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/nb881129.284

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Newsbytes Apple Report
Week of November 29, 1988


(NEWS)(APPLE)(SFO)(00001)

JANUARY MACWORLD EXPO TO SEE 'O30 MAC
SAN FRANCISCO, 1988 NOV 22 (NB) -- Apple Computer will roll out an
upgraded Macintosh SE at the January MacWorld Expo in San Francisco,
according to MacWeek magazine. The trade paper quotes sources at
Apple as saying that a laptop, however, will not be unveiled at the
same time.

The new SE, based on the powerful 16 MHz Motorola 68030 microprocessor,
will sport a 1.44 megabyte SuperDrive, a forty megabyte hard disk
drive, and either two or four megabytes of random access memory.
The machine is said to be four times faster than a standard SE.
The paper adds that Apple will also announce a 21-inch gray-scale
monitor and a "three-slot Mac" -- a scaled down version of the
IIX.

Sources at Apple reportedly say a laptop will not be released until
at least this summer due to numerous design and marketing problems.
There is also a problem with the battery -- Apple is said to be seeking
an alternative to a lead acid battery -- and the active matrix
screen, for which quality and quantity have been disappointing.

(Wendy Woods/19881126)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(SFO)(00008)

NEW FOCAL POINT SHIPS
MENLO PARK, CALIFORNIA, 1988 NOV 21 (NB) -- TENpointO, the Macintosh
software arm of Mediagenic, has announced the release of
Focal Point II, the successor to its HyperCard-based personal information
manager program. Focal Point II, $199.95, designed by HyperCard
guru Danny Goodman, features task and project management, a run-time
version of Reports, with more than 60 pre-formatted reports, and
communication functions such as electronic messaging on networks.
The basic product includes a daily appointment book, to-do lists and
monthly calendar, and an alarm system which will notify a user
of an appointment. It is available to registered owners of Focal
Point for $90 but available only through January 31 for $40.

(Wendy Woods/19881126/Contact: Michelle Bowman, TenpointO, 415-329-0800)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(SFO)(00009)

CLARIS LAUNCHES REGISTERED TRAINER PROGRAM
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA, 1988 NOV 23 (NB) -- Claris Corporation
has started a Registered Trainer Program aimed at recognizing and
approving qualified software training professionals. To
qualify for participation, trainers must demonstrate exceptional
training ability on Claris' software products and strong
commitment to its customers. In return, the trainers will get
referrals from Claris. "Claris is committed to outstanding
customer support," says Liz Harris, Clars' training manager.
Currently both Claris and third parties are developing
Claris-specific training curricula. When these programs are
available, Claris will begin to evaluate additional training
organizations on their ability to implement them.

(Wendy Woods/19881126/Contact: Liz Harris, Claris, 415-960-2652)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(TOR)(0002)

APPLE CANADA PROMOTION TIES IN WITH FREQUENT FLYER PROGRAM
MARKHAM, ONTARIO, 1988 NOV 21 (NB) -- Apple Canada Inc.'s
promotional efforts are literally flying high this fall as an
agreement with Air Canada offers frequent flyers a chance to win
a computer. Apple has announced the Apple Means
Business Contest for members of Air Canada's frequent flyer
program, Aeroplan. Aeroplan participants who return an entry form
published in the Aeroplan member bulletin in November will have a
chance to win one of 10 computers or one of 10 free
trips. Every member who sends in the entry form will get 1,000
bonus miles on Aeroplan. Aeroplan members who buy Macintoshes
during the contest -- which runs to February 28 -- will get
additional bonus miles.

(Grant Buckler/19881125/Contact: Apple Canada, 416-477-5800)

Newsbytes (Tm) Business Report
Week of November 29, 1988


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SFO)(00002)

SEAGATE LAYS OFF 980
SCOTTS VALLEY, CALIFORNIA, 1988 NOV 25 (NB) -- Seagate Technology,
maker of disk drives, has laid off 980 workers at its Singapore
plant, saying there is a softer market for personal computers than
originally anticipated. The massive layoff, a tenth of Seagate's
Singapore workforce, and a twentieth of its world employment of
27,000, comes as the firm has just announced a first quarter loss
of $52.8 million. Seagate admits a delay in getting smaller
3.5-inch drives to market cost it dearly and that it currently has
an excess inventory of the hardware.

Seagate confirms a report which first appeared in California
Technology Stock Letter -- that its drives are being purchased
by Apple Computer -- but will not comment on a report, also by
the investment analysts at CTSL, that it has signed a major new
contract with IBM to supply its drives for future PS/2 machines.

(Wendy Woods/19881126)


(NEWS)(BUSINES)(SFO)(00003)

MEDIAGENIC LAYS OFF 30
MENLO PARK, CALIFORNIA, 1988 NOV 26 (NB) -- Mediagenic, formerly
known as Activision, has eliminated 30 positions from its workforce
of 280 worldwide. The layoffs come as retail software sales are
called "sluggish" and the firm prepares for a "slumping economy,"
says Mediagenic's President Bruce Davis, in a prepared statement.
The latest figures show the game and productivity software maker
with slumping profits, down 92 percent from a year earlier.
Twenty two of the layoffs occurred at the company's Menlo Park
headquarters.

(Wendy Woods/19881126)


(EXCLUSIVE)(BUSINESS)(LAX)(00012)

PC-SIG SUIT SIGNALS BLUE SAIL'S IN THE SUNSET
SUNNYVALE, CALIFORNIA, 1988 NOV 25 (NB) -- The August 2 edition of
Newsbytes' You Read It Here First reported a story about PC-SIG's
plans to sue Blue Sail Software and Alde over rights to its public-
domain database. The news was so exclusive that even Blue Sail's
principal, James Wallace, didn't learn of the suit until after the
story appeared. According to Wallace, in an exclusive interview,
Alde finally informed Blue Sail and, a few weeks ago, Blue Sail
ceased doing business. The CD ROM that Blue Sail was producing with
Alde is also history.

(Wayne Yacco/19881125)


(EXCLUSIVE)(BUSINESS)(LAX)(00013)

PC-SIG TO PRODUCE CD ROM FOR EGGHEAD
SUNNYVALE, CALIFORNIA, 1988 NOV 25 (NB) -- PC-SIG is entering into
an agreement with Egghead Software to market a special CD ROM with a
selection of the best of public domain software. The disk will sell
for approximately $129 exclusively at Egghead. Official news of the
disk should be announced within a week or two. The Egghead deal was
originally to have featured software from the Blue Sail public-
domain library. However, that organization recently ceased doing
business after a dispute with PC-SIG.

(Wayne Yacco/19881125)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(WAS)(00003)

THREE SOFTWARE FIRMS TO MERGE
CLEARWATER, FLORIDA, 1988 NOV 25 (NB) -- TriMark Corp., Harris
Business Group, an Drexel Systems Corp. have announced a plan to
merge. The directors of the three hardware and software companies
must secure the approval of their boards of directors. The merger
is scheduled for January. All three companies are authorized
remarketers of IBM mid-range systems. TriMark also sells
personal computers.

(Ken Maize/19881125)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(WAS)(00011)

COMMODORE EXPANDS RETAIL OUTLETS
WEST CHESTER, PENNSYLVANIA, 1988 NOV 25 (NB) -- Commodore
International says it has signed agreement with seven computer
retail chains that will expanded the number of outlets where its
computers are available to 450 new stores. The new dealers are
Software Etc., with 230 stores nationwide; Electronics Boutique
with 140 stores nationwide; Waldensoftware Inc. with 27 stores
nationwide; PC Warehouse with 23 stores in the Northeast;
DataPhaz, the largest U.S. Computerland franchise, with 12 stores
in the West; Priority I with seven stores in California; and
Computerland, D.C., with three stores.

Computerland, D.C., Priority I, DataPhaz, and PC Warehouse will
carry one or more of Commodore's line of personal computers,
which includes the Amiga and MS-DOS compatible product lines.
Software Etc., Waldensoftware, and Electronics Boutique will
carry Commodore products with an emphasis on the Amiga 500 multitasking,
graphics-oriented computer.

(Ken Maize/19881125)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(WAS)(00012)

PRIME SAYS MAI BASIC FOUR A FRONT FOR DREXEL BURNHAM
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, 1988 NOV 25 (NB) -- Prime Computer Inc. has
charged that takeover experts Drexel Burnham Lambert Inc., and
its controversial takeover maven Michael Milkin, are behind that
offer from MAI Basic Four for the much larger Prime. In court
documents, Prime says that Drexel Burnham exerts control over the
bid but hasn't disclosed that role in papers filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission.

Prime claims that MAI owner, New York investor Bennett LeBow, has
a series of secret partnerships with senior Drexel officials,
including Milkin, that gives Drexel veto power over the takeover.
Drexel stands to reap big fees from the takeover, regardless of
whether the deal goes through. Federal authorities have long
suspected that Drexel has manipulated takeovers in order to win
hefty fees. Milken is a defendant in a major SEC securities fraud
suit and target of a federal grand jury.

MAI Basic Four attorney Jeffrey Bagner said Prime's allegations
"are totally inaccurate. The decisions in this tender offer are
being made by the directors of MAI Basic Four." MAI offered $20
per share ($970 million) for Prime. Some takeover experts believe
that MAI and LeBow have really been attempting to get Prime to
make an offer for MAI Basic, a tactic known as the Pac Man
defense. Prime's suit says that Drexel approached the company
last June, trying to get Prime to make an offer for the MAI
shares that LeBow and fellow investor William Weksel hold.

