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/nb891120

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(EXCLUSIVE)(APPLE)(LAS)(00001)

COMDEX: PC/MAC APPLICATIONS GENERATOR FOR NON-PROGRAMMERS
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, U.S.A., 1989 NOV 15 (NB) -- Maxem is showing its
Mac/PC applications generator Cause. The company calls it "a
programming tool designed for the general public." Through
menus, users can generate simple or complex computer
applications without knowing syntax rules or having any
programming experience.

Unlike other Hypertext packages, Cause is built around a
relational database. The building process is based on
creation of resources and assignment of steps. Some steps
include: Dialog; display; reports; decision; computations;
file operations and disaster recovery.

Applications built on either Mac or PC can be fully
transported, as the package was built with this intention.
The personal version (around $200) is a single-user system
while the professional version (around $600) comes complete
with a license-free runtime generator, to allow developers
to create saleable applications at no extra cost.

Cause manufacturer Maxem also markets Cause applications
under the Effects name. These are available complete with
source code for user-modification. Existing applications
include: loan processing; accounts systems; problem
tracking; telemarketing; library management; electronic mail
and many more.

(Paul Zucker/19891115/Press contact: David Thomas. 602-491-
2466)


(EXCLUSIVE)(APPLE)(LAS)(00002)

COMDEX: SPINNAKER BUYS GERMAN HYPERCARD CLONE
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, U.S.A., 1989 NOV 15 (NB) -- Spinnaker Software
demonstrated Plus, its recently acquired multimedia development
software, on both the Apple Macintosh and OS/2 Presentation Manager
at Comdex/Fall here. Andrew Knight, product manager for Plus, said
Macintosh, PM and Microsoft Windows versions of the product will
be shipped, in that order, in the first half of 1990. An early
version of Plus for the Macintosh was published this summer by
Olduvai. It was originally developed by Format Software, a German
firm, said Leslie Daley, assistant public relations manager for the
Cambridge, Mass., company.

Plus shares most capabilities of Apple's HyperCard software, with
some extensions such as higher limits on the number of cards.
Knight described it as a "superset" of HyperCard. The software's
most attractive feature, however, is probably the fact that it uses
common file formats on all platforms. A "stack" or file created on
the Macintosh can thus be run on IBM and compatible PCs. Plus can
also import HyperCard files, either by converting them to its own
format or by working with them in their original format in read-
only mode. Prices have not yet been announced.

(Grant Buckler/19891115/Press Contact: Leslie Daley, Spinnaker
Software, 617-494-1200)


(EXCLUSIVE)(APPLE)(LAS)(00003)

COMDEX: EXTRA T-1 CAPACITY FOR CONNECTING APPLETALK NETS
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, U.S.A., 1989 NOV 14 (NB) --  A device for
AppleTalk networks called the SyncRouter, which can
connect AppleTalk networks to other networks, or their
peripherals, using unused capacity on corporate T-1 links, has
been introduced by Mark Doyle, president of Engage
Communication Inc., Foster City, California. T-1 links are
specially conditioned lines which can handle data at up to 1,544,000
bits/second, but many companies aren't using that capacity
because they don't have devices which can connect to it easily,
Doyle says.

SyncRouter costs $1,895, plugs in in minutes, and
allows transfers at speeds up to 230,400 bits/second, with
the only limit being the speed of AppleTalk. Access to SyncRouter
is transparent to all users, whether they're using Macs or PCs.
It can support up to 1,024 network entries and 250 zones, and is
completely transparent, even if you're passing data under the
TCP/IP standard. Simply plug the device into a V.35, RS449 or
RS232 plug and the SyncRouter determines which connection to use,
then activates the line. Changing the service type is as easy as
plugging in a new connector.

Doyle says he's already installed over 1,000 SyncRouters linking
General Electric offices in Fairfield and Bridgeport,
Connecticut. He was handing out praise from an unnamed GE manager
to the effect that the SyncRouter performs slightly better than
an Ethernet board, but at 1/10th the price. Doyle's last start-up
was called Digital Link, and he also used to work at Ungermann-
Bass. Doyle also says there's a huge amount of spare T-1 capacity
in most corporate networks, capacity which is going unused
because there aren't enough fast devices to connect with it.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19891114/Press Contact: Mark Doyle, Engage
Communication, Tel: [phone])


(EXCLUSIVE)(APPLE)(LAS)(00004)

COMDEX: TRAVELING SOFTWARE RELEASES LAPLINK III MAC
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, U.S.A., 1989 NOV 14 (NB) -- Traveling
Software Inc. of Bothell, Washington, the Laplink folks, have a
new version of their Macintosh product out. Called Laplink Mac
Release III, it's priced at $189.95 against the old version's
$139.95, but offers several new advantages.

It lets you control Mac-PC communications from the Mac
end for the first time. The product includes an accelerator plug
which lets you transfer data between Macs at up to 750,000
bits/second, and  there's a Mac Portable SCSI cable which lets
you connect to the Portable at AppleTalk speeds. Product
Marketing Manager Leo Manson defends the price rise, saying
all competitors are priced higher. Laplink is already a standard,
and a buzzword ("Let me Laplink this over to you") and the new
Mac product is expected to solidify the company's hold on the
direct serial-serial file transfer marketplace.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19891114/Press Contact: Leo C. Manson,
Traveling Software, Tel: [phone])


(EXCLUSIVE)(APPLE)(LAS)(00005)

COMDEX: ATARI SHOWS STACY LAPTOP, TOUTS MAC COMPATIBILITY
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, U.S.A., 1989 NOV 14 (NB) -- Atari, for its
part, put on a very quiet showing in Las Vegas, 'launching' the
MS-DOS-based Portfolio, Stacy ST laptop and Mega/SLM804 laser
printer desktop publishing combo at Comdex.

Many visitors to the Atari stand were new to the company's
products. As such, they had no reason to doubt Atari's prowess in
the business market-place. Seasoned Atarians, however, were
skeptical of Atari's ability to deliver the Stacy ST laptop to
market in a realistic time frame.

"The laptop has been out in Europe for months," said one ST owner
I spoke to. When Newsbytes pointed out that it was nearly
impossible to buy the Stacy in Europe, unless you were buying a
MIDI-based music combo package, he was not surprised. "So Atari
can't ship their products in Europe either," he commented.

Assuming Atari can get it together for the US business market-
place, most expect the company to have a good chance of
success. Business show-goers at Comdex were very interested
in the Portfolio, particularly since Poquet Computer was
being cagey when it came to volume shipment dates for its
pocket computer.

Perhaps the most promising of Atari's new systems is the DTP
package consisting of the Mega 4 ST console, Megafile hard drive
and SLM804 laser printer, combined with a range of DTP software.

An entry-level version of this package, complete with 30MB hard
Megafile hard drive, costs under $4,400 - that's less than the
cost of Apple's Laserwriter II NT laser printer on its own.

Because of its price advantage in the DTP market, Atari is
targeting the DTP system at the home office and small business
DTP users, the kind of people who would have previously tried to
make do with a dot-matrix printer, PC and a copy of Pagemaker or
Ventura Publisher.

One of the most talked-out products Atari has attracted is the
Spectre GCR cartridge from Gadgets by Small, Dave Small's
(late of Data Pacific) company. Atari is exhibiting the GCR
cartridge as an add-on for the Stacy ST laptop, although a version
is available for the ST.

The GCR unit is a Mac emulator system for the Atari ST.
Although Atari is playing it cool when it comes to the Mac ROMs
(which are not supplied with the unit, but must be acquired by
the buyer elsewhere), they are necessary to run the Mac programs
on the ST plus GCR cartridge combo.

Also available for the $1,500 Stacy ST laptop is PC Ditto II, the
MS-DOS emulation package from Avante Garde, and Turbo 16,
the 16MHz accelerator card for the ST. The Turbo 16 comes
from Fast Technology and replaces the ST's standard 8MHz
68000 microprocessor.

The Turbo 16 boost the ST's system performance by a factor of
three, thanks to the use of 16K of high-speed cache memory and
special coding.

Also showing on the Atari stand is the TT series of 68030-based
workstations. The machines, first seen in Europe earlier this
year, are pitched firmly at the Unix workstation market-place.
Pricing and exact technical specifications, however, are still
unavailable.

(Steve Gold/19891114/Press Contact: Andy Marken, Marken
Communications - Tel: [phone]; Public Contact: Mike Morand -
Tel [phone])


(NEWS)(APPLE)(LAS)(00006)

COMDEX: THIS MOUSE MAY BE THE CAT'S MEOW}
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, U.S.A., 1989 NOV 14 (NB) -- CalComp (Anaheim,
CA) has announced the Wiz, a mouse combined with an intelligent
graphics pad in versions designed for use with Macintosh systems
or IBM PCs and compatibles.

The Wiz is fully programmable and uses electromagnetic technology
(no moving parts to clean and maintain.)  It has 3 buttons capable
of handling 6 functions and crosshairs for accuracy.  The unit
offers mouse or absolute modes with 1,000 dots per inch resolution.
An optional electronic pen for drawing and sketching will be
available shortly.

Calcomp claims to have developed the Wiz to be compatible with
virtually all application software.

Wiz is being distributed exclusively by Ingram-Micro D and is
currently available.  The price is $249, however, for the first 90
days, a special price of $199 will be in effect.  The Wiz comes
with a 5 year unconditional warranty.  The optional electronic pen
will sell for $75 when it is released in January 1990.

Wiz also has a long list of templates available for many popular
applications programs that sell for $49.

According to CalComp, the Wiz is suitable for use by businesses
professionals, graphic artists, electronic publishers, engineers,
architects, writers and journalists.   The unveiling of the Wiz
marks a step from the CAD market platform into the more general
graphics market for 30 year industry veteran CalComp.

(Janet Endrijonas/19891114/Press Contact: Richard Stehr, CalComp,
714-821-2396)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(SYD)(00007)

APPLE IMPORTS AUSSIE MODEMS TO U.S.}
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1989 NOV 13 (NB) -- Apple Computer Australia
and the modem manufacturer, NetComm Australia today launched
the first shipment of the 2400 baud modem to the North
American domestic market.

NetComm has been supplying modems for Apple in Australia
for about five years, but the latest modems will not be
available in Australia because of different requirement
standards in the different countries. The arrangement should
be worth about AUS$10M to NetComm.

At the launch, the marketing manager of NetComm, Bruce Reid,
said that Apple Computer Australia had much to do with the
establishment of NetComm as a major communications company.

(Gavin Atkins/19891115)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(HKG)(00005)

3COM ESTABLISHES ASIAN HQ AND CHINA JOINT VENTURE}
CENTRAL, HONGKONG, 1989 OCT 14 (NB) -- Recognising the need to
demonstrate a commitment to Asia, leading network provider 3Com
Corporation has established a direct presence by establishing
its regional headquarters in Hongkong. A sales office is
planned for Singapore early next year and a joint venture has
been established in China.

Mr William Messer, area manager for Asian Operations, will cover
the territory from Korea to Indonesia, Taiwan, Hongkong and
China. He said:"3Com has been represented by distributors for
more than six years, and has established a strong presence in
many of these countries and we expect to achieve revenues of
more than $20 million if Asia this year."

Messer revealed that the company has established 3Com China as
a 50/50 joint venture with Shekou-based South Information
Enterprises (SIE). "We did close to $3 million worth of
business there last year and now that SIE has assisted us to
produce software and documentation in Chinese we expect to see
significant gains."

Robert Finocchio Jr., vice president of worldwide sales and
services, was also in Hongkong to celebrate the establishment of
the new office. He pointed out to the IT audience that 3Com was
founded by Dr Robert Metcalfe, who was a prime mover in the
development of Ethernet by Xerox in the early 70's and also
that Hewlett-Packard held 5 percent of 3Com's equity.

When questioned about the possibility of electronics
manufacturers in Taiwan, Korea or Hongkong producing network
adapter cards in competition with 3Com, Mr Finnochio said that
the manufacturing process which 3Com had in the USA was robot-
driven and not at all labour intensive. It was unlikely that
any company anywhere in the world could compete, particularly
considering the high volumes produced at the 3Com plant.

Multivendor connectivity is a critical need in the Asian region
and Mr Finnochio spoke about 3Com's latest announcements in
that regard: "The new version of LAN Manager, which will be
available in the third quarter of 1990, will include a wide
variety of industry standard protocols. Large networks will
have integrated connectivity to Apple, Digital Equipment,
Hewlett-Packard and IBM, but perhaps the most significant item
for Asia is that 3Com will also include a `third party gateway-
free' Open Systems Interconnect (OSI) capability."

(Keith Cameron/19891115 Press contact: Euan Barty 852-5-290356
Fax: [phone])


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(HKG)(00002)

AST RESTRUCTURES FOR WIDER PUSH IN ASIA}
CAUSEWAY BAY, HONGKONG, 1989 NOV 14 (NB) -- AST Research has
restructured its Asian operations with Philip Wong named as
managing director of the new AST Asia, Marketing and Support
Division.

The new organisation will address the markets in Nepal and
Burma, in addition to Hongkong, China and Thailand. Mr Wong,
who has been with AST for two years, will report to Thomas
Yuen, the co-chairman and chief operating officer of AST
Research Inc.

(Keith Cameron/19891114)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(HKG)(00003)

COMPUTER PAPER DEMAND UP IN HONG KONG}
KWUN TONG, HONGKONG, 1989 NOV 14 (NB) -- Although it may be
hard to believe in this day of database access and retrieval
systems, a local firm founded in 1979, Instant Data Forms
Ltd, which produces continuous stationery to order, reports
an annual growth rate average of over 35% for the decade.

The company announced today that it has added a new
production floor to its Kwun Tong manufacturing plant,
effectively doubling its work space.

The expanded plant allows IDF to better allocate its existing
resources and to house a new four-colour printing press worth
$500,000. IDF managing director, Tommy Leung, said the
expansion will assist IDF to build up its capability to cope
with the huge growth in its customer base.

(Keith Cameron/19891114)


(EXCLUSIVE)(BUSINESS)(LAS)(00014)

COMDEX: KODAK SPINS OFF PROJECTOR PRODUCTS}
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, U.S.A., 1989 NOV 14 (NB) -- Kodak Corp.
is spinning off the intrapreneurial group which created the
Datashow projector, which sits on an overhead projector and
accepts input from a laptop PC screen. As of early next year,
it's being sold to private interests, who will call the company
Sayett Technology Inc.

Sayett Marketing Manager Jack Allen says the device has
sold well to salesmen and to companies which train people
to use PCs and need to display screens to classes. It
competes with a device from Sharp, with which it shares
between 60-80% of the market. The Datashow may still be
sold by Kodak outside the U.S., but the new group will
handle all distribution from here on. Along with the
projection pad, Sayett is adding a remote controller so you can
make a presentation with it without sitting at your keyboard.

In the Epson deal, Epson America has assumed all marketing
functions for the liquid crystal display (LCD)-based video projector
currently sold by Eastman-Kodak as the Kodak LC500 Video Projector,
introduced in September 1988. Epson will now market the unit
as the Epson Crystal Image Video Projector.

The product is a 13-pound portable unit that can be set up in
less than 2 minutes to display large-screen, full-color images,
at CGA resolution, onto a wall up to 12 feet in diameter. In
making the deal, Kodak acknowledged it's retreating to
concentrate on its photography and publishing-related product
businesses.

One of the applications Epson is particularly interested in
exploring involves using the Crystal Image Video Projector as a
standard peripheral with personal computers. It can be hooked up
to a desktop of laptop PC with a 9-pin serial cable. It also has
analog RGB plugs, and connector cables to audio and video. In
current models these inputs must be toggled on and off manually.
Future models may put this under software control.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19891117/Press Contact: Epson America, Jan
Marciano, 213/539-9140 x4438; Judith Squire, Sayett
Technology, 716-342-0700)


(EXCLUSIVE)(BUSINESS)(LAS)(00004)

COMDEX: NEXT MOVE FOR KENFIL IS AUSTRALIA}
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, U.S.A., 1989 NOV 14 (NB) -- Kenfil Distribution
is adding to its worldwide status having just signed a joint
venture agreement with Algar Burns, one of the largest software
distributors in Australia.

"We went into Europe in April with an ultimate goal of a global
operation," said Kenfil President Irwin Bransky in an interview
with Newsbytes.  "We have been dealing with Australia and think we
have found the right partner, a company that sells only software
just as we do and where our expertise in business productivity and
utility software will be useful."

Kenfil specializes in business productivity and utility software.
The company has been in business for 6 1/2 years and right now is
experiencing excellent growth.  Bransky told Newsbytes that in the
first quarter of the current fiscal year, the company experienced
a 48 percent growth over the same period a year ago and expects the
same or greater growth for the second quarter.  "Our expansion into
Europe and now Australia is not "jumping in over our heads" based
on sudden domestic growth.  We have made those mistakes in the past
and now we are systematic, targeted and carefully focused in our
expansion moves."

Kenfil has made the overseas moves more slowly than other American
distributors.  Bransky admitted that the company has held back,
focusing instead on domestic growth to form a solid base.  "Now,
we are coming in on what may well be the tail end of a period of
explosive growth in the international marketplace which for others
may seem odd but feels exactly right for us."

Bransky told Newsbytes he is also looking to expand into Canada and
has been looking toward Canada for quite sometime but the right
opportunity has not presented itself.  "Whether we will go in and
start a company from scratch or buy an existing distributor in
Canada is yet to be determined," said Bransky.  "We also hope to
go into any country with a large enough computer market to be
profitable.  We plan to have significant worldwide exposure by the
end of 1990."

Kenfil has learned from the European market that while software is
easy to ship, it pays to have a presence in each country to build
customer confidence.  The company has applied that in the US, with
a new warehouse opening on the East Coast to give Kenfil a greater
presence in the East Coast market and give the customers there more
confidence.

Bransky sees today's software market as "buoyant and exciting."
He says: "There is so much innovation occurring and so much unique
product available creating an enormous opportunity for sellers and
users.  We like to assist smaller developers around the world tin
bringing any worthwhile product to market."

According to Bransky, there is no slowdown on the horizon in
software development.  The 1990s should see new developers and
vendors.  The decade should engender enthusiasm and economic
excitement from the developer through to the end user.

(Janet Endrijonas/19891114)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SYD)(00002)

AUSSIE FIRM SPOTS $40M U.K. GAMBLING CONTRACT}
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1989 NOV 13 (NB) -- Control Data's Automated
Wagering Division has signed a ten-year contract worth between
AUS$30 and $40M with UK-based Golden Grid.

Control Data will operate a new online computer competition
in the UK called Skillball. Golden Grid claims the game will
generate about AUS$2.7B in revenue, AUS$750M of which will
be donated to UK charities.

Players of Skillball are asked to pick the position of a ball in
six soccer photos where the real ball has been removed. The
competition is to be launched in April 1990.

(Gavin Atkins & Computing Australia/19891115)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(HKG)(00003)

ASIAN MARKET FOR SCANNERS SET TO TAKE OFF}
CAUSEWAY BAY, HONGKONG, 1989 NOV 15 (NB) -- Keith Pollock,
international operations manager of US-based ANA Tech,
predicted today that the company will double its scanner user
base in the region within twelve months.

"We see big developments ahead in Australia, Indonesia, Korea,
Singapore and Taiwan," said Mr Pollock, who has just completed
an Asia-wide series of seminars explaining recent advances in
scanning technology.

"Until recently," he said, "the market for high resolution
scanners was dominated by military technical applications but
now the technology is being used by technical publishers,
architects, designers, exploration and facilities management
companies and operators in the storage retrieval and archival
market." Mr Pollock believes that the growth in all of those
application areas will be immediate within the region.

(Keith Cameron/19891115 Press Contact: Media Dynamics Tel: 852-
5-8383889 Fax: [phone])


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(HKG)(00004)

HONGKONG: GROWTH PROMPTS CASE COMMUNICATIONS TO RESTRUCTURE}
CENTRAL, HONGKONG, 1989 NOV 12 (NB) -- CASE Communications
(CASE), the data communications arm of the UK-based Dowty
Group, has restructured its regional operations into two
separate sales areas under two new managers.

North Asia, which includes Hongkong, Japan, the Philippines,
Taiwan, Korea, China and India, will be managed from Hongkong
by John Leaney. The South-East Asia region will be managed by
Simon Naylor who will be based in Singapore.

CASE  specialises in the design and manufacture of data
communications equipment for use in computer networks and
office systems. Its products include modems, multiplexors,
local and wide area networks and other similar equipment.

(Keith Cameron/19891115 Press Contact: Media Dynamics Tel: 852-
5-8383889 Fax: [phone] )


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(HKG)(00007)

BIS CATS APPEALS TO HONGKONG TRADERS}
CENTRAL, HONGKONG, 1989 NOV 16 (NB) -- BIS Banking Systems has
completely re-written its Credit Application Transfer System
(CATS) to provide an automatic PC to PC link allowing companies
to prepare and transmit Letter of Credit (LC) applications to a
bank.

