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/1988/nb880308.246

Text File | 1991-08-18 | 57KB | 1,231 lines

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MICROSOFT'S CD-ROM CONFERENCE: APPLE BREAKS ICE WITH CD-ROM DRIVE
SEATTLE, Wa. (NB) -- Attendance at this third CD-ROM conference was
80% higher than last year's with some 600 attending.  While the mood
was upbeat, the reality is still that only an estimated 100,000 CD-ROM
drives have been sold since 1985.  Nevertheless, predictions were
rampant that 1988 will be the year of CD-ROM.  Said Apple CEO John
Sculley, "It took more than 1,000 years for paper to be used by the
Western world after it was invented by the Chinese.  If you consider how
long it took for paper to become popular, we're not doing so bad."

A major stumbling block to acceptance of CD-ROM, however, is the
price. With most drives in the $1,000 range, CD-ROM is not expected
to win the masses until prices of drives drop to $300 or so.

But CD-ROM technology's biggest boost in credibility came as Apple
Computer became the first major computer manufacturer to offer a
CD-ROM drive through retail stores that both retrieves data and plays
commercial audio compact disks.  Apple expects its endorsement of this
high-capacity data storage technology will finally, after years of sluggish
sales, allow it to catch fire with the public.  The announcement, made at
the opening of Microsoft CD-ROM conference, was accompanied by news
that some 11 manufacturers, aided by Apple's third party development
effort, have already created  CD-ROM disk-based information for the
AppleCD SC drive.

One CD-ROM disk, capable of storing up to 550 megabytes of
information, or as much as can be stored on 700 Macintosh 800k disks.
That enormous capacity has appealed to a range of vendors from
encyclopedia publishers to compilers of public domain programs.
(See below for complete list.)

The drive, available in May for $1,199, works with the Macintosh,
the Apple IIE, and IIGS.  It can also be shared on a network connected
to the AppleShare File Server.  Apple has designed the drive to be
compatible with the International Standards Organization's
standard file format commonly known as "High Sierra."

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NEW PRODUCTS FOR APPLE'S CD-ROM DRIVE
CUPERTINO (NB) -- Here's a list of products designed to run on the
CD SC drive:

 - ARIES SYSTEMS, North Andover, Ma., is offering the MEDLINE database
of citations to biomedical literature maintained by the US government
and the National Library of Medicine.  It contains citations to over 3,000
medical journals.

 - BOWKER ELECTRONIC PUBLISHING, New York, announced compatibility
of Books in Print Plus for the CD╩SC drive.  It contains over 770,000
citations that can be accessed by any one of 17 categories, including
author, title, subject, key word, language, etc.  Also due out is
Books in Print with Book Reviews Plus.  Books in Print Plus is updated
quarterly and sells for a one-year subscription price of $1,010.

 - GROLIER ELECTRONIC PUBLISHING, Danbury, Cn., has created a
HyperCard application for CD-ROM, an educational tool called
The Americana Series which covers the 1800-1850 time period.
Users can search through maps, historical documents, period
illustrations, and even songs, to explore history.

 - GROLIER ELECTRONIC PUBLISHING has also introduced The
Electronic Encyclopedia for the AppleCD SC drive.  It contains more
than 10 million words and 30,000 articles on one CD-ROM disk.
Best of all, the product includes hypertext functions allowing users to
skip through articles quickly and return to a spot using a special
"bookmark" icon.  The Electronic Encyclopedia is expected to be available
in July.

 - HIGHLIGHTED DATA, INC. of Washington, D.C., announced Electronic
Map Cabinet, a database of 600 megabytes of geographical information
to generate custom maps for virtually the entire United States,
with detail down to city street level for nearly 300 of the country's
largest metropolitan areas.  List price is $199.95 when the product
is available in the second quarter of 1988.

 - HIGHLIGHTED DATA INC. also promised a CD-ROM edition of the
Merriam-Webster WEBSTER'S NINTH NEW COLLEGIATE DICTIONARY.
This isn't just a high-tech dictionary with text and graphics, but the
work features recorded pronunciations of all entry words.  Also
available in the second quarter, it's scheduled to cost $199.95.

 - MULTI-AD SERVICES, Peoria, Illinois, announced a massive art library
on compact disk called Kwikee INHOUSE Pal.  Designed for the desktop
publisher who wants a wide variety of line art, the pictures can be
used in any program which requires EPSF or PICT format graphics.
Categories include Animal Kingdom, Around the House, Careers, Education,
Food, Hearts &╩Flowers, Holidays, Leisure Time, Personal Style,
Religion, Sports, and Vacation.  Each package sells for $149.95 and
is scheduled to be available in May.

 - OPTICAL MEDIA INTERNATIONAL, Los Gatos, Ca., has two volumes
of sound effects on CD-ROM disks -- the Sound Designer Universe series.
Volume I is a sound effects and percussion disk while volume II has
musical instrument, synthesizer and percussion samples.  Each disk
contains about 1,500 individual sound files and will retail for
$595.

 - FACTS ON FILE, New York, is offering a collection of Apple II series
software in the public domain, called Public Domain Software on
File.  Nearly 200 applications are on the CD-ROM disk.  No price nor
availability date was disclosed.

Among the significant non-announcements was Microsoft's failure to
announce a version of its CD-ROM disk Bookshelf for the Apple drive.
Marty Taucher, Microsoft spokesman, told NEWSBYTES he had no comment
on the widely-anticipated announcement at this time.

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TI/APPLE TEAM UP FOR AI MICRO
CUPERTINO, Ca. (NB) -- Texas Instruments and Apple Computer have
joined forces to create what is hoped will be the computer that brings
artificial intelligence applications into the mainstream.  microExplorer
is a Macintosh II-based configuration equipped with a Texas
Instruments LISP chip with four megabytes of memory.  Complete
with software and a 40 megabyte hard disk, the package runs $15,000
to $30,000, a significant price breakthrough, and is aimed at everybody
from tax advisors to computer-aided designers.  Texas Instruments' only
competing AI package, the Micro Explorer, runs $40,000 and up.

Apple's endorsement of artificial intelligence, as with its investment
in CD-ROM, comes at a time when the field is besieged by technical
setbacks and slow sales.  Apple is being viewed as a white knight in
this arena, as well.  "It could give the whole industry a boost,"
comments Hambrecht & Quist analyst Jeffry Canin.

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ANOTHER LINK IN APPLE'S CHAIN - NETWORK INNOVATIONS PURCHASED
CUPERTINO, Ca. (NB) -- Apple's prowl for new companies to acquire
has resulted in its first outright conquest -- Network Innovations of
Cupertino.  The firm creates software that will links diverse computer
systems, such as DEC minicomputers and Macintoshes,  and its first new
task, according to Apple,  will be to link Macintoshes to IBM
mainframes in both DOS and OS/2 applications.  No purchase price
was disclosed for the buy-out of the four-year-old company, although
insiders put the cost at $10 million.

