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/nb920319

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(NEWS)(IBM)(TYO)(00001)

Multimedia TV Debuts From IBM Japan 03/19/92
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1992 MAR 19 (NB) -- IBM Japan has developed a unique
personal computer display capable of showing TV programs as well
as a user's software program. In a scheme that until now has
required the addition of separate boards onto PCs, the system
allows a television signal to be displayed in a small window
on screen.

IBM Japan's Multimedia TV is equipped with a TV receiver. It can be
connected to IBM or compatible personal computers and to video players,
camcorders and laser disk players. The TV signal, displayed
in a small window, can be moved around the screen. Also, the
actual TV broadcast can be recorded on the PC and reviewed by
the user, IBM says. The Multimedia TV can also be used alone
as a TV.

IBM is targeting its multimedia TV at financial firms as
brokers could handle trades while watching financial
news on TV. Also, firms with corporate TV broadcasting
are also likely customers.

The Multimedia TV will cost 69,800 yen ($540) when it is released
in the third quarter of this year.

(Masayuki Miyazawa/19920319/Press Contact: IBM Japan, +81-3-5563-
4300)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(TYO)(00002)

Microsoft Creates R&D Base In Japan 03/19/92
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1992 MAR 19 (NB) -- Microsoft is preparing to set up
a Japanese research center to study multimedia products soon.
The center is eyed as a strategic base where next-generation
software and hardware will be developed. Microsoft already has an
office in Tokyo and plans to triple the number of
employees there within three years.

Microsoft will set up the R & D (research and development) center
in Tokyo by the end of this year. To start, the firm is expected
to hire about 10 researchers for this center.

Microsoft is developing not only software but hardware for
multimedia computers, which may include voice-data
input personal computer systems. This voice-data input computer
is expected to understand natural human speech in both
English and Japanese without the need to "train" the computer.
There is also a possibility that Microsoft will develop a
version for other Asian languages such as Chinese and Korean
in the future. The R & D Center will also develop more Japanese
versions of existing software programs.

A final, key advantage of a new Japan-based research center
for Microsoft will be its access to Japanese firms and
advanced high technology. There is a possibility that
Microsoft may sign an agreement with Japanese electronics firms
to jointly develop hardware in the future, insiders suggest.

(Masayuki Miyazawa/19920319/Press Contact: Microsoft, Tokyo office
[phone])


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(TYO)(00003)

 ****Sanyo Develops Superconducting Transistor 03/19/92
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1992 MAR 19 (NB) -- Sanyo has developed a
superconducting transistor which is said to have zero resistance to
electric current passing through it. Sanyo claims this is the
world's first superconducting transistor with what's called the
"tunnel effect."

Sanyo's latest transistor is said to become superconducting
material when it is cooled to -245 degrees centigrade.
The superconducting transistor is said to allow data to be
processed almost 10 times faster than existing semiconductors.
Also, the transistor consumes only one-hundredth the power
of most semiconductors.

This superconducting transistor is made of a very thin, high-
temperature superconductor film made of barium potassium
oxide. Sanyo has invented a way to lay out this film on an
atom-thin level. This film creates a junction over which electrons
can move in accordance with tunnel effects known in quantum mechanics.
As a result, the processing speed increases and electricity
consumption is minimized.

This superconducting transistor could potentially be applied to
supercomputers and microwave communications. However, it is still
a prototype and will not be available commercially for
at least for ten years, according to Sanyo.

(Masayuki Miyazawa/19920319/Press Contact: Sanyo Electric, +81-3-
3837-6206)


(NEWS)(IBM)(TYO)(00004)

IBM Japan/Ricoh Creating Fax/Computer System 03/19/92
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1992 MAR 19 (NB) -- IBM Japan and Ricoh have signed
an agreement to develop a versatile device involving the
functions of a fax machine and a business computer. The
agreement calls for both firms to cooperate on sales of
this fax-computer system.

The IBM Japan/Ricoh project is expected to be able to read
fax data directly into the computer's memory. This data can be
forwarded to other computers through telephone lines or
used in the computer system.

Ricoh has already developed its own fax-computer system
called the "Ri-fax 100L." This device has an advanced letter-
recognition system which recognizes up to 90% of handwritten
letters correctly, the company says. Numbers and
alphabetical letters can be converted to data almost 100
percent correctly.

IBM Japan will also market Ricoh's Ri-fax 100L to its customers
as part of IBM's computer network system.

IBM Japan and Ricoh have been keeping close ties. Currently,
both firms are operating under a sales agreement regarding the
resale of IBM Japan's personal computers by Ricoh.

(Masayuki Miyazawa/19920319/Press Contact: IBM Japan, +81-3-5563-
4300)


(NEWS)(IBM)(LAX)(00005)

 ****Microsoft Expects 1 Mil Initial Sales Of Windows 3.1 03/19/92
REDMOND, WASHINGTON, U.S.A., 1992 MAR 19 (NB) -- Microsoft says it has
initial orders of over 1 million copies of its new multimedia Windows
3.1 as it has mailed out a special offer to Windows 3.0 users to
purchase the product for $49. Initial release of Windows 3.1 is
expected on April 6.

Windows 3.1 is expected to be released not only in English, but in six
different languages. Those languages are: Dutch, French, German,
Italian, Spanish, and Swedish. Microsoft says the release of the 3.1
version is the biggest operation in terms of logistics the company has
ever undertaken.

What's the attraction? Well besides 1,000 enhancements, Windows 3.1
will incorporate drivers for sound and compact disc read-only memory
(CD-ROM), necessary ingredients for multimedia and the reason the
product is sometimes referred to as the multimedia version of Windows.

While some corners of the media see Microsoft and International
Business Machines (IBM) slugging it out for dominance in the graphical
user interface (GUI) environment, Microsoft's collaboration with IBM on
its soon-to-be-released OS/2 version 2.0 makes the new version of OS/2
equivalent in some users' minds to Windows 3.1.

"OS/2 2.0 is Windows 3.1," Steve Sacco owner of Amcom Consulting
Services in Calabasses, California told Newsbytes. Sacco said he is
only purchasing the Windows 3.1 upgrade, saying he gave up on OS/2
sometime back.

Windows 3.1 also has the advantage of requiring less hardware than
OS/2 does, a factor which might also give it an advantage in the
marketplace.

However, other users are concerned that Microsoft will dominate the
market and without a choice, IBM-compatible users will be paying a
premium the way Macintosh users do. "I want IBM to succeed if only so
we can have another barrel to bob in," said Los Angeles Computer
Society President Alan Greenberg.

But Microsoft appears to be well on its way to dominating the market.
The company said it sold over 9 million copies of Windows 3.0 and has
implemented monumental operational changes to facilitate expected
demand for 3.1 to over 8,000 resellers as well as its established 3.0
user base.

The company says it has started distribution of a 15-page newsletter
for product and purchasing information about Windows 3.1 to 1.5
million registered Windows users; opened nine manufacturing sites
around the world, including Ireland, operating around-the-clock shifts
to meet initial demand; has started the processing of 8 million
computer disks; is constructing a new parking lot at Microsoft's
manufacturing facility at Canyon Park in Bothell, Washington to
accommodate the additional employees and shifts; and has available the
equivalent of 107 semi-tractor trailer truckloads of Windows 3.1 for
the U.S. market.

