Newsbytes - Internationa…ews 1983 May to 1994 June/Newsbytes - International Computing Industry News 1994 Edition - May 1983 - June 1994 - Wayzata Technologies (5045) (1994).iso/mac/Text/Mac Text/1992/NB920922

Text File | 1992-09-23 | 70KB | 1,564 lines

(NEWS)(IBM)(SFO)(00001)

IBM To Certify Cabletron Products 09/22/92
ROCHESTER, NEW HAMPSHIRE, U.S.A., 1992 SEP 22 (NB) -- Cabletron
has announced that it has joined IBM's NetView Partners/6000
program under which IBM will test and certify a collection of
Cabletron products.

Once the certification is issued to Cabletron, the company will
be able to make such a claim in their advertising and use it as
tool in trying to enter all IBM installations with their
products.

"Participation in the vendor enablement program provides an
important avenue for integrating Cabletron's SNMP compliant
devices into the IBM management arena," explained Tom Burkardt,
Cabletron's director of IBM connectivity products. "We will
continue to work with IBM to verify that Cabletron's complete
product line is manageable under NetView/6000."

Initially, only a select few products are being tested under this
program. Cabletron has disclosed that the Multi Media Access
Center products, the Intelligent Repeater Module (IRM-3)
products, Token Ring Management Module (TRMM) products, the
Ethernet Management Module (EMME), and the MRX!-24 standalone
hub are the product being tested now. However, Newsbytes has
learned that Cabletron would like to have IBM test all of their
manageable products and certify them.

Testing on these products has already begun, however, Cabletron
is not saying when they expect to have the testing completed and
the certification issued. Nor is any disclosure made as to the
financial terms of this arrangement.

(Naor Wallach/19920922/Press Contact: Darren Orzechowksi,
Cabletron, 603-332-9400 Extension 1282/Public Contact:
Cabletron, 603-332-9400)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(TOR)(00002)

New For Unix: CA-Unicenter On Sun Debuts 09/22/92
GARDEN CITY, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1992 SEP 22 (NB) -- Computer
Associates and Sun Microsystems have announced an agreement
that will see CA make its CA-Unicenter systems management
software available for Sun's SPARCserver and SPARCstation
hardware. The deal is expected to strengthen Sun's hand in the
applications downsizing market.

CA-Unicenter provides tools to run multi-vendor networks. It
includes capabilities such as console management, workload
management, report distribution, automated storage management,
spooled print control, problem tracking, security control,
performance monitoring and management, and systems
administration.

In a teleconference announcing the agreement, Charles Wang,
chairman of Computer Associates, said that many information
systems executives are eager to move mission-critical
applications from mainframe systems to distributed Unix
platforms, but are worried about the lack of mainframe-class
systems management tools. "Today's joint announcement takes
away that fear," he said.

Scott McNealy, president and chief executive of Sun, said that
the deal brings "big-system tools, big-MIS-shop tools to a much
smaller company size."

Computer Associates will deliver CA-Unicenter for the Sun
platforms within 12 months, Wang said. He also said the company
plans to make Unicenter available for networks running Novell's
NetWare local area network operating system and for IBM's OS/2
operating system.

CA-Unicenter for Sun machines will interoperate with other
vendors software as well, according to CA. It will work with
the Open Look user interface.

Sanjay Kumar, CA's senior vice-president for planning, added
that CA is likely to adapt other software products to the Sun
machines in coming months.

(Grant Buckler/19920922/Press Contact: Bob Gordon, Computer
Associates, 516-342-2391; Leiann Lee, Sun Microsystems,
415-336-0597)


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

Bell Canada Announces Service Package, Price Cuts 09/22/92
OTTAWA, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1992 SEP 22 (NB) -- Major
telecommunications users in Canada have had a lot to absorb in
the last few days. First Toronto-based Unitel Communications
fleshed out its plans for competitive long-distance service due
to start in October, and now Bell Canada, the country's largest
regional phone company, has announced rate cuts and new service
packaging for various voice and data services.

Mediatel, a division of Bell Canada, has grouped an assortment of
electronic communications capabilities, including its Envoy 100
electronic mail service, iNet 2000 gateway service, and
TradeRoute electronic data interchange (EDI) offering, under a
single umbrella called The Net.

The main implication of The Net for Bell customers is that they
will get a single bill for all the services placed under this
umbrella, said company spokeswoman Ruth Foster. Customers
will still be able to pick and choose the services they want, she
added.

The Net also includes a new enhanced facsimile service, providing
private electronic fax "mailboxes" and the ability to broadcast a
fax to any number of recipients. Users will be able to call the
service from anywhere in the world and have faxes sent to the
nearest fax machine. Pricing for the service will be time- rather
than distance-sensitive, Foster said.

Bell also announced price cuts on several long-distance
offerings.

The Advantage service, which is aimed primarily at business users
and requires that customers have a minimum long-distance bill of
C$200 per month, will no longer be divided into three zones. In
the past, customers had to subscribe separately for calls to
Canada, to the United States, and to the rest of the world. Now
all calls can be counted under one plan, allowing customers to
reach higher discount levels faster, Bell said.

Bell also eliminated the service charge for subscribing to
Advantage, and adjusted the discount structure. The discount on
charges up to C$500 goes from 15 percent to 20 percent. Calls
from C$500 to C$1,500 get a 25 percent discount and calls about
C$1,500 get a 30 percent discount. The 30 percent discount
previously only applied on charges above C$10,000 per month,
Bell said. The Advantage changes are already in effect.

Also, a new Advantage Plus service will offer discounts of as
much as 45 percent to callers making more than C$500,000
worth of calls per month. This service takes effect November 1.

Effective September 24, Bell is modifying its FaxCom discount
facsimile plan to cover overseas as well as North American
destinations.

The company has cut rates for toll-free 800 service by 10 percent
within Canada and 13 percent for numbers accessible from the
United States. These changes have already taken effect.

Rates for wide area telephone service (WATS) lines were also cut,
and Bell has eliminated a plan under which WATS lines worked
only in certain zones. All WATS lines will now be able to call at
discount rates anywhere within Canada and the United States, Bell
said. Volume discounts are also being added to the WATS package,
and Bell said it will waive service charges on WATS lines for
four months after the changes are introduced Nov. 1.

(Grant Buckler/19920922/Press Contact: Ruth Foster, Bell
Canada, 613-781-3768; Lynda Leonard, Bell Canada,
613-781-3301)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(TOR)(00004)

Computervision CVware For Medusa Debuts 09/22/92
BEDFORD, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1992 SEP 22 (NB) --
Computervision has extended its CVware line of software modules
to offer enhancements to its Medusa computer-aided design (CAD)
software. The company has also announced tools for converting
scanned paper drawings for electronic storage.

Computervision's CVware tools were first introduced for
CADDS 5, the company's CAD software for complex design work
in areas such as the automotive, aerospace, and consumer
electronics industries. Medusa is aimed at tasks such as
electro-mechanical, mechanical, fabricated metal, and plant
design, said company spokeswoman Sharon Israel.

Three CVware tools were introduced to work with the Medusa
software. Medusa 2D/Drafting is meant to speed up drawing
production. It has a bi-directional interface to the popular
personal computer CAD software AutoCAD, and a customization
capability that lets users create menu files or group an often
used series of commands into a single command, company
officials said.

Medusa 2D/Design adds geometry creation functions to the 2D
drafting module, which it includes.

Medusa 2D/Parametric Design includes the functions of the 2D
drafting and design modules, plus parametric design and modeling
capabilities. This allows a user to change the size and shape of
a design according to an applied set of dimensions, with the
drawing updated automatically.

