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/nb881101.280

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[***][11/01/88][***]
DBASE IV FINALLY SHIPS
TORRANCE, Ca. (NB) -- Ashton-Tate has delivered on its promise to ship
the latest version of its popular database program by the end of the
month.  The first copies of the $795 dBASE IV went out the door
beginning October 24.  Ashton-Tate is also shipping dBASE IV
IV Developer's Edition ($1,295) and dBASE IV LAN Pack.  The firm
also promises to have an OS/2 version of dBASE IV during the fourth
quarter of 1988 and will offer a version that communicates with
mainframes and minicomputers, which it is designing with Microsoft
and Sybase Inc.

The new dBASE has several new features, including embedded SQL language,
more security features, a conversion utility, a new forms manager,
and supports various local area networks.  Upgrades to the new dBASE
by owners of its previous incarnations are available at a low cost.

[***][11/01/88][***]
ASHTON-TATE EXPANDS PUBLISHING DIVISION
TORRANCE, Ca. (NB) -- A new publishing division of Ashton-Tate is on the
prowl for new acquisitions in the form of software products and marketing
opportunities.  Ashton-Tate's President Luther Nussbaum says its newly-
formed Tate Publishing Software will explore "new market opportunities through
the innovative software being designed by talented independent
software developers around the world."  Richard Di Giovanni, recently
appointed vice president of Tate Publishing, will head the division
in its expanded role.

Last month, Tate Publishing's latest product was introduced -- TurboSearch,
in information retrieval product for PCs from IDAN Softwrae Industries.
Other Tate Publishing Software products include Free Space, a data
compression utility, and FrontRunner, a dBASE III PLUS language
development tool.

Developers with a software product they would like to submit to Tate
Publishing can contact the company at this address:  Product Submissions, New
Business Development, Ashton-Tate Corporation, 20101 Hamilton Avenue,
Torrance, Ca. 90502.

[***][11/01/88][***]
MIXED BAG OF APPLE NEWS: MOMS, RISCs, AND APDA
CUPERTINO, Ca. (NB) -- The Apple Programmers and Developers Association
has signed a deal with Apple, relinquishing its role as distributor of
beta test software and documentation for Apple software developers.
Apple Computer, which used the Association to distribute developer
materials for software since 1986, has provided the group with an
undisclosed fee in order to return the job to its own staff members.
The Apple Programmers and Developers Association will consequently
change its name to TechAdvantage, according to Frank Catalano of
APDA, to "better reflect our mission."

Meanwhile, Apple has abandoned the idea of developing its own RISC
(reduced instruction set computer) chips in favor of buying the
new Motorola 88000 microprocessor for future Apple computers, according
to Michael Slater, editor of the Microprocessor REport.  Slater
says sources told him that Motorola made the choice easier by offering
Apple a price break on other chips, most likely the 68000 group,
the brains of the Macintosh line.  Slater quotes sources as saying
Advanced Micro Devices' new RISC chip, the 29000, will also be
used by Apple as a part of a new laser printer.

And finally, Working Mother magazine, in a survey of the best 50
companies for working mothers, has again named Apple Computer
as one of the top 5 companies kindest to moms.  Apple made it
to the top for its pay, child care support, referrals and benefits
including maternity leave, parental leave, and flexible scheduling.
And for the first year, among the top five best was also IBM of
Armonk, New York.

[***][11/01/88][***]
SEAGATE REELS FROM RECORD LOSS/IBM AND APPLE TO THE RESCUE?
SCOTTS VALLEY, CA. (NB) -- The loss is a record $52.8 million, the
biggest in Seagate Technology's eight year history.  The disk drive
maker announced the loss, far more than analysts had expected, was
due to a failure to jump promptly into the 3 1/2-inch disk drive
market from the 5 1/4-inch drive market it now supplies.  The firm,
says Chairman and CEO Alan Shugart, has encountered major expenses
converting old assembly lines to make the newer, smaller drives,
which now account for only ten percent of Seagate's business.

While shareholders of the publicly traded company are livid,
insiders say the company's woes are only short-term.  California
Technology Stock Letter ( 10/21/88 edition) says that Seagate
drives have been discovered inside an Apple Macintosh SE and "We
think it won't be too long before an Apple-Seagate contract is
announced."  The weekly newsletter goes on to say that sources
inside Seagate have confirmed that Big Blue has also signed on the
dotted line.  "We believe Seagate already has an unannounced contract
with IBM."  The newsletter advises that its readers, in fact, buy
Seagate stock now before it goes much higher than its present
price around $8 dollars.

[***][11/01/88][***]
SONY FIRST TO SHIP ERASABLE OPTICAL DRIVES
SAN FRANCISCO (NB) -- Despite the hubbub surrounding the new Canon
rewritable optical disk drive coming on Steve Jobs' NeXT workstation,
another firm, Sony, is actually shipping similar drives to
original equipment and computer manufacturers.  Sony, of Park
Ridge, New Jersey, says its SMO-S501 subsystem and SM0-D501 drive
stores 650 megabytes of data on rewritable cartridges that
conform to current international standards.  They should, therefore,
be usable on optical drives from other manufacturers which have
adopted the ANSI (American National Standards Institute and International
Standards Organization) specifications.  Optical drives conforming
to these standards are promised from Maxtor, Sharp, Hitachi,
and Olympus, all of which promise their optical drives will be
available next year.  The Canon drive used in the NeXT workstation,
however, is not expected to conform to ANSI standards.

Sony says while it has agreements with manufacturers, none can
be currently announced.  The drive is priced at $4,650 to OEMs.

[***][11/01/88][***]
MICROSOFT COFOUNDER GIVES $10 MILLION TO UNIVERSITY
SEATTLE (NB) -- Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen has given more money
to the University of Washington than anyone in its history, providing
the University with $10 million.  The money is expected to be used
to enhance and maintain its library collection and programs and to
help finance a new addition to the library complex.

Given on behalf of his late father, Kenneth S. Allen, once an
associate director of the University of Washington library, the gift
was made months ago by Paul Allen, but only revealed at a Regents
meeting on October 28.  Allen is estimated to be worth some
$600 million dollars.

UW officials say the gift also ranks among the largest ever given
to any institution of higher learning anywhere in the world.

[***][11/01/88][***]
MICROSOFT/HP/APPLE COURT BATTLE GETS NEW JUDGE
SAN JOSE, Ca. (NB) -- U.S. District Judge Robert Aguilar has been
taken off the "look and feel" lawsuit Apple Computer launched against
rivals Microsoft and Hewlett Packard.  His removal, however, is not
due to Apple's complaint against the judge, filed because his
son works for Hewlett Packard, but is due to an overloaded court,
according to Hewlett Packard spokeswoman Marlene Somsak.

Aguilar refused to remove himself from the Apple suit earlier this
year when Apple attorneys complained about possible conflict of
interest.  The case has since been reassigned to San Francisco-
based Judge William W. Schwarzer who will meet with all the parties
in the suit November 10.

[***][11/01/88][***]
COGSWELL FIRST COLLEGE TO OFFER MUSIC TECHNOLOGY DEGREE
CUPERTINO, Ca. (NB) -- Where else but in Silicon Valley would there
be a college that offers a degree in music technology?  Cogswell
Polytechnical College, a small, private, four-year institution,
is offering a music technology certificate, consisting of a series
of eight courses, this fall and will offer a Bachelor of Science
degree in Music Technology through its School of Engineering,
starting in the fall of 1989.

The certificate course consists of MIDI, synthesis and sampling, and
applications of music technology, "everything there is to know
about MIDI, interfacing computers, and sound design," Dr. Ted
Kastelic, Cogswell's Director of Science and Engineering told NEWSBYTES.

This is the first degree program of its kind in the U.S., as far
as Cogswell officials can tell, although the University of Miami
has a music technology degree through its music school.  "Eighty percent
of the interest we're getting (from recruitment drives) is in this music
program," Kastelic explained, saying he expects demand for the new
course of study to be high.

There will be no shortage of hardware to augment theory.  Casio has
donated $30,000 worth of synthesizers and samplers, Atari has
given the school ten 1040 ST computers, E-mu has donated two E-mac
samplers, and software has been given by Passport Designs of Half
Moon Bay, Ca.  The school's advisory board on the new music program
includes Scott Wedge, president of E-mu Systems, Dave Kusek,
president of Passport Designs, and Dominic Milano, editor of Keyboard
magazine.

CONTACT:  Eric Peterson, Program Director, COGSWELL POLYTECHNICAL COLLEGE,
    408-252-5550

[***][11/01/88][***]
WALL MOUNTED DISPLAYS BY 1990 SAYS RESEARCHER
SANTA CLARA, Ca. (NB) -- The newly emerging technology of flat panel
displays will begin to hit the American consumer electronics market in
the early 1990s, according to Stanford Resources President Joseph
Castellano.  Speaking at a flat panel display conference hosted by
his firm, Castellano said the first flat panel televisions will
measure 10 to 15 inches in width, followed by screens up to 20
inches wide by 1992 or 1994.  Most of them will be coming from
Japan as that country has invested millions of dollars in the
technology already.

