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/nb891030

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

ZOOMRACKS AUTHOR SUES APPLE FOR HYPERCARD}
LOS ALTOS, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 OCT 27 (NB) -- The author of
Zoomracks, a popular shareware program for the PC and Atari ST,
has filed suit against Apple Computer, charging that its HyperCard
software violates a patent he obtained on screen displays.

Paul Heckel of Quickview Systems in Los Altos, California, created
Zoomracks in 1985. Available as shareware from such firms as PC-SIG,
Zoomracks allows portions of information from various fields to be
combined and displayed in an electronic version of file cards. Heckel
won a patent for the design -- patent number 4,486,857. Two years
later, the suit contends, the design showed up in HyperCard from Apple.

Two years of negotiations with Apple Computer, Newsbytes was told
by a reliable source, have failed to produce a settlement in this case,
prompting Heckel to go file the suit. Heckel's attorney,
Ronald Schutz of Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ceresi, in Minneapolis,
Minnesota, is representing him on a contingency basis, since the
shareware firm is not financially able to take on the cost of a suit
against giant Apple alone.

Zoomracks was chosen Best Database by Compute! magazine in
January, 1989, for its "influential interface ahead of its time."

Author Heckel says, "We believe that patents are important to the
health of the software and computer industries. Software is what
makes computers useful, so software innovation is what creates
new computer markets. Without intellectual property rights,
software developers, especially small ones, have little incentive
to innovate."

Heckel waited until now to file the suit, despite the fact that HyperCard
was released more than two years ago, because there was hope that
Apple would settle the complaint out of court. The attempt to settle
extended a full month after the initial filing -- September 26, 1989 in
U.S. District Court in Minneapolis -- but the suit was only made public
now after the last-ditch effort to reach agreement with Apple
attorneys failed, Newsbytes has learned.

Anticipating trouble earlier this year, Quickview Systems sent letters
to HyperCard developers worldwide warning them of the potential
patent infringement and the on-going negotiations for a settlement.

Apple Computer, meanwhile, through spokeswoman Carleen LeVasseur,
will not comment much on the case, but says the suit is without merit.
"We don't believe that Hypercard has infringed on any valid claims."

(Wendy Woods/19891017/Press Contact: Ronald Schutz, atty, 612-
349-8500)


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

MACINTOSH ACCESSES UP TO 14 MEGS WITH VIRTUAL 2.0}
MENLO PARK, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 OCT 27 (NB) -- A new software
product promises to eliminate the eight megabyte memory barrier
common to the best Macintoshes.

Virtual 2.0, the second generation of this product, allows an SE/30,
IIx, IIcx, and IIci (all 68020 and 68030-based Macintoshes) to access
not only eight megabytes of existing memory in such machines, but
also the six megabytes of memory normally reserved for expansion
cards. It allows the Mac to use a portion of the hard disk drive as
if it were RAM or random access memory. Once the Virtual software
is installed, the Macintosh rapidly accesses the disk drive and
operates as though it had up to 14 megabytes of RAM installed.

Because Virtual behaves like ordinary RAM, users can employ
such memory hogs as Multifinder and run several applications at once
in windows on screen. Currently, System 6.03, Apple's system
software, only allows a Macintosh to access actual RAM, not
"virtual" RAM but that is expected to be different with the release
of System Software 7.0 next spring.

The product also allows memory size to be adjusted through a
control panel device, and offers a disk defragmentation utility
that provides contiguous clear space for the Virtual file.

Virtual 2.0, at $199, is sold in North America by Ingram Micro D
and MacAmerica. It is also sold through distributors Softmart
International in France, Prisma in Germany, Computers Unlimited
in the UK, Program Paketet in Sweden, Performance Sales in
Australia and New Zealand, and SoftCode in Canada. In Switzerland
the product is available through Systrade and in the Netherlands
through ITF.

Newsbytes News Service will be doing a review of the product
shortly.

(Wendy Woods/19891027/Press Contact: 415-324-0727)


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

JOHN ANDERSON MEMORIAL FUND CREATED}
FOSTER CITY, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 OCT 27 (NB) -- A trust fund
for the two children of John J. Anderson, Peter, 4, and Kate, 1, has
been established by Ziff Communications.

The trusted and well-liked senior editor for MacUser magazine was
killed October 17 when his car was buried in debris from a brick
wall which fell during the earthquake in San Francisco. Anderson
was 33 years old.

Contributions can be sent to the Anderson Trust Fund, c/o Nancy
Woods, Human Resources Department, Ziff Communications,
One Park Avenue, New York, New York 10016.

Among the first contributors was the staff of MacWorld. Although
the two publications were rivals, Anderson had many friends in
the Macintosh community. Bill Ziff himself, Ziff president,
contributed $50,000 for the trust fund.

(Wendy Woods/19891027)


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

MACINTOSH VIRUS PROTECTION IN DOCUCOMP}
SUNNYVALE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 OCT 27 (NB) -- As virus
protection is very much on the minds of end-users these days, Docucomp
has built-in virus protection in its newest version of DocuComp
for the Macintosh. The protection device tells you if a document
you are comparing with a second version has been infected with a
virus and if so, warns, "This application has been modified possibly by
a virus. We recommend that you take action to remove the problem
before proceeding. We also recommend that you don't run
this program on any other system until the problem has been
cleared up."

On Macintoshes, documents, unlike system software, can be infected
but they can't spread an infection, according to Advanced Software's
Jeff Cherniss. He says the Macintosh's "resource fork is executed
when you run a program. But the data fork is what you access when
a document file is loaded. Therefore the data fork cannot infect the
system." Inotherwords, system software isn't involved in the loading
of a document through DocuComp.

Nevertheless, it's important to know when a document has been
compromised and this program will do that, hopefully preventing
further infection.

Cherniss says the virus detection algorithm will be implemented in
the next version of DocuComp for IBM PCs and all future software
products.

Of the product, Mike Odawa, president of the Palo Alto, California-
based Software Entrepreneur's Forum (SEF), says, "By embedding detectors
into all commercial products, we can uncover viral infection at an
early stage and destroy the cloak of secrecy that viruses need to
propagate. DocuComp is a wonderful example of the type of virus
detection methods we would like to see all developers include in
their products." The SEF currently has a Virus Task Force
which is working with developers to fight viral infections in software.

(Wendy Woods/19891027/Press Contact: Jeff Cherniss, 408-733-0745)


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

NEW MAC/PC TAX PREP SOFTWARE FROM SOFTVIEW}
OXNARD, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 OCT 24 (NB) -- Softview, Inc.,
has introduced the Taxview 1989 software family designed
specifically for tax preparation professionals.

Taxview includes some of the same features as the company's
MacinTax personal tax preparation program. The new software is
modular. Individual modules include programs for preparing
returns for partnerships, corporations and S-corporations. Other
modules include State Supplements, Taxview Integrated Electronic
Filing and Taxview Planner, a multi-year tax planning model.

Taxview can be used on either a Macintosh or an IBM or compatible
with Microsoft Windows. It is capable of printing out exact
replicas of IRS forms on blank paper user either a laser or dot
matrix printer without requiring separate forms software or
special font cartridges.

Taxview 1040 is priced at $495 with an annual renewal of $250.
Taxview 1065, 1120 and 1120-S are each priced at $395 with annual
renewal fees of $200 each. The State Supplements modules are
available for eight states. Each is priced at $79 dollars with a
renewal of $40 per year. The eight state package will be
available at a cost of $395 with an annual renewal of $190.

Taxview electronic filing allows professionals to electronically
file their clients returns using a 1200/2400 bps modem. Prices
for this module begin at $149.

The planning model module, Taxview Planner is priced at $295 with
renewals at $150.

All parts of this program are will be available by the end of
January 1990. Some are available immediately.

(Janet Endrijonas/19891027/Press Contact: Jeff Felder, Softview,
Inc., 805-385-5000)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(LAX)(00006)

MICRONET LOW POWER MAC PORTABLE HARD DISKS SHIPPING}
IRVINE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 OCT 27 (NB) -- MicroNet
Technology is shipping "low power" 40 megabyte, 25 millisecond, hard
disk drive systems for the potable Macintosh.

Both internal and external versions developed around the 1/3-
height Connor SCSI hard drives are available. The internal model
known as the Pi-40p sells for $895. It is furnished with a
special lightweight mounting bracket and a drive cable. The
external drive known as the MP-40p retails for $995. Housed in a
molded cabinet about the size of an external floppy drive, the
MP-40p comes with a special power cable that allows it to operate
from the battery of the portable.

In November, the MicroPak 155 MByte SCSI Streaming Tape Backup
System will be available. This system can be used with the
Macintosh portable since it is powered by the portable's battery.
Retail price will be $995 and will include two blank tapes and a
utility that allows for file-by-file and mirror image back-ups
and restores.

(Janet Endrijonas/19891027/Press Contact: Charles McConathy,
MicroNet Technology, 714-837-6033)


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

ALAN KAY TO SPEAK AT NORTHWESTERN}
EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, U.S.A., 1989 OCT 31 (NB) -- Current Apple
Fellow Alan Kay comes to Chicago to give a lecture on Halloween
night. The talk, which is free and open to the public, is sponsored
by Northwestern University's Institute for the Learning Sciences.

Kay, who invented the graphical user interface when he worked for
Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center, will give a talk entitled "The
Best Way To Predict the Future Is To Invent It." Kay will speak
at Northwestern's Arthur Rubloff Law Center in downtown Chicago.

(Michael Fitzgerald/19891026/Press Contact: Tracey Colter, The
Institute for the Learning Sciences, 312-491-3500)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(TOR)(00008)

MACSETRA SHOWS OPTICAL DRIVE, PLANS IBM, UNIX SUPPORT}
MISSISSAUGA, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1989 OCT 23 (NB) -- MACsetra
Technologies of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, showed its Genesis 6000
600-megabyte erasable optical disk drive at the Canadian Computer
Show this week, and revealed plans to make the drive available
for more computers.

Shipping since May, the drive currently works with the Apple
Macintosh. A version of IBM and compatible PCs is planned in the
first quarter of 1990, said Glen Chibree, product sales manager.
The company said is also considering support for
minicomputers and workstations running the Unix operating system.

MACsetra sells the Genesis 6000 in Canada, the United States,
Europe, Australia and the Far East. It lists for US$4,995 or
C$7,695. The version for IBM and compatible PCs is likely to cost
slightly more, Chibree said.

(Grant Buckler/19891027/Press Contact: Glen Chibree, MACsetra
Technologies, 306-934-6044)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(TOR)(00009)

TELEMAGIC'S CUSTOMER DATABASE NOW MAC-COMPATIBLE}
MISSISSAUGA, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1989 OCT 23 (NB) -- Smart
Technologies of Calgary, Alberta, Canadian distributor of
TeleMagic sales and contact management software, announced a Mac
version of the package at the Canadian Computer Show this week.

Remote Control Inc. of Solana Beach, Calif., developed the
software, which combines a customer database with word
processing, auto-dialing, note-taking and reporting. The Mac
version is the first such program for that computer, the company
said. It will sell for C$595 in Canada, with an introductory
price of C$495 until November 15.

(Grant Buckler/19891027/Press Contact: David Martin, Smart
Technologies, 403-233-9333)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(HKG)(00010)

HONGKONG APPLEWORLD MORE POPULAR THIS YEAR}
CENTRAL, HONGKONG, 1989 OCT 27 (NB) -- Contrary to the view
that business confidence in Hongkong is at an all time low,
Apple dealers participating in AppleWorld '89 reported
excellent attendance and interest in Apple's latest products.
The show and conference, which was staged at the new Hongkong
Convention and Exhibition Centre, closed tonight.

According to Andrew Cheng, general manager of Apple Hongkong,
the Macintosh offerings seem to suit the idiosyncrasies of the
market here. "We're right on track to becoming Hongkong's
market leader in personal computers by the early 1990's," he
said.

He said that the interest in Macintosh extended well beyond the
traditional desktop publishing (DTP) applications, although
the Chinese language DTP system demonstrations were very
popular. "Business people are choosing `horses for courses' and
Macintosh meets many specific application needs better than its
competitors. Those business people are discovering that it is
easier to network using the Mac and its easy connectability as
the central focus, rather than endeavoring to add it to PC-
based network. From this there is a natural progression to
investigate the excellent business software capabilities which
Macintosh now offers, and that has begun to happen at
MacWorld," said Mr Cheng.

One interesting new offering at the show was the SAS
Institute's statistical analysis package JMP (pronounced JUMP),
which was specifically developed to take advantage of Mac's
mouse and graphics interface.

(Keith Cameron/19891027)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(SYD)(00011)

AUSTRALIA: APPLE RECORDS VERSUS APPLE COMPUTER}
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1989 OCT 23 (NB) -- Apple Computers and
Apple Records, the record company that markets the Beatles,
were scheduled to meet in Sydney's Federal Court on Friday
27th October to contest the Apple trademark. The action is
part of a worldwide campaign by Apple Computers to remove
the record company's claim to the name in more than six
countries.

The record company recently sued the computer firm in the
English High Court over an alleged breach of contract in
which Apple computers agreed to stay out of the music
industry. Apple Records claim that the contract was
breached when Apple began selling music boards for its PCs.
A spokesman for Apple Records said the company would push
to have the Australian action postponed until a decision
was made in the English courts.

(Gavin Atkins & Computing Australia/19891025)


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

MICRON TECHNOLOGY MAKES IN-ROADS TO JAPAN}
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 OCT 19 (NB) -- Micron Technology's deal
with Sanyo Electric to sell chips in Japan dramatically proves that
times have changed; several years ago Micron Technology led the
fight to stop the alleged "chip dumping" by Japanese firms in the
U.S. market, leading to the historic semiconductor agreement.

Idaho-based Micron, which used to export chips to Japan through
other firms, did not achieve much success, as the trading
firms did not cover technical support. Now, in an effort to increase
exports to Japan, Micron has tied up with Sanyo,
which has a wide sales channel in Japan. Sanyo expects to sell
20 billion yen ($140 million) worth of Micron Technology chips each
year within four or five years.

Micron Technology specializes in production of DRAM (dynamic
random access memory) and SRAM (static random access
memory) chips, and earns annual sales of about $50 million.

(Ken Takahashi/19891026)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TYO)(00002)

SONY TO BUILD CHIP PLANT IN U.S.}
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 OCT 20 (NB) -- Sony has revealed a plan to start
production of semiconductor chips in the U.S. and it will
decide the location in the beginning of the new year.

Basically, Sony wants plants in the U.S. and in Europe to supply
semiconductors to the large American market and to the
European market expected to be integrated in 1992. Sony, however,
decided to give up the plant construction in Europe in this stage
because of the enormous amount of money required to do both.

Construction of the new plant is slated for the fall of 1990 and
completion is expected by the end of 1991. Operation is expected by
spring, 1992. Sony will be a one of the largest chip producers in
the world when the plant starts operation.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19891026)


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

FUJITSU MICROSYSTEMS OF AMERICA SOLD}
SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA U.S.A., 1989 OCT 27 (NB) -- Fujitsu America
and Alpha Microsystems (Santa Ana, CA) have signed a definitive
agreement under which a subsidiary of Alpha Microsystems has
agreed to purchase the assets of Fujitsu Microsystems of America.

Under the agreement terms, Fujitsu America and Alpha Microsystems
have entered into a due diligence period. A closing date to
complete the transaction is expected soon. The financial terms
of the deal include $2.5 million plus long term OEM (original equipment
manufacturing) arrangements between Fujitsu Ltd., Fujitsu America,
Alpha Microsystems and its subsidiary.

After the deal is closed, Alpha Microsystems plans to open a
facility in San Jose for the employees who will be transferred
from Fujitsu.

(Janet Endrijonas/19891027/Press Contact: Nyoka Criner, Alpha
Microsystems, 714-641-6225)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LAX)(00004)

NINTENDO, FUJITSU TEAM WITH PEPSI}
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 OCT 24 (NB) -- Pepsi-Cola
has inked a pact with Fujitsu Systems of America to supply hand-
held computers for Pepsi's route distribution vehicles and also
signed an agreement with Nintendo of America to promote the
latter's portable video "Game Boy."

Fujitsu will be supplying its System 29 units to Pepsi-Cola
for use by Pepsi sales people. The System 29 will allow the
Pepsi sales and route distribution force to produce invoices and
inventory and pricing updates along with a number of other
reports right in their sales or delivery vehicles. According to
Pepsi, having the Fujitsu computers onboard should help sales and
distribution people to increase productivity.

Nintendo will team with Pepsi in a $10 million promotion
starting Nov 1. During the promotion, Pepsi will award more than
4,000 Game Boys to consumers. The Game Boy is expected to be a
hot item for Christmas this year. Nintendo has predicted holiday
demand for the product at up to 2.5 million units but says that
only 1 million will be shipped to the US before the holiday.

The promotion, which Pepsi says it hopes will make its brand
name synonymous with the hottest toy of the holiday season, will
be aired on radio and television and will be visible in store
displays. In addition to the Game Boys, Pepsi drinkers will also
have an opportunity to win other prizes including Nintendo Action
Sets, U-Force Remotes for use with Nintendo Entertainment
Systems, Nintendo Game Packs, $5 Nintendo vouchers and free
coupons for 2-liter Pepsi products.

(Janet Endrijonas/19891027/Press Contact: Maura Smith, Fujitsu,
619-481-4004)


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

OKI BREAKS GROUND IN TUALATIN, OREGON}
TUALATIN, OREGON, U.S.A., 1989 OCT 24 (NB) -- Oki Semiconductor
officials broke open the saki for the ground-breaking ceremony for
their first U.S.-based VLSI (very large scale integration) chip
manufacturing facility.

