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/nb920819

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(NEWS)(UNIX)(SFO)(00001)

 ****Keynote By Intel's Grove Envisions Computer Industry Trends 08/19/92
SANTA CRUZ, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 19 (NB) -- Andrew Grove,
president of Intel Corp., and perhaps the man with the most power
to affect the course of the personal computer industry, defined
his vision of that industry during the keynote address at SCO
Forum, the annual conference held by the leading PC Unix developer,
the Santa Cruz Operation.

Grove spoke in the quarry amphitheatre at the University of California
at Santa Cruz to software developers, executives and marketing partners
of SCO. Intel is particularly supportive of SCO, since for some time
it has been the leader in the production of operating systems that
took advantage of the true power of Intel's lead offerings, such as
the 80386. Only recently have other 386-based systems, such as
MS Windows, reached any market dominance.

Grove pointed out three key "megatrends" in his address. The first
was a continuance of the tremendous improvement in price/performance
ratios for personal computers that we have seen over the last decade.

Grove opened his remarks by commenting on the bankruptcy of Wang, which
he hinted was the first of the old-style computer manufacturers to lose
to the realities of the new computer industry. The old days of
vertical integration, where a company designed computers from chips
to systems, wrote its own software and sold its computers directly
are gone, says Grove.

He predicted the decline in personal computer prices that has
taken place over the past year will continue. The level of PC
prices today is "absolutely unbelievable even by the standards of
six months ago and it will probably be looked at with nostalgia
by all of us six months from now," Grove said.

He said PC power will continue to increase thanks to new
processors and to innovations such as moving graphics processing
from the system bus to a local bus that will allow faster
communication with the CPU. And he added a prediction that
"by the end of this year, video will come free with every PC."

This will be thanks to software for video decompression which
Grove said will be widely available by year-end. But in response
to a question, he denied that this software would be an Intel
product.

Another trend, he said, is the appearance of what he called "shrink
wrapped servers" -- networking servers to support not just e-mail
but other specific corporate needs delivered in prepackaged form.
He sees a LAN world where applications are sold as servers to be
put up on the network.

Grove said distributed computing -- in which networks of
processors work together in place of single central systems -- has
reached the point where it is ready to move from the talk phase
to action. "Host-based computing is highly ineffective," he said,
and traditional mainframe systems will soon cease to be used for
new applications development, though they will continue to have
a role running existing applications.

For this to be attractive to the mass market, though, standard
"shrink-wrapped" server software will be needed. As this appears,
Grove forecast, application-specific servers dedicated to certain
functions will become more common.

His final call was to warn developers that they must design future
products not just to work in a connected world but an "occasionally
connected" world, where mobile computer users will work remotely
and connect in from time to time with their host network.

Grove said the trend toward mobile computing, or field computing as it
has been called, means more and more people are relying on smaller and
smaller portable computers to let them do their work outside the office,
and in the future everyone will need to be connected to networks
occasionally.

This will present a number of challenges not only for network
design but for the design of various applications that will have
to be able to deal with users who are connected to the network
intermittently, he said.

Grove concluded his talk with questions from the audience. When asked
what the market name for the next Intel chip, know as the "P5," would be,
Grove declined. He did not want to ruin "the only secret that Intel has
ever kept."

SCO Forum continues through Friday, August 21.

(Brad Templeton & Grant Buckler/19920819)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(TOR)(00002)

Corollary Server Boasts 10 486DX2s 08/19/92
SANTA CRUZ, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 19 (NB) --
Corollary, an Irvine, California, maker of multiprocessor systems,
has joined the rush to put Intel's new top-of-the-line
microprocessor into computer systems. Corollary's contribution is
no power-user's desktop, though: it's a multiprocessor machine
that can combine as many as 10 of Intel's new 66-megahertz
486-DX2 chips in a machine designed to compete with
mainframes and minicomputers.

Corollary's 486/smp XM is a dual-bus, multiprocessor system
with an Extended Industry Standard Architecture (EISA) bus. It
also uses an extended version of Corollary's C-Bus architecture.

The new machine goes beyond the company's previous
multiprocessor systems by supporting the new DX2 chip, by
increasing the memory cache size from 256K bytes to one
megabyte, and by increasing the amount of addressable memory
from 64 megabytes to 256 megabytes.

Corollary claimed the new machine can provide nearly a 50-
percent performance advantage over its 486/smp machine using
33-megahertz 486DX processors.

Judi Uttal, vice-president of strategic marketing for Corollary,
said the new machine and the company's earlier multiprocessing
systems are aimed partly at the trend to downsizing, or moving
applications from larger machines to microprocessor-based
systems. The company also sees it as a base for new applications
of various types, including accounting, point-of-sale, and other
things. Corollary is aiming at buyers who want an open systems
environment, she said. The multiprocessor machines run Santa
Cruz Operation's SCO Unix operating system.

A base configuration of the new 486/smp XM, with a 13-slot
EISA backplane, has a price of $12,500.

(Grant Buckler/19920818/Press Contact: Chris Wildermuth, Miller
Communications, 310-822-4669; Public Contact: Corollary, 714-
250-4040, fax [phone])


(NEWS)(UNIX)(TOR)(00003)

SCO Reaches Out To NetWare, Windows 08/19/92
SANTA CRUZ, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 19 (NB) -- Acknowledging
that Unix will not rule the world any time soon, Santa Cruz
Organization announced products that will help tie its
Open Desktop and SCO Unix systems to Novell's NetWare local-
area networking system and to Microsoft's Windows operating
systems on DOS PCs.

SCO said it has begun shipping a version of Novell's IPX/SPX
transport protocol to Open Desktop Release 2.0 and SCO Unix
System V/386 Release 3.2. This, SCO said, will let DOS users
running on Novell networks have terminal-mode access to
applications running on either Unix variant.

SCO also demonstrated support for Windows 3.1 under SCO
Unix and Open Desktop. Based on Merge technology licensed
from Inglewood, California-based Locus Computing, SCO Merge
and Open Desktop DOS services will let Windows applications
run in protected and standard mode under either Unix system.

In a press release, SCO officials painted this option as providing
a migration path so that Windows users moving to Unix can keep
existing Windows applications. In a press conference, though, the
company acknowledged that Windows, which far outweighs Unix
in desktop installations, is not likely to lose its lead in the
foreseeable future.

"I don't think our goal is to pass Microsoft Windows in volume
on the desktop," said David Hancock, vice-president of marketing
at SCO. "I don't think that's achievable right now." However,
Hancock added that Unix does have a place on the desktop,
whether in Unix-based workstations or by way of terminals to
multi-user Unix systems.

"Corporate information systems will be composed of networks of
heterogenous, multi-vendor computers," observed Doug Michels,
executive vice-president and co-founder of SCO.

SCO also announced a trade-up program for users of its SCO
Xenix and SCO Unix systems. They can move to SCO Open
Desktop Release 2.0 personal system for $695, to the server
system for $1,595, or to the development system for $795. Users
of the SCO Open Desktop Personal System can also upgrade to
the server version for $1,495.

(Grant Buckler/19920818/Press Contact: Zee Zaballos, SCO, 408-
425-7222, fax [phone]; SCO, 408-425-7222)


(NEWS)(IBM)(LAX)(00004)

Packard Bell To Offer MPCs, TV/Video Cards 08/19/92
CHATSWORTH, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 19 (NB) -- Packard
Bell has announced a family of multimedia IBM compatible
personal computers (MPCs) based on Intel's 486SX microprocessor
chip, one of which comes equipped with hardware to capture and
display television broadcasts.

The company says its MPC, the 486SX/25 Multimedia Computer
System comes with an internal stereo compact disc read-only
memory (CD-ROM) drive, a three speaker amplified micro stereo
system, the Sound Blaster Pro II integrated digital audio mixer
module, 4 megabytes (MB) of random access memory (RAM)
expandable to 20 MB, a 210 MB hard drive with a 15 millisecond
(ms) access time, dual high-density floppy disk drives, an
extended video graphics array (VGA) display with 1,024 x 768
resolution, and a video controller with 512 kilobytes (K) of
video memory, expandable to 1 MB.

