Newsbytes - Internationa…ews 1983 May to 1994 June/Newsbytes - International Computing Industry News 1994 Edition - May 1983 - June 1994 - Wayzata Technologies (5045) (1994).iso/mac/Text/Mac Text/1992/nb921223

Text File | 1992-12-23 | 65KB | 1,467 lines

(NEWS)(TELECOM)(TOR)(00001)

Frame Relay Services Due In Canada By Mid-1993 12/23/92
OTTAWA, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1992 DEC 23 (NB) -- Canada's
telephone companies are planning to offer frame relay, a high-
speed data transmission service, by the middle of 1993. Bell
Canada has asked federal regulators to approve its rate
structure for the service, and other members of the Stentor
consortium are expected to do so shortly.

Bell Canada officials said they hope to introduce service by
March, and with other regional phone companies participating,
the service - called Impac - is to be available in more than
80 of Canada's largest cities.

Frame relay is similar to packet switching, which is commonly
used in data networks today. However, packet switching is
designed to work with dumb terminals, and does it own error
checking. Frame relay is intended for carrying signals among
intelligent systems such as local area networks, so it does not
do the error-checking and thus is faster than packet-switching.

Brenda Tooders, staff manager for service development for the
Impac service at Bell Canada, said her company expects Impac
will be used to link LANs over long distance, and for chores such
as file transfer. It will be a good alternative to leased lines for
telecommunications users who don't need the same amount of
transmission capacity all the time, she said.

Tooders said that in some industry sectors the demand for frame
relay may be greater in Canada than in the United States.
Canada's banking industry, for example, is made up of a few large
national banks, rather than the many smaller banks that dominate
the sector in the US. Bell expects the banks to be major users
of frame relay, she said.

Impac will let LANs exchange large packets of data among
multiple locations at speeds of 56 or 64 kilobits-per-second or
1.544 megabits-per-second. The latter would be suitable for
transferring large files between mainframe computers, Bell
said, while slower speeds would be better suited to jobs like
linking automated banking machines to central computers.

Customers will use their own frame relay equipment to connect to
Impac through dedicated services. They will pay a flat monthly
rate plus usage-sensitive charges, as well as an initial service
charge to subscribe to the service, Bell said.

(Grant Buckler/19921221/Press Contact: Marg Eades, Bell
Canada, 613-781-2456; Joanne Stanley, Bell Canada,
613-781-3301)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(TOR)(00002)

Canadian Regulators Approve Public Cordless Apps 12/23/92
OTTAWA, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1992 DEC 23 (NB) -- Canada's federal
Department of Communications has approved four applications to
provide public cordless telephone service - a low-cost alternative
to cellular phones.

The winning applications were chosen from among seven
applicants across the country. All four winning applications
were to provide national service.

The department gave its approval to applications from: Canada
Popfone Corp., backed by a long list of paging firms,
long-distance resellers, and other telecommunications firms;
Mobility Personacom Canada Ltd., whose shareholders are the
established regional telephone companies that make up the
Stentor consortium; Rogers Cantel Mobile, which runs Canada's
only national cellular phone service in competition with the
phone companies' regional offerings; and Telezone, a consortium
of six paging and communications firms.

The other applicants were: Atlantic Telephone Company Inc., a
partnership of Monet Enterprises and Atlantic Telecommunication
United Kingdom Inc.; Communications SFQ; and Ontario Telephone
Association, a group of local and regional phone companies in
Ontario.

The Department of Communications definitely will not issue
any more licenses for public cordless service for at least five
years, spokesman Gerard Desroches said.

Public cordless telephones - known as Telepoint in some
countries - are mobile, but have much smaller ranges than
cellular telephones. The handsets can be used within 100
meters of a base station.

Agreements among the competing service operators will ensure
that any cordless handset will be usable through any base station.
The same handsets will also be usable in private homes and
offices as home cordless phones are used today.

In May, the department announced that the standard for public
cordless telephone service in Canada would be CT2 Plus Class 2,
operating in the frequency band of 944 to 948.5 megahertz.

Introduction of public cordless telephone service in Canada is
expected to begin some time in 1994.

(Grant Buckler/19921222/Press Contact: Gerard Desroches,
Department of Communications Canada, 613-990-4827, fax
613-957-2203; Parke Davis, Department of Communications
Canada, 613-998-4298)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SYD)(00003)

NEC Wins Computer Press Awards In Australia 12/23/92
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA 1992 DEC 23 (NB) -- NEC Information
Systems Australia (NEC ISA) has now won four major computer
press awards in Australia this year. The latest two are for a
PC and a laser printer.

Australian PC World has named the NEC PowerMate 486sx/20e
as the best desktop computer, based on a reader poll. Australian
Personal Computer magazine gave NEC its editor's choice award
for the SilentWriter S62 laser printer. Earlier this year it gave a
similar award to the NEC 386/33i Image Series desktop PC.

The first major award for the year was from Your Computer
magazine, which named the NEC Ultralite SL/25C notebook
(the first color 25 megahertz 386sl notebook in Australia) its
best hardware product of the year.

NEC has recently started shipping two new high-end machines -
the PowerMate DX2/66e and 66Te. These are EISA (Extended
Industry Standard Architecture) machines suited to graphics,
video, networks, and other applications needing fast processors.
They include 1024 by 768 local bus graphics systems, MS-DOS
5.0, Windows 3.1, and a Microsoft mouse. The T (tower) version
has 10 EISA slots.

(Paul Zucker/19921223/Press Contact: Phil Thomas, NEC ISA,
phone [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TYO)(00004)

Toshiba Links With Korea's Samsung On Flash Memory 12/23/92
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1992 DEC 23 (NB) -- Toshiba has signed a
licensing agreement with Korea's conglomerate Samsung. The
agreement calls for Toshiba to provide Samsung with Toshiba's
flash memory technologies.

Also, the firms have entered into a chip cross-license agreement.
Toshiba says the firm will provide Samsung with the technologies
on NAND-type 16 megabit flash memory chips. These technologies
include chip specifications and logical circuits. With these
technologies, Samsung will produce the flash memories and
market them sometime in 1994.

Samsung will pay a royalty to Toshiba. It is reported that the
agreement is for eight years. During this time, Toshiba will
provide Samsung with all the technology and information for
the flash memory chips, which will be developed by Toshiba.

Samsung is a rapidly growing computer chip firm in Korea.
The firms hope the agreement will help standardize Toshiba's
NAND-type flash memory in the industry.

Both firms have also signed a cross-licensing agreement
on semiconductor chips. It is expected that both firms will
help with each other on future chip technologies.

Flash memories are considered by many to be memory medium
of the future for computer industry. There are two types: a NAND
type and a NOR type. The processing speed of the chip is faster
for the NOR type. However, the NAND type has potentially larger
data storage capacity.

It is the first time Toshiba has entered into a chip agreement
with Samsung. Meanwhile, Toshiba has a DRAM agreement with
Motorola. The firms have set up a joint venture.

