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Text File | 1992-10-30 | 73KB | 1,633 lines

(CORRECTION)(IBM)(LAX)(00001)

CORRECTION: New For PC: NatSemi's Fax-Modem-Voice-Sound Card 10/30/92
SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 OCT 30 (NB) -- Newsbytes wishes
to correct an error in the title of the story "New For PC: Intel's
Fax-Modem-Voice-Sound Card" which ran in some Newsbytes editions
on October 29. The title should have been the one above, on this
story. The product was introduced not by Intel, but by National
Semiconductor, as the story reported. Newsbytes apologizes for the
error.

(Wendy Woods/19921030)


(NEWS)(IBM)(DEN)(00002)

Lasermaster Intros 1200 DPI For Laserjet 4 10/30/92
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, U.S.A., 1992 OCT 30 (NB) -- Lasermaster
Technologies has announced Winjet 1200, an upgrade kit for Hewlett-
Packard's new HP LaserJet 4 that the company says provides faster
printing speeds, PostScript language compatibility, and up to 1200
dots-per-inch (dpi) print resolution.

Lasermaster says Winjet 1200 will be shipped next month and will
have a suggested retail price of $995. Hewlett-Packard markets its
own PostScript upgrade, but it does not include the higher
resolution.

Resolution of 1200 dpi is considered sufficiently high that it can
frequently be used to prepare camera-ready copy, saving the extra
costs of typesetting.

Newsbytes reported in June that Lasermaster had introduced LPV, a
hardware-software combination that speeds up printing by allowing the
printer and PC to communicate with the PC via its parallel port. A
board in installed in the input/output slot of the HP printer, and
eliminates the need for costly printer memory upgrades and the
purchase of a Postscript printer language cartridge for the printer.

Lasermaster CEO Mel Masters says the combination of the Laserjet 4
and Winjet 1200 is ideally suited for Windows. "We expect the new HP
Laserjet 4 to be a resounding success, creating an immediate market
opportunity for our new enhancement product," says Masters.

In September Lasermaster introduced the second of its plain paper
typesetter products, a 1200 dots-per-inch device which can handle
paper sizes of up to 11 by 17 inches. The Unity 1200 xl can be
used with Macintosh or IBM-compatible computers.

Hewlett-Packard announced the HP4 and the companion HP4M, the
Macintosh version, earlier this month. The network-ready HP4 can
produce printed pages with resolutions up to 600 dpi, and uses a
toner with a smaller particle size than current toners. HP says
that allows printing that has the appearance of 800-900 dpi. The HP4
family also has Windows TrueType fonts built in, eliminating the
need to download fonts before printing.

(Jim Mallory/19921029/Press contact: Karen Neset, Lasermaster
Technologies, 612-941-8687, fax [phone])


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(DEN)(00003)

Kelly Offers Computer Training For Temps 10/30/92
TROY, MICHIGAN, U.S.A., 1992 OCT 30 (NB) -- Kelly Temporary
Services says it has developed an enhanced data entry testing and
training system to assure that the temporary employee you hire is
qualified.

Called Kelly Customized Data Entry System II, the program can be
customized to simulate the data entry screens used on the job site.
Kelly says the system allows them to dispatch only the best
qualified employees to an assignment.

Anita Mergener, senior director of Kelly's product design department,
says the system can simulate single or multiple entry screens. The
system includes tests for speed and accuracy prior to training,
utilizes four different keyboard styles, tracks productivity
that's identified on the customer's data entry screens after
training, and includes specific data entry job descriptions.

Kelly Temporary Services is a division of Kelly Services, and
provides temporary employees nationwide in the fields of office work,
marketing, light industrial and technical.

(Jim Mallory/19921029/Press contact: Jane Riesterer, Kelly Services,
313-244-4305)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(SFO)(00004)

New For Macintosh: IRMA Upgrades 10/30/92
ALPHARETTA, GEORGIA, U.S.A., 1992 OCT 30 (NB) -- DCA has
announced major upgrades to two of its products at the InterOp
show in San Francisco. The two products are IRMA Workstation for
Macintosh (IWM) and IRMALAN Client for Macintosh (ICM).

Both IWM and ICM have been upgraded to version 3.0 with the addition
of five new features. DCA spokespeople told Newsbytes that they
consider the addition of A/UX support to be the most important of
the five enhancements. (A/UX is Apple's version of Unix.) With this
new features, ICM and IWM can now run on A/UX-equipped Macintoshes.

Another major feature is the first implementation of DCA's support
for Netware for SAA. This was promised by DCA back in August and is
expected to be available for all DCA connectivity products that need
it by the end of the year.

The final set of three features are intended to help users migrate
from one DCA product to another. QuickHit, QuickPoint, and QuickPad
are all user interface elements that DCA has defined as their own
standards. The company's philosophy is to have a common set of
user interface standards implemented across the whole product
line, thereby forcing users to spend less time learning how to use the
products.

QuickHit enables the mouse to be used to point and click on
any key that is displayed in the mainframe text and have that key
executed. QuickPoint allows for the changing of the font and window
sizes from a button on the screen rather than a pull-down menu.
QuickPad is a utility that allows the users to place frequently
used keys and macros on a customized pad for later use.

IWM 3.0 retails for $425. Current users of previous versions can
upgrade for $95. ICM 3.0 retails for $3995 and current users can
upgrade for $395. Both new versions are shipping at this time.

(Naor Wallach/19921029/Press Contact: Kerry Stanfield, DCA, 404-
442-4519/Public Contact: DCA, 404-442-4364, 800-348-3221)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(LON)(00005)

New For Unix: Unipalm's First Unix/E-Mail Package 10/30/92
CAMBRIDGE, ENGLAND, 1992 OCT 30 (NB) -- Unipalm has unveiled
Mail-it, which it claims is the first dedicated Microsoft Windows
to Unix electronic mail (e-mail) package.

According to the PC to Unix connectivity specialist, the package
conforms fully to open systems industry standards. In use, it
allows Microsoft Windows users to send and reply to messages
anywhere on a PC and Unix network.

Before Mail-it appeared, the company claims, a network manager
wanting to integrate a PC network e-mail system into a Unix network
had to rely on "expensive and inefficient" gatewaying technology.
This technology, the company further claims, would link the local
area network (LAN) e-mail system's proprietary messaging
protocols to the Unix open standard.

So what is Mail-it? The package is a actually a Windows
applications that uses SMTP (simple mail transfer protocol) and
POP-2 mail transfer protocols to move data between the Windows
and Unix operating system/user interface environments.
These two protocols are widely supported within the Unix arena.

In use, Mail-it allows users to read, send, forward reply, print
and save e-mail items. The package also includes an alert
facility that tells a user when a mail item has arrived and needs
to be read.

Announcing the package, Clive Prout, head of Unipalm's marketing
operations, said that Mail-it is a functional and robust
application that was developed to fulfill a definite need in the
marketplace.

"Before Mail-it, PC users has to use e-mail packages based on
proprietary protocols and hence could only e-mail other LAN users
or use fairly rudimentary links through protocol gateways," he said.

"The trend towards enterprise networking and integration demands
packages such as this one that don't work in isolation," he
added.

Mail-it requires Microsoft Windows 3.0; Sunselect's PC-NFS-4.0a,
FTP's PC/TCP 2.1 or Novell LAN Workplace for DOS 4. Also required
are at least 1.5 megabyte (MB) of hard disk space and a mail
server that offers SMTP and/or POP-2 protocols.

The package costs UKP 450 for a five-user licence.

(Steve Gold/19921029/Press & Public Contact: Unipalm - Tel: 0223-
420002)


(NEWS)(IBM)(LAX)(00006)

Canon's New Printers, PCs Geared Toward Home/Office 10/30/92
COSTA MESA, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 OCT 30 (NB) -- On the
heels of Hewlett-Packard's (HP) announcement of its new 600
dots-per-inch Laserjet 4 Series printers, Canon has announced
its new line of printers and computer products.

