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/nb890704

Text File | 1991-10-02 | 135KB | 3,261 lines

(NEWS)(APPLE)(SIN)(00001)

CHINESE MAC AT MACWORLD ASIA
SINGAPORE, S.E. ASIA, 1989 JUN 29 (NB) -- Apple Computer
International and Aldus Corporation today jointly announced a complete
desktop publishing system for the Chinese-language market, which
they claim places Apple at the forefront in this area.

Satjiv Chahil, Apple Pacific's director of marketing, accompanied by
Paul Brainerd, Aldus president, said the news reflects Apple's
commitment to the development of localized systems, which is
crucial to meeting the unique requirements of Asia.

The new Chinese desktop publishing system is made up of Apple's
Chinese Talk 6.0.3 system software for the Macintosh and LaserWriter
IINTX-A laser printer that supports the Chinese-language character set,
and Chinese-language versions of Aldus' PageMaker 3.0 page layout
software.

Apple's Chinese Talk 6.0.3 is described, among a number of major
enhancements, as offering support for Chinese Postscript fonts and
MultiFinder compatibility, including background printing. Compatible with
all Macintosh software, Chinese Talk 6.0.3 also boasts an enhanced user
interface.

The LaserWriter IINTX-A is designed to produce eight pages per minute
at resolutions as high as 300 dots per inch for text and graphics and
is able to meet the requirements of individual users or up to 31 users in
a network.

Aldus PageMaker 3.0 is an improved version of Aldus' original
interactive publishing platform which integrates text and
graphics for the design, editing and production of high-quality
printed documents.

Two Chinese versions of PageMaker 3.0 are available, one for traditional
characters in use in Hong Kong and Taiwan, and the other for the
simplified characters in the People's Republic of China and Singapore.

Aldus products are now available in 12 different languages, and the
Macintosh can now display multiple scripts using Standard ChineseTalk,
Simplified ChineseTalk, ThaiTalk, HangulTalk, UrduTalk, Devanagari,
KanjiTalk, as well as the standard Roman characters, and other scripts
such as Arabic, where text flows right to left instead of the normal
left to right for English.

Aldus' new products require a Macintosh with 2 MB memory and a 20MB
hard disk, Apple's Chinese Talk 6.0.3 and a LaserWriter or ImageWriter
printer or the new LaserWriter IINTX-A to run.

(Michael Worsley & S.Roowi/19890630/Press Contact: Daniel Cheung,
Apple International Hong Kong, Ph: [852][5] 844.2415)


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

HYPERMEDIA SHOW HIGHLIGHTS
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 JUN 30 (NB) -- The first Multimedia
and Hypermedia Expo, held here June 27-29, "had the excitement of the
early days of the computer fair," according to one attendee. In evidence
were the most significant revolutionary, as opposed to evolutionary
trends for microcomputer development. And specifically, the television
set and the PC are being intertwined.

Andy Hertzfeld, a well-known Macintosh programmer, disclosed his latest
project -- an operating system for a television set. "Personal computers
are becoming more TV-like," Tim Bajarin, analyst with Creative
Strategies told Newsbytes. "With animation and sound, a battle is
shaping up between the personal computer and TV industries."

A significant new product is a system called BigTime TV. From
Foster City, California-based Hyperpress Publishing, BigTime TV,
developed by Ken Laws of HyperPro, puts full-motion video into
windows on the Macintosh desktop. Controlled by scripts written
in HyperCard, on board is a video authoring system which can accept
and display video from various sources via digitizing boards in the
Macintosh: laser disk, videotape, or video camera.

On its most basic level, the system eliminates the need for multiple
monitors in viewing video sources, but as a high-end tool for programmers,
BigTime TV is envisioned as the way to build intelligent multimedia
applications. Within memory limits, up to 40 windows can display
separate video sources. The product is priced at $195 through the
summer and will be shipped in its beta version July 31.

Macromind, which has been at the forefront of multimedia, showed
enhancements to its Director family of animated presentation-
creation products. Accelerator ($195) speeds up playback of documents
up to 30 frames per second and allows users to create digital video
quality animations. Player, a free upgrade for registered owners,
allows playback of animated pieces made with Director or Videoworks
as stand-alone applications or from within HyperCard. Director
Interactive Toolkit ($300) is for the serious user or developer who wants to
create disks similar to the "Guided Tours" that Apple ships with
its Macintoshes.

Macromind, now based in San Francisco, will also allow a user to
distribute multiple copies of a presentation made with its products,
for a one-time licensing fee of $250.

While Apple's Macintosh is generally believe to be two to three years
ahead of IBM's PC in terms of multimedia software and hardware
support, IBM is attempting to catch up with its new Audio Visual
Connection, which was on display. The software and two boards enable
the PC to capture and manipulate single-frame video images. IBM
is working closely with Microsoft, which has devoted its entire
multimedia division to development of PC multimedia tools, bypassing
the Macintosh.

(Wendy Woods/19890701)


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

APPLE FIRES KEY PROGRAMMER
CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 JUN 27 (NB) -- Apple has attempted
to stop one source of unofficial information to the press by firing
a key programmer. David Ramsey, author of Release 2.0 of MacPaint
and a highly respected computer programmer, was let go by Apple
following his disclosure on Compuserve of proprietary product
information. The information, which Ramsey was quoted as saying he
did not know was secret, pertained to future software directions.

Ramsey's firing, which has touched off a flood of protests to Apple,
comes as the company is trying to track down the nuPrometheus League --
individuals or an individual disseminating proprietary Apple source
code. While there is no relation between Ramsey and the League, the
termination reflects Apple's renewed vigilance against unauthorized
comments. Paranoia, some say, is rampant within the company, as it
battles to keep unannounced products and plans out of the
public eye.

(Wendy Woods/19890701)


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

STUDIO/1 SHIPS
SAN MATEO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 JUN 23 (NB) -- Electronic Arts is
shipping Studio/1, a black and white version of Studio/8, its paint
and graphics program, which also adds animation to its array of features.

The program allows you to create an object, then define its path,
and the program will then animate it for you. It also creates
spinning titles in seconds, will record strokes with the press of
one button, and play them back with the press of another, will move
and rotate objects in full 3D simulation, and will create
animated brushes which retain their animation as you paint.

The product, which requires one megabyte of random access memory
and runs on any Macintosh, costs $149 but is offered for a limited time
trade-in deal -- the program will cost $75 if you sent in the title
page of any Macintosh paint program you currently have. Information
can be had by calling toll-free in the U.S. 800-245-4525.

(Wendy Woods/19890701/Press Contact: Nicole Noland, 415-571-7171 x590)


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

CD-ROM ENCYCLOPEDIA FOR MAC
DANBURY, CONNECTICUT, U.S.A., 1989 JUN 20 (NB) -- Grolier Electronic
Publishing has announced a Macintosh version of The New Electronic
Encyclopedia. Introduced at the American Library Association's
conference in Dallas June 23-28, the encyclopedia, which ships in
July and will cost $395, is on CD-ROM disk and is comprised of 21
volumes, over 30,000 articles, and more than nine million words
of Grolier's Academic American Encyclopedia.

The software exploits the Macintosh windows to stack, sort, size, or
resize entries. An electronic bookmark saves the user's place for
quick access and reference at a later time. The disk is in High
Sierra format. The same disk will also run on MS-DOS machines,
demonstrating the technical achievement of Online Computer Systems
of Germantown, Maryland. Online developed the product's search
and retrieval software.

(Wendy Woods/19890701/Press Contact: Adriene O'Brien, Grolier,
800-356-5590 or 203-797-3359)


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

MACRECORDER 2.0 SHIPS
BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 JUL 01 (NB) -- Farallon Computing
is shipping the newest version of MacRecorder.  MacRecorder 2.0 features
advanced interactive multimedia support through a new HyperSound
Toolkit.  Users can build interactive HyperCard sound stacks and record
and play sampled and compressed sounds from any HyperCard stack.

The MacRecorder System functions as a multi-channel mixer, records
in mono or stereo, and allows a wide variety of special effects.  A
choice of sound compression ratios permit the user to optimize both
sound quality and storage requirements.

As part of the purchase price, MacRecorder 2.0 includes a royalty-free
license to distribute the external routines of the HyperSound Toolkit.

"We created version 2.0 of the MacRecorder Sound System to provide
interactive multimedia support," said Reese Jones, president of
Farallon. Multimedia has always loomed large on the Macintosh  horizon,
but until now it hasn't been easy for users to create.  By adding these
new tools, HyperCard stacks take on a new, vital, interactive element
for speech and sound applications."

MacRecorder Sound System 2.0 components include the MacRecorder
sound digitizer with built-in microphone, HyperSound, the HyperSound
Toolkit, and SoundEdit. MacRecorder 2.0 carries a suggested retail
price of $249. Upgrades are available for  $40 plus a $10 handling fee to
registered MacRecorder users.

(Wendy Woods/19890701/Press Contact:  Wendy Keough, 415/849-2331)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(LAX)(00007)

ART AVAILABLE ON MACIVORY
BURLINGTON, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1989 JUN 26 (NB) -- Inference
Corporation's [Los Angeles, CA] expert system development tool,
ART 3.2 (Automated Reasoning Tool) is now available on Symbolics'
new Macintosh-based MacIvory work stations.

ART 3.2 supports the development of both decision-making and
decision support software. The MacIvory workstation, based on
Symbolics' Ivory Processor, converts standard Apple Macintosh II
and IIx systems into high performance workstations for the
development and delivery of symbolic processing applications.

(Janet Endrijonas/19890630/Press Contact: Susan Zellman-Rohrer,
Symbolics, Inc., 617-221-1000)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(TYO)(00008)

JAPAN'S NEW MAC MARKETING
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 JUN 26 (NB) -- One of the sales arms of Apple
Computer Japan, Sakaedenshi K.K., has taken a new stab at marketing
the Macintosh. The company has planted sales displays of Macs at coffee
shops and boutiques in the most fashionable district in Tokyo, Aoyama.

The catch is "Dress up your shop with Mac," an idea generated from the
shape of the Mac. The other computers look modular and awkward
while the Mac is compact, pretty and cute. This is the first time
anyone has tried to sell the Macintosh on appearance alone -- and
this vendor is attempting to convince the Japanese buyer that
the machine will be a lovely, albeit expensive, decoration for their
home.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19890629)


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

EPSON PRODUCES MORE OVERSEAS
NAGANO, JAPAN, 1989 JUN 22 (NB) -- All the IBM PC/AT-compatible
Equity Plus Two and Three and PC/XT-compatible Equity One personal
computers that Seiko-Epson sells outside Japan will now be made
outside Japan as well.

Seiko-Epson has shifted its entire export operation to overseas
manufacturing sites, a move first taken to avoid a trade dispute with
the U.S. and to make its PC business international. The firm started
overseas production only for the U.S. market in the spring of 1987, and
now Epson has decided to shift all exports for other markets, such
as Europe, Southeast Asia, and Australia, to production facilities Epson
already maintains there.

Seiko-Epson aims to raise the monthly output of its Portland
factory in the U.S. to 16,000 computers, and its Telford factory in the U.K.
to 6,000 machines -- in each case a doubling of output. As for the firm's
factories in Korea and Singapore, Epson has decided to keep the
same level of production as last year, with each factory producing
10,000 and 20,000 units per month.

Meanwhile, its Hirooka factory in Nagano, Japan, will increase monthly
output of personal computers to 21,000 -- a 40 percent increase over
last year.

Seiko-Epson produced 280,000 PCs abroad in 1988 -- the largest number
of PCs produced overseas of any Japanese computer company. Worldwide,
10 million PCs are produced annually in a market dominated by IBM
and Apple, with an output of one million units each. Seiko-Epson,
however, expects to run a strong third in this race by producing more
than 650,000 PCs annually by the end of this year.

(Ken Takahashi/19890629/Press Contact: 0266-58-1705)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LAX)(00002)

MAI MAY LOSE PRIME BATTLE
TUSTIN, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 JUN 29 (NB) -- Prime Computer's
"white knight," J.H. Whitney & Co., a New York-based private
venture capital firm has formally tendered an offer to buy the
company throwing what may be an insurmountable roadblock in the
path of MAI Basic Four.

Whitney's offer of $21.50 in cash for each of Prime's 49.5
million outstanding shares (79 percent of the company's stock)
and exchange of securities valued by industry analysts at $20 a
share for the remaining 21 percent total about $1.25 billion.
Concurrently, MAI offered to increase its most recent bid
totalling $1.19 billion.

An MAI spokesperson claimed that MAI still hopes to beat the
Whitney offer and acquire Prime. The company has revealed,
however, that its latest offer has drawn a commitment of only 10
percent of Prime's outstanding shares. Security analysts doubt
that MAI will be able to obtain financing for a offer high enough
to compete with Whitney.

(Janet Endrijonas/19890630)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LAX)(00003)

DELL TO PLAY IN BIG LEAGUE
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 JUN 27 (NB) -- Austin
Texas-based Dell Computers wants to come out of its low end mail
order computer niche and start designing, producing and marketing
more sophisticated and powerful systems.

The company sent its research and development team to the San
Francisco area to show off Dell's technical expertise. The team
made it known that Dell has the expertise to compete in a world
of multitasking and multiprocessing, graphical interfaces and
ASICs.

Part of Dell's move into higher-end computers will involve
developing a RISC-based computer. The company is looking at four
RISC chip options but the company is not yet ready to commit to a
particular RISC platform. Dell has commented that the company
will produce CPUs based on the 80485 and 80585 chips if such ever
come into existence. The company has also announced it is
considering a multiple 80386-based architecture consisting of 2
or more 386 chips operating in parallel. Decisions as to which
way the company will go seem to be hanging on software and
operating system considerations.

(Janet Endrijonas/19890630)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(WAS)(00004)

APOLLO DROPS WORKERS
CHELMSFORD, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1989 JUN 27 (NB) -- Hewlett-
Packard Co's Apollo Computer division announced today that it
will lay off 100 headquarters employees and transfer another 50
to other Hewlett-Packard locations.

Apollo has about 2,500 employees in the Chelmsford area and,
according to a Hewlett-Packard spokesperson the reduction was in
job categories not normally needed in a subsidiary.

Two month's notice and one month's severance pay for each year of
service with Apollo will be given to the laid off employees, with
a minimum of 3 months severance pay.

(John McCormick/19890627)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LON)(00005)

WANG CONSOLIDATES IN UK
STIRLING, SCOTLAND, 1989 JUN 30 (NB) -- Wang Corporation has
announced plans to sell off its existing production facility in
Stirling, Scotland, and consolidate its operations at its larger
plant in Limerick, Ireland.

The Limerick facility, which currently manufactures all of Wang's
product line, will become responsible for all of Wang's European
manufacturing following the planned consolidation. The transfer
of business is expected to be completed by the end of September
this year.

Michael Downes, senior vice president for manufacturing, based
at the company's world headquarters in Lowell, Massachusetts,
said, that the closure was part of Wang's financial
restructuring, and would make the company more competitive for
the free European market, which starts in 1992.