Also included is an internal fax modem and a bundle of software
pre-loaded on the hard disk drive, Packard Bell added.

The fax modem can send faxes at 9,600 baud, receive faxes at
4,800 baud, and send/receive data at 2,400 baud, Packard Bell
said.

The software bundle pre-loaded on the hard disk drive includes:
MS-DOS 5.0; Microsoft Windows 3.1; Microsoft Works for Windows
(Multimedia Edition); and an integrated software package with a
word processor, spell check, thesaurus, spreadsheet and
charting, database, drawing module, and telecommunications;
Packard Bell's own tutorial software with a tutorial and
technical support information; a Prodigy start-up kit, the
Sound Blaster Pro II software; Mathematica's Tempra GIF and
Show; and Winfax Lite.

The CDs included are: Microsoft Windows 3.1 CD edition with
hypertext; Microsoft Bookshelf; Sherlock Holmes, an interactive
game; Creative Sounds with Prosonus, with 29 original music
compositions and 111 sound effects; Mavis Beacon Teaches
Typing; Macromind's Action! and Star; The Concise Columbia
Encyclopedia; Roget's II Electronic Thesaurus; Bartlett's
Familiar Quotations; The Concise Columbia Dictionary of
Quotations; The American Heritage Dictionary; The World Almanac
and Book of Facts; and the Hammond Atlas.

In the new multimedia computer family, a model is equipped with
the PBTV3, an add-in TV/video board which receives and displays
television broadcasts. The board can also be used to capture,
store, and retrieve television, video cassette recorders
(VCRs), laserdisc players, and camcorder input, the company
said.

The PBTV3 card has a tuner module for reception of VHF, UHF and
cable channels in NTSC (National Television Systems Committee)
format, the standard television format in the United States,
Canada, Mexico, and many Latin American and Asian countries. It
also can accept PAL signals (common in Europe and other areas)
from a VCR, laserdisc player, or camcorder, Packard Bell said.
It cannot, however, "print to tape" or send video from the
computer out to the VCR or video source for playback or
recording.

Like most TV/video boards, the video display can be sized to a
moveable window on the computer screen that allows the user to
work on word processing or other tasks simultaneously.

An on-screen remote control unit allows the user to control
channel selection, audio volume, bass, treble, balance, mute,
picture, contrast, brightness, tint, and color using the
keyboard or a mouse. Color correction can also extend to red,
green, and blue gain as well, Packard Bell said.

The card has an audio amplifier which can drive a pair of
optional external speakers or headphones, the company added.

The software for the PBTV3 offers the ability to schedule up to
16 events which are programmed in a manner similar to
programming a VCR. The user specifies a channel, day, time,
broadcast type, and length of time for each event. Every time
an event occurs PBTV3 will appear in the screen display showing
the chosen program for the specified time, and then return to a
dormant state. If PBTV3 already is on the screen at the event
time it will switch to the specified program, Packard Bell
added.

On-line help is available and captured images can be saved in
TGA, BMP, MMP, TIFF, and PCX file formats for printing or
manipulation in other software programs.

Packard Bell says it will also sell the PBTV3 card separately,
for under $500. The company says it will supply all the
necessary cables for connecting PBTV3 to a computer, including a
26-pin ribbon cable, to connect PBTV3 to a feature connector on
either the computer VGA card or on the motherboard; an 'F-to-RCA'
pin adapter, for easy cable connection to the on-card tuner
module; and an auxiliary seven-pin mini-DIN connector for signal
input from an external VCR, laserdisc player or camcorder.

The PBTV3's video output is sent to a standard DE-15 VGA
connector, while the audio output is on a mini-headphone jack
and that can drive headphones or external, unpowered eight ohm
speakers, Packard Bell said. Input to PBTV3 is through a
standard 75 ohm cable 'F' connector located on the side of the
card.

PBTV3 requires an AT-class IBM compatible computer in 640 x 480
16-color or 26-color VGA mode with a VESA/Feature Connector, a
VGA monitor, and Windows 3.X.

Packard Bell has announced the card will be available in the
third quarter of this year, while the computer with it
integrated isn't expected until the fourth quarter of this
year. The price on the whole system, including the PBTV3 card
is expected to be less than $2,999. Packard Bell's MPC without
the PBTV3 card is expected to be priced below $2,599, the
company said.

The company plans to offer the multimedia computers through the
same retail outlets and mass merchandising channels it has been
using, which include warehouse buying stores and retail stores
like Sears.

Interestingly enough, Packard Bell offers a "restore" CD with all
the preloaded software from the hard disk, which can be used as
a back-up. While Packard Bell representatives said the company
started offering the disk because over-zealous computer
salesman were selling Packard Bell customers software already
included with the computer. Once users attempted to load
another copy of the software on the hard disk, the process
created problems with the original, pre-installed software.
Packard Bell has started bundling the CD so users can restore
everything back to its original condition after such a blunder,
company representatives said.

(Linda Rohrbough/19920818/Press Contact: Bob Harris, The Bohle
Company for Packard Bell, tel [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(BOS)(00005)

GeoCon: Expert Edge Intros New Tools For Experience 08/19/92
CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 19 (NB) -- At the
GeoCon show this week, Expert Edge embarked on a worldwide
rollout of Applications Bridge and SQL Module, new tools that let
programmers develop for mainframe and multiple client-server
environments from inside the company's Experience for Windows
software.

Donal Daly, managing director of the Dublin, Ireland-based
company, told Newsbytes that Application Bridge allows
interactive, Windows-based front ends to be added to IBM host
applications. Programs supplied with these GUIs (graphical user
interfaces) can offer full access to the mainframe world, while
shielding the end user from the need to log on, enter commands, and
carry out other functions demanded by the mainframe.

SQL Module, on the other hand, provides the programmer with
connectivity to a range of SQL database servers and other
database file formats, permitting creation of applications that
can be ported across more than a dozen different database
back ends.

Both tools require Experience for Windows, and Application Bridge
requires a 3270 software-based emulator as well. Introduced by
Expert Edge six months ago, and since upgraded to accommodate
Windows 3.1, Experience for Windows combines events-driven
procedural programming with object-oriented tools for screen and
menu design. A database manager for dBASE files is also
included.

The company's new SQL Module uses DLL (Dynamic Link Library)
functions to extend connectivity to a variety of files, which can
be housed on PCs, LANs, minicomputers or mainframes. DB2,
Ingres, Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, NetWare SQL, Sybase,
SQLBase, XDB, OS/2 EE DBM, Btrieve, Paradox, dBase, Excel and
ASCII are among the file formats supported.

All of the accessed files are managed on a common GUI that uses a
"select" statement for records retrieval, "insert," "update" and
"delete" for records modification, and "create table" for
generating new database tables and files.

Expert Edge emphasizes that portability across different back-ends
lets the programmer develop an application for one database
system, and then operate that application on the others. In
addition, the programmer can access several databases at the same
time.

The other new tool from Expert Edge, Application Bridge, is
designed for updating existing mainframe applications without
making changes to the original source code. According to the
company, the tool goes beyond simple 3270 terminal mapping by
allowing terminal input to be intercepted and manipulated.

Interfaces created with Application Bridge can perform keystroke
filtering, intercepting the end user's keystrokes and
substituting other, more complex strings or commands. The GUIs
can also offer such features as unattended operation, composite
view of multiple hosts, and data extraction, or the ability to
transfer data between different applications residing on the same
or different hosts.