Canon is boasting the most about its new Bubble Jet, the BJ-200
printer, which offers increased print speeds, a lower
noise level, a small footprint, the ability to handle different
types of paper and envelopes, and print quality the company
claims rivals the HP Deskjet 500.

In fact, the company says a survey done by an independent
market research organization revealed 80 percent of those asked
thought the BJ-200's output was better than the Deskjet 500.
Canon is also touting the price, $549 and a two-year warranty,
which the company says will make the printer attractive to home
and small business markets.

New laser printers, the LBP-4sx and the LBP-8sx, were also
introduced and the company says they talk PCL5, the page
description language used by HP. The printers offer dot matrix
emulation and can automatically switch to different emulation
modes. The 4sx prints four pages per minute, the 8sx prints 8
pages per minute and both printers offer the familiar 300 dot-
per-inch resolution.

Innova is the company's new line of desktop and notebook
personal computers come with a one-year warranty, and on-site
service for the desktop models. Canon says the computers offer
step-by-step documentation and the desktop models come with 14-
inch color monitors.

Canon says the new laser printers and new desktop computers are
shipping now, the new Bubble Jet printers will ship the first
week of November, and the notebook computers will be available
at the end of November.

(Linda Rohrbough/19921029/Press Contact: Karen Lippe, Canon,
tel [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(GOVT)(SYD)(00007)

Australia: Network Research Center Abandoned 10/30/92
CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA, 1992 OCT 30 (NB) -- The Research Data Network
(RDN) Cooperative Research Center (CRC) has been abandoned after
the project was entangled in a web of industry and interest group
politicking. The RDN CRC was originally intended to be responsible
for the upgrade of the Australian Academic Research Network
(AARNet), with AUS$13M earmarked to fund the CRC to be
re-allocated to other CRCs, both existing and planned.

The RDN CRC was allocated the funds just last August in the Australian
federal government's budget. The decision was made after it appeared to
the Australian Vice-Chancellors Committee (AVCC) that AARNet, which it
formed, would be overtaken by Telecom's Fastpac technology. By
citing the lack of firm agreements on how the CRCs would work,
Professor Ralph Slatyer, formerly the government's chief scientist,
was able to end the single-CRC approach and gain approval for the
re-allocation of the funds to multiple existing and proposed CRCs
which would be undertaking research data network projects.

"Each of these centers would continue to be headed by its existing
director. The only change in their operations would be that they
would develop a new research data network component of their centers
(or supplement an existing activity) and, in the process, add
additional appropriate core participants and modify their
administrative and management structures," Slatyer said.

The abandoning of the RDN CRC will not see the abandonment of the
AARNet upgrade, as the Department for Science and Technology has
re-affirmed that the funds will be made available for the upgrade.

(Sean McNamara/19921030)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(MOW)(00008)

AT&T Installs 5ESS Switch In Kazakhstan 10/30/92
ALMA-ATA, KAZAKHSTAN, 1992 OCT 30 (NB) -- AT&T has put yet another
of its 5ESS phone switches in use in another part of the former
Soviet Union.

Both Kazakh communications ministry official Aldar Tugushbaev, and
AT&T vice president, Aukie Gerbens, praised the breakthrough in the
communications infrastructure of the Cental Asian country. The
installation comes 6 months after the country selected AT&T as
a Kazakhstan phone equipment supplier.

The 5ESS phone station will be used for direct dial phone
communications both domestically and overseas, allowing Kazakhs to
bypass Moscow operators while placing international calls.

The agreement between the Kazakhstan government and AT&T calls for the
installation of one million digital phone lines across the republic
over the next 10 years.

(Kirill Tchashchin/19921029)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(DEL)(00009)

Computer Network To Study Sun 10/30/92
NEW DELHI, INDIA, 1992 OCT 30 (NB) -- Though some 93 million miles
away, the sun is still the nearest star to the earth, and reveals
its stunning power as an enormous ball of light, serving as the main
energy source to all living creatures on earth. Yet very little is
known about what happens inside the sun. Seismic waves produced
produced by the sun cannot be monitored, except in the form of
oscillating gases on the surface that can be measured by
scientists on earth.

In order to probe deeper and unravel the mystery behind these waves a
Global Oscillation Network Group (GONG) has been formed by the
National Solar Observatory in Arizona, USA. For a continuous
observation of the sun, the group has chosen Udaipur, in Rajasthan
as one of the six sites around the world -- the others located
in the Canary Islands, Chile, California, Hawaii, and Western
Australia. The sites have been selected on desired longitudes.

All the six observatories would be equipped with similar solar
telescopes and linked in a chain by next year for computer storage
of images and to perform other computer-intensive operations to
derive, for example, spectrum of oscillations.

In India, the Department of Space is monitoring the project.
Sophisticated equipment including a solar telescope costing Rs 50
million will soon be installed on a small island in the middle of
a lake within the picturesque lake-city of Udaipur. Udaipur, meaning
City of the Rising Sun, is known for centuries-old observatories.

Altogether 150 researchers from 20 countries will be participating
in the GONG project. They will largely depend upon what are
called Fourier Tachometers capable of making velocity checks at
individual points on the sun round the clock. By simultaneously
processing light from all parts of the solar disc, the tachometer
produces line-of-sight velocities at over 65,000 points on the
sun's surface. Every minute, a computer stores a "velocity image"
on magnetic tape together with a conventional "intensity image"
just like a radar tracking an aeroplane.

Each station would produce at least 200 megabytes of data every
day. Since at any point of time at least three GONG stations will
be observing the sun, their data would have to be merged into a
single stream by automatically selecting the best frames
available at each moment. Once these exercises are through, the
raw and reduced data, plus information obtained at several
intermediate stages, would be collated into a computer-readable
form by using a combination of optical discs and magnetic tapes
for analysis.

The project is scheduled to last for three years, but if the
results indicate a need, data gathering may be continued for
a longer period.

(C.T. Mahabharat/19921029)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SYD)(00010)

Merisel Seeks New Zealand Base 10/30/92
WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND 1992 OCT 30 (NB) -- International PC
distributor Merisel is seeking an established distributor to use
as a base for New Zealand distribution. While not large, the New
Zealand market is very active.

Merisel moved into Australia through an established local
distributor, MicroAustralia. It first took equity and worked with
the company, then bought it. Analysts believe the company will
do a similar thing with one of the local New Zealand distributors,
and use the Australian base to help get things going.

New Zealand is reputed to have more PC brands per head of population
than any other country, and pricing is extremely competitive. In
Australia Merisel distributes IBM, AST, Epson, Microsoft, Lotus
and most major vendors except Borland. It expects to have a turnover
this year of US$55M.

(Paul Zucker/19921030)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(SYD)(00011)

Massive Effort Underway To Make Chinese Credit Cards 10/30/92
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA 1992 OCT 30 (NB) -- Through its Hong Kong
distributor, Australian company National Business Machines (NBS)
has sold more than $2M worth of credit card embossing machines to
four major banks in China. It expects more sales in the coming months.

110 Advantage Series II desktop embossing machines comprised the
first sale -- enough to produce 60 million cards a year. The cards
are needed as automatic teller machines (ATMs) rapidly spread
through China. The banks involved are the Bank of China, Construction
Bank of China, Agriculture Bank of China and the Commercial and
Industrial Bank of China.

Until now cards have only been issued from head offices in Beijing,
Shanghai and Hong Kong, but China is freeing its business and
tourism policies, and in keeping with this will need card producing
and ATM facilities throughout the country.

(Paul Zucker/19921030/Contact National Business Systems [phone]
fax [phone])


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

GM's Woes Mask Strong Growth in Technology 10/30/92
DETROIT, MICHIGAN, U.S.A., 1992 OCT 30 (NB) -- General Motors'
directors have let Chairman Robert Stempel quit and are said to
be gunning for former chairman Roger Smith's board seat. The
reason is a falling market share and continued high costs involved
in the production of automobiles. With this week's earnings release,
however, one must wonder where the company would be without its
electronics divisions.

