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/NB890509.306

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

APPLE IIGS TO GET NEW SYSTEM SOFTWARE
CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAY 5 (NB) -- Apple will offer
new system software this summer which allows the IIGS to operate
over the AppleTalk network via a graphic interface in the Finder,
Control Panel, and other utilities. The announcement, made in
conjunction with the AppleFest trade show in Boston, is designed
to show that Apple Computer has not abandoned the low-end model,
but is integrating it into the AppleTalk network.

"Products such as the Apple IIGS System Software 5.0 and the
Apple II Video Overlay Card, introduced last month, demonstrate
Apple's continued commitment to providing evolutionary improvements
that add functionality and richness to the Apple II experience,"
asserts President of Apple Products Jean-Louis Gassee.

Apple IIGS System Softwrae 5.0 is the first 16-bit operating
system for the Apple IIGS that operates over the AppleTalk network,
allowing it to share data files, printers, and other peripherals.
Large portions of the Toolbox have also been improved, toolbox
operations and disk access time are also speedier.

(Wendy Woods/19890505/Press Contact: John Cook, Apple, 408-974-3145)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(SYD)(00002)

BITE ON "MAC" AD
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1989 MAY 5 (NB) -- Apple has come down heavily
on a small Sydney importer that had used the words "Mac" and
"Hypercard" in its advertising. Caught by Apple's legal eagles
was Z Comp, the Australian importer of the Cambridge Z88 and
Maclite PCs.

In early March it ran advertisements in the national press for
its Maclite portable computer, claiming that it could process
Excel spreadsheet files and HyperCard stacks, among other things.
Apple took exception to the advertisement and last week Z Comp
was forced to run an apology to U.S.-based Apple Computer and Apple
Computer Australia, for using the words.

"We undertake to cease from any unauthorized or improper use of
the trademarks Mac and Hypercard computer products, including the
Cambridge Z88 Portable Personal Computer," ran the apology.

An Apple spokesman said Z Comp had erred in using an
Apple-registered trademark without permission. He said Apple had
been writing to companies that were using the Mac prefix and
other Apple registered trademarks, inviting them to get permission
first.

(Paul Zucker/19890505)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(TOR)(00003)

MICROSOFT CANADA RELEASES EXCEL 2.20
MISSISSAUGA, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1989 APRIL 27 (NB) -- Microsoft
Excel Version 2.20 for the Macintosh is expected to ship to
Canadian dealers by the end of the second quarter, according to
Microsoft Canada. The suggested retail price is C$499, and
registered users can upgrade to the new version for C$135.

(Grant Buckler/19890503/Press Contact: Cathie Lee, Microsoft
Canada, 416-673-9811)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(SIN)(00004)

APPLE COMPUTER TO EXPAND SINGAPORE OPERATIONS
SINGAPORE, S.E. ASIA, 1989 APR 29 (NB) -- James Forquer, managing
director of Apple Computer's Singapore operation, said that the
company is planning to invest further in its Singapore Ang Mo Kio
factory which already has the distinction of being one of the world's
most productive computer factories.

He was speaking at the ceremony to mark the production of the five
millionth Apple computer, which was silver plated for posterity.

He said that Apple's policy was to expand consistently - not
drastically. The present plant has an annual output per worker of
S$1.6 million [US$0.85 million], compared to the Singapore average of
S$172,000 and was higher than most other computer plants around the
world. The present staff of 456 had just 70 engineers and 50
technicians to look after the highly automated plant, with some 60
percent of all activities performed by robots.

However, he went on to mention that Apple did not intend to set up
another plant in the region in the near future, and also was not
intending to seek Operational Headquarters Status [a Singapore tax
incentive] as it had no plans to relocate is present regional
headquarters from Hong Kong to Singapore.

Speaking after the ceremony, Richard Kwok, the operations manager,
said that Apple's policy for high automation was helping it overcome
the labor shortage in Singapore, and their present plan to recruit
another 50 or so workers was likely to be met without much trouble due
to the very high regard of the company by the local workforce, with
labor turnover at around one percent per anumn.

(Michael Worsley/19890403)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SFO)(00001)

A MILLION DOLLARS IN CHIPS STOLEN FROM SUN MICROSYSTEMS
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAY 2 (NB) -- More than one
million dollars worth of memory chips were stolen from Sun Microsystems
between December 15 and January 12, according to the Mountain View-
based workstation maker, which adds that a former Sun employee has
been charged with the offense. The news was revealed in Sun's most
recent quarterly report, which blames the theft for lower profits, but
adds the stolen merchandise has been recovered.

Reportedly the largest chip theft ever in Mountain View, the
heist involved dynamic random access memory [DRAM] chips that were
contained on single in-line module boards and occurred at a time
when DRAM chips were still selling for a premium price.

Sun's net income is up 117 percent to $31 million; sales are up
91 percent to $497 million.

(Wendy Woods/19890505)


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

U.S. FIRM SELLS $2.1 MILLION IN LAPTOPS TO SOVIET'S TASS
CAMPBELL, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAY 5 (NB) -- Reporters for the
Soviet news agency Tass are toting laptops thanks to a contract
Holographic Systems won from the Russian government. The
Silicon Valley-based start-up firm has squeezed open the Iron
Curtain to sell $2.1 million worth of laptop computers, according
to the firm's president, Glenn Smith.

The firm is also going to supply IBM-compatible PCs, laptops,
software and peripherals to the Soviet people at large at
Radiotekhnika No. 1, Moscow's largest computer store and showroom.
The deal will be orchestrated through a joint venture with the
Soviet Ministry of Radio Industries, called Moscomputertrade.
The store is expected to be stocked by June 17.

For those Soviet citizens interested in more complex computer
gear -- AT-compatibles, for instance -- the store will take orders
and ship them when and if export licenses are approved.

(Wendy Woods/19890506/Press Contact: Holographic, 415-370-3910)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SIN)(00003)

NATIONAL SEMI CLOSES PLANTS IN KOREA AND SINGAPORE
SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAY 3 (NB) -- National Semiconductor
will close chip assembly and testing plants in Seoul, Korea by June
first, and in Singapore by the end of the year. The move comes
as the firm consolidates facilities which became redundant following
the acquisition of Fairchild Semiconductor in October, 1987.

In Singapore, the company is relocating its Plastic Logic Division
[PLD] to Penang, Malaysia. Mr. Tan Bock Seng, managing director of NS
[Singapore], said that as a result of the retrenchment, the number of
Singapore employees will be reduced to 2,700, excluding the 130 workers
in its regional sales office.

Some 48 employees were let go earlier in the year, and a
further 90 were retrenched last year following the merger. Those
presently leaving are members of the United Workers of Electronic and
Electrical Industries, and the company had contacted several other
firms with the view of finding jobs for those to be laid off
elsewhere.

According to Mr. Tan, NS Singapore will now concentrate on ceramic
products and higher technological packages for military-based clients.
A fraction of the plastics division, now located at the Lower Delta
plant which used to house most of FS's operations before the merger,
is to be moved to a plant in the Toa Payoh district, and will
continue to serve its customers until it, too, is moved to Penang in a
year's time. The company's premises at Lower Delta will eventually be
sold off.

He said that as NS already has a large plastics plant operating in
Penang, the move is a logical step in the consolidation process.

Mr. Tan refused to name the number of workers presently in the plastics
division, but said that some of them will be kept on. "Some will be
absorbed and redeployed in our other operations," he said.

The parent U.S. company is expected to report a net loss for this
financial year ending May 31, having already reported a loss of
US$55.7 million for the first six months.

(Michael Worsley & S. Roowi & Wendy Woods/19890504/Press Contact:
National Semiconductor Asia Pacific P/L, Ph:[65] 225.2220, in the
U.S. Mary Coady, 408-721-2871)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SFO)(00004)

HAMBRECHT AND QUIST TOOTS OWN HORN AT CONFERENCE, PREDICTS COMPUTING FUTURE
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAY 3 (NB) -- Hambrecht
& Quist, an investment banking and venture capital firm, claims its
Selected Stock List of high technology firms increased in value
some 30 percent, outperforming Dow Jones, NASDAQ Industrials, and
Standard and Poor's 500 last year.

The news was released during the firm's 17th Annual Technology
Conference, where attendees numbered over 1,000, indicating that
when Hambrecht & Quist talks, the investment community listens.
The firm's stable of top analysts fielded questions from
reporters. Regarding the impact of IBM's Micro Channel Architecture,
H & Q's Bruce Lupatkin said, "If there is any lack of confidence
among buyers, it derives not from uncertainty about architectures,
but from questions about software availability instead."

Analyst Bob Herwick commented on the acceleration of the desktop
and workstation markets. "Broadly speaking, we're finding that the
higher the price tag, the softer the market," he said. He predicts
that the minicomputer and mainframe markets will never again see
high double-digit growth.

(Wendy Woods/19890505/Press Contact: Carol Azama, 415-576-3371)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SFO)(00005)

SILICON GRAPHICS OPENS PLANT IN SWITZERLAND
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 APR 26 (NB) -- Silicon Graphics
is opening a new manufacturing and service center in Neuchatel,
Switzerland where it will make the Personal IRIS workstations this
summer. Silicon Graphics says it has installed more than 2,000 IRIS
3-dimensional workstations in Europe's automotive, aerospace, and
pharmaceutical industries, as well as university and research
environments.

Neuchatel was chosen, says Silicon Graphics International President
Robert Bishop, because of high quality workmanship and reliability
of the region, and proximity to leading technical universities, as well
as the international airport and the firm's Geneva headquarters.

(Wendy Woods/19890506/Press Contact: Debra Harrison, Silicon Graphics,
415-962-3365)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SFO)(00006)

DEST SELLS ASSETS TO NEW COMPANY
MILPITAS, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAY 6 (NB) -- DEST Corporation has
sold a portion of its assets to a new company that will continue
a portion of its business. The scanner and peripheral company
went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in April. The new
company, created by some members of management, are expected to
close the deal by May 31.

The announcement brought this upbeat prepared statement from DEST
Chief Executive Officer Chris Kenber, "I am pleased that we have been
able to conclude an agreement that will benefit DEST's creditors,
dealers, and employees. Our strong position in the scanner
market, brand name, and technology will be carried forward by the
new company, which will assume the DEST name as soon as practical
after closure."

(Wendy Woods/19890506/Press Contact: Chris Kenber, 408-946-7100)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LAX)(00007)

EDS AND HITACHI JOINTLY ACQUIRE NATIONAL ADVANCED SYSTEMS
DALLAS, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1989 MAY 1 (NB) -- Electronic Data Systems
Corp. [EDS] and Hitachi Ltd. have jointly purchased National
Advanced Systems Corp. [NAS] from National Semiconductor Corp.
for almost $400 million in cash. The two companies have created
an independently operated entity, Hitachi Data Systems Corp. to
market and distribute Hitachi PCM mainframe and peripheral
equipment through National Advanced Systems. Hitachi will own 80
percent of the venture with the other 20 percent in the hands of
EDS.

The price paid seems to represent a substantial discount in terms
of NAS revenues which totaled about $800 million during 1988.
The sale of the money-losing NAS will give National Semiconductor
enough cash to speed up its plans to refocus into its core
semiconductor business.

The previously announced plan to sell the European operations of
NAS to Comparex, a European computer company, is still expected
to take place. European activities account for about half of
NAS's European operation. If the sale goes through, Hitachi and
EDS should be able to recover half of their investment.

(Janet Endrijonas/19890505)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LAX)(00008)

XEROX ACQUIRES SEVERAL KEY ASSETS OF INTRAN CORPORATION
EL SEGUNDO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAY 2 (NB) -- Xerox
Corporation has announced the acquisition of several key assets
of Intran Corporation. Financial details have not been disclosed.

The assets now owned by Xerox include Intran's entire software
product line. Intran sells high performance computer systems for
creating and revising technical and business documents, forms and
graphic illustrations.

Xerox will be continuing most of Intran's business and technical
operations, including software maintenance and support services.

(Janet Endrijonas/19890505/Media Contact: Barry Sulpor, Xerox,
213-333-3427)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LAX)(00009)

RECORD EARNINGS REPORTED BY NANTUCKET CORPORATION
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAY 3 (NB) -- Nantucket
Corporation announced record earnings for third quarter 1989
which ended March 31. Pre-tax profit totaled $1.4 million.

Nantucket is the developer of Clipper and McMax software. In
coming months, Nantucket expects to introduce a series of
releases that will give developers of business applications an
application environment that retains a familiar architecture but
has fewer limitations.

(Janet Endrijonas/19890505/Press Contact: Donald Leddy, Nantucket
Corporation, 213-390-7923)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LAX)(00010)

SALES DOWN, REVENUE UP FOR FIRST SIX MONTHS AT MAI BASIC FOUR
TUSTIN, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989, APRIL 28 (NB) -- MAI Basic Four
has reported that revenue increased during the first six months
of fiscal 1989 despite a slight decline in sales as compared with
the same period a year ago. Earnings declined for the second
quarter and the first six months ending March 31.

Revenue rose $21.7 million [11.4 percent] for the first six months. Net
income of $7.9 million represented a 33.9 percent decline compared with
the same period in 1988. Second quarter results showed a 0.7 percent
decline when compared with the same period a year ago. Net
income declined to $2.4 million [$.16 per share] from $6.3
million [$.42 per share] recorded for the first six months of
1988.

President William B. Patton, Jr., noted that the company
was able to achieve an operating income margin of 12.8 percent for the
first six months. He attributed the 5 percent decline in customer orders
during the period to lower European sales, an industry slowdown,
and the adverse publicity generated as a result of Prime
Computer's efforts to resist MAI Basic Four's tender offer.

(Janet Endrijonas/19890505/Media Contact: Fred D. Anderson, MAI
Basic Four, 714-730-3341)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(BOS)(00011)

DATA GENERAL SIGNS WANG DISTRIBUTOR TO $3 MILLION VAR CONTRACT
WESTBORO, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1989 MAY 2 (NB) -- Data General has
signed one of six Wang Authorized National Distributors to an 18-month,
$3 million value-added reseller [VAR] contract. As part of the overall
agreement, the distributor, Applied Business Computers [ABC], of
Pineland, S.C., has joined DG's VARplus program.

Data General's VARplus program is targeted specifically at Wang
resellers, and the program has been succeeding by showing the
price/performance advantages of DG products, according to Rick
Boyink, the director of DG's Solutions Recruitment and Development
Division.

One of the keys to the deal will be the use of the new DG/WCC
utility. The utility converts Wang COBOL applications to Data
General AS/VS COBOL, enabling existing COBOL applications for
Wang to run on the DG MV/Family systems.

(Jon Pepper/19890505/Press Contact: Howard Steiner, DG, 508-898-
4050)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(BOS)(00012)

COMMODORE TO OPEN PLANT IN WEST GERMANY
WEST CHESTER, PENNSYLVANIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAY 3 (NB) -- Commodore
International has announced that its West German subsidiary, Commodore
Buromaschinen GmbH, will build a new plant in Braunschweig. Construction is
scheduled to be completed sometime next year.

