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(NEWS)(GENERAL)(HKG)(00001)

New Product: TI Enhances FPGA Macro Library 08/28/92
WANCHAI, HONG KONG, 1992 AUG 28 (NB) -- Texas Instruments has announced
the introduction of an enhanced macro library that enables designers
to create test patterns automatically for field programmable gate
arrays (FPGAs) using test bus structures in FPGA designs.

When designing with TPC12 Series FPGAs from TI, the user has access
to a library of macros for the JTAG/IEEE 1149.1-1990 standard.
Additional benefits provided by the standard include simplified
board-level debug and validation, manufacturing defect testing and
field diagnostics.

"Designers and test engineers find the 1149.1 standard very attractive
because it lends itself well to the development of tools that allow
easier implementation than traditional ad hoc testability solutions,"
said Gilbert Wai, semiconductor manager at Texas Instruments Hong
Kong Ltd. "Validation of new designs and debug tasks can then be
carried out faster and easier by using the boundary of an FPGA."

Validating the interconnects of a prototype or wire wrap board
can be automated using available tools, TI says. Once the interconnects
have been validated, the designer can then validate the FPGA.
Being able to partition between the debug and validation steps
can not only simplify but ultimately speed up the test effort.

"TI has demonstrated its response to customer requests through
its offering of the 1149.1 standard macros with the TPC12
Series," said Terence Tan, FPGA product marketing manager for
Asia Pacific at Texas Instruments. "Our TPC 1280 is one of the
densest FPGAs on the market. As FPGAs increase in density and I/O
counts, so does demand for more reliable test methods."

TI FPGAs provide a desktop-programmable system which allows a
quick turn-around time for applications with narrow market windows
or frequent enhancements.

Consolidating standard logic into a single TI FPGA and using a
structured design-for-test approach, such as the 1149.1 standard,
can increase overall system efficiency, reduce part count and
improve the board's overall testability.

"Leaders in every major end equipment segment have either already
adopted the 1149.1 standard or are seriously evaluating its use,"
said Wai. "TI has been manufacturing standard products, ASICs and
microprocessors with 1149.1 capability for three years. The natural
question was when TI would offer the 1149.1 standard with
programmable-type products such as FPGAs for the mass market."

According to Tan, "Indicators for 1992 show it to be a year of
design activity using the 1149.1 standard. The test standard has
matured as customers have become more aware of it and through its
increasing availability in a variety of products."

(Brett Cameron/19920827/Press contact: James Sun, TI, tel: +852-
737 0344


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(HKG)(00002)

Hongkong: Hitachi Mainframe Goes To Dutch Insurer 08/28/92
CENTRAL, HONG KONG, 1992 AUG 28 (NB) -- One of the Netherlands'
largest insurance companies, Interpolis, has installed a GX 8310
mainframe from Hitachi Data Systems to meet its growing information
systems requirements.

The GX 8310 replaces an HDS EX 100 and an IBM 3090-300J as part of a
move by Interpolis to consolidate the company's data center workloads.
In addition, HDS has been awarded a contract to restructure Interpolis'
current systems architecture and to provide Interpolis with a disaster
recovery plan.

"The recent merger of Interpolis with Rabobank made it possible
to link the Interpolis system with the agent systems at the bank's
local branches," said Interpolis' Information Systems Director H.G.
Ligtenbarg.

"The system fully integrates data processing at the branch offices of
the bank and the Interpolis mainframe systems. This provides Interpolis
with a major financial and competitive advantage."

Information technology plays a major role at Interpolis in supporting
new opportunities in the rapidly changing financial markets in the
Netherlands. It provides the platform for a variety of new financial
services which are currently being developed by Interpolis, Rabobank,
and Rabobank's partner, Robeco, which is the largest investment firm
in the Netherlands.

The goal of this new effort, called the All Finance Concept, is to provide
total financial services, including banking, insurance, private and
commercial loans, real estate transactions, and a range of other
services from a single terminal. This approach will provide end users
with greater flexibility and efficiency, the company reasons.

Interpolis' new GX 8310 is configured with 256 MB of main storage,
256 MB of expanded storage and 64 channels. It is installed at
Interpolis' main data centre and will support 1,000 local end users.
Via its remote X.25 network, Interpolis supports another 1,000 agents,
800 of them at local Rabobank branches. Within the remote network, up
to 15,000 end users can be attached.

The services offered are insurance policy management, claims management,
financial systems and commercial support. All systems use on-line
transaction processing, handling 1.2 million transactions a day.

(Brett Cameron/19920827/Press Contact: Geoff Kennedy, HDS, tel:
[phone];HK time is GMT + 8)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(HKG)(00003)

Cathay Airways Installs SAS For Info System 08/28/92
CENTRAL, HONG KONG, 1992 AUG 28 (NB) -- Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd has
chosen the SAS System for information delivery from SAS Institute
as the centerpiece of a pioneering, enterprise-wide information
system.

The new system, designed to provide rapid access to a wide range
of customer and performance data, is at the heart of the airline's
competitive strategy to focus on customer service.

"Excellent service is the key to success in the airline business,"
said Alexander Lee, Cathay Pacific's development technology manager.
"To be the best, we need to know what customers want and how we are
delivering. That information must then be freely available to decision
makers at every level."

The first phase of the project, which is conceived as a fundamental,
long term review of information management, is to create a central
database of information with tools for data access, analysis and
presentation.

This will be used by MIS professionals and middle management at the
airline's Hong Kong headquarters, and by marketing and sales staff in
more than 40 ports throughout the world. At a later stage, it will
also become the basis of a highly sophisticated executive information
system for strategic planning.

Cathay operates a "glass house" system in which central processing is
divided between IBM mainframes with a range of workstations and PCs
for end user computing. The SAS-based system runs on two IBM ES9000
mainframes and will become the core information delivery mechanism
for a wide variety of tasks. These include revenue analysis, route
planning, staff scheduling, financial management, engineering processes,
catering, marketing, and sales.

According to Mr Lee, the critical factors in choosing the SAS System
were its friendliness as an end user tool for analysis, its power,
sophistication and flexibility, and its ability to run across
multivendor platforms from mainframes to PCs.

"We have up to 20 years of accumulated data spread out in 'islands of
information' across departments and computer systems," said Mr Lee.
"We needed software with the power to reconcile this into one system,
the portability to run across departments, the flexibility to develop
solutions in line with our business and, most importantly, the ability
to run on PCs for end users," he said.

Lee said that the airline's goal is to build information systems
from a business perspective. "While many companies concentrate on
computer systems for back office functions, we are putting information
in the front line. Our aim is to give end users, people who manage the
company day to day, the tools to make the right decisions."

In the MIS department, staff are being consulted at every stage
of the project, he claims, to ensure that they move smoothly from the
previous system using Information Builders' Ramis software. "It
is important to communicate the business benefits of the SAS System so
that we have the full cooperation of MIS staff in changing methodology,"
said Mr Lee.

End users unfamiliar with statistical analysis are to receive extensive
training. "We are confident that users will be impressed with the
powerful analytical and presentational powers of the SAS System,"
said Mr Lee. "Also, the fact that it runs under Microsoft Windows
and OS/2 will make the learning process faster and more friendly."

In the longer term, Cathay is reviewing how information systems
can be used to model strategic business decisions.

(Brett Cameron/19920827/Press Contact: Nigel Gasper, SAS: +852-
568 4280;HK time is GMT + 8)


(NEWS)(IBM)(HKG)(00004)

IBM AS/400 Software For Insurance Companies 08/28/92
WANCHAI, HONG KONG, 1992 AUG 28 (NB) -- CSSL, one of Hong Kong's
leading IBM resellers and part-owned by IBM, has launched a new
software package for the IBM AS/400, designed to help general
insurance companies expand their operations.

Called Genius, the package is based on insurance industry specifications
and practises gathered from all over the world, the company says.
This unique development methodology means that customers can use
Genius to trade in any insurance market.

"Most insurance packages are market specific. That means packages
developed for the insurance industry in the US are not entirely
suitable for use in Europe, and vice versa," said CSSL Investment
Systems Manager Marco Lai. "Genius is flexible and completely
origin independent. It is an ideal solution for ambitious general
insurance companies to use as a base for expansion plans."

Developed by the UK-based specialist software house, EPG Computer
Services Ltd, Genius is already making its mark in the
international insurance market. Three US insurance firms have
adopted the package, as have four UK-based insurance companies.

"The Genius system is translatable into any language that uses a
Roman alphabet and it can allow for accounting conventions that
differ between countries," said Lai. "This means that Genius is
perfect for multi-national insurance companies that want to
standardize the systems in their overseas subsidiaries while
allowing for variations in local requirements."

