple, Commodore, Compaq, Canon, Hewlett-Packard,
IBM, Victor, and Tandy. Computer City President Alan Bush says the
company is pleased with the performance of its Stockholm and Copenhagen
outlets, and will continue to analyze the market for other growth
opportunities in Europe.

In a related announcement, Bush said Computer City's US headquarters has
assumed control over the European stores, a function formerly provided
by Victor. Victor is now part of Tandy spinoff TE Electronics which was
formed in 1992 to take over all of Tandy's manufacturing units including
O-Sullivan Industries, Memtek Products, Grid Systems, and Tandy Grid
Europe. A spokesperson told IDG Tandy does not publish sales figures,
but industry watchers estimate that the combined units had sales of
about $1.5 billion for the fiscal year ending last June. Spokesperson
Ron Trumbla told IDG US Computer City stores annual sales average $25
million each, but cautioned that the figure cannot be translated to
European sales because of market differences.
---

Chinese Univ Installs Hong Kong's First Supercomputer

The Chinese University is currently installing a Digital Equipment
massively parallel multi-processor supercomputer, worth over $1.5
million. The inauguration was held at the Chinese University in Shatin.
Attending the celebration were Professor David Todd, of the Research
Grants Council, Professor Charles Kao, vice chancellor, Chinese
University, and Bruce Dahl, general manager of Digital. The machine, a
DECmmp 12000 8B, is reported to have 8,000 processor elements and runs
at 1,300 millions of instructions per second. Although physically
located at the Chinese University, the computer is to be used by six
other institutions in the territory, including the Hong Kong University,
Hong Kong Polytechnic, and the new University of Science and Technology.
"The introduction of this supercomputer signifies a major step in our
drive to become a center of high technology research and development,"
said Prof. Charles Kao, vice-chancellor at the Chinese University. "It
will help our universities to launch forefront research for the benefit
of the scientific and economic developments of Hong Kong."

An intelligent Chinese information processing project and text retrieval
system will be among the first projects that the Chinese University
takes on, utilizing the power of the supercomputer. As part of Digital's
External Research Program (ERP), Digital will oversee the funding and
management of the research conducted in partnership with the university.
Digital is offering support in the form of equipment allowances and
technical and business expertise. The Chinese text retrieval system is
spread across two phases. The first phase will produce a database
package that can provide the Chinese mathematical processing required to
search and retrieve Chinese text. The second phase will develop a
Chinese text prototype for the DECmpp with high level text and query
capabilities. "Digital is committed to concentrating its efforts on
product research and development," said Bruce Dahl, general manager,
Digital (HK). One of Digital's aims is to enhance its competitiveness
for conducting "outstanding" external research and development around
the world.

Digital have given the University a significant discount of more than 60
percent. The balance of funding came from the Hong Kong government
appointed Research Grants Council. The Chinese University and the six
other institutions that will share the resources have also contributed.
Other projects include simulation and design of very large scale
integrated circuits, simulation of neural networks, artificial
intelligence, and three dimensional image processing. It is also
intended that the supercomputer aid in tackling some of Hong Kong's
environmental issues. The computer will be used to provide mathematical
analysis of the water pollution in Hong Kong's harbor and predict
landslides and floods. It will model wind shears in the vicinity of the
new airport to achieve optimum design safety. "These areas of academic
research have exciting possibilities and immense potential benefits to
the social, industrial and economic development of Hong Kong," said
Professor  David Todd, chairman of the RGC. "The new facility will
support research collaborations in a diverse variety of fields from
engineering, medicine, social sciences, and the Arts."
---

First High-Speed Leased Circuit To Beijing

The first high-speed digital leased circuit between Beijing and Hong
Kong has been inaugurated by the Beijing Telecommunications
Administration, Hongkong Telecom, and China Hewlett-Packard, the
circuit's user. China Hewlett-Packard (CHP) is a joint venture between
Hewlett- Packard and the China Electronic Import & Export Corporation.
CHP is leasing the 64,000 bits-per-second (Kbps) circuit to connect its
internal voice and data network with Hewlett-Packard's global network
via the company's Asia Pacific regional headquarters in Hong Kong. "By
upgrading our link through the regional office to the global network we
are removing a significant operational bottle-neck," said CHP General
Manager Terry Cheng. In 1992, due to an increase in demand for computer
products in China, CHP's business grew significantly. "With the pace at
which our business has been expanding it became obvious that we needed a
better communications infrastructure in order to be able to sustain our
growth and maintain our level of customer services," said Cheng.

