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/V183

Text File | 1991-08-12 | 45KB | 959 lines

[***][12/16/86][***]
THE BEST OF TIMES AT ATARI
SUNNYVALE, Ca. (NB) -- The Tramiels have a fantastic present
to conclude the year -- news that sales of STs and video game
consoles have doubled in a year's time (from $29 to $59
million); net income is up to $9.12 million in the latest
quarter. Atari stock continues to climb in price, and Atari
just been included in the nation's best-performing mutual,
Zenith Fund, where it is one of only four technology
stocks (the others being Lotus, Seagate Technology, and Apple
Computer).

The credit has to go to Jack Tramiel, the 58-year old
founder of rival Commodore, and now the tight-fisted genius
behind Atari.  When he announced intentions to create a
Macintosh clone, dubbed the Jackintosh, his critics laughed.
Not now.  The only negative comment that can be heard is from
New York analyst Thomas Rooney of Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette
who told the "S. F. Examiner" that the home computer business
is still insecure. "For Atari to be successful, somebody
will have to ante up a lot of capital. People aren't willing
to make that sort of speculative bet."

[***][12/16/86][***]
A REVERENCE FOR REFERENCE - DICK BRASS'S HOT LINE
KIRKLAND, Wa. (NB) -- Dick Brass is a man with a mission.
Early in the 80s he bought the rights to electronically
distribute the RANDOM HOUSE DICTIONARY, ROGET'S
INTERNATIONAL THESAURUS, the OXFORD DICTIONARY, the
CHICAGO MANUAL OF STYLE, BLACK'S LAW DICTIONARY, STEDMAN'S
MEDICAL DICTIONARY, among others. Now he's head of General
Information Inc. and has rights to electronically publish
THE WORLD ALMANAC and the NATIONAL DIRECTORY OF ADDRESSES
AND TELEPHONE NUMBERS.

Brass plans to put the National Directory on a variety of
media including CD-ROM.  For starters, he's taken 2,000
of the National Directory's 150,000 listings, placed them
in a RAM-resident software package for a PC, and is selling it
for $29.95.  Called Hot Line, it can be customized with
65,000 more addresses and phone numbers, can dial up the
number, can cope with local, long-distance, international
and credit card call protocol, and keeps a log of all calls
on disk.  Remember, this is a RAM-RESIDENT package, so
it can be called up from the background of other applications.

When CD-ROM drives come into their own, one can assume General
Information will clean up; these reference materials will
find an immediate home in the monsterous amount of storage the
new technologies provide.

CONTACT:  Denise Dowsen, CUNNINGHAM COMMUNICATIONS, Mountain
          View, Ca. 415/962-8914

          Dick Brass, GENERAL INFORMATION, 206/828-4777

[***][12/16/86][***]
THE RUMOR ROUNDUP
SAN FRANCISCO, Ca. (NB) -- For the record, here's a list of
what the media knows -- or think they know -- about the coming
offerings from Apple and IBM.  What you see below is a
compilation of the best rumors, hoping to meet some common
ground in the truth.

Apple
-----
Look for a low-end laser printer and  two 68020-based Macintoshes
to come in January but not ship until March.  Nobody can agree
on whether current Mac512K or Mac Plusses will be upgradeable
to the new Macs.   The new Macs will be fast, running at 16
megahertz.  One is code-named Alladin, according to John
Dvorak, and will feature a hard disk, higher screen resolution,
a new keyboard similar to the IIGS, one meg of RAM and 25K of
ROM--and most importantly--one to two expansion slots.  The price is
expected to be under $3,000. The higher-end Macintosh is code-
named Paris. It will have 5-7 expansion slots, enabling it
to run MS-DOS applications with a special coprocessor card.
I like the rumor which says this unit will have a video
connection for a color monitor, this from COMPUTERWORLD.
We're looking at a 3-piece unit, according to Dvorak, that
looks like and IBM-AT "from a distance!"

The low-end laser printer is supposed to be under $2,000.
It will not support Postscript but will use a version of
Quick Draw for the Macintosh as its graphics routine.

IBM
---
IBM will introduce a low-end PC designed for the educational
market in January. Called the PC-ET, it's a versatile machine
based on the 8086 microprocessor and targeted at the home-
educational market.  The ET will cost about $1,100 and offer
as standard features built-in EGA or CGA color graphics
chip sets.  This will allow the machine to produce stunning,
high resolution graphics.  Also look for an internal hard
disk, five expansion slots, and a built-in mouse.

[***][12/16/86][***]
DISKS AS HARD AS...GLASS?
MILPITAS, Ca. (NB) -- A U.S.-Japanese alliance aims to put
an old substance to a new use in computerdom.  Komag, Inc.
and Asahi Glass of Tokyo are teaming up to make 3 1/2"
and 5 1/4" Winchesters that use special grade glass substrates
in the disks.  The firms claim that by using glass, rather
than the metallic substrates now commonly used, they will
be able to build disks with exceptionally precise
magnetic recording surfaces.  And this one's for you
physics majors, "Since glass has a lower coefficient of
expansion, disk drives using this type of media can
operate at higher track densities."  The research will take
place in Japan, the manufacturing in Silicon Valley.