The package provides a range of general insurance functions,
from the control of new business through to statutory reporting.
As well as featuring a fully integrated word processing capability,
Genius also has a PC interface. All input and processing functions
are strictly controlled, with tight security placed on access to
jobs and data.

Report generators built into Genius enable managers to monitor the
profitability of all insurance products, as well as to revise
underwriting guidelines and plan and control the direction of their
business. In addition, Genius offers an unique creative policy
generator that allows underwriters to develop policies without
having to reprogram the package.

"A product definition routine describes the characteristics of
each type of insurance policy. This means that a company can
develop and launch new insurance products quickly and
economically," said Mr Lai.

Unlike many AS/400-based applications, which are written in RPG
or COBOL, Genius was developed using sophisticated fourth
generation programming techniques and powerful CASE tools from
Synon.

"CSSL has been the Hong Kong distributor for Synon CASE tools
since 1987," said Mr Lai. "Our expertise with Synon's CASE tools
places us in a unique position to deliver a high level of service
and support to potential Genius users."

CSSL (Commercial Software Services Ltd) is one of Asia's leading
suppliers of IBM mid-range computers, software and consultancy.

(Brett Cameron/19920827/Press contact: Ally Ho, CSSL, tel: +852-
806 1622;HK time is GMT + 8)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(WAS)(00005)

ROUNDUP: Stories Carried By Other Media This Week 08/28/92
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 28 (NB) -- Roundup is a brief
look at some computer stories carried in other publications
received here this past week.

This month's (October) issue of Boardwatch Magazine, contains a
list of 43 Internet host providers and 583 FIDONET coordinator
BBSs. Boardwatch's BBS data service has just added Newsbytes stories
to the files it supplies to hundreds of BBS.

August 24's Network World looks at the IBM-Sears Advantis joint
venture which will consolidate the two former rival's national and
international value added network operations. Meanwhile Computerworld
says that IBM/Sears' Prodigy has just renewed a contract with BT
Tymnet - a major Advantis rival.

Computer Reseller News dated August 24 says that Microsoft is planning
a surprise October unveiling for its Windows for Workgroups which
will be bundled with a low cost Ethernet adapter from Intel.

Communications Week for the 24th says that although IBM has just
shipped its one-millionth copy of OS/2 2.0 and a total 1.2
million copies of all versions of OS/2, only 27 percent or about
325,000 copies, are in use. In contrast, Microsoft ships one
million copies of Windows 3.x each month, and more than 3.6
million copies are actually in use.

The August 24 issue of Computerworld surveyed users about Wang's
potential for a comeback and found that 37 percent are looking
for a new vendor, 34 percent are staying with Wang at least for
the short term, 20 percent are not changing their plans to buy
Wang products, and 4 percent are sticking with Wang-only offices.

This week's Informationweek asks if 11 is the last chapter for
Wang.

September's Unixworld shows how to find the latest public domain
software using Internet's Archie listing service which monthly
scans and indexes the file directories at 600 Internet sites.
This is important because Internet carries many thousands of
gigabytes of files.

(John McCormick/19920828/)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SYD)(00006)

 ****Fifth Generation Tech Support Barely Fazed By Hurricane 08/28/92
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1992 AUG 28 (NB) -- Fifth Generation
Systems has introduced a toll-free support service for Australian
and other non-US resellers and users. The big difference is that
the support center is in the company's headquarters in Baton
Rouge, Louisiana, and available 24 hours, seven days a week -- with
the exception of just six hours offline after Hurricane Andrew.

The hurricane passed within a few miles of Baton Rouge Wednesday
and although most of the city was left without power, Fifth Generation
was back up and running on its own power supplies.

Newsbytes' Australian bureau tested the overseas toll-free tech
service by ringing from Australia and found Shannon Jacob in
customer service to be very helpful. It was even a pleasure to
listen to a little bit of Louisiana breakfast radio while we waited.

Toll-free lines are also available in New Zealand, Malaysia,
Indonesia, Singapore, South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Thailand and
Japan. Shannon said that the UK office also operated technical
support for Europe.

Robert Chen, Fifth Generation Systems managing director for
Asia Pacific, said the service was just one proof that his company
is aiming to become the world's leading supplier of PC and Mac
utilities. Products include back-up, security, anti-virus, file
management, file recovery, menuing and screen savers. One of
the best known products is Brooklyn Bridge, a PC to PC file
transfer utility.

Another unusual part of the company's service is a one-year
unconditional money back guarantee on all products. "If any of
our customers are dissatisfied with any of our products, for
whatever reason, they can simply send them back to us for a
refund, within seven days." said Chen.

For interest's sake, the number from Australia is 0014-800-128493
and from New Zealand 0800-447882. Australian PC users are
familiar with the 0014-800 numbers because of the US-based mail
order computer suppliers which are able to sell at up to 50 percent
less than local Australian dealers.

(Paul Zucker/19920828/Press Contact: Fifth Generation Systems
Jorge Vallery, 504/291-7221)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(TYO)(00007)

Voice Recognition Telephone Developed By Sharp 08/28/92
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1992 AUG 28 (NB) -- Sharp has developed an unique
telephone which can recognize the voice of its registered owner and
responds to his or her commands.

Sharp reports that the telephone, the CJ-A50, can automatically dial
itself when requested by the voice of a registered user. The device is
equipped with an original voice recognition LSI chip capable of
recognizing the voice of a particular person. 20 different telephone
numbers can be stored in this telephone. The telephone activates,
for instance, when the user says "3333-3333," at which point the
chip issues the instruction to dial the target telephone number.
TV sound or background speech is recognized by the chip as noise, and
noise is differentiated from human commands.

Sharp contends that the voice recognition rate is 96 percent.
This voice recognition telephone supports a maximum of six units of
cordless sub-telephones, which are connected with the main telephone
set. The retail price of this telephone with two sub-telephone units
is 134,000 yen ($1,050).

Sharp is expected to apply this technology to other home electronics
appliances in the near future. The possible applications could be
in a television set, on a microwave oven, and for an air-conditioner.
More work will also be done to polish up the technology so that
it recognizes more words and several different human voices.

(Masayuki "Massey" Miyazawa/19920828/Press Contact: Sharp, +81-
6-621-1221)


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

 ****Japanese Police Creating High-Tech Telecom Network 08/28/92
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1992 AUG 28 (NB) -- The Japanese National Police
Agency says it will install large-scale telecommunication devices
including personal computers and picture phones at its police boxes
throughout the country. The high-tech equipment should enable the
officers to respond to crimes much faster. The network is a five-year
project with a 50 billion yen ($400 million) budget.

To start, the Japanese National Police agency will install a
personal computer and a TV phone at about 1,660 of these police
boxes by 1997. The computer and the TV phone are to be connected to
the host computer of the National Police Agency. With the computers,
officers will be able to obtain instant information on stolen cars,
lost items, suspect descriptions, and other crime data through a
database maintained at the host computer. The TV phone would be used
to see the faces of suspects and those previously convicted in the
event they are apprehended at other crimes.

Also, the picture phone will be used to connect with a language
translator for foreign residents at the police station.

There are about 6,500 police boxes throughout Japan, and most of
them are staffed by two policemen who are assigned to handle local
problems. The new computer systems will now provide them with their
own, customizable database that would include a list of
unoccupied houses and elderly persons who are living alone.

The National Police Agency is currently operating its own
radio network, which connects police headquarters with the police boxes.

(Masayuki "Massey" Miyazawa/19920828)


(NEWS)(IBM)(LAX)(00009)

New For PC: Mediadeveloper For Multimedia Development 08/28/92
ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 28 (NB) -- Lenel Systems
has announced Mediadeveloper is available. The company says the
product is aimed at programmers and is for development of stand-alone
Windows multimedia applications or for adding multimedia
capabilities to existing applications.

The company says Mediadeveloper works with any Windows application
development environment that supports dynamic link libraries (DLL)
such as Visual Basic, Objectvision, Realizer, Superbase 4, or C.
Core media control capabilities are provided in the package so video,
sound, animation, graphics, and images can be incorporated into an
application.

The company says multimedia cataloging features can be added to
an application so multimedia information will be recognized by
the application, which will then record automatically the file
type and location. Two 32-character and one 128-character name
can be given to each multimedia object.

Lenel offered the example of the use of Mediadeveloper in an
application for real estate agents. The company said a system
could be created so real estate agents could input text about a
property, graphical information such as a floor plan, and video
footage. Agents could then search the data for specific
properties to meet a client's needs.

Also, the multimedia objects cataloged by Mediadeveloper can be
shared or re-used in other applications, the company added.

Developers can also sequence multimedia objects for a self
running show. A time can be assigned to each multimedia event
and digital audio files can also be synched with visual
information, the company added.