Commodore Chairman/CEO Irving Gould said, in a statement
released Wednesday, that "the new facility represents an important
strategic step for Commodore as it expands our manufacturing
capabilities in Germany, our largest national market."

(Jon Pepper/19890505)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SYD)(00013)

AUSTRALIAN DOLLAR DOWN; COMPUTER PRICES RISE AND FALL
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1989 MAY 5 (NB) -- Heavy surf crashed through
the Australian computing industry as big vendors made drastic
price changes on products last week. IBM Australia has reduced prices
on its PS/2s between 19 and 34 percent, while Hewlett-Packard and
DEC have increased prices on all products by around six percent.

It is believed IBM made the changes due to a PC price war Amstrad
had been waging against the firm. Amstrad Managing Director Gary
Meyer said, "IBM is still way off the pace."

Retail PS/2 prices vary from model to model. A PS/2 Model 30 286
package with 8513b colour screen and DOS now sells at AUS$4725 --
a 27 percent reduction. Street price may knock another 35 percent off
this. IBM's national dealer marketing director, Pat Feury, said,
"These new price reductions make the PS/2 more affordable than
ever."

Meanwhile DEC has increased all of its Australian products prices
by five percent after dropping them by 13 percent in January. DEC
spokeswoman Merri Mack said the drop was due to the fall in the
Australian dollar over recent months, "thanks to the treasurer and his
friends." In January the Australian dollar was worth US87c while
last Thursday it was US79c.

(Paul Zucker/19890505)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SYD)(00014)

WYSEGUY ANNOYS RIVAL DEALERS
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1989 MAY 5 (NB) -- Newcomer to the Australian
computer market, The Great Escape Company [TGEC], has ruffled the
feathers of rival Wyse distributors, MPA International and
Imagineering. For five years, Melbourne-based MPA has been the
Wyse Pacific region Distributor of the Year. Now TGEC has put out
a flyer announcing its arrival. It reads: "The Wyse distributor
in Melbourne ... exclusively distributors of Wyse terminals and
computers."

Australia is the third largest market for Wyse, behind the U.S. and
U.K. More than 12,000 Wyse terminals were shipped to Australia in
the year ended March 1989.

MPA Director Guy Goodman is confident MPA will shift 15,000
terminals this year. But he is not happy with a third
distributor. The market could carry two, he believes, but not
three. This thought was echoed by Jodee Rich of Imagineering.
Both he and Goodman said they would devote less energy to Wyse if
there was much competition.

Goodman said four year-old Auckland-based TGEC had 75 percent of NZ's
Wyse business. TGEC Managing Director Jolyon Ralston said that
since Imagineering pulled out of New Zealand, TGEC had gained 95 percent
of NZ's Wyse business.

(Paul Zucker/19890505)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SYD)(00015)

LOCALS LAUGH OFF DELL CHALLENGE
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1989 MAY 5 (NB) -- A young American 'upstart'
has vowed to take the Australian PC market by storm, but locals
are shrugging him off as a two-day wonder. Dell Computer
Corporation's 24 year-old chief Michael Dell has announced plans
to move into Australia later this year and is looking to appoint
an Australian general manager to set up the operation.

In an interview with Newsbytes, Dell said he would "shake" the PC
market in Australia. "We plan to start later this year but, depending
on the job applicants [for a general manager], it could run into
early next year," Dell said. The company aims to set up a direct sales
subsidiary with both a field sales and telephone sales force.

"Australia is part of our goal to expand into every market
available and its geographic aspects and market size lend towards
our distribution methods," Dell said. He added it was too early
to predict where the corporation's prices would fall, other than
that they would be competitive.

Local dealer David Ginges, managing director of Silicon City,
said Dell's presence would affect local PC manufacturers and
assemblers because Dell imports all its products from the U.S.,
"which is not necessarily a good thing." "I'm a supporter of
local products and I try to source products here that are of use
to the end user," Ginges said.

Mike Boulos, chief executive officer of Computerland Solutions,
said: "We welcome him for his short-lived trip. "You can't
succeed in this country with just money." "He has a number of
factors working against him, including having no established
channels."

Dell says the company's international operations are long-term.
The intention to enter Australia follows similar moves into the U.K.,
where revenues are expected to reach $US80 million this year.

(Paul Zucker/19890505)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SYD)(00016)

OKI BOOST FOR IPL DATRON
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1989 MAY 5 (NB) -- Oki printers from importer
IPL Datron will join the line-up distributed by Australia's Imagineering.
The big distributor already handles NEC, Alps, Kyocera, Panasonic,
and Fujitsu, but has never been worried by carrying competing lines.

The four Oki printers to be carried were originally designed to
carry the Ultra [Imagineering house brand] name, but the price
point Imagineering wanted did not leave enough for IPL Datron to
consider the deal worthwhile, according to Stead Denton, managing
director of IPL Datron. His company will handle technical support
and service of the printers.

Imagineering is distributing the nine-pin Oki Microline 182, and
three 24-pin dot matrix printers - the 270 characters per second
[cps] Microline models 390 and 391 and the 450 cps Microline 393.
The company is also negotiating to get distribution rights for
Oki cellular phones, now being distributed by Racal, and to
increase Oki fax business.

(Paul Zucker and Kester Kranswick/19890505)


(CORRECTION)(BUSINESS)(TOR)(00017)

SERVICE DIVISION OF LANPAR WENT TO AT&T, REMAINDER TO SOFTCO
MARKHAM, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1989 MAY 4 (NB) -- As reported in
Newsbytes last week, AT&T Canada has purchased the service
division of Lanpar Technologies, which went into receivership in
mid-March. In mid-April, Softco Manufacturing of Ottawa bought
the other assets of the company, but not the service division, as
Newsbytes earlier reported.

(Grant Buckler/19890504)


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

'GLOBALIZATION' TOUTED AT NORTHERN TELECOM ANNUAL MEETING
MISSISSAUGA, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1989 APRIL 28 (NB) -- Northern
Telecom has no choice but to operate globally, Paul Stern, the
company's vice-chairman and chief executive, told its annual
meeting. "We're a global industry serving global communities and
global customers. Our competitors are global. Our best prospects
for revenue growth are global." And, Stern added, "the
possibilities in global markets for Northern Telecom have never
been greater."

Stern admitted, however, that the company's earnings in 1988 were
disappointing. Northern Telecom's net income fell 47 percent to
US$183.2 million in the year ended December 31. Although revenue
rose 10 percent, from US$4.9 billion to US$5.4 billion, a major
restructuring program cut into Northern's profits, resulting in a
net loss of US$17.5 million in the fourth quarter.

David Vice, president of Northern Telecom, told the annual
meeting the company faces intense competition as it prepares to
enter the 1990s.

(Grant Buckler/19890504/Press Contact: Dan Mothersill or Ken
Mulders, Northern Telecom, 416-566-3100)


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

XEROX CANADA BREAKS BILLION MARK, HOLDS UPBEAT ANNUAL MEETING
TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1989 MAY 2 (NB) -- Both of Xerox
Canada's major businesses -- financial services and business
equipment -- did well in 1988, David McCamus, president and chief
executive, told the company's annual meeting. Xerox Canada
announced revenues of C$1.1 billion, up from C$997 million in the
previous year. Net earnings were C$75 million, up from C$64
million the year before. McCamus also noted that Xerox's Canadian
Manufacturing Centre in Toronto increased its revenues by more
than 50 percent in 1988, to C$232 million. The center has a world
product mandate to produce document input devices. Leasing was
also a growth area for Xerox Canada in 1988. The company acquired
Protean Leasing and an interest in Teletech Financial Corp. Also
in 1988, Xerox signed an agreement to provide lease financing to
customers of Northern Telecom.

(Grant Buckler/19890504/Press Contact: Harry Cogill, Xerox
Canada, 416-733-6410)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TOR)(00020)

COMTERM REFINANCES, SETTLES LAWSUIT
MONTREAL, QUEBEC, CANADA, 1989 MAY 5 (NB) -- Computer terminal
maker Comterm Inc. has completed a C$10.8-million refinancing and
settled a C$4.5-million lawsuit, The Financial Post in Toronto
reports. The business daily quoted Dolliver Frederick, the
company's new president, as saying Comterm now has C$15 million
in equity and about C$4.1 million in bank debt, and can resume
normal operations. Like another Canadian terminal manufacturer,
Lanpar Technologies of Markham, Ontario, Comterm has had severe
financial problems in the past year. It was rescued by merchant
bankers Gornitzki, Thompson & Little and the investment firm
Frederick Capital Corp.

(Grant Buckler/19890505)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SIN)(00021)

SINGAPORE TELECOM SEEKS OUT NEW TECHNOLOGY AND BUSINESS
SINGAPORE, S.E. ASIA, 1989 APR 28 (NB) -- Singapore Telecom, one of
the Republic's richest statutory boards, has recently launched its new
five-year business plan which, according to its monthly newsletter
Hello, it believes will ensure its long-term growth. In that time, it
will seek out and invest in new venture technology companies and new
business opportunities and challenges.

This five-year plan was drawn up after its management had considered
domestic and global trends as well as present and future economic,
social and technological circumstances. It will make use of its past
experience to offer services ranging from consultancy to operational
manoeuvres to overseas markets.

Singapore Telecom will also seek out niches for value-added services.
The pricing in the case of international services is to be kept low. It
will continue to liberalize the terminal equipment market, and collaborate
with the private sector to use more of the board's infrastructure to test
products and services.

Singapore Telecom promises to pursue technology to create new
business opportunities or upgrade existing services by reducing cost
or enhancing value. The board will also participate in and support
research and development by multinational companies and institutions.

Singapore Telecom was recently identified as being suitale for
privatization. A recent management survey placed it as among the top
20 "excellent" organzsations in Singapore.

(Michael Worsley & S. Roowi/19890502)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SIN)(00022)

NCR MAY SET UP MANUFACTURING FACILITIES IN SINGAPORE
SINGAPORE, S.E. ASIA, 1989 MAY 2 (NB) -- American computer and office
automation giant NCR is doing a feasibility study on the setting up of
manufacturing facilities in Singapore. Amongst other matters it would
bring it a step nearer to achieving its objective of securing
operational headquarters status [OHQ] in Singapore by 1991.

NCR currently manufactures point-of-sale and other retail sector
equipment for supermarkets and department stores in its factory in
Osio, Japan, which is is its sole manufacturing plant in Asia at this
time. However, it appears that high labour costs in Japan are causing
NCR to look to Singapore as either an alternative or an additional
site for manufacturing for the region.

A manufacturing investment may just be the deciding factor in NCR
securing its OHQ status by 1991 since its overall expansion program is
now well under way. Initial discussions with the Economic Development
Board [EDB]on OHQ status are believed to have started informally
last month when NCR preside7< G P Williamson was here at the opening
of the company's new offices at Singapore's Treasury Building. Since
then, it was reported in the local press that Mr. Tom Kane, director of
NCR's corporate manufacturing, also met with EDB officials to discuss
the matter, and it is understood that the EDB is believed to be keen
on the proposed project. However, there have been no indications of
the kind of products it would be manufacturing in Singapore were it to
set up facilities here.

About half the automated teller machine market in Singapore is
currently held by NCR, and it is aggressively pushing into the non-
banking office and manufacturing sectors with its Tower range of
computers. A recent S$10 million [US$4.5 million] expansion program
was designed to raise its corporate profile and market share here, and
since last July, has announced plans to build a S$3 million software
development center, a S$1 million regional sales and systems engineer
staff training center, a S$1 million center to be set up with a local
tertiary institution, and a regional parts purchasing office for its
personal computers division.

(Michael Worsley & S. Roowi/19890504/Press Contact: NCR, Ph:[65] 273.2222)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SIN)(00023)

SINGAPORE TO BE MAIN IC BASE FOR WEST GERMAN ELECTRONIC GROUP
SINGAPORE, S.E. ASIA, 1989 MAY 3 (NB) -- The West German electronic
group Siemens AG has announced plans to make Singapore its main global
manufacturing base for integrated circuits [IC] with a further
investment of S$145 million [US$80 million] over the next five years,
bringing its total investments here to about S$300 million [US$155
million].

The Economic Development Board [EDB] of Singapore reported in its
publication The Singapore Investment News that Siemens' Singapore
facility will be the biggest IC assembly and test facility worldwide
when it is completed.

Siemens, Europe's largest electronics company, already assembles and
tests 80 percent of its plastic-moulded ICs at Siemens Components [SC], its
local plant. Its managing director, Mr. Horst Dunsche, said the
advantages of his group's Singapore-based Asia-Pacific strategy
include Singapore's young, educated and adaptable workforce. He also
commented on the acceptance of the 24-hour work day here, good
industrial and transport infrastructure, and low capital risks.

Most of the latest investment will be spent on advanced equipment for
the production of surface-mount devices. This is expected to
strengthen Singapore's drive to maintain leadership in the use of
surface-mount technology together with micro-computers and
application-specific ICs [ASICs].

SC will also manufacture its other new products including infrared
sensors for automative remote control applications and ceramic
components for temperature-control and high-voltage devices.

SC's local engineering support activities in medical equipment and
factory automation will also receive a boost. Siemens Engineering and
Services [SES], another subsidiary, is investing about S$2.4 million
[US$1.25 million] in its new offices and training center. Mr. Rudolf
Angermeir, its managing director, said that this would enable it to
support more activities in the region.

(Michael Worsley & S. Roowi 19890504/Press Contact: : Siemens Components
P/L, Ph:[65] 255.0811/Siemens Engineering & Services P/L, Ph:258.3518)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(KUL)(00024)

JAPANESE FIRM PLANS TO BUILD M$30 MILLION PLANT IN MALAYSIA
KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA, 1989 APR 22 (NB) -- A Japanese Tokyo-based
company, ALPS Electric Co Ltd, which manufactures a wide range of
electrical and electronic components, will invest about M$30 million
[US$11.5 million] by building a factory on the Nilai industrial estate
in the State of Negri Sembilan, Malaysia, Datuk Mohamed Isa Haji Abdul
Samad, Negri Sembilan's Mentri Besar [chief minister], said yesterday.

ALPS will be the second Japanese firm within the past month to
announce investment in a new plant in Malaysia, the first
being TDK Sdn Bhd, which last month decided to invest about M$120
million for its own factory in the same state.

ALPS intends to produce electrical components for computers and other
electrical equipment for the Asian market. When in full operation, the
company will employ about 1,200 workers.

Datuk Mohamed Isa said work on the 3.2ha site will be carried out in
two phases and would be completed by the end of the year. He said
that the company had also agreed to sponsor a few locals for training
in Japan as part of its program here.

(Michael Worsley & S. Roowi/19890502)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(KUL)(00025)

MALAYSIA EXPECTS JAPANESE AND SOUTH KOREAN INVESTMENT
KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA, 1989 MAY 1 (NB) -- Malaysian state Johor
expects a capital investment of M$423 million [US$145 million] from
several companies after a visit from an investment mission from Japan
and South Korea last month.

Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, the Mentri Besar [Chief Minister] of Johor,
said over the weeekend that the investment was expected to create more
than 1,800 new jobs in the state. After signing a MS50 million [US$18
million] term loan agreement between the Johore State Economic
Development Corporation [JSEDC] and Malayan Banking he told reporters
that the Johor state government would strive to keep it an attractive
investment haven for foreign investors.

There are 238 factories already operating in Johor, 48 being built and
233 to be built in JSEDC's industrial areas. Tan Sri Muhyiddin said
these firms would have a paid-up capital of M$1.1 billion [US$345
million] offering job prospects for 31,000 people. He said Johor's
housing and construction sector was presently on the upswing, in
keeping with the general economic recovery. Many of the projects
involve production of parts of computers and peripherals, components
and supporting activities, such as servicing and design support, etc.

(Michael Worsley & S. Roowi/19890505)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(KUL)(00026)

EDSAPTA APPOINTED IBM SYSTEMS REMARKETER
KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA, 1989 MAY 1 (NB) -- The sole agent and dealer
for IBM in Malaysia, Mesiniaga Sdn Bhd [MS], last month appointed
Edsapta Data Sistem [Malaysia] Sdn Bhd [EDS] as an IBM Systems
remarketer.

The second business partner appointed by MS this year, EDS is a
wholly-owned subsidiary of Electronic Data System Pte Ltd. With its
appointment, IBM now has a total of 11 Systems remarketers. A system
remarketer generally adds value to a computer product by adding on
certain features like software before selling it. EDS will market and
support the Financial and Manufacturing Accounting System which runs
on IBM's System 36, 38 and AS/400 midrange computers.

Mr. Ismail Sulaiman, managing director of MS, said at the signing
ceremony that EDS has proven its skills, expertise and knowledge to
give customers total solutions. He commented that alliance with such
business partners are increasingly important to ensure the best
possible solutions for customers.

Mr. Mohan Wijeyekoon, managing director of EDS, said companies in the
Electronic Data System group are now IBM business partners in
Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia.

(Michael Worsley & S. Roowi/19890505/Press Contact: [65] 779.2222)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SIN)(00027)

SINGAPORE IS HITACHI'S CHOICE FOR ITS NEW ASIAN NERVE CENTER
SINGAPORE, S.E. ASIA, 1989 APR 28 (NB) -- Following the recent re-
structuring of its Asian operations , Japanese multinational Hitachi
has chosen Singapore as its new nerve centre in Asia. This is a part
of its global strategy, the Asian division being the latest addition
to its three existing nerve centers in Japan, Europe and the States.

Hitachi will locate its new holding company, Hitachi Asia [HA] Pte
Ltd, on the 10th and 11th floors of a prestigious building in Shenton
Way, in Singapore's central business district. Since it has now become
the operational headquarters for Asia, HA has applied for operational
headquarters [OHQ] status which has certain tax advantages.

HA will take over the trading operations of Hitachi South East Asia
[HSEA] Pte Ltd and the Singapore branch of Hitachi Electric Components
[Asia] Ltd [HEC]. It has also taken on the sales and marketing
activities of Hitachi Elevator Engineering [Singapore] Pte Ltd. Both
HSEA and HEC will cease operations by the year's end and their staff
of about 45 will be transferred to HA.

Making Singapore its operational HQ would better facilitate HA's
coordination between its production and marketing divisions. As a
regional holding company HA also owns and controls the various
branches and subsidiaries in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Hong Kong,
India, South Korea and Taiwan. Hong Kong had previously been the head
office for the Singapore, Korea and Taiwan branches. HA will also move
its international purchasing center from Hong Kong to Singapore.

HA intends to set up a S$4 million software and communications center
to provide better computer services to its branches and subsidiaries
in Asia. Hitachi Far East in Hong Kong will merge with Hitachi
Electronic Components [Asia] Ltd which will get a name-change to
Hitachi Asia [Hong Kong] Ltd to reflect its new corporate structure.

HA's Managing Director Mikio Sato said that the restructuring will
bring Hitachi closer to the Asian countries whose economies, he
believes, promise a higher rate of growth than the newly
industrialising economies of Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan.
The Hitachi group has about 160,000 employees worldwide and had a
total revenue of US$40 billion last year.

(Michael Worsley & S. Roowi/19890502)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SIN)(00028)

KEY SPEAKER AT SINGAPORE CONFERENCE ADVOCATES USE OF EDI NETWORK
SINGAPORE, S.E. ASIA, 1989 APR 28 (NB) -- Mr. Yeo Seng Teck, chairman
of Singapore Network Services [SNS], said that Singapore could remain
competitive in the international market through the use of EDI. Mr. Yeo
was the key speaker at EDI '89, the first national electronic data
interchange [EDI] conference in Singapore, organised by the local
Institute for Industrial Research.

Yeo said that unless Singapore follows its leading trading partners
and plugs into the international EDI business environment, the
Republic will be left behind. To attract investments and compete for
business worldwide, local industries need to link up with other
countries to trade goods and services. Mr. Yeo, who is the chief
executive officer of the local Trade Development Board [TDB], also
believes that EDI allows businesses to improve productivity and reduce
operational costs. Substantial savings, he said, could be realised by
streamlining procedures and expediting communications internally and
externally.

Singapore's national EDI, TradeNet, began operating early this year.
The network links the private sector to government agencies involved
in the processing of trade documents and provides facilities for
intergrated document processing for air and sea cargo. An extension of
TradeNet, the Textile Quota EDI system for the textile and garment
industry, will be implemented in July by TDB and SNS [see Newsbytes
#305]. Overall savings with TradeNet are estimated to be S$1 billion a
year when it is operating fully, and the system is expected to be
handling at least 40 percent of the number of declarations to be
approved by TDB by the end of 1989.

Yeo told over 100 delegates that the TDB is also working
with the National Computer Board [NCB] and the Textile and Garment
Manufacturers Association [TGMA] to develop an integrated system to
meet information needs of the industry. He said that EDI
implementation is just taking off in countries like Singapore, Japan,
Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand.

Overall market growth for EDI network and processing services
internationally is forcast at a rate of 14.7 percent annually to reach
US$220 million by 1992.

(Michael Worsley & S. Roowi/19890502)


(EXCLUSIVE)(GENERAL)(SFO)(00001)

NEXT COMPUTER MAGAZINE IN THE WORKS?
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAY 5 (NB) -- Computer Publicity
News, published by Hi-Tech Public Relations in San Francisco,
suggests giant publishing concern Ziff Davis is planning a weekly
devoted to Steve Jobs' Next computers. Newsletter Editor Tony
Reveaux suggests the new magazine is to be called "NextWeek."
Another contender for the same audience has bowed out.
Io Publishing, PC Magazine founder David Bunnell's firm,
investigated but has just abandoned an idea to publish a weekly
paper for the Next machine, convinced it doesn't have a large
enough installed base to support it, Newsbytes has learned.

(Wendy Woods/19890505/Press Contact: Hi-Tech PR, 415-860-5600)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SFO)(00002)

COMPUTER DECISIONS, PC TECH JOURNAL, THE GRADY REPORT -- ALL HISTORY
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAY 5 (NB) -- P.C. Letter author
Stewart Alsop has announced the end of his spin-off publication "The
Grady Report," a one-year-old, monthly newsletter devoted to
computers in education. Alsop says it would have taken five years
for the newsletter to turn a profit, so it was stopped.
Alsop says, "David Grady, the publisher, is now an Advocate
for the Next Computer, and The Grady Report subscriptions will be
fulfilled with issues of P.C. Letter."

And Computer Publicity News [CPN] reports the latest casualties among
computer magazines -- Computer Decisions and PC Tech Journal.

CPN, incidentally, is now collaborating with Cambridge
Communications, publishers of MediaMap computer industry journalism
surveys. Each issue of Computer Publicity News will have advance,
in-depth looks at a particular publication, before the material
reaches subscribers to MediaMap.

(Wendy Woods/19890505/Stewart Alsop, 415-592-8880)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SFO)(00003)

ADOBE, SUN FIRE VOLLEYS IN FONT WARS
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A, 1989 MAY 3 (NB) -- Whether it was
coincidence or deliberate, both Adobe Systems and Sun Microsystems
chose the same week to announce new, competing font products. Sun,
advocate of its OpenFonts font creations software, has signed
licensing agreements with Frame Technology of San Jose, Ca., under
which its TypeScaler technology will be incorporated into Frame's
FrameMaker 2.0 publishing software. TypeScaler automatically
scales fonts to any point size from a single outline. Frame will
put the technology to use in the Next version of FrameMaker, due
this fall.

And Adobe Systems has unveiled a product called Type Manager which
will allow PostScript fonts to be scaled for computer displays.
The product is slated for release this fall to end-users, and
is considered a less-elaborate version of Display PostScript.

(Wendy Woods/19890505)


(EXCLUSIVE)(GENERAL)(BRU)(00004)

LASER PRINTERS GETTING CHEAPER BY THE DAY
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM, 1989 MAY 04 (NB) -- Laser printer prices are
falling daily judging by the reports reaching the Newsbytes
Europe Brussels office. One trade contact - who wishes to remain
anonymous - told Newsbytes that by the time 100 laser printers
were delivered, a month after they were ordered, the price had
fallen by 10 percent.

According to Leo Janssens, general manager of Europdata, a
Belgian dealer, the reason for the price cuts is due to volume
shipments and a crowded market. "We have shipped more than
870 laser printers over the past 12 months," he told Newsbytes,
adding that customers seem to be prepared to pay the extra cost
of a laser printer over a dot matrix unit, in order to have a quiet
office and faster printer throughput.

European laser printer pricing is continuing to fall, say
Newsbytes' trade sources. Already there is talk of a unit
breaching the psychological $1,000 mark. Samsung is expected to
breach the $1,000 mark later in the summer with a specially
produced unit.

Blue Chip Computers, which set up business in several European
countries last year, is also looking to its dealers to cut
printer prices. The company is offering aggressive discounts of
as much as 60 percent to distributors on certain machines.
Kanematsu Gosho, a Japanese company, meanwhile, is offering a
liquid crystal shutter printer, centring around the Qume LCS
engine, for DM 2,800 [about $1,300] in West Germany.

The market still has some way to go, price-wise, according to
Louis Heessels, head of CCA Europe in Antwerp, Belgium. He told
Newsbytes that Hewlett-Packard currently holds about 50 percent
of the Belgian laser printer market. "That is certain impressive. We're
trying to get five percent of the market [with the Gosho printer] and
hope to get there with our laser printer and excellent pricing terms,"
he said.

(Peter Vekinis/19890504)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(BRU)(00005)

MALAYSIAN PIRATE CHANGES PRICES
JOHOR BAHRU, WEST MALAYSIA, 1989 MAY 02 (NB) -- The Singapore
software pirate who closed down late last year only to reopen a
few months later in Malaysia, is open for business again, according
 to trade sources.

Newsbytes understands that the authorities are on his trail,
however, forcing him to discount his already low-priced software.
Sources suggest that the discounting is due to a shortage of
cash, since bank accounts run by software pirates can now be
frozen under new Far East copyright infringement laws.

In a list passed to Newsbytes, the anonymous Singaporean pirate
is now offering Autocad Release 10 [the 80287 coprocessor-
specific version] for MA$450 [about $80] -- about 95 percent less
than the real thing. PC Tools, version 5.0, sells for MA$80 -
about $20. Microsoft Windows 2.1 [with 1.2MB diskettes] sells for
MA$250 [about $60].

How do the pirates manage these prices? With little or no
expenditure beyond copying the disks and printing the manuals
[which are, incidentally, usually of high quality], the bulk of
the price is pure profit.

(Peter Vekinis/19890504/Press Contact: PO Box 239 Pejabat Pos
Besar, Johor Bahru, West Malaysia)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(LAX)(00006)

TATE PUBLISHING DIVISION OF ASHTON-TATE SEEKS AUTHORS
TORRANCE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAY 2 (NB) -- Tate Publishing,
a division of Ashton-Tate, the software company, is looking for
independent programmers and authors to write hardware and
software related books. The company is making a strong effort to
find new software tools and utilities, especially programs that
can be used to enhance dBASE.

Tate publishing already releases selected software that carries
the developer's name on the packaging and has six software
products slated for introduction this year. The company has
scheduled nine new books for release this year and is looking for
authors to produce additional titles.

(Janet Endrijonas/19890505/Press Contact: Brad Stevens, Ashton-
Tate, 213-538-7348)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(LAX)(00007)

MORE PRINTERS FROM EPSON
TORRANCE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAY 5 (NB) -- Changes in the
Epson dot matrix printer line up have been announced.

The LQ-500 is being replaced by the LQ-510, a 24-pin letter
quality dot matrix printer. The LQ-510 is positioned for the home
and small to medium size business markets. The new LX-810
replaces the 9-pin LX-800 and offers home users and small
businesses near letter quality output. Prices for each of the two
new models are the same as for the models they replace.

(Janet Endrijonas/198900505/Press Contact: Don Mathias, Epson
America Inc., 213-539-9140)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(LAX)(00008)

CMS ENHANCEMENTS MEETS THE PRESS
TUSTIN, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAY 5 (NB) -- CMS Enhancements
has decided that it generates such a steady flow of information
for both the consumer and trade press that a direct link is in
order. As a result, the company is inaugurating a fax service to
send press releases to media at the same time it is releasing the
information to the wire services.

Ted James who heads the project at CMS Enhancements told
Newsbytes that media will receive the full test of all releases
much faster than before with this new service. Using this
service, media representatives can get additional information
sent to them at all hours and input can be obtained from company
experts and upper management when needed.

For media people without fax access, MCI mail is available as an
alternative. All fax and MCI numbers will remain strictly
confidential and James promises that CMS Enhancements will
refrain from sending anything that could be considered to be junk
fax.

(Janet Endrijonas/19890505/Media Contact: Ted James, CMS
Enhancements, 714-259-5812)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(ATL)(00009)

NORTHERN TELECOM, DCA SHOW RESULTS OF JOINT VENTURE
DALLAS, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1989 MAY 2 (NB) -- Northern Telecom and
Digital Communications Associates Inc. has demonstrated the
results of their joint research, a technical specification which
will let wide area network vendors link their products to one
another. That's important, because most large companies wind up
buying networks from many different suppliers. The software is
based on the Common Management Information Protocol [CMIP] and
Common Management Information Services [CMIS], adopted in January
by the OSI/Network Management Forum in its common network
management protocol specification. CMIS and CMIP comprise a set
of rules governing how information is exchanged and the services
or functions performed between two network management systems.


(Dana Blankenhorn/19890505/Press Contact: Brian Murphy, Northern
Telecom, 214-437-8589)


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

INTERNATIONAL COMPUTER ART SHOW TO OPEN IN BOSTON
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1989 MAY 2 (NB) -- A juried
show of new computer art work, "Computer Art in Context: SIGGRAPH '89
Art Show," will open at The Computer Museum in Boston on June 30.

The show, which features more than 50 works by leading computer
artists from around the globe, will run through Sept. 5, 1989. Works
presented will include two-dimensional displays, kinetic sculpture,
interactive environments, installation pieces, computer animation, and
poly-dimensional works on videotape.

