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/NB920430

Text File | 1992-04-30 | 66KB | 1,441 lines

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

9600 Bps Modem & Fax Now Available For Epson Notebook 04/30/92
TORRANCE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 APR 30 (NB) -- Epson says
it is offering a notebook modem with fax capability of 9,600 baud,
the NB9600, exclusively for Epson notebook computers.

While it is common for fax modem combination devices to be capable
of 2,400 baud modem performance and 9,600 Group III fax, Epson
claims the NB9600 is the first internal device to offer both modem and
fax at 9,600 baud.

The V.32 duplex operation of the modem also allows it to send and
receive data over the same channel, Epson maintains. Compression
schemes such as V.42bis or MNP 5 can quadruple the data transfer
rate to speeds as high as 38.4 kilobytes-per-second (Kbps), Epson
added.

The modem is also capable of automatically adjusting down if the
sending modem or fax is transmitting at a lower speed, Epson added.
Epson says the modem is designed for power savings and comes
with ATI Fax software for DOS-based notebooks and Winfax 2.0 for
Windows 3.0.

Jan Macianco of customer relations with Epson says instructions
come in the modem for users to install it themselves, if they desire to
do so. Epson says the modem is retail priced at $649 and will work
with NB series notebooks including the NB3s, NB-SL/20, and
NB-SL/25.

(Linda Rohrbough/19920430/Press Contact: Jan Marciano, Epson,
tel [phone], fax [phone])


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

High Temperature Superconductive Device From Indian Lab 04/30/92
NEW DELHI, INDIA, 1992 APR 30 (NB) -- Scientists at the National
Physical Laboratory (NPL), New Delhi, have operated a
Superconducting Quantum Interference Device (SQUID) at liquid
nitrogen temperature (77 K), which is considered to be the high
temperature side as far as supercondctors are concerned.

A SQUID is capable of sensing even very weak magnetic fields and,
therefore, is useful in applications like geological prospecting and
biomagnetism. However, most of its applications could not reach the
commercial level because the device could be operated only at very
low temperatures like that of liquid helium (4.7 K). Now though, Indian
scientists have developed suitable materials based on trium-barium-
copper oxide and bismuth-strontium-calcium-copper oxide.

Dr. Neeraj Khare of NPL has contributed to the development of these
SQUIDs, and was given the "Young Scientist" award of the Council
of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR), New Delhi. The SQUID
developed by him is claimed to be rugged and stable even after
many thermal cycles from room temperature (303 K) to liquid
nitrogen temperature. This stability of superconductors is essential
for their application in devices.

Three years ago, the Indian government formed a high-level
Superconductivity Research Coordination Committee with special
emphasis on the continuing research at some of the top research
institutes in the country.

(C.T. Mahabharat/19920430)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(SFO)(00003)

India: Oracle Wins Massive Order From Government Network 04/30/92
NEW DELHI, INDIA, 1991 APR 30 (NB) -- Oracle Corporation has
recently signed an agreement with the National Informatics Center
(NIC) to supply several thousands of Oracle RDBMS (relational data
base management system) copies to NIC which standardized its
database applications on Oracle.

NIC is a huge computerized network - reckoned by some to be one
of the biggest government network in the world. Created by the Indian
government, it has its headquarters in Delhi, three regional centers
and branches into each of the 25 state capitals and down to each
of about 450 districts across the country.

Employing thousands of qualified computer staff, NIC provides
hardware, software, and processing support to various government
departments in India. Its satellite-linked network, called NICNET,
spans the whole country up to the district level and is being
extended to over 2,200 blocks.

NIC has also been appointed a value-added reseller (VAR) by
Oracle as it is involved in developing several applications, for
central and state government departments, for use over its NICNET.
The center will also use Oracle low-end applications based on PCs
as it permits flexibility of movement across platforms from PCs to
minis to mainframes.

NIC has already bought 1,100 copies of Oracle RDBMS - the
majority being for 386- and 486-based systems. Installation is
expected to grow to anywhere between 2,000 to 5,000 within the
next two years, according to the agreement between NIC and
Oracle.

Outside NIC, there are about 2,000 Oracle installations in India and
a significant rise in its numbers is on the cards, said Hirendra
Gupta, country manager of Oracle,  talking to Newsbytes. The
Indian Army has also chosen Oracle as a standard for its database
operations on its mainframes, mini- and superminicomputers.

(C.T. Mahabharat/19920430)


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

Japan: EIAJ Survey Says Laser Disk Has Lots Of Potential 04/30/92
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1992 APR 30 (NB) -- The laser disk player has
lots of potential for the sales in the future, according to the
Electronics Industry Association in Japan (EIAJ). The EIAJ has
recently taken a survey on audio visual equipment concerning
sales in the worldwide market in the next five years.

According to the EIAJ survey, sales of laser disk players
will grow at 20 percent per year. So far, 460,000 units are sold
worldwide. In five years, it is predicted that a total of 3.73 million
units of the laser disk players will be sold.

Camcorders have been fast selling item during the past
five years, with sales growing at 28.2 percent per year. In the next
five years it is anticipated that sales will continue to grow at an
annual rate of nine percent. A total of 13.84 million units will be
sold by the year 1996.

Compact disk players will be sold more in the US, Europe,
and Asian markets, growing at 6.8 percent per year. A total of
22.16 million units will be sold in the next five years, according to
the survey.

Other potential electronics devices will include color TV sets
with an annual growth rate of five percent, video tape players at
4.4 percent, car stereo sets for 3.8 percent, and tape recorders
at 1.7 percent.

(Masayuki Miyazawa/19920430/Press Contact: EIAJ,
[phone])


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(TYO)(00005)

Japan: KDD To Use Expert System In Its Telecom Network 04/30/92
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1992 APR 30 (NB) -- Japan's former
international telecommunications monopoly, KDD, says it will
apply a real-time expert system in its telecommunication networks.
It claimed be the first time for a telecommunications firms to use
such a system.

KDD's research laboratory has developed a basic system to
control and watch the network systems including international
telephone networks and data telecommunication services.

According to the company, KDD's expert system is flexible and
it can give speedy diagnosis of network systems. KDD and other
network firms are trying to find systems to support various
networks, which are quite complicated at present.

For instance, the networks are connected via several
different media such as optical cables, space satellites, and
microwaves. So, it is hard for the engineers to locate actual
problem parts in case of the system failure.

The company hopes that its artificial intelligence-based
expert system will quickly locate problem parts and give
instructions for repairing the problem parts.

However, this system needs to be refined and will take two to
three more years before it is actually used in the network.

(Masayuki Miyazawa/19920430/Press Contact: KDD,
[phone])


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

Southnet Buying Pay Phone Operator 04/30/92
TAMPA, FLORIDA, U.S.A., 1992 APR 30 (NB) -- Southnet, which
operates a long distance network and offers billing and
collection services, as well as a calling card, is buying Telecom
America, an alternative operator company controlling 6,700 pay
phones and 90 hotel accounts. The deal will be a stock swap
valued at $3.4 million.

