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/1989/NB890404.301

Text File | 1991-10-02 | 153KB | 3,539 lines

(NEWS)(APPLE)(SGP)(00001)

FIRST ASIAN MACWORLD IN SINGAPORE JUNE 29 TO JULY 2
SINGAPORE, S.E. ASIA, 1989 MAR 21 (NB) -- MacWorld Expo Asia will
attract 400 exhibitors and 40,000 visitors over four days,
according to Ron Osman, managing director of the sponsor,
Diversitec Distributors Pte. Ltd. Three international companies,
including Apple, have announced major conferences coinciding with
the Expo at Raffles City Convention Centre, Singapore.

ACI of France, developer of Fourth Dimension, will hold an
International Software Developers' Conference. Peat Marwick,
international accountants, will stage a regional conference. And
Apple Far East, a major exhibitor, will hold its Asian Dealers'
Conference in conjunction with the Expo.

"The Expo provides us with the ideal opportunity for a regional
dealer's conference," said Dave Beezley, sales manager with Apple
Far East. "A major international exposition of this kind, and the
first MacWorld to be held in Asia, is bound to be a key event in
everyone's diary. We shall be participating in the show in a big
way. By holding our conference at the same time, we shall be able
to take advantage of the great attraction MacWorld Expo Asia will
have for the trade throughout Asia."

(Michael Worsley/19890331/Press Contact: Jackie Greenwood or Wei
Sinclair, MacWorld Expo Asia'89, [65] 468.3888)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(LAX)(00002)

FREE UPDATES FOR FULL IMPACT AND FULLWRITE PRO
TORRANCE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 17 (NB) -- Ashton-Tate
Corporation [NASDAQ: TATE] has simultaneously announced free
upgrades for its Full Impact and FullWrite programs for the
Macintosh. Full Impact release 1.1 adds XMacro, which allows users
to add custom features, functions and commands to their
spreadsheets. FullWrite Professional 1.1 has corrected
instabilities that were present in the original version and also
allows users to access foreign dictionaries while working with a
document. The upgrades will automatically be sent to registered
users. Unregistered users can call 213-329-9989 to register and
order the new versions.

(Wayne Yacco/19890401/Press Contact: 213-329-9989)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(SFO)(00003)

NOLAN BUSHNELL SHOWS UP AT MACINTOSH SOFTWARE FIRM
SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 APR 2 (NB) -- Nolan Bushnell,
founder of Atari and one of the computer industry's best-known
entrepreneurs, has merged his company, AAPPS, with Preferred
Publishers, a Macintosh software publisher in Memphis, Tennessee.
Preferred just shipped DAtabase and Vantage, desk accessories, and is
working on utilities and applications designed for the next, multitasking
operating system from Apple Computer, according to MacWeek
magazine.

In addition to snaring the Atari founder, the 16-employee company
has also attracted Russ Wetmore, a member of the "future
systems architectures" group at Apple, to work as part of the
company's "dream team."

Preferred plans to open an office in Cupertino, California, in April.

(Wendy Woods/19890401)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(SFO)(00004)

NEW AUTOCAD FOR MACINTOSH RELEASED
SAUSALITO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 28 (NB) -- Autodesk has
announced Release 10 of AutoCAD for the Macintosh, $3,000, a
version of its popular computer-aided design program.
As with other versions, AutoCAD Release 10 has 3-D wire frame
construction and surface modeling, and AutoLISP, and can share files
with other operating system versions of AutoCAD without file conversion.
Autodesk is believed to control 50 percent of the computer-aided
design market with an installed base of 200,000 users.

(Wendy Woods/19890401/Press Contact: 415-332-2344)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(SFO)(00005)

FIRST MACINTOSH FONT BOOK ANNOUNCED
BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 APR 1 (NB) -- Peachpit Press has
announced The Macintosh Font Book, a $23.95 comprehensive guide
to the fundamentals of Macintosh-based typography. The volume
also features a variety of technical tips and product information
aimed at experienced publishers and advanced Macintosh users.
Ordering information can be had by calling Publishers Group West
in the U.S., 415-658-3453, McGraw-Hill Ryerson in Canada at 416-
293-1911, or from the publisher in Berkeley at 415-526-8555.

(Wendy Woods/19890401)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(SFO)(00006)

SEIKO ENTERS MACINTOSH MARKET WITH MONITORS
SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 28 (NB) -- Seiko will offer a
low-priced entry into the market for Macintosh II color monitors this
fall. The CM-1445 is a 14-inch color monitor exclusively designed
for the Macintosh II and the CM-2050 works with both the Macintosh
and PC compatibles. It is slated for fourth quarter, 1989 delivery.
The CM-1445 monitor is to be priced at under-$900 and the CM-2050
will be under $3,000.

(Wendy Woods/19890402/Press Contact: Mike Witte, Seiko, 408-
922-5900)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(SFO)(00007)

BUY A BERNOULII, GET A PAGEMAKER
ROY, UTAH, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 28 (NB) -- Starting May 1, you'll be
able to buy PageMaker for the PC or Macintosh on a Bernoulli Box
removable hard disk cartridge from Iomega. Called the Desktop
Publishing Solution, the cartridge will also be loaded with
fonts, clip art, templates, menus and utilities. When purchased
separately, the data takes up to 10 megabytes of storage, roughly
ten floppy disks. On a single Bernoulli cartridge, either 20
or 44 megabytes, the complete software is on one, compact
cartridge. No price on the package has been released.

As part of the new marketing effort with Aldus, Iomega will
launch a promotional campaign for removable cartridges in
general.

The Desktop Publishing Solution is the latest of several cartridge-based
software packages Iomega is offering. Others include information
products, reference sources, and information management tools.
Iomega says it has sold more than 400,000 Bernoulli Box systems worldwide
and more than 2.75 million Bernoulli cartridges.

(Wendy Woods/19890402/Press Contact: John Harris, 801-524-2000)


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

LOW-COST FAX MACHINE AND 2400 BAUD MODEM FROM COMPUTER FRIENDS
PORTLAND, OREGON, U.S.A., 1989 APR 2 (NB) -- Computer Friends has
announced LightFax 9624, a hardware/software package for the
Macintosh which can switch from a group 3 fax machine to a 2400
baud modem. LightFax connects to the Mac's serial port and
application software configures the machine for background operation.
The user can receive a fax while working on the Mac. The unit will receive
and store on the hard disk the incoming fax message for later retrieval
and/or printing.

The LightScan Scanner, which allows text and images to be loaded
into the Macintosh for sending out through the fax machine, is $550.

(Wendy Woods/19890402/Press Contact: Sharon McBride, 503-626-2291)


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

MAC CLONE BECOMES A REALITY OVERSEAS
HANNOVER, WEST GERMANY, 1989 MAR 13 (NB) -- Akkord, a
Taiwanese firm, has unveiled the world's first true Apple Macintosh clone.
Named Jonathan for the West German distributor [Jonathan Computers
Deutschland] hosting the display, this computer is actually said to
be "tomato-compatible" -- a play on words to avoid legal hassles
with Apple Computer.

"Yes, it will be different," said Akkord's legal-business consultant Luc
Kwanten, when asked if the firm is prepared to deal with Apple's legal
muscle. "We do not infringe on Apple copyrights." A spokeswoman
for Apple Germany, Renata Knuefer, after consulting with her legal staff,
indicated that to the best of her knowledge, Jonathan does not violate any
Apple copyrights. The reason for this is ROM [read only memory].
Past court cases have involved Apple's ROM copyrights. Jonathan is
being shipped with ROM sockets but no ROM chips.  This doesn't worry
potential buyers--anyone familiar with U.S. mail order opportunities is
aware that Macintosh Plus 128K-byte ROMs can be purchased from
several vendors for about $90 each.

Benjamin Heidersberger, editor of the German Macintosh
monthly MacUP, spent several days putting Jonathan through its
paces and pronounced the machine fully compatible. Heidersberger
questions how much of an impact Jonathan will have on the market.
He describes Jonathan as being more powerful than a Mac Plus,
thanks to a standard internal hard disk, and less expensive than a
Mac SE, probably not posing a major threat in the small-to-medium
business market.

Kwanten stressed that Akkord had unveiled Jonathan only to
prove Macintosh can be cloned. Plans to market Jonathan will be
delayed while all legal questions are answered. Exactly what the
Jonathan will cost and whether the system will someday reach the
U.S. market are not yet known.

(Janet Endrijonas/19890331)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(TOR)(00010)

FORMS SOFTWARE VENDOR MOVING UPMARKET
EDMONTON, ALBERTA, CANADA, 1989 MAR 29 (NB) -- Shana Corp. has
sold its Fast Forms software and is developing a more
sophisticated package for forms generation and management. John
Murphy, vice-president of marketing, said his company sold Fast
Forms to PowerUp of San Mateo, California early this month, so as
to devote its resources to development of InForm, a package which
will combine forms generation with a forms management module that
includes database capabilities. That will make InForm one of the
most capable forms packages on the market, Murphy said. He said
Shana's experience in selling Fast Forms showed the firm that
users need the database capability, something not offered by
Claris' recently introduced SmartForms.

InForm is expected to cost $490. The forms design module will be
available by itself for $295, and the forms management module
will sell separately for $195. Murphy said the company plans to
release the package some time this summer, possibly at the
MacWorld show in August.

(Grant Buckler/19890329/Press Contact: John Murphy, Shana Corp., 403-
463-3330)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(LAX)(00011)

THERE'S SOME SCSI ETHER OUT THERE
BOULDER, COLORADO, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 20 (NB) -- Compatible Systems
Corporation has announced Ether+, a SCSI to Ethernet adapter which
can be used with any Apple Macintosh computer. The $495 unit
utilizes a new high-integration Ethernet chip set which cuts its
price to about half that of competitive products. At the same time
the company claims that the second-generation chips enhance
available network-management information and make it easier for the
user to set up and maintain a network.

(Wayne Yacco/19890401/Press Contact: 303-444-9532)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LAX)(00001)

A-T LAUNCHES LARGEST PROMOTION EVER
TORRANCE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 23 (NB) -- Ashton-Tate Corp.
[NASDAQ: TATE] has announced its "Winner By Technical Knockout"
[TKO] promotional campaign. The company claims that the program is
its largest-ever campaign for dealers, distributors and end-users.

The promotion offers customers a sweepstakes and dealers and
distributors a series of incentives. The campaign features
sponsorship of the forthcoming super middleweight title fight,
between boxers Sugar Ray Leonard and Thomas Hearns, scheduled for
June 12 at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The TKO promotion's customer sweepstakes centers around a self-
running demonstration disk that potential customers can see at their
authorized Ashton-Tate reseller beginning April 1. At the end of
the demo, a computerized sweepstakes entry form prints out.

Some of the grand prizes will be awarded instantly, while the rest
of the participants will be entered in the sweepstakes drawing. The
sweepstakes' five grand prize winners will have their choice between
two-ring side seats to the Leonard/Hearns title bout, or a Compaq
Deskpro 386/25 PC system. More than 650 other prizes will also be
offered through the drawing including Compaq SLT Portable Laptop PCs
[Model 20], Ashton-Tate dBASE IV TKO jackets, free pay-per-view
certificates to watch the boxing match on cable television and two
trips-for-two to either fighter's training camp before the fight.
A-T will support the TKO promotion and sweepstakes with a $3 million
advertising and promotional campaign including national print
advertising, direct mail, and special radio commercials in selected
markets.

(Wayne Yacco/19890401)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SYD)(00002)

MICROSOFT PC CLUB OFFERS VISA CARD TO ATTRACT MEMBERS
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1989 MAR 30 (NB) -- Microsoft Australia has
launched a new marketing exercise designed to increase user focus
on its name and help dealers cash in on that attention. Microsoft
Communique is a club for PC and Macintosh users -- particularly
those who use or might use Microsoft products.

For AUS$25, members get an impressive list of benefits. These
include reduced upgrade prices, a monthly newsletter, members-
only and prerelease software offers, discount magazine
subscriptions and exhibition entry, special seminars, a priority
information line on Microsoft products -- even an offer of a
Microsoft Visa card. "That's got to be a first," one dealer at
the launch said, "when a software company organizes credit cards
for users to buy its products."

Dealers are also being attracted with a list of advantages.
Joining the scheme costs them nothing and they get benefits such
as an advertising campaign pointing to them [including featured
dealers in many of the ads], a register of Communique dealers
which will go to each member, access to the membership list and
free mailing labels from Microsoft, a special technical hotline,
Microsoft-sponsored product days at their dealerships, product
briefings for key accounts, special prices on new products,
advertorial in the members' newsletter and point-of-sale
materials.

Microsoft staff told Newsbytes the project did not necessarily
have the blessing of head office and they hope for a rapid
favorable response to the scheme from both users and dealers
before they are spotted. The scheme has been professionally
prepared, with an Aboriginal-art inspired logo, bright
promotional material and a well thought-out list of benefits.

(Paul Zucker/19890331/Press Contact: Daniel Petre, Microsoft Australia,
61-2-4520288)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SGP)(00003)

SINGAPORE HOSTS CONFERENCE ON DOING BUSINESS WITH RUSSIA
SINGAPORE, S.E. ASIA, 1989 MAR 31 (NB) -- The Moscow Narodny Bank
and Donau-Bank of Vienna are cosponsoring a one-day conference
entitled "Doing Business in the U.S.S.R. in 1989 & Beyond," to be
held at the Westin Stamford Hotel, Raffles City, Singapore, April
6.

With admission by invitation only, four senior Soviet government
officials will present papers on changes under way in the Soviet
Union and the resulting opportunities for foreign businesses. The
deputy chairman of the two sponsoring banks and a senior tax
consultant with an international accounting firm will also
present papers. All speakers will take part in a panel on finding
suitable partners in the Soviet Union.

(Michael Worsley/19890331/Press Contact: Rosetrina Lim, Centre for
Management Technology, 345.7322)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LAX)(00004)

NOVELL, EXCELAN TO WED
PROVO, UTAH, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 23 (NB) -- Novell Inc. [NASDAQ: NOVL]
and Excelan Inc. [NASDAQ: EXLN], have signed an agreement to merge.
The terms provide for Excelan to become a wholly owned subsidiary of
Novell. Strategically, this merger combines Novell's multivendor
network connectivity and network operating systems with Excelan's
standards-based protocol and Macintosh connectivity products. It
gives both companies a stronger network response to the alignment of
Microsoft and 3-Com.

The merger has been approved by each company's boards of directors
but remain subject to the approval of Excelan's stockholders,
regulators and other normal closing requirements. The agreement
calls for Raymond J. Noorda, Novell president and chief executive
officer, to continue as president of Novell. Kanwal S. Rekhi,
Excelan president and chief executive officer, will be named an
executive vice president of Novell and remain responsible for
Excelan operations. He will also be nominated for election as a
director of Novell Inc. Each of Excelan's directors, has agreed to
vote in favor of the merger, which is expected to be completed by
the end of June.

Under terms of the merger, existing shares of Excelan common stock
be exchanged for newly issued shares of Novell common stock, with
Excelan stockholders receiving a minimum of 0.475 and a maximum of
0.6 shares of Novell common stock for every share of Excelan stock
held.

(Wayne Yacco/19890401/Press Contact: Novell, Jan Johnson, 801-
379-7885)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(BOS)(00005)

LOTUS ANNOUNCES DISTRIBUTION AGREEMENT WITH MICROAMERICA
CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 29 (NB) -- Lotus
and Microamerica have signed an agreement in which Microamerica will
distribute the full line of Lotus products to its Lotus authorized
resellers in the U.S.

A Lotus spokesman said that Microamerica has demonstrated that it
can help reach the independent and value-added resellers, a channel
that Lotus is increasingly interested in serving.

(Jon Pepper/19890331/Contact: Philip Greenough, Lotus, 617-577-8500)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(ATL)(00006)

VMX FOUNDER GORDON MATTHEWS RESIGNS
SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 28 (NB) -- A pioneer
entrepreneur in the field of voice mail has resigned. Gordon Matthews, 52,
founder of industry leader VMX Inc., has resigned as vice chairman
and director. Mathews founded the company in 1978 as Electronics
Communications Systems Inc., and his success there gave him the
title "father of voice mail."

Previously, Matthews founded Action Communications Systems in
1969 where he invented the first telephone long distance control
and routing system called the WATSBOX. Before that, he founded
Teleswitcher, a manufacturer of store and forward data
communications products. Matthews' career started at IBM, where
he developed a speech recognition device for controlling aircraft
functions. Later, at Texas Instruments, he conceived and produced
the first minicomputer-based electronic message system. A VMX
spokesman said Matthews is considering other offers, but may join
another start-up. "It gets in your blood," she says.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890331/Press Contact: Ellen Pensky, VMX, 408/943-
0878, ext. 366)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(ATL)(00007)

NCR SIGNS BIG ORDER FOR ITS DRIVE-BY ATMS
DAYTON, OHIO, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 29 (NB) -- Security Pacific Bank
has signed a $4 million deal with NCR to replace many of its
drive-through windows with drive-by automatic teller machines, or
ATMs. ATMs are specialized computer terminals which connect
directly to bank computers and dispense money. Security Pacific
will buy 125 of NCR's 5088 Slimline and Firstline ATMs. All
important functions of the machine, including the card reader,
customer keyboard, display, receipt printer, currency dispenser
and depository, are within a .23 meter, or 9 inch, radius of a
typical car window.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890331/Press Contact: Dave Sacash, NCR Corp., 513-
445-5236)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(ATL)(00008)

EMPLOYEE-OWNED WEIRTON TURNS TO COMPUTERS
WEIRTON, WEST VIRGINIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 29 (NB) -- Weirton Steel,
born earlier this decade when steelworkers took over their mill
rather than see it shut down, is turning to computers to assure
its survival. A new data collection system, called IMIS
[integrated manufacturing information system], is expected to handle all
inventory control and scheduling when it's finished in five years.

