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/1993/NB110193

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(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SYD)(00001)

Australian Company Adds "Czech" Option To Accounts Software 11/01/93
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1993 NOV 1 (NB) -- Sybiz, the Australian
accounting software house, has added another export market to its
list, though one that requires a little more modification to the
product. It already exports to the US, UK and Asia, but now it has
started selling into Europe, with Czechoslovakia being the most
recent success.

Managing director Peter Lucas said that the normal way of selling
software into a market with a different language was to hope the
locals knew enough English to cope. With Sybiz, he claims this is
not the case, as the company wants to offer something different to
its foreign users.

"Sybiz believes that it is necessary to put in just as much effort
with foreign versions of software as we do with our original
Australian versions. We work closely with local experts to ensure
that local users have no problems. Support is the name of the game,
and that starts long before the software is released."

He said that not only was it essential to do a 100 percent language
translation, but to make all adaptations necessary to make the
software comply with local laws, local accounting practices and
local computer differences.

"We then set up a complete support structure using local people who
are then fully trained in our software, just like the support here
in Australia."

(Paul Zucker/19931101/Contact: Sybiz Software on phone +61-2-954
5211 or fax [phone])


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

STB Intros Video Card For Multiple Display Devices 11/01/93
RICHARDSON, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1993 NOV 1 (NB) -- STB Systems has
announced the release of a composite NTSC/PAL multimedia video card
that supports output to various devices, including a standard
television set or VCR.

The company says that Channel One is an add-in video card that
supports VGA, S- VHS and composite NTSC/PAL video signals. It's
based on the Cirrus Logic 5426 video controller chip and comes with
up to one megabyte (MB) of 60 nanosecond dynamic random access
memory (DRAM) video memory. The chip supports up to 16.7 million
colors at a resolution of 640 by 480 and 16 colors at 1280 by 1024
resolution.

NTSC (National Television System Committee) refers to the 525 line
standard for television signals in the US. Critics say the acronym
stands for Never Twice The Same Color. PAL refers to Phase
Alternating By Line and is the 625 line European standard.

STB has added a Sony CXA1145 RGB (red-blue-green) encoder to the
board to convert VGA signals to NTSC/PAL video formats. Channel One
comes with a 15- pin connector for VGA, F connector, S-VHS and a
VESA compatible feature connector.

STB says the Channel One board is designed to provide corporate,
finance, transportation and education users with the ability to
display computer generated data and graphical images on regular
NTSC/PAL television sets. The data can be output directly to the TV
or to a VCR for storage on a video tape.

The company says that users with a multiple frequency VGA monitor
can display the same video signal on the VGA monitor and on an NTSC
television set simultaneously. You can install multiple Channel One
boards for multiple screen operations in VGA or NTSC environments.

The board comes with an installation utility, VGA drivers for a
number of popular software packages, and a STB NTSC/PAL driver for
Windows 3.1. A line averaging utility eliminates flicker when static
images are being displayed in the NTSC or PAL modes.

Channel One went into full production last month, and has a
suggested retail price of $459. STB says it replaces more expensive
graphics/character generators. Product Manager Greg Martin says
Channel One graphics quality is equal to or surpasses systems in use
in production houses.

"The introduction of Channel One places professional quality
computer graphics within the reach of the average computer user at a
fraction of the cost associated with expensive television studio
graphics/character generators." he said.

(Jim Mallory/19931101/Press contact: Robert Haskins, STB Systems,
214-234- 8750, ext 402; Reader contact: STB Systems, 214-234-8750,
fax [phone])


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

Musicware Piano For Windows Debuts 11/01/93
REDMOND, WASHINGTON, U.S.A., 1993 NOV 1 (NB) -- Musicware has
introduced a Windows-based software program that turns your personal
computer into a piano teacher.

The company says that Musicware Piano for Windows combines proven
piano teaching methods with the power and ease of Windows, taking
users step by step from the basics to an advanced level of two hand
playing competency.

The program is used in conjunction with a Musical Instrument Digital
Interface (MIDI) piano keyboard with four octaves or more and a
sound card with built-in MIDI support to provide more than 200 piano
lessons. Musicware says that's equivalent to thousands of dollars of
music lessons in a traditional teacher/student setting.

MIDI is a standard for communications between electronic musical
instruments and is used to transfer performance and control
information around a music system with MIDI instruments. The
instruments are controlled externally so as to select what notes are
being played and what other effects are to be added.

Secondary functions of the interface involve the transfer of timing
information and other data relating to instrument voice parameters,
digital audio samples and setup information. A PC serves as the
controller.

Piano for Windows provides instruction in sight reading, ear
training, rhythm, and music theory fundamentals. The program
includes tests and tracks each student's progress. The
teaching techniques were authored by Christine Hermanson, technology
coordinator for the Music Teachers National Association. Musicware
President Dan Peterson says not only is the program convenient, but
users can learn at their own pace in the privacy of their own home
and on their own schedule.

The company says that the package is ideal for novices age seven to
adult, or for musicians who simply want to brush up on their piano
skills. The software, with a suggested retail price of $129.95,
comes with all necessary cables.

System requirements include a 386 or better personal computer
running Microsoft Windows 3.1 or higher, a hard disk with at least
three megabytes (MB) of free disk space, a minimum of 2MB of system
memory (Musicware recommends 4MB), VGA or higher resolution monitor,
mouse, a MIDI piano keyboard with four octaves or more with full
size keys, and a MIDI interface or sound card with built-in MIDI
support.

Musicware says it will introduce programs for intermediate to
advanced players later this year. The company will be demonstrating
Piano for Windows in the Yamaha booth at Comdex, the industry's
annual fall trade show in Las Vegas. Comdex opens its November 15,
1993.

(Jim Mallory/1991101/Press contact: Dan McFadden, MorseMcFadden
Communications for Musicware Inc, 206-821-7385; Reader contact:
Musicware: 206-881-9797, fax [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(SYD)(00004)

Sydney PC User Group Ends Membership Drive With Triple Numbers 11/01/93
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1993 NOV 1 (NB) -- Sydney PC Users Group now has
3,000 members thanks to a recent membership drive. The group had
dwindled to less than a thousand a couple of years ago, but has
found new life with the increased home user and small business PC
market. More than $15,000 in prizes have been awarded in the drive.

Ian Triffit is the lucky winner of the grand prize. He only joined
the group a few weeks ago, but he now has a $3,000 486 PC from Custom
Built Computers to run all his favourite shareware on. There was
also a prize for the member who introduced the most new members, and
some were very active, doing letter box drops, placing BBS messages
and haranguing work colleagues.

The drive brought in more than 750, and this was in addition to good
results the group had at the home computer show earlier in the year
where its stand was very popular.

For the AUS$35 annual membership fee (around US$22) members get a
monthly magazine, membership discounts, 13 BBS lines, 22 special
interest groups, a shareware library and telephone help services.

Melbourne PC User Group is still a much larger group, with more
facilities, but the Sydney group said this situation will be
remedied soon.

(Paul Zucker/19931101/Contact: Sydney PC Users Group info line on
phone [phone])


(NEWS)(UNIX)(WAS)(00005)

CA's Charles Wang To Speak At Unix Reseller Show 11/01/93
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1993 NOV 1 (NB) -- Computer Associates Chief
Executive Officer Charles B. Wang, and Informix Software's CEO
Philip E. White will be the keynote speakers at next Spring's Unix
Reseller Conference and Exposition scheduled for April 18 - 21, 1994
in Dallas, Texas.

In his presentation, Wang will outline his ideas on the strategy for
resellers to use in convincing top management that they should
maintain or move to open systems. These include interoperability,
lower costs, and portability of data and applications.

White will provide an overview of the latest developments in
relational database technology, a primary concern of his company.

The four-day Unix Reseller Conference will include more than 300
hours of seminars and training sessions as well as exhibits by 250
UNIX vendors.

This show, which is intended only for Unix resellers or VARs (value
added resellers), saw more than 3,000 dealers attend last year and
the sponsor expects to host more than 5,000 resellers at next
spring's conference.

(John McCormick/19931101/Press Contact: Lincoln Sperry, Expoconsul
International, 609-987-9400 or fax [phone])


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(LON)(00006)

Czech Company Imports HP Hardware; Publishes Local Catalog 11/01/93
SOUTH MORAVIA, CZECHOSLOVAKIA, 1993 NOV 1 (NB) -- PEQ, the Uherske
Hradist-based computer distributor, has begun importing Hewlett-
Packard PCs and peripherals into Czechoslovakia.

The company claims that it expects the machines to sell well and, to
ensure this is the case, has begun publishing its first sales
catalog, marketing the HP hardware under the "PEQ Appeal" brand
image to Czech companies.

The first print run of 20,000 copies of the catalogue is, Newsbytes
understands, all but sold out. The catalog has almost the full range
of HP Vectra PCs, as well as printers and plotters, plus monitors
and scanners.