Beijing Telecommunications Administration (BTA) laid a fiber- optic
cable between its international gateway exchange and the China World
Trade Center, where China Hewlett-Packard's offices are located along
with those of a number of other multinational companies. The cable has
ample capacity to satisfy the private network demands of other
customers. "The commissioning of this link represents a high level of
cooperation between Beijing Telecommunications Administration and
Hongkong Telecom," said BTA Deputy Director Ni Yilin. "As a result of
this cooperation, a growing number of multinational companies with
offices in Beijing and Hong Kong will be able to enjoy the advanced
telecommunication services that we can now provide." The BTA plans to
extend its fiber optic network to connect other well-known business
centers in Beijing. providing greater customer access to high-speed
digital communication service. "There are many companies like
Hewlett-Packard that have chosen Hong Kong as the regional hub for their
international private networks. We therefore believe that there is great
potential for growth in the business of providing private leased
circuits between Hong Kong, Beijing and other major Chinese cities,"
said Con Conway, director of Hongkong Telecom's Managed Accounts Group.

Hongkong Telecom was also involved with the first high-speed leased
circuits to Shanghai and Guangzhou last year. Shanghai and Beijing have
satellite connections to Hong Kong. Other cities in China connect with
Hong Kong via these gateways. "Our relationship with BTA is particularly
strong, said Conway. "Under an agreement reached in September last year
we have been able to offer 'one-stop shopping' to customers who want to
lease a circuit to Beijing. This was the first such agreement ever made
between a Chinese telecommunications administration and an overseas
carrier." Hongkong Telecom has also received an order from China
Hewlett- Packard to upgrade the leased circuit used to connect its
Shenzhen manufacturing plant to the Hong Kong hub. This will be upgraded
from a 9.6Kbps to a digital 64Kbps link. The circuit is expected to be
ready by the end of this year.

"We have quite a lot of customers using international private leased
circuits (IPLC) in China," said Gary Au Yeung, product manager, Hongkong
Telecom. "Despite the longer lead time needed to implement the IPLCs to
China we seldom receive complaints from customers concerning the
reliability of the service. Unless the customer chooses a place that is
not yet developed and far away from town, local connections should not
be a problem. Most cities in China have fiber optic connections in their
infrastructure so the IPLC service is very reliable." To the question of
how a degradation of the Sino-Hong Kong political situation could effect
the service, a Au Yeung responded that the two are not related and that
Hongkong Telecom, being a business organization is not in a position to
comment.
---

SuperMac & Apple Ally On European Multimedia Sales

SuperMac Technology has joined forces with Apple Europe to target
multimedia sales in western Europe. The two companies already have a
working relationship in the United States. Under terms of the agreement,
the VideoSpigot video-capture board from SuperMac has been included with
Apple's Quadra computer. The bundle is already available to higher
education customers in Europe. In announcing the deal, Michael  O'Leary,
SuperMac's vice-president of international sales, said, "The
VideoSpigot/Quadra 950 bundle has produced excellent results for both
SuperMac and Apple in the United States, and we believe it will help
galvanize multimedia sales in Europe, too. Our partnership with Apple
Europe underscores SuperMac's commitment both to Europe and to
multimedia in the education market. We also look forward to a series of
pan-European projects with Apple."

