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/NB120193

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(NEWS)(TRENDS)(LAX)(00001)

 ****Philips Confused Over Matsushita CD-I Reports 12/01/93
UNION CITY, NEW JERSEY, U.S.A., 1993 DEC 1 (NB) -- Despite
widespread reports to the contrary, Tokyo headquartered
Matsushita Electric Industrial Company, says it has no intention
of abandoning the Compact Disc-Interactive (CD-I) format.
Matsushita appears to have made a long-term commitment to
the manufacture of the 3DO player and CD-I manufacturer
Philips said it finds Matsushita's statements confusing.

Telegraaf, an Amsterdam newspaper, claims a research and
development director at Matsushita said CD-I was "dated" and was
being abandoned in favor of the newer 3DO format. Several other
publications are echoing the report as well.

However, Matsushita says any reports concerning the abandonment
of CD-I are erroneous. Company representatives emphatically
stated that Matsushita has not stopped developing CD-I and has no
intention of stopping CD-I development.

Representatives from Philips said they are confused as to why
Matsushita feels a need to make a statement concerning CD-I,
either positive or negative. They say the statement is even more
puzzling considering the fact that Matsushita has never brought a
CD-I player to the US market, despite its repeated displays of
prototype units at CD-I trade shows.

A representative at Matsushita told Newsbytes the report appears
to be a misunderstanding. However, the New York Times said Wall
Street analysts are advising clients to sell their 3DO stock now,
at a loss, because of concern that 3DO might not be able to live
up to its high claims. Software developers for the 3DO platform
have quietly expressed similar concerns to Newsbytes.

San Mateo, California-based 3DO, started by Electronic Arts
founder Tripp Hawkins, went public this year without a product
and was enthusiastically greeted by Wall Street. Matsushita
picked up the manufacture of the hardware for the platform and is
manufacturing it under the brand name Panasonic. Contrary to its
flying start, 3DO appears to be struggling. The company reported
losses so far this year and is now in a quiet period upon the
issuance of more stock.

CD-I was introduced nearly three years ago, but now has a broad
base of titles available and also offers playback of popular
movies on CD through a partnership with Paramount. Philips is
also advertising heavily in the form of "infomercials" concerning
the CD-I player and products. 3DO is using a similar approach to
advertise its product, but only four titles are available for
the unit to date though more are promised soon.

(Linda Rohrbough/19931130/Press Contact: Justin Camerlengo,
Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., tel [phone], fax 201-
348-7579; David Elliot, Cohn and Wolf for Philips, 404-880-5276)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(LAX)(00002)

Apple VP Heads To Silicon Graphics 12/01/93
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 DEC 1 (NB) -- Apple
Computer's Applesoft Products Group Vice President Kirk M.
Loevner is heading to workstation hardware manufacturer Silicon
Graphics Inc., as vice president and general manager of its
Applications and Markets Division.

Loevner has been with Apple for ten years, five of which he
headed efforts with third-party Macintosh developers. Before
that he directed product marketing for Apple USA.

While such moves in Silicon Valley are normal, Apple executives
have been under scrutiny since the past few months of losses,
layoffs, and turn-over in top management. Former Apple Chief
Executive Officer John Sculley shifted suddenly from Apple to the
CEO slot at wireless communication company Spectrum Technology
after 10 years. The shift was so sudden that free passes to the
largest US computer industry trade show Comdex still bore
Sculley's smiling photograph as the keynote speaker, a spot that
was filled by Apple's new CEO Michael Spindler.

Former board of directors member Albert A. Eisenstat is still a
casualty of the layoffs, but his lawsuit against Apple was
recently dismissed. Eisenstat publicly stated that top executives
such as Sculley were being forced out as part of his suit against
Apple over his final financial settlement.

(Linda Rohrbough/19931130/Press Contact: Ginny Babbin, Silicon
Graphics Incorporated, tel [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(TYO)(00003)

NEC's Color Notebook Selling Well In US 12/01/93
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1993 DEC 1 (NB) -- NEC's color notebook
personal computer, called the "Ultra Light Versa," is reportedly
selling well in the US market.

Due to the good sales, NEC has not lowered the price of the
product since it was released in March. As many as 8,000 units
are being sold every month, at a price around $4,500.

NEC's Ultra Light Versa is equipped with a color TFT (thin film
transistor) display and an 80486SL processor. The display and the
keyboard can be detached. Additionally, an extra battery can be
inserted into the floppy disk drive space.

NEC is currently shipping the TFT display from Japan to the US,
although manufacturing also recently began in the U.S. By January,
the company expects to ship between 25 to 50 percent more
Ultra Light Versas.

NEC is hoping to increase the notebook PC's market share in the
US from its current 13 percent to 20 percent next year. The
company is also planning to introduce low-end versions of the
Ultra Light Versa -- both monochrome and low-cost color.

(Masayuki "Massey" Miyazawa/19931126/Press Contact: NEC,
tel [phone], fax [phone])


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

Japan - Microsoft & ASCII Plan Windows NT Deal 12/01/93
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1993 DEC 1 (NB) -- Microsoft and Japan's ASCII
have reportedly agreed on a joint business in Japan again. Both
firms used to have ties in Japan until a few years ago.

Now, they will reportedly cooperate on the sale of Microsoft's
Windows NT operating system in Japan. The deal is also
expected to involve other Japanese firms.

An ASCII spokesman told Newsbytes that both firms are
currently discussing ways to handle business in Japan. There
are couple of possibilities. One is that both firms will create
a joint venture firm involving Windows NT. Another is that
ASCII will purchase MIS International, which is ASCII's
affiliate firm, and change its name to ASCII NT. Then, Microsoft
will invest 20 percent of the new firm's capitalization and
ASCII will invest 50 percent. The rest of the capitalization
will be paid by other Japanese firms such as NTT Data, Japan
Kogyo Bank, and Nomura General Research Institute.

An ASCII spokesman said the company has been sounding out
these firms for the possibility of their participation in the
new company.

The new firm will help develop corporate information systems
and application programs based on Windows NT. The corporate
information systems may be based on NTT Data's hardware
system.

An agreement on the new firm is expected to be reached
by early next year, according to an ASCII spokesman.

(Masayuki "Massey" Miyazawa/19931116/Press Contact: ASCII,
tel [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(DEL)(00005)

India - "Success Planned" Project Mgt For Windows 12/01/93
BOMBAY, INDIA, 1993 DEC 1 (NB) -- Tata Consultancy Services
(TCS) has launched a project management software product, called
Success Planned.

According to L.C. Singh, TCS executive vice-president of marketing,
the software got such a name because, "success does not happen
by accident, but has to be planned for." Based on Windows, the
software costs Rs 14,950 (about $480).

According to Jeevan Prakash, associate consultant, TCS, Success
Planned scores over other project management software on the
market because, "It offers a facility by which a project manager
can determine the optimum deadline for completing a project
which can enable him to be through with his assignment before
the scheduled time." It also offers a wider array of pie charts
and graphs, as well as resource scheduling.

