Newsbytes - Internationa…ews 1983 May to 1994 June/Newsbytes - International Computing Industry News 1994 Edition - May 1983 - June 1994 - Wayzata Technologies (5045) (1994).iso/mac/Text/Mac Text/1986/V142

Text File | 1991-07-26 | 56KB | 1,271 lines

[***][2/11/86][***]
STEVE JOBS' GOES SPECIAL EFFECTS:
Steve Jobs sealed a deal last week for a majority stake in Pixar,
the computer graphics firm started by Lucasfilm, marking his second
venture since leaving Apple.  Jobs put down an undisclosed sum--in the
millions--for the firm which has, to date, manufactured 10 Pixar
Image Computers, $125,000 super-fast graphics workstations.  The
Pixar computer recently was used in the special effects sequences
in "Young Sherlock Holmes".  Jobs will share ownership of Pixar
with the company's 44 employees.

A spokesman for Jobs says he has no intention of serving day-to-
day duties at Pixar, but will have the title of chairman.  Edwin
Catmull and Alvy Ray Smith, both termed "graphics wizards" will
be president and vice president, respectively.  Further, there
is no word on whether Jobs will somehow integrate Pixar's
product with the high-level workstation under development at
his firm, Next, Inc.

Jobs was quoted as saying of his new venture, "Image computing
will explode during the next few years just as supercomputing
has become a commercial reality within the last several yers.
The technology is now ready and Pixas will be the first to
define and pioneer this new segment of the computer industry.
I'm excited to be associated with this emerging new field
of technology."

Some specs on the Pixar--it is said to run 200 times faster
that conventional minis at performing complex graphic and
image computations.  At these specialized tasks the Pixar
is also faster than a $6 million supercomputer.  The product
is promised for shipment "within 90 days" and will be
aimed at professionals in the media, medicine, geophysics,
printing, remote sensing and other industries.

CONTACT:  ANDREA CUNNINGHAM, CUNNINGHAM COMMUNICATIONS,
          1971 Landings Dr., Mountain View, Ca. 94043
          415/962-8914  (Jobs' PR firm)

          ED CATMULL OR ALVEY SMITH, PIXAR, San Rafael, Ca.
          415/499-3600

[***][2/11/86][***]
DEJA VU:
Osborne Computer Corporation is in trouble again.  The Fremont,
California firm has defaulted on $6 million in debts to creditors
who have succeeded in a call for liquidation of the firm's assets.
The liquidation will take place in the next 2 months.  In a
positive spirit, however, Osborne chairman Ron Brown says he's
about to sign a deal for several million from "off-shore"
investors with which the company hopes to literally buy back
its assets at the auction.

This week's dramatic announcement accompanied the layoffs of
all but 8 of the firm's 25 employees.  Osborne stock has been
suspended.  Word is Osborne sold only 5,000 computers last
year--far short of the 10,000 projected, bringing in a total
of $5 million in gross sales.  The situation is extremely
serious, and if Osborne is to resurface with a third
incarnation, it will take a lot of fancy footwork this time.

CONTACT: OSBORNE COMPUTER CORP., 42680 Christy St., Fremont,
         Ca. 94538  415/490-6885

[***][2/11/86][***]
IRS/IBM UPDATE:
What's holding up the IRS portables award?  It's that nasty
Gramm-Rudman-Hollings budget cutting law which has slapped a
wet towel over nearly all potential expenditures this year,
according to a NEWSBYTES source.  He says the award to IBM
is holed up in the Treasury Department, which is the final
stop before the bid is awarded and the money released.
How long it will be subjected to the evil eye is anybody's
guess.

[***][2/11/86][***]
ATARI STS--CHEAP DUMB TERMINALS:
Lisa Raleigh of the "San Jose Mercury News" discovered last
week that a significant number of Atari STs were being
employed as dumb terminals for access to minis and mainframes.
Cases she cites include:  STs are in use at Case Western
Reserve University for communication with a DEC VAX;
Signetics employee Frank Nagle is using his to talk to
the company's IBM mainframe from his home; two San Jose
computer stores say they've received some orders and a
lot of interest from large accounts eyeing STs as terminals.
What's the advantage?  The ST runs about the same price as
the usual terminals that connect to mainframes, yet offers
a whole lot more.

[***][2/11/86][***]
AMIGA GOES TO COLLEGE:
Los Gatos-based Commodore-Amiga has just launched a promotion
to colleges and university students, offering them a 25%
discount on Amiga computers and Amiga software.  40,000
certificates have gone to universities which can then pass
them around to registered students.  Don Reisinger,
the local manager for Commodore-Amiga, says the deal offers
the firm, "an opportunity to make a good profit on a large
volume."  The discount does NOT apply to non-Commodore-
brand-name software, but among the champions of the program
is none other than Electronic Arts, the most prominent
third party Amiga software developer.  Bing Gordon, Electronic
Arts' spokesman, meanwhile, says his firm has already made
back its initial investment in development of Amiga
software--$600,000--and claims to have shipped $1 million
in Amiga products in December.

CONTACT:  DON REISINGER, COMMODORE-AMIGA, 983 University Avenue,
          Los Gatos, Ca. 408/395-6616

          BING GORDON, ELECTRONIC ARTS, 2755 Campus Drive,
          San Mateo, Ca. 94403  415/571-7171

[***][2/11/86][***]
MICROSOFT GOES PUBLIC:
It's official.  Microsoft Corporation is making an initial stock
offering of 2.5 million shares at an expected price of $16 to
$19/share.  Goldman, Sachs & Computer and Alex, Brown & Sons
are handling the underwriting.  Microsoft is confidently making
the offering after its last fiscal report showed it with a
net income of $24.1 million--representing a revenue growth of
44% over 1984.  (More on the stock offering and the departure
of Kay Nishi from the board in this week's NEWSBYTES-JAPAN.)

CONTACT:  MARTY TAUCHER, MICROSOFT, 10700 Northup Way,
          Box 97200, Bellevue, Washington 98009
          206/828-8080

[***][2/11/86][***]
SPEAKING OF MICROSOFT...
Developers of applications using Microsoft's "Windows" should
note that the company has chosen General Electric Information
Services' GEnie system for its "Developers RoundTable".
The electronic interchange will facilitate discussion,
enable developers to get error-free technical updates,
stay on top of the latest applications, etc.   The fee is
$5/hour non-prime and $35/hour prime at 300/1200 baud.

CONTACT:  NANCY JAMISON OR STEVE HARACZNAK, GENIE,
          401 N. Washinton St., Rockville, MD 20850
          301/294-5647 or 5405  toll free:  800-638-9636 ext. 21

[***][2/11/86][***]
IBM BREAKS DOWN, JOINS:
The Corporation for Open Systems, a group of IBM rivals which
banded together to come up with an alternative, universal
communications standard between computers, has welcomed IBM
to its fold.  It was IBM's own Systems Network Architecture
that they were fighting against.  For the longest time,
IBM held out, making no moves toward the organization.  Its
sudden change of heart has encouraged the Washington-based
group which hopes that its adversary position will change
to a cooperative one.  Among the other companies in the COS
are AT&T, DEC, Harris, Burroughs, Hewlett-Packard, Wang,
Tandem and Xerox.