Herbert Elish, chairman and president, said Computer Sciences
of Falls Church, Virginia is handling systems integration, and
the Index Group of Cambridge, Massachusetts is helping with
project management, but that Weirton's own management services
department will put together and use the IMIS system.

Each department of the old mill will eventually have its own
computer center to pass production data to the corporate
mainframe. The data will be used by production planning, in sales
and operations and as the basis of decision-making on production
and shipping schedules.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890331/Charles Cronin, Weirton Steel, 304-
797-2306)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TYO)(00009)

GMICRO GROUP WELCOMES A NEWCOMER
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 MAR 24 (NB) -- Hitachi, Mitsubishi Electric, and
Fujitsu, founders of the Gmicro group collaborating on development of
a 32-bit microprocessor based on Japan's TRON architecture, have
admitted Oki Electric Industries as a new project member. Oki will
develop an evaluation tool for Gmicro chips the three makers have so
far developed, and for the time being will receive orders of the chips
on an original equipment manufacturing [OEM] basis and distribute them
under its brand name. Oki will also develop high-speed and high-
performance Gmicro chips based on those already developed.

Each manufacturer will start volume production of the Gmicro chips as
early as this fall. Hitachi and Oki will use them for their
communication and control equipment, and Fujitsu for its workstations.
The four companies will also try to develop overseas markets. Hitachi,
Mitsubishi and Fujitsu have already started sample shipment overseas
this year, most of them to the United States and Europe.

(Ken Takahashi/19890330)


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

SHARP, FUJITSU TO CONTINUE CHIP BUSINESS EXPANSION IN '89
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 MAR 25 (NB) -- As the usual March 31 fiscal year-
end for Japanese companies arrived, Sharp and Fujitsu have forecast
growth in their semiconductor business. Sharp has set its
semiconductor sales target at 180 billion yen for fiscal 1989, an
increase of more than 20 percent from its expected sales of 150
billion yen in fiscal 1988.

Fujitsu's initial semiconductor sales plan called for 300 billion yen
but revenue is likely to exceed 320 billion yen in 1988. The shortage
of one-megabit dynamic random access memory chips and expansion of
application-specific integrated circuits fuelled 22.9-percent growth
in fiscal 1988. Fujitsu expects the semiconductor market to grow
slowly in 1989, and forecasts sales of 350 billion yen, about 10
percent over fiscal 1988.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19890330)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LON)(00011)

AB ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS ACQUIRES TANDATA HOLDINGS
MALVERN, ENGLAND, 1989 MAR 31 (NB) -- The AB Electronic Group has
agreed to acquire Tandata Holdings, the viewdata and
communications specialist company for UKP 5.28 million. AB
already owns 10 percent of Tandata, and has offered
other shareholders terms equal to 142.5 pence per share.

Terms of the deal, which was completed last week, call for the
privately held company to become part of AB's international
operations, which employs more than 4,500 people in five
countries. AB's current international turnover is UKP 200
million.

Roy Pendleton, managing director of the Tandata Group, said that
Tandata's board of directors recommended accepting the take-over,
since it gives Tandata access to AB's international markets.
"Tandata will retain its unique identity in the new group, and
maintain its high level of personal service and response to
special requirements," he said.

Tandata Holdings reported a loss of UKP 335,000 in its 1988
financial year, before an exceptional write-off of UKP 685,000.
Net assets were valued at UKP 1.7 million at the year end.

(Steve Gold/19890331/Press Contact: Tandata Communications:
Tel: [phone], e-mail: Dialcom 81:TAN003)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LON)(00012)

CASE BUYS OUT SWEDISH DISTRIBUTOR: DEXTRAFERM AB
STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN, 1989 MAR 31 (NB) -- Case Communications, part
of the Dowty Group, has bought Dextraferm, its long-standing
Swedish distributor. The deal, worth UKP 430,000, was completed
last week.

The new company will be called Case Communications Sverige, and
will be headed by Bengt Johansson, Dextraferm's existing managing
director. Johansson is joined by Jan-Olov Sjolund, who joins the
company as sales and marketing director.

(Steve Gold/19890331/Press Contact: Case Communications -
Tel: [phone])


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LON)(00013)

ACCESS TECHNOLOGY FORMS SWISS SUBSIDIARY
ZURICH, SWITZERLAND, 1989 MAR 31 (NB) -- Access Technology,
the developer of the 20/20 spreadsheet package, has formed a
subsidiary company to service its increasing Swiss user base The
new company is called Access Tech AG, and will be headquartered
in Zurich.

According to Ferdinand Jansen, Access Tech's European regional
sales manager, the Swiss market for the company's spreadsheet
package is growing. "20/20 is by far the most widely used
spreadsheet on VAX systems. There are a large number of DEC VAX
systems installed throughout Switzerland," he said.

(Steve Gold/19890331/Press Contact: Access Technology -
Tel: [phone])


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LON)(00014)

PILOT SOFTWARE BUYS THORN EMI'S U.S. SOFTWARE OPERATIONS
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 31 (NB) -- Pilot Executive
Software, the Boston-based software house, has purchased Thorn
EMI's Computer Software [TECS] operation in the U.S. TECS retails
Thorn EMI's Decision Support Software [DSS] in the U.S., and boosts
Pilot's user base from 150 to 800 U.S. companies.

The agreement between the two companies, terms of which were not
disclosed, coincides with Pilot's decision to move into
supporting the IBM MVS operating system, which TECS specializes
in.

(Steve Gold/19890331/Press Contact: Pilot Executive Software -
Tel: [phone])


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SGP)(00015)

ASHTON-TATE MAKES SINGAPORE ITS REGIONAL BASE
SINGAPORE, S.E. ASIA, 1989 MAR 31 (NB) -- Ashton-Tate [S] Pte.
Ltd., local arm of the vendor of dBase IV, Framework III and
other products, has established the first PC software development
center in the region.

Occupying some of the company's 10,000-square-foot premises in
central Singapore, the new software development centre will
concentrate on research and development, improving existing
software products and translating Ashton-Tate software into local
languages. Singaporean software engineers will comprise 95
 percent of the center's staff, and they will work on source code
development for major Ashton-Tate products, complementing work
originated in the United States.

Current projects include dBase IV products for the Korean and
Japanese markets, as well as support for the earlier-announced
project to develop a Chinese version jointly with the Sixth
Institute, expected to begin shortly. The center will eventually
involve some 50 full-time professionals. It has attracted strong
government backing, thanks to plans to export 20 to 25 different
versions of Ashton-Tate software.

(Michael Worsley/19890331/Press Contact: Peter Stack, Ogilvy & Mather,
[65] 278.7777)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SGP)(00016)

GOOD PROSPECT FOR MALAYSIA THIS YEAR
KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA, 1989 MAR 29 (NB) -- Bank Negara Malaysia
[BNM], the Malaysian Central Bank has predicted 7.3 percent
growth for 1989 in its 1988 Annual Report just released, compared
to 8.1 percent in 1988. Although there were signs that inflation
is likely to increase to about 4.5 percent in 1989 from its 1988
value of 3.7 percent, the recent fall of the Malaysian ringgit
against the U.S. dollar only just started affecting domestic
prices in 1988, apparently having been mainly offset by lower
commodity prices.

Once again, the manufacturing sector is likely to lead the way in
1989, with projected growth of 13.5 percent and manufactured
exports increasing some 20 percent. But the current unemployment
rate of around 7.9 percent is unlikely to fall, due to the influx
of new workers into the labor force.

(Michael Worsley/19890330/Press Contact: Tan Sri Jaffar Hussein, Bank
Negara, 03-298.8044)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SGP)(00017)

YA HSIN INDUSTRIAL TO SET UP NEW PLANT IN PENANG
PENANG, MALAYSIA, 1989 MAR 29 (NB) -- Ya Hsin Industrial, one of the
largest printed circuit board manufacturers in Taiwan, will begin
construction of a new plant in Penang to produce single- and double-
sided precision printed circuit boards for the local computer
industry.

The new plant, expected to cost around M$2.7 million [US$1 million] is
expected to commence operation towards the end of the year and employ
around 1,000 workers. Training is expected to be done by professional
staff flown from Taiwan, and the availability of many local Chinese in
Penang will facilitate communications.

(Michael Worsley/19890330/Press Contact: Lim Chong Eu, Penang State
Development Corp., 04-621957)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TOR)(00018)

CROWNTEK CHAIN EXPANDS WITH THREE NEW LOCATIONS
MARKHAM, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1989 MAR 29 (NB) -- Canada-wide
computer reseller Crowntek Business Centres has added three new
branches, all in Ontario. The company acquired two locations of
CFX Computer Solutions, in Barrie and Stratford, Ontario. It
also opened a branch in London, Ontario. The added locations
give Crowntek 17 locations across Canada. The second largest
such operation in Canada, Crowntek is still considerably smaller
than Computer Innovations Distribution, which operates about 90
retail stores under the ComputerLand name.

(Grant Buckler/19890329/Press Contact: Toni Pettit, The Communications
Group, 416-447-8591)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TOR)(00019)

CNCP TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMMISSIONS NEW NAME AND IDENTITY
TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1989 MAR 22 (NB) -- CNCP
Telecommunications has commissioned two companies to give it a
new name and image. The design, marketing and advertising firms --
Chris Yaneff Ltd. and The Collier and Park Group of Companies --
will come up with a new name and logo for the national Canadian
data communications carrier, to be unveiled this summer. The old
name is obsolete since Canadian National Railways sold its half
interest last December to Canadian Pacific Ltd. CNCP grew out of
telegraph service operated by the two national railways, became
the Canadian provider of Telex services, and now operates a range
of data communications services across the country.

(Grant Buckler/19890329/Press Contact: Earle Weichel, CNCP
Telecommunications, 416-232-6334)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SYD)(00020)

COMPUTERLAND SOLUTIONS BACKS IBM, SELLS APPLE AND COMPAQ
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1989 MAR 30 -- After winning the three major
dealer awards -- from IBM, Apple and Compaq -- Computerland
Solutions is still loyal to IBM. "We also deal with Compaq and
Apple but they wouldn't be around if it wasn't for IBM, would
they?" said Chief Executive Mike Boulos. "Apple doesn't conflict
with IBM's market anyway and Compaq is a fill-in for IBM, not an
alternative. IBM plans for the long term, not the short term."

The company will distribute Compaq machines worldwide for Qantas'
reservation network, so observers are surprised at Boulos'
statement. Boulos owns 50 percent of the dealer chain,
Computerland of the United States owns the other half.

(Paul Zucker/19890331)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LAX)(00021)

ASHTON-TATE & INTERBASE--PEN PALS
TORRANCE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 17 (NB) -- Ashton-Tate
Corporation [NASDAQ: TATE] has signed a letter of intent to acquire
a majority interest in Interbase Software Corporation of Bedford,
Massachusetts. The privately-held company is the developer of
the Interbase database management system for minicomputers.
Interbase products run on DEC, Sun, Apollo and other VMS, Ultrix and
Unix systems.

A joint technology agreement has existed between the two companies
since Ashton-Tate became a minority investor in April 1988. Ashton-
Tate plans to continue adapting Interbase technology into its other
products. The Torrance-based vendor of dBASE also continues to hold
a minority interest in Sybase, the company which produces the basic
technology for Ashton-Tate.

(Wayne Yacco/19890401)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LAX)(00022)

SOFTSEL BUYS MICROAUSTRALIA
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 10 (NB) -- Softsel Computer
Products, Inc., has completed its acquisition of MicroAustralia, a
Sydney-based distributor of microcomputer products. The purchase
gives Softsel offices in Sydney, Perth and Melbourne with additional
facilities in Adelaide and Brisbane scheduled to be opened this
year. Over 80 vendors were signed with the distributor at the time
of its acquisition.

(Wayne Yacco/19890401/Press Contact: 213-412-1700)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LAX)(00023)

KENFIL TO DISTRIBUTE HITACHI CD ROM DRIVES
VAN NUYS, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 23 (NB) -- Kenfil Distribution
has agreed to distribute Hitachi's $995 CDR-1503S and $895 CDR-3500,
a pair of CD-ROM drives. The 552-MB [megabyte] capacity of the CDR-
3500 can be built right into a small computer with either horizontal
or vertical installation . The external CDR-1503S provides the same
capacity as the internal model and includes standard audio output
and increased speed. The unit has a thin design and structural
reinforcement that allows it to be stacked between a computer and
its monitor. Interface boards are available for both the IBM PC and
PS/2 and compatibles.

(Wayne Yacco/19890401/Press Contact: 818-785-1181)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LAX)(00024)

ANCHOR PAD BREAKS GROUND IN OXNARD
VENTURA, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 10 (NB) -- Anchor Pad
International has begun construction of a new corporate headquarters
in Oxnard, California. The building will occupy more than 31,000
square feet of manufacturing and office space in a new 60-acre
industrial park. A September date has been set for the company's
move from its present Ventura site. Anchor Pad's product line
includes patented computer lock-down devices.

(Wayne Yacco/19890401)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LAX)(00025)

AST IMPROVES CANADIAN FIELD SERVICE
IRVINE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 10 (NB) -- AST Research
has opened a Canadian field service office and parts depot. The
facility is part of AST's commitment to "respond quickly and
efficiently to the needs of the authorized resellers and service
centers who in turn service the Canadian user community," said
Director of Field Service David Aburto, carefully buttering both
sides of his bread in a single breath.

By year end, AST plans to have more than 100 authorized service
centers in Canada. The new office, located in Mississauga, Ontario,
is expected to cut back order turnaround time substantially for
these service facilities.

(Wayne Yacco/19890401/Press Contact: 714-863-1333)


(EDITORIAL)(TRENDS)(SYD)(00007)

PLAINVANILLAWORDPROCESSING
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1989 JUNE 3 (NB) -- EDITORIAL. You've had the
creative juices flowing - you'd heard that this new word processing
package was a wonder but no one told you how easy it was to make
your documents look good. The in-built style sheets are just
perfect for the different parts of that report you'd put off for
so long and just look at it now.

It's got one-and-a-half line spacing, fancy tabbing on the
results table, bold facing, superscripting and underlining where
necessary, Palatino typeface for the main report and Bodoni Bold
for the headings. You've used every trick you could find, short
of importing pictures and now it's time to save it in a file to
send to Administration. What formats did they say they could accept?
Wordstar, Word, Multimate, Wordperfect, Displaywrite and Ascii!
Ok let's export it to one of those. [And of course you've been a
good little PC user and regularly saved during the session.]

What's this? No export formats? Surely not! You mean I can have
this product's own format or Ascii and nothing else? How do you
get it to another product, short of using Ascii, which loses
every bit of fancy formatting you've used? There is no way!

It happened and the product is Ami - something that'll be a great
product when it grows up. Ami is a Windows-based PC word processor
which incorporates many features you'd normally associate with
DTP, but it's still a WP package and you have a right to expect
that it would save in a form that can be taken to another product
maintaining most, if not all of your formatting.

It's certainly not the only product with that limitation either.
Don't think I'm singling it out -- it's just that I've been using
it lately. In fact, my old favourite, Microsoft Word, only lets
you save as Word or Ascii. It, however, has two redeeming
factors -- It's now a recognized format, so is accepted by many
packages which need to import, and an inexpensive package
called Word Exchange, which is distributed by Microsoft, lets you
import and export between Word and many other formats. [Worth a
look, that one!]

This is beginning to be a big problem because users who once were
happy just using one package on their machines are now using five
or six and now they've discovered the power of sending files to
other users, rather than printouts which have to be re-keyed.
There's also the consideration that more PCs are networked or
connected to mainframes, meaning more need for file exchange.

What seems to be the obvious problem is that software developers
have adopted a chauvinistic attitude to import/export. They often
give you half a dozen import file types but refuse to admit that
you might want to export. Why would anyone ever want to leave
their wonderful product.

Export to what, you might say. That's easy, every main type of
software has at least one recognized 'lingua franca.' For
databases there's dBASE or DIF. For spreadsheets its Lotus 1-2-3
or Sylk. For word processing it's Wordstar of Wordperfect. It
only needs one or two of these or similar as export file types
and your new software has links with the world. Without them it
becomes a hermit.

My old favourite, Framework, is very well set up for
import/export file types. It has so many that it shares place
with Ventura for being used simply as a go-between in file
transfers. [Yes! I know someone who bought Ventura just so he
could use it to convert between two word processor file types.]
Anyway, Framework has a nice selection of word, data and table
types and is great if you have to move between types. For
instance, taking tabbed WP files into a spreadsheet format.

Even within companies this can be a problem. Framework
manufacturer Ashton Tate also has a presentation graphics package
'Draw Applause' which uses DIF format for input. It's ideal for
presenting data from AT's other packages in an enhanced graphical
form. The only trouble is, Framework doesn't directly export DIF
files............... YKIGTBOOTDW

(Paul Zucker/19890603)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SFO)(00001)

CENIT TO BRING THE FAR EAST INTO THE TRADE FAIR FAST LANE
HANNOVER, WEST GERMANY, 1989 MAR 10 (NB) -- In 1990, CeNIT, the
"Asian Center and Conference for Information and Telecommunications
Technologies," will debut at the new Hong Kong Convention and
Exhibition Center. Dates for this exposition are September 25-28.

