Newsbytes - International Computing Industry News 1983 May to 1994 June

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Text File | 1991-09-23 | 63KB | 1,367 lines

[***][9/09/86][***] DESKTOP PUBLISHING GETS SPOTLIGHT The first Seybold Conference on Desktop Publishing drew a respectable 1,000 or so participants, each of whom shelled out $595 to attend the event, held at San Francisco's Hyatt Regency Hotel. Some 97 firms showed off dozens of new software and hardware products for desktop publishing applications. Among the speakers was Steve Jobs, marking his first speaking engagement since leaving Apple. However, he made few friends by saying, "You're here at a $600,000 event to talk about a non-existent industry in two years." Jobs reportedly was referring to computers with built-in software for desktop publishing applications which he foresees coming down the road soon. Meanwhile the facts speak for themselves: 300,000 laser printers have been sold, according to Bill Gates of Microsoft; Apple is selling one laser printer for every three Macintoshes; Paul Brainerd, president of Aldus said his firm has been successful "beyond his wildest dreams," having sold 30,000 copies of PageMaker, a desktop publishing software product, worldwide. Among the new products introduced: * PageMaker for the IBM PC AT and compatibles. Called PageMaker for the PC, it operates under Microsoft Windows, features a user interface similar to the Macintosh, can directly import text files from 10 popular word processing programs, graphics from 3 PC Paintbrush, Windows Paint, and Mouse Systems' PC Paint, and works with the HP Laserjets, AST's TurboLaser printer, Apple LaserWriters, TI's OmniLaser Series 2000 and Postscript versions of the Linotronic 100 and 300 imagesetters. The product will be available "later this year" and will cost $695. *GraphicWorks from Mindscape is a $79.95 program for the Macintosh. It's a low end desktop publishing program designed to simplify creation of newsletters, flyers, storyboards, brochures, etc. *Raeius, Inc. unveiled the Radius Full Page Display, a monitor which displays an entire 8 1/2" X 11" page as a supplement to the built-in Macintosh monitor. The $1,995, 15", high resolution display was designed by five members of the original Apple Macintosh development team who are now at Radius in Sunnyvale, Ca. The Seybold Group sponsors another big ticket seminar October 9-11 at the Hyatt. The Conference on Desktop Communications is devoted to networking, multi-user software, portable computers, etc. Cost is $895. Contact: SEYBOLD GROUP, Torrance, CA (213) 320-9151 or (408) 297-0888. [***][9/09/86][***] NEW II DUE NEWSBYTES sources say that the new 16-bit Apple IIg will be rolled out before the end of September, well in time to establish the product for Christmas. Here's what our sources say we can expect: ultra-high resolution color display, expanded sound capability, integrated mouse, 3.5" disk drives, an operating system that's a derivation of the Macintosh "Finder." Further, the IIg will be able to run Apple II software but not Macintosh software. No price has been suggested but previous reports put the suggested retail price at just $800. Early versions will be stamped with the name "Woz" according to the SAN JOSE MERCURY's Jonathan Greer, a move designed to bandage the bruised ego of Apple co-founded Steve Wozniak who left Apple last year after his Apple II took a back seat to the Macintosh. [***][9/09/86][***] HP EXODUS 1,515 employees of Hewlett Packard report for work for the last time October 31. HP has announced that the 1,515 have voluntarily agreed to take early retirement or severance pay. Avoiding layoffs, Hewlett Packard instituted these programs in June when forced to make cutbacks to facilitate changes in products and manufacturing techniques, says a company spokesman. While the numbers may sound staggaring, they aren't when compared to HP's workforce. The company will still employ 54,500 in the US and 82,500 worldwide after the cuts are made. [***][9/09/86][***] PROJECT VICTORIA CONCLUDES The project has concluded successfully, "exceeding our expectations," says a Pacific Bell official, referring to the end of Project Victoria. The six month test of the system which permits seven simultaneous channels of communication over a single telephone line wrapped up in Danville last month. Participants had multiplexers installed in their homes, with which they received online services at a variety of baud rates via their computers, voice calls via their phones, as well as home security and other home monitoring services. "We're particularly pleased with the distance from the central office over wich Project Victoria operated efficiently. Originally, our design objective was to transmit up to 18,000 feet from our central switching office to a customer's home....However, under certain circumstances we were able to operate it at a distance of up to 22,000 feet," said Michael Eastwood, executive director for new network applications. Pacific Bell hopes to make the technology available commercially by the end of next year. CONTACT: Scott Smith, PACIFIC BELL, San Francisco (415) 542-0597 [***][9/09/86][***] BE A BETA TESTER An Alameda, California firm is offering a free copy of its text retrieval program to anyone willing to try it out. Access Soft-Tech wants people to try out copies of its DRAGNET program, software which enables users to extract, consolidate and summarize information in single or multiple files based on words, phrases and custom patterns. They especially want lawyers, researchers, writers, consultants, and online database subscribers. Qualifi`d individuals or firms should call Martin Chorich at (415) 865-7531. [***][9/09/86][***] SEPTEMBER IS SHOWTIME Everyone knows about the 4th Personal Computer Faire at San Francisco's Brooks Hall September 25-27. But a few days earlier, San Jose hosts the first computer exposition devoted exclusively to Atari computers. Held Sept. 21-22 at the San Jose Convention Center (145 West San Carlos, San Jose, hours 10am to 5pm, admission $5), the First All-Atari Computer Show will feature seminars and guest speakers, as well as demonstrations of new Atari computers, software including MIDI, and a variety of dealers and manufacturers' products. The show organizers are a coalition of Atari users groups in the Bay Area. CONTACT: Warren Lorente, ABACUS, (415) 645-3875 [***][9/09/86][***] REGIS DROPS INTEL One of the two firms which put marketing and PR wiz Regis McKenna on the map (the other is Apple) has lost his magic touch. Intel Corporation, which employed RM since 1972, has parted ways with the PR company, deciding to go in-house for its marketing muscle. Intel, which has fallen on hard times lately, as have other chipmakers, used to spend a million dollars a year for McKenna's advice. Not anymore. With dwindling dollars coming in, RM looked elsewhere for revenues. It is now free to represent other semiconductor firms. The end of an era? Yes. "It has been a tremendous experience," says the firm's namesake. "Our parting is amicable. I consider Intel's top management to be good friends." [***][9/09/86][***] IN BRIEF-- "New View" is a new publication for users of dBase Mac from Ashton-Tate. The newsletter, published by Lexington Research of Lexington, MA, offers tips, applications, Q & A and other features. Cost is $45/year for 12 issues. Contact: Keith Thompson (617) 863-8275. THE AMERICAN ELECTRONICS ASSOCIATION reports sales of US electronics products are down again, falling 3.4 percent during the first six months of 1986 compared to the same period in 1985. CALMA CO. of Milpitas has laid off 170 workers. The CAD/CAM workstation maker, a subsidiary of GE, blames