CONTACT: John Trifari, JOHN TRIFARI PUBLIC RELATIONS,
         415/323-5340 OR 415/856-2577

         T. Hunt Payne, KOMAG, 408/946-2707

[***][12/16/86][***]
IN BRIEF --

THE AMERICAN ELECTRONICS ASSOCIATION has merged with the
ELECTRONICS ASSOCIATION OF CALIFORNIA, following a decision
that combined resources could lead to greater opportunities
and effectiveness in the area of legislative advocacy.

INTEL is selling its bubble memory operation to MemTech Inc.
Also, Intel and AT&T have signed an agreement to work
together on questions of compatibility and telecommunication
devices.

ATASI CORP., a high-capacity disk drive manufacturer, has
agreed to be purchased by Tandon Corp.  Atasi's lawsuit against
Seagate Technologies over issues of patent infringement is
still pending.

MICROSOFT's current court battle with SEATTLE COMPUTER sees
at least three Gates in the way.  First, there's famous BILL,
then there's his less famous father BILL who's in Microsoft's
outside law firm of Shidler McBroom Gates & Lucas, and there's
the firm of BOGLE & GATES which is counsel for Seattle
Computer. But that Gates is no relation, says Microsoft.  And
thanks to Denise Caruso for this item.

VICTOR TECHNOLOGIES posted a $4.4 million loss for the first
nine months of this year.  But all is not bad; Victor has been
losing money at a SLOWER rate than last year.  The Scotts
Valley company has just signed an agreement for its Champion PC
to be sold through Target mass merchandise outlets.

BORLAND INTERNATIONAL, right down the street from Victor, seems
unable to do wrong. Its latest financial results are again, the
envy of the Valley.  For the year ending September 30, Borland
profit is up 55%, sales up 48% over this time last year.

KAYPRO CORPORATION still doesn't have its act together when it
comes to press releases. Friday NEWSBYTES CENTRAL received a
release headlined "Kaypro LED Printer Improves on Laser
Technology" and says the new printer will be unveiled at
Comdex/Fall in Las Vegas, Nevada, November 10-14. C'mon guys (gals).
CONTACT: R. Michelle Breyer, Marketing Communications Department 619/
259-4441.

[***][12/16/86][***]
ELECTRONIC WHIZ-BANG OF THE WEEK
NEWSBYTES-CENTRAL -- Coleco is apparently the winner of the
sophisticated electronic kids toy race this year. Wrinkles is
a talking dog that comes with no less than 256K of memory
in the form of a National Semiconductor CMOS chip! The chip
makes the dog run cooler (needing smaller batteries).  Coleco
says the dog has 1000 phrases, responds to spoken commands,
has "moods," and learns new words.  Previous to Coleco's
Wrinkles, only Axlon's Petsters could do any of this -- and
far less of it.  What has Axlon's Nolan Bushnell done for
an encore?  It's not electronic. It's those hideous bad-
breath dolls we've already heard too much about.

[***][12/16/86][***]
QUOTE OF THE WEEK

   "Next year, several computer companies that have been
    gliding with dead engines will finally lose momentum
    and crash."

                --Technologic COMPUTER LETTER 12/8/86

[***][12/16/86][***]
INTELLIGENT SYSTEMS' PARTNERSHIP GOES BEFORE SHAREHOLDERS
NORCROSS, Ga. (NB) --  Bear Stearns & Co. has outdone itself in
the proposed tax-saving partnership proposal that Intelligent
Systems (Quadram, Datavue, Princeton Graphics, Peachtree Software)
shareholders will vote on December 31. Under the proposal,
sent December 11, the basic structure of the company will change
from a public shareholding to a private master limited
partnership (MLP).  Shares would be exchanged on a one-for-one
basis in an attempt to take advantage of the new tax laws. Gains
(and losses) would flow directly to shareholders. There's also a
letter of intent in the document to sell Intecolor, the color
terminal company which was all ISC consisted of before the 1982
acquisition of Quadram, for $13-14 million to founder Charles
Muench.  General partners Leland Strange, Charles Muench and
Jeannette Muench, Charles' wife, can then sell other divisions of
the partnership themselves with only a fairness letter from their
financial advisor (probably Bear Stearns) and the approval of the
company's 6-member board, all of whom will stay on. But no future
"limited partner" meetings would be required.

The new name of the company will be Intelligent Systems LP. It's
one of the largest such partnerships to be formed in the wake of
the new tax law, and according to Tom Lord of Bear Stearns, who
worked on it, among the last.  "It's too late now. If you didn't
start the process in October you won't realize the benefits," he
said.

CONTACT: Tom Lord, BEAR STEARNS ATLANTA, 262-3070, or Alan Srochi
         at ISC, 381-2900

[***][12/16/86][***]
POSTSCRIPT SUPPORT FROM IBM PCS TO APPLETALK LANS FROM TANGENT
ATLANTA, Ga. (NB) -- PSPrint from Tangent Technologies costs $350 and
lets any application running Microsoft Windows or Gem, plus many
others, generate PostScript output for use in an AppleTalk LAN.
Among the other products supported immediately are Xerox' Ventura
Publisher Edition, PFS: Personal Publisher, Microsoft Word, and
Word Perfect. PSPrint also supports most PC applications that can
print to a Diablo printer, allowing them to share a PostScript
printer, too. Registered users of PC MacBridge, the company's
flagship product, can upgrade to the new software for just $100.

