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Newsbytes - International Computing Industry News 1994 Edition - May 1983 - June 1994 - Wayzata Technologies (5045) (1994).iso
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1991-07-26
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[***][3/4/86][***]
HP'S BIG RISC:
Hewlett Packard formally announced the first of its Spectrum
line of RISC-based minicomputers last week. The Spectrum
930 and 950, which won't be available until late this year
or the middle of next, are the first fruits of a 5-year, $100
million research and development effort which has occupied
1,000 HP staffers. The 930 is expected to be priced at
around $300,000. HP says its relatively untested reduced
instruction set computers, which perform at speeds up to three
times faster than HP's current top of the line minis, will be
the foundation of all future products through the end of this
century. Due out this May will be a series of engineering
workstations and factory automation computers, also based
on RISC architecture.
Hewlett Packard is the first company to announce a date for
commericial availability of RISC-based machines and HP appears
assured the new technology will be a success. Says John Young,
HP's CEO, "We're innovators, not gamblers. This is the best
measured, best tested design in HP history--maybe in the
computer industry."
CONTACT: HEWLETT PACKARD, 3000 Hanover St., Palo Alto, Ca.
94303 (415) 857-1501
[***][3/4/86][***]
THE MORROW/IRS ANGLE:
Zenith Electronics Corporation won the Internal Revenue Service
award for $28 million in portables--meaning up to 18,000 of
them will be in the agency's field auditors' hands, but more
importantly, a significant boost for the portable industry
in general. Especially delighted is George Morrow, chairman
of Morrow Designs, whose firm licensed the technology with
which Zenith made its winning Z-171. The Z-171 is identical
to Morrow' Pivot II with the exception of the color of the
case and the screen. "We designed that machine and everyone
is justly proud," said Morrow to NEWSBYTES. He says Sperry,
which was bidding Pivot IIs under its own label, came in
second. "It's damn nice to come in one and two!"
However, Morrow stands to gain only good publicity from the
deal; the Zenith license agreement "was a done deal," said
John Seamster, Morrow spokesman. Morrow himself adds, "The
IRS contract calls for very heavy delivery schedues. Maybe
the 171 won't be available in quantity. We could stand a
chance to supply some of them."
And finally, on all the press claims that IBM had won the
bid, the always outspoken George Morrow stated flatly, "The
press was irresponsible. IBM has once again used a phantom
product to manipulate them." He adds: "NEWSBYTES wasn't
as bad as some of them. At least you tended to take a
conservative approach."
CONTACT: JOHN SEAMSTER, MORROW DESIGNS, 600 McCormick,
San Leandro, Ca. 94577 (415) 430-1970
[***][3/4/86][***]
MICRORIM'S CPA BONANZA:
Thousands of certified public accountants across the country
are receiving "personal" mail from Microrim's (R:base 5000)
president Kent Johnson, offering them the R:base 5000
database software, which lists for $700, for just $95.
What's the catch? "CPAs are one of the most influential
markets in recommending software to medium and large-sized
companies. Every unit in the hands of a CPA turns up an
average of 8-10 units to dealers," Johnson told NEWSBYTES.
He denied the "deal" had anything to do with money problems,
adding the small, Washington-based firm has had 2 quarters
of consistent profitability.
By the way, Ashton-Tate is way ahead in the database market
with a 60% share, Microrim is second with 15%, and all
the others put together account for the remaining 25% of
the market.
CONTACT: KENT JOHNSON, MICRORIM, 3380 146TH PL., SE,
BELLEVUE, WA. (206) 641-6619
[***][3/4/86][***]
A UNIX APPLE?
"California Technology Stock Letter" (a MUST for any technology
investor, in this editor's opinion) says in its 2/21 edition
that a key paper at the forthcoming IEEE Workstation Technology
and Systems Conference (Atlantic City, March 18-20) "will
describe an interface between the Macintosh and AT&T's UNIX
operating system." The UNIX Mac is indeed a breakthrough, if
it happens. No word on whether the paper is coming through
Apple or a third party.
CONTACT: CA. TECH. STOCK LETTER, 155 Montgomery St., Suite 1401,
San Francisco, Ca. 94104 (415) 982-0125
[***][3/4/86][***]
MICROSOFT CD ROM CONFERENCE:
This week (March 4-7) Microsoft Corporation hosts the first
conference devoted to developing a CD ROM standard for computers.
The Seattle gathering will exchange views on standards,
product applications and marketing strategies. Gary Kildall
gives the Keynote Address Tuesday. Microsoft Press is
using the occasion to release "THE NEW PAPYRUS: CD ROM",
a compendium of articles on the state of the art.
Meanwhile, Bill Gates told Personal Computer Forum in Phoenix
last week that his firm is encouraging existing encyclopedia
publishers to move their volumes onto CD ROM, and added, "We
will have one encyclopedia done entirely from scratch," for
CD ROM.
CONTACT: (conference information) Steve Lambert, Min Yee
MICROSOFT, 10700 Northup Way, Bellevue, Wa. 98004
(206) 828-8080
MICROSOFT PRESS (same address and phone number)
[***][3/4/86][***]
PICKING THE DAISIES:
Daisy Systems, for a long time insulated against the ups and downs
of the industry, has laid off 100 of its 1,000 employees and
expets to show a "significant loss" for this quarter. News of
the CAE/CAD workstation manufacturer's troubles caused its
stock price to plummet to $4 from $11.75 last week. To give
you some perspective on the company's earlier growth, Daisy
Systems' revenues increased by seven-fold since its beginnings
in 1983, producing 1985 revenues of $122 million. Daisy
executives did not return NEWSBYTES phone calls, but analysts
attribute the company's decline to missed delivery schedules,
quality control problems, and competition from IBM and
Hewlett Packard.
CONTACT: DAISY SYSTEMS, 700 E. Middlefield Road, Mountain
View, Ca. (415) 960-0123
[***][3/4/86][***]
HOLY MOLEY, WHAT A SALE:
Computerland Corporation, in conjunction with Microcomputer
Inventory Exchange, plans to sponsor what could turn out to
be the biggest-ever computer sale, resulting in price
knock-downs by as much as 80%. The sale, planned for April
5 though 13 at a Santa Ana, Ca. warehouse, will feature
all sorts of hardware--including PCs. If the sale goes
well, Computerland will sponsor another one that may even
put Ross-Dove, the big local auctioneer, to shame.
CONTACT: COMPUTERLAND CORP., 30800 Santana, Hayward, Ca.
(415) 487-5000
[***][3/4/86][***]
LOOK OUT CHICAGO * Contributed by Barry Bayer *
Source users in the Chicago suburbs may find their residential
telephone bills going up next year if a rate schedule proposed to the
Illinois Commerce Commission by the Illinois Bell Telephone Company
and certain so-called Consumer Intervenors (including the Office of
the Illiois Attorney General and the semi-official 'consumer watchdog'
Citizens Utility Board) are approved. The new schedule would eliminate
Call - Pak Unlimited, which has been popular with suburban residential
computer users, and substitute a charge calculated with reference to
frequency, time, and distance for all calls over a distance of more
than 8 miles distances. A residential user 9 miles from a Telenet or
Sourcenet port, for example, might pay more than $1.67 per hour for
the line from home to Sourcenet. A user 40 miles away from the port
might pay $3.61 for a one hour call.
