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/NB110493

Text File | 1993-11-04 | 70KB | 1,541 lines

(NEWS)(UNIX)(LON)(00001)

Switzerland's Workstation AG's Unix Terminal Emulators 11/04/93
GLATTBRUGG, SWITZERLAND, 1993 NOV 4 (NB) -- Workstation AG,
the Swiss Unix software company, has announced a range of
terminal emulation packages for Unix workstations.

According to the company, three types of packages - emulating DEC,
IBM and Unisys workstations on DEC, HP, IBM, Next, Silicon Graphics,
Sun and generic Intel 486-based environments - are available.
Support for other systems are planned for the future.

All the packages allow the workstation to emulate a terminal on a
mainframe. According to the company, this means that mainframe
applications can be extended to the Unix workstation environment
over a variety of connectivity links.

Workstation claims that all the terminal emulators are fully
integrated within their respective window systems. This is an
advantage over existing passive Unix emulators, the company
claims, since it means that all control and status indicators of the
original terminal can be set in their original parameter windows.

It is also possible to "cut and paste" between the emulator window
and another windows on the workstation. This is not normally
possible on a standard terminal, Newsbytes notes, nor is the
ability to access context-sensitive help on a concurrent basis.

As with X-Window terminals, Workstation's software terminals
can be customized to meet the user's needs. This even extends to
remapping the "terminal" on to buttons on the Unix workstation
screens, polling these buttons as and when required.

The packages support a total of four different emulation
environments: WE-UTS, which supports the integration of mainframe
applications written for U100, U200, UTS 400, UTS 40, UTS 60 color
graphics and SVT Unix terminals in workstation environment;
WE-COMD, a communication protocol server installed on a Unix
processor which can act as a protocol server for the entire network;
WE-D320, a terminal emulator that supports applications written
for DEC VT100, VT200 and VT320 terminals without needing to
modify the mainframe software; and WE-I3179, which reportedly
allow workstations to communicate with IBM mainframes over
TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) Ethernet,
SDLC (synchronous data link control), or X.25 networks.

Pricing on the various packages depend on the emulations required
and site licensing conditions. The company is offering a demo
version for $99 that includes the complete package running in full
mode with time and data limits, full documentation and all shipping
charges.

(Sylvia Dennis/19931103/Press & Public Contact: Workstation AG,
tel [phone], fax [phone]; E-mail over The Internet:
[e-mail])


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(LON)(00002)

Swiss Telecom Clamps Down On "Dial A Porn" Services 11/04/93
ZURICH, SWITZERLAND, 1993 NOV 4 (NB) -- Following the lead of
other European telecommunications companies, PTT, the Swiss
telecoms administration, has introduced a new code of conduct
for its premium and general access telephone subscribers.

The aim of the code of conduct is to prevent the booming number
of premium rate "sex lines" or "dial a porn services," that are
springing up in the country, where laws on such services are
somewhat relaxed.

The Swiss telecoms administration was forced to act after a
Lausanne court imposed a fine of around $13,000 on Felix Rosenberg,
the head of PTT, for breaking obscenity laws in carrying telephone
services of a sexual nature. The court has also, Newsbytes
understands, imposed a suspended prison sentence of two months on
Rosenberg, the suspension being valid for two years, providing
Rosenberg and PTT take steps to stamp out the phone sex services.

According to Swiss media reports, PTT is paying Rosenberg's fine
and has undertaken to clean up its act in relation to sexual phone
recordings.

According to a report on CNN International, almost 1,500 sex line
services are available in Switzerland, which has a relatively small
telephone population of around four million lines for 7.3 million
people. CNN said that more than 3.3 million calls are registered a
month on the sex line services.

(Sylvia Dennis & Steve Gold/19931103)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(LON)(00003)

European Commission Boosts Technology Investment Fund 11/04/93
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM, 1993 NOV 4 (NB) -- Following a seemingly
pitched battle between Members of Parliament (MPs) in the European
Commission over community funding generally these past few years,
ministers have agreed to an increase in special project funding, as
well as introduce low interest loans for technology projects
undertaken by EC small businesses.

The move comes in the wake of an acrimonious battle in the EC
chambers over the shrinking funding of high definition television
(HDTV) research and development. While EC ministers wanted to
invest several hundred million dollars in HDTV projects, Britain
effectively blocked the investment, claiming it was inappropriate.

Newsbytes understands that the so-called Edinburgh fund, which
would have been tapped for the HDTV project, is now being increased
to 8,000 million European Currency Units (around $16,000 million)
and will be used to offer low interest rate loans to small businesses
anywhere in the EC that want to undertake high tech research and
development, provided that R&D will benefit the EC overall.

Previously, the Edinburgh fund was broadly restricted to
investments in road, rail and telecommunications services
in the EC.

(Sylvia Dennis/19931103)


(NEWS)(IBM)(BOS)(00004)

 ****First Pentium-Based Portables Set For Comdex 11/04/93
MILPITAS, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 NOV 4 (NB) -- At Fall Comdex,
Dolch plans to display the new PAC-586, a PC billed as the world's
first Pentium-based portable.

The company will also show A-PAC, a stereo sound version of the
system. Operating at 47 MIPS, the Pentium-based machines are
the fastest mobile PCs to be available yet, officials maintained.

The new PAC and A-PAC models offer five full-length open slots,
three VESA (Video Electronics Standards Association) local bus
slots, and 275 watts of system power. The platforms will also
accommodate a combination of three drives, selectable from among
a floppy drive, a hard drive up to 1 gigabyte (GB), and a 5.25-inch
drive, such as a high performance CD-ROM or Bernoulli drive. Each
unit weighs in at under 20 pounds.

The A-PAC, in particular, is aimed at presentation professionals,
the company said. Users can order the model as a ready-to-go
system with CD-ROM, AVI (Video for Windows), and DVI, JPEG or
MPEG video compression and playback, in addition to built-in
stereo sound.

The Pentium-based portables come with a choice of four flat panel
displays: active matrix color TFT (thin film transistor), passive
matrix color dual-scan STN (SuperTwist Nematic), monochrome EL
(electroluminescent display), or color touchscreen. The active
matrix display shows 256 colors, from a palette of 185,000 colors,
at 640-by-480 resolution, according to Dolch. Contrast ratios
exceed 60:1.

A 101-key keyboard is included with the unit. A trackball system,
is optionally available for integration into the front panel.

Officials stated that the company's liquid cooling system
makes it possible to include Pentium and other high-speed CPUs
(central processing units) in a relatively small amount of PC real
estate.

In contrast to most mobile PCs, which use a plastic inner chassis,
Dolch's chassis is made of metal, the company explained. Heat is
conducted from the CPU through a highly transmissive fluorocarbon
liquid to a proprietary heat sink that, in turn, conducts the heat
into the inner chassis. The metal chassis acts much like a radiator
in dissipating heat.

Dolch is now taking orders for both the PAC-586 and the A-PAC,
with deliveries running four to eight weeks after receipt of order
(ARO). The PAC-586 is available in ISA (Industry Standard
Architecture) configurations with 60 and 66 (megahertz (MHz)
Pentium processors. A-PAC models are available with 386 and
486 processors as well as the Pentium processors. Small Computer
Systems Interface (SCSI) and IDE (Integrated Drive Electronics)
hard drives are available from 120 megabyte (MB) to 1GB. Pricing
starts at about $6,000 for a PAC-586 and about $4,000 for the
A-PAC models.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19931103/Reader contact:  Dolch Computer
Systems, 408-957-6575; Press contact:  Steve Fritz, Dolch,
408-957-6575)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LAX)(00005)

Sierra Still Losing Money On-Line 11/04/93
BELLEVUE, WASHINGTON, U.S.A., 1993 NOV 4 (NB) -- In its fiscal
second quarter 1994 earnings statement, Sierra On-Line has
announced losses, and separated its software earnings from the
company's graphical, interactive, electronic service.