Devices controlled by Mediadeveloper include any video device
that supports the Microsoft Media Control Interface (MCI)
driver. Lenel said most Sony consumer camcorders, video
cassette recorders (VCRs), and the Vdeck video drive can be
controlled by Mediadeveloper through the Sony Video System
Control Architecture (VISCA) protocol.

Applications that incorporate Mediadeveloper can become
multimedia servers to other Windows applications via Windows
Object Linking and Embedding (OLE). This means users can cut
and past multimedia information from applications that
incorporate Mediadeveloper to other applications that also
support OLE, where the multimedia information will appear as an
icon that will play when double clicked.

Lenel says Mediadeveloper will work with information in more
than 30 file formats, including animation, audio, text, vector
graphics, and bitmap graphics, and digital or analog video. The
company also provides support for networks in the product,
including Novell Netware, 3Com 3+, 3Com 3+ Open, IBM PC LAN,
AT&T Stargroup, and Banyan.

Mediadeveloper requires an IBM or 100 percent compatible
personal computer with at least a 386SX microprocessor, 4
megabytes of random access memory (RAM), an 80 MB hard disk
drive, a video graphics array (VGA) display, MS-DOS 3.1 or
higher, Windows 3.0 or 3.1, and a mouse or pointing device.

The product is retail priced at $595 and network and multiple
user site licenses are available, Lenel said.

Rochester, New York-based Lenel has also announced two other
products, Mediaorganizer and Mpcorganizer, for cataloging
multimedia information in a database-type format so it can be
found again when needed. Both Mediaorganizer and Mpcorganizer
are end user products and both offer basically the same
functionality with the difference that Mediaorganizer offers
video device control.

(Linda Rohrbough/19920828/Press Contact: Gary Baker, Technology
Solutions for Lenel, tel [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(DEL)(00010)

India's New Trade Show Gets Lukewarm Reception 08/28/92
NEW DELHI, INDIA, 1992 AUG 28 (NB) -- What was slated as a rival
show to India's biggest annual computer convention and exhibition,
so far, of the Computer Society of India, has passed off in low-key.

MAIT (Manufacturers' Association of Information Technology), the prime
lobby for the Indian computer industry, preempted the CSI '92
(scheduled for 16-19 September in Madras) by organizing its own
event, IT 92, in New Delhi's prestigious fair facility, Pragati
Maidan, during 22-25 August. Patronage and fraternity of the MAIT
members filled about 300 stalls. All the big vendors came out with
announcements after a lull of more than one year during which time
the industry experienced hiccups in the process of the economic,
industrial, and trade reorientation policies of the government.

Wipro Infotech unveiled the largest range of new systems. Loud and
visible from the Wipro stable is its Synergy 400 - a symmetrical
multiprocessing 50 MHz, four-CPU (i486s) system running on SUR
4.2 MP, which will be scalable to the P5 chip.

HCL Hewlett-Packard had on view its much-talked about HP 9000
series 867 business server that can support over 6,000 users in
an OLTP environment.

Digital Equipment (India) Ltd. and ICIM (ICL's Indian associate)
had their own line-up: DECSystem 5000 series models and DRS 6000
compact and twin-CPU version, respectively.

Scores of software packages apart, the bulk of the stalls represented
computer peripherals. With the recent change in trade policy which
hinted at lowering import duty rates for peripherals, subassemblies,
and raw materials, the indigenous peripherals manufacturers seem
to have given up the local manufacturing path. Thus, the established
companies like Godrej, Wipro Peripherals, TVS Electronics, L&T, Lipi
Data, all now have a range of international brands from Epson to
Panasonic.

The maiden show by the MAIT turned out to be of hardware all the
way. However, the Open Systems Pavilion was a star attraction.
Different systems from various vendors were hooked together over
a network, which had a thick wire Ethernet IEEE 802.3 as the
backbone. Across the platforms, the operating systems varied
from MS-DOS, VAX/VMS, UNIX SVR4, SCO/UNIX, ULTRIX, HP/UX and Sun
OS. Moreover, applications developed on RDBMSs like Sybase, Ingres
and Oracle were run successfully through the network that extended
to other wide area networks across Delhi and other locations.

While MAIT has made its debut, CSI 92 is awaiting its turn to
prove "CSI is CSI," which attracts thousands of delegates from the
user community as well as a stampede of local crowd to see the
metal, plastic and glows of the computer fete.

(C.T. Mahabharat/19920826)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(SYD)(00011)

Australia: Advanced Engineering/Telecom Course Funded 08/28/92
ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA, 1992 AUG 28 (NB) -- The University of Adelaide
has won an initial AUS$2.1M grant for the establishment of the
Advanced Engineering Center for Information Technology and
Telecommunications (AECIT&T). The AEC is one of three to be
established after funding was announced in the federal budget handed
down last week.

In addition to the initial grant, the three AECs will also receive
AUS$500,000 a year for on-going costs. The Australian Institute of
Engineers has been calling for many years for the establishment of
ten AECs throughout Australia. Despite the cautious approach (due in
no small part to the current recession), the move has been welcomed
and South Australia has several reasons to celebrate its "win."

Out of the 32 initial expressions of interest, Adelaide's bid was
one of only three to succeed. The bid involved all three of the
state's universities and the Regency College of TAFE (Technical and
Further Education), and was also the most focussed (in terms of
goals) of the successful bids.

The center, when it opens in 1994, will offer graduates a two-year
Masters Degree of Engineering in Information Technology. The bid
actually gave the government two course formats from which to choose.

The first involved two years of "conventional" study, and two at the
AEC, resulting in a Bachelor of Engineering Science degree, and the
second (chosen) format of three years of conventional study to gain
the Bachelor of Engineering Science degree, followed by the two-year
AEC course. Although the EAC will strengthen South Australia's claim
as one of the premier locations for telecommunications research and
development in Australia, Professor Harry Green, who helped put the
AEC proposal together, doesn't see it as trying to greedily "load"
South Australia with expertise. "We view the (IT&T) industry as a
national one. We would hope when we reach 'steady state' no more
than half our students will come from South Australia. The aim is
not to keep all the graduates in Adelaide but we would expect a
residue to stay to fuel South Australian industry," Green said.

(Sean McNamara/19920828)


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

Rosenbluth Travel Goes Online 08/28/92
WHITE PLAINS, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 28 (NB) -- Rosenbluth
Travel signed an agreement to put its travel-reservations service
on the Prodigy System. The system is called Book-A-Trip, and
includes e-mail services as well as booking and billing.

In a press statement, Prodigy vice president Chet Thompson noted
that Rosenbluth is the first travel agent to go online. Rosenbluth
Chairman Lee Rosenbluth noted he's offering Prodigy members the
same guarantees of his offices, namely free overnight delivery of
all tickets, special incentives and discounts, negotiated hotel and
car rental rates and 24-hour toll-free worldwide emergency assistance.

Other travel features on Prodigy include the Mobil Travel Guide, a
travel bulletin board, Zagat's restaurant reviews, and the Eaasy
Sabre air reservation system. In all fairness to competing systems,
many of the latter services are also available on other online
systems.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19920828/Press Contact: Melinda Rippy Smith,
Rosenbluth Travel, 215-981-1710)


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

Update: Korea Postpones Cellular Tender 08/28/92
SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA, 1992 AUG 28 (NB) -- In an update to a Newsbytes
story filed August 27, South Korean communications minister, Song
Eon-jong formally announced that his government has decided to
delay awarding a second cellular license until after President
Roh Tae-woo steps down in February, 1993.

Six consortia, all with foreign phone company participation, had
filed for the award, which will compete with an existing cellular
system run by state-controlled Korea Telecom. Sunkyong Group had
been given the nod a week ago, but stepped-down after Kim Young-
Sam, the presidential candidate of Roh's own party, made a
personal appeal to its chairman. Kim was concerned that the
chairman is an in-law of the President, and the nepotism charges
might hurt the party in coming elections. Sunkyong's partners in
the bid, including GTE of the US, Vodafone of the United
Kingdom, and Hutchison Telecom of Hong Kong, had all urged that
it not step aside.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19920828)


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

Andrew Update: Systems Returning to Normal 08/28/92
ATLANTA, GEORGIA, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 28 (NB) -- BellSouth's South
Central Bell unit reported that damage in Louisiana from
Hurricane Andrew was not as bad as first feared, with only about
5,000 lines out of service and about one-fourth of over 260 local
switches using back-up power as a precaution. The remnants of the
hurricane passed over BellSouth's Atlanta offices overnight.

The company said it is moving portable coin telephones, like
those used by reporters at news sites, into areas of heaviest
damage for those people who have lost service. All the phones can
be used with calling cards. Most of the damage came from tree
limbs falling on wires serving homes and businesses -- most of
those wires in South Florida are buried underground.

