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/V158

Text File | 1991-08-10 | 57KB | 1,225 lines

[***][6/10/86][***]
APPLE-LUCAS-NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC VENTURE:
Apple Computer, Lucasfilm Ltd. and the National Geographic Society
have entered into a joint research agreement aimed at developing
5 and 12-inch compact disks for home and educational use.  This unusual
alliance may be years from producing its first product, but an
Apple spokeswoman, Sueann Ambron, says the products will enable
someone to view "full motion video.  You will be able to pull up
video segments at any time, in any sequence."  Lucasfilm provides
its motion picture expertise; National Geographic will make
available it huge information database; Apple expects to devote
a large portion of its research and development budget to the
goal of combining computers, video, and information.  Apple won't
say HOW much money it will spend but adds Ambron, "It's
(development of compact disk technology) central to Apple's
business."

CONTACT:  SUEANN AMBRON, APPLE COMPUTER, 408/973-3917

[***][6/10/86][***]
ANALYSTS SEE A GOOD CROP FOR APPLE:
Most analysts are taking a new look at the value of Apple stock.
It has recently climbed to $37/share and investors are bullish
on its future.  Among the latest coverts is L.F. Rothschild's
Michele Preston, who's placed a buy recommendation on the computer
maker's stock.  She says Apple's enormous cash reserve ($518.7
million), its successful reorganization under John Sculley's
leadership, and aggressive schedule of new product introductions
have led to her "buy" decision.

However, the "California Technology Stock Letter" group say
"hold" on Apple stock.  "It will be months before there's
any hard evidence whether the new products will start
revenues growing again," say the authors.  They add, "Apple's
competitors are not asleep.  Atari is about to sign a deal
with Microsoft to put MS-DOS on te Atari 520 ST with an IBM
PC emulator board.  That may be do-able for around $1,300
or so, and it would find a niche there."

[***][6/10/86][***]
EX-ATARI EMPLOYEES WIN BIG VICTORY:
Three years after they were suddenly axed from the Atari
payroll, 537 former employees have reached a settlement in a
class-action lawsuit they filed against the game maker.
The workers claimed they were laid off February 22, 1983
without having been given adequate notice, and after they'd
been painted a rosy picture of the company's future.  The
settlement forces New York-based Warner Communications to
pay each one an average of $1,119 (four weeks pay), as
well as legal costs, altogether totalling some $600,000.
This is an out-of-court settlement, subject to a final
hearing July 9.  Warner's attorneys continue to deny any
fault, but acknowledge that the old Atari's actions
caused "harm" to the workers.

CONTACT:  JOHN TRUE, atty, EMPLOYMENT LAW CENTER, SAN
          FRANCISCO, CA.  415/864-8848

[***][6/10/86][***]
CES FALLOUT:
 by Barry Bayer and Wendy Woods

The summer 1986 Consumer Electronics Show ground down Wednesday
afternoon not with a bang, and with hardly a whimper  --- at least in
the computer area.  Although last year's show covered almost all of
the McCormick West building, video, rather than computers, occupied
most of the same space this year.  Computers were relegated to the
lower level of the facility, and shared that space with "adult"
prerecorded videotapes.

Considering that the 1983 show had but one seminar or meeting dealing
specifically with computers, the seven programs presented this year
surely recognize the importance of computer retailing to the
electronics industry.  Yet Atari was the only major computer
manufacturer with booth space, although Commodore was
represented in hospitality rooms on the top floor of the McCormick
West.  Software and peripheral manufacturers and distributors were
there, but not the extent even of last year.

The notable no-shows included CL9, Steve Wozniak's firm, which had
planned to exhibit its powerful remote-control device.  We're told
the device isn't ready for exhibit, but a fall product offering is
still planned.

Among the exhibitors with new products of particular interest (not
mentioned in last week's bulletins) were:

 -JARON LANIER, a Palo Alto, Ca.-based programmer, has developed a
glove which replaces a mouse or joystick in controlling a cursor
onscreen.  A fist or a wave of the hand, for instance, brings
the cursor to the desired place on screen.  A version of the
glove, called Hand Command, will be available for $40 from ShareData
of Eden Prarie, Minnesota.

 -UNISON WORLD, INC., was featuring EASY BACK, a $89.95 backup program
for IBM AT and XT hard disks, which claims to use back up a 20 Mb AT
hard drive onto 17 floppies in 16 minutes, including a verify
operation.  The program, which is not copy protected,  also will back
up CP/M, UNIX or XENIX partitions.

(UNISON was also showing a not quite finished version of NewsMaker, an
inexpensive and low key newsletter text/graphics program for the PC,
scheduled to be in the stores for December.)

Contact: Norman Lundell, UNISON WORLD, INC. 415-848-6666

 -BATTERIES INCLUDED, with a newly revised and improved Mac Battery Pak
which now runs under the Macintosh Plus version operating systems
including HFS, System 3.2 and Finder 5.2, and a preview of BTS, a
moderate size spreadsheet which is being prepared for several 68000
based computers.  Look for it in July for the Macintosh at about $70.
The Macintosh disk will come with two versions . . . a standalone
spreadsheet, and a file which may be installed as a Desk Accessory
(and therefore run from within any other program the computer may be
running).

Contact: BATTERIES INCLUDED, 416-881-9941

[***][6/10/86][***]
ATARI MAG GETS NEW EDITORS:
Atari Corporation announced the employment of David Ahl and Elizabeth
Staples as editors of its quarterly "Atari Explorer" magazine. Ahl was
the founder and editor in chief of Creative Computing Magazine, and
Staples the managing editor, when the magazine was terminated last
December.

"Atari Explorer" is published by Atari to support users of both its 8
bit and 16 bit machines.  The magazine will move to bi-monthly with
its next issue, and Ahl and Staples plan to take it monthly in 1987.
According to the announcement, a staff is being assembled in Morris
Plains, NJ, the same city from which "Creative Computing" was published.

CONTACT: Gail Snider/Pat Lamb   212-315-8000

[***][6/10/86][***]
COMPUTERLAND SOUTH:
William and Barbard Millard want to sell their 96% share in
Computerland Corporation.  The announcement came from Saipan,
an island in the South Pacific, where the father-daughter combo
has set up a new home and business beachhead.  Rumor has it
Millard would net up to $1 billion for the sale of his stock--
that is IF the court will release it to him.  Millard is
appealing a decision in which 20% of his stock belongs to
Micro-Vest, a group of early investors in the retail chain.
What will the billionaire do in Saipan?  He's planning to
set up an electric utility company in paradise.  "To have
my assets tied up in an enterprise in which I am not involved
personally is unnatural to me," Millard told the "Wall
Street Journal" in a telephone interview.