[***][11/01/88][***]
FULL SPECTRUM LIGHTING CURE FOR VDT BLUES?
SANTA BARBARA, Ca. (NB) -- As you sit at your terminal squinting at
the screen, are your bones also getting soft, your teeth getting
cavities, does your head hurt, do you feel restless, irritable,
even depressed?  It may be the light.  Research is showing that
"malillumination," or artificial light can be to blame in many a
case of computer fatigue.  Enter a new computer accessory --
full-spectrum lighting as dictated by light research pioneer
Dr. John Ott.

Dr. Ott, a photobiologist who has explored the subject of light and
health for sixty years, has helped design a complete office
lighting system that duplicates the light spectrum put out by the
sun.  The computer light, which hangs above a terminal, is
$379.95 although there are also floor-standing and table models
of the Ott Lights.

Want more information?  You can write Dr. Ott at PO Box 40004,
Crescent Beach, Sarasota, Florida, 34342.  Include a self-addressed,
stamped envelope.  Or you can order the Ott Lights and get literature
on the subject from Ott Light Systems, 306 East Cota Street, Santa
Barbara, Ca. 93101 [phone].

[***][11/01/88][***]
HERCULES GAINS STRONGHOLD IN THE SOVIET UNION
BERKELEY, Ca. (NB) -- Hercules Computer Technology has taken its line
of video enhancement cards behind the Iron Curtain in yet another
sign the trade barriers with the U.S. are falling.  Hercules has
announced that its product line will be distributed by Universal
Systems in partnership with a unit of the Soviet Academy of Sciences.
Product demonstration centers will be located in Moscow, Leningrad, and
four other Soviet cities.  Members of the Academy of Sciences will
directly support the product demonstration centers with Russian
language software sales, hardware sales and service, training,
custom programming, and customer support.

The Soviet Union is virgin territory for the kind of product Hercules sells.
"Most of the 300,000 personal computers in the Soviet Union rely on
the older CGA video display standard.  Hercules is targeting this
present market for upgrades, and will establish the Hercules
standard in the estimated 8000,000 personal computers expected to be
sold in the Soviet Union by 1990," says Hercules Chairman Van
Suwannukul.

[***][11/01/88][***]
SUN MICRO SPLITS STOCK
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Ca. (NB) -- Sun Microsystems, in an attempt to make its
stock more attractive to investors, has split it two-for-one.  The
idea is to attract more small investors, not just the institutional
buyers, says Sun's Chief Executive Scott McNealy.  The stock split
will result in a dividend to current stockholders on December 20.

[***][11/01/88][***]
NEW MACINTOSH BIBLE PUBLISHED
BERKELEY, Ca. (NB) -- The second edition of The Macintosh Bible has
been published by Goldstein & Blair.  A collection of tips, tricks,
and shortcuts on the Macintosh, the book sold over 120,000 copies
in its first edition.  The update includes some 500 pages of new
material including a "Guide for the Perplexed," which helps beginners
to avoid some common confusions.

As we said with the first edition, "We love this book and highly
recommend it."  Ditto for the second edition.  To order contact
John Grimes at 415/524-4000 or find one at your local bookstore.

[***][11/01/88][***]
TELEVIDEO CUTS PRICES
SUNNYVALE, Ca. (NB) -- TeleVideo Systems has slashed prices on its
flagship line of TelOAS open architecture Intel 80286 and 80386-
based computers and its terminal, the 965.  Effective immediately
prices are cut six to eight percent on the computers and 17 percent
on the terminal.   TeleVideo spokesman Ron Nakashima attributes
the price cuts to the easing of the DRAM shortage.

[***][11/01/88][***]
VAPORSOFT PICKS TOP TEN NERDS
BEAVERTON, Oregon (NB) -- Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, Mike Dukakis,
Danny Quayle, Amy Carter, and Florence Griffith Joyner all made
"Top 10 Nerds" designations, according to the people from Vaporsoft,
known best for last year's "Nerd Perfect Vaporware" holiday gag gift.
The team, known this year as the National Entourage of Radical
Deviants, say this of Bill Gates, "You can't teach an old nerd
new tricks.  This is one nerd who fits both the old and the new
categories -- very successful, but his mom sure dresses him funny."

On Mike Dukakis:  "The Harvard Library in a Blue Suit.  Time called
him a nerd in May '88 -- the first Greek-American nerd to wear
lifts."

On Dan Quayle:  The Human Ken Doll.  They actually found someone to play
second fiddle to George.

On Spuds MacKenzie:  "Party Animal?  Limo, yachts, beautiful women,
and even Robin Leach -- all for an ugly mutt with a substance-abuse
problem."

Last year Vaporsoft, a concoction of David Moss and Robert Rini,
offered up Nerd Perfect Vaporware, a $6.95 packet consisting of
an empty floppy disk jacket and user manual detailing the would-be
program's functions.  Want more info on this team?  Call Diana
Soltesz at Smith Marketing Communications in Los Angeles, 213-
551-1130.

[***][11/01/88][***]
PRODIGY SOFTWARE CRASHES REPORTED
ATLANTA (NB) -- Software used for the Prodigy Information Service
is apparently developing bugs. Reports heard by NEWBYTES-SOUTH
indicate the software, required for access to the IBM-Sears
joint-venture in videotex, develops problems after installation
and a period of good service. Those reports were confirmed by
NEWSBYTES-SOUTH, which saw its own review copy of the software
crash October 25. First, the NEWSBYTES computer hung-up on
dialing the service, and subsequently it hung-up on trying to
access the Prodigy software at all -- the machine had to be
switched-off and reset to be useful.

This should not be a surprise. Many programs develop bugs after
they're delivered. Some develop in users' PCs, while others
appear as software is mailed. The problem is more acute for
Prodigy because, unlike other communications services, it
requires use of special software on the user's PC in order to
work. (You can't dial in with Crosstalk or other conventional
communications programs -- you won't get the Prodigy graphics
which reside on the user disks.)

Local spokesman Don Norris promised to send NEWSBYTES-SOUTH new
diskettes immediately, and reported on a minor labeling problem
in which some users of the two-disk 5 1/4 inch version of the
software got two copies of one disk and none of the second.
"It's fixed," he said, turning a negative into a positive.

CONTACT: Brian Ek, PRODIGY, [phone]

[***][11/01/88][***]
THE NEW AT&T STRATEGY -- LOWER TELECOM COSTS FOR ALL
BASKING RIDGE, NJ (NB) -- When last we left AT&T's computer
business, the "LA Times" reported that AT&T data systems group
head Bob Kavner was being introduced to former head Vittorio
Cassoni's tailor, while the "Chicago Tribune" had it that a key
Cassoni ally was whispering in Kavner's ear "cut prices on
Olivetti machines and build market share." AT&T now wants pieces
of both the funds transfer business, and the business of creating
custom networks for big telecom users. During the week of October
25  it announced its new a Systems Integration strategy,
combining telemarketing, customer service, and data
communications problems together. About 200 salesmen in Basking
Ridge will first call on retailers, bankers, brokers, and
manufacturers. They'll also look to strike deals with third-party
equipment suppliers to share the loot.

WHAT IT MEANS -- Major price wars are about to break out all over
telecommunication. Chairman Robert Allen confirmed to "Network
World" AT&T lines will be 100 per cent digital by the end of
1990, increasing call carrying capacity. Judge Greene is
putting increasing pressure on the Bell Operating Companies to
stop favoring AT&T over, say, MCI, even while the latter shows
record earnings. AT&T is putting increasing pressure on Judge
Greene to let it give special rates to the biggest customers, as
it was recently allowed to give Holiday Inn, while MCI president
Bert Roberts complains all the way to the bank that Bell calling
cards are nothing but "AT&T calls in disguise." All this is
excellent news to anyone who uses a phone or a modem. New
equipment to put fax, data, and voice equipment on one line,
merging with a gross over-supply of carrying capacity will make
for both lower bills and new uses on the wires. But it's bad news
for AT&T, and a heavy fight to grow fatter profits.

A final AT&T computer system note. On October 24, AT&T announced
Ralph Martino, an IBM fast-tracker, had joined it as sales vice
president in the Data Systems Group. On October 27, Martino quit
and returned to IBM.

