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/1992/NB920415

Text File | 1992-04-15 | 70KB | 1,515 lines

(NEWS)(TELECOM)(LON)(00001)

Cable & Wireless Forms Russian Telecom Joint Venture 04/15/92
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1992 APR 14 (NB) - Cable & Wireless, the
parent company of Mercury Communications, has formed a joint
venture firm -- Metropolitan Communications - with Intertelecom A/O,
a Soviet telecommunications organization.

According to C&W officials, the idea behind the joint venture
company is to provide long distance and international
telecommunications services between Tyumen Oblast, the Soviet
oil-producing area, St. Petersburg and Moscow, and the West.

Announcing the UK side of the joint venture, Lord Young, the
chairman of Cable & Wireless, said that operations will begin
immediately. C&W officials said that the deal has been in the
planning stages for some time, hence the rapid commencement
of operations. The first stage of joint venture operations will
include a feasibility study on the project, Young said.

"The feasibility study will include costs and finance arrangements
which will probably include the World Bank," he told attendees to
the press conference and analyst's meeting in London. "The study
will define this venture both technically and in terms of profitable
growth for Cable and Wireless. Clearly we will only move ahead if
it meets our exacting investment criteria," he added.

Financial details of the joint venture company have not been
disclosed. This is not because of any desire to keep the figures
secret, but a reflection of the fact that, until the feasibility
study is completed, officials with both companies will not know
the scale of investment required, C&W representatives said.

(Steve Gold/19920414)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LON)(00002)

Management Buyout At Norsk Data's SPC Subsidiary 04/15/92
OSLO, NORWAY, 1992 APR 15 (NB) -- Scientific Project Contractors
(SPC), a division of Norsk Data, has been bought from the parent
company by the management of the division.

No financial details of the management buyout, or what terms the
deal is on, have been released by either party. According to the
latest figures, APC has 19 staff and an annual turnover of 22
million crowns. No profit figures for the division are available.

So why the sale? Again, no real reason has been forthcoming, but
Newsbytes notes that Norsk Data is currently in the middle of a
number of changes which aim to turn the red ink on the balance
sheet black again.

In an official statement released by Norsk Data, the company
said that SPC's business activities fall outside the areas that the
company wants to concentrate on in the future. SPC's current
activities include working on a number of satellite projects.

(Steve Gold/19920415)


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

Scottish Power Seeks UK's Fourth Telecoms License 04/15/92
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1992 APR 15 (NB) -- Scottish Power, one
of the recently-privatized electricity boards (bodies responsible
for the provision of electricity in the UK) has applied for a
telecommunications license from the British government.

The news that the former government-controlled company has
applied for a license breaks barely a week after the British
government announced that National Network, another company,
will become the UK's third telecommunications licensee after British
Telecom and Mercury Communications.

Scottish Power, like many other regional electricity boards in
the UK, has an extensive private telecommunications network that
links its staff located around the region. Cables are laid alongside
the company's existing power distribution network.

Because of the problems associated with running low-power
electrical cables alongside high-tension power distribution
cables, much of the network is fiber optic-based, which experts
say places Scottish Power in a strong position to offer high-
capacity leased line links.

According to Scottish Power, there are no plans to offer a full
public service at the moment. The company is primarily interested
in offering a leased line point-to-point service in Scotland,
although a possible link-up with a partner in England would mean
network expansion is a fairly easy option.

(Steve Gold/19920415/Press Contact: Scottish Power,
041-637-7177)


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

Japan-US Media Technology Development Project Planned 04/15/92
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1992 APR 15 (NB) -- The Massachusetts Institute of
Technology (MIT) and Japanese hightech firms will jointly develop
next generation technologies. According to Japan's major
newspaper, the Asahi, this project is expected to start in about three
years.

Interestingly, the research laboratory will be created in Japan.
A total of 16 Japanese firms will participate in this project. These
firms will develop a very basic technology for next generation
media devices, which may be include a three-dimensional
television set. Also, they will develop advanced robots, which will
be intended to be closer to human beings. The technologies are
likely to be so experimental that it will take 20 to 30 years until they
are actually applied.

The newspaper says this project is being backed up by the
Japanese Diet members and the American Senators. The steering
organization called "International Media Research Foundation" was
already set up by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry
and the Education Ministry.

The participating firms will include Matsushita Electric, NEC, and
Sony. The organization has received a request by Korean firms,
Samsung and Goldstar, to join this project.

(Masayuki Miyazawa/19920415)


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

Mitsui Bussan Trading To Develop Japanese MicroPhone II 04/15/92
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1992 APR 15 (NB) -- Japan's major trading firm
Mitsui Bussan has signed an agreement with California-based
Software Ventures. The agreement calls for Mitsui Bussan to
develop a Japanese version of the company's communications
program "MicroPhone II," in Japan.

MicroPhone II is equipped with a powerful automatic navigation
feature. The Japanese version of the communications program
will mainly be developed by Mitsui Bussan, with the company
receiving technical advice from Software Ventures. It is expected
that the Japanese version of MicroPhone II will be ready for
release around this summer. The price is still unknown.

MicroPhone II was originally developed for the Macintosh.
However, versions of the program were recently developed for
MS-Windows and the NeXT computer.

Mitsui Bussan will make the Japanese versions of the program for
all the same platforms -- the Macintosh, Windows, and NeXT.

Mitsui Bussan has entered the personal computer business
recently, and has been selling Taiwanese manufactured IBM-
compatible PCs in Japan. However, it will the first time that the firm
has developed and marketed software for personal computers.

(Masayuki Miyazawa/19920415/Press Contact: Mitsui Bussan
Digital, [phone])


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

Borland To Buy Development Tools From Software Dev. Co. 04/14/92
MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 APR 14 (NB) -- Borland
has announced at its Second Annual International Developer's
Conference in Monterey, that it is purchasing two professional
programming tools from the Software Developer's Company. The
tools are a text editor, called Brief, and a network version control
system for large programming projects, called Sourcer's Apprentice.

Both tools, developed by the Solution Systems' division of Software
Developer's Company, have been popular tools for programmers,
especially Brief.

While Borland and other manufacturer's provide editors with their
programming languages in integrated development environments,
those editors are often not tools to use in depth. Brief, an editor
much like a word processor, provides the programmer a vanilla
text environment with the ability to move text around, and open
multiple windows. It also provides search and replace capabilities
beyond those of most word processing tools, and an extensive
macro language so programmers can create their own utilities for
functions they perform often.

The Sourcer's Apprentice offers advantages to programmers
working in a large, networking environment. These include functions
to archive software and "check out" of modules of code that then no
other programmer can access while a member of the team is
working on it.

Gene Wang, vice president and general manager of Borland's
Languages Business Unit said: "Professional programmers have
been asking us to provide additional programming support tools
for more productivity and to help them manage an increasingly
complex development process."

Borland plans to offer the tools as add-ons for its programming
language tools for DOS, Windows, and OS/2, Wang said.

While the deal still hinges on a few contingencies, Borland is
confident the transaction will be completed soon.

Scotts Valley, California-based Borland is known in the computer
programming world for its products for professional software
development, including Paradox, dBASE, Interbase, Quattro Pro,
Objectvision, Borland C++, and Turbo Pascal.