CeNIT ASIA '90 is being established by Hannover Messe International
in conjunction with Hong Kong Information Technology Federation, Ltd.
The sponsor will be SITO, the Southeast Information Technology
Organization. According to Juergen Behrman, business manager of
Hannover Messe International, attendance at CeNIT next year is expected
to exceed attendance at comparable European trade fairs several
times over. The show is being established as a result of the
lack of a comprehensive expo in the Far East addressing
information and telecommunications technologies. The show will
have a broader spectrum than any other expo attempted in the
region.

CeNIT ASIA '90 will offer people in the Far East, who cannot
afford the time or money to visit Hannover Messe AG's larger West
German-based CeBIT show [CeBIT is an acronym for World Center for
the Bureau of Information and Telecommunications Technology] an
opportunity to see the latest in technology. Hannover Messe International
also hopes many CeNIT exhibitors will eventually become CeBIT
exhibitors as well.

Stan Shih, president of SITO, chairman of the Taipei Computer
Association and chairman of Acer, a computer manufacturer, sees
CeNIT as a very promising second international presentation platform
that could, in time, develop into a showcase for European companies
seeking contacts in the Orient.

(Janet Endrijonas/19890331)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(BOS)(00002)

COMPUTER SECURITY CONDO OPENS IN NEW YORK
NEW YORK, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 26 (NB) -- A Japanese
consortium is opening a swank new condominium on Staten Island
in New York. However, there won't be any of the trappings usually
associated with condo projects. Rather, the firm, Telehouse
International, which represents 19 major Japanese firms, is opening a
162,000 square foot facility designed to safely house back-up computer
systems and data for major companies.

Because of the major power failures that have occurred in Manhattan
in the last 20 years and the increasing reliance on computer data and
systems, the firm expects the new condo to be a success.

The facility will lease space for a minimum of $50 per square foot, or
about $100,000 a month for the space to house several large
mainframe computers. Similar facilities are planned for Tokyo and
London.

(Jon Pepper/19890331)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(BOS)(00003)

KAPOR SCALES BACK EXPECTATIONS FOR ON TECHNOLOGY
CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 26 (NB) -- Mitch
Kapor, the creator of Lotus 1-2-3 and founder of Lotus Software, has
scaled back the expectations for his start-up venture, ON Technology.
While at one time Mr. Kapor hoped to make ON Technology another
software giant, he recently said he sees its future more as a software
boutique instead.

Eleven software programmers have either been laid off or quit the
company, leaving only 21 employees. Kapor has said that the
company will now concentrate on application software, first for the
Macintosh, and then possibly other PC platforms.

(Jon Pepper/19890331)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SFO)(00004)

NEW INDUSTRY SURVEY FROM DATAQUEST AND AEA
SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 29 (NB) -- The American
Electronics Association [AEA] and Dataquest will publish a monthly report on
the worldwide computer and workstation market and say it will
have analysis and statistics never before available.

"Monthly PC/WS Analysis," a monthly report, the first of which is
expected to be available this fall, will cost $2,000 per year. The report
is expected to contain information about inventory, work in progress,
orders and shipments, trends, book-to-bill ratios, distribution methods
and component technologies, gathered from AEA member firms, of
which there are 3,500.

Those companies participating in the survey are entitled to a free
subscription. AEA members received discounted subscriptions.

(Wendy Woods/19890401/Press Contact: Lois Long, 408-437-8309)


(ADVANCE)(GENERAL)(SFO)(00005)

SEIKOSHA TO OFFER FOUR NEW PRINTERS AT COMDEX
MAHWAY, NEW JERSEY, U.S.A., 1989 APR 10 (NB) -- Seikosha will
offer a new Hewlett-Packard Laserjet-compatible laser-quality
printer capable of producing 15 pages per minute, at Spring Comdex
in Chicago. The OP-215 provides standard 300 dots-per-inch resolution
and 64 resident fonts, one megabyte of random access memory,
and emulation of Epson FX-800/1000, IBM Proprinter XL, and
Diablo 630 ECS, in addition to the HP Laserjet.

The printer uses light-emitting diode technology which means fewer
moving parts and theoretically less maintenance. Pricing and
availability information will be released at the show.

(Wendy Woods/19890402/Press Contact: Jack Greenfield, Jarmen, Spitzer
and Felix, 212-661-3322)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SFO)(00006)

IMAGING SHOW SLATED FOR JUNE 5-8 IN SAN FRANCISCO
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 APR 3 (NB) -- San Francisco's
Moscone Center will be the scene of the Association for Information
and Image Management's [AIIM] 1989 show and conference June 5-8.
The theme for the four day event is "Discover the Power of Imaging."
A total of 111,000 square feet of exhibits are planned, featuring
optical digital systems, electronic imaging systems, communications,
engineering systems, document management software, micrographics,
image transmission, image capable workstations, PC-based imaging,
scanners, systems integration, and technology interfacing. For
information call AIIM at 301-587-8202. Ask for "Conference Hotline."

(Wendy Woods/19890401/Press Contact: Jim Bruer, 301-587-8202)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SFO)(00007)

PIXAR-MADE FILM GETS ACADEMY AWARD
SAN RAFAEL, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 29 (NB) -- When "Tin Toy,"
a short about a little toy's harrowing first contact with a tiny baby,
won an award for the best animated short film at the Academy Awards,
its creators at Pixar got to take home an Oscar. The short, made
using Pixar's Renderman, a system for creating photorealistic
3-D scenes, employs such techniques as self-shadowing, motion-blur,
texture mapping, and procedural shading. The film was directed
by former Disney animator John Lasseter with technical direction
by William Reeves. The Pixar Animation Group has also produced
other shorts, as well as special effects for such feature films
as "Star Trek II," "Return of the Jedi," and "Young Sherlock Holmes."

(Wendy Woods/19890402/Press Contact: Lisa MacKrenzie, 415-258-8100)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(BOS)(00008)

IBM AND CORNELL HOTEL SCHOOL FORM RESEARCH PARTNERSHIP
ITHACA, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 27 (NB) -- IBM and the
Cornell University School of Hotel Administration are embarking on
a joint research project to look for new ways to use computer
technology in the hotel and restaurant management industry.
The three-year partnership will involve a $1-million donation of IBM
Personal System/2 hardware and software, including network
equipment and other products.

(Jon Pepper/19890331/Contact: Andrew Russell, IBM 914-642-5463)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(BOS)(00009)

PC SOFTWARE INDUSTRY SET FOR GALA AWARDS CEREMONY
WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A., 1989 MAR 28 (NB) -- The Software
Publishers Association has announced that the 1988 SPA Excellence in
Software Awards will take place on May 23 in San Diego.

The formal affair will be hosted by computer-enthusiast and TV
actor Harry Anderson, and will feature awards in 41 different
categories. Among the products up for the Best of the Best award
are, WordPerfect 5.0 from WordPerfect Corp., Adobe Illustrator 88
from Adobe Systems, Microsoft OS/2 Presentation Manager from IBM
and Microsoft, MORE II from Symantec, and Q & A 3.0 from
Symantec.

(Jon Pepper/19890331/Contact: Jodi Pollock, SPA, 202-452-1600)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(BOS)(00010)

IBM AND MICROSOFT WILL DEVELOP STANDARD FOR MULTIMEDIA COMPUTERS
MONTVALE, NEW JERSEY, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 29 (NB) -- IBM and
Microsoft announced they are working jointly to develop an open
industry standard for multimedia personal computing systems.
The new standard will be based on the CD-ROM/XA technology,
and be incorporated into Microsoft's Windows/386 and IBM's OS/2
Presentation Manager.

According to IBM's James Cannavino, "CD-ROM/XA is clearly the
leading technology in digital audio and will provide compact disc-
quality sound to match the advanced graphics now available and
planned for IBM's Personal System/2 family."

The announcement was made at the Microsoft CD-ROM Conference
in Anaheim, Calif.

(Jon Pepper/19890331/Contact: Douglas DeLay, IBM, 201-732-5223)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(TYO)(00011)

MITSUBISHI TO INVEST 100 BILLION YEN FOR EMPLOYEES
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 MAR 24 (NB) -- The Japanese government's policy to
develop domestic economic demand in Japan has triggered waterfront
development in Tokyo Bay and resort development in local areas.
In response, Mitsubishi Electric has announced plans to invest 100
billion yen over the next five years to ensure rich vacations for its
employees. Mitsubishi plans to develop its current relax-in-a-natural-
environment accommodation into integrated resort facilities with golf
courses, tennis courts and other such facilities.

Mitsubishi has also advised employees to ride to work on Shinkansen,
the fastest express train in Japan, because the limit on tax-free
company expense allowances for employees' train passes doubled with
introduction of the consumption tax, a new taxation system introduced
in April. This system will expand Tokyo's residential suburbs and
provide access to larger houses in inexpensive areas beyond the reach
of Tokyo's skyrocketing land prices.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19890330)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(LON)(00012)

SPAIN ANNOUNCES EXPO '92 TECHNOLOGY EXHIBITION
SEVILLE, SPAIN, 1989 MAR 31 (NB) -- Spain has announced it will
host Expo '92, a technology exhibition, in Seville. The exhibition will last
six months and end on 12 October, 1992, the date five centuries
ago that Christopher Columbus reached landfall in the Caribbean.
The exhibition aims to commemorate the 500th anniversary of
Columbus' famous discovery voyage.

The Spanish government has earmarked $6,500 million for the
exhibition, which will cover 600 acres and link up with the next
Olympic Games, also being held in Spain in 1992. Six computer
companies - IBM, Alcatel, Telefonica de Espana, Fujitsu, Rank
Xerox and Siemens - will assist the Spanish government with the
project.

(Steve Gold/19890331)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SGP)(00013)

ASIA TO HOST MORE ELECTRONICS EXHIBITIONS
SINGAPORE, S.E. ASIA, 1989 MAR 31 (NB) -- Cahners Exposition Group
has announced two conferences involving the electronics and
computer industries, to be held in Singapore and Malaysia.

Internepcon Semiconductor International will be staged at the
Putra World Trade Centre, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, July 25-28. It
will cover equipment, systems and tools for semiconductor,
printed circuit board and microelectronic design, production,
testing and packaging.

The International Procurement Exhibition and Conference --
INPRO'89 -- will be held at the World Trade Centre in Singapore
October 4-6, for electronics original equipment manufacturers and
vendors and international procurement offices.

(Michael Worsley/19890331/Press Contact: Helen Loh, Cahners Exposition
Group, 271.1013)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(LON)(00014)

SEAGATE PROMOTES TWO EUROPEAN EXECUTIVES
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1989 MAR 31 (NB) -- Seagate Technology, the
Californian storage systems specialist, has promoted two of its
European managers, John Weinberg and Jean-Pierre Robinot.
Weinberg moves up from engineering support director to become
Seagate's vice-president of international sales development.
Robinot, formerly Seagate's' director of European Sales, becomes
vice president of European Sales.

Weinberg will continue to operate out of Seagate's London
offices, whilst Robinot will continue at the company's Paris
offices.

(Steve Gold/19890331/Press Contact: Seagate Technology [US] -
Tel: [phone])


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SGP)(00015)

IBM, SINGAPORE AIRLINES AND HEWLETT-PACKARD VOTED TOPS
SINGAPORE, S.E. ASIA, 1989 MAR 31 (NB) -- IBM was voted number one
in a poll on excellence conducted recently by the Singapore
Institute of Management, with 44 percent of voters naming the
company as a leader in excellence. Based on responses from more
than 600 junior and middle managers, Singapore Airlines and
Hewlett-Packard tied for second place with 43 percent each.

Other computer companies on the list were Apple [sixth with 15 percent],
AT&T [10th with 6 percent], Philips [14th with 4 percent], and Digital
Equipment [19th with 3 percent]. Voted most important were good benefits
& welfare, employee or people orientation, career advancement and
staff training and development.

Employees of Japanese companies were least likely to rate their
companies as excellent, a surprise since Japanese companies are
the largest group of employers among the top 500 earners.
American firms were most admired, winning more than half of the
top 20 places.

(Michael Worsley/19890331/Press Contact: Herman Ditzig, Singapore
Institute of Management, [65] 737.8866)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(TOR)(00016)

DIGITAL OPENS APPLICATION CENTER IN TORONTO
TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1989 MAR 30 (NB) -- Digital Equipment
of Canada has opened an 18,000-square-foot Application Center for
Technology here. Designed to showcase Digital's products in a
simulated business setting, the new center can accommodate about
200 people for product demonstrations, conferences and education.
More than 30 independent software vendors are working with
Digital to display their wares in the center, located in the
northern suburbs of Toronto. The center is equipped with 63 "VAX
units" of processing power, 25 gigabytes of online disk storage
and 37,000 feet of network cable, and Edgar Ware, its director,
said it is "probably the finest ACT in the world."

(Grant Buckler/19890331)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(TOR)(00017)

GEAC PROUD OF IRISH BENCHMARKS
MARKHAM, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1989 MAR 27 (NB) -- Geac Computer
Corp.'s Series 9000 computer was the top performer in benchmark
testing conducted in Dublin, Ireland, for prospective customers
in the British Isles, the company has announced. In a test of
online transaction processing capability, a seven-processor
Series 9000 running Geac's Library Information System software
completed more than 37,000 complex transactions per hour,
according to Geac. Geac sells information systems for libraries
and financial institutions.

(Grant Buckler/19890331/Press Contact: Chris Syed, Geac Computer, 416-
475-0525)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SYD)(00018)

JACK TRAMIEL SAYS ATARI AIMED AT SOPHISTICATED YOUNG USERS
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1989 MAR 28 (NB) -- Pocket-size computers will
be as popular as calculators with the next generation, Atari
Chairman Jack Tramiel said in opening the recent PC89 conference
in Sydney. He just happened to have one to show, too. The pocket
IBM-compatible will ship in June or July for AUS$495.

Tramiel also predicted children will become more discerning about
computers, and Atari will capture users young. Atari Managing
Director in Australia Nigel Shepherd said Atari would promote its
computers for "cool kids" who would say "no way" when parents
suggested a Commodore 64.

(Paul Zucker/19890331)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SYD)(00019)

NEWS SHORTS FROM AUSTRALIA THIS WEEK
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1989 MAR 31 (NB) -- Epson Australia has once
again announced its sponsorship of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra,
Australia's premier orchestra. The AUS$1-million grant is for the
next four years.

Following the Newsbytes report earlier this year, Commodore has
fulfilled its threats and sacked about 70 of its dealers for
poor performance or "attitude problems." Some disgruntled
dealers feel Commodore is planning a new cut-price deal with K-
Mart stores throughout Australia.

Telecom, the national carrier, is experimenting with a national
voice messaging system. The digital system is expected to be
widely available at the end of the year, catering to special
markets such as cellular phone users who aren't always able to
take calls or postpone making them.

The Australian Computer Society has offered all consultant
members the chance to have their details placed on a disk-based
directory which will be distributed to all government
departments.

A spokesman for Taiwanese PC manufacturer Mitac said at the PC89
show that the number of PC manufacturers in his country would
drop from 2,000 to 400 in the next few years. "The product
assemblers are having difficulty in keeping up with the latest
developments and are becoming more out of date," he said. He also
said Micro Channel Architecture, not EISA, is the way to head.

Magic won the database product shoot-out at the PC89 show.

(Paul Zucker/19890331)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(LAX)(00020)

LOW-COST REMOTE DATA COLLECTOR
BURBANK, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 15 (NB) -- Account-A-Call
Corporation has introduced a low-cost remote data collection device
for use at smaller telemanagement sites. The Tadpoll LS has a
capacity of 12,000 call records, about a quarter that of Account-A-
Call's next larger unit. The $1599 device includes a 1200-bps [bits
per second] modem, battery back-up, and compatibility with virtually
any telephone system including Centrex.

(Wayne Yacco/19890401/Press Contact: 800-477-TUMS, 846-3340)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(LAX)(00021)

GRAPH MAKER RUNS ON ATARI ST AND MEGA
MANTECA, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 14 (NB) -- Artisan Software has
announced Graph Maker for all Atari ST and Mega computers. The
company describes the software as a powerful GEM-based graph and
mapping application for the creation of bar, line, and pie graphs.
The $59.95 product also supports the import of Neochrome and Degas
pictures. Up to five separate clip-art elements can be combined in
a single graph.

(Wayne Yacco/19890401)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(BOS)(00001)

APPEALS COURT UPHOLDS INJUNCTION AGAINST MAI OFFER FOR PRIME
NATICK, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 29 (NB) -- A Federal
Appeals court has upheld a lower court's continuing injunction
against MAI Basic Four's tender offer for Prime Computer.

The First Circuit court affirmed the opinion that Drexel's "pervasive
involvement" in the offer renders Drexel a bidder in securities laws.
A Prime spokesman said the company wants shareholders to know
that Drexel is behind the tender offer and that shareholders should
have all information concerning Drexel's financial position before
determining whether to tender their shares to MAI.