(Masayuki "Massey" Miyazawa/19921223/Press Contact:
Toshiba, [phone])


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SFO)(00005)

DCA Pledges Support For New DEC Interface 12/23/92
ALPHARETTA, GEORGIA, U.S.A., 1992 DEC 23 (NB) -- Digital
Communication Associates (DCA) has pledged to support Digital
Equipment's Corp.'s newest interface standard to the DECnet/SNA
gateways, through DEC's Pathworks products.

To date, DCA has been supplying to DEC customers two products
that would allow for connecting to the SNA: IRMALAN DOS Client
Software for the DECnet/SNA Gateway and IRMALAN Windows
Client Software for the DECnet/SNA Gateway. Both products
have been distributed solely by DECDirect - DEC's own mail order
division.

DEC has recently introduced a new interface to the DECnet/SNA
Gateway product, called GAI (Gateway Access Interface). This
new interface will replace the older GNI (Gateway NetBIOS
Interface). DCA has committed to supporting the new interface in
its two products. The Windows product will become available for
at the same time that DEC makes GAI available. There is no
definite date when the DOS product will become available.

A DCA spokesperson told Newsbytes that the customer will see
no marked differences in the new products. All of the features
and functions will remain the same. The only difference will be
the replacement of GNI by GAI, which is not apparent to the user.
DCA has further indicated that they are pursuing an expansion
of the distribution scheme so that DCA is not exclusively bound
to DEC's DECDirect.

(Naor Wallach/19921223/Press Contact: Kerry Stanfield,
DCA, 404-442-4519/Public Contact: DCA, 404-442-4500,
800-722-9332)


(NEWS)(IBM)(DEN)(00006)

New For PC: Virucide Plus 3.0 Detection Program 12/23/92
HIAWATHA, IOWA, U.S.A., 1992 DEC 23 (NB) -- Parsons Technology
has announced an upgrade to its Virucide program. The company
says it  released the upgrade because of "the exponential growth
in new computer virus strains."

Virucide Plus 3.0 protects against 1,200 known computer
viruses, and will also warn the user of activity by an unknown
virus, according to the company. The new program has added
about 300 more known viruses over the previous release. The
program also uses a "point-and-shoot" interface that allows
users to scan selected files by pointing at the file name and
clicking the mouse. Virucide Plus 3.0 will run under DOS or
Windows. Users can determine the level of protection they wish
to employ.

Virucide is actually composed of two programs, Virucide and
Virucide Shield. Virucide detects and destroys known viruses,
while Shield is a memory-resident program that protects against
both known and unknown viruses. Shield continuously scans files
and uses artificial intelligence techniques to determine if a virus
is present and active.

Once a possible virus is detected by Shield, the user must use
Virucide to remove it. Once that is done, says the company,
Virucide will repair affected files and restore data, unless the
program has been hit by one of the viruses that completely
destroys data.

Computer viruses are programs written with the intent of
disrupting or disabling computers. Some are extremely
destructive, while others are more benign. The less destructive
programs may do as little as displaying a mocking message and
locking up the computer, requiring a reboot. They are transmitted
between computers by residing in files that are downloaded from
a bulletin board or on a floppy disk the user receives. Some
bulletin boards do their own scan for viruses prior to making a
file available for downloading, but the wise user will scan any
file before using it.

Suggested retail price for Virucide Plus 3.0 is $69. System
requirements include an IBM-compatible PC, 512 kilobytes of
RAM, or system memory, DOS 3.1 or higher, and one megabyte of
hard disk space. Parsons sells its product direct to the user, and
maintains a toll free order line.

(Jim Mallory/19921223/Press contact: Anne Rawland-Warner,
319-395-9626, ext 1037; Reader contact: 800-223-6925)


(NEWS)(IBM)(DEN)(00007)

New For PC: Biblesource 2.0 Bible Reference Software 12/23/92
GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN, U.S.A., 1992 DEC 23 (NB) -- Zondervan
Publishing has announced the release of an upgraded version of
its  Bible reference software Biblesource. The company says
Biblesource 2.0 is faster, smaller, and more capable than its
predecessor, uses pull-down menus, and provides support for
a mouse.

The program consists of eight separate modules. The models
available in January are: the New International version; the King
James version; the New American Standard Bible; Study Bible
Notes; the Bible Dictionary; and the Encyclopedia of Bible
Difficulties. Shipping in May are the Greek New Testament and
the Exhaustive Concordance. All modules can be used standalone
or in conjunction with each other, except the Concordance, which
must be used with the New International version.

All of the modules have a suggested retail price f $69.99 except
the  New American Standard Bible, which sells for $89.99 The
company says it is also in the process of upgrading its biblical
reference software for Apple Computer's Macintosh platform.
That release is expected to ship in May 1994.

(Jim Mallory/19921223/Press contact: Jonathan Petersen,
Zondervan Publishing, 616-698-3417)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(DEN)(00008)

Electronic Document Sys Conference Available On Tape 12/23/92
PALOS VERDES, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 DEC 23 (NB) -- If you
missed the 13th annual Electronic Document Systems
Conference and Exhibit held in Tampa, Florida in October, the
event organizer has video tapes of the major events available.

Xplor International, the conference organizer, says the tapes
contain demos of dozens of new products, interviews with
executives and marketing management staffers, excerpts of
sessions, and assessments and predictions of trends by industry
leaders.

Two tapes are available. A two-hour video begins with an
overview of the conference and highlights the exhibits. Xplor
says the six sections on the tape cover printing systems, MiCR
printing, software and connectivity, color printing,
image/document management, and pre- and post-processing.

Also available is a 110-minute video which features key
excerpts from the "Vendor Directions" panel and the "Windows
on the Future" session. The Vendor Directions panel discusses
future directions of major printer vendors such as Delphax,
Eastman Kodak, Pennant Systems, Siemens Nixdorf and Xerox.
The Window on the Future session includes several industry
experts giving their projections for the future of the industry.

Xplor says the videos are being marketed by Interquest. Xplor's
Jim Porter told Newsbytes that both tapes are available for
$168, or individually for $105.

(Jim Mallory/19921223/Press contact: Jim Porter,
310-373-3633; Reader contact: Jaimie Clark, Interquest,
804-979-9945, fax [phone])


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(DEN)(00009)

SPT Technology ICs In Many Products 12/23/92
COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO, U.S.A., 1992 DEC 23 (NB) -- The
average consumer has probably never heard of SPT Technology,
but its products are in many electronics devices. The company is
one of the fastest growing data conversion integrated circuit
(IC) companies in the industry, according to President and CEO
Eduardo Fernandez.

SPT's principal product line are analog-to-digital data converters,
as well as signal conditioning ICs. Founded in 1983 as a business
unit of Honeywell Inc., it became an independent, privately-owned
corporation in 1989. In 1990 it became a subsidiary of Toko Inc.,
a worldwide supplier of electronic components and integrated
circuits.

