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Text File | 1992-10-13 | 72KB | 1,603 lines

(NEWS)(GOVT)(NYC)(00001)

 ****News Reports Of 911 Attacks 10/13/92
NEW YORK, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1992 OCT 13 (NB) -- United Press
International and the Toronto Sun have reported arrests related
to alleged "hacker" incidents involving 911 telephone systems.
The law enforcement personnel quoted in the stories were not
available for comment due to the observance of Columbus Day and
the Canadian Thanksgiving, respectively, but Newsbytes did talk
to someone who belongs to an organization accused of promoting
the hacking.

The UPI story reports the arrest of a 23 year-old Newark, New
Jersey individual, identified only as "Maverick" for allegedly
attempting to cause havoc through the disruption of 911 service.
The story also said that arrests were expected to be forthcoming
in two Maryland locations.

The Toronto story, written by Kevin Hann, described the arrest of
a 15-year-old high school student accused of misdirecting
emergency services crews and reporting false medical emergencies.
He, according to quotes attributed to Toronto police officials,
used a home computer to route calls through the United States
back to Toronto in an attempt to confuse security systems.

The New Jersey man arrested was said to be part of a loose
network of computer "hackers" known as the Legion of Doom (LOD)
which, according to the story, engages in telephone fraud by
using corporate private branch exchanges (PBX) systems to
illegally place their calls. It was alleged that the group made
over $100,000 in charges to be incurred by a Minnesota
company within a single month.

The name Legion of Doom has been used repeatedly in recent years
by both law enforcement personnel and others in the last few
years. Robert Riggs, Adam Grant, and Franklin Darden, convicted in
1990 for intrusion in to BellSouth's computer systems, were
identified by law enforcement officials as members of the Legion
of Doom as was Len Rose, sentenced in 1991 for "receiving
misappropriated Unix source code."

Additionally, other persons have identified themselves as members
or ex-members of the Legion of Doom. In June 1991, Chris Goggans,
Scott Chasen and Ken Shulman, announcing the formation of ComSec,
a computer security firm, identified themselves as former LOD-ers
"Erik Bloodaxe," "Doc Holiday," and "Malefactor" (the firm has
since gone out of business). In January 1992, announcing the
commercial bulletin board system Phantom Access, the system
owners, Patrick Kroupa and Bruce Fancher, described themselves as
"two former East-Coast Legion of Doom members" ("Lord Digital"
and "Dead Lord").

Fancher told Newsbytes: "The Legion of Doom is not and never was
an organization with criminal intent. Any criminal activity that
might have happened was the result of inadvertent actions while
exploring. I never heard of Maverick and doubt that he was a
member of the group known as the Legion of Doom. I also doubt
that anyone that I knew in the group would have considered
malicious acts involving 911 systems."

(Barbara E. McMullen & John F. McMullen/19921013)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(HKG)(00002)

Digital Commits To New X/Open Branding Rules 10/13/92
TAIKOO SHING, HONG KONG, 1992 OCT 13 (NB) -- Digital Equipment
Corporation has announced its commitment to develop and
incorporate X/Open's XPG4 specifications across its open system
environments. The first XPG4-branded products from Digital will
be available this month.

XPG4 is an evolution of XPG3, through which many existing open
systems products are branded. Digital currently offers Ultrix,
DEC OSF/1, OpenVMS, and SCO Unix operating systems as XPG3-
branded open system environments. Digital has obtained the XPG3
Base brand for more systems than any other vendor worldwide.

"Digital is focused on delivering open systems capabilities to our
customers, in the form of products and services, to assure their
business needs are met," said Kaizad Heerjee, Digital Asia's open
systems manager. "The computing environments we provide and support
must fill today's needs as well as provide a clear path to the
future.

"Our participation in and support for industry standards such as the
X/Open Common Application Environment, IEEE Posix and the many
international standards produced by ISO have given that path to our
customers. Digital will incorporate the XPG4 specifications,
demonstrating our unwavering commitment to industry standards and
open systems."

Digital has been an active member of the X/Open Consortium's
Technical and Marketing Committees since it joined X/Open in 1986.
Indeed, Digital was the first non-European company to join.

The X/Open brand clearly identifies open systems products and
simplifies their procurement. Digital is actively working to brand
products according to XPG4 specifications, including Fortran,
Pascal, the C language and libraries, NFS, X Window System, and
elements of the operating system such as the commands and utilities.

Digital includes X/Open specifications in its Network Application
Support (NAS) integrated portfolio of software products and services
that support distributed multi-vendor environments.

"Digital recognizes the significance of X/Open to our customers and
actively supports and promotes X/Open and its efforts to provide the
unified path to open systems," said Heerjee.

Digital Equipment Corporation is the leading worldwide supplier of
networked computer systems, software and services.

(Brett Cameron/19921013/Press Contact: Walter Cheung, Digital, Tel:
[phone];HK time is GMT + 8)


(NEWS)(IBM)(DEN)(00003)

New For PC: It's Legal 3.0 Legal Documents 10/13/92
HIAWATHA, IOWA, U.S.A., 1992 OCT 13 (NB) -- Parsons Technology
says it is now shipping version 3.0 of It's Legal, a software
program for IBM-compatible PCs that contains 34 documents the
company says are legally binding in all states.

Parsons test engineer Dennis Cook told Newsbytes that a team of
attorneys worked closely with the developers to assure that the
forms would meet the requirements of all 50 states.

It's Legal 3.0 adds ten new documents, and includes the document
the company says is the most often requested, the Living Trust.

According to the company, the package separates complex legal
documents into sections, providing users with an easy way to
customize forms to fit their needs. The forms can be used as a
planning tool or for generating a final document. They can also
be used as templates, creating a standard form then printing it
and saving it for future use. The program provides for the use of
US Territory, Fleet Post Office (FPO), Army Post Office (APO),
and international addresses.

The program also includes a "Durable Health Care Power of
Attorney," a feature which added was added when the company
released version 2.0 in July 1991. The document allows users to
name the person authorized to decide the extent to which life-
sustaining measures in the event of a debilitating illness or
accident.

Rita Burns, spokesperson at Colorado Springs, CO city-owned
Memorial Hospital told Newsbytes that persons executing such a
document should discuss it with both their family and their
physician, and that if hospitalized, the document should be
brought with the patient if possible.

A new federal law, which goes into effect in November this year,
requires hospitals to notify patients they have the right to
advanced directives, the umbrella term under which living wills and
durable powers of attorney fall, said Burns. Memorial provides each
patient with a brochure explaining their rights.

Cook told Newsbytes that the company doesn't have any plans to
release a Macintosh version of It's Legal 3.0, but Newsbytes has
learned that the company is working on a Windows version.

It's Legal 3.0 carries a retail price tag of $69, and runs on any
IBM-compatible PC with 512 kilobytes of RAM (random access memory),
dual floppy drives or one floppy drive and a hard disk.

The package is available by calling Parsons' toll-free order line
and is also available in retail software outlets.

Parsons spokesperson Anne Rawland-Warner told Newsbytes that new
documents in release 3.0 include an employment confidentiality
agreement, an estate planning worksheet, revocation of the living
will, a pour-over will and several other documents. Rawland-Warner
said all the forms have been revised to include the latest
legislative revisions.

(Jim Mallory/19921013/Press contact: Anne Rawland-Warner, Parsons
Technology, 319-395-9626, ext 1037, fax [phone]; Reader
contact: Parsons Technology, 800-223-6925)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(NYC)(00004)

2nd Online Legal Guide Released 10/13/92
NEW YORK, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1992 OCT 13 (NB) -- PC Information
Group has announced the release of SysLaw, Second Edition: The
Legal Guide for Online Service Providers by attorneys Lance Rose
and Jonathan Wallace.

According to the company, "Syslaw provides BBS sysops, network
moderators and other online service providers with basic
information on their rights and responsibilities, in a form that
non-lawyers can easily understand."