The company announced it lost $752 million for the quarter ending
in September, although it's earning about $500 million a quarter
in Europe, according to analysts. But the real news is the
continuing strong results in high-tech. GM Hughes Electronics,
which makes satellite systems and, now, cellular equipment, is
making a strong move away from defense electronics with earnings
of $155.2 million for the quarter.

Electronic Data Systems, the GM computer systems subsidiary founded
by Presidential candidate Ross Perot, earned $167.3 million for
the quarter, and continues to take big chunks of business outside
GM, with new accounts ranging from Montgomery Ward to California's
health department to the European Parliament. The company's
finance division, meanwhile, earned $301 million.

Generally, GM has left its subsidiaries alone; Hughes and
EDS actually have their own special classes of stock.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19921030)


(NEWS)(IBM)(ATL)(00013)

Quotron Responds To Dow Jones With New PC Software 10/30/92
NEW YORK, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1992 OCT 30 (NB) -- Citicorp's
Quotron unit responded to major announcements of new products
from Dow Jones with a new version of its Advantage financial
information system for stockbrokers and financial analysts.

Throughout the 80s Quotron dominated the market for terminals and
computer systems used by brokers and traders. But, following the
company's purchase by Citicorp, the product line grew stale. The
company has moved to revitalize its product lines through an
alliance with IBM, but faces increasing pressure from Reuters,
Knight-Ridder, and Dow Jones, all of whom have gained market share
at its expense in recent years.

Version 2.0 of Quotron Advantage AE works on PCs under Microsoft
Windows, on IBM PS/2 hardware, on standard Ethernet or Token Ring
LANs, and on IBM RS/6000 servers. This reduces hardware costs and
total costs for the system. Enhancements in the new version of
the software include a new charting application called
UltraChart, a Global Input window tied to various other windows,
improved navigation through reams of data, an enhanced Quote
window, support of low-cost serial terminals, and support of
remote offices.

UltraChart lets brokers graph historical price movements of a
security or index in a daily, weekly or monthly format, setting
their own starting dates, ending dates or number of data points
to be graphed. Graphs can be updated minute-by-minute as trades
occur. It features nine technical studies, including Moving
Average Convergence - Divergence, momentum charts, Welles Wilder
Relative Strength Index, Granville On-Balance Volume, and Volume
Accumulation charts, and fast and slow stochastics, all of which
are used by some traders to justify their actions.

The Global input window lets traders enter symbols to request data
for the News, Quote, and Chart windows, so they can follow specific
securities closely and in real-time. The new system also supports
the IBM 3151 serial terminal, a low-cost alternative for the
display of quotes in the standard Quotron A-Page format. One
more enhancement is called The RemoteAdvantage -- it supports a
firm's offices without RS/6000 servers using routers and modems.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19921030/Press Contact: Roxanne Taylor, Quotron
Systems, 212-898-7212)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(WAS)(00014)

ROUNDUP: Stories Carried By Other Media This Week 10/30/92
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1992 OCT 30 (NB) -- Roundup is a brief
look at some computer stories carried in other publications
received here this past week.

December's Macworld looks at the "Hot New Powerbooks."

The October 20 Computer Currents reviews a new version of Quicken
and features a beginner's guide to local area networks.

November's Data Based Advisor has a preview of Paradox for
Windows.

October 26's Government Computer News carries a major buyer's
guide listing 64 high-speed fax/modems.

Computer Reseller News dated October 26 reports that IBM says AIX
(IBM's Unix) will support Windows on the RS/6000 and PowerPC
computers.

November's PC World picks the 20 best PC upgrades and offers 75
tips to make Windows crash-proof.

Federal Computer Week dated the 26th of October says that the
Treasury Department recently narrowly escaped a major virus
attack when alert employees flushed the Maltese Amoeba from a
single infected system.

Computerworld for the week of the 26th reports that Lotus's
Robert Weiler (Senior VP of North American Operations) says that
1-2-3 will never be as dominant in Windows as the spreadsheet has
been in the DOS market.

(John McCormick/19921030/)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(WAS)(00015)

The Enabled Computer 10/30/92
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1992 OCT 30 (NB) -- By John McCormick.
The Enabled Computer is a regular Newsbytes feature covering news
and important product information relating to high technology aids
for the disabled.

This is the fourth and final part of a long column on enabling
technology and the media (press).

From a technical standpoint, it can be difficult to write about
these enabling technologies unless you have wide experience in
the field because, while any computer writer can quickly learn to
run benchmark tests and evaluate computers on that basis,
adaptive technology is a very personal thing.

There is no way to benchmark most of these products so any useful
description must include information about which users a
particular device would benefit -- this requires a broad
understanding of the field.

I already pointed out that an unusual number of writers are
disabled -- certainly I have met more disabled workers in this
field than in any other line of work I have ever been in. But
that doesn't necessarily mean that all are qualified to write
about this topic.

Having a speech impediment or poor vision doesn't necessarily
qualify a person to evaluate and discuss devices intended for
those with motor skill impairments (and vice versa) -- of course
it doesn't disqualify him or her either. While the disabled writer
probably has an edge due to an increased feel for the subject, the
real qualification is the range of experience one has with such
devices as they are actually used by those who need them.
I don't feel that the field need be limited to those with
disabilities, just those with relevant experience.

But it is my firm hope that editors will be careful when selecting
writers to write about this field of adaptive technology. No one
can know the entire field, but if the article is of a general
nature then the widest experience is vital if the writer and
publication are to avoid silly mistakes.

As a quick example, despite my own years of experience in the
field, when I was acting as a national finalist judge for The
Johns Hopkins National Search for Computing Technology to Assist
Persons With Disabilities (held last February at The
Smithsonian), I found several kinds of devices which I had never
thought about before.

I wasn't assigned to judge those outside my particular areas of
expertise, but I did get to look at all the exhibits and it
reminded me just how diverse the field really is.

There has been some increase in interest among editors of major
publications and I have recently written several pieces for
Government Computer News (a restricted circulation trade
publication available to federal employees), but still what is
most needed right now is a market for enabling technology
articles.

The need is out there, and it certainly isn't confined to
specialty publications. By August of 1993 the ADA will apply to
hiring practices of businesses with as few as 15 employees and it
is already in effect as far as requiring any company to provide
equal access and equal services to all.

You may have seen the TV ad where a TDD (Telecommunications
Device for the Deaf) operator helps two hearing- and/or speech-
impaired women order a pizza.

I don't agree with their choices (anchovies AND pineapple??
YUCK!) but I do applaud the fact that companies are now required
to sell them a pizza even if they can't place a voice order.

ALL businesses serving the public, even a mom-and-pop store, are
now required to make a reasonable effort to serve everyone
equally.

It may seem a burden to many of them, but besides the moral
question of whether a lack of speech or legs should make a person
less than a full member of the community, there is a much
stronger argument than even the law. Opening service to the
disabled means MORE customers!

And it needn't be an expensive step.

There is a flood of new adaptive devices hitting the market
because software and hardware companies have seen how the ADA
will affect business everywhere and it is up to the computer
press to let everyone know what is available and what is wrong
with present products.

Business will start screaming for such information after the
first few multi-million-dollar discrimination suits are filed.

Computers aren't just a way to play games or crunch words and
numbers; they change lives. Sometimes we forget that.

It's not just good business, it is the right thing to do.

(John McCormick/19921030)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(WAS)(00016)

US Defense Department Awards $2.5 Billion Contract 10/30/92
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1992 OCT 30 (NB) -- Last week the
Department of Defense quietly awarded one of the largest computer
systems integration contracts ever when it signed a nine-year,
$2.5 billion deal with McLean, Virginia's PRC.