Located in the Tualatin Industrial Park near Portland, Oregon,
the facility is slated to be complete by March 1990 with equipment
in place by April and volume production scheduled for June. Oki's
goal is to create 500,000 one megabit dynamic random access
memory chips per month, eventually expanded to production of
four megabit DRAMs, and ASICs (application-specific integrated
circuits).

Also in a goodwill gesture to the community, Oki Director Masao
Nogami presented Tualatin with a $50,000 scholarship fund which
will provide two $2,000 scholarships each year to deserving local
youth who want to attend Oregon University.

Some 120 new jobs are to be created at the new plant.

(Wendy Woods/19891027/Press Contact: William Berridge, 408-
737-6345)


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

TI PROFITS FALL}
DALLAS, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1989 OCT 23 (NB) -- Third quarter earnings
for Texas Instruments fell 30.6 percent.

The company has cited a sluggish domestic electronics industry,
particularly in computers and defense, for the decline. Profits
fell to $65 million from $93.7 million for the same period last
year. Revenue was down from $1.58 billion to $1.54 billion.

Year to date figures show a slight rise in sales, $4.60 billion
to $4.66 billion but profits for the year thus far have dipped to
$255.8 million from last year's $271 million.

(Janet Endrijonas/19891027)


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

GENERAL AUTOMATION REPORTS LOSS FOR YEAR}
ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 OCT 24 (NB) -- A loss of $1.6
million on revenue of $41.4 million for the year ended June 30
has been reported by General Automation.

The company has been in the process of restructuring since
January 1989 but the efforts were not enough to avoid reporting a
loss for the year. Improvement can be seen, however, in the fact
that the loss occurred despite a fourth quarter profit of
$126,000 compared with the $8.8 million loss the company incurred
in the same period last year. At the same time, the company
noted that revenue for the fourth quarter was $10.3 million, a
drop of 26 percent.

(Janet Endrijonas/19891027)


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

GATEWAY EARNINGS UP 87 PERCENT}
IRVINE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 OCT 23 (NB) -- Financial results
for both the most recent quarter and the first nine months of the
year have been announced by Gateway Communications.

Net income for the quarter ended September 30 increased from
$177,939 last year to $331,889, 87 percent. Total revenues
increased by 53 percent.

For the first nine months, net income increased 47 percent, from
$514, 725 to $755,793. Revenues for the period were up 69
percent.

The company cites record shipments combined with expense and cost
controls for the profitability.

(Janet Endrijonas/19891027/Press Contact: Bradley Morse, Gateway
Communications, 714-553-1555)


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

COMPAQ FINANCIAL FIGURES FOR 3RD QTR GOOD}
HOUSTON, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1989 OCT 25 (NB) -- Compaq has reported
sales in the third quarter ended September 30 rose to $683
million from $502 for the third quarter of 1988.

Net income for the quarter reached $87 million, a 51 percent
increase over the same period in 1988. Figures for the first
nine months of 1989 were also good. Net income for the period
was $254 million while sales hit $2.1 billion.

Net income for the third quarter and 9 month period includes a
nonrecurring pre-tax gain of $13.7 million resulting from an
increase in the carrying value of the company's investment in
Connor Peripherals. Net income for the nine months ended on
September 30, 1988 included a similar gain of $9.7 million.

International sales accounted for 43 percent of third quarter
sales with year to year comparisons for the period showing a 74
percent gain. During the third quarter, Compaq purchased a
manufacturing facility in Stirling, Scotland to be used for
international service and repair operations.

(Janet Endrijonas/19891027/Press Contact: Bob Beach, Compaq
Corporation, 713-374-4616)


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

CSC 2ND QTR EARNINGS REACH $13.5 MILLION}
EL SEGUNDO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 OCT 25 (NB) -- Computer
Sciences Corp. (CSC) has reported a 13 percent increase in net
earnings for the second quarter ended Sept. 29.

Net Earnings rose to $13.5 million as compared with $12.0 million
for the same period a year ago. Revenues were up 24 percent,
climbing to $371.7 million from $299.5 million during the second
quarter of last year.  Revenues from the company's Systems Group
rose 24 percent over the same period in the previous year to
$246.9 million CSC Consulting was up 128 percent to $66.7
million. The Industry Services Group had a 22 percent gain with
revenue of $58.1 million.

Results for the first half of the year were equally positive.
Net earnings of $26.7 million were up from $23.7 million for the
first half of last fiscal year. Revenues for the half rose to
$713.8 million from $598.8 million, a 19 percent increase.

(Janet Endrijonas/19891027/Press Contact: Jim Furlong, Computer
Sciences Corp., 213-615-0311)


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

MCDONNELL D AND ENCORE JOINT VENTURE}
SANTA ANA, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 OCT 24 (NB) -- McDonnell
Douglas Information Systems (Santa Ana, CA) and Encore Computer
Corp. (Ft. Lauderdale, FL) has signed a formed a joint research
and development venture to work on as-yet undisclosed technology.

McDonnell Douglas, scheduled in 1990 to be spun off as a UK-
based public company from its parent company, McDonnell Douglas
Corp. makes Pick operating system-based business computers.
Encore's product is parallel processing computers.

In a related announcement, another McDonnell Douglas
subsidiary, McDonnell Douglas Field Service Company, has signed a
3-year agreement with Computer Remarketing Corp. (CRC). Under
this agreement, McDonnell Douglas Field Service will install,
maintain and repair computers sold by CRC (Beachwood, OH).

McDonnell Douglas Field Services is based in Santa Ana, CA
and works out of 150 locations across the country. Sales last
year totaled more than $100 million. Senior management of this
subsidiary expects its proposal for a leveraged buy out if the
field service organization to be approved by the parent company.
Management tendered its offer after the parent company announced
plans to sell the subsidiary as part of its restructuring.

(Janet Endrijonas/19891027/Press Contact: Pat Dwight, Mc Donnell
Douglas Field Service Co., 714-566-4965)


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

CA SOFTWARE CO SELLS OUT TO TEXAS BUYER}
DALLAS, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1989 OCT 23 (NB) -- CMC Information
Systems (San Antonio, TX) has acquired the operating assets of
Customized Information Systems (CIS) (Torrance, CA).

CMC Information Systems is a developer and marketer of online
accounting systems that operate on Unisys 1100/2200 mainframes.
L. George Brannon, vice president of finance and administration
for the Metals Group of Commercial Metals Co. (parent of CMC
Information Systems) has been named president and CEO of CMC.
Joining him as vice president and general manager of CMC will be
William James, formerly marketing director with CIS.

(Janet Endrijonas/19891027/Press Contact: George Brannon, CMC
Information Systems, 512-372-8208)


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

NEW XEROX SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT CENTER IN SINGAPORE}
SINGAPORE, SOUTHEAST ASIA, 1989 OCT 23 (NB) -- Xerox has opened
a software development center in Singapore's National Science Park.

At this facility, Xerox programmers will develop applications
software in direct support of the company's worldwide printing
systems business.

Before selecting Singapore , Xerox evaluated a number of Asian
countries. Singapore satisfied many business needs including
software copyright protection, technical communications
abilities, a supportive political environment for software
development and the availability of skilled people.

Named to direct the center is Dr. Wang Kai Yuen. In addition to
the current printing systems project to be developed at the
center, future plans include software for Xerox products in
desktop publishing, page description languages and document
processing as well as software for Xerox administrative services
such as management information systems (MIS) and network
monitoring. Software for foreign language versions of Xerox
products will also be developed at the center.

The center is a joint venture between Rank Xerox Ltd. of
Singapore and the Xerox Printing Systems Development Unit located
in El Segundo, CA.

(Janet Endrijonas/19891027/Press Contact: Barbara E. Burke,
Xerox, 213-333-3613)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LAX)(00014)

TOSHIBA TO BUILD FACILITY IN SO CAL}
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 OCT 27 (NB) -- Toshiba Corp. has announced it
will invest $4.7 million building a new facility to manufacture
key computer components at the Toshiba plant in Irvine, CA.

Production will include state-of-the-art surface mounted printed
circuit boards (PCB) for personal computers and will be
accomplished, in part, by highly-advanced automated robots.

Construction of the facility is scheduled to begin in December.
Toshiba will not wait for the facility to be completed to begin
production. The company has leased a facility adjacent to the
Toshiba America Information System location in Irvine. The new
facility is expected to be able to manufacture the PCBs required
for 4,000 laptops per month. By 1992, the company expects to
produce the PCBs for 15,000 laptops per month.

The new facility in Irvine is another step in Toshiba's long
range plans to raise local content and promote localization of
its operations in the US.

(Janet Endrijonas/19891027)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(WAS)(00015)

CHICAGO VENTURE CAPITAL MEETING}
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, U.S.A., 1989 OCT 31 (NB) -- First Chicago
Investment Advisers (FCIA) and the Chicago High Tech Association
(CHTA) are today sponsoring the Midwest R & D Conference, a
symposium on research and development funding sources. The day-long
conference will feature speakers from both private industry and
government funding agencies. It will encompass both federal and private
funding sources and discuss methods of attracting venture funding
for start-ups.

Featured speakers will include Ray Brill, president of Advanced
Technology Innovations, Inc., Sandra Conn, of Sandra Conn
Associates, Inc., Bud Durand, SBIR Program Manager for the
DefenseAdvanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Bart Holaday,
managing director of FCIA, Vance Smith, immediate past president
of the Licensing Executive Society USA/Canada, and Alfred M.
Wurglitz, deputy general counsel of Advanced Technology, Inc.

(Michael Fitzgerald/19891027/Press Contact: Susan Herzog, Sandra
Conn Associates, 312-327-0082)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TOR)(00016)

MALAYSIAN FIRM BUYS INTEREST IN SEMI-TECH FAR EAST}
MARKHAM, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1989 OCT 27 (NB) -- Berjaya Corp., of
Malaysia, has bought 372.5 million shares in Semi-Tech (Far
East), the Hong Kong subsidiary of Canadian-based International
Semi-Tech Microelectronics. The selling price is C$42 million, at
HK$0.78 per share. The shares were offered in a previously
announced private placement.

(Grant Buckler/19891027/Press Contact: Michael List,
International Semi-Tech, 416-475-2670)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TOR)(00017)

NAME CHANGE: FLEX REFLECTS MAIN PRODUCT}
TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1989 OCT 23 (NB) -- Ray Computer
Systems, based here, has changed its name to Flex Software Corp.

The change reflects the success of the Flex line of accounting
software for computers running the MS-DOS and Xenix operating
systems. The company was incorporated as a consulting firm in
1982. The Flex software was released in 1986.

Flex also announced Release 5.0 of its distribution system, which
automates order processing functions.

(Grant Buckler/19891027/Press Contact: Howard Ray, Flex Software,
416-744-3539)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LON)(00018)

WANG SELLS SCOTTISH PLANT TO COMPAQ}
STIRLING, SCOTLAND, 1989 OCT 28 (NB) -- Wang Laboratories, the
troubled computer manufacturer, has sold its Stirling, Scotland,
manufacturing facility to Compaq for $13 million. In addition,
Wang has agreed to sell the lease portfolio of Wang Credit
Corporation plus a major stake in its European real estate
subsidiary company, for $187 million.

The $200 million sales deal, announced last week, is topped up by
several other sales of group assets which will generate a further
$12 million over the coming year. The resultant $212 million will
be used to pay off Wang's losses and invest for the future, the
company said.

The sell-offs will not end there, however. According to UPI news
wire, Wang has longer-term plans to raise between $200 and $300
million over the next four quarters to consolidate the loss
reversal. Although the sell-offs are not as major as company
restructuring, analysts are reported to have reacted favourably
to news of the deal.

(Steve Gold/19891028/Press & Public Contact: Wang UK - Tel: 01-
568-9200)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(BRU)(00019)

SIEMENS-AEG FOUND EUPEC}
FRANKFURT, WEST GERMANY, 1989 OCT 28 (NB) -- Two of West
Germany's largest electronic companies are to merge thereby
creating the European Power Semiconductor Company (EUPEC). The
merger has been provisionally approved by the Bundeskartellant,
the West German government-appointed watch-dog in these affairs.

EUPEC, will comprise of AEG's facilities in Berlin and Frankfurt
plus Siemens' Berlin and Munich plants. The DM company will be
capitalised at DM 50 million ($1.7 million), and employ 700
staff. Ownership of the joint venture company will be split
evenly between the two parent firms.

During the last financial year, Siemens had an DM 85 million
turnover in its semiconductor division, whilst AEG had sales of
DM 70 million.

(Eric Dauchy/19891026/Press Contact: J P Ardelean, Siemens - Tel
0322-536-26.11)


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

PRIME UK GETS NEW MANAGING DIRECTOR}
CAMBERLEY, ENGLAND, 1989 OCT 28 (NB) -- In the wake of 20 per
cent staff cuts world-wide, Prime UK has appointed a new managing
director, Neil McMullan. McMullan, who has been with Prime for
nine years, takes over from Malcolm Padina, who has left to
pursue other interests.

In 1980, after eight years in the computer industry, McMullan
joined Prime as UK managing director. The company was then only a
third the size it is today. In 1983, he was named director of
Prime's South Pacific region, and was promoted in 1985 to vice-
president of Asia/Pacific operations. In 1988, he was promoted to
international vice president.

"I am impressed by the substantial growth in business in the UK
subsidiary since I was last here. Of all Prime's major
subsidiaries, the UK most closely parallels the corporate focus,
with relatively even spread of business amongst CAD/CAM,
minicomputers and service," he said.

(Steve Gold/19891031/Press Contact: Brendon Gore, The Fitzroy
Company - Tel: [phone]; Public Contact: Gaynor Kendrick,
Prime Computer UK - Tel: [phone])


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TYO)(00021)

FUJITSU INVESTS IN PC PLANT}
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 OCT 24 (NB) -- Fujitsu will build a new
plant to make personal computers and has endowed a
100 percent owned subsidiary, Shimane Fujitsu in Shimane
Prefecture, with 450 million yen or $31 million, to do it.

The construction of the new plant is slated to start in
January next year and it is expected to begin operation in October
1990.

Fujitsu is expecting the new plant to output 18 billion yen or
$124 million worth personal computers in the
initial year and 80 billion yen or $552 million worth of
production by 1994.

Fujitsu's flagship personal computers, such as the FMR series and
FM-Towns, are expected to be produced in this new plant.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19891026)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TYO)(00022)

NKK TO START 4M DRAM BUSINESS}
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 OCT 25 (NB) -- Earlier in this century, the
steelmakers were the power barons of the industrial world. Today,
their interests lie less in building bridges of steel, and more in bridges of
silicon. Two of Japan's largest steelmakers have entered the chip
business, the latest is Nippon Kokan or NKK. Kawasaki Steel, the
other major steel maker of Japan, earlier announced entry into the
static RAM (random access memory) business.

NKK is the first steel maker to be involved in four-megabit DRAM
(dynamic random access memory) production. NKK plans to invest
10 to 15 billion yen or $69 to $104 million for the sample production
line in the Tokyo area. It is now negotiating with some
semiconductor makers to receive technical assistance and expects to
finalize the plan by the end of this year.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19891026)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TYO)(00023)

BILATERAL TRADE IN SOFTWARE INDUSTRY}
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 OCT 19 (NB) -- One of the software developer for
general purpose computers in Japan, Broad Corp., will jointly
establish a subsidiary with U.S.-based SEA (Software Engineering
of America).

The joint venture is named Global Software Network and will be
established in December 21, this year. The investment to the new
firm is 20 million yen or $138,000 and the investment ratio is 90
percent by Broad and 10 by SEA. Broad and SEA established same
type of joint venture in the U.S. this March with the opposite
ratio.

Broad and SEA are aiming to exchange their software programs running
the VMS operating system for IBM's general purpose computer.
The business of the new firm is import and export of software
and consulting for system introduction of other corporations. The new
firm is expected to earn one billion yen or $6.9 million in the initial
year.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19891026)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(HKG)(00024)

FIRST PACIFIC WOOS AND WINS IMAGINEERING}
CENTRAL, HONGKONG, 1989 OCT 25 (NB) -- The fast-growing First
Pacific Group, involved in banking, telecommunications and
trading in the territory, has made a substantial bid for the
Australian-founded PC software and hardware company,
Imagineering.

Imagineering has well-established operations in Hongkong and
Singapore, although industry sources have often complained
about a lack of service and support from the company,
particularly in Hongkong. It was speculated that the company
may experience cash flow difficulties recently when its largest
dealer in Australia was put into receivership owing
Imagineering an estimated $1 million.

In addition the company's New Zealand subsidiary reported a $2
million loss which prompted a drop in the listed share value
from $1 in April to about $.40c. The company is expected to
report after-tax profits of less than $1 million on a revenue
of over $200 million -- hardly a shining performer.

First Pacific's bid has surprised many industry pundits in the
territory because it appears to be outside the corporation's
strategic direction. Also, because of the doubt cast on the
strength of the parent company in Australia together with the
lagging reputation of Imagineering in Hongkong, it seems a
strange move. "Maybe there is a place for the Imagineering
within First Pacific's telecommunication companies, but it is hard to
fathom why," said one industry watcher.

Another factor about the bid which is confounding local
analysts is that First Pacific has offered to buy 20 million
shares at a price of 75c, almost double the present market
value. The deal only awaits formal shareholder approval and is
supported by the current board of directors.

