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Text File | 1992-05-07 | 68KB | 1,482 lines

(NEWS)(GENERAL)(DEN)(00001)

 ****IBM/Apple/Motorola Dedicate Combined Design Center 05/07/92
AUSTIN, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1992 MAY 7 (NB) -- Computers that,
regardless of their make, can share the same programs came one
step closer this week when IBM, Apple, and Motorola dedicated a
new design and development facility yesterday.

The 80,000 square foot, $500 million design center, named
Somerset, will employ 300 engineers from the three companies
that will bring the PowerPC single-chip reduced instruction-set
computing (RISC) microprocessors to computers ranging from
notebooks to supercomputers. At least that's what the three
companies hope.

PowerPC is not the only project working on compatibility of PCs
and their software. The Advanced Computing Environment (ACE)
consortium, which includes Microsoft, SCO, MIPS Computer
Systems and Digital Equipment among its more than 200 members,
is also hoping to develop a series of platforms that will be able to
run the same software and the same operating systems. Until
recently, Compaq Computer had been a participant in ACE, but
announced that it would no longer pursue RISC development, citing
lack of customer interest.

PowerPC is the hardware component of IBM and Apple's plan for
network operability between OS/2, IBM AIX, and the Apple
Macintosh. Power is an acronym for Performance Optimization
with Enhanced RISC.When Newsbytes reported the formation of
the alliance last October, the three companies said the basis of
PowerPC would be IBM's POWER architecture, which is used in
IBM's RISC System/6000 line of workstations and servers.

Motorola's role is to aid in the design, as well as manufacture and
market the technology, which it said will be available to other
manufacturers besides IBM and Apple.

"This effort is blending unparalleled design expertise and product
synergy to create these new microprocessors," said Motorola
Semiconductor Products President James Norling.

According to Bill Filip, IBM VP and president of the Advanced
Workstations Division, the three companies decided to base
PowerPC on the IBM architecture because of its capabilities and
the size of the installed base.

Apple's President Michael Spindler, noting that today's Macintosh
computer will be compatible with the new RISC-based Mac's, said
Power PC will create a profound transformation in the way personal
computers are used.

According to Somerset Co-Director Tom Whiteside, the
architectural specifications have been completed, development of
the microprocessors has started, the PowerPC architecture has
been extended to 64-bits, and several major supporters have been
signed on since the October announcement.

Initial use of PowerPC-based systems is expected to be in
embedded control for automotive and consumer products use,
portable and desktop computers, high end fault tolerant systems,
and supercomputers.

Group Bull has said it will incorporate PowerPC into commercial
multiprocessor systems, and Thomson-CSF plans to utilize
the chip in real-time applications for defense and aerospace
applications. The first systems are expected to be available in
1993.

(Jim Mallory/19920507/Press Contact: Rosemary Stone, Motorola,
512-891-4526; Rob Fuggetta, Apple, 408-974-2202; Judy Radlinsky,
IBM, 914-642-4634)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(DEN)(00002)

Computers Automate Toll Road Fees, Rail Car Locations 05/07/92
DALLAS, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1992 MAY 7 (NB) -- When we think of
computers, most of us think of word processing, spreadsheets, or
accounting. But computers are being used for more and more
unique applications, such as automatically billing travel on toll
highways, or keeping track of where rail cars are.

That is where Amtech Corporation comes in. The Dallas-based
company uses a read/write radio frequency identification system
called Intellitag which reads a tag attached to the automobile or the
rail car as the vehicle passes the reader. That information is then
sent via modem to a central computer site for billing or tracking
purposes.

For example, suppose you are traveling on one of the ten turnpikes
in Oklahoma. If your car is equipped with the Intellitag, a reader
automatically obtains the necessary information from the credit
card-sized device attached to your windshield, and the charges will
appear on your next bill.

Amtech's Carla Morgan said the system is in use on tollways in
Dallas, New Orleans, and New York, as well as other eastern
seaboard cities. It is also used to keep track of rail cars. Suppose
you ship lettuce, and you need to know where the car is that is
destined for Los Angeles. A track-side reader reads a barcode-like
label about the size of a chocolate bar on the side of the car, and
the reader is polled periodically to update the computer. While
most readers store the data and are polled periodically by the host
computer, Morgan said real-time tracking is also available.

Not all rail cars are equipped so far, but Morgan told Newsbytes
that the Association of American Railroads has mandated that
every rail car be equipped by June 30, 1995. That's 1.4 million
cars, said Morgan.

The latest iteration of Intellitag cannot only have information
read from it, but can have other information stored on the tag.
Morgan said the card has the capability of having up to 20
alphanumeric characters read, and can also have another 20
characters written to the card. That capability could be used to
write the departure or arrival time of a truck to the tag for later
retrieval, or store information regarding the hazardous materials
being carried in the truck.

Morgan said other uses for Intellitag might include the operation of
gates, signals and lights, and for access by trucks to controlled
areas like airports.. Amtech's tags are system compatible, so they
can be read by other systems.

(Jim Mallory/19920507/Press Contact: Carla Morgan, Amtech,
214-733-6059)


(CORRECTION)(IBM)(DEN)(00003)

Correction: Ceram Ships PC Data Compression Board 05/07/92
COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO, U.S.A., 1992 MAY 7 (NB) --
In a recent story, Newsbytes reported that Ceram Inc., had
announced that it is now shipping its PC-compatible HardPak data
compression board and its TurboSwap Unix accelerator card.

Some of the phone numbers listed in the byline at the end of the
story were incorrect. The numbers should have read: "Press
contact: Jill Goebel, Origin Systems for Ceram, tel [phone],
fax [phone]; Reader contact: Fred Chadinger, Ceram, tel
719-540-8500, fax [phone]." Newsbytes regrets any
inconvenience on the part of our readers.

Ceram said the HardPak data compression board is designed to
work with all popular PC applications, including Microsoft Windows,
desktop publishing programs, spreadsheets, graphics, and CAD
(computer-aided design). Data compression can save PC users
considerable disk storage space, particularly when saving graphics
images.

HardPak fits into a single 8- or 16-bit PC expansion slot, and is
compatible with both ISA (Industry Standard Architecture) and
EISA (Extended ISA) PCs, including 386 and 486-based systems.

TurboSwap is an accelerator card for Sun Microsystems'
SPARCstations, SPARCstation IPCs, SPARCservers, and
compatible systems running under the Unix operating system.
Ceram said TurboSwap boosts performance by replacing slower
fixed disk swap partitions with fast access memory. The company
said that depending on the size of the working data set used by
the application, TurboSwap can improve performance from 1.5 to
15 times.

A Ceram told Newsbytes that HardPack has a suggested list price
of $119, while TurboSwap prices range from $3,400 to $22,400,
depending on the configuration of the system. Both products are
available directly from Ceram.

(Jim Mallory/19920507/Press Contact: Jill Goebel, Origin Systems
for Ceram International, tel [phone], fax [phone];
Reader Contact: Fred Chadinger, Ceram, tel [phone],
fax [phone])


(NEWS)(GOVT)(DEN)(00004)

AT&T Management Of Govt Sandia National Labs To End 05/07/92
ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO, U.S.A., 1992 MAY 7 (NB) -- It
will be the end of an era in 1993, when AT&T pulls its last
employees out of the Department of Energy's Sandia National
Laboratories.