The proposal does offer discounts of one - third for calls during "off
peak" hours, defined as after 9 PM and before 7 AM the next morning. (No
"off peak" discounts during the day on Saturdays and Sundays, however.)
While it is probably too late to save unlimited calling, the possibility
of much deeper discounts in the late evening - early morning hours
continue to exist, and are probably justified considering the low
marginal cost to the phone company of making such calls.
[***][3/4/86][***]
9600 STANDARDIZATION * Contributed by Barry Bayer *
9600 bps (bits per second) modems for personal computers over standard
voice lines are on their way, but there is no established format and
protocol. With an eye towards hoped for standardization before several
incompatible brands hit the market, US Robotics, a Skokie, Illinois
manufacturer of 1200 and 2400 bps modems, has announced work on a 9600
bps modem which would permit duplex transmissions with 9600 bps in one
direction and 300 bps in the other. (The direction of high speed and
low speed transfer would, of course, be software switchable.) This
mode would permit high speed data transfer in one direction, with
simultaneous low speed control signals in the other, and is compatible
with the ways that typical pc modem owners are using their lower speed
modems, today. The transfer protocol, which will be built into the
modems and completely transparent to the computer's serial port,
incorporates two levels of error detection.
CONTACT: MARK SMITH, U.S. ROBOTICS (312) 982-5010
[***][3/4/86][***]
IN BRIEF--
COMMODORE INTERNATIONAL has again won a reprieve from paying its
debts, agreeing to a revised $135 million loan due by March, 1987.
Meanwhile the corporation predicted a return to profitability this
year, but wouldn't specify when.
TYMNET of Cupertino will eliminate 5-10% of its workforce, blaming
the layoff on "consolidations and greater efficiences" of
operations. The Cupertino, CA company currently employs 1,250.
SEAGATE TECHNOLOGY of Scotts Valley, Ca. has been sued by Berger
Lahr, a West German electronics company, which charges Seagate
with stealing trade secrets when it hired 3 engineers who -knew
all- from Berger Lahr. The German firm wants $32.1 million
for lost sales and royalties, for starters.
Apple's seat cushions at last year's SuperBowl at Stanford were
a big hit, and the company which made them--LOGO--in Milpitas,
Ca. just sent NEWSBYES a press release saying it had made it
to #167 in INC Magazine's top 500 fastest growing companies
survey. "We specialize in maximum marketing leverage," says
Stephen Weinstein, Logo president. (Maybe he'll design a few
tee-shirts for NEWSBYTES promotions?) Ph: 408-945-1919
SOFTWARE RESOURCE GROUP of Campbell, Ca. gives away more than
350,000 demo disks of its Brown Bag word processor in the
April 15 issue of PC MAGAZINE. The cost of this promotion
will be a cool $500,000.
THE SOURCE's Nancy Beckman would like me to remind you that
THE SOURCE is paying $250 for anecdotes about the use of
Apple computers. Type NEW for details.
ACTIVISION spent around $7.5 million to acquire MA-based
INFOCOM, according to California Technology Stock Letter.
[***][3/4/86][***]
PRESS RELEASE OF THE WEEK:
"Dr. Hell Chooses Multibus II Bus Architecture for New Page
Generation System"
--press release from Regis McKenna
(Yes, Dorothy, there really is a Dr. Ing. Rudolph Hell and
he's the man behind a firm with his name in Kiel, West Germany.
AS A MATTER OF FACT, Intel has been shipping Multibus II-based
products to Dr. Hell since March 1985.)
[***][3/4/86][***]
TOUGH ANTI-JUNK CALL BILL PASSED IN GEORGIA SENATE
State Senator Roy Barnes (D-Mableton), floor leader for Gov. Joe
Frank Harris, pushed a total ban on computerized sales pitches
through the State Senate Wednesday. The Barnes bill was passed as
an amendment to the de-clawed junk-call bill passed a week ago
under the leadership of Sen. Culver Kidd (D-Milledgeville),
chairman of the Government Operations Committee.
Barnes' bill is even tougher than a bill passed by the House
which would have allowed the calls if consumers didn't object.
The only computerized calls Barnes' bill allows are public-service
calls, like those made by schools to the parents of truant kids.
The House and Senate bills still have to go through conference
committees and be passed again before anything becomes law. A
Marietta company involved in the junk-call business has
promised to challenge the bill in court if it's signed.
CONTACT: SEN. ROY BARNES at 166 ANDERSON ST., MARIETTA, GA 30060
Ph. (404)424-1500
[***][3/4/86][***]
NOW RENT AN APARTMENT ON VIDEODISK
Home Search Inc. has added resorts and apartments to its
videodisk-based listings service. They charge $100 plus $25 per
week to list a unit in their database. Buyers, renters or
vacationers give their requirements to the company (location,
price, room sizes) at its shopping mall kiosks, and photos of
possible matches (both interior and exterior) are then called up
from the disks. Comsell Inc. of Atlanta developed the system.
Citicorp supplied the venture capital to Home Search founder Jody
Gessow.
CONTACT: HOME SEARCH INC., 500 TECH PARKWAY, ATLANTA, GA (404)
872-2500
[***][3/4/86][***]
IT HAD TO HAPPEN: HIGH TECH COMES TO ROCK & ROLL
The Rock Shop Inc. owns a $300,000 piece of equipment called The
Wonderbox System, a sound-and-lights system it rents out at
$2,000-$5,500 a night. Atlanta lawyer Monte Ray hopes to get 15%
of the business in 5 years, saying his system can save a band
tens of thousands of dollars over the course of a tour.
CONTACT: THE ROCK SHOP INC. 729 EDGEWOOD AVENUE, ATLANTA, GA
30307 (404) 524-7028
[***][3/4/86][***]
ONE-THIRD OF ATLANTA'S ATTORNEYS ONLINE?
Information America claims in an ad that 1/3 of the attorneys in
Atlanta, thousands in all, subscribe to its local courthouse
database. The service keeps track of local court cases, trademark
filings, and court calendars. In Georgia, it also gives online
access to the Secretary of State's office. The company recently
added Dallas and Houston, Texas to its coverage.
CONTACT: INFORMATION AMERICA, 1372 Peachtree ST., NE SUITE 312,
ATLANTA, GA 30309 (404)892-1800
[***][3/4/86][***]
GEOVISION OFFERS MAPS ON A DISK *EXCLUSIVE*
Former CAD-CAM consultant Ken Shain is trying to bring compact
disks to engineers. His new company, Geovision, produces
customized maps for utility companies of underground pipes and
wires, which can be installed on trucks. He'll also write any
database you might have onto a CD for you. Geovision has already
sold AT&T a prototype CD system including a drive, software,
interface card and a recorded disk, which Shain calls
"glassware."
Mr. Shain predicts the CD will affect computing just as the VCR
has affected cable TV. "It's very likely that most of the data
that is static will end up on a compact disk and most online
services will go away. Online databases will only be for dynamic
information."
CONTACT: KEN SHAIN, PRESIDENT, GEOVISION INC., 303 TECHNOLOGY
PARK/ATLANTA, SUITE 135, NORCROSS, GA 30093 (404)448-
8224
[***][3/4/86][***]
PECAN BITS
MICRO SUPPORT RESEARCH CORP. (MSR), Atlanta, GA, has begun
awarding Continuing Education Units for its classes on software
packages like Lotus 1-2-3 and Displaywrite. The company also
announced a deal on classes and a one-year subscription to its
MAX database for $300.
