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/nb890117.290

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

WINGZ STILL CLIPPED; INFORMIX MOLTS
MENLO PARK, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 JAN 11 (NB) -- One year and
hundreds of thousands of dollars in promotional costs later,
Informix still hasn't gotten Wingz, its graphic spreadsheet
for the Macintosh, out the door. The situation is so bad that
the firm has laid off 165 people, or 15 percent of its staff, to
save money.

An Informix spokeswoman told Newsbytes, "It's extremely close
but there's a couple of bugs. We're committed to releasing a
clean product," when asked about the delay in the Wingz release.
The product, considered a new category of software, was unveiled
at MacWorld in January, 1988 and was projected to have a mid-1988
release. Informix is struggling to get the program finished
as a new Wingz promotional campaign has been launched. Informix
bought a two-page spread in the current, February '89 issue of MacWorld
magazine to lure potential buyers with a free, instructional video
to the Wingz spreadsheet. In addition, Informix will, for the third
time, promote the product with its elaborate "time shuttle"
exhibit at MacWorld in San Francisco next week. The company's
best estimate of when Wingz will ship is now sometime in the next
three months.

The cost of maintaining the pace while still marketing its other
database management software led to the layoffs at Informix'
Silicon Valley and Lenaxa, Kansas locations. Chief Executive
Phillip White explained, "It's hard to say whether development
slipped or marketing got out ahead. The bottom line is
we're spending too much money and we have to cut expenses to get
them in line with revenue."

For Informix' new chief executive, it's been a trip from the
frying pan into the fire. Phillip White resigned as president
of Wyse Technology during an early January crisis involving a 15 percent
staff cut due to slumping sales. White has chosen to join Informix
as it, too, announces a 15 percent workforce cut. White had made
a statement when he left Wyse, saying he was out to "seek new
challenges." No doubt about it.

(Wendy Woods/19890113/Contact: Informix Director of Marketing Doug
Edwards, 913-492-3800)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(SFO)(00002)

BAD APPLES FOR MICROPRO -- A CHALLENGER EXPLOSION
SAN RAFAEL, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 JAN 13 (NB) -- Want to know
what happened to that word processor MicroPro International
said, back in November 1987, it would offer for the Macintosh by
June of 1988? So would MicroPro.

The $3 million job, which MicroPro assigned to Challenger Software of
Homewood, Illinois, has yet to bear fruit and has reached a crisis
stage. MicroPro has charged the firm with breach of contract
and wants its Macintosh word processor delivered within 60 days.

In a statement, MicroPro President Gari Grimm says, "The contract
calls for a cure period of up to 60 days during which Challenger
may cure the breach. However, there are no assurances that all
defects in the program can be corrected in that 60-day time frame,
and if Challenger is unable to make these corrections, the
agreement will be terminated."

Deb Lovig, MicroPro spokeswoman told Newsbytes, "We're still committed
to offering a Macintosh product. Unfortunately it will now be
delayed."

Newsbytes' call to Challenger Software went unreturned by deadline.

When MicroPro announced the product in November, 1987, it was
said to "break new ground" by integrating word processing, desktop
publishing, and graphics features. Today there are a myriad of
products that integrate those functions.

(Wendy Woods/19890114/Contact: Deb Lovig, MicroPro, 415-499-7676;
Challenger Software, 312-957-3475)


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

VENERABLE MACWRITE -- THE NEXT GENERATION
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 JAN 16 (NB) -- Claris
Corporation, the software subsidiary of Apple Computer, has
introduced MacWrite II, a new generation of the original
Macintosh word processing program. The new version of MacWrite,
set to ship in late February for a suggested price of $249,
is not an upgrade, but a complete rewrite with all new software
code. It runs three to five times faster than the original
and the spelling checker is ten times faster. MacWrite II
also has expanded layout capabilities, with more line spacing
choices and font sizes ranging from two to 500 points; can
handle multiple documents -- up to seven at once; has complete
WYSIWYG capabilities; has a find/change function which also
changes fonts, sizes and type styles as well as text.
There is an import an export function to other word processing
programs, mail merge, the ability to insert graphics into text.
MacWrite II also has a 220,000-word thesaurus desk accessory
and a 100,000-word dictionary.

Owners of MacWrite 5.0 can upgrade to MacWrite II for $65;
owners of previous versions of MacWrite and owners of other
Macintosh word processors can upgrade for $75.

(Wendy Woods/19890113/Contact: Dan Rampe, Claris, 415-960-2790)


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

CD-ROM FOR MAC IN SLOW ASCENT
MONTCLAIR, NEW JERSEY, U.S.A., 1989 JAN 13 (NB) -- While there
is a lot of talk, there is still little action in the Macintosh CD-ROM
field. Only a handful of CD-ROM titles for Macintosh exist, according to
The Bureau of Electronic Publishing, the nation's largest dealer
of CD-ROM-specific products, but the numbers are expected
to double by the end of 1989. Currently there are 12 to 15
CD-ROM-based programs and data files shipping, Barry Cinnamon, president
of BEP told Newsbytes. "It takes a long time. It took 3-4
years for 100 different titles to be available on the PC," he
said.

Among titles currently available are: Medline, a medical database;
News Digest; the Educorp Software Library; Comstock Desktop
Photography; ArtRoom, Macintosh images; and Kwikee InHouse Art Library.
Several new titles are expected at MacWorld, among them the first
CD-ROM-based game, Manhole, from MediaGenic. The ship date on
Manhole is unavailable at press time.

Cinnamon says CD-ROM-based data files will inevitably increase in
popularity because "it's the most cost-effective way to distribute
data." Mastering a disk can run about $2,000 for 100 disks
while premastering costs can range from $3,000 to $30,000.
Cinnamon, whose firm also sells CD-ROM drives for Macs and PCs,
says a CD-ROM drive for the Macintosh can be had for "less
than $800" and as the price continues to drop, demand for them
will increase.

A catalog of currently-available CD-ROM titles from the Bureau
is available by calling the firm at 201-746-3031.

(Wendy Woods/19890113/Contact: Barry Cinnamon, BEP, 201-746-3031)


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

APPLE LOSES BOESENBERG TO MIPS
CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 JAN 10 (NB) -- Apple Computer
is losing its senior vice president of Apple USA, Charles
Boesenberg, to MIPS Computer Systems of Sunnyvale on March 3.
Credited with splitting up the company's sales force into six
regional channels, Boesenberg also built a strong management
team and strengthened relationships with the company's reseller
channels. He is to be replaced by William Coldrick, previously
vice president, general manager, Northwest operations of Apple
U.S.A.

Of his new job, Boesenberg says it will be an opportunity to
be on the ground floor of a "pre-public startup with a
great product and a great reputation."

Boesenberg is the fifth top Apple officer to step down since October.
He was preceded by Delbert Yocam, Deborah Coleman, John Scull, and
Bud Colligan. Apple has been in what insiders call a "cultural
transition recently, as it matures into a billion-dollar,
increasingly pin-striped company.

(Wendy Woods/19890113/Contact: Christopher Escher, Apple, 408-974-2202)


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

SCULLEY MEETS WITH BUSH OVER EDUCATION
WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A., 1989 JAN 12 (NB) -- Apple Chairman John
Sculley has met with President-elect Bush to talk about education.
Apple Computer public relations officials say the Apple chief,
while having voted for Bush in the last presidential election,
is critical of Bush's failure to come out more strongly in favor
of improving education. Sculley is a member of the Natioanl
Center for Education and the Economy.

(Wendy Woods/19890113)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(WAS)(00007)

MAC TO PC TO MAC
WESTBORO, MASSCHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1989 JAN 9 (NB) -- Banyan Systems
is offering software that lets Macintosh computers and PCs send
and receive electronic mail over Banyan's Vines multiuser
operating system. Banyan says the product is easy to install, and
allows machines to communicate using the AppleTalk protocol. The
price is $795.

(Ken Maize/19890113/Contact: Banyan Systems, Inc., 115 Flanders
Rd., Westboro Mass 01581, 508-898-1000)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(WAS)(00008)

NEC UNVEILS NEW POSTSCRIPT PRINTER
BOXBOROUGH, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1989 JAN 13 (NB) -- NEC
Information Systems will unveil a new PostScript laser printer,
the Silentwriter LC 890XL, at the MacWorld Expo in San Francisco.
The new printer features the 68020-based Atlas controller from
Adobe Systems, which provides up to three times faster throughput
than the LC 890. The printer features four megabytes of random
access memory, which is expandable to eight megabytes, and offers
an external 20 megabyte hard disk drive. The printer also
emulates the HP Laserjet II and Diablo 630, and has Centronics
parallel, RS232C serial, and RS422 Appletalk interfaces. The
suggested retail price is $6,995, with the optional hard disk
drive at $999. Additional memory will be $2,395. The machine will
ship in March.

(Ken Maize/19890113)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(LAX)(00009)

SOFTSEL INCREASES DISTRIBUTION OF MACINTOSH PRODUCTS
INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 JAN 12 (NB) -- Softsel Computer
Products, Inc. has announced the recent signing of six key Macintosh
vendors. The signings are the latest in a program which began
approximately a year ago. One of the company's ongoing efforts is to
provide resellers with emerging product technology for the
Macintosh. A special emphasis is being placed on connectivity and
color solutions.

Softsel's six newest Macintosh product vendors are Acius, Inc. of
Cupertino, Calif.; CE Software of West Des Moines, Iowa; Farallon
Computing, Inc. of Berkeley, Calif.; Kennect Technology of Campbell,
Calif.; RasterOps Corporation of Cupertino, Calif.; and Tri-Data
Systems, Inc. of Sunnyvale, Calif. Three of the vendor's feature
product lines related to connectivity.

In conjunction with its concentration on Macintosh products, Softsel
created a Macintosh Resource Hot List last year to complement the
original Softsel Hot List. The original list continues to feature
products for popular microcomputer-hardware platforms including the
Macintosh. The company also has developed a Macintosh Product
Encyclopedia and holds Macintosh Reseller Council meetings.

(Wayne Yacco/19890112)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TYO)(00001)

HOW IT WILL BE: DRAM MARKET '89
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 JAN 9 (NB) -- Toshiba plans to increase
production of one megabit DRAM, dynamic random access memory
chips, by one million units per month during each quarter of 1989
until it reaches 10 million units per month by September.  More
than that Toshiba isn't saying. But industry sources say Toshiba
could ramp up to produce a whopping 12 million units per month by
the end of the year.  That's how much NEC produced in 256
kilobit DRAM chips each month in 1987.

Meanwhile, Matsushita Denshi Kogyo has snared some big fish in
its overseas marketing push.  IBM, Intel, and Hewlett Packard are
the customers to whom Matshushita will ship a total  of one million one
megabit DRAM chips per month starting in January.

With one megabit DRAM production on the upswing, the balance of
supply and demand is improving.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19890112)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(WAS)(00002)

WANG TO PRESENT FREESTYLE AT COMPUTER SOFTWARE COUNCIL
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1989 JAN 13 (NB) -- Wang
Laboratories President Frederick Wang will present Wang's new
Freestyle software system at the third annual meeting of the
Massachusetts Computer Software Council on January 26. The
council is a group of 150 chief executives of Massachusetts
software companies. Freestyle, introduced at Fall Comdex,
integrates data, text, image and voice. The meeting will be at
the Burlington, Mass., Marriott from 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

(Ken Maize/19890113)


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

MAI BASIC FOUR TIGHTENS GRIP ON PRIME
NATICK, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1989 JAN 12 (NB) -- MAI Basic Four
Inc. says it now controls 64.8 percent of Prime Computer's stock.
MAI said that Prime shareholders had tendered more than 29
million shares of Prime as a result of MAI's $20-per-share offer.
MAI is committed to acquiring 41.5 million Prime shares in its
$960 million hostile takeover offer.

In the meantime, Prime has warned securities analysts that a
takeover would harm the company's business. Prime predicted that
earnings will rise six to eight percent this year, and more in
1990, if the MAI takeover fails. If it succeeds, said Prime, then
the company could lose customers and earnings could fall.
Anthony Craig, Prime president and chief executive officer, told
analysts in New York City that "many of our customers have
informed us they will reevaluate their purchase decisions should
MAI Basic Four acquire Prime and form a highly leveraged combined
company with a reduced commitment to research and development."

(Ken Maize/19890113)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(ATL)(00004)

TEXAS INSTRUMENTS TO BUILD ITALIAN CHIP PLANT
DALLAS, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1989 JAN 10 (NB) -- Texas Instruments will
build a new memory chip plant in Avezzano, Italy, with full
production of four megabit chips expected in 1991. The cost of the
plant, roughly $250 million, is double what such plants cost just
four years ago. The plant will employ 500 when it's in full
operation, just in time for European market unity in 1992.

Avezzano is 65 miles east of Rome and 35 miles south of Rieti,
Italy, where TI has semiconductor assembly and testing
operations. Wafers from the Avezzano plant will be transferred to
Rieti for assembly and testing prior to shipment throughout
Europe. TI also has a bipolar chip plant in Freising, Germany,
assembly operations in Oporto, Portugal, and other operations in
Bedford, England, and Nice, France.

Texas Instruments spokesman Stan Victor told Newsbytes that by
the time the plant is ready to begin operations, "the market for
one megabit chips will be starting to decline." He said last year's
chip shortage was caused, in part, by manufacturers switching
from 256 kilobit chip production to one megabit chips in late 1987.
"We weren't getting as much memory from the wafer as before. The
longer you stay at it the better you get at making it." Volume
production, defined as one million chips/month, is only now coming
to the one megabit chip market, while the best 256 kilobit chip
factories will pump out 7-10 million units, Victor estimated.
Despite TI's moves, "Anywhere from 80-90 percent of the market is owned
by Japan, with the Koreans having 2-5 percent or more and coming on
strong."

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890113/Contact: Stan Victor 214-995-9973)


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

MOTOROLA TO BUILD PLANT IN AUSTIN, TEXAS
AUSTIN, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1989 JAN 13 (NB) -- Motorola has announced
tentative plans to build a chip plant here which will employ some 300
people. While there is no firm date on when construction will
begin, a Motorola officer says the date "hinges on the future
outlook of the semiconductor market." A final say on the plant
will come by mid-year, according to spokesman Dan Rogers.