Along with a VideoSpigot NuBus card and Quadra 950 central processing
unit (CPU), the bundle also includes the AppleCD 300 CD-ROM player,
Apple's QuickTime Starter Kit, the Voyager Expanded Books Toolkit,
Claris' HyperCard, and Adobe Premiere video editing software.
VideoSpigot is a single-slot digital-video frame grabber that, according
to the company, enables users to make QuickTime movies from the desktop.
---

Motorola, Kidstop Begin New Florida Child-Care Facility

For parents that have to work, convenient and reliable day-care
facilities are very important. Addressing the problem, Motorola's Paging
Products Group and Kidstop Early Learning Centers have broken ground on
a new child-care facility immediately adjacent to Motorola's Boynton
Beach facility. Motorola says that the facility is "an integral part of
a pilot program addressing work and family needs." Motorola developed
the initiative with Kidstop to "create a curriculum and to identify the
features of the center." The center will be located on Congress Avenue,
within walking distance of Motorola's facility. In announcing the plan,
Hector Ruiz, senior vice president and general manager of Motorola's
Paging Products Group, said: "This is part of our vision of becoming the
area's premier employer. We're listening to our associates, and are
working hard to create an environment which helps them to balance work
and family more effectively. We are proud to be one of the first major
employers in the area to offer the option of near-site child care to our
workforce."

Motorola says it provided guidance to Kidstop on identifying desirable
features for the center, including a group activities center,
parent/teacher conference rooms, and instructional equipment. Expected
to open by August 1993, the center will be open to all area residents
and to Boynton Beach-based Motorola employees on a space-available
basis.
---

Ex-DEC's Olsen Acts As Advisor To Start-Up Venture

Kenneth H. Olsen is acting as "close friend and adviser" to a new
start-up venture. The former CEO/president of DEC might also be the
mystery "private investor" mentioned in a financial report as
contributing $1.44 million to the venture's parent company. A
spokesperson for Modular Computing Technologies has confirmed a
published statement in the Boston Globe that Olsen visits the Concord,
MA-based start-up often and provides technical advice. She would neither
confirm nor deny the Globe's contention that Olsen is the "financial
angel" behind the parent, Modular Group. The spokesperson also confirmed
statements by the Globe that several top officials of Modular are former
DEC employees, and that the start-up plans to release a line of servers
featuring a modular, scalable architecture. In elaborating on the
product plans for IDG, she added that the venture is also readying
modular client workstations.

Modular's first products, oriented to the general office market and
preloaded with MS-DOS, Windows, and NetWare, will enter field testing
soon, and will probably ship in volume within the next couple of months,
she told IDG. The company is also considering modular servers and
complementary products for other market segments, including a "glass
house," telecommunications, and video-on-demand, she added. Digital
alumni who now work for Modular include Barry C. Goldstein, CEO and
chief technologist, Dan Lucky, vice president of information services,
Stanley R. Miloszewski, treasurer, and Terry Potter, chief executive of
Modular's parent. Goldstein joined Modular in January, just one month
after the company was founded, after three years at Digital and a
21-year stint at IBM before that, according to the spokesperson. Lucky
worked at DEC for 19 years, Miloszewski for nine years, and Potter for
15 years. Olsen announced his resignation as CEO and president of DEC
last July, and two months later left his post on the company's board of
directors.

He founded Digital in 1957, while still a student at MIT. In the early
years, DEC pioneered the minicomputer, a type of hardware that presented
a revolutionary departure from the mainframes that had held sway up to
that time. Subsequently, though, the minicomputer was overtaken by PCs,
workstations, and the client-server architecture. In his later years at
Digital, Olsen showed signs of strongly embracing both the client-server
architecture and modular configurations. In a press conference at
DECWorld last April, for example, he proudly demonstrated a line of PCs
with easily expandable disk space. Each PC was able to fit neatly into a
wall cabinet, available in a choice of colors. The company spokesperson
told IDG that Olsen is a close personal friend of Goldstein's. "We're
happy for (Olsen's) advice. The man's a genius," she commented. However,
Olsen does not have an office at Modular Computing Technologies, and he
is not an employee or board member, she emphasized.