It reportedly has an edge over a similar TCS package, PRISM
(Project Monitoring and Planning System), because the latter is
DOS-based and does not support a mouse, Prakash said. Another
advantage is that, with Success Planned, a user can open and see
nine screens at once, whereas only one screen can be viewed
with PRISM. The new software supports a variety of color and black-and-
white laser printers, plotters, and dot-matrix printers.

A feature in Success Planned provides a complete picture of the
project, indicating the past and present performance at various
levels. The software offers options for exchanging information
with programs like Dbase III and Wordstar to generate specific
reports. During network computations, Success Planned can carry
out a topological analysis of networks.

(C.T. Mahabharat/19931201)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(TOR)(00006)

Lotus, Revelation Working To Link Products 12/01/93
CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1993 DEC 1 (NB) -- Lotus
Development Corp., and Revelation Technologies have announced
plans to make Lotus' Notes software work closely with
OpenInsight, Revelation's database development tool.

Jim Acquaviva, president of Revelation in Stamford, Connecticut,
said the tighter integration of his company's product with Lotus'
workgroup software will serve two purposes. First, Notes will be
an aid to software developers working with OpenInsight. They will
be able to use Notes to communicate and to share changes to
applications as they develop them, he said, adding that the link
with Notes, "really extends our collaborative development
capability."

As Notes spreads across networks, Acquaviva continued, it will be
able to serve as a vehicle for software distribution as well.

Also, the connection between Notes and OpenInsight will allow
developers to incorporate Notes' capabilities into the
applications they develop with the Revelation software. This
will require that end users be supplied with Notes.

Revelation said it will enhance OpenInsight's object-oriented
repository to provide non-procedural access to Notes data. This,
along with interoperability between the products and delivery of
development tools for Notes-enabled OpenInsight applications,
will be the first phase of the integration effort.

These pieces are due to go into beta testing in January, Acquaviva
said. After that -- by the end of the second quarter, Acquaviva
predicted -- the firms plan to add mail-enabling tools supporting
the Vendor Independent Messaging (VIM) and Messaging Application
Program Interface (MAPI) standards.

Revelation will also cooperate with Lotus on the marketing front
as a member of the company's partnership program for Notes.

(Grant Buckler/19931130/Press Contact: Carl Nelson, Ruder-Finn
for Lotus and Revelation, 212-715-1593)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00007)

Hughes Beats Motorola For BellSouth Upgrade 12/01/93
ATLANTA, GEORGIA, U.S.A., 1993 DEC 1 (NB) -- Hughes Network
Systems has won a $400 million contract to upgrade BellSouth's
cellular systems in the Southeast US, so they can provide
digital services.

Hughes won the contract in part because its GMS 2000 system can
support TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access), which offers three
times the capacity of analog networks, as well as Hughes' E-TDMA,
which would support 15 times analog capacity. It will also be able
to support CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access), a competing digital
cellular standard offering 10 times the capacity of analog. Under the
contract, Alcatel of France will provide new switches to BellSouth
as a sub-contractor of Hughes.

BellSouth spokesman Nicole Lipson said the company has not
decided yet what type of digital service to offer, although it is
committed to increasing its system capacity with demand. The
company has tested the TDMA system in Los Angeles, and is
conducting a trial of E-TDMA in Mobile, Alabama. BellSouth
plans trials of CDMA in the spring of 1994, she added.

TDMA divides a calling channel into parts and sends digitized
conversations in each smaller channel. CDMA sends digitized voices
throughout a calling channel, unscrambling them at the other end
of the call. E-TDMA, developed by Hughes, is an enhancement to
TDMA.

Recent decisions like that of BellSouth have scrambled the
digital cellular market, which seemed to be moving toward CDMA.
Qualcomm, which developed CDMA and is part-owned by PacTel
and NYNEX, has seen its stock fall by 40 percent in recent months.

Motorola, whose stock had been over $100 and has invested heavily
in CDMA technology, has seen its stock price fall below $95.
InterDigital Corp., which holds patents on TDMA and has cross-
licensed them with Hughes for E-TDMA, has claimed for years that
its technology would prove superior to CDMA in technical trials,
while Qualcomm has worked hard to offer low-priced phones for its
CDMA system, signing contracts with a number of Korean companies.

InterDigital and Qualcomm are also in court over the CDMA
patents, while InterDigital is engaged in litigation with
Ericsson concerning TDMA rights. The lawsuits are expected to be
heard early next year, but will not impact cellular phone users.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19931201/Press Contact: Nicole Lipson,
BellSouth Cellular, 404-604-6493; Judy Blake, 301-428-7113)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00008)

In-Flight Wins America West Contract 12/01/93
PHOENIX, ARIZONA, U.S.A., 1993 DEC 1 (NB) -- In-Flight Phone,
founded by former Airfone founder Jack Goeken, won the contract
to service America West airplanes with its FlightLink system.

The decision is yet another defeat for GTE Airfone, which
dominated the field of air-ground telephony throughout the 1980s.
GTE had bought Airfone from Goeken but wound up in court with
him after he founded In-Flight, with Goeken accusing his former
partner of deliberately slowing expansion of the market in order
to lower payments to him.

Since that legal fight ended, McCaw Cellular has entered the
market with its Claircom Communications unit, and that unit's
AirOne service has since won major contracts with America
Airlines and Air France, among other carriers. Claircom was
originally a joint venture with GM's Hughes division, but McCaw
recently bought out the Hughes interest.

Under the America West deal, In-Flight will begin converting the
airline's 85 planes to its FlightLink system in January, with
equipment installations due to be complete in May. The contract
also calls for In-Flight to install its equipment in future
America West planes.

The system uses digital cellular technology which also allows for
data transfers, and can be customized by the airline for its
passengers. Goeken noted that in 18 months of service his
company has proven that customers want the additional
entertainment and information services his equipment provides.

In addition to placing phone calls at $2 per minute, users can
also play video games at $3 per flight, or send faxes at $1.50 per
page and get stock quotes at 75 cents each. Laptop computer
data is supported at speeds up to 9,600 bits-per-second, and the
company offers a radio service with nine channels of music, news,
sports, and entertainment, programmed by ABC Radio.

The company plans to add paging, airport and gate information,
car/hotel/air reservations, weather information and news
headlines to its service. The America West deal is the sixth
for In-Flight.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19931201/Press Contact: Daphne Dicino,
America West, 602-693-5729)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00009)

AirSoft & Ericsson GE In Remote Alliance 12/01/93
TOTOWA, NEW JERSEY, U.S.A., 1993 DEC 1 (NB) -- Ericsson GE and
AirSoft have signed a non-exclusive alliance to provide Mobidem
users with remote access to their home PCs and networks.

AirSoft will adapt its AirAccess wireless distributed file system
to the Mobitex standard used by the RAM Mobile Data network in
the US, a packet data network.

AirAccess is an application-generic utility, meaning it can take
data from spreadsheets, data bases, or word processing files
at-will. "It could be the horizontal application which moves
wireless computing beyond messaging," said Henrik Hogberg,
vice president and general manager of Ericsson GE Mobile
Communications, in a press statement. The deal includes joint
marketing of the product as well as joint development.

"This will allow people to use the power of their PCs without
wires," explained Ericsson-GE spokesman Al Danza to Newsbytes.
"The key element is a concept called the virtual disk. You'll be
able to access files and data that may have been left behind
either on your PCs' hard drive or your network's file server.
It's very practical. While the amount of data being communicated
may not be extensive, it's virtual access. This lets your remote
PC think it's attached to the PC back at the office."