(Linda Rohrbough/19920415/Press Contact: Cathy Caplener,
Borland, tel [phone], fax [phone])


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

Sunsoft Releases Development Tools For Solaris 2.0 04/15/92
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 APR 15 (NB) --
Sunsoft, the software division of Sun Microsystems, is focusing on
the next generation of graphical user interface (GUI) products for
Sparc stations and Intel-based computers, and says the
introduction of its Solaris 2.0 Master Developer Series is a step
in that direction.

The Solaris 2.0 Master Developer Series is a collection of third-
party tools available to help speed the software development
process, Sunsoft said. Sunsoft said it wants developers to get a
head start so applications will be ready to run on the Solaris 2.0
operating system when it ships this summer.

Solaris 2.0 is a 32-bit operating system that is planned to operate
on Intel 386, 486, and higher-based computers as well as on Sparc
workstations. Sunsoft has a program for application developers it
calls the Solaris 2.0 Migration program and the company says over
550 developers have enrolled. Autodesk, Cadence Design
Systems, and Gain Technology have all endorsed the new tools
and have enrolled in the Migration program, Sunsoft said.

The Master Series Sunsoft is introducing includes: compilers for
assembly, debugging and code analysis capabilities for a range of
languages; object-oriented database management tools that allow
developers to scale performance for distributed applications; and
Graphical User Environment (GUE) software for developers to
visually design and test user interfaces, the company maintains.

Sun has already said it plans give Intel and Microsoft a run for their
money by moving into the IBM and compatible market. The company
has reduced prices on Sparcstations and hired developers away
from Apple to work on its next generation GUI systems. Sunsoft
representative Amal Abed said the Sparc version of the Solaris 2.0
system is expected in June of this year, with the Intel-based version
following 90 days later.

(Linda Rohrbough/19920415/Press Contact: Laura Ramsey,
Sunsoft, 415-336-0739; Amal Abed, Hi-Tech Public Relations,
tel [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(LAX)(00008)

 ****AMD Intros Low Power Flash Memory 04/15/92
SUNNYVALE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 APR 15 (NB) -- Advanced
Micro Devices (AMD) says it has developed the industry's first
flash memory that requires only five-volts of power to rewrite, called
the Am29F010.

Flash memory or non-volitile memory is memory that can be
rewritten and retains the information even without a power source.
John Greenagel of AMD, told Newsbytes that up until now a
computer had to have access to a 12-volt power source in order
to write to flash memory, which meant a computer sometimes had
to have a second power supply to got from five to 12-volts. The
new AMD device has eliminated that problem, Greenagel said.

Dell is currently using Intel's flash memory for its basic
input/output systems (BIOS) that then allows an upgrade of
the peripherals and drives the computer can support without
the physical replacement of the BIOS chip itself.

Newsbytes asked if AMD expected problems with Intel over the
development of this new flash memory since Intel already is
fighting AMD over microprocessor technology. Greenagle
responded by saying: "We have an undisputed patent cross-
license agreement with Intel that is much stronger in its wording
than former agreements. We don't expect any problems here."

The new memory chip also includes a flexible 16 kilobyte (KB)
sector erase architecture that offers advantages in applications
that selectively reprogram portions of the flash memory array,
while leaving the rest of the memory contents fixed.

"This feature is especially important in BIOS code storage
applications, memory cards, and embedded control
applications," said Richard Forte, group vice president of
AMD's Programmable Logic and Non-Volatile Memory
Divisions.

Greenagel said this new technology will be important in
areas such as missile targeting, supermarket checkout
machines, and automobiles, as well as computers. "The market
for this is enormous," Greenagel said.

(Linda Rohrbough/19920415/Press Contact: John Greenagel,
AMD, tel [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(WAS)(00009)

Second Tempest Firm Faces Closing 04/15/92
MCLEAN, VIRGINIA, U.S.A., 1992 APR 15 (NB) -- Donald D.
Iverson's 13-year-old computer company, which specialized in
defeating the KGB's James Bond types by building Tempest
computers which emitted no radiation that could be captured and
interpreted by undesirable elements, may, according to documents
filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, be about to
follow Tempest Technologies, its former competitor, by going
out of business.

The demand for the expensive, heavily shielded Tempest
computers has declined with the amelioration of the cold war
and other factors.

With revenues formerly in the $60 million range, Iverson has
recently seen sales volume decline to less than $40 million last
year, with a tiny backlog, resulting in a stream of losses which
has brought the once high-flying stock down into the penny stock
range.

From a peak of 170 employees, Iverson's full-time payroll has
dropped by about 20 percent.

Seeing the writing on the wall, Iverson has opened a number of
Iverson PC Factory Warehouse computer stores in an attempt to
wean its sales from the heavy dependance on government
funding, but total sales for those stores and for its mail-order
operations have not yet reached the $10 million mark.

Its last major contract was with the FBI, and the company is now
involved in an investigation of possible fraudulent activities by
an unnamed party to the contract. According to the Washington
Post, Iverson's line of bank credit expires at the end of April.

(John McCormick/19920415)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(SFO)(00010)

Claris Offers Another Mac Spring Promotion 04/15/92
SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 APR 14 (NB) -- Claris
has unveiled another spring promotion in their continuing efforts to
cement the company's reputation as the major software provider
for the Macintosh. This promotion, like the others, began on April 1
and is scheduled to run through July 31 of this year.

Claris officials have told Newsbytes that they are interested in
making their products affordable as well as powerful. The string
of promotions that have been announced to date, including the
one currently, are simply part of that trend which is expected to
continue. The officials were not willing to speculate on the form
of future promotions beyond stating that there are some
"in the works."

The current promotion bundles Claris' MacProject II together
with Attain's In Control to-do list manager. Company officials have
stated that they see a natural synergy between the two products.
People who purchase MacProject II are normally concerned with
controlling and managing projects. Such people typically have
many tasks to perform during a working day and a significant
percentage are likely to use the to-do list method of organizing
their daily activities. Hence, it makes sense to attract them with a
to-do list organizer in addition to MacProject II.

Attain has been shipping In Control since December of last year.
According to Attain officials, this promotion is further evidence of
the growing acceptance of In Control. Both Claris and Attain
officials claim that Claris has no intention of purchasing the
program or the company and bringing it under the Claris label.
Both sides maintain that once the promotion ends, they will
continue as before.

Another interesting question concerns payment for In Control,
since Claris is not the owner of the software. According to Attain
officials, the agreement between the two companies calls for Claris
to be simply a very large and important reseller for Attain. For
each copy given away, Claris pays Attain. Claris officials would not
confirm or deny this, claiming, as a private company, they do
not reveal such details.

(Naor Wallach/19920415/Press Contact: Ines Anderson, Claris,
408-987-7154; Alan Albert, Attain Corporation, 617-776-1110)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SFO)(00011)

Synoptics Signs Up More Customer Support Partners 04/15/92
SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 APR 15 (NB) -- The
Customer support program that Synoptics announced in January is
picking up steam with the addition of ten more resellers to the roster
of participating companies.

Just added were: Advanced Business Solutions, Acquila
Technologies, Data Net, Data Systems Marketing, Hagen Kurth
Perman & Co., KLF, Memorex Telex, Peripheral Innovations
WilTel Data Network Services, and Woods Network Services.