[***][2/11/86][***]
YOU'RE IN THIS DATABASE:
Well, probably.  For anywhere between $7,000 and $250,000 you
too can get access to the demographics surveys, information
on what Americans watch, eat and buy, even where they live.
The set of floppy disks being offered by Simmons Market
Research run on any IBM or compatible and are priced
according to a company's needs.  Simmons calls the software
"Choices".  The data is compiled annually from over 20,000
individual consumer interviews.

CONTACT:  FRANK STANTON, PRESIDENT, SIMMONS MARKET RESEARCH
          219 E. 42nd Street, New York   212/867-1414

[***][2/11/86][***]
BRIEFS--

JOHN DVORAK says he's discovered Apple's code-name for the new
"Super II"  (next generation Apple II computer).  It's RAMBO.
It's a particularly nauseating name, this editor thinks, not
only because of the movie, but in light of the fact that,
according to Dvorak, Borland, Ashton-Tate and Microrim had
also code-named their new products RAMBO.

COMPUTERLAND, based in Oakland, Ca. has plans to launch its
own in-house satellite network March 1.  The second to go
to TV after MicroAge, Computerland plans a different twist:
franchisees won't have to buy their receiving dishes--
Computerland will give them one.

COMPUTERLAND is also buying the company that supplies its
Sysdyne! line of computer products.  No price has been put
on the acquisition of GreatWest Technology, but ComputerLand's
idea is to put its OWN brand name on Sysdyne! products.

QUANTUM CORP. of Milpitas is suing Mountain Computer of
Scotts Valley, NEC Corp. of Japan and NEC Information Systems,
charging their disk drives violate Quantum's patent.  Just
last week, Quantum won a similar suit out-of-court against
Computer Memories.  Quantum got $6 million from that deal.

FOUR PHASE SYSTEMS becomes MOTOROLA COMPUTER SYSTEMS April
7.  Why the change for the Cupertino company?  "To better
reflect company business," says the press release.

The Winter '86 UNIX Products Directory is available from
/usr/group, the international association of UNIX users.
Non-members pay $50 for the guide to 1,690 UNIX-related
products from 460 companies.  CONTACT:  /usr/group, 4655
Old Ironsides Dr., #200, Santa Clara, Ca. 95054.  408/
986-8840.

INTERNATIONAL SOLUTIONS of Sunnyvale, Ca. is offering its
"MouseDesk", a Mac-like desktop organizer for the Apple II
(a $39.95 value) for FREE until March 31.  Send $10, however,
for shipping to International Solutions, PO Box 3541,
Saratoga, Ca. 95070-1541.  No phone orders.

HEWLETT PACKARD has slated February 25th for a press conference
to announce "new products and a new foundation for computing
solutions for years to come:  HP Precision Architecture."
Info on the conference, which will be televised, can be had
from HP's PR staff at 415/857-3238.

PACIFIC BELL hosts "Network 90's", a 2-day extravaganza at
the San Francisco Civic Auditorium April 29-30 to answer
the question, "What will telecommunications infrastructure
really be like in the 1990's?"  Contact Doreen Sera, 415/
542-4033.

[***][2/11/86][***]
VALENTINE'S DAY POSTSCRIPTS:
In this week's Newsbytes-Los Angeles, Phil tells you about
the "Chocolate Byte", a V-day gift idea.  We both got the
same packages, but I ate mine while writing this.  It was
pretty good chocolate, if I must say so.  Two other goodies
arrived in the same box from Cahlin/Williams Communications:
a floppy clock and the Generic Computer.  The $19.95 floppy
clock uses a real 5 1/4" disk as its face, and operates on
a battery.  There are actually 4 OTHER Floppy Clocks, I'm told,
because of overwhelming demand and worldwide attention:
"Plainclock", "Printed Circuits", "All American" and "Gridgraph".
They're cute.

As for the Generic Computer, you may have read about this
before in NEWSBYTES.  It's a "full featured 16K laptop computer
for under $6."  You know, you get a pencil labelled "printer",
color graphics are 3 crayons, datalink is a paper clip, CPU
is a mirror in which you eyeball your own face, and two witty
manuals, including a "Dictionary".  The definition of binary
search, it says, is "1. Being frisked by a bit-brained canary."
Dedicated line is defined as "1. A circle  2. Fans waiting to
buy tickets to a Michael Jackson concert."  You get the
picture.  To order either of these items, here are the
contacts:

FLOPPY CLOCKS: PASSEZ-SONNA CO., 2458 Lomita Blvd., #124,
               Lomita, Ca. 90717  213/539-9577

GENERIC COMPUTER: INTEC, INC. 676 Polk Street, Eugene, OR.
                  97402  503/343-1464


[***][2/11/86][***]
HAYES LAYS-OFF 125...(Out of 800 total)
Hayes Microcomputer Products Inc., which held a 2-week
furlough for 200 employees at Christmas, Thursday laid off
125 people permanently. Both managers and plant workers are
affected -- they'll get severance pay and job search
assistance. Hayes blamed a lack of growth in the industry
for the lay-offs.

The move surprised analysts. Eric Arnum of International
Resource Development called it a bad omen for the whole PC
industry. "What Hayes is telling us is that the industry
hasn't really snapped back like a lot of people had hoped,"
he told the "Atlanta Journal-Constitution." Cheap Asian
imports, price wars, and slow growth in telecommunications
all helped make the lay-offs necessary.

CONTACT:  JANE GLASBERG, HAYES, 705 WESTECH DRIVE, NORCROSS,
          GA, 30093 [phone]

[***][2/11/86][***]
NEW HEAD QUAD-MAN
Robert G. Brown, 40, was named president of Quadram Friday.
He had been vice president of sales and marketing.
Mr. Brown replaces Leland Strange, who remains president and
CEO of Intelligent Systems Corp., Quadram's corporate
parent.

[***][2/11/86][***]
INFORUM SITE WORK BEGUN  *EXCLUSIVE*
John Portman & Associates has begun site preparation for its
Inforum high-tech mart in downtown Atlanta. Jim Kranzusch,
(rhymes with "branches") the Atlanta Market Center executive
vice president in charge of the project, says things "are
going very well" in his attempts to sell the high-tech trade
mart concept as a sales channel, and Inforum as an
alternative to Trammell Crow's Infomart in Dallas. They're
even negotiating a construction contract.  Opening day for
Inforum, however, has been pushed back from the previously-
announced late 1987. The target now is March 1, 1988.