(Keith Cameron/19891027)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(HKG)(00025)

AST RESEARCH NOTCHES UP 500 SINGAPORE PC SALES IN SIX MONTHS}
SINGAPORE, SOUTHEAST ASIA, 1989 OCT 19 (NB) -- AST Research reports
a recent wave of successes in Singapore with sales of over 500
units in the last six months to major companies in the
republic.

The Singapore office of the Hongkong added 40 AST Premium/386
PCs which doubled the installed base of AST products to almost
80 machines.

At the same time AST announced that, in addition to its
distributor SIS Technologies, three new dealers had been
appointed, each of whom had specialist strengths.

(Keith Cameron/19891027)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(HKG)(00026)

MICROGNOSIS DEALING FLOOR FOR STANDARD CHARTERED BANK}
CENTRAL, HONGKONG, 1989 OCT 20 (NB) -- One of the territory's
largest financial dealing floors will be established as a
result of a $2 million deal between the Standard Chartered Bank
and Micrognosis, a leading supplier of trading systems to the
financial markets.

The bank's contract calls for the initial establishment of 68
dealing positions at its soon to be opened new headquarters
building in Central.

The system will have expansion capabilities that are beyond the
current expansion plans of the bank and will support operations
well into the next decade and meet the steadily rising demand
for increased technological sophistication.

Pieter J. Hamman, Micrognosis regional director Southeast Asia,
said that the contract was the largest of nine signed in the
region since the company opened offices in Hongkong and
Singapore in March.

(Keith Cameron/19891027)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SYD)(00027)

COMPUTERLAND AUSTRALIA DENIES STOCK STOLEN}
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1989 OCT 23 (NB) -- Executives of
Computerland Australia were reportedly unimpressed by a
claim in US PC Week that US$2M worth of stock had been
stolen from the Australian operation's inventory.

The article quotes Computerland Corporation's executive
vice president, Vic Leventhal, as saying, "In Australia, we
lost $15.7 million on a year-to-date basis and $13.7
million in the third quarter. Someone stole two million
dollars in inventory and the remaining is a control issue."

The report is the first that the Australian Chief Executive
Richard Bard says has heard of the theft.

(Gavin Atkins & Computing Australia/19891025)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SYD)(00028)

AUSTRALIAN DISTRIBUTOR TURNS PREDATOR}
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1989 OCT 23 (NB) -- Australia's largest
distribution house, Imagineering, plans to use the AUS$18M
it will gain from selling 42 percent of its shares, to buy
a local operation to expand its business. Imagineering's
founder and managing director, Jodee Rich, would not say
whether the proposed acquisition would be in the PC
industry, but he said the firm had "a couple of targets in
its sights."

Subject to shareholder approval, the $18M deal involves the
Hong Kong-based investment and management firm First
Pacific, which will gain a controlling 42 percent interest
in Imagineering with an option to buy another 10 percent.
Jodee Rich says the company will gain from the deal by
increasing its presence in Asia, and increasing its
expertise in the telecommunications field. Imagineering
has previously attempted to maintain Asian offices, but
with mixed success. If the deal goes ahead, the Rich family
holding in Imagineering will drop from 36 percent to 29
percent.

(Gavin Atkins & Computing Australia/19891025)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SYD)(00029)

AUSTRALIAN ENCRYPTION FIRM SHOWS LOSS}
PERTH, AUSTRALIA, 1989 OCT 23 (NB) -- The Perth-based data
encryption and telemetry company Randata Corporation lost
AUS$3.8M during the 1988-89 financial year, but this was an
improvement on the $12M loss reported last year before a
management buy-out. Randata has opened new offices in
Sydney, Melbourne, and in Brussels where it hopes to
establish a beachhead in Europe.

Meanwhile, the computer consulting and installation
specialist Total Assets Protection reported an unaudited
loss of AUS$4.4M over the same period.

(Gavin Atkins & Computing Australia/19891026)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SYD)(00030)

THAI RAIL CONTRACT FOR AUSTRALIAN ELECTRONICS COMPANY}
ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA, 1989 OCT 27 (NB) -- A computerized
train control system is to be installed in Thailand by
Australian electronics manufacturer Teknis. It consists of
a 30 kilometer demonstration system for the United Nations Economic
and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).

Teknis officers hope that the train system will lead to sales in a
number of the 20 countries which will examine it. The
Australian made hardware and software for the project are
already in use on an 1800 kilometer line section in Australia.

(Paul Zucker/19891027)


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

ST. SILICON LEADS DISLOCATED THROUGH QUAKE RUINS}
SANTA CRUZ, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 OCT 28 (NB) -- St. Silicon,
a.k.a. Jeffrey Armstrong, poet, humorist, and the self-appointed
patron saint of the computer industry, was arrested trying to enter
his damaged downtown Santa Cruz office, but has since become a
hero, leading the fight against rubber-stamped condemnation of
downtown buildings that still contain people's valuables.

October 24, Armstrong hopped a fence in defiance of a "red tag"
signifying his building was condemned and should not be
entered. Before police officers, with drawn guns, found him, he had
stuffed 20 plastic garbage bags and a backpack with a laser printer,
printer, Mac SE, 80 megabyte hard drive, oscilloscope, paintings,
all his files, writings, church records, and performances.

Although he was treated roughly ("They roughed me up, called
me names and dragged me down the stairs"), all was forgiven when
he got to the police station and performed for the officers with
such lines as "Has your data been saved?" and "Go ahead make my
data." They didn't lock him up.

The priest was also lucky enough to have shared a building with several
lawyers. His cries of protest and defiance of the "red tag" which
prohibited anyone from entering a condemned building, inspired them
to file an injunction against the city's demolition plans for the
property. The injunction against demolition succeeded. A second
engineer checked over the property and declared it safe enough
for limited entry. Saturday morning, 10/28, Armstrong and each
lawyer will get 15 minutes to enter the property and remove their
personal belongings -- in the case of Armstrong, the 20 plastic
garbage bags. The saint plans to enter in costume -- black priest's
shirt and black pants.

On a serious note, Armstrong contends the real story in Santa Cruz
is that a large number of people's lives are being "steam rolled"
by the city in a scramble for federal disaster funds and fear of
insurance liabilities. His success at winning an injunction against
imminent demolition has inspired some 100 residents, whose life
work or important valuables are inaccessible due to red tags on their
buildings, to also file injunctions. They also seek to get the city to
allow them to enter for a limited time and retrieve their belongings
before demolition takes place.

Still seeing humor amid disaster, however, Armstrong remarks that
it was his building that President Bush touched when he toured the
hard-hit Garden Mall area. At that point, "The building symbolically
absorbed the sin of the disaster so money could be released from
Congress." He says his building, by virtue of being seen on national
television, became a sacred object which he desecrated when he
entered it, further enraging city officials.

As he searches for a new office, St. Silicon had this parting remark:
"Professional people take the steps necessary to keep themselves
alive every day, but bureaucrats tell you to go down the hall and
fill out forms."

Amen.

(Wendy Woods/19891028)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(TYO)(00002)

SCADS OF LAPTOPS AT TOKYO DATASHOW}
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 OCT 24 (NB) -- A wide array of color laptops and
electronic organizers, fresh from the industry's research labs,
highlighted this year's DataShow, a major computer exhibition,
which was just held at Harumi Exhibition site in Tokyo. There were
155 exhibitors, up from 143 last year.

In a challenge to Toshiba's DynaBook computer, several other firms
unveiled their notebook-sized computers. Japan's personal computer
giant NEC exhibited its 98 NOTE computer, which has an A4 file size and
weighs 2.9 kilograms (6.4 pounds). NEC contends the machine's
embedded V30 microprocessor runs the same programs as NEC's
PC-9800 series personal computers. However, NEC only had one
prototype at the show which show-goers could view but not touch,
making it impossible to verify this compatibility claim.
The presence of this prototype led some to criticize
NEC for attempting to play "catch up" with Toshiba, which is
supplying its notebook computer to Fuji Xerox on an OEM (original
equipment manufacturing) basis. The critics were also skeptical
about NEC's claim that it will ship working models by the end of
November, even though it could not provide an operational prototype for
the show.

At the opposite booth, IBM Japan revealed its IBM 5499 Online Note
which Ricoh produces for it. The machine features the same A4
size, 2 kilogram weight (4 1/2 pounds), an internal modem which
enables the machine to communicate online with PS/55 series
personal computers or host systems, and a 3.5 hour battery life.
Ricoh also exhibited the notebook-sized computer under its brand
name of Mr. MyTool.

Front-runner Toshiba, occupying a booth designed to look like the
inside of an airplane, allowed show-goers to get first-hand
experience with its popular DynaBook computer and showed
several new programs for the popular machine.

Elsewhere, Fujitsu exhibited the PQ/XT pocket computer which is
compatible with IBM PC/XT and developed by U.S.-based Poqet
Computer, which it partially owns.

There were several prototype color laptops which drew the most
attention from the crowd.

Hitachi exhibited two prototype color laptop computers. One is
a 32-bit computer with a 10-inch TFT (thin film transistor) color
LCD (liquid crystal display) screen with 640 by 480 pixels, which
the firm claims provides a responsive, high-speed, vivid display.
This machine will be sold in overseas countries. Another is
an 80386SX-based computer with an STN (super twisted nematic)
color LCD screen capable of displaying 8 or 16 colors. It runs
Japanese OS/2 or Microsoft Windows.

Matsushita Electric Industrial showed a sample of its Panacom
M color laptop computer with a 16-color LCD screen with 640 by
400 pixel resolution and a 20 megahertz 80386 microprocessor.
A two-megabyte 3.5-inch floppy drive and a 40-megabyte hard
drive are built in the machine. Matsushita claims that the machine
is compatible with its M series personal computers.

Ricoh also exhibited prototypes of its two MyTool color
laptop machines. One has a 32-bit microprocessor and a TFT
active matrix 10-inch display. Another is a 32-bit machine with
a simple matrix 10-inch screen capable of displaying 16 colors
in 640 by 400 pixels.

Furthermore, Mitsubishi Electric revealed its AX-based color
laptop prototype. This machine has a TFT active matrix 10-inch
LCD screen.

At the NEC booth, a large crowd gathered around its PC-9801 LX5C
color laptop machine with a backlit STN color LCD screen capable
of displaying 8 colors and an 80286 microprocessor. The machine
is the first color laptop computer released in Japan.

On the other hand, Sharp revealed two transportable workstations
with the world's first backlit 14-inch color DST (double super
twist) LCD screen. Both machines have an 80386 microprocessor and
a 40-megabyte hard drive, and are compatible with an IBM PC/AT.
One of them, without Japanese language features, weighs only
13.5 kilograms (29 pounds).

The show also featured several machines based on Intel's top-of-the-
line 80486 microprocessor. Kyocera unveiled a prototype of what
it calls "Super Personal Computer" 486AX machine. The embedded
i486 processor includes a cache memory and a mass coprocessor,
runs at 25 megahertz, and operates data at 17 MIPS (million
instructions per second). Moreover, the 32-bit EISA (extended industry
standard architecture) bus fully exploits the power of the
microprocessor.

At the IBM Japan booth, many visitors came to see IBM's
80486-25MHz Upgrade Kit, which upgrades an IBM 5550-V machine
to a 486 machine class, and which includes an 8-kilobyte cache
memory and a cache controller.

Electronic organizers were also popular at this show.
At the NEC booth, big crowds gathered around its prototype
"new-generation" hand-held organizer. This marks the firm's
first entry into the electronic organizer market. The new machine
has several features for its size: phone directory, name card,
scheduling, clock, world clock, calendar, calculator, spreadsheet,
memo pad, day table, simple mapping, and montaging.
NEC claims the attached bar code reader will serve a wide variety of
applications. The machine has an internal serial interface which
enables data exchange or program transmission between
machines or between it and a personal computer or a word processor.
Also, it has a standard QWERTY-type keyboard, and a large-for-its-
size LCD screen with 160 by 64 pixels.

At the another booth, Casio exhibited its Super Electronic
Organizer which has the same features with NEC's but without simple
mapping and montaging. The machine uses an optional IC (integrated
circuit) card to run applications. Elsewhere, Japan's
electronic organizer giant Sharp showed its Wizard
machines which now have a great number of IC card-based
applications.

There were also several other new machines caught people's
attentions.

Sanyo's "palm-size word processor," called Electronic Stationery, has
a 16-bit microprocessor, measures 197 by 111 by 24 millimeters,
and operates for about seven hours with a full alkaline battery
charge. The display adopts an STN LCD screen with 240 by 136
pixels.

NEC's PC-H98 Model 70 attracted huge crowd, with its original
32-bit bus NESA (new extended standard architecture) designed to
tap the full power of the embedded 386 microprocessor.

NTT Data Communications Systems, a subsidiary of NTT, exhibited
its multimedia station TAO, which includes such features as a
multifunctional phone, facsimile, word processor,
personal computer, CAPTAIN (character and pattern telephone
access information network system) terminal, and online
terminal. The machine is operated by the simple touching of
the 14-inch color display.

Nippon Kokan exhibited its "personal supercomputer" for
scientific technology calculations. The 386SX processor
operates data at 15 million FLOPS (floating point operations
per second).

Among the foreign products, the Macintosh Portable and IIci from
Apple Computer and the Next Computer from NeXT drew a respectable
audience.

Fujitsu exhibited its much-hyped FM-Towns computers, which has
yet to attract much interest.

All in all, Newsbytes found this year's Datashow to be the best
ever held.

(Ken Takahashi/19891026)


(EXCLUSIVE)(GENERAL)(TOR)(00003)

CANADIAN COMPUTER SHOW CELEBRATES 20TH}
MISSISSAUGA, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1989 OCT 23 (NB) -- Canada's
largest -- and North America's oldest -- computer show celebrated
its 20th anniversary this week at the Toronto International
Centre of Commerce here. The exhibit hall just west of Toronto
has hosted the show since its beginning. This year's show
attracted some 450 exhibitors and covered 380,000 square feet.
Attendance figures were not available at Newsbytes' deadline.

Only a few major new products were actually launched at the show,
but several very recent ones were on display, including Compaq's
new LTE laptop computer, Apricot's 486 system and Grid's GridPad
portable with a stylus and touch screen instead of a keyboard.

Once a mainframe and minicomputer-oriented production, the
Canadian Computer Show has shifted its focus more and more toward
personal computing in recent years. Perhaps for that reason, it
has survived where what was once its counterpart in the United
States, the National Computer Conference, did not. The NCC was
replaced by the more micro-oriented Comdex as the big show south
of the border. The smaller Canadian Computer Show simply evolved
with the market.

(Grant Buckler/19891027)


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

LASER PRINTER WITH POSTSCRIPT EMULATION FROM XEROX}
EL SEGUNDO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 OCT 26 (NB) -- Xerox Corp.
has announced a tabletop laser printer that is a distributed
printer to operate in a shared environment of mainframes,
minicomputers, local area networks, personal computers and
workstations.

Dubbed the Xerox 4045 Model 160, the printer can switch between
different printer emulations and receive many types of data
through simple software commands. The printer incorporates both
a PostScript language emulation and the Xerox Interpress 3.0
Professional Graphics Set, jointly developed by Xerox and
Control-C Software.

Depending upon configuration, the new Xerox printer will range
from below $10,000 to slightly over $12,000. Availability is
scheduled for the first quarter of 1990.

(Janet Endrijonas/19891027/Press Contact: Barry Sulpor, Xerox
Corp., 213-333-3427)


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

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO...?}
VANCOUVER, B.C., CANADA, 1989 OCT 24 (NB) -- In an update
published in the Orange County Register, reporter Donna Wares has
recounted the story of computer criminal Charles, J. McVey, a
millionaire from Orange County, California who has spent more
than two years in a Canadian jail.

McVey has been accused of smuggling over $15 million in computer
equipment to the Soviet bloc before fleeing to Europe in 1983.
McVey lived as a fugitive for four years and was finally
apprehended by Canadian authorities while fishing in the Canadian
Yukon. He has been in jail in Vancouver ever since fighting
extradition back to California.

McVey, who denies any wrongdoing, won his battle on one front
when the British Columbia Court of Appeals dismissed a US appeal
regarding falsified documents. According to McVey's lawyers,
falsifying documents is not listed in the Canada-US extradition
treaty. Canadian courts have upheld the US request that McVey be
extradited on charges he and three others conspired to sell the
Soviets a supercomputer that could help defend against a nuclear
attack.

What is McVey doing to fill his time in jail? He's writing a
book about his adventures in Europe, Russia and China which he
says will not include anything since his 1987 arrest.

(Janet Endrijonas/19891027)


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

FIRST INDIAN LAN DEVELOPED}
NEW DELHI, INDIA, 1989 OCT 16 (NB) -- The Delhi Domestic News
Service has reported that computer scientists have developed
OSINETS or Open Systems Interconnection Network, the first
Indian-designed LAN or local area network, at the Indian Institute
of Technology at Madras, India.

(John McCormick/19891026)


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

100 ATTEND CHINESE AI SEMINAR}
WUHAN, HUBEI, CHINA, 1989 OCT 21 (NB) -- A recent international
seminar on applications of artificial intelligence in Wuhan,
China, recently drew about 100 attendees from 19 universities in
Australia, Japan, Britain, the U.S., and China, where they heard
and/or presented 143 papers on artificial intelligence software.

Chinese advances in the field include diagnostic programs to aid
in the repair of electronic and mechanical equipment; both
programs were developed at the Hauzhong University of Science and
Engineering.

Elsewhere, reports are that attendance at Chinese-sponsored trade
meetings has fallen dramatically since the crackdown on students
in Tienenman Square.