Among the many artists featured in the show are Jurgen Lit Fischer,
Manfred Mohr, Vibeke Sorensen, Barbara Nessim, and John Sturgeon.
Five videos by Sturgeon are in the permanent collection of The
Museum of Modern Art in New York, and Barbara Nessim's work
has been featured in The New Yorker magazine.

Also on display for the show will be two sculptures that are
controlled by computer, created by artist and author Lillian Schwartz.
Waves is a constantly changing installation of mirrored panels, and
Capricious Constellation is a mobile created along with Arno Penzias,
a 1978 Nobel Prize winner in physics.

A catalog of the exhibition will be a special issue of Leonardo,
which is the journal of the International Society of the Arts, Sciences,
and Technology. The issue will include essays by mathematician
Benoit Mandelbrot, artist Brian Reffin Smith, critic Gene Youngblood
and others. The catalog will be available after July 15 at the museum
store.

(Jon Pepper/19890505/Press Contact: Gail Jennes, Computer Museum,
617-426-2800)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(BOS)(00011)

IBM TO DONATE $25 MILLION TO AID K-12 EDUCATION
ARMONK, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1989 MAY 3 (NB) -- IBM announced
a five-year, $25-million grant to help aid U.S. elementary and
secondary school education by more effective use of technology.
The award will help support two other cash and equipment grant
programs. The first is designed to help improve teacher preparation
for computer use, and the second is designed to stimulate innovative
uses for computer technology in the classroom.

IBM Chairman John F. Akers said that, "we've seen firsthand how
technology can be used to achieve breakthroughs in learning, both for
children and for adults."

A typical teacher preparation grant includes a lab of networked IBM
Personal System/2 workstations, IBM educational software, training
and technical support, and a small cash grant for travel and
incidental expenses.

The second program awards, for innovation in technology use, might
include several classrooms of PS/2 workstations, interactive
multimedia systems, software, training and support, and a cash grant
for staff costs.

During 1988, IBM contributed over $42 million in cash, equipment,
and other support to U.S. educational institutions, and almost $70
million worldwide.

(Jon Pepper/19890505/Press Contact: Rita Black, IBM, 914-697-6544)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(BOS)(00012)

KODAK BEEFS UP PORTABLE PRINTER
ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1989 MAY 3 (NB) -- Kodak has
announced it's beefed up the features of the tiny Diconix 150 portable
printer. The improved product, the Diconix 150 Plus, eliminates the
need to print on special thermal paper, an attribute that has been
roundly criticized by trade press and analysts. The new print mechanism
is now an ink-jet [not a thermal head], so plain paper sheets and
continuous form paper can be used.

Output speed has been increased to 180cps, a 30 percent improvement
over the Model 150.

Power for the 150 Plus comes from C-cell rechargeable batteries,
which will print about 150 pages on a charge, according to the
company. Emulations included are IBM ProPrinter and Epson FX-
series, and graphics can be printed at up to 192dpi. Both serial and
parallel versions are available, for $499 and $519, respectively.

(Jon Pepper/19890505/Press Contact: Margaret Baranowski, Kodak,
716-724-4000)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(BOS)(00013)

BBS SYSTEM INVESTIGATED IN BOMBING DEATHS
GAITHERSBURG, MARYLAND, U.S.A., 1989 MAY 3 (NB) -- A computer
bulletin board system [BBS] in Gaithersburg, MD, is being investigated in
connection with the deaths of four teens last December. The teens
died in an accidental pipe bomb explosion in Bethesda, Md.

According to Washington Post reporter Paul Duggan, a 17-old suspect
arrested in connection with a March 26 pipe-bomb explosion in
Germantown, Md., also operated a BBS that supplied homemade
bomb formulas to other computer users. Among those receiving
bomb formulas were some of the teens who died in the Dec. 31
explosion in the garage of a Brazilian diplomat's home.

Investigators apparently found 30 computer disks with instructions
and formulas for making homemade bombs and addresses of mail-
order concerns that offered needed supplies in the home of the 17-
year old suspect.

(Jon Pepper/19890505)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(BOS)(00014)

MICROPROSE SHIPS NEW COMIC BOOK ADVENTURE GAME
HUNT VALLEY, MARYLAND, U.S.A., 1989 MAY 1 (NB) -- Microprose, a leading
provider of entertainment software, is shipping Dr. Doom's Revenge, a new
adventure game that features the Marvel comic book characters,
Spiderman and Captain America.

Dr. Doom's Revenge is one of the first graphic adventure games to
actually let the user "enter" into comic panels. The game features
high resolution on screen graphics that simulate a comic book and
tell the story. When the user gets to certain panels in the story, he or
she must enter into it, and fight against various obstacles, taking on
the role of either Spiderman or Captain America.

The game, which supports IBM EGA graphics and speech cards,
includes a Marvel Comic Book designed especially for the game. Dr.
Doom's Revenge is part of MicroProse' Medalist International series
of games.

(Jon Pepper/19890505/Press Contact: Kathy Gilmore, MicroProse, 301-
771-1151)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(BOS)(00015)

COMPUBOX TRACKS THE HARDEST RING HITS
LINDENHURST, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1989 MAY 5 (NB) -- When
Mike Tyson connects with one of his fearsome right hooks, his
opponent isn't the only one who knows a punch has landed. Usually,
a Compaq computer records the information as well.

Thanks to two New Jersey residents, Bob Canobbio and Logan
Hobson, boxing now has some computerized statistics that begin to
rival the reams of data available for sports like baseball and football.

"We had always thought that Boxing has no statistics like baseball
has," said Canobbio. So the two boxing fans created PunchStat, a
software program that both counts and categorizes the type of
punches that are thrown and landed during a match. Clients of
CompuBox include Home Box Office, National Broadcasting
Company, American Broadcasting Company, Showtime, ESPN, and
many individual fighters.

Three seconds after any round is over, the Compaq computer can
print out a round evaluation that can tell a trainer how his boxer has
done. By comparing the number and type of punches thrown and
landed against the pre-fight strategy, the trainer can give important
information to the boxer about altering his fight strategy. In addition,
the major TV networks use PunchStat to help them with their
televised analysis and unofficial scoring of fights.

So far, everyone is quite happy with the program. The only
unanswered questions seems to be whether or not the computer
could take a direct hit from a disgruntled Tyson. It's a question to
which no one wants to find out the answer.

(Jon Pepper/19890505/Press Contact: Tony Fox, HBO, 212-512-1432)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(BOS)(00016)

CONCURRENT COMPUTER OFFERS NEW MICROFIVE SYSTEM
TINTON FALLS, NEW JERSEY, U.S.A., 1989 MAY 3 (NB) -- Concurrent
Computer Systems announced its new MicroFive high-speed computer
system, a part of their Micro3200 family of computers.

The MicroFive family provides 5 to 6 MIPS operation, making it a
leader in real-time image processing at an affordable price. For
example, BancTec, a leader manufacturer of high-speed document
processing systems, is now using the MicroFive to provide more
power for their Impac-II system. Impac-II offers high-speed document
transport and a digital imaging system to process checks, credit card
payments, sales drafts and other financial documents. Impac-II is
capable of throughputting 1,000 documents per minute, using the
Concurrent MicroFive computer.

Concurrent, located in Tinton Falls, New Jersey, is the leading
worldwide supplier high performance, real-time computer systems,
with products ranging in price from $10,000 to over $1 million.
Concurrent systems primarily sell into the real-time simulation,
measurement and control, and transaction processing markets.

(Jon Pepper/19890505/Press Contact: Joseph Kerrigan, Concurrent
Computer Corp.)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(BRU)(00017)

CHIP MAGAZINE PUBLISHES GERMAN COMPUTER MARKET STATISTICS
MUNICH, WEST GERMANY, 1989 MAY 02 (NB) -- Chip magazine, West
Germany's largest computer magazine, has published detailed
information on the state of the West German computer market.
The information has been drawn from 4,500 reader questionnaires
 completed in a survey last October.

The results of the survey make for some interesting reading.
Intel 80386-based PC systems account for an unprecedented 32
percent of the West German computer market, while the Apple
Macintosh II series comes second with 29 percent.

In third position is the Intel 80286-based PC series with 16 percent
followed by the IBM PS/2 model's 50 and 70 securing fourth
position with 11 percent. The original Apple Mac series now
holds just 2 percent of the West German market. The remainder
of the market -- 10 percent of sales -- is mopped up by the PC-
XT [8086/8-based], the Atari ST and Commodore Amiga series.

In a parallel survey of PC peripherals, 34 percent of Chip
readers use a mouse, whilst 25 percent use a coprocessor of
some kind. 17 percent of readers have modems, 9 percent have
scanners, 8 percent have plotters and 3 percent use a joystick.

On the monitor front, 29 percent of those readers who replied to
the survey said that have a Hercules graphics card, with colour
EGA systems accounting for a further 22 percent. Of the
remainder, 20 percent of Chip readers have a colour screen, 15
percent have a VGA option, and 13 percent have a colour VGA
screens.

Finally, printers seem to be rising in the popularity stakes. 38
percent of those surveyed use 24 pin printers, whilst 33 per
cent use a laser printer. The remainder of the printer market is
made up by 7 percent of readers with 9-pin dot-matrix printers
and 23 percent using some other form of printer.

(Peter Vekinis/19890502)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(LON)(00018)

FRONTIER RELEASES XTRA-RAM UNIT FOR ATARI ST
HARROGATE, YORKSHIRE, 1989 MAY 05 (NB) -- Frontier Software has
released Xtra-Ram, a random access memory [RAM] expansion unit
for the 520 and 1040 Atari ST series. The unit is available
unpopulated at UKP 59-95 and populated with 1.5 megabytes of RAM
at UKP 399-95.

According to Martin Walsh, Frontier's marketing manager, the
Xtra-Ram board will upgrade any keyboard ST - 520 or 1040 - to
2.5MB, using a new method designed by the company's technical
team. Walsh said that the board fits internally to the ST without
the need for any soldering, making it one of the few upgrades
that users can upgrade without sending their machine away.

"We believe that the Xtra-Ram board will be a great success in
its populated and unpopulated versions, both here and other Atari
supported countries, where we are actively seeking distributors
and licensees," he said.

"Most users will recognize the need for more memory as they get
to grips with desktop publishing, program development and
printers such as Atari's laser printer which require more memory
than one megabyte," he added.

(Steve Gold/19890428/Press & Public Contact - Martin Walsh,
Frontier Software - Tel: [phone]; Email on Dialcom
72:MAG40240 and Compuserve 72007,163)


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

POOR RADAR ANGERS TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA, 1989 MAY 5 (NB) -- Melbourne's Tullamarine
Airport air traffic controllers are incensed that their new
computer-controlled Air Traffic Control Autonomous Radar Display
System [ATCARDS] is not bug-free after 10 months of work on it.

The French-made Thomson CSF system, which shocked controllers
last June when it failed to recognize a Qantas Boeing 747 and
other aircraft, is still unreliable after 33 software
modifications. Some air traffic controllers have resigned because
of staff shortages and the problems with ATCARDS.

A Civil Air Operations Officers' Association spokesman said that
if the problems continue, the airport could be closed temporarily
due to air traffic controller shortages, in much the same way as
Sydney airport shut down seven times in one week.

The ATCARDS problem mainly affects short-range radar. Controllers
last year resorted to mixing ATCARDS data with that of an older
long-range system and spacing out aircraft. This meant the
airport was handling less aircraft than it could if the new
system was working properly.

(Paul Zucker and Darren Cook/19890505)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SYD)(00020)

GLITCH IN $4 MILLION RADAR THROWS AIRPORT INTO CHAOS
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA, 1989 MAY 5 (NB) -- Last Tuesday [May 2nd]
Melbourne Airport's fault-prone $4 million computer controlled
ATCARDS radar system had frantic staff working blindly after the
system crashed.

Pilots reported their positions to controllers while technicians
worked frantically for 20 minutes to get the system running
again. The Civil Aviation Authority's air traffic services
division assistant general manager, Brian Wilson, said the system
crash occurred when the power was switched from the main supply
to a secondary generator to let technicians service the main
supply equipment.

"The no-break generator ran for about 10 seconds, then decided
the load was too much," Wilson said. Controllers' screens plunged
into darkness despite the fact that the radar sensors were still
working. The power supply was then switched to an emergency
generator, but the system still stayed down for 20 minutes,
forcing controllers to space out aircraft and delay
Melbourne-bound and outgoing planes, some of which stayed on the
tarmac in Sydney and other airports around the country.

Wilson said the authority was investigating the cause of the
crash. "It seems that the ATCARDS system does not like short
power interruptions and there could be a glitch in the system
that we weren't aware of." Air traffic controllers had protested
that the power supply maintenance, which had lagged since the
system's introduction 18 months ago, should have been done on a
weekend when traffic would have been lighter. But the job had
been attempted on Tuesday lunchtime because that was when
technicians were available and the air traffic was not heavy,
Wilson said.

(Paul Zucker and Darren Cook/19890505)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SYD)(00021)

A COMPUTER HORROR STORY
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1989 MAY 5 (NB) -- A fried of Newsbytes swears
that the following is a true story. After buying a PC from a
dealer of shady repute, the luckless customer unpacked his new
toy and plugged it into find it Dead On Arrival.

Naturally, after checking the usual things, he called the dealer
and explained his problem. First question from Deviously Evasive
Dealer: "Did you check to see whether the power was on?"

"Of course."

DED: "Did you open the cover and check whether any of the boards
had shaken loose in shipping?"

"Of course."

DED: "Then why are you calling me?"

"Well you sold it to me and there has to be some kind of
warranty," pleaded the frustrated purchaser.

"Of course there is," replied the DED, "But you voided the
warranty when you opened the cover."

Like we said, he swears it's a true story.

(Paul Zucker/19890505)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SYD)(00022)

ACP SHOW POSTPONED
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1989 MAY 5 (NB) -- ACP exhibitions has confirmed
it has postponed the Australian Computer Exhibition in Sydney in
1989, "preferring to focus its energy on staging the 1990 exhibit."

ACP decided that running the Sydney show at the same time as the
Perth exhibition might misdirect attendees. ACP organizers predict
the 1990 Sydney show will be the biggest ever.

This is the second major trade show cancellation this year. Earlier, the
Interface Group pulled Comdex out of the Australian market.

(Paul Zucker/19890505)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SYD)(00023)

QANTAS STAFF AWAITS PAY FIX
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1989 MAY 5 (NB) -- Qantas cabin crews and
management are holding their breaths as Newsbytes goes to
press, as the first payroll packets calculated by a newly revised
program are delivered under an agreement following industrial
action last March.

In accordance with a Federal Industrial Relations Commission
ruling, Qantas had up to May 7 to rectify errors and problems.
The program was developed in-house, and first used last October
when changes to previous staff rostering and duties were put into
effect.

Subsequently members of two unions, the Australian International
Cabin Crew Association and Australian Flight Attendants'
Association, complained of irregularities in their pay packets
and voted for an industrial stoppage until the errors were
rectified.