The communications giant has managed the facility since the late
1940's, when the government asked it to manage its weapons
laboratories at the desert post. It was then that the government,
wanting to replicate its success developing the atomic bomb during
World War II, turned to academia and industry to run its weapons
labs. It asked AT&T to recreate the atmosphere of its Bell
Laboratories at Sandia. Apparently AT&T was successful,
according to Sandia VP Les Bray. "Now, the Sandia lab has an
AT&T-Bell Labs mentality," he said.

AT&T started overseeing operation of the New Mexico laboratory
research on electronics and nuclear weapons firing systems when
then-President Harry Truman asked the company "to render an
exceptional service to the national interest." AT&T agreed, and
took on the job on a nonprofit basis, being reimbursed only for its
expenses.

At the time, AT&T was the major provider of all telephone
communications in the nation, and worked closely with federal
agencies. But in 1984, the company was broken up, and now
provides long distance service, telecommunications equipment,
and computers. That business is highly competitive, and AT&T
said the work at Sandia is too far removed from what they now do.

Sandia has also changed as the Cold War wound down, turning
away from weapons research and spending more time working
with private industry to develop new technologies in the areas of
energy and the environment.

Energy Secretary James Watkins said the department will
announce  plans soon to find a new contractor, saying "AT&T,
with the nation's gratitude, can step aside with pride." AT&T has
only had about a dozen upper level managers on site, according
to a Sandia spokesperson Newsbytes spoke with.

As Sandia, and other national laboratories, move away from
weapons research, the government has put in place what it hopes
will provide a vehicle for joint development for civilian computer
research projects. A standardized contract called CRDA
(Cooperative Research and Development Agreement) is designed
to result in easier transfer of software technology from the labs to
commercial applications, and may eventually promote joint
research projects.

The problem civilian firms run into, is keeping classified work
secret and proprietary commercial data separate. As reported last
recently by Newsbytes, Digital Equipment tried for six months to
get one software program released by the government, but the
legal problems became insurmountable, and Digital gave up.

The government is confident the problems will be worked out. An
official at the Oak Ridge lab said he expects "a flurry" of computer
related contracts, and Federal Computer Week quoted Sandia's
Mark Allen as saying "We have a lot of computer companies
standing in line to work with us."

CRDA's are not designed to help develop commercially practical
projects, but end once the civilian company can take over the
development of the project by itself. Industry observers expect it
will be several years before much real progress results from the
joint work.

(Jim Mallory/19920507/Press Contact: Fred Lash, DOE,
202-586-5806)


(NEWS)(IBM)(DEN)(00005)

3Com Customers Offered Big Savings To Switch 05/07/92
REDMOND, WASHINGTON, U.S.A., 1992 MAY 7 (NB) --
Microsoft and Compaq want 3Com users to switch to Compaq
software and Microsoft's LAN (local area network) Manager
network software, and are willing to offer sizable discounts to
get their business.

That is what the two companies said in a joint announcement
that claimed that the estimated 90,000 3Com customers can save
more than $6,500 when they purchase Microsoft LAN Manager,
Microsoft mail software, and Compaq hardware. They can also
get more than $2,500 in value-added software in the Microsoft/
Compaq Upgrade Solutions Pack.

The Solutions Pack is a selection of customer support and
integration information offered free of charge to 3Com customers
who  buy Compaq SystemPro, SystemPro/LT or DeskPro/M
servers along with Microsoft LAN Manager 2.1. To take advantage
of the offer, the purchase will have to be made before the end of
1992. Included in the Solutions Pack is an integration tool kit, a
tool kit for Visual Basic, and an instructional video on how to
smoothly convert to the new system. Users who take advantage
of the offer will also get 90 days of free support, instead of the
usual 30 days.

Also being offered as part of the deal are a series of 3Com
technical upgrade workshops, which will be held throughout the US.
Microsoft said the workshops will focus on step-by-step instruction
on how to upgrade software and hardware, protocol migration and
WANs (wide area networks).

A Microsoft spokesperson told Newsbytes there is no cost for the
sessions, which she said are one day in length. The first workshop
will be held in Los Angeles on June 1st. Ten major cities on the
tour schedule, according to Microsoft Product Manager Megan
Bliss.

(Jim Mallory/19920507/Press Contact: Megan Bliss, Microsoft,
206-882-8080; Reader contact: Microsoft, 800-426-9400)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(SFO)(00006)

Pen Conference: Momenta Plans 3rd Gen Pen Computer 05/07/92
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1992 MAY 7 (NB)  -- By
the end of this year, Momenta Corporation will announce a third
generation of its pen computer, enhanced with overhead projection
capabilities and a backlit screen, Newsbytes has learned.

Kevin Mankin, director of product marketing, mentioned the
upcoming incorporation of the features during a talk at the Pen-
Based Computing Conference in Boston.  Later in the day, a public
relations spokesperson confirmed Mankin's statements, and told
Newsbytes that the new product will be unveiled some time in 1992.

The news comes one month after Momenta's April 6
announcement of a second generation pen computer, combining
Microsoft Windows functionality with the proprietary pen software
that was offered in the first version, rolled out in November. Three
days before the April 6 announcement, on April 3, the company
announced that Kamran Elahian had been replaced as company
chairman, CEO and president, by Delbert Yocam, formerly COO
of Apple Computer.

In Mankin's conference presentation, he used a reflector panel,
detached from a Momenta computer, to display his foils. The
application shown was only a prototype, though, according to the
spokesperson. Momenta's upcoming product will employ a
different screen technology, she told Newsbytes.

Much of Mankin's talk was devoted to an explanation of Momenta's
product positioning -- a strategy poised, he said, toward the
notebook replacement market. "We all know notebooks constitute
the fastest growing segment of the industry. What Momenta is
trying to do is to leverage that growth with additional functionality,"
he commented.

Momenta's inclusion of a detachable keyboard and built-in fax/data
modem will help in that attempt, and so will the recent addition of
Windows, stated Mankin. The ability to use the same machine in
both a keyboard- and pen-driven ways should have wide appeal,
encouraging greater use than the 1.6 to 1.8 hours per day the
mobile worker is spending, on average, at the computer, he
suggested.

With the keyboard in place, the Momenta machine might be
employed to run standard Windows or DOS desktop applications,
he indicated. Without the keyboard, the computer might be put to
other, "pencentric" applications. Within the setting of a meeting, for
example, workers would feel more comfortable jotting down notes
with a stylus and tablet than they would tapping away at a
keyboard, he pointed out.

The second generation of the Momenta product ships with about
eight proprietary software tools, plus Windows 3.1, Windows for
Pens 1.0, and several Windows-based applications, including
Fax II for Windows, he said. "Both software environments have
their place," he remarked. "Our own applications are basically for
the neophyte, who may be computerphobic. But no matter how
intuitive our software is, if a company has already licensed 500
copies of Excel or Powerpoint for Windows, it is not about to
switch."

The proprietary tools include an electronic notepad, a presentation
package, a handwriting recognition trainer, a calculator, an
address book, a spreadsheet, fax send and receive software, and
document markup. Users can import word processing documents
from Windows in ASCII, and then use the proprietary markup
application to perform handwritten annotation, reported Mankin.

