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/nb920807

Text File | 1992-08-07 | 66KB | 1,489 lines

(NEWS)(TELECOM)(SYD)(00001)

Australia: Telecom Ombudsman Job In Doubt 08/07/92
CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA, 1992 AUG 7 (NB) -- The appointment of an
ombudsman to oversee the telecommunications market in Australia is
to go one step closer with the "sketching" of guidelines of
operation. Despite this, the structure favored by the minister
responsible (based on the banking industry's ombudsman) is in
doubt, with the banking ombudsman position being undermined by his
"paymasters," the banks themselves.

The plan to appoint an ombudsman for the telecommunications industry
was first put forward by the Minister for Transport and
Communications, Senator Michael Collins. Senator Collins expressed a
preference for a structure modelled on the banking ombudsman, but
since then, that ombudsman has had his position attacked by the
banks, who want to limit his powers in respect to commercial
customers.

Under this model, the telecommunications ombudsman would be paid
by and, as in the banking industry, constrained by, the
institutions that person has been set up to monitor. It is because
of this control that this model may no longer be used for the new
position. The alternative now being put forward is that the
ombudsman be a part of, but operationally independent of, Austel,
the Australian telecommunications industry standards watchdog.
Within this model, the ombudsman would deal with day-to-day
complaints, while Austel would investigate wider trends and
breaches. An announcement on details of the ombudsman's position is
expected by the end of the month.

(Sean McNamara/19920807/Press & Public Contact: Department of
Transport and Communications, phone in Australia [phone])


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SYD)(00002)

Australia: Qantas LAN To Link Operations 08/07/92
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1992 AUG 7 (NB) -- Australia's international
airline, Qantas, is planning to establish a local area network (LAN)
to link three buildings in the inner-city and airport with its
disaster recovery center 20 km away. The Qantas LAN Internetwork
will be installed and operated by Qantek, Qantas' information
technology subsidiary.

The network will service approximately 1500 users, making it one of
the largest in the country. The new system will be used by Qantas
staff not only for normal office functions, but also to access
several new computer systems. These systems will deliver such
functions as accounting software, decision support, and air crew
scheduling software (currently being developed by Qantek).

The LAN Internetwork will actually connect LANs in two new buildings
at Sydney Airport with an existing one there, as well as the
disaster center at Homebush. Fiber optic cabling will be used
extensively in the network, and the system has been designed to be
"future proof," according to Robert Farquhar, a Qantas LAN analyst.

"We designed the system so that it will take a number of years of
growth before the data stream from the computer overwhelms the LANs.
Even when it does, it will be a fairly straightforward process to
segment a LAN. All you have to do is plug a new card into the hub,"
Farquhar said. Qantas has not released details of the cost of the
network.

(Sean McNamara/19920807/Press Contact: Robert Farquhar, phone in
Australia [phone])


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(DEL)(00003)

India: Cellular Sizzle Is On 08/07/92
NEW DELHI, INDIA, 1992 AUG 7 (NB) -- The Department of
Telecommunications (DoT) has at last come out with the shortlist
of bidders for cellular mobile phones by asking 14 of the 30 bidders
to submit the financial bids by August 17.

According to an official announcement, the 14 companies shortlisted
are: Skycell Communications Pvt. Ltd., Adino Telecom Ltd., Hutchision
Max Telecom Pvt. Ltd., TCIL Vanguard Ltd., India Tele-comp Ltd.,
Usha Martin Telecom Ltd., Bharati Cellular Pvt. Ltd., Tata
Cellular Pvt. Ltd., Modi Telecommunication, Sterling Cellular Ltd.,
BPL Systems and Projects Ltd., Mobile Telecom Services Ltd.,
Mobile Communications India Pvt. Ltd., and Indian Telecom Pvt. Ltd.

The tendering has been a competition between foreign companies which
have teamed up with the Indian companies for service franchising
in the four Indian metros: Bombay, Delhi, Calcutta and Madras.
No Indian company has bid on its own. But the consortium companies
represent the top Indian industrial groups. Among the foreign
collaborators are such companies as Vodophone, Hutchinsons,
Bell-South, Nynex, Cable and Wireless, Siemens, Datacon,
Bell-Canada, Australian Telecom, France Telecom, Malaysian
Telecom and Singapore Telecom.

Nearly, all the bids are based on three technologies: either
of Motorola, or Ericsson or Alcatel. DoT had earlier decided
on going in for GSM (Groupe Speciale Mobile) system.

Among the notable omissions in the current shortlist are Cable
and Wireless which is in collaboration with the Hindujas, the
richest non-resident Indian business family. Siemens and Datacon
are among the other rejections.

According to DoT sources, two operating companies will be chosen
for each of the metros, finally.

(C.T. Mahabharat/19920807)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(SYD)(00004)

ERG Australia To Share In AUS$26M Contract In UK 08/07/92
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA, 1992 AUG 7 (NB) -- Australian company ERG
Australia is to share an AUS$26M contract in Manchester, England,
for the supply of a computerized ticketing system for the Greater
Manchester Passenger Transport Executive (GMPTE) Metrolink tram,
rail and bus transport system.

The system supplied will be based on a design by British company GEC
Card Technology. It is based on the use of smartcards -- credit-card
like cards with microchips which store information needed by the
system. The microchips store account information, and can be "topped
up" at more than 800 outlets throughout Manchester. A pilot scheme
involving 300 of the 2700 buses in the network will be installed
first, followed by complete coverage of the bus, rail and tram
network.

The ERG company involved in the system will be AES Scanpoint (UK),
which will be responsible for the equipment at the "top up" outlets
(which are expected to number 3000 by the time the system is fully
installed). AES Scanpoint is a joint-venture company formed between
ERG's ticketing division and its Danish rival, Scanpoint. AES
Scanpoint will be responsible for the installation of the equipment,
as well as maintenance of the system for seven years. Peter Fogarty,
ERG chief executive, said of the contract, "This is our most
significant such agreement awarded in the world to date. Our success
proves that our technology and competitiveness are world class."

(Sean McNamara/19920807)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00005)

Midwestern Phone Deregulation Under Attack 08/07/92
LANSING, MICHIGAN, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 7 (NB) -- In Michigan and
Ohio, phone deregulation which seemed to favor local Bell
operating companies has come under attack.

MCI asked the Michigan Public Service Commission to order "equal
access" for long distance service within five of seven
Michigan Local Access and Transport Areas, known as LATAs. A LATA
covers a major city and its suburbs, and while some calls within
LATAs are charged as long distance calls, local Bell companies
often have a monopoly on that service. A recent study indicated
that the Bells are using this monopoly to gouge the public. The
MCI petition, if granted, would allow Michigan consumers to use
the long distance carrier of their choice on a 1+ basis for these
short long distance calls. Right now, callers must dial a 5-digit
access code to reach the long distance company of their choice --
otherwise the call is carried by a local company.

