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/nb920529

Text File | 1992-05-29 | 70KB | 1,540 lines

(NEWS)(IBM)(SYD)(00001)

 ****Borland Premieres Paradox 4.0 In Melbourne 05/29/92
Melbourne, Australia, 1992 MAY 29 (NB) -- Borland International stunned
a 1200-strong audience at the Melbourne, Australia presentation of its
Borland '92 Roadshow with the world premier of version 4 of its popular
Paradox database this week.

The product is due for release in the US today, Friday. The launch was
a coup for Borland Australia which received clearance from the US to
launch ahead of the rest of the world.

The product has been independently benchmarked in the US as the fastest DOS
database currently available, outperfroming even FoxPro 2.0 which was
the prior front runner. It has a new interface making it similar to other
Borland products such as the popular languages. It supports binary large
objects (BLOBs) and memo fields. The fields can now hold up to 256
megabytes each, and the tables can be as large as four gigabytes.
Extensions to the existing PAL programming language include event-driven
programming.

Other improvements include extended video modes, enhanced networking
support and Postscript printer output. The long-awaited Windows version
is still on track for August according to the company.

(Paul Zucker/19920529)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(LON)(00002)

Deutsche Bundespost Telekom Opens Moscow Office 05/29/92
BONN, WEST GERMANY, 1992 MAY 29 (NB) -- Deutsche Bundespost
Telekom (DBT) has opened a new office is Moscow. While the state
telecom company has several offices dotted around Europe, this is
the first one in Eastern Europe.

Formally announcing the opening of the new office at a telecom
conference in Moscow, Helmut Ricke, DBT's chairman, said that the
company plans to use the office as a base to discuss
international projects which have a long payback period for the
telecom companies concerned.

DBT is making steady progress toward becoming an independent
company rather than the state-controlled operation it currently
is. European Commission (EC) policy is to ensure that the
benefits of free market competition are implemented as quickly as
possible by the customers of member country telecoms companies --
hence DBT's haste is opening up potentially lucrative overseas markets.

(Steve Gold/19920528)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(LON)(00003)

Ericsson Lands $42 Million Chinese Cellular Phone Contract 05/29/92
STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN, 1992 MAY 29 (NB) -- Ericsson has secured a second
contract with Chinese authorities for a cellular phone network.

Terms of this latest contract, which is worth $42 million to the
Swedish telecom company, call for Ericsson to install a fully
working cellular phone network in the Guandong area of China. The
new network will have a total capacity of 55,000 subscribers --
effectively doubling the capacity of the existing network in the
region.

Plans call for the network to be fully operational within six to
nine months. When combined with other projects that Ericsson has
completed or is currently undertaking in the area, this will bring
the total number of Ericsson cellular phones in China to 150,000,
the company claims.

What's interesting about the deal is that it calls for the very
latest cellular equipment to be installed in China. Traditionally,
telecom companies have used the Chinese market to offload some of
their older stock.

(Steve Gold/19920528)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(MOW)(00004)

AT&T To Hire 100 Russian Scientists 05/29/92
MOSCOW, RUSSIA, 1992 MAY 29 (NB) -- AT&T has announced that it will
contract with 100 leading Russian scientists to engage in advanced
research in fiber optic technology. The scientists are to be paid a
very nominal fee for their research while AT&T will get world patent
rights to their inventions, should they be created.

Professor Evgeny Dianov, head of the Fiber Optic Department of the
Academy of Sciences' General Physics Institute (GPI), and Mr Goeman,
director of the fiber optic research, AT&T Bell Labs, presented the
deal to the press in the Tren-Mos Restaurant in Moscow.

GPI began fiber optic research in 1970 and gained worldwide
recognition for its achievements. The most advanced areas, in which most
of the cooperation with Bell Labs will happen, include fundamental
issues of high strength fiber, optical amplifiers, and soliton
propagation.

Reuters reports that AT&T's top wage to the scientists in Russia
will be $720 annually, plus travel and equipment expense. Both Bell
and GPI spokespersons refuse to get into financial details in Moscow,
saying that financing will be just enough to pay salaries, buy needed
equipment, and travel to conferences.

Dianov said that the shortage of funds, which for years came from
Academy of Sciences, government, and the industry, put research
programs in question, and the AT&T support will help ongoing
research.

Still unclear, and about which nobody has agreed to comment,
is the question of technology transfer and worldwide intellectual
property rights. The press release distributed before the press event
said, "Bell Labs has worked out a novel intellectual property rights
agreement with the Institute [GPI] which allows the Institute to retain
patent rights within Russia while Bell Labs holds the patent rights for
the rest of the world." Neither Bell Labs or GPI officials confirmed
or denied that statement. Professor Dianov said the rights issue will be
solved on the case-by-case basis.

While AT&T is hiring Russians to push next century's state-of-the-art
technology, the US still has strict export regulations concerning
export of the technology into former Eastern Block countries, said
John Goeman, marketing director, AT&T Networking Systems International.

This approach -- to provide Russian scientists with funds to live and work
in Russia instead of looking for international employment -- was
pioneered by a deal between Sun Microsystems and the Institute of Precise
Mechanics and Computer Equipment in Moscow under which professor
Babayan with his team will advance Sun SPARC research.

Yet another company -- Corning Inc. -- has announced it signed a contract
for the services of 100 Russian scientists at Vavilov State Optical
Institute in St Petersburg. This happened hours after AT&T announcement.

(Kirill Tchashchin/199204/Press Contact: Donna Cunningham, AT&T 802-482-
3748 or 802-482-2933; or Roman Dyukarev, Young & Rubicam, +7 095 253-
2186)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(BRU)(00005)

Digital Multimedia takes Over X-CAD For The Amiga 05/29/92
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM, 1992 MAY 29 (NB) -- X-CAD, the computer-aided
design package for the Commodore Amiga, has been acquired by
the UK-based company Digital Multimedia Inc. X-CAD was previously
marketed by AVT, which has gone into bankruptcy.

Newsbytes spoke to Richard Nolan, the sales and marketing director of
DMI, who said that two new versions of X-CAD would be available in the
next two weeks: X-CAD 2000, the entry-level package which offers both
2-D and 3-d modelling and will sell for $199, and X-CAD 3000,
which has more options and will retail at $599. He added that
distribution in the United Kingdom would be done through Digital
Multimedia Services, while the rest of Europe would be handled by
Digital Multimedia Europe.

John Warren, managing director of Digital Multimedia Europe, at his office
in Brussels told Newsbytes that the initial marketing thrust would be
in Germany, which has an installed base of more than one million Amiga
users.

Distribution in the United States will be handled by American
Software (tel [phone]).

(Peter Jones/19920529 Press Contact: J. Warren, Managing
Director, Digital Multimedia Europe, 48 Beukenlaan 1560-Hoeilaart,
Brussels, Belgium. Tel.: [phone] Fax.: [phone])


(NEWS)(APPLE)(SYD)(00006)

Macintoshes Produce Animated TV Programs 05/29/92
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1992 MAY 29 (NB) -- An Australian animation company,
Unlimited Energee, has received a $2.1M contract with Burbank Animation
studios to complete the biggest animation project ever undertaken in
Australia. The brief is to produce 13 one-hour fully animated TV
features using only Apple Macintoshes, with the likelihood of
subsequent 13.

Each story is independent of the next and is based on a classic tale, but
rewritten and modernized.

