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/NB930312

Text File | 1993-03-12 | 76KB | 1,663 lines

(NEWS)(APPLE)(SFO)(00001)

MovieWorks Creates QuickTime Movies On Mac 03/12/93
SAN MATEO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 MAR 12 (NB) -- Interactive
Solutions, Inc., is shipping MovieWorks, a group of Macintosh
software applications for creating QuickTime movies and interactive
animated presentations.

MovieWorks' time-based metaphor and its implementation of Apple Events
automatically passes data from the MovieWorks Text, Paint and Sound
Editors to the MovieWorks Composer application. In Composer,
media created in the MovieWorks Editors or imported from other
applications is combined into QuickTime movies. These movies
can then be connected together to form a presentation.

In Composer's TimeView window, the media elements which make up your
movie, called tracks, can be precisely timed by resizing and
repositioning "timebars." Tools are provided for generating path
segments for both movies and tracks, scaling over time, varying
speed and selecting special effects for in and out transitions.
The TimeView window displays the timing relationship of these
effects and allows easy editing. In addition to Composer's animation
capabilities, movies and tracks can be grouped and connected with
unlimited flexibility by setting links. In this manner, buttons
can be linked to other tracks, movies or presentations to create
interactive presentations.

"Traditionally, there have been numbing barriers between the end
product and its component resources. MovieWorks makes integrating and
composing these items easy," said John Sykes, owner of Computer Attic.
Dan Sabo, former manager of the Interactive Media Lab at the Tech
Museum of Innovation, said "MovieWorks allows the basic user to
easily create multimedia presentations with very little skill or
expense."

In addition to creating stand-alone interactive presentations,
MovieWorks can be used to make QuickTime movies which can be
pasted into QuickTime-friendly word processors, presentation
packages, databases and other applications.

MovieWorks carries a list price of $395. For more information,
call Interactive Solutions at 415/377-0136.

(Computer Currents/19930312)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SFO)(00002)

Mathematics "Genius" Found Begging In India 03/12/93
NEW DELHI, INDIA, 1993 MAR 12 (NB) -- Dr. Vashisth Narain Singh,
whose doctorate in mathematics was won from the Columbia Institute
of Mathematics, and whom Professor J.L. Kelly of the University of
California described as "a descendant of the ancient Indian
astronomer and mathematician, Aryabhatta," was reportedly found
begging in a small town, located in his home state of Bihar
in North India.

The 47-year-old mathematical wizard was driven to insanity due to
a ruined marital life and the frustrations of a career that did
not match his genius. He has been missing since August 1989,
according to reports.

Singh's had been a distinguished career. Such was his genius that
the Patna University had to waive all rules and regulations
three decades ago. A five-member committee of mathematicians was
formed which found the young Vashisth qualified to appear for his
graduation degree in one year. A separate syllabus was prepared
to allow him complete the three-year course in a year.

In 1964, Kelly came to Patna to participate in a mathematics
seminar. Vashisth was given some problems which could be solved
using only three methods. But he invented a fourth. This so
impressed the American professor that he became instrumental
in sending him to Texas for advanced studies.

During his stint at the Columbia Institute of Mathematics, Singh
was offered a job with NASA. He refused and chose to return to
India, instead. He also turned down the hand of the daughter of
a professor in the University of California, Berkeley.

Family pressures forced him to marry against his wishes. This,
his friends say, was his undoing. He could not get along with his
wife and the resultant divorce left him a bitter man. The jobs he
was getting in the country too, were not commensurate with his
merit. (He worked in the Indian Statistical Institute in
Calcutta, the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in Bombay
and the Indian Institute of Technology in Kanpur.) Gradually,
he lost all zest for life and a transfer to Calcutta from
Bombay shattered him.

Meanwhile, the Bihar state government and the central Government of
India have acted with uncommon alacrity. Singh has been shifted
to a mental hospital in Bangalore and his treatment there is
being financed by the Central government. The Union human
resource development minister, of the government of India, has
released Rs 20,000 (around $ 660) toward this end. The state
government too has promised all assistance.

Pitching in are the Tata group of companies (one of the
country's major industrial groups) that once employed Singh.

Singh comes from a poor background and his family does not have
the resources to bear his medical expenses.