[***][11/01/88][***]
SOFTKLONE ANNOUNCES MIRROR III
TALLAHASSEE, FL (NB) -- Softklone Distributing Co. announced the
release of Mirror III, its Crosstalk-compatible communications
program. The price on the package is up to $100. New features in
this release include PRISM, a new data communications programming
language, and Compressor, which transmits files to other Mirror
systems in a compressed format. New terminal emulations, file
transfer protocols, and local commands are also included.
Softklone says over 200,000 copies of Mirror are now in use
worldwide.

The product, which originally stood out as a low-price
alternative to Crossstalk XVI, now bills itself as having more
features than competitive products. The current retail price is
almost double that of Procomm Plus, a competitive, full-featured
shareware program.

CONTACT: Keith Ackerman, SOFTKLONE, [phone]

[***][11/01/88][***]
ZSOFT PUTS ITS FLAGSHIP UNDER WINDOWS
MARIETTA, GA (NB) -- The Z-Soft division of Mediagenic Corp. has
ported its PC Paintbrush graphics program to Microsoft Windows.
The results, PC Paintbrush for Windows, will cost $150 when it
ships in December, and owners of existing PC Paintbrush products
can upgrade to it for $65. Tighter scanner support is offered,
including a pre-scan feature so you can check out what you're
scanning at a low resolution before taking the time to pick it up
at high resolution. The Windows environment also will let you
pick up a typeface or logo from paper quickly, then load it into
the PC Paintrbrush Type Foundry bit-map quickly, then into a
publishing package such as Aldus' PageMaker. And any PC which runs
Windows will also get full support for any scanner or printer
which Windows supports.

CONTACT: Z-SOFT, [phone]

[***][11/01/88][***]
CRAY STUMBLES ON CHIP PROBLEMS
MINNEAPOLIS, MN (NB) -- In response to a bad earnings report,
chip crashes in the newest product line and development problems
with the next-generation Cray III line, supercomputer giant Cray
Research has given its people the Herculean task of installing 27
Cray Y-MPs by the end of the year. Wall Street cut $250 million
off the market value of the company in one day after the firm
announced quarterly earnings of $22.6 million, down from $36.11
million a year ago, and sales of $145.21 million, down from
$184.64 million a year ago. The chip crash announcement followed
on October 25. Chairman John Rollwagon expressed confidence to
"The Wall Street Journal" his company can meet its deadlines,
which would give it a 5-7 percent sales and earnings boost over
1987.

The problems with the Cray 3's gallium arsenide chips, and with
building a new Colorado Springs factory, cost $10 million that
analysts were hoping would flow to shareholders. More important,
new developments in parallel computer and neurocomputing have
led analysts to speculate Seymour Cray may be going up a dead-end
in his search for more speed through faster chips, and that
perhaps Supercomputer Systems President Steve Chen, who left a
year ago after trying to implement parallel computing in the Cray
line, was smarter than his mentor.

CONTACT: Gina Bonetti, CRAY RESEARCH [phone]

[***][11/01/88][***]
ILLINOIS RESEARCHER MAY HAVE FOUND PARALLEL-COMPUTING ANSWER
CHICAGO (NB) -- University of Illinois researchers at the Center
for Supercomputing Research and Development at Champaign-Urbana,
led by David Kuck, have announced an innovative architecture
called the Cedar System, which could make large-scale parallel
processing possible and put Cray-like power, or more, within the
reach of every desktop. Kuck said his architecture, which
combines hardware switches and software, has been used to link
two sets of processors and memory together, and the system could
be used with as many as 256 processors at once."It's a very nice
network for interconnecting processors and memories in a way
that's very fast," Kuck was quoted as saying. The Cedar system proved its
mettle, Kuck continued, by plowing through several complex
benchmark programs at speeds close to that of the Cray X-MP,
which goes for $16 million. The systems used in the test,
however, were Alliant minisupercomputers priced at roughly
$500,000 each.

[***][11/01/88][***]
INTELLIGENT SYSTEMS' MOVES MAKE IT A COMPUTER VENTURE FUND
NORCROSS, GA (NB) -- Intelligent Systems  sold the controlling
half of its Video 7 graphics board unit to LSI Logic, Milpitas,
CA, on October 27. LSI paid $9.9 million for half a business,
Intelligent Systems' Director of Planning Bonnie Herron told
NEWSBYTES, at a cost $4 million just a few years ago. The
company's deal to sell its Peachtree Software subsidiary to
management, which she called another profitable "deal" for the
company, should be complete in a few weeks, Herron said. Earlier
this year the company sold its Intecolor division, which makes
color terminals, to managers led by founder Charles Muench.

Two years ago, before becoming "private" in name only -- shares
called "units" are traded on the American Stock Exchange --
Chairman Leland Strange was openly shopping the company. Herron
said he now has a different vision of the future, as a computer
industry venture fund with teeth. She pointed to a recent
investment in Brier Technology, San Jose, CA, makers of a new
high-density 3 1/2 floppy, as an indication of future direction.
If it exercises all its warrants, Intelligent Systems will soon
own 60 per cent of Brier. "If the product is a hit, we have said
that at appropriate valuations we'd sell any subsidiary," Herron
said. (You might want to think of Leland Strange now as a
"conglomerateur", a sort of J.B. Fuqua (or Gordon Gekko, for those
who prefer a more sinister interpretation) of the chip set.)

CONTACT: Bonnie Herron, INTELLIGENT SYSTEMS, [phone]

[***][11/01/88][***]
COMPAQ EXPANDING SINGAPORE OPERATIONS
HOUSTON (NB) -- Compaq Computer, which announced another record
quarter for the period ending September 30, will put $75 million
(S$150 million) into Singapore operations over the next four
years. When the investments are in place, Compaq will have 1,200
employees in Singapore, its largest collection of manpower
outside the home base in Texas.

CONTACT: Bob Beach, COMPAQ [phone]

[***][11/01/88][***]
IBM INFORMATION NETWORK TO BE WORLDWIDE SERVICE MONIKER
TAMPA, FL (NB) -- This West Florida city will be the head office
for the coming battle between IBM and AT&T. The field is data
communications. IBM has given its value added network services
worldwide a single service mark -- IBM Information Network. The
same services will be offered in North America, Europe and Asia,
including funds transfers. Syd Heaton is the executive in charge.
The key advantage IBM has is a single operation and billing
procedure worldwide, without having to go through local PTTs
(postal monopolies) or single-nation carriers. The strategy is
most similar, in fact, to that of Dialcom, the British Telecom-
owned online network.


[***][11/01/88][***]
YOU READ IT HERE FIRST/WEEK OF NOVEMBER 1, 1988

Copyright 1988/Written by W. A. Yacco, EXCLUSIVE to NEWSBYTES

In this week's installment...

 - VGA ENTRY TO BE UNVEILED IN LAS VEGAS...Quadram Will Announce

 - WRITERS ARBITRARILY BARRED FROM CONTEST...Kick Off Or Kick Out?
                                 or the Mystery of the Missing Month

 - MERCY, MERCY, MERCY...What's It Called When You Charge For It?

 - FIBER-OPTIC LAN DEBUTS FOR PC'S...Company Claims First For
                                     Graphics Applications

VGA ENTRY TO BE UNVEILED IN LAS VEGAS
NORCROSS, Ga (NB) -- Quadram is planning to announce its own VGA
card at Fall Comdex this year.  According to an early report, the
board will also feature extensions to the VGA standard developed by
IBM.  The Quadram board is expected to include resolutions of 800 by
600 and 1024 by 768.  It will also support digital as well as analog
monitors with both 9- and 15-pin connectors.

Standard video memory is limited to 256 KB but that RAM is rated at
100 NS.  The board will support up to 256 colors in its 800-by-600
mode as shipped.  An upgrade to 512 KB will support a like number of
colors at the highest-resolution, 1024-by-768 mode.

The announcement comes close on the heels of the split between
Quadram's parent holding company, Intelligent Systems, and former
subsidiary Video Seven.  Intelligent Systems very recently divested
itself of most of its remaining interest in the graphic-card
manufacturer.  Previously, video adapters were sometimes comarketed
by the two companies.  Quadram's latest board was developed without
the participation of Video Seven, however, according to a
spokesperson.


WRITERS ARBITRARILY BARRED FROM CONTEST
SAN JOSE, Ca (NB) -- Acer Incorporated and the Computer Museum of
Boston are cosponsoring a contest for computer journalists.  The
Excellence in Technology Communications 1989 award program will be
kicked off at the St. Tropez Hotel in Las Vegas the Sunday before
Fall Comdex.  Keynoter Burt Rutan will speak to a group of
journalists which is expected to exceed 100.