Under the contract, PRC and its subcontractors will configure,
test, install, and support as many as 130,000 file servers,
terminals, PCs, and workstations during the nine-year life of the
Supermini or AFCAC 300 contract.

The computers will be networked using more than a million local
area network cables and 50,000 network cards.

PRC edged out Control Data, its only competitor, in what Federal
Computer Week reports was a $5- to $20-million bid and proposal
process.

After testing is completed, PRC should be ready to ship
systems both to military and civilian agencies by early 1993 if,
and this is a big IF, there is no protest.

After the deal is finalized, PRC won't be the only big winner.
Hewlett-Packard (whose initials are often said by industry
insiders to be an abbreviation of Highest-Priced), will supply
more than 5,000 of its Model 800 workstations as servers for
network systems which will support up to 256 users each.

Human Designed Systems will reportedly supply up to 43,000 RISC
workstations through PRC, while troubled Everex can look forward
to selling more than 80,000 32-bit PCs.

The PRC bid was based on an open systems Unix (SCO) platform.

(John McCormick/19921030/)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(WAS)(00017)

SPA Reports Reduction In Piracy Rate 10/30/92
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1992 OCT 30 (NB) -- Software piracy, the
illegal copying and use of commercial software without paying the
copyright owner, is a major problem for the computer software
industry, but the Software Publishers Association says that its
efforts put a significant damper on losses during 1991.

The SPA has released results of its piracy study which show a 41
percent decrease for 1991 software piracy losses over 1990. That
amounts to an $800 million decrease in piracy.

But, despite the reduction in piracy, the estimated $1.2 billion
loss in 1991 was, according to SPA executive director, Ken Wasch,
so large that it may have cost as many as 60,000 full-time US
jobs in every position from programmer to retail clerk.

Although the SPA does believe that educational and legal actions
taken by the association and its member publishers have had an
effect on piracy, it also cites two other major reasons for the
drop in illegal copies -- lower average software prices and a
major increase in software bundling.

So far in 1992 SPA employees have given more than 100 anti-piracy
presentations to computer professionals and the association has
begun more than 200 legal actions to stop ongoing piracy.

The SPA also maintains an anti-piracy alert hot line for people
wishing to report illegal activities and publishes anti-piracy
audit kits to help companies stay on the right side of the law by
only installing the same number of programs for which the company has
paid.

Accidental piracy by companies is relatively common because,
unlike home users who naturally purchase the software with
documentation, it is easy for a company to mistakenly install too
many copies of software, partially because they do not
automatically supply full documentation to each user.

The Software Publishers Association, based in Washington DC,
recently passed the 1,000 member level and has for years been the
software industry's major trade association, representing the
industry's interests before the US government and promoting
both domestic and foreign anti-piracy actions on behalf of its
members.

(John McCormick/19921030/Press Contact: Terri Childs, SPA, 202-
452-1600)


(CORRECTION)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00018)

CORRECTION: X.400 Addressing Hope 10/30/92
WALTHAM, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1992 OCT 30 (NB) -- On October
26 Newsbytes wrote of MaxCom USA and Vector Directory Services,
which have teamed to offer help to businesses which want to
create directories of clients, customers, and contacts under the
X.400 standard. As part of that story, we printed an address that
can be used to get help from Vector.

However, Newsbytes has learned that the address given was incomplete.
MaxCom President James Astle, whose firm is providing X.400 connectivity
through Infonet Services Corporation's worldwide system, corrected
the address. That address, which would work only within MaxCom's
own mail system, should be @x400;c=us;a=infonet;p=vector;s=direquery
-- no period at the end of the address.

The X.400 system is designed to be very flexible, Astle
explained. Addresses are not required to have of all the fields
used in X.400 addressing. All X.400 addresses use the C or
country field, as well as the ADMD or administrative mail domain
field. But many mail systems, like MaxCom's own, are not
administering the system, and must link their X.400 addresses to
a larger systems. These primary mail domains, or PRMDs, go by the
initial P in an X.400 address.

To subdivide further, past the P field, one could have an ORG or
organization field, designated by o and referring to the
department within a mail system. A large company like Aetna
Life and Casualty, for instance, which has its own P or Primary
Mail system address, would have departments with this system and
each department would have its own ORG or organization address.
An example might be something like aoc. Next come the s or
surname fields, the g or given name fields, and the d or mail
address field.

For example, the author's X.400 address on GEnie would be
this -- C=US;A=GE;D=nb.atl -- fields which are not relevant or
unnecessary to finding someone in an X.400 address are simply left
blank. If this reporter worked in the aoc department at Aetna, which
somehow had its mail system linked directly to GEnie and magically
used the same addressing scheme -- this example shows how involved
all this can become. The address would be as follows:

C=US;A=GE;P=Aetna;O=AOC;S=Blankenhorn;G=Dana;DDA=nb.atl

Given the complexity, you can see why help might be needed to
get everyone you know into a look-up table from which you can
address e-mail to "Bob" even if Bob is in another country, on a
completely different system. From any system with an X.400 link,
reach that link and write a note to
c=us;a=infonet;p=vector;s=direquery for more help.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19921026/Press Contact:James C. Astle, MaxCom
USA, 617-890-8822)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(DEN)(00019)

Exabyte Names New Execs 10/30/92
BOULDER, COLORADO, U.S.A., 1992 OCT 30 (NB) -- Tape storage device
maker Exabyte has named several new executives this week.

David Riegel has been named to the newly created position of senior
vice president of 8mm operations. Riegel will be responsible for all
8mm engineering, manufacturing, materials, program management and
facilities. He will report to Frank LaHue, senior VP of worldwide
operations. The company's 4mm operations are managed by Ian Turner,
who also reports to LaHue. Turner is general manager of R-Byte, Inc
which was acquired by Exabyte recently.

Prior to his appointment to the new position, Riegel was president
and chief executive officer of Boulder Battery, and held various
management and executive positions with IBM during the 26 years he
was with that company. He was with Prairie Tek from 1990-91. "We're
particularly pleased with his wealth of high-volume, low-cost
engineering and manufacturing expertise," said LaHue.

Riegel holds a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from
Purdue University.

Exabyte spokesperson Susan Merriman told Newsbytes the company
employs more than 1,000 and is expanding its management team to meet
the challenges ahead.

The company also announced the promotion of Steve Orcutt to director
of US Western Area sales. He will be responsible for sales activity
in California, the Rocky Mountain States, the Southwest, the
Northwest, Alaska and Hawaii. Orcutt joined Exabyte in April 1991 as
a sales representative and was promoted to Northern California
district sales manager in January.

Prior to joining Exabyte Orcutt held sales and sales management
positions with Counterpoint and Convergent Technologies, and will
work out of the company's western area sales office in Campbell,
California.

Exabyte's new director of European sales is Joop Van der Knaap, who
came to Exabyte in April 1990 as manager of Northern European sales,
and became manager of all European sales in January 1991. Van der
Knaap has more than 20 years experience in computer sales, sales
management and engineering with companies such as Burroughs and
Storage Technology. He will be based in Houten, The Netherlands.

(Jim Mallory/19921030/Press contact: Susan Merriman, Exabyte Corp,
303-447-7434


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

Zeos International Loses $8.1 Million In 3Q 10/30/92
ST PAUL, MINNESOTA, U.S.A., 1992 OCT 30 (NB) -- Zeos International
announced today that it lost $8.1 million, or $0.94 per share on net
sales of $51.4 million in the third quarter, which ended September
30.

For the same period last year the company earned $2.4 million, or
$0.30 per share on sales of $47.4 million.

While dismal, the third quarter was an improvement over the second,
when the company reported a net loss of $11.1 million, or $1.29 per
share on net sales of $48.8 million.

