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/V165

Text File | 1991-09-23 | 68KB | 1,442 lines

[***][7/29/86][***]
APPLE BUYS SHARES IN ITSELF
In the firm's first stock buy-back, Apple Computer is purchasing
5 million shares of its own stock for $167 million.  The move is
clearly a message to the world that Apple wants to be perceived
as strong and confident--and that it thinks its shares are
undervalued.  And the move worked. Within 2 days of Monday's (July 21)
announcement, the price of Apple stock shot up 10%, making it
the third most active issue on the NASDAQ Wednesday.  Currently
the price per share hovers around $34.  Apple plans to use the
repurchased shares principally in connection with employee stock
programs.

CONTACT:  Marianne Lettieri, APPLE COMPUTER, 408/973-3883

[***][7/29/86][***]
WHAT A GUY
Guy Kawasaki, affectionately known as Apple's software evangelist,
just designed an ad, which appeared in INFOWORLD, thanking his
long-time associate Alain Rossmann.  Rossman has left Apple to
work with Andy Hertzfeld and Burrell Smith, two more Apple alumni,
at a new company in Palo Alto called Radius, Inc.  Says the ad,
"Sure Guy likes to take all the credit, but you deserve it."
Seconding that emotion were 52 others who work with or for Apple.

[***][7/29/86][***]
TWO NEW FROM SOFTWARE PUBLISHING
Two widely different software lines were introduced this week
by Mountain View, Ca.-based Software Publishing Corporation.
"PFS: First Choice" is a $149 integrated program equipped with
word processor, spreadsheet, file manager, and communications
features.  The second line is for advanced users and is called
the "PFS: Professional Series" which includes Professional Write,
Professional Plan, and Professional Network.  The two lines
straddle the fence between novice and advanced users, and
virtually replace all previous products in the PFS line.  They
also are designed to compete with the more powerful software offered
by Ashton-Tate, Lotus, Microsoft, and other companies.
Software Publishing also hopes the programs restore some luster to
its financially tarnished status (Software Publishing has
suffered under its first quarterly loss in June).

CONTACT:  Kim Domino, SOFTWARE PUBLISHING, 415/962-8910

[***][7/29/86][***]
BORLAND BUYS SINGULAR SOFTWARE
Scotts Valley's Borland International has just puchased the firm
which makes and markets "Interlace," a database program for the
Macintosh.  No price was put on Borland's purchase of Singular
Software of San Jose.  Singular's Bob Wells, VP, was quoted as
saying, "We've always felt that we haven't had the marketing
expertise to turn Interlace into the product that it should be.
With Ashton Tate coming into the market and with the consolidation
in the software market, this was the right thing to do."
He added that his company has sold 3,000 copies of Interlace.
Borland will redesign the product and resell it for $99.95 with
the title "Reflex for the Macintosh" later this year.

CONTACT:  Robin Shepherd, BORLAND INTERNATIONAL, 408/438-8696

[***][7/29/86][***]
ELECTRONIC MUSIC FEST
The Macintosh and the Amiga will star at a series of all-electronic
concerts July 31-August 1 in The Lab, 1805 Divisidero St. in
San Francisco.  Called "The Network Muse:  The Automatic Band
Festival," the concert will feature a network of Macs controlled
through a MIDI system, homebrew electronic instruments, and the
premier of the Hierarchical Music Specification Language,
designed at Mills College in Oakland.  The use of "network bands"
should be interesting; the computers and keyboards will be
interacting without human assistance.

CONTACT:  Chris Brown, THE LAB, 415/387-4087

[***][7/29/86][***]
NASA AMES CLAIMS POWER
The world's most powerful computer is said to have just gone online
at Nasa Ames Research Center in Mountain View, Ca.  The Cray-2,
capable of performing 250 million calculations per second, has
a 256-million-word memory, supporting processors with extensive
graphics capabilities, and a price tag of $120 million.   "NAS"
(Numerical Aerodynamic Simulation) will be dedicated primarily
to aerospace simulation exercises; 150 scientists with 97
research projects are using the system.  One of the most
significant projects is the design of the National Aerospace
plane which will hopefully be able to fly at 15,000 mph.

[***][7/29/86][***]
BRIEFS--

COMPUTERLAND plans to expand its TV network, now broadcast to
20 stores, to 100 by next year.  CLTV is a closed-circuit
satellite network that features product vendors giving tips,
demonstrations, and pep talks for their products.

SYSTEMS INDUSTRIES of Milpitas, Ca. has charged DIGITAL EQUIPMENT
CORP. with violating antritrust laws.  The small firm is
concerned about Digital's "price bundling" that has DEC throwing
in its own peripherals on purchases of DEC computers.  Systems
Industries seeks an injunction and unspecified damages.

MICROSOFT CORPORATION reports its net income in the fourth
quarter more than doubled, reaching $11.5 million compared to $5.6
million this time last year.  Earnings are up 63%.

TANDEM COMPUTERS INC. also reports good news--and what good
news!  The firm boasts of earning $18 million in the last quarter
compared to $2.3 million this time last year.  That's a six-
fold increase.  Tandem attributes its vast fortunes to a
decline in the value of the dollar compared to foreign
currencies.

BYTE MAGAZINE will provide its program listings, featured in
past and current issues, on 10 disk formats starting in September.
Readers can order individual or a year's worth of disks, says
Phil Lemmons, Byte's Editor in Chief.  Byte is also making its
source code, which accompanies articles, available in printed
form.  A card in the September issue will explain the program.

BRODERBUND SOFTWARE of San Rafael, Ca. is beefing up "Bank
Street Writer" by adding spelling corrector with 60,000 word
dictionary, an online thesaurus, hard-disk compatibility, a
faster editor, and pull down menus.  Called "Bank Street
Writer Plus," the new version costs $100.  Upgrades are
available for $30.

Turbo Pascal programmers may take an interest in a new product from
TURBO POWER (Campbell, Ca.).  Called "T-DebugPLUS," it's a
symbolic run-time debugger providing instant access to the
Turbo Pascal editor and compiler.  The $60 program can be had
mail order by calling 800-538-8157 (outside California) or 800-
672-3470 (inside California).

LUMA TELECOM says GTE-Northwest has become the first US phone
company to distribute "Luma," its picturephone.  The phone will
be sold through GTE-Northwest's 14 retail stores in Washington,
Oregon, an Idaho.  This is Luma Telecom's second major distributor;
The Sharper Image, based in San Francisco, agreed to sell the
Luma phone through its showrooms and catalog.

[***][7/29/86][***]
NAME
The use of the word "technology" in the business of naming a
company is pretty common in the computer and technology business
but it wasn't back in the early '60's when Maurice Krug named
his firm Technology, Inc.  In fact, Krug claims to have been
the first to use "technology" in a company name.  Alas, he does
not think immitation is the sincerest form of flattery.  He's
so disgusted that everyone and their neighbors have used the
word in titling their firms (7,000 according to his trademark
attorney), he's changing his Dayton, Ohio firm's name--to Krug
International.  So much for pioneers.

[***][7/29/86][***]
QUOTE OF THE WEEK

 "On June 13, 1986, the management of Activision officially
  acquired a crabby old dungeon-master, a strangled socialite,
  a band of cutthroats, a thousand tea drinking platypuses,
  and a giant sea slug."

        --from a new ad proclaiming the merger of Activision and
                Infocom, referring to the games Zork, Suspect,
                Cutthroats, Wishbringer, and Seastalker

[***][7/29/86][***]
QUADRAM, COMSELL ROLL OUT NEW SUPER-BOX
QuadVision is a souped-up PC using either CD-ROM or laserdisks
for storage. Quad-president Bob Brown and Ben Dyer, president of
Comsell, which is designing software for the box, demonstrated it
at press conferences in New York and Boston last week.

