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/V149

Text File | 1991-09-30 | 56KB | 1,205 lines

[***][4/1/86][***]
TRADE SHOW WEEK ON THE W. COAST:
Both Comdex/Winter (April 1-3) in Los Angeles and the West Coast
Computer Faire (April 3-6) in San Francisco promise more than the
usual share of announcements.  The hottest rumor circulating is
that IBM will announce its long-awaited laptop portable, an
upgraded IBM XT (and price cuts amounting to 20-30% on the old
model) and a new 8 megahertz PC AT on Wednesday in New York and
simultaneously show the models at Comdex the same day.  A showing
of the new products will also be made at the West Coast Computer
Faire, say sources, on Thursday.  Whatever happens, both Phil
Hopkins and I will be covering our respective territories and
we'll give you reports during the week.

[***][4/1/86][***]
ATARI ST TO RUN MAC SOFTWARE?           * EXCLUSIVE *
One of the more sensational and controversial showings scheduled
for the West Coast Computer Faire will be a cartridge which will
allow the Atari ST to run Macintosh software.  This breakthrough
is reportedly the work of David Small, a Colorado journalist and
developer (you may recognize the name from BYTE magazine),
who will demonstrate his product at the San Leandro Computer
Club's booth, #702, at the Moscone Center April 3-6.  According
to Small, the cartridge plugs into the ST and he's "real close"
to making "all 700 Macintosh programs run" when booted in
conjunction with his proprietary software.  The cartridge, he
says, contains the actual Macintosh ROM, available over-the-counter
from Macintosh dealers.  When will the cartridge be available?
"It all depends on the legal issues."

It seems Atari doesn't want to touch the cartridge for fear that
Apple will sue.  Small's attorney has been talking with Apple,
and the outcome of those talks are still uncertain.  "Until
there's a definite word from Apple, we won't go into production,"
he says.  At the moment, the following firm is financing the R&D
and the marketing of the cartridge...

CONTACT:  Joel Rosenblum, DATA PACIFIC, BOX 10805, MARINA DEL REY,
          CA.  90295.  805/499-5978

          David Small 303/794-6885

[***][4/1/86][***]
OTHER WEST COAST PREVIEWS:
Two other items of note--Paperback Software will show off "VP-Info",
a new "high speed, low cost database program" at its booth, #1726.
Adam Osborne gives a press conference on this and other issues
Friday at 10:15, Room #272.

CONTACT:  PSI, 2612 Eighth St., Berkeley, Ca. 94710  415/644-2116

Bruce & James, the "WordVision" people, sponsors "Hot Software
Values from America's Hottest Kitchen Tables" at the Faire.  Among
the tabletop offerings (yes, Jim Edlin's ACTUAL kitchen table
will be present) will be Dan Bricklin's "Demo" program, Paul
Heckel's "Zoomracks", "Clearcut", a $49.95 database from MenloSoft,
and "Realtype", a typewriter emulation program from Michael
Dortch.

[***][4/1/86][***]
COOPERATIVE SOFTWARE CATALOG:
Speaking of Jim Edlin, he's one of the founders of a new
organization called Cooperative Software, which has just mailed
100,000 copies of a new catalog which compiles information on
many small software houses' products.  Participating companies,
which include Cygnet, Permar & Associates, Reference Software,
Rocky Mtn. Software, MaxThink, Bloc Development, Bruce & James,
Polytron, Turner Hall and Logitech, pooled their resources and
mailing lists for this project.  Says Edlin, "The marketing
concept that has served so well in cranberries and oranges has
now come to software--i.e. the cooperative."  Cooperative
Software can be seen at its own booth at the Faire, as well.

CONTACT:  Gregg Marshall (Mgr. Coop) ROCKY MOUNTAIN SOFTWARE
          Walnut Creek, Ca.  415/680-8378

[***][4/1/86][***]
APPLE FREEZES DEALERSHIPS/LAUNCHES PROMOTION:
Apple has instituted a 90-day freeze on new dealers according
to "Computer Retail News" (3/24) and is terminating 10-20
percent of its dealer network as part of an extensive effort
to weed out unprofitable resellers.  Apple has no comment on
this report, but it is widely known (NEWSBYTES-SILICON VALLEY
March 18) that reviews have been underway of its 2,600
authorized U.S. dealers.

10,000 resellers worldwide, who are still in Apple's good graces,
are receiving Apple merchandise catalogs which offer everything
with an Apple logo on it--from T-shirts to coffee mugs.  If
the store buys, and then sells its ordered merchandise, it gets
reimbursed with a new Apple Coop fund.  The company handling
the merchandise and catalogs is Logo Inc. of Milpitas, to
which Apple paid $2.5 - $3 million for the agreement.

CONTACT:  Laurie McLean, MCLEAN PR, 652 Bair Island Rd, Suite 208,
          Redwood City, Ca. 94063  415/369-3070

[***][4/1/86][***]
HP'S NEWEST PORTABLE/LASERPRINTER:
Hewlett Packard this week introduced a 9-pound improved portable,
the Portable Plus, with an improved yellow-colored screen that
has double the contrast of the original, up to 4X more memory,
and more software than its predecessor, incorporated on plug-in
ROM cartridges. Available April 1, the Plus, with the basic 256K
RAM will retail for $2,695.  Owners of the old HP Portable can
upgrade the screen and memory.  HP also unveiled the LaserJet
500 Plus with increased paper-handling capabilities for multi-
user computer environments.  Available now, the 500 csts $4,995.

CONTACT:  Debra Kelley, PR Dept., HEWLETT-PACKARD, 3000 Hanover St.,
          Palo Alto, Ca. 94304  408/865-6473

[***][4/1/86][***]
NO CONVERGENCE DUE:
Convergent Technologies and 3Com abruptly ended their merger talks
(3/26) on the eve of meetings scheduled at both companies in which
shareholders were to vote on the merger.  Blame is being placed
on Convergent's first-quarter earnings, which looked far worse
than 3Com's bankers had expected.  "It's not a happy day down
here," Convergent's CEO Paul Ely was quoted as saying.  Last
November, when the merger negotiations were first announced, the
industry heralded the wedding of the networking and computer
companies as a tremendous coup.

[***][4/1/86][***]
VIDEOTEXT AROUND THE BAY:
Starting this month, Pacific Bell starts its full-blown field tests
of Project Victoria, the 9-in-one communication service, employing
a multiplexor in place of a standard modem at 200 Danville, Ca.
homes which will participate in the test. Pacific Bell will also
closely watch what users want to receive.  They'll have access
to electronic mail, home-banking, shopping and other information
services; they'll be able to access local bulletin boards, and
pay their bills online.  The experiment will take 4 months.