In Ohio, meanwhile, a state representative from Columbus was
forced to defend his deregulation bill before state regulators.
Dean Conley disputed claims the plan would be a gift to the local
phone companies, especially Ohio Bell. Conley's plan, like a plan
recently passed in Michigan and Illinois, would let the local
phone companies charge more for local services if they made
investments in the local network. Perhaps for the first time, the
cable television industry also got involved in this issue,
arguing against Conley's plan. Ohio Bell argues it is not a
monopoly.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19920807/Press Contact: Kate Fralin, MCI, 703-
415-6941)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SYD)(00006)

Speculation That DEC And HP May Merge 08/07/92
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA 1992 AUG 7 (NB) -- The lead story in
Pacific Computer Weekly this week reports on current talk that
Hewlett-Packard will take over Digital Equipment within the next
nine months. The Australian computer newspaper quotes a
number of analysts who comment on the possibility.

DEC has slipped from position two to four in the Datamation top
100 computer companies, while HP has moved up from seven to
five. HP is performing strongly while DEC has had numerous
rounds of layoffs and bad performance reports. HP revenues are
around 40 percent less than DEC's, it has been making a profit, and
has a much higher market capitalization.

Analysts disagree about DEC's moves to revamp its high-end
hardware while shedding staff. Some feel this will place the
company in a good position for the HP takeover as it will be lean
and ready to blend into the HP style. Others feel it is bleeding the
life from what has been a great in the industry.

(Paul Zucker/19920807)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SYD)(00007)

Australia: Revenues Up, Profits Down 08/07/92
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA 1992 AUG 7 (NB) -- Australian computer companies
are boosting revenues, but finding profits harder to come by in
the current recession. This already apparent trend was confirmed
yesterday when Ferntree and Sun Microsystems reported revenue
growth, but profits down - 70 percent down for Ferntree, and
unstated for Sun.

Systems supplier Ferntree increased sales from $168 to $172M,
but profits dropped from $4.2 to just $1.3M. Managing Director
Norman McCann said the results were nothing to be ashamed of,
especially considering that long term liabilities had been reduced
by $7M during the year. He said that business turned the corner in
December and since then figures had been up on last year.

Sun Australia grew its revenue by 10 percent over the last year.
Demand for Sun's Unix workstations and servers contributed to
the growth, and the 600MP multiprocessor SPARC servers were
particularly successful with 150 installed in the eight months
since release.

New Sun Managing Director Les Haylen said, "Despite a recessionary
economy, more businesses are moving to open systems because of the
price/performance benefit. The 600MP series has proved particularly
successful in the commercial environments as it allows companies
to move into the open client-server computing models which so many
users are demanding today."

(Paul Zucker and Kester Cranswick/19920807)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(DEL)(00008)

India To Privatize Radio Paging, Other Services 08/07/92
NEW DELHI, INDIA, 1992 AUG 7 (NB) -- The recently floated Department
of Telecommunications (DOT) tender for allotting licenses for
radio paging services in 27 cities of India has received an
overwhelming response from the electronics community.

As many as 83 bids have been submitted to the DOT, which had
advanced the closing date for receiving the tenders from the
31st to the 15th of July.

The bidders for the paging license include almost all of the 30
consortia which had put forward stakes for the cellular phone
service tenders. Nearly 30 bidders have offered to provide for
all the 27 centers, while the remaining have bid for a few chosen
centers. The long list of aspirants includes heavyweights such
as Hinditron in collaboration with Mtel International of the US,
Ashok Leyland in tandem with Cables & Wireless of UK, Skytel
Communications with Star Paging of Hong Kong, Eider Electronics
also with Star Paging, and Medco Electronics in partnership with
the US multinational Motorola.

As in the cellular bid, some tenderers have formed alliances
with more than one party to make separate bids. For example,
the Eider Electronics, Samsung and Star Paging consortium has
made four bids in all. The coming days are expected to see
intense lobbying by the bidders for the share of the cake,
that, in the long run, may turn out to be bigger than the
cellular one.

When profits are counted relative to megahertz, paging is thought
to be the most profitable communications business one can find.

With this tender, the total number of tenders under evaluation
at DOT has reached three. The other two consist of one for digital
exchanges and the other for cellular service operators' license
for four metros.

Meanwhile, DOT has decided to throw open five more value-added
services to the private sector. These are electronic mail, videotex,
video conferencing, voice mail and morning alarm service. Proposals
have been invited from Indian companies for setting up facilities to
offer services under license on a non-exclusive basis. Companies
with foreign collaboration are also eligible to submit proposals.

The companies are free to decide tariff rates, including rentals
of machines at the subscriber's end, but all such rates will
have to be approved by DOT. The period of license will be five
years which can be extended by another two years at a time, by
mutual consent.

(C.T. Mahabharat/19920807)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(ATL)(00009)

Credit Card Activated Cellphones In Rental Cars 08/07/92
HOUSTON, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 7 (NB) -- Dollar Rent A Car has
begun rolling out credit card activated cellular telephones in
its Chicago fleet.

The GTE Credit Card Phone is activated by passing a major credit
card through a compact card reader on the phone. The GTE Credit
Card Phone accepts the AT&T Calling Card, MasterCard, VISA,
American Express and Diner's Club.

By installing the credit card phones, Dollar's rental car customers
can now request a car with a phone and pay only for the calls they
make or receive. In addition to placing calls, the phone allows
customers to transmit data via portable fax machines and laptop
computers.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19920806/Press Contact: Susan Asher, GTE, 404-
804-3800)


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

Sprint Offers New 900 Number 08/07/92
WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A., 1992 AUG 7 (NB) -- Having lost millions
of dollars when the caller-paid 900 number industry was forced to
shut down sex lines, chat lines, sports tout lines and credit
card fraud lines, the industry is now fighting hard to reestablish
some credibility for the services by linking with charitable
causes having a high, positive public profile.

And what could be more friendly than a dog?

Sprint and the American Humane Association jointly announced a
new caller-paid 900 service through which people can check for
their missing dog. They also announced a toll-free 800 number
through which people can report they have found missing
strays.

The numbers use a menu-driven program keyed by a touchtone
keypad, that lets callers file their zip code and a description
of the animal. A database is then searched, and reports back
instantly. Searches can be made for cats as well as dogs.
Reports stay in the system for two weeks.

To report that you have found a stray, call 800-755-8111. If you
have lost your dog, call 900-535-1515 and be prepared to pay
$1.95 per minute, with the fee collected from your next phone
bill. The typical call lasts about four minutes on the 900 line,
Sprint said, but the company noted that a two-line ad in a daily
newspaper may cost much more than the $8 it is charging. Sprint
said revenues from the 900 number will offset the cost of the 800
number. A portion of the proceeds will also benefit the AHA.

To publicize the service, both Sprint and the AHA will distribute
posters to over 20,000 vets, and they hope to print the numbers,
along with actual pictures of missing pets, on milk cartons,
grocery bags, pet food packaging and refrigerator magnets.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19920806)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(HKG)(00011)

Hongkong: Bank Installs Hitachi Summit Mainframe 08/07/92
CENTRAL, HONG KONG, 1992 AUG 7 (NB) -- Standard Chartered Bank
recently became the first computer user in the territory to run a
"Summit-class" mainframe. The Hitachi Data Systems (HDS) EX310
processor which was installed in June, is now hosting Standard
Chartered's major banking applications after successful migration
from the IBM 3090/400J system which it replaces.