(Ken Maize/19881125)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TYO)(00010)

IBM JAPAN EMPLOYS MORE LAWYERS
TOKYO, NOV 22, 1988 (NB) -- IBM Japan, taking the cue from its
American counterpart, has beefed up its legal department in
anticipation of new fights for copyright protection. IBM Japan
has six lawyers now and plans to employ two outside legal firms
every year.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/198811125)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TOR)(0001)

LANPAR RESUMES TRADING, LETTER OF INTENT REPORTED
MARKHAM, ONTARIO, 1988 NOV 25 (NB) -- Shares of Lanpar
Technologies Inc. resumed trading Thursday on the Toronto and
Montreal stock exchanges after a four-week trading halt. The
computer equipment maker requested the halt October 31. Lanpar,
which has been losing money on its computer terminal
manufacturing operations, has been negotiating with an unnamed
company interested in investing in Lanpar.

A Toronto daily newspaper, The Financial Post, reported that
Lanpar has signed a letter of intent with another company, but
said details of the agreement had not been disclosed. Earlier,
another Toronto newspaper, The Globe and Mail, reported that
Lanpar's creditors would lose C$4.1 million if a holding proposal
by the company is accepted. The Globe said it had obtained a copy
of a statement of affairs mailed to the company's creditors.
Lanpar did not respond to Newsbytes' inquiries by this week's
deadline.

Lanpar shares opened Nov. 24 at a price of 32 cents Canadian,
down from 80 cents at the time trading was halted. The price held
steady throughout the day.

Lanpar manufactures computer terminals and IBM-compatible
personal computers, as well as distributing computer equipment
and operating a third-party computer maintenance business.

(Grant Buckler/19881125)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TOR)(0003)

COMPUTER BROKERS OF CANADA ACQUIRED
CONCORD, ONTARIO, 1988 NOV 21 (NB) -- Tech Data Corp. of
Clearwater, Fla., has agreed to acquire Computer Brokers of
Canada. Both companies distribute computer products. Nir Shafrir,
president of Computer Brokers, said his company will keep its
present name and staff. Shafrir will remain as president. But
Tech Data will purchase all of the company's common stock for an
undisclosed sum of money and shares in Tech Data.

Shafrir said Computer Brokers hopes to take advantage of Tech
Data's resources to expand its product line. Computer Brokers
will be looking at expansion in networking and communication
products, systems and peripherals, he said. Computer Brokers of
Canada has about 70 employees and annual revenues of about C$80
million. Tech Data has several hundred employees and revenues of
about $240 million, Shafrir said.

(Grant Buckler/19881125/Contact: Nir Shafrir, Computer Brokers of
Canada, 416-736-6333)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TOR)(0007)

Q.W. PAGE SIGNS AUSTRALIAN NEWVIEWS DISTRIBUTOR
TORONTO, 1988 Nov 25 (NB) -- Q.W. Page Associates Inc. has signed
Comprop Ltd. of Brisbane, Australia, as a distributor for its
NewViews accounting software. NewViews, which received the 1986
PC Magazine Award for Technical Excellence, is already sold in
Canada and the United States. Comprop will have exclusive
distribution rights for Australia.

(Grant Buckler/19881125/Contact: Cathy Mallove, Q.W. Page
Associates Inc., 416-923-4567)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TOR)(0008)

DATAPOINT CANADA SIGNS RESELLER AGREEMENT WITH NOVELL
TORONTO, 1988 NOV 25 (NB) -- Datapoint Canada Inc. has signed a
National Reseller Agreement with Novell, Inc., of Provo, Utah.
Datapoint will add Novell's NetWare network operating system to
its line of local-area network products. Datapoint Canada is a
subsidiary of Datapoint Corp. of San Antonio, Tex.

(Grant Buckler/19881125/Contact: Sam Donkoh, Datapoint Canada
Inc., 416-222-8005)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LON)(00006)

IBM TO SEEK SWEDISH STOCK EXCHANGE LISTING
STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN, 1988 NOV 22 (NB) -- IBM Sweden has announced
it is considering seeking a listing on the Stockholm Bourse, the
Swedish stock exchange. Lennart Krook, IBM Sweden's finance
manager, is quoted in Veckans Affarer, a top Swedish business
magazine, as saying the company may seek a placing to improve its
image in Scandinavia.

Only two non-Swedish companies have achieved the exalted position
of a listing on the Stockholm Bourse: Companie Generale D-
Electricitie, and Companie de St Gobian. Both companies are
French.

(Steve Gold/19881123)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LON)(00007)

CABLE & WIRELESS INCREASES BID FOR TELEPHONE RENTALS GROUP
LONDON, 1988 NOV 22 (NB) -- Cable & Wireless (C&W), the
international telecommunications group, has increased its bid for
Telephone Rentals (TR), a UK telecoms company. The 340 pence per
share bid has been rejected as hostile by TR representatives.

The C&W bid, which values Telephone Rentals at #317 million,
compares with an earlier September offer of 305 pence per share.
The September offer achieved less than one per cent acceptance
from the shareholders in the TR group. TR's"s shares rose 6 pence
to 338 pence last week, following the announcement of the bid.

(Steve Gold/19881122)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(BRU)(00005)

IBM HANDS COPIER MAINTENANCE CONTRACT TO KODAK
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM, 1988 NOV 18 (NB) -- IBM Belgium has agreed a
major maintenance contract with Kodak. Terms of the agreement
calls for Kodak to maintain IBM photocopiers within Belgium, and
come in the wake of a similar deal in the US announced during
October.

To help users through the transition period, both companies have
agreed to support users where necessary, until Kodak's IBM
maintenance system infrastructure is up and running.

(Peter Vekinis/19881118)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(BRU)(00006)

GIGABIT SECURES MAJOR CHIP CONTRACT WITH CRAY RESEARCH
NEWBURY PARK, CALIFORNIA, 1988 NOV 26 (NB) -- Cray Research has
awarded a $29 million contract to Gigabit Logic, for the supply
of Gigabit's Gallium Arsenide logic circuits. The revolutionary
chips will be fitted to the forthcoming Cray-3 series of
supercomputers, and are expected to dramatically improve even the
Cray's legendary number-crunching performance.

(Peter Vekinis/19881126)

Newsbytes General News
Week of November 29, 1988


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(WAS)(00014)

TRW EXPANDS SERVICES PROGRAM
FAIRFIELD, NEW JERSEY, 1988 NOV 25 (NB) -- TRW has launched an
expanded repair service aimed at original equipment manufacturers
and system integrators. The services include warranty coverage,
post warranty work, engineering tracking and change
recommendations, volume subassembly repair, and more.

(Ken Maize/19881125/Contact: Bill Fredell, TRW, 201-575-7110 ext.
4265)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(TYO)(00002)

NINTENDO UNVEILS 16-BIT GAME COMPUTER
TOKYO, NOV 29, 1988 (NB) -- Nintendo Co., the world's largest
game computer supplier and producer, has unveiled a trial model
of its 16-bit family computer, the Super Famicom.

Adoption of a 16-bit central processing unit produces beautiful
and delicate colors on a display, and a second microprocessor
has been provided for powerful stereo sound.

The machine's game cassette will be a bit larger than the present
type, therefore, software for current 8-bit machines will
require a special adapter. Marketing is expected next July,
however, we have to wait until finalization of the specifications for a
price.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19881125/Contact: Nintendo Co., 075-541-6111)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(TYO)(00003)

SONY AND PHILIPS LAUNCH CD-I STANDARD
TOKYO, NOV 29, 1988 (NB) -- Standards for CD-I (compact disk interactive),
so-called computer of the future, have been developed by Sony Corp.
and Philips of the Netherlands. CD-I is an interactive system in which
sounds, graphics and motion pictures, stored on a compact disk, are
manipulated by the user in an interactive environment. The first
CD-I players and software, initially entertainment-oriented, are expected
to appear within the next year.

The main concern about CD-I is now compatibility between CD-I system
manufacturers. The Sony/Philips pact specifies that the hardware
will have a full data capacity of 650 megabytes and a reading
speed at 75 sectors per second. Audio sound can be selected from
four modes: digital audio, high-fidelity, standard, and
speech mode. Video shall conform to both National Television
System Committee (NTSC) and phase alternating by line (PAL) standards. The
system software is CD real-time operating by system (RTOS) which
runs on a Motorola 68000 microprocessor.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19881125/Contact: Sony Corp., 03-448-2111)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(TYO)(00006)

AI SOFTWARE USING FUZZY LOGIC DEBUTS
TOKYO, NOV 29, 1988 (NB) -- Tokyo-based major software
development company Knowledgewell has released a Japanese version
of artificial intelligence (AI) software which uses fuzzy logic.

Called FLOPS Japanese Version, the program is rewritten for
Japanese personal computer users, based on the software developed
by Cemp-Carraway Heart Institute of Alabama, in the U.S. FLOPS can
be installed on NEC's PC9800 series and Toshiba's J3100 series.
As the fuzzy logic is designed to execute vague instructions, the
software can be applied to various fields, such as food
manufacturing process management (which used to depend on an
expert's intuition or experience), medical diagnosis, and weather
forecasting. The total price for the software is 380,000 yen or
$3,100.

(Ken Takahashi/19881124/Contact: Knowledgewell, 03-794-6841)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(TYO)(00007)

HAVE A GADGET, WILL TRAVEL IN EUROPE
TOKYO, NOV 29, 1988 (NB) -- On Dec. 8, Sharp will release a translation
computer for Japanese travellers in Europe, a gadget which is small
enough to fit into your palm. The small gadget has several
features unique for its size, including a memory of some 350 basic
conversation sentences and 610 words, each in English, French,
German, Italian, Spanish, Russian, and Japanese. The device will
translate the words between all these languages.

Also, the machine includes a currency exchange calculation feature
which is convenient for shopping. The price will be 148,000 yen or
$1,200.

(Ken Takahashi/19881122/Contact: Sharp Corp., 06-621-1221)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(TYO)(00009)

JAPANESE GADGETS ARE WELCOMED IN THE U.S.
TOKYO, NOV 29, 1988 (NB) -- Fortune magazine of the U.S. has
announced its choices for the greatest gadget hits of 1988. In the
magazine's column, three Japanese products are selected: Sony's
Videowalkman, NEC's ultralight laptop computer, and Ricoh's
autofocus camera Mirai One. NEC's machine is thin enough to fit
into a large-sized envelop, and operates four times faster
than an IBM XT. The ultralight laptop machine is priced at $2,999.