The current pen computer product is available in four versions:
the Momenta 1/40 and 1/40W, each with a 40 megabyte (MB)
hard drive; the 1/60W, with a 60 MB hard drive; and the 1/80, with
an 80 MB hard drive. Each model comes standard with 8 MB of
RAM.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19920507)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TOR)(00007)

Delrina Wins Award, But Loses Money 05/07/92
TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1992 MAY 7 (NB) -- Remember
the old saying about a prophet never being appreciated in his own
country? Software vendor Delrina Technology is not a prophet -- nor
is it profitable at the moment -- but it has finally received some
recognition at home.

The Toronto vendor of forms and fax software, which has won a
number of awards from computer magazines in the United States,
received the Canadian Information Processing Society's Canadian
Software Systems Award for 1992. Given to Canadian software that
has had significant effect on the industry, the prize is Delrina's
first Canadian award, said company spokesman Josef Zankowicz.

At the same time, Delrina announced its financial results for the
third quarter, which ended March 31. The news is mixed. Delrina's
revenues rose nearly 80 percent year-over-year, from C$3.73 million
in the third quarter of 1991 to C$5.33 million in this year's third
quarter. On the other hand, the company lost C$697,483, a larger
loss than the third quarter of 1991's C$323,119.

In the nine months ended March 31, Delrina lost C$1.51 million on
revenues of C$13.02 million. That compares to a loss of C$946,175
on revenues of C$7.99 million in the first nine months of 1991.

Zankowicz was upbeat about the results, however, saying the
company expects to be profitable within the next year. The losses
are a result of spending the money necessary to do the product
development and build the sales momentum it will take to make
Delrina a long-term success, he said. "We could be profitable
tomorrow by knocking off staff and stopping development," but
Delrina will not do that, he said.

The cancellation of a planned merger with WordStar, of Novato,
California, was a setback to Delrina's attempts to build marketing
clout, Zankowicz admitted. But he said the firm is "working very
hard to build that critical mass through other means." One step is
a deal with the American business firms company Uarco, which will
resell Delrina's forms software, PerForm Pro.

Delrina plans to release a new version of PerForm Pro before the
end of June, Zankowicz added.

(Grant Buckler/19920507/Press Contact: Josef Zankowicz, Delrina,
tel [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SFO)(00008)

Fibronics Intros Four New Network Hubs 05/07/92
HYANNIS, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1992 MAY 7 (NB) --
Fibronics is expanding its offerings in the bridging and routing
realm with four new models of routers and bridge routers (brouters)
that span networks made up of Ethernet and Token Ring trunks.

The new FR9500 which is a Token Ring local router. This device
will route packets between two 4 Mbps or 16 Mbps Token Ring
networks. The device features Source Routing Transparent (SRT)
bridging and uses the Spanning Tree Algorithm (STA) in addition
to other routing and bridging capabilities.

The new FR9600 is describes as a remote Token Ring brouter. This
device combines the Shortest Path First (SPF) algorithm with the
IEEE/IBM source routing protocol. It supports SNA traffic to bring
in to the network traditional IBM 3270 communications. It is
intended to be used to connect geographically dispersed 4/16
Mbps Token Ring networks.

The FER2500 is a local Ethernet bridge. It connects any
combination of 10Base-5 and 10Base-T LANs (local area
networks) together and supports the Spanning Tree Algorithm
to provide complete transparency between network protocols.

The FER2600 is an Ethernet brouter that uses multiple WAN
(wide area network) serial links to connect remote Ethernet LANs
to each other. It also supports SPF, TCP/IP, and DECnet.

All of these products are equipped with SNMP (simple network
management protocol) agents and can be managed by Fibronics'
InterView network management system. They are offered in a
choice of standalone or 19-inch rack configurations. Prices
range from $2,995 to $15,000 depending on the configuration
chosen.

(Naor Wallach/19920507/Press Contact: Maureen Liberty, The
Weber Group for Fibronics, 617-661-7900)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SFO)(00009)

NetWorth To Offer Netware-Based Hubs 05/07/92
DALLAS, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1992 MAY 7 (NB) -- How would you like
to be able to run some of your network applications from your hub?
That is the idea behind a series of announcements from hub maker
NetWorth.

NetWorth has licensed the runtime version of the Netware operating
system from Novell. Networth will take this runtime and port it into
its series 4000 hubs. Once this is done, it will be possible to run
any Novell Loadable Module (NLM) on to the hub and run it from
there. This is an easy way to use some of the buried functionality
inside the hub and to download some of the load off of the server.

Networth is publicly stating that they see this as an ideal way of
supporting such services as fax, electronic mail gateways, and
modem servers. Also, by using the Novell Netware operating
system, Networth states the whole network becomes a unified
entity from a software viewpoint.

Networth's product will be known as the Netware Application
Engine. It is configured as an Intel 80486 processor with a 120
megabyte (MB) hard drive which can be expanded to a 200 MB
drive. There are also four MB of RAM on the board which can be
expanded to 32 MB. Two serial, two parallel, and two Ethernet
ports complement the two full size ISA (Industry Standard
Architecture) slots provided.

This Engine can be added to any existing Series 4000 hub. The
Engine will be available in the third quarter of this year. Pricing
has not been established at this time.

(Naor Wallach/19920507/Press Contact: Cynthia Stine, Capital
Relations for Networth, 214-907-9500)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SFO)(00010)

Shiva Upgrades NetModem/E, Lowers Price 05/07/92
CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1992 MAY 7 (NB) --
Shiva Corp., has released an upgrade to their remote access
server product, NetModem/E, and reduced its price.

Release 1.1 of NetModem/E has several features that are
described by the company as performance and reliability
improvements. These include: Windows 3.1 compatibility; support
for Novell's Large Internet Exchange Packet NLM which reduces
the overhead on data transmissions; fine tuning of its V.42 data
compression code; and support for MNP levels 2 through 5.

Also, the LaunchGuard utility warns users when they attempt
to launch network intensive programs over the telephone lines.
There are also a set of improvements to the management
functions and the software which adds to the reliability of the
unit. The new software is shipping now. Registered users can
get it for free.

In addition, the company has also reduced the price of its
NetModem/E to $1,699, in an attempt to make it that much more
attractive to customers.

(Naor Wallach/19920507/Press Contact: Carol McGarry, Criswell
Communications for Shiva, 617-876-1188)

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

International Phone Update 05/07/92
ATLANTA, GEORGIA, U.S.A., 1992 MAY 7 (NB) -- Columbia is
struggling back to expand its data networks in the wake of a
crippling strike.

Telecom of Columbia said it will install 440 V.32 modems made
by Racal to improve its Coldapaq X.25 packet network. Racal had
previously supplied V29 modems for the network, which was built
by Siemens three years ago. The network provides synchronous
service at up to 19,200 bits-per-second as well as 9,600 bps
service under V.32, according to a statement from Racal in the US.

Meanwhile, in Brazil, which is trying to open its market to
foreign equipment suppliers, Sid Telecom of Sao Paulo said it
will supply Telepar in the city of Parana with cellular phone
equipment. The nation has put a cellular phone concession for
Sao Paulo up for foreign bid, but local state-owned firms are
also trying to set up networks which could result in competition.
Telepar wants to have a 10,000 telephone cellular network
operating by the year end, and they also expect Telesp of Sao
Paulo to announce a similar tender within the next few months.