While the alternative operator business, in which companies
control long distance access to telephones on behalf of property
owners, remains under pressure, the operation of pay phones
themselves could become increasingly lucrative. Recently, the
Federal Communications Commission agreed that pay phone
owners deserve compensation for long-distance operator calls
made to other carriers, like AT&T, from the phones. The
compensation, now calculated at a fixed rate per phone, may
be adjusted to roughly 40 cents per call.

However, Telecom America's main operation, reselling long
distance services through hotel and pay telephones, remains under
regulatory pressure and competitive threat. AT&T has been heavily
advertising the fact that callers should dial 102880 to reach its
network from any phone, which cuts the alternative operator out
of the revenue stream, and new laws require that phone operators
allow callers to bypass their own networks in this way.

Alternative operator companies have been accused in the past of
simply jacking-up phone rates and kicking back some of their ill-
gotten gains to property owners. The Telecom America acquisition
is expected to double Southnet's revenue base, and the company's
two principal shareholders will join the Southnet board.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19920430/Press Contact: Robert J. Zradicka,
Southnet, 813-287-2880; Ron Morris, Telecom America, 305-931-
5443)


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

US West Trialing NAMPS Cellular Technology 04/30/92
BELLEVUE, WASHINGTON, U.S.A., 1992 APR 30 (NB) -- While its
Pacific Northwest competitor, McCaw Cellular, has committed to
Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) digital service, US
West's NewVector Group is considering an alternative. The
company said it will try-out Motorola's improved analog cellular
technology, called Narrow-band Advanced Mobile Phone Service
(NAMPS) in conjunction with personal phone numbers which follow
their holders to mobile or stationary locations.

The service will first be installed in Denver on a trial basis,
explained John DeFeo, president and chief executive officer of US
West NewVector Group. The service will be based on Motorola's
Personal Phone Service 800, and combines both wired and wireless
networks. The pocket-sized Motorola phone has features similar to
a cordless phone when the user is near their home or office, but
doubles as a cellular phone when the user is mobile.

While the cellular industry has formally adopted TDMA, based on
technology from International Mobile Machines, some operators
are looking at NAMPS as a short-term alternative while a
competing technology, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA)
is tested. TDMA divides a cellular calling channel into slices,
sending one call in each slice, and could increase calling
capacity threefold. CDMA uses more complex spread-spectrum
technology and claims to increase calling capacity tenfold.
NAMPS also claims a threefold increase in calling capacity,
and all this is further complicated by a new technology from GM-
Hughes, E-TDMA, an enhancement to TDMA, which claims to
increase capacity 15-fold.

The addition of the personal phone number technology, combined
with the cordless operation of the Motorola handset, is a new
wrinkle. A service which automatically followed the user and
found the most inexpensive way to complete incoming or outgoing
calls, with a phone that fits in a shirt pocket, could provide real
benefits to users.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19920430/Press Contact: Bernadette
Anderson, US WEST Cellular, 206-562-5739)


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

 ****Georgia, Bell Fight Over 404 Boundaries 04/30/92
ATLANTA, GEORGIA, U.S.A., 1992 APR 30 (NB) -- The breakup
of northern Georgia's 404 area code, with a separate 706 code for
areas outside Atlanta, has become the focus of a political
tug-of-war between Georgia regulators and Southern Bell.

A three-man majority of the Georgia Public Service Commission,
chaired by Bob Durden, has been steadily expanding the toll-free
404 area to include urban counties like Coweta and Hall. The
Atlanta toll-free area is already the world's largest, and the
PSC now wants to add cities like Gainesville which are 40 miles
from the center of Atlanta.

Southern Bell is laying low, pointing out that the more exchanges
in 404, the higher the basic rate for all users. Georgia has no
provision for measured-rate local service.

The battle may date back to last year, when the PSC tried to
regulate a Southern Bell voice mail service called Memory Call.
The attempt to start a regulation process was stymied, however,
when Southern Bell successfully petitioned the Federal
Communications Commission to define Memory Call as an
interstate service, not subject to in-state regulation. Since then, the
relationship between the PSC and the company appear to have
deteriorated.

Complicating the matter is the fact that Georgia long distance
rates are extremely high. It actually costs less for someone in
Atlanta to call Los Angeles than to call Americus, Georgia, 120
miles to the south. So people in outlying counties would prefer
to remain in the Atlanta calling zone, even if they would
otherwise like nothing to do with the capitol city. But the more
exchanges in 404, the fewer extra exchanges there are to handle
new demand, which was why the new 706 code was created in the
first place.

The PSC has been stacking the deck by holding hearings on
expanding the 404 code in affected areas, where citizens can
eagerly demand the improved service, and in-town residents find
it hard to protest the resulting higher rates. Southern Bell may
reply to all this by launching a new campaign for measured-rate
local service once the 706 boundaries are established and new,
higher basic rates are set.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19920430)
(NEWS)(GOVT)(WAS)(00009)

US Cites Overseas Copyright Violators 04/30/92
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1992 APR 30 (NB) -- Despite last-
second efforts to influence the US Trade Representative's Office
by announcing changes in copyright violation policies, Taiwan
has found itself, along with India and Thailand, on the Commerce
Department's warning list of those countries which ignore US
companies' intellectual property rights.

Taiwan companies are widely known for producing illegal copies
of US and European goods carrying false brand names or
otherwise violating copyrights, patents, and trademarks, but this
is the first time that the US has taken even this mild warning
action against its longtime ally. India and Thailand are still
on the list from last year.

President Bush's trade office is required to make this
declaration, and what is supposed to happen next is that the
countries will be given six months to make a major move to clear
up the problem or face the imposition of punitive tariffs placed
on goods exported to the US.

The cases of India and Thailand, which are charged with violating
US patents on pharmaceuticals, will now be "studied" for a
second year rather than have the Super 301 trade sanctions
imposed, which the Commerce Department is now authorized
to do.

Thailand is also charged with weak copyright enforcement
procedures, the same as Taiwan.

Third World countries contend that they cannot afford the high
royalties required to produce needed medicine and computer
software. However, most of Taiwan's infringing products are
exported for profit and the country had an average per capita
gross national product in 1988 of $6,200 compared to India's
$300, Thailand's $771, and the US's $16,444.

The office of the Trade Ambassador also released a list of
nations which will be closely watched over the next year to
determine if they should be named as violators of US
intellectual property rights.

New to the list are Egypt, Hungary, South Korea, the Philippines,
Poland, and Turkey. Brought forward on the watch list from last
year are Australia, Brazil, and the entire European Community,
mostly for restrictive bidding procedures on government
contracts.

(John McCormick/19920430)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(WAS)(00010)

NIST Offers Handwriting Sample Database 04/30/92
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1992 APR 30 (NB) -- Working with the
Bureau of the Census, the NIST (National Institute of Standards
and Technology) has compiled the NIST Special Database 3,
containing thousands of samples of handwriting, all using the
same text.