[***][6/10/86][***]
OTHER RETAILER NEWS:
PacTel Information Systems has announced it will open 8 more
retail stores to its current 15, all of the new ones will be
set up in Southern California.  The division of the Pacific
Telesis Group has been aggressively expanding in the retail
arena, selling Apple, IBM and a few other product lines.

Meanwhile Businessland won one and lost one.  The chain's
acquisition of AmeriSource Business Centers was completed
last week for $20 million in stock and notes.  But its
planned takeover of the Maryland-based MBI Business Centers
fell apart after the two sides disputed final terms.
(See NEWSBYTES-WASHINGTON for details.)

[***][6/10/86][***]
MOLECULAR COMPUTER BANKRUPT:
Molecular Computer of San Jose, maker of a file server, has
filed for Chapter 11 protection after company officers lost
their battle to keep the financially troubled firm afloat.
Molecular, which employed 346 people two years ago, was down
to 77 employees last week, all of whom are now laid off.
The truth is that Molecular, according to company VP of
Finance William Pitman, has never made a profit and has
racked up $10 million in debts.  The firm plans to keep its
European subsidiary open and hopes to eventually emerge from
bankruptcy.

[***][6/10/86][***]
IN BRIEF--

The inaugural issue of PUBLISH! will be inserted into the
July issues of PC WORLD and MACWORLD.  PUBLISH! is the
reincarnation of DESKTOP PUBLISHING, now under the PC
World Communications banner.

MICROPRO has introduced an improved version of "Easy" word
processor.  The company has dropped the price to $99, and the
new version is file compatible with all Micropro's other
products, DCA architecture, and Lotus 1-2-3 and Symphony
file formats.

MANZANITA SOFTWARE SYSTEMS of Roseville, CA. has released
"BusinessWorks Payroll System", the last of 5 business modules
for the Apple IIe or IIc.  It retails for $445.

DIGITAL RESEARCH will release "Concurrent PC DOS Expanded
Memory", a new operating system which supports expanded memory,
multitasking, and runs existing PC DOS, MS DOS, Concurrent
DOS and CP/M 86 applications without modification, in July.


[***][6/10/86][***]
IBM VS. AT&T UPDATE: A ROUND TO BIG BLUE
IBM stole the march on AT&T at ICA by rolling out Redwood, a
breadbox-sized box with slots for organizing up to 144 phone
lines. It has features like call screening, paging, message
center support, and reports on who's making long-distance calls.
It also includes features to block certain phones from calling
out of the business. IBM-ROLM officials applauded loudly on the
show floor when Redwood was unveiled at their ICA booth because
AT&T's competitive product, the System 25, wasn't ready in time
for the show.

CONTACT: Ken Rowe, ROLM, 4900 Old Ironsides Drive., M/S 605,
         Santa Clara, CA 95054 [phone]

[***][6/10/86][***]
INTERNATIONAL COMMUNICATIONS ASSOCIATION SHOW IN ATLANTA
ICA shows just how telephones, PCs, fax and TV are merging into
one great, expensive glop. In one corner, Laurel & Hardy
imitators talked about T-1 multiplexers for General DataComm. In
another, Hank Aaron signed autographs for Contel. IBM/ROLM took
the wraps (literally) off Redwood, a PBX or key system which will
compete with AT&T's System 25 when that comes out later this
month.

It goes on. Comsat and RCA and Scientific/Atlanta all compete
with satellite dishes. Ford offers WATS service through its new
Starnet subsidiary. The point is that all communication is the
same, regardless what you're sending there are dozens of way to
send it, and someday Real Soon Now we should be able to afford it
all.

CONTACT: ICA, 12750 Merit Dr., Suite LB-89, Dallas, TX 95251

[***][6/10/86][***]
PRICE WARS OVER THE PHONE
The real news underlying all the hype  at this year's
International Communications Association show in Atlanta are
PRICE WARS breaking out all over the long-distance market. AT&T
grudgingly dropped rates 10% over the last few weeks, and
competitors are now busy undercutting those rates like made,
especially for WATS service.

MCI led the way. Its new Prism III is priced 5-15% below AT&T
WATS and designed for companies now spending $500-2,000 per month
on long distance. GTE Sprint-US Telecom are sure to respond, and
Ford Motor already has, through its Starnet subsidiary. Once they
get permission, watch for the Regional Bell Operating Companies
(RBOCs) like Bell Atlantic, NYNEX and BellSouth to seek entry
into the WATS market, too. Then watch out.

CONTACT: MCI News Bureau 1133 19th St., NW, Washington, DC 20036
         [phone]

[***][6/10/86][***]
GEORGIA MODEM DELIVERY TO MCI HAILED BY GOVERNOR
The shipment of a few T-1 speed modems under an $8 million
contract doesn't usually rateza press conference from the
Governor. But in Georgia, where the Advanced Technology
Development Center (ATDC) is a major political asset, and Gov.
Joe Frank Harris is running for re-election, the shipment of the
first products of Digital Transmission Systems Inc. (DTS) to MCI
gets the full treatment. MCI will use the DTS 2001  which costs
$15,000  per unit, to run voice and data together on its
Southeastern lines.  "This has given us a lot of credibility,"
said DTS president Bob Brinegar in a syrupy-Georgia accent. MCI
regional VP Dan Akerson, in his remarks, twice referred to
Georgia as "Florida", to load guffaws. DTS will ship 30 2001s to
MCI a month, a total of 500

CONTACT: Bill Brinegar, DTS, 1000 Miller Court West, Norcross, GA
         30071 [phone]

[***][6/10/86][***]
ATARI "PROJECT EAGLE" FLIES UNDER MITSUBISHI FLAT
Anyone remember the "Grass Valley Gang", a group of engineers
from Atari's Cyan Engineering think tank whose "Project Eagle"
was supposed to become the neatest thing since, well, video
games? When Atari fell to Earth, supposedly, "Project Eagle"
died.

Uh, uh. Mitsubishi Electric picked up the project, and at
ICA they rolled out the box all the hubbub was about. It's called
Luma, and it's a picturephone which transmits black-and-white
"snapshots" over ordinary phone lines in 1-5 seconds. It costs
$1,450. The news release for Luma mentions applications such as
executive recruiters who want to see the candidates, surgeons
holding teleconferences, and real estate brokers showing
properties. One application, however, is definite: "Miami Vice"
will have Luma in their TV offices next season.

CONTACT: Ron Pratt, LUMA TELECOM, Russom & Leeper PR, 350 Pacific
         Ave., San Francisco, CA 94111 [phone]

[***][6/10/86][***]
MCI: WHITHER DATA?
We'd noticed that MCI president Bert Roberts made no mention of
data services (like MCI Mail) at ICA, and asked him about it.
"We're being very careful in our approach," he said.  The only
data announcement MCI made was expected, a link to IBM's PROFs
mainframe system (In selling MCI its money-losing SBS subsidiary,
IBM now owns a big chunk of MCI.) Roberts complained about
foreign phone monopolies,  West Germany's in particular, and said
50 baud telex will remain the major force overseas because small
nations don't want to lose the big revenues they get from local
monopolies for it. MCI, which successfully fought the FCC and IBM
for years, has decided not to fight here, and will link the new
NSI service in East Hartford, CT directly to its existing telex
network, rather than move to force high-speed data on an
unwilling world.

