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/V185

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[***][12/30/86][***]
APPLE SHIPS FLAWED IIGS?
SAN FRANCISCO, Ca. (NB) -- CALIFORNIA TECHNOLOGY STOCK LETTER
reports that Apple has shipped some 25,000 Apple IIGS computers
which have faulty surface-mounted chips, a mistake which will
cost at least $5 million to correct.  The newsletter claims Apple's
determination to win "excitement and marketing position" for
the Christmas selling season prompted the shipment of faulty
motherboards, which will have to be replaced by dealers at
a cost of "about $200 per computer."  Apple has no comment
on the report.

The newsletter also spotted an "authorized liquidator" C.O.M.B.
selling Apple IIc computers at rock bottom prices -- $999 for
CPU, monitor, stand, Imagewriter printer, and 14 software packages.
Normally the cost for all of this would be $2188.  We quote
the staff at CSTL, "Who wants the IIc liquidated and where did
C.O.M.B. get all these machines?"

CONTACT:  Michael Murphy, Lisa Morgenthaler, CALIFORNIA TECHNOLOGY
          STOCK LETTER, San Francisco, Ca. 415/982-0125 ($325/year,
          usually tax deductible, and highly recommended by NEWSBYTES.)

[***][12/30/86][***]
OLD ENEMIES TO BREAK THE ICE
CAMPBELL, Ca. (NB) -- When NEWSBYTES reported on a board under
development which would enable an Apple II to run MS-DOS programs
early in 1986, we figured the product might go the way of a lot of
good products--it would disappear before it saw the light of day.
Such is exactly what happened to Orange Micro's planned board to
allow the IIGS to run MS-DOS programs.  Orange Micro gave it up
under the assumption that PC clones would be so cheap that the
board would not have a market.

Well, The Engineering Department of Campbell, working in conjunction
with Dallas-based Applied Engineering, says its board is nearly
finished and will be available for sale by the second quarter of
1987 for less than $500.  Spokesman Steve High claims the board makes
IIs "99%" compatible with PC programs, and even runs the litmus-test
Flight Simulator" and Lotus 1-2-3.  It will contain an Intel 8086 micro-
processor, 640k of memory, a disk controller, and will have a
clock speed of 7.14 MHz.    The only other hardware required will be
an IBM-compatible disk drive.

[***][12/30/86][***]
THE 80386 HIT PARADE
HILLSBORO, OR. (NB) -- Intel is not only making the phenomenally
popular 80386 integrated circuit and a peripheral board, the Inboard
386/PC, it is selling an 80386 PC -- but only to OEMs.  NEWSBYTES
saw one of these Intel PCs recently at Sun Microsystems where it
was running NeWS, Sun's new windowing environment for software
developers.  The System doesn't officially exist, or Intel will
not acknowledge its existence to the press, but its various
incarnations have up to 3 megabytes of memory.

Meanwhile Televideo is announcing an 80386-based PC to be
shipped by June 1987.  They will reportedly be stand alone
workstations or part of a local area network.  Best of all,
the systems are to be priced "aggressively."

[***][12/30/86][***]
AMWAY TO SELL KAYPROS
SOLANO BEACH, Ca. (NB) -- Yes, it's true. Kaypro has signed an
agreement with Amway Corporation to sell its PCs door-to-door.
But they won't be called Kaypros -- Amway intends to put its
own label, printer, and software with the bundle.  Amway has
agreed to an initial order of 3,000.  The Kaypro PCs retail for
$1,595.  For the Kays, the arrangement is ideal. "We're been
trying to find a way to get compters into the average home for
four years," Andrew Kay was quoted as saying, "We're hoping
this will."  Amway is no amateur at selling, but this is its
first PC.

[***][12/30/86][***]
NEXT CD-ROM CONFERENCE SLATED
REDMOND, Wa. (NB) -- Microsoft is preparing the Second Inter-
national Conference on CD-ROM for March 2-5 and has lined up
an exciting series of seminars and speakers.  Unlike last year's
conference, this year's will focus on applications, not standards.
Keynote speaker is Alan Kay, Apple Fellow, who is also working
at the Media Lab at MIT.  Like last year, this conference is not
cheap.  The registration fee for the conference is $699 and any
one of two simultaneous workshops is $599 (plus $80-100/night
for a hotel.)

CONTACT:  MICROSOFT CD ROM CONFERENCE, Seattle, Wa. 206/447-1986.

[***][12/30/86][***]
E-MAIL HOLIDAY CRUNCH
PALO ALTO, Ca. (NB) -- Reports from Hewlett Packard say the firm
has asked its employees to hold back on the electronic cheer -- the
HP electronic mail network is getting clogged.  COMPUTERWORLD
magazine says the system has been burdened by personal notes
and chain letters even before the holidays.  The electronic mail
system serves up to 60,000 employees, but has limited storage,
according to HP information systems director Steve Peterson.
No reports are in from the big carriers, such as MCI.  Most likely
for them, the more email, the merrier.



