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/nb881011.277

Text File | 1991-10-01 | 49KB | 1,072 lines

[***][10/11/88][***]
UPDATED BIBLE FOR SHAREWARE NOW AVAILABLE
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA (NB) -- A supplement to the bible of shareware
programs, PC SIG's "PC SIG Library," has been published.  "Supplement
to PC SIG Library" ($8.95) adds more than 400 new shareware programs to the
organization's library.

PC-SIG, one of the largest suppliers of shareware in the world, currently
offers the wares of more than 100 different companies. While a disk full
of shareware programs is offered by other distributors for as little as
$2, PC SIG charges $6 and justifies the cost by offering technical
support, the availability of titles on CD-ROM, and its polished
product presentation.

The library of shareware currently has more than 1,120 diskettes
in stock. As the supplement puts it, "Where can you learn about
California divorce, plot star constellations, and keep a "little
black book?"  You guessed it.

CONTACT:  PC SIG, 408/730-9291

[***][10/11/88][***]
GENOA TO OFFER HGA AT COMDEX  *EXCLUSIVE*
SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA (NB) -- Genoa, the company that has been
selling graphics adapters compatible to those offered by IBM since
the days of CGA, has been secretly working on a high-resolution graphics
adaptor which will offer 1024 x 768 with 256 colors, similar to the 8514
controller offered by IBM, NEWSBYTES has learned.

The difference is that the Genoa controller, which uses a specially
designed chip, will offer more than a ten-fold performance improvement.
The adapter, which currently is kept on hold, suffers from RAM chip
scarcity. However, while NEWSBYTES visited the firm, we were told that
RAM chips had arrived and the card should be available within a few weeks.

In addition, the company finally explained out how one uses the popular
512 x 512 x 256 color mode of the normal VGA card. This specific mode
could be used with BIOS but was extremely slow. Now, with the supplied
information, consisting mainly of turning on and off some I/O ports, one
can write fast graphics programs displaying high resolution in color.


[***][10/11/88][***]
PARADISE BRINGS FAST VGA CARDS TO THE MARKET
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA (NB) -- Paradise, one of the biggest
players in the graphics adapter market and now a unit of Western
Digital, announced a new card designed for the IBM AT and compatible
systems. The 16 bit graphics card offers a 640 x 400 mode with 256
colors and executes commands faster than the previous 8 bit cards
which need about 20 wait states to output data.

The rush to fill in the graphic voids created when IBM kept its VGA card
prices high has prompted a prediction from International Data Corporation.
The industry watchers see the VGA market growing from $25 million to
$580 million by 1991.  Paradise has shipped more than one million units
while the market will need about 8.5 million graphic displays this year
alone.  VGA represents 28% of the total.


[***][10/11/88][***]
PHAR LAP OFFERS VIRTUAL MEMORY FOR 386 PCs
CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSSETS, 1988 SEP 16 (NB) -- Phar Lap Software, creator
of many 386 programs, has announced that its latest product, a virtual
memory manager for 386 PCs, is now available. The product runs only on
386 based PCs and offers virtual memory facility for those running with
the 386-DOS extender program.

Although 286-based virtual memory managers have existed for some time,
this is the first time a virtual memory manager exists for 386 based
systems.


[***][10/11/88][***]
DAVID BUNNELL GETS INTO CORPORATE DEVELOPMENT FOR IDG
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA (NB) -- David Bunnell, the creator and
editor of "PC World" and chairman of PCW Communications has
resigned to take a post as director of corporate development for
PCW's parent company, IDG Communications.

David Bunnell says in a prepared statement, "I am sad to leave
day-to-day operations of a company that I am so proud of but
I am delighted that IDG recognizes the desire of an entrepreneur
like myself to start his own company."

In his new job, David Bunnell will be responsible for a new
publication company, details of which are still unknown, but which
speculation says may pertain to books on computer subjects "with a
twist."


[***][10/11/88][***]
AMD TO CLOSE PLANTS AND REDUCE WORKFORCE
SUNNYVALE, CALIFORNIA (NB) -- Advanced Micro Devices has decided
to reduce its workforce and close down fabrication plants in order
to respond to market factors after recently announced lower profits.

Bill Sanders, AMD's chairman and CEO said, "After surging from $284
million in sales in AMD's first quarter which ended in March to
$308 million in the second quarter, softening demand in the personal
computer market over the summer is expected to result in third quarter
sales at first quarter levels." In response, AMD will close its
oldest fabrication plant in December, called Fab 3, and reduce the
workforce by about 1400 people in Penang, Manila and Malaysia.


[***][10/11/88][***]
MICROSOFT SHIPS NEW VERSION OF EXCEL
REDMOND, WASHINGTON (NB) -- Microsoft has announced that a new
version of Excel, 2.1, will be available as of today. Users of Excel
2.0 will be offered what the company calls "aggressive" upgrade programs.

Excel 2.1 uses the latest MS Windows 2.1 shell which allows the
user to access more than 45 extra kilobytes. In addition, support
for AST Rampage and Intel Above boards and new documentation, as well
as new printer support, wrap up the new version of Excel. Still
recommended for 286 or faster systems, the upgrade will cost $35.


[***][10/11/88][***]
"SKATE OR DIE" AVAILABLE FOR IIGS
SAN MATEO, CALIFORNIA, 1988 SEP 28 (NB) -- "Skate or Die," the popular
Apple II game, is now available for the IIGS with improved graphics
and sound. This is the first IIGS game devoted entirely to skateboarding
simulation and competition.

In addition, the company announced "ZANY GOLF" for the IIGS with
graphics that the company calls "rich.... which together with a
full-range musical arrangement stretch the IIGs."

Finally, the company announced "The Bard's Tale II: The Destiny Knight,"
an adventure fantasy game for the IIgs which also offers graphics
and superb sound.