the layoffs, frozen hiring, and curtailed travel expenses on slow sales. [***][9/09/86][***] DOS CAPITAL MOVING FROM SEATTLE TO ATLANTA? No. But The Software Link Inc., Atlanta, is working on a multi- tasking operating system for Intel 80386-based micros. PC-MOS/386 (Multilink Operating System) should be out in time for Fall Comdex. If you've ever seen TSL's LANLink and Multilink advanced software-based local area networks, you'll see the same principles here. Complete DOS compatibility is promised. "Being in control of DOS from the bottom up" is the way one TSL officer put it. CONTACT: Gary Robertson, TSL, 8601 Dunwoody Pl, Suite 632, Atlanta, GA 30338 [***][9/09/86][***] AUSTIN UPDATE: PC'S LTD. MOVES INTO FAST LANE, MAINSTREET CLOSES The "me-too" crowd of mail-order PC clone sellers in Austin, TX suffered its first casualty as Mainstreet Computer Corp. closed its doors recently. President Phillip Warren sent letters to creditors saying the firm was selling its assets to pay off secured bank debt. "Infoworld" got a copy and told everybody. But the guy they all copied, Michael Dell, keeps rolling along. He announced his PC's Ltd. will sell an 80386 machine for under $5,000 before Christmas, with 1 megabyte of main memory and storage up to 100 megabytes. One analyst, John McCarthy of Forrester Research Inc., Cambridge, MA, told "Infoworld" such a scheme would be "impossible." A third Austin firm, Computer Dynamics Inc., announced it will enter the 80386 market this year, too, but didn't mention a price. [***][9/09/86][***] AN ELECTRONIC BILL OF LADING FROM ATLANTA Cinematronics Inc., Atlanta, GA, has brought out an electronic bill of lading system, which figures and handles bills for freight forwarders to make importing and exporting much, much easier. The service, done through a 4-year old Cinematronics subsidiary called Orion Communications Inc., first establishes a data link between shippers and freight carriers. Then the shipper fills out the bill on a computer screen, and the bill is electronically computed and forwarded. The company first put together a bill of lading system for truckers, which was introduced in June, 1985. The new package prints shipping labels, notifies consignees of freight delivery schedules and can communicate special instructions to the carrier. It even automates daily or weekly activity logs. CONTACT: Kathy Shirkey, ORION COMMUNICATIONS. 1190 West Druid Hills Drive, Suite T-95, Atlanta, GA 30329 (404) 320-6717 [***][9/09/86][***] ATLANTA CONSTRUCTION UPDATE *EXCLUSIVE* IBM's Atlantic Center in midtown Atlanta has shot up past BellSouth's new building uphill on Peachtree Ridge. IBM's construction crew is using an innovative technique in which they pour a single spire for the elevator shafts, with cement mixed on-site and a single wooden form which is ratcheted upward as each new floor dries to bear the weight. A thin stone curtain- wall still has to be propped up around the edges before the new corporate temple is ready for some of Big Blue's 28,000 local employees. BellSouth's construction outfit, using more conventional construction techniques of hammering new concrete forms as they go up, started sooner. But as the summer wore on IBM's crew left them in the shade. (Figuratively -- the IBM building is slightly northwest of BellSouth's.) Meanwhile, where are the technology marts? Trammell Crow's new 29-story office building at 10th and Peachtree is going along quite nicely, but an Atlanta Infomart hasn't been mentioned since construction began. And John Portman's Inforum project changed the signs at its site from "Opening 1988" to "Opening March 1988." (Since buildings like this take 2 years to build, and work has not yet begun on the site, they might change them yet again.) CONTACT: Jim Kranzusch, INFORUM, 240 Peachtree St., NW, Suite 2200, Atlanta, GA 30043 (404) 658-5628 [***][9/09/86][***] THE ULTIMATE COMPUTER CHAIN LETTER *EXCLUSIVE* The prize for the most extensive use of a single computer routine must go to Halbert's Inc., Bath OH. For years, it seems, they've been peppering the country with computerized form letters, offering a "personalized family history" for something like $20- 40 a pop. (The result, friends who've bought this say, is a simple discussion of geneology bound in with a computer print-out containing names and addresses which may or may not be correct.) Apparently, they've been working themselves down the list of last names in declining order of frequency, and only now has "The Amazing Blankenhorn New World Registry" been published. The boilerplate continues, "The Blankenhorn name is very rare and our research has shown that less than one in every one million people in the new world share the Blankenhorn name." They even tell how they did it, spending "thousands of dollars to research over 100 million records in Europe, Canada, the United States and Australia" -- translation: ordering name lists and dumping them into files. (Imagine, thousands of dollars to search over 100 million records. Notice how far the computer revolution has come in 40- odd years.) CONTACT: Sharon Taylor, HARBERT'S INC., 3699 Ira Road, Bath, OH 44210 (216)666-6225 [***][9/09/86][***] COMPUGRAM GOING, GOING....ANYONE COMING, COMING? *EXCLUSIVE* CompuGram's office phone has been taken down and calls are now answered by publisher Dawn Barrs-Elkourie's personal voice on an answering machine. And at least one publisher called Newsbytes SE this week, sniffing around the market to see if there were enough readers in the local computer market to make a profit on. Our answer: not likely. [***][9/09/86][***] THE LOCAL COMPUTER PRESS *OPINION* What I've seen has not been very good. "Computer Currents," which publishes "Newsbytes," may be the lone exception (or I may be biased). But from what most publishers I've met lack in ethics they more than make up for in a refusal to pay for editorial independence. They rely instead on press releases for the bulk of their copy. The purpose of these papers is more important than what's in them. They're "network books" in which people with clearly defined interests identify one another. First came the nightlife papers like Creative Loafing or the Chicago Reader, then business papers like Crain's Chicago Business and Business Atlanta, finally specialty business newspapers for blacks, gays, women, and now computer people. What's important isn't what you say in these papers, but the fact your name appears there. People like that then call you first. Think of it as the SIG theory of publishing. (Actually, it's basic trade or hobby magazine publishing principles writ small.) [***][9/09/86][***] PECAN BYTES QUADRAM, Norcross, GA, announced QuadEGA ProSync, a board for IBM PCs and compatibles which emulates six different video display modes (IBM's and Hercules') in resolutions up to 640x480 pixels or 752x410 pixels. The card will be shipped with a driver permmiting Microsoft Windows to work with the high resolution. Shipment is promised this month at a retail price of $595. NORTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY, Raleigh, NC, has signed a volume purchase agreement for askSam, a text-oriented database program. Under the program, publisher Seaside Software, Perry, FL, will sell students and faculty the IBM PC compatible program for $75 instead of $150. Z-SOFT, Marietta, GA, signed a non-exclusive marketing deal with Xerox to sell its PC Paintbrush and other graphics packages, for use with Xerox' Ventura Publisher Edition desktop publishing system. TEXAS INSTRUMENTS, Dallas, announced that Timberline Software has put its Xenix-based Medallion Collection for construction, architecture, engineering, and property management applications on the TI Business