The Peyton Place of Software continues in the Valley.  Brown Bag
Software, the underdogs in the desktop organizer battle, say if
Philippe Kahn of Borland was angry when BB offered Sidekick users
a $20 rebate to turn in their copy for BB's HomeBase 2.0, he's
probably boiling over this new one.  Lars Sorensen, Borland's
project leader on the "Homebase killer" Sidekick Plus project
has gone over to Brown Bag, they say.  Lars says he thinks
Homebase, a Sidekick competitor, is superior to other products
on the market.  And he wants apparently looks forward to being
a big fish in a little sea when he says he looks forward to
joining, "a growing, dynamic company in the early stages, with
a reputation for quality roducts and superior customer support."

CONTACT:  Sandy Schupper, BROWN BAG SOFTWARE, Campbell, Ca.
          408/559-4606

[***][12/30/86][***]
FINANCIAL BRIEFS --

TANDON CORPORATION lost $45 million in the last quarter but blames
most of it on a $28 million write-off.  Still, he computer and disk
drive maker sold over $214 million in merchandise, which is up
3% over last year.  The loss is not as bad as last year when Tandon
saw $85 million go out the window during this quarter.

SUN MICROSYSTEMS is hot.  Its most recent quarter is expected to
see revenue and profits up 16% over last quarter with revenues
amounting to btween $105 and $110 million.  That means profits
are five-fold higher than this time last year.  The firm is
reportedly hiring 200-250 people per month.

XEBEC of San Jose, a disk drive maker, is expecting a loss for
its most recent quarter but isn't saying how much.  Several
problems have arisen:  a supplier isn't shipping enough parts,
IBM reduced its need for Xebec controllers, and there were
start-up costs associated with the intro of a new disk drive.

MICROPRO INTERNATIONAL says its revenues were $8.37 million
for the last three months. That's down from a year ago when
the software company made $10.3 million.  The firm expects
a new desktop publishing product, and new versions of
Wordstar to helping improve its financial picture in 1987.

[***][12/30/86][***]
WOZ GIVES HOLIDAY CHEER
LOS GATOS, Ca. (NB) -- Steve Wozniak has just given the San
Jose Children's Discovery Museum a $1 million donation.
Woz has become an esteemed patron of the arts and sciences
in the Valley.  Meanwhile his firm, CL9, plans to finally
unveil its hand-held multi-purpose controller at the January
Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.  Called "Core," it
reportedly will operate any infrared-controlled device.
What differentiates it from similar devices already offered
by GE, Magnavox and others?  "Ours is better," said Woz's
director of marketing Sam Bernstein.



[***][12/30/86][***]
ASHER'S WATSON SPEAKS                   *EXCLUSIVE*
ROSWELL, GA (NB) -- Bruce Watson, co-founder, almost-buyer, and
now general manager of Intelligent Systems Corp.'s Asher
subidiary, called Newsbytes South this week and told his story.

Apparently, a false press release stating Asher had been bought
by its managers triggered the coup which put Watson in power
December 11. Watson says he had been part of that management
group, but left when their offer was rejected. He was called back
after the Riners told Asher customers they would compete with
their former company. For the future, Watson says he's depending
on Asher's MiniLink Gateway, which lets you attach a network of
PCs to an IBM System 3X mini-computer with one card plugged into
one machine.

For ISC, meanwhile, this week is critical. Stockholders will
decide Wednesday whether to sell the Intecolor terminal division
to a group headed by its founder, Charles Muench, and turn the
rest of the company into a Master Limited Partnership with
Muench, ISC chairman Leland Strange and Jeannette Muench,
Charles' wife, as directors. Stock in the corporation would then
be turned into units of the partnership, which could continue to
trade on the American Stock Exchange, to which ISC moved its
listing from the NASDAQ earlier this month.

CONTACT: Bruce Watson, [phone]
[***][12/30/86][***]
EDS SIGNS ITS FIRST CONTRACTS IN THE POST-PEROT ERA
DALLAS, TX. (NB) -- Electronic Data Systems Corp., a subidiary of
General Motors, sent out press releases a week ago to trumpet
four contracts signed in November. The most important are with
a subsidiary of Ameritech under which EDS will take over all the
subsidiary's billing. The other new customers are SnyderGeneral
of Dallas, K-Mart Corp. and United Co-operatives of Ontario, a
Canadian farm cooperative.