"We are taking this action with great reluctance. Stirling, which
currently employees 239 people, has been a highly efficient and
productive operation ever since manufacture began there in 1983,"
he said.

"However, in light of technical advances made throughout the Wang
product line and efficiencies gained in the entire manufacturing
operation, the company needs to consolidate European
manufacturing into a single plant. The Limerick plant has
sufficient capacity to meet the expected needs of current and
future customers," he added.

(Steve Gold/19890630/Press Contact: Martin Wood, Wang
Corporation - Tel: [phone])


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(KUL)(00006)

BELGIANS SNUB U.S. FOR ASIA
KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA, 1989 JUN 20 (NB) -- Telindus Ltd., a Belgian
data communication equipment manufacturer, has expressed its wish to
set up its first Asian office in Thailand, Malaysia or Singapore.

Telindus' products range from modems to network management and network alarm
systems, with 50 percent of its sales from modems. It
appointed Rank O'Connors [M] Sdn. Bhd. as its sole agent in Malaysia late
last year.

At a recent symposium on data communication products here Leo
Wezenbeek, Telindus' deputy director-general, said, "Although our
international operations are based in Europe, we feel that the market
potential in Asia is good. This is why we have given Asia priority
over North America in our international expansion plans."

(Michael Worsley & S.Roowi/19890627)


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

COMMODORE LOWERS EXPECTATIONS
WEST CHESTER, PENNSYLVANIA, U.S.A., 1989 JUN 28 (NB) -- Due to
recent increases in the value of the U.S. dollar versus many
foreign currencies, Commodore International has announced
that it expects fourth quarter sales to be below those for the
same period last year.

Commodore relies on overseas sales for 75 percent of its market, making
it especially vulnerable to currency swings, and the company may
even experience a modest loss for the quarter ending June 30 even
though it reports strong sales in the professional-level Amiga
2000 and PC-compatible product areas.

(John McCormick/19890630/Press Contacts: Carden Welsh, treasurer,
Commodore International Limited, 215-431-9100; Gary Fishman of
Donald Reynolds Associates, 212-661-1830)


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

DIEBOLD BUYS EDS ASSETS
CANTON, OHIO, U.S.A., 1989 JUN 28 (NB) -- Diebold, a large maker
of automatic teller machines, bought Electronic Data Systems'
payment services division field service organization, which
handles maintenance on money machines used in EDS' money machine
systems. The purchased assets include existing EDS service
contracts and service parts inventories.

Diebold also announced a long-term marketing agreement with EDS
that allows EDS to sell Diebold service contracts to its transaction
processing customers.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890630/Press Contact: Mary Ann Jackson,
Diebold, 216-497-4757)


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

CONTROL DATA TO SELL CONVEX SUPERS
RICHARDSON, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1989 JUN 27 (NB) -- Control Data,
which recently closed its own ETA Systems supercomputer division
and agreed to sell Cray machines, will also sell Convex's C Series
supercomputers into selected markets, mainly overseas. The effort has
already resulted in the sale of a Convex C230 system to the University
of Groningen in Holland.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890630/Press Contact: Donna Burke, Convex,
214-497-4230)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(ATL)(00010)

HONEYWELL CUTS 250 CHIP JOBS
COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO, U.S.A., 1989 JUN 26 (NB) -- Honeywell is
cutting 250 jobs at its semiconductor plant in Colorado Springs. The
reductions were blamed on Control Data's closing of its ETA Systems
supercomputer company, which was buying specialized Honeywell chips.

Earlier this month, Honeywell signed a letter of intent to sell
the chip plant to Atmel Corp. of San Jose, California. The transaction is
due to be completed this month.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890630/Press Contact: Sylvia Burgos Wande,
Honeywell, 612-870-2207)


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

MICROSEMI-VARO TAKEOVER
SANTA ANA, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 JUN 27 (NB) -- Microsemi
Corp., makers of semiconductors and other electronics, has
announced that it will manage the operations of Garland, Texas-
based Varo Quality Semiconductors while Varo's bank completes its
foreclosure on the company's assets.

After the foreclosure, Micro Quality Semiconductor, a subsidiary
of Microsemi Corp. will acquire certain Varo assets and
operations from the bank.

(Janet Endrijonas/19890630)


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

ALPHA MICRO'S EARNINGS DOWN
SANTA ANA, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 JUN 29 (NB) -- Alpha
Microsystems, manufacturer of multiuser computer systems for
business applications, has reported a 14 percent drop in first
quarter earnings from a year ago.

Revenue, at $14 million, was up 15 percent. The company
attributed the earnings drop to increased marketing expenses and
other costs from acquiring Rexon Business Machines.

(Janet Endrijonas/19890630)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TYO)(00013)

DEC NETWORK SPREADS
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 JUN 22 (NB) -- Toshiba and Digital Equipment
Corporation have signed an agreement regarding exchange of
technology in the area of networks. The two companies have
agreed to exchange proprietary hardware and software information
in order to develop an Ethernet interface between the Toshiba J-3100
laptop and the DEC VAX computer.

When either firm upgrades their hardware, the other will get the
inside information well beforehand, enabling both sides to facilitate
prompt network compatibility.

Meanwhile, DEC Japan, the Japanese arm of DEC, has released
DECnet/PCSA [personal computing systems architecture] Client 9800
software which integrates the NEC's PC-9800 series and
a VAX computer. The price for the software, including Ethernet
interface board, is 295,000 yen [$2,000].

(Ken Takahashi/19890629)


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

DEC JAPAN ENTERS FINANCIAL MARKET
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 JUN 27 (NB) -- Digital Equipment Corporation
Japan will attempt to capture a larger share of the financial market
dominated by Nihon Unisys and NCR Japan by beefing up its sales
force.

Pitting itself against Sun Microsystems and Yokogawa Hewlett-Packard
in the workstation market, as well, DEC Japan has subdivided its three
divisions for financial markets into five and will increase its current
sales force from 40 to 70 by the end of this year.

The company earned nine percent of its total sales, 73 billion
yen or $521 million, in the financial market last year. DEC Japan
will expand its business in the field by offering the VAX8800,
MicroVAX, and VAXStation with currency exchange and risk
analysis software. At the same time it has started demonstration
of a financial system connecting the New York and London markets.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19890629)


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

AST SLAMS IMAGINEERING
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1989 JUN 27 (NB) -- An ex-Imagineering [Australia's
largest PC distributor] supplier has attacked the company for not
concentrating on its product enough. AST Research Marketing Manager
Merelyn Kelly claimed Imagineering lacked the resources to cover its
systems as well as its Zenith and house-brand Ultra product
ranges.

"Imagineering had really only focused on selling our board products --
there was not enough emphasis on our systems," Kelly said.

The firm dropped Imagineering as its vendor in March and switched
to its own dealer network for distribution. The break has proved a success
with AST claiming its May turnover had more than doubled Imagineering's
best monthly takings on AST products. AST claimed revenue of AUS$1.8
million -- eclipsing Imagineering's best AST sales figures last October of
AUS$790,000. AST Australian and New Zealand director and general
manager, Edward Mandla, claimed sales should reach its predicted AUS$20
million this calendar year.

Kelly said AST plans to have 50 quality dealers by this year and
not "hundreds of cowboy resellers."

AST tore up its Imagineering price book when it broke with the
firm and introduced pricing close to U.S. AUSTRALIA,  figures. The
lower prices could have contributed to a sales increase since March.
Two systems released in March, Bravo/286 8MHz and Premium 386/16
16MHz micro, added to AST's user appeal.

(Paul Zucker/19890630)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LON)(00016)

ELECTRON IN NEW ZEALAND
AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND, 1989 JUNE 30 (NB) -- Electron House, the
U.K. computer product and electronic component distributor, has
acquired Terminal Accessories Limited in New Zealand. The deal
has cost the company UKP 630,000 (NZ$ 1.7 million), which will
paid for by VSI Electronics (NZ) Limited, a subsidiary of the
Electron House Group.

Terminal Accessories was previously a subsidiary of the Swann
Group of Australia, and is a leading distributor of passive
components and connector products in New Zealand. Its head office
is in Auckland, with sales offices in Wellington and
Christchurch.

(Steve Gold/19890630/Press Contact: Robert Leigh, managing
director, Electron House - Tel: [phone])


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

BBN DANISH PULL-OUT
COPENHAGEN, DENMARK, 1989 JUNE 30 (NB) -- Bolt, Beranek and
Newman, the U.S. high technology group, has announced plans to
shut its BBN Communications subsidiary in Denmark, with the
eventual loss of 200 jobs.

The Danish subsidiary - BBN Communications - was formed only last
year when BBN secured a contract with Christian Rovsing, a
division of the Alcatel Group. The contract, which called for BBN
to design and supply a reservations network for Delta Airlines,
is now nearing completion, according to Stephen Levy, chairman
of BBN.

"BBN Communications will achieve its goal of completing the Delta
Airlines network and we and all our Danish employees take pride
in that accomplishment. We had hoped to secure additional
networking contracts using Christian Rovsing's unique network
products, and to maintain the unit as an integral part of BBN.
However, we have received no contracts of adequate size to
continue the operation in its current form," he said.

(Steve Gold/19890630/Press Contact: Harry Kirsch, BBN (US) - Tel:
617-873-3433)


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

ANTI-APARTHEIDER SEEKS DONATIONS
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 JUN 30 (NB) -- Donations of
computer equipment and software are needed by a South African group
seeking to publish an anti-apartheid newspaper, but its editor, on
a month-long appeal to Silicon Valley companies, is having little
luck getting any.

Taj Hargey, a history professor at the University of Capetown, needs
electronic publishing equipment to launch a newspaper called
"Forum" through his nonprofit Capetown-based Open House Welfare and
Cultural Society, but he is finding more doors closing than opening.

"It's a Catch-22 situation," Hargey tells Newsbytes. "With U.S.
sanctions against South Africa, most computer companies have withdrawn
from that part of the world. Whether you speak black, white or
yellow, that doesn't seem to matter. They don't want to get their
hands dirty."

His trek to Cupertino, for instance, was fruitless. "Apple Computer,
which has a progressive image, has flatly refused to even meet
with me. I have sent letters to John Sculley that went unanswered.
And the director of community grants, Fred Silverman, was polite but
felt it would be pointless to get involved since Apple was not
interested in South Africa."

His appeal to Hewlett-Packard was an ironic flop, as well. "They
referred me to South African management. But they're all white
and wouldn't be interested in rocking the boat as far as the status
quo is concerned."

Sun Microsystems almost donated a workstation until, he says,
they discovered that they didn't have an office in South Africa to
service the machine. On IBM: "It's such a monolith conglomerate
that my proposal would get buried." He says AST Research has yet
to respond to his request.

He's had some luck with one software company -- Letraset sent him
a complete desktop publishing software system. Interleaf, he says
are also helpful. But Aldus, WordPerfect, and others have either
not responded or flatly denied aid.

"The point of sanctions, and the point of the U.S. corporate pull-
out, was to put the screw in Apartheid. We have to exert the
internal pressure. One way is for black people to have access
to their own news coverage. Without electronic publishing, we
won't be able to bypass the white establishment," Hargey appeals.

Further information on the project and a backgrounder on the Open
House Society can be had by calling Taj Hargi before the end of
July at 415-361-8801 or write for information to The Open House
Society, 658 Bair Island Road, Suite 105, Redwood City, Ca. 94063.

(Wendy Woods/19890630)


(EXCLUSIVE)(GENERAL)(SFO)(00002)

PC FLYERS GET OWN STORE
NOVATO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 JUN 30 (NB) -- Some six million
flight simulator enthusiasts are the potential customers for a new
store devoted exclusively to their hobby. PC Flight Store in
Novato, California, has been set up to specialize in software,
hardware, and do-dads to appeal to the armchair pilot.

"This is a one-stop shopping concept for the PC pilot,"
co-founder Lawrence De Rusha tells Newsbytes, who adds this
form of air travel is appealing to many because "it's the
least intimidating and least expensive way to try out flying."

De Rusha and partner Robert Henrich say their store, a division
of Calypso Products, offers such items as the Maxx Yoke from
Alturas -- the PC plane's equivalent of a steering wheel in a car which
enables the earthbound flyer to experience plane guidance when the
device is plugged into their joystick port during a PC flight simulation.

They also carry Flight Simulator from Microsoft, as well as competing
programs Jet 2.10, Falcom F-16, and Tracon. There are special scenery
add-on disks for Flight Simulator, with 3,000 different airports in
the U.S., Europe, and Japan. Calypso's own product is called Winging-It,
audio tapes of actual air traffic control transmissions for various
programmed flights. The store also sells tee-shirts for the computer flyer,
jackets, caps, aeronautical sectional center charts, VFR and IFR charts,
flight planning software for real flights, and a variety of joysticks
and other hardware components for flight simulator programs.

The partners will be flying into Oshkosh, Wisconsin for the world's
largest fly-in of real pilots to demonstrate and promote much of this
equipment next week.

Primarily mail-order, PC Flight Store is also a walk-in retail store
at 394 Bel Marin Keys, near (appropriately) Hamilton Air Force Base
in Novato, California 94949. In the U.S. the toll-free number is
800-234-1595. A catalog is free on request.

(Wendy Woods/19890630)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(WAS)(00003)

AN WANG HOSPITALIZED
LOWELL, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1989 JUN 29 (NB) -- Dr. An Wang,
the 69-year-old Chinese immigrant who founded Wang Laboratories
on the money he obtained from selling a memory patent to IBM, is
suffering from esophageal cancer, sources report.

Dr. Wang is currently undergoing tests and chemotherapy and will
have surgery next month.

Wang Laboratories established a dominant position in the early
1960's with distributed processing based on small central
calculators with hard-wired terminals located on desks throughout
offices.

The original Wang computers were far less powerful than even
today's wristwatch calculators but, in their day, were very cost-
effective. In recent years Wang lost much of its luster after
the market for its dedicated office computer systems fell apart.

Wang never successfully entered the personal computer hardware or
software markets but is currently making a big push with its
optical storage and document processing technologies.

Newsbytes has seen demonstrations of the latest Wang imaging
system which features ease-of-use.

Dr. Wang has been the driving force behind Wang Laboratories
since its founding, although his son took over much of the day-
to-day management a few years ago.

(John McCormick/19890629)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(WAS)(00004)

STRATUS EMBRACES DECNET
MARLBORO, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1989 JUN 28 (NB) -- Stratus
fault-tolerant XA 2000 Continuous Processing Systems will get
DECnet-compatible communications capabilities which will greatly
enhance their potential market.

Fault-tolerant transaction systems are used in many retail,
telecommunications, and financial installations where reliability
is particularly critical, and DECnet local area networks or LANS
are widely used in these computer systems.

The DNS/2000 software is licensed from Technology Concepts
Sudbury, Mass., which supplies more than 35 other computer
companies with DECnet-compatible software.

(John McCormick/19890630/Press Contacts: David Hayward, 508-
460-2796, or Denise Ferbas, 508-460-2742)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(WAS)(00005)

COMPUTERS FOIL OIL SPILLS
WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A., 1989 JUN 26 (NB) -- Secretary of
Transportation Samuel K. Skinner has reported that the St.
Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation's new emergency response
plan for oil and hazardous substance spills makes use of a river
computer model being developed at Clarkson University in Potsdam,
N.Y.