Companies developing handwriting recognition products
need such a database to test software. The Database sells for
$895 and is only available on a CD-ROM disc.

The NIST has also produced an oil fire "footprint" simulation
program that shows in three dimensions what will happen with
smoke particles coming from major oil fires, the footprint being
a description of where the residue will be deposited depending
on the size and type of fire, as well as ambient winds.

One proposed answer for dealing with spilled oil is merely to
burn it in place and this software will help scientists in the
Coast Guard and elsewhere to decide what effects such
burning will have on the environment.

(John McCormick/19920430/Press Contact: John Henkel,
NIST, 301-975-2762)


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

India: Datamatics To Reengineer Paris Bank's AFT System 04/30/92
BOMBAY, INDIA, 1992 APR 30 (NB) -- Interface Software Resources
Pvt. Ltd (ISR) of the Datamatics Group, one of the oldest Indian
software development and consultancy firms, has secured its second
assignment from the Paris-based Banque Worms.

ISR will reengineer the bank's funds transfer system, STOBI. The
new system, ORCA can accept inputs directly from electronic
channels like SWIFT, Sagittaire and Teletransmission, instead of
paper documents.

In addition to discharging all the functions of STOBI system, ORCA
is claimed to establish better checks on bank operations, facilitate
automation of messages resulting in faster message transmission,
and cost reduction.

Meanwhile, Datamatics Ltd., has been appointed as distributor for
the latter's products in India. With an annual turnover of $15 million,
Jyacc is mainly involved in product development. Among its
software programs is Jyacc (JAM), an application development
tool designed to optimize user productivity with template screens,
interactive debugger and prototyping facilities.

(C.T. Mahabharat/19920430)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SFO)(00012)

India's ADS Ties Up With Canadian Firm GPT 04/30/92
BANGALORE, INDIA, 1992 APR 30 (NB) -- Analog and Digital
Systems (ADS), a Bangalore-based firm, and GPT of Canada are
poised to formalize a technical and distribution partnership, with
which GPT will market in the US and other countries the products
manufactured in India by ADS.

The technology transfer involved is for LMMDS systems and E9-1-1
emergency switches which are connected to telephones. LMMDS
systems will do away with the wires and can be substituted by a
small transmitter system in cable TV networks. The E9-1-1 switch is
particularly useful for emergency conditions. It gets activated on
being pressed and enables the monitoring room to obtain the
required data about the caller.

ADS, about a $0.3 million turnover company, which is recognized
by the Department of Science and Technology as an R&D
organization, was set up by the former cricket star, Brijesh Patel with
an initial investment of Rs 50,000. The firm is involved in designing,
developing and making electronic and allied product systems for
the computer and telecommunications sectors. The main product
of ADS is in application of microprocessor-based technology for
the telecom area.

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

 ****IBM To Sell OS/2 2.0 Through Prodigy 04/30/92
WHITE PLAINS, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1992 APR 30 (NB) -- Again
signalling its determination to move OS/2 2.0 beyond the
large-business market that has been OS/2's only stronghold up to
now, IBM plans to sell the operating system through the Prodigy
on-line service.

Roberta Paul, a spokeswoman for IBM, said the 1.5 million-user
Prodigy service will make OS/2 available mainly to home and
small-business users and these are very much a part of the target
market for OS/2. "It's our intention to make OS/2 2.0 widely
available," she said, adding that the software can benefit
individual users as well as large organizations with many
computers.

OS/2 is a multitasking operating system that can run DOS and
Windows programs and those written expressly for OS/2
simultaneously. Release 2.0, which became available at the
beginning of April, has won cautious praise from industry analysts
who see it as an improvement over previous versions that chalked
up disappointing sales.

IBM is giving OS/2 2.0, "the broadest and most concentrated
advertising effort we've ever had on a single product," according
to Nancy Roath, director of personal systems marketing at IBM.

In the past, OS/2 has sold mainly to large organizations that
wanted its multitasking capabilities and features that allow it to
work well with larger IBM computers in networks. However, IBM's
sales tactics have made it clear the company wants to sell the
software to smaller buyers as well.

The software needs a machine with at least an Intel 80386SX or
compatible processor, four megabytes (MB) of RAM and a 60 MB
hard disk. The OS/2 code occupies from 15 to 30 MB of disk
space.

In an interview with Newsbytes when OS/2 2.0 began shipping,
though, Roath argued that OS/2's demands are not really
much greater than those of Windows, and that even many
small-business users already have computers that meet those
specifications.

Prodigy users will be able to take advantage of special promotional
prices for OS/2 2.0, available through July 31. Current Windows
users can purchase OS/2 2.0 for $49, DOS users can upgrade to
OS/2 2.0 for $99 and new users can purchase OS/2 2.0 for $139, plus
shipping and handling. The same prices are available through other
channels, including a toll-free order number.

(Grant Buckler/19920430/Press Contact: Roberta Paul, IBM,
914-642-5468)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TOR)(00014)

Physician Computer Network Signs Third Lab Contract 04/30/92
LAURENCE HARBOR, NEW JERSEY, U.S.A., 1992 APR 30 (NB) --
Physician Computer Network has signed a five-year agreement with
Roche Biomedical Laboratories, of Burlington, North Carolina. Some
2,000 doctors who are members of PCN's electronic network will be
able to requisition lab tests, receive test results, and bill for laboratory
services on line through PCN's communication data-link software.

This is the third such agreement with a nationally known clinical
laboratory that PCN has announced in recent months, and the
second in about a week.

It follows closely on an agreement with National Health
Laboratories of La Jolla, California. Earlier, PCN signed a similar
deal with Medpath Laboratories. Taken together, said John de
Elorza, vice-chairman of PCN, the three agreements give PCN
national coverage.

While terms were not disclosed, PCN said that access fees for lab
services offered to physician member practices on the network by
the three clinical laboratories will generate laboratory data-link
revenues for PCN.

The interactive Communications Data-Link service between PCN
members and the lab uses PCN laboratory services software, a
new product which will be integrated with PCN's medical practice
management system at doctors' offices.

Physicians' Computer Network is a two-year old company, de
Elorza said. By the end of March, it had installed its system for
more than 2,000 physician members at some 1,400 practices
across the United States.

Roche Biomedical Laboratories is a wholly owned subsidiary
of Roche Holding A.G. of Basel, Switzerland.

(Grant Buckler/19920430/Press Contact: John de Elorza, Physician
Computer Network, 908-290-7711; or Kathy Liebmann, Gavin
Anderson & Company for Physician Computer Network,
212-921-1060)


(NEWS)(IBM)(DEN)(00015)

Signature Intros Technical Spell Checker For WordPerfect 04/30/92
TUCSON, ARIZONA, U.S.A., 1992 APR 30 (NB) -- Architects,
engineers and construction companies now have access to a
technical spell checker to use in conjunction with their
WordPerfect software.

Signature Software says Spell-Tek is a compilation of over 20,000
technical terms derived from five technical dictionaries: the
Dictionary of Architecture and Construction; the McGraw-Hill
Dictionary of Engineering; Means Illustrated Construction Dictionary;
the Encyclopedia of Building and Construction Terms, second
edition; and Construction Glossary.