"With the new processor up and running at Standard Chartered, two
of Hong Kong's three top banks now rely on Hitachi Data System
mainframe computers to process their daily business
transactions," said Geoff Kennedy, Hong Kong manager at HDS.

According to Graham Glover, area head of Standard Chartered
Bank's Information Technology Division, the new machine went in a
week ahead of schedule, having been delivered the day after the
order was confirmed.

"The mainframe powered up at first try and passed all our tests
without a glitch," said Mr Glover. "The cut-over itself went very
smoothly with total system downtime well within the four-hour
target."

Standard Chartered first installed Hitachi Data Systems equipment
in March this year, when it replaced its entire disk storage
"farm" with 20 HDS 7390 DASD (Direct Access Storage Device)
units, totalling more than 360 gigabytes of data storage
capacity.

Taken together with the new EX310, Standard Chartered has
installed HDS equipment worth US$16 million so far this year.

"The IT budget is a significant part of the bank's operating
expenses," explained Mr Glover. "We estimate that through our HDS
upgrades we will realize savings of between 20 and 25 percent on
operating costs over the next two or three years in lower
maintenance cost and improved productivity."

In order to save money on the operating system licence fee,
Standard Chartered currently has the three-processor EX310
configured as a dual-processor EX210 system, delivering a 12 percent
performance boost over the system it replaced.

As Standard Chartered's workload increases, it will be able to
switch on the third processor, boosting processor performance to
a peak of 135 MIPS (million instructions per second), an increase
of 60 percent over the previous system.

The extra processing power will be needed to cope with both
Standard Chartered's growing transaction volumes resulting from
increased business, and from the addition of more application
programs.

"Since 1987 we have been following a strategy of replacing our
Unisys-based applications with commercial software packages
running on IBM mainframe architecture," said Mr Glover. "This
process is now almost complete in Hong Kong and we hope to have
migrated from the last Unisys-based applications by about the end
of March next year."

The processing load has grown substantially in the last 18 months
with the successful roll-out of the Hogan Retail Banking system
into Standard Chartered's Hong Kong branch network. The summer
months also see a peak of activity on the bank's mainframe-based
IMEX trade finance system.

(Brett Cameron/19920805/Press Contact: Geoff Kennedy, HDS
tel:[phone];HK time is GMT + 8)


(NEWS)(IBM)(HKG)(00012)

Hongkong: DEC Intros Upgradable PCs To Asia 08/07/92
TAIKOO SHING, HONG KONG, 1992 AUG 7 (NB) -- Digital Equipment Asia
has launched five new upgradable personal computers designed
to provide video capabilities at very competitive prices.

The new systems, which are equipped with GUI (graphical user
interface) accelerators that speed up performance of Windows
programs by 40 percent, are the latest additions to the family of
Digital-built PCs initiated in April.

The PCs feature a choice of industry-standard processors, the
386sx, 386dx, 486sx, 486dx and 486dx2. All of the 386dx and 486
systems are field-upgradable via a simple board swap to provide
maximum flexibility and investment protection.

"Digital is committed to taking a leadership position in the PC
market, and the best way to do that is to design and produce
products that carry Digital quality but are priced at what the
industry considers aggressive," said Alan McMillan, PC business
manager for Digital Asia. "Customers that are interested in
running Windows-based applications will be awed by the power
designed into the video bus."

The new Digital PCs are configured to serve a wide range of
applications and users. The models announced are:

DECpc 333sx LP - featuring a 33 MHz 386sx processor and 2MB or
8 MB of memory expandable to 14 MB, the DECpc 333sx LP provides
room for growth or customization;

DECpc 340dx LP - featuring a 40 MHz 386 processor and the
capacity for upgrading to a 486 processor;

DECpc 425sx LP - featuring a 25 MHz 486sx processor, this unit
is designed for graphics-intensive business and/or desktop
publishing applications;

DECpc 433dx LP - featuring a powerful 33 MHz 486dx processor to
handle intensive, business-critical applications, computer-aided
design (CAD), professional desktop publishing or other demanding
applications;

DECpc 450dx2 LP - featuring a 50 MHz 486dx2 processor and a
21.1 MIPs performance rating, the DECpc 450dx2 LP is ideal for
professional technical, scientific, desktop publishing or
multimedia applications.

"These PCs are especially attractive to users, from small
businesses to large organizations with enterprise-wide
applications," said Mr McMillan.

The PCs are built in Digital's advanced Taiwan plant, which
has achieved MRP II (Manufacturing Resource Planning) Class
A status and ISO 9000 certification, for worldwide
distribution.

Pricing for the new units start at $1,499, including, keyboard,
mouse, VGA monochrome monitor, 2 MB using 70 nanosecond SIMM
technology, 52 MB hard disk drive, 3.5-inch 1.44 MB diskette drive
and pre-installed MS-DOS 5.0 with Microsoft Windows 3.1.

They have been adapted to suit local language requirements
in Asia including traditional Chinese, simplified Chinese,
Korean and Thai. They are also certified for Digital Pathworks
and Novell NetWare networking operations.

The PCs include three full-sized ISA expansion slots for each
model. Each system includes built in high-performance super
VGA color graphics capability, 512 KB VRAM for video frame
buffer expandable to 1MB and ultra fast local bus for fast
video performance.

(Brett Cameron/19920805/Press contact: Walter Cheung, Digital,
tel: [phone];HK time is GMT + 8)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(TOR)(00013)

Canada Remote Tops Boardwatch 100 08/07/92
TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1992 AUG 7 (NB) -- Canada Remote Systems,
North America's largest bulletin board system, has taken the top
spot in Boardwatch magazine's Boardwatch 100 Readers' Choice BBS
Contest.

Second place went to Pleasuredome, a board based in Norfolk,
Virginia, and third place to Odyssey, a Monrovia, California, BBS,
a Boardwatch employee told Newsbytes.

A total of 1,215 bulletin board systems in the United States and
Canada received votes from Boardwatch readers in the six-month
contest. Boardwatch estimates there are some 40,000 bulletin boards
in the United States alone.

The awards will be given out at the ONE BBSCON conference in Denver
August 13-16.

As the winning BBS, Canada Remote is to get a free full-page
advertisement in Boardwatch for six issues, a trip for two to ONE
BBSCON, and other prizes. The top ten runners-up will also
receive free advertising and each will feature in a full-length
article in Boardwatch.

Canada Remote Systems has more than 85,000 subscribers, who have
access to a software library of more than 500,000 programs and
files and to more than 3,500 public forums and discussion areas.
Canada Remote also provides a number of news and information
services, including the United Press International and Reuters news
wires, North American stock exchange results, the twice-weekly edition
of Newsbytes, and other publications.