The question for QuadVision, even its designers admit, is what do
you do with it? The demo involved sales and training for Snapper
lawn mowers (Snapper parent Fuqua Industries is based in
Atlanta). Comsell software engineer Mike Lawrence called the
results "Desktop Video," but admitted it will work best only with
still pictures, because the IBM PC-compatible box itself lacks
the power to do more. The package, which costs about $5,000 plus
software, can include a frame grabber. "Maybe when the 80386
comes out in quantity," he speculated, "you might have a desktop
video studio."

CONTACT: Jane Bator, CAM GROUP, [phone] or Mike Lawrence,
         COMSELL, 500 Tech Parkway, Atlanta, GA  [phone]

[***][7/29/86][***]
PUT AN APPLE II IN YOUR MACINTOSH
II-in-a-Mac is from Computer Applications Inc., a small firm in
Raleigh, NC. Company president Steve Pierce says his Apple II
emulator for the Mac costs just $89.95, runs everything for the
IIc, IIe and II-plus, but faster, and will work with the 68020
upgrade boards for the Macintosh which are now making the rounds.
President Steve Pierce told this IBM PC user that, with a RAM
Work II card, you can use up to 4 Megabytes of memory in the
Apple to run your old stuff. "The screen can be expanded to full
Mac size (a picture in INFOWORLD had II applications running
only in a tiny Mac window) and the transfer rate is 19.2
kilobaud" between the two machines.

CONTACT: Steve Pierce, COMPUTER APPLICATIONS INC., 12813 Lindley
         Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614 [phone]

[***][7/29/86][***]
MORE COMPUTER STORE NEWS, ALL OF IT BAD
The parent of Microworks, a PC-sales outfit based in Norcross
which tried to follow Micro Mart's lead in the market, has filed
for Chapter 11. And "The Wall Street Journal" reports that Future
Information Systems, the chain owned by Computone Systems Inc. of
Atlanta which had experienced 3 consecutive quarterly losses, has
been put up for sale.

CONTACT: Bill Robeson, COMPUTONE SYSTEMS INC., 1 Dunwoody Pl.,
         Atlanta, GA 30329 [phone]

[***][7/29/86][***]
MOBILE LOSES SOME HIGH-TECH INDEPENDENCE AS INS IS BOUGHT
Integrated Network Systems Inc. of Mobile, which makes micro-
mainframe connection boards, signed a definitive agreement to be
acquired by ICOT Corp.  of San Jose, CA. The price was 1 million
shares of ICOT, worth about $9.5 million at the close of trading
July 24. ICOT makes data communications equipment such as
workstations, line concentrators, protocol converters, X.25 PADs,
and sexy stuff like that.

INS president Dennis Abbott becomes head of the new ICOT
subsidiary and called the idea an "obvious benefit," whatever
that means. ICOT president Arnold Silverman said he'd keep INS
sales channels intact and move some of his own products through
them.

CONTACT: Steve Oliver, INS, P.O. Box 91395, Mobile, AL 36691
         [phone]

[***][7/29/86][***]
TRANSTEXT PROVING VIDEOTEX JUST MIGHT WORK      *EXCLUSIVE*
"Videotex is part of the solution to consumer marketing," says
Doug Bulleit. He's been saying this since 1981. In 100 homes
north of Atlanta, he revealed last week, he's proving it just
might work.

TranstexT is a product of Integrated Communications Services
Inc., a consortium including the local power company, phone
company, newspaper, and a host of others. In the Roswell test,
all of these players will plug their meters and controls and
wires into one gray box somewhat smaller than a VCR. (Production
models should be the size of the tape.) The TV is the terminal
screen, a touchtone phone the control console.  Banking,
classified ads, power use, fancy calling features, etc., are all
accessed in the same way through the same devices. Watch the TV
and touch the telephone keypad.

"The technology is tertiary," says Bulleit. "The real issues are
how adaptive consumers are to more choices." The answer the test
gives off: very.  Users are showing off, making many
transactions a day, he says. Better yet, the same connector can
be used to deliver a myriad of other things: security, messaging,
the lights, you name it. Also audiotex (976 numbers), messaging
(MCI Mail with voice), and home shopping, which exist now but
don't have a comfortable route to buyers. After the tests end in
December some decisions will be made, General Manager Ray
Spratlin adds.  Current schedules call for all this to come to
market in maybe 2 years. "Come to market" means tested, mass-
produced, and maybe (if service sellers pay the bills) dare we
say FREE?

CONTACT: Meg Owens, ICS, PO Box 767968, Roswell, GA 30076,
         [phone]

[***][7/29/86][***]
PECAN BYTES (with comments from the reporter like this)

* THE ATLANTA MARKET CENTER turned 25. The press kit announcing
all this says not one word about Inforum, their high-tech mart.
(In an organization so high on appearances, this is significant.)

* TANDY, Ft. Worth, TX, scheduled a press conference at the
Waldorf Astoria in New York, 10 AM July 30, where John Roach will
roll out its new products for 1986. No Comdex, no dancing girls.
(Rumors DO NOT include robots with painted-on pinstriped suits to
replace the present sales force.)

* FORETECH, Tallahassee, FL, the actual developer of Mirror, was
added as a party to the Microstuf vs. SoftKlone suit. Judge
William O'Kelley is still ruling on preliminary discovery motions
in the action, through which Microstuf, maker of Crosstalk XVI,
seeks to exorcise the $50 clone from the market. (Now that
everyone's in the picture, all you lawyers smile and say
"billable hours.")

* PC LIMITED, Austin, TX, chairman Michael Dell, 21, told "MIS
Week" his clone-maker is "doing something to put them {IBM} out
of business".  He projected 1986 sales for his firm of $75
million.  (Oh, to be 21 again, eh?)

* CARDCO, Wichita, KS, the large manufacturer of Commodore
peripherals, has reportedly gone the Chapter 11 route. (That
means trouble for everyone else in that market, most of whom
likely had payables outstanding with them.)

*QMS Inc, Mobile, AL,  has hired a firm in the Carolinas to
develop a Macintosh interface to the Mobile-based company's large
line of laser printers. A fall release is possible. (Mac owners,
competition is coming.)

*EXCALIBUR SOURCES INC., Atlanta, has finished a UNIX version of
its Exsell telemarketing support system. It lets salesmen share
their client info with each other.


FORBES-ISM OF THE WEEK

             WHO GOES TO COMPUTER STORES? PROSPECTS.
           That's why you don't. Only "dummies" do now.



[***][7/29/86][***]
USC GRADE-SCAM DEFENDANT PLEADS GUILTY
Charged with altering grades for pay by using USC's computer
system, Darryl Gillard pleaded guilty last week and faces up to
two years in prison.  That is, if his plea bargain with the Los
Angeles County District Attorney's office is honored by the
sentencing judge.  Originally charged with seven counts of
illegal computer access and one count of selling cocaine to an
undercover officer, Gillard's lawyers advised their client to
cooperate with prosecutors in a related case in exchange for
dropping six of their computer crime charges.  Gillard could
have served up to six additional years in prison if convicted on
those counts.

Deputy District Attorney Stephen Plafker said the guilty pleas
Gillard filed were not contingent on his testimony against the
alleged middleman in the computer crime and cocaine ring,
Mehrdad Amini, but that Gillard "may be able to get a better
deal" if he does cooperate.  The bottom-line choice for Gillard
is to decide between two years doing hard time in the Gray-Bar
Hotel, or perhaps a year spent doing community service, followed
by probation.

Gillard was accused last April of taking payoffs ranging from
$500 to $2,000 to improve the transcripts of USC students by
using the University's academic records computer system.  Just
as his position as a records clerk with the school was being
phased out, Gillard allegedly changed the grades of as many as
43 students, 14 of whom have seen their transcripts put on
"permanent hold" after the scam was discovered.

Gillard will discover on August 20 whether the sentencing judge
handling his case will go along with the plea-bargain
arrangement.  According to Plafker, Gillard's attorneys could
withdraw his guilty pleas if the judge decides not to honor the
agreement with prosecutors.