Pro. [***][9/09/86][***] PASS THE HMM WHATTAS? Finally, we have the first Have Modem, Will Travel Trivial Accomplishment Award (just try to get more trivial than an HMWTTA. (Pronounced, I guess, Hmm Whatta.)) This award will be given out every so often (whenever it might make you think) to a major event so predictable it's old news when it happens. The envelope, please. The winner is.....the battle for the 80386 chip between IBM and the clone makers. (Second place goes to the crisis in South Africa.) [***][9/09/86][***] COMPUTER MEMORIES PUTS ENTIRE PLANT ON AUCTION BLOCK Need a like-new waveform analyzer? How about a few one-owner pulse function generators or even a slightly used PMS laser aerosol spectrometer? Those were just a few of the $14 million in hard-disk manufacturing tools put on the auction block by Chatsworth-based Computer Memories Inc. last week. Deciding to liquidate the company's entire manufacturing operation after a disastrous business year, CMI's board of directors hired high- tech auctioneer Ross-Dove Co. Inc. to convert the firm's heavy investment in storage technology ephemera, like Branson vapor degreasers and Scherr Tumico optical comparators, into hard cash. How much of the $14-million original price tag for the CMI equipment did the auctioneers recover for the firm? Neither CMI nor Ross-Dove had announced the total of the bids at press time, but a spokesman for the auctioneer said that a "lower figure is anticipated" when the calculators are finally switched off. CMI, by the way, will use whatever proceeds there are to find another line of work. Chairman Irwin Rubin said the company already has stockpiled $30 million in working capital but has not finalized a new venture plan. However, Rubin may be on his own in whatever business CMI gets into. Immediately prior to the auction announcement, CMI majority stockholder Intel Corp. announced it would sell its interest in the company. CONTACT: COMPUTER MEMORIES INC., 9216 Eaton Ave., Chatsworth, CA (818) 709-6445 ROSS-DOVE CO. INC., 951 Mariners Island Blvd., Suite 260, San Mateo, CA 94404 (415) 572-1502 [***][9/09/86][***] EX-USC STUDENT TO SPEND TWO YEARS BEHIND BARS Ruling that 28-year-old Merhdad Amini "severely compromised the integrity of the USC (computerized transcript) system," a Los Angeles Superior Court judge sentenced the former USC student to two years in state prison. Described by prosecutors as the middleman in a computerized grade-tampering scheme which allegedly involved more than 40 students, Amini will also face trial in Louisville, Ky., on cocaine posession and distribution charges. The first defendant to be found guilty in the case, Darryl Gillard, is scheduled to be sentenced in late October. A third member of the ring, 23-year-old Manuel Roberts of Los Angeles, is a fugitive. Meanwhile, according to a spokesman in the Los Angeles district attorney's office, the university has been "getting calls from people all over the country expressing concern about the validity of the USC transcripts." [***][9/09/86][***] TANDON SUIT AGAINST MITSUBISHI THROWN OUT The last of the three major Japanese diskette drive makers sued by Tandon Corp. for patent infringement has had its day in court. Mitsubishi announced last week that U.S. District Judge Robert Takasugi issued a ruling rejecting Tandon's claim of infringement and dismissed the case. Takasugi's ruling supports a similar decision by the International Trade Commission, which is being appealed by Tandon. Former defendants, Sony and TEAC, decided to pay royalties to Tandon rather than face the court challenge. CONTACT: TANDON CORP., 20320 Prairie, Chatsworth, CA 91311 (818) 993-6644 [***][9/09/86][***] JUDGE SAYS PHOOEY TO CHOPP ON NEWSLETTER INJUNCTION In an action by two shareholders and Chopp Computer Co. to halt reports about the firm in a financial newsletter, a San Francisco federal court judge has denied the request for a preliminary injunction. Chopp, which plans to merge with La Jolla-based Sullivan Computer Corp., claimed that "The Durant Livermore Cutten & Bliss Report" published "false information" in a plot to lower company stock prices. U.S. District Judge Robert Schnacke ruled that the injunction was not necessary because any losses suffered by Chopp, Sullivan or the stockholders could be settled when a lawsuit filed by those plaintiffs is heard. After the hearing, an attorney for the shareholders said Schnacke took a "conservative view of the statutes." Chopp is currently developing a supercomputer which reportedly would be faster than the Cray X-MP/48, currently considered to be the fastest in the world. [***][9/09/86][***] FALTERING ALPHA MICRO FINDS SUITORS GALORE Apparently surprised, directors of Santa Ana-based Alpha Microsystems are considering two offers for the money-losing firm. Point 4 Corp. of Tustin made a $9.5-million tender offer for nearly 50 percent of Alpha Micro's stock, while company co- founders Richard Wilcox and Robert Hitchcock launched a proxy fight to take management control away from Alpha Micro's board of directors. The two former owners already control 25.2 percent of the minicomputer maker. The main question is why Alpha Micro is suddenly so attractive. The company has lost nearly $4 million in the last 18 months, including an estimated $200,000 in its most recent quarter which ended last week. Alpha Micro stock, which once hit $24, has been steadily declining during the last two years and now trades between $4 and $8 a share. Perhaps one answer is that Point 4 Corp. is a direct competitor to Alpha Micro, and Point 4 president William Rigby may want to consolidate the two companies. [***][9/09/86][***] DATAPRODUCTS POSTS $2.5-MILLION PROFIT FOR QUARTER After losing $27 million last year, Dataproducts Corp. of Woodland Hills has announced a $2.5-million profit for its second fiscal quarter this year, the first under new chairman Jack Davis. Davis claimed cost-cutting actions are behind the profit this time. "We are confident that we'll be profitable throughout the remainder of the year," he said. CONTACT: DATAPRODUCTS CORP., 6200 Canoga Ave., Woodland Hills, CA 91367 (818) 887-8000 [***][9/09/86][***] A-T SIGNS 10-YEAR AGREEMENT WITH N-L FOR C-U Destined to induce severe hyphenation among news reporters, Santa Barbara-based Norton-Lambert Corp. has signed a 10-year contract to provide Ashton-Tate with its remote support software, Close-Up. The agreement permits A-T to use Close-Up in its new comprehensive support and service program. Close-Up allows customer service representatives to make telecommunications "house calls" and diagnose software problems without leaving their offices. The software comes in two parts, a "master" program for use by the support personnel and a "slave" program module for customers. CONTACT: NORTON-LAMBERT CORP., P.O. Box 4085, Santa Barbara, CA 93140 (805) 687-8896 [***][9/09/86][***] BEACHBITS >>> Gen Term Corp. of Costa Mesa announced that it offered to acquire Espey Manufacturing & Electronics of Saratoga Springs, N.Y., for $24 million in cash and notes. Gen Term sells video display terminals and Espey makes electronics components. Espey is expected to respond to the offer sometime this week. >>> Micropolis Corp. will terminate 180 temporary workers at its Chatsworth plant, leaving 900 on the job. The company has gone off-shore for its disk-drive production operations...to Singapore. >>> Dynamic Interface Systems of Los Angeles has penned a letter of intent to acquire Micro Base Systems. Micro Base sells software to mortgage bankers, while Dynamic Interface Systems offers loan-servicing software to mortgage firms. Terms of the offer were not disclosed. >>> The World Congress on the Human Aspects of Automation will be