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/nb890613.311

Text File | 1991-10-02 | 148KB | 3,505 lines

(EXCLUSIVE)(APPLE)(SFO)(00001)

PIRATED APPLE CODE AUTHENTIC
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 JUN 9 (NB) -- A group calling
itself the nuPrometheus league has mailed a copy of the assembly
language source code for Apple's Color QuickDraw and all hardware
Equate files for the various Macintosh ROMs to MacWeek magazine,
and threatens to disseminate more Apple proprietary software in
the next few weeks. Apple Computer, meanwhile, is taking the
group's activity very seriously and claims to be launching an
aggressive investigation in order to stop them. At stake is the
"crown jewels" of Apple Computer, its proprietary software, a
license for which has never been issued.

The group, which also calls itself "Software Artists for Information
Dissemination" says in a letter obtained by Newsbytes News Service,
to have "no ambition beyond seeing the genius of a few Apple employees
benefit the entire world, not just dissipated by Apple Corporate
through litigation and ill-will."

MacWeek Editor Dan Ruby tells Newsbytes that the data is apparently
authentic, having been verified by one of the software designers, Andy
Hertzfeld. He has no idea who sent the disk and letter, which
ironically follows protests staged by individuals in the "League
for Programming Freedom" who seek to curb the current spate of
"look and feel" lawsuits over software copyright.

The letter from the nuPrometheus League promises to disseminate
copies of Macintosh ROM, System software 6.03, Finder 6.1, and
Appletalk 2.0 next. Anyone interested in receiving the next
mailing, which will consist of the complete source code to the
hierarchical filing system and all device drivers, should place a
classified ad in Bay Area Computer Currents or MacWeek during the
month of July, it advises. But both publications tell Newsbytes
they will refuse to publish such ads.

Apple spokeswoman Carleen LeVasseur tells Newsbytes that the
perpetrators have not been found but that Apple is aggressively
seeking them out. Apple believes the code has been distributed
to two other individuals, including MacWeek, by the guerilla
organization.

(Wendy Woods/19890609/Press Contact: Carleen LeVasseur, 408-974-
2671)


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

APPLE GRANTS TO AT-RISK STUDENTS
CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 JUN 9 (NB) -- Apple Computer has
donated $2 million to 23 schools where students are considered at
risk of academic failure. The schools, located from rural Louisiana
to inner-city Philadelphia, will use the money to assist students
with the use of computers. The Louisiana school, for instance,
will use the money to transcribe the oral histories of students
into an audiovisual encyclopedia of their local culture. The
Florida recipient school will design a program to accelerate the
learning process for students that have fallen a year behind their
peers. In Philadelphia, inner-city high schoolers will use
Apple computers to study botany in a renovated greenhouse.

Andrea Gonzales, Education Grants program officer for Apple,
says the grants program, now in its tenth year, involves donations
of both hardware and software.

(Wendy Woods.19890610/Press Contact: Bill Makley, Apple, 408-
974-2916)


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

HP TO SELL MACINTOSH INKJET
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 JUN 10 (NB) -- Hewlett-Packard
is readying a version of its DeskJet ink-jet printer for the Macintosh
market and targeting a July roll-out, according to MacWeek, a weekly
trade journal. The paper says the product, which utilizes the QuickDraw
routine, will be renamed DeskWriter and will sell for $1,195.

Hewlett Packard could not be reached for comment at deadline.

(Wendy Woods/19890610)


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

FIVE NEW MACS DUE, SAYS MACWEEK
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 JUN 9 (NB) -- Apple has
at least five new Macintoshes in the wings, ranging from what is
Sculley's low-cost, "under-$1,000" Macintosh to a 33 MHz workstation,
to a portable. According to MacWeek's Jim Forbes, there are
new 25 MHz and 16 MHz machines similar in appearance to the IIcx,
a 33 MHz workstation that will come with a built-in EtherTalk
adapter and direct memory access capabilities, a low-cost, 16 MHz
68000-based Mac, and the 16-MHz 68000-based portable.

The report says that the next-generation Macintosh IIs, aimed
at the Unix workstation market, will start appearing in January,
1990. Further, the portable, which had been expected at August
MacWorld in Boston, now won't be ready until at least September
or October, according to Forbes, due to problems with the
machine's power supply and battery.

(Wendy Woods/19890610)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(LAX)(00005)

SPECIAL EFFECTS DONE ON A MAC
SANTA MONICA, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAY 30 (NB) --Showcase F/X
[F/X is the movie industry acronym for special effects] from
Aegis Development allows Mac users to animate text for
presentations.

Images imported from programs that use the PICT file format such
as McDraw and PixelPaint can be used as backgrounds behind the
animated titles. Background pictures can also be scanned in.

The program can be used to create standalone presentations or
with the appropriate genlock device, the text can be transferred
to a videotape machine. Aegis also includes its SlideShow
program with which users can alter the playback speed of the
animation, change transition colors, and loop a group of animation
files.

(Janet Endrijonas/19890609/Press Contact: Aegis Development, 213-
392-9972


(NEWS)(APPLE)(TYO)(00006)

MAC MIDI SOFTWARE IN JAPAN
TOKYO, JAPAN 1989 JUN 3 (NB) -- A major Japanese musical
instrument distributor, Naniwa Gakki, has signing a deal to import
and sell two kinds of musical instrument digital interface
software [MIDI] for the Apple Macintosh computer.

Naniwa Gakki will distribute Vision and Studio 3, receiving
supply from U.S-based Opcord Systems. Vision is a software
package for editing music and images; Studio 3 is interface software
to convert between MIDI and SMPT [Society of Motion Picture and
Television Engineers] formats.

Vision is termed visual editing software since it is capable of
synchronizing the editing of music or sound with video tape
or movie film.

The price of the software packages are 80,000 yen or $550 for
Vision and 75,000 yen or $517 for Studio 3.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19890608)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(LON)(00007)

TIMETABLE PLANNER FROM FRANCE
TOULOUSE, FRANCE, 1989 JUNE 09 (NB) -- Midnight Software, a
French software house, has released Plein Temps, a timetable
package for the Apple Macintosh. The package is available in three
configurations, ranging from FFR 3,350 to FFR 7,000.

The software allows up to 15 windows to be open on the Mac
simultaneously, allowing entry of teachers, classrooms and
lessons. Plein temps then calculates the most effective use of
resources and, subject to time-tabling constraints, prints out
timetables for teachers and the school's administration offices.

Plein Temps runs on the Mac II, Plus and SE series, with a
minimum system configuration of a 20MB hard disk and a single
floppy drive.

(Steve Gold/19890609/Press & Public Contact: Midnight Software,
Tel: [FR] 061-637767)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(KUL)(00008)

APPLE TO EXPAND IN HONG KONG
HONG KONG, ASIA, 1989 JUNE 3 (NB) -- Apple Computer is expected to
increase the number of its distributors from two to three in a bid to
raise its share of the local computer market.

The company was said to have held discussions with telecommunications
equipment supplier Tricom Systems to give Apple customers added value
through the supply of Apple equipment to users of telecommunications,
but no other details were available.

Current distributors for Apple, Gilman Office Machines and Sun
Business Machines, would apparently not be affected by the discussions.

(Michael Worsley & S.Roowi/19890607)


(EXCLUSIVE)(BUSINESS)(SFO)(00001)

CHINA TURMOIL DISRUPTS HIGH-TECH TRADE
SAN BRUNO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 JUN 9 (NB) -- A week after
violence disrupted Chinese society, U.S. firms are still in a
quandary as to how to proceed with business there. Unison
International, which manages some $10 million in annual sales
to China from U.S. high-tech firms, and is a consultant to firms
seeking to establish joint ventures, has closed its Beijing office
and sent three staff members on "forced" vacations to other
countries in order to size up the situation.

Unison, which represents such high-tech clients as International
Imaging Systems and Systems Integrators, can communicate with its
Chinese staff via phone, fax, and telex, but no mail is being
delivered within the country. Of the overnight courier services
based in the U.S., only DHL is continuing to serve certain areas
of China.

"Over the last week we have not done any business in China. Everyone
is on hold for another couple of days until we see how quickly our
office will open, and to see how quickly the Chinese will be in
their offices," Unison's vice president for trading and development,
Deidre Deamer, told Newsbytes.

She does not think, however, that existing joint ventures with
China will be affected long term. "It's a question as to whether
new investors will go in. We don't expect to see cutbacks in
U.S. firms' sales within China. But there is a question as to
whether China has enough foreign exchange to continue to buy."

(Wendy Woods/19890609/Press Contact: 415-877-0780)


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

CHINA TURMOIL AFFECTS IBM
ARMONK, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1989 JUNE 6 (NB) -- IBM announced that
due to the unrest in Bejing, it has withdrawn part of its staff
to Hong Kong "to ensure the safety of employees."

Although all non-Chinese IBM employees [estimated at about 50]
were evacuated to Hong Kong, IBM has so far kept its business
operating using Chinese nationals.

(John McCormick/19890605/Press Contact: Tom Belz, 914-765-6631)


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

SINGAPORE/BEIJING LINKS SEVERED
SINGAPORE, S.E. ASIA, 1989 JUNE 9 (NB) -- The present trouble in
China is causing Singapore firms much concern about the future of
business links with that country, according to several reports.

Breaking into the China market had not been an easy task for
Singapore, taking more than a decade of patient effort and government
encouragement to achieve. The sudden outbreak of violence has already
affected the thriving business in a two-way trade connections, which
reached over S$5 billion [US$2.25 billion] last year, and local firms
are afraid that recent successes might be lost.

Singapore is China's fifth largest export market after Hong Kong,
Japan, the European Community, and the U.S.

Lim Ho-hup, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies Senior Fellow, said
that it would come as no surprise if Singapore-China trade this year
was only half of last year's level. Professor Lee Sheng-yi, an economist
with the National University of Singapore, who also predicted that ties
would suffer serious setback, said, "The relationship depends mainly on
Beijing's continuation of its open-door policy and economic reform."

Professor Lee, however, believed that Singapore businessmen should not
withdraw their investments from China at this time, as he felt that
the situation would eventually improve as the Beijing government
realised the need for reforms and the importance of foreign trade to
China's economy.

Indeco Engineers, a government-linked firm that was one of several
Singapore companies that followed Government advice to exploit the
vast China market, has temporarily stopped work on two of its hard-won
projects in China and evacuated about 200 employees who have since
arrived home. The contracts are for supplying and installing
mechanical and electrical systems for the China World Trade Centre in
Beijing and the 30-story Jin Cang Mandarin Hotel in Shanghai. Indeco
also plans to evacuate Singaporeans working for its subcontractors in
China.

A spokesman said that it would resume work only when the situation
returns to normal and there is no risk to employees.

Other Singapore firms in China include Wearnes Technology, Lim Kah
Ngam, Wah Chang International and Jurong Technology. These are
involved in jobs ranging from making electronic components, die-cast
moulds, hardware, textiles amd garments and hotel constuction.

(Michael Worsley & S. Roowi/19890609)


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

JAPAN'S BUSINESS IN CHINA HALTS
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 JUNE 8 (NB) -- Sudden civil upheaval in China
has led to a major curb in operations for Japanese firms doing
business in that country. Projects under negotiation with the Chinese
government have come to a complete halt, even though most Japanese
firms still have offices operating out of that strife-torn country.

Fujitsu, for instance, which won 70 percent of China's digital
telephone switch orders in March, has recalled 39 of its workers
from Beijing and Shanghai, although the offices there remain in
place with a skeleton staff. NEC was to make integrated circuits
in Beijing and digital telephone switch systems in Tianjing.
However, negotiation for the project has stopped and the firm
cannot predict when the project will be resumed.

Seiko-Epson has put off a plan to produce printer heads in
Tianjing starting this September. Seiko-Epson will shift all new
production from China to Southeast Asian nations, such as Indonesia.

Hitachi, which was to establish a cathode ray tube plant in China,
and Canon, scheduled to build a copy machine factory there,
have decided to watch the situation before making any moves.

(Ken Takahashi/19890608)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LAX)(00005)

COMPAQ NOW NUMBER 2 IN EUROPE
HOUSTON, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1989 JUNE 6 (NB) -- Compaq Computer
Corporation has announced that during first quarter 1989, its
share of the European personal computer market grew to 10.2
percent, moving the company into the number two spot behind IBM.

According to figures released by Paris-based market researchers
[Dataquest/Intelligent Electronics], Compaq moved up from the
number four position, passing both Olivetti and Apple. This
announcement comes on the heels of both a corporate
reorganization of Compaq's international operation and the
announcement of a major manufacturing facility expansion at the
company's plant in Erskine, Scotland.

(Janet Endrijonas/19890609/Press Contact: Bob Beach, Compaq
Computer, 713/374-1560)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TYO)(00006)

TOSHIBA'S 6TH DRAM PLANT
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 JUN 3 (NB) -- Toshiba has revealed a plan to
build its sixth dynamic random access memory [DRAM] production
plant in Yokkaichi, Mie prefecture, with investment of 70 billion
yen or $480 million.

The new plant will be a clean room facility with 15,000 square meters
of floor space. The construction will begin in August, 1990,
production will begin in the first half of the 1991.

Toshiba's semiconductor business has grown about five times in
the last ten years and the company expects to produce some 670 billion
yen or $4.62 million worth of semiconductor products in fiscal 1989.

Previously, Toshiba announced expansion of its Oita, Japan
plant in order to produce four-megabyte and sixteen-megabyte,
memory chips.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19890608)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(WAS)(00007)

COMMODORE'S NEW AD AGENCY
WESTCHESTER, PENNSYLVANIA, U.S.A., 1989 JUNE 5 (NB) -- Today
Commodore Business Machines, Inc., chose Messner, Vetere, Berger,
Carey and Schmetter as their new ad agency.

Griffin McCall, another New York City-based agency formerly
handled the Commodore account, and a spokesperson for Commodore's
PR firm stated that the parting was amicable.

The new firm, which is relatively new, with the principals coming
from major New York agencies, will handle all Commodore product
lines, especially the Amiga and the MS-DOS compatible
Professional Series 3.

(John McCormick/19890609/Press Contact: Julie Bauer, Dir.
Marketing Services, Commodore, 215-431-9000 x9135)


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

SERVICE MERCHANDISE SELLS PC STORES
NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE, U.S.A., 1989 JUNE 7 (NB) -- Service
Merchandise, a catalog showroom store, has become the latest
general retailer to get out of the retail PC business by selling
The Computer Shoppe, its retail personal computer business, to
Profit Computer Technologies of Columbia, Maryland.

Les Cohen, president of Profit Computer Technologies, acknowledged
the chain's problems by saying he believes "we can supply the
resources necessary to make The Computer Shoppe a successful
business." The Computer Shoppe consists of 11 stores in Alabama,
Arkansas, Kentucky and Tennessee.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890609/Press Contact: Les Cohen, Profit
Computer Technologies, 301-992-4400)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(ATL)(00009)

WASHINGTON STATE BACKS TELECOMMUTING
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON, U.S.A., 1989 JUNE 5 (NB) -- For the second
time in two months, a government has put its stamp of approval on
telecommuting, the process of doing creative corporate work from
home. Last time it was Sendai, Japan. This time it was the State
of Washington, which brought together hundreds of corporate
executives to hear Governor Booth Gardner and leading
telecommuting experts extol the field's virtues.

"It was the first time a state government put something like
this on. It was the first time a lot of businesses attended,"
said consultant Jack Nilles, of Bel Aire, California. He
predicted at the conference that almost four million work hours will
be lost annually by 1990 in the Puget Sound area as employees sit
in cars instead of offices. He said with telecommuting, "productivity is
increased, employee morale is greatly improved, and the
environment benefits." Nilles told Newsbytes "At the last
session a lot of people wanted more details. There's been a global
increase of interest in the last year."

Nilles has been working from home since 1970, and still spends
four days per week there. "The state of California has had an ongoing
telecommuting pilot project from 1987," he added. "We're just now
analyzing the first year's results, what's changed and who's
different. Productivity does go up, and employee job satisfaction
is improved." Now that Nilles has numbers to prove it he's
getting a better hearing.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890609/Press Contact: Jack Nilles, JALA
Associates, 213-476-3703, FAX [phone])


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

DISASTER RECOVERY FIRM FORMED
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 JUNE 5 (NB) -- El Camino
Resources Ltd. [Los Angeles, CA] and Global Marine Inc.[Houston,
TX] have announced the formation of El Camino Recovery Services
to provide hotsite and related disaster recovery services to IBM
mainframe users throughout the U.S. The first hotsite center will
be located in Houston.