[***][7/29/86][***]
KAYPRO RETURNS TO PROFITABILITY WITH $809,636 GAIN
Kaypro Corp. of Solana Beach reports that it earned $809,636 in
its third fiscal quarter ended May 30.  That's up from a $6.2-
million loss in the same quarter a year ago.  However, the IBM-
compatible maker is still in the red -- to the tune of nearly $1
million -- for the first nine months of the year.  Sales of
Kaypro computers brought in about $20 million for the most
recent quarter.

Accompanying the press announcement containing the figures was
the company's slick 30K report, as required by the Securities
and Exchange Commission (SEC).  Included in this annual overview
of Kaypro's operations and selected financial data were some
interesting tidbits.  For instance, the report shows that four
out of five individuals on the Kaypro managment team are related
to founder Andrew Kay (Kay, his wife Mary, sons Allan and
David), that Kaypro claims its computers are "Made in America"
for the purpose of government and military contracts (perhaps
"Assembled" would be a more accurate term, as nearly all Kaypro
computer components are made in the Orient), and that the Kaypro
PCs use Intel 8088 microprocessors (they really use NEC V20
chips).  Details, details....

CONTACT:  KAYPRO CORP., 533 Stevens Ave., Solana Beach, CA 92075
          [phone]

[***][7/29/86][***]
JUGI TANDON AND OTHERS SUED FOR SECURITIES FRAUD
The chairman of Tandon Corp., Jugi Tandon, and five other senior
executives of the Chatsworth-based computer and diskette drive
maker have been sued for making misleading statements to inflate
the price of company stock.  The suit, filed by a New Jersey
investor, claims that the executives made a total of $24 million
on sales of Tandon stock, inflated by their own misleading
statements about the financial health of the firm.  Milton Engel
filed the suit in federal court in Los Angeles and seeks
unspecified damages.  A spokesman for Tandon said the lawsuit
was similar to other actions filed against a wide range of
computer-related firms, but did not comment further.  The stock
price manipulation is alleged to have occurred in 1983 and 1984.

Also, trade tabloid COMPUTER+SOFTWARE NEWS reports that Tandon
spoke too soon about their new company-logoed computers, the PCX
and PCA, being sold by the ValCom retail chain.  According to
the newspaper, ValCom never said it would carry the new line of
IBM compatibles and that Tandon's announcement of a signed deal
with the chain was a fabrication.

CONTACT:  TANDON CORP., 20320 Prairie, Chatsworth, CA 91311
          [phone]

[***][7/29/86][***]
WILL "MR. LEMMING" STILL HEAD APPLE AD TEAM?
He's won a bushelful of awards for Apple's iconoclastic
advertising campaigns at Los Angeles' Chiat/Day agency, and now
he may be in charge of Big Red at BBDO as well.  Creative wizard
Steve Hayden, who masterminded the "1984" and "Lemmings"
television commercials, as well as introduced the Apple
Macintosh in print ads, is said to be seriously considering an
offer by former rival BBDO to once again head the Apple account
creative team.  While at Chiat/Day, and even afterward, Hayden's
work won the Belding Award, the Andy, the Cable Car Award, the
Cannes prize, several Clio and Effie awards and even the Irish
International Advertising Award and Diploma.  Recently, Hayden
has been quoted as saying he would never have considered joining
the "enemy camp" in the past, but the situation is different
now.  Presumably, the change is that Chiat/Day lost the account
to BBDO...but we're just cynical.

Also, some details about BBDO's new Apple television commercials
have leaked from a New York production company.  Apparently, the
spots will be similar to Commodore's older commercials,
illustrating the benefits of buying an Apple machine for your
children.  According to one nine-year-old performer in the
commercials, the spots show kids "doing stuff we are supposed to
be learning about."  Boy, oh boy.  Now THAT'S a great message to
encourage cracking the books in elementary schools, isn't it?

[***][7/29/86][***]
CORDATA EXECUTIVES FIRED FOR NOT MEETING PRODUCTION GOALS
When you're hot, you're hot.  When you're not, you're through.
That's the word this week at Cordata of Thousand Oaks, where a
number of senior executives have been sacked because they
couldn't meet production goals agreed to last fall.  At the time
Korean electronics giant Daewoo bought a $2.5 million interest
in Cordata, an agreement was reached concerning quotas and
schedules.  Unfortunately, executives like vice president of
marketing Jerry Babb and senior sales and marketing v.p. Jim
Alexander didn't make those goals, so they received their pink
slips.  Also on the receiving end of the purge were several
other marketing department employees.

Cordata's president, Dan Carter, still has his job.  He
explained the firings by saying that "revenue and price erosion
prompted Cordata to take a serious look at fixed overhead and to
cut back on the executive staff, where we had grown a bit top
heavy."  Carter said that no new personnel will be hired to
assume responsibility for sales and marketing...he will do it
himself. Cordata makes IBM-compatible computers and laser
printers.

CONTACT:  CORDATA, 275 E. Hillcrest Dr., Thousand Oaks, CA
          [phone]

[***][7/29/86][***]
WABASH CONTINUES TO OPEN SOUTHLAND STORES
Irvine-based Wabash Computers has opened its 10th store, this
time in the Los Angeles-area City of Brea, taking over a
location vacated by Computique in April.  Computique was forced
to liquidate its inventory and close its stores under a Federal
Bankruptcy Court ruling, so Wabash didn't have to modify the
shop much at all before moving in.  Of course, another computer
chain store opening isn't usually newsworthy, but Wabash is
busily CLOSING stores in other Western states at the same time.
A NEWSBYTES source in Phoenix claims that several Wabash outlets
have been padlocked in recent weeks, making the store opening
here a bit unusual.  Wabash corporate management was unavailable
last week to comment on the company's recent openings and
closings.

CONTACT:  WABASH COMPUTERS, 2 Farraday, Irvine, CA   (714) 261-
          7119

[***][7/29/86][***]
ARBITRON SAYS COMPUTER SHOW DOING WELL WITH VIEWERS
The Arbitron ratings service says Ocean Communications' THE
COMPUTER SHOW is the tenth most-watched television program
during its time slot (7-8 p.m., Tuesdays) in the highly
competitive Los Angeles market, and ninth in San Diego.
Broadcast live from the studios of KSCI-TV in West Los Angeles,
TCS is hosted by executive producer Victoria Smith, and draws
its computer news from NEWSBYTES.  According to Arbitron, nearly
140,000 viewers watch the live "Western Edition" of the program
each week.

CONTACT:  OCEAN COMMUNICATIONS, P.O. Box 210051, San Jose, CA
          95151   [phone]

[***][7/29/86][***]
COMPUTER TRAINING OFFERED AT SEARS BY SOUTHLAND FIRM
"It's the perfect marriage.  Computer literacy can be paid for
with a Sears credit card."  That's the way Richard Pasqualino
sees his latest career, as kind of a Kenmore computer trainer.
Pasqualino, a former Orange County high school administrator,
says he dreamed up the idea of teaching computer literacy in Los
Angeles-area Sears stores while stuck in traffic on the freeway.
He founded a firm, Soft-Train Inc., and sold Sears on the idea
of a test run in 28 Sears locations throughout Southern
California.  Sears sees the training as a way to sell computers
and software, and Pasqualino sees it as a way to eventually
expand nationwide.  Right now, though, the training concept
hasn't proven itself to either Sears or Soft-Train, and
expansion plans are on hold until "we get the word out that
we're here and that we're different," says Pasqualino.  The
service is called the "Sears Computer Instructional Center" and
is currently offered in the Cerritos, N. Hollywood and Costa
Mesa stores.

[***][7/29/86][***]
BEACHBITS

>>>  Tylan Corp. of Carson reports that it expects to post a
     loss for its fourth fiscal quarter and a 10% reduction in
     sales for the year.  And, in other bad news for the
     company, about 240 employees were given their walking
     papers in recent weeks...about seven percent of Tylan's
     workforce.  The reason for all the problems?  Simple.
     Tylan makes semiconductor equipment.

