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Text File | 1992-05-22 | 72KB | 1,617 lines

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

Hongkong: Motorola Engages Datacraft For Network Support 05/22/92
CENTRAL, HONGKONG, 1992 MAY 22 (NB) -- Motorola has awarded a
maintenance contract to Datacraft Asia for the provision of
technical and service support to Cisco router installations on
much of Motorola's Asia network, which encompasses more than ten
countries. The network will allow all sites to access
IBM hosts at Motorola's central hub as well as to tap many other
facilities within and outside Motorola's network.

Cisco's router technology is a complete and managed networking
system for connecting local area networks (LANs) into a corporate
wide network. Datacraft, the regional systems integrator of Cisco
products, will provide technical and maintenance services to most of
Motorola's sites in Asia.

Datacraft Asia's director of support services, Aston Chiu, said,
"Datacraft is well-represented in Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia,
Thailand and Taiwan. The agreement underscores Datacraft's regional
support capability and commitment to providing quality services to
customers."

A leading manufacturer of advanced equipment including semiconductors,
trunk radios and communications products, Motorola requires a high
level of data reliability and integrity and employs stringent
standards for its mission critical data operations.

Cisco products comply with Motorola's corporate requirements for
reliable data communications. "Cisco routers are intelligent devices
which can automatically switch data traffic to alternate paths for
transmission when line error is detected. This ensures fail-safe data
operations," said Lucien Wang, Asia-Pacific director for Motorola.

Cisco routers support Motorola's multi-protocol environment. Various
protocols including IBM SDLC, HDLC, and TCP/IP can be integrated into
Cisco routers to permit efficient data communication.

(Brett Cameron/NBHK9205.22/Press Contact: Ron Cattell, Datacraft Asia
Tel [phone]; Hong Kong time is GMT+8)


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

Tandem Profits Return In 2Q 05/22/92
CENTRAL, HONGKONG, 1992 MAY 22 (NB) -- Tandem Computers has announced
that revenue for its second fiscal quarter, ended March 31, 1992, 
rose to $502.9 million, with $8.8 million net income and
$ 0.08 earnings per share.

Compared with the same period in 1991, revenues increased
three percent from $489.4 million while net income decreased from
$18 million, and earnings per share were down from $0.17.

For the six months ended March 31 1992, revenue increased to $957.4
million, compared with $933.2 million achieved in the year-ago
period.

However, due to a $98 million pre-tax restructuring charge taken in
the first quarter of fiscal 1992, the company reported a net loss for
the period of $85.8 million, with $0.79 per share.

Tandem reported $25 million net income and $0.23 earnings per
share for the first six months of fiscal 1991.

"We are pleased that our efforts to restructure Tandem did not disrupt
our business and are beginning to show results," said James Treybig,
Tandem's president and chief executive officer.

"We took steps to streamline our organization and improve our
processes; revenue was up over the same quarter a year ago and we
exceeded our goals on the cost side. Asset management, an area in
which we continually do very well, was outstanding," Mr Trebig said.

In Asia, Roy Olmsted, managing director of Tandem Computers (Hong
Kong) Limited, said the company's business in the region continued to
grow and generate good income to the Tandem group of companies.

"The organization restructuring has helped us to develop our business
in the area. We believe our performance will improve further and
exceed the computer industry growth rate in Asia," said Mr Olmsted.

Mr Treybig also believes that Tandem's business will grow. "For the
third consecutive quarter, business in the United States posted year-
over-year growth. We believe this is an encouraging sign that the
recession may be abating," he said.

"Besides, our strategy of selling complete business solutions is
beginning to yield results as we recorded multiple orders for call
center and messaging applications," Mr Treybig added.

Treybig concluded, "For the remainder of the year, we will be
implementing marketing programs to meet the challenges of improving
revenue growth in the banking industry and to uncover new
opportunities in other industries, while maintaining our focus on
continuous operational improvement. We believe these programs and our
excellent products position us well to further improve profitability
when the world wide economy strengthens."

(Brett Cameron/NBHK9205.22/Press Contact: Donough Foley Media Dynamics
Limited Tel [phone]; Hong Kong time is GMT+8)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(SYD)(00003)

Australia: Discovery Online Service Woes 05/22/92
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1992 MAY 22 (NB) -- Discovery, Telecom's dial-up
data service in Australia, continues to have major problems. A press
release from Telesoft which provides the Discovery service told press
to be ready for "major changes in service direction."

Since the service has already wound-down considerably, it remains to
be seen how many more sections can be lost before the it loses
viability. Latest to go are the Australian Securities Commission and
Business Names databases, having moved to Telecom Plus where it is
anticipated that a number of OTC services will also find a home.

The Commonwealth Bank uses Discovery top provide a national home
banking service, and management says this will continue regardless of
the future of Discovery. The second largest bank, Westpac, uses its own
national home and business banking service, also using the packet
switching network, and the Commonwealth may follow Westpac's lead.

Industry speculation is that Telecom is attempting to sell the service
to a private operator, but there is no official comment. Despite a
number of rounds of staff cuts, yet another is expected in the next
month.

(Paul Zucker/19920522)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(MOW)(00004)

First 900 MHz Cellular Service In Moscow 05/22/92
MOSCOW, RUSSIA, 1992 MAY 22 (NB) -- Plexsys International of Naperville,
Illinois, and Vimpel of Moscow, Russia has announced Euronet Telecom, a
breakthrough 50/50 partnership which will soon bring AMPS standard
cellular phone to Russia. Numerous attempts by large multinationals to
sell the technology in Russia have for years been stopped by complicated
frequency allocation problems.

Euronet Telecom includes Plexsys International, which provides the
technology; Vimpel, which pledged its 50,000 employees to develop and
locally produce most of equipment; Comincom, the provider of
international lines; and Ministry of Foreign Affairs telecommunications
service, which offers government support.

The company will set up the first cell at the Foreign Ministry
building as early as July and has in place its first 100 test
subscribers who will test drive the new system for the next four
months.

The company said it will have a huge cost advantage over existing
competitors and will offer service of higher quality than
competitors, according to Augie Fabela Jr., president of the
newly founded Euronet and the chief executive of Plexsys International.

Two different, current cellular service providers use the Nordic
NMT 450 MHz standard. Previous attempts to override the problem of
frequency allocation failed due to the lack of government support. Those
frequencies in the 800-900 MHz range were allocated to military
aircraft guidance systems. The Euronet system will work in 860 MHz
frequency range

"Now we have all needed licences to operate the full AMPS service,"
Augie Fabela said.

The US and Russian counterparts will share an equal stake in the
venture. In addition to Plexsys International, Fabela Group
International, a private investment fund, will supply the needed
capital. Augie Fabela Jr. said the dollar investment "will be in the
7-digit range." He said the Russian side has pledged massive sums of
rubles.

"We will make full use of existing high quality microwave
technology already available from Vimpel which will mean substantial cash
savings to Euronet," Fabela said.

Plexsys is an "aggressive partner, which has proprietary technology and
provides cost-effective equipment, and has the experience to work in
countries with a very poor communications infrastructure," said Vasily
Bakhar, vice-chairman of Vimpel International.

Plexsys International was established in 1986, employs 60 and has 32
cellular systems established worldwide, including the first installation
in Columbia and a 93% stake in the Carribean cellular market.

Vimpel used to be a manufacturer of military radar and other military
communications equipment. It is currently registered as a company
operating in Russia, Ukraine, and Byelorussia, and has 60,000 employees,
mostly in research and development.

