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/NB110893

Text File | 1993-11-08 | 75KB | 1,609 lines

(NEWS)(IBM)(WAS)(00001)

Report Shows Many Anti-Virus Programs Not Updated 11/08/93
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1993 NOV 8 (NB) -- Although every anti-virus
software publisher promotes the fact that the company's product is
constantly updated to catch the latest strains of computer viruses,
a report by Virus Bulletin, a UK anti-virus newsletter claims that
the terminate and stay resident (TSR) portion of some anti-viral
programs are not updated as often as they should be.

The report singles out McAfee Associates' Viruscan TSR, a product
that McAfee claims to have the highest level of virus detection, as
missing more than 20 percent of viruses in a recent test.

A computer virus is a small computer program created by a
computer-literate vandal with the purpose of destroying data or
even applications programs in other people's computers. Anti-
virus software and hardware comes in two types, those which
detect the presence of viruses and those which prevent all
unauthorized changes to files. The programs tested were all virus
detectors which depend on knowing what tell-tale pieces of code
to look for to catch each newly-written virus.

Microsoft's anti-virus tool in MS-DOS 6 came out the worst in the
recent test catching only 58.4 percent of the infections, but
McAfee Associates' program only detected 78.8 of the tested
viruses, about the same as Central Point Software's Anti-Virus
and the respected Frisk Software F-PROT which was until recently
shareware.

The problem with all of these anti-virus programs came in the TSR or
memory-resident portion of their software which is intended to catch
a virus before it ever enters the computer's files or operating
system. Another part of these anti-virus programs is the scanner
which searches the hard drive for the imprint of an existing virus
infection.

Although McAfee's VSHIELD anti-virus software caught 96.8 percent of
the tested viruses in the scan portion of the test, it missed many
of the same viruses in the equally important TSR scan showing,
according to the September, 1993 issue of Virus Bulletin, that the
TSR was not being updated in a timely fashion.

The same was true of Microsoft's Anti-virus code in DOS 6, F-PROT,
and Central Point's program, with the important note that of all
these F-PROT actually caught 99.6 percent of the existing infections
during the scan, second only to RG Software's Vi-Spy anti-virus
program which caught 100 percent of the infections both during the
scan and TSR tests.

Second to Scottsdale, Arizona-based RG Software's program was Dr.
Solomon's TOOLKIT and GUARD software which only missed a couple of
percent of the infections in both the scan and TSR modes. But Vi-Spy
was the only one of the six popular programs which actually detected
every single virus.

Readers may remember that there was a major flap last year when the
McAfee Associates' CompuServe Forum was found to have live viruses
posted where they could be downloaded.

(John McCormick/19931108/Press Contact: Sharon Paskow, Wallace
Resources, 602-860-5108 or fax [phone])


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

Traveling Software Intros Wireless Docking Station 11/08/93
BOTHELL, WASHINGTON, U.S.A., 1993 NOV 8 (NB) -- Traveling Software
and National Semiconductor Corporation have teamed up to introduce
what they claim is the first wireless docking station.

The wireless docking station, Laplink Wireless with Airshare, allows
portable computers to share information with desktop PCs without the
need for connecting wires or using floppy disks to transfer
information. Instead, it utilizes radio frequency (RF) transmission
technology to automatically connect and synchronize directories on
the two computers using a module called Airshare.

Airshare modules allow the two computers to communicate within a
radius of 30 feet. The user can also use a portable computer to
print documents to local or network printers through the PC. Laplink
Remote Access, a remote control software package included with
Traveling Software's Commworks communications software and also sold
as a separate program, provides remote drive and printer control
between two PCs in 'Windows or DOS.

Laplink Wireless also includes Traveling Software's new Synchro Plus
software that runs in the background in Windows and provides
automatic synchronization whenever a connection is detected.

The Airshare modules weigh three ounces each and measure 2.25 inches
by 3.5 inches by 0.5 inches and can be fastened directly to the
computers for portability. The companies say Airshare is adaptable
to personal computer memory card industry association (PCMCIA)
standards.

A switch on the Airshare unit allows the user to select from several
radio frequencies, assuring a clear channel. Power supply options
include a mouse port pass-through connector, a battery pack that
uses one 9-volt battery, and an AC adapter.

Traveling Software told Newsbytes that it will be demonstrating
Laplink Wireless with Airshare at Comdex, the annual fall computer
trade show that opens in Las Vegas on November 15. The product is
scheduled to start shipping in January 1994.

(Jim Mallory/19931108/Press contact: Elaina Dulaney, Traveling
Software, 206-483-8088 or Margaret Mehling, National Semiconductor,
408-721-2639; Reader contact: Traveling Software, 206-483-8088, fax
206-487-1284 or National Semiconductor, 408-721-5000, fax 408-721-
4115)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(SYD)(00003)

Distributor Promotes Australian Multimedia Development 11/08/93
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1993 NOV 8 (NB) -- Australian multimedia
distributor Firmware Design used this week's MacWorld and Multimedia
expo in Sydney to announce new support for local multimedia
developers. One of these is a special version of Authorware
Professional software.

The product retails in Australia for AUS$7495, but students and
staff of education institutions, and the institutions themselves can
buy for just AUS$995, half of the normal educational price. The
offer ends on December 31.

The only requirements for buying either the Mac or Windows product
is to show evidence of existing multimedia development -- such as
ownership of another development tool, including HyperCard, ToolBook
or SuperCard. The only limitation of the product is that it is not
licensed for commercial software production.

At the expo, Firmware introduced three local multimedia developers.
Erica Dale has developed an early childhood CD-ROM (compact disc -
read only memory) "Playtime in the Park" developed in Macromedia
Director. It is due for February release.

Peter Dodds of Brilliant Interactive Ideas has developed a
comprehensive selling skills package for Hunter Douglas. This
interactive CD-ROM was developed with Authorware professional and
Macromedia Director and is to be exported to five countries.

Arthur Richardson of Applied Multimedia explained that his company
has been active in computer based training (CBT) for a number of
years and is now developing a range of multimedia CBT projects.

(Paul Zucker/19931108/Contact Firmware Design on phone +61-47-21
7211 or fax [phone])


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(DEN)(00004)

Wordperfect Picks Worldwide Training Vendor 11/08/93
BLOOMINGTON, MINNESOTA, U.S.A., 1993 NOV 8 (NB) -- Drake Training &
Technologies has announced it has signed an agreement with
Wordperfect Corporation to provide certification testing for
professionals who use and support Wordperfect products.

Wordperfect's partnership programs set standards to certify
individuals and organizations who provide service and training to
WPCorp customers. The programs provide testing, training evaluation
and courseware development.

Drake says that exams will be offered to quantify an individual's
product-specific, technical proficiency at various levels. Certified
Systems Engineer (CSE) certification assesses systems integrators
and administrators who plan, install, maintain and troubleshoot
Wordperfect products in a networked environment.

Advanced Professional Credential (APC) holders are technical experts
who serve as help desk personnel, trainers, and other service
professionals. The Advanced Business Credential (ABC) exam
identifies the advanced proficiency of office staff, students, and
other qualified Wordperfect users with the critical skills required
to succeed in the business environment.

Drake says that CSE exams will be offered for Office 4.0 and Informs
1.0, with APC exams available for Wordperfect for DOS 6.0 and
Informs 1.0. ABC testing will be provided for Wordperfect for
Windows 6.0 in the spring of 1994. The CSE Office 4.0 and the
Wordperfect for DOS 6.0 APC exams will be the first ones available.

A Drake registrar told Newsbytes that the tests are still in the
beta form being used to test the final product. Cost to take the
beta tests is $60, while the cost to receive the final product
testing is expected to be about $120.

(Jim Mallory/19931108/Press contact: Alan Hupp, Drake Training &
Technologies, 612-921-6478 or Laura Funkhauser, Wordperfect Corp,
801-228-6807; Reader contact: Drake Testing & Technologies, 800-297-
3926)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00005)

New War On Modem Standards Set for Comdex 11/08/93
BOCA RATON, FLORIDA, U.S.A., 1993 NOV 8 (NB) -- Businesses and
individuals seeking faster modems face a new war on standards this
month at Comdex.

