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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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1991-10-04
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[***][7/21/84][***]
IBM BIRTHDAY II:
(File #5, "IBM.POPCORN" will be up 'til Wednesday--has details of new PC/AT.)
IBM, in conjunction with Sytek, of Mountain View, Ca. is promising to
offer networking hardware which would enable the PC/AT to be linked to 71
other IBM computers by October. The name of the hardware will be "LocalNet/PC"
as packaged by IBM. The new "windowed" software for the PC/AT will not
be available until early next year. Meanwhile, while some are saying the
new product (introduced at a classical Southern barbeque in Dallas) is not
as significant as had been hoped, some are predicting big sales. Namely,
InfoCorp of Santa Clara, Ca. which believes by the end of 1984, 30-thousand
PC/ATs will be shipped followed by another 200,000 in 1985.
[***][7/21/84][***]
COMMODORE BEATS THEM ALL:
In a move that signals a new "arms race" between Commodore and the rest of the
computer world (Apple in particular) the company has purchased Amiga
Corporation of Santa Clara, Ca., maker of the new Amiga computer which
reportedly has excellent graphics capabilities and runs on the same chip as
the Apple MacIntosh. The move may have surprised Atari's Jack Tramiel. As
one Commodore insider reportedly told a Wall Street Journal
reporter, "This is the high-end machine Jack wanted. He knows it, we know
it, and he's going to have a fit." Commodore's newly acquired 32-bit
machine is in direct competition with Tramiel's plans to offer a MacIntosh-
like computer for "under $1,000." Nobody is saying how much Commodore paid
to acquire the small Silicon Valley firm.
[***][7/21/84][***]
VICTOR SOLD TOO:
For $28 million, Victor Technologies was sold to Datatronic AB of Stockholm,
Sweden this week pending approval of a creditors committee. Datatronic,
which distributes Commodore computers in Europe, has not indicated whether
it wants to change the company's name, but has said that the Scotts Valley,
Ca. headquarters of Victor will stay in place. There are plans to keep the
235 employees left at the facility. Victor Technologies' spokesman says
a new distribution effort for Victor computers will begin in the United
States and that people there are wasting no time in making contacts with
dealers.
[***][7/21/84][***]
APPLE CRACKDOWN:
More pirated Apple computers were the source of new litigation from Apple
this week. Three companies, one in Louisiana and two in California, were
charged with importing and selling fake Apples, mainly to schools in the U.S.
The difference between these suits and others is that they allege the
Apple-clones came not from Taiwan, but from Korea. Meanwhile 239 Apple-like
computers were seized by Customs Agents at a Kansas City Warehouse while
another 700 are reportedly being stored in an undisclosed Los Angeles
location. (A personal aside here--I saw what Apple's attorney Jeff Blatt
confirmed is an illegal Apple in a San Francisco store on Clement Street
this week. It's called the DataVision, alias the "Romar", alias the "Zeus",
alias the "Breeze" computer which is made by Sailing Industries of Taiwan.
Apparently they get around....)
----
CONTACT: JEFFREY BLATT, COUNSEL TO APPLE
LOS ANGELES, CA.
213-550-8282
[***][7/21/84][***]
APPLE TIDBIT:
California Technology Stock Letter reports that 250 color MacIntosh computers
have been sent to software developers. Says the newsletter, "Rumor also says
that Apple has cut back orders for IIC components due to softening in sales."
It adds, "Current sales (of the IIc) are somewhat softer than they should
be."
[***][7/21/84][***]
ADAM'S REBIRTH:
A $15 million advertising campaign by Coleco is gearing up to reintroduce
the Coleco Adam computer. Undaunted by $35 million in losses during
the fourth quarter, Coleco has spent millions to redevelop the Adam and is
finally assured it's got a marketable product. Children will be the market
target for Coleco's ads. The computer will be sold in Toys 'R Us stores and
other mass outlets. While many remain skeptical the company can turn
around its reputation for building bug-infested home computers,
the company is certain its problems are over and is offering bundles of
software packages with the Adam along with a $700 price tag.
[***][7/21/84][***]
OBITUARY:
More magazines are running aground in their attempt to remain afloat. Sadly
enough, I have to report the demise of "Peelings II" magazine. NEWSBYTES has
been published there since January. John Martellaro, editor, told me there
may be more issues later this year but for the foreseeable future "publication
has been suspended" due to too few ads. He says refunds will be coming
to those with current subscriptions. Among other deaths are the magazines
SYNC, SOFTWARE SUPERMARKET, BASIC COMPUTING, PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERING,
Softalk's ST. GAME and Atari's ATARI CONNECTION. Among those still going
strong, in order of subscription list magnitude, are PC MAGAZINE, INFOWORLD,
BYTE and POPULAR COMPUTING. (List courtesy Computer Publicity News.)
[***][7/21/84][***]
HP MEGA-PROFITS:
Imagine if you will, a huge corporation. Its profits for the third period
rise 47% despite some major internal problems and hardware shortages. (Thank
you, Rod Serling.) Yes, it's Hewlett-Packard and the shortages pertain to
chip production and manufacturing snafoos. The result is that fewer personal
computers are being made, far fewer than demand. Of course the high profits
come from the company's electronic test equipment division which saw sales
jump 31 percent in the last quarter. Inotherwords, while the manufacturing
technicalities are worked out, you'll probably have to wait a while for the
Touchscreen or the HP 100 of your dreams.)