"BIS CATS is designed to minimise the paper flow involved in
preparing an LC instrument," said Stephen Middlehurst, general
manager of BIS Banking Systems in Hongkong. "At the bank it
provides for automatic interface with SWIFT and the telex
systems."

"There is a growing interest in the automation of LC operations
in Hongkong," said Middlehurst, "and the new version of CATS
has been developed by experienced trade finance personnel. We
expect it to achieve rapid acceptance by banks and their
clients."

(Keith Cameron/19891116)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(HKG)(00013)

NCR JOINS WITH ORACLE IN ASIAN MARKET}
CENTRAL, HONGKONG, 1989 NOV 10 (NB) -- NCR and Oracle are to
collaborate in marketing NCR computers with the Oracle
relational database management system throughout the Asia
Pacific region.

The five-year agreement ensures that the latest versions of
Oracle will be available on all NCR products at all times. Mr
K.H. Wan of NCR and Mr Mark Wang of Oracle said that their
companies would promote each others' products and jointly
support mutual customers in the region which covers Hongkong,
Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore,
Taiwan and Thailand.

At the same time NCR announced the appointment of
Christopher Chung as manager, General Systems Division, with
NCR (China) based in Hongkong but with responsibility for the
development of the PRC market in all industry sectors except
banking. Mr Chung, who is well known in computer circles in
the region, has spent seven years with NCR including some
years in Taiwan.

NCR has an installed base of over 450 Unix-based Tower
systems in China, of which around half are in manufacturing,
government and retail applications.

Oracle Hongkong, on the other hand, has recently snapped up
Mr Peter Fletcher, former general manager of Cullinet in
Hongkong. Mr Fletcher, who has been appointed director of
sales, became available as a direct result of the Computer
Associates takeover of Cullinet. "CA offered me a position I
could refuse, " quipped Mr Fletcher.

(Keith Cameron/19891110)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TYO)(00003)

EPSON TO SET UP FIRM IN HOLLAND}
NAGANO, JAPAN, 1989 NOV 10 (NB) -- Seiko-Epson will
set up a subsidiary in Amsterdam, Netherlands to consolidate
its European operations as early as next January.

The new firm, called Epson Europe, made with a capital investment
of about one billion yen or $6.9 million, will employ about fifty
staff members, including twenty from the parent firm. The initial
operation is expected to start in April next year.

To start, Epson Europe will integrate sales and marketing
in the European market, and in the next few years will
develop and design computer products. In order to comply with
regulations involving the integration of markets in the European
Community, Epson Europe will handle all affairs related to Europe.

Epson has two production and six sales sites in Europe,
and so far sales and marketing have been conducted by the
parent firm or each site separately. The new firm
will make bring together these forces into one.

Epson has established itself in Japan, Europe, America, and
Asia-Oceania, where its next expansion will take place within
the next few years.

(Ken Takahashi/19891116)


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

ALPHAGRAPHICS LATEST MOVE IS BRAZIL}
TUCSON, ARIZONA, U.S.A., 1989 NOV 14 (NB) -- AlphaGraphics of
the Future has announced plans to build a franchise network of
high-tech printing centers in Brazil.

This move is the latest in the company's global expansion
program. The first shop will be in Sao Paulo in June 1990 with
at least 42 Brazilian stores expected including outlets in Rio de
Janeiro and Brasilia to be in operation by 1995. The network
will be operated by AlphaGraphics Do Brasil, Graphicas Do Futuro
Ltda., a consortium of Brazilian businessmen headquartered in
Campanis who have exclusive rights to AlphaGraphics shops
throughout Brazil.

The entire AlphGraphics system will be translated into Portuguese
for Brazilian use. The Sao Paulo store will be linked to the
AlphGraphics AlphaLink satellite system that already
electronically connects over 280 AlphaGraphics shops worldwide
including the Soviet Union, Canada, Spain, Hong Kong, Sweden,
England, Scotland, Mexico and the United States.

(Janet Endrijonas/19891117/Press Contact: Jeanne Miller,
AlphaGraphics, 602-293-9200)


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

BUSINESS INFORMATION SYSTEMS BUYS LOGICRAFT}
LA CRESCENTA, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 NOV 16 (NB) -- Business
Information Systems (BIS) has completed the acquisition of
Logicraft, a software developer located in Montrose, CA.

The move allows Business Information Systems to expand its
product line with complementary products.  The company is a
software and computer systems VAR concentrating on several
vertical markets including criminal justice, retail, agriculture
and general business applications.

Logicraft's main product is a management information system
specifically designed for high-volume wholesale distributors
selling parts out of large inventory. The product is designed
for use with MAI Basic Four and DEC VAX systems.

(Janet Endrijonas/19891117/Press Contact: Al Restivo, Business
Information Systems, 213-245-3691)


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

DELL COMPUTER REPORTS 3RD QTR EARNINGS}
AUSTIN, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1989 NOV 16 (NB) -- Dell Computer Corp.
has announced a net sales of $95.9 million in the third quarter
of fiscal 1990.

This represents a 27 percent increase over 3rd quarter fiscal
1988. Net income for the quarter was $104,000 as compared with
$5.0 million for the same period a year ago. The company has
indicated that the lower earnings were due to reduced profit
margins resulting from a delay in the introduction of certain new
products and the ongoing impact of higher-cost component
inventories purchased late in fiscal 1989. Also affecting
earnings were increased research and development costs,
international expansion costs and customer support programs.

The company has attributed the increase in sales to a strong
demand for Dell PCs by major businesses along with governmental
and educational accounts.

Results for the first 9 months of fiscal 1990 showed a 57 percent
increase in sales.

(Janet Endrijonas/19891117/Press Contact: William Forman, Dell
Computer Corp., 512-338-4400)


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

SPECTRUM INFO TECHNOLOGIES POSTS 2ND QTR OPERATING LOSS}
DALLAS, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1989 NOV 16 (NB) -- Spectrum Information
Technologies has announced an operating loss of $246,440 for its
fiscal 1990 second quarter ended Sept. 30.

This loss is less than the loss posted in the same period a year
ago and also lower than the $451,220 operating loss announced for
the first quarter of the current year. Sales, however, are up.
For the first six months of this fiscal year, Spectrum had sales
of $7,600,777 compared with $3,270,091 for the first six months
of last year.

(Janet Endrijonas/19891117/Press Contact: Kathy Bachand, Spectrum
Information Technologies, 800-233-2119)


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

COMPUTER COMMUNICATIONS POSTS 1ST QTR LOSS}
TORRANCE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 NOV 17 (NB) -- Computer
Communications, Inc., makers of equipment and systems that are
integral parts of high speed data communications networks has
announced a loss for the first quarter of fiscal 1990.

For the first quarter, sales totaled $1,280,000 with a net loss
of $860,000. This compares with sales of $2,719,000 and income
of $203,000 for the first quarter a year ago.

The company is in a planned transition to its Data Express family
of products. During the first quarter sales of large processor
systems were deferred to a greater extent than expected. Company
staffing has been adjusted to reflect the current level of
activity.

Computer Communications expects to return to profitability during
the second quarter. Interest in Data Express products is said to
be high and quantity shipments are scheduled to begin in the
third quarter.

(Janet Endrijonas/19891117/Press Contact: Raymond E. High,
Computer Communications, 213-320-9101)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TOR)(00002)

STEALS PEOPLE, TORONTO DISCOUNT DEALER, IN TROUBLE}
TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1989 NOV 17 (NB) -- The Steals People
discount computer stores are operating with reduced hours and the
company is looking for a buyer, an employee at one of the
Toronto-area stores said Friday.

Earlier in the week, Newsbytes sources said the company is in
receivership or bankruptcy. The Toronto bankruptcy and
insolvency office of the Canadian Department of Consumer and
Corporate Affairs said a filing had been received but details
could not be confirmed in time for this week's deadline.
Newsbytes' call to the company's head office also was not
returned by our deadline.

The company, which sells computer equipment, software,
accessories and home-office supplies through three Toronto-area
stores, was founded in 1986 as International Computer Clearance
Warehouse. When it assumed its present name in spring, 1987,
management talked of having 15 locations across Canada by this
year.

(Grant Buckler/19891117/Press Contact: Joe Albert, The Steals
People, 416-850-8800)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TOR)(00007)

ADVANCED GRAVIS ACQUIRES ARISTOTLE}
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA, 1989 NOV 13 (NB) -- Advanced
Gravis Computer Technology has acquired Aristotle Industries.
Both companies are based in Vancouver. Advanced Gravis makes
joysticks, PC game cards and other accessories. Aristotle
manufactures Hardpac portable hard disk drives compatible with
both the Apple Macintosh and IBM PC and compatible computers.

Michael Fry, founder of Aristotle, becomes Advanced Gravis's
product manager for the Hardpac line.

(Grant Buckler/19891117/Press Contact: David Reid, Advanced
Gravis, 604-434-7274)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TOR)(00009)

AMSTRAD DISTRIBUTOR OFFERS FREE INFO HOTLINE}
MONTREAL, QUEBEC, CANADA, 1989 NOV 13 (NB) -- AudioVideo
Specialists, Canadian distributor of Amstrad personal computers,
has launched a toll-free consumer information line. Telemarketers
will give out information on Amstrad hardware in English and
French, and refer callers to local Amstrad dealers. They will
also take customers' names, send them literature and pass on the
names to dealers as sales leads. The number is 1-800-AMSTRAD, or
1-800-267-8723.

(Grant Buckler/19891117/Press Contact: Louise Aiken, AudioVideo
Specialists, 514-683-1771)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TOR)(00010)

AVI SOFTWARE DISTRIBUTES ADVANTAGE ACROSS CANADA}
MISSISSAUGA, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1989 NOV 10 (NB) -- AVI Software is
expanding distribution of its Avantage accounting software for
MS-DOS across Canada. The product has been sold primarily in
Quebec and the Maritime provinces. AVI, based in Montreal, has
opened an office here to handle sales to Ontario and Western
Canada.

Avantage Integrated Accounting Software includes modules for
payroll, invoicing, accounts receivable, accounts payable, basic
files, banking transactions and general ledger. It is available
in both French and English.

(Grant Buckler/19891117/Press Contact: Paul Carreiro, AVI
Software, 416-238-0144)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(ATL)(00002)

CRAY SPIN-OUT BECOMES FINAL}
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, U.S.A., 1989 NOV 16 (NB) -- Cray
Research finished the spin-off of its founder Seymour Cray's
Colorado Springs, Colorado laboratory, with 90% of the new
company's stock done as a distribution to shareholders and the
former parent company retaining a 10% interest. You need 2 Cray
Research shares to get a share of the new company, and the
certificates go out November 29.

Seymour Cray is the second Cray designer to spin-off from the
parent. First Steve Chen quit to found Supercomputer Systems
Corp. in Eau Claire, Wisconsin with help from IBM. Now Cray, the
original genius, is on his own as well. Cray can make major speed
improvements in its machines, but the big news in supercomputer
design will no longer be datelines in the Twin Cities.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19891117/Press Contact: John Swenson, Cray
Research, 612-333-5889)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(ATL)(00005)

NBI HAS TROUBLE PAYING ITS BILLS}
BOULDER, COLORADO, U.S.A., 1989 NOV 15 (NB) -- NBI
has stopped interest payments on approximately $1.4 million
due on its New York Exchange listed 8 1/4 percent Convertible
Subordinated Debentures due Nov. 15, 2007.

The whole issue of $34 million could go down if an agreement on
restructuring isn't made by December 15. NBI previously
announced that it has engaged Prudential-Bache Securities
as its financial advisor in connection with NBI's goal of a
financial restructuring for the purpose of significantly
improving the company's balance sheet.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19891117/Press Contact: Harry Pforzheimer, NBI,
303-938-2619)


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

U.S. MEMORIES PLANT MAY NEVER GET BUILT}
SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 NOV 16 (NB) -- President
George Bush wants to cut government funding of high technology to
avoid Gramm-Rudman's automatic cuts, which some are suggesting
might mean the end of Sematech, the government-funded private
research consortium dedicated to bringing the U.S. back in the
field of computing technology.

Now experts are also saying U.S. Memories, the government-
backed chip-making consortium dedicated to reducing
the Japanese' 90% control of the memory chip market, won't even
get off the ground. Four of the 18 companies which were
originally asked to join up -- Sun, Unisys, Apple, and Tandy --
have so far refused to join the 7 founders, including IBM. And
IBM has still not released to U.S. Memories critical 4-megabit
chip-making technology which it has already licensed to tiny --
in chip-making terms -- Micron Technology of Utah.

U.S. Memories President Sanford Kane remains confident that the
company will get off the ground, and many in the high-tech
community are openly supportive. It's an open secret that an
American product developer can get better prices from domestic
suppliers by promising to use only American parts, a sure sign
U.S. companies are willing to go far to beat Japan. But the
number of skeptics is growing.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19891117)


(EXCLUSIVE)(GENERAL)(LAS)(00024)

COMDEX: MICROSOFT/APPLE POSTSCRIPT CLONE PRINTER UNVEILED**
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, U.S.A., 1989 NOV 15 (NB) -- Alps America is
showing at Comdex/Fall its LPX 2020, an LED printer featuring
support for the Bauer page description language recently announced
by Microsoft and Apple. The printer, which is also compatible with
Adobe Systems' PostScript page description language, will sell for
US$7,495. PostScript support requires an additional circuit board
which will cost US$1,395.

Mike Kanda, project engineering manager for Alps, said the company
had early access to the language and has been developing the
product for some six months. It is now in final testing and will
be shipping by March of 1990, he said.

The printer, using a light-emitting diode (LED) light source rather
than a laser, prints 20 pages per minute. It comes with two
megabytes of memory and two 500-sheet paper cassettes, and Alps
recommends it for a duty cycle of 35,000 pages per month. Parallel,
serial and SCSI interfaces are standard.

(Grant Buckler/19891115)


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

EXPORTED CHIPS HIT JAPANESE MARKET}
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 NOV 10 (NB) -- Ironically, the Japanese
semiconductor market has been damaged by Japanese-made chips.
A chip once exported from Japan to overseas markets has
been reimported and is affecting the price structure of the
chip market.

The decline of overseas chip demand has driven overseas brokers to
resell their excess inventory at low cost back to Japanese traders.

The reimported chips include 256 kilobyte and one-megabit DRAM
(dynamic random access memory) chips which sell for about 20
less than market price. 256 kilobit DRAM chips have been sold
at 260 yen each, a price which is 70 yen lower than the price offered
to volume buyers. One-megabit DRAM chips are 200 yen lower and
are selling for 1,300 yen each. Industry sources say 1.5 million
units of reimported chips came into Japan in September and 0.5
million in October.

Japanese chip makers, such as NEC, Toshiba and Hitachi, have no choice
but to cut prices in order to keep their customers.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19891116)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SYD)(00003)

AUSTRALIAN COMPUTER INDUSTRY DOWNTURN}
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1989 NOV 13 (NB) -- Credit insurance firms
have reflected the downturn in the Australian computer industry
by increasing their premiums by 20 percent over the last six
months.

"And it's going to get worse before it gets better," said Mike
Clifford, the director of the Credit Insurance Association. "I
wouldn't be surprised if the premiums rise another 20 percent."

Clifford said the number of credit insurance claims his company
was receiving had increased by 50 percent over the past six
months. "It is not only the number of claims that have risen,
but also the size," he said.

(Gavin Atkins & Computing Australia/19891115)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SYD)(00004)

AUSTRALIAN RECRUITERS NEED RECRUITS}
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1989 NOV 13 (NB) -- As if the shortage of
data processing staff in Australia was not enough, there is now
a shortage of personnel consultants. Recruitment firms are being
forced to bring in staff from the UK, Canada, and the Far East.

Meanwhile, the Computer Power Group has awarded the first
20 of 40 scholarships to potential computer personnel. The
scheme was initiated after a survey revealed that there is
currently a shortfall of 47,000 trained computer personnel
in Australia and that this number would grow to 80,000 by 1991.

(Gavin Atkins & Computing Australia/19891115)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SYD)(00008)

ERICSSON INVESTS IN AUSTRALIAN DEVELOPMENT}
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA, 1989 NOV 13 (NB) -- The communications
company Ericsson has been instrumental in setting up the Australian
Electronic Development Center in Melbourne.

The center is intended to be a training institution to boost
Australia's international opportunities in the electronics field.
Ericsson is the major sponsor, but has declined to reveal the
amount. Ericsson will also make much of its design technology
and manufacturing techniques available to the center.

(Gavin Atkins & Computing Australia/19891115)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(HKG)(00006)

FINALLY HK COMPUTER CONFERENCE GOES NON-ESOTERIC}
CENTRAL, HONGKONG, 1989 NOV 16 (NB) -- It has taken many years,
but at last the Hongkong Computer Society (HKCS) pundits have
stepped down from their ivory towers and have explicitly split
the Hongkong Computer Conference '90 (HKCC'90) into to two
streams -- one for IT managers; and, one for IT practitioners.

Many local IT industry professionals have criticised the HKCS
over the years for their introspective attitudes and lack of
pragmatic assistance to the business community at large. "This
new approach is refreshing," one professional told Newsbytes,
"All the HKCS has to do now is change its name to include the
more contemporary and meaningful `Information Technology' and
it may regain some of its lost credibility."

A large number of senior professionals lost interest in the
HKCS some years ago because it seemed as though it was an
organisation without a purpose other than the self-
gratification of its members. One of the major criticisms which
has been levelled at the HKCS is that the Society has been
driven by the same `regime' for too many years. "Richard Li has
beaten Margaret Thatcher in terms of continuous tenure, and
until he and his followers step aside, the HKCS is unlikely to
attract real professionals," said another well-known IT man who
has been in Hongkong for 25 years.

Next year's conference, which is to be held at the Hongkong
Convention and Exhibition Centre on May 7-8, is a step in the
right direction, according to a consensus of opinion.

(Keith Cameron/19891116)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SIN)(00010)

DONT PEE IN A LIFT IN SINGAPORE - HIGH TECH WILL CATCH YOU}
SINGAPORE,SOUTHEAST ASIA, 1989 NOV 10 (NB) -- The Singapore
Government has recently fitted urine sensors in elevators in the City
State. The sensors are attached electronically to hidden
cameras which take a snapshot of the perpetrator in full
flow, so to speak.

The technology is not unusual, but the mind boggles at anyone
believing that the `application' was necessary. And even in
the face of ridicule that has been generated by the new
system, a week or two ago the same government announced a new
law which made it an offence not to flush public toilets.

People have apparently been subjected to substantial fines
for this dastardly act, or lack of act, but Newsbytes was
unable to obtain and details of how this situation was being
monitored. Perhaps it is better to leave it to one's
imagination. One Singaporean did tell us that the additional
drain on the water supply may become serious.

(Keith Cameron/19891110)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SIN)(00011)

SINGAPORE HOSTS COMPUTER SOCIETIES AT SEARCC'89}
SINGAPORE, SOUTHEAST ASIA, 1989 NOV 8 (NB) -- The week of
December 4, 1989 promises to be an interesting one for computer
pundits visiting Singapore. The Southeast Asia Regional Computer
Confederation (SEARCC) will be holding its biennial
convention, the highly successful Singapore Informatics
exhibition will be staged, and the Asian-Oceania Computing
Industry Organisation (ASOCIO) will be having its 7th Annual
General Assembly.

SEARCC is an association of the national computer societies
of India, Indonesia, Hongkong, Malaysia, Pakistan, the
Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Thailand. The
Convention is not merely and occasion where computer
professionals from various countries meet to exchange ideas,
news and views regarding the progress of computer science and
technology. The event opens a window between the region and
the rest of the world. The theme of the convention is IT into
the 21st century.

Keynote speakers include Mr William L Bramer, a partner of
Arthur Andersen & Co of Chicago, who will speak on the subject
"Positioning for change - Who is in the driver's seat?"
Mr Geoffrey Morris, CEO of X/Open Company, will talk on
standards; Professor Yoneji Masuda will speak on the
information society into the 21st century.

ASOCIO is a grouping of major information industries from
Australia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Republic of
Korea, Singapore and the Republic of China. A major
responsibility of the organisation is to support joint
ventures between member countries and others.

Singapore Informatics annual information technology shows are
regarded by many industry specialists to be the most
successful in the region and this year's event looks certain
not to disappoint. 20,000 sq. metres of floor space will be
crammed with innovative products originating from Singapore
and around the region. In addition the major Western nations
will participate with stands offering their latest
developments to the many regional buyers who attend.

(Keith Cameron/19891110)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(HKG)(00012)

HONGKONG: DATA GENERAL MANAGES CROWN PARTS}
WANCHAI, HONGKONG, 1989 NOV 3 (NB) -- Toyota Distributor,
Crown Motors, one of Hongkong's largest motor dealers, has
successfully installed a Data General MV/10000 to manage its
stock of over 55,000 spare parts.

The system replaced an DG MV/6000 which was installed seven
years ago. According to Eddie Ng, general manager of Crown
Motor's Parts Department, computer processing requirements
had grown over 400% in that period. "We endeavour to maintain
a minimum of 94% availability and the MV /10000 systems
allows our staff to instantly locate parts required by our
customers at any of our eight branches and warehouses."

