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/nb891218

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

APPLE'S NEXT SYSTEM 7.0 TO CONSUME NEARLY 3 MEGS}
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 DEC 15 (NB) -- According to
sources close to Apple Computer, the new System 7.0 software file, due
out early next year, will take up nearly 3 megabytes on a user's
machine, far more than the current system files, and will
make use of a hard disk mandatory in order to run it.

The document obtained by Newsbytes lists System 7, vers 7.0d17
as having files sizes as follows: ADSP, 7509; Alarm Clock, 5380:
AppleShare, 44633; AppleShare Prep, 556; AppleTalk, 27526;AppleTalk
ImageWriter, 44316; Calculator,3631; Chooser, 22294; CL/1 DDEV,
21906; Control Panels, DA Handler, 7174; Easy Access, 3293;
Find File, 12236; Finder, 518288; Finder Preferences,7270;
General Controls, 13255; Grand Central Spooler, 469; Highlight Color,
2773; Hosts.CL1, 354; ImageWriter, 38660; Key Caps, 5056; Keyboard,
4571, LaserWriter 82897; LaserWriter IISC, 61445; LQ AppleTalk ImageWriter,
64328; LQ ImageWriter, 55845; MacsBug, 91352; Map,21812; Memory,
35109; Monitors, 36749; Mouse, 3414; MultiFinder, 84765; PrintMonitor,
37630; QMgrCatalog, 4096; Read Me, 3215; Scrapbook, 4028; Sound,
4092; Startup Disk, 2353; System, 1433049.

The total size for the file is 2,827,098 bytes or 2.8 megabytes.

(Wendy Woods/19891216)


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

APPLE SUED BY XEROX}
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 DEC 14 (NB) -- Xerox has
slapped a lawsuit seeking $150 million on Apple Computer, charging
that the company unlawfully used the visual copyright of the graphical
Star software developed by Xerox scientists in the 1970s.

Xerox is not suing for copyright infringement, but for copyright
misrepresentation, a legal distinction that must be hammered out
in the courts, and for which Xerox seeks a full-blown jury trial.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, charges
that Apple Computer has been using the Star software without
Xerox's permission, and asks the court to revoke Apple's copyright
registrations for Lisa and Macintosh software.

For years, public debate has raged over this issue, but this is
the first time Xerox has taken Apple to court over it. Apple never
received a license from Xerox for use of the Star software,
according to Xerox spokesman Tom Abbott. He says the only license
Apple has received from Xerox is one for the Smalltalk programming
language, acquired in 1981.

Asked why the delay -- it's been seven years since the Lisa was
introduced -- in filing such a suit, Xerox spokesman Peter
Hawes said, "There are a number of reasons including recent
clarifications and changes in the copyright laws. And there
have been changes in our licenses. We are aggressively offering
licenses for the look and feel of our interface. More and more
companies are adopting our interface. We object to Apple's
assertions that it is the owner," Peter Hawes, spokesman for
Xerox in Stamford, Connecticut, told Newsbytes.

Xerox claims that Apple has been using portions of the
Star graphic interface without a license, and contends that Apple
has "unjustly received royalties, license fees, and other benefits
in excess of $100 million that properly belong to Xerox," according
to a company statement.

There are other charges -- unfair competition, unfair business
practices, and that Apple "intentionally and purposefully concealed"
that its Lisa and Macintosh software was derived from Xerox
software.

Xerox is generally acknowledged to have pioneered the graphical user
interface during research conducted as its Palo Alto Research
facility in the mid-70s. Such luminaries as Alan Kay, now an
Apple Fellow, were among the pioneers.

Xerox copyrighted the Star software in 1981, two years before
Apple copyrighted the Lisa interface and three years before
the Macintosh was copyrighted, according to Xerox spokesman
Tom Abbott.

Abbott adds that Xerox tried to talk with Apple officers in order
to settle this dispute out of court but broke off the talks
when no progress was apparent.

Xerox in May of this year, instituted an aggressive licensing
program for the Star interface software, signing up Metaphor
Systems and Sun Microsystems, among other firms.

Steve Jobs, under whose tutelage Apple created the Lisa, declined
to comment on the matter.

Apple spokeswoman Stacey Byrnes tells Newsbytes the suit is without
merit. "The Xerox complaint seems to confuse ideas rather than
expression. Copyrights protect expressions, not ideas," she says.
In fact, she says, Xerox is making no allegations of copyright
infringement.

The introduction of this suit further muddies the waters already
stirred up by Apple's filed suit against both Microsoft and
Hewlett-Packard regarding alleged copyright violation. In that suit
Apple charges that its audiovisual copyright on the Macintosh interface
is being violated by HP's New Wave and Microsoft's Windows 2.03.

Xerox is being represented by Henry Bunson of Townsend & Townsend
law offices in San Francisco.

(Wendy Woods/19891215/Press Contact: Stacey Byrnes, Apple,
408-9746076, Tom Abbott, Xerox, 203-968-3378)


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

APPLE REPORTS SLOWER GROWTH}
CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 DEC 12 (NB) -- Apple Computer
will not experience the growth rate of this past year during 1990,
so says the company in its latest report to financial analysts.

A company statement says net sales for the first quarter of 1990,
ending December 29, 1989, will exceed the $1.405 billion net sales
achieved by the company for the first quarter of fiscal 1989.
However, the revenue increase over last year will be less than
previously expected.

Slower sales than anticipated have sabotaged an expensive and
elaborate holiday promotion from Apple. In addition, Apple has
yet to achieve volume shipments of Macintosh Portables due to
constraints in the supply of screens.

(Wendy Woods/19891215)


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

100,000 COPIES OF ADOBE TYPE MANAGER SHIPPED}
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 DEC 11 (NB) -- Adobe Systems
says over 100,000 copies of Adobe Type Manager have been shipped
since the product's introduction October 16.

Adobe Type Manager offers 13 Postscript-quality fonts for non-Postscript
printers designed to work with the Macintosh and Apple computers, such
as the Laserwriter SC, Imagewriter, Deskwriter from
Hewlett-Packard, and Kodak Diconix printer. It is also capable of
smoothing out the otherwise jagged edges on various sizes of
fonts when they are printed.

The program's popularity has surprised those who are selling it. "It
is great to see a product sell the way Adobe Type Manager is. We keep
increasing our orders and the product keeps on selling. I've never
seen anything like it," says Bruce Fredrickson, vice president of
marketing, Micro D.

Adobe Type Manager costs $99.

(Wendy Woods/19891215/Press Contact: LaVon Collins, 415/961-4400)


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

MICROLYTICS TO PUT 'ELEMENTS OF STYLE' ON DISK}
PITTSFORD, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1989 DEC 11 (NB) -- The quintessential
guide to proper writing, William Strunk and E.B. White's "Elements
of Style," will be committed to software and electronic cartridge
by Microlytics, based on a licensing agreement with publisher
MacMillan.

The principals of composition, form, style, and expression as outlined
in this book have been the guides for millions of writers since
it was first published in 1935.

Microlytics plans to offer Elements of Style as software for the
PC and the Macintosh. It will also be incorporated into forthcoming
hand held products from Selectronics, with which Microlytics is
soon to merge.

Selectronics will make the book available as an optional ROM
(read-only memory) cartridge compatible with its other
electronic reference devices, such as the Random House
Encyclopedia, and the Electronic Bible.

"'The Elements of Style' is a great addition to our product
line," boasts Mike Weiner, president of Microlytics who adds that
it not only will be used in stand-alone products but licensed
to word processing customers who can incorporate it into their
software. Additionally, Elements will "link to our forthcoming
grammar checker so that when a writing error is flagged,
Elements will automatically be opened to the proper section."

The first products are expected to appear in the second quarter
of 1990.

(Wendy Woods/19891215/Press Contact: Mike Weiner, 716-248-9150)


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

TAX TIME COMETH: SOFTVIEW BUNDLES TWO}
OXNARD, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 DEC 15 (NB) -- Softview has a
special deal to coincide with the imminent return of tax time --
a bundle of both Macintax and Intuit's personal finance
software Quicken.

The duo costs $129.

Information from Quicken, a financial management program used to
give home and small business users a way to keep records on
their checks, expenses, income, and budget, can be imported to
the Macintax program which aids in the preparation of a tax
return. Macintax allows users to display exact graphic replicas
of familiar IRS forms and schedules on-screen as well as specially
designed worksheets and statements for data entry.

Also included in the package is Stock!, portfolio management
software which can be used to record the purchase and sale
of stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and other investments.

(Wendy Woods/19891215/Press Contact: Jeff Felder, Softview,
805-385-5000, xtension 5013)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(SFO)(00008)

LOWEST PRICED MACINTOSH 20MB HARD DISK $299}
EVANSTON, WYOMING, U.S.A., 1989 DEC 14 (NB) -- Ehman has broken
another price barrier with the introduction of the industry's
lowest-priced internal hard disk for the Macintosh -- its 20MB
(megabyte) unit at $299.

The external version is also reduced to $349.

The units are based upon technology from Seagate, according to
the company, and come with a 30,000-hour reliability rating. They
come with a 30-day money-back guarantee and an optional 24-hour
replacement service policy.

The price -- about 30-percent below the lowest-priced competitor,
is due to volume sales, according to Mike Ehman, president of
the company, and to market factors. "We are in a very
competitive business," he says, frankly.

Ehman recently offered the lowest-priced large-screen monitors
for the Macintosh. The company also makes 45 megabyte removable
disk drives, 800K floppy disk drives, and keyboards.

(Wendy Woods/19891215/Press Contact: Ilene Slapin, RIS
Associates, 714-240-8985)


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

MACINTOSH/LA SETS ATTENDANCE RECORDS}
LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 DEC 01 (NB) -- The recent
Macintosh/LA Conference and Exposition in Long Beach, CA drew a
record-setting 14,123 attendees during the three day event.

At the exposition, over 60 new products were introduced for
Macintosh and Macintosh portable computers. Many leaders of the
national Macintosh community attended and participated in the
conference portion of the event.

Macintosh/LA has grown from an event aimed strictly at the
business user to one that treats a variety of topics of interest
to current and potential Macintosh users. A similar show,
Macintosh/New York will be held in New York City, July 17-19,
1990. The next Macintosh/LA, expected to be even larger than
this year's show, is scheduled to be held Dec 4-6, 1990 in Long
Beach, CA.

(Janet Endrijonas/19891215/Press Contact: Nancy Thayer,
Macintosh/LA, 617-860-7127)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(TOR)(00001)

APPLE CANADA CUTS JOBS IN REORGANIZATION}
MARKHAM, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1989 DEC 15 (NB) -- Apple Canada is
laying off about 60 of its 420 employees in a reorganization that
reflects slowing growth and a shift away from direct sales. The
company gave the bad news to employees over the past few days.

Norm Kirkpatrick, vice-president of marketing, said that while
Apple Canada's sales grew this year, "all the data" indicate
slowing growth and tougher competition ahead. This week's moves
were partly to prepare for that, he said. But Kirkpatrick
emphasized the layoffs reflect a shift of focus toward better
training dealers and relying on them rather than direct sales.

The 60 jobs eliminated were in sales and marketing, he said, and
another 20 to 25 people are being reassigned from those functions
to dealer training and support. Kirkpatrick added that Apple
Canada may well be hiring in the new year for jobs it could not
fill with existing staff. "We have to rethink the skills that we
have in Apple and the skills that the dealers have," he said.
As the industry matures, Kirkpatrick added, dealers are becoming
more sophisticated.

Kirkpatrick added that Apple Canada sought the blessing of its
parent company in Cupertino, Calif., before proceeding with the
cuts, but that the reorganization was not part of a worldwide
Apple direction. He said he "really can't say" whether the move
by Apple Canada, twice chosen country of the year in the
worldwide Apple organization, might be a harbinger of things to
come for the company's operations elsewhere.

He said Apple Canada is trying to help employees who lost their
jobs. "There's been major counselling and everything brought into
play," he said.

(Grant Buckler/19891215/Press Contact: Norm Kirkpatrick, Apple
Canada, 416-477-5800)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(SYD)(00012)

FAR EAST CHIEF SAYS APPLE GOING GLOBAL}
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1989 DEC 11 (NB) -- "No longer can Apple
be a US company, also selling overseas. It must be a truly
global company, responding to global markets." said Ian
Diery, president, Apple Pacific, at his introduction to the
Australian computer press.

Diery, an Australian, said that the Australian market was
very important to Apple because "if we can succeed in
Australia where there are more brands and models of PCs sold
than anywhere else in the world, we'll know how to position
ourselves in all other markets." He spoke of Australia's
unique position as a test market, especially for Japanese PC
products.

Praising the Australian arm of Apple, Diery said that Apple
led the Australian PC market in both units sold and dollars.
When questioned by Newsbytes as to the source of this data,
Diery said that the figures came from Compass research.
Compass has often been criticized by Apple Australia on the
quality and reliability of its data.

(Paul Zucker/19891215)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(TYO)(00019)

CANON SALES EXPECTS 80% GROWTH WITH APPLE}
TOKYO, JAPAN 1989 DEC 9 (NB) -- The Apple Computer division of
Canon Sales expects to report a remarkable 80 percent increase
in sales by the end of this fiscal year, in March, due to brisk
business from the sale of the Apple Computer product line and
third-party software for the machines.

Beside the hardware, sales of software, have been phenomenal;
20,000 copies of Microsoft Excel, reports a Canon spokesman, have
been sold. Canon Sales will market the new version of
Microsoft Excel, Ver. 2.2 J in March 1990.

Canon Sales will also release Microsoft Mail 2.0 J in June next
year.

Earlier this year, Apple Computer Japan and Canon
Sales were inspected by the Fair Trade Commission allegedly on the
suspicion of antimonopoly act violations. Both firms, however,
have refused comment on pricing of future products.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19891214)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(TYO)(00022)

JAPAN: APPLE AND PIONEER JOIN FORCES IN MULTIMEDIA}
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 DEC 11 (NB) -- Apple Computer and Pioneer LDC,
subsidiary of Pioneer Electronic have jointly created new multimedia
for Apple Macintosh computers using a laserdisc and a floppy disk.

The new interactive media will allow a user to pick up images on
laserdisc while reading a floppy disk on a Macintosh computer. Van
Gogh, Mission To The Moon and Washington National Gallery will be
available through Pioneer Electronic in June next year. The prices
are expected to be between 40,000 and 50,000 yen ($280 and 350).

Pioneer is planning to release about 20 titles including music and
language studies annually. Pioneer expects over 10 million yen
($70,000) of annual sales from the multimedia package, by mainly
selling to the education market and using distribution channel of
Apple products.

(Ken Takahashi/19891214/Press Contact: Pioneer Electronic,
03-454-1111)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(TYO)(00024)

JAPAN: SCULLEY TALKS ON FUTURE}
MAKUHARI, CHIBA, JAPAN, 1989 DEC 14 (NB) -- Apple Computer
Chairman John Sculley, in Tokyo to deliver the keynote
address at the first International Conference on Multimedia '89,
held a press conference at the Nippon Convention Center,
Makuhari Messe.

Sculley revealed to reporters that Apple expects to earn annual
sales of one billion dollars from Apple Computer Japan in return
for an added investment. Sources say the Japanese arm of Apple earned
about 200 million dollars in sales during this fiscal year.