Despite the loses, American Telephone and Telegraph (AT&T) is
investing an additional $3 million to finance development of
software for Sega and 3DO home gaming systems to connect users
to The ImagiNation Network (INN).

Earnings for the software publishing business were $47,000 on
revenues of $13.4 million, compared to a loss of $532,500 on
revenues of $9.4 million in the year-ago quarter. In the six
month period, losses were $3.2 million on revenues of $22.1
million, as opposed to earnings of $432,000 on revenues of
$18.6 million a year earlier. Sierra credits strong sales of
compact disc (CD) software titles for the revenue gains.

INN second quarter losses are up to $2.3 million on quadrupled
revenue of nearly $2 million, compared to losses of $923,000 on
revenue of $485,000 for the same quarter a year ago. For the
six month period, INN has lost $4.1 million on revenues of $3.9
million, compared to a loss of $1.8 million on revenues of
$862,000 in the same period in 1992.

Sierra continues to pour its financial resources into INN,
saying it is already beginning to create virtual communities
with interactive shopping, video and audio libraries, and even
classrooms. Company officials have stopped announcing the
head-count of members of the service, but Sierra President and
co-founder Ken Williams once said the network needed 50,000
members to break even. Early last year, before the AT&T deal,
the company had over half of the needed members.

AT&T and General Atlantic each took an equity investment in
Sierra in July. AT&T bumped up its $10 million initial investment
another $3 million to finance INN access software for the Sega
and 3DO systems aimed at the home market.

Officials from AT&T said in a press conference recently that the
company sees enormous opportunities in the home video market,
which is ten times the size of the personal computer (PC) market.
The INN access software should be available in the summer of
1994, Sierra said.

Prodigy, another graphical on-line service, is involved, as its
members are being offered access to INN via the Game Point
package. INN expects to receive revenues from Prodigy members
who access its gaming and educational service. Prodigy estimates
it has two million members, although some industry analysts
dispute those numbers.

(Linda Rohrbough/19931103/Press Contact: Richard Gelhaus,
Sierra On-Line, tel [phone] fax [phone]; Eugene
Heller, Silverman Heller Associates for Sierra On-Line, tel
310-208-2550, fax [phone])


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(LAX)(00006)

New Weitek Chip To Use Captain Crunch Compression 11/04/93
FREMONT, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 NOV 4 (NB) -- Media Vision
says Weitek, known for its graphics accelerator products, has
licensed its Captain Crunch video compression technology for
use in the Video Power processor, which is designed to bring
television quality digital video to personal computers (PCs).

Media Vision says Captain Crunch can playback video in a 320 by
240 window at 30 frames-per-second at compact disc read-only
memory (CD-ROM) data rates with 24-bit color. Like other video
compression (codec) technologies, it is designed to address the
problem of getting video down to as size that makes it
transportable by currently available media or communications
channels.

The company claims Captain Crunch's advantages over competing
Motion Picture Experts Group (MPEG) or Digital Video Interactive
(DVI) compression schemes is that it is one tenth the expense,
can compress as well as decompress in real time, and is scalable.

Scalability, the biggest sales point, means video developed
using Captain Crunch allows software-only playback on a 386-
based PC or Macintosh IIci or above without degradation of the
picture quality, a common problem in running video on slower
computers. Media Vision says users may choose to play smaller
pictures or slower frame-rates based on their own system
performance without intrinsic loss of picture quality. Media
Vision points to video conferencing as one of the applications
that will benefit most from its compression technology.

Weitek plans to offer the Video Power chip to third party board
makers in a new 32-bit chip, the Power 9100. With the aid of
the Video Power chip, digital video can run full screen at
normal speeds of 30 frames-per-second at resolutions as high
as 1280 by 1024, Weitek said.

Sunnyvale, California headquartered Weitek estimates users will
see third party video boards with the incorporated Video Power
chip and Captain Crunch compression in the second quarter of
1994. Prices will range from $500 to $600.

(Linda Rohrbough/19931103/Press Contact: Elizabeth Fairchild,
Media Vision, tel [phone], fax [phone]; Public
Contact, Weitek, 408-738-8400)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(LON)(00007)

London's Future Entertainment Show Set For Nov 11-14 11/04/93
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1993 NOV 4 (NB) -- Future Events has announced
that plans for The Future Entertainment Show Mark II, which takes
place at London's Olympia from November 11 - 14, have now been
finalized. This time around the show will fill the entire Grand Hall
at Olympia, making it more than 30 percent larger than last year's
inaugural show.

Unlike last year's show, Future has signed most of the leading
lights in the computer games and entertainment business to attend.
Commodore, Electronic Arts, Nintendo, Ocean, Sega, US Arts, and
Virgin Interactive Entertainment have all agreed to attend to show
off their latest and, in some cases, unreleased products.

Future has also persuaded BBC Radio One and the Gamesmaster TV
show to broadcast live from the event, which many in the computer
entertainment industry have unofficially agreed is the product
launchpad for the Christmas computer games season.

According Andrew Godsall, a spokesman for Cape Cowley Associates,
the company that is promoting the event to the press, there are more
than 100 new computer games being readied for announcement at the
show.

The main heavyweight contenders this year include: Jurassic Park
from Ocean; Winter Olympics from US Gold; Streetfighter II Turbo
from Nintendo; FIFA International Soccer from Electronic Arts; F1
from Domark; Zool 2 from Gremlin Graphics; Robocop vs Terminator
from Virgin; and three new Sonic the Hedgehog games from Sega.

"It's bigger than last year and better than last year," said Tony
Keefe, Future Events' exhibition organizer, who said that, "It all
ads up to an event of such significance for the industry that it
won't be eclipsed until the Future Entertainment Show 1994."

Readers of Newsbytes interested in obtaining tickets to the
event can call the Future Ticket Hotline on 051-356-5085.

(Steve Gold/19931103/Press & Public Contact: Future Events,
tel [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(LON)(00008)

UK - SST Intros Low-Profile 3.5-Inch 1GB Hard Drive 11/04/93
BICESTER, OXFORDSHIRE, ENGLAND, 1993 NOV 4 (NB) -- Standard
Storage Technologies (SST), which claims to be one of
Hewlett-Packard's largest European distributors of storage devices,
has announced the HP C3322A low-profile hard drive with a data
capacity of one gigabyte (GB).

The company says that the drive has been designed for the original
equipment manufacturer (OEM) marketplace and has all the features
of the earlier 1GB drive, but in a one-inch high drive casing. This has
allowed HP to improve on the previous unit's performance, pushing
read/seek time down an impressive 9.5 milliseconds. The drive also
has a 512 kilobyte (KB) buffer and the ability to burst 48 megabits-
per-second at top speed.

The drive comes with three different SCSI-2 (Small Computer
Systems Interface type 2) interface options: single ended,
differential, and wide differential. Up to 16 devices can be linked
on the same channel and a synchronous data transfer rate of up
top 20 megabytes-per-second are possible.

Announcing the availability of the drive in the UK, Jim Spooner,
SST's technical director, said that HP has already secured 23
percent of the non-captive worldwide market for 3.5-inch drives
of 1GB and over.

"Now, once again, with the launch of the C3322A, we see HP
responding quickly to the evolving demands of the OEM marketplace
with a cost-effective, high performance drive of outstanding
reliability," he claimed.