(Kirill Tchashchin/199204/Press Contact: Anna Belova, Vimpel, phone +7
095 152-9747; fax [phone]; Augie Fabela, Plexsys International,
phone [phone]; fax [phone])


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

Sega Links With Sony On Game Software 05/22/92
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1992 MAY 22 (NB) -- Sega Enterprises has
agreed to jointly develop multimedia game software with Sony.
The agreement is expected to be signed in the US within a month.

Sega and Sony will sign the agreement through their subsidiaries
in the US: Sega of America in Redwood City, California, and Sony
Electronic Publishing in New York. The games will be developed for
Sega's Mega Drive, which is called the "Genesis" game player in the
US. Also, the software for "Game Gear" will be developed.

Sega is currently preparing to release a CD-ROM-based upgraded
game machine, the "Sega CD," toward the end of this year, just in
time for the lucrative Christmas season. Sony will also develop
software for this game machine.

The game software will incorporate features that use
Sony's multimedia technology. Sony has the rights to a host of motion
pictures and the music of big artists such as Michael Jackson.
Sony has previous experience in CD-ROMs for game machines --
Sony developed a CD-ROM for Nintendo's 16-bit game machine
Super-famicom.

(Masayuki Miyazawa/19920521/Press Contact: Sega Enterprises,
[phone])


(NEWS)(UNIX)(HKG)(00006)

Hong Kong: Sun Next-Generation Workstations 05/22/92
WAN CHAI, HONG KONG, 1992 MAY 22 (NB) -- Like its parent
company in the United States, Sun Microsystems in Hong Kong
has announced the launch of a new range of workstations. The
SPARCstation 10 which is claimed to be the world's fastest
desktop workstation, is based on the fast new superscalar
superSPARC chip from Texas Instruments.

The SPARCstation 10 is a major breakthrough both in terms of sheer
processing power and in pioneering a new generation of
workstations that brings the power of the telephone to the
desktop," said Mary Theis, Sun Microsystems' Hong Kong-based
marketing manager.

The SPARCstation is easy to upgrade with its "snap in" replacement
CPU boards. The compact motherboard also boasts built-in
Integrated Service Digital Network (ISDN) capabilities. That
means that the new machines are able to send and receive full
blown multimedia material and also enables users to take advantage
of digital telephone facilities.

The new workstation rounds out the high end of the best-selling
SPARCstation desktop product line, which already includes the
entry-level SPARCstation ELC, the low-cost color SPARCstation IPC
and SPARCstation IPX, and the SPARCstation 2.

The SPARCstation 10 achieves a multiprocessing performance rating
of up to 218 (SPECthruput89) and more than 400 MIPS in its
four-microprocessor configuration. This represents two to four times
the performance of previous SPARC microprocessors.

In addition, SMCC has quadrupled the speed
at which data can be processed through the memory on the
SPARCstation 10, and has more than doubled the rate at which the
system can retrieve data from disks. Bus speed -- the rate at
which the system can send and receive information from peripherals
-- has been doubled over previous SPARCstation systems.

The SPARCstation 10 runs SunSoft's Solaris 1.1 operating
environment. Later this year, the SPARCstation 10 will run Solaris
2.0, which provides support for symmetrical multiprocessing and
which will feature a multithreaded kernel. The Solaris 2.0
environment is based on Unix System V Release 4 (SVR4) and is
source compatible with Solaris 1.1.

Newsbytes inquired about prices for Hong Kong. "The pricing structure
for Hong Kong will be a little higher than in the US," responded
Benjamin K.H. Wong, general manager, Sun Microsystems Hong Kong
base. "What you pay for is the back-up and support, upgrades and total
solutions," he said, "so it's worth the extra dollars."

The uniprocessor models of the SPARCserver 10 and the SPARCserver
600MP system with SuperSPARC will be available in Asia with Solaris
1.1 in the third quarter of 1992. The SPARCserver 10/Model 52 will be
available in the fourth quarter of 1992. These systems --
including the two-processor model -- will be shipped with a future
version of Solaris 2.0 in the fourth quarter of 1992. Super SPARC
upgrades for existing SPARCserver 600MP systems will be available
in the third quarter of 1992.

(Brett Cameron/19920522/Press Contact: Sweedee Chin, Sun
Microsystems Hong Kong tel: [phone]; Hong Kong time is GMT + 8)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(WAS)(00007)

CACI Wins Navy SUADPS Contract 05/22/92
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1992 MAY 22 (NB) -- The US Navy Fitting
Out and Supply Support Assistance Center has awarded Washington-
based CACI International a four-year renewal contract to continue
to provide support for the Shipboard Uniform Automated Data
Processing System -- Real Time (SUADPS-RT).

SUADPS is a major data collection and processing system used on
larger US Navy ships.

CACI International Inc., had a 45 percent increase in net profits
for the first quarter of 1992 on a lower gross.

(John McCormick/19920520/Press Contact: John H. Baker of CACI,
703-841-7800)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(MOW)(00008)

Baltic Electronic Newspaper Unveiled 05/22/92
KALININGRAD, RUSSIA, 1992 MAY 22 (NB) -- The Baltic Information
Networks (BaltIS) company of Kaliningrad, Russia, has started
"Far West," a daily electronic newspaper.

The "paper" contains 200-400 kilobytes of local news concerning
developments in the Kaliningrad (formerly Koenigsberg) region on the
Baltic Sea, and the development of the "Amber" free trade zone.
It covers business, politics, cultural developments, and also
carries the full text of local legislation.

The company claims it has a powerful reporting team. It is written
in Russian and distributed mainly through the Relcom electronic mail
network, which now has nodes in 250 cities across the former Soviet
Union.

One kilobyte of information (approximately half-page) cost 12 rubles (12
cents).

(Kirill Tchashchin/199204/Press Contact: BaltIS-Westinform, phone +7 0112
46-70-76; E-mail [e-mail])


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

DSC May Be Pulling Out of Slump 05/22/92
ATLANTA, GEORGIA, U.S.A., 1992 MAY 22 (NB) -- DSC Communications
of Plano, Texas, hit hard last summer after a software bug in one
of its signal transfer points was blamed for phone outages on
both US coasts, may be starting to turn around.

The company was also hurt by Motorola's decision to start a
joint-venture with Northern Telecom and stop buying its cellular
phone switches. But now it's winning some contracts, and some of
the customers are mentioning its name again.

One of its latest deals is with Advanced Telecommunications of
Atlanta, a small long distance company which announced this week
it will offer a virtual network product to large businesses
starting this fall. A virtual network combines dedicated and
public phone lines to imitate a private corporate network at much
lower cost. ATC's offering is defined by software and aimed at
customers which are geographically dispersed but still have a lot
of intra-company calls. Point is, the whole thing is based on DSC
switches.

DSC still has some steep challenges. It must continue to have the
confidence of U.S. phone companies. It must find a way to replace
the business lost when Motorola defected. And it must find some
way to improve its market share internationally, which is where
the bulk of the industry's growth is right now. But, analysts
admit, at least the public relations bleeding has stopped.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19920522/Press Contact: Advanced
Telecommunications Eileen Mullen, 404/261-5885)


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

SMDS Consistency Achieved 05/22/92
ATLANTA, GEORGIA, U.S.A., 1992 MAY 22 (NB) -- The biggest news
to come out of the recent ICA show in Atlanta may prove to be
the announcement by major US phone companies that they'll all
deploy so-called frame relay and switched megabit digital
services with consistent features and identical standards.