CONTACT:  JIM KRANZUSCH, INFORUM, 240 Peachtree St. NW,
          Suite 2200, ATLANTA, GA 30043 [phone]

[***][2/11/86][***]
MICRO MART CUTS BACK...WAY BACK
Micro Mart, the Norcross-based computer sales chain, has
eliminated its corporate sales force, furloughed nearly 80
people (it employs 400) at its main office, and cut back on
expansion plans in what it calls a bid to remain profitable.

The privately-held company says it had sales of $123 million
in 1985, up from $46 million the year before. Vice president
Michael Carfley said the office cut-backs resulted from the
completion of a computerized network this month; the workers
being furloughed worked with an old paper-based system. The
corporate salesmen were considered redundant.  Micro Mart
now plans to open only 3 stores this year; plans announced
last year were to open 15. Carfley blamed IBM's decision to
cut back on authorized dealers.  He also denied that IBM has
revoked the chain's dealer authorization.  Micro Mart was
founded in 1983 as a mail-order, gray-market dealer in IBM
computers.

CONTACT:  MICHAEL CARFLEY, MICRO MART, 3159 CAMPUS DRIVE,
          NORCROSS, GA, 30071 [phone]

[***][2/11/86][***]
THIS WEEK'S NEWS FROM DCA
DCA reduced the price of Smart Alec, its micro-to-
mini communications product, to $895 from $995, and added
MicroAge to its distribution network. Its IRMAkey/3270, a
combination PC and 3270 terminal keyboard with all the keys
of each, has been given a new driver to work with the PC AT,
and code so that it knows whether it's a PC, XT or AT when
plugged in.

DCA also announced it has stopped referring to its micro
products as the IRMA line, in favor of DCA micro products.

CONTACT:  JOLIE NEWMAN, DCA, 1000 ALDERMAN DRIVE,
          ALPHARETTA, GA 30201 [phone]

[***][2/11/86][***]
PEACH BITS

INS CORPORATION is buying full-page ads in major computer
magazines ("PC Week" and "Infoworld" among them) to tout their
line of micro-mainframe links, including their SDLC PC
Adapter, X.25 PC Adapter, and SDLC Loop PC Adapter for the
IBM 8100. (The ads show a middle-aged man and young woman, in
formal wear, being handed INS brochures by an usher. The
company says they're all professional models, and the ad was
targeted at the Fortune 1000 by Stafford & Associates,
Mobile.) The PC Adapter line works with Cullinet's
Infogate or Goldengate, according to a recent release.

CONTACT:   KATIE KENNEDY, INS, P.O. BOX 91395, MOBILE, AL,
           36691, [phone]

QUADRAM says it will soon release an amber screen capable of
inverse video and 6 screen palettes displayed as shades of
gray, for its Datavue 25 portable. The new screens will last
longer, according to the company, and Quadram says they're
as easy to read as gas plasma displays.

CONTACT:  SHARON CUPETT, QUADRAM, ONE QUAD WAY,
          NORCROSS, GA, 30093 [phone]

DIGITAL CONTROLS INC. announced it will issue its Learning
Center videodisc training software on the Sony View system.
Before this, the company used only its own hardware system.

CONTACT:  MIKE SHAW, DIGITAL CONTROLS, 5555 OAKBROOK
          PARKWAY, NORCROSS, GA 30093 [phone]

PROGRAMMED INTELLIGENCE CORP. has introduced Intelligent
Query (IQ), a $300 program built on a data dictionary and
artificial intelligence concepts. It includes an
intelligent query language, custom report writer, graphics
and Lotus file transfer.

CONTACT:  RICK CHITTY, PIC, 3069 Amwiler Road, Suite 5,
          Atlanta, GA, 30360 [phone]

[***][2/11/86][***]
TRADE GROUP OF THE WEEK:
The Information Systems Consultants Association (ISCA) has
been formed to give independent consulting firms and
one-man (or woman) bands in the information industries a
collective voice in the marketplace (and to make a few
bucks).

They're asking $85 dues, and they'll waive a "new member
processing fee" if you join by March 15. The sponsors hope
to charge companies seeking consultants access to their
database, too. They've already gotten together a group
health insurance plan. A kick-off meeting is planned March
13, at 7 PM, at the Presidential Hotel (southwest corner of
I-85 and I-285 in Doraville, GA, northeast of downtown
Atlanta).

CONTACT:  JAMES B. STEINER, ISCA, P.O. BOX 467190, ATLANTA,
          GA, 30346 [phone]

[***][2/11/86][***]
ST. JUGI
Tandon Corp. announced Friday that it had posted an $841,000
profit in its first quarter which ended December 27.  The black
ink signaled the end of five straight unprofitable quarters, and
did not include the customary inventory write-downs and other
charges against earnings that usually have kept the Chatsworth-
based firm in the red.  Tandon's profit came on quarterly
revenue of $47.8 million, compared to a loss of $15.4 million on
revenue of $90.7 million in the same quarter the year before.

"I think it's fair to say they've stopped hemorrhaging," said
James Stone, an analyst with Shearson Lehman Brothers in New
York.  A component of Tandon's rebound was certainly the royalty
agreements the firm negotiated with both Sony and Teac.  Both
Japanese firms had settled with Tandon after being sued for
patent infringement.  A third defendant, Mitsubishi Electric,
was found innocent of infringing on Tandon's diskette drive
designs by the International Trade Commission last week.

In a separate announcement, Tandon said it "pink-slipped" 75
workers at the firm's Simi Valley diskette drive plant in
connection with the company's changeover to IBM-compatible
computer production.  Approximately 100 workers remain on the
job at that facility.

CONTACT:  TANDON CORP.
          20320 PRAIRIE
          CHATSWORTH, CA 91311
          [phone]

[***][2/11/86][***]
KAYPRO SLIMS DOWN FOR SPRING
In a move to streamline ordering, production and shipping,
Kaypro Corp. announced a consolidation of its product line last
week.  Here are the highlights:

->  Both the Kaypro 1 and the Kaypro 10 will be discontinued.

->  A 20mb hard-disk drive version of the Kaypro PC will be
    added.  It will sell for $1,895 and will include an IBM PC-
    AT style keyboard.

->  The Kaypro 2000 laptop will now be factory configured with
    768Kb of RAM, but will still retail for $1,995.

->  In the Kaypro 286i line, the company will only retain the
    Models A and C.  Both are IBM PC-AT compatible.

CONTACT:  KAYPRO CORP.
          533 STEVENS AVE.
          SOLANA BEACH, CA 92075
          [phone]

[***][2/11/86][***]
COMPUTER AUTOMATION FINDS ITS WHITE KNIGHT
Speculation that Computer Automation of Irvine was shopping for
a friendly buyer was confirmed last week.  Everett/Charles Test
Equipment of Pomona stepped forward and declared that it would
assume nearly $20 million in debts to buy the struggling
electronics-test-equipment manufacturer.  The fate of the 300
Computer Automation employees in Orange County was not decided.
Jerry Hudspeth, chairman and president of Everett/Charles, said
that he would take the combined company public at the earliest
opportunity.