(Ken Takahashi/19881124)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(TOR)(0006)

BRITISH COLUMBIA LAUNCHES HIGH-TECH RESEARCH FUND
BURNABY, BRITISH COLUMBIA, 1988 Nov 21 (NB) -- The British
Columbia Advanced Systems Institute has set up a C$1.25 million
fund to support high-technology research projects in the
province. Project must be in computer science, microelectronics,
artificial intelligence, robotics or communications, and must be
related to natural resource industries or to the Canadian space
program. Proposals must come from private industry but must also
involve cooperation with British Columbia universities. The
deadline for proposals is December 16, and more information about
submitting proposals is available from the institute at Suite
405, 3700 Gilmore Way, Burnaby B.C. V5G 4M1. Grants will be
announced in February.

(Grant Buckler/19881125/Contact: B.C. Advanced Systems Institute,
604-435-0551)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(LAX)(00001)

SECOND LOCAL CAD SHOOTOUT SCHEDULED
WOODLAND HILLS, CALIFORNIA 1988 NOV 14 (NB) -- The second annual CAD
Showdown has been scheduled for February 2, 1989 at the Woodland
Hills Country Club from the hours of 10:00 am to 6:00 pm. During the
showdown, over a dozen CAD vendors will compete in the production of
a printed-circuit design. Attenders will be able to evaluate each
product's performance on a score card which will be collected and
tabulated. Results will be mailed to attenders to help in their
purchasing decisions. The event, described as a mini trade show, is
produced by Compudraft Engineering, a Southern California service
bureau and CAD dealer.

(Wayne Yacco/19881125/Contact: Carmen Zabaldo, Compudraft, 818-709-
0202)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(LON)(00009)

ATARI STARTS UK AD CAMPAIGN; ST LAPTOP PRICING & AVAILABILITY
SLOUGH, ENGLAND, 1988 NOV 22 (NB) -- Atari UK has launched a
major media campaign which lampoons IBM. In addition, the company
has announced pricing and availability for the long-awaited
laptop ST, code-named Stacey.

The media campaign, which centres on the statement: "I think,
therefore IBM won't get my PC order," (a spoof on IBM's "I think,
therefore IBM" motto) aims to increase interest in Atari's 8088-
2-based PC-3, 80286-based PC-4 and 80386 microprocessor-based PC-
5 series. The ads are impressive. What IBM's reaction will be to
them remains to be seen.

On the ST laptop front, meanwhile, Atari has announced that UK
pricing on Stacey will be #695 in its single-floppy plus 1Mb of
memory configuration. According to the latest Computer Trade
Weekly (CTW) newspaper, the machine will ship in the UK next May,
following a March/April shipment in the US.

CTW also reveals that Stacey will be shown in Europe next March,
at the Hanover CeBit Faire in West Germany. By that time, Atari
should have finished its casing for the laptop, and beta test
shipments will have begun in earnest.

(Steve Gold/19881122/Atari: (UK) 0753-33344)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(BRU)(00007)

CHIP MAGAZINE ANNOUNCES 1988 SOFTWARE AWARDS
MUNICH, WEST GERMANY, 1988 NOV 22 (NB) -- CHiP Magazine, the
premier West German computer magazine, has announced its annual
software awards. The winners were as follows:

Games software of the year:  1st place... Tetris
         Runners-up... Lazy Larry
            Flight Simulator III

Business software of the year: 1st place... Microsoft Excel
         Runners up... Timeworks
            Ichitaro 3.0

Technical software of the year: 1st place... P-Cad
         Runners up... Autocad 9.0
            Mathematica

Best utility software...   1st place... Turbo Pascal 4.0
         Runners up... Hypercard
            Laplink

(Peter Vekinis/19881122)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(BRU)(00008)

CHIP MAGAZINE READERS VOTE COMPAQ INTO NUMBER ONE SLOT
MUNICH, WEST GERMANY, 1988 NOV 22 (NB) -- CHiP magazine has also
published its best-selling hardware of 1988. The results give
Compaq's Deskpro pole position in the business computer category,
whilst Commodore holds onto the consumer (games) machine hot spot
with its aging C64 machine.

The best-selling business hardware (in descending order) was:
Compaq's Deskpro 286, Atari PC-3, Apple's IIGS, Commodore's PC-20
and PC-10 series, Amstrad's PC-1640, Apple's Macintosh II, with IBM's
PS/2 Model 30 and 60 bringing up the rear of the field.

On the home computer front, the Commodore 64 is still number 1,
closely followed by the Amiga 500, the Atari 1040ST, the
Commodore 128D, the Amiga 1000, the Schneider Euro PC1, the Atari
520STFM, with the Atari PC1 and the Amstrad CPC-464 tailing the
leaders.

(Peter Vekinis/19881122)

Newsbytes (Tm) Government and the Courts
Week of November 29, 1988


(NEWS)(GOVT)(WAS)(00009)

NASA PICKS COMPUTER SCIENCES
WASHINGTON, 1988 NOV 25 (NB) -- The National Aeronautics and
Space Administration has selected Computer Sciences Corp. to
negotiate a computer-services contract, worth about $170 million
over five years. The work will be done at the Ames Research
Center.


(NEWS)(GOVERNMENT)(ATL)(00003)

FOXBASE SUED AS ASHTON-TATE SEEKS COPYRIGHT OF DBASE LANGUAGE
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, 1988 NOV. 21 (NB) -- In the wake of mixed
legal signals on the protection of screen displays, Ashton-Tate
is now seeking copyright protection for its dBase IV programming
language by suing Fox Software Corp., Perrysburg, Ohio in a Los
Angeles federal court. Ashton-Tate alleges that Fox' Foxbase
database is a clone of dBase, the most popular database on
microcomputers. Unlike Digital Communications Corp., which
unsuccessfully tried to get Crosstalk-clonemaker Softklone
Distributing Corp out of the market by claiming its main status
screen was copied from Crosstalk XVI, Ashton-Tate is claiming
absolute control over the dBase programming language, which is
used extensively in business to design databases. If Foxbase is
ruled a clone of dBase, it puts in question the legal status of
databases written with it, and could cause a ripple effect of
legal action around the world.

Meanwhile, legal precedents in all software clone suits remain
unsettled. Neither Apple's suit claiming control of the Macintosh
user interface, nor Lotus' suit against clones of its 1-2-3
spreadsheet product, is close to a settlement of decision yet.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19881125)


(NEWS)(GOVERNMENT)(ATL)(00004)

FCC PUSHES FOR PHONE REGULATION WHICH WILL LET BELLS ONLINE
WASHINGTON, 1988 NOV. 29 (NB) -- One of the big problems faced
by the Bell companies in getting into the online business was
separating their regulated interests in phone systems from their
unregulated interests in computing. By simplifying phone company
regulation with price caps rather than profit caps, FCC Chairman
Dennis Patrick hopes to let the Bells into computing with less
trauma. His plan faces opposition, but Patrick is intent on
getting a price cap plan onto the FCC's agenda for its December 2
meeting.

Meanwhile, Bell gateways continue to proliferate. US West
announced November 22 it will offer a gateway based on the
Minitel model next fall in Omaha, Nebraska. NYNEX and BellSouth
are among the Bells which already have gateways in operation.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19881125)


(NEWS)(GOVERNMENT)(ATL)(00007)

TEXAS INSTRUMENTS CHARGES MICRON WITH STEALING ITS CHIP PATENTS
AUSTIN, TEXAS, 1988 NOV. 28 (NB) -- Troubled by falling profits in
memory chips, and stung by criticism that the 1986 U.S.-Japan
chip-dumping accord was a special deal in its favor, Micron
Technologies Inc. of Boise, Idaho now faces a patent infringement
suit from Texas Instruments. The giant Dallas-based electronics
and defense firm charges that Micron dynamic random access memory
(DRAM) and video random access memory (VRAM) chips infringe on TI
patents. (Texas Instruments scientist Jack Kirby and former Intel
head Robert Noyce are generally given credit for creating the
microprocessor in the late 1960s.) Over the years, TI has won
$281 million in royalties from other chipmakers, and TI general
counsel Richard Agnich said the company had been negotiating with
Micron for about six months before filing the suit.

Ironically, Micron's ticker symbol on the over-the-counter market
had, until recently, been DRAM. The symbol was changed, to MCRN,
Micron said, to prevent all bad news about the memory chip
business from turning into panicky sell-offs of Micron stock.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19881125)


(NEWS)(GOVERNMENT)(ATL)(00008)

SANDIA'S LATEST COMPUTER ADVANCE IS A SECURITY PROGRAM
ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO, 1988 NOV 25 (NB) -- The Sandia National Labs,
best known for research into nuclear weapons but known recently for
advances in parallel processing, has announced a computer program which
combines those two ideas. The Systematic Analysis of
Vulnerability to Intrusion (SAVI) program calculates the 10 most-
likely paths terrorists might take in attacking a facility, given
all their possible support from the outside, and recommends
security improvements. It is presently being upgraded to make
calculations based on the presence of an accomplice inside the
facility under discussion as well. While it's designed to protect
nuclear plants, staff scientist Alfred Winblad says the program
can be used for any facility, even a prison. "I think you can use
it for any facility that you had stuff you wanted to protect,
just about any facility in a fixed location that has security
associated with it. Banks for instance. This would be very good
to use in the initial design of a facility, too."

(Dana Blankenhorn/19881125)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(LON)(00008)

EEC CONFIRMS JAPANESE PRINTER LEVIES FOR FIVE YEARS
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM, 1988 NOV 23 (NB) -- The EEC has confirmed that
its penal levies on 14 Japanese dot-matrix printer manufacturers,
will continue for at least five years. The confirmation has
resulted in considerable protest from the companies concerned.