Michael Clair, Synoptics senior vice president of worldwide sales
and customer support, said: "Synoptics' Authorized Customer
Support Partner Program nutures quality relationships with VARs
(value-added resellers) by recognizing and rewarding substantial
investments by our partners in technical staffing, training, test
equipment, and service capabilities. As LAN (local area network)
products become more complex, the technical capabilities of our
channel's systems and customer engineers are stretched to their
limits. This program recognizes different customer requirements
and improves end user customer support by recognizing VARs
who provide exceptional service and support capabilities."

According to the company, to become a partner, Synoptics VARs
must pass through a rigorous qualification process that includes
having a dedicated support hotline, continuous training of
personnel, guaranteed response times to customer complaints,
and specified levels of spare parts and test equipment. Even
then Synoptics continuously monitors the performance of their
VARs and rates them periodically with an eye towards
disqualifying those who do not measure up.

(Naor Wallach/19920415/Press Contact: Kristina Thorngate,
Synoptics, 408-764-1046)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SFO)(00012)

Microdyne Offers Pre-Configured Netware Comms Servers 04/15/92
ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA, U.S.A., 1992 APR 15 (NB) -- Local area
network (LAN) companies are striving to make LAN installations
easier to use and more friendly to install.

Hopefully the days of the harried network administrator who curses
every time a change is necessary are coming to a close. This will
become especially true if products like Microdyne's newly
introduced Netware Access Server become commonplace.

According to the company, Netware Access Server is a complete,
pre-configured, Netware capable and ready communications server.
Customers can order it in either a four-port or eight-port version with
other options that detail the kind of network media it is to run on.
When the box arrives at the customer site, all the network
administrator needs to do is unpack it, plug the appropriate
cabling, and run the installation software. The device does the rest.

The Netware Access Server allows remote users to dial in and
receive access to all of the Novell Netware services that one would
have if one were on the network itself. This includes access to such
services as applications, printers, and modems. The software runs
the application on the server PC itself and only transmits keyboard
and screen I/O (input/output) information between the remote
computers so as to save valuable time. The remote user can even
call in on one port and use a program that dials out of another port to
make a call to a separate remote computer.

Microdyne has been noted to date for picking up service and
support on Novell's hardware products. This latest idea is unique in
several respects: first, it is the first all-in-one implementation that
exists today; secondly, this marks the first time that Microdyne is
reselling Novell software with its own designs; and thirdly, Novell
believes that this approach has a lot of merit and intend to broaden
their relationship with Microdyne in other directions.

Another similar product announced is Microdyne's Netware
Asynchronous Communications Server (NACS). This product
allows for dial-out capability to be shared among all the users of
the network. The NACS software is Novell developed and can be
bought separately, directly from Novell. Microdyne's contribution
is to put it together with a server PC and offer it to customers as a
totally pre-configured product.

Both products are available immediately from Novell and
Microdyne resellers. Pricing is as follows: 4-Port 10Base-2, $8,995;
4-Port 10Base-T, $8,995; 4-Port Token Ring, $9,695; 8-Port
10Base-2, $13,995; 8-Port 10Base-T, $13,995; 8-Port Token Ring,
$14,695.

(Naor Wallach/19920415/Press Contact: Bill Jeppesen, Novell,
408-747-4236; Neal Sanders, Microdyne, 703-739-0500)


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

Hong Kong: DEC Names Heerjee Head Of Open Systems Team 04/15/92
SHAUKEIWAN, HONG KONG, 1992 APR 15 (NB) -- Digital
Equipment Corporation has appointed Dr. Kaizad Heerjee as Asia
Region Open Systems Manager to reinforce its position in this
important sector of the market. Dr. Heerjee will be responsible for
increasing Digital's open systems market share in Asia by creating
and managing regional marketing and support programs.

As client-server computing, team computing, and distributed
computing are closely related to open systems, Dr Heerjee will
also manage marketing and support activities in these areas.

"Through our participation in initiatives such as OSF, ACE and most
recently Alpha, Digital has come to occupy the high ground in open
systems technology," said Dr Heerjee. "We are totally committed to
bringing the benefits of our ground-breaking R&D in these areas to
our Asia Region customers."

As a co-founder of the Open Software Foundation, Digital has been
active in promoting open systems for more than 20 years. In January,
the company became the first vendor in the industry to introduce a
production version of the OSF/1 operating system.

Dr Heerjee has been working in the opens systems arena for more
than 10 years. Until his latest appointment, he was a software
consultant at Digital Asia. He came to Asia in 1990 from Digital in
the UK, where he was Open Systems Specialist.

(Norman Wingrove/19920415/Press Contact: Walter Cheung,
Digital, [phone])


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(HKG)(00014)

Hong Kong: Davidson To Head EDS' CAD/CAM Operations 04/15/92
WANCHAI, HONG KONG, 1992 APR 15 (NB) -- EDS (Electronic
Data Systems) has announced the appointment of Donald E.
Davidson as managing director of EDS' CAD/CAM (computer-aided
design/manufacturing) operations in the Asia-Pacific region.

In this role he will be responsible for marketing the UNIGRAPHICS
CAD/CAM/CAE systems and GDS, an object-orientated database,
designed to meet the needs of the CAD and GIS (geographical
information systems) markets.

The announcement follows EDS' acquisition last year of McDonnell
Douglas Corporation's CAD/CAM business and the relocation of the
Asia-Pacific portion of this business to Hong Kong.

Davidson joined McDonnell Douglas in 1986 as director of finance
administration for the Asia-Pacific region. In 1989 he became
director of business operations for the Far East, based in the United
States and in November 1991 he transitioned to EDS as a result of
the acquisition.

"My move to the Hong Kong headquarters will enable us to better
focus and direct the sales and support of UNIGRAPHICS and GDS
in Japan, Australasia, PRC, Singapore and Taiwan," said Davidson.
"The manufacturing and engineering industries, particularly the
mechanical CAD/CAM sector, is an important business area for EDS.
In addition, through GDS we have unrivalled opportunities to increase
our market penetration in the CAD and GIS markets. I am looking
forward to working with the other EDS business units to maximize the
high level of service we offer to our customers, a service that will
enable them to meet their business objectives now and in the future."

Before joining McDonnell Douglas in 1986, Davidson spent 14 years
with Itel Corporation. For six years he was based in Europe, first as
controller of operations and then as general manager responsible
for developing the company's financial services business.

EDS provides consulting, systems development, systems
integration and systems management services aimed to enable
companies to achieve and sustain competitive advantage by
improving their market reach, customer response time, product
quality, and cost.

(Norman Wingrove/19920415/Press Contact: Donald E. Davidson,
EDS, [phone])


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(HKG)(00015)

Hong Kong Telecom Launches Auto Hong Kong Direct Service 04/15/92
WANCHAI, HONG KONG, 1992 APR 15 (NB) -- Hong Kong Telecom
will launch the latest enhancement to its Hong Kong Direct service
on April 15. "Auto Hong Kong Direct" will enable calling card holders
to make cashless direct dialled calls to the territory from any tone-dial
telephone overseas without speaking to an operator.

The first countries from which the new service will be available are
Japan, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Sweden, while others
will join the network soon. All Auto Hong Kong Direct calls from these
countries will be charged in six second units at Hong Kong outgoing
IDD (international direct dial) rates, which are among the cheapest
in the world.

Calls, which are subject to a HK$2 (US$0.23) service charge, are
charged to the customer's monthly calling card account, so that
payment is made in Hong Kong dollars.