Daly noted to Newsbytes that all three software packages are
expressly designed for Windows. "In contrast, our main
competitors are having to make the transition from other
applications development environments," he commented.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19920819; Press and Public Contact: Expert
Edge, 353-1-7674333 or 44-81-9417047)


(NEWS)(IBM)(SYD)(00006)

 ****Microsoft NT On Track For Late 92 Shipment 08/19/92
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1992 AUG 19 (NB) -- Paul Maritz,
Microsoft's senior vice president of the company's systems division,
says Windows NT is about to go into final beta, and is on track for
shipment at the end of this year. Keynoting the second day at
Sydney's Windows World 92 conference, he demonstrated the
new operating system, as well as a number of upcoming Microsoft
products.

Maritz said Microsoft it has shipped more than 3 million copies of
Windows 3.1 to date, and it will be expanded with two new
products. Windows for Workgroups 3.1 is a superset of Windows
3.1, and includes integrated networking (compatible with Novell
and LAN Manager), electronic mail, and workgroup scheduling
software. The official line is that it will ship in six to nine months,
but Maritz used estimates as short as 3 months in comments to
press.

Windows 3.1 NT is expected to ship in the same timeframe, and
Maritz said that in September the final beta test products will go
out to the toughest users of all - real corporate users. In July,
10,000 developers received their beta versions, so much of the
fine tuning has already been done. NT is again a superset of
Windows for Workgroups, and looks just like Windows 3.1 but
adds many features. Maritz said that as a full 32-bit operating
system, it doesn't run on top of DOS, and in fact it's possible to
install it on a machine that DOS can't even boot. It will require at
least 8MB of RAM, and a 386, 486 or P5 machine.

NT is built on an executive, or base layer, with subsystems for
running Win32, Win16, DOS, OS/2 (text only at the moment) and
Posix applications. Maritz expects that the two higher products will
sell far fewer copies (around 10-20 percent) than Windows 3.1.
All three will happily co-exist on a network.

The fact that both new products will take the '3.1' version number
appears to show that Microsoft wants us to think of NT as a
logical part of the Windows family, and not a separate product.

Maritz also demonstrated the brand new Microsoft Golf program
and Cinemania movie guide on a CD. He showed the usefulness
of Cinemania with what he said had occurred as he tried to pass
the conference security guard this morning without his pass. He
played a sound bite from "Sierra Madre" where the Mexican says
"Badge. I got no badge. I don't need no stinkin badge!"

(Paul Zucker/19920819)


(NEWS)(IBM)(SYD)(00007)

 ****Are We About To See Sound-Card Wars? 08/19/92
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1992 AUG 19 (NB) -- The buzz around Windows World
'92 in Sydney this week is the imminent release by Microsoft of an
add-on multimedia sound card. Until now Microsoft has steered clear
of hardware with the notable exception of its mice.

The first that Sydney journalists heard of the card was when
Creative Labs (makers of the best-known Sound Blaster card) said
that Microsoft was known to be developing a sub-US$100 sound
card for strictly business use. They expected the card to be used
for network voice-mail and voice annotation application, much as
the foreshadowed Business Audio chip will provide.

However, when questioned about the new board today, Microsoft
admitted that it was coming this year (and perhaps within two
months), and far from being a low-end board, would be a high-end
board fulfilling the needs of all Windows users. They said that the
board had been developed because the Microsoft view was that no
single sound board fully adhered to the Windows multimedia
standard. Projected price is around $400.

This will no doubt come as a shock to Creative Labs, as not only
does it chair the multimedia standards group, but Microsoft ships
Sound Blaster drivers with Windows 3.1.

Meanwhile, Lotus is ramping up its Lotus Sound package which
consists of software to add and edit sound in Lotus Windows.
This US$300 package comes with a third-party sound adaptor that
plugs into the PC's parallel port.

(Paul Zucker/19920819)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(TYO)(00008)

Japan: 4th Dimension Project Buys American Computers 08/19/92
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1992 AUG 19 (NB) -- Japan's 4th dimension computer
developer's group, called New Information Processing Developer's
Group, has decided to install large scale parallel computers of
Intel and Thinking Machines. The group's goal is to develop a
next-generation, or "fourth dimension" computer using these parallel
computers as well as a prototype 5th generation processor, which was
developed during the 10-year 5th generation computer project.

The 4th dimension computer project, just started in Japan
jointly with universities and research institutes in seven
countries, aims to expand the 5th Generation Computer Project,
which ended in this past June.

The 4th dimension computer development group will install Intel's
Paragon XP/S and Thinking Machine's CM-5. Both of these computers
were announced in the fall of 1991, and have 1,000 processors
to parallel-process at a speed of more than 1 billion
calculations per second. The prices of these parallel computers
are 100 million yen ($0.8 million) to 500 million yen
($4 million).

Some eight parallel computer makers, including Fujitsu and NEC,
participated in the tender-bid meeting. However, no Japanese
makers participated in the actual bid, according to the
Nikkei newspaper, in an effort to ease US friction regarding sales
of high-end computers.

The fourth dimension computer is envisioned as able to process
ambiguous data at unprecedented speeds. Its possible applications could
be in the area of security - where it might identify the faces of people,
or in automatic language translation systems, car navigation systems,
and weather analysis systems.

(Masayuki "Massey" Miyazawa/19920819/Press Contact: New
Information Processing Developer's Group, [phone])


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TYO)(00009)

Japan: ASCII Seeks Help From Banks 08/19/92
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1992 AUG 19 (NB) -- Japan's major computer venture
business ASCII is talking with Japanese banks to get financial
assistance. ASCII is also seeking support from Canon. Apparently,
the computer venture is in financial trouble.

ASCII was once a partner of Microsoft, and was regarded
as the major computer-related publisher in Japan. ASCII's sales are
still respectable at 35.8 billion yen ($285 million) and 1.3
billion yen ($10 million) profit for fiscal 1993. But a major
problems seems to be the firm's unconverted convertible bond, which
amounts to 12 billion yen ($95 million). ASCII was planning to
sell this bond in Swiss Francs, but the firm abandoned that idea after
a sharp drop in the price of the bond.

Apparently, Japan's so-called "bubble" economy has also hit ASCII hard.
ASCII listed its stocks on the over-the-counter market at the Tokyo
Stock Exchange in 1989. At that time, the stock price soared to
21,000 yen ($170), but now the price has dropped to 689 yen ($5.50).

A business partnership with Canon may give ASCII the help that it
needs, analysts suggest. Canon would, in turn, get an entry into
the personal computer software market as well as semiconductor
businesses because ASCII is involved in both.

Currently, Canon is a dealer for Next and Apple Computers. Hand
in hand with ASCII, Canon could potentially rise to higher prominence
in the Japanese computer industry.

However, this scenario may not work if the agreement between both
firms is delayed. Already, ASCII's executives -- Chairman Shiro Gunji
and Vice President Keiichiro Tsukamoto -- have left the firm.
Also, over 100 employees have left the firm within the past
year, according to the Nikkan Kogyo newspaper. So, more talented
people might leave ASCII in the future if the firm's financial
situation does not improve.

(Masayuki "Massey" Miyazawa/19920819/Press Contact: ASCII, +81-3-
3797-6506)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(LAX)(00010)

Archive Files Suit Against Iomega 08/19/92
COSTA MESA, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 19 (NB) -- Archive, a
supplier of tape back-up products, says it has filed a patent
infringement suit against Iomega, known for its Bernoulli
drive, and its subsidiary Iotape of San Diego, California.
Iomega says the suit is over its recently introduced Tape250, a
tape back-up drive that works off the floppy drive controller
card.

The suit, filed in the Federal District Court in the Southern
District of California, charges Iomega infringement of the
patent titled "Recording System For Recording Data On Tape In A
Disk Recording Format" granted in 1982, Archive said.

Roy, Utah-based Iomega only responded by saying it believes the
allegations in the suit are unfounded and plans to defend
vigorously against it.

Archive has been through this before. Company representatives
told Newsbytes Archive filed and won a $9.5 million settlement
out of court in a patent suit against Simi Valley, California-
based Rexon and its subsidiaries Wangtek, Techmar, and Sytron.
While the suit was similar, Archive representatives told
Newsbytes it included not only the tape drive patent, but other
issues as well.

