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Text File | 1992-07-31 | 73KB | 1,649 lines

(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SYD)(00001)

Borland, Microsoft Claim Success In Australia 07/31/92
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1992 JUL 31 (NB) -- The Australian
subsidiaries of Microsoft and Borland both claim to be
outperforming their American parents, and proffer their latest
published results as proof.

Microsoft Australia says it achieved a 61 percent growth in net
revenues in the latest financial year, compared with 50 percent
internationally. As usual the subsidiary hasn't given precise
figures, but claims "in excess of $100M revenue."

Staff numbers also grew more than 50 percent during the year to
more than 200, so the revenue per employee rates and even profit
may be down. Microsoft Australia MD Gary Jackson said that
more than 95,000 copies of Windows 3.1 have been shipped in
Australia, and LAN Manager 2.1 has also performed well. Jackson
also said the bulk of staff increases had gone to support areas. He
predicted a brisk 1993 due to Windows NT operating system and
new e-mail and database products from Microsoft.

Borland Australia said it has outperformed all Borland
subsidiaries around the world, and was the leading subsidiary in
over-achieving revenue and profit targets. It said Australian sales
of Quattro Pro spreadsheet were well above expectations, as
distinct from the US where spreadsheet sales are down across the
board.

(Paul Zucker and David Frith/19920731)


(NEWS)(IBM)(SYD)(00002)

IBM Slashes PS/2 Prices In Australia, Europe, Africa 07/31/92
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1992 JUL 31 (NB) -- IBM Australia has slashed prices
across its PS/2 line by up to 34 percent, with a minimum of 10 percent.
IBM Europe, meanwhile, has reportedly cut prices on its personal
computers by 25 to 42 percent in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East.
It has also lowered list prices on the range of peripherals such as
monitors.

In addition, IBM Australia has upped the standard memory on some
models to 8 megabytes (though many observers say this has more to
do with OS/2 requirements than giving the buyer a better bargain). Big
Blue is the last of the majors to announce price cuts in Australia,
with most companies following Compaq and cutting prices by as
much as a third.

Low-priced clones are still very popular in Australia, and IBM's
cuts still leave it higher priced than most other brands like NEC
and AST. However, the expected introduction of budget-priced
new IBM models around September may correct that situation,
and contest Compaq's Prolinea range.

The biggest reductions come at the lower end of the range, with
the 386SLC models 56 and 57 dropping a third. The multimedia
M57 has dropped by the same amount. These models are all
supplied in Australia with bundled mouse and OS/2 as well as 8
megabytes of RAM. 486 machines have been given more modest
cuts though some have had in-line processor upgrades. IBM is
also expected to offer number of speed-up enhancements for
existing machines before the end of the year.

(Paul Zucker and David Frith/19920731)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SYD)(00003)

Australian News Briefs 07/31/92
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1992 JUL 31 (NB) -- These are some of
the computer stories in Australia this week.

Olivetti has added a color laptop to its "1" range of portable PCs
which it plans to sell direct via telemarketing. The Laptop D33/C
features a color thin-film transistor LCD display, 384dx/33
processor, 4M RAM, 60MB hard disk and touch-sensitive
mousepad. It weighs 13 pounds and has 1-1.5 hour battery life. Price
is around US$7400.

New Media Catalog is the first all CD-ROM catalog for Australian
Mac CD-ROM owners. Copies have been distributed to teachers,
students, and Macintosh CD-ROM owners around the country.

Microsoft is organizing a series of free software development
seminars. They will feature the latest DOS and Windows
development tools and techniques.

A new direct mail company has been launched. Comp Oz will
supply software, hardware and consumables direct to the public.
Direct mail has never been strong in Australia.

Melbourne software developer CLS Research has signed a major
deal with IBM Japan to sell its Kanji electronic forms printing
software in Japan. This version of Create!Print will allow users to
print their forms in PostScript-based Kanji to produce
professional-quality forms, plus automatically merge data from
a file, eliminating pre-printed stationery.

AST has cut prices in Australia by between 15 and 25 percent. It
claims this brings the machines as much as 15 percent below
comparable Compaq models. Dealer margins have not been
reduced.

Lotus Australia is including a free copy of Ami Pro for Windows
with each copy of 1-2-3 for Windows bought before the end of the
year.

Texas Instruments has appointed the country's largest third-party
distributor Tech Pacific to handle its range of laser printers. TI
expects the large TP dealer base to increase sales.

Telecom Australia has launched an advertising campaign praising
the quality of telephone calls between Australia and New Zealand
now that the fiber optic cable is in operation. At the same time, all
Australian capital cities are now linked by fiber, replacing the
older copper and microwave links.

ABC, the Australian public broadcasting system (with more
transmitters than any other broadcaster in the world) plans to start
supplying programs to Asia by satellite. Although the material
probably won't be encoded, very few people would receive it
directly, and most would see it via re-broadcast from national
broadcasters.

(Paul Zucker/19920731)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LON)(00004)

British Telecom 1Q Profits Fall 28% 07/31/92
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1992 JUL 31 (NB) -- The effects of the recession
appear to have hit British Telecom where it hurts most -- in its
profits. BT's first quarter profits show that the telecoms giant
has experienced a 28 percent cut in profits, the second such drop
in a row.

Critics of the company remain unappeased. The full year figures
released three months ago showed BT as generating UKP 90 a
second, a statistic that caused an uproar in political circles.
This time around, the per-second statistics are not available,
with BT officials sticking the traditional method of expressing
results -- UKP 596 million profits were generated on an income of
UKP 3,270 million.

Detailed examination of the first quarter results to June 30,
1992, shows BT as experiencing a 2.1 percent drop in income. The
reduction in profits seems to be due to the company paying off a
number of its workers in an early retirement scheme.

According to Ian Vallance, BT's chairman, BT is coping with the
combined effects of recession, competition and regulatory
constraints, hence the reduction in profits.

"The external environment in which BT is operating means that
prospects are still uncertain," explained Vallance, who added
that turnover was lower in the first quarter than the same period
last year, "reflecting the continued pressures of the economy,
regulation and competition."

Newsbytes notes that these are the same pressures that Vallance
referred to three months ago when the full year results were
announced.

Analysts are worried that this quarter's falling profits are not
the last in the cycle. The British economy is still in recession,
they say, which could have a depressing effect on profits
throughout the company's current financial year.

The only light at the end of the tunnel is the fact that BT has
only charged UKP 56 million in staff redundancy costs rather than
the expected UKP 100 million. By the end of the year, BT is
expected to have shaved its April payroll from 210,000 to just
181,000, a significant reduction in staff terms.

(Steve Gold/19920731)


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

Silicon Graphics Blames $118M Loss On MIPS Merger 07/31/92
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 JUL 31 (NB) -- It was
inevitable once the company merged with MIPS, but now it's
official. Silicon Graphics (SGI) has reported a net loss of
$118 million ($2.19 per common share) in its fourth quarter for
the fiscal year ending June 30, 1992.

Industry analysts have been saying the merger, which was final
June 29, 1992, could be considered a buy out. Reports are it was
something SGI had to do as it was dependent on MIPS' technology
and MIPS was about to go under.

Earnings for both companies separately and combined were
reported. On SGI's side the ink is all black with substantial
increases over last year and on the MIPS side the ink is deep
red.

Silicon Graphics' revenues for fiscal year ended June 30, 1992,
were reported as $739 million, an increase of 34 percent over
the prior fiscal year. The company's net income increased to
$51 million ($0.89 per common share) compared to $33 million
($0.73 per common share) for the June 30, 1991 fiscal year.