Included in the release is a statement from the company that they
believe Adobe Systems' PostScript will be the predominant page
description language and this new product represents a long-term
commitment to support Adobe with both hardware and software.

CONTACT: Guy Mariande [phone]

[***][12/16/86][***]
PC PAINTBRUSH DEVELOPERS GET PROFESSIONAL MANAGEMENT FROM MOBILE
MARIETTA, Ga. (NB) -- ZSoft Corp., developers of PC Paintbrush,
announced the hiring of Arthur K. Hyzer as president and chief
operating officer. Hyzer had been executive vice president of QMS
Inc., the Mobile, AL-based laser printer company. Before that he
spent 17 years with GE. Mark Zachmann, the founder and Z in
ZSoft, stays on as chairman. Hyzer said his first aim with the
new employer is to broaden distribution for PC Paintbrush and
Publishers' Paintbrush, the company's flagship products.

CONTACT: John Day [phone]

[***][12/16/86][***]
MSA, GEISCO TEAM UP FOR NEW DATA TRANSLATION SERVICE
WASHINGTON, DC (NB) -- Management Science America Inc. of Atlanta
and General Electric Information Systems Co. (GEISCO), Rockville,
MD, announced a plan to interface MSA's Expert Electronic Data
Interchange (EDI) translation software with GEISCO's EDI*EXPRESS
System. Under the plan, announced at an EDI trade show in
Washington, MSA will continue to sell the mainframe computer
software, while GEISCO will provide the software's services
through EDI*EXPRESS. Included in the deal is an agreement to co-
develop enhancements. GEISCO says it's the world's largest
commercially available teleprocessing network. MSA had won
marketing rights to TranSettlements Inc.'s TranSlate program
under the name EXPERT EDI just two weeks before.

CONTACT: Helen Taffet [phone]

[***][12/16/86][***]
PECAN BYTES --

GEORGIA TECH, Atlanta, broke ground on its $9.6 million
Microelectronics Center and Gov. Joe Frank Harris announced it
will be named after Dr. Joseph Pettit, the former Georgia Tech
president and Stanford University official who died earlier this
year.

TANDY CORP., Fort Worth, TX announced its sales for November were
$336 million, up 14% from a year ago, with most of the gain
coming from U.S. retail operations.

DCA, Alpharetta, GA announced a trade-in program on its point-to-
point multiplexer called Netlink. Customers who bought the
product after September 1 can apply the full purchase price to a
multipoint T-1 product, the Cohesive CN-1 or CN-2 (DCA bought
Cohesive a few months ago). The offer expires December 31.
Netlinks cost between $4-60,000 each, while the CN products run
from $20-500,000.

[***][12/16/86][***]
QUOTE OF THE WEEK

This week's quote came in a letter sent from a non-Comdex
exhibitor we nevertheless met at Comdex last month in Las Vegas.

"I guess after this year COMDEX is now officially a social event
with little impact on the rest of the industry." (Official word
from the Interface Group is over 80,000 attended...must just be
80,000 people looking for a good time.)
                                        --Alan Boyd, president
                                          Owl International Inc.
                                          (hypertext for the Mac)
                                          Bellevue, WA

[***][12/16/86][***]
ASHTON-TATE WINS MARYLAND JUDGMENT
BALTIMORE (NB) -- A U.S. District Court judge late last month
awarded Ashton-Tate a $100,000 judgment against a Frederick, Md.
software firm charged with copyright infringement. Ashton-Tate
had asked for $700,000 from OHIS, Inc., which went out of
business earlier this year. The award came after principals from
OHIS failed to answer allegations made by Ashton-Tate that the
Maryland firm was including unauthorized copies of dBase II in
software products it sold for prices ranging from $7,500 to
$40,000 each. OHIS specialized in health systems applications.
Its clients included National Aeronautics & Space Administration,
Kimberly Clark, Hewlett-Packard, Glidden Paint, SCM, and
Goodyear. Ashton-Tate says OHIS removed the copyright notice from
the dBase copies, then installed them within OHIS-designed
systems. Court documents indicated Ashton-Tate was tipped off to
the scam by a disgruntled OHIS employee.

[***][12/16/86][***]
AMIGA SUPPORT AVAILABLE ON BIX
WEST CHESTER, Pa. (NB) -- Commodore Business Machines, Inc. will
offer third party developers of products for the Amiga support
through the BIX information network, beginning this month. BIX is
operated by BYTE magazine. Clive Smith, Commodore's product and
market development group general manager, says third party
developers will receive technical, marketing and distribution
information directly from Commodore over BIX. "The network will
allow Amiga developers to get prompt responses from the Amiga
support group," Smith said. "It also gives Amiga developers a
forum for sharing ideas." Smith says Commodore chose BIX because
of its popularity in the technical and engineering community.

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

[***][12/16/86][***]
U.S. GOVERNMENT TO PROBE JAPANESE SUPERCOMPUTER MARKETING
WASHINGTON (NB) -- The White House announced last week that it
will investigate Japanese marketing of supercomputers for
possible dumping and other trade violations. A Cabinet-level
trade committee ordered to investigation after U.S. computer
makers complained of unfair competition from Japan. The
investigation will examine charges that the Japanese government
subsidizes the supercomputer manufacturers' research and
development efforts and protects its domestic market against
inroads by U.S. supercomputer firms. According to government
figures, the U.S. has 86 percent of the world market for the
monster computers but only 23 percent of the Japanese market. The
investigation is the latest in a series of disputes between U.S.
and Japan on trade practices in the computer market. The U.S. has
been aggressively attacking Japan's trade practices, while the
Japanese continue to take a larger share of the market away from
their U.S. counterparts.