Just locating enough floppy disks was a chore. A Microsoft
spokesperson told Newsbytes that Microsoft has just about cornered
the market on floppy disks in order to have the nine million
floppies it has committed to the first thirty day sales volume.

(Linda Rohrbough & Jim Mallory/19920318/Press Contact: Delona Lang,
Waggener Edstrom for Microsoft, tel [phone])


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

Guild Seeks UPI Investors 03/19/92
NEW YORK, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1992 MAR 19 (NB) -- UPI's unions are
desperately seeking new investors in order to keep their company
alive.

Newsbytes discussed the situation with a guild officer recently.
Doug Levy said the company has valuable assets, especially its
radio network and new "fax news" service for broadcasters, but
parent InfoTechnology has been slow to move on new products and
let go many salesmen. Worse, the company has been actively
discouraging new bidders in bankruptcy proceedings, which is why
the judge hearing the case took control of that process away from
the company early this month and said he'll hear all bidders.

The Wire Guild, which is a member of the creditors' committee, is
trying to help with that process. Levy urged that anyone
interested in buying UPI contact the bankruptcy court for the
U.S. Southern District of New York and demand the files, and get
in touch with him directly. Francis Conrad, who Levy called a
certified public accountant by training, is the judge in the
bankruptcy case.

Information may also be obtained from Dennis O'Day, attorney for
the creditors' committee, at 312-876-3400. But time is of the
essence: if a buyer isn't found soon, Levy fears, the company may
cease operations.

"We can do well with investigative reports and enterprise
stories," he added. "We have valuable, profitable franchises, not
just here but internationally, where we're very strong." What UPI
needs now, he indicated, are investors.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19920319/Press Contact: Wire Service Guild,
Doug Levy, 410-997-9107)


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

Newspapers Losing Bell Fight Due to Defections 03/19/92
WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A., 1992 MAR 19 (NB) -- American Newspaper
Publishers' Association Cathleen Black may lose what she calls
"the fight of her life" to force Bell companies out of the
information business because of defections within her own ranks.

The latest to break with the group is her old boss, USA Today
founder Al Neuharth, who took the Bell companies' side in a
Washington, D.C. speech. Ironically, Neuharth's new Freedom Forum
research group gets most of its money from newspaper companies.

But, on the quiet, other publishers have also been moving toward
cooperation with the Bells, partly to protect local franchises
which are, in fact, under threat. The Atlanta Newspapers, for
instance, began cooperating with Southern Bell long ago, first
by putting movie reviews on Bell's "TUG Gateway." Now that's
expanded, with Southern Bell itself pushing to use numbers like
"211" and "711," which are presently unused, to offer quick
access to newspaper services like "222-2000" and "Access
Atlanta."

In fact, both players here see their monopolies as threatened.
Southern Bell could soon find itself competing with cable TV and
microwave-based PCN phone networks. The Atlanta Journal-
Constitution is already facing competition from The Gwinnett
Daily News, a suburban daily owned by The New York Times, as well
as free weeklies like Creative Loafing. By locking up new,
"information age" services, with the newspaper offering content
the phone company can't create on its own, and the phone company
offering favorable access competitors can't match, both
monopolies are protected, observers note.

Southern Bell is also cooperating with Dow Jones & Co.,
publishers of "The Wall Street Journal." The two are working to
put together an audiotex news service for BellSouth's Los Angeles
cellular system, based on the Journal's JournalPhone service. A
BellSouth spokesman told Newsbytes recently that such a service
could not have existed before restrictions on the Bells were
lifted last year, because the phone company's own computers are
holding and passing on information from Dow Jones, adding value
to it.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19920319)


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

Motorola Wins Chinese Order, Forms Paging Group 03/19/92
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, ILLINOIS, U.S.A., 1992 MAR 19 (NB) -- To no
one's surprise, Motorola won a major supply contract from China
for cellular phone equipment in Zhejian province. Motorola
announced last August it would set up a factory to make analog
cellular gear under its TACS standard in Hanghzou, in Zhejian
province. Motorola called it a "multi-million dollar" contract,
but would not be more specific.

Under the contract, Motorola will supply five switches to be
installed in Hangzhou, Jiaxing, Shaoxing, Ningbo and Wenzhou.
Zhejiang has a population of approximately 43 million people. All
equipment will be made in Hangzhou, minimizing any foreign
exchange impact. Motorola is also seeking to sell two additional
switches in Jiangsu province. Taken together, Motorola's sales
are creating a "beltway of commerce," in the words of Vice
President Pertti Johansson, throughout southern China, which is
growing faster than other regions in China.

Also, Motorola upgraded its paging division into a group, based
in Florida. The group will make and distribute paging products
for three divisions, as well as its Nippon Motorola Ltd.
operation, which supplies pagers to Japan. Spokesman Ken Countess
told Newsbytes, "When a division gets elevated to group status, it
means we're growing nicely. So that group can create divisions in
segments." He said one paging division is focusing especially on
supplying equipment for new paging operations in Central and
South America.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19920319/Press Contact: David A. Pinsky,
Motorola Cellular, 708-632-2841 Ken Countess, Motorola Paging,
305-475-5603)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(TOR)(00009)

Ontario Names Telecom Advisory Committee 03/19/92
TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1992 MAR 19 (NB) -- The Ministry of
Culture and Communications of Ontario has named an advisory
committee to study telecommunications and recommend a strategic
plan for the province.

An announcement from the ministry said the committee will focus on
four areas: telecommunications as an economic infrastructure for
the information-based economy; the role of the telecommunications
industry in Ontario's economy; the potential of telecommunications
to advance quality of life in areas such as education and health
care; and the Ontario government as a user of telecommunications
services.

In a prepared statement, Minister of Culture and Communications
Karen Haslam referred to a "vision" of Ontario as "a world leader
in the development and application of telecommunications."

The ministry named Don Tapscott, vice-president of technology for
consulting firm DMR Group, to head the committee. Nineteen other
representatives of telecommunications companies and industry
associations, major telecommunications users, labor, academia, and
special-interest groups were named to the committee.

Four subcommittees are also to be set up, each focusing on one of
the four areas to be covered.

The committee is expected to report in June.

In announcing the study, the ministry noted that 90,000 people work
in the telecommunications industry in Ontario. The industry
generates revenues of more than C$9 billion annually in the
province and spends more than C$600 million a year on research and
development.

Major telecommunications firms based in the province include
Northern Telecom, Mitel, and Gandalf Technologies.

(Grant Buckler/19920318/Press Contact: Russell Drago, Ontario
Ministry of Culture and Communications, 416-314-7232, fax
416-965-8622)


(NEWS)(IBM)(LON)(00010)

UK: Elonex Plans Rapid Shipment Of 486DX2-based PCs 03/19/92
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1992 MAR 19 (NB) -- Elonex, the direct PC
supplier, has announced it is in an advanced stage of readiness
regarding the new Intel 486DX2 chips, the double-speed 80486
microprocessors that Intel unveiled earlier this month. As soon
as the chips begin shipping from Intel, Elonex claims it can
begin shipping PCs based on the new chipsets to its customers.

"At Elonex, we believe Intel's second generation 486 processors
represent the future. With advanced operating systems like
Microsoft's Windows NT just around the corner, what is now a
trickle of 32-bit applications will shortly become a torrent,"
said Arie Gershuni, Elonex's sales and marketing director.