CONTACT:  Scott Smith, PACIFIC BELL, San Francisco, Ca.
          415/542-0597

Meanwhile five Bay Area cable companies are launching "X-Press",
an electronic news service designed for cable-linked computers
this month.  The hardware/software details will be discussed
at an April 10 press conference in San Francisco.

CONTACT:  Lorrie Webb Grillo, X-PRESS INFORMATION SERVICES
          303/237-5665

[***][4/1/86][***]
A TIME TO BRAG--PC WORLD COMMUNICATIONS:
NEWSBYTES has received two press releases from PC World
Communications, boasting that ad revenue for "MacWorld" was up
25% in the first 3 months of '86, and "PC World's" revenue
was up 20%.  The releases also include this interesting
statistic--the average income of "PC World" readers is
$33,240/year, topping the "Wall Street Journal's" average
reader income of $32,979.  Of 150 magazines surveyed, only
one has a higher average reader income--"TWA Ambassador" at
$36,053/year.

CONTACT:  PC WORLD, 555 DeHaro St., San Francisco, Ca. 94107
          415/861-3861

[***][4/1/86][***]
WORK AT HOME PERILS:
Eight "telecommuters", work-at-home claims processors for
California Western States Life Insurance Company, are suing
their firm, charging that the company is cheating them out
of benefits received by other employees.  The eight jumped
at the opportunity to telecommute two years ago, trading
off full-time benefits such as health insurance, vacation,
and sick-leave, for the convenience of working at home as
an independent contractor.  What they did not bargain on,
however, was a new contract which required them to change
their operating procedures, prohibited them from coming
into the office to ask quesions, and subjected them to
frequent company audits, according to their attorney, all
of which has led to twice as much work as usual at the
same pay.

This first lawsuit in the newly-emerging field of telecommuting
may be very important.  The plaintiffs seek $1 million in
punitive damages, reimbursement for lost benefits, in this suit
filed in California Superior Court.

Meanwhile, the attorney for California-Western, Steve Belikoff,
states, "The women made an informed decision and they were given
every opportunity to review the contracts."

The women have since quit and are getting unemployment benefits.

CONTACT:  RODERICK MACKENZIE, atty for plaintiffs, 801 12th St.,
          Sacramento, Ca.  916-448-6436

          STEVE BELIKOFF, atty for California-Western
          916-444-7100

[***][4/1/86][***]
BRIEFS--

PC-SIG is offering, as of April 15, its entire catalog of
479 public-domaine PC programs on a CD ROM disk for $195; a
Hitachi CD Reader is $995--$100 off the retail price.  The
world's largest distributor of user-supported software
figured CD ROM would be cheaper than floppies, on which
the programs themselves are still offered for a $6 each.
For more info, contact: PATRICK COX, PC-SIG, 1030 E.
Duane, Suite D, Sunnyvale, Ca. 94086 408/730-9291.

The AMERICAN ELECTRONICS ASSOCIATION reports that for the
first time in 10 years, employment at U.S. electronics firms
declined in 1985.  The overall decline was 2.3% from 1984,
with components being the worst hit sector, experiencing an
overall slump of 9.1%.  But big employment gains came in
the software field.  It showed an increase of 17.5% in
employment.  Computer companies saw an 8.4% decline in jobs.

INFOCORP of Cupertino, Ca., meanwhile, says sales of software
through retail micro stores dropped 33% between December and
January.  Worst hit was Apple II software, which fell 52% from
year-earlier levels.

DAISY SYSTEMS of Mountain View, has a total of 9 lawsuits
against it, all filed by shareholders who claim they were
deceived by company executives who overinflated the company's
prospects.  Daisy stock, which reached a high of $30 in
December '85, is trading today at around $11.

Mark your calendars if you want to be a part of the biggest
computer sale ever held.  Oakland-based COMPUTERLAND and
Santa Barbara's MICROCOMPUTER INVENTORY EXCHANGE hold the
sale April 5-9.  It's sure to be the talk of COMDEX.

SIGMA DESIGNS of San Jose goes public this month, expecting
to offer 1 million shares at between $5 and $7/share.  Sigma
makes graphics cards and expansion boards for personal
computers.

[***][4/1/86][***]
ST. SILICON UPDATE:
The high priest of high tech humor, St. Silicon, a.k.a. Jeffrey
Armstrong, called NEWSBYTES to complain that we'd printed the
wrong address for him two weeks ago.  Author of such prayers
that include lines like, "Our program who art in memory, hello
be thy name," "pray for us beginners, now and at the hour we
sign off," and, "The motherboard holds my software, I shall not
want.  She runs my line code on green phosphor.  She loads it
inside silicon wafers, she restores my scroll," sells these
words of wisdom for $3 a pop.  And here's his corrected address:

CONTACT:  JEFFREY ARMSTRONG, 1470 Wildrose Way, Mountain View,
          Ca. 94043  415/965-4561



[***][4/1/86][***]
MICRO MART SELLING TO LA FIRM
Micro Mart, the troubled Norcross, GA-based computer retailer,
signed a letter of intent March 26 to be purchased by North Sun
Resources Inc. of Los Angeles, CA. North Sun is a publicly-trade
(over-the-counter) firm engaged in mining and deep-sea salvage.
North Sun also agreed to buy a San Francisco retailer, Boardroom
Business Products Inc. No financial details were disclosed.

The sale, which is not contingent on restoration of Micro Mart's
IBM authorization, was made necessary when creditors rebelled a
month ago following IBM's decision to take its computers out of
Micro Mart for selling into the gray market. At the time, Micro
Mart president Richard Korski said IBM represented 35% of 1985
sales of $123 million.  Reportedly, creditors approved the North
Sun deal unanimously.

Under the agreement, Micro Mart president Richard Korski will
remain on his post, but report to Boardroom chief executive John
Veenstra.  Veenstra had been a consultant to North Sun in its
negotiations with Micro Mart.

CONTACT: Richard Korski, MICRO MART, 3159 Campus Drive, Norcross,
         GA 30071 [phone]

[***][4/1/86][***]
ZAPMAIL ZAPPED
Problems with the transmission system have forced Federal Express
Corp., Memphis, TN, to suspend leasing of its ZapMail machines.
"The problem is not with ZapMail," said spokesman Armand
Schneider. "It's with the system of transmitting the documents."
In order to make its system proprietary, Federal Express uses a
different scheme for digitizing documents for facsimile
transmission than the standards used by other fax makers. Zap
Mail has lost $200 million for Federal since its introduction.
The company says about 6,000 Zap Mail machines are in service.

No new Zap machine orders will be taken for 2-6 months, Schneider
said. In the meantime, Federal will be changing transmission from
leased telephone systems to satellites, and de-bugging the
software to let what it calls "less sophisticated" non-Federal
machines use the system.  Schneider emphasized that ZapMail
documents will continue to be zapped while the moratorium is in
effect.