Part of the added investment will be the establishment of twenty
AppleCenter retail stores in Japan; the first two were
dedicated this week in Tokyo. They will carry not only Apple
products but third-party hardware and software as well as
offer training, support, service, and consulting.

Sculley announced that he wants to create more multimedia products
in cooperation with Japanese makers. Also, he emphasized that
multimedia will greatly revolutionize what a PC should be.

Meanwhile, asked why Apple products are so expensive in Japan,
Sculley told reporters that costs are added for investment in
research and development of the Japanese version of products,
as well as due to a complicated distribution channel.

"Over time we will bring prices down, but we can't afford to
do so in the near term," he was reported as saying.

Regarding Knowledge Navigator, he said there remain problems
in software development, and he forecast it will take at
least 15 years for the firm to realize it. He also
mentioned Apple will adopt ideas from Japanese PC users.

(Ken Takahashi & Wendy Woods/19891214)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(HKG)(00005)

FAR EAST DEVELOPER SERVICES PROGRAM INTRODUCED BY APPLE}
CENTRAL, HONGKONG, 1989 DEC 8 (NB) -- Apple Far East has launched a
Developer Services Program (DSP) to encourage quality third-party
organizations to develop Macintosh products for the Asian region.

"Third-part developers have always played a crucial role in
Apple's global success by creating leading-edge software and
hardware products that build on Apple's innovative Macintosh
platform," says Bill James, managing director of
Apple Far East.

He said that the region's unique requirements, in terms of
language, geography and business environment, demanded
developers with strong local knowledge.

Developers will receive training at both local and regional levels,
in addition to regular support from Apple Far East and local
distributors. Potential candidates for the program include
third-party commercial developers, educators, researchers,
corporate in-house developers, MIS professionals, consultants,
value-added resellers and software publishers. All applications
will be screened by their local Apple authorized distributor and
certified by Apple Far East.

Apple Far East covers Bangladesh, China, Guam, Hongkong, India,
Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippines, Singapore,
Taiwan and Thailand.

(Keith Cameron/19891215/Press Contact: Donald Cheung - Apple FE
852-5-8442415)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SFO)(00010)

WYSE SOLD, SUED, SLASHES PRICES}
SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 DEC 13 (NB) -- Wyse Technology,
maker of PCs and terminals, is being sold to a Taiwan investment
group for a tender offer of all outstanding shares at $10.00 per
share in cash.

The news crowns weeks of rumors that Wyse was to be sold to a Taiwan
investment group. Channel International is that group, and the
offer is contingent upon the investors obtaining 50 percent of the
outstanding shares by January 22.

At least one group won't sell without a fight. A group of
shareholders has filed a class action lawsuit against the
company and certain of its directors. The suit claims that Wyse directors
violated the fiduciary duties to stockholders by taking actions
relating to matters of corporate control without
adequately considering the interests of the stockholders.

While all this was happening, Wyse has also dropped its prices.
Several 80386 and 80286-based models are 10 to 17 percent lower
in price. The decision to lower prices, however, came before
Channel's tender offer.

Wyse controls nearly 50 percent of the general terminal market
and is ranked second in the U.S. as primary supplier of PCs to
more than 2,000 value-added resellers surveyed by International
Data Corporation. The company employs 3,000 worldwide. Revenue
for fiscal 1989 was $452.3 million.

(Wendy Woods/19891215/Press Contact: Kathryn Watson, 408-473-
2066)


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

MITSUBISHI AND TI INTER-SUPPLY DRAM CHIPS}
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 DEC 13 (NB) -- Mitsubishi Electric and U.S.-
based major chipmaker Texas Instruments have signed an agreement
to supply DRAM (dynamic random access memory) chips to each
other.

Based on this contract, Mitsubishi will supply 100,000 units of
one-megabit (1 Mb) DRAM chips each month to TI, which in turn will supply
a over ten thousand units of 64-kilobit (65Kb) DRAM chips per month to
Mitsubishi. Both makers will sell the chips under their own
brand names.

Orders for 1-Mb DRAM chips, currently low priced and not in
demand, are expected to pick up in mid-1990. Texas Instrument's
decision to get its chips from Mitsubishi, however, is part of a
plan to avoid the risk of increased production of one megabit
chips in case that market gets soft.

Mitsubishi, on the other hand, has already stopped producing 64Kb
chips due to shrinking demand for them. But 64Kb chip demand is
still high for makers of consumer electronics products, so
Mitsubishi has decided to receive supplies from TI.

(Ken Takahashi/19891214)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LAX)(00001)

C. ITOH SELLS CIE TO GENERAL AUTOMATION}
IRVINE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 DEC 14 (NB) -- C. Itoh
Electronics has entered into an agreement under which the company
will sell all the products and assets of its fully owned
division, CIE Systems, to General Automation of Anaheim, CA.

The agreement covers all products, assets, manufacturing,
distribution and maintenance of CIE Systems, a company that has
been developing and marketing PICK operating system-based systems
since 1984. All maintenance contracts, fixed assets, licenses,
inventories, accounts receivable and intellectual property of CIE
will be relocated to General Automation's facility in Anaheim.
General Automation will support and maintain all CIE existing
accounts and business relationships.

CIE has an installed base of approximately 3,000 and sells
through a network of over 100 resellers worldwide. CIE is a
major supplier of Motorola 68020-based multi-user business
computer systems. The company also is a provider of RM/COS
operating system features.

No financial details of the transaction have been revealed nor
has any specific reason for the sale been unveiled. The
agreement is due to be finalized early in 1990 subject to total
completion of all final terms and compliance with regulatory
requirements.

(Janet Endrijonas/19891215/Press Contact: Marc Liebesman, C. Itoh
Electronics, 714-660-1421)


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

CMS ENHANCEMENTS TO TRY DOMINO EFFECT IN AUSTRALIA}
TUSTIN, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 DEC 12 (NB) -- CMS Enhancements
has signed a distribution agreement with Domino Computers, PTY
LTD of Australia.

The agreement is valued at $34.4 million and runs for a period of
three years. All three Domino's locations, Melbourne, Sydney and
Canberra, will distribute CMS products including hard disk and
tape backup systems for Apple, IBM PS/2, Compaq and DEC
computers.

This agreement represents the continuation of a successful
arrangement between CMA and Domino. At the CMS second Annual
Customer Breakfast held last month in Las Vegas, Domino was
chosen as CMS' Distributor of the Year. Fellow CMS distributors
voted Domino to receive the International Advertising Award in
recognition of Domino's effective advertising campaign. Along
with this honor received from fellow distributors, Domino will be
offered increased co-op advertising funds from CMS Enhancements.

(Janet Endrijonas/19891215/Press Contact: Diana Biondo, CMS
Enhancements, 714-259-5888)


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

DISTRIBUTED LOGIC RESTRUCTURES}
ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 DEC 11 (NB) -- Distributed
Logic, makers of mass storage and peripheral products for DEC
computers, has split its business into three profit centers.

One unit will concentrate on the US and Pacific Rim while other
units will deal with Europe and Canada. The move is being made
in response to changes the company sees in the computer market in
different geographic areas, reflecting the difference in buying
habits in each part of the world.

The reorganization has resulted in the promotion of two top
managers and the hiring of a third. Jon Klotz has been promoted
to president of European operations, Andrew Betterton has taken
the helm of the company's Canadian facilities and John Wilson
will join the company as president of US operations in February
1990. Glenn Salley remains chairman and chief executive
of the company.

(Janet Endrijonas/19891215)


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

WATTERS PROMOTED AT TI'S AIM DIVISION}
DALLAS, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1989 DEC 12 (NB) -- Michael J. Watters,
manager of the Advanced Information Division (AIM) at Texas
Instruments (TI), has been promoted to division vice president and
general manager.

In this position, Watters continues to report to John White,
president of TI's newly formed Information Technology Group
(ITG). The AIM division markets TI's CASE (computer-aided
software engineering) product, Information Engineering Facility
(IEF).

(Janet Endrijonas/19891215/Press Contact: Bob Bledsoe, Texas
Instruments, 214-997-3857)


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

JDL GOES PUBLIC IN JAPAN}
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 DEC 12 (NB) --
American subsidiary JDL has announced that its parent company,
Japan Digital Laboratory Company has gone public on the Japanese
stock market and has successfully completed an initial public
offering raising approximately $110 million.

Japan Digital Laboratory received registered company approval on
Dec. 4. Its initial offering was 2 million shares at an opening
price of $56 (Y8,000). This brings total shares outstanding to
15,488,000. At the close of trading on Dec. 12, the company's
stock was trading at Y7,590 OTC.

Prior to this public offering, Japan Digital Laboratories had
been listed as one of the country's fastest growing computer
firms by the Japan Economic and Industry Newspaper.

(Janet Endrijonas/19891215/Press Contact: Bryan Doherty, JDL,
805-495-3451)


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

ASHTON-TATE SELLS SYBASE INTEREST TO LOTUS}
TORRANCE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 DEC 14 (NB) -- Its interest
in Sybase of Emeryville, CA acquired in April 1988, has been sold
by Ashton-Tate to Lotus Development Corp.

Ashton-Tate's investment in Sybase had apparently caused some
confusion among customers as Ashton-Tate's subsidiary, Interbase
Software competes with Sybase in the minicomputer database area.
The divestiture is intended to clarify Ashton-Tate's position.

Even with this sales, Ashton-Tate intends to continue to support
SQL Server which is based on Sybase technology.

(Janet Endrijonas/19891215/Press Contact: Brad Stevens, Ashton-
Tate, 213-538-7348)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(WAS)(00008)

DATA GENERAL TO MARKET HARDWARE IN USSR}
WESTBORO, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1989 DEC 12 (NB) -- Data
General Corporation, a $1.3 billion communications and computer
company, along with three partners, will sell computers in the
Soviet Union through Perekat, a newly formed joint venture
company based in the U.S.S.R.

The Soviet software firm, NPO Parma, and an Austrian industrial
automation firm, Voest Alpine Industrieanlagenbau GmbH, along
with its Moscow-based marketing branch, are the other three
companies working with Data General on the joint project.

The agreement is still subject to U.S. and Soviet government
approval.

(John McCormick/19891215/Press Contact: Jim Dunlap, Data General,
508-870-8162)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(ATL)(00003)

CONTROL DATA SELLING CYBER MAINFRAMES TO USSR}
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, U.S.A., 1989 DEC 12 (NB) -- Control
Data, which has had problems making a profit in the West,
announced an order worth $32 million from the Soviet Union for
six CYBER mainframe computer systems that will be used to
increase the safety of civilian nuclear power plants like the one
at Chernobyl, site of a famous 1986 accident.

Visitors to Chernobyl after the accident were amazed
and slightly appalled at the lack of sophistication
in the plant's control rooms. The Soviet Union's civilian
nuclear power program is one of the largest in the world
with approximately 50 plants in operation.
Last year half of the Soviet Union's nuclear-generated
electricity was produced by plants designed by the institute.

Control Data's contract with the Soviet Union calls for end-user
safeguards and government-to-government assurances that the
computers are dedicated to safety analysis of civilian nuclear
reactors. On May 30, President Bush announced that the U.S.
government was lifting the decade-old, "no-exceptions" policy
that prevented export of most computers to the Soviet Union. The
U.S. government will now consider such exports on a case-by-case
basis. In November, Control Data submitted an application for an
export license in line with the new policy.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19891215/Press Contact: David Lindsey, Control
Data, 612-853-6137)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(ATL)(00004)

DIEBOLD MONEY MACHINES TO BE DISTRIBUTED BY ICL}
CANTON, OHIO, U.S.A., 1989 DEC 11 (NB) -- Diebold,
Incorporated, announced it has signed a marketing agreement with
International Computers Limited, or ICL, the London- based
information systems subsidiary of STC PLC, to distribute Diebold
ATMs, systems and software in selected international countries.

Two of ICL's financial services customers have already placed
orders for the company's machines; Mid-Med Bank in Malta; and the
National Commercial Bank in Jamaica, where 11 machines have
already been installed.

Diebold has a 46.1% share of the U.S. market for automated teller
machines, or ATMs, and a 16.1% share worldwide. The Nilson
Report, an ATM industry newsletter, predicts significant growth
in the markets that ICL serves. In particular, The Nilson Report
projects ATM growth in Europe of 34% from 64,000 ATMs installed
in 1988 to 86,000 by 1995.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19891215/Press Contact: Doug Chovan, Diebold,
216-497-5026)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(WAS)(00003)

DEC FIGHTS POTENTIAL TAKEOVERS}
MAYNARD, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1989 DEC 11 (NB) -- Digital
Equipment Corp. (DEC) has announced this week that its board of
directors has taken steps to provide common stockholders with
specific rights to purchase more stock, in an apparent attempt to
show any potential hostile suitor that the stock can be diluted
on short notice.

The stockholder rights plan adopted recently and announced Monday
will be distributed as a rights dividend with one right being
granted for each share of common stock held at the close of
business on December 21, 1989. The rights will last until exactly
December 21, 1999.

Despite the fact that such a move is usually made in anticipation
of hostile action by another company or group of investors,
Digital Equipment spokesmen say that the move was not made in
response to any specific threat.

(John McCormick/19891214/Press Contact: Bradley D. Allen, DEC,
508-493-8009)


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

COMPUTER FACTORY STORES REVEAL GOOD FINANCIAL NEWS}
ELMSFORD, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1989 DEC 14 (NB) -- The Computer Factory,
a major computer personal and business retailer with 65 stores, has
obtained an unsecured $60 million line of credit with Pittsburgh-based
Mellon Bank, replacing a $35 million line of credit with two
other banks.

The Computer Factory announced a net income of 35 cents per share or
$3,131,000 for the fiscal year ending September 30, turning this
into the twelfth consecutive profitable year for the company
despite a $3.3 million loss for the fourth quarter.

(John McCormick/19891214/Press Contact: Phil Duva, The Computer
Factory, 914-347-5000)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(WAS)(00006)

WHITNEY/PRIME ACQUISITION HITS MINOR PROCEDURAL SNAG}
NATICK, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1989 DEC 12 (NB) -- Prime
Computer and DR Holdings, the corporation formed by J.H. Whitney
to acquire control of Prime, announced this week that the
proposed merger between the two companies will not be completed
this year because of technical delays by the Securities and
Exchange Commission. The companies anticipate only a minor delay
and both say that they expect the special stockholders' meeting
required to approve the merger will be held in January.

(John McCormick/19891215/Press Contact: Joe Gavaghan, Prime, 508-
655-8000)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TOR)(00005)

COREL SETS REVENUE RECORD, WINS AWARD}
OTTAWA, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1989 DEC 11 (NB) -- Corel Systems, maker
of the popular Corel Draw! graphics software, set a record with
annual revenues of C$21.8 million in the year ended Nov. 30.

The figure tripled 1988's C$6.605 million revenue and exceeded
Corel's forecast by about five percent, the company said.
Jennifer Poulsen, a company spokeswoman, said no net income
figure will be available until early January. Corel recently made
an initial public offering of its stock, to be traded on the
Toronto Stock Exchange.

Corel also announced that PC Computing magazine has selected
Corel Draw! as one of 16 hardware and software products to
receive its Most Valuable Product award for 1989. The awards will
be presented January 4 at a meeting of the Boston Computer
Society in Boston.