According to Gershuni, the more users see of 32-bit applications
software, the more they will recognize the advantages of 486-
based processing, especially now that Intel's speed doubling
technology is available.

"It's precisely because we anticipated developments like the
486DX2 microprocessors that we designed upgradeability into our
mid-range desktop models, Elonex's unique modular architecture
makes it easy for users to move up to speed double processors by
replacing one relatively low-cost daughterboard with another,"
he said.

Gershuni added that the modularity of Elonex's PCs has enabled
the company to gear itself up for the new processors without
holding large stocks of hardware in readiness.

"Several other advantages are achieved by our approach to
upgradeability. We've put a clock synthesizer on the main system
board, for example, so adjusting processor speeds on an Elonex
CPU card is very quick and simple," he said.

"And since these daughterboards comprise of little more than a
CPU, coprocessor slot and cache, the cost of upgrading is
minimized and servicability is enhanced," he added.

(Steve Gold/19920317/Press & Public Contact: Elonex - Tel: 081-
452-4444; Fax: [phone])


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(LON)(00011)

New Product: Taxan Low-Rad Ultravision 20 Monitor 03/19/92
BRACKNELL, BERKSHIRE, ENGLAND, 1992 MAR 19 (NB) -- Taxan Europe
has announced a low radiation version of best-selling Ultravision
1095 color monitor.

Using a super-fine, pitch-black Sony Trinitron
cathode ray tube and including a microprocessor-based image
control system with a liquid crystal display (LCD), the unit sets
new standards for radiation and static emissions, the company
claims.

Announcing the monitor, Hugh Chappell, sales and marketing
director with Taxan, said that the introduction of the new EC
directives on health and safety for monitors has meant that
managers -- for the first time -- have to consider issues of
radiation safety when buying computer kit.

"For those companies with a large investment in CAD workstations,
we are now able to offer a low radiation screen of the highest
quality which meets the most stringent of the current guidelines
for electromagnetic and electrostatic emissions," he said.

The technology doesn't come cheaply. Taxan has announced that the
monitor costs UKP 2,599, although the unit comes with both 15-way,
D=type and separate BNC inputs for connection to the majority of
graphics display adapters and computers.

So how come the monitor is so expensive? Taxan said that the
technology required is expensive to implement. The Ultravision
1095 LR uses a 20-inch, 0.3mm-aperture, grille pitch Sony Trinitron
cathode ray tube operating at up to 1,600 x 1,200 non-interlaced
line resolutions. The monitor is compatible with most desktop and
deskside computers.

(Steve Gold/19920320/Press & Public Contact: Taxan Europe - Tel:
0344-484646)


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

UK: Online Directory Assistance Speeds Up 03/19/92
SHEFFIELD, ENGLAND, 1992 MAR 19 (NB) -- Phonebase, British
Telecom's online directory system, has upgraded its direct dial
access ports from V.23 (1200/75 bits per second -- bps) to quad
modem standards -- 300 to 2,400 bps access, including the V.23
standard.

The changes mean that callers to the Phonebase system on the
normal access number (091-021-0910), which is chargeable at B1
rates on BT's national network, can search data a lot faster,
although the initial modem handshaking sequence is slowed down by
several seconds. In use, the 2,400 bps modem link works well with
minimal line noise, Newsbytes noted.

Phonebase is BT's relatively new online directory assistance
service, accessible free of charge (apart from the cost of the
trunk phone call) with an ID and a password issued by BT's
Sheffield computer center.

Access to Phonebase is also now possible by BT's packet switch
stream (PSS) service, which means that U.K. directory assistance
is now available online from outside of the U.K. for the first
time. The network user addresses (NUAs) to access Phonebase are
available on request, the BT Phonebase user support group has
said.

(Steve Gold/19920318/Press & Public Contact: BT Phonebase - Tel:
0800-919199)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(WAS)(00013)

 ****Special Report: The Trade Picture 03/19/92
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1992 MAR 19 (NB) -- With ever-growing
computer software and hardware exports playing an important part
in the entire world's economic picture, with the U.S. at the
center of much of the trade, any changes in the global trade
picture affect the computer industry. A number of important events,
some favoring trade, some neutral, and some that may stimulate
calls for protectionist pressure, have occurred.

Congress has failed to override President Bush's veto of China's
most favored nation trade status, giving the administration a
long unbroken streak of upheld vetoes and leaving Congress once
again wondering how it can convince the White House that they
mean business when it comes to unfair trade practices.

The President received good political news from Japan, which
agreed to cut automobile exports to the US. Bush is expected
to push this voluntary change in import targets as a major
victory although Japanese auto makers have decided on their
own to limit exports of cars to the U.S. to only about 1.5
million, down drastically from the 2.5 million the auto makers
allowed themselves previously.

This is mostly smoke and mirrors since the U.S. recession,
stronger Japanese yen, and opening of Japanese branch factories
in the U.S. and Canada have all combined to reduce Japanese-built
imports to well below 2 million anyway.

Hopes for better long-term trade with South Africa look brighter
with the landslide victory for President Frederik W. de Klerk's
policy of continuing elimination of apartheid and white-only
rule. President de Klerk had threatened to resign if the vote
didn't go in his favor, a move which would have almost certainly
brought in a right-wing, Conservative Party government and a
crackdown on moves to open up South African politics and daily
life to blacks.

The United States, which eased investment and trade restrictions
with South Africa last year after the release of political
prisoners such as African National Congress President Nelson
Mandela, was expected to reinstate trade and investment barriers
if the S.A. government didn't continue to ease political and
economic repression of the black majority. Germany and
Switzerland actually stated their intention to reinstate trade
barriers if de Klerk's reforms were voted down.

In the wake of the vote, Denmark has already begun the process of
dropping its sanctions.

South Africa has been in a major recession for the past decade
because of trade and investment. The signs are excellent for a
continued growth of trade with South Africa, much of which is
likely to include computer and telecommunications equipment of a
non-military nature.

All is not yet smooth sailing for S.A. or investors. Pretoria,
Roodepoort, Bloemfontein, and Kroonstad all have strong vocal
pro-apartheid conservative groups which did not agree with the
rest of the country's pro-de Klerk vote. The most radical black
groups are also opposed to the de Klerk scheme for power-sharing
and are threatening civil disruption if blacks are not
immediately given most of the power in a country where they
vastly outnumber the ruling whites.

Reuters is reporting that the UAE (United Arab Emirates) will
soon pass an important anti-piracy law which will protect trade
marks, copyrights, and patents. This move comes just in time to
possibly defuse a move on the part of the U.S. Trade
Representative's office which was thought to be about to slam the
UAE hard for rampant software and video piracy.

Canadian-U.S. friction is starting to cool off after Prime
Minister Brian Mulroney called recent moves of the U.S. to
restrict imports of Honda automobiles built in Canada and on
softwood lumber those of a "tinpot dictator." U.S. Trade Representative
Carla Hills is publicly downplaying friction by saying that there
are always little tiffs between neighbors and trading partners.

Off the record, administration insiders are saying that Canadian
lumber interests are flooding the U.S. with subsidized wood and
that Mulroney was way off base in his comments.

The administration says that the Hondas don't contain enough
U.S. or Canadian-made parts to qualify for duty-free import
status that is in force between the two countries for
domestically made products. Canada's position is that the U.S.
isn't counting the Canadian labor that goes into the vehicles.