Apple promises to allow the firm to operate as an independent
subsidiary.

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HP TO SHIP OS/2 IN APRIL
PALO ALTO, Ca. (NB) -- Hewlett Packard will begin shipments of its
version of Microsoft's OS/2 operating system, and two new computers
capable of running it, in April.  The Vectra RS-16 and RS-20, based on the
80386 microprocessor from Intel, will run OS/2 applications.  HP will
become the third major manufacturer to ship an OS/2 computer
trailing IBM and Compaq.

The new operating system will cost $325.  It's called OS-2 1.0 Version
A.

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HP'S HANDS SLAPPED FOR ATTEMPT TO KILL COMPETITION
PALO ALTO, Ca. (NB) -- A federal judge has ordered Hewlett Packard to
stop alleged efforts to kill off a computer maintenance "insurance" firm
and has ordered HP to live up to the terms of a contract with the
Cleveland, Ohio company.  HyPoint Technology sells discount
contracts for Hewlett Packard service, and it suffered when HP recently
informed its customers that service would be slow to those who
weren't buying their maintenance contracts directly from HP.  The
judge's decision is expected to affect several similar suits which
are pending against other large computer makers.

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ATARI TRIPLES SALES
SUNNYVALE, Ca. (NB) -- Atari Corporation says sales increased 199%
in its most recent quarter, adding up to nearly $277 million compared
to $92 million for the same quarter last year.  Net sales for the
year were a whopping $493 million, up 91%.

The financial picture also includes the proceeds from Atari's purchase
of the Federated Group of discount electronics stores.  The Group, not
to be confused with the Federated Department Stores currently in a
takeover battle in the news, continue to lose money, according to
Atari, but are expected to become profitable sometime this year.

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INFORMATION AGE BILL OF RIGHTS PASSES IN CALIFORNIA
SACRAMENTO, Ca. (NB) -- The California Assembly has approved landmark
legislation which will extend the same rights of privacy and protection
to electronic communications as are now granted other media forms.
The "Information Age Bill of Rights" passed by a vote of 57-4 and
now goes to a Senate policy committee for a hearing.  It will go before
California voters as a special ballot measure if approved by the
Senate.

The bill, sponsored by Assemblywoman Gwen Moore, would prohibit
unwarranted searches of personal data stored in computers.  Said Moore
after the vote, "I'm delighted that the Assembly agrees with the purposes
of ACA 36, to provide an hospitable environment for the new information
industries.  With the support of the Senate and the voters we can make
California the first state to declare itself ready for the Information
Age."

CONTACT:  Bob Jacobson, 916/445-8800

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INTEL READIES NEW CHIPS, SIGNS DEAL WITH BORLAND
SANTA CLARA, Ca. (NB) -- Intel President Andrew Grove has told analysts
in New York that Intel is preparing to introduce several advanced new
microprocessors this year. Grove says there will be six new 32-bit
chips but refused to divulge further details.  Insiders say the chips
will include two new versions of the 80386 -- one a faster version
code-named the "P-9" and another which bridges the gap between the
16-bit 80286 and the 80386 chip.

Grove also disclosed plans for a new chip plant in Albuquerque, New
Mexico.  The $200,000 plant is designed to manufacture an even more
advanced microprocessor one micron in diameter.  Grove says
research on the chip is still underway.

Meanwhile, Borland and Intel have teamed up to bundle software and
hardware.  Buyers of the Intel Above Board will get a free copy of
SideKick Plus from Borland.  The two companies will launch an
advertising blitz that mentions the bundle in every Above Board or
Borland ad.

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IN BRIEF --

DIGITAL RESEARCH, Monterey, Ca., is shipping a new GEM application --
GEM 1st Word Plus.  The word processor has a suggested retail price
of $199.

SYMANTEC, Mountain View, Ca., has lost Dave Winer, founder of Living
Videotex, the company which Symantec purchased last July.  Winer says
he didn't feel exactly comfortable in the new, 170-employee merged
company, and will devote himself to finding out if he's a "company man
or an independent type of guy."  Winer will remain a Symantec director
and major shareholder.

TANDEM COMPUTERS, Cupertino, Ca., has settled a lawsuit with shareholders
who charged the firm with inflating sales and profit figures in 1982.
Under the settlement, Tandem and its insurance company will pay the
shareholders $16.5 million.

UNISOFT, Emeryville, Ca., has joined forces with Motorola to develop
Unix software for Motorola microprocessors.  Unisoft has agreed to act
as Motorola's exclusive agent in development of new Unix products.


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TI -- NOT A MAC CLONE, BUT A MAC PARTNER WITH A LISP
DALLAS (NB) -- Texas Instruments (TI) and Apple announced last
week an innovative joint venture which should result in a
Macintosh II which understands the artificial intelligence
language Lisp. Under the deal, TI boards with the TI Lisp chip
set will be packed into Macintosh II computers and re-sold by TI
as the microExplorer at prices ranging from $15-30,000. The deal
puts to rest (and to rout) rumors that TI was about to go into
the Macintosh clone business, rumors which were printed in
"Infoworld" and noted in NEWSBYTES SOUTH-MIDWEST. For Apple, the
deal could result in big sales to industrial markets like process
control and computer aided engineering (CAE) for the Macintosh.
Under the deal, TI becomes an Apple Value Added Reseller (VAR).

WHAT'S BEHIND THIS -- Texas Instruments had a tough time selling
its Explorer Lisp chips in the Explorer II minicomputer,
introduced last summer. TI president Jerry Junkins expressed a
willingness recently to try joint ventures in areas where TI is
weak -- TI used to shun such things. (TI made a deal with Intel
to swap chip designs and manufacturing technologies last summer.)
TI still has a problem, however -- a lack of good Lisp software.
Hopefully the Mac-Lisp with its lower price tag will let 100
programs bloom.

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INSIDE THE HAYES-PRODIGY DEAL
NORCROSS, GA (NB) -- When Hayes Microcomputer Products Inc.
started out a decade ago, it won success by following standards
and hiding out in small markets. Times have changed. Now the
modem giant prefers other giants. On February 29 Hayes released
details of a deal it signed with Prodigy, the IBM-Sears joint-
venture in videotex. Prodigy will bundle a special Hayes modem
with its service which plugs directly into a wall socket, then
into the computer through a standard phone plug and Hayes-made
adapters for IBM or Apple computers. Install the modem, slap the
Prodigy software into a disk drive, and you have a complete,
graphics-oriented videotex service -- the graphics are on the
Prodigy disk.

Trintex is the latest, and probably last, attempt by giant firms
to dominate the online market. Its information providers are the
cream of American industry: Kroger, J.C. Penney, Dow-Jones, and
newspaper syndicates, along with Sears itself. Profits are
expected from transactions, not online time. Pricing will be more
like cable TV than The Source -- a straight monthly charge. The
system will be fed by an IBM mainframe in White Plains, NY, and
IBM minicomputers in nodes throughout the country.