[***][7/21/84][***]
IN BRIEF--
-
The National Science Foundation reports that there could be a shortage of
programmers and analysts by 1987. The study says 115,000 - 140,000 jobs
could go unfilled based on the pace of defense and general business
expenditures.
-
GENERAL MOTORS continues to expand its electronics company acquisitions,
this week buying 18 percent of Robotic Vision Systems, Inc. of Hauppauge,
L.I. for $8.6 million.
-
AMDAHL CORPORATION, maker of the large mainframe 580 computer, laid off 300
people (8/15) in a move to cut costs. That amounts to half the staff. A
spokesman attributes the surprise lay-offs to poor sales of the mainframe.
-
SEAGATE TECHNOLOGIES, maker of Winchester disk drives, abruptly cancelled
contracts with its two main distributors--Pioneer and Wyle--to take up with
Avent Inc.'s Hamilton/Avnet Electronics unit. The move is aimed at getting
the "broadest base for coverage, service and support."
-
EX-IBM EMPLOYEE Charles Thomas Mann, who went on a shooting spree at a
Bethesda, Md. IBM plant in 1982, has been given 1,080 years plus 3 life
sentences in prison. Mann had claimed he drove his car into the plant
and opened fire with a machine gun, killing 3 people, because he'd been
laid off and felt, as a black, he was the object of discrimination.
Judge William Miller was quoted as saying the man has "a twisted mind."
-
CONVERGENT TECHNOLOGIES has a you-scratch-my-back-I'll-scratch-your approach
to getting out of financial trouble. The maker of the defunct "Workslate"
computer is allowing Burroughs and NCR, two big stockholders, to get more stock
if the companies purchase big loads of Convergent products.
-
COLUMBIA DATA SYSTEMS of Columbia, Md. has axed 35% of its staff--amounting
to 135 people at its Md. and Puerto Rican facilities--due to financial
problems. Columbia makes IBM-compatible computers
-
COMPUCORP of Santa Monica, Ca. is also having money trouble. It's reported
a second quarter loss of $2.9 million. A terse company statement says
"marketplace changes" are the reason. Compucorp makes office automation
systems.
-
VERBATIM "has no assurances" that sales will peak over last year's at this
time so it's expecting another weak quarter. The Sunnyvale, Ca.-based
floppy disk manufacturer is undergoing a major assembly-line revamping
project and claims that is adding to the financial set-back.
-
SILICON VALLEY'S ELECTRONICS FIRMS may be added to the E.P.A.'s "superfund"
list following the recommendation such action be taken by E.P.A. staffers.
The clean-up would include up to 20 chemical leaks from semiconductor firms
which have poisoned local water.
-
ATARI's creditors are considering joining together to file a class-action
suit against the company. Several million dollars are owed to such diverse
firms as print shops and software suppliers. Meanwhile, credit talks are
underway in New York regarding Atari's debts between old parent company
Warner and the banks. Among the claims is that of James Morgan, former Atari
CEO who wants Warner to make good on his contract. Several millions are
owed to the former Phillip Morris exec who was ousted when Tramiel took over.
-
PLAYNET of Troy, New York is test-marketing an online game-playing network
in which the participants can play video games with anyone else in the
country. To get in on the action, you need a Commodore 64 computer and a
modem, and just dial up a 800-752-9638. You can play several
Commodore games with strangers as real-time opponents. The system may expand
to Apple, IBM, Atari and Radio Shack machines if the test draws enough
response. The company goal is 5,000 members by December. The service
costs $6 a month plus $2 an hour.
-
[***][7/21/84][***]
THE HOMEMAKER OF THE 80'S:
General Electric has announced plans to introduce the first television set-
controlled appliance that regulates all your other appliances. The HomeMinder,
available by Christmas, will regulate all your electrical beasts, even
be a message-taker for your telephone. There are two versions of the system--
one priced at $500, the other at $1,300--but each require that every appliance
be hooked into a small module that connects to an electrical outlet. The
actual hardware details have not been disclosed. GE expects only a tiny
fraction of the public to buy the device at first. "But as people get
familiar with it, we think the market will boom," said Judy Ziegler of GE.
----
[***][7/21/84][***]
IBM'S "POPCORN"
IBM's newest computer "Popcorn" which follows IBM's tradition of naming
hardware after junk food (Peanut, Crackjack--coming up) was unveiled
Tuesday. The actual name for the computer is the PC/AT and it is
a limited multi-user system (capable of supporting three users at once)
and not the system most analysts had predicted would come from the IBM
PC third birthday party.
-
The $3995 system uses the 80286 microprocessor, is capable of handling
several tasks at once, has 256 kilobytes of internal memory and a single
floppy drive which stores 1.2 megabytes. Upgraded PC/AT computers cost
$5795, have 512K of internal memory and a hard drive that can store 20
megabytes.
-
IBM says the new computer can run most PC-DOS programs (written for the
PC) but for those programs it can't run, one can purchase an optional
360 kilobyte disk drive for $425, which should solve the problem.
-
Perhpas the most significant part of the new machine is the fact that it
will also run Xenix operating system software.
-
While the machine is significant, in that it is IBM's first major step
toward giving users the ability to network, it was met with some sour looks
by analysts who had hoped it might be capable of linking more computers.
Perhaps we'll have to wait a little longer for that...
-
Meanwhile a company called Sytek shared some of the spotlight in Dallas,
introducing its cables and peripheral cards supposedly capable of linking
72 IBM PC, XT amd AT computers as long as they're all in the same building.
IBM officials hinted there will be other third party developers who will
offer equipment that will link up more PC's.
-
More on IBM's announcement this Saturday...
---WW