Rick Mintle, SPT's marketing director, told Newsbytes that its
analog-to-digital converters are found in high-end computers,
medical equipment such as ultrasound machines, professional
video equipment, and military equipment. A product line SPT
expects to expand in the not too distant future is flat bed
scanners used with computers to scan images and photographs
into personal computers.

Another field that holds promise for SPT is camcorders. Mintle
told  Newsbytes that camcorders will soon switch from eight-bit
to 10-bit operation, with a resulting increase in quality. SPT
says it is ready for the conversion and can provide the necessary
electronics to camcorder manufacturers.

The company recently moved into a larger facility in an
electronics-oriented community at the foot of the Rocky
Mountains. The nearly 46,000 square foot facility is more than
twice as large as the building they used to occupy, and while a
large portion of it still is not in use, it will not be long before
that part of the plant will be busy too, Mintle told Newsbytes.

Mintle says the company's markets are well distributed across
the US and Europe.

(Jim Mallory/19921223/Press contact: Jil Goebel, Origin
Systems for SPT, 719-630-3384, fax [phone])


(NEWS)(GOVT)(WAS)(00010)

NSF Announces Plans For Internet 12/23/92
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1992 DEC 23 (NB) -- Internet, the
important government and academic network sponsored by the
National Science Foundation, has become the target of commercial
operations wishing to profit from the massive network. Now the
NSF has announced its plans for commercial use of the system.

The National Science Foundation recently said that it will use a
federally funded 155-megabit network to support several
supercomputer centers and let regional Internet operations
develop their own high-speed links. In other words, NSF will
cease funding the current Advanced Network and Services T3
(45-megabit-per-second) Internet backbone, but the federal
agency did not say when it will abandon the system.

Although full details will not be clear until sometime early next
year when the NSF releases information for bidders on the new
high-speed NSF Network, local Internet operations will
apparently have federal funds available to help them set up their
own Internet links - allowing them to choose the best linkups
available on a competitive basis.

The December 21 issue of Network World reports that these
proposals to move the Internet toward more commercial use and
corporate involvement had won the approval of nearly everyone
in the telecom industry - including Sprint and university
representatives.

The problem facing Internet has been the increasing commercial
user of what was intended to be a purely academic and
government research network - while most thought that the
increasing corporate use of Internet was a good thing, there
was the question as to whether it was "proper" for the federal
government to pay for the system's operation.

What will probably happen next year is that local Internet
operations will join forces with commercial users to develop
an even larger and more accessible Internet network - one which
will be jointly supported by academic and commercial users.

The NSF had proposed to create subsidized network access
points that will allow connections to the fast fiber distributed
data network but restrict commercial use, forcing businesses
to develop new networks. The plan now appears to be to let
businesses access the high-speed network through their own
network access points.

(John McCormick/19921223)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00011)

More Telecom Services Industry Consolidation 12/23/92
JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI, U.S.A., 1992 DEC 23 (NB) -- Consolidation
continues throughout the phone services industry.

On the long distance front LDDS Communications, fresh from
ingesting Advanced Telecommunications of Atlanta to become the
fourth-largest US long distance carrier, has made two more deals.
The company signed an agreement to buy Dial-Net Inc., of Sioux
Falls, South Dakota, which serves the upper Midwest with about
$80 million in revenues, and Touch 1 Long Distance, which is
based in Alabama and serves the Southeast with annual revenues
of about $24 million. Both deals close early next year for a
combination of cash and stock. Expect some major profiles of
LDDS President Bernard J. Ebbers next year, thanks to his record
of building the company this year into a mini-giant from a
Mississippi base.

On the local phone side, Telephone and Data Systems Inc., and
Century Telephone Enterprises, completed four small deals. TDS
acquired Century's Mid-America Telephone Inc., unit in Stonewall,
Oklahoma, which has just 1,475 lines but a piece of the Oklahoma
Rural Service Area 9 cellular concession. In addition TDS
acquired Century's Wyandotte Telephone Company in Wyandotte,
Oklahoma, which has 525 lines near TDS's existing operations in
the state, and a cellular investment company. Century, in turn,
took all of the Alexandria, Louisiana, cellular system from a
company in which TDS holds an 82 percent interest. That unit is
adjacent to existing Century cellular operations in the state.

The industry can expect many more deals of this type in 1993. GTE
said it will soon begin selling or trading some of its smaller local
phone properties, in the hopes of providing a "strategic cluster"
of units instead of the mishmash it inherited through its 1991
acquisition of Contel. Those sales, total, would involve fewer
than five percent of the 16 million lines served by GTE, however.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19921223/Press Contact: GTE, Dick Jones,
214-718-6924; LDDS Communications, Bernard J. Ebbers, 601/364-7000;
Murray L. Swanson, TDS, 312-630-1900; Bob
Fudickar, Century Telephone Enterprises, 318-388-9648)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(ATL)(00012)

AT&T, MCI In Court Again 12/23/92
WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A., 1992 DEC 23 (NB) -- MCI, which won the
right to compete in the long distance business after a decade-
long legal fight with AT&T, is suing again. This time the issue
is over AT&T's software patent claims. US District Judge Harold
Greene, who handled the AT&T break-up case in the 1980s, was
assigned the suit.

The background on this suit is in Canada, where MCI signed a
major deal with Stentor in September. That suit gave Stentor
rights to software that MCI uses in its network for services like
its virtual private networks and "Friends and Family" calling
plans.

AT&T complained to the Federal Communications Commission
about the deal, claiming it is illegally exclusive, and indicating
that, in any case MCI was passing on AT&T-patented technology.
This lawsuit, which seeks to invalidate AT&T's patent claims,
was almost an inevitable result. AT&T said the suit has no merit,
and it followed unsuccessful negotiations with MCI on licensing
the technology.

In other news involving AT&T, the company agreed with the US
General Services Administration to publish maximum prices under
its FTS-2000 phone services contract with Sprint, which will
stay in effect through December, 1995.

The company also predicted that over 95 million long distance
calls will be made on Christmas Day, up from 91.8 million a year
ago. AT&T will charge 15 cents per minute for using its network
Christmas within the US,

Finally, the company's Universal Card unit bought $2.8 million
in ImageFirst imaging equipment from Banctec, for use in
processing credit card transactions. The systems will go into
the company's Columbus, Georgia, processing facility.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19921223/Press Contact: AT&T, Ellen Zundl,
908/221-5017; Gary Robinson, BancTec, 214-450-7753)


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

 ****Pac Bell Says No To Calif Caller ID 12/23/92
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 DEC 23 (NB) -- Regional
Bell companies have won a major fight, and lost one, before state
regulators.

Pacific Bell will not offer the controversial Caller ID service in
California because of regulatory requirements. The California
Public Utilities Commission had previously ruled that all
unlisted lines should get free "per-line" blocking of the service,
which could be turned back on by pressing (star)70, and that
others could get free "per-call" blocking with the same key
combination.

Caller ID passes a caller's number along with the call, so it can
be read either by a company's computer or a special box next to
a home phone. Northern Telecom plans to sell such boxes at prices
as low as $19.95 in 1992, but such products' success is in doubt
because of a lack of access to the huge California market. Like
GTE before it, PacBell said the free per-line blocking was the
last straw, since 40 percent of California lines are unlisted.