[***][12/16/86][***]
MCI AND LOTUS JOIN FORCES
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (NB) -- Lotus Development Corp. and MCI
Communications Corp. have announced software designed to allow
transmission of binary data over MCI's electronic mail service.
The $100 package is called Lotus Express. The price includes a
year's subscription to MCI Mail. The product will allow a user to
send a 1-2-3 spreadsheet over MCI to another Lotus Express user,
for about $1. The receiver will be able to load and use the
spreadsheet as if he had written it himself. Lotus and MCI expect
the software will turn MCI Mail into a competitor with express
mail services which charge over $10 for overnight delivery of a
spreadsheet. Lotus and MCI will share the revenue from the
product. Lotus is barred from working with other E-mail
companies, and MCI from working with other personal computer
firms. Lotus Express was developed by Software Arts Inc., which
Lotus acquired last year. Lotus Express is another of several
products Lotus has announced this fall, as an effort to broaden
its line of products and services, all geared to its 1-2-3
spreadsheet for the IBM PC and clones.

[***][12/16/86][***]
SCIENCE MAGAZINE ADDS SOFTWARE REVIEWS
WASHINGTON (NB) -- SCIENCE, the scholarly magazine of the
American Association for the Advancement of Science, has begun
carrying software reviews along with book reviews. The reviews
will appear monthly in the weekly magazine. "We hope to alert
scientists in various disciplines to programs about which they
may not be aware but which can extend the usefulness of hardware
systems that they have already purchased or are contemplation
purchasing," says editor Daniel Koshland, introducing the
new feature. "A good review column can provide both needed
nutrients and a selection pressure. Let us hope that we can aid
the survival of the fittest." The first review compares
four products that perform phylogenetic analysis for
systematic biology. Three products run on PCs or clones and the
fourth runs on a Macintosh.

CONTACT: SCIENCE, 1333 H St. NW, Washington DC, 20005. 202-326-
         6500.

[***][12/16/86][***]
PENTAGON CALLS FOR CHIP INDUSTRY AID
WASHINGTON (NB) -- The Defense Science Board Task Force on
Semiconductor Dependency last week called for a $1.7 billion
governmental microchip research and development program. The
report, unveiled in ELECTRONIC NEWS, concluded that if current
investment patterns continue, chip research in the U.S. will drop
to $3 billion by 1990, from $4 billion in 1982. This, says the
task force report, poses "an unacceptable threat -- the erosion
of the U.S. semiconductor industry and the consequent decline of
the high technology base on which both the U.S. defense and
economy rely." The task force calls for about $335 million in
federal funds each year for the next five years to support an
industry design consortium. The industry group would work on new
generations of dynamic RAM chips. Currently the Japanese dominate
the DRAM market. The report calls on the semiconductor industry
to put up $250 million of its own funds to capitalize the joint
government-industry consortium.

Scheduled for release next year are two other high-powered
studies on the U.S. semiconductor industry. One is being done by
the White House National Security Council and the other by the
industry trade group, the Semiconductor Industry Association.
Both are likely to call for federal aide for U.S. chip makers
going beyond the current U.S.-Japan semiconductor agreement
negotiated last July.

[***][12/16/86][***]
CHIP MANUFACTURING CHEMICALS POSE HEALTH RISK
WASHINGTON (NB) -- The Occupational Safety and Health
Administration last week said glycol ethers may pose significant
health risks to thousands of workers. The chemicals are as
solvents in making circuit boards and semiconductors. In a formal
"preliminary determination" published in the FEDERAL REGISTER,
OSHA said the ethers may cause damage to the male reproductive
system, cause fetal abnormalities, and nerve or bone marrow
damage at currently allowable exposure rates. The notice begins a
regulatory process that may take several years before OSHA
actually changes the exposure limits. The federal occupational
health agency was reluctant to take the step toward further
regulation, but was pushed into action, according to various
press accounts.

[***][12/16/86][***]
COMPUTER INDUSTRY HAD A GOOD YEAR, SAYS MCGRAW-HILL STUDY
NEW YORK (NB) -- McGraw-Hill's Computers and Communications
Information Group reported last week that the computer and
business-equipment industry had a strong third quarter. The
analysts samples companies from each of six sectors of
the industry -- personal and mainframe computers, semiconductors,
software, periferals, and office copiers. They found that the
combined third-quarter profits rose by 21 percent, with sales up
17 percent from a year ago. "Our sample, which represents well
over half of total industry operations, showed that not only were
sales up...from their depressed year-ago level, but that all six
categories shared in the gain," said George A. Christie, McGraw-
Hill's chief economist. "What's more, new orders exceeded
shipments for the first time in over a year, getting the fourth
quarter off to a good start," Christie said. The gains came
despite third quarter losses by International Business Machines,
the industry leader.

