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/nb920813

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(NEWS)(GOVT)(WAS)(00001)

Free Trade Agreement Details 08/13/92
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 13 (NB) -- When President Bush
and US Trade Representative Carla Hills announced the
conclusion of trade barrier negotiations with her Canadian and
Mexican counterparts, it shouldn't have come as any surprise to
Congress but you wouldn't know it from the screams of outrage
emanating from the Hill.

NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement, was, according to
a statement on Thursday by Ms. Hills, widely discussed with
Congress before and during negotiations during hundreds of
meetings.

The so-called free trade agreement would essentially eliminate
nearly all trade barriers and tariffs on goods produced from
Nome, Alaska, to southern Mexico.

Unions and Congressional representatives from states which have
large numbers of low-skill assembly line jobs are demanding that
Congress reject the agreement because it will cost US jobs as
they move south of the border to take advantage of much lower
employee costs.

But others say that freeing up trade will actually increase the
number of US and Canadian high-tech jobs, continuing the
present trend which now sees low-pay jobs going mostly to Asia.

Canada is already the US's largest trade partner and Mexico
is not far behind. While trade imbalance will always exist,
taken overall, trade between the three countries is nearly even
with no big surpluses.

Computers and telecommunications appear to be the high-tech
exports which are most likely to benefit from NAFTA, but with
increases in Mexican worker income from increased trade, many
other US businesses are likely to experience a boost in sales
south of the border.

The combined consumer market for North America would include 360
million people with a gross continental product of nearly $6
trillion.

Now that negotiations are complete, the fate of NAFTA moves on to
the US (not to mention Mexico and Canada's) legislators for
what Carla Hills said on CNN's Thursday morning Moneyline will be
a straight up or down vote.

Congress, she said, will certainly debate the agreement, but
under a prior fast-track agreement they will not be making any
changes and will have to act on the agreement before the end of
1993.

Ambassador Hills says that Bush administration estimates place
the total number of jobs created by NAFTA will approach one
million by 1995, despite the fact that even if the treaty is
approved quickly all barriers won't be eliminated for a full 15
years. Other estimates (from unions) say that there will be a net
loss of nearly 900,000 jobs if NAFTA is adopted.

Union executives say that there will be no net increase in US
jobs, while a Japanese Automobile Association spokesman is
claiming that the agreement is an example of unfair trade
barriers to Japanese goods.

Hills dismissed that last claim, saying that since NAFTA has not
increased any tariffs on goods imported from Asia or Europe those
trade regions have no grounds for complaints.

Meanwhile, it doesn't appear that the results of this fall's
presidential election will affect the fate of NAFTA when it goes
to Congress early next year because Democratic presidential
candidate Gov. Bill Clinton has already expressed his support for
the free trade pact.

If approved in time, NAFTA will go into effect on the first day
of January, 1994, but tariffs will only be lowered gradually over
the next 15 years. Mexican tariffs of about 10 percent imposed on
many US goods now average more than twice as high as US
tariffs imposed on goods coming in from Mexico.

Canada and the US already have a bilateral free trade agreement
which was approved by Congress nearly four years ago.

NAFTA was initially proposed by Mexican President Carlos Salinas
de Gortari when his government saw how well it was working
between the US and Canada.

Announcement of the NAFTA agreement had no apparent affect on
world stock markets.

(John McCormick/19920813/Press Contact: L.W. Koengeter,
spokesperson for the U.S. Trade Representative, 202-395-3204, fax
202-395-3911)


(NEWS)(IBM)(WAS)(00002)

Anti-Virus PC Program Ratings 08/13/92
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 13 (NB) -- NCSA, the National
Computer Security Association, has released results of its August
test of major PC anti-virus software, showing that only three of the
16 tested programs were able to detect all 848 infected files.

NCSA, a membership trade association formed by companies which
market anti-virus software, regularly tests submitted software
from both member and non-member companies.

Microcom Inc's Virex-PC, version 2.2, scored 100 percent on the
present test, as did Panscan, ver. 4.05, from Panda Software, and
Findviru, ver. 5.60, from S&S International.

Two products, Frisk Software's F-PROT, version 2.04, and McAfee
Associates' SCAN, ver. 93, scored 99 percent. Leprechaun
Software's Virus Buster, ver. 3.92, rated 98 percent; RG
Software's Vi Spy, ver. 9.0, scored 97 percent; and NOVI, ver.
1.1D, from Certus, scored 95 percent. Others in the 90-99 percent
range were Central Point's CPAV, version 1.3, at 94 percent;
CURE, ver. 20.01, from IRIS, at 93 percent; PCSCAN, ver. 2.0,
from Trend Micro Devices, scoring 91 percent; and UTSCAN, ver.
24.00, from Fifth Generation, rated at 90 percent.

Integrity Master, version 1.23A, from Stiller Research, rated 88
percent, and XTree's ViruSafe, ver. 4.6, scored 86 percent.

Symantec's NAV, version 2.0, rated 70 percent. The lowest rated
product was Detect Plus, ver. 2.10, from Commcrypt, at only 60
percent.

In the past some non-member companies complained that the
association has timed tests to fall just before some products
were due to release later versions, but a NCSA spokesperson has
in the past reminded Newsbytes that they can only test the
software they have available.

A statement accompanying this month's results seemed to be aimed
at defusing any complaints: "Every effort," the sentence from
NCSA begins, "was made to include the latest product available.
We [NCSA] believe every product included in this test was the
version shipping as of August 1, 1992."

The importance of version numbers is that as new viruses are
detected they are added to the NCSA test suite, and anti-virus
vendors are constantly upgrading their software in order to make
certain it can detect as many virus infections as possible.

As far as Newsbytes was able to determine, the NCSA tests were
conducted using the then-available current versions of software.

The NCSA test results are very important because, while reviewers
and end-users are able to determine how friendly anti-virus
programs are and what features they include, it is very difficult
for most reviewers to make extensive tests on live virus
detection.

(John McCormick/19920813/Press Contact: Robert Bales, NCSA, 717-
258-1816 or fax [phone])


(NEWS)(GOVT)(WAS)(00003)

Airline Computer Bill Passes House 08/13/92
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 13 (NB) -- Other airlines and
some consumer organizations have long complained about the
potential for unfair competition posed by the fact that many US
travel agents use one of two airline-owned computer reservation
systems. On Wednesday the US House of Representatives passed a
bill calling for a change in the way these computer systems are
operated.

United Airlines and American Airlines, the companies which
operated the competing computer systems, were widely suspected of
giving a preference to displaying flights on their own airlines
despite the fact that they were supposed to display all flights
from all airlines.

The House bill, which passed on a vote of 230 to 160, would, as
does a similar bill now awaiting action by the Senate, make it
illegal for any airline-owned general computer reservation system
used by travel agents from including any bias for the owner or
other airline.

The US Department of Transportation has been considering rules
placing restrictions on the airline reservation system for
several years but has taken no action to date.