Two potentially troublesome details of the contest seem to have been
overlooked by the promoters, however.  First, the contest is limited
to articles of 2,000 or more words.  That's a lot of space for most
trade magazines.  So, many articles are shorter than that.  The
requirement will eliminate many journalists altogether.  Some of
them may even be excellent.  Of course, management of the selection
process will be simplified, certainly a very worthy end in itself.
Second, according to an official announcement, the contest runs from
August 1, 1988 to July 1, 1989.  That leaves out articles published
in journals between July 1 and 31.  A good three issues of most
weeklies and a biweekly issue or two can be eliminated.  I suppose
that it is possible to leave out nearly a whole month and still
designate the contest as covering a year.  But is it excellent?


MERCY, MERCY, MERCY
PASADENA, Ca (NB) -- Could the writers at one publication have had
advance notice of an upcoming contest?  They seem to already be
competing for something at TriCity Business.  According to an
insider, the regional business journal enjoys such a high reputation
with computer journalists that some work for the publication for
free.  Supposedly, the annual computer special, due in November, has
received donations from several members of the Computer Press
Association who are apparently smitten by its panache.

If this is true, it is certainly a laudable act to be emulated by
other writers on behalf of their publications.  Yes!  Let's all take
up the cause and donate our work to those poor, altruistic
benefactors of writers, and mankind in general, everywhere:
publishers.  This would be very easy to do with many, if not most,
of this loveable breed.  Just don't remind them when they fail to
send the check or when it's for less than promised.  You'll be
surprised by how many opportunities there will be.  Well, maybe, not
surprised exactly.

Of course, if this is a trend, then one of the requirements for CPA
membership should be PAID writing experience.  We certainly don't
want anyone to lose their amateur standing on a technicality during
the next Olympics.  On the other hand, maybe those writers are just
getting a jump on next year's awards after all.  And, maybe Ben
Johnson doesn't take steroids.


FIBER-OPTIC LAN DEBUTS FOR PC'S
HASBROUCK HEIGHTS, Nj (NB) -- Proteus Technology is reportedly
already taking orders on an, as yet, unannounced product with which
it expects to shake up the multiuser graphics community.  The
company is expected to officially roll out its new graphic-terminal
network for PC-based systems at Fall Comdex.  However, company CEO
Krish Shetty expects the product to begin shipping to selected
customers by this week.

The 32 Mb/sec. fiber-optic LAN is ". . .the first solution in the PC
environment to allow you to run graphic applications at terminals
without any degradation in speed," according to Proteus spokesperson
Roman Anderson.  The system's operating parameters should make it
well suited for CAD/CAM, desktop publishing and other graphics
applications which require the movement of very large data files.
By comparison, mainframe selector channels communicate to high-speed
peripherals at a rate of 50,000 bytes/sec or .4 Mb/sec.

Called LightWave, the network adapters are available for the system
in configurations which will support maximums of either four or
eight terminals.  A base system with a 25 MHz. '386 processor, 4 MB
memory and 4 terminals will list for less than $13,000 including the
system's Xenix operating software.  Contact: [phone].
============================================================
[***][11/01/88][***]
COMPUTER ASSOCIATES HONORS SOFTRAK PRODUCT
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (NB) -- Computer Associates Canada
Ltd. has named the Acctrak Report Writer its 1988 Accpac Access
program Companion Product of the Year.  Acctrak, from Softrak
Systems Inc. of Vancouver, works with CA's Accpac Plus accounting
software to produce custom management reports.

First shipped in May, Acctrak is installed at more than 400
sites.  That's one of the fastest product penetrations ever for
an Accpac companion product, CA said.  Computer Associates
licenses third parties to develop companion products using its
Accpac Access library.  Companion products enhance or work with
CA software, and must meet standards set by Computer Associates.
Softrak, founded in 1984, was one of the first Access licensees.
Last year CA named Softrak Consultant of the Year for its custom
programming and database repair service.

Acctrak sells for C$895 in Canada, $695 in the United States.

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

[***][11/01/88][***]
TORONTO DEALERS MERGE
TORONTO (NB) -- World of Software, which bills itself as Canada's
largest software reseller with 20,000 corporate clients, has
merged with Business World, which sells IBM-compatible PCs and
peripherals.  The new company will carry the Business World name,
with World of Software and World of Hardware divisions.  The
merged company will have annual sales close to C$50 million.
There are plans to open sales offices across the country.

CONTACT: BUSINESS WORLD, [phone]

[***][11/01/88][***]
ATARI USERS TO MEET
TORONTO (NB) -- The Toronto Atari Federation will sponsor the
first Canadian Atari Users Convention here November 6.  The one-
day event at the Airport Hilton International Hotel, near
Toronto's Lester B. Pearson International Airport, will feature
about 50 exhibits of Atari-related products and a series of
seminars.  Show hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

CONTACT: TORONTO ATARI FEDERATION, [phone]

[***][11/01/88][***]
TELEGLOBE PRESIDENT URGES INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (NB) -- Regulators shouldn't take for
granted the ease with which information flows across borders,
Jean-Claude Delorme, president of Teleglobe Canada Inc., said
October 27.  Speaking to the annual conference of the Canadian
Association of Members of Public Utility Tribunals, Delorme said
global information flow is the result of years of collaboration
and careful standards development.

Delorme said continued telecommunications regulation is important
to maintaining standards.  He said international standards and
regulatory bodies are the best way to preserve international
standards.

Teleglobe is a subsidiary of Memotec Data Inc. of Montreal.

CONTACT: TELEGLOBE CANADA INC., 680 Sherbrooke St. W., Montreal,
         Que. H3A 2S4, [phone]

[***][11/01/88][***]
MINISTRY SIGNS CONTRACT FOR CAREER SOFTWARE
TORONTO (NB) -- The Ontario Ministry of Education has signed a
two-year contract to distribute Choices Jr. software in the
province's senior elementary and secondary schools.  The contract
with Canada Systems Group Ltd. is worth C$456,000.  Choices Jr.
is a microcomputer-based system designed to introduce students
aged 10 to 15 to career planning.  CSG, now in the process of
being merged into STM Systems Corp. of Markham, Ontario,
distributes the software worldwide.  Choices Jr. is used in
schools across Canada, in more than 30 U.S. states and in several
countries in Europe.

CONTACT: CANADA SYSTEMS GROUP LTD., 393 University Ave.,
         Toronto, Ont. M5G 2H9, [phone]

[***][11/01/88][***]
BITS, EH?
-- COMPUTER ASSOCIATES CANADA LTD., Vancouver, British Columbia,
said it will ship Version 5.1 of its Accpac Plus System Manager/2
announcing software for OS/2 in the first quarter of 1989.  The
software will ship with LanPak Version 5.1.  The new version will
run in OS/2 protected mode on a 3Com Corp. 3+Open network.

-- BELL CANADA, Montreal, has started working on the order
backlog left by a four-month strike.  Workers were back on the
job October 28 after accepting a three-year contract.  Bell
expects it will take until the end of the year to catch up on
installation orders.

-- NEWBRIDGE NETWORKS CORP., Kanata, Ontario, has expanded its
joint marketing agreement with Digital Microwave Corp., San Jose,
Calif.  Currently working together with utilities in the United
Kingdom, the companies plan to expand their joint efforts to
other selected countries and market segments.

-- CANADA SYSTEMS GROUP, Toronto, says two Canadian banks are
using a version of its Investment Accounting System to offer
special savings plans under the province of Ontario's Home
Ownership Savings Program.  The program allows credits on savings
toward buying a house.  CSG modified its software to meet
government reporting requirements.

-- THE INFORMATION RESOURCE MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION OF CANADA
(IRMAC) is the new name of what was the Data Base Association of
Ontario.  The professional association has chapters in Toronto
and Ottawa.

[***][11/01/88][***]
NEC RELEASES NEW MODELS OF PC-9801 SERIES
TOKYO (NB) -- NEC has released new high-end 32-bit laptop personal
computers in its Japanese de facto standard PC-9801 series.  PC-9801 LS
has two central processing units (CPU), Intel i80386SX and NEC's 16-bit
V30, which realizes full compatibility with other PC-9801
machines.  The laptop machine, which does not have a battery, comes with a
15-gradation plasma display with 640 x 400 pixels and 1.6 megabytes of
main memory.  LS2 is priced at 628,000 yen or $4,800 with two
3.5-inch floppy disk drives and weighs 8.1 kg.  On the other hand,
LS5 weighs 8.8 kg and costs 866,000 yen or $6,500 with a 3.5-inch,
40 megabyte hard disk drive.

Moreover, NEC has released two other upgraded models.  PC-9801
VM11, successor to VM21, has A 10 MHz CPU and two 5-inch floppy disk
drives (FDDs).A 20 or 40 megabyte hard drive are options on the desktop
machine, which has 88% smaller footprint and consumes 65% less
power than its predecessor -- accomplished by three kinds of custom
large-size integrated circuits (LSIs).  The price is 328,000 yen
or $2,500.  Meanwhile, the laptop PC-98LT Model 22 has a liquid crystal
display with 640 x 400 pixels.  It weighs 3.9 kg and costs 288,000
yen or $2,200.