AirSoft was founded in January specifically to develop software
for wireless networks.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19931201/Press Contact: Lauren Sonstrom,
for Airsoft, tel [phone], fax [phone]; Al Danza,
Ericsson-GE, 201-890-3637)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00010)

SkyTel Offers Single-Number Access 12/01/93
WASHINGTON, D.C. U.S.A., 1993 DEC 1 (NB) -- SkyTel said it will
offer a single toll-free number to access all its paging services,
including the SkyTalk voice messaging service, the SkyWord text
messaging service, and the basic SkyPage paging service.

All messages to all services will now be dialed into 1-800-759-
8888, or 800-SKY-8888. At that point the touchtone keypad on the
calling telephone enters the subscriber's personal identification
number, then selects the mode of communication from a recited
list of messaging choices.

Subscribers who have their own personal 800 numbers will have
it even easier, the company said, since callers to those numbers
will go directly to the menu of messaging options, without the
need to enter the PIN. All subscribers will access their messages
through the single number. Message senders who wish to use the
traditional means of accessing the various SkyTel services may
continue to do so.

When it won the right to start a higher-capacity wireless
network, called the Nationwide Wireless Network, a few months
ago, parent MTel's stock took off, reaching a high of $39 per
share. It has since fallen back to around $25, based in part on
increasing competition and price-sensitivity in the paging
market.

SkyTel had 265,400 subscribers in the United States as of
September 30, while the parent company had a total of
318,800 units in service worldwide as of that date.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19931201/Press Contact: David Allan,
for SkyTel, 212-614-5163)


(NEWS)(IBM)(TOR)(00011)

IBM & Micro Focus Extend CICS Alliance 12/01/93
WHITE PLAINS, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1993 DEC 1 (NB) -- IBM and Micro
Focus Inc., have extended their cooperation around IBM's CICS
software and Micro Focus' software development tools. The deal
will allow Palo Alto, California-based Micro Focus to include
more of IBM's technology in its COBOL and PL/1 programming tools.

Micro Focus will integrate more IBM technology into its CICS
Option for Application Development, said IBM spokeswoman
Deborah Siegel. This will make it easier for customers of the two
companies to develop applications on personal computers that
take advantage of CICS.

Micro Focus also resells IBM's CICS OS/2 software for use with
its own COBOL Workbench development tools.

The deal, an extension of earlier cooperation, provides for
Micro Focus to offer application development tools and IBM to
offer CICS production platforms, so that each company can focus
on its traditional strength, officials said.

No additional joint marketing of software is included in the
deal, Siegel said. Micro Focus said it will work with IBM to
develop CICS application development software for both IBM
and non-IBM systems in the future.

Micro Focus also announced that its Micro Focus COBOL for AIX
works with IBM's DB2/6000 database software, which runs on the
company's AIX variant of Unix on RISC System/6000 workstations
and servers. Pre-compiler services in Micro Focus COBOL for AIX
are now integrated with DB2/6000, company officials said, so that
developers can embed structured query language (SQL) statements
that work with the database.

(Grant Buckler/19931201/Press Contact: Deborah Siegel, IBM,
914-642-5377; Joanne Sperans Hartzell, A&R Partners for Micro
Focus, 415-363-0982)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(HKG)(00012)

Hospital Auth Builds Hong Kong's Largest internetwork 12/01/93
CENTRAL, HONG KONG, 1993 DEC 1 (NB) -- The Hong Kong Hospital
Authority is undertaking development of the largest multi-site,
multi-protocol intelligent data network in Hong Kong, using 3Com's
NETBuilder family of network bridge/routers. When completed, the
Hong Kong Health Communications Network will link the Authority's
39 hospitals and over 50 specialist clinics in a seamless data
communication fabric.

Project implementation has been going on since the start of the
year, following the award of an open tender contract to Winbliss
Technology Ltd., one of 3Com Asia's system integrators. The
Winbliss tender included a complete network design and phased
expansion plans to cover the Hospital Authority's (HA's)
communication requirements to the year 2,000.

"3Com's global data networking technology is enabling the Hong
Kong Hospital Authority to realize its vision of a distributed
information environment," said Roy Johnson, managing director
of 3Com Asia Ltd. "In pursuing its goal for providing a high quality
service to all its hospitals and clinics, the Hospital Authority has
put in place what must be one of the largest internetworks of Asia
and has set an example that will be very influential for other large
organizations across the region."

To date the HA headquarters and 32 hospitals have been installed
with 3Com NETBuilder II and NETBuilder Remote bridge/routers.
Network implementation at the remaining hospitals is due to be
completed by March 1994 and specialist clinics will be integrated
into the network over the following year.

Last year the HA initiated a study of its long-term networking
requirements that Winbliss, which had worked on several early
HA projects, was invited to provide input. The study team's
recommendation was to build a multi-protocol routed network
which would provide projected savings of up to HK$1 million per
year.

"Our wide area network (WAN), a mixture of synchronous point-to-
point lines and X.25 for connection with various host systems, had
grown up in a somewhat ad hoc manner, driven by the implementation
of a number of enterprise-wide applications. We realized that this
represented an inefficient use of resources and did not provide the
sort of robust foundation we needed to build new distributed
applications," said John Tse, head of IT at the Hospital Authority
and an IT industry veteran.

"By using network routers we only need one communication line
per site, or two if resilience is required. We're experiencing better
network performance, with the advantage that this architecture is
easier to manage and easier to expand," he said.

Network installation, driven by the implementation of the HA's
Integrated Patient Administration System, has gone very smoothly
according to Tse. "Winbliss hooks up the network at each hospital
the day the leased line is installed, all we have to do is fax them
our schedule. Migration to the new network has been invisible to
the users," he said.

The HA's larger institutions have "collapsed backbone"
configurations, whereby 3Com LinkBuilder 10BTi local area network
hubs are connected through the NETBuilder II's high-speed backplane,
providing the equivalent of a very high performance backbone
network for the hospital. 3Com NETBuilder Remote brouters have
been installed at smaller-to-medium sized sites.

Each hospital is currently connected, via 64 kbps digital lines, to
the HA's data center at the Princess Margaret Hospital and, over
19.2 kbps lines, to at least one other site, providing alternative
routing paths for network traffic. In the next phase of is WAN
development the HA plans to run alternative routing through its
second data center operational since the end of August at the new
Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital, thus creating full
network redundancy.

Real life benchmark testing by the HA shows that the new routed
network, with its data compression and low overheads, is achieving
greater throughput over 19.2 Kbps lines than was previously
achieved with the 64 kbps X.25 connection through the public data
network.

At the HA Data Center six 3Com NETBuilder IIs are used to handle
WAN connections with the hospitals, while another pair of
NETBuilder IIs handle translation bridging between the Ethernet
backbone and a Token Ring network to which the IBM ES/9000
mainframe is connected.