According to Signature, the spell checking program includes generic
terms, trade names, professional associations, acronyms and
abbreviations. Signature's Jan Ryan told Newsbytes that the
installation process, which takes 15-20 minutes, merges the
Signature file with WordPerfect's main dictionary. Ryan said
that speeds up the checking process, since only the one file
has to be matched against the document. It also maintains the
integrity of the WP customized dictionary file.

Ryan said Spell-Tek is available in DOS, Macintosh, Windows and
Unix versions of WordPerfect 5.0 and later and has a suggested list
price of $129 for any version. However, Spell-Tek is available for the
next two months at the introductory price of $99.

Presently Signature markets Spell-Tek directly to the end user, but
Ryan said the company has plans to distribute through retail outlets
in the future.

(Jim Mallory/19920430/Press Contact: Jan Ryan, Signature Software,
602-722-3001; Customer contact: tel [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(DEN)(00016)

Zenith TVs Will Soon Offer On-Screen Program Listings 04/30/92
GLENVIEW, ILLINOIS, U.S.A., 1992 APR 30 (NB) -- Under a joint
development deal between Zenith Electronics and InSight Telecast
Inc, you will be able to throw away your printed TV listing and see
what is on tonight right on the screen of your TV or VCR within the
next five years.

Zenith said it expects to offer InSight-equipped cable decoders
later this year, with its color TVs containing the decoding
capability sometime in 1993.

The agreement calls for Zenith, the only remaining US-owned color
television and picture tube manufacturer, to be the exclusive
manufacturer of TV sets with the program guide capability for one
year after production begins.

The InSight service, which was first announced in the fall of 1990,
displays a week's worth of program titles, start times, and a brief
description of the program, much as printed TV listing do. The
listings are continually updated. A hand controller, much like the
current remote control unit for a TV, will move a cursor across a
menu on-screen, for selection of one of the functions, said
Insight's Cliff Dekar. Various displays are possible, including a
full screen grid similar to the TV listings in the newspaper, or
lists like all the movies playing in one evening.

Dekar said that the menu selections are in real-time. In other words,
special events can be added to the menu such as "interrupt if jury
comes in." Asked by Newsbytes about the cost, Dekar could not
tell reveal the exact cost but said it would be "less than a TV
Guide subscription."

Zenith Chairman Jerry Pearlman is optimistic that the Federal
Communications Commission will select the Zenith-AT&T system
as the standard for high-definition television (HDTV) in the US, he
told stockholders at the company's annual meeting this week.
However, Pearlman said Zenith plans to produce HDTV
regardless of the system standard selected, since the winning
system will be required to license the technology on a royalty
basis.

Pearlman said HDTV sales will probably reach one million units
per year about three years after HDTVs are introduced here in
the US.

Shareholders elected 10 individual's to serve one year terms on
Zenith's board of directors, approved amendments to the stock
incentive plan, and rejected a proposal on cumulative voting.

(Jim Mallory/19920430/Press Contact: John Taylor, Zenith
Electronics, 708-391-8181)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(DEN)(00017)

Microsoft's New Consultant Relations Program Requirements 04/30/92
REDMOND, WASHINGTON, U.S.A., 1992 APR 30 (NB) -- Microsoft
says it has added a new certification requirement for all independent
consultants participating in its Consultant's Relations Program
(CRP).

Candidates for the CRP designation, which Newsbytes reported on
several months ago, must now pass a series of on-line certification
exams to qualify for the program. The tests are designed to measure
a consultant's expertise with Microsoft products, said the company.

Consultants who are awarded CRP status can be certified at one of
two levels, "Associate" or "Partner." Associates are considered
generalists qualified to support Microsoft applications running
under MS-DOS and Windows operating systems, or the Macintosh
System 6 or System 7. Partners are classed as experts on a specific
Windows-based application or networking product and will be
referred by Microsoft to clients with specific problems.

To attain either level requires passing a series of closed-book
tests, starting with either two core exams on DOS Windows operating
systems, or the core exam designed for Mac consultants. To achieve
the partner status, the candidate has to pass a product-specific
test, in addition to the two core exams for Window and Mac
applications. Included in the test are: Microsoft Excel 4.0, which is
scheduled for release next month; Word For Windows 2.; Word 5.0
for the Macintosh; Microsoft Project 3.0; and Microsoft LAN
Manager and SQL Server.

Microsoft said the exams were designed in response to customer
requests, and are designed to test the technical knowledge and skills
of independent consultants as well as support coordinators, systems
engineers, resellers, sales support engineers, and network
administrators. Microsoft's Pam Kutscher told Newsbytes that the
consultants pay $100 to take the test. Each part of the test (DOS,
Windows, or an application) takes one hour, said Kutscher.

Tests are administered at the 150 Drake testing sites and
Microsoft University facilities, with results being available almost
immediately.

(Jim Mallory/19920430/Press Contact: Anne Kutscher, Microsoft,
206-882-8080; Consumer contact: 800-426-9400)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(DEN)(00018)

Central Point Software Offers 3 Million Common Shares 04/30/92
BEAVERTON, OREGON, U.S.A., 1992 APR 30 (NB) -- Central
Point Software says it has filed a registration statement with the
Securities and Exchange Commission stating its intent to offer
three million shares of its common stock for sale.

The stock offering, with an expected selling price between $11
and $13, will be handled by Morgan Stanley & Co and Shearson
Lehman Brothers.  Both companies are headquartered in New
York City.

Central Point said two million shares will be offered to the general
public, while one million shares will be set aside for purchase by
the  company's existing stockholders.  The company said
proceeds from the sale will be used for working capital.  Although
three million shares are being offered, the stockholders have
authorized an over-allotment of 450,000 additional shares, if
needed to meet demand.

As a privately held company, Central Point is not listed for trading
on any of the exchanges, according to CP's John Hodgman.  He
told Newsbytes that this was the first time Central Point has offered
stock to the public.

Central Point develops and markets utility programs for IBM
compatible PCs running under DOS and Windows, as well as
Apple  Macintosh computers.  The product line includes programs
that perform backup of the users hard disk, manage files, and
detect and remove viruses.

Other programs include connecting to a computer from another PC
at a remote location, a PIM (personal information manager, for
tracking information and tasks to be performed), disk caching and
disk optimization.  Disk optimization programs collect the fragments
of a users files stored in various locations on a disk and relocate
them so all parts of the file are contiguous, and mark damaged
sectors so they will not be used to store data.  This provides
quicker access to the file, since the computer spends less time
looking for the elements of the file.

(Jim Mallory/19920430/Press Contact: John Hodgman, Central
Point Software, 503-690-2209)
(NEWS)(IBM)(LON)(00019)

UK: IBM Intros SLC Machines; First 486DX2 Systems 04/30/92
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1992 APR 30 (NB) -- IBM UK has announced a
welter of new machines, including desktop and portable 80386SLC-
based machines and the company's first Intel 486DX2-based "clock
doubling" system.