SGI's net revenue of $215 million is a 30 percent increase over
last year and a 17 percent increase from the preceding quarter.
Net income increased 51 percent ($0.89 per common share) over
the $33 million ($0.73 per common share) SGI reported last
year.

SGI fourth quarter net income was $15 million ($0.29 per common
share) up 51 percent compared to $10 million ($0.19 per common
share) last year. Net revenues were reported as $215 million or
30 percent higher than the net revenues for last year and 17
percent higher than net revenues for the same quarter last
year.

MIPS showed revenues of $129 million for the year ending June
30, 1992 and a $68 million net loss ($2.72 per share). For its
fourth quarter the company showed income of $25 million and a
net loss of $20 million ($0.79 per share).

Combined the two companies showed stockholders' equity of $480
million and the company's cash and short term investments
balance at June 30, 1992 was $183 million, with $34 million in
long-term debt.

The big question now is can MIPS continue to serve its other
customers, some of whom are competitors with SGI and operate as
an independent company while owned by SGI. Industry analysts
have said SGI needs the economies of scale MIPS enjoys with a
broader market in order to keep its prices competitive with the
rest of the workstation market.

Silicon Graphics is working hard to combat the idea it destroyed
MIPS in the marketplace. The company has already appointed an
executive advisory board for MIPS to oversee MIPS architecture
and to "insure the company remains competitive." The company
says twelve executives representing MIPS users, including
semiconductor partners, systems customers, and technology
companies, have joined the board.

(Linda Rohrbough/19920729/Press Contact: Marilyn Lattin,
Silicon Graphics, tel [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(APPLE)(TYO)(00006)

 ****Fujitsu Adapting Quicktime For FM Towns, Says Report 07/31/92
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1992 JUL 31 (NB) -- Fujitsu is rewriting
Apple's Macintosh Quicktime multimedia software to work on its
own multimedia personal computer FM Towns, according to a report
published in Japan. A spokeswoman for Apple Computer, contacted
by Newsbytes, said the company would have no comment on the report.

It is expected that Fujitsu will complete and release its rewrite of
Quicktime for FM Towns by the end of this year. The program has
been licensed from Apple Computer, according to the Nikkan Kogyo
newspaper, which also reports that Apple has licensed Quicktime
to Silicon Graphics in the US.

Japanese application programs for Quicktime are also expected to
be released by Japanese software firms this fall. Currently,
several multimedia application programs are available for this
PC but if the machine can run software written for Quicktime,
the array of programs it can run should widen.

Fujitsu's FM Towns is gradually becoming popular among young
game players. The latest model looks like the Macintosh. All the
systems, including the computer, the floppy disks, and the screen, come
in one unit. The CD-ROM is also built into the system. The FM Towns
costs 263,000 yen ($2,100) to 388,000 yen ($3,100) according to the
models. The number of applications and game programs for this PC
are increasing.

Fujitsu has also been selling this personal computer as the telecom PC
for the firm's personal computer network NIFTY-Serve. NIFTY-Serve
has been providing online games jointly developed by Lucasfilms
in the US.

(Masayuki Miyazawa/19920728/Press Contact: Fujitsu, [phone])


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

SW Bell Files For Caller ID In Texas 07/31/92
AUSTIN, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1992 JUL 31 (NB) -- Southwestern Bell
has filed to offer Caller ID in Texas, with free per-call
blocking. The company hopes to offer the service first in the
state capitol of Austin early next year, then roll it out slowly
so it reaches Dallas/Ft. Worth by late 1994. The company is
presently rolling out the service in Oklahoma.

In Texas, Southwestern Bell would offer customers the option of
receiving either a telephone number or the name under which the
calling party's phone is registered, or both. The naming service
was first tested by US West a few years ago.

As the "price of privacy" for per-call blocking, Southwestern
Bell also wants to offer what it calls Anonymous Call Rejection,
which would let those with the service reject all incoming
calls that are marked anonymous. Like the other regional Bells,
the company's press statement announcing the filing talked at
length about the problem of annoying and harassing calls, but
privacy advocates are still expected to oppose the plan. To
assuage these concerns, Southwestern Bell wants to offer free
per-line blocking to domestic violence and law enforcement
agencies which request it.

In Texas, Southwestern Bell proposes to charge residential
customers $6.50 per month for either Caller ID Name or Number or
$8 per month for both. For business customers, the monthly rates
would be $8.50 for either Name or Number Caller ID or $12 for
both. The charge for Anonymous call Rejection would be $1 per
month with Caller ID and $3 per month without Caller ID for both
business and residential customers.

Separately, the company said it will standardize on AT&T's latest
switching software for over 300 switches in its five-state
network. The company signed a $100 million, three-year contract
with AT&T.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19920731/Press Contact: Sherry Smith,
Southwestern Bell Telephone, 314-247-6771)


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

Datapro Offers Analysis By Phone 07/31/92
DELRAN, NEW JERSEY, U.S.A., 1992 JUL 31 (NB) -- Datapro will
now offer its market analysis services by telephone, and
companies can pay for as little as 15 minutes of work. The
service is called Assist On Demand.

In addition to looking up information from its own database, the
service also offers smaller businesses the chance to use the
professional services of Datapro's analysts for original
research. Consulting time is purchased in 15-minute increments,
known as "consulting units." The rate is $200 per hour, or $50
per consulting unit. Payment can be made by supplying a credit
card or purchase order number. It runs during regular business
hours, from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., Eastern Time.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19920731/Press Contact: Datapro, Jim Barr,
800/328-2776,x2338)


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

IBM Offers Fax-On-Demand Service 07/31/92
WHITE PLAINS, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1992 JUL 31 (NB) -- IBM may
have legitimized yet another industry, this time the fax-on-
demand business, with a free service offering product
information either by telephone or fax machine.

IBM Fax lets callers download product specification sheets,
brochures and IBM customer application descriptions directly to
their fax machines. Dial 1-800-IBM-4FAX, or 1-800-426-4329, and
as with other such services, be prepared to go through a voice-
mail menu to select information. Callers can request up to five
documents at one time.

Approximately 750 documents are available through IBM FAX,
covering topics ranging from hardware and systems software to
application software and services, including: desktop, midrange
and large systems; system storage devices; communications and
network tools; industry-specific solutions; professional
services; educational programs, and IBM Business Partnerships.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19920731/Press Contact: IBM, Roberta Paul,
914/642-5362)


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

Sprintnet Extends to Singapore 07/31/92
WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A., 1992 JUL 31 (NB) -- The SprintNet
packet network was extended to Singapore through a deal between
Sprint and that country's government. SprintNet currently
operates more than 75 access centers in more than 25 countries
with expansion to 100 access centers in 33 countries planned by
year-end.

The business in Singapore will be operated by Singapore Telecom,
a wholly owned unit of the Singapore government, which will
market, install and maintain direct access and dial-up data
services for customers of the network. Singapore has long been
considering privatizing Telecom, but has not yet moved on that.
Sprint will provide technical support to Singapore Telecom
through its local Singapore office.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19920731/Press Contact: Vince Hovanec, Sprint,
202-828-7423)


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

CWA Strike Vote Against Bell Atlantic, US West 07/31/92
WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A., 1992 JUL 31 (NB) -- The Communications
Workers of America launched its third set of strike votes against
a phone company this year. The targets now are Bell Atlantic, the
regional Bell company for the mid-Atlantic states, and US West,
the regional Bell for the mountain states.

Earlier, the union threatened job actions against units of GTE
and AT&T. It won most of what it wanted against AT&T without a
strike, although talks continued for weeks after the strike deadline.
A total of over 90,000 workers agreed to go on strike if their union
leaders call one.