CONTACT: MCI News Bureau 1133 19th St., NW, Washington, DC 20036
         [phone]

[***][6/10/86][***]
GTE BUYING HEAVILY INTO INFORMATION SERVICE BUSINESS
While MCI was talking voice, GTE was talking data. GTE Telenet
announced it's bought 60% of Consortium Communications
International Inc. (CCI), a New York-bsed telex service provider,
from AirCall PLC of the UK for $10 million. That will give
Telenet and Telemail users the ability to send messages to any
telex address in 70 countries, from a telex machine, async
terminal, or PC. GTE also announced it's filing a new tariff with
Datapac of Canada for the use of fax transmission and transaction
processing circuits, and the sale of dedicated lines. They also
rolled out software connecting IBM packet networks under SNA to
Telenet dedicated lines. Finally, GTE briefed reporters on their
merger with US Telecom (Uninet), saying it will be completed on
schedule July 1.

CONTACT: Claudia Houston, GTE TELENET, 12490 Sunrise Valley
         Drive, Reston, VA 22096 [phone]

[***][6/10/86][***]
TANDY STRATEGY: A BIGGER RETAILER       *OPINION*
After all the yucks over the new Tandy dress code (no beards,
sincere ties), after all the hype over the feverish expansion of
the company's McDuff Electronics & Appliance Superstores, with
over 150 new outlets planned by June, 1987 (a clothing store
called Titus McDuff closed in Atlanta last week), you're at least
left with one fact. Tandy, unlike some competitors, has a
STRATEGY.

Of course, it always has. First it was a leather shop,
Tandycrafts, whose mission was to SELL. Next, with Radio Shack,
came the mission to MAKE and SELL, to DISTRIBUTE. That strategy
was moved wholesale into the computer business, with the company
basically making itself in the mold of Sears, controlling the
distribution process from plant to customer. Now, with McDuff's
taking on the $700 million Circuit City chain, and the Computer
Centers taking on BusinessLand, the company has come full circle.
When customers ask the new Tandy, "what are you?" the company
will answer proudly, "What do you want us to be? That's what we
are." The mission, as with the leather stores: SELL.
Somewhere in heaven, Charles Tandy is smiling.

CONTACT: Michael Whittaker, TANDY, 1800 One Tandy Center, Ft.
         Worth, TX 76102 [phone]

[***][6/10/86][***]
REPLACE YOUR RECEPTIONIST WITH THIS NITA LITTLE BOX
We took a demonstration of nitaReceptionist, an application
package based on the Nita voice board, and it works. The board
plugs into any IBM PC or compatible. Load the software onto a
hard disk, and for $2,595 you get automatic answering, call
routing, screening, and message recording, all with a human-
sounding voice. Buy a bunch of Nitas and you can get the price
per unit down to $1,195, with each board handling calls on 4
different lines.

At ICA, engineer Cliff Schornak sat at the front of the booth,
wearing a tuxedo and cummerbund, while behind him were desks with
phones labeled, "Megabucks, chairman", "BobzBarter, purchasing",
etc. Visitors could call the main number (11), listen to Nita's
message, then dial any desk (1,2,3, etc.), leave a message, and
walk across the booth to hear the message repeated. It seemed
neat to me, and unlike most of what was shown at ICA, it's PC-
based.

CONTACT: Gary Hylton, INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY, 1000 Holcomb Woods
         Parkway, Suite 422, Roswell, GA 30076 [phone]

[***][6/10/86][***]
GTE OFFERS PC-PBX LINK-UP
GTE showed the PD-200 LinkUp at ICA for the first time. It's a
software package which lets PC users move text and graphics
between PCs using its OMNI SII and SIII PBXs. The software turns
the data into packets for transmission at low cost.

CONTACT: Nancy Colbert, GTE, 2500 West  Utopia Rd., Phoenix, AZ
         85027 [phone]

[***][6/10/86][***]
HARRIS CORP. VS. PACIFIC TELESIS
Harris Corp. announced formation of a Business Communication
Systems Division (BCSD) to provide network planning,
installation, operation and maintenance of voice, data, and
satellite systems. The new division will compete with groups like
Pacific Telesis' Spectrum subsidiary, as well as data network
companies like DCA and Infotron. Besides using their own
equipment, vice president Guy Numann said, they'll also rely on
gear from AT&T, Matsushita, and N.V. Philips.

CONTACT: Jim Murphy, HARRIS, Melbourne, FL 32919 [phone]

[***][6/10/86][***]
VOICE MAIL -- CHEAP?
Voice mail systems are the holy grail for telephone suppliers. By
digitizing the routing messages, they hope to eliminate phone tag
without computers. Genesis Electronics of Folsom, CA hopes to
crack the small business segment of this market with "Voice
Genie", a 2-port voice mail system for small businesses priced at
$8-11,000. (The company's larger "CINDI" system runs from $17,500-
43,900.)

CONTACT: Geoff Pfeiffer, GENESIS, Lake Forest Technical Center,
         103 Woodmere Road, Folsom, CA 95630 [phone]

[***][6/10/86][***]
PECAN BYTES...TI....QUADRAM....DCA.

TEXAS INSTRUMENTS has begun delivery of the Omni Laser 2015, a
limited-graphics laser printer with a new Ricoh engine, a new TI
controller, and a rated print speed of 15 pages per minute. The
OmniLaser 2108 and 2115, due in the fourth quarter, will run Post
Script. The 2015 won't. It comes from the peripheral products
division in Temple, TX.

CONTACT: Neil McGlone, TI, P.O. Box 809063, H-860, Dallas, TX
         75080 [phone]

QUADRAM has given MicroAmerica a 6-month exclusive to distribute
the QuadLaser printer in the US. In return, the QuadLaser will be
MicroAmerica's only laser printer. Quadram also inked a deal with
Digital Reserach to bundlezDRI's Concurrent PC-DOS Expanded
Memory with Quadram's EMS+ family of boards.

CONTACT: Jane Bator, Quadram, 7643 Shackleford Rd, Norcross, GA
         30093 [phone]

DCA announced enhancements to the emulation software included
with Smart Alec, its micro-to-IBM mini link. Smart Alec will not
be fully compatible with IBM's Application Program Interface, and
the Enhanced Graphics Adapter (EGA). The new software will also
let users run seven host sessions simultaneously.