More and more, companies are realizing just how serious a
situation having their computer facility destroyed by a disaster
could be. Government and auditor pressure is encouraging
companies to prepare for data-processing disaster. Legal
liability laws now affect companies that fail in their
responsibilities to protect the corporation.

In addition to the hotsite, El Camino Recovery Services makes
relocatable coldsites available to be delivered to clients within
14 days of a disaster. The company includes a commitment to
deliver a replacement configuration within five working days and
also offers contingency planning, consultation and vaulting
services.

Officers of the new company include Richard L. Hudson, president
and Michael Nemiroff and Robert Verdon, vice presidents. Don
Smith, a recognized disaster recovery expert will serve as
consultant during development.

(Janet Endrijonas/19890609/Press Contact: Harold Abramson,
California Marketing, 818-340-5287)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LAX)(00011)

RECOGNITION ACQUIRES PLEXUS TECHNOLOGY
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 JUNE 6 (NB) -- Recognition
Equipment Incorporated has signed a letter of intent with Plexus
Computers Inc. [San Jose, California] under which Recognition
will acquire Plexus' image processing software technology.

Plexus has been under the protection of the bankruptcy court
since mid-March of this year. This transaction is subject to the
completion of a definitive agreement between the two companies,
approval of both boards of directors and approval of the federal
bankruptcy court.

Final purchase is expected to occur as soon as mid-July. Plexus
technology, a comprehensive line of LAN-based image processing
software for complex data processing applications, will be
marketed by a wholly-owned subsidiary of Recognition, Plexus
Software Inc.

(Janet Endrijonas/19890609/Press Contact: Jenny Haynes Barker,
Recognition Equipment, 214-579-6024)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LAX)(00012)

DPI OPENS DOORS IN PHOENIX
PHOENIX, ARIZONA, U.S.A., 1989 JUNE 1 (NB) -- Data Products
International [DPI], founded in February 1989 to source high
quality computer products for a list of international distributor
clients, has chosen Phoenix as the location for its corporate and
world headquarters.

DPI provides a full range of services to its customers including
product evaluation and selection, product management, and on-
going marketing and technical support. The company offers a
complete line of IBM compatible products including PCs, local and
wide area networking communications equipment, and 3270
compatible displays, controllers and printers.

(Janet Endrijonas/19890609/Press Contact: Barbara Paterson, Data
Products International, 602-460-4500)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LAX)(00013)

MAI VS PRIME WAR CONTINUES
TUSTIN, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 JUNE 10 (NB) -- Following MAI's
amendment to its original tender offer [Newsbytes, 6/3], there
has been more maneuvering by both parties.

Tuesday, Prime postponed its annual meeting [at which MAI planned
a proxy fight to gain board control] from June 14 to July 26.
The company did state that if a better offer had not been
received by that date, it would try to negotiate an agreement
with MAI.

Wednesday, in response, MAI filed suit against Prime to force the
annual meeting to be held June 14 as scheduled. For MAI, the
financing for the takeover announced last week depends upon
having the matter settled by the June 14 deadline. A hearing on
the annual meeting postponement question has been scheduled for
June 12.

Thursday, MAI Basic Four pushed back the expiration date of its
revised takeover tender offer for Prime Computer two weeks to
June 28. This was done in response to a request from the
Securities and Exchange Commission. How this affects the battle
over the date for the Prime Computer annual shareholders meeting
is not currently known.

In a related announcement, Prime plans to close its manufacturing
plant in Manchester, New Hampshire and lay off about 95 percent of the
256 employees at that location. The company says the shutdown is
part of a restructuring plan begun when Prime acquired
Computervision, a computer-aided design company, last year. Work
formerly done in Manchester will be spread out among other Prime
facilities.

(Janet Endrijonas/19890610)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TYO)(00014)

ASHTON-TATE EXPANDS dBASE VAR FAMILY
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 JUN 6 (NB) -- Nippon Ashton-Tate will
double the members of its dBASE VAR [value-added reseller] family.
The family was organized by the company in October 1985 and
has 50 members now. The purpose of the organization is to create
practical applications without using C or Basic but with the
function of the dBASE Application Generator as non-procedural
language.

The Ashton-Tate will loosen its otherwise strict membership
procedures in order to bring more resellers into the fold.

Meanwhile, Software International has announced dedicated
graph-making software for dBASE -- dBASE Graph Version 1.0 for
NEC PC-9800 series. dBASE data can be made into graphs with
the product, which is priced at 45,000 yen or $310.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19890608)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TYO)(00015)

MATSUSHITA'S NEW TOKYO DISTRIBUTOR
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 JUNE 2 (NB) -- Osaka-based electronics
giant Matsushita Electric Industries has established a computer sales
operation in Tokyo, in an attempt to strengthen its computer offerings.
The 100 million yen, or $6.9 million Tokyo Matsushita Computer
will sell business personal computers in Tokyo. Matsushita hopes
to use this new company to acquire seven percent of Tokyo computer
sales in three years.

(Ken Takahashi/19890608)


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

AUSSIE PC MARKET SURVEYED
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1989 JUNE 5 (NB) -- Problems, problems and
more problems are in the forecast for the Australian PC marketplace
during the next 12 months, according to Compass Research. The
company has just released its analysis of the first quarter of
1989, which saw a major upswing in PC and printer sales.

Tracking sales through dealers, Compass found that 73,000 PCs and
60,000 printers had been sold between January and March.
This was 12 percent better than sales for the previous quarter and 27
percent up on the same period last year and led Compass to predict sales
of 80,000 PCs for the quarter just ended. Compass also predicted
software would outgrow hardware in the second quarter, with a 15
percent growth in the market to 60,000 packages.

But the new financial year [July to June in Australia] will bring its
traditional lull and problems for vendors and dealers alike. The
problems start with pricing. The average price of a PC fell from
AUS$5167 to AUS$4998 between January and March, due to a boom in
budget PCs and price competitiveness in the mid-range lines.
Compass noted that large sales to public and commercial sectors
were slowing, while the small business market is still driven by
price.

"The level of price cutting is quite extraordinary," said
Jennifer Adelstein, managing director of Compass Research. In her
view a lot of companies, particularly vendors, are feeling the
pinch. "There are a lot of problems that did not exist last year.
We have found there is a tremendous amount of conflict between
dealers and vendors. They are not communicating on the same
wavelength." She says dealers complain that vendors force
them to take palettes of product. Dealers are looking for better
support. They are looking for stable prices, not just margins,
and help in managing their businesses.

Compass figures show that the first quarter of 1989 was the first
time that 80286 PCs outsold 8086/88 PCs, with a 25 percent
growth in market share to 24,500 units. XT sales grew by seven
percent in the same quarter, while 80386 PCs had a 15 percent market
growth. The 68000 market grew only 3 percent over the previous quarter.

In the first quarter of 1989, Apple dominated PC sales, with its
highest quarter to date. It was followed by Amstrad, Commodore,
NEC and IBM. Ultra recorded the highest growth in market share,
according to Compass. Adelstein was not convinced there was room
for new players on the PC field, but said there were plenty of
software opportunities, particularly in niche markets. "There is
still a significant software lag," she said.

(Paul Zucker & Kester Cranswick/19890609)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SYD)(00017)

IMAGINEERING TO CHARGE FOR SUPPORT
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1989 JUNE 6 (NB) -- Large hardware and
software distributor Imagineering is to introduce paid-for
software support from July 1. All existing, registered users of
software will get 90 days free support, but they will then have
to pay an annual AUS$50 fee to get access to the support lines.

Users who buy software after July 1 will get 90 days free support
too, but then be asked to cough up a subscription fee. A coupon
soliciting the fee will be enclosed with each package.

Imagineering has written to all its registered software users,
informing them of the policy change. They will qualify for the
90-day support if they provide proof of purchase, the serial
number of the product and the bar code.

Users who have not registered and call Imagineering for support
will be sent the necessary paperwork, according to the firm's
technical support manager, Bob Lambert. "Many customers only
require support while they get up and running on their new
purchase," Lambert said. "Those who continue to require ongoing
support are often using more sophisticated packages and are
therefore asking more time-consuming questions."

He said Imagineering would not cut the cost of its software. "The
support component of the price was insufficient to meet our costs
and we were looking to increase software prices, or come up with
another solution," he said. The $50 fee pays for unlimited
support calls for all Imagineering software a user has, thought
the service is not toll free.

(Paul Zucker & Kester Cranswick/19890609)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SYD)(00018)

COMPAQ NEW ZEALAND GETS MD
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1989 JUNE 5 (NB) -- Compaq in Australia has
announced the appointment of a managing director for Compaq
Computer New Zealand. Keith Davis emigrated to NZ from Britain in
1984 to join AWA computers. He has been given the task of getting
things ready for NZ to become a full subsidiary of Compaq in the third
quarter of this year.

(Paul Zucker/19890609/Press Contact: Prue Robson 61-2-6600077)


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

NIXDORF NIXES 1989 DIVIDEND
PADERBORN, WEST GERMANY, 1989 JUN 09 (NB) -- Nixdorf Computer AG,
the troubled West Germany technology company, has announced that
no dividend will be paid to shareholders this year, owing to
adverse trading conditions.

Speaking at the company's annual general meeting in West Germany
last week, Nixdorf Chairman Klaus Luft said that his management
team could not pay a dividend to shareholders whilst the company
is in a transition phase. He said that the company was trying to
cut costs, as well as cope with sharper competition and tricky
market conditions.

"This pressures our results," he said, noting that the company's
pre-tax loss during the second half of the year would be similar
to the DM 148 million reported in the first quarter of the year.
As reported previously, Nixdorf made a group operating loss of DM
59.8 million during 1988, compared with a profit of DM 330.6
million in 1987.

(Steve Gold/19890609)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LON)(00020)

PARIS STOCK EXCHANGE COMPUTERIZED
PARIS, FRANCE, 1989 JUN 09 (NB) -- The Paris Bourse [Stock
Exchange] has completed the first stage of installation of Relit,
its computerized share clearing dealing system. The FFR 400
million [$60 million] system will be presented to officials this
Wednesday, prior to going live in March, 1990.

With connections to some 400 institutions and brokers, who will
be able to exchange up to 600,000 messages a day, Relit is
expected to cut the maximum time for clearing stock exchange
transactions from the present 13 days down to five or less.

Relit will also standardize the procedures for clearing
transactions, allowing the 22 currently existing systems to be
integrated into one.

(Steve Gold/19890609)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TOR)(00021)

BEDFORD BECOMING STRATFORD
BURNABY, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA, 1989 JUN 6 (NB) -- Stratford
Software Corp. is the new name chosen for Bedford Software Ltd.,
which recently sold its accounting software business to Computer
Associates. Stratford Software will proceed with development of
Suzy, a new online information product. The renamed company will
continue to be traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Meanwhile,
shareholders are to meet July 4 to approve the Computer
Associates deal, which also requires regulatory approval.

(Grant Buckler/19890609/Press Contact: Terry McDonald, Bedford
Software, 604-294-2394)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TOR)(00022)

SEMI-TECH FAR EAST UNVEILS RESULTS
MARKHAM, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1989 JUN 6 (NB) -- International Semi-
Tech Microelectronics has announced audited financial results of
its subsidiary Semi-Tech Microelectronics [Far East], of Hong
Kong. In the year ended January 31, Semi-Tech Far East earned net
profit of HK$138 million on revenues of HK$1,669 million or C$259
million. Revenues increased nearly tenfold from HK$170 million or
C$26.38 million in the previous year. Semi-Tech said the sharp
revenue increase was largely due to allocation of some revenues
of Consumers Distributing of the United States to Semi-Tech Far
East. The figures were not affected by the acquisition of SSMC,
another U.S. company, which was taken over after the fiscal year
ended.

(Grant Buckler/19890606/Press Contact: Michael List,
International Semi-Tech Microelectronics, 416-475-2670)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(KUL)(00023)

MALAYSIAN DISTRIBUTOR FOR BANKING GIANT
KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA, 1989 JUNE 1 (NB) -- A U.K.-based software
house, Kapiti Asia Limited, has chosen Business Decision Systems Sdn Bhd.
[BDS] as the distributor of its financial software system in Malaysia.

Tan Soo Kong, BDS' managing director, said, "Kapiti has a wide range
of integrated application systems for the international financial
community. Local financial institutions will also be able to handle
their growing debt securities business more effectively and profitably
through Kapiti software."

The software is also applicable for processing of international trade
finance, dealing in foreign exchange and money markets and trading in
futures, options and marketable securities.

Kapiti is said to be the leading software house in the banking industry
worldwide, with 15 offices that serve Europe, Middle East, Africa,
Asia-Pacific and the Americas.

(Michael Worsley & S. Roowi/19890608)


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

NITTO DENKO CHIPS MADE IN MALAYSIA
KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA, 1989 JUNE 7 (NB) -- A Japanese company, Nitto
Denko Corporation, has set up a wholly-owned subsidiary in Malaysia.
It will manufacture epoxy resin integrated circuit [IC] packages to
meet the great demand for the product here.

The subsidiary, Nitto Denko Electronics Malaysia Sdn Bhd. with a
capital outlay of M$2 million [US$0.68 million] will begin production
in February 1990 and export the IC packages to other countries in
Southeast Asia.

(Michael Worsley & S. Roowi/19890609)


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

COMPAQ MAY SET UP MALAYSIAN SUBSIDIARY
KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA, 1989 JUN 9 (NB) -- Compaq may set up a
subsidiary here to provide its distributor with better back-up service,
as well as perhaps handle some of its more labour-intensive
production operations in view of the growing labour shortages in
Singapore, just over the causeway, according to Lim Soon Hock,
Compaq Computer Asia's managing director.

On May 31 Compaq launched its Deskpro 386/33, what it claims to be
the world's most powerful and expandable desk-top personal
computer, in Malaysia, which it says is the first country outside the
U.S. to introduce it.

Hock says Compaq's products have been selling well and its
growing clientele emphasised the need for improved back-up service.

(Michael Worsley & S.Roowi/19890609)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SIN)(00026)

CONNER MAKING DISKS IN SINGAPORE
SINGAPORE, S.E. ASIA, 1989 JUNE 5 (NB) -- American multinational
Conner Peripherals Inc has relocated its high-volume production of
disk drives to its factories in Singapore. Its original U.S. plant, in
San Jose, will now focus on pilot manufacture and launching of new
products. Conner has a research and development centre in Colorado.

The relocation of its manufacturing facilities is in line with its
additional investments here. It has just set up its third plant here
at an investment of S$60 million. This plant incorporates an automated
line using robotics.

(Michael Worsley & S.Roowi/19890605)


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

STRATUS IN KOREAN STOCK EXCHANGE
SEOUL, KOREA, 1989 MAY 26 (NB) -- Three Stratus XA2000 continuous
processing systems have been installed by the Korean Securities
Computer Corporation [KOSCOM] for the Korean Stock Exchange [KSE].

The systems were installed to expand KOSCOM'S computerised information
retrieval and stock trading systems after KSE's rapid five-fold
increase in its average daily trading volume between 1976 and 1988.

KOSCOM's director of computer operations, Yoong Rhee, referred to what
he called "Stratus' fast application environment" and said, "Fault
tolerance is built right into the Stratus hardware, eliminating the
time-consuming process of writing software code for online high
availability, which is necessary for other forms of achieving fault
tolerance."

At KOSCOM, the Stratus XA2000 operates the stock price information
display [SPID] system and the stock trading confirmation system in a
multivendor architecture networking the Stratus computers with Unisys
and Tandem systems over 3270 bisynchronous communication links.

The Stratus computer is connected to a Stratus model 110 via
Stratalink, Stratus' high speed communications bus to further increase
its capacity.

(Michael Worsley & S.Roowi/19890606)


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

FAMILIAR NAMES ENTER COMPUTER MARKET
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, U.S.A., 1989 JUNE 5 (NB) -- Names like Sharp
and Emerson, long familiar in the world of Consumer Electronics,
are now becoming part of the computer world as well.