Corel also announced the availability of French and German
versions of Corel Draw!, and named J.B. Marketing in Canada and
Access Computer Products and Computer 2000 in Germany as
distributors.

(Grant Buckler/19891214/Press Contact: Jennifer Poulsen, Corel,
613-728-8200)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TOR)(00011)

COGNOS MAKES MORE CHANGES}
OTTAWA, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1989 DEC 11 (NB) -- Cognos, a Canadian
software developer, has announced further staff cuts and
structural changes. The moves include elimination of 90 jobs
internationally, 40 of them at the company's Ottawa headquarters.

Cognos created an International Marketing Programs and Business
Development Unit, and additional field marketing positions in
Europe and Australia. Product development is being consolidated
around several new products to debut early in 1990, including new
end-user products, a graphical interface and tools for IBM's
AS/400 minicomputer.

The company confirmed several changes in senior sales management
announced earlier, and said product marketing will remain based
at its Ottawa head office. Changes since September have reduced
Cognos' worldwide staff by about 12 percent, the company said.

(Grant Buckler/19891213/Press Contact: Bob Thompson, Cognos, 613-
738-1440)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(BRU)(00003)

VICTOR BEGINS INTENSIVE FRENCH ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN}
PARIS, FRANCE, 1989 DEC 16 (NB) -- Victor has begun a major
advertising campaign in France, promoting its VP86 laptop at the
expense of similar products from the likes of Compaq and IBM.

Readers of several French glossy publications are finding a four-
page flyer inserted in their magazines, noting that "The non-
availability of laptops from XXX and XXXXXX is difficult to
digest. If you take one of these (an antacid tablet) you
will get temporary relief. If you buy a Victor VP86 you will get
permanent relief."

Although the competitor names have been blanked out from the
advert, there is sufficient information behind the lines to make
out the names IBM and Compaq, both of whose portables are still
in very short supply.

The VP86 laptop, which is smaller than a Toshiba and includes
640K of memory, a variety of disk options and weighs under 6.5
pounds, is already a best-seller in the UK. The machine sells
for FF10,000 ($1,700).

(Peter Vekinis/19891216)


(EXCLUSIVE)(BUSINESS)(BRU)(00004)

RECESSION HITS THE COMPUTER STOCK MARKET}
NEW YORK, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1989 DEC 16 (NB) -- As the computer
business begins to wind down for the long Christmas and New Year
break and readies itself for a new decade, there is doom and
despondency on the stock markets as computer stocks have failed
to rally from the slump of the last year.

If anything, many of the computer stocks are still spiralling
down, even from the low prices of the summer. IBM, for example,
which three months ago stood at $116, now stands at $95 - a drop
of more than 18 percent or $5,000 million in book value.

Apple Computer, which was $43 just a fortnight ago, closed the
week at $35, a fall of more than 18 percent, Microsoft,
meanwhile, which was recently down-rated by a major stockbroker,
closed the week at $77 - a fall of more than $11.

Despite the slump in computer stocks generally, there may be
light at the end of the tunnel. A broker, when contacted by
Newsbytes, predicted that things are bound to pick up in the
coming months, since demand for computers and computer-related
services is forecast to rise throughout 1990.

(Peter Vekinis/19891216)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SYD)(00005)

AUSTRALIAN SOFTWARE FIRM PRAXA BACK IN BLACK}
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA, 1989 DEC 11 (NB) -- The Victorian
software and systems developer Praxa has reported a pre-tax
profit of AUS$427,000 on revenue of AUS$13M in the 1988-89
financial year. The result puts Praxa back on the right
track after a AUS$425,000 loss for the previous financial
year.

Managing Director Graeme Thomson said Praxa's recent success
owed much to the decision to stick with the creation of
software for DEC machines. Revenue from Praxa's consulting
business made up 30 percent of the total revenue, and
Praxa's Starfire 2 management system had brought in 13
percent. The Starfire 2 system has been installed in more
than 50 sites, including sales to the Australian Stock
Exchange, Australia Post, and some of Australia' largest
companies.

(Gavin Atkins & Computing Australia/19891213)


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

DELL NEEDS NEW NAME TO START BUSINESS IN AUSTRALIA}
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1989 DEC 10 (NB) -- US mail-order PC
supplier Dell plans to open an Australian subsidiary early in
1990 but may need a new name as local PC distributor
Imagineering has already registered the name. Imagineering
was at one time a potential business partner with Dell but
this is now in doubt.

Dell officials said that the move was considered a natural
extension of the company's trading but was still in the
planning and fact-finding stage. They feel that Imagineering
registered the name without consent as they had not struck a
deal and would probably not need a partner.

The registration of US business names in Australia has long
been a problem for US companies coming to Australia as a
prior registration precludes them from using the name. Often
the holder of the name uses near-blackmail methods, seeking
to sell the names for high prices.

(Paul Zucker/19891215/Press Contact: Imagineering - phone
61-2-6978666)


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

AUSTRALIAN DISTRIBUTOR DROPS FOX SOFTWARE}
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1989 DEC 12 (NB) -- Australian software
distributor Keyway claims it has dropped distributorship of
Fox software due to supply problems and a lack of support
from the US. Foxbase is a popular dBASE-compatible product
and the next version, a dBASE IV competitor, is almost ready
to ship.

Keyway claims that Fox's US distributor DMACS has a pricing
structure that penalized Keyway while encouraging grey
marketing. It also claims that sales support material was
hard to get. "We were paying more than mail-order houses
were charging," said Keyway MD Lucas Mueller.

DMACS and Fox reject the claims, saying they believe Keyway
wasn't able to handle the product adequately. "We're already
talking to a number of companies in Australia about
distribution." said DMACS.

Australian-based dBASE expert Matt Whelan told Newsbytes
that he believed Fox was less responsive to non-US markets
than it should be. "On more than one occasion we've known
them to ignore requests for technical help."

(Paul Zucker/19891215)


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

EPSON DROPS PC SALES ESTIMATE}
NAGANO, JAPAN, 1989 DEC 8 (NB) -- Sluggish sales have forced
Seiko-Epson to drastically revise downward PC sales estimates
for the fiscal year ending March, 1990.

The firm has found it impossible to achieve its goal of selling
250,000 PCs -- a 39 percent increase over 1988 -- and now says
between 200,000 and 220,000 units will be sold, an 11 to 22
percent increase.

The revised estimate is due to overproduction of PCs and a
rampant discount rate. The low cost of Epson PCs on the market,
a trend which started in August, 1989, has caused many buyers to
refrain from purchasing them, in hopes that prices will get
even lower.

Epson is also suffering from sluggish sales of its book-size PC,
the NOTEexecutive, which hit retails shelves in October. The
unpopular machine, priced at 458,000 yen ($3,200), is
far more expensive than Toshiba's DynaBook (198,000 yen or $1,400)
or NEC's 98NOTE (248,000 yen or $1,700).

Seiko-Epson's involvement in the computer business started when
it offered a PC compatible with Japan's de facto standard, the
PC-9800 of NEC. Seiko-Epson sold 60,000 of its NEC clones in
fiscal 1987, and the next year it sold 180,000.

(Ken Takahashi/19891214/Press Contact: Seiko-Epson, 0266-58-1705)


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

KOEI TO CREATE GAME SOFTWARE IN THE U.S.}
YOKOHAMA, JAPAN, 1989 DEC 8 (NB) -- The U.S.-based subsidiary
of game software house Koei will develop game software for the
U.S. market and will offer it by the Christmas season of the
1990.

Three members of California-based Koei Corporation are developing
a strategic simulation game based on the American Revolution.
A user plays the role of the Father of his Country, George
Washington, and eventually wins independence by overcoming
several hardships. The game name and price have not been decided
yet.

The game will be available for an IBM PC, a Nintendo Entertainment
System, and all models of Amiga. Koei has yet to determine which
models of Apple Macintosh and Atari will run the game software.

(Ken Takahashi/19891214/Press Contact: Koei Co., Ltd., 044-61-6861)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TYO)(00005)

JAPAN: JUST SYSTEM GROWS WELL DESPITE BUGS}
TOKUSHIMA, JAPAN, 1989 DEC 13 (NB) -- Major software house Just
System expects that it will achieve about 9.2 billion yen ($63
million) in sales for this fiscal year ending March 1990, which will
be a favorable 60 percent increase over the previous year.

The domestic computer industry has been paying special attention to the
company because the Version 4.0 of its best-selling Japanese word
processing software was found several times to be bug-ridden, a
problem which has consumed the talents of company programmers since
spring.

The encouraging sales estimate is due to the fact that the Version 4.0
is selling well, despite the bugs incidents. The estimate is
further helped by the brisk sales of the firm's Ichitaro
family of word processors, such as Version 3.0 which was resold
alongside buggy Version 4.0, and Dash for book-size computers.

In an attempt to develop software to accommodate varied hardware
environments and each user's purposes, Just Systems is now developing
software for OS/2, desktop publishing, and database tasks.

(Ken Takahashi/19891214/Press Contact: Just System, 0886-55-1121)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TYO)(00012)

JAPANESE FIRM TO RESELL CRAY COMPATIBLE}
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 DEC 11 (NB) -- Plant engineering firm Cotex
has received a licence to resell the mini supercomputer S-1 with
an additional value from Yokogawa Superteck, a joint venture of
Yokogawa Electric and U.S.-based Superteck.

The machine is compatible with Cray's supercomputer X-MP but has one
fifth of the processing ability at one sixteenth of the price.
Yokogawa Electric acquired 65 percent of Supertek's Japanese
subsidiary in June, renaming it to Yokogawa Supertek, as part of a
deal valued at $13.5 million. For Supertek, this is the second VAR
(value-added reseller) agreement following Nippon
Steel in May just a month before acquisition.

Cotex started its computer business last year and been selling
product management programs. It is mainly an engineering firm
for iron and chemical plants. Its entry into the computer
business, however, will be enhanced with the cooperation of
Calcutta, India-based consulting and software development firm,
M.N. Dastur and Co.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19891214/Press Contact: Cotex, Mr Maeda, 03-545-3681)


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

JAPANESE CHIP MAKERS RUSH INTO SOUTHEAST ASIA}
TOKYO, JAPAN 1989 DEC 11 (NB) -- Most semiconductor makers have been
establishing production lines in Southeast Asia to reduce
production cost and to prepare for further expansion of the market.
Since these areas still have political risks, most firms are trying
to decentralize the plants in different areas.

Most Japanese makers are concentrating the facilities in Singapore
or Malaysia where the political condition is relatively stabilized.
Toshiba, which has a plant in Malaysia already, is planning to build
a chip production line in Thailand. Toshiba estimates it will
invest four billion yen or $27.6 million in the semiconductor plant.
Toshiba is the third Japanese maker to build a plant in
Thailand following Sony and Oki.

Mitsubishi Electric does not have a plant in Southeast Asia, however,
it is looking at the possibility of establishing one. As a first step,
it will establish CAD (computer-aided design) center in its sales
office in Singapore and employ another 20 CAD engineers in hopes of
doubling business in 1990 over what it was in 1988.

On the other hand, Fujitsu will introduce a facility to produce
one-megabit DRAM (dynamic random access memory) chips, and has
plans to output one million units in Singapore and 300,000
units in Malaysia by March 1990.

Hitachi also plans to establish a design center at its subsidiary
in Malaysia as early as next year.

Seiko-Epson, for which 70 percent of its semiconductor business
are comprised of ASIC (application-specific integrated circuits),
is also planning to build a design center in Singapore.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19891214)


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

TOSHIBA AND MITSUBISHI TO BUILD FULL PRODUCTION LINES}
TOKYO, JAPAN 1989 DEC 14 (NB) -- To cope with rising demand for
local production of semiconductor chips, Toshiba and Mitsubishi
Electric have announced plans to build full production lines in the
U.S. and Europe.

Toshiba will finalize the plan by the end of 1990 and expects
to be ready for full production in the first half of '90.
Currently, the firm is conducting a feasibility study in the U.S.
and Europe. According to the report, it is looking for a site
different from Silicon valley because the area has a serious
shortage of engineers and a high price for land.

Toshiba's subsidiary, Toshiba America Electronic Components, has
been wiring and assembling gate arrays, and the products are
selling well. Consequently it is going to build full production
lines in the United States, including production
of one-megabit and four-megabit DRAM (dynamic random access memory) chips.

On the other hand, for political reasons, it is necessary
to eventually have full local production in Europe, but Toshiba
is not rushing to prepare by 1992.

Meanwhile, Mitsubishi has a detailed plan for a full
production line in Europe. It will invest 20 billion yen or $13.8
million in the first stage of the plan which will produce four-megabit
DRAM chips in West Germany. It will start the construction in early
next year to start production by 1991. Mitsubishi expects to break
even on its 42 billion yen or $290 million worth of investment by
1994. There are expected to be 500 employees at the plant.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19891214)


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

HITACHI SEES FASTEST GROWTH IN ASIA}
CENTRAL, HONGKONG, 1989 DEC 11 (NB) -- Hitachi Data Systems (HDS)
has nearly doubled its Asia-Pacific sales since the May 1
acquisition of National Advanced Systems.

Growth in the Asian regional market is expected to surpass
the growth rate in any other region, despite the fact that
worldwide expansion is predicted to continue at greater than
20 percent over the next five years.

According to Jim Balassone, executive vice president, marketing,
HDS had experienced the strongest growth in its first six months
since NAS was formed 12 years ago. The company was renamed
Hitachi Data Systems in October.

"We look forward to the Asian region becoming our fastest growing
marketplace and are gearing for it," he said, "The company is
increasing its sales and support staff in Hongkong and Singapore,
strengthening its distributor relationships in Taiwan and
Indonesia, and finalizing a distributor agreement
in Malaysia and Thailand.

(Keith Cameron/19891215/Press Contact: Euan Barty 852-5-290356)


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

AIDS DISK CARRIES VIRUS, SAYS RAND CORPORATION}
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 DEC 14 (NB) -- The Rand
Corporation has issued a warning to employees to avoid using an
AIDS database disk that may contain a "virus" capable of
destroying stored information.

Rand heard of the virus from the Computer Virus Industry
Association in Santa Clara, CA. John McAfee, chairman of that
association, has been quoted saying this is not a hacker's hoax.

A Rand spokesperson says that the virus has not infected that
company's databases but voiced concern for others who use
personal computers, especially to work on AIDS research.

The infected disk is said to carry the title, "Aids Information - An
Introductory Diskette." It arrives unsolicited and claims to be
capable of predicting a person's chances of contracting acquired
immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). The program carries a warning
asking people not to use the program unless they are prepared to
pay a $378 fee. The program is distributed by PC Cyborg, Inc.
which lists a phony Panamanian post office box number address.

(Janet Endrijonas/19891215)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(LAX)(00012)

US SAGE OFFERS MICRO CHANNEL VERSION OF MAINLAN}
LONGWOOD, FLORIDA, U.S.A., 1989 DEC 01 (NB) -- A Micro Channel
Architecture version of US Sage's MainLan local area network
(LAN) is now available.

The PS/2 version provides boards that fit the internal PS/2 bus
format and 3.5" software to fit the disk drives. All the
features of the PC version including peripheral sharing, e-mail,
file transferring and hard disk sharing are part of the new
version.

The MainLan starter kit includes two 4 megabits-per-
second MCA adaptor cards, software, documentation, cable
and end plugs for $699. The Extension Pack for expanding
a network contains a card and cable and is priced at $299.