CONTACT: Bill Wright, [phone]
[***][12/30/86][***]
FORMTOOL TRIES TO COME OUT FROM UNDER QUAD-SHADOW
MIAMI, FL (NB) -- BLOC Development Corp., makers of FormTool,
a forms generator for IBM PCs with 256K of RAM, announced the
product will now be handled by Soft-Kat, a leading distributor of
home and educational software, and that Perfect Information
Systems Ltd. will handle the product in Australia. Forms can be
created on the PC and output to dot matrix, laser, ink-jet, or
daisy wheel printers, and plotters, too.

CONTACT: Christopher Hosford, [phone]
[***][12/30/86][***]
DATAVUE OFFERS UPGRADES TO HARD DISK VERSIONS
NORCROSS, GA (NB) -- The Datavue subsidiary of Intelligent
Systems announced an upgrade program in which owners of floppy-
based versions of the IBM-compatible portable can get internal 20
megabyte hard drives. Prices average $1,700, and include upgrades
to 768K in the 12-pound machine.

CONTACT: Sharon Cupett [phone]
[***][12/30/86][***]
THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME -- 1987 IN REVIEW
For the computer industry, some predictions are easy to make:
        -IBM will come out with a new micro featuring copyrighted
chip sets and enhanced, probably bit-mapped, graphics and an
80386 processor. People will talk about how IBM is "cloning
Apple's strategy".
        -Compaq will continue to solidify its position as leader
of the IBM-compatible market, and thwart Big Blue attempts to
make its standard proprietary.
        -Prices will continue falling, values will keep
increasing. Imports will keep rising.

Here are some things we'll be surprised at, but shouldn't be:
        -The Apple-Atari battle will heat up and a new buzzword
will be heard: Desktop Artist.
        -A major producer of laser printers will become victim of
price squeezing and a slowdown in demand growth. Japanese
dominance of this market will become obvious by the end of the
year.
        -Price competition in the online services business will
increase dramatically.
        -H. Ross Perot will do something remarkable.

Here are some real surprises, and some shots in the dark.
        -MCI will make major news, which won't be pretty.
        -IBM-compatibles will finally become light enough to
carry.
        -Commodore will merge into a stronger partner.
        -High tech will become a bright spot in a miserable year.
        -Technology will break the South African press
censorship, hastening change there.
        -A new high-tech publisher will make a pile of money, and
an old publisher will quit the business.
 ==
[***][12/30/86][***]
BIG BLUE SLASHES XT PRICES
NEW YORK (NB) -- In a move apparently designed to fight clone
fire with fire, International Business Machines on the day before
Christmas announced it is slashing its wholesale price for PC XTs
by about a third. Some analysts also linked the price cuts to a
plan to eliminate the original, plain vanilla PC from Big Blue's
product line. The dealer price for an XT with a single floppy
drive will now be $750, down from $1,287. The two-drive machine
will be $800, instead of $1,377. IBM officials refused to
speculate on the fate of the original PC, but confirmed the new
price scheme for the XT line. Many analyst expect IBM to
introduce a new line of personal computers next year, including a
machine using Intel Corp.'s 80386 processor.

[***][12/30/86][***]
CHIP PRODUCTION WORKERS SHOW EXCESS MISCARRIAGES
HUDSON, Mass. (NB) -- A study commissioned by Digital Equipment
Corp. has found that women working on the company's semiconductor
line suffered a significant number of excess miscarriages,
according to THE BOSTON GLOBE. The study also found that in one
area of the production line, the level of miscarriages was twice
that of women DEC employees not working in production. The study
by the University of Massachusetts' School of Public Health also
found "statistically significant" increases in rashes, nausea and
headaches in production line employees. DEC has confirmed the
results of the study. The company has informed its production
line workers of the findings, as well as passing the information
along to other semiconductor makers, DEC said. The company is
also giving child-bearing women the option to transfer to non-
production work, according to company spokesman Jeffrey Gibson.

[***][12/30/86][***]
BRAZIL GETS SIX-MONTH REPRIEVE
WASHINGTON (NB) -- The White House has given Brazil six more
months to ease its restrictions on microcomputer imports,
according to the WALL STREET JOURNAL. If Brazil doesn't come around
by June, says the administration, it will retaliate against the
South American nation's restrictive trade practices. After months
of tough talking directed at Brasilia, administration sources say
the State Department concluded that actually cracking down might
lead the Brazillian government to refuse to pay off its foreign
debt in a more timely fashion. The Reagan administration had
threatened to take action against Brazil by December 30. Brazil's
import restriction apply to micros and microcomputer software.
The company has been trying to develop an indigenous
microcomputer manufacturing capability, and figured that the best
way to do that was to keep the U.S. machines off the market.