"Since Auto Hong Kong Direct calls are charged at inexpensive
IDD rates in six second units, travelling executives are likely to
use this service to make short calls of less than three minutes, the
minimum charge rate for operator-connected Hong Kong direct
calls," said Simon Tsui, international product marketing manager
at Hong Kong Telephone.

(Norman Wingrove/19920415/Press Contact: Simon Tsui, HK
Telecom, tel [phone], fax [phone])
(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00016)

Telecoms Leading US Out of Recession? 04/15/92
ATLANTA, GEORGIA, U.S.A., 1992 APR 15 (NB) -- Early indications
are that telecommunications earnings may be leading the US out of
its recession, pushing the Dow Jones Industrial Average to record
levels.

Motorola's earnings rose eight percent for the quarter ending in
March, to $127 million, while GTE's earnings more than doubled,
to $427 million. AT&T's earnings were also up, in line with
analyst expectations. The GTE gain was extraordinary, fueled
by job cuts after its acquisition of Contel. Excluding the costs a
year ago of that acquisition, GTE earnings were up just seven
percent, but analysts expect more gains as the impact of cost
cutting becomes apparent.

While the telecom firms' earnings are rising, their stock prices
are generally missing the rally, however. That is because the
profit rises are modest, indicating a slow recovery. Instead, the
biggest gains in the rally are going to consumer goods companies
and those with material overseas interests. While the phone firms
have large, growing operations internationally, the results are
not material to their balance sheets.

That could change, as the phone firms expand international
operations. This week PacTel took 20 percent of a mobile
phone net being operated by Bouygues in Paris and the Centre
regions of France. PacTel already has pieces of cellular phone
operations in Portugal and Germany, as well as investments in
Japan.

On the domestic front, the regional Bells continue to launch
new information services aimed at preempting any moves by
Congress to take them out of those areas.

Ameritech announced two, the first an information network for
Wisconsin's health care industry. The Wisconsin Health Information
Network, or WHIN, is a gateway linking the computer systems of
hospitals, physicians, laboratories, employers, insurance firms and
others. Ameritech also entered the vehicle location business, with
an offering called MobileVision, which will assist in the location of
stolen vehicles and let truck operators track their fleets. It is based
on the cellular phone network of Ameritech Mobile, and is a
joint-venture with an Indianapolis company.

Finally, BellSouth agreed to co-market PictureTel's
videoconferencing systems in conjunction with BellSouth's digital
network services. PictureTel's equipment requires digital lines
at speeds of 56,000 bits-per-second or more to work, while
BellSouth has been seeking markets to justify its move to digital
services for years.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19920415/Press Contact: Ameritech, Steve
Ford, 312-750-5205; BellSouth, Robert Morrow, 404-529-8169,
PacTel, Susan Rosenberg, 510-210-3910)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00017)

Wireless Cable Lottery Spurring Scams 04/15/92
WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A., 1992 APR 15 (NB) -- The Federal
Communications Commission's lottery of rights to operate wireless
cable systems is becoming a hotbed for con-men, according to
federal and state officials.

The Bush Administration has said it wants to end the lottery
process and award new frequencies based on auctions, while
Congress wants hearings and awards based on a "public interest"
test. But until all that is sorted out, lotteries, in which people
file applications and the agency chooses winners by lot, are the
way the agency will allocate rights.

The current controversy involves wireless cable television, a
technology using microwave radio technology to transmit TV
programs to viewers' homes, bypassing wired cable systems. The
low capacity of such systems, compared with the high capacity of
existing wired cable systems, makes them a risky business
proposition in large cities wired for cable, but that has not
stopped the con artists.

So far, 18 state securities agencies have investigated or taken
action against suspected scams in Georgia, with Illinois and Florida
adding their voices in the form of press releases and warnings from
state officials. The Federal Trade Commission has also been
investigating lottery fraud, and has filed three lawsuits.

Florida Comptroller, Gerald Lewis, who regulates the state's
banks, claimed at a news conference that "boiler room" operations
touting license lotteries have taken in $50 million nationwide.
He said the con artists claim that for $5,000 they can virtually
guarantee a successful application. The actual filing fee is
$155, and over 36,000 applications have been received so far,
according to the FCC.

Illinois Secretary of State George Ryan estimated in a press
statement that investors have risked $75 million on the schemes,
and his office has taken action against two such companies in that
state. The FCC has been granting wireless cable licenses for nine
years, but fewer than 170 such systems are actually up and running,
he added, indicating the business risk is considerable since
wireless cable works only in a "line of sight" from a central antenna
to a subscriber.

Later this year, the FCC will launch a second and, perhaps, more
lucrative lottery process. This will be for new frequencies to
run communications adjuncts to interactive TV systems like that
offered by TV Answer of Reston, Virginia. TV Answer has won
agreement from Hewlett-Packard to make set-top converters for
its system, which will offer banking, shopping, information, and
games. In this lottery, however, winning bidders will be forced
to build-out at least half their systems before selling their
interests. Applications will cost about $5,000-$10,000, depending
on the size of the market applied for, and total costs to winning
bidders are estimated at $150,000-$250,000, again depending
on the size of the market.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19920415/Press Contact: FCC Press,
202-632-5050)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00018)

Latin American Phone Update 04/15/92
ATLANTA, GEORGIA, U.S.A., 1992 APR 15 (NB) -- Despite Peru's
coup, North American and European phone companies remain
anxious to invest in South America. Some may be a bit too anxious.

Telefonica of Spain is appealing a ruling that it cannot hold
stakes in both of Chile's main phone companies. Barring a win
before the nation's Supreme Court, the Spanish company now has
18 months to dispose of either its 20 percent holding in Chile's
Entel or its 44 percent stake in Telefonos de Chile. Telefonica
also owns a major stake in one of Argentina's two local phone
companies.

Meanwhile, Northern Telecom made a bid for the budding Brazilian
market by signing a telecom research agreement with a unit of
that nation's Telebras phone system. Under the deal BNR,
Northern's research arm, and Telebras' CPqD research arm, will
undertake joint research in managing intelligent networks. The
Brazilian government has expressed interest in selling Telebras,
which runs 27 local phone companies and the Embratel long
distance network.

Finally, Mexico said it has raised about $16 billion through
sales of state-owned companies, starting with TelMex and 15
banks. Mexico's asset sales have started a boom in that economy
which other Latin countries want to emulate through their own
asset sales, but even the $16 billion figure raised by Mexico is
a small portion of the nation's enormous debts, run-up during the
1970's oil boom. Instead, the asset sales increased confidence in
the Mexican economy, leading to new investments from other
countries, especially the US, and new loans for the government.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19920415/Press Contact: Northern Telecom,
John Callahan, 703/712-8511)


(NEWS)(IBM)(DEN)(00019)

New For PC: New Bible Software Searches By Subject 04/15/92
HIAWATHA, IOWA, U.S.A., 1992 APR 15 (NB) -- Parsons
Technology has announced Naves Topical Bible software for
users who want to locate all bible verses related to a particular
topic. The program contains 100,000 references divided into
5,000 main topics and 25,000 subtopics.

Unlike most bible verse programs, which require the user to enter
a word or a phrase, Naves Topical Bible locates passages
specifically related to any area of interest. The subject word
does not have to appear in the verse, the company claims.