Pricing on the drive has not been announced. The company maintains
that exact pricing depends on the volume requirements of the
purchaser.

(Steve Gold/19931103/Press & Public Contact: SST,
44-869-249499)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(LON)(00009)

UK - Apricot Boosts Storage Capacity Of Servers 11/04/93
BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND, 1993 NOV 4 (NB) -- Apricot Computers has
announced that it is boosting the capacity of its server ranges in
response to customer demand for increased data storage,

According to James Blackledge, marketing director of the company,
the new DDS tape drive for Apricot's FT//e and FT//s fault tolerant
server ranges uses data compression techniques to provide as much
as eight gigabytes (GB) of data storage on a single tape.

Blackledge added that the UKP1,795 device also features very fast
data transfer rates and enables 8GB of data to be backed up in less
than two hours.

In parallel with the tape drive's introduction, Apricot is expanding
the hard disk storage capacity of the FT//s server to 20GB with the
introduction of a new 2GB hard disk -- up to ten of the units can be
installed on a single machine.

(Steve Gold/19931103/Press & Public Contact: Apricot Computers,
tel [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(DEN)(00010)

A Screen Saver For Hockey Fans 11/04/93
ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN, U.S.A., 1993 NOV 4 (NB) -- The puck
whistling through the air, the crash of bodies into the boards and the
roar of the crowd! That's what hockey fans can expect to hear, not
when they next attend a hockey game, but when their computer sits
inactive for a while.

That is because Quadrangle Software Corp., is following up its
major league baseball-oriented screen saver with a version for
hockey fans. Screen savers put moving images on the screen during
periods of computer inactivity to prevent image burn-in. Lights Out
Sports Fans: National Hockey League Screen Saver will debut at
Comdex, the computer industry's annual fall extravaganza in Las
Vegas. The show opens November 15, 1993.

Similar to MLB, the hockey-based program allows the user to select
home and visiting teams from the 26 NHL competitors and any of the
ten different "game plans". You can even have teams from different
divisions facing off. The user can permit penalties to give the home
team an advantage or allow the computer to determine the winner.

The program's attention to detail has the "Zamboni" machine (a
street-sweeper-type machine that smoothes the ice between
periods in a hockey match) dissolving team logos, fans performing
the "wave," a slap shot contest, and a floating scoreboard with user-
definable messages that updates statistics as the on-screen game
plays in the background. "Hidden treasures" are uncovered during
ice cleaning.

Lights Out Sports Fans: National Hockey League Screen Saver has a
suggested retail price of $55 and requires a Macintosh computer
using a 68020 microprocessor or better, system 6.0.5 from Apple
Computer, and 3-5 megabytes (MB) of hard drive space depending on
whether color or monochrome display is desired. There is also a
Microsoft Windows-based version that runs in standard or
enhanced mode. It requires just over 2MB of disk space.

Quadrangle spokesperson Ann Rawland-Warner told Newsbytes the
company has recently signed distribution deals with American
Software & Hardware, Software Resource, and Kenfil. The Lights
Out products can be found in Computer City, Elek-Tek and Micro
Center outlets. The company says it expects other sports-based
screen saver products to be released by mid-1994.

(Jim Mallory/19931104/Press contact: Ann Rawland-Warner,
Rawland-Warner Communications for Quadrangle Software,
319-337-0547; Reader contact: Quadrangle Software,
800-253-8397)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(DEN)(00011)

Aldus Reports Strong 3Qtr 11/04/93
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON, U.S.A., 1993 NOV 4 (NB) -- Giving most of
the credit to the latest release of its flagship software program
Pagemaker 5.0, Aldus Corp., has announced record revenues and a
significant improvement in earnings for the third quarter, which
ended October 1, 1993.

The company said revenues for the period were up 37 percent to
$62.2 million, compared to $45.3 million for the same period last
year. Earnings were $4.3 million, or $0.32 per share and included a
one-time pre-tax charge of $2.3 million or about $0.11 per share
related to the acquisition of The Company of Science and Art.

Aldus year-to-date sales rose to $149.4 million from $128.2 million
for the first nine months of last year. "The results reflect the
positive response from customers and the trade press to the new
version of Aldus Pagemaker 5.0," according to Aldus VP of Finance
Bill McAleer. He said the quarter was a record sales period for
Pagemaker, a high-end desktop publishing program. Pagemaker
upgrades brought in $16.1 million, or about one-quarter of the
company's total revenue during the quarter.

Aldus announced several new products during the period being
reported. In addition to Pagemaker 5.0 for the Macintosh, the
company shipped new versions of Fetch and Photostyler, and Mac
versions of Trapwise and Presswise. Aldus also recently
announced that a new Macintosh version of Freehand, its
high-end illustration product, will ship by the end of the year.

(Jim Mallory/19931104/Press contact: Brad Stevens, Aldus Corp,
206-628-2361; Reader contact: Aldus Corporation, 206-622-5500)


(NEWS)(IBM)(TOR)(00012)

IBM, Kodak In Service Joint Venture 11/04/93
WHITE PLAINS, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1993 NOV 4 (NB) -- IBM and
Eastman Kodak Co., have formed a joint venture to provide service
for IBM workstations, personal computers, and point-of-sale
systems. The deal grew out of an alliance the companies
announced in May.

The new organization, called Technology Service Solutions, will
initially service IBM products only. Kodak spokesman Al
Brakoniecki said it is too early to speculate about the company
providing service for other vendors' products - that will be up to
the management of Technology Service Solutions, he said.

IBM customers will continue to hold maintenance contracts with
IBM, the company said, and will use the existing 800-IBM-SERV
number to request service.

Brakoniecki said Kodak sees the alliance as a chance to build on
its strength in service by combining it with IBM's technology
background. Kodak, "has a long-standing reputation for providing
service," he said, and one of its key strengths lies in the
infrastructure -- for example, call management, parts,
logistics -- which can be applied to new areas such as IBM
hardware. "This was an opportunity to leverage that strength,"
Brakoniecki said.

The companies named Richard J. Hernandez, formerly business
executive for services at IBM Asia Pacific, to head Technology
Service Solutions. The new company will be based in Valley
Forge, Pennsylvania.

(Grant Buckler/19931104/Press Contact: Ken W. Sayers, IBM,
914-765-2176; Al Brakoniecki, Kodak, 716-724-3057)


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

Unisys Unveils GIS Plan 11/04/93
BLUE BELL, PENNSYLVANIA, U.S.A., 1993 NOV 4 (NB) -- Fresh from
completing its acquisition of Computervision Corp.'s System 9
geographic information systems (GIS) technology, Unisys has
introduced Hemisphere Solutions, its framework for geographic
information management.

According to Unisys, Hemisphere Solutions can be applied to GIS
problems in land records management, waste-water facility
management, utilities, and transportation management.

The company unveiled Hemisphere Solutions at the Geographic
Information System/Land Information System (GIS/LIS) '93
annual conference and exposition in Minneapolis.

System 9 -- software used to capture geographic information
from existing maps, surveys, and aerial photographs and build a
geographically referenced database -- is one key element of
Hemisphere Solutions, officials said. The software runs on
Unisys' U-series Unix machines and on Unix systems from Digital
Equipment Corp., Sun Microsystems Inc., and Hewlett-Packard Co.,
said Unisys spokeswoman Lisa Conrads.

The other is Hemisphere Information Services, including executive
GIS planning, needs analysis, project management, installation, and
post-delivery review.

For more than five years, Unisys has been delivering GIS in Europe,
primarily in land records, utilities, and telecommunications.

The company's first GIS installation in North America was in
Harris County, Texas, in cooperation with Computervision. That
joint project led to the deal to buy System 9, Conrads said.