(Grant Buckler/19920806/Press Contact: Neil Fleming, Canada Remote
Systems, 416-620-1439, 800-465-6443 in Canada, 800-465-7562 in
U.S., fax [phone]; Boardwatch Magazine, 303-973-6038, fax 303-
986-8754; Public Contact: Canada Remote Systems, 416-620-1439,
800-465-6443 in Canada, 800-465-7562 in U.S.)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(BOS)(00014)

 ****MacWorld: QuickTime to Incorporate 25:1 Compression 08/07/92
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 7 (NB) -- SuperMac's
Compact Video Codec technology will be incorporated into Apple's
QuickTime, yielding better full-motion video and less disk space
consumption, the companies announced in a press conference at
MacWorld Boston.

The Compact Codec will compress QuickTime movies at ratios of more
than 25:1, allowing users to experience high quality, full-motion,
true-color video, stated Doug Camplejohn, Apple's product manager
for QuickTime. In contrast, current video compressors for
QuickTime compress at ratios of only 6:1, causing compression
artifacts and low frame rates that result in jagged edges and
blockiness, he emphasized.

The higher compression will also encourage multimedia content
producers to come out with full-length feature films in QuickTime,
predicted Cathy Galvin, SuperMac's digital video product manager.

Each frame will take up a smaller amount of disk space, so that
movies of two hours or more can now fit comfortably on a CD-ROM.
"This is a major step in the development of multimedia as a mass
market," she maintained.

Officials also noted that, unlike the DVI used with IBM-compatible
PCs, SuperMac's codec lets all developers and users carry out
compression without outside assistance. "The incorporation of the
Compact Video Code with Apple's QuickTime means that Apple has
taken an immense leap over Windows-based video solutions,"
commented Michael McConnell, CEO of SuperMac.

After the press conference, Jim Center, SuperMac's digital video
product manager, told Newsbytes that the hardware necessary for DVI
compression is unavailable to most developers and users, forcing
them to rely on the services of a third-party vendor.

According to Apple and SuperMac, the Compact Codec will support 30
frame-per-second playback of compressed QuickTime from a standard
CD in a video window up to 320 x 240 in size.

The officials stressed that the Compact Codec also provides faster
decompression, even on low-end machines like the Macintosh LC. The
enhanced decompression gives a further boost to ultimate picture
quality, they suggested.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19920806; Press Contacts: Stephanie Bryant,
SuperMac, tel [phone]; Laurie McLean, McLean PR for SuperMac,
tel [phone]; Tricia Chan, Apple, tel [phone])


(NEWS)(APPLE)(BOS)(00015)

MacWorld: Atlas Pro 1.5 and Maps Unveiled 08/07/92
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 7 (NB) -- At MacWorld
Boston, Strategic Mapping Inc., has announced a major upgrade to its
Atlas Pro geographic information manager, plus a suite of digitized
maps for Western Europe and Canada.

Version 1.5 brings more database connectivity, new presentation
tools, and improved address matching to Atlas Pro, a product aimed
at helping business and database users analyze and present
geographic information.

Atlas Pro can be applied to demographics, sales figures, crime
statistics, and many other geographic variables, a public relations
spokesperson told Newsbytes. Changes in the variables are depicted
in changes on shaded area color maps. Product uses include retail
site selection, sales territory design, distribution planning,
mailing list selection, and land-use planning.

Version 1.5 supports interactive querying of Sybase, Oracle,
Informix, Rdb, DB2, and many other SQL database systems, the
spokesperson said.

A new gradient fill option is designed for use in adjusting the
color scheme that represents the variables. With the gradient
fill, all the user must do is pick one color for the highest data
level to be shown on the map, and another color for the lowest.
All colors in between are automatically calculated. In contrast,
the previous version of Atlas Pro required the user to select all
colors in the range.

In addition, said the spokesperson, new street rendering tools
supply better looking streets, and newly added style sheets afford
easier control over street colors, line styles, and labeling.

Version 1.5 also incorporates new tools that speed up the zoom
function. Now the user can zoom out of a view by clicking on a
single icon, or zoom in by clicking on another. Previously, each
type of zoom was a two-step process.

A new address matching capability lets the user map out any street
in the US, match any address with its latitude/longitude
coordinates, and attach data to those points on the map.

In addition, the product comes with a new page preview option, and
new support for multipage and E-size printing. The price of
Version 1.5 is $795.

The new maps of Western Europe and Canada are sold separately from
Atlas Pro, and range in price from $100 to several thousand
dollars. At the top of the range are maps of Europe that were
difficult for Strategic Mapping to acquire, the spokesperson told
Newsbytes.

"In the US, many maps are already in the public domain. But in
some sections of Europe, maps are generated by the government, and
guarded jealously," he remarked.

Yet many of these European maps are based on postal codes and
therefore furnish excellent data, he pointed out. European postal
codes are only about the size of a city block, meaning that
detailed information can be represented, he explained.

The spokesperson added that Strategic Mapping will change its own
address on August 15, moving from San Jose, CA to a larger, 34,000-
square-foot facility in Santa Clara to accommodate company growth.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19920806; Press and Public Contact: David
Radoff, Strategic Mapping, tel [phone] before August 15, 408-
970-9600 after August 15)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(BOS)(00016)

MacWorld: Peachtree Brings Out New Accounting Packages 08/07/92
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 7 (NB) -- Peachtree has
announced new names for its Mac-based accounting software, together
with product enhancements and lower prices.

Introduced at MacWorld this week, the new packages are Peachtree
Accounting, an entry-level program previously known as At Once, and
the more advanced Peachtree Insight Accounting, previously dubbed
Insight Accounting.

Susan Howard Wells, director of sales, told Newsbytes that the new
monikers come two years after Peachtree's purchase of Apple's
Macintosh accounting software line.

Research conducted since then has shown the company that end users
haven't been associating the Macintosh software with Peachtree, a
label highly regarded in the accounting world, and that prices have
been set too high for the current market, stated Wells.

The upgraded products are enjoying great success at retail, with
more stores opting to carry the line, she emphasized.

Peachtree Accounting, priced at just $99, adds System 7
compatibility to the entry-level product, previously sold for $249.
The new program carries forward the easy-to-use tools for general
ledger, accounts receivable, billing, accounts payable, payroll,
budgeting, and custom forms design that were offered in At Once.

Peachtree Insight Accounting adds System 7 compatibility, along
with batch processing and data import and export utilities. The
batch processing enables accounting work to be reviewed and edited
before being posted.

The six modules in the more advanced package were formerly priced
at $695 apiece. Now, in Peachtree Insight Accounting, all six are
available for $395. The modules cover the same accounting
functions as those in Peachtree Accounting, but at higher levels of
capability.

For example, the reports that can be generated in Peachtree
Accounting consist of journal listings, check register, general
ledger, chart of accounts, balance sheet, income statement, and
trial balance. But Peachtree Insight Accounting goes further,
creating such sophisticated reports as liquidity ratios,
profitability ratios, asset management ratios, historical journal,
and source and use of funds statement.

Compatibility with System 7 lets users take advantage of system
features like Balloon Help, TrueType fonts, Core Apple Events, and
Voice Annotation.