The bill also addresses the complaints of other airline
information providers that the major system vendors have tried to
eliminate any competition by restricting travel agents from use
of more than one reservation system.

American Airlines, for one, has loudly objected to the bill.
"There are four strong computer reservation systems operating in an
intensely competitive environment, and legislation is both
unnecessary and completely inappropriate," Robert L. Crandall,
American's chairman and president, was quoted as saying. He
concludes, "It is, very simply, a special-interest bill intended to
benefit less successful [reservation system] owners and certain
airlines that didn't have the foresight to invest in CRSs
[computerized reservation systems]."

(John McCormick/19920813)


(NEWS)(IBM)(WAS)(00004)

Kiplinger To Market Tax Package 08/13/92
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 13 (NB) -- Publishers of The
Kiplinger News Letter, a major financial newsletter covering the
way tax laws and federal agency actions affect individuals, and
Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine have announced that they
will work with MECA Software (publishers of the Andrew Tobias
money management series) to market a unique tax preparation
program.

The new Kiplinger TaxCut software will be based on MECA's TaxCut
program but will also include Kiplinger's advice on tax strategy
as available for years in the company's highly respected tax
newsletter.

Kiplinger TaxCut is shipping now for MS-DOS and Windows systems
and will be marked by direct mail and through magazine
advertising.

The five Kiplinger-published newsletters and magazines have a
total circulation of 1.1 million.

(John McCormick/19920813/Press Contact: Connors Communications,
Connie Connors, 212-431-9300)


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

 ****Zenith To Sells PCs Direct Through 800 Number 08/13/92
BUFFALO GROVE, ILLINOIS, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 13 (NB) -- Zenith Data
Systems (ZDS) has announced that it will sell its IBM-compatible PCs
direct to end users, providing a toll free number to take orders.

With competition for the buyer's dollar getting tighter as companies
cut prices to attract business, most PC makers are looking for ways
to attract a greater market share. ZDS says its new "pan-channel"
approach is designed to make it as easy as possible for buyers to
get its products. "No one else in the industry is marketing this
broadly," according to ZDS executive VP, Clifford Janks.

Jenks said Zenith Data has received an exceptionally strong market
response to its new Advanced Professional Products line, which was
announced in June. Jenks says he expects the "pan channel" strategy
to help the company increase its direct commercial sales by more
than 30 percent during the final five months of the current fiscal
year.

ZDS spokesperson John Bace told Newsbytes that the company will now
offer its products through its field sales force, a network of about
200 resellers, superstores, office products outlets, and its
distribution channel.

In addition to a toll-free number for ordering products and
requesting product literature, ZDS is also offering delivery within
48 hours on most in-stock products, a 30-day money-back guarantee,
and a new color product catalog. Bace told Newsbytes the company
plans to mail the catalog to more than one million addresses
starting next Monday. Recipients of the catalog will include
current ZDS equipment users, potential buyers who have expressed
interest, and Ethernet users. The company is also establishing a
telemarketer team to maintain corporate contact with medium-sized
accounts.

The company says it is also working on plans to make its product
catalog available on-line on the Prodigy and CompuServe services,
and will regularly post information in Internet and Bitnet.
Customers can also request information via a toll-free fax line, and
a print advertising campaign appearing in a number of major computer
publications will start next Monday, Bace said.

In conjunction with the new sales and marketing programs, Zenith
Data has appointed Jerry Baldwin as vice president of direct
marketing. Baldwin joined ZDS earlier this year, and will report to
Clifford Jenks. Prior to joining ZDS, Baldwin was director or
marketing for Austin-based CompuAdd Corporation.

(Jim Mallory/19920813/Press contact: John Bace, ZDS, 708-808-4855;
Reader contact: ZDS, 800-553-0331)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(MOW)(00006)

Russia: Human-Computer Interaction Conference, Part 1 08/13/92
ST PETERSBURG, RUSSIA, 1992 AUG 13 (NB) -- In the former imperial
Russian capital of St. Petersburg, more than 120 experts from
15 countries have just concluded a full week in the review the
interactive information technologies of the 90s.

The East-West International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction
(EWHCI'92), was the second conference where East met West in the realm of
objects, actors and metaphors. The first HCI (human-computer
interaction) conference in Moscow was launched as a result of
intensive electronic mail that shuttled for 10 months between
Yury Gornostaev, a researcher from the International Center
for Scientific and Technical Information (ICSTI), and Professor
Larry Press from California State University at Dominguez
Hills. They met personally in Moscow on August 5, 1991 for the
first time; since that date they have shared a huge amount of
knowledge about HCI research community efforts worldwide.

The implications of HCI issues was highly visible during and
after the August meeting in Moscow in the talk.politics.soviet
Usenet news group.

The social impact of what is happening today in BBSs and knowledge
acquisition expert teams is significant as it will promptly cause
profound changes in mass media business, researchers say.
Larry Press stressed that the emerging "cooperative organization
culture" needs special nurturing and software tools to support complex
collaborative efforts.

"Originating from Soviet psychology [in the beginning] of the century,
'activity theory' has gained a foothold in the West in a number of
disciplines," said Program Committee co-chairs Alan MacLean
(Cambridge EuroPARC) and Jonathan Grudin (University of California,
Irvine), a statement which was eagerly confirmed by many researchers
during the Conference.

Russian scholar Vygotsky has investigated the "cultural forms" in which
the actions of cooperating persons unfold. "Such an expansion of activity
theory is much better suited for the study of cooperative work than the
present mainstream cognitive psychology because it recognizes the
importance of external symbolic memory devices," said Arne Raeithel
(University of Hamburg). With gigabytes of removable storage media
available for the user of a portable workstation (mid-90s vintage) the
problem of not getting lost in the intricate lanes of hypermedia data
models becomes a painstaking reality -- albeit a virtual one, he
stressed.

Information providers in wide area networks need a better understanding
of the shared knowledge structures that belong to the psychologists'
research domain.

So far the research has not been applied in practice, stressed
Kari Kuuti (University of Oulu, Finland). Another researcher,
Liam Bannon from Copenhagen University in Denmark states
that "... within the Human Factors approach, the human is often reduced
to being another system component with certain characteristics ...that
need to be factored into the design equation for the overall human-
machine system. Individual motivation, membership in a community of
workers, and the importance of the setting in determining human action
are just a few of the issues that are neglected."

On the subject of GUIs (graphical user interfaces), an opinion
was voiced by Michail Donskoy, one of the world best chess software
developers from the Institute of System Studies in Moscow. "My
opinion is that we need to make the semantic presentation more
rich than the graphic presentation." Donskoy's Math Formula Editor
implemented for MS Windows environment illustrates his point, he says.
The trick is "to use the human cultural environment for making the
interface feel natural."

Some human-computer interfaces should be considered as supernatural in
this context, and hypertext models are definitely going beyond the walls
of the Gutenbergian publishing culture. Researchers from Minsk in
Belarus who formed a small company discussed key design issues
in integrated hypertext software. Their product named Bind Altogether
is used in such different fields as real-time test and measurement,
computerized tutorials, information systems on legislation, and
laser diode certification.