Plans call for the company to import the complete range of HP kit,
if the demand is there. Because of the shortage of computer
magazines in Czechoslovakia, Newsbytes understands that PEQ will be
publishing the catalogue on a monthly basis.

(Sylvia Dennis/19931101/Press & Public Contact: PEQ - Tel: +42-632-
40660; Fax: [phone])


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(BOS)(00007)

CD-ROM Expo - Discport Access Device Lives Anywhere On LAN 11/01/93
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1993 NOV 1 (NB) -- Microtest has
introduced Discport, a product designed to allow multiple CD-ROM
drives to be accessed from a network without connecting the drives
to a fileserver or to individual workstations.

The new, videotape-sized device attaches directly to network
cabling, anywhere on an Ethernet local area network (LAN), explained
Robert Brainard, software engineer.

Up to seven CD-ROM drives can be attached to one Discport, and
unlimited Discports can be attached to the LAN, Brainard added,
during a demonstration for Newsbytes at CD-ROM Expo last week.

Discport takes only minutes to install and requires no network
downtime, he asserted. The system works with either thin Ethernet or
10BASE-T wiring, and uses a SCSI (small-computer-system interface)
connector to daisy chain external CD-ROM drives.

The CD-ROM access device also integrates seamlessly with Novell
Netware 3.11 or 4.0, without a redirector or terminate and stay
resident (TSR) loaded on a workstation, according to Brainard.

Integration with Netware permits users to take advantage of such
features as high-speed disk caching, drive mapping, and security,
he noted.

Discport is priced at $695 for an unlimited user license. The
product ships with Microtest's Discview, a Windows-based software
application that provides three levels of operation for Discport
installation and CD-ROM management and use.

Brainard showed Newsbytes how Discview guides the LAN administrator
through the installation process, and also allows point-and-click
organization of and access to the entire collection of CDs available
on the network.

Once Discport installation is complete, the task of CD-ROM
management can be delegated to an individual without a LAN
management background, Brainard told Newsbytes.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19931101/Reader contact: Microtest, tel 602-957-
6400; Press contacts: Gina Kilker or Teresa Poppin, Microtest, tel
602-952-6400; Cheryl Snapp, Network Associates for Microtest, tel
801-225-7888)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(BOS)(00008)

CD-ROM Expo - Largest Electronic Cookbook Unveiled 11/01/93
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1993 NOV 1 (NB) -- Right in time for
the upcoming holidays, TeleTypesetting has unveiled an electronic
cookbook billed as the largest on the market. Shown last week at CD-
ROM Expo, Digital Gourmet Deluxe is available on CD-ROM and floppy
disk, and in Macintosh and Windows versions.

The CD-ROM and floppy editions each contain over 6,000 speciality
and international recipes, but the CD-ROM disc offers 100 photos as
an extra bonus, according to officials of Brookline, MA-based
Teletypesetting.

Culinary areas covered in the cookbook include Japanese, Greek,
Kosher, African, French, Russian, Chinese, lactose-free, soups,
salads, breads, desserts, and more.

Users can add unlimited numbers of other recipes, search for recipes
containing specific ingredients, adjust recipe sizes, and print out
recipes and shopping lists, the company said.

The electronic bookbook also offers online reference materials,
encompassing sections on cooking tips, cooking terms and
definitions, and nutritional information.

The nutritional information database gives the facts on more than
500 foods, and users can add more foods. Users can also calculate
calorie, fat, carbohydrate, protein, and sodium content, along with
the percentage of calories from fat.

Digital Gourmet Deluxe is an expanded edition of Teletypesetting's
original Digital Gourmet, a product that received a Top 100 Gift
Software award from MacUser Magazine for 1992.

The CD-ROM version of the new Digital Gourmet Deluxe is priced at
$195, and the floppy disk version at $145. Upgrades are available
to current owners of Digital Gourmet.

The Macintosh edition of the electronic cookbook is HyperCard-
based. HyperCard Version 2.1 is included at no extra charge.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19931101/Reader and press contact: Marleen
Winer, Books-on-Disk Division, Teletypesetting, tel [phone])


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(WAS)(00009)

Xionics To Show Print Accelerator At Fed Imaging Show 11/01/93
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1993 NOV 1 (NB) -- Peabody, Massachusetts-
based Xionics, will demonstrate its XipPrint Network Image Print
Accelerator, the first add-on network image printing solution for HP
printers at next week's 1993 Federal Imaging Show to be held in
Washington, DC.

XipPrint is an MIO (multiple input/output) slot device which plugs
into the MIO slot on Hewlett-Packard LaserJet 4, 4Si, and 4Si MX
printers and provides either a Centronics parallel port or network
interface.

This image print accelerator will allow the LaserJet printers to
transparently print compressed document images and fax documents
along with text print tasks at full rated speed and 600 dot per inch
resolution.

The XipPrint module is operating system and network independent,
allowing the LaserJets to print scanned document, fax, and TIFF
images on the same printer that is normally used for PostScript
printing.

Xionics will also take the opportunity presented by Federal
Imaging to announce its new long-term product development and
marketing agreement with Israel-based Top Image Systems Ltd. as
well as a strategic marketing relationship with Pixelink of
Hudson, Mass. which will resell the Xionics XipView Windows Image
Display Controller.

(John McCormick/19931101/Press Contact: Brian Bissett, Xionics,
310-402-0393)


(NEWS)(IBM)(DEN)(00010)

Insight Announces Pentium-based Workstation 11/01/93
TEMPE, ARIZONA, U.S.A., 1993 NOV 1 (NB) -- Insight Direct has
announced it will begin shipping its Pentium-based workstations on
November 15. The company was formerly known as Insight Distribution
Network Inc.

The company says that the new systems will compete for direct sales
with Gateway 2000's P5-60. Insight's 60 megahertz (MHz) Pentium-
powered PCI P60 CD carries a price tag reading $3,699 and ships with
16 megabytes (MB) of system memory, a 320 millisecond double-speed
CD-ROM drive, a parallel and two serial ports, a 101-key keyboard
and a mouse.

You also get a Super VGA non-interlaced monitor, a 256 kilobyte
cache, and one 540MB 12 millisecond hard drive. MS-DOS, Microsoft
for Workgroups, and four CD-ROM titles come with the system. The
system has two PCI (peripheral component interconnect) four ISA
(industry standard architecture) and one PCI/ISA slots. PCI is a new
high performance local bus that supports multiple peripheral devices
and can provide wider, faster throughput.

Insight VP of Marketing Valerie Paxton told Newsbytes that the
system is designed for heavy number crunching, high end graphics,
and desktop publishing. The company expects to sell about $500,000
worth of P60's in November and as much as $2 million worth in
December.

Insight says that future plans call for its Pentium-based systems to
include additional memory and a hard drive capable of storing up to
one gigabyte of files for about $300 more than the systems being
announced presently.

Insight provides toll free around-the-clock sales and tech support.
systems ship via Federal Express and include a one year parts and
labor warranty. The warranty period can be extended one additional
year at a cost equal to nine percent of the purchase price. The
company offers a 30-day money back guarantee.

(Jim Mallory/19931101/Press contact: Valerie Paxton, Insight, 602-
350-1611; Reader contact: Insight Direct, 800-927-7848)


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

Seagate's High Capacity Storage Conf Set For Comdex 11/01/93
SCOTTS VALLEY, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 NOV 1 (NB) -- High capacity
disk drives may be becoming increasingly popular as applications
continue to take up huge amounts of storage space, but they can pose
architectural problems for hardware vendors. Along those lines
Seagate Technology says it will host a conference designed to
address such problems, which is planned for Tuesday, November 16, in
Las Vegas, Nevada, coinciding with the Comdex trade show.

According to the company, the High Capacity Storage Integration
Conference will address the "current system limitations in
integrating AT-interface hard disc drives of greater than 528
megabytes (MB), and SCSI (Small Computer Systems Interface) devices
of greater than 8.4 gigabytes (GB) into personal computers,
workstations and file servers."

Tim Sutton, spokesman for Seagate, told Newsbytes that there
is no cost for attending the conference. "The only thing that we
require is that attendees RSVP as soon as possible, as there
will be no walk-in registration."

The company also maintains that the event will "span all the
major blocks of computing architecture," including Adaptec,
Motorola, Novell, Phoenix Technologies, Quantum, and Western
Digital among its participants.

In giving Newsbytes further details, Sutton said: "It will run
from 9am to 2pm. Initially there will introductions, and then an
outline of some of the issues involved. There will then be a
couple of different proposals or presentations by various
companies. There is still some discussion as to the timing of
the events and how much time we're actually going to have for
the proposals and discussions."

