Newsbytes - International Computing Industry News 1983 May to 1994 June

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[***][5/3/88][***] MINITEL EXPECTED TO LAUNCH IN N.Y. AND LOS ANGELES *EXCLUSIVE* LOS ANGELES (NB) -- Minitel, the French electronic telephone directory videotext service which has revolutionized the information market in France, is set to be launched here in the U.S. in its second attempt to capture a share of the U.S. online systems market. An informed NEWSBYTES sources says Los Angeles and New York will most likely be Minitel's first test markets for a graphics- based videotext system. Currently the name of the new system is the subject of market research tests. Most likely name for the new service is WorldLink, although the name Intrigue was among those being considered. ("Sounds like a perfume Joan Collins would wear," sniffed one paid focus group member.) Problems that a U.S. Minitel face, however, include a non-NAPLPS standard (poor graphics), a lack of a universal electronic mail address (each database within the service has its own e-mail address), and incompatibility with existing systems such as The Source and CompuServe. Our NEWSBYTES source says subscribers will most likely be provided with system software or will be able to lease firmware terminals to access the new system. Minitel is clearly treading over well-worn, bloodied soil. Previous attempts at a graphics-based videotext system in the U.S., including Gateway from the L.A. TIMES, and Knight-Ridder's Viewtron, have failed dismally. Stay tuned on this one. [***][5/3/88][***] KAYPRO STUMBLES, 40 LAID OFF, BIG LOSS SOLANA BEACH, Ca. (NB) -- Despite the fact that Kaypro lost $2.2 million on $19.5 million in sales in its most recent quarter, the company is not blaming is fiscal difficulties for a layoff of 40 workers. The severed employees, most of whom are in manufacturing, represent about eight percent of Kaypro's work force. The employees got their walking papers due to "production problems and dynamic random access memory chip shortages," says Kaypro President David Kay. He was quoted as saying the current shortage of RAM chips has "affected our ability to produce." Kaypro has more than RAM chips to ponder, however. The firm's market share has continually been eroding to the point that today the firm is barely has a slice of the IBM-compatible market pie. In addition to selling fewer computers, Kaypro is selling each computer at a lower price than in the past. The firm has delayed its IBM PS/2 clone to the third quarter of this year, despite a widely publicized statement that it would be the first out with a Micro Channel clone. Kay attributes the delay to the component shortage. [***][5/3/88][***] AMDAHL PREPARES MAINFRAME ATTACK ON IBM SUNNYVALE, Ca. (NB) -- Amdahl Corporation is expected to launch an extremely powerful mainframe computer this week which will directly compete with offerings from IBM. The firm plans a "comprehensive announcement" about the new machine on Tuesday. Reports indicate the mainframe could be twice as fast as IBM's top of the line computer, and for the first time Amdahl will be taking a leadership position instead of playing "catch up" with Big Blue.... [***][5/3/88][***] CASH RICH BUSINESSLAND BUYS COMPUTERCRAFT CHAIN SAN JOSE, Ca. (NB) -- Businessland, flushed with cash from its most recent quarter, has purchased the 25-chain Computercraft stores for an estimated $20 million in stock. Computercraft, which made headlines two years ago when it was given a cash infusion directly from Apple Computer to keep it afloat, is back on its feet financially. Businessland is seeking to expand its retail network and the purchase of Computercraft stores appears to be a way to satisfy that need. Businessland recorded a $4.45 million income on a record sales total of $220 million in its most recent quarter. [***][5/3/88][***] PACKARD OF HEWLETT PACKARD GIVES AWAY MOST OF HIS MONEY LOS ALTOS, Ca. (NB) -- David Packard, who along with William Hewlett began Hewlett Packard 49 years ago, may be rich (he's ranked as the fourth wealthiest man in America) but he's no slouch when it comes to sharing his riches with those in need. But his latest gift has the heads of even the most liberal turning. Packard has decided to give away $2 billion of his estimated $2.87 billion wealth to the Packard Foundation, an organization he set up with his late wife Lucile to distribute funds to charitable causes. Packard told the NEW YORK TIMES, "We decided early on this was what we wanted and worked 25 years to get to the point where we can do it." Much of the grants are expected to go to causes which help children. $40 million of the money will help build a new children's hospital at Stanford University. Schools throughout the San Francisco Bay Area will receive grants, so will science and engineering students who need funding for research. Additionally, money has been earmarked for a program that helps prevent teenage pregnancy and one that provides family planning services to Third World countries. Previously, the Packard Foundation has given away an estimated $10 million a year. The Monterey Bay Aquarium, a public educational and research facility, was not built with Packard Foundation money but with a personal grant from Packard to his daughter Julie, who now heads the institute. [***][5/3/88][***] CHIPS SHORTAGE POSES PROBLEMS: DATAQUEST AND SIA SAN JOSE, Ca. (NB) -- The shortage of RAM chips will cause a slow down in the entire computer industry and will persist through 1988, says Dataquest, a market research firm. Shortages of 256K and 1 megabit dynamic random access memory chips will finally ease by mid-1989, according to Manny Fernandez, president and CEO of Dataquest, but until then, the shortage "could have a significant impact on the growth of the computer industry in the coming year. Dataquest's findings are much tamer than those issued by the Semiconductor Industry Association, which says worldwide chip sales will grow only 3.9 percent in 1989, a sharp contrast with the 30.1% growth expected to be seen this year. The SIA forecast hints that a dreaded "r-e-c-e-s-s-i-o-n" may be headed our way after the new year starts, at least where the semiconductor industry is concerned. [***][5/3/88][***] DATAQUEST SEES HUGE GROWTH IN TELECOMMUNICATIONS SAN JOSE, Ca. (NB) -- In a sweeping 3-year projection, Dataquest has concluded that the computer industry is basically healthy and continued growth will occur in all its segments at least through 1992. The influential market research firm says telecommunications will grow the fastest, spurred by new technologies. The facsimile machine business, for instance, grew a whopping 123% last year. Dataquest predicts the telecommunications segment will grow from 1987's $156.1 billion in sales to $219.5 billion by 1992. [***][5/3/88][***] JEF RASKIN LASHES OUT AT STEVE JOBS, CANON'S MARKETING OF HIS CAT PALO ALTO, Ca. (NB) -- Want to find a Canon Cat, that breakthrough computer "appliance" with a revolutionary new, simple user interface? Good luck. Despite a high profile introduction, the Canon Cat is as scarce as a white tiger, and its inventor, Jef Raskin, blames Canon which is marketing the machine. "Canon is doing a terrible job marketing the Cat," reports Raskin, point blank. He intends to offer it up to other office equipment companies in hopes of finding a way to popularize the Cat. The Canon Cat is unique in that it has special "leap" keys which take you around the screen, to various functions, without having to wade through an operating system or be confronted by too many choices. As "California Technology Stock Letter" describes the machine, "We've used it; it's neat. For $1495 you can write, edit and calculate. It will dial your phone and connect you to another Cat via a built-in modem." In case you want to see one of these at work, call Canon in Lake Success, New York at 516/488-6700. Meanwhile, Jef Raskin, the original Macintosh developer, lashed out at Steve Jobs in a letter to the editor of "Computer Reseller News" (4/18). He says: "You quote Steve Jobs as saying of the Macintosh project: 'We believed that, after seeing this user interface technology at Xerox in 1979, our mission was to get this out to the world'.....He forgets that in 1979 he claimed that the Macintosh project which I had started was one of the dumbest ideas he'd ever heard about. He forgets that he fought the Macintosh project tooth and nail until 1982......I hope that "Computer Reseller News" will see to it that their readers are not misled by Jobs' persistent attempts over many years to rewrite history...." [***][5/3/88][***] APPLE RELAUNCHING APPLEFAX MODEM CUPERTINO, Ca. (NB) -- Look for the reintroduction of the Apple facsimile modem at AppleFest in Boston this month. Apple delayed shipments of the AppleFax Modem, originally scheduled to ship by December '87, due to persistent bugs in the software and hardware combination. The modem is now expected to be on dealers shelves in June. The modem, $699, offers up to 9600 baud transmission speeds and communications with any Group 2 or Group 3 facsimile machine. Currently there are no facsimile machines available for the Macintosh, although third party developers, including Citizens Computer Center of Higginsville, MO, Cypress Research of New York City, Microtek Labs of Gardena, Ca., and Quadram of Norcross, Georgia are all expected to offer fax modems for Macs this spring. [***][5/3/88][***] APPLE APPLAUDED FOR CHILD CARE CENTER CUPERTINO, Ca. (NB) -- Apple Computer has been ranked one of the best places for women and minorities to work, and now there's even more reason for mothers (and fathers) to get a job with Big Red. Apple has finally opened its long-awaited on-site child care center, the first for the computer industry and one of only 800 corporations to offer such a service to employees. Apple and other firms are beginning to recognize that on-site or nearby child care solves a world of problems for working parents. There are fewer lost days and increased productivity for the workers, who also suffer less anxiety in the search for decent, nearby, and affordable child care center. Apple's certified day care programs for children from 0-5 years will cost an employee $400 to $575/month, which is comparable to full-time day care in the San Francisco Bay Area. [***][5/3/88][***] IN BRIEF -- ASHTON-TATE is negotiating to purchase a former golf course to site a new division in South San Jose. The idea is to have a facility, expected to employ 100, that will be nearby Apple Computer, for which Ashton- Tate is writing an increasing amount of software these days. ASHTON-TATE, Culver City, Ca., has just shipped FullWrite Professional for the Macintosh. The product, $395, provides word processing, draw functions, and page layout, and a wide variety of other features. THE COMPUTER SHOW, San Jose, Ca., a product of Ocean Communications, is diversifying into instructional video. Its first product is a $50 set devoted to desktop publishing called "On Becoming a Desktop Publisher." [***][5/3/88][***] QUOTE OF THE WEEK "The sun will burn out in 20 million years, so Lotus may have to finish its 1-2-3 release in the dark." --Marty Winston, Winston & Winston PR [***][5/3/88][***] TANDY PERSONNEL EXPOSED TO HEPATITIS FORT WORTH, TX (NB) -- A waiter at the Worthington Hotel in Ft. Worth was designated as having Hepatitis A near the end of April. This is usually not big news, except the Worthington is located in Tandy Center, headquarters of Tandy Corp. and its Radio Shack stores. While the waiter was infectious, Tandy users had their Tangent conference and other Tandy meetings of all kinds were held at the Worthington, reportedly including one with former President Gerald Ford. Anyone who ate at the hotel's banquet rooms during March or April, 1988 needs to see a doctor, get a screening and (maybe) take a shot. NEWSBYTES is letting you know in case the Tangent Users Group, or Tandy, or the Worthington, can't find you otherwise. [***][5/3/88][***] BELLSOUTH TO ENTER GATEWAY BUSINESS IN SECOND QUARTER ATLANTA (NB) -- BellSouth, through an independent subsidiary, will open a consumer electronic gateway as early as June. It hopes the FCC will approve the market entry later, at which time it will absorb it into a regulated entity, probably Southern Bell, and might offer the service to the public. Also, "Network World" reported April 25 that the FCC was swamped with complaints about the Bells' network architecture plans (called Open Network Architecture), with Telenet and Tymnet leading the charge, saying the Bells want to charge $4 for services which cost them 4 cents to provide. In other BellSouth news, the company signed papers on over 20,000 feet of showroom space at John Portman's Inforum high-tech mart due for completion in September, 1989. It's the first company to officially rent a showroom at the mart. CONTACT: Tom Crawford, BELLSOUTH, (404)249-2831 [***][5/3/88][***] SUPERCONDUCTING: LATEST AT&T COMPOUND LACKS COPPER, WORKS IN 3-D MURRAY HILL, NJ (NB) -- The newest AT&T Bell Labs superconducting recipe has no copper. Instead, bismuth oxide "threads" carry its superconducting effect. Spokesman Kevin Compton of Bell Labs told NEWSBYTES Bell Lab white coats have not yet done all the tests to prove the new compound's superconductivity is truly 3-D, but the crystals certainly are 3-D. This means that, while superconductors could once be made only by the equivalent of laying playing cards end-to-end, now they can connect like dominoes. One negative. The new compound is superconductive at only about 30 degrees Kelvin, or -243 Celsius. Still, Paul Fleury, director of AT&T's physical research lab, said he's thrilled the new compound has fewer electrons than previous recipes, and added real progress can be made with different concentrations of the same elements. For the record those elements are bismuth, oxygen, barium and potassium. A complete report on the compound was released in the May issue of "Nature" magazine. CONTACT: Kevin Compton, AT&T, (201)564-4260 [***][5/3/88][***] COMDEX MOVING TO CHICAGO, BUT A PC EXPO-CLONE IS MOVING IN ATLANTA (NB) -- The Interface Group has announced that next week's Computer Dealer Expo (Comdex) show in Atlanta will be the last in the Big Peach for a time. After the May 8-11 run of Spring Comdex/Atlanta, the show will move to Chicago, the City of the Big Shoulders, for 1989. Rumors put it in the Big Apple, a/k/a New York, in 1990, and probably back in Atlanta for 1991. Spring Comdex is currently the second-largest dealer show on the U.S. calendar, after the Fall Comdex show in Las Vegas. In March, the Interface Group's annual Interface Show, a data communications bazaar, shared Chicago's McCormick Place with the ghost of the National Computer Conference, which in pre-Comdex days was the nation's largest computer show. Atlanta hoped to make up for the loss by bringing the NCC in next April 25-27, but NCC backed out of its dates after the disaster in Chicago. So H.A. Bruno Co. of Englewood Cliffs, NJ, which puts on the annual PC Expo in New York, has called a press conference for May 3 at which it will announce a new retail show in Atlanta called the Citex Show, which will take the dates dates deserted by the NCC. The PC Expo name is being reserved for the New York exposition, but Citex will look just like it. One more show note. The Interface Group, which puts on the Comdex shows, bought The Sands Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas last week. [***][5/3/88][***] HAYES ANNOUNCES SUPPORT FOR V.42 STANDARD, OFFERS UPGRADES NORCROSS, GA (NB) -- Hayes Microcomputer Products Inc. announced it will implement the new CCITT V.42 error-correction standard in future products and upgrade its current V-Series products to meet it. Agreement on the standard came in Geneva recently, and it's due for formal approval in Australia this November. Technically, the new standard is called LAPM, for Link Access Procedure-Modem. It's based on the signaling standards adopted for ISDN systems -- the first ISDN system in the Southeast went online in Atlanta recently. Hayes had been using a standard called LAPB, based on the High-level Data Link Control (HDLC) procedures of the International Standards Organization (ISO). In layman's terms, it means that, in the future, modems will be modems, their error-control procedures set in the hardware, so you won't have to worry about it. Concern now shifts to integrating existing X.25 networks like Telenet and Tymnet with ISDN. CONTACT: Jane Dryden, HAYES, (404)449-8791 [***][5/3/88][***] HARRIS KEEPS CUTTING PEOPLE, MAKES MONEY WORKING FOR GOVERNMENT MELBOURNE, FL (NB) -- Harris Corp. is known to most as a mini- computer maker and a PC clone manufacturer which is moving toward industry standards without much enthusiasm or much success. Last week it laid off 100 computer workers in Ft. Lauderdale, bringing total lay-offs for the year to 1,000. But