The union's major goal in negotiations is approaching the 13
percent wage hikes over three years it won from NYNEX, in an
extension of a contract reached a few years after a four-month
long strike. However, job security and the right to organize are
also key, as is the health insurance issue. All the regional
Bells are cutting the number of workers they employ, thanks to
new technology, and that gives them leverage in talks. They are
also fighting union attempts to organize workers in their
cellular telephone units, something the unions resent. Health
insurance is also an issue in every labor negotiation.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19920731)


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

 ****FBI Wiretap Request Still Bogged Down 07/31/92
WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A., 1992 JUL 31 (NB) -- The FBI needs to
be more specific in its wiretap technology demands, a key House
member said. Congressman Edward Markey of Massachusetts, who
heads that body's subcommittee on telecommunications, said that
until he learns exactly what must change in the nation's phone
network, he won't consider any FBI demand for digital wiretaps
seriously.

FBI Director William Sessions started the present controversy in
March with a proposal that the nation's coming digital phone
technology be "dumbed down," in an ACLU spokesman's phrase, so
that government-ordered wiretaps can still be done after digital
services become universal. After an initial struggle, the FBI and
phone company representatives have been trying to quietly
negotiate on the issue.

But Markey's broadside indicates that any deal between the phone
companies and FBI, when it comes, will remain controversial.

Bill McCloskey, manager of media relations for BellSouth,
explained the FBI's request this way. "What the FBI would like is
for the whole network to be configured in such a way that they
could exercise court orders quickly. You can do that within the
network, or using a piece of test equipment." He said the request
is complicated by the fact that there remain lots of phone
companies in the US using a variety of switches to deliver
digital services, with a variety of timetables for offering the
services. "There is confusion on whether the network needs to be
changed," McCloskey added. "A number of decisions are being made
by people who aren't technical. What concerns us is the ability
to maintain the privacy of the network, but if something needs to
be done, making sure the proper person pays for it. If this is in
the government's interest, perhaps the government ought to pay."

But Janlori Goldman, of the ACLU's Washington office, who came up
with the "dumbed down" line, promised to fight any proposal.
"They want to freeze progress. They don't want the phone company
or computer industry that might make it difficult to conduct
surveillance. The phone companies aren't developing technology to
keep them out of surveillance, but our position is the burden is
on the FBI to keep up."

FBI spokesperson Nestor Michnyak, however, said that the agency's
goals are modest. "Allow us the same access we have right now.
Have the telephone industry maintain the same access we have
right now." He added that no formal proposal is yet before the
Congress, and that negotiations continue.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19920731)


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

International Phone Update 07/31/92
ATLANTA, GEORGIA, U.S.A., 1992 JUL 31 (NB) -- Politics continue
to interfere with phone service progress worldwide.

Algeria reported a total of 27 attacks against its network across
the country, and blamed the banned Islamic Salvation Front, which
was poised to win national elections earlier this year before it
was banned by the secularist, military-led government. Since
then, the nation's prime minister has been assassinated, and the
economy has gone into free-fall.

In other political news, Turkey and the former Soviet state of
Georgia signed a telecom cooperation agreement. The deal was
signed by Turkish Premier Suleyman Demirel and Georgian President
Eduard Shevardnadze, a former Soviet foreign minister. The deal
is interesting since Georgia, unlike most of the other Central
Asian republics, is Christian. Turkey's secularist version of
Islam, however, may be preferred to Iran's more militant line by
the Georgians. To sweeten the deal, Demirel asserted Turkey's
hopes of helping resolve conflicts with South Ossetia, and
between Azerbaijan and Armenia, as well as assist Georgia in the
transition to a free-enterprise economy. As a gesture of
goodwill, 15 tons of food and medical supplies arrived in Tbilisi
as Demirel spoke.

Elsewhere, Ericsson won a $22.5 million contract to supply the
Movistar cellular network in Argentina. It's an analog network
which will start serving 10,000 customers in Buenos Aires by
March. Movistar is equally owned by Telecom Argentina and
Telefonica of Argentina.

Finally, Shinawatra Satellite of Thailand signed a deal with
Arianespace to launch its second satellite, Thaicom II.
Arianespace now has a backlog of 33 satellites awaiting launch.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19920731/Press Contact: Ericsson, Kathy Egan,
212/685-4030)


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

Microsoft Consolidates In Hong Kong, Taiwan, China 07/31/92
TAIKOO SHING, HONG KONG, 1992 JUL 31 (NB) -- Microsoft has
consolidated its operations in Hong Kong, Taiwan and the People's
Republic of China under a newly formed business structure called
the Greater Chinese Region.

The Greater Chinese Region is based in Microsoft's Taipei office
under Regional General Manager Yang Shaw-Gang. It is organized by
function in the areas of research and development, OEM business,
finance and administration, and by country in the areas of sales
and support.

"As well as the obvious cultural homogeneity between Hong Kong, Taiwan
and the PRC, trade and investment between these countries are growing
very quickly and the economies are becoming increasingly
interdependent," said Mr Shaw.

"High-tech industries within these three countries are poised for
particularly rapid expansion. This new organization will enable
Microsoft to exploit these exciting market opportunities through
expanded OEM and retail channels."

According to Laurie Kan, country manager of Microsoft Hong Kong, the
new structure represents an increase in corporate resources targeted
on the region.

"By moving operational support closer to our customer base and
creating a specific Chinese cultural focus, we believe Microsoft will
better serve the market," said Kan.

"We have been doing a lot of ground work since establishing direct
operations in the region and I believe customers are beginning to see
real benefits. In Hong Kong we have bolstered training for both
customers and channel personnel, we have started upgrading our dealer
network, and we have instituted a more responsive product support
program."

The Greater Chinese Region will have complete autonomy in research and
development. Last year Microsoft Taiwan released Chinese Windows
followed up with Chinese versions of Quick Basic, Excel for Windows
and PC Works. More Chinese language applications are slated for
release later this year.

"Microsoft has only just begun to tap the potential for localized
products in the region," said Shaw. "We believe that as our R&D
operations get more established and our distribution channels expand,
we will see explosive growth in Chinese language products."

(Brett Cameron/19920730/Press Contact: Ramny Fite, Mircosoft, Tel:
[phone];HK time is GMT + 8)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(HKG)(00015)

Hong Kong: SAS Chosen For Distributed Network 07/31/92
CLEARWATER BAY, HONG KONG, 1992 JUL 31 (NB) -- Hong Kong's newest
university, The University of Science and Technology, has chosen SAS
software to run on a pioneering, multi-vendor, campus-wide distributed
network.

The SAS System will be used by administrative, teaching and research
staff and will manage such diverse projects as analyzing student
admissions, degree and MBA course work and research into the seal
population in Canada.

HKUST, which was incorporated in April 1988 and opened in October
1991, is a world-class technological university which focuses on
science, engineering and business and management disciplines at degree
and postgraduate level. Currently serving some 1,800 full-time
equivalent students in academic 1992, it will rapidly expand to
accommodate 4,900 full-time equivalent students after 1994.

In line with its emphasis on technology, the university plans to link
students, academics and research staff in a state-of-the-art, campus-
wide network. This will provide communications services such as
electronic mail and bulletin boards and file transfer across
platforms, as well as applications such as CAD/CAM, graphics,
scientific computation, simulation and modeling.

The backbone of the network is an advanced, high speed 100Mbits-per-
second fiber distributed data interface (FDDI). This links Digital
VAX servers comprising VAX 4000 Model 200 and 500 clusters; Unix
servers including Sun Microsystems' Sparc2, Digital's DECstation 5000
Model 200, and Hewlett-Packard's HP9000 Model 700 series.

Hooked up to this network are more than 1,000 PCs and workstations
from IBM, Apple, Sun, Digital and Hewlett-Packard, together with a
range of laser printers and plotters.

