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/nb890919

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

MICROSOFT/APPLE'S PMSCRIPT TO CHALLENGE POSTSCRIPT}
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 SEP 15 (NB) -- Microsoft
and Apple Computer, engaged in a lawsuit over alleged misuse of
proprietary technology, will team up to exchange some when they
announce a joint effort to unseat the reigning king of the laser
printing and desktop publishing world -- Adobe Systems.

Apple Computer and Microsoft will launch a clone of the PostScript
page description language at the Seybold Computer Publishing Conference
next week. PMScript, as it is expected to be called, and which
Microsoft licensed from Bauer Enterprises, is expected to be a serious
blow to Adobe's dominance of the laser printer language and font market
when Apple announces that PMScript will be used instead of PostScript
in Apple LaserWriter printers.

The deal is also expected to result in cross-promotions of Apple's own
font-scaling technology both for Apple computers and PCs, and
licenses of the language to the printing hardware and software
industry.

(Wendy Woods/19890915)


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

TAP A SATELLITE AND WATCH APPLE SEP 20}
CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 SEP 13 (NB) -- On Wednesday,
September 20, Apple Computer will host a nationwide
event to introduce its new products.

The event will take place in Los Angeles and will be broadcast
to selected locations in major cities across the country. Some
5000 customers, resellers, analysts and members of the press are
expected to be present at the Universal Amphitheater in Los
Angeles and thousands more at each viewing location.

For those who have satellite reception anywhere in the country,
Apple TV's broadcast, which will begin at 10:45 AM (PDT), will be
available on both KU Band and C. On KU band, -GE K-1 - Transponder 2 -
Frequency of downlink 11758.5 MHz - Audio 6.8 -Vertical Polarization
For C Band, - Westar 4 - Transponder 7 Direct - Frequency of Downlink
3840 MHZ - Audio 6.2, 6.8 - Horizontal Polarization.

The broadcast is scheduled to last two hours.

(Janet Endrijonas/19890915/Press Contact: Cindy McAffrey, Apple,
408-974-1578)


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

MAC BUSINESS CONFERENCE/EXPO NOV 29}
LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 SEP 15 (NB) -- Southern
California's major Macintosh expo will take place November 29
through December 1 at the Long Beach Convention Center.

The Macintosh/LA show, the new name for the show formerly
known as Macintosh Business Conference and Exposition, is
sponsored by Cambridge Marketing. The New York version of
this expo will also have a name change -- now it's Macintosh/
New York. The renaming was because "the show appeals to a wider
audience than business users," Nancy Thayer, spokeswoman, told
Newsbytes.

Macintosh/LA is slated to feature 75 conference sessions and over 100
exhibiting companies, including Apple, Claris, Informix, Macromind,
Symantec, Aldus, SuperMac, and Silicon Beach Software.

Slated to be among the keynote speakers are Apple's Jean-Louis
Gassee, senior vice president and president of Apple Products,
and Apple's Randy Battat, vice president product marketing.

The highly successful Falcom Microsystems, the dealer through
which government computer purchases are made, will sponsor
a "Falcom Microsystems Government Connectivity Showcase,"
which will display networking products that link Macs with
PCs, minicomputers, and mainframes.

The Paracomp Animation Festival, sponsored by Paracomp, a graphics
software publisher based in San Francisco, famous for "Swivel 3-D,"
3-dimensional modelling software, will also be a part of the event.
The show will feature animated shorts produced by Southern
California graphic computer artists.

Preregistration will allow you to attend all the conferences for
$50. Preregistration also means free admission to the exhibit area
even if you don't plan to attend the conferences. To preregister,
call Cambridge Marketing at (toll free US) 800-262-3378 or
617-860-7100.

(Wendy Woods/19890915/Press Contact: Nancy Thayer, 617-860-7127)


(EXCLUSIVE)(APPLE)(SFO)(00004)

SECURITY BREACHES PLAGUE MACWEEK}
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 SEP 15 (NB) -- MacWeek
magazine, a weekly trade journal for the Macintosh industry,
has always thrived from security leaks at Apple, but may now
be suffering from the same malady itself.

The San Jose Mercury News reports someone absconded with a copy
of a database of outside developers and "inside sources" that
had been on a computer at MacWeek. The database contained such
notations as "knows a lot," and "cultivate this source carefully"
next to certain names, some of which were "Apple employees who
have helped the weekly publication keep tabs on the company's
inner workings."

MacWeek's Executive Editor Dan Farber confirms to Newsbytes
that it is likely someone made off with a "Rolodex-type" file,
but that "We're not exactly sure what it is because the Mercury
News never contacted us." He denies, however, that anyone's
confidential sources were on it.

"We do have a few databases but nothing that's a database of
sources," he said, "We believe it was a database for the review
department with vendors and products."

Asked if the incident has led to any special security measures, he
adds, no, "it's business as usual."

But the security problems extend beyond software. The staff is
currently investigating the theft of two Apple Macintosh "loaners," or
evaluation units for review, and a company-owned CD-ROM player.

(Wendy Woods/19890915)


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

EPYX LAYS OFF 80% OF STAFF, CHANGES FOCUS}
REDWOOD CITY, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 SEP 15 (NB) -- Some 80
employees were laid off in a major staff reduction and change in
company focus at Epyx, a developer of entertainment software,
today. The layoffs reduce employment from 96 to 16, according to
Newsbytes sources. While a spokeswoman would not confirm the
numbers, she did admit that the firm had undergone a major layoff.

Epyx, which designed and developed the Atari Lynx and will continue
to develop games for the hand-held machine, is changing its
focus from a publisher of entertainment software to a developer
of video games, spokeswoman Noreen LoVoi tells Newsbytes.
She says Epyx has bit hit hard "in a slow and very difficult year in
the computer entertainment pipeline," a year in which Nintendo
has taken "the lion's share," of the dollars, and making matters
worse, consumer interest has switched from games for low-end
machines, such as the C64, to games for PCs. "It's a new audience,"
she says.

"To maintain profitability we will make games for various video
game systems," she says, meaning the company will work with both
Nintendo through licensing agreements with Milton Bradley, and
with Nintendo's nemesis, Atari, which is suing Nintendo in an
antitrust suit. The instability of the video game industry precludes
making any exclusive arrangements with hardware manufacturers,
she confirms.

The company says it will continue to sell current products, including
Revenge of Defender and Ishido, through the end of the year.

The privately-held firm may be moving to Newark, California
from its present Redwood City, California, location.

(Wendy Woods/19890915/Press Contact: Noreen Lovoi, 415-368-
3200)


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

TANDY TO BUY VICTOR}
FORT WORTH, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1989 SEP 12 (NB) -- Tandy has
said it has signed a letter of intent to buy the Victor
Microcomputer and Micronic hand-held computer subsidiaries in
Europe and Scandinavia from Datatronic AB of Sweden.

Datatronic AB has announced the deal is worth 800 million
Swedish Kroner ($119 million). The deal is conditional on final
approval by both Tandy and Datatronic's boards, shareholders
and relevant government departments.

Under the agreement, Tandy will also acquire the rights to the
Victor and Micronic names. Victor markets a full line of desktop
and laptop computers via a network of 2,700 dealers and
distributors. The company's 1988 sales were in excess of $200
million.

Datatronic is the Swedish computer company which took over US-
based Victor Technologies back in 1986. It said Tandy is the best
possible owner of its subsidiaries Victor and Micronic.

Tandy stated that it expects to finance the deal with internally
generated funds and existing borrowing arrangements. The
transaction should be finalised by December of this year.

(Eric Dauchy & Janet Endrijonas/19890916)


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

FINANCIAL FRAUD SEEN AT MINISCRIBE}
NEW YORK, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1989 SEP 12 (NB) -- The
independent panel that has been charged with investigating
questionable business practices at Longmont, Colorado-based disk
drive maker MiniScribe has uncovered evidence of a series of
fraudulent financial maneuvers used to cover up the company's
declining financial health.

The panel's report indicated that the situation was even more
alarming in view of the fact that the fraud required direct
participation by company personnel and was known in company
circles far beyond the participants.

Some of the irregular practices uncovered and reported include a
1986 shortfall in the physical inventory compounded by company
officials breaking into locked trunks containing auditor's work
papers in order to change the inventory figures and $3.66 million
in false inventory value generated by packaging bricks and
shipping them to distributors as disk drive while recording the
shipments as sales in the company books.

The report also indicated the liberal use of incentive payments
to people willing in the fraudulent activities of the company.

(Janet Endrijonas/19890915)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LON)(00004)

HEWLETT-PACKARD TO TAKE OVER COMMODORE - RUMOUR}
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1989 SEP 16 (NB) -- Ron Kovac's Z-Mag newsletter
for the Atari world suggests that Hewlett-Packard is readying a
take-over of Commodore. Commodore remains silent on the rumour.

Industry sources with whom Newsbytes has spoken suggest that the
rumour is false, since HP is considered to have drained its
financial reserves with the acquisition of Apollo earlier this
year. Such an acquisition would, Newsbytes notes, give Hewlett-
Packard access to Commodore's West German market, where the
company's C64, Amiga and PC series are market leaders.

(Steve Gold/19890916)


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

SOFTSEL BUYS WEST GERMAN FIRM}
INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 SEP 13 (NB) -- Softsel
has announced a letter of intent to purchase DNS Gesellschaft Fur
Computersysteme MBH, a distributor based in Munich, West Germany.

The agreement will make Softsel the leading microcomputer
products distributor in Europe and is in line with the company's
long-range strategy to be the leading Pan-European computer
products distributor. DNS is a year old and specializes in
connectivity and communications products. When the agreement to
buy DNS is finalized, Softsel will be the only US or European
distributor of microcomputer products with wholly owned
subsidiaries in the three largest European markets totally 65
percent of the entire European market.

Currently, Softsel's international operations represent 25
percent of sales and include five wholly-owned subsidiaries on
three continents and an export sales organization to distribute
products for which Softsel has worldwide rights in countries
where the company does not have a subsidiary.

(Janet Endrijonas/19890915/Press Contact: Jim Novy, Softsel, 213-
412-8230)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LAX)(00006)

COMPAQ BUYS WANG FACILITY IN SCOTLAND}
HOUSTON, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1989 SEP 14 (NB) -- Compaq has
announced its purchase of the Wang facility in Stirling, Scotland
to be used as a base for expanding the company's service and
repair operations.

The facility will be operational by the end of the year. Its
acquisition comes approximately three months after Compaq
announced the $37.5 million expansion of its current
manufacturing and office complex in Erskine, Scotland which is
proceeding on schedule.

(Janet Endrijonas/19890915/Press Contact: Bob Beach, Compaq, 713-
374-1560)


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

SISCOM SELLS NEWSPRO TO MINNESOTA PUBLIC RADIO}
BOULDER, COLORADO, U.S.A., 1989 SEP 14 (NB) -- Satellite
Information Systems Co. (SISCOM) has announced that Minnesota
Public Radio (MPR), a regional radio network, has purchased a
NewsPro newsroom computer system.

SISCOM's other customers include NBC News, the Christian Science
Monitor, Financial Network News TV and Radio, WCVB-TV (Boston),
KARE-TV (Minneapolis), KCNC-TV (Denver), The Nightly Business
Report (Miami) and National Public Radio (Washington). SISCOM is
Digital Equipment Corp.'s first Systems Cooperative Marketing
Partner for the broadcast media industry.

(Janet Endrijonas/19890915/Press Contact: Peter Citarella,
SISCOM, 303-449-0442)


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

ALPHAGRAPHICS OPENS SCANDINAVIAN PRINT SHOP}
TUCSON, ARIZONA, U.S.A., 1989 SEP 15 (NB) -- Barely a week
after opening a Print Shops of the Future franchise in Mexico
City, AlphaGraphics has now opened a franchise in Uppsala,
Sweden.

This franchise is owned and operated by Esselte, one of
Scandinavia's largest printing firms. Esselte has exclusive
rights to franchise AlphaGraphics high-tech quick print centers
in Sweden, Norway and Denmark and holds an option for Finland.
Esselte is known in the US for its Letraset press-on products
used by graphic designers, architects and artists, Pendaflex
suspension filing system and "Ready Set Go" desktop publishing
software.

The Uppsala store offers all the same services as all
AlphaGraphics outlets and is linked by satellite to every
AlphaGraphics in the system including the outlet in the USSR.
This satellite system, AlphaLink, instantaneously transmits
camera-ready text and graphics from one outlet to another
anywhere in the world saving customers both time and shipping
costs. AlphaGraphics has over 275 printing centers worldwide
including Canada, England, Hong Kong, Mexico, Scotland, the
Soviet Union, Spain, the US and now Sweden.

(Janet Endrijonas/19890915/Press Contact: Jeanne Miller,
AlphaGraphics, 602-293-9200)


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

XEROX CORPORATION FORMS XEROX PRESS}
EL SEGUNDO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 SEP 12 (NB) -- Xerox
Corporation has formed a new business unit to be known as Xerox
Press, the first organization created by Xerox Technology
Ventures since that group was initiated in January 1989.

Xerox Press currently has two publications in worldwide
distribution, "Graphic Design for the Electronic Age" and "Xerox
Publishing Standards." The initial focus of the new business
unit will be to publish books related to the electronic printing
and publishing market. There are plans for books covering a wide
range of business topics in the future.

(Janet Endrijonas/19890915/Press Contact: Barry Sulpor, Xerox,
213/333-3427)


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

COMPUTER INTELLIGENCE BUYS STOREBOARD}
LA JOLLA, CALOFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 SEP 13 (NB) -- Computer
Intelligence announced it is buying StoreBoard of Dallas, which
tracks sales through computer specialty stores. StoreBoard will
retain its name, management, and location in Dallas, Texas.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890915/ Press Contract: Computer
Intelligence, Paul Hairopoulos, 619-450-1667)


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

AUS: DATATRAN BOUGHT BY PASCOM}
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA, 1989 SEP 11 (NB) - The Melbourne data
communications company Pascom has bought the product rights and
current business of its ailing competitor Datatran for
AUS$500,000

A company spokesman claims the deal will take Pascom into the big
league of Australian computer communications companies, with
expected revenues of AUS$7 million, and expected growth of 100
percent a year.

Pascom had also bought Datatran's advanced matrix switch for
major computer network control. The Advent group, which is
Pascom's major shareholder, will invest AUS$2 million into the
company to help Pascom enter the international market using
European distributors already set up by Datatran.

(Gavin Atkins & Computing Australia/19890913)


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

IMAGINEERING INVESTS IN AUSTRALIAN PCS}
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1989 SEP 11 (NB) - Imagineering is to increase
the Australian content of its Ultra PCs, according to the newly
appointed General Manager Urs Mader.

Mr Mader said, "The current local content of our PC is around 25
percent. We plan to increase that to between 50 percent and 70
percent by sourcing Australian power supplies and sheet metal
work." Imagineering Ultras are Asian-sourced PCs, with some
assembly and quality control being performed in Sydney.

(Gavin Atkins & Computing Australia/19890913)


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

AUSTRALIA: SILICON CITY SINKS}
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1989 SEP 11 (NB) - The provisional liquidator
of the Australian PC dealer Silicon City is winding the company
up by selling the seven branches individually.

A spokesman from the liquidator declined to comment on what
capital would be returned to creditors who are owed more than
AUS$3.5 million. Former owner David Ginges said the trading name
Silicon City would remain because it was actually the parent
company, Bresiden Corporation, that was being wound up.

Australian PC manufacturer and desktop publishing system house
President Computers has also gone into receivership.

Managing director of President, Tom Cooper, blamed a lack of
loyalty to Australian built PCs. "Our own government won't even
buy Australian made PCs so how can I blame US companies in
Australia for not buying Australian." Cooper is a well-respected
PC industry identity in Australia and he has been flooded with
good wishes from industry people.

(Gavin Atkins & Computing Australia/19890913)


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

NEC GIVES IN TO BURNING DESIRE FOR FIRE SALE}
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1989 SEP 16 (NB) -- Following a recent pattern in
Australia, Japanese computer and electronics giant NEC has held a
warehouse sale of massive proportions -- and discounts.

The sale of PCs, printers and accessories is said to be worth
millions, and has dealers up-in-arms because it was open to the
public, and saw discounts of around 60 percent. Typical sales items
were Silentwriter 890 laser printers for $3000 instead of $10,000,
Powermate 386SX portables for $3000 instead of $10,000, GWBasic for
$10, Multispeed portables for less than $1000, and so on. Newsbytes
visited and did very well, thank you.

(Paul Zucker/19890916)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(HKG)(00015)

PHILIPPINE BANKS FORM ATM CONSORTIUM}
MANILA, THE PHILIPPINES, 1989 SEP 12 (NB) -- NCR has teamed up
with Hongkong's Jetco to sell hardware and software worth $1.5
million to the Philippines' first automated teller machine
(ATM) consortium.

MANCnet will provide shared ATM services to customers of
nine Phillipines-based banks. Initially about 280 ATMs will be
switched through an NCR mainframe running Jetco software. More
banks are expected to join the consortium in the short term and
the ATM count will gradually rise to about 600.

Jetco was founded in Hongkong in 1982 and has 41 member banks
sharing a network of 800 ATMs throughout the territory.