CONTACT: MSR, 3355 NORTHEAST EXPY, SUITE 150, ATLANTA, GA, 30341
(404) 452-7676
SOFTWARE EXPRESS has released the second interactive tutorial for
operators of its UNIX-based applications generator, APPGEN. It's
designed to help VARs get users up to speed on UNIX fast.
CONTACT: SOFTWARE EXPRESS, 2925 BRIARPARK DRIVE, 7TH FLOOR,
HOUSTON, TX, 77042 (713)974-2298
QUADRAM has introduced a 20 Megabyte hard drive for its 13-pound
Datavue portable. The drive will run 2 hours on batteries, says
Quadram.
QUADRAM also announced it's shipped over 10,000 units of its
QuadEGA+ card in just 45 days. QuadEGA+ is priced $300 less than
a comparable IBM product.
CONTACT: QUADRAM, ONE QUAD WAY, NORCROSS, GA 30093 (404)923-6666
TEXAS INSTRUMENTS signed a deal with GE under which GE's
Integrated Communications Systems Operation (ISCO) will re-sell
TI's printers, terminals, PCs, and mini-computers. The company
also announced an upgrade for the computer lab at the UT Austin
Business School: hard disks and 256K upgrade kits will be added
to TI Portables donated last spring.
CONTACT: TEXAS INSTRUMENTS, 12501 RESEARCH, AUSTIN, TX, 78769
(512) 250-7111
SAMNA announced versions of its Samna Word III and Samna+
packages for the IBM PC Network. Novell and 3Com versions have
been around since last June.
CONTACT: SAMNA, 2700 NE EXPRY, ATLANTA, GA 30345 (404)321-5006
QUOTE OF THE WEEK:
"Telecomputing is a finite proposition."
--Ken Shain
Geovision
[***][3/4/86][***]
STARLIGHT CANNONADE *** E X C L U S I V E ***
Management at Rising Star Industries says it fired some "dike
pluggers." Recently laid-off employees, on the other hand, are
calling it "The Pre-St. Valentine's Day Massacre." However you
look at it, the Torrance-based company behind Valdocs software
was busy firing programmers and hiring salesmen in February.
Rising Star president Gail Carr, in an exclusive interview with
Newsbytes-L.A., said, "when you have this company that has a
carte blanche R&D budget, well excuse me!" "You can't have
people working on things that don't sell." According to Carr,
the software firm fired 25 programmers and hired four
administrative and sales employees last month. "My whole thing
was to professionalize the entire operation, to move us into the
next phase," she said.
Former employees have claimed Rising Star was poorly managed
from its beginnings in 1982. Owned by Valdocs (Valuable
Documents) creator Chris Rutkowski, the company was a software
development arm of Epson America while that firm was
manufacturing the QX-10 and QX-16 line of computers. When the
line was abandoned, Rising Star continued to market the
integrated spreadsheet-graphics-database-telecommunications
software to 50,000 Epson owners using direct mail, according to
Carr. The firm has never been a cash cow, insiders say, because
delivery schedules were rarely met. One former employee, who
asked not to be identified, said Rutkowski himself was the major
cause of the development bottleneck. Rutkowski, who is said to
be reclusive and a staunch Scientologist, had been known to make
changes in Valdocs without informing all the programmers, who
were scattered from California to New Jersey before the most
recent round of firings.
Now, Carr says Rising Star is gearing up to release Valdocs Plus
for the IBM-PC in September. Within the past week, three new
vice presidents have been hired to "move us from an Epson R&D
company to a marketing and sales organization," she says.
Meanwhile, a planned release of Valdocs for the Atari 520-ST
last fall was delayed, with roll-out now rescheduled for April.
Carr says she is satisfied with the few remaining technical
folk, and doesn't miss the nearly 60 programmers sacked over the
past year. "Instead of having the technical department run the
organization, it will be more market driven now," she said.
CONTACT: Rising Star Industries, 24050 Madison St., Suite 113,
Torrance, CA 90503 (213) 373-9112
[***][3/4/86][***]
SOFTSEL HAS FIRM OFFER FOR MONOGRAM *** E X C L U S I V E ***
Softsel Distributing of Inglewood, which has had its Monogram
Software division on the block for some time, is waiting for a
"cooling-off period" to expire before announcing the company has
been sold. According to Derek McLeish, Monogram's director of
marketing and sales, a consortium of the firm's managers have
arranged a friendly leveraged buy-out of Monogram, with the
intention of taking the software developer public in a matter of
months. McLeish denied rumors circulating among analysts that
Electronic Arts and Softsync were also potential buyers.
CONTACT: Monogram, 8295 S. La Cienega Blvd., Inglewood, CA
90301 (213) 215-0355
[***][3/4/86][***]
GATEWAY CLOSES, STRANDING HOME BANKING CUSTOMERS
Late Friday, the Times Mirror company announced it will close
down its Gateway Videotex service after deciding that "videotex
is certainly no threat to the newspaper business." The troubled
Los Angeles Times-sponsored service (NEWSBYTES-L.A. 2/25/86)
will be padlocked after four years of research and 15 months of
operation. "Basically, it was always considered to be a market
test," said James Holly, president of Times Mirror Videotex
Services. "The results just didn't seem to indicate that it
would be a profitable business." Gateway signed up only 3,000
subscribers in the Orange County and Los Angeles areas, a large
percentage drawn to the service's home banking and investment
services. Those customers will now have to go back to writing
checks by hand and (horrors!) paying with cash until their
financial records can be straightened out by Security Pacific
Bank.
"Videotex is providing a service which has too many alternatives
that are cheaper and easier," said Smith Barney analyst Edward
Atorino. "With all the automatic teller machines around, do you
really want to sit at home and watch television to do your
banking?" Gateway will lay off most of its 120 employees this
Friday.
CONTACT: Times Mirror Videotex Services, P.O. Box 25979, Santa
Ana, CA 92799 (714) 540-9072
[***][3/4/86][***]
VDT RADIATION ALLEGATIONS ELIMINATED FROM NEW BILLS
Computer monitors may cause muscular fatigue, eyestrain and
stress, but they don't cause birth defects. A recent study by
the World Health Organization in Geneva containing that
assertion is being cited by the California Legislature to defeat
bills regulating VDTs in the workplace. Six out of nine new
pieces of legislation have been rejected based on the study,
many proposed by Santa Monica Assemblyman Tom Hayden. Hayden,
husband of full-time activist and sometime actress Jane Fonda,
is, shall we say, in considerable disagreement with the
Assembly's position. "There is not enough conclusive evidence
to support this theory," said Hayden spokeswoman Judy Corbett.
"The legislature has decided against a `better safe than sorry'
attitude."
[***][3/4/86][***]
BEACHBITS
-> Wabash Computer will not take over management of UCLA's on-
campus computer store, but will service and support the
micros sold there. Since being abandoned by Gateway
Computers a few weeks ago, the shop has been run by the
campus bookstore.
-> Datametrics Corp. of Chatsworth will receive $2.75 million
in working capital from two venture capital concerns,
Investments Orange Nassau Inc. of Newport Beach and Alan
Patricof Associates of Sunnyvale. The two companies bought
newly issued convertible subordinated debentures from
Datametrics to seal the deal.
[***][3/4/86][***]
KDD'S VENUS-P HAUNTED BY HACKERS:
The news broke that the user-IDs and the passwords for KDD's
(Japan's International Telegraph and Telephone Corp.) packet
switching network "VENUS-P" had been illegally used by hackers.