The computer model will provide data on weather, water flow, and
water level that will pinpoint spread of spills and help
determine the deployment of clean-up crews.

The new plan is a result of U.S. Seaway Administrator James L.
Emery's order for a thorough review and update of the 1980 oil-
spill contingency plan, immediately after the Exxon Valdez
disaster off the Alaskan coast.

(John McCormick/19890629/Press Contact: Dennis Deusch, 202-366-
0110, or Shelley Beaudry, 202-366-0113)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(WAS)(00006)

SIX MAGAZINES SOLD
HASBROUCK HEIGHTS, NEW JERSEY, U.S.A., 1989 JUN 26 (NB) -- VNU
Business Publications' Dutch parent company in Haarlem, The
Netherlands, has agreed to sell six U.S.A.-based electronics
magazines to an unnamed U.S. trade publishing company.

Personal Computing, with its circulation of 500,000 and annual
revenues of more than $25 million, will remain under existing
management and VNU - United Dutch Publishers will retain
ownership of this, one of the largest of its 50-plus computer
publications.

(John McCormick/19890629)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(WAS)(00007)

NEC ANNOUNCES VISION-NMS
MELVILLE, N.Y., U.S.A., 1989 JUN 29 (NB) -- NEC America has
announced that it will sell the Versatile Solution Oriented
Network - Network Management System or VISION-NMS, which
incorporates NEC products with Boeing Computer Services' network
management software.

The system is intended to maximize the capabilities of the
NECX2400 IMS PBX network using NEC's DINA-XE protocol. NMS will
also provide an interface to IBM's NetView allowing access to
System Network Architecture or SNA networks.

(John McCormick/19890630/Press Contact: Lourdes Cogswell of NEC,
516-753-7045)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(ATL)(00008)

TOSHIBA MINIS GET DOUGLAS OS
ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, U.S.A., 1989 JUN 26 (NB) -- McDonnell Douglas
reached an agreement with Toshiba to port its Pro-IV application
development language to Toshiba minicomputers, giving the Japanese
company 10-year exclusive worldwide licensing rights to its version of
Pro-IV on two Toshiba operating systems, OS-III and OS-V.

A June, 1988 survey by Datamation found Toshiba to be the world's
fourth-largest manufacturer of minicomputers, Douglas said.

Under the agreement, Pro-IV user screens will be translated
into Kanji, the Japanese system of writing that uses Chinese-
derived characters. This should help the marketing of the system
in Japan.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890630/Press Contact: Barbara Anderson,
McDonnell Douglas Information Systems, 314-232-4641)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(LAX)(00009)

SOFTCRAFT WINS AWARD
ENCINITAS, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 JUN 30 (NB) -- Softcraft's
Font Solution Pack, Version 2, incorporating the Spinfont option
has won a PC Magazine Editor's Choice Award.

Font Solution Packs provide a user friendly front end for font
selection that automatically installs [in background] the user's
selections. In an exclusive interview with Newsbytes, Dr.
William Overman, Softcraft vice president explained: "Fonts are
very confusing to most people and Font Solution does a fair
amount to ease that confusion."

Version 2, in addition to all the font selections features
contained in its predecessor, provides LaserJet II users with the
only means currently on the market to automatically create
curved, rotated and reversed text directly from Bitstream
Scaleable Typefaces. The program works with all the major word
processing and desktop publishing programs.

Overman added: "We provide many PostScript-like capabilities for
non-PostScript printers. Our forte has always been power and
flexibility and now we've added ease of use. There is a lot of
depth to the product."

Overman told Newsbytes that the company is thrilled by the PC
Magazine award. "We've always thought we had great products and
having the technical excellence verified by an outside authority
really makes us feel good. Our market is generally higher-end
and often we deal with the one person in a work group who is
saddled with font choice responsibility so our name is not
exactly a household word even though we've been around since
1982. It's nice to be recognized for what we do and do well."

(Janet Endrijonas/19890630/Press Contact: Sue Varga, Smith-Masar-
Johnston, 619-281-8991)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(LAX)(00010)

DEC, TOSHIBA INK TECH XCHANGE PACT
NEW YORK, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1989 JUN 20 -- Digital Equipment
Corporation and Toshiba Corporation have announced a technology
exchange agreement to ensure the integration of Toshiba's laptop
computers into Digital's networking environment.

Under the agreement, certain models in Toshiba's laptop line will
be certified by Digital as compatible with Digital's Network
Application Support program. Toshiba's Japan-specific [KANJI]
laptops will also be included. The agreement provides for the
exchange of product specifications between Digital and Toshiba
for their hardware and software products.

Digital's Network Application Support program facilities provide
common access to services on the DECnet/OSI network to users of
the industry's major operating systems. Digital has similar
technology exchange agreements with several computer
manufacturers including Compaq, Olivetti and Tandy. Digital has
a joint development pact with Apple Computer.

(Janet Endrijonas/19890630/Press Contacts: Linda Simon, Digital
Equipment Corporation, 508-493-1168; Gerry Lynne Baker, Les
Goldberg Public Relations, 714-730-4774)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(LAX)(00011)

DATADESK BUNDLES QUATTRO
VAN NUYS, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 JUN 19 (NB) -- Between July 1
and September 30, Datadesk International will include a full copy
of Borland's Quattro spreadsheet software with every TurboCalc-
111 keyboard/calculator.

The TurboCalc-111 keyboard includes a solar-powered full-function
calculator with 12 character LCD display. The keyboard can be
used with PC, XT, AT, PS/2 or compatible computers. Instead of
the usual 84 or 101 keys, TurboCalc has 111 keys--10 keys
surrounding the standard numeric keypad are used to operate the
integrated six function business calculator with four function
memory. The keyboard has a standard size footprint despite the
extra keys.

Datadesk has a long tradition of bundling useful and valuable
software with its keyboard products.

(Janet Endrijonas/19890630/Press Contact: Bill Childress,
Datadesk International, 800-826-5398, (CA) 800-592-9602)


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

SUPER FAMICOM NOT CLOSE
KYOTO, JAPAN, 1989 JUN 26 (NB) -- Nintendo will not release its Super
Famicom video game machine this year, despite an earlier report
that the upgraded Famicon game machine was due out in November.
A Nintendo spokesman told Newsbytes that one of the problems is
the supply of 256 kilobit static random access memories [SRAMs] for
the state-of-the-art machine.

Nintendo will need nearly a million 256 kilobit SRAMs per month to
meet demand for Super Famicom, and that amount is hard to get in
the current semiconductor market, Newsbytes was told. Other factors
include software availability, and a parts problems with the machine.
Also, the Nintendo Entertainment System and Game Boy machines have
been selling quite well, which means the giant game manufacturer
has no incentive to introduce a new product, nor to switch over
production to Super Famicom units for the time being.

Super Famicom might be released overseas, but details, such as
date and price, have not been decided, according to Nintendo. More
details are expected to be available at the official announcement
of Super Famicom in Kyoto on 28 July.

(Ken Takahashi/19890629/Press Contact: Nintendo, 075-541-6111)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SYD)(00013)

AUSSIE UNIVERSITY PC CRISIS
SYDNEY, Australia, 1989 JUN 24 (NB) -- Plans for a multimillion
dollar computer operation at the beleaguered Bond University [the first
private university in Australia] are in a shambles. Orders for large
numbers of PCs had to be cancelled due to lack of student enrollment
and now another major development has come to light.

The university leased an IBM 3090 mainframe computer as the
central core to its ambitious information network. Today, that same
computer is sitting unused and unconnected while officials at Bond work
out what to do with it. Worse still, the 3090, valued at AUS$8 million, is
reportedly costing the university more than AUS$400,000 a month in
lease payments. Meanwhile, attempts to resell the 3090 have so far been
unsuccessful.

The computer equipment forms the backbone of an ambitious plan to
develop a state-of-the-art information management system -- a
network that would include the ability to tap worldwide databases.

(Paul Zucker/19890630)


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

COMPUTING SHORT CUTS CUT PROFITS
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1989 JUN 27 (NB) -- The use of computer systems
by the Australian manufacturing industry was slammed as "wasteful"
last week by manufacturing and distribution systems supplier Computer
Maintenance Centre (CMC). CMC Managing Director Peter Vroom revealed
manufacturers could save more than AUS$2 billion a year on stock and
inventory costs if the installation of computer systems and systems
training was undertaken fully.

"Therefore the industry would become more competitive in
international markets that are well ahead of us," Vroom said.
He said as a result of a lack of commitment from management,
manufacturing companies were investing hundreds of thousands of
dollars in computers but were taking short cuts in the systems
implementation, ignoring training and failing to input the
correct data.

"Out of the several thousand companies with significant
investments in Australia, no more than 15 percent would be achieving
their objective," Vroom said. The correct implementation would result in
savings in purchasing costs, customer service and labour costs, he said.

"But you have to work at each of those areas and that comes from
a management commitment.

(Paul Zucker/19890630)


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

DUTCH AUCTION FOR FISH
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1989 JUN 27 (NB) -- One of the world's oldest
professions received a new fillip - as well as fillets - last week at the
fish markets at Sydney, Australia.

Then the Fish Marketing Authority officially unveiled its new
computerized Dutch auction system, which soon will revolutionise
fish marketing in Australia. It is claimed to be the fastest and most
advanced auction system of its kind in the world.

Introducing the system, NSW Minister for Agriculture and Rural
Affairs Ian Armstrong said it was the first time in Australia a
primary product had been sold by computerization. "This system, which
was developed and built in Australia, will become a blueprint for future
marketing of all primary industry," he says.

The market's AUS$1 million computer system, FAST (Fair Auction
Selling Technology), was developed by KEL Aerospace with help
from both the Federal and NSW Governments. Unlike conventional auctions,
FAST works on the reverse principle, with the price starting at the
highest point and decreasing until a bidder makes the first and final bid.

The system commissioned for introduction in Sydney is a big
improvement on overseas versions. All buyers will sit at their own desks
looking down at the catch, and will be able to bid with their own personal
computerized systems built into the arm rests.

The FAST computer contains details of catches which have been
keyed in from State cooperatives. This is then linked to a
clock which registers the lot starting price which falls until a
bid is registered.

Suppliers will be able to transmit details by linking up their
own PCs through Auspac. They can also receive auction prices as
it occurs and detailed information at the completion of sales.

(Paul Zucker/19890630)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SYD)(00016)

BIRD CATALOGUED BY COMPUTER
CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA, 1989 JUN 26 (NB) --
A Canberra-based group of bird watchers is harnessing the power
of the PC to produce the most intensive survey of birds yet
undertaken in Australia. Called the ACT Bird Atlas Project, it is
administered by the Canberra Ornithologist Group. Funding has been
provided by the National Capital Planning Authority.

In charge of the three-year-old project is Ian Taylor: "The aim is to
print a large format atlas showing the distribution of 250 bird species
within the ACT," he said. Publication should be before the end of 1990.
To compile the data, the ACT has been divided into 165 cells,
each 3.5 by 4.5kms. Some 200 volunteers have visited each cell every
three months, gathering data on species and signs of breeding activity.
The data matrix is thus a dozen visits to 165 cells, with each
visit yielding data on 40 to 50 species. "We have a total of 7000 data
sheets in hand and close to 250,000 individual records," said Taylor.

(Paul Zucker/19890630)


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

COMMODORE ASSUMES U.K. SHOW
MAIDENHEAD, ENGLAND, 1989 JUN 30 (NB) -- Commodore UK has taken
over the administration of the Commodore Show, which has
previously been organized by Database Exhibitions. While
Commodore will take over the preshow organization, dealer
bookings and promotion, Database Exhibitions will continue to
manage the three day-event.

The first Commodore-arranged Commodore Show will take place at
the Novotel Hotel, London (the venue for many previous shows)
from the 17-19 November, 1989. Announcing the change in show
organizers, Steve Franklin, Commodore UK's managing director, said
last week that the November event will have Commodore PCs on show
for the first time.

"Through Commodore's direct involvement in the running of the
show, we hope to offer a great deal more to those attending, and
attract a much broader cross-section of the public," he said.

(Steve Gold/19890630/Press Contact: Tim Rafferty, Spire
Communications - Tel: [phone])


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

INDEX INTO FRANCE
PARIS, FRANCE, 1989 JUN 30 (NB) -- Index Technology Corporation
(ITC), the systems analysis and design company, has formed a
French subsidiary, Excelerator France. The new company will be
based in France and provide sales, marketing and technical
support for Index Technology's Excelerator family of products
throughout France.

Excelerator France will be managed by Eric de Massas, who joins
the company from G.I.E. Emeraude where he was sales and marketing
manager. The company is located at 22 Rue Robert de Flers, 75105
Paris, France, Tel: [phone].

(Steve Gold/19890630/Press Contact: Michael Vine, ITC - Tel (US)
617-494-8200)


(EXCLUSIVE)(GENERAL)(BRU)(00019)

MEDIATEL MANAGER OBIT
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM, 1989 JUN 26 (NB) -- Jean Louis Meerts,
managing director of Mediatel and one of the founding fathers of the
computer press in Belgium, killed himself on Saturday, June 24
at his home in Brussels. He had entered into a deep depression
due to insurmountable personal and business problems.

Jean Louis Meerts, together with Peter Watson and Peter Vekinis,
introduced microcomputers to Belgium in the 1970s. Initially
with the Sinclair microcomputers and subsequently with Acorn,
they brought computers into Belgian homes. They also started the
European Commission Computer Club, which trained large numbers of
computer users throughout Belgium.

Meerts was also the editor of Micro Magazine, one of the
first Belgian computing magazines and one of Newsbytes' oldest
subscribers. Subsequently, he was chosen to head Mediatel, the
Belgian videotex services specialist company.

Meerts' funeral has been set for Saturday, July 1, 1989 at the
Anderlecht cemetery, in Brussels with the ceremony starting at
11:00.

(Peter Vekinis/19890630)


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

ZILOG-SAMSUNG LICENSE
CAMPBELL, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 JUN 21 (NB) -- Zilog
has granted Samsung of South Korea a non-exclusive license for
the manufacturing and distribution of Zilog's Super-8 micro-
controller and the Serial Communications Controller (SCC).

Ed Sack, Zilog's president said: "The new agreement builds upon a
relationship started in 1988 and will make a significant second
source for our parts."

The SCC and the Super-8 series are Zilog's best-selling products
and account for a large chunk of Zilog's earnings.

(Peter Vekinis/19890630)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(BRU)(00021)

TANDON #1 IN GERMANY
MUNICH, WEST GERMANY, 1989 JUN 23 (NB) -- The Tandon PCA, which
has been in the German bestseller list for some time, finally
shot up and took first place in the list published by Chip
magazine in West Germany.

Tandon's PCA series, which has been hovering in the high end of
the reader's charts for some time, beat the Apple Macintosh,
the Commodore PC10, IBM's PS/2-30, IBM's XT286 and Schneider's AT
Tower system.