Said David Tang, Seagate's marketing manager and committee
co-chairperson: "To avoid unnecessary compatibility and
upgradeability issues the industry needs a unified approach to
this problem. Cross-platform enablers like Windows NT and
PowerPC make an industry-wide solution that supports the
highest level of interoperability of the utmost critical need."

According to Tang, users want assurance that the hardware, operating
system and storage options that they select today will not restrict
their choices to migrate to more advanced capabilities when their
needs increase. "By our standardizing for the future, users will be
able to evolve to advanced platforms more smoothly without the need
to recreate their previous work or replace expensive hardware," he
said.

Seagate maintains that the issue requires industry-wide consensus
and not just a device-level "solution." The company says that, by
forming the link between major suppliers and the individual
standards committees of key industry segments, it hopes for a widely
accepted, expedient resolution.

The company says that the conference "invites interested technical
representatives to present, discuss and collaborate on solutions to
integration limitations."

Interested technical representatives should contact Tim Sutton at
Seagate Technology by telephone on 408-439-2880, or by fax on 408-
438-4127.

(Ian Stokell/19931101/Press Contact: Julie Still, 408-439-2276; or
Tim Sutton, 408-439-2880, Seagate Technology)


(NEWS)(IBM)(SFO)(00012)

 ****Toshiba Cuts Pen/Notebook Prices, Extends Warranties 11/01/93
IRVINE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 NOV 1 (NB) -- In an increasingly
competitive market, hardware prices continue to decline. Now Toshiba
America Information Systems has cut prices on its pen, notebook and
portable computers. The company has also launched a series of
service and support programs that include an extended three-year
limited warranty on selected products and a "no-fault protection
plan" for display screens.

The company has cut prices of its Satellite notebook models, and
estimated street prices are as follows: the T1900 with a 120
megabyte (MB) hard drive was previously between $1,700 and $1,900,
but is now between $1,549 and $1,649, a cut of 13 percent; T1900
200MB, down 16 percent to between $1,749 - $1,849; T1900C 120MB,
down 12 percent to $2,149 - $2,299; T1900C 200MB, down 14 percent
to $2,349 - $2,499; T1950 120MB, down 13 percent to $1,949 - $2,049;
T1950 200MB, down 15 percent to $2,149 - $2,249; T1950CS 120MB, down
10 percent to $2,549 - $2,699; and the T1950CS 200MB, down 11
percent to $2,749 - $2,899.

Toshiba says that the series have no suggested list prices. However,
the suggested retail prices for the pen, notebook and portable
computers affected by the price reduction are: T100X with a 40MB
hard drive, down 30 percent from $2,999 to $2,099; T4600 120MB, down
12 percent from $3,299 to $2,899; T4600 200MB, down 13 percent from
$3,599 to $3,149; T4600C 120MB, down 4 percent from $4,699 to
$4,499; T4600C 200MB, down five percent from $4,999 to $4,749;
T4600C 320MB, down six percent from $5,499 to $5,149; T6600C 510MB,
down six percent from $7,699 to $7,199; T6600C/CD 510MB, down six
percent from $8,299 to $7,799; T6600C/CDV 510MB down five percent
from $9,499 to $8,999.

Announcing the new services and prices, Michael Winkler, vice
president and general manager of the Toshiba Computer Systems
Division, said: "These programs are designed to give customers
unlimited access to Toshiba support by increasing their productivity
with their portable computers and minimizing their downtime,
inconvenience and expense involved in computer service and repair."

Continued Winkler, "We are the first to protect our customer's
investment by providing no-fault protection, at a modest price, for
screen replacement regardless of how it was damaged. No other
company is willing to offer this type of customer protection,"
he said.

Toshiba is offering a variety of service plans and warranties.
According to the company, its "T-Plan Warranty," offers standard
limited three-year parts and labor coverage for all T4600, T6600,
Dynapad T100X and Desk Station models including bundled accessories.

Any purchase of a T4600 or T6600 prior to November1 can upgrade to
the three-year warranty for $149.95 for color models and $99.95 for
the monochrome and Desk Station models.

Any purchase of other portables and accessories prior to November 1
are covered by a one-year parts and labor warranty, but have the
option of purchasing two additional years of coverage for $199.95
for the color models and $139.95 for the monochrome and Desk Station
models.

The "T-Plus Program," lets buyers of its Satellite Series' notebook
computers purchased after November 1 obtain two additional years of
coverage for $139.95 for monochrome models and $199.95 for color
models.

The "T-World Warranty," is a free program with required enrolment
that involves an international warranty sticker. This serves as
proof of purchase for warranty coverage.

The "T-Pak Service," provides no charge packaging, insurance and
overnight shipping, via participating Mail Boxes Etc., locations, to
and from a Premier Authorized Service Provider for warranty repair.
At a price of $22.50 annually, the service may be used indefinitely
throughout the enrolment period.

The "T-Site Support," offers on-site service for $49.95 annually
during the Toshiba limited warranty, with the service being provided
by GE Computer Services. The program begins December 1.

According to Toshiba, the "T-Care Service," is designed to offer
expedited service for those outside the geographical boundaries of
T-Site service for $49.95 annually throughout the Toshiba limited
warranty period. Toshiba offers next business day turnaround for
repairs, or a loaner unit can be requested should the repair take
longer.

The "T-Screen Warranty," program offers no-fault coverage against
portable computer screen damage. Protection for the monochrome model
is $49.95 and $179.95 for the color model annually throughout the
warranty period.

(Ian Stokell/19931101/Press Contact: Howard Emerson, 714-583-3925,
Toshiba America Information Systems)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(TOR)(00013)

Canadian Product Launch Update 11/01/93
TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1993 NOV 1 (NB) -- This regular feature,
appearing every Monday or Tuesday, provides further details for the
Canadian market on announcements by international companies that
Newsbytes has already covered. This week: Hewlett-Packard's new
printers, IBM's LAN NetView products, and Sun's latest workstations.

Hewlett-Packard (Canada) Limited unveiled the 600 dots per inch
(DPI) LaserJet 4P and LaserJet 4MP printers and its new color
portable printers, the DeskJet 310 and DeskWriter 310 (Newsbytes,
Oct. 25).

The new LaserJet models replace the LaserJet IIIP and IIIP
PostScript models. The 4P is C$1,699 in Canada, and the 4MP is
C$2,390.

The DeskJet and DeskWriter 310 are color ink-jet printers. The
DeskJet 310 is meant for use with DOS-based portables, and the
DeskWriter for use with Apple Computer notebook machines. Both are
C$506, with a cut-sheet feeder available for C$111. The printer and
paper feeder are available together for $607.

IBM Canada unveiled the LAN NetView line of products (Newsbytes,
Oct. 29). There are seven pieces. LAN NetView Manage is the
management framework. It costs C$2,385. LAN NetView Enabler, priced
at C$115, provides management services for OS/2 clients. LAN NetView
Agents for DOS, C$97, contains management agents for DOS and
Windows. LAN NetView Agents Extended, also C$97, provides management
agents for OS/2 servers.

LAN NetView Monitor monitors the performance of OS/2 clients or
servers. It costs C$1,030. LAN NetView Fix lets the system
administrator receive and deal with error messages from remote
sources. Its price is C$1,620. LAN NetView Tie, C$2,590, provides a
connection to NetView/MVS to allow central management from the host
system.

A package of LAN NetView Manage, Monitor, and Fix costs C$4,535.
All the products are due to be available in Canada Nov. 3.

Sun Microsystems of Canada unveiled three new workstations, the
Sparcstation 10SX and 10M and the Sparcclassic M (Newsbytes, Oct.
21).

Available now, the Sparcstation 10SX is meant for image
manipulation. Prices start at C$23,250 with a 535 megabyte (MB) hard
disk, 32 MB of memory, and a 16-inch color monitor. The Sparcstation
10M and the Sparcclassic M are aimed at multimedia applications. The
Sparcstation 10M starts at C$25,650, and the Sparcclassic M costs
C$7,491 in quantities of 12 or more. Both are due to ship Dec. 15.

(Grant Buckler/19931101/Press Contact: Martha Terdik, Hewlett-
Packard Canada, 905-206-3311; Janet Carnegie, IBM Canada, 416-485-
1582; Michael Douglas, Sun Canada, 905-477-6745)


(NEWS)(IBM)(TOR)(00014)

IBM Ends Free Health Coverage In US 11/01/93
ARMONK, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1993 NOV 1 (NB) -- Another tradition has
crumbled at IBM. The troubled computer company, which a few months
ago ended its tradition of never laying employees off, has now told
its workers in the United States they will have to pay part of the
cost of their health-care benefits plans.

Saying it expects to save about $280 million per year, IBM told
employees to start paying premiums for their health coverage and
raised the minimum annual deductible for major medical and surgical
expenses to $250 from $150.

Retired IBM employees, and those on disability leave, will not
have to pay premiums, the company said.

A typical employee will pay from $34 to $83 per month for the same
level of coverage the company previously offered at its own expense.