piped aboard the Hotel Queen Mary in Long Beach on September 22 for a two-day stay. The event is sponsored by the Society of Manufacturing Engineers. Call (313) 271- 0777 for more details. [***][9/09/86][***] THE WEEK OF THE AT CLONES The fall computer season got off to a running start this past week with major system announcements from IBM, DEC, and Sperry. And the introductions aren't over yet. Compaq is expected to announce a 802386-based machine at a NYC press conference this coming Thursday (9/11). Here's a synopsis of this past week's activity: * IBM XT MODEL 286 Big Blue's new computer isn't exactly the "clone killer" that's been rumored in the trade press over the past few months. The XT Model 286 uses the AT's 80286 processor, and sits comfortably in the middle of the product line between the XT and the AT. Because the system uses many custom chips, its "footprint" is similar to the current XT, considerably smaller than the AT. Retailing for $3995, the XT 286 includes a single 1.2-megabyte floppy disk drive, a 20-meg hard disk drive, 640K of RAM, a built-in serial/parallel adapter, and eight expansion slots. With all these standard features, it's essentially ready to run out of the box -- something unusual for IBM. Options include a 3-1/2 inch disk drive for $190, an additional 1.2-meg floppy for $275, and a 360K floppy for $225. Interestingly enough, the XT Model 286 runs only at 6 MHz, not the increasingly-standard 8 MHz that almost all the clones use. The system replaces the low-end AT, which also ran at 6 MHz only. The high-end 8 MHz IBM AT will remain in the product line. The 286 is being manufactured in Boca Raton, FL -- not at the highly automated Texas plant where the IBM laptop is put together by robots. CONTACT: IBM, Old Orchard Road, Armonk, NY 10504, 914-765-9600 * DEC VAXMATE Digital Equipment Corporation's very-long-awaited AT compatible was rolled out Thursday at a decidedly low-key press conference at the company's Merrimack, NH plant. The quiet introduction was a far cry from DEC's 1982 introduction of the Rainbow, which included an international satellite hookup. (Sour grapes folks! Even though NEWSBYTES NORTHEAST receives tons of press releases from DEC, we weren't invited to this week's introduction a few miles down the road.) DEC's machine is called the VAXmate, and like the IBM XT 286, the name says much. It's quite obvious that DEC is targeting the machine as a quick-and-easy connection for its myriad VAX customers. A DEC manager said it all when he announced that "Digital is the first in the computer industry to design a personal computer for networking from the ground up." Also no "clone killer," the VAXmate isn't inexpensive. Its base price is $4045 with the 80286 processor, one megabyte of RAM, and a single floppy disk drive (no hard disk). Bucking the industry trend, the VAXmate's monitor is integrated into the system unit. One eyebrow-raising part of the system is that Microsoft Windows is the VAXmate's standard user interface, thus giving Bill Gates et al another leg up on an industry standard. Though most interest was focused on the VAXmate, another part of the announcement was something called "PC-All-In-One," a hardware/software system that lets 30 VAXmates communicate in a local-area network with a MicroVAX II running the whole works. It comes with electronic mail, word processing, and a scheduling program, all for a cool $81,160. And DEC said they'll have software next year that'll let any PC, AT, or compatible tie into the system. CONTACT: Digital Equipment Corporation, The Mill, Maynard, MA 01754, 617-897-5111 * SPERRY MICROIT Sperry Corporation this week introduced the PC MicroIT. Both lower in cost and faster than the company's PC/IT, the MicroIT is unique in that the system unit takes up a comparatively-small 15 by 15-inch space on the desk. But this space-saving feature requires option cards to be mounted horizontally. The MicroIT, also using the now-ubiquitous 80286 processor, runs at 8 MHz. It's being built in Japan by Mitsubishi, and a Sperry spokesperson said that Mitsubishi retains rights to sell it itself or through other distributors. The MicroIT comes in a variety of pick-and-choose configurations; and a system with the same features as the IBM XT 286 comes in at about $150 less. The bare-bones MicroIT with 512K of RAM (no disks) retails for $2345. A 20-meg hard disk is $995, and a 1.2-meg floppy is $275. Monitors are also optional. CONTACT: Sperry Corporation, Computer Systems, PO Box 500, Blue Bell, PA 19424, 215-542-4131 [***][9/09/86][***] A NEW JOB FOR AMAZING GRACE 79-years old and still going strong. Though the co-inventor of COBOL was forced to retire last month (see "Admiral Hopper's Boston Farewell," NEWSBYTES NORTHEAST, week of August 19th), Ms. Grace Murray Hopper isn't about to spend her days in a rocking chair. This past week, she started a new career. Digital Equipment Corporation announced that the retired admiral has been named a senior consultant at DEC. She'll be working out of the company's Washington, D.C. office. According to a DEC spokesperson, her duties will include "representing DEC at industry forums, making speeches, serving as a representative on computer industry committees, writing and publishing computer papers, and participating in DEC's liason programs with educational institutions." (Sounds like a full schedule.) [***][9/09/86][***] LEADING EDGE HELPING JOBLESS "Social responsibility" is a phrase that isn't heard much these days in corporate hallways, with too many companies seem more concerned with this quarter's profits and fancy cars for executives. But Leading Edge Hardware Products is doing something beyond looking at this week's financial results. It was revealed this week that the purveyor of the hot "Model D" PC compatible has been quietly sponsoring two Leading Edge Word Processing Training Centers in Boston. One center offers a 10-week part-time program; the other a full-time 16-week program. People on welfare have priority for the free programs, and they also take those receiving unemployment or disability payments. Michael Shane, chairman of Leading Edge, started the non-profit centers after visiting a shelter for homeless families. "I was stunned," he said. Anyone 18 years old or older with a high school diploma or GED certificate is eligible for the programs, graduates of which are earning an average of $14,700 in entry-level positions. CONTACT: Leading Edge Word Processing Training Center, 617-451-2722 [***][9/09/86][***] KODAK ENTERS PRINTER MARKET Eastman Kodak has entered the "desktop publishing" market with a high volume printer. Though best known for their photographic products, the company spends megabucks on information technology research and development. The Ektaprint 1392 printer is the latest result. Instead of using a laser to generate the image, the unit uses arrays of light-emitting diodes (LEDs), which a company spokesperson says are much more reliable than using a laser. But unless your wallet is very fat, don't count on going out and getting an Ektaprint 1392 to hook up to your Mac or PC. It produces an amazing 92 pages a minute, and retails for $200,000. The spokesperson had no comment on whether lower-end, slower-speed versions might be available in the future. Right now, Kodak is concentrating on the high end of the market. CONTACT: Eastman Kodak Company, 343 State St., Rochester, NY 14650, 716-724-4000 [***][9/09/86][***] NYNEX INVADES CALIFORNIA The "Baby Bell" regional Bell Operating Companies are far from regional anymore. And NYC-based NYNEX, which operates New England Telephone and New York Telephone, is quickly becoming one of the least regional. Several months ago, the company bought IBM's