The diversity of the hypertext and hypermedia HCI technology was reviewed
thoroughly in a collaborative R&D project at the Open University (Milton
Keynes, UK) and Rank Xerox Cambridge EuroPARC. "Hypermedia is more than
just the sum of its parts," Diane McKerlie of EuroPARC said. Two
metaphors -- "roundabout" and "workroom" were implemented and compared;
the researchers offered their solutions to such problems as
coordination of media, navigation in a "scenery of knowledge,"
user control tools, and linking and indexing of video and sound pieces in
the hypermedia jungle.

(Alexander Giglavyi & Kirill Tchashchin/19920810)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(MOW)(00007)

Russia: Human-Computer Interaction Conference, Part 2 08/13/92
ST. PETERSBURG, RUSSIA, 1992 AUG 13 (NB) -- Apple Computer features
prominently in Russian research into the ways we interact with
computers. QuickTime, videodiscs and movies one could navigate through
were part of a toolkit for the "Virtual Palace" project demonstrated
by a team of Apple developers headed by Allan Cypher, at Russia's
recent Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) Conference in St. Petersburg.

The 90-minute presentation supervised by Joy Mountford of Apple's
Advanced Technology Group featured Pavlovsky Palace near St. Petersburg,
which was damaged during World War II and is being carefully restored.

With Apple Hypercard a handy tool for university researchers
worldwide, it came as no surprise that many reports were based on the
use of this product.

Hyperbooks -- or electronic books -- were presented last year at
EWHCI'91 in Moscow by Japanese authors; this year the contents
of the hyperbooks were put on a par with their interactive hard
cover.

Sherlock Holmes was featured in a hypertext encyclopedia developed
by a team from Bowling Green State University in Ohio, USA. This
system uses 3200 cards and 10000 links to present a wealth of data
on Mr. Holmes' endeavors. The main objective of developers was to
assess users' navigation patterns. They found out that navigation
in hypertext is strikingly similar to navigation in a physical space.
Here the landmarks, route maps and survey maps are represented as
hierarchical structures.

Right-brain holistic models of HCI were also given a fair share of
EWHCI'92 participants' attention. Victor Kaptelinin (Institute of
General and Educational Psychology, Moscow) stressed the importance
of support for multilevel flexible, exploration by a user.
Existing interfaces lack "direct retrieval" facilities for the vast
amounts of information. "The greater the amount of relevant
information, the more distractors are in the field of attention,
and the more complicated, confusing and ill-organized is the [GUI]
working area," Kaptelinin pointed out. Still classic GUIs remain the
workhorses of hypertext applications.

Claus Unger (University of Hagen, Germany) offered the results of a
team study "checklist" for builders of interactive systems. The
five commandments are: openness, separability, reusability,
self-sufficiency, and combinability. These requirements help to shape
the innumerable sets of user interface development environments
(UIDEs) competing for the market niches, he contended.

Though the budding software market in Russia leans toward imported
interactive system development tools, experimental UIDEs are being
developed in many high colleges, Newsbytes learned. Some of the
latest approaches are based on the semiotic aspects of visual
programming, as referenced by the work of a Urals State University
group (V. Averbukh and D. Pivovarov) and LIMTU High College in
St. Petersburg. The latter group is developing the cognitive
graphical interface for structural analysis -- Knowledge
Engineer's Workbench -- used in a special training course for
knowledge engineers. A radically new approach based on the combination of
geometrical, AI and fractal methods has given rise to new forms of
data that are being used to create new user interfaces. Such novel
chapters in HCI curriculum may help to breed new generation of systems
engineers.

The wealth of research results and approaches discussed at EWHCI'92
remained, in fact, hidden from the omnipresent industrial experts as
they did not come to St. Petersburg. Austin Henderson, ACM SIGCHI
co-chair, in his concluding remarks, called for collaborative work
on HCI issues -- especially East/West collaboration.

(Alexander Giglavyi & Kirill Tchashchin/19920810)


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

Motorola/BT Collaborate On Videoconferencing 08/13/92
SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 13 (NB) -- Motorola and
British Telecom will work together to put BT's videoconferencing
algorithms onto a Motorola chip-set which could cost just $100 in
quantity by 1994.

The BT algorithms allow for what the company called "multimedia
communication," merging television, fax and data transmissions
with audio and video over the same phone line. Motorola's chip-
set will go onto circuit boards for sale to personal computer
owners, allowing them to conduct such videoconferences from their
desks.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19920812)


(NEWS)(IBM)(DEN)(00009)

New For PC: Laplink Upgrade 08/13/92
BOTHELL, WASHINGTON, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 13 (NB) -- Traveling Software
has announced Release 4.0 Upgrade to its file transfer utility
program Laplink.

The company said current registered owners can receive the upgrade
from major and corporate resellers for $59.95. The company said
this is the first time its has released an upgrade through retail
channels.

The upgrade kit includes one 3.5-inch and one 5.25-inch disk, and a
users manual. To get the upgrade you will have to provide proof of
purchase of an earlier version of Laplink within 30 days. Owners of
earlier versions of the program can also obtain Laplink's Travelite
serial and high-speed cables for an additional $49.95. The special
cable has various types of connections at each end of a single cable
to facilitate connection between various types of computers.

Traveling Software reports there it has an installed base of nearly one
million users.

Laplink allows users to transfer files between computers through
serial or parallel ports, or over a modem, using pull down menus to
select functions. Files are transferred using a patented data
compression mode which speeds up file transfer. Factors important
in transferring files, such as parity, stop bits, and other
protocols, are transparent to the user.

The program can install itself on a remote computer over a modem or
through a cable, and a Synchronize command makes files in two
directories identical.

(Jim Mallory/19920813/Press contact: Marci Maule, Traveling
Software, 206-483-8088; Reader contact: Traveling Software,
206-483-8088)


(NEWS)(IBM)(DEN)(00010)

Dell 66 Megahertz PCs 08/13/92
AUSTIN, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 13 (NB) -- Dell Computer announced
this week it is now offering four new upgradable personal computers
based on Intel's new 66-megahertz (MHz) i486 DX2 microprocessor.

The new microprocessor, as reported by Newsbytes earlier this week,
uses speed doubler technology that increases processing speeds by as
much as 25 percent over Intel's i486 DX/50 MHz chip.

Dell also says its 486-based ISA (Industry Standard Architecture)
systems will now include an improved video subsystem that it says is
designed to more than double video performance for PCs using
Microsoft's Windows system. Dell announced last month that it would
equip its EISA (Extended Industry Standard Architecture)-based
486DX desktop systems with the ATI Ultra graphics accelerator board.

Dell's systems come with unlimited toll-free technical support and
guaranteed next-business day on-site service. Other support options
are also available.