NEC will ship the four models at the beginning of next month and
expects to sell a total of 100,000 units within a year.

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

[***][11/01/88][***]
NO NEED FOR STENOGRAPHERS?
TOKYO (NB) -- Hitachi has developed a voice recognition
system based on the technology of neurocomputing and fuzzy logic.
The new technology realizes high-precision voice recognition
beyond pattern recognition technology.

The voices are recognized as follows. To start, neural networks
learn the characteristics of twelve sounds necessary for voice
judgement.    At the same time, they select out certain sounds
using the pattern recognition technology.  After that, the fuzzy
computer logic decides the priority for correct words.  Finally, the
system analyzes the words for relationships and decides the
context in which they are being used.

The new technology can recognize about 95% of some 3,000
words so far, according to the company.  Hitachi promises to apply
the technology to a document retrieval system.

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

[***][11/01/88][***]
MULTIPROCESSING WORKSTATION DUE FROM FUJITSU
TOKYO (NB) -- Fujitsu has released A 32-bit machine which combines
the features of its multifunctional workstation FACOM 9450 series
and those of its major personal computer FMR-50 series.

FMR-50 lambda, the successor of FACOM 9450 lambda mkII, has two
central processing units, 16-bit MN1617X and 32-bit 80386, which
realize a data processing speed twice as fast as its predecessor
and 1.7 times faster than FMR-50.  The machine can be installed
on APCS, the operating system for the 9450 series, and MS-DOS for FMR
series, therefore it can use all the programs for both series.  With
APCS running two programs and MS-DOS one program simultaneously,
FMR-50 lambda realizes multitasking.

The basic price for the machine with two 5-inch floppy disk drives
is 500,000 yen or $3,800, a 20 megabyte hard disk drive is 650,000
yen or $5,000, and a 40 megabyte HDD is 730,000 yen or $5,600.
Fujitsu expects to ship the new model at the end of next May and
sell 100,000 units within three years.

CONTACT: Fujitsu, 1-6-1 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100

[***][11/01/88][***]
IBM JAPAN TO PROMOTE DEVELOPMENT OF OS/2 APPLICATIONS
TOKYO (NB) -- IBM Japan intends to increase the number of software
products available for Japanese OS/2.  Though 50 programs are
expected to be released by the end of this year, IBM Japan wants
to make the number at least 100 by next June, when OS/2 will be
shipped.

In order to support development of application programs,
IBM Japan will supply OS/2 window simulation software called
Cordkit to software houses at the cost of 60,000 yen or $450
per package, and also, plans to hold seminars on OS/2.

CONTACT: IBM Japan, 3-1-12 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo 106

[***][11/01/88][***]
IBM TO GO INTO LOCAL BUSINESS
TOKYO (NB) -- IBM Japan has launched an aggressive plan to widen
its sphere of influence by investing in local companies in each
prefecture in Japan.  So far some 17 firms have received IBM Japan
investments and another 23 more are expected to receive money from
IBM Japan within three years.  Eventually, the Japanese arm of Big
Blue wants a total of 300 firms with which it will jointly do
business.

Part of the logic behind this move is the establishment of networks
which will link each of the firms in each prefecture with those in
major cities.  Also, it's clear that IBM Japan is seeking to
integrate its hardware and software offerings with those of other
companies in order to create the best software/hardware combinations
for many kinds of industries.

[***][11/01/88][***]
SIGMA PROJECT CLOSER TO REALITY
TOKYO (NB) -- Japan's information ministry, MITI, is closer to
achieving its goal of creating a universal programming language,
through something called the Sigma Project; an operating system
research committee, part of the Information Technology Promotion
Agency, a branch of MITI (Ministry of International Trade and
Industries), will shortly begin research on a standard version
of Unix, expected to be Unix version 4.0.  That operating system
is expected to become the basis of the Sigma operating system.

The Sigma Project's goal is to develop an operating system with
a simplified user interface and programming method so that
software design and execution will be far easier to accomplish
than it is today.  The Project's urgency is due to an expected
shortage of qualified software engineers in the 1990s.

[***][11/01/88][***]
FAMILY COMPUTER COMMUNICATION MORE A FAMILY FEUD
TOKYO (NB) -- Battle lines are being drawn by two opposing alliances
which each aim to set up a network for trade of stocks and bonds
at home via Nintendo's phenomenally-selling Family Computer.  On
one side of the ring is Nintendo, the computer's creator, which is
allied with Nomura Securities, a big Tokyo trading house.   This
group boasts the support of some 73 companies which include Nippon
Express, hotels, insurance companies, and other securities firms.

On the other side is Microcore, a software house, which has teamed
up with Yamaichi, Daiwa, Nikko Securities, another big Tokyo investment
firm.  The latter team has the support of Bridgestone, East Japan
Railways, and seven other companies.  At stake in this battle is
billions of dollars in the newly-established home stock trading and
tracking business.

[***][11/01/88][***]
TELESTAR SETS BOARDS FOR HITACHI AND SUNTORY
TOKYO (NB) -- Trailblazer Japanese personal computer network
TeleStar has unified its S1-club and Hitachi's Echo Net.  S1-club
had been operated on TeleStar with the assistance of Hitachi for users
of Hitachi's 8-bit personal computers, MB-S1.  On the other hand,
Echo Net had been operated by Hitachi for its 16-bit personal
computer, B16 users.  TeleStar has unified these into one.
TeleStar is accessed by nine areas of Japan and provides general
information, newly released model information, technical advice
and a question and answer corner for Hitachi's personal computers and
word processor users.

Meanwhile, TeleStar established a board for Japan's leading liquor
maker, Suntory, to provide its coming product information and T.V.
advertisement music explanations and Suntory restaurant guides.

CONTACT : TeleStar, Zenraku Bldg. 5F, 1-37-1 Yoyogi, Shibuya-ku,
          Tokyo 151

[***][11/01/88][***]
<< SUSHI BYTES >>

APPLE TO DEVELOP JAPANESE MARKET -- Apple Computer has established
a research and development center in its Tokyo office.  The U.S.-
based Apple Computer has the same kind of center in the U.S. and
Europe; the Tokyo-based R&D center attempts to develop and
strengthen Apple business in the Pacific basin, including Japan,
Canada, Australia,  and other Asian countries.  Meanwhile, the
company is on the look-out for a Japanese president for  Apple Japan
and has started to select suitable persons.

SEGA IMPORTS U.S. MADE CHIPs -- Major game computer maker,
Sega Enterprises, Tokyo, has announced that its new product, Sega
Megadrive, has a  32-bit micro processing unit, 68000.  Sega
has contracted with Signetics Corp. of U.S. to purchase one
million MPUs  for a year.  Motorola has licenced to produce the
MPU for Signetics and Signetics is to produce the 16-bit external
processing and 32-bit internal processing high performance MPU.  Sega
has targeted the low-priced but high-powered MPU for its new and
low-priced high performance game computer.

CD ENCYCLOPEDIA -- Japanese major encyclopedia publisher TBS
Britanica Co., Ltd., Tokyo, has successfully developed a new
encyclopedia with compact disc read only memory.
Its twenty-nine volume Britanica encyclopedia has sold over
one million sets in the past twenty years at the price of 270,000 yen
or $2,160.  The CD-ROM contains 132,000 items, 30 million
characters, which is equals to six volumes of the encyclopedia, and
provides one million keywords to find target material.  The
system price of the CD-ROM with the special player will be set
around 280,000 yen or $2,240 and installed on Japanese de facto
standard, NEC PC-9800 series.  Unfortunately, the shipping date
for the CD-ROM has not been announced yet.

UNIX BATTLE INVOLVES TOKYO -- The hot controversy for standardization
of UNIX will center in Tokyo with the establishment of branches of both
sides in the dispute, the Open Software Foundation and AT&T group.
OSF has established its office in Apollo Computer Japan , and
three other member companies, Digital Equipment Corporation,
Japan, Yokogawa Hewlett Packard, and IBM Japan, have already sent
representatives to the office.

RUSH FOR 1M DRAM PRODUCTION -- NMB Semiconductor, Chiba, will
announce the world's fastest one megabit dynamic RAM with an access
time of 60 to 80 nanoseconds.  In order to meet the
demand of U.S. major computer makers, such as IBM and Sun
Microsystems, NMB will start supplying samples at the end of
this year and volume production will start next year.  The company
promises to produce one million one megabit DRAMs per month.

TOSHIBA PREPARES 4M DRAM PRODUCTION -- Toshiba has begun sample
production of 4 megabyte random access memories in its Ohita factory
since the introduction of new lines in October.  However, the
leading 1M DRAM producer has no intention to win the race with other makers.
Therefore, volume production promises to be far in the
future.