"As a driving force in promoting understanding of technology, it is
appropriate that HKUST should implement a leading-edge solution," said
Kee K. Tam, computer officer at the university's Centre of Computing
Services and Telecommunications. "SAS software is an ideal choice for
the network because of its ability to run seamlessly across
platforms."

Apart from SAS' open systems support, another factor was its wide
choice of modules which can serve both administrative and teaching
staff.

"As the student and academic population grows, the SAS System will
become a universal software tool," said Tam. "It will be used by
students for course work, by administrative staff in running the
university and by researchers in a range of academic and business
projects."

Currently, the main users of SAS are in the Admission Registration and
Records office (ARR) which studies student demographics, and in the
Computer Science and Business Administration departments for course
work.

In addition, one of the most interesting applications is a project to
study seal population dynamics in Canada which is run by Dr.I-Hsun Ni,
senior lecturer in the Biology Department.

The impact of seals in the Northwest Atlantic fisheries ecosystem has
become a high profile issue primarily for three reasons. The first is
that seals eat a substantial amount of fish every day which the
fishing industry claims is interfering with commercial fish stocks.
Following the demise of the commercial whitecoat hunt, seal
populations are expected to have increased and therefore to have
a greater impact on fish stocks.

The second reason is the perception that seals are important vectors
in the transmission of parasites in fish stocks. If seal populations
increase, parasite loads in the fish may also increase and hence
reduce the quality of the fish product.

The third reason is the interference in fishing activity by seals,
including damage to fishing gears and catches.

Dr Ni was in charge of researching marine mammals in the Newfoundland
region, Government of Canada, which conducts research on
harp seals. He uses the SAS System to manage probably the world's
largest seal database containing records of about 18,000
seals, and files on areas such as age, morphometrics, food and
feeding and reproduction.

"The beauty of SAS is that, in one package it gives me database
management, statistical analysis and graphics," said Ni. "Also, its
ability to merge data from different files is invaluable in allowing
us to analyze a large number of variable factors."

(Brett Cameron/19920730/Press Contact: Nigel Gasper, SAS, tel: +852-
568 4280;HK time is GMT + 8)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(MOW)(00016)

Moscow: Phone Charges Rise Again 07/31/92
MOSCOW, RUSSIA, 1992 JUL 31 (NB) -- The Moscow city telephone
network known as MGTS has announced yet another immediate
international phone call price hike. Prices have almost doubled
and time discounts has been announced.

A company with no state budget subsidies will pay 153 rubles per
minute for the call to Germany if dialled between 10 and 15
hours local time, 81 ruble if dialled at night between 8pm and
8am, and 117 rubles at other times. Night tariffs on calls to
the United States from Moscow are now 162 rubles per minute with
a 90% surcharge between 10 and 15 hours local time and a 45%
surcharge at other times.

Similar daytime surcharges were introduced for household phones
as well. Citizens will pay 54 rubles per minute for a call to the
United States during the daytime and 102 rubles between 10 and
15 hours and 78 rubles at other times.

Calls to all other major Western countries, including France,
Finland, and the UK, are affected by the new tariffs.

The new pricing structure has apparently left many phone operators
confused, as those reached by Newsbytes had great difficulty
providing exact price quotes.

MGTS is a monopoly service provider for the largest chunk of Moscow
businesses and households.

(Kirill Tchashchin/19920731)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(DEL)(00017)

Indian Computer Engineer sues Mitsubishi 07/31/92
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1992 JUL 31 (NB) -- The Press Trust of India (PTI)
quotes published reports as saying an Indian computer engineer
filed a case with a Tokyo court on Tuesday against his employer,
Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, charging discrimination.

The plaintiff, Mr Kamal Sinha, alleges that Mitsubishi exercised
discriminatory treatment against him by denying him free Japanese
language training, which he claims was given to Western employees.
He is seeking 5.9 million yen as compensation. The report, according
to the PTI, appeared in the Nihon Keizai Shimbun, the Asahi
Shimbun, and other newspapers.

The alleged mistreatment occurred at Mitsubishi's facility at
Kamakura, according to the report. Sinha is reportedly an
assistant professor of computer science at a US college.

(Wendy Woods/19920731)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LAX)(00018)

Business Begun In Garage Predicted To Make Millions 07/31/92
BURBANK, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 JUL 31 (NB) -- Matt Russell
and Len Davidson, who started Custom Expressions by building
computer-controlled custom greeting card kiosks in a garage in
Glendale, have sold their "CreataCard" business to American
Greetings.

American Greetings announced the official launched
of its new CreataCard division in New York this week and
Russell is joining the new division as vice president of
business development.

While neither company will talk about the financial details of
the deal, American Greetings is predicting the new CreataCard
division will produce revenue of $25 million to $35 million
during its first full year of operation. Further, the company
says within a decade the custom greeting card division could
generate $500 million a year.

Russell and Davidson told Newsbytes that when they started,
everyone said the CreataCard idea wouldn't work. However, the
idea gained wide acceptance allowing the team to move out of
their garage and into warehouse offices in Burbank.

The CreataCard system marketed by Custom Expressions doesn't
use any new technology. The system uses a 386 IBM compatible
personal computer (PC), a touch screen, a Hewlett-Packard 8-pen
plotter, and a custom program that allows customers to simply
walk up, create, and personalize their own greeting cards.

The only parts the consumer sees are the plotter and the touch
screen. The unit is entirely self-sufficient, and controls
everything, including placing the card stock into the plotter
once a design is selected, personalizing the card, and
delivering it to the consumer after it is printed.

Davidson told Newsbytes in an interview last summer that the
most surprising event since CreataCard was started was when
they went to Comdex Fall '90. Custom Expressions was invited to
display the CreataCard by Ellographics, maker of the touch
screens, and crowds lined up to make cards. "Here were these
technical people ooohing and ahhhing our simple project,"
Davidson said.

Ed Fruchtenbaum, president and chief operating officer of
American Greetings said in a prepared statement: "It
(CreataCard) is the ultimate step towards our goal of micro-
marketing and Just-in-Time manufacturing." The company says it
plans to place CreataCard units both domestically and
internationally and the initial CreataCard roll-out scheduled
for this fall will consist of several thousand units in the
United States and Canada.

American Greetings is making a significant investment in the
new CreataCard division which is expected to employ around 100
employees and is based in Cleveland, Ohio where the parent
company is headquartered. The company said initial start-up
costs and the late year roll-out of the CreataCard units will
likely decrease earnings per share by five to ten cents in its
current fiscal year ending February 28, 1993.

(Linda Rohrbough/19920731/Press Contact: John Baker, American
Greetings, tel [phone] ext. 4864; Len Davidson, Custom
Expressions, tel [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(WAS)(00019)

ROUNDUP: Stories Carried By Other Media This Week 07/31/92
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1992 JUL 31 (NB) -- Roundup is a brief
look at some computer stories carried in other publications
received here this past week.

This week sees the final edition of Systems&Network Integration,
dated July 27, whose staff and features will mostly be absorbed
by Computer Reseller News and VARBusiness, two other CMP
publications. Two notable exceptions are Jake Kirchner and Rick
Vizachero who will both be moving to CMP's Windows publication.
Since S&NI was a free publication there will be no refunds, and
former S&NI readers will receive one or both of the other
publications instead.

Informationweek for the 27th asks the question "What Should DEC
Do?" to survive. Answers from users and rivals include reducing
staff much further, and eliminating investment in proprietary
products.

Telephony dated July 27 tells how U.S. West uses infrared
technology to expose hot spots and reduce down time.

PC World for August looks at 23 low-cost upgradable 486SX
systems.

Computer Reseller News dated July 27 says that Dataflex is
hurting because of its strong dependence on now weak IBM.