The U.S. position was recently strengthened by a GATT (General
Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) Commission ruling that Canada was
discriminating against imports of U.S. beer., but most observers
feel that this Canadian/U.S. rift is just election-year politics
and won't amount to much in the long run.

Here in the U.S., right-wing protectionist candidate Patrick
Buchanan has suffered a major blow to his attempt to unseat
President Bush as the Republican favorite son, garnering his
smallest vote percentage to date in Tuesday's Midwest (Rust Belt)
states. There, if anywhere, the former political commentator and
columnist's call for strict protectionism was expected to bring
in votes, but he actually garnered less support than in most
earlier state primary elections. (Primaries are used in parts of
this country to determine who should be allowed to run as a
candidate on major party tickets in the fall's general
elections.)

Mr. Buchanan, who positioned himself as being more in touch with
the "real" people rather than are Washington "insiders" was
actually born, raised, educated, and works in Washington. Some
observers felt that he made a minor mistake by running on a "Buy
American" platform while he himself drives a Mercedes.

(John McCormick/19920319)


(NEWS)(IBM)(WAS)(00014)

New For PC: Ziff's Tech Support CD-ROM 03/19/92
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1992 MAR 19 (NB) -- Seth Alpert, vice
president and general manager of the Ziff Computer Library
Division, which publishes the Computer Select and Select Demos
CD-ROMs, says the company is moving directly into the support
field with Support On Site for Applications, a CD-ROM database of
technical support information for several dozen of the most
popular MS-DOS-based applications programs.

Ziff's Johnathon Pollard gave Newsbytes a long exclusive
interview providing much more detail on the new product.

The new disc will be available on a monthly update basis with a
yearly subscription priced at $1295, and $4995 for five
concurrent users on a local area network. The company is now
taking orders at 800-827-7889.

According to Mr. Pollard, the information contained on the new
support database disc is the most complete available any place
and comes from a number of sources, some of them exclusive.

A major source included on Support On Site for Applications, or
SOS-A, is the same technical information used by publishers for
their 800-number help desks. This is the first time such
information has been made available in such a public form from
some of the publishers, including WordPerfect, Borland, and
Symantec.

A second resource derived from the applications software
publishers themselves is the collection of drivers, patches,
macros, and other such program information which regularly go to
registered end-users and are now available on bulletin boards and
such support bases as commercial systems like CompuServe, America
Online, and GEnie. This disc will bring all these resources together
for the first time in one place.

The third leg of publisher-provided support will include all
documentation, white papers, and start-up guides.

But, according to Mr. Pollard, there is much more here than just
publisher-supplied information, as vital as that is.

Another major source of data comes from books, covering the
applications programs. SOS-A will originally include books from
QUE and Ziff-Davis press.

Periodicals will form another leg of the resource. Initially this
will include the 16-plus application specific newsletters
published by the Cobb group, but eventually it will include help
data and support articles contained in Ziff-Davis publications.

The last major resource included on the monthly discs will be
from Corporate Software, a Canton, Massachusetts-based company
which provides support to Fortune 500 and Fortune 1000 companies.

The list of supported products is too long to present here but
includes programs from WordPerfect, Borland, Symantec,
QuarterDeck Office Systems, Microsoft, Aldus, Lotus Development,
and WordStar International.

Support On Site for Applications is intended for use by support
professionals, but Mr. Pollard says that he expects power users
will clamor for copies. The information is indexed and available
through the same Lotus Bluefish interface used by the Ziff
Computer Select disc.

Mr. Pollard told Newsbytes that not only will this new product be
premiered at Spring Comdex in Chicago, April 6-9, but that the
booth will have a large stock of a free 200-page publication
which contains the most frequently asked support questions for
today's most popular applications programs - along with the
answers.

(John McCormick/19920319/Press Contact: Nancy Van Natta, Ziff,
212-503-3554)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SFO)(00015)

Claris Changes Software Licensing Scheme 03/19/92
SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 MAR 19 (NB) -- Claris Corp.
announced a change in the way that they license software to
individuals and corporations. Effective immediately, Claris licenses
its software to purchasers. The previous arrangement was similar to
many other company's in which the software is really licensed to
operate on a given machine.

The advantages of this approach are readily apparent to people who
tend to move around and may use more than one machine. For instance,
many people have a Macintosh as their base machine at work, as well
as a Macintosh Portable or Powerbook to take while travelling. It is
also not unusual for that person to use a third machine, at home.

Under current licensing arrangements, that individual would have had
to purchase three separate copies of any piece of software that is
used in all three situations. Claris recognizes that this approach
is not consistent with today's computing environment. Additionally,
Claris desires to be known as a very user-centered company. Ergo,
the licensing change.

Under this new license, the user would purchase one copy of the
software. This copy would then be installed on all three machines.
And, as long as one machine was the one used for at least 80% of
the time, the user is free to use the software on any of his
machines legally. The only other restriction is that only the single
user may use the software.

An additional change involves the introduction of site licensing.
Claris is calling their program the Site Management Plan (SMP).
Under this program, a site may license use of a certain program
throughout its site. Therefore no matter how many copies are in use
at one time, they are all legal and above board. This obviously
eliminates the worry of purchasing enough copies or dealing with
piracy at the workplace. In addition to getting preferential price
treatment, customers who purchase a site license are also enrolled
in the firm's Claris Access program whereby they receive priority in
technical support issues, advance information on updates, reference
copies of the applications and documentation, a technical information
library, and the opportunity to become beta testers for Claris.

For more information on any of these programs, the company suggests
that you contact their local reseller or Claris directly at
408-987-7000.

(Naor Wallach/19920318/Press Contact: Ines Anderson, Claris,
408-987-7154)


(CORRECTION)(GENERAL)(SFO)(00016)

CORRECTION: Interface Postpones WC Computer Faire To 1993 03/19/92
NEEDHAM, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1992 MAR 19 (NB) -- The 17th West
Coast Computer Faire, previously scheduled for April 24-26 at the
Moscone Center in San Francisco, has been cancelled for this year.

The show, the nation's longest-running computer exposition, was
delayed to 1993 due to the state of the economy, Newsbytes was
told by Cheryl DelGreco, Interface spokeswoman. She says the decision
was made to consolidate resources in a tight economy. She says
that Interface was having trouble booking exhibitors for the show.

She says that the show will not be eliminated from the
company's 12-show annual line-up, despite the fact that over
the years it has been declined in popularity. The show has,
however, served a purpose by offering some of the lowest-priced
booths of any trade show largely to small shops and
start-up companies. She says a date for next year's show has
already been set.

(Wendy Woods/19920319)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(DEN)(00017)

Georgia Teenage Hacker Arrested 03/19/92
LAWRENCEVILLE, GEORGIA, U.S.A., 1992 MAR 19 (NB) -- A Georgia
teenager has been arrested on charging of illegally accessing data
files of several companies in a attempt to inject a computer virus
into the systems.

The alleged computer hacker, who was originally charged with the
illegal access charges two weeks ago, was re-arrested on felony
charges at his high school this week on the additional charges of
attempting to infect the computer systems.

The 18-year old boy allegedly broke into computers of BellSouth,
General Electric Company, IBM, WXIA-TV in Atlanta, and two Gwinnett
County agencies, who were not identified.