Computervision also announced Medusa Raster Products meant to
help users convert paper drawings to electronic form. Medusa
Raster Backdrop is meant to let users view and revise scanned-in
drawings and use them as backdrops to new designs. Medusa Sheet
to Raster Converter converts vector of CAD data into raster
images that are easy to distribute to other PCs or workstations
for comment or approval, the company said.

All the products are available immediately. Medusa 2D/Drafting
costs $5,150, Medusa 2D/Design costs $8,300, and Medusa
2D/parametric Design costs $11,400. The raster products cost
from $2,250 to $3,500.

Medusa software runs on Sun Sparcstations, Digital Equipment's
DECstations and VAXstations, and Prime 50 Series computers.

(Grant Buckler/19920922/Press Contact: Sharon Israel,
Computervision, 617-275-1800 ext. 5907, fax [phone])


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

Everex Canada Reorganizes; No Layoffs In Sight 09/22/92
MISSISSAUGA, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1992 SEP 22 (NB) -- While its
American parent recently announced plans to lay off about 250
employees worldwide, Everex Systems (Canada) has been shuffling
top management and shifting its corporate center from the west
coast to central Canada.

According to Carla Ray, Everex's new director of marketing,
Everex has moved its executive offices from Vancouver to
Mississauga, a Toronto suburb. The move came as W.L. (Bud)
Stapleton, a former president of Bell Technical Datasystems,
took over the president's job.

Everex's former Vancouver-based vice-president of sales and
marketing has been replaced by three regional sales directors,
Ray said, and by herself in the newly created role of director of
marketing.

Everex Canada also appointed Joe Martin as vice-president of
operations, Doug Stuart as vice-president of administration,
Jennifer Ford as controller, and Gary Reid as vice-president of
technology.

On September 14, Newsbytes reported that Everex's corporate
headquarters in Fremont, California, would lay off about 250
employees worldwide, amounting to roughly 10 percent of its
work force. Everex Canada will not be affected by that layoff,
Ray told Newsbytes.

Everex Canada employs about 75 people, Ray said.

(Grant Buckler/19920922/Press Contact: Carla Ray, Everex
Canada, 416-602-0330)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SFO)(00006)

 ****O'Reilly Publishes Guide To Internet 09/22/92
SEBASTOPOL, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 SEP 22 (NB) -- O'Reilly &
Associates has published another book that is aimed at the
networking market as part of the company's expanded push into
this publishing arena. As reported by Newsbytes earlier, this
venture is one that O'Reilly believes holds much promise.

"The Whole Internet User's Guide and Catalog" is the name of this
new 400-page book that is authored by Ed Krol. The preface gives
you an idea of what Krol set out to accomplish: "This is a book
about the Internet, the world's largest computer network. It's
aimed at the 'garden variety' computer user: not the expert of
computer aficionado, just someone who has a job to get done."

Newsbytes has learned that O'Reilly's intentions in publishing this
book are to help people who are comfortable with using computers
be able to tap into the universe of information that exists on the
Internet. The company's intention is to take people who are
computer users, but not necessarily hackers, and get them to a
state of comfort with the use of this resource.

Each chapter in the book covers some aspect or function of the
Internet in the same manner. They all start with the most basic
information on that topic and steadily progress towards more
complex uses of the subject matter. One of O'Reilly's hopes is
that a novice user could use this guide as their study aid as
they go from the novice state to becoming a power user of the
internet.

Krol's style throughout the book is a breezy conversational style
that is designed to not intimidate users but rather, make them
feel at ease as they explore a potentially complex area. O'Reilly
spokespeople have told Newsbytes that within days of the book's
first shipments, comments about it started flowing in across the
Internet proving once again what a resource it is.

Some of the comments came from Europe and Australia and all
were extremely positive. A couple of university professors in
various countries even sent message to O'Reilly indicating their
desire to use the book as a basis for their courses on the
Internet.

The book began shipping September 13. It retails for $24.95. For
those who wish to order it, the ISBN number is 1-56592-025-2.

(Naor Wallach/19920922/Press Contact: Brian Erwin, O'Reilly &
Associates, 707-829-0515/Public Contact: O'Reilly & Associates,
800-338-6887, 707-829-0515)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SFO)(00007)

Vortex Intros Continuous Backup System For Vines 09/22/92
PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, U.S.A., 1992 SEP 22 (NB) -- Vortex
is set to introduce the latest version of its continuous backup
technology to the Banyan marketplace at the upcoming ABUI
get-together.

The Vortex technology has been available for Netware users for
quite some time and this introduction allows Vortex to move
more heavily into the overall networking arena. Vortex's products
are unique in that they perform at the lowest possible layer of
the operating system and the hardware.

The Vortex devices do their backups on a continual basis by
backing up each disk sector that gets changed. This is very
different than the traditional backup where only those files that
are not in use at that moment are backed up if they have not
changed (i.e. an incremental backup).

Vortex claims that its technology allows the system administrator
to specify any time for which they want to restore their system
and the backup system will be able to provide an exact mirror
image of the disk as it was at that moment. With this Banyan
Vines introduction, Vortex can make available to the network
administrators the option of allowing the user to restore their
own work space for any given moment, subject only to the normal
security considerations.

There are two parts to the system. First is the system server that
is the device that actually attaches below the network operating
system level. This is the piece that is being introduced at this
time with an expected delivery date of October 15. The controller
will cost between $12,695 and $13,495, depending on the kind of
PC controller card that the customer desires be delivered with it.

The second part is the actual backup media. Vortex is planning on
offering both a fixed array of hard disks configured as a RAID
(redundant array of inexpensive disks) as well as a set of
removable hard drives. Pricing has not yet been established.
Vortex expects to have the storage part also available in time
for the October 15 shipping date.

(Naor Wallach/19920922/Press Contact: Geri Gleeson, Vortex,
412-322-7820/Public Contact: Vortex, 412-322-7820)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(HKG)(00008)

Hong Kong: Digital Announcement System For Railway 09/22/92
WAN CHAI, HONG KONG, 1992 SEP 22 (NB) -- As a result of a new
contract between Philips Hong Kong and the Mass Transit Railway
Corporation (MTRC), passengers on the Mass Transit Railway will
soon benefit from clear, pre-recorded announcements.

"It will be such a relief to be able understand what they are
actually saying," one passenger told Newsbytes.

Routine, special and emergency messages are recorded digitally
on memory IC (integrated circuit) chips with the state-of-the art
coding technology pioneer by Philips. Similar to the well known
DCC digital compact cassette and CD-1 compact disc interactive,
the coding method used for this announcement system is based
on Philips MUSICAM digital processing technology which greatly
reduces memory size while keeping hi-fi sound quality
reproduction.

Announcements will be made both in English and Chinese languages.
Playback will be semi-automatically controlled, enabling drivers
to concentrate on train operation and passenger safety. A further
enhancement will be the sounding of the chimes to warn
passengers that the train doors are about to close, and this is
expected to enhance safety further.

The multi-million Hong Kong dollar contract was signed in July
by J. Bergvelt, president and chairman of Philips Electronics South
East Asia (Holding) Ltd,  Alex Ng, general manager of Philips H.K.
Industrial electronics division, and W.R. Donald, operations
director and P. Gaffney, chief engineer of operations for the
MTRC.

The signing of the contract for the new announcement system
marks the second major community service collaboration of
Philips with the MTRC within one month. Earlier this year, Philips
and the MTRC joined forces with HKTVB to bring television
coverage of 1992 Olympic Games highlights to all MTR stations
and public areas of several MTRC-managed housing estates.