On the home computer front, the Commodore 64 looks to have lost
its crown position, but there won't be too much disappointment in
West Chester, Pennsylvania, since the Commodore Amiga is now
in first place for the second month.

(Peter Vekinis/19890630)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(BRU)(00022)

LOBBYIST TO PR MANAGER
FRANKFURT, WEST GERMANY, 1989 JUN 30 (NB) -- Two West German
computer companies, Commodore and Nixdorf, have appointed new
public relations managers. Nothing unusual in that, Newsbytes
notes, until we heard that they were previously lobbyists for the
companies concerned with the West German government in Bonn.

Gtz Klingenburg of Nixdorf has moved from Bonn to Paderborn to
succeed Dr. Gert Schukies, who has left the company. Commodore's
new communications manager, Dr. Wegner, formerly the company's
lobbyist, is expected to broaden Commodore's press and PR
activities considerably.

(Klaus Rosenthal/19890630)


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

ASEAN-JAPAN FUND AWARDS
SINGAPORE, S.E. ASIA, 1989 JUN 20 (NB) -- Computer Systems Advisers
Research [CSAR] a wholly-owned Singapore company specializing in
a new kind of picture-oriented programming software, is the first
to benefit from the S$3.88 billion [US$2 billion] Asean-Japan
Development Fund [AJDF] managed by the Japan Asean Investment
Company [JAIC].

The funds will form part of CSAR's S$7 million [US$3.8 million]
program to further develop a product called POSE [picture-oriented
software engineering] which helps computer engineers write programs
quickly. CSAR also has the right to market POSE worldwide.

CSAR will also receive an investment of S$300,000 from Asean Finance
Corporation [AFC], a regional merchant bank owned by banks and
financial institutions in Asean.

Vikay Industrial will be the second Singapore-based company to benefit
from the funds. JAIC has invested S$3 million in Vikay, which makes
liquid crystal display [LCD] units used in watches and calculators. The
money will be used to acquire new technology and to introduce new
automated equipment in Vikay's factory.

All of Vikay's products are exported mainly to the U.S., Japan and
Europe for use in cars, instruments, meters, portable computers and
telecommunication equipment.

JAIC was set up in 1981 to manage a US$200 million fund set up
specially to invest in unlisted growth companies in the Asean
countries. The fund is part of the US$2 billion AJDF announced by
Japan's former Prime Minister Takeshita in 1987.

(Michael Worsley & S.Roowi/19890629/Press Contact: Computer
Systems Advisors Pte. Ltd., Ph: [65] 273.0681)


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

MALAYSIA'S SPORTS PRESS COMPUTER
KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA, 1989 JUN 20 (NB) -- The SEA Games Support
System [SGSS], planned for use during the sporting events scheduled
for August this year, was put to the test by local sports journalists last
week during a special press tour organized by the marketing arm of the
SEA Games secretariat, G.T. Consultants.

The tour was held to give the press an opportunity to test the system
out prior to the completion of its pre-operational trials to ensure it
meets their requirements, as well as those of the organizers.

The M$1 million [US$0.36 million] information system is being supplied
by IBM Malaysia to process and distribute games results to all
officials, the media and the public.

An IBM spokesman said, "We hope that this will allow the press to give
us some feedback and suggestions on how they want the system to work
for them."

Although the system is said to have passed with flying colours,
especially when it comes to user-friendliness, the tour itself ended
on a slightly sad note as only six sports writers turned up out of the
nearly 30 invited.

(Michael Worsley & S.Roowi/19890626)


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

COMPANIES FORM COALITION
WASHINGTON., D.C. U.S.A., 1989 JUN 29 (NB) -- Major computer
companies have formed the Computer Systems Policy Project, a
coalition group to foster long-term competitiveness.

The group's intention is to help Congress formulate effective
legislation in the areas of trade policy and cooperative efforts
in the research and manufacturing areas.

Members of the CSPP include: Apple Computer Inc., Compaq Computer
Corp., Cray Research Inc., Hewlett-Packard , International
Business Machines Corp., NCR Corp., Sun Microsystems Inc., Tandem
Computers Inc., and Unisys Corp.

(John McCormick/19890630/Press Contacts: Patty Tulloch of Apple
Computer Inc., 408-974-5449; Rick Scott of Compaq Computer Corp.,
713-374-4695)


(CORRECTION)(GOVT)(SFO)(00002)

CORRECTION: PROGRAMMING FREEDOM STORY
CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1989 JUL 01 (NB) -- Newsbytes
wishes to make corrrections on a story dated June 4 entitled
"Stallman Organizes Patent/Copyright Group." Contrary to the
copy, the name of Richard Stallman's group is not League for Free
Programming, but the League for Programming Freedom. In
addition we mistakenly referred to Richard Stallman as Jim
Stallman.

Finally, the League is not a clearinghouse for patent and copyright
information but an activist organization intending to "prevent the
use of copyright and patent law in ways that harm the computer
industry and the public," according to cofounder Len Tower.

(Wendy Woods/19890701/Press Contact: Len Tower, 617-353-2780)


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

JAPAN OKS U.S. CELLULAR PHONES
WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A., 1989 JUN 26 (NB) -- In a move intended
to head off a potentially disastrous 100 percent tariff due to be
imposed on its U.S. imports of fax machines and cordless
telephones on July 10, Japan has agreed to concessions that will
make it much easier for U.S. companies to sell cellular phones
in Japan.

U.S. Trade Representative Carla Hills announced that negotiations
"resulted in Japan's adoption of important market-opening changes
to its telecommunications policy and regulations."
"The measures should provide immediate improvements for U.S.
companies in these two high-growth segments of the Japanese
telecommunications market," said Hills in a statement.

The American Electronics Association was quick to endorse the
accord, calling it "a signal that Japan is listening do U.S.
concerns and is willing to negotiate," according to William K.
Krist, AEA vice president, international trade affairs. He
warned, however, "The ultimate test of announced changes such as
these will come  when U.S. companies can sell their products in
the same way Japanese companies sell theirs in the United
States."

With a projected market of 4.5 million cellular phones over the
next 10 years, Japan is a sizable potential market for Motorola,
the leading U.S. manufacturer of the portable telephones.

While there was no actual ban on imported cellular communications
equipment, the Japanese system used different radio frequencies
in every area, making the phones bulkier and more expensive to
produce. Motorola's edge in the marketplace is its extremely
compact Microtac model which folds to fit in a pocket.

Industry observers say they are taking a wait-and-see attitude about
the new Japanese "free-market."

(Dana Blankenhorn & John McCormick/19890630/Press Contact: John
Hatch, American Electronics Association)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(ATL)(00004)

JUDGE GREENE SAYS BELLS CAN BAN
WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A., 1989 JUN 27 (NB) -- Judge Harold
Greene, the man the Bell companies love to hate, gave the Bells
an unexpected victory which will enable them to maintain some
control over phone lines despite a Supreme Court decision allowing
indecent phone services.

The judge ruled that Bell Atlantic is not acting in a discriminatory manner
by refusing to bill for calls to indecent or gab-line services. This will
greatly increase the costs of collection for such services, not only
directly, but indirectly, because the services won't be able to cut off
phone services for non-payment. Under a policy adopted last fall, Bell
Atlantic automatically blocks all calls to services it doesn't like, and
subscribers must specifically request that blocks be removed. Bell
Atlantic will, however, pass calling records to long-distance companies
which don't block the calls.

The company which won the right to sell indecent calls, Sable
Communications, is a division of Drake Publishers' Inc., which
recently bought Venture Magazine, a monthly for entrepreneurs.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890630)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(ATL)(00005)

MINNESOTA LAW BANS VIRUSES
ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA, U.S.A., 1989 JUN 26 (NB) -- Minnesota has
become the first state to outlaw computer viruses. As of August
1, it will be illegal in that state to knowingly distribute
destructive computer programs, including those which simply take
up memory or alter data. To find a bulletin board guilty under
the new law, however, the state would have to prove the system
operator knew there was a virus in a program being distributed.
Other anti-virus bills are pending in other states and the U.S.
Congress.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890630)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(LAX)(00006)

NEW RULING IN CIPHER-ARCHIVE
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A. 1989 JUN 27 (NB) -- In the
continuing patent infringment court battle, a federal judge in
Santa Ana, CA has denied a motion by Archive Corp. [Costa Mesa,
CA] that there was no "willfulness" in infringing Cipher Data
Products Inc. [San Diego, CA] patents.

As a result of this ruling, Cipher will be permitted to tell the
jury in this case that Archive not only infringed on Cipher's two
U.S. patents but actually willfully infringed.

Cipher feels this is a very important victory for their case
since it prevented Archive from reducing that company's liability
exposure in the suit. The patents in question have already been
found valid and infringed upon in Cipher's earlier suit against
Wangtek and the company is confident about also prevailing over
Archive.

In related rulings, the court denied Cipher's request for a
preliminary injunction against Archive's manufacturing of product
covered by the Cipher patents. The court also denied Ciphers
motion for a summary judgement on prior invention. Cipher
considered both of these motions appropriate and logical steps
for Cipher but were not particularly surprised by the court's
denial at this time. The matter of the injunction will be
handled at the trial.

(Janet Endrijonas/19890630/Press Contact: Thomas R. Anderson,
Cipher Data Products, Inc., 619-693-7227)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(LAX)(00007)

RECOVER WORLD CHIP MKT SAYS SEMATECH
AUSTIN, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1989 JUN 28 (NB) -- Some 150 key
officials from 80 semiconductor equipment and materials
manufacturers have been meeting at the SEMATECH President's Day
Conference for SEMI/SEMATECH members in Austin, Texas to discuss
ways to recover world leadership in chip manufacturing.

SEMI/SEMATECH was formed as an organization to link SEMI's U.S.
materials and equipment manufacturer members with SEMATECH, the
research consortium of 14 U.S. semiconductor manufacturers
dedicated to restoring US chip manufacturing leadership. The two
day meeting confirmed the need to strengthen the infrastructure
of the U.S. semiconductor industry and share plans for equipment
and materials of the future.

(Janet Endrijonas/19890630/Press Contact: Ann Marett, SEMATECH,
512-356-3327)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(TYO)(00008)

JAPAN BANS SUPERCOMPUTER DISCOUNT
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 JUN 30 (NB) -- According to Japanese news
Kyodo, the Japanese government will reject accepting discount
rates which amount to as much as 80 to 90 percent on Japanese-made
supercomputers that it purchases for scientific and other
sophisticated calculations.

Government officials said they will limit the federal discount to
50 percent, after receiving strong criticism from the U.S. and
other foreign competitors who find it impossible to sell
supercomputers to the Japanese government when faced with such
stiff competition.

The tremendous discounts previously offered to the government have
long been viewed by the U.S. as unfair under the Super 301 clause
of the 1988 U.S. Trade Act.

Japanese officials said that the maximum 50 percent discount
rate will allow U.S. makers to compete against their Japanese
rivals in bidding for sales of supercomputers to the government.

In the next few years, about 10 Japanese government offices will
seek tenders from domestic and foreign suppliers in purchasing
supercomputers.

(Ken Takahashi/19890630)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(SYD)(00009)

AUSSIE COMPUTERS TRACK TAXES
CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA, 1989 JUN 26 (NB) -- Australia's 11 million
taxpayers will have their bank account interest data located, searched,
and compared to their tax returns by Tax Office computers using the new
Tax File Number (TFN) system by the 1991-1992 financial year.
This follows the issue of TFNs to Australia's taxpayers in April
this year, and the stringent rules which went with it, such as
the requirement, and incentive, to quote a TFN when opening an
account [unless they want their interest taxed at a rate of 47 percent]
from July 1, 1990.

Taxpayers with existing accounts must give their banks their TFNs
by July 1991 so the tax office can trace their accounts without
relying on sometimes unreliable name and address information.
The Tax Commissioner, Trevor Boucher, said omissions or
understatements of interest income on bank accounts would be
checked using the new TFN details, and earlier returns could also
be checked.

Boucher said the measure would rake in at least AUS$500 million
that the ATO misses out on every year through tax evasion.
Assistant Tax Commissioner Jerry Barry said banks supplied the
ATO with name, address, and account interest information on
magnetic media such as computer disks or tapes. He said banks were not
required to give individual account numbers "even though it suits some
banks to do so."

Officers of the Australian Bankers' Association were unable to
comment by press time, as were a number of banks. However, a
Commonwealth Bank spokeswoman said banks -- were -- required
to give the ATO detailed information about customers' accounts.
And a National Australia Bank spokesman said banks -- had -- to give a
list of customers' accounts and the interest they earned if it
was more than AUS$100.

This information is compared by ATO computers to details given in
taxpayers' returns, and should any discrepancies occur, the
accounts could be singled out for investigation. This is made much easier
through the use of FTNS, which, unlike names and addresses, cannot be
changed or confused with others, according to the ATO.

The advent of the recently introduced electronic tax returns,
filed by tax agents using either magnetic media or an online
link, would make the system even more efficient because the data
does not need to be keyed in by the ATO.

(Paul Zucker/19890630)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(SYD)(00010)

IBM SPURN WORTH $450 MIL
CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA, 1989 JUN 26 (NB) -- IBM has been ditched as a
main supplier to the Australian Taxation Office in its AUS$450 million
computerization contract.

The ATO has reduced the short list of possible suppliers from four
to two prime contractors -- Computer Power Group (CPG) and Fujitsu. Out
of the running are IBM and DEC.

CPG has bid Amdahl processors with IBM peripherals, Bull HN and
NCR workstations, networking from IBM and NCR, with DB2 as the
main database. The Fujitsu bid has Fujitsu computers and peripherals,
running Adabas as the database, Bull HN and NCR workstations and
networking from Fujitsu and NCR.

The CPG special projects manager, Robert Howden, said: "There is still
some distance to travel before the final result is known."

Meanwhile, rejected suppliers, such as Zenith and Computer
Corporation of Australia (CCA), are crying foul. CCA Managing Director Ian
Bennetts is aghast that the Australian-built Cleveland PCs did not get a
fighting chance. "The only way you'll ever get into the government is to
pretend you're from a foreign country," he said.

Also left out is Zenith Data Systems, which offered its
SupersPort and SupersPort 286 laptops, providing samples and
details of the product six months before it was released and
under heavy legal protection.

The ATO's systems group first assistant commissioner, Geoff
Seymour, would not elaborate on why Zenith was rejected, other
than to say there was a reason.

(Paul Zucker/19890630)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(SYD)(00011)

AUSSIE AIR RADAR FACES AXE
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA, 1989 JUN 27 (NB) -- Following a public outcry by
air traffic controllers who no longer trust their radar, AUS$9.8 million
worth of computerized radar equipment looks likely to be discarded.

A report to be released by the Civil Aviation Authority on
Thursday is expected to recommend the scrapping of recently
installed air traffic control systems at three major Australian
airports. The move follows a series of near air disasters in Australian
skies allegedly caused by flaws in Air Traffic Control Autonomous
RAdar Display Systems (ATCARDS). Systems at Melbourne, Perth and
Adelaide airports are on the chopping block.