cry not for Harris. The company, which started as a Cleveland printing company, moved operations to Florida for the Space Program, and still gets hundreds of millions of dollars per year in space and defense contract work. [***][5/3/88][***] PECAN CHIPS COHASSET ASSOCIATES, Chicago, says optical records can be made legal evidence in court, but to use them you'll need Cohasset's $230 book "Legality of Optical Storage" which lays out the legal groundwork. EDS, Dallas, a GM subsidiary, admits it may be the target of a Macintosh computer virus called Scores which seeks out its programming signatures. EDS claims the virus has been stamped out at its plant with help from Apple, and a program called Killscores is available on Mac bulletin boards to do the same thing for you. (The FBI is investigating.) ELECTRONIC FORM SYSTEMS, Carrollton, TX, will ship a 19-pound computer with a built-in printer and cellular modem called the Form-Jet Cellular System (list $8,200) in the third quarter. ELLIS ENTERPRISES, Oklahoma City, OK, says its "Bible Library" CD will have 9 different Bible translations and 18 other Biblical references on one $595 CD. It's on sale for $400 through June 1. AIRS Inc., College Park, MD, did the text retrieval software featured on-disk. MCC, Austin, will spend $6 million in Defense Department money coming up with technologies for rapid, low-cost prototyping of high-performance computing systems. QUADRAM, Norcross, has scheduled motivational speaker Zig Ziglar for its Quality of Life religious breakfast Tuesday, May 10, at Comdex. UNISYS, Detroit, announced the "U Series Starter Plan", a service package for its U Series Unix-based computers which helps customers learn to use their computers and keeps them operating. [***][5/3/88][***] GEORGIA TECH FIGURES OUT WHY YOU CAN'T GET HOME ATLANTA (NB) -- More and more traffic lights contain computer chips which tell whether traffic is trying to back up and from where, then adjust timing accordingly. That's good. But the chips are also susceptible to lightning strikes and surges, and areas which are often hit by thunderstorms can quickly lose control of traffic. (Extreme heat and cold also fry chips, thus traffic lights.) The solutions, proposed by Hugh Denny of Georgia Tech, lie in better shielding and grounding, and keeping plenty of spare parts on hand. (A technical manual is available for those civil engineers interested in seeing more.) CONTACT: John Toon, GEORGIA TECH, (404)894-3444 [***][5/3/88][***] COMMODORE LAUNCHES 386 PC IN CANADA TORONTO (NB) -- Commodore Business Machines Ltd. has introduced its Intel 80386-based PC 60/40 to the Canadian market. Previously announced in West Germany, the PC 60/40 has yet to be offered in the U.S., a spokeswoman for the Canadian Commodore operation said. No information was available on plans for the U.S. market. The PC 60/40 has a 16-megahertz 80386 CPU, 2.5 megabytes of random-access memory, eight expansion slots and a socket for an 80387 math coprocessor. Serial and parallel ports, enhanced graphics adapter and MS-DOS 3.21 are standard equipment. Commodore will sell the machine with a 5.25-inch, 1.2-megabyte floppy disk drive and a 40-megabyte hard disk. Canadian pricing wasn't available, but NEWSBYTES CANADA hopes to have the prices next week. CONTACT: COMMODORE BUSINESS MACHINES LTD., 3470 Pharmacy Ave., Agincourt (Toronto) Ont. M1W 3G3, (416) 499-4292, Fax: (416) 494-9755 [***][5/3/88][***] VANCOUVER EXPECTS AUTOMATED TRADING WITHIN TWO WEEKS VANCOUVER (NB) -- The Vancouver Stock Exchange hopes to be trading 25 development stocks through computers within two weeks. The first phase of the new automated trading system at Canada's third-largest stock exchange was to have been launched April 28, but "small bugs" have caused a few days' delay, according to Joyce Courtney, director of public relations. "We just have a couple of glitches that are being addressed," she said. The exchange will be using IBM PS/2 Model 60 microcomputers as terminals to IBM System/88 host processors. Eventually, the VSE hopes to trade all of its 1,500 development stocks -- three quarters of its total listings -- by computer. Three years of planning and about C$6 million have gone into the project so far. CONTACT: VANCOUVER STOCK EXCHANGE, P.O. Box 10333, 609 Granville St., Vancouver, B.C. V7Y 1H1, (604) 689-3334, Fax: (604) 688-6051 [***][5/3/88][***] COMPUTING NOW! PUBLISHER LAUNCHES BIWEEKLY NEW PRODUCTS TABLOID TORONTO - Moorshead Publications has launched BUSINESS COMPUTER NEWS. To be published 25 times a year, the new products tabloid will cover new hardware and software products for MS-DOS, OS/2 and Macintosh computer systems each month. Subscriptions are free to qualified business computer users. The publishers say BCN is designed to help busy PC managers and executives keep abreast of new technology, and provides brief product descriptions with prices and addresses whenever possible. Rod Potter, editor of Business Computer News said BUSINESS COMPUTER NEWS complements Moorshead's monthly magazine COMPUTING NOW! "While Computing Now! provides excellent hands-on reviews of important new products, BCN will give readers timely information on a wide variety of PC products," he said. CONTACT: Rod Potter, Editor, BUSINESS COMPUTER NEWS, 1300 Don Mills Rd., North York, Ont. M3B 3M8, (416) 445-5600, Fax: (416) 445-8149 [***][5/3/88][***] BNR ANNOUNCES FIRST BASIC RATE ISDN CALL OTTAWA (NB) -- The first telephone call using the Basic Rate Access standard of Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) over a single strand of optical fibre took place here April 13 at 2:55 p.m. Bell-Northern Research said the call was made in its Ottawa laboratory, between BNR Group Vice-President George C. Smyth and Richard K. Snelling, executive vice-president, network, at Southern Bell. Southern Bell is implementing BNR's basic-rate fibre optic technology this year in Heathrow, Fla. CONTACT: John Hewer, BELL-NORTHERN RESEARCH, P.O. Box 3511, Station C, Ottawa, Ont. K1Y 4H7, (613) 763-5342 [***][5/3/88][***] COMPUTING CANADA ON-LINE OFFERS PRIVATE BULLETIN BOARDS TORONTO (NB) -- The biweekly information processing tabloid COMPUTING CANADA is offering a limited information- systems-related associations the opportunity run their own BBS on Computing Canada On-line, the newspaper's electronic bulletin board. Plesman Publications Ltd., which publishes COMPUTING CANADA says this would provide a more significant resource at lower cost than an association could provide with its own stand-alone system. Participants would get access to existing CCO facilities, which include news and product reviews from the printed publication and conferences on various computer- and management-related issues. Some setup costs and ongoing charges, as yet unspecified, would be involved. CONTACT: John Cardiff, Electronic Publishing Co-ordinator, PLESMAN PUBLICATIONS LTD., 255 Consumers Rd., Suite 110, Willowdale, Ont. M2J 5B1, (416) 497-9562, Fax: (416) 497-9427. [***][5/3/88][***] INTERNATIONAL SEMI-TECH ISSUES SHARES IN HONG KONG MARKHAM, Ont. (NB) -- In need of cash to restore working capital and reduce debt after two recent acquisitions, International Semi-Tech Microelectronics Inc. has raised C$34 million through a share offering in Hong Kong. International Semi-Tech manufactures and sells computer equipment in Hong Kong, China and South Korea. It recently purchased the U.S. operations of Consumers Distributing Co. Ltd., a Montreal-based retailer, as well as Datacrown Inc., the computer service bureau operation of Crowntek Inc. of Markham. The shares were sold in a private placement through Semi-Tech's Hong Kong subsidiary, Semi-Tech Microelectronics (Far East) Ltd. CONTACT: INTERNATIONAL SEMI-TECH MICROELECTRONICS INC., (416) 475-2670 [***][5/3/88][***] LASER FRIENDLY SLASHES PRICE OF DESKTOP PUBLISHING PRODUCT TORONTO (NB) -- Laser Friendly Inc. has cut the price of its desktop publishing software package, The Office Publisher, from C$1,395 to C$695. The company says that halving the price of The Office Publisher makes it the lowest-priced full-featured desktop publishing software available for MS-DOS computers. "The newly reduced price reflects our awareness that the average customer may only utilize certain portions of the software depending on their specific publishing application," Gordon Schofield, director of sales and marketing, said in a prepared announcement. "With a list price of $695, we are much more attractive to new users