[***][10/11/88][***]
ATI TECHNOLOGIES INTRODUCES 7200DPI LASER PRINTER
MILPITAS, CALIFORNIA, 1988 OCT 1 (NB) -- ATI has introduced a new
high speed printer controller which offers 60 page per minute output
(similar to IBM mainframe printers) and 7200 DPI resolution, opening
the way for publishing and pre-press operations by a PC.

The printer controller, which costs $10,500, accepts data at 2 MB
per second while images can be cleared within the controller's
memory in about 20ms (contrast this with the slow one second it
normally takes for average printers).

The high resolution, which functions as a result of printing
multiple passes over the same general location on the paper, offers
quality resolution.
[***][10/11/88][***]

-------------------------------------------------------------
NEWSBYTES WEST is written this week by Peter Vekinis while our Editor
Wendy Woods takes a small break. She compiles NEWSBYTES WEST again
starting next week. Send comments to IP1039, The Source.
--------------------------------------------------------------------



NEWSBYTES SOUTH-MIDWEST
Copyright 1988
Week of Tuesday, October 11, 1988
by Dana Blankenhorn - IP2004
@Have Modem, Will Travel

FAX/E-MAIL TRANSFERS BECOMING COMMONPLACE
WASHINGTON (NB) -- MCI has joined the rush to give users of
electronic mail systems access to fax machines. Early in October
the company published a detailed list of international fax prices
on its MCI Mail service. They're based on half-pages, which the
company defined as 28 lines. "It's pretty standard pricing," said
Jane Levine of MCI International. "I think 28 lines is the length
of the average electronic message sent. You don't have to print
out a message and take it to a fax machine to reach the one
additional person you want to reach."

DASNet, Campbell, CA, which provides transfers between various
online mail systems including The Source, MCI Mail, and TWICS in
Japan, and Dialcom, a division of British Telecom, has also
jumped into this new market with both feet. Dialcom's press
materials said it "enables users to send messages to as many as
500 addresses in a predefined distribution list." Another way to
say the same thing is they want to handle your future mailing
lists.

David Ris of Dialcom says that, instead of pricing for fax by
half-page, they're pricing per kilo-character. But since about
1,000 characters can fit on a half-page, their prices are pretty
competitive with MCI Mail's. The real key to Dialcom's strategy,
however, is delivering mail, not just holding it. And not just
to fax machines, to any large computer, Ris told NEWSBYTES.
"We're doing direct delivery into reporters' internal systems,
including Atex composing systems. Olympic reporters sent stories
to us as messages here in Rockville, and we'd send them to their
Atex machines. It took 3-4 minutes from the time the reporter hit
the send button to delivery. We had quite a few newspapers doing
that."

CONTACT: Jane Levine, MCI INTERNATIONAL [phone]; David Ris,
          DIALCOM [phone]


[***][10/11/88][***]
AT&T GETTING INTO THE ELECTRONIC PAYMENT NETWORK BUSINESS
BASKING RIDGE, NJ (NB) -- It's called AT&T EDI (Electronic Data
Interchange). AT&T says it amounts to a system which will pass
invoices, purchase orders, and other business forms around the
same way AT&T Mail passes around ordinary messages. Except with
AT&T EDI, these forms will be legal payment instruments, like
the pulse from your money machine to your bank's computer. The
centerpiece of all this is the EDI Network Interface Vendor
Approval Program , under which AT&T will provide software third
party software makers can add to their programs which store and
forward messages on its network. Vendors that play the EDI game
AT&T's way will then be put on an approved vendor list. Estimated
user cost of sending about 135 bills and payments a month with
the AT&T offering is 17-18 cents per transaction.

The move puts AT&T head-to-head with an EDI transmission business
now dominated by firms like McDonnell-Douglas' Tymnet, GE's
Geisco, and Control Data's Redi-Net. Cost, security, and error-
correction will be the key questions all such systems must
answer to be successful. AT&T EDI will be generally available
next June.

CONTACT: Daisy Ottman, AT&T, 201-221-6227


[***][10/11/88][***]
MSA, IBM TIE THEIR ELECTRONIC PAYMENT SOFTWARE TOGETHER
ATLANTA (NB) -- Management Science America signed a deal to
connect its EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) software program,
Expert EDI, with IBM's Information Network. (They also have
connection agreements with GE's Geisco and Control Data's
Redinet.) The two companies will also participate in marketing
MSA's software and IBM's service. Expert EDI translates between
the different formats used by companies to pass invoices
and payments securely, with errors corrected.

EDI is becoming increasingly important as companies, and some
whole industries, replace paper-based invoices and checks with
wire transfers. Gary Clark of GE Information Services told "The
Wall Street Journal" 40-50% of GEisco payments and collections
will be electronic by 1990. The federal government and major
utility companies like Georgia Power are also converting to EDI,
because it saves money. The question, of course, is which EDI
format to use, and which EDI network to transmit the data over.
The key issues which will decide this business war: security and
error-correction.

An MSA spokeswoman emphasized the fact that the IBM deal is non-
exclusive. The company could join AT&T's Vendor Approval Program
and remain in Big Blue's good graces.

CONTACT: John Baker Brown, MSA, 404-239-2381


[***][10/11/88][***]
GENIE RELIGION ROUNDTABLE WILL THROW OUT THE OBNOXIOUS
ROCKVILLE, MD (NB) -- Last week NEWSBYTES reported the GEnie
online system had begun a Religion Roundtable, a special interest
group to discuss religious subjects which includes a bulletin
board and chat-type conferences twice a week. On October 7, NEWSBYTES
interviewed the man in charge of the roundtable, GEnie employee
Harrison John.