At the recent Summer Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Emerson
Radio Corporation announced a line of computers to be
manufactured in the U.S. by two new divisions, Emerson
Technologies, Inc. and Emerson Computer Corporation. These
computers while being built for industrial, commercial and OEM,
or original equipment manufacturing, accounts will also be
marketed through consumer retail outlets.

Emerson will be manufacturing XT class 10 MHz machines with 768K
RAM as well as 16 MHz AT class units. The company's 80386-SX-
based machine will have the same features its AT clone.

The Personal Home Office Electronics division of Sharp has
introduced a laptop computer that will be available in October.
Dubbed the MZ-100, the computer is targeted at home office
workers, students and professionals on the go. The system
features 640K RAM and is expandable to 1.6MB. The system has
dual internal 3.5 inch floppy drives [8088-compatible CPU] and a
10MHz clock speed.

One of the reasons new companies are joining more familiar names
like Head Start, Blue Chip, Epson, Amstrad, Packard Bell and
Radio Shack in the mass market computer arena is the virtual
demise of the dedicated word processor. Those were the
typewriters that came with a monitor and some software that
enabled office workers and students to enjoy some of the
convenience of a computer while maintaining the comfort of
typewriter familiarity. These systems were not compatible with
other word processing equipment and now, companies like Smith
Corona and Magnavox who were leaders in the field, are expected to
surface in low-end computers in the future.

Head Start, the folks who have been making wrestler King Kong
Bundy into a household word, are expanding their computer line to
include lower-end entry level plug-in and compute systems. Head
Start personnel who felt uncomfortable being quoted by name, told
Newsbytes that these systems will include everything needed to
get up and running and will be sold through mass merchandising
outlets. One employee commented: "We now offer an 18 month, 24
hour a day, on-site warranty program so people do not have to
fear buying a computer at a mass merchandising discount outlet."

Mass market computer pioneer Blue Chip International is going up
the scale. In an interview with Newsbytes, Blue Chip founder and
President John Rossi said: "We started with the discounters but
gradually discovered that computers would do even better in more
targeted mass merchandise environments like office products
chains and consumer electronics mass marketers. We also find
computers selling well through American Express bill envelope
stuffers."

Rossi now sees a market evolution into multi-tiers. "Blue Chip
is now a step-up product from the low-end XT class products. We
plan to keep our XT-type models on the market but we see these
buyers moving up as they become more sophisticated so we are
introducing a line of 80386-based machines and laser printers
that we expect to see in computer specialty stores and lower-end
value added reseller outlets as well as the larger merchants."

Like Head Start, Blue Chip makes buying a computer in a non-
computer store environment more comfortable by backing the
product with a comprehensive, long [24 month] warranty. "Even by
placing our 386 machines in computer-oriented stores, we are not
abandoning the consumer electronics market. It is and always has
been our major market and we envision more consumer electronics
stores selling computers in the years to come."

(Janet Endrijonas/19890609)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(LAX)(00002)

NINTENDO THE ENEMY IN VIDEO GAME GAME
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, U.S.A., 1989 JUNE 5 (NB) -- Lawsuits, a little
name calling, and straight-forward competition characterize the
video game market at the moment. The target -- video game giant
Nintendo, the company that took the video game business from the
arcade into the home, made it successful beyond anyone's
expectations and now is the target for companies wanting part of
Nintendo's 85 percent market share.

At the recent Consumer Electronics Show, the fight for video game
supremacy was quite evident. Atari's Sam Tramiel, in announcing
the company's new hand-held video game unit to compete with a
similar product from Nintendo, promised that Atari would begin to
take part of Nintendo's market away. Other hardware
manufacturer's with non-Nintendo compatible systems and software
[Sega, NEC] are working hard to lure both old and new video game
players using improved graphics and equipment and what they hope
is a library of more interesting games.

Atari and its wholly owned subsidiary for software distribution,
Tengen, have been in court over distribution rights on cloned
software that can be played on the Nintendo Entertainment System.
Nintendo has been attempting to maintain a monopoly on all games
for its system by insisting that only authorized licensees can
make Nintendo games.

Smaller companies have also jumped into the fray. In an
exclusive interview with Newsbytes, Eddie Lin, executive director
of Color Dreams, a small company marketing unlicensed games for
Nintendo systems said: "Response has been overwhelming. There
are hundreds of distributors and dealers out there who want to
sell Nintendo compatible software. We won't be able to make
enough product to fill all the orders we can generate for our
games."

Lin went on to explain that American-developed games are more
appropriate to American culture. The graphics make the people
look more occidental and the basis for the game's story is
usually from Western stories rather than Asian history and
literature. Added Lin: "There also tends to be less violence in
games produced in America."

Many people commented that Nintendo had been well-compensated
over the years for having brought the industry back to life and
now its strangle hold on the market needs to be broken. There
are currently some 11 million Nintendo Systems in consumer hands
and by the end of this year, there are expected to be 20 million
in use. A number of people seemed to feel that with 20 million
machines, there would be plenty of room for unlicensed programs.

As always, there were two sides. In an exclusive interview with
Newsbytes, Dave Bernahl, founder of Diamond Incentive, Co. talked
about a game he has just devised that involves all of the
excitement of the Japanese adventure games with minimal violence,
has Americanized graphics, and is reminiscent of an educational
form of Trivial Pursuit where the hero only moves forward to the
next level by correctly answering questions. Why was Dave at the
CES Show? To license his game to Nintendo, of course.

(Janet Endrijonas/19890609)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(LAX)(00003)

CES -- MORE MANEUVERING, LESS TECHNOLOGY
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, U.S.A., 1989 JUNE 5 (NB) -- New ways to sell
current technology seemed to be the key trend at the Summer
Consumer Electronics Show [CES] held in Chicago last week.  The
show did not sport breakthroughs in technology as in prior
years.

The market for consumer electronics products has been close to
flat for the past year and industry analysts do not see a
significant jump in any segment in the near future. In recent
years, one of the more active markets [because it represents a
relatively new segment] has been home office and this summer was
no exception. Fax machines, low-end computers, telephones and
telephone answering devices were represented at the show in far
greater numbers than ever before.

Another area where the market is heating is video games. While
no one denies that Nintendo saved the once moribund video game
market by moving it from the arcade into the home, the company is
not universally loved and respected. Nintendo is being attacked
on three levels, alternative hardware [Atari, Sega, NEC], non-
licensed software opportunities by small companies, and developers
looking to break what they call Nintendo's monopoly by offering
better program content -- more educational and more relevant to
U.S. cultural backgrounds rather than Japanese.

HDTV [high definition television], so bright a star at the past
several CES outings, was not highly visible in Chicago.
Unfortunately, the broadcast and legal problems holding back the
availability of this technology for consumers has not been
solved. [This show was not concerned with the computer-aided
design opportunities for HDTV that are in use at present.] IDTV
[improved definition television] that uses current broadcast
signals but purports to show a better picture was on display in a
number of booths. DAT [digital audio tape] and erasable CD
[compact disc] technology also seem no closer to being available
in the consumer market than they were six months or a year ago.

There were plenty of fun items -- telephones that look like
something out of a Flintstones cartoon, radios inside every kind
of fuzzy animal, the world's smallest radio with built-in
speakers, radios resembling old juke boxes including neon lights.
CES was a veritable wonderland. And, smaller video cameras,
still video pictures, home audio speakers, car stereo speakers --
there will be plenty of interesting items on the market by
September that consumers will buy because they are better or
different than what people already own. For products
incorporating new technology that will truly improve on currently
available consumer electronics equipment, we'll all have to wait
a while longer.

The CEBus [a set of specifications for encoding and transmitting
information over standard AC power lines in a home] and Smart
Home concept [a home in which all appliances and other basic
systems are computer controlled using CEBus] has made little if
any progress since its introduction in January at the Winter CES.
The Electronic Industries Association [EIA] hopes to have a North
American standard in November after which there may be some word
on when CEBus products can be expected to hit the market.

(Janet Endrijonas/19890609)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(TYO)(00004)

SEGA TO CHALLENGE NINTENDO
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 JUN 4 (NB) -- Sega Enterprises will sell
its 16-bit home video game system MegaDrive under the brand name
of Genesis in the U.S. this September. Withe the U.S. 8-bit
video game market dominated by Nintendo, Sega hopes to
recapture some market share by launching its own 16-bit system.

In April, over 350,000 MegaDrives had been sold in Japan since
their fall introduction. MegaDrive offers advanced graphics, more
computing power than current systems, and a modem option that
allows competition via phone lines. Sega will distribute this
machine through its U.S. subsidiary Sega of America.

The retail price is $189. Sega expects to sell half a million of them
in the U.S. Ten game cartridges will be available in September
and 20 more are expected to be released by the end of the year.

(Ken Takahashi/19890608/Press Contact: 03-743-7447)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(LAX)(00005)

TI SOFTWARE TO CHANGE IN 1990S
DALLAS, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1989 JUNE 6 (NB) -- According to Jerry
Junkins, president, chairman and chief executive of Texas Instruments,
the 1990s will see a shift to an information-centered view of
computing. To meet the challenge this presents, TI will be
reorienting strategy to put more emphasis on application
software and system-level solutions.

One area of emphasis for the new focus is computer-aided software
engineering [CASE] where TI's Information Engineering Facility
[IEF] is a well-known tool. At present, users are reporting up
to a twofold improvement in software development. TI hopes to
increase to the fivefold level by the early 1990s.

(Janet Endrijonas/19890609/Press Contact: Bob Bledsoe, Texas
Instruments, 214-997-3857)


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

EMERALD SYSTEMS TO HOST NETWORK SEMINARS IN SIX CITIES
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 JUNE 8 (NB) -- Emerald
Systems will hold seminars in six cities at which the topic
will be "Data Backup Solutions For Networks."

Emerald Systems is a worldwide supplier of data integrity
software for computer networks. The seminars will provide
strategies for overall network backup. Seminar leaders will
review each end-user situation and offer options for data
management based on systems needs.

The seminars are targeted at Fortune 1000 end-users and will be
held in Boston [6/13], Philadelphia [6/14], New York City [6/15],
Raleigh, NC [6/20], Tampa, FL [6/21] and Hartford, CT [6/22].

(Janet Endrijonas/19890609/Press Contact; Paula Johns, Emerald
Systems Corp., 619-270-1994, ext. 4502)


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

NEW PRODUCTS THWART EAVESDROPPERS
SANTA ANA, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 JUNE 7 (NB) -- While most
attention has focused on the obvious computer criminals,
malicious hackers, and perpetrators of electronic viruses,
eavesdroppers who tap into data streams between computers have
been largely overlooked.

Many companies, as well as the government, are now spending large
amounts of money to secure communications between computers.
Industry analysts are predicting a boom in the market for data
stream security products, which, at the moment, are generally
some form of data encryption device.

Hughes Aircraft's Microelectronics Systems Division in Rancho
Santa Margarita, California has begun marketing a product that protects
against taps on fiber optic transmissions. This system has been
endorsed by the National Security Agency [NSA] which has tested
the product and announced that it is suitable for handling even
highly classified material. The product is targeted for
government and military users.

Rainbow Technologies of Irvine has a new product called
DataSentry II, an encrypting device that uses electronic "keys"
to scramble files before transmission to another computer.
Obviously, the receiving computer must be equipped with the same
key to unscramble the transmitted data. This system is aimed at
the civilian market where operations such as insurance companies and
banks need to protect corporate data but they do not have
security requirements that rival the government.

(Janet Endrijonas/19890609)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SFO)(00008)

FLUORESCENT COMPUTER PAPER AN EYE-POPPER
FRANKLIN, OHIO, U.S.A., 1989 JUN 9 (NB) -- If you're looking for
computer paper to liven up the company bulletin board or command
traffic-stopping attention, consider the fluorescent colored
computer paper of Miami Valley Paper Company. In five
headache-inducing shades of yellow, orange, red, pink and
green, the papers are the result of a year and a half of
"in-house and field research, development and testing," and
are given the brand-name of CompuGlo papers. They're coated,
CLS fluorescent micro-perfed tractor fed computer papers
designed for all types of printers.

Whatever is on them is sure to be seen -- whether it be a
notice, banner, sign, chart, banner, report, or pink slip or
lawsuit.

The paper comes in boxes of 120, 9 1/2-inch by 11-inch sheets and
is not fan-folded. For ordering and pricing information call 1-800-
543-7905.

(Wendy Woods/19890510)


(EXCLUSIVE)(GENERAL)(WAS)(00009)

NEW CONSUMER ELECTRONICS MAG DUE
BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 JUNE 9 (NB) -- In an
exclusive interview with Newsbytes, LFP Publications today
announced a new consumer electronics magazine slated to hit the
newsstands this fall.

Lee Pappas, publisher of the new glossy magazine, said that it
will include everything from jet skis and interesting automobiles
to computers, home automation, photography, and stereos.

He also said that 85 percent of the publication's editorial coverage
will be electronics-related but aimed at the average user.

(John McCormick/19890609/Press Contact: Lee Pappas, 213-858-
7100)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(WAS)(00010)

AMIGA PRODUCT OF THE YEAR
WESTCHESTER, PENNSYLVANIA, U.S.A., 1989 June 2 (NB) -- Commodore
says that at the April 29 meeting of the National Association of
Broadcasters [NAB] the Amiga 2000 personal computer received the
Product of the Year award.

The award, voted on by the readers of both AV Video and Video
Manager magazines, acknowledged the usefulness of the graphics-
oriented computer in the video industry.

The Amiga 2000, which uses Commodore or third party genlock
interfaces, can work with both PAL [European standard] and NTSC
[U.S. standard] video signals and has more than 200 specialized
video programs available.

Keith Masavage, Commodore's Amiga product manager, said, "The
Amiga was designed for video and broadcast applications. It is
the only personal computer in its price range that offers high-
quality graphics, true stereo sound, and NTSC video
compatibility."

(John McCormick/19890609/Press Contact: Valerie Bellofatto, 213-
629-4974, or Michael Fay, 215-569-2740, both with Fleishman-
Hillard)


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

SEIKO-EPSON SUPER-LIGHT LAPTOP
NAGANO, JAPAN, 1989 JUN 8 (NB) -- In a challenge to NEC, whose
Ultralite is a best-selling laptop in the U.S., Seiko-Epson has
now developed a super-light laptop PC-9800-compatible computer of
its own.

Called the Epson PC-286 Note Executive, the new laptop weighs in
at only 2.2 kilograms, comparable to the Ultralite. With the cover
closed, the PC-286 Note measures 8.3 by 11.8 by 1.4 inches, a
configuration similar to NEC's machine. The built-in 16-bit V30
microprocessor makes the laptop compatible with NEC's PC-
9800 series.

The PC-286 Note comes standard with 640 kilobytes of random
access memory, a 1200 bits per second [bps] internal modem, and an
internal read-only-memory disk with DOS 3.3 and Memo -- integrated
software offering Japanese word processing, spreadsheet, and database
features. In the external memory unit, two slots for an integrated
circuit card are included. The black and white liquid crystal display
displays eights shades of gray.

"With its Japanese language and more advanced features, the
PC-286 Note surpasses NEC's Ultralite," Executive Vice President
of Epson, Hideaki Yasukawa, commented.

The PC-286 Note, with a price tag of 458,000 yen [$3,300], arrives in
Japanese stores in the middle of September. Seiko-Epson plans to
sell 10,000 in the first year.  There are no plans to sell it outside
Japan.

(Ken Takahashi/19890608/Press Contact: Seiko-Epson, 0266-52-3131)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(TYO)(00012)

ICHITARO BUG-RIDDEN
HIMA, JAPAN, 1989 JUN 8 (NB) -- In the latest embarrassing incident
for one of Japan's most successful software firms, faults have been found
again in the newest version of the popular Japanese word processing
software Ichitaro. Though the software developer, Just Systems,
first shipped version 4.0 of Ichitaro on April 20, the product has already
gone through two recalls due to persistent bugs, and a third version
will be exchanged for customers. Users claim the software causes
system crashes and slows down operations.

Just Systems has swapped a total of 16,000 copies since the first
bugs were found, trading revised packages with buggy ones, free of
charge, with registered users. Just Systems is now on Version 4.2.

Company officers say the faults were caused by hasty
development in order to rush the product to market.

Meanwhile, the incident has jolted Hitachi, which bundled Proset
30 with Ichitaro in March and is faced with a massive headache
of replacing the software sold with its machines.