CONTACT: Jolie Newman, DCA, 1000 Alderman Drive, Alpharetta, GA
         30201 [phone]


[***][6/10/86][***]
LOTUS ACQUIRES GCI:
Lotus Development made its biggest-ever acquisition last week--
the ninth in the past year-and-a-half. The 1-2-3 mavens reached
agreement to acquire Waltham, MA-based Graphic Communications
Incorporated (GCI) -- makers of the well-received "Freelance" and
"Graphwriter" graphics programs. Although terms of the agreement
weren't announced, industry analysts estimate that Lotus will pay
about $10 million for GCI. They also estimate that GCI, which is
privately-held, had sales of $8-$9 million last year. GCI will
operate as part of Lotus' Business Products Division, and will
give Lotus a strong leg up on the getting-hotter graphics market.

Meanwhile, insiders report that Lotus is beta testing an update
to version 2 of 1-2-3. The changes in version 2.01 are reportedly
minor, mainly making it easier to import 1-2-3 version 1A
spreadsheets. Although official Lotus spokespeople were mum about
its existence, version 2.01 is expected to be released within the
next few months.

Finally, Lotus is acknowledging the importance of vertical market
applications with a first-in-the-industry pilot program to
develop custom applications that work on Lotus products. Since
the first of this year, Lotus has been quietly offering Boston-
area companies contract programming services. A Lotus
spokesperson wouldn't comment on how much the service costs or
who's used it, but said it takes Lotus programmers an average of
2-3 days to develop custom applications. Lotus executives are
reportedly happy with the results of the pilot program, and are
considering expanding it.

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

[***][6/10/86][***]
NEW ACE FROM FRANKLIN:
NJ-based Franklin Computer Corp., which previously had legal
problems with Apple over compatibility issues, introduced a new
low-end Apple compatible this week at the Consumer Electronic
Show. Listing for $499, the Franklin Ace 500 is an all-in-one
unit with 256K of RAM, a built-in 5-1/4-inch disk drive, parallel
and serial ports, and both RGB and composite video outputs. The
Ace 500 will be shipped in August. The company says changes in
their system software precludes further problems with Apple
lawyers.

CONTACT:  Franklin Computer Corp., 1070 Bush Memorial Highway,
          Pennsauken, NJ 08110, 609-488-0600

[***][6/10/86][***]
FIRST SOFTWARE WORKFORCE DOWN:
It once had 350 employees, but before and since distributor First
Software filed for Chapter 11 in April, the company's workforce
has been gradually going down. At the time of filing, the company
had 190 employees. Last week, the latest cutback affected
accounting and warehouse personnel, leaving the company with 85
employees. A company spokesman says they're optimistic about the
future after a recent $3 million cash infusion. First Software
owes a great deal of money to major software companies, and is
currently on a c.o.d. basis with most of them.

CONTACT:  First Software, 17-21 Ballard Way, Lawrence, MA 01845,
          617-689-0077

[***][6/10/86][***]
DEC ACQUIRES CHIP TECHNOLOGY:
Digital Equipment Corporation has paid Trilogy Limited $10
million for exclusive limited-time rights to the Cupertino, CA-
based company's chip interconnect technology. Trilogy almost went
under after an aborted attempt to develop "wafer-scale
technology" -- packing 100 chips onto a superchip. Even though
that project was cancelled, Trilogy did develop unique methods of
cooling closely-packed chips; and that's the technology that DEC
has bought. The proprietary technology is reportedly a lower-cost
and more efficient method of cooling than the forced liquid
cooling that IBM uses in its mainframe computers.

It's not nice to fool with your best customers, but at least DEC
listens. Last year, DEC cancelled its annual OEM executive
seminar, where DECs numerous vertical-market developers came to
hobnob, announcing that they'd hold a series of trade shows
instead. The decision created an outcry from OEMs, who insisted
they wanted a single place to get together. The result: DEC's re-
instating the seminar, which will be held later this year
somewhere on the west coast.

Last year, the prestigious Institute of Electrical and Electronic
Engineers (IEEE) decided to present a new award to recognize
technical managers whose leadership has helped the computer
industry grow. Last week, they presented the 1986 Computer
Entrepreneur Award to DEC president Ken Olsen. A far cry from the
three-piece-suited MBA's who run most computer companies these
days, Olsen's the type of hands-on engineer that the IEEE
membership can identify with.

CONTACT:  Digital Equipment Corporation, The Mill, Maynard, MA
          01754, 617-897-5111

[***][6/10/86][***]
ALLOY METAMORPHISIZES IBM LAPTOP:
Ever notice how one of the biggest preoccupations of the computer
industry seems to be transformation? The latest example comes
from peripheral maker Alloy, which says it'll soon release an
add-on unit for the IBM PC Convertible that turns it into more of
a desktop PC. The StarBase-II will be a wedge-shaped unit that
fits under the convertible. It'll contain a 20-meg hard disk, 5-
1/4-inch floppy drive, and a parallel printer port. A tape drive
for backing up the hard disk will be optional. The price and
shipping date haven't yet been set.

CONTACT:  Alloy Computer Products, Inc., 100 Pennsylvania Ave.,
          Framingham, MA 01701, 617-875-6100

[***][6/10/86][***]
SPINNAKER/HAYDEN ACQUISITION UPDATE:
Spinnaker Software, which became the third-largest home software
company with the acquisition of Hayden Software several weeks
ago, evidently has other irons in the fire. Spinnaker president
William Bowman says they're planning several other acquisitions,
with at least one more major buyout by the end of the year.
Bowman declined to elaborate. The company still hasn't decided
exactly which of Hayden's software line will continue to be sold,
although the popular Sargon chess software and Scholastic
Aptitude Test preparation software are expected to remain.
Spinnaker also plans to expand its distribution beyond toy and
department stores; and the 1600 Radio Shack outlets.

CONTACT:  Spinnaker Software, 1 Kendall Square, Cambridge, MA
          02139, 617-494-1200

[***][6/10/86][***]
MAC COPROCESSOR POSTPONED:
When Apple rolled out the Mac Plus early this year, one of the
blizzard of press releases that accompanied the introduction was
General Computer's announcement of the Hyperdrive 2000, a 20-meg
internal disk drive and coprocessor board with a 12 MHz 68000 and
68881 math chip. But high-speed, high-power aficionado will have
to wait; a company spokesperson has admitted that a bug
discovered in beta-testing is going to delay the product. Release
of the $3195 board isn't expected until late summer. Under
Apple's agreement with General, installation of the board (or any
other General product) doesn't void the Apple warranty.