(Keith Cameron/19931201)


(NEWS)(IBM)(TOR)(00013)

Super Linguist Translates Menus, Prompts On Fly 12/01/93
EAST HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, U.S.A., 1993 DEC 1 (NB) -- Modifying
software to reflect the many languages spoken around the world
has long been a headache for software developers. Now, software
developer Ultrasoft has proposed a new way to deal with the
problem.

Ultrasoft's Super Linguist software does not change the
application itself. Instead, it sits in the personal computer's
memory and translates words and phrases in the menus, dialog
boxes, and other elements of the application as they are sent to
the screen.

Super Linguist works with any application written for Microsoft
Windows, said Henwell Chou, president of Ultrasoft. However, he
added, the software's translation dictionary has to be updated to
handle any words or phrases it has not encountered before.

Since the software uses a customizable dictionary, it potentially
can translate any language into any other, and users can tailor
the translations to suit themselves. The software can also work
in a client/server computing setup, even where the application
being translated is on the server and used simultaneously by
several users.

In fact, users with Super Linguist on their workstations might
share the same server-based application and have their menus
and prompts translated into different languages, Chou said.
What Super Linguist will not do is translate large blocks of
text -- it works only on individual words and phrases.

Ultrasoft, through its distribution arm KT International, is
selling Super Linguist to software developers and distributors
and to large corporate software users and schools, Chou said. The
company does not plan to sell the software directly to individual
users, since its dictionary must be customized to work smoothly
with every application.

(Grant Buckler/19931201/Press Contact: Henwell Chou,
Ultrasoft, tel [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(DEN)(00014)

Exabyte Enters DOS/Windows Backup Field 12/01/93
BOULDER, COLORADO, U.S.A., 1993 DEC 1 (NB) -- Exabyte
Corp., best known for its automated tape backup systems
for minicomputers, has entered the DOS and Windows backup
market.

The company has announced FileSecure for Windows/DOS, a
software package that performs backup and restore functions.
FileSecure will be bundled with all Exabyte-packaged tape
systems. The program can be run from within Windows or in
DOS using menus or from the command line.

While tape backup has long been a popular way to backup
standalone or networked PCs, the huge files necessary to store
still- and motion-video and graphics images make high-capacity
automated tape systems such as those marketed by Exabyte
viable for the desktop market.

FileSecure features include the ability to save specific backup
criteria such as file section, backup device, and other options
for repetitive use. Procedures can also be revised, modified,
scheduled and distributed to other users systems or run
unattended.

FileSecure comes with a scheduler utility that allows the user to
set up an unattended backup activity, and data compression can
extend the capacity of the selected storage media by as much as a
factor of two. The program runs in the background, allowing the
user to perform other tasks.

Exabyte says FileSecure for Windows/DOS is compatible with
Industry Standard Architecture (ISA), Micro Channel Architecture
(MCA) and Extended Industry Standard Architecture (EISA) bus
computers. It is also compatible with Novell's Netware V2.x and 3.x
and works with Exabyte's entire line of Small Computer System
Interface (SCSI)-based backup systems that can handle storage of
up to 10 gigabytes.

Exabyte says FileSecure for Windows/DOS has a suggested retail
price of $169 and ships on 3.5 inch diskettes.

(Jim Mallory/19931201/Press Contact: Susan Merriman, Exabyte
Corp, 303-447-7434; Reader Contact: Exabyte Corporation,
tel [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(DEN)(00015)

Random Access Reports Record Quarter 12/01/93
DENVER, COLORADO, U.S.A., 1993 DEC 1 (NB) -- Aided
substantially by significant revenue increases by the service,
training, and networking divisions, Random Access Inc., has
reported a record fourth quarter and fiscal year.

Random Access, says spokesperson Beth Lawrence, is a value
added distributor. "We aren't Computer City. Everything we do is
to corporate and institutional clients such as schools,
businesses, and government."

The company says sales in the fourth quarter, which ended August
31 , 1993, increased 73 percent to nearly $35.9 million. That is up
from just under $20.8 million for the same period last year. Sales
for the entire year were reported up 51 percent to $113.86 million
from the $75.33 million the previous year.

Net income for the period was $526,378, or $0.13 per share
compared to a net a loss of just about the same amount last year.

Random Access CEO Bruce Milliken says the company's ability to
internally generate this type of revenue growth is a direct result of
investments made during previous fiscal years in infrastructure,
sales, support and the expansion of the company's market territory
throughout the western United States.

Chief Operating Officer Richard Crawford said the strong
performance of the branch operations was led by the training
division, which doubled its revenue over the last year. "Value
added services typically generate higher margins, and sales
growth has been strong," according to Crawford.

Random Access completed a public offering in the fourth quarter
that generated net proceeds of about $10 million. Millikin says the
company will use that capital to finance projected growth needs.
Random Access reports total assets of $33.04 million, working
capital of $14.64 million, shareholders equity of $17.05 million,
and long term liabilities of $657,772.

(Jim Mallory/19931201/Press contact: Bruce Milliken, Random
Access, 303-745-9600)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(DEN)(00016)

Texas County Denies Apple Tax Incentive To Build Plant 12/01/93
AUSTIN, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1993 DEC 1 (NB) -- Calling Apple
Computer Inc.'s policy of granting the same health benefits to
partners of gay and lesbian employees that it does to heterosexual
spouses "wrong", a Texas county has refused to give the computer
maker a tax incentive to build a new plant in the county.

Apple had reportedly sought about $750,000 in tax breaks over a
seven year period if it built an $80 million, 700-employee
facility in Williamson County, located north of Austin, Texas.

The commissioners were not unanimous on the issue, voting 3-2 to
reject Apple's request. As a result, Apple spokesperson Lisa Byrne
now says it is unlikely Apple will locate in Williamson County.

The debate over the tax break has reportedly gone on for several
weeks, centered on Apple's domestic partner policy ."I cannot in
good conscience extend that benefit to (Apple) because of the
conviction I have that same-sex partners is wrong,"
Commissioner Greg Boatwright reportedly said.

Charlie Culpepper, the mayor of the Round Rock, disagreed with
the commissioners. "I don't agree with the idea of same-sex
marriages, but government needs to stay out of business. Families
need jobs," he told the Associated Press. Round Rock is the
largest town in Williamson County.

When Apple Computer was considering bringing a manufacturing
facility to Fountain, Colorado near Colorado Springs, the issue
never came up, according to Economic Development Corporation
President Robert Scott. The EDC approved some tax incentives
for Apple and that plant now manufactures most of Apple's
Powerbook systems.

(Jim Mallory/19931201/Press contact: Lisa Byrne, Apple
Computer Inc, 408-974-2202)


(CORRECTION)(APPLE)(LAX)(00017)

Correction - Experimental CD Catalog Debuts From Apple 12/01/93
CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 DEC 1 (NB) -- In the story,
"Experimental, Interactive CD Catalog Debuts From Apple" that ran
November 29, 1993, there are two typographical errors. The name of
one of the catalogs featured on the CD should have been LL Bean,
not LL Beam and the name of the director of business development
for Apple's New Media Division is Steve Franzese, not Steve
Franzier.

Newsbytes apologizes for any inconvenience this may have caused.