Subjects covered by the book include the First Amendment,
copyrights and trademarks, the user agreement, negligence,
privacy, criminal law, searches and seizures, viruses and adult
materials. The company claims that SysLaw not only explains the
laws, but that it gives detailed advice enabling system operators
to create the desired balance of user services, freedom, and
protection from risk on their systems."

Co-author Lance Rose told Newsbytes: "In the four years since the
publication of the first edition, the electronic community has
become alerted to the first amendment dimensions of the on-
line community."

"The first amendment has profound implications to the on-line
community both to liberate providers and users of on-line systems
and to protect them from undue legal harassment. There has, in
the last few years, been a lot of law enforcement activity
effecting bulletin board systems, including the Steve Jackson and
Craig Neidorf/Phrack cases," he said.

Rose continued, "The new edition incorporates these new
developments as well as containing new information concerning on-
line property rights, user agreements, sysop liabilities, viruses
and adult material contained on on-line systems."

SysLaw is available from PC Information Group, 1126 East
Broadway, Winona, MN 55987 (800-321-8285 or 507- 452-2824) at a
price of $34.95 plus $3.00 shipping and (if applicable) sales
tax.

(Barbara E. McMullen & John F. McMullen/19911013/Press
Contact:Brian Blackledge, PC Information Group, 800-321-8285)


(NEWS)(IBM)(LON)(00005)

UK: Tulip Desktop Lock, Color Monitor 10/13/92
CRAWLEY, WEST SUSSEX, ENGLAND, 1992 OCT 13 (NB) -- Tulip has
announced a low-cost hardware security system for its PCs, as
well as a 14-inch XVGA color monitor that supports 1,024 by 768
pixels in non-interlaced mode.

Announcing the new products, Steve McCall, Tulip's managing
director, said that they have been introduced due to customer
request.

"Tulip recognizes that our customers need more than quality
systems to increase productivity in the corporate environment,"
he said, adding that "by providing the means for enhanced
graphics and security, Tulip is providing the ingredients
necessary for a complete computing solution."

The Desktop lock, which sells for UKP 30, is compatible with all
Tulip dc, dt and ws machines. The lock is quite simple -- it is a small
device that employs a metal bar and a key lock to protect one of
the retaining screws on the cabinet lid.

The 14-inch XVGA color monitor, meanwhile, sells for UKP 364 as a
stand-alone option, or as an integral part of Tulip's range of PC
bundles. The monitor supports a wide array of resolutions other
than the XVGA standard, including Super VGA, 8514/XGA, VESA and
standard VGA. The screen mask is 0.28mm and the monitor comes
with a non-glare screen.

(Steve Gold/19921013/Press & Public Contact: Tulip Computers -
Tel: [phone]; Fax: [phone])


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(LON)(00006)

Mobile Phone Security Survey Results Published 10/13/92
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1992 OCT 13 (NB) -- Media watchers cannot have
failed to hear of the scandal involving Princess Diana and her
infamous call on a mobile phone to her alleged close friend James
Gilbey. With this in mind, Rabbit, the digital mobile phone
network, has commissioned a survey to discover the public's
feelings about mobile phone security.

According to Rabbit, a division of Hutchinson Telecom, half of
young people in the UK would rather be overheard discussing
anything but romance. For older people, however, calls discussing
personal finances and business come top of what the company calls
"the red face roster."

The findings come from a MORI research survey which was
commissioned by Rabbit. The main reason for the survey, it seems,
is to identify the problems that eavesdropping cause. Rabbit
produces a cordless telephone type two (CT-2) system of the same
name that uses digital transmissions, a by-product of which means
that mobile calls cannot be overheard.

Rabbit's research shows that 29 percent of phone users would be
embarrassed if their general day-to-day conversations were overheard.
Women would be slightly more embarrassed about snoopers
than men, at 31 and 26 percent respectively.

When asked which type of calls during which they would like least to be
overheard, 49 percent of 18 to 34-year-olds named romantic calls,
while only one in five (22 percent) of this age group said they
would be worried about having calls involving their personal
finances overheard.

In the case of the over-55s, however, 51 percent of respondents
said that they would be most worried about having their business
phone calls overheard. Only nine percent said they would be
worried about having their romantic calls overheard.

Okay - now on to the nitty-gritty - where do phone users make
their romantic phone calls from? According to the survey, bed came
at the top with 39 percent, followed by the lounge (21 percent) and the
bath with 12 percent.

When asked with whom they would most like to have a romantic phone
conversation, men put Linda Lusardi (a popular topless model
in the UK) as ahead of other contenders such as Madonna,
Kylie Minogue, and Jerry Hall. With 48 percent of the male vote,
Lusardi proved to be two and half times more popular as Madonna
and five times more popular than Minogue.

Wives and girlfriends came further down the scale with 21 percent
of males. But women didn't return the compliment -- only 16
percent of women questioned said they would rather have a
romantic call with their husbands and boyfriends.

Women's overall favorite for a phone fling was Sean Connery (24
percent), followed by Kevin Costner (16 percent). Tom Cruise only
managed to scrape in with 15 percent.

(Steve Gold/19921013/Press Contact: Paragon Communications - Tel:
071-734-6030)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(LON)(00007)

 ****Rabbit Mobile Phone Service Goes National In UK 10/13/92
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1992 OCT 13 (NB) -- After a roll-out in the
Northeast and Northwest regions of the UK in the summer, the
Rabbit digital mobile phone network has been launched nationally.
The mobile phone company claims that, with 8,000 operational base
stations, it has the largest digital cordless phone network in
the world.

Rabbit claims to have 3,000 subscribers to its phone network in
the NW and NE regions of the UK, and anticipates a national
user base of around 20,000 by the end of the year. Within two
years, the service reckons it will have 200,000 subscribers.

To support its claims and projections, Rabbit cites MZA, a UK
telecom analyst, which projects there will be around 3.7 million
cordless phone users in the UK by 1997, of which 1.4 million
may be using Rabbit technology.

Peter Wright, Rabbit's managing director, claims there are 2.5
million analogue cordless phones in use in the UK at the
moment. He reckons that these users will progressively move over
to CT-2 technology in the coming years.

"We think anyone using a traditional analogue cordless phone
should switch to Rabbit. At home, the calls cost the same as a
wired phone but with Rabbit you get better speech quality, call
range, and the bonus of being able to use the phone out and
about," he said.

The Rabbit mobile phone system is unusual in that it is based on
CT-2 technology. CT-2 systems have been launched and subsequently
withdrawn by British Telecom, Ferranti and Mercury Communications
over the past few years in the UK.

CT-2 technology has two aspects. The first is a digital
replacement for existing cordless phones, operating within 100
yards of a private base station. The second, in which Rabbit is
involved, centers around allowing users of the CT-2 handsets
to make outgoing-only phone calls when within 100 yards of a
public base station.

This one-way only aspect of CT-2 killed off earlier systems based
on the technology. The main problem was that only cellular
phones, despite costing several times the price, offered truly
mobile two-way phone call services.

Rabbit has claimed that it will be successful since it uses the
common air interface (CAI) standard. CAI was designed by Rabbit
and several other, now closed, CT-2 service providers to allow
roaming between networks. Although the Rabbit system allows CAI
standard calls, since there is only one CT-2 network in the UK
at the moment, the technology is effectively redundant.

Prior to the launch of Rabbit, CT-2 technology was a
flop in the UK, Newsbytes notes. Outside the UK, the
technology has been sold as a viable operation to several telecom
authorities, notably Hong Kong, which signed up 15,000
subscribers within a few months of launch.

The successful launches of CT-2 technology have been, Newsbytes
notes, in countries which have had a monopoly -- usually state-
controlled -- on the provision of telecom service. The UK has
a relatively liberal telecom market.

The basic package, Rabbit, costs UKP 199-99, and includes a
handset plus charger and base station. Free sign-up and a free
subscription to the network until the end of March '93 are also
included. From April '93 onwards, the mobile Rabbit service will
cost UKP 6 a month.