The new Philips digital announcement system will be installed
on MTRC trains in phases commencing mid-1993 for completion
by September 1994.

(Brett Cameron/19920922/Press contact: Shirley Lam, Philips
H.K. Ltd, tel: [phone];HK time is GMT + 8)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(HKG)(00009)

Marcam Joins Synon Developers Alliance 09/22/92
WAN CHAI, HONG KONG 1992 SEP 22 (NB) -- Synon Corporation, a
supplier of CASE (computer-aided software engineering) tools for
IBM mid-range systems, has announced that the US-based Marcam
Corporation has become part of the Synon Developers' Alliance.
The company joins Software 2000, Integral Systems, DataWright
and many other IBM mid-range software providers in the
software alliance.

Marcam is a leader in process manufacturing systems and the
developer of PRISM, a business planning and control system that
addresses the functions of production, logistics, maintenance and
financials. and provides a computer integrated enterprise
system for process manufacturers. The company's first step after
joining the alliance will be to develop and market a Synon data
model for use by companies seeking to build extensions to
selected applications of PRISM.

"Marcam is clearly the leader in process manufacturing
solutions," said Synon's Vice President John de Wit. "This
strategic relationship will provide many benefits to Marcam
customers, including access to the Synon Client/Server
Generator and other advanced Synon products."

According to de Wit, the agreement is of particular significance
in the Asia Pacific region, where many countries are enjoying
rapid economic growth, largely because of demand for quality
manufactured goods.

"Regional manufacturers have woken up to the fact that
inexpensive labor is not enough to maintain a competitive edge.
They are turning to information technology solutions to boost
their productivity," he said. "Using Synon CASE tools to develop
a PRISM solution offers a cost effective and elegant method of
integrating information technology into their enterprise."

Commenting on the alliance, Marcam's President and Chief
Executive Officer Paul Margolis said: "PRISM applications create
a very powerful database which is accessed by PRISM and other
applications within a customer's organization. We believe that
Synon's products are superior in the AS/400 CASE market and
will provide our customers with another important tool to
access PRISM data with new applications."

(Brett Cameron/19920922/Press Contact: Sharon Williams,
Synon, tel: [phone];HK time is GMT + 8))


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

IBM Canada Launches HelpWare Support 09/22/92
MARKHAM, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1992 SEP 22 (NB) -- Following a
lead taken by its US parent company in March, IBM Canada has
announced HelpWare, a package of service, support, and sales
offerings.

Aimed at all customers from the home to big business, HelpWare
includes a telephone support line, educational programs, and an
information line for prospective customers. It covers PS/1 and
PS/2 hardware and operating systems.

The Canadian program is slightly different in structure from the
American one, though it includes most of the same features. IBM
Canada's version of HelpWare includes three parts: HelpClub,
HelpBuy, and HelpLearn.

The real service and support items are part of HelpClub, which
offers access to a toll-free telephone support line where some 25
consultants will answer questions about IBM hardware and
software. This operation is based in Markham, Ontario, where IBM
Canada has its headquarters, company spokeswoman Martha Terdik
said. Customers will get one year of free access to HelpWare upon
buying an IBM personal computer, and annual renewals will cost
C$59.

The support line will be available from 8 a.m. to midnight,
Eastern time, Monday through Friday, and from 11 to 4 on
Saturdays. HelpClub members will also get regular mailings of
"Help Notes" offering tips on personal computing. HelpClub is
similar to what the American arm of IBM calls HelpCenter.

HelpBuy includes IBM Direct, the company's phone-order line.
Callers can order systems, or they can obtain product literature or
dealer referrals. IBM also said it will make on-the-spot personal
financing available as part of the HelpBuy program. Unlike its
American counterpart, the Canadian HelpBuy program does not
include a trade-in plan for personal computer buyers, Terdik said.

The third piece of HelpWare is HelpLearn, a collection of training
programs and related applications. Included in this is the option
for PS/1 buyers to have a representative come and install their
systems, and the option of two-hour home or office courses for
C$79.95. The latter is unique to Canada's program.

Also included under the new HelpWare umbrella are other offerings
such as SystemXtra technical support for medium to large
organizations, a HelpFax product-information-by-fax service, and
the Personal Systems Bulletin Board, a forum for users to share
hardware and software information.

Terdik said that HelpWare will be extended to cover new IBM
products due for release in the next few weeks.

(Grant Buckler/19920922/Press Contact: Martha Terdik, IBM
Canada, 800-563-2139)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(LON)(00011)

Hayes Intros French/German Versions Of Smartcom Mac 09/22/92
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1992 SEP 22 (NB) -- Hayes Microcomputer
Products has announced French and German versions of Smartcom
II for the Mac. The release of the local language editions follows
on from the unveiling of the UK version earlier this year.

Announcing the local language editions, Dennis Hayes, Hayes'
president and co-founder, said that Smartcom II for the Mac "has
been recognized by users and reviewers as one of the most
inexpensive, reliable, easy to use communications software
available for the Macintosh. Now we've expended the software's
capabilities by adding language support and features that are
tailored specifically for users in Europe."

Smartcom II 3.4 for the Mac will be available in Europe from the
end of the month onwards at UKP 99. Interestingly, Hayes is
offering the English/French/German resource files free of charge
through its support bulletin board service (Online with Hayes),
which is accessible in London, Atlanta (toll free), and Hong Kong,
as well as via the Hayes special interest groups on CIX,
Compuserve, and Genie.

According to Hayes, users of earlier versions of Smartcom II
for the Mac ill need to upgrade to version 3.4 via their local
upgrade center to use the multi-lingual resource files. The
resource files allow language changes, regardless of the
original language version of Smartcom II for the Mac.

Here in the UK, Smartcom II for the Mac is available with a 90-
day warranty and comes with the multi-lingual resource files
already installed.

As well as the local language enhancements, version 3.4 has
facilities for Minitel terminal emulation. This allows the
package to be used with the French Videotex network using a
24-line by 80-character screen.

The Online with Hayes BBS is accessible in the European region on
London ([phone]. In the US and Canada, the service is
accessible toll-free on 1-800-US-HAYES or 1-800-HI-MODEM.
Integrated Service Digital Network (ISDN) access is available on
404-729-6525. In Hong Kong, the service is accessible on +852-
887-7590. All ports on the various services support 14,400 bits-
per-second (V.32bis) modems with V.42Bis error correction and
data compression.

(Steve Gold/19920922/Press & Public Contact: Hayes: 0810848-
1858; Email on The Internet: [e-mail])


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(LON)(00012)

UK: Online Information '92 - Provisional Details 09/22/92
OXFORD, ENGLAND, 1992 SEP 22 (NB) -- Learned Information
Limited has announced provisional details of Online Information
'92, a conference/exhibition scheduled for 8/10 December this
year.

According to Learned Information, which is organizing the event,
Online Information '92 will take place at London's Olympia 2
exhibition center. To promote the event, Learned has published a
20-page program which, it claims, "reveals the most ambitious
and extensive coverage of the field of electronic and optical
media to date."

The provisional program for the three-day event details a series
of conferences plus a parallel online/CD-ROM exhibition.
According to the show organizers, the event features several
highlights, including a number of professional interest areas,
technical tutorials and a session on current applied research.

Online Information also appears to be diversifying outside of the
mainstream online arena. The conference will include two days of
satellite seminars, plus foreign language sessions and a number
of user group meetings. According to Jean Mulligan, the director
of Learned Information, the costs for registration to the event
are being kept as low as possible.