According to a published report, malicious hackers had illegally
been accessing more than 10 database networks in the U.S. through
VENUS-P. Also, a couple of Japanese newspapers recently revealed
that the hackers abroad, including West Germany, Britain, France,
and Switzerland, broke into databases in Japan through VENUS-P
last year, and apparently damaged some datas. KDD will keep track
of log-in records to prevent further hacking through VENUS-P,
a report says.
[***][3/4/86][***]
COMDEX JAPAN LOST STEVEN JOBS:
The Interface Group Japan suddenly announced (2/28) that Steve
Jobs will not be giving a keynote address at COMDEX Japan, which
will be held at the Harumi Exhibition Center in Tokyo from 3/3 -
3/6. According to the NEWSBYTES source, Jobs arrived in Japan on
2/25. And he suddenly went home on 2/28 due to the illness of
his mother in California. She is expected to go under an
operation on 3/2, the spokesman says. Sorry for Steve.
The press people have apparently been disappointed with this
news. The make-shift speaker at COMDEX is Vern Raburn, president
and CEO of Symatec Corp., Cupertino, CA. President Raburn once
served as executive vice president of Lotus Development Corp.
The details of COMDEX in Japan '86 will follow next week.
CONTACT: The Interface Group, Inc.
Tokyo office 03-271-0246
The U.S. office 617-449-6600
[***][3/4/86][***]
FUJITSU'S NEW 80286 MICROS:
Fujitsu released (2/25) two types of 80286 personal computers
dubbed "FM16BETA FDII" and "HDII." FDII(US$1,900) has two 5"
1M disks, while HDII(US$3,275) has one 5" 1M disk and one 10M
hard disk. The most upper versions of an FM16BETA family,
both micros have a 1M main memory and advanced telecom features.
Beside these 80286 micros, Fujitsu also released two 80186
micros as its FM16BETA family. All of the four new micros
support MS-DOS V3.1 and CP/M-86. Kanji 286XENIX V3.0 will be
provided by Fujitsu later.
Meanwhile, according to Fujitsu's new business plan, the company
expects to double its sales volume to US$2.5 billion in the
telecommunication field in three years.
CONTACT: Fujitsu, Tokyo
03-216-3211 (PR. Dept.)
[***][3/4/86][***]
AUTOMATIC INTERPRETER-PHONE:
Japan's Ministry of Postal Service will start developing an
automatic Japanese-English interpreter-phone. Two new corporates
will be launched for this project by the affiliated group of the
Ministry; one of them is the Automatic Translation Communication
System Corp. (Tokyo), which will develop the applied mechanism
of the phone. The other is the ATR Automatic Interpreter-Phone
Laboratory (Osaka) which will take the part of basic mechanism.
According to a report, some private enterprises including KDD,
Hitachi, CSK, will also participate in this project. With this
new phone system in the future, your speech in English will be
automatically translated into Japanese, and vise versa.
However, it will take some time before we see this invention.
CONTACT: Research and Promotion Center of Fundamental Technology
No. 17 Mori Bldg. 9F., 1-26-5 Toranomon
03-592-0611
[***][3/4/86][***]
PRESIDENT OF THE SOURCE VISITS JAPAN:
The president of the Source, Jay Keller, met with the
press at KDD's conference room in Tokyo on 2/27. According to
President Keller, the number of the Source users in Japan has
reached 1,000, while there are 2,000 users in Canada and 60,000
in the U.S. Currently, the Source has two minor dealers in
Japan. Meanwhile, CompuServe recently gained two strong Japanese
business partners -- Fujitsu and Nissho Iwai Trading Co. With
this news in mind, some people at the press conference have
expressed their concern over the current dealership of the
Source in Japan. Reflecting this anxiety, almost no major
industrial newspapers, except one, have reported the conference on
the following day. Apparently, the Source needs more dependable
dealers in Japan, most of the analysts agree.
[***][3/4/86][***]
R & D EXPENDITURE TOP 10:
The total expenditures for the research and development spent by
major Japanese electronics manufacturers in '85 were revealed by
the Japan Industrial Journal on 2/26.
COMPANY R & D EXPENDITURE RATE OF INCREASE
--------------------------------------------------------------
1) Hitachi US$1.25 billion 13.1%
2) Matsushita 1.2 19.9
3) NEC 1.15 15.0
4) Toshiba 0.83 7.7
5) Fujitsu 0.73 14.5
6) SONY 0.56 14.0
7) Mitsubishi 0.53 9.3
8) Sharp 0.3 20.0
9) Japan Victor 0.15 15.4
10) Sanyo 0.12 13.5
All of the companies plan to increase the R & D expenditure
this year.
[***][3/4/86][***]
<<< SUKIYAKI BYTES >>>
RICOH SUPPLIES PRINTER TO IBM -- According to Japan's Daily
Industrial News (2/26), RICOH (Tokyo) will provide a number of
laser printers for IBM (U.S.A.). RICOH also signed an OEM
contract with Digital Equipment Corp. to supply 4,000 printers
per year last year.
CONTACT: RICOH, Tokyo
03-479-3111
IBM BEEFS UP SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT -- IBM Japan plans to create
its subsidiaries to develop software for all levels of computers
including personal computers. According to a published report,
IBM will establish about 10 subsidiaries all over Japan by the
end of this year.
JAPANESE COBOL FOR UNIX -- MicroFocus Japan, a subsidiary of
British software house, announced (2/27) that it will supply
Japanese COBOL for UNIX Sytem V to NTT, Hitachi, and RICOH.
"LEVEL II COBOL ET," which has a Japanese language feature,
has been developed by MicroFocus. According to a published
report, this Japanese COBOL will be bundled with RICOH's
"MX1000," Hitachi's "2050" workstation, and NTT's new
workstation.
CONTACT: MicroFocus Japan, Tokyo
03-486-7791
DAN TECHNOLOGY IN JAPAN -- Dan Technology, one of the major
U.S. consulting company for pictorial data processing, has
established its 100% subsidiary in Tokyo. The new company
provides Japanese manufacturers with the latest technologies
for pictorial data processing and marketing tactics in the U.S.
the company's first technical seminar for electronics printing
and publishing will be held in Tokyo from 3/5 - 3/7.
CONTACT: Dan Technology Japan, Tokyo
03-426-8101
1M EPROM -- NEC and Fujitsu have respectively developed 1M
Erasable and Programmable ROM. NEC's new product "MuPD27C1000D"
has an access time of 150 nano-sec. NEC started shipping its
samples at US$50 on 3/1. Meanwhile, Fujitsu's EPROM
"MBM27C1028-15" also has an access time of 150 nano-sec. Its
samples will be shipped at US$60 in April.
CONTACT: NEC, Tokyo 03-451-2974 (PR. Dept)
Fujitsu, Tokyo #03-216-3211
VERTICAL FDD AND FD -- Toshiba has started shipping the samples
of 3.5" vertical floppy disk drive and its diskette. The memory
capacity of this FDD and FD is 4M bytes, a report says.
CONTACT: Toshiba, Tokyo 03-457-4511
HITACHI SETS UP SOFTWARE GROUP -- Hitachi has organized "Software
Conference Group," which consists of over 60 software houses in
Japan. Hitachi provides the member companies with the
technologies and information to develop software for its business
micro B16 series.