Following Hayes' release of a new 28,800 bits per second (bps) modem
based on the interim V.FC standard, Boca Research has announced a
24,000bps product that also conforms to the V.FC standard. Boca
indicated that more companies are expected to join its move to
V.Fast, using a new Rockwell chip set which also transmits faxes at
six blank pages per minute, or 14,400 bps.

While the new modems will be a big advantage to companies which want
to link offices at higher speeds and bulletin board system
operators, their utility is limited. Most packet networks maintain
9,600 bps as their highest speed, and most fax machines transmit at
a top rate of 4 blank pages per minute.

With continuing confusion on standards and speeds going higher than
that, it's unlikely many networks will commit to any upgrades. Most
networks, in fact, have yet to offer 14,400 bps service even though
the V.32bis modulation and V.42bis data compression and error
correction standards are well-established.

Boca said that the starting price of its new V.Fast Class product,
$395, is about the same as 14,400 bit/second modems were selling at
earlier this year. The 14,400 bit/second product now carries a
street price of about $150. Lower prices are made possible by
standardized chip sets based on digital signal processing technology
and a host of modem makers, resulting in fierce competition with
high-quality products.

Boca was founded by Tim Farris, who had formerly started another
add-in board company called Quadram in the early 1980s, which was
eventually folded into National Semiconductor. At Quadram, Farris
was the technical expert, and Boca has maintained a reputation for
quality even while expanding its product line.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19931108/Press Contact: Boca Research, Gale
Blackburn, 407/997-6227)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TOR)(00006)

OWP Becomes NEBS Software 11/08/93
NASHUA, NEW HAMPSHIRE, U.S.A., 1993 NOV 8 (NB) -- OWB, a subsidiary
formed by business forms maker New England Business Services (NEBS)
last January to buy the One-Write Plus accounting software, has
changed its name to NEBS Software.

The name change is meant to capitalize on the name recognition the
parent company has, officials said. NEBS has supplied forms and
other supplies to small businesses and home offices for more than 40
years.

OWB was set up to buy One-Write Plus from Meca Software, of
Fairfield, Connecticut, for $8.25 million in cash at closing and
another $1 million to be held in escrow and paid out over the next
12 month period. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of NEBS, a company
spokeswoman said.

Meca had bought the accounting product along with its former
publisher, Great American Software, a year earlier for $4.35
million in cash and shares, plus contingent amounts. The company
resold One Write Plus because of financial pressures.

First published in 1985, One Write Plus uses the one-write
accounting system that is popular in smaller businesses. NEBS
Software also offers two other software packages: One-Write Plus
Payroll and FastPak Mail, a mailing list program.

(Grant Buckler/19931108/Press Contact: Michelle Mitchell, NEBS
Software, 603-880-5118, fax [phone]; Public Contact: NEBS
Software, 603-880-5100)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(SYD)(00007)

Ian and Stuart's Australasian Mac CD Debuts 11/08/93
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1993 NOV 8 (NB) -- Ian Webster and Stuart
Marburg,Two Australians from the Apple Mac community have released a
CD collection of over 10,000 public domain, freeware, shareware,
happiware, GNUware, shelfware and various otherware files for the
Mac. The two men claim that their disc is the most up-to-date
collection available on CD.

The disk also includes the work of over 50 Australian and New
Zealand developers including "Mac legends" like John Rotenstein,
Peter Lewis, Victor Tan and Paul Bourke whose programs are known
throughout the Mac community. There are also program demos from 30
Australian commercial Mac software developers.

But wait, there is also a collection of Australiana such as the
Australian Constitution, Maps, Politician's Database and PostCode
files. And there's even more -- information on the Australian Mac
user community, including user groups and Mac BBS systems.

Webster told Newsbytes that the Mac Community Archive currently
stands at around four Gigabytes, with around eight Megabytes added
each week. Typical popular programs include  ZTerm, Compact pro,
BBEDit, Bolo, Maelstrom, Mayhem and Space Madness.

The disk is available for AUS$79 from MacDirect, Apple resellers and
Mac user groups. (AUS$79 = US$53 approximately)

(Paul Zucker/19931108/Contact: Ian Webster on phone [phone]
or fax [phone])


(NEWS)(APPLE)(SYD)(00008)

MacWarehouse Arrives In Australia 11/08/93
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1993 NOV 8 (NB) -- US catalog reseller Micro
Warehouse is now operating in Australia. Leading Australian direct
mail supplier of Mac products, MacDirect, has signed as a franchisee
with the US company.

MacDirect was established in 1991 and now claims to be the largest
supplier of third party software and hardware for Macs in the
country. The franchise agreement gives MacDirect access to Micro
Warehouse's MacWarehouse trademark, telemarketing technology and
catalog production resources.

"This agreement will give Australian Mac users the same level of
service and product range that MacWarehouse offers in the US" said
MacDirect general manager John Selvaggi. He added that MacWarehouse
is the largest reseller of Mac products in the US, and also operates
in Britain, France, Germany and Scandinavia. MacDirect remains
Australian owned and operated, but will operate under the
MacWarehouse trademark.

The new business was launched last week at the MacWorld expo in
Sydney. Every visitor received the brand-new MacWarehouse catalog
which feels more like a computer magazine than anything else.
Included with the magazine is a bonus Power User's Toolkit 19.0 disk
of utilities for Mac users. Typical prices in the catalog (shown in
US$ equivalents for comparison) are: Dinosaur Adventure with
Jurassic Park paperback for US$32; Quicken 4 for Macintosh for
US$56; and Radius monochrome pivot display for US$900.

(Paul Zucker/19931108/Contact: MacDirect on phone [phone] or
fax [phone])


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(BOS)(00009)

New Dev't Environments For Solving Portability Problems 11/08/93
BOULDER, COLORADO, U.S.A., 1993 NOV 8 (NB) -- A duo of new products
from XVT are aimed at helping C/C++ developers solve such
portability problems as providing context-sensitive help across
environments and creating applications that automatically adjust to
the varying screen sizes of hardware platforms.

XVT Development Solution or C (XVT-DS) and XVT Development Solution
for C++ (XVT-DS++) each come with the company's new XVT Portability
Toolkit 4.0, an offering that includes geometry management and the
ability to create a hypertext help file.

XVT-DS++ also provides XVT-Power++, an object-oriented hierachical
application framework purchased in September from InfoStructure
Inc. In XVT-Power++, all elements communicate according to a
standard set of rules. Other capabilities include nested views,
object delegation, runtime type identification, and automatic data
propagation.

The hypertext help file that can be created with Toolkit 4.0 lets
the developer include portable bitmaps for illustrated, context-
sensitive help across environments, officials said. On platforms
with native help systems, the application uses the native help
systems to display help. Otherwise, the XVT Help Engine is used.

Each portable bitmap must be created only once. After than, it can
be used on any platform. The bitmaps can be created with XVT's
Bitmap Editor, or by converting native bitmap file formats.

The geometry management capability allows graphical user interfaces
(GUIs) to adjust automatically to different screen sizes or
character sets. For example, an application could adjust
automatically from a nine-inch Macintosh Classic screen to a 19-inch
Silicon Graphics Iris workstation screen, the company claims.

Other features include support for multibyte and wide characters, to
ease Asian-language application development, along with enhancements
for taking advantage of the fonts available on various platforms in
establishing a native look and feel.

The Bitmap Editor is supplied in VXT-Design 3.0, also a new addition
in XVT-DS and XVT-DS++. Other capabilities of XVT-Design 3.0 include
a GUI object browser and a GUI object palette and layout toolbar.

XVT-Power++, offered only for XVT-DS++, provides a defined
communication scheme, known as object delegation, that is designed
to allow various levels of the object framework respond to the same
event, according to officials.

The nested views feature in XVT-Power++ permits an object to contain
other objects. The other objects then inherit the environment of the
enclosing object.

Runtime type identification, currently being considered as an ANSI
standard, lets a program ask an instance of an object what type it
is. Automatic data propagation allows high-level objects, such as
view objects associated with document objects, to be notified of
changes in application data.