CONTACT: Armand Schneider, FEDERAL EXPRESS, P.O. Box 727,
         Memphis, TN, 38194 [phone]

[***][4/1/86][***]
INTERFACE IN PERSPECTIVE
The Interface Show did all right, considering it wasn't supposed
to be here in Atlanta. (It was moved due to delays in opening New
York's new Javits Convention Center.) Attendance was up, seminars
were packed, and the show used the entire east hall of the World
Congress Center for the first time; previous shows used just a
part of the show floor. The story, as we reported earlier, was
ISDN -- a technology of the future. The reality exhibitors were
dealing with included the Telenet-Uninet merger, T-1 multiplexers
(moving data at 1.5 megabaud), and lots of test equipment. In
other words, today looked a lot more boring than tomorrow. AMONG
THE MISSING at were DEC and, surprisingly, Hayes Microcomputer
Products Inc. of Norcross, which still claims half the
microcomputer modem market.

CONTACT: Linda Vogel, The Interface Group, 300 First Ave.,
         Needham, MA [phone]

[***][4/1/86][***]
PC COMPATIBLES TO RULE THE WORLD, SAYS COMPAQ CHAIRMAN
President Rod Canion of Compaq Computer Corp., who thanks to the
oil price collapse may be Houston's last billionaire, keynoted
the Office Automation Conference this week in Houston and said PC
compatibles are the main building blocks of office automation
systems. He derided proprietary systems like DEC's All-in-One,
the Wang office, CEO from Data General and the PROFS set of OA
applications from IBM. With $30 billion invested in over 6
million PCs, it's hard to argue the point.

More intriguing is Canion's conclusion that the IBM RT PC will
fail because it's "not fully compatible" with other IBM PCs. PC
compatibility has "taken on a life of its own, independent of
IBM," he said. Canion also called the entire 68000-based
workstation world "a dead-end street."

CONTACT: Jeff Stives, COMPAQ, 20333 FM 149, Houston, TX, 77070
         [phone]

[***][4/1/86][***]
PECAN BITS...DCA, TI, Beethoven

IRMA LIVES. DCA's Jolie Newman called to state that the IRMA line
is not going to be called DCA Micro products. IRMA lives.

TEXAS INSTRUMENTS announced that Denniston & Denniston Inc.,
Chicago, IL, has produced a toolkit with TI-Speech technology
called the Voice Operated Interface System. VOIS can be
programmed to deliver voice messages and collect listener
responses, so it can be used for things like retrieving records
from a database, relaying medical advisories to patients, or
verifying credit card information.

AND FINALLY...International Resource Development's Steven Newman
claims Beethoven would have created 50 symphonies, not 9, had he
used a PC with one of today's music composition programs.
NEWSBYTES-SOUTHEAST suggests that if Beethoven were alive today he wouldn't
be writing symphonies, and that if wishes were horses, beggars
would ride.



[***][4/1/86][***]
IMELDA'S OTHER SHOPPING SPREE          *** E X C L U S I V E ***
Philippine government investigator Jovito Salonga revealed to
NEWSBYTES-LOS ANGELES that he has discovered a cache of microcomputers
in Beverly Hills belonging to former Philippine "First Lady"
Imelda Marcos.  According to a spokesman for Salonga, a
closetful of 3,000 IBM PC-jr computers was found in a North
Roxbury Drive mansion reportedly owned by Marcos' retired
landscape architect.  "We felt it was a little suspicious," said
the spokesman, "when the gardener said he only made $45 a week
while working for the Marcoses.  Not only that, he claimed the
computers were given to him as incentives by a time-share
condominium salesman from Hemet."

According to an employee of the Glendale Computerland where the
equipment was apparently purchased, a Filipino woman who
identified herself as Imelda Marcos' personal secretary,
telephoned the manager last summer to ask if the store could be
closed for an afternoon.  After agreeing to the request, the
Computerland was "invaded like locusts" by the Marcos party.
Asked by NEWSBYTES-LOS ANGELES which items were most popular, a
salesman recalled, "Well, Bong Bong really seemed to enjoy the
Mineshaft game."  That day, Imelda Marcos reportedly paid cash
for eight PC-jrs the store had in stock, and placed orders for
2,992 additional machines.  "We were very happy to see them go,"
said the salesman.  "Not the Marcoses, the computers."

[***][4/1/86][***]
QUOTRON SAYS TOO MUCH IS NEVER ENOUGH
Quotron Systems says Citicorp's $680-million merger offer is
"inadequate," and the firm will hold out for at least $20-22 per
share.  Not formally rejecting the bid, a Quotron spokesman said
company directors "will continue to carefully evaluate the
offer."  He also reported that "the developing consensus of the
board was that the price was not adequate."  Quotron is in the
delicate position of potentially losing customers when it is
purchased, especially AT&T.  Ma Bell even has a clause in its
contract with Quotron allowing it to pull out of some joint
ventures with the firm in case of an ownership change.
Quotron's announcement was "a way to disassociate themselves
from Citicorp while leaving enough of a door open to accept the
bid with regulatory approval and a slightly better price," said
Osman Eralp, an analyst with Hambrecht & Quist of San Francisco.

CONTACT:  Quotron Systems, 5454 Beethoven St., Los Angeles, CA
          [phone]

[***][4/1/86][***]
MAI SAYS IT'S NOT CLONING AROUND
Denying that it has manufactured just another IBM PC-AT
compatible, MAI Basic Four of Tustin announced the MAI
1500 last week...another IBM PC-AT compatible.  "We're producing
a unique operating environment on AT-compatible hardware," said
Gary Brenkman, MAI's marketing manager.  "It combines the MAI
Business Basic language and Concurrent/DOS to allow users to run
personal productivity software, along with the ability to run
integrated business applications written in Business Basic.
Most Business Basic software was written for larger multiuser
systems, but now smaller-system users can take advantage of
these programs," he said.  The least-expensive MAI 1500 system
retails for $4,750.

CONTACT:  MAI Basic Four, 14101 Myford Rd., Tustin, CA  (714)
          731-5100

[***][4/1/86][***]
DATELINE: HOLLYWEIRD
Last week's Academy Awards show audience included peripatetic
"interactive computer journalist" Mike Greenly, who managed to
rustle up a seat at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion even though he
wasn't credentialed as a member of the press for the event.
According to Greenly's rambling reports on his experiences in
the Big Orange, as posted in a PARTI conference here on The
Source, he did all the Hollywood Things expected of New York-
based writers before the show.  He referred to our freeways as
"expressways," fed the derelicts near the L.A. Civic Center, and
had his hair cut next to a Beverly Hills swimming pool.  The
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) neglected to
officially credential Greenly for the show, refusing him with a
polite "maybe next year."  Greenly wasn't the only reporter to
be denied access to the Oscars' press area.  The Washington
Post, New York Post and the San Francisco Examiner couldn't get
their people backstage either, but probably not because their
readership was made up of people named Big Bopper, Cynic Al,
Cadaver, and Dr. Memory.