(Jon Pepper/19890331/Contact: Joe Gavaghan, Prime, 508-655-8000)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(ATL)(00002)

PROTOCOM OF NEW JERSEY FIGHTS HOSTILE TAKEOVER
ENGLEWOOD, NEW JERSEY, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 30 (NB) -- Protocom
Devices Inc. is fighting a hostile takeover attempt led by Arthur
Joel Eisenberg and has asked a federal court to restrain him.
Protocom, which makes fast data communications processors, has
been the target of a number of previous attempts by Eisenberg to
obtain control. In February, Eisenberg began an attempt to remove
the present board of directors of the company and to elect its
own nominees, including Eisenberg and five former employees of
Protocom. Protocom's complaint says Eisenberg violated the
Securities Exchange Act and Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt
Organizations Act. Specifically, Protocom says Eisenberg has not
adequately disclosed the fact his money comes from erotic
audiotex, what the complaint calls "dial-a-porn."

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890331/Press Contact: Ellen Charlery, Protocom
Devices, 201-569-6900)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(TYO)(00003)

CONTROL OVER SOFTWARE DUPLICATION
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 MAR 29 (NB) -- Japan's software industry is
concerned about increased copying of personal computer software.
Software houses are losing revenue, while with the advance of
hardware, developing a software program has come to cost tens of
millions of yen. The number of personal computers used in Japan is
estimated at seven million or so, and about 6,000 software houses
compete in this market.

The Software Legal Protection Observation Organization, established by
software developers, has introduced an advertisement proclaiming,
"Software duplication is illegal" in personal computer magazines
and warned of the illegality of duplicating software inside a company.
The National Police Agency has also tackled the duplication problem.
"We will carry out tighter control over the duplication in order to
protect intellectual property this November," the agency said.

The activities have shown success little by little. Sales of software
in Nagoya, Aichi prefecture, have increased since last summer, when
rental traders almost disappeared from the district.

The Software Legal Protection Observation Organization is now trying
harder to get rid of software duplication within companies. The
organization is willing to take legal action to eradicate in-company
duplication in cooperation with the National Police Agency. A member
of the organization's staff said, "Each company should refrain from
copying software in the office before they receive punishment."

(Ken Takahashi/19890330)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(SGP)(00004)

SOUTH KOREAN PER CAPITA GDP EXCEEDS US$4,000
SINGAPORE, S.E. ASIA, 1989 MAR 31 (NB) -- South Korea's 1988 gross
national product [GNP] reached US$169.2 billion in current price
terms in 1988, according to provisional statistics just released
by the Bank of Korea. That is 12.2 percent above 1987 figures. As
a result, the per capital GNP rose to US$4,040 -- exceeding
US$4,000 for the first time.

Gross domestic product [GDP] grew 11.3 percent in real terms in
1988. Manufacturing led the rise with a 13 percent gain, closely
followed by services at 12.6 percent. Exports were 41.3 percent
and imports 34.1 percent of GNP. Greater total consumption
expenditure played a significant part in the high growth rate,
according to the bank, rising to 10 percent of GNP in 1988 from
8.2 percent in 1987.

(Michael Worsley/19890331/Press Contact: Mr. Lim, Korean Trade Centre,
221.3055)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(SGP)(00005)

KOREA CONSIDERING NEW INDUSTRIAL PARK IN MALAYSIA
KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA, 1989 MAR 29 (NB) -- According to a Ministry of
Trade and Industry official, the South Korean government is considering
establishing an industrial estate exclusively for South Korean
companies in a Southeast Asian country. A feasibility study team will
visit Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines to select the
site.

Preferred sites in Malaysia are understood to be in Selangor and
Perak. The new complex would cover around from one to 1.32 square
kilometers, and would be designed for small to medium businesses.

If Malaysia is chosen, the South Korean government may offer Malaysia
a loan to purchase and develop the site, while South Korean businesses
would contract to construct the complex. Malaysia is considered the
most likely site because of its fair wages, modest land prices and
good labor relations.

(Michael Worsley/19890330/Press Contact: Mr. Lim, Korean Trade Centre,
02-221.3055)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(SGP)(00006)

JAPANESE, KOREANS INVEST US$200 MILLION IN JOHOR STATE
JOHOR BAHRU, MALAYSIA, 1989 MAR 30 (NB) -- Japanese companies have
made commitments to invest M$323 million and Korean companies a
further M$100 million in the State of Johor this year, the Metri Besar
of Johor State announced. The investments are expected to create some
1,200 new jobs.

Of the total, some M$48 million is expected to be in the electrical
and electronic sectors. The Metri Besar quoted these figures in
declaring a recent trade mission to Korea and Japan a great success
for Johor State.

(Michael Worsley/19890330/Press Contact: Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, Johor
State Offices, 07-244148)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(TOR)(00007)

WANG MAKES ITS BIGGEST PC SALE TO CANADIAN GOVERNMENT
OTTAWA, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1989 MAR 31 (NB) -- Wang Canada started
shipping personal computers today to fill a C$23.6-million order
from Public Works Canada, property manager and purchaser for the
Canadian government. The order, covering more than 1,500 Wang
personal computers with associated software, peripherals,
networking equipment and support over three years, is the largest
sale of PCs Wang has ever made. The sale includes 80286-based
Wang PC 260 machines and 80386-based PC 382s. A Wang Canada
spokeswoman said the first units were shipping on schedule March
31.

Public Works Canada is the Canadian federal government's property
manager, real estate agent, engineering consultant, designer,
architect and builder. It employs 8,000 people and has six
regional offices across Canada.

(Grant Buckler/19890331/Press Contact: Gay-Lynne Potts, Wang Canada,
416-764-2397)


(EXCLUSIVE)(IBM)(LAX)(00001)

INTEL LAUNCHES DVI TECHNOLOGY
ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 28(NB) -- Intel Corporation
announced its Pro750 Application Development Platform for the
creation of DVI [digital video interactive] software and hardware
products. DVI technology brings motion video [natural images],
audio and high-speed graphics to the personal computer through a
combination of high-capacity storage and transparent, real-time
image compression. The announcement was made at Microsoft
Corporation's Fourth International Conference on CD-ROM.

The Pro750 system, comprised of three add-in boards, four add-on
modules, system software and authoring software, requires an 80386
platform. Demonstration software is included which contains
examples of DVI microcode routines and a collection of application-
software samples. Intel also announced training and support
programs for the system.

Capabilities of the system include still-image capture and
compression, capture and edit of digital audio, and layout and
formatting for replication on CD ROM.

It was also announced at the conference that Intel would join with
IBM to bring the DVI technology to IBM's PS/2 systems. The
agreement calls for the development of MCA [micro channel
architecture] boards for DVI. IBM will work with Intel to define
new DVI technology products including boards, software and
integrated circuits. However, Intel's senior vice president and
general manager of the Microcomputer Components Group, David House,
emphasized that the DVI technology would be an open specification.
According to House, Intel will publish the specifications for DVI-
based systems for the use and review of interested parties.

At a joint press conference in Anaheim, House clarified the Intel
strategy further saying that the entire DVI system would eventually
be placed on chip sets priced to be "cost effective" and
"pervasive." IBM's Cannavino, president of Entry Systems Division,
added that IBM is "committed" to the technology as a "natural way to
interface with the computer."

[Also: Read WYSIWYG this week for more on the CD ROM conference.]

(Wayne Yacco/19890401)


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

FIRST LETTER-QUALITY PORTABLE PRINTER
IRVINE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 27 (NB) -- Toshiba America's
Information Systems Division is shipping the ExpressWriter301, a 24-
pin, letter-quality portable printer using thermal transfer
technology. The $489 unit weighs in at just four-pounds and runs
on either nickel-cadmium batteries or on a 12-volt AC converter.
Graphics can be printed in resolutions up to 360 dots per inch.
According to a senior product manager at Toshiba, the new printer
has a mean time between failure of 25,000 hours. The little printer
will accept either Toshiba/Qume or Epson LQ series commands.

(Wayne Yacco/19890401/Press Contact: 800-457-7777, 714-583-3000)


(EXCLUSIVE)(IBM)(LAX)(00003)

TOSHIBA UNVEILS TOSHIBALAN FOR ETHERNET
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 24(NB) -- Toshiba
America's Information Systems Division has introduced the ToshibaLAN
card. The $699 adapter is offered in three models which provide
Ethernet connectivity for several different Toshiba laptops. The
cards are compatible with IEEE 802.3, feature 64 kilobyte buffers
and run on either thick or thin Ethernet coaxial cable.

(Wayne Yacco/19890401/Contact: 800-457-7777 714-583-3000)


(EXCLUSIVE)(IBM)(LAX)(00004)

SMART SOFTWARE SHOPPERS SIGHT SUBSTANTIAL SAVINGS
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 23 (NB) -- Even when
vendors aren't offering promotions, it is sometimes possible to save
substantial amounts of money by careful buying. A current pricing
glitch and a promotion on RapidFile provide an example of what's
possible when buyers have the right information.

If you're going to buy dBASE IV, don't; buy RapidFile first, then
upgrade. Due to a pricing structure that an Ashton-Tate customer-
service representative called a "fluke," the strategy of buying the
$295 low-end product and then taking advantage of a $295 upgrade
program cuts the price of dBASE by hundreds of dollars.

Simple arithmetic quickly leads to the discovery that it is actually
less expensive to buy RapidFile and then upgrade to dBASE IV than it
is to buy the high-end product outright: $590 v. $795. Not only is
it over $200 cheaper, but the user is not required to surrender
RapidFile. That comes out to two products for far less than the
price of one. Buyers can obtain both RapidFile and the upgrade,
which is really a steep discount on dBASE, from dealers with
competitive pricing.

That's a bargain but, due to a RapidFile promotion, the upgrade
scheme also currently provides purchasers with up to $300 dollars in
discounts on other software--including two more free programs. The
promotion, which runs through June 30, 1989, offers discounts on
General Information's Hot Line [normally $99, it is free], Prime
Solutions' Disk Technician [a savings of up to $175],
Proximity/Merriam Webster Electronic Thesaurus [normally $50, it is
also free], Deluxe Business Forms with an on-disk RapidFile template
pre-set for the most popular statement, invoice and check formats
[10 percent discount]. There are also free samples of Avery Laser Printer
Labels which can come in handy for telling your friends about the
great deal you got.

(Wayne Yacco/19890324)


(NEWS)(IBM)(SFO)(00005)

FREE BORLAND SOFTWARE WITH SAMSUNG COMPUTERS
SCOTTS VALLEY, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 27 (NB) -- Borland
International will offer buyers of Samsung laptop or desktop computers
a free copy of Quattro, Sprint, Reflex, or SideKick Plus software.
The promotion runs through December 31, 1989. Buyers of the
Samsung hardware complete an order form and return it to
Samsung with a copy of their sales receipt and software
warranty card in order to receive the free software.  In addition,
buyers of Samsung products get a reduced price for Borland's
Paradox 2.0 relational database management system, which is
normally $495 and will sell for $150.

In other news, Borland has opened an office in Japan. Called
Borland Japan Ltd., the office will manage the translation, marketing,
and advertising of Borland's products for the Japanese market.
The office will be managed by MicroSoftware Associates
Company Ltd.  The first products from the new office will be Japanese-
translated versions of Turbo Assembler and Debugger, Turbo C 2.0
Professional Pack and Turbo Pascal 5.0 Professional Pack.

(Wendy Woods/19890402/Press Contact: Dick O'Donnell, 408-439-1631)


(EXCLUSIVE)(IBM)(BOS)(00006)

Z-SOFT SET TO SHOW NEW PC PAINTBRUSH AT COMDEX
SUNDERLAND, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 30 (NB) -- Z-Soft, a
leading publisher of graphics packages for the IBM PC and
compatibles, will be showing a major new upgrade to its best-selling
PC Paintbrush family of applications.

The new product, PC Paintbrush IV, achieves "a new level of
price/performance," Z-Soft founder Mark Zachmann told Newsbytes.
In an exclusive new product demonstration, Zachmann showed
Newsbytes the far-reaching feature of the product, which uses a
Windows-like interface that Z-Soft calls the CUA, or Common User
Access. Zachmann told Newsbytes that parts of the interface were
licensed from Microsoft and enhanced by Z-Soft for speed of
execution and ease of use. The new software, priced at only $99.95,
offers features that are comparable with many packages costing up to
$600. A strong set of color and black and white retouching tools are
offered, including blends, tiling contrast, brightness, tints, multilevel
split-screen zoom editing, and precise color editing. The tools and
features enable PC Paintbrush IV to act as the base for a low-cost
photo retouching system.

Zachmann told Newsbytes that he was considering opening up a
color separation service that would convert files sent in by PC
Paintbrush IV users. The product will be on display at
Comdex/Spring in Chicago, April 10-13, with shipment scheduled for
just after the show.

(Jon Pepper/19890331/Contact: John Day, John Day & Co., 404-452-
1322)


(NEWS)(IBM)(BOS)(00007)

IBM AND COREL SYSTEMS INK SOFTWARE AGREEMENT
OTTAWA, ONTARIO, CANADA 1989 MAR 28 (NB) -- Corel Systems
and IBM have announced that COREL Draw software is now
available through IBM's direct sales for in the U.S. The new product
is part of the IBM Vendor Fulfillment Program.

COREL Draw is a powerful illustration/drawing package that runs on
IBM AT and PS/2 computers as well as compatible equipment.
COREL Draw joins Aldus PageMaker, IBM Interleaf Publisher, and
IBM Publishing Systems BookMaker as part of the IBM Publishing
Systems software product offerings.

(Jon Pepper/19890331/Contact: Arlen Bartsch, COREL, 613-728-8200)


(NEWS)(IBM)(TYO)(00008)

SHIPPING AGENT ASSISTS OVERSEAS VENTURES
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 MAR 23 (NB) -- The Japanese subsidiary of U.K.-
based shipping firm John Swire & Sons Ltd. and AST Research Japan will
import and sell two series and five models of AST's IBM PC/AT-
compatible machines.

Swire & Sons, not AST Research Japan, announced plans to import the
products. The company will sell three models of the AST Bravo/286 and
two models of the Premium 386/16. Prices range from 198,000 yen or
$1,470 for the lower-end Bravo Model 1 to 798,000 yen or $5,910 for
the upper-end Premium Model 45. Marketing will start April 1, aimed
mainly at foreign capital firms.

Swire & Sons was a sales agent for U.S.-based AST Research until AST
established its Japanese subsidiary in Tokyo. The company continues
providing strong assistance in distribution of AST products with its
more than 20 sales channels, including ComputerLand in Japan. Swire
also helps other overseas ventures, such as California-based YARK
Systems and Integrated Micro Products of the United Kingdom,
introduce their products to the Japanese market.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19890330)


(NEWS)(IBM)(LON)(00009)

ADOBE RELEASES MS-WINDOWS ILLUSTRATOR FOR THE PC
AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS, 1989 MAR 31 (NB) -- Adobe Systems
Europe has released Adobe Illustrator, the popular PostScript
drawing package, for the IBM PC and close compatibles. The
package retails for UKP 595 and is available immediately.

Adobe Illustrator was originally released in March '87 for the
Apple Macintosh. The PC version, which runs under Microsoft
Windows, requires at least 640K of main memory and 256K of expanded
memory to accommodate the program and data files. In addition, a
hard disk plus single floppy drive, and EGA, VGA or Hercules monochrome
system card is required to run the package.

(Steve Gold/19890331/Press Contact: Adobe Systems Europe - Tel:
020-575-3193)


(NEWS)(IBM)(LON)(00010)

3X EUROPE UNVEILS PARALLEL PORT NETWORKING SYSTEM
PARIS, FRANCE, 1989 MAR 31 (NB) -- 3X Europe, the Paris-based
computer company, has released Link-16, a parallel port network
system that runs in the background. The system runs at up to 500
kilobaud on up to 16 PCs.

One of the key advantages of using the printer port with Link-16
is, says 3X Europe, the ability to use the PC's parallel port's
four data lines, instead of one. This is why such high data
transfer rates are possible. Another useful feature is that the
network supports printers over the network, obviating the need
for extra parallel port connections.

The starter kit for Link-16 comes with system software and a
cable for two PCs. The kit costs FFr 2,950. Additional nodes on
the network cost FFr 1,500, with the printer sharer option costing
an extra FFr 1,500. The system requires DOS 2.0 plus at least
384K of memory on each PC to run in memory-resident mode. Once
initiated, file transfers between network nodes can be paged into
the background, allowing other foreground applications software
to be loaded and run.

(Steve Gold/19890331/Press Contact: 3X Europe - Tel: [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(LON)(00011)

SHAREWARE MARKETING PULLS PLUG ON PROCOMM PLUS DEMO PACKAGE
BEER, ENGLAND, 1989 MAR 31 (NB) -- Shareware Marketing, the
Devon-based shareware and commercial software distributor, has
been forced to withdraw Procomm Plus Test Drive, the
demonstration version of Procomm Plus, Datastorm Technologies'
commercial communications package for the IBM PC and close
compatibles.

According to Steve Townsley, technical support manager of
Shareware Marketing, Datastorm has withdrawn the program because
of confusion between Procomm Plus Test Drive, Procomm Plus and
the original Procomm shareware package.

"Coupled with Test Drive, the shareware and commercial versions
of Procomm have confused people. I think Datastorm were finding
that many people were using Test Drive instead of Procomm Plus,
and they were losing out on sales and shareware registrations,"
he told Newsbytes.

Shareware Marketing is working towards a release at the end of
April for Procomm Plus Viewdata, the viewdata-enabled version
of Procomm Plus. Provisional pricing on the package has been
set at #89-00.