IBM has provided free health care since the company was founded in
1914. That, along with its no-layoff tradition, was one of the
factors giving the company a reputation for taking good care of its
employees.

But IBM's revenue has been declining since 1990, and it has reported
large losses in the past two years. The company recently reported a
third-quarter loss of $48 million.

Continued staff cuts have brought IBM's worldwide work force down to
about 267,000 people, 41,000 less than a year ago and 34,000 less
than at the beginning of 1993. The company said it expects its
payroll to drop to 255,000 by year-end.

Veteran IBM-watcher Bob Djurdjevic, president of Annex Research in
Phoenix, recently told Newsbytes he expects IBM's tough cost-cutting
efforts of recent years will start to bring some results next year.

(Grant Buckler/19931101/Press Contact: Rob Wilson, IBM, 914-765-
6565)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(BOS)(00015)

CD-ROM Expo: Image Browser Licensed To Top Publishers 11/01/93
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1993 NOV 1 (NB) -- Adobe and six
other major CD-ROM (compact disc read only memory) publishers have
licensed Imspace Systems' Kudo Image Browser to act as a visual
browsing tool for their newest CD-ROM titles.

The seven pacts were announced last week at CD-ROM Expo, along with
two new editions of a shrink wrapped package of Kudo sold direct to
end users: the first Windows version of the package, and an update
to the existing browser for Macintosh.

Aside from Adobe, the new CD-ROM licensees for Kudo include Educorp,
Form and Function, The Appelbaum Publishing Group, Sense Interactive
Corp., Wizard Computer Graphics, and the Seattle Support Group.

Kudo displays files as a visual gallery of thumbnail images, rather
than a textual list of file names, officials explained in making
the announcement. With Kudo as a tool, users can easily search,
preview and retrieve digital media, including graphics, clip art
libraries, Photo CD images, sound files, and Quicktime video clips.

Search and retrieval can be carried out in three different ways.
Users can employ the scroll bar for visual browsing, or search by
file name, type, size, location, modification date, or other
textual information.

Under the third approach, Kudo's "Riffle" feature, users can view
series of single thumbnails, presented at the rate of 10 frames per
second in one area of the window.

If the desired file is "offline," Kudo will prompt the user to
insert the appropriate CD or removable disc, or to mount the
appropriate network volume.

Once the user finds the file, the file can be previewed at full
resolution, edited, copied, or placed directly into a document.

Kudo is scheduled to appear in these upcoming CD-ROM titles: the
Deluxe CD-ROM Edition of Adobe Illustrator 5.0; Educorp's The
Desktop Publishing CD 3.0; and Wizard's ColorMagic clip art
library.

The tool will also be used in Form and Function's Page Overtures
One, a library of background textures, and in three volumes of
stock photography: Seattle Support Group's Vintage CD Library,
Sense Interactive's Earth, Sky, Power and Water; and a Photo CD-
compliant disc from Appelbaum to be known as Kudo with Environs.

The new Windows and Macintosh Kudo packages for end users each
support many popular outside file formats. The Windows version
allows the user to select an image from the Kudo catalog and drop
it into any application that supports drag and drop from the File
Manager, or into any OLE (object-linking-and-embedding) 2.0-
compliant application.

Also supplied are "place modules" that let users drag and drop
images into other applications, including Microsoft Word,
QuarkXPress, PageMaker and Harvard Graphics. In addition, the
Windows edition supports standard copy-and-paste clipboard
operations.

The Macintosh update brings such enhancements as full AppleScript
support, the ability to catalog RIFF and JPEG image files, and OPI
Linking, a technique that eliminates the need to preview files by
placing thumbnails that contain OPI information directly into
QuarkXPress documents.

"Drag & Place" -- the ability to select an image and place it into
another application in a single operation -- is extended in Kudo
1.1 for the Mac to several new applications, including Adobe
Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Premier, Aldus Freehand, and
Fractal Design Painter.

The shrinkwrapped packages of Kudo for end users are scheduled to
ship this month. Pricing is $99 for the Windows edition and $195
for the Apple Macintosh version.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19931101/Reader contact: Imspace Systems Corp.,
tel [phone]; Press contact: Tom Toperczer, Imspace, tel 619-
272-2600, ext 4100)


(NEWS)(IBM)(DEN)(00016)

Iomega Intros IDE-compatible Bernoulli Drive 11/01/93
ROY, UTAH, U.S.A., 1993 NOV 1 (NB) -- Iomega Corporation has
announced it is now shipping a new internal model of its Bernoulli
Multidisk 150 drive with an Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE)
interface.

The Insider 150 IDE is an internal 150 megabyte (MB) Bernoulli drive
designed to connect directly to the IDE interface in IBM-compatible
computers. Bernoulli drives use a removable storage disk that
resembles an oversized 3.5 inch floppy disk. The new drive fits in
an empty 5.25 inch drive bay.

Iomega says that the Insider 150 IDE can be used as a second drive
to an internal IDE hard drive for additional removable storage, and
is 100 percent compatible with other Bernoulli models. In other
words, data stored on a Bernoulli disk used in the IDE-compatible
drive can be used in another computer equipped with a SCSI (small
computer system interface)-compatible Bernoulli drive.

Disks of varying capacities are available for the 150 drives,
including 35MB, 65MB, 105MB and 150MB. The drives can also read and
write the earlier Bernoulli 90MB disks and can read Bernoulli 44MB
disks.

Bernoulli drives have an average access time of 18 milliseconds and
a 256 kilobyte (K) cache. The ability to remove the disks makes it
possible to easily exchange data with other computers in the same
manner as floppy drives, and data can be safeguarded more easily.

The new drive is compatible with MS-DOS 4.0 or higher and Windows
3.0 or later. It ships with software drivers, mounting screws, and
one 150MB cartridge that is preloaded with a number of shareware
programs.

Iomega says it has raised the Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF) rate
for all its Bernoulli drives to 175,000 hours, and recently
increased the warranty period to two years.

The Insider 150 IDE has a suggested retail price of $589. The
company also produces external and dual-drive Bernoulli models,
minicartridge tape drives that can read both QIC-80 and Irwin-
formatted tapes, and a 21MB floppy drive that uses Floptical
technology.

(Jim Mallory/19931101/Press contact: A. Cory Maloy, Iomega Corp,
801-778-3712; Reader contact: Iomega Corp, 801-778-1000, fax 801-
778-3450)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(DEN)(00017)

 ****Counterfeiter Agrees To Pay Microsoft $8.5 Million 11/01/93
REDMOND, WASHINGTON, U.S.A., 1993 NOV 1 (NB) -- Microsoft
Corporation has announced that a New Jersey company has agreed to
pay $8.5 million because it allegedly produced tens of thousands of
unauthorized copies of Microsoft software.

CMOS Technologies, located in Passcataway, New Jersey reportedly
agreed to a judgement entered in a federal court, according to
Microsoft attorney Jim Lowe. CMOS also reportedly agreed to a
permanent injunction prohibiting it from producing any copies of
Microsoft Windows software.

CMOS had held a license from Microsoft to produce copies of Windows
to sell with its personal computers. Microsoft does not grant
licenses to sell copies of its software except to accompany PCs.

Microsoft said that the license was terminated in 1992 but alleged
CMOS continued to produce and sell the software until earlier this
year. CMOS allegedly produced about 90,000 copies of Windows and had
sold all but about 10,000 copies.

At an estimated value of about $50 per copy, the unauthorized copies
were worth approximately $4.5 million, according to Lowe. A separate
Microsoft suit against CMOS distributor GD Systems and its Canada-
based parent firm Golden Dragon is still working its way through the
court system.

(Jim Mallory/19931101/Press contact: Microsoft Corporation, 206-882-
8080)


(NEWS)(IBM)(TOR)(00018)

IBM Updates Communications Adapter, Cuts PS/2 Prices 11/01/93
SOMERS, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1993 NOV 1 (NB) -- IBM has launched a new
version of its WindSurfer Communications Adapter for personal
computers using its Micro Channel Architecture (MCA) bus, and
upgraded the features of the existing version for the Industry
Standard Architecture (ISA) or AT bus. The company also cut prices
on its PS/2E and PS/2 Model 90 computers.

The new WindSurfer MCA card has a modem that transmits data at
14,400 bits per second (bps) and facsimiles at 9,600 bps. The old
version handled both data and fax at 9,600 bps, company spokesman
Rich Frostig said. Other features of the card include voice
messaging, telephone answering, digital audio, and music synthesis.

The WindSurfer Communications Adapter, which fits in a single
expansion slot, is aimed at small business and home office users who
want assorted communications and multimedia functions in a small,
low-priced package, Frostig said.

It can be used with most Sound Blaster games and works with IBM's
internal Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE) compact disk
read-only memory (CD-ROM) player.