CONTACT:  PARTI Conference "OSCAR IMPRESSIONS", or Mike Greenly
          by SourceMail at STA387

[***][4/1/86][***]
TAX TIPS FOR LASER-PRINTER LOVERS
This month's Tax Information newsletter from the California
State Board of Equalization includes an interesting lesson in
how bureaucrats can find ways to apply existing sales tax laws
to new technologies.  Under California law, typesetters are
exempt from charging 6% state sales tax to customers because
they never actually produce a "finished product," in and of
itself.  However, those fun guys in Sacramento now say that
graphic artists who use personal computers attached to laser
printers or phototypesetters DO produce finished products, and
their work is FULLY taxable.  "Typesetters using
phototypesetting machines to generate artwork by use of
computer-aided design software are retailers of the artwork
created for use in the preparation of printed matter," says the
board.  "The sales tax applies to the sales of this artwork."
This interpretation should improve the sales of laser printers
in Delaware, we reckon, where there is NO state sales tax.  For
those local Mac artists who don't feel like moving out of state,
better get a copy of Board of Equalization regulation 1541 if
you intend selling your work around here.

CONTACT:  California State Board of Equalization, P.O. Box 1799,
          Sacramento, CA 95808

[***][4/1/86][***]
DON'T CHECK-OUT, JUST LOG-OFF
A recent feature in the Los Angeles Times described how local
luxury hotels are installing a dizzying array of high-tech
gizmos for guests.  The Hotel Meriden in Newport Beach, for
example, lets you adjust the volume on your color TV by tapping
a few buttons on your in-room telephone rather than insisting
that you walk over to do it manually.  At the Doubletree in
Orange, guests can view their bills on room television screens,
then check out by punching a series of coded buttons.  Trickier
still is the system being installed at the new Four Seasons
Hotel in Newport.  There, the in-house phone system is networked
with the hotel registration computer, allowing telephone
operators to greet guests by name when they ring down for the
bellman.  Where will it all end?  Well, here's a good place.  At
the Alicante Princess, under construction in Garden Grove, a
watchful computer monitors how long it takes maids to clean up
the rooms.

[***][4/1/86][***]
BEACHBITS

>>>  Net income at Ashton-Tate surged 122 percent in the fiscal
     year which ended January 31.  The parent company of FRED
     and dBase III posted a record $16.57 million in sales.

>>>  International Rectifier Corp. of El Segundo says it will
     report an operating loss for its third quarter which ended
     in March.  The company blames a decline in semiconductor
     orders in the commercial market for the predicted red ink.

>>>  Wespercorp of Santa Ana has received an additional $2.85
     million from the Federal Aviation Administration for more
     work on a specialized data-processing system for commercial
     flight data.


[***][4/1/86][***]
KAPOR (KIND OF) STEPS ASIDE:
Lotus Development chairman Mitch Kapor is stepping aside from
day-to-day company operations to concentrate on "strategic
opportunities and long-range development projects." Beside being
chairman, Kapor has been general manager of the Business Products
Division, the key company group that's responsible for 1-2-3,
Symphony, and Jazz. Taking Kapor's place will be 53-year-old Dan
McMillan, who's been the publisher of Lotus Magazine. McMillan,
who came to Lotus in 1984 from International Thompson, also spent
18 years with McGraw-Hill, where his last position was head of
the division responsible for Byte Magazine.

Meanwhile, a Lotus spokesperson says the company will be
previewing a new product at the April 22nd meeting of the Boston
Computer Society. Though Lotus refused further comment, INFOWORLD
reported this week that the company will preview a word processor
designed for engineering and scientific applications.

Sources also report that Lotus is beta-testing new releases of
both 1-2-3 and Symphony. Release 2.01 of 1-2-3 will mainly be a
bug fix; and Symphony 1.2 will some additional features including
laser printer support. No word on when the products will be
released.

Finally, Lotus has blessed (read certified) a mouse for use with
their products for the first time ever. The Maynard Mouse from
Maynard Electronics was tested by Lotus with 1-2-3 and Symphony.
Prices start at $185.

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

          Maynard Electronics, 460 East Semoran, Casselberry, FL
          32707, 305-331-6402

[***][4/1/86][***]
HOUSING PROBLEMS:
A situation that's making real estate agents smile broadly is
creating real problems for Massachusetts high-tech employers.
Housing prices in the Boston area zoomed 38% in the last year,
placing the median cost of a single-family home at $144,800. And
many companies are finding that potential employees from outside
the Boston Boston who've accepted offers are running quickly in
the other direction after their first house-hunting trip. To make
matters worse, Boston area salaries are some 5% below the
national average and haven't risen in the past few years. What
are companies doing? Most are attempting to hire from within the
Boston area, but the second-lowest unemployment rate in the
country makes that difficult. A few are offering up-front
bonuses, but those are the exception. Higher salaries? No Way! An
executive at a major Boston-area placement firm told NEWSBYTES
"It's crazy, companies expect people to take what amounts to
substantial cuts for the 'honor' of working for them." No quick
fixes are in sight, housing prices are continuing their climb.

[***][4/1/86][***]
MASS MICRO CENTER (FOLLOWUP):
In the March 11th issue of NEWSBYTES, we reported on the imminent
opening of the Massachusetts Microelectronics Center, the $48
million semiconductor training facility in Westboro. This past
week, the BOSTON GLOBE revealed that eight high-level faculty
members of the facility are challenging the goals of the center,
and how it's being operated. According to the newspaper, the
faculty members, who represent eight of the nine universities
involved in the project, have issued two letters in which they
criticized the "dictatorial style" of the center staff, and the
"very mediocre" $25 million semiconductor fabrication facility,
whose construction will start this summer. The group has issued a
reorganization proposal, which they stress isn't a list of
"demands," and are negotiating with the center's staff. One
observer told us that it's "a typical academic turf battle." The
faculty members are keeping a low profile, NEWSBYTES wasn't able
to contact any of them.

[***][4/1/86][***]
MAC MUSIC REVISITED:
In last week's NEWSBYTES, we reported the availability of "The
Celtic MacIntosh," what was claimed to be the first album
recorded on a personal computer. An alert reader pointed out that
it wasn't. Earlier this year, another Boston-area company that
makes music software for the MacIntosh debuted an album recorded
using the Mac. Boston Pops performer Bob Winter used a
synthesizer controlled by MegaTrack XL software from Boston-based
Musicworks to produce an album. Musicworks calls the process
"Desktop Music Publishing."