>>>  Survivor Software of Inglewood reports that their MacMoney
     financial management software for the Macintosh is now
     being shipped.  The program will be introduced at a price
     of $74.95.  Kathy Farmer, Survivor's director of marketing,
     says the company's managers are all "faithful readers of
     NEWSBYTES" in her letter which accompanied the press
     release, but addressed the note to "Paul Hopkins."  Hmmm,
     better wait for version 1.1 of this one.

>>>  Alpha Microsystems of Santa Ana has fired six percent of
     its manufacturing employees after winding up its first
     fiscal quarter with a 7.6 percent drop in sales.  Only 412
     workers remain to build the company's new AM2000 multiuser
     mini line.

>>>  Silicon Systems of Tustin said things were looking better
     as the semiconductor firm posted a 77-percent gain in
     revenues for its third fiscal quarter ended June 28.
     Profits were up to $556,000, as compared to $261,000 for
     the same quarter last year.

>>>  Wangtek Inc. of Simi Valley and San Jose is being sued for
     patent infringement by Cipher Data Products of San Diego.
     The alleged infringement concerns Cipher's rights to
     certain quarter-inch-tape backup drive designs.

[***][7/29/86][***]
THE LOCAL COMPUTER EXECUTIVE STATS
Are you a white, Protestant male between the ages of 40 and 44?
Do you make around $100,000 a year and have at least one
advanced college degree?  If so, you will fit right in to the
high-tech scene in Southern California.  A recent survey of 89
chief executive officers who are members of the Southern
California Technology Executives Network (SoCalTEN) shows that
the typical top exec fits that profile.  Nearly all are
workaholics, with a whopping 95 percent working more than 50
hours per week.  In fact, most (55 percent) put in more than 60
hours at their desks.  Thirty-six percent say they have been
divorced (not surprising), while 58 percent are still married to
their first spouse.  Only five percent of those surveyed had
never been married.  And an overwhelming 81.4 percent of the
executives polled said they enjoy their jobs more than other
executives, even in their own companies.



[***][7/29/86][***]
MIT'S COMPUTER-GENERATED HOLOGRAMS
It was an eerie scene at a Massachusetts Institute of Technology
press conference last Tuesday, where a three-dimensional image of
a sports car and a hip bone floated in space next to the podium.
Dr. Stephen Benton, the head of a three-member research team at
MIT, was showing the first computer-generated holograms that can
be projected into space. Although floating images have been the
stuff of science fiction for years, up until now real holograms
could only be viewed on special photographic plates or cylinders.
The three-year, $450,000 project is being funded by General
Motors. At present, the image is only one color (green), and is
limited to about a foot in length. It has a 180-degree viewing
field, so you can't walk completely around it. Dr. Benton says
the next step is to make the image full-color and larger. The
design process takes several days of computer time on a DEC
MicroVAX, and the final image is created by bouncing a laser off
special film. Benton sees numerous applications for the process,
especially for medicine and industrial design, but says
commercial availability is five years away.

[***][7/29/86][***]
PHOENIX SHIPS BIOS FOR 80386 SYSTEMS
Phoenix Technologies, the Norwood, MA-based company that supplies
the BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) for many of the non-IBM PCs,
is continuing its efforts to develop a standard for the powerful
80386 chip without waiting for IBM. Last week, Phoenix shipped a
BIOS for the '386 to 15 manufacturers who are developing computer
systems using the 32-bit chip that addresses up to four gigabytes
(that's BILLION bytes) of main memory and can run at up to 20
MHz. Phoenix has also been instrumental in developing a standards
committee for the '386 bus, and said it will release the
committee's preliminary standard by September 1. Phoenix's move
to develop a before-IBM standard has been looked upon as risky,
and leading developers Microsoft and Compaq refused to go along.
But one industry analyst says that it's "at least possible" that
if Phoenix establishes enough momentum for their standard, that
IBM might be forced to follow it.

CONTACT:  Phoenix Technologies Ltd., 32 Norwood Park South,
          Norwood, MA 02062, 617-769-3771

[***][7/29/86][***]
JAVELIN DROPS COPY PROTECTION
Cambridge, MA-based Javelin Software announced this week that
they're removing copy protection from "Javelin," their
spreadsheet-like business analysis and reporting package. A
company spokesperson said they're making the change as a
convenience to users. (There had also been some reports of
problems with Javelin's copy protection on some PC Clones.) The
price of Javelin ($695) remains the same, and even though full
protection has been removed, users will need to enter their name
and the serial number before the package can be installed.

CONTACT:  Javelin Software, One Kendall Square - Bldg. 200,
          Cambridge, MA 02139, 1-800-JAVELIN

[***][7/29/86][***]
LOTUS UPGRADES 1-2-3
Lotus Development has started to ship what it's calling a
"maintenance upgrade" to 1-2-3 Release 2. Called Release 2.01,
Lotus claims it fixes some incompatability problems with the
previous versions of 1-2-3, is easier to install, and is faster.
If you're a registered Release 2 user, you can upgrade for $15.
At the same time, Lotus also announced that Release 2.01 will be
available for the DEC Rainbow, Wang PC, and the Hewlett-Packard
150. Versions of 1-2-3 for these machines haven't been available
since Release 2 was announced.

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

[***][7/29/86][***]
CENTRONICS ENTERS LASER PRINTER MARKET
Hudson, NH-based Centronics Data Computer Corporation has finally
introduced its long-awaited laser printer. The PagePrinter 8, as
the name implies, prints eight pages a minute, and retails for
$2495. As is the case with all Centronics printers, it's built
overseas -- in Japan by Sharp. It's only the second commercially-
available printer (after Sharp itself) to use the Sharp print
engine. The PagePrinter 8 also emulates Diablo, Epson, and IBM
printers. It comes standard with 256K of memory, and a 1.5-meg
add-on option is available. A Centronics spokesperson says the
PagePrinter 8 is the first and lowest-cost of a line of laser
printers that the firm will be introducing, and claims that its
2.7 cents-per-page cost is lower than the H-P Laserjet or Apple
Laserprinter.

CONTACT:  Centronics Data Computer Corp., 1 Wall Street, Hudson,
          NH 03051, 603-883-0111

[***][7/29/86][***]
GLOBE STORY MIFFS IBM
A recent BOSTON GLOBE story on possible IBM staff cutbacks has
elicited a strong response from Big Blue. In a letter to the
newspaper, IBM Director of Information Peter Judice quoted IBM
chairman John Acker's statement that the company remains "fully
committed" to full employment, and took strong exception to an
analyst quoted in the article, who said that IBM "creates
attrition" by moving large numbers of people around. Judice
called it "a cynical and ludricrous assertion." Judice said job
changes are "with rare exceptions, completely voluntary," and
closed by saying that "IBM employees understand and support our
rebalancing efforts."

[***][7/29/86][***]
DEC PUSHING VAX SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT
Even though Digital Equipment Corporation recently announced a
new version of its workhorse PDP-11 minicomputer line, analysts
are betting that the days of the venerable PDP-11 are numbered.
One of the reasons cited is that DEC is actively encouraging
(even pushing) independent software developers to convert their
existing PDP-11 applications to the VAX line. DEC is offering
developers free training, and loaning them software that helps
the changeover process. Besides the numerous improved VAX models
that have been introduced over the past year, the rumor mills say
that DEC will soon introduce its long-awaited low-cost MicroVax
2, which will directly compete with its low-end PDP-11.
(INFOWORLD reported this past week that the MicroVAX will be a
$7000, 15-pound portable that will support up to ten users.)

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

[***][7/29/86][***]
CULLINET BUYS DATABASE MAKER
Westwood, MA-based Cullinet Software, the number two supplier of
mainframe software after you-know-who-big-blue, has purchased a
San Jose, CA-based company in an attempt to broaden its product
line. Cullinet hasn't exactly done well financially recently, and
blamed its downturn on IBM's aggressiveness in large-computer
software sales. So they've purchased Esvel, which makes database
managers for DEC minicomputers and IBM PCs. Cullinet paid $8.4
million for Esvel.