July 27's Communicationsweek discusses HP's plans to migrate to
object-oriented products.

The July 27 issue of Computerworld says that users aren't vexed
by Intel's change in plans which delays release of P5-based
computers.

August 92 PC Magazine carries a massive PC Labs test of 80
portable PCs. The top monochrome notebooks were Toshiba's T330SL
and Dell's 325N.

(John McCormick/19920730/)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(WAS)(00020)

Zeos Feels Pricing Pinch - Shows $11 M Loss For 2Q 07/31/92
ST PAUL, MINNESOTA, U.S.A., 1992 JUL 31 (NB) -- Zeos
International, the aggressive clone builder which was first to
offer 24-hour toll-free product support, is feeling the pinch
of ever-lowering prices because the company has reported
an operating loss of $11.1 million or $1.29 per share for the
second quarter of fiscal year 1992.

Sales for the quarter ending June 30 were $48.8 million, compared
to $53.7 million for the same period in 1991. Zeos also showed a
profit of $2.3 million for the second quarter of 91.

Zeos had a net loss of $1.9 million on total sales of $59.1
million in the first quarter of 1992. Zeos said that the decline
in both sales and profits for the first half of 1992 was due to
the cut-throat pricing now in evidence in the industry.

But Zeos also had some one-time charges that contributed to the
second quarter loss, including relocation of its manufacturing
facilities (Zeos builds most of its own motherboards), as well as
a component shortage.

Commenting on the company's recent expensive but aggressive moves
to ensure a continuing competitiveness, Zeos's CEO Gregory
Herrick said in a press statement accompanying the release of
this quarter's financial data, "We are confident, however, that
these steps will return the company to profitability, and that
with new, feature-rich yet aggressively priced products,
streamlined operations, a significant presence in new
distribution channels and new geographic markets, as well as
continued excellence in quality, service and support, ZEOS will
be a winner, not just a survivor, in the personal computer
marketplace."

Zeos reports that its association with Sam's Club, a nation-wide
membership warehouse chain, was very satisfactory.

Although the company still expects to move into the European
market in August, Zeos announced that it had just given
notice to 93 employees.

Despite the recent losses, Zeos International is actually in a
relatively strong position, with nearly $7 million cash on hand
as of June 30, no long-term debt, and only about three-quarters
of a million dollars in short-term bank debt.

Zeos certainly isn't alone in seeing lower profits due to the
depressed economy and simultaneous computer price wars but the
company has continued to aggressively develop and market the
latest computers which recently resulted in the introduction of a
notebook computer with a swivel screen. Zeos also offers a low-
priced color notebook along with a full line of easily
upgradable desktop and tower PCs.

(John McCormick/19920730/Press Contact: John Bakewell, ZEOS
International, 612-635-1419)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(TOR)(00021)

Ethernet, NetWare Still Dominate Canadian LAN Market 07/31/92
TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1992 JUL 31 (NB) -- Canadian sales of
local-area network hardware and software showed healthy growth in
1991, according to a recent survey by International Data Corp.
Canada, a research firm. In both sectors, the same products stayed
on top: Ethernet interface cards remain dominant and Novell's
NetWare LAN operating system continues to lead the market.

Sales of network interface cards for personal computers grew 24.6
percent in 1991, although revenue grew only 8.7 percent as prices
fell. IDC said this market showed "intense vendor competition."

Ethernet continued to account for the largest share -- 49 percent
-- of interface cards shipments, with IBM's Token Ring in second
place at 21 percent. Token Ring's higher price tag remains a
deterrent, IDC said. Sales of the older and slower Arcnet
technology declined, as did shipments of Apple's Localtalk cards.
Sales of the high-speed Fiber Distributed Data Interface (FDDI)
technology remained small, largely due to the high cost, IDC said.

IDC forecast continued but slowing growth for the network interface
card business. Annual growth will slide to four percent by 1996,
when some 488,600 cards will be sold, the research firm predicted.

The PC network operating system market also grew in 1991, reaching
a value of C$65 million, IDC said. A specific 1991 growth figure
was not available because some major vendors would not supply IDC
with unit sales figures for Canada, researcher Timothy Emo told
Newsbytes.

Novell remains the dominant vendor here with its NetWare operating
system -- the company has "well over half the market," Emo said.
However, IDC forecast that increasing competition from new vendors
will cut into Novell's share somewhat in the next few years.

Growth in sales of network operating systems will continue healthy
through 1996, IDC predicted, reaching C$90 million in 1996 with a
compound annual growth rate of 15 percent from 1990 to 1996.

(Grant Buckler/19920731/Press Contact: Timothy Emo, IDC Canada,
416-369-0033, fax [phone]; Public Contact: IDC Canada,
416-369-0033)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(TOR)(00022)

 ****4 Big Firms To Explore Light-Based Computers 07/31/92
WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A., 1992 JUL 31 (NB) -- Four American giants
of the computer and defense industries -- AT&T, General Electronic,
Honeywell, and IBM -- have set up an alliance to do precompetitive
research on using light to transmit data at high speeds.

The Optoelectronic Technology Consortium (OETC) will get $8 million
in funding from the Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects
Agency (DARPA), and the work has a number of possible applications
in military technology. But the research will also be applicable to
computing and communications technology, and the consortium is
probably aimed as much at helping the American high-technology
industry combat foreign competition as it is at guarding against
military threats.

The consortium plans over the next 30 months to develop optical
interconnections that will be able to carry data two to five times
faster than today's systems, which rely mainly on copper wire.

The consortium plans to develop advanced optoelectronic components,
including surface-emitting laser diode arrays, modulators,
receivers, fibers, connectors, and polymer waveguides.

It will also demonstrate data transfer through 32 parallel
500-megabit lines at a total rate of 16 gigabits per second between
lightwave transmitters and receivers. A third goal is to combine
four 16-gigabit links in parallel to make a 64-gigabit data
network.

The companies hope to produce prototypes in a year or so, AT&T
spokeswoman Donna Cunningham told Newsbytes, and commercial
products could follow by about 1995.

AT&T is to develop surface-emitting laser transmitter and
fiber-array interconnect technology. Honeywell will focus on
modulation technology and optical sources, while IBM will develop
optical receiver arrays and do link modeling and network analysis.
General Electric will manage the program, as well as working on
link design and modeling, test-bed components and integration, and
optical-interconnect testing and evaluation.

The companies will get patents on their work, which will be
available for licensing to other companies in future, Cunningham
said. After 30 months, the hope is that the consortium's
precompetitive research work will be done and individual firms will
be able to go on to produce commercial products.

Organizations other than the four principals, including private
companies and government laboratories, will be able to take part in
an associated "users group" that will share information from the
program and help to direct its work. Associates from leading
universities and research laboratories are also to participate.

Officials said target applications include commercial and military
signal and display processors for aviation and space systems,
command-and-control systems, military image detection and tracking
processors, high-speed parallel processors and multiprocessors,
high-speed parallel processors and multi-processors for workstation
servers and controllers, and telecommunications switching.

(Grant Buckler/19920731/Press Contact: Karen Candela, General
Electric, 315-456-3252; Donna Cunningham, AT&T, 802-482-3748; Kevin
Whalen, Honeywell, 612-870-2524; Gerald Present, IBM, 914-945-3884;
Public Contact: IBM, 914-765-1900)


(EDITORIAL)(TRENDS)(WAS)(00023)

Editorial: The Super Collider Isn't Worth It 07/31/92
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1992 JUL 31 (NB) -- By John McCormick.
This is the week that may see the end of the Super Conductor
Super Collider.

Congress is balking at sinking a few more billions of taxpayer
money into a hole in the ground when the US is already running
deeply in the red.

