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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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V69
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1991-10-04
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[***][9/25/84][***]
ELEPHANT MEMORY:
A chip that stores 256-kilobytes of information, four times more
than conventional chips, has ushered in a new generation of
computers, seemingly just in the last week. Apple unveiled its
more powerful MacIntosh which has 256K chips. IBM has just announced
the company is mass producing its own 256K chips. The new semiconductor
is already working in two IBM mainframe storage devices and will soon
become available to PC owners in the form of a memory expansion board
for the recently announced PC/AT. That's just the first use, according
to IBM. The 256K chip was patented by Bell Labs just this week. Bell
says it's had the 256K in production for two years, much longer than
Japanese manufacturerers.
[***][9/25/84][***]
BIG SCREEN PORTABLE:
Data General unveiled its first microcomputer to a Lincoln Center, New York
audience (9/20). The major selling point to the 10-pound portable machine,
dubbed the Data General/One, is its liquid crystal display. The LCD is
the size of a standard monitor, displaying 25 lines of text at a time
across 12 diagonal inches of monitor space. The second selling point is
its ability to run a variety of operating systems: MS-DOS, UNIX and CP/M.
The basic system, with 128K of RAM, has one disk drive but no
built-in software, making it different from the competing HP Portable. The
machine, with a traditionally power draining built-in drive, actually
runs 8 hours without recharging, according to Data General. Still to
be determined is how the mainframe computer company will retail the
new $2,895 machine and its $525 tiny printer. Data General only has
200 U.S. distributors but has financed the portable computers in advance
for new retailers. A D.G. spokesman says there will be several major
computer store chains carrying the machine by the middle of 1985. One thing
in the company's favor: it beat IBM to the punch. IBM's portable machine
code-named "Clamshell" isn't going to be unveiled until 1985.
CONTACT: DATA GENERAL CORPORATION
WESTBORO, MASSACHUSETTS
[***][9/25/84][***]
WASTING NO TIME:
Jack Tramiel, new owner of Atari, has a reputation for getting things
done. And he seems to be getting things done in a big way. Various reporters
tell me of meetings with Warner recently in which Jack played poker,
threatening to back out on the deal to take over the company unless Warner
put up some cash to pay back owed debts from Atari. Well, Warner has
apparently given in, loaning Tramiel an undisclosed amount of cash with
which he's paid back two dozen retailers, first, so's they can offer Atari
products this Christmas. Nobody's saying that Tramiel and Warner are good
friends yet, in fact the two sides continue to bargain, but at least the
reported money flush to Atari guarantees retailers will offer Atari products
at Christmas--the Atari 2600 video game player and the 800XL home computer.
As for that 32-bit machine slated for competition with Apple, expect that
at retail level in April of '85. (Just three weeks ago Tramiel's press
release talked about a January trade show release--that may still be true.)
In the meantime, a 16-bit machine is still expected in January. Tramiel
seems destined, if nothing else, to incite such price competition between
the computer companies that the dream of affordable, powerful computers may
well be within reach within the year.
[***][9/25/84][***]
VISIPEACE:
Visicorp and Software Arts, who've been locked in a $60 million lawsuit
related to marketing and licensing of the program "VisiCalc" have
finally buried the hatchet. The out-of-court settlement has Visicorp
paying Software Arts half a million in back royalties. VisiCorp agrees
not to use the word "Calc" in future products; Software Arts won't use
the word "Visi". Software Arts now has exclusive rights to market
VisiCalc. Still to be determined is whether the legal dispute and the
ensuing retailing lull will make VisiCalc worthwhile for Software Arts.
CONTACT: SOFTWARE ARTS/WELLESLEY, MASSACHUSETTS
VISICORP/SAN JOSE, CA./408-649-3896
[***][9/25/84][***]
T.I. TROUBLE UPDATE:
As it turns out, Texas Instruments now admits improperly testing millions
of dollars worth of semiconductors it sold to the Defense Department but
continues to deny that any of the chips were faulty. Says a TI press
release, "Statements made by (Defense Dept. officials) were very useful
in putting the issue in perspective for what it is, namely, a technical
issue of testing...and not an issue of defense systems performance or
reliability." This press release came out on Tuesday, Sept. 18, concluding
that testing was faulty on only 10% of 2,000 parts. Despite this claim
by T.I., the federal investigation and suspension of contracts is
expected to cost the company billions of dollars in lost revenue.
[***][9/25/84][***]
XT'S A PLENTY:
The copy-cat syndrome is in full swing. Tandy Corporation has announced
a Tandy 1200 HD which is completely compatible with the IBM PC/XT. The
machine was unveiled in Houston at a Tandy-sponsored software faire.
The suggested retail prices is $2,999. That's far less than the nearly
$4400 IBM PC/XT. The new machine buys time for the suffering Tandy
Corporation; despite having one of the best-established retail chains) of
Radio Shack stores) in the world, Tandy's revenues have been falling
drastically of late. But more on the new machine--it handles 256K of
random access memory and includes a 10-megabyte hard disk. Tandy says
the machine will be in its Radio Shack stores by the third week of October.