A milestone in securing the contract lay in overcoming resistance from
a group of American industry stalwarts. There was substantial doubt by
the group that the quality of the computer-generated product would
match that produced by traditional methods of animation. Numerous test
tapes and a great deal of lobbying ensured the deal went through.

Another hurdle successfully overcome when pitching for the Burbank deal
was the question of containing costs. A tradition in the animation
industry in the United States is to send the time-consuming work of hand
painting each individual animation cell off-shore to the "sweat shops" of
China, Hong Kong and the Philippines, where costs are kept to a minimum.
But ultimately, producing animation using computers is far more
economical than its traditional counterpart.

The first in the series is Frank Enstein, nineties style. A slight
departure from the original tale of a monster brought to life in a storm
swept castle, this version still sees the creation of a monster, but the
main focus is a water-powered car.

The deadline for the delivery of the first feature is 8 June, and the
entire series will be completed by mid-1994.

"Since signing the contract, literally every waking hour has been
spent working on Frank Enstein. We're all exhausted but the
results are worth it. Frank Enstein is exactly how we'd visualized
it to look - and that's fantastic," said Robert Davidson, Unlimited
Energee's founder.

The second feature will be based on the story of the Pied Piper and the
third on Robin Hood, with work on both having already begun.

Frank Enstein was begun on the Macintosh IIfx, but since receiving
Apple Developer status, Unlimited Energee has gained access to more
powerful equipment. They now use three Macintosh Quadra 900s and five
Macintosh Quadra 700s. Unlimited Energee uses eight optical disk drives
which utilize phase change technology. This provides them with one
gigabyte of storage per disk.

Unlimited Energee use 16", 19" and 21" color monitors which provide
them with screens large enough to focus on every finely crafted detail
of the scene they are working on, without loss of focus anywhere on the
screen.

Software used by Unlimited Energee includes Pixel Paint, PhotoShop, Swivel 3D,
StrataVision, InfiniD, Adobe Illustrator, Publish It!, Quick Keys,
Microsoft Word, MacroMind Director, Disk Express, and Disk Doubler.

The characters or 'stars' of the features are hand drawn and then
scanned into the scene, while the backgrounds are drawn directly on
to pressure sensitive Wacom boards.

Robert Davidson sees many advantages in using computers for animation
production. "The whole procedure of a digital information system is
extremely environmentally friendly. The computer is self-contained, whereas
the traditional animation process requires the use of toxic chemicals and
a lot of waste, and of course the computer is much, much quicker. It also
benefits the animators who are able to see the results of their
efforts almost immediately, instead of waiting six months for the
hand-painting to be completed."

"US giant Disney has developed an in-house computer system called CAPS
(Computer Animation Programming System) which cost a phenomenal amount
of money, well over $50 million. We are already able to achieve 90% of
the quality and quantity of their output for television, for a mere
fraction of their costs."

"It's one of the first times Australia has had a leading edge on its
international competitors in the dynamic entertainment arena. But
this may not hold for the future. A new wave of computer generated
animation is being developed by a joint British/French/Canadian venture,
with a $17 million injection of funds by the French Government. The only
support we have received is from Apple Computer Australia.
We've had no additional interest even though we've managed to secure
a prestigious and on-going contract, bringing work into the country
in a recession."

Unlimited Energee made waves about 18 months ago with the production
of a television commercial for a sugar substitute, which was created
and produced entirely on a Macintosh llfx personal computer, and completed
in record time for a fraction of the expected cost.

Unlimited Energee employs between 20 and 30 animators and in-betweeners
on a contract basis and 19 full-time and casual staff involved with the
production process. According to general manager, John Travers, it
is very satisfying to be employing recently qualified college graduates,
who are then being further trained in the most advanced animation
technology.

(Paul Zucker/19920529)


(NEWS)(IBM)(TOR)(00007)

Bachman Changes Tack On IBM Repository 05/29/92
BURLINGTON, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1992 MAY 29 (NB) -- Software
developer Bachman Information Systems has announced a change in its
plans to support the IBM Repository Manager/MVS.

Bachman is making immediately available the Bachman/Plus Analyst
Repository Enablement service to facilitate the connection between
the Repository enterprise model and the data model portion of the
Bachman/Analyst, its software analysis and design product.

The Repository is a central store of information about data and
applications meant to simplify application development on large IBM
systems, and a key part of IBM's AD/Cycle application development
framework.

The Bachman/Plus Analyst Repository Enablement service is meant to
let developers share models of data designs between products using
the IBM Repository Manager/MVS as a central point of control. It is
immediately available.

IBM officials noted that Bachman joins KnowledgeWare and Intersolv
in offering products which store and retrieve information from the
enterprise model of the Repository.

At the same time, the company cancelled plans for its previously
announced Bachman/DBA Repository Services product, which would have
let users store database designs created with Bachman software in
the IBM Repository.

A spokeswoman for Bachman said the company's customers had told it
they needed the link between the Repository and Bachman/Analyst
now, and had little immediate need for the other product.

Company officials said they would continue to provide additional
support for the Repository as needed in the future.

Also, IBM announced it would offer an enhanced version of the
Bachman/Designer application development tool as part of its
AD/Cycle framework. The enhanced Bachman/Designer enables users to
take full application designs built with Bachman's Model Driven
Development products and create production-ready code directly with
IBM's Cross System Product, IBM said. It will be available June 26
at a price of $10,000. Multiple copy discounts are available.

(Grant Buckler/19920528/Press Contact: Gail Walker, Bachman,
617-273-9003; Lisa Pintchman or Adam Stein, The Weber Group for
Bachman, 617-661-7900; Steven Malkiewicz, IBM, 914-642-5449)


(NEWS)(IBM)(TOR)(00008)

New For PCs: BusinessVision Expands Accounting Package 05/29/92
NEWPORT BEACH, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 MAY 29 (NB) --
BusinessVision Management Systems expects shortly to begin shipping
BusinessVision II Delta, an expanded version of its BusinessVision
II accounting software.

The new package will add extra modules to the 13 that were offered
in the mid-range BusinessVision II package, a spokeswoman for the
company said. A key addition is the bill of materials module,
intended to provide decision support for manufacturing companies.
A "bundling" or "kitting" feature in this module automatically
adjusts inventory for each item within user-defined "kits," the
company said.

The new package also adds budgeting and forecasting capabilities
meant to help users forecast sales revenues, control expenses, and
build business plans, company officials said.

A multi-warehousing feature can be used to track inventory in an
unlimited number of warehouses, and a serialized inventory feature
makes it possible to assign serial numbers to inventory on receipt
or at the time of sale.

BusinessVision II Delta is aimed at larger businesses, while the
previous package was meant mainly for small to medium-sized
businesses, the spokeswoman said.

The software costs $1,995, with a local-area network package
available for $795. The Delta Custom Report Writer also costs $795,
and an upgrade kit from BusinessVision II Turbo to the Delta
package is available for $725.

The software runs on an IBM or compatible PC with at least 420K
bytes of memory (512K bytes recommended), and needs 2.8 megabytes
of hard disk space, the vendor said. Shipments are expected to
begin by mid-June.

(Grant Buckler/19920528/Press Contact: Joy Anthony, Hilary Kaye &
Associates for BusinessVision, 714-851-5150, fax [phone];
Julian Aston, BusinessVision Management Systems, 714-476-3770, fax
714-752-2160)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(TYO)(00009)

Low Cost Nintendo Machine Due In Summer 05/29/92
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1992 MAY 29 (NB) -- Kyoto-based game machine maker
Nintendo will release a low-cost version of its best-selling
game machine the "Super NES" this summer. Priced at $99.95, it
is about $50 cheaper than the current model.

