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Newsbytes - Internationa…ews 1983 May to 1994 June
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Newsbytes - International Computing Industry News 1994 Edition - May 1983 - June 1994 - Wayzata Technologies (5045) (1994).iso
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1984
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V33
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1991-07-11
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[***][1/10/84][***]
A WHALE OF A SHOW:
In what could be the biggest exhibit of gadgets in history, the Consumer
Electronics Show has started a four-day run in Las Vegas. It
consumes space equal to 20 football fields, 25% of the floor space
devoted to computers, 10 percent to telephone manufacturers (200
different exhibitors this year!) Making the biggest splashes are expected
to be Kodak and General Electric with their videotape cassette cameras
and recorders in a new 8mm format. As far as new computers are concerned,
most manufacturers are claiming they won't show anything they can't
ship immediately. That means Apple, Atari and others at the show
will be there just for p.r.
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CONTACT: PRESS OFFICE/CONSUMER ELECTRONICS SHOW
LAS VEGAS CONVENTION CENTER
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA
702-733-2323
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[***][1/10/84][***]
RUDE AWAKENING DUE:
If Esther Dyson of RELease 1.0 newsletter is right, watch out for IBM.
She says the company is planning to announce yet another operating system.
The system won't be compatible with PC-DOS, the language everyone and
their sister is clamouring to emulate. Dyson suggests IBM is "moving
on" to bigger and better things, and given the company's power
(controlling 20% of all computers sold in the U.S. last year) it
obviously believes people will go along with the changes. Where
would that leave PC-DOS-compatible hard and software? She thinks
there will still be plenty of business for everyone and that IBM
won't completely abandon its current users.
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[***][1/10/84][***]
COMPUTER RETAILERS SURVEY:
InfoCorp has just completed a survey of 255 dealers and found that
the biggest seller was the IBM PC and PC/XT. Closely behind were
the Apple IIe, the Epson QX-10 and Apple's Lisa. The retailers
gave the poorest marks to Commodore's 64 when asked about reliability.
Reported problems with the 64 were three times those reported on
the KayPro and Osborne Executive, two other machines the dealers
said gave them problems. 42.4 systems were sold each month by most
of the stores. Their biggest disappointment: the DEC Rainbow which
saw dismal sales in last year's third quarter.
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CONTACT: INFOCORP
CUPERTINO, CA.
408-973-1010
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[***][1/10/84][***]
PREANNOUNCED PCjr:
At this point, it looks like IBM will begin shipments of the PCjrs in
March but nobody knows for sure. INFOWORLD reports Teledyne of
Lewisburg, Tennessee (makers of the Shower Massage and Water Pik) will
be making the PCjr, and that neither the company, nor IBM will speculate
on how many computers will be manufactured in 1984. Just when the
less-than-enthusiastically received PCjr will be available is also
pretty much of a mystery to dealers. They're reportedly pushing sales
of IBM-compatibles such as the Kaypro, advertising them as the
alternative to the "Phantom IBM PCjr."
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CONTACT: TELEDYNE
LEWISBURG, TENNESSEE
615-359-4536
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[***][1/10/84][***]
APPLE AND FRANKLIN SETTLE:
The 20-month old court battle is over between these two computer makers.
They agreed to settle Apple's copyright dispute with a $2.5 million
check from Franklin to Apple and an admission by Franklin that it did
copy Apple's operating system in the manufacture of the Franklin computer.
Franklin has sold some 80-thousand computers and says one Franklin
official "We said we are the bad boys and won't do it anymore." Under
the terms of the agreement, Franklin can sell its remaining inventory
until this spring after which it must develop its own operating
system. The company promises the new system will be Apple-compatible.
----
CONTACT: SUSAN GAUFF
FRANKLIN COMPUTER
CHERRY HILL, NEW JERSEY
609-482-5900
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[***][1/10/84][***]
VICTOR VERDICT STILL OUT:
Shunning a potential loser like the plague, few are buying Victor
Computers which is making this manufacturer even more financially
pressed than ever. A report just completed for Tandon, a
disk drive maker to whom Victor owes $14.7 million, shows that
Victor's accounts receivable are down 40 percent since the company laid
off 17-hundred workers in September. That means Victor still owes
twice as much as it's making, and while the company hasn't filed
for bankruptcy, a "Creditors Committee" formed at Victor, claims
the company must get more money from somewhere to continue to operate.