[***][9/25/84][***]
DISK DRIVE BLUES:
Two significant announcements this week--Burroughs stopped shipments
of its Memorex hard disk drives following reports of too many "head crashes"
in the IBM-compatible drives. A Burroughs spokesman says the problem should
be cleared up in two weeks. Also, Control Data Corporation says its 33800
series of disk drives have a similar problem. A faulty coating in the disk
causes it to stop suddenly and lose data. The responsible party seems to
be a firm called Disk Media Inc. of Santa Clara, Ca. which makes the thin
film coating. Meanwhile two other related announcements--Storage Tech-
nologies of Denver cut the price of its 8380 mainframe disk drives
by 10-percent. Storage is doing this because of IBM's own price cuts last month
drive manufacturing plant due to slow business. 270 workers were laid off.
The closure of the Roseville, California plant follows slackening demand
for the company's 8-inch and 5 1/2" floppy disk drives. Most of Shugart's
clients were OEMs or computer manufacturers who incorporate Shugart drives
into their computers.
[***][9/25/84][***]
IN BRIEF...
GENERAL ELECTRIC is launching plans to develop a factory floor computer
network venture with Ungermann-Bass of Santa Clara, Ca. GE is investing
$6 million to develop computer automated systems for general factory
production.
SPERRY CORPORATION, which last week unveiled a new portable computer,
now says it's got a baseband personal computer network called "Usernet."
The Sperry PC acts as a data/print service machine to monitor the workings
of up to 63 desktop work stations. The DS 100 and DS 120 print servers
are available next month at a cost of $6,390 to $9,890.
IBM's rejection can be the death-knoll for small companies. Hytek
Microsystems of Los Gatos, Ca. insists "that's not the case!" despite
the fact that IBM has cancelled $4 million worth of semiconductors. Hytek
insists it's got enough work to keep its 350 employees busy, even without
IBM. No reason was given for the multi-million dollar cancellation.
AT&T says Ducommun Inc. of Los Angeles will be its major distributor for
its minicomputers, micromputers, and networking gear. The move follows
criticism that AT&T didn't "have its act together" in terms of marketing.
ALTOS COMPUTER SYSTEMS INC. is China-bound following an agreement with the
People's Republic to market multiuser systems to Chinese professional markets.
MINDSET CORPORATION of Santa Clara, is vehement about a recent Time magazine
article which said the Mindset computer had been shelved. "They even called
to confirm it, and we told them NO!!" says Michael Schulman of Mindset, "Yet
they printed a story about the Mindset being canned!!" This emotional
outburst on the phone to me was followed by news that a new video interface
for the Mindset, the only computer to have a signal that's totally television-
compatible, will be announced the first week of October in N.Y. and L.A.
Schulman won't say how many Mindset computers have been sold nor how many
are produced each week.
In the "Uh oh" department put HUMAN ENGINEERED SOFTWARE. It missed a deadline
for finding new capital last week and sources say the company, which has
Leonard Nimoy of Star Trek fame as its spokesman, and recently acquired
Childware Software in a merger, is running into major cash flow problems.
Some suggest the next chapter is titled Chapter 11 for the Brisbane,
California company. Funeral services will be held shortly for
Business Solutions of New York...which makes "Jack 2" and Software Banc
of Massachusetts.
J. WALTER THOMPSON of SF, for years the ad agency behind HEWLETT PACKARD,
has been suddenly dropped from the account. Insiders suggest that HP
didn't like Thompson's attempt to modernize ads and is seeking out a
more conservative agency. Others say the change of agencies is due to
the new management. More than 12 new people joined the HP board of directors
this week, including a new chief financial officer. Sources suggest the
HP loss will cost the Thompson agency $20 to $40 million dollars.
A KAYPRO investor is suing the Kay family, among others, as he seeks to
recover what he says were lost earning due to "inflated earnings, overstated
inventory" and other alledged shortcomings of recent stock offerings by
Kaypro. Kaypro spokesmen say there's "no substance to the charges" of George
Franklin of New York City.
TALMIS, a Chicago research firm says the use of computers has doubled since
the 1982-3 school year. In 1983, 700,000 personal computers were in grades
K-12. In 1984, 1.2 million are expected. (Not exactly double, but close
enough.)
[***][9/25/84][***]
THE ROBOT THAT COULDN'T:
He's called Hubot, and he can't seem to sell. He's featured in the new
"Sharper Image" catalogue, which goes out to hundreds of thousands of
mail-order subscribers each year. Hubot, made by Hubotics, Inc. of Carlsbad,
Ca. and created by Mike Forino, has never sold a-one since his introduction.
The $4000 home robot can tell time, has several major appliances (including
a TV, VCR and radio in his innards, and even talks (very basic!) But
nobody seems to want him from the catalogue despite the fact that Forino
claims he's got 450 orders in the back room. OK, so the automoton isn't a hit.
Hey, no wonder. Who wants to spend $4000 on a glorified clock-radio?