Bell Atlanta was a big winner. The New Jersey Board of
Regulatory Commissioners approved, what its New Jersey Bell
unit called "incentive regulation" - meaning the company can
begin installing equipment capable of carrying video signals
statewide.

Under the plan, basic service prices are capped through the end
of the century, but the company is no longer subject to rate of
return regulation. New Jersey Bell estimated it will invest $1.5
billion in new capital improving its statewide network under the
plan, predicting it will help the state lure business from other
places.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19921223)


(NEWS)(IBM)(BOS)(00014)

New Animated Desktop Makes Windows A "Moving Experience" 12/23/92
MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 DEC 23 (NB) -- Is your
Windows desktop looking a little dull these days? If so, how
about livening it up with a space shuttle launch, or a flashing
light bulb, or a talking Marilyn Monroe?

DeltaPoint Animated Desktop, a software package slated to ship
by the end of 1992, offers these and almost 600 other icons and
cursors. All 50 cursors are pre-animated. So are 75 of the icons.
You can animate any of the other 400 icons yourself. Audio can
be added to the icons and cursors out of a library of 50 sounds.

"Animated Desktop is pure fun, but it also has some practical
purposes," commented Nigel Hearne, DeltaPoint's director of
product marketing, in an interview with Newsbytes. In
previewing the product at Fall Comdex, DeltaPoint received
strong response from the corporate and educational communities,
he explained.

"One gentleman from a large corporation insisted, 'I've got to
have this!' When I asked him why, he answered, 'Frankly, I'm in
the process of transitioning my users from DOS to Windows, and
anything I can give them that makes them less intimidated will
make my life a lot easier,'" Hearne told Newsbytes. Other
attendees observed that Animated Desktop would make jobs or
lessons more interesting, he said.

Although the animations produced by the package are only 32 by
32 pixels in size, they can be quite elaborate, he stressed. The
space shuttle launch, one of the most sophisticated pre-animated
icons, includes 165 frames of animation, complete with special
effects.

"As the space shuttle animation starts out, the shuttle is standing
on the launchpad. Then there's a '3-2-1' countdown, and a cut to
a shot from underneath, where the engines are igniting. The
camera cuts back to the launchpad, and the rocket takes off.
Finally, there's a fade into a shot from outer space," illustrated
the product marketing director.

A dancing banana, drifting bubbles, a fax machine, an exploding
bomb, and a bungee jumper are among the other pre-animated
icons in Animated Desktop.

Also included are animations specifically created for such popular
applications as Excel, WinFax, and DeltaGraph. In addition, a series
of animated movie stars, with voices to match, will be found in
Windows Wallpaper that comes with the package.

Aside from a flashing light bulb, the 50 pre-animated cursors
include seahorses, a rotating Earth, a submarine, stingrays, and
an octopus.

If you want even more variety, you can build your own animations
from the 400 regular, or "static," icons within the program. Also,
if you are looking for something entirely unique, you can make
animated icons out of drawings you create in Animated Desktop.

Hearne told Newsbytes that an Icon Editor in Animated Desktop
provides two ways of capturing a drawing. A Camera Snapshot
utility allows the user to grab 32- by 32-pixel areas of the
screen. Alternatively, A Snapshot Variable Size feature enables
a rectangle to be dragged around an on-screen drawing. "You can
then compress the contents into a 32- by 32-pixel shape," he
said.

A frame animation capability, also included in the Icon Editor, is
used for animating static icons. "You create one frame, record it,
and make some small changes to it. You then create another frame,
record that, and make some changes. Entertaining animations can
be built that way out of as few as two or three frames," he said.

A Control Panel in Animated Desktop is used to replace static
icons in the Windows Program Manager with animated icons, and
to add sound. "If you click on the icon button in the Control Panel,
a dialog is activated. In the dialog are two list boxes, one for
animated cursors and icons, the other for sounds," said Hearne.

After identifying an animated cursor or icon and a sound, the user
clicks on an "apply" button. "The dialog you are working on is then
minimized, and the Windows Program Manager becomes visible. You
can see the static icon you want to replace, and you simply click
on that," he continued.

Another tool within the program, Application Launcher, lets the
user type in the names of frequently used applications and access
them directly from Animated Desktop by pointing and clicking on
a pop-up menu.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19921223;  Reader contact:  DeltaPoint, tel
408-648-4000;  Press contacts:  Jennifer Doettling, DeltaPoint,
tel [phone], Lerry Wilson or Pamela Lawrence, Wilson
McHenry Company for DeltaPoint, tel [phone])


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(BOS)(00015)

AndroMeDa Intros AndroDat Wireless LAN 12/23/92
WOBURN, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1992 DEC 23 (NB) --  Puccheim,
Germany-based AndroMeDa GmbH, has introduced AndroDat to the
international market, bringing a new infrared (IR) wireless LAN
(local area network) to other countries.

Already in use at such German corporations as BMW, Siemens,
and Audi, AndroMeDa's handheld PC-based system is geared to
portability. Like other IR LANs, AndroDat uses infrared
light-emitting diodes (LEDs) called "infrared transceivers" in
place of the radio antennae employed on RF (radio frequency)
wireless LANs.

However, unlike some IR systems, which require all transceivers
to be laid out in a precise line-of-sight arrangement, AndroDat
allows for freedom of motion among end users.

"With the smaller and lighter portable computers that are coming
out now, the international market is poised for a product like
this," a company spokesperson told Newsbytes.

The AndroDat system consists of five main components:  the
AT-based AndroServ central computer; the AndroClus AT
interface card; the AndroCASE software development tool; the
AndroTrans infrared transmission unit; and the AndroCom
touchscreen and pen-capable wireless handheld computer.

The AndroTrans sits on the wall of the room. One transceiver is
built into each AutoTrans, and one transceiver into each AndroCom
portable PC, enabling the wall-based transmission unit and the
roving computer to communicate via beams of light.

The AndroTrans also connects through cable and the AndroClus
RS485-based interface to the AndroClus server. Each AndroClus
card links two AndroDat wireless networks or one AndroDat
wireless network and one RS232 interface to an AndroServ
server.

AndroServ can control an AndroDat wireless LAN of up to 120
AndroCom users. The server also provides the connection to
enterprise-wide MIS (management information systems)
resources, including wired LANs and WANs (wide area
networks), mainframes, and satellite data transfer.

The AndroDat wireless LAN can be extended over a wide area by
the use of multiple wall-based AndroTrans transceivers. The
AndroTrans transceivers also communicate with one other by
beams of light. Each AndroTrans transceiver covers an area of
1,000 to 2,000 square feet.  The AndroTrans can be situated as
far apart from each other as 1,300 feet.

The wireless handheld AndroCom PC is 10- by five- by one-inch
in size, and weighs about one pound.  The computer is graphics-
capable, with a highly integrated processor and up to three
megabytes (MB) of nonvolatile memory. Its shockproof high
resolution touchscreen display (640 by 200 pixels) can be used
with a stylus that comes with AndroCom, converting the PC to
a pen computer.