In late October, Unisys took over the System 9 trademarks from
Computervision, of Bedford, Massachusetts. The purchase price and
terms were not disclosed. The companies said most of
Computervision's System 9 personnel have accepted new positions
at Unisys.

The firms said that transaction fit both companies' strategies,
allowing Unisys to build on its existing GIS business and
Computervision to concentrate on its computer-aided design and
manufacturing (CAD/CAM) products.

An upgrade to the System 9 software, planned by Computervision
before the acquisition, is still on target for release by the end
of this year, Conrads said.

(Grant Buckler/19931104/Press Contact: Judith K. Maxfield,
Unisys, 215-986-2243)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(DEN)(00014)

Author Tom Peters To Address Electronic Document Pros 11/04/93
DENVER, COLORADO, U.S.A., 1993 NOV 4 (NB) --  Best-selling book
author Tom Peters will be the keynote speaker when members of
the electronic document systems association Xplor International
meet in Denver, Colorado, later this month.

Peters, who's latest book is titled "Liberation Management:
Necessary Disorganization for the Nanosecond Nineties," will be
the opening speaker at Xplor International's 14th annual conference
and exhibit being held at the Denver Convention Center November
14-19, 1993.

Nancy Austin, president of Nancy K. Austin Inc., and co-author with
Peters of "A Passion for Excellence: The Leadership Difference," will
deliver the closing keynote speech later in the week. She is also the
author of "The Assertive Woman," a book for women on how to
develop and apply assertive skills in their personal and professional
lives. Austin was formerly manager of advanced management
development at Hewlett Packard.

Peters will speak Sunday afternoon, November 14, while Austin
will appear Friday morning, November 19.

Xploring New Heights is the theme of this year's event, which
organizers say will offer more than 200 state-of-the-art technical
and application sessions, industry reports, workshops, informal
roundtables, and a three-day exhibit that will feature the latest
advancements in information technology. More than 6,000
attendees are expected.

(Jim Mallory/19931104/Press contact: Jim Porter, Xplor
International, 310-373-3688; Reader contact: Xplor International,
tel [phone] or 310-873-3633, fax [phone])


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(DEN)(00015)

Datalogic Intros Wireless PC-To-PBX Auto Dialer 11/04/93
GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN, U.S.A., 1993 NOV 4 (NB) -- Datalogic
Corp., has introduced a hardware interface between personal
computer and PBX (private branch exchange) system telephones
that allow PC users to autodial from their computer without
any extra wires or cables.

Datalogic spokesperson Liz Wax calls it "Look Ma, no hands"
conversation. Wax told Newsbytes the main feature of the system,
dubbed Digidial, is that it tracks billable calls, recording the date
and length of the call. "It's ideal for lawyers, accountants, or
anyone who tracks billable phone hours when calling a client,"
said Wax.

The company says Digidial not only tracks phone usage for billing
purposes, it saves time and eliminates the possibility of
misdialing. Instead of having to dial up to 12 digits, pressing one
or two keys on the PC keyboard does the work. It also assures that
every call is tracked. Datalogic says that could result in a
significant increase in billings.

George Vallillee, Datalogic president, said the company expects to
release a product early next year that will permit users to scan
business cards directly into the computer, then autodial those
numbers. "People who have old fashioned Rolodexes with hundreds
of business cards will be able to conveniently scan them in, so
converting their Rolodex to work with Digidial will be easy."

The Digidial hardware consists of a receiver that connects to the
phone and a transmitter that connects to a free serial port on the PC
and comes with dual connectors for both nine-pin and 25-pin ports.

The device is compatible with the Hayes AT command set, requires
no external power source, and uses 900 megahertz radio frequency
technology to communicate with the PBX. It is available for
Northern Telecom, AT&T, and Rolm PBX equipment.

Wax told Newsbytes Digidial works with many popular contact
manager software programs, including Packrat, Act! and Telemagic.
The system has a suggested retail price of $139.

(Jim Mallory/19931104/Press Contact: Liz Wax S&S Public Relations
for Datalogic Corp, 708-291-1616; Reader contact: Datalogic Corp,
800-397-2200)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TYO)(00016)

Sega Enterprises To Create Joint Venture In China 11/04/93
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1993 NOV 4 (NB) -- Tokyo-based video machine
maker Sega Enterprises is planning to set up a joint venture
in China. The new firm will not only sell the game machines, but
will also create amusement facilities in the country.

Some reports claim the Chinese government is preparing to loosen
restrictions concerning foreign firms operating amusement
facilities in the country around the end of this year. Upon the
relaxing of the regulations, Sega Enterprises will immediately
begin preparations for the joint venture firm.

The new joint venture firm is expected to manufacture and sell
Sega's video game machines. Sega has been shipping game machines
to China since May 1992. The new joint venture will also offer
maintenance services for the game machines.

Currently, the Chinese government reportedly bans amusement
facilities because they may encourage gambling. Other Japanese
amusement facility makers such as Taito and Namco may also
move into China next year if the regulations are removed.

Sega Enterprises has been actively involved in the sale of game
machines and amusement facilities in overseas markets. The firm
has already been doing well in game machine markets in the US
and Europe through its subsidiaries.

(Masayuki "Massey" Miyazawa/19931104/Press Contact: Sega
Enterprises, tel [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(WAS)(00017)

ChipSoft Offers Tax Guide And TurboTax HeadStart 11/04/93
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1993 NOV 4 (NB) -- Many people these days
seem to be using computer tax preparation software, but did you
realize that few people really pay any attention to their tax
situation until after New Years Day? According to tax experts,
this is a big mistake because it is too late then to do anything
more than gather your records and possibly add money to an IRA.

However, San Diego, California-based Chipsoft, publisher of the
tax preparation software Turbotax, has two ways to help planners
reduce next April 15's bill while there is still time.

A software tax planning guide containing more than 250 tax-
reducing tips and strategies shows how to implement specific
suggestions and take advantage of the latest changes in the tax
laws.

There are three different ways to locate help using Chipsoft's
TurboTax Tax Savings Guide. The first is to answer a series of
questions about your situation which causes the program to
activate specific suggestions. The second method is designed for
more experienced tax preparers, and allows direct key word
searches of the database. Lastly, there is a complete index,
listing the various suggestions by topics.

Tax Guide includes all the new Clinton Administration tax
changes and carries a list price of $20 for Windows, MS-DOS, or
Macintosh systems.

The 1993 Head Start version of the TurboTax tax preparation
software includes all the applicable tax laws and IRS rules at
the time of publication. However, because there may be last
minute changes, purchasers all receive a final version that
can import the data entered into the Head Start planning version.

This two-step tax system makes it possible for individuals and
small business operators to complete their tax planning and enter
actual data prior to all forms and rules being finalized by the
IRS, yet not have to duplicate any earlier work when the final
version becomes available.

TurboTax has consistently is available in MS-DOS, Windows, and
Macintosh versions.

After calculating the entire tax return, TurboTax can also print
out the final forms using IRS-approved forms which users can
generate on their own laser or inkjet printers - eliminating any
transcription errors. Buyers of Head Start TurboTax just send in
a coupon to receive a final version with all approved forms
sometime in January, 1994, in plenty of time to file taxes.

TurboTax also imports data from the popular Quicken personal
accounting software and the previous year's TurboTax data.
This year's TurboTax includes a special deduction finder that
helps locate more potential deductions, such as depreciation of
assets, and color graphs which show income sources, tax
analysis, deductions, and cash flow.