The levies, which range from 4.8 percent (on TEC printers) to 47
per cent (on Fujitsu printers) were first imposed in May of this
year, following allegations of excess inventory dumping from
European printer companies.

The Committee of Japanese printers (Japanprint) has registered a
strong complaint with the EEC over the confirmed levies, which
were announced after a two day meeting of EEC ministers last
week.

Only one company, Epson, appears to have come off well from the
confirmed levies. The May 1988 levy was 433.4 per cent on Epson
dot-matrix printers, and has been reduced to 25.7 per cent with
immediate effect.

(Steve Gold/19881123)

Newsbytes IBM Report
Week of November 29, 1988


(NEWS)(IBM)(WAS)(00006)

NO DBASE INFRINGEMENT, SAYS FOX
PERRYSBURG, OHIO, 1988 NOV 25 (NB) -- Fox Software Inc. says it
has not infringed Ashton-Tate's copyrights for the Dbase
programming language in its FoxBase plus, FoxBASE plus-Mac, and
SCO FoxBase plus. Ashton-Tate sued Fox in U.S. court in
California, alleging the Fox products are copyright violations.
Fox said there is no merit to the Ashton-Tate suit, that the
language was not invented by Ashton-Tate, and is in the public
domain.

(Ken Maize/19881125)


(NEWS)(IBM)(WAS)(00008)

IBM TO MARKET PS/2s THROUGH DEPARTMENT STORES
NEW YORK, 1988 NOV 25 (NB) -- International Business Machines has
begun selling PS/2 models 25 and 30 in four department stores in
south Florida. IBM may expand the test nationwide, in an attempt
to recapture market share lost to PC-AT clones. IBM officials
told the Wall Street Journal that a decision on broad-scale sales
through department store channels for the low end of the PS/2
line is several months away. The last time IBM marketed its
personal computer products through department stores was the ill-
fated PCJr.

(Ken Maize/19881125)


(NEWS)(IBM)(WAS)(00010)

IBM TO PUSH MCA CLONES?
NEW YORK, 1988 NOV 25 (NB) -- International Business Machines
will issue guidelines on its policies on patent licensing,
according to an IBM spokesman. The policy will clarify that IBM
will not collect fees from uses of the Micro Channel Architecture
until the patents are actually issued over the next two years.
The Wall Street Journal speculates that this may be a move to
encourage companies to offer PS/2 clones, and develop products
that use the MCA technology.

(Ken Maize/19881125)


(NEWS)(IBM)(WAS)(00013)

DOS 4.0 SELLING WELL, OS/2 AND XENIX STAGNANT
PLYMOUTH MEETING, PENNSYLVANIA, 1988 NOV 25 (NB) -- DOS 4.0 is
gaining in systems software sales in retail stores, according to
the latest audits from IMS America. The data show no growth yet
for OS/2, but that OS/2 sales are running ahead of sales for
Microsoft's Xenix, the Unix dialect for PCs. It's still a DOS
world out there.

(Ken Maize/19881125/Contact: Patrice Johnson or Ron Rehling, IMS
America Computer Markets Division, 215-834-4752)


(NEWS)(IBM)(TYO)(00001)

SEIKOSHA LAUNCHES INTO PC-COMPATIBLE MARKET
TOKYO, NOV 29, 1988 (NB) -- Seikosha, a member of Seiko group,
and Tomcat Computer, a computer engineering company, have jointly
developed a 32-bit multi-compatible personal computer.

The machine has an i80386SX central processing unit and is
compatible with the NEC PC-9800 series in Japanese mode and IBM PC/AT
in English mode. Plenty of software, including 6,000 programs for the
PC-9800 series and 60,000 programs for PC/AT, can be used on this
machine.

A high level of compatibility has been realized with eight newly-developed,
large-scale integrated circuits (LSI), based on Tomcat's virtual
system logic (VSL) and the adoption of an IBM PC/AT bus.

Two floppy disk drives are standard and three type of media,
double sided double density (2D), double sided double density
double track (2DD) and double sided high density double track (2HD),
are readable. 40 megabytes or 100 megabytes of hard disk drives
are available as an option.

The price of the machine is estimated at 400,000 yen or $3,200,
much cheaper than a low-priced 32-bit machine. The shipping
date is expected to be sometime this coming spring.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19881125/Contact: Mr. Negishi, Seikosha Co.,
03-621-8960)


(NEWS)(IBM)(TYO)(00004)

MAKE PC/AT AX-COMPATIBLE
TOKYO, NOV 29, 1988 (NB) -- Proside, Chiba, has developed
software which allows an IBM PC/AT machine to run programs for an
architecture-extended (AX) machine, which is a PC/AT-compatible
machine with a Japanese language feature. The DOS-ADDON-AX beta
version, which alone costs 10,000 yen ($80), needs the company's
hardware set JEGA (Japanese enhanced graphics adaptor) which consists
of a JEGA board, an AX board, and an AX basic input output system
(BIOS). The total set for making PC/AT compatible with AX, both
software and hardware, costs 82,000 yen or $670 -- very attractive
for PC/AT users who want to add a kanji character feature to their
machine at a very low cost. The company's spokesman told NEWSBYTES-JAPAN,
"The price for the set is very low. PC/AT users don't have
to purchase an AX machine. I suppose the set will get gradual
popularity in half a year or so." Though the hardware set is being
sold by the company, the sample shipment of the software is
scheduled in the middle of next month.

(Ken Takahashi/19881124/Contact: Proside Corp., 0472-79-3504)


(NEWS)(IBM)(TYO)(00012)

MITSUBISHI TO EXPORT AT-COMPATIBLE MACHINES TO EUROPE
TOKYO, NOV 29, 1988 (NB) -- Mitsubishi Electric Corp. will
launch a major exportation effort in Europe for its personal computers
within the next year. Mitsubishi will export desktop
and laptop 16-bit IBM PC/AT-compatible machines to Europe.
The machines will be sold first in England and Germany, and
later in France and Italy. Moreover, the company is
currently constructing an engineering center in Dusseldorf,
West Germany, aiming at technological support for sales.

(Ken Takahashi/19881124)


(NEWS)(IBM)(TOR)(0004)

COMPUTER ASSOCIATES ADDS FRENCH ACCOUNTING, PAYROLL MODULE
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, 1988 NOV 14 (NB) -- The Micro
Products Division of Computer Associates Canada Ltd. has
announced a French-language version of its Accpac Easy accounting
software. The company also unveiled a new Canadian payroll module
for its Accpac BPI Accounting software.

Comptabilite generale, the French-language version of Accpac
Easy, has a suggested retail price of C$99. It is designed for
small or part-time businesses with basic accounting needs.
Although French-language versions of the company's SuperCalc4
spreadsheet and SuperProject Plus project management software are
available, Comptabilite generale is CA's first French-language
accounting package.

The new Canadian payroll module for Accpac BPI, the company's
mid-range accounting software for PCs, will ship in December and
sell for C$495.

(Grant Buckler/19881125/Contact: John Schoutsen, Computer
Associates Canada Ltd., 604-737-3322)


(NEWS)(IBM)(TOR)(0005)

FRENCH VERSION OF EXCELERATOR OFFERED
CAMBRIDGE, MASS., 1988 NOV 21 (NB) -- Index Technology Corp. has
announced a French-language version of Release 1.8 of
Excelerator. The systems analysis and design software runs on MS-
DOS-based PCs. Index Technology will sell the French version of
Excelerator in Canada through its offices in Toronto and
Montreal, and in Europe through its U.K. subsidiary Excelerator
Software Products Ltd., London, and through Cap Sogetti
Instruments in Paris.

(Grant Buckler/19881125/Contact: Jessica Solodar, Index
Technology Corp., 617-494-8200)


(NEWS)(IBM)(TOR)(0009)

MICRO DECISIONWARE IS IBM BUSINESS PARTNER
BOULDER, COLORADO, 1988 NOV 22 (NB) -- Micro Decisionware has been
named an IBM Business Partner and Authorized Application
Specialist for IBM's large processors and relational database
systems. Micro Decisionware developed PC/SQL-link, which lets PC
users retrieve data from host databases using the Structured
Query Language (SQL). The three-year-old product works with IBM's
DB2 database software under the MV/TSO operating system and with
the SQL/DS database software under VM/CMS. Micro Decisionware is
working on a version to work with the Database Manager on the
AS/400 minicomputers and under Operating System/2.

(Grant Buckler/19881125/Contact: Margaret Devere, Micro
Decisionware, 303-442-2706)


(NEWS)(IBM)(SFO)(00008)

MICROSOFT RELEASES PROGRAM THAT TEACHES DOS
REDMOND, WASHINGTON, 1988 NOV 21 (NB) -- Microsoft has released
Learning DOS version 2.0, software which teaches you how to
use an IBM or compatible MS-DOS machine if you don't have a
written tutorial.  The product is a graphics-oriented, interactive
training tool that teaches both novice and intermediate users the
concepts and tools of MS-DOS, the Microsoft disk operating system.
"Learning DOS should be an automatic purchase for the first-time
computer buyers," boasts Susan Boeschen, manager of Microsoft's
Entry Business Unit.

The lessons include information about batch files, the DOS 4.0
shell, memory and storage devices, and using the keyboard.
The suggested retail price is $49.95.

(Wendy Woods/19881126/Contact: Karen Meredith, Microsoft, 206-882-8080)


(NEWS)(IBM)(LAX)(00002)

REALITY SOFTWARE SHIPS TWO REAL ESTATE APPLICATIONS
REDONDO BEACH, CALIFORNIA, 1988 DEC 1 (NB) -- Reality Software will
begin shipping two new software products today. Property Management
Plus/89 is a new version which features color for the IBM PC and
compatibles. The program can manage single-family, multi-family,
commercial, airport-hangar, marina-slip, and condominium properties.
Features include tenant-information look up and posting by tenant or
owner name or number and automatic month- or year-end processing.