CONTACT:  General Computer Corp., 215 First Street, Cambridge, MA
          02142, 617-492-5500

[***][6/10/86][***]
BLUEFISH LASER-DISK SPECIAL:
Do you have megabytes of data that you'd like to have instant
access to? Then maybe you should consider a "limited time offer"
from Computer Access Corporation (CAC), which sells "Bluefish"
indexing software for the IBM PC. As reported previously in
NEWSBYTES, Bluefish indexes every word in a database at 4-
megs/hour. For the special summer offer, CAC will take up to 50
megs of Bluefish-indexed data and put it on 50 CD-ROMs. For your
$9800, you'll also get a Phillips CM 100 CD data player, an
interface card for your PC, and driver software. (Anyone for
NEWSBYTES on CD-ROM?)

CONTACT:  Computer Access Corporation, 26 Brighton St., Suite
          324, Belmont, MA 02178, 617-484-2412

[***][6/10/86][***]
XYVISION GOES PUBLIC:
This week's going-public company is Woburn, MA-based XyVision,
which makes professional desktop publishing systems. It's the
second Massachusetts maker of publishing equipment to announce
it's going public in as many week. (See last week's NEWSBYTES
NORTHEAST story about Interleaf.) Four-year-old XyVision had
sales of nearly $13 million last year. They'll be issuing 1.1
million shares, which will start at between $11.50 and $13.50,
and will be sold on the over-the-counter market.

CONTACT:  XyVision, Inc., 52 Cummings Park, Woburn, MA 01801,
          617-938-8095

[***][6/10/86][***]
KURZWEIL'S LOW-END MUSIC SYSTEM:
Now you too can play like Stevie Wonder. (Well maybe!) Stevie and
many other well-known musicians use a professional version of a
synthesizer from Kurzweil Music Systems, another one of
inventor/entrepreneur Ray Kurzweil's several companies. (See
NEWSBYTES May 27th issue for a report on his Voicewriter.) Now
Kurzweil's come out with a home version of the instrument. It's
called the Ensemble Grande; and although it looks a lot like a
piano, the $8000 unit is about the most sophisticated home
synthesizer you can buy. The Ensemble Grande, with 32 voices and
a rhythm section, can synthesize the sound of virtually any
instrument. And it has a MIDI port for connecting the unit to
your personal computer. You don't have to have a computer though;
the built-in 4-track digital tape recorder will store sequences
and the final product.

CONTACT:  Kurzweil Music Systems, 411 Waverly Oaks Rd., Waltham,
          MA 02154, 617-893-5900

[***][6/10/86][***]
MANAGEMENT BY EXAMPLE?
Do top executives feel still feel that typing on a keyboard
(computer or otherwise) is a job for secretaries? Are are they
just afraid of the beasts? Whichever (if either) you believe, a
study recently released by Kepner-Tregoe, a Princeton, NJ-based
management consulting firm, came up with some interesting
statistics. 64% of top-level executives said they believe that
computers help managers do their jobs better. But at the same
time more than half said they never use a computer. You figure it
out.



[***][6/10/86][***]
UNIVAC JAPAN PUSHES ITS 4TH GENERATION LANGUAGE:
UNIVAC Japan says it has been rewriting the company's 4th
generation language "MAPPER" for a variety of computers, such as
IBM Japan's 5550 family, Fujitsu's 9450 II, Matsushita's Operate
7000 and Sanyo's MBC6800.  Moreover, UNIVAC Japan has been
planning to adopt MAPPER for NEC's PC-9801 which is the most
popular 16-bit micro in Japan.  Due to its natural language
processing feature, MAPPER has gradually been getting popular
here.  The program offers various features including database,
word processor, spreadsheet and E-mail.

Meanwhile, UNIVAC Japan says that it won't merge with Japanese
subsidiary of Burroughs.  This announcement came just after the
merger of Sperry and Burroughs.  UNIVAC Japan's stocks have
currently been shared by Sperry and Mitsui Bussan Trading for
34.2 percent respectively.

CONTACT: UNIVAC Japan, Tokyo, 03-585-4111

[***][6/10/86][***]
FIRST UNIX SEMINAR IN JAPAN:
AT&T will hold the first meeting of its UNIX seminar "UNIX
System Software Technology Seminar" at Mita on July 1 and 2.
This seminar is intended to educate the Japanese people by
introducing the research work and the technologies, developed
by AT&T Bell Laboratories and AT&T Information Systems Institute
in the U.S.  At this seminar, the five members of the new
technology development team including Dr. Brian Kernighan will
give lectures on the prospect of the UNIX System V.

CONTACT: AT&T UNIX Pacific, Tokyo, 03-431-3305

[***][6/10/86][***]
APPLE AND TANDY TURN TO DISCOUNT CAMPAIGN:
Apple Japan started (6/5) a discount campaign of Japanese Mac
Plus "Mac Plus Kanji Talk".  During this campaign, the Kanji Talk
with Image Writer II costs US$4,106 (12 percent discount), and
the additional 800KB disk-drive set costs US$4,694 (13 percent
discout).  The campaign lasts until August 4.

CONTACT: Apple Japan, Tokyo, 03-582-9181

Meanwhile, the main distributor of Tandy "A & A Japan" has
started marketing TANDY 6000 at US$5,765, which is 41.7% lower
than the ordinary sales price.  A & A Japan says this amazing
discount price is to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Tandy
Computer Center in Ginza, Tokyo.  Also, it is to meet the yen's
appreciation to the U.S. dollar.

CONTACT: A & A Japan, Tokyo, 03-343-4171

[***][6/10/86][***]
IBM BEEFS UP ASIAN DIVISION:
In order to raid to the Asian market, IBM recently transferred
two vice presidents of IBM's headquarters to Asia Pacific Group in
Tokyo.  Those two people, Richard Garsner and Victor McDonald,
are now acting as the chiefs of the marketing and the management
service division respectively.  Asia Pacific Group was created
two years ago as IBM's major strategic base in Asia.  Total
number of staffers has grown to 500, including 200 Japanese.
IBM has constantly been preparing for the NEXT MOVE in this
region.

CONTACT: IBM Japan, Tokyo, 03-586-1111

[***][6/10/86][***]
FAMILY COMPUTER IN THE U.S.:
Nintendo, a Kyoto-based toy maker, has exhibited Family Computer
at Consumer Electronics Show in Chicago.  The company has already
begun shipping the product into the U.S. market on a regular
basis.  Those "FamiCons" have been sold with a toy robot and a
laser gun (immitation, of course).  The set costs US$148.

Meanwhile, Nintendo is expecting to start the FamiCon
network around fall in 1987.  The proprietary disk drive and
the low-cost telecom adapter need to be attached to the machine
to participate in the network.  According to a report, a wide
variety of services such as games, CAI programs, and home banking
are expected to be online.

CONTACT: Nintendo, Tokyo office, 03-254-1781
         Nintendo of America, State of Washington, 206-882-2040

[***][6/10/86][***]
<<< SUKIYAKI BYTES >>>

INTEL JAPAN'S NEW PARTNER -- According to a published report,
the unfortunate termination of dealership agreement between Intel
Japan and Tokyo Electron is due to the disaccord in marketing
strategy.  Semicon Systems (Tokyo) will act as Intel Japan's
major distributor, starting July.