[***][12/30/86][***]
DEALERS SUE WANG FOR CONTRACT BREACH
LOWELL, Mass. (NB) -- Eight computer dealers have sued Wang
Laboratories Inc. in a U.S. District Court in Portland, Ore.,
claiming breach of contract and commercial fraud. The suit seeks
$32 million in damages. Wang has refused comment on the suit. The
eight dealers allege that Wang contracted with them to establish a
distribution network as a supplement to Wang's in-house sales
force. Then Wang dropped the arrangement last year, leaving the
retail firms in the lurch, they charge. Plaintiffs are
Continental Systems Inc., of Portland; Benchmark Inc., of
Albuquerque; Capital Business Machines, Olympia, Wash.; Systems
Automation Inc., Atlanta; Chicago Office Products Inc., Chicago;
Copyright Enterprizes Inc., Guntersville, Ala.; Office Network
Inc., Milwaukee; and Business Products Inc. of Detroit.

[***][12/30/86][***]
SOFTWARE FIRMS FOLLOW RAID WITH SUIT
WASHINGTON (NB) -- Software Publishers Association has coupled
its Canadian raid of Softsave Preview Club with a suit against
Softsave Information Services, Inc., of Vancouver. Joining in the
suit filed in British Columbia Supreme Court are some of the
heaviest hitters in the U.S. software marketplace: Lotus,
Microsoft, Ashton-Tate, Activision, Lifetree, Broderbund, and
Infocom. The plaintiffs claim they "are the owners of copyrights
in Canada in certain literary works, namely computer software
programs contained in both written form and on magnetic storage
devices."  The U.S. firms allege that the Canadian operation, a
so-called software rental club, actually sells its programs for
$10 per disk.

Softsave's attorney, Toronto lawyer Robert MacFarlane, says he
will frame his defense "on the basis that there is no copyright
on computer programs in Canada." Canada has not changed its
national copyright law to include computer programs, MacFarlane
said. That's in contrast to the U.S., which has modified
copyright law to protect software. MacFarlane told reporters he
doesn't plant to dispute the contention by the U.S. companies
that the programs were copied.

[***][12/30/86][***]
APPEALS COURT TIES SOFTWARE AND HARDWARE
CINCINNATI (NB) -- A U.S. Court of Appeals in Cincinnati earlier
this month upheld a computer company that insisted that its
software be used only with its own hardware. A.I. Root, a
beekeeping supply company, had sued Computer/Dynamics after the
computer firm refused to reconfigure software for a more powerful
machine unless Root agreed to a license binding it from using the
software on a computer designed by another company. Root alleged
that the license violated U.S. antitrust laws. The court
disagreed, concluding that there is such strong competition in
sales and inventory programs that if a customer doesn't like the
terms of one, the customer can go to another. In fact, noted the
court, that's just what Root had done. Case closed.
[***][12/30/86][***]
RETAILERS AGREE TO JOINT SOFTWARE NAMES
BURLINGTON, Mass. (NB) -- Three large retail computer chains have
agreed to put their names alongside that of Alpha Software
Corp.'s Alpha/three database manager. According to Richard
Rabins, president of Alpha, the "co-label" pact will give the
retailers larger profit margins than they get on normal software
products. The pact appears to be a first in the software
industry. Under the agreement, each of the retailers will put
only its name next to Alpha's, on products sold in its stores.
The three retailers in the co-label pact -- MicroAge Computer
Stores of Tempe, Ariz., Inacomp Computer Centers of Troy, Mich.,
and Computer Craft of Houston -- have more than 275 retail
outlets.

[***][12/30/86][***]
NEWS NIBBLES FROM AROUND THE REGION

   WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (NB) -- Nynex, the aggressive Northeastern
regional telephone company, has agreed to purchase Business
Intelligence Services Ltd. of Great Britain for $107 million in
Nynex stock. Business Intelligence Services provides strategic
information and communications services, employing 1,400 workers
in 12 countries. The acquisition is the first overseas for the
regional Bell company.

   WASHINGTON (NB) -- Unisys Corp. has named Vincent Puritano as
head of the company's federal marketing effort. Puritano, former
Defense Department comptroller, was head of government relations
for Sperry, which merged with Burroughs Corp. earlier this year
to form Unisys.

   WESTWOOD, Mass. (NB) -- Cullinet Software Inc. has named IBM
veteran George Tamke as its new president. Tamke, 39, oversaw
systems development and manufacturing IBM's information systems
and products group. Cullinet sells software for IBM computers.


[***][12/30/86][***]
ATARI ST PRICE CUT - DEALER ORDERS
EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND (NB) -- Following on from last week's
pre-Christmas firming-up of a further price cut on 520ST, an
Edinburgh NEWSBYTES UK reader cites his local Atari dealer as
ordering 20 ST's with a 199 pounds ($280) retail price tag just
before Christmas.  Delivery of the machine is quoted as late
January by the dealer. Checking with Atari dealers in NEWSBYTES
UK's locale on Christmas Saturday revealed that many had reduced
their stocks of 520's in anticipation of the price cut-  scheduled
for mid- to late January. The current UK price of the 520ST is up
in the 300 pounds plus area, so the impending price cut will slash
a further 100 pounds off the price.