This low-cost version is basically the current version except
that there is no game software bundled with it. Also, it does not
have the stereo sound cable.

The major reason for the release of this low-cost version is to
compete with Sega Enterprises. Sega's 16-bit game machine
called "Genesis" in the US and Europe has started eat into
Nintendo's market share.

The Super NES was released in the US last September and
3.3 million of them were sold by the end of this past March.
Nintendo cut the price by $20 in January, and $30 in May. With
another $50 price-cut, the Super NES will cost about a half of the
original price.

Rival Sega is also expected to lower the price of the Genesis,
which is currently sold at $129.99.

Nintendo has announced that the price cut will lead to a 50%
increase in shipments and a total of 1.5 million units are expected
to be shipped each month. The firm will also sell these
machines in Europe by the end of the month.

(Masayuki Miyazawa/19920528/Press Contact: Nintendo, +81-75-541-
6111)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(TYO)(00010)

 ****Ultra Definition TV Project Starts In Japan 05/29/92
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1992 MAY 29 (NB) -- Japan's NTT, NHK and ASCII
are discussing joint development of so-called "Ultra Definition
Television" (UDTV) system -- an advanced version of current high
definition TV or HDTV. UDTV is a futuristic concept that provides
at least a two-fold increase in pictorial resolution and results
in a picture comparable to that of theatrical movies.

Under discussion is a joint venture by March 1994, capitalized with
14 billion yen ($110 million). The new firm's mission will be to
develop the technology commercially within seven years.

The UDTV concept is to offer 3,000 lines on screen, while current
Japanese HDTV supports 1,125 lines. The screen picture would be
as crisp as 70mm film. UDTV compresses pictorial data to a fourth
of the compression in HDTV. UDTV is based on digital data, allowing
it to be shared on workstations, G4 fax machines, and digital
video tapes. NTT would also transmit the data via B-ISDN network.

NTT, NHK and ASCII will apply to the Basic Technology Research
Promotion Center to get the financial support for the project. The
three firms will also ask European and American TV manufacturers
to participate in this project.

(Masayuki Miyazawa/19920529/Press Contact: NTT, [phone])


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(TYO)(00011)

JVC Links With Hughes On Liquid Crystal Projection 05/29/92
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1992 MAY 29 (NB) -- Japan Victor Corp. (JVC)
will create a joint venture firm with Hughes Aircraft in Carlsbad,
California in the US in August to develop audio-visual devices in
based on liquid crystal light valve projection, a new technology.

The joint venture firm, called Hughes JVC Technology,
will be funded with $62.5 million, 60 percent of which will be
from Hughes and 40 percent from JVC.

The new firm will mainly develop video projectors based on new
concepts developed by Hughes in its defense work, namely its liquid
crystal projection technology. The technology uses regular television
signals or other visual media as input sources, and writes the images
to liquid crystal film, which is then transformed into high intensity
images for display on a projection screen.

The actual products will be manufactured by both Hughes and JVC.
Hughes will produce the products for industrial use, while JVC
will produce products for home use.

The new firm is expected to start with 200 employees.

(Masayuki Miyazawa/19920529/Press Contact: Japan Victor Corp.,
 [phone])


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

 ****Bill Designed To Limit Baby Bell Info Business Pursuits 05/29/92
WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A., 1992 MAY 29 (NB) -- What should be the
best of times for US phone companies is turning into the worst
of times, as legislation to take the regional Bells back out of
the information business passed a House subcommittee.

The 10-6 vote by a House Judiciary subcommittee on economic and
commercial law was expected. Judiciary Committee chair Jack
Brooks of Texas is the sponsor of H.R. 5096, the Antitrust Reform
Act of 1992, which would return the regional Bells, for a time,
to the status quo ante before Judge Harold Greene lifted
restrictions against their entry into the information industry
last year.

BellSouth spokesman R.L. McGuire moderately predicted defeat for
the bill, noting that millions of customers will soon be using
RBOC information products. But Ameritech threw a fit, as vice
president of federal relations John Connarn wrote the bill's
passage "clearly demonstrated why the American people
increasingly are fed up with Congress." He charged that the Bells
represent the "public interest," while opponents like MCI, AT&T,
and the nation's newspapers are "special interests." Unclear at
this writing is to what extent Ameritech or the other Bells will
work to defeat Congressmen who voted against their interests.

Separately PacTel bought International Teletrac Systems, which
operates a vehicle tracking service in Los Angeles, Chicago,
Detroit and Dallas/Fort Worth using PacTel cellular networks.
It's the first purchase of an information firm by one of the
Bells since the Greene decision, but was less important than it
appears. PacTel already owned 51 percent of the firm, which has
350 employees. PacTel's investment bankers, J.P. Morgan & Co.,
are currently considering a move to split the company into
regulated and unregulated entities, which would make a bill like
Brooks' unnecessary.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19920529/Press Contact: Ameritech, Peter M.
Lincoln, 202/955-3058)


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

Bell Stocks Fall Following Sprint-Centel Deal 05/29/92
NEW YORK, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1992 MAY 29 (NB) -- Stocks in local
telephone and cellular telephone companies fell in price
following Centel's decision to merge with Sprint at a discount
price.

Centel agreed to take what amounts to 35 percent of
Sprint, which is eight times larger, but the cash value of the deal
was nearly $10 under what Centel stock was selling at on the open
market the day before the merger.

Centel fell $10.50 to $32 per share in heavy trading on the New
York Stock Exchange, while Sprint fell $1.37 to $23.12. Meanwhile
McCaw Cellular fell $1.50 to $27.50 on the NASDAQ over-the-counter
market, where it was the most active stock. Even giant GTE
slipped 75 cents to $31.25.

Arbitrageurs who had bet heavily on a break-up, claiming Centel
was worth $50-70 per share, bitterly predicted on TV and in
major newspapers the deal will be called off. It was the first
time in years a company has agreed to a buy-out at a price below
its market valuation, which led some to claim the entire
telecommunications sector is overvalued. Cynics replied it might
be the arbitrageurs who are overvalued.

But shareholders are expected to approve it this summer and, in
fact, it may turn out to be a great deal for Centel's highly
regarded management, which could provide needed direction to
Sprint's less well-regarded team. Centel Chairman Jack Frazee
reacted to the heat by noting that Sprint was the only firm to
offer to buy all of Centel, and that some divisions drew no bids
at all. It's expected that 1,000 jobs will be made redundant by
the merger.

In a press conference, Frazee and Sprint Chairman William Esrey
confirmed that talks between the two companies have been going on
for nearly a year, well before Centel formerly put itself out for
bid. That move may have been an attempt to raise Sprint's
offering price for the company. If it was, it failed, Frazee
admitted. Esrey said he pursued Centel because many of its
cellular operations overlap with Sprint's United Telephone local
service areas. However, analysts noted, that was the case before
1988, when Sprint sold those same cellular properties to Centel
in funding its move into long distance, where it still runs a
poor third to AT&T and MCI.