Costa Mesa, California-based Archive was founded in 1980 and
describes itself as a manufacturer and supplier of removable
data storage products to original equipment manufacturers
(OEMs) and distributors.

(Linda Rohrbough/19920819/Press Contact: Tom Gavin, Archive,
tel: [phone], fax: [phone]; Paul Slack, Iomega,
801-778-1000, fax [phone])


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SFO)(00011)

Alacrity Adds OCR Capability To Document Imaging 08/19/92
HACKETTSTOWN, NEW JERSEY, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 19 (NB) -- Alacrity has
added optical character recognition (OCR) capabilities to its
electronic document imaging system known as Desktop Document
Manager (DDM). This new feature adds to the complete set of
features that can be found in Alacrity's system and brings it to a
higher state of technology.

Alacrity has integrated the Calera OCR engine into its software. The
reasons it chose Calera rather than competing OCR vendors, included
Calera's reputation, Calera's range of products at different levels
of the OCR gamut, and Calera's toolset which supported this
integration effort, the company reports.

Calera's engine performs skew detection which corrects an image when
a page is placed in a scanner crooked.

By using the OCR feature it is now possible for Alacrity customers
to select a portion of the text on the image as an entry into the
index field of the document's database. The customer need not type
the entry in by himself. It will also be possible to specify a
portion of a document as a region of interest and have all
subsequent documents scanned and that specific region converted
to text.

The output of the OCR process can be placed in the Microsoft Windows
Clipboard from which it will be exportable to different word
processors and other programs. Alacrity's Clipboard is an
improvement over the standard clipboard in that it allows for
editing of the text inscribed in it.

Alacrity will begin shipping the OCR capability in September of this
year. The company is not changing the prices of the four models to
which this feature has been added. Models affected include the DDM
Private Station, the DDM Groupserver, DDM Softaccess, and the DDM
Satellite Station. Customers who have purchased any of these DDM
models after June 30 will receive a free upgrade that will include
the OCR feature. Customers who purchased DDMs before that date will
pay a small upgrade fee although exact figures have not been decided.

(Naor Wallach/19920819, Press Contact:Gary Baker, Technology Solutions
for Alacrity, 212-505-9900/Public Contact: Alacrity, 908-813-2400)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(MOW)(00012)

Russia: DEC's Second Coming 08/19/92
MOSCOW, RUSSIA, 1992 AUG 19 (NB) -- In the late 70s a research
center in Moscow received a brief message from DEC Finland:
"Copying our hardware is contemptible business ... please stop
your attempts to sell LSI-compatible units in Scandinavia."
Business ethics were also mentioned but no legal suits followed.
Today, DEC has opened an office in Russia and is enjoying a booming
business.

Digital Equipment Corp. was discovered by Soviet engineers in the
early 70s when minicomputers (not yet desktops) entered the
laboratories of their American colleagues. Several years later,
the venerable DECSystem 10 started crunching big numbers in Russia
in a secluded technopolis where local researchers used it to process
huge amounts of digitized subatomic particle tracks: mesons,
positrons and neutrons. The machine was used in conjunction with
the largest accelerator in Europe.

Power users in Soviet research centers were never happy about the batch-
oriented mentality of the IBM 360/370 Series mainframes and the awkward
features of "Big Blue" systems software. They transformed their very
own BESM6 computers into multiterminal time sharing systems. DECSystem
10 offered a similar environment with enhanced disk capacity and higher
reliability. The teams of programmers in a small technopolis Protvino
near Moscow and several other high-tech centers became the core of a
community of DEC addicts in the country. More followed the suit as
DEC hardware was laboriously copied by many design bureaus in the
USSR and Eastern Europe.

360/370 clones were in fact boycotted by the scientific community in the
USSR, and the last 15 years have witnessed the explosive growth of DEC
users in the country. With export control barriers in effect,
minicomputers remained in the grey area of Soviet foreign trade. While
DEC PDP-11 look-alikes were manufactured in quantities in Soviet plants,
VAXes stayed a pie-in-the-sky dream of the scientists, CAD experts, and
telecommunications gurus in the USSR.

Some dreams come true if you just agree to pay extra -- in the
early 90s DEC started to register formerly illegal customers of
VAX superminis that were smuggled "beyond the wall." These users
came in hordes to exhibition booths of their favorite computer
company. The DEC Users Society (DECUS) gained access to one more
national community of true believers -- counted in tens of thousands.

Micro PDP-11s and Micro VAXes still help to fill the void for DEC-hungry
users; in fact, their clones are manufactured in Russia and Ukraine.
Though limited in capacity as compared to AT or 386 clones. These
indigenous platforms help many application systems to keep afloat.

Thus entry-level systems are available from local suppliers while DEC's
second coming (Moscow office opened this year) will hopefully bring
systems for power users to Russia and other CIS countries.

(Alexander Giglavyi & Kirill Tchashchin/19920817)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(TYO)(00013)

Japan: Multiple-Feature Phone For Banking Debuts 08/19/92
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1992 AUG 19 (NB) -- Former telecom monopoly NTT and
five major Japanese banks have jointly developed a telephone
for bank transactions. It is equipped with multiple functions
including a large LCD (liquid crystal display) and a fax machine.

Called the "Teleassist," it has a proprietary memory IC card and
a touch-sensitive panel. The device will connect with each bank's host
computer via the electronic banking center of NTT Data Communication.
The user will be able to wire-transfer money and check the balance
in a bank account. The money can be wire-transferred to 20 different
customers.

Use of this phone is said to be as easy as just looking at the
instructions on its display panel.

The hardware and the telecom software of Teleassist were
developed by NTT, and the applications were developed
by the banks including Daiichi, Sanwa, Mitsubishi, Kyowa-saitama,
and Tokai bank. Just by replacing the IC card, securities
transactions can also be made with this telephone, making it useful,
the firm says, for individual as well as corporate users.

The only problem is the price -- it costs 120,000 yen ($960) a unit,
plus a basic monthly charge for each bank (around $15) will be
required. For some people, however, the device is a bargain because
it has a fax machine. The device will be released from each bank
in September.

(Masayuki "Massey" Miyazawa/19920819)


(NEWS)(IBM)(SYD)(00014)

 ****Borland's Kahn Promises Rival To Lotus Notes 08/19/92
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1992 AUG 19 (NB) -- Borland International plans to
launch new workgroup computing software in the first half of next
year which will challenge the hegemony of its rival Lotus Development's
Notes.

Philippe Kahn, Borland chairman, president and chief executive officer,
yesterday lifted the veil on the new product, tentatively titled Obex
(a shortening of Object Exchange), in a lunchtime presentation to the
Australian computer press.

Earlier in the day he had given a keynote address at IBM's OS/2
Developers Seminar at Sydney's Randwick Racecourse, and joined a
question-and-answer session for the press with other seminar stars
Lucy Baney, IBM programming systems director, and Dr. Mike Kogan,
an independent consultant and chief architect for 32-bit OS/2.

Workgroup software allows numbers of workers to collaborate on
the same documents. In the case of Notes, this can be extended
right across enterprises.

Kahn said Obex would take a significantly different route from Notes,
which he described as a limited five-year-old implementation of DEC
Notes. Where Notes works from a central database and requires a
heavy investment in customized software, Obex was designed as a
peer-to-peer system which empowered individual users' existing
desktops and software, he said.

Based on object-oriented technology, it would use a "publish and
subscribe" model, rather like Apple's Macintosh System 7, permitting
users to decide which documents they wished to share. Obex would
automatically establish links not only across local area networks, but
via other communications devices, including private and public
electronic mail services, fax, and pagers.

The object-oriented technology would hide the program's complexity
from users, Kahn said.