(Janet Endrijonas/19891215/Press Contact: Alex DuBrow, US Sage,
407-331-4400)


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

PERFECTSOLUTION LAN MANAGER SHIPS}
OREM, UTAH, U.S.A., 1989 DEC 14 (NB) -- In an interview with
Newsbytes, a spokesperson for SoftSolutions, makers of
PerfectSolution 1.0 has confirmed the planned shipping date of
Dec. 15 for the product.

According to Jennifer Johnson of DSW Public Relations, the
company has been doing extensive demonstrations of the product
for several weeks and has already taken orders for the product.
No delays are expected.

PerfectSolution 1.0 is a document location and management
facility that allows users to build document files using many
categories: author, application, document number, name or type,
location, date created, date last retrieved, last retrieved by,
custom prompts and more. A document's text can also be indexed
so that any word can be used in a full-text search across the
network. The program requires 160K RAM when installed and when
PerfectSolution 1.0 loads a document into an application, the
required RAM to support PerfectSolution 1.0 in the background is
reduced to 18K.

The price for PerfectSolution is $2,495 per installed server and
$295 per workstation.

(Janet Endrijonas/19891215/Press Contact: Kirk Tanner,
SoftSolutions, 801-532-1556)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(TOR)(00006)

VANCOUVER EXCHANGE TO COMPUTERIZE ALL TRADING}
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA, 1989 DEC 11 (NB) -- By the
end of January, the Vancouver Stock Exchange plans to move all
equity trading from its trading floor to computers. The last 400
of some 2,300 stocks traded on the exchange are scheduled to move
to the Vancouver Computerized Trading system on January 26.

Joyce Courtney, spokeswoman for the exchange, said futures
trading will continue to be done on the exchange floor, but
futures traders do their work sitting at terminals, so the
traditional open-outcry trading system will disappear. Part of
the old exchange floor will be taken over by the data processing
department.

The Vancouver Stock Exchange, Canada's third-largest after
Toronto and Montreal, trades 12 to 15 million shares per day.
Courtney said about 90 percent of that volume already goes
through the computerized system, which has been operating for
about 18 months. Some 120 traders still work on the floor, where
about 400 were employed in 1987. Some of those who have left the
floor moved to brokerage firms' offices, as will some of those
remaining, but "some of them will not have jobs" when the
conversion is complete, Courtney said.

(Grant Buckler/19891212/Press Contact: Joyce Courtney, Vancouver
Stock Exchange, 604-689-3334)


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

AUSTRALIA: WYSE DENIES UNDERCUTTING CLAIMS}
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1989 DEC 11 (NB) -- The Australian
Computer Dealers Association is seeking assurances from The
Great Escape, one of Wyse Technology's three Australian
Distributors, that it is not undercutting its dealers.

Wyse's managing director, Rod Stirling, has agreed to give
the assurances and described the claims as "nonsense,"
saying the company's only mission was to sell more Wyse
products.

He said that although he has received calls from dealers
about alleged undercutting, they had yet to provide any
evidence that it had happened.

(Gavin Atkins & Computing Australia/19891213)


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

NEC TO OPEN ITS ADVANCED PLANT IN U.S.}
TOKYO, JAPAN 1989 DEC 12 (NB) -- After completion of its
advanced memory production lines in Roseville, California, NEC
will open production and quality control sites for American
chipmakers and will also accept trainees from such makers.

The under-construction plant is designed for the production of
one-megabit and four-megabit DRAM (dynamic random access memory) chips,
which are said to be the most advanced technology in the industry,
and is designed for the production of four to five million units of
four-megabit DRAM chips a month when it is completed.

The most advanced memory production lines are usually kept as a
corporate secret, however, NEC is expecting U.S. firms to learn
something from its plant, consequently will accept trainees.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19891214)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(TYO)(00023)

JAPAN: EXPLOSION IN CHIP FACTORY}
MUSASHI, JAPAN, 1989 DEC 14 (NB) -- A gas explosion in the
Musashi chip factory of Hitachi killed one employee and injured
three others.

The accident occurred in the clean room where semiconductors
were tested. The cause is unknown, but police and fire
officials have joined Hitachi in the investigation.

The Musashi factory, with about 2,500 employees, started
production in 1958, and it is Hitachi's first chip factory. At
present, however, it is mainly used for test production and new
chip development.

(Ken Takahashi/19891214)


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

PHOENIX DOES NOT HAVE USSR CONTRACT AFTER ALL}
IRVINE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 DEC 14 (NB) -- Phoenix Group
International, which announced on Sept. 11 that it had signed a
deal forming a joint venture with two Soviet public education
committees to sell 6 million PCs to Soviet schools, has revealed
that no such contract currently exists.

Quoted in a report by Michelle Vranzian in The Orange County
Register, John French, president of the Phoenix subsidiary,
American PC Corp., in a signed declaration said that neither
American PC nor Phoenix has ever received a contract entitling
them to sell 6 million personal computers in the USSR or
elsewhere. French claims to have no knowledge of when or if any
final commitments in the proposed deal will be made.

The declaration is part of a legal document filed in connection
with a lawsuit brought by American PC's minority stockholder and
former chairman, Michael Kolsy, who is accusing Phoenix of
illegally trying to dilute his interest in American PC in a debt-
for-stock conversion. Kolsy's suit claims that Phoenix and his
former partners in American PC tried to squeeze him out to avoid
sharing the profits to be derived from the Soviet deal.

(Janet Endrijonas/19891215)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(TOR)(00002)

NCR CANADA EMPLOYEE CHARGED WITH STEALING SECRETS}
WATERLOO, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1989 DEC 15 (NB) -- Anthony Latchoo, a
product requirements specialist at NCR Canada's plant here, has
been charged with trying to sell NCR trade secrets to Unisys.

Latchoo was to appear before a bail hearing in Philadelphia Dec.
14 after agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
arrested him in a Unisys parking lot in Blue Bell, Pa., Dec. 11.

NCR Canada spokeswoman Virve Tremblay said Latchoo worked in
NCR's development and production facility near Waterloo,
stressing that he was not a management employee. She said the
materials Latchoo allegedly offered to Unisys had to do with
NCR's imaging systems, and were estimated to be worth US$100
million. NCR does not believe any other employees were involved
in the scheme, Tremblay said.

(Grant Buckler/19891215/Press Contact: Virve Tremblay, NCR
Canada, 416-826-9000)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(SYD)(00002)

INVESTIGATIONS INTO AUS$12M LOTTERY FRAUD}
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA, 1989 DEC 11 (NB) -- Victorian police
are trying to find the source of an alleged gaming syndicate
which may have illegally reproduced lottery entries with a
PC.

The state's lottery giant, Tattersalls, has seized 4,000
unauthorized entries in the recent record AUS$12M Lotto
draw. Tattersalls advertised in the daily newspapers saying
it would not pay out winning entries that were printed by
computer or that were not on authorized Tattersalls coupons.
The incident is being investigated by the Victorian
Licensing, Gaming, and Vice Squad.

(Gavin Atkins & Computing Australia/19891213)


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

AUSTRALIA: LEGAL PRECEDENT DUE IN VIRUS CASE}
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA, 1989 DEC 11 (NB) -- A leading UK virus
expert Dr David Solomon has said that lawyers all over the
world will be watching closely for a legal precedent when
Deon Barylak goes to trial for allegedly trying to put a
virus on a tertiary school PC system.

In Australia for a lecture tour, Solomon said, "I think this
is going to be a case which will reverberate around the
world because this is the first involving a virus." Last
week Deon Barylak failed in an attempt to censor media
coverage of the case, but it was adjourned until April 1989.

(Gavin Atkins & Computing Australia/19891213)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(TYO)(00007)

JAPAN SETS UP COMMITTEE AGAINST VIRUSES}
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 DEC 12 (NB) -- The Ministry of Posts and
Telecommunications will study the implementation of strict safety
measures against computer viruses which invade computer
networks and destroy data.

The ministry has set up an investigation and research committee
which will report the result of the studies in March of next year.

The ministry organized a discussion group to help computer
networks guard against viral attacks after the insidious computer
programs turned up in NEC's PC-VAN computer network last year.
In August, the group completed a guidebook about viruses
in personal computer networks.

Last month, some of the group were sent to AT&T, Compuserve, GE, and
MCI in the U.S., as well as British Telecom in the U.K., to
investigate the practical security measures these firms were
instituting against viruses.

The new committee which will investigate anti-viral measures,
consists of network engineers, cipher specialists, and researchers
on personal computer viruses.

(Ken Takahashi/19891214)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(TYO)(00011)

JAPAN'S TOUGH NEW ANTI-COMPUTER CRIME LAW GETS FIRST TEST}
KYOTO, JAPAN, 1989 DEC 8 (NB) -- The Kyoto District Public Prosecutors
Office has cited Japan's tough new law aimed against those who would
destroy data, in a case against a Kyoto worker.

According to the bill of prosecution, Criminal law, Clause 234,
Article 2, "Obstruction of Business by Destroying a Computer," applies
to a former employee of Daikei Valve Manufacturing in Kyoto. He
was said to be unsatisfied with his treatment there, so he
deleted and altered the program which controlled the turning
lathe machines on the processing line of the plant, according to
authorities.

This is the first test of that the law against malicious alteration
of computer programs in Japan. The clause outlining computer crime was
enacted in June, 1987, to cope with the increasing importance
of the computer in our working and living environment.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19891214)


(NEWS)(IBM)(LON)(00001)

TROJAN HORSE AFFECTS THOUSANDS OF USERS; ANTIDOTE AVAILABLE}
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1989 DEC 16 (NB) -- A Trojan horse package,
hidden within an AIDS information disk which trashes a user's
hard disk after 90 accesses, has been mailed en-masse to
thousands of PC users in the UK.

The disk, which claims to be an information disk (The Aids
Information Introductory Diskette) on the acquired immune
deficiency syndrome (AIDS) was mailed to several thousand
recipients during the week ending 09 December. The unknown sender
is known to have used mailing lists from CW Communications'
Personal Computer Business World and several other organizations.

The disk contains a hard disk installation program that, when
run, installs the AIDS information files on the user's hard disk.
In addition, it changes the PC's start-up files, including an
incremental counter to count the number of times the user boots
up his/her system. Once the counter reaches 90, the self-destruct
feature is triggered and the user's hard disk becomes a single
file.

Newsbytes' UK bureau received the disk in the post last Tuesday.
When the code is disassembled, the program appears to have
been coded highly professionally, with twists and turns to
persuade the hapless user to install the program on a PC
with a hard disk.

According to Guy Kewney, editor in chief of PC Dealer, a UK
computer trade newspaper, the Trojan horse program has a number
of other ways in which it can be triggered. "The program can
trash your hard disk after the first couple of program loads.
There's a lot to be discovered about the program," he told
Newsbytes.

"The full effects of the AIDS disk will not be known for several
weeks, or possibly months, after the program is installed on
user's PCs. What is certain, however, is that the people behind
the disk have spent a great deal of money - certainly into the
thousands of pounds - to perpetrate this act of vandalism,"
Kewney added.

Once loaded, the Trojan program exhorts the user to send money to
a company in Panama. Press enquiries have revealed that the
company concerned - the PC Cyborg Corporation - does not exist.

The UK's Scotland Yard computer crime division has been alerted
to the problem and is investigating the matter.

Newsbytes understands that a man, purporting to come from Kenya,
and using an accommodation address in London, purchased a mailing
list from Personal Computer Business World. The list, which was
purchased for UKP 800 ($1,200) was sold only after the man
confirmed that he intended to mail out a travel brochure. As it
transpired, the list - actually a roll of adhesive labels - was
subsequently used to mail the disks to unsuspecting PC users.

PC Business World, whose mailing list was used to mail out
several hundred of the disks, has worked round the clock to
develop an antidote to the program - AIDSout - which it is
offering PC users who have infected their machines. Newsbytes
applauds PCBW's rapid moves to negate the effects of this
potentially very serious problem.

The AIDSout program is also available for download on the
Compulink Information eXchange (CIX) online system in London
(London 399-5252 - all modem speeds). Newsbytes is offering to
upload a copy of AIDSout to any reader worried that their PC may
be infected. Email 76011,1155 on Compuserve, NB.LON on Genie, or
10083:JNL555 on Dialcom for a copy.

(Steve Gold/19891216)


(EXCLUSIVE)(IBM)(BRU)(00001)

ADVANCED MICRO DEVICES TO RELEASE 33MHz 286 CHIP}
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND, 1989 DEC 16 (NB) -- According to an internal
report from Advanced Micro Devices, the market for 80286
microprocessors looks likely to stage a comeback, thanks to the
introduction of a 33MHz version of the chip.

The internal report compares the attributes of the 16 and 20MHz
80286 chips, both of which are now beginning to ship, with those
of the comparable 80386 microprocessor. Also mentioned in the
report is the 25MHz 80286 chip, which is expected to ship in the
first quarter of 1990.

Although previous studies have shown that the 16MHz version of
the 80286 chip is equal in performance terms with the equivalent
80386SX microprocessor, the report concludes that the 20MHz 80286
chip beats a 16MHz 386SX microprocessor by at least 25 percent
in performance terms. The forthcoming 33MHz 80286 chip, the
report says, will be three times fast than the 16MHz 80386SX
microprocessor.

Despite the current tailing-off in sales of 80286-based PCs, the
AMD report concludes that the 80286 chip has a sales life of
another ten years, thanks to the higher-speed editions of the
microprocessor expected over the next few months. Sales of 286-
based PCs will, the report says, pick up, once the higher-speed
80286 microprocessors begin to ship in PCs, aided by the number
of protected-mode MS-DOS packages now beginning to appear.

(Peter Vekinis/19891216)


(NEWS)(IBM)(SYD)(00001)

AUSTRALIA SPARED IBM AXE}
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1989 DEC 11 (NB) -- Australia is not
included in IBM plans to reduce its workforce by 10,000 by
the end of next year. The current rationalization is only
occurring in the US, but IBM spokesman John Bordreaux did
not rule out a tougher approach in international markets.

"John Akers (IBM chairman) said we are going to continue to
make the business more productive and more efficient. We are
fully prepared to take what actions are required in the US
and non-US markets."

However, Australia is likely to be less affected than other
regions because the Far East is recognized as the fastest
growing region for IBM's operations ahead of Europe and the
US.

"The higher rate of growth in non-US operations allows us to
make more gradual adjustments, not necessitating the actions
we have taken in the US," said Mr Bordreaux.

(Gavin Atkins & Computing Australia/19891213)


(NEWS)(IBM)(LAX)(00015)

ASHTON-TATE CLARIFIES DBASE IV UPGRADE POLICY}
TORRANCE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 DEC 14 (NB) -- Ashton-Tate
has issued a policy statement regarding upgrades for its dBASE IV
1.1 Server Edition.

The policy, effective immediately, states that users who purchase
dBASE IV 1.0 on or before Jan. 31, 1990 will be eligible to
receive version 1.1, when released, for the cost of shipping and
handling charges only. Those who buy and register version 1.0
after Jan. 31 will be able to upgrade to version 1.1 for a normal
upgrade fee.

No shipping date has been announced for version 1.1.