The company attributed the relative increase to increased sales in
the mass merchant channel, which accounted for 28 percent of sales,
but those gains were partially offset by lower sales through the
company's direct marketing channel. Direct marketing produced 72
percent of the quarter's sales. Intense competition and industry
price cuts also contributed to the results, according to the
company.

"Our financial results, like those of most of our competitors,
continue to be severely impacted by conditions in our operating
environment," said Zeos Chairman and CEO Gregory Herrick.

Herrick said the company's cash position improved during the third
quarter, from $6.9 million to $8 million. Zeos has no short-term or
long-term debt, and has an income tax benefit receivable of $7.9
million relating to the carry back of recent losses. The company
expects to receive that benefit during the first quarter of 93.

According to Herrick, cost containment programs have reduced fixed
costs by $600,000 and selling and marketing expenses by $2.3 million
over the second quarter. The company also took a $1 million charge
to earnings in the third quarter due to consolidation of its
operations into one facility. "We intend to take further, even more
far-reaching actions in the future aimed at ensuring that Zeos
continued forward on a sound financial and operational footing," said
Herrick. Zeos said the majority of its sales were desktop computers.

(Jim Mallory/19921030/Press contact: John Bakewell, Zeos
International, 612-635-1419)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TOR)(00021)

 ****DEC To Close Two Plants, Lay Off 770 10/30/92
MAYNARD, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1992 OCT 30 (NB) -- Digital
Equipment has made another move in its struggle to cope with
financial troubles, and 770 workers in Massachusetts and Vermont
will lose their jobs as a result. The company has announced it will
close factories in Springfield, Massachusetts and in Burlington,
Vermont.

Sales and services facilities will remain in both cities, Digital
said.

The closings will mean pink slips for most employees in the two
plants -- there are about 320 in Springfield and 350 in Burlington
-- over the next six months, Digital said. A few people may be
offered transfers to other Digital facilities, company spokeswoman
Nikki Richardson said, but "I don't want to raise hopes" as only "a
small number" are likely to be transferred.

Digital said it will offer the laid-off employees a financial
support package based on years of service to the corporation,
continuation of medical, dental and life insurance for a specified
period, and professional outplacement assistance.

Employees who lose their jobs in this round of cuts won't do quite
as well as those who went earlier, though: Digital recently
announced a new severance package that is less generous than the
company had offered before.

DEC officials said changes in the computer industry and the
decreased demand caused by a soft worldwide economy has left
Digital and other computer companies with excess manufacturing
capacity. Digital is trying to cut out redundancies and get out of
areas where it cannot clearly differentiate its products.

Digital earlier announced the closing of printed circuit board
plants in San German, Puerto Rico, and Greenville, South Carolina,
company spokeswoman, and another factory in Puerto Rico which makes
power supplies.

These closings are somewhat different, though, because the work
done at the Burlington and Springfield plants is not being phased
out. Richardson said work now done at the two plants will be moved
to other DEC facilities.

Systems integration work for personal computers, now done in
Springfield, will move to Kanata, Ontario, Canada, she said.
Manufacturing of tape products will move from Springfield to one of
three other Digital plants producing those same products. Repair,
consulting, and service engineering work now done in Burlington
will shift to three other US locations.

Earlier in October, Digital reported a loss of $260.55 million in
its first quarter, which ended September 26.

Industry observers have predicted Digital will lay off another
15,000 to 25,000 employees in the next two to three years, and in
a press conference October 1, incoming President and Chief
Executive Robert Palmer said these estimates were reasonably close.

(Grant Buckler/19921030/Press Contact: Nikki Richardson, DEC,
508-493-6369)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(DEN)(00022)

Delrina Acquires Daily Planner Company Amaze 10/30/92
KIRKLAND, WASHINGTON, U.S.A., 1992 OCT 30 (NB) -- Delrina
Corporation has announced the acquisition of Amaze, Inc., maker of The
Far Side Computer Calendar.

Delrina said the purchase price will be satisfied by the issue to
the Amaze stockholders of up to 2.6 million shares in Delrina
Corporation. As part of the deal, Delrina will also be refinancing
Amaze's debt of about $3 million, and two Amaze directors, Rowland
Hanson and George Clute, will join Delrina's board.

Delrina spokesperson Pamela Laurence told Newsbytes the sale will
not cause the loss of any jobs, and Amaze will continue to operate
as a wholly owned subsidiary of Delrina.

Software publisher Amaze was founded in 1990 and publishes Random
House Dictionary, Trivial Pursuit, Berlitz Language Training, Cathy
Bloom County and BC in addition to The Far Side. Amaze reportedly is
currently discussing promotional bundling deals with a number of
software and hardware manufacturers in the US and Europe.

Delrina markets PC forms and fax software, and employs 150 people at
its headquarters in Toronto, Canada as well as sales offices in the
US and Europe. The company reported record revenues of $7.6 million
and net income of $658,000 for the quarter ending September 30.

(Jim Mallory/19921030/Press contact: Pamela Laurence, Wilson McHenry
Co for Delrina, 415-592-7600; Reader contact: 416-441-3676)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(BOS)(00023)

Software Publishing Corp Revenues Up, Earnings Flat 10/30/92
SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 OCT 30 (NB) -- Revenues for
Software Publishing Corp. (SPC) revenues have shot way up, yet
earnings were flat for fiscal 1992 and down for the fourth quarter,
according to a newly released financial statement.

In the statement, officials attribute the paradoxical financial
results to "unusual charges" associated with company restructuring,
lease obligations, and a decline in value of investment securities.

In an interview, Newsbytes that learned that these charges stem
from leased facility space left vacant by a recent company
reorganization, plus a drop in the value of Spinnaker stock
acquired last year as part of SPC's sale of the PFS: software line
to Spinnaker.

According to the statement, SPC's revenues were $143.1 million for
the fiscal 1992 and $36.9 million for the fourth quarter of the
year, figures representing gains of 9.3% from fiscal 1991 to 1992
and 5.1% from the third to the fourth quarter of this year.

The company reports a net income of $526,000 (one cent per share)
for fiscal 1992, in contrast to a net loss of $18.1 million ($1.46
per share) in 1991, and a net loss of $8.3 million (70 cents per
share), in contrast to a net income of $0.7 million (five cents per
share) for the third quarter of 1992.

Also in the statement, SPC emphasizes that the company underwent
reorganization during the 1992 fiscal year and expanded its
position in the PC presentation graphics and database markets,
suggesting that these factors helped to boost revenues.

Three new software releases -- Harvard Graphics for Windows and
upgrades to Harvard Graphics for DOS and the Superbase RDBMS
(relational database management system) for Windows -- are
highlighted as achievements for the year.

Also mentioned are the appointments of founder Fred Gibbons as the
newest president and chief operating officer, and new vice presidents
for sales, research and development, marketing, and international
relations.

Officials also stress that, without the unusual charges, the
company would have shown net income of $11.8 million (93 cents per
share) for fiscal year 1992. The unusual charges include a $13.2
million associated with company restructuring and lease
obligations, and another $3.6 million for decline in value of
investment securities, the company elaborates.

In an interview with Newsbytes, a company spokesperson explained
that the charge of $13.2 million is a liability caused by space now
vacant in a facility under long-term lease. The vacancy was
created by a reduction in force that was part of the reorganization
last year, she added.

SPC has rented part of the facility to Strategic Mapping, and is
now seeking additional tenants to occupy the remaining vacant
space, she disclosed.

The decline in value of investment securities was caused by a
recent drop in the worth of Spinnaker stock, the spokesperson
maintained. SPC acquired a combination of cash and Spinnaker
securities in the PFS: deal, she noted.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19921030; Press contact: Kathy Bower, SPC, tel
408-450-7321)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(LAX)(00024)

 ****Largest Direct View TV Aimed At Home Theater Market 10/30/92
NEW YORK, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1992 OCT 30 (NB) -- To take
advantage of the growing market for "home theater," Mitsubishi
has introduced the largest direct view television with a 40-
inch screen or 768 inches of viewing surface.