For NEWSBYTES UK, however, the price cut comes too late as a summer
bet with an industry colleague over a 199 pound ST by Christmas has
just been paid out... by NEWSBYTES UK.  We'll stick to the horses
next time!

[***][12/30/86][***]
TANDY MODEL 102 IN DEPTH
SHEFFIELD, UK (NB) -- Having spent a quiet family Christmas online,
NEWSBYTES UK can report several good things about the new
Tandy/Radio Shack Model 102 we bought ourselves for Christmas.
First on up is the RAM expansion.  The Model 100 laptop was
notorious for expensive add-on RAM units.  The UK price for an 8K
expansion unit for the M100 is around 60 pounds ($85), whilst even
the US discounters sell them for $30 each.  The Model 102 on the
other hand, uses a simple 8K CMOS chip, available over the counter
at most electronics spares shops for as little as four pounds ($6).

The cheapest price we could find for the chips was $2-00 (BYTE
magazine small ads), whilst Purple Computing, a famous Californian
third-party vendor, ships out 8K Model 102 chips for just $5 plus
$3-50 postage.  Now that's what we call cheap.

The second bit of news concerns the 100K disc drive for the Model
100/200.  Early warning has been received at NEWSBYTES UK's HQ that
a new, improved 200K drive is in the works for a February/March '87
release.  As a result of this several, US Radio Shack dealers are
closing out the existing drive at $129 - a clear $100 off its normal
price.  Tandy UK are understood to be considering similar price
cuts.  Sounds like the time to buy!

CONTACT: TANDY UK LTD, Bilston Road, Wednesbury,
         West Midlands, WS10 7JN.

         PURPLE COMPUTING, 2068 Ventura Boulevard,
         Camarillo, CA 93010.
         Tel: [phone]
              805-987-4788

[***][12/30/86][***]
MODEMS DOWN IN PRICE
LONDON, UK (NB) -- NEWSBYTES UK now has fuller details on those
amazingly cheap modems we mentioned a couple of weeks ago.
As mention in our issue dated 15th December, computer entrepenuer
Robin Bradbeer has opened a channel of imports for Taiwanese modems
which undercut current UK prices by as much as two-thirds.
Flagship of the range is the THO24AM-C, a 200 pound ($280) modem
that runs at 300, 600, 1200 and 2400 baud Bell and CCITT tones.  As
with all of Bradbeer's modems, it comes complete in a neat aluminium
case with power supply and is auto-dial, auto-answer, as well fully
Hayes compatible

Further down the scale is the THO12AM-C at 150 pounds, which handles
everything the 200 pound unit does, excepting the 2400 baud rates.
Entry-level modem is the THO2123AM-C which, at 70 pounds, handles
300 baud Bell and CCITT tones, as well as the V23 (1200/75 baud
rate) peculiar to Europe.

CONTACT: Robin Bradbeer, The Digital Delicatessen,
         Tel: [phone]
         Dialcom Mailbox 76:CJJ189

[***][12/30/86][***]
MODEMS UP IN PRICE
IPSWICH, UK (NB) -- Following a highly successful year of sales of
their WS4000 Hayes compatible modem, the Ipswich-based from of
Miracle Technology are... raising its price! The V21/V23 (300 baud
and 1200/75 baud CCITT) modem is autodial, Hayes compatible and
fully approved by British Telecom for use on the UK telephone network.

Sales of the modem are booming.  "They're selling like hot cakes,"
said Darren Storer of NorthWest Computer Supplies in Manchester, a
local Miracle dealer.  Despite the sales, which NEWSBYTES UK reckons
will have more than covered the R&D costs associated with the modem,
the price rises to 170 pounds ($240) from its current price of 150
pounds ($210) in the new year.

Several of NEWSBYTES UK's industry colleagues, on hearing of the
rise, commented that WS4000 sales may soon fall, owing to the recent
introduction of a similar-specification modem, the Linnet., from
Bradford-based Pace Micro Technology, at 140 pounds.  With a
price-gap of 30 pounds, they could just be right...

CONTACT: MIRACLE TECHNOLOGY, St. Peters Street, Ipswich, IP1 1XB.
         Tel: [phone]

[***][12/30/86][***]
TELEX ROW BREWING
LONDON, UK (NB) -- In this season of goodwill, it seems a shame that
arguments continue to brew, but brew they do, especially between the
recently privatised British Telecom and its rival, Mercury
Communications.