CONTACT:  Musicworks, 18 Haviland St., Boston, MA 02115
          617-266-2886

CORRECTION: In last week's "Mac Music" story, we gave the wrong
address for Southworth Music Systems. They've moved. The correct
address is:

          Southworth Music Systems, 91 Ann Lee Road, Harvard, MA
          01451, 617-497-7522

[***][4/1/86][***]
XYWRITE GOES COMPATIBLE:
The Xywrite series of word processors for the IBM PC (Currently
Xywrite III) has become quite popular because of its speed and
features. However, because the program resides in RAM and takes
control of the keyboard, there were numerous complaints about its
inability to work with RAM-resident utilities like Sidekick.
Bedford, MA-based Xyquest says it's solved the problem with the
latest release of Xywrite III, which gives users the option of
regaining keyboard control and using RAM-resident programs at a
slight decrease in speed.

CONTACT:  Xyquest, Inc., PO Box 372, Bedford, MA 01730
          617-275-4439

[***][4/1/86][***]
A LITTLE SYNERGY:
"Windowing environments" like Microsoft Windows, IBM Topview, and
Digital Research's GEM have been slow to gain popularity because
of the huge amounts of memory they use and what many users
perceive as turtle-slow operation. However, a small Boston firm
is attempting to take on the big boys. Matrix Software has been
shipping developer's toolkits for "Synergy," an environment
package that uses any combination of windows, icons, pull-down
menus, clipboards, and various typefaces. Synergy's biggest
advantage: it only needs 12K of RAM. The program retails for
$395; and a demo disk is available for $9.95.

CONTACT:  Matrix Software Technology Corporation, 50 Milk St.,
          15th Floor, Boston, MA 02109, 617-350-6614

[***][4/1/86][***]
NORTHEAST SNOWBITS:

-- Westport, CT-based Micro Education Corporation of America,
publisher of "Andrew Tobias' Managing Your Money" and the
recently-released "Managing the Market" has laid off some of its
staff. Company officials wouldn't comment on either the number of
employees laid off or the total number in the company.

-- DEC, like many large-system makers, has never made it easy for
third-party vendors to hook up their peripherals to DEC systems.
But a Rhode Island firm has figured out how to hook up an optical
disk to a VAX. Aquidneck Data has an interface box that makes the
VAX think it's looking at a tape drive. Their Optical Archiving
System cost about $40,000.

-- Boston rock fans who listen to WBCN mornings may (or may not)
be surprised to learn that the voice of "Carlos" is electronic --
courtesy of a Digital Equipment Corporation Dectalk voice
synthesizer.

-- The Boston main office of New England's huge Shawmut bank
chain had the honor recently of receiving the first production
model of IBM's 3090 Model 180 mainframe. The $3 million machine
was delivered to Shawmut two weeks ahead of schedule and will
soon handle all check processing and automated tellers.

-- Go team! Natick, MA-based mainframe software maker McCormick &
Dodge had a rather unusual internal promotion recently. Employees
could win a company T-shirt by successfully matching photos of
six high-level executives with photos of the briefcases they
carry. No word on how many employees won the shirts.

-- Most people don't think of desktop publishing when the name
"Kodak" is mentioned. The Rochester, NY firm has, however, has
been in the high-end electronic publishing business for quite a
while, and they've just announced a "low-cost" system. The Kodak
Ektaprint Electronic Publishing Systems sells for $28,000.

-- Howard Sams Books has purchased the "Texas Instruments
Learning Center" series of technology books. TI decided last year
that it no longer wanted to be in the book publishing business.


[***][4/1/86][***]
MATSUSHITA's TRON MICRO:
According to the "Nikkei Sangyo Daily" (3/26), Matsushita Electron-
ics will release a personal computer with next generation
operating system "BTRON" in early 1987.  BTRON, as one of
the TRON-series operating system, is being developed by Ken
Sakamura of Tokyo University.  Matsushita's new micro is said
to be equipped with Intel 80286 MPU, and has a multi-task and
super-fast graphic features.  The prototype of this super micro
is expected to be exhibited at DataShow'86 in Tokyo this fall.

Besides BTRON (Business TRON), the operating systems of TRON
family include ITRON (Industrial TRON) and MTRON (Macro TRON).
Also, 32-bit MPU "TRON-CHIP" is being developed by Mr. Sakamura.

CONTACT: Matsushita Electronics, Tokyo, 03-437-1121
         Ken Sakamura, Dept. of Information Science, Faculty of
         Science, Univ. of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku,
         Tokyo 113, Japan

[***][4/1/86][***]
AN EYE FOR AN EYE...
In retaliation against Texas Instruments which has charged
eight Japanese manufacturers and Korea's Sam Sung Electronics
with copyright infringement on TI's 256K DRAM, NEC(Tokyo) has
filed suit against TI Japan at Tokyo District Court.  The NEC's
charge says that TI Japan has allegedly been using the patents
of NEC's 256K DRAM even after the expiration of the cross
license agreement with NEC last September.  As I've reported in
the previous NEWSBYTES-JAPAN, TI has reportedly stopped talks
in the midst of negotiation to extend each other's cross license
agreement and sued above the nine manufacturers. TI's executive
explains that it is to speed up the pending cross license talk.

To make matters worse, however, Fujitsu has also been thinking
of suing TI Japan in retaliation, says a published report.
Apparently, both TI and Japanese manufacturers have
been getting impatient with each other.  We really hope that they
will reach a peaceful settlement for better relationship of the
two countries in the near future.

[***][4/1/86][***]
RISC COMPUTER FROM SHARP:
Sharp released (4/1) a RISC-based 32-bit super-minicomputer
which supports UNIX System V and UNIX 4.2 BSD. Dubbed "IX-11",
this super-mini has a processing speed of 3.2 MIPS, and runs
both Prolog and LISP.  IX-11 is said to support Ethernet as
its Local Area Network feature.  It is av`ilable at US$369,444.

CONTACT: Sharp, Tokyo, 03-260-1161

[***][4/1/86][***]
PROMOTING dBASE III:
Japan Ashton-Tate has started a unique sales campaign of its
Japanese dBASE III.  Upon request, the company provides the free
demonstration floppy disk which contains the general outline and
the sample programs of dBASE III.  Japan Ashton-Tate expects to
sell over 2,000 programs during this campaign which lasts until
the end of April, a report says.

CONTACT: Japan Ashton-Tate, Tokyo, 03-479-7621

[***][4/1/86][***]
<<< SUKIYAKI BYTES >>>

MICROSOFT IN JAPAN -- After divorcing ASCII, MicroSoft is said
to have already set up its temporary office in Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo.
The corporate name of the Japanese subsidiary is called--you
guess it--"MicroSoft".   Rumor says that about 10 engineers from
ASCII will soon join MicroSoft in Tokyo.  We'll see.