A Qantas spokesman said the program had now been extensively
tested and Qantas was confident it would achieve the promises
made for it.

(Paul Zucker/19890505)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(TOR)(00024)

AISI OPTIMISTIC ABOUT JAPAN PROSPECTS
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA, 1989 MAY 4 (NB) -- Home-
automation vendor AISI Research sees good prospects in Japan
after a recent visit there by its president, William Smith,
according to a company spokesman. John Borg, of AISI's public
relations agency Smith Marketing Communications in San Francisco,
who accompanied Smith to Japan, said AISI's representatives
"accomplished 10 times what they expected." Visiting Tokyo for an
international conference on home automation, AISI's contingent
demonstrated the North American CEBus standard and the AISI
Spirit chip set implementing it. Smith and AISI Director of
Engineering Ludo Bertsch made contact with virtually every major
Japanese consumer electronic company, Borg said. He added that
the Tokyo conference made steps toward a unified world standard
based in part on CEBus.

(Grant Buckler/19890504/Press Contact: John Borg, Smith Marketing
Communications, 415-989-3104)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(TOR)(00025)

POWER INDUSTRY TO MEET FOR EXPERT SYSTEMS CONFERENCE
MONTREAL, QUEBEC, CANADA, 1989 MAY 2 (NB) -- About 150
specialists from 12 countries will gather here May 7-12 to see
demonstrations of expert systems from around the world. All the
systems to be demonstrated are designed for the electrical power
industry. The International Symposium for Demonstrations of
Expert System Applications to the Power Industry was organized by
the provincial utility Hydro-Quebec, Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd.
and the Computer Research Institute of Montreal. Systems to be
demonstrated come from Japan, Finland, Norway, France, the United
States, Canada and Spain. Applications include power-system
design, dam monitoring, power-failure diagnosis and power-system
restoration.

(Grant Buckler/19890504/Press Contact: Media Relations, Hydro-
Quebec, 514-289-2311)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SIN)(00026)

SINGAPORE INFORMATION VENDORS EXCITED OVER COMPUTER NETWORK
SINGAPORE, S.E. ASIA, 1989 MAY 3 (NB) -- Following the purchase of
1,700 Philips AT PCs and 450 Apple MacIntosh's [reported in Newsbytes
#305] the National University of Singapore [NUS] is now inviting
tenders from information technology vendors. The competion is expected
to be great because whoever wins the contract will be in the front
line for similar projects coming up in the region, such as in Taiwan
and Hong Kong.

Dr Thio Hoe Tong, director of the NUS Computer Center, said that the
project, Campus Network [CN], is expected to cost about one quarter of
the S$23.6 million [US$12 million] set aside by NUS for upgrading its
computer resources over the next two years. In addition to the
existing computers, the network will be able to handle another 1000
microcomputers to be installed later by the mid-1990's.

Tenders for CN, closing this month, have attracted multinationals including
Digital Equipment Corporation and AT&T, as well as local firms such as
Automated Systems.

Doctor Thio observed that vendors are keen to win the contracts
because that would put them in an advantageous position when
universities in Hong Kong and Taiwan invite tenders for similar
projects. Results for the tenders for CN will be out in July and the
installation of the network will begin from September.

Dr. Thio further said that the aim of the proposed network which will
connect 80 buildings spread over 150 ha, was to provide a more
computer-intensive environment for NUS. He noted that NUS was already
half-way there, as each of the 1,200 academic staff has been allocated
a microcomputer or workstation. The additional computers will be
located in special rooms near the undergraduates' hostels and
departments so as to be more easily accessible to them. By this means,
he said NUS hopes to achieve more effective communication among its
students and staff, efficient sharing of computer resources and a
reduction in paperwork.

The network will use optical fibres and will act as the channel for
carrying data from point to point, thus serving as the backbone for
NUS' data communication facilities. Smaller networks, serving as
"feeder channels", to be installed in each building, will be linked to
CN. Because of the complex configuration, it is expected that no
single vendor will be able to meet the specifications using just their
own equipment, and so some interesting combinations and cross-tenders
might well result.

(Michael Worsley & S. Roowi/19890505/Press Contact: Dr. Thio, NUS Computer
Centre, Ph:[65] 755.6666)


(CORRECTION)(GENERAL)(SIN)(00027)

MAX HEADROOM CLONE GREETS VISITORS AT SINGAPORE CHANGI AIRPORT
SINGAPORE, S.E. ASIA, 1989 APR 26 (NB) -- Last week Newsbytes reported
that visitors to Singapore Changi Airport's east viewing gallery will get a
look into the airport's high-tech future at an exhibition just set up in the
airport Visitor's Centre [VC]. The editor mistakenly inferred that the
host of the audio-visual presentation was Max Headroom, a character
known to U.S. and international TV audiences. However, the editor was in
error. Reporter Michael Worsley had it right from the start, the host
of the show is a character called Max T2, inspired by U.S. and British TV
program Max Headroom. The editor regrets the error.

(Wendy Woods/19890506)


(EXCLUSIVE)(GOVT)(SFO)(00001)

JUDGE DELAYS TRIAL IN BROWN BAG VERSUS SYMANTEC "LOOK AND FEEL" SUIT
SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAY 5 (NB) -- Federal District
Court Judge Robert Aguilar has refused to issue a summary judgement
in the "look and feel" suit Telemarketing Resources [a.k.a. Brown
Bag Software] has launched against Symantec Corporation. The suit,
filed in June, 1988, claims Symantec's Grandview software violates
trademarks and copyrights which Telemarketing has on its PC Outline
Program. In refusing to issue a summary judgment, the court has
paved the way for a full-blown trial.

Brown Bag President Sandy Schupper tells Newsbytes that the judge,
realizing the complexity of the case, has ordered the trial date of
June 5 be taken off the calendar, and is taking several weeks to
look at both programs, of which he requested copies.

In court today, both sides brought PCs and staged demonstrations
of their products. Symantec's attorneys argued that Grandview was
derived from More! and ThinkTank, two products acquired after a merger
with Living Videotext. However, Schupper's forces argued that
his own product, PC Outline, was the father of Grandview. Both
were written by the same person -- programmer John Friend --
and according to Friend's deposition, says Schupper, Friend
admitted that he used some portions of PC Outline's source code
when writing Grandview, and an original title of the product was
PC Outline II.

Schupper says the court was most impressed when Telemarketing
demonstrated identical bugs which appear in both Grandview and
PC Outline. One bug, he says, makes the cursor suddenly stretch
from a little red square to a three-inch long cursor.

Mitchell Zimmerman, attorney for Symantec at Palo Alto-based
Fenwick, Davis and West could not be reached for comment at
deadline.

(Wendy Woods/19890505/Press Contact: Sandy Schupper, Brown Bag
Software, 408-559-4606)


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

CONGRESS GETS BILL TO ELIMINATE BONDS ON BABY BELLS
WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A., 1989 MAY 1 (NB) -- For the third
consecutive session, Reps Al Swift, a Washington Democrat, and
Tom Tauke, an Iowa Republican, have introduced legislation to
liberate the seven Bell Sisters from the business restrictions of the
1984 Bell System break-up. The Consumer Telecommunications
Services Act of 1989, however, has a better chance of passage
than previous efforts, because major players like Rep. John
Dingell, whose House committee would have to pass on any
legislation, are now in favor of bringing Judge Harold Greene's
dominance of federal telecommunications policy to an end.

The Bells aren't completely happy with the Swift-Tauke bill,
however. Particularly galling are complex clauses requiring that
the Bells provide information services on a nondiscriminatory
basis, and clauses which prevent the Bells from subsidizing the
new businesses with profits earned from basic phone service. The
new bill faces many hurdles, of course, from both consumer
advocates eager to strengthen the rules and from the Bells, which
want to weaken them. Past attempts to legislate the rules for the
break-up have floundered on the political differences.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890505)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(SYD)(00003)

LICENCES FOR EXPORT IN PLACE
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1989 MAY 5 (NB) -- Three export permits/licences
have been set up for the export of different level-controlled hi-tech
goods, now that Australia is a COCOM member. Permits for all dual-use
technology exports to all destinations are now needed. Defence
Department approvals must be obtained before May 23, when the new
regulations come into effect.

(Paul Zucker/19890505)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(TOR)(00004)

AMIGA, COMMODORE PC-COMPATIBLES GET ONTARIO SCHOOLS APPROVAL
TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1989 MAY 1 (NB) -- Commodore's Amiga
2000 and 2500 and its IBM-compatible PC 10-III, PC 20-III and PC
40-III have been approved as Grant-Eligible Microcomputer Systems
for use in Ontario schools. The provincial government approval,
which qualifies schools that buy the machines for substantial
financial support from the province, comes just a couple of weeks
after the Apple Macintosh received similar approval, and four
months after the province approved Commodore's ComLinks
educational system.

The move is the latest in a series of moves away from the previous
policy of providing support only for a narrow range of hardware.
That policy came under fire from a variety of directions, including
the provincial government's own auditor, who said it limited the
availability of software that Ontario schools could use.

(Grant Buckler/19890503/Press Contact: Toni Pettit, The
Communications Group, 416-447-8591)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(SIN)(00005)

SINGAPORE STUDENTS WANT MORE NEWS ON CAREERS BACK HOME
SINGAPORE, S.E. ASIA, 1989 MAY 2 (NB)-- Singapore students studying in
the U.S. want more information on computer careers available at home.
That was the feedback received by Singapore's National Computer
Board [NCB] after its recent three-week visit there to tell them about job
opportunities available back home.

Foong Tze Foon, deputy director of NCB's Information Technology
Manpower Development Unit, said that the students lamented on the lack
of information on current developments in Singapore, especially on the
growing information technology [IT] industry. "Many Singapore computer
science and electrical engineering students wish to return home upon
graduation but are unsure of the job market here," he said.

The objective of the mission, organised jointly by the NCB, the
Professional Information Placement Services [PIPS] and the Singapore
Embassy in Washington, was to recruit Singaporeans and Asians for jobs
in the IT industry in Singapore. Experience had shown that many
Singaporeans did not return home after graduation because they were
attracted to work in the fast-growing IT industry in the states.

In March, a similar two-week trip to the U.S. and Canada organised by
the NCB, six major Singapore companies met 350 students and offered 27
applicants jobs on the spot. The six - Singapore Airlines, Philips,
Sony, General Motors, Motorola and Archive - also shortlisted a
further 80 for further interviews in Singapore.

Mr. Foong, leader of the NCB mission, said that Singapore students were
pleasantly surprised at the progress and development of the
information technology industry in Singapore. He said that they did
not realise the Singapore job market is "as exciting and vibrant as
the one in the U.S." because of the growing number of multinationals
that have set up software development and research centers here. The
students were impressed that the NCB could computerise the civil
service and develop systems like TradeNet.

The mission visited six universities rated highly for their computer
science and electrical engineering disciplines. They included the
Berkley campus of the University of California, University of Southern
California, University of Wisconsin, Purdue University, University of
Texas and Massachussets Institute of Technology.

The other organisations besides NCB and PIPS that wanted to recruit IT
personnel included Ashton-Tate, Xerox, Institute of Systems Science
and the Housing and Development Board. Resumes were collected by NCB
and PIPS to be circulated to other organisations such as the
Development Bank of Singapore, NEC Singapore, Abacus Distribution
Systems and the Education Ministry.

72 candidates out of more than 500 interviewed were offered jobs. The
response from both students and participating organisation was so
encouraging that the NCB plans to have another mission next March.

The general view was that more such "career fairs" should be held in
the U.S.

(Michael Worsley/19890505)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(KUL)(00006)

DEPUTY MINISTER CALLS FOR MALAYSIAN BUSINESSES TO USE COMPUTERS
KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA, 1989 APR 22 (NB) -- Malaysian Deputy Finance
Minister Datuk Loke Yuen Yow said yesterday that local small and
medium companies should keep abreast with current market trends,
especially in the use of computers. Datuk Loke was speaking at a one-
day seminar on "Gaining The Competative Edge," a Chinese-language
seminar on computers.

He said that small and medium-scale businessmen should upgrade and
aggressively meet the challenges and opportunities facing them now and
in future. This is in the wake of the country's economy picking up,
foreign investors coming in and generally a better business climate
available, he said. He added that one of the ways to compete in an
overcrowded marketplace is a faster turn-around.

He expressed the view that computerisation is not just for the big
corporations and they need not have to learn English to understand
computers. Whether a company is big or small, it needs to understand
new processes and management techniques of its customers just to keep
up with the competition, he said.

(Michael Worsley & S. Roowi/19890502)


(EXCLUSIVE)(IBM)(BOS)(00001)

IBM RUMORED TO BE READYING BARRAGE OF NEW PCS
ARMONK, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1989 MAY 5 (NB) -- Informed
sources tell Newsbytes that the world's leading computer company,
IBM, is readying a slew of new PC software products for the office
automation market.

While details are sketchy and unconfirmed at press time, IBM is
expected to announce a "large number" of software products on May
16, according to several sources.

One analyst told Newsbytes that IBM will introduce an integrated
series of software products, including a new word processor and an
electronic mail package, that will integrate relatively seamlessly.
Transparent access to mainframe and minicomputer data is also
expected.

All of the products will share a graphical user interface, one source
speculated, and will multitask under the OS/2 environment. The
software is expected to include both products developed internally
and third party software from leading vendors.

(Jon Pepper/19890505)


(NEWS)(IBM)(SFO)(00002)

NEW LAN FOR SMALL WORK GROUPS FROM COMPUTER PATHWAYS
BOTHELL, WASHINGTON, U.S.A., 1989 MAY 5 (NB) -- Offices in need of a
small local area network to share peripherals, file transfer, and
electronic mail among up to three PCs or laptops have an economical
method available from Computer Pathways. PrinterLAN, $295, is
a hardware/software combination for three PCs and does not require
a file server. The system is IBM NetBIOS compatible with
DOS 3.X file and record-locking. A maximum of 50 feet between
stations is allowed by the use of a standard RJ-11 telephone
cable. The three PCs are connected via existing COM ports on
the computer.

The system is also expandable to five or 50 PCs when used with
other local area network products from Computer Pathways.

(Wendy Woods/19890506/Press Contact: 206-487-1000


(NEWS)(IBM)(SFO)(00003)

NEW VERSION OF DRAGNET HITS THE STREETS
BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAY 6 (NB) -- Access Softek has
released a new version of Dragnet, a fast and popular text retrieval
program for PCs. Dragnet 2.0 can scan one megabyte of text in
eleven seconds on a 286/PC, making it twenty times faster than
Dragnet 1.1. Also, the new Dragnet supports both the Windows Clipboard
and Dynamic Data Exchange [DDE], integrating it with all other
Windows applications.

Searches can be linked with AND, or OR and files can be read from
any application, including database and spreadsheets. The product
is $145, upgrades are available for $30.

Access Softek has also announced Prompt! 1.2, a hard disk file
management program which can copy, move, rename, or delete files
based on the file content, not just the name. The program works
in conjunction with Dragnet. For example, Dragnet can tell
Prompt! which files contain the phrase "Environmental impact report"
OR "greenhouse effect." Prompt! can then move those files
into a new directory.