(Keith Cameron/19890915)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TYO)(00016)

SUMITOMO 3M TO SELL MAGNETIC-OPTICAL DISKS}
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 SEP 12 (NB) -- Sumitomo 3M, a joint venture
between Japan's general trader Sumitomo and U.S.-based 3M, will
release a 5.25-inch rewritable magnetic-optical disk on October 1.
The disk is only used for the drive unit of Sony's personal
computers and workstations, but it matches the standard
set by the International Standardization Organization. Sumitomo 3M
will import the disks from 3M, which is producing and selling the
disks in the U.S.

The storage capacity of these magetic-optical disks can be
changed to either 594-megabytes or 650-megabytes by different
formatting. Sumitomo will set the disk price the same as that of
Sony, 30,000 yen ($207) each, and expects a few thousand unit
sales per month.

Sumitomo 3M aims to offer disks for the drive units of other
makers, such as Matsushita Communication Industrial, Ricoh, and
Canon, after developing them based on the disk for Sony.

(Ken Takahashi/19890913)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TYO)(00017)

TOSHIBA ADDS DYNABOOK DEALERS}
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 SEP 12 (NB) -- Toshiba is now enlarging the
personal computer market by offering its DynaBook computer through
consumer electronics sales channels. Toshiba has decided
to increase the number of consumer electronics shops dealing in
DynaBooks to 3,000 in three years, which is three times more than
currently selling the computers. Toshiba has also decided to offer
service to its users at its 200 domestic consumer electronics
service bases.

DynaBook has been selling well since its release in June, and currently
accounts for 40 to 50 percent of the dollars generated in Toshiba's
Japanese computer electronics outlets.

(Ken Takahashi/19890913)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TYO)(00018)

HITACHI WORKSTATION PRODUCTION IN U.S.}
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 SEP 12 (NB) -- Hitachi has started the production
of workstations at its U.S. subsidiary, Hitachi Computer Products of
Oklahoma.

Hitachi has been seeking a U.S. production line for personal computers
and workstations, and its huge magnetic disk drive and magnetic tape
recording unit production subsidiary was selected.

The production capacity of the plant is valued at 4.5 million dollars
worth of magnetic disk drives during fiscal 1988, and Hitachi is
planning to boost production to 8 million dollars worth this fiscal
year while the expansion project is being completed this year.
The firm is expecting to sell its workstations to Japanese
securities companies in the U.S.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19890913)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TYO)(00019)

CRAY WOOS ANOTHER JAPANESE CUSTOMER}
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 SEP 7 (NB) -- Fuji Heavy Industries, one of the
largest firms among the world's auto and aircraft industries, is studying
the purchase of a supercomputer from U.S.-based Cray Research.

The firm has found that it is necessary to buy a supercomputer in
order to develop new cars and equipment for aircraft and a
space rocket.

It seeks to introduce the machine to its Mitaka Laboratory in Tokyo
for research and development. Orders are expected to be placed with
Cray by next spring.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19890913)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TYO)(00020)

FORMER IBM JAPAN EXEC NOW HEADS MIPS}
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 SEP 13 (NB) -- A former IBM Japan executive
Yasuhiro Nakagawa has assumed the president's post of MIPS Computer
Systems in Japan. The firm was established as a wholly-owned
subsidiary of U.S.-based MIPS Computer Systems in September
last year, but its president's post has been vacant until now in
order to scout a Japanese candidate.

The Japanese arm of MIPS Computer Systems has attracted much
attention by strategically linking with many Japanese firms
such as NEC, Sony, Sumitomo Electric Industries, and Kubota.

Yasuhiro Nakagawa had worked as manager of development at system
marketing, and afterwards, executive manager of system development
at IBM Japan.

(Ken Takahashi/19890913)


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

DATAPOINT CHIEF BUYS 30 PERCENT OF STOCK}
PARIS, FRANCE, 1989 SEP 16 (NB) -- Datapoint Chairman Asher
Edelman has revealed he has purchased 30 percent of the
company's shares. The purchases, made over a two-day period last
week, were an attempt to prevent a shareholder from trying to
oust him and the company's board.

The Wall Street Journal reports that whilst it gives Edelman a 40
percent stake in the computer product manufacturer, New York
lawyer Martin Ackerman is still keen to get rid of both Edelman
and his board of directors.

Ackerman, which has begun a consent solicitation to replace
Edelman and six directors with his five nominees said: "I am not
giving up. We are moving forward."

Edelman, speaking from his home in Paris, said he bought about
three million shares through Bear, Stearns & Co., at prices of
around $6 a share. Further comment could not be obtained because
of securities rules. After the news broke, Datapoint closed on
the New York Stock Exchange up 12.5 cents at $5.50.

(Eric Dauchy/19890916)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LON)(00022)

DACOM MOVES TO NEW HEADQUARTERS}
MILTON KEYNES, ENGLAND, 1989 SEP 16 (NB) -- Dacom, the modem and
data communications company, has moved to new premises in Milton
Keynes. The move has been necessitated by the sales expansion
the company has enjoyed over the past few years.

All of Dacom's facilities have been centralized to the purpose-
built site, including Datalines, Dacom's data communications
catalogue operation, and Dataservice, the company's installation
and maintenance division.

Dacom's new address, with immediate effect, is: Dacom House,
Presley Way, Crownhill, Milton Keynes MK8 0EF - Tel: [phone]

(Steve Gold/19890916)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TOR)(00023)

NO DECISION ON UNISYS CANADA LAYOFFS}
TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1989 SEP 13 (NB) -- The effect on
Unisys Canada of its parent company's plans to reduce worldwide
staff by seven to eight percent remains undecided, according to
company spokesman Don Edwards. Contrary to some reports in
Toronto daily papers, which indicated more than 250 people would
be cut from the payroll, Edwards said the nature and extent of
staff cuts has not been settled. The decision will be made before
the end of next year, he said. Unisys Canada has approximately
3,000 employees.

(Grant Buckler/19890913/Press Contact: Don Edwards, Unisys
Canada, 865-3850)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TOR)(00024)

OGIVAR HAS HEALTHY PROFIT GAIN}
MONTREAL, QUEBEC, CANADA, 1989 SEP 14 (NB) -- Ogivar, Montreal-
based maker of IBM-compatible personal computers, has reported a
profit of C$1.024 million on revenue of C$35.9 million in the
year ended June 30. Last year's profit was C$600,000 on revenues
of C$27.7 million.

Ogivar, which markets its products in Canada and the United
States, was an early entrant in the 386 PC market. Last month the
company announced plans to redeem five percent of its common
shares at market value over the coming year. This spring, Harris-
Lanier Corp. of Atlanta began selling Ogivar's MS-DOS laptop
computers in the United States through 35 distributors and its
own 350-strong direct sales force, and Ogivar agreed to sell
superminicomputers built by Harris-Lanier in Canada.

(Grant Buckler/19890915/Press Contact: Marie Bisson, Ogivar Inc.,
514-737-3340)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TOR)(00025)

BCE BUYS MORE OF SYSTEMHOUSE}
MONTREAL, QUEBEC, CANADA, 1989 SEP 12 (NB) -- BCE Inc., parent
company of Northern Telecom, Bell Canada and others, has bought
12.4 percent of the stock of SHL Systemhouse of Ottawa, Ontario.
The purchase fulfils BCE's earlier promise to be a standby
purchaser in Systemhouse's C$117.6-million rights offering. BCE's
stake in Systemhouse did not previously include any common
shares. Kinburn Technology of Ottawa retains its 50.1-percent
stake in Systemhouse.

(Grant Buckler/19890915/Press Contact: John Owens, SHL
Systemhouse, 613-238-6648)


(EXCLUSIVE)(GENERAL)(HKG)(00001)

HONG KONG: LOTUS' MANZI FAILS TO IMPRESS}
HONGKONG, 14 SEP 1989 (NB) -- In his first business visit to
Hongkong, Lotus Development Chief Jim Manzi displayed a
distinct lack of empathy with the needs of the Asian
marketplace. He spoke to the Hongkong Management Association
EDP Managers' Club luncheon and Newsbytes was there, eager and
waiting.

Mr Manzi's presentation was slick and professional, but no less
was expected from one of the highest paid executives in the
world. The audience was made up of the majority of Hongkong's
leading IT pragmatic professionals who were eager to hear about
improved product delivery and local support. Unfortunately none
were forthcoming.

Lotus paranoia came through loud and clear when Mr Manzi
claimed that although the legitimate installed based of Lotus
was 8 million, since he had been in this part of the world he
felt that the unofficial installed base was probably 80
million. This sarcastic attempt at humour alluding to the
illegal copying of his product was not received well by his
audience. "Mr Manzi does not seem to realize that if there is a
prevalence of illegal copying in this market or anywhere else,
then perhaps there is something wrong with Lotus' approach to
this market, particularly in the areas of distribution and
support, " one prominent IT man commented to Newsbytes.

An example of this lack of empathy with market demands became
apparent when Mr Manzi responded to a questioner that Lotus
would not introduce a site-licence package. "We are geared to
receive payment for every individual product sold and cannot
consider site-licencing, " he said. This was not received well
by the IT educators in the audience, because they were
left with an impossible situation in the classroom. "We will
have to teach other spreadsheet products from publishers who
have a more pragmatic outlook, " one long-standing educator
told Newsbytes, "Lotus will ultimately lose out."

After spending half an hour extolling the virtues of the Lotus
commitment to a friendly user interface, Mr Manzi said in one
of his replies: "Everybody knows that slash FR means get my
favourite file." In the audience there was grumbling to the
effect of, "Sorry Mr Manzi, everybody doesn't."

Following the luncheon one decision support software expert
said: "It is amazing how Mr Manzi seems to think that his
product is the only one offering features such as 3-D access
and mainframe communications. Others have been doing it for
years. Even IBM had to make a conscious effort to recognize
that it had competitors, but at least they did that about 20
years ago. Perhaps it is symptomatic of a PC software developer
not knowing the market he is entering when he talks mainframe
and mini connection."

(Keith Cameron/19890915)


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

ANOTHER SAFE HAVEN FOR SOFTWARE PIRATES}
ALAMEDA, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 SEP 12 (NB) -- Unison
World is offering a SAFE (software amnesty for everyone) program
to mark the sale of PrintMaster Plus package number 500,000.

This is the third SAFE program established during 1989. The
first from XTree Company has proven so successful that XyQuest
tried a one month SAFE program for its Xywrite program that has
also been a success. The Unison World program is scheduled to
begin October 1 and continue through January 31, 1990.

In an exclusive interview with Newsbytes, Unison World President
Hong Lu explained that the company's SAFE program would cost
users $20 plus $4 shipping and handling while the program
normally lists at $59.95 and sells for about $45.00. For this
money, users will receive a registered diskette with serial
number and a copy of the manual. "One of the big advantages to
many of the users is the fact that we will be shipping the most
current version of PrintMaster regardless of the version that has
been pirated," said Lu. "This means that pirate users who take
advantage of our SAFE program will get a really inexpensive
upgrade."

Bootleg users who use this amnesty to become legal owners will
also be entitled to all the privileges of regular ownership such
as unlimited telephone technical support and availability of
future versions. "The $24 price tag may seem a bit steep to the
individual bootleg copy owner unless he wants the latest version
because the program is easy enough to use without a manual,"
admitted Lu. "On the other hand, at least 30 percent of our
product is being used in corporations, most of which do not like
to do things that are illegal and may have a number of bootleg
copies. We expect these users to take full advantage of our SAFE
program."

Lu told Newsbytes that the purpose of Unison World's SAFE program
is to demonstrate that the company is serious about the industry
and intends to be active in helping to clean up the software
business. "We are working with the SPA (Software Publisher's
Association) to get the industry under control. After the
program expires, we will be keeping track of shareware sellers to
make certain they don't sell our products."

Lu pointed out one other important fact. "Through the media, we
are letting people know that we have this SAFE program and
offering a confidential way for bootleggers to become 'legal.'
Let me point our, however, that anyone who misses this 'window of
opportunity' will be liable should we decide to prosecute and
will not be offered any special pricing for future purchases of
our products."

(Janet Endrijonas/19890915/Press Contact: Michael Cahlin,
Cahlin/Williams Communications, 213/933-4957)


(EXCLUSIVE)(GENERAL)(LAX)(00003)

SPA TO HOLD 1ST INTERNATIONAL CONCLAVE}
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1989 SEP 14 (NB) -- Newsbytes has
learned from Ken Wasch, executive director of the Software
Publisher's Association (SPA), of plans to hold the 1st Annual
International Software Publisher's Association European Software
Conference, June 11-13, 1990 in Cannes, France.

Wasch told Newsbytes that this meeting will provide the first
worldwide opportunity for software publishers to meet and discuss
mutual concerns. The Software Publishers Association is the
principle trade group of the personal computer software industry
with over 525 members.

(Janet Endrijonas/19890915/Press Contact: Jodi Pollock, Software
Publisher's Association, 202-452-1600)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(LAX)(00004)

SPA INSTALLS PIRACY HOTLINE}
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1989 SEP 11 (NB) -- The Software
Publishers Association (SPA) has announced the installation of a
toll-free number to track reports of software piracy.

The toll free number is 800-388-PIR8. It can be used to report
cases of unauthorized duplication of software. Ken Wasch,
executive director of the SPA, told Newsbytes that software theft
affects everyone. "Yes, you can say this is a form of 'big
brotherism' if you want but people are already calling large
publishers with these reports and we are just making the
reporting process easier, more convenient and centralized."

"We are trying to catch four main groups of people," Wasch
explained to Newsbytes. "We want to stop dealers who load hard
disks with bootleg software, corporate end users who buy one copy
of a program and then violate copyrights by duplicating as many
copies as they need, electronic bulletin boards that allow
downloading and people who are just plain software traffickers."

"In the case of the corporate duplicators," Wasch continued, "we
know they buy as many desks as they need, as many computers --
everything except software which they feel free to copy. Often,
the callers the publishers get are from disgruntled employees who
refusal to participate in illegal duplication has resulted in
threats from supervisor or employer."

All reports to the SPA will be followed up. "We hope that the
'cease and desist' letters will do the trick," commented Wasch,
"but often that is not the case. If necessary, we will file
lawsuits as we've already proven." The SPA has filed over 20
lawsuits against dealers, mail order operations, technical
colleges and corporations who have sold or used bootleg copies of
software.

Other methods of keeping the general public aware of SPA's
continuing antipiracy efforts include antipiracy ads that run
in the print media and an SBA publication entitled "Software Use
and the Law."

(Janet Endrijonas/19890915/Press Contact: Jodi Pollock, Software
Publishers Association, 202-452-1600)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SFO)(00005)

ATARI'S PORTFOLIO COMPETES WITH POQET}
SUNNYVALE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 SEP 13 (NB) -- One day after the
introduction of the world's most powerful XT-compatible for its
size, the Poqet PC, Atari has unveiled a one-pound computer of its
own, the Portfolio.

This $400 "palmtop" computer, as it's being called by Atari, accepts
extra memory and MS-DOS programs on credit card-sized integrated
circuit cards, as does the Poqet machine. The base unit has 128K
of random access memory, expandable to 640K, and in read-only
memory is a spreadsheet compatible with Lotus 1-2-3, word
processing software, calculator, personal appointment book,
address book, and phone directory programs. It's driven by AA-sized
batteries.

The system has a 63-key keyboard and LCD display with a 40
column by 8-line character mode and a 240 by 64 pixel graphics
mode. The system's internal software is menu-driven and viewed
in frames and overlapping windows.

The unit is shipping now.

(Wendy Woods/19890916)


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

HYPERCACHE SPEEDS UP ATARI ST}
NECKARGEMUND, WEST GERMANY, 1989 SEP 16 (NB) - Pro-VME, a West
German technology company, has released Hypercache ST, a caching
system for the Atari ST family of micros. The DM 517 module plugs
into the ST's microprocessor slot (in place of the ST's standard
8MHz 68000 microprocessor) and speeds up processing times by as
much as 70 percent, the company claims.

(Steve Gold/19890916/Press and Public Contact: Pro-VME Software -
Tel: [phone])


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(LON)(00007)

FRONTIER SLASHES XTRA-RAM ST PRICES}
HARROGATE, ENGLAND, 1989 SEP 16 (NB) -- Frontier Software has cut
the pricing of its 2MB Xtra-RAM memory expansion card for the Atari
ST family of micros. With immediate effect, the expansion card
falls from UKP 399-95 to UKP 299-95.

According to Martin Walsh, Frontier's marketing manager, the
price cut has been made possible by recent falls in the price of
one megabit DRAM chips. "The decrease in the cost of 1Mb DRAM
chips has enabled us to pass on the price fall to purchasers of
the Xtra-RAM card," he said.

Walsh added that pricing on the rest of Frontier's range of ST
RAM expansion cards (UKP 69-95 unpopulated, UKP 99-95 512K)
remains unchanged for the time being. "We will, of course, pass
on further price falls, but we don't expect there to be any
further drop before the end of the year," he said.

(Steve Gold/19890916/Press & Public Contact: Martin Walsh,
Frontier Software - Tel: [phone]; Email on Dialcom -
72:MAG40240)


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

TI MOVES FORWARD ON HDTV}
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 SEP 13 (NB) -- Texas Instruments Japan
Ltd. has announced an agreement with Nippon Hoso Kyokai (NHK)
under which NHK will transfer its advanced television receiver
technology (MUSE or Hi-Vision) to TI.