The original WindSurfer card for the ISA bus, announced in May,
will also ship with the 14,400/9,600-bps modem and game support
found in the new MCA version, the company said.

IBM also launched the WindSurfer MIDI Pac, designed to work with
the Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) specification.

The new WindSurfer MCA card costs $429, and the MIDI Pac is $79.

IBM also cut prices on the PS/2E personal computer, which complies
with the Energy Star power-saving specification set up by the US
Department of Energy, and on its PS/2 Model 90 servers. The company
also added two PS/2E models with a 340-megabyte (MB) hard drive.

The new PS/2E Model 9533-GBD, with a 50-megahertz (MHz) 486SLC2
processor, eight MB of memory, 340-MB hard drive, the OS/2 2.1
operating system, and a Personal Computer Memory Card
International Association (PCMCIA) slot, is $2,765.

The PS/2E Model 9533-DBD, similar but shipped with DOS 6.1 and
Microsoft Windows 3.1 instead of OS/2, is also $2,765. The price of
the PS/2E Model 9533-GB7, which has the same features as the 9533-
GBD except for a 120-MB hard drive, has been cut from $2,785 to
$2,235.

IBM cut prices by 13 to 20 percent on six PS/2 Model 90
configurations. New prices range from $1,335 for the Model 9533-1BX,
which has a 50-MHz 486SLC2 processor, an Ethernet interface, and
four MB of memory and ships without a hard disk, to $4,135 for the
Model 9590-DLG, which has a 50-MHz 486DX2 chip, eight MB of memory,
and a 540-MB hard disk.

(Grant Buckler/19931101/Press Contact: Rich Frostig, IBM, 914-766-
1555; Mike DeMeo, IBM, 914-766-1802)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(TOR)(00019)

IBM, DEC Announce Details Of NetView Association 11/01/93
PARIS, FRANCE, 1993 NOV 1 (NB) -- IBM and Digital Equipment
Corporation have given out further details on their joint program
for third-party developers working with IBM's NetView 6000 and
Digital's Polycenter systems management products.

The plan, the outline of which was announced in August, is to be
called the NetView Association. It will combine developer programs
previously run by each company for their respective products.

The association will feature a comprehensive support program for
independent network and systems management developers who will
incorporate the function of IBM's NetView/6000 and Digital's
Polycenter on NetView Manager into their offerings.

In August, the companies announced plans to make IBM's
NetView/6000 network management system available on Digital's
Alpha AXP 64-bit computers early next year.

The companies said they will work together on several aspects of
network and systems management. Among the first fruits of the
deal will be Polycenter NetView, a version of NetView/6000 that
will run on the DEC OSF/1 operating system -- a variant of Unix
-- on Alpha computers.

With the delivery of this software in the first quarter of 1994,
DEC and IBM customers will get consistent application program
interfaces (APIs) to NetView across both IBM and DEC hardware,
said Dennis Biedrzycki, Polycenter marketing manager at DEC in
Nashua, New Hampshire.

The NetView Association is the result of a merger between IBM's
NetView/6000 Association and Digital's Polycenter Partners
program. Members of these previous programs have been invited to
join the new group. About 50 members currently take part in the
Polycenter Partners program, and more than 200 in IBM's plan,
Biedrzycki said.

Developers joining the program will get an invitation to an
annual technical forum, training on application program
interfaces (APIs) for the DEC and IBM software, access to
hardware and software, product qualification testing, listing in
an association catalog, technical support, and access to a
"Relationship Manager."

The association will continue a certification procedure
introduced in IBM's program, validating 17 elements of vendors'
products through a series of tests.

(Grant Buckler/19931101/Press Contact: Ray Gorman, IBM,
914-642-5434; David Lynch, Digital, 508-467-7724)


(NEWS)(IBM)(DEN)(00020)

 ****Compaq Gets Serious About Market Leadership 11/01/93
HOUSTON, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1993 NOV 1 (NB) -- Compaq Computer Corporation
says it's stepping up its assault on the number one position in the
PC market. To prove it the company has launched a wave of 46 new
models aimed at both home users and big and small businesses.

The new systems include Deskpro, Prolinea and Presario models, and
the company has cut prices up to 23 percent on selected existing PCs
and portables, as well as as much as 35 percent on some portable
computing options.

For business users Compaq is offering 486 and Pentium based Deskpro
models with fast graphics, speedy drives, energy saving features and
beefed up audio capability. The fast Pentium-based systems prices
start at $2,799.

Ten new Presario family models are being introduced, including
multimedia models with stereo sound, customized pre-installed
software and CD-ROM applications.

All the new Compaq PCs come with a three year warranty and include
TabWorks, the Compaq substitute for the Microsoft Windows Program
Manager that uses a notebook or three ring binder visual metaphor
with tabbed pages instead of program groups. Watch for a Newsbytes
review of TabWorks, which can replace the Windows Program Manager on
any PC running Windows.

With the models being introduced the Presario family now includes 13
different models including an all-in-one design that integrates the
computer and the monitor reported on by Newsbytes recently, an
expandable desktop series, and an expandable, upgradable minitower
configuration.

The company has also unveiled its multimedia CD8 Presario 600 and
800 series that include a CD-ROM drive, microphone, speakers and
more than a dozen preinstalled software and CD-ROM packages. The 600
and 800 series will be sold through CompUSA, Computer City,
MicroCenter and ElekTek outlets.

Upgrades to Compaq's Deskpro include the XE family, which includes a
faster QVision local bus graphics Compaq says provides more than 100
percent faster graphics performance over the current QVision
available in the Deskpro/i line.

(Jim Mallory/19931101/Press contact: Reader contact: Compaq
Computer Corp, 800-345-1518)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00021)

US Order Rolls Out New Screenphone 11/01/93
HERNDON, VIRGINIA, U.S.A., 1993 NOV 1 (NB) -- US Order, the
claimed leader in a screenphone market which has yet to live up to
its promise, has introduced a new model called PhonePlus at a price
point of $199. The new model was developed with Verifone, a leader
in transaction terminals, and is made by Verifone. An earlier model,
the ScanFone, had sales of about 10,000, according to US Order.

While the company said major catalog retailers have already
agreed to sell the phone, its success will depend far more on
tests of the system now going on in Nashville, Tennessee with
BellSouth and a test planned early next year by GTE. Bell
Atlantic already has a co-marketing agreement to sell the
ScanFone in the Washington, D.C. area.

US West has a tentative deal to test the phone, and US Order said
it's in active negotiations with NYNEX, Southern New England in
Connecticut, and New Brunswick Telephone in Canada. BellSouth has
said that if its test is successful it will roll the phone along
with banking services out throughout its nine-state service region.
The unit has a four line by 20 character screen, and the telephone
keypad can be lifted up to reveal a 48-key typewriter-style
keyboard.

PhonePlus is compatible with the Analog Display Systems Interface,
or ADSI, standard of Bellcore. Critics of ADSI have charged it would
be impossible to create a low-priced ADSI-compatible phone which
merchants would write programs to. The PhonePlus is the US Order
answer to those critics.

Regional Bell companies have long been interested in screen-
baseds telephones because they help sell services like Caller ID,
which display callers' phone numbers. While all the companies
offering Caller ID services also sell small screens for use with
the service, the penetration rate remains low, with even the most
optimistic estimates by companies like Illinois Bell showing that
four in five consumers who could buy Caller ID don't buy it.

Along with the phone companies, Knight-Ridder has offered to
promote information services using the PhonePlus, while Banc One
of Columbus, Ohio and First National Bank of Maryland have
offered their banking services through it. Damark, Hammacher-
Schlemmer and Sharper Image will all offer the device through
their catalogs.

In addition to selling phones, US Order offers services using the
phones, which are fulfilled through Litle & Co., Salem, New
Hampshire, a leading credit card processing firm for catalog
merchants. The company claims its price point, under $200, is
crucial to potential market success, citing surveys from the
Yankee Group.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19931101/Press Contact: Elizabeth England, for
US Order, 212-979-9645)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00022)

Datapoint Joins Patent Suite Trend 11/01/93
SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1993 NOV 1 (NB) -- Datapoint has sued
VTEL Corp., one of three leaders in videoconferencing equipment,
charging it is violating two of its patents for videoconferencing
networking. The suit was filed October 22 in the US District
Court in San Antonio, and seeks unspecified damages and an
injunction against future infringement.

VTEL issued a press releasing saying it does not violate the
Datapoint patents, numbers 4,710,917 and 4,847,829. Allison
Raffelovich, a spokesman for VTEl, told Newsbytes "I know that
back in July Datapoint said they felt they had patents related to
technology on switching for multi-wave video. They felt that many
of the industry manufacturers and providers might be in
violation.

They said they'd suggest licensing. Since then they've been in
contact with most manufacturers -- we'd been working with them to
examine the patents, and we're continuing to evaluate." It's
expected that, if settlements are not reached, Datapoint will sue
other major makers of videoconferencing gear, including Compression
Labs and Picturetel.