The financial report cited by the Globe stated that Modular Computing
Technologies was established after the Modular Group raised $1.44
million from a private investor. That report was issued by Dun &
Bradstreet, the spokesperson told IDG. While acknowledging that the Dun
& Bradstreet report is accurate, she declined to elaborate much further
on the grounds that the Modular Group is a privately held company. "The
Modular Group is funded by private investors, and that's about the limit
of what we're allowed to or want to say. There's been a lot of
speculation (about financial backing), but so far it's just
speculation," she remarked. "The whole philosophy behind the Modular
Group is to look for companies with good ideas that can become
profitable. We're the first company that they're funding, and they're
looking for more."
---

Newton Clones Result Of Apple Technology License

While Apple's Macintosh technology has been jealously guarded, Apple
Computer announced at the Cebit show in Hanover, Germany, that it is
licensing the Newton technology to other companies. The move is expected
to create an entire class of second generation Newton- clone personal
digital assistants (PDAs). Apple says the Newton was developed so key
elements and components can be licensed to other parties. Those parties
include Cirrus Logic, Sharp, VLSI, GEC-Plessey, ROLM, Kyushu Matsushita
Electric, and LSI Logic. Cirrus Logic just announced an agreement with
Apple to begin work on Newton-compatible chipsets for use by licensees
of the Newton operating system. Apple plans to use the Cirrus Newton
chipsets as well. Cirrus said it plans to leverage its knowledge of
low-voltage and mixed-signal processing for combining analog and digital
signal processing in one integrated circuit design, as well as its
experience in liquid crystal display (LCD) control, small-form-factor
PCMCIA interfacing, digital wireless communications, data and fax
modems, audio, and mass data storage to aid in its development of the
PDA chipsets.

Cirrus representatives told IDG the company is just beginning design
work with Apple and doesn't expect to have anything concrete until the
end of this year. Cirrus said it is working on second and third
generation Newton designs. Apple has already said consumers could expect
to see the first Newtons this summer. George Alexy, Cirrus Logic vice
president of marketing, said: "We're fully committed to working to
develop the specifications for and, eventually we believe, the chip set
to implement the next generation of the Newton architecture platform."
Other companies have announced or are announcing licensing plans with
Apple. Sharp, VLSI, and GEC-Plessey have licensed the reduced
instruction-set computing (RISC) chip from Advanced RISC Machines (ARM)
which is to be the brains of the Newton. Motorola is licensing a the
Newton technology to produce its own PDA with integrated, wireless
communications capabilities and based on the Newton operating system.

Siemens Private Communications Systems Group and its US subsidiary ROLM
announced the Notephone, a PDA device to allow access to analog
telephone and fax signals via telephone lines and later in a wireless
form. A prototype of the Notephone is being demonstrated at the Cebit
show. Kyushu Matsushita Electric (KME) announced an agreement to license
the Newton operating system from Apple for use in its future products
and the two companies said they are considering the possibility of using
KME technology in future Newton family products. LSI Logic is also
involved as it is manufacturing an application-specific integrated
circuit (ASIC) chip for Newton PDA's as the interface between the
microprocessor, the memory, and the user interface. LSI describes the
ASIC chip as cell- based, full-custom, and uses one-micron process
technology.
---

Tandem PBX Deal With Siemens/ROLM, Ericsson

Tandem Computers says it will be able to deliver the promised interfaces
to integrate its computers with private branch exchange (PBX) systems
from Siemens/ROLM and Ericsson. Tandem makes computers to handle the
type of processing behind bank automated teller machines, airline
reservation systems, and grocery store debit card transactions called
on-line transaction processing (OLTP). Tandem says the PBX switches will
be used in connection with its Call Applications Manager (CAM) system
for its OLTP computers. When used in conjunction with the new automatic
number identification (ANI), which is known to consumers as Caller ID,
operators taking calls can have customer information on their terminal
screens at the same time inbound calls are coming in. Savings in 800
number charges and increased efficiency in handling customers are the
two main benefits of the system, Tandem maintains.