Used in conjunction with QuickVerse 2.0, Naves Topical Bible
permits tailoring a search more specifically. For example,
searching for the word "love" in all verses under the topic
"marriage" would produce only those verses relating to love
in the context of marriage. Topics can also be cross-referenced.

In addition to use by students of the Bible, Parsons said the
program could also be used to prepare sermons, Sunday
School lessons, or Bible study lessons. The user can produce
an outline to include verse references or the entire text of verses
as well as the topic and subtopic headings. Outlines can be saved
or printed to a file for use with a word processing program.

Naves Topical Bible has a suggested list price of $39, and requires
an IBM PC or compatible, QuickVerse 2.0, and a hard drive with 1.5
megabytes (MB) of available storage space. QuickVerse is a Bible
concordance program available in seven different languages.
QuickVerse costs $69 for the first language, and $39 for each
additional language.

(Jim Mallory/19920415/Press Contact: Anne Rawland, Parsons
Technology, tel [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(DEN)(00020)

New For PC: Vycor Releases Help Desk Software 04/15/92
BERWYN HEIGHTS, MARYLAND, U.S.A., 1992 APR 15 (NB) --
Vycor Corporation has released Helpline, a program for PCs that
automates the help desk functions of a company to improve
service, facilitate problem resolution, and improve maintenance.

Help desks are in-house departments or independent services
that provide support for PC users. Programs like Helpline record
user problems and their respective answers, so that information
can be recalled and used to assist other users who experience
the same problem.

Helpline is especially designed for in-house technical support,
according to the Vycor announcement. The help desk operator
logs in specific information, calls up the configuration of the caller's
system, and is shown a listing of similar problems, and the
appropriate answers.

If none of the available answers solve the current problem, the
operator can refer the call to a technically qualified person, or a
work order can be created and referred to a third party contact.
Whatever action is taken, it is automatically added to the data base,
increasing the information available for future problem resolution.

"Helpline provides a safety net for help desk calls," according to
Vycor's Dave Mitchell, VP of marketing. Mitchell says calls are
never lost and a permanent record of all calls and resolutions is
created. Mitchell says Helpline also allows for trend analysis to
identify areas needing special attention.

Helpline can also be used to create a user profile to identify the
user's station by equipment installed, location, jack and phone
numbers, and user ID. Keyword searches can generate problem
reports by equipment classification or subcomponent. Used by
service technicians, those reports can help identify recurring
problems at particular workstations or with certain types of
equipment, claims the company.

Helpline can also produce status reports to detail open and
closed calls and work orders. The program costs $1,295 for a
single-user version and $3,495 for a five server network.

Helpline includes modules to manage PC inventory, track and
schedule maintenance, track calls, record vendor and contractor
information, and other useful tasks. A utilities manager handles
import and export of file information, setup up of printers and a
mouse.

Vycor said it will demonstrate Helpline at AFCOM in Nashville,
Tennessee April 26-30.

(Jim Mallory/19920415/Press Contact: Alyce Couf, Vycor
Corporation, 301-231-9393)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(DEN)(00021)

Motorola, Integrated Systems In Reseller Agreement 04/15/92
AUSTIN, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1992 APR 15 (N) -- The Microprocessor
and Memory Technologies Group of Motorola has announced that
it has signed a reseller agreement with Software Components
Group (SCG) to bundle SCG's real-time operating system with
Motorola's 68000 family of microcprocessors.

Under terms of the agreement, Motorola will sell the pSOS+
operating system family with the 68000 chips targeted for embedded
control applications. Embedded controls are used in the aerospace,
automotive, computer peripherals, defense, electronic and medical
instrumentation, factory automation, office equipment, and
telecommunications industries.

SCG is a division of Integrated Systems, Inc. "Motorola needs
partners that offer excellent products backed by strong
international support networks. ISI is just that," said 68000
family Manager for marketing and applications, Jim Reinhart.

The pSOS+ product family is immediately available through
Motorola sales channels for about $7,000 per development kit. The
kit consists of pSOS+ real-time kernel and pROBE+ debugger
development  packages. ISI says it will support the pSOS+
development kit.

The companies said the agreement is nonexclusive. Motorola
said it will continue to support other real-time operating systems
vendors.

(Jim Mallory/19920415/Press Contact: Patty Kachmer, Cunningham
Communications for Motorola, 617-494-8202; Guy Occhipinti,
Integrated Systems, 408-980-1500)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(DEN)(00022)

Iomega First Quarter Earnings, Income, Up Slightly 04/15/92
ROY, UTAH, U.S.A., 1992 APR 15 (NB) -- Iomega Corporation has
announced sales for the first quarter were $33.1 million, up from
$31.5 million for the same period last year. Net income was
reported at $1.8 million, or $0.11 per share for the quarter.

The company said the increased sales are the result of strong
performance in the distribution channels of its 90 megabyte (MB)
5.25-inch products which were announced in July 1991. Offsetting
sales through distribution channels was a $2.6 million decline in
sales to federal government agencies.

The Bernoulli 90, available for use with Unix, IBM-compatible, and
Macintosh systems includes Central Point backup software to
provide 180 megabytes of data storage. Single and dual systems
are available.

Newsbytes reported earlier this month that Iomega had signed a
distribution deal with Access graphics, Government Technologies
Services, and Sun Microsystems Federal for those three companies
to distribute Iomega removable drives to various markets.

Iomega's announcement said that operating expenses increased
by $1.5 million for the quarter due to increased expenses related to
its expanded European operations, and higher spending incurred in
domestic sales and marketing to expand the sales force and
product marketing organization.

Iomega manufacturers and sells removable mass storage
products for use with desktop computers.

(Jim Mallory/19920415/Press Contact: Paul Slack, Iomega
Corporation, 801-778-1000)

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

CA President Anthony Wang Leaving 04/15/92
ISLANDIA, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1992 APR 15 (NB) -- Anthony Wang,
president and chief operating officer of Computer Associates, has
announced his retirement. Wang, 49, will remain a director and a
consultant to the software company.

Wang's brother, Chairman and Chief Executive, Charles Wang, who
founded Computer Associates in 1976, will assume his duties. There
are no immediate plans to look for a new president, company
spokeswoman Deborah Coughlin told Newsbytes.

Coughlin said Anthony Wang, who had been with the 16-year-old
company for 13 years, "had wanted to do this for a while. He had a
number of other interests and he just didn't want to let life pass
him by." Wang has gradually been removing himself from the
day-to-day operations of the company, Coughlin said, and his
resignation did not come as a surprise within the company.

Wang left now because it was the beginning of the company's
fiscal year and "this is the time when changes would take place,"
Coughlin said.

Computer Associates is among the world's largest software
vendors. It has grown rapidly in recent years, largely through
acquisitions. The most recent of these were the purchases of
Pansophic Systems and On-Line Software, both of which took
place early last fall. The company reported revenues of more
than $1,400 million last year.

(Grant Buckler/19920415/Press Contact: Deborah Coughlin,
Computer Associates, 516-227-3300 ext. 7222)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SFO)(00024)

CSC Exchange: "Reengineering" As Productivity Remedy 04/15/92
CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, 1992 APR 15 (NB) -- A legacy
handed down by the likes of Adam Smith and Henry Ford is
preventing productivity in the 1990s, said Dr. Michael Hammer,
head of Hammer and Company, Inc., during a session this week
at CSC Exchange, a forum on technological and marketplace
change.