Business Center's lock, stock, and barrel, and now operates them throughout the country as Nynex Business Centers. This past week, NYNEX struck again, buying yellow pages publisher United Publishing Corporation of Beverly Hills, CA. With the move, NYNEX will move into direct competition with Pacific Telesis, southern California's operating company. Currently, Nynex publishes 288 yellow pages directories with a total circulation of 27 million. Its publishing operation employs 1200 people in New England and brought in $600 million in revenue last year. The move caused a bit of trepidation among public-utilities regulators in Massachusetts. Paul Levy, chairman of the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities told the BOSTON GLOBE that, "Nynex appears to be sending its profits to California instead of using them to lower phone rates in New York and New England." [***][9/09/86][***] NORTHEAST BITS -- You remember the ESP 9310 PC compatible, don't you? If you're one of the many people who've never heard of it, you'll understand why Melville, NY-based Espirit Systems is getting out of the personal computer business to concentrate on its more-well-known terminals. Espirit's been attempting to sell the computer for almost two years now, and it only accounted for only 15% of its sales and resulted in a overall 23% sales loss for the company. -- The folks at IBM are always doing interesting things. This week, Big Blue announced that three staff scientists succeeded in developing a new electron microscope technique that actually shows images of atoms and the bonds that hold them together. The images they've produced show the atoms and bonds in Silicon, which not so co-incidently is what integrated circuits are made out of. -- Pittsburgh's Carnegie-Mellon University is developing a artificial-intelligence system system to automatically drive a vehicle without human intervention. The system, which operates at 100 Mhz, is housed in a van because of its refrigerator size. So far, it's driven the van at a snail's pace around campus. Don't expect a robotics chauffeur in your car soon; the $10-million project is funded by the Department of Defense with an obvious eye toward military applications. [***][9/09/86][***] HOUSE INVESTIGATING ARMY SYSTEM The House Appropriations Committee is investigating possible mismanagement of a major Army computer system, according to GOVERNMENT COMPUTER NEWS. Staff from the committee's investigations subcommittee are looking into problems with the Continental Army Management Information System, originally estimated to cost $670 million. The newspaper says the Army failed to answer a large number of more than 300 questions the committee submitted in April, and added that the Army has no plans to answer the questions. The transcript of the hearing, printed in July, contains a "clerk's note," which says "the Army could not or would not answer these questions, which were based on an investigation by the committee's survey and investigations staff." [***][9/09/86][***] GAO WANTS DELAY IN SOCIAL SECURITY SYSTEM The General Accounting Office, the congressional watchdog agency, has called for a delay in a massive new computer system for the Social Security Administration. Rep. Jack Brooks (D-Texas), chairman of the Government Operations Committee, has written Health and Human Services Secretary Otis Bowen urging him to follow the GAO recommendations. GAO says Social Security should delay the next phase of the $1 billion computer system, which would require $343 million for thousands of terminals and other gear. GAO says a planned field test of the system in 20 offices across the country won't work, and moving to the big $343 million equipment buy is "not justified. It is not clear, for example, what needs these procurements would address, what potential mission benefits would result from the acquisitions or whether alternatives have been adequately analyzed." As originally planned, the Social Security system would have cost $479 million over five years. [***][9/09/86][***] PEACENET LINKS THE LEFT A group of nuclear freeze activists have started a computer network, PeaceNet, to link up like-minded folks across the country. As in other offerings of its kind, PeaceNet offers electronic mail, public conferences, private conferences, calendars, and, real soon now, data bases. PeaceNet is a cooperative project of Ark Communications Institute, Center for Innovative Diplomacy, Community Data Processing, and Foundation for the Arts of Peace. It is accessible through Telenet. The basic charge is $10 per month, which includes one hour of off- peak time. Additional off-peak time will cost $5 per hour, and peak time will be $10 per hour. There is a $10 one-time signup fee. CONTACT: PeaceNet, 1918 Bonita Ave., 3rd Floor, Berkeley, Calif., 94704, 415-486-0264. [***][9/09/86][***] VIRGINIA PUTS THE BYTE ON ESCAPEES Thomas Moore, 72, escaped from a Virginia state prison road crew in June 1958. He was serving a 15-year sentence for grand larceny. Last August 15 in Norfolk, Va., after 28 years of freedom, Moore was captured by Virginia State Police, thanks to the National Crime Information Computer at the Federal Bureau of Investigations in Washington, the state computer network, and a three-man state extradition and absconders unit, formed a year ago. Moore's wife filed a complaint against him. The complaint was dismissed, but Moore's fingerprints had been routinely sent to the FBI. They matched those of an escaped convict, and the Virginia absconders unit was notified. Police in Edenton, N.C., where Moore was living, were unable to find him, but learned he was on the bus to Virginia Beach to visit relatives. Police met him at the bus stop. Moore says he will ask Gov. Gerald Baliles to pardon him so that he will not have to return to prison. "It's harder to hide now, with all the advanced technology," Harold Catron, supervisor of the absconders unit, told the WASHINGTON POST. [***][9/09/86][***] CONTRACT BOARD HAMMERS MBI AGAIN For the second time in three weeks, the General Services Administration's board of contract appeals has told GSA to drop its contract for computer stores with MBI Business Centers Inc. of Rockville, Md. Robert Guerra, MBI senior vice president for government relations, said he expects GSA will close the three stores, but Guerra does not expect any of MBI's 80 employees at the stores will lose jobs as a result. The appeals board ruled on August 19 that the contract extension for the stores was not competitive and unfair to potential bidders such as Businessland, which had complained. GSA allowed the stores to remain open while it asked the board to reconsider. The board turned the agency down last week, commenting testily that "the contract should already have been terminated." GSA has solicited proposals from companies vying for the business, worth about $1.5 million per month. the agency expects to award a new contract by early next year. [***][9/09/86][***] COMPUTERS SPUR SALES, SAYS CONFERENCE BOARD STUDY Salesmen and sales managers are making greater use of computers, according to a study by the Conference Board, a New York business research group. In the past, computer systems were used to provide sales personnel with printouts of general information. But increasingly, says the report, they are being used to provide data on specific clients. Computers are being used to enter new orders, check inventories, and analyze customer needs. Fewer than 10 percent of all companies now use such computerized support systems, said Louis Wallis, who surveyed 160 companies for the report, but those who do "may be gaining a significant competitive edge." [***][9/09/86][***] LAZY LABOR DAY BUSINESS INDEX The