(Linda Rohrbough/19931201/Press Contact: Chris Espinosa, Apple
Computer, 408-974-2042)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(DEL)(00018)

BE & All India Radio Plan Radio Paging Service 12/01/93
NEW DELHI, INDIA, 1993 DEC 1 (NB) -- For the first time in the
country, the public sector giant, Bharath Electronics (BE), and
All India Radio (AIR) plan to jointly introduce a radio paging
system through FM transmitters. The Department of
Telecommunications (DoT) recently cleared a proposal by AIR
to use its FM stations to provide radio paging services.

AIR has about 80 transmitters positioned in various parts of the
country which are currently used for FM stereophonic radio
broadcast. These transmitters have an additional, built-in data
channel that are not used. The same channels would now be used
for radio paging. Besides the 80 functional transmitters, AIR has
acquired 55 more which will be installed in the coming months.

Most of the FM transmitters used by AIR are manufactured by BE.
According to a BE spokesperson, the public sector unit may also
take on the monitoring of the radio paging service. The service
is expected to be operational by mid-1994.

The basic concept of FM paging is to use the available extra channel
capacity for adding digital information to FM broadcast signals.
The paging network relays a dialed-in message via the telephone
network to FM radio stations which broadcast the message over
30 kilometers around the transmitter.

The FM pager receives and displays the message. The paging
receiver signals the receipt of a message with a beep. A pager can
store several such messages which can be retrieved by the called
person at his convenience. Each message could be up to 40 alpha
numeric characters. Typically, a pager stores up to 80 such
messages.

According to the BE spokesperson, the paging service would be
along the lines of those offered in Europe. If dedicated transmitters
were used the cost of the transmitters would be passed on to the
customer making it more expensive. This way, it will be a lot
more cost-effective, he said.

(C. T. Mahabharat/19931112)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(DEL)(00019)

India - ELCOT Plans Semiconductor Complex 12/01/93
MADRAS, INDIA, 1993 DEC 1 (NB) -- The state-run Electronic Corp.
of Tamilnadu (ELCOT) has been actively engaged in promoting
electronics in the state of Tamilnadu. ELCOT was started in 1980,
primarily as an unit to set up public sector undertakings (PSU)
as well as joint sector undertakings (JSU) in the field of
electronics.

But soon after the liberalization drive began in 1985, the
corporation concentrated more on JSUs than on PSUs. Today,
ELCOT has around 25 JSUs manufacturing, for example, computers,
communications systems, transformers, and medical equipment.

Lately, ELCOT has identified software exports as an area of
interest. The corporation is even prepared to have a 50 percent
equity holding on software export projects. ELCOT has placed
advertisements in US, Canada, and UK calling for potential
entrepreneurs for joint ventures in Tamilnadu. Currently, ELCOT
is working on a joint venture with New Era Technologies Pvt. Ltd.,
to set up a software center at Madras.

The project is expected to be fully operational by the first quarter
of 1994. The software center will offer one lakh square feet of
space for the use by software companies in convenient modules of
five thousand square feet on a four-story building with central air
conditioning, uninterruptible power supply and a communication
facility through VSNL.

ELCOT has also planned to set up an Electronic City at
Sholinganallur, near Madras. ELCOT will provide infrastructural
facilities like developed plots, power supply, tool room, an
electronics testing and development center, warehousing, a
materials testing laboratory and a communication link through
VSNL. The project was originally set to become operational by
the middle of 1993 but has been bogged down by a land cost
problem and the litigation over land acquisition.

Meanwhile, ELCOT has drawn up a plan to set up a semiconductor
complex jointly with Bharath Electronics and in technical
collaboration with SGS Thompson of Singapore. A memorandum of
understanding has already been concluded with Bharath Electronics.
The second of its kind in the country, after the Semiconductor
Complex Ltd.'s facility near Chandigarh, the VLSI chip making
technology in the semiconductor complex is planned to be at the
one micron level currently and ultimately at the 0.6 micron level.

(C. T. Mahabharat/19931112)


(NEWS)(IBM)(LON)(00020)

Wordperfect Office Passes IBM LAN Certification Program 12/01/93
ADDLESTONE, SURREY, ENGLAND, 1993 DEC 1 (NB) -- Wordperfect
Corp., has announced that WP Office 4.0 for Windows and DOS has
become the first integrated workgroup communication tools
application to be certified by the IBM Personal Software Product
Division's local area network (LAN) Systems product certification
program.

According to the company, the IBM LAN Systems product certification
program recognizes products that have been tested in Big Blue's
integrated test laboratory. The test laboratory is designed to test
products in a real customer-like environment to ensure that products
like Wordperfect Office 4.0 are interoperable, compatible and can
co-exist within the LAN Server environment.

Newsbytes understands that WP Office 4.0 was tested on more than
200 IBM and IBM-compatible PCs that were running OS/2, DOS,
Windows, LAN Server, and Netware.

"This certification is great news for our current and future
Wordperfect Office customers who are using or planning to use
IBM's LAN system environments,' explained Eldon Greenwood,
product marketing director for Wordperfect Office at Wordperfect.

According to Greenwood, the certification process gives
Wordperfect's customers the added assurance that WP Office
works efficiently in multiple LAN operating environments.

According to IBM, meanwhile, the idea behind the certification
process is similar to the Intel 'Pentium ready' certification
system, giving potential buyers a clear reassurance that the
product they are buying is certified for use in LAN Server
configuration.

(Steve Gold/19931201/Press & Public Contact: Wordperfect
Corporation, tel [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(LON)(00021)

Canon UK Launches Compact Personal Laser Printer 12/01/93
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1993 DEC 1 (NB) -- Canon UK has launched the
LBP-4u, a new four pages-per-minute (ppm) laser printer pitched
at the personal printer marketplace. According to Canon, the
UKP649 printer is capable of providing quality printing at a very
budget price that will appeal to both home and office users.

Graham Salmons, project manager for Canon's text and data products,
said that small business and home users today are demanding the
highest quality and will not sacrifice print speeds. "With the LPB-4u,
we will satisfy this demand. It's a compact, feature rich machine
that will appeal to those requiring top quality output for business
communications, but who don't have the desk space for a larger
printer," he said.

He added: "With a print speed of four ppm, it's also ideal for
writers and authors who may be printing large documents, or
require multiple copies."

Newsbytes notes that the new printer has no front panel. Printer
configuration setup is performed using DOS or Windows utilities.
This feature, Canon claims, simplifies the configuration process
and, with on-screen help, reduces the need to refer to the manual.

Canon claims that the LBP-4u is a very versatile machine and can
print on a full range of media, including envelopes, labels, and
overhead transparencies. As supplied in the UK, it comes with nine
resident scalable fonts (four dutch, four swiss, and symbol) which
can be printed in any size and with full ornamention effects.

An overlay function allows forms, stationary layouts and logos to
be stored in the printer, allowing standard documents to be printed
faster and reducing the need for expensive pre-printed stationary.

In the UK market, the LBP-4u comes with a 100-sheet cassette
feeder for A4 paper as standard, a Microsoft Windows printer
driver and a range of MS-DOS software drivers. The printer has a
parallel printer port interface.