(Wendy Woods/19890506/Press Contact: Chris Doner, 415-654-0190)


(NEWS)(IBM)(SFO)(00004)

NEC LEADS THE LAPTOP PACK
WOOD DALE, ILLINOIS, U.S.A., 1989 MAY 5 (NB) -- NEC Home Electronics
sold the most laptops in America in 1988, the second year it won
that distinction. According to IMS America's Reseller Report,
the NEC MultiSpeed family raked in 38 percent of the market
share in a category comprising all battery and non-battery operated
laptops. Runners-up included Toshiba, Zenith, and Compaq
with 35 percent, 20 percent, and five percent, respectively.

NEC says its laptop MultiSpeed EL alone held 20 percent of the unit
market share, making it the most popular laptop in America.

IMS America, based in Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania, tallies
up purchases from computer resellers throughout the U.S., and publishes
the data each month in Reseller Report.

(Wendy Woods/19890506/Press Contact: Marion Black-Ruffin, NEC Home
Electronics, 312-860-9500)


(ADVANCE)(IBM)(LAX)(00005)

ASHTON-TATE ANNOUNCES SPECIAL DBASE FILE RECOVERY PROGRAM
TORRANCE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAY 8 (NB) -- Ashton-Tate is
announcing a new dBASE file recovery utility called dBASE File
Recovery to be used specifically with dBASE files. The program,
developed by Keith Mund of Mund Information Systems, is being
published by Tate Publishing, a division of Ashton-Tate.

Brad Stevens of Corporate Communications at Ashton-Tate, told
Newsbytes the program is similar to the Norton Utility and other
file recovery programs. It differs from the others in one very
significant aspect -- files are reconstructed in dBASE format
rather than the data strings other programs produce.

Recovery using dBASE File Recovery is said to be up to 100 percent of
data from corrupted floppy and hard disk storage. The new program
is shipping immediately and will be available through retail
outlets and directly from Tate Publishing.

(Janet Endrijonas/19890505/Media Contact: Brad Stevens, Ashton-
Tate, 213-538-7348)


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

SUPERDOS FROM BLUEBIRD SYSTEMS SUPPORTS IBM'S MODEL 30 286
CARLSBAD, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAY 5 (NB) -- BlueBird systems
has announced that an enhanced version of its multiuser
operating system, SuperDOS, is available for the new IBM PS/2
Model 30 286.

Marketing Communications Manager Rebecca Gribbs told
Newsbytes SuperDOS can support up to 18 users on the Model 30 286
as compared with 10 users on the standard Model 30. She indicated
that this may be the largest multiuser application available for
this PS/2 model. For Bluebird, an 18 user system is a midrange
product. SuperDOS can support up to 66 users on IBM's Model 80.

(Janet Endrijonas/19890505/Press Contact: Rebecca Gribbs,
Bluebird Systems, 619-438-2220)


(NEWS)(IBM)(LAX)(OOO07)

COMPUTER PERIPHERALS BRINGS OUT A VERSATILE VGA BOARD
NEWBURY PARK, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAY 2 (NB) -- VisionMaster, a
graphics display adapter card supporting seven popular IBM display
standards is the latest news from Computer Peripherals, Inc [CPI].
VisionMaster supports VGA and all three EGA modes as well as
CGA, MDA and Hercules monochrome display standards.

According to Asif Khan, executive vice president of CPI, VisionMaster
eliminates the need to switch boards to accommodate different
monitors.

(Janet Endrijonas/19890505/Press Contact: Angela Sweet, Computer
Peripherals, Inc., 805-499-5751)


(NEWS)(IBM)(LAX)(OOO08)

TOSHIBA OFFERS SPECIAL PROMOTION TO T1000 LAPTOP BUYERS
TUSTIN, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAY 1 (NB) -- A combination
price reduction and software promotion for the T1000 laptop
computer has been announced by the Computer Systems Division of
Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc. The promotion, which
kicked off on May 1, is scheduled to continue through the end of
1989.

The unit's price has been reduced from $1,249 to $999. In
addition, end-users buying a T1000 during the promotion period
can also buy Microsoft Works at a substantial discount. End-
users who buy a T1000 and an optional 768Card for expanded memory
will receive Microsoft Works free.

(Janet Endrijonas/19890505/Press Contact: Tom Sherrard/Toshiba
America Information Systems/714/583-3000)


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

AST LOWERS PRICE OF RAMPAGEPLUS BOARDS
IRVINE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 APRIL 26 (NB) -- AST Research
has lowered the price of its 512KB RampagePlus 286 and its
RampagePlus/MC memory/multifunction boards. RampagePlus 286 has
been reduced to $695 while the new price for RampagePlus/MC is
$795.

These prices were tested during a promotional campaign in
March and April after which AST decided to make them permanent in
an effort to maintain a competitive edge in the enhancement board
marketplace.

(Janet Endrijonas/19890505/Press Contact: Joel C. Don, AST
Research, Inc., 714-756-4942)


(NEWS)(IBM)(ATL)(000010)

BOCA RESEARCH DROPS BOARD PRICES IN WAKE OF NEW PLANT OPENING
BOCA ROTAN, FLORIDA, U.S.A., 1989 APR 25 (NB) -- Boca Research
has dropped prices on its memory boards, signaling the final
ebbing of a tide of rising memory prices in the wake of a 1986
anti-dumping accord with Japan. Boca dropped the price of its four
megabyte Bocaram 50/60 board for the PS/2 by $200, to $1,495. A four
megabyte extended memory board for the PC AT dropped $300, to
$1,195. Boards with less memory also were dropped in price.

Boca founder Tim Farris was part of the first great success
stories in PC add-in boards as the designer of Quadram's
Quadboard in 1982. He left Quadram soon after cofounder Leland
Strange began turning the company toward acquisitions, imports,
and value-added marketing. Boca recently moved into bigger
offices and expanded its manufacturing plant 50 percent. The company
employs 50 people. The success of Boca Research is generally
considered good news for those who favor quality American-made
products.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890505/Press Contact: Silvia Fagiani, Boca
Research, 404-642-6648)


(NEWS)(IBM)(BOS)(00011)

LOTUS ANNOUNCES A NEW VERSION OF MANUSCRIPT
CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1989 MAY 1 (NB) -- Lotus has
announced a new release of its word processing software, Manuscript.
The new release, version 2.1, includes the ability to link worksheets
that are created with Lotus' 1-2-3 Release 2.2 and the still unreleased
1-2-3 Release 3. Other changes to version 2.1 including a shading
feature that highlights information in a document, and file exchange
with leading PC word processing programs.

New printing capabilities added to the product include support for
duplex printing with such laser printers as the Hewlett-Packard
LaserJet II-D and the Canon LBP-8IIR.

Shipping with Manuscript 2.1 will be an Enhancement Pak, that
includes promotional offers form Addison Wesley, Adobe, Bitstream,
Inset, and other companies.

Suggested retail price for Manuscript 2.1, which should ship later this
month, is $495. The upgrade price for registered Manuscript 2.0 users
is $20; $75 for registered 1.0 users.

(Jon Pepper/19890505/Press Contact: Martha Isham, Lotus, 617-577-
8500)


(NEWS)(IBM)(BRU)(00012)

IBM ANNOUNCES NEW PRINTERS
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM, 1989 MAY 03 (NB) -- IBM has released two new
letter quality [LQ] printers - the X24E and the X24LE. Both
printers utilize dot matrix technology and 24-pin heads to offer very
fast printing.

The IBM Proprinter X24E, a narrow platten unit, is capable of 208
characters per second [cps] -- a 20 percent speed increase on the
previous model in the Proprinter series. The XL24E, meanwhile, is
an Epson FX80 compatible.

Both printers have RS232 and RS422 serial inputs, and can be
connected to any IBM PC or PS/2 machine.

(Peter Vekinis/19890503)


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

KNIGHT-RIDDER TRADING TV STATIONS FOR ONLINE SERVICES
MIAMI, FLORIDA, U.S.A., 1989 MAY 1 (NB) -- Knight-Ridder plans to
sell eight of its television stations -- a medium generally believed
to have peaked in revenues -- and some of its 30 newspapers.
The money will be invested, according to President James
K. Batten, in electronic information businesses. Batten told the
company's stockholders' meeting in Miami his company will sell
stations and papers to pay for Dialog, purchased last year for $353
million from Lockheed. Lower advertising revenues and the Dialog
purchase caused a 37 percent drop in Knight-Ridder's net income for
the first quarter, compared to a year ago.

Besides paying for Dialog, Knight-Ridder may be forced to create
new online software, say observers. Dialog, with hundreds of
different databases, and VuText, one of the two major players in the
online newspaper "morgue" or back-issue business, have different
command structures. MoneyCenter, the brokers' service, could offer
the model of what Knight-Ridder can do with better software. By
combining charts, text, and online transactions processing on a single
screen, MoneyCenter is expected to prove a model for the 1990s.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890505/Press Contact: Lee Ann Schlatter, 305-
376-3939)


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

GENIE ADDS ROUNDTABLES FOR HAYES, WORDPERFECT, ASHTON-TATE
ROCKVILLE, MARYLAND, U.S.A., 1989 APRIL 26 (NB) -- GEnie
Information Services fired more shots in the continuing battle
for online hardware and software support by adding roundtables on
Hayes modems, and WordPerfect and Ashton-Tate software products,
to its online service. CompuServe and Bix are the other big
players among national services offering direct contact between
buyers of computer products and the people who make them.

The new GEnie services are typical of the genre. Corporate
personnel promise to review inquiries submitted to them each
day. Electronic mail and computer conferencing are both offered,
with frequently-asked questions and answers becoming a database
of help, valuable to users as a way to get answers and to vendors
as an indication of field problems Software utilities can also be
shared through such forums, like device drivers and sample
programs. Product bulletins and bulletin board features are also
part of the roundtables.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890505/Press Contact: Jacelyn Swenson, GEnie,
301-340-4485)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00003)

MAJOR ONLINE MAIL SERVICES INTERCONNECT UNDER X.400 STANDARD
RYE BROOK, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1989 MAY 1 (NB) -- MCI Mail has
signed interconnection agreements between its service and the
electronic mail services of Dialcom and Telemail. Separately,
Telenet announced an inter-connection deal with AT&T Mail. All
the links will be handled by a standard known as X.400, first
proposed by the CCITT, an international standards-making body,
and being actively pushed by both the federal government and
trade groups like the Aerospace Industry Association. All the
X.400 connections are expected to be available by this summer.

According to published reports, Telenet's Telemail has 300,000
subscribers, MCI Mail 110,000, and AT&T Mail 50,000. Dialcom,
which claims to be bigger than even CompuServe with 21 systems
worldwide, is a relatively small player in the U.S. market. All
such membership estimates, however, can be misleading, because
they count mailboxes, not usage.

Gateways under X.400 are becoming easier to implement because of
translation products like Soft Switch's Soft Switch Central
translation product, which let users of proprietary e-mail
packages from IBM, Wang, DEC and others exchange mail easily over
X.400 links.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890505/Press Contact: Jane Levene, MCI Mail,
914-934-6480)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00004)

FIRST CITY BANK JOINS SOUTHWESTERN BELL'S U.S. VIDEOTEL
HOUSTON, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1989 APRIL 27 (NB) -- First City Bank of
Houston, which was refinanced last year under Robert Abboud, has
announced a pilot program to make home banking services available
through U.S. Videotel's Sourceline service, which is based on the
Minitel videotex standard and backed by Southwestern Bell. First
City is the first financial institution to join SourceLine, but
has no exclusivity. U.S. Videotel predicted SourceLine will have
60,000 users by year-end, and it's giving away PC software as
well as selling Minitel-type terminals inexpensively to reach that goal.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890505/Press Contact: Paul D. White, U.S.
Videotel, 713-956-9660)


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

INFORUM ANNOUNCES LINK WITH PRODIGY
ATLANTA, GEORGIA, U.S.A., 1989 APR 17 (NB) -- The Inforum, a high-tech
trade mart which opens in September, announced it will become an
information provider of the Prodigy Service with Inforum Online. Inforum
will preregister exhibitors and attendees at its trade fairs,
offer vendor and product information, schedules, a technology
news service, and bulletin boards. Owners of Inforum show rooms
will also be able to place their ads directly in front of buyers,
because advertising through "look" windows is a primary feature
of the Prodigy service.

Since the only Prodigy market in Inforum's Southeast service area
is Atlanta, the announcement is one more indication that a full
national roll-out of the $10/month NAPLPS-based videotex service
is on track.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890505/Press Contact: Mike Darcy, Prodigy,
914-993-8846)


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

DASNET NOW REACHES CARIBBEAN BASIN WITH E-MAIL
CAMPBELL, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAY 2 (NB) -- DA Systems has
linked up with yet another major world telecommunications power --
Trinidad & Tobago External Telecommunications [TEXTEL] -- to add
electronic mail addresses in the Caribbean, Venezuela, and Guyana
to its network. The TEXTEL electronic messaging system adds
three million more potential addresses to the DASnet Service,
a network which interconnects a wide range of electronic mail and
computer networks.

On June 1, the TEXTEL messaging service will provide fax and telex
delivery options, as well as computer conferencing, bulletin boards,
and full-screen text editing. "Because TEXTEL will be first in
the Caribbean Region providing this type of service, negotiations
are underway with the University of the West Indies for our
electronic messaging services to link their three campuses --
Barbados, Trinidad, and Jamaica," comments Trevor Sylvestor, TEXTEL's
marketing manager.

DASnet now links the following systems: AT&T Mail, BIX, CIGnet,
CONNECT, Dialcom, EIES, EasyLink, Envoy 100, FAX, GeoMail, INET,
MCI Mail, The Meta Network, NWI, PeaceNet/EcoNet, Portal, The
Source, Telemail, ATI's Telemail [Japan], Telex, TEXTEL, TWICS
[Japan], UNISON, UUCP, The Well, Internet Domains, and several
corporate e-mail systems.

(Wendy Woods/19890506/Press Contact: Anna Lange, DA Systems, 408-
559-7434)


(EXCLUSIVE)(TELECOM)(SFO)(00007)

BUNNELL TO LAUNCH ONLINE BIOTECHNOLOGY NETWORK
SAN MATEO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAY 5 (NB) -- David Bunnell,
best known as founder of PC Week, is launching an online network devoted
to the biotechnology industry. Why biotechnology? Because it's
a fairly concentrated, but fast-growing industry, according to his
director of publications, Cliff Barney. "There are only
1500 serious biotech companies in the world. It's a growth industry.
It's just reached the point where it's impacting the rest of the
world."

Barney tells Newsbytes that the service, a feature of Bunnell's
Io Publishing in San Mateo, California, will be targeted
at biotechnology companies, investors, academic specialists, and
government regulators -- inotherwords not the mass market. The
service is slated for launch in October in conjunction
with the International Biotechnology trade show in San Mateo, and
will carry a hefty surcharge in order to pay for itself on an as-yet-
unnamed "major" online network. "We are talking to Connect, Inc.,"
Barney confirmed. Printed versions of the online information will be
desktop published on demand.