(Wendy Woods/19890113)


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

MICRON SAYS ITS NAME IS BEING USED ON SINGAPOREAN AND THAI CHIPS
BOISE, IDAHO, U.S.A., 1989 JAN 10 (NB) -- Micron Technology is
sending a letter to customers telling them it believes
counterfeit Micron memory chips are being offered for sale in
Singapore and Thailand. The letter was prompted by the discovery
that a reported 17 million 256 kilobit memory chips, offered as
Micron parts, weren't.

Sales documents reviewed by Micron officials showed "forged
documents with improper signatures and listing non-existent part
numbers," said Executive Vice President James W. Garrett. The
matter has been referred to federal investigators, who will
confiscate any of these counterfeit parts found entering the
United States, Garrett said. That could be both a surprise and a
hardship to whoever bought them thinking they were real.

Spokesman Kipp Bedard told Newsbytes the problem may result from
the fact that all of Micron's supplies are currently being sold
under long-term contract. If someone offers you Micron chips for
sale, in other words, they probably aren't.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890113/Contact: Kipp Bedard, 208-383-4000)


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

JOSTENS EXPANDS PREPRESS SYSTEM
CULVER CITY, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 JAN 06 (NB) -- Jostens
Printing and Publishing Division will augment its existing
publishing systems with additional prepress equipment this month.
Contracts were signed with Information International, Inc. [triple-
I], the firm that originally provided Jostens with automated systems
in 1987. Jostens, the nation's leading supplier of high school and
college yearbooks, also specializes in magazine and book publishing,
special interest publications, and serves trade, professional and
university presses.

Jostens's order includes two 3810 Laser Pagesetters which will
replace an existing Monotype Lasercomp interface from triple-I.
Laser Pagesetters feature a self-contained hardware raster image
generator [RIG] which rasterizes and records text, line art, and
complex layered graphics on film or RC paper. According to triple-I,
the sale represents the first 3810 installation outside of the
newspaper industry.

Other equipment will be added to existing systems. Two VideoPRINT
controller units will be integrated with existing VideoPRINT
proofers and an additional Ad Makeup Station [AMS] will added to
four others.

(Wayne Yacco/19890112/Contact: triple-I, 213-390-8611)


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

JDL AND NTH JOIN IN CROSS PROMOTION
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 JAN 5 (NB) -- JDL, the
U.S. sales arm of Japan Digital Laboratory Co., Ltd., and Nth
Graphics, Ltd. have joined in a promotion of ZOOMPLOTTER. The
ZOOMPLOTTER unites JDL and Nth products to produce a high-speed
display and plotter package. The dealer-promotion agreement includes
co-op advertising, direct mail, and point-of-purchase materials.

ZOOMPLOTTER combines the JDL-850 GL+, C-size [18" by 24"]
plotter/printer, and the Nth Engine, high-speed graphics-display
controller. Lists price ranges from $6,340 to $8,140, depending on
configuration, and additional-cost paper-handling options are
available. The system is jointly supported by the two companies.

(Wayne Yacco/19890112/Contact: 805-495-3451)


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

RECORD GROWTH AT WORDPERFECT
OREM, UTAH, U.S.A., 1989 JAN 13 (NB) -- WordPerfect Corporation has
announced record-breaking 1988 sales of $178.7 million. A total
sales growth of 78 percent was helped by fourth-quarter sales of
$54.3 million which also set a record. Sales in 1987 were $100.3
million. The company responded to the growth by opening 29 new U.S.
territories during the year.

During 1988, WordPerfect Corporation introduced WordPerfect 5.0,
DataPerfect 2.0, WordPerfect 4.2 for UNIX, WordPerfect for
Macintosh, the WordPerfect ALL-IN-1 integration for VAX, WordPerfect
Library for the Amiga, WordPerfect Office 2.0, the CEO-integrated
version for Data General, and WordPerfect for IBM 370 Systems.
WordPerfect for the PC accounted for 80 percent of total 1988
revenue. Over 250,000 copies of WordPerfect 5.0 alone were sold
within the first 30 days of the product's debut.

(Wayne Yacco/19890112)


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

WESTERN DIGITAL INVESTS IN VITELIC
IRVINE, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 JAN 12 (NB) -- Western
Digital Corp. has announced a $2 million investment in Vitelic Corp.
Vitelic manufacturers specialized LSI devices which Western Digital
will use for future video applications. Western Digital is a major
consumer of memory devices which are used by its imaging business
for VGA, EGA and CGA controllers.

Western Digital became a supplier of video devices and controllers
for the personal computer market with the acquisition of Paradise
Systems Inc. Each video controller requires an array of 64x4 DRAMs,
devices Vitelic supplies, for screen memory.

The announcement follows immediately on the heels of a story
reported by UPI about layoffs at the company's Irvine headquarters.
According to UPI, a worldwide cutback of 12 percent is the result of
a predicted slowdown in revenue growth. Increased automation, from
the use of surface-mount technology in the production of circuit
boards, shared the blame. Layoffs began last year with most
occurring in the Far East but the next round will hit home. About
200 local jobs are scheduled for elimination.

(Wayne Yacco/19890113/Contact: 714-757-4287)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SYD)(00011)

COMMODORE TO RECAPTURE SLICE OF BUSINESS PC MARKET
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1989 JAN 13 (NB) -- Commodore is out to
capture a section of the traditional business PC market, adding
to the solid sales of its popular home PCs. In the pre-IBM PC
days Commodore Business Machines produced a range of popular
machines such as the Pet but these were dropped in favour of the
home machines. The company now sells a range of business machines
in a number of countries, and the range has recently been
released in Australia. These machines include a 40 megabyte 286
and a 40 or 80 megabyte 386 machine as well as the Amiga 2500 AT
which adds IBM AT functionality to an already full-featured
Amiga.

Worldwide sales for the group increased 13 percent for 1988,
totalling $871 million with profit of almost $56 million.
Australian managing director Tony Serra is set to announce that
Commodore Australia has achieved its 1991 goal of $100 annual
sales, two years ahead of schedule.

The Commodore success product has been the C64. Despite
predictions from within and without Commodore that buyers would
move towards other company machines such as the C128, it
continues to sell well. In fact, 1988 saw a 30 percent increase
in sales with seven million sold worldwide during 1988, half a
million of these in Australia.

Likewise, the Amiga range is gaining market share. Early
complaints that the machine lacked software range will be
answered this month when Commodore issues a list of over 1500
titles available. The high quality graphics and sound of the
Amiga have led to its adoption by a number of professional users,
such as TV broadcasters who use the Amiga as an inexpensive
graphics/paintbox generator for broadcast graphics.

(Paul Zucker/19890113)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SYD)(00012)

20 PERCENT SALES TAX ON SOFTWARE DROPPED IN AUSTRALIA
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1989 JAN 13 (NB) -- Thankful sighs were heard
all over Australia recently, when the government announced it was
dropping its controversial software sales tax. In a budget
surprise in 1986, it was announced that software sales would be
taxed at 20 percent of wholesale price.

Despite strong indications that the government had made a
mistake, and was actually attempting to tax the production of
filmed TV advertisements, it stood its ground and refused to
discuss the tax. Now, just as suddenly, it has announced the
removal of the tax. Managing Director of Microsoft in Australia,
Daniel Petre estimates that the retail price of software should
drop by 10 to 15 percent.

The decision is seen as a victory for the Australian Information
Industry Association, as an anomaly in the tax penalized locally
developed and manufactured software over imports.

(Paul Zucker/19890113)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TOR)(00013)

MEMOTEC INSIDER TRADING CHARGES DROPPED
MONTREAL, QUEBEC, CANADA, 1989 JAN 13 (NB) -- Charges of insider trading
in connection with Memotec Data Inc.'s purchase of Teleglobe
Canada were quietly dropped just before Christmas, The Financial
Post reports. The daily financial newspaper said January 13 that
charges against four people have been withdrawn. The charges
arose out of allegations that six people capitalized on knowledge
that Memotec would be the winning bidder for the former Crown
corporation when the federal government sold it in 1987. Two
defendants were acquitted earlier.

(Grant Buckler/19890113)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TOR)(00014)

LANPAR STOCK LIVELY
TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1989 JAN 12 (NB) -- The Toronto Stock Exchange
briefly halted trading in the stock of Lanpar Technologies Inc.
on January 11 after the share price jumped 41 cents to C$1.25.
The exchange wanted Lanpar, whose creditors recently approved a
repayment proposal, to explain the sudden rise. Lanpar had no
explanation. Trading resumed on January 12, and the price slid
back to C$1.02 in heavy trading.

It presumably was not Lanpar's latest financial results that sent
the share price up. The company reported earlier in the week
that it lost C$12 million in the nine months ended October 31.
That is worse than a C$1.7-million loss in the same period of
1987. Revenue fell from C$30.5 million to C$26.7 million.
However, the company said its third-quarter results show the
adverse trend in the first half has been reversed, and predicted
the fourth quarter would prove that Lanpar is stable once again.

Lanpar manufactures computer terminals, and provides third-party
service for a wide range of personal computers and other computer
equipment.

(Grant Buckler/19890113/Contact: Lanpar Technologies Inc., 416-
475-9123)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TOR)(00015)

THE WORST BEFALLS BEST SYSTEMS
CALGARY, ALBERTA, CANADA, 1989 JAN 9 (NB) -- LSI Logic Corp. of Canada
Ltd. is shutting down Best Systems, its division that makes IBM-
compatible personal computers. LSI Canada, a subsidiary of LSI
Logic Corp. of the United States, acquired Best Systems of
Toronto in 1987. LSI blamed the shutdown on a highly competitive
PC market, admitting the Best PCs were not selling well.

(Grant Buckler/19890113/Contact: LSI Logic Corp. of Canada Ltd.,
403-262-9292)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(LON)(00016)

MAGSTORE TAKES OVER CENTURY DATA'S EUROPEAN BUSINESS
ALDERSHOT, ENGLAND, 1989 JAN 13 (NB) -- Magstore, the magnetic
and optical storage systems specialist, has taken over the
European interests of Century Data Incorporated, of Anaheim in
California. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed. Magstore
will market and support Century Data's products in the U.K. and
Europe.

(Steve Gold/19890113/Magstore: 0252-344355)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LON)(00017)

ORBITEL BIDS FOR SPANISH CELLULAR NETWORK CONTRACT
BASINGSTOKE, ENGLAND, 1989 JAN 11 (NB) -- Orbitel Mobile
Communications has teamed up with Electronics ENSA, the Spanish
telecommunications company, to bid for a multimillion Spanish
cellular network. The digital telephone network will centre on
Madrid, the Spanish capital, and come into operation in mid-1991.

According to Mike Pinches, Orbitel's managing director, the
Spanish contract bid marks a further expansion of the company
outside of England, and into Europe, ready for the deregulated
European market which starts in 1992.

"We've already established links with Ericsson of Sweden and
Matra of France, which have helped us secure contracts and we're
linking to expand our network of European cooperation," he said.

(Steve Gold/19890111/Orbitel: 0734-782158)


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

HUGIN SWEDA ACQUIRES CHECKMATE INCORPORATED
UXBRIDGE, ENGLAND, 1989 JAN 13 (NB) -- Hugin Sweda, a UK
PC/retail system specialist, has acquired Checkmate, the Hudson,
Quebec-based software house. Terms of the deal have not been
revealed.

Checkmate's existing product, a PC-based point of sale system for
retailers, is installed at over 200 sites throughout the US.
Hugin Sweda will market the system worldwide alongside its
existing electronic cash register products.

Mike Shone, Hugin Sweda's group chief executive said that the
acquisition of Checkmate into the Sweda group marks the first
stage in a number of strategic acquisitions and third party alliances
for the company.

"The deal is an important part of our global strategy to further
strengthen Hugin Sweda's position as the leading supplier of
computing and information technology systems for the
international retail industry," he said.

(Steve Gold/19890113)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LON)(00019)

NCR SECURES #8 MILLION DEAL FROM BARCLAYS BANK
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1989 JAN 13 (NB) -- NCR has landed a major deal
with Barclays Bank for the provision of PCs, workstations and
printers. The deal involves supplying Ethernet-connected systems
for use in the bank's several thousand branches around the UK.

According to NCR, the package consists of 500 PC-710 units and
2,500 NCR-3392 workstations, as well as more than 4,000 dot-
matrix and inject printers. Patrick Mill, NCR's U.K. sales and
marketing director, said the deal was secured due to his
company's "high quality industry-standard hardware and software."

"The equipment will be installed into the Barclay's branch
network, and will replace the existing non-industry standard
terminals in use," he said.

(Steve Gold/19890113/NCR: 01-725-8337)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TLV)(00020)

ROBERT MAXWELL DIPS INTO SCITEX STOCK
TEL AVIV, ISRAEL, 1989 JAN 05 (NB) -- Robert Maxwell, the UK
media magnate, has bought a 26 percent stake in Scitex. The deal
has cost Pergamon Press, Maxwell's company, a total of $38
million.

Maxwell is reputed to have had his eyes on Scitex for some time,
but is said to have held back whilst the company modernised its
systems. Scitex has recently upgraded its old HP-1000 computers
with 80386 computers and Mac II graphics design systems.

Scitex stock, which hovered around $2.80 last year, is up to
$7.50 at present - an increase of more than 260 percent.

(Peter Vekinis/19890111)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(BRU)(00021)

GIGABIT AND SUMITOMO SIGN MARKETING PACT
NEWBURY PARK, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 JAN 10 (NB) -- Gigabit Logic, and
SC Hightech Corporation, a subsidiary of Sumitomo of Japan, have
signed a major marketing and product development agreement.

Terms of the agreement call for Gigabit to market SC Hightech
products worldwide, excluding Japan. According to Ike Suzuki,
Hightech's president, the deal provides a perfect partnership
between the two companies.