ANALYSIS -- The Hayes modem used in Trintex' bundle is not a
standard Hayes offering -- it does not follow the Hayes command
set, for instance. If Prodigy fails, Hayes will be left with a
ton of non-Hayes standard modems to unload. But there persists in
industry a myth that, if you're big enough, you can do no wrong
and that bigger outfits always destroy industry pioneers once
they set their minds to it. Prodigy will no doubt narrow
competition in the online industry, perhaps even destroying some
online firms, but it will not take over as its planners expect
because of the requirements for special software and the special
Hayes modem. By ignoring entrepreneurial ventures (like
NEWSBYTES) and existing standards, Prodigy and Hayes guarantee
that the online industry will have other winners.

CONTACT: TRINTEX, Brian Ek, [phone]; HAYES, Jane Dryden,
[phone]

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LATEST SUPERCONDUCTING IDEA -- CHEMICAL VAPOR DEPOSITION
ATLANTA (NB) -- Before you can have a superconducting wire, you
need a flexible superconductor. Today's materials are too
brittle. So Georgia Tech and American Magnetics Inc., Oak Ridge,
TN, plan to heat thin filaments of silicon carbide, silicon
dixode and carbon, commonly used to reinforce concrete, then coat
them with a superconducting ceramic, in hopes of producing a wire
with superconductive properties for electric motors and
electro-magnets. The experiment will have $1.4 million in funding
from the Defense Department.

CONTACT: GEORGIA TECH, John Toon, [phone]; Robert Jake,
AMERICAN MAGNETICS [phone]

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COLOROCS SEEKS DISTRIBUTION FOR COLOR COPIER IN SAVIN BUY
NORCROSS, GA (NB) -- Colorocs Corp. needs a distribution channel
for its full-color copier, designed in America but partly
financed in Japan by Mitsubishi and built by Sharp. Savin Corp.
of Stamford, CT has such a channel in 250 dealers. (Savin once
had an exclusive distributorship on Ricoh copiers, but has since
run into trouble and no longer has exclusivity). Thus, the
complex deal Charles Muench's Colorocs and Savin signed last
week, in which Colorocs will buy 28% of Savin now owned by
Polysar Energy & Chemical of Canada (formerly the Canadian
Development Corp.), and take 59% control once an exchange of
Savin stock for debt is completed. The copier is supposed to run
off Sharp lines in volume sometime after July. The copier,
moreover, will be sold under the Savin name.

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UNITED WINS COURT BATTLE IN ONLINE TRAVEL AGENCY WARS
CHICAGO (NB) -- United Airlines won a judgment of $423,155
against a large travel agency which switched from its Apollo
computerized reservations system to Texas Air's SystemOne. The
award affirms the validity of liquidated damages provisions in
United's Apollo contracts. Austin Travel Corp. of Long Island had
claimed United's contracts violate anti-trust rules. What makes
this case so interesting is that Texas Air Corp., owner of
SystemOne, controlled Austin's case.

CONTACT: Eva Archer-Smith, SYSTEM ONE, [phone]

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FORD PUTS THE SENSOR AND THE COMPUTER TOGETHER
DEARBORN, MI (NB) Ford has developed a "smart" sensor which
includes circuits to analyze input on-chip. It's made with a
"micro machining" technique of silicon etching, and "thin film
fabrication" techniques to make the whole unit smaller -- today's
circuit boards use a thick film design. The sensors can be used
to achieve very precise control of engines, transmissions and
suspensions at low cost. The trouble until now has been making a
chip-sensor combination which could sit on your engine,
transmission, or suspension measuring, computing, and moving
parts around. Only prototypes are currently available, but high-
volume production is just around the corner. The only problem is
that the etching requires a clean room with workers wearing
protective "bunny suits."

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PECAN CHIPS

DOVE COMPUTER, Wilmington, NC, released an Ethernet controller
for the Mac II called Fastnet II, a Nubus version of Dove's
Fastnet SCSI adapter. The price is $900.

EDS, Dallas, bought the data processing subsidiary of MCorp., a
troubled Texas bank-holding company. MTech cost EDS $281 million
in cash and notes, and employs 3,500. EDS out-bid a group led by
Robert Bass of Ft. Worth.

HBO & CO., Atlanta, won an important software and service
contract from Humana Corp., Lexington, KY. HBO's Medical Systems
Support Inc. subsidiary will handle the 5-year deal.

INTERGRAPH, Huntsville, AL, finally shipped its Clipper RISC
chip as a 4-chip set running at 30 MHz. Production quantities are
expected in the third quarter.

NBI, Boulder, CO, the one-time king of dedicated word processors is
facing a buy-out from Capital Associates Inc. of Colorado
Springs, a $33 million/year computer leasing company. Capital
wants a friendly deal, and says cooperation from NBI has kept it
from filing 13-D papers with the SEC.

THE SOFTWARE LINK, Atlanta, shipped ParaPort, an IBM-compatible
board with 4 parallel ports, for use with TSL LANs and parallel-
port printers.

TANDY, Ft. Worth, TX, began shipping a $300 SCSI adapter card. A
$1,800, 80-megabyte SCSI hard disk is expected to follow.

WORDPERFECT, Orem, UT, signed a co-marketing agreement with
Bitstream to built a Fontware installation kit for WordPerfect
5.0, which ships this month. The new version has also been set to
work with the Hercules' new RamFont mode, which speeds editing of
text set in fonts, and it will ship with a sampler graphic disk
from Marketing Graphics Inc. called Publishers' PicturePak.

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AND FINALLY...ILLINOIS TOLL ROADS TO COMPETERIZE
SPRINGFIELD, IL (NB) -- The State of Illinois is testing a new
type of toll road without toll booths. Here's how it works. An
Automatic Vehicle Identification scanner will read bar codes on
window decals as cars drive by it. A computer will then compute
the distance traveled and mail out monthly bills to regular toll
road users. (A special manual lane will be available for
visitors.) Theoretically, such a system could also compute how
long drivers spent on the road and issue speeding tickets. How
long before Illinois figures that out?


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FASTER 386 COMPUTERS COMING
MONTREAL (NB)  -- Canadian personal computer maker Ogivar Inc. is
expected to introduce a 25-megahertz 80386 personal computer at
the end of March.  Company president Jaime Benchimol said
recently the machine should be ready to ship by the end of this
month.  Ogivar was among the first manufacturers to introduce an
80386 PC in the fall of 1986, shortly after the arrival of Compaq
Computer Corp.'s pioneering model.  Compaq's and IBM's fastest
386 machines today run at 20 MHz.

And Greff Computing Inc. of Toronto is also rumored to be
planning an 80386 PC with a clock speed of 22 to 25 megahertz.
The start-up maker of low-priced PCs already has a 16-Mhz 386 on
the market.