To make Rabbit users contactable at all times, a voicemail
service with a radiopager alert is available at UKP 57-50 with a
total monthly charge, including access to the Rabbit network, of
UKP 11-50 a month.

(Steve Gold/19920413/Press Contact: Paragon Communications - Tel:
071-734-6030)


(NEWS)(IBM)(LAX)(00008)

Borland Lowers Quattro For Windows Price To WP Users 10/13/92
SCOTTS VALLEY, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 OCT 13 (NB) -- Borland
is offering upgrade pricing of newly released Quattro Pro for
Windows to Wordperfect for Windows users. The deal, operating
under the "Win Win" brand name, is available in the US with
immediate effect.

Borland is offering Quattro Pro for Windows for $99.95 or
Quattro Pro Windows (both Quattro Pro for Windows and Quattro
Pro 4.0 for DOS) for $149.95 to Wordperfect purchasers. The
offer is the same as the upgrade pricing Borland is offering
its own users for the new Windows product and lasts until
February 15, 1992.

While this appears on the surface to be just a marketing
strategy, both Wordperfect and Borland have long been fierce
competitors with Microsoft. Also, last week a number of stock
market analysts lowered their earnings estimates for Borland.
Borland's stock took a beating last week as well, losing nearly 25
percent of its value in a two-day period.

However, some industry analysts and Borland are saying it is
too early to tell how the Windows version of Quattro Pro is
doing. Computer Intelligence analyst Dan Ness told Newsbytes he
didn't even have preliminary figures for Quattro Pro for
Windows sales and speculated stock analysts are reacting to
Microsoft's "Directions" presentation in Bellvue, Washington to
which analysts were invited just over a week ago.

While Wordperfect for DOS has enjoyed wide acceptance, Borland
and Wordperfect say Wordperfect for Windows is picking up in
user acceptance.

Borland has also invited press and corporate representatives to
a corporate roll-out for Quattro Pro For Windows in a companion
demonstration with Microsoft's Excel 4.0. The demonstration is
to be held Wednesday, October 14 at the Herbst Theater War
Memorial in San Francisco and Borland is inviting the press and
analysts.

(Linda Rohrbough/19921013/Press Contact: Sandra Hawker,
Borland, tel [phone], fax [phone])


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

New Media Vision CD-ROM/Sound Kits For Under $500 10/13/92
FREMONT, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 OCT 13 (NB) -- Media Vision
has announced it is introducing multimedia products geared toward
home users that are less expensive than those available previously,
and don't require the user to understand the computer interrupts and
direct memory channels to make the installation.

The products are called Fusion and Media Vision is offering the
Fusion compact disc (CD) and Fusion CD 16. Both products offer
a sound card, compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) drive, and
speakers. Both are also bundled with four CD titles, Where in
the World is Carmen Sandiego; Compton's Family Encyclopedia
with Atlas and Dictionary; Ultima Underworld; and flight
simulator game Wing Commander II with the Speech Accessory
Pack.

The company's mixer for DOS applications and the Pocket
Recorder, Pocket Mixer, and Pro Mixer for the Microsoft Windows
interface are included as well.

Fusion CD is priced under $500 while the 16-bit sound card
version, the Fusion CD 16, is retail priced at $699. Street
prices on the products are expected to be at least 20 percent
lower, Media Vision representatives said.

Both products include Quick Start software for installation.
Quick Start is used after one physically hooks up the
sound card, speakers, and the CD-ROM drive in the Fusion kit,
following the instructions. To make the components work, Media
Vision says the user types "install" and the Quick Start
software automatically sets up the sound card and the CD-ROM
settings to work with the computer. The user no longer has to
set jumpers or worry about interrupts and direct memory access
(DMA) settings.

The Fusion CD products require an IBM or compatible personal
computer (PC) with DOS 5.0, 12 megabytes (MB) of hard disk
space, and a minimum of 2 MB of memory. The products are
expected to be available in mainstream computer retail channels
including warehouse and club buying outlets.

Fremont, California-based Media Vision was in the news as it
recently settled a legal fight with competitor Creative Labs
over Creative Labs' Sound Blaster sound technology. The company
says its founders started Video 7 and Paradise Systems which
produce color graphics products for the PC.

(Linda Rohrbough/19921013/Press Contact: Roberta Brosnahan,
Roeder Johnson for Media Vision, tel [phone], fax 415-347-
5238)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(LAX)(00010)

 ****Court Ruling Opens Up AMD Chances For 486 Clone 10/13/92
SUNNYVALE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 OCT 13 (NB) -- In the
continuing saga of rounds between microprocessor giant Intel
and various other semiconductor manufacturers, Advanced Micro
Devices (AMD) is crowing about recent rulings from a United
States District Court Judge that may open up opportunities for
AMD. The fights are over rights to the enormous IBM compatible
personal computer (PC) microprocessor market.

In a fight over the code to the Intel math coprocessor, called
microcode, a jury ruled against AMD saying the company did not
have the right to the code despite an agreement that AMD entered
into with Intel in 1976 that was renewed in 1982. However, US
District Court Judge William Ingram has said the jury verdict
only effects the math coprocessor that works in tandem with the
80286 chip, the 80287 chip, and doesn't necessarily mean AMD
has no rights to the code in relationship to other chips.

This doesn't mean AMD has the rights, either, and makes AMD's
use of the code regarding other chips a question that will have
to be decided. AMD wants to come out with a 486 microprocessor
clone, and the 486 includes a math coprocessor that uses the
Microcode.

AMD says the meaning of one statement included in the Intel/AMD
agreement, "microcomputers and peripheral products" is in
dispute and the company says that dispute isn't over yet.
Intel, however, has said AMD is infringing on its patents when
it markets clones of Intel's popular 80386 family of chips.
Both companies have been fighting see-saw lawsuits in the
courts since 1990.

Intel is also under investigation by the FTC, which is looking
into allegations of unfair trading practices made by other
chipmakers such as Cyrix, Chips and Technologies, and AMD.

However, Intel's business in the enormous microcomputer market
is growing. The company reported it will build more
manufacturing capability to its existing Santa Clara,
California plant at a cost of $400 million.

(Linda Rohrbough/19921013/Press Contact: John Greenagel, AMD,
tel [phone], fax [phone]; Pam Pottace, Intel, tel
408-765-1435, fax [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(LAX)(00011)

New For PC: Microsoft Musical Instruments CD-ROM 10/13/92
REDMOND, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 OCT 7 (NB) -- Microsoft and
Dorling Kindersley have announced the first in a series of
multimedia titles, this one being Microsoft Musical
Instruments. The title is an exploration of over 200 musical
instruments from around the world.

Approximately 500 photographs as well as historical and factual
information with more than 1,500 sound samples is included in
the new compact disc (CD) title. Microsoft says the articles
about each instrument offer studio recordings and pop-up boxes
with more information. Some even offer the ability to 'zoom in'
on specific parts of an instrument for closer look.

The London, England-based Dorling Kindersley company is known
for the "Eyewitness" series books it has produced on various
subjects for international consumption.

The books are described as highly illustrated and practical
reference books by Kindersley. The Musical Instruments title is
the first to be offered under an agreement to produce multimedia
titles Kindersley and Microsoft signed in March of 1991. No other
titles have been announced to date.

Microsoft Musical Instruments is expected to ship in mid-
November at a retail price of $79.95.

(Linda Rohrbough/19921013/Press Contact: Karen Fry, Waggener
Edstrom for Microsoft, tel [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(LON)(00012)

UK: Intuit's Quicken Arrives 10/13/92
WEST DRAYTON, MIDDLESEX, ENGLAND, 1992 OCT 13 (NB) -- Intuit has
set up a new office in the UK and begun shipping a UK-
specific version of Quicken, its low-cost accountancy package.
The software, which sells for UKP 49-95, is a major recode of the
US edition.