The report adds "there can be no asurance that the company will
succeed in doing so."
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CONTACT: VICTOR TECHNOLOGIES
SCOTTS VALLEY, CA.
408-438-7000
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TANDON MAGNETICS
CHATSWORTH, CA.
213-993-6644
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[***][1/10/84][***]
LOOK WHO'S TALKING:
Gigantic leaps of the tongue are taking place in the field of voice
synthesizers. Digital Equipment has announced DECtalk, a unit which
connects to a personal computer via a RS-232C port, will enable a
user to hear ASCII text messages from a computer (either local or
remote) or access those messages verbally via a touch-tone telephone.
The hardware features eight different voices, ranging from an old man
to a child, and boasts the voices are of outstanding quality.
The unit is expected to cost $4000 and will also be used by MCI next
year when it launches its electronic postal system.
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CONTACT: DIGITAL EQUIPMENT CORP.
SANTA CLARA, CA.
408-727-0200
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[***][1/10/84][***]
THE GAME IS CABLE:
Look out, the next video game giant may be closer than you'd ever
expect..in your living room. Larry Dunlap (formerly a rock group
leader) has already signed up 500 U.S. cable companies (practically
the entire U.S.) along with some in the U.K., and Canada (other
countries are still negotiating) to provide a 24-hour-a-day "Games
Network" on cable TV channels. For $15 a month, subscribers can
play an unlimited number of games. Dunlap supplies the 64K computer
which drives some 4,000 colors and a voice generator, and sports
two special game keys in each subscriber's home. Every major
software supplier has a finger in this pie. Games Network hardware
should be available in March. Dunlap figures he's got a potential
market of 30-million homes.
----
CONTACT: LARRY DUNLAP
GAMES NETWORK
LOS ANGELES, CA.
213-932-1950
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[***][1/10/84][***]
HOMEBANKING UPDATE:
Bank of America's Homebanking sign up is being extended a few weeks
to enable people who got computers for Christmas to sign up, according
to a company spokesman. CompuServe is offering the free demonstration
of the system. B of A says the extension of the demo isn't due to
poor response. A spokesman says in fact, response has been "well
ahead of projections" with some 3,000 accounts operational already and
some 10-thousand more requests for application forms reaching the bank.
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CONTACT: BANK OF AMERICA
SAN FRANCISCO, CA.
415-622-3456
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[***][1/10/84][***]
NO UNION AT ATARI:
In the first major battle between pro and anti-union forces in Silicon
Valley, the Labor Relations Board has upheld a vote by Atari employees
who said no to the Glaziers Union November 30. The vote was 143-29
against unionizing the company. Atari of course, was pleased with the
NLRB's decision. No comment was available from the Glaziers union,
which sought to organize Atari's workers after a massive layoff
of 4,000 in 1983.
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CONTACT: ATARI
SUNNYVALE, CA.
408-745-4142
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[***][1/10/84][***]
SUPERCHIP:
Once again, it's still in the experimental stages, but Hitachi has
plans to unveil the world's first 1-megabyte memory chip at the
Solid State Circuits Conference in the U.S. February 22. Hitachi
officials suggest the chip may be ready for mass marketing in 1987.
IBM unveiled an experimental 512K chip last September.
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[***][1/10/84][***]
IT'S ACADEMIC:
Newly separated from its mother, AT&T Information Systems is going
to college at the University of Pittsburg. The company plans to
turn the campus into the first completely computerized university
to be called "Campus of the Future." Planned is a fiber-optics
system electronically connecting 52 buildings on campus, complete
with computer, voice and video communications simultaneously.
The project will allow students, teachers or administrators to
see, hear and electronically communicate with everyone else.
Students will even be able to interact with their classes via
their dorm rooms. 5,000 computers and 10,000 new telephones must
be installed on campus in this multi-million dollar project.
Once installed, students will also have full access to the campus
library from their rooms.
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CONTACT: JACK FREEMAN, SR. VICE CHANCELLOR
UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURG
PITTSBURG, PA.
412-624-4141
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