Washington Computer Business Index slid to 148 for the Labor Day issue of WASHSINGTON BUSINESS. But computer display ads dramatically outpaced non-computer ads in the weekly business tabloid. Computer ads for the September 1 edition totaled 7.7 pages, compared to just under four pages for non-computer ads. Labor Day is traditionally the end of the Washington summer, and advertising should start to pick up in coming weeks. [***][9/09/86][***] 32-BIT V60 MPU DEBUTS NEC will release its original 32-bit MPU "V60" this month. According to a report, 30 firms have already ordered V60 to adopt it for their products. Currently, NEC has been marketing a V-series family including V20, V30, V40, and V50. They've been selling well. NEC has just started producing more V30s due to the popularity of the company's V30-based PC-9801VM computer. Also, over 100 manufacturers in and outside Japan have reportedly been planning to adopt V20 and V30 for their systems. As was reported in this column before, V-series MPUs have been the subject of a lawsuit filed by Intel (U.S.A.). However, NEC is quite confident it will win this case. An insider says many U.S. manufacturers have been waiting for the court ruling, and they will adopt V-series MPUs for their systems later. CONTACT: NEC, 1-4-28 Mita, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108 (03-451-2974 PR. Dept.) [***][9/09/86][***] NEW PC-9801 RUMOR Meanwhile, a member of the Tokyo-based major microcomputer network TELESTAR says NEC has been planning to announce a V50- based PC-9801 in October. A V50 MPU consists of a V30 and its peripheral LSIs. So, naturally, the new PC-9801 is expected to get compact IF it is based on V50. Another rumor says NEC will release a laptop personal computer with a 1MB 3.5" disk drive(s), and MS-DOS, either on a disk or a ROM. The combination of these rumors may produce a picture of the new model: Laptop PC-9801 with a V50 MPU. Yet, nothing has been confirmed so far. We'll see. [***][9/09/86][***] MITSUBISHI WINS OVER TANDON According to the "Jiji" news report (9/3), the Federal District Court in Los Angeles has rejected Tandon's appeal that Mitsubishi Electronics infringed the copyright of Tandon's FDD. This ruling supports the decision which was made by the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) this past January. Meanwhile, Tandon has still been appealing to the court that Mitsubishi has been dumping its FDDs. The war goes on... [***][9/09/86][***] ADVANCED VOICE RECOGNITION SYSTEM NTT (Japan's Telegraph and Telephone Corp.) has developed a most advanced voice recognition system which accepts the speech of any human being, says a report. This system uses a new concept called "rule-base." All kinds of speech form with contractions are stored in this new system. The rule-base system recognizes speeches by evaluating a sound character, and the sounds of a letter, a word, and a sentence. As a result, this system recognizes the normal conversation of people. NTT will brusm up this system for practical use in the near future. CONTACT: NTT, 1-1 Uchisaiwai-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100 (03-509-3091) [***][9/09/86][***] JAPAN'S CONGLOMERATE ACTIVE IN HIGHTECH BUSINESS Sumitomo Trading, one of the major conglomerates in Japan, will establish a joint venture for designing custom ICs, in cooperation with former engineers of TI Japan and Canon. There're only FIVE employees to start in this new firm "Hightech Center." The number is soon expected to be 100. Meanwhile, Hightech Center has been planning to make a dealer contract with Honeywell (Minnesota, U.S.A.) to market ICs for airplanes and rockets. Currently, lots of conglomerates have been being involved in the telecommunication and high tech fields in Japan. Among others, Mitsui Bussan, C.Itoh, and Mitsubishi Trading are expected to play important roles in the near future. [***][9/09/86][***] SURVIVAL RATE OF FIRMS The Nikkei Sangyo Daily released (9/1) a survival rate of 1,554 Japanese firms in the midst of rapid yen's rise. The rate is based on various data, such as profit, tax, stock share, etc. The following is the list of electronics firms: RANKING COMPANY RANKING COMPANY --------------------------- ----------------------------- 2 Matsushita 30 Sanyo 5 Hitachi 31 Kyocera 10 NEC 40 KDD 12 TDK 42 Fujitsu 13 Sony 46 Canon 20 Sharp 71 Ricoh 26 Maxell ------------------------------------------------------------- [***][9/09/86][***] INTELLIGENT BUILDING BUSINESS The so-called "Intelligent Building" (high tech building) is becoming popular in Japan. According to a news report, the largest "intelligent building" construction firm will be born in Japan by the end of the year. The name of this new concern is Intelligent Building Network (IBN), which is being created by NTT, banks, telecommunication equipment manufacturers, and construction firms, etc. There's a huge demand for high tech buildings here - the Japanese Ministry of Construction estimates an approximately US$110 billion market in Japan. Wow! [***][9/09/86][***] <<< SUKIYAKI BYTES >>> POWERFUL PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE -- Hitachi has developed a programming language "S-LONLI" which is cut out for developing AI systems. According to a published report, the inference speed of this product is 7.5 to 12 times faster than the current programming languages. Hitachi has already applied for the patent in the U.S., Britain, and France, as well as in Japan. S-LONLI will be released by the end of 1987. SANYO IN THE U.S.-- Sanyo Electric will establish its 100%- subsidiary, SANYO LASER PRODUCTS, in Richmond (Indiana, U.S.A.) on October 1. This new firm will produce laser disks and optical disk memories. Five million laser disks are expected to be produced for the initial year. SONY'S SRAM BUSINESS -- According to a published report, Sony has cancelled a 256K DRAM order to Vitelic Corp. (San Jose, CA). Instead, Sony has ordered Static RAMs on an OEM basis. The analysts say Sony will focus on the SRAM business in the future. MITSUBISHI AND ELECTROSOUND -- Mitsubishi Trading (Tokyo) and Electrosound (New York) have jointly established a venture business "MemoryTech" (Texas) for the production and the sales of laser disks. The new firm will start producing one million laser disks for audio equipment per month next summer. [***][9/09/86][***] QUOTE OF THE WEEK "Currently, there're two dangerous development in the U.S. - They are the emerging protectionism and mounting budget deficit. They are bound to bankrupt the world economy if no proper measures are taken... Protectionist law may hurt U.S. consumers, and it will give considerable damage to the firms in Japan and West Germany... It is needless to say, however, Japan should stimulate its domestic economy." -- Kay Whitmore, president of Eastman Kodak, at press conference in Tokyo. [***][9/09/86][***] ATARI 2080 & 4160STF REVEALED Yawning ones way through the Personal Computer World Show, held at Olympia in London this week, one could be forgiven for thinking that nothing really innovative was forthcoming on the home computing scene - other than, of course, the new computers from Amstrad, Sinclair and Acorn outlined in last week's NEWSBYTES UK (More of which later). Whilst Day One was a yawner, Day Two proved much more interesting with a visit to the Atari Village section of the multi-floor show by Jack and Leonard Tramiel, otherwise known as the driving forces behind Atari and in particular, the Atari ST. Whilst at the show, Jack showed off two new machines he had brought with him from America - The 2080 and 4160 ST machines. The good news is that these machines will hit the UK (and presumably US) stores "within the next four to six weeks," said a