(John McCormick/19931102/Press Contact: Debra Kelley,
ChipSoft, 619-453-4446)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(SFO)(00018)

Banyan Expands Access To Intelligent Messaging 11/04/93
WESTBORO, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1993 NOV 4 (NB) -- Banyan
Systems has introduced an Intelligent Messaging interface for Unix,
which reportedly allows organizations with mixed Unix and PC
networks to communicate through  an integrated, enterprise-wide
messaging information system.

Intelligent Messaging is one of Banyan's core enterprise network
services. According to the company, it is an open platform that
provides message transport and management functions to
electronic mail and mail-enabled applications from a variety of
vendors.

Said Bob Martin, Banyan director of product marketing, "As
customers move mission-critical applications to client/server
networks, they depend increasingly upon electronic mail as the
backbone for effective, enterprise-wide sharing of applications
and information. Banyan's Intelligent Messaging service
facilitates the use of electronic mail and mail-enabled
applications  by providing the most open, manageable and
scalable messaging infrastructure possible."

Banyan's Intelligent Messaging interface for Unix is an option for
Vines for Unix that lets any users with access to a Vines for Unix
server send and receive electronic mail throughout their
enterprise network. This includes users of Unix workstations,
asynchronous terminals, X-terminals, and PCs running terminal
emulation software.

The company says that the product is fully interoperable with all
Vines, ENS, and Vines for Unix Intelligent Messaging services.
Banyan says that the Intelligent Messaging interface for Unix is
currently available for Vines for SCO Unix and will be available
in the future  as a Vines server option for Hewlett-Packard HP/UX,
IBM AIX, and Sun Solaris environments.

Intelligent Messaging interface for Unix is also claimed to be fully
integrated with StreetTalk III, Banyan's global directory service.
It also supports mobile communications by allowing organizations
to implement a multi-user remote access mail server.

Intelligent Messaging configures itself, operates with any Banyan
network server, including Vines 5.x, Vines for Unix and ENS, and
automatically adapts to network changes, claims the company.
It also reportedly determines the best route to deliver data without
manual configuration, which in turn minimizes administration and
management costs.

The Intelligent Messaging interface for Unix is available
immediately as an option to Vines for SCO Unix version 1.0 and is
bundled with that product free of charge until December 31, 1993.
After December 31, 1993, it will be priced at $895.

(Ian Stokell/19931102/Press Contact: Siobhan Carroll,
508-898-1000, Banyan Systems)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(LAX)(00019)

 ****Intertainment '93 - SGI's Clark Says 3DO Can't Dominate 11/04/93
SANTA MONICA, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 NOV 4 (NB) -- Jim Clark,
the chairman and founder of Silicon Graphics Inc. (SGI), said
he believes computer technology will dominate consumer
electronics in the future. The main players will not be
companies like 3DO, but computer companies such as Digital
Equipment Corp. (DEC), IBM, and SGI.

Clark was the keynote speaker at the Intertainment '93
conference held at the Lowes Santa Monica Beach Hotel in Santa
Monica, California beginning Wednesday. His company made a deal
this summer with Time Warner to provide set top boxes and the
computer horsepower on the distribution end to deliver
interactive television to residents of Orlando, Florida.

SGI also announced Project Reality in August, a joint venture
with Nintendo aimed first at the video arcade market and then
at the home user. The Project Reality home systems will have a
MIPS reduced instruction-set computing (RISC) chip as the core,
will be released in late 1995, and will be direct competitors
with 3DO.

It appears that 3DO is beginning to take a strong hold in the
consumer market with over 300 developers and companies such as
AT&T who are investing heavily in the development of software
access products for interactive networks that already exist. The
electronic game network provider Sierra On-Line announced this
week that AT&T has put in another $3 million to finance the
development of software to access Sierra's ImagiNation Network
(INN), making AT&T's total investment since July $13 million.

Panasonic claims sales of the Real 3DO player, which it started
shipping last month under license from 3DO, are very good.
However, Panasonic company officials did not provide Newsbytes
with sales figures.

Clark mentioned several times that while 3DO could survive, it
will not dominate the consumer electronic market in his opinion
because it does not control the core technology -- the
microprocessor -- that is the basis of its hardware.

Ideally, the consumer electronic device, such as a set top box,
should be binary compatible with a computer system so that
software title development can be more widespread. SGI has
control of its core technology because it owns MIPS, the
company that builds the RISC chips used in SGI systems.

(Linda Rohrbough/19931104/Press Contact: Jill Grossman, Silicon
Graphics Incorporated, tel [phone], fax [phone]; Bob
Alexander, Alexander & Associates, 212-684-2333)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(TOR)(00020)

New Storage Products From DEC 11/04/93
MAYNARD, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1993 NOV 4 (NB) -- Digital
Equipment Corp., has added to its line of storage products for
original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) with new magnetic disk
and tape products and extensions to the StorageWorks grouping of
subsystems and disk arrays.

DEC announced new drives based on its Asabet chip set. According
to the vendor, the Special Performance (SP) and Value Performance
(VP) drives offer transfer rates of 8.5 megabytes (MB)-per-second
and mean-time-between-failures (MTBF) of 800,000 hours. They
include the SP3430, a 3.5-inch, 4.3 gigabyte (GB) drive, the
VP3215 2.15GB drive, and the VP3107 1.07GB drive.

The DLT4000 half-inch tape drive holds 20GB of data in a
5.25-inch unit, and Digital claimed a transfer rate of 1.5 MB-per-
second. The company also unveiled a factory upgrade to add the
capacity and the Fast Small Computer Systems Interface (SCSI)
connection of the DLT4000 to users of the existing DLT2000 tape
drive.

The company also announced the DLT2500 mini-library, with 50GB
of formatted capacity and a data transfer rate of 1.25 MB-per-
second.

The new ESP580 solid-state disk holds 856MB of data, and DEC
said it can execute more than 800 input/output requests per
second.

These products are aimed mainly at the high-performance desktop
and server market, said Charles Christ, vice-president of DEC's
storage business unit. He said the company has focused on the
high end of the storage market, believing that is where its
technology gives it an edge.

The new disks are the first to use the Asabet chip set, in which
DEC has squeezed the functions that formerly took five chips into
two. The chip set provides powerful error-correction code that
handles 32 bits of data at a time, Christ said, and
power-management features allowing the products to use 15
to 25 percent less power than competitive offerings.

DEC extended its StorageWorks portfolio with desktop and
desk-side enclosures for Novell NetWare 3.11 networks, plus an
optical library family, a redundant array of inexpensive disks
(RAID) system, and a storage management subsystem combining
DEC's tape drive with Palindrome Corp.'s Network Archivist and
Backup Director software. A desktop subsystem enclosure and a
desk-side RAID array were also announced for Sun Microsystems
Inc., systems.

DEC began moving into the OEM storage business in 1991 with its
thin-film head technology, Christ said, and expanded further with
disk and tape products in 1992 and the StorageWorks line earlier
this year.

DEC's OEM storage revenues grew six-fold this year, and the total
revenues of the storage unit -- including internal sales to other
parts of DEC -- were more than $1 billion in fiscal 1992, Christ
said. The company does not expect it can maintain the same growth
rate as it becomes a larger player in the storage market, he said,
but it is aiming to be one of the top three suppliers in this field.

(Grant Buckler/19931104/Press Contact: Tom Madden, DEC,
508-841-5365; Liz Baird, DEC, 508-841-6439)


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

New On-line Links 11/04/93
DAYTON, OHIO, U.S.A., 1993 NOV 4 (NB) -- Both of Ohio's major
on-line systems announced new features.

Perhaps the most important is on Mead Data Central's Lexis and
Nexis. They are adding a new search strategy called Freestyle,
along with Boolean operators such as "and," "or," and "with."