The Borland CEO declined to quantify the likely cost, but said
Obex would be significantly cheaper and easier to implement than
Notes. Users would simply need to buy one copy for each linked
machine: there would be no need for additional hardware or
custom-written applications.

"Obex will be delivered in the first half of 1993," said Kahn,
pressed on a delivery date.

(David Frith/19920819)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(DEN)(00015)

New For Macintosh: 2 NuBus Expansion Chassis For Quadra 950 08/19/92
AUSTIN, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 19 (NB) -- Second Wave says it is
now shipping two NuBus expansion chassis for the Macintosh Quadra
950.

The 950, a floor standing unit which uses Motorola's 68040-33
megahertz (MHz) microprocessor, was introduced in May. Apple says
the 950 is faster than 486-based 33 and 50 MHz powered systems. The
Quadra 950 comes with on-board 24-bit color, high speed Ethernet
networking, and sound input and output.

Second Wave's Expanse NB4 and NB8 are external expansion chassis
that house four or eight additional NuBus slots for Quadra 950,
connecting to the Quadra via a NuBus interface card and cable.

Second Wave believes that additional slot capability will be
necessary as applications such as multimedia, data acquisition, image
processing, and digital signal processing become more common.

Both expansion chassis contain their own power supplies, a 50-watt
and 130 watt units respectively. The NB4 is smaller than a Macintosh
IIsi, measuring 9.5 by 14 by 4 inches. The NB8 is about the size of
a IIci, 14.3 by 14 by 5.5 inches. The NB4 carries a suggested
retail price of $1,295, while the larger unit retails for $2,295.

The NuBus expansion chassis systems increase the number of available
expansion slots for Quadra, IIsi, IIci, and the older SE/30, IIcx,
II, and IIx Macintosh personal computers.

(Jim Mallory/19920819/Press contact: Lark Doley, Second Wave,
512-343-9661; Reader contact: 512-343-9661, fax [phone])


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(DEN)(00016)

10 Companies Form RAID Standardization Board 08/19/92
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 19 (NB) -- Ten high
technology companies have formed the RAID Advisory Board, saying
their purpose is to promote redundant array of independent disk
(RAID) technology and coordinate disk array standardization.

Participating in the organization are Array Technology; Ciprico,
Inc; Core International; Data General Corporation; ENDL; Hi-Data
Arrays Limited; IBM; NCR; Seagate Technology; and Technology Forums.
Technology Forums President Joe Molina will serve as chairman of the
group.

RAID technology, while not popular on stand-alone PCs, is common on
PC networks, Molina told Newsbytes. Redundant array refers to the
practice of storing data in multiple locations on an array of disk
drives in order to avoid data loss in the event the computer system
fails. Several companies already offer RAID technology, and IBM is
expected to announce a RAID device in early September.

Molina says he tends to look way in the future, because of the type
work he does. He predicts that in ten years multiple sub two-inch
drives with the capacity for 500 MB will be mounted on a circuit
board and can be inserted into an expansion slot like a video or
printer board is at present.

"Shadowing, or the mirror approach (to storing data) has been around
for ages," says Molina. The problem, he told Newsbytes, is that
some RAID systems, designed to improve transaction rate, quickly
point out limitations in the software, lowering the performance
from what the user expected. "Not because of the RAID system, but
because of the software," he said. Pricing for RAID systems in
some instances is quite high, said Molina.

The organization says it hopes to promote RAID technology as the
data storage solution of choice; stimulate and coordinate RAID
standards; influence disk drive suppliers; share resources developed
or acquired by the new organization; and identify target markets for
rapid acceptance of RAID technology.

According to Chairman Molina, "Membership status is still available
to other companies who wish to make a positive contribution to the
further development of RAID technology as one of the major data
storage choices of the 90s."

The group also says it hopes to develop a standard glossary and
terminology; develop common RAID requirements for both host and disk
drives for use in RAID products; and acquire test suites for
standardized RAID performance evaluation and testing. Upcoming
RAID-related conferences include the Disk Array Forum in Frankfurt,
Germany September 18th and the Disk Array Conference in San Jose,
California October 609. The Advisory Board will meet September 17th
in Frankfurt, and again October 7 in San Jose.

(Jim Mallory/19920819/Press contact: Dan Chmielewski, Data General,
508-898-4056; Reader contact: Joe Molina, 612-784-2379)


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

New Product: Multipurpose Floptical Drive 08/19/92
AUSTIN, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 19 (NB) -- Second wave has announced
the availability of a new SCSI storage device, called ViperDrive.

The company says ViperDrive is a multi-purpose floppy disk drive
system capable of reading and writing standard high density 3.5-inch
1.44 megabyte (MB) Macintosh or DOS disks, 720 kilobyte (KB) DOS
diskettes, and very high density (VHD) 20MB floptical diskettes.
ViperDrive automatically senses what type diskette is being used in
the drive, the company says.

Seven models of the ViperDrive are available for the Macintosh II,
LC, LC II, the Quadra family, SE and SE/30. One model is designed
for use with IBM-compatible PCs. The company ships the Mac-based
ViperDrives with a media adapter that allows the Floptical drive to
be mounted internally in any Mac that has an internal SCSI (small
computer system interface) port. ViperDrive replaces the
factory-installed Macintosh floppy drive. ViperDrive is shipped
with all necessary cables, driver software, and a preformatted
floptical diskette.

Second Wave says typical applications for which ViperDrive were
designed are for back-up of hard drives, transportation of large
files, file archiving, file security, software distribution, file
and data distribution, and functioning as a second HD floppy disk
drive.

Flopticals by other companies are starting to come to market for use
with notebook computers, and with their 20MB capacity could replace
the need for an installed hard drive in a notebook system.

Second Wave's Lark Doley told Newsbytes that ViperDrive's Macintosh
version carries a $495 or $525 price tag, depending on the model of
Mac being modified. The DOS version is $595. Second Wave says you
can buy three floptical diskettes for $99, or $295 for 10.

Second Wave's Lark Doley told Newsbytes that the drives are
available in both internal and external models, with the external
model connecting through the SCSI port.

(Jim Mallory/19920819/Press contact: Lark Doley, Second Wave,
512-343-9661)


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

New Product: SCSI Device Caching Adaptor 08/19/92
CHANDLER, ARIZONA, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 19 (NB) -- Tentime, a division
of Vancouver, BC-based Laura Technologies, has announced its new
range of ISA-based (Industry Standard Architecture) SCSI (small
computer system interface) caching host bus adaptors which it says
can improve SCSI device input/output performance by as much as
thirtyfold.

Tentime CEO Dugald Allen told Newsbytes that the average access time
to a SCSI hard disk drive can be dropped from a typical 17
milliseconds (ms) to less than .5 ms, and less than 1 ms for most
other slow SCSI devices, such as CD-ROM, WORM (write once, read many
times) and magneto-optical drives which are becoming popular
accessories to PCs for tasks such as multimedia.

The Powercache SC series, based on the Motorola Mc68340 processor,
is a caching SCSI host adaptor which uses Tentime's proprietary
multilevel algorithm (MICA) and a 32-bit processor to achieve the
access time improvement.

Tentime says Powercache is available with or without cache RAM
factory installed, and uses industry standard SIMM (single inline
memory module) technology to provide up to 16 megabytes (MB) of
cache RAM without having to use daughterboards. The company does
have an optional daughterboard for users who want to increase RAM
(random access memory) cache capability to 80MB. The daughterboard
price hasn't been set exactly yet, but Allen told Newsbytes it would
be under $500.

The Powercache series is expected to ship in the fourth quarter,
Allen told Newsbytes, and will carry a list price of $1,295.
It's available directly from Tentime or through the
company's nationwide distribution chain.

Tentime also announced that it has entered into a cooperative
agreement with Chine Machine Building Industrial Corporation, an
industrial manufacturer, and the North East University of
Technology, a Chinese university.