The second product is the Management Option for Property Management
Plus/89. The Management Option provides reports for professional
property managers. Properties can be managed for one of many owners
from a master checking account or from individual accounts. Features
include posting of management fees, owner balances, checks to
owners, 1099 forms, balance sheets by owner or property, and
calculation of interest on tenant deposits.

(Wayne Yacco/19881125/Contact: Reality, 213-372-9419)


(NEWS)(IBM)(LAX)(00003)

SOFTCRAFT SPINS OFF FONT PROGRAM
ENCINITAS, CALIFORNIA 1988 NOV 14 (NB) -- Softcraft, Inc. has
released Spinfont, a program which can be used to create curved and
slanted text images from Fontware typeface outlines. Fontware
outlines are included with many popular software packages such as
Microsoft Word, WordPerfect 5.0, Ventura Publisher 2.0, Aldus
PageMaker 3.0, and GEM. Spinfont can curve text from these programs
around arcs to create curved mastheads, logos, insignias and stamps.
Text can also be slanted at any angle. Other options provide
reversed text and simple graphics such as circles, arcs and thick
lines and Spinfont can call SoftCraft's Font Effects program for
more advanced styles. A preview feature allows results to be checked
from within the program. Output is available in TIFF or PC
Paintbrush (PCX) file formats which can be imported into many word-
processing and page-layout programs.

(Wayne Yacco/19881125/Contact: Softcraft, 800-351-0500 or 608-257-
6733)


(NEWS)(IBM)(LAX)(00005)

LOW-SPEED NETWORK NOW AVAILABLE FOR ISDN
PROVO, UTAH, 1988 NOV 14 (NB) -- Netline, Inc. is offering a new
connectivity software package that allows users to network their
computers over integrated services digital network (ISDN)
telecommunications systems. ISDN networks provide integrated voice
and data communications over the same network. ManyLink for ISDN
provides circuit-switched data transfers on the AT&T 5ESS ISDN
switch. The network provides data transfer at rates up to 19.2
kilobits per second through a PC's standard RS232 serial port.
ManyLink users can take advantage of the network to print files on
remote printers or to transfer files to remote computers.

ManyLink features are also available to programmers through an
application programming interface (API). The API provides developers
with the tools needed to write applications that use the ManyLink
kernel for network support.

(Wayne Yacco/19881125)


(NEWS)(IBM)(LAX)(00006)

NEW USER INTERFACE FOR LOW-SPEED NETWORK
PROVO, UTAH, 1988 NOV 14 (NB) -- Netline, Inc. displayed upgraded
versions of its ManyLink software at Fall COMDEX. The new software
features a completely menu-driven user interface. The new interface
allows users to select functions by simply scrolling through menus.
ManyLink for PCs and a variant, ManyLink for Work Groups, allow PCs
to connect, using serial ports and cabling, for the purposes of
sharing peripherals, transferring files, and exchanging messages.

(Wayne Yacco/19881125)


(NEWS)(IBM)(LAX)(00007)

ADAPTER PROVIDES PC WITH COM3 AND COM4 IN SINGLE SLOT
PROVO, UTAH, 1988 NOV 14 (NB) -- Netline, Inc has announced a dual-
port serial card which provides a PC, XT or AT with third and fourth
serial ports. The card can coexist with COM1 and COM2 ports without
conflict. Serial devices attached to other ports are not affected.
Users without existing serial ports can also configure the card as
COM1 and COM2.

(Wayne Yacco/19881125)


(NEWS)(IBM)(LAX)(00008)

MUSICAL LUNCHBOX PORTABLES FROM SCANTECH
IRWINDALE, CALIFORNIA, 1988 NOV 14 (NB) -- Scantech Computer Systems
is promoting its line of "lunchbox" portable computers as an ideal
platform for the working musician. Two 80286-based systems are
offered in 20 MHz and 25 MHz versions which the company claims
provide the speed required to provide multichannel MIDI sequencing
without processing delays or bottlenecks. A MIDI adapter is not
included with the systems however.

(Wayne Yacco/19881125)


(NEWS)(IBM)(LAX)(00009)

LAPLINK OFFERED AS OPTION BY TOSHIBA
IRVINE, CALIFORNIA, 1988 NOV 21 (NB) -- Toshiba America's nationwide
dealer network is about to begin offering a specially packaged
version of Traveling Software's LapLink Plus as an option to the
company's portable personal-computer line. LapLink Plus is a PC-to-
PC laptop/desktop connectivity system. The program allows serial
file transfers at speeds up to 115,000 bits per second over serial
ports and provides a convenient method of exchanging data between
machines with differing diskette-media formats.

(Wayne Yacco/19881125)


(NEWS)(IBM)(LAX)(00010)

UPGRADES ANNOUNCED FOR TOSHIBA T1200 LAPTOPS
IRVINE, CALIFORNIA, 1988 NOV 23 (NB) -- Two upgrade kits are now
available for Toshiba's T1200 portable computers. The T1200F and
T1200H, both originally equipped with reflective supertwist liquid
crystal displays (LCDs), can now be upgraded with a backlit
supertwist LCD. The T1200F or T1200FB can be upgraded with a twenty-
megabyte hard disk. The hard-disk upgrade requires the removal of
one of the laptop's 3.5-inch drives. In addition to Toshiba
Authorized Service Providers, two other organizations are providing
the conversions: Computer Products Plus (CP+) and R Services, Inc.
(RSI).

(Wayne Yacco/19881125/Contacts: CP+, 800-274-4277; RSI, 714-532-
5220)


(NEWS)(IBM)(LAX)(00011)

AST RESEARCH OFFERS NEW ADVANTAGE 286
IRVINE, CALIFORNIA, 1988 NOV 14 (NB) -- AST Research has announced
the release of Advantage 286, a new multifunction expansion card
supporting up to 8 MB of on-board extended memory and bus speeds of
up to 12.5 MHz. The cards are available for computers with an AT bus
including the IBM PS/2 Model 30 286.

(Wayne Yacco/19881125)


(NEWS)(IBM)(LAX)(00012)

NEW TOP-OF-THE-LINE 25 MHZ FAMILY OF COMPUTERS FROM AST
IRVINE, CALIFORNIA, 1988 NOV 14 (NB) -- AST Research has introduced
a line of 25-MHz. computers based on the Intel 80386 microprocessor.
Called Premium 386/25, the new computers feature an advanced system
architecture designed specifically for use in CAD/CAE, network file
service, modeling, UNIX/XENIX multiuser and other demanding
applications. The systems include AST's arbitrated SMARTslot bus as
well as integrated cache memory and are capable of operating at 25
MHz. with zero wait states.

The SMARTslot is an arbitrated bus architecture that accommodates
multiple, intelligent coprocessors. A precursor of the recently
announced EISA bus, SMARTslot is divided into three components: a
dedicated 32-bit connection from processor to memory, a feature bus
and an arbitration bus. The arbitration bus provides efficient
management of memory and peripherals.

The motherboard includes built-in a floppy controller, two serial
ports and a parallel port. CPU and 2 standard megabytes of memory
reside on a card which occupies one of seven slots.

Software bundled with the machines includes utilities for EMS 4.0
expanded memory management, disk caching, shadow RAM, and a menu-
driven interface for setting up and testing the system and
installing and running utility programs.

Storage options for the systems include up to 3 floppy drives, in
either 5.25-inch format or the 1.44-megabyte 3.5-inch format, and up
to 2 hard disks for as much as 640 megabytes of fixed-disk storage.
A 1.2 megabyte, 5.25-inch floppy disk is standard. Four standard
configurations are available in models that range in price from
$6,595 to $11,795 for a 320-megabyte unit.

(Wayne Yacco/19881125)


(NEWS)(IBM)(LAX)(00012)

AST ENHANCES PREMIUM/386 LINE
IRVINE, CALIFORNIA, 1988 NOV 14 (NB) -- AST Research has enhanced
its Premium/386 computer line. Designated Premium/386C, the 20 MHz.
systems feature cache-memory architecture and expanded memory
capacity. Sixty-four kilobytes of 25-nanosecond static-RAM cache
improves performance by retaining most frequently used data. Maximum
memory capacity has been expanded from thirteen to sixteen
megabytes. Current owners of original Premium/386 computers will be
able to obtain a cache upgrade kit in January 1989 for $1995.

The Premium/386 systems offer two standard serial ports and a
parallel port. Software bundled with the machines includes utilities
for EMS 4.0 expanded memory management, disk caching, shadow RAM,
and a menu-driven interface for setting up and testing the system
and installing and running utility programs. The new line will
become available during December and will eventually phase out the
company's existing '386 line.

(Wayne Yacco/19881125/Contact: AST, 714-863-1333)


(EXCLUSIVE)(IBM)(LAX)(00014)

PC-SIG TO RENOVATE LIBRARY, ISSUE NEW CD
SUNNYVALE, CALIFORNIA, 1988 NOV 25 (NB) -- PC-SIG's enormous library
of public-domain and shareware titles is being culled. In an effort
to address criticism that the collection contains redundancy and
obsolete titles, the public-domain giant has assigned a staff member
full-time to perform the house cleaning.

In a related event, the company is reissuing the CD ROM version of
its database. The new version is due out within one or two weeks and
will feature new access software in addition to a cleaner database.
The new software will make it faster and easier to select programs
from the library.

(Wayne Yacco/19881125/Contact: PC-SIG, 408-730-9291)


(NEWS)(IBM)(LON)(00001)

VICTOR UK BOOSTS SALES 22 PERCENT
LONDON, 1988 NOV 23 (NB) -- Victor UK has pulled itself out of
the doldrums with the announcement of a 22 percent surge in
third quarter sales to 30 September, 1988. The company's results,
a subset of the Swedish parent, show the quarter's sales at #81.5
million - a #14.7 million increase on the same period last year.