The AndroCom can operate eight to 10 hours with one battery
charge. Batteries can either be recharged inside the computer
or exchanged. The PC comes with three LED status lights:  one
for battery charge, one for sending, and the other for receiving.

AndroCASE, the application development tool, includes a menu
generator for translating menus into C code, a program generator,
a complete library, a cross compiler, a simulation program for
pre-testing and debugging, and an infrared server program.

The spokesperson acknowledged to Newsbytes that, up to now,
IR wireless LANs have been more popular in Europe than North
America, where RF holds the edge so far. One factor frequently
cited for IR's stronger success in Europe is greater concern in
Europe over radiation levels that can emanate from RF systems.
In addition, unlike RF, IR is unregulated, meaning that systems
can operate in the same frequency range in different countries.

But, the spokesperson noted, AndroDat is receiving much interest
in North America and other parts of the world, and AndroMeDa
officials are considering licensing the technology for manufacture
in the US or Canada, if the right manufacturing partner can be
found. "The company believes that, in so doing, costs could be
cut by about 30 percent," she explained.

Currently, a complete evaluation kit, including one AndoCom PC
and all other necessary hardware and software, is priced at
$6,650.  Additional AndroCom PCs are priced at $1,995 each for
orders of up to 500 units and $1,175 each for orders of more
than 500 units. The AndroDat system is available now.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19921223;  Press and public contacts:  Ellen
Glew, EGI for AndroMeDa, tel [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(LON)(00016)

UK: S&S Announces Anti-virus Software Trade-In Deal 12/23/92
BERKHAMSTEAD, HERTFORDSHIRE, ENGLAND, 1992 DEC 23 (NB) --
S&S International has announced what it claims is the UK's first
competitive upgrade program for anti-virus software.

Effective immediately, users of any anti-virus package for the PC
who can provide proof of purchase, can buy a copy of Dr Solomon's
anti-virus toolkit for DOS and Windows, inclusive of quarterly
upgrades for a year, for UKP 49 -- a 60 percent saving on the
company's normal UKP 125 price tag. Site license upgrades are
also available at 60 percent off retail price for upgrade
customers.

So why such a generous offer? According to the company, the
decision to promote the package in this way started after it
scored 100 percent in a broad range of scanning tests conducted
by the UK computer virus certification center at Bradford
University.

This was reinforced, the company claims, by a recent
announcement from the virus test center at Hamburg University
that the Toolkit was 100 percent reliable in detecting multiple
infections by the latest strains of polymorphic (self-mutating)
viruses.

"We've been looking for some time at a way to bring the technical
superiority of the Toolkit to the broad attention of anti-virus
software users, so the publication of these test results seemed
an ideal jumping off point," explained Pat Bitton, head of
marketing at S&S International. "I was impressed by the
popularity of competitive upgrade schemes in the US, and we're
confident of attracting many new users."

(Steve Gold/19921223/Press & Public Contact: S&S
International - Tel: [phone]; Fax: [phone])


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LON)(00017)

Financial Times Profile Service Opens In Paris 12/23/92
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1992 DEC 23 (NB) -- The Financial Times
(FT) Profile business information service is branching out
internationally. This month sees the company open its Paris
office, alongside the existing FT Analysis and FT Graphite
group in new offices at 168 rue de Rivoli in the city.

The move is being made to support the service's growing number
of customers in France. FT Profile seems to have taken off on the
back of the several million users of the French Minitel viewdata
service. FT Profile claims that it wants to increase its customer
base in France, now that several new European sources of
information are available on the service.

Jim McLaughlin, FT Profile's international sales manager, said
that the opening of the Paris office is in line with the company's
stated objective of expanding steadily into the European market.
"Having a direct presence in France will help us to provide higher
standards of care and support for our customers," he said.

Over the last tear, Newsbytes notes that the FT Profile service
has added a number of new services to its main on-line system.
These include Predicasts, Prompt Reuter Textline, Reuter News,
Infomat, and Investext.

(Steve Gold/19921223/Press & Public Contact: FT Profile -
Tel: [phone]; Fax: [phone])


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LON)(00018)

Mitac Restructures European Operations 12/23/92
TELFORD, SHROPSHIRE, ENGLAND, 1992 DEC 23 (NB) -- Mitac has
restructured all of its sales, marketing, distribution, and support
operations in the UK. The aim of the changes is to centralize all
the company's affairs, so as to avoid duplication of effort and
unnecessary expense.

Mitac now has branch offices in the UK, Belgium, and Germany.
The company claims that its sales in Europe represent more
than 50 percent of Mitac International's annual turnover.

Billy Ho has been appointed as vice president of sales and
marketing in Europe and, as part of the restructuring, has taken
command of European operations. Ho has ambitious plans for
Europe -- he reckons that, within three years, the region will be
the biggest contributor to total sales for the company.

Ho also claims that Mitac is preparing for the single European
market, which kicks in on January 1, 1993. On that date, all trade
barriers are supposed to be removed, making it as easy to do
business with a town in another European Community (EC)
country as within the same country. Mitac has established a
European technical support center in the UK to provide product
servicing down to PC board level for all its European customers.

(Steve Gold/19921223/Press & Public Contact: Mitac UK -
Tel: [phone]; Fax: [phone])


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(LON)(00019)

UK: Vodafone Wins Australian Mobile Phone License 12/23/92
NEWBURY, BERKSHIRE, ENGLAND, 1992 DEC 23 (NB) -- Vodafone has
announced that Arena GSM, a 95 percent-owned subsidiary of the
company, has been awarded a license to establish a national
digital mobile phone network in Australia.

This is the third mobile phone license to be awarded by the
Australian government, but is significant, since it represents a
major step forward for the Groupe Speciale Mobile (GSM) digital
phone standard in the Southern Hemisphere.

Plans call for Arena to establish a GSM network in Australia, but
using the technology to its limits. This will involve, Newsbytes
understands, Arena using the Vodafone MCN (micro cellular
network) technology to make maximum use of frequencies in city
areas. MCN uses very small cells (a cell is the area around a
transmitter/receiver base station) operating at relatively lower
transmission power, so as to squeeze more base stations into a
given area.

Arena bid AUS$140 million for the license, of which AUS$75
million is payable in the current financial gear and the balance
payable in three-years time. The license, which runs for 25
years, requires Australian interests to hold more than 50 percent
of the shares of Arena GSM by the year 2003.

Commenting on the news, Gerry Whent, Vodafone's chief executive,
said: "I'm delighted that we've won this license in one of the most
attractive markets in the world. We'll be setting out to build a
high quality network in the fastest possible time."

(Steve Gold/19921223/Press & Public Contact: Vodafone -
Tel: [phone]; Fax: [phone])


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TOR)(00020)

 ****DEC Reveals Details Of Restructuring 12/23/92
MAYNARD, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1992 DEC 23 (NB) -- Digital
Equipment has given out more details of its restructuring
into nine business units. President and Chief Executive Robert
Palmer had revealed the broad outlines of the plan at the
company's annual meeting November 6.