(Jim Mallory/19920813/Press contact: Jill Shanks, Dell Computer,
512-794-4100; Reader contact: Dell Computer, 800-289-3355)


(NEWS)(IBM)(DEN)(00011)

Compaq 66-Megahertz Desktop Systems 08/13/92
HOUSTON, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 13 (NB) -- Compaq Computer joins
what could be a rapidly growing list of computer makers offering
desktop systems based on the 66 megahertz (Mhz) Intel microprocessor.

The new systems will be powered by Intel's 66 MHz i486 chip which
uses speed doubler technology to improve performance significantly,
said Compaq. The company said performance could be improved by as
much as 35 percent over 50 MHz 486 DX2 models.

Compaq said a system equipped with a 210 megabyte (MB) hard drive;
8MB of RAM (random access memory), and 256K of cache memory; the
accelerated QVision graphics controller for improved Windows
performance; Business Audio, which allows sound and voice to be
added to applications; a 32-bit EISA (Extended Industry Standard
Architecture) bus; pre-installed DOS and Windows 3.1, and a Compaq
mouse will carry a suggested retail price of $4,399. For $2,749 the
same system, but with a 120MB hard drive, will be available.

The company is also offering a DX2/66 board upgrade kit which will
upgrade existing Deskpro/M systems to the faster performance.
Compaq said upgrade kits will range in price from $729 to $2,179,
depending on the processor board being replaced. Users of modular
Deskpro 486 33 MHZ systems can upgrade by installing a 486DX2/66
chip on the processor board.

The company also said it would announce its new network printers on
August 31. As reported previously by Newsbytes, the first Compaq
printers are expected to be high-speed laser printers designed
specifically for use with networked PCs. Newsbytes has obtained a
sample page printed on a Compaq Pagemarq Laser Printer which has
high definition, crisp text and saturated blacks. Compaq also holds
patents on other printer technologies, but declined to discuss
details regarding further printer products. The new printers will be
formally introduced a New York press conference Monday, with a less
formal presentation for West Coast press in San Francisco
the same day.

(Jim Mallory/19920815/Press contact: John Sweney, Compaq Computer,
713-374-0484; Reader contact: 800-345-1518)


(NEWS)(IBM)(LAX)(00012)

New For PC: Mental Math Games Educational Software 08/13/92
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 13 (NB) -- Dr. Dustin
Heuston, founder of the Waterford Institute, said he noticed
kids were still counting on their fingers in the fourth and
fifth grades. To help memorization of those basic math facts,
the Waterford Institute developed Mental Math Games,
educational software for children ages 6 to 14 which
incorporates animation and sound to teach math.

Broderbund, known for its Carmen Sandiego educational geography
game series, is to be the distributor of the Mental Math Games
software.

The Institute says the skill sequences were designed by school
teachers to teach 355 mathematic skills from single-digit
addition to triple-digit multiplication. Five games with
animation are part of the learning experience.

The games include a carnival-style shooting gallery "Tip-a-
Duck;" a multilevel "Maze" with traps and treasures; "Math
Match" a matching and memory game where players turn over cards
with animations; "Rocket" where players are blasted to the moon
if they can answer fast enough to avoid a crash; and
"Challenge" where the play leads a raccoon through the deep sea
and a wild jungle.

The software offers 256-color animation and will run on any IBM
or compatible personal computer (PC) and will use a sound card
if one is available, or the PC speaker, the company said.
Retail price has been set at $59.95, but a special introductory
offer is planned which will decrease the price by 20 percent,
Institute representatives told Newsbytes.

While a Macintosh version is in the works, the IBM PC version
will be released first in September of this year,
representatives said. While educators would like to see
educational software for the thousands of Apple IIs currently
in place in schools across America, the company says it's not a
possibility. The graphics are just too complex to be done on an
Apple II, company representatives said.

(Linda Rohrbough/19920812/Press Contact: Shannon Toronto, The
Waterford Institute, tel [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(HKG)(00013)

Synon Appoints Indonesia Distrib 08/13/92
JAKARTA, INDONESIA, 1992 AUG 13 (NB) -- To accommodate the rapid
growth in Asia's market for Synon's CASE (computer-aided software
engineering) tools, Synon Corporation, a supplier of CASE tools
for IBM mid-range computer systems, has appointed CSSL as its
exclusive distributor in Indonesia.

Under the agreement, the newly established P.T. Commercial Software
Services Indonesia will have the sole rights to market Synon's CASE
products throughout the country and to provide comprehensive support
services.

"The Indonesian market is becoming increasingly sophisticated, with
local EDP professionals demanding the quality and functionality that
international software vendors can offer," said Synon's Hong Kong
based Technical Specialist Guy Riddle.

"With the appointment of CSSL, we can address this demand as well
giving the Indonesian market access to sophisticated software
products and high levels of support that have been unavailable until
now."

CSSL Indonesia General Manager David Phillips said, "CSSL launched
its Indonesia office on July 1 this year and has already seen strong
customer interest in Synon products. In the last few years there has
been rapid growth in IBM mid-range systems and this has driven a
corresponding growth in demand for software."

Mr Phillips said that, as the Indonesian market matures, customers
are increasingly looking for expert after sales service and support.

Sharon Williams, marketing manager at Synon, Hong Kong, told
Newsbytes that the development in the CASE market is largely
attributed to a technical boom in Asia, relative to other areas
around the world.

"CASE allows development to occur more quickly and efficiently which
in turn addresses the current skills shortage in Asia," she said.

"The Synon's CASE product Synon 2, which is being handled by the
CSSL in Indonesia, is currently outselling its rivals by four to
one," Ms. Williams told Newsbytes.

There are currently 25,000 AS400 sites Asia which represents part of
a total world wide value of $15 Billion. CSSL are now serving that
market.

(Brett Cameron/19920812/Press contact: David Phillips CSSL, tel:
6221-570 0133)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(HKG)(00014)

Taiwan-born Exec To Lead Digital's PC Business 08/13/92
CENTRAL, HONGKONG, 1992 AUG 13 (NB) -- Digital Equipment
Corporation has announced the appointment of Taiwan-born Dr.
James J. Liu as corporate vice president of its Personal Computer
Business Unit.

In his new position, Dr Liu is responsible for engineering,
marketing, manufacturing and sales of Digital's personal computer
products worldwide.

Dr Liu has made many contributions to Digital, including his recent
successes in the multimillion dollar Ethernet networking business.
He is currently leading Digital's personal computer initiative,
creating a profitable, high-quality, high-volume product line that
will be manufactured and sold worldwide.

Dr Liu joined Digital in 1982 as an engineering manager for
communications products. Over the past 10 years, he has held
a variety of other positions, including senior engineering
manager for Ethernet products and group manager of Digital's
General International Area Design Engineering Group.

Before joining Digital, Dr Liu held engineering and management
positions with Burroughs, General Electric and Intertel.

He holds a Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering from
National Chiao Tung University in Taiwan, and was a visiting
scholar at England's Cambridge University. He received his
Master's degree in Electrical Engineering and PhD in
Engineering from Syracuse University.