This is just the latest in a series of patent cases involving
broad claims by patent holders on key technologies. Spectrum
Information Technologies Inc., now headed by John Sculley, has
sued Microcom, claiming its patents protect all error correction on
data traveling over wireless networks, for instance.

So Newsbytes also contacted John Yates of Morris, Manning & Martin,
Atlanta, Georgia, whose firm handles litigation on both sides of
patent cases. He calls such cases a growing trend.

"It's been going on for years with larger companies like Motorola
and IBM -- it's been behind the scenes. The smaller companies are
now getting patents issued to them for the first time. The courts
have been more likely to enforce the patents now than 10 years ago.
Some companies are now viewing patents as a major strategic
marketing tool for them to use in promoting their product," Yates
explained.

Yates said that a judgement against General Electric in a case
involving windshield wipers has prompted many patent holders toward
more vigorous prosecution of claims.

"When you have a patents, its strength is based on claims. And
claims are broadly worded. You've got to figure you're not going to
intentionally narrow those, so you see broad-brush claims being
raised."

Many patent holders, like Peter Tsakanikas, who holds an "Alphabet
Phone" patent, may ask billions from infringers in such letters, but
express a willingness to settle for much less. "Often it's not
lawsuits so much as letters to infringers asking money. If you get
10% to pay because it's not worth litigating, you can reap big
bucks."

There is now a growing concern among experts like Yates that
innovation can be stifled if the broadest claims are upheld.
"Opponents to that view say that if you're going to motivate
people to invent and disclose, you need to have an incentive.
It's a trade-off. But a patent is not publicly available until
it's granted. You can be infringing without knowing it.

"We're stuck with this situation for the time being," he
concludes. "The broadest rule is to conduct an extensive
defensive patent search before developing a new technology. But
that's expensive, and there's no guarantee" it will protect
against claims. Perhaps, Yates suggests, policy-makers should re-
visit the patent law and clarify such questions. "There are no
clear rules now."

(Dana Blankenhorn/19931101/Press Contact: Datapoint, Patricia
Coble, 210-593-7910; VTEL, Alison Raffalovich, 512/314-2720;
John Yates, Morris, Manning & Martin, 404-233-7000)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(SFO)(00023)

Unix Common Desktop Conference Attracts 1,200 11/01/93
SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 NOV 1 (NB) -- If nothing else,
the introduction of Microsoft's Windows NT has jump-started
the multitude of Unix vendors to cooperate on a single specification
in order to appear less confusing to users. As a result, over 1200
software developers reportedly attended the first Common Desktop
Environment (CDE) Developers Conference which took place between
October 26-28 in San Jose, California. The conference was organized
by the UniForum Association.

Larry Lytle, spokesman for Novell, one of the participants in
the UniForum Association, told Newsbytes that, "The CDE conference
was really the culmination of about a year's worth of activity
between a set of vendors, primarily Novell, IBM, Hewlett-Packard,
Sun Microsystems, Santa Cruz Operation, and Digital Equipment.
Those were the companies putting most of the resources to work
on CDE. They have also been the companies that have largely been
driving a lot of the unification activities, such as the common
operating system specifications, that are called SPEC11.70. That
set of specifications was worked on by those vendors."

Elaborating on Novell's Unix strategy, Lytle maintained that, "Novell
has also basically placed the Unix trademark with XOpen, for the
same reason -- one set of specifications, one trademark. Now the
CDE is another piece altogether, it is a cooperative activity that is
associated with all these other things. Basically it a set of vendors
that have been driving the unity activity."

Lytle gave extensive background to Newsbytes, saying: "The
specifications were actually announced on September 1. In March,
these companies got together and said 'We are going to
cooperatively work on a set of specifications, in a number of
areas.' One area was the common desktop so everything in a Unix
environment would look alike and would work together."

Other areas identified by Lytle included multimedia,
object-oriented programming, systems administration and
management, and Digital Equipment's "federated naming."

Continued Lytle, "All of these areas were identified as areas
where companies would need to do some cooperative work. That
was in March at the UniForum show. That led to the announcement
on September 1 that there was a common set of specifications
that would define a single operating system -- Unix." He also
added that, "That set of specifications was going to be
administered and maintained by XOpen."

He added that, in October, "Novell essentially put the Unix
trademark in the public domain. The decision there was that, any
company that adhere's to that set of specifications for an operating
system -- and that would be tested a certified by XOpen -- would
be able to call their product 'Unix' and it would be compatible,
whether that Unix came from IBM, or Sun Microsystems or whoever."

Referring to the San Jose conference, he said that "What you had
last week was the first real tangible results of a single look-and-
feel, a single desktop environment across Unix machines. That's
the work that all really started back in March."

Added Don McGovern, vice-president of business development for
Novell's Unix Systems Group, said: "This conference represents a key
deliverable from the COSE (Common Open Software Environment)
process we announced at UniForum last March. We promised
developers source code and tools by October. Through an
unprecedented cooperative effort by technical teams from Digital
Equipment, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Novell, SCO, Sun, and other
forward-looking open system companies, we have reached and
exceeded our own expectations."

According to the company, the three-day conference "underscored
the progress achieved by open system suppliers who are cooperating
through the COSE process for assure a consistent, standardized
environment for application development."

(Ian Stokell/19931101/Press Contact: Larry Lytle,
908-522-5186, Novell Inc.)


(NEWS)(IBM)(LAX)(00024)

TMM/IBM Deal On Fractal Video Compression 11/01/93
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 NOV 1 (NB) -- Total
Multimedia, a company co-founded by the brother of rock star
Michael Jackson, and IBM announced a joint marketing agreement
at the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers
(SMPTE) show in Los Angeles October 29. TMM, known for its
pioneering work in fractal video compression technology will
move its compression technology to the IBM Powervisualization
parallel processing computer to speed up the image compression
process.

Developed by Iterated Systems of Atlanta, Georgia and
exclusively licensed by TMM, the fractal compression technology
is a way to mathematically define complex video images and
store those images as mathematical equations. Described as
"Postscript for Images," the idea is very similar to that of
vector-based images used in the computer graphics world.

The implication is an image compressed and stored as a mathematical
equation instead of a bunch of pixels is smaller and can be
reproduced in almost any size on almost any computer without the
distortion or blockiness that accompanies video compressed in other
ways. The company calls the technology "resolution independent"
meaning it can be displayed at any resolution, without special
hardware.

In theory, fractal compression can put a full two-hour movie on
a single CD-ROM disc. The most that has been placed on a so far
CD-ROM is 72 minutes, using Motion Picture Experts Group (MPEG)
compression technology and special hardware is required for
playback. However, TMM officials readily admit they haven't
done this yet and are pointing to IBM's Powervisualization
system as the ticket to getting a full movie on a CD.

One of the problems of fractal compression is it takes even the
fastest single-processor computers days to compress the
whopping 162,000 megabytes (MB) of data in a single two-hour
video film. However, decompression and display of the image
once it is compressed is very fast. The Powervisualization
system from IBM, with 32 Intel i860 processors working together
in parallel, is intended to solve the compression speed problem
bringing compression speeds into the range of hours instead of
days.

The other problem is playback of an image at higher resolution
or larger than it was originally recorded slows the frame rate.
The effect is much like that of pressing a slow-speed playback
button on a video cassette recorder (VCR). The amount of video
information increases so quickly at higher resolution that even
the fastest personal computers (PCs) have difficulty throwing
the video up on the display fast enough for normal playback.

Taylor Tucker, co-founder and chief technical officer at TMM,
says this is because the company is simply ahead of the
hardware. The beauty of this fractal compression scheme is the
faster new hardware becomes, the better images compressed with
TMM's scheme will look, Tucker asserts.

TMM is heavily involved with the public educational system. The
company has already accomplished a cooperative effort with the
California's Hueneme school district of the first educational
title on compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), the subject of
which is the Lewis and Clark expedition. Both the Hueneme
school district and TMM have agreed to share the profits from
the distribution of the title, and TMM says it is gearing up to
offer other such co-development programs with other schools.

The program allows the Hueneme school district to use its
educational expertise combined with TMM's computer expertise to
shore up school coffers. TMM asserts that the work done will be
of a more lasting nature because the fractal compression
technology will stand up well to break-neck speed at which
computer hardware is advancing.

As a company, TMM has an unusual approach to business. Company
officials are enthusiastic, energetic, fast-talkers, who get an
amazing amount of attention for how distracted and disorganized
they appear to be. But that's to be expected considering the
company's backers. Randy Jackson, a co-founder and rock singer
Michael Jackson's youngest brother, is a TMM director and
serves as Honorary Chairman for the Joint Education Initiative.