(Steve Gold/19890331/Press Contact: Shareware Marketing - Tel:
0297-24090, e-mail - Compuserve 73447,1253)


(NEWS)(IBM)(TOR)(00012)

IBM AND COREL SYSTEMS SIGN MARKETING AGREEMENT
OTTAWA, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1989 MAR 28 (NB) -- Corel Draw! graphics
software is now available through IBM's direct sales force in the
United States as well as from dealers. Corel Systems, the
Canadian developer of the software, has announced an agreement
with IBM, which will carry the product under its Vendor
Fulfillment Program. Corel said its package complements IBM's
Publishing Systems products: Aldus PageMaker, IBM Interleaf
Publisher and IBM Publishing Systems BookMaster.

Corel Draw! runs under Microsoft Windows on IBM PS/2 Model 30/286
and up and on the IBM PC AT. It requires 640K-bytes of memory.
The program uses pull-down menus, an icon-based toolbox and a
mouse or graphics tablet. Corel Draw! supports full color,
provides 57 scalable fonts for all devices Windows supports, and
can export encapsulated PostScript files. The software retails
for $495, or C$595 in Canada.

(Grant Buckler/19890331/Press Contact: Arlen Bartsch, Corel Systems,
613-728-8200)


(NEWS)(IBM)(TOR)(00013)

BEDFORD SHIPS TOOLBOX TO DEALERS, SIGNS AUSTRALIAN DISTRIBUTOR
BURNABY, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA, 1989 MAR 31 (NB) -- Bedford
Software, based here, has begun shipping Bedford Toolbox, an add-
on graphics and analysis package for use with Bedford Accounting,
to retail channels. Software distributors began receiving the
package in late March. Announced last fall, the package was sold
directly to Bedford Accounting users during a three-month
introductory period. Toolbox sells for C$129 and runs on any IBM
PC or compatible.

Bedford has also signed Ovation Software of Sydney, Australia, to
distribute its software package Bedford Accounting in that
country. The deal represents Bedford's first foray outside the
North American market. Alex Morton, senior vice-president of
Bedford, said in a press release the company is also pursuing
other foreign markets. Bedford hopes for more than C$1.8 million
in revenue from Ovation's sales of Bedford Accounting over the
next two years. The package will be released in Australia by
midyear.

Bedford Accounting and the company's Macintosh accounting
package, Simply Accounting, are currently sold in some 11,000
retail outlets in Canada and the United States.

(Grant Buckler/19890331/Press Contact: Kristin Keyes, Bedford Software,
604-294-2394)


(NEWS)(IBM)(TOR)(00014)

PROGRAM HELPS ANALYZE STOCK OPTION PURCHASES
VICTORIA, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA, 1989 MAR 31 (NB) -- Speculation
about the role of program trading in the October, 1987, stock market
crash drew everyone's attention to the role of computers in the stock
market. But many users may think software that analyzes the complex
world of options and futures is only available to the pros. Not so.

Canadian software developer Radix Research recently signed
a distribution agreement for its Option Valuation Model, a software
package that runs on IBM PCs and compatibles and helps assess
the value of stock options. Info Globe, electronic publishing
subsidiary of the Toronto daily newspaper The Globe and Mail, now
distributes the package in Canada. Radix intends to market OVM
itself in the United States. The software sells for C$349.

(Grant Buckler/19890331/Press Contact: James Bruce-Sanders, Radix
Research, 604-592-5308)


(NEWS)(IBM)(SYD)(00015)

COMPAQ RELEASES TO COME, OVERSHADOW PRESENT RANGE
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1989 MAR 27 (NB) -- Sources close to Compaq
have revealed to Newsbytes details of the company's releases over
the next year. These include a new Deskpro 286 soon; a 33-
megahertz Deskpro 386; a 386 SLT laptop in the third quarter; an
Extended Industry Standard Architecture [EISA] machine in the
third quarter; and an 80486 machine in January, 1990. Another
Compaq insider said, "The majority of Compaq's sales for 1989
will come from products that haven't even been announced or
talked about yet. That's how many important announcements we'll
be making this year. We've already presold hundreds of millions
of dollars in equipment worldwide, just on expectations."

(Paul Zucker/19890331)


(NEWS)(IBM)(SYD)(00016)

NEW LAPTOP PCs FROM SHARP
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1989 MAR 28 (NB) -- Sharp Corporation of
Australia has introduced the PC4600 series of battery-powered
laptops. The family has two models at the moment: the PC4602 with
two 3.5-inch 720K-byte disk drives and the PC4641 with a 40-
megabyte hard disk.

Based on a 10-megahertz Intel 80188 processor, the PCs have
backlit supertwist liquid-crystal display screens with 640-by-400
resolution and prices of AUS$2795 and AUS$5495. It is believed
that the machines are being test marketed.

(Paul Zucker/19890331)


(NEWS)(IBM)(LAX)(00017)

SON OF STREETS ON A DISK
SIMI VALLEY, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 14 (NB) -- Klynas
Engineering has announced an upgrade for its Streets on a Disk.
Version 3.0 displays street maps on a personal computer and can
automatically generate travel directions and calculate distance,
mileage, travel time, and even fuel requirements. The product
contains complete map graphics with 16 types of streets and lines
including railroad tracks and waterways.

A new 3.0 feature, Autoplace, can place tokens on the map according
to addresses in a mailing list. Support is included for maps with
up to a half million streets. Up to three maps can be displayed
simultaneously with the software. The $150 program requires
optional maps the list for between $20 and $640 depending on size
and detail. Hundreds of cities are available.

(Wayne Yacco/19890401/Press Contact: 805-583-1029)


(NEWS)(IBM)(LAX)(00018)

PRICE DROP FOR DISK DOUBLER
LA CRESCENTA, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 APRIL 3 (NB) -- Datran
Corporation has cut nearly 50 percent from the price of its Disk Doubler
adapter board for the PC. The $99 unit automatically [de]compresses
data on the fly as it is [read from] saved to disk. The new board
uses surface-mount technology to provide extended features at a
lower price than its predecessor.

Disk Doubler operates transparently with any type of drive including
floppy, SCSI, ESDI, RLL, RAM, Bernoulli, WORM optical, etc. Sixty-
four kilobytes are required for the TSR [terminate and stay
resident] control program.

(Wayne Yacco/19890401/Press Contact: 818-248-8780)


(NEWS)(IBM)(LAX)(00019)

XEROX LAUNCHES GRAPH
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 27 (NB) -- Xerox Corporation
has announced Xerox Graph, a program it characterizes as a desktop
data-analysis and graph-creation software product. Graph allows PC
users to perform data analysis and produce full-color or black-and-
white graphs. The $295 program runs under the Windows environment.
It will begin shipping in the second quarter of 1989.

The latest Xerox entry is its most recent in a series of products it
has acquired from Cricket Software. Xerox Presents is already in
the market and Cricket Draw will join the others shortly as Xerox
Draw. The addition of the Cricket line and the Formbase product,
developed by Columbia Software, continues to move Xerox toward a
total publishing solution.

Graph features include sorting, recoding, transforming, simple math,
count frequency and smoothing functions. Curve-fitting tools are
also provided. Pie, bar, stacked bar, column, stacked column, line,
area, scatter, polar, double-y scatter, double-y line, and text
graphs can be previewed in full WYSIWYG with supplied Bitstream
fonts. Graphs can be further modified with options such as depth,
exploding pie slices, switching axes, and adding value labels.

(Wayne Yacco/19890401)


(NEWS)(IBM)(LAX)(00020)

MENU! POPS UP
EVERGREEN, COLORADO, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 21 (NB) -- POP Computer
Products has released version 2.1 of Menu!, a program for creating a
personalized program library and submenus and for grouping related
programs. The $29.95 memory-resident product now includes the
ability to pass parameters to DOS when executing commands from
within the program.

(Wayne Yacco/19890401/Press Contact: 303-674-0200)


(REVIEW)(IBM)(ATL)(00001)

Review of: CHOICE WORDS

Runs on: IBM PC/XT w/DOS 2.0+, or IBM PC-AT w/DOS 3.0+; hard
disk or two floppies, one of which is high density.

From: Proximity Technology., 3511 N.E. 22nd Avenue, Fort
Lauderdale, FL 33308, 305-566-3511, FAX [phone], 800-543-
3511

Price: $99.00

PUMA Rating: 3.85 [on a scale of 1, lowest, to 4, highest]

Reviewed by: TBass, 5/11/89

Summary: This is an electronic dictionary and thesaurus, NOT
a document spell-checker. It does help with spelling, but it
shines in the area of definitions and fine distinctions for the
true word-aholics.

REVIEW:
--------
CHOICE WORDS is an 80,000 word dictionary and cross
reference thesaurus that pops-up. It can be easily configured to
work with one or more of 32 different word processing elements.
The TSR program can quickly be dropped from memory without having
to return to DOS, a nice feature when one wants to print a
document and needs memory for printer.def-type files. It must be
loaded from DOS, of course.

This application is for people who make a living using words, are
in school, or just like the fine distinctions between words. For
those who want to use 'the word that says it correctly' -- be it for
business, professional, or, simply, pleasure -- this one's for us.

CHOICE WORDS was developed through a unique collaboration between
Merriam-Webster and Proximity Technology. They have provided two
programs integrated in a sophisticated database. The two programs
are WEBSTER'S ELECTRONIC DICTIONARY, CONCISE EDITION, and
WEBSTER'S ELECTRONIC THESAURUS.

PUMA RATING
--------------
PERFORMANCE: 3.9. As a cross referenced dictionary and
thesaurus, CHOICE WORDS does quite well. Its TSR quality and ability
to drop from memory easily works well.

USEFULNESS: 3.8. For those of us who truly enjoy looking up
words and savoring the fine distinctions among them, it is a
great tool. It would have been nice if MERRIAM-WEBSTER'S
ELECTRONIC DICTIONARY, CONCISE EDITION had included some
etymology with the definitions for CHOICE WORDS.

MANUAL: 4. The manual is understandable and has a professional
appearance. It is easy to use as a reference to the program for
the brief period you might need one.

AVAILABILITY: 3.7. CHOICE WORDS is easily available through
Proximity and retail outlets can be found by calling, in the U.S.,
800-543-3511.

(tbass/19890509/Press Contact: Patricia Ricalton, PROXIMITY)


(REVIEW)(IBM)(TOR)(00002)

Review of: DELL SYSTEM 316 PC [80386-based]

From: Dell Computer Corp., 9505 Arboretum Blvd., Austin, Texas,
78759-7299, 512-338-4400.

Price: Base with 1MB RAM, mono display, 40-MB hard drive:
C$4,499. System tested, with 2MB RAM, VGA display, 100-MB
 hard drive, 2 diskette drives, tape backup: C$7,138.
Price does not include MS-DOS or OS/2.

PUMA Rating: 3.75 [on scale of 1=lowest to 4=highest]

Reviewed by: Grant Buckler, 6/17/89

Summary: Another in the growing tide of PCs that use the 80386SX
processor, the System 316 is a solid and very expandable system
from a young company rapidly establishing a reputation for speed
and quality. It's not small, but it's mighty.

REVIEW
------
Writing about computers carries with it certain obligations. One
is, while other writers are satisfied with original-model PCs and
even geriatric Osborne and Kaypro CP/M boxes, computer writers
have to stay up to date or risk being laughed at during Comdex
cocktail parties. So Newbsytes Canada, having decided the 10-
year-old Chevy would probably survive another year, recently
shelled out for an 80386SX-based System 316 from Dell Computer
Corp.

This machine had two major attractions. First was price. Dell's
machines aren't the cheapest PC-compatibles on the market, but
among name-brand vendors with solid reputations, they're very
competitive. Second was support.

Our last PC -- still in use -- carried a name with more cachet
than Dell's, but the store that sold it went out of business
within two years. When a replacement power supply died while
still under warranty last year, it took nearly six months to
collect a refund for the part. Dell, on the other hand, does its
own sales, support and service. You buy from the manufacturer,
and if you have a problem, you call the manufacturer. No finger
pointing. At least that's the theory, and it worked when the
color monitor sent with our unit turned out to be defective. A
quick call to Dell Canada, and another monitor came out by
courier.

If one wanted to complain about the System 316, the obvious bone
to pick would be its size. In an era of endlessly shrinking
system boxes, the 316 is as big as the original PC, maybe even a
bit bigger. But it has its points. Inside the System 316's hefty
frame are seven expansion slots. Consider that the standard
parallel and two serial ports don't occupy slots, and that's
lots. And the 316, like other Dell models, has five peripheral
bays. For Newsbytes Canada, that means a 100-megabyte hard disk, both
sizes of diskette drives and a backup tape drive, and there's
still room to add a second hard disk. Two of the bays don't have
openings, so they can only be used for hard disk drives. All this
translates into lots of expandability.

The 316 is also fast. The SX chip only runs at 16 megahertz,
which may not sound like much to rich folks who have already
bought 33-MHz machines. But Dell has used that 16 megahertz well,
and some operations run as fast on this machine as on some 20-
and 25-Mhz 386 machines. The 100-megabyte hard drive has a 25-
millisecond access time. Comparably fast 40-, 15- and 322-
megabyte drives are also available.

PUMA RATINGS
--------------
Performance: 4. The System 316 uses the slowest of the 386
processors, a 16-megahertz 80386SX. Yet in our tests it compared
favorably with some 20- and 25-MHz 386 systems.

Usefulness: 4. Very good value in a 386SX system.

Manuals: 3. The documentation is in too many pieces. One spends a
lot of time looking for the right book or reference card. Some
pieces are more comprehensive than others.

Availability: 4. Just pick up the phone and call a toll-free
number in the United States, Canada, or the United Kingdom. Our
machine was delivered in three days.

(Grant Buckler/19890605/Press Contact: Dell Computer Corp.
Canada, 416-881-3513)


(REVIEW)(IBM)(SYD)(00003)

Review of: IBM PS/2 Model P70 Portable 386 PC

From: IBM

Price: U.S.$7,695 with 60 megabyte hard disk, $8,295 with a
120 megabyte hard disk.

PUMA Rating: 3.5 [on a scale of 1 to 4, 4 being highest]

Reviewed by: Paul Zucker, 6/2/89

Summary: Another large, powerful 80386-powered PC, a transportable,
with a few unique IBM touches.

Review
------
The transportable Model 70 is a clean-lined machine, without that
sewing machine shape. Instead it looks more like a stylish attache
case. This is partly due to the need to accommodate what must be
one of the largest keyboards on a current portable.

The keyboard is held by two unnatural slide catches. They don't
work the way you expect and they don't catch automatically when
you close the machine. That's probably good because you are
forced to manually secure the keyboard and believe me, its very
embarrassing when the keyboard falls of the machine just as you
walk through the foyer at work. Some of you will be dismayed at the
small Enter key on this and other current IBM machines.

Once the keyboard is down the diskette drive falls open. It's a
strange arrangement but was presumably necessitated by the lack
of depth for horizontal mounting in the slim unit. Unlike many
portables with detachable keyboards [including the NEC I'm using
now] you aren't left with the need to find extra desk if you
don't need to -- the keyboard stays nicely clipped onto the case
at a good angle for typing but the lead is quite generous and
there are fold-out feet for those who want their personal
screen/keyboard juxtaposition.

It's easy to think that designers haven't spent much time on new
machines [especially the human engineering side] but when you notice
little things like the fact that replacing the keyboard and shutting the
P70 turns off the mains, it makes you realize that they have thought
about how you'll use it.

Strangely, the mouse connects at the back, next to the other
ports. I would have like to have see either a keyboard port [but
that would mean non-compatible keyboards] or one somewhere on the
front panel, perhaps near the diskette drive. If you're a Windows
user or even use a mouse with other software, you'll find the
"mickeys per inch" ratio bad on the IBM mouse. You need half a
desk just to navigate around the screen.

While I'm on the mouse - it would have been nice to have provided
a cubby hole for the mouse and mains cord in the unit. It's so
embarrassing walking to your car carrying the portable, lead
around you neck like a punk tie, and the mouse in your trouser
pocket.

The back panel has a little slide cover that reveals the ports
and that's in turn mounted on a hinge-out panel that gives access
to the expansion card connector plates. Three captive screws hold
on the whole back cover which you only need to remove for
installation of cards, co-processor or extra memory.

The screen seems to be typical of gas plasma screens -- bright
orange in a sea of dark darker orange. It's true VGA and it displays
16 grey levels for either colour simulation or enhanced monochrome
applications. It does quite well if you don't tell the application
you've only got mono. As a matter of fact, you'll usually get a more
usable result if you don't say anything -- especially where it's an EGA
or CGA driver. Unlike LCD screens which smear and can't really
support a mouse, the plasma screens, such as on this machine, are
well suited to mouse applications like desktop publishing and
computer-aided design.

I liked the easy way it stayed at whatever angle you placed it,
too. I didn't like the fact that the screen saver would turn the
screen off even in the middle of scrolling a screen or watching a
demo. And for some reason the screen's brightness and contrast
are software configurable.

What can you say about performance? So much depends on what
software you have, what operating system, how much cache, how you
organize your disk. As far as raw speed, I suppose a Norton SI
ratings gives some idea. I couldn't get SI to recognize the hard
disk (under OS/2 DOS box) but it gave an SI of 21.3. When I
booted the machine under generic DOS 3.3 it gave an SI of 21.5
and that may give an indication that the DOS box under OS/2
doesn't markedly affect performance.