XVT-DS and XVT-DS++ are priced at $1,950 for PCs and Macintosh and
$6,300 for workstations. All XVT products, including XVT-Power++,
are also available a la carte. XVT-Power++ is priced at $495 for
Intel 486 and similar microprocessor systems and $1,795 for
workstations.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19931108/Reader contact: XVT Software Inc., tel
303-443-4223; Press contacts: Kim Smith, XVT, tel [phone];
Linda R. Barker, L.R. Barker & Co. for XVT, tel [phone])


(NEWS)(APPLE)(LAX)(00010)

Wireless E-Mail Via The Internet For Newton 11/08/93
SAN MATEO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 NOV 8 (NB) -- Radiomail says it
can allow users to send a message from any electronic mail system
with Internet access to a Newton Messagepad or any other pager-like
device. Using standard Internet-type addresses, users simply send
electronic mail the way they would normally and the personal digital
assistant (PDA) owner equipped with the Messagecard can receive it.

The service costs $149 a year, plus whatever charges the user would
normally pay Mobilecom, the company that offers the wireless
services to Messagepad owners. Radiomail has been able to offer the
ability to pager owners for some time and expects to be able to soon
announce similar services for the Newscard, the Messagecard
equivalent aimed at Geos-based PDAs such as the newly released
Zoomer.

Radiomail also offers two-way electronic mail, but this service
requires the user have a radio modem. The average radio modem costs
around $800 and allows the user to be completely independent of any
wire links to send electronic messages, Radiomail officials said.
The radio modems are only available as external units now, however
next year the company expects to announce internal radio modems for
portable and notebook computers.

Anyone with access to one of the many electronic bulletin board
services offering Internet access, such as Compuserve, GEnie,
America On-Line, Applelink, MCI Mail, and a host of others, can send
messages wirelessly to a radio mail user if they have the Radiomail
address.

Radiomail operates over ARDIS and RAM Mobile Data nationwide radio
frequency (RF) networks using Motorola Infotac and Ericsson Mobidem
RF modems. The company says its implementation of a packeted
wireless protocol is developed specifically to handle the noise and
interruption problems associated with radio transmission.

Basically, Radiomail messages are bundled into packets and
transmitted in pieces, a process that is transparent to the user.
Company President William Hipp said, "...you can be in the midst of
sending a message, enter a long tunnel, and transmission resumes
automatically when you come out the other side. Nothing is ever
lost."

A Radiomail application programming interface (RAPI) is also
available to developers who want to get into the area of wireless
communications. Especially with the two-way Radiomail service,
opportunities to develop applications so individuals can ask for and
obtain critical information in a mobile environment are possible
using the RAPI, company officials said.

For example, specific applications could be developed so a mortgage
banker could submit a wireless query as to current interest rates
and get an immediate answer, or a salesperson who needs current
inventory on a specific product could get those figures remotely.

RAPI for DOS is $250, is available from Radiomail, and includes the
necessary tools and samples. Technical support is charged an
additional fee. RAPI kits for Windows, Macintosh, and HP100LX
Palmtops are planned for availability in the first quarter of 1994.

(Linda Rohrbough/19931108/Press Contact: Ed Forman, Radiomail, 415-
286-7800; Janis Ulevich, Ulevich & Orrange for Radiomail, tel 415-
329-1590, fax [phone])


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LON)(00011)

BASF & Hitachi Team Up On Mainframe Computer Sales 11/08/93
MANNHEIM, GERMANY, 1993 NOV 8 (NB) -- BASF has teamed up with
Hitachi of Japan to pool their respective talents on the mainframe
computer sales front. The idea is to combine their sales forces and
divide the mainframe computing market in Europe between themselves.

Both companies are reforming their respective mainframe sales
operations -- Comparex Gmbh and Hitachi Data Systems -- to sell
Hitachi mainframe computers into the German marketplace.

Terms of the agreement call for Comparex to withdraw from the UK,
France, Sweden and Switzerland and close its sales offices in those
countries. In return, the company will have sole sales rights for
Germany, Austria, Belgium, Luxemburg, the Netherlands, Spain,
Portugal, Greece, South Africa and all of eastern Europe including
Russia. HDS, meanwhile, will take over sales in all other countries.

Both companies claim that the deal is the most equitable solution to
the twin problems of falling sales and increasing competition
between their respective staff.

(Sylvia Dennis/19931108/Press & Public Contact: BASF - Tel: +49-621-
43820)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(BOS)(00012)

Document Imaging Dev Toolkit To Be Shown At Comdex 11/08/93
HONOLULU, HAWAII, U.S.A., 1993 NOV 8 (NB) -- At Fall Comdex next
week, Diamond Head Software will be showing a development toolkit
specifically designed for document imaging, scanning, optical
character recognition (OCR), and intelligent character recognition
(ICR) applications.

The company claims that the newly announced ImageBasic 1.1 is the
first major release of a package that allows users with little
programming experience to add image processing, image manipulation,
scanning, and recognition features to Visual Basic applications.

A spokeswoman for the company told Newsbytes that the package is the
first document imaging development toolkit to include support for
OCR, ICR, check box recognition, and microfilm scanners, she
maintained. ICR allows recognition of hand-printed characters, she
explained.

ImageBasic supports ICR and check box (mark-sense) recognition
technology from Nestor, in addition to OCR systems from Nestor,
Xerox, Calera Recognition Systems, and Ocron. The toolkit also
supports more than 70 different scanners, including microfilm
scanners. Microfilm represents about half of all data archived
today, the company spokeswoman said.

A typical application that includes image manipulation, scanning,
image post-processing and OCR requires fewer than 30 lines of code
in ImageBasic. In contrast, the same application written in C
would need to address four different C libraries, and require
thousands of lines of code, she said.

Visual Basic provides ImageBasic's backbone and image handling
database engine. ImageBasic also incorporates software engines
from Pixel Translations, Calera, Sequoia Data, and Kofax Image
Products.

An integrated suite of ImageBasic modules can be purchased at a
special Comdex price of $2,500 through November 19. Modules can
also be purchased individually for $895. Most modules are
available now. The ICR and check box recognition capabilities are
slated for availability by year end, with pricing to be determined.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19931105/Reader contact: Diamond Head Software,
tel [phone]; Press contact: Amy Bermar, Corporate Ink for
Diamond Head Software, tel [phone])


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SFO)(00013)

Rockwell Iintros FDDI Driver For HP's Real-Time Systems 11/08/93
SANTA BARBARA, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 NOV 8 (NB) -- The high
bandwidth offered by fiber networking is especially important to
users of real-time computer systems. Now Rockwell International
Corp.'s CMC Network Products business has introduced the CMC-1156
FDDI (fiber distributed data interface) Link Level Driver (LLD),
which provides 100Mbps FDDI networking for Hewlett-Packard's real-
time computer systems.

The company claims that the CMC-1156 FDDI VMEbus Adapter coupled
with the new HP-RT LLD software provides a "complete plug-and-play
solution for Hewlett-Packard's real-time 742rt computer system."

CMC Network Products claims to be the only vendor currently shipping
a VMEbus FDDI product for the HP9000 Series 700rt systems. The
company also claims to have been a Complementary Hardware Vendor
(CHV) with Hewlett-Packard since 1992, providing the VMEbus local
area network (LAN) adapter cards used with HP systems.

The two companies are also completing joint development of a
HP-UX driver for the same HP system platform.

According to the company, the new driver for the CMC-1156 FDDI
adapter board interfaces with the TCP/IP (Transmission Control
Protocol/Internet Protocol) network protocol software designed
into HP's industrial computers.

The CMC-1156 HP-RT LLD reportedly minimizes bus and CPU (central
processing unit) utilization while providing support for multiple
LAN protocols. The HP-RT driver incorporates adapter-resident code
supporting ANSI X 3T9.5 compliant SMT 6.2, host-resident hardware
drivers, and installation/de-installation scripts.

The CMC-1156 FDDI Adapters for VMEbus incorporate Rockwell's FXP
Full-Throughput architecture, which provides an intelligent,
distributed interface between the VMEbus host system and FDDI
network, with the adapters off-loading the networking task from the
CPU, which allows TCP/IP packet throughput to reach speeds up to 35
Mbps to 45 Mbps over the FDDI network.

The CMC-1156 HP-RT software, version 1.1, is now shipping at
the list price of $595.

(Ian Stokell/19931108/Press Contact: Eileen Algaze, 714-833-6849,
Rockwell International)


(NEWS)(IBM)(SFO)(00014)

ATI Intros Video Wonder Video Board 11/08/93
MARKHAM, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1993 NOV 8 (NB) -- The trend towards full-
motion video has been highlighted again with ATI Technologies'
introduction of the Video Wonder add-in board for PCs. According to
the company, the Video Wonder is the "first product to combine full-
motion video and high-performance graphics on a single card."