(Brett Cameron/19920812/Press Contact: Walter Cheung, Digital, tel:
[phone];HK time is GMT + 8)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(HKG)(00015)

Synoptics Revenue Up 20%, New Asian Manager 08/13/92
CENTRAL, HONG KONG, 1992 AUG 13 (NB) -- SynOptics Communications
has announced a 20 percent increase in second quarter revenue after
strong growth in demand for its 10BASE-T Ethernet products. Growth
was particularly strong in the mid-range segment of the market,
where the company has concentrated much of its marketing efforts.

SynOptics recorded revenue of US$81.8 million for the second fiscal
quarter ended June 26, 1992. This was an increase of 20 percent over
the first quarter, and 28 percent over the second quarter of 1991.
Net income was US$7 million, or US$0.34 per share, up 40 percent
over the previous quarter.

"We said that 1992 would be a big year for SynOptics in terms of new
products. In fact, 59 percent of our revenue in the second quarter
of 1992 came from products that are less than a year old," said
SynOptics' General Manager (North Asia) Peter Woo, who added that he
expects this high level of activity to continue throughout the year.

During the second quarter, SynOptics expanded its product offerings
with two major introductions. The first included two intelligent
workgroup hubs and a high-performance local bridge. Later in the
quarter, the company announced the LattisSwitch System 3000
intelligent hub, a powerful extension to the LattisNet System 3000
that can support up to five managed Ethernet networks in a single
chassis.

On the network management front, SynOptics announced a new low-cost,
easy-to-use hub management package called Lattis EZ-View. The
company also announced a new software product that allows customers
to manage their SynOptics intelligent hub-based Ethernet and Token
Ring networks directly from enterprise network platforms from IBM,
DEC and HP.

Woo believes that with the success SynOptics is enjoying with its
10BASE-T products, the firm's share of the Ethernet market could
grow. He is also excited about the prospects for the company's Token
Ring products which, he believes, could be on the verge of the same
kind of growth curve 10BASE-T enjoyed a few years ago.

"Token Ring sales are representing an increasingly larger share of
overall revenues at SynOptics. At the end of the first quarter of
1991, Token Ring products accounted for five percent of overall
sales revenue. By the end of the first quarter of 1992, that share
had increased to 20 percent and continues to grow," Woo explained.

With the introduction of departmental hubs and its high-performance
local bridge, SynOptics now offers complete Token Ring systems
to meet the requirements of low-end, mid-range and high-
end networks, the company claims.

Connectivity options allow Token Ring operation over shielded
twisted pair, unshielded twisted pair and fiber optic cabling. "Only
SynOptics offers its Token Ring customers powerful and extensive
SNMP-based network management capabilities for both UNIX and DOS
platforms," said Woo.

He added that pricing modifications to System 3000 Token Ring
products announced in May (1992) make them competitive.

In other news, SynOptics has appointed Peter Woo Kam-Lun as
general manager, North Asia. Woo will be responsible for sales and
marketing activities throughout the North Asia region, including
Korea, Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, the Philippines and Guam.

Before joining SynOptics, Woo was Far East regional sales manager
for Wyse Technology, with responsibility for monitoring 15
distributors and value added resellers. Earlier he spent four years
with Gould Electronics Inc as Far East Regional Manager, monitoring
its regional offices in China and Singapore.

(Brett Cameron/19920812/Press contact: Peter Woo, SynOptics,
tel:[phone];HK time is GMT + 8)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(ATL)(00016)

FCC Plans Changes to Emergency Broadcast System 08/13/92
WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A., 1992 AUG 13 (NB) -- The Emergency
Broadcast System, a much-lampooned network designed to alert
Americans to a nuclear holocaust that never came, will survive the
Cold War's end, but in a new form.

The Federal Communications Commission wants some changes made so
that the service can be useful in natural disasters, and less
obtrusive. According to a proposal from Chairman Al Sikes, there
should be fewer tests, new standards and maybe a contest on a new
name. Tests could be conducted at frequencies beyond the range of
human hearing, so as not to interrupt paying broadcasts.

Right now, every TV and radio station must test emergency
equipment at least once a week, emitting a high pitched tone and
alerting listeners that "this is a test...this is only a test."
Since the "actual emergency" contemplated by the system never
occurred, listeners have gone from ignoring the tests to laughing
at them. The system has, however, been used since the 1970s to
issue alerts on tornadoes, hurricanes, and such local disasters
as toxic spills and accidents at nuclear plants. The last major
use of the system was in April, 1992, when the Los Angeles Police
used it to bring off-duty officers back to work during the riots
there. The system was used 1,400 times during 1991, mainly for
local tornadoes.

Replacing the 40-year old equipment, however, could cost stations
as much as $3,000 each, and it may be incompatible with gear used
by some states.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19920813)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00017)

FTS-2000 Challenge Won by MCI 08/13/92
WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A., 1992 AUG 13 (NB) -- The long-running
battle over the US government's FTS-2000 telephone contract
took yet another turn as a three-judge panel ruled that new high-
capacity fiber links do not fall under it.

MCI had joined WilTel in an appeal of a General Services
Administration decision to let AT&T run a new line between the
Sandia National Labs in New Mexico and a Department of Energy
facility in California. The two companies argued that the new
line was not a mere "enhancement" to the existing deal, in which
AT&T and Sprint get the first shot at serving all federal
agencies under a deal that increases discounts as more agencies
sign-on.

MCI has been fighting the FTS-2000 deal since it was signed, and
has won some major victories, including a contract to cover
Congress and a deal with the Federal Aviation Administration
signed in the wake of an AT&T service failure that even left FCC
Chairman Alfred Sikes up-in-the-air, literally, circling over
Washington because air controllers could not guarantee his
plane's safety.

Needless to say, AT&T is not amused. The company claims the
decision threatens the ability of any government contractor to
secure add-ons it should be expected to win. The company also
says the decision may force government agencies to stay with
obsolete technology, rather than go outside the contract.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19920813)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00018)

ATC, LDDS Release Financial Results 08/13/92
ATLANTA, GEORGIA, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 13 (NB) -- During the quarter
ending in June, LDDS and Advanced Telecommunications earned $13.3
million in revenues of $197.8 million, and both firms expect
their margins and sales to increase as they complete their merger
later this year.

The link-up between the two companies creates the fourth-largest
long distance firm in the US, but analysts remain divided on
whether the new company will have the financial heft to compete
with Sprint, AT&T and MCI. LDDS has been on an acquisition binge,
having completed mergers with two other firms in the last
quarter, while planning the complete the ATC deal by year-end.
Some analysts feel LDDS head Bernard Ebbers may be merely
aggregating long distance operations in preparation for a sale to
one of the big three, or to Williams Telecommunications.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19920813/Press Contact: Advanced
Telecommunications, Patrick E. Delaney, 404/261-5885; LDDS
Communications, Bernard J. Ebbers, 601/364-7000)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00019)

AT&T's New Answering Machine Chipset 08/13/92
BERKELEY HEIGHTS, NEW JERSEY, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 13 (NB) -- Local
phone companies have been turning in good results lately with
answering services based in their own central office switches.
But a new chip-set from AT&T could threaten this new profit
center.