Proponents of the SCSC, the Space Station Freedom, and other
abstract research say that unless the US continues to lead the
world in research and development the country will soon drop out
of its position as a world leader in other areas.

Superficially this argument seems to have merit -- NASA led the
world in space research after the Soviets forced us to
recognize that space was important by launching the first series
of satellites. Many important products have come from space
research, just as entire industries have resulted from other
"basic" research.

Basic research is the sort of blue-sky academic research which
has no commercial target and is driven by the search for
knowledge rather than a drive to make money.

Academics and, I must say, I myself, have supported massive
spending on such research for many years, defending our search
for answers as also being a way to make money for the country.

I spent many years in college learning to be a scientist
so I share the drive for knowledge for its own sake and am very
excited about what we might learn from the SCSC and space
activities.

But after seeing the campus politics which permeate all efforts
to obtain research funding I took a different turn and went to
work in the real world. Perhaps that is why I am now taking a
more realistic look at basic research.

The question I have been asking for several years now is whether
the country really does benefit economically from basic research.
Certainly someone does, but it appears that the US is no
longer able to develop and market "real" products whether we do
the basic research or not.

What we excel at making are things such as "liquid" toothpaste
which offers absolutely no benefit but can be made into a money-
maker by spending enough money on advertising. That is the sort
of no-risk mediocrity that most US business is involved with
these days. Gone (except a few places in the computer field) are
those pioneers who practically invented automobiles, airplanes,
and air conditioning, just to start off the alphabet.

Other countries now develop fundamental new products even though
they are often based on basic research begun and paid for here in
the US.

Many other products weren't even invented here, let alone
developed. For instance, CD and CD-ROM were developed in Japan
and the Netherlands, with one of the top US disc producers
actually based in England.

So is basic research really of economic benefit to the country
that does it? That is the myth -- but is it supported by the
facts?

Not as much as some people would have you believe. The computer
for instance - a US invention, right?

Well, sort of. Certainly computers were built here, but the very
first computer was built by Charles Babbage, 1833, England. Sure,
you say, but that was made with wooden gears - the US invented
the first "electronic" computer.

OK, but who was that guy Turing?

And how about the electron, the basis of all electronics (J.
Thompson, England)?

Want real fundamentals? How about quantum physics (Max Planck,
German) or relativity (Einstein, also German)?

Even LSD was invented in Europe - Timothy Leary (Harvard) just
made it popular.

The point of all this is that the country which benefits most
from basic research isn't necessarily the one which does the
initial work, and any argument to the contrary is very difficult
to defend, based on historical evidence.

I still support the concept that basic research leads to
unexpected inventions which benefit humanity, but I don't think
US business is up to the challenge of developing real products
anyway so I don't see any reason for US taxpayers to fund much
fundamental research.

If I am wrong they can develop products based on discoveries made
elsewhere just as they have for the past century.

But if the Europeans and developed Asian countries are going to
reap the economic benefits, then let them fund the research,
either here or abroad.

This is NOT Japan-bashing, just a realistic cost-benefit analysis
of US academic research and whether a country which is so
massively in debt should be spending billions on an atom smasher
when people are going hungry and our roads are falling apart.

The time has come for politicians to tell the hard truth -- we can
no longer have everything we want. We just can't afford it.

I do think basic research should continue in this country; I just
don't think taxpayers should be paying for it.

Just think how much more likely companies would be to develop and
market products based on basic research if they were paying for
it themselves.

Editors's Note: President Bush continues to campaign for the Super
Collider, an $8.2 billion project. The House voted in June against
further funding but the Senate next week is expected to take up
the issue again. The Senate Appropriations Committee has
recommended passage.

(John McCormick/19920730)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(BOS)(00024)

Color Connections: New Technology Is Double-Edged Sword 07/31/92
CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A. 1992 JUL 31 (NB) -- "The metaphor
now is 'Adapt or die,'" E. Mills Davis told some 160 printing,
publishing and prepress professionals in a kickoff speech
to this week's Color Connections 4.

For these groups, current technological advancements represent a
double-edged sword, suggested Davis, president of Davis Inc., a
color publishing consulting company that is sponsoring the three-
day conference in conjunction with the Graphic Communications
Association.

By making color a commodity item, the migration of color publishing
to the desktop is posing a challenge more severe than any the
industry has faced before. But at the same time, desktop color
publishing and other new methodologies are creating viable new
market opportunities, Davis suggested.

Printers and publishers can survive -- and even thrive -- by moving
into such segments as high fidelity color publishing, high volume
desktop color publishing, and multimedia, he asserted.

Davis acknowledged that current technological changes are cutting
prices, sparking turf battles within the industry, and letting
customers in on the color printing process. Some customers today,
for example, are performing their own scanning, he said.

Yet not all customers will want to perform every stage in desktop
publishing, leaving the door wide open for such low-end and
midrange services as front end processing and short-run printing,
he maintained.

Further, he predicted, some customers will want to differentiate
their products and packages by hiring printers and service bureaus
that offer high fidelity color, now arising on the upper end of the
production spectrum. High fidelity color, he explained, is being
made possible by new color management systems, in which scanners,
printers and other devices are calibrated for end-to-end color
consistency.

Finally, the industry must promptly take advantage of the upcoming
fusion of print and multimedia, Davis emphasized. "Although print
continues to be a growing area, it represents a decreasing share of
an increasing pie. The long-term question is not whether print
will merge with the new media, but whether publishing and printing
companies will adapt in timely enough fashion," he commented.

Later in the morning, speakers from printing and publishing firms,
service bureaus, and equipment vendors elaborated on each of the
new business segments. In the afternoon, the attendees split into
roundtable groups for in-depth discussions around the various
opportunities.

Other conference sessions focused on such issues as smart
image capture, PhotoCD, RIPS and imagesetters, high bandwidth
networks, desktop supercomputing, workflow management, personnel
training, and how to cost for services.

Throughout the first two days of the conference, Kodak, Screen USA
and Pitman Company, a systems integrator, demonstrated
color publishing systems. Kodak depicted the use of the Kodak
Precision Color Management strategy, while Screen showed its
Desk Top Press System for color retouching, page assembly,
stripping and trapping. The Pitman display illustrates how
multivendor equipment can be brought together into a single unified
system.

In addition, other vendors were displaying products ranging
from color printers and monitors, to high-speed file transfer
boards, to spectrophometers, densitometers, and other color testing
devices.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19920731; Press contact: Peter Brehm, Graphic
Communications Association, tel [phone])


(NEWS)(APPLE)(BOS)(00025)

New For Macintosh: Mini Disk Drive Cabinet Previewed 07/31/92
CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1992 JUL 31 (NB) -- At Color
Connections 4 this week, MicroNet Technology was giving a sneak
preview of a miniature disk drive cabinet that will be officially
rolled out -- along with a suite of other disk drive products --
on the other side of the Charles River at MacWorld Boston next
week.

"Smaller cabinets and larger storage will be our themes at
MacWorld," Edward Weiss, marketing representative for MicroNet,
told Newsbytes on the Color Connections showroom floor. MicroNet's
latest SCSI data storage systems will include offerings geared to
PowerBooks as well as desktop Macs, he stressed.

The new 2 x 5 x 8-inch disk drive cabinet will come in hard disk,
tape, and optical configurations. Aside from the miniature
cabinet, MicroNet will be introducing internal 80 and 120 MB hard
disk drives for PowerBooks, external battery-powered 220 MB hard
disk drives, an external 8 GB DAT backup system, a 2.7 GB hard disk
drive available in external as well as internal versions, and a 5.6
GB external Raven disk array.