Pre-tax third quarter profits for the UK company are equally
pleasing at #6.4 million. According to Victor UK's managing
director, Bob Webb, the figures show that Victor is now in third
or fourth position as regards PC sales in Europe.

"The results are much better than forecasted by Victor's
corporate headquarters. Our business is very healthy on a
European basis," he said.

(Steve Gold/19881123/Victor UK: (UK) 0494-461600)


(NEWS)(IBM)(LON)(00002)

MITSUBISHI TARGETS EUROPE WITH ITS PCS
TOKYO, 1988 NOV 24 (NB) -- Mitsubishi, the Japanese electronics
giant, has announced it will start exporting its range of 8086,
80286 and 80386-based PCs to European markets during the first
and second quarters of 1989.

Mitsubishi aims to sell at least 10,000 PCs a year initially,
with the sales emphasis on its new 80286-based laptop. Initial
European markets which have been targeted by the Japanese company
are West Germany and the UK. France and Italy are next on the
company's lists.

Mitsubishi is Japan's third-largest electronics company, and
follows Epson, NEC, and Toshiba into the lucrative European
marketplace.

(Steve Gold/19881124)


(NEWS)(IBM)(BRU)(00001)

IBM ANNOUNCES NEW TOKEN-RING PRODUCTS
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM, 1988 NOV 18 (NB) -- IBM Europe has staged a
European launch of its turbo sixteen megabits/second (Mbps) Token Ring
system. The products were unveiled in the US at Comdex Fall late
last month.

The 16Mbps Token Ring system conforms to the IEEE 802.5 standard
and appear on the latest series of IBM boards which will ship
early next year. Unlike other competing products, the high-speed
IBM Token Ring system is not based around the new Texas
Instruments chip set, although its performance is very similar.

The bad news about the 16Mbps Token Ring system is that the top
speed cannot be achieved over the traditional twisted pair
circuits. To go beyond the current 10Mbps speed barrier, IBM
recommends that coaxial cable is used. The system will work with
twisted-wire cabling, say IBM, but don't expect turbo speeds out
of the system.

(Peter Vekinis/19881118)


(NEWS)(IBM)(BRU)(00002)

POSITRONICA SHIPS NEW 3COM WORKSTATION SERIES
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM, 1988 NOV 20 (NB) -- Belgium's primary 3Com
distributor, Positronica, has announced the availability of the
3Station/2E system, 3Com's new 80286-based workstation.

The new workstation hums along at 10MHz into 1Mb of main memory
and is specifically designed to work with 3Com's 3+ and 3+ Open
networking systems. For users with less powerful needs, the
system comes with SNA, TCP(IP) and Ethernet connections fitted as
standard.

The 3Com/2E workstation features VGA support to 640 by 480 and 800
by 600 pixel standards, with 16 colours displayed on-screen
simultaneously. The system supports Windows/286, as well as
graphics-intensive packages such as Autodesk's Autocad, Xerox
Ventura Publisher and Aldus Pagemaker.

(Peter Vekinis/19881120)


(NEWS)(IBM)(BRU)(00003)

POSITRONICA LAUNCHES PC MOUSE II
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM, 1988 NOV 20 (NB) -- Positronica has launched
Mouse Systems' PC Mouse II onto the Belgian market. The two-
buttoned mouse is the first optical unit available in Belgium and
works to 2000 dots per inch (dpi) resolution.

Unusually, PC Mouse II connects to either an AT (9 pin) or a
standard PC (25 pin) serial port without modification, and ships
with bundled pop-up designer software.

(Peter Vekinis/19881120)


(NEWS)(IBM)(BRU)(00004)

TOSHIBA LAUNCHED T3100E LAPTOP IN EUROPE
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM, 1988 NOV 24 (NB) -- In confirmation of the
announcement made at Comdex Fall last month, Toshiba Europe has
launched the T3100e laptop onto the European market. The machine
is lighter than its T3100 forebear at 12 pounds and comes with a
turbo 12MHz microprocessor and fast-access (27 milliseconds) 20Mb
hard disk as standard features.

Externally, the T3100e looks much the same as the original T3100,
comes with a 640 by 400 pixel gas plasma screen and can
accommodate up to 5Mb of system memory for memory-hungry
applications. As with the rest of the Toshiba laptop range, the
new laptop, which ships immediately, has a single proprietary
expansion slot.

Pricing on the T3100e has yet to be confirmed for each individual
European country, but is expected to be in line with existing
T3100 pricing levels.

(Peter Vekinis/19881124)

Newsbytes (Tm) Telecommunications Report
Week of November 29, 1988


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(LON)(00003)

BIX INTRODUCES MENUS, BBS SERVICE AND PRINT NEWSLETTER
PETERBOROUGH, NEW HAMPSHIRE, 1988 NOV 26 (NB) -- BIX, Byte
magazine's Byte Information eXchange, has announced a number of
enhancements for its subscribers. The enhancements include system
menus, an electronic service for bulletin board system operators
and a new weekly print magazine.

The menuing system, introduced to subscribers last week, gives
BIX a user-friendly front-end system on a par with Compuserve and
The Source. Users can also obtain fast access to all their
messages, which can be downloaded en-masse from the system.

The BIX BBS service is called the BBS Exchange, or BBX for short.
Charter memberships cost $160 for the first year, or $50 for a
three month trial period. From January 1989 onwards, the service
will cost $199 a year. Amongst the many benefits to sysops is the
offer of a limited licence to reproduce BIX's daily news in an
annotated form, and an interaction between a single line BBS and
the BIX system proper.

The third enhancement from BIX is called Byteweek, a weekly print
newsletter drawing on the resources of BIX's daily Microbytes
computer news service. Byteweek is to be published 50 times a
year at a charter subscription cost of $395. From January 1989,
the service will cost $495 per year.

(Steve Gold/19881126/BIX: (US) 603-924-7681)


(NEWS)(TELCOM)(WAS)(00002)

FIBER OPTICS CABLE DAMAGE DISRUPTS PHONES AND DATA
SOUTH AMBOY, NEW JERSEY, 1988 NOV 25 (NB) -- A severed fiber
optics cable in New Jersey in late November disrupted telephone
and data communications services as far away as California, said
an AT&T spokesman. Some emergency crews were forced to use hand-
held radios and beepers for communications while the line was out
for about nine hours. According to the spokesman, during the
outage, about 53 million calls were made on the AT&T network,
about 3.5 million of which were blocked.

The line break, caused by construction equipment, also brought
down computers at the New Jersey state lottery and the state
Department of Motor Vehicles. Frustrated motorists who waited in
long lines were angered when they discovered they would have to
return another day.

(Ken Maize/19881125)


(NEWS)(TELCOM)(WAS)(00004)

AT&T ROLLS OUT TELECOMMUNICATIONS PRODUCTS
NEW YORK, 1988 NOV 25 (NB) -- American Telephone & Telegraph has
introduced a series of products designed to make it easier for
computer and telecommunications user to send and receive data.
The products include a terminal that telephone companies can
provide to customers, using a fiber optic link. AT&T also
unveiled a new switching product that is designed to transfer
service from one fiber optic cable to another if the cable is
damaged.

Also, AT&T and Wang Laboratories have entered an agreement in
which the communications links in the Wang Integrated Image
Systems, or WIIS, will be compatible with the Integrated Service
Digital Network over AT&T's new high-speed switch. Wang will
create the ISDN interfaces for WIIS to work with 5ESS switches,
while AT&T will provide technical support and testing.

(Ken Maize/19881125)


(NEWS)(TELCOM)(WAS)(00007)

IDE BUYS THREE ALCATEL LINES
BILLERICA, MASSACHUSETTS, 1988 NOV 25 (NB) -- IDE Corp. has
acquired three divisions of Alcatel N.V.'s U.S. unit, located in
Tempe, Ariz., for more than $100 million. Alcatel is 63 percent
owned by Compagnie Generale d'Electricity of France and 37
percent by ITT Corp.

(Ken Maize/19881125)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00001)

GE SIGNS ELF TO TELECOMMUNICATE TAX RETURNS TO IRS
ROCKVILLE, MARYLAND, 1988 NOV. 25 (NB) -  One major hindrance to
the adoption of electronic invoicing by small businesses is that
we want someone to make sure we've formatted everything correctly
before trusting an online system with something like a tax
return. ELF Communications is now offering that kind of service,
having signed a Value-Added Service Provider (VASP) agreement
with GE Information Services (GE IS) under which it will use GE
IS' teleprocessing network for collecting and processing. ELF
will monitor transmissions and verify returns through the
Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) electronic filing system. ELF
will then file the return in the IRS format.

The deal is a coup for General Electric, which gets a high
volume re-seller of its invoicing network. ELF will also
integrate GE IS' BusinessTalk communications capability with its
own ELF/MATE, ELF/LINK, and other electronic filing products for
resale to the tax preparation industry.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19881125/Contact: Elf Communications at 800-
255-0880)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00002)

INTEGRATION OF ONLINE AND FAX TO BE MAJOR 1989 THEME
ATLANTA, GEORGIA,1988 NOV. 25 (NB) -- Electronic component
manufacturers and online networks, stung by the quick acceptance
of Group III fax by U.S. businesses, are now rushing to integrate
fax with their products and services. The recent Fall Comdex show
featured over a dozen PC fax products, from plug-in cards which
give your PC fax functions alongside a modem, to the Worldport
2496, a .2 KG device which plugs into the serial port at the back
of a laptop computer and offers both fax and modem service for
$600.