Tentime said the agreement is to develop products for the computer
industry. While Tentime was unwilling to discuss details of the
product lines, Allen did confirm that the first product would be a
mass storage device. The company said it would announce further
information about the new products in the third quarter.

(Jim Mallory/19920819/Press contact: Dugald Allen, Tentime,
602-940-9800)


(CORRECTION)(GENERAL)(SFO)(00019)

Correction: Free CD-ROM Titles W/Mac Or PC CD-ROM Drives 08/19/92
TORRANCE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 19 (NB) -- This report,
which ran yesterday, has an erroneous title. In fact, the CD-ROMs
are not free. The title was the only error in the story. Newsbytes
apologizes for the error.

The text of the story was as follows:

Get a CD-ROM drive and with it, get the CDs. That's the message that
Chinon would like you to get with their newest promotion called Crystal
Collection II.

The way this promotion works is as follows. You go into the store
and specify that you want to buy the Chinon 431 series of CD-ROM
drives with the Crystal Collection II. The store clerk should charge
you between $1350 and $1595 depending on the drive that you choose.
In addition to the box containing the CD-ROM drive, you will walk
out of the store carrying a coupon book. This coupon book is sent
to the Bureaus of Electronic Publishing which will redeem the
coupons for the six titles that are a part of the collection.

The six titles that you can get vary depending on your hardware
configuration. If you buy the Macintosh version of the drive and
collection you will get: the Toolworks Illustrated Encyclopedia,
the World Atlas, Nautilus, Selectware System Disc, Chinon Lens
Cleaning Disc, and the CIA World Fact Book. If you buy the PC
version of the drive and collection you get the same set of CDs
with the exception of a Reference Library instead of the
CIA World Fact Book.

Chinon is continuing to offer the original Crystal Collection which
allowed users to choose five out of 12 possible CDs for a price of
$199. By taking advantage of both programs, users can purchase 11
CDs at the time they purchase a drive. Without the CDs, Chinon's
drives sell for $650 to $895.

The offer is in effect now. However unconfirmed reports indicate
that Chinon is planning to introduce a whole new series of CD-ROM
players for both the Macintosh and the PC within a
month. The new series is expected to be both MPC and Quick Time
compatible and to substantially replace the 431 series.

(Naor Wallach/19920818, Press Contact:Jeff Swartz, Daly-Swartz Public
Relations for Chinon, 714-361-6888/Public Contact: Chinon, 310-353-
0274)


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

SunSoft Launches Publishing Group 08/19/92
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 19 (NB) -- In an
effort to further expand the market penetration of the company's
Solaris operating system, SunSoft Inc., has launched SunSoft Press.

The new company is slated as a publishing group formed to
"develop, market, and distribute books on the Solaris software
environment and associated Sun products to mainstream users."

Additionally, SunSoft has also signed strategic partnerships with
publishing houses Ziff Davis Press and Prentice Hall. According to
a prepared press release the new partnerships are designed to
"deliver Solaris expertise through their worldwide network of
retail and technical bookstores."

SunSoft Press will work with the two companies to develop
books targeted at end users, software developers, and system
administrators, and will range from porting guides to quick
reference books and retail product manuals. The resulting books
will be distributed through national bookstores including B.
Dalton, Barnes & Noble, Crown Books, Software Etc., Stacey's,
and Walden Books.

The first books from SunSoft Press, set to appear sometime in
the fall, will focus on the company's 32-bit Solaris 2.0 Unix
operating system. According to the company, aspects of the
software covered will include porting guides for Solaris on the
SPARC and 80386/486 platforms, quick reference and
implementation guides for system administration, and in-depth
books on the Solaris user environment and the DeskSet tools.
The company maintains that future books will cover Solaris
multiprocessing and multithreading technologies, compilers and
tools, graphics and SunSoft's Project DOE (distributed objects
everywhere) technology.

Book titles already set for publication include: "Solaris System
Administrator's Guide," "Solaris Porting Guide," "Solaris x86
Porting Guide," "All About NIS+: A Guide for Network Administrators,"
"The ToolTalk Service: An Interoperability Solution," and "The
Solaris International Developer's Guide." Titles are set to be
published in both European and Asian languages.

(Ian Stokell/19920819/Press Contact: Laura Ramsey, SunSoft Inc.,
415-336-0739)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SFO)(00021)

Microcom Loses $6M In 1Q 08/19/92
NORWOOD, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 19 (NB) -- Microcom, maker
of local area network products, says it lost $6,602,000 in the first
quarter of fiscal year 1993.

The quarter produced revenues of $18,934,000, up from $16,305,000 during
this quarter last year.

The firm attributes the loss to a restructuring charge of $5.8 million,
33 percent of which is from a write-off of assets and costs
associated with the expected disposition of the company's Relay
product line. Other costs came from a layoff of 15 percent of
Microcom's worldwide workforce.

The company reports that it anticipates spending approximately
13 percent of revenue for research and development during the
remainder of fiscal year 1993.

Microcom's product lines include Microporte and QX Protocol
Modems, Microcom Bridge/Routers, Carbon Copy remote control
software, and LANlord integrated network management software.

(Wendy Woods/19920819/Press Contact: Peter J. Minihane, 617-551-1236)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(HKG)(00022)

Northern Telecom Wins $9M China Contract 08/19/92
WANCHAI, HONG KONG, 1992 AUG 19 (NB) -- China's Ministry of Posts and
Telecommunications (MPT) has selected Northern Telecom to supply DPN-
100 packet switching equipment and software for China's first
nationwide data communications network.

The $9 million contract will see Northern Telecom's DPN-100 switches
form the backbone of the planned CHINAPAC network.

The CHINAPAC 32-node network will service 28 provinces and autonomous
regions and three municipalities. CHINAPAC will support both public
and private networks and be available on a subscription basis to a wide
range of businesses and industries. In its final configuration the
network will carry millions of computer transactions each day.

Installation is planned to start in the second quarter of 1993 and
the network is expected to be in operation by the end of that year.

The project marks an important step in China's plans to modernize its
communications network. China's present data communications network
(CNPAC) is limited to 11 locations, including Beijing, Shanghai, and
Guangzhou.

Northern Telecom's managing director for the Peoples' Republic and
Hong Kong, Michael Lambert, said "the DPN-100 network will be central
to the communications needs of a wide range of business and
industries including banks, airlines, post and delivery services
organizations, transportation companies, customs offices and energy
bureaus."

At the heart of the network is Northern Telecom's switching
technology which supports most protocols, including CCITT X.25, X.75,
X.3/X.28/X.29 and IBM's system Network Architecture (SNA)
environments.

As a result, CNPAC users will be able to migrate quickly and easily
to the new national data communication network, thereby protecting their
investments in the existing equipment.

Mr Lambert said, "With a national data-comm infrastructure in place,
the potential for communications growth is tremendous."

"One of the most important requirements for new and old users alike
will be a high level of security and fault tolerance the Northern
Telecom equipment will provide," Mr Lambert told Newsbytes.

The contract includes an extensive training program for MPT
operations and maintenance staff from each site around the country,
with basic training taking place in Beijing, followed by advanced
instruction at Northern Telecom facilities in Canada.

Northern Telecom's First DPN-100 contract with China was signed in
1988 under which a $3.5 million DPN-based system was installed in
Guangzhou PTA (Posts and Telecommunications Administration).

Currently Northern Telecom has installed over 100 major DPN-100
networks, including the global networks of the international banking
organization SWIFT (the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial
Telecommunications cooperative) in addition to public and private
networks in most European countries and Asia, Australia, and North
America.

(Brett Cameron/19920819/Press contact: John Tucker, Northern Telecom
Asia/Pacific, tel: [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(SFO)(00023)

New For PC: Borland's 6 Programming Products 08/19/92
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 19 (NB) -- In an
effort to consolidate its success in the programming market,
Borland International has introduced six language products,
including ObjectVision Pro and the Borland KnowledgeBase CDs. The
other software packages are new versions of existing products,
and feature ObjectVision 2.1, Brief 3.1 for DOS and OS/2, Borland
Paradox Engine and Database Framework 3.0 and Borland C++ and
Application Frameworks 3.1 for CD-ROM.