The new system is linked to a private satellite network and
enables direct ordering from Toyota headquarters in Japan.

(Keith Cameron/19891110)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(TYO)(00001)

JAPANESE VERSION OF POPULOUS DUE OUT NEXT SPRING}
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 NOV 15 (NB) -- U.S.-based Electronic
Arts has joined forces with Japan's Imagineer, a software venture
of Misawa Homes Group, to develop and sell a Japanese version of
Populous, game software for personal computers currently
best-seller in the U.S. and Europe.

It's been a phenomenal best-seller, ported from the U.K. and
released originally from the UK. Electronic Arts will bring it
to the IBM this winter. The Amiga version has sold 15,000
copies in three months.

Set up in January 1986, Imagineer has developed and sold
software for Nintendo's video game machines. Now judging that
there is a demand for sophisticated games on PCs, Imagineer
has decided to enter the personal computer software market
with a Japanese version of Populous, due for delivery as early as
next spring for NEC's PC-9800 or Sharp's X68000 personal
computers. The firm is scheduled to set the price at 12,800 yen
or $90.

Imagineer is also planning to release a Japanese version of
Populous for Super Famicon, which is expected from
Nintendo next year.

An Imagineer spokesman told Newsbytes, "There have been many
software houses which started with personal computer game
software to proceed to video game software, but our switch is
the reverse case. We may have to get the help of other software
houses to develop more personal computer software."

(Ken Takahashi/19891116/Press Contact: Imagineer, 03-343-8911)


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

TI AWARDED FOR FASTEST CPU}
DALLAS, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1989 NOV 14 (NB) -- Texas Instruments
Defense Systems & Electronics Group has received the 1989
Outstanding Technical Achievement (by a contractor) Award from
DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency).

The award is for TI's successful demonstration of the world's
fastest 32-bit central processing unit.  This CPU, fabricated in
gallium arsenide (GaAs) is a 150 MHz single chip 32-bit RISC
(reduced instruction set) microprocessor that was called "science
fiction" when TI started development.

(Janet Endrijonas/19891117/Press Contact: Sandra Christopher,
Texas Instruments, 214-995-2355)


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

INTELLICOM INTROS 10 MBPS TWISTED-PAIR WIRING LAN}
CHATSWORTH, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 NOV 06 (NB) -- Intellicom
has introduced the Quick-Net 3000 Series, a 10 megabits-per-
second Ethernet LAN using twisted-pair wiring as well as supporting
both standard and coaxial cable.

The Quick-Net 3000 Series is compatible with most popular LAN
operating systems such as Novell's NetWare, 3 Com's 3+Share and
IBM's PC Network Program. The product family consists of a
wiring concentrator, network adapter cards and transceivers.
The wiring concentrator is the heart of the system connecting to
a standard or Thinwire coax Ethernet backbone and supporting up
to 8 twisted-pair/RJ45 ports for connection to PCs, workstations
and file servers. Using multiple wiring concentrators, up to 256
PCs can be connected on a single coaxial cable.

Two starter kits are available containing a wiring concentrator,
network adapter cards and twisted pair cabling. The kit for four
PC AT/XT users is $3500 while the kit for 8 users is priced at
$5400. All products are sold individually as well as in kits.

(Janet Endrijonas/19891117/Press Contact: Becky Hall, Intellicom,
818-882-8866)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(LAS)(00008)

PARIS TO HOST COMDEX/SICOB SHOW IN APRIL & OCTOBER
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, U.S.A., 1989 NOV 13 (NB) -- Move over CeBit -- the
big trade show at Hanover, West Germany, each year.  That's what
the Interface Group is saying with an announcement of a rival European
trade show.  The Interface Group, sponsor of the U.S.'s biggest annual
trade shows, Comdex/Spring and Comdex/Fall, has announced it will
join forces with SICOB in 1990 to stage Comdex/Europe at SICOB
in Paris in April and October of 1990, both scheduled for the
Paris-Nord Villepinte Fairgrounds.

SICOB, started in 1950, showcases office furniture, office products,
mainframe computers, telecommunications equipment, and microcomputer
systems, much as Comdex does. It is sponsored each year by Comite
des Expositions.

"The growth and development of the European computer industry and the
progress made by the European Economic Community looking toward 1992
were factors in the decision to bring these two great high-tech events
together," says Interface Group's Jason Chudnofsky, chief operating
officer. "Starting in 1990 and for many years thereafter, Comdex/Urope
at SICOB will provide an opportunity for computer systems and software
to be seen by and sold to the entire European continent."

(Wendy Woods/19891113)


(EXCLUSIVE)(GENERAL)(LAS)(00012)

COMDEX: PANASONIC POWERS UP FOR OFFICE AUTOMATION
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, U.S.A., 1989 NOV 13 (NB) -- One of the first
companies off the starting block at Comdex was Panasonic.
The Japanese giant is making a determined bid to secure a dominant
position in the office automation (OA) stakes.

According to Frank Trishetta, general manager with Panasonic's US
office automation operations, OA is going generate big money in
the next few years: "With the simplification of computers and the
increasing user-friendliness of the software, users are going to
find themselves using more and more OA systems," he told
Newsbytes.

What IS office automation? In plain English, its hardware and
software put together in such a way as to be easy to use from the
users point of view, but still capable of performing powerful
office applications.

Several Panasonic big-wigs were at the Comdex launch, where the
company launched its biggest-ever assault on the OA market-place.
This time around, the Japanese giant launched no less than NNN
new products, including two new laptops, two dot-matrix printers
and an 8 pages per minute (ppm) budget laser printer for the home
office market.

The two laptops are the NEC V20-based CF-150 and 80286-based CF-
250. Both machines come with a single floppy drive.

The CF-150 hums along at a steady 8MHz, yet weighs just 5.5
pounds - less than the Toshiba T1000SE launched a few weeks ago.
Despite its impressive specifications, the machine costs just
$999.

The CF-250, meanwhile, zips along at 12MHz and comes with 1MB of
RAM, expandable to 2MB internally. Other goodies such as a
backlit LCD screen, EGA graphics and 12.5 pounds weight add to
the machine's feature list, but not to the price, which stands at
$3,999 for a 20MB hard disk-equipped machine and $4,399 for a
40MB machine.

On the desktop PC front, Panasonic launched the FX-1900 at Com-
dex. The 16MHz 80386SX-based PC costs $2,499 and is the fifth
desktop PC from Panasonic in just five months - and there's more
to come as well.

Panasonic's budget laser printer is the KX-P4420, which retails
for $1,895, although this will almost certainly sink to a 'street
level' price of around $1,400, pitching into the fray along with
similar machines from the likes of Toshiba, for example.

Unlike the competition, the 512K memory-equipped KX-P4420 can be
expanded to 4.5MB on-board and features no less than 22 fonts.
"Stiff competition for the competition," as one Panasonic
executive put it.

Further down-scale in printer terms are the EPL-8543, a new wax
colour thermal printer with a 226,000 colour shade capacity, at
$7,995; the KX-P1695 nine pin wide-carriage dot-matrix printer at
$695; and the KX-P1624, a 24-pin version of the nine-pin unit at
the same price.

Crowning the new product ranges from Panasonic is the LF-J5000, a
47 gigabyte write once read many (WORM) 'jukebox.' The $35,000
unit contains two LF-5010 5.25 inch WORM drives from Panasonic.

(Steve Gold/19891113/Press & Public Contact: Ron Tomcyzk,
Panasonic - Tel: [phone])


(EXCLUSIVE)(GENERAL)(LAS)(00014)

COMDEX: COMMODORE UNVEILS NEW AMIGAS; CUTS PRICING ON OTHERS
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, U.S.A., 1989 NOV 13 (NB) -- Despite earlier
reports, Commodore did not get around to announcing the Amiga
A3000 series. For that, according to Keith Masavage, Amiga
product manager with Commodore US, we will have to wait until
1990. The company did launch an enhanced version of its Amiga
2500, however, the A2500/30, based around the 25Mhz 68030
microprocessor.

"The Amiga A3000 is still being developed by our technical staff,
but we won't be launching it until Unix System V Release 4 begins
to ship," Masavage told Newsbytes. "That version of Unix is due
around the first quarter of next year, so I'll leave you to draw
your own conclusions on the timing of the new Amiga," he added.

The new Amiga 2500/30 comes with a Motorola 68030 co-processor
card running at 25 Mhz with 2MB of 32-bit main memory, expandable
to 4MB internally. The machine also features a 25MB 68882 math
co-processor, 68851 memory management unit (MMU), 1MB of 16-bit
RAM, a built-in 3.5-inch floppy disk drive, and a 40MB hard disk
drive.

The slightly bad news is that the A2500/30 doesn't come cheaply.
At $4,699, the machine is definitely pitched at the vertical
market that Commodore is exploiting in Europe. That's no bad
deal, according to Masavage, who says that the higher-end Amigas
are definitely vertical market machines.

"The existing Amigas are available for the general user. What
we're trying to do is approach the market from all sides with
different machines," he said.

So existing Amiga users dont get a look in on the new
developments? "Not so," said Masavage. "We are upgrading the
Amiga's operating system at the moment. Alpha test versions are
out with the developers, so a new version, with many, many
upgraded facilities, will be out early next year," he added.

The good news is that existing owners of an Amiga A2000 can
upgrade their existing machines by purchasing a A2630 card for
$2,195.

Commodore also showed off an A2091 and A2091-40 auto-booting hard
disk controllers and memory expansion boards for the Amiga 2000
series. The A2091 retails for $399, whilst the A2091-40 sells for
$899.

In parallel with the new goodies in the Amiga stable, Commodore
has its US pricing on the existing A2000 range. Price cuts are in
the range of 10 to 15 per cent. The A2000, for example, is cut
from $2,195 down to $1,899.

And what about Europe? Newsbytes asked Masavage. "Similar price
cuts are in the offing in the UK," he replied.

(Steve Gold/19891113/Press & Public Contact: Jim Dondero -
Fleishman-Hillard - Tel: [phone])


(EXCLUSIVE)(GENERAL)(LAS)(00015)

RECORD ATTENDANCE AT COMDEX
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, U.S.A., 1989 NOV 13 (NB) -- Over a hundred thousand
people have packed Las Vegas for Comdex/Fall, making this year's computer
industry event the biggest ever.

The Interface Group, sponsor of the show, reports the following
statistics.  Preregistration was up 8 percent over last year's 110,000
show-goers, meaning at least 118,000 in attendance.  1,729 exhibitors
are here, compared to 1,700 last year.  Exhibit space is up 30,000
over last year's 900,000 square feet.  There are two new sites --
Tropicana Hotel and the Sports Pavilion.

Altogether, 22 countries are represented on the exhibit floor and
show-goers list their homes in 90 countries.

The continued growth of Comdex is expected to be accommodated by the
addition of a new exhibit space for Comdex/Fall 1990.  Ground was
broken yesterday here in Las Vegas for a new, 1-million-square-foot
facility called the Sands Expo and Convention Center, which will
adjoin the Sands Hotel and Casino, purchased by the Interface Group
last year.

The crush of people in Las Vegas meant hotel rooms for the event
week were in very short supply, having been booked months in
advance.  Next year this situation may be alleviated, however, since
a new hotel, the Mirage, will be housing Comdex guests, and the
Sands hotel will be adding more rooms.

(Wendy Woods/19891115)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(HKG)(00001)

MY TOOL LAPTOP FROM RICOH -- NEW NAME NEEDED FOR WEST
CENTRAL, HONGKONG, 1989 NOV 14 (NB) -- Last week Newsbytes
reported that Ricoh was about to release a laptop computer on
the US market. It is not well known that when Ricoh first
ventured into the PC business, a year or two ago, the
corporation told its local Hongkong distributor, Gilman
Office Machines, that it was very excited about its new
product and had conceived an excellent name for it - MY TOOL.

Advertising agents throughout the territory responded quickly
devising all sorts of advertising copy involving the
executive's secretary using the product, most of which is
unprintable, even on Newsbytes.  Needless to say, Ricoh was
advised by Gilman's that the name was not really appropriate
in the Western world.

One of the problems in this part of the world is literal
translation and it is important to be sensitive to it. For
instance there was a case where Shakespeare was translated
and played in Tokyo. It tended to lose something in the
translation as "To be, or not to be, that is the question"
came out literally as "It is, it isn't, what is it?"

(Keith Cameron/19891114)


(EXCLUSIVE)(GENERAL)(LAS)(00013)

COMDEX: FRENCH FIRM OFFERS NETWORK-LESS NETWORKING
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, U.S.A., 1989 NOV 14 (NB) -- Want to
share printers but can't afford a network? Finally, there's a
solution, from a little French outfit called 3X Informatique of
Paris.

People there have developed something called the 3X Link16. It looks
like a null modem, but the chips inside can be used to daisy-
chain peripherals and PCs without use of a network. One end of
the device plugs into a PC's parallel port, the other end to a
printer or plotter, and there's a wire hanging off the center
which can let you daisy-chain PCs around and form a sort of
network.

Technical Manager Antoine Simonnet says it takes just 5
minutes to install, and at $139 per device it's a much better
solution than a software network based on serial connections.
It's also much less expensive than using a Novell network.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19891114/Press Contact: Mathew Simonnet, 3X
USA, 201-592-6874)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(LAS)(00017)

COMDEX: DEVICE ALLOWS MACS & PCS TO SHARE LASERJET PRINTERS
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, U.S.A., 1989 NOV 14 (NB) -- ASP Computer Products,
a manufacturer of printer sharing devices, has released an enhanced
version of its Serverjet which allows both IBM PCs and Apple
Macintoshes to connect to an HP Laserjet printer with built-in
translation facilities.

The Enhanced ServerJet allows a user to connect an Apple
Macintosh to a Laserjet printer with full command characer
translations. In addition, up to seven IBM PC or compatible
systems can be connected to the printer.

Lisa Schwartz, marketing communications manager for ASP,
said "This unit is unique in the industry which combines
our printer sharing unit, with Insight Corporation's MacPrint
HP translation interface."

ASP products sells the printer sharing devices starting at $495.

(Peter Vekinis/19891114/Press contact: Lisa Schwartz,
408/746-2965)


(EXCLUSIVE)(GENERAL)(LAS)(00021)

COMDEX: TRAVELLING SOFTWARE UNVEILS BATTERY WATCH II
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, U.S.A., 1989 NOV 14 (NB) -- Travelling Software
also unveiled a new edition of Battery Watch, its battery usage
analysis package for battery-powered laptops.

Battery Watch II includes a feature called 'smart tracker,' that
continuously monitors the state of the battery, even while it is
being charged.

Other features of Battery Watch II include a RAM-saving 'count
down' facility, an option for three alarm settings, and several
coding enhancements. The package, which supports more than 30
laptops, is available immediately at $49-95.

(Steve Gold/19891114/Press & Public Contact: Marci Maule,
Traveling Software - Tel: [phone])


(EXCLUSIVE)(GENERAL)(LAS)(00005)

COMDEX DARES YOU TO SEE IT ALL - OVERVIEW
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, U.S.A., 1989 NOV 13 (NB) -- This year's
Comdex sprawls across 10 miles of Nevada desert, from the Cashman
Field Center north of the old city center, to the Tropicana
Hotel near the end of the Strip. With most attention focused on
the Las Vegas Convention Center, these remote exhibitors may
become quite lonely, but for a few intrepid reporters willing to
give all their shoe leather to a worthy cause.

The cause is worthy because there's good technology everywhere.
Down at the Tropicana, for instance, we found an Intel i486-based
machine which can handle 10 processors, available even before
Intel ships the first production models. President George White
of Corollary Inc. has already sold OEM versions of his product to
Zenith of the U.S. and Mitac of Japan. He says of the bug, "it's
overblown. With the newest revised chip, we're seeing no
problems. The final version will be called the B6, we have the
B5. They've solved the floating point trigonometric problem, and
there's a minor problem left in the B5 which we can engineer
around easily." But why buy multiple 486s? Well, for
supercomputer power and controlling large networks, says White.

At the Riviera Hotel, which is near the Convention Center, an
"intrapreneurial" venture of Bell Atlantic Corp., the telephone
company, is debuting a graphics database called Thinx. "We try to
combine graphics presentation and database operations," says
Rafal Dziedic, director of software development for the
Morgantown, West Virginia-based group. "We don't treat data as
raw data, but as a link to an image." Thinx ships next spring.

At the Sahara Hotel, Akira Nakajima is pushing membership in the
TRON Association. TRON is an advanced operating system created by
Ken Sakamura of Tokyo University, designed for the computers of
the 90s. It can be used in engineering workstations, and is being
put into a "TRON House" in Roppongi, Tokyo, controlling
everything from dishwashers to toasters. Nakajima thinks we'll be
using TRON after Unix and even OS/2 have lost their ability to
impress.

Finally, at the Cashman's Field Center, Bob Shoemaker of Linus
Technologies, creators of the Linus Write-Top, is busy showing
versions of his software working on other laptop computers, like
the Toshiba 1000. "We're also showing vertical market
applications, like dental charting and currency trade capturing.
You use a lightpen on a flat screen, and you have a portable
terminal without a keyboard on which you can hand-write input."

(Dana Blankenhorn/19891113/Press Contact: Rafal Dziedzic, Thinx,
304-291-2651; George P. White, Corollary, 714-250-4040)


(EXCLUSIVE)(GENERAL)(LAS)(00007)

COMDEX: INDIA SHOWCASES ITS COMPUTER TALENT
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, U.S.A., 1989 NOV 13 (NB) -- Comdex, the
show which first showed America what it should worry about from
Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, and Hong Kong, this year offers a
nightmare for American sofware writers. The Indians are here.

A total of 16 Indian software companies are sharing a booth at
the Riviera Hotel. Seibal Mitra, director of Zoom 16 Software in
Calcutta, says he has no difficulties in exporting code. "Texas
Instruments is sending out 100,000 lines of code per month via
satellite. Microsoft is planning a major center." Mitra is
looking for U.S. companies who want to do joint-ventures or who
require custom programming. He'll send people to the job site,
design, code and test, and offer a bug-free product for half the
cost of American software.

Dr. Sudhir Kale of Kale Consultants in Bombay goes farther.
"We're 13 times as competitive as America" in software, he says.
The product it might cost $13 million dollars to do in the U.S.,
in other words, can be done for just $1 milllion in India. Dr.
Kale is looking for distributors, and already has products for
hospitals, schools, and business.

Mr. R. Rajamani, secretary for the Department of Electronics in
New Delhi, presides over the Indian effort at Comdex. "The legal
environment for software is extremely open now," he says. "That's
one of the main goals of our government. We export $7 billion of
software per year, including contracted products and packages."

(Dana Blankenhorn/19891113)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(LAS)(00001)

COMDEX: EXCELLENCE IN TECHNOLOGY WINNERS NAMED
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, U.S.A., 1989 NOV 15 (NB) -- Journalists were
honored for outstanding writing in computer and related topics at
the 1st Annual Excellence in Technology Communications Awards
dinner during COMDEX.

The competition, sponsored by computer maker Acer America
Corporation and The Computer Museum of Boston, received over 450
entries from which 20 finalists were chosen, 10 in the trade
publication category and 10 articles from business publications.
First place winners were offered the choice of an Acer 1100 386-
based computer or $2500 cash.  Second place finishers to choose
between an Acer 286-based computer and $1500 cash while those
placing third in each category were awarded a check for $500.  In
addition, each winner received a placque and a hand-crafted
sculpture of Huang Di, the first emperor of China who invented the
compass.

Winners in the business division included  "Just the Bare Facts,
Please" by William Baldwin (Forbes) in 3rd place, "Prepare for E-
Mail Attack" by David Churbuck (Forbes) in 2nd place and "Can Las
Vegas Sue Atlantic City," by Kathleen Weigner and John Heins
(Forbes) taking top position.

In the trade category, 3rd place went to "The Compleat PC Library,"
by Art Kleiner (Personal Computing).  In 2nd place was "Whatever
Happened to AI" by Chris Shipley while first prize went to
"Computerizing A Court System" by Daniel E. Harmon (The Lawyer's
PC-Special Report).

Judging was handled by a panel of 15 editors, professors and
industry executives chosen for their expertise in technology and
business communications.

The 1990 Excellence in Technology Communications contest is already
underway.  Joining Acer and The Boston Computer Museum as a 1990
sponsor will be the Technology Center of Silicon Valley, an
educational outreach platform for everyone featuring interactive
exhibits and a public forum.

(Janet Endrijonas/19891114)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(LAS)(00008)

COMDEX: COREL DRAW WINS PUBLISH READER'S CHOICE AWARD
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, U.S.A., 1989 NOV 14 (NB) -- Corel Draw, the
Microsoft Windows-based freehand drawing package from Corel Systems
of Ottawa, Ontario, has been awarded Publish! magazine's Reader's
Choice award as the best drawing package for the IBM PC and
compatibles. Publish! announced the award during the Comdex/Fall
show here. Corel, which is exhibiting at Comdex as part of the
Canadian pavilion, also sells desktop publishing utility software.