In South Florida, which saw very heavy damage and where some
towns like Homestead practically ceased to exist, Southern Bell
began offering advanced features like call forwarding and memory
call so people can have some phone access even if their lines are
out. The company also waived transfer charges for people moving
to a temporary location. Charges for these services will not
begin until October 2.

Cellular One and AT&T began offering free emergency cellular and
long distance service to residents in the area worst hit by the
hurricane. Three emergency locations were set up, using portable
cell sites on wheels, providing coverage over 99 percent of Dade
County. Motorola personnel from Boynton Beach, Florida, where
the company's paging operations are located, were also offering
invaluable help during the crisis, Newsbytes learned. Cellular
One's Louisiana system also added an emergency phone center in
Lafayette to one in Shreveport. Cellular One also distributed 400
phones to emergency workers, and put another 2,000 units on
standby. Cellular One officials estimate they are providing
$20,000 per day in service and $300,000 worth of equipment to
essential service agencies.

AT&T said it handled a half-billion calls between August 23-26,
the largest calling surge ever reported on its network. Calling
volumes were as much as 500 percent above normal, and were still
35 percent above normal as late as August 27. The company said it
rushed 50,000 feet of fiber cable to BellSouth to repair damage
to its network.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19920828/Press Contact: Cellular One,
Jacqueline Stewart, 407/346-4595; Spero C. Canton, Southern Bell,
305-530-5405; Paula Horii, AT&T, 908-221-8422; Cathye McDonald,
South Central Bell, 504-528-2216)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(ATL)(00015)

Horse-Race Gambling At Home 08/28/92
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 28 (NB) -- In his cartoon
"Television of Tomorrow," released in the early 1950s, MGM
animator Tex Avery featured a "set for bettors" which let them
make wagers on horse races from their home. The joke was that a
bookie was in the bottom of the set.

NTN Communications, best known for its QB1 football game, hopes to
put an electronic bookie in every set with its proposed Cable
Wagering Service. Dan Downs, NTN's vice president and chief
operating officer, explained the program to marketing executives
of the Thoroughbred Racing Associations, The Harness Tracks of
America and the American Quarter Horse Racing Associations.

The new game is based on a test run of "Triples," an interactive
horse racing game on the GTE Mainstreet Service in California.
Downs said the California Federation of Racing Associations Inc.,
has introduced legislation that would permit interactive
television wagering. "We are now convinced there is a tremendous
demand for a cable wagering service in the home. Working side by
side with the racing industry, we plan to provide an expanded
test in those states where it is legal some time in late 1993,"
he said.

Downs proposed that NTN's Cable Wagering Service allow consumers
to open an account with a race track. By using the television
remote control, a consumer will select the race, horse, and wager
on the interactive menu. Temporary accounts will also be an
option of NTN's interactive service.

NTN's interactive games are offered on the GEnie service, and
now reach over 1.5 million participants per month.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19920828/Press Contact: NTN Communications,
Dan Downs, 619/438-7400)


(EDITORIAL)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00016)

Editorial: Andrew - Praise and Blame 08/28/92
ATLANTA, GEORGIA, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 28 (NB) -- Editorial by
Dana Blankenhorn. At the end of a "CBS Evening News" broadcast
this week, correspondent and Miami resident Bernard Goldberg
told anchor Dan Rather "We've gotten very good at covering the
suffering of other people. It's different when it happens to you."
Goldberg then went on to describe streets and sights he knew well
destroyed by Hurricane Andrew, some never to be replaced.

Truer words were seldom spoken. And in the wake of the terrible
storm, the time has now come for an evaluation of how well "we"
did.

First, I'd give a gold medal to Goldberg, Rather, and their TV
colleagues for coverage of the disaster. Using mobile satellite
equipment, live pictures were available the day after the
hurricane hit, from both Florida and Louisiana. Victims were
interviewed live and direct, both on major networks and on CNN,
which pioneered the technique. The result was a massive outpouring
of compassion and help from around the US.

The silver medal goes to the area's telecommunications companies,
especially BellSouth, McCaw Cellular, AT&T, and Motorola, which
quickly re-established personal communications between victims
and the outside world. South Florida's telephone system was quickly
brought back up-to-speed in part because local cables were buried
underground.

In most places, including Louisiana, telephone cables represent
highways for squirrels, and are easy prey for falling tree limbs.
But even in Louisiana, crews from many states worked overtime to
restore service, and banks of pay phones were trucked-in to make sure
everyone impacted by the storm could call friends and relatives for
the help they needed, or merely to reassure them that some things
were all right.

The bronze medal goes to the thousands of volunteers who tried to
help, in large and small ways, in the wake of the disaster in
South Florida. Special mention goes to the brave people in a tiny
Cessna plane who tried to fly into the area but crashed shortly
after take-off, killing two.

Human nature took its toll, here as everywhere. There were
looters in the wake of the storm. There is now profiteering in
the wake of Andrew, especially in plywood and building materials
but in other goods as well. A special place in Hell is reserved
for those kinds of people, even if they are never punished on
Earth for what they did. Some of their souls were found wanting
on national TV. The rest will be forced to live with themselves
anonymously, which may be a heavier penalty.

Finally, the US government. Bill Clinton may not want to make
political hay out of this mess, but someone has to say it. The
lack of coordination of volunteers, which should have been done
by our government, has been shameful. The National Guard was
called out, but did nothing but stand guard over the ruins. We
have become experts at moving masses of people thousands of miles
for killing other people, or for protecting property. If ever a
crisis called for military action, not to kill or protect but to
relieve suffering, this was it. One of our own Air Force bases
was destroyed, for pity's sake, and the Air Force only let
resident-victims in for a few hours to pick through the debris of
their lives, kicking them out at 5 PM for fear they might....what?
I don't know.

It is one thing when suffering in Somalia or Bosnia is ignored
for weeks, and people brutalize one another. One can argue that
is not our government's problem. But to watch what is happening
in South Florida right now, emergency workers begging their
government for supplies on television, while the government frets
it hasn't gotten the proper paperwork, just turns my stomach. Our
citizens have been thousands of points of light in this crisis.
But our government, which could have coordinated that light, and
which should have used all its might to relieve the suffering,
has done too little.

I can forgive George Bush a lot of things. Maybe the economy is
bad all over the world. Maybe he's never made a mistake in
foreign policy, and can't be blamed for extremism within his own
party. I can even forgive Dan Quayle. But this I can't forgive.
And this I won't forget in November.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19920828)


(REVIEW)(IBM)(SFO)(00017)

Review of: FAXability Plus 1.0 08/28/92

Runs on: 80286 or higher AT-compatible computer. Requires
Microsoft Windows 3.x, 2MB RAM, 6MB hard disk for operations
(additional 6MB free), DOS 3.3 or higher, with graphics adapter card;
and a Class 1, Class 2, Sendfax or CAS-compatible fax device (card
or external).

From: Intel Corporation, 2200 Mission College Blvd., P.O. Box 58119, Santa
Clara, CA 95052-8119. Tel: [phone] or 503-629-7354.

Suggested List Price: $119 Street Price: $70+

PUMA Rating: 3.8 (on a scale of 1=lowest to 4=highest)

Reviewed for Newsbytes by: Thom Foulks, Business Radio Network

Summary: FAXability Plus is a leapfrog jump beyond current computerized
fax leader WinFax Pro (Delrina Technology), with outstanding
implementation of the Windows interface.

======

REVIEW

======

When Intel began shipping its top-rated SatisFAXtion fax/modem/scanner
cards in early 1991, Windows users were all but ignored. Although
Intel's DOS-level "fax" program could operate from within a DOS window,
its performance was filled with superfluous prompts, awkward mouse-click
locations, and only a rudimentary graphics display of received fax
transmissions. Toronto's Delrina Technology rapidly capitalized on
Intel's oversight, and its WinFax Pro fax-handling software soon also
became top-rated.

With FAXability Plus, Intel (with the help of Alien Computing, developers
of FaxIt software) clearly wants to regain the market it missed a 1 1/2
years ago -- even as Delrina is expected to release an enhanced version
of its product prior to year's end. Conspicuously, this is a market
area where users will benefit from high-quality competition.

My evaluation of FAXability Plus is likely more elaborate than most
fax users will encounter. I have a SatisFAXtion Modem/400 (newest)
installed on a '386DX/33, an original SatisFAXtion installed on a
'486DX/25, and a Viva fax/modem installed on a '286/12. (Intel claims
compatibility with the products of more than ten fax/modem manufacturers.)

The '386, which also hosts a BBS, is the receiver for fax traffic in my
office; the '486 is the source of most outgoing fax traffic; and the
'286 is used as a comparison testbed for all software claiming downward
compatibility.