The miniature cabinets contain full-size storage systems, including
fast spindle hard disk drives of up to 1.2B in capacity.
Currently, the products weigh about as much as comparable standard-
sized systems, but MicroNet intends to offer lighter versions in
the future, Weiss told Newsbytes.

Each miniature cabinet drive features standard Macintosh SCSI
ports, external termination, universal power supply, and a push-
button SCSI ID select switch. Hard disk models are priced at
$1,445 to $4,195, the DAT model at $2,895, and the optical storage
system, bundled with MicroNet software and one optical cartridge,
at $1,995.

The new 2.5-inch battery-powered external hard disk system, priced
at $1,395, supplies average access time of 12 ms, a wall pack
battery charger, and four-hour rechargable batteries with battery
life status LEDs.

The DAT backup systems, housed in a compact and lightweight
enclosures, are based on 3.5-inch Sony tape drives. The CPDK-8000,
available for $2,595, is a standard DDS drive, while the CPDK-8000,
costing $2,895, uses DDS-DCLZ data compression.

The multigigabyte hard disk drives come in ten editions, five based
on the Seagate 5.25-inch full height Elite-3 and the other five on
the 3.5-inch Maxtor MXT-540 and 1240 fast spindle hard disk drives.
Priced at $9,495 to $19,490, the Elite-3 systems sustain data
transfer rates as high as 4.8 Mbps and spin of 5400 rpm, with
average access time of 11 ms. Priced at $2,595 to $4,195, the
Maxtor MXT series brings a 3.8 Mbps data transfer rate, with
average access time of 8 ms and a 6300 rpm spin. The hard disk
drives will operate on Macs as well as Quadras.

The new Raven disk array is designed for 16-bit parallel transfers,
and will run on the Quadra 900 and 950 only. Performing data
transfer at up to 9.2 Mbps, the product consists of two separate
external disk drives, each connecting directly to one of the
Quadra's two SCSI ports. The disk array is priced at $19,490.

The DAT backup systems are shipping already. The miniature cabinet
systems and internal PowerBook drives are expected to be available
in August. The 2.7 GB hard disk drives, battery-powered 220 MB
hard disk drives, and disk arrays are slated for September
delivery.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19920731; Press contact: Jennifer Zubrod,
MicroNet, tel [phone]; Public contact: Alex Grossman,
MicroNet, tel [phone])


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SFO)(00026)

HP Licenses Trilogy SalesBuilder 07/31/92
AUSTIN, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1992 JUL 31 (NB) -- Hewlett-Packard has
licensed Trilogy Development Group's Product-line configuration
software, called SalesBuilder. HP says that it will be used by
HP's worldwide sales force to "configure and quote customer
orders."

Christina Jones, spokesperson for Trilogy, told Newsbytes that
the SalesBuilder product is "a sales tool that does configuration
and quoting. It is based on a configuration engine which knows
how to put components together."

Jones told Newsbytes that the software is for, "products that
are customized, or very complex, or are built to order. When the
salesperson enters in a functional description of what the
customer wants, the configuration engine goes and finds
all the components and.....the configuration that would fulfill
that functionality, and then generates the quote from that."

According to the company, the software will be used initially
in the sale of computer, medical, and test, and analytical products
and systems. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

Allan T. Imamoto, corporate marketing administrative systems
manager at HP, said: "With HP's expansive and rapidly changing
product lines, it is difficult for a sales person to keep track
of all the different components. We were looking for a way to
enable our sales force to focus on customer needs rather than
technical details. SalesBuilder will help us improve service to
customers and reduce costs in the sales and order-fulfillment
process."

Joe Liemandt, president and chief executive officer of Trilogy,
echoed the sentiment, saying: "This multi-million dollar deal
with HP confirms Trilogy as an industry leader in the
configuration market."

According to Trilogy, SalesBuilder is a software tool for
building, deploying, and managing product-line configuration
systems. The company claims that it enables a salesperson
of customizable products to ensure that orders are technically
correct before they are manufactured.

SalesBuilder runs on standard operating systems, including
Apple Macintosh, DOS/MS Windows 3.0, and Unix. It supports
the SQL (structured query language) interface for seamless
integration into any environment.

Jones told Newsbytes that the deal with HP was, "a very
important milestone for our company. We have been targeting
the computer industry and having Hewlett-Packard endorse
our product reaffirms our leadership in this marketplace,
and also the value of a configuration sales tool for the
computer industry."

(Ian Stokell/19920731/Press Contact: Christina Jones,
Trilogy Development, 415-321-5900)


(REVIEW)(APPLE)(SFO)(00027)

Review of: Apple Macintosh IIsi computer 07/31/92

From: Apple Computer Inc., 20525 Mariani Ave., Cupertino, CA
95014

Price: at one local computer store where Macs are competitively
 priced, an SI with 3 MB RAM and 40 MB hard drive was $1950

PUMA Rating: 3.75 (on a scale of 1=lowest to 4=highest)

Reviewed for Newsbytes by: Ian Stokell 07/31/92

Summary: As the entry-level color system to the Macintosh II
product line, the IIsi an excellent system. I used it mostly
for word processing with WordPerfect and desktop publishing with
PageMaker, and I found there were no problems, although the spell-
checker in WordPerfect did lumber along a little.

======

REVIEW

======

The Mac IIsi is arguably Apples entry-level color Macintosh,
with the exception of the LC II. But it is certainly the
companys entry-level Macintosh II system. The only Macintosh
less that the LC II now, is the Classic II, but its nine-inch
black-and-white screen is pretty unacceptable for such
applications as desktop publishing and large graphics.

The IIsi has only a single internal expansion slot for either
a NuBus card or an 030 Direct Slot card, although that is not
as much a problem as on a PC because all Macs come with a
SCSI (Small Computer System Interface) port for daisy-chaining
peripherals together.

There are a total of eight ports on the IIsi. Apart from
the SCSI port, there is an Apple Desktop Bus port, an external
disk drive port, two serial ports, one sound-inport, one
sound-out port, and one video port.

The IIsi is powered by a 20 megahertz (MHz) 68030 microprocessor,
which is acceptable for most applications, although in the face of
the plethora of 33MHz and, now, 50MHz systems out there, you do
occasionally get the urge to take off the training wheels and
head for the nearest steep hill!

The review unit came with five megabytes (MB) of RAM and an internal
80MB hard drive. The IIsi is also available with 2MB of RAM and a
40MB hard drive as standard. A built-in 1.44MB Apple SuperDrive
floppy disk drive is also included, which allows for the transfer
of data files between Macintosh, OS/2, MS-DOS, and Apple II
systems. Both versions also come with a mouse, microphone, system
software and HyperCard software, and reference documentation.

For you RAM afficionados out there, the IIsi comes with 1MB on the
main logic board, and four 1MB SIMMs (single in-line memory modules)
making up the 5MB on the review unit. Up to 16MB of RAM can
be added in the form of SIMMs. The 2MB version adds four 256
kilobyte SIMMs to the 1MB on the main logic board.

Weighing-in at ten pounds, the main unit measures four inches in
height, 12.4 inches in width, and 14.9 inches in depth. The
accompanying AppleColor RGB monitor weighs another 34 pounds,
and sits right on top of the IIsi. The monitor adds another 11
inches in height, 13.5 inches in width, and 15.2 inches in depth.

The keyboard is a typical Macintosh QWERTY keyboard, pleasantly
responsive and well set out. The most noticeable thing about it,
from a PC users viewpoint, is that it is smaller than a PC
keyboard (although the keys are obviously full-size). This is
because it lacks the usual PC row of 15 function keys across the
top, and there is no extra set of four arrow keys and half dozen
special keys in between the keyboard and the numeric pad, which
is toward the right end. An option for buyers is the Apple
Extended Keyboard which gives you those "all important" 15
function keys, along with the extra size. The arrow keys are
actually on the bottom line of the main keyboard, in a row to the
right. The delete, return, and shift keys are on the right side,
with the escape, tab, control, another shift, caps lock, and option
keys to the left.