(Grant Buckler/19891114/Press Contact: Arlen Bartsch, Corel, 613-
728-8200)


(EXCLUSIVE)(GENERAL)(LAS)(00010)

COMDEX: LOOK MA--NO WIRES
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, U.S.A., 1989 NOV 15 (NB) -- O'Neill Communications'
LAWN, a wireless, off-the-shelf  "network" that offers users
peripheral sharing and e-mail targeted at the "Fortune 500,000"
is being shown at COMDEX.

"According to Frost & Sullivan, 80 percent of the LAN market is in
that  'Fortune 500,000' segment," Jack Huisman, vice president of
sales told Newsbytes.  "Most of the companies at COMDEX are
concerned with the high end of the market where tfor which are
showing more and more complex connectivity solutions involving
complicated installation and use.  We are looking in the opposite
 direction -- simplifying and streamlining installation and operation
for the mass of companies out there that don't have the time or the
 inclination to read manuals and spend time and money on installation."

The LAWN  network is a small box with an RS232 port and a place to
connect a power cord.  No buttons to press; no switches to set.
Installation is fast--at COMDEX, the company is challenging attendees
to put together a 4-piece toy balsa wood airplane  in less time than
it takes to install LAWN and the airplane builders are losing.

The system has no operating system, no file server and no wires.  It
operates using high-frequency spread spectrum radio transmission
 over 500 feet line-of-sight and 100 feet through walls.   The units
 can act as repeaters within the system.  When a peripheral such as
a printer or modem is in use, the system will allow the work to be
held in background until the peripheral is available and then will send
the work forward.   There is also a buffer in the LAWN unit  (when
the unit on) that can accept and hold incoming files and messages
even  if the computer is turned off.

"We've been shipping this product for about a month and the
feedback has been good," said Huisman.  "We like to think of
LAWN as a 'computer bacteria ' because when people see
others in a company using the system, they tend to go out
and buy one and get in on the action themselves.  It can be
purchased and installed in a lunch hour and still leave time to eat."

Huisman added:  "The challenge to our company is not to make
a faster or better solution but to produce a product that simplifies
sharing for all the companies out there that are not involved in the
computer industry or interested in computers and related products
for more than the end result. "

(Janet Endrijonas/19891115/Press Contact: Julie Stewart,
O'Neill Communications, 609-924-1095)


(EXCLUSIVE)(GENERAL)(LAS)(00013)

COMDEX: UNMOUSE FOR MOUSE AVOIDERS
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, U.S.A., 1989 NOV 15 (NB) -- The Microtouch PC
UnMouse is a touch-sensitive tablet which replaces the mouse
for most PC applications. It's a 3x4.5 inch glass-topped
tablet which is used by sliding the finger over the surface
and pressing it (as in pressing the  mouse button). A button
on the side toggles the unit into a 'menu' mode where it
gives access to 16 function keys on the pad.

The total resolution is 1000x1000 points with absolute
screen addressing. A stylus can also be used for input. An
advanced mode allows the tablet to be used as a 64-key
template. A template generation system is included with the
product. Both PC and Mac versions are available for $235.

(Paul Zucker/19891115/Press Contact: Janet Pannier. 508-694-
9980)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(HKG)(00001)

HONGKONG AUTHORITIES SMASH SOFTWARE PIRATES}
CENTRAL, HONGKONG, 1989 NOV 16 (NB) -- The Customs and Excise
Department has smashed Hongkong's largest computer
software piracy syndicate by raids on nine locations across the
territory. It is believed that this syndicate controlled
70 percent of the illegal trade in software and manuals in
Hongkong.

The move was lauded by the Washington-based Business Software
Association, a cooperative formed by Aldus, Ashton-Tate,
Lotus, Microsoft, Wordperfect and Autodesk, which said it was
planning to take legal action against the syndicate in a bid to
recover the millions of dollars of lost business.

15 men and women were arrested during the raids which also
netted over 100,000 counterfeit manuals and 23,000 diskettes.
Customs Investigation Branch Superintendent Wai Chi-hung two
months had been spent on the investigation.

Many influential people in the local IT industry were bitter
about the raids and the attitude of the software publishers. A
well-known figure, Norman Wingrove, told Newsbytes: "The
problem is that these US software publishers are remote from
the real marketplace here in Hongkong. Perhaps they are be
being misled by their distributors and agents here who could be
using piracy as an excuse for lack of sales. A couple of them
have direct offices here and it is incomprehensible that they
are too blind to see what is really happening.

"The pirates would be out of business overnight if the
representatives of the software publishers offered even a
semblance of support, but they do not. In addition the local
resellers mark up software above US recommended retail prices
and expect the market to blythley accept it. It is far cheaper
and quicker to order software by mail order from the USA than
buy it locally. In this environment it is no wonder that
pirates thrive.

"These raids are a shameful waste of taxpayers money and the
software publishers should be forced to get their own camps in
order before any further public funds are wasted on this futile
business," he said.

Other viewpoints from the industry were in sympathy with Mr
Wingrove and the general consensus of opinion was that the so-
called lost sales of millions of dollars was a gross over-
estimate of the truth. "The simple truth is that the bulk of
the pirates customers are not people who would even be
prospects for the legitimate software. They are students and
enthusiasts who just want to try out software or learn about
it. Indeed, the pirates bolster the market here incredibly by
giving people an opportunity to test and learn. What a pity the
so-called professional software publishers cannot see that."

(Keith Cameron/19891116)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(SYD)(00001)

AUSTRALIAN PC FIRM CHALLENGES GOVERNMENT}
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA, 1989 NOV 13 (NB) -- Terran computers
has delivered an ultimatum to the Victorian State Electricity
Commission that if it does not receive an apology, lawyers will
start proceedings for damages. The Melbourne-based PC designer
and manufacturer has taken issue with claims by the
government-owned electricity commission that Terran PCs
are not fully compatible with the Microstation CAD (computer-
aided design) software package.

Terran Managing Director Peter Nunn also attacked the SEC for
its decision to buy only IBM PCs. "If it is the commission's
policy to buy IBM, then it should say so," he said.

The SEC compared Terran's T20SX with IBM Model 70 A21.
Both were intended to run Microstation and drive two screens.
"Our product exceeded the performance and functionality of the
comparable machine and was offered at a lower price," said
Peter Nunn. "The compatibility seems to be that it doesn't
have an IBM badge."

The SEC claims that by buying IBM, it is buying an Australian
product, because IBM PCs are made at Wangaratta in Victoria.

(Gavin Atkins & Computing Australia/19891115)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(HKG)(00002)

HONGKONG AUDITOR SLAMS SLOPPY DEPARTMENTAL PC USAGE}
CENTRAL, HONGKONG, 1989 NOV 15 (NB) -- The person to whom the
entire civil service must answer, Director of Audit
Jeff Hutt, has heavily criticised Hongkong Government for
poor management, lack of training, and sloppy security which
surrounds personal computer systems installed in departments.

The audit review revealed that more than 25 percent of the PCs
systems installed in eleven government departments lacked
proper procedures within departments to coordinate development
of end-user computing, to control the use of microcomputer
systems and to provide technical support and assistance to end-
users. Data formats and coding varied in frequently used
related applications which hindered data sharing and the
interchange of information.The original objectives of an
application were not always met because end-users did not have
adequate knowledge and experience, and delays occurred in the
implementation of applications because of inadequate manpower.

According to the report system documentation was often
inadequate or absent and user requirements, on occasions, had
been downgraded to cope with machine capabilities.

System security was of major concern to the Auditor. Security
rules were often not enforced and adequate back-up procedures
were often not provided. There was also a risk because of a
lack of segregation of duties. In a number of cases the same
group of staff were responsible for the design, development and
operation of applications.

Strangely, Mr Hutt's report did not mention the government's
exposure to computer virus attack as a direct result of this
lack of security.

In addition the report stated that end-users considered that
the training provided by government was not only inadequate but
there were insufficient places available.

In response to the Auditor's concern, Dr Colin Greenfield, data
processing manager of the Information Technology Services
Department (ITSD), agreed to actively pursue the establishment
of a central register of common applications. However he
considers that with the current serious staff shortages, day to
day contact with end-users will not be possible. He said that
the Microcomputer Development Centre was 30% understaffed and
presently had a machine to support staff ratio of 109:1.

One industry source told Newsbytes: "The Director of Audit's
observations are symptomatic of the PC world in general, they
are not exclusive to government. Lack of management, security
and documentation are commonplace throughout any organization
where PCs have been installed."

"The issue really is whether the responsibility for management,
implementation and training should be the function of ITSD
as it is currently structured. The PC, or end-user computing as
Colin Greenfield refers to it, introduces entirely new concepts
in systems development and function.  If, as the Auditor
implies, a central control body for standardised software was
established within government then the whole idea of PCs and
the resulting productivity gains would sink into a bureaucratic
quagmire and never be realised.  The government should be vary
cautious about how it approaches the problems uncovered by the
Auditor. The traditional centralised mainframe-type thinking
definitely does not apply when it comes to PCs."

In answer to Mr Hutt's suggestion to the Secretary for the
Civil Service that outside training contractors should be used,
the Secretary said that this may be done as an interim measure,
however there was concern about quality control over external
contractors. An embittered manager of a local IT training
company told Newsbytes: "How on earth the government can talk
about quality control when they are in such a mess I don't
know. The government's training facilities and methods are
obviously unsatisfactory and they are the root cause of the
problem. Earlier this year the government stated that its
policy was to support the local IT industry and comments like
this from such a senior civil servant make a mockery of that
policy."

Another viewpoint Newsbytes received from a local training
consultant was: "Consolidated training is not the correct
approach for PC users.  Training should be application
specific.  Aside from basic operating functions including back-
up procedures and system management, PC systems will, and
should, differ widely across departments. This means that each
section in each department should be treated as a separate
exercise for application development and training. It also
means that people who understand the application must be
involved, not generalists from a central support group. The
ratio of machines to support staff of 109:1 in the
Microcomputer Development Centre is ridiculous. There is no way
that this concept is working, or will work."

"I do, however, feel very comfortable that PCs have
proliferated sufficiently across Government departments for the
problems to have arisen. At least many departments and ,
indeed, many individual civil servants are trying to use
productivity tools," the consultant pointed out.

(Keith Cameron/19891115)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(LAX)(00001)

MCVEY'S FREEDOM SHORT-LIVED}
VANCOUVER, B.C., CANADA, 1989 NOV 15 (NB) -- California
millionaire and alleged computer criminal Charles McVey, freed
from a Canadian jail last week after two years behind bars has
been re-arrested by Canadian authorities.

McVey's freedom after the Canadian Court of Appeals rejected a US
bid to extradite him for alleged technology smuggling lasted just
four days before he was sent back to jail on an immigration
warrant. He now faces a hearing to determine if he should be
deported from Canada for "unlawful presence" in the country.

A scheduled hearing on the immigration matter has been postponed
while McVey's lawyers seek permission to hold the hearing behind
closed doors.

(Janet Endrijonas/19891117)


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

MAI SUBSIDIARY SUED IN UK}
TUSTIN, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 NOV 10 (NB) -- A small
manufacturing firm in Great Britain is suing a UK subsidiary of
MAI Basic Four for allegedly installing faulty software.

The claim, filed by Sacol Powerline of Southampton, alleges that
86 of 146 software modules in a program MAI began installing in
1984 were still not working four years later. For this, Sacol is
asking about $1.6 million in damages.

MAI's attorneys have said only that MAI does not give much
credence to the claim.

(Janet Endrijonas/19891117)


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

SASKATCHEWAN CLOSES TRANSLATION FIRM}
REGINA, SASKATCHEWAN, CANADA, 1989 NOV 17 (NB) -- The government
of Saskatchewan is closing down GigaText Translation Systems, a
controversial computer translation firm, The Financial Post
reports. The provincial government invested C$5.3 million in the
money-losing company, sparking controversy that led to
accusations of influence peddling.

Last summer, a senior organizer for the province's governing
Progressive Conservative party was accused of influence peddling
after he received an interest-free loan of C$150,000 from Guy
Montpetit, founder of GigaMos, the Quebec company from which
GigaText developed. No charges were laid.

(Grant Buckler/19891117)


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

SUPER DOS LANDS IN JAPAN}
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 NOV 10 (NB) -- Lonrho Pacific, a Japanese
subsidiary of U.K.-based conglomerate Lonrho plc., has leaped into
the Japanese personal computer market with fully compatible
operating system to MS-DOS -- EZ-DOS -- which it claims is
cheaper and more functional than the current MS-DOS operating
system.

The OS was originally developed by U.S.-based Digital Research,
so-called DR-DOS, and 2001 Sales provided additional features
over the OS. Lonrho Pacific has a distribution licence in the
Pacific area. All the application programs for IBM PC/AT, XT,
PS/2 and compatible machines, include the Toshiba J-3100 series
and AX personal computers of Japan, will run EZ-DOS.

One of the most remarkable features is that EZ-DOS is bundled
with GEM 3, software developed by Digital Research which allows
mouse operation with Macintosh-like icons. The firm is charging
9,800 yen or $67 for the basic OS only and 13,000 yen or $67
for the OS with GEM 3. The OS bundled with BASIC utility tools,
costs 19,800 yen or $137. The price of the basic OS is said to be
very competitive to the English version of MS-DOS, made by
Microsoft, which is three times higher.

The firm claims it will be popular because its OS is more ROM-able
(read only memory) that Microsoft's version. Technically, MS-DOS is
harder to put into ROM. Lonrho says this aspect will be attractive
to makers of portable PCS.

The firm established 100 percent-owned subsidiary, Lonrho
International Networks, to push sales of the OS.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19891116/Press Contact: Lonrho Pacific Ltd.
03-237-7035)


(NEWS)(IBM)(TOR)(00001)

MATROX INTRODUCES VIDEO GRAPHICS CONTROLLER}
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, U.S.A., 1989 NOV 13 (NB) -- Matrox Electronic
Systems of Dorval, Quebec, has introduced a high-resolution video
frame capture controller for 286- and 386-based personal
computers. Shown at Comdex/Fall, the Illuminator-16/AT will
compete with TrueVision's Targa 16 board for graphic arts,
animation, presentation graphics and multimedia applications.

The Illuminator-16/AT digitizes video signals from sources such
as video cameras and television. It displays 32,768 colors.
Resolution is 512 by 512 pixels, expandable to 1,024 by 1,024
with a two-megabyte frame buffer.

The board is scheduled to be available in December for C$1,595,
or C$2,495 with the two-megabyte frame buffer.

(Grant Buckler/19891117/Press Contact: Susan Verrechia, Matrox,
514-685-2630)


(NEWS)(IBM)(TOR)(00003)

ATI LAUNCHES HIGH-RESOLUTION DISPLAY CARDS}
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, U.S.A., 1989 NOV 13 (NB) -- ATI Technologies
of Markham, Ontario, launched two high-resolution display adapter
cards at Comdex/Fall. The 8514/Ultra and 8514/Vantage are
register compatible with IBM's 8514/A graphics adapter.

The cards have dual connectors to fit either Micro Channel
Architecture machines or Industry Standard Architecture (AT bus)
PCs. An add-on VGA option card is available for ISA systems.
Software drivers are included.

Henry Quan, director of marketing for ATI, said the boards are
aimed at computer-aided design, desktop publishing and windowing
environments. The 8514/Vantage costs US$599 with 512K bytes of
memory, US$699 with one megabyte. The higher-speed 8514/Ultra
costs US$799 with 512K, US$999 with one megabyte. The VGA option
adds US$150 to the price of the Vantage model and US$200 to the
Ultra. The boards will ship in March and the VGA option in June,
Quan said.

(Grant Buckler/19891117/Press Contact: Henry Quan, ATI
Technologies, 416-756-0718)


(NEWS)(IBM)(TOR)(00005)

COOPERS OFFERS NEWVIEWS TUTORIAL}
TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1989 NOV 13 (NB) -- Q.W. Page
Associates, developer of NewViews accounting software, has worked
with the accounting firm Coopers & Lybrand to develop a tutorial
for first-time NewViews users. The Coopers & Lybrand Guide for
New Users incorporates Coopers' standards for implementing and
using NewViews. It uses hands-on exercises to teach NewViews
commands.

(Grant Buckler/19891117/Press Contact: Mary Smyth, Q.W. Page,
416-923-4567)


(NEWS)(IBM)(TOR)(00006)

RICHMOND COMPLETES MAXIMIZER ACQUISITION, ENHANCES PACKAGE}
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA, 1989 NOV 17 (NB) -- Richmond
Software has completed its acquisition The Maximizer contact
management software from Pinetree Software. Both companies are
based in Vancouver. Richmond has sold The Maximizer under license
since early this year.

Richmond also announced a new release of The Maximizer, called
Series 911. The company said the program is faster and more
compact. It now allows customization of field names, importing
and exporting letters from and to word processing software,
French-language support and other changes.

Richmond also announced an agreement with Canara Technologies,
master distributor for Samsung, Samtron, Maxar and Cordata PCs in
Canada. Canara will bundle The Maximizer with those companies'
hardware in Canada.

(Grant Buckler/19891117/Press Contact: Janette Peters, Richmond
Software, 604-299-2121)


(NEWS)(IBM)(ATL)(00011)

CHICAGO'S SYSTEMS INTEGRATION OFFERS FASTEST '386}
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, U.S.A., 1989 NOV 10 (NB) -- Lost in the
rush of 486 fever at Comdex was Systems Integration Associates,
which announced a line of 5 new computers including a 486
machine.

The company's 33 Mhz 80386 machine was judged the
"world's fastest 386" by Byte Magazine, according to SIA
President Bruce Bohyslav. The new box is aimed at use for
databases and local area networks, and for use in engineering and
graphics workstations.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19891117/Press Contact: Bruce Bohuslav, Systems
Integration Associates, 312-440-1275)


(NEWS)(IBM)(ATL)(00012)

SAMNA'S AMI TO BE BUNDLED WITH COMMODORE'S PC COMPATIBLES}
ATLANTA, GEORGIA, U.S.A., 1989 NOV 10 (NB) -- Samna's Ami
Word processor will be bundled free with Commodore's line of PC
compatible computers, the companies announced.

Ami, $199, offers what-you-see-is-what-you-get, or WYSIWIG,
publishing output under Microsoft Windows. A run-time version of
Windows ships with the product. Specifically, the program is being
bundled with the Commodore PC 40-III computer.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19891117/Press Contact: Samna, 404-851-0007)


(NEWS)(IBM)(LAS)(00001)

COMDEX: DIGITAL VIDEO ARCHITECTURE ANNOUNCED BY VIDEOLOGIC
CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1989 NOV 13 (NB) -- One of
the new buzzwords vying for the computer industry's attention
during the Fall Comdex show in Las Vegas starting today
is Digital Video Architecture from Videologic. The company's
DVA scheme allows manipulation of live broadcast video
feeds, or pictures on tape or CD videodisks.

The technology is already used in Europe, VideoLogic says, and
developed at a laboratory in Kings Langley, England. In Europe,
the company's Digital Adaptors have been integrated into the
product lines of IBM and other manufacturers through the M.I.C.
System software standard The product which does all this, the
DVA-4000/MCA, first shipped in July for IBM's Micro Channel, and
is now available on all IBM compatibles.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19891110/Press Contact: Videologic, Kirke
Curtis, 617-494-0530)


(NEWS)(IBM)(LAS)(00002)

COMDEX: 386 SYSTEM WITH COOL NEW FEATURES, 3-YEAR WARRANTY
VICTORIA, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA, 1989 NOV 13 (NB) -- OTB
Systems has introduced a 386 system at Comdex/Fall which has
power protection built in, comes with a proprietary cooling
system and carries a three-year warranty.

The Canadian company said its OTB 386 Tower system will carry an
introductory price of C$5,000 with an 85-megabyte hard disk, high-
density diskette drive, six drive bays, eight expansion slots, one
megabyte of random-access memory, VGA adapter and 14-inch color
monitor.

The OTB 386 Tower's power supply incorporates transient voltage
surge suppression technology from EFI of Salt Lake City, Utah.
OTB said power spikes and surges cause as much as 40 percent of
microcomputer problems. The company also said operating
temperatures significantly affect the lifetimes of computer
components.

OTB claimed its ThermoKinetic cooling design keeps operating
temperatures 10 to 16 degrees Fahrenheit cooler. According to
Geoff Davidson, chief executive officer, this lets OTB push a 20-
megahertz 386 processor to 25 megahertz without fear of problems.
"We've talked at extensive length with design engineers at
Intel," he said. "They're quite comfortable with the speed we're
running it at."

The system also comes with a three-year warranty covering parts
and labor, all perils insurance backed by Prudential Insurance
Co. and a field-upgrade program, Davidson said. The Tower is
designed to accept future 486 and 586 processors by replacing the
system board only, according to Davidson.

(Grant Buckler/19891109/Press Contact: Geoff Davidson, OTB
Systems, 604-385-8400)


(EXCLUSIVE)(IBM)(LAS)(00010)

COMDEX: CAD PACKAGE FOR WINDOWS
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, U.S.A., 1989 NOV 13 (NB) -- Joining the growing
band of software developers releasing products for the
Windows environment, Foresight is showing its latest at
Comdex -- what it claims to be the first 'real' CAD (computer-
aided design)  package for Windows on the PC.