The new Tandem CAM interface will provide connectivity between Tandem
Nonstop systems and Ericsson's MD110 PBX system via the MD110
Applicationlink, an open standard interface for integrating computer
applications with this Ericsson switch. The CAM interface will also work
with ROLM's 9751 Computerized Branch Exchanges (CBX) and Siemens' Hicom
300 PBX through the Siemens and ROLM Callbridge software. Tandem
representatives said the company prefers to describe its computer
systems as OLTP instead of midrange- to mainframe- sized computers. The
systems are fault-tolerant, meaning backups to the system components are
functioning in case a component fails so processing is uninterrupted.
Siemens is the third-largest computer switch maker in the US, behind
Northern Telecom and AT&T. ROLM is a US joint venture between Siemens
and IBM. Stockholm, Sweden-based Ericsson Business Networks claims it
has the world's best selling PBXs, with more than 6 million lines
installed or on order in over 50 countries.
---

Interactive Phone Technology Alive And Growing

Conference  speakers and exhibitors at InfoText '93, a conference and
exposition directed toward the interactive telephone/fax industry and
held at the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas recently, pointed to the explosive
growth experienced by this fledgling industry. This is evidenced by the
huge influx of newspapers and other publications utilizing this medium
to help provide new, value-added services for their readers, as well as
new revenue streams for the publishers. Also demonstrated was the
mainstream acceptance of pay-per-call and other forms of interactive
audiotext by major companies both here and abroad, including Pepsi-Cola,
American Express, Campbell's Soups, Columbia Pictures,
McCormick/Schilling, and Frito-Lay. Many of these companies use the
technology for marketing campaigns, technical support, market research,
dealer locator services, and the like. Despite a temporary downturn in
900-number revenue experienced in 1992, the 800-number and other
segments of the industry are experiencing rapid acceptance and growth.
To date, more than 2,000,000 callers nationwide are using interactive
audiotext programs. From 1991 to 1992, there was a 23 percent increase
in pay-per-call singles ads.

Attesting to the large numbers of newspapers offering interactive voice
systems are San Francisco Chronicle, Atlanta Constitution, Seattle
Times, Chicago Sun Times, Los Angeles Times, Baltimore Sun, New York
Times, The Washington Post, and the Miami Herald, to name a few. San
Jose-based Fax Limited which demonstrated its intelligent fax networking
product which allows users to remotely enter or access data to and from
a computer. Ibex Technologies from Placerville, California
full-featured, interactive voice/fax system for customer service,
literature fulfillment, forms distribution and other automatic document
retrieval applications.
---

New Card Speeds SCSI Bus On Quadra, Centris

Conley is shipping a Small Computer Systems Interface SCSI-2 accelerator
card for the PDS (Processor-Direct-Slot) of the Macintosh Quadra and
Centris computers. The "SHA-100" card offers a 10 megabyte-per-second
SCSI-2 transfer rate, intelligent caching and read-ahead, and SCSI-2
command support, the firm says. The card will accelerate both
transaction-type applications, such as servers and databases, and
transfer rate-bound applications like imaging, and audio/video editing.
The Conley SHA-100 driver software runs asynchronously, and includes
such SCSI-2 features as disconnect/reselect, tagged-command queuing, and
SCSI parity. Conley President Ric Calvillo said, "This card represents a
major breakthrough in SCSI technology for the Macintosh. The higher
transfer rate, local '040 interface, read-ahead and caching algorithms,
and asynchronous command execution give the Macintosh a state-of-the-art
SCSI-2 interface."

The SHA-100 plugs into the PDS slot of the Quadra 700, 900, 950 and  the
recently announced Quadra 800 and Centris 650. Since the card connects
directly to the 68040 processor bus, the I/O (input/output) bottleneck,
associated with Apples built-in SCSI port and Nubus cards, is
eliminated. The card has DMA access to motherboard memory at 25
megabytes-per-second, while other third-party Nubus SCSI cards are
limited to about six megabytes-per-second. Conley's SCSI accelerator
raises the maximum transfer rate on the SCSI bus to 10
megabytes-per-second. Current and future SCSI devices, such as hard
drives and disk arrays, can take advantage of this faster transfer rate.
Applications making large transfers, such as imaging and digital video,
will run faster, he contends. The card is selectable for either
single-ended or differential SCSI-2 bus modes; the single-ended SCSI
bus, like that of Apple's built-in port, is limited to 18 feet;
differential allows for cable lengths of 82 feet. There are also many
less termination and cabling conflicts with a differential SCSI bus
since every single is duplicated. Both internal and external devices can
be connected to the card.