INDUSTRIAL JOURNAL IN ENGLISH -- A bi-monthly English magazine
which covers Japanese trade and industry has made its debut. The
subscription fee of "The Journal of Japanese Trade and Industry"
is US$44/year including airmail fee from the U.S.  The publisher
accepts the "bill-me-later" order.

CONTACT: ELSEVIER Science Publisher, 3-28-1 Yushima, Bunkyo-ku,
         Tokyo 113, Japan  (Phone: [phone], c/o Mr. Kato)

HITACHI's VIDEOTEX SYSTEM -- Hitachi has developed a low-cost
private videotex host-system based on the company's 16-bit
personal computer "B16/MX".  According to a report, a maximum of
10,000 terminals (16-bit micros) can be connected to this host
system.  This system which supports NAPLPS videotex will be
released at US$25,000 in May.

SEMICONDUCTOR MEMORY DEVICE -- Hitachi announced (3/27) a
powerful external semiconductor memory device for large-scale
computers. Its data retrieval speed is said to be 6M bps.

Meanwhile, Hitachi has purchased 43,000 sq. meters of land in
Yamanashi prefecture in order to build the company's second
factory to produce next generation super LSIs.  Hitachi's
affiliate firm, Hitachi Tokyo Electronics, has also purchased
33,000 sq. meters of land in its vicinity.  It seems Hitachi
group has seriously been eyeing the forthcoming semiconductor
boom.

HITACHI's LASER PRINTER TO THE U.S. -- Hitachi will supply
its laser printer "SL-100" to Qume Corp.(CA) and Genicom Corp.
(VA) this April on an OEM basis.  The total sales volume
of this laser printer is expected to become US$1.7 million
per month, a report says.

SHARP AND PHILIPS -- Sharp (Tokyo) will soon start providing
Philips (the Netherlands) with the technique to produce
semiconductor laser for CD players.  In return, Sharp will be
given the technique to manufacture plastic lenses for CD players
from Philips.  Philips has currently been purchasing the
semiconductor lasers from Sharp.

TOSHIBA's SRAM -- Toshiba released(3/25) a 72K Static RAM with
its access time of 35 nano-sec.  The price of this SRAM,
TMM2089C, is US$67.

NTT's CAPTAIN VIDEOTEX -- According to a recent survey taken by
the IP Association (an organization of Information Providers for
NTT's CAPTAIN videotex), most of the IPs want to have the
CAPTAIN's usage charge lowered.  The survey also tells that the
expected number of subscribers in 1989 is 130,000, which is
about half of the NTT's estimate.

IBM JAPAN'S SALES INCREASE -- IBM Japan's sales volume between
January and December '85 reached US$5.1 billion, which is a
19% increase from the previous year.  This is due to the
popularity of the company's "3090" and "5550 family", says
a report.  However, IBM Japan is still behind Fujisu and
NEC as far as the domestic sales volume is concerned.

IC OUTPUT RECOVERS --Japan's Machinery Analysis Report of the
Ministry of International Trade and Industry says(3/27) that
the total output of ICs in February '86 reached 801 million,
which is 14.8% increase from January '86.  This is the first
time that the output exceeded 800 million, since July 1985.
The output of MOS-type ICs including 256K DRAM reached 315
million in February '86, exceeding the peak level in February
1985.

[***][4/1/86][***]
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
     "Japan's workaholics have to be taught to enjoy their
      leisure times."
           -- The Ministry of International Trade and Industry

(The Japanese work an average of 2,180 hours a year, while the
figures are 1,934 hours for the Americans and 1,941 hours for
the Britons.)

[***][4/1/86][***]
// SPECIAL NOTICE //

   Dear readers:
   Your yearly online subscription fee of NEWSBYTES-JAPAN is
   US$1000.  It will be deducted from your credit card.
   Thank you.
                          Editor, NEWSBYTES-JAPAN
                          -- On April Fools Day


[***][4/1/86][***]
UK AMIGA LAUNCH DATE FIRMS UP:
Although no one at Commodore's UK offices will officially
confirm it, D-day for the UK launch of the CBM wonder
machine seems to be the 9th May, when every UK computer
press persona seems to have been invited to London - not to
see the Queen - but to see a "New Commodore Product."  With
the US price promotion, due at the end of April, bringing the
North American price down to $1,295, the anticipated 1,500
pound ($2,250) UK price seems a bit high.  Mind you, word is
that the UK model will incorporate integral twin disc drives
and 512K RAM.  With the Atari ST now being discounted to 600
pounds ($900) in the UK high street - okay, that's with
monochrome monitor - the Amiga sure looks over-priced!

Contact: Commodore UK, 53/69 King Street, Maidenhead, SL6
         1DU. Tel Maidenhead (0628) 75712.

[***][4/1/86][***]
BIG BLUE CLONES MIDSUMMER MADNESS:
Staying with Commodore, "Computer Weekly" (a UK trade
newspaper) reports that Commodore UK is preparing
itself for an IBM compatible campaign this summer.  The
move, says CW, heralds a change of image for the firm in the
UK.  Kristian Anderson, Commodore's UK general manager, is
quoted as conceding that his firm's current UK image isn't
as professional as it might be.  "We are selling more and
more PC's to large accounts and will build a new dealer
network in the UK," he says.  Mind you, this new "corporate
image" for Commodore doesn't imply their abandonment of the
home computer market.  Anderson points to a "renaissance" of
the evergreen C64 in the UK.  Whilst that's good news for 64
owners here, it can hardly be awe inspiring for a potential
PC buyer to see all those kids playing shoot-em up games on
their 64's!

[***][4/1/86][***]
BIG BLUE LEANING ON TAIWAN?
If this week's copy of "Microscope" (a trade computer weekly)
is to be believed, IBM is putting pressure on the Taiwanese
government to prevent AT clones hitting the market in cases
similar to that of the PC AT.  Editor Derek Cohen says that
IBM are raising the issue of "artistic impressions" to
support their "request" of the Taiwanese government.  Cohen
reckons there are six major case manufacturers in Taiwan,
thus making any action by the government there comparatively
easy to enforce.  NEWSBYTES UK's enquiries into the subject
of AT boxes reveal several other AT moulding suppliers
dotted around the Far East.  Even if the Taiwanese
government stamps on home country case suppliers, word is
that the back street clone producers will simply turn to
cheap imported cases for their machines, rather than use
different (and less desirable from a Western customers
viewpoint) case designs.