CONTACT: OGIVAR INC., 3200 Transcanadienne, Montreal H4T 1A3,
         [phone]

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COMPLETE LOGIC TO ADD MODULES TO TRILOGY
VANCOUVER (NB) -- Complete Logic Systems Inc. will introduce
enhancements to its Trilogy modular programming language in
April.  An MS-DOS enhancement module will allow calls to DOS
functions from within Trilogy programs, developer Paul Voda said.
Among its functions will be the ability to select one or more
files that meet set specifications.

Voda said high-level graphics commands in the graphics
enhancement module will allow programmers to specify an entire
operation to, for example, draw a polygon.

Voda also said Complete Logic plans to announce a version of
Trilogy this summer that will manipulate data files of more than
64K bytes.  This limitation in the present version means that
Trilogy, introduced last fall, has been used mainly for
prototyping and small research applications to date.

CONTACT: COMPLETE LOGIC SYSTEMS, [phone]

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NORTHERN TELECOM FACING STRIKE
MISSISSAUGA, Ont. (NB) -- Workers at five Northern Telecom Ltd.
plants in Ontario and New Brunswick walked off the job February
29.  The strike was the latest move in a campaign by the Canadian
Auto Workers union, which represents the workers, for a better
pension plan.  Contracts between Northern and the CAW expired on
February 28.  Talks were being held during the week at a Toronto
hotel.

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ANOTHER TECHNOLOGY GROUP BACKS FREE TRADE
MARKHAM, Ont. (NB) -- Another of Canada's high-technology
industry organizations has come out strongly in favor of the free
trade agreement between Canada and the U.S.  Monty Richardson,
chairman of the York Technology Association telecommunications
committee, said assured access to the U.S. market will allow
Canadian high-tech firms to expand and gain the strength to
compete effectively in world markets.  "It is essential that we
strengthen our base so that high-tech industry can become a
catalyst for growth and employment," Richardson said in a
prepared statement.

The York Technology Association is made up of 130 groups,
associations and individuals in the Greater Toronto area who are
involved with the high-technology industry.  Richardson is also
president of Timeplex Canada Inc.

CONTACT: YORK TECHNOLOGY ASSOCIATION, Suite 132, 7305 Woodbine
         Ave., Markham, Ont. L3R 3V7, [phone]

[***][3/08/88][***]
RATE CHANGES WOULD FAVOR HIGH-SPEED LEASED LINES
OTTAWA (NB) -- Telecom Canada has filed an application for rate
changes with the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications
Commission (CRTC) that would cut the cost of leased data lines
for large users, while smaller users would pay more or less
depending on the speed of transmission.  Under the proposal,
filed with the federal regulatory body in the last week of
February, high-speed 19.2-kilobit-per-second lines would cost
C$3,810 a month, down from C$5,279.  But a 1,200-bps line would
go up from C$1,127 to C$1,319 per month, and a 2,400-bps line
from C$1,723 to C$1,759.  Lines running at 4,800 and 9,600 bps
would become slightly cheaper.  The move wouldn't affect the
average PC and modem user, but it reflects the trend to higher-
speed data communication.

[***][3/08/88][***]
BITS, EH?
-- CNCP TELECOMMUNICATIONS, Toronto, will double the capacity of
its Dialcom electronic messaging service.  The data
communications company is installing four additional
minicomputers from Prime Computer of Canada Ltd. to add capacity
to the X.400-based messaging service, launched last year.  CNCP
says Dialcom's customer base is growing rapidly.

-- SYDNEY DEVELOPMENT CORP., Vancouver software developer, lost
C$5.1 million in the nine months ended Dec. 31, compared with a
C$7.7 million loss in the same period of 1986.  Revenue was
C$14.9 million, up from C$11.8 million.

-- EPIC DATA INC., Richmond, B.C., lost C$1.02 million in the
three months ended Dec. 31, compared with a C$389,000 profit in
the same period a year earlier.  Revenue fell to C$1.79 million
from C$4.95 million.  The company manufactures data collection
systems.



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DUAL 68030 WORKSTATION FROM SONY
TOKYO (NB) -- Sony has developed a 68030-based workstation it
calls the NEWS1800.  The NEWS1800 has two 68030 microprocessing
units which run at 25MHz.  The processing speed is 5 million
instructions per second.  That's almost twice as fast as the
current version of the NEWS workstations.  The NEWS1800 will be
shipped by the end of this year.  Meanwhile, the current NEWS
version has been selling well in the U.S.

CONTACT: Sony, 4-10-18 Takanawa, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108

[***][3/08/88][***]
LOTUS 1-2-3 AND 4WORD FOR JAPANESE COMPUTERS
TOKYO (NB) -- Lotus Development Japan will release Japanese
versions of its programs, Lotus 1-2-3 R2.1J and 4word, for
Toshiba's J3100, Fujitsu's FM-R, and Matsushita's Panacom M
series, in April.  The prices are 98,000 yen ($766) for Lotus
1-2-3 and 25,000 yen ($195) for 4word.  Lotus Japan released NEC
PC-9801 and IBM PS/55 (Japanese PS/2) versions of the programs in
the fall of 1987.  A spokesman for Kokusai PR, the public relations
agent of Lotus Japan, claims 4word has been quite popular in
Japan.  As for Japanese Lotus 1-2-3, it's sold over 30,000
copies including the initial Japanese version.

CONTACT: Lotus Development (Japan), 3-10-11 Toranomon, Minato-ku,
         Tokyo 105

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TOSHIBA-MOTOROLA VENTURE STARTS PRODUCING 1M DRAM
TOKYO (NB) -- Tohoku Semiconductor (Miyagi, Japan), a joint
company of Motorola U.S.A. and Toshiba, will start producing 1
megabit dynamic RAM in July.  To start, it will produce some
10,000 units per month.  And the company will increase the
production rate to one million units per month by the end of this
year.  Tohoku Semiconductor is also planning to produce
Motorola's 8-bit and 16-bit MPUs.  It is said the company will
manufacture Motorola's 32-bit 68020 MPU later.

Currently Tohoku Semiconductor is building its factory on
schedule.  The president of Motorola is expected to attend the
opening ceremony late this May.

CONTACT: Toshiba, Toshiba Bldg., 1-1-1 Shibaura, Minato-ku,
         Tokyo 105

[***][3/08/88][***]
NEC BEEFS UP 16M DRAM DEVELOPMENT
TOKYO (NB) -- NEC will expand and beef up its semiconductor
research and development facilities in Sagamihara office in
Kanagawa, the suburb of Tokyo.   NEC will add one of the most
advanced test production lines for 16 megabit dynamic RAM in its
super LSI development laboratory.  Meanwhile, the company is
planning to study and develop next-generation super LSIs,
spending over 10 billion yen or $78 million.  NEC's next-
generation super LSI development project includes development of
64 megabit dynamic RAM, and the company will create this
special development team soon.