(Ken Takahashi/19890608)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(LAX)(00013)

COMMODORE HARD DISK SUBSYSTEM
TUSTIN, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 JUNE 7 (NB) -- CMS Enhancements
Inc. has announced a series of six hard disk drives for Commodore
personal computers.

Twenty and 40 megabyte [MB] internal hard disk drives are available
now for Commodore computers that are PC/XT/AT compatible. Beginning
in third quarter 1989, the company will have 20, 40, 60, and 80
MB internal and external hard disk drives for the Commodore
Amiga.

(Janet Endrijonas/19890609/Press Contact: John Woodmansee, CMS
Enhancements, 714-259-9555)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SYD)(00014)

AUSTRALIA ON DISK FOR $2000
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1989 JUNE 7 (NB) -- Read Only Memory, a Sydney-
based company, has released the second version of its "direct
marketer's friend" -- Australia on a Disk. The AUS$2000 CD-ROM
[compact disk] claims to contain all business and residential
phone numbers and addresses for the seven state capitals, plus
all levels of government. Using the bundled software Textware,
users can search through names, addresses or phone numbers using
wildcards. The sister product -- New Zealand on a Disk -- is priced
at NZ$750.

(Paul Zucker/19890609)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SYD)(00015)

VIRUS SKEPTIC GETS FLU
AMSTERDAM, HOLLAND, 1989 JUNE 2 (NB) -- Like many other computer
journalists, Les Bell has been more than skeptical about the
computer virus scare stories of the last couple of years. While
not doubting that they could exist, he felt that the paranoia did
more to help so-called computer security consultants than
anything else.

All of that changed two weeks ago while Les was presenting the
last day of his 'Supporting PCs' course in Amsterdam, Holland.
He'd been in the practice of leaving his machine running in the
lecture theatre over lunch. All went well until he tried to use a
utility after lunch.

After three or four system crashes in a row he started to panic.
He left the machine until he got back to his hotel room and
pulled out his diagnostic tools. He found that even his Setup
program in CMOS RAM was damaged. Suspecting that a virus
had modified every .EXE and .COM file that was run, he
fired up DEBUG to have a look at one of the damaged files. Guess
what file crashed next. With a dead DEBUG he decided to wait
until he got back home where he could rebuild the system -- he's
probably still doing it.

(Paul Zucker/19890609)


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

U.K. ACORN USER SHOW RISES AGAIN
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1989 JUN 09 (NB) -- The Acorn User Show, which
was last held in 1987, is set to return on 21 July this year. The
revitalised three-day event is to be known as the BBC Acorn User
Show, and is sponsored by three organizations: Acorn Computers
[manufacturers of the BBC Micro computer], Redwood Publishing
[publishers of Acorn User], and BBC Enterprises Limited.

According to Safesell Limited, the new show organizers, the event
will be the biggest Acorn-specific extravaganza of all time.
Safesell has already signed up more than 100 exhibitors for the
show, which it claims is a record for an Acorn-specific show.

To make sure that the show runs smoothly, Safesell have appointed
Cape Cowley Associates as promoters, which previously handled
the Micro User Show, The European Computer Trade Show and the
first IBM Show. Expected to be unveiled at the show is the new
BBC Micro.

(Steve Gold/19890609/Press Contact: Mike Cowley, Cape Cowley
Associates - Tel: [phone])


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(LON)(00017)

U.K. PC SECURITY SEMINAR SLATED
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1989 JUN 09 (NB) -- IBC Technical Services will
hold a one-day seminar on PC Security at the London Marriott
Hotel on 30 June, 1989. The UKP 260 event will cover all aspects
of PC security, ranging from risk analysis through to disaster
recovery.

Speakers at the seminar include Tom Cairns of the Cairn Group,
and Dr. Peter Horne of Apricot Computers. Horne is the director of
research and development at Apricot, and was responsible for the
development of the original Apricot PC, as well as the recently-
released VX series of Apricot fault-tolerant computers.

(Steve Gold/19890609/Press & Public Contact: Annabelle Simpson,
IBC Technical Services - Tel: [phone])


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

U.K. DAMAGED DATA RECOVERY SEMINAR
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1989 JUN 09 (NB) -- The Institute of
International Research's Technology Division [IIR Technology]
will hold a two day seminar on 'How to recover damaged data,
files and disks for IBM PCs and compatibles.' The two event will
be held in London on 17/18 July, 1989, followed by a similar
event in Manchester on 27/28 July, 1989.

The course doesn't come cheap however. Attendees to the UKP 595
event will receive a series of utility packages free, to assist
them in recovering PC disk files.

(Steve Gold/19890609/Press & Public Contact: IIR Technology -
Tel: [phone])


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(LON)(00019)

NETWORKS BOOK FROM BLENHEIM ONLINE
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1989 JUNE 09 (NB) -- Blenheim Online has
released a book on networks entitled 'Future Networks: New
Developments - New Opportunities.' The book is available at UKP
55 in the U.K., and $99 in the United States.

Topics covered by the book include comprehensive information on
digital and broadband networking, ranging from digital mobile
networks to integrated systems digital networks [ISDN].
The 275 page book, ISBN 0-86353-163-6, was edited by Ray
Reardon [not the snooker player], head of IBM Europe's head of
international networks.

(Steve Gold/19890609/Press & Public Contact: Blenheim Online
Publications - Tel: [phone])


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(BRU)(00020)

GALACTIC HACKER PARTY SLATED
AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS, 1989 JUN 09 (NB) -- A 'Galactic
Hacker's Party' is to be held in Amsterdam this August. According
to the party publicity, one of the longest sentences in conference
history, "The world will go into overload when an interstellar particle
stream of hackers, phone phreaks, radioactivists and assorted
technological subversives will fuse their energies into a media melt-
down as the global village plugs into Amsterdam for three electrifying
days of information interchange and electronic capers."

The Hacker's party will be held at the Club Paradiso, from the
2nd to the 4th of August this year. The event is organized by
Hack Tik, a strange club set up to explore the endless hacking
possibilities offered with today's data networks, telephone
systems and office systems.

Hack Tik's monthly magazine gives information on how to rip off
AT&T or MCI credit cards, how to connect to unusual system networks
[including dial up network identification node numbers], and how
to contact various government bodies. The magazine even includes
notes on how to play out your own War Games scenario.

Further details of the Hacker's Party can be obtained from Club
Paradiso, Weteringschans 6-8, Amsterdam 1017 SG, The Netherlands,
Tel:+ 31 20 264 521.

(Peter Vekinis/19890609)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(TOR)(00021)

GANDALF GETS LAN RIGHTS
OTTAWA, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1989 JUN 5 (NB) -- Gandalf Technologies
will resell hybrid Ethernet local-area networks from Dataco of
Herlev, Denmark, under a strategic partnership the two companies
have just announced. Gandalf will resell Dataco's ScaNet networks
as enhancements to the IBM connectivity capabilities of its
Starmaster intelligent network processor.

(Grant Buckler/19890608/Press Contact: Janice Drummond, Gandalf,
613-564-0183)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SIN)(00022)

SINGAPORE LEADING SURFACE-MOUNTER
SINGAPORE, S.E. ASIA, 1989 JUNE 6 (NB) -- The proportion of
manufacturers in Singapore making use of surface mount technology
[SMT] is the largest worldwide, and Singapore comes second only
to Japan in the amount of venture capital invested in the production
of SMT boards, according to figures released at a recent seminar here.

The bulk of the companies using it, however, are multinationals. In a
bid to get more local companies to do likewise, Hewlett-Packard [HP],
with the support of the local Economic Development Board [EDB] and the
Association of Electric Industries in Singapore [AEIS] held two
seminars on surface mount and fine pitch design for manufacturability.

Larry Rushing, market development manager of HP Asia, said that the
seminars were held by HP to help local companies be more competitive
by using the most cost-effective way of converting to SMT.

According to Rushing, an initial investment of US$1 million to US$2
million for installing equipment for SMT or the automation of the
fabrication of printed circuit boards [PCBs] would be required. This
and a further US$1 million for engineering development, will save 15
to 20 percent of manufacturing costs while giving an output of 25
million components a year.

Stephen Hinch, technology access manager for HP [USA] and one of
the speakers at the seminar, said that SMT is "the technology of
choice for printed circuit boards" and would account for all the PCBs
produced in the world within five years.

He said that currently 50 percent of the PCBs manufactured here use
SMT, compared to 35 percent around the world. It would be 1992 or '93
before the rest catches up with Singapore in the proportion of PCBs
produced using SMT.

(Michael Worsley & S.Roowi/19890607/Press Contact: Hewlett-Packard,
Ph:[65] 271.9444)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SIN)(00023)

SINGAPORE FIRM GETS FOREIGN SUPPORT
SINGAPORE, S.E. ASIA, 1989 JUNE 5 (NB) -- CSA Research, a local
computer firm, has raised S$7 million from local, Japanese and Korean
companies for a venture to design and market software worldwide.

CSA Research's Executive Chairman Johnny Moo said CSA will reveal
its new partners on June 19 when the venture, CSA's second involving
external financiers, will be sealed at a shareholders' meeting.

Its first such venture, in 1987 when it was first formed, involved S$4
million from financiers for the international marketing of a locally-
developed program which cuts an engineer's time in designing new
software. The Singapore National Computer Board's research arm,
Information Technology Institute, developed the software, called POSE
[Picture-oriented Software Engineering]. CSA Research, specially
formed from the Computer Systems Advisers group headed by Moo, was
given the marketing and sales rights for the product.

CSA Research hopes to market the English versions of the software
developed by its new partners. The products will be brought to
Singapore where they will be translated into English, re-packaged and
then marketed worldwide. Mr Moo refrained from disclosing in detail
the kind of software they intend to offer, saying only that "by year-
end there will be one Japanese and one Korean product ready for
worldwide marketing."

He continued, "Within the next three to five years, I expect one dozen
software products written by our partners, [to be] in our stable for
worldwide sales."

(Michael Worsley & S.Roowi/19890608)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(KUL)(00024)

MALAYSIA QUESTIONS ANALYST'S FIGURES
KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA, 1989 JUNE 2 (NB) -- A report by New Zealand
research group, Compass Hoby Ltd. on the value of the local computer
market [see Newsbytes Edition #310], has caused quite a stir and
brought protests from both the public and private sectors in the
Malaysian computer industry.

The object of the furor was a report by Paul Dowling of Compass
which claimed that the entire market was worth M$1.1 billion
[US$411 million] last year and is expected to be more than US$0.5
billion this year.

The furious general manager of a leading computer firm said, "How does
Compass arrive at such a figure when they do not even have an office
in Kuala Lumpur to monitor the industry? It is pointless supplying a
figure when there is no basis. They should conduct a thorough survey
of the industry to know and understand it better before arriving at
such an astronomical figure."

An official from the Association of the Computer Industry of Malaysia
[PIKOM] expressed the same opinion as the vendor.

A senior officer of the Manpower, Administrative and Modernisation
Planning Unit in the Prime Minister's Department said, "It would
probably be four to five years from now before such a growth would be
experienced in the industry. Much as we like to see the industry
growing we have to be realistic. We cannot even dream of anything near
M$800 million at the moment let alone breaching the billion dollar
mark."

Wong Poh Kam, a local researcher commissioned by the Committee on
Comprehensive Plan of Action on Industrial Technology [CCPAIT] to
conduct a survey on the industry recently, reported that the Malaysian
computer industry was estimated to be worth only about M$650
million last year with a projected growth of 23 percent this year.

Peter Britnell, who read Mr. Dowling's paper, had earlier defended
the report. He said, "Our results have been quite representative of
the market conditions of these countries."

(Michael Worsley & S. Roowi/19890607)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(KUL)(00025)

HONG KONG FIREMEN GET NEW CALL-OUT SYSTEM
HONG KONG, ASIA, 1989 JUNE 2 (NB) -- The Hong Kong Fire Services
Department has ordered a remote-control call-out system [RCCOS] from
Dowty Information Systems IT division.

Robin Chillman, manager of Dowty's universal systems, remarked, "In
such a densely polpulated area as Hong Kong, it was essential that the
Fire Services department house a system which would meet some very
exacting standards."

The RCCOS will interface between a computerised mobilising system, a
telephone system and existing outstations, enabling the department to
control both fire and ambulance call-outs. It has a complete back-up
facility that allows it to be controlled manually and a fault
indication system that alerts the control room of any malfunction in
the equipment. This helps to minimise the risk of total systems
failure.

(Michael Worsley & S.Roowi/19890607)


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

FREIGHT SOFTWARE FROM NIXDORF
SINGAPORE, S.E. ASIA, 1989 MAY 23 (NB) -- Nixdorf Computer Singapore
has come up with two of the most comprehensive software packages
designed to cater to the total demands of the air and ocean freight
forwarding industries -- Comet-top Air Freight and Comet-top Ocean
Freight -- according to a report.

Running on Nixdorf's Quattro range of business computers, the two
packages consist of three main modules which are Air/Sea Export,
Air/Sea Import and Administration/Sales. Both systems can interface to
local electronic data interchange and Tradenet as well as to
international telex communication network.

The important feature of these two packages is the job sheet which
provides online profit analysis relating to the shipment. Also, each
package can be used in the area of operations, traffic/warehousing,
accounting, sales/administrations and telecommunications.

The product is distributed by the Nixdorf's Computer Distributors and
is available in the market now.

(Michael Worsley & Joseph Ming/19890606/Press Contact: Nixdorf
Computer [S] Pte Ltd/ Freddy Lee/7473828)


(EXCLUSIVE)(GOVT)(WAS)(00001)

STALLMAN ORGANIZES PATENT/COPYRIGHT GROUP
CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1989 JUNE 4 -- Jim Stallman
announced formation of the League for Free Programming, intended
as a clearing house for patent and copyright information.

Stallman, known by many as the last of the old-time hackers,
in an exclusive Newsbytes interview said that he is in the
process of organizing the grass roots organization which is also
intended as an organizing body for attempts to retaliate against
companies making unreasonable patent and copyright claims.

Stallman, well-known for his creation of the EMACS editing
software, which he gives away to anyone promising to share
improvements in the program, has recently led pickets against
Lotus headquarters in Cambridge.

Describing himself as an anarchist, he told Newsbytes, "I am not
a socialist, but I emphasize a social conscience." He is against
all "user interface" copyrights but says that he is only actively
opposing "litigious companies."

Saying, "Businessmen always love the idea of competition until
the competition is with them -- then they demand monopoly,"
Stallman feels that software should be created by those dedicated
to the job rather than just for money; he has little sympathy for
those crushed by competition, pointing out, "Companies going out
of business are a normal part of free enterprise," when asked
about the right to patent protection.

Those interested in the League for Free Programming or the Free
Software Association, which are currently sharing phone numbers,
should call 617-876-3296.

(John McCormick/19890604/Press Contact: Richard Stallman, 617-
253-6218)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(WAS)(00002)

PIONEER ATTORNEY OPPOSES SOFTWARE PATENTS
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, U.S.A., 1989 JUNE 9 (NB) -- In an
exclusive interview with Newsbytes, Mort Jacobs, the attorney who
helped obtain the first software patent for Martin Goetz,
criticized the inaccuracies of the May 12, 1989, New York Times
article on software patents.

Mr. Jacobs, who was involved as either amicus curie or counsel in
every software patent case brought before the Supreme Court,
pointed out that comments attributed in the article to Pete
Peterson, executive vice president of WordPerfect Corp., were
misleading in comparing software patents to patenting a four-note
musical sequence.

Actually, computer companies, including WordPerfect, always
legally protect pieces of program code analogous to musical
notes, but, as Mr. Jacobs pointed out, this is copyright, not
patent protection.

"People don't appreciate now that it has been 20 years since we
have been getting software patents," pointed out Jacobs.
"Some people have peculiar notions about what a computer is and
what computer programs are and when those things are straightened
out everything comes down all right."

Speaking of worldwide competition, he said, "Patents and
copyrights are the way we do business in the industrial world.
As far as patents are concerned the Japanese give everyone
problems, but in the computer field they were ahead of us in
saying that patents should be made available for software
programs."

(John McCormick/19890607)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(WAS)(00003)

LOTUS STRESSES COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT
CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1989 JUNE 6 -- In an exclusive
interview with Newsbytes, a Lotus spokesman today emphasized that
his company's actions, often referred to as look and feel, are
widely misunderstood. Lotus is not trying to force other
software companies to stop using spreadsheets that look similar
to Lotus's 1-2-3; rather, the firm is enforcing its copyright
against those programs that contain "deliberate keystroke-for-
keystroke copies of the spreadsheet module."