Company officials said the plan is meant to bring DEC closer to
its customers and help it return to profitable growth.

Palmer has identified the nine business units that among them
will be responsible for all DEC's revenues. He also appointed
executives to head five of the units, saying the bosses of the
other four will be named soon.

Five of the nine business units are defined by groupings of
industries, while the other four are built around DEC's products
and services.

Company spokesman Mark Fredrickson said the nine units
announced are all the company plans for the time being, although
changing market conditions could dictate creation of other units
at some time in the future.

All the company's revenues will come through the nine new units,
he said, but there will be some central services, including
manufacturing and some engineering, that will not be part of the
business units. Exactly how many of the company's employees will
be working within the new business units is not yet certain,
Fredrickson said.

The Discrete Manufacturing & Defense Industries unit will serve
the automotive, aerospace, electronics, and defense industries.
It will be headed by Frank McCabe, 56, a 13-year DEC employee
who has been named vice president, discrete manufacturing and
defense industries. McCabe was most recently vice-president of
global information systems.

The Health Industries business unit will cater to health care,
health insurance, pharmaceuticals, social security, and
government hospitals. Willow B. Shire, 44, has been named
vice-president, health industries. She has spent the past 16
years with Digital, most recently as vice-president of the
health care business unit.

The Communications, Education and Entertainment Industries unit
will serve the telecommunications, education, cable television,
media, and entertainment industries. A manager will be appointed
shortly, officials said.

The Consumer & Process Manufacturing Industries unit will serve
these industries: travel and transportation; retail/wholesale;
consumer packaged goods; chemical; utilities; environment; oil
and gas; and forestry, mining, metals, and glass. A manager will
be named shortly.

The last of the industry-focused units, Financial, Professional
And Public Services Industries, will serve these industries:
banking; insurance (except health); software and data services;
architecture, engineering, and construction; public
administration; and other professional services. A manager will
be appointed shortly.

As expected, the product-oriented groups include a Personal
Computer Business Unit. It will manage the industry-standard
personal computer business under a manager to be named soon.

The Components And Peripherals Business Unit will be responsible
for sales of printers, terminals, and components other than as
part of complete systems. Lawrence P. Cabrinety, 61, has been
appointed vice-president of this unit. With Digital since 1984,
Cabrinety has been vice-president, video, image and print systems
since 1990.

The Multivendor Customer Services Business Unit will handle
multivendor predictive and preventive maintenance and advisory
support services for software and hardware. John J. Rando, 40,
has been appointed its vice-president. Rando has spent the past
16 years with Digital, most recently as vice-president, product
services.

The Storage Business Unit will provide storage components and
systems to high-volume original equipment manufacturer (OEM)
customers, industry distributors, and Digital's own systems
sales. Charles F. Christ, 53, has been named vice-president,
storage business unit. He joined Digital in 1990 as vice-president,
mass storage.

The product-focused business units will have their own
engineering staffs, Fredrickson said, while the industry-
focused units will work with a central engineering group.

The new structure is to be fully in place in time for the start
of Digital's 1994 fiscal year in July, Fredrickson added.

(Grant Buckler/19921223/Press Contact: Mark Fredrickson,
Digital Equipment, 508-493-4930)


(NEWS)(IBM)(TOR)(00021)

New For PC: MotorMouse Looks Like A Car 12/23/92
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA, 1992 DEC 23 (NB) -- If
you're looking for a last-minute stocking stuffer for the PC user
who has everything, you've come to the right place. How about a
mouse that looks like a sports car?

Even the vendor, MotorMouse Products Inc., isn't promising you'll
see a big boost in productivity from this gadget -- it's intended
to add a little fun and style to your PC, said Alex Morton,
founder and president of MotorMouse.

Morton, a veteran of several computer companies including Borland
International and Vancouver-based Stratford Software, said he
came up with the idea about a year and a half ago. With funding
from a Vancouver investor, Diamond International Industries Inc.,
MotorMouse began shipping its first model, a Lamborghini
Countach, on December 1.

Morton said he has signed exclusive agreements with a number of
car manufacturers and MotorMouse's second model, a Corvette,
will appear early in 1993.

The inside of the mouse is a Taiwan-made board using
surface-mount technology - high-quality mouse electronics,
Morton said - and the outer sports-car casing is made in
Vancouver. The MotorMouse comes with software for Microsoft
Windows, called Cruise Control, that adds some special
features.

For instance, Morton said, "we've finally found a use for the
middle button" on a three-button mouse. It beeps the car horn.
Optionally, the Cruise Control software can turn your Windows
cursor into a picture of the same car after which the mouse
itself is modeled, and can cause little animated characters -
like a mechanic and a dog - to stroll across your screen
periodically.

There's also a standard mouse driver for use with plain DOS.

The MotorMouse has a suggested retail price of $89.95 in the
United States, or C$109.95 in Canada. Toronto-based Beamscope
is the exclusive Canadian distributor. Morton said several
distributors will be handling the product in the US. MotorMouse
plans to move into the European market early in 1993, he added.

(Grant Buckler/19921223/Press Contact: Alex Morton,
MotorMouse Products, 604-922-3259)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TOR)(00022)

Systemhouse Buys Interactive Systems Unit From Kodak 12/23/92
OTTAWA, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1992 DEC 23 (NB) -- SHL
Systemhouse Inc., has agreed to buy Interactive Systems Corp., a
software integration and consulting firm specializing in Unix,
from Eastman Kodak of Rochester, New York. Terms were not
disclosed.

Interactive has about 200 employees in seven offices across the
United States. The company was founded in 1978 as Lachman
Associates, and acquired by Kodak in 1988. Kevin Rowe, director
of business development for the midwest region for Systemhouse's
US subsidiary, Systemhouse Inc., said the "overwhelming
majority" of those people will be joining Systemhouse.

Interactive will be integrated into Systemhouse Inc., Rowe said.
Its services and products will continue to be offered from all
existing locations.

Systemhouse officials said the deal would help the firm expand
its presence in the US systems integration marketplace. While
Rowe said the company had no specific figure on the amount of
its business that involves Unix, he added that Unix is a key
operating system in client/server computing, an area
Systemhouse considers central to its operations.

In a prepared statement, William F. Fowble, senior vice-president
and executive vice-president of imaging at Kodak, said the sale
was part of a plan to focus on the company's "core businesses."

Systemhouse, a major systems integrator, has more than 3,500
employees and 1992 revenues of nearly C$750 million.

(Grant Buckler/19921223/Press Contact: Paul C. Allen of Eastman
Kodak, 716-724-5802; Kevin Rowe, Systemhouse, 312-697-5671)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(TOR)(00023)

Canadian Court Upholds Long-Distance Ruling 12/23/92
OTTAWA, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1992 DEC 23 (NB) -- The Federal
Court of Canada has come down on the side of new competitors
in Canadian long-distance telephone service, upholding the terms
of a regulatory ruling that Canada's established telephone
companies had appealed.