CONTACT: NEC, 1-4-28 Mita, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108

[***][3/08/88][***]
AUTOMATIC PROGRAM REWRITE SYSTEM FROM FORTRAN TO C
TOKYO (NB) -- Suri System, Tokyo, has developed a fully-automatic
program rewrite system, which converts FORTRAN programs into C
programs.  FORTRAN is a widely used programming language for
science technology calculation, while C language is a functional
and easy-to-use popular programming language.  In this system,
FORTRAN programs should be based on the Japanese Industrial
Standard (JIS) and the American National Standards Institution
(ANSI).  The converted C programs can only be used in UNIX
computers at present.  Suri System is planning to develop other
programs to rewrite FORTRAN for IBM machines and variety of C
programs for large computers and personal computers.

CONTACT: Suri System, 2-4 Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo

[***][3/08/88][***]
WORD PROCESSING SOFTWARE WITH LANGUAGE TRANSLATION FEATURE
TOKYO (NB) -- Japanese Software house Just Systems has announced
a Japanese-English word processing program called Duet.  The
software is based on the company's best-selling Japanese word
processor Ichitaro.  Duet has a Japanese-English language
translation feature.  The software has a 14-megabyte, huge
dictionary, which covers 80,000 words for both Japanese and
English.  Duet runs on NEC PC-9801 computers with a hard disk,
and the price will be 148,000 yen or $1,156.  Just System has
also announced a powerful graphics program Silhouette.  It
supports multiple colors and 40 kinds of pen touches.

CONTACT: Just Systems, 3-46 Okihama-Higashi, Tokushima-shi,
         Japan

[***][3/08/88][***]
ALL-IN-ONE TYPE INPUT/OUTPUT DEVICE FOR PC
TOKYO (NB) -- NEC has developed an integrated input/output device
for personal computers.  The PC-FU101 looks just like an ordinary
printer with a small telephone, but it has the features for a
facsimile machine and an image scanner, as well as a printer and
a telephone.  Everything can be made with this single gadget,
connecting with NEC PC-9801 personal computer.  Also, it can
independently be used as a facsimile machine and an answering
phone without connecting with the computer.  The gadget measures
33.5cm x 25.3cm x 9.5cm.  It weighs only 3.9kg.  The price is
240,000 yen or $1,875.

CONTACT: NEC, 1-4-28 Mita, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108

[***][3/08/88][***]
MAKING BIO-LSI IN ZERO GRAVITY
TOKYO (NB) -- Two Japanese computer giants Hitachi and Fujitsu
are about to launch bioscience experiments, using a special aircraft of
the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration.  These
experiments will be conducted under zero gravity, which will be
created aboard NASA's aircraft.  In these experiments, Fujitsu
will test the creation of a heat-resistance protein for bio-LSI, while
Hitachi will make interferon.  The companies plan to perform
experiments aboard the US Space Shuttle in the future.

[***][3/08/88][***]
<<< SUSHI BYTES >>>

TRON ASSOCIATION GETS INDEPENDENT -- The TRON Association will
become an independent organization to promote its 32-bit computer
architecture TRON on March 11.  Fujitsu's President Takuma
Yamamoto is expected to assume the chairman's post of this
newly independent organization.  Currently 98 computer makers
and related companies, including IBM Japan and Motorola, have
been the members of the TRON Association.

FUJITSU FORESEES HIGH-TECH BUILDING BUSINESS PROFITABLE --
Fujitsu, Tokyo, is pushing to install office equipment and
network systems in high-tech buildings, which are being built in
Japan.  Fujitsu has already received 300 orders from the
companies and organizations, including hospitals, and schools.
The company expects a $78.1 million profit this year.

YHP TO SELL MORE ENGINEERING WORKSTATIONS -- Yokogawa-Hewlett
Packard, a joint venture of Yokogawa Electronics and Hewlett
Packard (U.S.A.), will expand its engineering workstations
business in Japan.  YHP aims to grow by 20% per year, and it
expects sales of $1.9 billion in 1993.

====
[***][3/08/88][***]
NEW JERSEY FIRMS OFFERS ANTI-VIRAL INOCULATION
METUCHEN, N.J. (NB) -- Lasertrieve Inc., a CD-ROM publishing
company, has unveiled a program that "inoculates" computers
against computer viruses that spread from machine to machine,
crashing hardware and destroying software. According to publicist
Fred Rackmil, the Viralarm program sits on top of a program and
uses very sophisticated error-checking routines to make sure the
software has not been tampered with, or infected, since last
used. If the program detects changes, it sends a warning message
and will not allow the infected software to run. Rackmil said
the program is aimed at large corporate users and software
manufactures. "We hope that someday your 1-2-3 or dBase package
will have a Viralarm seal showing that Lotus or Ashton-Tate have
installed the program. It will be like the Good Housekeeping
seal," Rackmil told NEWSBYTES.

Lasertrieve also is developing NOAH'S ARK, a CD-ROM collection of
shareware and public-domain software that have been inoculated so
that they can't spread viruses. The spread of viruses over
bulletin boards and through copies of shareware and freeware has
cast a bit of a pall over this distribution method. NOAH'S ARK
will be released this summer on one CD-ROM, according to
Lasertrieve. The price will be about $200.

CONTACT: Lasertrieve Inc., 395 Main Street, Metuchen NJ 08840,
         201-906-1901.

[***][3/08/88][***]
BRAZILIAN SANCTIONS ON HOLD
WASHINGTON -- Citing "some progress" in easing computer trade
barriers, the Reagan Administration says it won't impose $105
million in punitive sanctions against Brazil. U.S. Trade
Representative Clayton Yeutter said, "The United States will
delay sanctions against Brazil pending review of the implementing
regulations for Brazil's new software law." Brazil recently
relented on its ban of Microsoft's PC operating system, saying it
will allow imports of MS-DOS 3.3, although not earlier versions.
It also looks like Brazil will nix a plan that would have allowed
a Brazilian company to freely clone Apple computers, disregarding
the American company's patents and copyrights.

[***][3/08/88][***]
LOTUS PREVIEWS DATABASE
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Lotus will plunge feet first into the
database market once OS/2 Presentation Manager is available in
the fall. In the works is Lotus/DBMS, which will feature
structured query language (SQL) and a standard data interface
driver for seamless access to other databases, without file
translation. Lotus is working with Gupta Technologies Inc. of
Menlo Park, Calif., on the product. "Users only need to know the
name of a data-base in order to access it," said David Gilmour of
Lotus' advanced products division. "They don't have to worry
about where it is located." The program will also have a
graphical interface and will be very closely integrated to 1-2-
3G, the graphical spreadsheet Lotus is developing for OS/2
Presentation Manager.

[***][3/08/88][***]
CHIPMAKERS WANT BIGGER PIECE OF JAPAN
WASHINGTON (NB) -- While Japan has stopped dumping semiconductors
in the U.S., American chip manufacturers are unhappy with their
progress in penetrating the lucrative Japanese market. The
Semiconductor Industry Association has called for a new round of
consultations between Washington and Tokyo on opening up the
Japanese market. According to SIA, U.S. semiconductor sales in
Japan are holding steady at about 10 percent, with not much
movement upward in the last few years, despite a 1986 agreement
that called for Japan to stop dumping and open its market. SIA,
the trade group for the chip makers and the American Electronics
Association, trade group for major chip users, have issued a
joint statement calling on the U.S. government to help open
Japanese markets.