(John McCormick/19891026)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(TOR)(00008)

BANK OF MONTREAL BEGINS DEBIT CARD TEST}
CALGARY, ALBERTA, CANADA, 1989 OCT 23 (NB) -- The Bank of
Montreal, one of Canada's largest banks, has begun testing debit-
card technology here. The bank has installed 130 point-of-sale
terminals in Calgary. Participating merchants will accept debit
cards issued by the bank, and purchases will be charged directly
to shoppers' bank accounts. The trial uses point-of-sale
terminals from National Business Systems of Mississauga, Ontario.

(Grant Buckler/19891027)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(TOR)(00009)

NORTHERN TELECOM TO TEST DATABASE SERVER}
MISSISSAUGA, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1989 OCT 23 (NB) -- Northern
Telecom plans a pilot implementation of the ShareBase SQL
relational database server. The test at Northern's Digital
Switching Division in Brampton, Ontario, is "a pilot that is
expected to conclude in the early part of the new year," said
David Killins, president of CompuShare Database Systems, which
distributes the ShareBase product in Canada.

The ShareBase system consolidates databases and makes them
available using the Structured Query Language (SQL) developed by
IBM for database access. At Northern Telecom, users of IBM,
Digital Equipment and Hewlett-Packard computers will have access
to the server.

In a press conference at the Canadian Computer Show, Killins said
the client-server model of linking local systems with central
servers is the best way of letting multiple computers work
together. He quoted a study by International Data Corp., a
research firm, saying 80 percent of Fortune 500 companies expect
to have computer applications that need to use data currently
stored on more than one computer.

ShareBase is based in Los Gatos, Calif.

(Grant Buckler/19891027/Press Contact: David Killins, CompuShare,
416-542-0200)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(TOR)(00010)

PIERRE SCHAEFFER WINS MCLUHAN TELEGLOBE AWARD}
OTTAWA, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1989 OCT 23 (NB) -- Pierre Schaeffer of
France, sometimes called the "father of electronic music," has
won the 1989 McLuhan Teleglobe Canada Award. Schaeffer, a pioneer
in radiophonic, audiovisual and musical creation using new
technologies, is a co-founder of the Studio d'essai in Paris and
former director of the research department of the Office de
radiodiffusion-television francaise (RDTF).

The McLuhan Teleglobe Canada Award was created in 1983 by the
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO) and Teleglobe Canada, an international satellite
communications carrier. Every two years, a panel of five
Canadians choose a winner from candidates nominated by 19
national commissions of UNESCO. The award is named for Marshall
McLuhan, the communications philosopher and University of Toronto
professor who coined such phrases as "the medium is the message"
and "the global village."

(Grant Buckler/19891027/Press Contact: Brian Townsley, Teleglobe
Canada, 514-289-7489)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(LON)(00011)

NOVELL ANNOUNCES SUPPORT FOR OSI STANDARDS: NETWARE 386 SHIPS}
BRACKNELL, BERKSHIRE, ENGLAND, 1989 OCT 28 (NB) -- Novell UK will
support open system interconnection (OSI), and has outlined
its long-term product plan for compliance with the OSI standard.
The OSI strategy has been welcomed by British Telecom, which is
working with Novell to integrate the CCITT X.400 MHS standard
with Novell's seven-layer OSI-compliant systems.

The OSI standard was drawn up by the international standards
organization (ISO) to ensure that computers from differing
manufacturers - including PCs, mainframes, minicomputers and
workstations - can be interconnected and integrated, regardless
of supplier. By including OSI compliance with its products,
Novell is clearly pitching for the lucrative international
company and governmental contracts for its networking systems
solutions.

The fundamental building block in Novell's OSI strategy is its
popular Netware network operating system (NOS). Using a series of
software-driven systems, termed a protocol hub, Netware
users can interlink with other OSI-compliant networks and data
transmission systems on a near-transparent basis.

In parallel with the OSI strategy announcement, Novell has
announced that the UK edition of Netware 386 v3.0, the 32-bit
implementation of its networking software, is now shipping. The
package has been designed to run on Intel 80486-based systems,
yet is fully-compatible with Netware 286 server systems and
Novell's Portable Netware product.

According to Tony Scrivens, Novell UK's country manager, the OSI
announcement from the company marks a major step for Novell
users: "With Netware open systems, we can provide the standards-
based products that many of our customers are demanding, with the
leading edge functionality that network computing requires," he
said.

Novell will support the integration of its Netware software with
OSI systems in two ways: through a protocol hub and, in time, by
incorporating the native OSI standards within the Netware open
systems product platform.

(Steve Gold/19891031/Press Contact: Robert Hollier, A-Plus Public
Relations; Public Contact: Tony Scrivens, Novell UK - Tel: 0344-
860400)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(BRU)(00012)

COMPUTER SYSTEM AWARDS ANNOUNCED}
MUNICH, WEST GERMANY, 1989 OCT 28 (NB) -- Chip magazine, West
Germany's prestigious computer magazine, announced that its
Computer of the Year - 8088/8086 Category award has been won by
the IBM PS/2 Model 30. The results of the reader survey took many
by surprise, with the Model 30 logging more than 30 percent of
the votes scored by the runners-up: the Headstart, the Hyundai XT
and the Summit STi 80/12. It is even more of a surprise since
Chip readers gave the Model 30 eighth place in their votes on
favorite computers in the November issue.

Chip Magazine's 68000/68030 microprocessor award went to the
Apple Macintosh II, with runners-up, Next (10 percent less than
the Mac II), Atari Mega ST (55 percent less than the Mac II) and
the Sharp X68000.

On the home computer front, the Commodore Amiga 500 beat the next
best, the Atari 1040 ST, to be closely followed by the Panasonic
MS X2 and the Acorn Archimedes.

In the laptop category, Zenith's Turbosport took top honours,
whilst the Cambridge Z88 and the Atari Portfolio followed on in
second and third place. The portable computer category,
meanwhile, was won by the Toshiba 5200, followed by the Compaq
SLT386 and the Compaq Portable III.

Last, but not least, the 80386/80286 category was won by the Dell
Model 325, followed by the NEC PC-9801, the Tandon 386/33, the
IBM PS/2 model 70, and Compaq's Deskpro series.

(Peter Vekinis/19891031)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(BRU)(00013)

CHIP MAGAZINE READERS VOTE TANDON PCA BESTSELLER}
MUNICH, WEST GERMANY, 1989 OCT 28 (NB) -- Readers of Chip
magazine, West Germany's largest computer magazine, voted the
Tandon PCA as the best seller computer for its November 1989
issue. The Tandon PCA, which was in eighth place in last month's
issue, rocketed past competing systems such as IBM XT 286, the
Commodore PC10 and the Commodore Amiga 2000.

The IBM PS/2 Model 30 took a nose dive and slumped to eighth
place from last month's second place. On the home computer front,
the Commodore Amiga 500 and the ubiquitous C-64 continue to still
hold first and second places, whilst the third place goes to the
Atari 1040ST, moving up from sixth place in last month's issue.

(Peter Vekinis/19891028)


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

OSAKA: HOT HIGH-TECH AREA}
OSAKA, JAPAN, 1989 OCT 19 (NB) -- The city of Osaka has created a
blueprint for the reclamation of land in order to accommodate a center
for advanced technology development, international communication
and international trade. The land is called Osaka Technoport.

In the area, the high-tech town called MECS has already been
formed by a total of 16 system and software houses. The think-tank
for Japan's Sigma project, aimed at creating a universal computer
operating system, Software Center, is also located there and
IBM Japan is scheduled to open a center there in January, 1990.

Hitachi is also planning to make the area for its software
development station due to its Osaka offices are getting smaller
with current business expansion.

The Osaka Technoport was planned to attract high-tech firms to the
Kansai area (Western Japan), and an added incentive is proximity to
the planned New Osaka International Airport project.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19891019)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(TYO)(00015)

FUJITSU TO INTEGRATE SOFTWARE ASSETS}
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 OCT 25 (NB) -- Fujitsu has decided to have a
corporate standard name for its upgraded workstation, so the FACOM G100
series has been renamed to FM for release.

Along with the new name has come new capabilities. A new board,
dubbed FMR Card, will enable the workstation to support Fujitsu's most
popular word processing software, FM-Oasis. The prices of the
machines will be the same and Fujitsu expects a total of 100,000 units
of sales in the next three years. The price of the FMR Card is 120,000
yen or $828.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19891026)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(HKG)(00016)

DEC SUPPLIES LICENSE TO HONGKONG COLLEGES}
CENTRAL, HONGKONG, 1989 OCT 25 (NB) -- Digital Equipment
Corporation (DEC) deserves accolades for its latest agreement
with the six tertiary institutions in Hongkong. The company
has agreed to provide a Campuswide Software Licence Grant to
the territory's three universities, Hongkong Polytechnic,
CityPolytechnic and the Baptist College.

Under the licence agreement each institution will have the
right to use DEC's VMS and Ultrix operating systems, as well as
more than 160 software products.

(Keith Cameron/19891027)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SYD)(00017)

AUSTRALIAN INFORMATION GROUPS MERGE}
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1989 OCT 23 (NB) -- The Software and
Services Industry Federation of Australia, or SSIFA,
appears set to merge with AIIA, the Australian
Information Industry Association. This coincides with a
decision by the Australian Computer Equipment Manufacturers
Association to participate in a trial amalgamation with the
AIIA.

It is not yet clear if the new amalgamated body will be
known as the SSIFAAIIAACEMA.

(Gavin Atkins & Computing Australia/19891025)


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

U.S. HOUSE CALLS FOR OVERHAUL OF SOFTWARE}
WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A., 1989 OCT 25 (NB) -- "Get the bugs out,"
is the basic message of the soon-to-be-available U.S. House of
Representatives' Science, Space, and Technology Committee's
report entitled, "Bugs in the Program: Problems in Federal
Government Computer Software Development and Regulation."

Although computer users have known about bugs in programs from
the beginning of computer programming (actually, the first bug
was an real critter that crawled into a computer), this report
has reportedly concluded that a number of recent tragedies could
have been avoided by better software, including the USS
Vincennes' shoot-down of the Iranian civilian passenger craft in
July 1988, and the deaths of some cancer patients who received
massive radiation doses due to a computer error.

The report, which goes on to describe the potential for wasted
money from bugs in poorly designed software, has aroused some
concern that it may lead to a call for licensing programmers, at
least those working on software that would be used by the federal
government.

The report should be available next week from the Government
Printing Office. Although the price was not yet set by deadline
time, it should be about $5.

For copies, write to: The Superintendent of Documents, U.S.
Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402, and include the
report title (above) and Stock No. 052-070-06604-1.

(John McCormick/19891026/Press Contact: James Paul, House
Committee staff, 202-225-8119)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(SFO)(00002)

FRENCH FIRMS ACCUSED OF PIRACY}
WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A., 1989 OCT 26 (NB) -- The Business Software
Association, a group of powerful software companies, has taken on
two equally powerful French institutions and accused them of software
piracy.

Washington, D.C.-based Business Software Association, backed by
Ashton-Tate, Lotus, Microsoft, Aldus, Autodesk, and Wordperfect,
obtained search warrants for the offices of Telediffusion de France
(TDF) and Banque Paribas.

TDF is a major provider of telecommunications transmission services
to the broadcast media in France. Banque Paribas is among the
oldest and largest financial institutions in France, with branches
throughout Europe and the world.

BSA officials claim that their software was being copied in
violation of the French law, passed July 3, 1985, which prohibits
unauthorized copying of software. They further charge that France
is something of a hotbed of piracy despite the legislation, which is
among the clearest and strongest laws in the world for software.

"We know the problem of corporate copying in France is extremely
serious," says Douglas E. Phillips, BSA president. "We fully expect
that other applications will be made and additional lawsuits
will be filed in the coming months."

(Wendy Woods/19891027/Press Contact: 202-737-7060)


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

COMPUTER SCIENCES WINS POSTAL SERVICE CONTRACT}
EL SEGUNDO, CALIFORNIA U.S.A., 1989 OCT 25 (NB) -- Computer
Sciences Corp. (CSC) has been awarded a contract worth $33
million by the US Postal Service Headquarters to provide systems
and support services nationwide.

The $33 million price tag covers the base year and the first two
option years. Two additional option years are unpriced. CSC's
services will be used to improve the productivity and efficiency
of mail processing and administrative support. This contract
could have been divided among as many as six contractors but the
Postal Service elected to award the entire amount to CSC.

Software services ranging from systems analysis and design
through computer programming and the design and development of
database systems will be provided by CSC.

(Janet Endrijonas/19891027/Press Contact: Jim Furlong, Computer
Sciences, 213-615-0311)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(LAX)(00004)

UC IRVINE INSTALLS SUPERCOMPUTER}
RICHARDSON, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1989 OCT 23 (NB) -- A Convex C240
supercomputer with one gigabyte of memory has been installed by
the University of California-Irvine as a campus-wide resource for
researchers.

A product of Convex Computer Corporation in Richardson, Texas,
the C240 will serve about 50 research projects involving several
hundred users. Some of the research areas in which the computer
will be involved include fluid dynamics and aeronautics,
molecular dynamics, elementary particles and field theory,
molecular structures, medical imaging and epidemiology. Plans
call for the system to be used in other projects in the future
and to interface with the national supercomputers.

(Janet Endrijonas/19891027/Press Contact: Donna Burke, Convex
Computer Corp., 214-497-4230)


(EXCLUSIVE)(GOVT)(LAX)(00005)

FACTS IN WESTERN DIGITAL CHIP THEFT CONTRADICT UPI REPORT}
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 OCT 25 (NB) -- Recently,
the Los Angeles Times and United Press International reported
that Vietnamese crime gangs are thought to be responsible for the
paramilitary style armed robberies of computer chips, but in at
least one major chip theft, Newsbytes' investigation found no
apparent link.

The report alleges that robberies in Silicon Valley and Phoenix
as well as Southern California have been linked to these gangs
based in North Orange County, CA who are said to be involved in
black market operations that stretch from Taiwan to Japan and
Vietnam.  According to the report, purchasers of the stolen
chips range from unknowing hackers who buy them at swap meets to
small electronics shops in Orange County's "Little Saigon" who
act as fences.

Supposedly, the thefts are being investigated by the FBI, US
Customs and other federal agencies. It is thought that there is
heavy Vietnamese involvement in the thefts because so many
Vietnamese are employed in the electronics industry. The report
does acknowledge that some of the thefts are probably random
burglaries or the result of dishonest employees but goes on to
say that of a confirmed 12 robberies, at least eight were carried
out by Vietnamese gangs.

Authorities have not compiled reliable statistics on the value of
stolen chips or the total number of armed robberies. The report
does, however, cite the $7 million in chip thefts at Western
Digital Corp. in Irvine, CA as an example thus implying though
not stating that the robberies at Western Digital might be
attributable to the Vietnamese gangs.

It is difficult to put the concept of Vietnamese gangs into the
picture in the Western Digital situation. Western Digital had
announced almost a year ago that the company had identified
certain employees and former employees as the perpetrators and
has been actively pursuing legal action against these
individuals.

Newsbytes contacted Western Digital and spoke with Bob Blair, a
newly appointed vice president who has responsibility for
corporate and financial public relations. Blair told Newsbytes
that Western Digital's investigations into the thefts are
ongoing. "We still suspect the employees and former employees
originally named. We know of nothing of any involvement by
Vietnamese groups with the thefts at our company and would not
want anyone to imply from any source that we thought the
Vietnamese gangs were involved."

(Janet Endrijonas/19891027/Press Contact: Bob Blair, Western
Digital/714-863-7887)


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

EUROPEAN COMMISSION TO IMPROVE SCIENCE EDUCATION IN MOROCCO}
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM, 1989 OCT 28 (NB) -- The European Commission
(EC) is to spend an estimated ECU 40 million (about $45 million)
to improve science and technology education in Morocco.

Educational improvement in Morocco is important, owing to the
importance computers have in today's society and especially to
teach young children about current and future technologies.

The EC plan, which involves both the construction of a
Pedagogical education centre, plus four separate scientific
centres in four universities spread across Morocco, aims to bring
Morocco's educational system up to the same standards as those
found in Western Europe.

(Peter Vekinis/19891028)


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

AUSTRALIAN PIRATES TO WALK THE PLANK}
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA, 1989 OCT 23 (NB) -- A visit by the US
based Business Software Association last month has inspired
a crack-down on software piracy and grey marketing in
Australia.

Ashton-Tate, Lotus, and Microsoft have joined forces to
fund three scheduled Federal Court actions against alleged
offenders. In the first case which began recently, Lotus
and Ashton-Tate alleged that a software distributor Seltec
has imported software into the country without permission.
Seltec claims to have found a loophole in the Copyright
Act.

The software coalition has declined to give details about
the pending cases, but has said it is targeting large
corporations and government departments which hold more
copies of software programs than licenses paid.

The Business Software Association estimates that AUS$300M
worth of software sales will be lost to illegal activities
in Australia next year, and that 50 percent of the software
in Australia is illegally obtained.

(Gavin Atkins & Computing Australia/19891025)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(SYD)(00008)

INDUSTRY FIGURE TO PAY $1.5M AFTER COMPANY FAILS}
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1989 OCT 25 (NB) -- The founder of
Australian laser printer manufacturer, John Price, has been
ordered to pay $1.5M after a hearing before the Australian State
Supreme Court. Price was managing director of the company and had been
issued five million shares on which the money was owed.