"In looking for a partner we wanted someone with an outstanding
gallium arsenide marketing and development presence throughout
the world. Gigabit Logic and its European affiliate, GIGA, meets
this objective. Gigabit's recent $29.5 million order from Cray
Research is a testimonial to the company's success," he said.

(Peter Vekinis/19890110)


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

ELECTRONIC BUSINESS ORGANIZERS TALK TO PERSONAL COMPUTERS
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, U.S.A., 1989 JAN 7 (NB) -- Casio, Inc. introduced
two new Business Organizer Scheduling Systems [BOSS] at the Winter
Consumer Electronics Show. The SF-7000, a $209.95 digital diary, has
32K bytes RAM capable of storing approximately 29,000 characters. It
also has a 32-column by 6-line dot matrix display, a 200-year
calendar, a schedule keeper, a multiple alarm, a world-time
function, password protection of sensitive data, and a "business-
card library" function that stores up to 384 characters per entry.

The SF-7500 is a $239.95 version with all of the features of the
SF-7000 and a larger memory. Its RAM capacity is 64K bytes or
approximately 62,000 characters. The model SF-8000 has the features
of the SF-7500 but also has a raised qwerty keyboard with keystroke
action and tactile response.

The Casio BOSS can be connected to each other. A special interface
[FA-100] also allows the digital diaries to communicate with IBM PC
compatible computers as well as printers.

(Wayne Yacco/19890112)


(EXCLUSIVE)(GENERAL)(LAX)(00002)

WORDPERFECT THE MAGAZINE ARRIVES
OREM, UTAH, U.S.A., 1989 JAN 9 (NB) -- It may be a while before
WordPerfect the Movie is available at the local video store but
WordPerfect the Magazine is already in the mail. Its first cover
features "The Man Who Minds The Moon" a fantasy illustration by
James C. Christensen representing the "wizardry of [WordPerfect]
5.0." The sixty-two page issue is available by subscription at a $15
annual rate.

The glossy monthly focuses on WordPerfect Corporation software and
third-party-enhancement programs. It is intended to provide timely
information and in-depth application articles that aren't currently
provided by the quarterly WPCorp Report newsletter. Articles deal
with specific occupational applications and step-by-step solutions
yet are intended for executives and mid-level managers according to
an announcement from WordPerfect Corporation.

The magazine is initially being distributed only by subscription.
However, in an interview with Newsbytes, Publisher Howard Collett
said, "We definitely want to get into newsstand distribution," in
order to reach the many unregistered owners of WordPerfect.

WordPerfect Corporation is separate from, but closely affiliated
with, WordPerfect Publishing Corporation which it started with
publisher Collett. In other ways, WordPerfect the Magazine is
similar to house publications such as Lotus Magazine and the
Microsoft Systems Journal. Another product-oriented publication,
Turbo Technix was recently closed by Borland International.

(Wayne Yacco/19890112/Contact: 801-226-5555)


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

CD-ROM EXPO SLATED
FRAMINGHAM, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1989 JAN 13 (NB) -- The
third annual CD-ROM Expo will be held at the Sheraton Washington
Hotel in Washington, D.C., October 2 through 6, 1989, so says the
IDG Conference Management Group, sponsors of the show. Some
22 companies have committed to exhibit, including Apple, Hitachi,
NEC, Philips, Sony, and DuPont Optical. For information contact
Mirch Hall Associates, 617-329-8090 or write them at PO Box 155,
Westwood, MA 02090.

(Wendy Woods/19890113/Contact: Nancy Thayer, IDG, 508-879-0700)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TYO)(00004)

PROGRAMMERS BUSY WITH NEW DATES
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 JAN 9 (NB) -- With the death of the Emperor and
the introduction of the new Imperial era name, Japanese computer
programmers are working feverishly to redate everything and to issue
new programs that will redate existing software.

Fujitsu says it already has software for changing the era name
because it has been prepared for the change since Showa Emperor
Hirohito took a turn for the worse last September.

NEC, meanwhile, has to convert "Showa" into "Heisei," the new
Emperor's name, for its car license issue system within the
short space of two weeks. IBM, meanwhile, doesn't have to deal
with any of this.  IBM has always used the Christian dating
system of years A.D.

All government and municipal offices have ordered a redating of
their software programs. However, since the task is expected to take
some time, they will carry out official tasks using stamps before
the era name change procedures are completed.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19890112)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(LON)(00005)

INTELLIGENT BUILDINGS GUIDE RELEASED
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1989 JAN 13 (NB) -- IBC Technical Services has
released the Intelligent Buildings Guide, a major
publication covering networking, communications, cable and
project control in modern building design.

The #75 publication is aimed at the technical building trade, as
well as communications professionals who need to install
telecommunication systems in modern buildings. The Intelligent
Buildings Guide has an ISBN number of 1-85271-017-9.

(Steve Gold/19890113/IBC Technical Services: 09323-55244)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(LON)(00006)

COMMODORE PITCHES IN WITH AMIGA 500 BUNDLING DEALS
MAIDENHEAD, BERKSHIRE, ENGLAND, 1989 JAN 13 (NB) -- Commodore U.K.
has begun bundling the Amiga A500 computer with games and a 512K memory
upgrade, in a bid to increase its market share. Two A500 bundles
will be available in the U.K. for #399 and #550 from next month
onwards.

The #399 package includes an A500 system unit, TV modulator, and
nine free games. The package is designed compete with Atari's
hugely-successful ST games pack which also retails for #399 and
offers 22 games worth #450 for the price of a standard 520ST.

The #550 Amiga pack looks interesting, since it includes an Amiga
with a #150 512K memory upgrade, as well as Dragon's Lair,
one of the first games designed to run on a one megabyte Amiga. Dragon's
Lair normally retails for #50 and comes on six disks.

(Steve Gold/19890113/Commodore UK: 0628-776088)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(ATL)(00007)

UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA HIT BY VIRUS IN LAB WITHOUT A NETWORK
NORMAN, OKLAHOMA, U.S.A., 1989 JAN 13 (NB) -- The University of
Oklahoma might want to buy a networked vaccine program. On
January 11, the school's library reported that a computer virus
there ruined several students' papers and shut down terminals and
printers. Library manager Donald Hudson told reporters he
suspects the virus got in through a student's disk, without their
knowledge. This let the virus into the lab despite the fact the
library's computers are not linked to any off-campus systems.
Instead, the virus spread through the lab's printers. Extra
computers have been installed at the lab's entrance to inspect
students' disks as they enter.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890113/Contact: FoundationWare 800-722-
8737 or 216-932-7717)


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

PS/2 MODEL 30 HITS NUMBER ONE SALES SLOT IN WEST GERMANY
MUNICH, WEST GERMANY, 1989 JAN 10 (NB) -- Chip Magazine, the
prestigious West German computer journal, shows IBM's PS/2 Model
30 as the number one business best seller of December, 1988.
Second position is held by the Atari PC-3 series, followed by
Commodore's PC-10, the IBM PC-XT286 system, and the Schneider PC-
2640.

On the consumer [home] sales front, Commodore got first, second,
third and fourth slots with its Amiga, PC and Commodore 64/128
series. Atari bought up a laggardly fifth position with the
1040ST computer.

(Peter Vekinis/19890113)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(BRU)(00009)

WEST GERMANY LEADS EUROPE IN PC SALES VOLUMES
MUNICH, WEST GERMANY, 1988 DEC 21 (NB) -- Dataquest, the
international research and report company, has announced figures
for sales of PCs throughout Europe. As expected, West Germany
topped the list, with 980,000 units sold in 1988. Second position
was held by France with 750,000 units, with U.K. trailing in third
position with 680,000 computers sold.

Overall, the European market is estimated to have been worth four
million PC units during 1988. Estimates show that the current
European PC population numbers 18 million machines - around 17.5
percent of the worldwide installed base of PCs.

(Peter Vekinis/19890112)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(BRU)(00010)

2.5-INCH HARD DISKS AVAILABLE NOW
LONGMONT, COLORADO, U.S.A., 1989 JAN 5 (NB) -- Prarietek Corporation, the
U.S. hard disk manufacturer, has released its first batch of 20Mb
2.5-inch hard disks. The disks contain a PC-AT and SCSI hard disk
controller as standard within a $400 price tag.

The most amazing feature of the Prarietek drive is its size. The
unit comes in a case the same size as a pack of 20 cigarettes,
and has a 20,000 mean time between failure - MTBF - rate plus a
28 millisecond fast access time.

(Peter Vekinis/19890105/Contact: Prarietek: 303-772-4011)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(WAS)(00001)

COURT DISMISSES UNISYS INDICTMENT
BLUE BELL, PENNSYLVANIA, U.S.A., 1989 JAN 10 (NB) -- Unisys Corp.
says the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama
has dismissed the charges brought against it and predecessor
Sperry Corp. for allegedly overcharging the U.S. government.
Sperry continues as a defendant in the case. The court stated, "In
this case, Unisys Corp., which was not even formed until over two
years after the alleged criminal conduct, could not be culpable
therefore; and, thus, should not be held criminally liable."

(Ken Maize/19890113)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(BRU)(00002)

PUBLIC SERVICES LEAD USAGE OF DATA SERVICES IN EEC
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM, 1989 JAN 04 (NB) -- According to the results
of a survey conducted by the European Commission - the EEC - the
largest user of online information services is the public
services sector.

The survey reveals that the government accounted for 28.3 percent
of online system revenue in Belgium, with financial
services and general business firms accounting for a further 17.7
percent.

(Peter Vekinis/19890104)


(NEWS)(IBM)(WAS)(00001)

DIGITAL UNVEILS DOS MACHINES
LITTLETON, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1989 JAN 11 (NB) -- Digital
Equipment Corp. has unveiled its Tandy-made DOS-talking
computers, producing mostly yawns from industry observers. The
DECstation 210, 316, and 320 have clock speeds of ten, 16 and 20
megaherz, with the 316 and 320 sporting 80386 processors. The
basic systems are $2,630 for the 80286-based 210, and $3,485 for
the 316. The 320 is $4,960. The basic box consists of monochrome
monitor and no hard drive. A network integration kit that lets
the DECs talk to other DECs put another $1,000 on the price tag.

(Ken Maize/19880113)


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

HEWLETT PACKARD MARKETS ZENITH LAPTOP
PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 JAN 10 (NB) -- Hewlett Packard
will sell the Zenith SuperSport286 laptop computer under its own
brand name. Weighing in at 10 and a half pounds with a battery,
and sporting a 10-inch backlit liquid crystal display, the laptop,
called the HP Vectra LS/12, will be aimed at laptop-toting
professionals who travel often, and it will round out Hewlett Packard's
computer offerings. The machine will be priced at $4,879.

As a result of the agreement, Hewlett Packard says it has phased
out production of the portable Vectra CS PC, an 8086-based
model, and to clear the decks has reduced the portable's price by
$700 to $1,795.

HP also announced two new desktop machines based on Intel's 80386
microprocessor. The Vectra RS/200 and RS/250 replace the RS/16
and RS/20 and are said to be 40 percent faster than their
predecessors. They will cost $7,595 and $10,145.

(Wendy Woods/19890114/Contact: HP, 415-857-7625)


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

MICROSOFT SHIPS QUICK C 2.0
REDMOND, WASHINGTON, U.S.A., 1989 JAN 12 (NB) -- Microsoft is
shipping QuickC Compiler version 2.0, said to be a major leap
forward for the Microsoft Quick languages line of products.
The product has Microsoft QC Advisor, an online reference
system that uses hypertext functions to lead a user to the
desired information. Also, there's Easy Menus, designed to
help first-time users become comfortable in the QuickC
environment. QuickC 2.0 also includes C for Yourself, a
tutorial manual designed to teach the fundamentals of the C
programming language. There's also incremental compilation and
linking, resulting in dramatically improved compilation speed
[two to three times faster than the previous version] of up
to 25,000 lines per minute. There's an in-line assembler, enhanced
editor and debugger, and enhanced memory support.

QuickC 2.0 requires a PC or compatible with 512k of random
access memory, DOS 2.1 or higher, and either two double-sided
5.25-inch drives or one double-sided 3.5-inch drive. The price
is $99.

(Wendy Woods/19890112/Contact: Marty Taucher, Microsoft, 206-882-8080)


(NEWS)(IBM)(WAS)(00004)

TWO NET PRINTERS FROM IBM
WHITE PLAINS, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1989 JAN 10 (NB) -- International
Business Machines Corp. has announced upgrades to its 24-wire
Proprinter line of dot matrix printers. The new machines are the
Proprinter X24E and the wide-carriage XL24E. The printers have
new paper handling talents, allowing continuous forms to remain
in the printer while printing envelopes or cut sheets. The
machines are rated at up to 288 characters per second in draft
mode. The X24E has a suggest retail price of $899 while the XL24E
is listed at $1,199.

(Ken Maize/19890113)


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

HAND-HELD COMPUTER WORKS WITH DESKTOP PC
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, U.S.A., 1989 JAN 7 (NB) -- Casio, Inc. introduced
a new pocket computer at the Winter Consumer Electronics Show. The
PB-2000, a $349.95 computer, can be programmed in either C or BASIC.
Features include 32K bytes RAM which can be expanded to 64K bytes
with an RP-33 RAM pack. The unit's available peripherals include
RS232C and parallel ports and a 3-1/2" floppy disk.

Software for the PB-2000 can be developed on an IBM-compatible PC
and transferred to the hand-held unit using available development
and utility software. Other software includes spreadsheet,
financial, and personal-organization programs. The unit also
features a qwerty keyboard, a ROM-card-resident operating system,
and something called the "Casio DataBank" function.