(Janet Endrijonas/19891215/Press Contact: Liz Sidnam-Wright,
Ashton-Tate, 213-538-7322)


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

IBM'S PS/2 USERS GET SAME TOLL-FREE SUPPORT AS MAINFRAME CUSTOMERS}
WHITE PLAINS, NEW YORK U.S.A., 1989 DEC 12 (NB) -- International
Business Machines has started a new program providing 24-hour,
7-day-per-week telephone support for PS/2 customers, but it
is only available to customers with more than 250 machines installed.

The support, which applies to software, including some popular
non-IBM software such as Lotus 1-2-3 and Ashton-Tate dBASE
products as well as IBM software, will cost users about $15 per
computer per month.

IBM has also announced SoftwareXcel Basic, an expanded direct
access to support centers for users of Big Blue mainframes. This
support will cost several thousand per month, depending on the
system being supported.

(John McCormick/19891215/Press Contact: John H. Clark, IBM, 914-
642-5409)


(NEWS)(IBM)(TOR)(00004)

NO CUTS AT IBM CANADA}
MARKHAM, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1989 DEC 5 (NB) -- IBM's worldwide
restructuring will not affect IBM Canada. The Canadian subsidiary
has issued a statement saying its employment levels will not be
affected.

"IBM Canada Ltd. has taken a number of actions over the last
number of years to improve its competitiveness and become a more
market-driven organization," the statement said. IBM Canada
employs about 13,000 people.

(Grant Buckler/19891215/Press Contact: Stan Didzbalis, IBM
Canada, 416-474-3900)


(NEWS)(IBM)(TOR)(00010)

DELL CUTS PRICES IN CANADA}
MARKHAM, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1989 DEC 11 (NB) -- Dell Computer is
cutting Canadian prices on its 286- and 386-based computers and
memory upgrades. Darren Ward, Canadian marketing manager, said
Dell its cutting prices across the board, effective immediately,
thanks to declining memory costs and a strong Canadian dollar.

For example, Dell is knocking C$220 off the price of the 286-
based System 210, which will now cost C$1,589 without a hard disk
or monitor. The 386SX-based System 316 is being reduced C$550, to
C$3,569 with a 40-megabyte disk drive, one megabyte of random-
access memory and a monochrome VGA monitor. The System 325, which
has a 25-MHz 386, is reduced by C$850 to C$5,799 with one
megabyte of RAM, 40-megabyte hard drive and monochrome VGA
monitor.

Dell Canada also reduced the priced of memory kits and boards
ranging from 128K bytes to eight megabytes by as much as C$1,490.
For instance, one megabyte of memory for the System 316 now costs
C$289 if bought along with the computer, C$409 if bought
separately. High-speed RAM for the System 220, which has a 20-MHz
286 processor, costs C$659 per megabyte.

(Grant Buckler/19891214/Press Contact: Darren Ward, Dell Canada,
416-764-4200)


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

SHAREWARE MARKETING SHIPS LOTUS 1-2-3 R2.2 COMPETITOR}
BEER, ENGLAND, 1989 DEC 16 (NB) -- Shareware Marketing, the
shareware and public domain software specialist, has begun
shipping version 4 of As-Easy-As for UKP 45 ($70). The updated
spreadsheet package is pitched head-to-head with Lotus 1-2-3
Release 2.2, a package with which it is claim to be highly
compatible.

Shareware Marketing is claiming that the package is as good as
Lotus 1-2-3 Release 2.2. From a brief review of the package,
Newsbytes can report that As Easy As V4.0 features similar
facilities to 1-2-3 R2.2, including a maximum capacity of 8,192
rows by 256 columns, thanks to the use of sparse memory matrix
for maximum memory usage.

Like 1-2-3 R2.2, As Easy As V4.0 supports the development and use
of add-in programs. A developer's package is available from
Shareware Marketing.

How can Shareware Marketing manage to undercut the market pricing
for a spreadsheet package that is claimed to be as good as Lotus
1-2-3 R2.2? Shareware Marketing specializes in shareware packages
such as As Easy As, hence its low user costs.

Major users of spreadsheet packages will be interested to know
that As Easy As is also available on a site license basis, with
a per-user price of UKP 7-90 ($12) for 100-plus users. Existing
users of the package can upgrade for UKP 15-00 ($25).

(Steve Gold/19891216/Press & Public Contact: Steve Lee, Shareware
Marketing - Tel: [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(LON)(00004)

LOTUS UK SHIPS ADD-IN TOOLKIT FOR 1-2-3 RELEASE 3.0}
WINDSOR, ENGLAND, 1989 DEC 16 (NB) -- Lotus UK has begun shipping
the English version of the add-in toolkit for 1-2-3 Release 3.0,
its 80286/80386-based PC spreadsheet package. The toolkit, which
allows software developers to create enhancements and macro-
driven modules to 1-2-3 R3.0, retails for UKP 315 ($480).

Unusually, the package is available from Lotus dealers in the UK,
as well as from Lotus direct. Specialist enhancement packages
of this type are normally available directly from the
manufacturer.

According to Rob Ingram, senior product marketing manager with
Lotus UK, the add-on toolkit will enable company software
developers, as well as third-party software houses, to develop
add-in packages for 1-2-3 R3.0.

"The toolkit enables this broader range of developers to build
upon 1-2-3 R3.0's new technologies. This means end-users will
see more tailored applications for specific business needs, and
corporations will achieve a greater return on their PC and
software investment," he said.

As with 1-2-3 Release 3.0, the add-in toolkit (previously code-
named LEAF - Lotus Extended Application Facilities) requires
an 80286/386/486-based PC, equipped with a hard disk. Also
required is 2MB of RAM under DOS or 4MB of RAM under OS/2. The
package supports DOS 3.0 or better, as well as OS/2 v1.0 or
better. OS/2 V1.1 is required when using the supplied debugger.

(Steve Gold/19891216/Press Contact: Jenny Bacon, Lotus UK - Tel:
01-584-0122)


(NEWS)(IBM)(SYD)(00007)

AUSTRALIA: BIG BLUE FUNDS A ZOO}
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1989 DEC 11 (NB) -- IBM Australia has
donated computer equipment to Sydney's Taronga Zoo and has
established an environmental award.

With the New South Wales Zoological Parks Board, IBM will
annually award the AUS$40,000 to an individual or small team
for making a long term contribution to conservation in the
Australasian region.

IBM gave AUS$72,000 worth of equipment to the Conservation
Research Center at the Zoo. The equipment will analyze data
and apply findings to wildlife problems in Australia and
overseas. It will provide a central database of animals in
captivity, and a means of integrating breeding programs,
wildlife management and research findings.

(Gavin Atkins & Computing Australia/19891213)


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

JAPAN: INTEL TO SELL IBM COMPATIBLE PCS}
TSUKUBA, IBARAKI, JAPAN, 1989 DEC 7 (NB) -- Intel Japan has released
32-bit IBM PC/AT compatible personal computers aimed at the
domestic OEM (original equipment manufacturing) market.

These PCs, similar to ones currently available in the U.S. and
Europe, are here offered with Japanese-language features and IBM
compatibility called AX.

The models include the 80386SX-based 300SX and 301Z, as well
as the 80386-based 302-20, 302-25, and 303. All of them
come standard with an IBM-compatible BIOS (basic input output system)
and an AT internal bus made by the U.S.-based Phoenix. A two-megabyte
main memory is equipped with the low-end 300SX, and a four-megabyte
comes with the high-end 303. The prices range between 576,000 yen
($4,000) and 2,122,000 yen ($15,000). AX configuration costs
100,000 yen ($700) more for each of them.

An Intel spokesman told Newsbytes that the company has already received
orders from large firms, but would not disclose the company names.

(Ken Takahashi/19891214/Press Contact: Atsushi Suzuki,
System Marketing, Intel Japan, 0298-47-8511 ex 2254)


(NEWS)(IBM)(TYO)(00009)

JAPAN: ACER LAUNCHES SUPER-FAST AX MACHINES}
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 DEC 13 (NB) -- Acer Japan, the Japanese subsidiary
of Taiwan-based PC maker Acer, has released the fastest
Japanese language, 32-bit PCs with AX configuration or Japanese-
standard IBM PC compatibility.

The Acer 1100/33X series processes at 8 MIPS (million
instructions per second), which the firm claims is equivalent
to the performance of a minicomputer.

The new machines adopt an Intel 80386 processor running at 33
megahertz, which Acer Japan claims is the fastest AX machine
clock speed to date. The two-megabyte standard main memory can
be expanded to 24 megabytes. With a 32-kilobyte cache memory as
standard, the new AX machines process data faster.

Acer Japan is scheduled to ship the new machines in late January
and is targeting them as CAD/CAM (computer-aided design and
manufacturing) workstations, LAN (local area network) servers,
and as workstations for researchers.

The 33X-1-1 with a 5-inch floppy drive and a 100 megabyte hard
drive is priced at 1,728,000 yen ($12,000). The price of the
33X-011 depends on the storage medium.

Acer Japan plans to sell 2,000 in the first year.

(Ken Takahashi/19891214/Press Contact: Acer Japan, 03-463-3222)


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

4M DRAM CHIPS SHIPPED AS PRODUCTS}
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 DEC 8 (NB) -- Leading semiconductor firms
are likely to accelerate adoption of four-megabit DRAM (dynamic random
access memory) on their products.

Toshiba is exporting to the U.S. a memory expansion board with
its four-megabit DRAM chips. The shipment has started in November
when its Irvine, California plant started production of the T-1000,
T-3100 SX and T3200 SX.

The board is equipped with a set of eight four-megabit DRAMs which
can be accessed at 80 nanoseconds, and the firm is expected to
adopt the chip for workstations and supercomputers soon.

Meanwhile, semiconductor giant NEC plans to put its
four-megabit DRAMs in the second version of its book-size computer,
slated for release in April 1990.

Since the chip is still under evaluation, products
with the chip have not appeared in the computer market yet. Most
semiconductor makers, including Toshiba, NEC and Hitachi, want
to accelerate adoption of the chip in the industry as a whole
in order to shift manufacturers away from one-megabit DRAMs.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19891214)


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

TWO JOINT VENTURES FROM IBM JAPAN AND RETIREE}
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 DEC 12 (NB) -- IBM Japan will establish
two more alliances with those its retiring employees in February,
1990, following the success of International Translation and
Services firm, established with its retirees in June.

The new two firms are International Consultation and Education, and
International Maintenance Service. Both were established with 10 million
yen or $690,000 capital shared 35 percent by IBM Japan and rest by
executives of the new firms.

The three firms are set up to allow retired IBM employees to work
another five or ten years at these new jobs.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19891214)


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

OKI TO RELEASE 32-BIT AX BOOK-SIZE COMPUTER}
TOKYO, JAPAN 1989 DEC 13 (NB) -- Book-size computers are
popping up around in the computer market from several hardware
venders, and Oki Electric Industries will join them with
the 32-bit AX book-size computer next spring.

Generally, book-size computers are being warmly received by
a variety of businesses, including those in sales, insurance,
and securities, a phenomenon initiated with the marketing of the
Toshiba DynaBook, released in June.

Oki is not ready to publicizing details of the machine yet,
but according to the industry sources, Oki's book-size machine
will adopt a 32-bit, 16-megahertz 80386 SX central processing unit
with a 2.5-inch hard disk drive rather than a floppy disk drive or
IC (integrated circuit) card. The computer is expected to be
IBM-compatible with the Japanese-language AX or architecture-extended
standard.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19891214)


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

FUJITSU SUPPLIES MID-SIZE COMPUTER FOR AMDAHL}
TOKYO, JAPAN 1989 DEC 13 (NB) -- Fujitsu will supply its medium-sized
general-purpose computer to the U.S.-based Amdahl on an OEM (original
manufacturing equipment) basis.

The machine was developed based on the Unix machine of Fujitsu, the
M760, and will be sold as 7300 in the U.S. market. The machine has two
models, one of them is model 520 which performs 18 MIPS (million
instructions per second) and another is model 150 which performs 10 MIPS.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19891214)


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

PRODIGY CLOSES HEALTH BOARD, SOME USERS ARE OUTRAGED}
WHITE PLAINS, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1989 DEC 10 (NB) --
Following a series of insults between gays and fundamentalist
protestants, the Prodigy system has closed a health-related
bulletin board, leading to great outrage among some Prodigy
users.

Some users have been accusing Prodigy of censorship. These
users claim that the Prodigy service, owned by IBM and Sears,
covered up its plans to eliminate the bulletin board for
nearly three days, quashing attempts by any of its nearly
250,000 subscribers who tried to publicly discuss the
matter online.

Prodigy claims this is all a misunderstanding, but the fact
remains that the company was forthright from the beginning in
stating it would censor messages and refuse to post any it didn't
like. The company claimed the health board was eliminated because
low usage didn't justify the money required to continue
operating the board.

Other systems, such as CompuServe and GEnie, allow controversies to
go on, under the leadership of a company-appointed monitor. Other
systems, such as NWI, have strict guidelines giving conference
organizers the power to decide who can speak and who can be
excluded. The result is that angry groups tend to stay among
themselves, in this case gays with gays, and protestants with
protestants.

Users of these open systems say bulletin boards are valuable only
if users can exchange in wide-open discussions, even on
controversial or potentially offensive topics. But the service
providers are private businesses and can legally eliminate or
censor those forums for reasons of profit or taste.

Still, the shut-down of the Health Spa bulletin board represents
a public relations headache to Prodigy, as news of it spreads
throughout the online world.

In other Prodigy news, NYNEX agreed to handle database storage
and networking for Prodigy in New York and New England. That will
lower costs for the IBM-Sears joint venture, which is spending
$300 million on its system, including marketing. A NYNEX
spokesman insisted that the Prodigy deal is separate from the
company's own gateway project.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19891215/Press Contact: NYNEX, Carol Fessler,
914-644-7844; Prodigy, Brian Ek, 914-993-8843)


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

FASTEST CELLULAR MODEM AVAILABLE}
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 DEC 15 (NB) -- CellBlazer
is Telebit Corporation's new high-performance cellular modem,
capable of sending and receiving data at a blindingly fast
16,8000 bits per second.

Available as an external, rack-mount, or internal PC card,
the CellBlazer modem enables "tetherless" data communications
from portable computers from Toshiba, Grid, NEC, and Compaq,
as well as IBM PC/XT/AT or compatibles.

Telebit's modem copes with the reduced bandwidth of cellular
communications by implementing a new technology called Packetized
Ensemble Protocol (PEP) modulation. As a result, the CellBlazer
is able to connect and maintain connections on cellular channels
that conventional modems cannot.

Inside is also the CRC-16 error correction protocol to guarantee
that all transmissions are error-free.

The list price is $1,495 for the stand-alone or rack-mount versions; the
PC internal modem is $1,295 in the U.S. Order from 1-800-TELEBIT
or 415-969-3800.

(Wendy Woods/19891215/Press Contact: Angela Mongillo, Telebit,
415-940-4891)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(TOR)(00008)

CANADIAN BBS ADDS STOCK QUOTES, NEWS SERVICE}
MISSISSAUGA, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1989 DEC 11 (NB) -- Canada Remote
Systems, one of the country's largest bulletin board systems, has
added daily Toronto and New York stock information and news from
the New York newspaper Newsday to its information services.

The BBS said the entire listings of the Toronto and New York
stock exchanges will be posted daily, at about 5 p.m. Eastern
time. The data will be placed in a searchable on-line database.
The service is not intended to compete with constantly-updated
services such as Dow Jones News-Retrieval, the BBS's newsletter
said.