FAXability Plus installed and operated properly on all three machines,
albeit with a teeth-gritting slowness of display on the '286 that
is barely tolerable. (It's REALLY time for Windows software developers
to stop claiming functionality on '286 machines.)

For those who have not used a fax device from inside Windows, the
operation is deceptively simple. The fax software installs as an
additional printer driver, and functions from within any Windows
application that allows a printer choice. This gives you the full
graphical output power of Windows at the fax recipient's end, with
printed output that cannot be matched by a traditional fax machine
(no image-copying occurs). Fax transmission standards provide a
"fine" mode that is the equivalent of 200 DPI (dots per inch). When
compared to the base-level laser printer output of 300 DPI, the receiver
of a computer-originated fax may well be startled by its high print
quality.

Intel refers to this ability as WYPIWYF (whippy-whiff), and has even
trademarked the What-You-Print-Is-What-You-Fax acronym (which is why
it hasn't joined the ad lexicon of other manufacturers, as has
WYSIWYG.) From within a Windows application, you can cut-and-paste
unlimited combinations of text and graphics, "printing" them to your
fax phone line as easily as you would to a desktop printer. Within
the 200 DPI fax limitations, printed and fax output is identical.

In operation, FAXability Plus provides an intelligently designed
Windows menu, with an optional seven-item button bar across the top
and four mode-choosing icons across the bottom. The button bar is
intuitive, providing only the choices appropriate for a given mode
(others are grayed out). The modes include "Faxmodem Status,"
"Inbox," "Outbox," and "Phonebook."

Clicking inbox or outbox shows you a log of in-and-out activity, with the
latest log entry at the top of the file. With the phonebook option,
you can add or edit phonebook entries (but there is NO file import
capability!), as well as create and edit recipient groups for "fax
broadcasting." Multiple phonebooks are supported, but they must
conform to CAS format.

In the "Send Fax" mode, FAXability Plus's input screen emulates a fax
cover page, with a logo (your choice of .PCX files) at the top, a space
for a plain text note, and an open phone book ready for mouse-click
choice of recipient(s) -- yes, a "onetime only" group can be built
on-the-fly. Faxes can be scheduled for time and date of transmission,
and Windows need not be running (but the fax drivers must be loaded)
for the schedule to be followed.

Viewing received faxes may well be this product's most handsome function.
Fax images can be zoomed in-and-out from a button bar; areas of an
image may be copied to the Windows clipboard (but not directly to file!)
and a multi-page fax can be viewed as a scrollable image. Image file
load-and-display time is perceptibly faster than typical .PCX editors,
such as Windows Paintbrush. Upside-down faxes, a common computer
fax problem, can be rapidly flipped.

Not tested: FAXability Plus, Intel says, also supports the new TWAIN
specification which permits one-step scanning/faxing of a printed
document; I've yet to receive a TWAIN-compatible driver for my
Logitech Scanman. (Fax users should also note a follow-on product,
FAXability Plus/OCR for conversion of fax graphic-image text to
ASCII, has yet to ship.) Similarly, Intel claims advanced ease-of-use
for laptop/notebook fax users -- a group of which I'm not a member.

For now (while awaiting the next competitive software step), I've
converted my Windows fax use to FAXability Plus. But stand by for
further word...

===========

PUMA RATING

===========

PERFORMANCE: (4.0) With a Windows interface implementation which could be a
model for other developers, FAXability Plus combines flexible functionality
with suberb output. Truly, a classy product!

USEFULNESS: (3.5) How did the shrewd programmers at Intel and Alien miss the
crying need for a phone number file-import capability? My "personal" fax
directory includes 326 entries; Business Radio Network's corporate fax list is
above 500 entries. The CAS standard, Intel claims, has more than 100
applications -- but where's the converter for the "DEFAULT.PB" phonebook
file format? (WinFax Pro imports properly formatted comma-delimited
ASCII files.) Otherwise, an exceptionally usable product for those in
the growing community of computerized fax users and priced to be a
market leader.

MANUAL: (4.0) At a slim 66 pages, the manual is well-indexed and
well-written. But, as with many newer Windows products, the
context-sensitive online help is in greater depth, instantly available,
and relegates the printed manual to a distant shelf.

AVAILABILITY: (4.0) FAXability Plus was delayed from its targeted May
shipping date, and in late July was just beginning to make its
appearance in standard software distribution channels. Ordering
information may be obtained by phone (numbers above). Intel provides
support by virtually all means, from voice (non-toll-free) to fax to
BBS to CompuServe and MCI Mail.

(Thom Foulks/19920828)


(REVIEW)(IBM)(SFO)(00018)

Review of: Microsoft Windows 3.1 08/28/92

From: Microsoft Corp., One Microsoft Way, Redmond, WA 98052-0399

Price: Direct from Microsoft for $59.99, plus $6 shipping, plus sales tax.
A Microsoft salesperson told Newsbytes that the actual "street-price"
can be down around the $30 mark.

PUMA Rating: 3.875 (on a scale of 1=lowest to 4=highest)

Reviewed for Newsbytes by: Ian Stokell 08/28/92

Summary: An improvement on the 3.0 version. An excellent GUI, especially
for those that dislike arcane DOS commands.

======

REVIEW

======

It's hard to imagine a more controversial computing product than Microsoft's
Windows graphical user interface (GUI). "Mac-heads" contend that the
product is merely a second-rate version of the Macintosh interface, while
"DOS-dinosaurs" deride the product for slowing everything down and for
crashing the PC too much. If you want a GUI, they shout, you
should get a Mac.

But the fact is that Windows sold a reported ten million copies, even
before version 3.1 came out (although, admittedly many of those came
bundled with newly bought PCs). But the GUI has made computing life
easier for many people who would otherwise be intimidated by the
"unfriendly" C: prompt. It also allowed them to obtain a relatively
easy-to-use interface for a reasonably-priced hardware platform (i.e.
the IBM PC). It also allowed many companies to reduce the cost of
training workers by consolidating all their applications around Windows,
thus making it easier for new employees to learn to use the company's
office software.

But this review doesn't offer any arguments for the Windows GUI.
(Without it, I would have gone straight on to a Mac as my first
computer purchase, but at the time the entry-level Macs were too
expensive, so I chose a PC with Windows, and I might add, I'm glad I did).
Instead, the review simply looks at some feature improvements of Windows
3.1 over version 3.0. At least, it looks at the ones that have
affected my use of the PC the most.

One of the main improvements from my point of view, comes with a
much better File Manager. The one in version 3.0 lacked some pretty
important features and had some annoying traits with which you had to be
careful. Not least was the problem of selecting multiple files for
deleting. To select more than one file you had to (and still do) hold
down the "control" key while clicking on the multiple files with the
mouse. The problem was that the first "default" file selected when
you opened File Manager was the "System" subdirectory. If you
didn't make sure the directory was de-selected when choosing
multiple files, you could end up deleting the entire directory if you
chose to override the "confirm delete" box that came up after you
had chosen to delete the first time. I only ever switched off that
second back-up "confirm delete" option once.

It just so happened that on that occasion I forgot to de-select the
"System" subdirectory when I selected my multiple files. Before
I knew it I had deleted my entire System subdirectory! While version
3.1 still has the second "Confirm File Delete" option that you click
on before deleting files, the first file selected when you open up File
Manager is not the System subdirectory!

The File Manager in version 3.1 is much more appealing. The main list
of directories sits on the left side of the screen, while the files of
whichever directory is selected take up the right side of the screen.
The amount of space taken up by the actual listing of files can be
adjusted by using the "Split" command in the "View" pull-down
menu. In effect it can take up most of the screen. With the listing of
directories and subdirectories on the left side of the screen, my
Windows directory files that were actually on screen totalled more
than 130 on the right side at any one time. Very useful for viewing
big directories without having to scroll.

Installation of Windows 3.1 was meant to be quick and painless -
you choose either the "Custom Setup" option, where you stipulate
what files to be installed, or the "Express Setup" option, where it
installs automatically. If Windows 3.0 is already on the disk it
will see that and just install the files needed to update everything.

The problem with the File Manager described earlier was probably
the reason I had trouble with the installation. Basically, I couldn't
start Windows 3.1 after completing the easier install option. It
seems that when I re-installed Windows 3.0, I guess I must have
not installed some files that Windows 3.1 now wanted! As a
consequence it kept telling me to re-install Windows 3.1 before it
would work. After two re-install attempts I decided to erase all
my Windows files and install it as a new installation completely
from scratch. It worked first time when I did that.