Frame relay offers fast data transmissions by reducing the amount
of error-checking within the network. Instead, entire frames of
data are checked at each end of the transmission. SMDS offers
extremely fast data rates, in the range of millions of bits per
second, which can be used for transmitting medical images and TV-
like pictures. Such links can also be used to connect local area
networks in different cities.

The companies making these announcements include all seven
regional Bell companies, as well as GTE, Cincinnati Bell, and
Southern New England Telephone, which are major networks historically
independent of the old Bell System. By specifying exactly how the
SMDS and frame relay services will connect between their local
networks and long distance networks, all the operating companies
made it easier for companies to buy the services. The agreements were
made possible by Bellcore, the research unit of the 7 Bell companies.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19920522/Press Contact: Bellcore, Mike Giovia,
201/740-4762)


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

SprintMail Offers Encryption and Compression 05/22/92
ATLANTA, GEORGIA, U.S.A., 1992 MAY 22 (NB) -- At a time when
some major electronic mail services, notably MCI Mail, still
have trouble with Xmodem file transfers, Sprint's SprintMail has
been enhanced with both encryption and compression features.

Version 2.1 of the PC SprintMail software, first launched in
1986, also offers connections to other messaging platforms under
the X.400 standard as well as menus for users who don't like
typing long commands. It's used by companies which need to link
with a variety of other people, including those on other local
area networks and public e-mail services worldwide, the company
said. The package also supports fax telex and printed mail
delivery. SprintMail has about 350,000 users worldwide, the
company said, and is also available in the CIS.

Separately, Sprint announced it will offer 7-digit dialing for
its virtual private network customers using cellular phones. The
7-digit dialing will work within a private network from a car-
phone to both domestic and overseas destinations.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19920522/Press Contact: Janis Langley, 202-828-
7423)


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

Now You Can Receive Private Phone Calls 05/22/92
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1992 MAY 22 (NB) -- Former
American Citinet founder Richard Koch has improved his
Untraceable Phone Calls service with "Untraceable Phone
Extensions" which lets people receive calls without the caller
knowing who or where they are. Koch's $2/minute service, which
operates on a caller-paid "900" line, frustrates the
controversial "Caller ID" service by running the call through a
switch in Las Vegas, Nevada which overlays its number on the
call. If the call's recipient has Caller ID, in other words, all
they'll see is 1-900-STOPPER, not the original number from which
they are calling.

To use the new service, one dials the "900" line and inputs the
number where they'll be, receiving a special extension. Callers
then have to call the same line and enter that extension number.
The company's switch will then match the special extension to the
number where one is located and connect the call. Koch recommends
it to anyone who wants to keep their location or phone number a
secret.

A recorded explanation of how "Untraceable Extensions" works is
available toll free on 1-800-US-PRIVACY.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19920522/Press Contact: Untraceable Phone
Calls, Richard Koch, 617-784-9015)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00013)

TRX Field Computing Service For Trucks 05/22/92
WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A., 1992 MAY 22 (NB) -- TRX Transportation
Telephone, known as TransTel, announced a plan to put cellular
base stations at truck stops, rest areas, and other truck
terminals, offering low-cost cellular service to the nation's
truckers.

TransTel calls its system the Nationwide Transportation
Radiotelephone Service and its base stations "Fone Zones."
Truckers will need to use special handsets which can get so-
called PCN microwave cellular services, to use the service. In
addition to regular voice calls, TransTel will also offer data
services, voice mail, fax services, vehicle location reporting,
regional weather and traffic reports, even financial transaction
services. The company filed a request with the Federal
Communications Commission in early May for what's called a
"Pioneer's Preference" on the microwave cellular technology, for
purposes of serving truckers. David A. Bayer, president of TRX
TransTel said in a press statement that "This not only makes the
trucking industry more efficient, it boosts the productivity of
other businesses that depend on trucks."

As a vehicle approaches an NTRS base station, a low-power
microwave-based transmitter will signal a receiver in the
driver's cab. The receiver will begin blinking and emit voice
directions if a message is waiting. After stopping, the driver
can use the handset to access the regular public telephone
network and contact the dispatcher or others. Perhaps more
important, any time a vehicle is within a base station's service
area, its location is automatically transmitted to the
dispatcher. The dispatcher can also receive information about the
truck's performance through an on-board diagnostic system within
the truck, which could tell about oil and coolant levels, engine
temperature and idle speed, average miles per hour and engine
RPMs, even the temperature inside the truck's refrigerated
compartment.

Of course, to get all this good stuff individual trucking firms
have to sign up for the company's service. TRX TransTel is a
joint venture, 85 percent owned by PWTC Holding of Delaware and
15 percent owned by Advanced Wireless Communications Enterprises
of Missouri.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19920522/Press Contact: Mary Louise Helbig, TRX
TransTel, 314-746-0567)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00014)

SAIC And WilTel Combine For Fast Data Service 05/22/92
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 MAY 22 (NB) -- Science
Applications International will offer 45 million bit/second data
services later this year for corporate private networks. The
X.Lnet service will use the WilTel fiber optic phone network as a
backbone, and customers will also have to use equipment from
Alcatel at each end of the link. SAIC, a service integrator, will
be the service provider responsible for the complete package.

"SAIC believes high-speed networking will be the cornerstone of
the computing environment of the 1990s and beyond," said Larry
Kull, SAIC president in a press release. The service can allow
for multimedia transmissions combining text, graphics, digital
sound and TV pictures under the 802.6 DQDB standard, and provides
a transition to emerging fiber transmission standards called
Synchronous Optical NETwork or SONET. The company said its offering
can also help companies move more smoothly to digital services under
existing ISDN standards.

SAIC said it chose WilTel as its service provider because it was
the first long distance company to provide nationwide public
frame relay and bandwidth on demand products and services.
Alcatel of France was chosen for its work on SONET and in
broadband switching research. SAIC has $1.3 billion in revenues
and is privately held by its 13,000 employees.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19920522/Press Contact: Bob King, SAIC, 619-
546-6492; Gil Broyles, WilTel, 918-588-5752)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(SYD)(00015)

Australia: Mailout Mixup Wrapup 05/22/92
CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA, 1992 MAY 22 (NB) -- The Australian Social
Security department has issued its official explanation on the recent
mailout embarrassment. Around 6000 clients had their personal details
mailed to other people, much to the chagrin of the department.

The department uses Xerox Integrated Composition System (XICS) to
produce its direct mail to millions of clients, and it was one of
these machines that was involved in the incident. The Privacy
Commissioner has found that a fault in printer use, and a failure to
follow correct procedure allowed the situation to occur.

Events in the chain on the fateful day include: three of the seven
staff were on a Xerox training course; one operator was sick; one of
the three printers was out of service; the Xerox serviceman decided to
do a preventative maintenance on one of the working printers rather
than fix the broken one.

The fault occurred when the serviced machine was restarted without
following the full restart procedure. A piece of adhesive tape on a
perforation in the continuous stationery mis-set the system counter,
and no check was made to see that the information on the front matched
that on the back, and in fact it was one step out of synchronization.
New policy will have every 200th document checked manually.

(Paul Zucker/19920522)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LON)(00016)

 ****Tandy Opens Danish Superstore - More To Follow 05/22/92
COPENHAGEN, DENMARK, 1992 MAY 22 (NB) -- Tandy has rolled out its
superstore concept to Europe, with the company opening its first
Supercentre in Copenhagen this week. The store is a licensed
seller of Apple, Compaq, HP, IBM and Victor hardware, and will
stock a wide range of PC hardware and software, company officials
claim.