The company says the big TV, the CS-40FX1, is 66 percent larger
in viewing area than 31-inch sets, and 119 percent larger than
27-inch screens, and a whopping 300 percent larger than a 20-
inch television.

For sound, the set has twin built-in speakers, an MTS stereo
system, and a graphic equalizer that can be controlled by the
illuminated programmable remote control that comes with the
unit. An additional base unit offered at extra charge has the
same "black diamond" finish, but adds four built-in speakers
and a video cassette recorder (VCR) compartment.

While projection television systems can offer 50-, 60-, 70-,
and 120-inch screens, some picture clarity is lost and the
viewing angle makes a big difference.

The company expects the set to become part of a home theater
and so has made it compatible with audio/video (A/V) receivers,
multiple video cassette recorders including Super VHS, external
loudspeakers, and subwoofer systems.

As expected, the set offers picture-in-picture for simultaneous
viewing of two video sources and a "Super Quick View," for one-
button switching between 10 favorite channels.

The home theater market is growing as people do more
"cocooning" or simply staying home. The Electronic Industries
Association (EIA) released statistics that show a steady
increase in the sales of larger-size direct view screens over
the past several years and says approximately 600,000 35-inch
televisions have been sold in the United States since 1986.
Furthermore, the EIA says sales of 30-inch televisions and
larger have more than doubled over the last three years.

The CS-40FX1 is expected to be available in early November for
a retail price of nearly five thousand dollars, $4,999 to be
exact.

(Linda Rohrbough/19921030/Press Contact: Colleen McKenna,
Mitsubishi, tel [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(LAX)(00025)

Multimedia Computer With Built-In TV & More 10/30/92
SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 OCT 30 (NB) -- Megamedia has
introduced a computer it is calling a multimedia computer with
a built-in television tuner, a compact disc read-only memory
(CD-ROM) drive, a sound card, speakers, a microphone, and
headphones.

The company says the Mega, model M46D2T, is based on the Intel
486DX2 chip which runs at 66 megahertz (MHz). The company says
it includes software to control the audio, video, and
television, and is built to allow video-in-a-window so users
can watch television or video in one screen while doing
computer-related work in another.

The company says users can now play popular software training
video tapes and work right along with the training tape on
their computer. Like most viewing systems offered for personal
computers (PCs) users can switch between full-screen viewing to
a window and move or size the window on the screen. The unit
will also automatically search and locate channels available
and the user can add or delete channels from the channel list.

Hook up to an external video source, such as a video camera,
video cassette recorder, laserdisc, or CD-ROM is also a feature
of the unit.

The company says it has also included a set of CD-ROM titles
for use with the built-in CD-ROM drive including Compton's
Encyclopedia for Windows; Guinness Disc of World Records;
Autodesk Multimedia Explorer; King's Quest V; and Power Chords,
a music creation program. Also included is a Windows 3.1
Advanced Video tutorial CD, the company added.

The Mega also comes with a 1.2 and 1.44 megabytes (MB) floppy
drives, a Quantum 244 MB hard drive, a Sound Galaxy Pro sound
card, a super video graphics array (SVGA) monitor, DOS 5.0, and
Windows 3.1. The company says the Mega retails for $3,995.

Packard Bell is offering a similar system, but for a lot less.
The Packard Bell PBTV3 multimedia computer was announced at a
retail price of $2,999, but is based on the slower Intel 486SX
25 MHz microprocessor. The Packard Bell machine also has a
smaller 210 MB hard disk drive, but offers a built-in fax/modem
and a software bundle that includes CD-ROM titles as well as
software for faxing and electronic access under Windows.

Megamedia is offering an 18 month parts, a lifetime labor
warranty, and says the system is MPC approved. Megamedia
Computer Corporation is located at 1701-D Fortune Drive, San
Jose, CA 95131.

(Linda Rohrbough/19921030/Press Contact: Raaj Menon, Megamedia
Computer, tel [phone], fax [phone]; Public Contact
800-634-2633)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(DEN)(00026)

Miniscribe Accountants Fined $95M; Biggest in US History 10/30/92
DENVER, COLORADO, U.S.A., 1992 OCT 30 (NB) -- The accounting firm
that audited the now-defunct Miniscribe Corporation has been told to
pay what is believed to be one of the largest legal settlements ever
levied against an accounting firm.

Coopers and Lybrand have been told to pay $95 million of a $128
million settlement approved by former officers and directors of the
Longmont, Colorado-based disk drive maker. The agreement still has
to be approved by a federal court judge.

Miniscribe filed for protection under Chapter 11 of the US
Bankruptcy Code on January 1, 1990 and later converted to Chapter 7
liquidation. Its assets were sold to California-based Maxtor for
$41.5 million.

The accounting firm told Associated Press the bill will be covered
"by various sources" including insurance, with Coopers & Lybrand's
financial condition remaining sound. Under terms of the agreement,
lawyers on both sides must make a good-faith effort to not discuss
the facts surrounding the case. One Miniscribe shareholder reportedly
objected  to the confidentiality clause, saying it would impair
its continuing  legal claims against Miniscribe's directors and
officers. However the bankruptcy judge disagreed. Miniscribe's
court-appointed trustee called the deal "a good solid settlement
for the bankruptcy estate."

In its heyday Miniscribe employed 8,000 people worldwide, but
collapsed in the late 80s amid charges of fraud which included
shipping bricks as computer inventory. More than 20 lawsuits were
filed against the officers, directors, and the accounting firm.

Coopers & Lybrand was accused of not following generally accepted
accounting practices in issuing an opinion of Miniscribe's financial
statements. The accounting firm said it was misled by Miniscribe's
officers, and claimed that Miniscribe employees broke into the
auditor's locked work box to alter inventory figures. It said it
accepted the settlement to avoid the uncertainties of possible a
multiple jury trials.

(Jim Mallory/19921030)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(LAX)(00027)

 ****CD-I Show: CD-I Coming Into Its Own?  10/30/92
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 OCT 30 (NB) -- Compared
to the drone of last year, the CD-I 2 conference was humming
and interest was high. The conference, held again this year at
the Bonaventure Hotel in downtown Los Angeles, focuses on the
compact disc interactive (CD-I) player developed by Philips.

Last year, rows of kiosks with CD-I players and titles waiting
for use were there, but people would go to a kiosk, look a
minute, then walk away. This year lines were formed around the
Philips booth where it seemed like the guy in front of you in
line was never going to get off the CD-I player so you could
try.

Newsbytes got in line to see what the difference was and
discovered it was sound. The kiosks offered headphones which
almost every player wore. The headphones played stereo music
or sounds closely linked to the action in the game and men and
women in business attire were standing in front of the kiosks
intensely involved in video games. Instead of a remote, a large
base with two large buttons on each side of a trackball, the
size of a softball, controlled the action. While the controls
looked more like a baby's toy with bright colors and large
controls, controlling the action on the screen was easy and
didn't require even a glance at one's hands.

This reporter tried the games with and without sound and found the
theories about how sound enhances the game experience to be
correct. Without the sound, the CD-I screen seemed to have the
same fuzzy, slightly frustrating visual appearance as last
year, but when one donned headphones, it became an engaging,
enveloping experience.

A variety of games were available, from action games to Tetris,
but a large variety of games were available last year as well.
Vendors at the show told Newsbytes the show was extremely busy
and even on the afternoon of the last day, lines were still
forming to get a badge to get into the exhibits.

Also, of note is the fact that there were a lot fewer companies
showing off CD-I titles and a lot more companies peddling their
abilities to produce CD-I titles. Companies such as Interlight,
which does animation, were at the show as well as full service CD-I
title production companies such as Transformedia, Adaptive
Design, Viridis, and ON/Q.