For the past year now, Mercury has been "negotiating" with BT over
international telex calls.  What sticks in BT's throat is Mercury's
request for a special rate on telex calls to countries to which the
Mercury telex network does not extend.  Mercurys want a reasonable
rate to allow their telex customers access to all countries of the
world from day one.  BT think otherwise and go for the "commercial"
option of charging what the market will bear.

Mercury has now asked Oftel - the government-sponsored telecoms
watchdog - to act as intermediary to sort out the agreement, after a
year of fruitless talks.  Neither party is saying much about the
agreement, but NEWSBYTES UK quotes a recent telecoms report as
calculating the UK's portion of the World telex market as being
worth over 1 million pounds ($1.4m).

CONTACT: MERCURY COMMUNICATIONS, Mercury House,
         1 Brentside Executive Centre, Great West Road,
         Brentford, Middlesex, TW8 9DS.
         Tel: [phone]


[***][12/30/86][***]
IBM JAPAN SUFFERS FROM YEN'S ASCENT
TOKYO (NB) -- IBM Japan announced (12/23) it is expecting to find
it had no increase in sales in fiscal 1986, which is a Jan - Dec
period this year.  This is a bit disappointing since IBM Japan
was initially expecting a double-digit sales increase this year.
The major problem seems to be the rapid appreciation of the yen,
which has caused the company to suffer a profit decline from
goods exported overseas.  Sluggish sales of IBM products here
in Japan are also blamed for the poor showing.

Meanwhile, IBM Japan has been planning a major staff reshuffle on
January 1. The company aims to beef up its sales, development,
and production departments.

CONTACT: IBM Japan, 3-2-12 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo 106

[***][12/30/86][***]
MATSUSHITA RELEASES 68000 MACHINE?
OSAKA (NB) -- According to a published report, Matsushita
Electronics has signed a second source agreement for a 68070 MPU
with Signetics Corp.  What is Matsushita going to do with this
chip?  Many analysts are now thinking that the company has been
preparing to make a 68000-based personal computer.  It can be
just like Amiga or Atari ST, says an analyst.  Currently,
Matsushita has been producing MSX computers, but their retail
prices have been nose-diving.  So, it is likely that the company
will market an advanced computer to get more profits.  If this is
true, 68000 computers may get popular here next year, since Sharp
will also release the X68000 in February.

CONTACT: Matsushita Electronics, 1006 Oaza-Monma, Monma-shi,
         Osaka-fu 571

[***][12/30/86][***]
FOUR GADGETS IN ONE FROM SHARP
OSAKA (NB) -- Sharp has recently announced a strange, but quite
versatile machine for personal computers.  Connecting with
personal computers, the gadget dubbed "MZ-1V01" can be used as
a facsimile machine, a photocopyer, a scanner, and a printer.
MZ-1V01 measures 33.5x40.5x16.0cm, and has a parallel interface,
a RS-232C, and the connector for a telephone line.  It will be
released at US $1,738 on Jan. 20.

The major target of MZ-1V01 is to interconnect personal computer
networks and facsilime networks.  With this gadget, the Kanji
spreadsheet of Japanese Lotus 1-2-3 or dBASE can easily be
transmitted over to the other party's facsimile machine. Analysts
say this kind of device will be a big hit in Japan, where the
facsimile machines have widely been used in business.  The future
price reduction may definitely stimulate this market.

CONTACT: Sharp, Computer Division, 492 Minoshou-cho, Yamato-
         Koriyama-shi, Nara-ken               (07435-3-5521)

[***][12/30/86][***]
MITSUBISHI SUPPLIES CPU TO SPERRY
TOKYO (NB) -- Mitsubishi Electric announced (12/26) it will
supply Sperry (Unisys) with CPUs for general purpose computers.
According to a report, Mitsubishi has already started providing
its samples.  Mitsubishi and Sperry signed technical and
marketing agreements for computers in 1982 and 1984.  Cuurently,
Mitsubishi has been supplying Sperry with the IBM-compatible
micros and general purpose computers on an OEM basis.  Unisys is
expected to take over these agreements with Mitsubishi in the
spring.

CONTACT: Mitsubishi Electric, 2-2-3 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku,
         Tokyo 100

[***][12/30/86][***]
OMRON LINKS WITH MITSUBISHI
TOKYO (NB) -- Meanwhile, Mitsubishi Electric has signed an
agreement with Tateishi Electronics (OMRON, Tokyo), concerning
the semiconductor business.  With this agreement, Mitsubishi
provides the designing and the manufacturing techniques of its
linear ICs to Tateishi Electronics.  Thus, Tateishi plans to
produce its own ICs by next April.  Tateishi people are happy
about it, since its long-cherished desire will finally come to
reality.