Plans call for similar stores to open Sweden and Norway within
the next few months. UK plans have still to be decided, Barry
Liddle, Tandy UK's managing director, told Newsbytes.

"This is our fourth year of trading as a separate entity from
Tandy US. We're aware of what they're doing, but they haven't
made any decision on the UK," he said.

Liddle added that the countries that Tandy is, or plans to
operate a superstore in, represent markets that Intertan, the
UK/European Tandy operation, does not sell into. "We sell
through Belgium, France, The Netherlands and the UK," he told
Newsbytes.

Peter Davies, marketing manager with Applecentre West London, a
major stocker of Apple kit, said that Apple's sales through
superstores such as Tandy's are climbing. "Superstores are
assuming a more important role in the marketplace - Apple
currently sells 20 to 30 percent of its products through US
superstores," he said.

According to Davies, Apple has been warning its resellers
constantly over the past year that products were on the way that
were better suited to the superstore environment rather than the
traditional reseller channel.

(Steve Gold/19920522/Press & Public Contact: Tandy UK - Tel:
0922-710000)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LON)(00017)

Siemens Scraps Plans To Establish W. German Chip Plant 05/22/92
MUNICH, WEST GERMANY, 1992 MAY 22 (NB) -- Siemens has scrapped
plans to build a new plant in Western Germany to manufacture 64
megabit chips. The electronics giant has decided instead to
produce the chips at its existing facilities in Europe.

Originally, Siemens' executives had thought that the company's
existing facilities in Europe would be able to wind down the
manufacture of 1 and 4 megabit chips as the market began to
mature.

Instead, demand is actually expected to increase. As a result,
Siemens says it will be more economical to expand existing
facilities to cope with the overall upswing in demand. A decision
on how to relocate some of the chip manufacturing facilities will
be made later this year.

Originally, Siemens was expected to announce the location of the
planned new German facility in the second half of this year,
following the original announcement earlier this year.

Analysts suggest that Siemens' announcement is tactical. The
company has dropped strong hints that it would seek local
government support from the country in which it built the plant.
Sources suggest that support funds have not been forthcoming. As
a result, Siemens is dangling the carrot of the potential new
plant in front of potential government sponsors.

(Steve Gold/19920522)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(WAS)(00018)

Taiwan Strengthens Copyright Law 05/22/92
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1992 MAY 22 (NB) -- Bowing to US
pressure, Taiwan's government has passed a bill which will make
major changes in the country's copyright laws. Taiwan has been
widely criticized in the past for ignoring the intellectual
property rights of US and other country's individuals and
businesses.

Of course it remains to be seen just how well the new regulations
will be enforced, but for the first time this new law gives
specific protection to everything from music and film to computer
programs. Also new are heavy penalties, including large fines
and potential jail terms, as well as the right for injured
parties to sue for damages in civil courts.

Taiwanese companies are widely known for copying everything from
Guchi luggage to Microsoft's MS-DOS operating system, costing the
legal owners of those properties millions of dollars each year.

This new legal action follows by just one month the unsuccessful
ending of negotiations between the US and Taiwan on the subject
of intellectual property rights and the consequent placement of
that country on the US Trade Representative's special watch
list of countries whose exports would face massive punitive
tariffs if they did not correct what the US sees as unfair
trading practices.

Merely passing the new laws will not exempt Taiwanese companies
from potential tariffs - they will still have to convince the
Bush Administration's trade office that there has been a
significant change in the way the country treats violators.

Critics have charged in the past that President Bush is very soft
on such violators and cite years of efforts by the administration
to head off any sanctions against China, despite its clear
violations of human rights and trade violations.

Washington observers say that this year things may be different,
or will at least appear different to foreign governments because
of the presidential elections and the need for Bush to appear to
take a strong stand against those countries which are seen as
taking away American worker's jobs.

In other trade news, Reuters reports that Japanese companies have
announced that there has been a major improvement in opening
markets to US microchip makers. This is despite the fact that
sales numbers show no noticeable improvement for the past several
years.

(John McCormick/19920522/Press Contact: L.W. Koengeter, U.S.
Trade Representative's Office, 202-395-3204, fax [phone])


(NEWS)(GOVT)(WAS)(00019)

Smartcard Manuf'ing Method Patented 05/22/92
WILLOW GROVE, PENNSYLVANIA, U.S.A., 1992 MAY 22 (NB) -- A new
method of manufacturing SmartCards has been patented by
Pennsylvania-based Kulicke and Soffa Industries.

Makers of semiconductor products were faced with developing a new
technology using different wires to connect components on the
recently developed thin package semiconductor products known as
SmartCard, Thin Small Outline Packages, or Thin Quad Flat Pack
devices, but this new invention gives them the option of
continuing to use proven wire technology.

The new software controlled assembly technique, known as the K&S
low looping process, can be used instead of the Tape Automated
Bonding (TAB) connection system which requires the use of a less
flexible specialty wire.

K&S also makes TAB manufacturing equipment, but a company
representative told Newsbytes that an important feature of this
newly patented technology is the fact that it will let companies
continue to use the same wire bonding equipment they already have
installed, extending its useful life, while still allowing the
manufacture of more compact devices.

According to K&S's Leon Oboler, by staying with standard wire
processes, manufacturers can cut about six months of research and
development time and costs which would have been required if they
went with specialty wire.

K&S reports that the company has already received a
significant number of orders for the new technology and that most
systems already shipped have gone to locations on the Pacific
Rim, with about 70 percent of the company's sales going to
locations outside the US.

According to Mr. Oboler, K&S now holds about 60 percent of the
world market in wirebond and interconnect devices outside Japan.

While the new technology won't actually reduce costs over the
present basis, it is more cost-effective than TAB technology and
will therefore help prevent any increased costs.

(John McCormick/19920522/Press Contact: Leon Oboler, Kulicke and
Soffa, 215-784-6818 fax [phone])


(NEWS)(GOVT)(WAS)(00020)

Uniquest Wins DoD Burgers And Chicken Contract 05/22/92
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1992 MAY 22 (NB) -- Jacksonville,
Florida-based Uniquest has been awarded a contract to supply Army
and Air Force Burger King and Popeye fast food franchises around
the world with the company's QuickServe point of sale accounting
software.

US bases in the US, as well as in Germany, Italy, Japan,
Korea, Okinawa and the UK have American-style fast food service
to make service personnel feel at home by providing them with the
same sort of food they are used to having off-base at home.

The Army and Air Force Exchange Service gave the hardware
contract to NCR for its NCR 7054 food point of sale systems.
Together the hardware and software provides for inventory, time
and attendance, and communications, as well as the usual cash
register functions.

Uniquest reports that the company has installed its software in
more than 2,000 locations and that the new military contract will
involve nearly 200 more restaurants.

Installation and integration of the new system is scheduled to be
completed at all locations within two years.

(John McCormick/19920522/Press Contact: Fred Goldsmith, Uniquest,
904-363-0103)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(WAS)(00021)

Criticism Of Proposed Digital Signature Standard 05/22/92
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1992 MAY 22 (NB) -- Milton Socolar, an
official of the General Accounting Office, recently testified
before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Economic and
Commercial Law that the National Institute of Standards and
Technology's proposed digital signature standard is too weak and
urged that it not be approved.

A digital signature standard is a software system which provides
a method to authenticate any electronic message so the recipient
could be certain that it was actually sent by the person who's
name is on the document.

In his testimony, Mr. Socolar said, according to the May 11 issue
of Government Computer News, that both the FBI and the National
Security Agency are pushing the proposed standard because it is
relatively weak and they can "break" or decrypt the coding,
something that both agencies feel is necessary in order to
protect national security.