(C.T. MAHABHARAT/19930312)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(HKG)(00003)

Plex Invades Asia, Europe And US 03/12/93
SINGAPORE, SEA, 1993 MAR 12 (NB) -- Datavision Pte Ltd has
developed and marketed its Plex range of products and they
are now selling in the thousands around the Northern Hemisphere.
Newsbytes spoke with the president and founder of Datavision,
Albert Shurgalla, in Singapore a few days ago.

Any company with multiple of local area networks (LANS) or an
IBM mainframe installation with its myriads of consoles and
operators, or a factory which uses numbers of PCs to test and
burn in products, is the target for Datavision's Plex range
of products: the KeyPlex, the VideoPlex, the MousePlex, the
OmniPlex and the soon to come AutoPlex and DigiPlex.

The video distribution capability of the low-cost OmniPlex
can be used at any exhibition or presentation to distribute
video images of any kind, from PC screens and normal television to
direct input from video cameras.

Mr Shurgalla took us on a customer visit, down Shenton Way, in
the heart of Singapore's financial district. Interestingly the
Plex products are everywhere but they are not easy to see.
They are small, unobtrusive, and make no sound, but they are
working steadily.

Every organization which installs a LAN has a number of
stand-alone PCs sharing a common network and each LAN has a
server or managing unit. This server is normally quite a
powerful PC with a lot of hard disk space. An operator, or LAN
supervisor needs to be appointed to ensure that the LAN
continues to work satisfactorily.

This scenario is fine when a company has only one LAN, but as a
company installs multiple LANs to satisfy widely varying
corporate information needs, the number of servers grows and it
becomes physically difficult for one network supervisor to
monitor all LANs at once.

Plex presents an alternative -- a room with one desk in it,
one keyboard and one screen. Eight or more processors act
as servers and are stacked underneath the desk, out of sight.
A network supervisor, watching the screen, can scan
automatically from one system to the next, monitoring all the
LANs at once. This is the Datavision Plex scenario and what the
firm calls logical emulation aided protocol (LEAP) technology.

In a classroom environment, a tutor with a Plex system can
monitor each student's progress, help any individual in the
class from his desk, and using the OmniPlex, the tutor can
broadcast his screen to all students and lead them through
difficult processes.

The three small grey boxes which allow a mouse, keyboard
and screen to be shared by eight systems give the impression
that the system was created easily. "Not so!" comes the resounding
call from Mr Shurgalla, a long time technical IBMer turned
entrepreneur who conceived the products a few years back.

"If we had known the problems we were to face before we started
development, we would never have started," Mr Shurgalla told
Newsbytes, "I am sure glad we persevered, because now we have a
product which no one can match without going through exactly the
same pain that is over for us."

There are obvious advantages in having a second screen and
keyboard 100 metres or more from the normal LAN management
location, perhaps on another floor, and being able to drive and
monitor the LAN from there, at any time the LAN supervisor
is absent. With VideoPlex and KeyPlex it can be achieved.

Singapore's Conner disk drive and Compaq PC plants both sport
Plex equipment. Both manufacturers need to use a multiple
of stand-alone PCs to manage and monitor tests of hard disk and
processor units. Until recently this has meant long benches
covered in fully configured PCs and in the case of Conner,
attached to jigs housing hard disks for testing. Now it
means one desk, one monitor, one keyboard, and loads of spare
space for at least eight jigs and processors. Messages may be
broadcast to all systems simultaneously, including a bulk reset
or re-boot.

Al Shurgalla is predicting hundreds of thousands of Plex units will be
delivered over the next few years and he supports that statement
by saying: "Remember, the Plex units cost most people nothing,
because the total cost is far less than the value of the
monitors and keyboards which are not needed, not to mention the
savings in floor space."

(Keith Cameron/19930310/Press Contact: Albert Shurgalla (Datavision)
Tel: [phone] Fax: [phone];Singapore time is GMT + 8)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(SFO)(00004)

 ****Electronic Voting Is Still A Long Way Off 03/12/93
BURLINGAME, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 MAR 12 (NB) -- We're still
a long way from fully electronic voting, according to a panel
at the third conference on Computers, Freedom and Privacy held
this week near San Francisco Airport.