The judge, in summation, said that Price had used his
'considerable personal charm' to unjustly influence his
employees. He also said that price had attempted to
manipulate the court through misleading answers and a
'superior' attitude in the witness box. During the hearing,
it emerged that Price had a history of tax avoidance and
leading companies into receivership.

(Paul Zucker/19891027)


(NEWS)(IBM)(LAX)(00001)

ASHTON-TATE TO UNVEIL FIRST UTILITY, NEW MULTIMATE}
TORRANCE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 OCT 23 (NB) -- An eight-city
road trip to introduce three new products from its Applications
Group has been announced by Ashton-Tate.

Products to be introduced include MultiMate version 4.0 (word
processing), Applause II business graphics, and Control, a new
utility product.

The shows for reporters begin Monday, October 30 in San Jose,
California. The road show for the public starts in Long Beach and
Chicago on Wednesday. There will be two sessions per day. Morning
sessions (9AM) will be targeted to resellers and dealers while
the afternoon will sessions (1PM) will be aimed at corporations
and end-users.

Cities to be visited include Long Beach, CA, Chicago, IL, New
York NY, San Francisco, CA, Arlington, VA, Atlanta GA, Dallas, TX
and Boston, MA. Registration/information toll free numbers are
available. Resellers should dial 800-437-4329 x 3708; for
corporations and end users the extension is 3709.

(Janet Endrijonas/19891027/Press Contact: Linda Duttenhaver,
Ashton-Tate, 213-538-7011)


(NEWS)(IBM)(LON)(00002)

COMMODORE UK BUSINESS RELAUNCH; NEW 386SX PC; MORE ON THE WAY}
MAIDENHEAD, ENGLAND, 1989 OCT 28 (NB) -- Just days after the
effective relaunch of the company in the US, Commodore UK has
announced ambitious plans to grab a bigger slice of the business
market. Spearheading the relaunch is an 80386SX-based PC, with
promises of more new products to come.

As part of its campaign to boost sales in the lucrative business
market, Commodore has appointed Terry Cooke as national sales
manager in charge of the company's systems division. Cooke, an
industry veteran of Acer, Tandon and Epson UK, is in charge of 30
newly-appointed staff who will look at business dealers in the
UK. Cooke's first task is to appoint 50 premium dealers to handle
the company's products.

Commodore has also launched a 8/16MHz 80386SX-based PC, the PC50-
II, which is available in three configurations, each with 1MB of
RAM (expandable to 8MB on board), a single 3 1/2-inch floppy and
six expansion slots (5 by 16 bit, 1 by 8 bit). VGA graphics are
fitted as standard on the machine.

The entry-level model of the PC50-II retails for UKP 2,095. The
PC50-II/40 with 40MB hard disk retails for #2,395, whilst the
PC50-II/100 with 100MB hard disk costs #3,095. One the two hard
disk machines, one of the machine's six expansion slots is taken
up by the hard disk controller.

Bundled with the PC50-II comes a year's free on-site maintenance,
along with MS-DOS 4.0, GW-Basic 3.22 and Shell 1.0, Commodore's
DOS shell package.

According to Jeff Earl, Commodore UK's marketing manager, the
PC50-II is only the first in a range of new products upcoming
from the company. These include new 80386-based machines, an
80386DX chip-based PC, and new 68030-based Amigas to launch the
Amiga into the Unix market-place.

(Steve Gold/19891031/Press Contact: Lise Hutcheon, Infopress -
Tel: [phone]; Public Contact: Terry Cooke, Commodore Business
Machines UK - Tel: [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(TYO)(00003)

IBM JAPAN EXPECTED TO OFFER LOW-END PC}
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 OCT 23 (NB) -- IBM Japan is expected to lurch
into the home computer market with a new offering, the first since
its ill-fated JX, which was offered in 1984.

IBM Japan believes the failure of the JX was caused by the
lack of compatibility with its other machines so the new machine
is expected to compatible with its business personal computer, the
PS/55. The price will also be lower by sacrificing performance and
connectivity -- no Micro Channel Architecture and no connections
to its host computers. The expected prices are around 300,000
yen or $2,070.

The operating system of the machine will be MS-DOS Ver.4.0 instead
of the newest operating system, OS/2. The design of the machine
look like an Apple Macintosh, according to Newsbytes sources.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19891026)


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

SMALLEST FOOTPRINT '386 TO DEBUTS; FREBERG COMMERCIALS TO AIR}
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, U.S.A., 1989 OCT 23 (NB) -- The
smallest 80386-based PC, Microstation 320, will be featured in
new commercials by ad industry legend Stan Freberg on October 30.

From Northgate Computer Systems, the small 3-foot tall, 20MHz
system has a built-in 16-bit VGA adapter, IDE hard drive interface,
two serial ports, one parallel port, a standard one megabyte of
memory expandable to eight, a 12-inch monochrome monitor,
100 watt power supply, and the small footprint Omnikey/101
keyboard. To boost the speed and performance of MicroStation 320
to near zero wait state, Northgate uses a pipeline page mode memory
management scheme.

The price is $2399.

(Wendy Woods/19891027/Press Contact: Leslie Richey, 612-553-
0111)


(NEWS)(IBM)(SFO)(00005)

PC-WRITE LITE DEBUTS}
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON, U.S.A., 1989 OCT 27 (NB) -- Quicksoft is
shipping PC-Write Lite, which doesn't have less calories but does
have less code that its full-bodied big brother PC-Write.
This scaled-down version doesn't have advanced formatting and
mail merge, but is faster than PC-Write and has extra features
such as word count and date insert.

Designed for creative writers and journalists, students who
need to write papers, laptop users and others, Lite is designed for
the novice. It runs on PCs and compatibles with 384K of memory
or 256K without the spelling checker. It's also shareware, which
means you can get it for free from others who have it, or pay
$49 for the software, printed manual, and technical support.

(Wendy Woods/19891027/Press Contact: Quicksoft, 206-282-0452)


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

TURBO EMS BUNDLED WITH EPSON LAPTOP}
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 OCT 25 (NB) -- Epson America
has announced that it is bundling Merrill & Bryan Enterprise's
Turbo EMS memory management software with the Epson Equity LT-
286-e laptop.

Turbo EMS provides both full utilization of available RAM as well
as simulated additional expanded memory enabling the laptop to
operate as if configured with up to 32 megabytes of memory.

(Janet Endrijonas/19891027/Press Contact: Jan Marciano, Epson
America, 213-539-9140 x 4458)


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

ALPNET WINS IBM CONTRACTS}
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH, U.S.A., 1989, OCT 26 (NB) -- Worldwide
translation services and technology company, Alpnet has been
awarded two development contracts by the Asian Language Services
and European Language Services departments at IBM.

The contracts call for Alpnet to provide custom enhancements to
Alpnet's proprietary translation software currently used by IBM.
Alpnet will add Chinese, Korean and Thai language capability to
the Translation Support System/Workstation presently used by IBM
for English to Japanese translations. Alpnet will also add
capability for English translation to various European languages.

IBM uses Alpnet software to assist in the translation of
technical documentation, software and marketing materials from
English into various languages at IBM translation centers
throughout the world.

(Janet Endrijonas/19891027/Press Contact: John Wittwer, Alpnet,
801-584-3000)


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

RATIONAL SYSTS TO PROVIDE DOS EXTENDER FOR ASHTON-TATE}
TORRANCE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 OCT 23 (NB) -- Rational
Systems will be providing its DOS/16M DOS extender technology to
Ashton-Tate for future application software products.

Rational's DOS/16M eliminates the 640 K barrier imposed by the
DOS operating system. With this agreement, terms of which have
not been disclosed, Ashton-Tate joins Lotus, TOPS division of Sun
Microsystems, QMS/Imagen, Autodesk, Informix, Inference,
Information Resources, Simucad, Viewlogic and Xilinx in using the
DOS extender.

Using DOS/16 DOS extender means people who own 286 and 386
computers will be able to take advantage of the newest generation
of applications without having to buy new, expensive personal
computers or having to learn a new operating system.

(Janet Endrijonas/19891027/Press Contact: Brad Stevens, Ashton-
Tate, 213-538-7348)


(NEWS)(IBM)(WAS)(00009)

NEW VERSION OF IBM SCREEN READER ANNOUNCED}
WHITE PLAINS, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1989 OCTOBER 25 (NB) --
International Business machines has today announced a new version
of its Screen Reader program (version 1.1), software providing
voice output of on-screen information for visually impaired
people.

The program, a member of IBM's IBM Independence Series, includes
a special keypad, a connecting cable, software, and audio
cassette-based documentation.

Prices start at $630 for IBM PS/2 computers.

(John McCormick/19891026/Press Contact: James L. Keller, 914-
642-5472)


(NEWS)(IBM)(WAS)(00010)

IBM INTRODUCES NEW MODELS OF OLD MAINFRAME}
NEW YORK, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1989 OCT 24 (NB) -- Responding to
customer demands, IBM released 16 new models of its workhorse
Enterprise Systems/3090 family of mainframes that incorporate
dramatic increases in their performance. The ES/3090 series are
IBM's largest computers.

With the enhancements, IBM will provide customers with the first
general purpose processors that will provide as much as 4.5
gigabytes of storage (4.5 gbs equals 900 million words). The new
models will offer as much as 46 percent improvement in throughput
over previous models.

IBM incorporated several new design methodologies into the series,
called the ES/3090 J and JH models. These machines feature
asymmetric central storage and a new Processor Resource/Systems
Manager (PR/SM) to increase storage flexibility.

IBM also released new software features to help improve processing
speeds for their mainframes. Hiperbatch lessens the amount of time
needed to process routine batch applications, such as updating
customer records, and requires less access to disk storage devices,
since it uses ES/3090 processor memory to store data. The Move-Page
Facility improves data transfer from a computer's expanded storage
to its central storage location.

(Michael Fitzgerald/19891027/Press Contact: Amos Kermisch, IBM,
914-642-5458)


(NEWS)(IBM)(WAS)(00011)

IBM ADDS SECURITY, PERIPHERALS}
NEW YORK, NEW YORK, 1989 OCT 24 (NB) -- On the same day it
announced mainframe hardware and software enhancements, IBM
released a set of security products and several new peripherals.

The security products have special prominence, coming in the wake
of the Friday the 13th virus and DataCrime viruses. Among its new
products is a new Transaction Security System (TSS), which is
designed to protect data transmitted over networks. This is
targeted for the rapidly growing electronic data interchange (EDI)
market, which includes such innovations as electronic fund
transfers between banks. TSS includes a variety of new products,
such as the IBM Personal Security card, 4753 Network Security
Processor, 4753 MVS Support Program, 4754 Security Interface Unit
and 4755 Cryptographic Adapter.

The new peripherals include the 3490 Magnetic Tape Subsystem. The
3490 is intended to supersede, while remaining compatible with,
IBM's current high-end tape drive, the 3480. The 3490 requires half
the floor space of the 3480, yet still offers the same number of
drives a high-end magnetic tape drive in the 3490 family. Standard
on the 3490 is an improved data recording capability (IDRC), which
gives it as much as five times the capacity per tape cartridge as
the 3480 without an IDRC.

IBM also unveiled a new high-performance printer, the 6262 Model
22. The Model 22 prints 2,200 lines per minute, 57 percent faster
than IBM's current models. The Model 22 also gives users the option
to print documents and labels that include bar codes.

(Michael Fitzgerald/19891027/Press Contact: Amos Kermisch, IBM,
914-642-5458)


(NEWS)(IBM)(WAS)(00012)

IBM TO BUILD SEMICONDUCTOR RESEARCH CENTER}
EAST FISHKILL, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1989 OCT 25 (NB) -- IBM dedicated
a research laboratory that a spokesman told Newsbytes will be "on
a par with any in the world" when it is completed.

IBM will invest $500 million to build its 288,000-square-foot
Advanced Semiconductor Technology Center (ASTC). IBM broke ground
on the center in December 1986, and has completed the main
building. The ASTC is scheduled to be fully complete by 1991, and
is intended to help IBM keep pace in the world semiconductor
market. IBM was the first company to offer 64-kilobit, 1-megabit
and 4-megabit DRAM chips commercially.

The most impressive piece of the ASTC will be its synchrotron
storage ring, the only privately owned synchrotron ring in the U.S.
Synchrotron rings are used in X-ray lithography, which etches fine
circuit lines on silicon used in chips. IBM says it will share its
X-ray capability with selected firms, and also with SEMATECH, the
14-firm semiconductor consortium headed by Robert Noyce, formerly
chairman of Intel.

(Michael Fitzgerald/19891027/Press Contact: Paul Bergevin, IBM,
914-697-6543)


(NEWS)(IBM)(WAS)(00013)

IBM FILES $800 MILLION DEBT REQUEST}
ARMONK, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1989 OCT 24 (NB) -- IBM today filed a
shelf registration (essentially a request for permission) with the
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that would allow the giant
computermaker to issue as much as $800 million in debt securities.

The last time IBM filed a shelf registration was in 1986, for $700
million. IBM still has $200 million left over from that last
request, which gives it the potential to issue $1 billion in bonds,
should the SEC approve its current shelf registration filing.

"The shelf registration allows us to move quickly to balance our
cash flow and meet our existing cash needs," IBM spokesman John
Boudreaux told Newsbytes.

IBM's stock had been up recently on rumors that the company might
buy back up to $1 billion of its stock. Corporations frequently
issue bonds to raise cash for an immediate stock buyback, although
Boudreaux offered no such impetus for IBM's filing.

As of press time, IBM had not received final authorization to issue
bonds from the SEC.

(Michael Fitzgerald/19891027/Press contact: John Boudreaux, IBM,
914-765-6630)


(NEWS)(IBM)(WAS)(00014)

1-2-3 STILL RATES TOPS AT SOFTWARE DIGEST}
PLYMOUTH MEETING, PENNSYLVANIA, U.S.A., 1989 OCT 24 (NB) -- For
the sixth year in a row, National Software Testing Laboratories,
the prestigious independent software testing organization that
publishes Software Digest Ratings Report, has rated Lotus 1-2-3
the best overall spreadsheet. This year Lotus's latest version,
Release 3, went up against seven other powerful spreadsheets in
such categories as ease of learning, features, and speed.

This vindication of Lotus's latest core program should help put
to rest a number of arguments about whether this version of 1-2-3
is still tops.

(John McCormick/19891024/Press Contact: Susan Earabino, Lotus,
617-225-1281)


(NEWS)(IBM)(TOR)(00015)

TORONTO COMPANY LAUNCHES 486 SYSTEM}
MISSISSAUGA, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1989 OCT 23 (NB) -- Tech Services
International announced a computer based on the Intel 80486
processor at the Canadian Computer Show. The TSI 486-25 uses a
system board from American Megatrends. TSI currently sells its
products primarily in Canada, but hopes to expand to
international markets in 1990. The company has an existing line
of PCs based on the 80386 processor. Availability he new 486-
based machine will depend on shipments of 486 chips from Intel.

(Grant Buckler/19891027/Press Contact: Cynthia Pullman, TSI, 416-
569-2072)


(NEWS)(IBM)(TOR)(00016)

SHARP SHOWS COLOR LAPTOP, INK-JET PRINTER & MORE}
MISSISSAUGA, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1989 OCT 23 (NB) -- Sharp
Electronics of Canada put its focus on color during the Canadian
Computer Show this week. The company showed, for the first time
in Canada, its portable computer with a 14-inch color liquid
crystal display. However the color portable won't be available
before next year, said Craig Hustadt, general sales manager.

The color portable contains a 20-megahertz Intel 80386 processor, two
megabytes of memory, a 40-megabyte hard disk and a 3.5-inch 1.44-
megabyte diskette drive. The display conforms to the VGA
standard, with 640 by 480 resolution.

Sharp also introduced the JX-730 ink-jet printer, which prints in
seven colors with resolution of 180 dots-per-inch, and the JX-100
hand-held color scanner. The JX-730 printer, usable with IBM-
compatible or Apple Macintosh computers, has a suggested retail
price of C$2,695 in Canada. The scanner will be available early
in 1990, and prices were not announced.

Sharp rounded out its color offerings with a portable liquid-
crystal projection system usable with Macintosh and IBM-
compatible PCs as well as with videotape and laser disk systems.
The 30-pound (13.5 kg) XV-100 projects an image from three small
LCD panels to a wall or screen with magnification ranging from 25
to 100 inches diagonally. It will retail for C$7,999.

Not all of Sharp's introductions involved color, however. The
company also launched its JX-9500 laser printer, a C$2,495, six-
page-a-minute desktop model.

Sharp also announced software to link its electronic cash
registers to MS-DOS-based personal computers. Cash Link, a
companion product to Computer Associates' AccPac accounting
software, allows information from Sharp's ER-3310 and ER-3311
registers to be transferred to a PC, where it may be posted to
Accpac Plus accounting modules or exported as Lotus 1-2-3, dBASE
or ASCII files. Expected to be available by the end of November,
Cash Link will carry a retail price of C$795.

(Grant Buckler/19891027/Press Contact: Craig Hustadt, Sharp
Canada, 416-890-2100)


(NEWS)(IBM)(TOR)(00017)

NEW RELEASE OF WATERLOO PORT LITE}
WATERLOO, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1989 OCT 26 (NB) -- Waterloo
Microsystems has announced Version 2.50 of Port Lite, its entry
level local-area network operating system. The new version
simplifies installation, LAN management and the user interface of
the software, according to Waterloo Microsystems.