CONTACT:  EVERETT/CHARLES TEST EQUIPMENT
          2887 N. TOWNE AVE.
          POMONA, CA 91767
          [phone]

[***][2/11/86][***]
THIS BAUER NEVER BREAKS
Two weeks ago, NEWSBYTES-L.A. reported that Walter Bauer, former
chairman of Informatics General, was on a speaking tour of local
business groups.  The man who was on the firing line of the
largest hostile acquisition in computer software history still
is bitter about his firm's takeover by Sterling Software.
"Takeovers are not making American business stronger or more
competitive," he says.  "It's pure overhead that makes lawyers,
accountants and investment bankers more wealthy.  But not the
shareholders."  He felt the whole experience "was a nightmare.
It was a very draining experience that cost me lots of sleep."
The 62-year-old Bauer sums up his "resume de guerre" by saying,
"We were once all like kids on the beach with sand buckets and
with plenty of sand.  But it's a seller's market nowadays.  I
have the experience to help.  I want to remain active."

[***][2/11/86][***]
MINDS OVER SOFTWARE
The current issue of Shearson Lehman Brothers' Weekly Portfolio
Perspective carries a rosy perspective by Thomas Galvin for both
AST Research of Irvine and Ashton-Tate of Torrance.  Both stocks
are on Shearson's Emerging Growth Stock List, and the brokerage
house claims that they will show "solid growth" in 1986.  Also
recommended by Galvin is COMPAQ Computer.  Interestingly, Lotus
Development Corp. is not a recommended purchase (investors are
told to merely "hold" the stock if they already own it), while
Intel shareholders are advised to cash in before things get
worse.

CONTACT:  SHEARSON LEHMAN BROS. INC.
          TWO WORLD TRADE CENTER
          NEW YORK, NY 10048

[***][2/11/86][***]
BEACHBITS

->  Two firms that cooperated with IBM in the development of the
    new RT-PC have already announced products for the machine.
    Inference Corp. has the Automated Reasoning Tool (an AI
    package) ready to ship, and Interactive Systems Corp. of
    Santa Monica has UNIX and VMS emulation software off the
    drawing boards.

->  Computer Memories Inc. of Chatsworth has settled its patent
    infringement suit with Quantum Corp.  CMI has agreed to pay
    Quantum an unspecified royalty and to discontinue production
    of its CM6000 series disk drives.

->  UCLA was near the front of the line when it came to
    receiving donations of cash and computer equipment for the
    past three years, according to the American Electronics
    Association.  The university received $227,000 from the AEA
    alone, and ranked 10th in the value of computer donations
    contributed to colleges nationally.

[***][2/11/86][***]
ONCE BITTEN
Wondering what to surprise your tekkie Valentine with this
month?  Hey, dinner at an expensive restaurant and a nice bottle
of Dom Perignon '67 (or even the '68) would do the trick.  Not
in your budget?  Okay, how 'bout the Chocolate Byte?  It's a big
5 1/4-inch piece of pure hi-tech milk chocolate packaged in a
reusable vinyl diskette case.  "Chocolate and computers, what
could be better?" says Joe Abrams, president of The Chocolate
Software Company of Sherman Oaks.  "It's the perfect gift for
computer users who love chocolate and chocolate lovers who use
computers."  Abrams didn't mention if a Macintosh-format
Chocolate Byte was under development.  So far, the company has
sold 30,000 pieces of their "eatware" product at $9.95, proving
that there's a chocoholic born every minute.

CONTACT:  THE CHOCOLATE SOFTWARE COMPANY
          15233 VENTURA BLVD., SUITE 1118
          SHERMAN OAKS, CA 91403
          [phone] or [phone]




[***][2/11/86][***]
MICROSOFT DIVORCES ASCII:
Japan's "Nikkei Daily" says (2/5) that Microsoft and ASCII
(Tokyo) broke their seven-year old business contract when
ASCII declined Microsoft's offer to become a 100% subsidiary
of Microsoft. ASCII's vice president Kazuhiko Nishi told the
press on 2/5 that, "business has picked up for Microsoft's
products here in the Japanese market. That's why Microsoft
wants to start business by itself..."  The business may be
growing, however, ASCII has over US$.5 million debt to
Microsoft, says a report.

Meanwhile, Microsoft plans to list its share at New York Stock
Exchange Market as early as in March. Major stock holders will
be William Gates at 44.9%, Paul Allen at 25.2%, and Technology
Venture Investors at 5.3%. The rumors have been rampant that
IBM might buy out Microsoft when its shares are listed in the
stock market. As a result, the industry sources have been
worrying that IBM might monopolize new versions of MS-DOS in
the future.

The future of MSX machines has become hazy. Although ASCII has
expressed that "ASCII won't stop MSX project," ASCII has to
straighten out its license agreement with Microsoft in order
to maintain the project.

Microsoft is expected to create its 100% subsidiary in Japan
around this summer. We'll see.

[***][2/11/86][***]
FAMILY COMPUTER IN THE WORLD MARKET:
Nintendo (Kyoto) has decided to export its Family Computer
(FamiCon) to the major U.S. cities and European countries.
This decision has come from the successful sales of FamiCon
which is known as the Nintendo Entertainment System in
New York.  Starting in March, FamiCon will be sold in
Washington, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, San Francisco and
their vicinity.  In April, the distribution areas will be
extended to West Germany, England and Norway.  Nintendo
wants to market over one million FamiCons and five million
game programs in the U.S. this year.

Meanwhile, another Japanese game machine manufacturer,
Sega Enterprises, has also been planning to export its low-
cost game machine to the U.S. in September.

CONTACT:  "Nintendo of America Inc.," 4820-150th Ave.,
          N.E. Redmond, WA  98052, U.S.A.
          Phone: [phone]

          "Sega Enterprises"
          Phone: [phone] (Tokyo)

[***][2/11/86][***]
JAPANESE UNIX PROGRAM:
AT&T Japan announced (2/4) that it had developed four new
programs -- a wordprocessing program, a communication program,
a data transfer program, and a Japanese development-supporting
program for UNIX System V. These programs will be released in
April. Since MITI (Japan's Ministry of International Trade and
Industry) has already decided to use UNIX System V in its
"Project SIGMA" for increasing software productivity, AT&T's
new software will surely inspire the project.