There are many tens of thousands of voting precincts in the United
States, and each state and county has its own special rules and
procedures, even in federal elections, so there has been little
standardization of voting procedures and the use of voting machines.

Panelist Eva Waskell from CPSR (Computer Professionals for Social
Responsibility) noted that there are some voluntary standards for
electronic voting equipment, but not mandatory ones. Because
elections equipment operates under the authority of the Congress, it
is immune from the requirements of the Computer Security Act, which
sets security standards for all other federal computers.

Election officials are mostly part-time, non-technical people with
few qualifications to adequately judge the voting equipment they are
buying today. There is no centralization to help with this. In addition,
voting machine vendors often use proprietary hardware and software
that can't be judged for reliability and security, even by experts.

Election laws were all drafted in the era of the paper ballot and don't
apply well to the technology we have today, according to Waskell.

According to Roy Saltman of the NIST, federal elections staff have
disregarded offers of help regarding computerization from the NIST.
The only standards they have, the result of a process that took 11
years, dictate performance and not security.

There is fear that these inadequate standards could spell disaster if
we move from the ballot tallying systems in existence today to electronic
systems which do not use physical ballots.

Michael Shamos of CMU outlined six commandments for the design of voting
systems, and felt that it would be difficult to satisfy them all.
The first commandment -- that of the secret ballot -- makes the others
all very difficult because secret ballots make it difficult to audit the
process and make sure it is working.

Even today, Shamos described how vote buying is possible through the use
of write-in ballots on unimportant candidates. He fears any system that
makes this even easier.

Elections law in the USA agrees with him, since it demands "absolute
secrecy" in the balloting. The word "absolute" is used very rarely in
US law.

Irwin Mann thinks that while it is important to prevent errors in voting
systems, fraud is by far the biggest danger. To prevent this he feels
that all voting machines must be built with non-proprietary hardware and
software that anybody can look at. Accountability is the key, and that
means accountability to the public. Errors can be detected and fixed
after the fact, but fraud is much harder to detect.

In spite of all the worry, however, it seems based on one audience member's
question that there has never been a documented case of ballot fraud in
the US from voting machine or computer tampering, though of course old
style methods such as ballot stuffing have been detected.

All panelists agreed it would be a very long time before a federal
election was entirely computerized. There was little comment on what
the other dangers of this might be.

The CFP '93 conference continues through Friday.

(Brad Templeton/19930312)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(MOW)(00005)

Russian Telecom Company Gets NASDAQ Listing 03/12/93
MOSCOW, RUSSIA, 1993 MAR 12 (NB) -- Shares of the Peterbourg Long
Distance Company are now listed on the NASDAQ system. This is the first
large Russian technology company to use the international stock
market for its financing.

Peterbourg Long Distance owns part of the international phone
circuits in St Petersbourg, as well as the PeterStar company, the
operator of the 10,000-numbers international phone exchange it
successfully installed.

The share offering was in the amount of US$29 million, placed through
the London-based Smith New Court stockbrokers, according to Financial
Izvestija newspaper.

Peterstar Chairman Gordon Owen, formerly with Cable & Wireless, was
quoted as saying that major risks investors face are political, not
technical ones.

The Peterstar company already exclusively provides high quality
international phone service for a number of hotels in St Petersbourg.

(Kirill Tchashchin/19930212)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(SYD)(00006)

Australia - New Pocket Modem From NetComm 03/12/93
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1993 MAR 12 (NB) -- Australian telecom
manufacturer NetComm has released the Pocket Rocket E7F modem. It
incorporates fax capability with data transfer rates of up to
57,600 bits per second (bps).

NetComm now uses 16-bit processing in its modems, and surface mount
components to give greater features and performance while at the same
time reducing size markedly. The Pocket Rocket E7F is a fully portable
unit suitable for desktop and portable computers. It has raw data
rates of up to 14,400 bps, but with its V42 error correction and
V42bis data compression (CCITT standard) it can achieve throughput
up to four times the base transfer rate. The fax capability is full
9600 bps group 2 standard.

"The growth in the portable computer market in Australia, predicted
by IDC to be 22 to 23 percent growth this year, increases the
demand for a reliable method of connecting a portable computer with
the corporate LAN," said Paul Heath, general manager, sales and
marketing at NetComm. "For people on the road, or with the majority
of their time away from the office, the Pocket Rocket E7F allows
them the same functionality as the corporate office, wherever they
are."