Drafix Windows CAD is a professional-level package with the ease-
of-use features inherent to Windows applications.

Foresight President Augie Grasis said, "The graphic
environment and smooth interface of Windows, plus the
intrinsically graphical nature of CAD are a natural
marriage. We were surprised it hadn't been done earlier."

Drafix adds features to Windows, such as pull-UP menus,
buttons and boxes. The OOPS function reverses drawing steps,
one-by-one. Special mouse prompts show what clicking either
mouse button will do.

The Drafix screen can be split into one to four parts,
perhaps showing four views or magnifications of the one
object. Changes made in any viewport are updated in the
others -- the need to zoom in and out is greatly reduced.

Drafix Windows CAD needs a 286, 386 or 486 PC with Windows
286 or 386 and 1 MByte of RAM. The RRP is $695 with optional
symbol libraries at $150 each. All printers are compatible
via standard Windows drivers. The product can swap graphics
and data with Micrografx, DTP packages, HPGL, Excel, CDF,
SDF, ASCII, dBase FoxBASE+ and Clipper, plus many others.

(Paul Zucker/19891113/Press contact: Augie Grasis phone 816-
357-2055)


(EXCLUSIVE)(IBM)(LAS)(00011)

COMDEX: MICROSOFT SHOWS WORD FOR WINDOWS
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, U.S.A., 1989 NOV 13 (NB) -- The long-awaited Word
for Windows is being demonstrated by Microsoft at Comdex.
Far from being an update of the text-based Word, this is a
new product which uses the Windows environment to make a
product which is much easier to learn and use, while
sacrificing none of Word's traditional power.

By adopting the Windows Dynamic Data Exchange or DDE, it can
link to other Windows products such as Excel, for real-time
sharing of data. Spreadsheet data shown in a document can be
altered, and the spreadsheet will automatically update.

In addition to the standard menu bar on top of the Windows
screen, Word has a second 'icon bar' which gives context-
sensitive icon control over functions such as formatting,
text attributes and so on. Clicking on the relevant icon,
for instance, will automatically re-justify text.

Although it will work with just keyboard commands, the true
power of the interface is with a mouse, as tasks such as
block selection, graphics and text placement, and movement,
sizing, border adjusting and so on, are then intuitive.
Graphics can be placed, moved and sized, with Word
automatically flowing text around them.

The macro function is more than just a keystroke recorder as
it links to Quickbasic routines and should be the basis of
third-party products. Templates, styles and fields can be
defined, making document handling as nearly 'automatic' as
is needed. The package is supplied with 20 templates.

Unlike earlier versions of Word, this product identifies and
converts when loading many other types of WP documents.
Standards accepted include existing Microsoft Word,
WordPerfect, Multimate, Displaywrite, Wordstar, Tiff, Pic,
CGM, Autocad and HPGL as well as Mac Word.

Word for Windows is in late beta-test stage at the moment
and should ship around January 1990 at $495 per package.
There is no multi-product licensing structure planned so a
50-station network will theoretically require 50 copies of
the product.

(Paul Zucker/19891113)


(EXCLUSIVE)(IBM)(LAS)(00013)

COMDEX: FRANCE'S NORMEREL JOINS 486 BANDWAGON WITH TWO PCS
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, U.S.A., 1989 NOV 13 (NB) -- Normerel, the French PC
manufacturer, has announced two 80486-based PCs for shipment
during the first quarter of 1990.

Both machines - the ATP 486 and NS 90 - are based around the
25MHz 80486 microprocessor from Intel. The ATP 486 is the
flagship of Normerel's 'AT' range (not to be confused with AT-
compatible PCs) and comes in a tower casing for the power user.

The NS 90, meanwhile, features a 64K memory cache and 7 Micro
Channel Architecture (MCA) slots. With up to 630MB of hard disk
storage capacity available, the machine is pitched at the file-
server market-place.

Although pricing on both 486-based PCs has yet to be announced
(everyone is waiting to see what Intel's firm pricing is), the
company is pushing hard into the US. Currently with offices in
the U.K., as well as France, the company is bolstering its staff
at the Florida office in anticipation of demand for its 486-based
machines.

(Steve Gold/19891113/Press & Public Contact: Cecile Liot, manager
Normerel USA - Tel: [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(LAS)(00005)

COMDEX: AST INTROS 486 EISA MACHINES, NEW TOWERS
COMDEX: LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, U.S.A., 1989 NOV 13 (NB) -- AST Research,
one of the original "Gang of 9" which defied IBM to introduce its own
bus, is showing its first EISA machines, the AST Premium 486/25,
Premium 386SX/16 with the Cupid-32 upgrade path to i486, the
Bravo 386SX and future EISA and tower technologies.

AST is demonstrating the 486 system's applications in the world of
computer-aided design, medical imaging, geophysical simulation and
aerodynamic stress testing.  The exhibits are designed to catapult this
system into the market for those seeking computers for technical
operations, as well as at those in need of a server for a large Unix or
Xenix network.

The Premium 486/25 comes standard with 2 megabytes of zero-
wait-state memory, expandable to 4 megabytes on the motherboard,
with a total of 36 megabytes of maximum system expandability.
There's a Weitek 4167 math coprocessor, seven expansion slots,
five storage bays, controller support for three floppy drives, one
parallel and two serial ports. The Model 5 with a 5.25-inch floppy
drive is priced at $8,495.

The EISA, or Extended Industry Standard Architecture, is technology
which puts a 32-bit I/O bus in an advanced processor while retaining
compatibility with the common industry I/O busses used worldwide.

Also under development from AST are advanced tower technologies. One is
a floor-standing enclosure with 10 expansion slots and four external
and two internal 5.25-inch half-height drive bays.

The CUPID-32, another acronym in this acronym-rampant show, refers
to Completely Universal Processor, I/O Designs, and is technology
which separates the processor and memory from the I/O and BIOS. The
scheme means that units are upgradeable, from the Premium 386SX/16
through the i486 technologies.

(Wendy Woods/19891113/Press Contact: 714-756-4984)


(EXCLUSIVE)(IBM)(LAS)(00016)

COMDEX: GENOA LEAVES 8514A MARKET- GRAPHICS CURTAILED
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, U.S.A., 1989 NOV 13 (NB) -- Genoa left the
8514A market as abruptly as it had entered the market in November 1988.

The company had entered the 8514A market with a product containing
1MB of video RAM (random access memory) and an on-board 34000
graphics processor.

Larry Lien, Genoa's vice president for marketing, commented, "we
have left the 8514A business because we felt that there was not
enough support for high end graphics adapters in the business."

Genoa introduced a VGA adapter with its own graphics
controller chip (the Tseng chip was used previously) which can
display images with resolutions of up to 1024 x 768. Although
the resolution is the same as an 8514A controller, the products
are incompatible.

IBM is still continuing support for the 8514A from Genoa, as well
as support for adapters from Video Seven and ATI. An IBM
spokesman said, "We feel that the 8514A is an important
product and we will continue to enhance it and support it for
our range of PS/2 systems."

(Peter Vekinis/19891113)


(EXCLUSIVE)(IBM)(LAS)(00015)

COMDEX: PC STEREO CARD CALLED SOUND BLASTER
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, U.S.A., 1989 NOV 14 (NB) -- Every year
Comdex features a neat product from someplace you never heard of,
exhibited in some out-of-the-way place. The best such product at
this show, on display at Bally's, is from Creative Technology
PTE Ltd. of Singapore, and it's called the Sound Blaster.

Creative Technology calls it a PC Stereo Sound Card for IBM PC
compatibles. Distributed in the U.S. by Brown-Wagh Publishing,
the Sound Blaster offers a proprietary voice digitizer and a MIDI
interface, which means you can adapt it to any synthesizer. Over
100 software titles, mostly games, already support it, and the
company is working on business applications such as an automatic
dictator which can take a taped executive's voice and create an
ASCII file. Richard Brown of Brown-Wagh says it will ship to this
country in quantity starting in January, at $239.95. It's also
compatible with the Ad-Lib card and Creative's own Game Blaster
card. Any kind of sound can be input directly to your computer's
memory through a microphone jack, and you can also plug any tape
player or CD player through the same jack, creating custom
presentations.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19891114/Press Contact: W.H. Sim, Creative Labs
Inc., 415-742-6106)


(EXCLUSIVE)(IBM)(LAS)(00016)

COMDEX: XEROX SHOWS VENTURA PUBLISHER FOR OS/2
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, U.S.A., 1989 NOV 14 (NB) -- Xerox highlighted the
trend towards fully integrated desktop publishing systems by
showing Ventura Publisher for OS/2 at the Comdex show here.

The product, which runs under the Presentation Manager and will
execute under PM 1.1 and PM 1.2 versions, offers program data
interchange between word processors, spreadsheets and other PM
programs.

Ventura for OS/2 needs 3MB (megabytes) of RAM (random access
memory) and a 286 or 386-based system. A spokesman said that the
Windows alike/PM product will remain in the DOS market as well. In
addition, a professional extension will also be available.
Although prices have not been set yet, Ventura for OS/2 will cost
$995.  Ventura for OS/2 will be available from June 1990.

According to a study by IDC (International Data Corporation)
Xerox's Ventura publisher has more than 70% of the market for
desktop publishing products on PCs. While Aldus commands the
same market for Macintoshes, its attempt to take on Ventura
in the PC market place has not succeeded.

(Peter Vekinis/19891114)


(NEWS)(IBM)(LAS)(00001)

COMDEX: MICROSOFT LAUNCHES WORD FOR PRESENTATION MANAGER
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, U.S.A., 1989 NOV 14 (NB) -- Microsoft has
announced that Word for the OS/2 Presentation Manager will be
available some time in mid-1990.

The PM version of Word is almost keystroke-for-keystroke the same
as the recently introduced version that runs under the Microsoft
Windows operating environment.  At the Comdex presentation,
Microsoft demonstated the two versions side by side. However, the
Presentation Manager version will take advantage of OS/2's
multitasking capabilities, including its ability to create
hot links between applications so that data changed in
one application changes automatically in the others.
Microsoft also said Word for PM will be able to run from
the desktop of IBM's OfficeVision, IBM's distributed office
platform.

Mike Maples, vice-president of the applications division of
Microsoft, said Word for Presentation Manager will sell for US$495,
with upgrades from Word Version 5 availabe for US$150 and upgrades
from Word for Windows costing US$50. Word for PM is Microsoft's
second application to support Presentation Manager; the most recent
version of Excel also runs on OS/2.

(Grant Buckler/19891113/Press Contact: Sarah Charf or Marty
Taucher, Microsoft Corp., 206-882-8080)


(EXCLUSIVE)(IBM)(LAS)(00004)

COMDEX: MISSION CYRUS OFFERS MCA, 386 MACHINES
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, U.S.A., 1989 NOV 13 (NB) -- Mission Cyrus of
Vancouver, British Columbia, is showing production versions of its
line of 80386-based personal computers, including one using IBM's
Micro Channel Architecture, at Comdex/Fall.

The machines, previewed at the spring Comdex show in Chicago
earlier this year, will be shipping by the beginning of 1990,
said Farad Azima, president of Mission Cyrus. He also announced
a file server based on the Intel 80486 processor, due to ship by
the end of the first quarter of 1990. An early unit was on display
at Mission Cyrus' Comdex booth here.

Mission Cyrus' Darius Professional line of desktop computers ranges
from a 16-megahertz system based on the Intel 386SX chip to a 33-
megahertz 386 system. A line of portable computers covers the same
range. The company also has a 25-megahertz 386-based file server
using Micro Channel Architecture, and another using a 33-megahertz
386 chip and the traditional AT bus. Azima said Mission Cyrus is
"hedging our bets both with the current AT bus and the MCA bus."

Mission Cyrus has lined up about 25 dealers in the United States
so far, said Trent Punnet, sales manager for Canada. The target is
to have about 300 dealers in the U.S. and about 50 in Canada, he
said. Punnett added that Mission Cyrus has received some early
orders for its 486-based file server, including some from
government organizations.

(Grant buckler/19891113)


(EXCLUSIVE)(IBM)(LAS)(00009)

LOTUS, WORDPERFECT TEAM UP ON PM APPLICATIONS
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, U.S.A., 1989 NOV 13 (NB) -- The leading
spreadsheet and word processor vendors, Lotus Development and
WordPerfect, have teamed up to make OS/2 Presentation Manager
versions of their applications look very much alike and exchange
data easily.

At a press conference during Comdex/Fall, Lotus announced that 1-
2-3/G, the Presentation Manager version of its top-selling
electronic spreadsheet program, is now in beta testing. WordPerfect
said WordPerfect for Presentation Manager should be available by
June, 1990.

Pete Peterson, WordPerfect's executive vice-president, said Lotus
extended to his company a "no-strings-attached invitation to use
some of their code and some of their ideas to create a version of
WordPerfect that looked as if it came from the same company."  The
result is menus and dialog boxes in the two companies' PM products
that look and work almost the same. "When you sit down and use one
of these products," said Jim Manzi, president and chief executive
of Lotus, "you will know how to use the other."

As the vendors of highly successful packages, both companies faced
the challenge of adapting their software to the graphic interface
of Presentation Manager while retaining the user interfaces to
which long-time users are accustomed. Lotus constructed 1-2-3/G
with PM-style pull-down menus that still respond to the familiar
slash commands of past 1-2-3 versions. In WordPerfect for
Presentation Manager, function key commands continue to work as
they always have.

The graphic interfaces of the two packages are very similar, but
the differences in keystroke commands remain: the Help key in 1-
2-3/G is the F1 key, in WordPerfect for PM it is F3. "We would
drive WordPerfect users crazy if we were to introduce a slash
series of commands," said Alan Ashton, WordPerfect's president.
However, he noted that WordPerfect for PM, like Version 5.1 of the
DOS package, lets users reassign function keys to suit themselves.

Both Lotus and WordPerfect admitted the agreement limits the future
of two other products: Lotus' Manuscript word processor and
WordPerfect's PlanPerfect spreadsheet. Frank King, senior vice-
president for software products at Lotus, said his company has
already told its customers it has no plans for an OS/2 version of
Manuscript. Peterson said WordPerfect is focusing on its key
products, rahter than placing "small bets on several products."

(Grant Buckler/19891114/Press Contact: Susan Earabino, Lotus
Development, 617-225-1281; Jeff Acerson, WordPerfect, 801-222-
4405)


(EXCLUSIVE)(IBM)(LAS)(00008)

COMDEX: IBM AND MICROSOFT PLEDGE ETERNAL ALLEGIANCE
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA,  U.S.A., 1989 NOV 13 (NB) -- IBM and Microsoft
have announced a continuation of their operating system
cooperation extending well into the 1990s. Some observers
feel that the announcement is intended to re-assure many
end-users who have become confused by recent announcements
by, and speculation about both companies.

Microsoft was part of the Compaq SystemPro launch at Houston
last week where Compaq announced it would sell a badged
Microsoft Lan Manager. Microsoft intends to support the
enhanced operating environment of the new Compaq EISA
(Extended Industry Standard Architecture) and 80486
machines. In addition, Microsoft is actively working
with the rest of the EISA confederacy to ensure that its
operating systems will be available and full-featured for
all new machines.

IBM meanwhile, has given signs of taking control of its own
destiny by developing more independent parts of OS/2 and
DOS. Although denied by IBM, industry speculation has it
that IBM is developing an operating system, nick-named 'PM
Lite' which will give OS/2 Presentation Manager features to
an otherwise DOS environment. This may mean that many OS/2
PM applications will run as a single task on an otherwise
DOS machine.

The joint IBM/Microsoft announcement at Comdex states that
the two companies will 'develop jointly a consistent, full
range of systems software offerings for the 1990s." The
statement is meant to reassure customers that MS and PC DOS
and OS products will not diverge. The companies described
the 'platform of the 80s' as the 386 or 486, 4 MBytes of
RAM, 60 Mbytes of fixed disk and OS/2 Presentation Manager
graphical interface.

They stated that in the future, the majority of their
software releases will be based on this configuration,
starting with OS/2 and moving to PM later next year. They
undertook to:

1: Release a new OS/2 for 386/486 in 1990. It will take
advantage of the advantages these chips have over the 286.
This includes the ability to run multiple simultaneous DOS
tasks.

2: Ship software developer kits for this new OS/2 late this
year. The SDK will support all OS/2 versions.

3: Develop an OS/2 technology which will be portable -- for
instance, to RISC (reduced instruction set computer) architectures.

4: Make Database Manager, LAN Requester, Communications
Manager and Server functions in extended edition available
for all OS/2 users.

5: Converge both company's LAN managers to be identical,
over time.

They advised users of OS/2 1.1 to have at least 3MB of RAM,
and 30MB hard disk. For 2MB or less of RAM, users should
adopt Microsoft Windows.

(Paul Zucker/19891114/Press Contact: IBM - Scott Brooks,
702-792-3536, Microsoft - Pamela Edstrom, 503-245-0905)


(EXCLUSIVE)(IBM)(LAS)(00009)

COMDEX: NEW BACKUP UTILITY FROM NORTON UTILITY KING
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, U.S.A., 1989 NOV 14 (NB) -- Peter Norton
Computing has released a new utility called The Norton
Backup. The product is claimed to protect against data loss
by making backups against hard disk failure, virus damage or
user 'accident'.

The product "has been designed to be technically superior
like our other packages," according to Norton. It can
automatically configure itself to the environment when first
run, utilizing dual for simultaneous disk read/writes. There
are four levels of data compression, three levels of data
verification and is said to optimize speed and disk number
balance.

Advanced features (patented) will recover data from even
damaged backup data disks. Automatic backup on stand-alone
machines, networks, to and from any DOS device, all for an
introductory price of $149 make Norton confident that he has
another winner. Existing products include Norton Utilities,
Commander and Editor.

(Paul Zucker/19891114/Press Contact: Kenn Morris. phone 213-
319-2016)


(EXCLUSIVE)(IBM)(LAS)(00010)

COMDEX: OS/2 PRESENTATION MANAGER PRODUCTS SHOWN
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, U.S.A., 1989 NOV 14 (NB) -- Much to the relief of
IBM and Microsoft, which have been pushing OS/2 as the
operating system of choice, many exhibitors at Comdex are
finally showing Presentation Manager products -- packages
which take advantage of both the graphical interface and
multitasking capabilities of OS/2.

Already, beta site users of products like Pagemaker OS/2
have only praise for the dramatically enhanced productivity
of the environment. Releases of the products are expected to
ramp-up until mid 1990 when most software manufacturers will
have at least one PM product. Some products (including PM
development packages) shown at Comdex include:

1. Case:PM application generator for Presentation Manager,
with versions for C, Cobol and SEL. Contact 404-399-6236

2. Choreographer. A graphical environment development tool
for PM. Available in C and Cobol versions, with support for
DDE, SQL, 3270 and LU 6.2 plus an inbuilt application
compiler. Contact 412-231-1300.

3. Applications Manager Professional and Personal versions.
These are tools to integrate communications, database and
graphical features within OS/2 for product development.
Contact 800-669-2797

4. Micrografx Mirrors 1.0 which is a set of tools for porting
Windows applications to OS/2 and PM. This is the system
Micrografx used to port its own top-selling packages.
Contact 800-272-3729

5. Oracle server for OS/2. An open database environment. It
enables data applications on OS/2 to connect to over 80
other operating environments. The developer's edition is
$699 and permits up to three users connections. Contact 415-
598-3616.

6. XcelleNet wide area network management system for PM and
other PC environments. PM allows 'point and click' icon
control by the system manager and users. Contact 404-876-
4516.

7. Microsoft Word for OS/2. A new WP package which takes full
advantage of the graphical environment but suffers no speed
loss. Also Excel for OS/2 - the popular spreadsheet. Contact
206-882-8080.

8. Aldus Pagemaker. Takes advantage of extra connectivity,
speed and flexibility of the environment. Unlike the Windows
version, it performs multiple tasks simultaneously. Contact
206-628-6594.

9. XVT Extensible Virtual Toolkit for creating applications
which are portable between the PM, Windows and Mac
environments. Contact 502-297-6762.

(Paul Zucker/19891114)


(EXCLUSIVE)(IBM)(LAS)(00006)

COMDEX: IMAGE CARD USES RISC PROCESSOR
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, U.S.A., 1989 NOV 14 (NB) -- Eicon Technology of
Montreal, Quebec, has introduced an image processing card for IBM
and compatible personal computers, based on Intel's I960 processor.
Two versions of the card are available, with the reduced
instruction set computing (RISC) chip running at 16 megahertz and
25 megahertz.

Working with Eicon's PostScript-compatible page description
language, EiconScript, the Eicon Image Processing Card will squeeze
PostScript performance out of lower-priced, non-PostScript laser
printers such as Hewlett-Packard's LaserJet line.