"Our aim has always been to make the best possible use of
delegates' time during the three days away from their offices.
With this in mind, the cost of attending Online Information '92
could represent the best investment a company can make this
year," she said, adding that academic discounts and discounts
for early registration are being offered.

(Steve Gold/19920922/Press & Public Contact: Learned
Information - Tel: [phone]; Fax: [phone])


(NEWS)(APPLE)(LON)(00013)

Apple UK Reveals Purchasing Decision Survey Details 09/22/92
UXBRIDGE, MIDDLESEX, ENGLAND, 1992 SEP 22 (NB) -- Reliability
and ease-of-use are the most important considerations for small
businesses when purchasing a new computer, according to a
recent survey of more than 500 companies, carried out on behalf
of Apple Computer UK.

According to the survey, which was carried out to work out how
the Apple Mac is doing against the PC in sales terms, over 80
percent of small businesses surveyed rated ease-of-use and
reliability as the key factors that affect their purchasing
decision.

The second most important factor is the level of service, support,
and training that is offered, with a machine. 53 percent of
survey respondents saying that these features were important
when making their buying decision.

Craig Sears-Black, Apple's business unit marketing manager,
said that the results of the survey come out in the Mac's favor.
"Clearly the Mac is well placed to meet the needs of small
businesses as it is simple and easy to use, allowing users to
concentrate on the task at hand, instead of trying to master
difficult computer demands," he said.

In the survey, only 39 percent of respondent businesses said that
prices are important when making an informed buying decision,
while just 20 percent said they looked for a wide product range.

More than half of those surveyed did not own a PC but said they
believed that they would greatly benefit from the introduction of
one to their businesses, particularly in the financial management
and administration arenas. The reason for them not buying a
computer? Price.

(Steve Gold/19920922/Press & Public Contact; Apple Computer
UK - Tel: [phone])


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

Software Key To New Voice Markets, Says VMX 09/22/92
SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 SEP 22 (NB) -- Software is
behind the collision of voice mail, voice processing, and call
processing vendors, a VMX executive told Newsbytes. And
software will decide who takes the market.

Venkat Mohan, executive vice president of VMX, a leading builder
of voice mail systems which has recently entered the call
processing market, acknowledged that in the short term, his
firm retains advantages in the voice mail niche, while firms like
Aspect retain their advantages in call processing. But the niches
are being "fundamentally redefined," and voice mail itself is
becoming a commodity, he said.

"Large companies are all moving towards a more integrated form
of information, bridging the gap between what was artificially
partitioned applications," Mohan explained. And they are having
to choose a single hardware platform -- either a large computer
or PBX (private branch exchange) -- to control those functions.

In the past, Mohan said, vendors either added voice-processing
software to IBM and Digital Equipment computers, or added voice
mail functions to PBX platforms from AT&T, Northern Telecom,
and others.

To keep margins in the underlying hardware "IBM and DEC
are entering this market with their own paradigm, AT&T and ROLM
are also entering" the market. But "the computer companies don't
understand telecommunications, and telephone companies don't
understand computing."

Mohan believes that PBX-based vendors have an advantage now,
because their systems are designed to be out-of-action for only
30 minutes a year, against 10 days for most computer platforms.
But he thinks it is far more likely that computing vendors will
create more reliable hardware than that PBX vendors will get the
software right in the long run.

And for any voice system operation, whether selling voice
mail for executives, call processing for operators, or voice-
based services like fax and electronic mail, the answer is
software. "Lotus 1-2-3 runs on a variety of platforms, and people
build loyalty to the applications," he said. "Ninety-five percent of
our announcements now are software. We're trying to get away
from a vested interest in the hardware."

(Dana Blankenhorn/19920922/Press Contact: Ellen Pensky, VMX,
408-441-1166)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00015)

ROLM Targets Small Voice Mail Operations 09/22/92
SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 SEP 22 (NB) -- Siemens'
ROLM unit has taken aim at the emerging small business market
for voice mail with software for its PhoneMail and PhoneMail SP
systems. Both are based on the company's own private branch
exchanges, or PBXs, which the company calls CBX gear.

PhoneMail SPS offers 4-12 channels and has many features small
businesses demand, the company said. ROLM also cut the price of
its PhoneMail SP product by 15 percent and increased its capacity
to 12 channels. PhoneMail SPS, which carries a list price of
$10,700, works with ROLM, Siemens, Northern Telecom and
telephone company Centrex switches, as well as supporting a
network option and upgradeability to the main SP unit. The SP is
designed mainly to work with ROLM's own CBX line.

New software for the SP also supports the AMIS analog
standard, so it can be linked with other voice mail systems,
digital integration with AT&T PBXs, and the PhoneMail
Information Exchange, which provides two-way message
notification between PhoneMail and virtually any electronic
mail system.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19920921/Press Contact: ROLM, Carter
Cromwell, 408/764-8020)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00016)

Billions Of Dollars Hang On TR-303 Telecom Standard 09/22/92
BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA, U.S.A., 1992 SEP 22 (NB) -- An obscure
telecommunications standard called TR-303 is starting to impact
the purchasing decisions of major local phone companies. And it
could leave Northern Telecom and AT&T, who presently dominate
the multi-billion dollar market, out in the cold.

That's the conclusion of Mark Lutkowitz, president of
TransFormation, a telecommunications research firm, in
a recent $5,500 report on the supplier market.

Northern and AT&T dominate the market for big switches bought
by local phone companies like Ameritech, while AT&T also
dominates the market for transmission equipment, Lutkowitz says.
But when Ameritech recently decided to put over $1 billion in new
equipment to upgrade its network for fiber-optic transmission,
the big winner was DSC of Plano, Texas, which took half the
money.

The reason? "AT&T and Northern are dragging their feet on
standards, trying to protect their installed base," Lutkowitz
told Newsbytes. In particular, they are paying little more than
lip-service to a Bellcore proposal called TR-303.

This proposal offers a standard way for a digital loop carrier
system, a small piece of any network, to link with a phone
company switch. "They're not supporting the standard in terms of
product," fearing that if the terminals of competitors like NEC,
Fujitsu and Alcatel can talk to one another, their margins might
suffer.

But this offers a special opportunity for smaller companies like
Tellabs, ADC Telecommunications and DSC, which got some
unwelcome publicity in the last year when software in its Signal
Transfer Points caused service outages on both coasts, and when
Motorola, which had been re-selling its cellular equipment, moved
into a joint-venture in that area with Northern.

"DSC's deal is very big news," Lutkowitz said. "Fujitsu's
probably the most formidable competitor to Northern and AT&T
in terms of getting SONET products out quickly," but the US
companies should not be ignored. "Publicly, AT&T and Northern
support TR-303. But this may speed the work" of producing
products that implement it.

AT&T has other troubles, he added. Since the giant company wants
to supply Bell company competitors like MFS and Teleport, they
may be losing bigger contracts.

"Northern Telecom and Siemens got 90 percent of the lines on the
last Ameritech switch contract," Lutkowitz said, because "AT&T
is by-passing Ameritech, going to end-users and hooking them up
directly. Ameritech may also be fed up because AT&T wants to
supply Teleport and MFS, which are competing with Ameritech.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19920922/Press Contact: Mark Lutkowitz,
Trans-Formation, 205-970-6064; FAX: [phone])


(NEWS)(APPLE)(DEN)(00017)

WP Integrates Office, Mainstream Newscast For Mac 09/22/92
OREM, UTAH, U.S.A., 1992 SEP 22 (NB) -- Wordperfect has
announced that it has integrated Mainstream Newscast into
its Office 3.03 suite of software for the Apple Macintosh.