Quicken first appeared in the US in 1983 and claims to have
taken the US financial software market by storm. Now, six
updates and nine years later, the package has arrived in the UK.

The UK operation is headed by business unit manager Ian
Yarlott, and is located near Heathrow Airport in the UK. Quicken
6.0 is available in the UK immediately.

According to Yarlott, Intuit was one of the first companies to
start "follow me home" research for its users, actually going
home with the new users of its software watching them install the
package on their home systems, rather than sticking to lab
conditions.

Despite the low cost of the software, Intuit is offering free and
comprehensive support for Quicken v6.0. "We will offer our
customer the advantage of an 0800 (toll-free) phone number for
orders and advice," he explained.

Yarlott is also offering users a 60-day money-back guarantee on
Quicken. "We will take as much time as a user needs and we want
to make it as easy as possible for people to buy things from us,
just as we want to make our products easy to use," he said.

Yarlott told Newsbytes that Quicken is not aimed at the same
market as Daceasy and Paciola 2000, two of the most popular low-
end accountancy packages. "It's aimed even lower than that - at
the kind of user who doesn't even need double entry ledger
systems and who probably only uses a book to enter his or her
accounts in. Quicken does the same, but faster and more
reliably," he told Newsbytes.

(Steve Gold/19921013/Press & Public Contact: Intuit - Tel: 081-
759-1955; Fax: [phone])


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(LON)(00013)

Vodapage Intros Pre-Coded Paging Messages 10/13/92
NEWBURY, BERKSHIRE, ENGLAND, 1992 OCT 13 (NB) -- One of the
biggest problems with alpha-numeric radiopagers -- often referred
to as message pagers -- is that text messages need to be entered
by a human operator or, if the caller has the facility, by
keyboard and modem. Now Vodapage has introduced touch-tone pre-
coded messages for such pagers.

The Vodapage system relies on the caller inputting a specific
sequence of keys, each beginning with two stars (**) which tells
the Vodapage touch-tone computer system that a text message
should be transmitted. Thus, by entering **11, a message is
transmitted for the pager to display the message "please call the
office."

Traditionally, touch-tone data entry has been restricted to
numeric messages. Using the pre-coding system, text and numeric
messages can be input using a numeric phone keypad. For example,
the instruction **451700 will show up as "meeting rescheduled for
1700 hours" on a pager.

To send a message, callers simply dial their usual Vodapage
numeric input number, which begins with 0399, and can then input
a text code plus up to 20 numbers. A hash (#) symbol signals the
end of the message.

One side-effect of the pre-coded message system should be that
subscribers can opt not to have human bureau input services,
which are usually quite expensive. Instead, they can reply on the
tone and data entry facilities.

Vodapage is the name of Vodafone's radiopaging division. The
company supplies a wide range of tone, numeric and number/text
radiopagers.

(Steve Gold/19921013/Press & Public Contact: Vodapage - Tel:
0635-521800; Fax: [phone])


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(HKG)(00014)

Hongkong: Gammon Picks Digital To Build HQ Network 10/13/92
WAN CHAI, HONG KONG, 1992 OCT 13 (NB) -- One of Hong Kong's leading
construction companies, Gammon Construction Ltd., has awarded a $1.5
million contract to Digital Equipment Corporation to implement a
network connecting 450 users in its new office premises.

By implementing an integrated network and structured cabling system
from Digital, Gammon will be able to accommodate virtually any
number of users, and handle office changes easily, inexpensively, and
without disruption to its operations, the company claims.

"We need a network and cabling system for our new office in
CitiCentre, Quarry Bay, where IBM 3270 terminals and departmental PC
LANs will be located on three floors," said Alfred Wat, Gammon's
data processing manager. "The system has to be flexible, expandable,
managable and perform well," he added.

"Gammon selected Digital because of its reputation in network
management systems and the expertise it has demonstrated at various
sites in Hong Kong. Digital's ability to provide good local support
and services was a decisive factor," he said.

Under the contract, Digital will install six Chipcom Online
concentrators as the network backbone devices, together with the
Open DEC-connect cabling system. The resulting network will be fault-
tolerant and will include provision for central administration and
maintenance.

"This contract, won against stiff competition from other vendors,
confirms Digital as the leader in designing and supporting open,
multivendor network solutions," said Navin Mehta, networking manager
for Digital Asia.

Chipcom Online concentrators employ a tri-channel architecture,
enabling each concentrator to support up to three logical channels,
which can be any combination of Ethernet and Token Ring. Each
concentrator has 17 slots and can provide Ethernet connections to
more than 150 users.

The concentrators provide interface and functional modules to meet
customer's requirements for both media -- UTP, STP, ThinWire,
ThickWire and optical fibre -- and functional requirements -- bridge,
router, transceiver, repeater, terminal server and network
management modules -- are available. Assignment of modules to each
channel is performed under software control.

The concentrators provide per-port switching, which allows the user
to assign different ports of the same module to different channels.
This makes the system very cost effective in a multi-department
environment.

The backbone concentrators will be coupled with the OPEN DECconnect
cabling system, which is independent of both the equipment and the
applications it serves. Open DEC-connect can interconnect many
different communications devices such as data terminals, analogue
and digital telephones, personal computers and host computers,
irrespective of manufacturer.

"Cabling infrastructure is a crucial part of any local area
network," said Mehta. "Proper planning and execution of building
topology mapping is critical to its success. Structured wiring
ensures properly designed pathways and its importance cannot be
over-emphasized."

(Brett Cameron/19921013/Press Contact: Walter Cheung, Digital, Tel:
[phone];HK time is GMT + 8)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(HKG)(00015)

Digital Delivers Distributed Unix System Mgt Technology 10/13/92
TAIKOO SHING, HONG KONG, 1992 OCT 13 (NB) -- Digital Equipment
Corporation has announced DEC FullSail software, the first
comprehensive application on the market for managing distributed
Unix systems.

The product incorporates an easy-to-use, Motif based graphical user
interface that simplifies day-to-day system management of user
accounts, file systems and system performance.

"DEC FullSail software is designed to help systems personnel manage
systems more efficiently," explained Kaizad Heerjee, Digital
Asia's open systems manager. "For example, by automating
management chores they can cut the time ordinarily required for
system set-up tasks."

With the DEC FullSail application, system managers can be pro-
active in identifying and preventing potential system problems affecting
end users.

According to the company, system managers can conveniently access
any of the DEC FullSail component functions from any workstation
or X-terminal on the network. The application maintains a
database of management and configuration information that is used
for batch processing management requests, preventing
configuration errors and adding new systems to a network.

A fully customizable front end groups the systems in a network into
management sets according to criteria and policies determined by the
system manager. Systems can be grouped arbitrarily by functional
area, system type or location.

For example, a group might contain all systems on the second floor,
or all systems in the design department, or all diskless
workstations. The DEC FullSail database mirrors actual computer
resource utilization for an easy fit into existing environments. The
front end also provides security mechanisms that permit system
managers to control access to the management sets and management
functions.

The DEC FullSail Account Manager module enables system managers to
easily add, modify, delete and review individual user accounts and
groups of accounts.

"The module is used to set up or modify user disk quotas, log-in
shells, home directories and group memberships," explained
Heerjee. "If one or more machines in a management set is down,
the account manager updates the database immediately and
automatically updates other machines as they come back online."

Custom routines can be executed when adding users, and large numbers
of users can be added using DEC FullSail's batch capabilities. Also
supported are NFS mounted home directories, local password files,
Network Information Service, and the Berkeley Internet Name Domain
(BIND)/Hesiod service.

The Filesystem Manager module is designed to configure and manage
filesystems easily. New disks can be accessed quickly by many
workstations. Space problems are avoided because every filesystem on
the network can be monitored from an operator-friendly display.