If a full-blown shareholder revolt over the price does take
place, however, it's possible the price will be adjusted upward.
If that happens, Centel management might gain more leverage in
its coming attempt to rationalize its new parent. Sprint has had
a revolving door of managers at the top for years, and about a
year ago suddenly laid off dozens of top people to cut costs.
Still, sources have told Newsbytes in the past, Sprint remains
beset by factionalism.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19920529)


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

Motorola Chairman Keynotes CES 05/29/92
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, U.S.A., 1992 MAY 29 (NB) -- Despite Wall
Street's thumbs-down on telephone stocks, despite Washington's
thumbs-down on telephone company entry into the information
business, and even despite possible strikes starting this weekend
against major phone firms, starting with AT&T, the telephone
industry was the dominant force at the Summer Consumer
Electronics Show in Chicago.

Motorola Chairman George Fisher, whose company has invested
heavily in wireless communications, keynoted. Motorola got its
name in the 1920s producing power controllers for early radios,
and its recent moves in cellular phone, radio data, and paging
markets worldwide are, in part, a return home. Fisher predicted
that the boundaries between consumer and industrial electronics
will come down in the next decade, as wireless digital
communication products his company is working on come to market
worldwide. He estimated the wireless end of the world
telecommunication industry will be worth $600 billion by the year
2010.

Consumers will be welcomed at CES for the first time this weekend,
and about 100,000 are expected in to see AT&T's videophone and
other products. AT&T's booth is a show highlight, with music and
lights reminiscent of Apple at its gaudiest. The public will see
such products as the AT&T 9200 compact fax machine, which
includes a phone-fax switch so it can share the line, as well as
the company's Partner line of small business key telephones,
which offer switching capabilities. Apple is also at the show,
displaying a prototype of its Newton organizer. Only parts of
its potential were demonstrated at the show.

Elsewhere Sony continued its move to find synergy between
consumer technology and software by launching an "Affiliated
Label" CD-ROM program, under which it will make and distribute
education and entertainment CD-ROM titles from leading US.
software publishers. Titles will be carried by over 4,700 retail
outlets, with standardized packaging and extensive marketing
support. CD-ROM in the past has been hurt by a narrow retailing
channel -- the market primarily consists of businesses looking to
save money by searching huge text databases.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19920529/Press Contact: Sony, Peter Dille,
212/418-9439; AT&T, Steven Emery 201-581-4067)


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

 ****Journalists To Get Satellite News Network 05/29/92
VERO BEACH, FLORIDA, U.S.A., 1992 MAY 29 (NB) -- Redgate
Communications and the National Technological University moved
ahead with plans to build special teleconferencing networks.

Redgate's Multimedia Marketing Networks awarded a $2 million
contract to General Motors' EDS unit to build a satellite
network for analysts and journalists. The Interactive Information
Networks will deliver live news conferences, product
introductions, and emergency announcements via satellite from
corporate clients to offices and desktops of journalists,
industry analysts, and investment firms.

EDS will install equipment in the offices of what it calls 150
"key industry influencers." Included are 1.2 meter dish antennas,
compressed video decoders, cables and special workstations including a
monitor, VCR and laser printer.

In addition to live participation, the network allows viewers to
record programs and phone in questions during broadcasts. IIN is
fully addressable, so parts of the audience - journalists or
industry analysts, for example - can be selected to receive
certain broadcasts. The first broadcast is expected in September
1992.

NTU, meanwhile, launched a similar network devoted to higher
education, with equipment from Compression Labs. The new net has
38 uplink sites and 275 downlink sites, and was called the
world's largest digital television broadcast network.

NTU, based in Fort Collins, Colorado, is a consortium of 43
engineering schools that delivers more than 800 graduate courses
and non-credit short courses via satellite annually. The courses
are taken by almost 100,000 professionals and managers at their
worksites each year. NTU has been broadcasting in analog since
1985, with four channels on two transponders. The conversion to
digital technology will give it 12 channels one transponder.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19920529/Press Contact: Redgate Communications,
Robert Nicholson, 407/231-6904; NTU, Doug Yeager, 303/484-6050)


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

America Online Offers Free File Access 05/29/92
VIENNA, VIRGINIA, U.S.A., 1992 MAY 29 (NB) -- As a summertime
promotion, America Online is offering members free access to
selected software files and computer industry news. The promotion
is called Summer Software Madness.

America Online subscribers using PC-compatible computers will
have unlimited online time to explore and download a selection of
public domain and shareware programs -- games, utilities,
business templates, graphics files and more. The selections will
change monthly from among the firm's 20,000-title library, so
subscribers are encouraged to examine and experiment.

In addition, the service will offer monthly software conferences
with guests and designers of top-selling software and hardware in
"live" discussion settings. America Online offers an icon-based,
windowing interface designed to make using the service hassle-
free.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19920529/Press Contact: Liz Sara, America
Online, 703-883-1503)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(DEN)(00017)

Storagetek Shareholder Meeting Heated At Times 05/29/92
BOULDER, COLORADO, U.S.A., 1992 MAY 29 (NB) -- Several Boulder police
officers were on hand to assure order as Storage Technology Chairman
Ryal Poppa told one stockholder "it's none of your business" when
asked how Poppa spent the money he got from selling some of his
stock shares. "I'm not going to disclose why I sold my shares,"
Poppa also said.

Several officers and directors sold some of their stock while prices
were significantly higher than at present. Some stockholders,
feeling that the officers took advantage of inside information about
the delay of Iceberg to sell at a favorable price have filed
lawsuits. Storagetek's David Reid told Newsbytes that it's
important to understand what the suits are about. "It should be
clear to people that it's not regarding trading, but people who are
alleging we didn't disclose enough information about our product
schedules," Reid said.

In a letter to the stockholders, Ryal Poppa told shareholders the
company is being sued in a stockholders class action suit. About the
suit, Poppa said, "These types of actions prey on corporations such
as ourselves which have a policy of full and open disclosure." "Law
firms take advantage of that policy and in effect, attempt to extort
settlement," he said. Poppa said these type of suits cause significant
unwarranted expenses and tend to reduce the amount of public
disclosure. "We intend to contest this case vigorously and seek
appropriate relief from what we view as a grevious abuse of the
system," he concluded.

Storagetek stock dropped several weeks ago when rumors circulated
that Iceberg would be delayed. At that time the company denied those
rumors when contacted by Newsbytes. The stock dropped again when the
company formally announced a delay in Iceberg delivery.

Iceberg is a low cost data storage system for large computer systems
which has high capacity, offers fault tolerance through disk array
storage, and has a relatively low cost.

After the delay was acknowledged Storagetek dropped to the low 30s.
At about the same time IBM announced a product to compete with
Storagetek's tape library system. The stock has now rebounded
somewhat, selling at around $35 per share. It was in the mid to high
seventies after Iceberg was first announced.

At yesterday's meeting, attended by about 150 stockholders, Poppa
defended the sale of the stock prior to the Iceberg delay
announcement, saying that officers and directors sold less than
eight percent of their holdings. Poppa personally sold two percent
of his shares, a Storagetek spokesperson told Newsbytes.

Poppa conceded that the company has a credibility problem, but said
it is not due to the share sale. He said the way to regain
shareholder belief is to "get the product (Iceberg) to market."

Poppa told reporters after the meeting that he knows of no serious
problems that would prevent bringing Iceberg to market. "The
machine has no fatal flaw, it is near completion," the chairman
said.

(Jim Mallory/19920529/Press contact: David Reid, Storagetek,
303-673-4815)


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

Zenith Intros Two PC-Compatible Pocket Organizers 05/29/92
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, U.S.A., 1992 MAY 29 (NB) -- Zenith Data Systems
(ZDS) introduced its first electronic pocket organizers at the
Consumer Electronics Show in Chicago this week.