ATCARDS first shocked Melbourne controllers last June when it
failed to recognize a Qantas Boeing 747 as a plane, and a
single-engined Beechcraft strayed into Melbourne airspace without
being identified. The latest Melbourne incident left controllers blind
when the system failed during routine maintenance. Additional problems
have included passing trucks being identified as aircraft and aircraft
being identified twice on one screen or identified as birds.

The system is still unreliable after about 30 software modifications.
Some air traffic controllers have resigned, stating the system's
unreliability as one of the pressures.

Melbourne airport has spaced out planes by 8 kilometers to ensure safety.
Roger Lowrey, an industrial officer with the Civil Air Operations
Officer's Association, tells Newsbytes, the system "stretched safety
limits to extremes" and "the way indications are going at the moment it
will be replaced."

If the CAA decides to scrap ATCARDS, then 13 tenderers for new
radars at Sydney, Brisbane, and Canberra will have three more
sites on which to bid.

(Paul Zucker/19890630)


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

SINGAPORE COMPUTER BUS SYSTEM
SINGAPORE, S.E. ASIA, 1989 JUN 8 (NB) -- Transit-Link, the company
set up by Singapore's Mass Rapid Transport (MRT) and two major bus
operators, the Singapore Bus Service and Trans-Island Bus Services, to
develop a massive computerized bus system, has awarded six major
contracts worth S$26 million.

The biggest contract for the supply of 2,500 ticketing machines and
related equipment for buses worth S$15.3 million [US$8 million],
went to a Japanese joint venture Indamerica International [Asia]/Sanyo
Electric Works.

The five remaining contracts went to EDS International [Singapore]
which received a S$6 million [US$3 million] contract to provide the
central ticketing computer, associated software and data communication
equipment, and a S$400,000 [US$220,000] contract to provide software
for public transport network planning; MVA Consultancy which received
S$3.6 million [US$2 million] to oversee various contracts; Research
Pacific Singapore got S$300,000 [US$165,000] to conduct a survey of
MRT and bus passengers; and Ernst & Whinney received S$400,000
[US$220,000] to provide consultancy services related to the sharing of
costs and apportionment of revenue.

(Michael Worsley & S.Roowi/19890627/Press Contact Doreen,
TransitLink Ph: [65] 284.8866)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(KUL)(00013)

MALAYSIA MANDATES SCHOOL COMPUTING
KUALA TRENGGANNU, MALAYSIA, 1989 JUN 15 (NB) -- The Malaysian
Ministry of Education is planning to make computer studies compulsory
in secondary schools.

According to the Minister of Education Anwar Ibrahim, the time
taken to implement this plan depends on how quickly schools can
be equipped with enough computers. He says this could be
achieved in a few years. The minister also said that the time
allocated for Islamic studies would be increased from two to four
hours a week.

Speaking at the opening of a new building at a secondary school here
he said, "The Ministry will, from time to time, provide schools with
computers to achieve this objective. Computer studies is important as
Malaysia is undergoing modernization and the best way to educate the
nation is to start with the young."

According to Ibrahim, the Malaysian education system had been
acknowledged by other nations as one of the best among developing
nations, not only for its computer studies but also for its
educational facilities and teacher-training programs.

(Michael Worsley & S.Roowi/19890630)


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

NEW PS/2 PUSH
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 JUN 28 (NB) -- IBM has launched
a new ad campaign aimed at convincing America that the PS/2 series
of computers is what America needs, now. "How're you going to
do it? PS/2 it!" is the slogan which will blast out from four TV
commercials and a series of print ads. The all-singing commercials
feature animation and special effects, including computer graphics,
and were designed by Lintas:New York.

Fortified by what finally appears to be industry acceptance of the
OS/2 operating system and PS/2 computers, as evidenced by massive
orders from such industry giants as American and Delta Airlines,
Kentucky Fried Chicken, NCR and Burger King, IBM calls its PS/2 line
"the most successful product even introduced."

IBM hosted a two-day PS/2 forum in San Francisco June 26 to showcase
software from 19 companies. Borland displayed Paradox 3.0, which
takes full advantage of OS/2's protect mode, extended memory, and
multitasking capabilities. Ashton-Tate showed the OS/2 version of
dBASE IV, Microsoft showed the OS/2 version of Excel, Wordperfect
showed Wordperfect 5.0 for OS/2 1.0, and Lotus showed its new 1-2-3.

IBM also used the occasion to show off its newly announced 486/25 Power
Platform, a new motherboard for the Model 70, to be available as soon
as Intel can make enough of them -- probably this fall -- which doubles
the speed of the machine. The speed, however, comes at a high price --
$3995. Add that onto the cost of a Model 70 and this top-of-the-line
speed demon produces a $12,000 price tag.

Bill Gates, Microsoft chairman, was among several IBM executives
answering press questions at the forum. He said the coming '386
version of OS/2, due out in 1990, will not require more memory to
work on PS/2 systems, but it will have a new memory management scheme
and will be totally downward compatible with software written in
previous versions of OS/2.

(Wendy Woods/19890701)


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

NEW PC TOOLS DELUXE
BEAVERTON, OREGON, U.S.A., 1989 JUL 01 (NB) -- Central Point Software
has released an upgrade to PC Tools Deluxe which adds a variety of
new features to the PC utilities package.

Major new features of PC Tools Deluxe Version 5.5 include file
viewers for Lotus 1-2-3, dBASE, ASCII and hex formats, file launch,
new file management functions, enhanced hard disk backup program,
and support for Novell and Token-ring local area networks. The
product also allows file searching. Central Point says more than
300,000 copies of PC Tools Deluxe Version 5 have been sold since
the product was first shipped in January. Altogether, 450,000
copies have been shipped. The cost of the product is $129. Version
5 owners can upgrade by downloading the new files in encrypted
form from Compuserve, GEnie, or Central Point's own bulletin
board, accessed at 503-690-6650. Users wanting the complete
package may purchase the new documentation for $20.00.

(Wendy Woods/19890701/Press Contact: Janet Van Rysselberghe, Regis
McKenna, Portland, Oregon 503-222-7080)


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

NEW GRAMMATIK FOR WORDPERFECT
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 JUN 26 (NB) -- Reference
Software has announced a new version of Grammatik that will check
grammar and style errors and make corrections without exiting WordPerfect
5.0.

By pressing a hot key, users of Grammatik III version 1.1 automatically
save their document and then can check it to make corrections.
Another keystroke returns the user to WordPerfect with the corrected
document already loaded and the copy stored as back-up.

Also, Reference Software has improved Grammatik's error checking
by incorporating new grammar rules and phrases, based on suggestions
from Grammatik users. The program uses artificial intelligence to
identify hundreds of common business writing errors. The product is
also compatible with Word 5.0, WordStar 5.5, Professional Write 2.01
and First Choice 3.0. Available on 5.25 and 3.5-inch floppies, the
product retails for $99 and can be ordered by calling toll-free 800-
872-9933 or 415-541-0222.

(Wendy Woods/19890701/Press Contact: Pat Meier, 415-957-1733)


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

SEARCH & RETRIEVE WITH PC-BROWSE
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON, U.S.A., 1989 JUN 30 (NB) -- Quicksoft has announced
PC-Browse, a new RAM-resident tool which allows you to bring up file
directories, ASCII text documents, or PC-Write word processor documents
on top of any application, either to search them or link them in
hypertext-like style. File names or text strings within files
can also be keyword searched, and wildcard characters allow the user
to find a file without knowing the exact name.

Once the file is in view, pieces of it or the entire document can
be printed or pasted into another application, or can be saved as
another file name.  All functions can be "hot-keyed" and the program
is said to perform very fast.

Company President Bob Wallace says the product puts his company on
the technological edge for the first time. "We're breaking new ground,"
he says.

Due out at the end of the summer, the program is shareware, but
full registration, with support and manual, will cost $49. The program
will run on PCs or compatibles with 3.5 or 5.25-inch floppy drives
under DOS 2.0 or higher. Quicksoft's toll-free number in the U.S. is
800-888-8088 or it can be reached by calling 206-282-0452.

(Wendy Woods/19890630/Press Contact: Miriam Harline)


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

IBM LOWERS SCHOOL PRICES
WHITE PLAINS, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1989 JUN 27 (NB) -- IBM has
announced that effective today there will be a new pricing
schedule for its educational sales, ranging from PS/2 to IBM RT
systems and software for elementary through graduate-level
schools, including faculty, staff, and graduate students,
regardless of school size.

Under the National Education Price, or NEP, and National
Education License Fee, or NELF, structure, the new prices should
average about 40 percent less than list price for complete systems.

(John McCormick/19890630/Press Contact: Amos A. Kermisch, 914-
642-5458)


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

NEW GAMES FROM MICROPROSE
HUNT VALLEY, MARYLAND, U.S.A., 1989 JUN 20 (NB) -- MicroProse
announced plans for summer release of two IBM-compatible
games, Sword of the Samurai and F-15 Strike Eagle II.

Sword of the Samurai follows MicroProse's earlier role-playing
game, Pirates!, as a recreation of the entire environment of an
historical period. Pirates! provided a glimpse into the life of
a buccaneer on the 17th-century Spanish Main, and Samurai
accurately portrays the importance of Bushido or honor in Shogun-
era Japan.

Although there is arcade-type battle action in the new game, the
primary emphasis is on the political machinations of the Japanese
nobility of that time.

F-15 II will be very action-oriented, having even more action
than the original F-15 Strike Eagle, of which more than 500,000
copies have been sold since its introduction in 1985.

Both games will be available this summer and come in IBM-PC/Tandy
compatible version supporting CGA, EGA, Hercules, and special
Tandy graphics modes. The F-15 II will also support VGA/MCGA and
both will require 384 kilobytes of memory to run.

(John McCormick/19890629/Press Contact: Kathy Gilmore, 301-771-
1151, X217)


(NEWS)(IBM)(WAS)(00007)

SEARS MARKETS IBM
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA, U.S.A., 1989 JUN 26 (NB) -- As part of IBM's
recent push to become more competitive in the PC arena and Sears'
efforts to regain its market share in retailing, both Sears and
IBM have announced that two Sears stores in Richmond, Virginia,
will test-market the PS/2 line of IBM computers.

Other business and mid-range equipment to be retailed in the test
include products from Epson, Hewlett Packard, NEC, Seagate, and
Toshiba.

Bell Atlantic Systems, Basking Ridge, N.J., will provide network
service for cellular phones sold by Sears in the mid-Atlantic
region. Purchasers of Sears cellular phones can have them
immediately activated on the Bell Atlantic Mobile System network
at the time of sale.

Since this April, eight Sears stores in the Pittsburgh area have
been test-marketing this service, and the new agreement adds more
than 30 stores to the service area.

Formerly, Sears only sold computers through its 59 specialty
Business Center stores or its catalog, with the new venture being
called "The Office Center at Brand Central."

(John McCormick/19890629)


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

HALO WINDOW TOOLKIT
SILVER SPRING, MARYLAND, U.S.A., 1989 JUN 26 (NB) -- Media
Cybernetics is marketing a set of MS-DOS and OS/2-compatible
windowing subroutines called Halo Window Toolkit for $595.

The object-oriented software includes Window Manager and a
Library and is intended to help developers create graphical user
interface software such as icons, command bars, and so forth.

Media Cybernetics is located at 8484 Georgia Ave., Silver
Spring, MD 20910, [phone].

(John McCormick/19890630/Press Contact: Cindy Batz, 301-495-3305)


(NEWS)(IBM)(ATL)(00009)

MSA MARKET WITH IBM
ATLANTA, GEORGIA, U.S.A., 1989 JUN 20 (NB) -- IBM, which has
bought five percent of Management Science America Inc., maker of
application software for IBM mainframes, has named the company a
business partner and industry specialist in six areas. The areas
are finance, state and local government, health care, applications
enabling, K-12 education, cross-industry computing, and
electronic invoicing, known as EDI.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890630/Press Contact: David Colmans, MSA,
404-239-3355)


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

EISA BUS SERVICE AVAILABLE
RICHARDSON, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1989 JUN 29 (NB) -- Micronyx Inc.
has announced the availability of a new Extended Industry Bus
Architecture (EISA) bus porting service for IBM PC and VME bus
card vendors.

This new Micronyx service will provide an upgrade path for
current vendors of AT and VME bus cards to the new features found
in the EISA bus. The company has already begun this process for
a major supplier of VME products.

Delivery of the first ported products is expected in October.
The new service provides a way for companies to capitalize on
investment in existing product lines without additional
development staff or new training.

The EISA bus group was founded by Compaq Computer Corp. in
November 1988 and has gained wide support throughout the personal
computer industry. Micronyx has been a member of the group since
the beginning.

(Janet Endrijonas/19890630/Press Contact: Hal Myers, Micronyx
Inc., 800-634-8786)


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

CUBIX'S COMPUTER-ON-A-BOARD
CARSON CITY, NEVADA, U.S.A., 1989 JUNE 15 (NB) -- Cubix
Corporation has introduced an addition to its QL Series of bus-
based multiprocessor cards, the QL 2201 which contains one AT-
class machine on a single AT add-in board. The product is
designed for the Novell networking environment.

QL 2201 is a complete AT computer that plugs into the bus of a
286 or 386 AT-compatible network file server. The board provides
all the processing power and functionality of an independent
80286 network node at significant savings because a PC
enclosure, power supply, network controller and network hub are
not needed.

QL 2201 is designed to run under Novell's Advanced NetWare, SFT,
ELS and CBIS's Network-OS.

(Janet Endrijonas/19890630/Press Contact: Dennis Saxon, Cubix
Corporation, 702-883-7611)


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

BLUEBIRD OS SUPPORTS 66
CARLSBAD, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 JUN 26 (NB) -- Bluebird
Systems has announced that one of their value added resellers,
using Bluebird's SuperDOS multiuser operating system, has
installed a PS/2 Model 80 that supports 66 simultaneous users.

Bluebird's president, Hal Tilbury, commented that this
installation was significant because it offers proof that
Bluebird's operating systems can out run nearly every other
multiuser alternative at a reasonable price. The SuperDOS
solution won out over alternative such as upgrading the client's
System/36 and buying a DEC VAX minicomputer.

(Janet Endrijonas/19890630/Press Contact: Rebecca Gribbs,
Bluebird Systems, 619-438-2220)


(NEWS)(IBM)(TYO)(00013)

OS/2 INFILTRATES JAPAN
TOKYO, JAPAN 1989 JUN 26 (NB) -- IBM's newest operating system,
OS/2, is finally gaining acceptance as a next generation operating system
in Japan. Major Japanese manufacturers are adopting it for their
most sophisticated 32-bit personal computers.

IBM Japan, the leader of the OS/2 campaign in Japan, started shipping
a Japanese version of OS/2 -- VJ1.1 -- in May and has announced an
application development supporter, Dialog Manager, with VJ1.2 and
OfficeVision, which will be the user interface for OS/2. Some 10,000
copies of OS/2 VJ1.0 have already been shipped, according to the
company, and some 100 applications have been written for the
new operating system.

Meanwhile NEC will release a Japanese MS-OS/2 V1.1 to the members of
the so-called OS/2 Club in July and to the public this fall. NEC
claims to have shipped 5,000 copies of its first version of the OS/2
operating system.