The Performance Manager module provides comprehensive, interactive
screen displays and management report data for monitoring activity
on one or more machines. Performance factors that can be monitored
include load average, swap rate, free memory, memory usage, disk
throughput, buffer cache utilization, and NFS statistics and error
rates.

Data may be monitored graphically in real time or archived for
export to spreadsheets and other analysis tools. Customized actions
can be invoked and alarms can be set to notify the system manager to
take action when specified conditions occur.

DEC FullSail software incorporates a client-server architecture and
uses industry standard communication protocols, including TCP/IP and
remote procedure call (RPC) mechanisms.

(Brett Cameron/19921013/Press Contact: Walter Cheung, Digital, Tel:
[phone];HK time is GMT + 8)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(HKG)(00016)

Synon Appoints Philippines Distributor 10/13/92
CENTRAL, HONG KONG, 1992 OCT 13 (NB) -- Synon Corporation has
appointed Ayala Systems Technology Inc. (ASTI), as its distributor
in the Philippines. The agreement gives ASTI the sole rights to
market Synon's CASE products throughout the country, as well as
providing support services.

"Synon is convinced that the Asia/Pacific region possesses a
tremendous, but largely untapped, market for CASE tools," said
Synon Corporation's Vice President John de Wit. "The appointment
of ASTI as our Philippines distributor, the recent appointment of
our Indonesian distributor and the opening of our Hong Kong
office will give us a firm base from which to exploit this
potentially huge market."

ASTI is an established provider of software services in the
Philippines, with clients including the San Miguel Corporation,
Caltex Philippines Inc., Procter and Gamble, Toyota, Ciba-Geigy and
IBM Philippines. One of ASTI's primary business objectives is
providing IBM mainframe and mid-range oriented systems development,
application systems conversion and contract programming services.

"We want to produce quality applications based on an established
methodology and in the shortest possible period of time," said Rose
Banzon, project manager for ASTI. "The obvious way to achieve these
objectives was by using IBM's recommended CASE tool, so we decided
to work towards a business relationship with Synon."

ASTI's first step will be training its personnel in the use of
Synon's CASE products. "This will enable us to provide an extremely
high level of support for these sophisticated products to customers
throughout the Philippines," she said.

(Brett Cameron/19921013/Press Contact: Sharon Williams, Synon, Tel:
[phone];HK time is GMT + 8)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(HKG)(00017)

New Hitachi HDS Semiconductor Disk, Cartridge Tape 10/13/92
CENTRAL, HONG KONG, 1992 OCT 13 (NB) -- Hitachi Data Systems (HDS) has
announced a new model of its 7900 semiconductor disk subsystem
(SCD), and enhancements to its 7490E 36-track cartridge tape
subsystem designed for use with the whole range of HDS and IBM
mainframes.

According to the company, the new 7900-6 SCD is designed to
optimize the use of data center resources by economically
providing consistent high speed access to the most active
information. It accesses and transfers data at electronic speeds
and features the latest RAID-3 backup and recovery system which
gives it improved fault tolerance.

"The 7900-6 is the latest and most advanced version of the 7900
Semiconductor Disk Subsystem family," said Geoff Kennedy, HDS's Hong
Kong manager. "It provides a cost-effective solution for customers
who need high-speed data storage," he added.

"The architectural enhancements and improvements in reliability,
combined with reduction in floor space and power consumption, place
this new model at the forefront of high-performance storage
development," he said.

According to Kennedy, the new SCD efficiently complements the
capacity and throughput capabilities of traditional cached disk
drives as well as expanded storage. Adding a 7900-6 can give
customers greater throughput, a reduction in online response
time, and a significant improvement of "batch windows."

The 7900-6 incorporates four megabit dynamic random access memory
(DRAM), giving customers up to eight gigabytes of capacity per
subsystem. The configuration of each subsystem can be tailored to
meet each customer's capacity, connectivity and throughput
requirements.

The 7900-6 provides up to eight directors, 64 logical volumes and 32
channel connections. Additionally, the 7900-6 emulates industry-
standard 3390 and 3380 disk drives. This capability simplifies data
migration between existing disk drives and the 7900-6.

To provide even greater performance and flexibility, the 7900 can be
upgraded to use HDS's Extended Serial Adapters (ExSA) for a 10
megabytes per second (Mbps) data transfer rate. ExSA is compatible
with ESCON which allows the placement of the 7900-6 up to nine km
(5.6 miles) from the host processor. In addition, parallel channels
are supported at data transfer speeds of 3, 4.5 and 6 Mbps.

The fail-safe features of earlier models have also been refined in
the 7900-6. These enhancements include an intelligent battery back-up
system that automatically downloads the information stored in the
SCD memory to the RAID-3 array of 3.5-inch disk drives in the event
of unexpected power loss. This RAID-3 backup design also
ensures fault tolerance when the data is reloaded to the DRAM.

To assure maximum systems availability, the 7900-6 supports HDS's
proprietary Hi-Track computer based diagnostic system. Hi-Track
constantly monitors subsystem components and once it identifies a
potential problem, it automatically alerts HDS service personnel to
take corrective action before customer operations are affected.

In order to streamline subsystem support operations for the 7900-6,
HDS has provided Synthetic Channel, a support tool that emulates
System 370/390 channel protocols. According to the company, the
Synthetic allows HDS customer service representatives to ensure
trouble-free installation and conduct a wide range of
installation and support activities without using the customer's
valuable mainframe resources.

HDS simultaneously announced enhancements to its 7490E Cartridge
Tape Subsystem which now gives customers greater operational
flexibility and improved environmental specifications. The new
design will allow both 18-track 7480 and 7490 tape drives along with
36-track 7490E tape drives to be intermixed behind the 7490E
controller. This preserves customers' existing investments in 7480s
and allows them to take advantage of HDS's ESCON-compatible Extended
Serial Channels.

New individual power and pneumatic supplies for each tape transport
will improve reliability by isolating any component failure from
other transports. The enhanced 7490E will begin shipping next month.

Kennedy added that in Hong Kong, HDS is supporting a customer
base of 20 customers. IBM's customer base is about 120.

(Brett Cameron/19921013/Press Contact: Geoff Kennedy, HDS,
Tel:[phone];HK time is GMT + 8)


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

 ****AT&T Releases Hobbit Chips, Settles Mitsubishi Suit 10/13/92
SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 OCT 13 (NB) -- AT&T
released its new Hobbit processors, which it plans to put into a
line of "personal communicators" in conjunction with designer Eo
and two Japanese firms, Mitsubishi and Marubeni.

In parallel with the announcement of the Hobbit, AT&T revealed it
had settled its pending lawsuit with Mitsubishi over a hacker's
intrusion into the private phone switch, or PBX, at Mitsubishi's
New York offices.

Mitsubishi had sued for $10 million, charging that since AT&T
made the switch and was its default long distance carrier, it
should have taken responsibility for the fraud. The settlement
wins Mitsubishi no money, only a promise AT&T will work closely
with it to prevent future fraud. The company has also worked
with other customers in the same area since the case came up,
however. The people responsible for the crime, meanwhile, have
not been caught.

Back at the Hobbit launch, meanwhile, AT&T said that it plans
that the new chipsets will form the basis of a series of Personal
Communicators due to be announced at the Comdex show next month.
These are seen as small, mobile devices that accept pen input,
and which will be used primarily for communications. Personal
communicators will allow users to exchange voice, fax and
electronic mail messages via landline and wireless
telecommunications media. Eventually, they will incorporate
graphics and full-motion video capabilities.

The new chip family is led by the ATT92010 chip, which works at
3.3 volts and runs at 13.5 million instructions per second,
according to AT&T. This give it more power for the voltage than
the competing Intel 486DX, again according to AT&T.

Also released were a system management controller chip, a
peripheral controller, and a PCMCIA controller, as well as a low-
power modem chip set which observes the V.32bis modulation
standard of the CCITT, which can work as fast as 14,400
bits/second. The modem chip set can be used with the PCMCIA
controller to produce credit-card sized modems which plug into
the same slots used for memory cards, AT&T said.