ZDS said the ZDS-106 and the ZDS-112 will be sold through mass
merchandisers and specialty retailers. The 106 has 64K of memory,
while the 112 has 128K. The two units can store telephone lists,
business card files, memos, appointment schedules, expense reports,
and other miscellaneous items a traveler might want to track. Once
you return to your office, you can use the included cable to upload
the information to your PC.

ZDS said the machines both have a built-in calculator, calendar, and
an alarm clock that shows both local and world time. They can also
do metric, currency and clothing size conversions.

Powered by three AAA batteries, the organizers weigh just under 16
ounces, and measure 3-1/4 by 6 by 3/4 inches. The black and white
LCd display is 26 characters wide by 8 lines high. A 50 key
QWERTY-style keyboard also has four arrow keys, up and down search
keys, and eight function keys. A button-type battery similar to the
one in your watch provides memory back-up while the three AAA
batteries are being changed.

ZDS spokesperson John Bace told Newsbytes that the function keys
activate program icons to select various functions. For example,
one function key would activate the icon to launch the calendar,
while another would launch the text processor. There's also a menu
key, said Bace, that causes a different set of icons to be
displayed.

ZDS said the 106 will sell for $199, while the 112 has a price tag
of $299. Both units are scheduled to ship in September.

(Jim Mallory/19920529/Press contact: John Bace, Zenith Data Systems,
708-808-4848)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(DEN)(00019)

 ****Zenith, AT&T Claim Long Distance HDTV Transmission Success 05/29/92
GLENVIEW, ILLINOIS, U.S.A., 1992 MAY 29 (NB) -- Zenith Electronics
and AT&T tested their high definition television (HDTV) signal
transmission capability last night, declaring the test a success.
The broadcast was the first long distance field test of an
all-digital HDTV to prove that HDTV can bring high quality,
snow-free TV service without interfering with conventional TV
signals.

Zenith said the test was conducted on Milwaukee's Public Television
station WMVT, Channel 36. Both conventional and HDTV signals were
carried on the same television channel. Zenith said the test proved
that digital HDTV can co-exist with conventional TV. The HDTV
signal is compressed into a single 6 megahertz band.

Zenith's Gordon Zwirkoski told Newsbytes that the test, which lasted
30 minutes, transmitted an image of an engineer doing an
introduction to the test, a portion of a basketball game, and a
tape produced for the NAB.

Zenith was happy with the test. "We were pleased and delighted, it
worked marvelously," said Zwirkoski.

Zenith said the test images were compressed using the Zenith-AT&T
system. The signals were then transmitted to the receiving station
75 miles away, where they were decompressed and played on a
high definition monitor.

US companies have concentrated on developing a digital system, while
their Japanese competitors are working on an analog-based system.
Indications are that the FCC is leaning towards a digital-based
system, giving US companies an edge. Zwirkoski said the FCC is
expected to make its choice of the preferred system late in 1993.

Four US companies, AT&T, General Instrument, the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, and Electronics agreed in May of this year
to share HDTV royalties, no matter which system the FCC
selected. The agreement guarantees that none of the companies will
end up a loser, and will eventually recover their sizable research
and development investments.

The four companies also said they would work to enhance whichever
system is eventually selected by the FCC, but have declined to
disclose specific terms of their agreement.

In December last year, the Zenith-AT&T venture was joined by cable
converter maker Scientific-Atlanta, who will develop methods of
beaming digital HDTV programming via satellite. The FCC has
indicated satellite transmission of HDTV an important factor.

Last August, Texas Instruments joined with three Japanese
electronics companies in the development of decoder chips for use in
HDTV.

(Jim Mallory/19920529/Press contact: John Taylor, Zenith
Electronics, 708-391-8181)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SFO)(00020)

Smith Corona, Acer End Joint Venture 05/29/92
NEW CANAAN, CONNECTICUT, 1992 MAY 29 (NB) -- Smith Corona Corp. and Acer
America, a subsidiary of The Acer Group, have announced that they are
terminating a joint venture formed to develop and market personal
computers.

Instead the companies have agreed to a "transitional manufacturing
program" which will see Smith Corona make PCs for Acer. Eventually,
Acer will do the production itself, the company said.

G. Lee Thompson, chairman and chief executive officer of Smith Corona,
commented, "Although the joint venture successfully combined the skills and
talents of our two companies, sustained and intense price competition in the
personal computer marketplace made it clear that we could not achieve our
objectives in a reasonable period of time."

(Wendy Woods/19920529/Press Contact: The Acer Group, Rebecca Hurst,
408/432-6200)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SFO)(00021)

Beame & Whiteside To Upgrade Products 05/29/92
DUNDAS, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1992 MAY 29 (NB) -- Newsbytes has learned
that Beame & Whiteside are planning on upgrading their BW-TSP for
DOS and BW-NFS for DOS program within the next couple of months.

Both programs currently operate under DOS or under Microsoft Windows
in a DOS window. With the new version, the applications are becoming
true Windows applications and will create their own windows and
dialog boxes.

In addition to Windows 3.1 support, the programs will include a
significant new feature called "INETD Daemon." This feature will let
Windows users see their machines operate not just in a multitasking
environment, but also in a multiuser environment. INETD Daemon
runs in the background and supports multiple hosts logging in,
issuing requests, and having them execute. When the request is
completed, the host is disconnected which frees up the memory in the
base DOS machine.

Both updates are scheduled to become available at the beginning of
August. Beame & Whiteside will not change the current price of the
programs to new customers. Updates will be sent free to current
owners who have a maintenance contract. Those without such a
contract can upgrade for a fee of 15% of the purchase price. The
new versions will be known as BW-TCP for DOS V3.0 and BW-NFS for DOS
V3.0. Current pricing is $349 for BW-NFS for DOS and $245 for BW_TCP
for DOS.

(Naor Wallach/19920529, Press Contact: Tom Woolf, Media Relations,
415-508-1554)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(TOR)(00022)

NCR, Software Clearing House Sign Marketing Pact 05/29/92
DAYTON, OHIO, U.S.A., 1992 MAY 29 (NB) -- NCR and Software
Clearing House have announced a marketing alliance to sell
FrameMaker, Unix-based desktop publishing software developed by
Frame Technology of San Jose, California.

NCR sales representatives will refer customers to Software Clearing
House, which will sell the software and provide service,
promotional literature, and product evaluations.

The deal is expected to result in about $3-million worth of
software sales over its three-year life, said Jim Mazzola, a
spokesman for NCR.

Mazzola said NCR has a number of similar deals with other software
vendors, aimed at promoting the company's open systems strategy by
giving customers access to a wide range of applications software.

Software Clearing House is to perform front-line technical training
and Frame Technology will supply back-up support, if required. The
software developer also will provide product training, either
on-site or at its California headquarters.

FrameMaker is compatible with the NCR System 3000 family of
products and the NCR StarServer E running Unix System V Release 4,
NCR said. The software is most often used in documentation,
engineering, marketing, communications, management information
systems, research and development, and technical publications
departments.

Software Clearing House, based in Cincinnati, Ohio, distributes
third-party system software for Unix.

(Grant Buckler/19920529/Press Contact: Jim Mazzola, NCR,
513-445-6148)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(TOR)(00023)

 ****IBM Researchers Produce Tiny Transistors 05/29/92
ORLANDO, FLORIDA, U.S.A., 1992 MAY 29 (NB) -- IBM Research
scientists report that they have made the world's smallest transistors.
The experimental devices are 20 times smaller than any transistor made
before. The active area of a single one is just 1/75,000th of the width
of a human hair.