He is also at work on his debut album for Third Stone/Atlantic
Records. Taylor Kramer, before becoming involved with CD-ROM
technology, was a bass player and vocalist for the popular rock
band, The Iron Butterfly.

(Linda Rohrbough/19931101/Press Contact: Taylor Kramer, TMM,
tel [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00025)

A Fourth National Paging Operator 11/01/93
ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA, U.S.A., 1993 NOV 1 (NB) -- Taking advantage
of years of hard work and a new FCC order, Metrocall Inc. has
become the fourth vendor to offer a nationwide paging network
using satellites, joining MTel's SkyTel, BellSouth's MobileComm
and Motorola's EMBARC in the rapidly-growing market.

Metrocall says it is presently serving the top 78 US markets
with paging services that allow messaging. Users can send longer
messages in increments of 200 bytes each, in the form of
successive pages. The company says it will begin serving the
other 22 top markets early this month.

Very quietly, paging has become a high-growth market, as longer
messages are offered to users, as PCs and portable computers
become media for transmitting and receiving long paging messages,
and as paging vendors are able to push more data through their
narrow 25 KHz wireless channels.

Metrocall chief executive officer Christopher Kidd told Newsbytes he
expects growth to get another jump from the new Personal Digital
Assistants like the Apple Newton, Tandy Zoomer and AT&T Personal
Communicator, all of which have wireless communications built-in.

In its most recent quarter Metrocall had revenues of $9.7 million,
but recorded a loss of $4.5 million mainly due to $5.3 million in
one-time, non-cash charges related to its new nationwide network. A
year earlier, the company reported profits of $1.0 million on
revenues of $9.2 million. Pagers in service increased to 230,208 at
September 30, up 8 percent over the prior quarter and representing
an annualized growth rate of 32 percent.

In an interview with Newsbytes, Kidd elaborated on the growing
market, and Metrocall's place in it. "There is no contrast"
between his offering and those of the other satellite paging
services, he began.

"We buy the same transmitters, and are in many case are on the same
satellite. "The FCC did not and has never licensed for satellite-
based paging systems," he added. "That goes beyond their purview.
The FCC originally licensed three nationwide channels under Part 22
of their rules on common carriage to what became EMBARC, MTel and
Mobilecomm. "Each carrier got one channel," about 25 KHz in width,
"and national exclusivity."

"Rather than going to the commission and asking for a channel, we
asked for a channel in different locations. We made sure that
when the channel was assigned it was the same in every market,"
and within a few Megahertz of the other satellite paging
channels, which are at about 931 MHz.

"Subsequently, the FCC came out with a notice of proposed rulemaking
which is now law, saying that if you're operating on the same
channel in at least 300 transmitters covering X number of markets,
you are de-facto a nationwide carrier" and the FCC will not license
anyone else to use that channel.

"I suppose other carriers can use this" new rule to get into the
market, Kidd added, but "There's an economic hurdle to get over.
You don't throw up 500 transmitters overnight. We've been in
local markets since 1965." Kidd joined the company in 1986 from
Booz, Allen & Hamilton. The company came public in July.

It's sometimes difficult to know who is doing what in the paging
market, Kidd acknowledged, because many of the larger players are
small divisions of big companies, which don't break out their
paging results separately. Metromedia Paging, for instance, is
owned by Southwestern Bell, Mobilecomm by BellSouth. "Among
publicly traded companies, we're 4th or 5th," he estimated.

Kidd said all the major paging operators are moving into
messaging, and said computers are the key to the new growth in
the market. "We were born with phones. We know how to dial the
phone. That's the key to paging today. You have ubiquitous access
through the telephone" to paging networks. "When you talk about
sending ASCII text, it becomes more difficult. The telephones
don't have that alphanumeric capability, but it's a lay-down for
anyone with a PC" to send a text message to a pager. "The
exciting thing now is the PDA and portable computer. We're taking
this infrastructure and adding paging on to it."

And demand is skyrocketing. "We have latent demand for product
and services in advance of its availability. We have customers
and users on mobile wireless communications who want to send and
receive from their computers. You're seeing a tremendous demand
from a latent customer base, which is in advance of the
technological capability. And that's different from other
technological innovations. Right now, based on current demand,
there's room for everyone because we're sending 10 digit phone
numbers or an announcement to call voice mail, and only to a
limited extent are we sending 200 character pages."

Kidd said that to satisfy anticipated demand, paging companies
are increasing the amount of bits they send per second, to as
fast as 6,400 bits/second. With file compression, that can mean a
speed of up to 10,000 bits/second. And that may be fast enough,
considering that many pages are as short as 10 characters long,
the length of a phone number. "At that point we're starting to
exceed the saturation capability of the person at the other end -
- we tend to use mobile communication terminals for data that's
time-sensitive. If the data volume is really large, you need to
ask how time sensitive it is, and whether there aren't lower-cost
methods" for handling the message. "I don't believe wireless
communication is going to supplant or do away with the wired
network. This is an ancillary set of services that improves the
quality of life, the operating efficiency, and the net economic
capability of the end user."

(Dana Blankenhorn/19931101/Press Contact: Metrocall, Christopher
Kidd, 703-660-9343


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

 ****Microsoft Moves Corporation Base Again 11/01/93
REDMOND, WASHINGTON, U.S.A., 1993 NOV 1 (NB) -- In its twelve year
history, Microsoft appears to have had several identity crises.
First it incorporated in Washington state, then it became a Delaware
corporation, and now it has re-incorporated in Washington state
again.

But appearances can be deceiving. It's not an identity crisis, but
good business that has caused the changes. Five years after the
company incorporated in Washington state in 1981, it decided to take
advantage of the favorable incorporation laws of the state of
Delaware because of concerns over liability limits placed on the
amount of liability protection afforded corporate directors under
Washington law.

Now the state has rewritten its laws to allow companies to better
indemnify its officers, so Microsoft shareholders voted recently to
re-incorporate in Washington. The action was taken at Microsoft's
annual shareholder meeting.

Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates repeated for shareholders a warning he
and other company executives have been sounding for several months,
that the company's growth has slowed. However most companies wish
they had the same problem. Microsoft revenue grew nearly 50 percent
in 1992, but dropped to "only" 36 percent growth in fiscal 1993. For
the first quarter of FY 94, which ended September 30, 1993 the
company reported a profit of $239 million on revenues of $983
million.

The slowing is due in part to declining software prices and also
because of the millions of dollars Microsoft has been pouring into
new product development, according to Executive VP Steve Ballmer.

(Jim Mallory/19931101/Press contact: Microsoft Corporation, 206-882-
8080)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(TYO)(00027)

Japanese PC Online Network Users Exceed Two Million 11/01/93
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1993 OCT 29 (NB) -- The number of personal computer
online network users in Japan has reached the two million mark,
according to the New Media Development Association (NMDA).

According to the NMDA, the number of online users has been rising
steadily over the past few years. The two million mark should have
been passed, as the NMDA's survey was carried out in June, when
there were 1.957 million users.

NMDA claims that the number of online service users has risen by
around 70 percent in the last two years alone, with the bulk of new
users being signed up to PC-VAN and Niftyserve, Japan's most popular
(and largest) online systems. Currently, the association claims that
there are around 2,600 different host systems of PC users in Japan.
This figure, Newsbytes notes, includes both non-profit and
commercial networks.

NMDA's figures claim to show that the bulk of online service users
are male, with only 8.5 percent being female. However, the NMDA
reports that the small percentage is increasing all the time and is
expected to continue increasing.

Newsbytes notes that major PC networks such as NEC's PC-VAN and
Fujitsu's Nifty-serve have been trying hard to sign up new users by
adding new features, databases and forums, as well as offering
electronic mail links to other networks.

Some networks have gone one stage further, as witnessed by PC-VAN,
which has begun discussions with ASCII to open a link between the
two company's networks. Newsbytes also notes that, under an
initiative from the japanese Post and Telecom Ministry, a messaging
handling system (MHS) link will soon be opened on most Japanese
online services, to allow inter-system messaging.

(Masayuki "Massey" Miyazawa/19931101/Press Contact: New Media
Development Association, [phone])


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(HKG)(00028)

Sun No 1 Ranking Helps Business in Hong Kong 11/01/93
WANCHAI, HONG KONG, 1993 NOV 1 (NB) -- Being awarded first in five
out of seven workstation categories in the Reader's Choice Awards of
CIO Magazine will have a positive impact on Sun's business systems
market in Hong Kong, according to Mary Theis, marketing manager for
Sun Microsystems Hong Kong office.

"We have seen sales to business users increase dramatically as
companies from all areas of enterprise rightsize their information
technology," Theis said, adding that: "leading Sun commercial system
customers now include the Chase Manhattan Bank, Hongkong
International Terminals, U-Freight, Hong Kong Housing Society, and
Nike Asia."