and companies working with limited DTP budgets." The Office Publisher is available in Canada through ComputerLand outlets and from J.B. Marketing Inc., Cornwall, Ont. CONTACT: LASER FRIENDLY INC., 56 Shorting Rd., Scarborough, Ont. M1S 3S6, (416) 291-3736, Fax: (416) 292-5280 [***][5/3/88][***] UTLAS PUTS LIBRARY CATALOGUING SYSTEM ON CD-ROM TORONTO (NB) -- Utlas International Canada has announced a new current cataloguing system for libraries using CD-ROM technology. CD-CATSS, which provides local access to a variety of bibliographic records, can be used as a stand-alone system or with Utlas's on-line Catalogue Support System (CATSS). The CD- ROM system outputs standard-format records that can be transferred to a library's local system. Utlas International is a computer-based service organization for libraries and the information industry. CONTACT: UTLAS INTERNATIONAL CANADA, 80 Bloor St. W., Toronto, Ont. M5S 2V1, (416) 923-0890, Fax: (416) 923-0935 [***][5/3/88][***] SETTLE ISDN POLICIES, INDUSTRY LOBBYISTS URGE GOVERNMENT OTTAWA (NB) -- Policy and regulatory issues surrounding the Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) must be resolved quickly or Canada won't be able to benefit from the full potential of tomorrow's telecommunications networks, according to the Information Technology Association of Canada (ITAC). In a discussion paper submitted to the federal Department of Communications, the association of computer and telecommunications companies said several policy issues related to ISDN need to be addressed. They include the disparities created by a mixture of federal and provincial telecommunications regulation, the effect of ISDN pricing on private dedicated facilities, standards for interfaces and equal access for providers of enhanced services. CONTACT: INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ASSOCIATION OF CANADA, 211 Consumers Rd., Suite 300, Willowdale, Ont. M2J 4G8, (416) 493-8710 [***][5/3/88][***] FINANCIAL BITS -- BCE Inc., Montreal, had a profit of C$253 million in the three months ended March 31, up from C$248 million in the same quarter last year. Revenues were C$3.6 billion, up from C$3.5 billion. Bell Canada, BCE's largest subsidiary and Canada's largest phone company, rang up a C$201-million profit in the quarter, while BCE's holdings in Northern Telecom contributed C$36 million. BCE's cellular telephone subsidiary, BCE Mobile Communications, lost C$1.5 million in the quarter, an improvement over a C$3.4 million loss in the same quarter last year. -- NORTHERN TELECOM LTD., Mississauga, Ont., reported profit of US$57.6 million in the three months ended March 31, down from US$60.1 million in the same period last year. Revenues were US$1.2 billion, up from US$1.1 billion. -- DEVELCON ELECTRONICS LTD., Saskatoon, lost C$3.7 million in the six months ended Feb. 29, on revenues of C$5.32 million. In the six-month period a year earlier, Develcon lost C$2.43 million on C$9.03 million in revenues. -- XEROX CANADA INC., Toronto, reported a C$14.2-million profit on C$246.3 million revenues in the three months ended March 31, up from C$13.9 million profit on C$220.1 million in revenues in the same quarter last year. -- MEMOTEC DATA INC., Montreal, made a profit of C$12.8 million on revenues of C$98.8 million in the three months ended March 31, up from C$833,000 on C$22.2 million in revenues in the corresponding period last year. [***][5/3/88][***] BITS, EH? -- COGNOS INC., Ottawa, has announced a strategic marketing and product development agreement with Interbase Software Corp., Tyngsborough, Mass. Cognos will market its own versions of Interbase's relational database management system and distributed technology along with PowerHouse, Cognos's application development language. Interbase software will be available along with PowerHouse for MS-DOS, OS/2 and Unix and for minicomputers from Hewlett-Packard Co. and Digital Equipment Corp. -- GEAC COMPUTER CORP. LTD. of Markham, Ont., has sold a computerized library system to Le Bibliotheque National in Paris, the French national library. -- CMQ COMMUNICATIONS INC., Toronto-based online stock information service, now offers Canada Stockwatch, a news service about companies listed on Canadian stock exchanges. Canada Stockwatch is a joint project of CMQ and Canjex Publishing Ltd., Vancouver. [***][5/3/88][***] CONNECTING 64 PROTOTYPE PARALLEL PROCESSING COMPUTERS TOKYO (NB) -- The Japanese Institute for New Generation Computer Technology (ICOT) will hold the International Convention on the Fifth Generation Computer (FGCS 88) in Tokyo at the end of November 1988. Top-class computer researchers at home and abroad (estimated 1,700) will gather for the convention and announce what they have developed for parallel processing computers. The convention will feature a parallel processing demonstration connecting 64 prototypes of the fifth generation computers. At the convention, Japanese researchers are expected to announce their recent advances on a fifth generation computer. Also, U.S. researchers are expected to report their progress on a program to develop parallel processing computers, dubbed Connection Machine. CONTACT: Institute for New Generation Computer Technology, Mita Kokusai Bldg. 21F, 1-4-28 Mita, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108 [***][5/3/88][***] PROTOTYPE AUTOMATIC CHARACTER-READING SYSTEM FROM RICOH TOKYO (NB) -- Tokyo-based OA equipment maker Ricoh has developed a prototype automatic Japanese character reading system. The new system works as follows: The kanji (Chinese character) optical character reader (OCR), like a scanner, reads a manuscript and sends the data to a character recognition unit, which converts character data into code signs and conveys it to a workstation. Then, the workstation processes the data to natural language and finally, the sound synthesis machine reads out the language through speakers. Ricoh is planning to improve the prototype machine by making it smaller. The price will be about one million yen or $8,000, including the character recognition unit, the sound synthesis unit, and the OCR. The shipping date has not been announced. Ambitious Ricoh is aiming to develop the reading system into a simultaneous automatic interpretation system, adding a translation feature and several programs for foreign languages in the future. CONTACT: Ricoh, Ricoh Bldg. 1-15-5 Minami-Aoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo 107 [***][5/3/88][***] LAPTOP PC FROM FUJITSU TOKYO (NB) -- Laptop PC 9450LT mk-II, compatible to a leading desktop workstation AFACOM 9450 series, was released from Fujitsu on Apr. 16. This model has a 12-inch plasma display with a 680 x 480-dot resolution, a 20M or a 40M HDD, and a 1.5MB main memory. It weighs 8Kg. The price with a 20M HDD is $4,300. With the release of this laptop PC, the prices of the desktop 9450 series have been lowered by as much as $1,280. CONTACT: Fujitsu, 1-6-1 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100 [***][5/3/88][***] REPORT ON JAPANESE PERSONAL COMPUTER TOKYO (NB) -- 46.2% of the market share for personal computers in Japan's small and medium-sized enterprises is still controlled by NEC. And IBM Japan has increased its share to 16.8%. The total share of the big three (NEC, IBM, and Fujitsu) accounts for 74.7%. Regarding shares for individual computers, NEC's PC9800 occupies 30.4%. IBM's PS/55 is the second best seller (16.4%), overtaking NEC's N5200 (13.7%). And Fujitsu's 9450 (8.7%) came in fourth. [***][5/3/88][***] FUJITSU RELEASED UPGRADED VERSION OF OS/2 TOKYO (NB) -- Fujitsu has released OS/2 for its FMR personal computers. The software, dubbed Japanese MS-OS/2 Version 1.0, is the first product that Fujitsu has developed based on the basic version of OS/2 and has attached with powerful features. MS-OS/2 has a multitasking feature which can simultaneously run a lot of programs. Fujitsu has become the second company to release an upgraded version of OS/2, following IBM Japan. MS-OS/2 is priced at 58,000 yen or $460. On the other hand, NEC will also release an upgraded version of OS/2 soon. Meanwhile, Fujitsu has released software which modifies Windows to run on the FMR personal computers. The software, called Japanese MS-Windows Version 2.0, is priced at 20,000 yen or $160. CONTACT: Fujitsu, 1-6-1 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100 [***][5/3/88][***] MORE 1M DRAM WILL BE PRODUCED TOKYO (NB) -- Leading semiconductor makers say they are now ready to