John said the roundtable has been up since April, and now has
over 100 conferences, some with over 100 notes in them.
"Discussions are heated all the time," he told NEWSBYTES, but
"we've not had any problems with people being abusive. People do
express strong views, but they've done it in a civil way."
Mindful of discussions getting out of hand, however, John has set
down some firm policies. Anyone being abusive on the GEnie
roundtable will get a private note, from John. "If the person
continues to be totally obnoxious and disregards the bounds of
civility, we can kick them off the network.  That would be a last
resort." On the system's bulletin board John, who's a lay-person,
not a minister, also has the power to delete abusive notes.

From the main prompt at GEnie, you can join the roundtable by
typing the word religion, or M390.


[***][10/11/88][***]
ORBIT, COOPERS & LYBRAND OPEN VOICE-RESPONSE SYSTEM ON BENEFITS
NEW YORK (NB) -- Orbit Instrument, which specializes in voice-
response products, and the accounting firm of Coopers & Lybrand
have teamed up to create the Benefits Information Line, a voice-
response information system which lets a company's employee dial
a special telephone number to get data on their pension plans or
medical benefits. Calling the number directly will get you
standard boilerplate about job listings, company benefits, an
other public data. Enter an ID number given to you by your
company from a touch-tone phone after making the call, however,
and you can learn precisely where you stand in your pension and
medical benefits.

CONTACT: Mitch Binder, ORBIT INSTRUMENT [phone]; Adam
         Bubrow, COOPERS & LYBRAND, [phone]


[***][10/11/88][***]
ATLANTA FRANCHISEE ANGRY WITH REPORT OF "COMPUTER CURRENTS" SALE
ATLANTA (NB) -- Nearly a week late with his first issue, the last
thing Ken Lipscomb of "Atlanta Computer Currents" needed to hear
was last week's report in "You Heard it Hear First" that his
franchisor might be bought and closed. "I haven't heard," he told
NEWSBYTES. "No reaction at this time." Lipscomb's paper is the
first, and perhaps only, franchisee of the San Francisco area-
based "Computer Currents" whose four other papers were all
company-owned. Sources told NEWSBYTES that IDG's method for
handling overhead may have contributed to "CC" problems -- had a
franchisee been running the Boston paper, we were told, it would
be reporting a profit instead of the its current loss.

By October 8, Lipscomb had made some calls and was feeling much
better. "'Micro Times' is definitely out. Nothing will happen,"
Lipscomb told NEWSBYTES.

CONTACT: Ken Lipscomb, COMPUTER CURRENTS-ATLANTA 404-955-4467


[***][10/11/88][***]
PECAN CHIPS

CHRYSLER, Highland Park, MI, is building a private satellite
network called Pentastar, to let headquarters send broadcast
video and high-speed data transmissions to its 6,000 dealers.

DATABEAM, Lexington, KY, announced the DataBeam Image Exchange,
which lets people import data, charts, and slides into online
conferences.

EDS, Dallas, signed a 6-year deal to give the U.S. Air Force a
Unified Local Are Network Architecture. EDS will be using Bridge
Systems' equipment, and 20 other suppliers.

HUGHES AIRCRAFT, Fullerton, CA, opened a videotex system for its
employees giving them access to over 20,000 pages of text in
company procedure manuals. It also features online ordering, job
postings, company news, and electronic mail.

PARADYNE, Ft. Largo, FL, admitted it will post a loss for the
quarter ending September 30, putting it in technical default on
provisions of its financing agreements.

SAMNA, Atlanta, announced Ami, a word processor based on a run-
time version of Microsoft Windows. It offers a WYSIWYG (what you
see is what you get) screen display and style sheet formatting.
And the price is low -- $179.

TEXAS INSTRUMENTS, Dallas, doubled capacity of its System 1500
machines to 256 users, and announced a Lifetime Warranty on some
System 1500s. You'll be charged $25 each time you use the
warranty, however, for "processing."


[***][10/11/88][***]
---------------------------------------------------------------
DANA BLANKENHORN lives in Atlanta with his wife Jenni and
daughter Robin. He thinks Lloyd Bentsen won the debate, but Dan
Quayle's grandmother did love him. Write Dana at IP2004.  Or call
[phone].
================================================================


[***][10/11/88][***]
YOU READ IT HERE FIRST/WEEK OF October 11, 1988
Copyright 1988/Written by W. A. Yacco, Exclusive to NEWSBYTES

In this week's installment...

 - ATARI NO LONGER CONSIDERED PERFECT MATERIAL...WordPerfect Drops
                                                 Development Plans

 - POLITI REGAINS CONTROL...Computer Currents Back In Publisher's
                            Hands

 - QUOTE OF THE WEEK...It's Strictly Off The Record

 - dBASE dLAYING dLIVERY (AGAIN!)...Correcting an earlier report

 - TERMINATOR II...Not The Real Sequel But An Incredible Simulation

ATARI NO LONGER CONSIDERED PERFECT MATERIAL
OREM, Ut (NB) -- I doubt that it's common knowledge yet but
WordPerfect Corporation has halted development of applications for
the Atari environment.  The Utah-based company's avowed strategy is
to provide its products across all important hardware platforms.
Yet the decision to no longer include Atari was quietly made two
weeks ago.

According to Todd Ashman, WordPerfect's director of marketing for
Amiga and Atari, several factors were considered in the decision-
making process, "The market size just wasn't what we had expected it
to be in the early going.  There were several things that were
considered, one of which was distribution.  We didn't feel like the
dealer channel was sufficient enough to support our type of a
product.  The piracy factor came into play in that the market size
versus how many products were being put up on the BBS's . . . we
just felt like it wasn't profitable to stay in the market."

Ashman also admitted that initial product positioning may have
placed the company's word-processing offering at too high a price
point due to the company's desire to protect distribution of its PC
version.  Alternative pricing policy was eventually considered but
". . . they [other WordPerfect executives] thought that regardless
of the price, . . .  we couldn't do our style of business in that
particular market place."  Problems also occurred during development
efforts for which WordPerfect did not feel that Atari provided
adequate support.  Apparently, present products for the Atari will
continue to receive the company's fabled support but future
development is dead.