CONTACT: AT&T UNIX Pacific, phone [phone] (Tokyo)

[***][2/11/86][***]
INSCRUTABLE SUIT UPDATE:
In the copyright infringement suit of TI's DRAM, Texas
Instruments (TI) has proposed to Japanese and Korean
manufacturers that it will resume talks for extending
their cross license agreement. TI stopped the talks with
Japanese manufacturers last September, according to "Nikkei
Daily" (2/7). TI's executive has commented, "TI has sued
those manufacturers in order to speed up the cross license
talk. TI may drop the suit if the talk goes smoothly."
Guessing from these comments, TI might have become impatient
of the Japanese way of negotiation which is sometimes very
slow. That may be the reason why TI stopped the talks last
September.  When you negotiate with the Japanese, follow this
proverb -- "Slow and steady will win the race."  That's the
knack of it!

[***][2/11/86][***]
ICOT GETS HELP FROM UNIVERSITIES:
"ICOT" (the Institute for New Generation Computer Technology),
a Japanese organization to develop the 5th generation computer,
has rented its prototype parallel-processor "PSI" to major
Japanese universities:  Univ. of Tokyo, Tokyo Institute of
Technology and Tokyo Univ. of Science.  A research group in
each university will study AI for expert systems and language
processing.

Meanwhile, ICOT has previously agreed with Canada's CSFGR
(the Canadian Society For Fifth-Generation Research) and
France's INRIA (the National Institute of Information Processing
and Automation) to collaborate with each other to develop a
next generation computer.

[***][2/11/86][***]
TAIWAN BEEFS UP ITS LSI BUSINESS:
According to a published report, the Taiwanese government has
been asking major private enterprises in Japan, the U.S. and
Europe for technological and financial cooperation to launch
a new LSI venture in Taiwan.  The listed companies include
Matsushita Electric, Philips, TI, etc.  A total capital
US$145 million for the new business is expected to be shared
48.3% by the Taiwanese government, 24.1% by Taiwan's private
enterprises, and the rest of 27.6% by the foreign companies.
This new company will develop and manufacture super LSIs
(1M DRAM), TVs and linear ICs for VTR, and so on.

[***][2/11/86][***]
<<< SUKIYAKI BYTES >>>

DEC VIEWS CD-ROM BUSINESS -- Digital Equipment Corp. Japan
has been thinking of providing various databases in CD-ROM,
and talking with some CD-ROM manufacturers, such as Hitachi
and Philips.  DEC Japan is also planning to adapt CD-ROM
to its VAX series in the future.

CONTACT:  DEC Japan
          Phone: [phone] (Tokyo)
          Telex: 781-26428  DIGITAL


2M 3.5" FLOPPY DISKETTE -- Hitachi Maxell will release its
2M 3.5" floppy diskette on March 1st.  The new diskette
dubbed "MF2-256HD" is expected to cost US$12.25.

CONTACT:  Hitachi Maxell Corp., 1-1-88 Ushitora,
          Ibaraki-shi, Osaka-fu 567 Japan
          (Phone:  [phone])

4M DRAM -- Mr. Oka, a Chief of Development Dept. at Mitsubishi
Electric, said (2/4) that the company will develop and market
samples of a 4M DRAM by the end of 1987.  Mitsubishi, meanwhile,
plan to manufacture 1M DRAM on a commercial basis this fall.

CONTACT:  Mitsubishi Electric
          Phone: [phone]  (Tokyo)

SUPER LSIs FROM SEIKO -- SEIKO Electronics (Tokyo) will start
building its new factory for producing super LSIs in April.
The main products from this new factory include standard cell
ICs and communication ICs.  SEIKO expects that the company
will triple its sales volume in three years.  The new factory will
be completed in Jan. 1987 at a total cost of US$500 million,
a report says.

NEC TIES UP WITH BOEING -- NEC announced (2/5) that the company
has agreed with Boeing Corp. to jointly develop a new LSI for
the LAN of a next generation's passenger aircraft.  To be more
specific, it is a CMOS single-chip controller LSI for a serial
data-bus system.  The sample LSI will be completed by April,
a report says.

CONTACT:  NEC Information
          Phone: [phone]  (Tokyo)

Correction:  Regarding my column last week, TeleColor PC of
TeleVideo is not IBM PC/AT compatible.  It is an "IBM PC"
compatible.  There's an AT model called "TeleVideo AT"
(US$7,000).  Mr. Goodey will give you $1,500 discount of this
AT model if you're a private user.  CONTACT:  Thomas Goodey,
Geta Corp., [phone], Tokyo



[***][2/11/86][***]
THE RETURN OF VISI-ON:
Remember VisiCorp and the "integrated environment" named Visi-On
that they introduced back in 1983. Visi-On was being shipped
while competitors like Microsoft Windows and IBM Topview were
only gleams in PR people's eyes, but it needed 512K of RAM and a
hard disk, uncommon peripherals back in those "old days".
Although Visi-On apparently died a quiet death with VisiCorp, the
Business Information Services Division of Control Data
Corporation, which purchased the rights to Visi-On in 1984, is
introducing a "leaner and meaner" version of Visi-On. Not
surprisingly, they've aimed Visi-On's new incarnation at those
potentially-lucrative "Fortune 1000" companies by adding support
for CDC, IBM, and Wang large-computer systems. To use the
package, you need the $150 "application manager." Five separate
applications that run on top of the manager retail for $150 each.

CONTACT:  Control Data Corporation, Business Information Services
          Division, 500 West Putnam Ave., Greenwich, CT,
          203-622-2000

[***][2/11/86][***]
WHEREFORE ART THOU, DEC PC?
As reported here in Newsbytes, last week's DEC press conference
introduced new VAXes and not the expected (and long-awaited) DEC
PC/XT/AT compatibles. What happened? Our sources have been
silent. But COMPUTERWORLD reported this week that the company's
AT-compatible -- dubbed the "VAX-mate" -- has fallen behind
schedule. According to the publication, DEC is running into
problems with software to network the VAX-mate with its big VAX
brothers. The latest word is that we might see the machine's
introduction somewhere in the April-June timeframe.

Meanwhile, the current issue of BLACK ENTERPRISE Magazine says
DEC is one of the best places for blacks to work in the United
States. DEC was the only New England company that the magazine
selected. IBM also made the list.

Finally, DEC's OEM (original equipment manufacturer) customers,
who integrate DEC hardware with their products, are very unhappy
about a new plan the company quietly announced last week that
gives them a lower discount on the new VAXes than they've been
accustomed to. The maximum discount they'll get is 17% -- versus
about 24% up to now. It adds up for multi-hundred-thousand-dollar
systems.

CONTACT:  Digital Equipment Corporation, 200 Baker Ave., Concord,
          MA 01742-2190, 617-264-1420

[***][2/11/86][***]
LOTUS UPS AND DOWNS:
Lotus Development announced their financial results for the last
quarter of 1985 last week and the news was both good and bad.
Sales were up, from $50.4 million to $71.8 million for the same
quarter last year. However, net income was down slightly from
$11.8 to $11.4 million. A Lotus spokesperson says the cost of
heavy advertising for Jazz and multiple acquisitions is the
reason for lower earning. But they still ain't doing badly.