The board captures and compresses motion video in real-time in a
single-step, claims the company. It also displays live "video-in-a-
window" at full-motion (30 frames-per-second), at any graphics
resolution. The board also allows users to playback compressed video
sequences from their hard drive at full-screen, full-motion.

The company also maintains that Video Wonder is also easy to install
and use, with no cables to connect because all the graphics are on-
board, which in turn reduces hardware conflicts.

All the components are designed and optimized to work together, says
the company, resulting in "functionality and performance that is
unattainable with either two-board solutions or video boards that
have VGA components attached to them."

High quality video playback is supported, which allows video images
to be played back at full-motion without being limited to the
original captured image size. The company claims that the newVideo
Display Processor inside the mach32 accelerator performs the image
scaling functions. This eliminates jerky, unnatural playback common
in other products, claims the company.

Video Wonder provides accelerated 65,000 colors at 1024 by 768
pixel resolution with flicker-free 76 hertz (Hz) vertical refresh
rate, 16.7 million colors at up to 800 by 600 resolution, and 1,280
by 1,024 resolution at 256 colors and 74Hz refresh rate for
resolution-critical applications.

Other features include: video capture under both DOS and Windows;
full-color still image capture; video capture preview mode; two
megabytes (MB) of video RAM as standard, upgradable to 4MB using an
additional 2MB DRAM; and bundled Windows capture and editing
software.

Video Wonder is priced at $999, and is set to ship in April, 1994.
It will be available in Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) bus, as
well as PCI and VESA (Video Electronics Standards Association) Local
Bus versions. The company will also be displaying the board at Fall
Comdex.

Just last week Newsbytes reported that ATI announced a graphics and
video accelerator and a video capture controller compatible with the
Shared Frame Buffer Interconnect (SFBI) specification developed by
ATI and Intel. The ATI 68800DX Advanced Graphics and Video
Accelerator and the ATI 68890 Video Capture Processor are to be
available in the second quarter of 1994

Also in October, the company announced an initial public offering
of its stock in Canada.

In October the company also announced a version of its Graphics
Ultra Pro graphics accelerator card for Micro Channel Architecture
(MCA) expansion slots, plus OS/2 2.1 drivers for several of its
products.

(Ian Stokell/19931108/Press Contact: Andrew Clarke, 905-882-2600 ext
8491, ATI Technologies)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(SYD)(00015)

SuperMac Preproofing Display System For Mac Debuts 11/08/93
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1993 NOV 8 (NB) -- SuperMac has launched its new
preproofing display system at MacWorld Expo in Sydney. The system
consists of a SuperMac PressView 21" computer controlled monitor and
the Thunder II GX.1360 graphics card.

Australian distributor Mitsui Computer probably broke a record at
the MacWorld expo when it issued at least 25 press releases as it
introduced the visiting SuperMac team to the Australian press.

The PressView 21 system is designed to provide prepress and color-
publishing professionals with the necessary tools for on-screen
color correction, matching the screen to the printed output. The
Thunder II card is claimed to combine the fastest Quickdraw
acceleration, image processing and CMYK to RGB color conversion, all
done seamlessly with standard Mac applications such as Adobe
Photoshop.

According to the company, PressView 21 allows users to create and
work with CMYK files and convert these to RGB on the fly.
Performance is claimed to be 700 percent faster than other systems.

The system resolution is up to 1360x1024 pixels, 39 percent more
than the next largest 1152x870 pixels. Other components include a
ColorShield adjustable hood for the monitor, ColorMatch software and
the SuperMatch Display Calibrator Pro. It supports a true color
temperature of 5000 degrees Kelvin (full daylight).

The calibrator has three colorimeter sensors to measure gamma and
color temperature. Color management profiles are included for color
matching systems including Apple ColorSync, EFI EfiColor, Kodak
Precision Color Management System and Agfa's FotoFlow.

Retail price in Australia is AUS$8295 for the monitor and AUS$8795
for the Thunder II card. (AUS$3=US$2 approximately)

(Paul Zucker/19931108/Contact: Mitsui Computer on phone +61-2-452
0452 or fax [phone])


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

Parsons Joins Free Software Parade 11/08/93
HIAWATHA, IOWA, U.S.A., 1993 NOV 8 (NB) -- Parsons Technology has
announced it will join the software giveaway program, offering
250,000 free copies of its Tax Mate software.

Tax Mate is a special edition of Parsons' tax package Personal Tax
Edge. The software is available in DOS and Windows versions. The
company says that the software is free for the asking, and is
scheduled to ship in late December, as soon as the final version of
the IRS forms are available.

Parsons Technology guarantees the accuracy of the tax preparation
program, saying it will pay any IRS penalties incurred as a result
of computational software.

Tax Mate includes IRS forms 1040, 1040A and 2441 and schedules
A,B,D,R, and EIC. The company says IRS statistics show that these
forms will handle preparation of more than 70 percent of the
nation's tax returns.

Parsons also markets state modules to accompany its federal tax
preparation program, providing state modules for all 42 of the
states that require filing except Hawaii.

The DOS version of Tax Mate requires an IBM-compatible PC running
DOS 3.0, 640 kilobytes of memory, and two megabytes (MB) of
available disk space. Tax Mate for Windows requires Microsoft
Windows 3.1 or higher, 2MB of system memory, and 2MB of disk space.

(Jim Mallory/19931108/Press contact: Joan Dyal, Parsons Technology,
319-395-9626; Reader contact: Parsons Technology, 800-682-96283)


(CORRECTION)(IBM)(DEN)(00017)

Correction: Screen Savers For Baseball, Hockey Fans 11/08/93
ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN, U.S.A., 1993 NOV 8 (NB) -- A recent Newsbytes
story about personal computer screen savers designed for baseball
fans carried an incorrect reader contact phone number. The correct
tollfree number for Quadrangle Software, publisher of Lights Out
Sports Fans: Major League Baseball Screen Saver program is 800-253-
8397.

The screen saver, which prevents an image from being burnt into the
monitor screen due to screen inactivity, displays baseball-related
action such as a blimp towing a user-defined message, player antics
in the dug-out and even a home run contest.

(Jim Mallory/19931108/Press contact: Ann Rawland-Warner, Rawland-
Warner Communications for Quadrangle Software, 319-337-0547; Reader
contact: Quadrangle Software, 800-253-8397)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(NYC)(00018)

 ****"Super Hacker" Phiber Optik Handed Down Jail Sentence 11/08/93
NEW YORK, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1993 NOV 8 (NB)  -- Mark Abene, known
by the hacker handle "Phiber Optik," has been sentenced in federal
court to one year and one day in federal prison for activities
related to computer intrusion. Abene will surrender himself on
Friday, January 7, 1994 to authorities to begin his sentence.

Abene pleaded guilty on July 2, 1993 to two counts of computer
related crime. Count One involved conspiracy with four other
individuals to commit computer crime while Count Two involved
breaking into a computer belonging to Southwestern Bell Telephone
Company.

The four other persons named on the conspiracy indictment, Elias
Ladopoulous (aka Acid Phreak), Paul Stira (aka Scorpion), Julio
Fernandez (aka Outlaw), and John Lee (aka Corrupt), had pleaded
guilty prior to Abene and, with the exception of Fernandez, are all
currently serving prison sentences. A federal prosecutor told
Newsbytes that a date will be set shortly for Fernandez's
sentencing.

Justice Louis Stanton, presiding over Abene's case, began the
proceeding by asking whether there were any objections to the report
prepared by the probation department concerning Abene. Paul Ruskin,
attorney for Abene, stated that he believed that the report seems
"unreasonably harsh."

Stanton replied that, while that may be the case, it was just one of
the items that he would consider in determining sentence. He added
that he had received more correspondence concerning this case than
for "any that he could remember."

Stanton then said that the parties should understand that he was not
considering in his decision an incident involving New York City
television station WNET where computer intruders interrupted the use
of a computer system -- Abene had denied involvement and the US
Attorney's letter of October 29th to Judge Stanton concerning
Abene's sentencing said that "the Government does not have any
information that Abene was actually responsible for the destruction
of WNET's information. It is clear that Abene's co-conspirators were
responsible."