One of the aspects of Windows I will miss most with Windows 3.1
is the excessive amounts of "Uninterruptible Application Error"
crashes that I kept getting with version 3.0. As I used to do most
of my word processing in Windows Write and exit to Grammatik for
spell-checking, there were many an occasion when I would be within
half a page of finishing a long draft when the dreaded UAE would
ignite on the screen forcing a re-boot or something equally as
drastic! The increased stability within Windows 3.1 is something
many users will notice and appreciate. I migrated to WordPerfect
"5.1 for Windows, but because I only have two megabytes (MB) of
RAM it took forever to spell-check. So now I use Word for Windows
which gets through the checking faster.

Other notable enhancements and features in Windows 3.1 that are
worth mentioning are: the TrueType fonts (which are scalable, and
an improvement over 3.0's bit-mapped offerings); object linking
and embedding (which allows for the "live" linking of data from
one program to another, so that when information is changed in
one application, it automatically updates in another); and
Multimedia Extensions (a collection of peripheral drivers,
utilities, and dynamic link libraries that allow for the use of,
such multimedia features as, CD-ROM storage and digital sound,
providing you've forked out a hefty bundle to upgrade and add the
required hardware).

For those doubters out there who maintain that Windows is still
tough for the non-computer-user, I put the "win" command in the
autoexec.bat file so Windows fires up immediately after boot-up
without me having to do anything (I told you I didn't like DOS). To
make it easier for my wife (a total non-computerite) to open a file
she's working on, I allocate an icon to her specific text file and keep
it on the main screen in Program Manager. By allocating an
application (i.e. Word) to be associated with that file, when she
clicks on the picture of her file, Word starts up and her file opens
automatically, allowing her to get down to work immediately. All
she has to do is click on a single icon to get started. As far as I can
see, Windows can be as easy as you want it to be, or as complex
as a confused mind will allow!

One last point -- Windows is a great integrated software package
for the new user. It has a fine word processor in Write (although
no spell-checker, thesaurus, or search-and-replace), it has a basic
but adequate communications package in Terminal, an excellent
File Manager for manipulating files, and an easy-to-use and
effective paint program called PaintBrush. I like Windows 3.1
better than I liked 3.0, and I liked 3.0 a lot!

===========

PUMA RATING

===========

PERFORMANCE: 3.5. There's no question it's not exactly speedy
when used on entry-level, i.e. 386SX-based, PCs. But the new
features and enhancements, such as a better File Manager, make
this a worthy upgrade to 3.0.

USEFULNESS: 4.0. Good value, even at the Microsoft retail price.
Great as an integrated software package, or as a platform for
other, more comprehensive, applications.

MANUAL: 4.0. Excellent documentation.

AVAILABILITY: 4.0. You can get the product from just about
anywhere. Plenty of support too.

(Ian Stokell/19920828)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(TOR)(00019)

Canada: Electronic Tax Filing Extended 08/28/92
OTTAWA, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1992 AUG 28 (NB) -- Revenue Canada
Taxation has completed the final step in rolling out electronic tax
filing across the country. The service is now being offered to tax
preparers in Ontario and the four Atlantic provinces.

According to documents Revenue Canada sent out to tax preparers
recently, 1,350 firms in the four Western provinces, Quebec, and
the Yukon, and Northwest Territories, filed clients' 1991 tax returns
electronically.

The program started with a pilot project in Winnipeg and Brandon,
Manitoba, early in 1990. In the first year about 5,000 income tax
returns were filed electronically through participating tax
preparers, a Revenue Canada spokesman said.

Revenue Canada plans to launch a series of seminars in September to
tell tax preparers about the system.

Revenue Canada documents say electronic filing is not limited to
tax professionals, but at present the service is not set up to
allow individuals to file their own returns electronically.

Tax preparers can file returns they prepare for their clients, or
firms or individuals may get approval to offer electronic filing by
itself as a service to people who prepare their own returns.
However, in order to provide an electronic filing service one must
complete an application form and receive approval from Revenue
Canada.

Almost any computer can be used for electronic filing, according to
Revenue Canada. Filers also need software that formats data to the
government's requirements; a number of packages are commercially
available.

(Grant Buckler/19920828/Press Contact: Greg Cartier, Revenue
Canada, 613-954-0581; Public Contact: Regional Revenue Canada
offices)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(BOS)(00020)

SofNet and ExperVision in OCR Talks 08/28/92
ATLANTA, GEORGIA, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 28 (NB) -- SofNet and ExperVision
are in discussions over a deal, if consummated, would add ExperVision's
OCR (optical character recognition) technology to SofNet's fax
software, Newsbytes has learned.

"We are in discussions, and we have some tweaks on the [OCR] idea
that I think the end users and computer publications will find very
interesting," SofNet President Pat Dane told Newsbytes.

Dane, named company chief six weeks ago, said that OCR is one of
several new technologies that SofNet will investigate over the next
60 to 90 days as the vendor maps out plans to grow into an $18 to
$20 million enterprise over the coming year.

"I'm very definitely looking at merging OCR technology into our
software," he told Newsbytes. "With five years in the fax
business, I've seen all the things that have been done right and
done wrong. Now it's just a matter of bringing together all the
right things into one product."

SofNet's new product will be quite different from Delrina's WinFax
and other fax software coming into the marketplace, stated Dane,
who brought Fax Grabber for Windows to market in late 1991 and early 1992
as general manager of fax products at Calera.

Earlier, as director of sales for Dove Computer, he oversaw product
roll-out of Dove Fax for the Macintosh, a winner of MacWorld's World
Class award.

Dane told Newsbytes that, prior to joining Calera, he launched his
own company, FaxWorks, but dissolved that concern in September,
1991. "I guess we were a little too early. Even last fall, fax
was still viewed as an `up and coming but not quite there'
technology," he commented.

By now, though, the fax marketplace has undergone an 180-degree
turn, he remarked. Lower fax/modem chip prices, favorable press
reports, and the strong support of Microsoft President Bill Gates
and other industry leaders have each played a role, he theorized.

Microsoft began to promote fax software at last fall's Comdex, and
Gates demonstrated Fax Grabber at Comdex this spring, noted Dane.
"I really think that made a difference. Whenever Bill Gates says
a technology is ready, other people start to believe it's ready,
too. We've seen that with multimedia, and now we're seeing it with
fax," he observed.

Dane added that, based on projections by IDC, Dataquest and BIS,
and the results of his talks with modem makers, he expects to see
shipment of some 5 million modems between now and early 1994.

"That's a phenomenal number of modems, and each one will need
software," he told Newsbytes. Users have been displeased with fax
software in the past, due to its limited capabilities, he noted.
"If all I can do with a received file is use a paintbrush or an
eraser on it, I'm not going to be too happy. So OCR is going to
play a major part in helping fax technology to take hold in the
future," he said.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19920828; Press contact: Chad Hill, Hill
Communications for SofNet, tel [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(BOS)(00021)

New For PC: AceCat Tablet With Pen Extensions 08/28/92
MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 28 (NB) -- "The mouse is a
very timid animal," Todd Waldman, president of AceCad, told Newsbytes.
The graphics tablet and stylus pen are bolder and more exciting, he
suggested -- and to prove it, AceCad is going to start bundling its
AceCat 5 x 5-inch tablet with the Microsoft Pen Extensions for Windows,
Version 1.0a.

Even without the pen extensions, the AceCat and accompanying pen
work with any Windows 3.1 application running off a desktop or
portable PC, and with AutoCAD, AutoSketch, DOS versions of
WordPerfect, and many other DOS-based programs.

The addition of the Microsoft extensions brings handwriting
recognition, electronic ink, and other pen capabilities to the
Windows applications, stated Waldman.

But if you're only interested in traditional applications, is it
worth your while to trade in your mouse for a tablet? Yes, said
Waldman, and precision is the reason why. The tablet and two-
button stylus pen provide "absolute" cursor control, in contrast to
the "relative" control of the mouse.

"If you're using a mouse, and you want to move the cursor from one
point on the screen the screen to another, you have to either drag
the mouse or pick it up off the table, put it down, and reposition
it. But with the tablet and pen, you can just jump right over
there," explained Wayne Johnson, technical support manager. The
added accuracy is especially useful in freehand drawing, Johnson
told Newsbytes.

Available separately for $129, the AceCat comes with a Windows 3.x
driver containing a Tablet Control Panel Utility. The utility is
used for adjusting the sensitivity of the tablet and the size of
its active area, and for swapping button configurations on the pen
and an optional four-button puck. Also provided with the AceCat
are an AADI driver for AutoCad and other Autodesk programs, plus a
Microsoft mouse driver that lets the digitizer be used with
AutoSketch, DOS versions of WordPerfect, and any other DOS
application configurable for that device.

The Microsoft Pen Extensions are sold separately for $179. But in
the new bundled deal with AceCad, the AceCat can be purchased,
together with the extensions, for $179.95.