Cynthia Robbins-Roth, a former project leader at Genentech, and
editor of BioVenture View, has been named editor-in-chief of the
new service.

(Wendy Woods/19890505/Press Contact: Io Publishing, 415-340-9011)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(LAX)(00008)

EDS AIDS UNDERSEA EXPLORER IN TELEPRESENCE PROJECT CALLED JASON
DALLAS, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1989 MAY 1 (NB) -- Electronic Data Systems
Corp. [EDS] is providing communications technology and project
management that is enabling Titanic discoverer Dr. Robert Ballard
to bring "telepresence" to some 250,000 U.S. students during the
first two weeks in May.

Telepresence is the use of telecommunications technology to
create a simulated presence at a remote site. Live transmission
from the Mediterranean Sea floor to sites in the U.S. has never
been done before. The satellite transmission will be downlinked
to museums across the country. In areas where no museum facility
is available, EDS is making a special effort to bring students
into EDS facilities to watch the internal feed.

The combined technology of satellite communications and fiber
optics allows the Jason signal to travel at the speed of light
with only a half second delay between broadcast from the ship to
museum reception. Mark Fox of EDS in Sacramento, California told
Newsbytes that with telepresence, the students are able to feel
like they are actually on the sea floor. He added that the rest
of the country will have a chance to see the results of the Jason
project undersea explorations late this summer when cable
television airs a special.

(Janet Endrijonas/19890505/Media Contact: Nancy Voith, EDS, 214-
661-6514)


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

NEW YORK PORT AUTHORITY ENTERS COMMERCIAL ONLINE MARKET
NEW YORK, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1989 MAY 1 (NB) --The Port Authority
of New York and New Jersey has put its Automated Cargo Expediting
System -- ACES -- on sale for the 500 organizations who handle
cargo transactions at the port. ACES came online May 1, through a
committee under by GE Information Services, after meeting targets
set in a five-month pilot program. ACES will share data from all the
players in the cargo business -- shippers, steamship lines,
custom house brokers, and terminal operators -- so they can
track shipments. The system includes Electronic Data Interchange,
or EDI, features so that invoices and bills of lading can be
handled electronically, saving more money. The port hopes to
improve ACES with links to railroad and trucking companies, and
the port also hopes to add data from federal agencies like the
Customs Service, Food and Drug Administration and Department of
Agriculture.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890505/Press Contact: Sidney Frigand, Port
Authority, 212-466-7777)


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

TYMNET INTRODUCES HYBRID PRIVATE NETWORK PRODUCT
DALLAS, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1989 MAY 2 (NB) -- Tymnet, a subsidiary of
McDonnell-Douglas, has introduced a hybrid network called the
Small-Scale Distributed Network -- SDN. The product, shown at the
International Communication Association show, uses X.25 lines and
the public data network to create a cost-effective way of linking
a company's scattered offices. Companies have long been buying
dedicated lines to link their large offices, using public data
network only for the lesser-used links. The Tymnet product will
let them handle this load-sharing automatically, through software
located in PCs not directly linked to the nodes so they don't tie
up communications lines in the bookkeeping. Use of the product,
of course, may tie the user to Tymnet as his public data network
provider, which is the general idea.

Separately, Tymnet announced a direct link with Southwestern
Bell's MicroLink II packet switch, which will bring more nodes to
both networks. MicroLink is now available in Wichita, Kansas,
Topeka, Kansas, and St. Louis LATAs, and will roll-out in

Houston, Texas, and Tulsa and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma May 15.
The deal was not unexpected -- MicroLink II uses Tymnet hardware
and software.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890505/Press Contact: Don Parkman, Tymnet,
408-922-7602)


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

COVIA'S TOP GUN TO COORDINATE WORLDWIDE RESERVATIONS NET
SWINDON, ENGLAND, 1989 MAY 4 (NB) -- John R. Zeeman, currently
the top marketing and planning man at United Airlines and,
therefore, head of the Covia Partnership, owners of United's
Apollo system, has been appointed as chief executive of Galileo,
which will link the Covia's network to a group of European
airlines including Alitalia, British Airways, KLM Royal Dutch
Airlines, and Swissair. US Air is also a shareholder in Covia.

Galileo expects to roll out its worldwide airline reservations
system this autumn.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890505/Press Contact: Sarah Rossi, Galileo,
312-988-2684)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(BOS)(00012)

DRI/MCGRAW-HILL LAUNCHES ONLINE SERVICE FOR INVESTORS
NEW YORK, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1989 MAY 4 (NB) -- DRI/McGraw-
Hill has reached an agreement with Frank Russell Company, the
world's leading asset strategy consultant, to provide Russell equity
indexes data electronically for the first time to investment planners
worldwide.

Under the agreement, DRI/McGraw-Hill will provide 24-hour daily
telephone access to the indexes database, which contains statistical
information on the structure and performance of the Russell 3000
Index, Russell 2000 Small Stock Index, Russell 1000 Index, Russell
Earnings Growth Index, and Russell Price-Driven Index.

The new database will have its formal introduction during Seminars
to be held May 11 in San Francisco, May 16 in Boston, and May 18
in New York.

(Jon Pepper/19890505/Press Contact: Alan Towers, Alan Towers
Assoc., 212-354-5020)


(EXCLUSIVE)(TELECOM)(LON)(00013)

BT'S IPSS CONFIRMS TARIFF CHANGES; GREATER CHOICE SOON
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1989 MAY 09 (NB) -- In the wake of last week's
announcement of a major change in the way the British Telecom
International's [BTI's] International Packet Switch Stream [IPSS]
calls are to be charged, BTI has revealed that the data only
tariffs may be subject to change in the future.

BTI's proposed changes, which take effect from 1 June, 1989,
change the way in which data calls to foreign X.25 networks such
as Telenet and Tymnet from a time-plus-data to a data-only basis.
The changes mean that a worst-case U.K. to U.S. data call charge at
1200 bps [bits per second] could cost 72 pence [120 cents] a minute,
compared with around 40 pence a minute at present.

According to Chris Broomfield, product manager with BTI, the new
IPSS charging system is to make way for impending high-speed
[2400 bits per second] access with error-correction. In an
interview with Newsbytes, he refuted suggestions that the bulk of
IPSS subscribers will have to pay more.

"The new rates mean that users who stay connected to foreign X.25
networks for lengthy periods of time, and who transmit little or
no data, will make considerable savings. We have done our
calculations, and these show that the bulk of our dial-up users'
charges will not alter under the new system," he told Newsbytes.

When asked to comment about the possibility of 160 pence a minute
charges being imposed on 2400 bps subscribers, when that service
becomes available, he said that only a small proportion of users
will be in this category. "By far the majority of our users will find the
benefits of the abolition of time charges will make calls a lot cheaper
for them," he said, adding that he was aware of the high costs of
moving large quantities of data in short time across the
Atlantic. "These new tariffs are not cast in stone for all our customers.
We are keeping a close eye on developments, and may announce new
optional charging schemes at a later date," he added.

(Steve Gold/19890505/Press Contact - IPSS - 01-492-2750)


(EXCLUSIVE)(TELECOM)(LON)(00014)

MERCURY COMMUNICATIONS PUTS HOLD ON MPDS RATE CHANGES
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1989 MAY 05 (NB) -- In the wake of IPSS's
decision to switch to data only charges for international charges
[see separate story], Mercury Communications has confirmed it is
holding its own tariffs at the existing time plus data rates,
which equate to approximately 20 pence per minute from the U.K. to
the U.S. at 1200 bps.

Tony Scott, Mercury's International Data Services' manager, told
Newsbytes that he was aware of British Telecom International's
tariff changes, and that the position of Mercury's international
data call tariffs is still under consideration.

"We've yet to make any decision either way. All I can say is
that, no changes have taken place at present. If we file for new
charges, we'll let our subscribers know," he said.

In a related story, Mercury is currently putting the finishing
touches to a new menu-assisted front end to its data network.
Newsbytes has beta-tested the new service, and can report that it
is superior to BTI's IPSS service in providing error messages and
user prompts which assist the novice user in placing
international data calls around the world.

The new service replaces the somewhat the quirky mnemonic address
system used by Mercury packet switching to date, where COMP is
for Compuserve and SOUR is for the Source. In its place comes a
full X.121 addressing system, as used by most other X.25 data
network carriers such as PSS in the U.K., and Telenet and Tymnet in
the U.S. The Mercury X.121 service goes live from the end of this
month.

(Steve Gold/19890505/Press & Public Contact - Mercury
Communications - 01-528-2500)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(LON)(00015)

MICRONET FIGHTS GOVERNMENT TAX ONLINE SERVICES
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1989 MAY 05 (NB) -- Micronet, the computer-
oriented information provider on British Telecom's Prestel
service in the U.K., is fighting the imposition of value-added tax
[VAT] on online services. VAT at 15 percent has been charged on
most online services since the beginning of April, 1989.

David Rosenbaum, Micronet's product manager, said that, prior to
the tax changes in April, most online services - including
Prestel and Micronet - were not normally subject to VAT, but were
zero-rated for tax purposes, much as newspapers, books and other
services are tax-exempt in the U.K.

"There is no excuse for this. Either the government is preparing
the ground for the general imposition of VAT on the press, or
they have made a serious error. We're taking a stand because we
don't believe there should be a tax on information. We don't
believe there should be different rules for electronic media," he
said.

Micronet is seeking a reversal of the government's decision to
begin taxing Prestel services since April, 1989, on the grounds
that Micronet's electronic service is analogous to the printed
word, and should therefore be zero-rated for VAT purposes.

A petition, collected electronically, and 'signed' by more than
3,000 Micronet members, has been presented to Nigel Lawson, the
British chancellor of the exchequer. To assist its subscribers in
the transition to paying VAT, Micronet is keeping its annual
subscriptions at UKP 79-95 until the end of June. This price
includes a free GEC Datachat modem.

(Steve Gold/19890505/Press Contact - David Rosenbaum, Micronet -
Tel: [phone])


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(LON)(00016)

RACAL MOVES IN TO SATELLITE NETWORK SERVICES
BRACKNELL, ENGLAND, 1989 MAY 05 (NB) -- Racal Electronics has
announced its entry into the satellite network services industry.
The telecommunications-intensive company has teamed up with First Data
Resources and Cable Services Group of Omaha in the U.S., and is
now offering a transatlantic satellite service.

The service - based around Racal-Milgo's existing Sky-Networks
satellite services - has already signed its first customer, an
American Express subsidiary. The initial contract is worth $4.3
million.

Now operational, the Sky-Networks service offers users a high-
speed data network - operating at up to 1.544 megabits/second in
the U.S. or 2.048 megabits/second in Europe - as a direct
alternative to land-line leased circuits.

(Steve Gold/19890505/Press Contact - Richard Poston, Racal Press
Office - Tel: [phone])


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(LON)(00017)

FROST & SULLIVAN EDI CONFERENCE SCHEDULED FOR JUNE
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1989 MAY 05 (NB) -- Frost & Sullivan, the
information and survey group, has scheduled a major conference on
Electronic Data Interchange [EDI] for 28/29 June, 1989. The two-
day conference will take place in Brighton, and include active
case studies, rather than theoretical discussions, as has been
the norm with previous EDI conferences.

(Steve Gold/19890505/Press & Public Contact - Frost & Sullivan -
Tel: [phone])


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(LON)(00018)

VOICEMAIL INTERNATIONAL SECURES VATICAN VOICEMAIL CONTRACT
SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A. 1989 MAY 05 (NB) -- Voicemail
International, The California voice systems specialist, has
supplied the Vatican in Italy with its Voicemail system. The
system, supplied and installed last year, has just gone live in
Italy and allows 24-hour a day access to Pope John Paul's latest
message to the world.

Messages of approximately two minutes duration by his holiness
will be changed daily, and are available in English, Italian and
Spanish. The service is available in the U.S. using the following
numbers. Each message - changed daily - lasts two minutes:

011-39-77-79-3020 to hear the message in English;
011-39-77-79-3010 to hear the message in Italian; or
011-39-77-79-3030 to hear the message played in Spanish.

International Newsbytes subscribers should substitute the 011
international prefix with their usual international access
prefix.

According to Alan Rossi, Voicemail International's chairman, the
adoption of the Voicemail system by the Vatican is a major coup
for the company. "The use of a Voicemail system for the Vatican
represents a significant step towards worldwide public acceptance of
our technology as a new international communications media," he said.

(Steve Gold/19890505/Press Contact - Paul Votano, Voicemail
International - Tel: [phone])


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(LON)(00019)

REUTERS LAUNCHING ONLINE COMPANY SEARCH SYSTEM
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1989 MAY 05 (NB) -- Reuters Holdings, the news
agency network, has announced it is launching an interactive
online company search system later this year. Initially, the
service will be available on Reuters' existing Textline system.

According to the Computergram International newsletter, Reuters
has acknowledged that it has committed an oversight in failing to
supply online company information, despite the fact that its has
provided in-depth historical information on share prices and
company events in the past.

The new Reuters service will have seven sections, including
corporate, country, energy, finance, and trade reports. To assist
online computer users, Reuters is also planning to market a PC
and Macintosh communications package. The PC version will be available
shortly, with the Mac version following later this year.

(Steve Gold/19890505)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(SYD)(00020)

DATA SERVICE FOR INVESTORS
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1989 MAY 5 (NB) -- The Telerate online financial
data network is now available to subscribers in Australia, through a low-
cost service called Telerate Access Service [TAS].

TAS is delivered through Infolink Computer Services' packet
switched network. Investors can have permanent or dial-up
access. The full service costs AUS$2800 a month. The dial-up
service is AUS$300 to $350 a month, plus dial-up charges.

TAS has over 60,000 pages of financial information, covering
money, securities, foreign exchange, spot rates, news, predictions and
futures. The information is gathered from a wide range of
international sources. Stuart Evant, Telerate's sales manager,
said some financial institutions were buying the service so that
their staff could access Telerate from home.

(Paul Zucker and Martin Guldberg/19890505)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(SYD)(00021)

TELECOM BUYS SIGNAL EXPANSION
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1989 MAY 5 (NB) -- Telecom Australia has spent
AUS$35 million on computer equipment. The purchase saw Telecom
gain $15 million worth of data processing equipment from Bull HN
and two IBM-compatible Fujitsu mainframes, worth $6 million and
$14 million respectively.

The equipment will be split between Telecom information systems
divisions head office in Melbourne and its Sydney office. A
Telecom spokesman said the data processing equipment would be
used to expand Telecom's decentralized record information system
[D-Cris] that is presently being introduced to district offices.

One Fujitsu will be installed to increase capacity of Telecom's
billing system, Cabs, and the other will go to its computer-based
local exchange management system, Facs. The spokesman said the
purchase was an expansion of its present equipment and a
significant portion of the Telecom division's AUS$80 million
yearly computer buying budget.