ObjectVision Pro is an advanced version of the company's
ObjectVision for Windows 2.0 visual programming product that is
targeted at the "non-technical" end user. According to the company,
ObjectVision Pro provides "all of the components for management
information system professionals, corporate programmers,
independent software vendors, and value-added resellers to create
complete Windows applications quickly and easily."

The product includes ObjectVision 2.1; Turbo C++ for Windows 3.1; SQL
connection, a multimedia tool kit for creating applications
with video, sound, graphics and animation; and Crystal Reports,
a graphical report writer.

ObjectVision 2.1 provides a "new, 20 percent faster" Paradox
Engine that supports both Paradox 3.5 and Paradox 4.0 file
compatibility. Also supported in ObjectVision 2.1 are Paradox
MEMO fields, binary large object data types, and composite
secondary indexes, Borland says.

BRIEF 3.1 for DOS and OS/2 is a programmer's editor that the
company claims allows programmers to add, delete and modify
the language statements and offload repetitive, tedious, and
complicated tasks associated with application development.
New features in 3.1 include mouse support, extended memory
specification (EMS) support, "Undo/Redo" capabilities, and dialog
box support.

Borland Paradox Engine and Database Framework 3.0 allows
programmers to integrate their applications with Paradox data.
According to the company, the product's new "object layer" provides
an object-oriented access layer to all the engine functions from C++
and Pascal. Other features include language support for Turbo
Pascal for Windows and a new optimized file locking system for
faster data locking.

The programming market is an important one for Borland, which,
until its last fiscal quarter, had been running in the red following
its industry-shaking purchase of database company Ashton-Tate
last year. In July Newsbytes reported that Borland had finally
posted a profit. Revenue for the company's first fiscal quarter of
1993, ending June 30, 1992, was reported as $114.8 million.

(Ian Stokell/19920819/Press Contact: Cathy Caplener, 408-439-
4825 or Susan Nicolls, 408-439-4833, both of Borland
International Inc.)


(NEWS)(IBM)(SFO)(00024)

Microsoft Claims One Million Windows Sold Per Month 08/19/92
REDMOND, WASHINGTON, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 19 (NB) -- The rise of
Microsoft's Windows graphical user interface as a major
operating environment appears to continue unabated, as the
company now claims to have shipped more than one million units
of Windows 3.1 per month, in each of the last four months, since
its initial release in April.

Brad Silverberg, vice president of personal systems at Microsoft,
said: "Windows is fueling the growth in the PC business today
across the board software, hardware, peripherals and utilities.
The move to Windows perpetuates the heritage of MS-DOS, adding
new vitality to our competitive, customer-driven industry and
fostering opportunities for business growth and development."

According to Microsoft, recent data from the Software Publishers
Association (SPA) shows that 1992 Windows-based application
sales in the first quarter of this year are double those of the same
quarter last year.

Microsoft also claims that Windows has been on the Merisel "hot
list" for 79 consecutive months, and on the Ingram Micro-D best-
seller list for more than 110 weeks. Following its introduction
in April, Windows 3.1 has been at the top of both lists.

Microsoft maintains that PC hardware manufacturers participating
in the Windows "Ready-to-Run" program now total 139 companies
worldwide, and include nine out of the top 10 PC manufacturers.
According to the company, the program makes it easier for
customers to identify systems that are preconfigured and optimized
for Windows by allowing hardware vendors to use a distinctive logo
to identify their machines as having Windows preinstalled.

Even before the introduction of Windows 3.1, more than 10
million units of version 3.0 were reported to have been shipped.
One of the most widely anticipated software products in the
the short history of the PC industry is currently in the final
stages of release -- the 32-bit version of the operating
environment, called Windows New Technology (NT).

(Ian Stokell/1992 0819/Press Contact: Collins Hemingway,
206-882-8080, Microsoft Corp.)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(LAX)(00025)

SCO To Go Online 08/19/92
SANTA CRUZ, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 19 (NB) -- Until now,
The Santa Cruz Operation (SCO) has not had a online forum for
its users, resellers, and partners. However, the company
announced at its annual SCO Forum92 that it has made an
agreement to start such a forum.

The forum will have files for downloading, online conferencing,
and dedicated messages for discussion of SCO products and
services. The company says it hopes to be able to rapidly disseminate
information, bug fixes, and advice to its estimated 5 million
users worldwide.

Compuserve representatives said the planned SCO Forum will be
the first vendor-specific Unix System forum on the online
service.

SCO is privately held and says it has shipped 750,000 copies of
its Unix operating system -- more copies than any other vendor of the
Unix operating system. SCO also makes a Unix operating system for IBM
and compatible 386- and 486-based computers.

(Linda Rohrbough/19920819/Press Contact: Zee Zaballos, The
Santa Cruz Operation, tel [phone], fax [phone]; Debra
Young, Compuserve, 614-457-8600)


(NEWS)(IBM)(LAX)(00026)

New Product: Another Palmtop 08/19/92
TORRANCE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 19 (NB) -- Another new
subnotebook computer, this one with a 60-megabyte hard disk and
a weight of 2.2 pounds, is expected to be introduced at the end
of next month. Called the Bicom B260i, the palmtop computer is
being produced by ABC Computer of Torrance, California.

ABC says the B260i is about half the size of a standard sheet
of paper at 6.31 x 8.75 x 1.25 inches and has a closer pitch
full keyboard design. The unit also comes with 2 megabytes (MB)
of random access memory (RAM), an PCMCIA card slot, a 286
microprocessor, and operates on five AA batteries (alkaline or
Ni-MH/Ni-Cad) or its own AC/DC adapter. The unit comes with 1
serial, 1 parallel, and an external floppy drive port built in,
ABC added.

The display is a double scan computer graphics array (CGA) at
640 x 480 resolution and offers 8 grey levels, ABC maintains.

A diary, calendar, calculator, notepad, and address book are
built into the B260i, and it comes with DR DOS 6.0, company
representatives said.

The company says the unit will retail for $1,250. Gateway has
announced a similar palmtop computer for a retail price of
$1,295, but with fewer features.

While the B260i will be on display at the Compuexpo show, Sept.
21 to 24 in Las Vegas, Nevada, ABC said it showed prototypes of
the unit at Spring COMDEX.

ABC Computer representative Carlos Guerrero described the
company as a clone motherboard manufacturer which has turned to
manufacturing computers of its own. The company has offices in
Torrance, California and in Taiwan.

(Linda Rohrbough/19920819/Press Contact: Carlos Guerrero, ABC
Computer, tel [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(SFO)(00027)

US Entertainment Software Sales Doing Nicely 08/19/92
WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A., 1992 AUG 19 (NB) -- Proving that when the
economy is down, the entertainment industry is up, the recreation
software market experienced a 6% growth rate last year, according to
a survey released by the Software Publishers Association (SPA).

1991 North American sales of recreation software reached $376
million, or 6% higher than last year, according to a report done by
Arthur Andersen & Co.

The report says simulation software, which includes war
games, had the largest share of the sales pie, with 40% of total
disk-based sales. Simulation also captures 40% of international
recreation software sales. In second place with 14% is adventure/role
playing software which commands 29% of international recreation software
sales.

DOS is the recreation format of choice with 82% of total disk-based
dollar sales. Macintosh in second place with 8% of sales.
The Amiga is in third place with 5%.

Although the Mac portion of the market is still small, the SPA reports
that Mac entertainment software had the highest growth rate
domestically, with a 39 percent increase in dollar sales and 28
percent in shipments during 1991.

Among DOS entertainment software, the family entertainment category
achieved the highest growth in 1991, rising 37 percent in dollar sales
and 48 percent in shipments over 1990 figures, but still remained the
smallest of the five categories, the SPA reports.