CONTACT: Tateishi Electronics, 10 Tsuchido-cho, Hanazono,
         Ukyo-ku, Kyoto-shi 616

[***][12/30/86][***]
STEP TO 5TH GENERATION COMPUTER
KOBE (NB) -- A project team, led by assistant prof. Yukio Kaneda
at Kobe University, has developed an inference processor dubbed
"PEK" for developing AI systems.  The size of this machine is
only slightly larger than an ordinary personal computer.  PEK
is made of 600 ICs including 16-bit MPU(s), and supports PROLOG.
With its pipeline processing and other added features, a
processing speed of PEK is said to become almost ten times faster
than that of PSI sytem of ICOT (Japan's fifth generation computer
project).  Now, Mr. Kaneda's project team has started working on
the parallel processing feature of PEK, a report says.

CONTACT: Assist Prof. Yukio Kaneda, Kobe University, 1-1 Rokkodai
         cho, Nada-ku, Kobe-shi                 (0798-881-1212)

[***][12/30/86][***]
NTT DEVELOPS C-TRON O.S.
TOKYO (NB) -- NTT (Japan's Telegraph and Telephone Corp.) has
begun to develop a TRON-based operating system for large-scale
computers in cooperation with Dr. Ken Sakamura of Tokyo Univer-
sity.  This operating system is called C-TRON, which is one of
the families of a 32-bit TRON operating system.  Currently, a
number of Japanese computer firms have been involved in
developing a variety of personal computers for TRON.  TRON itself
has also a varietion, such as I-TRON for industrial use, B-TRON
for business use, and H-TRON for home use.  C-TRON is intended to
interconnect large-scale computers with the TRON-based personal
computers.

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

[***][12/30/86][***]
INCREASING 1M DRAM OUTPUT
TOKYO (NB) -- Recently many semiconductor manufacturers in
Japan have announced their plans to increase the output of
a 1Mbit DRAM.  Among others, Toshiba has been planning to produce
3 million chips per month in September 1987.  This is six to
seven times more than the current production rate in the company.
Hitachi and Mitsubishi will also raise the chip's production rate
to 1 million sets per month by the end of next year.  NEC, TI
Japan, Fujitsu, and Oki Electronics are expected to follow suit.


[***][12/30/86][***]
SOFTWARE VENDORS SUE VANCOUVER FIRM FOR PIRACY
VANCOUVER (NB) -- The legal counsel for a Vancouver firm plans to
fight a lawsuit over software piracy, arguing that there is no
copyright on software in this country.  The Associated Press
quoted Robert Macfarlane of Toronto, counsel for Softsave
Information Services Inc., as saying software is not subject to
copyright here and his client will fight charges laid by Ashton-
Tate over illegal copies of software allegedly sold to the
public.

Softsave is also facing lawsuits by Lotus Development Corp.,
Microsoft Corp., Lifetree Associates Inc. and Activision Inc.
The companies allege that Softsave has been operating a "software
evaluation club" that allows members to rent copies of commercial
software with the understanding that they will buy legitimate
copies of the programs if they decide to keep them.

Recent software copyright cases in Canada have upheld the idea
that computer software is subject to copyright here.  Apple
Canada Inc. in particular has been successful in prosecuting
those who violated its copyrights.  However, Canadian software
copyright is now being questioned on the basis of a case in
Australia that denied copyright to software.  Since the two
countries have closely related legal traditions, the Australian
case is being taken as a possible precedent here.

[***][12/30/86][***]
NELMA ANNOUNCES ACQUISITION
MISSISSAUGA, Ont. (NB) -- Nelma Information Inc. has bought the
controlling block of shares in Kenty Resources Ltd. of Toronto,
whose shareholders in turn have approved uhe acquisition of
Browning Communications Canada Inc.  Browning is a manufacturer
of mobile and subscriber radio telephone products.  Kenty will
change its name to Browning Communications Canada Inc.

Nelma, once a manufacturer and distributor of word processing
equipment and later an unsuccessful entrant in the personal
computer market, now concentrates on building and selling
wireless communications products, including a wireless modem.

CONTACT: NELMA INFORMATION INC., 5170A Timberlea Blvd.,
         Mississauga, Ont.  L4W 2S5, [phone]

[***][12/30/86][***]
LOOKING AHEAD AT 1987 -- YEAR-END THOUGHTS FROM THE INDUSTRY
TORONTO (NB) -- NEWSBYTES CANADA has spoken in the past two weeks
to senior Canadian executives with several of the leading
personal computer firms, to see what they think about the year
ahead.  Some of their comments follow:

APPLE CANADA INC. -- Gareth Jones, vice-president of sales and
marketing, said: "The general thrust as far as Apple is concerned
in the coming year is going to be the emergence of more added
value around the products."  That will include more
functionality, improvements to the user interface (could that
include a color Mac?) and more support software to aid in the
development of applications.  He also mentioned "more
functionality to allow the user to tailor the hardware" -- sounds
somewhat like an Open Mac to us.  Jones said the Macintosh has
begun to penetrate the business market at last, and expects it
will continue to make progress there.