Finally, the Maldive Islands, off the coast of India, is planning
a $25 million telecommunications improvement project, aimed at
bringing phones within reach of all citizens. The Maldives are a
series of atolls off the Southwest coast of the Indian
subcontinent, near the equator, and President Maumoon Abdul
Gayoom has made telephone service a high priority in his new
administration, according to China's Xinhua news agency.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19920507/Press Contact: Jack Hillhouse,
Racal-Datacom, 305-846-5151)


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

Bell Atlantic Files ISDN Tariffs 05/07/92
ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA, U.S.A., 1992 MAY 7 (NB) -- Bell Atlantic
filed its tariffs for digital ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network)
services, but the pricing is very complex.

A spokesman told Newsbytes the company's pricing was based
on the idea that customers would decide what services they want,
then work with Bell Atlantic representatives to get it. This is in
contrast to the policy at Ameritech, the first Bell company to
file ISDN tariffs, which said it would offer ISDN service at
about 30 percent more than the cost of a regular business line,
and would push it aggressively. Bell Atlantic spokesman Nancy
Murray guessed that Bell Atlantic's pricing would be similar, but
its sales approach concerning ISDN is definitely different.

ISDN represents a set of digital services which phone companies
have been installing in their networks for years. Recently, the seven
regional Bell companies indicated half their business lines will
be ISDN-capable by the end of the year, but the technology is
still rolling out slowly. AT&T and Northern Telecom, the nation's
two largest makers of large phone switches, have promised to,
over time, make their ISDN offerings compatible, but it is still
necessary for many companies to know what brand of switch their
local company is using before buying ISDN service, and to arrange
their own systems accordingly.

Another criticism is that ISDN is not being offered as a clear,
digital phone line which customers can use as they see fit, but
as an extension of phone system-based Centrex services, which
compete with private PBXs (private branch exchanges).

Bell Atlantic's ISDN tariffs, which are pending in Washington, D.C.,
and will be filed soon in New Jersey and Delaware, only cover such
Centrex-based service. The company promised that non-Centrex
based ISDN tariffs will be filed in the fourth quarter. Bell Atlantic
calls its version of ISDN Bell Atlantic IntelliLinQ.

Currently, only about 70 business and government customers are
served by about 20,000 ISDN-equipped lines, Bell Atlantic said,
but it hopes to have ISDN-capable switches serving 90 percent of
its customers by the end of 1994, based on a uniform ISDN
standard called National ISDN 1.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19920507/Press Contact: Nancy Murray, Bell
Atlantic, 703-974-1719)


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

Two Cellular Data Systems Shipping 05/07/92
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A. 1992 MAY 7 (NB) -- AT&T and
Spectrum Information Technologies used the pending America's
Cup yachting final, between Il Moro of Italy and America 3 of the
US, as the backdrop to announce they are shipping the Axsys
interface between AT&T Safari computers and cellular phones.

The interface allows users of the Safari computer, sold by AT&T's
NCR unit, to use regular modems on their cellular phones. There
is a standard phone plug for the landline modem at one end of the
link, and a standard plug for the cellular phone at the other.

Intelligence within the device mediates the differences between
cellular and landline calls. The result, the companies said, is
that the AT&T Safari AXSYS allows the built-in modems of AT&T's
NSX/20-40 MB and NSX/20-80 MB models to function over the
cellular system as though they are connected to a standard land-
line  telephone. Units will be featured at AT&T phone stores, as
well as Spectrum's recently acquired Computer Bay chain of
outlets, and other retailers.

Also, GTE said its GTE Mobile Communications will become a
reseller of the IBM 9075 PCradio, providing cellular services for
it nationwide. The IBM 9075 PCradio Model 003 includes a cellular
telephone which can sending and receiving voice, fax and data
telecommunications. GTE will sell the product at its retail
outlets and train customers on how to use it via the cellular
network.

The idea is that, by having a cellular operator sell the phone,
service can be activated and sales incentives can be created
for resellers. It is common for companies selling cellular phones,
as agents for cellular carriers, to win commissions of hundreds
of dollars, taken from cellular sign-up fees, which reduces the
cost of the equipment to buyers.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19920507/Press Contact: GTE, Dorea Akers,
203-965-3188; Spectrum, 800-742-6334; AT&T Safari Systems,
Harriet Donnelly, 908-302-5800)


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

Opposition Emerges To Cox Teleport Buy 05/07/92
WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A., 1992 MAY 7 (NB) -- A snag was
thrown into the pending purchase by Cox Enterprises of a
controlling 51  percent interest in Teleport Communications from
Merrill Lynch. The United States Telephone Association, which
represents the nation's phone companies, has filed a petition with
the Federal Communications Commission to block the purchase.

The USTA claims that Cox, which is a major cable TV operator,
cannot buy the stake because it would violate a provision of the
Cable Television Act of 1984 that prohibits local phone companies
from owning cable television systems in the same service area.
The telephone group said it opposed the government ban on cross-
ownership, but said it would oppose such purchases until the FCC
allowed phone companies to be more competitive.

The petition, however, may not go far. Teleport is a so-called
"bypass" company, building fiber rings around major cities and
then competing with local phone companies for the business of
major companies. The USTA represents those local phone
companies, which have sought for years to stop the bypass
industry, but have lately been more accommodating.

The other 49 percent stake in Teleport is being purchased by TCI,
the nation's largest cable television operator. Rather than really
seeking to block the purchase, in other words, observers feel the
USTA is trying to make a rhetorical point, hoping to win for its
members the right to buy cable television franchises.

Such permission may come from a bill being introduced by the
chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Jack Brooks,
considered an opponent of the Bell Operating Companies and an
advocate of taking them out of the information services business.
He said May 6, however, that the bill he will introduce on the
matter will be aimed at increasing competition in all sectors of
telecommunications, not just at isolating the Bells within one
segment of the industry.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19920507)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(WAS)(00015)

Noise Cancellation Uses Computers To Block Noise 05/07/92
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1992 MAY 7 (NB) -- A recently
awarded patent which went to the University of Maryland will
provide a boost to Stamford, Connecticut's Noise Cancellation
Technology, which uses microprocessors to produce sounds which
cancel out noise in everything from automobile interiors to jet
engines.

Under an exclusive license, Noise Cancellation will apply the
University of Maryland's patent for multiple interacting sensors and
actuators (MISACT) technology (US Patent 5,091,953) which was
developed by scientists at the school under funding provided by
the company.

Noise Cancellation already produces systems which silence single-
source noises that consist of a microphone, microprocessor, and
transducer (speaker). By measuring the actual content of noise
(not just its volume) on a real-time basis, then creating feedback
noise of a precisely opposite nature, the amount of noise
detectable by listeners is greatly reduced without any of
the massive insulating materials normally needed or the mufflers
which are used on automobiles but cannot be used effectively on
aircraft engines because of the weight and power reduction
problems involved.

The company already owns patents on its specially developed
algorithms which provide real-time processing and counter noise
generation.

The new technology developed by the University of Maryland
allows Noise Cancellation's existing technology to be applied to
multiple noise sources, such as the multiple engines on a
commercial aircraft.