Announcing the machines, Bill McCracken, general manager of
Personal Systems, said that the machines enhance the company's
product range in both the Micro Channel Architecture (MCA) and AT
bus system marketplaces.

The new 20 megahertz (MHz) AT bus-based machines -- PS/2
model 35SLC and 40SL -- are based around an IBM version of Intel's
80386SLC microprocessors, which give the PCs as much as an 88
percent speed advantage over their 80386SX-based competition.

The model 35 is available with a choice of 40 or 80 megabyte (MB)
hard drives at, respectively, UKP 1,470 and UKP 1,600. The model
40 has a similar configuration to the higher of the two model
35s, with an 80MB hard disk. Pricing on the model 40 has been set
at UKP 1,800.

Both the model 35 and 40 are available in the UK immediately.

The model N51 SLC notebook, meanwhile, is IBM's first MCA
portable to use IBM's SLC chip technology. For power reasons, the
N51's chip is a 16MHz rather than the 20MHz chips seen in the
model 35 and 40 desktop series. Big Blue is claiming a 75 percent
speed advantage over the equivalent 16MHz 80386SX
microprocessor machines.

Pricing in at UKP 2,995, the N51 comes with 2MB of memory,
expandable to 10MB internally, an 80MB hard drive, and a 32 gray
scale VGA LCD (liquid crystal display) screen. The machine is
driven by nickel hydride batteries rather than the usual ni-cads.
This increases battery life while lightening the overall weight of the
machine, which will ship before the end of June.

Last, but not least, there are four model 90 and 95 machines --
two desktop model 90s and two tower model 85s, each using a
clock doubled 25MHz 486SX processor to achieve 50MHz
performance.

The model 90 comes with a choice of 160 or 400Mb hard disks,
while the model 95 comes with a choice of a single or double
400MB hard drive system. All the 486DX2 systems, which come with
8MB of RAM fitted as standard, will be made available in the UK
in late May, at prices to be decided.

(Steve Gold/19920430/Press & Public Contact: IBM, tel 071-928-
1777, fax [phone])


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(LON)(00020)

UK: Miracom Says V.32Bis Modems Will Slow Down ISDN 04/30/92
SLOUGH, BERKSHIRE, 1992 APR 30 (NB) -- Miracom has
announced a UKP 100,000 campaign to promote the V.32Bis
(14,400-bits per-second) modem standard, kicking off the
campaign with the revelation that it thinks that the price and
performance of the technology will make companies think twice
before moving to ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network)
services.

"With V.42Bis, data compression and USR's proprietary adaptive
speed levelling (ASL) technology, effective throughput speeds of
38,000 bps, can be achieved on a 14.4 bps modem," explained
Clive Hudson, Miracom's sales and marketing director.

Hudson reckons that, when V.32 (9,600 bps) was the ultimate
speed, ISDN offered an attractive performance advantage. "With
V.32Bis this has been significantly eroded. Add to that the extra
expense of ISDN and the uncertainty of when it will be available,
and it's easy to see why V.32Bis is taking off," he said.

Hudson also believes that pricing is going to be a major issue in
the market penetration of V.32Bis. He points to Miracom's UKP 695
price point for its V.32Bis Courier modem as the same pricing for
the competition's V.32 modems.

Newsbytes notes that Miracom faces competition in this price
bracket from the unlikely direction of Hayes. Hayes Ultra 144,
which has many of the features of the Courier, with the addition
of X.32 switching, has a "street price" of around UKP 700. Having
said that, some outlets are offering the Courier at below the UKP
600 mark. Clearly, the high-speed modem market is hotting up.

(Steve Gold/19920430/Press & Public Contact: Miracom,
0753-811180)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LON)(00021)

AST Slashes UK Pricing Across Product Range 04/30/92
BRENTFORD, MIDDLESEX, ENGLAND, 1992 APR 30 (NB) -- AST
Europe has slashed pricing across the entire range of its products
by as much as 33 percent.

The price cuts are due to economies of scale in production, plus
a desire to maintain competitive pricing in the UK computer
marketplace. In parallel with the price cuts, AST has boosted the
specifications of several of its machines.

Announcing the price cuts and enhancements, Graham Hopper,
AST's general manager said that the company is offering end
users advanced technology at extremely competitive prices.

"The success of AST's strategy has been reflected in a global
42 percent increase in turnover quarter on quarter for the last
three quarters. The UK market has grown even more rapidly," he
said.

An example of the new pricing includes the Premium SE 4/33
model 3V, which has been cut by 33 percent to UKP 3,195. The
Bravo 4/33 with 80MB hard disk, meanwhile, has been cut by
16 percent to UKP 1,995.

AST has boosted the specification of several of its systems,
adding a 120MB hard disk option to its Premium Exec 386SX/25
mono and color notebooks, for UKP 2,165 and UKP 3,165,
respectively. The Bravo 4/33, meanwhile, now has 4MB of
memory fitted as standard.

(Steve Gold/19920430/Press & Public Contact: AST Europe,
081-568-4350)


(CORRECTION)(TELECOM)(LON)(00022)

Correction: BT's Phonebase Service Only Available On Dialup 04/30/92
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1992 APR 30 (NB) -- In our report entitled
"On-line Directory Assistance Speeds Up" dated 19 March,
Newsbytes stated that Phonebase, BT's on-line directory
assistance service, is available on dial-up and via packet switch
stream PSS. BT has contacted us to say that the service is only
available on dial-up. Newsbytes regrets any confusion caused
by this error.

"PSS access is one of the options we are looking at, but this
would not enable us to collect the on-line revenue from callers.
If we do implement PSS access, then some form of closed user
group would be necessary," Andrew Rose, BT's product manager
for Phonebase and Phonedisc, told Newsbytes.

Phonebase continues to be accessible on a UK national number
charged at "b1" (reduced rate trunk) rates. The service is also
accessible internationally at normal call rates. Phonebase
requires an ID and a password which are issued free of charge
by British Telecom on request.

(Steve Gold/19920430/Press & Public Contact: BT Phonebase,
tel [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(TOR)(00023)

 ****Wang Unveils Two PCs For Mass Market 04/30/92
LOWELL, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1992 APR 30 (NB) -- Wang is
going after the mass market with two new personal computers. One
of the machines comes with a compact disk read-only memory
(CD-ROM) drive, and both are based on an "80386SX-compatible"
microprocessor from a manufacturer Wang will not identify.

A flurry of legal disputes has surrounded Intel's 80386 and 80486
processors and companies manufacturing compatible chips. Intel
has taken legal action against Advanced Micro Devices, Cyrix,
and Chips & Technologies, claiming "clone" chips from these
companies infringe its copyrights.

Wang's announcement identified the chips in the new machines
only as "80386SX-compatible," and company spokeswoman
Hanne Herwick said Wang is not releasing the name of the chip
manufacturer.

Wang did say, though, that the chip runs at a top speed of 25
megahertz (MHz) but can be switched to eight MHz for
compatibility with some older software.