The NIST has contended from the beginning that the proposed DSS
is highly secure within the context of its proposed use although
more secure systems are available. The NIST has pointed out that
the proposed DSS is not intended as a commercial or international
standard, just for internal Federal Agency use, and contends that
for that purpose it is cost-effective.

(John McCormick/19920522)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(WAS)(00022)

Forest Service Cuts GIS Buy 05/22/92
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1992 MAY 22 (NB) -- Faced with tight
budgets, a need to economize, and spurred by criticism from the
General Accounting Office, the US Forest Service has cut
almost $1 billion from its proposed geographical information
system purchase (Project 615).

The massive cut from $1.6 billion to just over $900 million was a
42 percent reduction that has been attributed to locating an
error in the agency's estimates of "overhead" costs, and is not
due to a major change in the services which will provided by the
proposed system.

The main object of the eight-year contract is to upgrade computer
hardware by replacing 900 Data General minicomputers with less
expensive file server networks and powerful workstations.

The GIS provides an information retrieval system to managers who
must supervise hundreds of millions of acres of US forests and
grasslands.

The initial request for proposals (RFP) was scheduled for March
of 1991, and delayed to October 1991 after a review by the GAO.
GAO approval of the latest plan means that the RFP may now be
issued in June and the contract will be ready for the first round
of protests after an initial award in December of next year.

(John McCormick/19920522)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(WAS)(00023)

ROUNDUP: Stories Carried By Other Media This Week 05/22/92
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1992 MAY 22 (NB) -- Roundup is a brief
look at some computer stories carried in other publications
received here this past week.

June 16's PC Magazine carries the results of the magazine's first
annual Reader's Software Rating Survey

Federal Computer Week dated May 18 says that federal buyers are
not very interested in Intel's latest price drop in the 80486SX
microprocessor because they are anticipating further price wars.

The May 11 Government Computer News has a feature on POSIX or the
Portable Operating System Interface for UNIX standard set by the
IEEE.

Computer Reseller News for the 11th says that IBM will call on
Borland International to help it boost the object-oriented
Systems Object in OS/2.

Network World for the week of May 18 says that Apple is ready to
take the Macintosh down the path to OSI or Open System
Interconnection, a seven layer protocol system intended to insure
data communications compatibility.

May 18th's Computerworld has a front page story explaining why
the federal government just can't seem to get its act together
when it comes to improving computer systems.

(John McCormick/19920522/)


(REVIEW)(GENERAL)(SFO)(00024)

Review of: Quality Software Mgt V.1: Systems Thinking, 05/22/92

From: Dorset House Publishing, 353 West 12th St. New York, NY 10014,
[phone]

Price: $40.00

PUMA Rating: 4 (on a scale of 1=lowest to 4=highest)

Reviewed for Newsbytes by: Naor Wallach, 05/22/92

Summary: A must-read book for every software manager. This is the
first of a series of books that will lead you to become a more
effective manager and in turn will cause the quality of your products
to go up.

======

REVIEW

======

Gerald Weinberg is a well-known author in the computer field. In his
forty year career in computing, he has published about as
many books. This time he turns his sights on the process of managing
the development of software. This is a 3-part series
in which the author examines what is happening in the field today,
and provides his prescriptions for how to improve the situation.

Volume 1 in the series is titled Systems Thinking. In this volume,
the author takes us on a tour of the patterns that he has identified
in software development. The author first discusses the six different
patterns that software organizations fall into in the ideal sense.
This is more of an upper level view as he does not believe that there
are any Pattern Four or higher organizations today.

With examples that are derived from his experiences, the author
shows us what characterizes organizations at the levels that he
believes most of the organizations are, and then points towards
the way that those organizations need to move to get to the next
stage.

The author believes (and I concur) that most software development
organizations have reached the level of routing development that he
characterizes as level 2. At this level, managers are comfortable in
the process and can guide it along smoothly as long as nothing
untoward happens. Once something that is outside of the routine
occurs, the organization essentially falls apart and the obvious
and immediate consequence is that the quality of the products suffer.

The author identifies the Pattern 3 organization as one that has its
managers steering the process so that when nonroutine things happen,
the organization responds well and does not decrease the quality
of work.

There are eighteen chapters in this 300-page book divided into five
sections. Each of the sections examines a different aspect of the
Pattern 2 organization and how it reacts. Section 1 is called Patterns
of Quality. The three chapters in this section concentrate on defining
the author's views of organizational patterns, defines the patterns,
and talks a bit about the need to move from one level to the next and
why it is important that organizations do so.

The second section, "Patterns of Managing," contains five chapters that
dissect management. Managers are observed for what they do and how
they effect the real productive workers. Jerry pokes fun at many of
the myths of managers and outlines management behaviors that are well
known to any software developer who has worked in a company that had
a programming staff larger than one. Then he proceeds to explain the
real consequences of these behaviors and show how destructive they
can be when amplified. He introduces the reader to his diagram of
effects and explains the symbology as he introduces new concepts.

Many of the things he says are just plain good sense yet it is easy
to see how organizations can devolve into the absurd examples he
showcases. As a person who was involved in the software development
process in several companies, I can personally vouch for the veracity
of many of his examples. If you are laughing and shaking your head at
the stupidity of some of those managers that are described in the
book, you'd better make sure that your organization is not guilty of
the same follies!

The next section of three chapters goes into the reasons
why it's so easy to fall into the traps of mismanaging projects.
He clearly points out how things tend to get out of control, and
why. It is obvious from this description that most level 2
organizations cannot hope to avoid the problems that the commonly
encounter when under stress simply because of the kind of organizations
that they are. This section speaks as eloquently as any about the
need to move on to the next Pattern Level.

The fourth section "Fault Patterns" uses its four chapters to talk
about how an organization breaks. Anything will break if subjected
to stresses beyond its capabilities and human organizations are no
different. Jerry shows example after example of broken organizations.
He explains why and how they broke and proves that the signs of
stress in the organization were visible long before the tumultuous
breakup if the managers were simply capable of observing them and
realizing their significance.

The final section "Pressure Patterns" is a wrap-up section. He again
covers some more ways in which organizations fail. However he makes
an eloquent case for learning from these mistakes and shows how
all of what he spoke about before can actually be used to learn and
improve and move towards becoming a Pattern 3 organization.

I liked this book immensely. As I am someone who has managed software
development projects, the anecdotes and stories spoke to my heart. I
have personally seen many of the examples to which he refers.
If they did not occur to me, they happened to my colleagues or to
others in the organization. I can clearly see, as a result of reading
this book, that my company was mired in being a Level 2 organization.
On the good side, we had recognized this and are well on our way to
transforming ourselves to the Pattern 3 organization. I can only
hope that the next books in this series will be as good as this one.

The reason for the title is obvious once you have read the book. The
only way to bring about quality improvements in software products
is to manage the process better. The way to improve the process is to
see it as such and to start thinking about it from a systems level.

This book should be a must-read for any current and
prospective software manager. I would also highly recommend it to
any manager who has software components to his products or divisions
all the way to and including CEOs.

===========

PUMA RATING

===========

USEFULNESS: 4 This is a really good book. I enjoyed reading it very
much. As a matter of fact, I had to purposely pace myself so as not
to finish it in one or two sittings. The author identifies certain
characteristics of software development organizations. From my
experience, he has hit the nail on the head. He also offers ways
to improve the situation.

AVAILABILITY: 4 My local bookstores had copies. I also saw that this
book was selected as the lead book for a technical book club. It should
not be too hard to find.