[***][12/16/86][***]
NEW GRAPHICS CHIPS TO APPEAR
NEW YORK (NB) -- The next generation of graphics chips which will
double the amount of text that can be handled on personal
computer screens are on their way, according to an article in the
WALL STREET JOURNAL. Reporter Paul Carroll writes that Texas
Instruments Inc. and Intel Corp. are about to ship the new chips
that move standard screen resolution to 640 by 480 pixels, about
the resolution of a color television. "Those chips bring the
quality and power of work-station graphics to a desktop PC," says
Tim Bajarin, a computer consultant. The chips will take over
much of the heavy processing now done by the central processor,
so that graphic displays will happen in a flash. But here's the
rub. TI and Intel have taken very different approaches to their
chips, raising the problem of that ol' devil, standards. TI's
graphics strategy manager, Karl Guttag, says it will take a year
or two for the market to settle on standards for the new graphics
power the new chips will make available.

[***][12/16/86][***]
NEWS NIBBLES FROM AROUND THE REGION

   GARDEN CITY, N.Y. (NB) -- Computers Associates International
Inc. has acquired 96.7 percent of Integrated Software Systems
Corp. through a tender offer that expired last week. Computer
Associates markets software (its best known product is SuperCalc)
and Integrate Software market graphics software.

   CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (NB) -- In the wake of insider trading
scandals on Wall Street, Lotus Development Corp. has sent strong
letters to its employees, cautioning against stock trading based
on inside information. Many other firms have followed suit.

   FAIRFAX, Va. (NB) -- ERC International is looking for a buyer
for its Intercad subsidiary, based in Annapolis, Md. Intercad,
which markets a computerized system to create and product
technical illustrations, lost $1.7 million in 1985. The sale is
part of a move by ERC to get out of commercial computer hardward
and software, concentrating on professional and technical
services instead.

   ROCHESTER, N.Y. (NB) -- Microlytics Inc. of East Rochester,
says it has a spelling checker which will store 100,000 words in
just 110 kilobytes on a standard floppy disk. The software uses
new compression algorithms licensed from Xerox Corp.'s Palo Alto
Research Center. The Microlytics feat compares to Borland's Turbo
Lightning, which uses 163 Kbytes to store 83,000 words.


[***][12/16/86][***]
ALLEGED HACKER CHARGED UNDER THEFT ACT
PORT TALBOT, WALES (NB) -- A Welsh contributor to Micronet 800,
the microcomputing arm of Prestel, the UK's viewdata service,
has been charged on four counts of dishonestly using a Packet
Switch Stream (BT's data network) account belonging to British
Telecom.

Arrested in October and only recently scheduled to report to
his local police station, Needs will appear before local
magistrates on January 21st." NEWSBYTES UK understands that
the account - owned by BT's PSS marketing department - was
widely known amongst the computer communications fraternity
and that several other arrests have been made since October,
although charges have yet to be preferred against the other
alleged offenders, which include, amongst others, a bulletin
board system operator in Scotland.

Because of the laws of sub judice that apply in the United
Kingdom, any further comment by NEWSBYTES UK, including
interview details with the fefendant, is forbidden,
NEWSBYTES UK will, however, keep you closely informed of how
the case proceeds.

[***][12/16/86][***]
CELLULAR PHONES TO DOUBLE IN A YEAR
LONDON (NB) -- According to a report out last week, the
number of cellular phones in Western Europe now stands at
500,000 - double what it was this time last year, and is set
to double again in the next two years.

Describing the growth of the market as "explosive," the
report from London-based CIT Research suggests an average
growth rate for cellular communications as high as 30 per
cent for the next five years.  Within ten years, the firm
say there will be 3.3 million cellular phone users in
Europe - matching the market in North America.

One of the more interesting points made in the report is
that of modem usage on cellular channels.  Currently
under-exploited, the report says that cellular data
communications will rise dramatically too.  Given the
current charges of 25 (35c) pence per minute and up for a
cellular phone call in the UK , NEWSBYTES UK will stick to
the good old-fashioned wired modems - they're cheaper!

CONTACT: "Mobile Communications in Western Europe"
         Price 3,450 pounds ($5,000) from:
         COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH
         1 Harewood Place, Hanover Square, London W1R 9HA.

[***][12/16/86][***]
NEW EMAIL COMPUTE SYSTEM INSTALLED IN LONDON
LONDON (NB) -- One to One, the electronic mail system owned
by Pacific Bell, installed a new series of Tandem Non-Stop
computers at their London headquarters last weekend.  The
net result of this is a dramatic upgrade in terms of
services available to their 16,000 UK subscribers, including
access at all baud rates, including Bell frequencies.

Whilst the upgrade itself isn't stunning news to North
American NEWSBYTES UK readers, the fact that the service
continues to be available in North America via the Telenet
network for the same price as the UK (10 pence/14c a minute)
means that a viable UK-based Email and telex service is open
to North American subscribers for a lot less than anywhere
else?  Interested?  I knew you would be...

CONTACT: ONE TO ONE, Scorpio House, 102 Sydney Street,
         London SW3 6NL
         Tel: [phone]
         Tlx: 8950511/937400

[***][12/16/86][***]
USER GROUP WARNS OF MODEM SECURITY RISK
LONDON (NB) -- This week's PC BUSINESS WORLD headlined with
a report by writer Ralph Bancroft of a major security risk
for auto-answer modem users.

Warning against the use of such modems in all but the most
low-risk (eg public bulletin boards) situations, the magazine
notes that certain auto-answer modems can be tripped to go into
command mode using certain escape sequences, according to Frank
Thornley, head of the Compulink multi-user BBS.