CONTACT:  Cullinet Software Inc., 400 Blue Hill Drive, Westwood,
          MA 02090, 617-329-7700

[***][7/29/86][***]
UMASS TO DEVELOP AI SOFTWARE
Those ol' defense department dollars just keep rolling in to
academia and other research institution. The University of
Massachusetts computer and information science department (more
commonly known on campus as "COINS") announced that they've
received a $5.8 million, five-year grant to do artificial
intelligence research for the Department of Defense and the
Office of Naval Research. A Umass spokesperson says the money
will be used to "push back the limits of present expert systems."
The first check for $500,000 will be used to establish what'll be
called the "Center for Excellence in Artificial Intelligence."
Umass is beginning to get a hot reputation in AI; last year COINS
received a $4.7 million grant from the National Science
Foundation for AI research.

[***][7/29/86][***]
CHANGES COMING AT COMDEX?
A questionnaire received this week at NEWSBYTES NORTHEAST may
hint of some upcoming changes in COMDEX/fall, generally now
regarded to be THE computer show since NCC fell into a
tailspin. The questionnaire is short and to the point, asking if
the respondent would prefer a four-day or five-day COMDEX/fall,
and the reasons why. NEWSBYTES was unsuccessful at getting anyone
at The Interface Group to comment on the questionnaire or plans
for the show. (For more about COMDEX/fall, see NEWSBYTES
NORTHEAST, July 15th issue.)

CONTACT:  The Interface Group, Inc., 300 First Ave, Needham, MA
          02194, 617-449-6000

[***][7/29/86][***]
LORAL LOSES BUT WINS
Even though Loral Corporation wasn't successful in its hostile
takeover attempt of New Hampshire-based mega defense contractor
Sanders Associates, they didn't exactly lose out on the deal.
Loral kept buying Sanders stock before its official offer to buy
the company, accumulating some 600,000 shares. Of course, the
value of the stock kept rising after the offer was announced and
until Lockheed came forward to be Sander's "white knight." Loral
is expected to sell the stock, and will net some $15 million on
the deal.

[***][7/29/86][***]
FINANCIAL RESULTS
The end of quarter financial results from major Northeast-based
computer companies keep trickling in. Here's this week's results
from the "big boys."

-- Data General lost $2 million during the last quarter, on sales
of $325.3 million. But the figure is a distinct improvement over
the same period last year, when they lost $8.3 million on sales
of $285.5 million. A company spokesperson blamed the loss on a
"sluggish economy and depressed capital spending."

-- Wang Laboratories came out with a profit of $800,000 on $716.8
million in sales for the last quarter, after forecasting that
they'd just break even. The company also announced this week that
they're way ahead of schedule on their voluntary staff reduction
of 1600 employees. Apparently a take-it-now resignation bonus and
an early retirement program were too much for many employees to
resist.

-- Prime Computer made a profit of $11.4 million for the quarter
just ended, down from $13.1 million from the same period last
year. Prime also announced this week that they're buying back
about 2.4 million shares of outstanding stock -- about 5%. A
company spokesperson says the shares will be used for employee
stock plans and "other corporate purposes."

-- Computervision reported a loss of $3.4 million on sales of
$119.3 million. Last year, the Bedford, MA-based CAD system maker
lost $19.5 million during the same period.

-- Finally, they're not exactly among the "big boys" yet, but the
financial results from the chain of three New England based Neeco
computer stores shows that small personal computer retailers
aren't dead yet. The firm, which has its first public stock
offering recently, had its profits climb 60% for the quarter, to
$257,735. Though there's only three stores in the chain, their
combined sales for the three months were $9.08 million.


[***][7/29/86][***]
SUPER OPERATING SYSTEM "EUMEL"
A Tokyo-based software dealer NISSHIN PRODUCT has developed a
Japanese version of "EUMEL;" the original version was
developed by The German National Center for Computer Science(GMD)
in West Germany.  EUMEL is a multi-user and multi-task operating
system for personal computers.  It is written in the ALGOL-type
of high-level language and is similar to Pascal.  Moreover, EUMEL
has a high portability.  A report says mainframe-like features
can be enjoyed on microcomputers with this EUMEL.  Japanese EUMEL
will be released for NEC PC-9801 at US$1,563 in August.  The IBM
5550 version will be shipped in October.

Meanwhile, the spokesman of NISSHIN PRODUCT says the company has
started porting an upgraded version of EUMEL.  It will be
completed by the end of the year.

CONTACT: NISSHIN PRODUCT, 5F Kohgen Bldg, 6-17-2 Shimbashi,
         Minato-ku, Tokyo 105, Japan
         (03-432-1331)

[***][7/29/86][***]
LOTUS JAPAN LINKS WITH JAPAN SOFTBANK
Prior to the September release of Japanese Lotus 1-2-3, Lotus
Development Japan has been putting an all-out effort to cultivate
its dealers throughout the nation.  Such effort bore fruit on
July 19 when the company announced a non-exclusive dealership
agreement with Japan Softbank (Tokyo), one of the noted software
dealers in Japan.  Currently, Lotus Japan has been aggressively
educating its dealers on its products, says a spokesman.

The Japanese version of Lotus 1-2-3 supports powerful and
convenient features, such as various graphs for stock analyzers
and a sort function in Japanese.  Among others, this Kanji sort
function is quite unique and could increase demand for the product.
We'll try the program later when the opportunity comes.

CONTACT: Lotus Development Japan, No.10 Toranomon-MF Bldg.,
        3-10-11 Toranomon, Minato-ku, Vokyo 105
         (03-436-4105)

[***][7/29/86][***]
ULTRA-MINI HANDHELD MICRO DEBUTS
SEIKO-EPSON has announced two models of ultra-mini handheld
computers, "HC7" and "HC7L".  Each mini-handheld measures 8.5 x
17.8 x 2.4 cm and weighs only 280 g.  The ROM-based business
application programs can be attached to the machine.  Data can
be stored on a credit card-size RAM card.  Also, with an optional
"optical communication unit," the data can be transferred from
HC7L to a desktop computer at 9,600 bps.  The rechargeable
batteries on HC7 and HC7L allow the programs to run continuously
for 30 hours.  Both HC7 and HC7L will be on sale in October at
US$453 and $516 respectively.  There's no word yet on whether
the machines will be sold overseas.

CONTACT: SEIKO-EPSON, 3-3-5 Yamato, Suwa-shi, Nagano-ken 392,
         Japan (0266-52-3131, PR. Dept.)

[***][7/29/86][***]
LOW-COST LAN USING TV ANTENNA
Kyodo Receiver Service (Osaka) has started marketing an amateur
kit for setting up a small-scale local area network, which links
personal computers with radio waves via ordinary TV antennas.
This system is called "TVNET" and it consists of a couple of
devices, including a proprietary modem and software.  In this
system, a maximum of ten computers can be linked together to form
a packet network within one kilometer.  It is certainly
convenient to set up a mini-LAN with this TVNET system, since
there's no need to lay cables.  A TVNET kit costs only US$249,
and is available for NEC PC-9801 series.

CONTACT: Kyodo Receiver Service, 2-3-33 Saiwaicho, Naniwa-ku,
         Osaka-shi 558, Japan
         (06-567-1371)

[***][7/29/86][***]
SEMICONDUCTOR SALES BEST FIVE
THE JAPAN ECONOMIC DAILY has just taken a survey among 333
semiconductor manufacturers in Japan.  The top five sellers
of semiconductors in 1985 are as follows.

   COMPANY           SALES              RATE OF INCREASE
-------------------------------------------------------------
1) NEC             US$2.8 billion         -23.7%
2) HITAHI             2.6 billion         -27.6%
3) TOSHIBA            2.3 billion         -17.2%
4) FUJITSU            1.3 billion         -23.1%
4) MATSUSHITA         1.3 billion          -9.1%
-------------------------------------------------------------

[***][7/29/86][***]
<<< SUSHI BYTES >>>

TRI-GEM AT COMPATIBLE -- A report says Korea's Tri-Gem Computer
has developed a multi-user, IBM AT-compatible micro "TRI-GEM AT"
for the Korean market.  A maximum of 10 terminals can be connected to
the system for multiple use.  Tri-Gem Corp. has recently inked
an OEM contract with Computerland to supply IBM-compatible
machines.