The judge then asked for statements from the attorneys and Abene.
Paul Ruskin, representing Abene, said the teenager that committed
the acts to which Abene pleaded guilty is not the person sitting
in court and that Abene hopes to use his computer skills for the
benefit of society to atone for his actions. Ruskin mentioned a
letter sent to Judge Stanton by ex-military intelligence officer
Robert Steele, offering to secure Abene a position with a government
agency to fulfill community service. Ruskin then asked that the judge
consider that as an alternative to incarceration.

Abene then spoke, saying that he apologized for his actions and was
"sorry that they were misconstrued malicious."

Assistant US Attorney Geoffrey Berman said that he found it
difficult to believe that Abene's actions disconnecting the phone
service of rival hackers was not malicious. He also said that Abene
"does not show contrition even today for his actions."

He also said: "Hacking crimes constitute a real threat to the
expanding information highway. A message must be sent that breaking
into other people's computers is a serious crime and will be treated
as serious."

Stanton then began his sentencing by reviewing some of the issues,
saying, in part, "One argument concerning the defendant's actions is
that they took place when he was young, from seventeen to twenty. At
that age, people excited by things may do reckless things... The
objectives of punishment are both to change the behavior of the
person (sentenced) and to deter others from similar actions...
Invasion of computers is seductive to the young both because of the
intellectual challenge and the risk. A message must be sent that it
is serious... The defendant stands as a symbol because of his own
efforts; therefore, he stands as a symbol here today."

Stanton then imposed a sentence of  12 months and one day of
incarceration in federal prison, as well as 600 hours of community
service, which  Stanton expected to involve the use of Abene's
computer skills. Judge Stanton also imposed three years of supervised
probation plus a $100 special assessment.

Stanton said that he was imposing no fine, other than the required
special assessment, because it was clear that Abene has no real
assets. He said that he was imposing no restitution to the victims
of Abene's actions because it was not evident what expenditures
could be traced directly to his actions rather than to needed
security improvements and because the victims had not been able to
clearly show what services of theirs that Abene had used and to what
extent. He added that he had been tempted to impose a longer
sentence but decided that this was sufficient.

Berman told Newsbytes, "The government feels that the sentence was
appropriate. Judge Stanton clearly understands the issues and his
use of this knowledge in determining the sentence was extremely
important."

Berman added: "Abene was the most culpable of the MOD (Masters of
Deception). He was the only member of the conspiracy active for the
entire life of the conspiracy. Agents seized highly incriminating
documents from him in 1990. His response was not to walk the
straight and narrow, it was rather to continue his illegal actions."

Berman said that Abene has shown no contrition for his acts and "has
continually portrayed himself as one of the top computer hackers in
the country."

"The sentence is important because it sends a message that it is a
crime to intrude in public data networks. MOD was one of the biggest
hacking organizations in the country. The case was very
significant," he added.

Abene's attorneys. Lawrence Schoenbach and Paul Ruskin, also spoke
to Newsbytes after the verdict. Schoenbach said: "While I'm
disappointed that Mark is going to jail, I recognize the judge's
concern for deterring this type of crime -- this is the crime of the
"next century." Mark has always been the message bearer for computer
hacking. When it was for hacking, he was the leader; now he is
punishment -- the Leona Helmsley of computer hacking."

Paul Ruskin, Abene's other attorney, said: "The government and the
court is taking the position that it is better to deter in this area
by punishment rather than deterring through effective use of
technology."

Mike Godwin, staff counsel for the Electronic Foundation, commented
on the sentence to Newsbytes, saying: "The sentence is harsher than I
had hoped for but I'm pleased that the judge gave a lot of attention
to the underlying issues involved in such a case."

(Barbara E. McMullen & John F. McMullen/19931108)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SFO)(00019)

Adobe Font Folio CD-ROM 6.0 & New Japanese Type Packages 11/08/93
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 NOV 8 (NB) -- Adobe Systems
has announced the availability of the Adobe Font Folio CD-ROM
(compact disc - read only memory) version 6.0. The company has also
introduced three new Japanese type packages. Additionally, the
company says that Xerox's new 4220 network printer includes
PostScript Level 2 software and offers PostScript Fax as an option.

According to Adobe, the Adobe Font Folio CD-ROM 6.0 includes more
than 1,900 Type 1 typefaces for Macintosh and IBM and compatible
personal computers. The company says that, for the first time, Adobe
Font Folio customers have access to the Adobe TypeLibrary on one
disc for use in either the Macintosh or Windows environment.

The new version offers packages 1 through 360 from the Adobe Type
Library as well as Adobe Acrobat Reader software, for viewing and
printing type technical notes and any other document in Adobe's new
Portable Document Format (PDF).

The Adobe Font Folio CD-ROM comes with a two-printer license, for
use on any two output devices. The CD-ROM also contains: Adobe Type
Manager software; Adobe Type Reunion software (Macintosh only);
Multiple master typefaces (Macintosh only); Adobe TypeAlign software;
Adobe Wild Type font software; Adobe Acrobat Reader software; and
Macintosh utility packages Suitcase 2 for organizing fonts and Copy
Doubler for copying files.

The FontMinder utility software is provided for organizing fonts
on the PC. Documentation and technical notes are also included.

The suggested retail price of the Adobe Font Folio CD-ROM is
$14,000, a saving of 81 percent below the suggested retail price of
the packages purchased separately, claims the company. After March
31, 1994, the price will be $17,000. Version 6.0 is available
immediately

Adobe has also announced three new PostScript Japanese font packages
for the Macintosh: Heisei Min W9, Heisei Maru Go W4, and Heisei Min
W3 Gaiji.

Adobe claims that the Heisei Min W3 Gaiji package offers users the
choice of thousands of additional characters not typically available
on the Macintosh. It also contains the Japanese version of Adobe
Type Manager, and Adobe Type Composer for including the Gaiji
characters in some of Adobe's other Type 1 fonts.

Heisei Min W9 is described as a "very heavy display weight face,"
for headlines and signage; while Heisei Maru Go W4 is a "medium
weight suitable for text or headline use." The fonts contain JIS 83
level 1 and 2 Kanji, complete Kana and Roman sets, and a
collection of commonly used symbols.

Heisei Min W9 and Heisei Maru Go W4 are available immediately, and
the Heisei Min W3 Gaiji package will be available in early November.
Each package is compatible with KanjiTalk 6.0.7 and 7.1, and each
has a suggested retail price of 35,000 yen. In the United States,
they are available from SystemSoft Florida.

Adobe also says that Xerox Corporation, has integrated its
PostScript Level 2 software and offers PostScript Fax as an option
on the new Xerox 4220 workgroup printer. The printer includes 65 of
Adobe's Type 1 fonts, and is designed for multi-platform networked
environments.

The Xerox 4220 offers Adobe's PostScript Level2 software, Hewlett-
Packard's PCL5 emulation and a sensor to automatically switch from
one printer language to another. The optional PostScript Fax card
enables the 4220 to serve as a plain-paper fax printer capable of
sending and receiving very high-quality faxes. The Xerox 4220
carries a suggested retail price of $8,750, with the PostScript Fax
option set at $395.

(Ian Stokell/19931108/Press Contact: Patricia J. Pane, or Sonya
Schaefer, 415-962-2630, Adobe Systems Inc.)


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

Canadian Product Launch Update 11/08/93
TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1993 NOV 8 (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 in its US reporting. This week:
Cabletron's Spectrum Data Gateways, Claris' Imaginaria, Microsoft's
Home line, price reductions and longer warranties for Toshiba's
notebooks.

Cabletron Systems introduced its Spectrum Data Gateways (Newsbytes,
Oct. 28) to the Canadian market. Designed to link the company's
enterprise management system to third-party management tools, the
gateways were described as phase two of the company's open systems
network management plan.

Claris Canada launched Imaginaria (Newsbytes, Sept. 16), a
multimedia screen saver collection for Microsoft Windows. Available
now, Imaginaria has a Canadian suggested retail price of C$59.

Microsoft Canada launched MS-DOS 6.2, the latest upgrade of its
widely used operating system (Newsbytes, Nov. 2). Customers who
already have MS-DOS 6.0 can get the new release for C$12.95. For
others, the upgrade is C$93.95.