Further statements from Lotus emphasize that the companies
involved in the copyright infringement suits all developed
products that were virtually identical to Lotus programs. Said
Tom Lemberg, Lotus vice president and general counsel, "It's
worth noting that the two companies we have sued intentionally
copied virtually all of the external elements of 1-2-3 Release 1A
and 2.0, including the screen presentations, menu commands, and
sequences. There is no innovation in such copying, only an
effort to take our work and sell it as their own."

(John McCormick/19890607)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(WAS)(00004)

HITACHI SEEKS TO STOP SALES OF 68030
TARRYTOWN, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1989 JUNE 6 (NB) -- In an amendment
to its ongoing patent infringement suit against Motorola, Hitachi
alleges that the Motorola 68030 chip violates Hitachi's U.S.
Patent No. 4,646,271, and seeks damages as well as to stop sales
of the popular microprocessor.

The 68030 chip is used in the Macintosh IIx, Apple's fastest
computer, as well as the recently introduced Macintosh IIcx and
SE/30 computers.

The 68038 chip is also the heart of many low-end workstations,
including those built by Sun Microsystems, but is being slowly
replaced by more powerful reduced instruction [RISC] chips
in many workstations.

Hitachi's lawsuit against Motorola was the direct result of an
earlier suit filed by Motorola against Hitachi. An Hitachi spokesperson
stated that the earlier suit caused a complete review of Hitachi
patent holdings.

(John McCormick/19890608/Press Contact: Yasushi Sayama, 914-333-
2900, or Osamu Naito, 914-333-2902)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(SYD)(00005)

EMBASSIES PRACTICE COMPUTER CRIME
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1989 JUNE 6 (NB) -- A visiting English
security expert has rocked his Australian audience by telling them
that "certain Third World embassies" in London were bringing in
people to perpetrate organized computer crime.

"When they are caught, they [the embassies] replace them," Jim
Biggin, the U.K. marketing manager for ICL Financial Services, told
delegates to last week's South Pacific Regional Convention of the
Institute of Internal Auditors Australia. "When they come out,
the embassies recirculate them to other places," Biggin told
Computing Australia in an exclusive interview. "This is not a
game. It is a serious business. Fraud is more profitable and
less risky than robbery." But increasing surveillance and keener
methods of detection were paying off in many areas, Biggin said.

(Paul Zucker & Derril Farrar/19890609)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(BRU)(00006)

EC SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY SYMPOSIUM IN ITALY
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM, 1989 JUN 09 (NB) -- The European Commission
[EC] will hold a symposium on science and technology in Europe
later this week. The four-day event will be held in Bologna,
Italy, from June 13 to 16, 1989.

The symposium will provide a broad international forum for the
major experts in the field of science and technology, who will
examine the role of science and technology in the protection,
conservation and restoration of historical landmarks scattered
across Europe.

The event is expected to attract experts from all over Europe,
and will encourage a multi-disciplinary approach to the main
issues, with the ultimate aim of improving communications between
scientists and technicians working in the field.

(Peter Vekinis/19890609/Press Contact: Ettienne Reuter - Tel:
02/2351111)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(BRU)(00007)

EC GETS FINANCIALLY INNOVATIVE
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM, 1989 JUN 05 (NB) -- Sir Leon Brittan, the EC
Commissioner responsible for Competition Matters [anti-trust
legislation] has announced that the development of the so-called
'Internal [EC] market of 1992' will provide the most unified and
competitive financial system in the world.

Speaking in Madrid, Spain last week, he said, "We are constructing a
financial system that is less constrained and less regulated than the U.S.
 or Japanese financial systems which will be open to the entire world."

Progress towards 1992 and especially in the financial services
sector has been very rapid with some cities vying to become world
centres for financial services, such as Dublin, Ireland.

Brittan also added that the financial systems to be built in
Europe will be less constrained than that found in the U.S., with
banks being able to do business wherever they like [something
that cannot easily be done across state borders in the U.S.].

The computer business will gain by this new financial market, he
noted. Most major exchanges in Europe are based on computer
systems, and many others are coming into the mainstream. The fact
that Europe will have a financial services market means that
computers will become even more widespread than ever.

(Peter Vekinis/19890605)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(TOR)(00008)

PROGRAM PROMOTES JOINT RESEARCH
BURNABY, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA, 1989 JUN 5 (NB) -- The British
Columbia Advanced Systems Institute will hand out some C$1.25
million to 14 companies in the province to help them conduct
cooperative research projects with the province's three major
universities. The companies will have no financial obligation to
the institute if the research projects produce no commercial
products, but will pay royalties on any marketable processes or
products relating from the work. The Advanced Systems Institute
hopes to make its money back on the successful projects.

(Grant Buckler/19890609/Press Contact: Michael Volker, B.C.
Advanced Systems Institute, 604-435-0551)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(TOR)(00009)

UNIVERSITY OPENS NEW LAB
WATERLOO, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1989 JUN 6 (NB) -- The University of
Waterloo today opened a C$2.5-million microelectronics research
laboratory. Operated by the university's Silicon Devices and
Integrated Circuits Research Group, the lab can produce working
chips with design tolerances down to one micron. The new lab
represents a considerable upgrade of existing microelectronics
facilities, and is located in the new Davis Centre, recently
constructed to house Waterloo's computer science activities.

(Grant Buckler/19890607/Press Contact: Bob Whitton, University of
Waterloo, 519-888-4444)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(SIN)(00010)

THE THREE-MINUTE AUSTRALIAN VISA
SINGAPORE, S.E. ASIA, 1989 JUNE 9 (NB) -- The Australian High
Commission [AHC] here has promised visas within three minutes with the
installation of its new computerised visa system.

Jeffrey Tunbridge, AHC First Secretary [Immigration], said that
Australian High Commission in Singapore is the first among the first
of 50 Australian embassies and high commissions worldwide to get
this new service, expected to be in all of them by late 1990.

Thirty-five Australian overseas posts presently use the first-
generation Immigration Records and Information System [IRIS] to issue
almost 90 percent of all Australian tourist visas.

The High Commission here said that the move, while providing fast,
across-the-counter visas for the 60,000 visitors from Singapore to
Australia, will also simplify passenger clearance on arrival at
Australian ports.

The S$250,000 [US$118,000] terminal system is said to cut down waiting
time for a visa, which previously used to be one or two days,
sometimes even up to four during peak periods, to just three minutes.

(Michael Worsley & S.Roowi/19890609)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(KUL)(00011)

MALAYSIAN DEFENCE'S M$1.9 MILLION SYSTEM
KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA, 1989 JUNE 1 (NB) -- The Malaysian Defence
Ministry [Mindef], will spend about M$1.4 million [US$0.5 million] on
a new computer system for managing and maintaining the Malaysian Armed
Forces Cataloguing System [MAFCAS] in its Logistics Services Division
[LSD].

Newsbytes learned that Solsis Sdn Bhd, a Hewlett-Packard value-added
reseller, which received a letter of intent from Mindef about two
weeks ago, will supply the computer and appropriate software. Solsis
will install an HP Series 9000 Model 850 together with 17 video
display units and three printers at Mindef's office here.

The installation of a database management system and a fourth
generation language will assist in the development work of
applications, which will be jointly developed and tested by Mindef and
Solsis.

A catalogue listing all part numbers, description and specifications
of military equipment owned by Mindef is currently stored in MAFCAS, a
massive database system. Included in this catalogue are part numbers
of American, European and Canadian equipment that conform to the North
Atlantic Treaty Organisation [NATO] standard.

LSD will also use the computer system for the development of
additional data processing services.

(Michael Worsley & S. Roowi/19890606)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(SIN)(00012)

INDIA-U.S. TALK ABOUT 2ND SUPERCOMPUTER
NEW DELHI, INDIA, 1989 MAY 30 (NB) -- India, which already has one
supercomputer from the U.S. in its Indian Institute of Meteorology, is
currently negotiating for the U.S. government to approve the supply of a
second supercomputer.

According to Asia Computer Weekly, this was confirmed by Melvin
Searls, the U.S. Counsellor for Commercial Affairs in India, although
Searls would not elaborate on it. He remarked that U.S. business should
take a hard look at India both in terms of current trade opportunities
and longer-term corporate strategy involving technology transfer
and investment.

He said that the U.S., as India's leading foreign investor and number
one trading partner, saw major opportunities in the fields of
computers, electronic components, telecommunication equipment,
computer software and scientific and technical instruments. Trade in
the high-tech area remains very promising and should continue to grow.

(Michael Worsley & S.Roowi/19890606)


(NEWS)(IBM)(SFO)(00001)

AUTODESK'S 386 VERSION OF AUTOCAD
SAUSALITO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 JUN 6 (NB) -- Autodesk has unveiled
its newest version of the world's most popular computer-aided design
program, AutoCAD. Release 10 increases the program's performance on
386-based PCs running under DOS by liberating them from the 640K memory
barrier. The new version, which makes drawing and 3-D up to 20
percent faster, combines AutoCAD with Phar Lap of Boston's 386/DOS-
Extender, which allows users to exploit the full computing power of
386-based PCs. AutoCAD's Scott Davison, spokesman, says, "We're
targeting users running up against the 640 KB barrier who don't want
to abandon DOS."

Due to ship in the fourth quarter of this year, the suggested price is
$3,000. Existing, registered customers will be able to upgrade
for $100.

(Wendy Woods/19890610)


(NEWS)(IBM)(WAS)(00002)

IBM'S NEW INTERLEAF DTP SOFTWARE
WHITE PLAINS, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1989 JUNE 6 (NB) -- IBM has
announced an enhanced but much more compact version of the
Interleaf desktop publishing software.

Unlike version 1.0 which required 6 megabytes [MB] of random access
memory [RAM], the latest release, version 1.0.1, will run in only 2MB
RAM, an amount that is rapidly becoming the standard supplied
with many 80386-based computers.

Interleaf Publisher is a product of Cambridge, Massachusetts-
based Interleaf Inc., an IBM business partner, and is available
through IBM at a list price of $995 but will be sold at an
introductory price of $750 until August 31.

IBM's Interleaf Publisher imports text from word processing
programs such as IBM DisplayWriter and graphics from graphics,
computer-aided design [CAD], and spreadsheet programs, and runs on
80386 and 386SX PS/2 compatible computers, providing full what
you see is what you get [WYSIWYG] text and graphics processing.

(John McCormick/19890609/Press Contact: Kevin Allen, 914-
642-5368)


(NEWS)(IBM)(WAS)(00003)

LOTUS MANUSCRIPT LINKS TO SPREADSHEET
CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1989 JUNE 6 -- Lotus Development
has released version 2.1 of its Manuscript word processing software.
Of special interest in this release is the ability to import
spreadsheets created in Lotus 1-2-3 Release 2.2 and Release 3,
with a hot-link feature that ensures only the latest
version of the data is included in the final document.

Manuscript is a powerful word processing and document layout
program widely used by technical writers. The addition of
support for release 3 of 1-2-3 is important but expected, while
the ability to incorporate the latest changes in independent
spreadsheets at print time is a considered a very useful and
time-saving feature.

In addition to incorporating spreadsheet data blocks on a hot-
link basis, users can also link specific cells to appropriate
locations in text, ensuring up-to-the-second information in the
final document.

(John McCormick/19890608/Press Contact: Philip A. Greenough,
617-577-8500)


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

WANG UNVEILS OPEN/IMAGE
LOWELL, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1989 JUNE 6 (NB) -- Wang
Laboratories has released OPEN/image document processing architecture
for microcomputers, along with OPEN/image-Windows, the first product
in the new market line. The Wang architecture is intended to help users
integrate document-imaging capabilities with existing PC-based
applications such as word processors.

OPEN/image-Windows is a software toolkit which adds imaging
capabilities to applications operating within the Microsoft
Windows environment on PCs and PC-based local area networks
[LANs].

Bill Gates, chairman and chief executive officer of Microsoft
Corporation, said, "Wang's commitment to imaging technology
reflects the growing momentum of graphics-based applications
today. The popularity of Microsoft Windows makes this technology
immediately accessible to millions of desktops."

(John McCormick/19890607/Press Contact: Albie P. Jarvis,
508-967-1523, or Edward F. Clough, 508-967-2917, of Wang)


(NEWS)(IBM)(WAS)(00005)

AT&T OFFERS RPGII ENVIRONMENT FOR MICROS
MORRISTOWN, NEW JERSEY, U.S.A., 1989 JUNE 7 (NB) -- AT&T
has announced the availability of software that lets programs written
in the IBM RPG II language run on AT&T's line of Intel 80386-
based computers.

Pointing out that this will extend the useful life of software
written for IBM mid-range computer systems, Bob Sellinger, AT&T
director of product and service marketing, said, "This
announcement is an extension of our very successful System/3X
Solutions program, which gives IBM mid-range customers a complete
set of open, standards-based options for adding value and power
to existing systems with significant price/performance advantages
over proprietary systems."

(John McCormick/19890609/Press Contact: Dick Muldoon, 201-221-
2694, or home, 201-635-6699, or John Skalko, 201-221-2888, or
home, 201-729-8202)


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

LOTUS EXPRESS ADDS FAX SUPPORT
CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1989 JUNE 7 (NB) -- Lotus
now is offering up a fax enhancement package for Lotus Express that
automates the use of MCI Mail Fax service.

Lotus Express, a program that automates the process of sending
and receiving messages through the popular MCI e-mail system,
costs $150 and the Fax enhancement, which merely automates the Fax
capability already available through MCI MAIL, sells for $10.

Since Lotus Express handles all the complexities of e-mail
service for its users, it is often used by people unfamiliar with
electronic communication and adding the Fax capability is designed
to rope even more neophytes into the system.

MCI Mail can accept standard computer text files and normally
either places them in a recipient's electronic "mail box" or
prints them and delivers them through the U.S. mail, but users
can also send [but not receive] Fax messages through the system
without any special hardware or software.

(John McCormick/19890609/Press Contact: Philip A. Greenough,
Lotus, 617-577-8500)


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

FAX ANYTHING FROM YOUR PC
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 JUNE 3 (NB) -- FAXPro, a PC
fax product in two versions from The FAX Group, allows users to
send a fax from any application by executing the print command
for that application. The page prints to screen giving a WYSIWYG
display of the final faxed document.

The two versions in which the product is currently being shipped
are software only for use with a Hayes compatible modem and
software with a PC-to-fax board. A network version of the
product is expected to ship in July.

(Janet Endrijonas/19890609/Press Contact: The Fax Group, 619-456-
0795)


(NEWS)(IBM)(LON)(00008)

U.K. ARTRONIC'S MONEY MASTER PACKAGE
HARROGATE, ENGLAND, 1989 JUNE 09 (NB) -- Artronic Systems has
released Money Master, the third in its Master Series of home and
business software for the IBM PC and close compatibles. The UKP
34-95 package is aimed at small businesses and individuals.

According to Peter Wilkinson, Artronic's systems operations
director, Money Master is a budget control package that is very
easy to use. "Half an hour is all the time it takes to learn how
Money Master can give you complete control over your home or
business budget," he said.

Money Master joins Quote Master and Time Master, as the third
module in Artronics' Master Series of packages.

(Steve Gold/19890609/Press Contact: Liz Sandey, Artronics Systems
- Tel: [phone])


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

U.K.'S ELONEX HAS BUDGET 386 PC SYSTEMS
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1989 JUN 09 (NB) -- Elonex, the direct PC
suppliers, has launched a range of 20MHz 80386-based PCs. The
zero wait-state PC-386S series starts at UKP 1,345.

The entry-level PC-386S comes with 1 megabyte [MB] of memory, a
single 1.2MB 5.25 inch floppy drive and a 14-inch monochrome
monitor. An MS-DOS compatible mouse, MS-DOS, GW-Basic and GEM/3
[1st Word Plus, Paint etc.] comes as standard with the entry-
level system. A 44MB hard disk system adds a further UKP 350 to
the price, whilst an extra UKP 300 replaces the monochrome
monitor with a VGA colour monitor.