This decision may impact Atari in two ways.  First, it may impede
Atari plans to enter the arena of business applications if policy
has not changed by the time the latest WordPerfect upgrade (5.0) is
offered across all other platforms.  And, second, the development
withdrawal may signal a failure in market confidence that further
erodes opportunities to increase the hardware's installed base.  The
second problem is potentially the more serious.  A perpetuating
cycle of decreases in user base and diminished developer interest is
easy to imagine as a result.


POLITI REGAINS CONTROL
EMERYVILLE, Ca (NB) -- In a somewhat surprising outcome, Publisher
Stan Politi has reacquired "Computer Currents" from IDG
Communications.  The publication seemed to be on the brink of being
sold to cross-town rival "MicroTimes" as recently as last Monday.
Regular readers and advertisers will probably join staffers in
celebrating Politi's good fortune.  Stan, however, may just be too
busy to attend the party.  My guess is that he's planning how to
keep a larger and more complicated publishing network aloft without
the IDG support that helped to create it.

Plans are not underway to move the book's emphasis toward the
business community though.  According to Editor David Needle, that's
already been the focus of "Currents," with the exception of a single
column, for about a year.


QUOTE OF THE WEEK
SOMEWHERE IN, Wa (NB) -- Mark Eppley of Traveling Software (LapLink,
LapLink Mac, etc.) is responsible for this week's quote; send your
threats to him.  Eppley and company have been busy brewing potent
software by the barrel so it's not surprising that plenty of it is
flowing in to, or into, reviewers.  As we were discussing one of the
latest pressings the other day, Mark offered to send by an
unreleased sample for me to taste and volunteered his company's new
non-disclosure policy.  If I wanted to evaluate the software, I'd
have to take the "Oath of Guido."  "Who cares about non-disclosure
statements," said Mark, "when you've got Guido on your payroll."  I
fell out of my chair but, then, I have a degenerate sense of humor
and two or three disks to match.  On the other hand, I'm not saying
anything--just to be safe.  Guido, if you're out there, Piassan,
Yacco is an anglicized version of Iacovoni.


dBASE dLAYING dLIVERY (AGAIN!)
TORRANCE, Ca -- I recently was telling someone at Ashton-Tate what a
great source of information their saleswomen are.  They have given
me stories at the Eggzibition and the Seybold conference.  However,
it turns out that all of the rumors or leaks that these lovely women
have given me have turned out to be duckly uglings.  First, Ed Esber
didn't leave A-T and now it turns out that, during the Seybold
conference, dBASE IV entered testing, rather than completing it as I
had reported.  Latest plans call for another two or three weeks of
testing and a second delay in the release.  Even the trucks that
Victor Alhadef had scheduled for the September 30 pickup didn't
improve the karma.  Well, it may not be a total wash.  If this keeps
up, maybe that first rumor about Esber will come true after all.


TERMINATOR II
In other shaky rumors (I don't dare call it news), an astounding
disk controller may be about to disappear.  There are several
caching disk controllers on the market that reduce access times to a
millisecond or two.  They're generally the ones with names
reminiscent of *Schwartzeneger-movie hype.

Despite their differences, at least one of these boards shares a
common technology engineered by one of its competitors.  And a well-
placed, but possibly suspect, source tells me that this board vendor
owes substantial sums to the developer for its designs.  The money
has reportedly not been forthcoming and the controller field may be
about to shrink as a result.  For now, you've got to read between
the lines but keep seeking on this track for further data.  As
Arnold would say, "I'll be back."

                               - 30 -
--------------------------------------------------------------------

Wayne Yacco is an editor, columnist and writer specializing in
business applications and microcomputers.  He was the founding
editor of The Inputer and currently publishes the Computer PR
Advisor, an advisory on communications with the computer press.  Hot
tips wanted (he is also interested in consumer complaints related to
computers) -- send them to IP2005, call 818-842-8581 (voice) or 818-
842-8581 (fax), or put him on your press mailing list: W. A. Yacco,
PO Box 269, Burbank, Ca. 91503.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

[***][10/11/88][***]
NEWSBYTES (Tm) - Canada
Week of October 11, 1988
By Grant Buckler / Sourcemail IP2008
Copyright 1988
================================================================

[***][10/11/88][***]
BELL GETS CONDITIONAL GO-AHEAD FOR VIDEOTEX TRIAL
MONTREAL (NB) -- Bell Canada can start a two-year videotex trial
here on December 5, provided it can set up comprehensive cost-
accounting procedures.  That's the verdict from the Canadian
Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), the
federal regulator whose approval is needed for the Alex project.

In its decision, the CRTC asked Bell to find a way of tracking
and forecasting all costs and revenues associated with the trial,
including development costs, and ensuring that rates for other
services aren't affected.  The regulators say they want to make
sure the cost of basic phone service doesn't suffer.  The CRTC
also forbade the telephone company from offering an electronic
yellow pages service.  Bell may offer an electronic directory,
but the commission concluded the electronic yellow pages would
violate provisions of the Bell Canada Act that require Bell to
act solely as a common carrier.

Bell Canada spokesperson Ruth Foster said the cost accounting
required is "very comprehensive," and goes beyond anything Bell
has had to do before.  The company is assessing its ability to do
what the CRTC wants, and has promised the regulators an answer by
October 17, she said.  What makes the situation particularly
tough for Bell is that the company is still enmeshed in a strike.
With a number of managers out on emergency work assignments --
answering directory assistance lines and so on -- dealing with
the CRTC requirements could be difficult.  So could setting up
the Alex system, if the strike continues long enough.

The trial would involve 20,000 Bell subscribers in the Montreal
area.  If all goes well, Bell hopes to bring Alex to Toronto in
1990.