SAN MICROSYSTEMS IN JAPAN -- San Microsystems (U.S.A.) announced
(7/23) that it has established a 100-percent subsidized firm in
Tokyo.  The new company provides technical support for its
biggest dealer "C.ITOH (CTC)," and OEMs in Japan.

NEW 80286 MICRO FROM MITSUBISHI -- Mitsubishi Electric released
(7/24) "Multi16 IV" as the most upper version of the Multi16
family.  The new micro has 80286 CPU, and its processing speed
is 1.5 to 2 times faster than the current version, says a report.
Multi16 IV supports Japanese version of operating systems,
including MS-DOS, CP/M86, and Concurrent CP/M86.

MITSUBISHI GROUP'S SOFTWARE HOUSE -- Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
and Mitsubishi Trading have jointly established a software house
"MDS" in Tokyo.  The new firm plans to develop high-tech software
and various controlling systems for large-scale plants.

SONY TO INCREASE OVERSEAS PRODUCTION -- According to a published
report, SONY has decided to increase the company's overseas
production rate by 13 percent (total 35%) in three years.  Other
Japanese manufacturers have also been seeking ways to survive
in the midst of the upsurging yen rate and the trade deficit
problem.

NTT STOCK GETS HOT -- In the wake of deregulation, NTT (Japan's
Telegraph and Telephone Corp.) will list its stock at the Tokyo
Stock Exchange Market this November.  The total number of the
shares will be approximately 1.6 to 1.7 million, and the price
of a share is expected to be around US$3,125 to $3,750!! Due
to the stock's skyrocketing popularity, each buyer will be allowed to
purchase just ONE share.  The winning buyers will be selected
through the drawing of their post card application.

[***][7/29/86][***]
QUOTE OF THE WEEK

"The U.S.-Japan dialogue will continue, but it won't really
affect the trade deficit too much because Americans like
Japanese goods.  They're high quality, and we don't mind
paying the money."

    -- says Martin Lasater, director of the Asian Studies
       Center at the Heritage Foundation.
       (Taken from "TIME" magazine, July 21, 1986)


[***][7/29/86][***]
UK ANGER AT THE US - 1
The United States government has successfully blocked a top
British University from obtaining kit from Japanese
suppliers.  Revealed to the public last week by Paddy
Ashdown, the Liberal party's trade and industry spokesman,
just prior to the UK government's summer recess, the move
marks what "Computer News" describes in this week's issue as
"the latest twist in a series of attempts by the US
government to prevent the University of London taking
delivery of a Cray 1 Supercomputer."

The Cray 1, previously installed at the UK's Harwell Atomic
Research plant, was due to be reinstalled at the
University's London site this summer, but Ashdown says, "The
United States has imposed unilateral third party agreements
on three Japanese supercomputer suppliers and their European
distributors in order to ensure that the university cannot
avoid the US terms."

Naming names, Ashdown identifies the Japanese firms involved
as Hitachi, NEC and Fujitsu, and adds, "The US actions can
only be described as disgraceful.  Ashdown backs up his
tirade against the US by claiming that the US Department of
Commerce is refusing to allow Cray the export licence it
needs to install the computer at the University, for fear of
Communist bloc students, who attend the University of
London, using the equipment.  Cray's UK MD, Neil Davenport,
plays down any suggestion that the US government is calling
the tune - "We're just waiting to hear what the proceedure
should be," he said.

[***][7/29/86][***]
UK ANGER AT US - 2
The much publicised agreement between the US and Japan over
international microelectronics trading is causing several
UK industry persons to start worrying.  The principal aims
of the agreement - to open Japan's markets to US companies
in the computer-orientated markets - worry UK marketeers as,
fundamental to the agreement is that Japan monitors prices
of its exports to the West, including the UK.

"We view any bilateral agreement with concern," says Mel
Larkin, chairman of the UK Electronic Components Industry
Federation, quoted in this weeks "Computer Weekly."  "The
EEC made representations to Japan and the US two months ago
and said that it must be involved in any agreement which
concerns Europe," he added.  "If they reach agreement on
dumping in the US, Japan might turn its attention to Europe.
On the other hand, if they come to agreement over prices in
Europe which makes prices higher here than elsewhere, this
would cause concern ."

"Computer Weekly" comments that the US Department of
Commerce has confirmed there are no formal negotiations with
the EEC, citing the DoC as saying, "We're certainly
concerned about Japanese dumping in other countries...
because that could end up as a backdoor way of getting
products into the US at dumped prices."

Contact:  Computer Weekly, Quadrant House, The Quadrant,
          Sutton, Surrey, SM2 5AS.
          Tel: [phone].

[***][7/29/86][***]
BORLAND STEPS INTO THE UK WITH STYLE:
Hot on the heels of its impending London Unlisted Securities
Market share dealing, Borland Software has reached the
number one slot in UK software sales, according to the
latest Softsel/Microscope software charts.  UK dealer
Softsel UK says that Lotus 1-2-3 has been driven to number 2
by Turbo Prolog, with seven other Borland goodies following
Turbo Prolog into the top 25 sales categories.  "Turbo
Prolog is selling like mad," said John Vivian, Softsel's
director of European sales and marketing, although he
doesn't dismiss Lotus as the loser - "Lotus is still
performing very strongly," he says.

Vivian notes that languages such as Prolog and Pascal are
holding top slots, which are normally reserved "for what has
traditionally been an applications-based marketplace,"
although, judging from ads appearing in most of the UK trade
press, NEWSBYTES UK doesn't find this surprising - a full
colour ad doing the rounds of the weeklies pushes no less
than *fourteen* Borland packages - not bad for a company
that, until recently, was only known for Sidekick!

Contact: Borland International, 4113 Scotts Valley Drive,
         Scotts Valley, California 95066, United States.
         Tel: [phone]         Telex: 172373.

[***][7/29/86][***]
MERCURY EXPANDS INTO THE BIG TIME
Mercury Communications, the relative newcomer to the
recently privatised telecommunications market here in the
UK, has just announced a major deal with ICL.  ICL has
agreed to sell its complete datacommunications network in
the UK in exchange for a 25 per cent stake of Mercury's new
data network called Mercury 5000.

As well as freeing ICL's ultimate parent, STC, from having
to pour money into the private ICL network in the UK, the
deal gives Mercury an instant plug-in data-network which
covers the whole of the United Kingdom, thus making it a
real competitor against the privatised monolith of British
Telecom.  The new data network operated by Mercury will be
called Mercury 5000, and is expected to be operational by
late August, thus giving non-London subscribers a very real
alternative to the BT PSS service.

** As part of the summer relocation of Mercury's data
network central hub to the West of London, Mercury is
currently offering new and existing subscribers the benefit
of bulk discounts on datacalls to the United States in
order to compensate for possible interruptions to dial-up
users.  For the months of July, August, and September, all
users of Mercury's data network will be eligible for up to
50 per cent discounts on their US datacalls, thus making
SOURCE access all the cheaper - which can't be a bad thing
now, can it?

Contact: Mercury Communications Ltd., Ninety Long Acre,
         London WC2E 9NP.
         Tel: [phone].       Telex: 28846.

[***][7/29/86][***]
GOING ONLINE IN THE ONLINE WORLD
Yet more of the seemingly interminable supply of
conference/show invites flopped onto the NEWSBYTES UK
doormat this week.  Amongst them were details of a
forthcoming potentially *interesting* exhibition and
conference this coming December.  The 14th Videotex
International exhbition and conference (it says here)
"returns to London after appearances in Toronto, New York,
Amsterdam, and Dallas."  Organised by Online International,
also based in the UK, the event line-up includes the usual
fare of all the latest and greatest from the online world,
but also begs attention, as last year's event was, by all
accounts, just about the only chance of the UK playing host
to the international online world.  Needless to say,
NEWSBYTES UK will be attending the show, and reporting back
to NEWSBYTES CENTRAL during the whole of the conference,
which is scheduled for December 9th through 11th.