Reports from Newsday will be available five days a week to be
read on line or downloaded as a compressed file.

The new offerings join an assortment of existing information
services on Canada Remote, including Newsbytes News Network.

(Grant Buckler/19891215/Press Contact: Jud Newell, Canada Remote
Systems, 416-624-8193)


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

US WEST BUYS DSC EQUIPMENT FOR BILLING SERVICES}
DALLAS, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1989 DEC 12 (NB) -- U.S. West Service
Link, a subsidiary of U S West, signed an agreement with DSC
Communications of Dallas to acquire DSC MegaHub Signal Transfer
Points, and MegaHub Service Control Point developed by DSC and
Digital Equipment for use in the U S West BVS 2001 Billing
Validation Services system.

Using DSC's equipment, the US West billing system is expected to
be the first line information database system in the nation to
support both X.25 and Signaling System No. 7 customer protocol
interfaces. The former protocol is a standard used between
computers, the latter a standard used between Private Branch
Exchanges and telephone switches.

U S West Service Link handles specialized telecommunications
systems in credit card authorization, multimedia messaging
and operator services.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19891215/Press Contact: DSC Communications,
Terry Adams, 214-519-4358; U S West, Judy Hensel, 303-291-5060)


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

BELL ATLANTIC ADDING CELLULAR FREQUENCIES}
BASKING RIDGE, NEW JERSEY, U.S.A., 1989 DEC 13 (NB) -- Bell
Atlantic's Mobile Systems division, which announced last week it
was sectorizing its systems in major markets to add capacity, is
also testing the use of additional frequencies so it can handle
25% more calls without adding more cells.

"Technically, this isn't sectorization," a spokesman told
Newsbytes. "Sectorization allows us to do other things to add
capacity, but mainly it reduces interference. Expanded spectrum
is bringing in a whole different set of channels that weren't in
use. Expanded spectrum refers to a whole different set of
frequencies that the government now allows us to use," at the
high end of the band used by cellular systems now. The testing
has gone on for several months, and will be completed by the end
of the year. The trial is taking place at the cell site atop the
USA Today building in Arlington, Va., Bell Atlantic Mobile's most
heavily-used cell site in the Washington/Baltimore system.

"Our customer base is increasing by more than 50% each year, so
in addition to building new cell sites, we have to look to new
technologies to handle the demand," added Rich Harvey, director of
design and planning at Bell Atlantic Mobile. There are now more
then 2.7 million Americans who use cellular phones, according to
the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association.

Bell Atlantic Mobile has been selling expanded spectrum-
compatible phones since 1988.  Customers with older model phones
will benefit as well, since the new phones will free up space on
the original spectrum. Cellular carriers have implemented
Expanded Spectrum technology on a limited basis in Los Angeles
and New York City, the two largest cellular markets in the
country.  The Washington/Baltimore area is the fourth largest
cellular market.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19891215/Press Contact: Karen Ann Kurlander,
Bell Atlantic Mobile Systems, 201-953-2699)


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

AT&T USING SOVIET SATELLITES TO INCREASE CAPACITY}
WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A., 1989 DEC 13 (NB) -- AT&T has asked to use
the U.S.S.R.'s Intersputnik satellite system in a bid to increase
U.S.-U.S.S.R. calling capacity.

Telephone traffic between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. has
increased by more than 140 percent in the past two years
in part because of improvements in the telecommunications
network between the countries, but demand still far
exceeds existing capacity. Intersputnik circuits would
be used for operator-assisted and direct-dialed calls, as well as
for custom services.

Under the proposal, AT&T and the Soviets would continue to use
Intelsat for some circuits, and would split future increases in
demand for circuits among undersea cables, Intelsat satellites
and Intersputnik satellites. The Soviets prefer using their own
satellite for additional circuits because they then incur
expenses solely within the Soviet Union, payable in rubles rather
than in Western currency that is scarce in the U.S.S.R.

The proposal must be approved by the U.S. Federal Communications
Commission. AT&T has provided telephone communications between
the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. since 1933 and last month introduced
direct-dialing between the U.S. and Moscow.

Spokesman Dave Bikle explained the problem, and proposed
solution, to Newsbytes. "We now have 39 circuits between US and
USSR. They all go to Moscow. Some are on Intelsat, some cable.
That means we can carry 39 calls at a time." Besides asking to
use the Soviet satellite, AT&T has also applied to add 24 more
circuits on Intelsat in January. "We expect that to go through,"
said Bikle. The InterSputnik deal would add 150 circuits. The
satellite in question is in geosynchronous orbit 22,300 miles
in the sky, off the coast of Liberia, and uses similar C band
frequencies as U.S. satellites. "A lot of American companies are
trying to initiate business in the U.S.S.R. and need better
communications," Bikle concluded.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19891215/Press Contact: Dave Bikle, AT&T, 201-
953-7614)


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

CRAIG McCAW WINS LIN}
KIRKLAND, WASHINGTON, U.S.A., 1989 DEC 11 (NB) -- With
BellSouth's surrender, black knight McCaw Communications has won
cellular's biggest prize, LIN Broadcasting, owners of valuable
cellular franchises in, among other places, New York, Los
Angeles, and Houston. McCaw Chairman Crag McCaw can now build a
nationwide cellular network.

The final price, $154 per share. LIN had no comment on the deal,
but apparently BellSouth balked to raising McCaw's last offer,
mainly because its earlier offer would dilute the parent
company's earnings and a higher offer might be opposed by state
regulators in the carrier's service region.

McCaw's job now is to network these disparate systems, and non-
McCaw operations working under separate agreements, into one
nationwide network, called Cellular One, offering corporate
clients one-stop shopping for their cellular needs. In some
crucial markets, moreover, where LIN owns 50% of the license,
the other 50% is owned by BellSouth, McCaw's erstwhile enemy.
McCaw now has the challenge of wooing BellSouth from the inside
on his ultimate goal: integrating his national cellular network
with wireline systems, giving Americans the kind of personal
phone numbers now available only in places like England.

McCaw also has a new challenge, as reported by Newsbytes last
week. Cellular Service of Los Angeles, which buys cellular
time from PacTel and L.A. Cellular, and re-sells it at a profit,
wants to install its own switches. CSI says it can cut rates and
provide direct connections between systems with the switch. The
two local franchisees have tried to ignore CSI, which is now
going to state and federal regulators with its plans.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19891215)


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

DOW JONES TAKES AIM AT REUTERS IN FOREIGN EXCHANGE MARKET}
NEW YORK, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1989 DEC 11 (NB) -- Telerate,
92% owned by Dow-Jones, agreed to buy AT&T stake in Global
Transactions Services, which runs The Trading Service, an
electronic transaction handler for the foreign exchange market.

The deal puts Dow Jones on a collision course with Reuters, which
grew out of its news service niche by taking control of foreign
exchange trading earlier this decade. Telerate is the leader in
terminal systems for U.S. stock brokers, holding a dominance
there similar to Reuters' dominance of foreign exchange.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19891215/Press Contact: Telerate, William Rose,
212-938-8158)


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

ONE-STOP-SHOP SET UP FOR 900 NUMBER SERVICE}
DANVILLE, NEW JERSEY, U.S.A., 1989 DEC 11 (NB) -- A leading
media broker called The Mediators of New York formed a joint-
venture with Bellatrix Communications under which the Mediators
will bring programming to Bellatrix' 900-number service bureau.

This will give those with information or notoriety to sell one-
stop shopping for "900" number services, from creative work and
marketing to call-minute monitoring and reporting, as well as
receivables financing.

One caveat, reported by The Teleputing Hotline newsletter, is
that Bellatrix will police content, as AT&T, U.S. Sprint and local
Bells do. Those who want to sell sex, or anything else which is
highly controversial, will have to go to Telesphere
International, which prefixes all its 900 numbers with the 909
code. If it's 1-900-909-XXXX, it's a Telesphere service.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19891215/Press Contact: Bellatrix
Communications, Richard Bolton, 201-586-0900)


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

AT&T, MCI TO CONNECT MAIL SYSTEMS UNDER X.400 STANDARD}
WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A., 1989 DEC 8 (NB) -- AT&T and MCI
agreed to connect their electronic mail networks under the X.400
standard next February.

MCI will deliver notes to AT&T Mail
customers at no added charge to stimulate use of the link. The
agreement between hated rivals is the most significant to date in
the move to connect all mail systems worldwide under X.400, and
will likely isolate DA Systems' DASNET inter-system network to
niches, including corporate networks and small systems such as
Peacenet.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19891215/Press Contact: MCI, Jane Levene, 914-
934-6480)


(EXCLUSIVE)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00013)

SPECTRAFAX COULD GO AFTER FAXBANK
NAPLES, FLORIDA, U.S.A., 1989 DEC 15 (NB) -- In an exclusive
interview with Newsbytes, Spectrafax President Thomas Conwell
acknowledged his company could see FaxBank Systems of Minneapolis
in court over a system which sends fax messages to people who
request them from their own fax machines using a touchtone phone
keypad.

FaxBank, from FaxBank Systems of Minneapolis, offers similar
technology, but Conwell notes it's only a call-back system.

"That's a big difference. We operate on the same call. With the
FaxBank system you might get another fax in or have people come
in behind you, leaving your machine busy when FaxBank tries to
call you." He adds, "We can do callback too. If you're at an
airport and want something faxed to your office, you can do that"
with the Spectrafax system, called Special Request.

Beyond that, however, Spectrafax has had a patent pending on its
fax-voice technology since March. "There's nothing we can do
until the granting of a patent," Conwell said, but if the
granted patent gives Spectrafax control over all fax-voice
systems, not just those which don't require a callback, a
lawsuit is possible. The patent pending status, however, holds
other advantages. "You can bring a patent pending for 2 years. No
one can look at your patent while it's pending."

Spectrafax has already sold its technology to other companies,
including Brite Systems of Wichita, Kansas, which has
incorporated it into its fax-voice product. Spectrafax is
aggressively selling the Special Request system through a 15-
member salesforce to banks, insurance companies, food companies,
broadcasters, and publishers.

Spectrafax' Special Request costs about $3-5,000 per line, and
requires quite a bit of customization. It comes in a rack-mount,
with a bank of up to 8 lines per bank. You can get a minimum of
4, and upgrade later, even 1 line at a time. For those who need
16 or 48 or more lines, Spectrafax works with a Novell server.
It's all mounted on one unit the size of a refrigerator.

When you call Special Request, you're guided through a menu by an
electronically synthesized voice and asked to press the button on
your fax-phone keypad that corresponds to the menu item they
want. When a selection is made, the synthesized voice prompts:
"Thank you. Please press the start button on your fax machine at
the tone to receive the information you have requested." A beep
sounds, the start button is pushed and the transmission begins.
When it is completed, Special Request resets for the next call.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19891215/Press Contact: Spectrafax, Thomas
Conwell, 813-399-5400)


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

IBM PHONECOMMUNICATOR INTRODUCED TO HELP HEARING/SPEECH IMPAIRED}
WHITE PLAINS, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1989 DEC 12 (NB) -- IBM has
announced a new product, PhoneCommunicator, for home or business
use by hearing- or speech-impaired individuals with PC/AT-
compatible computers, which allows the hearing person to send
messages to the hearing-impaired using a touch-tone phone,
enabling the recipient to then read the message on his/her
computer.

A response keyed in by the user is then spoken by the computer
using the PhoneCommunicator's synthesized voice, and the entire
session can easily be recorded and printed out for the impaired
user.

The combined hardware and software costs $600 and is not
available for Micro Channel-based systems, only the older ISA
(Industry Standard Architecture) bus computers.

IBM Telemarketing Operations is selling the system now and can be
contacted by calling 800-426-3388 (voice) or 800-426-3383 (TDD).
Calls for further information, not orders, can be placed to 800-
426-2133 (voice) or 800-284-9482 (TDD).

(John McCormick/19891215/Press Contact: Jim Keller, IBM, 914-
642-5472)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(TOR)(00003)

CANADIAN TELCOS TO CUT BUSINESS DATA RATES}
TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1989 DEC 12 (NB) -- Telecom Canada, the
national consortium of telephone companies, has announced plans
to cut rates for private-line data communications services. The
cuts, of as much as 70 percent, will mainly affect large business
customers.

Rates for 56-kilobit-per-second Dataroute private-line digital
data service will be cut 70 percent on average, said Bell Canada,
the largest member of the consortium. Rates for Megaroute, a
1.544-megabit-per-second T1 service, will be reduced an average
of 50 percent. Bell also announced plans to offer fractional T1
service on Megaroute so customers can buy Megaroute capacity by
the 64-kilobit-per-second channel. Rates for the existing
Megastream fractional T1 service will be cut 20 percent on
average, and the current four-channel minimum will be dropped.

Bell also announced what its president, Jean Monty, called a
"cost-of-living" increase in rates on Datapac, the national
packet-switched data network. Asked if the changes might be
viewed as a break for big business at the expense of smaller
customers, Monty said many of the same customers use both Datapac
and the private-line services, and claimed the net savings to
Bell customers will be some C$15 million. He also said Datapac
rates remain lower than comparable packet-switching costs in the
United States.

The cost of the high-speed private-line services, on the other
hand, remains higher than in the U.S. After the reductions, which
still require regulatory approval, rates for Megaroute,
Megastream and Dataroute will be two to four times higher than
comparable costs in the United States, Monty said. At present,
some of the rates are 10 times higher than their U.S.
counterparts, or more, a fact Monty blamed on the smaller
Canadian market.

Monty also denied the reductions were prompted by the threat of
competition from Rogers Communications Inc. and its partly-owned
subsidiary CNCP Telecommunications, which is seeking government
permission to compete with Telecom Canada in providing long-
distance telephone service. He admitted competitive pressures led
Bell to draw extra attention to the move. "The fact that we're
having the press conference is a response to [Rogers
Communications President] Ted Rogers and CNCP," he told reporters
in Toronto. "The fact that we're reducing the prices is not
necessarily a response to Ted Rogers and CNCP."

The reductions do appear to be partly a response to the Free
Trade Agreement between Canada and the United States which went
into effect at the beginning of 1989. Monty acknowledged Bell has
received many complaints from business customers about the
difference in some telecommunications costs between the two
countries.

The move must be approved by the Canadian Radio-television and
Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), to which Bell and other
Telecom Canada companies will submit a rate filing in January.
Monty said he hopes the change can take effect within about six
months.

(Grant Buckler/19891212/Press Contact: Joanne Stanley, Bell
Canada, 613-781-3301)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(TOR)(00009)

CANADIAN TELCOS PLAN FAX NETWORK}
OTTAWA, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1989 DEC 12 (NB) -- Bell Canada and the
British Columbia Telephone Co. have applied for permission to
launch a long-distance facsimile network.

The two companies have applied to the Canadian Radio-
television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), to
introduce FaxNet, which would handle fax transmissions
anywhere in Canada or the United States, except
Alaska and Hawaii.

Use of FaxNet would be billed in six-second increments, with a
35 percent discount outside the hours of 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on
weekdays. John Anderson, a spokesman for the national telephone
consortium Telecom Canada, of which both companies are members,
said the monthly subscription fee is expected to be about C$20 in
Ontario and Quebec, which Bell Canada serves. Connection to
FaxNet would require a special line, but this would be accessible
to incoming calls like a regular phone line. Other Canadian
telephone companies may offer the service later, according to
Telecom Canada.