CONTACT: BELL CANADA, 1050 Beaver Hall Hill, Montreal, Que.
         H2Z 1S4, [phone]


[***][10/11/88][***]
19TH CANADIAN COMPUTER SHOW -- SAME WEEK AS COMDEX
TORONTO (NB) -- Organizers of the Canadian Computer Show, this
country's largest computer trade show, are expecting some 450
exhibitors when the doors open for the 19th time next month.  But
some potential visitors might wonder about the choice of dates.
The show is scheduled for November 14 to 17, the same week as
Comdex/Fall in Las Vegas.

According to Industrial Trade and Consumer Shows of Toronto,
which runs the event, it's the fourth-largest computer show in
North America.  A number of new product launches are scheduled
for this year's show, according to the organizers.  This may
reflect one advantage of running opposite Comdex -- vendors can
stage simultaneous launches in the U.S. and Canada and hit major
trade shows in both countries.

CONTACT: INDUSTRIAL TRADE AND CONSUMER SHOWS INC.,
         20 Butterick Rd., Toronto, Ont. M8W 3Z8, [phone],
         Fax [phone]


[***][10/11/88][***]
GANDALF OPENS MOST ADVANCED CIRCUIT BOARD PLANT
OTTAWA (NB) -- Gandalf Technologies Inc. says its new printed
circuit board manufacturing plant is Canada's most advanced.  The
18,000-square-foot plant will use advanced technologies such as
fine-line and surface-mount to make printed circuit boards for
Gandalf and other Canadian manufacturers.  It is operated by
Circtronics, a Gandalf subsidiary.  The new plant has about four
times the production capacity of the company previous facility.
At full capacity it could cover 1,500 square feet with completed
boards every day.  The plant was officially opened October 3.

CONTACT: GANDALF TECHNOLOGIES INC., 130 Colonnade Rd. S.
         Nepean, Ont. K2E 7J5, [phone]


[***][10/11/88][***]
ANGOSS SOFTWARE AVAILABLE FOR AT&T
TORONTO (NB) -- AT&T Canada Inc. and Toronto-based CS Computing
Services Inc. have announced that CS's ANGOSS application
software is now available for AT&T products.  CS Computing is an
independent software vendor (ISV) for AT&T.  It produced the
ANGOSS (A New Generation of Software Solutions) series of more
than 50 applications using SMART, an integrated office automation
package from Informix Inc.  SMART must be installed to run the
ANGOSS software.  ANGOSS packages are available for DOS and Unix.

The ANGOSS packages include accounting modules and a variety of
vertical applications.  CS Computing Services has offices in
Toronto and Montreal, with a network of authorized resellers and
developers across Canada.

CONTACT: AT&T CANADA INC., 3650 Victoria Park Ave., Suite 800,
         Willowdale, Ont. M2H 3P7, [phone]


[***][10/11/88][***]
SYSTEMHOUSE PROFIT DOWN 75 PER CENT DUE LARGELY TO WRITEOFFS
OTTAWA (NB) -- SHL Systemhouse Inc. has released unaudited
results that show sharply lower profit in the year ended August
31.  Much of the drop is due to Systemhouse's decision to write
off the costs of bid proposals rather than continuing to defer
them.

Net income was C$5.8 million, down from C$23.7 million last year.
Revenues were C$240 million, up from C$176 million.  The latest
year's figure includes C$45 million in revenue from ComputerLand
Canada, which Systemhouse took over at the beginning of July.
The company does not expect audited results, due to be released
in mid-October, to be substantially different from the
preliminary ones.

In the last quarter, Systemhouse wrote off C$3.2 million in bid
and proposal costs which had been deferred in the first two
quarters, and established C$3.2 million in reserves against cost
for completion of four contracts in Washington and one overseas.
Another C$1.7 million was set aside for bad debts and anticipated
future expenses.  The net result was a fourth-quarter loss of
C$7.9 million.

In announcing the results, however, SHL Systemhouse Chairman
Roderick Bryden said 1988 was a year "in which very substantial
investments were made which will benefit the future of
Systemhouse."

CONTACT: SHL SYSTEMHOUSE INC., 50 O'Connor St., Suite 1616
         Ottawa, Ont. K1P 6L2, [phone],
         Fax [phone]


[***][10/11/88][***]
COMPUTER ASSOCIATES SIGNS FRANTEK AS DISTRIBUTOR
VANCOUVER (NB) -- Computer Associates Canada Ltd.'s Micro
Products Division has appointed Frantek Computer Products, Inc.,
of Ottawa, as a CA Selected Products Distributor.  Frantek will
distribute CA products to Selected Products Dealers, who sell all
CA micro products except its ACCPAC Plus accounting software.
The ACCPAC BPI accounting series is the key accounting product
line for these dealers, according to Computer Associates Canada.
Frantek is a national micro software distributor, founded in 1983
and acquired earlier this year by Micro-D of California.

CONTACT: COMPUTER ASSOCIATES CANADA LTD., 1770 Burrard St.,
         Vancouver, B.C. V6J 3G7, [phone],
         Fax [phone]


[***][10/11/88][***]
J.B. MARKETING BEEFING UP WORDPERFECT SUPPORT
CORNWALL, Ont. (NB) -- J.B. Marketing of Canada says it
recognizes telephone support for WordPerfect software has been
hard to get in Canada lately, and is acting to remedy the
problem.  J.B., the exclusive distributor for WordPerfect here,
is adding staff, putting in a new telephone system, and offering
additional options: fax and on-line communication.

J.B. Marketing's phone support numbers for WordPerfect are 1-800-
267-2444 in Ontario and Quebec, and 1-800-267-2499 in the rest of
Canada.  You can also contact the support staff by fax at (613)
938-4935, on CompuServe at 771101,1223, on Canada Remote Systems
as Word Perfect, or through the Envoy 100 e-mail service as
WORD.PERFECT.