NetComm already sells a locally approved PCMCIA card modem which is
sourced from Intel. It also has a modem for cellular phone
connection. NetComm has also announced the availability of the Telebit
WordBlazer modem, capable of a claimed 70,000 bps throughput using
TeleBit's Turbo PEP protocol. This is claimed to be the world's
fastest dial-up modem.

(Paul Zucker/19930312/Contact: NetComm on phone [phone] or
fax [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(SYD)(00007)

Australia - IBM Launches ValuePoint Range 03/12/93
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1993 MAR 12 (NB) -- IBM used the PC 93 show in
Sydney this week to launch its ValuePoint range of PCs. These
machines are aimed squarely at buyers who want a standard AT bus
computer with high perceived brand value and low price.

Like most other countries, price competition is rampant in Australia
and IBM now has a number of product ranges, with one to suit almost
any class of buyer. Product manager for the new machines Mark
Phibbs said they exceed the commonly agreed minimum requirement that
a PC have a 386SX processor, as they have an IBM 386SLC chip.

He said that a recent US survey of ValuePoint buyers show that 98
percent would buy another one. "That proves that customers are
confident of the value of our PS/VP products. They are designed
for buyers looking to buy an IBM system but who may have previously
considered IBM PCs to be too expensive. The war between price and
quality is now over." He added that 486 models would be added to the
range during the year.

Unlike IBM's Micro Channel (MCA) machines, ValuePoints have standard AT
expansion slots and five bays for drives.

The 6384-C08 model with 25 MHz processor, 2M of RAM, and no hard disk
will have a street price of around US$1000 which still places it well
above most Asian PCs. A 170MB hard disk adds around US$400.

(Paul Zucker/19930312/Contact: Kate Dennis at IBM on phone
[phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(SYD)(00008)

Australia - More In Dell/Compaq War Of Words 03/12/93
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1993 MAR 12 (NB) -- Compaq (via its dealers) has
reacted to the Dell ads in the Australian press that said Dell
machines are much cheaper than Compaq. Compaq had complained that
the ads were unfair as they used its list prices rather than the
more comparable street prices.

Ads appeared in the business press this week which purported to put
the correct facts. They were placed by "Compaq Authorized Resellers"
though Dell Spokesman Denis Rowe told Newsbytes he believed this was
really Compaq which otherwise could not have been seen talking about
street prices. Coincidentally, the resellers use the same PR
company as Compaq.

One of the ads was headed "Sorry Dell, wrong number" in inch-high
type. It showed a Compaq machine as costing $4 less than a similar
Dell model. The ad explained the difference between suggested price
and street price and went on to point out Compaq benefits such as
three-year warranty. A second ad said, "You can never pay too much
for a Compaq." It, too showed that Dells are dearer than Compaqs.

Derek Crossley, president of the Australian Computer Dealer Network
(a group not widely known before this incident), said, "Members
of the Australian Computer Dealers Network are disgusted by the
hypocrisy of recent media statements by Dell advocates who
have themselves recently been appointed to Dell from prominent
local resellers." This is apparently a reference to two Dell
managers who came from local dealer CoCam.

Meanwhile, Dell has countered Compaq's original claim that Dell
was fined over its advertising in the UK. Dell's Denis Rowe
said this was only half the story as the fines were never levied
and the ruling was overturned in the high court of appeal.

(Paul Zucker/19930312)


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

Roundup - Stories Carried By Other Media This Week 03/12/93
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1993 MAR 12 (NB) -- Roundup is a brief
look at some computer stories carried in other publications
received here this past week.

i.T. Magazine (Canadian Datasystems) for March looks at both
sides of the outsourcing question and offers five reasons why it
may not be a good idea in some situations.

March's THE Journal (Technological Horizons in Education)
explores the advantages of pairing accounting students with local
businesses to provide real-world computer workplace skills to
classes.