[***][4/1/86][***]
RADIO SHACK'S DISAPPEARING CONTRACTS:
Tandy, as Radio Shack are known in the UK, are not reknowned
for their customer service in the UK High Street.  Not
surprising then, that they have come under fire in a
publicised contract let-down, according to this week's
"Computing" magazine.  One UK word processing company,
Printalink, claim to have bought a Tandy 4P computer some
eighteen months ago, and allege that Tandy denied all
knowledge of the service contract, or even the sale of the
package, when the printer gave up the ghost recently!
Printalink, the firm on the receiving end of Tandy's (lack
of) service contract, say the printers downtime has cost
them between 5 and 6,000 pounds ($7,500 - $9,000) in lost
business, as well as three contracts.  Tandy, for their
part, are reported by "Computing" to have replaced the
software at Printalink, despite "believing that printalink
had no service contract."  NEWSBYTES UK can't help but side
with Printalink, having had several experiences with Tandy's
lack of after-sales service.  NEWSBYTES UK is initially
prepared each week on an aging but trusty Model 100.
Servicing and support from our local "authorised Tandy
store" is bad - real bad - sour grapes?  They went mouldy
months ago!!

[***][4/1/86][***]
UNIX A LANGUAGE - IT'S OFFICIAL:
Cackles of laughter were heard echoing around the corridors
of Westminster (home of the UK's government) recently, when
Dr. David Owen, leader of the Social Democratic Party,
published an article which implied Unix is a language rather
than an operating system.  (It is, isn't it??).  Dr. Owen's
shameful faux pas was spotted and seized upon by Tom Jones,
prospective Conservative candidate for Dr. Owen's political
constituency.  As Jones publicises the goof - "Has Dr Owen
got a grip of the basics?"

[***][4/1/86][***]
AWARDS GETTING FRUITY?
Last week saw the British Microcomputing awards held in
London.  Once again, for the third year running, Apricot
scooped the top prize with their recently introduced Xen
computer.  Last year, they trotted off with the award for
their XI, and the year before that, with the long running
Apricot PC.  I wonder what they've got up their sleeve for
next year's awards?

Contact: Apricot UK Products Divison, Shenstone House,
         Dudley Road, Halesowen, West Midlands, B63 1BR.  Tel:
         021-501-2284.

[***][4/1/86][***]
ANOTHER CHEAPIE DATABASE:
With the cost of getting a Telenet/Uninet datacall to the US
often outweighing the connect time costs of the service
itself (such as The Source), it comes as no surprise to
learn that non-US database subscribers keenly search out
viable and cheap systems such as American Peoplelink ($3-95
per hour 24 hours a day to foreign subscribers).

Just when Plink thought they had the low-cost market tapped,
comes news of an even cheaper system!  The Protocol system
costs just $3-60 an hour, and is scheduled for a 1st April
launch.   Signup, according to the silken-voiced "Sue" on
their number, is free, with the first five hours costing
nothing.  The system doesn't conflict with The Source
however, as it's aimed at the multi-user adventure game
enthusiast, adventures forming the backbone of the Protocol
system.  Sounds too good to be true?  Give them a call on
(US) 703-359-9760.  They're located in Fairfax, Virginia,
not a stones-throw from The Source!  Tell 'em "Mouse" sent
ya!
==
[***][4/1/86][***]
CHIP WARS: AT THE PEACE TABLE
U.S. and Japanese negotiators met in Washington last Thursday,
trying to end the warfare over semiconductor trade that has
involved three anti-dumping complaints by the U.S. Two weeks ago,
at the urging of Motorola Inc. Chairman Robert Galvin, U.S. and
Japanese chipmakers met privately in Los Angeles. "The Washington
Post" reported that the Japanese companies offered U.S. firms a
three percent increase in the U.S. share of the Japanese domestic
semiconductor market. The current U.S. share is about 10 percent.
The U.S. chipmeisters said the Japanese offer wasn't enough.

U.S. companies are said to want "milestones" that will increase
the U.S. share of the Japanese market to 15 percent this year,
with five percent hikes each of the next three years. The aim is
a 30 percent U.S. market share by the end of the decade.

U.S. Trade Representative Clayton Yeutter says the dispute over
semiconductors is the biggest trade issue now dividing the U.S.
and Japan. But the U.S. has been wary of getting involved
directly in talks between Japanese and U.S. firms, for fear of
running afoul of the anti-trust laws. Last week's talks in
Washington involved government officials.

[***][4/1/86][***]
COMMODORE DISCOUNTS AMIGA
Commodore Business Machines says its announcement last week that
it will knock $500 off the price of the Amiga 1000 with RGB
monitor is aimed at restoring its position as an aggressive
marketeer. "It's part of our aggressive marketing strategy to
ensure that our dealers have the most competitive product," said
Commodore North America General Manager Nigel Shepherd.
"Commodore has traditionally offered the most value for the money
in personal computers. We don't intend to lose sight of that
policy."

In fact, say industry analysts, Commodore did appear to lose
sight of that policy when Jack Tramiel left the company, taking
his aggressiveness with him to Atari. "This pricing move," says
one Wall Street analyst, "looks like Commodore is trying to
compete with the Atari machines. It's about time."

With the $500 discount, the basic price of the Amiga and color
monitor will be $1290, or five bucks under the current $1295 base
price for the Amiga sans monitor. Shepherd expects that Amiga
buyers will plow the d$500 saving back into software, now that
more titles are appearing for the Amiga.

Amiga will be combining the discount with a high-profile radio
and print advertising campaign. The discounts are set to run from
April 7 through May. But several industry analysts told
NEWSBYTES-WASHINGTON they expect the discounts will be extended.

commodore also made major executive changes last week, replacing
Marshall Smith with Thomas Rattigan as chief executive officer.
Commodore hired Rattigan away from Pepsico Bottling last year.
He will take over day-to-day management of a company suffering
from slumping sales of its bread-and-butter, the Commodore 64,
and disappointing performance by the Commodore 128 and the Amiga.
Rattigan joined Commodore in April 1985 to head its North American
operations and was promoted to president and chief operating officer
in November.

CONTACT: Commodore International Inc., 1200 Wilson Drive, West
         Chester Pa., 19380, 215-431-9100

[***][4/1/86][***]
BANKING AND BURGERS AT ROY'S
Roy Rogers Restaurants and Perpetual American Bank will operate
automated teller machines at six Roy Rogers fast food restaurants
in the Washington-Baltimore area. The computerized tellers will
offer cash withdrawal and balance inquiries at all six sites, and
depositing as well at three sites. Perpetual American customers
will not be charged for the transactions, although other users of
MOST cards will pay a small fee. Perpetual's move comes two weeks
after it announced it will operate ATMs in 91 Safeway stores in
the area. Safeway threatened to junk the machines until Perpetual
agreed to operate them. The machines at the Roy Rogers outlets
will not greet customers with the logon message: "Howdy,
Pardner."