Fujitsu, the other major firm in Japan, is preparing to distribute its
Japanese OS/2 V1.1 for software venders in July and for the public this
fall and will bundle it with its 32-bit machine, FMR-70HX3. Fujitsu
says it will have 200 kinds of applications by next spring.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19890629)


(NEWS)(IBM)(TYO)(00014)

JAPAN BIG ON MS-WINDOWS
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 JUN 27 (NB) -- Twenty Japanese hardware firms
will release versions of Microsoft Windows version 2.1 with their
machines by year's end in Japan, all of which is good news for
the Tokyo-based firm.

NEC was the first to release the software, which displays multiple
documents, tables, and graphics on the screen at the same time.
At personal computer shops, demand is exceeding supply for MS-
Windows. However, sources in the industry say shipments should
increase by July. Some 20 applications written for the MS-Windows 2.1
are currently available here and Microsoft promises more by year's
end. Microsoft claims to have sold 30,000 copies of MS-Windows
including versions 1.0 and 2.0 in Japan.

Besides NEC, AX PC makers will distribute MS-Windows, bringing to
20 the number of hardware makers are expected to release
the software within this year.

In an effort to further promote the software, Microsoft has established
an MS-Windows ISV [individual software vendor] Consortium which
consists of software houses, software distributors, hardware makers,
and users. Altogether over 120 firms are expected to participate in the
consortium.

(Ken Takahashi/19890629/Press Contact: Microsoft, 03-221-7071)


(NEWS)(IBM)(TYO)(00015)

TOSHIBA DYNABOOK DEBUT
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 JUN 27 (NB) -- Toshiba has developed an IBM-
compatible notebook size personal computer specifically for the Japanese
market, and is calling it the DynaBook J-3100 SS. This is
the first machine of its size to have a built-in floppy disk drive.
The other two smaller laptops, NEC's Ultralite and Epson's PC-286
NOTE Executive, have none. This Dynabook is not to be confused with
a Dynabook laptop just released in the U.S. by Dynabook Technologies.

The DynaBook of Toshiba has one 3.5-inch floppy disk drive and its
compact body measures 31 by 25.4 by 4.4 centimeters. The lightweight
2.7 kilogram package has a 16-bit 80C86 central processing
unit and a backlit liquid crystal display. Its standard 1.5
megabytes (MB) of main memory is expandable to 3.5 MB. Also, the
battery pack will allow 2.5 hours of continuous use on a four
hour charge. Further, it has an unique "Resume" function which will
retrieve the last screen image even after the power has been turned
off.

Due to its compatibility with the J-3100 series, the new laptop
can run 2,000 different software packages.

The shipment is expected at the end of July and the price will be
198,000 yen or $1,400. Distribution to overseas countries is still under
consideration.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19890629/Press Contact: Toshiba, 03-457-2100)


(NEWS)(IBM)(TYO)(00016)

FUJITSU RESUMES OS EXPORT
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 JUN 27 (NB) -- For the first time in three
years, Fujitsu has resumed exports to West Germany of its IBM-
compatible operating systems for the general purpose computer M series.
One of the operating systems, called MSP-E20, was the target of the
copyright dispute between IBM and Fujitsu, a court case which
disrupted Fujitsu's European shipments in February 1986.

But now that the dispute ended last November, Fujitsu has developed
a new version of the software, called MSP-EX, and is back in the
IBM-compatible software business in Europe.

MSP had been sold by Siemens in West Germany on an original
equipment manufacturing basis until February of 1986. But now
Fujitsu has signed an agreement with Siemens to sell its M-series
computers, including the MSP-OS, under its own Fujitsu brand name.
Fujitsu has dispatched technical support staff to West Germany to
handle customer service tasks in the fall.

(Ken Takahashi/19890629)


(NEWS)(IBM)(LON)(00017)

PALADIN WARGAME HITS UK
HARROGATE, ENGLAND, 1989 JUN 30 (NB) -- Artronic Software has
released Paladin, the second title resulting from its recent
licensing deal with Omnitrend Software in the U.S. The package
is available immediately for the IBM PC and close compatibles at
UKP 24-99, as well as the Atari ST and Commodore Amiga series for
UKP 19-99.

Paladin is a tactical combat game with elements of fantasy,
strategy and role-playing, and combines animated graphics and
digitized sound the ST and Amiga versions.

(Steve Gold/19890630/Press & Public Contact: Liz Sandey, Artronic
Software - Tel: [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(BRU)(00018)

IBM UPDATES CICS
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM, 1989 JUN 21 (NB) -- IBM is to release a new
version of its CICS (Customer Information Control System) 20
years after the original system became available.

CICS/ESA version 3 Release 1 is a new product specifically
designed for the MVS/ESA environments, and further enhances one
of IBM's best selling products of all time. The new version of
CICS/ESA will be available in July 1990. Originally, it was IBM's
Hursley laboratory, in the United Kingdom, that developed the program
in 1969.

In a related story, IBM has also released new products for the
AS/400 series of minicomputers including faster tape unit support
and Cross System Product (CSP) application support. The CSP
application support allows System/370 applications to run under
the AS/400's operating system.

(Peter Vekinis/19890630)


(NEWS)(IBM)(BRU)(00019)

IBM UPDATES CICS
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM, 1989 JUN 21 (NB) -- IBM is to release a new
version of its CICS (Customer Information Control System) 20
years after the original system became available.

CICS/ESA version 3 Release 1 is a new product specifically
designed for the MVS/ESA environments, and further enhances one
of IBM's best selling products of all time. The new version of
CICS/ESA will be available in July 1990. Originally, it was IBM's
Hursley laboratory, in the United Kingdom, that developed the program
in 1969.

In a related story, IBM has also released new products for the
AS/400 series of minicomputers including faster tape unit support
and Cross System Product (CSP) application support. The CSP
application support allows System/370 applications to run under
the AS/400's operating system.

(Peter Vekinis/19890630)


(NEWS)(IBM)(BRU)(00020)

GERMAN PC SECURITY ON A CARD
KOBLENZ, WEST GERMANY, 1989 JUN 30 (NB) -- Goerlitz Computerbau,
a West German systems house, has unveiled the 'Gorkey' card for
IBM PCs and close compatibles. The PC card is a high-level
security device to prevent unauthorized access to PCs.

The card-based security system centres around a card reader into
which users must slip their personal cards before being allowed
to use the PC. Depending on the status of the user, the PC then
allows access to a defined number of programs on its hard disk.
When the user has finished, the card is released, ready for the
next user.

Goerlitz says that its PCSS card reader can easily be installed
in a PC's half-height floppy drive, or using an external housing
as required. The system retails in West Germany for DM 1,357-90
(about $700).

(Klaus Rosenthal/19890630)


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

dBASE III UNDER WINDOWS
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1989 JUN 30 (NB) -- Megatech Software has
released dBfast/Windows, a software language development system
running under Microsoft's Windows operating system environment on
the PC. The package allows an MS-Windows interface to be added to
dBASE and Clipper applications.

Interestingly, the package claims to be able to develop dBASE
applications which run up to 15 times faster than ordinary
interpreted dBASE applications. The code execution advantage is
said to be due to the use of the Windows environment, which
allows concurrent working of several modules within a given
package.

Applications developed under dBfast/Windows can also be ported to
the Apple Macintosh environment using Megatech's forthcoming
dBfast/Mac package. dBfast/Mac also allows Mac applications to be
ported over to the dBASE/Windows environment.

dBfast/Windows is available immediately in the U.K., whilst
dBfast/Mac will ship from the end of July onwards. Both packages
retail for UKP 249.

(Steve Gold/19890630/Press & Public Contact: Theo Van Dort,
Megatech Software - Tel: [phone])


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

UK: SUPERBASE 2 WINDOWS ANNOUNCED
WORCESTER PARK, ENGLAND, 1989 JUN 30 (NB) -- Precision Software
has announced the immediate availability of Superbase 2, which it
claims is the only entry-level database for Microsoft Windows
running under MS-DOS.

The UKP 295 package has the same VCR-style interface as the
original Superbase packages. The graphical interface allows
browsing, keyed access and filtered selection of records in any
one of 999 index sequences.

Superbase 2 handles TIFF, PCX and IMG data formats as well as the
MS-Windows metafile format. Data can also be imported and
exported in Microsoft Excel, Lotus 1-2-3, dBASE and several other
formats.

(Steve Gold/19890630/Press Contact: Alison Rutherford, Precision
Software - Tel: [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(LON)(00023)

COMMODORE UK BUNDLES PC
MAIDENHEAD, ENGLAND, 1989 JUN 30 (NB) -- Commodore UK has
launched a range of PC bundles centring around the PC-10 Series
III, an XT-compatible machine. The machine is being bundled with
Ashton-Tate's Framework III, monitor, mouse and a 9-pin Commodore
dot-matrix printer.

Prices start at UKP 949 for a twin-floppy drive PC-10-III with
monochrome monitor, rising through five other configurations to
UKP 1,499 for a 40MB hard disk system with colour EGA monitor.

According to Steve Franklin, Commodore UK's managing director,
the new bundle is the best value on the market today,
undercutting the equivalent Amstrad package by at least UKP 50.

"Commodore has always had a strong presence in the small business
market and this latest price-beating package for the PC-10-III
underlines our commitment. By offering the range of PC-10-III
products complete with one of the world's best integrated
software programs, we are giving small businesses the chance to
increase their productivity and profitability," he said.

(Steve Gold/19890630/Press Contact: Tim Rafferty, Spire
Communications - Tel: [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(LON)(00024)

COMMODORE UK BUNDLES PC
MAIDENHEAD, ENGLAND, 1989 JUN 30 (NB) -- Commodore UK has
launched a range of PC bundles centring around the PC-10 Series
III, an XT-compatible machine. The machine is being bundled with
Ashton-Tate's Framework III, monitor, mouse and a 9-pin Commodore
dot-matrix printer.

Prices start at UKP 949 for a twin-floppy drive PC-10-III with
monochrome monitor, rising through five other configurations to
UKP 1,499 for a 40MB hard disk system with colour EGA monitor.

According to Steve Franklin, Commodore UK's managing director,
the new bundle is the best value on the market today,
undercutting the equivalent Amstrad package by at least UKP 50.

"Commodore has always had a strong presence in the small business
market and this latest price-beating package for the PC-10-III
underlines our commitment. By offering the range of PC-10-III
products complete with one of the world's best integrated
software programs, we are giving small businesses the chance to
increase their productivity and profitability," he said.

(Steve Gold/19890630/Press Contact: Tim Rafferty, Spire
Communications - Tel: [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(KUL)(00025)

THAILAND BUILDS COMPUTER
BANGKOK, THAILAND, 1989 JUN 26 (NB) -- The engineering faculty of
Kasehart University, using Intel's 80386SX chip, has successfully
designed a 32-bit microcomputer prototype and plans to sell it in
Thailand and surrounding countries, according to a report in
Asia Computer Weekly.

The internal 32-bit central processing unit format will be retained
while the Intel 80386SX is used to cut down the cost of interfacing the
hardware using only the widely available 16-bit support chips.

The project, sponsored by National Electronic Computer and Technology
and Tavorn Computer, began last November led by Dr. Phansakdi
Siriratapong. Its objective was to produce a marketable machine.
Specifications for the new computer were drawn up by local
manufacturer and assembler Tavorn Computer.

Kasehart University will assemble 10 more prototypes for test-runs
before Tavorn will mass produce the machine.

(Michael Worsley & S.Roowi/19890628)


(NEWS)(IBM)(KUL)(00026)

INDIAN COMPANIES TO MAKE PCs
NEW DELHI, INDIA, 1989 JUN 28 (NB) -- Four state-owned Indian
companies have been identified by India's Electronic Trade and
Technology Development Corp. [ET&T] for its comprehensive plan to
assemble low-cost PCs with imported parts, according to a report in PC
Week Asia.

The state-owned electronics development corporations [SEDCS] are
Uptron in Uttar Pradesh, Meltron in Maharashtra, Elcot in Tamil Nadu
and one in Punjab.

The program drawn up by ET&T is for the assembly of 200,000 IBM PCs a
year among four or five companies, with the provision in the machines
for expanding facilities with limited investment.

According to P.S. Deodhr, adviser [media] to the prime minister and
chairman of ET&T, the program will be launched in two or three months.

(Michael Worsley & S.Roowi/19890628)


(NEWS)(IBM)(KUL)(00027)

NEW TAIWAN LAPTOP
TAIPEI, TAIWAN, 1989 JUN 23 (NB) -- Taiwan-based Aquarius Systems
has announced the Aquarius ASI-168 laptop computer.

A joint technical transfer between Nippon Board Computer Company of
Japan and Aquarius Systems resulted in the product, which has a
backlit screen with 640-by-480 pixel resolution and a white VGA
display with 16 shades of grey. It is an AC battery-powered 80286-
based 16-Mhz computer with a standard 27-millisecond access, 20M-byte
hard disk drive and one megabyte of random access memory expandable
to 5M-bytes.

Murray Potts, manager of international marketing, said that the LCD
display includes a VGA mode with EGA, CGA and Hercules capabilities.
Its expansion slot emulates the Toshiba T3100, with two RS-232 ports,
a bidirectional Centronics port that can be used as a parallel port
and a connector for an external floppy disk drive.

Other options are an 802C87 math coprocessor, a rechargeable NiCard
battery, a 4M-byte RAM expansion board, external floppy disk drive
with cabinet, and 40, 100 or 200M-byte hard disk drives.

(Michael Worsley & S.Roowi/19890630)


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

AN OBIT FOR THE SOURCE
COLUMBUS, OHIO, U.S.A., 1989 JUN 29 (NB) -- The Source, a 10-
year old information utility which has hosted Newsbytes since
1983, will be no more as of August 1. The service, based in McLean,
Virginia, has been purchased by long-time rival CompuServe, which will
close it on that date.

CompuServe is a unit of H&R Block, which last year tried to buy
National Data Corp., a large transactions processor. Earlier this
year Block sold its NDC stock at a healthy profit. The Source,
meanwhile, was purchased by venture capitalists Welsh, Carson,
Anderson & Stowe in 1987, who were unable to realize their dream
of synergy with related companies, most notably Comdata Networks
of Nashville, Tennessee. WCA&S paid an estimated $10 million for
The Source. Most likely CompuServe paid much less, since it
sought only the subscribers and not the on-going business. Earlier
this year, The Source laid off one-fourth of its staff, and the
remaining 60 will be let go by CompuServe, although they will be
interviewed for open positions at the company.

The 53,000 remaining Source members will each get a Compuserve ID
and password, eligible for a $20 usage credit, or about an hour and a
half of online time at normal rates. Source members can get
their Compuserve passwords by calling 800-635-6225. Compuserve
has not decided which Source features to port over to Compuserve,
nor which private networks to maintain. Those decisions will be
reached within a few weeks.