CONTACT: J.B. MARKETING, 120 Ninth St. E., Cornwall, Ont.
         K6H 2T2, [phone]


[***][10/11/88][***]
BITS, EH?
-- APPLE CANADA INC., Markham, Ont., made a mistake in announcing
prices for the new Macintosh IIx computer.  Canadian price for a
Mac II with 80-megabyte hard disk and four megabytes of RAM is
C$14,588.  Same thing without the hard disk, C$12,096.  The
Macintosh SE Hard Disk 40 costs C$7,892.  Apple says the
incorrect prices released before resulted from a cost conversion
error.  Apple Canada also said the new Apple IIgs System Software
Version 4.0 will be available in October for C$57.00.

-- HERCULES COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY, INC., Berkeley, Calif., has
appointed S.R. HALL AND ASSOCIATES, INC., Holland Landing, Ont.,
as its sole marketing representative in Canada.

-- THE GEMINI GROUP AUTOMATED DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS, INC.,
Toronto, has announced plans for a partnership with PARS of
Kansas City.  Gemini operates a computerized airline reservation
system for Canada's two largest airlines, Air Canada and Canadian
Airlines International.  The partnership would combine that
system with the PARS system owned by Northwest Airlines and
Trans-World Airlines (TWA).  Regulatory approval is required.

-- THE TORONTO TRANSIT COMMISSION will spend about C$37.4 million
to acquire a computerized vehicle control system from NATIONAL
MOBILE RADIO COMMUNICATIONS INC. of Mississauga, Ont., a
subsidiary of BCE Mobile Communications Inc.  It's National
Mobile's largest contract ever.  About 250 buses are equipped so
far.  The TTC's full fleet of more than 2,200 should be online by
the end of 1991.  Though the TTC is Canada's largest public
transit system, Halifax, N.S., Hamilton, Ont., and Hull, Que.
already have such systems and Calgary is currently testing one.

-- AMBULANCES, TOO: The Ontario Ministry of Health has announced
plans to hook up 65 hospitals and four ambulance dispatch centres
to a C$1-million computerized bed registry system by the end of
1989.

-- THE TORONTO STOCK EXCHANGE is pulling the plug on its
electronic links with the American and Midwest stock exchanges.
The links were established to 1985 to allow two-way trading of
stocks listed on both the TSE and one of the other exchanges.
But many TSE members preferred using their own order-routing
systems.

----------------------------------------------------------------
NEWSBYTES CANADA bureau chief is Grant Buckler, Source ID IP2008,
PC Canada ID PC1176, voice [phone], fax [phone] or
859 Kennedy Rd., #203, Scarborough, Ont., Canada M1K 2E3.
----------------------------------------------------------------

[***][10/11/88][***]
-----------------------------------------------------------------
NEWSBYTES (Tm) - JAPAN
Week of October 11, 1988
Copyright (c) All Rights Reserved
By Ken Takahashi and Naoyuki Yazawa -- IP2010
-----------------------------------------------------------------

[***][10/11/88][***]
HITACHI JOINS OSF
TOKYO (NB) -- Hitachi has announced its enrollment in the Open
Software Fundation (OSF), marking the first time a Japanese
company has joined the organization dedicated to establishment
of a rival Unix standard to AT&T's.  Hitachi has appointed its
managing director, Takeo Miura, as a governor of OSF and has
announced that it will support the organization for three
years to the tune of $4.5 million dollars (US) per year.

Meanwhile, just five days after the announcement, on October
IBM, a founding father of the Open Software Foundation, showed
some indication that it hopes to bury the hatchet with AT&T.
Observers speculate that Hitachi's entry into OSF has stimulated
IBM to begin talks with AT&T, since the giant Japanese electronics
firm may lead other Japanese firms into OSF.

For its part, Hitachi wants to strengthen its overseas marketing
and the standardization of UNIX will be helpful for this goal.

CONTACT : Hitachi, 1-5-1 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100


[***][10/11/88][***]
IBM TAIWAN PUNISHES COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT
TOKYO (NB) -- IBM Taiwan is taking an aggressive approach to
wipe out companies that are suspected of infringing on its
copyrights in Taiwan.  Some Taiwanese companies are being
slapped with lawsuits from the Big Blue.  In order to avoid
this kind of litigation, the most profitable Taiwanese PC maker,
Acer, has entered into negotiations with IBM Taiwan to sign a
license agreement for protection of IBM's intellectual properties.
Following the situation closely are thirty major personal computer
makers in Taiwan, who fear IBM's legal muscle.

CONTACT: IBM Taiwan, International Bldg., 2nd-5th scores, Taipei,
         Tun Hua Road, Taiwan


[***][10/11/88][***]
PHONES TO TRANSLATE JAPANESE AND ENGLISH CONVERSATIONS
TOKYO (NB) --  A British university and a Japanese firm have
jointly started to develop a system that automatically translates
conversations in English and Japanese on the phone into each
other's languages.  The University of Edinburgh and Advanced
Telecommunications Research Institute International have begun
research on an addition to Japan's national telephone networks that
would monitor a spoken conversation on the display and immediately
create a computer-generated interpretation for the callers.

Professor John Laver, director of the Center for Speech Technology
Research at the University of Edinburgh, will supervise the
project in the United Kingdom.  Laver's researchers at the
university will be joined by Japanese personnel from ATR
International.  ATR is a quasi-public research and development
firm with strong ties to the Japanese government.

Initial research will be done on the development of a database of
English and Japanese sounds.  The database-resident speech sounds,
known as phonemes, can then be adapted to phonemes identified
during an actual telephone conversation.