Noise, as every engineer knows, is not just annoying to listeners
and fatiguing to workers - its vibrations contribute to structural
damage such as metal fatigue in surrounding materials.

Noise Cancellation Technologies has research and development
facilities in Linthicum, Maryland; Cambridge, England; and Tokyo.

(John McCormick/19920507/Press Contact: Dennis A. Miller,
Noise Cancellation Technologies, 203-961-0500)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(WAS)(00016)

CD-ROM Expo Set For Sept 29-Oct 2 In Boston 05/07/92
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1992 MAY 7 (NB) -- The annual
CD-ROM Expo put on by Mitch Hall Associates will be held
September 29 through October 2 at the World Trade Center in
Boston.

This year's Expo will feature the power of multimedia and will
provide an estimated 7,000 publishers and other business-oriented
CD-ROM developers and distributors with information on the
growing business, education, and consumer markets for CD-ROM
as well as the emerging multimedia markets.

Multimedia is often tied to CD-ROM because the addition of sound
and images to text or data, the basis of all multimedia, often
requires very large storage capacity which is commonly available
only in optical storage media.

Although other devices such as WORM (write-once, read-many)
or erasable drives are available as optical media with high capacities,
CD-ROM and its closely related derivatives are the only optical
media which are specifically designed to provide an inexpensive
publishing media.

The co-producer of the CD-ROM Expo is a division of International
Data Group, called World Expo Corporation. IDG founded this
CD-ROM trade show and only recently became a co-producer with
Dedham, Massachusetts-based Mitch Hall.

This is one of the major CD-ROM trade shows in the US, the
other being the one scheduled by FOSE during the early part of
August in Washington. Microsoft also sponsors a developer's
conference on CD-ROM, but that is much more specialized.

(John McCormick/19920507/Press Contact: Janet Sarofeen,
Mitch Hall, tel [phone],  fax [phone])


(NEWS)(GOVT)(WAS)(00017)

DoD Validates Tartan Ada compilers For SPARC 05/07/92
PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, U.S.A., 1992 MAY 7 (NB) --
Tartan has successfully ported its line of SPARC-hosted Ada
cross compilation utility systems and received validation from the
Department of Defense.

Ada is a real-time programming language which is used in military
and other applications for producing critical software, especially for
embedded computer systems such as those used in weapons.

To be accepted as a version of Ada, all compilers must pass a
strict regimen of validation tests to show that they have neither
too few or too many features, either of which would harm the
reliability and portability of applications developed using the
non-standard compiler.

Tartan Ada Development Systems newly certified by the Ada Joint
Programming Office include: Tartan Ada SPARC C30 for VAX and
Sun-3 hosts; Tartan Ada SPARC MIL-STD-1750A, the only SPARC-
hosted Ada compiler for the 1750A, the 16-bit processor which will
be used in the Air Force's F-22 Advanced Tactical Fighter program;
Tartan Ada SPARC i960MC, the first validated compiler for the
Intel i960 processor; Tartan Ada SPARC 680X0 for Motorola 68020,
30, and 40 microprocessors.

Ada is the standard language required by the Department of
Defense and some other agencies for the development of most
software and all mission-critical software. It was developed
especially to be easy to maintain, reliable, and to provide a high
degree of "reusability" of previously developed code.

Although it is required for some government projects, Ada has
also found some favor as a preferred language for some industrial
applications where its use is not mandated. A large amount of
public domain software is available in Ada which may speed
development and decrease the cost of some programs.

There has been some concern recently that the government
may be de-emphasizing Ada.

(John McCormick/19920507/Press Contact: Susan Englert,
(NEWS)(GENERAL)(TOR)(00018)

 ****Nantucket To Play Key Role In CA Database Strategy 05/07/92
ISLANDIA, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1992 MAY 7 (NB) -- Top officials
of Computer Associates International pledged to continue
development of Nantucket Corp.'s products, and said the
company will play an important role in CA's growth in the
personal computer market.

CA Chairman and Chief Executive Charles Wang, and Sanjay
Kumar, senior vice-president for planning, made the comments in
an audio teleconference held just hours after their company
announced plans to acquire Nantucket, the Los Angeles firm
that makes Clipper, a dBase-compatible database management
package for PCs.

Computer Associates "will definitely continue with Clipper
development," Wang said. He said the company will also
continue the Aspen project, a Nantucket effort to develop
object-oriented database technology for Microsoft's Windows
environment.

Computer Associates already sells a dBase-compatible Windows
database product called dBFast. The company will probably use
the best of dBFast and the Aspen project in future Windows
database software, Wang said.

Kumar said Computer Associates hopes to give Clipper better
connections to CA's mainframe database software. Computer
Associates sells several mainframe database management
products, the result of acquisitions in the past few years.

Nantucket will disappear as a separate company, but its
developers are "an integral part of the acquisition" and will
come to work for Computer Associates, Wang said. Nantucket's
Los Angeles location -- close to a CA office in that city -- will be
maintained, the officials said.

Commenting on the recent rash of acquisitions in the personal
computer market -- Microsoft announced plans to buy Fox
Software just weeks ago, and late last year Borland
International took over dBase maker Ashton-Tate -- Wang said
major software vendors are coming to see the importance of the
dBase standard, or the Xbase standard as it is often called.

He said the consolidation could benefit users by putting the
resources of larger companies behind the Xbase products
originally developed by small firms.

Computer Associates hopes to close its purchase of the
privately held Nantucket within a month. The terms of the
agreement are not being disclosed.

(Grant Buckler/19920507/Press Contact: Bob Gordon, Computer
Associates, 516-342-2391; Deborah Coughlin, Computer
Associates, 516-342-2173)


(NEWS)(IBM)(TOR)(00019)

 ****Lotus Sees Sound Product As Multimedia For Masses 05/07/92
CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1992 MAY 7 (NB) --
Lotus Development has unveiled Lotus Sound, software to let users
add voice annotation or other sound to their files. Lotus sees
the product, the first of a planned series of tools for working with
added media such as sound and video, as a step toward bringing
multimedia into the mainstream of business computing.

"Sound is the first new media type that people will get comfortable
with," Steve Barlow, Lotus' product manager for multimedia, told
Newsbytes.

Lotus Sound uses object linking and embedding (OLE), a
technology built into Microsoft Windows that allows it to be
invoked from within other applications. Lotus Sound will work
with Lotus packages such as 1-2-3 for Windows and the Ami Pro
word processor, Barlow said, or with applications from other
vendors if they support OLE.

Fairly soon, Barlow added, Lotus plans to make it easier to
use Lotus Sound from within its own applications by adding
SmartIcons -- custom icons for performing specific tasks -- to
invoke Lotus Sound.

When called up, Lotus Sound displays a set of controls on the
computer screen that let the user set recording volume as well
as record, pause, play back, or stop the sound. It attaches
the sound files to the original documents and indicates their
presence with an icon that looks like a microphone. Later,
clicking on the microphone plays back the recorded sound.

The software requires a microphone and speaker device that can
be plugged into the back of a personal computer through the
parallel port. Lotus plans to sell the software through other
companies that manufacture such devices.

Its first agreement is with Media Vision of Fremont, California.
Lotus Sound is available immediately with Media Vision's
Audioport, a portable sound device. The suggested retail price
for Audioport, with Lotus Sound included, is $199.