Microsoft Canada is also offering a package of MS-DOS 6.2 and a
special edition of the guide book DOS for Dummies, in co-operation
with IDG Books. Distributed by Macmillan Canada and available in
bookstores and computer stores starting this month, the package will
sell for about C$60.

Microsoft Canada also began promoting the company's Microsoft Home
line of software (Newsbytes, Oct. 4). The software packages include:
Microsoft Dinosaurs, listed at C$99.95; Encarta Multimedia
Encyclopedia 1994 Edition, C$129.95 until Dec. 31 and C$529.95
thereafter; Flight Simulator 5.0, C$89.95; Microsoft Money, C$34.95;
Microsoft Publisher, C$189.95; and Cinemania '94, C$99.95.

Toshiba of Canada Ltd.'s Information Systems Group cut prices and
extended warranties on several portable, notebook, and pen-based
computers and on CD-ROM drives (Newsbytes, Nov. 1). A new three-year
warranty applies to Toshiba's T4500 and T4600 series of computers,
its T6600C portable, the T100X pen-based notebook, and the Desk
Station IV, if purchased after Nov. 1.

The company said that many new products launched in the future will
also have the three-year warranty. Toshiba also cut prices on T1900,
T1900C, T1950, T4600, and T4600C machines, as well as CD-ROM drives,
by five to 20 percent.

(Grant Buckler/19931108/Press Contact: Rick Doyon, Hill & Knowlton
for Cabletron, 613-786-9935; Martti Kangas, National Public
Relations for Claris Canada, 416-586-0181; Joan Wilson, Claris
Canada, 416-941-9611; Betty Alexander, Hill & Knowlton for Microsoft
Canada, 416-483-5228, fax [phone]; Jo-Ann Austin,
AustinTayshus! Public Relations for Toshiba of Canada, 416-596-1390;
Joanne Musico, Toshiba of Canada, 905-470-3478 ext. 274 Public
Contact: Cabletron Canada, 905-564-7280, fax [phone]; Microsoft
Canada, 905-568-0434)


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

International Telecoms Update 11/08/93
ATLANTA, GEORGIA, U.S.A., 1993 NOV 8 (NB) -- China's attempt to mix
total control over political thought with free market economics
has continued this past week.

The same week that five Shanghai banks joined the SWIFT bank trading
network, and the group's regional director noted that messaging
through China has grown 50 percent a year, the government announced
new regulations designed to restore control over broadcasting and
publishing.

In the long run, the latter move is expected to benefit large
vendors like Motorola and Ericsson, which can easily buy-off corrupt
officials in Beijing to gain control over frequencies. Whether the
central government can exert real control over communications at
this date is another question -- the nation now has over 460,000
cellular phone users and 6 million pagers in service, in addition to
new phone networks and fax machines. The government is also trying
to ban unauthorized satellite dishes, to cut ties to Western media,
but there are six million such dishes.

In Latin America, the big news continues to be made by new cellular
phone tenders. A consortium including AT&T and GTE of the US
submitted the highest bid for new networks in Argentina. Columbia
will open tenders for its first nationwide cellular network this
week, with six licenses available for three regions. In all regions
there will be one private group and a state-private consortium
selected.

Elsewhere, Telmex of Mexico set a $100 million capital budget for
next year, and managers said they'll work harder to enter Central
American markets. But the company faces new competition in long
distance services and growing competition in cellular operations,
with Bell Atlantic recently buying a major stake in private operator
Iusacell. Shares in Telmex fell in price last week.

In Eastern Europe, four groups entered the bidding for a minority
stake in Hungary's MATAV network. STET of Italy, Telefonica of
Spain, France Telecom and US West, and a grouping of Germany's DBT,
Britain's Cable and Wireless and America's Ameritech are all in the
running. Also, Alcatel of France and Siemens of Germany won major
contracts to overhaul the Slovak phone network. The Slovak Republic
was divided from the Czech Republic late last year. The new
contracts will divide the company into two zones for the
installation of digital switches.

Finally, in Southeast Asia Nokia of Finland won the big supply
contract for Thailand's new TAC cellular phone network. The country
is experiencing annual growth in cellular use of over 70 percent, in
large part because the the poor quality of the wired network, which
is also undergoing extensive renovation. In Indonesia, Siemens of
Germany won a $125 million order for new digital switches, and the
country signed a new co-operation agreement with Iran which includes
telecommunications.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19931108)


(NEWS)(IBM)(TOR)(00022)

Puckett Out, Cannavino In As IBM Strategy Guru 11/08/93
ARMONK, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1993 NOV 8 (NB) -- Bernard Puckett, who
was appointed senior vice-president for strategy and development at
IBM in June, is leaving the company and will be replaced by James
Cannavino, a prominent IBM executive and currently senior vice-
president and group executive for personal systems businesses.

New Chairman Louis Gerstner appointed Puckett, a 26-year veteran of
IBM, to the strategy position soon after taking the chairman's
title. A statement from IBM said Puckett was leaving "to explore
opportunities to go into business for himself." A company spokesman
would not comment on speculation that Puckett was being replaced
because of disappointing performance in the strategy job.

Puckett joined IBM in 1967 as a marketing representative, and has
held a variety of marketing management and executive positions,
including president of the Data Systems Division and general manager
of Applications Solutions.

Cannavino has been with the company since 1963, when he was hired as
a customer engineer. He was president of the Data Systems Division
before Puckett, and become president of the personal computer
business in 1988. He has been responsible for all personal systems
business since 1989.

Both men are 49 years old.

Puckett's departure date is not firmly set, the company spokesman
said, and he and Cannavino will work together to complete a
transition over the next month. A replacement for Cannavino as group
executive for the personal systems operation is to be named soon.

(Grant Buckler/19931108/Press Contact: Roger Bolton, IBM, 914-765-
6640; Rob Wilson, IBM, 914-765-6565)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(TOR)(00023)

 ****DEC Adds Four High-End PCs 11/08/93
MAYNARD, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1993 NOV 8 (NB) -- Digital Equipment
Corporation has launched a line of personal computers using Intel
486 and Pentium processors and with provision for future upgrades to
DEC's own Alpha processors. The new DECpc XL machines also use the
Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) local bus and have compact
disk read-only memory (CD-ROM) drives as standard equipment.

Of the initial models, two are based on 486 processors and two use
Pentium chips. The 486-based systems are the DECpc XL433dx and the
DECpc XL 466d2, while the Pentium boxes are the DECpc XL 560 and the
DECpc XL 566.

The PCs use a motherboard-and-daughtercard design to make the
processors upgradeable, DEC said. The 486 machines will be
upgradeable with Pentium processor boards, and all of the existing
models will also accept upgrade cards with DEC's Alpha processor.

Company spokeswoman Michelle Hoey said that the new PCs are the most
upgradeable in the industry. She added that the Pentium-based units
also offer the best graphics performance available. "It's a pretty
significant announcement for us," Hoey said.

The chassis used for the new models comes with two variable-speed
fans that are heat-sensitive and activate automatically, to deal
with the Pentium's well-known high operating temperatures.

The box also has a combination five- and 3.3-volt, 300-watt power
supply, an Industry Standard Architecture system bus plus PCI local
bus with an integrated Small Computer Systems Interface II (SCSI-II)
controller, five drive bays, six slots, dual-speed CD-ROM drive, and
upgradeable flash BIOS. The main board can hold as much as 192
megabytes (MB) of memory, DEC said.

Prices start at $2,899 for a standard configuration 433dx with eight
MB of memory, 340 SCSI hard drive, 3.5-inch diskette drive, S3-
928PCI video card, one MB of video memory, and Microsoft's MS-DOS
and Windows software. In similar configurations, prices are $3,299
for the 466d2, $3,999 for the 560, and $4,599 for the 566.

Pentium upgrade cards are $1,199 for the 60-megahertz (MHz) and
$1,999 for the 66-MHz version. DEC said its Alpha upgrade card will
be priced below $2,000.

Quantity shipments of the 486-based models are due to start at the
end of November. The XL 560 will be available Dec. 15, and the XL
560 in January. The Alpha upgrade card is to ship by mid-1994, the
company said.

(Grant Buckler/19931108/Press Contact: Michelle Hoey, DEC,
508-496-8972; Public Contact: DEC, 800-722-9332)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00024)

 ****Prodigy Tries to Blunt AOL Momentum with Live Ads 11/08/93
WHITE PLAINS, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1993 NOV 8 (NB) -- Prodigy is trying
out live ads in its continuing bid to find new users.