smiling Jack Tramiel. Also shown, and detailed at the show, was the so-called blitter chip which enables faster screen handling of graphics etc. The blitter will be available in its finished form during late January/early February of next year at around the 60 pounds ($90) mark. Side-by-side program comparisons were carried out between two ST's - one with the blitter installed, the other without - with speed improvements of up to *five times* being noted on some programs. Not bad for a low-price add-on whose price, incidentally, includes dealer installation. UK Prices of the 2080 and 4160 ST models are as follows: 2080STF monochrome 1,149 pounds 2080STF colour 1,349 pounds 4160STF monochrome 1,459 pounds 4160STF colour 1,659 pounds That's the good news. The bad news is that, apart from the extra RAM on the 2080 and 4160 machines, they differ very little from the existing 1080 model. Also, from whisperings around the Atari village, it looks like the 520ST may well be allowed to fade away, as, in its present form it won't take the blitter and TT expansion units. The TT? The TT is a 68020 cpu expansion box which fits around the back of the 1080 (and up) models, thereby giving the ST considerable speed advantages thanks to the co-processing power of the ST/TT combination. Interviewed on the Micronet 800 celebrity chatline on Prestel, the UK's viewdata service, both Jack and his son Leonard growled that "no technical specifications on the TT were yet available," in repsones to user enquiries. How do you you growl online? NEWSBYTES UK hasn't figured this one out, but Jack Tramiel certainly gives that impression! [***][9/09/86][***] SINCLAIR SPECTRUM REBORN As we predicted last week, the Spectrum Plus 2 was unveiled at the show. Besides slapping a nice grey full-travel keyboard onto the Spectrim 128K chassis, and adding an integral cassette recorder (ala Sharp MZ80 - remember those?), Amstrad have done little to modify the best-selling machine. Pricing is very competitive - a few pennies under 150 pounds ($225) - but most packages will initially include joysticks and software for around the 160 pound ($240) mark. One beaming Amstrad employee informed NEWSBYTES UK that the Spectrum Plus 2 now has "improved reliability," although after closely examining the PCB of the 'new' machine, NEWSBYTES UK concludes that nothing has been done to alter the circuitry from its earlier design. Still at 150 pounds for a repackaged best-seller with integral tape deck, one can't complain... [***][9/09/86][***] THE AMSTRAD PC1512 REVEALED As we again predicted (well the crystal ball was very clear last week... chuckle), Amstrad brought out its long-awaited PC compatible machine. Eight configurations, ranging from a 512K RAM, single floppy, monochrome monitor unit at 399 pounds ($600) up to a 20Mb hard disc, colour unit at 949 pounds ($1,425), were unveiled. The packages come with bundled software which includes MS-DOS 3.2 and GEM - in fact, as we thought, it's a plug in and go system. Each machine sports an 8086 cpu running at 8Mhz (yes that's right), with a capability of displaying 16 colours on-screen at once - compared to IBM's four. Despite this, the PC1512 is claimed as totally compatible with the original Big Blue product, and has three full length expansion slots to prove it. Whilst North American NEWSBYTES UK readers will probably be saying "So What - who is Amstrad anyway," European readers will be aware that Amstrad is as household a name in the UK as Hershey bars are in the States. The Amstrad name is synonimous with good quality and value for money products - in hifi, TV's, Radios and a host of household electrical products. The Amstrad PC1512 may yet oust the IBM PC from the number 1 PC slot with the UK. Last word on the PC1512 goes to Alan Sugar, the guy who started Amstrad just a few years ago by selling car aerials from his car trunk, who says: "It's compatible with you know who, but at a price only Amstrad know how." Contact: Amstrad Consumer Electronics, PO Box 462, Brentwood, Essex, CM14 4EE. Tel: Brentwood (0277) 230222. [***][9/09/86][***] ACORN FIGHT BACK WITH THE MASTER COMPACT: Scotching rumours they had all but given up hope of protecting their previous number one position in the home and educational computer markets, Acorn unveiled the Master Compact series this week - just in time for the PCW show. The company say the Compact is a machine designed for people who want a home computer that their kids can use, that will grow with them, and which is a serious machine which they can use themselves. On paper the Master Compact is a 6502 cpu machine with 128K RAM, coming a keyboard unit, linked to a plinth containing one (or more) 3.5 inch floppy drives, each with a 400K storage capacity. On top of the plinth is an optional monitor (colour or monochrome) which, like all the Master Compact units, is wired to a single plug, putting paid to the usual spaghetti of wires we're all used to seeing on our PCs. Initially, three Master Compact system configurations will be available: Keyboard + cpu and drive plinth: 399 pounds ($600). As above plus mono monitor : 469 pounds ($700) Keyboard + cpu, drive plinth & hi-res colour monitor : 599 pounds ($900) Each of the machines comes ready-bundled with 150 pounds ($225) worth of software, including the View word-processing, Logo and Tim Paint graphics packages. All in all a nice package to wheel home for the kids and impress the neighbours. Value for money? Well... [***][9/09/86][***] "MAJOR BLOW" TO PRESTEL AS IP QUITS The United Kingdom public viewdata service - Prestel - has been hard-hit after a very public withdrawal by one of its first, and major, information providers. Timefame International, who ran several popular interactive databases on Prestel, quit last week, after objecting to Prestel's imposition of what Timefame allege to be unfair clauses in their new contract. Principal to the furore was the wording that prohibited any agricultural information on an information providers pages - presumabaly to protect the interests of Farmlink, Prestel's own agricultural information on Prestel. Timefame's MD, Roy Norman, is quoted in several publications and in his much-posted press release, as accusing Prestel of trying to compete with information providers and forcing them to join what is known as closed user groups - sets of pages which are only available to certain subscribers, usually on payment of an extra service fee. Prestel, for their part, deny this, and say tht the new clause in IP's contracts "merely obliges the provider to talk to us first before establishing a database." Contact: Prestel Service Headquarters, Telephone House, Temple Avenue, London EC4Y OHL. Tel: 01-822-1142 Roy Norman, Timefame International, PO Box 107, Billinghay, Lincoln LN4 4AW. Tel: 0526-861136 [***][9/09/86][***] RETAILER BOUGHT OUT Data Terminal Mart, a Toronto-based chain of computer retail stores, is to be acquired by Microphonics Technology Corp. of Auburn, Wash. The two companies have signed a letter of intent, which provides that Data Terminal Mart will remain a semi- autonomous organization. The price paid for the chain hasn't been disclosed. The chain of nine stores across Canada had sales last year of C$11.5 million. Data Terminal Mart sells computer systems, terminals and peripherals. The Canadian chain is expected to pick up Microphonics' complete line of products, which includes the Zoom modem, voice control devices for PCs and an intelligent print buffer. CONTACT: DATA TERMINAL MART, 120 Adelaide St. W., Toronto ON, (416) 364-4480 [***][9/09/86][***] ANOTHER ACQUISITION RUMOR NEWSBYTES CANADA has heard from two separate sources in the past week that Northern Telecom Ltd., Canada's largest