(Wayne Yacco/19890112)


(NEWS)(IBM)(ATL)(00006)

FOUNDATIONWARE ADDS A LAN VERSION TO ITS VACCINE LINE
CLEVELAND, OHIO, U.S.A., 1989 JAN 13 (NB) -- FoundationWare, makers of
"vaccine" software which seeks out computer viruses and keeps out
suspicious applications, has developed a version of its product
for local area networks [LANs]. Corporate CPR-FC works with most
network operating systems and hardware, according to
FoundationWare. The company claims CPR is the only product that
can automatically recover file servers or hard disks from crashes
due to damaged partition tables, boot tracks, File Allocation
Tabales [FAT], root directories, and CMOS information. This
automatic recover feature, however, does not work on Novell file
servers or other file servers with non-DOS partitioning and
formatting. FoundationWare will add Novell and non-DOS support
in future versions. CPR will retail for $495.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890113/Contact: FoundationWare, 800-722-
8737 or 216-932-7717)


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

FIRST FULL-TEXT DATABASE AVAILABLE FOR OS/2
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 JAN 5 (NB) -- Dataflight
Software is shipping an OS/2 version of its Concordance Information
Retrieval System. The company claims that the program is the only
full-text database available for the new operating system. Suggested
retail pricing for the product is $495.

Concordance for OS/2 uses files which are interchangeable with the
DOS version. However, the product does offer several new features.
According to Dataflight, the OS/2 version includes support for
multiuser and networked systems and indexes large databases twice as
fast as the DOS version of the product. Users can also access
library-sized Concordance databases as desktop accessories.

The database product allows users to search for any word, phrase, or
combination of words or phrases contained in its databases using
boolean, relational and proximity searches. Support is provided for
free text and fixed-length fields. Search-management, text-import,
text-loading, text-unloading and on-line context-sensitive-help
facilities are included. There are report writer, text editor, and
database and stopword dictionaries. A macro language is also
available to automate searches.

An IBM PC/AT, PS/2 or compatible 80x86-based microcomputer with a
hard disk and OS/2 1.0, or higher, is required. Concordance
databases can reside on hard-disk, floppy-disk, CD-ROM, or WORM
drives. The program is not copy protected and available on 5-1/4" or
3-1/2" media.

(Wayne Yacco/19890112/Contact: 213-785-0623)


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

ZOOMPLOTTER: HIGH-SPEED INTEGRATED PLOTTING
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 JAN 5 (NB) -- JDL, the
U.S. sales arm of Japan Digital Laboratory Co., Ltd., and Nth
Graphics, Ltd. have joined two of their products to produce
ZOOMPLOTTER, a high-speed display and plotter package. ZOOMPLOTTER
combines the JDL-850 GL+, C-size [18" by 24"] plotter/printer, and
the Nth Engine, high-speed graphics-display controller.

According to JDL senior manager Bryan Doherty, ZOOMPLOTTER provides
"nearly instantaneous access to the most current drawings" and
reduces "the amount of time engineers normally spend waiting for
plots." Doherty claimed that the product substantially increases
design productivity and accuracy as well.

ZOOMPLOTTER is intended to provide users with the functionality of a
soft plotter, a color hardcopy plotter, an electronic flat file, an
archive center, and a drawing file manager. It will work with a
stand-alone workstation or on a network to keep files current and
enable engineers to load and view drawings in seconds. JDL claims
the ability to zoom and pan drawings and generate plots of entire
drawings or parts of drawings in a fraction of the time normally
required.

The single-slot Nth Engine controller is designed to produce two-
second zooms and pans on large CAD drawings. A feature of the
controller is its ability to produce view-only version of CAD files,
or "Zoomslides," which can be loaded without CAD software in five to
ten seconds--ten to twenty times faster than a CAD file itself can
be loaded.

Hardcopy can be produced from files by the JDL-850 GL+. The plotter
can utilize a parallel communications port and buffer, from 1.0 to
2.5 megabytes, to enable networked users to quickly download
drawings to the device. Plot lengths are unlimited.

The hardware is compatible with major CAD packages including:
AutoCAD, VersaCAD, DataCAD, Personal Designer, P-CAD, and Drawbase.
Models are available for the PC, PC/AT, and MCA architecture busses
at prices ranging from $6,340 to $8,140 depending on configuration.
Additional-cost paper-handling options are also available.

(Wayne Yacco/19890112/Contact: 805-495-3451)


(EXCLUSIVE)(IBM)(LAX)(00009)

ZIP CODE TOOL KIT FOR C PROGRAMMERS
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 JAN 13 (NB) -- ZIPwhere, a
$139 library of ZIP code functions for the C language, has been
released by Effective Data Solutions. The program is available for
IBM PC and compatible computers and features a Data File of ZIP code
information and its own database functions.

According to Barrie Mitchell, director of software development, the
complete Data File includes U.S. ZIP codes, city names, county
names, state abbreviations, telephone area codes, time zones,
latitude & longitude, and mileage-grid coordinates. A complete Data
File requires less than one megabyte of storage and only 53K bytes are
required for a minimum configuration. The company provides updates
to keep the Data File current. Four quarterly updates are $99.

Product features include a dealer locater, distance calculator, and
time function. The dealer locater can be used to find dealer
information from ZIPwhere's own database or to find identifiers that
can be used to access other user databases. Using any two points in
the U. S., ZIPwhere functions can determine time differences and
distance. Single city names or ZIP codes can be used to determine
time zone, determine daylight savings status, and to validate
relationships of city, state and ZIP. Sequential or random searches
can be made with city name or ZIP.

Potential applications include processing addresses, handling
inquiries, processing invoices, sales and others requiring access to
address information. A simple example of the product's capabilities:
ZIPwhere can be used to automatically enter city and state into an
application when an operator enters the zip.

(Wayne Yacco/19890113/Contact: 818-991-3282, U.S. 800-777-8818)


(NEWS)(IBM)(TYO)(00010)

NEC TO RELEASE ULTRALIGHT LAPTOP THIS SPRING?
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 JAN 4 (NB) -- According to the Mainichi
Newspaper, NEC will release a laptop PC weighing only three
kilograms, or six pounds, this spring. The report indicates the
ultralight laptop is lighter than NEC's current PC-98LT, which weighs
in at 3.9 kilograms or 8.5 pounds. The lighter weight has been
achieved through LSI or large scale integrated circuit technology.
The report adds that the featherweight laptop will be compatible
with the PC-9800 series and will have a 3.5-inch external floppy drive.

An NEC spokeswoman would not confirm the report, chalking it up
to rumor.

(Ken Takahashi/19890112/Contact: NEC Corp., 03-451-2974)


(NEWS)(IBM)(TYO)(00011)

IBM-COMPATIBLE MACHINE WITH MCA-LIKE FEATURE DUE IN MARCH
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 JAN 11 (NB) -- AST Research Japan says it
will release a PC/AT-compatible 32-bit personal computer
called Premium 386/25 early in March. The new machine will come with
an 80386 microprocessor, a two-megabyte main memory expandable to
32-megabytes, and will come standard with MS-DOS Extended Version
4.0 for its operation. The unique feature of the new system is
its Smart Slot Bus, which performance said to be equivalent to the
Microchannel Architecture of the IBM PS/2. The bus system will realize
a bus arbitration feature which reduces the burden of the central
processing unit by making the input/output data transfer more
efficient.

The price will range from 1,150,000 yen or $9,200 to two million yen
or $16,000, depending on external storage options.

(Ken Takahashi/19890112/Contact: AST Research Japan, 03-818-0710)


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

SHARP TO LAUNCH COLOR LCD WITH LAPTOP
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 JAN 11 (NB) -- Sharp Corp. has announced plans to
offer a laptop computer with a color liquid crystal display [LCD] this
year. Sharp says it will adapt the so-called simple matrix color
LCD, currently found on its AX personal computer, for the new laptop.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19890112)


(NEWS)(IBM)(SYD)(00013)

STARTUP PLUG COMPATIBLE MAKER TO SUPPLY ASIA-PACIFIC
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA, 1989 JAN 13 (NB) -- New plug-compatible
manufacturer Pivotal is expected to soon announce its product and
first installation. The machine is compatible with the IBM 4381,
according to close sources.

The project is based on a U.S.-designed central processor from
Synthesized Computer Systems Inc. and there are reportedly links
to similar, though failed, attempts from Storage Technology
Corporation and Trilogy. It is believed that the components are
NEC-supplied while Datacraft will assemble the machines in
Melbourne, Australia. The Asia-Pacific region is seen as the
marketplace for the machine.

(Paul Zucker/19890113/Contact: Datacraft Manufacturing Pty. Ltd.
Australia, 61-3-7279111)


(NEWS)(IBM)(SYD)(00014)

MULTIUSER LAN ALTERNATIVE USES GARDEN-VARIETY DOS
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1989 JAN 11 (NB) -- A multiuser DOS-based
system for 386 PCs will be released at PC89 computer show on
March 14. The system allows up to 21 users to share data, software
and peripherals. It consists of the NX386 operating system and
Intelligent MultiPort [IMP] interface boards for either ISA
[standard AT] or MCA bus machines.

Robert Koop, managing director of Alloy Computer Products,
explained that the main benefit of the system for PC users was
that it runs true DOS. "In a small business, a multiuser
environment works out a lot cheaper and less complicated than a
LAN [local area network]," he said.

The IMP2 has two serial ports and the IMP8 has eight terminal and
eight communication ports. The IMP8 can support up to eight ASCII
or four graphics terminals. Each user can operate up to eight DOS tasks
through the system's virtual memory management system. A print
manager spools and controls printing jobs.

(Paul Zucker/19890111/Contact: Alloy Computer Products,
Australia 61-3-5614988, fax [phone])


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

FINNISH BANKING SYSTEM USES OS/2 AND TOKEN RING LANS
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1989 JAN 14 (NB) -- Australian bank ANZ has
chosen an OS/2 based retail banking system developed in Finland.
The Nokia Banking Frame or NBF is already used throughout Europe
by the OKO bank of Finland, following a two year development
program.

NBF is designed for 80286/386 machines operating on Token Ring
LANs with OS/2. The concurrent processing capability of OS/2
allows workstations to handle multiple tasks, as well as answer
requests from host systems, without disrupting workstation
activities.

Off-line intelligence enables workstations to continue processing
during periods of host unavailability -- a more common occurrence
than most bank customers happily accept. Access to applications
is user, rather than workstation dependent. This access is
controlled by the Authorization Handling Menu and Session
Management Facility. A Structured Query Language database,
SQL-Base, developed by US company Gupta Technologies, is an
integral part of NBF.

(Paul Zucker/19890114)


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

MICROSOFT RELINQUISHES R:BASE DISTRIBUTION TO MICRORIM IN ROW
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1989 JAN 13 (NB) -- Popular PC database
product R:Base is set to become number one in the world market,
according to a spokesperson from its manufacturer, Microrim. Not
widely known by most U.S. users is the fact that the product has
been distributed and supported by Microsoft in what is known as
ROW, or 'Rest Of World' -- that is, everything other than the
North American market.

Now, Microrim is engaged in a solid advertising program
throughout the existing R:Base worldwide markets, promoting the
company name and introducing the new distributors appointed in
each area. The spokesperson summed up the move by simply stating,
"If it's not your own baby, you'll never give it the same
dedication."

(Paul Zucker/19890113)


(EXCLUSIVE)(IBM)(SYD)(00017)

DEDICATED NETWORK SERVER OPTIMIZED FOR PERFORMANCE
HAYWORTH, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 JAN 14 (NB) -- Compupro is to
announce a dedicated LAN [local area network] server, based on a
12MHz 80286 processor. The machine has reportedly been optimized
for this application by omitting all extraneous features found
on general purpose PCs.

The basic machine offers one megabyte of static RAM [random access
memory] with two serial and one parallel port. It will be offered in
80/150/300/600 or 1200 megabyte hard disk versions. The one option
offered is an eight channel I/O processor board with 256k of RAM.
Software, including a true print spooler, will cost US$995. The 80
megabyte machine is $6500 and the 300 megabyte is $9950 retail.

Test users, who have previously complained of noticeable network
delays when using an IBM model 80, claim that system response on
the test network is "instantaneous." "We couldn't tell we were on
a network," said one user. Compupro claims the response is due to
a low overhead of unnecessary tasks, and the use of a large,
effective disk cache.

(Paul Zucker/19890114/Contact: Compupro 415-7860909, fax
415-7094144)


(NEWS)(IBM)(TOR)(00018)

CRYSTAL SERVICES LAUNCHES REPORT WRITER FOR ACCPAC
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA, 1989 JAN 9 (NB) -- Crystal Computer
Services Inc. has released Quik Reports, a visual report writer
for Computer Associates Inc.'s Accpac Plus accounting software.
Quik Reports lets a user define and print custom reports from any
Accpac Plus module. The software can gather data from related
modules into a single report, and can perform calculations using
spreadsheet-like formulas.

Quik Reports is available now for versions 4.2 and 5.0 of Accpac.
The suggested retail price is C$399.

(Grant Buckler/19890113/Contact: George Brown, Crystal Computer
Services, 604-681-3435)


(NEWS)(IBM)(TOR)(00019)

NEC, ATI ANNOUNCE BUNDLING AGREEMENT
TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1989 JAN 10 (NB) -- From January 16 until March
31, Canadians who buy a NEC MultiSync 2A monitor will get ATI
Technologies Inc.'s VGA Wonder video card too. NEC Canada Inc.
and Toronto-based ATI announced the promotional bundling, saying
the two products are designed to work with each other. Surveys
have shown that many MultiSync monitor users also have ATI cards,
NEC added.

The MultiSync 2A is a high-resolution color monitor that supports
Super VGA and all modes of IBM VGA. The ATI VGA Wonder card is a
hardware-level compatible VGA card with automatic installation
features. It enhances software written for IBM PCs by displaying
it at higher resolutions, including 800-by-600 Super VGA.

(Grant Buckler/19890113/Contact: Thomas Ward, NEC Canada Inc.
416-858-3500; Bob Arthur, ATI Technologies Inc., 416-756-0718)


(NEWS)(IBM)(TOR)(00020)

IBM CANADA SETS UP LEASING DIVISION
MARKHAM, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1989 JAN 10 (NB) -- IBM Canada Ltd. has
announced the formation of a new division: IBM Leasing. The
division will offer traditional leases as well as reselling used
equipment on behalf of IBM Canada or its customers. As a
separate division, IBM Leasing will have full control of its own
business operations. Eugene Cawthray, newly appointed vice-
president and general manager of the division, said in a prepared
statement that "IBM's customers need imagination, thoroughness
and integrity from their lessor. Our team of leasing specialists
works closely with IBM's marketing representatives and authorized
business partners to delivery very effective financing
solutions."