On June 12, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications
Commission (CRTC) approved applications by Unitel
Communications of Toronto and a partnership of B.C. Rail
Telecommunications of Vancouver and Lightel of Toronto, to
offer long-distance service in parts of Canada.

A few days later, Bell Canada, the country's largest phone
company, appealed parts of the decision that gave the new
competitors a discount on their contributions to supporting local
service, and the CRTC's ruling that phone companies should pay
most of the cost of connecting the systems to their networks.

"We would have to absorb so much of the startup costs, with no
way to recover those costs," Linda Gervais, a spokeswoman for
Bell, said at the time.

Other telephone companies subsequently joined the appeal,
which delayed the connection of competing systems directly
to phone-company switches.

A further appeal of the Federal Court decision is possible. John
Morris, a spokesman for Bell Canada, said his company had not
yet decided whether to appeal again. "We will have to read the
fine print first," he said.

Peter Janecek, a spokesman for Unitel, said that if no further
appeal delays the process, full interconnection between Unitel's
network and those of the phone companies would take about 12
months. That would mean that in some locations at least,
customers would be able to use Unitel's network without dialing
extra digits by next Christmas. At present, Unitel offers
long-distance service in some major centers, but customers
must dial 17 extra digits to get access to the Unitel network.

(Grant Buckler/19921223/Press Contact: Peter Janecek, Unitel,
416-345-2365; Linda Gervais, Bell Canada, 613-781-3724)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LAX)(00024)

Oracle Posts High 2Qtr 1993 Earnings 12/23/92
REDWOOD CITY, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 DEC 23 (NB) -- Oracle,
maker of cross-platform database software, is reporting
noteworthy revenue increases. The company surprised analysts
by reporting net second quarter 1993 income up 147 percent at
$33 million ($0.23 per share) from the $14 million ($0.10 per
share) in earnings reported in its second quarter of 1992.

Last quarter Oracle faced some red ink, despite a 25 percent
revenue increase, due to an accounting change. The company
recorded a non-cash charge for software revenue of $43 million
after-tax, which resulted in a net-loss of $34 million.

However, this quarter ending November 30, 1992, showed a
revenue increase of 24 percent to $353 million from the $284
million reported in the same period last year. UPI reported
Oracle performed well above the approximately $22 million
($0.16 per share) in earnings analysts expected.

Redwood City, California-based Oracle says license sales grew
25 percent and service revenues are up 23 percent. However, the
big increases were in Unix license revenues which surged 56
percent and desktop license revenues which increased 44
percent, Oracle said.

The company's US and European operations remained strong with
20 percent or more growth, but the largest gains were in Oracle
Intercontinental, with 42 percent revenue growth over the
second quarter of fiscal 1992.

Due to the losses in the first quarter the company is holding
even. However the company officials are optimistic.

Lawrence J. Ellison, Oracle's president and chief executive
officer, said the company is banking on new releases of all its
development tools to compliment the release of the company's
flag ship database product, Oracle7. Oracle7 runs on PCs,
workstations, minicomputers, mainframes, and massively
parallel supercomputers.

(Linda Rohrbough/19921223/Press Contact: Chris Shilakes,
Oracle, tel [phone], fax [phone]; Public Contact,
415-506-7000)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SYD)(00025)

Australia: Verbatim Sees Future In Optical Disks 12/23/92
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA 1992 DEC 23 (NB) -- Data storage medium
manufacturer Verbatim says it believes we've only started to
scratch the surface of what we'll record electronically in the
future, and that the storage mechanism will a popular choice by
mid-decade.

The two main types of optical storage technology are rewritable
MO (magneto-optical) and WORM (write-once, read-many). Early
examples of WORM disks were very badly behaved and were
sometimes jokingly referred to as "write-once, read-maybe."

Disks range in size from 12-inches to 3.5-inches and smaller.
The 12-inch disk holds up to six gigabytes (GB) and the 5.25-
inch disk holds up to 650 megabytes (MB). Verbatim produces
5.25-inch WORM and rewritable and 3.5-inch rewritable.

Verbatim maintains that the technology needed depends on the
user's requirements. WORM is suitable for records that need
to be checked later (audited), without fear that they have been
changed. Rewritable MOD are considered by many to be more
acceptable to average users because they offer the chance to
erase or update records, just like a huge floppy disk. Although
tapes can hold as much information, they are much slower to
access.

According to Verbatim, the 3.5-inch drives are particularly
suited to single computers and small networks while the
5.25-inch versions are more suited to larger networks and
systems, especially when used with a "jukebox" array that
can select and load one disk from a library unit. Typical
file access from a library of up to 200 disks is still less than
15 seconds.

Data is changing as more users work with graphics such as
scanned documents or photographs. Some analysts believe
short- and long-term storage needs will explode over the next
few years.

Verbatim suggests that industries with high data storage
needs suited to optical disks include legal and banking with
computer-stored documents; government with a need to remove
and secure data files; insurance companies consolidating
files and photographs in one place; engineers storing
large CAD (computer-aided design) files with the possibility
of later updating.

(Paul Zucker/19921223)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(LAX)(00026)

 ****SCO Pres Resigns Amid Sexual Harassment Charges 12/23/92
SANTA CRUZ, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 DEC 23 (NB) -- Scandalous
sexual harassment charges have hit the Santa Cruz Operation,
forcing the resignation of Larry Michels, co-founder, president
and chief executive officer of the privately held Unix operating
system development company.

Since June of this year, eight women have filed sexual
harassment and discrimination complaints against the company
and Michels. The complaints were filed with the California State
Department of Fair Employment and Housing, according to a
report in the San Francisco Chronicle.

Further, December 3, 1992, three former executive secretaries
filed suit against Michels and the SCO alleging sexual harassment
and seeking monetary damages. Since then two other secretaries
have joined the suit.

The SCO released a statement saying that, based on advice from
its attorneys, it will make no public comment regarding the
charges. Specifically, the Chronicle says the women maintain
Michels "groped" and "forcibly kissed" them and that he exposed
his genitals to them.

This isn't the first time women have filed charges against
leadership at the SCO. The Chronicle reports sexual harassment
claims were filed this year against Steve Sabbath, vice
president of legal affairs, but those complaints were settled
out of court. Other complaints are reported to be pending against
Director of Engineering Services Joe Longo.

Jim Harris, an outside director, has been appointed to the helm
by the board of directors and SCO says he is currently investigating
the charges against Michels. Harris is living in Minnesota, but plans
to move to Santa Cruz after the first of the year. His credits
include being a former vice president at Microsoft and management
positions at Intel.

Michels has released a statement saying he is innocent of the
charges and has resigned his position for two reasons. In a
prepared statement he outlined those reasons as: "First, it is
imperative the unfounded allegations made in the recent lawsuit
in no way be allowed to damage the company that I co-founded or
to harm the remarkable group of employees who made the SCO
such a success. Second, given the serious nature of the allegations,
I want to devote all my energies to clearing my name. There is
simply no way that I can do so while running a company the size
of SCO."