(Naor Wallach/ 19920418)


(REVIEW)(IBM)(TOR)(00025)

Review of: CA-Textor, word processor for Windows, 05/22/92

Runs on: Any PC with 286 or higher processor, minimum one megabyte
of memory, DOS 3.1 or higher, Microsoft Windows 3.0 or
higher, and about 2.5 megabytes of free hard disk space.

From: Computer Associates International, Inc., One Computer
Associates Plaza, Islandia, New York, U.S.A. 11788-7000
516-342-5224

Price: $225

PUMA Rating: 3.125 (on a scale of 1=lowest to 4=highest)

Reviewed by: Grant Buckler

Summary: CA-Textor is a word processor for Microsoft Windows, with
most of the features one expects in a Windows word processor and
few surprises. Some features need improvement.

======

REVIEW

======

One of the beauties of graphical user interfaces like Microsoft
Windows is that, like Apple's Macintosh, they enforce some
consistency among applications. Essentially the same menu structure
appears whether you're using a word processor, a spreadsheet, a
graphics program, or whatever. This makes software easier to learn,
and makes life simpler for those of us who use a lot of applications.
It also means that all the packages in an application category tend
to look a lot alike.

So, Computer Associates' CA-Textor word processor has a lot in
common with other Windows word processors. The menus are similar,
the display looks much like that of Word for Windows, WordPerfect
for Windows, or Ami Pro, and like other Windows applications these
days, Textor has a series of icon buttons -- CA calls this a tool
bar -- at the top of the screen to streamline common operations
like printing.

So what's different? Mostly little things, though as the old saying
goes, those can mean a lot.

One problem arises with the mail merge features in Textor. The key
complaint is that in form letters, the merge fields are not visibly
identified by name. You can give the fields descriptive names like
Name, Address, Salutation, and so on -- which is better than the
Field1, Field2 limitation of some word processors -- but all that
appears in the document is #Ref#. If you forget which field is
which, you have to edit the field to find out.

Also, Textor has trouble with carriage returns within a field. The
software uses the carriage return to separate records in its data
files. You can have a carriage return within a field if you put
quotation marks around the whole field. So far so good, but we
found that a single carriage return in a mail merge field always
turned out double-spaced in the final merged document.

On the other hand, Textor's mail merge functions include the
ability to select only certain records from a larger list according
to certain criteria -- for example, to send a form letter only to
those clients in a certain state. This is a database management
function not found in many word processors.

Another nice feature of CA-Textor is the way it saves documents
within its own "libraries" rather than as DOS files. The advantage
of this is that it lets you assign longer file names than DOS
allows. The minor disadvantage is that the documents are then not
easily accessible from outside Textor, but you can get around that
through an option that lets you save a document as a DOS file, in
Textor format, plain ASCII, or other formats.

Another nice feature, hardly earth-shaking but worthy of a passing
comment, is the fact that Textor's spelling checker can figure out
run-together words. Given "thisthing" in text, it will propose
"this thing" as a replacement. Not all word processors will do
this, and they should. What is not so nice about Textor's spelling
checker, though, is the fact that it does not propose any
replacements until you ask for them, which makes corrections slower
because it adds an extra mouse-click.

If you aren't crazy about working with a mouse, CA-Textor will not
suit you well. Like other Windows word processors, it provides
pull-down menus for all operations and expects you to do things by
pointing and clicking. But some Windows packages provide keyboard
alternatives for pretty nearly all operations. Textor does not. It
does offer keyboard shortcuts for some things, but many operations
can only be executed through the mouse-and-menu route.

Textor offers a choice of viewing modes. The default is called
Standard mode. The document looks almost the way it will when
printed -- you see bold face, italics, underlines and the
differences in fonts. However, columns are not shown side by side
on the screen, and headers and margins don't appear. In WYSIWYG
(What You See Is What You Get) mode, everything appears as it will
print. You can type and edit in this mode, and it works tolerably
well except if you get into columns and such things, at which point
the WYSIWYG mode becomes too slow to be workable.

In fact, even in Standard mode, Textor gets pretty slow when you're
inserting text in the middle of a document -- at least on a 386SX
machine. The screen takes time to redraw, and while you can keep
entering text, you don't see what you've typed until the software
catches up.

To match the responsiveness of a character-based word processor,
you have to go to draft mode, which gives you something less than
the sort of display you'd get with a good character-based word
processor -- all text in one screen font, and no indication of
attributes such as underlining, italics, bold face, and type size.

Slowness in full WYSIWYG mode is tolerable, but CA should try to
speed up Standard mode or, failing that, at least make things like
bold face and underlining visible in Draft mode as they are in most
character-based word processors.

Another worry for some users is the lack of a keystroke macro
capability. Textor does let you create and store formats that
automate much of the work of formatting part or all of a document,
and it handles "glossaries" that let you recall chunks of
boilerplate text with a few keystrokes. However, neither of these
is quite as flexible as the ability to record any sequence of
operations as a macro.

===========

PUMA RATING

===========

Performance: 2.5. We found it easy to outrun the software when
inserting text in an existing document in any but Draft mode, and
Draft mode is unsatisfactory because it does not show character
attributes such as bold face and type size. If the software can't
be speeded up in Standard mode, Draft mode should be made to convey
more information to the user.

Usefulness: 3.5. CA-Textor is a full-function Windows word
processor suitable for most word-processing needs, though we have
reservations about its mail-merge capabilities.

Manuals: 3.5. There is a Getting Started manual with tutorials,
which we thought would be well suited to a complete novice and
rather too elementary for someone with experience using another
word processor. The Reference manual is more suitable for the
computer-literate user.

Availability: 3.0. Computer Associates is a big company; its
products are widely distributed. However, CA provides free initial
support only for 90 days, and without a toll-free number. For toll-
free support or for support after the initial support period, you
have to pay for CA's SupportPlus program. In fairness, though, we
should note that the price of the software is, at $225, low
compared to most competitors.

(Grant Buckler/19920518/Press Contact: Kim Commerato or Bob Gordon,
516-227-3300, fax [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(SFO)(00026)

Microphone II For Windows Price Cut To $74 05/22/92
BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 MAY 22 (NB) -- In an
effort to entice DOS communications users to migrate to its
Microphone II for Windows 2.0 software package, Software
Ventures is offering two summer promotions that run from
May 18 to July 18.

The first of the two deals offers Microphone II for Windows 2.0
any users of DOS telecom products, such as ProComm Plus,
for just $49.95, plus shipping and handling. Additionally, the
regular price of 2.0 will be cut for that period from $129 to $74.

Greg Ogarrio, spokesman for the company, told Newsbytes
that Microphone has considerable "dominance in the Mac"
market, but that the Windows market is still a "completely
different field" for the company. He said that Software
Ventures sees the Windows "field as wide open for us."

P. Schmidman, vice president of sales and marketing for
Software Ventures, said: "Windows gives users so much more
power and flexibility, especially when they go on-line. Windows
users are moving their mainstream Windows applications
to the new environment, but are mainly reverting to DOS for
telecommunications."

Microphone II for Windows allows for most functions and
features to be accessed via the click of a mouse, and its own
graphical interface. In addition to a built-in script editor and
context sensitive help, the package also offers preformatted
front-ends to popular information services such as GEnie.

Additionally, the company claims that version 2.0 offers
complete implementation of dynamic data exchange (DDE)
to make it easier to share data with other Windows
applications, and the ability to run multiple sessions
simultaneously. The program also offers multitasking
capabilities and ZMODEM protocol support. Network support
is also included for such networks as Novell, NetBIOS,
ComBIOS, and DOS devices.