CONTACT:Perpetual American Bank    703-838-6062.
        Roy Rogers Restaurants     301-897-7431.

[***][4/1/86][***]
NEW INS SYSTEM TOUGH AS NAILS
The Immigration and Naturaliztion Service has shelved the
cumbersome book it used to prevent terrorists, drug couriers, and
other undesirables from entering the U.S. The placement is a
mainframe computer system, the National Automated Immigration
Lookout system, or NAILS. The first terminals in the ndw system
went into operation at Newark International Airport on Wednesday.
The system was tested for a year at the Baltimore-Washington
International Airport. NAILS terminals should be in place by
October at New York's John F. Kennedy International, Boston's
Logan, and Miami and Honolulu international airports.

INS says installing NAILS nationwide will cost about $500,000.
The computer system replaced a book now used at ports of entry
that contains thumbnail sketches of 40,000 inadmissible aliens or
people wanted by federal law enforcement authorities. The new
system will give front-line immigration officers immediate access
to 60 million files.

[***][4/1/86][***]
SPERRY OFFERS LASER DISKS
Sperry Corp. of Blue Bell, Pa., is offering a write-once-read-
often optical disk for its Series 1100 mainframe computers.
Deliveries will begin in the next three months, Sperry said.
Prices will range from $36,000 to $62,700 for the controller, and
from $50,000 to $135,000 for the disk subsystem. Software for the
system is $11,600.

CONTACT: Sperry Corp., PO Box 500, Blue Bell, Pa. 19424-0001

[***][4/1/86][***]
S&P DOWNGRADES WANG
Standard & Poor's has dropped the subordinated debt rating of
Wang Laboratories Inc. and Wang Labs N.V. to "BBB" from "BBB+".
S&P affirmed Wang's "A-2" commercial paper rating. S&P said the
downgradings reflect the "continued softness in the office
automation markets." After many years at over 30 percent annual
growth in revenues, Wang saw 1985 revenues grow only 7.6 percent,
resulting in a $54.5 million pre-tax loss, and $137 million in
inventory writedowns. "Highly competitive markets," says S&P,
"including significant pricing pressures, may inhibit a return to
historical profit levels over the immediate term."

Wall Street likes Wang's recent sale of $186 million in stock.
The equity issue, says S&P, "brings debt to capital back to the
more satisfactory mid 30 percent area from a high of 43 percent
reached at Sept. 30, 1985."

CONTACT: Norman Schindler, Standard & Poor's, 212-208-1632.

[***][4/1/86][***]
WASHINGTON COMPUTER BUSINESS INDEX
The computer index is at a healthy 238.5 for the week, on the
strength of 12.4 pages of display advertising in the March 24
"Washington Business," a "Washington Post" weekly. Non-computer
ads totaled 20 pages. The base for the index is the 5.2 pages of
computer ads in the initial 1986 issue of "Washington Business."

[***][4/1/86][***]
POWERBYTES

 $$$ Apple Computer's Columbia, Md., office is putting on a day-
long seminar on "Management and Publishing Solutions" Thursday,
April 3, at the Westin Hotel in Washington. The seminar will
include one-hour demos of desktop publishing. CONTACT: Judy
Roberts, Apple Computer, 301-730-2255.

 $$$ ERC International of Vienna, Virginia, has sold its 100th
Intercad system. One of Intercad's largest customers, LTV
Aerospace and Defense Co. of Dallas, was the buyer. ERC had 1985
revenues of $63 million. CONTACT: ERC International, 2070 Chain
Bridge Road, Suite 400, Vienna Va., 22180. 703-827-0720.

 $$$ The Army has awarded Planning Research Corp. of McLean, Va.,
a $4.5 million cost-plus contract for design, development,
integration and installation of a transportable computer system
for intelligence data in Europe. Two thirds of the work will take
place in Heidelberg, West Germany, and is expected to be
completed by 1992. CONTACT: Planning Research Corp., 1500
Planning Research Drive, McLean Va., 22102, 703-556-1111.


[***][4/1/86][***]
amiga PRICE DEAL NIXED UP NORTH:
Not all 1,000 Commodore dealers in North America will be
offering price reductions on the Amiga 1000 with colour
monitor from April 7 to May 31.  The promotion, to be
supported by an advertising blitz of "significant"
proportions, will not extend to Canada, says a spokesperson
for Commodore's Canadian unit in Toronto.  The current
price of an Amiga and colour monitor in Canada ranges from
$2000 to $4000, depending on options and peripherals.

[***][4/1/86][***]
LONG ARM OF THE LAW:
The Canadian Radio-Television And Telecommunications
Commission (CRTC) has levied restrictions on two of the
country's largest telephone companies, to hinder them using
profit from their monopolies to force out competition in
sales and leasing of data terminal equipment.  The CRTC
decision states that Bell Canada, and B.C. Telephone Co.
Ltd. (Burnaby, B.C.) should adopt a costing approach to
conduct their sales of multiline and terminal equipment, to
ensure no cross-subsidisation from other services.  Bell
Canada is the utility arm of Bell Canada Enterprises Inc.,
of Montreal, Quebec.

CONTACT: Bell Canada, 1-800-361-3050 (in Canada)

[***][4/1/86][***]
IACOCCA ONLINE WITH CDC:
Control Data Canada Ltd. (Mississauga, Ontario) announces
the sale of four Cyber 830 mainframe systems to Chrysler
Corp., of Detroit, MI.  The order is part of a $7-million (
US) contract for seven computer systems.  The Cyber 830's
are designed and manufactured in Toronto by the subsidiary
of Control Data Corp., of Minneapolis, MN.

[***][4/1/86][***]
PROTOTYPE GRAPHICS FOR ZENITH:
Gemini Technology Inc., Richmond, British Columbia has
shown a prototype graphics board to a U.S. military
conference.  The board allows microcomputers not normally
IBM-compatible to run diverse standards of more advanced
software for the IBM family.  Particularly, the product
allows such software to run on Gemini-equipped Zenith Z-100
machines, sister machine to the Z-200.  The U.S. military
recently placed a $242-million (US) order with Zenith
Electronics Corp. (Glenview, IL) for three version of the Z
-200.

[***][4/1/86][***]
THE NEXT BEST THING TO BEING THERE:
A computerised registration system is being tested by The
University Of Alberta (Edmonton).  A first in Canada, the
system allows students to register using a touchtone
telephone, eliminating the need for extra trips to campus
for out-of-towners.  Registration can also be accomplished
24 hours a day, seven days a week.  A voice synthesis
module asks pertinent questions--identification number,
birthdate, etc.--of students, who key the data in using the
buttons on their telephones.