Applications for Lotus Sound include adding voice annotation
to word processing documents, spreadsheets, and other text
and data files. In addition, Barlow said, the technology will let
computer users combine text electronic mail with the
capabilities of voice mail in the same system. "Now you have
the opportunity to drop your voice into electronic mail," he said.

Lotus intends to offer similar tools for working with video and
animation in the future, Barlow said. The company hopes to
establish standard ways of working with such media across
different applications, he said, and expects that eventually
people will use audio and video in computer applications as
naturally as they type text and numbers today.

(Grant Buckler/19920507/Press Contact: Nancy Scott,
McGlinchey & Paul for Lotus, 617-862-4514)


(NEWS)(IBM)(TOR)(00020)

 ****IBM Pre-Installs OS/2 On Some PS/2s, Cuts Some Prices 05/07/92
WHITE PLAINS, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1992 MAY 7 (NB) -- IBM
announced it will sell two models in its Personal System/2
line with the OS/2 operating system pre-installed.

The PS/2 Models 56 and 57 will be available only with OS/2
installed, company spokeswoman Deborah Siegel said. The
machines will also be shipped with a mouse, which is needed
to use OS/2.

Over time, Siegel said, IBM plans to add OS/2 as the standard
operating system to all the PS/2 models that have 386 or 486
processors, the minimum hardware needed to run the operating
system.

IBM clearly hopes to build acceptance for the operating
system, which is coming from behind against the more widely
accepted combination of DOS and Microsoft Windows, by
bundling it with PCs. Pre-installing OS/2 also means PC buyers
avoid the chore of installing OS/2, a somewhat more complicated
process than installing the simpler DOS system. However,
Siegel downplayed that point, contending that installing OS/2
takes only 40 to 45 minutes and is "not all that complex."

Users will have free access to IBM's OS/2 support line for 60
days.

Each of the selected PS/2s -- Models 56 SX, 56 SLC, 57 SX,
and 57 SLC -- have four megabytes (MB) of RAM, expandable
to 16 MB, and 80 MB or larger hard drives. The SX models use
Intel's 80386SX processor, while the others use IBM's 80386SLC,
a variant of the 386SX with added cache memory.

OS/2 can run DOS and Windows applications unchanged. If buyers
of these models insisted on replacing OS/2 with DOS, though,
Siegel said IBM would "probably accommodate them."

Suggested retail prices for Models 56 and 57 remain the same,
ranging from $3,030 for the Model 56 SX-045, to $4,465 for the
Model 57 SLC 059.

Separately, IBM announced price cuts on several PS/2 Model 80
machines.

The PS/2 Model 80 081, with an 80 MB hard disk drive, is
reduced from $4,210 to $3,825. The Model 80 161, with a
160 MB hard drive, is marked down from $4,545 to $4,160,
and the Model 80 321, with a 320 MB drive, is reduced
from $5,795 to $4,990. All these models have the 20 megahertz
(MHz) version of the Intel 80386DX processor.

The Model 80 A16, which has a 25 MHz 386DX chip and a
160 MB hard drive, is reduced from $6,045 to $4,990,
while the Model 80 A31, with the same chip but a 320 MB
hard drive, is cut from $7,295 to $5,825.

All five models come with four MB of memory and a 1.44 MB
diskette drive.

(Grant Buckler/19920507/Press Contact: Deborah Siegel, IBM,
914-642-5377)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(WAS)(00021)

NISC GeoArchive On CD-ROM 05/07/92
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1992 MAY 7 (NB) -- GeoArchive, a
major worldwide geophysics database is now available on the
$2,000 GeoArchive CD-ROM disc on a loan subscription (discs
are only loaned, and must be returned) basis from National
Information Services Corporation.

The database contains 675,000 records covering the world's
knowledge of mining, petroleum production, and other aspects
of hydrology and geology, including full texts of Hydrotitles,
Geoscience Documentation, and Geotitles.

The company claims that the database contains the best source
of information covering the economic geology of eastern Europe
and Russia.

NISC's Natural Resources Megabase has also been enhanced.
This $665 CD-ROM database includes information on wildlife
resources. Another NICS database, Ceramic Abstracts ($695),
contains a vast amount of information which might be of interest
to semiconductor manufacturers.

Consumer Reports, containing all issues of the famous publication
since 1982, would be of major interest to consumers and home
CD-ROM users if it were not for the very high $695 subscription
price and the major restrictions on its use, which includes the
requirement that the disc be returned for updates and at the end
of the use contract.

(John McCormick/19920507/Press Contact: NISC,
tel [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(WAS)(00022)

Excalibur Gets First Big Contract 05/07/92
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1992 MAY 7 (NB) -- McLean,
Virginia's Excalibur Technologies has received a $1 million
contract, its largest to date, to supply a California-based
Department of Defense contractor with the company's
PixTex/EFS server and client software for NeXT and Pyramid
Technology MISserver computers. The software provides utilities
for the retrieval of massive amounts of semi-indexed data through
the use of artificial intelligence techniques.

Excalibur technology is based on adaptive (machine learning)
pattern recognition techniques which speed indexing and retrieval
of massive amounts of information stored on large network
servers. The client software allows the integration of desktop
NeXT systems with the powerful Pyramid MIServer.

Such programs are becoming necessary because vast quantities
of information are routinely scanned into computer databases
using optical character recognition systems which do not index
the material. Manual indexing costs would make it impractical to
use such information.

Patricia Seybold's Office Computing Report of October 1991
says that neural network pattern recognition software such as
Excalibur's can improve search accuracy dramatically.

Excalibur software is also available for Digital Equipment's VAX
and Ultrix hardware platforms. The company's first product was
Savvy/TRS and PixTex was introduced in 1990.

The Excalibur technology builds an index based on the binary
representation of the ASCII text, not on the ASCII text, using
every word in a super full-text mode that actually produces
smaller indexes than the usual indexing methods, despite the
fact that they leave out certain words such as "and, the, or, a"
and so forth. Excalibur says the indexing is much faster than
traditional full-text methods.

PixTex/EFS for VMS systems start at $23,600. Prices for the
NeXT software were not available.

(John McCormick/19920507/Press Contact: Darrell Atkin,
Excalibur Technologies Corporation, 703-790-2110)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(WAS)(00023)

Adobe Updates Font Folio CD-ROM 05/07/92
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1992 MAY 7 (NB) -- Adobe Systems,
which supplies a wide variety of desktop publishing fonts, has
announced a new version of the Adobe Font Folio CD-ROM which
contains all typeface packages of the Adobe Type Library from
number one through number 250. The price for the entire set is
$14,000.

Also included in the package is a CD Technology CD-ROM drive,
Adobe Type Manager, Adobe Type Reunion, and Adobe TypeAlign
software. Fifth Generation's Suitcase utility is also included.
Suitcase is an $80 utility that makes access to fonts easier and
comes with a screen-saver utility.

Owners of the previous Font Folio CD-ROM containing fonts
1-150 can obtain a discounted upgrade to the new collection.

A wide variety of fonts are needed to customize desktop
published documents and the font sets themselves take up
massive amounts of storage so CD-ROM is a logical
distribution media.