Mainstream Newscast is a broadcast information service that
receives real-time news broadcasts from various sources such
as newswire, magazines, newspapers and newsletters in digital
form from a satellite or via FM radio signals, and formats it for
display on a Mac.

Users select the news subjects they are interested in by
designating key words. The news articles selected are routed to
the Office users electronic mail (e-mail) "In Box" and the user is
notified that news stories are waiting.

Wordperfect says Newscast works in conjunction with Office's
LAN (local area network) connection server via an Intelligent Data
Receiver. Transmissions received through the Macintosh can be
routed to DOS, Windows, Unix, or VMS machines through the
Wordperfect Office LA connection server, according to product
manager Ryan Stirland.

In addition to the software, users will need an FM antenna or a
small satellite dish Mainstream's IDR. A subscription to the news
sources you want to monitor is also necessary. A variety of news
services, including Associated Press, Reuters, McGraw-Hill, Dow
Jones, Comtex, Knight Ridder, Market News Service, NewsNet, PR
Newswire, Business Wire, The Sports Network, and Weatherbank
all offer news, financial, and sports information.

Mainstream Newscast is a product of Salt Lake City-based
Mainstream Data. The monthly charge starts at about $50,
depending on how many news services the user wishes to receive.
Newsbytes reported the availability of Newscast for the Mac in
January of this year.

(Jim Mallory/19920922/Press contact: Brian Chapman,
Wordperfect Corporation, 801-228-5037; John Bannion,
Mainstream Data, 801-584-2800)


(NEWS)(IBM)(DEN)(00018)

Upgraded DataPerfect For DOS/Windows Version Planned 09/22/92
OREM, UTAH, U.S.A., 1992 SEP 22 (NB) -- Wordperfect says
that it is working on an upgrade to its DOS version of DataPerfect.
The company also claims to be working on a Windows version of
the menu- driven relational database.

DataPerfect 2.3, which will ship network-ready, went into beta
testing recently. The product is expected to ship during the
fourth quarter.

Upgraded features include a new menuing system, a quick Merge
Define report option, diagnostics and order utilities, phone
dialing capabilities, and an optional transaction log feature.

Wordperfect President Alan Ashton said that DataPerfect 2.3
plays an integral role in the company's recently announced WISE
(Wordperfect Information Systems Environment) strategy. "We
have a long-term commitment to DataPerfect, and will develop
it on multiple platforms," said Ashton.

According to product manager Carl Hansen, the new menu system
allows a database definer to customize front-end menus and an
unlimited number of sub-menus for each database. Users can
reports from menu selections, launch shell macros, or go directly
into specific panels, says Hansen. The menu system also offers
security features which allow the database developer to control
the extend to which any individual user can create, edit and
delete records.

DPDiagnostics and DPOrder are the two new utilities included in
version 2.3 for DOS. DPDiagnostics detects errors in databases
and displays an error message that can be printed or read on the
screen. DPOrder allows users to organize and reorder report and
panel lists for specific databases. users can place most
frequently-used reports and panels to the top of the on-screen
list for quick access.

The optional transaction log allows the user to export all the
information in a database to a single transaction log. Using the
log import facility, the user can then retrieve all database data
in a single operation. Hansen says the log features significantly
reduce the time users lose adding and deleting fields in an
existing database.

New reporting features include the ability for networked
DataPerfect 2.3 users to create, edit, set up and run reports
simultaneously. A new report option called Quick Merge Define,
allows the user to create WP 5.0 or 5.1 secondary merge files
with named fields. A report can be designed to process all
records or individual records selected by the user. The program
also provides a phone dialing ability by highlighting a database
field and pressing the appropriate function key.

DataPerfect 2.3 has a suggested retail price of $495 in the US,
and $595 in Canada. Registered users of version 2.2 can upgrade
for $89 US or $110 Canadian. Earlier version owners can upgrade
for an additional $10. If you purchase version 2.2 within 30
days of the release of version 2.3 your upgrade will be free.

(Jim Mallory/19920922/Press contact: Linda Berlin, WordPerfect
Corporation, 801-228-5014, fax [phone]; Reader contact:
WordPerfect Corporation, 801-451-5151, 801-225-5000, fax
801-228-5077)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(DEN)(00019)

Alki's MasterWord For Enhancing Microsoft's Word 09/22/92
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON, U.S.A., 1992 SEP 22 (NB) -- Alki Software
Corporation has announced MasterWord, an enhancement program
for Microsoft's Word For Windows word processing program.

MasterWord includes a user-configurable replacement for Word's
on-line help, a custom toolbar that users can customize to mimic
Word's own toolbar. Users can switch between more than 20
custom toolbars with a couple of mouse clicks.

You can select from over 500 buttons to customize the toolbar or
you can create personalized buttons with the built-in editor. One
oversize button at the left of the toolbar can display the date,
time, elapsed time template name, word count, current view, a
user-created reminder, or the name of the current CustomBar Set.
Word's monochrome icons can even be replaced with color buttons.

The company says that a feature called "Nickname" allows the
user to assign codes to macros and commands. Codes can also be
assigned to styles. Key combinations can be up to four letters
long, expanding the key assignment over the Word single-key
shortcut keys.

The program also includes MasterWord Manager, which allows the
user to move a macro, style, or glossary entry into a different
template, and can run a macro from any template. In effect,
Manager gives a Word user access to any macro from any document.

MasterWord comes with over 50 macros already created, for tasks
such as arranging and cascading windows, viewing the clipboard or
style area, renaming a document, printing just the current page,
toggling the revision marks on and off, and running MasterWord
features. Other macros close all open documents, insert an auto-
numbered footnote, adjust the sensitivity of the mouse, set up a
printer, switch to the next windows, and adjust the location of
the help window.

MasterWord has a suggested retail price of $99.95, but the
company is offering it at the introductory price of $59.95 for
DOS, Macintosh, or Windows versions. The program is also
available in 14 European languages. Optional expanded thesaurus
and spelling programs are available at $39.95 and $69.95
respectively.

(Jim Mallory/19920922/Press contact: George Arthur, Alki
Software, 206-286-2600; Reader contact: Alki Software,
206-286-2600 or 800-669-9673, fax [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(BOS)(00020)

New for PC: Multi-Edit For Windows Programming Tool 09/22/92
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1992 SEP 22 (NB) -- At the
Software Development Conference here in Boston, American
Cybernetics Inc., (ACI) has introduced the first Windows version
of Multi-Edit, along with an upgrade to the DOS edition of the
popular programmer's text editor.

Steve Rawlings, sales manager, told Newsbytes that earlier
editions of Multi-Edit have been aimed at bringing a ease of use
to the DOS platform. According to Rawlings, Version 6.0 for DOS
-- the most recent of the previous releases -- allows up to 128
active file windows to be displayed on screen at once, and also
offers such conveniences as "search and replace" among multiple
files within a directory.

The new upgrade, version 6.1 for DOS, brings syntax highlighting,
a feature that lets the user assign unique color attributes to
language-specific keywords, symbols, string constants, and
comments.

Also new are color templates, the ability to search-and-replace
across directories, and added menu selections, including "Save All
Files" and "Close All Windows."

Specific capabilities of the upcoming Windows edition are still
under wraps. But Rawlings told Newsbytes that the Windows
program will supply "a really exciting GUI," as well as a toolkit
that allows an exceptional degree of user customization.

The sales manager also stressed that Multi-Edit is enhanced
frequently, even between releases, in response to comments
received from users over the ACI's telephone support line.