By replacing the traditional mechanical tape-recorder with the
new AT&T chipset, the company said, answering machine producers
have something which can compete with the sophisticated voice
mail offerings, especially in the growing home-office market. The
new chipset uses digital signal processing to offer flexible
message control and speaker-phone features, standard.

The AT&T Telephone Answering Device chipset consists of a AT&T
DSP16A1 preloaded with software in read only memory, as well
as an AT&T T7513B coder/decoder, and an AT&T application-specific
chip. The system can store up to 76 minutes of messages, allowing
tapes to be replaced for both incoming and outgoing messages.
And the low-power design allows for battery back-up systems to
protect against the loss of messages when regular power goes down.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19920813/Press Contact: AT&T Microelectronics,
Blanchard Hiatt, 908/771-2788)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00020)

Motorola EMBARC Becomes X.400 Domain 08/13/92
BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 13 (NB) -- Motorola
signed important agreements with General Electric Information
Services and the IBM Information Network to link both networks
with its EMBARC service under X.400 standards.

EMBARC is a wireless mail service using a satellite paging
frequency which Motorola began offering a month ago. The
agreements enable GE Information Services and IBM Information
Network e-mail users to broadcast electronic messages over the
air to reach one or thousands of people simultaneously, whether
they are at their desks, traveling in a car or waiting in a lobby
between appointments. Both GE and IBM, however, participated in
EMBARC network testing earlier this year. The company hopes to
have EMBARC in 200 markets in the US and Canada by the end of
1992.

The agreements also indicate the direction Motorola is taking
marketing of the service. Both GEIS and IBM are leaders among the
networks serving the business community, especially large
enterprises.

EMBARC is now the 13th X.400 Administrative Management Domain, in
the United States, making it a peer of AT&T, MCI, Sprint and
other major networks. That means subscribers of all those
networks, and many others internationally, will be able to send
wireless e-mail to EMBARC subscribers.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19920811/Press Contact: Ken Countess, Motorola,
305-475-5603)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(SFO)(00021)

New For Unix: Network General Sniffer Control 08/13/92
MENLO PARK, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 13 (NB) -- Network General
is starting to move into the Unix market with its distributed
Sniffer product. The Distributed Sniffer System is the company's
flagship product that allows network administrators to monitor and
analyze the complete network through all of its interconnections.

Network General has applied a Client/Server approach to Distributed
Sniffer which has lead to the ability of network administrators to
analyze and solve problems from centralized sites.

SniffMaster for X (SM/X) is the new product being introduced at this
time. SM/X is the control part of the Distributed Sniffer system
that for the first time runs on Unix machines under the Motif GUI.
"SniffMaster for X brings to the Unix world a whole new class of
powerful network management capabilities previously unavailable to a
large market of users who need to solve network problems," said
Harry Saal, president of Network General. "This product is a
continuation of our long-term strategy to provide network management
solutions to users on different platform environments."

The actual SM/X package needs to be installed on a Sun Workstation.
The program then uses SunOS, X-Windows, and Motif to present the
user interface. In addition to the Sun itself, the network
administrators can run the package off of any other X equipped
terminal or computer that has access to that particular Sun machine.

Other important features of SM/X include the ability to support
multiple topologies like Ethernet, Token Ring, or even WANs; the
ability to fully decode the packets from more than 120 different
protocols; a separate window for viewing alarms which are generated
by the system; and the ability to generate SNMP trap messages as a
result of any alarm. These trap message can, in turn, alert other
network segments of the problem and perhaps initiate recovery
sequences.

SM/X will be available in September. It will retail for $7995.
Network General expects to have the software available in either
1/4-inch tape or CD-ROM formats. In addition, users of SniffMaster
for DOS will be able to upgrade to SM/X for a $500 fee.

(Naor Wallach/19920813, Press Contact: Charlie Schachter, Network
General, 415-688-2835/Public Contact:Network General, 415-688-2700)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(TOR)(00022)

PC World Goes To Vietnam 08/13/92
HO CHI MINH CITY, VIETNAM, 1992 AUG 13 (NB) -- PC World, a personal
computing magazine with locally produced editions around the world,
is going to Vietnam. The magazine will be published by Vietnam's
Center for Scientific and Technological Information, with the
cooperation of International Data Group, the American company that
owns the PC World name.

The new publication will be aimed at PC users and decision makers,
and will deal with using and buying PC hardware, software, and
peripherals. The monthly magazine's first issue, with an initial
circulation of 10,000, is planned for October.

Because of an American trade embargo against Vietnam, the
Vietnamese government does not allow direct American investment in
the country. So IDG has signed a publication agreement allowing PC
World Vietnam to translate news reports and articles from other PC
World publications, which are individually written and published in
more than 35 countries throughout the world.

A spokesman for IDG said the deal involves payment to IDG for
rights to the material, but the parties are not revealing the
amount. The bulk of the Vietnamese magazine's content will be
locally written, the spokesman said.

According to IDG, about 90 percent of Vietnam's 66-million
population is literate and the country has about 20,000 installed
PCs, some two thirds of which are in Ho Chi Minh City (formerly
Saigon). The University of Ho Chi Minh City has more than 2,000
students majoring in computer science at the undergraduate level.

International Data Group's IDG Communications unit publishes more
than 185 newspapers and magazines in 60 countries. Its major titles
include Computerworld and Infoworld. It also owns the research firm
International Data Corp. and the trade show producer World Expo.

(Grant Buckler/19920813/Press Contact: Lloyd Benson or Priscilla
O'Reilly, Cudaback Strategic Communications for IDG, 617-661-6330)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(LAX)(00023)

 ****New CD By Artist Shows Visual Global Information 08/13/92
LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 13 (NB) -- For the
first time, an artist has taken the rows and columns of numbers
from various databases that represent information about our
planet and with a programming staff put the information into a
visual format on a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) and
displayed it on a Macintosh computer. The project is called The
Global Change Atlas on Interactive Videodisc and yields some
surprising as well as beautiful results.

Tom Van Sant, a Santa Monica, California sculpture, painter,
and muralist came up with the idea which he describes as a
scientific visualization project. Funded by Northern Telecom,
The Global Change Atlas was first displayed at the Earth Summit
in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil.

The program displays information such as the global weather
patterns, ocean currents, seasons, the cities of the earth at
as seen from space, population, culture, and more. It starts
with the earth in a flat topographical view like a wall map,
and five mini-globes at the bottom of the screen offer the
viewer choices to view information on climate, population,
land animals, sea animals, and global problems.

Each mini-globe can be turned by clicking with the mouse so a
specific aspect of the five categories can be viewed. A double
click on an aspect is selects it, which produces choices on the
large global map -- each of which can be clicked on for
viewing. The choices appear in the form of written information
or a still photo.