WANG TO DEVELOP ITS JAPANESE MARKET -- Wang Computer Ltd.,
a Japanese subsidiary of Wang Laboratories in U.S., has increased
its capital from 20 million yen or $16,000, to 300 million yen or
$240,000 on November 1, 1988.  The company had been doing its
business with foreign capital companies in Japan, and aims to
develop more Japanese users with this capital investment 100% owned by
its parent company.  To start, the company has launched into the Japanese
market its Wang Integrated Image System which has enough power
to operate with Japanese language processing.

U.S. CHIP MAKER AIMS FOR JAPANESE MARKET -- The U.S.-based
semiconductor maker, Xicor, Inc. has announced establishment of a
Japanese subsidiary in Tokyo.  The company has invested five
million yen or $40,000 for the capital of Xicor Japan and
picked Mr. Makoto Kawakami from Intel Japan for its president.

[***][11/01/88][***]
IBM BELGIUM ANNOUNCES PERSONAL APPLICATION SYSTEM
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM (NB) -- IBM finally ushered in the world of
application systems, a "personal" version, titled PAS, designed
to answer needs of users who want an easier user interface for
their /370 MVS and VM systems.

PAS follows SAA (System Application Architecture) in its
operation and is the first time IBM has been able to offer
users of its large systems an easy-to-use interface. This
new user interface is designed for people who don't know much
about computers and provides them with menus in its operation.

PAS offers entry into various IBM database products including
AS, DB2, SQL/DS, TSO and VSAM. It also offers access to PC-based
databases such as DIF and DOS as well as dBASE III and dBASE
III +.

In a related story, IBM West Germany announced that CAEDS 3, the
latest version of the structural analysis program, is now
available with enhanced capabilities. The program uses finite
element analysis and offers solid modelling and 3D presentation.
In addition, extraction and revolution of the design are done in
real time.  CAEDS 3 runs under a /370 system or on the
RT/PC (6150) RISC-based (reduced instruction set computer)
computer.

Finally, in the field of CAM (computer-aided manufacturing), IBM
West Germany announced Plant Floor Series, a set of software
packages design to assist plant floor operations, which runs under
MVS on the 9370 series of systems.

[***][11/01/88][***]
POSITRONICA PRESENTS ALDUS PERSUASION TO THE EUROPEAN MARKET
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM (NB) -- Positronica, a group of companies
throughout Europe that distribute 3Com and Aldus products,
announced Persuasion, a presentation package for the Apple
Macintosh.

Persuasion includes a complete set of tools for creating user
presentations in black and white or color, including full-
function outlining, word processing, drawing, charting, and
layout. Presenters simply select one of the auto-template
formats and type their ideas into the outliner.

The program contains tools for lines, rectangles, and other
design elements. It also accepts files produced in PICT, PICT2
and EPS format, similar to those offered by MacDraw and MacDraw
II.

Persuasion was not developed by Aldus by bought from an
independent developer in the beginning of 1988. The program runs
on the Mac II and Macintosh Plus and SE and can display up to
256 colors (Mac II only) from a palette of 16.7 million.

[***][11/01/88][***]
EC IMPROVING COMMUNICATIONS FOR THE DISABLED
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM (NB) -- The European Community (composed of
Belgium, The Netherlands, Luxembourg, the United Kingdom,
Republic of Ireland, France, Spain, Greece, Portugal, Italy
Denmark and West Germany) has instituted a program to ease the
troubles experienced by the disabled and elderly in the area of
usage and facilities offered by today's telephone, tomorrow's
ISDN (integrated services data network), and the future's IBCN
(integrated broadband communication network).

The program is intended to determine the requirements of the disabled and
elderly in the fields of telephone access and usage, as well the
impact of such technologies on them. Currently, there are more
than 5% (by 1992 more than 20%) elderly and disabled people in
the EC countries and it is feared that they will become isolated in an
era of advanced telecommunications capabilities.

The study consists of three work groups.  The first will collect
the required information while the second group will study the
practical needs of the disabled. Finally, the third group will
discuss the future telecommunications and "teleinformatic"
possibilities and problems.

[***][11/01/88][***]
IBM FINALIZES THE IBM INFORMATION NETWORK
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM (NB) -- IBM finally completed the long-awaited
IBM Information Network which spans North America, Europe and
the Far East, and offers complete database access from all these areas
be it Ireland or Hong Kong. The network covers more than
70 countries. Mike Kos, IBM's director for the IIN, said, "Today's
announcement underlines our desire to help our clients in all
industry sectors so that they can conclude their business using
our computer network."  (For details on the network, see this week's
NEWSBYTES-SOUTH/MIDWEST.)

[***][11/01/88][***]
GIGATAPE OFFERS 1.2GB BACKUP ON A TINY 2" CASSETTE
ANTWERP, BELGIUM (NB) -- CCA Belgium and Gigatape, a French
company, have introduced a new type of back-up system based on
video recording technology that can backup 1.2 GB (gigabytes or
1 billion bytes of data) on one 2-inch cassette.  This cassette
is about two-thirds the size of a normal audio cassette. The system
offers 1.5 megabyte per second transfer and transfers 1.2 gigabytes
of data in under 800 seconds, or around 13.5 minutes.

[***][11/01/88][***]
EC USES UNIX SYSTEM FOR THEIR GATT DIVISION
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM (NB) -- Although the European Community staffers
are urged by the EC to use European-made products, often no
European products exist which can demonstrate ease of use, facilities,
and adaptability to the needs of the Euro-civil servants.

The GATT (General Agreement of Trade and Tariffs) division of
DG1 (Directorate General One, the division that deals with
external affairs) recently installed a Unix system that has Wyse
terminals and runs Q-Office. Q-Office is a powerful office
automation package by Quadratron, offering word processing, database
management, mail merge and electronic mail.

The EC chose Unix because it is currently the only operating
system that can execute on Intel 80386 and 80286-based systems with
multi-user and multitasking facilities as well as mail
facilities.

[***][11/01/88][***]
BIGGER IS BETTER AND CHEAPER; TOWERS
AACHEN, WEST GERMANY (NB) -- Tower systems, the name given PC clones
packaged in a towering case, are doing well judging by the
prices and quantities being shipped. The trend, according to
Louis Heessels of CCA Europe, is due "to the need for many
customers in Europe to show a real computer; that is a computer
that is big and takes space in an office."

OBIS Computer, based in Aachen, has finally broken ground and is
selling a tower-based XT system with two 360KB drives and 640K
of RAM for only DM 1800 (about $900). Most shops sell the tower
case for half of this price!  Obis is also selling a '286-based,
AT system with a 20MB hard disk for DM 3200 (about $1600).

[***][11/01/88][***]
CHIP MAGAZINE PUTS THE COMMODORE PC20 AT NUMBER 1 SLOT
MUNICH, WEST GERMANY (NB) -- CHIP magazine, in its monthly
breakdown of best sellers, finally put the Commodore PC20 at
number one position for November 1988. The PC20 is followed by
the Compaq Deskpro 286, Tandon PCA (Tandon is experiencing great
success in Europe), and by the Schneider PC2640 (there are rumours
that Schneider will do better now that it has split up from
Amstrad and its products are designed in Germany).

Continuing the list, the Amiga 2000 (soon to be followed by the
Amiga 3000 to be introduced at Comdex) is followed by the Commodore
PC40, the Tandon PAC, the IBM PS/2 model 60 (the IBM model has
taken a fall in sales), the Amstrad PC1640, and finally the
IBM PS/2 model 30. You will notice that the impact of the PS/2
model 286 has been very limited at present in West Germany.

In the home computer list, Commodore heads with the 64 and the
Amiga 500, with Amstrad 6128 and 464 following close. At fifth
place is the Schneider EURO-PC, followed by the Commodore 128D,
the Atari 1040ST, Atari 520-STM, Amiga 1000 and the Amstrad
Joyce Word processing system.


[***][11/01/88][***]
STOCKHOLDER SUES LOTUS FOR LATE 1-2-3
BOSTON (NB) -- Matthew Berliner, who bought 500 shares of Lotus
Development Corp. for $24.75 a share in March and sold them in
August for $18 a share, has sued the software company. He
alleges that Lotus mislead him about delays in the 1-2-3
spreadsheet program. Berliner's suit, filed in federal court,
says Lotus Chairman Jim Manzi and Alexander d'Argeloff, a Lotus
director, put out "false and misleading information" about when
the long-delayed 1-2-3 would ship. While Manzi and others in the
know were able to cash in large blocks of Lotus stock at big
profits, the court filing says, other shareholders were
shortchanged when the stock value fell after Lotus went public
with the delays. Lotus says the suit is "entirely without merit."