CONTACT: HITACHI, Tokyo 03-258-2057 (PR> Dept)
[***][3/4/86][***]
DECWORLD TAKES OVER BOSTON:
Some of the more well-known computer shows should have it so
good! Nearly 20,000 DEC users crowded three hotels in Boston this
week for the third annual DECworld show. The invitation-only show
is attended mainly by DEC customers. Nearly 4000 DEC employees
were involved in setting up and running the show, with its two
acres of exhibit space and 78 seminars.
The show featured what DEC claimed was the largest (though
temporary) local network ever set up. Hundreds of DEC computers
ranging from Rainbows to high-end VAXes were ALL tied together in
a giant Ethernet system. IBM PCs were also prominently displayed
and tied into the network. The aim was to show the total
compatibility and communications capability of all DEC products.
Showgoers wandered through both a Solution Center and Technology
Center, where a variety of both horizontal and vertical
applications were on display. One DEC manager emphasized that 98%
of the products on display weren't available at the last DECworld
show 15 months ago.
One problem that DEC tackled in a unique way was how to make sure
that its 90,000 employees could participate in the show. One way
was by tying the 30,000 worldwide users of DEC's internal EasiNet
network into the show network. DEC employees anywhere in the
world could directly access the demonstrations running on the
show floor.
DEC took an even more unusual approach for its 30,000 employees
in New England. The company bought time on UHF television
stations in Boston and Manchester, NH during the evening newshour
for a half-hour high-tech-video tour of DECworld. (Your intrepid
bureau chief watched the show, and can report you haven't lived
until you've seen a pseudo music-video about DEC products --
completely done with VAX-generated graphics.)
Despite numerous rumors that DEC's long-awaited PC compatibles
would be introduced at DECworld, they were nowhere in sight. The
few product announcements included:
-- Two new versions of the DECtalk voice synthesizer, with much
more lifelike voice reproduction. The top-of-the-line version can
handle up to eight telephone lines at once.
-- Several information-management and decision-support packages
for the VAX.
DECworld ended Friday, and Boston merchants are happily counting
their receipts from one of the city's largest conventions.
[***][3/4/86][***]
ASHTON-TATE/MULTIMATE FOLLOWUP:
As reported last week in Newsbytes, Torrance, CA-based Ashton-
Tate plans to cut 70 of Multimate's 196 employees at the East
Hartford, CT company that Ashton-Tate recently acquired. This
week, additional details on the layoffs were announced, and they
show that Ashton-Tate has a strong streak of humanity. The 70
employees who will be let go have all been notified, but the
layoffs will occur on a gradual basis over the next six months.
Those affected will get wage and benefit continuation for a
period after layoff, as well as job counseling. Some employees
will be offered positions at Ashton-Tate's California
headquarters. This type of program is unusual in the personal
computer industry, where many of the thousands laid off over the
past year received no warning and no severance packages.
CONTACT: Ashton-Tate, 20101 Hamilton Ave., Torrance, CA 90502
213-329-8000
[***][3/4/86][***]
INFOCOM FOLLOWUP:
As also reported last week, Cambridge, MA-based Infocom was
acquired by Activision. This week, Infocom officially announced
that their Cornerstone database package, will be reduced to $99
from its previous list price of $495. The change will take effect
on May 1. Infocom president Joel Berez, who'll stay with the
company after its acquisition, admitted that sales of Cornerstone
were "disappointing" and that in marketing it, the company
"strayed from some of the things Infocom has always done best" --
mainly games like Zork. The only reported change in Cornerstone
will be much plainer packaging.
CONTACT: Infocom, Inc., 125 Cambridge Park Drive, Cambridge, MA
02140, 617-492-6000.
[***][3/4/86][***]
ULTIMATE NETWORKING:
The author of the recently-released book "Infomania, the Guide to
Essential Electronic Services" will be making an appearance on
NBC's "Today" show March 4th to plug her book. And how did
Elizabeth Ferrarini of Arlington, MA arrange the the appearance?
By practicing what she preaches. While brousing through an online
database of broadcasting executives, Ferrarini ran across the
name of the Today show's producer. A quick phone call, and all
was arranged. Guess these information utilities are useful after
all!
[***][3/4/86][***]
PROFESSIONALS FOR PEACE:
A Cambridge, MA-based national group called High Technology
Professionals for Peace (HTPFP) has set up a database of
companies with non-military-related job openings. Spokesman Alex
Brown, a software system engineer, says the group originally got
started back in 1982 when a group of engineers got together to
support the nuclear weapons freeze. The group ran a informal
employment agency until last year, when they realized something
more formal would be required. The database is the first step.
Brown emphasizes that the database contains many companies that
do military work, but all job openings are for non-military
positions.
CONTACT: Alex Brown, High Technology Professionals for Peace,
639 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA 02139.
617-497-0605
BULLETIN 617-969-2273, 300/1200 baud. 8/N/1.
BOARD: 5 PM - 8 AM weekdays; all day Saturday and Sunday.
[***][3/4/86][***]
TRUE BASIC GETS AGGRESSIVE:
Addison-Wesley, which distributes True BASIC, the updated version
of the language by original creator John Kemeney, is making a
concerted effort to get the structured language accepted as a
standard in schools. They've updated their site-licensing plan
and have introduced student versions. A site license for a
school, which gives it unlimited copying rights, has been reduced
from $5000 to $1250. Two student versions are also available. The
Student's Reference Kit has the software and a Reference Manual
for $49.95; and the Student's User Kit has the software and a
user manual for $41.95. Observers see the moves as an attempt to
prop up what have been apparently disappointing sales of the
package.
CONTACTS: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Reading, MA 01867
617-944-3700
True BASIC, Inc. 39 South main St., Hanover, NH 03755
603-643-3882
[***][3/4/86][***]
IBMER TO GENERAL COMPUTER:
Among the flood of press releases that clog our desk each week
are always a few announcing newly-named executives. Though most
of these announcements are about as interesting as warm spit, one
did catch our attention this week. Cambridge, MA-based General
Computer Corporation, a leading maker of hard-disk drives for the
MacIntosh, has named Thomas O'Donnell as vice president of
marketing. What's interesting is that O'Donnell comes to the
company from IBM, where he was most recently vice president of
product management in the Entry Systems Division. O'Donnell
directed product strategy and development for the IBM PC family.
What will O'Donnell do for General Computer? Well, just like IBM,
the company won't comment except for some general accolades about
his past. General Computer needs the help. Apple's introduction
of their own Mac hard disk has severely affected the independent
makers.
CONTACT: General Computer Corp., 215 First St., Cambridge, MA
02142. 617-492-5500
[***][3/4/86][***]
NORTHEAST SNOWBITS:
-- Mega-defense contractor Sanders Associates of Nashua, NH --
the state's largest employer, is suing Tandon Corporation and its
founder Sirjang Tandon over patents for dual-side floppy disks.
Billings Computer has also joined in with Sanders in the suit.
-- Prime Computer has joined the long list of major makers who
have introduced products that allow IBM PCs to tie in to their
systems. PrimeLink connects PCs with Prime minicomputers and
mainframes, and a new packages adds MS-DOS capabilities to Prime
display terminals.
-- Wanna buy a company that makes semiconductor production
equipment? Bedford, MA-based GCA Corporation, once one of the
industry leaders, was stung by last year's slump, and reportedly
owes about $100 million to the banks. A spokesperson said the
company is "reviewing some offers" from prospective buyers.