LANGUAGE TRANSLATION SERVICE -- Three Japanese firms, including
Bravice and Simul, created (6/4) a firm to provide a training
course for a language translation.  The new firm has lots of
potential since Bravice is a noted producer of language transla-
tion programs, and also Simul is a noted service company of
language interpretation.  The service will be online through
NTT's PC network in July.

OSI TELECOM SOFTWARE -- Japan Tandem Computers, a subsidiary of
the U.S. firm, will market OSI-based telecommunication program
in August.  This program "OSI 4AM" was announced the the U.S.
in this past May.  Meanwhile,  NEC has also developed an OSI-
based telecom program "COM-XE".  The world seems to be moving
towards OSI standard.

FAIRCHILD TO PRODUCE 32-BIT MPU IN JAPAN -- Fairchild Semi-
conductor (CA, U.S.A.) will start producing its 32-bit MPU
dubbed "Clipper" at its Nagasaki plant next year.  A report says
that Fairchild plans to transfer the company's major production
line of Clipper to this Japanese plant.

NEC'S 32-BIT SUPERMINI -- NEC has developed two types of 32-bit
super-minicomputer "MS4100 series".  The new series support OSI
protocol and LAN feature.  NEC plans to ship 4,000 systems
in three years.


[***][6/10/86][***]
THE POWER OF XEN...
ACT or Apricot (depending on which side of the Atlantic you
bought your machine) announced this week that a range of
add-ons are to be launched for their 80286-based Xen.  As
mentioned when the machine was launched last year, an
expansion box - the XP - will be making an appearance in
stores soon.  Costing 199 pounds ($300), the XP is capable
of taking two "long" IBM expansion cards.  Not a bad price
for what is essentially a metal case.

Also falling out of ACT's press release posting tray is a
slimline IBM-style 5.25 inch disc drive for data interchange
with Big Blue's discs.  That's another 299 pounds ($450)
please.

High resolution capability comes to the Xen with the
announcement of a colour card.  Weighing in at 299 pounds
($450) the colour card allows a colour pallette of 64
colours to make up a 640 by 350 pixel picture.  Of course,
now that you've got your Xen working in colour, you'd like
to phone all your friends to tell them the good news -
You'll need the Xen-tel telephone/modem unit (399
pounds/$600).  Business prices, business power.  NEWSBYTES
UK bureau will stick with its Z80/6502 combo that costs
less!

[***][6/10/86][***]
 ...PUSHES APRICOT OVERSEAS:
Whilst ACT pushes the Xen still harder in the UK, in its
bid to nudge IBM's 40 per cent market share (see later
story), the firm is pushing the boundaries of its business
still further in the international markets.  Last week saw
the signing of the company's first distribution deal in
Canada, which is worth 8,000 computers with a combined worth
of 20 million pounds ($30m).  In addition to this, ACT say
they are also on the lookout for similar deals in the US, a
market from which they withdrew back in April, when the
company sold its majority-owned US subsidiary, Apricot Inc.

Ed Sherman, deputy CEO for the Apricot group is quoted this
week as saying that he would "dearly love" to find a partner
in the West German market, from which Apricot pulled out late
last year, following the closure of its subsidiary there.
Sherman says that discussions are taking place, but that
nothing has been forthcoming as yet.  Apricot need the
overseas markets a lot.  Last year saw pre-tax losses of 4.5
million pounds ($6.75m) tipping the balance sheet, and this
year the company is hoping to reduce that figure.

Contact: Apricot UK, 300 Aztec West,
         Almondsbury, Bristol, BS12 4AW.
         Tel: [phone].

[***][6/10/86][***]
EMAIL TAKES A LESSON IN NETWORKING:
Whilst you can send Sourcemail on The Source, you can't
communicate with users on, say, CompuServe.  That's a sad
fact about the email systems in the US.  Only CompuServe has
seen fit to link in with MCI-Mail in North America.  That
situation is mirrored here in the UK, where no less than six
email vendors vie with each other for users.  British
Telecom, with their Telecom Gold system (an affliate to the
Dialcom system), are spearheading a campaign/discussion to
allow users of one system to send email to those of another.
Principle to such inter-networking is the so-called X400
message handling standard, which, when (and if) implemented,
will allow messages on one system to be switched via the MHS
centre to another email system.

Whilst the public at large are unaware of goings-on behind
closed doors at British Telecom, NEWSBYTES UK can
exclusively reveal the existance of an actual BT X400 system
in the UK.  The system is up and running, and capable of
accepting and transmitting email to/from several networks.
One interesting by-product of the X400 switching centre is
the ability to "log-on" to the system, and send/receive
messages to any of the UK's email systems - and that's
without actually being a member of *any* of them!  Sources
close to BT expect the X400 MHS (Message Handling System) to
be unveiled later this year.

Meanwhile, across the North Sea, a group of European email
service vendors met the other week in Amsterdam for the
first meeting of what will become the European branch of the
Electronic Mail Association, an organisation with 40
members, currently based in Philadelphia.  All conference
attendees are playing things very close to their chests, but
NEWSBYTES UK can reveal that X400 was discussed at the
meeting.

Contact: Telecom Gold, 60-68 St Thomas Street,
         London SE1 3QU,
         Tel: [phone].

[***][6/10/86][***]
BIG BLUE'S MARKET SHARE CUT:
UK computer consultants ROMTEC have just issued the results
of a dealer-survey which surprised some industry watchers -
NEWSBYTES UK included.  The survey shows that, far from
gaining market share in a PC-dominated enviroment, Big Blue
UK have actually *lost* 10 per cent of the market, which
leaves them with a mere 40 per cent slice of the pie.  Aw,
my heart bleeds for 'em!

[***][6/10/86][***]
TANDY MODEL 100 REBORN AGAIN:
Yes, it's laptop time again folks!  Quietest product launch
of the year award goes to Tandy, who, as of the 1st of June
officially phased out their Model 100 portable, and phased
in the Model 102.  With a retail price of $399 (no UK price
as yet), the new 24K laptop is totally hard- and software
compatible with the old Model 100, because it's (you guessed
it) a Model 100 in a new case!  Aw shucks.  Still, the
plug-in ROM bus-bar has been moved from the machine's
underside to the back, jostling for position with the RS232,
modem, printer and cassette ports.  The net result of this
is 1.5 pound saving in weight, and a case that's a whole
quarter-inch slimmer.

Contact: Tandy UK, 1/2 Seacoal Lane,
         London EC4.
         Tel: [phone].