Priced at US$2,500 to US$4,000, depending on speed and configuration,
the card will be available in the first quarter of 1990. It will work
with most printers using Canon or Ricoh printer engines, although
it is not currently compatible with Hewlett-Packard's low-priced
LaserJet IIP, according to Moustapha Talaat, Eicon's vice-president
for image systems.

Eicon also cut the price of its older EiconScript Card, based on
the Motorola 68000 processor, to US$1,400.

Eicon, a five-year-old company, established itself as maker of
communications boards, particularly devices for linking personal
computers to mainframes. It has more than 70 authorized resellers
in the United States and upwards of 30 international distributors.

(Grant Buckler/19891114/Press Contact: John Oriettes, Eicon
Technology, 514-631-2592)


(EXCLUSIVE)(IBM)(LAS)(00007)

COMDEX: TANDON LAUNCHES LAPTOPS, EISA 486
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, U.S.A., 1989 NOV 14 (NB) -- Tandon has launched
a desktop personal computer based on the Intel 486 chip and
Extended Industry Standard Architecture (EISA) and incorporating
a read/write optical disk drive. The company also introduced two
laptop computers, one based on the Intel 286 and the other on the
386SX processor.

The 486 machine is designed for a 33-megahertz 486 chip, said Dave
Kummer, chief engineer responsible for its development, although
the present system uses the 25-megahertz version. A base
configuration with only a diskette drive will cost US$9,000. The
top-of-the-line model, sporting a 650-megabyte read/write optical
drive as well as a 760-megabyte magnetic drive, will cost about
US$25,000.

The system incorporates Tandon's MultiCache disk caching
technology, as well as the PowerPoster system which speeds writing
to disk just as caching speeds reading from it.  All models come
with two megabytes of random-access memory as standard equipment,
expandable to 64 megabytes without using expansion slots.

Kummer said the machine "will suit as an alternative to
workstations from DEC, Apollo or Sun at a much lower cost."

Both laptops weigh about 14.5 pounds, and incorporate an internal
3.5-inch diskette drive. The LT/286 comes with a 20-megabyte hard
disk drive and EGA display. The LT/386 has a 40-megabyte drive and
VGA display. Prices are US$2,874 for the 286 and US$4,429 for the
386 system.

S.L. (Jugi) Tandon, founder and president of the company, said he
hopes the new systems will help re-establish Tandon in the United
States market. The company has focused lately on the European
market, where Tandon expects growth of about 50 percent this year.

(Grant Buckler/19891114/Press Contact: Casey Hughes, Tandon, 805-
378-3010)


(EXCLUSIVE)(IBM)(LAS)(00012)

COMDEX: ALDUS SHOWS OS/2 PAGEMAKER, ANNOUNCES PREPRINT
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, U.S.A., 1989 NOV 15 (NB) -- Pagemaker for OS/2
was a popular demonstration package at this Comdex because
hardware vendors are all looking for a 'power' product to
show their equipment's performance and features. OS/2
Pagemaker is an impressive product, according to vendors and
visitors, alike.

The product claims to take advantage of OS/2s connectivity,
performance and flexibility, performing multiple tasks
simultaneously. Users can have several Pagemaker
publications open simultaneously, overcoming a serious
criticism of the earlier version. It has a 'smart' clipboard
which controls formatting information during cut and paste
operations.

As a guide to system requirements for this type of OS/2
application, Aldus suggests a 386, 4-6 Mbyte of RAM and at
least EGA.  The product retails for $795 with and upgrade
price of $95 until February.

Aldus PrePrint is a package which assists in the production
of color separations from Pagemaker and other OPI and Adobe
colour-standard products. It allows users to fine-tune grey
scale and color renderings, making allowances for press
requirements. Automatic professional features include color-
cast correction, tone normalization, paper optimization and
dot-gain compensation. The retail price is $495.

(Paul Zucker/19891115/Press Contact:Gail Rice. 206-628-6594)


(EXCLUSIVE)(IBM)(LAS)(00014)

COMDEX: NANTUCKET ANNOUNCES FIRST CLIPPER DRIVERS
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, U.S.A., 1989 NOV 15 (NB) -- Paradox and SQL
drivers are the first in a series of database drivers to be
released by Nantucket for its popular Clipper system. "These
drivers confirm Nantucket's commitment to evolve Clipper
beyond the restrictions of dBASE-dependent technology," said
CEO Larry Heimendinger.

The drivers allow users of other database products to
standardize on Clipper for developing applications which can
work on their existing data structures. These divers will be
available shortly after the shipping of Clipper 5.0, which
is expected early next year.

(Paul Zucker/19891115/Press Contact: Claudia Jaker. 213-822-
4669)


(EXCLUSIVE)(IBM)(LAS)(00016)

COMDEX: MICROSOFT TO RELEASE C++ IN 1990
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, U.S.A., 1989 NOV 15 (NB) -- Microsoft is set to
release a C++ compiler sometime in 1990 along with a new version
of C, 6.0.

C++ is a language developed by AT&T which adds objects to the
standard C language. Objects, which are mainly used under
artificial intelligence languages, such as Smalltalk, enable the
programmer to refer to program elements by type. For example,
an array of elements may be refered to as "numbers" instead of
explicitely stating information about these numbers.

Currently, Zortech, is the only company which produces a compiler
for C++. Other manufacturers produce translators, or
programs which read in a C++ source file and produce standard C.

Gregory Lobdell, Microsoft's languages product manager, tells
Newsbytes, "Microsoft believes that the future is certainly
C++. We have been leading the market in the C compiler
business, and we hope we will lead the market in the C++
business as well. Currently our C compiler is on target for
the next release, 6.0, which adds enhancements, full support
for Presentation Manager and OS/2."

The Microsoft C++ compiler will offer direct compilation, support
for both DOS and OS/2 including PM (Presentation Manager) and is
rumoured to lead the C++ as well as the C business well into the
next decade.

As far as competitive products are concerned, Lobdell commented,
"We have tried Watcom C and Lattice and although these products
are good, and some even better than the Microsoft packages, they
dont have our maturity in the market. It is probably the reason
why software companies such as Ashton-Tate have gone back to using
Microsoft C."

(Peter Vekinis/19891115)


(EXCLUSIVE)(IBM)(LAS)(00017)

COMDEX: INTEL DENIES RUMOURS ABOUT 486 BUGS
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, U.S.A., 1989 NOV 15 (NB) -- Intel has denied
consistent rumours that the company will not replace faulty 486
chips.

An Intel public relations spokesman tells Newsbytes, "Intel will
honor agreements with customer of the 486 chips and replace faulty
chips. If a Compaq customer who bought a 486 system finds the bug
in mathematical calculations, we will honor Compaq's agreement
and replace the chip thereby solving the customer's problem."

The 486 chip problem only occurs when certain types of
mathematical operations are performed. The bug crept into the
design when the 387 became an integral part of the 486 chip.

(Peter Vekinis/19891115)


(EXCLUSIVE)(IBM)(LAS)(00018)

COMDEX: WILL INTEL RELEASE A 586 CHIP IN 1990/1991?
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, U.S.A, 1989 NOV 15 (NB) -- Intel is said to
be designing a 586 chip which will be compatible with the
entire family of '86 products and will have an unprecedented
level of integration. Indeed, the news is so pervasive at
this year's Comdex/Fall that one exhibitor, Novas,
is proclaiming on a banner, "586 Coming!"

Sources say the 80586 processor will include the 386 core, the 387
math coprocessor, the Intel 486 companion chip set, the
memory controllers and associated electronics. It will be based on
the current Intel process and will be composed of about 1.4
million transistors. (Currently the 80486 is said to have
600,000 transistors.)

"Intel is firmly committed to higher integration for its future
products. Although Intel is not announcing a 586 chip at Comdex
Fall/89, our future direction is certainly higher integration,"
said a Mr. Solone, Intel spokesman, to Newsbytes.

Although currently the Cypress Semiconductor SPARC processor is
the only one produced with .7 micron geometries (the actual
integrated chip line spacing within the chip is 7 millionths of an
inch), Intel may be contemplating using such a compact format in
order to avoid a large number of silicon duds (the bigger the chip
area the higher the probability that it will have a fault during
manufacture).

(Peter Vekinis/19891115)


(EXCLUSIVE)(IBM)(LAS)(00023)

COMDEX: WYSE CONDUCTS BUSINESS AS USUAL, TAKE-OVER OR NO TAKE-OVER
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, U.S.A., 1989 NOV 15 (NB) -- Wyse Technology,
the international PC and terminal company, took last week's news
that a Taiwanese consortium is bidding $200 million for its
shares in its stride. According to Dave Everett, vice president
of sales and corporate marketing, it's business as usual.

Instead, Wyse's thoughts are focused on several new products
the company has announced at Comdex. These include two new
desktop PCs and a new VGA display adapter/monitor combination.

Centrepiece to Wyse's stand is, however, a prototype of the
company's 80486-based EISA machine. Technical specifications on
the machine are a closely-guarded secret, but the machine - based
around the 25MHz 486 Intel chipset - will be on sale during the
first quarter of 1990.

"We're waiting on Intel right now, as everyone in the industry
is. As soon as they begin shipping the 80486 microprocessor in
quantity, we can begin producing the machine. At that stage,
we'll be able to confirm the machine's pricing," he told
Newsbytes.

Back in the present, Wyse's two PC compatibles are the PC-386
Model 3116SX, a 16MHz 80386SX-based machine, and the PC 286 Model
2116i, a fast 16MHz 80286-based machine. Both machines are
available in a wide variety of configurations and prices.

On the terminal front, Wyse announced it is endorsing the Texas
Instruments Graphics Architecture (TIGA) 340 interface standard.
The standard will be supported in future Wyse terminal products,
adding to the variety of standards already in use.

Wyse graphics sub-system that support the TIGA-340 interface
include the WY-8000 colour display sub-system and WY-7190 mono-
chrome display sub-system. The WY-8000 subs-system is designed
for CAD applications and consists of the WY-8400 intelligent
colour graphics adapter and WY-890N 19 inch colour monitor.

(Steve Gold/19891115/Press Contact: David Everett - Wyse
Technology - Tel: [phone])


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

INTERNATIONAL VOICE MAIL BUREAU IN AUSTRALIA}
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1989 NOV 13 (NB) -- Australia's first
international voice mail bureau was launched last week. A domestic
voice mail bureau has existed for some time, but the first link to
the United States was made on Wednesday the 8th of November,
by a local firm, Connect International.

Voice mail operates like an answering service that does not
have restrictions over different time zones. Connect International
hopes to attract private and corporate users in Australia and the
US to the new service which operates through Aspen equipment.

(Gavin Atkins & Computing Australia/19891115)


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

AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES IN UNINET LINK}
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1989 NOV 13 (NB) -- The first phase of a
video-conferencing and high-speed data link up between the
University of Sydney, the University of Wollongong, and the
University of Technology in Sydney began last week.

Developed by Telecom Australia and connected by optical fibres,
it is planned that the network will eventually expand Australia-
wide.

(Gavin Atkins & Computing Australia/19891115)


(EXCLUSIVE)(TELECOM)(HKG)(00008)

HONGKONG: IBS' HIGH SPEED NETWORKING WITHOUT SPECIAL CABLING}
CENTRAL, HONGKONG, 1989 NOV 6 (NB) -- Telecommunications
systems specialists Integrated Business Systems (IBS) today
released LattisNet, a full Ethernet networking system from
SynOptics Communications that uses ordinary telephone wire
instead of bulky coaxial cabling.

Speaking with Newsbytes at an exclusive presentation of the
product, Bob McKirdy, managing director of IBS, pointed out,
"Local area networking has not taken off in Hongkong as it
has in other parts of the world. The reason for this is
two-fold. Many local companies, even the larger ones, do not
own their own offices and volatile rents prompt frequent
relocation and the cost of re-cabling has a direct deterrent
effect on attitudes to local area networking. In addition
many of the buildings in Hongkong do not have risers with
sufficient capacity to carry all the heavy cables."

"We are quite excited about LattisNet because it uses
standard unshielded twisted pair cabling. It provides a no-
compromise Ethernet that is fully compatible with IEEE 802.3
standard, using an open architecture star concept instead of
the cumbersome bus architecture or traditional Ethernet."

IBS specialises in solutions which integrate advance voice,
data and connectivity technologies. The company is the sole
Hongkong distributor of ROLM computerised PABX systems and a
value-added dealer for IBM AS/400 and PS/2 products.

(Keith Cameron/19891110)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(HKG)(00009)

HONGKONG TESTS REGULATIONS WITH NEW BROADCAST FAX FACILITY}
CENTRAL, HONGKONG, 1989 NOV 4 (NB) -- While the Hongkong
Telephone Company strives to prevent 'junk' faxes being
broadcast in the territory, one local company, Fax
Communication Corporation (FCC), has announced a new,
international fax broadcast service.

Jonathan Weber, general manager of FCC, says: "Our product,
Fax Network, basically acts as a gateway between the
originating computer and one or a multiple of destination fax
machines. All a customer needs to take advantage of our
network is a personal computer and a modem - there is no need
to even own a fax machine. The Fax Network can broadcast
over 100 faxes simultaneously and achieves a transmission
rate of over 6,000 pages an hour to anywhere in the world."

According to Mr Weber, the service can create any number of
phone directories of effectively any size within the system
and, utilising a time reservation feature, can achieve
substantial off-peak international call savings.

He said that Fax Network was primarily aimed at companies
with high transmission volumes such as insurance companies,
accountancy firms, and shipping lines.

Meanwhile the Hongkong Telephone Company, which runs a
hotline to record 'junk' faxes, has reported that three
subscribers have had their entire telephone service
disconnected as a result of repeated abuse of the telephone
network by unauthorised fax broadcasting.

The company awaits government approval of an Adfax service
which will control advertising distributed by fax in the
territory. Fax users will be asked if they wish to receive
unsolicited material and if they do not want to receive it
then their numbers will be taken off the distribution list.
In addition HKTel will compensate fax users when unwanted
faxes are received, and bill the sender.

(Keith Cameron/19891110)


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

KDD PHONE CALLS SLOW DOWN}
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 NOV 10 (NB) -- Japan's international telecom
giant KDD's phone calls to the U.S. decreased in October
by 15 percent compared to the previous month, the president
of the firm, Takami Ishii, has announced. Ishii guesses the sudden
slowdown was caused by two new international telecom firms,
International Digital Communication and International Telecom
Japan, which started their international telephone services mainly
to the U.S. since October.

The number of phone calls on the part of KDD in October, however,
slightly increased compared to one year ago. The two new
international telecom firms have achieved their initial call goals.

(Ken Takahashi/19891116)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(LAX)(00004)

TI CHOOSES MCI TO PROVIDE X.400 PUBLIC SERVICE}
DALLAS, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1989 NOV 13 (NB) -- Texas Instruments has
selected MCI Communications to provide X.400 service for general
messaging and electronic data interchange (EDI) with TI's trading
partners worldwide.

MCI Mail XChange 400 service provides distribution and routing of
messages via MCI Mail worldwide delivery options including e-
mail, telex, fax, postal and courier. Use of this system enables
TI to communicate with other public and private systems connected
to MCI Mail. This interconnect will allow TI to offer X.400
services to customers, suppliers and users of TI's corporate e-
mail system.

Full implementation of this system is scheduled for the first
quarter of 1990.

In another announcement, TI introduced two new workstation
capabilities for its full life cycle CASE (computer-aided
software engineering) product Information Engineering Facility
(IEF). The two capabilities include an OS/2 version of the
current MS-DOS workstation toolsets and a code and database
generation and transaction testing facility running under OS/2.
The OS/2 version will generate COBOL and C code.

(Janet Endrijonas/19891117/Press Contact: Bob Bledsoe, Texas
Instruments, 214-997-3857)


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

KEEPING TRACK OF VEHICLES ONLINE BECOMES A BUSINESS}
TORONTO, CANADA, 1989 NOV 16 (NB) -- A New Zealand
technology is tracking the performance of Japanese vehicles
for a Canadian company. Precision Location, a system for
keeping track of a vehicle's performance in real-time, is now
in the hands of ARC International of Toronto, which says lots
of fleet owners want to take a look at it.

Nissan is already using the technology on its test track,
and car, tire, and motorcycle makers are all prospects for it.
"This is a system that could eventually be used to handle the
highways and byways, but it calculates x and y coordinates
a number of performance attributes of the vehicle," Philip
Halpern, executive from ARC tells Newsbytes. "It
makes development easier by providing data for vehicle analysis,
and it shortens test time. It's instantaneous data capture and
data analysis that's not available today." It links between the
main system and a car on the road with radio telemetry.

We believe many applications will develop from this technology,"
Halpern concluded, and fleet tracking could be one of them.
Completion of the transaction is subject to the satisfaction of a
number of conditions including the finalization of certain
agreements between the parties.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19891117/Press Contact: Philip A. Halpern, ARC
International, 416-630-0200; fax: [phone].)


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

GTE COMES OUT WITH VIDEO SWITCH FOR PHONE SYSTEMS}
STAMFORD, CONNECTICUT, U.S.A., 1989 NOV 14 (NB) -- GTE has
begun testing a new phone switch in Cerritos, California, which
could bring fiber cable to your door.

The 5-year experiment, during which Cerritos will get TV cable
along with videophone services and other 21st century ideas,
will help phone companies nationwide determine whether they
can profitably challenge the cable TV industry, which has wired
70 percent of the nation's homes and faces no competition now.

A GTE spokesman noted that video takes more than 2,000 times
the information-carrying capacity of speech, so it takes a
tough switch to turn such signals on and off. Besides testing the
technology, GTE will also learn what its costs are and what
prices people will pay for video services.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19891117)


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

NYNEX SETTLES WITH UNIONS}
WHITE PLAINS, NEW YORK, U.S.A.,1989 NOV 13 (NB) -- NYNEX
finally ended the strike which has impacted phone service in the
Northeast for over 3 months by dropping its demand that workers
pay more for health benefits in exchange for a cut in wage
increases.

The deal followed a month of mediation and a weekend
of emotional bargaining. One-time signing bonuses and a profit
sharing plan were dropped, while wage increases were cut to 3% in
the first year, 3% over the next two years and a cost-of-living
allowance over the same two years. Other Bell companies have
agreed to 8-10% wage increases along with the profit-sharing and
signing bonuses. A joint union-company task force, meanwhile,
will try to find ways to cut future health cost increases.

NYNEX services New York and New England. Customers have recently
been waiting weeks for repairs and new lines.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19891117)


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

OFFICE SYSTEMS SHOW TO BE INFORUM'S THIRD SELF-SPONSORED EVENT}
ATLANTA, GEORGIA, U.S.A., 1989 NOV 10 (NB) -- The Inforum
high tech mart announced its third self-sponsored trade event,
the Office Systems Expo, which will be held February 28 and March
1.

The mart's first two shows, for government users and non-
profit agencies, drew just a few thousand people, and the mart's
current show, on Saudi Arabia, is free and open to the general
public.

A spokesman said school children are currently mobbing
the place, learning all about the Saudis. The Office Systems Expo
is called a comprehensive technology exhibition and conference
designed to meet the needs of professionals who select and use
business systems. The mart hopes businessmen from throughout the
Southeast will send people to it.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19891117/Press Contact: Meredith McGlon,
Inforum, 404-220-2119)


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

SPRINT OFFERS INTEREST RATES ON 900 NUMBER}
KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI, U.S.A., 1989 NOV 17 (NB) -- Tired of
listening to heavy breathing and Jose Canseco? Well, now fans of
using 900 numbers to pay for information can get interest rates
over 1-900-VIP-RATE, a new service offered by Sprint Gateways.

The service costs $1.75 for the first minute, 85 cents for each
additional minute, and offers rates on certificates of deposit,
tax-free municipal bonds, credit cards and home mortgages. The
service is aimed to people who are considering take out loans or
loaning out money, who need to know what competitive rates are
up-to-the-minute.

In other Sprint news the company's SprintMail 400 message
service was expanded, as the X.400 message handling service
gained new affiliates in Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Finland,
bringing to 13 the number of nations serviced, including the
U.S., Belgium, Canada, Chile, Italy, Japan, Sweden, Taiwan, and
the United Kingdom. iNet Hong Kong will handle the Crown Colony
which passes to China in 1998, while P&T Tele and HGelsinki
Telephone will share the Finnish market with their Telebox and
Elisa offerings. Syarikat Telecom will cover Malaysia.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19891117/Press Contact: Sprint Gateways, 703-
689-5664)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(LAS)(00003)

COMDEX: FAX SENDS PC FILES WITHOUT A FAX CARD
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, U.S.A., 1989 NOV 13 (NB) -- A unique addition
to the world of PCs and faxes has been introduced by Hybrid Fax, the
folks who brought you the JetFax unit which allows incoming faxes
to be printed directly to a laser printer.

JetFax/PC is a software package which lets you take any PC file and
send it out as a fax directly, without the need for even a PC fax
board. The software program, JetFax/PC, is used in conjunction
with the JetFax, a 2-inch wide unit.

This wonder is on display at the Sahara Hotel, Booth 9329,
Monday through Friday.