[***][11/01/88][***]
OS/2 PRESENTATION MANAGER ON THE WAY?
NEW YORK (NB) -- Microsoft Corp. and IBM may be unveiling
Presentation Manager, the graphic interface for the OS/2
operating system. The two companies have scheduled a press
conference and a meeting with security analysts, but declined to
give details on what they would discuss. There is widespread
speculation that the event will be to hype Presentation Manager,
which IBM and Microsoft earlier said would be out by the end of
October.

[***][11/01/88][***]
DEC AND ASHTON-TATE PUT DBASE ON VAX
MAYNARD, Mass. (NB) -- Digital Equipment Corp. has signed a
marketing and development agreement with Ashton-Tate Corp. to put
the dBase database program into Digital's VAX/VMS and Ultrix
(Unix) environments. "This key agreement will provide a
leadership solution that meets the needs of our users," said
Digital President Kenneth Olsen. The deal marks the first time
dBase has been available on multiuser computers and 32-bit
workstations.

Digital has also announced a new file service for personal
computer networks. Called PCLAN/Server 2000, an $18,000 package
that includes a MicroVAX 2000 plus a control console and software
to tie 16 PCs together. The servers can be linked into other
networks, greatly expanding the size of the system.

[***][11/01/88][***]
IBM TO BUNDLE WINDOWS AND WORKS
RYE BROOK, N.Y. (NB) -- International Business Machines Corp.
will bundle Microsoft Corp.'s Windows operating environment and
Works integrated applications package with all purchases of PS/2
Model 25 machines with a hard disk, provided the machine is
purchased at a college or university that has a workstation
marketing program with Big Blue. In selected institutions, IBM is
bundling Windows, Word, and Excel, Microsoft's software stars,
with purchases PS/2 models 50Z and 70.

Elsewhere on the Big Blue beat, winemaker John Ransome of New
Paltz, N.Y., a former IBM employee, has dropped plans to produce
two new wines under the label "Big Blue." Ransome says he does
not want to "inflame" IBM. Earlier, IBM won a copyright
infringement suit against a firm that tried to market at
typewriter ribbon named "Big Blue." Ransome promises that he will
come up with "another fun name" for the wines. Maybe WinePerfect?

[***][11/01/88][***]
UNISYS INDICTED FOR GOVERNMENT CONTRACT VIOLATIONS
BLUE BELL, Pa. (NB) -- Unisys Corp. has been indicted by a
federal grand jury in Alabama on charges the former Sperry
Federal Information Systems Division violated government rules on
an Air Force contract. Unisys says it will "vigorous" contest the
indictment. According to Unisys, the grand jury has been
examining the allegations about the contract for more than three
years. The government charges Sperry submitted a false invoice
for approximately $500,000.

[***][11/01/88][***]
AT&T WINS BIG AIR FORCE CONTRACT
WASHINGTON (NB) -- Despite a difficult time in establishing
itself in the computer business, AT&T has won an Air Force
contract that guarantees the company's future in computing. An
AT&T spokesman called the $929 million award the "largest
computer contract ever awarded by the federal government."
Depending on what options the Air Force exercises, the contract
could be worth more than $1 billion. The key to the award was
AT&T's Unix operating system. The Air Force specified Unix for
all bidders. Bidding was spirited. Among the losers were Zenith
Data Systems, Lockheed Missiles & Space Co.; Planning Research
Corp., Honeywell Federal Systems, and IBM. "Winning this contract
firmly establishes AT&T as a leader in the federal computer
marketplace," said Warren Corgan, vice president of AT&T's
federal systems division.

[***][11/01/88][***]
HUGHES LOSES BID PROTEST ON AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL CONTRACT
WASHINGTON (NB) -- The General Services Administration's Board of
Contract Appeals has denied Hughes Aircraft Co.'s protest of a
$3.6 billion contract awarded to IBM. The Federal Aviation
Administration awarded the contract in July. The contract calls
for overhaul of the nation's aging air traffic control system,
and is expected to be a big boost to IBM's reduced instruction
set personal computer, which will be the basic workstation in the
FAA system. Hughes claimed that IBM won the award through
improper practices and GSA suspended the contract pending a
decision by the contract appeals board.

[***][11/01/88][***]
SOURCE LAUNCHES RATEGRAM SERVICE
McLEAN, Va. (NB) -- The Source has created a service that helps
investors find the best performing certificates of deposit and
money market funds from over 15,000 U.S. financial institutions.
Rategram has weekly updates on interest rates, annual effective
yields, and moving averages. The service also lists the
compounding frequency, minimum deposit required, institution
name, address and phone. The Bradshaw Group, a California-based
company, is providing Rategram to the Source.

[***][11/01/88][***]
MASSACHUSETTS COMPUTER EXECS BACK DUKAKIS
BOSTON (NB) -- What do An Wang, Joe Henson and John Cullinane
have in common politically? All three Massachusetts computer
executives -- Wang of Wang Laboratories, Henson of Prime
Computer, and Cullinane of Cullinet Software -- are backing
Michael Dukakis for president, saying he is good for business.
The three computer moguls are among 30 of the state's business
leaders who have endorsed Dukakis, crediting him with boosting
the business climate in Massachusetts where Dukakis is
governor. "I know what the governor has done for Massachusetts,"
Wang told The Boston Globe. "He provided the atmosphere and
organized the cooperating and partnership of industry, labor and
education."

[***][11/01/88][***]
REVOLVING DOOR AT AT&T, IBM
NEW YORK (NB) -- Ralph Martino's career at AT&T may have been the
shortest on record. Martino, 38, left IBM to take charge of
AT&T's 1,000-member computer sales force. Two days later, while
AT&T was still announcing his arrival, he quit and returned to
Big Blue. IBM said Martino is on special assignment in Montvale,
N.J. Previously, he worked in IBM's Applications Systems
Division. "All I know is he left and after one day he decided to
return. He does not want to be interviewed," said an IBM
spokesman. At AT&T, a spokesman said, "We are absolutely assured
that his decision was personal and it was not because he was
dissatisfied with business plans or directions."

[***][11/01/88][***]
NEWS NIBBLES

THE EDUCATIONAL TESTING SERVICE, New York, will include computer
simulations of classroom teaching situations in a new teacher
licensing exam. The exam is designed to help states eliminate
incompetent teachers. The exam is aimed at beginning teachers,
not veteran educators.

APOLLO COMPUTER INC., Chelmsford, Mass., has raised prices
an average of seven percent on its workstations. Apollo said the
price increase reflects the rising cost of advanced memory
devices.

The state of Connecticut has fined GENERAL INSTRUMENT CORP., Hunt
Valley, Md., $1.76 million for computer problems that forced
suspension of the state lottery last may. The problems developed
as soon at General Instrument took over the contract from GTECH
CORP., of Providence, R.I.


[***][11/01/88][***]
MAJOR 'HACKING' CASE DEVELOPS     *** EXCLUSIVE INSIDE REPORT ***
GUILDFORD, SURREY (NB) -- Prime Computer and the University of
Surrey were in the news last week, following the arrest and
cautioning of Edward Austin-Singh, a 23-year-old unemployed man
from the Surrey area.

Singh was arrested on 9 October, following approaches he made to
Prime Computer. NEWSBYTES UK understands that, despite press
reports of Singh applying alleged blackmail techniques to Prime,
he was, in fact, offering his services on a consultancy basis.

By his own admission, Singh has spent the last five years
developing computer communication skills to the point where,
given time, he can gain unauthorised access to almost any online
system. According to reports in the London Times and The
Guardian, he has gained access to NASA and several North American
military computer networks, including Millnet, the successor to
the ARPANET network, which links military and scientific academic
institutions in the US.

Singh gained access to the 200-plus networks into which he claims
to have logged, by the simple expedient of using Surrey University's
computing facilities. From there, he logged on to JANET, an
acronym for the Joint Academic Network, which links educational
establishments together in the UK. There are also a number of
international links to similar networks in the US and Europe,
through which Singh gained access to the multiple systems he
'hacked' into.

Hacking is not an offence in the UK, despite a major court case
involving NEWSBYTES UK's editor, which ended up in the House of
Lords earlier this year. During the case, which is reputed to
have cost in excess of two million pounds, it was ascertained
that gaining unauthorised access to a computer system is not an
offence in itself, unless the intruder has tampered with the system
and its files.

US Secret Service officials flew out to London late last week to
interview Singh in the presence of senior Scotland Yard
detectives. The outcome of that meeting, including any possible US
prosecutions, has not been revealed. Singh himself has gone to
ground, apparently pursued by several members of the British
press, at least one of which has offered him money in exchange
for an exclusive story.

Singh contacted NEWSBYTES UK in the earliest stages of the
investigation, requesting advice on legal defence in the light of
his initial arrest. NEWSBYTES UK directed him to the appropriate
legal professionals and is continuing to assist him during this
difficult time.