(Grant Buckler/19890113/Contact: IBM Canada Ltd., 416-474-3900)


(NEWS)(IBM)(LON)(00021)

BLUE CHIP RELEASES SEALED PC KEYBOARD UNITS
DEESIDE, CLWYD, ENGLAND, 1989 JAN 10 (NB) -- Blue Chip Technology has
launched a sealed sheet keyboard unit for the IBM PS/2 series, as
well as for PCs, XTs, ATs and 386-based PCs. The keyboard is
designed for harsh environment usage and comes with RS232/422 and
485 connections for factory networks and similar communication
systems.

The 126-key keyboard is claimed to be waterproof, dustproof and
very rugged. Special versions of the keyboard are available to
firms with specialist keyboard requirements. Blue Chip say that
the #395 keyboard can be customised at relatively low cost, on
account of its electronic simplicity.

(Steve Gold/19890110/Blue Chip Technology: 0244-520222)


(NEWS)(IBM)(LON)(00022)

CITIZEN EUROPE SLASHES PRICES ON VGA PRODUCTS
UXBRIDGE, ENGLAND, 1989 JAN 13 (NB) -- Citizen Europe has slashed
UK pricing on its CCM-104 high-resolution IBM-compatible colour
monitor, as well as PC-1000, its accompanying PC graphics display
board.

The CCM-104 drops from #795 to #640, whilst the graphics display
card, which gives VGA compatibility to PCs, XTs, ATs and
compatibles, falls from #495 to #380. According to Tony Oldhams,
Citizen Europe's senior product marketing manager, the products
are now the most price competitive on the U.K. market.

"If we want to succeed in the VGA market, we need to be
competitive with the products most people want to buy. The CCM-
104 offers superior display quality to similarly priced products,
with the added bonus of easy enhancement to high resolution with
the addition of the PCG-1000," he said.

(Steve Gold/19890113/Citizen Europe: 0895-72621)


(NEWS)(IBM)(BRU)(00023)

IBM AND SIEMENS ANNOUNCE COMMUNICATIONS AGREEMENT
PARIS, FRANCE, 1989 JAN 13 (NB) -- IBM and Siemens have announced
an agreement designed to facilitate the sales and marketing of
communications products in the US and other countries.

Terms of the agreement call for the expansion of Siemen's Rolm
subsidiary to market communications products in North America. In
parallel with the Rolm marketing arrangement, IBM will market
Siemens' telephone exchange products.

(Peter Vekinis/19890113)


(NEWS)(IBM)(BRU)(00024)

PC BOARD PRICES ON DOWNWARD CURVE
TAIPEI, TAIWAN, 1989 JAN 9 (NB) -- Taiwanese PC board prices
continue to fall with the announcement of a 16MHz performance
80286 PC board from 80-Data. The $180 board, which features a
10MHz microprocessor running at a turbo speed equivalent to 16MHz
performance, is marketed in the U.S. by PC House.

80-Data is also selling a true 16MHz 80286 board at $180, and a
25MHz unpopulated 80386 board at $600. At these sort of prices
Newsbytes wonders what profits PC House is making.

(Peter Vekinis/19890109)


(NEWS)(IBM)(TLV)(00025)

REMOTE PC SYSTEM FOR OLIVETTI PCS DEVELOPED
TEL AVIV, ISRAEL, 1989 JAN 13 (NB) -- Meoufit, a small Jerusalem
start-up company, has developed a remote system for use with
Olivetti PCs. The unit allows the Olivetti system unit to be
sited as much as 100 metres away from the monitor and keyboard.

Pricing of the system varies, dependent on configuration. The
system is aimed at the educational market, since it allows
teachers to switch between student's PCs and view exactly what is
happening [no more playing Pacman in class y'hear].

Meoufit is also planning to launch a similar system for standard
PCs, as well as a multisystem unit, for connection of up to four
systems, by the end of March, 1989.

(Peter Vekinis/19890113/Contact: Meoufit Ltd., P.O.Box 71063,
                                 Jerusalem, Israel)


(NEWS)(IBM)(TLV)(00026)

LARGE CGA PC SCREEN DEVELOPED IN ISRAEL
TEL AVIV, ISRAEL, 1989 JAN 13 (NB) -- Comfuture has developed a
large screen CGA display for use with PCs. The screen measures six
feet by five feet and uses multi-colour light emitting diodes to
provide a four-colour CGA display with two pallet choices.

Pricing on the PC super-screen has yet to be decided, and the
system is designed for use in special displays, such as those in
use in shopping malls.

(Peter Vekinis/19890113/Contact: Comfuture Ltd., 9 Habonim
                                 Street, Ramat-Gan 52521, Israel)


(NEWS)(IBM)(BRU)(00027)

KURZWEIL SCANNERS NOW IN BELGIUM
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM, 1989 JAN 06 (NB) -- Kurzweil scanners, as sold
by Rank Xerox, are now available in Belgium via the Positronica
Group. Positronica is already a major distributor for Ashton-Tate
and Microsoft in Belgium.

The K-5000 model combines high quality graphics and text scanning
with a 400 dots per inch - dpi - resolution and up to 64 grey
levels. The scanner supports DCA, UDF, and straight ASCII
formats. An Interleaf format option is also available. The K5000
also includes a 50 page feeder as a standard, which comes with
intelligent optical character recognition - OCR - software.

(Peter Vekinis/19890112/Contact: Positronica, Watermolenstraat,
9440 Aalst, Belgium)


(NEWS)(IBM)(BRU)(00028)

LATTICE UPDATES C COMPILER
LOMBARD, ILLINOIS, U.S.A.,1989 JAN 13 (NB) -- Lattice, known for
its language products, has released a new version of its
successful C compiler for the OS/2 and DOS 3.4 operating systems.

Among the many new and enhanced features of the compiler is
Codeprobe, a built-in debugger similar to Codeview, Microsoft's
standalone debugging package. The version of Codeprobe supplied
with the C compiler does not support protected mode programs,
although Microsoft is working on this problem.

(Peter Vekinis/19890113)


(NEWS)(IBM)(BRU)(00029)

IBM DELIVERS 10,000TH EUROPEAN AS/400 SYSTEM
STUTTGART, WEST GERMANY, 1989 JAN 01 (NB) -- IBM has announced
the shipment of its 10,000th AS/400 computer system. The machine,
which was shipped on 15 December, is a measure of the System/36's
successor, according to IBM officials.

The AS/400 series of computers was launched in June of last year,
and is currently available in six different configurations.

(Peter Vekinis/19890112)


(NEWS)(IBM)(BRU)(00030)

CLASSICRAM AVAILABLE IN BELGIUM VIA POSITRONICA
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM, 1989 JAN 08 (NB) -- Positronica has announced
it will be supplying Tecmar's Classicram memory boards to the
Belgian market. Classicram is a 16-bit memory board for the AT
bus environment which uses many of the advanced features seen on
Tecmar's existing expansion boards for the IBM PS/2 MCA series of
computers.

A single Classicram board features up to 8Mb of RAM using one MBit
single in-line module. The board is also capable of accepting 4Mb
memory modules, with all board configuration carried from within
software contained in onboard firmware.

(Peter Vekinis/19890112)


(REVIEW)(IBM)ATL)

Review of:  DATAVUE SPARK -- IBM PC compatible laptop computer

From: Datavue Corp., One Meca Way, Norcross, GA 30093 404-565-5555

Price: $1,200.00 for model reviewed. Basic price without 1200 baud internal
modem is $995.

PUMA Rating: 3

Reviewed by: Dana Blankenhorn, 1/3/89

Summary:  The DATAVUE SPARK is an IBM PC compatible laptop computer.

REVIEW
--------

Buying a laptop computer means accepting compromises.
Into this world comes the Datavue Spark, a middleweight at 9
pounds, 11 with the carrying case. For two weeks, we depended on
the Spark for all our computing. We dragged it through airports,
left it in hot cars for hours on end, ran our favorite software
on it, and saw it come through.

The Spark's case is rugged. Its 1200 baud modem (an option),
addressed as COM2, runs great. The price is within reach of most
computing budgets. The cloth carry-bag Datavue supplied with the
Spark includes an added pouch big enough for your lunch and a
few papers. Rechargeable batteries can be re-boosted overnight
and run 6 hours or so, depending on disk access.

The 80C88 chip, used for its low price, took 37 seconds to load
DOS each time it was turned on. The footprint of the Spark is
also too large for an airline tray table, unlike the Compaq SLT
286.  Entering numbers is always awkward -- you have to hold down
the Fn key while doing so. Again, it's a reasonable compromise,
but if you're an accountant you may find this unacceptable. The
Spark's cursor is also hard-to-find -- fortunately  utility
programs are available to fix it.

PUMA RATING
-----------

PERFORMANCE: 4.  Excellent performance for a 10 pound, $1,000
machine.

USEFULNESS: 3.  The weight can become unbearable if you try to
lug it around a trade show floor, but in an office or hotel room
it's great. It's too big for an airline tray table.

MANUAL:  3.  We didn't use it much, but the one time we needed
it a necessary warning wasn't there.

AVAILABILITY: 4.  Order direct from the company or via mail order
at numerous mail-order houses.

(  )


(REVIEW)(IBM)(LAX)(00001)

Review of: Disk Technician Advanced [DTA]

Runs on: IBM PC or PS/2 and compatibles

From: Prime Soutions, 1940 Garnet Avenue, San Diego, CA, 92109,
619-272-4000

Price: $189.95

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

Reviewed by: Wayne A. Yacco, 3/11/89

Summary: DTA is a hard-disk rescue utility that not only saves files
from corruption but will actually restore areas of the hard disk or
remove them from service as appropriate.

REVIEW
--------
Disk Technician Advanced [DTA] is a hard disk rescue utility. For
this review, I used DTA on several drives and compared it to the
Disk Doctor utility included with Norton's Advanced Utilities
version 4.5. DTA finds failed or failing areas on the surface of a
hard disk and moves any data from there to a new location. It can
also perform a low-level reformat on tracks without disturbing
data--even while optimizing the drive's interleave factor in the
process.

What makes the program so special is the way it does its job. Unlike
competitors such as SpinRite and Norton's Disk Doctor [NDD], DTA
doesn't automatically accept a sector that can be read after several
tries. It withholds judgement until later in its processing and
judges sectors not on their ability to be successfully read but on
their lack of soft errors or the ability to correct soft errors that
are found.

Other programs cannot determine when soft errors occur. Competitors
will even accept sectors which are only "readable" through
reconstruction with ECC data [error correction code]. The reason is
that DOS does not report to these programs when hard-disk controlers
automatically perform retries and ECC reconstruction. DTA works
closer to the hardware to determine these occurances for itself
because it is the only way to really tell when problems are just
starting to arise--before irreversible corruption occurs.

In a comparison, I tested one old CMI drive with both DTA and NDD.
That drive was sold to me as rebuilt by Advanced Computer Repair of
Chatsworth, California but Norton quickly revealed that it was full
of software and corruption that almost certainly indicated a drive
that was in use for some time since it had been serviced [if it ever
was serviced].

I used Norton first. Disk Doctor flagged nearly an entire cylinder
that it couldn't read. When a read failed, NDD asked if it should
move the data and, when instructed, attempted to move it to a safe
area. Although many of the moved sectors were garbled, Norton didn't
detect the corruption.

Then I ran DTA on the same drive. It returned most of the sectors
that Norton had removed as defective. It also flagged several
sectors that Norton had accepted as good. The difference was that
DTA first attempted to reformat a track before flagging it. Norton
can do a non-destructive low-level format but the process is on a
separate menu and not performed as part of the test. DTA does it
automatically and never moves data unless the track recovery fails.
If it must move a sector, the program is supposed to do it only if
it can recover the file without damage. Files are never supposed to
be filled with garbage. I wasn't able to test this feature because
Norton had moved all the affected files already.

SpinRite does do a format before testing but does it whether it's
necessary or not on every track. That makes it slow and awkward to
use. There are also some disfunctional consequences to
nondestructive formatting on an XT that SpinRite aggravates.
Finally, SpinRite only tests a drive immediately after formatting,
when it's at its very best. There is no provision in SpinRite for
tracking degradation in signals which may begin within minutes or
hours on deteriorating media.

On a Seagate ST225 which I knew to have serious defects in the
system areas, Norton passed the drive repeatedly without detecting
any problems. It was a zero-defect drive by NDD's standards. DTA
found the problems and refused to return the drive to service.
Certain system areas were apparently being read only with ECC
reconstructions that Norton couldn't detect. Instructions are
included with DTA to guide an attempt at recovery of this type of
fatal system-area errors, by moving the DOS partition. DTA doesn't
include the necessary partitioning software though.

Both NDD and DTA performed equally well on several reliable Priam
drives which didn't require restoration. However, Norton would not
work with logical devices created by the partitioning software for
these large drives. It would not work with other partitioning
software such as Vfeature Deluxe or SpeedStore either.

DTA is designed to automatically repeat tests at periodic intervals.
It accumulates statistics across all these tests in a failure-
pattern database. The statistics are used to detect sectors which
are becoming weak well before they fail. Sectors are even compared
to those in adjacent areas to determine if an area of the disk is
becoming bad. Prime Soltuions claims that insidious defects which
appear over time should almost always be detectable before they lead
to major data losses.

I have just a very few utilities that I use on a regular basis. One
is Norton another is Xtree Pro and I'm going to make DTA the third.
The way it resurrects damaged drives, they could have called DTA the
Zombie doctor.

PUMA RATINGS
----------------
PERFORMANCE: 4

USEFULNESS: 4.

MANUAL: 3 [My prerelease copy of the manual was quite good.]