Individual type face libraries are also available at prices ranging
from about $100 to nearly $400 each, so even though no
publisher would want all the fonts, the CD-ROM collection
represents a 75 percent price reduction over the cost of the
separate collections. Added to the convenient storage system
provided by the CD-ROM is the savings involved in never
needing to rush order a new font at the last second. Although
quite highly priced, the product could very well turn into a
cost-effective purchase for many small publishing operations.

(John McCormick/19920507/Press Contact: LaVon Collins,
Adobe Systems, 415-961-4400)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(NYC)(00024)

NY Consumer Telecommunications Access Conference Set 05/07/92
NEW YORK, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1992 MAY 7 (NB) -- The Alliance
for Public Technology (APT) has announced that it will hold a special
regional meeting in New York on Friday, May 15th, focusing on the
subject "Technologies of Freedom: Harnessing the Power of
Telecommunications for Consumers."

The meeting, to be held in the Trustees Room of the New York
Public  Library beginning at 9:00 AM is open to the public. A
meeting fee of $25 includes the 9:00 AM - 3:00 PM meeting
activities, a luncheon and a technology demonstration and reception
to be from 3:00 - 5:00 PM at New York Telephone's Customer
 Presentation Center. There is scholarship assistance available for
representatives of not-for-profit organizations and those needing
scholarship information or requiring a sign language interpreter may
contact M&R Strategic Services which is working with APT on the
meeting.

The keynote presentation of the meeting will be delivered by New
York  Assemblyman Jerrold Nadler, chairman of the committee on
Corporations, Authorities and Commissions. Following Nadler's
address, Henry Geller, communications fellow, The Merkle
Foundation, will speak on "Telecommunications Technology and
Policy Issues: A Primer". A panel, chaired by Susan Hadden, LBJ
School of Public Affairs, University of Texas, will then discuss
"Applications for Consumer Needs"

William Squadron, New York City Commissioner of
Telecommunications and Energy, will deliver a luncheon address
and then a panel led by Gerald Depot town administrator of
Bloomsberg, Pennsylvania, will discuss "Consumer Impact in the
Information Age: Government, Industry and Consumer Views." The
meeting portion of the program will conclude with a 2:30 PM
"Consumer Strategies for the Information Age" roundtable
discussion chaired by Jennings Bryant, director, Institute for
Communications Research, University of Alabama.

Ken Deutsch, representing APT, told Newsbytes: "The topics
to be discussed at the meeting are particularly timely. While a
tremendous amount of information is becoming available
electronically, policy is still being made that will determine whether
the information will be open to general consumer availability or
closed to the use of a few. We feel that the upcoming New York
meeting will make an important contribution in bringing these
issues to public attention."

(Barbara E. McMullen & John F. McMullen/19920507/Press
Contact: Ken Deutsch, M&R Strategic Services, tel [phone],
fax [phone])


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

Indian & Russian Science Collaboration Gets New Lease 05/07/92
NEW DELHI, INDIA, 1992 MAY 7 (NB) -- India and Russia have
agreed to cooperate in the field of computer sciences under the
modified Integrated Long Term Program (ILTP) in science and
technology, which had been going on between India and the
erstwhile Soviet Union.

This puts an end to the uncertainty prevailing over the collaborative
arrangement between Indian and Russian research institutes, since
the breakup of Soviet Union. The program is being executed under
the umbrella of  the Indian National Science Academy from the
Indian side, and will be coordinated by Russian Academy of
Sciences in Russia.

According to the agreement signed between Pune-based Center for
Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC) and the Russian
Institute for Computer-Aided Design (ICAD), scientists from both
sides will conduct research in areas of mutual interest like parallel
processing.

ICAD scientists will try to develop new software programs on
Param, the parallel-processing supercomputer developed by CDAC,
particularly in areas of application such as medicine, aircraft design
and fluid dynamics.

Development of advanced materials for electronics is another likely
area of Indo-Russian collaboration, according to N. Vittal of the
Department of Electronics (DoE). At present, India has to import
about 80 percent of its requirements and its needs will likely rise
with the many foreign companies setting up units to manufacture
electronic goods, he feels. He points out that both sides could gain
from a partnership between the Center for Materials for Electronic
Technology (C-MET), set up by DoE, and a Russian organization
like the Institute of Inorganic Chemistry in Novosibirsk.

(C.T. Mahabharat/19920507)


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

HP Intros New Paintjet XL300 Inkjet Color Printer 05/07/92
SINGAPORE, 1992 MAY 7 (NB) -- Hewlett-Packard has released
a new plain-paper color printer for the business office. The HP
Paintjet XL300 with HP's color implementation of PCL 5C printer
language carries a list price of $3,495.

The printer produces 300 dots-per-inch (dpi) resolution on a variety
of media types and sizes and features automatic input/output
switching for simultaneous connection to PC, Macintosh, and
networked environments. Options include Adobe Postscript Level 2
upgrade kit and HP Jet-direct cards. It also supports automatic
language switching between PCL 5C and Postscript. Postscript
users can purchase the postscript version (listed at $4,995) or a
user-installable Postscript upgrade.

The printer enables business, as well as creative and technical
professionals to bring color printing capabilities in-house for
presentation of graphics, spreadsheets, color proofing, desktop
publishing, computer-aided design, and project scheduling.

As the HP Paintjet XL300 printers are the first color printers
compatible with the HP Laserjet III family of printers, they provide
a transition to color printing for business users who currently
use the latter.

HP Paintjet family printers use HP-developed ink-jet technology
that creates text and graphics by laying fine ink droplets on the
page. HP claims to have shipped more than four million ink-jet
printers since 1984, more than all other ink-jet manufacturers
combined.

The printer is horizontal with brick-like angles - rather like an
earlier model of a Sharp portable stereo music system extended
by speakers on both sides. "It must be an engineer's (technical)
design," quipped a press wag, at a pre-release demo held during
HP's annual Asia Pacific Press Symposium on Peripherals
Technologies held at Singapore early April.

HP's marketing presentations held forth on their strategies to
"make electronic color pervasive" and on how "HP will take color
hardcopy from an important specialty niche to an essential part
of everyday printing" through its inkjet technology, because "color
is persuasive."

(C.T. Mahabharat/19920507)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(LAX)(00027)

Texpo 92: Pac Bell Working To Transmit Movies To Theaters 05/07/92
ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 MAY 7 (NB) -- Pacific Bell is
planning a digital film distribution system called Advanced Broadcast
Video Service (ABVS) geared towards replacing the current bulky
and expensive celluloid film distribution technique of getting movies
from the studio into theaters.

Pac Bell is working on the electronic transmission of films over fiber
optic telephone links. To demonstrate the concept, Pac Bell showed
audiences the film "Bugsy," transmitted electronically in high
definition television (HDTV) format and shown to attendees of Texpo
'92 in Anaheim, California. While some reports were that Pac Bell
was looking for another movie to show because it thought Bugsy
might project too dark for audiences, that was due in part to the fire
department regulations concerning lighting in a public place. Since
the film was being shown in the convention center and not a movie
theater, Pac Bell representatives told Newsbytes there was more
lighting necessary than they would have liked.

The film was transmitted from Sony Picture Studios in Culver City
and while parts of it were dark, overall audiences seemed to be
satisfied with the result.

While Pac Bell said movie goers would get a "fresh print" at every
showing, the quality of the transmission is still not as good as
celluloid film in the big screen projections used in movie theaters.
However, Pac Bell is confident it can make the technology work.