Meanwhile, PC WEEK reported this week that Lotus is quietly
preparing a patch disk to fix incompatibility problems between
the new and old releases of 1-2-3. The company had no official
comment.

CONTACT:  Lotus Development, 55 Cambridge Parkway, Cambridge, MA
          02142, 617-577-8500

[***][2/11/86][***]
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR ENIAC:
February 13th is the day, and Boston's Computer Museum is the
place for a "Big Birthday Bash" to celebrate the 40th anniversary
of ENIAC, one of the world's first digital computers, which is
now on display at the museum. The party will include a celebrity
guest list and big band music by the Bo Winkler Orchestra. For
you nostalgia buffs, work on ENIAC was begun in April 1943, and
it took three years and 200,000 man hours to build. ENIAC weighs
30 tons, covers 1500 square feet of space, has 18,000 vacuum
tubes, 70,000 resistors, 10,000 capacitors and 6000 switches. It
gulped 150 kilowatts of electricity.


CONTACT:  The Computer Museum, 300 Congress St., Boston, MA 02210
          617-426-2800

[***][2/11/86][***]
HARVARD HAILS BIG BLUE:
Golly, those IBMers are great people! So great, in fact, that the
Harvard Center for Business and Government has named IBM as the
recipient of the 1985 George S. Dively award for corporate public
initiative (whatever that means). The Dively Foundation spends
$25,000 each year on fellowships for research into the issues of
business. This year, five students at Harvard's JFK  School of
Government received five grand apiece. Maybe they can figure out
how IBM does it.

[***][2/11/86][***]
JAVELIN BAGS IBM:
Speaking of IBM, Cambridge, MA-based Javelin Software Corporation
has announced that the company has signed a contract with IBM
under which Big Blue will be distributing Javelin's unique
spreadsheet-type package for the IBM personal computer line.
Javelin's basic package currently retails for $695. It's a
feather in Javelin's cap and a leg up over cross-town arch-rival
Lotus.

CONTACT:  Javelin Software Corporation, One Kendall Square,
          Cambridge, MA 02139, 617-494-1400

[***][2/11/86][***]
NORTHEAST SNOWBITS:

--Multimate International of East Hartford, CT has opened a plant
in Ireland. The company, recently acquired by Ashton-Tate, says
the new facility will concentrate on the development of new lines
of software for IBM minicomputer and mainframe systems.

-- After nearly a year's delay, EnMasse Computer of Acton, MA has
finally shipped it's multiprocessing line of computers based on
the Motorola 68000 chip. A low-end system for eight users retails
for $56,900. On the other end of the spectrum, a full blown
system for up to 768 users (you read that correctly!) costs a
cool $2 million -- give or take a few thousand.

-- Even though GenRad is 75 years old, its venerable age didn't
keep the Concord, MA-based maker of automatic test equipment from
being swept up in the "downturn" of '85. Genrad announced a
$52.25 million dollar loss in the last quarter, the worst in the
company's history.

-- The defense-contract sweepstakes continues to make Northeast
companies big winners. Lexington, MA-based Raytheon has just
inked a $47 million contract with the Navy to design computer-
controlled combat systems.

-- Ziff-Davis of NYC seems to make most of its money these days
from selling divisions. Data Architects of Waltham, MA has just
acquired Ziff's Banking Decisions Systems division. The price
wasn't announced.

[***][2/11/86][***]
ADELSON ON COMDEX:
Atlanta bureau chief Dan Blankenhorn recently interviewed Sheldon
Adelson, head of the Framingham, MA-based Interface Group. The
leading computer show promoter (COMDEX et almost al), Adelson had
some juicy comments. The following comes to the Northeast bureau
courtesy of Dana.

** To better serve the transportation and lodging needs of the
tens of thousands who attend Interface conferences and shows,
Adelson is buying a tour operator. His comment: "With this we'll
lay claim to being the top tour operator in the U.S." (At last
Fall's COMDEX in Las Vegas, there was some grumbling among
attendees about the Interface Group already controlling access to
nearly all the hotels in the city.)

** Spring COMDEX in Atlanta probably won't be overflowing from
the city's Congress Center to the nearby Apparel Mart, as it has
for past shows. Adelson said, "We're not sure yet. The rebound of
last year's perceived slump has not fully worked itself out."

** While denying that Comdex has any problems, Adelson is
considering an expansion of its reach. "My own people are
recommending that we add on various other groups to the show. We
have excluded leasing companies, advertising and premium sales
support companies, and PR and advertising, though these are the
services that help the reseller do his job better. We're
considering adding them for the first time."

** Finally, Adelson denied that Atari and others sub-let their
booths to developers at Fall COMDEX, despite widespread reports
to the contrary. Quoting a story from the December 9 issue of
INFOWORLD, he said, "It says nothing about sub-letting."




[***][2/11/86][***]
SOME SAY YES...
Whilst the UK seems quite happy with the current state of
play regarding VDU safety, we now learn that the Swedes take
the opposite view.  From Stockholm comes news that VFU
radiation causes severe birth defects and even death amongst
laboratory mice in controlled conditions.  "This is totally
unexpected," Rickardo Edstrom of the Swedish Occupational
Safety Administration is quoted as telling the Reuter News
Agency.  Edstrom is quoted as saying, "There's a big step
between animals and humans, especially in terms of body
size, but the findings do mean that we can no longer rule
out the possibility that radiation could affect foetuses."
Meanwhile, across the North Sea...

[***][2/11/86][***]
 ...AND SOME SAY NO:
No Link has been established between miscarriages or birth
defects and working with VDU's, according to the UK's
government-sponsored Health and Safety Executive.  The HSE
has issued a booklet which takes a long hard look at the
possible dangers from VDU's in general and has drawn the
conclusion that the number of miscarriages currently
reported amongst VDU workers are "open to powerful
statistical explanations."  The report also notes that, "In
the population as a whole, one in five to one in ten known
pregnancies ends in a miscarriage.  Whilst higher levels
have been reported amongst VDU workers, investigations show
they are not peculiar to VDU work."  Dr Colin MacKay, the
HSE's principal headshrink and author of the publication was
quoted in last Thursday's "The Times" as saying, "What we
have to avoid is new technology sweatshops."  Maybe he has a
point...

 "Working with VDUs" is available free from:

 The Health and Safety Executive,
 Baynards House,
 1 Chepstow Place,
 Westbourne Grove,
 London W2,
 United Kingdom.

[***][2/11/86][***]
ATARI ST IN EUROPE...IT CAN'T BE!
Whilst North America apparently goes Atari-mad, with user
support groups popping up more frequently than Muppet Show
repeats, us poor Brits have been deprived of user support.
Until now that is.  Seventeen year old Hugh Gollner of
Dufose in Chichester has set the world to rights with his
first 40 page ST magazine.  The magazine has reviews of the
latest ST software, along with a lively list of nearly 200
software packages available for machine.