(Paul Zucker/19890505)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(TOR)(00022)

BILL-PAYING SERVICE ABOUT TO HOOK UP WITH ALEX VIDEOTEX SYSTEM
WINNIPEG, MANITOBA, CANADA, 1989 MAY 3 (NB) -- Touchpay, a
telephone bill-paying service provided by Comcheq Services here,
is expected to be available on Bell Canada's Alex videotex system
in Montreal by mid-May. Leona Herzog, consumer marketing manager
for Touchpay, said the service has been available in Winnipeg for
more than two years, and Comcheq began marketing it nationwide in
December. Subscribers can pay bills for major credit cards, a
number of department store and gas station cards, telephone
service and electricity anywhere in Canada, she said. So far,
Winnipeg is the only city where customers can also pay their
parking tickets through Touchpay.

Users control the system from the keypad of a touch-tone
telephone, prompted by recorded voice messages. Customers using
Touchpay through the Alex system will use the keypads of their
videotex terminals. A personal identification number controls
access. The service costs 50 cents Canadian for each bill paid,
with no initial sign-up fee. Toll-free telephone numbers make
Touchpay available anywhere in Canada.

Alex, currently undergoing market tests in Montreal, is expected
to be extended eventually to other cities in Bell Canada
territory, Toronto and Ottawa being the obvious top contenders.

(Grant Buckler/19890503/Press Contact: Leona Herzog, Comcheq
Services, 204-947-9400)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(TOR)(00023)

CANADIAN ELECTRONIC FUNDS TRANSFER TRIAL PLANNED NEXT SUMMER
OTTAWA, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1989 MAY 4 (NB) -- The Interac
Association, Canada's national automated banking network, plans
to start an electronic funds transfer at point of sale [EFT/POS]
pilot project here next June. The association, which encompasses
all the major Canadian banks and some smaller trust companies,
said the system will allow participants to pay for purchases at
gas stations, grocery stores and other retail outlets with their
banking machine cards. The purchases will be debited directly to
the buyers' bank accounts.

The Royal Bank of Canada, a member of Interac, is already testing
such a system in London, Ontario. Other Interac members are also
exploring the technology. Interac's involvement, however, is
likely to be a key to EFT's success in Canada. Because of
Interac, almost any Canadian bank card works in almost any
automated teller machine in the country. The association's
involvement in electronic funds transfer would help to make the
cards universally useful as debit cards too. Thus a retailer
could provide EFT/POS services to everyone with a single
terminal.

(Grant Buckler/19890504/Press Contact: Interac Association, 416-
283-9521)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(TOR)(00024)

BELL THREATENS TO BUST MONOPOLY-BUSTER'S MONOPOLY
MONTREAL, QUEBEC, CANADA, 1989 MAY 3 (NB) -- Bell Canada,
threatened with competition in long-distance telephone service,
figures one good turn deserves another. Last month, cable TV
operator Rogers Communications of Toronto bought 40 percent of
CNCP Telecommunications, also of Toronto, and announced plans to
renew CNCP's bid to compete with Bell Canada and the other
Canadian phone companies in providing long-distance service.

Now, according to The Financial Post in Toronto, Bell Canada's
parent company is threatening to get into the cable TV business.
Montreal-based BCE Inc., which already has holdings in natural
resources, financial services and property development, now plans
to get into cable television, the Toronto daily reports. Not
only that, but the newspaper quotes Raymond Cyr, president of
BCE, as saying his company would set out to duplicate Rogers
Communications services in markets where the cable company
operates. At the press conference announcing his company's
involvement in CNCP last month, Ted Rogers, president of Rogers
Communications, accused the phone companies of trying to
perpetuate "Soviet-style monopoly" in Canadian phone service.

(Grant Buckler/19890503)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(TOR)(00025)

SMC NAMES COMPUSERVE CANADIAN DISTRIBUTOR FOR ARCNET PRODUCTS
TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1989 APRIL 28 (NB) -- Compuserve,
Canada's largest peripherals distributor, has acquired
distribution rights to Arcnet products from Standard Microsystems
of Hauppage, N.Y. Compuserve has offices in seven cities across
Canada. Standard Microsystems is the world's largest manufacturer
of Arcnet coaxial, twisted-pair and fiber-optic products.

(Grant Buckler/19890504/Press Contact: Jordan Goldman, Greenstone
Rabasca Roberts PR, 516-249-3366)


(EXCLUSIVE)(TRENDS)(SFO)(00001)

HIGH-TECH HOTEL HITS SAN FRANCISCO
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAY 5 (NB) -- Developer Mark
Lambourne is creating what could be the travelling executive's dream
hotel -- rooms equipped with IBM PS/2 computers, Ricoh fax machines,
voice mail, private telephones which can be direct-dialed from the
outside, a fully-equipped Macintosh-based desktop publishing room,
a boardroom, audio-visual facilities, and secretaries-for-hire, along with
custom-designed furniture, a television, VCR, and full-equipped
kitchen.

Slated to open for business July 1, the Nob Hill Lambourne
at 725 Pine Street, owned by Brittingham Guest Properties,
will have rooms priced from $175 to $250 per night -- a reasonable
rate for San Francisco. The hotel will have 14 rooms and six suites,
and is being created in a $1.4 million renovation on an existing
facility. Lambourne says sweeten an overnight stay, the staff will
answer your phone calls with the name you choose -- your
company, for instance -- rather than the name of the hotel.

Lambourne tells Newsbytes these so-called "executels" will also be
sited in Seattle, Chicago, New York, Boston, London, and Paris,
but San Francisco is the first. "It's an idea that we have thought
about for probably a year....Utilization of a fax machine, and the
fact that people need information now, will become more important
as we head toward 1992," he says.

"Business executives are fed up with balancing stuff on their
beds and pleading with the general manager for a fax machine."

While the facility has a July 1 start date, reservations can
be made now by calling, in the U.S., 1-800-BRITINN.

(Wendy Woods/19890505/Press Contact: Mark Lambourne, 433-2287)


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

WALL STREET JOURNAL EXPERIMENTING WITH AUDIOTEXT VERSION
ATLANTA, GEORGIA, U.S.A., 1989 APR 17 (NB) -- Dow-Jones & Co.,
publisher of The Wall Street Journal and the Dow-Jones News-
Retrieval database service, has taken another step into the
consumer audiotext market with JournalPhone. In the three-month
trial now going on in Atlanta, callers can get updated headlines,
market reports, quotes on 8,000 listed stocks -- even local
sports and weather -- with a local phone call. The service is
free to selected Wall Street Journal subscribers, who will
receive the number to call in a separate mailing. After the trial
ends in July, users will be asked to complete a survey telling
the publisher how they like it.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890505)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(ATL)(00003)

PAPERLESS BANKING AGE CLOSER WITH NEW SSI OFFERINGS
ATLANTA, GEORGIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAY 3 (NB) -- The age of paperless
banking moved a little closer as Stockholder Systems [SSI] of Atlanta
announced Version 5 of its Safe Box Accounting product and Version
2.3 of its PEP+, which does paperless entry processing through SSI's
Automated Clearing House, or ACH, network.

The goal of both programs is to reduce the number of man-hours
required to process transactions to a function of computer cycles.
PEP+, introduced in 1986, has become a standard in the ACH market,
and it now has 480 users in the banking industry. Both programs run on
IBM mainframes.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890505/Press Contact: Jimmy Locklear, SSI,
404-441-3387)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(ATL)(00004)

NEW ELECTRONIC METHODS APPROVED TO TRACK PROBLEM DRIVERS
ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA, U.S.A., 1989 APR 27 (NB) -- Your driving history
will now span all 50 states and the District of Columbia, thanks to
a new computer network and a change in rules affecting access to
a motorist's driving records.

First, a minor change in the law will now give the Coast Guard, and
those companies it shares data with, access to state driver records.
This clears up a loophole which led Exxon to hire Joseph J. Hazelwood,
the ship captain who ran the Exxon Valdez aground off Alaska last
month, and reportedly had previous traffic offenses.

Separately, the nation's motor vehicle departments announced plans
to network their computers under the American Association of Motor
Vehicle Administrators. The AAMVnet program is expected to reduce the
paperwork needed to keep track of truck drivers who have licenses
in multiple states. The program was initiated under a 1986 law
geared to promote highway safety. Only 10 states are using the
system now, mainly to pass electronic mail and post bulletins to
each other, but direct real-time online links are expected
eventually.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890505)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(ATL)(00005)

NORTH CAROLINA GETS PATENTS ON CHIP CONNECTION TECHNOLOGY
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NORTH CAROLINA, U.S.A., 1989 MAY 2 (NB) -- The
Microelectronics Center of North Carolina has received both
U.S. and Taiwanese patents for a new type of switch which
provides for high frequencies and low crosstalk levels. It was
developed by Gary W. Jones, director of fabrication operations at
MCNC. Besides being applicable to communications systems, they
can also be used in any multi-chip computer system running at a
high voltages.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890505/Press Contact: Renee Keever, MCNC,
919-248-1470)


(NEWS)(IBM)(BOS)(00006)

IBM LICENSES YET ANOTHER GRAPHIC INTERFACE
WOBURN, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1989 MAY 5 (NB) -- IBM has signed
a deal to license and develop graphical user interface technology with
Interactive Images, Inc.

Interactive Images is a leading vendor of graphical user interface
development technology. Under this agreement, both companies will jointly
develop and market various software products. IBM will also acquire a
minority equity interest in EASEL, a graphical user interface development
environment for personal computers.

EASEL consists of a development system, workstation run-time versions,
communications modules, application templates, and other modules designed
to help application-level programmers prototype and implement graphical
user interfaces.

Despite their stated move toward a "consistent" graphical user interface, this
agreement marks at least the third graphical user interface that IBM is
working with. Other companies include Microsoft, developer of the
Presentation Manager, and NexT, which has licensed parts of its interface to
IBM.

(Jon Pepper/19890505/Press Contact: Debbie Allen, Interactive Images, 617-
938-8440)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(BOS)(00007)

APPAREL INDUSTRY LOOKS TO TECHNOLOGY TO STAY COMPETITIVE
ORLANDO, FLORIDA, U.S.A., 1989 MAY 5 (NB) -- The American
Apparel industry is looking to bolster its use of technology in order
to remain competitive in world markets. According to Burton Ruby,
chairman of the Textile/Clothing Technology Corp., or TC[Squared],
U.S. apparel makers must turn to technology to stay competitive
without having to resort to tariffs, quotas, or government interference.

Ruby mentioned several items that came out of research at
TC[Squared]'s National Technology Center in Raleigh, N.C.. These
included: a six-station, computer controlled prototype system that
produces a pair of pants every 20 seconds; a skipped stitch detector
that can observe the point at which a stitch is dropped and sound an
alarm to stop production, and a computer controlled expert-system
interactive video program for sewing machine maintenance.

Mr. Ruby said that TC[Squared]'s Technology Center will be
producing more and more items that use advanced technology and
computers to help the apparel industry resume its position of
leadership.

(Jon Pepper/19890505/Press Contact: Ted Shumeyko, NTC, 212-679-
1702)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(LAX)(00001)

JOBS SHOWS LOS ANGELES WHAT'S NEXT -- APPLAUSE DESPITE BUGS
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAY 3 (NB) -- Southern
California companies were invited to take their first look at the
new Steven Jobs brainchild, the Next computer, last week in Los
Angeles.

The event was part of a Businessland seminar on the future of
personal computers. Businessland has exclusive rights to sell
Next to business customers. Prior to this agreement, the Next
computer, introduced as an educational tool, had been off limits
to business customers.

The Los Angeles business community's reaction to Next was warm
and enthusiastic. The group was treated to a display of Murphy's
Law since during the demonstration, the software running the
system crashed three times and it was apparent that the system
still has some bugs running around. Jobs was heard to comment on
this being the worst demonstration he's ever given.

Next runs on an easy-to-use version of the Unix multiuser
operating system. There are three processors, a standard central
processing unit, a floating point processor, and a digital signal
processor in the cube-design unit. Next is the first personal computer
to use optical rather than magnetic disks to store data.

(Janet Endrijonas/19890505)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(BOS)(00002)

SONY DISPLAYS REAL-TIME 3D GRAPHICS SYSTEM
NEW YORK, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1989 MAY 1 (NB) -- Sony displayed
a new custom graphics computer at the National Association of Broadcasters
convention in Las Vegas this week. The computer is the first
microprocessor-based product that can create and manipulate 3D
graphics in real time.

The Sony system goes beyond extrusion, a process where computers
make 2D text and simple objects appear to be 3D. The Sony system
DME-9000 System G can extrude various parts of complex objects to
provide complete 3D representation on screen.

Few details were available from the company because of pending
patent applications. However, the system is reported to use eight
Intel 80286 microprocessors working in parallel to process the effects.

The System G is intended for professional designers and production
houses, and uses a trackball with switches coupled with a standard
mouse for its user interface.

Final pricing is not yet known, but it is likely to close to the $500,000
mark, according to sources.

(Jon Pepper/19890505/Press Contact: Stephen Burke, Sony, 201-930-
7323)


(EDITORIAL)(TELECOM)(LAX)(00001)

W Y S I W Y G - Wayne Yacco's Gazette

WHAT, ME WORRY?
BURBANK, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A, 1989 MAY 5 (NB) -- IBM and Sears have
been heavily promoting their Prodigy Services Company for some time
now. At the end of last month they finally took the big step and
entered the New York market. Over 700,000 computing homes in the
city and its suburbs are now potential customers.

Prodigy is an online "interactive personal service" which allows
its users to receive personalized information, send electronic mail,
and execute transactions for banking, shopping, travel reservations,
etc. The service presently costs a flat fee of $9.95 per month.
Sounds exciting on the surface.

We all know the players. IBM: number one in computer marketing.
Sears is the nation's number-one retailer and a major player in the
financial arena; so, this makes sense from their standpoint. Maybe
it makes less sense from the user's view, though, even with the
tempting price.

Somehow Sears just doesn't inspire the same kind of confidence that
their high-technology partner does. For example, I recently went
into my local Sears, as I do frequently, to pick up a mail order.
This time I couldn't find my credit card. So, I asked if they might
not have kept it by mistake the last time I was in, just a week
earlier. Yes. They had found it. They had taken it to their
customer [dis]service department. They had destroyed it.

Couldn't they have reached me by telephone I wondered? They reach
me every single time an order comes in. Apparently, not when
they're trying to save me a great and unnecessary inconvenience, one
that stems from their failing to return my card in the first place.
It then becomes technically infeasible to find any of the detailed
information that they required me to provide for their database -- the
data that is available at all other times from the monitors in front
of every order-entry clerk.

Ok, I can accept that. Sears has every right to design self-serving
systems that ignore the needs of its customers. It's been doing so
for years with incomprehensible statements and invoices that never
seem to agree with each other or tell you much of anything. But
it's going to be hard for me to believe that they can make anything
electronic, that's more sophisticated than a Sears toaster, serve
me. Prodigy Services? Sounds a little like Edwin Teller teaming up
to produce nuclear weapons with Alfred E. Newman.

(Wayne Yacco/19890506)