Both accounting products are being supplied in new and more
streamlined packages, Sherry D. Junker, product manager, told
Newsbytes. "The packages are designed to give us a cleaner, more
professional look," she commented. The packages are shipping.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19920806; Press and Public Contacts: Susan
Howard Wells, Peachtree, tel [phone]; Sherry D. Junker,
Peachtree, tel [phone])


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(LON)(00017)

Greek Mobile Phone Licences Awarded 08/07/92
ATHENS, GREECE, 1992 AUG 7 (NB) -- Two companies -- Stet of Italy
and Panafon, a Pan-European consortium -- have each won a licence
to install digital cellular phone networks in Greece. The
licences have not come cheaply, however, as each network operator
will have to pay $160 million to the Greek government, although
the licences are good for the next 20 years.

Announcing the licences in Athens this week, Tzannis Tzannetakis,
the government premier, said that both companies have committed
to paying up to $850 million for their networks which will
rapidly cover the mainland of the country.

According to Tzannetakis, the groupe speciale mobile (GSM)
networks should be live in the Athens area within the next 18
months, with the steady rollout to the rest of Greece over the
next six years creating up to 7,000 new jobs.

Stet is the Italian state telecom company. Panafon, meanwhile,
is a consortium of Vodafone in the UK and France Telecom, as
well as Intrakom and Data Bank, which are both Greek telecom
companies.

(Steve Gold/19920806)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(LON)(00018)

British Telecom Preparing New Price Cap Strategy 08/07/92
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1992 AUG 7 (NB) -- British Telecom (BT) has
announced it is preparing a formal basket of proposals in response
to Oftel, the British Government-appointed telecom watchdog's
decision to impose price caps on the company's phone charges.

BT is responding to press reports that it and Oftel have failed
to reach an agreement on a set of proposals on price increases.
Oftel, which has imposed price capping on BT's charges for
several years, recently announced harsh price caps, below the
rate of inflation, as BT continued to report healthy profits.

Although BT is known to be unhappy with the price capping
proposals, the fact that Oftel is not referring them to the
Monopolies and Mergers Committee, which would almost certainly
impose a new set of Draconian price limits on the telecom giant,
means that they will eventually be accepted.

Oftel's price capping measures moved the price increase limit
from the current inflation less 6.25 percent to inflation less
7.5 percent. The measures, which kick in on August 1, 1993, will
also reduce the maximum connection charge that BT can charge its
subscribers from UKP 152.75 to UKP 99.

(Steve Gold/19920806)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LON)(00019)

Wordperfect Teams With Sunsoft 08/07/92
ADDLESTONE, SURREY, ENGLAND, 1992 AUG 7 (NB) -- Wordperfect has
announced a technology sharing agreement with Sunsoft. The
partnership between the two companies will allow Wordperfect
products to use technology drawn from Sunsoft's Solaris system
software for distributed computing.

According to Wordperfect, the current strategy calls for
cooperation on software development between the two companies. By
pooling resources, both companies claim that their respective
users will benefit from shorter development time on new
technologies.

"The joint efforts of our two companies and the sharing of
technology allows Wordperfect to effectively utilize Sunsoft's
development resources," explained David Godwin, Wordperfect's
general manager of sales and marketing.

According to Godwin, the people who will benefit most from the
company's working together will be their customers. "They can
look forward to WP products such as Wordperfect and WP Office
taking advantage of Sunsoft's technologies such as the Open Look
graphical user interface, Tooltalk and QNC/NFS," he added.

(Steve Gold/19920806/Press Contact: Wordperfect Contact: 0932-
850500)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(LON)(00020)

Low-Cost Direct Host Access To Internet 08/07/92
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1992 AUG 7 (NB) -- Demon Systems, a London-based
technology firm, has set up a low-cost method for serious users
of the Internet to obtain their own host name on the network.

Direct access to the Internet gets users a lot more than their
own host name, according to Grahame Davis, marketing director
with Demon Systems.

"Because we have a 64,000 bits kilostream into Pipex in
Cambridge, we have a full link into the Internet. That allows our
subscribers to call into our system and telnet (link) to other
host systems on the Internet free of charge, as well as ftp (file
transfer protocol) files from those hosts at high speed," he
explained.

Currently, Demon Internet Services (DIS) has a rack of 16 Miracom
dual standard high-speed modems, with 13 available for
subscribers. Despite being operational for just a month, the
service already has 250 subscribers and more are signing up
daily.

Sign-up to DIS costs UKP 12-50, with monthly flat-rate
subscriptions costing UKP 10-00 a month. "That's it - there are
no other charges other than cost of the phone call," Davies told
Newsbytes, adding that a dial-out facility is also available.

Dial-out allows a subscriber to register his own system, typically
a PC with an auto-answer modem, and phone number with DIS. This
allows, for example, a caller on a US Internet host system to
open a link (Telnet) to DIS, which then dials out at local
calling rates to the subscriber's "home" system.

Another key feature of DIS is the ability to gain direct access
to the full Usenet news/feed, a vast selection of conferences and
messaging systems that are identified by conferences and topics.
The feed is interactive, meaning that DIS subscribers can reply
to Usenet conference messages in real time.

According to Davies, subscribers can link via DIS' London access
ports at very high speed using V32Bis (14,400 bits per second)
modems with V.42Bis error correction and data compression. Plans
call for an integrated services digital network (ISDN) link to be
installed, although Davies said that the company is experiencing
some problems in achieving full ISDN throughput of 64,000 bps
owing to hardware unreliability. Once this problem has been
solved, then ISDN access at 64,000 bps will be possible.

ISDN subscriptions will cost UKP 50 to sign up, with a monthly
charge of UKP 35. The dial out facility also costs UKP 50 to
register and UKP 15 a month plus call charges. Commercial
link/subscriptions are available from UKP 250 sign-up and UKP 150
a month ongoing rental.

(Steve Gold/19920807/Tel: [phone]; Fax: [phone]; email
on [e-mail])


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

ROUNDUP: Stories Carried By Other Media This Week 08/07/92
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 7 (NB) -- Roundup is a brief
look at some computer stories carried in other publications
received here this past week.

September's Macworld has the following on the cover: "America's
Shame - the creation of the technological underclass in America's
public schools - how we abandoned our children's future." Inside
are a number of articles related to the theme.

The August issue of Lotus emphasizes printing 1-2-3 charts.

Windows magazine for August looks at Compaq's business audio.

The August 3 issue of Federal Computer Week says that Compaq and
other companies are scrambling to offer federal computer buyers
cut-rate prices on the GSA Microcomputer schedule.

June's MIS Quarterly contains papers on "Threats to Information
Systems," "Managing Telecommunications by Steering Committee,"
and "Microcomputer Playfulness: Development of a Measure With
Workplace Implications" (how game playing can improve work
performance).