As for the company's eight-bit computer line, Jones said Apple
Canada has been selling all the Apple IIGS computers it can ship
into the country.  The home computer market is looking better, he
said, partly because the economy has improved.  "We believe we've
started to hit the second generation of buyers, the people who
hung back, who just didn't want a computer because it's fun to
have a computer."

Finally, Jones was careful to point out that Apple continues to
play a major role in the educational market in Canada, despite
developments such as the state-sanctioned Icon educational
microcomputer.  Apple still has more than 50 percent of the
classroom market in Canada, he said.

COMMODORE BUSINESS MACHINES LTD. -- Richard McIntyre, president
of Commodore in Canada, said that if he could only keep one of
the markets Commodore sells into, he would choose the home
computer market.  The Commodore 64 is still doing well, he said,
and "I don't see anything in our line supplanting the 64, nor do
I see anything in anyone else's line."

Nonetheless, Commodore is interested in the business market too.
The Canadian operation has gone after this area more aggressively
than its U.S. counterpart: for more than a year Commodore has
been selling an MS-DOS computer, the PC 10, in Canada.  At the
beginning of December the company added an entry-level model of
that machine as well as an AT clone, the PC 40.  McIntyre said
Commodore will be entering the MS-DOS market in the U.S. early in
1987.

He also said that he expects software in 1987 that will take full
advantage of the Amiga, and that what with this software and the
arrival of the Sidecar (which lets the Amiga run MS-DOS
applications as well) that machine will start to find a place in
the business market.  He also reminded us that when the Amiga was
introduced, "we told everybody that day, 'this is the first
Amiga, there will be others'," hinting strongly that one or more
of those other Amigas will be along in 1987.

ATARI CANADA INC. -- Atari isn't as boastful about its future in
business as Commodore and Apple are.  General Manager Ian Kennedy
said the 520ST is doing well in the home hobbyist market and in
education, and making some headway in small businesses.  Kennedy
did say, however, that during 1987 Atari will be extending the ST
technology upward with more memory and increased speed.

Kennedy also said that there will be some "exciting"
announcements at the Winter Consumer Electronics Show in Las
Vegas next month -- these won't have to do with ST architecture,
he said.  Kennedy echoed some of Jones' comments about the state
of the home computer market, noting that consumers are better
educated and more demanding today.  "I believe the cream is gone
from the top," he said.

TANDY CORP. -- Radio Shack?  Who's Radio Shack?  The name
associated with stereo equipment is gradually being separated
from Tandy's computer business.  Tom Soper, computer marketing
director for Tandy in Canada, said that by late April, all the
company's computer stores here will drop the Radio Shack name and
become Tandy Computer Centres.

That image change goes hand in hand with a move to become an IBM-
compatible manufacturer: "We have very little in the way of non-
IBM-compatible equipment left," Soper said.  He went on to say
that in 1987, Tandy's main thrust, in Canada at least, will be to
penetrate the Fortune 500 market (or as we call it here, the
Financial Post 500) of large companies.

[***][12/30/86][***]
BITS, EH?
-- BMB Compuscience, a software maker based in Milton, Ont., near
Toronto, has reported profit for the six months ended Oct. 31 of
C$187,000, compared with a loss of C$322,000 in the same period a
year earlier.  Revenue was C$1.7 million, down from C$3.4 million
in the year-earlier period.

-- Xerox Canada has announced several additions to its line of
electronic printers, interfaces and software.  They include the
Xerox 4045 Laser CP Model 20 printer, which prints at up to 10
pages per minute and is sold as a replacement for IBM's 3287
printer.  There is also the Xerox Decentralized Standard Font
Library, which provides more than 60 fonts and a program to
download them from an IBM PC to a Xerox printer.

-- Canada has more supercomputers per capita than any other
country in the world, according to Dan Gieruszak, who sells the
giant computers for Control Data Canada.  There are only seven
supercomputers in Canada, but given the country's small
population that's more per person than the U.S. or Japan.
Gieruszak told a management meeting in Toronto recently that
demand for supercomputers will expand even more as people come to
realize what they can do.

-- Software maker Carolian Systems International Inc.,
Mississauga, Ont., has withdrawn a proposed stock issue, citing
unfavorable market conditions.

-- And here's a parting shot from Nancy White, Canadian
comedienne and songstress.  Along with some other tidbits of
wisdom she offered at a recent Christmas concert in Toronto, such
as "Never cross a hockey rink in wet socks," she provided some
advice for computer types.  "Learn to call typing 'word
processing'," she advised.  "That way you can get a man to do
it."