It's easy to be glib about the performance of machines nowadays.
To say that this machine is only half as fast as the new 33 MHz
Compaq or even slower when compared to the first 486 machines
which have been announced, let's remember that this machine is of
the order of ten times as fast as its predecessor IBM
transportable. A machine like this is a powerhouse and is ideally
suited to processor-hogging applications like desktop publishing.

I was surprised by the password protection that comes with the
P70. It won't let you do anything with the machine unless you
know the word. Even changing the password requires you to know
the old one. Sound secure? Well it isn't because you only have to
remove the setup battery for 20 minutes and the machine can be
started up without a password.

Unlike those portables that 'dock' onto a fixed expansion/connector
chassis, the P70 isn't easily moved from your desk at night if it's
connected to, say, an external monitor, modem, network, printer and
so on. The extra couple of minutes will sometimes make the difference
between taking it home to work on

For all those people who complain about the weight of machines,
look at the bright side. Compared to the weight of an
equivalent desktop PC, keyboard, and monitor, it's not too bad!

I can't see why this machine should flop and with its creditable
performance it should satisfy many buyers. Whether buyers will
need the MCA feature is a moot point but that badge will always
sell to a portion of the marketplace.

Applying the 'would you use one?' test, I'd say "Yes! I would."

Specifications

80386 processor running at 20MHz
Single 3.5" 1.44Mbyte diskette drive
Internal 60 or 120Mbyte hard disk
Plasma VGA screen [640x480]
External VGA monitor port
25 serial port
Parallel printer port
4Mbyte RAM [expandable to 16]
Optional 80387 coprocessor
One full and one half length expansion slot
Mouse port and mouse
Full size keyboard
Carrying size 464mm (W) x 305mm (H) x128mm (D)
Weight 9kg [20 pounds]

PUMA Ratings
------------
PERFORMANCE: 4. Just what you'd expect from an running at 20MHz
with a minimum of four megs of RAM. Norton SI is 21.5 running under
DOS and 21.3 running under OS/2 DOS compatibility box.

USEFULNESS: 3. Quite a useful design for people who have to take a
full-powered PC with them. These machines aren't laptops and they
stretch your carrying arm!

MANUAL: 3. Only one small manual with the review machine but it
seemed to tell the story. Now OS/2's manual ... that's another story.
It would give a phone book a fright.

AVAILABILITY: 4. Too soon to tell about supply but IBM has a few
offices, even where you live.

(Paul Zucker/19890609)


(CORRECTION)(APPLE)(SFO)(00001)

Review of: Jasmine DIRECTPRINT PostScript language-compatible liquid
crystal shutter [LCS] printer

Runs with: Macintosh, although will run with PCs, Apple IIGS or
OS/2 computers when used with an Apple LocalTalk PC card.

From: Jasmine Technologies, 1740 Army Street, San Francisco,
California, 94124, 415-282-1111.

Price: $3,495.00

PUMA Rating: 3.375 [on a scale of 1 to 4]

Reviewed by: Wendy Woods, 3/21/89

Summary: The Jasmine DirectPrint printer uses an unique liquid
crystal shutter technology to produce printed output comparable to a
laser printer.

REVIEW
------
Were it not for the fact that as this review went to press, you
could pick up an Apple LaserWriter NT for the same price, the
Jasmine DirectPrint LCS printer would be a great deal.  Similar to
the NT, it's quiet, the print quality is virtually identical --
300 dots per inch with rich grey and black tones -- and it's a
PostScript-compatible printer.

The Jasmine DirectPrint, whose cousin is Qume's CrystalPrint
Publisher, is different from laser printers in that it uses electro-
photography and strips of liquid crystal shutters -- technology
which has fewer mechanical parts and is said to be more
reliable.  All of this, however, is invisible to the user.

While the Jasmine's ability to assimilate page instructions is
faster due to the Weitek RISC-based controller chip, its pages-per-
minute output is actually slower -- five or six pages per minute
compared to the Apple LaserWriter NT's eight pages per minute.
But where the Jasmine speed is visible is with complicated documents;
the time between issuing a command to print and getting the output
is up to 40 percent faster.  The speed depends on the complexity
of the job.

Jasmine claims this printer is also portable.  It's not, really.
It weighs 35.2 pounds.  It may be more portable than an
Apple LaserWriter -- but only because it has a smaller footprint
and you can literally wrap your arms around it.  But in transporting
it back to Jasmine we needed a very strong person to help us
lift it in and out of the Newsbytes station wagon.

Other disadvantages include trying to get customer support.  There
is a single toll number, 415-282-9555, which was busy virtually all
day. There was no waiting time reaching Customer Service, however,
with a convenient toll-free number, at 1-800-347-3228, where I
received the help I needed talking to the product manager.
This is also the number where service centers can be located --
Decision Data Services. This is also the number to call for a free
sample of the printer's output, and to order toner cartridges.

Jasmine fails to publish an end-user maintenance schedule for
the printer.  Apple, for instance, suggests scheduled maintenance
when 300,000 pages have been printed.  By press-time Jasmine had
not release data on the printer's expected engine life [mean time
to failure], so those interested should request to see such technical
specifications.

PUMA RATING
-----------
PERFORMANCE: 3.5.  The output was consistently clear, with well-
defined pages and good grey scale.  We experienced a paper jam
once but it was easily fixed.

USEFULNESS: 3.5.  Once Apple raises the price of its NT, the
crowds will most likely flock to Jasmine's low-priced alternative.

MANUAL:  3.5.

AVAILABILITY:  3.0. Call Jasmine at 1-800-347-3228 to
order or locate a dealer with showroom models.

(Wendy Woods/19890323)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(SFO)(00001)

GLASNOST FINDS A NEW ADDRESS ON E-MAIL
HANNOVER, WEST GERMANY, 1989 MAR 10 (NB) -- The three Hannover
hackers who were discovered allegedly stealing U.S. secrets for the
KGB didn't dampen the news that Deutsche Mailbox, one of Europe's
largest electronic mail companies, has reached an agreement with
the U.S.S.R. to bring Moscow online.

Manfred Bohnen, Deutsche Mailbox board member, announced
the only thing still missing to get the Soviet mailbox running is
the connection. The U.S.S.R. and Deutsche Mailbox signed an accord
giving Moscow access to mailbox technology. Expectations are
the system will be online within three months.

But there will be limitations on electronic glasnost. Not
everyone in the Soviet Union will be allowed to use the system
and even those who can enroll will have limited access to
services such as databases. The Soviets will maintain control
over what their citizens are allowed to do with e-mail. Discussions
about including East Germany in the initial link-up have been held
but no decision has been made. Deutsche Mailbox's Bohnen indicated
that Moscow is only the beginning. Future plans call for adding 30
Soviet cities online through the Moscow gateway.

(Janet Endrijonas/19890331)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(BOS)(00002)

MTV AND AMERICAN EXPRESS AFFILIATE JOIN FOR INTERACTIVE TECHNOLOGY
NEW YORK, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 28 (NB) -- MTV Networks
and FDR Interactive Technologies, an American Express-affiliated
company, have agreed to use FDR's patented mass-audience
interactive telephone technology. The computerized FDR system allows
viewers to dial in on regular telephones and have their responses
tabulated in real-time for interactive programming.

The current plans allow the service to process up to 30,000 calls
simultaneously, via either 800 [sponsor-pay] or 900 [view-pay] number
calls.

(Jon Pepper/19890331/Contact: Dana Kornbluth, MTV, 818-505-7815)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(BOS)(00003)

AT&T AND COMSAT PLACE FIRST ISDN SATELLITE CALL
HOLMDEL, NEW JERSEY, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 29 (NB) -- In a recent
AT&T demonstration, AT&T and Comsat, the Communications
Satellite Corporation, placed the first satellite telephone call via an
integrated services digital network, or ISDN.

The demonstration is significant because it allays some fears that
ISDN was not suitable for handling of satellite calls. However, an
AT&T spokesman said the demonstration clearly showed that AT&T's
5ESS switch can provide new options for network designers in
crating ISDN solutions anywhere in the world.

(Jon Pepper/19890331/Contact: Sam Gronner, AT&T, 201-631-7019)


(EXCLUSIVE)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00004)

ONLINE GAME NETWORK IN THE PALM OF YOUR HAND
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 30 (NB) -- Major
League Baseball recently announced it will offer viewers the
chance to play along with the players next season through
something called the Interactive Game Network. Here's the
technology behind it.

The idea comes from Lotus' Dataspeed, a hand held device which
retrieves Telerate stock quotes from the FM subcarrier.
Dave Lochen, who founded Dataspeed, is the man behind the Interactive
Game Network, which is in the process of changing its name to
Interactive Networks. The same technology used by Dataspeed can
be employed, at the same time, for baseball games or soap operas
or news shows or any TV show with which an audience might want
to, in their fantasies, interact.

Ann Doremus of Interactive Networks explained how it works. A
pocket terminal, retailing for $3-400, will pick up and translate
signals from FM subcarriers or part of PBS' vertical blanking
interval -- the black edges of a TV screen seen only if the
vertical hold goes out. That gives nationwide [actually,
continent-wide] coverage. The text passed to the terminals will
consist of trivia tests based on games-in-progress. Say you're
watching the Mets and Dodgers playing on ESPN next season. The
device might ask what pitch Orel Hershiser is likely to throw
next, whether Gary Carter hit it, how many lifetime home runs
Gary has, or which of Choo-Choo Coleman's records Gary first
broke after joining the Mets. You can control how tough the
questions posed to you are by changing the skill level, just as
with any video game. At game's end, you may be rewarded with a
gift of free online time or a Mets tee-shirt.

The game and the device are currently unnamed. The whole system
will go through a slow, phased roll-out this fall, but they hope to have
it in place nationwide in time for the new TV baseball contracts in
1990. Under the new contract, the cable network ESPN will have the
right to move around among local telecasts, looking for the best
action for the Interactive Game Network system.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890331/Press Contact: Ann Doremus, IGN, 415-322-
8066)


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

ONLINE SERVICES USED IN MOBILE PHONE MARKET BATTLE
ATLANTA, GEORGIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 27 (NB) -- Mobile phone companies
to compete on something other than price and BellSouth Mobility,
which has franchises in 26 markets throughout its Southeast
service area, is no exception. Pam Eldridge of BellSouth Mobility
says their new MobileMax TrafficScan service, in which callers
are patched into a menu of traffic reports, will just be the
first of many such efforts. "We expect some time in the future to
have weather, sports and stocks. We'll be looking for information
providers throughout the region," she says.

Here's how the TrafficScan on MobileMax works. You're on the
freeway all day, rushing between appointments, and you need to
know if you're heading toward any traffic accidents. Not just
during rush hour, and not just when even the news station decides
to offer a traffic report. So, for just 35 cents per minute, the
base air-time charge cellular users pay whether calling out or
being called, you ring up TrafficScan. This small private
company monitors free calls from other mobile phone customers,
and the reports are used by local radio stations in exchange for
ad time. Mobile phone owners who are stuck in traffic call
TrafficScan free to report where they're stuck. Other callers
dial into a menu listing various parts of town, which they
activate with their touch tone keypad. Once the code is memorized --
there are only entries for the Northeast, Northwest, and South
parts of town -- you can hit a number quick and get right past
the menu. Each report will also include the best routes to and
from the airport. In addition, after hours and on weekends,
general information on road construction, sporting events,
concerts and other scheduled activities that might cause traffic
problems will be available. The reports are updated every 15
minutes.

BellSouth will also start a voice messaging service called
MobileMemo on its Atlanta system this month. Mobile phone users
can record personal greetings and have incoming calls patched
into a Centigram computer. They can retrieve messages from any
touch tone phone.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890331/Press Contact: Pam Eldridge, BellSouth
Mobility, 404-847-3051)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00006)

COMPUSERVE UPS THE ANTE $1.50 PER MONTH APRIL 2
COLUMBUS, OHIO, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 28 (NB) -- CompuServe imposes a
$1.50 monthly membership support fee on all accounts, including
Executive accounts now paying a $10 monthly minimum, starting
April 2. The money will pay for access to a customer's billing
file, and rates and terms of use. Time spent looking for network
access numbers, profiling one's terminal parameters and service
options, or looking at other indexes, tours, and forms will also
be without additional charge as of that date.

CompuServe just passed the 500,000 account barrier a few weeks
ago.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890331)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00007)

MODEMS PLUS ANNOUNCES WIRELESS PC-MAINFRAME LINKS
ATLANTA, GEORGIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 28 (NB) -- Modems Plus
announced COMM RAD, a software package which emulates IBM 3278
terminals and can be used in conjunction with cellular phone
hook-ups, creating a data communications networking system with
wireless, real-time remote access to mainframe databases at
speeds of 4800 or 9600 bits per second, or bps. It's designed to
work with mobile phone networks, and offers businesses the chance
to link with their mainframes from job sites or vehicles which
have a PC-compatible computer.

Industries being targeted for the new system are utilities,
police, the military, construction, government, property
management and emergency services.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890331/Press Contact: Modems Plus, Mindy Littman
404-447-5471)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00008)

WANG ANNOUNCES GATEWAYS BETWEEN VS, PC LANS
LOWELL, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 28 (NB) -- Wang
Laboratories has announced the Wang LAN Office InterLAN Gateway
and Wang LAN Office VS Gateway, which allow PC users to share
information within and between industry-standard PC local area
networks [LANs], and across Wang VS minicomputer networks. Using
the system, a LAN Office user on a Banyan VINES network in New
York could share information with a LAN Office user on a 3Com
3+Share network in Atlanta. Both products will be available
by June.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890331/Press Contact: Wang Laboratories, Edward F.
Clough, 508-967-2917)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00009)

9,600 DIAL-UP SERVICE COMING ON FAST
NEWPORT BEACH, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 28 (NB) -- Rockwell
International's V.32 chip set, first shipped last summer, has
produced a bumper crop of 9,600 baud modems running international
standards with street prices near $1,000. Analysts and industry
executives expected prices to drop further during the year, to
about $700-800 by December. Online services and packet networks are
already testing 9,600 service, and some bulletin board systems,
such as Exec-PC in Shoreham, Wisconsin have added 9,600 baud lines,
under the V.32 standard of the CCITT. Once error-correction
questions under the V.42 are cleared up in the next year,
dial-up customers are expected to get the equivalent of 19,200
 service at an ease now enjoyed at 1200 baud.

While a lot of online time is wasted in picking through menus and
passing commands, most high-speed transmission is used to
"blast" painted screens at users or for uploading and
downloading big files -- especially program files and picture
files. The new modems mean major savings for corporate users, and
will dry up the market for leased lines at 9,600 baud. Insiders expect
Tymnet's TymDial 9.6 service, now in 20 cities, to expand
quickly. GEIS and CompuServe both offer 9,600 accounts over
leased lines, and will offer it on dial-up late this year.
Telenet also offers 9,600 service to some 30 cities, under the
older V.29 protocol, but an executive there says the service will
take V.32 also by the end of the year.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890331)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00010)

NYNEX TO PUSH INFOLOOK GATEWAY IN MID-APRIL
NEW YORK, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 29 (NB) -- Minitel, the French
vidoetext system, is expected to get its first serious U.S. market test
this spring as New York Telephone opens its InfoLook gateway.

Dr. Ellen Pawley at NYNEX says all downstate New York area codes --
Long Island, New York City, and Westchester, will be able to call into
the Gateway for five cents per minute. This gateway will contain
only menus. Make a selection, and one is billed at the service
providers' rate. Bill inserts promoting InfoPath go out in mid-
April, and the staggered mailings run through May.

In tests, the most popular features were a one-man service for
the deaf run by a deaf man, and a entertainment-based chat
service called New York Networks run by James Monaco of New York
Zoetrope, publishers of entertainment industry guides.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890331)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00011)

SQUIRES OF MNEMATICS CALLS INFOLOOK HYPE AN AMAZING HYSTERIA
WHITE PLAINS, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 20 (NB) -- For five years,
Gregg Squires and his Mnematics Mnetwork have been trying to
turn the New York online market into a mass market through low-
priced, ASCII-based chat and information services. While his
service will not be directly a part of the InfoLook gateway, a
public access version of the service will be finally available on
InfoLook, just as it's available on PC Pursuit.

"The hysteria engendered by InfoLook in New York City is amazing,
don't you think?" Squires added in a note to Newsbytes. "We think
it will be quite beneficial for Mnematics." One possible problem
for the new service is its similarity to New York Telephone's
bulk-calling option, InfoPath. Part of the roll-out will be a
mailing to InfoPath customers on InfoLook.

Mnematics runs the Mnematics Videotex service and MNet
network, under a graphics-based communications program called
Mnode-PC. A public access version of Mnematics, called MNEt, will
be on the InfoLook gateway. Squires adds the following.
"'Mnematics'" is pronounced 'neh-matics,' 'MNEnet' is pronounced
'mmm-nnn-eee-net,' and 'Mnode' is pronounced 'emm-node.'

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890331)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(LON)(00012)

VIATEL IMPROVES DEMO SERVICE FOR POTENTIAL SUBSCRIBERS
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1989 MAR 31 (NB) -- Viatel, the Australian
viewdata service, has improved its links to the world's X.25
networks, which include Telenet and Tymnet in the US, and British
Telecom's PSS in the U.K. In addition, the service now has a free
demonstration facility.