Some raised the issue of the differences between the digital
transmission and film, saying the digital transmission is visually
"flatter" than the film version. Newsbytes wonders if electronic
transmission will change what is "photogenic," the way adding
sound to silent pictures of the past changed the criteria for actors,
who suddenly needed good speaking voices as well as an ability
to act.

HDTV especially is different and the differences can be quite
striking. Newsbytes felt as though images captured and displayed
with HDTV contain much more information visually and give the
viewer the strong sense of actually being in the setting themselves.
However, displaying films that were developed to take advantage
of the particularities of celluloid in an electronic format has brought
some criticism from some in the film community.

Besides use for films, Pac Bell says video conferencing and
educational applications are also a possibility. Plans are to begin
tests of ABVS later this summer pending approval of state and
federal regulatory agencies, Pac Bell added.

(Linda Rohrbough/19920507/Press Contact: Scott Smith,
Pacific Bell, 415-542-0597)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(LAX)(00028)

Texpo 92: Voice Mail To Pre-Qualify Job Applicants 05/07/92
ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 MAY 7 (NB) -- Pacific Bell
is offering employers the rental of a service by which they can
electronically, by phone, pre-screen and pre-qualify job applicants.
The service allows job applicants to call a phone number in an ad
and respond by voice and touch-tone phone key presses to a
series of questions selected by the employer.

Pac Bell says the service simply dials into a voice mail system that
the employer can program from their own telephone. An employer
can call in and record questions and menu options. Prospective
employees can then call the Pac Bell Job Openings Hotline, enter a
three digit code printed in the job advertisement in a newspaper and
begin the process of answering the questions.

Callers can hear a job description and the qualifications for the job
and can choose to go on with the process of answering questions, if
the employer has programmed any, or can find out where to send a
resume or how to schedule an interview. A transfer to a personnel
office telephone can also be added as well as the ability for the
system to record a "verbal" resume.

Pac Bell says advertising responses can be tracked by tracking the
callers telephone area code or zip codes and up to 900 job listings
can be recorded on the system. The company says it maintains the
equipment, set up on an IBM 486-based personal computer and Pac
Bell employees monitor the system 24-hours a day. While this is a
system companies could set up themselves, renting the service for
a 30-day period could make sense for many employers.

In addition, employers can choose to have messages recorded in a
studio by voice professionals and multi-lingual messages can be
offered as well, Pac Bell representatives told Newsbytes.

(Linda Rohrbough/19920507)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(NYC)(00029)

 ****Texas Instruments Intros "Most Advance RISC Processor" 05/07/92
HOUSTON, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1992 MAY 7 (NB) -- Texas Instruments
(TI) has announced the introduction of what it refers to as "The
industry's most advanced RISC (reduced instruction-set computing)
microprocessor for the next generation of SPARC workstations."

The processor, "SuperSPARC," consists of 3.1 million transistors
on a single chip and, according to TI, is the first single-chip SPARC
microprocessor to have complete built-in multiprocessing. TI further
said  that SuperSPARC's  multiprocessing allows system vendors
to expand from one to many microprocessors in the same system
to increase performance. At an operating speed of 40 megahertz,
(MHz) it delivers up to 150 million instructions per second (MIPS),
three times the performance of PC microprocessors.

The new chip marks the first of a series of products jointly developed
by TI and Sun Microsystems Computer Corp. The two companies
have announced that they are also working together on SPARC chip
designs for low-cost desktop projects, as well as very high-
performance, next-generation extensions of SuperSPARC.

TI also said that SuperSPARC has received endorsements from ICL,
Solbourne, Xerox, SunPro, SunSoft, Lotus Development, and
Frame Technology

A TI representative told Newsbytes that the chips are presently in
volume production and that TI is taking orders from SPARC
International  Executive Members now for 33 MHz and 40 MHz
configurations and, in the near future, for 45 MHz and 50 MHz
versions. Orders from other parties are, according to the
spokesperson, to be taken in third quarter 1992 for delivery in the
forth quarter.

(Barbara E. McMullen & John F. McMullen//19920507Press
Contact: Donna Coletti, Texas Instruments, 214-997-5471)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SFO)(00030)

DECWorld: DEC Intros High-Speed Networking Gigaswitch 05/07/92
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1992 MA 7 (NB) -- In a
press briefing yesterday at DECWorld, Digital Equipment
announced the Gigaswitch, an intelligent packet switch aimed at
dramatically raising data rates on multivendor LANs (local area
networks) and WANs (wide area networks).

Officials stressed that the Gigaswitch offers a potential aggregate
throughput of 3.6 Gb/s, to be achieved through the use of switched
point-to-point links.

The switch will also allow FDDI (fiber data distribution interface)
backbones to run over longer distances than is currently the case,
they said.  Up to four Gigaswitch platforms will be able to be
attached in a single configuration.

"The Gigaswitch extends the range of FDDI, in much the same way
that the development of the bridge extended the range of Ethernet,"
stated Mahendra Patel, technical director of systems engineering
for Digital. In addition, the modular design of the switch eases
installation, maintenance, and traffic management for the network
manager, Patel noted. "Our customers have become accustomed
to a plug and play environment," commented Patel.

The Gigaswitch is especially suited to large campus environments,
and to multimedia, imaging, and other applications requiring more
throughput than the 100 Mb/s that FDDI alone can provide, said Jim
Kuenzel, FDDI program development manager.

The officials explained that the Gigaswitch is a dynamic crossbar
switch that makes simultaneous connections among multiple data
links. The data links plug into 22 input and output ports in the
switch, at FDDI line speeds, enabling high-speed transfer of data
with such devices as FDDI rings, multivendor mainframes, VAX and
Alpha clusters, DSUs to T3/E3 lines, and PC LANs.

Unlike an FDDI ring, which uses a shared channel access backplane,
the Gigaswitch architecture supports a technology based on a
switching matrix that allows rapid mapping of any input port to any
output port.

In shared channel access, a method also employed in Ethernet and
Token Ring, one node on the network transmits while another
receives.  Meanwhile, all nontransmitting nodes must wait. In
contrast, the Gigaswitch technology allow multiple "conversations"
among devices. When the digital systems with FDDI adapters are
used, the raw bandwidth of the link is effectively doubled.

Throughput is bolstered further by a method called "cut through
forwarding." When a packet is received on a Gigaswitch port and
its destination port is not busy, the packet is forwarded quickly,
reducing the usual store-and-forward delay. Forwarding is started
once the packet header is received, instead of after the entire
packet has arrived.

All together, a Gigaswitch platform can make more than six million
dynamic connections a second, the company claims.

When inserted into a network, a Gigaswitch automatically configures
itself, with no operator intervention. In addition, the modular design
of the switch incorporates hardware redundancy, so switching
engines and data link interfaces can be easily replaced when
needed, officials said. A hot swap capability permits replacements
to be made without powering down the platform.

The switch can also filter traffic on a per port basis, enhancing
traffic management, the company said. The platform can be
managed through SNMP (simple network management protocol)
network control and management stations.

The network architecture of the Gigaswitch platform has been
designed to handle up to 34 ports in the future, according to the
officials.  Additional network management capabilities and higher
throughput will also be coming, they added.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19920507)