One of the surprises to Steve Enzer, the programmer on the
project, is when the team made the global deforestation
information visual. Enzer said of the Earth Summit in Brazil,
"We were quiet about the deforestation. We didn't want to point
at the Brazilians after seeing our own data."

Enzer showed the audience the deforestation data, which appears
first as the color green and then turns yellow to represent the
deforested areas. The US and the Phillipines turned from almost
all green to almost all yellow, with South America showing very
little change from green to yellow in comparison. Also, the
African continent showed a much more dramatic change from green
to yellow than did South America.

A double click on the elephant on the land animals mini globe
offered choices to display the animal's shrinking habitat
graphically on the African continent as well as video clips of
the animal.

Written in Smalltalk and the Tigre programming environment, The
Global Change Atlas is simply a visual interpretation of the
databases of information supplied by government agencies, such
as NASA, US Geological Survey, and NOAH. The program is data-
driven meaning as the information changes, it can be entered in
or downloaded and the changes can then be reflected in the
program.

The information from the program was used to create an
Earth Situation Room in Brazil. The Earth Situation room is a
round theater where a 2-meter-wide globe of the planet created
from satellite photos is at center stage. On the globe, the
visual information is displayed using lighting and other
effects. Five such rooms are planned and Van Sant mentioned
Canada and Japan are being considered as possible sites for two
of the rooms.

Van Sant said the biggest problem is getting global information
from US agencies. "The US government agencies are very
cooperative, but they tend not to collect national information,
not global information. It's like the weather starts on the
East Coast and ends on the West Coast, and the soil simply
drops off into oblivion at the US borders."

The program is also still under development and is in a
prototype form, Van Sant added. However, Smalltalk was chosen
as the development language because of its portability to other
hardware platforms, Enzer said.

Two corporations have been started by Van Sant to fund the
effort. One is Eyes On The Earth, a non-profit corporation and
the other is The Geosphere Society, which does the merchandising
of products created by the global information effort. Posters of
the earth are available from The Geosphere Society and the Society
also sells memberships.

The presentation of The Global Change Atlas was made at a
meeting of the International Interactive Communications Society
(IICS) during Image World held August 11-13 at the Long Beach
Convention Center.

Other companies are trying similar projects. Warner New Media
is planning a CD-ROM science set of discs "The View From Earth"
based on Time Life Books' Voyage Through The Universe series.

(Linda Rohrbough/19920813/Press Contact: Tom Van Sant, The
Geosphere Project, tel [phone], fax [phone]; Public
Contact: 146 Entrada Drive, Santa Monica, CA 90402, tel 310-
459-4342; Kim Sudhalter, Warner New Media, tel [phone],
fax [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(LON)(00024)

Dell UK's 66MHz DX2-Based PC Pricing 08/13/92
BRACKNELL, BERKSHIRE, ENGLAND, 1992 AUG 13 (NB) -- Dell UK has
announced four upgradable PCs based around Intel's newly launched
66 megahertz (MHz) 80486DX2 chipset technology. The company
becomes the first manufacturer to announce and ship machines
based around the new microprocessor in the UK.

Dave Matthews, Dell's product manager, told Newsbytes that
shipments of the four PCs based on the new Intel chipset are
available in the UK immediately. He expects demand to be high,
though he thinks the company can cope with a high demand.

"Pricing is around UKP 100 percent more than the 50MHz-based
systems, which are, in turn, UKP 100 more than the 33MHz
versions," he said.

Despite the proximity of product pricing, Matthews said that he
still expects potential buyers to be able to differentiate
between the various products. He conceded that some new buyers
could get confused by the plethora of processors available.

Dell's 486P, 486PE, 486D and 486DE series come with an enhanced
video subsystem based on the Western Digital 90C31 controller, as
well as an ATI graphics enhancement fitted as standard. Pricing
on the entry-level machine, the 486P/66, which comes with VGA
colour, 4MB of random access memory (RAM) and a 120MB hard disk,
is UKP 1,699. The flagship 466SE, with 8MB of RAM and 320MB of
hard disk capacity, sells for UKP 3,034.

All the new systems are supplied with a four hour weekday on-site
warranty valid for a year. According to Matthews, other machines
in Dell's high-end range come with an eight hour call out, though
users can upgrade to the four hour call out for a small fee.

(Steve Gold/19920813/Press & Public Contact: Dell U.K. - Tel:
0344-860456; Fax: [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(LON)(00025)

UK: Victor Breaks UKP 1,200 Barrier On High-End 486 PCs 08/13/92
WEST DRAYTON, MIDDLESEX, ENGLAND, 1992 AUG 13 (NB) -- Victor
Technologies claims to have made an aggressive move in the 486-
based PC market by introducing the XTRA, a 486SX microtower
series system for UKP 1,199.

The system is being manufactured at Tandy/Victor facility
in East Kilbride in Scotland. Victor claims that any system can
be delivered to any UK address within 24 hours of an order
being made.

Announcing the machine, Bob Webb, Victor UK's managing director
said: "With immediate deliveries from the factory and our well-
known brand name, the high specification XTRA will gain us vital
market share in the highly competitive 486-based sector."

The V486/MX XTRA is equipped with a 80486SX processor running at
20MHz, and a super VGA color monitor. Storage facilities provided
as standard are 4 megabytes (MB) of memory, 8K of cache and a 105
MB hard disk. Bundled with the machine are MS-DOS 5.0 and Windows
3.1, both of which are pre-installed.

The machine is, Newsbytes understands, based on the recently
redesigned M series of machines. The M series is based around a
small footprint chassis with three available 16-bit expansion
slots. The machines come with a 12-month on-site warranty.

(Steve Gold/19920813)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(SFO)(00026)

New For Apple IIGS: DreamGrafix 08/13/92
IOWA CITY, IOWA, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 13 (NB) -- Bucking mainstream
software makers, a new company has been set up specifically to
market Apple IIGS software and its first product is out: DreamGrafix.

DreamGrafix is a GS/OS-based, 3200-color paint program for the Apple
IIGS. It features Super Hires pictures which display more than the
standard limit of 16 colors on the screen -- in fact, it allows the
user to work with Super Hires pictures with 3200 colors.

The program, priced at $99.95, supports all recognized Super Hires
graphics Apple IIGS formats including PaintWorks format, Apple
Preferred, French 3200, and DreamWorld proprietary format with LZW
compression, the company says. There is also support for PaintWorks
animation files, and animation through color cycling.

The program has the standard drawing tool set found in most paint
programs such as pencil, line, rectangle, arc. There are also
brush manipulation tools, a flexible fill tool with different color modes
and fill modes, full-screen fatbits with four magnification sizes,
palette manipulation tools such as a color swapping tool, an intensity
sort tool, and a dispose color tool.

The program requires an Apple IIGS with 1.125 megabytes of memory,
system disk v5.04 or higher, one 3.5-inch disk drive. An
RGB color monitor is recommended.

(Wendy Woods/19920813/Public Contact: 319-338-6491)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(SFO)(00027)

Xerox, Apple In Printer Marketing Agreement 08/13/92
CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 13 (NB) -- Apple Computer
reports that it will allow Xerox Corporation to market Apple
brand-name supplies for its printers in Xerox office supply stores.