The JetFax can be used either with one PC or as part of a
network, and lets the laser printer transmit faxes directly from
a PC without tying up the PC during the transmission.

By eliminating the requirement for an internal fax board,
JetFax/PC overcomes installation and compatibility problems, its
creators say. The print interface lets you send faxes to the
JetFax as though it were an ordinary print file, either
immediately or at the sender's option.

The JetFax performs all the dialing and fax transmission
functions without affecting PC applications. Confirmation
reports are provided after fax transmission. The JetFax can
broadcast multiple faxes simultaneously, storing each in its
memory until it is scheduled to be sent. A mail-merge
program can customize broadcast faxes with the intended
recipients' names and addresses. JetFax/PC can
also be used to transmit 300 dots-per-inch, letter quality
documents between JetFax units in a fraction of the time of
standard faxes. This is because JetFax/PC transmits the actual
printer files instead of the entire graphics image.

Operating either in RAM-resident mode or from a DOS prompt,
JetFax/PC will transmit ASCII, TIFF and PCX files, even
supporting mixed file types on a single fax page. Thus,
letterhead and signatures can be merged into documents.

JetFax/PC, available January 1990, retails for $195 per stand-
alone package, or $395 per site license for unlimited PCs with
access to a single JetFax-equipped laser printer.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19891110/Press Contact: Hybrid Fax, Lori
Waggener Evans, 415-369-0600)


(EXCLUSIVE)(TELECOM)(LAS)(00004)

COMDEX: KIRIN COMPUTER PUTS SERVICE ON 900 NUMBER
TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1989 NOV 13 (NB) -- Toronto-based Kirin
Computer Corp. has announced at Comdex/Fall in Las Vegas this
week a nationwide 900 number for personal computer support. The
Canadian company will offer this service only in the United
States for now, company President David Rosen said, because 900
service is not yet available in Canada.

Kirin already offers PC support to Canadian business customers on
a pay-in-advance basis. Customers buy a block of time from Kirin,
and each support call is deducted from the customer's block of
prepaid time. Kirin plans to offer this service in the U.S. as
well. The 900 service, however, will make it possible for small
businesses and individual users to call the service without
opening an account first. Rosen said he expects the service to
cost from US$1.25 to US$1.50 per minute. It is expected to be
available before the end of the year.

Kirin, incorporated in 1987, supports more than 600 hardware and
software products. Its clients range from three- and four-person
companies to the Ontario Ministry of Transportation and
Communications, Rosen said. The company also provides telephone
support on a contract basis for some hardware and software
vendors.

(Grant Buckler/19891108/Press Contact: David Rosen, Kirin
Computer, 416-483-4357)


(EXCLUSIVE)(TELECOM)(LAS)(00018)

COMDEX: MORE COMMUNICATIONS PRODUCTS THAN EVER
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, U.S.A., 1989 NOV 14 (NB) -- Comdex may not have a
plethora of extraordinary new computer products but it certainly
does have its share of unique new telecommunication products.
Amongst the best:

- Incomm Data Systems announced the world's first 9600 bps
(bits-per-second) MCA (Micro Channel Architecture) board
modem. The board also supports MNP level 5 protocol and
fallback to 4800, 2400, 1200 or 300 bps speeds. It works on the
PS/2 model 50, 60, 70 and 80 systems. In addition the company has
also launched a Mac II modem which offers similar specifications
to the PS/2 product.

- General Peripherals has introduced a $125 fax switch designed to
connect a single phone line to a both a fax and a PC.  The unit,
is specially designed to operate on pulse dialling telephone
systems, such as those in South America and Europe.

- Supra Corporation has made available a 2400 bps modem with
fallback to 1200 and 300 bps for $149.95.

- PI Manufacturing Company is marketing a fax switch for both
pulse and tone systems with "intelligence" for $45. The unit can be
used with either a direct or a manual call. The star key is used for
automatic switching.

- DMA introduces a new version of pcAnywhere which supports EGA
graphics in addition to DesqView 386 support which permits
multiuser operation.

- Vocal Technologies introduced a new line-powered mini-modem
which does not need any batteries and operates at either 1200 or
300 bps. A 2400 bps version is under development. The product
supports the AT command set and has a 40-character, non-volatile
memory buffer.

(Peter Vekinis/19891114/Press contacts: Vocal technologies is on
408/980-5181; Supra Corporation is on 503/967-9075; General
peripherals is on 800/447-2326; DMA is on 212/687-7115; PI
manufacturing is on 213/513-1289)


(EXCLUSIVE)(TELECOM)(LAS)(00019)

COMDEX: US ROBOTICS SUPPORTS V.42BIS; UPGRADES HIGH-SPEED MODEMS
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, U.S.A., 1989 NOV 14 (NB) -- Over on the US
Robotics stand, the company that recently bought into Miracom
Technology, the Ipswich-based UK modem manufacturer, the company
was busy promoting the V.42Bis standard.

V.42Bis is the new CCITT modem standard that encompasses the LAP
and MNP error-correction standards, as well as adding a new
seven- and eight-bit data compression system. The result is a
highly-resilient data compression and error-correction system
that compresses even eight-bit data to a fraction of its normal
state.

US Robotics is actively endorsing the V.42Bis standard and plans
to include the standard within its high-speed (2400 bits per
second) modems. Considering that US Robotics' arch-rival Hayes
was the company that started the V.42Bis standard bandwagon
rolling on both sides of the Atlantic, this is a surprising step
for US Robotics to take.

Not so, according to Dale Walsh, US Robotics' vice president of
engineering: "V.42Bis can be manufactured with essentially the
same components as MNP 5 which is why we at CCITT selected it
over other candidates offering similar performance," he said.

Walsh, who participated in the CCITT's V.42Bis data compression
recommendation process, added: "V.42Bis compression uses a
higher-level algorithm than MNP 5 compression, producing about 30
percent better compression on typical data files."

US Robotics plans to begin shipping modems with the V.42Bis
standard from January onwards. The V.42Bis facility will be added
to the company's current high-speed modem range at no extra cost.

In the US, the upgrade to V.42Bis will be available on the
Courier HST, HST Dual Standard and V.32 models free of charge on
modems purchased since 1 October, 1989. Modems purchased before
that date will cost $50 to upgrade.

(Steve Gold/19891114/Press & Public Contact: Karen Novak,
marketing communications manager - Tel: [phone])


(EXCLUSIVE)(TELECOM)(LAS)(00006)

COMDEX: INNOVATIVE FAX IDEAS ABOUND
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, U.S.A., 1989 NOV 13 (NB) -- One of the
major new themes at this year's Comdex show is a relatively old
technology, namely fax. While last year saw the debut of simple
devices like fax switches and fax boards, this year sees the
integration of faxing into the corporate computing environment.

An amazing set of fax switches is on display at the Cashman Field
Center, 5 miles north of the main exhibits. The SmarterFax line,
from Electornic Modules Inc. of Dallas, Texas, is more than a set
of fax switches. President George Schrima explains. "I think 35
companies now sell fax switches. We offer more. Our expander lets
you add memory to do mailings to up to 10 groups of 100 numbers
each, and saves messages in its memory when you run out of fax
paper. Our confidential receiver offers all those capabilities,
plus the ability to set up 10 confidential mailboxes, which can
only be accessed by keyword. Our mailbox manager gives you all
that, plus a megabyte of memory so you can set up 100
confidential mailboxes. It also lets you retrieve faxes remotely.
You can call your mailbox, give it an access code and the number
of the machine you want your mail forwarded to, and it sends you
the content of your mailbox." All three products will be
shipping by the end of this month.

Back at the Tropicana, Nissei Electric of Lenaxa, Kansas, a
division of a Japanese company, offers two products called the
ScannerFax and LetterFax. The former product retails for $1,495,
with high dealer margins, and combines the ability of a scanner
and a fax machine in a lightweight case. The LetterFax retails
for $1,195, weighs just 7.5 pounds, and acts as both a fax
machine and a printer for your laptop PC.

If you have a PC network, you'll want to drop by the Sahara Hotel
and see the HybridFax JetFax. This is a device which attaches to
your network and receives fax messages. It shipped in March. Now
the company offers software to both send and organize your
network's fax messages. For about $1,500, a spokesman said, your
entire network can have a single, coordinated faxing system
alongside their electronic mail net.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19891113/Press Contact: HybridFax, 415-369-
0609; Nissei Electric, Brian Casady, 913-541-0123)


(EXCLUSIVE)(TELECOM)(LAS)(00021)

COMDEX: PICTUREPHONES INCREASING IN POPULARITY
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, U.S.A., 1989 NOV 15 (NB) -- Off-site from Comdex,
Newsbytes took time out to visit John Draper, a.k.a. the infamous
Captain Crunch.

Draper, along with Gene Fredericks, president of Edison West, the
Oakland, California-based communications company, showed
Newsbytes a Panasonic picturephone which is currently being
remaindered by several US retail outlets at $250. For that price
tag you get a six-inch-square box that plugs between the phone
and the wall socket, providing a freeze-frame slow-scan TV
picture on top of the normal telephone conversation.

Frederick, who used the phone to talk from his Las Vegas hotel
room back to Oakland, is enthusiastic about the picturephone.

"The Panasonic unit, along with units from Sony and several other
picturephone manufacturers, used to cost around the $1,500 mark.
Now they're down to $250 or thereabouts, several hundred people
are beginning to use them in earnest," West told Newsbytes.

"The great thing about them is that they're now so cheap that
almost anyone can buy two units to use for communicating between
the office and home," he added.

The Panasonic unit is compatible with most other
slow-scan/freeze-frame picturephones, and includes a high-speed
modem, mono screen, camera and video in/out sockets as standard.
They're so cheap, in fact, that they've sold several thousand
in the US, and there are user groups cropping up in Europe as
well.

(Steve Gold/19891115/Press Contact: Gene Fredericks, Edison West,
415/420-5700)


(EXCLUSIVE)(TELECOM)(LAS)(00022)

COMDEX: VOCAL TECHNOLOGIE'S LOW-COST POCKET MODEMS
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, 1989 NOV 15 (NB) -- Vocal Technologies, one of
the smaller companies exhibiting at Comdex, announced an
innovative Hayes-compatible pocket modem that needs no batteries
or external power supply to work.

Initially, two versions of the Stowaway modem are being made
available to third-party companies, as well as on a limited
direct-sales basis - a 1200 bits per second (bps) unit at under
$150; and a 2400bps unit at under $150.

The Stowaway modem is smaller and lighter than most of the
competition. At 2.2 by 2.8 by 0.7 inches, and eight ounces in
weight, it undercuts the Touchbase series of modems that
Newsbytes' European bureau has been using for some time. The
units draw their power from the serial port on the attached
computer, hence the size and weight savings.

Vocal isn't resting on its laurels either. Value-added features
such as MNP error-correction and 9600bps options are in the
pipeline, according to Frederick Herzel, the company's president.

"Our potential OEM customers are very excited about the
implications that this design has on improving their product
performance in the area of battery life," he said.

(Steve Gold/198911115/Press & Public Contact: Frederick Herzel,
Vocal Technologies Limited - Tel: [phone])


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(HKG)(00014)

SUPERCOMPUTERS TO BE BUILT IN INDIA WITHIN FIVE YEARS}
BOMBAY, INDIA, 1989 NOV 4 (NB) -- Twenty-four supercomputers
will be required in India before 1995, according to Professor
Biswajit Nag, director of the Indian Institute of Technology
in Bombay.

Prof. Nag said that 14 of the 24 super systems would be
manufactured in India.  He added that the demand for
computing in India over the five-year period was enormous by
any standards. An estimated 740 mainframes, over 9,000
minicomputers and one million PCs would be required.

Total expenditure anticipated for computing power of all
types over the period had been estimated at $7.5 billion.

According to a report in the IT Asia computer journal, one
member of Prof.  Nag's team considered that the manufacture
of supercomputers in India may be optimistic.  Dr R.
Narayanaswamy is an executive director of Electronics Corp.
of India Ltd (ECIL), and as such, is close to the industry's
capabilities. The journal says, "If ECIL with its access to
large interest-free government loans cannot manufacture
supercomputers, it is unlikely that any other Indian company
can."

Meanwhile US-based Cray Research is currently awaiting
government approval for its second sale in India. The first
Cray is being used for weather forecasting and modelling
work.

(Keith Cameron/19891110)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(TYO)(00002)

JAPAN'S POLICE TARGET COMPUTER CRIME}
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 NOV 10 (NB) -- The National Police Agency has
submitted guidelines as to the definition of illegal programs such as
computer virus to the National Public Safety Commission, which
belongs to Prime Minister's Office.

The police agency is afraid that if the online banking transaction
system, ATC (automatic train control) for the speedy Japanese
train the Shinkansen, or electronic controls for nuclear power
generation were altered by a computer virus, there might be
devastating consequences.

In order to prevent such a disaster, the National Police Agency
advocates some 40 measures, such as tighter controls on those
hired as system managers and operators of such systems, and
development of vaccine programs capable of preventing
invasion of computer viruses.

The most remarkable aspect of the guide is that it proposes that
laws be written specifically against crime by virus. The police
agency intends to establish standardized guidelines based on
existing legislation in the U.S. and Europe, where illegal programs
frequently have caused damage.

Meanwhile, Junzo Kasahara, assistant professor of the
University of Tokyo, where data in the seismic research
institute was damaged by computer virus, insists on information
"glasnost," saying that the National Police Agency, as well as
the Ministry of International Trade and Industry in charge of
the whole industry, should publicize the character of viruses
and publicly offer information on how to prevent a virus invasion.

(Ken Takahashi/19891116)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(TYO)(00004)

SHARP OPENS WIZARD TECHNOLOGY TO THIRD-PARTY CLONERS}
OSAKA, JAPAN, 1989 NOV 14 (NB) -- Sharp is making strategic
alliances with those seeking to make clones of its hand-held
Wizard personal organizer.

Sharp will supply new software and hardware developers with a
basic configuration of the IC (integrated circuit) interface to its
electronic organizer.

Sharp is said to have already decided to distribute its electronic
organizers to Matsushita Electic Industrial on an original
equipment manufacturing basis.

On the other hand, Sharp will boost sales of its Wizard OZ-7000
in the U.S. by releasing a modem and RS-232C cable for the machine
early next year. At the same time, Sharp will launch
in the U.S. market its Basic card, which is already available in
Japan, which allows users to program the machine.

Sharp has sold some 3.1 million units of its hand-held
organizers in Japan and foreign countries. The firm started export
to the U.S., Europe, Hong Kong, and Singapore last October
and has already sold some 500,000 units, 60 percent of them in
the U.S.

(Ken Takahashi/19891116)


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

JAPANESE ASIC MAKERS FORGE FOREIGN ALLIANCES}
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 NOV 14 (NB) -- Japan's chipmakers, in an attempt
to boost their ASIC (application-specific integrated
circuit) business, have tied up with overseas firms.

Toshiba has signed an agreement with West Germany's Siemens
to codevelop a standard cell with 0.8 micron CMOS (complementary
metal oxide semiconductor) technology. The two firms intend to
develop a standard cell with 1.3 times higher speed than previously
available and 30 percent higher integration.

They have already joined forces in developing a one micron CMOS standard
cell, and in the gate array arena. After the development of the new
standard cell, they will second-source it with each other.

NEC, on the other hand, has tied up with San Jose, California-based
major CAD (computer-aided design) maker Silicon Compiler Systems
to jointly develop interfaces for making or simulation of
library data for a gate array. NEC's library and Silicon's ASIC
design system will allow users to develop more integrated and
higher-speed gate arrays in a shorter period.

(Ken Takahashi/19891116)


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

JAPANESE PC MARKET SHOWS 30% EXPANSION}
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 NOV 12 (NB) -- With strong demand from the
corporate users, the Japanese personal computer market
greatly expanded in the first half of fiscal 1989.

JEIDA or Japan Electronic Industry Development Association reports
the total shipments in the first half of this year topped 774,000 units
and the figure shows a 34 percent increase over the same period
last year.

The report says due to the lack of practical features except game
use, only 63,000 8-bit machines were sold in the January through
June time period, a 30 percent decline. 16- and 32-bit machines
recorded a steep increase; 559,900 16-bit machines were sold,
increasing this category 26 percent. 152,000 32-bit machines
were sold -- 3.6 times the number for this period last year.

The machines priced between 100,000 yen and 200,000 yen
sold 55 percent more than last year. Those priced 200,000 yen to
500,000 yen increase 37 percent. The machines priced between
500,000 yen and one million yen leaped 45 percent. Those between one
million yen and three million yen were up 32 percent over the last year.

Probably due to the popularity of space-hungry software, sales of
larger capacity built-in hard disk drives (HDD) were up. The
computers with 40 megabyte HDDs sold better than those with 20
megabytes. Portable machines priced between 300,000 yen and
500,000 yen, without any more functionality than the smaller
book-sized machines, sharply declined in sales.

Supported by high-performance and portable-oriented consumers,
total sales topped 226.4 billion yen or $1.561 billion, which is an
increase of 40 percent over the same period in the last year.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19891116)


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

FUJITSU DEVELOPS PROCESS FOR MAKING CLEANER WAFERS}
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 NOV 10 (NB) -- Fujitsu and its subsidiary,
Fujitsu Laboratories, have created a new etching method for
a silicon wafer diffusion line. The firms expect the technology
will replace the current wet-clean method in the next generation of
the computer chips.

Traditionally, liquid chemicals were applied to the clean surface of
the silicon wafer, but this method has some drawbacks, such as
unsatisfactory penetration of chemicals to the trenches of the
highly integrated circuits and chemical damage to the surface.

To replace the current wet-clean method, Fujitsu developed a new
dry-clean method. The trick of the new technology is the
application of highly pure chlorine gas and ultraviolet rays with
200 to 300 nanometers of wavelength to chemically affect
impurities on the wafer and clean up the surface.

Fujitsu claims this process could be effective in the future generation
of more highly integrated circuits on chips.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19891116)


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

SANYO TO RELEASE BOOK-SIZE AX PC}
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 NOV 16 (NB) -- Sanyo Electric will release
its book-size personal computer next year, according to Nikkei
Industrial Daily newspaper. The basic configuration will be
AX, or IBM PC/AT-compatible with Japanese language features.

Sanyo is considering adoption of the Intel 80386SX or 80286
microprocessor for the new machine in order to achieve more
power but a higher speed than either Toshiba's DynaBook with
80C86, or NEC's PC-98 Note with V30.

Sanyo has not decided the size and weight. The price is expected
to be about the same as Toshiba's DynaBook with the price tag
of 198,000 yen or $1,400. Sanyo intends to sell the new book-
sized computer to corporate users.

(Ken Takahashi/19891116)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(TYO)(00014)

MORE LOW-PRICE APPLICATIONS COME OUT}
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 NOV 16 (NB) -- Software prices in certain
categories have been plunging here in Japan.

Ergosoft Corp., a major software venture selling applications
for Apple II Computers, has developed the EasyLight word processing
program and will release it on the first of next month with the
price of 7,000 yen or $50, which is the lowest ever. Though it
has just the basics of word processing, the program is expected to
sell to the tune of 50,000 copies the first year, according to
Ergosoft.


Ashisuto, which is selling its 9,700 yen ($70) software packages,
AshisutoCalc spreadsheet and AshisutoWord word processor,
has shipped 23,000 packages so far, and expects to sell 100,000
by year's end. The president of the firm, Bill Totten, expects
the company will achieve sales of one billion yen or $70 million
within this year.

(Ken Takahashi/19891116)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(TYO)(00015)

JAPAN: UNISYS SELLS SUN WORKSTATIONS}
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 NOV 16 (NB) -- Nihon Unisys has released
SPARC System Family, or RISC (reduced instruction set computer)-
based workstations of Sun Microsystems under its brand name of US
Family. Initial shipment will be in February next year.

The US series workstations adopt RISC-type SPARC processor
and process data at 12.5 to 16 MIPS (million instructions per
second). They run on Unix-based Sun OS, and they allow
construction of distributed systems by connecting with
Unisys 2200 or 1100 series mainframe computers.

Nihon Unisys was previously selling SS series workstations
with CISC (complex instruction set computer)-type microprocessors,
and now judging from the current demand for RISC-based
workstations, it has decided to sell RISC-based machines.

(Ken Takahashi/19891116)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(TOR)(00004)

STUDY DENIES ELECTROMAGNETISM DANGER}
TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1989 NOV 14 (NB) -- Electromagnetic
fields such as those produced by computer displays do not cause
reproductive problems in rodents, researchers at the University
of Toronto has concluded. The year-long study exposed 600
pregnant mice to low-frequency magnetic fields. It found no
statistically significant differences in fetal deaths,
malformations or other pregnancy-related conditions.

The researchers used a blind study in which those examining the
mice did not know which had been exposed to electromagnetism and
which had not.

The study was cosponsored by IBM and Ontario Hydro, an electrical
utility.