boost DRAM production in order to solve a serious worldwide shortage of the memory chips. The Mobara and Naka factories of Hitachi will expand production from 1.5 million to 3.5 million units per month. Oki Electric, Sharp, and Fujitsu have also decided to up production. The Miura factory of Japan Texas Instruments plans a three to fourfold increase in its production. Toshiba's Oita factory will also increase production from 4 million to 10 million units per month. What all this boils down to is an end to the worldwide DRAM shortage very soon. Chipmakers predict production of one Mb DRAMS will be tripled by year's end. [***][5/3/88][***] KENWOOD PRODUCES NEW WEATHER-SENSOR TOKYO (NB) -- Kenwood Corp. has released Weathersensor 200, an upgraded weather receiver system from the 100 series. This weather-sensor series is able to receive an LR-FAX signal directly from the weather satellite "HIMAWARI," and display it on a CRT monitor. Also, recording and replay features will be available with a DAT (digital audio tape) signal recording system. This system allows anyone to receive meteorological information from "HIMAWARI" at anytime. The system consists of a satellite dish, a DAT and NEC PC-9801. The price is $20,000. CONTACT: KENWOOD CORE Corp., 2-16-5 Shibuya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo PHONE: 03-486-5710 [***][5/3/88][***] 32-BIT TRON MPU DEBUT IN JULY TOKYO (NB) -- The Gmicro Group, which includes Hitachi, Fujitsu, and Mitsubishi, will ship the first TRON-based microprocessing unit (MPU) that has been jointly developed. The three companies will ship the TRON MPU in July. The TRON MPU, dubbed GMICRO/200, has the processing speed of 7 million instructions per second (MIPS). The price of the MPU will be between $1,160 and $1,175. The companies will also release three types of peripheral LSIs, including a DMA controller, for the TRON chip. Meanwhile, the GMICRO Group is also developing GMICRO/100 MPU for personal computers and GMICRO/300 MPU for minicomputers. CONTACT: Hitachi, 1-5-1 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100 Fujitsu, 1-6-1 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100 Mitsubishi, 2-2-3 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100 [***][5/3/88][***] << SUSHI BYTES >> TRON KEYBOARD FOR PC-9801 -- Japan PC Software Laboratory, Tokyo, has developed a TRON keyboard and a keyboard operation program for NEC PC-9801. Using this keyboard, users can get the feel of a TRON personal computer on a PC-9801. The shipping date is not known yet. LOTUS DEVELOPMENT ENTERS JAPANESE MARKET -- The president of the Massachusetts-based Lotus Development, Jim P. Manzi, has just visited Japan for the first time. He has announced his intention to put more capital resources into the Japanese market, for he sees Japan as the most important market at present. KDD TO ESTABLISH WORLDWIDE TV CONFERENCE NETWORK -- KDD will expand its present TV conference network to 80 cities in 10 countries throughout the U.S., Europe, Oceania and Southeast Asia by next March. The current service charge is $800 from Japan to U.S. and $1,040 to U.K. for 30 minutes of transmission. SONY WANTS TO RAISE 30% OF ITS SALES -- SONY is planning to achieve a 30% increase in profit in the chip market in fiscal 1988. Sony plans to do that by increasing sales of chips for 8-mm video cameras and CD players, and MOS ICs. TAIWANESE SOFTWARE LANDS IN JAPAN -- Tokyo-based software venture Life Boat has tied up with the Institute for Information Industry (III), which is the largest organization of software development and data processing in Taiwan. Life Boat will release III's software development supporting tool, dubbed KangaTool, for UNIX machines and Sun workstations in Japan in July. 15-INCH PLASMA DISPLAY -- Fujitsu, Tokyo, has released a 15-inch plasma display, the FPF1200S. The display has 1,024 x 768-dot resolution, and it is about five times thinner than an ordinary display. The price of the display is $4,800. FASTEST SRAM FROM MITSUBISHI -- Mitsubishi has developed a 64k-bit Static RAM (SRAM) with an access time of 15 nanosecond (= 0.000000015 second). The SRAM will be shipped on May 10, at 8,500 yen or $70. SHIN-NIPPON SEITETSU RELEASES SOFTWARE FOR ITS EWS -- Shin-Nippon Seitetsu, Tokyo, will release its engineering workstation, dubbed the NSSUN. The company will also release various Japanese versions of programs for the NSSUN, including Japanese UNIX called JNIX. JAPANESE-ENGLISH TRANSLATION SOFTWARE --Bravice International, Tokyo, has upgraded its Japanese to English language translation software. Micropack J/E III has a powerful pre-edit feature. It runs on NEC-9801 and IBM Japan's 5550 series. It will be released at 630,000 (US$5,400). IBM JAPAN'S THIRD LABORATORY -- IBM Japan established its third laboratory in its Yasu office (Shiga Pref.). Various memory ICs for personal computers and workstations, and application specific MPUs will be studied and developed in this laboratory. [***][5/3/88][***] ADVANCED MICRO DEVICES MAY OFFER 386 EQUIVALENT *EXCLUSIVE* PARIS, FRANCE (NB) -- You probably know that AMD and Intel are currently in court arbitration concerning Intel's failure (according to AMD) in keeping its part in a second sourcing agreement and provide the 386 masks to AMD. What you probably do not know is that Texas Instruments has developed a chip set (probably called the 380 chip set) which offers 386 emulation. TI and AMD have signed an agreement which means that AMD will second- source the chip set. Since this chip is not a copy of Intel's but an emulating chip set (running at the same speeds), AMD can now offer products based on this chip set without worrying about a court case. When asked on the subject, F. Sieverding, Wavemate's president in Europe (Wavemate is a large OEM for AMD) said, "TI, by producing this chip has managed to offer AMD the ability to side-step the Intel-AMD court case and offer a product that is neither a copy or a close relative. I feel that products based on this chip set will be available from the end of 1988." Knowing the competitive pricing in which AMD indulges, expect to find this chip set at about 20% lower price than Intel's 386. [***][5/3/88][***] CHIP MAGAZINE PLACES THE SCHNEIDER 1640 AS BESTSELLER MUNICH, WEST GERMANY (NB) -- CHIP magazine, Germany's BYTE equivalent, has the Schneider 1640 as the number one seller for May 1988, followed by the Commodore PC20. Third in line is the Tandon XPC followed by the Tandon PCa, showing that aggressive advertising pays in the end. Fifth in line is the Zenith Eazy PC followed by the Commodore PC40 and the Tandon PAC (first time ever Tandon has three systems at the top). IBM has the number 8 and 9 slot with the PS/2 model 60 and the PS/2 model 30. The list finally wraps up with the Apple IIgs. The Macintoshes are nowhere to be seen, probably due to the slowness with which Mac software filters to this part of the world. The Commodore 64 and the Amiga 500 lead the home computer list. [***][5/3/88][***] CANON SHOWS WARES AND FUTURE IN LONDON LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM (NB) -- Canon, one of the largest optical products companies in the world, hosted a 50th anniversary show in London and flew 15,000 people from all over Europe to take part. The guests were shown some products such as new floppy-disk still cameras, 8mm video equipment, and other products, mainly aimed at the consumer market. The company showed PCs running Microsoft's Excel and Word- Perfect in order to prove how compatible these systems are (one of Canon's previous criticisms was lack of compatibility). One of the most interesting products was a small (size of a cigarette pack) character reader. When scanned over text, held in the right hand, the reader produces braille characters on a decoder which can be read by the left hand. Demonstrated by a blind person, it was credited with being one of the most helpful devices at the show. [***][5/3/88][***] VICTOR ANNOUNCES 6 NEW SYSTEMS PARIS, FRANCE (NB) -- Victor has introduced six new computer systems at the SICOB fair here. New 286-based computers include the V286A, which uses a 10MHz clock rate and the V386A which runs at 16MHz. The V386M (M for Maxi) is in a tower format and offers 2.5MB of RAM and a hard disk of 130 to 200MB capacity. VGA cards as well as OS/2 compatibility is assured by the company. Victor has been making progress in the European market since its low point several years ago. Victor's revenues took a dip when the IBM