Ogarrio also told Newsbytes that the two promotions are just
incentives to encourage people to migrate to a Windows
communications product, instead of DOS.

The current promotion comes just seven months after Newsbytes
reported on the initial release of Microphone II for Windows 2.0 in
October, 1991.

In December Newsbytes reported that Software Ventures
was offering a free software package with each purchase of its
MicroPhone II for Windows or the Macintosh communications
products. That promotion was due to run until January 15, 1992.
With that promotion each purchase of either MicroPhone II 3.0 for
the Macintosh or MicroPhone II 2.0 for Windows, customers were
entitled to a free copy of the screen saver After Dark, or the Spectre
action computer game, or the JetFighter II flight simulation game.

Ogarrio told Newsbytes that a new version -- "2.x" -- would be
"coming out this summer," although the specific date was not
yet available.

(Ian Stokell/19920522/Press & Public Contact: Greg Ogarrio,
Software Ventures, 510-644-3232)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(WAS)(00027)

Congress Proposes $100 Million For SEMATECH 05/22/92
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1992 MAY 22 (NB) -- SEMATECH, the group
of American companies which joined together several years ago in
an effort of share resources and keep the US ahead of other
countries in the development of microprocessor and memory chip
manufacturing, may see a solid boost from the Federal Government
in the form of a $100 million investment.

SEMATECH, which has the goal of protecting and advancing the
US's world leadership in the semiconductor field through joint
research projects, is an acronym for SEmiconductor MAnufacturing
TECHnology.

SEMATECH member companies include Advanced Micro Devices, AT&T,
Digital Equipment Corp., Harris Corp., Hewlett-Packard, IBM,
Intel, Motorola, NCR, National Semiconductor, Rockwell
International, and Texas Instruments, as well as the Department
of Defense's DARPA or Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.

On Thursday the House Armed Services Committee included the $100
million in SEMATECH funding in the 1993 Department of Defense
Authorization Bill. This amount, if it is left untouched in the
final bill and accepted by the President, will be $20 million
more than the amount requested by the White House in its 1993
budget proposal.

Congress has also included more than a billion dollars in the
bill to fund the building of one more Sea Wolf submarine at the
General Dynamics Shipyard in Connecticut, a boat which the
administration does not want to build because the Pentagon says
it isn't needed since the collapse of the Soviet Union and its
massive naval presence.

There is some concern that during this political year when
everyone is criticizing the administration for the budget deficit
and Congress is trying to fund every project in hopes of gaining
local votes, the entire budget process could run afoul of the
election year wrangling.

The next step in the funding battle will come after expected
approval by the House Appropriations Committee, when the Senate
committees will consider just how money should be allocated in
the next budget. After the bill clears all committees it will be
voted on by both houses of congress and go to the President for
his signature - or veto.

The Bush Administration believes that Federal subsidies for
SEMATECH should be gradually cut because it is now a mature
organization which should be able to stand on its own feet with
industry support. That is the reason the White House puts forward
for its proposal to cut $20 million from the $100 million per
year allocation which the organization received during the first
five years.

Another $100 million in funding comes each year from the private
corporations which are members of the consortium.

At the beginning of the year LSI Logic left the SEMATECH group
just at the time it was reporting record revenues and a return to
profitability. At that time the company said that it wasn't
receiving good value for its investment in SEMATECH.

Present funding requirements for members is that they contribute
one percent of their total semiconductor-related revenue to the
group effort, with a minimum investment of $1 million and a
maximum of $15 million. LSI Logic's dues for 1991 amounted to $7
million.

Leon Oboler, spokesperson for Kulicke and Soffa, the world's
largest maker of wirebond and interconnect devices for the
semiconductor industry, told Newsbytes that his company, which
was a founding member of SEMI-SEMATECH (a SEMATECH sub-
organization) was very pleased with Congress's move to reinstate
funding to the full $100 million level.

Micron Technology, also citing poor return on investment, also
dropped out of SEMATECH at the beginning of 1992.

At the time when Micron and LSI were dropping out it was thought
by some observers that SEMATECH was doomed and Intel rushed to
make a statement confirming its support for the group, with Intel
Executive Vice President Dr. Craig Barrett saying, "We believe
Sematech's success is critical for the continued success of
America's high technology industry."

A recent report by research firm San Jose, California-based VLSI
Research released at the beginning of April said that US-made
chip manufacturing equipment sales had jumped from holding 38
percent of the world market in 1990 to 41 percent in 1991. The
researchers and SEMATECH agreed that part of the reason for the
increased market share was due to the efforts of the joint
industry/government consortium.

Part of SEMATECH's goal is to reduce harmful emissions and
pollution due to the semiconductor manufacturing process.

Critics of SEMATECH include people like T.J. Rogers, president of
Cypress Technology, a chip manufacturer too small to pay the
minimum membership fee needed to gain immediate access to the
high-technology developed half with public funds.

(John McCormick/19920522/Press Contact: Buddy Price, SEMATECH,
512-356-7107)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LON)(00028)

Quantum Teams With Panasonic On Irish Plant 05/22/92
DUNDALK, COUNTY LOUTH, IRELAND, 1992 MAY 22 (NB) -- Matsushita,
the parent company of Panasonic, has teamed up with Quantum, the
Californian disk drive giant, to set up a joint venture company
in Ireland. Called Ireland Kotobuki Electronics, the company will
create 430 jobs over the next three years.

The decision to site in Ireland was directly due to local tax
breaks. According to the Industrial Development Board of Ireland,
the decision by the two companies to locate the new plant in
Ireland represents one of the most significant overseas high-tech
investments for several years.

Plans call for the plant to manufacture disk drives from scratch,
rather than simply assemble drives, as is the case with several
other European disk drive plants. The disk chassis units will be
supplied to third-party manufacturers, although the bulk of the
drives will be customized by Quantum for sale under the
Quantum brand name.

Ireland is fast becoming the European equivalent of California in
computing terms. Disk manufacturers such as Verbatim and hardware
manufacturers such as Apple have invested heavily in production
facilities in the town, solely due to the tax breaks the Irish
government has given companies wishing to locate in the country.

(Steve Gold/19920522)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TOR)(00029)

Mitel Reports Reduced Annual Loss 05/22/92
KANATA, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1992 MAY 22 (NB) -- Communications
equipment maker Mitel has reported a profit on record sales in its
fourth quarter, but a loss for fiscal 1992. However, the 1992
annual loss was much smaller than 1991's deficit.

In the year ended March 27, Mitel had an operating loss of C$8.1
million on revenues of C$406.1 million. Net interest income brought
the net loss to C$5.7 million. That compares to an operating loss
of C$31.8 million on revenues of C$431.3 million in 1991. The net
loss in 1991 was C$107.0 million, including special provision for
restructuring costs.

In the fourth quarter of fiscal 1992, Mitel earned a C$5.0 million
profit on record sales of C$121.7 million. Sales were up from
C$11.3 million in the same quarter last year. In the fourth quarter
of 1991, Mitel reported a loss of $94 million.

The company said it has reduced selling and administrative expenses
to 30 percent of sales from 33 percent, thanks to last year's
restructuring program. However, Mitel officials were cautious about
the prospects for the next six months.

The company's revenues are usually lower in the first half of the
fiscal year, officials noted, and the generally weak economy is
expected to continue hurting results for the next few months. The
company also expects to incur some additional costs as it launches
new products during the first and second quarters.