AVAILABILITY: 4

(Wayne Yacco/19890310)


(REVIEW)(APPLE)(SFO)(00001)

Review of: DIFFERENT DRUMMER

Runs on: Macintosh

From: Primera Software, 650 Cragmont Avenue, Berkeley,
California, 94708, 415-525-3000

Price: $99.95 [special introductory price]

PUMA Rating: 3.75

Reviewed by: N. Gorski, 3/21/89

Summary: DIFFERENT DRUMMER is a controller for MIDI drum
machines and a Mac drum synthesizer.

REVIEW
----------
DIFFERENT DRUMMER is a handy little program for the semi-
professional electronic musician. It allows you to access and
exploit the intricacies of the MIDI drum machine, which in most
cases does not come with a screen, keyboard, and drives.

DIFFERENT DRUMMER mimics the basic functions of a drum machine
[pattern compositon, song writing] and makes the control easier
and faster than the process of stepping through read-outs on the
liquid crystal display of your drum machine. And you're obviously not
limited to memory, or RAM cards. You "turbo-charge" your present
system by grafting a Macintosh to it.

The two outstanding operations are the Jam Window and the
Instrument Window.  Jam Window lets you 'play' pattern icons to
make up a song. For instance, you can just play the drum elements
to make a pattern.  Instrument Window allows you to construct and
program various percussion configurations.

DIFFERENT DRUMMER is an excellent controller but a so-so synthesizer.
The Macintosh's 8-bit/22khz sampling resolution can't match drum
machines with their PCM sounds. A MIDI interface is a MUST. However,
the array of sounds available is impressive.  The Third/Fourth World
sounds actually hold up the best, with the standard drum kit sounds
being the weakest.  It does'nt support SMPTE time code, and for
synchronisation needs you have to rely on MIDI file transporting.

PUMA RATING
--------------
PERFORMANCE: 3.5. Easy, quick, and intuitive as a MIDI controller.
Not a stand-alone drum machine.

USEFULNESS:  4. A very useful turbo for MIDI drums for those of us
who can't get into Fairlights, Linns, etc.  Great bang for the buck
with growth capacity. Easily dealt with by non-pros.

MANUAL:  3.5  Very readable and lots of screen pictures. But a
detailed appendix on the Mac samples [source, sampling procedure,
etc.] would be handy for musical/technical judgment calls.

AVAILABILITY:  4.0. Available through several major mail-order
houses.

(Nick Gorski/19890323/Contact: Greg Simons, President, Primera)


(REVIEW)(IBM)(SYD)

Review of: Framework III

Runs on: All industry standard PCs with 640k and hard disk. It
will run on a lesser configuration but as crippleware.

From: Ashton Tate, 20101 Hamilton Ave., Torrance, California, U.S.
 90502, ph: 213-329-8000

Price: About $419 U.S.

PUMA Rating: 4

Reviewed by: Paul Zucker, 1/3/89

Summary: Framework III is an integrated software package
consisting of word processing, list manager, spreadsheet,
graphing, telecommunications, programming and outlining.

Review: Framework may not have as many users as its stablemate
dBase, but Framework has a solid band of followers worldwide.
It's a seamless integrated package. That means that all functions
can be accessed without starting extra modules or closing one
application to start another.

Integrated packages usually repay the extra complexity by
allowing users to learn one function, then easily move to other
functions as commands are shared. For instance, selecting a block
of text or spreadsheet cells or data in a table is identical in
Framework - using the F6 key. Price and size are also
considerations - Framework is much smaller and less expensive
than equivalent, discrete packages.

Framework appeals to organised users. Its outlining allows data
to be logically grouped and manipulated. Its spreadsheet has a
number of advantages over Lotus 1-2-3, such as the ability to open
multiple, small spreadsheets as frames. Up to 32,000 of these
frames can be open at any one time, and they can be interrelated.
For instance, an entry screen feeding a database frame can be
processed by a spreadsheet and the results graphed and a report
written - all by program control using either the extensive macro
language or the full programming language, FRED. The spelling
checker is second-to-none in its ability to guess the correct
word.

How does the latest version differ from the last? Its not a
different product, just improved and extended. It takes more
memory but it has improved above-640k memory handling options.
Changes include: Mouse support; better Spreadsheet features;
better word processing features; thesaurus; wider printer control
including Lasers; Prestel/Viatel comms support; more import and
export options.

PUMA RATING
--------------
PERFORMANCE: 3. FW3 misses out on a four because it has a few
bugs. The Apple LaserWriter printer driver doesn't work, the
mouse interface is less than perfect and the product can be made
to hang. A pity, really, because it deserves a four.

USEFULNESS: 4. Users swear by FW3. It usually replaces all other
commonly used packages. The tutorial quickly gets new users up to
speed. It's the package of choice of many journalists.

MANUAL: 4. Like all Ashton Tate manuals, professionally written
and presented. Material is available as needed. Users not wanting
to get into a particular area yet are not forced to wade through
it to find essential, though hidden, information. They learnt
their lesson with the dBase II manuals of a few years ago which
did more for the third party book market than anything else.

AVAILABILITY: 4. Ashton Tate has an excellent worldwide
distribution channel, with commensurate technical support. The
only complaint is that some non-English versions, particularly
the French, are overpriced. This is one of the heavily
discounted, mail order products so shop around. Be aware that
there are different dictionaries and thesauruses available in
different markets.

(  )


(NEWS)(TELCOM)(WAS)(00001)

DIAL YOUR THERMOSTAT AND TURN ON THE COFFEE MAKER FROM WORK
WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A., 1989 JAN 12 (NB) -- Selected Washington
area residents will be able to use their phone lines to control
home equipment and appliances starting this fall. The service is
a result of two deals Philadelphia-based Bell Atlantic Corp. has
reached with home automation companies, Teletimer International
Inc. of Boca Raton, Fla., and Square D Co. of Palatine, Ill.
Customers will be able to control any home electrical appliance,
including lamps, hot water heaters, microwave ovens, furnaces,
and the like.

Customers will pay a one-time fee of $25 and $45 to $60 for
wiring. Monthly charges will be $8 for the first appliance and $2
for each additional appliance. Bell Atlantic says that in many
cases, savings in gas and electricity will offset the cost of the
service. Customers could use the service to shut off the hot
water heater during the day, when no one is home. Bell Atlantic
is initially targeting people with high utility bills and working
couples. The company believes that it may eventually be able to
sign up 525,000 customers for the service.

(Ken Maize/19890112)


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

TELENET PLANNING NEW BUSINESS SERVICE
RESTON, VIRGINIA, U.S.A., 1989 JAN 13 (NB) -- Look for a version
of the "PC Pursuit" discount packet switch service, aimed at the
business market, later this year. Peter Naleszkiewicz [pronounced
Na-lesh-ko-wits], product manager for outdial services at
Telenet, told Newsbytes the new service will be priced
differently from PC Pursuit, which is in the process of raising
its prices to $30 per month with a 30 hour/month cap on each
password's usage.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890113/Contact: Robin Carlson 703-689-6000)


(NEWS)(TELCOM)(WAS)(00003)

INSET'S HIJAAK BUNDLED WITH QUADRAM FAX
BROOKFIELD, CONNECTICUT, U.S.A., 1989 JAN 4 -- Quadram is
offering a reduced price on Inset Systems Inc.'s HiJaak image
capturing and conversion software with its line of JT Fax, PC
facsimile devices. HiJaak can covert 15 graphics formats, both
pixel and vector, directly to the JT Fax format. This means that
output from graphics software such as AutoCAD, FreeLance,
Publisher's PaintBrush, MacPaint, and other can be faxed via the
JT Fax. HiJaak can also import Fax'd images into paint packages
for pixel editing. The Quadram package will include a coupon
offering HiJaak for $79.99, a $20 saving off the list price.

(Ken Maize/19890113/Contact: Inset Systems Inc., 71 Commerce
Drive, Brookfield CT 06804, 203-775-5866)


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

NWI TO OFFER CHEAPER INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCING
EAST HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, U.S.A., 1989 JAN 13 (NB) -- In an
exclusive interview with Newsbytes, NWI Vice President-Operations
Sherwin Levinson revealed his firm has developed a way to save
90 percent of the cost of running an international online conference.
"You will be able to run parallel conferences in many conferences
for about 10 cents per 1,000 characters" with NWI's new service,
he predicted. An active conference might have 10,000 characters
per day added to it. "We do it with heavy compression, by
eliminating lengthy prompts and headers, with high speed modems,
and by calling from the U.S. at the right time, automating the
entire process."

NWI offers private network services to businesses for roughly
$30/hour -- the price varies with the contract -- featuring news,
conferencing, mail and other services managed from its VAX
computers in East Hartford, Connecticut. The company developed
its new system with help from nonprofit agencies, mostly
religious groups, which pay as little as $8/hour to access the
system. In this case, Levinson said, an RBBS system in Israel
called Geshernet worked with him to access a companion board in
Los Angeles, so users of both could compare the trends in the
Israeli and U.S. election campaigns. At the same time Presbynet,
a Canadian network of Presbyterian churches, worked with him to
get regular access to their missionaries in Cairo, Egypt. "We use
PCs to do file compression, then they log onto NWI with a special
account, which blinks files both ways." "Blinking" means commands
are sent to a conferencing system along with files, avoiding
menus and prompts. Along the way, NWI has also made major changes
to PARTICIPATE, the conferencing software for which it holds a
source code license. Those modifications have been so extensive,
Levinson notes, that the NWI conferencing service is no longer
called PARTI but "electronic meetings."

"We plan to start selling this service aggressively in February
or March," Levinson concludes. "Someone with a small office could
put up a bulletin board with up to twenty simultaneous users, and use
our service to maintain electronic meetings with offices
worldwide."

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890113/Contact: NWI 800-624-5916)


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

PARTICIPATE FOUNDERS TRYING TO BUY BACK COMPANY
ALLENTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA, U.S.A., 1989 JAN 13 (NB) -- Harry Stevens
and George Reinhart, co-founders of Participate Systems Inc., are
trying to buy back control of the online conferencing software
package they have been nurturing since 1980. PARTI was sold a few
years ago to Network Technologies Inc. of Ann Arbor, Michigan.
NETI, backed by a public offering of stock through the Vancouver
Stock Exchange, was supposed to pay off PSI's noteholders. But
NETI went broke in mid-1988 without paying off the debt. Harry
and George formed Eventures Limited of Pennsylvania and arranged
to service existing Parti customers and sell new licenses while
paying NETI a royalty. Eventures is now trying to buy PARTI back
by converting the notes.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890113/Contact: Ed Yarrish 215-821-7777)


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

HITACHI SIGNS TO HANDLE GENERAL DATACOMM ISDN COMMITMENTS
STAMFORD, CONNECTICUT, U.S.A., 1989 JAN 13 (NB) -- The deal
announced January 10 between General DataComm of Middlebury,
Connecticut and Hitachi Ltd. shows how the Japanese may dominate
the ISDN equipment battle. Hitachi will handle the hardware and
software connections for ISDN service, while General DataComm
will offer its Megamux and Megaswitch multiplexers. Hitachi is
already using General DataComm equipment for its own network in
Japan, and sells it under the Hitachi name.

ISDN is one of the most misunderstood terms in communications
today. It stands for integrated service digital network. It means
huge capacities, and two-way traffic. "We are also adding
technology to the multiplexer which makes it compatible with the
public phone network," General DataComm spokesman Theresa A.
Carpentieri told Newsbytes. Traditionally, data multiplexers have
been used in private networks.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890113/Contact: Theresa A. Carpentieri, 203-
574-1118, ext. 6122)


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

QUOTRON GETS INTERNATIONAL STOCK EXCHANGE LISTINGS
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 13 JAN (NB) -- Quotron has
won non-exclusive rights to distribute SEAQ [Stock Exchange
Automated Quotations] International market prices over its
network. SEAQ International is the electronic market system of
the International Stock Exchange in London, and covers 283 stocks
in 12 major industrialized countries contributed by over 50
market makers. SEAQ displays multiple quotations for a requested
stock and highlights the best bid and ask prices. "This is
definitely not an exclusive," Quotron's Roxanne Taylor told
Newsbytes. "There are other people who carry this information."

Quotron has long dominated the desks of American stockbrokers,
but it's facing growing pressure from Knight-Ridder's MoneyCenter
system and from Reuters, which dominates the European market.
It's an extremely lucrative business, because traders keep their
terminals on all the time and pay thousands of dollars for quote
services each month. Getting access to instant-access quote
streams like SEAQ [pronounced see-ack] is a necessity if the
Citicorp-owend Quotron is going to stay on top.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890113/Contact: Roxanne Taylor, 213/302-4609)


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

NOVA-NET ADDS TEXAS TELEPORT TO ITS LIST OF SATELLITE HUBS
ENGLEWOOD, COLORADO, U.S.A., 1989 13 JAN (NB) -- There is a growing
glut of online transmission space. To fiber optic cable, add
satellite transponders. Nova Net Communcations is building a
network of satellite uplink centers through which it offers cheap
data transmission using any protocol you want.

Martin Halzel, senior systems engineer for Nova-Net, told
Newsbytes his firm is just giving medium-sized companies
something outfits like Chrysler and K-Mart have had for years,
namely the ability to bypass packet switch services like Telenet
and Tymnet. The big boys keep their own networks of dishes to run
their own private TV networks for sales meetings and training,
and data transmissions piggyback on the unused portions of the TV
channel. Each office on the Chrysler TV network, for instance,
has a 6-foot dish, called a VSAT [very small aperture terminal]
on its roof to get Chrysler shows beamed from one very powerful
dish acting as network hub. It's the cost of the hub which has
kept the rest of us tied to the phone system, Halzel explains.