About the only thing that did annoy me about the keyboard,
was that the caps lock key is directly above the shift
key, which is no big deal in itself. However, unlike a typical PC
keyboard, there are no on-keyboard LEDs (light emitting diodes)
that light up if youve hit the caps lock key instead of the
shift key by mistake. If youre like me and just look at the
keyboard and not at the screen when you type, you run the risk of
completing a few lines in upper case before you realize what's
happening! Not that it's ever happened to me, you understand!
On PC keyboards you often find LEDs for caps lock that warn you
when you've done something daft like that!

The IIsi actually is a very attractive-looking machine, with
a single floppy drive sitting just off-center-right in the
front of the main unit.

The AppleColor High Resolution RGB Monitor offers a high
quality screen which I could find no fault with at all.
The 13-inch Trinitron CRT (cathode ray tube) screen was
easy on the eyes for the many hours a day I put in at the
machine, and the colors were crisp and clear.

The screen offers 640 horizontal pixels by 480 vertical
lines at 69 dots-per-inch, and has a refresh rate of 66.7-hertz.
The brightness and contrast controls sit just behind the screen
to the right.

In conclusion, I found the IIsi to be an excellent entry-level
introduction to the Macintosh II product line. I can see how the
20 MHz processing speed could become a problem for
graphics-intensive desktop publishing. I used the machine mostly
with WordPerfect 2.1 and PageMaker 4.2, both of which worked fine.
One slowdown occurred when using WordPerfect's spell-checker,
but that was really the only time the processor speed was
noticeable, although I didn't use many graphics in the desktop
publishing.

===========

PUMA RATING

===========

PERFORMANCE: 3.5 Performed up to expectations. The only snag really
would be the processor speed, although even that would be perfectly
acceptable for most users.

USEFULNESS: 3.5 Apple's problem has always been that they priced
their entry-level/low-end systems too high. Put the IIsi up against
a comparable machine in the PC market and you end up paying more.
Things are much better now than they were, but you should still
think hard about your choice of platforms before you commit hard
currency.

MANUAL: 4.0. Apple's documentation is the best in the business.

AVAILABILITY: 4.0 Ask me this two years ago and I would have given
this category a 1.5! Today, Macs are everywhere.

(Ian Stokell/19920722)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SFO)(00028)

Strategic Mapping Moves HQ; Claims Major Growth 07/31/92
SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 JUL 31 (NB) -- Spurred on by,
what the company claims are booming sales in the desktop
mapping software market, Strategic Mapping intends to triple
the size of its corporate offices, and move to a new 34,000-square-
foot facility on August 15.

The company claims to have pioneered the desktop mapping
business a decade ago when it developed a PC program to link
computerized maps with database files. The company maintains
that half of Fortune 500 companies, and a total of nearly 30,000
sites now use its software.

Steve Poizner, president and founder of the company, said:
"Strategic Mapping will use the new facility to expand our
research and development efforts, out customer services, and our
sales and marketing staff. Our new headquarters will also provide
excellent facilities for video conferencing, seminars, and space
for customer classroom training."

The company also maintains that the added space will allow it
to expand its customer applications development division, which
focuses on creating "tailored" applications for large users of
its software.

The company's Atlas Software ranges in price from $395 to $2,595
per package. The software runs on IBM PCs and compatibles under
MS-DOS and Windows environments, and also on Macintosh systems.

The company maintains that it provides a wide variety of
computerized base maps, including street maps of the entire US to
go along with its software. The company claims to offer a library
of more than 75 gigabytes of data and geographic files ranging
from the location of most of the businesses in the US to political
boundaries.

In 1991 Newsbytes carried a review of the company's MapMaker
mapmaking program for the Macintosh. Also, in December of last
year, Newsbytes reported that the company was distributing
The California Supreme Court's state redistricting plan on
floppy disks. The disks contained computerized political district
maps. Strategic Mapping was the developer of the PC geographic
information system used to create the plan.

(Ian Stokell/19920731/Press Contact: David Radoff, Strategic
Mapping, 408-985-7400)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(LAX)(00029)

Apple Splits Off Three Business Units 07/31/92
CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 JUL 31 (NB) -- Apple is
spinning three new business units off its Enterprise Systems
Division (ESD): Server and Services, Open Systems, Integration
Technologies. The company is also adding a new support group,
which is not a business unit, to assist the divisions called
Strategy and Operations.

The new units will be lead by a director who will report to
ESD manager and vice president, Morris Taradalsky.

Apple says the change is to integrate the formerly delineated
marketing and engineering efforts. No staff cuts or increases
are expected in the change, Apple added.

The Strategy and Operations group will drive VITAL, Apple's
Virtually Integrated Technical Architecture Lifecycle (VITAL)
and handle Apple Quality Management (AQM). The group will also
provide product marketing support for Apple USA, Apple Pacific
and Apple Europe. ESD publications, human interface designs,
support and training, standards initiatives, systems
engineering services, software licensing, and other central
management functions will all be performed by this group, Apple
said.

The Server and Services group will focus on integrated hardware
and software server-based products. The group will also handle
software service for the Apple Macintosh personal computer and
other platforms.

Apple says the Open Systems group has as its objective the
development of traditional Macintosh operating system
functionality into the open systems market and the development
of an integrated Poweropen client/server platform.

Integration Technologies will focus on connectivity
architecture and tools as well as integrated systems (IS)
development architecture and tools. The group is expected to
develop and market products aimed the integration of desktop
environments with other system environments, Apple said.

(Linda Rohrbough/19920731/Press Contact: Emilio Robles, Apple
Computer, tel [phone], fax [phone])


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

Autodesk, Division Team Up To Develop VR Standard 07/31/92
REDWOOD CITY, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 JUL 31 (NB) -- Autodesk,
best known for its computer-aided design product Autocad, and
virtual reality (VR) systems supplier Division have announced
they are working together to develop a standard for virtual
reality systems.

The two companies say together they can develop a standard that
will bring VR systems design to developers working on a variety
of computer systems. Autodesk says it will bring its expertise
in existing design and modeling products and Division says it
can offer its software architecture (dVS) for the integration
of computational and peripheral elements for support of VR
applications.

The goal is to bring virtual reality systems on to the more
commonly used computer platforms. Peter Cornwell, chief
executive officer of Division said: "A stable and portable
application development is an essential prerequisite for
developers of virtual environment applications."

Jack Strange, marketing director for the Autodesk Multimedia
Division said: "So far, VR applications have been primarily
limited to running on high cost, specialized systems. ...we can
provide a standard interface to VR facilities. Our users will
then be able to develop applications more easily and run them
on a wide variety of computer platforms across the performance
spectrum."

Redwood City, California-based Division is a newly formed
company that sprung out of collaboration between Crystal River
Engineering of Groveland, California; Fako Space Labs of Menlo
Park, California; and Division Limited of Bristol, England in
the UK.

Crystal River says it is a supplier of three-dimensional audio
displays. Fako Space Labs describes itself as a developer and
supplier of very high resolution color graphics displays for
virtual reality and turnkey scientific visualization systems.
Division Limited offers Provision, an integrated parallel VR
system.

Division Limited added that IBM UK has already contracted with
it to port Division's distributed VR software technology to
IBM's RS/6000.

(Linda Rohrbough/19920731/Press Contact: Laurie Riedman,
Riedman Communications for Autodesk, Division, tel 716-924-
0730, fax [phone])