To compete more effectively on the global level, US companies
must reengineer, or redesign, their basic operations, stated
Hammer.  A new emphasis on customer service must replace the
rigid task orientation of today, and this transformation must be
supported by the appropriate technological tools.

"The trouble that we're in right now has absolutely nothing to
do with finance and absolutely everything to do with operations.
The way we're organizing work is a total disaster," commented
Hammer, to an audience packed with hundreds of senior I/S and
business executives from throughout the US.

Some firms, such as IBM Credit Corp., have already broken with
tradition, he acknowledged, but many more remain mired in
practices rooted in the Industrial Revolution. In these companies,
lower level jobs are too narrowly defined, resulting in work load
fragmentation. The middle and upper tiers contain too many layers
of supervisors and managers, who are forced to spend more of
their time evaluating workers' performance than producing
innovative ideas, he remarked.

"On those rare occasions when a new idea does emerge, it must
go all the way to the top in order to succeed. The idea won't make
it up the ladder if even one person along the line says 'No.'  And
if the idea does get to the top, the person in charge doesn't know
what to do with it. A task force is formed, and by the time the idea
comes out of committee, the individual who commissioned the
task force might very well be dead," said Hammer.

Hammer explained that the concept of breaking down work into
small steps was first promoted in 1776, when Adam Smith lauded
the 18 specialized positions at a pin company in the book Wealth
of Nations.

Henry Ford went on to apply the notion in developing the
assembly line, using the technology available in his day. The
practice was further refined by Frederick Taylor, the father of
"scientific management," whose work was immortalized in the
Clarence Day novel Life with Father.

"From 1776 to 1976, Adam Smith's prescriptions worked.  But
not any longer," he attested. In the interim, competition has
intensified, customers have become more sophisticated,
and employees have gained new skills, he noted.

A successful reengineering effort involves a fundamental
rethinking of work processes, as well as the creative use of
information technology, delineated Hammer, who holds a Ph.D.
in computer science from MIT. "If the operational processes
remain obsolete, it won't do any good to bring in new systems.
We'll only be tinkering with what we had before," he warned.

One successful endeavor, the reengineering undertaking at IBM
Credit Corp., has used job restructuring, together with software
integration and a new telecommunications system, to cut the
average order turnaround time from six days to four hours, he said.
At this division of IBM, which sells credit plans to purchasers of IBM
equipment, the tasks of credit checking, pricing, terms and
conditions, and issuance were previously handled by four different
clerks.

Now, though, through the newly created position of "deal structurer,"
each order is being processed by one employee, from start to finish.
For help with especially difficult orders, deal structurers can call on
professional specialists, communicating with them via the new
telecommunications system.

Usually, though, a deal structurer acts alone, assisted only by an
expert system that is incorporated into the new software. The
software brings together, under a common front end, four
applications that the clerks has been using separately.

The shortened turnaround time that comes with the change is
making customers less likely to change their minds and cancel
their orders before the process is complete, said Hammer.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19920415)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(SFO)(00025)

CSC Exchange: Artificial Intelligence Has Hit the Mainstream 04/15/92
CAMBRIDGE. MASSACHUSETTS, 1992 APR 15 (NB) -- If you
haven't heard much about artificial intelligence lately, rest assured
that the field is flourishing, advised Edward Luczak, senior
consulting engineer at Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC).

Artificial intelligence is settling down into the mainstream,
and it's precisely for this reason that the discipline has receded
from the spotlight, said Luczak, delivering his comments at CSC
Exchange, a conference the market research and consulting firm
is conducting this week.

"Two years ago, artificial intelligence was the big topic of
industry debate everywhere you turned. Now, the attention has
shifted to younger cutting-edge technologies, such as virtual
reality and object oriented programming," Luczak remarked.

Over the same time period, however, actual implementations of
expert systems have exploded from the hundreds to the thousands,
and neural networks have also started to take hold, he emphasized.
The next few years will witness the development of hybrid systems
that unite the two forms of artificial intelligence, speculated Luczak.

Expert systems combine a knowledge base with an inference
engine, containing a set of procedures used to reach conclusions.
In contrast, neural networks are modeled after the cellular
structure of the human brain, he explained. The hybrid systems
bring together the reasoning powers of expert systems with the
pattern recognition abilities of neural networks, he noted.

Other new trends within artificial intelligence include standard
platforms, "reusable" software, real-time operation, graphical
user interfaces (GUIs), integration with multimedia, and a
movement toward uses outside such traditional realms as
decision support, forecasting, and diagnosis and troubleshooting,
said Luczak.

"Already, the dedicated artificial intelligence machine is pretty
much a thing of the past," he pointed out. Today, expert systems
and neural networks are running instead on Macs, 386 and 486
IBM-compatible PCs under Windows, and Unix workstations, he
added.

Most of the other new developments can be seen by now at
NASA, a voracious user of artificial intelligence since the early
1980s, and some are evident within private industry, government,
and additional areas of the military, he said.

One NASA implementation, Spacecraft Diagnostic Assistant
(BCAUS), is a hybrid system that will be used to diagnose mission
critical faults in complex new spacecraft. A neural network will carry
out trend analysis on incoming telemetry transmitted by the
spacecraft, and an expert system will then perform symbolic
reasoning to identify the causes of failure.

Fully operational since early 1991, BCAUS is on hand to help
out in case NASA's Gamma Ray Observatory experiences
difficulties. "So far, though, there have been no emergencies,"
stated Luczak.

BCAUS is connected by ground links and satellites to other
expert systems, including Ranging Equipment Diagnosis Expert
System (REDEX), used for diagnosing faults in tracking equipment,
and Spacelab Data Quality Expert System (SIPS ES), aimed at
aiding spacelab data analysts in conducting quality assurance (QA).

Another NASA system, Generic Spacecraft Analyst Assistant
(GenSAA), is being used to "recycle" expert systems, a type of
software that can be costly to develop from scratch. The Unix-
based system consists of a generic data interface, inference
engine, and user interface, plus user definable specifications for
each. GenSAA and REDEX both feature GUIs, complete with block
and schematic diagrams and hypergraphic links. GenSAA and
SIPS ES both operate in real-time.

Outside of NASA, new implementations of applied intelligence
include a neural network that will be used to uncover insurance
claim fraud, an expert system that will sort, distribute and store
electronic-mail messages for a federal agency, and an expert
system that assists US Air Force physicians in detecting heart
disease, saidLuczak.

Now under development for a health insurance company, the
claims processing application involves training a neural network
on historical case data to recognize patterns such as
inappropriately large numbers of claims for the same sorts of
ailment.

The e-mail system will use rule-based technology to identify
which messages should be retained in a data base and which
deleted, based on "hot topic" definitions and index terms in the
message header.

The coronary diagnosis system -- Thallium Diagnostic
Workstation -- uses machine vision techniques to extract features
from digitized medical images. Then, applying a diagnostic rule
set, the system renders a medical verdict.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19920415)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(SFO)(00026)

CSC Exchange: "Intimate Computing" Is on the Way, Says Kay 04/15/92
CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS,  1992 APR 15 (NB) -- Technology
is moving from personal computing to "intimate computing," but many
of today's top vendors won't be able to follow, said industry visionary
Dr. Alan Kay, speaking Monday at CSC Exchange, an annual forum
for senior I/S and business executives.