TI plans to combine this high-definition television (HDTV)
technology with the company's close customer relationships and
technological strengths to supply leading-edge integrated
circuits to Japanese television makers. This strategy is
expected to increase TI's penetration of the Japanese
semiconductor market.

TI also plans to work with customers in Europe and the US to
adapt TI's semiconductor technology to the HDTV standards
elsewhere in the world. These plans are part of TI's overall
strategy to focus on and penetrate the advanced vision systems
(AVS) segment of the semiconductor consumer market including
improved-definition television (IDTV), enhanced-definition
television (EDTV), HDTV and complementary AVS segments such as
audio systems, camcorders, advanced cameras and videotape
recorders.

Financial details of the agreement were not revealed but TI will
be paying NHK for the technology transfer.

(Janet Endrijonas/19890915/Press Contact: Ted Jernigan, Texas
Instruments, 214-997-5467)


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

DISTRIBUTED COMPUTING ON A MULTIVENDOR COMMON PLATFORM}
DALLAS, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1989 SEP 12 (NB) -- Sun
Microsystems, Netwise and Novell have unveiled a solution that
simplifies the creation of distributed applications (software
that makes use of multiple computers on a network) and will run,
without modification, across a wide range of operating systems,
hardware architecture and network transports.

This solution will allow software developers to build and
distribute to their customers a single software package that will
run on many PC local area networks, interacting with software on
other computers running other operating systems and connected
into different types of networks. By pooling their technologies,
the three vendors in this solution have greatly simplified the
development of distributed computing.

A number of leading software developers and system vendors have
endorsed this multivendor solution. It is expected that this
solution will get around the problems caused by a lack of
standards in mixed-vendor networks and accelerate the industry
into the era of client-server network computing.

(Janet Endrijonas/19890915/Press Contact: Dennis Freeman, Sun
Microsystems, 415-336-6117)


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

TELENETICS INTROS NETWORK MANAGEMENT SYSTEM}
ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 SEP 4 (NB) -- Telenetics has
announced the availability of Telenetics Network Management
(TNM), a management system for data networks that includes
hardware, software and connectivity.

TNM turns a PC into a network management center, able to manage a
variety of devices from virtually any manufacturer including
modems, multiplexers, computer ports and other non-modem
transducers. When used with Telenetics TC921 modems, the system
can provide network security including "hacker entry" warning.

In a related announcement, Telenetics has revealed two features
added to its TC921 series modems, security and remote
configuration. The security option provides a series of security
levels that feature lock or unlock access to individual commands.

While security is an optional feature, remote configuration will
now be a standard feature.

Telenetics TC921 modems transmit data at 9600 bps (19.2K with
data compression) fully implementing the CCITT V.32 protocol. A
2400 bps version, upgradable to 9600 bps is also available. All
applicable features including the security option are also
available on the 2400 bps model.

The list price for the 9600 bps model is $995.00. The security
option adds $595.00

(Janet Endrijonas/19890915/Press Contact: Julie York, York Public
Relations, 818-990-3698)


(EXCLUSIVE)(GENERAL)(LAX)(00011)

PCPI CLARIFIES PRICING MOVE}
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 SEP 11 (NB) -- In an
exclusive interview with Eric Gaer, director of marketing at
Personal Computer Products Inc., Newsbytes has learned the
rationale behind the surprise drop in prices announced by PCPI on
the heels of that company's rash of new product announcements.

"At COMDEX last November, we announced a partnership with
Motorola to produce ASICs (application specific integrated
circuits) in an effort to keep our prices for these chips down,"
explained Gaer. "That combined with a more stable US dollar on
the worldwide currency market and a levelling out of the price of
DRAM (dynamic random access memory) chips, allowed us to reduce
our prices to a more competitive industry level."

"The fact that the price reductions coincided with the product
announcements was accidental," continued Gaer. "A year ago we
had already begun working on lower cost production. We had also
been working on adjusting the prices on our entire product line
and everything came together at the same time."

"This is a crazy business. At various levels of the printer
business there are a lot of commodity price games being played.
What we have done is to take a positive step in remaining
competitive, especially in light of the recent price increases
various competing manufacturers have announced, especially in
Europe. We want to set a price at which our resellers can
maintain their margins."

(Janet Endrijonas/19890915/Press Contact: Eric Gaer, Personal
Computer Products Inc., 619-485-8411)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SYD)(00012)

AUSTRALIA LAGS IN DISASTER RECOVERY}
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1989 SEP 11 (NB) - Dennis Oldham, a US senior
consultant with Total Assets Protection blames a lack of company
laws for Australia's lagging behind a worldwide trend to
implement computer disaster recovery planning.

"Because executives in Australia are not held responsible for
data loss in disasters such as fires, floods, or other
catastrophes, Australian companies do not see the necessity to
implement contingency plans," he said. Oldham believes Australian
companies will soon be exposed to disaster planning through the
local subsidiaries of US companies.

(Gavin Atkins & Computing Australia/19890913)


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

COCKATOO SAYS "AHHHK, POLLY WANNA WORD PROCESSOR!"}
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1989 SEP 15 (NB) -- Microsoft Australia has
launched promotion for its Word WP program, by sending a toy
sulfur-crested cockatoo to the secretaries or personal assistants of
the top 1500 executives in Australia. The high intensity campaign,
complete with parties at the zoo for recipients, is meant to show how
users can 'spread their wings and fly high with Microsoft Word."

(Paul Zucker/19890916)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(TYO)(00014)

MATSUSHITA'S 1ST ORIGINAL COMPUTER}
OSAKA, JAPAN, 1989 SEP 13 (NB) -- Matsushita Electric Industrial
has developed an original computer for the first time in its
history, and will sell it at the end of next month, according to
Nihon Keizai Shimbun newspaper. A Matsushita spokesman has
expressed his deep regret over this report, saying that the formal
announcement will be made next month.

Called BE workstation, the new computer will be sold through data
service company JIP, which has signed a sales licencing agreement
with Matsushita Computer System which was set up last year for
developing and selling computer systems by Matsushita Electric
Industrial. JIP will sell BE workstations bundled with software
and expects sales of over 1.5 billion yen ($10.3 million) in the
initial year. The basic price of the BE workstation will be about
three million yen ($20,700).

(Ken Takahashi/19890913)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(BRU)(00015)

GARTNER GROUP IN FRANCE}
PARIS, FRANCE, 1989 SEP 16 (NB) -- The Gartner Group, a US-
headquartered research company, wants to shed its American image
and take on a European appearance for the single European market-
place of 1992.

"The Gartner Group has long had an American connotation," said
Jacques Schmitte, head of the company's French operations. "But
with the arrival of the single European market in 1992, demand
for services by French companies and other European firms will
keep increasing," he added.

In connection with the image change, Schmitte said that the
company plans to open a European head office in Southern France.

The Gartner Group France is distributor of worldwide marketing
studies by its US parent and Infocorp, a company which the group
acquired in December 1986.

In November this year, the Gartner Group France will host a
three-day media event call 'Scenario for the IT industry' at
Monte Carlo, modelled on a similar event which the parent company
hosts in the U.S..

At the event, Jacques Maison-Rouge, IBM's vice president, will
present his views of the industry on a global scale. It is
expected about 200 people will travel to Monte Carlo for the
group's vision of the industry for the next five years.

(Eric Dauchy/19890916)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(BRU)(00016)

OLIVETTI'S RESTRUCTURING PLANS}
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM, 1989, SEP 16 (NB) -- Vittorio Cassoni, chief
operating officer at Olivetti, has told the London Financial Times
that extensive talks on reorganizing Olivetti are taking place
at all levels throughout the company's European operations.

He refused to indicate how advanced the talks were, saying the
reorganization process could take a number of years. But he added
that the profitability of the European industry had declined
considerably over the last year, with increasing pressure on
profit margins. Olivetti's strategy will be to pursue deals that
give it additional access to markets rather than technology, he
said.

"Technology in the industry is becoming a commodity. We think we
already have the right product platforms and the correct
strategy, so our investment will be driven by our needs for
market presence," he said.

Cassoni, who returned from AT&T 16 months ago, added that
restructuring was "unlikely to be determined by straightforward
cash acquisitions." It would rather be a variety of merger and
joint venture arrangements, he said. Olivetti posted recently a
40 percent fall in its first half-year pre-tax profits to 103,000
million Lira ($73 million) .

Olivetti will shortly unveil a series of products as part of a
new policy to introduce equipment based on the latest technology
as soon as other leading companies in the industry. The new
products include a low cost PC to compete directly with the
Amstrad range and other cheap IBM-compatibles produced in the Far
East. Olivetti is also moving into the facsimile market with a
machine designed in cooperation with Sanyo and Mitsui of Japan.
An Intel 486 microprocessor-based PC will also be introduced
soon.

(Eric Dauchy/19890916)


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

COMCEN RELEASES CD-ROM ADD-PACK}
SWANSEA, WALES, 1989 SEP 16 (NB) -- Comcen has released a range
of CD-ROM (compact disk, read-only memory) kits for use with
IBM PCs, PS/2s and compatibles, as well as all the Apple
Macintosh series. Pricing on the 'Add-Packs,' as the company
calls them, ranges from UKP 650 to UKP 699.

In addition to the kits, Comcem is supplying a CD-ROM disk packed
with thousands of public domain and share programs, operating
system extensions and a year's subscription to the UK CD-ROM user
group newsletter, which normally costs UKP 49.

The key feature of the Add-Packs, according to Paul Fletcher,
marketing executive with Comcen, is that the packages contain
everything to get the user up and running with a CD-ROM unit in
his/her own PC or Macintosh, rather than having to hunt around
for all the individual items.

(Steve Gold/19890916/Press & Public Contact: Paul Fletcher,
Comcen - Tel: [phone])


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(TOR)(00018)

GANDALF, CONSUMERS TO INTEGRATE PRODUCTS}
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA, 1989 SEP 11 (NB) --
Consumers Software, based here, and Gandalf Technologies of
Ottawa, Ontario, have agreed to integrate Consumers' Network
Courier electronic mail software with Gandalf's Starmaster
network processor. Gandalf will sell an electronic mail system
incorporating Network Courier along with elements of the
Starmaster and its StarPort DOS processing engine. The system
will interconnect mainframes, PCs, and desktop workstations
operating on Starmaster's network system.

Network Courier operates on Novell, 3Com, Banyan and MS-Net-
compatible networks. The Gandalf deal follows closely on an
agreement with IBM last spring, under which a customized version
of Network Courier forms the base of the MS-DOS electronic mail
component of IBM's OfficeVision and IBM sells Network Courier
through its own sales force and distributors in the United States
and Canada.

(Grant Buckler/19890912/Press Contact: Michael Shandrick,
Consumers Software, 604-688-4548; Janice Drummond, Gandalf
Technologies, 312-541-6060)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(TOR)(00019)

IBM CANADA, YORK UNIVERSITY ANNOUNCE PROJECT}
TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1989 SEP 14 (NB) -- IBM Canada and York
University in Toronto have announced a three-year cooperative
project to develop new computer applications and teaching methods
using relational databases, expert systems, video disks and
voice-response systems. The project involves York's Faculty of
Administrative Studies and its Osgoode Hall law school.

IBM will donate equipment, software and support services valued
at C$900,000. They will include an AS/400 minicomputer, PS/2
personal computers and software. Osgoode Hall will contribute
C$450,000 from its centennial fund-raising campaign, and the
Faculty of Administrative Studies will provide equipment
maintenance and support valued at C$1.4 million.

The project will provide access to business and legal databases,
such as stock exchange information, business news and government
statistics. Video disk technology will be used in courses. Expert
systems will be developed with the cooperation of experts in
both faculties, and voice-response technology will be used to
provide a variety of information to students.

(Grant Buckler/19890915/Press Contact: Cathy Sproule, York
University, 416-736-5010)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(TOR)(00020)

COMPUTERLAND TO SERVICE NORTEL FAX MACHINES}
TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1989 SEP 11 (NB) -- ComputerLand Canada
will service Northern Telecom's PerFAXion line of facsimile
machines across Canada, the companies have announced. The
agreement is the first for nationwide service of the PerFAXion
line. It covers both warranty and extended-warranty service.
ComputerLand has more than 75 sales and service locations across
Canada. The two companies are connected through BCE Inc. of
Montreal, Quebec, Northern's parent, which owns a share of
ComputerLand Canada parent company Kinburn Technology, of Ottawa,
Ontario.

(Grant Buckler/19890915/Press Contact: MaryLynn Hillier, Northern
Telecom, 416-238-7162)


(EXCLUSIVE)(GOVT)(LAX)(00001)

SOVIET SCHOOLS TO GET PERSONAL COMPUTERS}
IRVINE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 SEP 11 (NB) -- Phoenix
Group International has signed a joint venture agreement with two
divisions of the Soviet State Committee for Public Education to
develop and distribute 3 million PCs to schools and universities
in the USSR. The agreement also includes the possible sale of an
additional 3 million PCs to other Soviet users.

The joint venture, known as SAMCOM, has been established to
develop a "world class" personal computer manufacturing,
marketing and service industry in the Soviet Union. Phoenix has
agreed to share 50 percent of all profits resulting from the
venture with SAMCOM.

While Phoenix has prior experience in joint Soviet-American
ventures through its subsidiary Resdel Industries' involvement in
the communications capabilities for the Soyuz/Apollo Joint Space
Mission, the company has been said to have limited experience in
making or selling personal computers. In an interview with
Newsbytes, Phoenix spokesman Jack Spencer explained that he has
experience in computer terminal manufacturing and others in the
company come from motherboard manufacturing backgrounds. Spencer
also added that "the company we bought last year, Netcom
Research, Inc., makers of local area networks and 'dumb'
terminals will heavily involved."

Phoenix has said it won out over other companies around the world
being considered for this venture because of its technology and
the attractive financial terms it offered. From the Soviet side,
the reason given for choosing Phoenix was that the company did
not insist on being paid entirely in US dollars and was willing
to help the Soviets learn computer manufacturing. In place of
full cash payment, Phoenix has agreed to accept Soviet
commodities with an Austrian bank acting as broker.

Some questions arise regarding Phoenix's ability to uphold its
end of the venture. Not only does the company lack experience in
making and selling PCs, its financial picture is not the rosiest.

Phoenix has broken even on sales of $10 million in the last 12
months and its largest subsidiary, Resdel has lost money
consistently since 1987 and is expected to continue the losing
trend this year.

Spencer told Newsbytes that the company is confident in its
ability to fulfill its commitment. "We look at this as the start
of a long range partnership between the Soviet government and
Phoenix. This program will ultimately provide the USSR with the
ability to manufacture these systems in their own country. This
is not just a 'sale;' it is a technology transfer. Their
students will gain and the world will benefit."

Spencer also told Newsbytes that the technology involved (286
chips) is not on the embargoed list. "The first 3 million that
go to the Soviet school system will consist of a PC to be used as
a file server and 10 'dumb terminal' student work stations."

"We see this joint venture and the fact that Soviet schools will
be able to teach all subjects using computer technology like our
schools will facilitate a substantial improvement in
communication and understanding which we hope will make the world
of tomorrow a better place to live for everyone," concluded
Spencer.

Phoenix is scheduled to ship the first 10 systems within the next
30 to 45 days.

(Janet Endrijonas/19890915/Press Contact: Jack B. Spencer,
Phoenix Technologies, 714-955-0808)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(LAX)(00002)

GO-VIDEO WINS RIGHT TO SUE JAPANESE VCR MAKERS}
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA, U.S.A., 1989 SEP 13 (NB) -- In a
landmark decision by the U.S. District Court of Appeals, Go-
Video, Inc., has been given the right to sue the Japanese
manufacturers of VCR equipment in Federal Court in Phoenix.

Go-Video holds the patent on the VCR-2, the world's first dual
deck VCR. Their original complaint alleges that a number of
foreign VCR makers conspired to prevent the marketing of dual
deck VCRs in the US. Go-Video has filed suit against Matsushita
Electric Industrial and others including Sony, JVC, Sharp
Electronics, Sanyo and NEC.

Go-Video filed suit in US District Court alleging proper venue
under the Alien Venue Act while the Japanese defendants filed
motions to dismiss alleging lack of personal jurisdiction and
improper venue. Both the US District Court and the Court of
Appeals have now ruled in favor of Go-Video.

When first shown several years ago, the Go-Video dual deck VCR
faced opposition from the movie and video industry because it
allowed anyone to duplicate a video tape without paying
royalties. There was concern that this machine would encourage
video piracy although at the time, R. Terren Dunlap, CEO of Go-
Video assured everyone that the system was too slow to be
profitable for full scale piracy and would merely replace the two
VCR family with a single unit.

This decision is a landmark in that it opens the way for other
American companies damaged by foreign cartels in the American
market can sue in the US under the antitrust laws. Go-Video
expects the lawsuit to come to trial in late 1989 or early 1990.

Go-Video's patented VCR-2 will be the first consumer oriented
dual-deck VCR. A limited supply of these machines that can
record two programs simultaneously, record one program while
playing back another tape and allow tape editing and duplication
will be available in consumer outlets in mid-December.