PC, not the Victor 9000, became the de facto standard. [***][5/3/88][***] DISKETTES COME IN MAGAZINES IN GERMANY MUNICH, WEST GERMANY (NB) -- CHIP magazine of Germany is offering an unique system for distribution of software. A complete software program on diskette is now bound inside each issue of the magazine. The May issue of CHIP features Words & Figures, a Lifetree spreadsheet product. The product is not a demo, but a complete working program. The accompanying ad invites the reader to send in $60 for a manual, registration, and updates. NEWSBYTES calculates that with since CHIP's circulation is 470,000, the cost of this software distribution must run around $100,000. But then if 2,000 people send in their $60, the costs are covered and the rest is profit. [***][5/3/88][***] SICOB FAIR REVIEW PARIS, FRANCE (NB) -- Sicob 88, France's largest computer expo, saw the introduction of many new products this year. According to the fair organizers, 1988 will be a year of strong growth, especially in peripheral cards, which in France represent almost 50% of the market for computer products. Communication products were also strong components of this year's show. ...One of the most interesting products was the new Goupil Golf system which is basically an AT-compatible system with a white flat screen LCD that has 640 x 480 resolution. The screen offers VGA resolution. It's a handsome, compact design. ...Sanyo introduced the 16LP, a laptop system that weighs 3.5kg (almost as little as a light T1000) but with two floppy disks and 640K of RAM. Also the 18Plus is a new 386-based system with the motherboard on a peripheral card and a passive backplane. According to a company spokesman, "this approach allows us to offer new system support with new chips on an older system, thus offering continuity"... ...SCO showed VP/ix running on a 386 system that run XENIX and the flight simulator at the same time. So good was the implementation that we were able to run WordPerfect as well... ...Everex showed some products that will also be featured at Comdex in Atlanta, including new VGA adapters with hardware zoom and pan, and a new 386-based system running at 20MHz. In addition, a complete desktop publishing system will be shown which will have an Everex- supplied large monochrome monitor... ...Wavemate showed a 16MHz plug-in board that offers 1MB of RAM, and a complete complement of chips to offer coprocessing capabilities to PC users. Cheaper than the 386 route, it runs OS/2 without any problems at 16MHz with no wait states... ...For the record, there were 36 new 80386-based product lines presented at SICOB. One wonders who is buying all these systems. There were 30,000 people expected for the show, which lasted for 6 days. [***][5/3/88][***] EUROBITS... The PACE (European program of Advanced Continuing Education) is to be headquartered in Paris. PACE which was founded by five large computer companies (British Telecom, HP, IBM, Philips, and Thompson), is designed to offer the latest information on scientific news and projects... ...IBM has introduced the latest version of DB2, which offers better performance and improved reliability. DB2/2 which runs under the MVS/ESA operating environment offers 50% improvement in performance... ...APPLE announced a new program designed to help independent software developers in commercialize their products worldwide. Global Software Information, as the program is called, offers up-to-date information to the developers to help them in marketing and pricing efforts... ...Two Belgians won the IBM Europe Science and Technology price for 1987. Professor Marc Van Montagu, Director of the Genetics Laboratory and Professor Josef Stefaan Schell, Director of the Max Planck Agriculture laboratory share the prize of 120,000 US dollars. Both these professors have found ways which offer a fast identification of vegetable genes... ...Positronica announced the availability of the Radius monochrome monitor for the Macintosh II. This monitor which connects to the Analog screen output connector can display up to 256 shades of gray. [***][5/3/88][***] GERMAN SECOND HAND PRICE INDEX MUNICH, GERMANY (NB) -- The market for PCs in Germany has eased, causing prices of most computer systems to fall, with the exception of the Mac II which remained steady. Currently, the IBM AT which in 1986 went for more than DM10000 ($5500), costs a maximum of DM3000 ($1600). In the Apple market, the Mac+ goes for DM4000 ($2100) and has been at the level for quite a while. In the Amiga market, the 1000 goes for DM2000 ($1100) only a few percentage points more than the US prices, showing that the 1000 is really breathing its last few breaths. The Generic PC with 20MB has stabilized at DM1000 ($550). [***][5/3/88][***] VIRUS IN THE HOUSE *EXCLUSIVE* WASHINGTON (NB) -- A virus that causes printer problems and difficulty in accessing certain applications has hit the Macintosh computers in the U.S. House of Representatives. Bob Harris, director of the House information systems office, told NEWSBYTES that he believes the virus has not yet spread very far among the approximately 250 Macs in use in the House. No virus was found among the population of 2500 PCs also in the House of Representatives. "We are contacting users and working with them to show them how to identify the virus, how to get rid of it, and how to sanitize their systems," Harris said. Harris said he has called in experts from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, which has faced a major problem of viral infection of Macs. NASA investigators are trying to find the source of the virus and Harris said he expects the agency will also try to identify the source of the House Macvirus. "We have no idea where it came from," Harris told NEWSBYTES. [***][5/3/88][***] AT&T HAMMERED BY PERSONNEL PROBLEMS NEW YORK (NB) -- With the death of Chairman James Olson and the decision by Vittorio Cassoni to desert AT&T for Ing. C. Olivetti & Co., the telephone giant is reeling and spreading doubt about whether it will every be able to turn its shaky computer business around. On top of Cassoni's return to Olivetti, where he will be managing director, AT&T and the Italian computer manufacturer are squabbling. AT&T owns a big hunk of Olivetti. Cassoni was the architect of AT&T's strategy of turning the Unix operating system into the software glue that would link many different systems and push AT&T into success in computers. AT&T has replaced Cassoni, 45, with Robert Kavner, as chief of the data systems group. Kavner has been AT&T's chief financial officer and the data systems job will give him a chance to cut his teeth on company line operations. Kavner says he wants to slide away from manufacturing and toward software. Kavner will probably take Cassoni's place on the board of workstation maker Sun Microsystems, a key company in AT&T's Unix gambit. [***][5/3/88][***] +++++++++++++++++++++ IBM REPORT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ SHAREHOLDERS DEFEAT SOUTH AFRICA BAN RICHMOND, Va. (NB) -- International Business Machines Corp. shareholders have rejected a stockholder proposal that would have led the company to stop selling its products in South Africa as long as that nation's apartheid policy is in effect. The South Africa proposal got less than 10 percent of the 400 million shares voted. Shareholders also rejected proposals that would have forced the company to disclose experiments conducted with animals, and to deny health insurance payments for abortions. BIG BLUE MAY DROP ITS MCI SHARES RICHMOND, Va. (NB) -- International Business Machines Corp. may sell its 16 percent share of MCI Communications Corp., of Washington, D.C., back to the company, IBM Chairman John Akers has said. Akers made the statement in responding to a stockholder question at the company's annual meeting. Akers' disclosure confirmed early reports that MCI wanted to repurchase the shares, which IBM bought in 1985 when MCI was financially staggering. Some analysts at the time predicted a major showdown between the business giants in both computers and long-distance telephones. But AT&T has stumbled badly in computers, and IBM's ventures into telephones, both with MCI and with Rolm, have not done particularly well. FRAUD ALLEGED AT IBM-BRAZIL RIO DE JANEIRO (NB) -- IBM-Brasil has confirmed a report in the Rio paper JORNAL DO BRASIL that a series of alleged frauds have nicked the company for $2.8 million. The affair has led to 11 firings and beginning of legal