The new era of intimate computing will be characterized by
networks of small wireless machines, featuring user interfaces
equipped with intelligent software agents, noted Kay, now an Apple
fellow and previously a founding principal at the pioneering Xerox
Palo Alto Research Center.

The future will also bring transitions to end user application
development, object oriented programming (OOP), and
computer simulation, added the speaker, who designed the
overlapping window interface that has since become the hallmark
of Apple's personal computers.

The new paradigm of intimate computing will overtake the
personal computing model, just as surely as personal computing
has superseded industrial computing, predicted Kay. "But few
computer companies are capable of making the migration from
one paradigm to another," he stressed.  Some of Apple's
competitors are still stuck in the institutional computing age, and
even Apple, an innovator in personal computing, will be
challenged by the latest evolution, he said.

As the new era dawns, Japanese business is well positioned
against the US, because Japanese firms have bought up the
patents for flat panel displays developed in the US back in the
sixties, reported Kay.

Over the next couple of years, the agents on the new wireless
computing devices will be "semi-intelligent," and able to help users
with such applications as calendaring and e-mail, but plagued by a
tendency to circumvent programmers' intentions by taking
instructions too literally, he said. In the second half of the decade,
he predicts that the agents will become increasingly smarter.

At the same time, the rise of OOP will let end users start to build
more of their own applications, in much the same way they now
create their own spreadsheets and word processing documents.
Already, there are more hypercard programmers in the US than
Cobol programmers, and many of these hypercard programmers
are end users, he pointed out. Further, even now, OOP software is
allowing users to perform such tasks as modifying e-mail systems,
he stated.

To illustrate the changes underway, Kay used the example of a
new billing system at Brooklyn Union Gas (BUG), a large gas utility
in New York City. Running on PCs, 350 wireless radio terminals,
and a 3270 IBM mainframe, the system simulates all aspects of the
company billing system, including cash processing, field service,
general accounting, credit collection, and meter reading.

The program is written in Smalltalk, an OOP programming
language developed by Kay. Programmers were able to build
applications for the BUG system in three to four months, typically
teaming up with end users for a few days as part of the process, he
said.

"Ultimately, one of the goals is to get the users to (program
applications) on their own," Kay commented.  Smalltalk and other
OOP languages are less complex than Cobol, involving far fewer
lines of code, he explained. "Even a novice OOP user can be
productive (as a programmer) after two to three weeks," Kay
asserted.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19920414)


(NEWS)(IBM)(TYO)(00027)

Japan: IBM-compatible Pen-Input Computer Debuts 04/15/92
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1992 APR 15 (NB) -- Japan's Wacom has
developed a pen-input computer, which is compatible with an
IBM PC/AT, called the Pen-top model V.

Wacom's latest pen-computer will be released this July. It
will be sold for 558,000 yen, which is slightly less than NCR's
pen computer.

Wacom's Pen-top computer consists of an electric pen, a tablet,
and a main computer. The tablet is A4-sized and 1.5 centimeters
(cm) thick. It weighs one kilogram (kg). The tablet is equipped with
a TSTN LCD (liquid crystal display). It supports 16 color gradation
and IBM's VGA (video graphics array).

The main computer box is also A4-sized, and is 2.5 cm thick. It
weighs 1.5 kg. A 25 megahertz (MHz) 80386SL processor is used
in the system. It also includes four megabytes (MB) of RAM, with
a maximum of eight MB. It also comes with a 3.5-inch floppy disk
and a 120 MB 2.5-inch hard disk.

The computer supports both DOS/V and Windows 3.0.
Interestingly, an Ethernet board and a fax board can also be
equipped as an option.

Wacom's Pen-top computer is based on a computer which
was jointly developed with Integrated Technologies in the US.

Wacom is a major tablet maker and has been manufacturing
tablets for IBM and Apple on an OEM (original equipment
manufacturer) basis.

(Masayuki Miyazawa/19920415/Press Contact: Wacom,
[phone])


(CORRECTION)(IBM)(LAX)(00028)

Correction: Eco-conscious Printer  04/15/92
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, U.S.A., 1992 APR 15 (NB) -- The Ecosys
aSi printer Kyocera introduced at Spring Comdex in Chicago was
incorrectly reported by Newsbytes as a laser printer. Kyocera
representatives told Newsbytes it is a light emitting diode (LED)
printer, a new technology.

Kyocera representative Harry Savage told Newsbytes the aSi printer
offers better than laser quality printing. Savage did again point out
the new Ecosys aSi printer requires only toner refills and as a result
can print for one-fourth the operating cost of laser printers.

The Ecosys aSi model, the FS-1500A uses a drum composed of
amorphous silicon (aSi). Savage said the printer is ecology-
conscious as users can refill the toner themselves using toner
refills from Kyocera. The refills will come in small, biodegradable
containers made of Kalp, a material that when burned only releases
water vapor and carbon dioxide, Kyocera representative Steve Petix
told Newsbytes.

Print resolution is 300 by 1200 dots-per-inch (dpi) and the printer can
print up to 10 pages-per-minute (ppm).

The Postscript interpreter offered by Kyocera in these printers
is compatible with Adobe's Postscript, although it has not yet
been tested with the newest version of Postscript.

The warranty information was also incorrect. Savage says the
correct information is the company says it will offers a three
year or 300,000 copy warranty on the drum and print head only.
A one year or 300,000 copy warranty is offered on the printer
itself.

Savage mentioned in addition that the US division of Kyocera,
headquartered in Somerset, New Jersey, is part of the $3.5 billion
Kyocera Corporation, headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. A division of
Kyocera is in Toyko, Japan.

(Linda Rohrbough/19920415/Press Contact: Harry Savage, for Kyocera,
tel [phone]; Steve Petix, Kyocera, tel [phone], fax 908-560-
8380)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LAX)(00029)

 ****Sun Executive Carol Bartz Joins Autodesk As CEO 04/15/92
SAUSALITO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 APR 15 (NB) -- In the latest
round of executive musical chairs, Sun Microsystems has lost a
player. Carol Bartz, corporate executive officer and vice president
of worldwide field operations at Sun is taking the position of
president, chief executive officer (CEO), and chairman of Autodesk.

Autodesk announced it was looking for key executives after its
reorganization into business units last summer and it picked up five
new executives in December of last year.

The $274 million software company is successful, if unusually run.
The company was founded by a group of 13 engineer/programmers
who combined their efforts to develop several of their pet software
projects. The most successful project and the one that launched
Autodesk to success was Autocad, a computer-aided design (CAD)
program used for drafting and modeling that is still the company's
flagship product.

The CEO position was filled for several years by co-founder, John
Walker, who was most recently appointed manager of technology.
Walker served as president and chief executive officer until 1986,
then served as chairman until 1988, when he made the decision to
step down and returned to programming on a full-time basis.

Bartz, who spent nine years at Sun, has a reputation for building a
software business, according to Autodesk. Reportedly Bartz took
the leadership at Sun Federal in 1987 and led the division from $21
million to $124 million in two years. Bartz was promoted at Sun to
management of the company's worldwide revenues, which went
from $2.6 billion to $3.2 billion, and are expected to continue to
climb.

Bartz said in a prepared statement: "Software drives the computer
industry. Autodesk has the market position, technology and
resources to significantly expand its current leadership as the
software industry enters the next century. I look forward to leading
the company toward this goal."