The new version also provides a single product for both Arcnet
and Token-Ring networks, the ability to boot up the server from
the hard disk, automatically configured disks and caches, icons
with menuing capability, support for as many as 25 DOS
workstations and streamlined backup capabilities.

(Grant Buckler/19891027/Press Contact: Ana Sackett, Waterloo
Microsystems, 519-884-3141)


(NEWS)(IBM)(LON)(00018)

ACE LAUNCHES LEX-WP V9C WORD PROCESSOR/DATABASE SOFTWARE}
BRENTFORD, ENGLAND, 1989 OCT 28 (NB) - Ace Microsystems has
launched an updated version of Lex WP, its DOS-based word
processing and database management software.

The package prices in at UKP 390, and is pitched head-on against
existing products such as Wordperfect 5.0, which sells for UKP
425. According to John Irwin, Ace Microsystems' marketing
director, Lex WP V9C is superior to Wordperfect, since it offers
an improved degree of customization and a far greater range of
features.

"Launching Lex-WP version 9C into the highly competitive PC
market is an important step for Ace Microsystems. Version 9C's
new help facilities provide users with an easy to learn word
processing facility which grows quickly as their knowledge
increases," he said.

One of Lex-WP V9C's claimed advantages is its integrated database
that can be tailored to a wide range of applications. The package
comes with a card index system and three sample databases for
personnel, bibliography and sales lead handling.

Other features include a 174,000 spell-checker and 164,000 word
thesaurus, to which technical terms, abbreviations and proper
nouns can be added by the user. Postscript printer support is
included as standard.

(Steve Gold/19891031/Press Contact: Patrick Welsh, Text 100 -
Tel: [phone]; Public Contact: John Irwin, Ace Microsystems -
Tel: [phone])


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

MAXTOR SALES AND PROFITS UP}
SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 OCT 28 (NB) -- Maxtor
Corporation, the hard disk drive manufacturer, has reported its
revenues up 8 percent to $117.1 million for the second quarter
of 1989, whilst earnings reached $4.8 million, up 119 percent
from $2.2 million reported during the second quarter last year.

The Californian company, which specializes in high capacity, saw
its stock fall by more than half during the 1987 stock market
crash. Earnings per share were 23 cents, whilst Maxtor's stock
finished the week at $9.625.

(Peter Vekinis/19891028)


(NEWS)(IBM)(TYO)(00020)

MULTI-VENDER OS/2 DEBUT}
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 OCT 24 (NB) -- Oki Electric Industry and Fujitsu
have announced the OS/2 Ver. 1.1, the first product based on the
common application interface, which was announced in this August
by 12 hardware makers and software developers.

The new version of the operating system with Presentation
Manager will cost 62,000 yen or $427 for Fujitsu's FMR series and
69,000 yen or $469 for Oki's if800EX series personal computers.
Fujitsu will ship the OS/2 in November and Oki will start in
December.

Simultaneously, Fujitsu will release communication software for a
network version of OS/2 for 100,000 yen or $690, and Oki will
release Presentation Manager Tool Kit, support software for
developing programs, with the price tag of 95,000 yen or $655.

The newly announced OS/2 is designed to be a common operating
system, but the industry is watching how it will work in the
other vendor's machines and how it will affect the personal
computer market.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19891026)


(NEWS)(IBM)(TYO)(00021)

IBM JAPAN'S SMALL LAPTOP}
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 OCT 19 (NB) -- IBM Japan has released a
portable, book-size computer with which can be used to communicate
with IBM's larger machines or online systems.

The IBM 5499 Online Note, with 2 kilogram weight, adopts an
8 megahertz 80C186 processor at its heart, a standard 640-kilobyte
main memory, and a black and white LCD (liquid crystal display)
screen with 640 by 400 pixels, capable of displaying 25 lines.
Its special software, such as word processors and scheduling,
or software developed on its PS/55 personal computer, can be
put into an IC (integrated circuit) memory card. The battery
runs for about 3.5 hours with one charge.

MS-DOS Version 3.2, Kana-Kanji conversion program, dictionary,
and fonts are included in ROM (read only memory).

The built-in modem enables communication between the machine
and IBM's AS/400 large computer or PS/55. The price with
a 1200 bps (bits per second) modem and a 128 kilobyte RAM (random
access memory) is 198,000 yen or $1,400, and a 2400 bps modem and
a 256 kilobyte RAM is 248,000 yen or $1,750. The shipping date for
the former is at the end of this month, and the latter is on the
27th of December.

IBM Japan has entrusted Ricoh to produce the book-size computer
which it originally developed.

(Ken Takahashi/19891026)


(NEWS)(IBM)(TYO)(00022)

JAPAN: ONE COMPUTER FOR ITS SCHOOLS}
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 OCT 20 (NB) -- Japan's effort to come up with
a single computer for its massive school system has finally paid
off. Four major personal computer makers, Oki Electric Industry,
Sanyo Electric, Sharp, and Mitsubishi Electric, have jointly
developed a new type of educational computer based on their IBM-
compatible AX personal computers. The machine is also designed to please
the government as it also runs the BTRON (Business TRON) operating
system. This was the OS which Japan's CEC (Center of Education
Computer) proposed as the standard operating system for Japanese
educational computers but later abandoned due to widespread
concerns that BTRON would not be compatible with the installed
base of PCs.

The last step to be taken before these machines get out of the lab
and into the schools will be to list the features these computers
will need. The CEC is completing that list now and the four firms
will then install those features on these machines.

(Ken Takahashi/19891026)


(NEWS)(IBM)(SYD)(00023)

AUSTRALIAN MEDICAL SOFTWARE RELEASE}
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1989 OCT 23 (NB) -- The Sydney firm
Science and Computing Applications has developed what it
believes to be the most complete medical interface system
available.

Called Medical Workstation, the system (hardware and
software) can be installed in a standard PC, and can be
used for anything ranging from clinical research to long-
term patient monitoring. It can record, analyze, and
display information it receives from equipment such as
ECGs, spirometers, and audiometers. Until now, separate
systems had to be bought for each monitoring function.

The managing director of SCA, Peter Davies, estimates the
workstation will generate AUS$2M in revenue in Australia
alone next year, and AUS$10M in 1991. Arrangements are
currently being made for the manufacture and distribution of
the product in Southeast Asia.

(Gavin Atkins & Computing Australia/19891026/Press Contact:
Fax [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(SYD)(00024)

AUSTRALIAN COMPANY OFFERS EUROPE 286-TO-386 UPGRADE}
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1989 OCT 27 (NB) -- The Australian
enhancement board builder, Hypertec, will launch an assault
on the European add-on board market with a new 386sx board
that will give users of 286-based machines, 386 code
compatibility for less than the equivalent of AUS$1000
(US$770).

Marketing Manager Philippa Stewart said the Hyper 386sx was
a very small printed circuit board containing an 80386sx
chip and some advanced hardware to fine-tune the SX chip
for 286 machines. "Not only will the machines then run the
latest 386 packages, but they'll continue to run existing
286 software. Add-on boards installed in these machines
will also continue to function quite happily," she said.

(Gavin Atkins/19891027)


(NEWS)(IBM)(SYD)(00025)

AUSTRALIAN 486 PC MAKER HAS TROUBLE GET 486 CHIPS}
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA, 1989 OCTOBER 26 (NB) -- Terran
Computers, makers of a range of PCs, claims that its newly-
announced T-40 range of 80486 machines will only be held
back by availability of 486 chips from Intel.

Managing Director Peter Nunn said, "While we can't compete with the
multinationals in sales to government and large corporate
accounts -- because they like that warm fuzzy feeling they
get when they buy these machines -- we will sell well into
smaller accounts such as professional practises. We're
priced at around 25-35 percent of these name brands ... we
already have a number of orders."

The base T-40 is 25MHz with one megabyte of random access
memory -- for AUS$6500 (US$5000). None of the machines will
be offered with an EISA bus. "It's amazing to see how much these
companies charge for their machines when you know the actual
cost of producing them." said Price.

(Paul Zucker/19891027)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(TYO)(00001)

JAPAN: ACCESS TO POST OFFICES VIA SATELLITE}
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 OCT 23 (NB) -- Japan's Ministry of Posts and
Telecommunications (MPT) is being jettisoned into the space age
with the construction of an intelligence network between post
offices, using a commercial communication satellites.

The MPT will equip all domestic post offices with personal
computer-based communications or HDTV (high-definition
television) in order to make them into general service centers
which offer information and home shopping to consumers.
To start, the Ministry will connect twelve post offices from
various districts via satellite in 1990.

Each post office will be connected with the communications
network via radio waves, thus allowing mobile workers, as
well as transport vehicle drivers and motorcyclists in the
public sector, to exchange information, via data terminals.

On the roof of each office will be a parabolic antenna
connected with very small aperture terminals (VSATs) set up
to receive and send pictures, sound, and text data.

The MPT estimates the total expenditure for this project to
be about 3.5 billion yen ($250 million).

(Ken Takahashi/19891026)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(TYO)(00002)

NTT TO CUT 40,000 PERSONNEL}
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 OCT 25 (NB) -- Japan's telecom giant NTT has
decided to reduce its employees from the current 270,000 to less than
230,000 through fiscal 1995.

As the current controversy over the break-up of NTT continues,
the company had planned to reduce employment to 200,000. But
opposition from trade unions kept 30,000 jobs intact.

Since the privatization in 1985, NTT had gradually reduced its
employees from the past 314,000 to 270,000 at the end of this
September. NTT will, then, reduce its employees to 260,000 in the
fiscal 1990, and furthermore, will reduce the staff to 230,000
according with the 1991 to 1995 rationalization project.

The change in NTT's personnel and organization has been strongly
requested by several groups such as Telecom Study Council, advisory
group of the MPT (Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications). The
profit yielded from the changes is expected to be
returned to the users.

(Ken Takahashi/19891026)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(TYO)(00003)

NTT PRESIDENT TROUBLED BY COMPLAINT CALLS}
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 OCT 26 (NB) -- The president of Japan's telecom
giant NTT, Akio Yamaguchi, has reportedly been badgered with
complaint calls, including those made to his home.

The complaint calls were caused by the interim report on NTT's
break-up created by the Telecom Study Council, advisory group
of the MPT (Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications). The situation
was made worse by the so-called "Friday the 13th" severe slump
in stock prices, which inflamed stockholders. They claim that
the price of the NTT stocks, which they purchased in exchange for
their property, has become lower and lower.

The calls reached his home from midnight through two or three AM
of the next day. Yamaguchi is said to have recorded all the complaints
on his answering machine while he slept, and listened to them the next
day.

Meanwhile, NTT stock has marked the worst price since NTT was
privatized in 1985. It is expected then, that Yamaguchi will be
harassed by the phone calls for some time.

(Ken Takahashi/19891026)


(EXCLUSIVE)(TELECOM)(HKG)(00004)

HONGKONG: STANDARDS WAR DELAYS EDI}
CENTRAL, HONGKONG, 1989 OCT 26 (NB) -- The talk about
Electronic Document Interchange (EDI) has reached fever pitch
in Hongkong recently due to the public release of a Coopers &
Lybrand report and the establishment of two private services,
one from Cable & Wireless and the other from GEISCO. So many
theoretical propositions are being bandied around that the
information technology industry is becoming confused, let alone
the business world in general.

Christopher Read, chairman of OSI 1, the international co-
ordinating committee for Open Systems Interconnect (OSI), was
in Hongkong for discussions with the Hongkong Information
Technology Federation (HKITF) council as a prelude to the 3rd
Steering Committee meeting to be held in Brussels, 20-22
November 1989. Keith Cameron, long-standing information
technology consultant and HKITF council member, will represent
Hongkong at the conference.

Mr Read, together with Mr Jerry Reitz, Digital Equipment's
regional network specialist, had previously visited Australia
(OSIcom), Singapore (OSnet) and Taiwan (newly formed OSI
committee) prior to their arrival in Hongkong, and left for
discussions with China, commencing in Beijing today.

The general consensus of opinion was that although private
international EDI services would become more common, until
critical mass was reached EDI would remain in the realm of the
large corporations and probably be restricted to the banking
world rather than the freight and shipping industries where the
real practical need exists.

"The only way for critical mass to be reached is if electronic
mail networks extend way beyond the corporate level and become
as commonplace in the office as a telephone. For this to be
achieved in a reasonable time frame, open systems architecture
is an essential ingredient," Mr Read told Newsbytes.

"It must be low-cost and be able to be implemented on existing
hardware throughout the world. This can only be done by
collaboration between the various hardware manufacturers, the
network software and services suppliers, and the
telecommunications authorities. Standards must be agreed and a
great deal of assistance is needed for some of the suppliers
with limited resources. That is what OSI 1 is all about," he
said.

Presently OSI 1 is made up of the following members: EurOSInet,
the greater European OSI body; INTAPnet, Japan; OSIcom,
Australia; OSINET, USA; and OSnet, Singapore. However
delegates to the Brussels conference have been invited from
Hongkong and Taiwan and both countries are expected to join OSI
1 at that time. Representatives from China are anticipated also
and it is hoped that at some time in the near future China will
become a member.

The point was made at the Hongkong meeting that when
international technology standards are set by the International
Standards Organisation (ISO), or any of the many other
standards bodies, those standards enter the global public
domain. This means that all countries have the right to
full details of the standards and the right to use them. COCOM
rules, therefore, do not apply to the actual standards, rather
to the equipment which may be necessary for their successful
implementation.

Finland and other Eastern Bloc countries had shown a deal of
interest in OSI 1 activities, according to Mr Read. "We have
checked with COCOM headquarters and have clearance for Finland
to attend the November meeting and we are quite excited by the
prospect."

(Keith Cameron/19891027 Press contact Jeffrey Evans, HKITF, 852
5 213353)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(SYD)(00005)

JAPANESE LANGUAGE SERVICE IN AUSTRALIA}
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1989 OCT 23 (NB) -- Japanese travellers
in Australia's major cities will now be able to keep in
touch with Japanese financial and economic reports 24-hours
a day.

Telerate Australia bring in the information through its
worldwide communication service. It will be in Kanji and
will include updates on the foreign exchange, stocks,
bonds, and commodities markets in Tokyo, London and New
York. News items will come from Kyodo's news bureau and the
Dow Jones' news service.

(Gavin Atkins & Computing Australia/19891025)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(SYD)(00006)

EDI PROGRESS IN AUSTRALIA}
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1989 OCT 23 (NB) -- General Electric
Information Services and the Australian Telecom have
connected their Electronic Data Interchange services to
allow electronic trading between their customer bases. This
is the first connection of its type in Australia.

Dennis Crane, managing director of GE Information Services,
and Martin Turner, general manager of Telecom Plus, said
that the agreement represented a recognition of the
realities of the business needs of the customers of both
EDI services. "GE already interconnects to 14 established
EDI service networks in other countries and welcomes the
opportunity to extend its services in Australia with
Telecom Plus," Mr Crane said.

While both companies will continue to compete for
subscribers, the basis of competition will move away from
which network a trading partner might be using.

Meanwhile, a large section of the Australian pharmaceutical
industry has banded together to cooperate in the
implementation of an EDI network. The scheme, involving
more than 50 suppliers and two large pharmaceutical
distributors, is expected to reduce transaction costs and
make the distribution of medicine more efficient.

(Gavin Atkins/19891026)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(SYD)(00007)

QUEUED PACKET SWITCHING TECHNOLOGY}
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA, 1989 OCT 25 (NB) -- Australian
carrier, Telecom, expects its Fastpack high-speed data
service to earn AUS$100M per year in exports. The
Australian invented Queued Packet Switching technology is a
broad-band packet protocol using public switched systems to
achieve data rates in the multi-megabit per second range.

Trails on the product will begin in 1990 and Telecom has
committed $75M for the next four years of development.

(Paul Zucker/19891027)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(SYD)(00008)

VOICE SCRAMBLER MANUFACTURER SAYS "KLWVB UUVB3E SCTYK3N"}
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA, 1989 OCT 26 (NB) -- Telecom Australia
has purchased 1500 digital voice scramblers from Australian
company GSA Technology, which designed and manufactured the
unit. "We know what the encryption algorithm is and
even we can't break the code!" said GSA Managing Director Geoff Ross.

The company is developing complementary models for modems,
fax machines and ISDN networks. It expects orders from
Europe to reach 10,000 units over the next year. The worldwide
market is estimated at US$400M per year.

(Paul Zucker/19891027)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(LAX)(00009)

INFONET ADDS INT'L OWNER}
EL SEGUNDO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 OCT 24 (NB) -- Infonet has
announced the addition of the Swiss PTT telecommunications
authority to its list of foreign owners.

With the addition of the Swiss PTT's 5 percent ownership, Infonet
is now 65 percent owned by nine overseas shareholders. The other
35 percent belongs to Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) in El
Segundo, CA. Overseas shareholders include Sweden's Teleinvest
AB, Belgium's Regie des Telegraphes et des Telephones, Telecom
Australia, Singapore Telecom International PTE, Ltd., France
Transpac, Spain's Telefonica, West Germany's Deutsche Bundespost
and PTT Telecom Netherlands.

Infonet was established in 1970. It is a standards-based
international value-added networking company that provides
communications and computer services and directly supports those
services in 34 countries.

(Janet Endrijonas/19891027/Press Contact: Mike Radice, Infonet,
213-335-2875)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(LON)(00010)

MERCURY WOOS NEW PHONE SUBSCRIBERS WITH INTRODUCTION SCHEME}
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1989 OCT 28 (NB) -- After more than two years,
the Mercury 2300 indirect telephone service, analogous to the
MCI/Sprint-style trunk and international service in the U.S., is
pitching for new subscribers in earnest. Over the next 30 days,
existing subscribers are being encouraged to sign up new users in
return for a UKP 10 shopping voucher.