Contact: Online International, Pinner Green House,
         Ash Hill Drive, Pinner, Middlesex, HA5 2AE.
         Tel: [phone].     Telex: 923498 ONLINE G

[***][7/29/86][***]
GAMBLING ON THE BANK
Red faces all round last week at the Royal Bank of Scotland,
following a mistake in Edinburgh resulting in a through the
wall cash dispenser turning into a slot machine.

Customers of the Edinburgh main Cashline terminal found
that, after an IBM engineer had "serviced" the machine, cash
requested was invariably different from that actually
delivered through the slot.  Baffled bank employees found
that, after the engineer had reversed the 5 and 10 pound
note dispensers in order to locate a fault, he had forgotten
to to swop them back again!  The first anyone knew of the
engineers error was when a customer keyed in a 100 pound
cash request and was short delivered just 65 pounds.  Being
somewhat anxious, the customer waited for the next person in
the queue to complete his transaction and found that his
successor had profited 5 pounds on her 20 pound request.
More than a dozen customers played the wheel of fortune cash
machine before bank officials discovered the fault and shut
the machine down - aw shucks, what a set of spoilsports!
 ==
[***][7/29/86][***]
THE SEARCH FOR ANGELA
A wide group of computer communications enthusiasts across the
country are using their micros and modems to search for the
allegedly abducted 4-year-old daughter of a Massachusetts system
operator. The child disappeared in June, allegedly grabbed by the
child's mother. People are actively moving information about
Angela Landrigan and her father, David Landrigan, to local
bulletin boards, and passing information around in an electronic
search team on DELPHI, The Source, UNISON, the WELL, NSI, and
other systems.

The computerists have also used online technology to transmit
digital pictures of Angela to the hundreds of individuals
participating in the hunt. While this may be one of the largest
child-search efforts in the U.S., fewer than a dozen of the
participants know Angela, her father David, or her mother Nancy.

The Source is now trying to organize a special, free service
enabling computer and modem users to receive more information,
even if they aren't members of The Source. Stay tuned for more on
the search for Angela. And for details, try PARTI on The Source,
and ask for the "Angela" conference.

CONTACT: Source Telecomputing Corp., 1616 Anderson Road, McLean
         Va., 22101, 703-734-7500.

[***][7/29/86][***]
GSA SUSPENDS SALES AT MBI GOVERNMENT COMPUTER STORES
The General Services Administration last week suspended MBI
Business Centers of Rockville, Md., from taking new orders from
government agencies for at least three weeks. GSA's board of
contract appeals suspended the GSA contract with MBI to establish
three stores selling only to the government, called Office
Technology Plus. The board acted after Businessland Inc. of San
Jose, Ca., complained that the contract with MBI should not
have been extended without competitive bidding. The government
stores accounted for 11.5 percent of MBI's total sales in the
first quarter of this year. Ironically, Businessland and MBI
earlier this year announced a plan to merge. But the marriage
fell through and now the former lovers are in a major spat.

CONTACT: MBI Business Centers Inc., Rockville, Md., 301-984-8922.

[***][7/29/86][***]
ENTRE CUTS STAFF 20 PERCENT
Entre Computer Centers Inc., of Vienna, Va., has hacked its
headquarters staff by 20 percent, or 52 employees. The move is
part of a cost-cutting effort at the computer retailer. Entre has
a chain of 250 computer retail outlets in the U.S., Canada,
Europe and Australia. The company owns nine stores and franchises
the rest. The Virginia layoffs came with cuts in the European
staff, and a reduction in the amount the franchise stores must
pay to the parent corporation. The franchise fee will fall to 5.5
percent of gross, for 8 percent. The company has closed or sold
six of its company-owned stores in recent weeks. Last week the
company reported a shocking third-quarter loss of $5.8 million,
compared to a $1.9 million profit for the 1985 third quarter.

CONTACT: Entre Computer Centers Inc., Vienna, Va., 703-556-0800.

[***][7/29/86][***]
CAN THE U.S. HOLD THE LEAD IN SPECIALTY CHIPS?
The "Washington Post" reported last week that the U.S.
semiconductor industry appears to be moving in ways that will
further hurt the Americans in the world market. Reporter Michael
Schrage said that the conventional wisdom that U.S. companies are
better at designing specialty chips may be wrong.
"ASICs [application-specific integrated circuits] are not a place
to go hide from foreign competition," Dataquest analyst Andrew
Prophet told Schrage. "To think that is sheer lunacy." Schrage
noted that the U.S. chipmeisters are discovering "to their
chagrin...that custom chip designs are becoming as much of a
commodity as the chips themselves. The computer-aided-design work
stations from companies like Daisy Systems and Valid Logic that
enable U.S. engineers to design custom circuits are equally
available to Japanese engineers. Indeed, many Japanese chip
designers hold advanced degrees from top U.S. engineering
schools."

[***][7/29/86][***]
LITTON PLEADS GUILTY TO FRAUD
Litton Systems Inc., a subsidiary of giant defense contractor
Litton Industries, pleaded guilty in Philadelphia last week to
stealing more than $6 million from the government and lying about
the costs of military equipment. The company entered guilty
pleas to 321 fraud charges. Litton Systems cooperate in the
investigation. The company could face total civil fines and
penalties of $15 million. The company has agreed to make $6.3
million in restitution.

[***][7/29/86][***]
MOTHERS THRIVE AT APPLE AND HP
"Working Mother" magazine has found that Apple Computer and
Hewlett-Packard are among the five best companies for working
mothers. The others in the top five are Merck, Herman Miller, and
Xerox. While the good companies for working mothers provided
benefits such as parental leave, flextime, and help with child
care, the top five "have still another feature that makes them
stand out: They recognize that women can make unique contributions
that can ultimately change the company itself." The authors of
the article, Milton Moskowitz and Carol Townsend, say they
surveyed businesses nationwide. "We got recommendations from
dozens of management consultants, headhunters, security analysts,
reporters, friends, and relatives."

[***][7/29/86][***]
COMPUTER INDEX SLIDES A BIT
The Washington Computer Business Index slid a tad to 183 last
week, on about 9.5 pages of retail display advertising. The
index, based on advertising in the weekly tabloid, "Washington
Business," has been in the doldrums all summer. Non-computer ads
totaled a bit over 14 for the week. So far this long, hot summer,
computer ads have held up better than non-computer advertising.

[***][7/29/86][***]
POWERBYTES

 $$$ Carnegie Mellon University, citing "philosophical
differences," has replaced John Manley as director of the
Software Engineering Institute, set up in 1985 with Defense
Department grants. The university was unhappy with the progress
the institute had been making in developing and implementing new
technology.

 $$$ Old Dominion Systems of Gaithersburg, Md., has reported a
net loss of $30,050, or two cents per share, for the first six
months of 1986 on sales of $3.8 million. Last year's first half
saw profits of $75,795 or five cents per share, on sales of $3.4
million. The company makes and sells communications gear to
government and commercial accounts.

 $$$ VM Software of Vienna, Va., reported a new of $965,000 (23
cents per share) for the second quarter, on revenues of $6.2
million. That compares to second quarter earnings of $590,000 or
16 cents per share on $4.2 million in sales for the second quarter
of last year. The company develops and markets software for use
with IBM's VM operating system.



[***][7/29/86][***]
SOFTWARE CHANNELS SIGNS DISTRIBUTORS
Software Channels of Toronto has signed SoftSel and Micro-D as
additional distributors for its SClaserplus desktop publishing
software.  Ingram Software was already a distributor for the
package, which runs on the IBM PC and compatibles, so Software
Channels shouldn't have much trouble getting SClaserplus out to
dealers.  There have also been reports recently (including one in
the July 8 issue of PC WEEK) that SClaserplus might be a part of
IBM's desktop publishing strategy.  No confirmation of that from
Software Channels.