One system, the Alliance 750CD, comes with a 540 megabyte (MB)
CD-ROM drive and Compton's Family Encyclopedia on CD-ROM.

Both the Alliance 750CD and the Alliance 760 have five expansion
slots and one parallel, one mouse, and two serial ports. The
systems come with two MB of random access memory and can
support up to 16 MB on the motherboard, Wang said. Both have
an on-board Super VGA video controller with 512 kilobytes of video
memory, and both include a .41-dot-pitch VGA monitor, a keyboard,
and a two-button mouse.

The Alliance 760 comes with a 124 MB hard disk drive, as well
as 1.44 MB and 1.2 MB diskette drives. DOS 5.0 and Microsoft
Windows are bundled with the machine, as are Microsoft's
MS-Works for Windows and the Microsoft Productivity and
Entertainment Packs.

The Alliance 750CD system has a 540 MB CD-ROM drive, an
80 MB hard disk drive, and a 3.5-inch, 1.44 MB diskette drive. It
comes with the same bundled software as the 760, plus
Compton's Family Encyclopedia on compact disk.

Wang officials said the 760 model is aimed at home and home
business buyers, while the 750CD is meant for home education and
entertainment. Despite the CD-ROM drive and relatively high-quality
display, Wang is not touting the 750CD as a multimedia machine,
Herwick said.

Suggested retail prices are $1,799 for the Alliance 760 system and
$2,199 for the Alliance 750CD. Both will be available in May, Wang
said.

(Grant Buckler/19920430/Press Contact: Hanne Herwick, Wang,
508-967-6405)


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

SMC Drops Ethernet Combo Pricing By 25 Percent 04/30/92
hAUPPAUGE, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1992 APR 30 (NB) -- Striving to
keep up with the market, SMC has announced that they are reducing
their pricing on the EtherCard PLUS Elite 16 Combo card by 25
percent. The new price for the card is $299, down from $399.

SMC was one of the first to introduce such cards. These cards are
characterized by the fact that they support all three kinds of
Ethernet connections on the one card. There is an AUI connector
for thick wire Ethernet, a BNC connector for thin-wire, and an
RJ45 connector for 10Base-T wiring.

SMC claims that this idea originated with their dealers who wanted
to stock only one kind of card to resolve any kind of problem. For
this approach to be successful, such combination cards had to be
only slightly more expensive than comparable cards that supported
only one or two of the common media types. SMC has an undeclared
goal of ensuring that their cards are only about $20 more expensive
than the single media cards.

The current price reduction was driven by two factors, the company
stated. First, as the technology has matured they have been able
to realize some cost reductions and increased efficiencies and
would like to pass those on to the customer. Secondly, the single
media type of Ethernet cards have experienced significant price
reductions lately, thereby making the price differential between
them and SMC's combination card too large. This action should
restore the price differential to previous levels.

SMC spokespersons have told Newsbytes that they intend to
continue their presence in the networking marketplace and even
significantly expand it.

The company is planning some significant announcements
regarding network management products and SNMP-based
products to be made at the time of the InterOp show next month.
Included in the announcements will be a strategic statement of
direction for SMC in the networking arena. SMC is further planning
to introduce a line of Token Ring products in the fall of this year.

(Naor Wallach/19920430, Press Contact: Ellen Roeckl, SMC,
516-435-6340)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SFO)(00025)

CrossCom Unveils Protocol Independent Routing 04/30/92
MARLBORO, MASSACHUSETTES, U.S.A., 1992 APR 30 (NB) --
CrossCom is continuing to release information on their upcoming
new module for the ILAN router. Company officials have been
making announcements about the new capabilities of this module
for several months now in an effort to generate interest in the user
community.

CrossComm has been concentrating on the Token Ring segment
of the market. Within that, they have seen continued demand for
routing packets from protocols like SNA, SDLC, and NetBIOS. Other
vendors have taken the approach of encapsulating the IBM non-
routable packets in TCP/IP packets to solve this problem.
CrossComm looked at that approach as well but decided that it
needed to find a new approach which would work better for their
customers. After all, stated a company official, "most of our
customers are pure IBM shops, why would they want to introduce
TCP/IP?"

The approach that the company developed is totally different.
Protocol Independent Routing (PIR) combines a routing algorithm
known as Shortest Path First (SPF) with CrossComm's recently
announced Universal Router Architecture. Together these create
a dynamic map of the network and decide on the best means of
sending the information through the network.

All of this functionality will be available in a RIP module that
will be compatible with the company's ILAN hub. Customers will be
able to buy this module for their hub within sixty days. The module
will cost $950. In addition to the routability of IBM protocols,
CrossComm will be detailing the other features of this module over
the next few weeks.

Newsbytes has learned that BiSync support is definitely going to
be included. An official announcement of this is expected to come
within the next couple of week. Newsbytes has further learned that
the company is planning on TCP/IP and AppleTalk supoprt
to be contained in their hub by the fourth quarter of this year.

(Naor Wallach/19920430, Press Contact: Christine LeCompte,
Beaupre & Company for CrossComm, 603-436-6690)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SFO)(00026)

DCA Upgrades Crosstalk Communicator 04/30/92
ALPHARETTA, GEORGIA, U.S.A., 1992 APR 30 (NB) -- DCA has
announced an upgrade to their Crosstalk Communicator product.
Crosstalk Communicator is intended to be a simple yet complete
communications package for MS-DOS based machines.

It is intended to complement the company's other offerings like
Crosstalk XVI and Crosstalk Mark 4. Crosstalk Communicator 2.1
will begin shipping next week and will retain version 2.0's $99
suggested retail pricing.

There are several new features and enhancements in the product.
Version 2.1 will now support the Crosstalk proprietary file transfer
protocol. It has also implemented a new feature that is called
"queue dialing." With this feature, a user can indicate a list of phone
numbers that he wishes to call. The program will go through the list
and dial each number in turn. If the connection is successful, the
number is deleted from the queue. If not, the program will cycle to
the next number in the queue. The user can direct the program as
to the number of times to call each number, as well as to set the
delay interval between calls.

Another new feature is called "credit card" dialing. This option
allows the user to use the alternative long distance carriers.
By embedding a special character in the dialing stream, the program
will stop and wait for the user to press the space bar. Obviously,
this feature is only useful for modems that have a built in speaker.
The program will dial the access number for the carrier and will
then pause at the special character. When the user hears the tone
that the carrier provides to signify its readiness, the user presses
the space bar and the program then sends along the access code
required.

There are a host of other, smaller, features included in the package
as well. Company officials claimed that all of these features are
intended to make the package more user friendly and more useable.

People who have purchased version 2.0 since March 12 of this year
will be able to get a free upgrade to version 2.1. Others will need to
pay a $20 upgrade fee.