The X.25 links now mean that international callers can access
Viatel at low cost using a network address of 5052-35121006.
Previously, some callers experienced problems with the network
transparency which required the addition of a return after every
command. The new links into Viatel's number 3 computer mean
that all star and hash commands to the service are transmitted
immediately over X.25-compatible networks.

The demonstration facility to Viatel gives potential subscribers
access to the system without registration. The demonstration ID
is 4444444444 with a password of 4444. Full details of Viatel
subscriptions and a brief system demonstration is then provided.

(Steve Gold/19890331/Press Contact: Viatel - Tel: [phone]
[Toll Free])


(CORRECTION)(TELECOM)(LON)(00013)

DIALCOM CORRECTS DATE FOR MNP/HIGH-SPEED ACCESS TO TELECOM GOLD
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1989 MAR 31 (NB) -- In last week's Newsbytes,
Newsbytes quoted Steve Wood, head of Dialcom U.K.'s messaging
division, as saying that Gold will phase in MNP Class 5 and 2400
baud access to Telecom Gold at the end of April, 1989.

Telecom Gold's introduction of the new service facilities will
actually take place during the summer. The April upgrade
Newsbytes referred to was in respect of Prestel's advanced
messaging upgrades. Our apologies to Wood and Dialcom U.K. for this
confusion.

(Steve Gold/19890331)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(SGP)(00014)

NEW VIDEOTEX TERMINAL FROM MALAYSIA
KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA, 1989 MAR 13 (NB) -- Vectracon [M] Sdn.
Bhd. has announced the Visual Electronic Communication [VEC]
terminal. The low-cost terminal will give domestic and business
users access to a growing number of videotex services offered
worldwide.

Established in 1987 as a Malaysian-Australian joint venture, with
paid up capital of M$3.7 million [US$1.5 million], Vectracon
started production at its Malacca, Malaysia, plant in January
this year. Trial orders have been sent to Europe and Australia.
Vectracon has provided the VEC to various companies in Malaysia
to coincide with the recent commercial launch of TELITA, the new
Malaysian Videotex service operated by Syarikat Telekom Malaysia
[STM], the recently privatised Malaysian Telecoms Authority.

The VEC has received the necessary technical compliance
certificate from STM to be used for access to the more than 200
public and private communication and database systems worldwide
using the Prestel standard. In Malaysia, TELITA offers access to
Malaysian Airlines, the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange, and a
variety of local banks, department stores and government
departments, as well as electronic mail.

The VEC offers a 1200/75-1200 bit-per-second, seven-bit
asynchronous data transmission interface via a built-in modem
that connects directly to a telephone line. It has RGB, RF and
RS-232 outlets for connection to a standard computer monitor,
domestic television set and serial printer. It has a 40-page
memory, and offers full online or offline editing facilities
and several automatic features not found on most other machines,
according to Vectracon. Initial production is set at 20,000 units
per month. The company is now making plans to market the unit to
other countries, including Singapore, New Zealand, and the United
States.

(Michael Worsley/19890330/Press Contact: Dr. Blom, Vectracon,
06-230981)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(SYD)(00015)

OUTCRY OVER GIANT CREDIT AND PERSONAL INFORMATION DATABASE
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1989 MAR 29 (NB) -- The Australian Credit
Reference Association is busy defending its monopolistic control
of personal credit data in Australia and New Zealand.

The organization was created in 1968 to log credit default data
for its clients, who now number more than 5,000, including most
banks, finance companies, credit providers, department stores and
insurance companies. Now the CRA intends to collect extra
information on the more than eleven million people in its log. The
new data will be neutral rather than the typical "Defaulted on
loan in 1979" information now held.

Critics claim that the system is already far too prone to
mistakes and misuse without allowing the company to establish, de
facto, a private database on every adult in the two countries.
They say many people are hurt by incorrect data of which they
aren't even aware. They also dispute CRA's claim that the system
is secure, claiming that anyone with access to a terminal can
obtain a profile on anyone else.

(Paul Zucker/19890331)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(SFO)(00001)

INTEL TO UNVEIL 80486 APRIL 11
SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 APR 1 (NB) -- Intel Corporation
will unveil its next-generation microprocessor, the 80486, on April 11.
Said to be two to three times more powerful than the 80386, which powers
high-end, IBM-compatible microcomputers, the 80486 will be
priced between $1,000 and $1,200 to manufacturers when it reaches
the market at the end of this year, according to sources.

According to California Technology Stock Letter, an influential
industry watch newsletter published by CTSL Publishing Partners, in
San Francisco, Sequent Computer is already designing it into
superminicomputers. "The chip will migrate from superminis to
high-end workstations, then into mainstream engineering workstations
and high-end personal computers," the newsletter adds.

(Wendy Woods/19890402)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(ATL)(00002)

MOTOROLA ANNOUNCES DETAILS OF NEXT-GENERATION 68040 CHIP
AUSTIN, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 28 (NB) -- Motorola's
Microprocessor Products Group released architectural features of
its 32-bit 68040 chip, a follow-on for the chip powering the
high-end Apple Macintosh II. The new chip contains over 1.2
million transistors, and Motorola says it will be the fastest
non-RISC chip on the market, outperforming even some of the RISC
chips now being put into engineering workstations. The '040 is
also the first conventional microprocessor to include its own
floating-point processor.

Motorola said the improvements between the new 68040 and the
older 68030 chip are far greater than those between the 68030
and the 68020 it replaced. The new chip includes five major
functions -- an integer unit, a floating-point unit, a memory
management unit and separate caches for data and instructions.
All the units operate together. The new chip also supports multi-
processing.

The '040 maintains 100 percent compatibility with Motorola's 68000
family, for which $3 billion in software has been written and
$100 billion in hardware produced. Motorola said a recent study
by InfoCorp, a market research firm based in Santa Clara, Calif.
showed that the 68000 architecture powers over 63 percent of all
computer systems priced from $12,000-$300,000.

Separately, Hewlett-Packard said it will put the 040 in its new
top-of-the-line workstations, and provide 040 development tools.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890331/Press Contact: Dean Mosley, Motorola 512-
891-2839)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(SFO)(00003)

PACIFIC BELL HOPES TO MAKE ANSWERING MACHINES OBSOLETE
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 30 (NB) -- Pacific Bell
is introducing a call answering service for residents of San Pedro
and Milpitas, California, which has the potential to obsolete the
telephone. Residents can have the phone company maintain a voice
mailbox for their incoming calls. When they're on the line or away
from their phone, the service will answer their calls for them,
play a short, prerecorded message in the customer's own voice, and
store the messages for later retrieval. When the customer is
back, a special "interrupted dial tone" alerts them there are
messages stored. In addition, users can retrieve messages from a
pay phone or any touch tone phone.

A second service, called Local Messaging, will enable users to
send messages to other users through the Pacific Bell Message
Center without calling recipients directly and ringing their
phones. Messages may be sent to individuals or groups of
people, as long as all recipients have message boxes in the
Message Center. Users set up their own group codes and can
send messages to everyone in a preprogrammed group by pushing
a few buttons on the telephone.

The service is being tested in these two cities, and the cost is
$7.50 per month for residences and $15 for small businesses.
There is no sign-up fee for Local Messaging, but sending messages
will cost 25-cents each. For the month of April, all fees are
waived in order to encourage sign-up.

(Wendy Woods/19890401/Press Contact: Dori Sera Bailey, 415-542-4033)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(BOS)(00004)

GE COMPUTER KEEPS EYE ON TAKEOVER ATTEMPTS
NEW YORK, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 26 (NB) -- General
Electric reports its engineers have taught a computer to keep an eye on
mergers and acquisitions by reading the Dow Jones news service wire.
The computer, called Scisor, was created by a husband and
wife team at GE's Research and Development Center in Schenectady,
N.Y.

What's more important than the particular application, according to
the researchers, is that the software prototype could be adapted to
"almost any area in which human beings under intense deadline
pressure have to struggle through smothering amounts of
paperwork."

With the current system, users can query the computer in English
about various takeover attempts and receive an answer back in
English from the computer. The system has a vocabulary of 10,000
words.

(Jon Pepper/19890331)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(BOS)(00005)

USA TODAY TO USE SONY STILL VIDEO CAMERA FOR TV COVERAGE
PARK RIDGE, NEW JERSEY, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 28 (NB) -- USA Today used
a Sony ProMavico still video system for its coverage of the Academy
Awards, and will use the same system for coverage of the NCAA
Final Four basketball tournament.

The Sony system allows the paper to keep its coverage much closer
to deadline than ever before, according to a USA Today spokesman.
Rather than the hour or so that conventional photography takes for
developing time, the Sony still video system delivers a picture in less
than five minutes. That hour difference allows the paper's
photojournalists to gain critical time in covering evening events for
the next day's paper.

(Jon Pepper/19890331/Contact: Stephen Burke, Sony, 201-930-7323)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(BOS)(00006)

ANNUAL BUDGET SURVEY COMPLETED BY DATAMATION
NEW YORK, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 29 (NB) -- According to
a survey by Datamation, U.S. corporations are scaling back their
information systems budgets to only a 4.4 percent growth rate.
According to Parker Hodges, the Datamation magazine editor who
oversaw the budget survey, "Customers are trying to sort out what
kind of computing models they will need to build in the 1990s to
flourish in the next century."

In 1988, Information Systems budgets grew 7.8 percent, compared to the
anticipated growth rate for this year. However, the survey also
revealed the managers do not expect to scale back their personnel
expenses for the coming year.

(Jon Pepper/19890331/Contact: Parker Hodges, Datamation, 212-463-
6523)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(TYO)(00007)

NEW EXTERNAL MEMORY DEVICE WILL APPEAR THIS SUMMER?
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 MAR 28 (NB) -- According to Nihon Kogyo newspaper,
Melco, one of Japan's largest makers of personal computer memory
boards, will finish developing a new type of external memory device by
midyear. The Silicon Disk will have two dynamic random access memory
or DRAM chips, each with memory capacity of two to four megabytes, on
both sides of a print base. Battery backup will keep data intact even
when power is off. And the new device will be capable of high-speed
input and output.

The Silicon Disk will cost a little more than existing memory boards.
A company spokesman would not comment on the project.

(Ken Takahashi/19890330/Press Contact: Melco, 052-251-6891)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(TYO)(00008)

COMPUTER CITY WITH TRON ARCHITECTURE
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 MAR 25 (NB) -- In the Denno City, computers will
stop traffic when a child runs into the street, and shut doors
automatically to keep piano players from disturbing the neighbors.
Land developer Nihon Tochi Kairyo will construct the computerized
development on a 100-hectare site in Chiba prefecture. Computers based
on the TRON architecture will control all urban facilities, such as
living environments and transport facilities. Ken Sakamura, the TRON
project advocate and a professor of the University of Tokyo, will
advise the developer.

The Denno City will have about 1,000 residents and 5,000 to 6,000
office workers. More than 100,000 computers will be connected via
communication networks. The TRON architecture will bear fruit in every
aspect of the new city. The Denno House will shut its door
automatically if someone is in the next house while you are playing
the piano. Buried sensors in the Denno Road will signal a radio
control to stop a car if a child suddenly runs in front of it.

Nihon Tochi Kairyo will start its Chiba Denno City Conference as early
as this month. Twenty major companies, from arenas such as computers,
construction, and automobiles, are expected to participate. The land
developer estimates the construction cost to be about 100 billion yen
or $0.76 billion and will start building the city in two years and
spend seven years completing it. Professor Sakamura told reporters
that Chiba Denno City will be the world's largest-scale networked
city.

(Ken Takahashi/19890330)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(TYO)(00009)

MATSUSHITA DEVELOPS TECHNIQUE TO SUMMARIZE ENGLISH SENTENCES
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 MAR 24 (NB) -- Researchers at Matsushita
Technology Laboratory have developed a system which analyzes and
summarizes English sentences, using natural language processing
technology. The new system also translates the summarized English
sentences into Japanese.

Matsushita realized documents such as newspaper columns, inquiry
letters, and advertisements contain certain words, phrases and
sentences that identify the writer's most important points. So
Matsushita's technology is intended to spot important sentences by
looking for words such as "must," "should," and "deserve," problem-
raising interrogative sentences, conjunctions, and so on.

In its experimental stage, the summarizing system takes 30 to 60
seconds, including analysis time, to sum up an A4-sized page of
English sentences. In the future, Matsushita expects the new system to be
applied to text retrieval and electronic mail, and connected to
automatic translation systems.

(Ken Takahashi/19890330/Press Contact: Matsushita Technology Laboratory,
044-911-6351)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(TYO)(00010)

AUTOMATIC ARRANGEMENT SYSTEM FROM NEC
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 MAR 24 (NB) -- Researchers at NEC C&C
Information Laboratory have developed a new system which
automatically picks musical chords and arranges melodies.

The system consists of keyboards, a microphone, a personal computer
and speakers. To use it, you play the keyboards or hum into the
microphone. A neural network learns music and discovers the most
suitable chords to each musical genre. At the next stage, an expert
system arranges the chords to fit the music, and the system plays the
arranged music with an introduction. An NEC spokesman said the company
is now making plans to commercialize the system for home
entertainment.

(Ken Takahashi/19890330)


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

HIGHER PERFORMANCE LIKELY IN ONE-MEGABIT DRAM CHIPS
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 MAR 27 (NB) -- Technical trends in one-megabit
dynamic random access memory chips will probably move toward high-
performance products in the mainstream of 32-bit microprocessing.

A department of Minebea Co. Ltd., MNB Semiconductor has developed a
one-megabit DRAM with input and output speeds of 40 to 50 nanoseconds
in cooperation with U.S.-based venture, Ramtoron, a spin-off from the
U.K.-based semiconductor maker, Inmos. Sample shipments of the chips
will start next February and commercial production is expected before
the end of 1990.

Meanwhile, Hitachi said it will increase production of faster chips,
such as one-megabit DRAMs with a rewriting data speed of 60 to 80
nanoseconds, until output of these parts exceeds 50 percent of the
company's total production. Also, following the lead of Toshiba and
NEC, Mitsubishi Electric has raised its one-megabit DRAM production to
four million units per month. Mitsubishi is also conducting tests in
its Kochi factory, which will produce two million high-speed one-
megabit DRAM chips per month. The Kochi factory will start sample
shipments in June and commercial shipments in September.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19890330)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(TYO)(00012)

TOSHIBA READY TO SHIP FOUR-MEGABIT DRAM
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 MAR 24 (NB) -- Toshiba will lead Japan's top
semiconductor makers in shipping four-megabit dynamic random access
memory [DRAM] chips, beginning commercial shipments in April. The
company plans to produce 30,000 units per month at first, increasing
to 100,000 units this summer. Toshiba said it will increase production
to one million chips a month in the second half of 1990, soon after
completion of its 14,000-square-meter clean room at a cost of 70
billion yen.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19890330)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(TOR)(00013)

MAINTENANCE GROWTH SLOWING, IDC CANADA REPORTS
TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1989 MAR 31 (NB) -- The old rule, "if
it ain't broke, don't fix it," is bad news for the computer
maintenance business -- because more and more these days, it
ain't broke. Increasingly reliable computer equipment has forced
hardware maintenance prices down, IDC reports in a study entitled
1989 Canadian Customer Service: Vendor Profiles. Users are
choosing less expensive service options and diagnosing more of
their own problems. So hardware vendors and third-party
maintenance vendors are fighting it out for pieces of a market
that grew only 4.9 percent in Canada in 1988.

IDC notes that vendors are lengthening the warranties on their
increasingly reliable equipment, thus shutting the third-party
maintenance companies out for longer. The independent
maintenance companies are fighting back by cutting prices. And
in the next few years, IDC predicts, all these players will face
increasing competition from dealers and distributors getting into
the maintenance business.

(Grant Buckler/19890331/Press Contact: Shelley Burke, IDC Canada, 416-
369-0033)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(SFO)(00001)

NEXT WORKSTATIONS TO BE SOLD THROUGH BUSINESSLAND
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 30 (NB) -- Starting in
May, you'll be able to buy the "Rolls Royce" of personal computers
at a neighborhood retail store. NeXT, Incorporated of Palo Alto, Ca.,
hopes to expand its market from colleges to corporate America, and
will sell the NeXT Computers to the public through an exclusive deal
with Businessland. Why is Steve Jobs doing it? While many speculate
that he planned all along to enter the mainstream PC market, Jobs
claims educators complained that their students would not be able
to use, nor get support for NeXT machines after they graduated, and
that consequently he was prompted to open up distribution channels
for the machine. Analysts say he was forced to action by competitors
such as Apple and Sun Microsystems.

Businessland will buy $100 million worth of Steve Jobs'
Unix-based workstations over the next year. Businessland President
David Norman optimistically predicts that the dollar volume
generated by its sole Unix workstation offering, the NeXT Computer,
will equal that lost [$150 million] when Compaq severed relations with the
computer retailer last month. Businessland will sell the
basic configuration -- 8 megabytes of random access memory, the
17-inch MegaPixel Display, keyboard, mouse, 256 megabyte erasable optical
drive -- for $9,995, $3,500 more than the cost to university
students and personnel. The 400 dots-per-inch NeXT PostScript printer
will cost $3,495. A four megabyte memory expansion kit is $2,295;
a 330 megabyte hard disk drive is $3,695.

The machine is bundled with several software programs on optical disk,
including Mach, a multitasking operating system compatible with 4.3BSD
UNIX, NeXTStep, a software environment with a graphic interface, among
other tools, a library of reference materials including Webster's
Dictionary, WriteNow, Mathematica, and other programs.