At its peak, The Source had about 80,000 subscribers, who paid a
$10/month minimum fee for the service. CompuServe, which built
its subscriber base to over 500,000 without a monthly minimum,
recently instituted such a program, and reportedly the number of
subscribers has fallen as a result. CompuServe is facing increasing
market pressure from GEnie, a service run by General Electric,
the gateway services of the Bell Operating Companies, Minitel
Services Corp., a joint-venture between the French videotex
network and Infonet's data network service, and Prodigy, a joint-
venture between IBM and Sears.

The end of The Source became obvious earlier this year when the
Year-end Online Index compiled by Information Industry Bulletin,
published by the Digital Information Group of Stamford, Conn.,
reported that while online information services in general grew
by 14 percent in 1988, The Source was down 28 percent.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890630)


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

USENET HIGHLIGHTS OFFERED
MENLO PARK, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A. 1989 JUN 30 (NB) -- Geoff
Goodfellow told Newsbytes says he's gotten good response from his
offer to edit Usenet and Internet conference forums under the
name In Moderation Network, and edited highlights from relevant
conferences will be going out this week.

Goodfellow, who has been a member of ARPANET since the early 1970s,
says many people have become distressed over the "raw sewage" of
arguments and name-calling in its conferences. His In Moderation
Network will extract only the best nuggets from the megabytes of
comments generated every day on Usenet, which has 572,000 readers and
contributors worldwide.

As to his qualifications for choosing relevant material, Goodfellow said
he set up some of ARPANET's earliest mailing lists. "I've done this editing
on a volunteer basis before, deciding which articles go through. Our intent
is not to edit but to moderate which comments go through and which ones
won't."

Goodfellow is offering site licenses at $60 a month, or $720 per
year, and considering a program where sites with 1-2 users could
get the service for as little as $10/month. He admits he's most
interested in technical subjects. "We only have to read the
groups our subscribers are interested in receiving edited copy
from. If people aren't interested in the group on abortion
rights, we don't plan to moderate it."

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890630/Press Contact: Geoffrey Goodfellow,
Anterior Technology, 415-328-5615, MCI Mail: Geoff)


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

X.400 DEALS CONTINUE
WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A., 1989 JUN 20 (NB) -- Efforts to connect
electronic mail systems under the X.400 standard of the CCITT are
accelerating, despite the misgivings of some vendors. A gateway
specification based on a package from Retix Corp. was recently
approved by 21 different computer and communications vendors,
organized as the X.400 Application Program Interface Association.

The agreement should make implementation of the protocol easier,
and the group is now working on a standard way to send
spreadsheets across X.400 links.

MCI Mail said it is now testing X.400 connections with Internet,
the Unix-based mail network which connects over 6,000 science and
education networks, including that of the Department of Defense's
Advanced Research Projects Agency Network -- ARPANET -- and the
National Science Foundation's NSF-net. MCI has been among the
most aggressive in forging X.400 links and recently announced
connections to the IBM Information Network. Tests are being
conducted by the Corporation for National Research Initiatives, a
coalition of 21 vendors including IBM, Digital Equipment, Xerox
and MCI.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890630)


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

BELLCORE TESTS DEAF NET
WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A., 1989 JUN 26 (NB) -- Bellcore has begun
testing a new system to automate phone calls for deaf people. The
Telecommunications Network for the Deaf, or TND, automates the
current process where operators translate word into text by hand,
and vice versa, for use by a special phone with a one-line
display. The result is added cost, limited utility, and a lack of
privacy.

The new system is being tested in the Washington, D.C.
area through Bell Atlantic and the non-profit Telephone Exchange
for the Deaf, which handles such operator relays. It will
automate the start of a call for a deaf user, organize what the
deaf person types so an operator can translate it into words
easily, allow some deaf people to speak while still receiving
text, and increase the efficiency of operator translations.

In the United Kingdom, by way of contrast, British Telecom offers
computer terminals to the deaf and discounts their phone bills to
compensate for the time spent typing. The British system is
limited, however, for callers who can hear must also use
terminals. Bellcore is the research consortium sponsored by the
regional Bell operating companies in the U.S.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890701/Press Contact: Deanna Munoz, Bellcore,
201-740-6110)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(WAS)(00005)

AT&T AND DEC GO PBX
BASKING RIDGE, NEW JERSEY, U.S.A., 1989 JUN 26 (NB) -- Digital
Equipment Corp. and American Telephone and Telegraph have
announced that they will jointly develop an interface between the
DEC Computer Integrated Telephony or CIT and AT&T's Adjunct
Switch Application Interface or ASAI.

This will ensure compatibility between the two companies'
integrated voice and data communications platforms using ISDN or
Integrated Services Digital Network standard capabilities.

(John McCormick/19890630/Press Contacts: Marie Panzera of AT&T,
201-221-4355, or Betty F. Eagan of Digital Equipment,
603-884-6482)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(TYO)(00006)

VIDEO GAME NETWORK DUE
KYOTO, JAPAN, 1989 JUN 23 (NB) -- A Famicom game network will arrive
in the U.S. and Japan this fall, allowing two people to play the same
game, via the telephone lines, using their Famicon game units.

With a communication adaptor and a special card, video game players
will be able to remotely participate in the same adventure by dialling
each other up via this telecommunications network. The hardware,
including the game unit and special equipment, will sell for about
35,000 yen [$240]. But as the networked game needs NTT's line and
connection, users must pay online connect charges as well.

To start, Nintendo will sell communications adaptors and
special cards for the game Go and will add Shogi, a Japanese chess
game, among other games, to the network next year.

Meanwhile, in the U.S., Nintendo of America and AT&T have signed
a basic agreement on the building of the communication network for
the machine.

(Ken Takahashi/19890629/Press Contact: Nintendo, 075-541-0611)


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

OSI PC BOARD
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 JUN 22 (NB) -- Japan's international telecom
giant KDD has developed a board which provides open system
interconnection [OSI] communication for personal computers for
the first time in the world. The board can process up to the fifth
layer of OSI -- a technology which allows a computer and the board
to process data independently of each other, and which enables 64 kilobits
of data to be sent each second, according to KDD. Previous OSI
communication on personal computers has been at half this speed.

The board for NEC's PC-9801 series will be sold by KDD's related
firm OSI Plus for about 350,000 yen or $2,400 in July. KDD expects
to develop boards for other PCs and workstations.

(Ken Takahashi/19890629)


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

CHIP SEARCH ONLINE
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 JUN 27 (NB) -- Mitsubishi Electric will build
a dedicated database system which allows quick online retrieval
of other firms' semiconductor information in a move aimed at
improving business for all chip firms, including those abroad.

Initially, the database will have data on one megabit dynamic random
access memories. Each of the first 2,500 chips to be catalogued will
have a code number and will be ranked in comparison to other chips,
with specific features and prices. Among the American firms listed
will be Motorola, Intel, and Texas Instruments; European makers listed
will include Philips, Siemens, and SGS Thomson; and Asian makers
include Samsung Semiconductor & Telecommunications.  Ten others in
the database will be Japanese chip makers, bringing the total number of
companies represented to 70.

Mitsubishi claims that one of the stumbling blocks in buying
foreign chips is the lack of information in regard to which ones
are equal in performance. Mitsubishi expects that the system will
also speed up the purchase process and increase orders.

(Ken Takahashi/19890629/Press Contact: 03-218-2333)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(TYO)(00009)

TELENET IN JAPAN
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 JUN 23 (NB) -- The world's largest value-added
network [VAN] firm, Telenet of the U.S., has increased its investment
in Japan, and is seeking to create a base for expansion into all of Asia.

Telenet owns a joint VAN venture called Nippon Telenet, of
which 60 percent stock is owned by Telenet and 40 percent by
Kanematsu-Gosho. Telenet has increased its capital investment
in the venture from 410 million yen [$2.8 million] to 600 million
yen [$4.1 million].

Telenet has also received a permit from the Ministry of Posts
and Communications to establish an international VAN business.
Previously Telenet was accessed via the Kokusai VAN but now Nippon
Telenet can develop various services borrowing international lines by
itself, and will devote itself to amassing clients.

(Ken Takahashi/19890629)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(SYD)(00010)

MAJOR AUS PHONE SYSTEM UPGRADE
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1989 JUN 26 (NB) -- Australia's Telecom will spend
AUS$200 million on its Public Switching Telephone Network (PSTN) to
cater for new customer requirements. It claims the improvements to the
network will give all Australian telephone users access to a range of
call features only available to customers connected to highly
sophisticated private networks.

Integrated Network Products General Manager Ray Freeman said by
offering advanced facilities over the public network, they could
be offered at economical prices to the entire network. "In 1991
businesses spanning several states will be able to use PSTN to establish,
rearrange and disconnect customer-defined networks," Freeman said.

(Paul Zucker/19890630)


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

TELECOM HUNTS HEADS
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1989 JUN 26 (NB) -- A shortage of experienced
network engineering and data services people has forced Telecom to look
to the U.K., Sweden, and Canada to fill 100 positions.

Telecom advertised over the past year until March to get
Australian staff, but most applicants did not have the experience
to hold some of the more senior positions, a spokesman said.
Private companies often head-hunted experienced staff from
Telecom, and one of the main problems was the lack of education
in the network engineering and data communications fields, he
said.

"I guess it's fairly indicative of the education system we have
in our universities and tertiary institutions. There are just
not enough qualified people to go around."

Telecom is now interviewing people overseas, and the successful
applicants should be in Australia by year-end.

(Paul Zucker/19890630)


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

FREE PHONES FOR DISABLED
NEWBURY, ENGLAND, 1989 JUN 30 (NB) -- Racal-Vodafone has
announced it is selling mobile phones to registered disabled
users for UKP 299 all-in. The phone accepts incoming calls, but
will only allow outgoing calls to the emergency services and 131,
a special services number.

Users calling 131 may relay important messages to third parties,
provided they are registered disabled and part of the scheme. The
131 operator then calls the user back to confirm that the message
has been passed on, or that the call was unsuccessful.

Other than the purchase cost, the Racal-Vodafone scheme is free
of all charges, meaning that the usual UKP 25 monthly line rental
charge is waived. The scheme effectively offers mobile
communications to disabled people at a nominal cost.

(Steve Gold/19890630/Press & Public Contact: Mr B Foxwell, Racal-
Vodac - Tel: [phone])


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(BRU)(00013)

GERMAN CELLULAR CONTRACTS AWARDED
BONN, WEST GERMANY, 1989 JUN 30 (NB) -- Deutsche Telepost
Consulting, the wholly owned subsidiary of the Deutsches
Bundespost, has placed its first order for West Germany's first
cellular radio network, which is due to be unveiled in 1991.

Orders for the first stage of major project, said to be worth
several million dollars to the companies concerned, went to ANT,
Bosch, Philips Kommunikations Industrie and Telenorma.

Unlike the existing analogue cellular networks in the U.S., U.K.,
and several other Western European countries, the West German
cellular telephone network will be wholly digital from day one.
As such, it is planned to integrate the D-Net network with other
European digital cellular telephone systems to form a pan-
European network.

Plans call for the West German D-Net to be integrated into a
proposed West Germany ISDN network with facilities to support
fax, viewdata and similar modem transmissions of up to 9,600 bits
per second (bps). D-Net is expected to have as many as two
million subscribers by the end of the 1990s.

(Klaus Rosenthal/19890630)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(LON)(00014)

MOBILE MODEM UNVEILED
NEWBURY, ENGLAND, 1989 JUN 30 (NB) -- Racal Telecom, the parent
company to Racal-Vodafone, one of the U.K.'s two cellular network
operators, has released a new portable CDLC (Cellular Data Link
Control) modem for use on its network. The UKP 600 unit weights
1.5 pounds and is one third of the size of its predecessor.

The 12 volts D.C. powered modem is a Hayes-compatible auto-
answer, auto-dial modem conforming to the Racal-Vodata CDLC twin
carrier format. The CDLC format uses a 2400 bps (bits per second)
carrier for data and a 150 bps carrier for special applications. When used
over the cellular network, the unit negates many of the line noise and
cell hand-off problems that cause normal modems to drop the line.

In parallel with the launch of the CDLC modem, which is supplied
a variety of connectors suitable for connection to several
different mobile phones, Racal Vodafone is heavily promoting its
Vodata network system which allows interconnection with land-
based data networks and online systems.

The CDLC VMACS (Vodafone Mobile Access Conversion Service) link
now allows both-way data calls to be originated. This allows, for
example, a land-based modem user to dial a special code in prefix
to the cellular number and then allow the Vodafone CDLC centre to
convert a conventional modem call to the CDLC data format.

In addition, the Racal Telecom CDLC network now interconnects
directly with British Telecom's and Mercury packet switching
services, as well as the Istel Infotrac, IBM business network
service and Mercurylink 7500 e-mail system.

(Steve Gold/19890630/Press Contact: Ian Volans, Racal Telecom -
Tel: [phone])


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(SIN)(00015)

SINGAPORE IMPROVES TELEX
SINGAPORE, S.E. ASIA, 1989 JUN 24 (NB) -- Singapore Telecom will
install a S$3 million [US$1.6 million] back-up telex system at its
City South Telephone Exchange which will be linked to its existing one
at Comcentre to provide international telex, leased telegraph and
telegram circuits.

A Singapore Telecom statement said, "Together, they ensure that
international telex, telegraph and telegram services are not
interrupted in case of breakdown in either centre."

Work on the new system at the International Voice Frequency Telegraph
Centre will be done in two phases, on Sunday June 25 and July 2 to
minimize any disruption to existing telex services.

The statement further said that international telex, leased telegraph
circuit and telegram services may suffer some disruption during the
installation, but local services will be normal.

(Michael Worsley & S.Roowi/19890628/Press Contact: Derek Tan, PRO,
Singapore Telecom, Ph: [65] 734.3344)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(SIN)(00016)

INDONESIAN BANK LINKS BRANCHES
JAKARTA, INDONESIA, 1989 JUN 26 (NB) -- The Indonesian Overseas
Express Bank here plans to spend an initial US$2.3 million on a
computerized program to link-up its nine branches in the country
through dial-up modems.

Digital Equipment Corp's [DEC] VAX 6310 running the Winter Partners'
Real Time Integrated Banking System software will be the centre of
the system. Chandra Suparsono, sales manager of PT Astra Graphia, D
EC's Indonesian distributor and the main contractor of the project,
said that some modifications will have to be done to the Winter
Partners software to localize it.

Seven clusters of ISC Pinnacle Plus workstations including 100 tellers
will be at the front-office end. MicroVAXes located at each of the
nine branches, stretching more than 1,000 kilometers from Jakarta to
Surabaya and Bandung, will act as stand-alone workstations.

The work, expected to be completed at the end of this November, was
planned to begin on the second week of June.

The project's second phase, probably costing some US$2.5 million, is
expected to be awarded in the first or second quarter of next year.

(Michael Worsley & S.Roowi/19890630)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(SIN)(00017)

HAYES' S.E.ASIA DISTRUBUTORS
SINGAPORE, S.E.ASIA, 1989 JUN 30 (NB) -- Dennis Hayes, president
of Hayes Microcomputer Products, has appointed Imagineering Micro
Distributors Pte. Ltd. as the distributor for Hayes products in Singapore,
Malaysia and Brunei.