Also conspicuous were the portable CD-I players from Sony and
Philips. Demonstration units abounded, but lines weren't
forming for the portable players. The Philips unit is larger
than the Sony CD-I player, but the Philips unit had a larger
color viewing screen than the Sony color player. The portable
units are significantly more expensive than the tabletop CD-I
players, costing nearly two and a half times or more than the
standard CD-I players.

Also of note was Goldstar which was demonstrating its CD-I
compatible player which company representatives say will be
available in the US in June of 1993. Newsbytes asked at what price
Goldstar planned to sell the CD-I player and was told it would
be simply less than whatever Philips was charging. Philips is
currently charging around $700 for its home CD-I player.

Vendors at the show were excited about the response from the
public and said the show was busy.

(Linda Rohrbough/19921030/Press Contact: Bernie Mitchell,
Philips, tel [phone], fax [phone], Public Contact
800-835-3506; Goldstar, tel [phone], fax [phone];
Interlight, 2364 Centerville Rd, Tallahassee, FL, 32308; ON/Q,
Paul Vinet, tel [phone], fax [phone]; Lee Barnes,
Viridis, 310-445-2055, fax [phone]; Adaptive, tel 310-996-
5590, fax [phone]; Nancy Sindelar, Transformedia, tel 708-
382-6890, Public Contact 800-451-1843)


(REVIEW)(IBM)(SFO)(00028)

Review of: Lotus Organizer, Version 1.0, 10/30/92

Runs on: Windows 3.x, standard or enhanced. Requires 2.0 MB
of hard disk storage, pointing device (mouse) and VGA monitor

From: Lotus Development Corporation, 55 Cambridge Parkway,
Cambridge, MA 02142. Tel: [phone]

Suggested List Price: $149.00 Look for a street price in the
$98 area

PUMA Rating: 3.95 (on a scale of 1=lowest to 4=highest)

Reviewed for Newsbytes by: Thom Foulks, Fax: [phone],
Internet: [e-mail]

Summary: With Lotus SmartIcons, cc:Mail support, and broad
customization powers, Organizer sets a new standard for personal
information managers at a bargain price.

======

REVIEW

======

Although we reviewers tend to lump all software like Organizer into the PIM,
or "personal information manager" category, there is virtually infinite
variety among PIMs. The key, of course, is the word "personal" -- what I
like, you might NOT like; and even if you and I agree, co-worker Sue well
may think we're both a little wacky in our "personal" tastes.

That's why customization is absolutely essential to the "personality" of a
PIM. Organizer provides the broadest customization powers I've seen in a
Windows-based PIM, and a bunch have crossed my desk since the beginning
of the Windows era.

Organizer has six built-in sections: Address, Calendar, Planner, To-Do,
Notepad and Anniversary. Each can be duplicated...or eliminated. As
example, my workstyle has my to-do list on yellow Post-Its (it's a habit
I can't break). Even though my testing reveals Organizer's To-Do list
functions as expected, it has been eliminated from installation.
Ditto, for Planner (which allows you to designate blocks of time for
up to 15 events per year).

On the other hand, my personal list of names and phone numbers -- at last
count -- is 3,328. No, I don't deal with all those people on a daily
basis. But when my memory recalls an interview with Joe Blow three
years ago, for sure I want to be able to find his name and other info
in my contact list. It was also essential for me to import that list
into Organizer from an Xbase .DBF format.

Now, my address list lies open on the screen in a notebook display,
with four formats from which to choose. The list can be filtered,
searched, even used for mail-merge.

Organizer's second slickest function is the Notepad (don't confuse it
with Windows' built-in notepad). This is a SMART notepad -- you can
automatically generate a table-of-contents as you add pages to your
notes. Notes themselves can contain graphics, or spreadsheet charts.
A given note can be linked to a given meeting entered on the calendar.

The calendar also provides four different viewing formats. It allows you
to set recurring appointments, and provides an alarm capability to
assure you're reminded of key meetings or other appointments.

Organizer also has links to other Lotus products including cc:Mail.
You can mail the contents of the Clipboard, or send a message
with the notepad to cc:Mail, or to a Lotus Notes user.

It should be noted Organizer was developed originally by UK-based Threadz
Ltd., and acquired by Lotus in May 1992. The software credits both
firms for its development, Lotus added SmartIcons and cc:Mail support.

===========

PUMA RATING

===========

PERFORMANCE: (3.8). Organizer does what it promises, with a handsome
screen layout and drag-and-drop functionality wherever appropriate.
Despite the customization strong points, however, one was left out --
the ability for the user to change type fonts (or sizes) for Organizer's
broad variety of data views. In a 1,024 x 768 VGA mode on a 14" monitor,
text can almost disappear. (It appears to pick up the Windows default
text for icon titles which can be changed by means not documented by
Microsoft. Not good for the non-hacker user.)

USEFULNESS: (4.0). Positioned against Polaris Packrat, Organizer leaves
the starting gate at a little less than half the price. It makes
little effort to emulate the freeform bells-and-whistles of Polaris'
perennial award-winner, but its relatively low cost makes it an
outstanding value. However, given the strong "personal" aspects of
PIMs in general, potential buyers should examine a demo at some length.

MANUAL: (4.0). Organizer's 150-page manual is a typical, attractive
Lotus production -- good index, lots of WYSIWYG screen examples.
Yet, the Windows maven will likely choose to get help from a VERY
strong online help file.

AVAILABILITY: (4.0). Organizer went into standard software distribution
channels in September. Lotus provides one of the broadest user-support
programs in the industry, including TDD support for the hearing
impaired, a faxback service, and interactive voice support from a
touch-tone phone. (Still, I had hoped to see a built-in Organizer
file providing the phone numbers, so they could be drag-and-drop
dialed from the application. Maybe in Version 2.0.)

(Thom Foulks/19921010/Vic Cruz, McGlinchey & Paul, Tel: [phone], Fax:
617-862-7933)


(NEWS)(IBM)(LON)(00029)

Tulip Forges Alliances With Facit Of Sweden 10/30/92
CRAWLEY, SUSSEX, ENGLAND, 1992 OCT 30 (NB) -- Tulip Computers has
announced a strategic alliance with Facit AB, the Swedish
manufacturer of printers and display terminals. The deal calls
for each company to market the other's products in their
respective markets.

"It's not enough just to sell systems anymore because our dealers
need to provide a total solution that meets a range of computing
needs," explained Steve McCall, Tulip's managing director.

"This agreement with Facit is an ideal opportunity for Tulip to
provide them with a complete computing platform, as well as
increase our penetration into the computing market through our
current reseller channel," he added.

Commenting on the deal, John Newcombe, Facit's UK managing
director, said that the cooperation with Tulip will allow Facit
to concentrate on its printer business, secure in the knowledge
that Tulip will be concentrating on its PC technology.

"The cooperation enables us to strengthen the current reseller
channel for our printers, which will reinforce our position as
one of the leading European producers of computer peripherals,"
he said.

The deal is interesting from the perspective that Facit has
produced a number of badged PCs for sale in selected European
countries. Facit's problem is that, because of the price
competitive nature of the PC business in Europe, its PCs can
only just meet the competition.

Tulip's PCs, meanwhile, are viewed as very price-competitive,
with the Dutch company axing any machines that do not sell well.
Tulip has already pulled out of the 80286- and 80386-based PC
manufacturing business this year.

(Steve Gold/19921030/Press & Public Contact: Tulip - Tel: 0293-
562323; Fax: [phone])


(REVIEW)(APPLE)(SYD)(00030)

Review of: Norton Utilities for Macintosh Version 2.0 10/30/92

Runs on: Apple Macintosh Plus or higher with at least 1 megabyte
(MB) of random access memory (RAM)

From: Symantec Corporation, 10201 Torre Avenue, Cupertino, CA
95014-2132

PUMA Rating: 3.4 on a scale of 1=lowest to 4=highest

Reviewed for Newsbytes by: Sean McNamara

Summary: Norton Utilities for Macintosh is a suite of utilities to
help Macintosh users maintain disks (diskettes and hard disks). It
features an extensive range of productivity, disk repair, data
protection, back-up and security options.