-- Westwood, MA-based Cullinet Software, one of the leading
makers of mainframe applications software, reported a sharp drop
in earnings for the quarter that ended Jan 31. The company earned
$3.8 million, as compared with $6.3 million last year. Sales were
down to $44.6 from $47.4.
[***][3/4/86][***]
"RUMOR" OF THE WEEK:
A slightly tongue-in-cheek "rumor" comes this week from a well-
known industry pundit, who promised that he'd do unspeakable
things to me if I identified him.
"Since the IRS declined to buy IBM (Zenith won the contract), we
understand there are some key players at IBM who are considering
an unfriendly takeover of the IRS. Observers note similarities in
the management styles of both organizations."
[***][3/4/86][***]
WILL HE OR WON'T HE?
After last week's story that "Big Jack" Tramiel would be
coming to the UK for the Atari User show at the Novotel
Hotel in London on March 7 to 9, things appear to have
gotten a little confused, to say the least! According to
Database Publications, the firm which is organising the show,
Jack is coming, but that story is not echoed by Sterling PR,
the PR agency who handle Atari in the UK. According to
Micronet 800, the microcomputing area of the UK'S Prestel
viewdata system, whilst Jack and Sam Tramiel will be coming
to the UK, only Sam will be attending the show at the
Novatel hotel. Confused? You might well be. Micronet
claim that Atari is worried about the security of its
chairman whilst in the UK, saying that "various threats have
been made." NEWSBYTES UK understands that the real reason
why Jack won't be putting in a public appearance at the show
is that he's being lined for TV appearances. Word is that
he will appear on a forthcoming edition of "Micro Live", the
prime time TV computer show screened every Friday night,
but don't quote me (wink wink).
Contact: Database Publications Ltd., Europa House, 68
Chester Road, Hazel Grove, Stockport, SK7 5NY, United
Kingdom.
Tel: UK: 061-456-8383 US: 011-44-61-456-8383
[***][3/4/86][***]
AMIGA EUROLAUNCH ANNOUNCED:
After months of uncertainty, no doubt caused by Commodore
International's financial problems, the European launch of
the Amiga has finally been fixed. The machine will be
formally unveiled to about 1500 members of the press and
trade at the Frankfurt Opera House in West Germany, on March
5th. Ute Zimmerman, of Commodore Germany has confirmed that
a 512K version of the Amiga with NTSC monitor and single
drive will be available from early April in West Germany.
The price in Germany will be Dm5900 ($2500), which includes
an extra 256K RAM and a monitor, but no second disc drive as
expected. Chris Kayday, Commodore UK's acting general
manager is quoted as saying of last week's loan agreements
and the West German launch, "The future is looking
increasingly healthy. We can now look forward to an
excellent year." He declined, however, to confirm any
prospective launch dates and prices for the UK market.
Inside word from Commodore is that the Amiga will be pitched
at the business market, rather than the home user, mainly
due to its price in comparison with the ST (still at 700
pounds in the UK). Whether it succeeds with the dearth of
business software for 68000 machines, remains to be seen!
** STOP PRESS ** An unconfirmed source within Commodore UK
has just informed NEWSBYTES UK that a PAL (European
standard) Amiga will be launched in July of this year.
Contact: Commodore UK on US: 011-44-628-75712 UK:
0628-75712
[***][3/4/86][***]
PRESTEL TO BUY OUT MICRONET 800?
Micronet 800, the microcomputing area of Prestel, the UK's
viewdata service, currently has a shade under 20,000
members, as compared with Prestel's 60,000 or so. A jointly
funded project between East Midlands Allied Press (a UK
publisher), and British Telecom, Micronet was launched in
March 1983, and has never quite achieved the three year
payback targets that are "expected" from magazine ventures
of this type. NEWSBYTES UK has calculated that, on current
estimates the payback period for Micronet will be in the ten
year range, so it comes as no surprise to hear that BT is
rumoured to be buying out EMAP's 40 per cent share this
coming April 1st. Quite how this will affect Micronet's
20,000 members remains to be seen, but once BT has the
reins, charges to subscribers may well rise.
Contact: Micronet 800, Durrant House, 8 Herbal Hill, London
EC1R, United Kingdom.
Tel: US: 011-44-1-278-3143 UK: 01-278-3143
[***][3/4/86][***]
ONE FOR THE MONEY - TWO FOR THE SHOW:
Laser printers are good - so good in fact, that the police
in Britain are worried that the advanced facilities offered
by these machines and think that the art of forging currency
may be due for an upswing. Leicestershire detectives have
just smashed a plot in the UK to distribute millions of
pounds worth of forged fifty pound notes. The almost
perfect forgeries, described by the Bank of England as "the
best we've ever seen," were produced on a Canon laser
engine, using stolen computer bureau time. Chief Inspector
Tony Banham of the Lancashire police is quoted as saying
that the notes "were almost certainly produced after hours
or on weekends by workers with access to equipment unknown
to management." Three members of the forging gang were
caught last week in a cloak-and-dagger operation, but the
"Mr Big" behind the scam is still at large. Watch out for a
furtive figure on dark corners with pockets that rustle!
[***][3/4/86][***]
SWEDES WORRIED BY VDU RADIATION? YES:
Following on from the recent worries expressed by various
Swedish parties over radiation given off by computer visual
display units, the Swedish government has stepped in and
vetoed the purchase of VDU's unless they conform to their
requirements of reduced levels of electromagnetic radiation
and a *total* elimination of electrostatic fields! But...
[***][3/4/86][***]
SWEDES WORRIED BY VDU RADIATION? NO:
Whilst the Swedish government has vetoed purchasing "unsafe"
VDU equipment, its press agency has dismissed research that
suggests radiation from VDU's can pose a threat to a
full-term pregnancy! As reported in previous NEWSBYTES UK
editions, the Karolinska Institute and the National
Institute of Radiation Protection in Sweden exposed pregnant
mice to VDU's with disastrous results. "There is still a
need to keep an eye on the research," says Ricardo Edstrom,
chief physician at the Swedish Board of Occupational Health
and Safety. Talk about hedging your bets!
[***][3/4/86][***]
CARRY THE CARD:
The Midland bank, one of the "big four" banks, has launched
the first full-scale UK experiment in electronic shopping.
Retail premises in the Milton Keynes area will participate
in the experiment which involves 30 Nixdorf 8812 terminals
being installed in various locations in the area over the
next few months. If the trial is successful, then two
further larger-scale EFT - Electronic Funds Transfer -
experiments will be installed later this year at up to a
1,000 locations in the town. I think I still prefer the
rustle of fifty pound notes in my pocket (grin).
=====
=
[***][3/4/86][***]
= FAST TRACK FOR HOUSE TRADE BILL
= House Speaker Thomas (Tip) O'Neill (D-Mass.) has put trade
= legislation on the priority list for House consideration this year.
= The move comes after Democratic leaders and House committee
= chairmen with trade jurisdiction agreed to have a comprehensive
= trade bill to the floor by mid-May. Democrats are interested in
= making trade protectionism a big issue in the upcoming
= congressional elections. President Ronald Reagan has vowed to veto
= anything that comes to his desk that even resembles a protectionist
= bill, but the Democrats want to call his bluff.
[***][3/4/86][***]
= JAPAN'S CHIP FUTURE
= The future looks gloomy for the Japanese semiconductor business,
= according to a recent report by Salomon Brothers stock research
= department in New York. Alan Bell, of Salomon Brothers Asia Ltd.