(Janet Endrijonas/19890915/Press Contact: Rhonda Tiemeyer, Martz
& Associates, 602-998-3154)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(LAX)(00003)

SUIT FILED AGAINST AT&T}
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 SEP 12 (NB) -- Microproject
Corp. has announced the filing of a multimillion dollar breach of
contract suit against AT&T. In addition to breach of contract, the
suit alleges fraud, conspiracy and attempt to monopolize.

Microproject is a manufacturer of multiuser/multitasking Unix-
based computer systems. The suit claims that AT&T knowingly
supplied an "inherently defective" WE32100 Unix chip set for
Microproject's Unicorn B computers, a chip set that AT&T had
discontinued using in its own directly competitive Unix-based
computers. As a result, users of Microproject systems had a
number of problems including random system crashes, data
destruction and file corruption.

Microproject has also alleged that AT&T did not sell these
defective chip sets to other manufacturers.

(Janet Endrijonas/19890915)


(EXCLUSIVE)(GOVT)(LAX)(00004)

NEW BOOK DETAILS EDI AND AMERICAN LAW}
DALLAS, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1989 SEP 15 (NB) -- A book entitled
"EDI and American Law: A Practical Guide" has just been released
by its publisher, The Electronic Data Interchange Association, which
also sponsored the research and writing of the volume.

The thesis of the book is that electronic communication can
achieve the same legal goals achieved by paper communication.
The book is aimed at corporate readers but contains many items of
information relevant to the smaller business and individuals --
anyone who signs contracts and purchase orders.

In an interview with Newsbytes, author Benjamin Wright explained
that this is the first book in North America (there is another
book by someone else focussed on international transactions) to
handle this subject and aim directly at American law. Wright is
a practicing attorney in Dallas.

Wright told Newsbytes that his book discusses where electronic
transactions are headed. He brings up all relevant issues,
discusses possible answers and expresses his opinions on the
answers and what they mean. "There are many 'fuzzy' areas in the
laws," Wright told Newsbytes, "and in my book, I discuss ways in
which corporations can deal with these uncertainties. For
example, a law such as the 'Statute of Frauds' needs to be
updated to specifically include the electronic communication
alternative."

Wright concludes that it is possible to transact commerce via
computer despite what some lawyers say - -a handwritten signature
is not always necessary. Wright told Newsbytes: "Some laws, as
currently written, are confusing because they include words like
'written' and 'signature' which most people define in the classic
way rather than including electronic methods such as computer
codes."

The book is available through the publisher in Alexandria, VA for
$69.95.

(Janet Endrijonas/19890915/Press Contact: Benjamin Wright,
Author, 214-526-5254)


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

AUSTRALIAN COMPUTER TRESPASS CHARGE}
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA, 1989 SEP 11 (NB) - An employee of a
Melbourne software development company has been charged with
computer trespass after he allegedly stole the source code to a
new financial management system valued at AUS$1.5M. The source
code was the original blueprint for the system, and it could have
been used by competitors to develop similar systems.

The man was allegedly caught downloading the source code onto his
own diskette on August 1. The system's object code, or the
machine language version which runs on the computer, is intended
to be retailed to large companies with minicomputers, for about
AUS$20,000

Fraud Squad Senior Detective Maurice Lynn of the Victorian Police said,
"If he had sold the source code then he would have faced a charge
of obtaining financial advantage by deception, but as he hadn't,
we charged him with unauthorized access to a computer system
because there isn't a charge for stealing information in this
country."

The employee is the second person to be charged under Victorian
legislation guarding against unlawful computer access, which was
introduced in June last year.

(Gavin Atkins & Computing Australia/19890913)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(SYD)(00006)

AUSTRALIAN COMPUTERS REPLACE JOBS}
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1989 SEP 11 (NB) - A new AUS$28M computer
system will make 500 jobs redundant in the New South Wales
government roads and traffic authority, or RTA, but guarantees
have been made that no employees will be sacked.

Transport Minister, Bruce Baird said, "Staff affected by the
changes will be offered a choice of retraining and redeployment
to other RTA positions or voluntary redundancy."

The computer system will include the purchase of two mainframes,
140 personal computers, improved communications facilities and
software research and development. Mr Baird said it was expected
the RTA would save AUS$18 million per year.

Meanwhile, the 4500 members of the Public Sector Union who work
for the Australian Tax Office are threatening to strike after the
Union withdrew from negotiations with the tax office over a new
computerization scheme. A final agreement for the scheme is
expected to be drafted within two months.

(Gavin Atkins & Computing Australia/19890913)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(SYD)(00007)

AUSTRALIAN ARRESTED FOR SHIPPING TO COMMUNISTS}
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1989 SEP 15 (NB) -- Federal police have uncovered a
scheme to illegally export US high-tech products to Communist countries.
They have made arrests in a case where equipment was to be shipped via
Singapore to Russia. The equipment consisted of AUS$80,000 in
Leading Edge PCs and laser printers.

(Paul Zucker/19890916)


(EXCLUSIVE)(GOVT)(BRU)(00008)

U.S. COMPUTING PROGRAM TO SPEND $1,900 MILLION}
WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A., 1989 SEP 13 (NB) -- The Office of Science
and Technology released its long-awaited report on the future of
high performance computing in the United States.

The report, which lays out the needs for high performance
computers including hardware and software, asks for an investment
of $1,900 million over the next five years. The money will be
split among four major areas: high performance computing
systems, advanced software technology, national research
education network, and basic research and human resources.

Dr. Allan Bromley, the recently-confirmed science advisor to the
President, said, "this report does not represent the
administration's view point and none of the programs are in the
President's budget request. It is to be used for agency planning
purposes."

The twenty problems, which will to be solved by new and extremely
high performance computers include:

[] Prediction of weather, climate and global effects - a process
which currently takes far too long for its results to have any
bearing in the short-term.

[] Challenges in materials science which needs fast computers to
understand the atomic nature of materials.

[] Semiconductor design with gallium arsenide elements, a new and
extremely fast substance needs fast computers to understand how
these circuits work and how they can be enhanced.

[] Superconductivity and its relationship to modern materials.

[] Structural biology in conjunction with massive volumes of data
created by NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) spectroscopy.

[] Drug design, human genome and quantum chromodynamics are other
areas which would require fast computers to analyse the data
created.

[] Astronomy and especially support for the Very Large Array
would required fast computers to digest the amounts of data which
currently takes years to process (such as data recently set back
by the Voyager probe).

[] Transportation, vehicle signature and turbulence effects are
areas which need special and high efficiency computing systems.

[] Nuclear fusion is another important area where computer
operating at high speeds can be used to help design cores to be
used for energy generation using nuclear fusion reactors (against
fission reactors used today).

[] Efficiency of combustion systems, enhanced oil and gas
recovery as well as computational ocean sciences need very fast
computers for processing the volumes of data produced.

[] Finally, speech analysis, vision and undersea surveillance
round the types of applications envisaged by these super
computers.

(Peter Vekinis/19890916)


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

CHARGES AGAINST TORONTO SOFTWARE RENTER DROPPED}
TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1989 SEP 13 (NB) -- The Crown Attorney
has dropped charges against Terence Ram, whose Toronto store was
charged with copyright violations for renting evaluation copies
of popular software. Charges of fraud and theft were laid in
September, 1985, and the case had gone through two trials and an
appeal. In April, Ram had won the right to a retrial due to
improper jury selection.

The Crown Attorney's office said the case was dropped partly
because adoption of Canada's new Copyright Act last year reduced
the importance of setting a precedent, partly because the accused
had been brought into court three times already and partly
because of the expense of bringing in witnesses from major
software vendors in the United States, including IBM, Lotus and
Ashton-Tate.

(Grant Buckler/19890913)


(NEWS)(IBM)(ATL)(00001)

NEW PORTABLE PCs FOR CHRISTMAS}
SUNNYVALE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 SEP 12 (NB) -- Major
introductions were made in the field of laptop computers during
the week, a field which has been growing in sales faster than the
PC market as a whole.

Toshiba launched a 17 lb. (7 kg.) laptop with 6 expansion slots
and the Intel 80386SX chip as the high-end of its extensive U.S.
line. The new machine will be pushed as a replacement for desktop
machines. The company's lightest PC, nicknamed the "DynaBook,"
has been such a hot seller in Japan, meanwhile, the company is
holding off introducing it to the U.S. market. Also on the high
end, in weight, capabilities, and price, is a new 20 lb. (8 kg.)
machine from Comcen of the UK, which features a CD-ROM drive and
a desktop price of UKP 2,495-3,995 ($3,750- 6,000).

Victor of the UK trotted out a middleweight contender in its
battery-powered V86P. The new machine weighs just 8.4 lbs. (3.5
kg.) with its optional 20 megabyte hard drive, and costs UKP
1,499 ($2,250), or UKP 999 ($1,500) without the hard drive. This
is much lower than the Toshiba 1200 at UKP 2,395 ($3,600) and
Zenith's Supersport at UKP 2,595 ($3,750)

The most excitement, however, was generated by two lightweights.
Announced on September 12 was the Poqet PC from Poqet Computer,
from a U.S. firm controlled by Fujitsu. The $2,000, IBM XT
compatible box weighs just 1 lb. (.4 kg.), and can run 100 hours
on AA batteries. Shipments are expected by the end of the year.
The Poqet costs $1,995, and uses credit-card sized memory cards
to store up to 512 KB of memory. Standard applications are
bundled with the computer, including an address book, scheduler,
a calculator and a basic word processor, along with a
communications program. Fujitsu will make a Japanese-language
version of the machine for sale in Japan.

Atari, meanwhile, announced the immediate availability of the
Portfolio(TM), a 1-pound (.4 kg.) personal computer with a
standard typewriter-style keyboard. The machine, slightly smaller
than a VCR tape, retails for $399.95 and runs MS-DOS. It's
powered by three standard "AA" alkaline batteries and includes a
a lot of built-in software to keep that weight down. It runs
with 128 KB of RAM, expandable to 640 KB at a sacrifice in
weight.

Finally, Sharp launched its $299 PC-E500 pocket computer, a .5
lb. (.2 kg.) unit with a tiny keyboard designed for engineers,
with 1,101 built-in math functions constants.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890915/ James Fisher, Atari, 408-745-2000)


(NEWS)(IBM)(SYD)(00002)

MAC SCREEN MAKER MOVES TO IBM MARKET}
SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 SEP 18 (NB) -- Radius, a leading (and
award winning) manufacturer of high-end screens for the Macintosh, has
entered the IBM PC marketplace with a two-page monitor. "No one knows
more about how to produce a high quality image in a large screen
format than Radius," said President Mike Bolch.

The Radius two-page display and interface card provide 1280 x 960
graphics with a 65Hz refresh rate and is capable of showing two full
pages at 8 point. The system also runs software at VGA, EGA, MDA,
CGA and Hercules, including 16 gray-level 640 x 480 VGA.

The system is shipped with software to support large-screen fonts,
change graphics modes from the keyboard, shadow random access
memory for BIOS acceleration, and diagnostics.

The monitor will ship in the US in November, with a list price of
$1495 plus $695 for the interface card. Radius recently won the top
three places in Macworld World Class awards for monochrome displays,
taking 75 percent of the vote.

(Paul Zucker/19890916)


(NEWS)(IBM)(LON)(00003)

AMSTRAD: NEW PCS, BUDGET FAX & BUNDLES}
BRENTWOOD, ENGLAND, 1989 SEP 16 (NB) -- Amstrad has announced a
swathe of new products in the PC and fax market, coupled
with bundling promotions for its older PCW1512 and PPC machines.
To back up the entire ensemble, the company has announced a UKP
12 million advertising campaign which runs for the next three
months.

Spearheading a price assault on the 80286 and 80386-based PC
market are the 80286-based PC1286 and 80386-based PC1386
series, with both machines available with a choice of two mono
and two colour monitors, or as a system unit on its own. The
machines are essentially stripped-down versions of the existing
PC2286 and PC2386 series.

Pricing on the PC1286 starts at UKP 750 for a 12MHz 80286-based
system unit with 1MB of RAM and a single 2.5-inch disk drive. A
12-inch mono monitor adds UKP 149 to this price, with 14-inch
colour, 12-inch high resolution colour and 14-inch high resolution colour
monitors available for, respectively, UKP 249, UKP 249 and UKP
449 extra.

The 20MHz 80386-based PC1386 is available on a similar basis,
pricing starting at UKP 1,250 for the system unit, through to UKP
1,699 for a 14-inch high resolution colour monitor package. Both
machines support VGA graphics as standard.

Malcolm Miller, Amstrad's group sales and marketing director,
said that the new PCs are in response to user demand. "We
consider that up to 30 per cent of the market for 286/386
machines is not satisfied with highly specified models. There is
a gap for the value-added market, which we aim to fill with our
new PC1286 and PC1386," he said.

Amstrad's launch into the fax market centres around the UKP
599 FX9600T unit, which features a 20-page cutter and 100-number
memory. The fax machine also features a 16-grey scale scanner,
plus a Centronics port to allow data to be dumped from a PC as if
it were a printer. Newsbytes notes that the nearest comparable
fax machine with these features costs at least twice the price of
the Amstrad unit

Amstrad will also begin a major promotion its Z80-based PCW1512
and PPC PC portable series from 1 October. Purchasers of the PCW
machine will receive a bundled UKP 99 automatic sheet feeder.
Buyers of all models of the PPC portable will receive a free
Motorola 8500X portable cellular phone, worth UKP 400 at current
prices.

Supporting the PCW1512 and PPC promotions will be major
advertising campaigns worth, respectively, UKP 3.8 million and
UKP 825,000. The campaigns form part of a UKP 12 million
advertising spend between now and the end of December, said
Miller.

"Our advertising and promotional campaigns during the first half
of this year helped to keep the name of Amstrad at the forefront
of the computer industry. Now, with this newly announced UKP 12
million additional spend for the autumn, we are set to make
further inroads into the UK computer market," he said.

(Steve Gold/19890916/Press Contact: Nick Hewer, Michael Joyce
Consultants - Tel: [phone])


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

BROWN BAG DISCOUNTS SOFTWARE}
CAMPBELL, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 SEP 16 (NB) -- Brown Bag has
drastically slashed the price of three of its eight products, and
has announced a student price for two software packages.

PC-Outline, the personal information manager, is now $89.95
compared to $195. Easy Presentation Graphics, a product which
Brown Bag claims will produce your first graph in five minutes or
your money back, was reduced from $295 to $89.95. Homebase, a
desktop organizer, is now $49.95 compared to $89.95.

Finally, Mindreader, a word processing program which the company
says uses a patented artificial intelligence engine to help you
write, as well as PC-Outline, are $29.95 to students. Brown Bag
President Sandy Schupper explains, "We're planting seeds for the future,"
in offering the low cost to students. The company is also seeking
campus representatives to work on commission selling Brown
Bag software.

(Wendy Woods/19890916/Press Contact: Sandy Schupper, 408-
559-4606)


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

NEW COMPUTER BASED ON EISA SPECS}
IRVINE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 SEP 14 (NB) -- Advanced
Logic Research has announced it will make a desktop computer
based on EISA (Extended Industry Standard Architecture)
specifications using Intel's 80486 chip.

The new computer will be named Power Cache 4e and should begin
selling in the first quarter of 1990. If that estimated sales
data is met, Advanced Logic will be the first company to ship a
PC with EISA, the computer architecture developed by Compaq and
other clone makers as an alternative to IBM's Micro Channel
architecture.

Advanced Logic previously announced its plan to sell a 486-based
micro channel clone beginning in October.

The entry level model of Power Cache 4e will have 150 MBytes of
memory, super VGA display and will be priced at $12,995.

(Janet Endrijonas/19890915/Press Contact: Dave Kirkey, Advanced
Logic Research, 714-581-6770)


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

NEW VERSION OF NORTON COMMANDER RELEASED}
SANTA MONICA, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 SEP 7 (NB) -- Peter
Norton Computing has announced an expanded version of the
company's DOS manager, The Norton Commander.

The Norton Commander is a software utility that simplifies and
enhances the DOS operating system for PCs. Version 3.0 features
expanded file viewers and Commander Mail for automated electronic
mail. The new version also has Commander Link that allows file
transfers between any two PCs using a serial port connector
cable.

Commander 3.0 supports both mouse and keyboard use. It can
operate any IBM PC, PS/2 or compatible and requires 13K of memory
when used to load another application. Suggested list price is
$149.00. The optional cable for use with Commander Link sells
for $29.95.

(Janet Endrijonas/19890915/Press Contact: Belinda Young, Miller
Communications, 213-822-4669)


(NEWS)(IBM)(TYO)(00007)

IBM JAPAN SETS AGENDA FOR 90S}
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 SEP 11 (NB) -- IBM Japan, which has been evolving
its business by rolling out its five-year vision every year, will
complete a plan for its management vision for the first half of
the 1990s this fall, and implement it starting next year.

In order to achieve domestic (Japanese) sales of 2,000 billion yen
($1.38 billion) in 1995, which is more than twice that of the last
fiscal year, IBM Japan will lay plans for employees, production
systems, and alliances with other companies.

Last year IBM Japan showed favorable growth, with total sales over
1,000 billion yen ($6.9 billion). Domestic sales last year were
recorded at 838.5 billion yen ($5,780 million) which is a 12.8 percent
increase over the previous year.