To reduce disk access time, Conley's SHA-100 card can allocate a portion
of motherboard RAM as a cache and read-ahead buffer. An advanced caching
architecture stores multiple data segments and finds data in the cache.
Intelligent read-ahead algorithms preload the cache with data in
anticipation of future requests. For many applications, Conley's disk
caching effectively reduces average access time from 20 milliseconds
(ms) to less than one ms, it is claimed. The caching algorithms have
been tuned for several applications, including Adobe Photoshop and
Appleshare. Users can also fine-tune performance for their application.
Conley's driver software runs asynchronously to the Mac operating
system, interrupting the Mac only when necessary. This allows for
"multi-threaded I/O" or concurrent execution of multiple commands on the
SCSI bus, using SCSI-2 features such as disconnect/reselect and tagged
command queuing. Applications such as databases and file servers, which
typically make small-block transfers, are able to process a higher
number of transactions-per-second. Conley's driver software is similar
to Apple's future SCSI manager in that they both follow the SCSI CAM
(common access method) standard and that they both run asynchronously,
the company says. The Conley SHA-100 has a suggested retail price of
$995 and is available now.
---

Symantec PC Cache Software Speeds CD-ROM Access 3000%

Symantec has signed an exclusive agreement with Future Systems Solutions
to market the Norton Speedcache+ 4.0, an all-in-one cache for hard disk
drives, CD-ROM drives, and removable media drives in both DOS and
Windows. "This is a dedicated caching product," Symantec spokeswoman Ana
Shannon tells IDG, and adds that it operates independently of Norton
Utilities and other Norton products, and does not require those software
packages for its operation. Norton Speedcache+ speeds up Windows
performance by up to 1,000 percent, CD-ROMs by up to 3,000 percent, DOS
applications by up to 4,000  percent, and supports the  largest cache
size, up to 23MB, according to Shannon. The product is 100-percent
compatible with virtually all CD-ROM drives, Symantec guarantees, and is
available now at a suggested retail price of $99. The larger the size of
the cache, the better Norton Speedcache+ performs, speeding up PC
performance to provide lightning fast access to all data and programs,
Symantec says. It reads only the data needed.

"Norton Speedcache+ is another example of Symantec's efforts to
continuously enhance the operating environment with new utilities," said
Rod Turner, Symantec's executive vice president of the Peter Norton
Group. "It also provides an opportunity to enter into new and expanding
markets such as CD-ROM and multimedia." Although CD-ROM drives store a
lot of information, data access is about 25 times slower than with a
hard disk.  Norton Speedcache+ lets the user zip through CD-ROM programs
such as Microsoft Bookshelf, Compton's Multimedia Encyclopedia for
Windows, Atlas, Corel Draw and other graphics and multimedia
applications, Symantec says. Benchmark tests show that a typical
information search through a Microsoft Bookshelf CD-ROM disk takes over
three minutes compared to just nine seconds with Norton Speedcache+
installed, according to the company. Norton Speedcache+ also  allows the
user to multitask and continue working while writing to disk. Norton
Speedcache+ has also incorporated several advanced technologies,
including dynamic read-ahead caching and intelligent write-back caching.
---

Apple QuickTime Animated Interactive Presentations

Interactive Solutions is shipping MovieWorks, a group of Macintosh
software applications for creating QuickTime movies and interactive
animated presentations. MovieWorks' time-based metaphor and its
implementation of Apple Events automatically passes data from the
MovieWorks' Text, Paint and Sound Editors to the MovieWorks' Composer
application. In Composer, media created in the MovieWorks Editors or
imported from other applications is combined into QuickTime movies.
These movies can then be connected together to form a presentation. In
Composer's TimeView window, the media elements which make up your movie,
called tracks, can be precisely timed by resizing and repositioning
"timebars." Tools are provided for generating path segments for both
movies and tracks, scaling over time, varying speed and selecting
special effects for in and out transitions. The TimeView window displays
the timing relationship of these effects and allows easy editing. In
addition to Composer's animation capabilities, movies and tracks can be
"grouped" and connected with unlimited flexibility by setting links. In
this manner, buttons can be linked to other tracks, movies or
presentations to create interactive presentations.