Interestingly, DOS and Macintosh are the only formats that have shown
consistent growth in recent years, the survey adds. Recreation
applications running in the Apple II, Commodore, and Atari ST
formats have steadily declined since 1988. Sales of recreation
software in the Amiga format declined in 1991 after growing in
1989 and 1990.

(Wendy Woods/19920819/Press Contact: David Tremblay/Terri Childs,
SPA 202/452-1600)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SFO)(00028)

Software Developers Competition Slated 08/19/92
DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 19 (NB) -- A competition
to create the best software application using any operating
system or programming language of choice, will take place
October 9 and 10 at the Durham Omni Convention Center.

Software companies across the country will compete for cash and
prizes worth over $100,000 at the 2nd annual Developers Competition.
Top prizes to the three winning teams will be $5,000, $3,000 and
$2,000.

Two hundred developers from the area's famous Research Triangle Park
and from around the world are expected to compete to build a
real-world application according to specs provided that day.
Promoters are being justifiably tight-lipped about the exact
application to be designed. Last year, however, it was a program
for the Duke University medical center that tracked incidents of
child abuse among the patients.

Developers will have at their disposal nearly every major development
tool and environment available, the organizers promise, including
DOS, Microsoft Windows, OS/2, Macintosh, and others. Also COBOL tool
companies expect to show up with their contributions to the cause.
They will program in a room at the convention center.

Another programming competition is expected to take place online
on Compuserve -- it will be judged separately, Newsbytes was told.

The contest coincides with Software '92, a one-day business and
technical forum sponsored by the Council for Entrepreneurial Development
on October 9th. Confirmed speakers include representatives from SunSoft,
SAS, and DEC.

Research Triangle Park is host to two other major computer events that
week: the 2nd International Convention on Software Quality
(2ICSQ) and the 3rd International Symposium on Software Reliability
Engineering (ISSRE92).

The contest is being organized by Tom Droege who can be reached for
further information at 919-383-9749. If you would like information
mailed or faxed to you on the Developers Competition or Software
'92, contact Cliff Allen at [e-mail] or by phone:
[phone] or fax [phone].

(Wendy Woods/19920819)


(NEWS)(IBM)(LAX)(00029)

Tandy Offers New Talking MPC With Optional TV 08/19/92
FORT WORTH, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 19 (NB) -- Tandy is
announcing a new line of personal computers (PCs) called
Sensation! and geared toward multimedia. Tandy says the new PCs
will be able to read to users and can be optionally equipped
with a PC/TV board for on screen television viewing.

Tandy says each model of the new line will be equipped with the
hardware for multimedia and will have its new Winmate Windows
organizer software.

The first model in the Sensation! line is a 486-based PC with 4
megabytes (MB) of random access memory (RAM) expandable to 32
megabytes, a 3.5-inch high density floppy drive, a 107 MB hard
disk drive, and a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) drive
with a fast 375 millisecond (ms) average access time. The sound
is MPC quality and built-in, as is a 2400 baud modem that
offers voice mail capabilities and 4800 baud fax transmission.

Three 16-bit industry standard architecture (ISA) slots, and a
serial, parallel, musical instrument digital interface
(MIDI), mouse, and dual joystick ports, and stereo line out
jacks for the attachment of speakers are built in. The company
says volume control, speaker, microphone, and headphone jacks
are mounted in the front of the unit as well. A mouse and a
101- key keyboard are included as well.

The company says a super video graphics array (SVGA) monitor
comes with the new PC that is driven by an SVGA card with
Tandy's Multimedia Palette Chip for a 16 million color display,
512 MB of memory expandable to 1 MB and a Windows accelerator.

Software included is listed as MS-DOS 5.0, Windows 3.1, the
multimedia edition of Microsoft Works for Windows, and
Microsoft Bookshelf for Windows. The new model will also come
with software for Prodigy, America On-line, and The Sierra
Network -- all popular, graphical-oriented, electronic
information and entertainment services. Clip-art images,
digitized photographs, an AT&T 800 directory, sound effects,
and tunes are also included.

The Winmate organizer for Windows will start up on the machine
offering eight function categories: In Touch, In the Know, In
the Bank, In Charge, In Play, In Print, and Inside. Users can
select one of the eight function categories, or have Winmate
"read" to them a description of its content in a digitized
voice.

One of the categories, In Touch, offers a function Tandy calls
Teleminder, a voice mail system with telephone answering
capabilities that can be accessed remotely. Also under In Touch
is Message Center, which allows the user to call the computer
remotely and have a message left in text or voice format "read"
to them, Tandy said.

An optional PC/TV add-in board offers users the ability to
watch television on the computer's monitor and includes 122-
channel cable-ready tuner on-board, a two million color
display, and software control of fine-tuning, audio, color and
hue, contrast, and brightness.

Tandy says the first Sensation! will be retail priced at $1,999
and the optional PC/TV board is an additional $399.95. The
Sensation! is to be available in October and will be offered
through Tandy's 7,000 Radio Shack stores and dealers
nationwide, the company added.

Packard Bell just announced a similar system, but the Packard
Bell system is higher priced (starting at $2,599), offers more
hard disk space and doesn't offer the voice mail option.

(Linda Rohrbough/19920819/Press Contact: Fran McGehee,
Tandy/Radio Shack, tel [phone], fax [phone])


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

Sears/IBM New Information Venture -- Advantis 08/19/92
NEW YORK, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 19 (NB) -- IBM and Sears,
known for the Prodigy Service the two have jointly produced,
have decided to create another joint-venture company to be
called Advantis.

The focus of the new venture is to offer companies voice and
data networking, such as design, development, and integration
of custom networks as well as value-added network services such
as electronic data interchange and electronic mail, IBM said.

Advantis will start with 9,000 customers, 1 million users, and
$1 billion in assets as it will pool IBM's Integrated Systems
Solutions and Sears Technology Services -- including Sears
Communications, the companies said. Sears says every Discover
Card transaction and every product order placed by IBM US
marketing representatives will be handled by Advantis, as will
every electronic mail note sent by US Sears and IBM employees
to electronic mailboxes worldwide.

Advantis is to support the information needs of Sears' business
groups including Coldwell Banker, Sears Merchandise Group,
Allstate Insurance, and Dean Witter Financial Services Group,
the companies added.

All 1500 employees of Sears' Technology Services and a matching
number from IBM's Networking Systems Services will staff
Advantis, which will be headquartered in Schaumburg, Ilinois, a
northwest suburb of Chicago, IBM said.

Advantis is geared to tap into the estimated $7 billion
annually that industry analysts are predicting businesses will
spend on annually on information networking services by 1994,
IBM maintains.

Neither Sears or IBM released financial details of the founding
of Advantis, but IBM will hold a majority interest through its
Integrated Systems Solutions Corporation (ISSC).

The board of directors is to be named later this year. However,
the chairman and chief executive officer is to be Syd N.
Heaton, currently general manager of IBM's Networking Systems
Services. President and chief operating officer has been named
as Gary Weis, now senior vice president of Sears Technology
Services, and chief financial officer is to be Patrick M.
Kerin, director of financial analysis-products & services for
IBM US.

While the prospects for Advantis sound promising, both IBM and
Sears have been struggling financially for some time now. Some
industry analysts are saying the companies' joint venture,
Prodigy, hasn't been profitable yet despite the millions the
service boasts are members. Some predictions are Prodigy might
not survive if it doesn't begin showing black ink this year
because Sears and IBM cannot afford to pour any more money into
it.

IBM recently announced nearly 10 percent of its workforce, or
32,000 employees, are leaving the company this year. The exits
were prompted as employees take advantage of big blue's offer
for a "golden exit," and have taken the company up on
incentives to find other jobs or simply retire early.

(Linda Rohrbough/19920819/Press Contact: Nadia Anthony, Burson-
Marsteller for IBM/Sears, tel [phone], fax [phone])