The AceCat drivers and pen extensions can be loaded onto the hard
drive of any 386- or higher desktop, laptop or notebook PC.
Windows 3.1 is required for operating the Windows and pen
applications, and a keyboard is needed for some of the Windows and
DOS applications.

The digitizer comes with an RS-232 cable that can be plugged into
comm port 1, 2, 3 or 4. Also included are a 5-volt external power
adapter and a split Y cable for the alternate method of powering
the tablet through the keyboard.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19920827; Press contact: Todd Waldman, AceCad,
tel [phone])


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(DEL)(00022)

Malaysia Gets Videoconferencing 08/28/92
NEW DELHI, INDIA, 1992 AUG 28 (NB) -- A complete videoconferencing
network from Malaysia has just been launched. Six studios across
Malaysia have been installed to create an advanced business
communications network designed to take the country to the forefront
of telecommunications applications.

The studios will enable Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Johor Bahru, Kuantan,
Koching and Kota Kinabulu to be linked for videoconferencing.
The facilities allow any combination of studios to speak face-to-face
with each other and to have access via satellite.

The sales and marketing manager for Britain's GPT Video Systems
company, Mr. Kevin Waterhouse, explained: "Our Codec and multi-point
control units were the first developed to the world-adopted H261
signalling standard and this means the Malaysia network is future-proofed
for the rapidly expanding video markets of the 1990s.

"Telekom Malaysia's vision of the future and its ambitious development
program will give its businesses access to what is rapidly becoming
an everyday communication tool."

GPT Video Systems, which claims to have supplied equipment to nearly
70 telecom administrators worldwide, including Singapore, Hong Kong,
Indonesia and Taiwan, is doggedly pursuing the newly opened markets
like India too.

(C.T. Mahabharat/19920828)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(SFO)(00023)

New For Macintosh: Japanese Adobe Illustrator 3.2 08/28/92
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 28 (NB) -- A month after
announcing that it was developing a family of Japanese-type
products for the Microsoft Windows operating environment, Adobe
Systems has introduced a localized version of Adobe Illustrator 3.2
software for the Japanese Macintosh market.

According to the company, version 3.2J of Illustrator provides
new features for text editing, graphing and charting tools, and
improved color separation capabilities.

Japanese-specific features include: vertical and horizontal
writing; the ability to freely mix Kanji, Kana and Romaji;
word-wrapping options for hanging, binding, and spacing to fit
punctuation; and the ability to edit the character outlines of
many Japanese Type 1 typefaces.

Adobe Illustrator 3.2J software is expected to be available in
September at a suggested retail price of 120,000 yen. Registered users
of Adobe Illustrator-Japanese Version software can upgrade to the
new version for 25,000 yen. The company claims that the new program
also includes Adobe Type Manager (ATM)-Japanese version software
(a 40,000 yen value) and the Heisel Mincho W3 Type 1 typeface.

The company says that Heisel Mincho is not copy protected and
allows users to access the character outlines via Adobe Illustrator's
"Create Outlines" feature, and is the first Japanese typeface from
the Adobe Type Library with these capabilities.

The company also says that the program's new drawing tools
include the ability to pull guides out from rulers, create a guide
from any drawn object, or turn guides into objects that can be
easily edited. Users can also create transparent cut-outs in
objects, so that anything behind the object can be seen through
the cut-out, according to Adobe.

The minimum hardware requirement for Adobe Illustrator 3.2J software
is a Macintosh SE, LC, Classic, Plus or II-series family of
computers with four megabytes (MB) of RAM, a hard disk drive and
KanjiTalk system 6.0.7 or later. A 68020 CPU (central processor unit)
or greater, 8MB RAM and PostScript printer (with hard disk) are
recommended.

As previously reported by Newsbytes, the Japanese Windows products
under development are: Adobe Type Manager-Japanese Version for
Windows (ATM-J for Windows); the Adobe Type Library; and Adobe
Plus Pack-Japanese Version for Windows (Adobe Plus Pack-J for
Windows). Adobe hopes to begin shipping ATM-J for Windows by the
end of the year.

Adobe claims that it has been shipping Japanese type products
for the Macintosh since July 1991.

Newsbytes reported in March of this year that Adobe Systems Japan,
a subsidiary of Adobe, had developed two new Japanese fonts jointly
with Japan's major printing maker Morisawa.

In November, 1991, Newsbytes reported that Adobe had begun shipping a
Japanese version for the Macintosh of its Adobe Type Manager (ATM)
version 2.0.3. The ATM-Japanese Version includes Ryumin-L-KL and
Gothic Medium BBB developed by Adobe and designed by Morisawa &
Company.

(Ian Stokell/19920828/Press Contact: Ivar Michelsons, Adobe Systems
Inc., 415-961-4400)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(SFO)(00024)

SuperMac Technology Cuts Mac Graphics Card Pricing 08/28/92
SUNNYVALE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 28 (NB) -- Just three
months after going public, and one month after posting record-
breaking earnings for its second quarter, SuperMac Technology
is following up its price cuts earlier this year with a new round
of reductions that cut up to 30 percent off its Macintosh color-
publishing, business productivity, and desktop video products.

According to the company, effective immediately, the price cuts
reduce the cost of the Thunder/24, the Spectrum/24 PDQ Plus,
the Spectrum/24 Series III, the Thunder/8, and the Spectrum/8
Series III color graphics cards; the SuperMatch 20 and SuperMatch
20 T Multimode color displays; and the VideoSpigot Pro and Spigot
& Sound Pro digital-video capture cards.

The Thunder/24, claimed by the company and published reports to
be the industry's fastest 24-bit card, is now priced at $2,999 -
down $500. The Spectrum/24 PDQ Plus now has a US suggested
retail price of $1,999. The price of Spectrum/24 Series III is
reduced 30 percent to $999.

The companys SuperMatch 20 Color Display is now $1,799.
According to Supermac, it now costs only marginally more" than
the much smaller-screen Apple Macintosh 16-inch Color Display
while providing significantly more surface area.

SuperMac claims that it is able to reduce prices because of
savings "it has realized from high-volume production of 24-bit,
accelerated graphics cards."

VideoSpigot Pro, which provides real-time digital-video frame
capture and accelerated color graphics, has a new US retail price
of $1,499 for both the Macintosh NuBus and IIsi models. The
company maintains that Spigot & Sound Pro adds high-quality
audio-digitizing capabilities to VideoSpigot Pro for just an
additional $200. Both the Pro products include a free copy of
Adobe Premiere 2.0 - the latest release of the nonlinear,
digital-video editor for working with QuickTime movies - an
$899 value, according to Supermac.

In July, Newsbytes reported that, in the company's first financial
report after going public, Supermac reported second quarter sales
of $28.5 million up from $20.6 million in the second quarter last
year. Net income were up to $1.4 million compared to $653,000 last
year, and earnings were $144 million or 20 cents per share on 7.2
million outstanding shares compared to last year's earnings of $63
million or 10 cents per share on 6.3 million outstanding shares.

(Ian Stokell/19920828/Press Contact: Stephanie Bryant,
SuperMac Technology Inc., 408-773-4446; Laurie McLean,
McLean Public Relations, 415-358-8535)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SFO)(00025)

 ****Atari Posts $39.8 Million Loss For 2Qtr 08/28/92
SUNNYVALE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 28 (NB) -- The intense
competition in the video game industry and the price war in the
desktop microcomputer market has taken its toll of Atari Corporation,
as the game maker has posted a loss of $39.8 million for the
second quarter ended June 30, 1992.

According to the company, sales for the period were $23.3 million as
compared to $49.2 million for 1991.

The company claimed that "the reduction in sales resulted primarily
from economic softness, especially in the personal computer business,
coupled with intense competitive pressure on the company's computer
and video game products."

The losses were despite growth in the recreation software industry in
general. Newsbytes recently reported that the Software Publishers
Association had reported the recreation software market had experienced
a six percent growth rate last year. The report said that 1991 North
American sales of recreation software reached $376 million.

In a prepared press statement the company said: "As a result of
this intense competitive pressure it is necessary to reorganize
the company's operations for its future business activity and
reduce the carrying value of its inventory. Accordingly, the
company has included charges of $34.1 million in operating
income (loss) in the second quarter 1992."

In the second quarter of 1991, the company reported income of
$30.4 million, which included the gain on the sale of its Taiwan
facility of $40.9 million.

Just last week, Newsbytes reported that Atari was planning to
release a multimedia computer for less than $1,000, called the
Falcon'030. Based on a Motorola 68030 microprocessor running
at 16 megahertz (MHz), the Falcon is reported to include
multitasking capabilities and is backed by a Motorola 68881 or
68882 16 MHz floating point coprocessor. A Motorola DSP 56001
digital signal processor (DSP) is reported to be the engine behind
the compression and decompression of high resolution images
and sound.