As a basis for maintaining its future growth, IBM Japan is aiming
to strengthen business relations with its joint ventures and
related firms, by increasing the number of its employees 1.5 times
from that of its current 23,000 by 1995.

(Ken Takahashi/19890913)


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

SEIKO-EPSON LAUNCHES LOW-PRICED 32-BIT PC}
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 SEP 12 (NB) -- Following the release of its 32-bit
personal computer, PC-386, this February, Seiko-Epson has launched a
low-priced version, PC-386V, at bargain price of 4980,000 yen or
$3,435. This is amazingly 100,000 yen ($690) lower than the
predecessor.

The low price is based on a downgrade of certain functions.
The basic performance of the new machine is limited to that of the
PC-286, except that it has a 20 megahertz Intel 80386 processing
unit and a 1.6-megabyte main memory.

The operating system adopted for the new machine is Japanese OS/2
Ver 1.1 in order to maintain compatibility with NEC's personal
computers, the PC9801 series. Fujitsu, Microsoft and other Japanese
makers are working to standardize the OS/2 operating system.
Seiko-Epson's OS/2 is a version compatible with the NEC PC9801
series.

The firm is expecting 30,000 units to be sold the first year.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19890913)


(NEWS)(IBM)(BRU)(00009)

IBM RELEASES C LANGUAGE COMPILER FOR AS/400}
STUTTGART, WEST GERMANY, 1989 SEP 5 (NB) -- IBM has released a C
language compiler for the AS/400 series of mid-range computers.
The language runs on the B35 and B45 systems.

The language, C/400 which also runs under the OS/400 operating
system. The B35 and B45 models are new in the series and offer
between 8MB and 40MB memory and up to 9,600MB hard disks.

The systems can support up to 160 terminals (although the B45 can
have up to 240 locals screens attached). The new systems offer
entry level performance of (on a relative scale) 1 against 7.3
for the B70, the largest model in the series.

The AS/Entry series is a development of the IBM 5363 family. The
new products of the range, the A10, A20 and A22, are relatively
inexpensive systems with a large price performance capability.
Disk memory capacity ranges up to 1,200MB with main memory up to
8MB. In addition IBM also announced new magnetic tape units for
the AS/400 systems.

The IBM 9348 offers 6250 or 1600 bpi density and a 781KB/second
data transfer rate. Other products announced by the company
include Token-ring LAN-based page printers such as the 3820,
3825, 3827 and 3835. The AS400/B35 costs about DM49,750 (about
$23,000) while the B45 costs at DM114,500 (about $58,000). The
entry model (the A10) costs about DM19,560 (from $10,000).

(Peter Vekinis/19890916)


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

MEMSOFT TO STRIKE IN THE US}
SOPHIA-ANTIPOLIS, FRANCE, 1989 SEP 16 (NB) -- Memsoft, the French
OS/2 and MS-DOS software developer, will launch a marketing drive in
the U.S. early next year. The company believes a market for its
products is ready and waiting.

"We feel we have the right software solutions at the right
moment," Memsoft's Gerard Gatt said. Gatt will be Memsoft's contact
in the USA through Walter Kac's Software Lifeline, a US
distribution company.

Software Lifeline has a marketing agreement with Memsoft in the
United States and is based in Florida. Memsoft plans to promote
Polymod 2, a strategic solution for multiuser networks under
OS/2 which supports LAN Manager. Polymod 2 also supports inter-
workstation connections under DOS and can operate on a remote
basis, opening up the possibility of telemaintenance being
carried out at a distance.

The only question the user will be asked is if he has a single or
multistation operation. In the first case he will be given a
single license number. If he wants to switch to a multistation
mode he simply asks for an additional license number.

Memsoft is keen to break in to the huge market for point-of
sale-terminals and so is IBM. Studies point to a potential 400,000
user market. With Memsoft's technology, the synergy with the IBM 4684
could prove a boon for the French company.

Polymod 2 can also be SQL-interfaced with Data Base Manager and
will present at COMDEX Fall its support for LAN Server, a
professional word processor under OS/2 Presentation Manager and a
development kit for applications programs under OS/2, as well as
other SAA-supporting software.

"Memsoft is out to build itself an easy recognizable image. We
have six months up to a year to break in the American market. At
the end of 1989 we will decide whether or not set up a subsidiary
in the United States," Gerard Gatt said.

(Eric Dauchy/19890916)


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

ELONEX RELEASES BUDGET 80386SX MACHINE}
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1989 SEP 16 (NB) -- Elonex has launched a budget
16MHZ 80386SX-based PC system. An entry-level PC fitted with 1MB of
Ram, 20MB hard disk, 14-inch monitor and mouse, bundled with MS-
Dos 4.1, MS-Windows 386 and MS-Works, will retail for UKP 1,245.
Other versions of the Elonex PC386SX-160 come with 40MB hard disk
(UKP 1,345); VGA colour monitor (UKP 300); or Super VGA (UKP400)

The machine is fitted with a single 1.2MB 5.25-inch floppy drive
as standard. A 3.5-inch 1.44MB drive is available as an option.
Other standard features include single parallel and twin serial
ports, programmable speaker, one 8-bit expansion slots and six
16-bit AT-style expansion slots.

(Steve Gold/19890916/Press & Public Contact: Ari Gurshuni,
Eleonex - Tel: [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(LON)(00012)

MASTER 1-2-3 RELEASE 3.0 COURSE LAUNCHED}
WOKINGHAM, ENGLAND, 1989 SEP 16 (NB) -- Addison-Wesley, the
London publishers, have released a Lotus 1-2-3 tutorial book -
'Master Lotus 1-2-3 Release 3.0' - which retails for UKP 29-95.

Unlike the multitude of similar books, the weighty tome includes
a series of disk-based tutorials which, when used in conjunction
with the book, step the user through all stages of mastering
Lotus 1-2-3 Release 3.0.

Unlike many publishers today, Addison-Wesley has discovered there is
a difference between 3.5 and 5.25-inch disks and has released
different version of the package to support one or the other
formats.

(Steve Gold/19890916/Press Public Contact: Addison-Wesley
Publishing - Tel: [phone])


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

NEW LASERJET AVAILABLE IN CANADA}
TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1989 SEP 17 (NB) -- Hewlett-Packard
(Canada) has introduced the LaserJet IIP laser printer. Rated by
the manufacturer at four pages per minute, the new low end of the
LaserJet line will sell for C$1,995 in Canada and is available
starting September 18.

(Grant Buckler/19890915/Press Contact: Lorraine McDonald,
Hewlett-Packard Canada, 416-678-9430)


(EXCLUSIVE)(TELECOM)(SFO)(00001)

QUANTUM FOLDS SERVICES INTO AMERICA ONLINE}
VIENNA, VIRGINIA, U.S.A., 1989 SEP 15 NB) -- Quantum Computer
Services has renamed its Applelink Personal Edition, currently
offered to Apple II and Macintosh computer owners, "America
Online," and plans to include MS-DOS computer users in the fold
by early 1990.

Slated for an October 2 roll-out, America Online is the first
fully owned and operated service from Quantum Computer Services,
a company known for its highly original computer interfaces
which exploit a computer's own microprocessor; the company's other
online services -- PC Link, for Tandy machines, and Q-Link for
Commodore C64 and C128 machines -- are co-owned by Tandy
Corporation and Commodore International, respectively. The
existence of those two networks is the reason why Quantum has
chosen not to compete with itself by inviting Commodore, Amiga,
and non-MS-DOS Tandy owners onto the new service.

The new network will offer electronic mail, bulletin boards,
multiplayer games, travel reservations, stock quotes, some
news services including Newsbytes, sports, and chat. There are
also software libraries and Grolier's Academic American
Encyclopedia online.

One of unique aspects of America Online is its "bold charter
membership program," according to spokeswoman Nancy Beckman.
She says subscribers will be offered a 20-percent lifetime
discount on usage rates. The discounted fees would be $4/hour
non-prime and $8/hour prime time (regular pricing is $5/hour
non-prime and $10/hour prime. The minimum monthly fee is $5.95
for all members, regardless of when they sign up, which includes
one free hour of connect time. To qualify, subscribers must sign up
before January 31.

The other attraction is the free custom online interfaces. Unlike
other services which offer "front-end" machine-specific software to
access its services, Quantum, she says, "designed its
services around the specific microprocessors." The interface enables
a Macintosh user, for instance, to point and click to commands, pull
down windows, and even read mail without ever having to type on
the keyboard. "We never were an ASCII-based system," she tells
Newsbytes. In various functions now available on Applelink, for
instance, a child's voice comes from the computer, informing the
user of such functions as, "File's done!" after an upload, or "You
have mail!" On sign-off the little boy says, "See you next time."

The new service, which competes head-on with such giants as Genie
and Compuserve, is being advertised in an unorthodox manner
via a flyer enclosed in MacWorld magazine's latest issue. The flyer,
offering users a chance to participate in a "new Macintosh online
service for free," is designed to lure Mac owners into the system
without telling them what it is. After a trial period, says
Beckman, they will be given a chance to sign up as members.
The flyer will reach half a million end-users through this campaign,
she says.

Apple Computer will not be directly involved in this product, says
Beckman, but will showcase the new service in its booth at
the Applefest in San Francisco next week, and will provide its
technical database online to the system.

Applelink Personal Edition is not to be confused with Applelink
Dealer Edition which is run by Apple Computer to serve the needs of
its dealer and development community. That system is operating
on the General Electric network.

(Wendy Woods/19890915/Press Contact: Nancy Beckman, 703-742-
3640)


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

GENIE ADDS SPORTS ROUNDTABLE}
ROCKVILLE, MARYLAND, U.S.A., 1989 SEP 15 (NB) -- Just in
time for the American football season, GEnie has opened a Sports
RoundTable. Anyone who can't get in on one of those innumerable
sports call-in shows on the radio can talk all he or she wants
online just by entering the word sports at a menu within the
number two U.S. online consumer service.

Files within the Sports Roundtable include all daily sports
results. Discussions will also cover computer games, board games,
and Nintendo video games. Product Manager Neil Harris likened it
to "an online sports bar where people can debate rules, talk
about trades, and be armchair quarterbacks." An important
offering, he added, will be fantasy sports games. Rotisserie
League baseball, in which players take the role of Rowners,S
buying "contracts" on real ballplayers based on past results, and
winning championships based on their current performance, is a
heavily-hyped online offering with "USA Today," which hosts
leagues through Linc Networks of Greensboro, NC. In the real-time
conference or "chat" section special guests will be brought in at
10 PM each Wednesday night.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890915/Press Contact: Steve Harasznak, GEnie,
301-340-4492)


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

ONLINE SERVICE OUTAGES EFFECT MOST USERS}
ATLANTA, GEORGIA, U.S.A., 1989 SEP 15 (NB) -- Nothing is
wrong with your PC. But online networks worldwide have been
afflicted with a rash of problems and outages lately.

The Teleputing Hotline, a newsletter covering telephone-computer
connections worldwide, reports that in Japan Nikkei Telecom,
that country's major database network, went down on the evening
of September 2 after a power failure. Nikkei Telecom sells
financial databases as well as news in English and Japanese on
both sides of the Pacific Ocean. The host computer was down from
7:10-11:30 PM. It was the first breakdown for Nikkei, but an
engineer said, "It took such a long time to recover since the
system is very complicated."

During the weekend of September 9-10, Steve Gold reported, the
international X.25 links of Genie, Dialcom, Telenet, Tymnet,
Mercury 5100 and the IPSS service of British Telecom were all
down. His Newsbytes-London report was finally submitted via
CompuServe. Steve also reported that a survey by the European
Association of Information Services (Eusdic) has shocked the
European datacommunications world by revealing that one in four
European international data calls, primarily to the U.S., fail for
various reasons.

GEnie service in the U.S. also went down Saturday morning,
September 9 and was out for more than 24 hours following
procedural errors at a Midwestern facility. Most services were
restored by noon the next day, spokesmen said.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890915)


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

PRODIGY HEADS FOR CHICAGO, MAC MARKETS}
WHITE PLAINS, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1989 SEP 13 (NB) --
Prodigy, the IBM-Sears joint-venture in online shopping, is
entering the Chicago market, and the software could soon be
available on the Apple Macintosh. The software is now in 17 U.S.
markets and the company claims 85,000 subscribers. Full national
coverage is planned for next year. NBD Bank will handle home
banking in the Chicago market starting in October.

The Interactivity Report newsletter also reported that the Mac
software for Prodigy will carry the same $49.95 list price as
the current IBM PC/compatible package.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890915)


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

ZIFF LAUNCHES ONLINE COMPUTER DIRECTORY}
NEW YORK, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1989 SEP 14 (NB) -- Ziff-Davis
has launched Computer Directory, an online electronic directory
with information on more than 55,000 hardware and software
products sold in North America. The directory is updated monthly,
and is available through the company's own PC MagNet service and
on CompuServe. Users of either CompuServe or PC MagNet can
access Computer Directory with this command: GO COMPLIB.

Computer Database Plus, a companion product, provides access to
articles written about computers. It includes text from more
than 130 publications, including the Newsbytes News Service,
spanning a two-year period. Ziff-Davis also offers Ziff's Computer
Library online, and the Computer Periodicals Database on Compact
Discs.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890915/ Press Contact: Ziff Communications
David Shnaider, 212-503-3500; Ann Marie Downing, Hill and
Knowlton, 617-642-5951)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(LAX)(00006)

BULLETIN BOARD TO FIGHT CRIME}
SAN BERNARDINO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 SEP 12 (NB) -- Mark
Finley, a San Bernardino Deputy Sheriff, has started an electronic
bulletin board for anonymous crime watch tips.

Called "Whistle Blower," the BBS has only been online a short
time but Finley expects it will encourage people to report crimes
they might otherwise disclaim knowledge of. All reports will be
forwarded to the proper jurisdiction so the system is meant to be
used by people far and wide.

Because the system involves the use of high tech equipment,
Finley anticipates a high proportion of reports will concern
white collar crime. In the case of a person who would normally
remain silent in fear of his job or career, the anonymity offered
by computer use is expected to allow these individuals to come
forward. Finley plans to alter reports slightly, correcting
spelling errors and eliminating slang expressions that might give
the tipster away.

The number for the Whistle Blower is 714-873-9547. Finley is
working with a pair of lawyers to obtain foundation funding or
grants to expand the system and support a toll-free number.

(Janet Endrijonas/19890915)


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

ESPRIT LAUNCHES 9,600 BAUD MODEM UNDER V.32}
SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 SEP 12 (NB) -- Esprit
Systems announced a 9,600 baud dial-up external modem under the
V.32 standard of the CCITT. The Envoy 96e matches the
specifications of most of the company's competitors, but not
those of Hayes Microcomputer Products, which continues to sell a
V-Series modem running under V.32 in a half-duplex, ping-
pong manner, according to company spokesmen. The new Envoys,
however, do respect an extended version of Hayes' AT command set,
with error correction done under the MNP 5 protocol, not the V.42
scheme favored by Hayes. In years past, strict Hayes
compatibility was the cloners' objective.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890915/Press Contact: Esprit Systems, James
Wong, 408-954-9900)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(BRU)(00008)

SOVIET TELECOM CONTRACT HAMPERED BY COCOM}
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM, 1989 SEP 16 (NB) -- A billion dollar
telecommunications contract with the Soviet Union is allegedly
being stalled by COCOM, the technology watch-dog of the West,
said a high-ranking Alcatel official last week.

Andre Rasson, a spokesman for Alcatel, said that, whilst COCOM
did not actually block the contract, it took considerably more
time than usual to process it.

COCOM is a Paris-based workgroup made up of all NATO (North
Atlantic Treaty Organization) members, apart from Iceland, and
Japan, to watch over technology transfers to non-Western
countries. Alcatel has asked COCOM to finalize its procedures.

The Soviet Union plans to buy 250,000 System 12 circuits in the
first phase of a ten-year contract. The second part of the
contract involves a joint venture between Antwerp, Belgium's
Alcatel Bell and Krasnaya Zarya of Leningrad, to assemble System
12 telephone systems with an annual output of 1.5 million lines.

An anonymous Alcatel spokesman told the Wall Street Journal that
the company is pursuing the deal, waiting on a favourable Cocom
decision. He also said that several major companies are also
engaged in joint venture deals such as Siemens of West Germany
and that there is pressure upon COCOM to be more flexible in its
deliberations.

The caller told the Wall Street Journal that Alcatel intends to
take an aggressive position in the market of the 1990s.
New divisions will be created for production, marketing and sales
while central management would retain overall control. Details of
Alcatel's scheme are to be made public in December, he said.

(Eric Dauchy/19890916)


(EXCLUSIVE)(TELECOM)(BRU)(00009)

MASSIVE OVERHAUL OF POLAND'S PHONE SYSTEM COMING}
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM, 1989 SEP 16 (NB) -- A cooperative agreement
to be signed next Tuesday will give the go-ahead to an urgently
needed upgrade of Poland's telecommunications network, Polish
embassy officials in Brussels have announced.

"We hope the agreement will contribute significantly to
increasing our exports to the EC," an embassy official spokesman
told Newsbytes.

The agreement calls for greater industrial cooperation with the
telecommunications network improvements a priority, as well
as the training of Polish business persons in entrepreneurial skills.