The boy's 53-year-old mother was also arrested, charged with
attempting to hinder her sons arrest by trying to have evidence
against him destroyed.

Computer users' awareness of computer viruses was heightened recently
over the so-called Michelangelo virus, which some computer security
experts thought might strike tens of thousands of computers,
destroying data stored on the system's hard disk. Perhaps due to
the massive publicity Michelangelo received, only a few hundred
PCs in the US were struck.

Hackers access computers through telephone lines. Passwords are
sometimes obtained from underground bulletin boards, are guessed, or
can be obtained through special software programs that try thousands
of combinations, hoping to hit the right one.

A recent Newsbytes story reported the conviction of a Denver area
resident, who was sentenced to three years probation and ordered
not to use computers without permission after attempting to break
into a NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration)
computer.

Officials and victims are usually reluctant to give details of
computer break-ins for fear of giving other would-be hackers ideas.

(Jim Mallory/19920319)


(NEWS)(IBM)(BRU)(00018)

Tulip Shows Network Hardware At CEbit 03/19/92
HANNOVER, GERMANY, 1992 MAR 19 (NB) -- Tulip Computers, the
Netherlands-based company, presented a new range of network servers
as well as three new network controller cards at the Hanover
Messe this week.

The three cards are identical except for the type of Ethernet
interfaces they possess. There is a choice of twisted pair,
coax (BNC) or the top-of-the-range card which has both of
these plus an AUI connection. The cards with twisted pair
connections can use both shielded and unshielded 100-ohm
cabling. Each card has a 32-bit controller chip and they are
completely configurable through software, rather than jumpers
or dip switches. The cards are Novell-tested and approved and
come provided with a wide range of drivers for the most
popular systems (Netware 2,2 and 3.11, including DOS-ODI, LAN
Manager 2.x, NDIS for DOS and NDIS for OS/2 and SCO Unix,
v3.2.2).

Tulip Vision Line Facility Servers is the name given to the
floor-standing network servers shown. They are the tr 486sx/e,
tr 486dx/e and the tr 486dx/50 running respectively at 25, 33
and 50MHz. All are expandable to 64MB of RAM on the motherboard.
Each machine also has 6 EISA slots and 11 free drive
bays for mounting hard disk, tape streamers, CD-ROM drives, and
the like. Like all products from Tulip, particular attention
is paid to the security aspect. This is evident by the
System Control Manager (SCM), which among other things offers
password protection of the server's power switch.

Tulip also took advantage of the Messe to demo a color
notebook. This is an i386sl, 20MHz machine with an 80MB hard
disk and 2MB of RAM, expandable to 18MB. The screen is 640 by
480 VGA and uses thin film transistor (TFT) technology which
allows a response some ten times faster than the present
super twist screens, and provides greater color clarity.

Tulip acknowledges that this technology is still too expensive
to allow production at the moment but says that it will
introduce the notebook when the price is right.

(Peter Jones/19920318 Press contact: Steven Noorts,
Communications Manager, Tel [phone], Fax [phone])


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SFO)(00019)

Madge Networks To Distrib For Anixter 3/19/92
SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 MAR 19 (NB) -- Madge Networks is
in the process of establishing a two-tiered distribution arrangement
for its Token Ring products. Madge will continue to work with its
network of national distributors like Ingram Micro, Tech Data, and
Westcon. But now, in addition, it is establishing reseller
agreements with major resellers directly.

Currently, Madge has such relationships established with Sears
Business Centers and Westinghouse Systems Integration. Joining
them will be Anixter Brothers, a $1 billion organization that is
dedicated to serving the networking market by distributing wiring
systems and other network components. Anixter has 140 locations
worldwide and a large staff of people who have been trained in the
intricacies of network installations and can provide the kind of
technical support and assistance that is required in such a
challenging field. Madge will provide technical training directly to
Anixter staffers.

(Naor Wallach/19920318/Press Contact: Marina Donovan, Madge Networks,
408-441-1300)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(TYO)(00020)

 ****Next-Generation Digital Cassette Player To Debut 03/19/92
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1992 MAR 19 (NB) -- The next generation digital
cassette tape recorder (DCC) will debut from Matsushita and
Philips this year. The two firms will soon supply sample DCC
players to software makers for development of music software. It
is said a total of 70 hardware and software firms have expressed
interest in getting involved in the DCC business.

Matsushita and Philips, the co-developers of the DCC, say
20 firms have signed license agreements to manufacture
the DCC player. The DCC player will be equipped with a radio,
cassette recorder, compact disc player, a headphone stereo player
and a stereo set.

According to a Newsbytes source, major record producers including
Warner Music have already decided to produce music software for
the DCC.

The DCC tapes are compatible with the existing analog cassette
tapes, making it possible to play both the new and old generation
of cassettes.

The DCC player and software are expected to be released
this fall. Industry watchers have predicted it could be four years
before the technology becomes popular. The success of DCC may
depend on the sales of Sony's Mini Disk -- an erasable and
rewritable digital audio disk. Mini Disk is also expected to
debut this fall, and may vie with the DCC in the near future.

(Masayuki Miyazawa/19920318/Press Contact: Matsushita Electric,
 [phone])


(NEWS)(GOVT)(LAX)(00021)

 ****New IRS Regs To Pinch Silicon Valley Multinationals 03/19/92
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 MAR 19 (NB) -- The U.S. Internal
Revenue Service (IRS) is planning changes in the tax code that will
have a significant effect on computer-related businesses, especially
Silicon Valley concerns with subsidiaries in other countries, J.J.
Coney, managing partner of Price Waterhouse's Western Region
International Tax Group, told Newsbytes.

The new regulations regard transfer pricing and will effect any
company with a foreign parent or foreign subsidiary where there is
some business transaction between the two parties. The new regulations
put a stop to the practice of transfer pricing, which Coneys
explained as a way to keep from paying U.S. taxes.

Coneys said U.S. companies have been opening subsidiaries in places
like Malaysia, Puerto Rico, Ireland, or Belgium where taxation is much
lower, say ten percent compared to 30 or 40 percent in the U.S. The
U.S. company then sells a product produced here, like software, at a
low price to the foreign subsidiary which manufactures and sells it at
much greater profit margins than could be garnered in the U.S. because
of the higher tax rates.

Japanese companies have also been taking advantage of transfer pricing
by opening U.S. subsidiaries and selling products produced in Japan at
highly inflated prices to the U.S. subsidiary, which markets the product
in the U.S. Because the U.S. subsidiary has higher expenses and
purchases the products at such high prices for resale, they often will
incur a loss and don't pay any U.S. taxes at all, Coneys added.

Obviously, the IRS doesn't like these practices, but has not done much
about it until recently. The actual legislation behind the new
regulations was enacted in 1986, but not interpreted by the IRS until
now, Coneys added. The IRS has submitted the proposed regulations to
apply stricter codes to make it less lucrative for U.S. companies to
have foreign subsidiaries. The proposed regulations also set specific
tax rates for application of a minimum tax level to U.S. subsidiaries
of foreign companies, like Japanese concerns which are literally showing
a growing percentage of U.S. market share in their product lines, but
which are paying less tax, Coneys maintains.

Silicon Valley multinational concerns are the companies that will be
the hardest hit by the new regulations, which, if enacted, would be
effective beginning December 31, 1992. "The really interesting
question here for Silicon Valley Multinationals is: 'Is this the final
nail in that [transfer pricing coffin?' It's become increasingly
difficult for U.S. companies to flee to foreign jurisdictions. Will
this end the 'run away plants' syndrome?'" Coneys asked.