The researchers also said it should be possible to make the
transistors half as small again.

According to IBM, once it is possible to mass produce such
transistors they will make possible memory chips that can store
four gigabits (4,000 million bits) of data, or more. The largest
memory chip now on the market holds 16 megabits, with 64-megabit
chips on the horizon. However, it is likely to be at least 10 years
before IBM's tiny transistors can be produced commercially.

The new transistors use conventional materials and operate at room
temperature, said Dr. Gerald Present of IBM Research. They are
metal-oxide semiconductor field-effect transistors, or MOSFETs.

While memory chips are an obvious application, Present added, the
transistors might be helpful in other types of chips as well --
"anywhere high density is necessary," he said.

The stumbling block is that the electron-beam nanolithography
fabrication techniques used to make the experimental chips may not
be fast enough for mass production. So advances in manufacturing
technology are needed. One possible solution, Present said, is
X-ray lithography, which is currently in its experimental stages at
IBM and other research organizations.

IBM noted that the new transistors are nearing the size at which
electronic devices in general would be expected to exhibit unique
physical properties predicted by quantum theory. However, Present
said, the current experimental devices are still large enough that
they behave in the conventional way, and the researchers believe
they could scale the transistors down by another factor of two
without a change in behavior.

Scientists are now studying ways to exploit the properties
predicted by quantum theory in "quantum devices" that might be
useful in practical applications.

IBM plans to carry on its research by testing the transistors in
high-speed circuits and in prototype logic and memory circuits.

Clive M. Reeves, Shalom J. Wind, and Fritz J. Hohn reported on the
research at the 36th International Symposium on Electron, Ion, and
Photon Beams. They did their work at the IBM Thomas J. Watson
Research Center in Yorktown Heights, New York, with the help of
James J. Bucchignano, Johann Keller, David P. Klaus, Yeong T. Lii,
Thomas H. Newman, Brian M. Tebin, and Richard P. Volant.

(Grant Buckler/19920529/Press Contact: Dr. Gerald Present, IBM
Research, 914-945-3884)


(NEWS)(IBM)(TOR)(00024)

New For PCs: Lotus Shipping LotusWorks 3.0 05/29/92
CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1992 MAY 29 (NB) -- Lotus
Development has begun shipping LotusWorks 3.0, an upgraded version
of the entry-level integrated software program it acquired two
years ago.

LotusWorks 3.0 provides a windows-like graphical user interface,
enhanced integration among modules, context-sensitive help, and a
comprehensive on-line tutorial, the company said. Lotus has also
set out to make basic business tasks easier by offering 23
QuickStart templates -- sample files and lessons covering common
chores such as creating a name and address database, analyzing cash
flow, and personalizing a form letter.

Designed for small business, home office, and portable computing
users, LotusWorks combines word processing, spreadsheet with
graphics, database, and communications modules. Lotus acquired it
in May, 1990 from Alpha Software of Burlington, Massachusetts,
which had sold the software under the name AlphaWorks.

Among the changes affecting the whole package are mouse support,
overlapping and resizable windows, pull-down menus, scroll buttons,
elevator bars, and dialog boxes.

Integration of the modules has been improved with the ability to
cut and paste between applications and to create dynamic links, a
spokesman said. For instance, a section of a spreadsheet copied
into a word processing document will change when the original
spreadsheet is updated.

In the word processor module, Version 3.0 adds downloadable
Bitstream soft fonts and print preview, and includes the Word
Finder Electronic Thesaurus Release 3.0 from Microlytics.

The LotusWorks 3.0 spreadsheet looks more like Lotus' flagship
1-2-3 spreadsheet, most of whose functions it already duplicated.
The spreadsheet module reads and writes .WK1 files created by
1-2-3, performs calculations with strings, and can search for text
in labels and formulas.

Lotus has beefed up the LotusWorks database, formerly a simple
flat-file application. More than 50 dBase functions are available,
and the software is compatible with dBase III Plus the company
said. The database is "semi-relational," a spokesman said.

Version 3.0 of LotusWorks adds a context-sensitive tutorial. For
example, Lotus said, while creating a budget in the spreadsheet,
users can access the tutorial to learn how to enter a formula. The
tutorial includes five hours of lessons, organized into five- to
15-minute segments and instantly accessible from anywhere in the
program.

An improved help system also offers users immediate assistance
while working in an application.

LotusWorks 3.0 requires an IBM or compatible PC, 640K bytes of
memory, and DOS 3.0 or higher. It is compatible with Windows 3.0
and 3.1. A computer with an 80286 or later processing and an
EGA/VGA monitor is recommended.

LotusWorks 3.0 has a suggested retail price of $149. Current
LotusWorks users can upgrade for $49. Lotus is also offering a
competitive upgrade to users of Microsoft Works, PFS:First Choice,
Spinnaker's Eight-in-One, and WordPerfect Works, who may upgrade to
LotusWorks 3.0 for $59. Version 3.0 will be available from all
authorized Lotus resellers after June 4, the company said.

(Grant Buckler/19920529/Press Contact: David Grip or Victor Cruz,
McGlinchey & Paul for Lotus, 617-862-4514)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(LAX)(00025)

 ****Macs To Be Sold In Electronics/Office Superstores 05/29/92
CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 MAY 29 (NB) -- Apple has
announced rebates and trade-ins to sell Macintoshes, but today it
announced a new marketing program. Apple has made a deal with Silo,
Office Depot, and Officemax who will provide Apple Macintosh products
in their consumer retail outlets, a move which Apple says will pave
the way for sales of new Apple brand computers it is planning to
release this fall.

Though Apple won't say anything else about the new Apple brand
computers until later this summer, it did say the Macintosh computers
selected for the participating retail chains are the Macintosh LCII
with 4 megabytes (MB) of random access memory (RAM), an 80 MB hard
drive, and an Apple 12-inch color monitor; and the Classic II with 4
MB RAM, and an 80 MB hard drive. Both computers will come customized
with applications software, though the software may vary depending on
the retailer, and will include toll-free telephone support and a year
of on-site service, Apple said.

The retailers involved have agreed to provide the pre-configured
Macintoshes in 56 retail stores that include locations in Washington,
Oregon, Florida, Ohio, New York, and Pennsylvania, Apple added.

Keith Fox, Apple USA's vice president of Consumer Markets said in a
prepared statement: "We anticipate being in approximately 1,800
retail locations when we introduce our line of new consumer-oriented
computer products later this year, including representation in major
office product, consumer electronic, and specialty mass merchandise
outlets."

Fox's "new consumer-oriented computer products" may be a reference
Newton, a line of consumer-oriented "personal digital assistants" or
PDAs the company says is the first new product line it has introduced
since the introduction of the Macintosh in 1984. Apple is allowing
consumers first peeks at the Newton during the Summer Consumer
Electronics Show (CES) in Chicago.

(Linda Rohrbough/19920529/Press Contact: Betty Taylor, Apple, tel
408-974-3983, fax [phone])


(EDITORIAL)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00026)

Editorial: Bring Back the Operator 05/29/92
ATLANTA, GEORGIA, 1992 MAY 29 (NB) -- By Dana Blankenhorn.
For the last few years, you and I have been descending into Voice
Mail Hell.

You know the drill. You want to reach Person X in a real big
hurry, so you call their direct line. You get their voice mail,
and maybe (when they get around to it) they call back. By which
time you have forgotten why you called.