Software Channels is also working on the next version of Alice,
its Pascal language compiler with built in checks to keep you
from writing incorrect code.  A version of Alice for Atari's ST
computers is a possibility.

CONTACT: SOFTWARE CHANNELS, 212 King St. W., Toronto, ON,
         [phone]

[***][7/29/86][***]
APPLE CANADA TO FUND R&D CENTRES
The Apple Canada Education Foundation has announced funding for
six new research and development centres to work on Canadian
educational software.  The Apple Centres of Innovation, to be
located at schools and universities across the country, have cost
Apple C$1 million to set up.  The equipment includes 64 Macintosh
Plus computers, 33 Imagewriter II printers, five LaserWriter
printers and an assortment of other peripherals and software.
The Apple Canada Education Foundation was established in 1983 and
has awarded more than C$2 million in computer hardware and
software to 65 schools and universities across Canada.

CONTACT: Dan Wojdylo, APPLE CANADA INC., 7495 Birchmount Rd.,
         Markham, Ont. L3R 5G2 [phone]

[***][7/29/86][***]
AI GRANTS FOR CANADIAN UNIVERSITIES
The Information Systems Group of Sperry Inc. has given grants
worth a total of C$600,000 to three Canadian universities.
Dalhousie University in Halifax, N.S.; McMaster University in
Hamilton, Ont.; and Carleton University in Ottawa are getting
money and equipment to pursue research in artificial
intelligence. The equipment included in the grants consists of
Sperry Explorer workstations and Knowledge Engineering
Environment (KEE) software.  The 32-bit Explorer workstation is
based on technology developed at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology (MIT).

The C$200,000 going to McMaster University will pay for work on
Intelligent Real-Time Instrumentation Systems (IRIS) for such
applications as the operation of nuclear reactors.

CONTACT: SPERRY INC., 55 City Centre Dr., Mississauga, ON,
         [phone]

[***][7/29/86][***]
TECHNOLOGY CENTRE GETTING WRONG KIND OF PUBLICITY
Exploracom, a sort of Disneyland of high technology planned for
the Toronto waterfront, is getting a lot of ink in Toronto
newspapers lately.  The trouble is, the news is not about the
displays of computer technology planned for the centre but about
the strife it has caused in the Ontario Legislature.

The problem is that Abe Schwartz, the 28-year-old Toronto
millionaire who is the prime mover behind Exploracom, got a
C$17.5 million grant from the provincial government in late May,
toward the cost of building Exploracom.  The money came from a
funding program that wasn't officially in operation yet, and for
which the granting criteria hadn't been fully drawn up.  And it
was pointed out that Schwartz and David Peterson, the premier of
Ontario, are close personal friends.

The Progressive Conservative party, which ran Ontario for more
than 40 years until last spring, are giving Peterson's Liberals a
very hard time about the Exploracom grant.  The Liberals and
Schwartz, meanwhile, maintain the project was funded on its own
merits.

[***][7/29/86][***]
REDUCED NORTEL PROFIT TAKES TOLL ON BELL
Northern Telecom Ltd. of Mississauga, Ont., the second-largest
telecommunications equipment manufacturer in North America and
the largest in Canada, has reported a profit of C$64.9 million
for its second quarter, ended June 30.  That is down from C$82.4
million in the same quarter a year earlier.  The slump has been
blamed largely on slow sales in the U.S., where rival AT&T Co.
has also recently reported lower profit for the quarter.

Northern Telecom's parent company, Bell Canada Enterprises Inc.,
also reported lower profits in the second quarter.  Second-
quarter earnings for BCE, which owns the telephone operating
company Bell Canada as well as Northern Telecom and several other
subsidiaries, were C$253.6 million, down from C$274.5 million in
the second quarter of 1985.  BCE's lower profits were blamed
partly on the poor performance of Northern Telecom and partly on
similarly disappointing results from another subsidiary,
TransCanada Pipelines Ltd., which has been hit by hard times in
the oil and gas business.

Northern Telecom's revenue in the second quarter was C$1.07
billion, down from C$1.1 billion in 1985's second quarter.  Bell
Canada Enterprises had revenues of C$3.42 billion for the
quarter, up from C$3.35 billion.

CONTACT: NORTHERN TELECOM LTD., 33 City Centre Dr.,
         Mississauga, ON L5B 3A2, [phone]

[***][7/29/86][***]
INET ON THE SHELVES, BUT FLUNKS MEDICAL
A department store is a place where you can buy just about
anything, and the chain of Eaton's stores across Canada are no
different.  Now at some Eaton's stores you can even buy access to
information.  Eaton's Business Centres in some of the chain's
major locations have begun selling sign-up kits for Inet 2000, a
data base gateway offered by the consortium of Canadian telephone
companies, Telecom Canada.  Inet provides access to an assortment
of online databases as well as an electronic mail service.

But not everybody is excited about Inet 2000.  The Canadian
Medical Association has decided not to recommend the system to
Canadian physicians.  After conducting an eight-month trial in
which 23 doctors and one pharmacist used the system for access to
Minet, a U.S. medical network, the association decided it takes
to long to search for information through Inet and the service
costs too much at an average of C$85 a month per participant.

[***][7/29/86][***]
LEAVE IT TO BIONIC BEAVER
Meridian Technologies Inc. is out looking for more software and
new markets for its Icon microcomputer.  The Icon was the first
PC developed to meet the Province of Ontario's specifications for
use in the province's schools, and more than 15,000 of them are
currently in use in the province's educational system.  Nicknamed
the "Bionic Beaver" during its development, the PC is Canadian-
made and uses QNX, a variant of Unix, as its operating system.

Meridian and its subsidiary Cemcorp, which is responsible for
production of the Icon, are negotiating with an unnamed
California company to convert more than 800 existing programs to
run on the Icon.  The Ontario Ministry of Education is also
providing funds for 75 Canadian software companies to develop
programs for the machine.  As for markets, six other Canadian
provinces and roughly as many U.S. states are running pilot
projects using the Icon at present.  Meridian is hoping this will
lead to increased revenues from the machine.

In the fiscal year ended March 31, Meridian lost C$2.8 million on
revenues of C$31.4 million, a disappointing result after last
year's C$1.6-million profit.  The loss was largely due to writing
off C$4.9 million on a money-losing subsidiary, Gensat
Communications Corp.

CONTACT: MERIDIAN TECHNOLOGIES, 1300 Bay St., Toronto,
         [phone]

[***][7/29/86][***]
SEMI-TECH MERGER PLANNED
Semi-Tech Microelectronics Corp., the Markham, Ont., company that
manufactures an IBM-compatible personal computer called the STM
PC, is on the verge of a merger.  The suitor is Shawnee
Petroleums Ltd., a company that consists essentially of a listing
on the Toronto stock exchange.  The shell company wants to get
into high technology.  Semi-Tech, which does its manufacturing in
Hong Kong and California but maintains a head office and an R&D
operation here, wants a month to consider the deal before making
a decision.  Semi-Tech is a private company, but is reported to
have made a C$12-million profit on revenues of C$48 million last
year.

CONTACT: SEMI-TECH MICROELECTRONICS, Macnabb St., Markham, Ont.,
         [phone]

[***][7/29/86][***]
BITS, EH?
- Joining a wide assortment of Toronto-area firms producing PC
clones, Lanpar Technologies Inc. of Markham, Ont., has announced
the Direct-Line PC, a clone that sells for C$1,595 with monitor,
640K RAM, two floppy disk drives and serial and parallel ports.
Knowing that buyers are wary of here-today, gone-tomorrow clone
makers, the 16-year-old manufacturer and distributor is
advertising a "Service for Life. Guaranteed." policy and being
careful to mention the company's age in its advertising.

- Altos Computer Systems' Toronto office has signed an agreement
with Honeywell Ltd. of Toronto under which Honeywell will provide
service on Altos multi-user microcomputers installed across
Canada.  The San Jose, CA-based supermicro vendor has also signed
PC Plus Inc., of Montreal, as its distributor in Eastern Canada.

 ==