Asked about the prospects for the balance of fiscal 1993, company
spokeswoman Bonnie Perrigard said the results will depend largely
on whether an economic recovery takes place or not. "We're
definitely hoping things are going to turn around this year," she
said.

(Grant Buckler/19920522/Press Contact: Bonnie Perrigard, Mitel,
613-592-2122)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TOR)(00030)

Corel Announces US Stock Offering, NASDAQ Listing 05/22/92
OTTAWA, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1992 MAY 22 (NB) -- Corel, maker of the
popular Corel Draw graphics software, has announced plans for a
primary offering of its stock in the United States and a listing on
the National Association of Securities Dealers' NASDAQ trading
system.

Corel's stock has traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange since the
company went public in November, 1989. John Hladkowicz, an investor
relations official at Corel, said the company hopes to make the
primary US offering of one to two million shares in August or
September.

Since the company went public, Hladkowicz said, investors in the
United States have been urging Corel to arrange for its shares to
be traded on a stock exchange in that country. "A lot of US firms
find it difficult right now to trade our stock," he told Newsbytes.

The US offering will give Corel additional cash, providing "the
ability to be more opportunistic in acquiring technology and
continuing to be a leader in the area," Hladkowicz said. He added
that the timing of the stock offering capitalizes on Corel's recent
introduction of Version 3.0 of Corel Draw, which adds a number of
new capabilities to the software and is expected to spur market
interest in the company.

Corel stock closed at C$22.375 on the Toronto exchange May 22. The
52-week high and low were C$25.625 and $13.25 respectively.

(Grant Buckler/19920522/Press Contact: John Hladkowicz, Corel, 613-
728-8200 ext. 1194, fax [phone])


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TOR)(00031)

Systemhouse, BCE Extend Talks Again 05/22/92
OTTAWA, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1992 MAY 22 (NB) -- Systems integrator SHL
Systemhouse, Bell Canada, and BCE, the holding company that owns
Bell Canada and Northern Telecom, have extended the deadline on
negotiations for a strategic partnership they announced in
February. This is the second extension.

Harry W. Schlough, senior vice-president of Systemhouse, told
Newsbytes the financial details of the agreement are essentially
set now and the companies are working out legal details and
"tuning" the agreement to meet regulatory requirements.

"It's been a very complex negotiation and both parties were trying
to accomplish a lot of work in a very short period of time,"
Schlough said.

The memorandum of understanding signed February 6 was first
extended from April 30 to May 15. Now it has been extended to June
25.

The deal calls for Systemhouse to take over the operation of Bell
Canada's data center and to provide systems integration and
outsourcing services to Bell Canada customers. The companies also
plan to create a joint venture to sell computer systems and
services to the telecommunications industry worldwide.

The companies said earlier that the deal would involve Systemhouse
buying some assets of Bell Canada for cash. BCE in turn is to pay
C$12.75 per share in cash for enough Systemhouse shares to give it
60-percent ownership of the company. BCE currently has a 25-percent
stake in Systemhouse.

The deal also calls for BCE to have a quarter of the seats on an
expanded Systemhouse board of directors. Currently BCE is
represented by two out of 10 directors on the Systemhouse board.

The companies said in a brief statement that they could give no
assurances the deal would be concluded. However, Schlough said
Systemhouse is "encouraged" by the progress made so far.

SHL Systemhouse reported revenues of C$700 million in 1991. It has
more than 3,000 employees.

BCE's involvement with Systemhouse dates back to 1987, when it
loaned money to Kinburn Technology, a holding company that formerly
controlled Systemhouse, to help it buy Computerland Canada, the
Toronto-based firm which operates Computerland retail franchises in
Canada. Kinburn defaulted on the loan in 1990, leaving BCE with its
25-percent share in Systemhouse.

(Grant Buckler/19920522/Press Contact: Harry W. Schlough,
Systemhouse, 416-366-4600)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SFO)(00032)

 ****RasterOps/TrueVision Merger Is On Again 05/22/92
SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 MAY 22 (NB) -- The
on-again/off-again merger between RasterOps Corp. and Truevision
Inc., is back on again. The firms have now announced that they
have signed a definitive agreement to merge the two companies.

The agreement, which is subject to shareholder approval, and
scheduled for completion in August, 1992, will make Truevision
a wholly owned subsidiary of RasterOps. It calls for issuance of
2.4 million shares of RasterOps common stock in exchange for all
existing Truevision capital stock. The transaction has been
approved by both companies' boards of directors and will be
accounted for as a pooling of interests.

Newsbytes first reported on a proposed merger in May 1991. At
that time the companies said that Truevision would be scheduled
to become a wholly owned subsidiary of RasterOps sometime in
August, 1991, after the issuance of 2.8 million shares of RasterOps
common stock in exchange for all existing Truevision capital stock.
Then, in August, 1991, Newsbytes reported that the two companies
had terminated the deal, citing an inability to reach an agreement
on the transaction.

Commenting about the failed merger in August, Keith Sorenson,
president of RasterOps, said at the time: "We continue to have the
greatest respect for Truevision, but it unfortunately does not appear
that we will be able to reach agreement on a transaction that would
be satisfactory for both sides."

Cathleen Asch, Truevision's president, agreed with Sorenson's
assessment. "We have two fine companies," she said, "but I
think it is better that they remain independent of each other."

At the time of the original merger announcement in May, Keith
Sorenson, told Newsbytes that he saw the merger as a benefit to
both companies. He considered RasterOps as the market leader in
Macintosh video products, while Truevision was the market leader
in IBM products, "but the underlying technologies are basically the
same," he said.

"Both companies share the same vision for the future," Sorenson
told Newsbytes. Additionally, of added benefit to RasterOps is
that Truevision has a "loyal reseller network on the IBM side,"
of which the company hopes to take advantage.

Suzanne Crocker, spokesperson for the company, told Newsbytes
today that the problems that led to the termination of the original
deal last year have now been resolved.

According to Crocker, the companies just "weren't able to come
to terms last August." However, she said that when the deal
was terminated, "both sides still felt it was a good idea." The
merger "makes even more sense now than it did a year go," she
said, especially after both companies had "more time to think
about how it would work."

RasterOps, headquartered in Santa Clara, designs, manufactures
and markets photorealistic color-imaging products for Apple
Macintosh, IBM Micro Channel, and Sun SPARCstation platforms.
RasterOps' products are designed primarily for the graphic
arts, printing, and publishing industries.

Truevision Inc., a private company headquartered in
Indianapolis, designs, manufactures and markets broadcast
quality video products for PC AT, Apple Macintosh II and IBM
Micro Channel platforms. Its primary focus is on desktop video
production and high color resolution applications.

"The pooling of resources, such as R&D and distribution, gives
our combined company the critical mass to define what's possible
in graphic arts and video arts on the desktop. We're the only
company with strong brand names and leading products on both
the Macintosh and PC platforms," said Asch. "Our joint planning
has already started."

Crocker also told Newsbytes that the share numbers were
determined by the relative contributions of both companies. The
lower number of shares now offered reflects the lesser
contribution expected by Truevision.

Crocker also said that "both boards have approved" the merger. All
that is left, she said, is a shareholder meeting and approval. The
meeting has been set for August, she told Newsbytes.

(Ian Stokell/19920522/Press Contact: Keith Sorenson, RasterOps
Corp., 408-562-4200; Cathleen Asch, Truevision Inc., 317-841-0332;
Mike Nikolich,Selz, Seabolt & Associates, 312-372-7090; Mary
Looram, Cunningham Communications Inc., 408-982-0400)