According to Paul Bates, Mercury 2300's manager, the scheme is
open to any existing subscriber who encourages a new user to sign
up for service (cost: UKP 7-50 a year) and who then buys a
Mercury smart phone (cost: UKP 52).

Previously, Mercury 2300 service, which allows savings of up to
35 percent on trunk and international phones calls, and offers
free itemized billing, was only available to major towns and
cities in selected areas of the U.K.. According to Bates, the
service is now being rolled out across the UK to more remote
districts. Even if the potential subscriber isn't near the
Mercury network at the moment, Mercury will write and advise
referred customers of when they can link to the network.

(Steve Gold/19891031/Press Contact: Nick Bundy, Mercury
Communications - Tel: [phone]; Public Contact: Paul Bates -
01-528-2500)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(LON)(00011)

FERRANTI LAUNCHES UK'S SECOND CT2 NETWORK}
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1989 OCT 28 (NB) -- Ferranti's Zonephone
subsidiary will roll out the red carpet on 1 November, and thus
became the second CT2 public cordless phone operator to launch
its service.

Zonephone has ambitious plans. Unlike the BT Phonepoint service,
which has more than a few dozen CT2 public base stations in the
London area, Zonephone has 300 base stations up and running now,
with plans to open a further 700 by the end of December. Even
more startling are Zonephone's plans for 1990, when the company
will install a further 4,000 public base stations around the UK.

Zonephone is pulling no punches. It has already attacked BT's
Phonepoint service for having too few public base stations. John
Cummings, Zonephone's MD, said: "This is no test market. From day
one, Zonephone offers a workable, fully trialed system, Over
150,000 test calls have been made and everything is complete and
in place."

Despite the much-publicised problems by its parent company -
Ferranti - Zonephone has no cash flow problems. Zonephone has
spent UKP 20 million in the last five years on the development of
CT technology. It plans to spend another UKP 15 million in the
next five years as well.

Zonephone is no slouch on international order hustling either.
The company has won orders from several foreign PTTs for trial
CT2 systems. Japan's PTT is interested, and a technology transfer
deal is on the cards.

Several CT2 enhancements are under active development by
Zonephone, including linked radio pagers and a voice messaging
system. This is important, since CT2 service, away from the
private base station, only supports one-way (outgoing) service.

(Steve Gold/ 19891031/Press & Public Contact: Zonephone - Tel:
01-200-0200)


(EXCLUSIVE)(TELECOM)(LON)(00012)

INTER-SYSTEM E-MAIL LAUNCHED BY DATALINX}
HALIFAX, ENGLAND, 1989 OCT 28 (NB) -- Whilst several UK
electronic mail service providers are dabbling with intersystem
messaging, National Telecom's Datalinx subsidiary has leap-
frogged ahead with a new e-mail network, offering all the usual
facilities - e-mail, fax, telex - plus intersystem
messaging with Dialcom (including Telecom Gold in the UK),
Mercurylink 7500 and One-to-One.

Onward e-mail facilities are also available to third-party systems
around the world, including Infonet, Geonet and MCI Mail. Inter-
system e-mail conforms to the CCITT X.400 message handling system
(MHS) format.

Sign-up to Datalinx costs UKP 40 to which is added time-based
usage charges. The current charge is 10 pence per minute for all
modem speeds to 2400 bits per second (bps) and 20 pence per
minute for 9600bps access. Apart from the time-based usage
charges, basic Datalinx e-mail is free of charge. Non-
Inter-system e-mail costs 25 pence per 1,000 characters for
Mercurylink 7500 and One-to-One, and 40 pence per 1,000
characters for Dialcom/Telecom Gold mailboxes. Telex and fax
charges are also reasonably priced.

Automatic mailbox intercept facilities are also available on
Datalinx. Facilities are available for diversion of e-mail direct
to a fax machine, as well as for 'forced' delivery by modem to
the subscriber's premises at nominal cost.

Unusually, no file storage charges are imposed on subscriber
files up to 2MB. Storage in excess of the 2MB free allocation
costs UKP 12-50 per 2MB per month. To make life easier for new
and existing users of e-mail, Datalinx is also offering a UKP
25 package called Message Manager for MS-DOS-based PCs. Other
features include a free text search system that can interrogate
e-mail and system files at will, local call access via British
Telecom's packet switch stream (PSS) service, and 8-bit file
transfer facilities.

So what are the catches? Datalinx appears to run rings around
existing e-mail networks in the UK, in terms of facilities
available. The key feature on which the system will sell to
existing users of e-mail networks, is the speed at which messages
can be exchanged with third-party networks.

(Steve Gold/19891031/Press Contact: Pam Durkie, Judith Patten
Associates - Tel: [phone]; Public Contact: Liz Ingleton,
marketing manager, Datalinx - Tel: [phone])


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

INTEL 80486 FLAW FOUND; COMPUTERS MAY BE DELAYED}
SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 OCT 27 (NB) -- Comdex will
be abuzz with the latest generation of IBM-compatible and EISA
PCs powered by Intel's highest achievement in microcomputerdom --
the 80486. But a small, obscure bug in the chips is expected to delay
shipment of the featured machines for anywhere from several weeks
to several months.

Intel's flagship product, the 80486 chip, was found to make errors
in some trigonometric calculations by engineers at Compaq, it was
reported. Intel says the errors would not have been found by
normal users, but might have shown up in some computer-aided
design and other math-intensive programs. Intel engineers have
been scurrying to correct the problem. Word is now that
corrected 80486 microprocessors will be made starting next week
and will ship a few weeks later. Intel spokeswoman Pam Pulachi
tells Newsbytes that Intel has not suspended shipments of the 80486.
Limited quantities are still being shipped out at customer's
request, and if they want to exchange the chips at a later point,
Intel will do that. In fact, she says, shipment is on schedule -- volume
production was slated to begin in the fourth quarter of this year.

The news could indicate, however, a delay in shipment of some
200+ products slated to include this otherwise powerful new
processor. For instance, IBM has announced a suspension of
shipments of Power Platforms, which are 80486-based upgrades
for 80386-based computers.

Compaq has scheduled a November 6 announcement for the unveiling
of several machines based on the 80486 but the shipment of the
machines is expected to be set back at least a month.

Two the three times more powerful than the 80386 which currently
powers the highest-end IBM-compatible microcomputers, the 80486
has 1.2 million transistors and operates at 12 to 15 million
instructions per second, a dense configuration in which a tiny error
such as this one was hiding.

(Wendy Woods/19891027)


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

DESKTOP SUPERCOMPUTER UNVEILED}
LAUREL, MARYLAND, U.S.A., 1989 OCT 25 (NB) -- At an Institute of
Electrical and Electronics Engineers symposium, a Johns Hopkins
University scientist unveiled what he bills as the world's first
desktop supercomputer, the QUEN-16.

Named for Dr. Quentin E. Dolecek of Johns Hopkins University's
Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), the QUEN-16 features state-of-
the-art parallel processing, memory-linked SIMD architecture, MIMD
design and dual-port memory. Its architecture, based on a
commercial version of the Defense Department's Very High Speed
Integrated Circuit (VHSPIC) technology, allows it to perform
between 80 million and 1,280 million computations per second
(comparable to a Cray 1 supercomputer), despite a 17-inch by 8.75-
inch by 21-inch box that weighs only 45 pounds.

The QUEN-16 is designed to attach to Sun workstations and DEC VAX
machines. When commercially produced, the QUEN-16 is expected to
cost between $50,000 and $100,000, one-tenth the price of a CRAY
1. Interstate Electronics Corp. in Anaheim, California, holds exclusive
license to the patent.

(Michael Fitzgerald/19891027/Press Contact: Frank Proctor, Johns
Hopkins University, 301-953-6268)


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

KASPAROV THUMPS DEEP THOUGHT}
NEW YORK, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1989 0CT 22 (NB) -- In one of the most
publicized chess matches in recent history, man beat machine
handily.

Current World Champion Gary Kasparov, a Soviet, was expected to
beat Carnegie-Mellon's Deep Thought, but he won the two matches
far more easily than most observers expected.

"We were not surprised that he (Kasparov) won," said Thomas
Anantharaman, one of the team of Carnegie-Mellon graduate students
that developed Deep Thought. "We were a bit surprised at how
convincingly he won. We suspect that human beings can improve their
game significantly if they are given time to prepare for a
particular opponent. Computers can't do that."

Deep Thought, which is one of the most advanced examples of the
power of artificial intelligence, has won several tournaments
against human competition, including victories over several grand
masters who were once highly regarded in international circles.

Before the match, experts predicted that within five years, there
will be a machine that will be better at chess than the best human
beings.

Anantharaman stood by this prediction even though Kasparov made
Deep Thought look like a dunce.

"We hope to have a machine with 100,000 times the speed and ability
of Deep Thought within five years," he said. Anantharaman told
Newsbytes that he and two other members of Deep Thought's five-man
development team will work on the new machine. Murray Campbell and
Feng-hsiung Hsu will be the other two. All three are or will be
(Anantharaman is finishing his PhD) employed by IBM.

(Michael Fitzgerald/19891027/Press Contact: Anne Watzman, Carnegie-
Mellon University, 412-268-8495)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(WAS)(00004)

COMPUTERS AND MEDICINE DISCUSSED AT BEIJING CONFERENCE}
BEIJING, CHINA, 1989 OCT 16 (NB) -- A six-day meeting of more
than 700 computer/medical experts from 29 countries has heard a
call for more medical database use in solving global health
problems.

China alone has more than 200 diagnostic programs for Chinese
medicine, and the Chinese government has paid great attention to
the application and use of computers in national health care,
according to Minister Cheng Minzhang of China's Ministry of
Public Health.

(John McCormick/19891026)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(WAS)(00005)

ADDRESSING THE FUTURE OF HIGH TECH IN CHICAGO}
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, U.S.A., 1989 OCT 25 (NB) -- Casey Cowell,
founder and chairman of U.S. Robotics, a major Skokie-based maker
of modems, was the keynote speaker at the Chicago High Tech
Association's 6th annual dinner.

Cowell's subject was on the environment for high-technology
entrepreneurs in the Chicago area. Speaking in front of some 125
members of the area high-tech community, Cowell emphasized that
"Chicago-area businesses are missing opportunities by not focusing
on technology development here."

"There are more than 1,000 companies doing various sorts of high
technology development here in Chicago," Cowell said. "The
Northwestern University/Evanston Research Park High Tech Incubator
is filled and breaking ground on new space. The Chicago Technology
Park is filled. But it's not the image of our area."

Cowell warned that if this image was not changed, "it's a self-
fulfilling prophecy -- if we believe the area is growing, then
that's what will happen. If we don't, then we will not have the
growth."

Cowell also told the group that high technology businesses in the
area suffer because of its geographic spread. "Our culture is one
of separateness. We must learn to pull together."

(Michael Fitzgerald/19891026/Press Contact: Karen J. Novak, U.S.
Robotics, 708-982-5244)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(TOR)(00006)

ADVANCED DIGITAL SOUND COMING FOR PCS}
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA, 1989 OCT 24 (NB) -- Advanced
Gravis Computer Technology has signed a letter of intent with
MSound International for manufacturing and exclusive marketing
rights to Msound's digital sound technology for IBM and
compatible PCs in North America, Europe and Japan.

Using stored, digitally sampled recordings for playback, Msound
produces high-quality music, voice and other sound effects
without a special sound card. The hardware is an adapter box that
plugs into the computer's parallel port, with a jack for
headphones or speakers. It is similar to sound technology used
on the Apple Macintosh, Commodore Amiga and Atari ST computers,
the company said. Advanced Gravis expects the retail price to be
less than $100.

Gravis will pay for the 10-year license with 200,000 of its
common shares and future royalties based on earnings. The
agreement must be approved by both companies' directors and by
regulators. Advanced Gravis makes assorted peripherals,
particularly joysticks, for IBM, Apple, Commodore Amiga and Atari
computers.

(Grant Buckler/19891027/Press Contact: Grant Russell, Advanced
Gravis Computer Technology, 604-434-7274)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(LON)(00007)

RACAL LAUNCHES SOLID STATE AUDIO RECORDER}
SOUTHAMPTON, ENGLAND, 1989 OCT 28 (NB) -- Racal Recorders has
launched the Model 21 digital audio recorder, the communications
industry's first solid-state general purpose audio recording
unit. The unit, which can record up to 32 minutes of radio or
telephone conversations in battery-backed memory, costs UKP
2,000.

As with tape-based units, the Model 21 can be activated by voice
or electronics. All messages are time and data stamped, and can
be accessed instantly by the unit, even whilst another session is
being recorded.

The digital recorder offers a number of advantages over existing
recording technology systems, including simultaneous recording
and playback, instant movement between and within messages with
no rewind or fast forward time and no degradation of sound
quality after multiple plays.

Granville Burn, Racal Recorders' general sales manager, said the
Model 21 is a unique product in its price range: "Racal Recorders
has long been recognized as one of the leading manufacturers of
voice and data logging equipment. The launch of the Model 21
confirms Racal's commitment to offering a comprehensive range of
products to satisfy the varied recording needs of its customers,"
he said.

(Steve Gold/19893110/Press & Public Contact - David Nicholas -
Tel: [phone])


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(BRU)(00008)

STUDY REPORTS WOMEN WORRY MORE THAN MEN}
STUTTGART, WEST GERMANY, 1989 OCT 28 (NB) -- A major annual study
undertaken by IBM West Germany has discovered that women are more
concerned about future trends than their male colleagues.

The study, conducted by IBM, surveyed 920 people between the ages
of 16 and 24. Although a similar study conducted in 1987 revealed
that both sexes were fairly optimistic about the future, things
now seem to have changed. In the 1988 study, women were found to
worry more about the future than their male colleagues, with the
trend having been confirmed in the 1989 report.

IBM has not attempted to elaborate on the results of its study,
which nevertheless illustrates that men are more optimistic than
women about the future in West Germany.

(Peter Vekinis/19891028)


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

TOSHIBA'S PCS ACCESSIBLE TO MULTIVENDER HOST}
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 OCT 23 (NB) -- What if personal computers could
control different venders' general purpose computers? The TOPS (total
office productivity support system) of Toshiba promises to make this
dream come true.

Toshiba does not produce its own general purpose computers, but it
has made this disadvantage into an advantage with development
a system to connect its personal computers and the host
computers of IBM, Fujitsu or Hitachi via its distributed processing
system, V-7000.

Some 34 software programs are available, such as word
processor, spreadsheet, electronic mail and statistics analysis. These
programs basically run under OS/2, but also run on the MS-DOS
operating system.

The TOPS system, for example, allows data to be exported from a
host computer to Lotus 1-2-3 running on Toshiba's J3100 or
J3300 series personal computers.

Toshiba is aiming to expand its computer business by making the most
of these links in sales pitches for its J3100 and J3300 series and
V-7000.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19891026)


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

LESS POWER-CONSUMING 4M DRAM FROM HITACHI}
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 OCT 24 (NB) -- Hitachi has developed a four
megabit DRAM (dynamic random access memory) chip which consumes
less power than current 4 megabit DRAMs.

Demand for four-megabit DRAM chips is increasing among makers of
engineering workstations and high-end personal computers.
Hitachi's new chip, however, capable of high performance at low
power, is designed for the growing laptop and book-size
computer market because the power source for portables
is batteries.

Generally, demand for higher performance microprocessors and
larger memories starts at the high end and penetrates to the low-end,
but in the four-megabit DRAM business, Hitachi is likely to achieve
rapid penetration from both sides due to its versatile DRAM products.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19891026)


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

JAPAN: USO TAKES A SIDE WITH SIGMA PROJECT}
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 OCT 19 (NB) -- The five-year project of MITI
(Ministry of International Trade and Industry), the Software
Industrialized Generator and Maintenance Aid or so-called SIGMA
project, is slated to be turned over to the computer industry next
year with its first products due out in April, 1990.

The project, advocated by MITI in 1985 and undertaken by the
Information-technology Promotion Agency or IPA, was started to
prepare for a predicted software crisis due to the upsurge in need
for programming-intensive applications by industry and business.

The system software being adapted for center stage in the SIGMA
configuration is Unix System V of AT&T.

Now, an AT&T organization attempting to standardize a Unix
interface, USO (Unix Software Operation), is siding with the project.

The two key organizations, IPA and USO, have agreed in the following
points. IPA will be allowed to translate the System V Interface
Definition into Japanese and to sell it as a part of the SIGMA
specification, USO will provide the technical information for the
Unix System V to IPA as soon as possible, and in return, IPA will
provide SIGMA systems and software for USO.

The IPA claims that the agreement will help the project to
exist on its own in the computer industry.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19891026)


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

NEC'S NEW LINEUP OF PC-9800 SERIES}
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 OCT 20 (NB) -- NEC has revealed two genre of
its PC-9800 series -- a book-size computer PC-9801N and a
desktop computer PC-H98 Model 70 with an original NESA (new
extended standard architecture)-based 32-bit bus.

The book-size computer, otherwise called 98 NOTE, is 4.4 centimeters
thick, and weighs 2.9 kilograms. With the adoption of a 10 megahertz
16-bit V30 microprocessor, the machine operates 1.3 times faster
than Toshiba's DynaBook with a 10MHz 80C86 processor, an NEC
executive claims. A one-megabyte 3.5-inch floppy drive and a 1.25-
megabyte RAM (random access memory) drive are standard.
The 1.25-megabyte RAM (random access memory) drive works just
like a floppy drive except that data stored in the RAM drive remains
there even when the power switch is off. The backlit LCD screen with
eight shades of gray enables color applications to be run without
modification.