Online services which now claim fax compatibility include MCI
Mail and GEnie, with pricing based on the half-page of kilo-
character. Xpedite Systems of Eatontown, New Jersey has also
begun offering a service which translates your modem's input into
fax output at about 70 seconds per page, plus $49 for software.
In addition to bring fax to its MCI Mail product, that company
has also introduced MCI Fax with great fanfare, which offers
store-and-forward and broadcasting capabilities not found on the
$1,000 fax machines which have quickly become popular in American
business. As with any set of new products or services,
introductions will be followed by vapor, horror stories, and bug
fixes.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19881125)


FCC PUSHES FOR PHONE REGULATION WHICH WILL LET BELLS ONLINE
WASHINGTON, 1988 NOV. 29 (NB) -- One of the big problems faced
by the Bell companies in getting into the online business was
separating their regulated interests in phone systems from their
unregulated interests in computing. By simplifying phone company
regulation with price caps rather than profit caps, FCC Chairman
Dennis Patrick hopes to let the Bells into computing with less
trauma. His plan faces opposition, but Patrick is intent on
getting a price cap plan onto the FCC's agenda for its December 2
meeting.

Meanwhile, Bell gateways continue to proliferate. US West
announced November 22 it will offer a gateway based on the
Minitel model next fall in Omaha, Nebraska. NYNEX and BellSouth
are among the Bells which already have gateways in operation.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19881125)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00005)

X.25 WINS MAJOR SUPPORT FROM HARDWARE VENDORS AND ONLINE NETWORKS
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, 1988 NOV 25 (NB) -- Lost amid the Comdex product
hoopla were major moves to implement X.25 as a standard for online
communications at speeds faster than 1200 baud. CompuServe
announced its dial-up network will now support X.25, and Tymnet
added new 2400 baud access to its TymDial X.25 service in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Kansas City, Missouri and Bloomfield,
Connecticut. X.25 connections, which have been implemented on
Telenet for quite some time, allow provide built-in error-
correction and make PCs a seamless part of a mainframe network.
They also allow for multitasking, because your PC modem is no
longer waiting for each character to be echoed back from the
computer it's calling, which is the case in asynchronous
communications.

Hayes Microcomputer Products, the largest micro modem maker, has
also joined the X.25 club by announcing it will make the protocol
a standard feature in its V-Series modems, starting in January.
Hayes will combine X.25 with a Packet Assembler/Disassembler
(PAD) so PC users can carry out X.25 communications directly,
without having to resort to a packet switch system like Telenet
or Tymnet. Hayes announced it will also support the V.42 protocol
for synchronous transmission, including the LAPM protocols it had
previously resisted, and negotiate site licenses for the first
time.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19881125)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(TYO)(00008)

OSI IS GETTING PROMOTED
TOKYO, NOV 29, 1988 (NB) -- As a way for promoting the
international standard Open Systems' Interconnection (OSI), the
Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications will supervise the development of
OSI-based telecommunication programs, such as a directory system.
The research and development will be conducted by the government-
affiliated OSI/ISDN Promotion Liaison Association, which
will propose a concrete development project as early as next
month. OSI would realize a free exchange of data via different
kinds of computers.

(Ken Takahashi/19881124)


(NEWS)(TELECOMMUNICATION))(00005)

PACIFIC BELL WANTS TO OFFER TALKING NEWS OVER THE PHONE
SAN FRANCISCO, 1988 NOV 25 (NB) -- Pacific Bell has asked the
Federal Communications Commission to allow it to offer voice
information services to customers.  Voice information services
would allow consumers to send and receive information over the
telephone without having to reach a person on the other end.
Callers would use the phone's Touch-Tone keypad to get a variety
of information such as a business' hours of operation, specific
health topics, weather forecasts, and individual stock performance.
Callers could also send information through the phone lines to
respond to polls, pledge contributions, order items from catalogs,
and transfer money between bank accounts, all without speaking
to a real live person.

Pacific Bell would own, operate and maintain the voice storage
equipment necessary for businesses to offer these services.  That
would eliminate the need for the business to purchase their own
voice storage and forwarding equipment.  "We are hoping to
develop the concept of 24-hour customer service," says Kennebec
Kious, director of voice information services for Pacific
Bell's Information Services Group.

(Wendy Woods/19881126/Contact: Dori Sera Bailey, Pacific Bell,
415,542-4033)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(SFO)(00006)

PACIFIC BELL TO OFFER VOICE MAIL
SAN FRANCISCO, 1988 NOV 21 (NB) -- Pacific Bell has announced the
first trials of a new voice mail service for small businesses and
residential customers will take place this spring in Milpitas and
San Pedro, California.  Pacific Bell hopes to fully expand the
service throughout California by 1990.

Pacific Bell Voice Mail allows users to send, receive, store,
forward and erase messages from any Touch-Tone phone 24 hours a day.
Messages are stored in and sent through voice "mailboxes," which
correspond with an individual's regular telephone number.  The Voice
Mail will initially be available to Pacific Bell business customers
with Centrex telephone systems.

The Pacific Bell Voice Mail uses Digital Sound Corporation
equipment and custom application software.  Digital Sound is based
in Santa Barbara, California.

Voice mail is one of the first information services Pacific Bell
is offering to the public since the U.S. District Court
removed information services restrictions on the Bell Operating
Companies.

(Wendy Woods/19881126/Contact: Dori Bailey, Pacific Bell, 415-542-4033)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(LAX)(00005)

LOW-SPEED NETWORK NOW AVAILABLE FOR ISDN
PROVO, UTAH, 1988 NOV 14 (NB) -- Netline, Inc. is offering a new
connectivity software package that allows users to network their
computers over integrated services digital network (ISDN)
telecommunications systems. ISDN networks provide integrated voice
and data communications over the same network. ManyLink for ISDN
provides circuit-switched data transfers on the AT&T 5ESS ISDN
switch. The network provides data transfer at rates up to 19.2
kilobits per second through a PC's standard RS232 serial port.
ManyLink users can take advantage of the network to print files on
remote printers or to transfer files to remote computers.

ManyLink features are also available to programmers through an
application programming interface (API). The API provides developers
with the tools needed to write applications that use the ManyLink
kernel for network support.

(Wayne Yacco/19881125)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(LON)(00004)

DOWTY SHIPS QUATTRO PLUS PC MODEM
CHIPPENHAM, WILTSHIRE, ENGLAND, 1988 NOV 23 (NB) -- Dowty
Information Systems has begun shipping its flagship PC modem, the
Quattro Plus, at #795. The modem is capable of 300, 1200/75,
1200/1200, 2400/2400 baud working to CCITT standards, as well as
proprietary V29 (9,600 bits per second) system.

Unusually, the modem has much of its innate intelligence within
software which is downloaded from the PC's memory (loaded from
disk) and into the Random Access Memory (RAM) of the modem
itself. This allows future upgrades to the modem to be executed
primarily from software, thereby avoiding complex (and costly) UK
telecoms approvals procedures.

Amongst the many features of this expensive modem are MNP
(Microcom Networking Protocol) level 5 error-correction and data
compression, and an effective 19,200bps data throughput using the
proprietary V29 system. The V29 system can only be using on a
point-to-point basis with other Quattro Plus modems.

(Steve Gold/19881123/Dowty Information Systems: (UK) 0225-891881)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(LON)(00005)

TRICOM POWERS UP FOR FASTER MODEMS
HIGH WYCOMBE, BUCKINGHAMSHIRE, ENGLAND, 1988 NOV 24 (NB) --
Tricom Communications will launch two new high-speed modems this
week at the Telecommunicationscoprocessor Managers Association's annual
conference. The
modems bring the benefits of MNP (Microcom Networking Protocol)
level's 7 and 9 to the UK modem marketplace for the first time.

The first modem is the Turbo 12 MNP which is capable of 300, 1200
and 2400 baud full duplex over the Public Switched Telephone
Network (PSTN). Thanks to the use of MNP level 7 error-correction
and data compression, an effective data throughput of 12,000 bits
per second (bps) can be achieved using a 2,400 baud carrier
pumping 7-bit data down the line.

The second new modem is the Tornado 30, an MNP level 9-equipped
unit capable of squeezing up to 30,000 bps over the PSTN on a V32
(9600 baud full duplex) carrier. The modem is also downwards-
compatible with MNP level's 7, 5 and below. MNP level 6's
Automatic Speed Selection (ASS) is not available on the unit,
however.

Pricing on both modems was not available to NEWSBYTES UK at the
pre-press launch last week. Both modems will be available in the
latter part of January, 1989.

(Steve Gold/19881124/Tricom: 05827-65171)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(BRU)(00009)

EUROCOMM '88 TO OPEN ON 6 DECEMBER
AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS, 1988 NOV 26 (NB) --Eurocomm '88, the
annual European communications exhibition and conference, opens
its doors on the 6th of December. More than 100 exhibitors will
display their wares for the crowds.

Amongst the many products expected at the show are the latest
high-definition TV systems which will be available via fledgling
satellite TV stations in the first and second quarters of 1989 in
Europe.

Also scheduled for unveiling are firmer details of the new mobile
telephone services working to TACS and CT-3 standards. Although
the new pan-European mobile phone services are not due until the
early 1990's, considerable interest is being shown by both
consumers and national network providers alike.

(Peter Vekinis/19881126)

Newsbytes (Tm) Trends and Technology
Week of November 29, 1988


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(WAS)(00015)

SOFTWARE COMPANIES TOPS IN RETURN ON INVESTMENT
NEWTON, MASSACHUSETTS, 1988 NOV 25 (NB) -- Software companies
grabbed the top three spots on Electronic Business magazine's
list of return on investment by high tech companies in 1987.
Return on investment, a measure of corporate efficiency, is the
ratio of net earnings to total capital in the business. The top
three on the magazine's list were Lotus Development (30 percent),
Oracle Systems (29.3 percent), and Microsoft (29.2 percent).
Number four on the list was Apple, at 26 percent, followed by
Compaq at 24 percent. IBM didn't make the list of the top 25
performers.