CONTACT:  Hugh Gollner on Chichester 783932.
          Tel: UK: 0243-783-932
          Tel: US: 0011-44-243-783-932

[***][2/11/86][***]
AMSTRAD GO FOR THE BIG ONE:
For "one" read "blue".  One of the UK's biggest and most
recent entrants to the computer scene, Amstrad, who are
famous for their value for money outfits in the consumer
electronics field here in the UK, are reportedly poised to
launch a low-cost (read cheapie) PC compatible this spring.
Expected to cost 500 pounds ($700), the machine will offer
GEM windows with single or dual 5.25 inch drives.  (Hey!
whatever happened to the 3 inch frisbees that their other
machines offer?).  Whilst Amstrad aren't the first, and
certainly won't be the last, to offer a cheapie IBM PC clone
for under the 500 pound mark, the machine is sure to sell
well, partly due to its brand name and partly due to a
growing move by corporate users away from IBM as they set up
their own in-house repair outfits.

** Amstrad currently offer a word processing system - the
PCW - which includes a printer, monitor, 3 inch frisbee
drive, all-in for just 399 pounds ($560), and a CP/M-based
home micro - the CPC8256 - for the same price.

CONTACT:  Amstrad Consumer Electronics Ltd., PO Box 462,
          Brentwood,  Essex, CM14 4EF, United Kingdom.

[***][2/11/86][***]
CHEAP PORTABILITY:
Yum yum.  The machine on which Newsbytes UK is tapped in each
week, the Radio Shack Model 100, has been slashed by Tandy
UK to a mere 299 pounds ($420).  For that you get a machine
that previously sold 50 per cent more, with 24K of RAM.  Not
bad, but not good when you realise the Model 100 closed out
late last year at $199 for the 8K version on the Eastern
seaboard of the US!

[***][2/11/86][***]
128K-A-GO-GO?
Inside sources close to Sir Clive Sinclair's firm, Sinclair
Research, say that this Thursday - February 13th - has been
earmarked for the launch of the 128K version of the Sinclair
Spectrum.  Currently being sold in Spain at around the $400
mark, the machine is similar to the existing Z80-based
Spectrum plus, except it has a numeric keypad on a wire,
better sound and improved screen handling capability.  Price
in the UK will be 130 pounds ($170), about the same price as
the existing 48K Spectrum, which is expected to drop to 100
pounds ($140).

** Whilst Newsbytes North American readers may know the
spectrum better as the Timex TS2060, which was abortively
launched in the US with a rubber keyboard, they would get a
pleasant surprise if they could see the machine now!

CONTACT:  Sinclair Research Ltd., Camberley, United Kingdom.
           Tel: UK: 0276-685-311     US: 0011-44-276-685-311

[***][2/11/86][***]
HACKING PART TWO:
Last years computer bestseller was "The Hackers Handbook", a
paperback book which no self-respecting communications
enthusiast should be without.  Inspired by the film
Wargames, the book takes you through the first steps into
the online world and answers those questions that AT&T,
British Telecom and others won't!  After a successful run of
50,000, the mark two version is out - the "NEW Hackers
Handbook".  The book is updated and is due out on the 27th
February.  I won't say it's popular, but it's in its second
print run, and that after it hasn't been released yet!

CONTACT:  Century Communications Ltd., Portland House,
          12-13 Greek Street, London W1V 5LE, United Kingdom.

[***][2/11/86][***]
COMMODORE RESHUFFLES:
Last week saw the promotion of Nick Bessey from MD of CBM UK
to General Manager of Commodore Electronics.  The new post
will give Bessey a great deal of autonomy from Commodore's
US HQ and will put him in the hot seat for much of the
company outside of North America.  Harold Speyer also moves
up from general manager of Northern Europe to general
manager of CBM Europe.  Commodore US feel that the European
market needs only one tier of management between the
factory's and the corporate HQ in the US.  Bessey's post
will not be filled, the company say, as both countries will
now report directly to Speyer.  Newsbytes UK reckons that is
one job less at Commodore!

[***][2/11/86][***]
ONLINE TO ONLINE:
London-based computer dealer, Transam, has set up a
much-needed online consultancy for those in need of advice
regarding online databases, of which The Source is one of
many (sorry guys).  Transam's top dog, Graham Clifton
reckons the UK market in online databases is worth 150
million pounds ($210m) a year.  "This figure is growing at
the rate of 30 per cent a year," he says, "and that's just
based on the revenues of the database hosts."  Clifton is
aiming the service at existing as well as new users of
online searches.  "We will not only provide equipment and
software but our consultant will be able to help customers
find the info they want.  We are hoping to demo databases
which haven't yet had a business outlet in the UK."  Transam
are hoping to offer an open-day every Monday where, for 25
pounds ($35), potential users can experience what "going
online" is all about.  I pity their phone bills!

CONTACT:  Graham Clifton, Transam Micro Systems Ltd.,
          59/61 Theobalds Road, London WC1X 8SE, United Kingdom.
          Tel: UK: 01-404-4554
          US: 0011-44-1-4-4-4554

[***][2/11/86][***]
CUTTING THE CARD PRICES:
One enterprising London firm, Fountain Technologies, has had
the guts to start advertising, *with prices*, their
cut-price plug in cards for PC and PC compatibles.  Take
their printer card at 18.40 pounds ($26), which compares
favourably with big blue prices!  Give them a call on London
01-253-8423 for a quote - they're cheap!

[***][2/11/86][***]
HEADING FOR THE BIG TIME:
Well, whaddya know?  British Telecom have finally woken up
to the fact that there's money in them thar databases!  BT
are planning an ambitious entry into three main sectors of
the UK online database business.  First on up, BT har taken
a controlling interest in one of the UK's leading credit
reference agencies, UAPT Infolink.  Secondly, they've signed
an exclusive agreement to host the Infocheck database of
company information, and thirdly plans to open up its own
database of abstracted information, the Cambridge Database,
to external searches.  BT will inject 51% cash interest into
UAPT and hope to bolster the existing 43 million records by
including the details of the UK's telephone account holders.
THAT sounds like an invasion of privacy!  NEWSBYTES UK will
be writing to the Oftel - the government appointed watchdog
on Telecom affairs - to complain about such plans... Watch
this space!

[***][2/11/86][***]
EXPORT AND BEWARE!:
A 52 year old business man from Basingstoke has become the
latest person to have his collar felt by HM Customs and
Excise over alleged illegal exports.  Brian Moler-Butcher,
or rather, his company, Contel Equipment, have been charged
with exporting prohibited chip-making equipment during 1983
from Heathrow airport.  Moller-Butcher says of the charges,
"It all seems very strange... It appears they're claiming I
sold something to somebody else who has in turn sold it off
to the eastern block."  The UK Customs and Excise people are
keeping very quiet on the whole subject, but have confirmed
that the charges are being brought under the Export of Goods
(Control) Order 1981, which was superceded by another order
in 1985.  Sounds heavy maaan!