In the meantime, Brookings Institution economist Kenneth Flamm,
writing for the op ed page of the WASHINGTON POST, says the chip
makers did the U.S. a disservice in pushing for the anti-dumping
agreement with Japan. As a result, says Flamm, DRAM prices have
soared, leaving the U.S. computer industry "in a steadily
worsening fix." The price increases for memory, Flamm says, "will
be a significant obstacle to the U.S. computer industry's game
plan: to maintain a competitive edge over Asian clones by
aggressively introducing new technology."

[***][3/08/88][***]
AT&T AND MOTOROLA IN UNIX PACT
NEW YORK (NB) -- AT&T and Motorola have reached an agreement on
extensions to the Unix operating system similar to an earlier
arrangement between AT&T and Sun Microsystems and AT&T and
Microsoft Corp. The deal is expected to defuse a controversy that
arose when other manufacturers thought they were being aced out
of the Unix market by the AT&T-Sun deal. The deal will make any
of the enhancements that AT&T and Sun come up with available for
Motorola processors as well. The deal with Sun meant a uniform
Unix for machines with Sun's Sparc processor; the Microsoft deal
meant a version for the Intel 80386 processor; the Motorola deal
will mean an identical Unix for the 68000 chip family. In a
related development, Motorola is expected to a large stake in
Unisoft Group, the British software company that developed A/UX,
the Apple-flavored Unix.

[***][3/08/88][***]
TRANSISTOR BREAKTROUGH AT BELL LABS
MURRAY HILL, N.J. (NB) -- AT&T's Bell Labs says it has built a
tiny transistor that is too small to be seen in even the most
powerful optical microscope. The tiny chip should be able to
switch on and off in a trillionth of a second, paving the way for
computers that are faster and smaller. The new transistors will
operate with a single electron, dramatically reducing power
system requirements for devices that use them. Bell Labs
scientists caution that much work remains before the chips are
practical. The new transistors work only at very low
temperatures, 1.2 Kelvin (-457 Fahrenheit).

[***][3/08/88][***]
MORE FEATURES, LESS MEMORY FROM GRYPHON
SILVER SPRING, Md. (NB) -- Gryphon Microproducts has announced
Version 2.0 of its Weiner Shell, a programming language for
creating terminate and stay resident program. The new version has
25 percent more commands, but uses only 40 K, or thirty percent
less memory than version 1.0. According to President Al Weiner,
the new version has a more natural DOS interface, expanded
background telecommunications capabilities, a library, and direct
access to dBase files. The program retails for $299 and runs of
MS-DOS 3.0 or higher.

CONTACT: Gryphon Microproducts, PO Box 10087, Silver Spring MD
         20904, 301-384-6868.

[***][3/08/88][***]
H-P LOSES ROUND IN COURT BATTLE OVER MAINTENANCE
CLEVELAND (NB) -- A federal judge has enjoined Hewlett-Packard
Co. from refusing contract maintenance service to customers of a
third-party maintenance firm. H-P offers its customers a rapid-
response repair service for a fee. Hypoint Technology of
Cleveland offers contract maintenance on H-P minicomputers for
less, but has no field repair staff. If Hypoint customers needed
field repairs, they called in H-P technicians, and Hypoint then
reimbursed them. But H-P formulated a policy to refuse to perform
such maintenance and Hypoint sued. The injunction against H-P's
policy is in effect until the case is settled. Hypoint says
there are many similar lawsuits now pending between maintenance
companies and computer manufacturers.

[***][3/08/88][***]
XEROX TO MARKET DOS VERSIONS OF CRICKET SOFTWARE
MALVERN, Pa. (NB) -- Xerox has acquired the rights to market
graphics and desktop presentation software that Cricket Software
Inc. writer for MS-DOS and OS/2 operating systems. Cricket's
current software line is aimed only at the Macintosh market.
Xerox plans to build on its base in desktop publishing, with
Ventura Publisher, by entering the presentation graphics arena.
Xerox will have the worldwide rights to Cricket's DOS products.

CONTACT: Cricket Software, Malvern PA, 215-251-9890.

[***][3/08/88][***]
GOLDEN PARACHUTES AT PRIME
NATICK, Mass. (NB) -- Two key executives of Computervision Corp.
are leaving the company, trailing golden parachutes, following
the company's takeover by Prime Computer Inc. Robert Gable,
erstwhile Computervision president and CEO, who had been opposed
to the merger, turned down an offer to head Prime's
Computervision division. Dorick Mauro, Computervision's chief
financial officer, is also leaving. Both men had lucrative
separation agreements. Gable will a take home a tidy lump sum of
$1.5 million, representing three times his highest annual salary
and bonus. Mauro will get two years' salary and bonus. Doesn't
look like either executive will have to file for unemployment
compensation.

[***][3/08/88][***]
NEWS NIBBLES FROM AROUND THE REGION

APOLLO COMPUTER of Chelmsford, Mass., has trumped Sun
Microsystem's ace in the high end of the workstation market,
rolling out the Domain 10000 line, for between $70,000 and
$130,000. Apollo says the 64-bit desktop supercomputers using reduced
instruction set technology easily out perform Sun's Sparc reduced
instruction set workstations.

AGS COMPUTERS INC. of Mountainside, N.J., has gobbled up C3 INC.
of Herndon, Va., for $157 million in a friendly takeover. C3
specializes in systems integration for the federal government,
while AGS sells hardware and software to commercial customers.

Struggling GCA CORP. of Andover, Mass., is dickering with a
potential buyer, for about $47.5 million. GCA, which makes
semiconductor manufacturing equipment, refuses to identify the
suitor. The company has reported a long string of losses, but
appears to be somewhat on the mend, making it an attractive
takeover candidate.

IBM scientists at the Almaden Research Center report they have
come up with the hottest superconductor yet. The ceramic mix of
thallium, barium, calcium, copper and oxygen loses electrical
resistance at -234 degrees F, 35 degrees warmer than the previous
record holder at the University of Arkansas.

==


[***][3/08/88][***]
RESTORING COMITY
  Editorial by Dana Blankenhorn, IP2004, NEWSBYTES SOUTH/MIDWEST

        Comity and courtesy are breaking down.

        In the U.S. Senate, where Jesse Helms and Edward Kennedy
always call one another "honorable member," Democrats recently
arrested Sen. Robert Packwood (R-OR) in a futile attempt to break
a filibuster on campaign reform legislation.

        In the online world of public computer conferencing,
comity has also broken down. Many conferences, in PARTI On The
Source (POTS) and other systems, have pointed this out.
Conference moderators have been urged to be harsh, erasing rude
notes and removing mean users. Proposals have been made to kick
offensive users offline. Especially in conferences involving
politics, differences often get sharp and tempers short. Offense
is taken -- that's how wars start.