(Naor Wallach/19920430/Press Contact: Meg Owens, DCA,
404-442-4521)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SFO)(00027)

DECWorld: DEC Displays Renewed Applications Focus 04/30/92
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1992 APR 30 (NB)  Digital
Equipment Corporation is raising its competitive posture with a
renewed focus on customer needs, and the change will be on public
view through May 15, remarked Kenneth H. Olsen, company founder
and president, in a press conference this week at DECWorld '92, a
trade show with global ramifications.

Through a series of reorganizations over the past 18 months,
the Maynard, MA-based computer giant is reversing a tendency that
arose in the late eighties to produce technology for technology's
sake, according to Olsen. "Now we have an orientation toward
solving the customer's problems, and not toward the engineering
products we want to engineer," he commented. "This is the key to
the future of Digital."

During the next few weeks, the 30,000 visitors expected at
DECWorld will catch glimpses of Digital's new thrust in the 1,200
applications on display, said Olsen.

Symbolizing a global enterprise and its myriad vertical and
horizontal application areas, the show fills the entire 120,000-
square-foot exhibition hall at the World Trade Center in Boston.
By stopping in at storefronts, offices, and government buildings
within the village, visitors can observe simulations of computer
use in earthquake recovery, a hospital emergency room, a
chemical processing plant, a doughnut shop, and a multitude of
other situations.

In keeping with the exhibition theme, "The Open Advantage,"
the 1,500 computers used in the applications consist of
workstations, PCs and terminals from a variety of vendors, linked
together by a multiprotocol network. "Here, you can see what
we've been doing with applications," Olsen stated in his talk.
"What we're set up to do now is develop them more efficiently,
extensively, economically, and profitably."

These objectives will be reached through Digital's most recent
restructuring, which requires engineering groups to report to
applications groups, said Olsen. Accomplished a few weeks ago,
the new rearrangement caps a year-and-a-half-long effort to draw
Digital back to its original focus.

In the sixties and seventies, DEC pursued a customer-oriented
approach that set the stage for the company's phenomenal growth
in the eighties, he said. "Yet our success led us into a trap," he
added. "We'd always been good computer scientists, but we
ended up concentrating on this part with less emphasis on the
customers. We were building computers first, and then having the
sales people develop applications from what we designed," he
recalled.

Operations became increasingly complex and expensive as a
result, he stressed. "The sales people couldn't carry the
literature of all the computers we built. It took several experts
to design an application. Little by little, this began to hurt our
business."

In a reorganization 18 months ago, manufacturing and applications
functions were converted into business units, each accountable for
its own performance, said Olsen. "This made business people out
of individuals who had never been business people before.  But it
did not re-orient how we made computers.  The tradition was too
strong," he recalled.

Consequently, a few months back, a second rearrangement took
place, dividing Digital into the three engineering groups and three
applications groups. The applications groups were given the
authority to decide what computers to build, and the obligation to
turn a profit.  But although this change brought some positive
results, computer design was still coming along too slowly, making
a third restructuring necessary, said Olsen.

"Now the groups that build the computers are working for the
groups that build the applications," he asserted. "We've gotten
rid of a couple of layers of overhead, and problems involving
delay are well under way to being solved."

Currently, applications are categorized into the areas of "small
business computing," "global information systems," and "industry."
Global information systems handles mainframe and large-scale
distributed applications, while industry is entrusted with vertical
markets, he reported.

DEC's recently unveiled family of personal computers illustrates
the progress being made, according to Olsen. "If we were
designing computers just for computers' sake, we'd develop PCs
just like everybody else's," he said. "We'd have a PC server,
small enough to be stolen, in a plastic box high enough to trip
over. The cables would be on the floor."

But by targeting its PCs at small businesses, Digital has come up
with unique products, he stressed.  DEC's PCs are available
with a line of wall cabinets in a choice of colors, adding to their
aesthetic value, he said. "Small businesses don't take pride in
how small their computers look,"  he noted. The cables can be
stapled to the wall, and, to guard against theft, the cabinets can
be screwed in.

The PC disk space is easily expandable. "The amount of disk
space people need grows forever," Olsen commented. The new
computers are also equipped with battery and tape backup. "No
matter how small your business is, your computer is critical," he
explained.  Ethernet capabilities are incorporated, too.

The DEC PCs are visible on the show floor, along with a host
of other new technologies, including Digital's yet to be released
64-bit, RISC (reduced instruction-set computer)-based Alpha
computers.

"We do have a lot to offer, to a lot of markets," summed up
Olsen. "Getting everything together in one place is a very
effective way of putting our message across."

(Jacqueline Emigh/19920430)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SFO)(00028)

DECWorld: Gates Says Windows Plans Mirror DEC's 04/30/92
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1992 APR 30 (NB) -- An
agreement to integrate Microsoft's Windows NT with DEC's RISC-
based Alpha computers, announced recently, reflects similarities
between Microsoft's overall software plans and longstanding
hardware strategies from DEC, stated Bill Gates, Microsoft founder
and CEO, speaking this week at the DECWorld trade show.

"Microsoft's goal for Windows is to leverage investments in
development. To do this, we'll need many implementations, in the
same sense VAX has had many implementations," said the
company chief, referring to a DEC hardware architecture that
predates the 64-bit Alpha.

NT, an operating system Microsoft has been developing for
the past three years, now stands at the high end of Windows
implementations, according to Gates.  Future Windows
implementations will range from mobile organizers at the low end
to client/server multimedia at the top, he added.

"Over the next year and a half, we'll be rolling out lots of
great applications for Windows NT," said the billionaire
entrepreneur, who began in the business as a teenaged master
of DEC programming. "The best way to show off NT's power is
to combine the operating system with the world-class work DEC
is putting in on Alpha," he emphasized.

The integration of Windows NT with Alpha will optimize the
use of GUIs (graphical user interfaces) on client/server applications,
he elaborated. The first commercial applications of this kind are
likely to involve database and electronic-mail servers, because
the advantages of such systems are relatively easy for users to
grasp, he indicated. "At Microsoft, we've made ourselves guinea
pigs for these types of server technologies, with lots of PCs sitting
on the desktops and lots of big machines on the back end," he
disclosed. Almost all of the servers are from DEC, he explained.

One internal application has involved converting Microsoft's
sales records from printed binders into a database employees can
search and browse.

Soon after the conversion, the MIS Group at Microsoft
started to get reports that some of the facts in the database were
wrong, said Gates.  When looking into the situation, though, staff
found that the same erroneous information had appeared in the
binders, as well. "Nobody had been reading the documents in
printed form. The binders just weren't helping people to get their
jobs done," he commented.

Other firms are now exploring database applications that keep
track of who has talked to customers, along with the gist of the
conversations, said Gates. The call records can be shared by
home office and field staff.

"The database applications used in processing loan requests
will be different from those that manage insurance claims, for
instance," he commented.  "So one of the great outcomes of the DEC
and Microsoft partnership will be to reach out to software vendors
who understand specific industry areas and say, 'Okay, here's a
platform that runs on the desktop, here are the services that run
on the backend machines, and here's how we can help you get your
application going in this environment'."