[***][2/11/86][***]
WHITE HOUSE MAY TARGET NEC
The Reagan Administration's trade "strike force" is considering a
complaint aimed at Nippon Electric Corp., which allegedly
arranged for a low-cost lease of a NEC supercomputer to a
consortium of four Houston area universities. The Houston Area
Research Center (Rice University, University of Texas, University
of Houston, and Texas A&M) was expected to buy a U.S.
supercomputer, either a Cray or a Control Data Corp. model, but
ended up leasing the NEC machine. The strike force is examining
whether the lease constitutes "dumping," an unfair practice of
selling something below cost in order to get a toehold in a
market.

[***][2/11/86][***]
CUSTOMS PURSUES EXODUS STRATEGY
The U.S. Customs Service has mounted a major effort to stop
export of sensitive U.S. technology -- often computer technology
-- to the Soviet Union. The project is called "Operation Exodus"
and employs 400 agents, according to a report in "The Washington
Post." According to Customs Commissioner William von Raab, the
USSR has mounted a "massive KGB-directed campaign coordinated at
the highest levels of the Soviet government to get their hands on
American technology at any cost."

According to Customs officials, the program has grown like Topsy
since it was inaugurated four years ago. There are now so many
agents going after the big fish that they no longer try to stop
some of the proscribed items, such as personal computers.
According to the definitions the program uses, the Apple Mac is a
high tech item that should not fall into Soviet hands. Nowadays,
say the officials, the investigations focus on such items as
lasers, fiber optics, and sophisticated computers such as the DEC
VAX 11/782 that a West Germany businessman tried to ship to the
USSR in 1983.

[***][2/11/86][***]
IBM TO EXPAND FACILITIES IN D.C. SUBURBS
International Business Machines, the second largest private
employer in the Washington area, has begun building a 430,000
square-foot building in Gaithersburgh, Maryland. The building is
next to the existing IBM federal systems division and national
accounts division, says Big Blue. IBM employs 14,500 people in
the Washington area, 3,500 in Gaithersburgh.

[***][2/11/86][***]
AUTO TELLERS AT GROCERY STORES A BUST
Safeway, one of the dominant grocery chains in the Washington
area, is on the verge of shutting down automated bank teller
machines at 91 area stores. Safeway will only keep the machines
alive if the current owners -- a consortium of 11 local financial
institutions and Docutel/Olivetti -- can find a buyer. The
machine network, which allows customers to make withdrawals from
their bank accounts with coded cards, is losing money.
Docutel/Olivetti, which owns 49 percent of the teller business,
says a "financial institute" in Washington is considering buying
the network, which has so far absorbed $2-$3 million. If no deep
pockets are found by April, says a Docutel/Olivetti official,
"the machines will be shut down."

[***][2/11/86][***]
COMSAT GOES TOLERANT
Communications Satellite Corp. of Washington has contracted to
buy four of Tolerant Systems Eternity Series computers, for a
price of about $500,000. The three-year contract represents the
initial penetration of the San Jose, Calif., computer-maker into
the telecommunications market. Tolerant makes fault-tolerant
systems, first introduced in January. Comsat's technical service
division in Clarksburg, Md., will use the computers in its call
routing system for satellite-based maritime communications. the
system will route telephone, telex, facsimile and data calls to
and from ships in the Atlantic through control systems at an
earth station in Southbury, Conn.

CONTACT: TOLERANT SYSTEMS, INC. SAN JOSE, 408-946-5667

[***][2/11/86][***]
CANCER CALCULATIONS
Researchers at Oak Ridge Associated Universities in Oak Ridge,
Tenn., have developed a computer program that calculates the
probability that a cancer was caused by a specific radiation
exposure. The program, called PCAUS, is based on tables in the
report of the National Institutes of Health "Ad Hoc Working Group
to Develop Radioepidemiological Tables." The tables provide
estimates of the probability that a cancer was caused by
previous exposures to external radiation. The Oak Ridgers say
the program, written in FORTRAN, can be used by nuclear
utilities, physicians, lawyers, hospitals, researchers, nuclear
plant vendors, and nuclear insurers.

CONTACT: OAK RIDGE ASSOCIATED UNIVERSITIES, OFFICE OF INFORMATION,
         POST OFFICE BOX 117, OAK RIDGE, TENN. 37831-0117,
         615-576-3353.

[***][2/11/86][***]
NAVY AND IBM STRIKE DEAL
International Business Machines will pay for cost overruns for
future problems with the SUBACS fire control system for the new
Los Angeles-class submarines. SUBACS, for "submarine advanced
combat system", a computerized network for tracking and attacking
enemy targets, has been suffering from cost overruns and
technical problems. According to Navy Secretary John Lehman, a
new contract with IBM includes "very tough, binding penalties."
The Navy-IBM deal for seven SUBACS systems caps the cost at $1.3
billion, and forces IBM to pay for any late delivers to the
shipbuilders, Newport News Shipbuilding and General Dynamics,
according to Lehman.

[***][2/11/86][***]
WASHINGTON COMPUTER BUSINESS INDEX.
The computer business index for the week fell to 168, on a slim
8.5 pages of computer ads in the Monday Washington Business
tabloid in "The Washington Post." Total non-classified
advertising for the weekly business paper, known as "the
computer white pages" around Powertown, came in at 26.5 pages.
Big advertisers in the January 3 issue were Epson, with 1.5 pages
extolling its printers, and MBI, with a full page.

[***][2/11/86][***]
POWERBITS

 $$$ MCI Communications Corp. reports 1985 earnings climbed an
astounding 91 percent to $113.3 million on $2.5 billion in
revenue. Earnings per share were 48 cents, compared to 25 cents
per share a year ago.

 $$$ Bell Atlantic Corp. reported a 12.3 percent earnings
increase for the year, to $269.7 million on $2.3 billion in
sales. That works out to $2.69 per share, compared to $2.43 per
share last year.

 $$$ Touche Ross International, an accounting firm, has developed
a computerized tax planning network aimed at international
investors and multinational corporations. The system has a data
base of over 800 income tax treaties and corporate tax
information on 185 countries.

CONTACT: STEVEN HANNES, TOUCHE ROSS, 1900 M ST. NW, WASHINGTON
         DC, 20036, 202-955-4219.

 $$$ Scope Inc., a subsidiary of Lexicon Corp. has won a contract
with the Defense Department for tempest communications security
equipment. The deal is worth between $8.2 million and $16.4
million. Scope specializes in signal processing and Lexicon makes
various type of terminals and modems.

CONTACT: EDWARD OLSON,SCOPE INC., 1860 MICHAEL FARADAY DRIVE,
         RESTON VA, 22090, 703-471-5600.