[***][10/11/88][***]
GOVERNMENT & PRIVATE FIRMS MOVE TO PROTECT AGAINST VIRUSES
TOKYO (NB) -- The first computer virus to infect a Japanese
computer network last month has triggered private companies and
a ministry to take preventive measures against the threat of computer
viruses.  The operator of PC-VAN, NEC has organized a project team
to develop protection and vaccine programs against viruses.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of International Trade and Industries (MITI)
has ordered its extra-departmental organization, Information
Technology Promotion Agency, JAPAN (IPA), to organize a professional
team for development of a vaccine program and to provide 30 million yen or
$250 thousand as a budget for next fiscal year.

CONTACT : MITI, 1-3-1 Kasumigaseki, Chiyodaku, Tokyo
          NEC, 1-4-28 Mita, Minato-Ku, Tokyo 108


[***][10/11/88][***]
MITSUBISHI INVESTS ANOTHER 20 BILLION YEN
TOKYO (NB) -- Mitsubishi has launched a plan to invest another
20 billion yen or $150 million to produce  six million  one megabit
chips a month.  The total amount for investment now calculates out
to 45 billion yen or $335 million with this supplementary budget.

The additional amount will apply to building new memory lines in
its Kohchi factory which will be able to produce a total of 2 million
1M DRAMs and 1M SRAMs.  Total production capacity of the
company will be 6 million a month with its main memory factory
at Seijoh factory, which will extend production ability to 4
million 1 megabit memories by next spring.

CONTACT : Mitsubishi Electric, 2-2-3 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-Ku, 100


[***][10/11/88][***]
<< SUSHI BYTES >>

SEGA TO MARKET 16-BIT GAME COMPUTER -- Sega Enterprises will
launch the first 16-bit family computer machines.  The 16-bit
family game computer, named Sega Megadrive, shows high resolution,
stereoscopic and hi-fi sounds. The price of Sega Megadrive will
be 21,000 yen or $160.  Following this release, the company plans
to market dedicated communication modems and small 2-inch
floppy disk games by next spring.

CHIP SETS FOR PC/AT EXPORTED TO THE U.S. -- Tokyo-based
semiconductor manufacturing device maker Nippon LSI will export
chip sets, including mother boards, memory boards, and graphic
boards, to PC/AT compatible machine makers in the U.S.  Also,
the company will export and sell the terminals using the plasma
touch board with its original brand name in the U.S.

CD-ROM FOR TRANSLATORS -- Nichigai Associates, Tokyo, will
commercialize a CD-ROM database for translators by next spring.
With the CD-ROM, including about 200,000 sample sentences of
English, you can display sample sentences including multiple words
you specified.  The company will develop the CD-ROM into a
database for machine translation systems, combined with AI
technology in the future.

YHP LAUNCHES LONG-TERM STRATEGY -- Yokogawa Hewlett Packard has
announced its long-term strategy to the year 2000, as a
member of its parent company, Hewlett Packard of U.S.  The strategy
includes swapping managers and directors, establishment of a
Hong Kong office, and building high-tech plants in the U.S. and China.

******************************************************************
NEWSBYTES-JAPAN is written and compiled in Tokyo by Ken Takahashi
and Naoyuki Yazawa (IP2010), who are responsible for this content.
We're eager to hear from you with some tips and comments.
******************************************************************



[***][10/11/88][***]
NEWSBYTES (tm)-- EAST BUREAU
Ken Maize, Bureau Chief
Sourcemail IP2007
Week of Tuesday, October 11, 1988
=================================================================

[***][10/11/88][***]
LOTUS ANNOUNCES ANOTHER DELAY ON 1-2-3 RELEASE 3.0
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (NB) -- Off again, this time to the second
quarter of 1989. That's the word from Lotus Development Corp. on
its long-delayed Release 3 of 1-2-3, the most popular spreadsheet
for PCs. Frank King of Lotus claims the delay provides time for
"fixing bugs and fine-tuning the product," basically the same
line of spin control from Lotus that the company has used in the
past to explain postponements. Most recently, Lotus pushed the
product to the end of this year, and hinted at the time that
maybe that was a bit optimistic.

The delay gives rivals such as Microsoft's Excel and Borland's
Quattro a further opportunity to nibble away at the spreadsheet
market where Lotus is dominant. To forestall that, Lotus has
worked a deal with Funk Software to bundle Allways with all sales
of 1-2-3. Always is a pretty-printing program that gives 1-2-3 to
capability to print out attractive reports that is already
available in Excel. Allways has a list price of $149. Funk
Software, also of Cambridge, is the originator of the Sideways
program that allows users to print their spreadsheets in
landscape mode. The Allways give-away is expected to last until
Lotus finally rolls Release 3.0 out of the hangar.

In other news from Lotus, the company says it will ship Freelance
Plus 3.0, an upgraded charting and drawing program for PCs, in
December. The retail price is $495.


[***][10/11/88][***]
LAPTOP LITE FROM NEC
NEW YORK (NB) -- Picture this: A laptop that has the processor
speed of an AT, 640K of RAM, full-size keyboard, built-in DOS
Manager and Lap-Link software, a good screen, two megabytes of
data storage, and weighs found pounds. Meet the NEC UltraLite.
And that wasn't a typo. It weighs four pounds. NEC has unveiled
the UltraLite, along with a 386 laptop, the ProSpeed 386, and a
286 ProSpeed, in an attempt to gain a bigger piece of the hot
laptop market. NEC currently has about 10 percent of the market,
compared to 27 percent for Toshiba and 22 percent for Zenith.
Coming soon are major laptop announcements from Compaq and Apple.

The UltraLite, initially priced at $2,999, should be a real boon
to frequent travelers. It's everything the Tandy 102 is...and
isn't. The only compromise is the two-megabyte hard disk, but for
users of two-drive DOS laptops (including your bureau chief)
that's no major compromise. NEC says the UltraLite will be
available in December. If the machine has the quality that users
of NEC monitors and printers have come to expect, it should be a
winner.