(Steve Gold/19890609/Press Contact: Ari Gershuni, Elonex - Tel:
01-965-3225)


(NEWS)(IBM)(BRU)(00010)

CD-ROM LAPTOP UPDATE
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM, 1989 JUN 09 (NB) -- Further details of the
Lotos CD-ROM-equipped laptop machine reported in last week's
Newsbytes have become available. The laptop, which weighs 8kg [19
pounds], runs from batteries as well as A.C. 117/220 volts. In
addition, during benchmark tests on one of the first units
available in Belgium, the machine read Ashton-Tate dBASE IV in
just 267 seconds.

The Lotos laptop which will initially be distributed in France,
West Germany and the U.K., this summer, prior to being unveiled
at Comdex Fall in Las Vegas this coming October.

In a related story, more than 400 CD-ROM disks are now available
from TFPL Publications, a U.K. publishing house. TFPL is now
stocking a wide range of CD-ROM disks, ranging from the Complete
Works of Sherlock Holmes, to a database of the English edition of
Pravda, the Soviet newspaper. Even 'Between Heaven and Hell,' a
mixture of the Bible and adult entertainment is listed in the
catalogue of disks available.

(Peter Vekinis/19890609/Press Contact: TFPL Publications, 22
Peters Lane, London EC1M 6DS)


(NEWS)(IBM)(TOR)(00011)

MAPPING SOFTWARE FROM ESL
SIDNEY, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA, 1989 JUN 9 (NB) -- ESL
Environmental Sciences has announced QUIKMap, desktop mapping
software for IBM and compatible PCs. ESL said its product is the
only desktop mapping software that can work with Lotus 1-2-3 and
dBASE files. Maps created in AutoCAD, Intergraph and other
popular formats can be imported. The software can display, print
and plot map data in various formats, and supports more than 100
different printers and plotters, ESL said. Applications include
distribution management, market research, routing and scheduling,
city planning, surveying and various environmental uses. The
suggested retail price of the software is C$700. It requires 256K
of memory and at least a 10-megabyte hard disk. A math coprocessor is
recommended.

(Grant Buckler/19890609/Press Contact: Marc Verschaeren, Westex
Distributors, 604-681-8844)


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

PACIFIC FIRMWARE SIGNS DISTRIBUTORS
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA, 1989 JUN 2 (NB) -- Pacific
Firmware Marketing has signed distribution agreements with two
companies in the United States. Programmer's Paradise of
Tarrytown, N.Y., and Programmer's Connection of North Canton,
Ohio, will add Pacific's Help/Build screen authoring system to
their mail order catalogs.

Help/Build is designed to help software developers create help
screens for new and existing software. It can be called from
application source code to display help screens in varying colors
and locations on the screen. Help/Build costs $249.95 in the
U.S., C$299.99 in Canada.

(Grant Buckler/19890606/Press Contact: Doug Sauerbier, Pacific
Firmware, 604-228-9673)


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

NETRON UPDATES CAP
TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1989 JUN 5 (NB) -- Netron has announced
Version 2.04 of Netron/CAP, its application development tool, for
six hardware platforms including the IBM PC and PS/2. New
features include an optimized frame implementation of Micro Focus
COBOL/2, the compiler for PC and PS/2 computers that complies
with IBM's Systems Application Architecture [SAA]. A new test
facility for mainframe IMS applications being developed on
personal computers is also included. Other enhancements are
intended to make program code more readable and to aid in
debugging, Netron said.

Netron/CAP uses reusable code "frames" to develop COBOL programs.
The new release is now available for IBM PCs and PS/2s, IBM
mainframe computers running the MVS and VM/CMS operating systems,
Digital Equipment's VAX minicomputers and Wang VS minicomputers.
Netron/CAP can also be used to develop applications for IBM
mainframes running the DOS/VSE software.

(Grant Buckler/19890607/Press Contact: Bill Daverne, Netron, 416-
636-8333)


(NEWS)(IBM)(KUL)(00014)

OFFICEVISION IN MALAYSIA
KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA, 1989 MAY 27 (NB) -- IBM World Trade
Corporation Malaysia has launched a new software in Malaysia called
Office Vision, one of the most advanced integrated office
workstations, which it believes will be well-received.

Ed Fox, the director of IBM application software marketing for the
Asia South Pacific Area, based his optimism on the good response to
the product received so far. IBM has already received enquiries for
the product which has been scheduled for delivery in September.

Fox said the new software was developed based on feedback from
customers to facilitate easy interaction with the user. Among its many
features is the ability to perform five separate analytical functions
simultaneously.

Ismail Sulaiman, managing director of Mesiniaga Sdn Bhd, IBM's sole
agent and distributor which will market the product, said that the
company is confident that Office Vision can be successfully marketed
to new and existing users of IBM machines.

(Michael Worsley & S. Roowi/19890605)


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

AT&T DENIES LINK WITH NINTENDO
BASKING RIDGE, NEW JERSEY, U.S.A., 1989 JUNE 6 (NB) -- AT&T denied
it has a business relationship with Nintendo of America Inc. Vice
President Peter Main, discussing the company's strategy at a
trade show in Chicago, had said the two would joint-venture a
plan to turn Nintendo's game machines into cheap online
terminals, selling services it already offers without much market
success in Japan.

Main issued a "clarification" June 6 noting that AT&T is currently
prohibited from entering into arrangements involving the development
of electronic information services. The ban, from U.S. District Judge
Harold Greene, is due to expire in August.

AT&T's statement said it routinely talks with other businesses
about services they might offer over the AT&T network and that it
was discussing a number of possibilities with Nintendo. Main
hinted that the deal is still quite possible, but only after
August.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890609/Press Contact: Dan Coulter, AT&T, 201-
221-5333; Bonnie Powell, Hill and Knowlton Inc., 213-937-7460)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(SFO)(00002)

TEXPO '89 DRAWS RECORD CROWD
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 JUN 9 (NB) -- Videophones, high
definition television, virtual reality, and other wonders of modern
technology greeted more than 16,000 visitors to Pacific Bell's
telecommunications trade show Texpo '89, held June 7-9 at San
Francisco Civic Auditorium.

With its showcase of products which work over current or future broad-band
fiber optic networks, Pacific Bell says Texpo '89 was the largest show
in Texpo's five year history, drawing over 190 exhibitors compared to
last year's 152. Fax machines and local area network products
were everywhere, but the real highlight of the show was the digital
technology which will make the sending of various data channels
simultaneously possible -- including real-time video, high
definition television, and stereo sound -- ISDN.

Steve Jacobs, the show organizer, told Newsbytes the technical hurdles
to putting the show together involved the laying of 1,000-pair
cable of copper wires. Woven through the facility and elevated
above the show floor, the cable served the ISDN [integrated
services digital network] needs of various firms exhibiting ISDN
products -- the cornerstone of futuristic telecommunications
services. The ISDN switch from Northern Telecom was installed in a
van parked outside the convention center.

While ISDN presents mind-boggling changes in our ideas about the
possibilities of telecommunications, there are technical and
standards hurdles to be overcome before the system is implemented
on the nation's phone lines. The least of the problems is the
installation of ISDN switching stations in the nation's grid of
telephone lines, the biggest of the problems is that the major ISDN
proponents -- AT&T, Northern Telecom, and three others -- all have
different schemes to implement the technology. And until the
group can come to terms on a single standard, widespread implementation
of the technology will have to wait.

(Wendy Woods/19890610/Press Contact: Scott Smith, Pacific Bell,
415-542-0597)


(EXCLUSIVE)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00003)

SYSOP BUSTED FOR DIRTY GRAPHICS
BROKEN ARROW, OKLAHOMA, U.S.A., 1989 JUNE 5 (NB) -- Jeff Jirka, a
bulletin board system operator in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, was
arrested three weeks ago and his equipment confiscated after he was
charged with obscenity for carrying sexual graphics files on his
computer. Broken Arrow police Sgt. Norman Stephens later held a
meeting with Tulsa area system operators. He told Newsbytes
Oklahoma's obscenity statute prohibits pictures of sexual
intercourse. "And penetration -- orally, anally, vaginally --
that's not allowed," he said. Sgt. Stephens said the pictures on
Jirka's board go beyond what's seen in magazines like Penthouse,
calling Oklahoma a "soft porn" state. While Mr. Jirka has not had
his day before the Tulsa County court, the incident has already
had a chilling effect on bulletin board systems in Oklahoma.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890609/Press Contact: Broken Arrow Police
Department, Sgt. Norman Stevens, 918-251-5311)


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

SOUTHWESTERN BELL SEEKS BBS RATE HIKE
ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, U.S.A., 1989 JUNE 7 (NB) -- Southwestern
Bell has been accused of bulletin board operators of trying "to
put the competition out of business" by charging them business
phone rates in Oklahoma, and seeking the same power in Texas.

The Oklahoma Corporation Counsel has already approved the Bell
company's request that any line used as a computer bulletin board
be charged business phone rates, which come to $22.50 per month
more than residential rates.

There are about 125 bulletin board operators in Tulsa alone, and they're
organizing. Mike Lester, who runs the Galaxy Board, is heading
COSUARD, a group formed to fight the rates, but he agreed with a local
editor who rated their chances of overturning the action as slim to none.

Making the attempt to fight back harder is that the tariff has
been on the books three years, Lester told Newsbytes, but not
enforced -- until now.

SW Bell is trying to get the same rules in Texas, and apparently
throughout its system, while trying to establish itself in the
online business through the SourceLine gateway, in partnership
with U.S. Videotel.

SW Bell also put a $160 million modernization of its Kansas
operations before the Kansas Corporation Commission June 7. The
plan, called TeleKansas, would justify its continuing rates at
their present level for at least three years.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890609/Press Contact: COSUARD, Mike Lester,
modem 918-835-8933)


(EXCLUSIVE)(TELECOM)(SFO)(00005)

ONLINE SERVICE FOR WORK-AT-HOMERS
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 JUN 9 (NB) -- A home-based
business has established an online computer network dedicated to
serving the needs of other home-based businesses. The Home
Office Business Network [HOBN], accessed through Minitel Services
Company, provides a electronic mail, monthly reports on marketing,
taxes, sales, and finance, conferencing, and other issues of
interest to those who use their home as their primary business
location.

In addition, the service has online the National Home Business
Directory where people can browse for similar work-at-homers,
barter services, and exchange information. The network is also
beefing up its collection of useful to the self-employed.

Established on an AT-compatible microcomputer, and accessed on
Minitel through its gateway function, the Home Office Business Network is
the brainchild of Richard Bruno, proprietor of Dial Direct
Response Marketing. He estimates there are some 30 million
home-based businesses that could use his service, but that he
and Minitel have not spent much effort to promote this resource.
"It's a well-kept secret," he tells Newsbytes.

For further information on the service, which costs $10.20
per hour to access, and free front-end Minitel software,
write Dial Direct Response Marketing at 44 Monterey
Boulevard, San Francisco, California, 94131.

(Wendy Woods/19890609/Press Contact: 415-239-6162)


(EXCLUSIVE)(TELECOM)(SFO)(00006)

NEWSBYTES ON GENIE
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 JUN 9 (NB) -- GEnie, the
online consumer and business information service, has added the
Newsbytes News Service to its list of news offerings.

"We are very pleased to offer the Newsbytes News Service on GEnie,"
says Bill Louden, general manager of GEnie. "Newsbytes is
recognized as one of the premier computer and consumer technology
news services in the world, and it will be a valuable addition to
GEnie's news and information services."

GEnie has some 125,000 subscribers and is one of the fastest-growing
online services in the world. Newsbytes, based in San Francisco,
has 11 news bureaus worldwide and compiles weekly electronic
computer industry news reports, accessible on GEnie as M316, or
via the news menu.

(Wendy Woods/19890610/Press Contact: Wendy Woods, 415-550-7334)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(SFO)(00007)

WHAT WORK-AT-HOMERS WANT
ROCKVILLE, MARYLAND, U.S.A., 1989 JUN 9 (NB) -- Those working at
home are fairly well-healed and expect online services to fill many
of their needs, according to a survey taken by the leader of the
Home Office/Small Business RoundTable on the GEnie service. The
survey, compiled by Janet Attard, was answered by 290 people,
63 percent of whom operate some type of business of their own.
Less than a third of them, 28 percent, were able to live on the
revenues of their home business, while 19 percent were moonlighters
13 percent owned corporations and three percent were in partnerships.

Nearly half -- 43 percent -- had gross family incomes of $50,000
or more and 19 percent earned more than $75,000 a year.

Computer consultants and would-be computer consultants were among
the largest category of respondents, followed by information
brokers, desktop publishers, mail order business owners, word
processing professionals, manufacturers, and advertising or
marketing executives.

The majority sought information on sales marketing and advertising
online, but also want legal, tax, and financing advise. In
hardware, the work-at-homers were interested in office computers,
local area networks, and fax machines.

The Home Office/Small Business RoundTable is accessible on GEnie
by typing HOSB or M370 at any GEnie service prompt. More information
on the service is available by calling 1-800-638-9636.

(Wendy Woods/19890609/Press Contact: Janet Attard, 516-467-6826)


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

AMERITECH DIGITAL SERVICES TRIAL STARTS
DETROIT, MICHIGAN, U.S.A., 1989 JUNE 1 (NB) -- Ameritech's trial
of fully-digital services, which it calls Ameritech Integrated
Digital Network, is under way in Detroit. Allied-Signal
Automotive is getting voice, data and video over a single
telephone line during a six-month trial with Michigan Bell, after
which it will be made available to other large customers.

Tom Cooley, Allied-Signal Automotive's director of
telecommunications, said as a beta tester, "We'll be working
closely with Michigan Bell throughout the trial to develop ways
to enhance our voice and data networks." The network uses
software in Michigan Bell's switching offices to turn each
telephone line into three digital channels, two for voice, data
or video, one to trade commands and messages concerning what's
going on. The configuration is known in the telephone industry as
"2B+D."

The difference between the Michigan Bell test and an existing
trial by Illinois Bell and McDonald's is that Michigan Bell will
be providing digital services, while Illinois Bell merely
installed equipment for the use of its customer.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890609/Press Contact: Eileen Dixon, Michigan
Bell, 313-223-7197)


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

TROPICAL SHIPS V.32 TERMINAL EMULATOR
DELRAY BEACH, FLORIDA, U.S.A., 1989 MAY 24 (NB) -- Tropical
Communications is shipping a new version of its X.25 terminal
emulation package, pcX25, with support for V.32 communications
and industry standard file transfer protocols such as Xmodem and
Kermit.

The pcX25 software package requires no X.25 adaptor card
and operates with asynchronous "AT" compatible modems from Hayes
and Data Race. The new version also operates with any of the UDS
Sync-Up modems built for the AT or Micro Channel bus
architectures. Both the Sync-Up V.22 [2400 bps] and the Sync-UP
V.32 (9600 bps) are supported and are 100 percent compatible with the
"AT" command language. "The asynchronous modem hardware
purchased by end users conveniently doubles as a synchronous
modem with pcX25," said Sam Carter, President of Tropical. The
product lets a number of terminals share a 9,600 bps line at
2,400 bps each.

Carter said a number of packet switch companies are supporting
both X.25 and V.32, the new standard at 9,600 baud. Datapac,
Infonet, Telenet and Tymnet all offer public X.25 dial up at 2400
bps under V.22. Tymnet offers V.32 in all their Public X.25 dial-
up locations, Infonet offers V.32 in all Private X.25 dial-up
locations, and other network vendors are following suit with
public X.25 supporting V.32 this year, he said. "By year end we
expect the number of available public dial ports to double," said
Carter, and the number of public X.25 - V.32 ports should jump by
a factor of seven. The product costs $295.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890609/Press Contact: Sam Carter, Tropical
Communications Associates, 407-498-1302)


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

NORTHERN TELECOM ADDS COLOR TO MERIDIEN
DALLAS, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1989 JUNE 6 (NB) -- Northern Telecom
announced a colorful, graphic control system for its Meridian SL-
1 switching systems. Meridian Manager is a set of programs you
can use on a PC to control a variety of corporate data and voice
lines. The company explained that its new software uses plain
language and simple key procedures, along with color and
graphics. Pop-up windows are also employed.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890609/Press Contact: Northern Telecom Inc.,
Anita G. Mason, 615-734-4213)


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

NOVELL SUPPORTS IBM MINICOMPUTERS
SUNNYVALE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 JUNE 6 (NB) -- Novell has
announced its NetWare Local Area Network now supports IBM's
AS/400 mini-computer system. The specific package, called the
NetWare 5250 Twinax Workstation, replaces Novell's PCOX/5250
Twinax software.