(John McCormick/19920807)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(LAX)(00022)

Chipsoft Says Competitor Returned Computer Code Copy  08/07/92
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 7 (NB) -- Chipsoft,
known for its tax preparation software product Turbotax,
announced a competitor has delivered back to it a copy of the
company's computer code. The company says a strict interpretation
of the disclosure laws for public companies led to the announcement
and it is taking steps to find the culprit.

Debra Kelley of public relations for Chipsoft said the
company's attorneys advised it to make the announcement, but
Chipsoft is unwilling to release the identity of the competitor
who returned the code or any details regarding its
investigation of the action. Kelley did add the company has
tightened security since the discovery.

Chipsoft announced last month the purchase of Speed>s
(pronounced "speed s") Corporation for the purpose of
integrating electronic filing for users into its own tax
software. Chipsoft says the addition of Speed>s resources will
allow it to have its own Electronic Services Group. Users will
be able to submit their tax returns to the company directly for
electronic filing instead of contracting with a third-party
electronic filing firms as it has done in the past.

When asked by Newsbytes whether or not the security breach with
the computer code would mean users might have to worry about a
privacy concerning electronic filing of tax return information,
Kelley said the personnel in the divisions of the company that
handle the coding are separate from the people in the division
that will handle the tax returns, though the computers might be
integrated.

Kelley also pointed out it has an agreement with the IRS which
safeguards the privacy of filers. If the company is found in
violation of that agreement, it would mean Chipsoft could no
longer operate electronic filing with the IRS.

When asked why a competitor would return the computer code to
Chipsoft, code that probably wouldn't do the competitor much
good since programs are written differently by each company,
Kelley said she was surprised as well. "It was an extremely
responsible move on the part of our competitors. I know we
would have acted just as responsibly had the situation been
reversed."

Chipsoft's Turbotax product is the number-one, best-selling
personal and small business tax software in the US. The
company markets more than 230 tax reparation and related
software products for both IBM sold under the brand names
Turbotax, Macintax, and Taxview. The products range from those
intended for use by accountants to programs for home use.

Also, Chipsoft just went public this year with an initial
public offering of 3.3 million common shares at $12.50 per
share.

(Linda Rohrbough/19920807/Press Contact: Debra Kelley,
Chipsoft, tel [phone], ext. 482, fax [phone]; Public
Contact: 619-453-8722)


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

Editorial: America's Shame 08/07/92
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 7 (NB) -- By John McCormick.
In a scathing indictment of US educators and politicians, the
September Macworld magazine has exposed pervasive underfunding and
underutilization of computer resources, which is leaving most of
the next generation fit only for fast-disappearing menial jobs.

In one section called Separate Realities, author Charles Piller
shows that little has been done to bring the poorest schools up
to the level of the richest.

School bureaucracies are often so ossified that many computers
aren't used for anything worthwhile. One school uses a $200,000
IBM 9370 to teach COBOL programming.

Has the teacher never heard of "C" or another language which is
actually being used for creative work? A glance at the job
listings show that those kids have as much chance of landing a
high-paying job as if they were taught keypunching.

In an East Palo Alto, California, school (near Silicon Valley)
computers sit stacked in an unused jumble in the computer lab
that serves as the school detention hall. At a nearby affluent
school there are computers everywhere. Would it surprise you to
learn that some first graders at the well-equipped Escondido
School write at the same level as many 11th graders in poorer
schools?

What's the problem? As usual these days, it is mostly the
politicians - those in government and those in the schools.

In Washington they play partisan politics while a massive
technological underclass is created, secure in the knowledge that
their own kids are attending the best schools.

In local schools politicians with teaching credentials percolate
into top management and are often either too lazy to learn the
new technology or are afraid of computers.

Of course there are exceptions, but I have met very few of them.

I myself have encountered both total indifference and active
hostility from teachers. Some even ignore their own children's
futures, but until reading this Macworld report I had fooled
myself into thinking that other schools were doing well and I had
just encountered the exceptions.

Permit me to elucidate.

Most of the local kids who graduate from high school here are
barely qualified to sell burgers, yet it took me four months to
contact the person in charge when I wanted to donate about 200
computer books. He didn't want them.

I don't think the delay was due to the fact that I was an unknown
stranger in the area; I went to school with that official for 12
years. I saw him read a book - once.

Another old schoolmate learned that I worked with computers and
wanted to bring his wife over to see just what they could do for
their daughter. I have seen him dozens of times since but he has
never mentioned computers again. I am not surprised; after all,
his wife is a teacher - she obviously dismissed me as a mere
amateur.

Most teachers are educated to believe that only another teacher
could know anything useful about education. They spend four years
learning about child psychology, administration, grade curves,
and how to deal with parents. In many schools the math or
chemistry teacher is far more qualified to teach test grading
than a technical subject.

Many of them realize how poorly prepared they really are and are
understandably reluctant to expose this ignorance to people who
actually work in the real world.

There are many dedicated teachers who work hard at what they do,
but those aren't the sort who become part of the ever-growing
percentage of managers and are soon ground down by the
bureaucracy.

But the problem isn't just inside the schools.

The kids I went to school with are now empowered. Besides the
many teachers I know, one old acquaintance is the head of the
school board while another is head of the PTA.

They know of my willingness to contribute my specialized
knowledge to help modernize the school but none has ever asked
for my input.

Should I force my ideas on them? Why bother? I have my own life
to live and while I am willing to help if asked I also realize
that trying to push the school into preparing kids for the 21st
century would be as Quixotic as trying to push a stalled car with
a strand of limp spaghetti.

And it isn't just the administrators or citizen politicians -
many parents are afraid of computers and the majority have never
come to grips with the fact that factory jobs are disappearing.

Believe me, if I had children I would, as my friends in rural
Maine have, swear that my kids would never see the inside of a
public school. She was a short-term investment manager and he
holds Ph.D.s from both Yale and Boston U.

Perhaps I am making too much of this. After all, I don't have
children myself and I am already technologically educated (very
much despite the school system, not because of it), so why should
I care?

We even have a sideline business which is surging in popularity
as more high school graduates get diplomas that fully qualify
them to pick up trash after Guns 'n' Roses concerts.

What is the growth business we recently started? We raise and
train guard and personal protection dogs - with a growing
underclass of pathetically undereducated job applicants, gun
sales, burglar alarms, and guard dogs are growth businesses.
Anyone visited LA recently? There is a connection.

If you think I am making all this up, pick up a copy of the
September Macworld. The reporting will impress you even as the
implications sicken.

(John McCormick/19920807)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(DEN)(00024)

 ****3M Announces 21MB Floppy Disk 08/07/92
ST PAUL, MINNESOTA, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 7 (NB) -- 3M Corporation says
it will begin shipping floppy disks that can hold 21 MB of data
later this month.

Called floptical diskettes, the new diskettes will fill the gap that
presently exists between 1.44 MB disks and removable data storage
medium such as those manufactured by Iomega. In effect, a user can
put the equivalent of a hard drive in their shirt pocket or purse.

The company says that a drive that will read and write the
super-high density disks is downward compatible, able to read
existing 3.5-inch disks. The disks will be ideal for storing large
size files such as graphics images on a single disk, which could
then be inserted in another computer to transfer the data.