It's even worse when you're calling a company for information and
don't know exactly who you need to talk with. The main number's
recording simply tells you to enter the 4-digit code of the
person you want to talk with, or 0 for an operator. After an
interminable wait, you get someone in a back-room somewhere who
passes you to the wrong department, and their voice mail box.
After returning to the operator, you get the right department,
and another voice mail box. When that person finally returns your
call, they say, oh, you need someone else, and you get yet
another voice mail box. This can go on for weeks. No fun if
you're on a deadline.

And it's going to get worse before it gets better. AT&T is
planning to replace many of its operators with automated systems,
and the regional Bell companies are expected to follow suit.

Oddly, the voice mail industry which started this mess didn't
intend it. Voice mail was created as an adjunct, or aid, to
experienced operators and secretaries. The trouble was, corporate
leaders saw this as a good excuse to get rid of those valued
people and we've all been suffering as a result.

I learned this anew recently when, working on a book project, I
hired someone to come in and straighten up my files. Not only did
I get my files organized, but I also got my mind straightened
out, my messages taken, and important calls made. Every top
executive has a secretary, or administrative aide, whether
they're running IBM or the Joint Chiefs of Staff. I wonder how
many of them could keep their heads screwed-on without these
people to take care of them.

Secretaries make sure their bosses return important calls.
Operators make sure calls are directed to the right people, and
that messages are received and responded to. Without such
handlers, executives lose accounts. And their companies lose
respect.

Look, the telephone system is your company's front door. What
sense would it make for a customer to walk into your shop's door,
be led to a robot who kicked them out, to dust themselves off and
get the same treatment again and again. Eventually, they'll go to
another shop where they're treated like a human being, by human
beings.

And that's the lesson. Technology should help people, not replace
them. Only when top management learns this lesson, and brings
back those operators (maybe with a nice raise) will we coming out
of Voice Mail Hell.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19920529)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(WAS)(00027)

ROUNDUP: Stories Carried By Other Media This Week 05/29/92
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1992 MAY 29 (NB) -- Roundup is a brief
look at some computer stories carried in other publications
received here this past week.

Computerworld dated May 25 says that DECstation users are worried
about being stuck with orphaned computers as Digital Equipment
moves to modify the brand of Unix it will standardize on in the
next decade.

InformationWeek for the week of the 25th puts the high cost of
training on the front cover.

Software Magazine has a May Special Issue focusing on client
server computing.

Bay Area's Computer Currents begins its 10th year of publication
with a look at home office computing in the May 19-June 1 issue.

May's Technological Horizons in Education Journal looks at using
networks and telecommunications in K through 12.

PC World for June has 50 power user shortcut tips for spreadsheet
users working with Quattro Pro, Excel, and Lotus 1-2-3.

(John McCormick/19920529/)


(REVIEW)(GENERAL)(DEN))(00028)

Review of: Hard Drive: Bill Gates & The Making of the Microsoft Empire

From: John Wiley & Sons, Publisher; James Wallace and Jim Erickson,
authors

Price: $22.95 in hardback

PUMA Rating: 4.0 (on a scale of 1=lowest to 4=highest)

Reviewed for Newsbytes by Jim Mallory, Midwest Bureau Chief,
05/29/92

Summary: Regardless of whether you agree with the authors or not,
this is one book that should be read by computerists and
non-computerists alike.

======

REVIEW

======

Authors Wallace and Erickson are reporters for the
Seattle Post Intelligencer newspaper. The book was born out of a
series of stories published in the Post-Intelligencer in May of
1991. As the authors say in the acknowledgements, it's not a book
about computers or technology. Rather, they say, "Its a book about
people, a remarkable collection of individuals led by one man, Bill
Gates, whose drive, genius, vision, and entrepreneurial spirit
created one of the greatest success stories in the history of
American business."

Wallace and Erickson say the book is based on their interviews, and
other books, national magazines, newspapers, and trade publications.
What it's NOT based on, said Microsoft, is fact.

Several specific points are contested as to accuracy. One of those
points is the book's allegation that Microsoft hired its first two
female executives to meet federal affirmative action guidelines, and
then treated the women badly. The women referred to are Jean
Richardson, hired in 1985 as vice president of corporate
communications; and Ida Cole, who was hired as vice president of
applications marketing.

According to Microsoft spokesperson Marty Taucher, that's not
accurate. Taucher told Newsbytes Cole was hired because "she was a
good tech person," not because of EEO requirements. She moved to
another position about one year later, said Taucher, and in 1990
retired. Taucher said Richardson left Microsoft because of a
disagreement with her superior, and is now at Sun Microsystems.

While Taucher admitted that Microsoft didn't like the book, you
will. It's a mixture of praise and statements about Gates that
could be considered derogatory. In one breath, the authors quote
friends and associates positive remarks. "Everything Bill did, he
did to the max. What he did always went well, well beyond everyone
else," a childhood friend reportedly said. A few pages later, the
book talks about Gates' feet (reportedly size 13) compared to his
small frame ("the smallest boy in the seventh grade").

James Wallace told Newsbytes, "They (Microsoft) made it very
difficult to write the book." Wallace said Microsoft was not happy
with the newspaper series, claiming it dealt too much with his
personal life. "They didn't want me calling ex-girlfriends, and
trying to find out how he spent his money," said Wallace. He said
not only would Microsoft not help him and his co-author, but they
went out of their way to be "unhelpful." Microsoft at the time was
cooperating on an authorized biography to be published by Doubleday
& Company.

Hard Drive paints a picture of a driven, perhaps sometimes
obsessive, genius who, no matter what Microsoft thinks of the book,
revolutionized the computer industry as we know it. It's excellent
reading, and it won't leave you hating Gates. Rather, it will make
you understand what makes people like him tick.

Hard Drive gives the reader an insight on a true
American success story, Bill Gates. While you may not like
everything in the book, and find it appears to put Gates down part
of the time, it could be the prodding the next American genius needs
to invent the better mouse trap. It's well worth the price.

The book is already available in selected markets, and will be in
general distribution in bookstores across the country on June 1.

(Jim Mallory/19920527/Press contact: Tom Perry, John Wiley & Sons
Inc, 605 3rd Avenue,New York,NY 10158)


(REVIEW)(GENERAL)(WAS)(00029)

Review of: Ross Perot, An Unauthorized Biography, by Todd Mason,
ISBN 1-55623-236-5

From: BusinessONE Irwin (Times Mirror Books), 1818 Ridge Road,
Homewood, IL 60430. 708-206-2700

Price: $19.95 Hardbound, 300-plus pages with index

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

Reviewed for Newsbytes by: John McCormick, 05/29/92

Summary: Packed with details which show the unpublicized side of
H. Ross Perot, the man who may become president.

======

REVIEW

======

That this would be an unauthorized biography was something which
Mr. Perot made clear to the author (former Dallas, Texas Bureau
Chief for Business Week) right from the very start by pointing
out that since his life was not yet over, a biography would be
rather premature.

Perhaps showing a strong desire for total control, Mr. Perot told
the author that he felt a person should have the right to write
his or her own biography (autobiography) before others got a
crack at him or her.

Nevertheless, this book does contain a wealth of information
about Mr. Perot, who did not actively oppose its publication.
Perot supporters will mostly find more of the same in this book -
the picture that emerges is one of a serious (some say humorless)
man who has a powerful ethical stand on many issues without
losing sight of the fact that many people disagree with him and
have a total right to do so, just not while they are on his team.