The feature processes a search request by identifying significant
terms and phrases, and removing words that do not contribute to
the search. Then, using mathematical algorithms, the system
weights the statistical relevancy of search terms with terms in
the data being searched.

A Freestyle search with unusual words, in other words, will be
based mainly on those words. Mead said that searches done with
Freestyle will often yield different results than those made
with Boolean operators. The feature will be rolled out slowly
starting this November and through 1994.

CompuServe added new gateways under the X.400 standard, allowing
users to send mail to more remote systems. The new gateways are
to the Telebox-400 service of the Deutsche Bundespost, and to
Infonet's Notice system. The DBT's Telebox system is one of the
largest in Europe, and CompuServe said in its press statement it
is committed to doubling its current European subscriber base of
85,000 in the next year. CompuServe has a total of about 1.4
million members.

Finally, Business Link Communications said it will support Xerox'
new VerdeFilm technology, becoming the first PostScript imaging
service bureau to offer it. President Todd Melet told Newsbytes
this is a very significant breakthrough. VerdeFilm is imaged
using Agfa imagesetters at resolutions of up to 3,600 dots-per-
inch, using a patented Xerox process that charges and heats
selenium molecules in the media to cause film exposure. Business
Link, which requires the use of digital lines, connects ad
agencies, publishers and designers in New York and elsewhere.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19931104/Press Contact: Todd Melet, Business
Link, tel [phone], fax [phone]; Mead, Monica
Schiffler, 513-865-1519; Dave Kishler, CompuServe,
614-538-4571)


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

Data Race Makes Pre-Comdex Announcements 11/04/93
SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1993 NOV 4 (NB) -- Data Race made
major moves into the wireless LAN (local area network) market
with new products for release at this month's Fall Comdex show.

The company is aiming its new Redi family of wireless LAN
adapters at mobile computing users who may need to access the
LAN while in meetings, without using cables.

The new products operate at 2.4 gigahertz (GHz), available for
instrumentation, scientific and medical applications. According
to the company, this allows it to use a proprietary modulation
technique to send up to 9.5 million bits-per-second, and the
shorter wave lengths allow use of an embedded antenna. The
internationally-accepted frequency band also requires no user
licenses. The rejected alternative, according to Data Race, would
be to use the congested 900 megahertz (MHz) and its limited
bandwidth.

Among the new products in this family are a wireless Ethernet
adapter, an RF (radio frequency) module, a wireless Ethernet
adapter which goes into a PCMCIA "PC Card" slot, and a Wireless
Docking System which allows wireless remote control of a
desktop computer, synchronization of files to update or copy
programs, and wireless access to LAN resources like printers
and disk drives.

The new product is compatible with DOS, Windows, and such LAN
operating systems as Novell's Netware and Microsoft Windows for
Workgroups.

Finally there are new repeaters called the RediROAM system,
which can be linked using twisted pairs cables and allow adapters
to operate throughout a building. Because of the high frequency
being used, adapters must be within 30-100 feet of a repeater
node or wireless LAN connection to work.

Data Race also will announce its own family of cellular phone
data adapters called the RediCell family. Versions will be
available from major cellular phone models from AT&T, Oki, NEC,
Motorola and Pioneer. Data Race is presently involved in a patent
lawsuit with Spectrum Information Technologies, which claims its
patents cover all wireless phone-modem connectors. Data Race
has applied for a patent on the technology used in its own adapters.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19931104/Press Contact: Alan Weinkrantz,
210-820-3070)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00023)

MFS Acquires More New York Networks 11/04/93
OMAHA, NEBRASKA, U.S.A., 1993 NOV 4 (NB) -- MFS expanded its
presence in New York state by reaching an agreement to buy
FiberNet Inc., for MFS common stock. The price is about $17
million, based on MFS' current stock price of about $46-$48 per
share.

Fibernet operates fiber rings in Rochester, Albany and Buffalo,
New York, with a total of about 410 miles of cables serving a
little over 100 large buildings in the three cities.

Since New York regulators have already given MFS equal standing
with New York Telephone and Rochester Telephone, and allowed
MFS to operate its Intellenet basic phone services in direct
competition with New York Telephone in New York City, it is
expected that the new acquisition means the competition could
in time extend upstate as well.

MFS will also link the three cities to its Datanet network, which
offers long distance data communications services between the
cities where the company does business.

While the acquisition is subject to various Federal and New York
regulatory approvals, those are not expected to take long. MFS
expects to take over the networks in early 1994. James Q. Crowe,
chairman and chief executive officer of MFS, added that the new
networks will also provide MFS with a gateway to Canada, whose
telecommunications market is also being liberalized.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19931104/Press Contact: MFS, Steve Ingish,
708-218-7316)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(BOS)(00024)

 ****Computer Fax Unit Sales To Soar 138% By 1997 11/04/93
NORWELL, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1993 NOV 4 (NB) -- US sales of
computer fax units will rise 138 percent over the next four years,
from 5.1 million units in 1993 to 12.1 units by 1997, according to
a new survey by BIS Strategic Decisions.

Fax modems now constitute the bulk of unit sales, and will continue
to do so in the future, but LAN (local area network) fax servers and
centralized fax servers are also contributing to the growth, the
researchers found.

The Norwell, MA-based market research firm projects sales of fax
modems to soar to 11.6 million units in 1997.  Market drivers for
the fax modems include aggressive price cuts, fax integration with
data and voice, and the booming mobile computer market, said Janet
Fugazzotto, senior market analyst for BIS's Image Communications
Systems market requirements service.

Price cuts on high-speed fax modems are facilitating upgrade sales
and pushing prices down on lower-speed products, Fugazzotto
explained. As a result, fax modems are becoming affordable to a
new end user base, and also inexpensive enough for OEMs (original
equipment manufacturers) to preinstall in portable and desktop
computers.

"At the same time, the PCMCIA (Personal Computer Memory Card
Industry Association) card is making the fax capability easier to
add to mobile computers, especially the emerging PDA (personal
digital assistant) market," she said.

The LAN fax server market expanded 125 percent from 1992 to
1993, and the future of this segment also looks particularly
bright, the researchers determined.

Fax server vendors are carrying out strongly focused marketing and
product improvements, and establishing third-party relationships
that will fax-enable new applications and, in turn, increase user
demand for fax server systems, Fugazzotto reported. Further, new
players are entering this segment, she added.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19931104/Reader contact: BIS Strategic
Decisions, 617-982-9500; Press contact: Janet Fugazzotto,
BIS, 617-982-9500)


(NEWS)(IBM)(BOS)(00025)

"ActiveBook" Electronic Books On Personal Finance 11/04/93
CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1993 NOV 4 (NB) -- Vertigo
Development Group has announced ActiveBook, a series of
interactive electronic books that will be aimed at helping
consumers make decisions about investing, buying a home, and
other personal finance matters.

The first volume in the ActiveBook series, "The Wall Street Journal
Personal Finance Library," will be available in two ways, a Vertigo
spokesperson told Newsbytes. The book will be included in Intuit
Inc.'s new "Quicken for Windows CD-ROM Deluxe Edition," a CD-ROM
slated to ship November 15. In addition, Vertigo plans to deliver
the Windows 3.1-based "Wall Street Journal" on floppy disk in
December.

"Vertigo expects to release a total of about a half dozen
electronic books by the end of 1994," she noted. Developed in
collaboration with financial authors and publishers, the ActiveBook
series is designed to provide practical information in a highly
accessible way.

The first book in the series combines recent articles from The
Wall Street Journal's "Your Money Matters" column with
ActiveInformation, a series of interactive pages originated by
Vertigo. The book was jointly created with Dow Jones and
Company Inc.