[***][10/11/88][***]
HOUSE CLOSES BANKRUPTCY LOOPHOLE
WASHINGTON (NB) -- The House has closed a loophole in federal
bankruptcy laws that the computer industry has been trying to
plug for two years. The loophole let a company reneg on
technology licensing deals if the licensing company went into
Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The computer industry argued
that the loophole made it harder for start-up companies to raise
money by licensing their technology. The industry also said that
existing products could be jeopardized if the licensor were to
fill for protection under the bankruptcy law. The industry push
to close the loophole came after a 1986 Supreme Court decision
that upheld it. The House action follows Senate action in
late September. President Reagan is expected to sign the bill.


A DIGITAL COUP FOR TANDY
MAYNARD, Mass. (NB) -- Digital Equipment Corp. has completed a
deal with Tandy Corp. in which Digital will buy personal
computers from Tandy and resell them under the Digital brand
name. Digital will also service Tandy products owned by Digital
customers. The deal should bolster Tandy's growing image as a
main-line personal computer maker, not just a purveyor to the
computer cultists. One reason Digital chose Tandy, according to
officials at DEC, is that Tandy's retail-oriented marketing
doesn't compete with Digital's corporate marketing sales force.

Digital also says it will support personal computer with the
Micro Channel Architecture in Digital networks. But Digital
officials stressed that they have no plans to market MCA-based
computers, such as the Tandy 5000. Geoffrey Burr, a Digital group
manager, told THE WALL STREET JOURNAL that Digital is interested
in industry standards and "we don't consider Micro Channel an
industry standard." Another vote of confidence for IBM, creator
of the MCA.


[***][10/11/88][***]
SENATE PASSES BERNE CONVENTION BILL
WASHINGTON (NB) -- The Senate has unanimously approved a bill
that will ensure international copyright protection for computer
software. The 89-0 vote allows the U.S. to join the Berne
Convention, an international treaty adopted more than a century
ago that provides copyright protection among the 75 member
nations. The Senate measure now has to be reconciled with a
measure adopted 420-0 last May. Working out the small differences
in the two measures is not expected to be difficult. The
convention will protect American books, records, films, software,
and other artistic works.


[***][10/11/88][***]
BINARY FILE TRANSFER COMING ON SOURCEMAIL
McLEAN, Va. (NB) -- The Source says it will offer users the
ability transfer binary files over its SourceMail electronic mail
service. The Source notes that this service "is ideal if you need
to send sales data on a spreadsheet to headquarters, survey
results to a client, or Lotus templates and macro information to
a colleague." Lotus and MCI Mail have a protocol for sending
binary files, and this service from The Source is designed to
compete with that wrinkle of MCI Mail. Users can upload the
binary files from their PC, or from the internal User File
Directory. Senders pay a $1 per binary file transaction fee in
addition to standard charges. No extra charges for recipients.


[***][10/11/88][***]
ZIFF SHIPS COMPUTER LIBRARY
NEW YORK (NB) -- Ziff Communications Co. has begun shipping
Computer Library, the CD-ROM-based compendium of computer
information, including the most recent 12-months of 10 leading
computer industry publications (NEWSBYTES is not among them).
Ziff developed the product jointly with Lotus, using the BlueFish
full-text search and retrieval software. Ziff is pitching the
product at PC information center managers, MIS directors, PC
marketeers, and the like. To run it, you need a PC, XT, or AT or
compatible, a hard disk, 512K of RAM, DOS 3.1 or higher, and a
CD-ROM drive accessed by Microsoft's CD-ROM extensions to DOS.
A one-year subscription costs $695 plus shipping. The price
includes monthly updates. Also, Ziff is offering subscribers the
chance to buy a Sony CD-ROM drive for $635.

CONTACT: Ziff Communications Co., 212-503-4402.


[***][10/11/88][***]
NEWS NIBBLES

INTERLEAF, INC., Cambridge, Mass., has begun shipping Version 3.5
of Interleaf Publisher for the Mac II. The product is a high-end
desktop publishing program and allows the Mac II to share
documents will computers from Apollo, Sun, DEC, and IBM.

IBM, Rye Brook, N.Y., has released an upgrade of its DB2
mainframe database software that provides accessibility
throughout the organization and across computer environments,
including personal computers. Also at IBM, the company has named
John Slaughter and Edgar Woolard Jr. to its board. Slaughter is
president of Occidental College and Woolard is du Pont president
and chief operating officer.

Joe Henson, president and chief executive officer of PRIME
COMPUTER, Natick, Mass., has announced his resignation. The
announcement was a surprise. In response, Prime's board
designated Anthony Craig as successor and adopted a "shareholder
rights" plan designed to discourage hostile takeovers. Wall
Street analysts have criticized Henson for not cutting costs
rapidly enough after Prime's acquisition of Computervision.

GENERAL ELECTRIC INFORMATION SERVICES, Rockville, Md., has added
and education roundtable to its GEnie videotex service. The sysop
of the roundtable is Mike Hogan, an Ohio educator who also
serves as the sysop for GEnie's Tandy roundtable.

APOLLO COMPUTER, Chelmsford, Mass., has named William Cunningham
vice president and general manager of research, development and
manufacturing. Cunningham joined Apollo from Honeywell Bull last
year.

THE ALPINE GROUP, Hackensack, N.J., has cut a deal with the LEGO
Group of Denmark to commercialize Alpine's PolyVision flat panel
display in Europe and the U.S. Alpine has been working with
Corning Glass Works to develop the technology for home
entertainment and computer displays.


=================================================================
NEWSBYTES EAST is written by Ken Maize, who can be reached by
Sourcemail at IP2007, on MCI Mail as KMAIZE, or by voice at 301-
874-2926. The mailing address is 1819 Mt. Ephraim Road,
Adamstown, Md., 21710.
=================================================================