= in Tokyo, says the industry's massive building program of 1983-
= 1984 has left it with enormous excess capacity -- perhaps as much
= as 50 percent.
=
= What's more, says Bell, "the stimulus to equipment demand from
= new products, such as 32-bit microprocessors, one-megabit dynamic
= RAMs, and custom and semicustom circuits is weak." So the
= Japanese semiconductor companies will find themselves with large
= excess inventory and lackluster sales.
[***][3/4/86][***]
= ITC RULING DUE ON 256K RAM CHIPS
= In a related development, the International Trade Commission in
= Washington is expected to rule in a matter of weeks on a charge
= by the Semiconductor Industries Association and the Reagan
= Administration that Japan is dumping 256K RAM chips in the U.S.
= market. The quasi-judicial ITC has already ruled that Japan is
= dumping 64K RAM chips, which could lead to countervailing duties
= against Japan.
=
= The weakening dollar has helped to push Japanese chip prices up a
= bit. But if Salomon Brothers' analyst Bell is correct, then the
= pressure will be on Japan to reduce chip prices further in order
= to clean out excess inventory.
[***][3/4/86][***]
= THE POST OPINES
= The tiff between the U.S. and Japan over semiconductors, says
= "The Washington Post" in an editorial last week, is "the most
= important trade case that the United States is now negotiating,
= and the the United States is handling it badly." The American
= stand in favor of specific quotas for U.S. chips in Japan, the
= Post said, is "another example of the slide toward cartelization
= over which the Reagan administration is, not quite intentionally,
= presiding." Unlike the case of domestic steel or autos, U.S.
= chipmakers "are in no danger of being swamped by foreign
= competition. They have a long lead in design technology, and the
= competition is doing what it's supposed to do. It's keeping that
= technology advancing rapidly. This industry can only be harmed by
= the kind of cartel deal that the administration is discussing."
=======================================================================
[***][3/4/86][***]
IRS BUYS ZENITH
Confounding most prognostications, the Internal Revenue Service
on Tuesday afternoon selected Zenith Data Systems to supply
laptop computers to the agency. The taxmen will buy 15,000
Z-171 laptops with an option for an additional 3,000, through
fiscal year 1995. According to IRS procurement specialist Fred
Martin, the first 100 machines will be delivered before March 26,
with shipments reaching as much as 1,000 per month by the fourth
month of the contract.
The Z-171 is an IBM-PC compatible machine with 640 K of RAM, a
25x80 backlit LCD screen, and two 5 1/4 floppies. The machine
comes bundled with word processing, spreadsheet, graphics,
database and telecommunications software. IRS will purchase the
machines through a 36-month lease-to-ownership plan, calling for
payments of $40.12 per month, Martin told NEWSBYTES. That works
out to a unit price of $1,444. The contract is estimated to be
worth at least $22 million, although some sources at the IRS say
the award could go as high as $100 million if the machines
perform as promised and budget problems don't intervene.
Martin said there were 12 bidders who made it to the final
evaluation. IBM has confirmed that it was one of the 12, although
Big Blue refused to say anything beyond that. But much speculation in
computer magazines, including (blush) NEWSBYTES, that IBM had the
job sewed up was just that: speculation. The award to Zenith
solidifies the company's standing as one of the savviest
marketeers of micro products to the federal market. The company
has landed big Defense Department contracts for its line of
desktop PC clones. (See NEWSBYTES-SILICON VALLEY for more
on this story.)
[***][3/4/86][***]
TELENET OFFERS USA TODAY UPDATE
GTE Telenet of Reston, Va., will offer the USA TODAY Update to
its Telemail service. USA TODAY Update is Gannett's electronic
news service. Earlier, ITT Dialcom began offering the Gannett
service to its subscribers. Telenet's Joseph Porfeli said, "USA
TODAY Update represents GTE Telenet's commitment to the
explosively growing information industry, which is growing at the
rate of 30 percent annually. According to industry sources,
revenues for on-line news services alone should reach $810
million by 1989."
CONTACT: Robin Carlson, GTE Telenet, Reston, VA, 703-689-5664
[***][3/4/86][***]
NEWSNET ADDS TWO
NewsNet, the Bryn Mawr, Pa. purveyor of online newsletters, has
added "Cameron's BBS Directory" and "U.S. Employment
Opportunities -- The Computer Field" to its string of
publications available over the wires. Cameron's lists direct-
dial bulletin board systems in North America, updated monthly.
Employment Opportunities features job listings in the computer
field, both hardware and software. Current and back editions are
available on NewsNet, in full text, and searchable by key word.
CONTACT: Marcia Cheetham, NewsNet, Bryn Mawr, PA, 800-345-1301.
[***][3/4/86][***]
BOEING GETS VHSIC ACCESS
The Boeing Electronics Co. and Honeywell Inc. have signed a long-
term agreement that gives Boeing early access to Honeywell's 1.25
and 0.5 micron very high speed integrated circuit (VHSIC) and
VHSIC-like and radiation-hardened technologies. In 1981,
Honeywell was named one of six major contractors in the Defense
Department's VHSIC Phase I program. The company became one of
three contractors named to develop the next phase of the program
in 1984.
"We've had a growing need for sophisticated and reliable custom
and semi-custom integrated circuits for our products," said
Boeing Electronics President H.K. Hebeler. "Honeywell's state-
of-the-art technologies suit current and future plans for our
business, and we are very pleased with this strategic
arrangement."
[***][3/4/86][***]
MCI MAIL OFFERS COMPUSERVE LINK
MCI Mail, the Washington-based telecommunications utility, now offers
a way for subscribers to send and receive mail with CompuServe
subscribers. The cross-tie is available to anyone who uses
CompuServe's EasyPlex service or to companies which subscribe to the
InfoPlex service. There is no extra MCI charge. The new services
continues MCI's role as a pioneer in linkups to other services. One
regular feature of MCI Mail is the ability to access the Dow Jones
service from the MCI menu. MCI Mail also allows subscribers to send
and receive domestic and international Telex traffic.
CONTACT: MCI Mail, 2000 M St. NW, Washington DC, 20036, 202-293-4255
[***][3/4/86][***]
WASHINGTON COMPUTER BUSINESS INDEX.
The Washington Computer Business Index has soared to 212.5, and 11.05
pages of display advertising for microcomputer products in the Feb. 25
edition of "Washington Business." The tabloid published by "The
Washington Post" also had 21.5 pages of non-computer display ads.
[***][3/4/86][***]
POWERBITS
$$$ Iverson Technology Corp., of McLean, Va., has asked the
Securities and Exchange Commission for permission to sell $5.7 million
in convertible debentures due in 1996. The systems integrator
specializes in defense-oriented Tempest systems.
CONTACT: Iverson Technology Corp., 703-893-3003
$$$ Syscon Corp., a D.C. developer of computer software for federal
and state governments, reports a nine percent growth in profits for
1985. Net income was $4.4 million, or 95 cents per share, on sales of
$117.3 million. Fiscal 1984 saw earnings of $4.1 million, or 87 cents
per share, on revenues of $104 million.
CONTACT: Syscon Corp., 202-342-4000
$$$ Decision Data Computer Corp. of Horsham, Pa., was revenues and
earnings for the first quarter of 1986 will be below expectations.
Vendor supply problems with the firms new 15-inch computer workstation
get the blame for soft performance. The company specializes in
vertical market applications for restaurants and direct marketers.