Meanwhile, though, other hardware implementations are in the
works for Windows.  Microsoft has been meeting with consumer
electronics, telephone, and wireless equipment makers, and Gates
has set out to build himself a home equipped with HDTV (high
definition television) in every room.

In discussions with the equipment vendors, Microsoft is asking
such questions as how the firms are envisioning the "intelligent
phone" or "intelligent TV," said Gates. "We want to build
interfaces that will let the new machines interoperate well with
Windows on the desktop," he explained.

Gates' new "multimedia house" will be another sort of internal testing
ground for Windows. "The house is a case of exploring how people
want to interact with HDTV.  What kind of user interface makes the
most sense? After all, not everyone who visits my home is a
computer programming whiz - at least I hope not, anyway," quipped
Gates. "So, we have to come up with a nonintimidating HDTV system
that lots of people will enjoy working with.  Then we can move
forward to use the system at home, school, and work, and make this
the information age.  I think this is a very exciting vision for us all," he
said.

Equipment in Gates' HDTV-oriented domicile will be light years
ahead of the DEC time-sharing machine that Gates pounded away
on as a 17-year-old programmer at TRW, who was referred to the
professional job by Digital.

The hardware for the house will include 40 HDTV flat panel
displays and a 100 gigabyte image server, plus FDDI wiring
throughout the building.  Ultimately, the server will contain a
data base of 1 million pictures, costing an estimated $30 to $40
million to scan, said Gates.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19920430)


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

 ****Former Ashton-Tate CEO To Head Parcplace Systems 04/30/92
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 APR 30 (NB) -- Bill
Lyons, probably best known for his role as chief executive officer
at the former database software giant Ashton-Tate, has taken the
helm at object-oriented software language producer Parcplace
Systems.

Lyons said since the purchase of Ashton-Tate by Borland last year,
he stayed on with Borland for a couple of months to help with the
transition, then went hunting in what he terms at the "ultimate high-
tech candy store," Silicon Valley, for the next emerging technology.

Lyons told Newsbytes that being unattached and fairly well-known
because of Ashton-Tate, he was able to see much of the emerging
technology in Silicon Valley and was looking for an opportunity to get
into true entrepreneurial waters with an emerging technology. "It just
makes no sense to go with the next spreadsheet. What I was looking
for is emerging technologies that are close to intersection with
customer demand," Lyons told Newsbytes. Lyons maintains
Parcplace has that technology in its Smalltalk product.

Dr. Adele Goldberg, the founder of Parcplace systems and the co-
inventor of Smalltalk is stepping down to allow Lyons her slot at
Parcplace, but still plans to hold her position as chairman of the
board of the company. Goldberg has called Lyons her business
partner and says Parcplace is placing a stake in Lyons with the
hopes he'll be able to lead the company into penetration of the
corporate marketplace.

Forty-seven year-old Lyons spent 19 years at IBM, leaving IBM
from his position as vice president of software marketing and
distribution. His last three years were at Ashton-Tate until it was
purchased outright by Borland last year to the tune of $146 million.

Lyons says object-oriented technology is emerging as the wave
of the future, especially now that the hardware for the IBM and
compatible personal computer (PC) platform has caught up with
the demands object-oriented languages place on it.

Parcplace said Lyons will assume day-to-day management
responsibilities and all vice presidents will report to him beginning
immediately.

Mountain View-based Parcplace offers two programming languages,
C++ and Smalltalk. Goldberg has the distinction of being one of the
pioneers of Smalltalk in her former position at Xerox's Palo Alto
Research Center (PARC) where the Smalltalk language was born.
Parcplace is a privately held company backed by venture capital and
one of the company's more immediate goals is to go public, according
to Lyons.

(Linda Rohrbough/19920430/Press Contact: Ellie Victor, Cunningham
Communications for Parcplace Systems, 408-764-0735; Denise
Boucher, Parcplace Systems, tel [phone] fax [phone])


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(LAX)(00030)

New Faster Data Encryption Chip From Digital, Vitesse 04/30/92
CAMARILLO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 APR 30 (NB) -- Data
encryption is getting faster with Digital Equipment Corporation's
development of a one billion bits-per-second (Gbps) data encryption
chip that is expected to be introduced at the IEEE Custom Integrated
Circuits Conference next week in Boston, Massachusetts.

Vitesse Semiconductor made the announcement as it developed the
basis for the new chip in its Fury 15K gate array. Robert Turnage,
manager of marketing communications for Vitesse says his company
builds semi-custom chip designs that other companies use by
connecting the transistors in a custom manner for a specific application.
The new Digital data encryption chip was developed in that manner.
Gates or gate arrays are the connections between the transistors and
are sometimes referred to as logical gates, Turnage added.

Vitesse says the development of the Digital chip was necessary
because of the need for high-speed data encryption hardware for
1Gbps networks. In order to get secure network transmission, the
data encryption hardware has to be able to operate at the link
speed, Vitesse maintains.

The chip not only provides faster data encryption speeds than before,
but consumes half to a third less power than competing ECL gate array
technologies, according Chuck Thacker, a corporate consulting
engineer at Digital.

Vitesse says its Fury VSC15K gate array is the most complex design
ever done in a Fury array. Fury family arrays come in six increments
ranging from 3,000 to 30,000 gates, Vitesse added.

Camarillo, California-based Vitesse describes itself as a
manufacturer of digital gallium arsenide integrated circuits (GaAs ICs)
for commercial and military customers. The company says its GaAs
ICs include gate arrays, random access memories (RAMs),
telecommunication, networking, and logic products.

(Linda Rohrbough/19920430/Press Contact: Robert Turnage, Vitesse
Semiconductor, tel [phone] fax [phone])


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(LAX)(00031)

First "Wearable" Portable Computers Used In Shipping 04/30/92
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 APR 30 (NB) --
Warehouse workers at McKesson Drug are the first to wear a
computer to process purchase orders and invoices, identify and
display the location of materials, and perform receiving, picking
and shipping tasks, according to the company.

McKesson said the employees helped in the development of the
network which involves a 13-ounce wearable computer employees
placed over their hand and forearm that offers a small display
screen, a keypad, and emits a red laser beam for scanning.

Portable, hands-free operation is the goal of the system,
implemented and designed by Dallas, Texas-based Information
Technology company EDS. The system uses an Acumax
automated warehouse distribution software application and a bar
code scanning glove from Symbol Technologies.

Warehouse workers can "point-and-scan" bar codes on packages
while wearing the system on their arm which is connected to a
portable computer and battery power supply around their waist,
McKesson said. Paper documents, printouts and manual input of
purchase order and invoice data have been practically eliminated,
McKesson added. Communication of the portable units with the
network is done via radio transmissions in a "closed loop."

McKesson says the new system has increased accuracy and
decreased customer and supplier shortages and return claims. With
the success of the pilot warehouse system in McKesson's Spokane,
Washington facility, the company says it plans to duplicate the
system at another distribution center in Delran Township, New
Jersey.

(Linda Rohrbough/19920430/Press Contact: James S. Cohune,
McKesson, tel [phone] fax [phone])