======

REVIEW

======

Every computer user has heard the warning, "Back up or one day you
will suffer the consequences." All too many, however ignore this
advice until it is too late. It is in this situation that many
users turn to such packages as Norton Utilities for Macintosh (NUM),
while others use such programs as a preventative measure.

NUM is well suited to both tasks, and also extends past the
back-up/repair to incorporate features many users would want in
day-to-day operations. Not only does it offer disk recovery and
maintenance features, but also features, which allow the user to
run their Macintosh more efficiently.

Probably the two most important programs from the NUM suite which
Mac users receive are the Disk/File recovery and back-up programs.
NUM offers an extensive range of recovery options, from file
unerasing and corrupt file recovery, through to disk recovery and
repair. In the case of major problems, NUM comes with an emergency
boot-up disk, which can be used to start the Mac and use the
recovery utilities. This boot disk alone makes NUM worth buying,
and is supplied in both 800K (kilobytes) and 1.44MB (megabytes)
format.

To help the user track existing problems, an extensive list
of problems, symptoms and solutions is given at the start of the
manual, which, when combined with the emergency disk, allows users
with crashed Macs to begin the recovery process without the need to
learn all about every one of the NUM utilities' features.

The user can run Norton Disk Doctor's diagnostics to find and
repair existing problems. There are usually small problems
which may not be apparent to the user, but which could affect use
of files, which NUM easily picks up. During the review, however,
when NUM was run on an SE/30 with an external 45MB Rodime drive, a
bad block which was known to be present was not found by Disk
Doctor, but by Speed Disk, NUM's disk optimization and
defragmentation utility (see more information below). Beyond this,
there seemed to be no problems in running the program, and the user
was constantly presented with a large amount of information about
the progress and results of scanning and repair of problems.

Volume Recover is used to recover an accidentally initialized disk,
or a disk which has extensive problems with the record-keeping
information. This utility only works in the case of a corrupted
disk if FileSaver is installed. File-Saver is a utility which
records a snap-shot of the disk's contents at every shutdown.
Volume Recover works best with initialized disks on which FileSaver
was installed, but could recover most information from initialized
disks without FileSaver.

Unerasing (recovering files which have been emptied from the
Trash), handled by UnErase, worked as well as any such utility can.
Provided that the data has not been overwritten, there is an excellent
chance of recovery. Three options for how to look for files are
presented to the user: Quick UnErase, which scans the disk for any
deleted files which have not been overwritten; Scan for Specific
File Types, which allows the user to specify a search for, say, all
TEXT files (this specification is made by selecting the desired
application/s); and Text Search, which allows for the searching of
text within deleted files (this is a piece-meal approach - each
part of the file must be found, and then UnErase can re-combine
them into one file). Once matching files have been found, the user
selects the desired files from a list, and recovers to the
specified volume.

Back-up is handled by (not surprisingly) a utility called Norton
Backup. Norton Backup has an extensive list of features for back-up
which are too numerous to completely describe here. Suffice it to
say the user can specify which files or disks are to be backed up,
where they are to be backed to, whether the information is to be
compressed and/or verified during back-up, when regular back-ups are
to be performed (either full or partial), and whether to update an
existing back-up.

These features would allow a user, for example, to schedule a full
back-up of all files to tape drive every two weeks, with a partial
update of changed or new documents only every other week, saved to
another hard disk in compressed format. The possibilities are
almost endless, and NUM provides the user with the power to develop
a back-up strategy to suit their own needs without sacrificing the
whole point of the back-up -- to have the data painlessly available
in the event of a crash.

If a crash does occur, the user has the option of recovering the whole
disk or selected files and/or folders, and Norton back-up can even
rebuild a catalog of a disk when the two copies it stores can't be
used/found (one copy on the hard disk with NUM's back-up description
file, the other on the last disk of the back-up).

The rest of the utilities fall into three categories: data
security, utility functions, and efficiency enhancers. The security
functions are provided by Norton Encrypt and Wipe Info. Encrypt
will (obviously) encrypt files and/or folders with a user defined
password. The encryption methods provided would provide a level of
protection that most users would not need to go beyond, even for
non-US users who cannot have DES encryption due to US government
policy. Wipe Info allows for a file to be completely erased. This
not only includes the file's catalog entry, but also the
information which is still physically present once the Trash has
been emptied (it is this information which allows a file to be
unerased). By physically removing all traces of the file, the data
can never be recovered by any means.

Utility functions include DiskLight (provides an indication of disk
activity), Floppier (easily copies and formats floppy disks),
Layout Plus (customizes the Finder's layout), Norton Disk Editor
(views the disk at the character level, rather than the file and
folder level), Norton Partition (divides hard disks into multiple
"virtual" disk drives), and Speed Disk (disk optimization and
defragmentation).

Speed Disk is probably the one most users should be recommended to
use in this category regularly, as it optimizes a disk's
performance by defragmenting files and placing all like files
together on the disk. Defragmenting a file puts all the sectors
which make up the file (which can be strewn throughout the disk)
together and in order. Once a full optimization is completed, the
user is left with the space left on the disk as one large chunk of
unused disk space.

Speed Disk can verify the media and the data as it optimizes. It
was at this point that the bad block on the SE/30's Rodime drive
mentioned earlier was picked up by NUM. However, despite screen
messages informing the reviewer that the block had been locked and
marked as "in use" and therefore to be ignored in future
optimizations, the bad block kept appearing for repair in
subsequent optimizations.

Efficiency enhancers give the user a set of features which the Mac
has long needed. These utilities are: Directory Assistance II, Fast
Find, KeyFinder.

Directory Assistance allows the user to access recent used files
and folders via a menu in the standard Open and Close dialog boxes.
Directory Assistance will also use the last file used by a program
as the default selected file when the Open dialog is presented, and
will remember which folder is open on drives as the user swaps
between drives. Worksets can be created for often used applications
which contain the most common folders for those applications,
folders can be created, files and folders can be copied, searched
for, and deleted.

The list of files and folders can be sorted by Name, Date, Size,
Color (Label), and with Folders in their normal sort position,
first, or last. The user can set the numbers of files and folders
kept track of in the recent items menus, and no matter where the
user is, these tracked files can be opened by selecting them from
the appropriate menu.

Fast Find and KeyFinder are desk accessories which into both
utility and efficiency categories. Fast Find allows the fast
finding of files on one or many disks, and suers can open the found
files directly from Fast Finder. KeyFinder presents the user with a
255-character table of the Mac character set, and when a character
is selected, the key-presses needed to type the character is
displayed. This character can then be cut or copied for use in
other applications. The user can also paste text into the text edit
box, and the series of keystrokes required for those characters are
displayed.

Overall, the features delivered by NUM are well thought out, and
should cater to almost all users' needs for disk and data
maintenance and recovery. NUM is a highly recommended package for
all Mac users.

===========

PUMA RATING

===========

PERFORMANCE: 3. Overall, the program works well, but with a few
glitches. Some users may continue to have hard disk problems in
certain situations.

USEFULNESS: 4. A suite of utilities for repair and backing up of
disks is essential for all Mac users, and NUM goes well beyond the
base set of features needed from such a product.

MANUAL: 2.5. The manual for NUM is set out in a half-logical way.
Instead of providing two sections to the whole manual, one for
initial use and one for more technical information, I think it
would have been better to divide the chapters into such sections,
so that all information on a particular feature is in one place.
The information contained in the manual is extensive, and covers
user levels from total novice to expert.

AVAILABILITY: 4. NUM is available from Mac dealers, software
sellers and mail order houses throughout the US and overseas.

(Sean McNamara/19921022)