CONTACT: Decision Data, 215-674-3300
$$$ The new legal special interest group, LAWSIG, has made its debut
on The Source. Attorney Paul Bernstein is the SIG sponsor. Also new on
the source is a special Ashton-Tate special interest group, ATSIG. Kent
Irwin, Quinn Wildman and Chris Lovasco are running the SIG.
CONTACT: The Source, 703-734-7500.
[***][3/4/86][***]
MITEL DEAL BY MID-MARCH:
On Thursday (02/27), Investment Canada announced that the
federal government has approved the 51% acquisition of
Kanata, Ontario's Mitel Corp. by British Telecommunications
PLC of Britain. The deal had been approved a week earlier
by British authorities, for a purchase of 40 million shares
at a cost of $320-million (CDN). The deal is expected to
be completed by mid-March, and will be instrumental in
Mitel's retirement of a $260-million debt.
"Mitel's new relationship with British Telecom will give it the
financial strength to exploit...its product range," said
PLC's Sir George Jefferson, adding that the deal will allow
Mitel access to international markets. Government
restrictions placed on Mitel/PLC dealings within Britain--
pegging sales of hardware at 1985 levels unless bids are
tendered--will not inhibit Mitel's ability to sell its
telecommunications equipment through distributors other
than British Telecom, Sir George said. The restrictions
will be reviewed by Dec. 1, 1988, and apply to equipment
used or sold by British Telecom; additionally, it may
purchase new products from Mitel or products not already
available in Britain, provided those purchases do not
exceed 15% of the domestic market, or one-half of the 1985
quota. This will permit British Telecom to purchase
Mitel's new SX-500 private branch exchange, soon to be
marketed. In total, about $60-million annually can be
purchased from Mitel, as long as all financial, marketing,
research and other dealings are kept strictly at arm's
length within Britain; any cross-subsidisation of Mitel's
British operation by British Telecom is prohibited.
[***][3/4/86][***]
COMPUTERLAND CORNERED BY COMPETITOR:
Computer Innovations Distribution Inc., of Mississauga,
Ontario--48% owned by Bell Canada Enterprises (BCE) of
Montreal--plans to acquire all the Canadian franchise
outlets of its major rival, Computerland Corp. The deal is
effective March 29, and will put another $14-million (CDN)
in cash, plus shares, into the coffers of BCE, already
Canada's most profitable company. 66 stores owned
collectively by nine Canadian franchisees of Hayward, CA-
based Computerland will operate as a division of Computer
Innovations; in addition, the Computerland name will be
used on 36 Computer Innovations retail stores--14 service
outlets are excluded from the agreement. BCE will also be
acquiring Computerland's Canadian subsidiary, Computerland
Canada Inc., of Brampton, Ont. In sum, the deal will give
Computer Innovations and BCE 25% of the personal computer
retailing market in Canada, with 102 retail outlets
nationwide. Organisational details are still to be ironed
out; a spokesperson said last week: "In downtown Toronto,
there are Computerland and Computer Innovations stores
literally across the street from one another."
[***][3/4/86][***]
EYE IN THE SKY:
Miller Communications Systems (Kanata, Ontario) has been
awarded a $250,000 (US) contract for an automated satellite
carrier monitoring system, by RCA American Communications
Inc.--a unit of RCA Corp. of NY--to be installed at an
earth station in Vernon Valley, NJ. The system will
continually monitor transmission parameters of all received
carriers, and will notify operators of any deviations.
[***][3/4/86][***]
INCOMPATIBILITY EXORCISED:
Keyword Office Technologies Ltd. of Calgary, and Soft-
Switch Inc. of King Of Prussia, PA have announced a
corporate alliance and technology development agreement.
Keyword provides disc-based document interchange systems
which integrate incompatible word processing systems on
microcomputers and standalones. Soft-Switch supplies host-
computer document interchange and mail system links.
Spokespersons for the companies say the alliance will
produce greater document mobility.
[***][3/4/86][***]
SPERRY RUNS HOT & COLD:
Mississauaga, Ontario's Sperry Inc. has announced an
agreement with Computer Recovery Facility Inc., also of
Mississauga, to supply a dedicated computer system for
Sperry 1100/80 users. Support services will include a
"hot" site, handling a company's processing needs within
four hours of a disaster, and a "cold" site facility where
a company may locate its equipment while a damaged data
centre is rebuilt. Users of 1100/80 mainframes include
customers in the banking, finance, transportation, public
utility and government sectors.
[***][3/4/86][***]
OLIVETTI NET:
Olivetti Canada Ltd. of Mrkham, Ontario has introduced a
proprietary local-area network (LAN) for its line of Alpha
Micro minicomputers. Alphanet is designed to link up to 64
systems.
[***][3/4/86][***]
BLUES FOR BIG BLUE?
A recent survey of 6,000 Toronto-area micro business users
suggests IBM may be losing its stranglehold in the desktop
marketplace. Still outselling its nearest rival by three
to one, IBM's share seems to have peaked, according to
survey results. Annual growth in the last three years has
tapered from 50% to 20%, and cheaper, faster machines
compatible with IBM software are gaining more acceptance.
"As buyers become more experienced about computers, they
become less afraid to use something without the three blue
letters," says Felix Pilorusso of End User Surveys. The
closest challenger to IBM in the business market is Compaq
Computer Corp. (Houston, TX), but with a mere 5% market
share, number two will have to try =very= hard to catch up.
[***][3/4/86][***]
MORROW PRESIDENT RESIGNS; NEW COMPUTER INTRODUCED
by Wendy Woods
*EXCLUSIVE*
NEWSBYTES has learned that Barry Berghorn, president of
Morrow Designs, Inc., has resigned effective Friday, March
7. News of the surprising departure of Berghorn was kept hidden
from the press at a Palo Alto, Ca. news luncheon today where
company officers, including Berghorn himself, introduced the
newest portable computer in the company's line--the Pivot XT.
"Things will be very different (at Morrow) since we didn't win
the IRS bid. I don't care to struggle any longer," said
Berghorn, confirming a tip NEWSBYTES received after the press
luncheon. Asked why his resignation was not announced at the
luncheon, he responded, "I didn't think it was appropriate."
Berghorn's reference to the IRS bid pertains to Sperry's failure
to win the IRS portables award. Had Sperry won, Morrow would
have been its OEM supplier, thereby reaping a handsome cash flow.
Insiders suggest Berghorn was forced out in a "bloodless coup"
following a petition, circulated among the engineering and
manufacturing staff, which stated his staff had lost confidence
and wanted his resignation. However, both Morrow's spokesman,
John Seamster, and Berghorn, himself, deny the petition was
the main reason for his resignation.
George Morrow could not be reached for comment; he is in Washington
State attending Microsoft's CD ROM conference.
Meanwhile, the new computer, designed by Howard Fullmer, Morrow's
director of engineering, is a hard disk-based version of the Pivot
II, but also has a more impressive, almost CRT-quality, back-lit
LCD display. It is soundly IBM-compatible, weighs 14 1/2 pounds,
will retail for a base price of $3,115, and according to Berghorn,
"will be shipped in 90 days."
And finally, Morrow has reduced the price of the original Pivot
II PC portable, effective March 15, to $1,875 from $2,375--a
21-24% cut in price. Morrow has sold 3,000 Pivots since the
machine entered the market in late 1984.
CONTACT: MORROW DESIGNS, 600 McCormick, San Leandro, Ca. 94577
415/430-1970