Companies still have time to address the proposed form of the new IRS
regulations as the period of comments will not close until May of this
year, Coneys said. Coneys also advised companies look at their current
transfer pricing in relation to the proposed changes to determine the
effects of the proposed changes on their operation.

(Linda Rohrbough/19920317/Press Contact: Dawn Murphy, Berkhemer Kline
Golin/Harris for Price Waterhouse, tel [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(MOW)(00022)

Russia: BT Building Int'l Links In St. Petersbourg 03/19/92
ST PETERSBOURG, RUSSIA, 1992 MAR 19 (NB) -- British Telecom, the St.
Petersbourg (formerly Leningrad) phone network, and the local
international phone station have signed an agreement to build
an automatic international exchange in the city. The project
will be handled by the "St Petersbourg International"
jointly owned company pending official registration.

The major goal of the partnership is to offer local callers a way to
avoid overloaded international dialing facilities in Moscow.

The exchange, to be fully operational in the middle of 1993, will use BT
switching equipment and both land cable connections to Finland through
LenFinKom company and later European UMASAT satellite link with Britain
through the communications center in Dubna near Moscow.

U.K. direct dialing will first be implemented, with United States and
Israel to follow shortly.

The new BT-supplied exchange will serve Russia's northwest region, which
includes St Petersburg, Murmansk, Arkhangelsk, Petrozavodsk, and
Kaliningrad.

The communications are expected to be pricey. The Russian Ministry of
Communications has established a special price structure for joint
venture-operated international phone links. The schedule, approved
in early March, says that a one-minute call to Far East (in US
currency) should cost 2 dollars, to Europe -- $1.50 North America
-- US$3, Australia -- US$3.50.

The companies could accept ruble payments, translated at the
"commercial" exchange rate. For example, a regular operator-assisted
call to the U.S. costs 36 rubles per minute now. The new tariff
makes this service cost 3000 rubles.

Those prices does not apply to the service offered by the Ministry of
Communications' own subsidiaries.

(Kirill Tchashchin & St.-Petersburg business news/19920317/Press Contact:
City phone network, phone [phone], or international phone
station, phone [phone])


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(MOW)(00023)

Russia: Emergency Radio System Now Conveys Market Info 03/19/92
ST PETERSBOURG, RUSSIA, 1992 MAR 19 (NB) -- The St Petersburg
commodities exchange and the BaltText company have invented a
new use for the old radio translation wires which reach most
households and business locations in the city. The special system,
designed for commodities brokers, allows them to receive complete
trading information on their computers every night.

A special adapter connects brokers' machines to the radio network.
Market information is transmitted every night from 0100 till 0200
local time. The data is transmitted three times to minimize the
possibility of losses, said Vladimir Kurchevnev, computer division
manager of the St Petersburg commodities exchange. Upon completion
of the translation, the adapter disconnects the machine from
the wires.

The special one-way converter was developed by BaltText, a
company formed by the Popov Radio Reception and Acoustics Scientific
Research Institute. Leningrad-based Avangard amalgamation is
engaged in adapter production. The device is said to be relatively
simple.

Exchange members receive the news feed and adaptors for free, while
their clients can get it for 5,000 rubles (US$50).

Translation wires were installed in most houses in the former Soviet
Union in the 1950s as a one- to three-channel radio broadcasting
medium, capable of working in emergency situations.

(Kirill Tchashchin & St. Petersbourg business news/19920317/Press Contact:
Vladimir Kurchevnev, St Petersburg commodities exchange, phone +7 (812)
355-68-42)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(SFO)(00024)

New For Macintosh: Aladdin's StuffIt Expander 03/19/92
WATSONVILLE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 MAR 19 (NB) -- Aladdin Systems
has begun shipping free copies of its newest dearchiving utility
called Stuffit Expander. This utility becomes a companion product to
their other dearchiving utility named UnStuffIt Deluxe which is
continuing to be made available for free.

David Schargel, president of Aladdin Systems, tells Newsbytes that
the reason for releasing this product is to allow those people who
do not wish to spend a lot of time downloading a program from a
bulletin board to still have access to all of the features of a
full scale dearchiving program. The total size of the downloadable
program is about 70KB while the run-time version is 57KB. Aladdin's
emphasis throughout the development of this product was on making it
as small and compact as possible.

StuffIt Expander can decompress the three most common archival
formats in use today. These are Applelink, Stuffit, and Compact Pro.
Aladdin Systems claims that its decompressor is much faster than
Compact Pro's own decompression routines. David Schargel cites a
study that they performed in which they saw a 4 to 40 percent decrease
in time in decompressing Compact Pro stuffed files. The actual
increase in performance varied depending on the size of the files,
but averaged 25% across all file sizes.

Aladdin systems will also continue to distribute UnStuffIt Deluxe to
its customers. This will also be distributed free of charge. Customers
may wish to get UnStuffIt Deluxe over StuffIt Expander for several
reasons. First, it supports on-line documentation. Second, it will
support files that have been compressed with StuffIt SpaceSaver.
It will also be able to rejoin segmented files and translate BinHex
files.

StuffIt Expander is available now on GEnie, Compuserve, America
Online, and Applelink, as well as on a host of Internet FTP sites.
Contact the company at 408-761-6200 for more information on the
programs and where they can be found.

(Naor Wallach/19920317/Press Contact: David Schargel, Aladdin,
408-761-6200)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SFO)(00025)

Novell Consolidates Sales In Central Group 03/19/92
PROVO, UTAH, U.S.A., 1992 MAR 19 (NB) -- Novell has reorganized
its sales organization once again. Newsbytes reported late last year
on Novell's reorganization. In that reorganization, Novell divided
itself into three product groups: the Netware Systems Group, the
Interoperability Systems Group, and the Desktop Systems Group
(formerly known as Digital Research).

Another part of the reorganization created a Corporate Services
Group under Mary Burnside that was responsible for customer service,
and support. The Sales organization was left loose of all of these
organizations and reported to Richard H. Williams who heads the
Desktop Systems Group (and was CEO of Digital Research before the
merger).

With this action, the picture is shuffled some more. The Sales
organization will report from now on to Mary Burnside and will
become an integral part of the Corporate Services Group. Richard
H. Williams will continue to head the Desktop Systems Group in the
continuing transition of Digital Research into a Novell Systems
Group. This move will also free up some of his time and allow him
to concentrate on developing closer working relationships with
major computer vendors like IBM.

Speculation that Richard H. Williams' role within Novell is being
decreased are vehemently denied by company officials who point to
his expanding role in the discussions with IBM and others as proof
of his growing importance to Novell.

(Naor Wallach/19920317/Press Contact: Susan Lider, Novell,
408-473-8665)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LAX)(00026)

HP Buys Into Supercomputer Market With Stake In Convex 03/19/92
PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 MAR 19 (NB) -- Hewlett-Packard
(HP) and Convex Computer Corporations announced the two companies plan
to link up on workstation and supercomputer technology and HP is
investing directly into Convex.

HP said it is buying a five percent stake in Convex, while Convex says it
is adopting HP's Precision Architecture reduced instruction set
computing (PA-RISC) technology for massively parallel processing (MPP)
supercomputers it has under development and for future MPP
supercomputers.