procedures to recover the funds and prosecute the criminals. According to the newspaper, three IBMers in the company foreign-exchange department diverted $58 million in credits to a New York bank under a fraudulent account held by "IBM World Corp.," but controlled by an accomplice at the Banco Mercantil de Credito de Sao Paulo. A second fraud involved involved two employees in the payroll department who falsified and duplicated bills. A third fraud involved six people who falsified construction invoices. The newspaper said a senior IBM executive was involved in the third fraud, but an IBM spokesman in the U.S. denied that allegation. IBM TO OFFER INTERNATIONAL E-MAIL, INTERACTIVE SERVICES NEW YORK (NB) -- IBM says it will begin offering international data exchange, including electronic mail and a wide array of interactive data exchange services. The services will be offered to major IBM customers in the U.S., Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Switzerland, and Great Britain. "The international network services will enable IBM Information Network customers to exchange up-to-the-minute, interactive business information, such as electronic mail, orders, invoices and shipping data, with their trading partners in the U.S. and Europe," IBM said in a prepared release. "In addition, the services will give customers access to online data bases and applications." CONTI, CANNAVINO PROMOTED ARMONK, N.Y. (NB) -- IBM has named Carl Conti an IBM senior vice president and James Cannavino a vice president. Conti continues as general manager of IBM's enterprise systems division. Cannavino continues as president of data system division. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ [***][5/3/88][***] PC WORLDSKI TO DEBUT FRAMINGHAM, Mass. (NB) -- IDG Communications and Radio i Sviaz, a Moscow-based publisher of books and magazines of electronics and communications, have signed the agreement, first announced early last year, that will result in production of PC WORLD USSR, a quarterly magazine aimed at personal computer users in the USSR. According to Axel Leblois, president and chief executive officer of IDG Communications, there are currently about 100,000 PCs in the Soviet Union, versus 12 million in the U.S. The first issue is expected to be on the newstands by July. This is the first magazine ever to be jointly published by the US and USSR. [***][5/3/88][***] U.S. AND JAPAN IN FURTHER CHIP TALKS WASHINGTON (NB) -- Officials from Japan and the United States are trying to concoct a monitoring system for Japanese sales of memory chips in third-country markets, in the face of a nearly certain ruling that the current monitoring agreement violates the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). The monitoring agreement was set up in September 1986 as part of the settlement of the U.S.-Japan chip wars. The European Community complained to GATT that the monitoring agreement violates Article 11 of the international trade treaty, which bans government government actions to restrict exports or imports. A GATT dispute-resolution panel last March said the monitoring provisions violate the treaty and GATT is expected to formalize the ruling soon. [***][5/3/88][***] WANG GROWS VINES NEW YORK (NB) -- Wang Laboratories Inc. of Lowell, Mass., will market and support Banyan Systems Inc.'s Unix-based Vines multiuser operating system as part of Wang's new PC LAN. Under the agreement, Wang gets access to Banyan's Vines/286 and Vines/386 systems and the Banyan CNS server. Vines will allow users of IBM PCs and clones to run on Wang's line of minicomputers, as will as integrate with Novell Inc.'s Netware OS, and 3Com's 3+. The alliance with Westboro, Mass.-based Banyan is a key element of Wang's strategy for the 1990s -- integration. "We believe that the information management system of the 1990s must embrace all forms of business information, no matter what form it takes -- text, data, image, or voice; no matter where it is located -- on a mainframe, minicomputer, or a PC; and no matter which vendor's equipment is used," said Frederick Wang, president and chief operating officer, at a press conference. "Any system that cannot integrate 100 percent of information will be uncompetitive." [***][5/3/88][***] UNCLE SAM TO SPEND 4.3 PERCENT MORE ON COMPUTERS WASHINGTON (NB) -- The federal government will increase spending on computers and information technology by 4.3 percent in fiscal 1989, according to Federal Sources Inc., a Vienna, Va., consulting firm. The company says the U.S. will spend $17.5 billion in the year ending September 30, 1989. The increase is less than double-digit increases that have characterized earlier years. According to Federal Systems, the Defense Department accounts for nearly half of the federal government's computer spending. Among civilian agencies, big spenders are Health and Human Services, Treasury, NASA, and the Energy Department (which also builds the nation's nuclear weapons). [***][5/3/88][***] FUNKY PRETTY PRINTING ANNOUNCED CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (NB) -- Funk Software, originator of the Sideways printing program, has rolled out Allways, a program designed to dress up 1-2-3 spreadsheets. The program adds multiple fonts, shading and the like, and is intended to give 1- 2-3 users the printing power of Microsoft's Excel. The price is $149, and comes on 3.5 and 5.25-inch disks. It runs with 1-2-3 on any PC or clone, according to Funk. CONTACT: Funk Software Inc., 222 Third St., Cambridge MA 02142 (800) 822-3865. [***][5/3/88][***] SOFTWARE BUGS WILL GROUND STAR WARS, SAYS RESEARCH AGENCY WASHINGTON (NB) -- The Office of Technology Assessment, a congressional research arm, says the president's "strategic defense initiative," dubbed "Star Wars" by the press, would fail the first -- and only -- time it was called on. The reason? The computer software necessary to target all the incoming missiles isn't anywhere in sight. The targeting and control software, said OTA, cannot "be produced in the foreseeable future." The 900- page OTA report has not been officially released, but a copy of parts of it leaked to the WASHINGTON POST. The Pentagon was furious at the leak and gave the OTA staff a severe tongue- lashing, a highly-placed OTA official who requested anonymity told NEWSBYTES. [***][5/3/88][***] CASH COMPUTER TURNS ROBIN HOOD NEW YORK (NB) -- A New York City bank cash machine last month began automatically doling out $20 bills to every customer who asked for $5 bills. The error occurred when a bank employee accidentally filled the $5 drawer with twenties. The bank figures it lost $5,000, but will probably recoup the losses by debiting customers' accounts automatically. That cash machine provides new meaning to "user friendly." [***][5/3/88][***] NEWS NIBBLES -- THE FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION has formally dropped its proposal for a surcharge on information system users. The agency concluded it was "not an appropriate time" to consider the issue. The FCC had already informally told key congressional figures that it was dropping the issue, and now it is certainly dead for the remainder of the Reagan administration. GTE of Stamford, Conn., has acquired CHOICE COMPUTER CORP. of Atlanta for an undisclosed sum. Choice develops and markets computer software for the retail industry. GTE says the acquisition is "an initial step" in a strategy to become an information services and communications management provider to retailers. ENCORE COMPUTER CORP. of Marlborough, Mass., has signed a three- year deal with Berita Information Systems of Malaysia to distribute Encore's Annex terminal server. The deal is worth $5 million, according to Encore. DATA GENERAL CORP. of Westborough will stop making prototypes of semiconductor components by December, resulting in elimination of 150 jobs at its Sunnyvale, Calif., plant. DG will contract out future needs for semiconductor component prototypes. UNISYS CORP. of Blue Bell, Pa., has a new Unix starter plan for customers of its U 5000 and 6000 Series hardware and the System V operating system. THE STATE DEPARTMENT is expected to announced invitations for bids for a major international telecommunications network. The 10-year contract would be worth up to $500 million. The system would link all State Department sites worldwide through the Intelsat Satellite System, and through local Postal Telephone and Telegraph facilities. SYMBOL TECHNOLOGIES of Bohemia, N.Y., has declared