3M's new disks are designed to work with drives based on San Jose,
California-based Insite Peripherals floptical technology. The
Insite drives are manufactured by Matsushita-Kotobuki Electronics
in Japan. Iomega Corporation reportedly will also be producing
floptical drives.

To compare the data storage capacity, an 80 MB hard drive which
would require 50 1.44 MB disks to back it up will now require only
four floptical drives. Data transfer is also quicker, with the
average time needed to back up 21 MB of data being less than 3-1/2
minutes, according to 3M.

3M thinks flopticals will be popular in entry level computers and
laptops, and could eliminate the need to install a hard drive in
those class systems.

3M's Jim Milligan told Newsbytes the disks have a suggested list
price of $31.45, but street prices are $20-$25. Milligan said the
drives are available to OEMs (original equipment manufacturers), or
can be added to an existing PC. The Floptical drives fit in a
standard 3.5-inch drive bay when mounted internally, or can be
purchased as an external drive. Milligan said drive prices to the
end user will probably be down to around $299 by September. They
started out at around $500, and have already dropped by about $100.

The floptical disks will begin shipping August 17, according to
Milligan.

(Jim Mallory/19920807/Press contact: Larry Teien, 3M, 612-736-5961)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(LAX)(00025)

 ****Classifieds By Phone Backed By Microsoft Co-founder  08/07/92
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 7 (NB) -- SureFind
Classifieds By Telephone, backed by Microsoft co-founder Paul
Allen, is a new computer-based interactive telephone classified
ads service, currently offered in Puget Sound, Washington.

What is unique about the service is not only can you call and
using the keys of a touchtone phone look up listings of products
you are interested in, but you can tell the system what you're
looking for and have it call you when something matching that
description comes in, Surefind said.

The company says it has the largest daily classified
advertising inventory of used cars and properties for sale or
rent in the Puget Sound area. Callers can hear ads of interest
over the phone or request a free fax copy, Surefind said.

Calls to Surefind are free and the system is operated via a
software program that allows callers to browse only the areas
of interest to them. One of the unique things about the system
is it "reads" written text to the user so once the ads are
typed into the computer system, they require no other special
handling. This not only speeds up the process, but eliminates
studio time and other recording expenses. A representative of
Surefind told Newsbytes the service receives ads every hour,
and once those ads are entered by the data entry people, they
are immediately available to the caller.

The company said it now has the property rental listings from
12 of the area's property management firms, and when it added
used cars to its inventory it became the largest classified
marketplace for used cars in the area.

The company says it gets about 5,000 calls a week and inquiries
about the service itself are coming in from around the country.

Paul Allen, known for writing the BASIC programming language in
the late 1970s with Bill Gates (now chief executive officer of
Microsoft) has become a major investor in Surefind, according
to Surefind President James Lalonde. Allen left Microsoft in
1982 and is now owner of the Portland Trail Blazers. Another
investor in SureFind is  Samuel Stroum, a board member of Egghead
Software.

Surefind says it hopes to offer the service in other cities
and eventually launch a classified information network for the
entire US.

(Linda Rohrbough/19920807/Press Contact: Bob Silver, The Silver
Company for Surefind, tel [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(TOR)(00026)

 ****AT&T Researchers Show Denser Optical Storage 08/07/92
MURRAY HILL, NEW JERSEY, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 7 (NB) -- Following quickly
on last month's news that Japanese Sony Corporation had developed
the first blue semiconductor laser which promises eventual
increases in optical storage density, AT&T's Bell Labs has announced
that it has developed a way to store about 100 times more
information on magneto-optical discs.

That amounts to about 300 times greater density than the
conventional magnetic disks in widespread use today, AT&T officials
said. Put another way, the new technique -- which is experimental
and not likely to see commercial use for several years at least --
could store two copies of the novel War and Peace in area about the
size of a pinhead.

The near-field scanning optical microscopy technique developed at
Bell Labs permits storage densities of 45 billion bits per square
inch. At that density, a disk that fits in the palm of your hand
could hold up to 17 hours of high-density television-quality video.

According to AT&T, researchers think they may be able to pack from
200 to 500 billion bits into a square inch before reaching the
physical limits of the technique.

The system currently can put a bit of data in a space as small as
60 nanometers (60 billionths of a meter or about 1,000 times
smaller than the diameter of a human hair).

To date, the highest density achieved by Bell Labs researchers Eric
Betzig, Jay Trautman, Ray Wolfe, Mike Gyorgy, and Patrick Finn
consists of a 20 x 20 array of bits with a center-to-center
distance between bits of 120 nanometers.

The recording medium consists of thin, multilayered films of
platinum and cobalt, being developed at the Engineering Research
Center for Data Storage Systems at Carnegie Mellon University in
Pittsburgh.

Like other magneto-optic devices, the system uses a laser beam to
read and write data.  However, rather than using a lens to focus
the beam on the recording material, the light is sent into a probe
made from an aluminum-coated optical fiber, tapered to a tiny point
at one end. The resulting light beam is about 50 nanometers wide,
and produces a light spot much smaller than is possible with a
lens.

This probe is not hard to manufacture, AT&T spokesman Russ Glover
said. An optical fiber is "pulled like a piece of taffy until it
snaps," he said, leaving a tapered end that can then be coated with
aluminum.

The tough part, Glover said, lies in getting the read and write
speed of the system, and its error rates, to acceptable levels.

AT&T expects the technology to be commercial within a decade, and
maybe sooner, Glover said. He added that it is too early to
speculate how the cost of such systems might compare with that of
today's storage devices.

Since AT&T's development doesn't appear to use any unproven
technology and operates at normal room temperature, it may be
applied to actual products much sooner than the Sony blue laser.

The Sony invention, which is nowhere near ready for commercial
production because the blue light laser only operates at
extremely low temperatures, may eventually increase storage
density by as much as three times because blue light has a
shorter wavelength than the usual red light beams, making it easy
to focus the beam into a smaller area.

(Grant Buckler & John McCormick/19920807/Press Contact: Russ Glover,
AT&T, 201-564-4097; Donna Cunningham, AT&T, 802-482-3748)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(BOS)(00027)

MacWorld: Star Trek Screen Saver Coming 08/07/92
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 7 (NB) -- Berkeley Systems
has announced at the MacWorld Expo that is has an agreement with
Paramount Pictures to create a whole new line of Macintosh
screen savers that will delight a Trekkie's heart. The new series
of screen savers will feature themes, trivia, and visuals from
the original television and movie series Star Trek.

The company was demonstrating a very early version of what some of
the screens might look like in the collection. They are still in the
process of creating the screens and consequently could not tell
Newsbytes how many modules will be there or what they would all be.

Howeard Dyck, Berkeley's manager for this product, did tell
Newsbytes that there may be as many as 20 modules that would
incorporate the most memorable scenes and most famous occurrences
during the original show's five-year mission.

One of the demos was of the falling tribbles which many Star Trek
fans will recall fondly. Others replicate views of various bridge
control panels and displays. There is even a segment that is based
on Scottie's analysis of the Enterprise itself with a complete set
of engineering drawings attached.