HP's investment in Convex comes to nearly $18 million with the company
purchasing 1.2 million shares at $15 each. Convex currently has 23
million shares outstanding and there seems to be plans for HP to make
a further investment in Convex stock, with specific future dates
already set for the two companies to discuss the possibility.

MPP supercomputers are the world's fastest type of computers because
multiple central processing units (CPUs) divide up a task and process
pieces of it, instead of the computer waiting on one CPU to do all the
computational work. HP developed the PA-RISC chip in 1986 and the
company says it designed the chip in a modular fashion to accommodate
future technology advances. Convex plans to build its supercomputers
with hundreds of PA-RISC processors to be used for extremely complex
computational applications such as global warming, human brain
simulation, or human gene sequencing.

Both companies also plan to enter reseller agreements where each can
sell the others products, so Convex can resell PA-RISC HP workstations
and HP can offer supercomputers.

Richardson, Texas-based Convex says it is the industry leader in
supercomputers with an established base of more than 1,000
supercomputers with 550 customers in 40 countries. This is a
substantial number considering its C3 Series supercomputers range in
price from $295,000 to $8 million. Convex describes its customers as
scientific, engineering, and technical users working on projects such
as seismic processing, reservoir simulation, computational chemistry,
computer-aided engineering, image processing, aerospace simulation,
and molecular biology.

Hewlett-Packard manufacturer's computers, workstations, and
measurement devices, but is probably best known for its line of
desktop laser printers. The Palo Alto, California-based company
reports it has 89,700 employees and revenue of $14.5 billion in 1991.

(Linda Rohrbough/19920319/Press Contact: Donna Berk, Convex, tel 214-
497-4230, fax [phone]; Jim Christensen, Hewlett-Packard, 408-447-
1673)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(LON)(00027)

UK: Labour Scraps Plans To Renationalise British Telecom 03/19/92
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1992 MAR 19 (NB) -- In the runup to next month's
general election, in which the next government of Britain will be
elected, Labour (the opposition) leader Neil Kinnock has
announced that his party will no longer renationalize British
Telecom, should Labour regain power next month.

Kinnock also ruled out any possibility of a similar move with
British Gas, which has also been privatized under the ten-year
reign of the Conservative government.

"We are not proposing to return either the part of BT sold or
being sold or to return British Gas into public ownership," he
said in response to a question at a press conference.

Kinnock's comments were taken in the context of the Labour
Party's manifesto (a statement of intent) which was issued
earlier this week. In the written document, which forms the basis
on which the population of Britain is supposed to base its
vote in next month's elections, Labour officials said that it
intends to place the recently privatized electric and water
utilities back under government control, and that the price of
the services provided would be controlled as well.

Until Kinnock's announcements, many in the U.K. -- including
senior officials of BT -- had thought that Labour would
renationalize BT. This is reported to have had a detrimental
effect on private investment in telecommunications in the U.K.

(Steve Gold/19920319)


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

GEC Denies Rumors Of GPT Sale To Siemens 03/19/92
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1992 MAR 19 (NB) -- According to press reports
from the City of London stock market, General Electric has
rejected continuing rumours that it plans to sell off its stake
in GPT to the other major shareholder, Siemens. Currently, GE has
a 60 percent stake in GPT, while Siemens has a 40 percent stake.

According to the Reuters news wire service, as news of the
denials hit the Stock Exchange, GEC's shares hopped up from 206
to finish the day on 210 pence. Turnover in the company's shares
increased slightly as well.

Assuming GEC's denials were incorrect, analysts valued the
company's 60 percent stake in GPT at UKP 750 million. The sale
would, Newsbytes notes, have to pass muster with the British and
German governments, as Siemens is a German company.

(Steve Gold/19920319)


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

 ****Steve Jobs Hires New 'Partner' For Next 03/19/92
REDWOOD CITY, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 MAR 19 (NB) -- Next Computer,
headed by Steve Jobs who is probably best known for his cofounding
of Apple computer, has taken on a second-in-command, one Peter van
Cuylenburg.

Van Cuylenburg will manage Next with Jobs in a new "office of the
president" position the two will share. All the company's vice
presidents as well as day-to-day management will be handled from the
newly created office.

The appointment is getting attention because Jobs has a reputation as
a loner after his split with Apple President John Sculley some time
ago. Allison Thomas, owner of the public relations firm representing
Next, said Jobs' split with Apple was, "The most publicized 'divorce'
in history." However one split doesn't make Jobs a loner, Thomas
quipped. "People remarry and Jobs is no exception," added Thomas.

The reason for bringing in van Cuylenburg is the company's recent
growth spurt, Jobs said. Next reported in January a 443 percent
increase in growth, with revenues for 1991 of $127 million.

Jobs said Next has fought an uphill battle with entrenched systems
like Sun, but is winning because the Next is significantly better.
People by Sun workstations or Next Step computers to build
applications on, and the Next allows applications to be built up to 10
percent faster, Jobs explained in a prepared statement.

So growth in the market is what Jobs says prompted his quiet search
for a COO last spring. Jobs gave the reasons for choosing van
Cuylenburg as his experience in running a large company.

Van Cuylenburg, a British national, was group director of United
Kingdom-based Cable and Wireless PLC, a $6-billion-a-year concern.
Before his promotion to Cable and Wireless PLC van Cuylenburg was
chief executive of Mercury, a Cable and Wireless PLC subsidiary and
the second largest licensed public telecommunications operation United
Kingdom.

While van Cuylenburg's background is in telecommunications, Jobs
pointed out his new COO spent 16 years at Texas Instruments previous
to his position at Mercury, using object-oriented programming on TI's
LISP workstations.

In a memo sent to his company employees, Jobs said he nearly hired two
other candidates in his search to find help running the growing Next,
but van Cuylenburg was the only one he felt he could call a 'partner.'
Jobs said he met van Cuylenberg in 1990 when Next was looking for an
executive vice president of sales and marketing. Though van Cuylenberg
was offered the job at that time, he turned it down and Next decided
not to create the position.

Jobs said he's been negotiating with van Cuylenberg since last fall
for the COO position. Next implied to his employees that he was going
to let van Cuylenberg handle the European and Japanese markets which are
requiring an estimated 20 percent of his time. He also said companies
want to meet the president before placing a "bet your company" or "bet
your job" order with Next, and implied van Cuylenberg would take on
that role as well.

Jobs said he plans to use the extra time he anticipates with the
addition of van Cuylenberg to work with engineering and marketing to
create new products and build on Next Step.

(Linda Rohrbough/19920319/Press Contact: Allison Thomas for Next,
Allison Thomas Associates, tel [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(TOR)(00030)

IBM Unveils HelpWare Service And Support Package 03/19/92
ATLANTA, GEORGIA, U.S.A., 1992 MAR 19 (NB) -- Seeking a competitive
edge in the increasingly commoditized personal computer market, IBM
has announced HelpWare, a range of service and support offerings
for its PS/2 computers and its OS/2 operating system.

The announcement comes on the eve of the promised delivery of OS/2
2.0, a significant new release of the operating system IBM is
promoting against stiff competition from Microsoft's Windows.

HelpWare includes four major programs: HelpCenter, HelpBuy,
HelpLearn, and HelpWare component programs.