EC Trade and External Relations Commissioner Frans Andriessen and
French Foreign Minister Roland Dumas will travel to Warsaw for
the signing of the treaty, which will set a five-year timetable
for lifting quotas and tariffs on a range of Polish industrial
and agricultural goods. In 1988, the EC imported 3.27 billion
ECU's ($3,400 million) of Polish goods against exports totally
2,750 million ECU's in value.

(Eric Dauchy/19890916)


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

JAPAN TAKES ANOTHER STEP IN BBS MOVEMENT}
KIRYU, JAPAN, 1989, SEPTEMBER 2 (NB) -- The Association for
Information Design in Greater Kiryu, set up to explore the use of
bulletin board and database systems to spur economic activity,
was launched September 2 in Kiryu, Japan, according to Hiro
Nakamura, reporting for The Teleputing Hotline, a newsletter
covering telephone-computer connections worldwide.

Members of the association include local governments and
businesses.

The Watarase Association Network (WAN), launched last December as a
bulletin board system, will be the centerpiece of the study.

Over 200,000 people live around Kiryu, best known for its silk
textiles and 60 percent share of Japan's Pachinko machine production.
The Ministry of International Trade and Industry, or MITI, last
spring authorized Kiryu as a "New Media Community" with WAN as
the official project and a budget of 30-50 million yen, roughly
$200-350,000.

The Watarase Association Network now has over 600 members,
posting over 30 messages per day. That's not much compared to
U.S. bulletin boards, but it's quite active for such a system in
Japan. The boost from the government and industry is expected to
boost traffic considerably.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890915)


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

BELLSOUTH BECOMES LIN WHITE KNIGHT, BEATING MCCAW}
ATLANTA, GEORGIA, U.S.A., 1989 SEP 11 (NB) -- BellSouth
has became the white knight bidder LIN Broadcasting, a major
cellular phone franchise operator, has been seeking for months.
The story began when McCaw Cellular bid $110 per share for the
company a few months ago. That company has been trying to line
up financing for its bid since.

Lin also owns 8 TV stations in addition to its cellular business.
BellSouth's bid is worth $7.55 billion, $140 per share, and
doesn't include the TV stations, which will be spun off to LIN
shareholders, or sold, separately. McCaw will sweeten its offer
and challenge the bid before regulators, likely without success.

The result will make BellSouth the #2 cellular operator, behind
McCaw, putting it ahead of the other Bell companies.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890915)


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

TIARA INTRODUCES NETWORK INSPECTOR}
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 SEP 12 (NB) -- Tiara Computer
 Systems introduced the Network Inspector, a network diagnostic
program which monitors a firm's phone networks and automatically
performs tests. The software enables system administrators
to identify hardware failures, locate cable breaks, pinpoint babbling
nodes and monitor network usage. Tiara is best-known for its local
area network cards supporting ARCnet and Ethernet.

The Network Inspector for Ethernet-based local area networks
will be available in October at an introductory list price of
$1,295.  ARCnet and Token-Ring versions will follow.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890915/ Press Contract: Lisa Morgan, Tiara
Computer Systems, 415-965-1700)


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

PINPOINT LAUNCHES CUSTOMIZED, FAXED NEWSLETTER SERVICE}
CHANTILLY, VIRGINIA, U.S.A, 1989 SEP 12 (NB) -- - Pinpoint
Information announced Computer Focus, a customized, fax-delivered
daily newsletter on the computer industry. The letter will be
delivered 9 AM each morning to subscribers' fax machines, and
content will be based on readers' profiles. The contents are
compiled from press releases, wire services, trade publications
and freelance contributions by an editorial staff which indexes
all stories.

Computer Focus is being offered to qualified prospects on a free
two-week trial basis. A one-year subscription costs $2,100, but
you can get it for $1,800 if you sign up before year-end.
Corporate group rates are also available. The company presently
has 300 customers, but its business plan calls for 10,000
subscribers by 1993.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890915/ Press Contract: Pinpoint Information,
Liana Smith, 703-263-0407)


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

GALACTICOMM HEADING FOR EUROPEAN MARKET}
FORT LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA, U.S.A., 1989 SEP 15 (NB) -- Working with
agents who are translating manuals and prompts,
Galacticomm's Major BBS is headed for Europe, President Tim
Stryker told Newsbytes. A French version produced in Paris has
just been released, and a German version written in Liectenstein
is due out within months. A Dutch version will also be sold, and
Stryker says the Dutch deal carries implications for all of
Europe, which becomes one market in 1992. The European deals
will continue to be a sideline, however, he added. "I wouldn't say
our main focus is overseas. Our primary focus remains on the
U.S.. That's where 98% of our sales have been and will continue
to be."

The Major BBS is a multiline bulletin board product which runs
on IBM PC compatibles. In addition to selling software,
Galacticomm also sells multiport communications boards which let
its system operators run 64 lines at once. Many of the U.S.
sysops have told Newsbytes they expect multiline chatting, at
under $1 per hour, to make them profits within the year, after
paying off their $10,000 systems. The online shopping aspects of
the program are also hailed as potential profit centers. The
program is written in C, and is relatively easy to customize. A
small group of companies have put out enhancements for it.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890915/ Press Contract: Tim Stryker,
Galacticomm, 305-583-5990)


(EXCLUSIVE)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00015)

SYSOPS, SOUTHWESTERN BELL TO LOCK HORNS}
HOUSTON, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1989 SEP 15 (NB) -- A year-long
battle between Southwestern Bell and Houston bulletin board
system operators comes to a head September 16 when the two groups
face off in a Houston hotel ballroom to discuss a Bell proposal
to charge BBS operators business rates. The general counsel of
the Texas Public Utility Commission will also attend the meeting.

Reginald Hirsch, president of the Coalition Of Sysops and Users
Against Rate Discrimination, or COSUARD, told Newsbytes the
meeting is the climax of a dispute that began a year ago when the
company announced it wanted all system operators to pay business
rates. That proposal was withdrawn, after the sysops organized as
COSUARD, and Hirsch had been negotiating with SW Bell over the
last few months.

"We met with them in San Antonio, with their people who could make
decisions, and their new proposal says as follows: "The company
would agree to allow a BBS operator to subscribe to residential
rates provided it has no more than 1 phone line and the operator
requests no compensation." Hirsch argues it this way: "Our
analogy is if you have a fishing license, you could have one pole
or two, and it's still a hobby," says Hirsch. Hirsch says
residential service presently costs $16 per month in Houston,
while business phones cost $35 per month.

Southwestern Bell is warning that if system operators don't
accept its offer to exclude single-line and free boards, it will
impose business rates on all boards. The company has a tariff in
Oklahoma to do just that, but is not enforcing it, pending
resolution of the Texas dispute.

The dispute has already had a chilling effect, Hirsch reveals.
"Since all this started 3-4 boards just went down. They were
looking at $180 per month for a multiline board. Even though
they've lifted the rate, some boards got gypped and didn't want
to get into the struggle." About 200 people, including
representatives of local TV stations and newspapers, are expected
at the meeting. COSUARD, meanwhile, has been deluged with
requests from sysops nationwide who want to join it. This could
spur the creation of a true nationwide organizations of sysops,
something which doesn't exist today.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890915/ Press Contact: COSUARD BBS, Becky
Larson, modem: 713-997-1301)


(EXCLUSIVE)(TELECOM)(HKG)(00016)

HONG KONG: A PORTABLE PHONE FOR EVERYONE}
HONGKONG, ASIA, 1989 SEP 13 (NB) -- Imagine a city where everyone
could afford a portable phone. If Hongkong Telephone Company
has its way, Hongkong could be the first city in the world with
a new device the size of a pocket calculator, which it
demonstrated to Newsbytes today.

The system, aptly called Telepoint, utilizes a second
generation cordless telephone (CT2) which will have a retail
price of about $250, and a disbursed network of base stations
about the size of a normal office waste paper bin. It is
planned that the base stations will be installed in thousands
of strategic locations throughout metropolis Hongkong
throughout the business and shopping districts.

In Hongkong, local telephone calls are free, however the mobile
networks charge a minimum monthly call charge of $50, and
additional local calls are billed at around 50c. With Telepoint
the planned service charges are much lower at about $25 per
month including calls. The average cost of a traditional mobile
phone is close to $2,500 but the CT2 will cost $250.

Essentially the system works in a similar manner to the
cordless phones which are commonplace in the home these days.
The base station will accept signals from the compact handsets
at a distance of about 200 yards.

Mr Greg Crew, managing director of Hongkong Telephone, told
Newsbytes: "There are two problems with the traditional mobile
phones. One is that they are quite costly and therefore beyond
the reach of many people. And the other is that they are very
heavy and cumbersome devices. They are heavy because of the
need for a battery which is powerful enough to ensure a
constant connection while the user is moving about."

"With the Telepoint service, the strategic distribution of the
base stations makes it possible to eliminate the need for heavy
batteries and complex transceivers," he continued.

The company plans to implement Telepoint in three phases.
Initially the tiny CT2 instruments will operate in "send only"
mode, which means that users will only be able to make calls.
The second phase units will have built-in pagers, and in phase
three a "send/receive" ability would be available.

Mr David Connolly, Hongkong Telephone's general manager
Special Services, quipped, " The day of the telephone watch is
really here. It won't be long before we see ordinary people
talking to their watches in the streets of Hongkong."

(Keith Cameron/19890915)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(HKG)(00017)

VOICE SYSTEMS GET BIG PUSH IN HONGKONG}
HONGKONG, ASIA, 1989 SEP 15 (NB) -- An extra push is being given to
voice mail and voice activated services in Hongkong, possibly
as a result of ATT's recent announcement of the multimillion
dollar joint venture with VoiceCom Systems.

In Hongkong, store and forward voice services have been
available for some time. Cable and Wireless, Hongkong's
sole provider of international communications, has a Phone Mail
system which was launched about three years ago but it has not
been an outstanding success.

"Until such time as it becomes an integrated service, in other
words, available to everyone who has a telephone, the
establishment of this new concept will be slow, but it is
definitely coming and we are there," Rick Doyle of Cable and
Wireless told Newsbytes.

David Connolly, of the Hongkong Telephone Company, pointed out:
"Voice mail requires disciplines which are easy to implement
internally in a corporation, but not simple when one considers
the population at large, even the general business population.
If you equate voice mail with electronic mail, the problems are
similar. How does one force the user to read or listen to his
mail regularly? If the mailbox is not regularly accessed then
the messages lose their point and go out of date."

Both companies are working toward a partial voice mail service
which will be linked to the Starline call-forward service.
Call-forward presently allows the user to redirect calls to
his or her line to any number he or she wishes. It is a popular
facility among business people who receive important
international calls at odd hours. The new service means that
subscribers may redirect calls to their voice mailbox
whenever they are unable to give an alternative number. It
effectively works as an ad-hoc answering machine.

Mr Connolly stressed: "There are distinct advantages with such
a system in Asia where language barriers frequently cause
difficulty with the transcription of messages. Using voice, a
business person may speak in whatever language he desires, with
the knowledge that the person to whom the message is directed
will actually hear the message exactly as it is spoken, rather
than a confused written interpretation by some third party."

One executive from a multinational corporation which has a
worldwide voice mail network in place reinforced Mr Connoly's
view: "Voice mail may appear yet another magic phrase coined by
the world of computers, but the trends in modern day computing
should actually be pleasing to everyone because they are
finally coming back to basics. For all the wondrous tools that
are before us today, there remains no better form of
communication than the spoken word. Voice mail networks may be
presented as the communication medium of the future, but they
are really a clear example of technology world recognizing, and
providing for, communications of the past."

"No longer are the technology buffs able to force hi-tech down
our throats simply for the sake of it. The market forces are
all user driven now. We are seeing the establishment of hand-
writing as an input method rather than the keyboard, colour
printing which equates to handwritten ledger days, and now
store and forward voice communications utilizing the normal
telephone networks."

Communications Services Ltd (CSL), Hongkong Telephone's trading
arm, utilizes voice store and forward messaging within its
paging and mobile telephone networks.

A few multinational companies in Hongkong have internal voice
mail networks in operation and some complain that it is a
complicated business to actually retrieve messages from the
system. Both Mr Doyle and Mr Connolly agreed that the present
offerings demanded a skilled user and this presented a problem
when introducing the service to the public at large.

(Keith Cameron/19890915)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(HKG)(00018)

HONG KONG: CULLINET VOICE EXPERT SYSTEM}
HONGKONG, ASIA, 1989 SEP 15 (NB) -- The multi-use of the touch tone
phone in the USA is accepted practice, but in Hongkong services
are just beginning to emerge. Cullinet Software has signed a
value-added reseller (VAR) agreement with software developer I3P
International to develop its Enterprise:Expert in conjunction with
Digital Equipment's DECVoice system. The idea is to develop voice
response expert systems.

Mr Peter French, managing director of Cullinet Hongkong, said:
"Voice response systems can be applied to any situation where
people are calling in to check on status, typically of accounts
or orders. To my knowledge this is the first time that such an
integration has taken place on the Asia-Pacific region."

Michael Kelly, managing director of I3P International which is
a DEC VAR and the local subsidiary of US-based General
Logistics, said that his company would market turnkey voice
response systems to a wide range of industries. "We are
currently developing a system for a shipping line that will
allow customers to dial into the database and extract details
of Bills of Lading or the contents of a given container."

(Keith Cameron/19890915)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(TYO)(00019)

NTT BREAK-UP UNDER DISCUSSION}
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 SEP 8 (NB) -- The discussion on the break-up
of Japan's largest firm, NTT, has intensified as the Telecom
Study Council, which has been studying NTT management,
and which is an advisory group of the Ministry of Posts and
Telecommunications, will submit an interim report next month.

The report will suggest three courses of action: officials could
maintain the status quo and keep NTT in place, they could separate
it into separate businesses, or they could opt for radical
regional break-up. In the case of total break-up, three types
schemes are possible: separation by rough regional
blocks, division into metropolitan area and suburbs, and
separation into firms for long-distance lines and those for
multiplex city lines.

However, NTT's President Haruo Yamaguchi announced wild opposition
to the break-up project, explaining that the break-up will
cause inequality in the charges and services between regions, and what
is worse, NTT's world-class research and development power
will be drastically diminished.

(Ken Takahashi/19890913)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(TYO)(00020)

NTT TO OFFER ISDN PHONES}
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 SEP 12 (NB) -- NTT will release 30,000 to
40,000 units of its integrated services digital network (ISDN) phones
next year, in a move designed to explore the market demands
for ISDN terminals.

Though Fujitsu and NEC have already offered their ISDN phones
on the market, NTT has not, despite the fact that NTT initiated
its ISDN last year.

(Ken Takahashi/19890913)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(BRU)(00021)

ANT TO SUPPLY SATELLITE SYSTEM FOR SPANISH OLYMPICS}
BACKNANG, WEST GERMANY, 1989 SEP 3 (NB) -- ANT Telecommunications
is to supply a turnkey EUTELSAT earth station to the Spanish PTT,
which will be installed near Barcelona. The total value of the
order amounts to around DM 7 million (about $3.5 million).

The station will be equipped for transmission of several TV
channels including special programs for the Summer Olympics of
1992 in Barcelona. The earth station, which will operate in the
11/14 and 12/14 GHz frequency ranges and be equipped with a 13.5
metre parabolic antenna, is expected to be operational by January
1991.

(Peter Vekinis/19890916)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(BRU)(00022)

RICKE HEADS WEST GERMAN TELEKOM}
BONN, WEST GERMANY, 1989 SEP 15 (NB) -- Helmut Ricke has been
appointed head of Telekom, West German Bundespost's
telecommunications division, and charged with changing the state-
controlled PTT divisions into corporations from an administration
role.

Ricke, 52, was formerly president of Loewe Opta, a medium-sized
electronics company with annual sales of DM 360 million and a
staff of 1,500. Telekom, in contrast, has an annual turnover of
DM 378 billion and employs 200,000 staff.

Ricke's task in changing Telekom from a state-controlled into a
private sector company will be a difficult one. The task is
thought to have frightened off several other leading industry
figures, meaning that Ricke's promotion has been the most
elevated in West German business history.

Part of Ricke's task will be to wrestle political control from
the Bundespost's postal, telecommunications and banking
divisions, according to an official. "This will allow them to
take hard-nosed commercial decisions and thus improve customer
service," he said.

(Eric Dauchy/19890916)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(BRU)(00023)

MICHELIN FRENCH TRAVEL GUIDE ON FRENCH TELETEL}
PARIS, FRANCE, 1989 SEP 16 (NB) -- Michelin, the famous tyre
manufacturer and travel guide producer, has launched on online
travel information service called Assistance Michelin Itnraire
(AMI) via the French Teletel network.

Although the system presents itself as a single entity to the
user, it acts as a central resource for travel information from a
variety of sources.

Services available via AMI include the ability to plan a journey,
with details such as journey time, mileage and stopover
information available to the driver at the touch of a button.
Michelin plans to market CD-ROM, CD-I or optical board support
for navigational functions in the near future.

(Eric Dauchy/19890916)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(LON)(00024)

DIRECT CONNECTION CLAIMS MOST INTER-SYSTEM LINKS}
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1989 SEP 16 (NB) -- The Direct Connection (TDC),
a London-based online system, claims it is now the best-connected
online information system in Britain. According to TDC, the
service has e-mail links with four million users on 12,000
networks worldwide.