One example of this kind of enhancement is a pop-up programmer's
calculator added to a previous edition for DOS, he illustrated.
The tool prevents the need to exit into another application to look
at a calculator, or, alternatively, to use a memory-resident pop-up
tool that could cause conflicts with other TSR programs.

Rawlings told Newsbytes that Multi-Edit for DOS 6.1 will ship in
October, and Multi-Edit for Windows in the first quarter of 1992.
The Windows version will be compatible with Windows 3.1 and 3.0,
and also with Windows NT, he said.

"So a separate version for NT won't be necessary," he commented.
ACI hasn't yet decided whether to ready an edition for OS/2, he
said.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19920922/Press and reader contact: Steve
Rawlings, American Cybernetics, tel [phone])


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(TYO)(00021)

Japan: Dentsu Enters Multimedia Advertising Business 09/22/92
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1992 SEP 22 (NB) -- Dentsu, Japan's major
advertising company, claims that it has developed the industry's
first multimedia advert here in the Japan. The advert, which runs
on the Apple Macintosh, is published in CD-ROM (compact disk
read-only memory) format.

Dentsu is promoting two companies with its multimedia
advertising - the Toyota motor company, and Kao, a cosmetics
firm. Both of the client companies worked closely with Dentsu
in the project, whose official name is MS.

When run from disk, the MS software flashes up the latest news on
sport and/or current topics of interest on-screen, as well as
features on business, all of which have the sponsor company's
name in the background. Since the software supports full motion
video and voice overs, Dentsu claims that it is highly appealing
to consumers.

Around 20 percent of the playing time of the CD-ROM software is
set aside for a commercial advertisement. Although this may
seem a lot, it means that Dentsu can sell the disks for around
five percent (3,000 yen - $24) of their normal commercial cost,
especially where archival information is involved.

Initially, Dentsu plans to sell the disks exclusively for the
Apple Macintosh, although PC versions are in the pipeline, as
are versions for the NEC range of computers.

So what is the primary market for the disks? According to
Dentsu, the main route for sales will be through book stores who,
along with convenience stores, have been selling CD-ROM-based
"story books" here in Japan.

Since volume sales is the best way of making money on the deal,
Dentsu is reported to be considering a link-up with major
magazine publishers, so that future disks can be a joint
publishing deal.

(Masayuki Miyazawa/19920921/Press Contact: Dentsu,
[phone])


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00022)

 ****GTE Intros Mastercard 09/22/92
STAMFORD, CONNECTICUT, U.S.A., 1992 SEP 22 (NB) -- GTE, the
largest local phone company in the US, joined competitors like
Ameritech and AT&T in bringing out its own combination charge
card and calling card. As with similar cards recently announced
by General Motors and General Electric, the new GTE card is a
MasterCard, since Visa has taken a hard line against new
industrial companies introducing credit cards in competition
with its member banks.

Like many of the other industrial credit cards, the GTE card
carries a variable rate. Unlike the other cards, which offer
rebates on products but peg their rates at about 10 percent over
the prime, the GTE card will carry an introductory interest rate
of 6 percent, the rate banks charge their best customers.

But that is a "teaser" rate, used to get customers in the door.
The actual rate on the card will be 16.4 percent after April,
1993, and it is designed to float at 10.4 percent over prime. The
AT&T card, by contrast, is designed to float at 9.8 percent above
prime, but its rate was recently dropped to 8.9 percent over
prime in a preemptive move against competition like that from
GTE, GE, and GM. The current average rate of the largest issuers
is 17.7 percent on a standard card, 16.8 percent on a gold card
given to good credit risks, according to the Credit Card News, a
twice-monthly newsletter on the industry with subscriptions
costing $375 per year.

The only rebate in the GTE program is on GTE phone services, of
10 percent, up to $50 per year. The goal is to get people with
high current balances but good credit ratings to switch to the
GTE card, after which the rate might be adjusted. The card is
technically being issued by Associates National Bank of Delaware,
a unit of Ford Motor, which handles all credit functions.

Gordon Allen, general manager for card operations at GTE, told
Newsbytes that his company's own billing computers will play no
part in the new credit card. Prospects are being selected by the
same types of credit bureau systems used by competitors, and
most transactions will go through the same credit authorization
systems used by the Associates for its other clients.

For instance, if you make a "0-plus" call from your home, that
charge will appear on your regular GTE phone bill, while if you
make a credit card call from a pay-phone, the charge will appear
on a separate credit card bill. AT&T puts those bills into the
same envelopes, but GTE has no plans to do that.

James Daly, editor of Credit Card News, a trade publication,
called the terms of the GTE card on par with the offerings of
Ameritech and General Motors. "I see this as a tactic to
further customer ties and increase customer loyalty. It's
primarily a marketing-driven strategy rather than one to
enhance their networks."

AT&T now offers a 15.9 percent rate to its regular customers,
14.9 percent to those who signed up during a "charter
subscription" period. AT&T also has more power to hold
receivables through its Universal Bank than any other industrial
issuer.

"Visa has passed rules to prevent an identical version of AT&T
from appearing," Daly told Newsbytes. "MasterCard, even though
they've been more friendly toward co-branding, has made it clear
they want the MasterCard member in a co-branding relationship
to own the receivables and perform traditional banking functions,
including granting credit and doing collections," done by the
Universal Bank for AT&T. The Universal Bank also sells
"receivables" to AT&T on a regular basis. In contrast, Household
International owns receivables on General Motors and Ameritech,
while the Associates own receivables on GTE.

Generally, credit card attrition, in which customers with good
credit turn their cards in for a better deal, has been high the
last few years, said Daly. "Some people are experiencing
voluntary attrition in the neighborhood of 10 percent. A no
annual fee card will increase the pressure, there's no doubt
about it."

As with competing "industrial" cards, the GTE card will mainly be
marketing through the mail, with an initial mailing to consumers
in 29 states where GTE provides telephone service. Household
owns receivables on GM. Associates own receivables on GTE. A
card offering in 11 additional states where GTE provides phone
service, including California will be made in 1993. Consumers in
non-GTE telephone operating areas, however, will not be
solicited.

Except for the low up-front rate and annual fee, the GTE card
appears to some observers to be similar to those of competitors,
perhaps even a little less attractive. Allen called his card
competitive, and disputed the notion that the six percent rate
is a "teaser."

(Dana Blankenhorn/19920922/Press Contact: GTE, Thomas Byker,
214-714-0244; James Daly, Credit Card News, 312-648-0261)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00023)

MCI Intros SNMP Frame Relay Service 09/22/92
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 SEP 22 (NB) -- At the
Telecommunications show in San Diego, MCI introduced a network
management service for frame relay based on the Simple Network
Management Protocol. SNMP is a popular standard for local area
networking.

The idea is that the service will display information on the MCI
network's performance and monitor alarms, using the same
standards and formats many companies already use for their own
internal data networks.

Frame relay is a new standard for moving data which runs at much
faster speeds than older X.25 links, putting error-correction
into larger "frames" to speed the service. The information coming
form the Customer Network Management, or CNM, system, is
displayed using MCI's Management Information Base software. The
idea is to eliminate the need for separate LAN management
systems, MCI said.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19920922/Press Contact: MCI, 202-887-3000)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(DEN)(00024)

Toshiba Drops Flat Screen Monitor Prices 09/22/92
BUFFALO GROVE, ILLINOIS, U.S.A., 1992 SEP 22 (NB) -- Toshiba
America has announced that it has dropped the suggested retail
prices of two of its 17-inch flat screen color monitors.

The suggested list price of the OmniSync CM was reduced by 34
percent, from $1,750 to $1,159, while the OmniSync CU was
lowered 24 percent, from $1,450 to $1,099. The new prices are
effective immediately.