"Traditionally, there have been numbing barriers between the end product
and its component resources -- MovieWorks makes integrating and
composing these items easy," said John Sykes, owner of Computer Attic.
Dan Sabo, former manager of the Interactive Media Lab at the Tech Museum
of Innovation, said, "MovieWorks allows the basic user to easily create
multimedia presentations with very little skill or expense." In addition
to creating stand-alone interactive presentations, MovieWorks can be
used to make QuickTime movies which can be "pasted" into
QuickTime-friendly word processors, presentation packages, databases and
other applications. MovieWorks carries a list price of $395.
---

Double Your Workspace When Flying With A Laptop

Space is usually at a premium when using laptops. However, AirBrain's
SkyDesk can double a laptop user's usable workspace on airplanes. It is
claimed to be a lightweight plastic lectern that attaches with hook-tape
closure to the top of the seat in front of you, above the tray table.
Users can prop a magazine or other material on the SkyDesk and leave
their hands free to type, write or eat. Available in a slate gray color,
it fits in any briefcase, weighs six ounces and holds nearly any size or
weight magazine or book, the company says. SkyDesk is available for
$15.45.
---

Mac Show Slated For April 23-25 In San Francisco

Event Specialists is sponsoring The Apple Expo West at Brooks Hall in
San Francisco April 23-25. The event is being held in conjunction with
Berkeley Macintosh Users Group, BMUG. The Friday, April 23, Dr. Stephen
Marcus will deliver a keynote speech on "Virtual Realities from the
Concrete to the Barely Imaginable." He is on the faculty of the
University of California, Santa Barbara. He chairs the committee on
future technologies for the International Society for Technology in
Education. Saturday, the keynote speech will be delivered by Roger
Wagner, president of Wagner Publishing, who speaks on "Multimedia, the
Mouse is Mightier than the Pen." Sunday, "Meet the Press" is the keynote
and the moderator will be Gina Smith, technology columnist for the San
Francisco Examiner, also of PC/Computing.

Also to be unveiled at the show is a new magazine from A+ Publishing
called "MacComputing." The magazine is due to have an initial
circulation of 100,000 and will be aimed at home and educational buyers
and users of Apple computers, according to Paul Boule, president of A+.
A "multimedia extravaganza" is also slated for the show featuring artist
Pamela Z and New Music Theater, according to Robert Berkowitz, president
of Event Specialists. He tells IDG that Macromind Director and the Video
Machine from Fast Electronics will be used in the presentation, which
will run constantly thoughout the three days of the show. Admission is
$20 for three days and includes all conferences.
---

Interactive PC "Tale of Peter Rabbit" For Kids

Knowledge Adventure has released another talking storybook offering
children an interactive reading of Beatrix Potter's children's classic,
"The Tale of Peter Rabbit." Knowledge Adventure offers sound, animation,
and video in its titles without requiring users have a compact disc
read- only memory (CD-ROM) drive. With a point and click interface,
Knowledge Adventure says children as young as two years old can enjoy
the watercolor illustrations and sound effects. An original musical
score was developed for "The Tale of Peter Rabbit" and original
watercolor illustrations by children's book illustrator Lonni Sue
Johnson can be displayed in 256-color VGA. Children can also click on
objects in the illustrations and the names of the objects will be spoken
and spelled on the screen. Some objects offer animation sequences as
well, the company said. Users who register will receive a free "Jr.
Gardening Kit" from the company including carrot, lettuce, and radish
seed packets for planting their own garden.

Suggested retail price is $24.95 and the company is offering a complete
money back guarantee if consumers are not completely happy with the
program. An IBM or compatible computer with a hard disk drive and a VGA
monitor is required and a mouse and sound card are recommended. This is
the second talking story book from Knowledge Adventure, the first being
"The Night Before Christmas" released in December of last year.
---