The SCO says it has revenues in excess of $160 million, and it
employs 1,200 people worldwide, including 700 at its
headquarters in Santa Cruz, California.

Michels strenuously denies all charges against him. "These
allegations are completely false and unfair. I am innocent. I
am confident that a full and fair legal review will vindicate
me."

(Linda Rohrbough/19921223/Press Contact: Zee Zaballos,
Santa Cruz Operation, tel [phone], fax [phone])


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

New For Mac: Info-Mac CD-ROM Disk W/Quarterly Updates 12/23/92
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH, U.S.A., 1992 DEC 23 (NB) -- Pacific HiTech,
Inc., plans to regularly release updates to its Info-Mac CD-ROM
disc. The first edition of the disc, released in  September, contains
3,384 shareware and freeware Macintosh programs and files.

The programs on the disc came from the Info-Mac archive on the
Internet on-line network, its most up-to-date and comprehensive
collection of Macintosh software.

The CD-ROM disc is packed with thousands of applications, desk
accessories, games, virus-detection programs, and commercial
demos, according to Cliff Miller, president of Pacific HiTech.
"Since  so may new programs appear every week on Internet,
we're planning to update the disc four times a year."

Miller noted that the Info-Mac CD-ROM disc also contains graphics,
sounds, and HyperCard stacks. "For the more technically inclined,
we've included source code samples and complete program listings
as well as technical  documentation and discussions. We've taken
all the files, checked them for viruses and uncompressed them, so
users can run many of the programs right from the disc."

Info-Mac CD-ROM, priced at $39.95, is available directly from
Pacific HiTech.

(Computer Currents/19921223/Public contact: 800/765-8369)


(NEWS)(IBM)(SFO)(00028)

New For PC: Business Architect Builds Business Plans 12/23/92
ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, U.S.A., 1992 DEC 23 (NB) -- Business
Architect, a PC-based assessment and planning tool from
Enterprising Solutions, helps users build well-conceived and
thorough business plans, according to the company.

Business Architect is unlike the spreadsheet or word processing
applications many people have tried to use, the company claims,
because it addresses the tough questions every business planner
faces: What are the fundamental assumptions you need to address
before you start plugging in numbers? How do you make a valid
model of the business, using real numbers and assumptions? How
do you test those assumptions and work toward the most optimal
plan before you move ahead?

To build a plan with Business Architect, a user follows a
three-phased approach: Assess, Plan, and Development. The Assess
function guides a planner though a series of dialogs that assist
in the definition, analysis, and competitive comparison of
potential target markets.

The Plan function helps a user produce an actual business plan.
Information gathered through the Assess function can be reused
without having to retype it. The Plan function contains integrated
financial planning spreadsheets that forecast sales revenue, lead
generation, headcount, salaries, and other financial aspects of
the business.

The Implement function focuses on executing the business plan
and monitoring results. Business Architect's Milestone Planner
and Action Planner tools help a user plan implementation details
and schedules.

As a final step, Business Architect pulls the pieces together
into a printed plan which can then be used, not only for running
the business successfully,  but also for presenting to investors,
partners, and employees.

Business Architect  carries a suggested retail price of $149
and comes with a money-back guarantee.

(Computer Currents/19921223/Public contact: 800/831-6610)


(NEWS)(IBM)(SFO)(00029)

New For PC: Service First! Accounting Software 12/23/92
BUDA, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1992 DEC 23 (NB) -- KRS Enterprises, Inc.,
has announced its new accounting software system, called
Service First! It is billed as a full-featured, user-friendly
accounting  system specifically designed for any type of service-
related business that has a need to track services and/or
products sold to its customers.

Service First! consists of five modules: General Ledger, Accounts
Payable, Accounts Receivable, Payroll, and Inventory management.
Each module can stand alone or be combined into an integrated
system. The software is IBM-compatible and will run on Novell
or LANtastic networks.

The system includes an electronic-mail feature allowing the
user to send mail to other users or to record personal reminders
at the press of a key.

The Service First! modules range from $495 to $690 each (a demo
disk is available), and KRS offers free unlimited telephone support.

(Computer Currents/19921223/Public Contact: 512/295-7311)


(NEWS)(IBM)(WAS)(00030)

"IBM Failed" Article Pulled From HBR Publication 12/23/92
CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1992 DEC 23 (NB) -- Did
IBM's recent troubles combine with the company's clout to cause
the prestigious Harvard Business Review to pull an article
critical of Big Blue? That is the question being asked today as
CNN reports that an article, "Why IBM Failed," by industry
analyst Mark Stahlman (New Media Associates Inc., NY), was
pulled from the Review at the very last minute.

As IBM's stock price continued its recent drop and actually went
below $50 per share on Monday, December 21, the lowest price
for the world's largest computer company's stock in the past ten
years, the Harvard Business Review reportedly pulled Stahlman's
critical article soon after CNN reported on the previous Friday
that the piece would run in the next issue.

While George Harris, the editor of the publication, says he
dropped the article because it made him uncomfortable to "bewail
the fact that we don't have a single company monopolizing the
information business," Stahlman said in a television interview
that he believed that the reason the article was pulled was "out
of concern that it might ultimately be offensive to IBM."

According to the Associated Press, William Sahlman, Harvard
Business School professor and chairman of the "B" School's
publishing operation, said that the decision was made entirely
by the editor and was based on questions of editorial quality.

It is reported that the editor of the Harvard Business Review did
not pull Stahlman's article until after it was already in galleys
(a very advanced stage in the publishing process which is
normally only reached by an article firmly slated for publication).

The author of "Why IBM Failed," excerpts from which appeared in
a recent Boston Globe, says that the fact that his article was
pulled at the very last second, and only after it received
publicity, just "illustrates the wide and deep relationship
between IBM and the Harvard Business School."

Sunday's Globe quotes the article as saying that Big Blue's
problems stem from a management model which was unable to
keep up with the changes in the industry.

Once-untouchable IBM has recently suffered major setbacks,
recalled some former managers to help out, seen a massive drop
in the value of its stock, and announced another large staff
cutback. A company spokesperson said that IBM had no motive
to block publication of the article since the world already knows
that the company is having major problems.

IBM is even admitting that it may have to drastically reduce or
even cancel its stock dividend completely, and some analysts are
predicting that IBM will have to cut another 40,000 to 50,000
employees in 1993, beyond the 25,000 cut announced by the
company earlier this December, as reported by Newsbytes.

Some people familiar with the Harvard Business School's executive
training methods contend that it is just as likely that the school
itself is feeling slightly embarrassed by the revelation that one
of its "model" companies, which has been used as a "good" example
in case studies, is now facing major challenges and losses which
are apparently due mostly to management problems.

Harvard, founded in 1636, has approximately 800 faculty members
and an enrollment of about 15,000. The Business School branch is
a highly respected graduate school which prides itself on
preparing top management for large corporations - the learning
model leans heavily on the use of case studies.

(John McCormick/19921222)