The IBM-Sears joint venture has taken out time on ABC's "Monday
Night Football" and CBS' "Northern Exposure" for ads in which
spokespeople use the service live in front of a camera. The spots
will continue on a variety of broadcast and cable networks through
December 19 and are the product of the J. Walter Thompson ad agency.
They're directed by Mark Lucas, who specializes in this kind of
work.

Prodigy is also hoping a Windows version of its software and pending
alliances with cable operators and newspapers can help it become
profitable by next year -- it had earlier hoped to become profitable
in 1993 but publicly company officials had always claimed they would
be turning a profit only in the "mid 1990s."

Prodigy claims two million members but analysts estimate it has only
half that number of accounts, noting that it counts individual users
of each account separately. America Online now has about 450,000
members.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19931108/Press Contact: Press Contact: 914-993-
2496)


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

Megahertz Releasing New PC Card Modems 11/08/93
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH, U.S.A., 1993 NOV 8 (NB) -- Megahertz
Corporation has announced it will make new PC Card modems under
PCMCIA standards for Mitsubishi and NEC cellular phones.

"With these agreements, we now have the opportunity to address a
market of approximately 1.5 million cellular phone users," explained
Ryan Ashton, senior vice president of marketing and sales for
Megahertz in a press release, predicting that other alliances will
be announced soon.

Megahertz will start by making 14,400 bit/second wireless modems for
the Mitsubishi 3500SPK and 4000SPK, NEC P100 series, and Diamondtel
20 and 22 cellular telephones. The company's modems will be able to
be connected directly to the phones without an interface device and
will also support transmission over regular phone lines.

The modems are compatible with PCMCIA Type II, Type III, and Toshiba
16mm slots, and feature MNP-10 and V.42bis error correction. The
modems will ship in the first quarter of next year with a retail
price of $459.

Newsbytes discussed the new modems with Ashton, who confirmed that
they make use of technology the company recently licensed from
Spectrum Information Technologies, whose new chairman is former
Apple head John Sculley.

"Spectrum has patented certain concepts and ideas on how a cellular
modem operates, and we're using that in this product," he said.
Spectrum has also signed an agreement with Rockwell to put the
technology into Rockwell modem chip sets, but Ashton said that
Megahertz is not using Rockwell chips.

Ashton also addressed the direction of cellular phone-modem
technology. "Cellular phones have different physical connectors
and different interfaces -- some of the logic is different," he
said.

"For now that means modem makers must have different modems for each
phone. "Eventually, sometime in 1994, you will actually be able to
buy a 14.4 modem and, a different cable for each phone. We're
putting more of the logic onto the modem, and the difference becomes
the connection," he added.

The new Megahertz 14.4 modems are priced as high as new 28,800
bit/second modems from major vendors such as Hayes, and Newsbytes
asked Ashton about this.

"It's hard to know" when intense price competition will start in the
PCMCIA modem market, he said. "Prices are always going down -- at
what rate I can't speculate." Ashton also said the new Megahertz
modems will be on display next week at the Comdex trade show.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19931108/Press Contact: Megahertz, Andy Capener,
801/273-6914)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(DEL)(00026)

TCS Embroiled In Law Suit Over US Visa Rules 11/08/93
NEW DELHI, INDIA, 1993 NOV 8 (NB) -- The thorny problem of US visa
rules for Indian software exporters is once again in the news.
Newsbytes understands that Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has filed
a suit against Californians for Population Stabilisation (CAPS), a
US lobby group.

TCS claims that it is responding to a case taken out by CAPS against
itself and Hewlett-Packard, accusing them both of fraudulent labour
practices. TCS is India's largest software company and has
operations worldwide.

According to TCS, CAPS alleges that both HP and itself have violated
state worker protection legislation in importing contract computer
programmers from India.

CAPS, which has been lobbying for stronger immigration laws in
California, has alleged that TCS' contracts with Indian programmers
working in the US contain several illegal provisions in them,
including paying less than minimum wages, discouraging female
workers from becoming pregnant and requiring them to share housing
with other programmers.

TCS, on the other hand, claims that the suit is malicious and is
intended to cause harm to its growing business. TCS president, Y.P.
Sahni, recently pointed out that the Californian group is being
represented by the same attorney who defended a programmer who
had the company by refusing the return to India after 12 months.

TCS is equally vociferous in criticising a report televised by CBS
on foreign software programmers, which seems to have been inspired
the CABS suit.

The TV program interviewed some programmers earning less than their
American counterparts. The programme also accused non-US companies
(particularly those from India) of body-shopping practices and
flouting US fiscal laws.

TCS claims to have paid personal tax, state tax, federal tax, social
security and workmen's compensation, for all its employees. It
claims that it does not discourage or forbid pregnancies while
abroad and claims to merely advise employees to make use of
maternity facilities in India as they are less costly.

Indian software exporters have been hit hard by tightening of rules
of B-1 visas and are keeping their fingers crossed about further
changes in visa regulations. A B-1 visa entitles the holder to work
in the US, despite the fact that they are not ordinarily resident,
for which a green card would be required.

(C T Mahabharat/19931108)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(TYO)(00027)

JCM To Support Multimedia Data Transmission 11/08/93
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1993 NOV 8 (NB) -- Japan City Media has announced
plans to support a super-fast modem data transmission speed --
19,200 bits per second (bps), by 1996.

The idea behind moving on up to the higher data speeds is to
accommodate the transmission of multimedia files and programs over
the phone network. The company currently limits its network to 9,600
bps, Newsbytes notes.

This 9,600 bps modem speed is actually much lower, however, since it
must include a data cipher/decipher and correction system. Because
of this, the effective data transfer speed is reduced to 4,800 bps.

In parallel with the effective doubling of the data transmission
speed, the company is investigating quad data compression, which it
claims will quadruple the effective data transfer speed to 38,400
bps or higher on an error-corrected 19,200 bps link.

As if all this wasn't enough to persuade new customers to sign up to
its service, Japan City Media is looking at cutting its fees to
attract new customers to the world of data transmission.

Thanks to all these changes, JCM claims it expects to sign up
another 30,000 registered users, a situation it says will help it
return to a profitable situation within a year.

(Masayuki "Massey" Miyazawa/19931108/Press Contact: Japan
City Media, [phone], Fax, [phone])


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(BOS)(00028)

 ****Lotus and Gupta Planning New SQL Capabilities For Notes 11/08/93
MENLO PARK, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 NOV 8 (NB) -- Lotus
Development and Gupta are planning to provide a common interface
that will offer access to standard query language (SQL) and Notes
data using Gupta SQLWindows applications.

In addition, Lotus cc:Mail has earned the highest overall scores in
two comparative tests of local area network (LAN)-based electronic
mail systems, published by InfoWorld and Software Digest Ratings
Report, respectively.

The new joint effort by Lotus and Gupta will allow Notes users to
employ Gupta SQLWindows applications for querying both traditional
structured database management (DBMS) data and the unstructured data
commonly stored by Notes, officials said.

Structured data has typically been stored in fixed-field legacy and
relational databases ranging from Gupta SQLBase to Oracle and DB2.
Unstructured data includes text documents, bitmaps, objects and
other freeform information.

Also as a result of the new partnership, Gupta will link the
workgroup capabilities of Notes with the team programming features
of Gupta's client/server development tools.

The effort will result in a series of enhancements to SQLWindows,
Gupta's client/server development tool, and Quest, Gupta's end-user
query tool. First, SQLWindows and Quest will become mail-enabled,
an enhancement expected to be made during the first quarter of 1994
via a maintenance release of SQLWindows 4.1.

Through mail-enablement, applications developed with Gupta tools
will be able to send, receive and view mail messages as well as
distribute application modules using Notes services, the two
companies said.

In a later enhancement, due during the second half of 1994, Gupta's
tools will be equipped with full support for the Notes application
programming interface (API), adding Notes to the list of databases
accessible from SQLWindows and Quest.

The new API will allow applications developed with SQLWindows to
readily read and write to Notes databases, officials reported.

Additionally, SQLWindows developers will be able to use Notes as a
storage and distribution system for the deployment of SQLWindows
applications or their components. Users will be able to store
Quest queries, forms, graphics and reports directly in Notes
databases.