[***][6/10/86][***]
A LONG WAIT FOR THE RT:
If you were thinking of ordering the new(ish) IBM RT, think
again.  "Personal Computing Business World", a UK trade
weekly, reports that IBM now have enough orders for their RT
6150 machine to last them 30 months.  The paper quotes a
source "close to the company" as saying that the machine's
waiting list for the (R)educed (I)nstruction (S)et
(C)omputer is now two and a half years long, and that IBM
has a voice-card on the way.  To date, 45 dealers have been
appointed in the UK for the up-market machine, which uses
AIX, a Unix-like operating system.

Contact: IBM US 800-447-4700.

[***][6/10/86][***]
SINCLAIR PORTABLE LOSES IT'S SHINE:
This week's "Popular Computing Weekly" magazine (which seems
to have a direct RS232 link into Sir Clive Sinclair's
brain) reports that the genius inventor, who recently sold
much of his empire to Amstrad, has now dropped plans to use
his flat-screen TV technology in the much publicised, but
never seen, Pandora portable computer.  Sir Clive's main
reasoning behind the sudden attitude shift is said to be due
to the flat screen's critical viewing angle and power
consumption.  Instead, Sinclair is now looking at
conventional LCD screens as a display for his Pandora
portable.  Sir Clive producing conventional computers?  Tell
me it isn't so!
==

[***][6/10/86][***]
CANADIAN TRADE SKIRMISH HITS COMPUTERS
Canada last week retaliated against U.S. computers after
President Reagan suddenly imposed a heavy tariff on cedar
shingles from Canada. An angry Prime Minister Brian Mulroney hit
back with tariffs on computers parts, semiconductors, books, rail
cars, and various other goods that move north from the U.S. Among
the further fatalities is an arrangement made months ago for free
trade in computer parts among the U.S., Canada and Japan. Canada
is pulling out. The "Washington Post" editorialized:
"Statistically, these new tariffs won't make much of a dent in
the huge flows of trade across the border in both directions. But
the atmosphere has cooled a little and, at a moment when the two
countries are beginning to negotiate a broad agreement for free
trade, things are now moving in the wrong direction."

[***][6/10/86][***]
GAO HAMMERS DEFENSE DATA PROJECT
The General Accounting Office, the congressional watchdog agency,
says the Defense Department is doing a poor job automating
technical data repositories, a $144 million program. DOD has five
projects under way to automate the mass of parts specifications,
detailed engineering drawings, testing procedures and the like
that are used to bid out spare parts for weapons systems. Most of
the data is kept on aperture cards, a standard 80-column punch
card with a 35-millimeter filmstrip mounted on the card
containing a picture of the drawing of specification. The cards
are handled manually. The five DOD projects to automate the data
handling, says GAO, "have resulted in duplicative and nonstandard
approaches to automating repositories." For example, says the
report, the Army, Air Force and Navy are pursuing independent
digital projects. The project run by the Defense Logistics Agency
does not include digital systems "because the agency believes
the technology is unproven." DLA underestimated the workload the
project would cause. So "it acquired computer equipment that does
not meet its needs."

CONTACT: U.S. Government Accounting Office, Washington D.C.,
         20548. Report GAO/IMTEC-86-7.

[***][6/10/86][***]
COMMODORE REWORKS THE C64
Commodore International last week announced a new version of the
venerable C64 computer and a new, graphics-based operating system
for it which also runs on older 64K machines and the newer 128K
computer. The restyled computer, called the 64C, resembles the
sleeker C128. It will come bundled with GEOS, for "graphic
environment operating system," and with applications including a
word processor, a paint program, telecommunications software, and
desktop utilities including a notepad, alarm clock, calendar and
calculator. GEOS also features a read/write fast loader which the
company says will operate the Commodore 1541 disk drive up to
seven times faster than normal. Buyers should be able to pick up
a new 64C with a disk drive and GEOS for around $400. The company will sell
GEOS and the applications program separately for $59.95.

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

[***][6/10/86][***]
PARLEZ VOUS MCI MAIL?
MCI has reached agreement with France Cables et Radio, a
subsidiary fo the French PTT, to permit MCI Mail subscribers in
the U.lS. to exchange messages with subscribers to FCR's Missive
service in France. The agreement is the first international
interconnection between previously non-compatible public
electronic mail system, according to MCI. The interconnection
will be between MCI's proprietary Link protocol. MCI says the new
service "paves the way for developing future message handling
services (MHS x.400) on a worldwide basis."

CONTACT: MCI Mail, 2000 M St. NW, Washington D.C., 20036, 202-
         293-4255.

[***][6/10/86][***]
SPERRY LANDS AN ARMY WHOPPER
Sperry Corp. (or whatever its name is) has won a $250 million
Army contract to provide 1,800 UNIX-based minicomputer systems.
The Sperry 5000/80 system was the Army's choice in the
competitive procurement to provide office automation, supply,
ordering, inventory accounting, finance, budget, and scheduling.
The contract runs for six years. The award is one of the
government's largest ever for UNIX systems.

CONTACT: Sperry Corp., Blue Bell, Pa., 215-542-4213.

[***][6/10/86][***]
BUSINESSLAND-MBI MERGER COLLAPSES
The deal that would have seen Businessland take over MBI Business
Centers has fallen through. According to MBI, Businessland tried
to change the terms of the agreement, which called for a stock
switch valued at about $75 million. MBI sources say that nothing
really changed that would have led Businessland to change its
valuation of the Rockville, Md.-based retail computer chain.

Coincidentally, MBI last week reported a 41 percent increase in
earnings for the quarter ended April 30. Earnings for the 32
computer centers were $588,000, or 12 cents per share, compared
to $415,000 (13 cents per share) in the first quarter last year.
Sales were $28.4 million compared to $20.9 million a year ago.

CONTACT: MBI Business Centers, 1800 Rockville Pike, Rockville,
         Md., 20854, 301-279-0551.

[***][6/10/86][***]
BRITS TAKE DIALCOM
British Telecom has consummated its d%aw to take Dialcom over
from ITT. The terms were not disclosed. The two started talking last
December, with discussions about possible joint electronic mail
ventures. Then Telecom offered to buy the whole Dialcom shooting
match. ITT agreed. ITT picked up Dialcom in 1982, when the
company had revenues of $12 million. According to Dialcom
officials, the 1986 revenues totaled $18.9 million, with a
customer base of 100,000. ITT also tried to sell a piece of
Dialcom that handles constituent mail for a number of congressmen
to Aristotle Industries, a Connecticut firm that markets
campaign software. That deal fell through, and now British
Telecom is trying to find a buyer for the time-sharing
constituent mail business, which has been losing its market share
to minis and micros based in the congressman's office.

CONTACT: ITT Dialcom, 600 Maryland Ave. SW, Washington, DC,
         20024, 202-488-0550.