"We dropped our prices in response to our distributor's requests,"
said national marketing manager Mark Dziekan. The distributors
told Toshiba America that the two monitors were priced too high,
considering the market's increasing competitiveness. Dziekan
said that the two units will now be more competitive and offer a
higher level of price/performance value.

The CM monitor has a maximum resolution of 1280 by 1024, and
supports horizontal scanning frequencies of 30 - 65 kilohertz
(kHz). The CU's maximum resolution is 1024 by 768, and scans at
30 - 57 kHz. Both monitors have a vertical scan rate of 50 - 90
hertz.

The monitors support VGA, Super VGA, XGA, 8514/A, and Macintosh
II system video, and include a microprocessor for storage of nine
preset and nine end-user mode selections. A Dynamic Astigmatism
Control (DAC) feature improves focus in the screen corners, and
dual parabolic voltage circuitry minimizes beam dispersion and
enhances overall focus, according to Toshiba America.

(Jim Mallory/19920922/Press contact: Glynis Gibson, Gibson
Communications for Toshiba America, 312-883-2388; Reader
contact: 708-541-9400 or 800-253-5249, X321)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(DEN)(00025)

Great Plains Intros Graphical Accounting Program 09/22/92
FARGO, NORTH DAKOTA, U.S.A., 1992 SEP 22 (NB) -- Great Plains
Software has announced Great Plains Dynamics, a modular,
network-ready accounting program. The announcement was made
at the company's annual "Stampede," a gathering of more than 600
VARs (value added resellers), consultants, software developers
and CPAs (certified public accountants).

The company says that Dynamics will be released simultaneously
for Windows and Macintosh computers in the fourth quarter.

Dynamics gives the customer a choice of two client/server file
managers, Btrieve or c-tree. The c-tree server and LAN Manager
give the user simultaneous access to data across Windows and
Mac platforms on a single network server.

Great Plains said that underlying the foundation of Dynamics is
Dexterity, a graphical cross-platform development system which
uses object-oriented programming techniques. Dexterity uses
scripts to perform procedures common to both Dynamics and third-
party applications, and its portable between Windows and the
Macintosh.

Computer program developers use the term portability
to describe a program which can be easily moved to another
machine, or platform. Usually, that means the program code
has to be written in a high-level language, such as C.

Dynamics also provides a set of customization tools which allow
data screens to be modified, write applications outside the
Dexterity environment to write applications that interact with
the Dynamics data files, and design screens and reports.

Other features include account numbers up to 45 alphanumeric
characters, multi-currency capabilities, statistical or unit
account capabilities, WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get)
financial report generation, an on-screen audit trail, and
modifiable reports and screens. User-definable, editable on-line
documentation is also available.

Great Plains says only Dynamics-certified VARs and some
Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) will actually sell the
product. Consultants will implement, support and customize
systems, and conduct client training.

The company says the initial release in the fourth quarter will
include System Manager with Report Writer, General Ledger,
Dynamics Modifier, and Dexterity. General availability of these
and additional modules begins in the first quarter of 1993. Pricing
varies depending on the modules purchased.

GP spokesperson Terry Kalil told Newsbytes that prices vary
greatly depending on the configuration of the system. For example,
a multi-user, multi-company version of System Manager with
Report Writer, which can handle four users and track four
companies, will sell for $1,500. Core modules start at $300.

"We've changed the orientation to much more task oriented since
there are many smaller businesses in the middle market that don't
need multi-company ledgers and consolidations, or magnetic
media. They need a basic payroll and they can now get that for
$500," Kalil said.

At the same time, Kalil stressed that even though the core
price is relatively low, Great Plains is still in the high-end
accounting program business. "Absolutely not; we've changed
the configuration," she told Newsbytes.

Since 1987 Great Plains has offered a guaranteed one-hour
response to technical support calls, and says in the past 12
months has met that guarantee 99.9 percent of the time.

(Jim Mallory/19920922/Press contact: Terry Kalil, Great
Plains Software, 701-281-3130; Reader contact: Great Plains
Software, 701-281-0550, fax [phone])


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(DEN)(00026)

Ramtron Appoints Marketing/Sales VP 09/22/92
COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO, U.S.A., 1992 SEP 22 (NB) --
Ramtron International Corporation has announced the appointment
of Jack R. Morgan to the newly created position of senior vice
president of marketing and sales. Morgan will report to Ramtron
President and Chief Operating Officer L. David Sikes. Sikes
assumed leadership of Ramtron July 7.

Ramtron manufactures and markets ferroelectric random access
memory (FRAM) and enhanced dynamic RAM (EDRAM) products.
RAM refers to random access memory, the volatile memory of
computer devices. Newsbytes reported in late January, 1991,
that Ramtron had introduced the first non-volatile RAM.

Ramtron told Newsbytes that the product would be suitable for
use in HDTV (high definition TV), robotics controls, laser printer
and disk storage controllers, fax machines, modems and cell
phones. At present FRAM capacities are not sufficient to be
practical to use as non-volatile memory in computers, but as
higher capacity chips are developed, that would be a logical
market.

Morgan held various executive positions with Motorola Inc over a
23-year period, including vice president/director of marketing,
and before joining Ramtron held an executive position with VLSI
Technology from 1989 to 1991, Ramtron spokesperson Jill Goebel
told Newsbytes.

Sikes said that Morgan's extensive marketing and sales
background will compliment Ramtron's existing management
team. "His immediate efforts will focus on achieving broad
market acceptance form Ramtron's innovative memory
products," he said.

Ramtron holds more than 30 domestic and foreign patents
covering its proprietary technologies and products, and says it
has more than 75 more patents pending.

(Jim Mallory/19920922/Press contact: Jill Goebel, Origin
Systems for Ramtron, 719-630-3384; Reader contact: Ramtron
International, 719-481-7000)


(NEWS)(IBM)(DEN)(00027)

 ****Dell Intros Upgradable 33MHz 486-based Desktops 09/22/92
AUSTIN, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1992 SEP 22 (NB) -- Dell Computer has
announced that it is now shipping two new upgradable desktop
systems based on the Intel 486SX central processor.

One of the two 33 megahertz (MHz) systems is the 486P, while
the other is designated the 486D. Dell introduced its 486P and
486P models last year. The company says that customers who
purchase one of the new units will save $200 over a similarly
configured system based on the Intel 486 DX chip. Systems using
the 486SX are designed for users who do not need a math
coprocessor chip.

A Dell 486P/33 with 4 megabytes (MB) of RAM, a 120MB hard drive,
one floppy disk drive, a mouse, and DOS 5.0 an Windows 3.1 already
installed will pay $1,650 at the suggested retail price. Various
monitor options are available, said the company, including a Super
VGA color display priced at $349. Hard drives up to 500MB are
available for the 486P/33, and up to 1.4 Gigabytes for the 486D/33.
Cache memory of 8 kilobytes is available on both systems, and
system memory can be expanded up to 64MB. The 486P/33 uses
a 150 watt power supply, while the 486d/33 has a 220 volt
power supply.

According to Dell senior VP Joel Kocher about 60 percent of Dell
end-users have moved to 486-based systems. The new systems
are about $200 more than a similarly configured Dell system
based on a 25MHz 486 SX-based system. Dell systems include
system-life toll-free technical support, and on-site service
through a third party provider. Other service and support options,
as well as extended service contracts, are also available.

Dell has just completed installation of a new phone system at its
Austin, Texas headquarters to handle sales and support calls. The
system can handle up to 1,000 agent positions and 1,200
incoming trunks. San Jose, California-based Aspect
Communications was the contractor for the system. Dell said it
installed the new system because of the volume of sales calls it
is receiving.