(Grant Buckler/19891213/Press Contact: John Anderson, Telecom
Canada, 613-560-3692)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(LON)(00003)

TELECOM GOLD LINKS DIRECT TO ICC}
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1989 DEC 16 (NB) -- Telecom Gold has installed a
live gateway facility into the ICC company information database,
following several months of access to weekly updates on the
Telecom Gold computers.

The gateway allows the 140,000-plus Telecom Gold subscribers pay-
as-you-use access to the ICC database, which is now available on
a continuously updated basis. In addition, Telecom Gold gateway
users now have access to the same searching facilities as if they
subscribed directly with ICC for online access. These facilities
include the provision of menu-driven commands displayed at the
foot of the screen.

The ICC database includes information relating to British
companies, keynote market analyses, stockbroker reports and full
text company accounts.

(Steve Gold/19891612/Press Contact: Karen Chandler, ICC - Tel:
01-783-1122; Email on Dialcom - 10074:INF002)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(LON)(00005)

BT UNVEILS DIAL PLUS UPGRADE TO PACKET SWITCH STREAM}
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1989 DEC 16 (NB) -- British Telecom (BT) has
announced plans to allow dial-up access to its Packet Switch
Stream (PSS) network at all CCITT modem speeds to 2400 bits per
second (bps) with MNP Class 5 error-correction and data
compression. The service is called PSS Dial Plus, and is
initially available via six dial-up ports across the UK.

Dial Plus will eventually replace the existing PSS network, which
continues to be available at 300/300, 1200/75 and 1200/1200 bps
without error-correction. The Dial Plus dial-up ports have a
single access number for each node, rather than separate numbers
for each baud rate, as is the case with PSS.

Signing up to Dial Plus costs UKP 60 ($90), with ongoing charges
of UKP 60 a year. UK X.25 data calls cost UKP 1-80 ($2-70) per
hour during office hours and UKP 1-65 ($2-50) per hour off-peak.
International data calls (to other X.25 networks such as Telenet,
Tymnet and Venus-P) are charged at the same rates as BT's
existing international PSS network (IPSS), i.e. on a time plus
data transmitted and received basis.

As well as the enhanced access speeds and introduction of MNP error-
correction and data compression, Dial Plus has an intelligent
front-end menuing system. The menu allows simple one-key access
to several regularly used X.25 network hosts, which can be
changed by the user. Other features of the menu allow the PAD
(packet assembler disassembler) parameters to easily changed - a
task that is difficult on PSS.

Dial Plus is currently available via at least six dial-up ports
around the UK, including London and Manchester. Sources close to
BT suggest that a phased roll-out to replace the existing PSS
service is planned for 1990. Once that happens, PSS users will be
moved over to the Dial Plus service.

(Steve Gold/19891216/Press & Public Contact: British Telecom -
Tel: [phone])


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(LON)(00006)

COMPUSERVE INTROS INFORMATION MANAGER}
COLUMBUS, OHIO, U.S.A., 1989 DEC 16 (NB) -- Compuserve has
unveiled an MS-DOS communications package called Compuserve
Information Manager (CIM). The $24.95 package presents a WIMP
(windows, icons, mouse, presentation) interface to the PC user.

Plans also call for the introduction of an Apple Mac edition of
CIM in the first quarter of 1990, with a similar price tag.

CIM allows subscribers to Compuserve to log in to the service
using a customized user interface. By selecting the various
options, online tasks such as forum access and electronic mail
functions can be automated, with offline messages uploaded, and
files downloaded for dealing with when offline.

Other features of CIM include: Compuserve Fast B+ file transfer
protocol support; GIF (graphics interchange format) image
support; and a self-select menu system for regularly visited
areas of the Compuserve database.

The MS-DOS version of the Compuserve Information Manager is
available immediately to Compuserve subscribers, and comes with a
$15 usage credit. The package requires a PC with 450K of
available memory, a Hayes-compatible modem and a hard disk with
at least 750K of available storage.

(Steve Gold/19891216/Press & Public Contact: Compuserve - Tel:
614/457-8600)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(LON)(00007)

UK: PROFILE INTROS FAX ALERT FACILITY}
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1989 DEC 16 (NB) -- Profile, the Financial
Times' online information service, has launched a facility
called Fax Alert. Like its sister product, Email Alert, Fax Alert
allows the Profile user to set up pre-arranged searches which run
daily on the Financial Times and deliver the results direct to
the user.

Pricing on the Fax Alert service varies, dependent on the
resultant volume of data that each daily search achieves. The
results of the search are sent direct to the subscriber's
nominated fax machines.

(Steve Gold/19891216/Press & Public Contact: Profile Information
- Tel: [phone])


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(BRU)(00002)

EUROPEAN COMMISSION NIXES PAN-EUROPEAN DATA NET}
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM, 1989 DEC 16 (NB) -- The European Commission
(EC) has given the thumbs down to a pan-European project which
would have created a data network system covering most of Europe.

The EC's decision was taken after it was decided the project
would interfere with free market competition rules being enforced
throughout Europe by the EC.

The EC considered that the project, that was to have been formed
by 22 European telecommunications administrations, would present
problems for smaller companies trying to compete in the same
market-place.

Despite the refusal to grant permission for the project, the EC
has not ruled out the possibility that a Pan-European data
network is possible in the future, provided the consortium agrees
not to cross-subsidize services and protect private interests.

(Peter Vekinis/19891216/Press Contact: Michael Berendt, 02/235-
8562)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(SYD)(00009)

CHILE SATELLITE CONTRACT TO SCIENTIFIC ATLANTA}
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1989 DEC 11 (NB) -- Scientific Atlanta
Incorporated has signed a contract with Australia's Bond
Corporation to supply and install a satellite telephone
system for Chile.

The Chilean system is planned to be the world's largest
digital satellite network. It will involve 47 earth stations
throughout Chile, each capable of having more than 4000
voice and data channels. The telephone and data links will
be supported by Intermediate Data Rate stations which will
give businesses interactive communications via the V-SAT
network.

The Bond Corporation has been the center of some controversy
regarding its operations in Chile and its cooperation with
Pinochet government phone tapping. The Bond Corporation is
also undergoing financial problems in Australia where it is
overdue to repay some of its debts.

(Gavin Atkins & Computing Australia/19891213)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(HKG)(00001)

HONGKONG TELECOM ANNOUNCES MAJOR RESTRUCTURING}
CENTRAL, HONGKONG, 1989 DEC 15 (NB) -- Hongkong's largest
public company and monopoly holder of all international and
domestic telecom operations in the territory, Hongkong
Telecommunications Limited (HKTelecom), today announced
the merger of its non-franchised business subsidiaries.

Communications Services (CSL), Integrated Business Systems
(IBS) and Cable & Wireless Systems (CWS) are to be consolidated.

HKTelecom was formed about three years when Cable & Wireless,
the sole franchise holder for international telecommunications,
took over the Hongkong Telephone Company (HKTEL), the sole
franchise holder for domestic telecommunications. A small
percentage of the company is held by the Hongkong government
and approximately 20 percent is held by the public through a local
stock exchange listing.

The new organization, yet to be named, will be headed by Gus
Moore who is currently group managing director of Telephone
Rentals in the UK. CSL's Managing Director Ralph Cooper has
been appointed deputy chief executive. Business systems
division will be headed by Bob McKirdy, managing director of
IBS; products by Hubert Ng; mobile by Ian Stone; projects by
George Yee; services by Roy Ellyatt, formerly manager of
Datacom Services Division of HKTEL; and finance, personnel
and administration by Terry Curthoys.

CSL and IBS were both formed when the telecommunications
industry was deregulated early in the eighties. CSL, a
company with annual revenues of about $200 million, sells
and supports a wide range of telephonic and data
communications equipment through more than 40 retail
outlets across the territory. It also markets a range
of private branch exchange equipment and
operates one of the three local mobile phone cellular
networks based on the TAACS system.

IBS is sole distributor for ROLM exchange equipment and is
also an IBM VAR for the AS /400 and PS /2 range, specializing
in the provision of integrated voice and data systems. CWS,
by contrast, handles large highly specialized
telecommunications control projects, such as the railway
control systems in the Kowloon Canton Railway's Light Rail
Transport (LRT) in the New Territories and the Hongkong
Bank's security control system.

The rationalization is intended to assist the group to bring
new advanced telecommunications products and services to
the market. "Apart from the economies of cost that we
will be achieving from the reorganization, it will
also enable us to be even more effective in meeting our
customers' requirements, " said HK Telecom CEO, Mr
Michael Gale.

Mr Gale said that the group has also been continuing
its investment in new equipment and some $400 million
had been allotted for capital expenditure in
the current financial year.

(Keith Cameron/19891215/Press Contact: John York
Williams HKTEL 852-5-288111)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(HKG)(00003)

HONGKONG: TRACK BETTERS GO ONLINE}
WANCHAI, HONGKONG, 1989 DEC 12 (NB) -- Communications Services
Ltd (CSL) has launched a new online information service,
Computa Form, for horse racing enthusiasts who have
personal computers.

The service is a complete electronic horse racing form guide
and includes historical performance information, career
summaries and predictions.

Gambling, other than through the Royal Hongkong Jockey Club
(RHKJC), is against the law in Hongkong, but the services
provided by the RHKJC are unique in the world. About a year
ago the Hongkong Telephone Company provided a territory-
wide private data network to the Club accessible through
the normal telephone network. The RHKJC provides specially
designed hand-held betting terminals to its punters for a
nominal charge.

Typically the telephone betting system received over
500,000 phone calls during an afternoon eight- race
program. This required a 1,500 strong force of
telephone betting operators. The Telephone Company was
experiencing a strain on the voice network and the
terminals, which were designed and manufactured
in Hongkong, reduced that strain dramatically. It is planned
to directly wire every public telephone booth in the
territory with the Hongkong equivalent of
an RJ11 jack socket for the convenience of punters.

The handheld betting terminal, known as a Customer Input
Terminal (CIT), will hold up to 100 bets at any one time,
and will transmit them in blocks of five to the betting centre.
The bets are accepted and validated in real time in a
few seconds, whereas the previous voice calls took some minutes.

A number of similar horse-racing organizations around the
world have shown interest in the CIT and the RHKJC has
indicated its willingness to provide details of the concept
and the technology.

In addition, during the current racing season, the RHKJC has
tied up with racing clubs in Australia and Britain, beaming
races over satellite in real time with betting possible at both
ends.

(Keith Cameron/19891215)


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

SUPER-FAST, SUPER-COOL JOSEPHSON COMPUTER ADVANCE}
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 DEC 13 (NB) -- The research and development
arm of Japan's Agency of Industrial Science and Technology,
Electrotechnical Laboratory, claims to have successfully
developed a Josephson computer capable of performing the same
tasks as a regular computer, such as arithmetic and logic
functions, but at super-fast speeds and at a fraction of the
power consumption.

The prototype machine is configured with four chips, the
instructional read-only unit, register arithmetic and logic
unit, dynamic random access unit and sequence control unit,
on a 10 centimeter-square board.

The Josephson device is a switching element based on the
Josephson junction, which sandwiches an insulator with
a superconductive material. Electrotechincal Laboratory has
integrated 26,000 Josephson junctions on the prototype machine
with niobium as the superconductive material and aluminum
oxide as the insulator.

The prototype performs one billion instructions per second
at one thousandth current supercomputer power consumption.
The actual consumption is gauged at 6.2 milliwatts when the
device is operated at a temperature of minus 268.8 degrees
centigrade.

Electrotechnical Laboratory claims that its Josephson device
is almost ready for the practical use. "Now it's up to companies
to commercialize," says Susumu Takada, a member of the development
team at Electrotechnical Laboratory.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19891214)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(LAX)(00014)

LOW COST RISC CHIP, LOWER CHIP PRICING FROM MOTOROLA}
AUSTIN, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1989 DEC 12 (NB) -- New from Motorola's
Microprocessor Products Group is a low cost 16 MHz version of the
88000 RISC (reduced instruction set computer) microprocessor
family.

The company has announced reduced prices for the 20, 25 and 33
MHz versions of 88000, effective immediately. The newest 16 MHZ
version of the 88100 lists for $148 in 1000 piece quantities
while in the same quantity, the 88100 MPU is $348 for the 20 MHz
version, $488 for the 25 MHz version and $652 for the 33 MHz
version.

Motorola has also announced the 16MHz version of 88200 CMMU
(cache and memory management unit) available at $175 in 1000
piece lots. Quantity pricing on the 20, 25 and 33 MHz 88200
CMMUs have also been significantly lowered to $437 for 20 MHz,
$612 for 25 MHz and $855 for 33MHz. Also available is an 88000
RISC solution package including one MPU and two CMMUs for $498.

(Janet Endrijonas/19891215/Press Contact: Dean Mosley, Motorola,
512-891-2839)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(WAS)(00001)

CMU'S DEEP THOUGHT BEATS SCOTTISH INT'L CHESS MASTER}
PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, U.S.A., 1989 DEC 14 (NB) --
Carnegie Mellon University's creators of the Deep Thought chess
playing computer, the top-ranked in the world, will collect a
$5,000 prize for trouncing Scottish international chess master
David Levy 4-0 in a match held last week at the British Computer
Society in London.

This is the same computer that lost two games to Gary Kasparov,
the world chess champion, in October, but some improvements have
been made since then, according to Murray Campbell, one of the
Deep Thought team.

Carnegie Mellon University, or CMU, has been one of the foremost
computer research centers since the early days of U.S. computing,
and building a chess game capable of beating the top human
players has long been a goal of computer programmers. Although it
doesn't generally have any direct application to other, more
practical programs, chess research is a gauge of how the computer
is progressing, and such basic research usually pays dividends
eventually.

(John McCormick/19891215/Press Contact: Anne Watzman, CMU,
412-268-2900)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(SYD)(00004)

AUSTRALIA MOVES TO CERTIFY COMPUTER PROFESSIONALS}
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA, 1989 DEC 11 (NB) -- Australian
Computer Society members in Victoria will soon be able to
become Practicing Computer Professionals (PCPs) in a scheme
designed to be similar to the Certified Practicing
Accountants (CPA) scheme. The Victorian branch will pilot
the scheme next year and it will be adopted nationwide if it
is successful.

The Victorian ACS development officer, Kate Behan, said PCPs
would do 30-hours training in an ACS-endorsed course each
year to earn and keep their qualification. "Ongoing
education is vital in the computing industry and anyone
looking at hiring a computer professional will be able to
ring the ACS and ask if the person is a PCP and is up-to-
date."

The decision has been endorsed by Digital Equipment
Corporation, which is encouraging its staff to become PCPs.
DEC's South Pacific director of education, John Baker said
the scheme was vital and timely, particularly in the light
of Australia's computing skills shortage.

(Gavin Atkins & Computing Australia/19891213)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(SYD)(00010)

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE RESEARCH FLOUNDERING}
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1989 DEC 11 (NB) -- The third annual
Australian Joint Artificial Intelligence Congress held in
Melbourne last month heard that there had been no major
breakthroughs in artificial intelligence manufacturing
recently because of poor management and a lack of
infrastructure.