Gerry Machi, director of product marketing for Novell's
communications products, says the new offering lets people keep
using their existing PCs when switching from System 36 or 38
based systems to the AS/400. The package costs $250, but requires
the $545 Novell Twinax Adapter.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890609/Press Contact: Lex Hamilton, Novell,
408-747-4357)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00012)

FCC DENIES NEW COMMISSIONER REPORT
WASHINGTON, D.C. U.S.A., 1989 JUNE 5 (NB) -- The Federal
Communications Commission could not confirm Friday a
"Broadcasting" magazine report, later picked up by the Associated
Press, that three new FCC commissioners, including a new
chairman, have been appointed by President Bush.

The AP reported late on April 5 that Alfred C. Sikes, head of the
Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information
Administration, will become chairman. Sikes is a friend of Sen.
John Danforth and was notable at Commerce for approving the Bell
Operating Companies' attempts to get into the information
business. Other future commissioners, the report indicated, were
Sherrie Marshall, a Washington attorney and top aide to former
FCC Chairman Dennis Patrick, and Andrew C. Barrett, a member of
the Illinois Commerce Commission.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890609/Press Contact: FCC, 202-632-5050)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00013)

MCCAW BID FOR LIN ROILS MARKETS
KIRKLAND, WASHINGTON, U.S.A., 1989 JUNE 8 (NB) -- Stocks in
cellular phone companies rose sharply after McCaw Cellular
Communications, announced that a $120 per share cash tender
offer, worth $5.85 billion, for LIN Broadcasting Corporation.
McCaw already owns 9.8 percent of LIN's stock and is the largest
shareholder. LIN also owns seven network-affiliated television
stations, and wants to spin them out as a new company. That would
allow the regional Bell companies into the bidding.

Stocks in other firms with cellular phone operations, including
regional Bell companies, soared on the McCaw bid. It is expected
the McCaw bid will lead to a new consolidation of cellular
franchises, with the possibility of national service availability
early in the 1990s. LIN was trading at $129 per share, well above
the offer price, by mid-week, indicating a higher bid is
expected.

On June 8, McCaw revealed how it will finance the purchase. The
company has $1.3 billion in cash from a previously announced
sale of stock to British Telecom, and $1 billion in current
revolving loan agreements with a syndicate of commercial banks.
It will need new loans of $3.7 billion to complete the sale. The
offer ends July 6, but could be extended. LIN was expected to
still resist the McCaw bid late on June 9, despite it being the
highest price ever offered per subscriber.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890609/Press Contact: Steven Bruce or Garrett
Blowers, The Abernathy/MacGregor Group, 212-371-5999)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00014)

U.S. WEST TIES WITH BRITS, STUDIES SOVIETS
ENGELWOOD, COLORADO, U.S.A., 1989 JUNE 6 (NB) -- U.S. West has
finalized an agreement to buy into the United Kingdom's cable TV
business. Under the deal, it will spend $18 million for
"significant interests" in Cable Corp. Ltd. and Birmingham
Cable Corp. Ltd. Work in Birmingham is scheduled to begin in
late 1989 with estimated construction costs of $300 million over
eight years.

The company's international unit also joined six other
international phone companies studying construction of a fiber
optic cable line across the U.S.S.R. to link Japan with Europe.
The system would connect on the Japanese end to Southeast Asia
and Australia. Other partners include British Telecom, Japan's
KDD, and OTC Ltd. of Australia, along with two Danish firms and
an Italian phone company.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890609)


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

U.K. TELECOM SCAM COSTS UKP THOUSANDS
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1989 JUN 09 (NB) -- In a recent report in The
Sun newspaper, British Telecom [BT] was alleged to be losing
several thousand pounds in lost call revenue from its pay phones.
Newsbytes has investigated the report, and confirms the paper's
findings.

The scam works by selective use of the tone-dialing facilities
on BT's pay phones, the last of which was converted to push-button
and tone-dialling earlier this year. By punching in a few
numbers, callers are able to place national and international
calls free of charge.

So far, BT has remained tight-lipped on reports of the scam,
although Newsbytes' sources within the company suggest that BT's
engineers are working hard to find a way to stop the scam being
carried out.

Newsbytes has observed students and other technically-aware users
of pay phones obtaining free calls using the scam in several rail
stations, and at scattered sites in London, and Manchester and
Sheffield. Approximately 80 percent of all free calls are
successful, said one pay phone user when approached by Newsbytes.

(Steve Gold/19890609)


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

NEW WORLD ACCESS NUMBERS FOR PRESTEL
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1989 JUN 09 (NB) -- Prestel, British Telecom's
public viewdata service, has a series of new IPSS/X.25 access
ports. Users of packet switching systems such as Tymnet or
Telenet in the United States, or KDD-Venus in Japan, should key
the following codes for access to Prestel:

Colour viewdata... A23420010010000
TTY Teletype... A23411002002018

Subscribers with direct dial access to Prestel should also note
that a new number - London 680-9833 - is now in use for 1200/1200
baud modems. A limited demonstration facility is available on all
these numbers using an ID of ten 4's, and a password of four 4's
[e.g. 4444444444-4444] when logging in.

(Steve Gold/19890609)


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

MNEMATICS U.K. ROLL-OUT
SOUTHAMPTON, ENGLAND, 1989 JUN 09 (NB) -- Mnematics, the New
York-based videotex service, has rolled out a European customer
service operation. In parallel with the opening of its European
operation, the company has begun charging its U.K. and European
subscribers a flat-rate subscription charge.

Previously, Mnematics offered free accounts to its European
subscribers, in recognition of the high costs of placing a packet
switched call to the U.S. service. European subscriptions will
cost UKP 20 [$30] a year.

Mnematics has appointed one of its users, Tony Harding, to run
its customer service operation for Western Europe and "all the
pink bits on the map." "We want to improve our service to European
users, giving specialist help quickly from someone who has knowledge
of the European problems," Harding told Newsbytes.

Harding is defensive of Mnematics' decision to begin charging for
European subscribers. He said that, whilst inbound data calls
from Europe to Mnematics are not charged to Mnematics, the
company still has to pay to link up to national and international
packet-switched networks.

"Twenty pounds a year is not a lot to pay, when you think that
some services charge $11.50 a month plus time usage charges.
Hourly charges are alien to the Mnematics philosophy," he said.

(Steve Gold/19890609/Press & Public Contact: Tony Harding,
Mnematics U.K. - Source Mail BEE791, Dialcom 72:MAG047, Telex
9312130780 [UK G])


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(TOR)(00018)

CITYLINE COMING TO CANADA
MONTREAL, QUEBEC, CANADA, 1989 JUN 5 (NB) -- Cityline, the
Wichita, Kansas-based audiotex service, will expand into Canada,
starting with Montreal. Videotron Plus of Montreal has announced
an agreement with Brite Voice Systems, which operates Cityline.
Videotron will install the advertiser-supported voice-information
service in 10 to 15 of the largest Canadian cities over the next
two years.

Cityline provides information such as stock quotes, financial
news, horoscopes and soap opera updates through touch-tone
telephones. Local newspapers or television stations are involved
in each city, providing local news, weather and sports
information. Videotron is Canada's second-largest cable
television operator.

(Grant Buckler/19890608/Press Contact: Pierre Leduc, Videotron
Plus, 514-599-2700)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(TOR)(00019)

TAT-9 LANDING POINT CHOSEN
HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA, CANADA, 1989 JUN 5 (NB) -- The Canadian
landing point for the TAT-9 trans-Atlantic fiber-optic cable will
be Pennant Point, Nova Scotia, near Halifax. TAT-9, the first
intercontinental fiber-optic cable to land in Canada, will carry
telecommunications traffic from Canada and the United States to
France, Spain and the United Kingdom, as well as linking Spain
and the U.K. The cable is to go into service in 1991.

(Grant Buckler/19890606/Press Contact: Beth Keays, Teleglobe
Canada, 902-421-1777)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(TOR)(00020)

INFO GLOBE ADDING LEGAL DATA
TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1989 JUN 1 (NB) -- Info Globe, the
electronic publishing division of the Toronto daily newspaper The
Globe and Mail, will have the Index to Canadian Legal Literature
on line later this summer. Info Globe gets exclusive online
distribution rights to the index in a deal with Carswell Company,
the Toronto company that publishes it in association with the
Canadian Association of Law Librarians and the Canadian Law
Information Council. The index is a bibliography and periodical
index of Canadian secondary legal literature. The online version
will be updated every two weeks.

(Grant Buckler/19890607/Press Contact: Phil Faughnan, Info Globe,
416-585-5260)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(KUL)(00021)

MALAYSIA'S DATA LINE SHORTAGE
KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA, 1989 JUNE 1 (NB) -- Ten multinational
firms in Malaysia are turning to Singapore's high speed digital
transmission facilities due to a lack of good lines here.

Marco Capriz, a data communications expert with Timeplex Far East,
says, "Many of these companies would be only too pleased to direct
their data communication traffic straight to Malaysia. Provision of
high speed digital service could be a very lucrative business for
Syarikat Telecoms Malaysia [STM]."

STM will be offering in the near future its own version of the high
speed digital leased line, Digitaline, in addition to conventional
analog leased lines. The service, which will allow voice and data
transmission at high speed, will make Malaysia the second country in
Southeast Asia to offer it when it is launched.

Banks with advanced automated services and with branches located all
over the country are expected to be the biggest users of Digitaline.

Capriz believes that there is an immediate market for some M$20
million [US$7.7 million] of high speed digital equipment here, showing
a heavier demand for the lines.

(Michael Worsley & S.Roowi/19890607)


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

VIRTUAL REALITY A REALITY
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 JUN 7 (NB) -- The world's first
public demonstration of virtual reality which supports more than one
person at a time took place at Texpo '89, the Pacific Bell-sponsored
telecommunications trade show. This science fiction concept,
popularized by writer William Gibson in such books as "Neuromancer,"
allows a person to experience a computer-generated visual world in
which they can interact without moving from their chair.

Created by VPL Research, RB2 or Reality Built for Two, operates via
broad-band telephone cables, and consists of what's called "eyephones"
-- headsets which allow the wearer to view a computer-generated,
3-D landscape inside the helmet -- and the DataGlove, a computer input
device worn on the hand which converts hand gestures and positions
into computer-readable form. In the demonstration, two RB2 wearers
shook disembodied "hands" after "walking" across a cubical computer-
generated day care center. The audience watched on television
monitors hanging above each participant's heads.

Virtual Reality, part of the Visionary Network exhibit, is the
brainchild of Jaron Lanier, former video game designer for Atari.
While the Eyephones have just been introduced, his DataGlove
technology has already been licensed to Mattel where it is being
employed as a game machine input device. On the other hand, it's being
used by Stanford Medical Center surgeon Dr. Joseph Rosen who is
experimenting with it in remote hand injury diagnosis as well
as in "virtual surgery" in which the hand can be made to perform
the surgery, as directed by a remotely-located physician,
according to VPL's Ann Lasko-Harville, director of product
design. VPL is located in Redwood City, California, and can be
reached by calling 415-361-1710.

(Wendy Woods/19890610)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(SFO)(00002)

BRIGHT FUTURE THROUGH BETTER TELECOM
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 JUN 7 (NB) -- As part of
Texpo '89, Pacific Bell's telecommunications trade show, show-goers
had a chance to peek into the wonders of broad-band phone networks,
which will replace narrow-band networks of today. Such technology
will enable the creation of such concepts as virtual reality,
as well as the implimentation of the long-awaited picturephone,
remote video viewing and interaction, and high definition television.

A broad-band line connected two Picturetel Corporation terminals,
allowing people to see and talk to each other from remote parts of
the convention center. Video conferencing using an ISDN line
facilitated by a Teleos ISDN switch laid between booths, allowed
the audience to experience a "you are here" feeling when talking
with the remote party. An even more ambitious configuration,
utilizing technology which Bellcore developed, called the Video
Window, provided multidirectional sound, giving the illusion that
everyone in both the real and remote site was "live."

As part of the Visionary Network exhibit, high definition television
was shown -- a format which is so finely detailed it resembles
film -- on a prototype Sony 38-inch HDTV monitor. The "Library
of Tomorrow," also developed by Bellcore, simulated a situation in
which a tour of Istambul on a HyperCard stack, was remotely
accessed by a Macintosh, presumably from the browser's home. The
use of these broad-band networks to transmit high-resolution
medical images at hundreds of megabits per second could be a
big boost for medical specialists, who might view and confer on a
patient's CAT scan while on opposite sides of the globe. On
a more mundane level, Pacific Bell demonstrated how a real estate
agent could use his computer and telephone to access the pictures
of homes for sale, allowing his client to take a visual tour.

While all of this was breathtaking, its implementation is still years
away. As Larry Ficks, Bellcore director, told Newsbytes, the technology
behind the exhibits is available, and is being licensed. But when
products like these will hit the market remains to be seen.

(Wendy Woods/19890610)


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

VGA STANDARD PROPOSAL
SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 JUN 6 (NB) -- A common VGA
interface standard has been proposed which, if approved by the
Video Electronics Standards Association [VESA], promises to
promote the widespread acceptance of hardware which takes
full advantage of Extended VGA color. The proposed VESA VGA
BIOS Extension would help promote the widespread acceptance
of monitors, software, and graphics controllers and hardware
which take full advantage of the 800 by 600 pixel resolution
in 256 colors. The lack of common hardware architecture has
hampered development of applications which take advantage of
Extended VGA features. The applications which exist today
are supported by OEM-specific drivers.

The VESA officers are expected to approve the standard in July.

(Wendy Woods/19890610/Press Contact: Bo Ericsson, Chips &
Technologies, 408-434-0600)


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

INTEL EPROM DENSER THAN EVER
FOLSOM, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 JUN 6 (NB) -- Intel Corporation's
new EPROM [erasable programmable read-only memory] can store up
to four million bits of information -- a 2,000 percent improvement
over the first Intel EPROM made in 1971. The density is such
that a single four-megabit EPROM, called the 27C240, could store the
text from approximately 42 pages of an average dictionary.

Intel controls 18 percent of the worldwide EPROM market,
according to market researcher Dataquest of San Jose, California.
The worldwide EPROM market is worth $2 billion.

(Wendy Woods/19890610/Press Contact: Janet Woodworth, 916-351-2746)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(SFO)(00005)

MAINFRAME POWER TO SUPERMINIS -- NEW SPARC CHIP
BEAVERTON, OREGON, U.S.A., 1989 JUN 7 (NB) -- A new SPARC chip,
based on Sun Microsystems' reduced instruction set specifications,
has broken the speed barrier for SPARC microprocessors, running at 65
million instructions per second, or MIPS. Bipolar Integrated
Technology's BIT SPARC chip promises to lead to workstations
three to four times faster than current offerings. The 32-bit chip is
said to be six times faster than any other SPARC chip on the
market.

The BIT SPARC, actually a six-chip set, "gives computer designers a
means to significantly reduce the size while increasing the
performance of future computers," says company marketing vice
president Chris DeMonico. "BIT SPARC allows computing systems that
cost less than $100,000 to deliver the same performance as mainframes
costing more than $1 million."

The unit is also the first to use high-speed emitter-coupled logic
in a RISC chip.

Sun Microsystems President Scott McNealy says the chips are running
in Sun's development labs and are planned for use in future systems.

(Wendy Woods/19890610/Press Contact: Marge Breya, 503-645-1551)


(EXCLUSIVE)(TRENDS)(SFO)(00006)

MORROW DESIGNS NEXT-GENERATION LAPTOP
HILLSBOROUGH, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 JUN 9 (NB) -- Computer industry
pioneer George Morrow is designing a state-of-the-art laptop
with such features as a built-in fax modem, featherweight hard
disks, and an optional cellular phone. Morrow is targeting the
unit, which he is designing under contract from Korea-based Trigem
Corporation of Santa Clara, California, to weigh 10.5 pounds.

Due to be unveiled at Fall Comdex in Las Vegas, with production
starting in January, the unnamed laptop will have a "Page White"
black and white liquid crystal display screen, a removable floppy
disk, the capability of receiving data via low-frequency radio
signals, and new-generation nickel hydride batteries, "which have
half the weight and slightly more power than nickel cadmium,"
Morrow told Newsbytes.