AT&T said both hardware and software vendors will announce
products based on the Hobbit family at the Comdex show. That
show will also be the forum for the first showing of its personal
communicators.

The chips are based on an AT&T Bell Laboratories' technology
called the C-Language Rational Instruction Set
Processor (CRISP). AT&T said this combines the best features of
RISC chips like the Sun SPARC and CISC chips like the Intel
80386. A technical paper describing the chip set will be
delivered October 14 at the Microprocessor Forum in Burlingame,
California.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19921013/Press Contact: AT&T, Kevin Compton,
408/522-4099)


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

New Fax Boards, Services 10/13/92
ATLANTA, GEORGIA, U.S.A., 1992 OCT 13 (NB) -- Faxing becomes more
and more complicated, as recent corporate announcements from
Dialogic, Bell Atlantic and OAZ prove.

Dialogic, best known for call processing components, announced a
four-channel fax board which can work with its voice store-and-
forward products. The FAX/40 allows makers of call processing
gear to offer both voice mail and fax mail easily, combining
voice and fax response systems, on-demand publishing,
fax gateways, and voice/fax mail systems.

The board is based on Rockwell fax technology, and also offers
low prices -- $270 per port in quantity. The fax feature runs at
14,400 bits/second, meaning it can send 6 blank pages per minute,
and also supports conversion of text and graphics to the fax
format, as well as proposed data formats for Group IV fax.

Bell Atlantic, meanwhile, is expanding its FeatureFax fax service
throughout its region, most recently in the Washington, D.C.
area. The service includes fax mailboxes and fax waiting
services, which pick up faxes for later delivery when the line is
busy. The service was first introduced in Philadelphia, and costs
$19.95 per month plus toll charges for the mailboxes, $9.95 per
month plus toll charges for the fax waiting service.

Finally, OAZ Communications announced a new version of its
Document Director fax board, adding downloaded ASCII fonts and
wide fax capabilities. The capability allows for the easy
creation of cover pages, using fonts, which are especially
important in high-volume applications. OAZ ships 10 fonts with
Document Director, based on Letter Gothic fonts, formatted for
80, 100 and 132 columns and 62, 88, 100 and 104 rows in different
resolutions and weights.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19921013/Press Contact: Ajay Batheja, OAZ
Communications, 510-226-0171; Dialogic, Terry Henry, 201/334-
8450)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(DEN)(00020)

Iomega 3Q Earnings Up 10/13/92
ROY, UTAH, U.S.A., 1992 OCT 13 (NB) -- Iomega Corporation financial
results for the third quarter show the company as reporting sales
of $36.9 million, and net income of $2 million, or $0.13 per
share. That's up considerably from the second quarter, when
sales were $31.7 million, and net income was $800,000 or $0.05
per share.

Earnings per share are down from the same quarter last year, and
also down from the first quarter this year. Iomega spokesperson
Paul Slack told Newsbytes that for the second quarter last year, the
company reported sales were $31.5 million, and net income was $2.7
million or $0.16 per share. Net earnings per share for the first
quarter this year was $0.11 per share on sales of $33.1 million.

Slack said pre-tax income for the third quarter of 1992 was $2.7
million, compared to $6 million in the third quarter of 1991.
Pre-tax income for the nine months ending September 27, 1992 was
$6.1 million, compared to $11.5 million for the same period last
year. The company reported gross margins of 47.3 percent and 47.9
percent respectively for the quarter and the nine-month period
compared to 49.6 percent and 49.7 percent for the same two periods
last year.

The Iomega statement attributed the decline in gross margins to
lower prices on the company's 5-1/2 inch 90 megabyte drives. Prices
on those units were reduced to meet competitive pressures.

Operating expenses were up 14 percent for the third quarter over the
same period last year. Iomega said the higher operating expenses are
primarily related to increased investments in research and development
and sales and marketing to support the recently announced tape
products, as well as removable storage products based on Floptical
technology. Iomega also increased its investment in its European
operations, and began to invest in thin film head development
technology during 1992.

Iomega says that its balance sheet is strong, with cash and
temporary investments totalling $21.5 million, and working
capital at $34.8 million. The company reports a ratio of current
assets to current liabilities of 1.6 to 1. Cash and temporary
investments have declined by $10.1 million during 1992. Slack
said that's primarily due to the purchase of common stock
treasury shares, purchases of equipment and leasehold
improvements, and prepayments of royalties related to Floptical
technology.

Floptical drives can store more than 20 megabytes (MB) of data on a
single floppy disk, and can also read the high density floppy disks
currently used by most desktop and laptop computers.

(Jim Mallory/19921013/Press Contact: Paul Slack, Iomega Corporation,
801-778-1000; Reader contact: Iomega Corporation, 801-778-1000)


(NEWS)(IBM)(DEN)(00021)

 ****Digital Design Combines 6 Office Machines In One 10/13/92
JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA, U.S.A., 1992 OCT 13 (NB) -- You say you want
to add a scanner to your office but there's no place to put it
because you already have a PC, laser printer, fax, and modem? If
that scenario describes your crowded office, a Jacksonville,
Florida company called Digital Designs has the solution you've
been looking for.

Digital Designs has announced the Gateware 3370, a single desktop
device about the size of a laser printer that combines a PC, laser
printer, plain paper fax, scanner, digital copier, and modem.

All six devices come in one box not much bigger than a laser
printer. In addition to the 3370, all you need on your desk is
a monitor and keyboard. The PC uses an IBM 486 PC At compatible
controller, supports MS-DOS and MS Windows, has 4 AT bus slots, 8
megabytes (MB) of RAM (random access memory), a mouse, and a
120MB hard drive.

Digital Design President William Meadow told Newsbytes that the fax
is 100 percent software based, uses the same paper and paper tray
that the laser printer uses, includes a phone book and can
generate reports of faxes received and sent. Meadow said the
photocopier is a multi-bit gray scale model that can make multiple
copies and can merge copy.

The scanner is also software-based and can product 300 or 400 dots
per inch (dpi) resolution. The laser printer can emulate most
popular laser printers, can print six pages per minute, and can
handle resolution up to 600 dpi. The modem is a 9600 bps internal
card. Meadow said several types of LANs are supported, including
Ethernet and Appletalk.

Meadow told Newsbytes that the 3370 took about two years to
develop. The company is gearing up its production line now, and
expects to be producing about 100 units per month by December.
Meadow told Newsbytes he expects to be producing several thousand
units by March 1993. The Digital Design 3370 literature says the
AT bus transmits data at rates "hundreds of times faster" than it
can be transmitted via a port to another device. The 3370 also
emulates a 3270 or 5250 terminal.

Meadow added that the price of the Gateware 3370 starts at $3,995
and is dependent on the PC options such as more memory, a larger
hard drive or an optional monitor.

(Jim Mallory/19921013/Press Contact: William Meadow, Digital Design,
904-737-0908; Reader contact: 800-733-0908)


(NEWS)(IBM)(DEN)(00022)

New For PC: MoneyCounts Payroll 10/13/92
HIAWATHA, IOWA, U.S.A., 1992 OCT 13 (NB) -- While other software
publishers are writing applications for Windows, Parsons Technology
hasn't forgotten that there are hundreds of thousands of IBM-PC ATs
and XTs still in use in businesses across the country. The company
has announced it's shipping MoneyCounts Payroll for DOS-based
machines.

MoneyCounts Payroll performs the usual payroll functions of
calculating payroll, printing checks, producing W-2s at the end of
the year, generating tax statements, and creating reports for
analyzing payroll data.

The program carries a $49 price tag, and can perform wage, hour, and
deduction calculations including 401K retirement plans, shift
differentials, bonuses, commissions, cafeteria/125 health plans, and
union dues. Default values can be established for each employee, and
a list of pay rates, raises, and bonuses can be stored for easy
selection when changes take place.