(Jim Mallory/19920922/Press contact: Dean Kline, Dell
Computer, 512-794-4100; Reader contact: Dell Computer,
512-338-4400, 800-289-3355)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(DEN)(00028)

Exabyte Says 3Qtr Less Than Expected 09/22/92
BOULDER, COLORADO, U.S.A., 1992 SEP 22 (NB) -- Exabyte
says that it expects net income for the third quarter to be
in the range of 20 to 25 cents per share instead of the 48 to 57
cents analysts estimated. The estimated results exclude the
impact of the company's acquisition of R-Byte, Inc.

Actual revenues are now being projected at $60 million to $65
million, rather than the current analysts, which were estimates
of $75 million to $78 million.

Exabyte Chairman Peter Behrendt said that the company's current
level of business is being impacted by worldwide weakness in the
mid-range computer systems market. "Specifically, Exabyte's
expected revenue shortfall arises primarily from softness in the
value-added reseller (VAR) and distribution channels, which
generally represent higher margin business," said Behrendt.

Behrendt said the soft market, combined with higher than expected
shipments of the company's new half-height products which are
still early in the production cost curve, will result in a third
quarter gross margin which will be significantly lower than
historical levels. However, Behrendt says the company's OEM
(original equipment manufacturer) business is strong.

Exabyte says it expects to expense approximately $14 million
for the purchase of R-Byte, a maker of 4mm tape storage
systems. That deal is expected to close prior to the end of the
third quarter.

Last week Newsbytes reported that Exabyte had been selected to
provide its EXB-8200 and EXB-8500 tape storage subsystems for
Intel's StorageExpress system, a backup server designed for use
with multi-server networks.

(Jim Mallory/19920922/Press contact: Susan Merriman,
Exabyte, 303-447-7434; Reader contact: Exabyte Corporation,
303-447-7800)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(LAX)(00029)

 ****First Color Pen-Based Notebook Debuts 09/22/92
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 SEP 22 (NB) -- Dauphin
was demonstrating the industry's first color pen-based notebook
computer at Digital Consulting, Inc.'s (DCI) Pen-based Expo
held at the Hilton Hotel in downtown Los Angeles, California.

The new pen-based notebook offers a back-lit 256 color passive
matrix STN screen, with a 25 megahertz (MHz) 386SL
microprocessor at its heart. The machine weighs in at 5.75 pounds,
offers a 3.5-inch floppy drive, an 80 megabyte (MB) internal hard
disk drive, 4MB of random access memory (RAM), comes with an
external keyboard as well as a tethered pen, and comes with
Microsoft Windows for Pen Computing. A 14,400 bits per second
(bps) modem is also included.

The color notebook comes with one serial, one parallel, and a
port to run an external monitor simultaneously. An AT bus
connector is also included for hook up of an expansion unit the
company is planning that will offer the ability for users to
talk to PCMCIA cards and a small computer systems interface
(SCSI) devices.

The company was also demonstrating a monochrome version of the
color notebook with 16 scales of gray in the display. The color
pen-based notebook is expected to be available in the first
quarter of 1993 for $3,995. The monochrome version is priced at
$2,995.

Lombard, Illinois-based Dauphin says it has been manufacturing
IBM compatible notebook computers since 1988.

(Linda Rohrbough/19920922/Press Contact: Colleen Burk, Dauphin,
tel [phone], fax [phone]; Public Contact, 800-782-
7922)


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

 ****US Publisher Predicts Top Slot For Pen Windows 09/22/92
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 SEP 22 (NB) -- The
immediate future of pen-based computing as well as some
significant insights into the industry were offered by Ed
Yourdon, publisher of "American Programmer" magazine, in his
address entitled "Future Trends: What's Next?"

Among Yourdon's predictions was Microsoft was going to
dominate the pen-based operating system, in his address given
at Digital Consulting, Inc.'s Pen-based Expo held at the Hilton
in downtown Los Angeles, California.

Yourdon said that the industry seems to be moving in two
directions: one evolutionary and the other a revolutionary.
Microsoft and Pendos are taking the evolutionary approach in an
attempt to make pen computing operating systems that are
compatible with the other computers already on the market.

The evolutionary approach is also bringing up the question of
cross platform compatibility and creating demand for pen
operating systems for Unix, for the Macintosh, and for OS/2 in
addition to the Microsoft Windows and DOS-based pen systems
available now. Yourdon predicted pen operating systems for
other operating systems would begin to crop up in the next year
or so.

The revolution approach, evidenced by Go Corp., is one that
throws away what's been done previously and treats the pen
computer as an entirely new and separate platform, Yourdon
said. Go's pen-based system has an advantage in that it is less
expensive to run because it doesn't require the extra operating
system overhead that the systems attempting to maintain
compatibility require, Yourdon added.

The other major issue in the pen is that of what metaphor to
use. The major metaphors in the mainstream of computing are
the desktop and windows. However, Yourdon said he's seeing
clipboard or paper-based metaphor appearing as the interface
for users. The computer is in appearance like a notepad with
tabs to indicate the various functions and applications
available.

Yourdon said the paper metaphor is due to the use of a pen,
which some are saying is a "mouse on a stick" and others are
vehemently saying it's a completely different way to interact
with the computer and should be treated as such. One of the
biggest differences between a pen and a mouse is the pen offers
no cursor, necessary with a mouse so users can know where they
are on the screen. With a pen, users are where ever they touch
the pen, so the cursor is no longer necessary, Yourdon
maintains.

The effect of the pen and the way it's used may make functions
we use now, such as an invisible clipboard to which we "cut and
paste" information, vanish, Yourdon maintains. Yourdon based his
argument on the fact that the pen allows direct manipulation of
data.

For example, in the Pendos operating system from Communication
Intelligence Corporation (CIC) of Redwood Shores, California, a
user highlights some text by moving the pen across it at an angle
and then makes an "X" and the text vanishes. To bring the text
back, the user simply makes and upside-down loop ("undo") and the
text comes back. To insert the text somewhere else, the user
makes and arrow pointing to where the text should go.

Yourdon maintains that enormous emphasis on handwriting
recognition (HWR) will continue and says advances are being
made in understanding how humans do HWR in order to improve
the way computers do it. For example, Yourdon said in six months
most people cannot read their own handwriting, which points to
the idea that much of HWR has to do with context.

Yourdon said he went to a Silicon Valley-based pen system
manufacturer to visit and the company required him to sign in
on a pen computer. The problem was, he couldn't get the
computer to recognize his name and the receptionist was
insisting that if the computer didn't recognize his name, he
couldn't come in. Yourdon said he spent literally a half an
hour until finally the computer trained him to print his name
in a way that it would accept it. What was interesting about
the problem was Yourdon said he discovered he had a tendency
to press harder and harder.

Which lead him to the topic of signature verification, a
surprisingly important issue. Yourdon maintains that the
computers which are pressure- and speed-sensitive as well as
trained to compare signatures by the shape of the letters are
the trend and may actually make signature verification viable.
While someone may be able to duplicate the shape of the
signature, duplicating the speed and pressure of the
signature's owner may be difficult in the extreme. Yourdon said
the legal nooks and crannies of this haven't been worked out,
but he thinks it's possible to make the signature verification
legal.

Yourdon also predicted that Microsoft was going to win the pen
computing operating system wars. He said six months ago he
might not have made that assertion, but today he sees Microsoft
Windows for Pen Computing, a product released in April of this
year, picking up momentum.

(Linda Rohrbough/19920922)