Until now. Nova-Net can take data calls into its network, where
they're passed to one of the rent-a-hub operations they have
joint-ventures with. Included are Avdata in Atlanta, Teleport
Denver, Contel ASE, which has multiple hubs, and Geostar near
Washington, DC. A fifth teleport company, the Dallas Fort Worth
Teleport, signed up January 11. For the price of a six-foot dish,
plus Nova-Net's management services, you can now bypass Telenet
and Tymnet for intra-company data calls. Halzel notes that a lot
of modems can share a single 56 kilobit/second line which amounts
to 1/1000th of the capacity of a single KU-band transponder.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890113/Contact: Martin Halzel, 303/799-0990)


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

JOINT VENTURE LINKS FOUR SMALL LONG DISTANCE CARRIERS
CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA, U.S.A., 1989 JAN 13 (NB) --Like birds flocking
together for protection, four long distance carriers have formed the
National Switched Network [NSN], a joint venture to share lines,
development costs, and whatever shelter they can gather against
increased competition.

Chairman of the NSN managing committee is Telecom USA Chairman
Clark McLeod of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, whose Teleconnect Inc. merged
with SouthernNet of Atlanta last year. McLeod's company has been
trying to selectively shut down access to BBS systems without
notice to callers since last April. The other partners are
Advanced Telecommunications of Atlanta, LiTel Telecommunications
Corp., and RCI Corp., Advanced and Telecom are publicly traded,
while RCI is a wholly owned subsidiary of Rochester Telephone
Corp., and LiTel is privately held. Combined revenues of the
firms are expected to exceed $1 billion this year, but that still
represents just 2 percent of the nation's long-distance market, and
fierce price-cutting led by AT&T is pressing all four firms.

Newsbytes interviewed Teleconnect general counsel Casey Mahan
who was unwilling to say what the company's policy will be in
the future. We have policies, but I don't want to go into
detail," she said. "Right now each of the companies has to
respond to hackers in their own way." A cut-off of service to
BBS systems, without notice to callers, could happen again, Ms.
Mahan added, "but we're trying to work with the utility board,
who we advise of such blocking."

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890113/Contact: Casey Mahan, 319/366-6600)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(TYO)(00010)

FUJITSU DEVELOPS A MULTIMEDIA PROCESSOR
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 JAN 12 (NB) -- Japan's computer giant Fujitsu
claims to have successfully tested a new multimedia processor
capable of interconnecting previously incompatible data streams.
The processor is said to allow communications between next-
generation computer equipment, such as ISDN or integrated services
digital networks, with open system interconnection networks, for instance.

Fujitsu says the multimedia processor can convert data of a host
computer or a personal computer into character data, and will
automatically send the converted data to a facsimile machine; it
will synthesize Japanese documents from a personal
computer or a facsimile machine into speech and will send the
speech via telephone; it will also accumulate facsimile transmissions
as personal computer data.

Fujitsu expects to make the processor commercially available within
two years.

(Ken Takahashi/19890112/Contact: Fujitsu, 03-216-3211)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(SYD)(00011)

AUSTRALIAN MODEM MAKER WINS WORLDWIDE SALES
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1989 JAN 12 (NB) -- Australian data
communications manufacturer, NetComm is set to release what is
believed to be the world's first 1234 modem. The Pocket Rocket
will have 2400 baud [V22 bis] as well as V23 [1200/75]
capability. Another announced product is a PC fax card which will
receive and transmit in background and can incorporate customized
headers and footers [such as logos and letterheads] in
transmissions.

NetComm is winning large overseas sales despite stiff competition
in the modem market. At a time when low-cost Asian modems are
flooding most markets, even local manufacturers are finding it
difficult to make profits, but NetComm has recently won a number
of international contracts and distribution agreements.

Communications expert Bill Bolton explained to Newsbytes that
although inexpensive modem chip sets have allowed Asian
manufacturers to produce very low-cost machines, most national
telephone carriers are very particular about the quality of
equipment connected to their lines. It's in the area of design
quality, construction to rigid standards and very high quality
control that NetComm has won these sales, said Bolton. The
company recently announced an exclusive contract to supply the
strict Japanese national carrier, and observers expect an
announcement soon that Apple has engaged NetComm to supply
Apple-badged NetComm modems for worldwide sales, including the
US.

(Paul Zucker/19890112/Contact: NetComm Australia Pty. Ltd. Paul
Heath, Australia 61-2-8885533, fax [phone])


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(TOR)(00012)

NORTHERN TELECOM ACQUIRES INTEREST IN B.C. TEL SUBSIDIARY
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA, 1989 JAN 13 (NB) -- An agreement
announced today will turn some parts of Microtel, a manufacturing
subsidiary of B.C. Telephone Co., into a joint venture between
B.C. Tel and Northern Telecom Canada Ltd. The memorandum of
understanding also provides for Northern Telecom to acquire
Microtel's central office switching business, including its
manufacturing plant in Brockville, Ontario.

The memorandum announced today in Vancouver says the companies
will proceed with creation of the new joint-venture company. The
move is subject to the approval of both partners' boards of
directors, and of government regulators. The new company,
combining the network management systems businesses of Microtel
and Northern along with Microtel's Lentronics business, will be
51 percent owned by Northern Telecom and 49 percent owned by the
B.C. Tel Group. It will be based in British Columbia.

The announcement appears to lay to rest speculation earlier in
the week that B.C. Tel would sell Microtel to AT&T, which last
fall bought similar operations from GTE Corp. of Stamford, Conn.
GTE has a controlling interest in B.C. Tel, the second-largest
telephone company in Canada.

(Grant Buckler/19890113/Contact: Jim Cameron, B.C. Telephone,
604-432-2698; John Lawlor, Northern Telecom Canada, 416-238-7147)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(TOR)(00013)

CORPORATE CANADA ONLINE NOW AVAILABLE THROUGH DOW JONES
TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1989 JAN 13 (NB) -- Corporate Canada Online, a
new online database from Info Globe, is now available to Dow
Jones News/Retrieval subscribers. Info Globe, the electronic
publishing division of the Toronto newspaper The Globe and Mail,
has integrated information from its full-text newspaper database,
its Marketscan stock quotation system and its Report on Business
Corporate Database into Corporate Canada Online. The new
database includes stock quotes, income statements, balance
sheets, recent news and other information on about 2,000 Canadian
public companies.

(Grant Buckler/19890113/Contact: Phil Faughnan, Info Globe, 416-
585-5299)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(TOR)(00014)

DEADLINE NEARS FOR BRITISH COLUMBIA DOCTORS TO CLAIM BY COMPUTER
VICTORIA, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA, 1989 JAN 13 (NB) -- Starting April 1,
most doctors in British Columbia will have to submit claims to
the provincial medical services plan electronically. The
province's Medical Services Commission will stop processing
claims in hard copy on that date. An exception is being made for
doctors who make fewer than 2,400 claims per year or receive less
than C$72,000 per year in gross Medical Services Plan payments.

Doctors will be able to submit claims by dialing in to computers
in 28 locations throughout the province. More centers may be
added later. Doctors can already use the electronic billing
system, called Teleplan, and more than 300 are doing so. The
deadline for getting up and running with Teleplan was originally
to be January 1, but the deadline was set back three months after
negotiations with the British Columbia Medical Association.
Personal computer software to work with Teleplan is available
from a number of vendors.

(Grant Buckler/19890113/Contact: Teleplan, British Columbia
Ministry of Health, 604-387-1402)


(EXCLUSIVE)(TELECOM)(LON)(00015)

NEW ONLINE SERVICE TO DEBUT IN THE UK
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND, 1989 JAN 13 (NB) -- This week sees the
introduction of a new online service in the U.K. called Matrix. The
new system, which runs under Korus multiuser system software,
costs #25 a year to subscribe, with no further online [time-based
charges].

"We're launching the system with four lines initially, but with
the capability to quickly expand if need be," said Matrix
managing director in an exclusive interview with Newsbytes. "One
of our major features is fully-fledged access to the Usenet
network with its variety of messages. Added to that, the lack of
time-based charges that our competitors charge - in addition to
subscription fees - and I think Matrix offers good value for
money.

Other features of Matrix include electronic mail, telesoftware
for a variety of micros, and a forthcoming link with other e-mail
networks. According to Farnen, the outbound e-mail service to
other networks will be available very soon.

"We're working on that feature, as well as a number of others.
What we're trying to do with Matrix is offer an alternative to
the PC-oriented online systems around at the moment. They're fine
of you have a PC, but what the Amiga, Mac, ST and other computer
users? Existing systems have little to offer them. That's where
Matrix comes in," he said.

Matrix is available on a Liverpool dial-up number, at all CCITT
modem speeds from 300 to 2400 baud full duplex.

(Steve Gold/19890113/Matrix: 051-236-7978)


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

1989 PAN EUROPEAN DIGITAL CELLULAR RADIO CONFERENCE ANNOUNCED
MUNICH, WEST GERMANY, 1989 JAN 10 (NB) -- IBC Technical Services
has announced the 1989 Pan European Digital Cellular Radio
conference will be held at the Hilton International Hotel in
Munich on the 8/9 February, 1989. The two-day conference on the
future of digital mobile communications will cost #450 and has a
prestigious conference speaker list.

(Steve Gold/19890110/IBC Technical Services: 01-236-4080)


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

LONDON PHONE NUMBERS RUNNING OUT; RENUMBERING SCHEME PLANNED
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1989 JAN 13 (NB) -- British Telecom has revealed
that it will run out of seven digit phone numbers in the London
area by the mid-1990's, and is looking into ways of solving the
problem.

According to a report in the London Evening Standard newspaper
last week, BT's solution involves splitting London into two
zones, designated the 071 and 081 national code areas, in place
of the existing 01 zone. The 071 and 081 national codes for
London fit neatly into the U.K. major city number scheme, which
starts at 021 for Birmingham, through to 061 for Manchester.

Newcastle-upon-Tyne was the last major city to receive a new
national code. In 1987, Newcastle numbers altered from five and
six digits to a three plus four [seven] digit scheme. At the same
time, Newcastle's area code changed to 091. At the time, many
questioned why 071, the next code in the sequence, was not used.
It appears that BT reserved the 071 and 081 codes for London use
at a later date.

(Steve Gold/19890113)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(TLV)(00018)

TEK-DYNE LAUNCHES MODEM MULTIPLEXER UNIT
TEL AVIV, ISRAEL, 1988 DEC 18 (NB) -- Tek-Dyne has unveiled a
$450 modem unit capable of multiplexing two serial signals onto a
single telephone connection. The unit works to 300, 1200 and 2400
baud full duplex under CCITT and Bell standards, as well as
supporting the MIcrocom Networking Protocol Class 4 error-
correction and data compression standard.

The modem is said to be useful for connecting two computers or
printers over a single modem link, and is fully Hayes-compatible.

(Peter Vekinis/19890112/Contact: Tek-Dyne Ltd., Gonen str.,
Petach Tikva 49130, Israel, Tel: [phone])


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(WAS)(00001)

RESEARCHERS USE COMPUTER TO SEE HOW A BRAIN THINKS
BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, U.S.A., 1989 JAN 13 (NB) -- Researchers at
Johns Hopkins University have connected a computer directly to a
monkey's brain, producing an image of the brain as it thinks.
"We've used a technique that lets a mental process be seen as a
physical one," said Dr. Apostolos Georgopoulos, the leader of the
research team. The study found that motor cortex nerve cells can
be tracked during the thinking process the comes before movement.
The researchers say the work might someday lead to artificial
limbs that respond to instructions from the brain. The
experiments should that mental calculations by a trained rhesus
monkey showed up on the computer screen thousandths of a second
before the animal did a prescribed task.

(Ken Maize/19890113)


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

GEORGIA SCIENTISTS USE PCs TO FIND A NEW NUMBER
ATHENS, GEORGIA, U.S.A., 1989 JAN 13 (NB) -- Carl Pomerance and William
Alford of the University of Georgia have factored a 95-digit
number using a system of 140 personal computers. "When the final
result was reached," last October, "there was a lot of jumping
and shouting around here," Pomerance said. "It was a lot of fun."
The number two raised to the 332nd power, plus one, divided by
203,201 is now the largest number yet factored using only PCs.
The two mathematicians are currently at work on a 100-digit
number.

Cryptographers have long been fascinated with factoring extremely
large numbers since their prime factors lie at the heart of
ciphers used in secret codes for government and industry. Large,
factorable numbers are used to encode secret messages like bank
drafts and national security reports. To decode the information,
the receivers use the factors of the original numbers, which act
as a key on a lock. Factoring, once done through trial-and-error,
is now handled through techniques like Pomerance's "quadratic
sieve," an algorithm developed in 1981 which selects numbers
related to the one being factored and compares them to a small
set of prime numbers. Those numbers which fall through are then
used to identify the number's factors. The sieve was used last
year to factor a 100-digit number on a network of hundreds of
computer work stations.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890113)


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

NEW EFFORT TO BEAT JAPANESE TO HIGH DEFINITION TELEVISION
SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 JAN 12 (NB) -- Sixteen U.S.
electronics firms are out to capture the biggest piece of the
high definition television [HDTV] pie and have joined forces to get it.
Apple Computer, Zenith, Hewlett Packkard, Motorola, IBM,
Digital Equipment, Varian Associates, ITT, Prometrix, Raychem,
Tektronix, Texas Instruments, Harris, AVX, PCO, and Micro
Electronics Computer Technology have joined together to fund
a business plan for the venture. The partnership, in
cooperation with the federal government, emphasizes research
leading to product manufacturing, licenses technology, and
directs HDTV technology and related product manufacturing.

The alliance is prompted by a study by the American Electronics
Association which showed that the HDTV frontier -- estimated to
be worth some $40 billion by the year 2010 -- may be U.S.
electronics firms' last shot at technological superiority over
Japan. The announcement of the partnership was made at the
Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

(Wendy Woods/19890113/Contact: John Hatch, AEA, 408-987-4232)


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

AMERICA'S SHARE OF WORLD ELECTRONICS DROPS
SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 JAN 4 (NB) -- The American
share of the world's electronics production dropped from 50.4 percent
in 1984 to 39.7 percent in 1987, according to the American
Electronics Association. Jpan's market share, meanwhile,
rose from 21.3 percent in 1984 to 27.1 percent in 1987. Western
Europe also helped take up the slack by increasing its share from
23.5 to 26.4 percent during the same period, while Pacific
Rim countries went from having 4.9 to 6.8 percent of the world
electronics market during that same period.