MoneyCounts Payroll adjusts paychecks for federal and state tax
deductions, and allows for up to eight withholdings for user-
defined city, county or local taxes. Annual updates for federal, state,
and FICA withholding tables are available. Parsons spokesperson Anne
Rawland-Warner told Newsbytes an annual update subscription costs
$45, and includes the federal tables plus tables for any two states.
Each additional state table costs $10.

Rawland-Warner said a company can start using Payroll at any time
during the year, since the program allows wages and withholdings
starting balances for previous periods to be entered. Payroll
automatically determines the employer share of items such as
unemployment and FICA. The program can also assign payroll costs to
user-designated departments, and records miscellaneous information
such as hiring/termination dates and emergency contacts.

(Jim Mallory/19921013/Press Contact: Anne Rawland-Warner, Parsons
Technology, 319-395-9626, X1037; Reader contact: Parsons Technology,
800-223-6925)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(DEN)(00023)

Microsoft 1Q Profits Up 45%, Plans 4 European Offices 10/13/92
REDMOND, WASHINGTON, U.S.A., 1992 OCT 13 (NB) -- IBM and Digital
may have had dismal fiscal quarters, but Microsoft says it's doing
just fine. So well, in fact, that it plans to open four wholly owned
subsidiaries in Eastern Europe.

The software giant announced that it closed the first quarter
with net income of $209 million, or $0.70 per share on revenue of
$818 million. For the same period last year profits were $144
million, or $0.50 per share. Last year's first quarter sales were
$581 million.

According to the chief financial officer, Frank Gaudette, the results
can be credited to the continued success of the Windows operating
system. "Microsoft Word for Windows (a word processing program) and
Microsoft Excel for Windows (an electronic spreadsheet) both
attained record revenues during the quarter, and total revenues from
Microsoft applications for Windows were 118 percent greater," he
said.

Microsoft has also announced that it will open four wholly owned
subsidiaries in Eastern Europe. The company said the
subsidiaries, scheduled for Moscow, Prague, Warsaw, and Budapest,
are part of its long-term plan to expand its international
software market.

The facilities in Moscow, Prague, and Warsaw are scheduled to be
open by the end of 1992, while the Budapest office is expected to
open in the spring of 1993. Microsoft said the offices will be
staffed by citizens of the respective countries, and will aid in the
development of products that fit Eastern European markets.

The company said that its Eastern European division in Munich,
Germany will provide consultants and support to the new offices
and oversee Microsoft business in Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia,
Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, and Slovenia. Microsoft said it plans
to introduce 16 products in the first quarter of 1993 that are
localized for European markets, including Excel 4.0 in Czech,
Hungarian, Polish, and Russian. Other products are expected to be
Windows 3.1, Word 2.0 for Windows, and Works Productivity Tools
for Windows 2.0. The company said it will also offer terms for
upgrading software users from English language products to the
newer, local language versions.

(Jim Mallory/19921013/Press contact: Marty Taucher, Microsoft,
206-882-8080; Reader contact: Microsoft,800-426-9400)


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

New For Macintosh: ClarisWorks Training Tutorials 10/13/92
SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 OCT 13 (NB) -- Personal
Training Systems and Claris have introduced tutorials for
the ClarisWorks integrated software for the Macintosh. A
cassette tape player and the desired software application are
required, with each tutorial retailing for $99.95.

ClarisWorks integrates word processing, graphics, spreadsheet
with charting, database, and communications capabilities in one
software program.

According to the companies, the Personal Training products are
available through Merisel, all 24 CompUSA stores and 99 BizMart
stores, Micro Warehouse, PC Connection, Corporate Software,
Software Spectrum, and other authorized dealers.

Personal Training Systems claims it was the first company to
provide software training for the Macintosh market in 1986.
It also provides tutorials for the Windows applications.

Personal Training Systems offers audio training packages for
such Windows and Macintosh applications, as: Aldus PageMaker,
Persuasion, and FreeHand; Microsoft Excel, Word, and Works;
Lotus 1-2-3 and AmiPro; Claris FileMaker Pro and HyperCard;
Borland's Quattro Pro for Windows; Adobe Illustrator and Adobe
Photoshop; QuarkXPress; and Apple System 6 and System 7,
and Performa.

Personal Training Systems has also received $1 million in equity
financing from Sigma Partners of Menlo Park, California.
As part of Sigma Partners' investment, Lawrence Finch will
join Personal Training Systems' board of directors.

(Ian Stokell/19921013/Press Contact: Ronald Conway, Personal
Training Systems, 408-286-0142, Steve Ruddock, Claris Corp.,
408-987-7202)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(LON)(00025)

Telecom Companies Push Products In Eastern Europe 10/13/92
BUDAPEST, HUNGARY, 1992 OCT 13 (NB) -- The Europa Telecom '92
show opened in Hungary Monday and, almost immediately, threw
up a storm of controversy. Show-goers were treated to the latest
in telecoms electronics while, out in the real world, business phone
users struggled to connect calls through Hungary's antiquated phone
system.

Sponsored by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU),
the show is expected to attract more than 15,000 visitors and
will give many Hungarians their first chance to take a look at
the latest telecom technologies on offer from the West.

Sadly, many Hungarians will probably not be able to use any of
the new technology until the end of the decade, by which time the
Hungarian post and telecommunications body will have sufficient hard
currency to buy products from the West. In the meantime,
Hungarians, particularly in the more remote areas of their
country, will have to make do with step-by-step (Strowger) rotary
exchanges and even manual systems pre-dating the second world
war.

ITU officials estimate that Eastern Europe will need more than
90,000 million dollars worth of investment over the next eight
years if East Europeans can begin to enjoy the levels of phone
penetration -- not even digital service -- that the West has at
the moment.

Currently, ITU officials estimate that there is one phone line for
every 2.5 people in the West. This contrasts sharply with a 1 in
100 ratio in parts of Russia to 1 in 24 in Bulgaria.

The solution is not to simply slap in whole new exchanges -- the
economies of most East European countries simply cannot afford
that prospect. Most economists believe that the current strategy of
installing old technology phone networks is poor -- according to
the ITU, 97 percent of Romanian phone lines experience faults
every year.

Perhaps the best solution lies with joint partnerships, such as
the one that Deutsche Bundespost Telecom (DBT) of Germany has set
up with Telekom Denmark and Telecom Nederlande in the Ukraine, to
install old-technology cellular phone networks, observers suggest.

DBT claims its analogue cellular network makes good sense for the
Ukraine as it allows rapid deployment of phones in the region
without the expense of landlines. Even better for DBT is the fact
that the analogue cellular equipment is rapidly becoming outdated
in the West, as mobile phone users migrate to digital cellular.

(Steve Gold/19921013)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(LON)(00026)

UK: Mercury Slams Warring Mobile Phone Companies 10/13/92
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1992 OCT 13 (NB) -- Cable & Wireless, the parent
company to Mercury in the UK, has slammed Cellnet and
Vodafone for its "low cost" tariffs to lure new customers on to
its analogue cellular networks.

Speaking in London, to promote the planned Mercury Personal
Communications (MPC) digital network, which is scheduled for
launch next spring, Richard Goswell, MPC's managing director,
said that cutting subscriptions and loading call usage rates was
not the best way of winning new subscribers.

"We believe that penalizing customers for making frequent calls
or using their phones at certain times of the day is not a
strategy designed to win over new consumers to the benefits of
mobile communications," he said.

Goswell said that the bulk of the new subscribers would be phone
users who only need the phone for emergencies and/or who will
make very few outgoing calls.

There is also a risk, he said, of customers on the existing
tariff structure moving to the new rates, so losing the cellular
service providers overall income.

Goswell is clearly displeased with the new marketing strategy of
the two cellular phone network operators, as it takes the wind
out of the sails of MPC's planned low-cost digital mobile phone
system, which gets its first airing early next year.