Autodesk's current CEO, Alvar Green, who announced his intention
o retire from the position in October of last year, will remain active
as a director of the company, Autodesk said.

Meanwhile, Sun has already announced Bartz' replacement, Joseph
P. Roebuck, formerly vice president of Sun Microsystems Computer
Corporation's (SMCC) US field operations, which Sun says produces
approximately half the company's worldwide sales. Roebuck joined
Sun in 1983 as vice president of sales, moving into his current position
in 1987, and has 30 years' experience in computer industry sales and
marketing, the company added.

Lisa Goldman a representative for Autodesk, said Bartz is the only
woman to become CEO of a leading high-tech company she did not
found. The only other woman CEO of a leading company is Sandra
Kurtzig who founded ASK.

Sun has been getting attention recently because it has been
attracting programming and development talent from other leading
companies. Robert Glass, Bruce Tognazzini, Frank Ludolph, and
Annette Wagner all key programmers at Apple have joined Sun's
Sunsoft division. Dr. L. Peter Deutsch also recently left Parcplace
Systems to join Sun's research subsidiary Sun Microsystems
Laboratories Incorporated (SMLI).

(Linda Rohrbough/19920415/Press Contact: Lisa Goldman,
Cunningham Communications for Autodesk, tel [phone],
fax [phone]; Cindee Mock, Sun, tel [phone]
fax [phone])


(NEWS)(GOVT)(LAX)(00030)

 ****Accolade Ordered To Remove Sega-Compatible Games 04/15/92
REDWOOD CITY, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 APR 15 (NB) -- Video
game maker Sega says it has won the latest round of its court
battle with competitor Accolade with a court decision that will force
Accolade to pull its compatible products off retail shelves.

The decision is a result of a preliminary injunction handed down in
the US District Court in San Francisco by Judge Barbara Caulfield,
who is enjoining all sales of Genesis-compatible Accolade products.
The court order also requires Sega to post a $1 million bond for
Accolade in case it is proved that Accolade did not violate Sega's
copyrights.

Sega originally filed suit against Accolade in an attempt to stop the
company from distributing its titles, claiming the game maker was
misleading consumers into believing the games were licensed by
Sega. Accolade says the misleading part was created by Sega, who
re-designed its game system hardware so when any cartridge is
inserted into the system a message appears that says "Produced
By or Under License From Sega Enterprises Ltd."

Sega's acts in its suit against Accolade have been condemned by
the American Committee for Interoperable Systems (ACIS) as an
attempt to stifle manufacturers of compatible software for any
computer system. ACIS is populated by leaders in the computer
manufacturing industry including Chips and Technologies, Phoenix
Technologies, Seagate Technology, Zenith Data Systems, and Sun
Microsystems.

Peter Choy, chairman of ACIS and deputy general counsel of Sun
Microsystems said: "The life blood of the computer industry is the
ability of any competitor to make and distribute interoperable
software and hardware."

In this suit against Accolade, Sega lost the original round because
the case was not specific enough. The court told Sega to specify
the works which are the subject of the copyright claims, the acts
constituting the alleged copyright infringement, and the dates when
the alleged infringement occurred.

Now that Sega has been specific, the court is not only requiring
Accolade to stop selling the game cartridges for the time being, but
has ordered Accolade, within 10 days of an April 9 order, to write
"all persons or entities to whom Accolade has distributed the video
game programs which are the subject of the court's preliminary
injunction, or any derivative copy of such programs. Accolade shall
request that they immediately halt any further marketing,
distribution, or sale of said cartridges or other copies, and return
to Accolade all cartridges or other copies in any form in their
possession or control."

Accolade meanwhile has filed a counter-suit accusing Sega restraint
of trade, trademark infringement, and unfair business practices. The
counter-suit also seeks recovery from Sega for allegedly misleading
consumers into believing that Accolade's compatible video game
cartridges are either produced by or licensed from Sega, Accolade
maintains.

Sega most recently lost a suit against inventor Jan Coyle that could
cost the company between $33 to $100 million if a decision made in a
copyright trial against the video game maker stands. Coyle's attorney
Fredrick Lorig says the award against the Japanese video game
maker could be tripled by the judge in addition to attorney's fees and
court costs because the jury in the case ruled Sega had deliberately
infringed on Coyle's patent.

The copyright Coyle holds on invention by Coyle and Robert Stevens,
developed in 1969 and patented in 1975, which involves a display
of color images on a video-screen via low-frequency audio signals.
The audio signals control the "sprites," the figures that move in the
foreground against the still background, like the Mario characters or
Sonic the Hedgehog. Lorig says the technique is used in nearly all
video games and Nintendo and Atari settled out-of-court with Coyle
on earlier patent infringement suits.

Sega is facing a similar injunction as the one brought against
Accolade if Lorig is successful. Lorig told Newsbytes that in addition
to the monetary decision he plans to seek an injunction against the
sale of Sega hardware and software at least until Coyle's patent,
filed in 1975, runs out in August of this year. Sega's general counsel
Riley Russell told Newsbytes the company plans to appeal the suit.

(Linda Rohrbough/19920415/Press Contact: Brian Webster, Manning,
Selvage & Lee for Sega, tel [phone]; Fredrick Lorig, Bright and
Lorig, tel [phone]; Melinda Mongelluzzo, Accolade, tel 408-985-
1700, fax [phone])


(NEWS)(GOVT)(LAX)(00031)

 ****What's Left To Contend? Asks Microsoft, In Apple Court Ruling 04/15/92
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 APR 15 (NB) --
Things don't look good for Apple in the latest ruling in its $5.5 billion
suit started four years ago in which Apple claims that Microsoft and
Hewlett-Packard copied Apple's Macintosh operating system.

US District Court Judge Vaughn Walker granted several motions
in the latest pre-trial hearing that substantially narrow the areas of
dispute in the case, according to Apple.

Essentially, all the "look-and-feel" issues were dismissed. "I don't
see how there can be much left (to litigate)," William Neukom,
Microsoft's vice president for law and corporate affairs said,
according to Reuter. However, Apple's general counsel Edward B.
Stead said: "There are many design elements that go into making
any interface as complex as that of the Macintosh."

In March, the court ruled 179 of Apple's list of the 189 alleged
infringing visual displays in Windows 2.03 were covered by a
1985 agreement between Microsoft and Apple.

That only left 10 to fight about, but Apple spokesman Chris Escher
told Newsbytes then, that those ten were the key elements of the
Macintosh operating system and what the case is all about.

However, it seems now its not as clear what the Apple case is.
Judge Walker has now dismissed disputed graphics features,
such as overlapping windows and pulldown menus, stemming from
all of Microsoft's Windows 2.03 and most of the features found in its
3.0 version of the software, Reuter reported.

Stead says there are still issues Apple can pursue. "Regardless
of the license granted in 1985, Apple believes that it is entitled to
protection of the overall appearance of its work and we are
hopeful that ultimately the court will send that central question to
a jury for a decision," Stead added.

Apple still plans to go on, despite this major set back. "If
necessary, we may ask the court for a reconsideration to make
sure that we can proceed with our infringement claim based on the
substantial similarity and overall appearance of the defendants'
works, or if not, obtain a clear appellate ruling," Stead said.

(Linda Rohrbough/19920415/Press Contact: Cindy McCaffrey,
Apple, tel [phone], fax [phone])