The four-day conference attracted speakers from all over the
world including Dr Ramasamy Uthurusamy from General Motors
Research Laboratories who detailed reasons why AI companies
in manufacturing had floundered.

"There is a lack of infrastructure, such as networks, bar
code readers, control devices, etcetera to permit integration.
There has been management's failure to appreciate the
difference between data, information and knowledge, and too
ad hoc an approach to installing AI systems."

"While there are advances in (AI) technology, there have
been no significant breakthroughs...AI technology has taken
a back seat to marketing strategies," he said.

(Gavin Atkins & Computing Australia/19891213)


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

BIODEGRADABLE BAGS TURNING OUT NOT TO BE}
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1989 DEC 15 (NB) -- The degradable
supermarket bags reported in Newsbytes earlier this year
have failed to live up to the claims made about them. The
bags are claimed to be photo-degradable -- that is, they
break down into small particles when exposed to daylight for
a few days.

Well, were sorry to report the negative results of the
hundreds of self-appointed test-sites across Australia
(including Newsbytes) where bags have been hung in windows, on
clotheslines and on slow-moving stray dogs in an effort to
plot the bag's breakdown. Put simply, the bags are as
tenacious as ever and the manufacturer is doing some
explaining to the supermarkets which paid a premium for the
bags.

A plastics industry spokesperson explained that photo-
degradable high-density polyethylenes use calcium carbonate
fillers while biodegradable bags (they are intended to
disintegrate in garbage dumps) use corn flour fillers as part
of the breakdown mechanism.

(Paul Zucker/19891215)


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

NEC LAPTOP TO HAVE BETTER COLOR SCREEN}
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 DEC 8 (NB) -- NEC promises to release a laptop
with an improved, thin film transistor color display by March or
April of next year.

NEC has been shipping a 16-bit color laptop, called the PC-9801LX5C,
since July. This PC has what's called a single matrix STN (super-
twisted nematic) LCD (liquid crystal display) screen. The one
drawback to this technology is that it produces a slightly fuzzy
or indistinct screen image.

Consequently, NEC has been developing a TFT (thin film transistor)
color laptop screen which is said to have higher contrast and a
faster response than single matrix technology. NEC claims to have
finally achieved technology for volume production of the TFT-display
laptops.

An NEC spokeswoman told Newsbytes, "We are planning to sell
the new color laptop and we want to exhibit it at the Business
Show to be held in May next year. We have not decided on any
other details of the machine yet."

(Ken Takahashi/19891214/Press Contact: NEC Corp., 03-454-1111)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(TYO)(00016)

FOUR MAJOR CHIP MAKERS DEVELOP 4M SRAM}
TOKYO, JAPAN 1989 DEC 12 (NB) -- The four leading semiconductor
firms, NEC, Toshiba, Hitachi and Mitsubishi Electric, have developed
a prototype of the most advanced chips, four-megabit SRAM (static
random access memory).

The prototypes are being prepared for the ISSCC or International
Solid-State Circuits Conference, which is slated for February 1990
in San Francisco. The firms say they plan to commercialize the
technology within two or three years.

Hitachi and Toshiba have developed the chips with a 0.5-micron twin-
layered metal wiring process while NEC has an 0.55-micron and Mitsubishi
a 0.6-micron process. On the contrary, NEC and Mitsubishi have
achieved 15 nanosecond and 20 nanoseconds of access time while Hitachi and
Toshiba's chips have recorded 23 nanoseconds.

Sony has already exhibited its four-megabit SRAM chip at the last SSICC.
However, the four firms' chip quality is expected to be more sophisticated
than Sony's because nearly one year has passed since the last conference.

(Naoyuki Yazawa/19891214)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(HKG)(00002)

HONGKONG: DEC FIGHTS BRAIN DRAIN WITH PASSPORT INCENTIVES}
WANCHAI, HONGKONG, 1989 DEC 12 (NB) -- The number of highly
skilled people seeking and achieving emigration from Hongkong
has soared since the Beijing problems in June. Digital
Equipment Corporation says it is working on a plan
to help its professionals emigrate while remaining with
the company.

According to Digital's general international area president,
Richard Poulsen, who was in town for meetings with major
customers, the loss of employees through emigration was one
of the biggest problems facing the company's locally based
regional office. He said that the company's strategy should be
finalized by year end and employees will be immediately informed.

Mr Poulson said that the company would work with employees
who wanted to leave the territory and help with the process
of emigration documents.

Australia and Canada were the most popular destinations
for technical personnel and where possible, the company
would arrange transfers to their operations in those locations.

The move was welcomed by local technical head-hunter,
Jeff Evans, managing director of Tech-Xecutive Society, who
told Newsbytes, "The problem isn't a lack of clients,
there is a tremendous demand for professional staff in
Hongkong. The problem is finding, and then holding,
suitable staff. Moves such as the one by Digital will
help stabilize the situation."

Interestingly enough, Digital advertised recently in
Canada for Hongkong-born professionals who had already
achieved passports, in an endeavor to attract
them back. The company received 1,600 applications,
"40 of which we could have hired on the spot," said
Poulson, but the people demanded expatriate terms to
come back to Hongkong, which made the costs prohibitive.

The population of Hongkong is anxiously awaiting news from
the British Parliament regarding the issuance of residency
rights for some percentage of Hongkong citizens but
there is a general feeling that whatever the offer is,
it will be insufficient to provide the safety valve people
are demanding. Because of the worldwide demand for information
technology professionals, the IT industry is by far the
business sector hit worst by the brain drain.

"Salaries in our business have gone through the roof," says
Mr Evans, "But even with high salaries there remains a
mobility which is very unhealthy for the industry."

(Keith Cameron/19891215/Press Contact: Ian McLean -
Digital Equipment 852-5-8614200)
(NEWS)(TRENDS)(WAS)(00002)

AT&T TO BUILD XILINX'S FPGAS, INCREASING AVAILABILITY}
BERKELEY HEIGHTS, NEW JERSEY, U.S.A., 1989 DEC 11 (NB) --
AT&T and San Jose-based Xilinx have announced a five-year
strategic marketing arrangement where the small company's Field
Programmable Gate Array or FPGA semiconductors will be built by
AT&T facilities in the U.S. and Spain, giving AT&T access to
these important devices and greatly increasing total production.

FPGAs are used to quickly develop and test new chip designs or
produce small numbers of custom chips by programming them in the
"field" connected to PC workstations.

For further information on FPGAs, call Xilinx at 800-255-7778 or
AT&T Microelectronics at 800-372-2447.

(John McCormick/19891214/Press Contact: Barbara Baklarz, AT&T,
201-771-2826)


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

TOSHIBA/UNISOFT PUTTING UNIX ON A TRON CHIP}
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 DEC 13 (NB) -- Nippon Unisoft and Toshiba have
joined forces to convert AT&T's Unix operating system to run on
Toshiba's TRON processors, TX1 and TX3.

Unisoft has started to sell the converted program which enables the
Unix operating system to run on a TRON-based microprocessor for the
first time ever.

Operating systems previously available for a TRON chip were
TRON-OS and real-time processing VRTX, not exactly household
names. The addition of the Unix operating system to that line-up,
called UniPlusTX, is expected to result in better industry
reception for TRON-architecture computers. Still, Nippon Unisoft
is playing it safe by predicting that only five units of the
software will be sold in the next year.

(Ken Takahashi/19891214/Press Contact: Nippon Unisoft, 03-237-3321)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(SFO)(00009)

MATHEMATICA CONFERENCE SLATED}
REDWOOD CITY, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 DEC 15 (NB) -- Enthusiasts
of Mathematica, the program voted by Business Week magazine as
one of the 10 best products of 1988, will gather en-masse at
Hotel Sofitel in Redwood City, January 11 through 13.

Mathematica is an integrated technical computing environment
which performs numerical, symbolic and graphical computations,
and embodies a high-level programming language.

The devotees of this program, created by Wolfram Research, include
engineering companies, mathematicians, scientists, brokerages, as
well as those in medical imaging, quantum gravity, and decision
analysis.

The event features tutorials, forums and panels, as well as
a roster of distinguished speakers: Steve Christensen (NCSA),
Dorian Golfeld from Columbia University, Sam Savage from the
University of Chicago, Andrew Watson of NASA Ames, as well as
author Stephen Wolfram himself.

Information can be obtained on the event by calling 217-
398-0700 or write the 1990 Mathematica Conference, PO Box
3848, Champaign, Illinois 61826.

(Wendy Woods/19891215)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(LAX)(00009)

NCD, BULL TO SELL UNIX COMPUTERS & NETWORKS}
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 DEC 11 (NB) -- Network
Computing Devices (NCD) and Bull HN Information Systems have
announced a five year agreement under which Bull will market
NCD's full line of network display stations around the world.

Under the terms of the agreement, Bull will buy the NCD16 and
NCD19 monochrome X Window displays as well as future products
currently in development at NCD. The stations will be sold as
networked graphic interfaces to go with Bull's XPS and DPS/2
computers running UNIX and Bull's TCP/IP local networking
facilities.

Groupe Bull is comprised of US-based Bull HN and Bull S.A. of
Europe. Groupe Bull is a full service technology company
specializing in transaction processing, data management and
networking. Its products range from desktop to mainframe
computers running both open and proprietary systems.

(Janet Endrijonas/19891215/Press Contact: Judy Estrin, Network
Computing Devices, 415-684-0650)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(LAX)(00010)

SUN, HITACHI SIGN LICENSING AGREEMENT}
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1989 DEC 12 (NB) -- Hitachi
has signed an agreement with Sun Microsystems under which Hitachi
will license Sun's Open Network Computing/Network File System
(ONC/NFS) technology for use on Hitachi's mainframes.

ONC/NFS will allow Hitachi systems to operate in multi-vendor
networks by sharing files and resources. Hitachi will develop a
version for the large scale, non-UNIX operating system used on
its mainframes.

Hitachi joins over 90 system vendors currently delivering
technology based on ONC/NFS including IBM, Digital Equipment
Corp., HP/Apollo and Data General.

(Janet Endrijonas/19891215/Press Contact: Kay Hart, Sun
Microsystems, 415-336-3561)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(ATL)(00001)

UNISYS CONTINUES MOVE TOWARD UNIX}
SIOUX FALLS, SOUTH DAKOTA, U.S.A., 1989 DEC 14 (NB) --
Unisys is earnestly unifying the old Unisys and Burroughs product
lines under Unix System V.

Last month the company announced it was putting transaction
applications written for the old Sperry mainframes into
its U6000 Unix computers, which are based on the
Intel 80386 chip. Now it's moving applications written for the
old Burroughs BTOS system, including those of third parties such as
Precision Computer System of Sioux Falls, onto the system.

PCS makes software for banks, and has been a marketing associate
of Unisys -- and before that Burroughs -- for many years.
Now PCS's Bank Accounting and Information System (BAIS) software
becomes the first Unix OS-based banking system offered by
Unisys. It's a fully integrated, modular accounting system for
small banks, including modules to manage customer information
files; demand deposit accounts; certificates of deposit; loans;
general ledger; proof entry systems; bank margin analysis; safe
deposit accounting; and investments and securities. More than 200
community banks in 26 states use the PCS BAIS software.

The Unisys U6000 family of computers permits integration of Unix
with MS-DOS functions, main memory from 4MB (megabytes) to 240MB,
and disk storage from 95MB to 32 gigabytes.  U Series users
can run MS-DOS applications under Unix from low-cost ASCII
terminals.  PC users also have transparent access to Unix
applications, and can run Unix and MS-DOS applications
concurrently.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19891215/Press Contact: PCS, Bruce
Christianson, vice president, 605-335-6846; Unisys, Steven L.
Lubetkin, 215-542-2240)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(ATL)(00007)

GENIE ADDS UNIX ROUNDTABLE}
ROCKVILLE, MARYLAND, U.S.A., 1989 DEC 11 (NB) -- The
GEnie service, the second largest in the U.S., has added a Unix
RoundTable to its menu of Personal Computing RoundTables.

The Unix RoundTable is a forum for first time users of AT&T's
Unix Operating System to help them learn it and program in the
Unix environment. A separate area within the RT will support
experienced Unix programmers. The Unix operating system is
perhaps the single most popular multitasking operating system
being used today. The most popular hang-out for Unix workers has
been the Usenet system, which connects major Unix sites
worldwide. Over 1 megabyte of information is posted to the Usenet
system weekly.

GEnie, which is fighting CompuServe worldwide for market share,
is also adding other new services. The Home Office/Small Business
RoundTable will offer tax help for small businesses. Answers are
being provided in the HOSB bulletin board, Category 7, by Philip
Friedland, a CPA from New Jersey and Larry Benton, a CPA from New
York, both of whom have many small business clients in their
private practices.

Employers and Job Seekers have a place to find each other online
in The Home Office/Small Business RoundTable. Anyone looking for
new positions may post their resume in HOSB library 6, and anyone
looking for employees can download them. In the Bulletin Board,
Category 14 has been set up for tips on finding work, finding
employees and as a place for recruiters to Discuss the joys and
woes of the profession. Type HOSB or M370 to reach the HOSB on
GEnie.

People who speak Spanish as their native language or as a second
language can discuss business and other ideas in Spanish in the
bulletin board of the Home Office/Small Business RoundTable. Many
messages are written both in Spanish and English to help
individuals who would like to gain a better understanding of
either language. The Spanish category, Category 23 in the
bulletin board, was requested and is run by German Villareas, a
home-based based business owner who moved to the US from Mexico.

GEnie is owned by General Electric, founded in the 19th century
with help from Thomas Edison and now owners of, among other
things, the NBC television network.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19891215/Press Contact: GEnie, 1-800-638-9636)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(TOR)(00007)

CANADIAN UNIX GROUP CHANGING NAME, PLANNING 1990 EVENTS}
TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1989 DEC 13 (NB) -- /usr/group/cdn, the
Canadian Unix users' group, plans to change its name to UniForum
Canada. The group has obtained permission to use the name from
UniForum, the U.S.-based Unix users' group with which it is
affiliated, and will ask its membership to approve the change at
a meeting in January.

At a gathering at Toronto's SkyDome stadium Dec. 13,
/usr/group/cdn also announced plans for a series of events and a
Unix market study in 1990.

In March, the group plans the first Canadian Executive Symposium
on Unix and Open Systems. To be held in Toronto March 7 and 8,
the symposium will feature Geoff Morris, president and chief
executive of X/Open, as its keynote speaker. Nicholas Donofrio,
president of IBM's Advanced Workstations Division, will also be a
featured speaker.

The group also plans a Unix in Government conference in Ottawa
Jan. 9 and 10, its Unix/90 Conference in Toronto May 29 to 31,
and a Western Region Unix Roadshow in February and March.

/usr/group/cdn plans to sponsor a national study of the Canadian
Unix market with DMR Group, a Montreal-based consulting firm, in
1990. The study will be similar to one conducted by
/usr/group/cdn and DMR in 1988.

The Toronto gathering was also the occasion for honoring Michael
Tilson, president of the Toronto software developer HCR Corp., as
/usr/group/cdn's "person of the decade" in the Canadian Unix
community.

The national group also announced two new regional affiliates,
UniForum Montreal and UniForum Atlantic.

(Grant Buckler/19891215/Press Contacts: Tom Vassos, IBM Canada,
416-443-4475; Duane Sharp, Freelance Editorial & Marketing, 416-
896-3733)