After detailed investigation and trial using several modems,
NEWSBYTES UK is happy to report that such an occurance is
almost impossible using most approved auto-answer modems
available in the UK today.  No doubt there'll be a few
relieved sysops reading this?

CONTACT: PC BUSINESS WORLD,
         99 Grays Inn Road, London WC1X 8UT.
         Tel: [phone].

[***][12/16/86][***]
ELECTRONIC ARTS HEAD FOR THE UK
LONDON (NB) -- Electronic Arts, the huge US software house
whose products seem to be in every Atari ST owners collection
when NEWSBYTES UK goes visiting, is planning to open a UK office.

A report in last week's COMPUTER TRADE WEEKLY says that the
US giant is planning to buck the usual UK distribution
system by selling direct to retailers.  EA boss Trip Hawkins
is quoted in the magazine as saying a wholly-owned
subsidiary of the company will be opened in the UK "early in
the New Year."  Hawkins again opened a few eyes when he said
that UK employees will be offered a stock holding in the
company which will "be reasonably independent from its US
parent."

Electronic Arts join the growing band of US companies
setting up shop in the UK, rather than remaining satisfied
to sell to distributors on this side of the pond.  They join
such distinguished companies as Microprose and Brown Bag
Software.

CONTACT: COMPUTER TRADE WEEKLY,
         Specialist Retail Press Ltd.,
         Bessemer Drive, Stevenage, Hertfordshire.
         Tel: [phone].

[***][12/16/86][***]
CHEAP MODEMS HIT THE UK (AT LAST)
LONDON (NB) -- As NEWSBYTES UK went to press this week, word
reached of the activities of Robin Bradbeer, a successful
computer persona responsible for many a bargain at many a
computer show.

Bradbeer's current project involves importing low-priced
modems from the Far East and selling them direct to the UK
public at unheard-of prices.  Inside word is that Bradbeer's
firm - The Digital Delicatessen - is selling V21/V23 modems
at 60 pounds ($85), 1200 baud modems at 150 pounds ($210)
and full-blown 2400 baud modems at 200 pounds ($280).  All
modems are fully Hayes-compatible and auto-answer.

These prices are approximately *one-third* of the prices of
comparable equipment sold on the UK markets and seemingly
undercut those available in the back pages of BYTE magazine
(and that's saying something).  Presstime approaches, but we
haven't had a chance to chat to Bradbeer yet,  We'll check
it out and report back next week.  In the meantime, hold
that modem purchase!

[***][12/16/86][***]
QUOTE OF THE WEEK

"I'm not talking to the Press until February, when my
        half-year figures come out."

        -- Alan Sugar of Amstrad, quoted in last week's
           MICROSCOPE when asked about his company's intention to move
           into the printer market in a big way.


[***][12/16/86][***]
FUJITSU-IBM CONFIDENTIAL AGREEMENT REVEALED
TOKYO (NB) -- THE ASAHI DAILY (12/10) has published the
confidential agreement which was signed by Fujitsu and IBM
in the 1970s, the result of a settlement of a copyright
infringement suit brought by IBM, and it appears that Fujitsu
has been paying through the nose for the rights to IBM
technology. According to the report, Fujitsu had paid between
US$313 and $375 million to IBM prior to this agreement.  And
Fujitsu is currently paying approximately US$10 million per
month to IBM as a royalty fee.  This monthly payment will be
made regularly until the year 2002.  To make matters worse for
Fujitsu, IBM is suing Fujitsu for allegedly violating this
agreement.  If IBM wins, Fujitsu is supposed to pay an additional
billion dollars to IBM.  Reflecting this news, the stock of
Fujitsu started to drop.  Analysts are worrying about the future
of Fujitsu.

[***][12/16/86][***]
DESKPRO386 DEBUTS IN THE FAR EAST
TOKYO (NB) -- Compaq has begun to market its 32-bit personal
computer "DeskPro386" in Asia.  To start, the company has already
shipped this micro to its Hong Kong and Singapore dealers.
Meanwhile, Compaq will build an assembly plant for the printed
circuits of DeskPro386 in Singapore by next June. According
to a published report, Compaq has been thinking of designing a
Japanese version of DeskPro386.  The company is expected to
withhold the sales of this micro in Japan until the final
decision is made.

[***][12/16/86][***]
LOW-COST UNIX WORKSTATION DUE
TOKYO (NB) -- Hitachi will start marketing a new personal UNIX
workstation at US$2,488 by the end of this month.  This
product, called the 50UX workstation, is based on Hitachi's
2050 workstation.  The 50UX is equipped with a Motorola 68010,
and a 1MB main memory (4MB at maximum).  The machine supports a
bit-map image and a 512-color 720 x 520-dot display.  The 1,120
x 780-dot model is also available at US$3,113.  The UNIX System V
release 2.0 runs on this machine.  Hitachi plans to target
sales of the 50UX at software engineers and hobbyists.

CONTACT: Hitachi, 1-5-1 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100
         (03-258-2057 PR. Dept.)

[***][12/16/86][***]
LAPTOP NEWS AND RUMOR
NB-JAPAN -- NEC released (12/9) an advanced Japanese word
processing program News Writer for the laptop "PC98LT" at US$563.
This program will be an extremely handy tool for thousands of
professional Japanese news reporters.  Currently, lots of
software houses have been designing various business application
programs for this new laptop computer.