(Steve Gold/19931201/Press & Public Contact: Canon UK,
44-81-773-3173)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(LON)(00022)

Nokia Reports Rocketing Global Cellular Phones Sales 12/01/93
HELSINKI, SWEDEN, 1993 DEC 1 (NB) -- Nokia Mobile Phones has
announced that sales of its portable cellular phones are "going
through the roof," with the Finnish company setting two phone
production records as a result.

In late October, Nokia's factory in Hong Kong produced its one
millionth phone, while the company's German production unit in
Bochum, surpassed the 500,000 unit production mark.

Earlier this year, Newsbytes notes, Nokia's factory in Masan, Korea,
surpassed the two millionth unit production mark. In Fort Worth,
Texas, meanwhile, Nokia Mobile Phones opened its fifth factory at
the beginning of the year. The aim with the Texan factory, Nokia
claims, is to service the growing South American marketplace.

So why is Nokia experiencing such growth in the cellular
marketplace? While the company's aggressive marketing of its
products may be partially the reason, it may have a lot to do with
rash of new cellular networks -- both analog and cellular -- that
has been taking place over the last few years.

Anssi Raty, managing director with Technophone Manufacturing Ltd.,
(TML), as the Hong Kong division of Nokia is known, notes that his
company's production of cellphones has rocketed in the last year.
"The skills and commitment of the production operators and our
support staff have made it possible to produce one million mobile
phones in just four years," he said, adding that having the world's
busiest port on the doorstep has been a contributor factor.

He also notes that having China, with its massive potential
mobile phone population, "next door" has also had its effect on
the company's operations.

In Germany, Nokia claims to have invested more than $6 million
in factory plant to increase its Bochum facility's production
numbers. The Bochum facility primarily manufacturers the Nokia
1011 global system for mobile communications (GSM) digital
hand-portable which is being used on the German digital phone
networks.

Risto Makinien, managing director of the Bochum plant, said that
Germany has around 500,000 digital cellular subscribers and
around 60,000 new subscribers are being added every month.
"Our factory is now equipped with the latest new technology, so we
are prepared to increase capacity. The location of the factory is
excellent, right in the heart of Europe's fastest growing cellular
phone market," he said.

Newsbytes notes that, currently, there are more than 27 million
cellular subscribers around the world, with 14 million of these
in the US alone. Nokia claims that virtually all networks across
the world are experiencing double digit growth in their network
numbers.

(Sylvia Dennis & Steve Gold/19931201/Press & Public Contact:
Nokia Mobile Phones, 358-24-3011)


(NEWS)(IBM)(LON)(00023)

CA-Supercalc For Windows On Beta Test In UK 12/01/93
SLOUGH, BERKSHIRE, ENGLAND, 1993 DEC 1 (NB) -- Computer
Associates has revealed that, over the past two weeks, more
than 80 UK users have received beta copies of the company's
long-awaited Windows version of its popular CA-Supercalc
spreadsheet package for PCs.

George Kafkarkou, the company's assistant vice president, said that
a formal announcement of CA's marketing plans for the package will
be made shortly, with full availability expected early in the New
Year. "Initial user reactions in the UK have been most encouraging
and, following this evaluation phase, we expect to bring this new
generation spreadsheet rapidly to market," he said.

As well as providing full spreadsheet functionality in the Windows
environment, CA plans to introduce a number of new features,
including multi-dimensional spreadsheets and English language
formulae, features which the company claims have never before
been included in a fully functional Windows spreadsheet.

Kafkarkou said that pricing on the package has yet to be decided,
adding that "a great deal of development has gone into CA Supercalc
for Windows which will ensure that it enters the market with
performance levels which are well ahead of anything Lotus or
Microsoft can deliver with Excel or 1-2-3. CA-Supercalc for
Windows will be priced to give hot competition to products like
these."

(Steve Gold/.19931201/Press & Public Contact: Computer
Associates, tel [phone], fax [phone])


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

 ****Time Warner Joins Teleport 12/01/93
STATEN ISLAND, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1993 DEC 1 (NB) -- Time Warner
said it will become a partner in Teleport Communications Group.
It joins other major cable players like Cox, Comcast, TCI, and
Continental Cablevision as partners in the venture.

Teleport is one of the two largest alternative access
providers or "bypass" companies in the US, the other being MFS
Communications. The industry started when companies began
installing fiber "rings" around major cities and taking long
distance traffic from major companies in buildings along the
rings to the switches of major long distance companies, in effect
"bypassing" the local phone network.

Over the last year two major trends have emerged in this
industry. The alternative access carriers have been expanding
their offerings, becoming more like true competitors to the
regional Bells and GTE. Also, cable companies have become
dominant players in the alternative access business.

Cable companies have been installing high-capacity digital lines
to link their head-ends in their metropolitan networks. With the
upgrade to digital transmission, which with compression will
allow them to offer up to 500 channels to their residential
subscribers, they see fast-data and phone services as a natural
line extension.

Time Warner, of course, is one of the leaders in the 500-channel
cable revolution, with its Full Service Network now under
construction in Orlando, and plans with US West to upgrade all its
cable systems, making them interactive. The investment in
Teleport, however, is being made by the parent company, not by
the Time Warner Entertainment unit which is part-owned by US
West.

For these reasons, TCI and Cox bought Teleport from Merrill Lynch
in mid-1992. Since then, Comcast and Continental have joined
their consortium. With the latest deal, once it is approved by
regulators, Time Warner will hold a 16.67 percent interest, as
will Comcast and Continental, while Cox and TCI will hold about
25 percent each, with Cox holding a slightly larger share.

The plans of Teleport to offer fast-data and phone services
dove-tails nicely with other trends of interest to the cable
companies, including the move to all-digital networks, upgrades
to fiber, an increase in interactivity, and a move to buy PCS
(personal communication services) frequency licenses at next
year's government auctions, moving into competition with cellular
carriers.

By working through a company like Teleport, which caters to
business customers, cable companies can also concentrate on
their existing residential market, while generating new cash
that help pay for their upgrades at the same time.

Since it was bought by cable operators, Teleport has become the
largest payer in its market, with networks serving over 125
communities in 11 metro areas. The company also announced
earlier this year it would set-up joint ventures with other cable
operators to set-up networks in St. Louis, Providence, Phoenix,
Detroit and south Florida. It is expected that all the Teleport
partners will be upgrading their networks to similar standards,
so Teleport can offer business phone services through their
cables in the future.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19931201/Press Contact: Robert Atkinson,
Teleport, 718-983-2160)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(LAX)(00025)

 ****DRAM Crisis Averted, Prices Will Continue To Fall 12/01/93
SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 DEC 1 (NB) -- The shortage of
epoxy resin that drove up random access memory (RAM) prices to
more than three times their normal levels need not be feared any
longer, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association
(SIA).

The computer industry trade group said while the last shortage
caused some panic buying, double ordering, and hoarding, any
potential shortage of the resin has been averted. Industry
analysts are agreeing, saying no future shortages are expected
and the gradual drop in prices the computer industry is
accustomed to will continue with RAM as well.

The crisis began on July 4 of this year when an explosion at the
Sumitomo Chemical plant in Niihama, Japan, killed one person and
halted production of epoxy cresol resin. The epoxy resin is the
key ingredient in the manufacture of the plastic housings used to
make most integrated circuits and Sumitomo supplies 50 to 60
percent of the worldwide supply of the resin.