The ActiveInformation pages are intended to let users read
electronic books in the same way they read traditional books, the
spokesperson maintained. Users can read the text sequentially,
look things up in the index or table of contents, skip back and
forth, or add a notation or bookmark.

Readers can also get individualized, expert-guided suggestions by
inputting personal information. In a section called "Putting the
Kids Through College," for example, an ActiveInformation page
prompts the reader to supply household status and expected
educational costs.

Using federally approved formulas, the software calculates the
amount a family can be expected to contribute to college costs, and
also provides other information relevant to the reader's particular
situation.

Through a context-sensitive Help system, authors will "pop into"
the "Wall Street Journal" program to offer advice or clarification,
suggest alternative approaches, or point out potentially incorrect
information entered by the reader.

In addition to Vertigo's first ActiveBook, Intuit's new CD-ROM
Deluxe Edition will include the new Quicken 3 for Windows and
Quicken Companion, "The Wall Street Journal Video Guide to Money
and Markets," "The Wall Street Journal Personal Finance Library,"
IDD Information Services' "Tradeline Electronic Stock Guide,"
and over 20 US government publications on personal finance.

Intuit expects street pricing on Quicken for Windows CD-ROM
Deluxe Edition to run at approximately $69.99, the Vertigo
spokesperson said. Vertigo's floppy disk edition of the ActiveBook,
which can be employed by users without CD-ROM drives, will be
list priced at $69.99.

Vertigo has already formed relationships with, and licensed content
from, a number of additional publishers and authors for upcoming
books in the ActiveBook series, according to the spokesperson. One
expert who will author an ActiveBook is Jonathan Pond, who
also covers the financial planning beat for NBC-TV's "Today" show.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19931104/Reader contact: Vertigo Development
Group, 617-225-2065; Press contact: Janice Brown, Janice
Brown and Associates Inc., for Vertigo, 617-332-8066)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(LAX)(00026)

Intertainment '93 Show Overview 11/04/93
SANTA MONICA, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 NOV 4 (NB) -- The focus
at the Intertainment '93 conference in Santa Monica was on the
how-to's of getting interactive software and services developed
and to consumers, and not on the technology itself. However, in
getting the implementation of technology people can use now,
the service providers appear to have scaled down their plans.

Technology companies appear to be moving out of the "grandiose"
and into the practical realm. While the dreams of truly
interactive systems are still there, conference speakers in
several sessions began by asserting that, really, isn't a
television remote control interactive. Compared to a television
remote control, the various button-oriented devices talked
about were more interactive.

Larry Taymor, president of the Interactive Network, that has
3,200 subscribers in Sacramento, San Francisco, and Chicago,
showed the network's football score playing device. Users
attempt to guess the next play in a football game and get
points for their correct answers. By plugging the unit into a
telephone, they can send in their score and compare it with
the scores of other players around the country. Taymor said
subscriber turn over rate is low for his service, and the
potential market is 90 million users.

A new handheld device called Zing from Denver, Colorado-based
Zing Systems was demonstrated, as well as the GTE Interactive
Network in Cerritos and E*On from Interactive Video Data
Service (IVES). Some of the new devices demonstrated had no
subscribers yet, and some had less than 100. GTE is the most
interactive and Mark Dillon, director of interactive publishing
for GTE said the Discovery Channel has benefitted the most from
interactive information being shown while the program is airing
with a jump in viewers over the national norms.

Financing and job hunting in the new world of electronic and
interactive media companies were also the focus of several
sessions. It was mutually agreed that discrimination of any
kind, especially because of age or race, is not a problem
because the industry is too harried looking for talent to even
consider those other issues.

One demonstration of the Peoplevision electronic mannequin was
an example of the compromises being made in technology. The
"virtual person" was a combination of mannequin and video to
create the appearance of a real person. The mannequin's face
was designed to closely resemble the features of a real actor,
minus the eyes and the mouth. Then a video image of the actor's
face is projected on the face of the mannequin and the results
are erie, but surprisingly real.

(Linda Rohrbough/19931104/Press Contact: Bob Alexander,
Alexander & Associates, 212-684-2333)


(NEWS)(IBM)(LON)(00027)

UK - PS/2 Gets Power Boost With Add-2 Board 11/04/93
BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND, 1993 NOV 4 (NB) -- ACT Computer Support
has signed an agreement with Xtend Micro Products to become the
sole distributor in the UK and Eire of the Add-2 systems upgrade
card, an upgrade module for IBM PS/2 computers.

ACT claims that the module can increase the memory and processing
power of an 286-based machine to that of a 386 or 486-based
system by simply slotting in a single card. Plans call for the
module to be sold through the company's system upgrade
specialists -- Technology Sales Division.

"Operating systems such as Windows and OS/2 demand fast
processing power and lots of memory, especially as business
applications become more complex," explained Andy Peart of
ACT's customer support operations. "This agreement to market
Add-2 in the UK gives PS/2 users access to the power needed for
complex, business critical programs, without investing time and
additional capital in new machines."

"Add-2 also enabled users to retain expensive add-in cards whilst
uprating the performance of the processor and memory. The USA
has already benefitted extensively from this technology -- our
agreement with Xtend brings the same benefits to the large
number of UK-based PS/2 users," he added.

The Add-2 systems sold through ACT can take up to 24 megabytes
(MB) of high speed memory and are fully compatible with all 16-
and 32-bit Micro Channel Architecture (MCA) systems. The card
works with PS/2 Model 50, 50Z and 60 systems equipped with a
25 megahertz (MHz) 80386SX or 486SLC/25 chipset.

The upgraded systems, Newsbytes notes, have built-in support
for a maths coprocessor, and are complemented by Xtend's range
of memory modules, which will be marketed by ACT Computer
Support. Pricing on the cards has yet to be finalized, but will be
announced when the cards start shipping towards the end of this
month.

(Steve Gold/19931104/Press & Public Contact: ACT,
44-21-511-1234)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(LON)(00028)

UK - Cleveland Police Use RAM Mobile Data 11/04/93
CLEVELAND, ENGLAND, 1993 NOV 4 (NB) -- The Cleveland police
force claims that it has dramatically reduced its response times
by implementing wireless data communication technology from
RAM Mobile Data and S-Com Computer Systems Engineers.

According to the police, the mobile data system allows for much
faster turnarounds of requests for assistance from members of
the public than the original voice system. The radio signals also
cannot be "listened in" by crooks, which Cleveland police say
means that catching criminals in the act is now a much more
likely occurrence.

The system is currently being used by a fifth of the police force's
vehicles, with plans in place to extend the technology to the
entire fleet in the near future.

The system works by transmitting information on the nature and
location of the incident from the police force's command and
control center to terminals located in police vehicles. As an
incident is reported, so the operator at the control center keys
the information into the command and control computer system
and then assigns it to an officer by touching a button.

The data is then transmitted over the RAM network to the terminal
in the car, where messages can be acknowledged by the officers
concerned with a few key depressions. Using this method of
communication means that the control center is able to keep
much closer tabs on what jobs are being handled by whom.

"Speed of response is absolutely vital in police work and can often
make the difference between catching the perpetrators at the
scene of the crime and being moments late," explained Andy
Lombard, head of information technology (IT) with the Cleveland
police force. "Not only is this technology faster, its security
features also mean that there is no chance of messages being
intercepted, increasing the element of surprise."

John Jarvis, CEO with RAM Mobile Data said that he is very pleased
that such a high profile customer has endorsed the RAM network.
"In addition to any benefits of this system, it is also a building
block for a number of other applications. The next step is to add on
an automatic vehicle location (AVL) system enabling operators to
track the exact location of each vehicle at all times," he said.