Despite much furor in the UK and US press, there appears to be
little action that the respective authorities can take against
Singh, since he has only gained access to database systems, and
not actually damaged any information. A spokesman for the US
Justice Department in Washington is quoted by UPI  as
saying that Singh could face wire fraud charges. The spokesman
noted that could face additional treason charges, if he actually
removed classified information.

As for Singh himself, he told NEWSBYTES UK, "I don't know what
all the fuss is about. I thought the matter would blow over in a
couple of days, but it doesn't appear to be doing so."

[***][11/01/88][***]
ATARI 68030 MACHINE SOON; STACY LAPTOP TO BE UNVEILED AT COMDEX
SLOUGH, BERKSHIRE (NB) -- With Comdex Fall, due to be held in Las
Vegas later this month, close at hand, first details of Atari's
88/89 plans for a 68030-based series of machines are beginning to
emerge. According to NEWSBYTES UK's sources, a 68030-based
workstation will be unveiled at Comdex.

The machine will run under a Unix environment, and support the
Ethernet networking protocol. It will not, however, reportedly
run TOS (Tramiel Operating System) programs, making it
incompatible with the existing 68000-based Atari St series.

Pricing and availability of the new machine have not been
revealed to NEWSBYTES UK, but it is said to be pitched firmly at
the Unix workstation market, which the Atari ST series has
breached at the lower end.

NEWSBYTES UK's sources also suggest that Atari is developing a
'Super-ST' machine, which is based around the 68030 chip. The
Super ST is said to be capable of multitasking, 4096
simultaneous colours on-screen, and six audio channels (three
stereo pairs). In addition, a MIDI interface comes as standard on
the machine, as well as the ability to run all existing ST
programs (the machine is TOS-compatible).

When will we see the Super ST? Given the current delivery dates
on the 68030 microprocessor, NEWSBYTES predicts second quarter
'89 shipments - the same time that Steve Jobs' NeXT machine is
expected to arrive in quantity. Don't expect NeXT-like pricing on
the Super-ST, however. NEWSBYTES UK's sources suggest an entry-
level pricing of $2,000. Sounds like nice competition for the
Commodore Amiga 2000.

On the laptop front, sources close to Atari UK say that the Stacy
ST laptop project is now reaching completion. The hardware is
almost finished, but the machine casing and display have yet to
be finalised. Expect a prototype roll-out of the ST laptop at
this month's Comdex in Las Vegas, with shipments starting next
spring.

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

[***][11/01/88][***]
IBM PRESENTATION MANAGERS SHIPS; LAPTOP DUE SOON
LONDON, UK & NEW YORK, USA (NB) -- IBM and Microsoft have
scheduled a morning press conference in New York for Monday,
31 October. Details of the conference were not known at NEWSBYTES
press-time, but sources suggest that the companies will announce
the shipment (to US dealers) of the Presentation Manager user
interface for IBM's PS/2 product range.

The Presentation Manager is analogous to the WIMPS graphics front
end seen on the Apple Macintosh. The package will, it is
predicted, increase sales of the PS/2 product line to non-
technical computer users. Rumours in recent weeks that Microsoft
was not able to meet its October deadline for Presentation
Manager shipment had forced Microsoft's share prices down on the
US stock markets.

The next stage for IBM, say NEWSBYTES UK's Big Blue sources, will
be the announcement of a new range of laptop computers. The 80286
and 386-based range of machines are PS/2 compatible, with high-
end machines featuring the Micro Channel Architecture seen on
IBM's PS/2 desktop machines (excluding the entry-level Model 30
machine). Pricing is not known, but sources suggest an entry-
level price tag of around the $1,800 mark.

* According to preliminary Comdex press information, IBM US
  has not scheduled a press conference in Las Vegas during
  Comdex Fall, but this does not rule out a late announcement
  during the show.

CONTACT: IBM UNITED KINGDOM, Baltic House, Kingston Crescent,
         Portsmouth, Hampshire PO6 3AU.     Tel: [phone].

[***][11/01/88][***]
AMSTRAD LAUNCHES ONLINE CUSTOMER SUPPORT
BRENTWOOD, MIDDLESEX (NB) -- Amstrad has opened up a specialist
bulletin board (BBS) for customer support. The machine is open 24
hours day, compared to Amstrad's customer service department,
which keeps normal business hours.

"We've increased the staffing level ion our customer services
department to 25 and have 20 phone lines set aside for incoming
calls, but the installed base of Amstrad machines is now so huge
that some customers cannot always get through first time," said
Simon Angel, Amstrad's group services controller.

"Knowing that every Amstrad owner can now access our information
and advice centre for 8,544 hours a year makes me sleep better at
night," he added.

NEWSBYTES UK notes, with some amusement, that the BBS is running
on an Opus 1.03 PC, and not one of Amstrad's own machines. The
BBS is accessible at all speeds from 300 baud to 2400 baud
(including 1200/75 baud) on 0277-231276.

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

[***][11/01/88][***]
SAGE GROUP ACQUIRES SKY SOFTWARE
NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE, UK (NB) -- Sagesoft's parent company, the
Sage Group PLC., has acquired Sky Software for an undisclosed
amount. Sky Software is a specialist company in the area of 4GL
(4th Generation Languages) software.

"The commercial common sense of this marriage is obvious and
needs little explanation," David Goldman, the Sage Group's
managing director, said in announcing the deal, the first major
acquisition by the North-Eastern company.

"Sky's technical excellence, coupled with Sage's marketing
expertise and financial strength, will create a group able to
provide accounting solutions for businesses of all sizes," he
added.

Sky, which has been in business since 1981, launched its own 4GL,
Skybase 4, last year. The applications development system
subsequently spawned Skymaster 4, an up-market suite of
accountancy modules written in Skybase and based on the company's
earlier Skymaster 2 accounting software.

The new combined Sage/Sky group will employ around 120 staff and
has an anticipated sales turnover of #8 million for the coming
year.

CONTACT: SAGESOFT, NEI House, Regent Centre, Gosforth,
         Newcastle-upon-Tyne, NE3 3DS.  Tel: [phone].

[***][11/01/88][***]
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
+ BRITBYTES - Bytes of news from around the UK... +
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

BLENHEIM ONLINE (01-868-4466) has announced it is hosting the
INTERNATIONAL ELECTRONIC MESSAGING CONFERENCE in London next
month. The event will be held at the London Tara hotel on the 7th
and 8th of December...

The EVER-READY battery company has developed a lithium battery
cell that has twice the life of equivalent alkaline cells. The
company plans to launch a series of disposable batteries for
laptop computer users in the second quarter of next year. Pricing
on the new batteries is expected to be comparable with existing
alkaline units...

FROST AND SULLIVAN (01-730-3438) has released a major study on
mobile telecommunications. The report predicts that the European
market for cellular communications will be worth $3,000 million
within four years, whilst annual sales of mobile cellular phones
are expected to quadruple by 1993...

FUJITSU, the leading Japanese computer manufacturer, has
announced plans to build a major semiconductor factor in Europe,
in preparation for the opening up of the European markets in
1992. According to the UPI service, the company may
choose Scotland as the site for the plant. The news service notes
that NEC already has a computer plant in Scotland, although the
Fujitsu project is likely to dwarf the NEC factory with a
projected investment of approximately $79 million...

HM SYSTEMS (01-209-0911) has been forced to change the name of
its first PC workstation, the Millenium, to the Minstrel
Workstation. The name change was necessitated by the claimed
negligence of the company's patent agent, who failed to spot that
another company had already registered the name. "It's a
complication we could do without, but in the long-term, it's the
machine that counts, and not the name," said Tony Harris,
managing director of HM Systems...

IBM (0705-694491) has renamed its international network of
communications systems as the IBM INFORMATION NETWORK. The newly-
named network now spans the US, Europe and parts of Asia. Hong-
Kong and Ireland came on-stream to the network last month, making
a total of 72 countries accessible to IBM and its customers on a
local dial-up basis...

NEC has established a wholly-owned subsidiary company in Sweden
called NEC SCANDINAVIA NB. The Stockholm-based company will
market NEC products in Sweden and four other European
countries...

PAPERBACK SOFTWARE (0245-265017) has released the PAPERBACK
SOFTWARE BOOK which is free of charge. The book details the
company's complete range of low-cost, high-quality computer
software. The book can be ordered free of charge on Paperback's
24-hour order line: 0245-354105...

TANDON COMPUTER (0734-664676) has slashed UK pricing on its
16MHz 80386-based machines. The price cuts shave #600 off the
price of its 40Mb hard disk machine, which now sells for #2,895.
The company is second only to Dell in terms of 80386-based
comparable product pricing. According to Jamie Minotto, Tandon's
managing director, the price cuts are to maintain the company's
image as a leading supplier in the terms of price/performance...
====