The immediate effect of the explosion was a sharp climb in the
prices of dynamic RAM (DRAM) in the form of single in-line memory
modules (SIMMs) used in most personal computers (PCs) sold today.
DRAM prices went from $30 a megabyte (MB) to levels of $95 per MB
or more. When the news came out this fall that Sumitomo would be
back on-line in December, RAM prices began falling to $60 per MB
levels and are now back to pre-explosion prices.

But concern over the supply of resin for use in integrated
circuits has not dissipated. To allay fears, the SIA said the
crisis caused an admirable cooperative spirit between rival
companies in the worldwide market, who rushed in to fill the
gap. SIA officials in Japan have also closely followed the resin
supply and are assuring the industry that production at
Sumitomo is up to previous levels.

Jim Handy, senior industry analyst in the Memories Group at
market research company Dataquest said the price climb would have
occurred to a lesser degree anyway because demand was beginning
to outstrip supply just before the Sumitomo incident. The people
who were hurt the most by the jump in prices were the spot-market
purchasers like the Taiwanese personal computer (PC) clone
manufacturers who only buy DRAM as they need it from the lowest-
priced source.

To avoid similar problems in the future, Handy added that smart
buyers make contingency plans for critical components. These
buyers look not only at their suppliers, but they look upstream
at their supplier's supplier.

Handy agrees with the SIA that the crisis has been averted and
expects prices on DRAM as well as other computer hardware
products to continue slow erosion as they have historically. "In
three years we'll look back and we won't believe we paid $30 a MB
for DRAM."

(Linda Rohrbough/19931201/Press Contact: Angela Newlove,
Semiconductor Industry Association, tel [phone], fax 408-
246-2830; Jim Handy, Dataquest, tel [phone], fax 408-437-
0292)


(NEWS)(IBM)(TYO)(00026)

Japanese Windows NT Delayed 12/01/93
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1993 DEC 1 (NB) -- Microsoft, Tokyo, has
delayed the release of Japanese Windows NT.

The problem is reportedly due to a delay in the development of
a Japanese language environment for the next-generation
operating system. The actual release will now be between late
January and early February.

Microsoft was initially planning to ship the Japanese version of
Windows NT by the end of this year. The firm announced in
September that it would release the program and the Japanese
version of Advanced Server in December. Personal computer
firms such as NEC, Fujitsu, and Compaq have already prepared
beta versions of the programs, and are looking for the trial users.

Some Japanese personal computer makers are even skeptical
about the new date for the release of NT. They are preparing
for further delays and they have been reportedly telling their
customers that the program will be released around next spring,
which means March or April.

Meanwhile, Microsoft, Tokyo, has been getting a backlash from
the readers of the personal computer magazine "The BASIC,"
which is published by Gijitsu Hyoron-sha in Tokyo.

According to press reports, the publisher had to suspend one of
its articles due to pressure from Microsoft. Author Shozaburo
Nakamura's criticism of Japanese Windows 3.1 reportedly touched
a nerve of Microsoft, and the firm told the publisher to stop
providing information on Microsoft's products in the future,
according to the Asahi newspaper. Nakamura divulged the problem
on personal computer networks and readers of the magazine have
since made their feelings known.

Microsoft claims that the offending article carried confidential
information, given to the publisher through a confidential
agreement with Microsoft.

(Masayuki "Massey" Miyazawa/19931201/Press Contact:
Microsoft, Tokyo, 81-3-5454-8000)


(NEWS)(IBM)(TYO)(00027)

IBM Japan Creates Personal Computer Business Unit 12/01/93
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1993 DEC 1 (NB) -- IBM Japan has announced that
it will set up a large scale personal computer business operation,
which will deal with all Personal computer businesses.

Through this unit, the firm hopes to reduce various costs,
including those associated with development and management.
This is seen as part of IBM's overall policy on personal computers.
In the US, the company created the Personal Computer Co., in
September.

Currently, IBM Japan's personal computer business is handled by
its subsidiary -- IBM Japan Information Systems. However, as of
January 1, IBM Japan takes over the business.

The new personal computer operation will handle all necessary
PC business, including the development, distribution, sales and
maintenance services. Also, the new operation plans close contact
with its dealers, such as Canon and Ricoh, and will ship PCs to
South East Asian regions as well as the Pacific regions.

(Masayuki "Massey" Miyazawa/19931201/Press Contact: IBM
Japan, [phone], Fax, [phone])


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

 ****Novell's NetWare Video For Multimedia Networking 12/01/93
WELLESLEY, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A, 1993 DEC 1 (NB) -- Novell has
introduced NetWare Video 1.0, a new software product designed to
let users easily integrate digital video and synchronized audio
into NetWare networks.

The new Netware Loadable Module (NLM), which is shipping
immediately, will provide server-based playback, the first stage in
a three-tier strategy that Novell has developed for business-
oriented multimedia applications, said Richard King, executive vice
president of the NetWare Systems Group, in a press conference
attended by Newsbytes at the Novell office in Wellesley, MA.

"This is a key milestone for Novell," commented King. Novell will
proceed to a second stage of live broadcast and a third stage of
videoconferencing in the future, as asynchronous transport mode
(ATM) becomes available for 100 Mbps transport, and other
necessary hardware emerges, he added.

Neil Ferris, vice president and general manager of the Novell
MultiMedia Group, explained that NetWare Video 1.0 uses patent-
pending scalable video technology developed by Novell to separate
video and audio data streams and dynamically adapt video data
rates to available network bandwidth and number of users.

The product eliminates the cost of installing CD-ROM drives on each
desktop, as well as the task of manually distributing updated media,
by allowing multiple users to simultaneously store, manage and play
compressed digital video and audio files from a standard NetWare
server, said Ferris.

The NLM works on popular NetWare-supported topologies such
as Ethernet and token ring. Novell officials expect NetWare
Video to experience greatest use in applications involving
sales communications, corporate communications, and
education/training.

Also at the press conference, Lotus Development Corp., Beyond Inc.,
Aim Tech, Vision Integration, Course Technology, and Iprax Corp.,
demonstrated applications they have developed to run on NetWare
Video 1.0.

In addition, Intel, Microsoft, National Semiconductor, AT&T,
Compaq, and SynOptics all announced their support for NetWare
Video 1.0.

Initially, the product will support all applications developed for
Microsoft Video for Windows desktop multimedia software.
Ultimately, support will be extended to the Macintosh operating
system via QuickTime, and to all other major operating systems
supported by NetWare, including OS/2 and Unix, officials told
journalists and analysts who were present at the press conference,
as well as others, in the US and UK, who were linked to the
proceedings via telephone.

Novell is also considering extending support to QuickTime for
Windows, said Paul W. Armstrong, Ph.D., manager, product line, and
Rose J. Saia, technical marketing manager, of Novell's Multimedia
Products Division, in a meeting with Newsbytes at the close of the
press conference.

NetWare Video 1.0 is also compatible with multiple compression
technologies, including Intel's Indeo, Microsoft Video 1, and
SuperMac Cinepak.

Intel's Indeo is a software video technology that supports low-
cost, software-only video playback on desktop computers, said
Claude Leglise, director of Video Brand Marketing for Intel, during
the press conference.