The laptop computer market has been growing rapidly in Japan.  As
a rival of NEC PC98LT, Toshiba's Japanese laptop J3100 has also
been selling well.  Meanwhile, sources say Fujitsu, which has once
stopped the production of its laptop (FM16pi), will introduce its
new version again.  Regarding PC98LT, many users are not happy
about it since it is not compatible with the PC9801 desktop
family.  So, the rumor says NEC will re-introduce a PC-9801-
compatible laptop next spring.  Analysts think it won't be that
soon.  "But, NEC will do it in a snap," said an NEC dealer in
Tokyo.  We'll see.

CONTACT: NEC, 1-4-28 Mita, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108
         Fujitsu, 1-6-1 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100
         Toshiba, 1-1-1 Shibaura, Minato-ku, Tokyo 105

[***][12/16/86][***]
NTT'S PERSONAL TELECOM WORKSTATION
TOKYO (NB) -- NTT (Japan's Telegraph and Telephone Corp.) will
release a so-called cheap new-media personal workstation shortly.
A telephone, a modem, and a Japanese word processor are embedded
in this system to support telecommunication features for personal
computer networks and videotex VAN.  The MPU equipped with this
new workstation is as powerful as Intel 80286.  The system costs
US$1,875.

CONTACT: NTT, 1-1-6 Uchisaiwai-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100

[***][12/16/86][***]
BEST SELLER FOR '87
NB-JAPAN -- The best seller products for this year are
Nintendo's Family Computer and cheap portable Japanese word
processors.  Guess what the next year's hits will be.  THE NIKKEI
SANGYO DAILY (12/8) has guessed.  The candidates include a CD-
ROM player, a 43-inch color TV, cheap TV-phone, a portable
Japanese word processor with a built-in color printer, and a LISP
micro.  Meanwhile, the 8-mm vs. the VHS-C video camera war is
also expected to get intense next year.

[***][12/16/86][***]
<<< SUSHI BYTES >>>

TOKYO (NB) -- INTERFIELD SYSTEMS, INC. has started a personal
computer telecom service via Fujitsu's VAN "FENICS."  The
service includes E-mail and the machine-language translation.
The free service is provided until March 1987.

OSAKA (NB) -- Sharp released (12/12) a new version of the Super
MZ-family "MZ-2520."  This machine has an advanced telecom
program, an FM-sound board, and a powerful graphics feature.  It
costs US$999 with two disk drives.

TOKYO (NB) -- Mitsubishi Trading has developed and started
selling COMMON LISP for personal computers, in cooperation with
Information & Control Corp.(Tokyo).  This program runs on NEC
PC-9801 and IBM 5550, and the price is US$613.

TOKYO (NB) -- Mitsubishi Electric has developed a 4Mbit DRAM.
A cell of this chip measures 300million DIP, which is only 10-percent
bigger than the current 1Mbit DRAM.

TOKYO (NB) -- Sony has developed a CMOS 1Mbit Static RAM, which
has a 256K words x 8 bit structure.  Its access time is 35 nano-
seconds.

TOKYO (NB) -- The Japan Personal Computer Software Association
(Tokyo/03-221-7481) has been planning to organize a world-wide
software exhibition next year.  A total of 110 firms, including
30 overseas companies, are expected to exhibit.  The details will
be announced later.

[***][12/16/86][***]
BOOK CORNER

 "SECOND TO NONE: American Companies in Japan"
     by Robert C. Christopher, Kriscon Corp.

  -- This book raises the fundamental issues which have caused
     trade problems between Japan and the U.S.  The Japanese
     version of this book is one of the best sellers in Japan.

 "BUSINESS TOKYO"
     (Monthly magazine for business people)

  -- First issue includes columns by Kenichi Omae (managing
     director of McKinsey & Co., Japan) and an interview with
     Malcolm Forbes (Chairman and Chief Editor, "Forbes").  One-
     year airmail subscription from the U.S. costs US$60.

CONTACT: BUSINESS TOKYO, 2-6-1 Hirakawa-cho, Chiyoda-ku,
           Tokyo 102                        (03-262-0981)


[***][12/16/86][***]
COMPUTER FIRM UNDER INVESTIGATION
TORONTO (NB) -- Wyda Systems Canada Inc., a now-defunct firm that
was to develop computer-integrated manufacturing systems, is
being investigated by the Ontario Provincial Police amid
allegations of income tax violations and fraud.  The Ontario
government placed Wyda in receivership recently after sinking C$3
million in financial assistance into it.  The investment was made
through the provincial government's IDEA Corp., the same
investment firm that backed Graham Software, another Toronto
computer firm that recently closed.  IDEA Corp., launched by the
previous Progressive Conservative government of the province, has
since been closed down by the Liberal party, which took power in
the summer of 1985.

In addition to the police investigation, an audit of Wyda is
being carried out by the accounting firm of Peat Marwick Ltd.
Abraham Dobzinski, who headed Wyda, has sold his Toronto home and
is reported to be vacationing in Israel.