        Like Jimmy Swaggart, I too have sinned in this regard. In
my own PARTI experience, I have frequently become angry enough at
others' postings to launch into diatribes of my own. These were
taken as vicious personal attacks and answered in kind, to the
detriment of all users, most especially those who only read
conferences and are thus known as lurkers.

        What's true in conferencing is true also in electronic
mail. As businesses install electronic mail systems, they're
finding these same problems, and reacting with top-down rules,
enforced on pain of dismissal. The trouble is, such rules destroy
the honesty mail and conferencing were designed to foster.

        The time has come to call a halt. The time has come to
restore comity to the online world, as well as the Senate floor.
Otherwise none of us will get any work done. As usual, I have
some modest proposals:

        1. Remember the Golden Rule. Rudeness is always answered
by rudeness.

        2. First, apologize. Then make sure you know what you're
dealing with. Remember what happens when you assume. (Ass-u-me.)

        3. The best way out of a conversation starts by shutting
up.

        4. If A and B get mad and A tells C about it, B better
not tell D unless B wants E to find out what a loudmouth jerk
B is.

        5. Tyranny cannot be enforced by mail unless it exists in
real life. (Or in software.)

        6. A should get permission before telling C what B said
in a private note to A.

        Now, back to the Senate. Put Sen. Packwood down, Mr.
Guigni. Apologize, Mr. Byrd. Go back to accepting unanimous
consent agreements. We'll see the whole fussy lot of you this
fall. (And while we're at it, can't you play something American
during quorum calls, instead of 18th century European piano
solos? Gershwin, Rodgers, Sondheim, Springsteen. Even Frank
Zappa. But American.)

                                           ---Dana Blankenhorn

[***][3/08/88][***]
DRAM SHORTAGE BITES #1 - ATARI ST PRICE RISES
Slough, Berkshire (NB) -- In one of several linked industry
announcements made last week, Atari UK announced that, with
immediate effect, the price of the 520 and 1040 ST computers will
rise by #100.  The price rises are blamed on the soaring cost of
DRAM ships, which have tripled in price over the past year.

This pushes the price of the basic 520 STFM, complete with colour
TV modulator etc., up from #299 to #399.  The price of the 1040
ST range rises correspondingly by #100.  Similar price rises on
the Mega ST range were rumoured, but unconfirmed as NEWSBYTES UK
went to press.

So, where does this leave the Atari ST in the UK?  It could mean
a big boost in sales of the Amiga 500 (see story below) which is
now just #100 more than the 520ST.  It could also mean that a
number of low-end retailers - i.e. those stocking the 520STFM as
a 'bubble pack,' may decide to move out of the market.

* NEWSBYTES UK also notes that the actual cost of the price
increase on DRAM chips in the 520 ST works out to be $48 -
calculated as 16 256 kilobit chips costing $5 today, compared
with $2 each this time last year.  At current exchange rates, $48
does not equal #100.  The #100 price hike only begins to make
sense when it comes to the 1040ST.  Is there something we should
be told?

CONTACT: ATARI UK, Atari House, Railway Terrace, Slough,
         Berkshire SL2 5BZ.             Tel: [phone].

[***][3/08/88][***]
DRAM SHORTAGE BITES #2 - AMSTRAD HIKES ITS PRICES
Brentwood, Middlesex (NB) -- Only hours after Atari UK announced
its price rises, Amstrad followed suit, with rises of between 4.2
and 12.5 per cent on its entire range of PCW machines and PC
compatibles.

The brunt of the price rise falls on the Z80-based PCW8512, which
now sells for #449, compared with #399 before the increase.  The
price rises on the Amstrad range aren't as steep as those of
Atari, but come at a bad time for the company, with the PPC
portable just beginning to reach the shops in the UK.

CONTACT: AMSTRAD PLC, Brentwood House, 169 Kings Road,
         Brentwood, Essex, CM14 4EF.
         Tel: [phone].

[***][3/08/88][***]
DRAM SHORTAGE BITES #3 - COMMODORE SITS TIGHT
Maidenhead, Berkshire (NB) -- After several months of watching
Atari 520STFM sales rocket ahead of the Amiga 500, Commodore UK
executives must be grinning broadly.  With the baby Amiga now
just #100 more than the basic 520 STFM, the difference between
the two machines is very narrow.

Despite much rumour to the contrary last week, Commodore UK
announced late Friday that no price rises were contemplated for
the foreseeable future.  Commodore UK's marketing director Dean
Barrett is quoted on MICRONET 800 on Prestel as saying that
Commodore can afford to sit tight, thanks to a watertight
contract for DRAM chips.

"We were paying more for our DRAM chips than Atari," revealed
Barrett, who surmised that this explains why the Atari 520STFM's
previous pricing (#299) reflects that situation.  "We feel that
the Amiga 500's price premium over the ST of just #100 is well
worth it to the customer," said Barrett.

* Potential Amiga buyers might still be wise to buy their
machines soon.  NEWSBYTES UK's previous experience of Commodore's
"foreseeable future" leads us to equate this to as little as one
week (grin).

CONTACT: COMMODORE (UK) LTD, Commodore House, The Switchback,
         Gardener Road, Maidenhead, Berkshire SL6 7XA.
         Tel: [phone].

[***][3/08/88][***]
APPLE LAUNCHES CD-ROM DRIVE
Hemel Hempstead, Herts (NB) -- In a parallel launch with the US,
Apple UK unveiled its CD-Rom drive to the masses last week.  The
Apple CD-SC can store up to 550Mb of data, feeding in to a
suitably-equipped Mac Plus, SE or Apple II at very high speed.
Data transfer between the two machines is enhanced thanks to the
use of 64K Ram buffer on the CD-SC drive itself.

The CD-Rom drive plugs directly into the SCSI port on the Mac
Plus, SE and II series of computers.  An Apple SCSI card is
required for use with the IIe and IIGS series.  The drive comes
with an accessory kit which contains a CD caddy, software drivers
and utilities to enable the unit to function as an audio CD
player.

Pricing on the Apple CD-SC has been set at #895 for the UK, with
initial deliveries expected in June.

CONTACT:  Apple UK, Eastman Way, Hemel Hempstead,
          Hertfordshire HP2 7HQ.
          Tel: [phone].

[***][3/08/88][***]
BAD DEBTS ONLINE WITH ONE-TO-ONE
London, UK (NB) -- In one of the more unusual applications of
online services, the One-to-One Email company has opened a
gateway into the computers of William Prior & Co., a London-based
solicitor.  The gateway allows users of One-to-One to access the
status of bad debts which Messrs Prior & Co will collect on
customer's behalf.

Unusually for a debt collection agent, Messrs Prior & Co do not
charge for their services.  Agents fees are collected in the form
of online charges, which work out at 60 pence a minute for use of
the gateway.

NEWSBYTES UK has to admit that this is one of the strangest
applications of electronic mail technology we've yet seen.  Can
anyone better this?