Although reluctant to reveal details of how the MPC service will
be priced, Goswell said that call rates would be cheaper than the
existing networks all of the time, rather than during off-peak
times as Cellnet and Vodafone's "low-cost" tariffs are.

"For us, encouraging customers to use their phone makes more
sense than discouraging them," he said.

(Steve Gold/19921013)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LON)(00027)

Triumph-Adler To Shed 1,000 Jobs In Germany 10/13/92
NUREMBERG, WESTERN GERMANY, 1993 OCT 13 (NB) -- Germany may have
one of the strongest currencies in Europe, but that hasn't
prevented companies in the country from experiencing the ravages
of the recession. Triumph-Adler, a division of Olivetti, is said
to readying pink slips for 1,000 employees at its computer
production facilities in Nuremburg.

The news comes from Peter Schloenlein, the mayor of
the town, who earlier this week said that only the sales division
of the company -- around 250 staff - will remain at the TA
facility in the town. The reason for the cut-backs, he said, was
that the plant was costing the company DM 15 million a year.

Triumph-Adler has declined to make any comment on the matter,
details of which were broadcast on West German satellite
television news on Tuesday afternoon this week.

(Steve Gold/19921013)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(TOR)(00028)

 ****IBM Warns Of Miscarriage Risk From Chemicals 10/13/92
NEW YORK, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1992 OCT 13 (NB) -- IBM has warned
employees worldwide that exposure to two chemicals used in its
chip-making operations may increase the risk of miscarriages. IBM
issued the warnings after preliminary data from a university study
showed high miscarriage rates at two of its factories.

Health researchers at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore have
been studying workers at IBM plants in Burlington, Vermont, and
East Fishkill, New York. They found that of 30 women working with
the chemicals who became pregnant over the past 10 years, 10 had
miscarriages. That 33.3-percent miscarriage rate exceeds the norm
by enough to be significant, said IBM spokesman Jim Ruderman.

The chemicals, diethylene glycol dimethyl ether and ethylene glycol
monoethyl ether acetate, are both used in etching away material
deposited on a silicon wafer as part of the chip manufacturing
process. IBM uses the chemicals in factories around the world,
Ruderman said. Other chipmakers also use them, as do several other
industries, including the aerospace and printing businesses.

In the last few weeks, IBM has held group meetings with all
employees who work in its chip-making clean rooms around the world,
and individual meetings with the workers most directly affected, to
discuss the risks. Ruderman said the company is encouraging
employees to discuss their concerns with company medical officers,
and on request will transfer employees out of jobs where they are
exposed to the chemicals.

IBM has also notified the United States' Environmental Protection
Agency, other chip manufacturers, and "anyone else that we thought
needed to know" of the preliminary study findings, Ruderman said.

Full results of the Johns Hopkins study are expected early in 1993.

IBM has been reducing its use of the two etching chemicals since
1989, Ruderman added, and has made it a policy not to use them in
any new process. Eventually the company hopes to phase the
chemicals out entirely, he said, but no target date has been set.
IBM is using 40 percent less of the chemicals now than in 1989, he
said.

(Grant Buckler/19921013/Press Contact: Jim Ruderman, IBM,
914-765-6631)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LAX)(00029)

PC Fortunes Up As Mainframes Go Downhill 10/13/92
SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 OCT 13 (NB) -- Intel,
the manufacturer of the microprocessor chip for IBM and
compatible personal computers has announced it had another record
quarter.

Motorola, meanwhile, which makes the microprocessor for Apple
Computer's Macintosh, says its earnings are up nearly 40 percent.

However, all this downsizing appears to have taken a toll on
mainframe computer manufacturer Amdahl, which says sales are down
and layoffs of 9 percent of its workforce, or 900, are coming
next month.

Intel's President Andy Grove says that the company has had
another record quarter with net income up 19 percent, although
the company's stock dropped after the earnings announcement.
Reports are analysts expected even better earnings for Intel.

Strong PC sales, especially the 486, is what Intel credits for
reported revenue for the quarter ended September 26, 1992 of
$1.43 billion, up 20 percent from $1.19 billion one year ago.

The company's net income amounted to $241 million or $1.12 per
share, compared with $202 million or $0.96 per share for last
year's third quarter, or a 19 percent increase. Sales of the
486 microprocessor have surpassed 386 PCs and Intel says that
means the 486 is the new standard.

The company has announced plans to add 250 jobs in a new $400
million manufacturing addition to an existing plant to produce
more microprocessor chips.

Motorola is reporting a 38.7 percent increase in its third
quarter earnings and is crediting increased sales in the Asia-
Pacific region outside Japan. The company reported earnings
increased to $129 million, or 97 cents a share, from $93
million, or 70 cents a share in the same quarter a year ago.
Third quarter sales were up 24 percent, to $3.4 billion from
$2.75 billion last year.

While Motorola is crediting the increases to more than just its
personal computer-workstation business, it did say that segment
of the company lead the way followed in order by
communications, distribution, industrial, consumer, and the
automotive segment.

However, mainframe computer manufacturer Amdahl says it will
lay off 900 or 9 percent of its 9,700 employed worldwide in
November of this year. Of that number, 600 layoffs are slated
for the company's 5,700 employed in Northern California
operations. A one-time charge of between $15 and $20 million
against third-quarter earnings will be taken as well.

While third quarter earnings aren't out yet, the company
already announced earlier this month it expected to post a
third quarter loss of between $11.3 million and $22.6 million
due to slower than expected sales. Last year the company showed
earnings of $5.5 million, or 5 cents a share, on revenues of
$419.2 million in the third quarter last year.

Amdahl isn't blaming downsizing, but is blaming the economy for
cuts in its customer's capital expenditures and deferment of
buying decisions.

The stock market appeared to reacted favorably to the company's
action. Amdahl was the most active stock traded on October 12,
the day of the company's announcement, and trading ended with
the stock up 1/2 at 8 1/4.

(Linda Rohrbough/19921013/Press Contact: Howard High, Intel,
tel [phone], fax [phone]; George Grimsrud, Motorola,
708-576-2346; Bill Stewart, Amdahl, tel [phone], 408-746-
6468)


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

New For PC: Sound Editing Software From Digital Soup 10/13/92
BRATTLEBORO, VERMONT, U.S.A., 1992 OCT 13 (NB) -- Digital Soup, a
start-up company, has launched sound editing software for PCs
running Microsoft Windows. Digital Soup Sound Professional will let
users edit and mix as many as 16 sound tracks, the company claims.

Mike Henkle of Digital Soup marketing said the software could be
used for creating business presentations, courseware, or games,
among other things. The company has received one order from a
speech therapist who wants to use its three-dimensional spectral
analysis feature in working with people with speech impediments, he
added.

The $99 software requires a 386- or 486-based PC and works with any
sound board compatible with Microsoft Windows, Henkle said. It also
needs Microsoft Windows 3.1, a pointing device, at least two
megabytes of memory, and a minimum of five megabytes of free disk
space.

According to the company, the editor can import and export files
in the Windows standard WAV format, and can function as an Object
Linking and Embedding (OLE) server.

Sound effects available include fade out, fade in, modulate,
compress, reverse, repeat, and delay. The spectral analysis feature
and a four-band parametric equalizer let users view and modify the
frequency content of sound.

Editing effects include the usual cut, paste, copy, and delete, as
well as "non destructive formula-based editing" that the vendor
said will cut editing time and let users do "what-if" auditioning
of effects.

The software will ship with an audio compact disk containing 100
professionally product sound clips from Hollywood Edge. Digital
Soup also distributes other sound clips from that company.

The six-person company is concentrating on the United States market
initially, Henkle said, relying mainly on direct sales but talking
with distributors at the moment. International distribution will
come later; Henkle said the company has talked tentatively with a
German distributor.

(Grant Buckler/19921013/Press Contact: Mike Henkle, Digital Soup,
802-254-6812, fax [phone]; Public Contact: Digital Soup,
800-793-7356)