At the San Francisco news conference, Steve Jobs also provided
an update on the NeXT machines and his company. He revealed that NeXT
has shipped 1,000 computers since December, 1988, 200 of them to
software developers, the rest to some 60 colleges and universities.
He said version 1.0 of the Next Computer's operating system will be
ready in mid-June and predicted he'd have a color NeXT Computer
System ready by year's end. The company has established 20 field
offices and is now up to 250 employees.

Observers are mixed on the prospects of Jobs' launch into corporate
America. Some see the product's high price tag -- $20,000 when you
add all the peripherals and a laser printer -- as being a fatal
flaw, much as it was for Jobs' first Macintosh-like computer, the
Apple Lisa. Others praise his timing, and say the computer-buying
public is ready for his Unix-based machine. IBM's delay in putting
out an operating system to fully tap the power of the Intel 80386
microprocessor, and the success of graphical user interfaces,
such as Apple's Macintosh, have primed the public for NeXT.
Jobs has put it altogether for the buyer. "We're going to do it --
mainstream Unix," Jobs boasts.

Asked how Businessland would position the Apple Macintosh line, which
Businessland also sells, against the NeXT workstation, David Norman,
CEO, told Newsbytes, "They're complimentary technologies aimed
at different markets." He sees no problem in differentiating
potential customers. Asked whether Businessland would carry a
competing Unix graphical interface, such as the Open Desktop
under development by Tandy, DEC, Santa Cruz Operation, and others,
Norman said, "This is here today. We support the people that
support us."

(Wendy Woods/19890331/Press Contact: Beverly Bird, Businessland,
408-437-4366)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(SFO)(00002)

NEXT SHOWCASES EXPECTED THIRD PARTY PRODUCTS
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 30 (NB) -- Accompanying
the NeXT/Businessland announcement was a showcase of products
currently available, under consideration for development, or under
development for the NeXT workstations.

With the exception of a new Fortran compiler, an audio input device
called Digital Ears, and JetStream's tape backup system, most of the
manufacturers of the announced products failed to publicize a
shipping date or a price or both. They include:

Fortran 77 Compiler, Absoft Corporation, Rochester Hills, MI., $750,
 available now.

Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Type Library, Adobe Systems,
 Mountain View, Ca., ship date and price unavailable.

Bug-56, Ariel Corporation, Highland Park, N.J., is a digital signal
 processor debugger. No price available. Shipping slated for third
 quarter, 1989.

GatorBox, Cayman Systems, Cambridge, Mass., is a LocalTalk to Ethernet
 gateway which translates the Network File System protocol supported
 by the NeXT computer into the Apple Filing Protocol used by
 AppleShare. Available now. $3495.

DaynaFILE, Dayna Communications, Salt Lake City, Utah, "is exploring
 development" of a floppy disk drive which will read from and write to
 standard Unix formatted diskettes as well as MS-DOS formats.
 Subsequent versions may also write to Macintosh disks. A spokeswoman
 tells Newsbytes that this product is not under development, but
 development is "being explored." So there is neither a release date
 nor price.

Displaytalk, Emerald City Software, Menlo Park, Ca., is a development
 environment for Display PostScript. Priced at $595 to $995, available
 in May.

Ethernet PhoneNET, Farallon Computing, Berkeley, Ca., local area
 network builder over standard phone lines. No price or availability.

FrameMaker 2.0, Frame Technology Corporation, San Jose, Ca., desktop
 publishing software, $500 to $995, depending on quantity. No
 availability date.

Knowledge Retrieval System, Knowledgeset Corporation, Mountain View,
 Ca., search and retrieval system for large text or graphics databases.
 Available second half of 1989, no price.

Lotus "is actively developing software for NeXT Computer Systems.
 No details, price, or availability.

Performer, Mark of the Unicorn, Cambridge, Ma., a version of the firm's
 Performer MIDI sequencer software for the NeXT computer. No price
 or availability.

Artisan, Media Logic, Inc., Santa Monica, Ca., a gray scale paint,
 draw, and image processing package. No price or availability.

Digital Ears, MetaResearch, Portland, Oregon, compact disk-quality audio
 input device, $825, available now.

Nexpert Object, from Neuron Data, Palo Alto, Ca., a hybrid rule-and-
 object-based expert system building tool. No price, no availability.

Jetstream, Personal Computer Peripherals Corporation, Tampa, Florida,
 high performance tape backup system, capable of archiving up to 2.3
 gigabytes of data at speeds of up to 14.4 megabytes per minute.
 $5995, available in June.

INGRES relational database management system, Relational Technology,
 Alameda, Ca.,, no price or availability.

PostScript ClickArt, T/Maker, Mountain View, Ca., $295, available now.

Novell, Provo, Utah, will work with NeXT to make Portable NetWare
available on the NeXT platform. In addition, Aldus Corporation said
it will develop software for the NeXT computer, but there were no
details as to what would be developed.

(Wendy Woods/19890331/Press Contact: Cathy Cook, NeXT, 415-922-9014 or
Allison Thomas, 818-981-1520)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(SFO)(00003)

SUN TO UNVEIL LOW-COST SPARC WORKSTATIONS
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 APR 1 (NB) -- Sun
Microsystems has slated April 12 and 13 to roll out several new
workstations, some of which are based on its SPARC [scalable
processor architecture] reduced instruction set computer chips.
The new offerings, ranging from an expected $5,000 Sun 3/80,
a 25 MHz 68030-based workstation, to a $40,000, 12-slot SPARCstation
370, will be featured at Sun's New World Expo. The event
takes place at the San Francisco Civic Auditorium and will
include a product fair and technical symposium.

(Wendy Woods/19890401/Press Contact: Taara Hoffman, High Tech PR, 415-
864-5600)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(SFO)(00004)

HEWLETT PACKARD WORKSTATIONS TO REACH LARGER MARKET
PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 APR 1 (NB) -- Not wanting to be
left out as workstation makers march to the front lines in the battle for
the business dollar, Hewlett-Packard has signed up two of the
nation's largest industrial distributors to sell its HP 9000 Series 300
Unix/b-system-based workstations.

New York-based Schweber Electronics, which sells to small to
medium-sized manufacturing systems, and Dallas-based Hall-Mark
Electronics, which deals in the financial market, will sell HP
workstations, which run Hewlett-Packard's version of Unix called
HP-UX.

HP has the second-largest installed base of Unix system workstations
in the world, according to International Data Corporation, a
market research firm, which adds that the company's worldwide HP-
UX sales have been growing at a compound annual rate of 131
percent since 1987, more than double the rate of the rest of
the worldwide market.

(Wendy Woods/19890401/Press Contact: Bill Bennett, HP, 408-447-0806)


(ADVANCE)(UNIX)(SFO)(00005)

SYSTEMS PLUS ADDS UNIX/XENIX SUPPORT TO ACCOUNTING PLUS
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 APR 10 (NB) -- Systems Plus
will introduce Unix and Xenix versions of its popular Accounting Plus
software at Comdex/Spring '89. Rick Mehrlich, president, says
Unix is emerging as the "industry standard for multiuser operating
systems," and so his firm is jumping on the bandwagon. The Accounting
Plus systems for Unix and Xenix operating systems start at $4,500.

(Wendy Woods/19890402/Press Contact: Dan Hynes, 415-969-7047)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(BOS)(00006)

IBM TO ENHANCE DESKTOP UNIX SYSTEMS
WHITE PLAINS, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 31 (NB) -- IBM
announced that it has authorized selected business partners to market
its AIX Personal System/2, which has been shipped to customers since
March 31. IBM has also named Dickens Data Systems of Norcross,
GA, and PGI Inc., of Tempe, Arizona as system software remarketers to
supply all other authorized AIX PS/2 dealers.

According to William McCracken, vice president of channel
management for IBM's National Distribution Division in Montvale,
N.J., "The availability of AIX PS/2 signals our expanded presence in
the desktop Unix marketplace and ensures the high quality and
application guidance required by our customers for this leadership
product."

(Jon Pepper/19890331/Contact: Rusty Carpenter, IBM, 512-823-8500)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(BOS)(00007)

APOLLO ADDS 500TH WORKSTATION AT UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
CHELMSFORD, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 28 (NB) --
Apollo computer has installed the 500th Apollo workstation at the
University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, which has one of the largest
university computing networks in the world.

The facility includes Apollo personal workstations, and Apollo's new
Series 10000 Visualization System, an advanced 3-D graphics
supercomputer.

(Jon Pepper/19890331/Contact: Lynn Bellavance, Apollo, 508-256-6600)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(BOS)(00008)

NEC ANNOUNCES SUPPORT FOR SCO'S OPEN DESKTOP
BOXBOROUGH, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 27 (NB) -- NEC Information
Systems announced that it will support the Santa Cruz Operation's Open
Desktop product for 80386-based computers. A two-year contract was signed
that allows NEC to resell all SCO product offerings.

An NEC spokesman told Newsbytes that the move is the beginning
of what is seen as a growing and increasingly important market for
Unix-based software and hardware offerings.

(Jon Pepper/19890331/Contact: Jim Finlaw, Ingalls, 617-954-1652)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(BOS)(00009)

OPEN SOFTWARE FOUNDATION OPENS REGIONAL OFFICES
CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1989 MAR 30 (NB) -- The Open
Software Foundation has announced the opening of three regional offices
in the United States. The three offices are: a Western Regional Office
in Mountain View, Calif., a Federal Regional Office in Herndon, Va., and
an Eastern Regional Office in Bedford, N.H.

These offices compliment the main office in Cambridge, and help
provide a higher level of services to the various member companies
of the foundation, according to a spokesman.

(Jon Pepper/19890331/Contact: Donna Ruane, OSF, 617-621-8772)


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

SARACEN MARKETING LAUNCHES FENIX WORD PROCESSOR IN U.K.
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1989 MAR 31 (NB) -- Saracen Marketing, the
distribution subsidiary of Saracen Electronics, has secured the
U.K. distribution rights to Fenix, the Unix/Xenix word processor.
The package will ship immediately in the U.K. with a retail price
of UKP 595.

Fenix was developed by Fenix Software in the U.S., and is a
WordStar work-alike package. The user interface is similar to
WordStar, which, according to Madeleine Brookes, means that DOS
users can migrate easily to a Unix or Xenix environment.

"With a U.K. price tag of 595 pounds for an unlimited multiuser
site licence, Fenix undercuts the competition in the Xenix/Unix
word processing stakes. With a WordStar interface, the package
looks set to be a winner," she told Newsbytes.

(Steve Gold/19890331/Press Contact: Saracen Marketing - Tel:
01-407-6747)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(SGP)(00011)

UNIVERSITY BUYS FIRST PARALLEL COMPUTER FOR MALAYSIA
KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA, 1989 MAR 20 (NB) -- Universiti Kebangsaan
Malaysia [UKM] has signed a contract to purchase an Encore
Multimax 310 computer from Berita Information Systems Sdn. Bhd.
[BIS] a major local systems house. The system will have the
Encore 310 32-bit dual processor, 16 megabytes of main memory,
300 megabytes of disk storage, and the UMAX parallel operating
system and utilities. Delivery was scheduled for the end of
March. UKM will use the system for teaching, research in numeric
analysis, and external courses in the Unix operating system and
the C programming language.

(Michael Worsley/19890330/Press Contact: Prof Datuk Dr Haji Abdul Hamid
Haji Abdul Rahman, Universiti Kebangsaan, 03-825.0001)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(TOR)(00012)

HP SOFTWARE GIVES PC ACCESS TO X-WINDOWS APPLICATIONS
WATERLOO, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1989 MAR 22 (NB) -- Hewlett-Packard
has announced software that will give MS-DOS personal computers
access to graphics applications on Unix host systems. The HP
AXDS/PC software was developed by Panacom Automation, a division
of Hewlett-Packard Canada. It is based on X Window System
Version 11 Release 3 server code. That means a PC running the HP
software can display graphics from any application running on any
host system that conforms to the X Window standard.

The software runs on any industry-standard architecture 80286 or
80386 PC with 640K-bytes of memory. It requires Hewlett-
Packard's intelligent graphics controller card, a ThinLAN or
StarLAN 10 networking card and software, and a color graphics
monitor with 1024-by-768 resolution.

The suggested list price of HP AXDS/PC is $500, C$634 in Canada.
It is scheduled to be available in the second quarter of this
year. The HP intelligent graphics controller costs $1,390, or
$2,348 in Canada.

(Grant Buckler/19890329/Press Contact: Linda Johnson, Hewlett-Packard
Canada, 416-678-9430)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(TOR)(00013)

SUN WORKSTATION TO HELP UNIVERSITY MAP OCEANS
FREDERICTON, NEW BRUNSWICK, CANADA, 1989 MAR 27 (NB) -- A Sun-4
supercomputing workstation will help University of New Brunswick
researchers develop software to map the ocean floor. The
workstation, donated by Sun Microsystems of Canada, will run
Sun's TAAC-1 image processing and display system [the university
is paying for that part]. The Surveying Engineering Department
at the East Coast university will use the system to develop
software that will display color graphics of the ocean floor.

(Grant Buckler/19890329/Press Contact: Janice Murray, Sun Microsystems
of Canada, 416-477-6745)


(EDITORIAL)(GENERAL)(LAX)(00001)

WYSIWYG - Wayne Yacco's Gazette

THE ECSTASY OF THE AGONY
BURBANK, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A, 1989 APR 1 (NB) -- Well, Jim is back
after the demise of Blue Sail Software, with his latest venture.
And I think that he has really outdone himself this time.

James Wallace's latest project involves a number of new, and
seemingly very original, CD-ROM titles. The most interesting one of
the four has got to be "Between Heaven and Hell." The disk offers
the world a sublime combination of the tackiest public-domain porn
and best of public-domain religious software--on the same disk.

Jim has quite a flair for marketing if not a sense of religious
propriety. I'm just glad that he only picked on Christians.
Otherwise, his next mailing address could have been beneath
Rushdie's bed.

OTHER TITLES.

Jim's disks were making the rounds at Microsoft's CD-ROM conference
right along with those from publishers who had a booth. Among the
latter category were two from Quanta Press, of St. Paul Minnesota
[612-641-0741], that are nearly as provocative to the synapses as is
the juxtaposition of clouds and sulphur.

"Seals" is a title that includes 588 departmental seals from
branches of the federal government. Seems that contractors
submitting bids must use the official seals in order to qualify for
consideration. It's a pretty lame requirement that can only add to
the cost of $400 hammers but, even though it's a dirty job,
somebody's gotta do it. So, Quanta has filled the need with a CD
containing every legal image.

If you're not planning to be a bidder, you might want to get this
title for simple decorating projects. I suggested printing
passports. Unfortunately, the feds have no sense of humor and they
don't allow the Great Seal of the United States or those of the
President or Vice President to be bandied about by desktop
publishers. They're not on the disk and that makes it just a little
more difficult to set up your own republic using a personal
computer. There go the South-American markets.

The other really neat title they have is the CIA's "World Factbook."
It's the "government's own" unclassified annual World Almanac says
the label. There are 248 detailed country profiles which can be
searched for any of 22,987 key words such as "atheist." That
suggests to me that the disk might be useful for someone who needs
to relocate where religious convictions are dispassionate: say to
Albania. If Albania won't do, there are three other choices.

Honest, Quanta, you won my heart with these titles. And while I'm
being truthful, I even have a certain fondness for Jim's CD -- if only
for its unpretentious audacity and gross lack of taste.

CD STRIKES GOLD.

One of the more interesting announcements that I've seen recently
was the discovery of gold with a computer. A company with the
slightly improbable name of Manny and Mel Explorations has
reportedly struck gold using the Geovision desktop geographic-
information system. Huh? That's marketing speak for a bunch of
maps on CD-ROM. Manny and Mel apparently used the maps to figure
out where the elusive yellow stuff was hiding. Anyway the Geovision
folks were stalking VIPs at the CD-ROM conference with the story and
a bottle of gold flakes. Takes one to know one.

Geovision claims that the electronic prospectors used their maps to
plot a gold belt across the face of the state of Georgia by locating
historic sites. "After calculating the aggregate value of these
strikes by location, their proximate location to one another, the
age of the finds, the hydrographic flow patterns of the region and
the impact of recent construction activity, Geovision helped Manny
and Mel identify likely sites for sampling with a high rate of
success." Well, there were definitely some gold-colored granules in
the little bottles. As Judy Tanuta is fond of saying, it could
happen.

The rest of the conference dealt with lesser issues like the Intel-
IBM announcement that, someday, computers might have DVI [digital
video interactive] chips in them. These chips could give us super
interfaces: interfaces that would be to the graphical interface what
the graphical interface is to the character-based interface. The
images would be natural and they would respond to our interaction in
real time.

For the time being, this vision of the future is somewhat limited by
the seven-board set that's required to implement a slow version of
DVI processing. No one will say when, or even if, a chip set will
be able to do it in an inexpensive package.

Attending the conference makes it seem inevitable that CD will be a
part of our personal computer's future though. There's certainly a
growing interest in the technology. Debates raged about whether CDI
or the new CD XA would become the successor to CD as a standard.

The conference was still dominated by the vendors of development
technology but there were many software vendors too. And, as
always, it's the software that will drive the hardware--in more ways
than one. Everything else is just a matter of time.

(Wayne Yacco/19890402)