The announcement was also the occasion for the first public Asian
demonstration of Hayes' new V.42 modem as well as the 9600
baud Smartmodem with Smartcom III. The new V.42 series allows for up
to four simultaneous sessions using X.25 dial-up protocols to take into
account the likely growing availability for such access ports on most
major national and international networks worldwide.

(Michael Worsley/19890630/Press Contact: Audrey Foo, Marketing
Communications, Imagineering Micro Distributors P/L, Ph:[65]
278.8686 Fx:[65] 273.2876)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(KUL)(00018)

FANTASIA SUFFERS ANOTHER BLOW
KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA, 1989 JUN 22 (NB) -- FANTASIA, the
computerized reservation system [CRS] operated by Asia Pacific
Distribution Ltd [APD], suffered another setback when it failed to
persuade Malaysian Airlines [MAS] to join it. MAS has signed a
shareholders agreement that will make it an equal partner in
ABACUS, FANTASIA's rival, according to Kamaruddin Ahmad, MAS' senior
director of operations.

FANTASIA was in the news recently when it was caught in a row with
THAI International over Thai's yet-unannounced choice of a CRS to
join.

Both Sydney-based FANTASIA and Singapore-based ABACUS aim to
provide travel agents with online, real-time access to airline
reservations, hotel bookings and car rental.

(Michael Worsley & S.Roowi/19890628)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(KUL)(00019)

AT&T IN CHINESE JOINT VENTURE
HONG KONG, CHINA, 1989 JUN 16 (NB) -- AT&T, in its bid to expand its
international business, has formed a joint venture with its Holland-
based company, AT&T Network Systems International BV, to manufacture
transmission equipment in China, according to Computerworld.

The company, AT&T of Shanghai, will manufacture, sell and service
digital transmission equipment for public and private network
customers in China. Shanghai Optical Fiber Communications Corp and
Shanghai Telecommunications Equipment Factory will be AT&T Network
Systems International's partners in the venture.

Some of the products from the new company will be high-capacity
lightwave systems, digital multiplexers and channel banks which change
analog voice signals into digital form.

Newsbytes was not able to ascertain at press time what effect, if any,
the recent unrest in China will have on the plans as negotiated.

(Michael Worsley & S.Roowi/19890629)


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

QUANTUM LAUNCHES ANIMATED CHAT
VIENNA, VIRGINIA, U.S.A., 1989 JUN 30 (NB) -- Users of Q-Link, the
online service for Commodore 64 and 128 owners, can now participate
in an animated "super-chat" service in which users can see and
talk to each other's moving, animated characters on screen.

Created by Lucasfilm Games and Quantum, Club Caribe is the name of
the interactive, animated online game. Users can receive special
software from Quantum Computer Services which will allow them to
move their characters on-screen with a joystick, as well as see
remote user's animated characters interacting with them. Up to
8 characters, or users, can be moving on screen at once in this
simulated vacation resort game.

Users can dress their own characters with different clothes, give
them different "heads" and physical attributes and can move them among
various places in the scenario, as well as type in their words
which appear above the character's heads in speed balloons similar
to a comic strip.

The technology behind it is adapted from Lucasfilm Games' Habitat,
an online multiplayer fantasy world simulation which is not yet
commercially available.

The software is free to Q-Link subscribers through the end of July
and the cost is .08 cents per minute above the flat $9.95 monthly
fee.

Quantum spokeswoman Nancy Beckman tells Newsbytes there are currently
no plans to put a similar interactive game on any of the other
machine-specific networks operated by Quantum, nor any plans to
develop other games like this on Q-Link.

(Wendy Woods/19890630/Press Contact: Nancy Beckman, 703-742-3640,
Steve Arnold, Lucasfilm, 415-662-1989)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(WAS)(00002)

NEW ARCADE TECHNOLOGY
HUNT VALLEY, MARYLAND, U.S.A., 1989 JUN 20 (NB) -- MicroProse,
Inc., a leading developer of PC simulation - entertainment
software, has announced that its coin-op subsidiary, MicroProse
Games, will release its first product by late summer.

The new games will, according to Director of Engineering Chuck
Grempler, use entirely new hardware to display 3-D graphics. 3-D
images are created using polygons. Although the concept isn't
new, with current sophisticated arcade games generating 12,000
polygons per second, a resolution of up to 60,000 polygons per
second makes the MicroProse games a major improvement over
current technology. In addition, the images will be presented at
30 frames per second, faster than motion picture film, producing
flicker-free images.

The new games, which MicroProse spokesperson Kathy Gilmore said
should be available for demonstration to Newsbytes next month,
will be in production in time to show up in arcades before
Christmas.

The first game should be a version of the PC-based F-19 Stealth
Fighter flight simulator.

Arcade games of the sophistication and realism claimed by
MicroProse could bring dramatically increased traffic into the
arcade parlors since they would be far beyond what home-based
computer hardware and displays can match.

(John McCormick/19890629/Press Contact: Kathy Gilmore, 301-771-
1151, X217)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(WAS)(00003)

40X FASTER THAN A CRAY
AMHERST, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1989 JUN 26 (NB) -- What's nine
feet tall and 40 times faster than a CRAY X-MP/48 super computer?
Michael Kreisler, a University of Massachusetts physicist, says
it is the new particle physics computer developed by a team of 22
scientists.

Advances in particle physics are today dependent almost entirely
on the computerized analysis of high-power collisions between
sub-atomic particles.

These collisions are often repeated many thousands or millions of
times in the search for only a few unusual results, and the
search must depend on computers.

The $100,000-150,000 computer is hard-wired rather than
programmed; therefore, it is not readily applicable to other
computing tasks, but it is able to perform particle analysis
tasks in a few hours that would take a conventional computer
30,000 years.

(John McCormick/19890629)


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

3-D ANIMATED VIDEO FOR SIGGRAPH
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, U.S.A., 1989 JUN 15 (NB) -- For the first
time, computer-generated 3-D videos will be produced for this
year's Siggraph computer graphics show, to be held from July 31
to August 4 in Boston.

The association announced 328 video entries have been received, up
from 172 last year, all of which will compete in a place for the
show, which highlights the computer graphics conference. About 25
percent of the show this year will be in 3-D, using an effect
pioneered at January's Super Bowl. Polarized glasses will be given to
visitors so they can see the effects. Among the 3-D highlights will be
"Eurythmy," a depiction of a spiritual dance, created over the course of
three years at Ohio State University, and "Imagincation," a 10-minute
feature from Links Corp. of Japan.

As part of the show, new images from the Voyager II encounter with the
planet Neptune will be displayed as they arrive from the Jet Propulsion
Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890630/Press Contact: Kathleen Nilles,
Siggraph, 312-644-6610)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(LAX)(00005)

486 MAY BEAT IBM
IRVINE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 JUN 29 (NB) -- In the wake of
IBM's announcement that it has put the i486 chip to work, two
Southern California manufacturers are planning to beat IBM to
market with the new Intel i486 chip.

AST Research has announced that beginning in October, the company
will sell a plug-in board that will equip its top-of-the-line
personal computer with the i486 microchip. On Monday [7/3],
Advanced Logic Research will announce a similar board that will
convert its 286 IBM-compatible into a 486 machine.

Intel's i486 chip, nicknamed the "mainframe on a chip," works
twice as fast as the 80386 chip and three times as fast as the
80286 chip. Both AST Research and Advanced Logic Research claim
their products will be priced lower than IBM's.

(Janet Endrijonas/19890630)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(LAX)(00006)

POTENTIAL DRAM GROUP MEMBER
IRVINE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 JUN 28 (NB) -- Western Digital
is considering joining the seven U.S. semiconductor and computer
makers who recently formed U.S. Memories to revive the American
dynamic random access memory (DRAM) industry and break the Japanese
strangle hold on the DRAM market.

Western Digital, a company that spends millions of dollars
annually for DRAM chips to use in the products it manufactures,
will be meeting in the next few weeks with officials from the new
consortium to explore the possibility of joining. U.S. Memories
partners are contributing seed money of $50,000 each and are
looking for buyers and investors to cover the $1 billion in debt
and equity financing they will need to get the venture moving.

Western Digital has also announced its intention to keep pace
with the development of the next generation of personal computer,
the i486-based machines. The company's aggressive moves come
close on the heels of a recent sizeable drop in the value of its
stock making it vulnerable for a takeover.

(Janet Endrijonas/19890630)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(BRU)(00007)

VALVES MAKE A COMEBACK?
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS U.S.A., 1989 JUN 17 (NB) -- Do you remember
valves -- those tube-like objects inside your grandparent's radio
which revolutionized electronics in the 30s, 40s and 50s?

Valves were subsequently displaced when the lighter, smaller, and
much more efficient transistor came out in the 1960s. But even
though transistors replaced valves and were used in computers later as
integrated circuits (ICs) -- ICs are chains of small transistors linked
together -- they had their drawbacks.

IC's can easily become saturated, that is they have carefully
defined voltage limits outside which they cannot work, they can
be easily destroyed, and they are not best-suited to harsh
environments.

Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT),
near Boston, have recently started creating micro-valves -- i.e.
doing with valves what they did with transistors with the
creation of ICs. Microvalves have all the benefits of transistors
with none of the disadvantages. Commercial samples of microvalves
are not expected before 1991 at the earliest.

(Peter Vekinis/19890623)


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

NEW TRANSISTOR TESTER
GAITHERSBURG, MARYLAND, U.S.A., 1989 JUN 20 (NB) -- The National
Institute of Standards and Technology, formerly the Bureau of
Standards, announced that David W. Berning, an electronics
engineer at NIST, has developed a new way to test semiconductors.

In the past, power transistors have been tested to destruction in
order to determine their quality and performance characteristics,
an expensive proposition.

The portable 40-pound device includes automated test procedures
and is completely self-contained, not requiring any external
power supply or test instruments.

Passing up to 100-amperes of current at as high as 2,000-volts
through test transistors, the new device avoids damaging the test
units by relying on extreme speed. It turns out that the damage
is done by overheating the transistors and, by removing the power
in as little as 25 nanoseconds, the transistors don't have time
to heat up and suffer damage.

Such testing is vital to aerospace components and non-destructive
testing can produce significant savings. There are also problems
with relying on testing some transistors out of a batch, then
depending on the others to meet the same specifications. The new
test device will allow critical components to be used even after
testing.

(John McCormick/19890629/Press Contact: John S. Makulowich, 301-
975-2762)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(BRU)(00009)

2.45M PCS IN GERMANY
FRANKFURT, WEST GERMANY, 1989 JUN 30 (NB) -- Diebold Computer has
released a major report on the West German computer market-place.
The report reveals that West Germany has a gigantic population of
2.45 million computers, with IBM dominating the high end of the
market.

In the high-end market -- defined as over DM 500,000 (about
$250,000) -- IBM holds pole position with 49.3 percent of sales,
followed by Siemens with 23.1 percent and Unisys with just 7 percent.
The total high-end market is said to be worth DM 50,300 million (about
U.S.$25,000 million).

In the mid-range market - defined as systems costing between DM
25,000 and DM 50,000 ($12,500 to $25,000), Nixdorf is the
leading supplier with 12.9 percent of sales, followed by Siemens
with 11.2 percent. IBM holds third place with 10.5 percent of
the market.

(Klaus Rosenthal/19890630)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(TYO)(00001)

NCR ADOPTS MOTIF & OPEN LOOK
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 JUN 22 (NB) -- One of the major backers of Unix
International, NCR, will provide both Open Look and Motif for
its clients. Open Look has been presented by Unix International and
Motif has been presented by the Open Software Foundation as part
of two different graphical user interfaces for AT&T's Unix System V4.0.

Standing firmly on the fence in this matter, NCR has decided to
offer both graphical interfaces for its clients, mainly in the
financial markets, where requests for both interfaces have originated.

Meanwhile, AT&T has announced it will jointly develop a Japanese version
of Open Look with Fujitsu. The graphic interface will be developed in
Fujitsu's Kawasaki Laboratory and the prototype version will be
completed by November.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19890629)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(TYO)(00002)

TOSHIBA SUPERWORKSTATION
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 JUN 24 (NB) -- Toshiba has introduced an old
product aimed at a new market. The AS series workstation has been
renamed Super Workstation and is now targeted at the office automation
market.

Toshiba has already secured an $11 million order to install the
workstations as dealing systems for Yamaich Securities. The system
became operational in June in Nagoya, Osaka, and Tokyo.

Another major customer, Keihin Electric Express Railway Co., Ltd., has
switched the platform of its Bus Timetable Information System
from Toshiba's super minicomputer TOSBAC DS600 to the AS series.

The company expects to expand its workstation business into the office
automation market with a new English-Japanese translation system,
AS-Transac, and desktop publishing software, AS-Document. Also, its
relational database for AS series, ORACLE, will support Structured
Query Language for distributed databases through Ethernet on AS series
this month.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19890629)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(TYO)(00003)

APOLLO/HP TECHNOLOGY MERGE
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 JUN 24 (NB) -- After the takeover of Apollo
Computer, Hewlett-Packard has announced plans to integrate Apollo's
workstation into its own product by 1992.

To protect certain client's proprietary software, HP will keep continue
to produce a part of Apollo's workstation but will add the Apollo
network functions, NCS, into its own products that will ship in
1990. Also, the firm plans to provide compatibility between both
machines with Open Software Foundation's OSF/1 by the end of 1990
and to completely integrate both machines with OSF/2 , which is
expected to be shipped in 1992.

Also, HP plans to develop a Motorola 68040-based workstation for
shipment by the end of 1990 or 1991.

In Japan, both Yokogawa Hewlett Packard and Nihon Apollo computer
have established transition teams to exchange information; YHP will
retain Apollo as one of the divisions of the company.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19890628)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(LON)(00004)

SUNWORD UNIX/XENIX SUPPORT
WEST DRAYTON, ENGLAND, 1989 JUN 30 (NB) -- Crandell Development
has announced the development of Sunword version 5.11, the Sun
word processing package. The new version supports both Unix and
Xenix operating systems, as well as the DOS environment.

Pricing on Sunword v5.11 varies, dependent on the operating
system version required, and the user configurations. A
standalone DOS version retails for $495, whilst an 8-user license
for the Xenix/Unix environment costs $1,495.

(Steve Gold/19890630/Press & Public Contact: Julian Swallow, HB
Marketing - Tel: [phone])


(NEWS)(UNIX)(LAX)(00005)

ECI DEMOS PROPERTY MANAGE SYSTEM
SANTA ANA, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 JUN 21 (NB) -- EECO
Computer (ECI) has brought out a new Unix-based property
management system for the hotel and lodging industries.

The new ECI/UX product family combines all the best features of
several other ECI programs including ECI OS Property Management
System, GuessTrak II and ResTrak and adds several enhancements to
round out the package. The system contains comprehensive
management capabilities for full-service properties ranging in
size from 500 rooms to more than 3000. All ECI/UX applications
have been written to perform under Oracle Corp.'s relational
database that uses a fourth generation language to improve
transaction processing capabilities.

(Janet Endrijonas/19890630/Press Contact: Jeff Swartz, Daly-
Swartz Public Relations, 714-361-6888)