The March 1 issue of Telephony interviews Craig McCaw, chair and
CEO of McCaw Cellular Communications, in which he dismisses worries
of Bell regional companies which have complained to the FCC that
the AT&T/McCaw joint venture would amount to a reconstitution of
Ma Bell. Mr. McCaw said "It is sad to think that an industry, of
which McCaw has a 20 percent participation, could somehow be
dominated through McCaw."

Although this week the calls hyping 4.0 to journalists were
coming thick and fast from Novell, according to the March 8 issue
of Network World the company was simultaneously releasing a new
beta version of a program which will become NetWare upgrade to
version 3.12.

Communications Week for the 8th carries Wayne Rash's analysis of
the need for Netware 4.0 where he emphasizes the importance of
new security features. This was a pre-release analysis.

The March 1 issue of Government Computer News reports that
Digital Equipment will preview its 150 megahertz Alpha PC running
the new Windows NT operating system at next month's FOSE (Federal
Office Systems Expo) in Washington. The $5,000 Alpha is based on
the new 64-bit DEC processor as opposed to the present generation
of high-end PCs which use the 32-bit Intel family of
microprocessors.

Computer Reseller News for the week beginning on the 8th says
that Novell will broaden its marketing channel with the
introduction of NetWare 4.0. According to the front-page article
early reports indicated that only the 550 Platinum and 2,800 Gold
dealers would be allowed to sell this most powerful version of
the local area network software, but now it appears that the
7,500 Authorized Novell Resellers will also be able to sell
configurations supporting up to 50 users. ShadowRAM in the same
issue says that Novell is surprising some European distributors
with a fast termination notice.

Informationweek for the 8th compares the World Trade Center
disaster to other data processing system interruptions. Twenty-
one data centers were brought down and may be out of commission
for six months at the Trade Center, as compared to 39 centers
disabled by Hurricane Andrew and 33 knocked out by the flooding
in Chicago.

The March 30 PC Magazine evaluates 31 portable computers and
rates the Compaq LTE Lite 4/25c tops among color laptops and the
Compaq LTE Lite/25 and TI TravelMate 4000 WinDX2/50 as the best
monochrome portables.

Computerworld for the week of the 8th carries advice for IBM from
24 industry VIPs. Fifty-one percent say IBM should hire a
technical-oriented CEO rather than a salesman, while 36 percent
say no, with 13 percent in the "I don't know" category. Tom
Peters (In Search of Excellence) says "Prayer would be my
strongest suggestion." Steve Jobs sees "a lot of life left in it
[IBM]", while Esther Dyson says "They need to break it up for
real."

By the way, Apple bundled a large newsprint ad for its computers
in several publications this week.

(John McCormick/19930312/)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(WAS)(00010)

 ****X-Ray Alternative Sought at Stanford 03/12/93
STANFORD, CONNECTICUT, U.S.A., 1993 MAR 12 (NB) -- Stanford
University researchers have, according to a report on CNN today,
moved far along in the development of a new medical imaging
system based on coherent light and computer analysis.

The system is based on careful analysis of blurred images
obtained by shining bright lights through portions of the body,
much as every child has shown a flashlight through their hand or
made their cheeks glow red in the night.

Expected to replace both dangerous x-ray radiographs and very
expensive magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for many patients, the
use of lower-energy light frequencies (as opposed to high-energy
ionizing x-rays) would pose very little potential danger to
patients and virtually none to the physician or technician.

Since different materials absorb different frequencies of light
(for instance, chlorophyll in plants do not absorb the color
green), the researchers say they can use different colors of
light to quickly measure things such as glucose levels in the
blood.

Such an application could speed tests for diabetes but probably
the most important development would be a way to safely and
inexpensively explore for broken bones or measure organ activity
without the use of x-rays.

(John McCormick/19930312/)


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

Dell Sales Grow 100% Plus In 4Q 03/12/93
AUSTIN, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1993 MAR 12 (NB) -- Dell Computer
Corporation says its fourth quarter sales grew more than 100 percent
over the same period last year for the fourth consecutive
quarter.

Sales for the period, which ended January 31st, were reported at
$620 million, with net income more than double at $31 million.
Earnings per share also rose a record amount to $0.77 per share
compared to $0.41 per share for the '91 fourth quarter.