(Ken Maize/19881125)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(WAS)(00016)

COMPUTER AND OFFICE EQUIPMENT SHIPMENTS UP 40.9 PERCENT
WASHINGTON, 1988 NOV 25 (NB) -- Shipments of U.S. office
and computing equipment jumped 40.9 percent in September,
according to the Computer and Business Equipment Manufacturers
Association. CBEMA said the value of shipments rose from $5.2
billion in August to $7.4 billion in September. Shipments for the
first nine months of the year were 11.8 percent higher than the
first nine months of 1987, at $49.4 billion compared to $44.2
billion.


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(ATL)(00006)

AMD TO SNUFF OUT SMOKERS FROM ITS CHIP-MAKING FACILITIES
AUSTIN, TEXAS, 1988 NOV. 28 (NB) -- Advanced Micro Devices, which
recently gave pink-slips to about 7% of its workers, is telling
the rest of them to quit smoking or else. Starting January 2, the
chip-maker will begin enforcing a new anti-smoking policy at its
Texas plants in Austin and San Antonio, banning smoking from all
buildings and ridding them of ashtrays.

Health concerns are only part of the story. Keith
Dillenbeck, manager of contamination for the Sematech chip-making
research consortium, said studies have shown that smokers can
exhale contaminants  for hours after a cigarette, generating as
many as 10 times the pollution of non-smokers. About 3,100
workers fall under the new rules, and smokers among them will be
offered free stop-smoking classes to help them along. Once the
results of the tough Texas line are known, AMD spokesman David
Frink said, the policy might be extended to California plants.
"It's kind of a pilot project in Texas," Frink said. "It's not
being implemented at this time in California, although it's being
watched very closely."

The new scientific evidence and AMD's action has spurred
speculation that chipmakers will eventually ban all smoking
employees from clean rooms. Texas Instruments, for instance,
allows smokers to work in its clean rooms, asking that smokers
coming off break rinse their mouths with water and wait five
minutes before returning to the line.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19881125)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TYO)(00010)

IBM JAPAN EMPLOYS MORE LAWYERS
TOKYO, NOV 22, 1988 (NB) -- IBM Japan, taking the cue from its
American counterpart, has beefed up its legal department in
anticipation of new fights for copyright protection. IBM Japan
has six lawyers now and plans to employ two outside legal firms
every year.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/198811125)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(TYO)(00011)

MATSUSHITA LAUNCHES 100 MIPS WORKSTATION
TOKYO, NOV 29, 1988 (NB) -- Solbourne Computer, a subsidiary
of Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. in the U.S., has developed
an engineering workstation with a supercomputer-like processing
speed of 100 million instructions per second (MIPS) and has plans to
commercialize it by the end of next year.

Solbourne is expected to produce 10 MIPS engineering workstations
(EWS) using AT&T's and Sun Microsystems' SPARC technology this coming
spring. Meanwhile, the company claims to have successfully achieved
a processing speed of 100 MIPS with four 30 MIPS central processing
units working in parallel.

Matsushita will market the EWS both in the U.S. and Japan.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19881125)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(SFO)(00004)

DRAMS IN AMPLE SUPPLY AGAIN
SAN FRANCISCO, 1988 NOV 26 (NB) -- DRAM, or dynamic random access
memory chips, are available in quantity again following a year of
shortages.  The New York Times quotes Silicon Graphics Vice
President Thomas Jermoluk as saying, "The DRAM situation has
definitely eased."  Hewlett Packard, as well, is now shipping
products it forecast would be delayed due to chip scarcity.
Shortages of an adequate number of memory chips caused various
computer and component manufacturers to raise their prices and
hold back products.  Further complicating matters was the switch
many semiconductor firms were making from 256 kilobit DRAM to one
megabit chips, a switch which involved the retrofit of assembly lines.

(Wendy Woods/19881126)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(SFO)(00007)

SPARC GROUP HOPES TO IGNITE NEW TECHNOLOGY
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA, 1988 NOV 21 (NB) -- Five firms involved
with the new SPARC microprocessor have banded together to form
an organization to promote standards and proliferation for the new
chip.  Designed by Sun Microsystems, the SPARC chip is based on
RISC, or reduced instruction set computer, technology, which allows
a computer to run faster and more efficiently than general-purpose
microprocessors.  The Sparc Vendor Council is composed of
Texas Instruments, LSI Logic, Fujitsu, the Ross Technology subsidiary
of Cypress Semiconductor, and Bipolar Integrated Technology.

(Wendy Woods/19881126)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(LAX)(00004)

NEWGEN PRINTERS CLAIM 30-FOLD INCREASE IN THROUGHPUT
SANTA ANA, CALIFORNIA, 1988 NOV 14 (NB) -- Startup NewGen Systems
Corporation has entered the market with its TurboPS/300 and
TurboPS/400 series laser printers. NewGen claims that its new
printers are capable of generating complex Adobe Postscript output
at speeds up to 30 times faster than other laser printers now on the
market. In addition, the TurboPS/400 is capable of print resolutions
of 400 dot per inch, nearly twice the resolution of most laser
printers which produce just 300 dots per inch.

Both printers are based on the Canon SX engine but utilize two
processors to achieve their performance improvements: a 10 MIPS
(million instructions per second) Weitek 8100 series processor and
an I/O coprocessor. Emulations for the HP LaserJet Series II and
Epson LQ800 complement the printers' Postscript-compatible
interpreters. The two TurboPS printers are scheduled to ship during
the first quarter of 1989.

(Wayne Yacco/19881125)

Newsbytes Unix Report
Week of November 29, 1988


(NEWS)(UNIX)(WAS)(00001)

HARVARD SCIENTISTS SUMMONED TO VIRUS GRAND JURY
CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, 1988 NOV 25 (NB) -- A federal grand
jury meeting in Syracuse, N.Y., has summoned three Harvard
computer experts to testify about their relationship with the
Cornell graduate student suspected of creating the monster
computer virus that swept the nation earlier in November.
According to officials, the three are not targets of the grand
jury inquiry. Called by the grand jury were computer science
professor Mark Friedell, programmer Andrew Sudduth and graduate
student Paul Graham. All three have ties to Robert Morris Jr., a
1988 Harvard graduate who is believed to have written the virus
that spread through nationwide computer links through a flaw in
the Unix operating system.

Friedell was Morris's undergraduate thesis adviser. Sudduth and
Graham worked together at Aiken Computational Laboratories, the
Harvard computer lab, the night the virus spread and when Morris
allegedly telephoned the lab from Cornell, panicked about what he
had created. Morris has not been charged, and is at his family
home in Arnold, Md., outside Washington.

(Ken Maize/19881125)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(WAS)(00005)

UNISYS ANNOUNCED UNIX HOTEL SYSTEM
BLUE BELL, PENNSYLVANIA, 1988 NOV 25 (NB) -- Unisys Corp. has
announced a Unix-based hotel revenue system. The software can be
used by a single hotel or a chain, and can be used at the
property level, or at the central reservations level, or both.
Unisys says the system will be delivered in the first quarter of
1989.

Unisys has changed it proposed acquisition of Convergent, Inc.,
slightly. Under the merger agreement, Unisys will pay $7 in case
for each Convergent share, as opposed to $2.80 in cash and $4.20
in Unisys stock, as previously announced.

Also, Unisys says it has received a contract from Datatronic,
S.A. de C.V., for airline reservation terminals, printers, and
communications equipment. Datatronic is a Mexican company owned
by the national airlines Mexicana and Aeromexico. The deal will
be for some 4,000 Unisys Airline Terminal System workstations
over the next three years.

(Ken Maize/19881125)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(TYO)(00005)

IBM JAPAN IS AGGRESSIVE ON AIX PROMOTION
TOKYO, NOV 29, 1988 (NB) -- In order to promote the Unix operating
system AIX against AT&T's UNIX, IBM Japan will support software
programs which allow a great amount of PC-DOS programs to operate
on AIX. IBM Japan will supply AIX for its engineering workstation
IBM6100 starting next January, and its personal computer PS/55
series, next May.

(Ken Takahashi/19881124/Contact: IBM Japan, 03-586-1111)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(TYO)(00013)

SUN TO ASSEMBLE WORKSTATIONS IN JAPAN
TOKYO, NOV 29, 1988 (NB) -- Nihon Sun Microsystems K.K.,
a subsidiary of the U.S.-based computer producer Sun Microsystems,
will establish a workstation assembly plant in Atsugi-shi, Kanagawa,
Japan by this coming April.

The parent company has been importing disk drives and display units
from Japanese makers, such as Fujitsu, Hitachi and Sony, and has assembled
these in the U.S. The establishment of the assembly plant in
Japan will make it easier to produce workstations to meet Japanese demand;
also it will cut import cost for the company.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19881125)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(LON)(00010)

RESEARCH MACHINES LAUNCHES NEW 80386-BASED PCS
OXFORD, ENGLAND, 1988 NOV 21 (NB) -- Research Machines (RM) has
launched no less than eleven new machines to boost its 80386
microprocessor-based range of PCs. The machines are pitched at
the medium- to high-end Unix workstation CAD/CAM market dominated by
Apollo and Sun Microsystems.

All machines in the VX-286/2 range features 20 or 25MHz 80386
microprocessors. Coupled with high-speed disk drives and Ram-
caching in firmware, the machines are capable of processing 5
million instructions per second (MIPS). Pricing on the VX-386/2
series varies, dependent on configuration, but a typical modem
with 19 inch VGA monochrome screen, 25MHz microprocessor and 90Mb
hard disk costs #6,895. All machines in the new series feature
VGA graphics support as standard.

Pricing on RM's existing lower-speed 80386-based machines, also
designated the VX-386/2 series, has been cut to make room for the
new PCs. A 16MHz VX-386/2 with 16MHz microprocessor, 1Mb of
memory and fast 20Mb hard disk falls from #3,250 to #2,895.

(Steve Gold/19881121/Research Machines: (UK) 0865-249866)