(Ian Stokell/19920828/Press Contact: August J. Liguori, Atari
Corporation, 408-745-2069)


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

New For PC: Deluxe Print Shop Talks To Laser Printers 08/28/92
NOVATO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 28 (NB) -- Print Shop,
Broderbund's popular program for producing everything from
greeting cards to banners, has been updated to take advantage
of the features of newer, more powerful computers and printers,
the company said. The new version, The Print Shop Deluxe, just
started shipping.

Broderbund says it has been extremely successful with Print Shop
and the Print Shop products have been called one of the most
popular series in the history of consumer software. The first
version, released in 1984, has sold over 4 million copies
worldwide.

Print Shop succeeded because it was one of the few programs
that simply worked with the finicky and difficult to use dot
matrix printers available at the time it was released and it
was inexpensive. The product was one of the first to allow the
average user to combine text and graphics to produce a myriad
of customized products from greeting cards, to signs,
stationary, banners, and calendars. The first version also had
the advantage of running on Apple IIs and was simple enough for
school children to use, so it was extremely popular in the
educational market.

However, the dot matrix banners and greeting cards are commonplace
now, and only school children are impressed with the dot riddled
drawings. An update to the original Print Shop, New Print Shop,
was released in 1989, but this Deluxe version is the first to
support a full line of laser printers, the company said.

The Deluxe version is also object-oriented, offers 300 smooth graphics
in colors, and 30 scalable fonts. A selection of headline effects,
and pre-planned layouts are also included, the company said.

The Print Shop Deluxe version requires an IBM or compatible
386-based personal computer (PC) with a video graphics array
(VGA) monitor, and is retail priced at $79.95, Broderbund
added. While this version will not run under Microsoft Windows,
company spokesperson Karen Omholt told Newsbytes a Windows version is
planned for release in October.

Novato, California-based Broderbund has had several hits in aiming at
the market for school-aged children. Its geography game, the Carmen
Sandiego series, has sold over 2.5 million copies, has been made
into an educational game show for kids on PBS, and is even under
consideration by New York-based Batfilm Productions as a possible
theme for a movie.

(Linda Rohrbough/19920828/Press Contact: Karen Omholt,
Broderbund Software, tel [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(LAX)(00027)

Sanctuary Woods Announces Titles For VIS Player 08/28/92
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA, 1992 AUG 28 (NB) -- Sanctuary
Woods, the company which first demonstrated its compact disc read-only
memory (CD-ROM) adventure games at Macworld and has actress Shelly
Duvall on its board of directors, has just announced it will offer
two titles for the new VIS home multimedia player announced this week.

One of the titles is episode one of a series the company has
planned called "The Awesome Adventures of Victor Vector & Yondo;" the
first installment is entitled "The Vampire's Coffin." The "Awesome
Adventures" series features the character Victor Vector and
Yondo, his electronic dog. The first adventure finds the two
heroes involved in the chase for Dracula's Coffin which they
need to find and retrieve for their employer, the Museum of
Fantastic Phenomena.

The second title, "It's a Bird's Life," was written and narrated
by Duvall, who starred with Robin Williams as Olive Oyl in the
movie "Popeye" and with Jack Nicholson in Stanley Kubrick's
movie "The Shining." The story is about the antics of a troop
of parrots as they travel from Los Angeles to the Amazon forest
and then come back again.

Duvall talked about the development of her multimedia titles at
the Seybold Digital World Conference held at the Beverly Hills
Hotel in June. One of Duvall's comments was she didn't think
full motion was as important as it was made out to be. Duvall
said she has seen one of her children's stories animated at 15
frames per second and that speed provided an enhanced
fascination with the story.

Sanctuary Woods says it has been successful with its Macintosh
version of the first Victor Vector and Yondo title released in
August at MacWorld Expo in Boston and expects the VIS titles
will do well also. The company says Tandy has signed a contract
to distribute its interactive multimedia CD-ROM products
through its 6,000 Radio Shack and Tandy stores in the United
States and Canada this fall and as part of this agreement Tandy
will make an initial purchase of 12,000 units.

The company is also boasting it can produce over 20 new titles
in the next two years. Titles for the IBM personal computer
(PC) are also in the works, a company spokesman told Newsbytes.

Tandy is credited with the development of the Video Interactive
System (VIS) format for the new players the company announced.
Microsoft developed a special user interface based on Windows
3.1 which it calls Modular Windows. Modular Windows is designed
for viewing from a distance with large, colorful icons and
responds to a infra-red remote control that comes with the VIS
player.

Zenith has announced it will also offer a VIS player and
Broderbund Software, known for its Carmen Sandiego series, says
it is already moving its titles to the VIS format. The VIS
players are expected to be

(Linda Rohrbough/19920828/Press Contact: Joe Flatley of Britton
Capital for Sanctuary Woods, tel [phone], fax 604-684-
7845)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TOR)(00028)

 ****AT&T And NEC Create Advanced Chip Technology 08/28/92
BERKELEY HEIGHTS, NEW JERSEY, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 28 (NB) -- AT&T and
NEC have developed technology that will make it possible to mass-
produce higher-density dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) chips
and ultra-large-scale integrated circuits, the two companies announced.

The chip fabrication technology is the result of a joint effort
announced last April, when NEC and AT&T agreed to develop an
advanced semiconductor process to increase memory density by about
four times by using circuit features only 0.35 microns wide.

The higher density will allow chipmakers to pack more onto their
chips, making possible the production of 64-megabit and eventually
256-megabit memory chips as well as other high-density circuits,
the companies said.

AT&T spokesman Dick Muldoon said the companies have demonstrated
the technology and are now conducting further tests. Muldoon could
not say when the technology might be ready for commercial use, but
officials have said in the past that AT&T and NEC hope to be
producing products resulting from their joint work by the middle of
1995.

In April, the companies also announced that they would extend their
agreement to work together on fast static-RAM (SRAM) memory chips.
It was not immediately clear whether the new production technology
would be applicable to these as well.

(Grant Buckler/19920828/Press Contact: Blanchard Hiatt, AT&T,
908-771-2788)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(LAX)(00029)

 ****Altima Pledges Nissan Name Battle Not Over 08/28/92
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 28 (NB) -- A Federal Judge in
Chicago has denied Altima Systems of Concord, California a temporary
injunction barring Nissan Motor Corporation from using the name
"Altima." But Altima says it isn't finished yet.

Nissan plans to use the name on a new mid-sized sedan the car company
plans to introduce September 1. The Nissan "Altima" will be positioned
between the Maxima and Sentra in Nissan's product line.

Altima, a portable computer maker, filed suit quickly as soon as it
discovered Nissan planned to use the name and asked for a temporary
restraining order last Wednesday to attempt to block Nissan from using the
name at all, company officials said. However, Nissan argued the
two products were not in competition and would not be confused
in the marketplace.

Altima, the computer company, says this is just the first round
of the suit. Altima President Bob Berownell told Newsbytes while some
reports made it sound like Nissan won, his company simply lost the
first round by not getting the restraining order.

Berownell said Altima will vigorously pursue the suit and is to
present further evidence to the court next week.

Berownell said the company has been shipping computer hardware
products under the name "Altima" since 1989. Most recently the
company released a 486 5.5-pound notebook computer under the
"Altima" name.

(Linda Rohrbough/19920828/Press Contact: Bob Berownell, Altima,
tel [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SFO)(00030)

 ****Librex to Quit US Market 08/28/92
SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 28 (NB) -- One of the newcomers
to the computer market, Librex Computer Systems, Inc., is being
shuttered by its owner, Nippon Steel, and will leave the US notebook
PC market. There is no immediate word on its plans for other markets,
namely the UK, where the Librex notebooks are sold.

The company issued a statement late today saying it is withdrawing
from the US notebook PC market "as a result of the intense competition
and the slumping profit margins within the industry, which makes it
not feasible to continue to support the business."

A team of Librex's managers is said to be seeking buyers for the
company. The company also issued a press statement indicated that
it will make provisions to support all existing consumer warranty and
maintenance obligations extended to date.

Librex Notebooks, which have been sold in the US through the
Ingram Micro distribution channel, among others, has made 386SX-based
notebook computers which weigh six pounds, have a full-sized keyboard,
and operate on either NiCad battery or AC power.

Librex Computer Systems was incorporated in June 1990 as
an independent, wholly-owned subsidiary of Nippon Steel Corp.

There was no spokesman from Librex available by Newsbytes' deadline.

(Wendy Woods/19920828/Press Contact: Librex Computer Systems Inc.,
San Jose, Daniel Crane, 408/894-6800)