In addition, the unit, when operating without the cellular phone,
will be able to run for six hours without a charge, he says, or will
run off standard "D" cell batteries, or the power from a car cigarette
lighter. "No other machine allows this flexibility," he adds.

How can all this weigh 10.5 pounds? Morrow says the technology to
do it has "landed now, or is landing on the runway" and will be
ready by Fall Comdex. For instance, a 40 megabyte hard disk he'd
use weighs just 8 ounces, there is a 20 megabyte hard disk that
weighs just 5 ounces, and a 100 megabyte hard drive weighing only
a pound. Further, the cellular fax modem would be the single
chip model from Yamaha.

Morrow, who has been working various projects since the demise of
Morrow Computer several years ago, is also planning a notepad
computer which "acts like a piece of paper." However, the company
and funding with which the unit would be made has not been
firmed up, he says.

(Wendy Woods/19890609)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(WAS)(00007)

100 MILLION TRANSISTOR CHIP PREDICTED
NEW YORK, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1989 JUNE 6 (NB) -- "By the year 2000, we'll
be seeing 50 million to 100 million transistors on a chip in
microprocessors," said Intel President and Chief Executive Officer
Andrew Grove to a meeting of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic
Engineers today.

Predicting that component density on micro chips will continue to
double every 18 months right through the beginning of the next
century, Dr. Grove said, "For at least the balance of this
century, there are no physical limits on the shrinking of the
feature-size dimensions of a chip."

Such massive increases in component density mean that the recent
advances in smart appliances and electronic components such as
stereos, TVs, and VCRs are likely to not only continue but
accelerate, "delivering unparalleled performance" to products
used by the average person, according to Dr. Grove.

(John McCormick/19890609/Press Contact: Jayne F. Cerone, 212-
705-7847, or Beverly A. Knudsen, 212-705-7866, both of the IEEE)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(WAS)(00008)

EROL'S VIDEO CLUB RENTS NINTENDO
SPRINGFIELD, VIRGINIA, U.S.A., 1989 JUNE 9 (NB) --The 188-store video
rental chain based in Northern Virginia is now renting Nintendo game
machines to supplement its video tape rental offerings.

Erol's spokesman said that the rentals, which cost $5/day for the
machines and $2/day for game cartridges, would start in the
metropolitan Washington, D.C. area and were expected to extend to
other regions soon.

This move to expand rental of both games and machines from video
stores is another indication of the strength of the second wave
of the home electronic game industry.

Erol's stores are located throughout the Mid-Atlantic region,
extending to Chicago.

(John McCormick/19890609/Press Contact: Otto Schmidt, 703-642-
3300 x501)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(WAS)(00009)

BROTHERS CLAIM PI RECORD
NEW YORK, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1989 June 9 (NB) -- Soviet refugee
mathematicians David and Gregory Chudnovsky of Columbia
University claim to have evaluated the mathematical constant PI to 480
million places. If printed, the new number would fill a
30-foot-high stack of computer printouts, or would extend for
about 600 miles.

The calculations were made using Cray-2 and IBM-VF supercomputers
running FORTRAN, one of the oldest of computer languages.

Although without practical significance for engineers who use PI
in calculations, ever more accurate calculations of PI have often
been used as a gauge of computer hardware and software advances.
The previous record holders were Japanese who achieved 201-
million-place accuracy using Japanese-built supercomputers.

Since computer time is so limited and expensive, these massive
calculations take place in brief periods over many months and
refined programming techniques are used to speed the process.

(John McCormick & Dana Blankenhorn/19890609)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(LAX)(00010)

LOW COST PARALLEL-PROCESSING
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 JUNE 8 (NB) -- The General
Microelectronics parallel-processing computer has been
successfully demonstrated in a joint effort by NASA's Ames
Research Center [Mountain View, California] and DARPA [Defense
Advanced Research Projects Agency, Washington, D.C.].

This computer has the potential of producing capabilities
equivalent to current state-of-the-art supercomputers. The
system, developed by General Microelectronics, Inc. [San Diego]
under subcontract to Northrop Corp. [Hawthorne, California], is
called Configurable Architecture Parallel Processing System
[CAPPS].

This low-cost alternative to supercomputers is expected to open
new horizons for the scientific and engineering communities.
Simulation will be one of the first beneficiaries of the new
technology. The aerospace industry, NASA, and the rest of the
scientific community, require solutions to problems so large and
computer-intensive that they are virtually unaffordable using the
largest supercomputers available so parallel processing offers a
viable alternative.

(Janet Endrijonas/19890609/Press Contacts: Allan D. Simon,
General Microelectronics, 619-452-7100; Donald G. James, Ames
Research Center, 415-694-5091; Mary Sandy, NASA, 202-453-2754)


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

1M DRAM PRICE DROP
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 JUNE 7 (NB) -- The market for one megabit dynamic
random access memory [DRAM] chips has become decidedly weaker. The
world's leading producer of the memory units, Toshiba, has decided to
lower the price of its flagship one megabit DRAM by five percent to
about 1,900 yen or $13. And as Toshiba goes, so goes its competition.
Analysts expect the average price of one megabit DRAM chips to be
$13.80 apiece, or under 2,000 yen, for the first time in two years.

Several factors, such as volume production, slow growth of exports
to the U.S., and the alleviation of a domestic one megabit chip shortage,
have conspired to cause the price to drop.

The one megabit DRAM price drop should lead to lower prices for personal
computers and dedicated word processors, and also signals the
beginning of demand for the next generation of memory units,
four megabit DRAM chips.

(Ken Takahashi/19890608)


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

SHARP TO MASS-PRODUCE TFT COLOR LCD
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 JUNE 2 (NB) -- According to Nikkan Kogyo
Shimbun newspaper, Sharp will establish a factory exclusively for
volume production of 3 to 6-inch thin film transistor [TFT]
color liquid crystal display [LCD] units somewhere in Japan.

Sharp is currently producing a total of ten thousand units of
3- and 4-inch TFT color LCDs per month in its Tenri factory in
Nara. Now, due to the popularity of its portable color LCD TV,
the firm has decided to build a separate factory to handle volume
production of the units. Sharp projects even greater demand for
the color LCDs as thinner, high-quality television sets become
the next consumer rage.

The total investment for the factory is estimated at about 10
billion yen or $69 million. The factory will start operations
in the second half of next year, the newspaper reports.

A Sharp spokesman told Newsbytes the firm had no comment on
the report.

(Ken Takahashi/19890608)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(SYD)(00013)

BUSINESSES SPEND MORE ON HARDWARE
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1989 JUNE 6 (NB) -- International Data
Corporation's annual survey of the computer industry in Australia
shows that although software purchases increased last year,
hardware is still king of the data processing dollar.

Spending in the 400 companies and government departments in
the survey showed the following proportions: multiuser systems,
20.8 percent; communications equipment, 20 percent; software and
services, 17 percent; hardware maintenance, 9.8 percent; peripherals,
9.8 percent; personal computers, 8.3 percent.

(Paul Zucker/19890609)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(TOR)(00014)

MESSAGE SYSTEM RECOGNIZES VOICE
MONTREAL, QUEBEC, CANADA, 1989 JUN 6 (NB) -- Most voice messaging
systems just record your voice. Teleliaison Inc. has announced
one that understands it. The voice-recognition capabilities built
into Teleliaison's Electronic Voice Exchange [EVE] system mean a
touch-tone phone is not required to use it. Spoken commands
control the system, which handles voice messaging, automated
phone attendant, interactive voice response and other
applications. The voice recognition capability is scheduled to
be available in the third quarter of 1989, although the EVE
system without voice recognition is already on the market.

(Grant Buckler/19890609/Press Contact: Loretta Lam, The
Communications Group, 416-447-8591; Teleliaison, 514-333-5333)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(SIN)(00015)

SINGAPORE SHORT COMPUTER PERSONNEL
SINGAPORE, S.E. ASIA, 1989 JUNE 3 (NB) -- A report by International
Data Corporation [IDC] says that the fast-growing information
technology [IT] industry here is facing a labour shortage.

Don Steiner, Country Manager of IDC Research Singapore, said at an
IDC industry briefing held yesterday that systems programmers, project
leaders, communications specialists and database analysts are those
most in demand.

Staff turnover rates has been as high as 25 percent with wages of IT
professionals increasing by about 16.5 percent a year.

Steiner said, "We believe that the manpower shortage will continue
over the next three to five years." He believed that the growth of the
IT market far surpasses that of its manpower, currently placed at
8,000.

The report was the result of six major user research projects
conducted over the past eight months on 14,000 companies covering
issues on manpower, budget, purchasing intentions and software and
hardware expenditure.

Wong Seng Hong, Secretary of the National Computer Board here, said
of the report, "The shortage of IT professionals is a worldwide
phenomenon and not unique to Singapore. But Singapore is more
fortunate because over the last few years, the various IT training
institutions have turned out many IT professionals."

(Michael Worsley & S.Roowi/19890606/Press Contact:Don Steiner, IDC
Research,Ph:[65] 223.7988)


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

NEXT TO BUNDLE FRAMEMAKER
SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 JUN 5 (NB) -- Buyers of NeXT
computers will get free copies of Frame Technology's FrameMaker
2.0 workstation publishing software. "We wanted our customers
to get a taste of what truly amazing workstation publishing
is all about," says NeXT founder Steve Jobs. The prerelease
copy of FrameMaker 2.0 will run under the current version of the
machine's operating system, Release 0.9.

NeXT, meanwhile, hosts the press for a tour of its world-class
manufacturing facility in Fremont, California, on Monday, June 12,
virtually simultaneously with a major announcement slated by
rival Apple Computer of new networking products.

(Wendy Woods/19890610/Press Contact: Allison Thomas, 818-981-1520)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(ATL)(00002)

CRAY ORDERS PICK UP
COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1989 JUNE 1 (NB) -- Cray Research
is selling a $5.5 million Cray Y-MP computer to Texas A&M
University. The Aggies will use it for research in areas
like chemistry, agriculture, biochemistry, meteorology, and
oceanography, as well as nuclear, mechanical, and aerospace
engineering. As part of the deal, Cray will provide Texas A&M
with grants over five years to further supercomputer research in
areas such as artificial intelligence and biochemical modeling
related to agriculture. It's Cray's first sale to a Texas
university.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890609/Press Contact: John Swenson, Cray
Research, 612-333-5889)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(ATL)(00003)

MODCOMP INTRODUCES REAL/IX UNIX
FORT LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA, U.S.A., 1989 JUNE 5 (NB) -- Modcomp
has announced REAL/IX, which it called the first preemptive real-time
Unix operating system. That means it can be used in scientific
applications demanding real-time data crunching. The code
supports Unix System V from AT&T and all the tests for
compatibility with it. The company said it remains committed to
supporting X/Open's common application environment and the
evolving IEEE POSIX standards.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890609/Press Contact: Robert J. Turkovic,
Modcomp, 305/977-1823)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(LAX)(00004)

INTERACTIVE INTROS ARCHITECH SERIES
SANTA MONICA, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 MAY 30 (NB) -- Interactive
Systems Corporation [a Kodak Company] has introduced the Interactive
Architech Series of Unix system software modules for three specific
areas: application, network and workstation.

The series has been designed with built-in functionality by
tailoring each module to a specific environment ranging from a
non-network run-time environment to a complex software
development platform.

In a separate related announcement, Interactive indicated that
the company is promoting a special reseller enrollment campaign
designed to interest existing VARs [value-added resellers] in
Architech and to introduce Interactive and its products and
services to new VARs.

(Janet Endrijonas/19890609/Press Contact: Kera Martin,
Interactive Systems Corp., 213-453-8649)


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

SONY'S 20,000-WORKSTATION NET
TOKYO, JAPAN 1989 JUN 6 (NB) -- Sony will employ its flagship
workstation, News, in a massive computer-aided design [CAD] network,
comprised of 20,000 units, for its engineering and design divisions.
The network is part of Sony's Design Revolution Project which is
expected to be complete by 1994.

The company has been testing CAD network systems for two years
and claims to have linked a thousand News workstations so far.
Once overseas and domestic affiliates are added to the net, some
20,000 workstations are expected to be able to share data.

Sony will use the network to store technical and design information
for such products as TV sets, VCRs, audio gear, and semiconductors.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19890608)


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

SONY EXPANDS CAD BUSINESS
TOKYO, JAPAN 1989 JUN 2 (NB) -- Leading workstation maker Sony
will team up with U.S.-based computer-aided design [CAD] developer
Cadence Design Systems to sell large-scale integrated circuit [LSI]
CAD software. The applications will be developed on the News
platform Edge, due to be released in July.

In the Japanese market, the Japanese subsidiary of Cadence and Sony
will jointly provide software and hardware, while Innotech Corporation
will provide worker training.

There are versions of Cadence's LSI CAD for DEC, Sun, Apollo/HP and
NEC 4800 engineering workstations, but a version for Sony's News
workstation will be a big boost for the software's establishment in
Japan, where the News workstation has captured 20 percent of the
workstation market.

Sony expects the alliance to further its entry into the computer-
aided design market, having already firmly entrenched itself in the
desktop publishing and computer-aided software engineering
fields.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19890608)


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

FASTEST TRANSLATOR FOR WORKSTATIONS
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 JUN 5 (NB) -- System development venture
Nova has developed the fastest English-to-Japanese language
translation system to operate on a workstation. Called Transfer/EJ,
the new system translates two to three times faster than previous
translation packages.

For instance, 50 pages of an English manual, consisting of about 20,000
words, can be automatically translated into Japanese within an
hour with the system, the company claims. And, when used with an
optical character reader [OCR], the system is capable of reading some
6,000 words within only four minutes.

The new translation system operates on Sony's Pop News and News
series, and Apollo Computer's Domain series of workstations.
Further, it will soon be able to operate on Sun Microsystems'
Sun series, and Yokogawa Hewlett Packard's HP9000 series.
Slated for shipment early next month, the price will be 5.5 million
yen or $38,000, including an OCR recognition board, a scanner, and a
printer.

Nova has also been developing a Japanese-to-English translation
system, which is due this fall.

(Ken Takahashi/19890608/Press Contact: 03-351-3356)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(TYO)(00008)

OPEN LOOK TO GET JAPANESE LOOK
TOKYO, JAPAN 1989 MAY 30 (NB) -- In an effort to spread the
influence of Open Look to Japan, the Asia Pacific Office of Unix
International, via its International Working Group, will develop
a Japanese language environment for the graphical user interface.

The International Working Group, with 22 members, including
Acer of Taiwan, TATA of India, and Olivetti of Italy, as well as
Japanese members, have gathered in Tokyo.

The Japanese press is reporting that a Japanese version of Open
Look presents a direct challenge to OSF/Motif of the Open Software
Foundation. But Yumio Imamura, executive general manager of the
Asia Pacific Office, stressed, "Open Look is just one interface...
and creating a Japanese environment for it is not due to competition
with others." He told to Newsbytes, "If there is any interface
which will appeal to [Japanese] users, we will accept it."

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19890608)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(TYO)(00009)

NEC LAUNCHES NEW CAD/CAM SYSTEMS
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 JUNE 7 (NB) -- In an attempt to sell more
engineering workstations, NEC has made an effort to beef up
its computer-aided design and manufacturing [CAD/CAM] system
offerings.

NEC will add three-dimensional features to its original two-dimensional
mechanical CAD/CAM system, and also will rewrite the semiconductor
development software of Cadence Design Systems in the U.S. for its
4800 series workstations.

NEC is planning to sell 6,000 units of its 4800 series this year,
an amount four times larger than last year.

As CAD/CAM applications are demanded by nearly half of all
workstation owners, NEC is aggressively seeking to establish itself
in this market.

(Ken Takahashi/19890608)


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

OSF OPENS WEST GERMANY OFFICE
MUNICH, WEST GERMANY, 1989 JUN 09 (NB) -- The Open Software
Foundation [OSF] has opened a regional development office in West
Germany. The Munich office will be electronically linked to the
main OSF office in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in the U.S., with
onward links to other office.

Plans call for up to 24 staff to be recruited at the Munich
offices by the end of this year. The staffing levels reflect the
importance that the OSF places in European software development.
Currently, the OSF employs more than 50 staff in the U.S.

(Steve Gold/19890609/Press Contact: Paula Slotkin, Communications
Manager, Open Software Foundation - Tel: [US] 617-621-8700)