Lee Wilson, development manager for multimedia communication at
National Semiconductor, told Newsbytes afterwards that National
Semiconductor is developing a hardware codec aimed at providing the
two-way and multi-party real-time video communications needed for
live broadcast and video conferencing,

Among Novell's other partners in NetWare Video 1.0, AT&T plans to
integrate its AT&T TeleMedia Personal Video System and MultiPoint
Control Unit technologies with NetWare Video and Telephony
Services for NetWare.

The TeleMedia Personal Video System is a desktop videoconferencing
system that allows users to see each other while they collaborate
of computer files, according to AT&T officials. The MultiPoint
Control Unit -- a product based on AT&T's Definity Communications
System -- lets users bring together as many as 24 locations in a
single videoconference call.

Compaq plans to support NetWare video with its ProLiant Servers and
lineup of multimedia PCs, said John Paul, vice president of systems
software for the Compaq Systems Division.

NetWare Video 1.0 is priced at $1,100 for a five-user pack, $1,900
for a 10-user pack, and $2,975 for a 25-user pack.

In response to a question raised in a question-and-answer session
that followed the press conference, officials said that video
compression technology has progressed to the point that all the
applications being demonstrated can be shared simultaneously by
at least five users on an Ethernet or token ring network, despite
the bandwidth limitations of these topologies.

Vision Integration demonstrated an informational kiosk system the
company has created for use on a NetWare Video network at the
Texas Medical Center, a NetWare Video 1.0 beta site.

Aim Tech showed a computer-based freshman algebra course that
the University of Alabama has developed for a NetWare Video
network, using Aim Tech's IconAuthor multimedia development tool.

Course Technology demonstrated "Managing International Business,"
an educational multimedia product based on three Harvard Business
School case studies.

An official of Course Technology told Newsbytes that "Managing
International Business" was previously available only on CD-ROM
disk. Now, she added, the product will run on NetWare Video,
allowing simultaneous access by multiple users.

BeyondMail showed how video images embedded into BeyondMail
messages can be quickly distributed throughout an organization via
NetWare Video.

Lotus demonstrated NetWare Video-compliant multimedia
publishing, training, and marketing communications applications
for Lotus Notes.

Iprax Corporation (formerly Interact! Multi-Media Software)
displayed Novell-compatible versions of Iprax Deliver and Iprax
Build, two products designed to let users present, create and
administer interactive and linear video learning programs.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19931201/Reader Contact: Novell Inc., 801-
429-7000; Press Contact: Melanie King, Novell, 408-321-1888)


(NEWS)(IBM)(LAX)(00029)

Stac Developers Kit Offers Royalty Free Compression 12/01/93
CARLSBAD, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 DEC 1 (NB) -- Stac Electronics
says it is offering software developers a runtime version of its
LZS data compression technology royalty free in the form of a
Stacker Developer's Tool Kit 3.1 for Windows and DOS.

Company officials say the biggest advantage to developers in
using the tool kit is that data can be moved around without the
overhead of decompressing then recompressing the data as is
necessary now. So backups, moving data on a network, and other
operations, can be done faster because the data can be moved in
the more compact form.

Stac's "technical evangelist" Bruce Behymer told Newsbytes one
developer has already written a database application that loads
LZS compressed data into memory and only decompresses the
data when it is directly accessed in memory. Behymer said the
developer has reported the application runs two to three times
faster than previously by using this technique.

Stac officials were quick to point out the company's agreement
with Novell, who plans to use LZS compression in the future in
its networking products. Novell already announced LZS will be
used in Novell DOS 7.0 when it is released.

While the Stacker Tool Kit is royalty free, Stac has placed a few
restrictions on the use of the product. The company says
developers may not use it to make a Stacker clone and special
permission will be needed to use the compression and
decompression algorithms in the tool kit as part of another
developer product. In addition, applications developed using the
LZS runtime technology need to have a special logo from Stac
displayed somewhere on the resulting product's packaging.

In addition, Stac claims the LZS Server technology included in
the tool kit is intelligent enough to use the hardware compression
chip developed by Stac if it is available on a computer. Stac
officials are hoping hardware developers will build the Stac
compression chip into systems the way math coprocessor chips
are built in to systems now. However, no specific announcements
of any hardware vendors making such plans have been made and
the only way the compression chip is currently available is in
add-on boards from Stac itself.

Independent software vendors (ISVs) are required to purchase one
copy of the tool kit for each application in which the product is
incorporated, although no further fees are required for
distribution of the application. The Stacker Developer's Tool Kit
is $295, includes a copy of Stacker 3.1 for Windows and DOS, an
example in the C programming language of how to use it, a
discussion of testing considerations, and a sample installation
program.

Those interesting in doing more checking before purchasing the
kit can find technical specifications available on-line as a
Windows 3.1 help file which can be downloaded from Stac's own
bulletin board system (BBS), from its Compuserve forum, or from
America Online.

Stac reported in its last earnings statement that legal battles
with software giant Microsoft are draining its increasing
revenues. The company filed suit against Microsoft earlier this
year, claiming the compression used in MS-DOS 6 incorporates
technology that it owns. Microsoft has countersued, making a
similar claim.

Novell has made no secret of its plans to take on the software
giant in the marketplace. Stac is hoping the incorporation of LZS
technology in the popular networking software from Novell coupled
with the increased popularity of networking will help it survive
the battle in the marketplace as well as in the courts.

(Linda Rohrbough/19931201/Press Contact: Lois Leslie, Stac
Electronics, tel [phone]; Gregory Spector, Jennings & Co.
for Stac, tel [phone], fax [phone]; Public Contact,
800-522-7822; Stac's BBS, 619-431-5956, Compuserve type
GO STAC; America Online, keyword STAC)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(WAS)(00030)

Data Processing Salaries/Turnover Up For 1994 12/01/93
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1993 DEC 1 (NB) -- Edward Perlin
Associates, a New York City-based management consulting firm,
has released the results of a survey of data processing
professionals. According to the company, increasing budgets and
staff turnover both indicate that salaries will be up for next year.

Because of the sluggish employment picture for 1993, there have
been few increases in either pay or bonus structures for the
year. However, while base salary budgets for next year are about in
line with last year, Edward Perlin Associates expects a base pay
increase of about 1.9 percent for 1994. The company says that
about one-fourth of respondents said that they expected turnover
to increase over 1993's average of 10.2 percent.

Staff turnover is a good measure of the strength of the economy,
or at least a particular job sector, because when jobs are tight
people tend to stay where they are as long as possible.

Edward Perlin, president of the consulting company said, "In
recoveries, we notice first an increase in turnover as companies
compete for more experienced staff and for specific skills."

If you are wondering how your company stands, the survey found
that the average merit budget (where the money comes from for
base pay increases) was up about 4.4 percent for 1993, while
bonuses averaged 8.9 percent for data processing professionals
and went as high as 17.5 percent.

Bonuses for management were much more generous, averaging 14.4
percent for middle managers (low five percent - high 39 percent).

(John McCormick/19931201/Press Contact: John Warlikowski,
Edward Perlin Associates, 212-714-0588 or Michael Roos, PR,
212-714-1881)