"Messages can be sent or received from major commercial and
academic networks around the world. These include Compuserve, MCI
Mail, Dialcom -- including Telecom Gold, Janet, Bitnet, CSNet,
NSFNet, Usenet and Arpanet," a spokesman told Newsbytes.

"And, at only five pence per 1,024 characters to all external
systems, The Direct Connection offers the best electronic mail
interconnections at the best price," he added.

The opening of the new intersystem e-mail gateways coincides with
the public launch of TDC, which was previously only available by
special request to a limited group of subscribers.

TDC claims to be the only professional online information service
that does not levy time or volume-based access charges.
Subscriptions to the service cost UKP 10 per month. A
demonstration facility, using the password 'demo,' is available
on London 853-3965 (300 to 2400 bits-per-second MNP supported).

(Steve Gold/19890916/Press and Public Contact: Ben Knox, The
Direct Connection - Tel: [phone])


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(LON)(00025)

MERCURY ENTERS PREMIUM CALL MARKET}
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1989 SEP 16 (NB) -- Mercury Communications has
launched its own premium call service using the 0839 premium rate
area code. Calls are charged at 38 pence per minute at peak
times, 25 pence per minute at off-peak times.

Unlike the British Telecom premium rate services, Mercury is
taking advantage of its wholly-digital network to allow tone-
dialing callers to key in instructions at strategic points in
the call for onward call diversion.

On Mercury's Racecall service (0839-500-300), callers can key in
digits whilst the recording is playing back and have their call
diverted to one of the UK's major bookmakers. Once the bookmaker
call is complete, the caller is returned to the live commentary
service.

(Steve Gold/19890916/Press Contact: Nick Bundy, Mercury
Communications - Tel: [phone])


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(TOR)(00026)

TIMEPLEX LAUNCHES X.25 NET MANAGEMENT TOOL}
TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1989 SEP 14 (NB) -- Timeplex Canada has
introduced a network management system for small to medium-sized
X.25-based packet-switching networks, developed in cooperation
with Domus Software of Ottawa, Ontario. Pac/View is designed for
use with Timeplex's Timepac lines of packet-switching products,
which includes nodal processor and packet assembler/disassemblers
(PADs). Built around an 80386-based personal computer, it
provides a graphic display of network activity, with alarms,
immediate statistical information and assorted reporting
capabilities.

Available immediately, the complete Pac/View package costs
C$24,950.

(Grant Buckler/19890915/Press Contact: Monty Richardson, Timeplex
Canada, 416-886-6100)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(TYO)(00001)

JETLINERS TO OFFER FAX MACHINES}
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 SEP 11 (NB) -- Japan Air Lines and All Nippon
Airways have announced that they will introduce a hi-tech jumbo
jet Boeing 747-400 next spring on which passengers will be
able to exchange voice and facsimile messages with the land. The
communication satellite INMARSAT, launched by International
Maritime Satellite Organization, will intermediate the
communication data.

Both airline companies have decided to attach two high-gain
antennas for public phones and a low-gain antenna for data
communication on the jumbo jet. The equipment will be installed
as soon as the U.S. Federal Aviation Agency certifies such devices
are safe, probably by early next year.

(Ken Takahashi/19890913/Press Contact: Japan Airlines, 03-284-2511,
All Nippon Airways, 03-592-3065)


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

INTEL MAKES FIRST MULTITASKING CHIP}
SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 SEP 12 (NB) -- The first
microprocessor ever to carry out two tasks at once has been unveiled
by Intel Corporation, which has dubbed the new chip a "megaprocessor."

The i960 is designed to be embedded controller for high-end
electronic equipment. Its 32-bit performance is designed to be
useful for such diverse applications as laser printers, robotics, vision
systems, avionics, traffic control and even phone management systems.

Intel says the i960 is the third in the "i" family of megaprocessors
(following the i486 and i860) and is also a breakthrough for the
amount of condensed electronics it contains. The i960's
"superscaler" architecture has half the amount of transistors of its
smallest brother, the i486, yet it runs at twice the speed.

The i960 is available now in 16, 25 and 33-megahertz speed versions
and ranges in price from $219 to $325 each.

(Wendy Woods/19890915)


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

CHEAP HP LASER PRINTER UNVEILED}
PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 SEP 15 (NB) -- Hewlett-Packard
has unveiled a laser printer which some are saying could "usher in
the age of the personal laser printer" when the machines are as
ubiquitous as dot-matrix printers.

The $1,495 HP Laserjet IIP printer, expected to be available for less
than $1,000 retail within six months, prints four pages per minute
at standard 300 dots-per-inch resolution. The 25-pound unit
employs HP's PCL printer language but HP promises a Postscript
language cartridge in early 1990.

The printer has 512K-bytes of memory, two slots for memory
upgrade boards, 14 internal fonts, one font cartridge slot,
and a paper/envelope tray that takes letter, legal, and A4 paper
as well as four envelope sizes.

"We expect this printer to have a major impact in reshaping the
existing printer market," boasts William McGlynn, HP's marketing
manager in its Boise, Idaho printer plant. "Interest in the printer
prior to its availability at dealers on September 18 has been
so strong that the weekly trade press has been covering it since
July."

HP now has the low-end of the laser and laser-quality printer
market tied up, rounding out its offerings with the $995 Deskjet Plus
and $795 Deskjet which offer laser-quality printing.

(Wendy Woods/19890915/Press Contact: Jeremy James, 619-592-8438)


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

POQET COMPUTER UNVEILED}
SUNNYVALE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 SEP 12 (NB) -- The tiniest
XT-compatible PC with a whopping 100 hour battery life has been
unveiled by Poqet Computer Corporation. Engineers say they built a
personal computer with no moving parts to eliminate the major
source of power drain in typical portables, and that this one uses
the equivalent wattage of "one twinkle bulb on a Christmas tree."
Poqet's President Stav Prodromou, who claims the Poqet PC is the
culmination of 10 years of research, says no fewer than 15
patents have been filed on this machine.

The smallest, most powerful PC to date, the Poqet PC, weighs less
than a pound, measures nearly 9-inches by 4-inches by .9-inches
thick -- about the size of a standard VCR videotape -- and runs
on two AA-sized batteries.

The cost is a reasonable $1,995. There's an 80-character by 25-line black
and silver liquid crystal display with adjustable clarity and angle, and
a standard QWERTY typewriter-style keyboard. Onboard is an 80C88
microprocessor from Intel, 512 KB of RAM -- the standard
random access memory for XT-compatibles -- and 640 kilobytes
of read-only memory where DOS Version 3.3, GW Basic, the BIOS,
and six built-in applications are stored. They include word
processing, scheduling, address files, calculating, file transfer, and
terminal emulation functions.

Also in the tiny box is VNA (Virtual Network Architecture), system
software which enables the Poqet PC to have serial port access
to a desktop PC via cable or modem, and also performs the job
of a file manager, with a menu-driven interface. SAI, for Systems
Applications Interface, is the software which creates the pull-down menuing
system and windows-like environment for software
applications.

Mass memory and applications come on integrated circuit (IC)
cards -- up to 2 megabytes will be available in 1990 and 16
megabytes in "the next few years." Programs are maintained in
RAM or ROM even when the computer is turned off.

A measure of the machine's early success comes from such giants
as Lotus and Wordperfect, which have committed to deliver popular
programs on the IC cards. Among the software that will be
offered: Lotus 1-2-3, Metro, Express, and Agenda, Wordperfect 5.0,
Xywrite III Plus, ACT! and AlphaWorks.

An optional $395 battery-operated 3.5-inch, 1.44 megabyte
disk drive, capable of running 25 hours between charges, is
expected to be available for the computer, which should reach dealers
shelves this fall.

Dealer locations can be found by calling toll-free 800-624-8999,
extension 1590 or 408-737-8100.

(Wendy Woods/19890915)


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

FUJITSU TO SELL POQET PC IN JAPAN}
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 SEP 8 (NB) -- Fujitsu plans to release its
tiny pocket computer, called PQ/XT, in Japan, as early as this fall.

Poquet PC, unveiled by Sunnyvale, California-based Poqet Computer, in
which Fujitsu invested by 46 percent, has an advanced technology
and operates 100 hours on an AA battery. The machine measures 22.1
by 10.2 by 2 centimeters (8.6 by 3.9 by .07 inches) and weighs
445 grams (.98 pounds). It adopts an IC (integrated circuit) card
for storing data.

Called in Japan the PQ/XT and the Poqet PC in the U.S., the hand-held
unit is the world's lightest and smallest IBM PC/XT-compatible, but
Fujitsu's version will be compatible with its FMR series personal
computers which have Japanese language features. That means it
will be heavier and larger than the Poqet PC unveiled in the U.S.,
a Fujitsu spokesman said. Fujitsu has not decided details for the
specification, production site, model name, and price.

Fujitsu aims to sell the new pocket computer to a wide-ranging
market, from automobile dealers, to banks to life insurance firms.

(Ken Takahashi/19890913/Press Contact: Fujitsu, 03-216-3211)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(ATL)(00006)

SMART CARDS GREET SHOPPERS IN DES MOINES}
DES MOINES, IOWA, U.S.A., 1989 SEP 12 (NB) -- Dahl's
Supermarkets introduced a frequent shopper program called Vision
Value Club. Shoppers get a "smart card" into which all their
purchases can be posted, and through which marketers can closely
profile their shopping habits.

In exchange, the computerized system automatically spits out
coupons for products a family really buys, ending the era of
paper coupons which got lost in drawers. Shoppers also win
"points" for shopping with Dahl's, and the number shows up
on a big color screen after they insert their cards into a
special reader. Points are redeemed for jewelry,
audio/visual equipment, toys and home accessories. The card can
also be used for electronic check clearing, direct debit and credit
card functions.

The Vision System and Vision Value Club have been developed by
Advanced Promotion Technologies of Deerfield Beach, Florida, a
joint venture between The Procter & Gamble Co., Donnelley
Marketing and CheckRobot Inc.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19890915/Press Contact: Advanced Promotion
Technologies, Kathy Robinson, 305-426-1600)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(HKG)(00007)

HONG KONG BRAIN DRAIN TO TAKE 10,000}
HONGKONG, ASIA, 1989 SEP 10 (NB) -- A survey of 224 companies
sponsored by the Institute of Personnel Management indicates
that 4.5 percent of professional staff in Hongkong will leave
the territory this year and the Institute predicts an increase
next year.

According to Government statistics, the workforce of Hongkong
is about 2.2 million, of which 10 percent, or 220,000, are
professionals or managerial level. The survey showed that
between 9,000 and 10,000 would definitely leave this year. Last
year the figure was 7,000.

Ms Sara Tang Fung-yee, senior lecturer of Business Management
at the City Polytechnic, said that the figures only included
people with professional qualifications. "If middle management
were included then the exodus would be much higher, " she said.
Queues which have been seen outside all local consulates since
the June 4 Beijing massacres suggest that the numbers will be
far greater next year.

The Hongkong Government seem reluctant to acknowledge the
extent of the brain drain and last week blamed a "pull factor"
for the increase. An amendment to emigration rules in the US
is expected to increase the territory's quota to 10,000
immigrants annually. Slightly eased immigration rules in the UK
will also have an effect.

One IT industry source told Newsbytes that the situation was
critical: "We certainly did not need June 4th, things were bad
enough before. The problem is that the people we are losing are
those with ten or fifteen years experience and they cannot be
replaced. People are being promoted who do not have the
necessary experience and many systems disasters can be
expected."

"The brain drain is affecting the vendors as much as it is the
business world, and therefore quality of support is falling. It
might seem an ideal market for IT products, because office
productivity aids are critical in this environment. But the
mobility of staff and the spiralling salary demands are in fact
reducing demand," he said.

Efforts to attract qualified people back to the territory were
also not working. According to a report in the South China
Morning Post, most Hongkong students in American colleges aim
to get a job and settle down there. Few would want to come back
even if they were offered a job because of the Beijing
massacre.

Large corporations in Hongkong were starting to realize the
need for on-campus recruitment drives to lure overseas
graduates back. Most local headhunters had established
operations in Toronto, Vancouver, Los Angeles, San Francisco
and Sydney in a similar endeavor.

One factor which might bring the IT specialists back is the
prediction of Jeffrey Evans, chairman of the Hongkong
Information Technology Federation and a headhunter of technical
heads. Mr Evans predicted that by the end of 1990, Hongkong
would have the highest levels of salaries for IT personnel in
the world. The way things are going it looks as if Mr Evans'
will be right.

(Keith Cameron/19890915)


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

MITSUI TO RESELL SMALLEST 40MB HDD}
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 SEP 12 (NB) -- U.S.-based venture PrairieTek
Corporation has announced a 40 megabyte, 2.5-inch hard disk drive
(HDD), here and Japanese general trader Mitsui & Co., will
distribute the product in Japan.

The relationship between the two companies started in the
beginning of this year with the distribution of Prairie's 20MB HDD
drives in Japan. The new and larger-capacity model is
the same size as its predecessor, which measures 7.3 by
10.9 by 2.5 centimeters. Mitsui expects the size of the disk drive
will attract interest from compact and book-sized computer
makers.

While Mitsui will manage distribution of the drives first,
PrairiTek, itself, is expected to transfer its production and
sales directly to Japan-based HDD makers by spring 1990.

Sample of the 40 MB compact-sized HDD unit, Prairie 240, will
be shipped in November and will sell for 120,000 yen or $830 each.
PrairieTek is planning to distribute the drives worldwide
at the same time.

Prarietek plans to develop 80 and 100 MB versions of the drives
in the future, while establishing a subsidiary in Hong Kong, and a
production line in Singapore, to provide technical support for
Asian customers.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19890913)


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

HITACHI'S NEUROCOMPUTER BREAKTHROUGH}
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 SEP 8 (NB) -- Hitachi has proudly announced
successful development of a neural network by the integration of
digital ICs (integrated circuits) on a piece of silicon wafer.

A total of 576 neurons or nervous cells have been created on a
five-inch silicon wafer in a neural network LSI (large scale
integration) configuration. The technology implements Hitachi's 0.8
micron CMOS (complementary metal oxide semiconductor) gate array
technology to integrate 19 million transistors. Each chip has 12
neurons and the chips dividing left and right in the center of the
wafer are working as a data bus.

The number of synapses, which connect each neuron, used to
require multiplied numbers of neurons themselves -- 100
neurons, for example, required 10,000 synapses. But Hitachi
developed an unique digital time sharing bus to reduce the number
of synapses to the same number as neurons. With this new technology,
Hitachi could integrate more neurons in a smaller space than current
technique allows.

The trial neural network has achieved an 820 MCPS (million connections
per second) operating speed. This figure is more than 100,000
times faster than current supercomputers.

Hitachi claims this development is the technological breakthrough
required for creation of the next generation or the "fifth generation"
of computers beyond the von Neumann computer.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19890913)


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

SHARP TO OPEN IC CARD TECHNOLOGY}
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 SEP 9 (NB) -- To develop the third-party
software markets in various countries, Sharp will reveal the IC
(integrated circuit) card technology used to create programs for its
electronic organizer, The Wizard, in the U.S. and Europe by the
end of this year.

Sharp started distribution of the electronic organizers last
fall in the U.S., and this year in Europe. Export shipment
is now over 70,000 units a month. Seeking to raise that figure,
Sharp now wants each country to develop its own software for the
machine.

Sharp unveiled its IC card technology to Japanese software
houses this past February and another eight programs on IC cards,
in addition to the 14 currently available, will be released before
the end of this year.

Now, 60 software houses are developing IC cards for Sharp and the
cards will be brought to the Japanese market soon.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19890913)


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

AT&T SHARES "SMART BUILDING" TECH IN JAPAN}
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 SEP 7 (NB) -- One of the members of Matsushita
Group, Matsushita Electric Works, has licensed from AT&T advanced
technology to construct "smart buildings."

Called PDS, or premise distribution system, the technology
creates connections in a certain places while a building is still
under construction in order to facilitate installation of phones and
other electronic office equipment.

A highlight of the technology is an eight-pin modular
connector which allows implementation of ISDN (integrated services
digital network), LAN (local area network) or other types of data
communication facilities by plugging the devices into the wall,
therefore bypassing the need for special cables.

Matsushita Electric Works is expecting one billion yen or $6.9
million in business during the initial year of the contract, and
20 billion yen or $138 million worth of business from the technology in
the following three years.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19890913)


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

NEC AIMS TO REGAIN S.E. ASIAN CHIP MARKET}
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 SEP 11 (NB) -- NEC, in an attempt capture a
larger share of the Southeast Asian one-megabit DRAM (dynamic
random access memory) market, has decided to lower the
price of its products.

The price drop is expected to be limited to about 20 percent
in order to preserve fair market value based on the U.S.-Japan
semiconductor agreement. NEC will export one-megabit DRAM chips,
now sold for 1,700 to 1,800 yen ($11.7 to 12.4) per unit in Japan,
to Southeast Asia at the price of about 1,300 yen ($9).