"This has been an excellent quarter and a banner year for Dell,"
according to Chairman and CEO Michael S. Dell. He said annual
revenue doubled to $2 billion and market share doubled to make the
company the third-largest IBM-compatible personal computer company
in the world. Dell says the gains are a result of the company's
focus on value leadership, a strategy he says some Dell competitors
are now beginning to adopt.

The company said the sales gains were led by sales to corporate,
governmental, and education markets, with those areas increasing an
aggregate 132 percent in the fourth quarter. "While we continued to
take share from major competitors, we also benefited from the market
opportunity resulting from the host of small and less financially
secure companies which are finding it increasingly difficult to
compete," Dell said. Sales to small to medium-sized companies were
reported up 128 percent over the previous year's quarter, to $248
million. Dell attributes that increase to the strength of its
direct-marketing business.

Dell says cost reduction measures and improved efficiencies continue
to be effective, with operating expenses representing 13 percent of
sales. That's down more than 10 percentage points over the fourth
quarter last year. General and administrative expenses were reported
at less than two percent of sales.

The company said this week that it plans no immediate price cuts on
its products in response to cuts by Compaq Computer. "Basically
we've looked and said there's no reason for any knee-jerk reaction
or across-the-board actions here," said company investor relations
director Donald Collis. He said the company is "very confident"
about the first quarter results, which ends April 30, expecting the
period to continue the growth pattern seen over the past year. Last
year Dell shareholders earned $0.52 per share in the first period.
He responded to a question about posting increased 1994 first
quarter earnings by saying "We clearly will."

Collis also predicts that PC price cuts will persist as component
prices continue to drop. Dell stock was one of the 10 most active
yesterday, down 5/8 on a volume of 69.5 million shares.

(Jim Mallory/19930311/Press contact: Michelle Moore, Dell Computer,
512-343-3535)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(DEN)(00012)

Colorado Legislature Debates "Ziff-Davis" Bill 03/12/93
DENVER, COLORADO, U.S.A., 1993 MAR 12 (NB) -- Next week a Colorado
legislative committee will consider a bill that some are calling the
"Ziff-Davis Welfare Act" because if passed it would create an
economic development group that could raise millions of dollars to
help companies such as computer magazine publisher Ziff-Davis
relocate to Colorado.

The bill, officially known as the Norton-Schauer bill, is sponsored
jointly in the state house and senate, while Colorado Governor Roy
Romer opposes the legislation. Romer says he opposes the idea of
creating another bureaucracy. The head of the Colorado Office of
Business Development reportedly told The Denver Post, "The governor
does not think we should use the credit card approach to economic
development."

Ziff-Davis owner Bill Ziff let it be known several months ago that
he is seriously considering moving his publishing empire west
from its present New York City location, and as reported earlier by
Newsbytes, had narrowed the choice to Salt Lake City or Denver.
However, Davis has now indicated that he needs some sort of incentive
package to get the company to bring about 1,200 jobs to the
region. The company would reportedly also hire an additional 2,000
local workers. One local economist was quoted as saying that
employment projections, based on Z-D numbers, shows the company
employing over 5,000 by the year 2000. The Z-D workforce has
reportedly been growing by almost 20 percent annually over the past
five years. If the move happens, it's expected to happen by 1995.

If establishment of the economic development group is approved, it
would evaluate economic development proposals and work financing
agreements with companies moving to Colorado. It could presumably
issue revenue bonds to raise money to help businesses with
relocation costs. That company would in turn repay the bonds,
receiving as much as a 50 percent income tax credit as well as
withholding a percentage of employee's wages. Employees would then
be entitled to a credit against their state income taxes equal to
the amount withheld.

(Jim Mallory/19930311)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(DEN)(00013)

H-P Gets Boeing Unix Contract 03/12/93
PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 MAR 12 (NB) -- Hewlett-Packard
announced this week that it has received a two-year contract from
Boeing Computer Services (BCS) as the primary source to provide
line-of-business application servers to Boeing's Commercial Airplane
Group (BCAG).

The announcement said that based on performance, the contract can be
extended a third year upon mutual agreement of both parties. The
Unix-based servers will be installed through BCAG's offices and
manufacturing locations. Line-of-business applications are those
integral to the business operation, sometimes known as
mission-critical applications.