IBM has consolidated telephone support for the United States in its
new HelpCenter in Atlanta. HelpCenter operates a toll-free
telephone number (800-PS2-2227) staffed by about 200 IBM personnel.
Company spokesman Christopher Clough said the full-time help staff
in Atlanta will be supplemented by experts at IBM locations around
the country, who can be linked in via conference calls to help with
tougher customer questions.

Clough told Newsbytes that HelpCenter, piloted in Georgia and the
southeastern states during the past year, has a 97 percent customer
satisfaction rate among users in "extensive" customer surveys, with
virtually all user questions answered on the first call.

The HelpBuy program includes a new 30-day, money-back guarantee on
all PS/2 products. HelpBuy also includes new financing and leasing
programs and the extension of the company's PC trade-in program.
The trade-in program began as a limited promotion last year, Clough
said, and is now to be permanent, with added dealer incentives to
promote the program. IBM accepts its own older personal computers
as well as machines from major competitors, including Compaq and
Apple, as trade-ins on the purchase of PS/2 models.

HelpLearn is a new end-user PS/2 and OS/2 education and training
program provided by IBM Licensed Education Centers with sites
across the United States. Clough said 11 pilot sites are in
operation now, and IBM plans to have 30 functioning within the next
three months. IBM said it will also continue offering education
courses to end users at IBM or customer locations.

Rounding out the program are an assortment of HelpWare components:
additional service and support offerings including anti-virus
service, technical coordinator programs, and IBM's Field
Television Network programming. Many of these are existing programs
being brought under the HelpWare umbrella, Clough said, and some
carry a user fee while others are free.

While IBM's publicity surrounding the HelpWare announcement talked
only of PS/2 machines and the OS/2 operating system, Clough said
the DOS operating system is not being left out. HelpCenter staff
will answer questions concerning DOS as well as OS/2, he said.

HelpWare is immediately available to all current and potential PS/2
and OS/2 users in the United States, IBM said.

Meanwhile, IBM Canada announced that there are plans to roll out
HelpWare worldwide, and plans for HelpWare in Canada will be
announced by the end of the second quarter of this year.

(Grant Buckler/19920319/Press Contact: J. Christopher Clough, IBM,
914-642-5372; Martha Terdik, IBM Canada, 800-563-2139)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SFO)(00031)

Netronix Installs Token Ring Bridges At Southern Pacific 03/19/92
PETALUMA, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 MAR 19 (NB) -- Netronix is
announcing that they have been chosen to set up a big local area
network for Southern Pacific Railroad. The network is completely
Token Ring-based and Southern Pacific chose Netronix since their
devices have outperformed even IBM's own Token Ring bridges and
routers, the companies say.

The network is installed in Southern Pacific's San Francisco
offices. There, it connects departments throughout eleven floors
of office space. To do all of this required 30 TokenMaster 100
bridges. The railroad is already heavily invested in IBM Token
Ring equipment and software. For that reason, it initially looked
to IBM to provide it with the bridging capabilities that it
wanted. Brijet Neff, Southern Pacific's communications engineer,
picks up the story. "After running them (referring to the IBM
bridges) we found out the IBM bridges were difficult to troubleshoot
and didn't alert us to the specifics of a network problem. I got
very frustrated trying to find a bridge that met our requirements.
So I contacted a networking consultant who suggested I take a look
at the Netronix TokenMaster 100 with a built-in LED display. We did,
and I like them. They had built-in smarts - an audio alarm and
visual display - that could immediately alert our network manager of
a problem and its source, whether it was hardware or software."

After their happy experiences with the Netronix TokenMaster 100
bridges, Southern Pacific decided to look at the Netronix TokenMaster
2000 local source-routing bridges. They are also looking at
Netronix's TokenMaster 4000 remote source routing bridges.

Netronix explains their success with such an important customer
by the fact that their equipment is 100% compatible with all of
IBM's standards. In some cases, they are more compatible than IBM's
own products. Netronix is also the only company that supports all
five of IBM's LAN management server functions.

(Naor Wallach/19920317/Press Contact: Sue Baelen, Redgate
Communications for Netronix, 415-777-3911)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(WAS)(00032)

Embattled Japanese Business And Strong Trade Legislation 03/19/92
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1992 MAR 19 (NB) -- Montana's
Democratic Senator, Max Baucus, has taken up the Japan-trade
fairness cudgel with a vengeance by calling for the reinstatement of
the powerful Super 301 provisions of U.S. trade legislation. Super 301
is the term used to describe the portion of the 1988 Trade Act which
requires the Administration to take vigorous action against any
country deemed to be willfully and actively increasing its trade
with the U.S. by the use of unfair trade practices.

Senator Baucus, who is chairman of the Senate Finance Trade
Subcommittee, said last week that U.S. efforts to end unfair,
anti-competitive trade practices have demonstrably failed since
the Super 301 provisions were dropped from the U.S. Trade
Negotiator's arsenal of weapons.

While the Super 301 provisions were in effect, the U.S. was able
to open up Japanese lumber, supercomputer, and satellite markets,
but in the time since it expired Senator Baucus says that the U.S. has
made no significant advance in combating Japan's closed markets.

Some observers claim that President Bush's disastrous trade
mission earlier this year is a good example of just how little progress
has been made. Although the Administration claimed at the time that
great advances had been made, little or nothing has happened and
almost as soon as the President's planeload of U.S. business
executives, which included the heads of the big money-losing
automobile companies, left the ground, Japanese officials were
denying that any real commitments had been made.

This was followed by weeks of America-bashing which has
angered U.S. consumers, workers, and even politicians.

Elsewhere, as Japan's stock market continues to plunge, the
message is apparently getting through to some major Japanese
industrial leaders that business as usual just cannot continue.

Some Japanese automobile companies are cutting back their
market territories in the U.S., and, according to the Washington
Post, executives from Honda's president, Nobuhiko Kawamoto, to
well-known America-basher Akio Morita, Chairman of Sony, are
saying that enough is too much and that Japanese companies are
exploiting the workers, investors, and other countries' consumers
in unfair ways.

Morita has finally admitted in print something which U.S. and
European observers have been saying for years -- that since
Japanese companies form keiretsu, or integrated and linked
company groups, who all supply and buy to each other, foreigners
are effectively blocked from competing for business in these
giant monopolies. U.S. firms are prevented by anti-monopoly laws
from forming such raw material-to-consumer corporate giants and
thus cannot compete.

Japan's troubles are growing both at home and abroad with
allegations of criminal links to major corporations and payoffs
to high-ranking politicians, as well as the revelation last year
that big stock market investors are protected from losses by
brokerage firms which guarantee that they would not lose money.

Observers point out that Japanese unemployment is so low that
nearly everyone is working, This, added to the well-known and
carefully protected racial unity of Japan, has meant that companies
cannot continue to expand simply because there are not enough
Japanese to staff factories and office buildings. Some observers
also point out that Japan does not welcome foreign workers.

In a report that shocked the business world, a leading Japanese
financial newspaper recently carried a story saying that research
and development is being cut. Japan is well-known for having
massive R&D budgets and many experts have attributed much of
the country's success to that program.

In this country, a senior American executive of a major Japanese
corporation has sued his company, for what he claims is racial
discrimination, which he says was due to random Caucasian-
bashing by Japanese managers and resulted in his removal from
all important work in the company. The company has denied his
charges.

(John McCormick/19920317/)