To compete with Toshiba's DynaBook, which is selling well due to
its low-price of 198,000 yen ($1,420), NEC has set the price of the
machine at 248,000 yen ($1,750), emphasizing the availability
of volumes of existing PC-9800 series programs it will run, as
well as the 1.3-times-higher speed. Toshiba, however, tried to
sandbag NEC by saying its price, which is higher than 200,000
yen, is too much for a personal computer.

NEC is scheduled to release and ship the 98 NOTE book-size
computer by the end of November, 1989, and aims to sell 150,000
units in the first year.

On the other hand, the PC-H98 Model 70 adopts the firm's
original NESA architecture which is said to exploit the full power of
the embedded 80386 processor, and can operate high-performance,
multitasking software and handle large amounts of data.

The price for 70-002 with two one-megabyte, 5-inch floppy drives,
is 995,000 yen and the 70-100 with a 100 megabyte, 3.5-inch hard drive
and a 5.5 megabyte memory is 1,680,000 yen ($12,000).

The release and shipment for the machine is scheduled for the end
of January, next year. NEC plans to sell 15,000 units in the
initial year.

(Ken Takahashi/19891026)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(TYO)(00013)

OKI'S LAPTOP PBX TERMINAL}
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 OCT 24 (NB) -- Oki Electric Industry has
released a terminal unit for a digital PBX (private branch
exchange). Called iOX Workstation TW-1000, the machine is
a combination of its 32-bit AX-architecture laptop computer
and a digital multifunctional phone.

The new PBX terminal has several features such as high-speed
data communication at 64 kilobits per second via an extension
line, simultaneous communication of voice and data via one
telephone circuit, and a built-in IC (integrated circuit) card
reader/writer.

The price for the basic model is 660,000 yen ($4,700).
Oki will ship the product in March next year and intends to
sell 1,000 units in the first year.

(Ken Takahashi/19891026)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(SYD)(00014)

RAMTRON TO JOIN FRAM REVOLUTION}
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1989 OCT 23 (NB) -- Ramtron Corporation
which is 51.5 percent owned by Ramtron Australia will
unveil its engineering samples of the Ferro-electronic
random access memory (FRAM) chips next month. Production
samples will be ready in April next year. The chips operate
like normal RAM chips but can maintain memory without
power.

Ramtron has spent about AUS$25M developing the FRAM
technology, but claims the market could be worth $650M by
1995. Possible applications of the chips include use in
cars to store data for anti-lock braking and engine
management systems, in processors to run automatic machines
in the white goods industry, and in reprogrammable smart
cards. The chips will initially have between 1 and 16kbytes
of capacity. Research and development on much higher
capacity chips is currently being undertaken. These could
be used in computers to guard against memory loss during
power failure.

(Gavin Atkins & Computing Australia/19891025)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(SYD)(00015)

AUSTRALIA: LIBRARY ACCESS VIA CD-ROM}
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1989 OCT 23 (NB) -- Australians can now
get regular access to information about library books via a
CD-ROM called Clann CD-CAT. The information is being
provided by Clann, a non-profit cooperative formed by
Australian libraries to improve information services for
library users.

The Clann CD-CAT contains a library database of titles and
other information on more than 700,000 books. With the help
of a CD-ROM reader, a user can search the database by
subject, title or author, and find out which libraries have
the books.

(Gavin Atkins & Computing Australia/19891026)


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

DEC UNVEILS VAX MAINFRAME}
MAYNARD, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1989 OCT 24 (NB) -- Digital
Equipment Corp. (DEC) showed off its first-ever mainframe, the VAX
9000.

The VAX 9000 will be compatible with DEC's popular minicomputers,
and will offer users mainframe speed and throughput within the VAX
architecture. Depending on its configuration, the VAX 9000 will run
from 30 to 117 times as fast as the fastest current DEC machine,
the VAX-11/780.

Some 80 of the 6500 large applications in existence for DEC
machines right now are targeted to run on VAX 9000, including
McCormack & Dodge's Millennium, Computer Associates' Masterpiece
II and SPSS data analysis software.

The VAX 9000 will start at $1.24 million, and the top of the line,
4-processor VAX 9000 Model 440 will sell for $3.92 million.

A DEC spokesman cited two primary reasons for the release of the
VAX 9000.

"We introduced that system to satisfy the largest data requirements
of our customers," DEC's McLaren Harris told Newsbytes. "That was
our primary reason for releasing a mainframe. It obviously opens
new markets for us, and we view the mainframe market as a still-
growing one. We know that there has been some talk about a down
market for mainframes in the last few years, but we think that
perhaps people were waiting for an alternative to what's there."

(Michael Fitzgerald/19891027/Press Contact: McLaren Harris, DEC,
508-467-3488)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(WAS)(00002)

INFORMIX ANNOUNCES UNIX SMARTWARE AT FCC}
WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A., 1989 OCT 23 (NB) -- In a less-than-
exciting Federal Computer Conference, Informix, publishers of the
powerful Smartware integrated software for MS-DOS based
computers, has garnered a lot of interest with its demonstration
of a Unix version of its software.

SmartwareII will ship this year for SCO Unix 386 V 3.2, and for
other versions of the Unix operating system soon thereafter,
providing e-mail, spreadsheet, notepad, phone book, database,
terminal emulation, and word processing features for Unix users
that will look and work just as they do on the MS-DOS versions.

Although there have been rumors of problems with the latest MS-
DOS version of Smartware, it has been a very popular development
package for a number of years and the ability to run the same
basic applications in both MS-DOS and Unix environments should
spark strong renewed interest in the product among developers who
have been leaning to the use of custom C-code programming to
provide similar multi-operating system capabilities.

Other Informix software includes Wingz, and the Informix-4GL and
Informix-SQL development packages. Several Informix programs are
currently under evaluation by this bureau for future reviews.

On Monday, Informix announced record earnings of $37 million for
the recently ended third quarter, an increase of 57 percent over the
same period last year. Also during the third quarter Informix
announced a number of important distribution agreements,
including one with Unisys.

(John McCormick/19891024/Press Contact: Christine Kalka,
Informix, 913-599-7355)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(WAS)(00003)

UNISYS NO LONGER STOPS AT MAINFRAMES}
BLUE BELL, PENNSYLVANIA, U.S.A., 1989 OCT 24 (NB) -- Unisys's
Standardized Tactical Online Public Safety System or
STOPS, a mainframe computer program used by large police and fire
departments running the Unisys 1100/2200 mainframe computers, has
been ported to Unix.

The ability to run STOPS on micros makes it available to small
police departments that may average only 60-70 phone calls/day
requesting service.

STOPS provides graphical displays to help guide emergency
vehicles to locations (starting at $42,000), paperwork
management, and administrative management. Prices are for the
software license only, with the jail/paperwork management package
starting at only $16,000.

(John McCormick/19891024/Press Contact: Charlotte J. LeGates,
Unisys, 215-542-4213)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(BRU)(00004)

NCR-MAIL X.400 SYSTEM RELEASED}
MADRID, SPAIN, 1989 OCT 28 (NB) -- NCR has announced NCR-Mail, a
CCITT X.400 compliant message handling system (MHS) running on
Unix-based Tower and ITX hardware. The system effectively
provides a common mail facility for all major NCR platforms.

Like many X.400 products of its type, NCR-Mail is window-based
and uses a CCITT X.500-compliant directory to simplify delivery
statements. The user can use mnemonic names for message
recipients, as well as their network address. This technique
simplifies the addressing function of the system.

NCR-Mail operates as a store-and-forward system. Messages are
held in the message transfer agent area prior to delivery. The
software processes each message as part of a batch file, sorting
them as required, before delivering them to the recipients.
Messages can thus be bulk-delivered to external MHS systems.

In a related story, NCR has announced NCR-Manager, its new
network management system for NCR and Token Ring network systems.
The system provides OSI standard and application programming
interfaces (APIs).

(Eric Dauchy/19891026)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(SFO)(00005)

FRAMEMAKER HELPS LAUNCH SPACEPLANE}
PARIS, FRANCE, 1989 OCT 27 (NB) -- When the European Space Agency
launches a manned spaceplane by 1995, part of the credit
will go to Frame Technology Corporation of San Jose, California, which
has won a contract to provide the project with its workstation
publishing software.

FrameMaker 2.0 has been selected to provide word processing,
graphics, layout and book-building tools to document and report
technical information for the European Space Agency's Hermes project,
which is cosponsored by 12 European nations and led by
France.

Over 400 FrameMaker licenses are expected to be required over the
next four years.

High praise for the software comes from Bruno du Plessis de
Grenedan, manager of onboard software for the spaceplane Hermes
project at Aerospatiale, France's government-sponsored aerospace
company. "FrameMaker's open architecture is powerful enough for our
engineers to maintain an extensive technical database and cross-
reference it in our FrameMaker documents. Yet it is easy enough for
our not-technical staff to use for memos and letters."

The Hermes project, part of the European Ariane Space rocket family
to be launched before 1995, is a small space shuttle able to
carry astronauts into orbit and rendezvous with space stations. The
launching pad and control center for the project is at Kourou, French
Guinea.

(Wendy Woods/19891028)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(SFO)(00006)

SUN GETS BIG DEFENSE CONTRACT}
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 OCT 27 (NB) -- Sun
Microsystems has landed a contract to supply high-definition
display computer workstations to the Defense Advanced Research
Projects Agency (DARPA). The two-year contract, to be performed
in conjunction with the David Sarnoff Research Center, is
designed to produce a system that will be used to evaluate
high-resolution systems and video processing techniques.

High-definition displays provide twice the resolution of current
computer displays to provide image quality equal to or better
than 35 millimeter motion picture film. The ability to create
extremely detailed images will come in handy for such applications
as satellite image analysis, weather forecasting, medical
imaging and publication graphics. Eventually it should be
implemented on a wide scale as high-definition television.

(Wendy Woods/19891028/Press Contact: Carrie Dillon, Sun,
415-336-3564)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(LAX)(00007)

INTERACTIVE SYSTEMS TO DEMO AT&T-BASED 486/IX}
SANTA MONICA, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 OCT 23 (NB) -- Interactive
Systems is planning to demonstrate its 486/ix operating system at
UNIX Expo in New York this week.

Interactive's 486/ix is a commercial product based on AT&T's UNIX
System V Release 4 operating system that will be announced
concurrently at UNIX Expo by AT&T and UNIX International.

(Janet Endrijonas/19891027/Press Contact: Kera Martin,
Interactive Systems, 213-453-8649)


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

YHP NO.1 WORKSTATION MAKER IN JAPAN}
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 OCT 25 (NB) -- Yokogawa Hewlett-Packard, just
prior to the merger of Apollo Computer Japan in next month, has earned
70 percent more than the previous year, a whopping 70 billion yen
or $483 million in fiscal '89 ending this month. There is no
doubt it will have the number-one position in sales of workstations if it
includes 10 billion yen or $69 million earned by Apollo Computer
Japan.

But, YHP will retain the second position on a unit basis because
YHP machines are expensive. On the other hand Sun Microsystems or
Sony are selling low-priced machines.

The top seeking YHP will reinforce this Achilles's heel by
receiving a supply of the low-priced RISC (reduced instruction set
computer) chips from a joint venture in Korea which was
established by U.S.-based Hewlett-Packard and Korea's Samsung.
The joint venture is now developing its own unique RISC chips and
YHP will put them to work in its workstations.

A project to rewrite application programs for Sun's Unix machines
into YHP machines is in the final stage now, then YHP will be ready to
develop its own application programs. YHP is expecting 100 billion
yen or $690 million in sales in fiscal 1990.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19891026)


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

OMRON TO ADOPT MACH OS}
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 OCT 25 (NB) -- The WSs (workstations) of Omron
Tateishi will adopt the Mach OS (operating system) which was developed
by Carnegie Mellon University of the U.S.

The WSs which will have Mach OS are Omron's flagship Luna
series and its multiprocessor WS. Luna is supporting two kinds of
Unix-based operating systems. One is based on the Sigma operating
system and the other on the BSD (Berkeley Software Distribution).
The Luna series will not require architectural change because of
compatibility of Unix BSD version with Mach OS.

On the other hand, the advantage of the Mach OS -- capable of
multi-CPU (central processing unit) -- has led Tateish to use it for
the development project for a four CPU workstation, the 88K
Multi-processor WS.

Omron Tateishi is planning to commercialize these machines with
Mach OS by Spring, 1990.

Meanwhile, it has established a second overseas
software development station in Singapore, following one in the U.S.
The Singapore office is named Omron Management Center of Asia
Pacific and will develop software mainly for the Luna series. It is
also responsible for overseeing the Asian market. Omron is also
planning to establish such a center in China in the future.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19891026)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(TYO)(00010)

SUN: MANAGING DIRECTOR RESIGNED}
TOKYO, JAPAN 1989 OCT 25 (NB) -- The managing director of Nihon Sun
Microsystems, Matsumoto Takatoshi, has resigned. The firm says
the reason for the resignation is private but insiders say he
has been recruited by an overseas company which aims to establish
a Japanese subsidiary and to name him as president.

Matsumoto was working for Digital Equipment Corporation Japan
previously as sales manger and when Sun established its Japanese
arm in September 1986. He was invited as a director of the firm.
He had represented Sun until October, last year, when Sun invited
the adviser of Toshiba, Amoh Kouhei, and positioned him as the vice
president of the mother firm in the U.S. and president of the
Japanese subsidiary. Matsumoto lost his right to manage the firm.

The engineering workstation market has been expanded mainly by the
manufacturing industries and universities, however, growth has
now taken place in the financial and office market. There may be
some management philosophy conflicts between the two characters.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19891026)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(TYO)(00011)

SUMITOMO TO START DTP BUSINESS}
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 OCT 24 (NB) -- Sumitomo Electric Workstation,
one of the members of Sumitomo group, has announced plans to launch into
the DTP (desktop publishing) market with its workstation,
Ustation/S. The workstation has been used for CAD (computer-aided
design). The firm, however, seeking future expansion of
the market has decided to start the business.

To start, Sumitomo placed an order for Tokyo-based Unix software
developer, UNIteX Japan to transplant some popular Unix desktop
publishing software programs for the machine. The Ustation/S, then,
supports Super Layout and Super Illust which handle PostScript.

The Super Layout prints texts, photos, images or graphics
at 100 dots per square millimeter. This is so-called WYSIWYG
(what you see is what you get) in the industry.

The price of the Super Layout is 600,000 yen or $4,138 and Super
Illust is 500,000 yen or $3448 and both packages are slated to
ship in December.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19891026)


(EXCLUSIVE)(UNIX)(HKG)(00012)

HONGKONG: OPEN SYSTEMS FROM NCR WITH THE USER IN MIND}
CENTRAL, HONGKONG, 1989 OCT 25 (NB) -- The new face of NCR has
appeared with the introduction the open-system NCRnet.

At a private demonstration of the new offering arranged
for Newsbytes' Hongkong correspondent, Keith Cameron, NCR (HK)
systems consultant K.C. Lam demonstrated the system's
friendly user interface.

"We believe that an open systems strategy is essential in this
region, " said Mr Lam, "companies with differing brands of
hardware in each geographic location are commonplace. Many
computer vendors offer open systems which handle the machine to
machine interface satisfactorily, but NCRnet also focuses on
user-friendliness which many other systems do not."

Shades of Hewlett-Packard's New Wave were apparent in NCRnet,
but the difference is that NCRnet is here and New Wave has been
delayed because of the litigation. It is interesting to note
that the base for NCR's product is the Unix-driven Tower
series and not the NCR 10000.

Alex Lee, systems manager of NCR, added that NCR was embarking
on an intensive training program for both sales and support
staff which built their level of knowledge of competitive
systems to a high level. "NCR's policy has always been to
ensure that our systems staff were trained to a high level of
competency with our own systems, but open systems interconnect
(OSI) means they must be equally proficient with competitive
equipment and software," he told Newsbytes.

Meanwhile NCR is looking forward to increased business from
banks in China. Managing director, Michael Lee, told Newsbytes:
"Most of the concern surrounding China is the effect that the
drop in tourism has had on its foreign currency reserves. The
fact is that tourism represents only a small percentage of
China's foreign currency earnings and we are confident that the
money is there to satisfy forecasted purchases of NCR
automatic teller machines. There has been no noticeable change
in interest or plans by our customers or prospects in China."

(Keith Cameron/19891027)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(HKG)(00013)

BRITAIN'S ICL MAKES IMPACT ON MANUFACTURER}
KOWLOON, HONGKONG, 1989 OCT 24 (NB) -- Under a deal worth about
$125,000, International Computers (ICL) will install its Unix-
based DRS400 series and all 14 modules of IMPACT software at
Sun Motor Manufactory in Kowloon.

Mr Andy Wong, administration manager with Sun, said: "We have
two factories in China and are planning to set up an operation
in Thailand. This system will give us sufficient flexibility to
handle all locations."

Mr Frank To, industry sales manager of ICL, explained that ICL
had taken the local distributorship for IMPACT in June this
year. The fully integrated distribution, financial and
manufacturing package was developed by Syspro of the United
Kingdom. He said that the product was ideally suited to
Hongkong manufacturers because of its reasonable cost level.

"In addition its strong foreign currency features are
particularly suited to Hongkong's export oriented
manufacturers," he said.

(Keith Cameron/19891027)