(Grant Buckler/19891117/Press Contact: Kerry Kincaid, University
of Toronto, 416-978-5949)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(ATL)(00003)

BELLCORE ANNOUNCES HYPERMEDIA TOOL}
LIVINGSTON, NEW JERSEY, U.S.A., 1989 NOV 16 (NB) -- Bellcore
announced SuperBook, which could become the text end of
tomorrow's Hypermedia tools. SuperBook is a prototype for a
computerized document-browser or text information retrieval
program that can automatically process and display virtually any
document that is in machine-readable form.

It was first developed by Pacific Bell for use in answering
customers' service questions, replacing use of printed manuals
and documents. In addition, SuperBook is also helping Bellcore
understand how widespread use of electronic retrieval services
would impact public telephone networks. Bellcore is talking
about licensing the underlying technology to various colleges,
universities, library systems and other organizations.

SuperBook uses full-context indexing, which references every
place a word is used. When a person searches for a word,
SuperBook shows how many times that word appears in each section
listed in the table of contents.  In addition, the system gives
users the ability to create their own synonyms for terms used by
the author and to add notes (which are then automatically
indexed) and "bookmarks."

Bellcore has been fine tuning a new feature for SuperBook which
allows people to look for whole paragraphs or even entire
documents that are similar in meaning, in addition to individual
words or phrases. "You just give SuperBook a sample paragraph of
what you are looking for and you get back a list of items that
are like your example," said co-inventor Thomas Landauer.  "You
do not have to think of words or logical queries to define what
you want."

SuperBook also has a "dynamic" table of contents, which displays
headings that change as a user browses the text. "One of the big
problems people have is getting lost in an electronic text," said
Landauer.  "With SuperBook, you cannot get lost, you always know
where you are." According to Landauer, SuperBook is effective
because of the particular way its features are combined and
executed.  The system was made even easier to use by observing
people as they worked with it.

Recent Bellcore studies show that SuperBook improves the speed
and accuracy of finding information by 25 percent compared with printed
manuals. Students wrote better essays, Landauer said, and were
more eager to study texts in SuperBook form.

Many aspects of SuperBook aren't new, such as its inverted index
retrieval, although the menu overlays may well be brand-new.
Generally database size interferes with searching ability as when
you get millions of small records or thousands of big ones.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19891117/Press Contact: Deanna Munoz,
BellCore, 201-740-6110)


(EXCLUSIVE)(TRENDS)(LAS)(00009)

COMDEX: PRESSURE SENSITIVE GRAPHICS TABLET FOR MAC AND PC
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, U.S.A., 1989 NOV 13 (NB) -- Wacom
is showing its new cordless, pressure sensitive 6 x 9-inch
digitizer. The 1/4-inch-thick tablet weighs 1.9lb and has a
footprint of 9.4x12.8-inches. Wacom demonstrated the product
with Macintosh applications, as so far only the Mac has
defined a software standard for pressure sensitive input
devices. PC products such as AutoCad are expected soon.

"Both the PC and Mac products are available now." said Sales
Manager Jeff Nicholls. "They work by reading the pressure of
a cordless stylus, to change line thickness, colors,
airbrush densities or achieve special effects such as
accessing multiple menu levels or images, depending on
software."

The Wacom SD-510 Super Digitizer retails for $395 for the PC
bus version and $495 for the RS 232 serial version for Mac
or PC. It offers 770 lines per inch resolution and edge to
edge accuracy of +/- 0.5mm. The stylus weighs 1/3 ounce or
11 grams. Reaction from press at the press conference was
favorable.

(Paul Zucker/19891113/Press Contact: Jeff Nicholls phone
201-265-4226)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(LAS)(00006)

COMDEX: VDT EMISSIONS A HOT TOPIC
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, U.S.A., 1989 NOV 13 (NB) -- NoRad Corporation
is offering to measure the E-Field Electromagnetic Radiation (EMR)
being emitted by video display terminals (VDT) inuse on the show
floor at COMDEX in Las Vegas.

So far, there have been no "takers" but there has been a great deal
of interest by manufacturers, many of whom are still reluctant to
find out just how many harmful rays the screen being used by their
employees may be emitting. Michael Hiles, president of NoRad told
Newsbytes that this is the first year anyone has offered this
service during the COMDEX Show. "It is not usual for us to be
first. We were the first to come into the market and say that VDTs
emit a serious level of EMRs and that perhaps somebody ought to do
something about that."

Hiles went on to admit that his company has been accused of scare
mongering and do-gooding in the years since 1985 when the company
was founded. "We were able to put together a group of people who
believed in what we were doing and could afford not to worry too
much about making money at the outset. We really were out on a
very thin limb at first but in the past few years, the limb has
been getting stronger."

Hiles pointed out that in the last 6 months, research has proven
that the position NoRad has held all throughout the years is the
correct position. "Even the media, who shied away from discussing
this subject opening are starting to get on the bandwagon now and
it is gratifying." According to Hiles, it was rather ironic that
the publishing industry, which was one of the first to extensively
employ data processing seemed to close its eyes to the potential
hazards of VDTs."

For the first time, the government's Office of Technology
Assessment (OTA) has reported that EMR is capable of causing
substantial biological changes including critical cell damage.
Hile told Newbytes that the question now is how much damage to the
whole body will ultimately be caused.

So NoRad has made the offer at COMDEX and is hoping exhibitors will
take them up on it. Companies they have tested elsewhere have been
surprised at the results. Yes, NoRad does want to sell their
products--grounded screens to block the EMRs but they also feel
that people should be aware of the extent of their own risk, more
educated about that risk and then allowed to make up their own
minds about whether or not to take action. "We are happy to have
people call out educational toll free number to get more
infomration on the subject of EMRs, not NoRad screens," says Hiles.

The subject of harmful emission from video display terminals, long
simmering on the back burner, is now out in the open...a new trend
developing in the computer industry.

(Janet Endrijonas/19891113/Press Contact: Michelle Hartzelle, NoRad
Corporation, 213-395-0800)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(LAS)(00007)

COMDEX: THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING--NO, THEY'RE HERE
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, U.S.A., 1989 NOV 13 (NB) -- Many people think
the Russians are years behind then rest of the world in developing
PC-based software, especially programs that deal with such
capitalistic subjects as "business." Yet, Arkady Borkovsky is at
the COMDEX Show in Las Vegas demonstrating Russian business
software called PolyText.

Wes Thomas, acting as spokesman for GlasnostSoft, the company that
is bringing this Russian software into the US market, told
Newsbytes that PolyText, which is the first Russian text processor,
is very functional and analytical, in some ways emulating the
Russian mind. Thomas told Newsbytes that the software was being
shown at COMDEX to test US reaction. "We actually had someone want
to buy 100 copies so it would seem the reation has been positive,"
commented Thomas.

Borkovsky, the developer, says he brought the software to the US
to give himself a chance to see how things are done in America.
"I am finding the American market vey interesting and hope the
American computer users are findiidng my sofware equally of
interest," Borkovsky told Newsbytes. "My software may not be as
powerful as some of the US programs but it does combine features
not usually combined in other programs. It unifies file functions
and text information for the first time. PolyText supports 31
simultaneous, resizeable windows that may include any combination
of directories and text files."

Peter Alexander, executive vice president of LAV-PC, a San
Francisco, CA-based company that runs an exposition and retail
sales operation for American technological products in Moscow, sees
the arrival of Borkovsky and PolyText as "the tip of the iceberg."
In an inteview with Newsbytes, Alexander said that there is a
tremendous brain trust in Russia that the rest of the world has yet
to tap into. "The Russians may have been far behind us in working
on personal computers for consumer-oriented applications, but they
are coming up very fast."

Alexander continued: "Now is the perfect time. With Glasnost, the
current political climate both inside Russia and between Russia and
the rest of the world is right for this kind of technological
exchange."

(Janet Endrijonas/19891113/Press Contact: Matthew McIntosh,
GlasnostSoft, 415-821-1525)


(EXCLUSIVE)(TRENDS)(LAS)(00010)

COMDEX: INTEL GRABBING PRINTER CONTROLLER MARKET
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, U.S.A., 1989 NOV 14 (NB) -- It's no
secret anymore that Intel rules the PC market. As the sole
source for the i386 and i486 chips needed to make today's PCs,
they've got the whip hand even over IBM and Compaq. What's new at
this show is how they're taking control of new markets, such as
printer controllers.

At a press breakfast for Eicon Technology Ltd.
of Montreal, Canada, which makes print controllers, Vice President
Moustaffa Talaat explained. The company was ready to go 2 months
ago with a new PostScript controller featuring the Motorola
68020, when Intel introduced its new i960. Talaat saw its power,
stopped the Motorola project, and here introduced a new
controller using the i960. It's faster than the 68020 ever could
be, and the speed can be increased with software upgrades as
Eicon engineers learn how to get the most from the chip. "The 960
is faster and costs less," he says.

Besides being a wonderful chip controller, the i960 also
introduced parallel-processing tricks which Intel will soon be
putting into its other chips, including the i860 series for
workstations, a RISC processor, and the Intel i586, expected
around 1992. True parallel processing on a single chip without
resorting to an operating system -- all this will reach your
peripheral devices in the next year.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19891114)


(EXCLUSIVE)(TRENDS)(LAS)(00002)

COMDEX: INDUSTRY FIGURES FINGER TRENDS
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, U.S.A., 1989 NOV 14 (NB) -- The next phase of
the micro revolution is beginning, according to William Zachman,
president of Canopus Research. "Guerrilla warfare" is giving way
to a full-scale assault on the traditional preserves of
minicomputers and mainframes. The micro revolutionaries now have
their hands on the heavy artillery, Zachman told a standing-room-
only crowd at a Comdex/Fall session Monday, and are advancing on the
cities.

Michael Swavely, president for North America of Compaq, whose
recently launched SystemPro is among the heavy artillery to which
Zachman referred, said such heavy-duty microprocessor-based systems
can serve either as direct replacements for minicomputers, running
multiuser operating systems such as Unix, or as the bases of
local-area networks that provide comparable power. The SystemPro's
early sales will probably be concentrated in the latter sort of
applications, he said.

Fernand Sarrat, general manager of new business opportunities for
IBM desktop software, agreed that more powerful, networked
microcomputers will cut into the minicomputer market.  "We're
moving from personal computing to connected computing," he said.

The panel discussion on trends to watch for in the 1990s also
touched on lightweight portable computers. Sarrat said the ultimate
notebook computer will be one that accepts data entered by writing
on its screen with a stylus.  Such a machine would "bring a lot of
new folks into computing that today will not even come close a
computer," he said.

The panelists also touched on the possibilities for voice
interfaces to computers. Gordon Eubanks, president and chief
executive of Symantec, said his company is doing extensive work in
this area. But he added that successful voice interface technology
depends not only on the ability to recognize human speech, but on
natural language interfaces that can understand conversational
language. Bill Joy, vice-president of research and development at
Sun Microsystems, added that voice simply is not suited to some
applications, such as drawing. He said a handwriting interface of
the sort Sarrat described earlier would be practical sooner and
will be more important.

In response to questions from the audience, the panelists suggested
that typical personal computers of 1995 will have from two to 16
megabytes of memory. Joy said two megabytes is enough to use word
processing and spreadsheets effectively and many users cannot
afford more. Eubanks, however, said the low-end system is likely
to have four megabytes of memory, while more powerful PCs will have
about 16 megabytes of memory, a figure with which Swavely agreed.
On the bright side, continued decline in memory prices was
forecast. Steve Balmer, vice-president for systems software at
Microsoft, noted that memory prices today are about a third of what
they were 18 months ago, and "we expect to see a further drop in
memory prices, not as dramatic as what we've seen in the last 18
months," but significant just the same.

(Grant Buckler/19891113)


(EXCLUSIVE)(TRENDS)(LAS)(00003)

COMDEX: IBM OFFICIAL TALKS MULTIMEDIA AT KEYNOTE
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, U.S.A., 1989 NOV 13 (NB) -- George Conrades,
IBM's general manager for U.S. marketing and services, emphasized
customer service and beat the drum for multimedia in his keynote
address to Comdex/Fall here Monday.

Conrades' presentation was devoted partly to talking about the need
for companies in every business to focus on responding to customer
needs. "I'm talking about real answers to customers' problems," he
said, "not just product differentiation." He promoted information
technology as a way to do this better. For computer companies, he
added, "the challenge is to provide integrated systems to
everybody" from large factories down to individual classrooms. He
added that small and medium-sized businesses are the greatest
opportunity for the computer industry.

Conrades said developing new applications is at least as important
as continuing to increase system performance. As an example of
where computer applications are going, he cited multimedia, the
combination of still and full-motion images, sound and graphics
controlled by a computer. Fred Hofstetter, associate provost in
charge of instructional computing at the University of Delaware,
joined Conrades to demonstrate multimedia applications for
education. He used multimedia to explain engineering problems
behind the collapse of a bridge, using a mixture of live video and
animation, and then demonstrated the creation of music on a
personal computer. Conrades chipped in by using an electronic drum
controller to provide a percussion track.

Conrades did not address the question of how soon multimedia can
be a part of really useful applications for customers. Later in the
day, however, another IBMer added an observation on that count. At
an afternoon conference session, Fernand Sarrat, general manager
of new business opportunities for IBM desktop software, said
multimedia will find application more "in the entertainment side
of the business" for the near term, and will take time to find its
way into mainstream applications.

(Grant Buckler/19891113)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(LAS)(00002)

COMDEX: WHITHER THE PRINTER MARKET IN THE 1990'S?
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, U.S.A., 1989 NOV 15 (NB) --  The printer market
will belong to the niche marketers who provide solutions in the
1990s according to Eric Gaer, marketing director of Personal
Computer Products Inc. (PCPI).

In an interview with Newsbytes, Gaer said the only way printer
manufacturers are going to survive in the 1990s is to find a niche.
"In our case, we differentiate our printers with ROM-based
software.  For the first time, we are able to offer 'intelligence'
in a peripheral, namely printers."

"Laser printers are hot right now and have been for the past 1 1/2
years, added Gaer.  "There have been many new entries in the field.
Everyone wants a slice of the market pie.  With companies like
Apple and Hewlett-Packard having mega shares of the market already,
there isn't much left to divide up among all the hopefuls."

Gaer told Newsbytes that looking at overall market share is
irrelevant.  "Manufacturers must get market share within specific
applications.  In other words," noted Gaer, "we are going to have
to deliver solutions."

Solutions will be the other key part of survival in the printer
market in the next decade as Gaer sees it.  "Our industry is still
technology driven rather than market driven.  Many companies are
more concerned with technology such as dots-per-inch and engine
speed rather than the way people will use the printer.  As an
industry, we seem to sell ourselves all the time and often tend to
forget about the end user.  The corporate end user and the VAR know
they need solutions and they are aware that the solutions may not
always involve more technology."

The way to find a niche, provide a solution and survive in the
1990s?  "We have to listen," says Gaer.  "Anyone and everyone is a
potential customer; there are as many solutions out there as there
are customers so we will have to keep listening in order to find
the most profitable way to market our products."

(Janet Endrijonas/19891114)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(LAS)(00003)

COMDEX: RAM CRAM CAN BE CURED}
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, U.S.A., 1989 NOV 13 (NB) -- The 640KB RAM
limitation need not be finite.  In the light of the more powerful
software programs constantly arriving on the market, the 640 KByte
limitation is becoming a real headache for DOS users who either
want to use the full capability of their systems.

"People simply need more memory," Rod Hildreth, software product
manager of Merrill & Bryan Enterprises told Newsbytes.  "RAM cram
in the 1990s will determine whether or not people can actually be
functional.  People are already frustrated by not being able to
accomplish all the tasks they need and want to handle.  They need
to be able to maximize the use of their computers."

Upgrading from a slower computer to a faster one or a system with
more megabytes of memory isn't the answer.  As Hildreth explained,
640 KByte RAM limitation for DOS-based applications is a physical
limitation of IBM and compatible PCs.  "The solution is software,"
said Hildreth.

Memory beyond 640KBytes is defined as extended memory and is
normally not addressable using DOS-based programs.  Expanded memory
is a concept borrowed from main frame computing where it is called
"virtual memory."  Data normally stored in RAM is temporarily
stored to disk and recalled when needed.  Lotus, Intel and
Microsoft jointly designed a specification (LIM 3.2 & 4.0) to
implement this technology on PCs.  Data can be stored into extended
memory as well under the LIM spec.

"The software solution is an important consideration because
hardware will not always operate at fast processor speeds,"
explained Hildreth.  Software will operate at any speed and is easy
to install on hardware the user already has making it a cost
effective solution."

"Internationally, people seem to be looking toward the US for
innovation," said Hildreth.  "We are already thinking about 1992
and we will be ahead of the game because we will have product to
provide for users needs.  So many developers fail to listen to the
market; they keep turning out solutions with or without an
established need.  In the case of memory extension, there is now
and will continue to be a real need."

"The subject of memory extension may be complex but the solutions
for memory extension are not," comments Hildreth.  "The idea is to
make software solutions that are functional and easy which is what
we have tried to do at Merrill & Bryan with Turbo EMS 5.0. A 386
may operate fast but it is still limited to 640KBytes just like the
slower, older systems.  We are going to have to be concerned  in
the coming decade about using software to make the most out of our
hardware resources and enabling users to enjoy the faster more
powerful programs that will increase their functionality and
productivity."

(Janet Endrijonas/19891114)


(EXCLUSIVE)(TRENDS)(LAS)(00009)

COMDEX:  INTEL'S DVI USHERS IN SERIOUS DIGITAL VIDEO
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, U.S.A., 1989 NOV 15 (NB) -- Real-time
video (RTV) compression at a full 30 frames per second is now
being shown by Intel╒s Princeton Operation (PRO) at COMDEX/89.

The results of their Digital Video Interactive (DVI) research is
winning the battle to achieve quality digital video for 72
minutes on 5╩1/4-inch CD-ROMs.

Developers and end users can now add real-time video
to their presentation and educational applications for on-
the-fly analysis and to speed authoring time.  Intel will further
compress, enhance and replace RTV segments offline with
Production-Level Video (PLV) prior to CD-ROM mastering
for $250 a minute.  Although these digital images are highly
compressed, the quality is acceptable for most applications.
While not as sharp and detailed as real-time videotape or
live video, most people won╒t recognize the degradation
experts can see on these DVI compressed images.

Also:  VideoLogic, maker of new video display boards from
England, is making the non-interlaced display and
manipulation of video images possible as never before.  Their
full motion digital video adapters for the PC family are
improving video display fidelity considerably.

(Taylor Barcroft/19891115/Press Contact: Intel, Paula
Zimmerman, 609-936-7615, VideoLogic, Kirke Curtis, 617-494-0530)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(TYO)(00012)

DEC JAPAN UPGRADES ITS WORKSTATIONS}
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 NOV 15 (NB) -- Digital Equipment Corporation Japan
has announced upgraded models of its VAX Station 3100 series,
Model 30 and 40. The prices of the new models are 2,380,000 yen
or $16,414 for Model 38 and 3,870,000 yen or $26,689 for
Model 48.

The firm claims the new machines are 40 percent more powerful than
the current models. The source of the power is the CMOS
(complementary metal oxide semiconductor) VAX chip which operates
nearly five MIPS (million instruction per second). The eight megabytes
of main memory is expandable to 32 megabytes. The machines allow
operation of both of DEC's original operating systems, VMS and Unix
version, Ultrix.

There are over 6,500 application available for the machines, most
of which have been around for quite some time throughout DEC's history,
The integrated software environment, the NAS or Network Application
Support, will provide an integrated computing environment for
VMS, Ultrix or MS-DOS on a network.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19891116)


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

OMRON OFFERS NEWS WORKSTATION FOR EDUCATION}
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 NOV 14 (NB) -- Omron Tateishi has started
promotion of its new workstations for universities. The new
machines, slated to be released in March, 1990, offer more
power for the price, which Omron says will make them competitive
with established vendors.

The new machine, dubbed Luna-88K, contains up to four Motorola
MC88000 RISC (reduced instruction set computer) chips. The
operating system for the machine is Mach OS developed by
Carnegie Mellon University.

It has 16 megabytes of main memory, 250 megabytes of hard disk
drive storage, and a black and white display. The price is
2,980,000 yen or $20,550.

The Japanese workstation market is crowded with vendors who got a
head start, including Sun Microsystems, MIPS Computer and Sony.
MC88000-based machines, however, have only been released by
Nippon Data General and Sony Techtoronix.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19891116)


(EXCLUSIVE)(UNIX)(LAS)(00015)

COMDEX: COMPAQ ANNOUNCES FIRST SYSTEMPRO CONVERT -- IN NEW ZEALAND
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, U.S.A., 1989 NOV 15 (NB) -- Fact International, a
New Zealand software developer, has ported its manufacturing
control software from minicomputer environments, to the new
Compaq SystemPro. Company spokespeople said this was
possible because the machine runs SCO Unix.

"Price/Performance and SCO Unix were the reasons we shifted
to open industry standard architecture," said Fact CEO John
Blackham. Compaq claims that the SystemPro is much faster
than accepted minicomputer alternatives.

(Paul Zucker/19891115/Press Contact: Fact International in
New Zealand - 649-391-860 and Compaq, 713-374-8316)