A new version of the screen saver program will be required to
display all of the effects and to accommodate the increased
requirements of the sound effects. Berkeley Systems is promising
to have the actual program available by October of this year.

Company employees told Newsbytes that they are writing the program
in such a way that all of the old modules that were written for the
previous version of the program will still run with the new version.
Unfortunately, there is no way that the reverse can happen so an
upgrade will be necessary for current users.

Many details of what the final release will look like have not been
worked yet. So, for instance, pricing and upgrade costs have yet to
be determined.

(Naor Wallach/19920807/Press Contact:Ann Crampton, Berkeley Systems,
510-540-5535/Public Contact:Berkeley Systems, 510-540-5535)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(BOS)(00028)

MacWorld: Miscellaneous 08/07/92
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 7 (NB) -- These are a
few more new products that appeared at Macworld.

Gryphon software was showing off their Morph program. What Morph
is and the story of the company were covered by Newsbytes when they
made the original announcement several weeks ago. At the show,
Newsbytes witnessed the great interest that has developed in
the Morph product. This was especially true after Apple computer
highlighted Morph during a keynote address.

Company officials said the only quiet time was before the keynote
address. Then, fifteen minutes after the keynote ended, the first
busses arrived from the World Trade Center and Gryphon's booth
was besieged with people for the remainder of the show. Gryphon
officers brought with them a few thousand copies of the program
hoping to sell them. After the first day, they had to call back to
their office and order several thousand more copies to be overnight-
shipped to the show floor.

Maxis is continuing its simulation series with a new one called
SimLife. This time you get to play with the biology of the planet
and create new life forms. With SimLife you get to build your very
own ecosystem and see how it might evolve and develop.  You have
control over the environment as well as over the creatures and
other life forms that develop.

Fifth Generation Systems was trumpeting the release of version 3.0
of FastBack Plus for the Macintosh. This new version will begin
shipping in mid-August and has a number of new features. These
features include better tape drive support, a SnapShot feature that
allows the user to be more specific about what to restore, a copy
function that lets users back up files in the Finder's format, and
a new Erase function that allows the user to erase selected files
without backing them up.

Shiva tried to demonstrate a product that allows multiple users to
dial into a local area network through a series of new
devices that Shiva was terming "enterprise-wide dial-in products."
Unfortunately, the phone system at the show was proving to be
completely uncooperative. The Shiva people had to simply point at
the blinking lights and talk about what they should have been
demonstrating.

Communications Specialists was showing off their new Coconut. This
little device allows for the conversion of the Macintosh video
signal to any kind of regular television video signal. With this
device it is possible to drive large screen TVs and standard
videotape machines from your Macintosh. Anything that appears on
your Macintosh's screen will appear on these other devices.

Compatible Systems was demonstrating a new Ethernet-to-Ethernet
router that they are hoping to have ready for shipment over the
next few months. This router is RISC-based which, the company
claims, will give it significantly better performance than the
current crop of Routers.

Interplay Productions was showing off a new color CD-ROM version
of Battlechess for the Macintosh. They were also announcing the
release of the Macintosh version of Lexi-Cross which is billed
as a 21st century TV game show. This game is a  cross between
Scrabble, Wheel of Fortune, and crossword puzzles. Interplay also
announced that they have signed an agreement with Maxis under
which Interplay will produce and market the Sim series on CD-ROM.

(Naor Wallach/19920807)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SFO)(00029)

 ****Aldus Restructures, Sheds 11% Of Workforce 08/07/92
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 7 (NB) -- Aldus Corporation
reported that it is restructuring and laying off 11 percent of its
workforce, or approximately 100 employees in its Seattle, San Diego,
Dallas, and other locations.

President of the firm, famous for Pagemaker desktop publishing
software, Paul Brainerd, issued this statement: "We are
restructuring our operations in response to economic and competitive
pressures that continue to have a negative impact on our
business. The workforce reduction, combined with our companywide
efforts to reduce variable costs, should better align our expenses
with revenue expectations."

Aldus suffered a poor second quarter and a stock price drop in
June in its fourth straight earnings disappointment, prompting
one analyst, Scott McAdams of Ragen MacKenzie to say,  "It could
be that this is the darkest hour."

Aldus has had difficulty boosting sales in a sluggish market, and
analysts doubted that the company could recover quickly.
Aldus said its lower earnings were due primarily to a
significant revenue shortfall and higher expenses in its
Germany subsidiary. It also blamed, to a lesser degree, lower
than expected sales of its Windows-based products in the US
and Europe.

Complicating matters is a suit that two Aldus stockholders filed
against the company in June, claiming Aldus inflated its growth
projections. The suit also contends that the company
withheld information about the status of some key executives while
corporate officers sold nearly $9 million in stock during an 11
month period ending April 21.

Aldus has been busy lately, however, acquiring software and
technologies from other firms. In July, Aldus acquired RipPrep,
a software application that performs process-color trapping on
EPS (Encapsulated PostScript) files. RipPrep and its underlying
software technology were developed by Graphic Edge, a New Hampshire
firm with which Aldus joined forces in late 1991.

Aldus also bought Macintosh-based technology for a multimedia
database to sort and catalog multimedia information, even on a
network,  code named "Fetch," from Provident Software of Anaheim,
California in July. Aldus plans to offer a retail product based
on the technology later this year.

The company is due to launch an upgrade to its flagship software
program Pagemaker in early 1993 and  in June and July introduced
new programs: Aldus PressWise 1.0, a page imposition  program for
the Macintosh computer; Personal Press 2.0 for the Macintosh,
a page layout program which allows the user to design
and assemble text and graphics automatically; and IntelliDraw 1.0,
a program the company describes  as a "smart" drawing program for
Windows and for the Macintosh.

(Wendy Woods/19920807)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(BOS)(00030)

MacWorld: Network Problems Sent By Pager 08/07/92
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 7 (NB) -- Caravelle
is delivering a product suggested by their customers. With their
network monitoring program, NetWorks, Caravelle was shipping a small
module that would notify network administrators via their pager
whenever a network problem erupted. Caravelle officers tell
Newsbytes that they have been practically besieged with
requests to make this module a stand-alone program that others
could use.  Caravelle has.

Pager Pro is the name of the program. It has a completely
configurable user interface that allows the user to set up not only
the number of the pager, but also such niceties as setting up
groups of users to whom faxes can be sent; text of the fax to be
sent; and even standard messages that need not be entered anew
each time. Times and dates can be set for message transmission
so that a calendar program can use this module to page a user
about important events or meetings.

Caravelle is making this module available to what are called
qualified, serious, developers. Actually, a developer's edition is
what is being offered -- users can buy the stand-alone
program and use it as they see fit. Pager Pro is already shipping.
It retails for $99 for the single user version and $249 per copy
for the server edition.

(Naor Wallach/19920807/Press Contact:Steve Traplin, Caravelle,
613-596-2802/Public Contact:Caravelle, 800-363-5292, 613-596-2802)