Apple's laser, dot matrix and ink-jet printers are included in the
deal, to be sold through Xerox's Diablo Supplies outlets, a network
of 2,500 office products dealers and outlets.

The press release included this remark by Robert G. Baker of Xerox:
"We are delighted that Apple chose Xerox to reach their expanding
customer base. This arrangement recognizes the strength
of Xerox and its distribution network in penetrating and serving the
diverse market that uses Apple printing products."

The Diablo unit will distribute dry ink, or toner, cartridges for
all Apple LaserWriter printers; ink-jet cartridge refills for the
Apple StyleWriter printer, and printer ribbons for the Apple ImageWriter
impact printer.

(Wendy Woods//19920813/Press Contact: Daniel C. Minchen of Xerox -
716-423-3539; Kate Paisley of Apple, 408-974-5453)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(SFO)(00028)

New For Macintosh: Common LISP 2.0, MacApp, MPW, And MPW C++ 08/13/92
CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 13 (NB) -- Apple Computer has
released Macintosh Common Lisp (MCL), MacApp, the Macintosh
Programmer's Workshop (MPW) and MPW C++ development tools.

MCL 2.0 is a Lisp programming environment that is a full
implementation of the current industry-standard Common Lisp
programming language, the company says. Included are programming tools,
an incremental Common Lisp compiler, support for object-oriented
programming using the Common Lisp Object System (CLOS), and a
library of CLOS objects including Macintosh user interface objects.

MCL 2.0, $495, exploits System 7 features, such as Apple events,
and is an object-oriented dynamic language (OODL) which provides
automatic memory management. MCL 2.0 makes extensive use of the
Macintosh graphical user interface.

Apple is also shipping new versions of MacApp, the Macintosh
Programmer's Workshop (MPW) and MPW C++.

MacApp 3.0, $200-$395, is Apple's object-oriented application
framework and class library for Macintosh programmers. It provides
developers the objects they need to program standard elements of
Macintosh applications, such as scroll bars, multiple windows,
printing, cut and paste, undo and menus. MacApp 3.0 has System 7 support.

MPW 3.2.3 is the latest version of Apple's professional software
development environment which has a multiwindow editor, integrated
compilers and tools, a full scripting language, an advanced source
code control system, as well as the ability to link together code
written in multiple languages. MPW 3.2.3 allows programmers to
reference the complete set of MPW commands and receive
consistent descriptions.

MPW C++ is a C++ to C translator, designed to work with MPW C and the
MPW Development Environment. Apple has enhanced C++ to support the
Macintosh Toolbox and operating system, Object Pascal-based
functions and procedures, and the Standard Apple Numerics
Environment (SANE). Apple says this C++ supports the industry
standard defined by AT&T Unix System Laboratories.

E.T.O., finally, is described by Apple as a CD-ROM-based quarterly
subscription to the most complete and comprehensive collection of
Apple's software development tools for the professional Macintosh
programmer. It contains the most up-to-date versions of Apple's
development tools, as well as selected preliminary versions of future
releases. E.T.O. costs $1,295.

Schools and corporate and government customers can purchase
site for these products. For information, there is Apple's
Software Licensing Department at 408-974-4667. The products
are available through the APDA: 800-282-2732 in the US,
800-637-0029 in Canada; or internationally, 408-562-3910.

(Wendy Woods/19920813/Press Contact: Jackie Promes of Apple Computer,
408-974-3609)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(TOR)(00029)

New Products: CorelDraw Unix, OS/2 Updates Shipped 08/13/92
OTTAWA, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1992 AUG 13 (NB) -- Corel Systems has
announced shipment of new versions of its CorelDraw graphics
software for the Unix and OS/2 operating systems.

CorelDraw 2.5 for OS/2 is the first 32-bit implementation of the
software for OS/2 2.0, the new release of IBM's operating system
that appeared at the end of March. It corresponds to release 2.0
for Microsoft Windows, Corel spokesman Steve O'Halloran said, but
with certain features of the recent release 3.0 added.

Features of CorelDraw 3.0 included in 2.5 include the PhotoPaint
and Chart modules and about 12,000 pieces of clip art included on
a CD-ROM disk shipped with the software.

The 32-bit design of CorelDraw 2.5 for OS/2 also lets it provide
multitasking and multithreading, O'Halloran said. OS/2's threading
capability, which lets a program do more than one thing at a time,
allows CorelDraw 2.5 to open, save, print, import, and export files
in the background, the company said.

Available now, CorelDraw 2.5 for OS/2 has a retail price of $595
(C$695), and current users can upgrade for $149 (C$169).

CorelDraw 2.01.1 for Unix adds a handful of new features as well as
support for several more Unix systems.

New features include support for the Open Look graphical user
interface in addition to OSF/Motif, and the ability to import and
export CGM Clear Text, Sun Raster, and XWD file formats. The new
version also comes with 46 new fonts and more than 2,500 new
clip-art images. The new version gives faster response on
SPARCstation menu interactions, Corel said, and CGM and HPGL
filters have been improved. Print commands can now be customized
and support for X terminals has been expanded.

The new release supports Hewlett-Packard Apollo Series 700
workstations, Intergraph and Silicon Graphics systems, and Sun
SPARCstations running Open Look. These are in addition to existing
support for DECstation 500, Data General Aviion, HP Apollo Series
400, IBM RS/6000, Santa Cruz Operation ODT, and SPARCstation Motif
systems.

The single-user version of CorelDraw 2.01.1 for Unix costs $895
(C$1,060) and additional licenses cost $795 (C$880).

(Grant Buckler/19920813/Press Contact: Janie Sullivan, Corel,
613-728-8200 ext. 1672, fax [phone]; Public Contact:
800-836-3729 in U.S., 613-728-8200 in Canada, fax [phone])


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

New For PC: Virus Alert From Look Software 08/13/92
OTTAWA, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1992 AUG 13 (NB) -- Look Software, an
Ottawa start-up, has begun shipping a virus protection package
called Virus Alert for DOS-based PCs.

A collaboration between Look and Frisk Software International of
Reykjavik, Iceland, Virus Alert scans for more than 1,600 viruses
and can detect most "stealth" viruses, according to the vendor.

Stealth viruses are those which alter their own code at random to
avoid offering a consistent pattern that antivirus programs can be
programmed to detect.

Look founder Cliff Livingstone said Virus Alert is designed to be
easy to use: "two keystrokes and you've found a virus, three
keystrokes and you've removed it."

With a suggested retail price of C$29.95, Virus Alert is aimed at
a mass market. Site licenses are also available.

The company said it plans to update Virus Alert every four months.
A French Canadian version and a U.S. Spanish version are planned
for release in early fall.

(Grant Buckler/19920813/Press Contact: Cliff Livingstone, Look
Software, phone & fax [phone]; Public Contact: Look Software
800-267-0778)