CONTACT: ONE-TO-ONE LIMITED, Scorpio House, 102 Sydney Street,
         Chelsea, London SW3 6NL.            Tel: [phone].

[***][3/08/88][***]
BRAINSTORM RELAUNCHED IN THE UK
Ruislip, Middlesex (NB) -- Brainstorm, the PC and PCW series
outliner program, has been relaunched in the UK.  The relaunch,
which coincides with the release of a memory-resident version of
the package, celebrates the fact that Caxton Software, which
handled Brainstorm since its launch in 1983, has moved out of the
budget end of the market.

"The rights to the package have now passed back to Brainstorm
software," David Tebbutt, MD of the company, told NEWSBYTES UK.
"The end result has meant a relaunch - hence why we're now doing
a pop-up, or memory-resident version of Brainstorm on the PC," he
added.

Brainstorm retails for #52-95 for the PC, Amstrad PCW and a
number of other CP/M based computers.  Existing users can upgrade
for #15-00.  A demo version is available for just #5-00, although
file size if limited to 4K on the demonstration package.

* PC readers of NEWSBYTES UK should keep an eye out for the March
issue of WHAT MICRO magazine, which has a freebie demo of
Brainstorm taped to the cover.

CONTACT: BRAINSTORM SOFTWARE, 18 Courtlands Close, Ruislip,
         Middlesex HA4 8AX.               Tel: [phone].
         Email on Dialcom/Telecom Gold 83:JNL242

[***][3/08/88][***]
DBASE IV A FOXBASE+ CLONE?
Bradford, West Yorkshire (NB) -- Alan Wallis, MD of Raven
Computers, distributors of Foxbase+ in the UK, rates the recent
launch of dBase IV from Ashton-Tate as a non-event.

"Whilst dBase IV is undoubtedly an improvement on its predecessor
it has to be said that its incorporates many of the features
already offered by Foxbase+," said Wallis.

Over lunch with NEWSBYTES UK soon after dBase IV's launch last
month, Wallis also called dBase IV little more than a Foxbase+
clone.  Brave words, but Wallis may have a point - dBase IV will
cost #595 when it appears later this year (later rather than
sooner), whilst Foxbase+ is already on sale at #395.  These
prices are for the single-user version of each packages.
Substantially increased savings accrue when looking at the
networking versions of each product.

Wallis thinks that the (claimed) 25 per cent speed advantage that
Foxbase+ has over dBase IV, coupled with its availability under
Xenix and for the Mac, will make Foxbase+ even more popular.

"Taking into account all of the above, I'm expecting Foxbase to
become even more popular as users recognize the very real
benefits that the product can offer them right now," said Wallis.

CONTACT: RAVEN COMPUTERS, 28/32 Cheapside, Bradford,
         West Yorkshire BD1 4JA.   Tel: [phone].

[***][3/08/88][***]
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
+ BRITBYTES - Bytes of news from around the UK... +
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

ACORN of Cambridge is now supplying a card emulator for its
Archimedes series of RISC-based computers.  The #79 card gives
the Archimedes the capability to hardware emulate the BBC Model B
and Master series of micros.

APRICOT of Birmingham has signed a deal with RELATIONAL
TECHNOLOGY for a joint marketing initiative to supply the Ingress
relational database package on its VX9000 series of computers.

AST RESEARCH has announced price rises on its PCs, printers and
PC add-in cards.  Rises of between 10 and 15 per cent take effect
immediately, but can be avoided provided the dealer/shop
concerned takes delivery of orders before 1 June.  The rises are
blamed on (guess what?) the shortage of DRAM ships.

COMMODORE of Maidenhead is organizing an Amiga software
developer's conference for the 9/10 April.  The conference will
involve 26 top UK software developers and is designed to boost
confidence in the machine's capabilities.  Sources suggest that a
UK software marketing initiative for the Amiga is about to be
announced around the same time as the conference.

DESKTOP ENGINEERING SYSTEMS of Ruislip, Middlesex, will launch
two new Apple Mac-based Cad/Cam packages at the CAD/CAM 88 show
later this month.  McCAD is a 3D Mac-based Cad/Cam package,
whilst Pegasys 1 is a 2D-based Cad-Cam package.  Pegasys Expert
allows Pegasys 1 users to upgrade to 3D operation.  Prices on the
packages aren't given, but will be revealed at CAD/CAM 88, which
is scheduled for 22/24 March at the Birmingham NEC.

The MICROLINK electronic mail company of Macclesfield has
launched a modem package for the Amstrad PCW series.  The
MIcroLink modem costs #169 including tax for a V21/22/23 Hayes-
compatible unit.  That price includes a serial cable, plus comms
and word processing software.  A PCW serial interface is also
available for #39-95.

The full edition of NEWSBYTES is now available to subscribers of
the COMPUNET system based in London.  Compunet is an online
service for Commodore 64 users.  Plans are in hand to include
Atari ST and Commodore Amiga users on thee Compunet network.

OFTEL has revealed that BRITISH TELECOM managed to get 77.5 per
cent of its public coin boxes operational during January.  This
compares with 75.8, 77.2 and 72.4 per cent in October, November
and December respectively.  BT officials are quoted as confident
of achieving the 90 per cent efficiency target set for 1 April
this year, at which time Oftel will review the situation
regarding UK coin box operations.

SCHNEIDER has given notice that its agreement with AMSTRAD to
distribute the latter's kit on the continent is about to expire.
Schneider is expected to launch a range of 8086, 80286 and 80386-
based PCs in the UK this Spring.  Keynote to the range is an
8086-based LCD-screen laptop in the Toshiba T1100 style.  Pricing
on the Schneider laptop is expected to be around the #800 mark.

[***][3/08/88][***]
UK DATES FOR YOUR DIARY...

Event:         BBC Micro and Electron User Show
Dates:         18/20 March 1988
Location:      Manchester
Organisers:    Database Exhibitions - 0625-878888

Event:         The European Unix User Show
Dates:         7/9 June 1988
Location:      London
Organisers:    EMAP Conferences - 0203-470075

Event:         X400 Message Handling Recommendations
Dates:         27/29 June 1988
Location:      London
Organisers:    Frost & Sullivan - 01-730-3438

Event:         The PC User Show
Dates:         28/30 June 1988
Location:      London
Organisers:    EMAP Conferences - 0203-470075

Event:         The OSI Reference Model & Network Architecture
Dates:         13/15 July 1988
Location:      London
Organisers:    Frost & Sullivan - 01-730-3438

Event:         X-25 and Packet Switching Networks
Dates:         18/20 July 1988
Location:      London
Organisers:    Frost & Sullivan - 01-730-3438

Event:         ISDN - Fundamentals, Status & Trends
Dates:         25/27 July 1988
Location:      London
Organisers:    Frost & Sullivan - 01-730-3438

Event:         ISDN - Protocols & Implementation
Dates:         28/29 July 1988
Location:      London
Organisers:    Frost & Sullivan - 01-730-3438
====