[***][12/16/86][***]
INTERESTING TIMES IN PUBLISHING
TORONTO (NB) -- The ups and downs of Canadian computer magazines
continue.  Last week saw the launch of two new science and
technology news magazines, "Science and Technology Dimension" and
the French-language "Dimensions Science et Technologie."  Both
magazines, published with some assistance from the National
Research Council, will report on computer technology as well as
other science and technology topics.  At almost the same time,
the publishing firm Southam Inc. was pulling the plug on "Access,"
a year-old office technology magazine.  Access was launched with
impressive resources for a Canadian computer magazine, but
Southam, it appears, was more interested in improved
profitability than in giving the magazine time to become
profitable.

[***][12/16/86][***]
GOVERNMENT ESTABLISHES SOFTWARE GROUP
OTTAWA (NB) --  The Canadian government's Department of Regional
Economic Expansion has established a National Software Working
Committee, which is intended to help the government gain an
understanding of the software industry and develop a "national
action plan."  The working group will include representatives of
industry associations such as the Canadian Association of Data
and Professional Services Organizations (CADAPSO) and the Ontario
Software Development Association, and of several software
developers.

[***][12/16/86][***]
TORONTO FIRM ACQUIRES INTEGRATED PACKAGE FOR UNIX
TORONTO (NB) -- Resolve Logic Systems has acquired Prevail, an
integrated software product for the Unix operating system, along
with its developer, Inspiration Systems Inc. of Pittsburgh.
Resolve has signed a joint marketing agreement with IBM Canada
Ltd. to market the product, and has an 18-month distribution
contract with Computerland Canada Inc. Resolve will maintain
offices in both Toronto and Pittsburgh, with some 20 employees
distributed evenly between the two locations.

Prevail runs on hardware from IBM, AT&T, Digital Equipment, NCR,
Hewlett-Packard and Convergent Technologies, among others.

CONTACT: RESOLVE LOGIC SYSTEMS, 55 Yonge St., Toronto, ON,
         [phone]

[***][12/16/86][***]
TAPES WEREN'T TAMPERED WITH, NIXON SAYS
(NOT THAT NIXON, NOT THOSE TAPES)
TORONTO (NB) -- Computer tapes containing confidential
information on 5.8 million Ontario taxpayers have not been
tampered with, provincial Revenue Minister Robert Nixon told the
legislature last week.  Nixon made the assurance after the news
broke that the tapes -- containing records of complete income tax
forms -- had been stored for years without security provisions,
accessible to anyone able to log on to the Revenue ministry's
computer system.  The government also said that security
surrounding the tax records has been beefed up.

This incident came only weeks after microfiche records containing
several million federal tax records disappeared for several days
from a federal office.

[***][12/16/86][***]
SYSTEMHOUSE STOCK SPLIT APPROVED
OTTAWA (NB) --  Software developer and systems integrator SHL
Systemhouse Ltd. will split its stock two for one in an effort to
attract more investors.  Stockholders approved the move at
Systemhouse's annual meeting held last week in Toronto.  Company
chairman Roderick Bryden told the Toronto newspaper "The Globe and
Mail" one reason for the move was to encourage Canadian investors
to buy the stock, about 50 percent of which is currently held in
the U.S.

Systemhouse reported revenues of C$104.9 million in the fiscal
year ended Aug. 31, up from C$50.3 million in the previous year.
Profit was C$4.8 million, up from C$2.2 million in the previous
year.  Shareholders were told at the annual meeting that an
acquisition of an unnamed U.S. company may be completed by the
end of this year.

[***][12/16/86][***]
CONTROLLER LETS PCS SHARE LINES
TORONTO (NB) -- TIL Systems Ltd. has introduced the XPERT NIM
(Network Interface Machine) which the company says will allow as
many as 16 terminals or personal computers to share a single X.25
access line.  The XPERT NIM comes in two standard versions with
eight and 16 ports respectively.  The eight-port unit is field
upgradeable to the larger version.  PCs require an XPERT PC card
from TIL to work with the XPERT NIM controller.

TIL Systems is an eight-year-old, privately owned Canadian
company specializing in communications systems, including
computer terminals, interface boards, peripheral equipment and
software services for X.25 packet-switched networks.

CONTACT: TIL SYSTEMS LTD., 60 Yonge St., Suite 1100,
         Toronto ON M5E 1H5, [phone]

[***][12/16/86][***]
BITS, EH?
-- LSI Logic Corp. of Canada will open a C$40-million plant in
Edmonton to manufacture reticles -- glass plates containing
patterns for the development of integrated circuits.  The company
is an independent unit of LSI Logic Corp., Milpitas, Calif.

-- Computertime Network Corp. of Montreal, a software developer
and computer consulting firm, has filed a final prospectus for a
public offering of its stock.  The company plans to offer 1.8
million shares at $1.50 a share.

-- Northern Telecom Ltd.'s increased cash flow in recent months
has fueled rumors that the company is in a good position to make
an acquisition.  Current rumors don't focus on a particular
takeover target, although speculation earlier this year named
Hewlett-Packard Co. as a possibility.

-- Canadian long-distance telephone rates are expected to fall in
1987.  All 10 members of Telecom Canada, the consortium of major
telephone carriers, have indicated their intention to reduce
long-distance rates in the coming year.  The reductions must be
approved by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications
Commission (CRTC) and probably won't take effect before mid-year.

-- Omnibus Computer Graphics Inc. is consolidating its facilities
at the former headquarters of Digital Productions Inc. in Culver
City, Calif., which the Toronto company recently acquired.