Says J. Richard Iverson, AEA president and CEO, "It is obvious
that American high technology is at risk. This shrinking of the
U.S. world market share of a leading-edge segment of the U.S.
economy must be reversed."

(Wendy Woods/19890113/Contact: John Hatch, AEA, 408-987-4232)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(TYO)(00005)

MATSUSHITA TO MARKET A TRON SYSTEM DISPLAYING MOVING PICTURES
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 JAN 10 (NB) -- Matsushita Electronics
Industries has successfully developed an educational computer
system based on Business The Real Operating Nucleus, or BTRON
specifications.

The new system displays moving pictures on the screen, and does
not require special application programs adopted by conventional
systems because it stores and deals with the signals of moving
images at the operating system level. Multiple windows on the
system realize simultaneous display of video and personal computer
screens.

Matsushita expects to start marketing the new system this
year and will sell it to schools.

(Ken Takahashi/1989/19890112/Contact: Matsushita Electronics
Industries, 06-908-1151)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(TYO)(00006)

BREAKTHROUGH ON JAZZ MUSIC PROGRAMMING
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 JAN 11 (NB) -- Researchers at the NTT
Software Laboratory say they have successfully created a
computer-aided jazz music creation system called LPA'88. The
research staff developed the new system by connecting the
inference computer PSI, which was developed by the Institute for
new generation Computer Technology, or ICOT, to a synthesizer.
ICOT has been attempting to achieve a technological breakthroughs
with its inference engine and various electronic products.

In this particular project, researchers at the ICOT employed a
special computer language called ESP, developed from the
artificial intelligence language PROLOG.

The new system realizes excellent music performance similar to a
professional jazz improviser or player.  Only chords were
originally programmed into the system, the researchers insist.

(Ken Takahashi/19890112)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(TYO)(00007)

FUJITSU DEVELOPS A MULTIMEDIA PROCESSOR
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 JAN 12 (NB) -- Japan's computer giant Fujitsu
claims to have successfully tested a new multimedia processor
capable of interconnecting previously incompatible data streams.
The processor is said to allow communications between next-
generation computer equipment, such as ISDN or integrated services
digital networks, with open system interconnection networks, for instance.

Fujitsu says the multimedia processor can convert data of a host
computer or a personal computer into character data, and will
automatically send the converted data to a facsimile machine; it
will synthesize Japanese documents from a personal
computer or a facsimile machine into speech and will send the
speech via telephone; it will also accumulate facsimile transmissions
as personal computer data.

Fujitsu expects to make the processor commercially available within
two years.

(Ken Takahashi/19890112/Contact: Fujitsu, 03-216-3211)


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

NEC REVEALS THE FASTEST CISC MICROPROCESSOR
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 JAN 12 (NB) -- NEC Corporation has
successfully developed a 32-bit microprocessor which operates at
fifteen million instructions per second, or MIPS. No other chip
makers in the world have ever developed such a high-speed complex
instruction set computer, or CISC, type microprocessor. Even the
32-bit 68030 Motorola chip operates at 13 MIPS.

NEC will start sample shipment of the new MPU, called V70, to
communication equipment and office automation makers this fall.
Volume production is expected to begin early next year.
The price for the new chip is 100,000 yen or $800.

(Ken Takahashi/19890112/Contact: NEC Corp., 03-451-2974)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(TOR)(00009)

VARS ASSIGNED IMPORTANT ROLE IN MATURING COMPUTER MARKET
TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1989 JAN 13 (NB) -- Value-added resellers
[VARs] are increasingly extensions of computer vendors' own sales
forces, according to International Data Corp. [Canada]. The
research company has just completed a study of the VAR programs
of a number of major computer companies in Canada. It reports
that as computers and related products are increasingly viewed as
commodities, vendors must differentiate their products by
marketing and create brand awareness among end users. Value-
added resellers can help them do so, IDC said.

IDC said vendors must be partners, not competitors, to their
VARs. The researchers also said vendors must, in order to
attract VARs, offer not only good retail margins but strong
technical support, price/performance and a commitment to building
brand awareness among end users.

(Grant Buckler/19890113/Contact: IDC Canada, 416-369-0033)


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

DIGITAL GOES OUT AFTER SUN
LITTLETON, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1989 JAN 11 (NB) -- Digital
Equipment Corp. has rolled out a line of two RISC-based
workstations running the Unix operating system and aimed directly
at Sun Microsystems. Both use a reduced instruction sect chip
from MIPS. The bottom line machine, the 3100, is twice as fast as
a Sun 4, according to DEC, and priced at $11,390, well below the
Sun and lower than many analysts had expected. The 3100 features
eight megabytes of memory, SCSI port, monochrome monitor, mouse,
keyboard, and Ethernet controller. Topping the line is the
$43,400 3100S with 24 megabytes of SIMM memory, a whopping 996
megabytes of hard disk, and a bunch of bundled software including
a C compiler and DECwindows, Digital's new graphical interface
based on X Window. The 3100 is available immediately and the
3100S will debut in April.

Commenting on the spate of announcements from Digital, analysts
from CAP International called DECwindows the glue that holds the
Digital desktop strategy. CAP's Michael Goulde noted that
"Digital has been getting beaten up in the market for the last
seven years over its desktop strategy." Taken alone, he said, the
new announcements don't clarify that strategy. But with
DECwindows, Goulde said, "Digital is providing a sophisticated,
although complex strategic offering for desktop computing."

(Ken Maize/19890113)


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

NATURAL LANGUAGE ON THE DECSTATION 3100
BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 JAN 10 (NB) -- Natural Languages
has announced that its namesake software is now available on the new
DECstation 3100 RISC-architecture workstation. In addition,
the Natural Language interface, based on industry-standard X Windows,
supports the X Window System on both ULTRIX and VMS-based
systems.

NLI's Natural Language is an English language information
access and analysis product for relational database management
systems. It is the only conversational English product that
understands free-form English sentences and can concurrently
access heterogeneous database management systems.

NLI's capabilities are the result of proprietary technology. A
single user development system is $17,500.

(Wendy Woods/19890110/Contact: David Coleman, NLI, 415-841-3500)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(LON)(00003)

PC-EXPRESS SOFTWARE AVAILABLE FOR DEC VAX SERIES
SLOUGH, ENGLAND, 1989 JAN 11 (NB) -- Information Resources has
released a DEC VAX computer edition of its Express relational
database management software. The information projection software
has been adapted to run under the DEC VMS environment, and allows
data to be ported in from mainframe and PC versions of the
package.

According to Information Resources' Managing Director Rod Whyte,
the release of Express for the DEC VAX series enables Digital
Equipment computer users to have full access to Express's major
functions, which include executive information, corporate
planning, sales and marketing, and financial reporting and
modelling systems.

"DEC users can now have the competitive edge that Express
technology delivers in providing management with the best
possible environment for decision-making," he said.

The slightly bad news is that the DEC version of Express doesn't
come cheaply. Prices start at #25,000 for the VMS version of the
C-coded package, but this price does cover large multiuser
installations.

(Steve Gold/19890111/Information Resources: 0753-822456)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(WAS)(00004)

OSF UNVEILS MOTIF
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1989 JAN 12 (NB) -- The Open
Software Foundation has unveiled the new graphic user interface
for its version of Unix. The interface, an amalgam of products
from Digital Equipment Corp., Hewlett-Packard, and Microsoft
Corp., is called Motif. The product will standardize the user
interface for all products that use the OSF Unix. Motif will
"make Unix look pretty much like OS-2 or MS-DOS," said Donal
O'Shea, vice president of research for OSF, a group founded by 76
computer companies led by IBM. Whether all the members of OSF
will adopt Motif isn't yet clear, note industry observers. Also,
a rival group of Unix developers, headed by Unix creator AT&T, is
working on its own "standard" version of Unix.

(Ken Maize/19890113)


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

HP ROLLS OUT 3D WORKSTATION
PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 JAN 9 (NB) -- Hewlett-Packard
Co. has introduced an entry-level 3D workstation, and announced
price reductions on other HP 9000 workstations. The new model, the
HP 9000 Model 340SRX, lists for $14,900. HP says the machine is
the first 3D workstation for less than $15,000 and offers better
3D graphics than any other workstation in its class. The 340SRX
is based on the Motorola 68030 processor, and is compatible with
existing HP 9000 Series 300 computers.

(Ken Maize/19890113)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(TYO)(00006)

SONY REWRITES OS INTO KOREAN LANGUAGE
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 JAN 5 (NB) -- Sony has rewritten the operating
system of its NEWS engineering workstations into Hangul, the language
of Korea. Sony signed a general sales agency agreement with
major Korean electronics firm Pae Woo last July, when Sony started
the Hangul rewriting procedure. Sony is planning to enter the
Korean workstation market through Pae Woo, increasingly trying
to lure Korean software makers to write programs for its workstations.

(Ken Takahashi/19890112/Contact: Sony Corp., 03-448-2111)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(TYO)(00007)

HITACHI & NEC TO JOIN X/OPEN
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 JAN 5 (NB) -- Hitachi and NEC have applied for
membership in X/Open and are waiting for a formal acceptance by
the end of January.

On the issue of Unix standardization, Hitachi is already siding with
the Open Software Foundation; in contrast, NEC is supporting
Unix International. Because these two major players in the
Unix market are at odds over the future of the operating system,
much of the industry is confused.

Meanwhile, X/Open has been touted as a neutral organization with
its slogan "Common Applications Environment" and observers say
it hopes to bury the hatchet among the feuding sides.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19890112)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(TOR)(00008)

NEW RELEASE OF HOTEL MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE OUT
CONCORD, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1989 JAN 9 (NB) -- Dehan EDP has announced
Version 3 of its Computerized Hospitality Solutions [CHS]
software for Unix and Xenix. The new release includes more
reports, several changes designed to make the software easier to
use, and improved functions for multi-property processing. It
also includes improved night audit functions, an alternative
inventory feature and more flexible group booking capabilities.
CHS is installed at more than 60 locations in North America,
according to Dehan.

(Grant Buckler/19890113/Contact: Warren Dehan, Dehan EDP, 416-
738-0001)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(BRU)(00009)

FORCE COMPUTERS UNVEILS MEMORY AND 68030 DEVELOPMENT SYSTEM
MUNICH, WEST GERMANY, 1989 JAN 6 (NB) -- Force Computers, one of
the world's largest VME board manufacturers, has announced a new
memory board and a PC development system.

The memory board offers up to 32MB RAM using 4MB RAM chips or 8MB
with one MB RAM chips. The board is capable of supporting an 80386
microprocessor running at 32MHz with zero wait states, thanks to
the use of 100 nanosecond RAM chips.

In addition, the company has also released a new development
system based on a 25MHz Motorola 68030 microprocessor that runs
the Unix 5.3 operating system. The system is available in either
desktop or 19-inch rack mount configurations, and features floating
point arithmetic, 4MB shared DRAM, 32K static cache RAM, an
Ethernet LAN controller, and a SCSI hard disk interface.

(Peter Vekinis/19890112)


(EDITORIAL)(IBM)(LAX)(00001)

W Y S I W Y G - What You See Is: Wayne Yacco's Gazette

AN ILLUMINATING EXPERIENCE
BURBANK, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A, 1989 JAN 12 (NB) -- A couple of columns ago,
I wrote about the new Crosstalk release that added background file
transfers. I also had some fun relating an anecdote about the Crosstalk
faculty at last year's Softeach in Los Angeles. I don't know if anyone at
DCA read the piece but there was at least one interested reader.

That reader was Keith A. Ackerman, director of marketing of
SoftKlone and he had a sense of humor. The first thing I noticed in
the Priority Mail package was an envelope with a hand-lettered
legend. The legend read "a neat little flashlight." Inside was a
small flashlight with a copy of the MIRROR III logo attached to it
with transparent tape. Keith had covered a promotional item he'd
picked up from the Amdek booth at COMDEX with a piece of paper.

In addition to giving me a good laugh, Keith also included a copy of
MIRROR III, a press kit and a cover letter. The cover letter pointed
out that MIRROR, which was called a Crosstalk superclone, has had a
background-transfer feature since its introduction in 1985.

Released just this past November, MIRROR III is a good candidate for
a forthcoming review here in Newsbytes. The letter promised that
MIRROR III has the power of Crosstalk Mk4 without sacrificing
Crosstalk XVI compatibility. Keith also characterized Mk4 as "user
vicious" and incompatible with Crosstalk XVI. If I can find a recent
copy of Mk4 on hand, and I think I have one, I might even do a
comparison.

For the sake of anyone not familiar with SoftKlone and MIRROR,
they're the outfit that was sued by Microstuf, the original vendor
of Crosstalk, back in 1985. The suit was one of the first of the
look-and-feel suits and it resulted in SoftKlone changing their
interface. According to SoftKlone cofounder Don Waldo, a settlement
was reached in which both sides dropped their claims and
counterclaims. No money exchanged hands. And SoftKlone hasn't backed
off or turned into shareware or been driven out of business. They're
still aggressively pursuing Crosstalk's market and MIRROR lists for
$99.

The new owners of Crosstalk, DCA, are much bigger than Microstuf.
DCA makes the well-known IRMA boards and other hardware that are a
second standard in the corporate connectivity market. It will be
interesting to see it they can effectively respond to communications
software like MIRROR and Procomm.

As to the issue of illuminating documentation, the ball is still in
DCA's court. Maybe I'll hear from one of my friends at DCA before
this is over.

LOTUS AGENDA

Readers interested in Agenda will find a review of HOWTO, an Agenda
template, in the Newsbytes reviews section. This review was
inadvertently omitted from last week's edition which contained a
related Southern California Bureau story: CRITICAL PATH TEMPLATE FOR
AGENDA DUE. If you are interested in Agenda, I suggest you also
refer to that article which is available online in last week's
Newsbytes. It provides additional information about The AgendaWare
Specialists and their other applications including a critical-path-
method template which is about to be released. [EDITOR'S NOTE:
The article on the agenda template can be found in option 11, option 2,
under the title "Newsbytes Southern California."]

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