Japanese one-megabit chips once dominated the Southeast Asian
one-megabit DRAM market, but Japanese makers kept prices high
consequently diminishing their share of the market. Since last spring,
Samsung of Korea, as well as Motorola and Texas Instruments of
the U.S., got the edge on the Japanese competition by pricing their
chips 20 to 30 percent below them.  As a result, Japanese chipmakers
as a whole have seen their market share slump to 25 percent.
NEC, which once had a ten percent share, now has two to three percent.

If NEC does drip its prices in Southeast Asia, Toshiba and Hitachi
are expected to follow suit, all of which is expected to lead to
something of a dogfight among all parties, including chipmakers
from the U.S. and Korea.

(Ken Takahashi/19890913)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(BRU)(00013)

NEW MULTIPLEXOR COMPRESSES DATA}
TEL AVIV, ISRAEL, 1989 SEP 16 (NB) -- RAD Data Communications of
Israel has released Trimlink 400, a 4 port synchronous data
compressor with a compression ration of up to 3:1 on each sub-
channel.

The system uses a proprietary compression technique based on the
Zim-Lempel algorithm. Once the compression is completed, the
system software statistically multiplexes all channels into a
single aggregate which can operate at data rates of up to 19.2
kilobits per second, RAD said.

The subchannels can be configured independently whilst each
channel can compress bit or byte oriented protocols (SDLC, HDLC,
BSC). This enables the Trimlink-400 to support applications
with IBM, DEC, HP and other environments simultaneously.

RAD Data Communications, established in 1981, currently employs
140 people and has annual sales of $18 million. The company has
become a world leader in miniature data communications products -- so
compact they fit in an RS-232 connector cover.

(Eric Dauchy/19890916/Press Contact : Menachem Kenan, Product
Manager : Tel : [phone] or Fax : [phone])


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

'CONNECTIONS' AUTHOR OPENS ITAC CONFERENCE}
TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1989 SEP 11 (NB) -- Did you know an
improvement in weaving techniques helped launch the Protestant
reformation? James Burke, presenter for the British Broadcasting
Corporation and author of the acclaimed 10-part BBC documentary
Connections, says it did. Burke, also author of the series The
Day the Universe Changed, spoke at the dinner opening the
Information Technology Association of Canada (ITAC) annual
conference here. Besides sketching the links between looms and
Luther, he discussed the impact of new information technologies
from the discovery of language to the computers of today.

Burke observed that the evolution of living species runs counter
to the otherwise universal principle of entropy: the slowing down
and decay of the universe. Living things, he remarked, "seem to
treat the second law of thermodynamics the way an Italian treats
government regulations." Thus an ongoing increase in the
complexity of human life. Information technology is a way of
dealing with that complexity, Burke said. He asked the audience
-- representing the largest computer and communications
technology firms in Canada -- to consider the implications of
"giving everyone a PhD."

But Burke also said today's educational system is not adequate
for present needs, and new ways of imparting and sharing
knowledge are needed. Among the possible solutions, he suggested,
is hypermedia.

The link between weaving and the Reformation? Well, advances in
weaving made it possible to produce more cloth, but the raw
material -- wool -- was lacking. So the weavers turned to more
readily available materials and began producing linen instead of
woollen cloth. Linen rags were at that time essential ingredients
for the making of paper. With more linen being produced at lower
cost, and consequently discarded more readily, linen rags became
plentiful and the price of paper went down. That made publishing
easier, thus giving the Vatican headaches by encouraging
free thinking, but also brought Rome a side benefit -- the ability
to print indulgences. And the stepped-up printing of indulgences
angered a young theologian named Martin Luther, who nailed his
complaints to the door of a church. The rest is history. Of
course, Burke never suggested there were no other factors
involved.

(Grant Buckler/19890915)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(TOR)(00015)

SELF-REPLICATING COMPUTERS - NANOTECHNOLOGY}
TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1989 SEP 12 (NB) -- If you think those
new notebook computers are small, you should hear Eric Drexler
talk. Drexler, author of Engines of Creation and currently a
visiting scholar at Stanford University, spoke to the annual
conference of the Information Technology Association of Canada
here. He discussed his concept of molecular machines -- self-
replicating computers and robots smaller than the cells that make
up the human body. These would be built up from individual atoms,
he said.

Drexler said such "nanotechnology" could be a reality early in
the 21st century. He said it could make possible a computer
containing 500 billion processors, with 12 orders of magnitude
more power than today's machines, that would occupy less than one
cubic centimeter. Even smaller computers could operate tiny
robots that could enter the human body to perform surgery from
within. "Consider the consequences of having a computer weigh
about as much as a bacterium," Drexler said, "and then buying
those computers by the kilogram."

(Grant Buckler/19890912)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(TOR)(00016)

CANADIAN REPORT DISCUSSES ENABLING EFFECT OF TECHNOLOGY}
TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1989 SEP 12 (NB) -- Information
technology has an enabling effect which is essential to Canada's
-- or any country's -- global competitiveness, according to a
report just released by the Information Technology Association of
Canada. Entitled The Enabling Effect, the report says Canada is
likely to suffer widespread ill effects from a failure to develop
its information technology capability.

In presenting the report to the annual conference of ITAC in
Toronto, ITAC chairman Ken Copeland likened the enabling effect
of informatics to a "phantom" capable of producing a range of
results from simple cost savings to a better quality of life.
Copeland's metaphor was clearly drawn from the musical hit
Phantom of the Opera, which opened at Toronto's Pantages Theatre
this week. "The phantom exists," Copeland said, "and any country
which ignores it is likely to have a big, sharp chandelier drop
on its head."

The report divided the effects of information technology into
five stages: cost reduction; quality enhancement; new products
and services dependent on information technology; new concepts of
strategic management; and finally, "new paradigms, philosophies
and values which are arising out of the development of I.T."

ITAC, an association made up of large computer and communications
equipment manufacturers, said Canada is suffering from a "lack of
synergy between its key players," including a failure to form
strategic alliances among companies and a lack of cooperation
between industry and universities.

(Grant Buckler/19890915/Press Contact: Barry Gander, ITAC, 416-
493-8710)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(SYD)(00017)

NEW BOOK QUESTIONS VALUE OF TECHNOLOGY}
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1989 SEP 11 (NB) - An Australian academic has
released a book that questions the value of the information
technology revolution.

In "Computer in the Human Context: Information Technology,
Productivity and People," Tom Forester accuses Australian
managers of having "naively fallen victim to computer industry
hype" and claims that the pay-off in terms of increased
productivity is "hard to discern."

Forester, a lecturer in computing at the Griffith University in
Brisbane, and a team of international contributors have come to
conclusions that suggest organizations are not using computers
effectively, largely because they have ignored human abilities
and needs. Forester writes: "While it is clear that the economic
benefits of IT have been slow in coming, a more critical
assessment of the social benefits of computerization has also
displaced much of the euphoria that greeted the arrival of the
microchip in the 1970s."

(Gavin Atkins & Computing Australia/19890913)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(SYD)(00018)

AUSTRALIAN PC SALES SOAR}
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1989 SEP 11 (NB) - Sometimes criticized market
research organization, Compass Research, has released figures
that show PC sales in Australia were up 25 percent in volume and
value for the second quarter of 1989 compared to the previous
quarter.

Compass Research attributes the rise in sales to aggressive price
cutting by the major PC vendors, and predicts that sales will
slip in the third quarter before picking up again for Christmas.

Compass claimed that Amstrad was the big winner in the latest
results, topping the list as the biggest seller and recording the
biggest growth. Compass managing director, Jennifer Adelstein,
said, "Second quarter '89 has been the quarter for Amstrad's 2000
series, when the 2286 and 2386 models joined the 2086 to
substantially boost Amstrad's place in the market."

Apple was just beaten, to be second, with NEC, Commodore and IBM
taking out the minor placings. Apple recorded increases in sales
for its SE/30 and IICX ranges, while NEC suffered against
strong competition from low-priced XT and AT computers. Compass
says IBM's position was consolidated with steady growth in sales
for the 30 286 and 50Z models.

Most of the PCs sold were 80286 machines, and Compass predicts
the XT share of the market will decrease.

In software, Microsoft Works was the biggest selling package,
while a 60 percent increase was recorded for accounting packages,
coinciding with the end of Australia's financial year in June.
Among databases, dBase III+ and IV continue to dominate the
market. Epson and NEC retained their top two spots in the printer
market with Amstrad experiencing the greatest growth.

(Gavin Atkins & Computing Australia/19890913)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(SYD)(00019)

IMPROVED 386 CACHE CONTROLLER CHIP}
ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA, 1989 SEP 14 (NB) -- Australian chip designer
Austek has announced a second generation of its controller chip.
The A38202 will work with 25 and 33MHz 80386 PCs and there will be a
42MHz version ready when these PCs are marketed. It controls 128
kilobytes of random access memory, more than its competitors.

The world market for this sort of chip is estimated at US$100M. The
Austek cache chip sells for around US$100 each.

(Paul Zucker/19890915)


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

NEXT SHIPPING 1.0 OPERATING SYSTEM}
FREMONT, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 SEP 18 (NB) -- Next, Inc. will
announce today that it is shipping Version 1.0 of the operating system
for the Next Computer System. The Unix operating system is said to be
faster and less buggy than beta versions, and is being welcomed
by academics and some corporate mavericks who have lined up to
be among the first customers for the new machine.

The CD-ROM disk which contains the operating system will also
have on it the complete works of William Shakespeare, a math,
word processing, dictionary, thesaurus, and programming package,
and a demo version of FrameMaker publishing software.

Meanwhile, Next is working on an upgrade to its computer based
on Motorola's 68040 microprocessor, according to PC Week. Sources
are quoted as telling the trade weekly that the new machine might
debut in the first quarter of 1990. Beaverton, Oregon-based
Mentor Graphics' $1.5 million design automation system purchased
by Next last week might come in handy for designing the central
computer board, says the journal.

(Wendy Woods/19890915)


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

NEXTWEEK TO DEBUT FROM MACWEEK}
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 SEP 15 (NB) -- The first
magazine dedicated to the Next Computer System will bow this
week. NextWeek will be a special supplement in the trade journal
MacWeek, appearing as a quarterly supplement through 1990.

The debut of NextWeek corresponds to Next's long-awaited shipment of
version 1.0 of its operating system, which got underway on
September 13 but will be announced September 18.

NextWeek will feature new product reviews, as well as an
exclusive interview with Next founder Steve Jobs. The first issue
also contains a price and feature comparison of Next, the Macintosh,
an IBM PS/2 80 and a Sun SPARCstation 1 (no word on which machine
wins).

MacWeek is owned by Coastal Associates Publishing, a limited
partnership of Ziff Communications Company and Patch Communications.

(Wendy Woods/19890915/Press Contact: Cynthia Ahart, 415-
243-3533)


(EXCLUSIVE)(UNIX)(SFO)(00003)

UNIX MAGAZINE ON VIDEO COMING}
RESCUE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 SEP 15 (NB) -- Since the demise of
The Computer Show and the PBS series The Computer Chronicles in
limbo pending an underwriter and funding, computer enthusiasts
cannot go to the tube to get the latest on technology yet -- unless
they use their video cassette recorder.

That's what the producers of a new magazine-on-video for Unix
enthusiasts are hoping to achieve with a program called Unique:
The Unix Video Quarterly. A steep $195 per year (billed as "less than
half the cost of many industry newsletters," according to producer
David Fiedler, will buy you "professional in-depth coverage" of trade
shows, interviews with industry figures, company and product
profiles, and guest commentators.

Subscriptions are available directly from the producers, InfoPro
Systems, at PO Box 220, Rescue, California, 95672. (Rescue is
located between Sacramento and Lake Tahoe in California.) For
more information, call David Fiedler, producer, at 916-677-5870.

(Wendy Woods/19890915)


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

SOFTWARE AGREEMENT BETWEEN UNISYS AND FILENET}
BLUE BELL, PENNSYLVANIA, U.S.A., 1989 SEP 11 (NB) -- Unisys
and FileNet (Costa Mesa, CA) have signed an agreement under which
FileNet will supply its Image Access Facility software to Unisys.

Image Access Facility is Unix-based software that manages image
data on multiple optical disk subsystems for use in a variety of
applications. FileNet will port this software to Unisys hardware
over the next year.

This agreement is part of Unisys' strategy to establishing a
leadership position in the emerging image processing market. For
FileNet, this agreement underscores that company's commitment to
an open systems architecture.

(Janet Endrijonas/19890915/Press Contact: Steven L. Lubetkin,
Unisys, 215-542-2240)


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

UNIX VENDORS TO OFFER OFFICEPOWER OPTION}
IRVINE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 SEP 11 (NB) -- Convergent
Technologies, Sanyo/ICON and Sun Microsystems will each offer
ICL's Officepower software as an option for their Unix customers.

This is seen as a move designed to further establish Officepower
as a de facto standard in the Unix office automation industry.
The program currently has over 100,000 users worldwide and is the
third largest systems software package in the Unix industry
according to an ICL spokesman.

Sales agreements with these three vendors were reached under
ICL's Cooperative Marketing Partnership (CMP) program. The
company expects to sign additional agreements with other major
vendors within the next year. The launch of this CMP program
marks ICL's move from being a supplier of proprietary office
automation systems and software to an open-system vendor.

(Janet Endrijonas/19890915/Press Contact: Anne M. Prine, ICL
North America, Business Systems, 714-458-7282)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(HKG)(00006)

AT&T SEES UNIX BOOM FOR ASIA}
HONGKONG, ASIA, 1989 SEP 15 (NB) -- In true evangelical style, Larry
Crume, president and representative director of AT&T's Unix
Software Operation Pacific, claimed last week that the Asia-
Pacific region was on the verge of a Unix boom.

He said that although the market penetration was lower at the
present time than in the USA and Europe, a number of government
projects underway throughout the region were likely to
encourage development of Unix in the private sector.

Local industry experts were surprised to hear Mr Crume state
that IBM's AIX version of Unix would not last long. "It is
based on Unix System V Release 2.0, and AT&Ts next version,
Release 4.0 is due for shipment in October."

One industry source had a different viewpoint:" Unix has not
been popular in this region because of the fragmented nature of
its forms. It is also a very unfriendly package to use. Systems
developers and users alike in this part of the world are
looking for easier ways to develop and use systems, and they
tend to go for true applications development tools."

"The open systems direction of the Open Software Foundation is
likely to be much more attractive in this market because so
many different types of hardware are in place with tailored
application systems, " he told Newsbytes.

(Keith Cameron/19890915)


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

NEW WORKSTATION FROM MITSUBISHI}
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 SEP 12 (NB) -- Mitsubishi Electric has released
two new models of Unix-based EWSs (engineering workstations),
ME200FX and ME400FX. The new machines are high-end versions of its
ME200 and ME400. The new models have doubled the current
floating-point arithmetic capability by means of a Motorola MC68030
microprocessing unit.

The ME200FX is priced 3,634,000 yen or $25,000 and is capable of
processing 4.5 MIPS (million instructions per second), while the
ME400FX is priced 5,254,000 yen or $36,200 and has 7 MIPS of
processing ability. Both machines are slated for shipment in
November.

Meanwhile, Mitsubishi hasn't forgotten its installed base, and is
offering a special gift for them -- a combination tool for upgrading
their machines via software. Mitsubishi has bundled U.S.-based
Weitek's floating-point accelerator and Green Hills' compiler in its
Upgrade Kit for ME200 and ME400. The price of the Upgrade Kit is
950,000 yen or $6,550 and it will be released in December.

The company is expecting to sell over 10,000 units of these series
of machines in the coming three years.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19890913)


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

YHP TO LAUNCH OSF/MOTIF}
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 SEP 7 (NB) -- One of the members of Open Software
Foundation (OSF), Yokogawa Hewlett-Packard, has started to
distribute the user interface for the Unix operating system,
OSF/Motif, here in Japan.

The OSF/Motif has been touted as a standard user interface for
the Unix operating system by the alliance of IBM, HP, Hitachi
and other makers. The alliance seeks to prevent domination over
the Unix operating system arena by AT&T and its chosen user
interface, Open Look.

YHP has bundled OSF/Motif with its own Unix operating system,
HP-UX7.0, and named it HP Motif for its engineering workstations,
HP9000 series model 300 and 800. The interface is priced 87,300
yen or $600 and is expected for release in 1990 to the public.

YHP is currently distributing the interface software to software
development houses in order to encourage them to use it in their
products.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19890913)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(LON)(00009)

RENAULT BUYS A CRAY}
RUEIL MALMAISON, FRANCE, 1989 SEP 16 (NB) -- Renault, the French
vehicle manufacturer, has ordered a Cray X-MP/18 from the US Cray
Research Corporation. The French manufacturer is a new customer
for Cray, which has 15 automotive customers around the world.

Renault will system at its technical centre in Rueil Malmaison,
France. The company will use the supercomputer for structural
analysis, combustion research, acoustics analysis, and process
simulation. Renault will use Cray's Unicos operating system,
which is based on AT&T Unix System V.

Announcing the deal, Marcelo Gumucio, president and chief
operating officer of Cray Research, said: "Although Renault is a
new customer for us, the company has been using Cray systems for
three years for automotive research and development. We are
pleased to add Renault to our list of automotive customers."

(Steve Gold/19890916/Press Contact: John Swenson, Cray Research -
Tel: (US) 612-333-5889)