CIOs also voted Sun as the company they would most likely consider
purchasing products from within the next 12 months. According to a
study, CIO Magazine's readers control the spending of IT budgets
that average US$23 million each annually.

According to the international market research firm Dataquest, the
number of workstations used for business applications will grow 97.7
per cent between 1991 and 1996. Workstations in commercial
applications will account for US$18.1 billion of the US$35.5 billion
workstation market in 1996.

In a recent IDC report, Sun servers accounted for the largest share
of the market 39.8 per cent of the worldwide unit shipments of "as-
sold" workstation servers for 1992.

"As the world's leading workstation and server vendor, we anticipate
increased opportunities in Hong Kong, particularly as more
businesses move to a Sun client-server computing model to reduce
overall IT costs and improve a company's competitive advantage,"
said Theis.

(Keith Cameron/19931101/Press Contact: Mary Theis (Sun): +852-
8024188)


(NEWS)(IBM)(BOS)(00029)

 ****CD-ROM Expo: IBM Rolls Out Eight New Multimedia Titles 11/01/93
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1993 NOV 1 (NB) -- At CD-ROM Expo,
IBM's Multimedia Publishing Studio (MPS) rolled out eight new
interactive CD-ROM titles, including a space encyclopedia, four
volumes of specialized digital imagery, and online editions of The
Lawnmower Man, MacBeth, and Star Trek.

MPS has been producing multimedia software since 1991, and CD-ROM
titles since late 1992, officials said during a news briefing at the
show. But the new market entries are the first to emerge from MPS'
new Affiliated Labels Program, an effort in which IBM is teaming up
with third-party developers.

Also at the briefing, IBM announced delivery dates of before the
end-of-the-year for a string of previously announced titles now
under internal development by the company. This group includes "The
Playboy Interviews," ""Adventures of Curious George and the ABCs,"
"Biosphere 2," and "Peter and the Wolf."

The IBM studio's solo and joint ventures cover Windows, DOS and
Macintosh platforms, in addition to just about every conceivable
subject matter, Crista C. Freeman, director of the Affiliated Labels
Program, noted at the briefing. "There's room for everything," she
commented.

Of the eight new CD-ROM joint productions, four run on Windows as
well as Macintosh. These are "Rick Doyle Digital Imagery" and Sound
Source Unlimited's "Lawnmower Man," "Star Trek, The Original TV
Series," "Star Trek, The Next Generation."

Two titles -- Plum Productions' "Shapes, Volume Two: Design in
Nature," and "Shapes, Volume Two, Man-Made Design" now operate on
the Mac only. The other two -- Andromeda Interactive's "The
Interactive Space Encyclopedia" and Animated Pixels' "Karaoke
MacBeth" -- are currently for DOS only.

"But the ultimate intent is for all eight titles to run on Windows
and Macintosh," stated Terry Jenkins, a communications consultant
to IBM.

The two "Shapes" titles are much more than mere collections on
images, suggested Norman Clark, a partner in Plum Productions, a
company based in Brockenhurst, Hants, UK.

The 100 source images in each volume are supported with three
variants that are overlaid with a wide variety of creative effects,
meant to show the graphic possibilities of image manipulation, said
Clark, also at the briefing. Further, the images are accompanied by
text captions aimed at helping users analyze the composition of the
natural and manmade environment.

"The Interactive Space Encyclopedia" also deals with the natural
and manmade environment, but in this case, the environment is that
of outer space.

The disk contains over 1,000 text documents, with interactive
keywords, along with 2000 photos and 150 3D animations illustrating
scientific concepts and moonwalks, space launches, and other
spectacular events, Jonathan Taylor, president of Alamdeda, CA-
based Andromeda Interactive, explained at the briefing.

After the briefing, Newsbytes viewed "Interactive Space
Encyclopedia" and "Karaoke MacBeth" on the exhibition floor at
CD-ROM Expo. Mike Cox, creative producer, showed how the new
encyclopedia lets users conduct an online exploration of outer
space from a wide range of perspectives, including timelines, maps
of the solar system, and searches for words, still images, and
animation. The title is narrated throughout by Patrick Moore.

Newsbytes also saw how "Karaoke MacBeth" permits users to play the
roles of MacBeth, Lady MacBeth, MacDuff, the Witches, and other key
characters in the famous Shakespearean drama. Up to 10 users can
take part at once, enacting their roles against the voices of
professional actors on the disk.

"Karaoke MacBeth" is replete with other audio effects, as well,
including blaring trumpets and the sounds of the crowd at London's
Globe Theatre. On the visual front, graphics and animation are
both to be found.

Among the other newly announced titles, the two Star Trek titles
and the virtual reality-oriented "LawnMower Man" all present full-
motion video clips and sound bytes from their movie and TV
namesakes.

In addition, each comes with a utility that lets users assign the
clips to system events and other computer functions. You might
start up your computer to a clip in which Spock announces,
"Computing now, Captain," for example -- or delete a file to the
sound of a photon torpedo blast. "It's quite a way to liven up
your desktop," Jenkins pointed out.

Digital Imagery, on the other hand, is a volume of sports photos by
Rick Doyle, an internationally known photojournalist whose credits
include cover photos for Sports Illustrated and Surfer Magazine.
The photos were scanned in on a high-end Hell 341 drum scanner and
saved in TIFF formats.

Also according to Jenkins, IBM's upcoming, internally developed
"The Playboy Interviews" and "Adventures of Curious George and the
ABCS" will be released within the next two to three weeks. "The
other internally developed titles will be out by the end of the
year," he added. "Curious George and the ABCs" could be the first
of a series of Curious George titles, he revealed.

Another title under internal development, "Biosphere 2," will take
users inside of the innovative Biosphere 2 ecological research
program, for an exploration of the program's technology and basic
research results.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19931101/Reader contact: IBM's Multimedia
Publishing Studio, tel 800-898-VTGA; Terry Jenkins, Multimedia
Publishing Studio, tel [phone])


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(LAX)(00030)

 ****Custodians of Visual Truth Gather At SMPTE 11/01/93
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 NOV 1 (NB) -- The conference
for the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers started
Friday at the Los Angeles Convention Center and will go through
November 2, 1993. One conference attendee described the gathering as
the largest group of "custodians of visual truth" assembled
anywhere.

With multimedia coming in strong, cinematographers, video, and
multimedia "purists" are extremely concerned about visual truth or
the quality of visual reproduction at every level from broadcast
television to compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) titles on
personal computers (PCs).

The kind of issues this group is most concerned about are best
represented by a story told Newsbytes by Richard Doherty, an
analyst. Doherty is an amateur guitarist who told how he got seats
at a Paul Simon concert in New York, just five rows back so he could
see Simon's every move. A favorite of Doherty's, Simon's younger
brother, Eddie Simon, was his guitar instructor.

To impress his instructor, Doherty describes how he once recorded
from late-night television Paul Simon's technique in strumming and
fingering motions from the song "American Tune" and practised them
over and over by replaying the recording. When he had the technique
perfected, he taught it to his instructor, Paul's own brother.

At the Paul Simon concert, Doherty was again able to observe, from
his prime seating, Simon's guitar techniques. Afterward, he said he
realized that a Motion Picture Experts Group (MPEG) I or II
recording of Simon's concert would not be detailed enough upon
playback to allow him to study and learn Simon's fingering and
strumming techniques because they simply wouldn't be visible enough.

But an analog technique would record in the necessary level of
detail. "Is this the legacy we want to leave to our children?"
Doherty asked.

Will Stackhouse, SMPTE imaging project director, told attendees of
the Winter Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Chicago in 1991 that
if we were foolish enough to limit our resolution horizons for high
definition television (HDTV) to finite numbers, we would be doomed
to be cursed by our children, their children, and our children's
children's children. Those who are seeking finite numbers for HDTV
have been dubbed "finitives" with disgust by the purists of visual
truth.

Video compression of digital information, such as Joint Photographic
Experts Group (JPEG) and MPEG, is what the visual truth seekers
watch the most carefully. The compression decimates high definition
images and that is wrong, they say. Hollywood directors of movies
such as Jurassic Park, speaking to attendees at the Seybold Digital
World conference in Beverly Hills, California last summer said while
they'll use computers to generate special effects, they put the
digital effects back onto celluloid, simply because celluloid is
better.

However, the 135 year-old SMPTE conference is heavily effected by
the computer industry. The keynote address was offered by James
Clark of Silicon Graphics, Inc. (SGI), digital video and compression
was a favorite subject of the sessions, and the show floor was
heavily populated by computer industry hardware and software
vendors.

It appears the outcry isn't one to stop the advance of technology
into visual information, but one that says we simply haven't gone
far enough with the digital technology to start drawing lines and
limiting ourselves. As long as the analog technology is better, that
cry will continue.

(Linda Rohrbough/19931101/Press Contact: Richard Doherty, The
Envisioneering Group, tel [phone], fax [phone])