After eight years of Ronald Reagan whose people seemed to be
impressing their ideas on the presidency and three-and-one-half
of George Bush whom many people feel has no firm ideas at all,
this book clearly shows why so many people are attracted to the
idea of a Perot presidency. They don't know where he stands on
most issues (nor apparently does he for that matter), but they
know that when he says he will do something it will most likely
get done.

The picture this book gives is not a whitewash of an American
icon, nor is it a hatchet job. Rather, the author attempts to
give as much useful information as he could obtain about Mr.
Perot's business dealings and let people draw their own
conclusions.

What many people already see in Mr. Perot, a hard-nosed
businessman who plays by the rules but who plays very hard to
win, is exactly what emerges from this book.

Perot has made it clear that he thinks America has to watch out
for the less fortunate in our country but that people
have to help themselves. He doesn't object to the rich (and he is
one of the richest men in the world) paying more taxes as long as
the money is spent wisely.

He is for education and opportunity for all, obviously believing
that courage, vision, education, and hard work can make nearly
anyone a success, no matter what their economic or cultural
background. This is the same message mouthed by many politicians
in recent years, but few of them have shown every day of their
lives that they actually believe what they are saying.

The author, who obviously had troubles with Perot, appears to
admire many things about the man and concludes that Perot "lives
his life like the bumper sticker slogan: lead, follow, or get-
the-hell out of the way."

The night before this review was written Mr. Perot told Barbara
Walters on 20/20 that he would have neither adulterers nor
homosexuals high in his administration - he couldn't trust the
former, and the latter might stir up too much public dissent. No
one reading this book would have been surprised, but they would
also come away with the idea that while he wouldn't hire people
from either group to work closely with him, neither would he
single them out for prejudicial treatment as citizens.

Although Mr. Perot is the master of the soundbite, adept at
manipulating the press, reading this book you are led to the
conclusion that he is always manipulating members of the press to
present him as he really is - trying to prevent distortion of his
views rather than create it.

What you see when you listen to H. Ross Perot's actual words, not
as they are distorted by some people, is that this man means what
he says, does what he says, and takes the consequences.

Mr. Perot says that if he is elected president he will try very
hard to do what the people really want and there is little in
this book which contradicts the notion that he is a man of his
word.

Politicians are now calling him a demagogue and saying that you
can't trust him because he hasn't provided a platform, but they
seem to be missing the point. Perot supporters have seen that
party platforms and politicians promises mean little when a
"politician" actually gets into office - what they see in Perot
is a man of character, ready to face present and future
challenges.

This book, despite the negative things it has to say about Mr.
Perot, is unlikely to cause any of those supporters to leave the
Perot camp and is more likely than not to lead others to give him
their support by showing that this really is a man who has strong
moral values and a willingness, almost compulsion, to live by
them without becoming a bigot.

You may have noticed that this review has few details about Mr.
Perot's life and business dealings - those details won't fit in a
review, but they are to be found in the book.

This book was first published in 1990 but the
publisher is currently reprinting and the book can be ordered
through any bookstore if it isn't already on the shelves.

(John McCormick/19920529/Press Contact: Rick Rittering,
BusinessONE Irwin)


(NEWS)(IBM)(LAX)(00030)

AST Multimedia PC For Home-Office & New Users 05/29/92
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, U.S.A., 1992 MAY 29 (NB) -- AST has announced a
single, low-end multimedia personal computer (MPC), the Advantage!
386SX/25 Multimedia PC, which should be available this June, the
company said.

The Advantage! 386SX/25 MPC is geared toward home-office and novice
users, AST said, and meets the MPC Level 1 multimedia standard, set
by the MPC Council.

The Advantage! MPC has a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) disk
drive, a sound card, a with 1024 x 768 resolution super video
graphics array (SVGA) monitor and graphics card with 512 megabytes
(MB) of memory on the card, an 80 MB hard disk drive, a 3.5-inch
floppy drive, dual stereo speakers, a microphone, a mouse, and comes
with multimedia CD-ROM software programs, AST said.

The included software is MS DOS 5.0, Microsoft Windows 3.1, Microsoft
Works for Windows, Microsoft Bookshelf, Macmillian's Dictionary for
Children, Kings Quest V, and Mixed-Up Mother Goose.

While Tandy was one of the first to announce availability of an MPC
computer line, MPC competition is increasing. AST competitor Advanced
Logic Research also recently announced its introduction of an MPC
compatible computer line.

(Linda Rohrbough/19920529/Press Contact: Emory Epperson, AST, tel
714-727-7958, fax [phone]; Public Contact: 800-876-4278)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(LAX)(00031)

 ****Apple Shows First Newton At CES 05/29/92
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, U.S.A., 1992 MAY 29 (NB) -- Apple is showing off
Newton at the Summer Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Chicago, a
product Apple CEO John Sculley announced previously at the
Winter CES in Las Vegas early this year. It offers the first new
operating system since the Apple Macintosh.

Newton is actually part of a product line that Apple terms Personal
Digital Assistant (PDA) electronic devices. The first Newton is an
electronic notepad which Apple boasts will allow users intelligent
help in capturing, organizing, and communicating ideas and
information.

Apple says its goal is to make the Newton as easy to use as a pencil
and paper. Newton will use technology similar to handwriting
recognition pen-based computing technology, but Apple says the
difference in several different recognition technologies will come
into play simultaneously, rather than one at a time. Apple gave the
example of a business person who writes "lunch Jane Thursday" on the
Newton, which the Newton would interpret to mean lunch is at 12:00
p.m.; Jane is Jane Green, who listed in the users address book; and
Thursday is this Thursday. The Newton would make those assumptions
and ask for confirmation by opening a calendar and scheduling lunch
from 12:00 to 1:00 with Jane Green.

So all those bits of information, phone numbers, business cards,
directions, meetings, notes, birthdays, appointments, can all be
handled by the Newton, Apple said. But more importantly, users can
view the information for everything that relates to a specific
client, week, or subject such as "Jane Green."

Also, wired and wireless communications ability will allow two Newton
users to electronically exchange business cards or compare calendars,
Apple said. Faxing a letter, checking electronic mail messages, or
connecting to a satellite news service are also possibilities, the
company added.

All this intelligent help will be brought to users in portable form
via a reduced instruction set chip (RISC) from Advanced RISC Machines
(ARM). The processor, the ARM 610 powering the Newton's capabilities,
has the power of a desktop computer, but uses less battery power than
a flashlight, Apple said. Intelligent cards will be the vehicle for
users to get specific functions in the Newton, Apple added. Some
electronic devices designed for portable functions use cards now,
such as the Sharp Wizard, which has functions such as time and
billing available on insertable cards.

Apple and Sharp announced earlier this year the agreement between the
two companies to jointly design and produce the Newton devices. Also,
Apple says it is licensing Newton technology to selected vendors,
including Sharp, who are planning to produce their own versions of
the PDAs.

Apple says a number of major companies have said they will support
Newton and will develop complementary products. Apple named Motorola,
Pacific Bell, Random House, Skytel, and Traveling Software as
companies which have announced their intention to develop products for
the Newton. The general areas of third party development are in
communication for use of the Newton in a mobile environment; content
products, or interesting and personal information products; and
compatibility products for using Newton devices with existing
computer systems, Apple added.

The first Newtons will be English-language oriented and are expected
from both Apple and Sharp in early 1993, Apple said.

(Linda Rohrbough/19920529/Press Contact: Brooke Cohan, Apple, tel
408-974-3019, fax [phone])