According to Jarvis, the next stage will be to link into centralized
information systems, giving access to databases such as the Police
National Computer, the Electoral Register and the Driver and
Vehicle Licensing Center. "This could bring enormous benefits to
policemen on the move, such as the ability to check the validity
of driving licenses in a matter of seconds," he said.

(Steve Gold/19931104/Press & Public Contact: RAM Mobile Data,
44-81-990-9090)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(WAS)(00029)

Accounting Rule Change May Harm High-Tech Firms 11/04/93
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1993 NOV 4 (NB) -- A part of a proposed
overhaul of accounting practice standards by the Financial
Accounting Standards Board (FASB) is a change in the way stock
purchase options -- which are often used by small high technology
companies to attract talented workers that they could not
otherwise afford -- are carried on the company books.

Under the proposed changes, all options granted would be charged
as expenses to reduce reported earnings, even though the workers
have not exercised their options.

Stock options -- the right to purchase a specified number of
shares of a company's stock at a set price, usually for a specified
period of time -- have led to the creation of many new millionaires
among workers and even consultants working for emerging high-
tech companies. Cash-poor start-up companies can give out large
numbers of options at no current cost, offering workers the
promise of eventual riches if the company succeeds and the public
starts clamoring for its stock.

The Software Publishers Association recently testified before the
Senate Subcommittee on Securities that the proposed new rules
would greatly hamper the ability of small growth companies to
fund research and development.

According to the SPA, a 1991 survey of high-tech companies
showed that nearly seventy percent of those with one hundred or
more employees used stock options as a means of compensating all
workers. By way of comparison, only about thirty percent of all
businesses make extensive use of stock options for any workers
outside the executive suite.

In addition to the opposition voiced by the SPA, which represents
more than 1,000 computer software publishers, a number of major
accounting firms have also stated their opposition to the
proposed rule change.

One Washington insider claimed to Newsbytes that an implementing
bill submitted by Senator Carl Levin (D. Mich.) was being pushed
because the Senator was responding to the recent backlash against
high executive compensation and that he apparently did not
understand the differences between small high-tech companies,
where stock options went to all employees, and multinationals
where this form of compensation mainly went to senior executives.

It is argued that, since small companies are generally already
owned by the executives, the only people that would benefit from
stock options are the workers who were willing to accept lower
pay with an eye to possible future profit sharing.

According to Mark E. Nebergall, counsel for the SPA, there has
been no further activity in Congress since the SPA testified
against the proposed FASB rule back on October 21, but members of
the Subcommittee were definitely not friendly to the proposed
rule, or to Senator Levin's attempts to force through this change
"using a cattle-prod on the FASB" as one committee member said.

(John McCormick/19931104/Press Contact: Mark E. Nebergall,
SPA, 202-452-1600)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(ATL)(00030)

 ****Data General Announces New Software Options 11/04/93
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1993 NOV 4 (NB) -- Data General announced that
20 major software vendors have agreed to port their applications
to its AViiON servers under DG/UX, the company's version of Unix.

At a London press conference, the company claimed it had sales of
$400 million from the AViiON hardware line in fiscal 1993, up
nearly 30 percent from a year earlier, making it the fastest-
growing Unix-based systems vendor worldwide. Adding the
CLARiiON storage management sub-systems, services, and
software, that means two-thirds of Data General's last year
revenues of $1.1 billion came from open systems.

Data General claims it is committed to moving from its base on
Eclipse minicomputers, which used a proprietary operating system,
to a LAN (local area network) systems business based on open
standards. The company's Enterprise Solutions are designed to help
companies make the transition from mainframe-based to LAN-based
operations.

DG/UX is already more than 90 percent compatible with both the
Spec 1170 for Unix announced on September 1, and is fully compliant
with X/Open XPG3, the company claims.

The company said it is committed to complying with Unix standards,
but officials said in an interview with Newsbytes recently they
haven't yet decided whether to drop the DG/UX brand in favor of the
Unix label offered by Novell to Spec 1170 compliant software
systems.

Among the companies saying they will port the latest version of
their applications to DG/UX and AViiON are Centerline, Cincom,
Datalogiz, Datamatics, Dun & Bradstreet, Forte, Hewlett-Packard,
IBI, IMC, Integris, Patrol Software, PeopleSoft, Platinum
Software, Saros, Sterling Software, Sybase, Symix, Syncsort,
Tivoli Systems and Uniplex.

Data General also announced at the London conference that
Computer Associates will finish porting its Unicenter systems
management product to AViiON by the first quarter of 1994, six
months earlier than planned. And it said the Oracle Parallel
Server for the AViiON platform is scheduled for beta test by the
end of the year, with general availability in the first quarter
of next year.

Newsbytes discussed the new announcements with Steve Gardner,
Data General's vice president-corporate marketing. Newsbytes
first asked about the difficulty of porting Unix software to DG/UX.
"CA Unixcenter, which takes the operating system down to the
kernal, is one of the most difficult things to port, yet it came
across ahead of schedule," said Gardner.

All the talk now is of unifying Unix under Spec 1170. Why all this
talk about porting? Newsbytes asked. "Spec 1170 is fairly new,
and right now no-one is 100 percent compliant," said Gardner.
"We anticipate by the end of 1994 we'll have DG/UX 100 percent
compliant. What remains has more to do with technical, single-
workstation applications, where we don't see our systems used a
lot."

So will Unix software become shrink-wrapped, available in stores
next to Windows software? "At the work station level, you'll see
shrink-wrapped software for Unix in the next year," predicted
Gardner. "I think UnixWare with its branding program will increase
the volume of small server and workstation software. The
enterprise software world is just more complex. if I told one of
those customers you could shrink-wrap his software and not
require services, I'd be laughed out of the room."

He continued: "At the desktop level, if I were a Unix desktop vendor
which I'm not, I'd be trying to get people to shrink-wrap
applications. At the server level, where we work, there are certain
applications that need to be shrink-wrapped as soon as possible.
But the expectation of the user is different -- there are no
applications at the server level which are shrink-wrapped. Unix
is getting there quickly, and there's a push toward that," with
many programs now coming out on CD-ROM.

"Installation on some of our complex products will be shrink-
wrapped, but the learning curve isn't like PC software.
Shrink-wrapped physical delivery in CD-ROM is one thing -- more
important is transferring the expertise to use the product. You
need computer-based training and personal training to use the
software coming out over the next 24-36 months."

Data General supports OSF Motif and the X/Open graphical user
interfaces. Newsbytes asked when Unix software will begin to look
like Windows software, with a uniform graphic appearance. "The
majority of applications on the market today are still text-
oriented," said Gardner. "A year ago almost all of them were.
Most mainframe applications weren't re-engineered when they
came client-server. What's happening today is VARs (value-added
resellers) and software vendors recognize that without a more
graphic interface on client-server, to reduce training costs, that
they're going to be left behind. It's an incredible shift -- it's still
60 percent character oriented today, but that changes every
quarter. Peoplesoft has a beautiful graphical interface for their
integrated financial package for human resources," he said.

Finally, he said: "I doubt there ever will be a single GUI for Unix,
and NT has a shot at that. But the world is a heterogenous enough
place that there will be numerous GUIs to Unix clients. The Unix
world is moving more to Motif, but will it ever be 100 percent?
I doubt it. Our view is that as a server company we have to be ready
to support all GUIs, because that's the point where users express
personal preference."

(Dana Blankenhorn/19931104/Press Contact: Kundra Collins, for
Data General, 212-768-0550)