[***][6/10/86][***]
FEC TO OFFER LESS, FOR LESS, FASTER
The Federal Election Commission has revised a contract with
Digital Equipment Corp. that will increase the speed at which
campaign contribution and expenditure information comes in and
goes out to those making inquiries at the agency. For those who
hook their computers into the FEC system, the hourly charge will
drop from $50 to $22. But computerization of the names of
individual donors, which allowed careful analysts to find out
just who the big backers of political campaigns and parties
really are, has been dropped for budgetary reasons.

CONTACT: Federal Election Commission, 1325 K. St NW, Washington,
         D.C., 20463, 800-424-9530.

[***][6/10/86][***]
BUSINESS INDEX HOLDS STEADY
The Washington Computer Business Index continues to hand around
the middle 200s, as it has done for most of the summer. The index
for the June 2 issue of "Washington Business" was 223, on 11 and
a half pages of computer display advertising. Non-computer
display ads totaled just shy of 20 pages.



[***][6/10/86][***]
SECURITIES COMMISSION STUDIES ONLINE DATA:
The provincial government will fund a study on the
feasibility of using a computerised system to process
securities filed with the Ontario Securities Commission,
says OSC chairman Stanley Beck.  "I have made such an
electronic filing system a major priority of my term in
office."  Currently, the U.S. Securities And Exchange
Commission (SEC) runs a system called EDGAR--Electronic
Data Gathering And Retrieval--on an experimental basis.  It
and the system being contemplated by OSC will let
companies file, update and retrieve information required by
provincial and federal regulators online, creating
"electronic prospectuses" (prospecti?) which can be handled
faster and more economically by brokers.  20% of the
Toronto Stock Exchange's (TSE) volume is automated, and
that figure rises to 80% of Tokyo's 14,060 listed stocks.
The major fears of opponents to the online securities
system are that major international information computer
networks, such as Reuters Holding PLC of Britain, could
lure traders from the floors of stock exchanges worldwide.

[***][6/10/86][***]
TELIDON FOR COMPUTERTIME:
Computertime Network Corp., of Montreal, Quebec has been
awarded the contract to manage and operate the computer
system at the Palais De Congres, the city's main convention
centre.  207 terminals control the Palais' Tele-Guide
service, a videotex database of tourist information.  The
system also handles administrative and accounting tasks
for the centre.  Computertime specialises in the design,
installation, and operation of computer systems, and will
use the opportunity to interface with Telidon technology on
the Palais job, in the furthering of its own development
and marketing of videotex software.

[***][6/10/86][***]
CANADIAN SOFTWARE FOR U.S. 007'S:
Fort George Meade, MD's National Security Agency (NSA)--a
large and very hush-hush spymill--has gone into the
production of its own silicon chips, but has turned to a
Canadian company for software to automate the process.
I.P. Sharp Associates, of Toronto, Ontario will sell
software for the automation of semiconductor manufacturing
equipment to NSR through its recently-formed U.S. unit,
Promis Systems Corp. (Santa Clara, CA).  Sharp has been
marketing such software for two years, and "despite the
recession throughout the world semiconductor industry,
Promis has been the fastest-growing unit of I.P. Sharp,"
according to Promis prexy Don Smith.  The need for security
has lead NSR to do its own in-house chipmaking, he added.
NSR's chips are especially designed for code-making and
breaking; and the Promis software has been "enhanced" for
this special high-security application.  "Our software will
track all material, up to waste scraps," says Mr. Smith.

[***][6/10/86][***]
INDUSTRY APPOINTMENTS:
Crowntek, of Markham, Ontario announces the appointment of
Donald P. Woodley as Vice-President, Sales, reporting to
Donald. O. Wood, President of Crowntek Communications Inc.,
which represents most Crowntek operations in Canada.  Mr.
Woodley has previously held senior positions with several
companies, and was most recently National Sales Manager for
a firm specialising in sales and management training.
Crowntek operates in the United States and overseas through
its subsidiary, Computer Corporation Of America, a leading
researcher, designer, developer and supplier of database
management software systems.

Patricia A. Lysiak has been appointed to the position of
Vice-President, Retail Systems Division, of NCR Canada Ltd.
(Toronto, Ontario), responsible for marketing a range of
systems for merchandisers, food, drug, and hospitality
industries.  Ms. Lysiak has been with NCR for 21 years,
having graduated from Chamberlain School Of Retailing, in
Boston, MA.  NCR Canada Ltd. has operated since 1902, and
now develops, markets, and services a wide line of
computer systems, terminals, data processing services and
business forms and supplies.

CONTACT: NCR Canada Ltd., 6865 Century Avenue, Mississauga,
         Ontario, L5N 2E2

[***][6/10/86][***]
WATERLOO CIM CENTRE OPENS:
The University Of Waterloo, a world leader in computer
education, has opened a new centre for computer integrated
manufacturing (CIM).  The prime function of the new centre,
according to its founding director Melvyn Marple (wasn't
he in "Dr. Strangelove," or was that...? Oh, never mind...)
will be trifold: the solution of problems for specific
businesses; educational and research facilities; and the
training of engineering graduates in CIM expertise.  Dr.
Marple is on loan to Waterloo from IBM Canada Ltd.
(Markham, Ontario), where he is a computer automation
expert.  CIM's strength is in co-ordinating various
computer-related activities such as robotics, climate
control, and inventories which are usually handled
separately.  "There are a lot of companies--both large
corporations and even small manufacturers--who have
automated or computerised various components of production,
and who need to integrate these islands of automation.  But
no-one can show them how," says Dr. Marple.  The new
centre creates the necessary "umbrella."

CONTACT: IBM Canada Ltd., 350 Steeles Avenue East, Markham,
         Ontario, L3R 2Z1, 416/474-2111

         University Of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue
         West, Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 3G1

[***][6/10/86][***]
SUPERFAST CHIPS ON THE WAY:
A new material co-developed by McGIll University and the
University Of Montpelier, France promises to offer chips
hundreds of times faster than those presently on the
market--four times faster than super-fast gallium arsenide
superlattices already allowing computers 600 times faster
than conventional silicon-based hardware.  McGill's
Professor Bela Lombos attributes the speed of the new lead
gadolinium telluride (LGT) to the mobility of electrons in
the rare-earth semiconductor material.  Conventional
superlattices, developed by IBM in the late 1970's, are
made up of alternating layers of material only atoms
thick; the new material, according to Prof. Lombos, is a
three-dimensional crystal which can be grown without the
need of sophisticated laboratory equipment.  Prof. Lombos
and his French collaborator, Michel Averous, discovered LGT
accidentally during research into bubble memory chips.
Although the structure of LGT is unlike that of a
conventional semiconductor, it appears to function
identically; further research is being carried out to
determine why.  The crystal can be doped to produce both
positive and negative semiconductors, suggesting that
almost any device could be made from it.