a 2-for-1 stock split, following a report that third quarter net income more than doubled on an 85 percent increase in sales. The company makes bar-code scanning equipment. [***][5/3/88][***] SOFTWARE MAJORS THREATEN UK PULL-OUT LONDON, UK (NB) -- A major row is brewing between the government and the UK's software industry, following an eleventh-hour amendment to an impending copyright act. Clause 18 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Bill allows for any leisure software, video games and computer software to be rented 12 months its release in the UK. The amendment has prompted Ashton-Tate, Lotus and Microsoft to state publicly that they will withdraw from the UK software market if the bill is passed by Parliament. The reason for their worry is voiced by the British Micro Federation which says that the bill will allow computer software to rented (and thus pirated) twelve months after its UK release. The Bill does not specifically incite piracy, but most of the UK software industry has come to associate software rental with piracy. NEWSBYTES UK notes that the Bill is now in its second reading in the Commons, and hopes that an amendment will be tabled during its third reading. [***][5/3/88][***] DIGITAL MATRIX: LOW COST, HIGH PERFORMANCE MODEMS DEBUT SOLIHULL, WEST MIDLANDS (NB) -- Hands up if you've been after a high-cost Hayes-compatible multi-speed modem but were dissuaded by the cost. Digital Matrix now have the answer - the Phonecomm 8685. The Phonecomm 8685 is due for release later this month at a retail price of #195 (plus VAT). For the money you get a compact Hayes-compatible modem in a single piece extruded aluminum case, capable of V21 (300/300 baud), V22 (1200/1200 baud), V23 (1200/75 baud) and V22Bis (2400/2400 baud) speeds. Full data buffering is provided to allow non-buffered computers (such as the IBM PC) to cope with the 1200/75 baud split baud rates, even in auto-answer mode. What's the catch? From NEWSBYTES UK's point of view, there isn't one. The modem has ten front-panel status lamps and is even capable of supporting Bell (US) tones using a software switch. Clive Warner, MD of Digital Matrix, reckons that the Phonecomm 8685 will be as big a best-seller as the Pocket modem launched at last year's Personal Computer World Show. "Following on in one month is our next modem," he told NEWSBYTES UK. "It's the 2400 Hi-Card modem capable of V21, V22 and V22Bis speeds. That should nail the lid down on modem prices!" he added. * Digital Matrix maintains a BBS on 021-705-5187. Warner notes that members of the BBS are entitled to an attractive discount on the retail prices of his modems. NEWSBYTES UK notes that readers might save money by checking out the BBS before ordering a modem. CONTACT: DIGITAL MATRIX LTD., 75 Willow Road, Solihull, West Midlands, B91 1UF. Tel: 021-704-1399. [***][5/3/88][***] MERCURYLINK 7500: PRICING CHANGES LONDON, UK (NB) -- It looks like Mercurylink 7500, the electronic mail division of Mercury Communications, is feeling the pinch. Hard on the heels of Telecom Gold's sixth birthday (and 105,000th subscriber), the service has slashed its telex rates and cuts its connect time rates to zero. Telexes sent via Mercurylink 7500 are now as cheap as ordinary BT telex rates. Inland UK telexes now cost 10 pence for 400 characters, compared with 25 pence previously. International telex rates are similarly cut. The catch is that the firm has hiked its monthly standing charge from #12-95 to #20-00, although subscribers are no longer required to pay 10 pence a minute when entering text for outgoing messages etc. By NEWSBYTES UK's calculation, MERCURYLINK is now the cheapest email service (subject to the #20 monthly charge) to send telex items on. Not bad, but the firm faces an uphill struggle to match Telecom Gold for its subscription/member base. CONTACT: MERCURYLINK 7500, 1 Brentside Executive Centre, Great West Road, Brentford, Middlesex TW8 9DS. Tel: 01-528-2500. [***][5/3/88][***] MIRACLE TECHNOLOGY BOWS OUT - ENTER MIRACOM IPSWICH, UK (NB) -- Miracle Technology, the five year-old modem and communications technology firm, has been renamed. Relaunched last week with a new name - Miracom - new logo and product range, the company is now plumping very firmly for the business communications market. To support its effective relaunch, Miracom has revamped its organisational structure to include four new board appointments and a new range of flagship modems and communications products. The new range consists of the Courier HST high-speed modem, the 96 modem series, and a statistical and time division multiplexer series. The Courier HST is familiar to NEWSBYTES UK, since it's really a badged version of the US Robotics high-speed modem we've been using for the past few months. The Courier HST is capable of V22, V22 and V32 (9,600bps) working to MNP Level 5 error- correction. Will Miracle's relaunch succeed? Brian Elson, Miracom's MD reckons so. "Occupying the middle ground of the PC dial-up modem market, Miracle's reputation for innovative products and value has placed us in a strong position to migrate upwards with our new flagship product range," he said. CONTACT: MIRACOM LTD., Miracom Centre, Hadleigh Road Industrial Estate, Ipswich IP2 0HB. Tel: 0473-233888. Email: Dialcom 79:KEY001. [***][5/3/88][***] +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ + BRITBYTES - Bytes of news from around the UK... + +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ ACORN COMPUTERS (0223-245200) has signed GST to develop a desktop publishing package for the Risc chip-based Archimedes. The un- named package will be released during the 3rd or 4th quarter of 1988 and be loosely based on GST's existing Timeworks package. APRICOT COMPUTERS (021-456-1234) appears to be on the way back. The company has announced its has doubled its profits to #8.2 million (from #4.1 million) for the year to 31 March 1988. Turnover has risen 20 per cent to #85.1 million for the year. The company attributes its new-found financial strength to moving upmarket to high-powered 80286 and 80386-based machines. BRITISH TELECOM has enhanced its data switching services to include Multistream Synchronous Service (MSS). MSS offers SNA/X25-style connections between mainframes via a combination of 9600bps dial-up and PSS (Packet Switchstream) connections. BT (01-630-1444) has also released four new modems in the UK. Speeds and capabilities vary from 300 to 2400 baud with modem pricing dependent on whether the units are freestanding or PC card plug-in type. CAMBRIDGE COMPUTERS (0223-312216) has announced that future versions of its popular Z88 laptop will not include an open backplane socket for the attachment of peripherals (not yet on sale). Peripherals for the Z88 will, instead, rely on the machine's serial port for connection. DATABASE EXHIBITIONS (0625-878888) has confirmed that the 11th Official Commodore Show will be held in London from the 3rd to the 5th of June. NEWSBYTES UK will, of course, be covering this important show in depth. DELL COMPUTERS (0344-860456) has confirmed that it will release the 400 and 500 series of MCA (MicroChannel Architecture) PS/2 compatibles in the UK during the fourth quarter of 1988, following an official launch in August. UK prices for the machines have yet to be announced. DIGITAL RESEARCH (0635-35304) has launched Gem Desktop Publisher Release 1.1 in the UK. The revamped DTP package now includes the latest version of Gem, Gem/3, as well as Bitstream's Fontware installation kit. Pricing remains unchanged at #295. A price rise of #50 is scheduled for 1 June. Users of the original package can upgrade to release 1.1 for #50. KUMA COMPUTERS (07357-4335) has released the PS version of its K- Roget computer thesaurus. The #49-95 package operates in background mode on a pop-up basis and can be customised to accommodate writer's idiosyncrac, idioy, idyo, er, quirks. SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS (01-836-1072) has launched two budget PC monitors in the UK. The CQ4531 retails for #399 and is colour and VGA compatible. The ML-2611 retails for #99 and is a high- resolution PS/2-compatible monochrome monitor. These prices undercut the competition by approaching 50 per cent, NEWSBYTES UK notes. The Pipedream software seen on the Z88 LAPTOP is now available for the Acorn Archimedes. COLTON SOFTWARE (0954-211472) has released the word processor/spreadsheet/database combination on the Archimedes for #99. Official release date is 19 May.