In the recently announced test results for Lotus cc:Mail, cc:Mail
outranked six other e-mail packages in an analysis performed by
InfoWorld, and also achieved the highest overall score in ratings
designated by Software Digest.

The InfoWorld analysis covered messaging, messaging handling,
administration, documentation, and technical support, Lotus
officials said. Published in October, the review cited cc:Mail's
ease of installation, "extremely well implemented" messaging tools,
and extensive controls for configuring the program for individual
users.

In the October issue of the Software Digest Ratings Report, cc:Mail
received an overall evaluation of 8.6, scoring above its competitors
in five of the six test criteria and tying for first place on the
sixth measure, according to Lotus.

In addition, cc:Mail was one of only two of the systems evaluated
to win Recommended status as providing expanded connectivity
options and the broadest range of support for other e-mail systems.
Software Digest is published by the National Software Testing
Laboratories, an independent organization that rates personal
computer software.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19931108/Press contacts: Mark McHarry, Lotus,
tel [phone]; Betsy Kosheff, Lotus, tel [phone]; Meryl
Franzman or Brenda Nashawaty, McGlinchey & Paul for Lotus, tel 617-
862-4514; Dan Berkowitz, Gupta, tel [phone])


(NEWS)(APPLE)(LAX)(00029)

 ****New Apple Macintosh Computer Viruses Discovered 11/08/93
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NORTH CAROLINA, U.S.A., 1993 NOV 8 (NB) --
Two new Apple Macintosh computer viruses, the Code 1 and the MBDF B,
have been reported in the US. The more dangerous of the two is the
Code 1 virus, which has been reported in the North Eastern portion
of the US.

The Code 1 virus is a stealth virus, meaning it monitors the system
for attempts to find a virus and actively avoids discovery. A
Macintosh system infected with the virus will have its hard disk
renamed to "Trent Saburo" if booted on October 31 of any year.

While the virus does have a data mechanism, Triangle said that
system crashes and other damage can occur at any time of the year,
as CODE 1 attempts to alter system files. Since October 31 has
recently passed, infected hard disks were renamed and this is how
the Code 1 was discovered, according to developers at the Triangle
Software Division of Datawatch. Formerly the Utility Products
Division of Microcom, the Virex development division was purchased
by Durham, North Carolina-based Datawatch last year.

Andrew Mathews, general manager of the Triangle Software Division,
said: "CODE 1 is the first Macintosh virus to utilize 'stealth'
techniques, indicating growing sophistication among virus writers."
Stealth viruses have been causing concern in the IBM and compatible
personal computer (PC) world for some time.

The other new virus is the MBDF B, a modified version of the MBDF A,
that attacks system files, finder, and application files. While the
MBDF strain is not designed to do intentional damage, it can cause
system crashes. However, it is easily detected and removed, company
officials say.

The Code 1 virus has prompted Datawatch to ship a new version of
Virex, version 4.1, to subscribers of its annual subscription
service. Other registered users will be mailed virus detection
strings to update their copy of Virex to detect Code 1 and the
strings can be downloaded from America Online and Datawatch's own
Bulletin Board Service, "DataGate." Versions 3.6 or older of Virex
will stop the MBDF strains, since the new strain is simply a
modification of a strain the software already handles, company
officials said.

Other software developers are announcing fixes as well. John
Norstad, author of Disinfectant 3.3 for the Macintosh says his
product handles the Code 1 as well. The software is available for
download on the Ziffnet/Macintosh forum of Compuserve (ZMC:DOWNTECH)
in the Anti-Viral Tools section, Library 8, and is called
DISINF.SIT. Those without Compuserve access can still access
Ziffnet/Mac by making arrangements via phone.

(Linda Rohrbough/19931108/Press Contact: Steven Winegar, Datawatch,
tel [phone], fax [phone]; Public Contact: Datawatch
Product Information, 919-549-0711, Datagate BBS 919-549-0042,
settings, B, 1, N; Ziffnet/Mac Access Information, 800-666-0330)


(NEWS)(IBM)(SFO)(00030)

 ****Toshiba Intros Color Notebooks, Data Encryption Card 11/08/93
IRVINE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 NOV 8 (NB) -- Toshiba America
Information Systems has introduced the T4700C series of multimedia
notebook computers, along with the Portege T3400 sub-notebook with a
color TFT-LCD (thin film transitor-liquid crystal display) active
matrix screen. The company has also introduced the CryptCard data-
encryption card compatible with  the T4600 and T4700C notebooks, and
announced an alliance  with KPMG Peat Marwick that focus on sales
force automation  applications.

The T4700C notebooks Include Intel's new 50 megahertz (MHz) SL
Enhanced 486DX2 processor; 8 megabytes (MB) RAM standard on the
motherboard; a 200MB or 320MB hard disk drive; a choice of9.5-inch
color TFT active matrix or Dynamic-STN (SuperTwist Nematic) color
screens; and built-in Microsoft Windows Sound System compatibility
for wave-audio files.

Toshiba says it has integrated "advanced multimedia capabilities
into the T4700C Series to meet the increasing demand for mobile
presentation tools." Microsoft's Windows Sound System wave-
compatibility is integrated on the motherboard to provides 16-bit
stereo wave-audio functionality and a built-in microphone and
speaker for audio input/output.

The T4700CT features a super-bright, 9.5-inch active matrix SVGA
color TFT-LCD with 256 colors from a 262,144 palette at 640 by 480
resolution. Dynamic-STN dual scan color VGA technology in the
T4700CS model. The T4700C Series does not include a monochrome
model.

A lightweight removable, rechargeable NiMH battery powers the T4700C
Series for two-plus hours, according to the company, and recharges
the system in three hours when it is on and 1.5 hours when it is
off.

The T4700C Series also contains two side-by-side PCMCIA expansion
slots. Other T4700C Series standard interfaces include a built-in
SVGA color monitor port, a parallel port, a serial port, a PS/2
keyboard port and a PS/2 mouse port. The T4700C Series is pre-
installed with MS-DOS 6.0, Windows 3.1 and UltraFont.

Suggested retail pricing for the T4700CT/200 is $5,299; the
T4700CT/320 is $5,699; the T4700CS/200 is $4,599; and the
T4700CS/320 is $4,999. The T4700CT models are set to ship at the end
of November and the T4700CS models will ship in January.

The company says that its new Portege T3400 includes a local-bus to
enhance Windows performance, an integrated pointing device, and a
Lithium-Ion battery to provide up to eight hours of battery life.

The Portege Series also features a 33 megahertz (MHz) SL Enhanced
i486SX (3.3 volt) CPU (central processing unit) with Western
Digital's RocketCHIP WD24 graphics accelerated local-bus video
controller, 120MB hard disk drive, one PCMCIA Type II 2.01-compliant
expansion slot and optional port replicator.

The super-bright 7.8-inch color TFT active matrix display supports
256 simultaneous "Super VGA" colors from a 262,144 color palette at
640 by 480 resolution. A monochrome model features a large 8.4-inch
screen that displays 64 gray scales at 320 by 200 resolution and 16
gray scales at 640 by 480.

The Portege comes pre-installed with MS-DOS 6.0, Windows 3.1,
UltraFont and CommWorks for Windows from Traveling Software. Other
standard features include 4MB RAM, expandable to 20MB via single in-
line memory modules (SIMMs) and an external 3.5-inch floppy drive.

The Portege T3400 monochrome model has a suggested retail price of
$2,599, and the Portege T3400CT is priced at $3,999.

The CryptCard comes in the form of a PCMCIA Type II card and is
compatible with the T4600 and T4700C Series notebooks. Shipping in
December, the CryptCard has a suggested retail price of $499.

The company says that the CryptCard offers varying levels of data
security and a choice of additional security variations for data
tracking, user-tracking, communications control, and data access
rights. An extension to the BIOS (basic input/output) on the PC
ensures that the system will only boot up when it receives the right
message from the CryptCard, claims the company.

Toshiba and KPMG Peat Marwick have announced a "business alliance in
which the two companies will provide systems solutions focusing on
sales force automation applications." Under the terms of the deal, a
KPMG Peat Marwick consultant will be positioned at each of
Toshiba's three US regional sales offices to work jointly with
Toshiba national account development executives.

(Ian Stokell/19931108/Press Contact: Howard Emerson, 714-583-3925,
Toshiba America Information Systems)