communications equipment manufacturer, is looking to acquire a computer company. The company being talked about is Hewlett-Packard Co. of Palo Alto, Calif. Alliances between telecommunications and computer companies are of course pretty popular these days, the most notable being the IBM acquisition of ROLM Corp. NorTel itself has had agreements with a handful of computer companies providing various kinds of compatibility between NorTel communications equipment and the computer systems of Sperry Corp. and Digital Equipment, among others. Some similar arrangement with Hewlett-Packard might be as far as the alliance between the two companies -- if there is one at all -- will go. Northern Telecom has had a slow first half this year, and although the company has personal computer products, they haven't received a lot of attention in the marketplace. An alliance with HP might do NorTel good. But even with the muscle of Canada's largest telephone operating company, Bell Canada, observers think Hewlett-Packard might be a bit too expensive for NorTel to buy, even if it were for sale. Neither company is talking about the rumor. CONTACT: NORTHERN TELECOM LTD., 33 City Centre Dr., Mississauga, ON L5B 3A2, (416) 275-0960 [***][9/09/86][***] ROLM INTRODUCES NEW TREES ROLM Canada Inc. introduced two new trees to the Canadian marketplace last week. The first was Redwood, the company's telephone system for small to medium-sized businesses, already available in the U.S. and now shipping immediately in Canada. The second was the Canadian organization's new president, W.N. (Bill) Palm, who comes to ROLM after 25 years in various sales and management positions at IBM Canada Ltd. Palm said ROLM Canada, which opened for business in 1977, has shown substantial growth. He predicted the company's growth in 1986 will be about 60 percent. Most installations to date have been in large organizations, with Texaco Canada and the Bank of Canada (Canadian equivalent of the U.S. Federal Reserve) among the major clients. With the introduction of Redwood, Palm said, "ROLM is now able to bring the same advanced digital telephone technology to users with as few as 10 phones or as many as 10,000." CONTACT: ROLM CANADA INC., 4 Lansing Square, Willowdale, ON M2J 1T1, (416) 498-7656 [***][9/09/86][***] OMNIBUS SUES Omnibus Computer Graphics Inc. has obtained a temporary restraining order against John Whitney Jr. and Gary Demos, the founders of Digital Productions, which became an Omnibus subsidiary in June. Omnibus bought the company and relieved Whitney and Demos of their duties, although they continued to be paid. The Toronto firm now alleges that Whitney and Demos have founded a competing firm, Whitney Demos Productions, and hired at least three employees away from Omnibus despite agreements prohibiting such a move, and are using software and other information that belongs to Omnibus. The restraining order requires Whitney and Demos to return certain property temporarily to Omnibus. A preliminary hearing in a damage suit is scheduled for Sept. 22. Omnibus also last week announced a C$845,000 profit for the nine months ended June 30, on revenues of C$8.3 million. That's an improvement over a loss of C$849,000 on C$4 million revenues for the same period last year. Omnibus uses computers to create images and animation for movies and television. Among its past credits are the computer simulations in The Last Starfighter and 2010, graphics for Flight of the Navigator, commercials for Kodak and Expo 86, and the logos for two Canadian television networks. CONTACT: OMNIBUS COMPUTER GRAPHICS INC., 2180 Yonge St., Toronto, Ont., (416) 489-6020 [***][9/09/86][***] INGRAM GETS SUED A Federal Court of Canada judge has restricted by court order the prices charged by the Canadian operations of Ingram Software Ltd. and a Canadian-owned distributor, Beamscope Canada Inc. The trade newspaper Canadian Computer Dealer News reports that the order resulted from a lawsuit by Beamscope, which protested discounting by Ingram on 15 product lines that are handled by both firms. The order will remain in effect until a trial is held. No date for the trial has been set. CONTACT: INGRAM SOFTWARE LTD., 40A Adesso Dr., Concord, ON L4K 2Y1, (416) 738-1700 BEAMSCOPE CANADA INC., 128 Shorting Rd., Scarborough ON, (416) 291-0000 [***][9/09/86][***] FOUR NEW VERSIONS OF PAPERCLIP Batteries Included has introduced four new versions of its PaperClip word processing software. The new editions are for the Commodore 128, Apple II, the Atari 130XE and, on a single disk, the Atari 48K and Commodore 64. The combined Atari-Commodre version costs C$49.95, the price of the Commodore 128 version hasn't been announced, and the others cost C$79.95. Batteries Included is expected to start selling PaperClip Elite for the Amiga, the Atari ST and the IBM PC shortly. CONTACT: Martin Herzog, BATTERIES INCLUDED INC., 30 Mural St. Richmond Hill, ON L4B 1B5, (416) 881-9941 [***][9/09/86][***] BELL-NORTHERN ANNOUNCES ISDN TEST FACILITY Bell-Northern Research, the research and development subsidiary of Northern Telecom and Bell Canada, has announced the development of the Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) Customer Premises Equipment Test Facility, designed to help telecommunications and computer products vendors evaluate their terminals for ISDN compatibility. The facility's first users will include equipment vendors who are participating in upcoming ISDN field trials with Northern Telecom and North American telephone companies. The test facility consists of hardware designed to simulate the standard-plug access to ISDN communications services. BNR-designed software emulates thousands of voice and data protocol sequences and analyses the ISDN terminals' ability to interact with an array of communication signals. CONTACT: Brian J. Smith, BELL-NORTHERN RESEARCH, P.O. Box 3511, Station C, Ottawa, ON K1Y 4H7, (613) 726-4836 [***][9/09/86][***] AT&T SIGNS CONTRACTS AT&T Canada Inc. has announced two new contracts aimed at developing specific markets within Canada. The Canadian arm of AT&T has signed a contract with Sisca Informatique Inc., Sherbrooke, Que., aimed at developing the market in that province. Sisca will sell AT&T personal computers and the 3B line of supermicros in the Quebec market, which needs specialized software and support because of the largely French- speaking population. AT&T Canada has also signed an agreement with Bear Automotive Inc., a manufacturer of automotive test equipment. Bear will use AT&T PCs and the StarLAN network in vertical-market hardware- software combinations for garages, car dealerships and service stations. AT&T Canada has put increasing emphasis on value-added resellers in the past few months, increasing its number of VARs from one at the beginning of 1986 to 14 at present. CONTACT: AT&T CANADA INC., 1500 Don Mills Rd., Suite 500, Don Mills, ON M3B 3K4, (416) 449-4300 [***][9/09/86][***] BITS, EH? -- Computerized trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange ground to a halt for about four hours last Thursday morning as the Computer Assisted Trading System (CATS) crashed just before the market opened and stayed down until early afternoon. The system, developed by the Toronto Stock Exchange and now being sold to other exchanges in Europe, has a 99.9 per cent record of reliability. -- Software developer Sydney Development Corp. of Vancouver lost C$520,000 in its first quarter, compared with C$490,000 the year before. Revenue rose from C$2.6 million to C$4.1 million. -- International Verifact Inc. of Toronto announced that it has signed a contract to supply 1,000 Point of Sale terminals to The National Bank of Canada for use in credit and debit card applications.