In addition to the hardware, Hewlett-Packard will also provide
system management, technical consulting services, and on-site
maintenance. BCS will develop and integrate applications
software. H-P will supply HP 9000 series 700 and 800 servers running
the HP-UX operating system. BCS says it will deploy SoftBench, H-P's
application development environment. HP OpenView Network Node Manager
and other HP products are expected to be used to establish an
unattended, or "lights out" systems management environment.

BCAG says it decided early last year to switch from a proprietary
systems approach for its applications development to a Unix-based
application-server architecture as being more responsive and cost
effective in deploying information technology for all aspects of
its business. When fully implemented, the company expects to get
significant cost reductions in its information technology spending.
"BCAG is implementing programs to increase efficiency to maintain our
leadership position in the commercial airplane market," said BCAG VP
of Computing John Warner.

H-P spokesperson Barton Coddington told Newsbytes it's policy not to
reveal the monetary value of contracts. He expects installation of
the H-P systems to begin in the second quarter.

(Jim Mallory/19930312/Press contact: Barton Coddington,
Hewlett-Packard, 408-447-1129; Leslie Nichols, BCAG, 206-234-8848)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(WAS)(00014)

MacTV Schedule for March 15-19, 1993 03/12/93
MARLOW, NEW HAMPSHIRE, U.S.A., 1993 MAR 12 (NB) -- MacTV, the
daily one-hour satellite computer product news program broadcast
every day on Galaxy 6, Channel 22 starting at 8 a.m. Eastern time.
Some shows are also broadcast on the Mind Extension University
cable channel.

Monday, March 15, 1993: Gallery Effects, automatically enhances
images; Color-It!, easily learned program for image editing and
painting; Ultimate Payroll, enables users to work with even the
most complicated payrolls; SpreadBase, the premiere of a modeling
tool that is category-based; Works 3.0: Charting:, enables the
user to graph numbers while in a spreadsheet.

Tuesday, March 16, 1993: PowerBooks/180, thoughts about Apple's
newest product; Nisus Compact, a compact word processing format;
FontStudio 2.0, permits creation of, or modification of existing,
typefaces; Expert Astronomer, lets you look at the sky from
anywhere in the galaxy; World Atlas, another world almanac,
atlas, and fact book.

Wednesday, March 17, 1993: Timbuktu 5.0, software for cross-
platform collaboration and connectivity; MacLink Plus/PC, the
complete solution for Mac/PC file exchanging; FileMaker Pro 2.0,
an update showing what's changed in this software; From Alice to
Ocean, yet another report on this interactive book/CD about one
woman's trek Down Under; FaxMania, ways to add style to your
faxes; SwampGas/Europe, geography taught with the aid of an
extraterrestrial.

Thursday, March 18, 1993: PageMaker 5.0, the latest version of
this popular desktop publishing software; Publish*It! Easy 3.0,
an all-in-one desktop publishing program; LetraStudio 2.0, use a
type design tool to achieve special effects; Ready,Set,Go! 6.0,
the more creativity, the better, with this desktop publishing
software; Word 5.1: Newsletter, helps you add pizazz to plain-
vanilla documents; From Alice to Ocean, shows what interactive
publishing can do.

Friday, March 19, 1993: System 7.1: System Folder, gives many
details about System 7.1; File Force, gives the Macintosh a
relational database; DateBook, software containing a calendar, a
place to list "to-do" items, and a time manager; HAM 1.0, the
Macintosh gets a Hierarchical Apple Menu; MacProject Pro 1.0, an
easy-to-master project management program.

Previously broadcast programs are available at $9.95 plus $3
Shipping.

(John McCormick/19930312/Press Contact: Wayne Mohr, Executive
Producer PCTV and MacTV, 603-863-9322)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00015)

FCC Issues New Cable Rules 03/12/93
WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A., 1993 MAR 12 (NB) -- The Federal
Communications Commission issued its rules implementing last
year's Cable Reregulation Act. The industry is reacting, by
turns, with defiance, predictions of doom, and acquiescence. The
new rules become effective July 1.

The most controversial rule is the so-called "must carry" and
"retransmission consent" options. Broadcasting stations will have
the option of either demanding that local cable systems carry
their programs, or negotiate in good faith on royalties for
retransmission. Acting FCC Chairman James Quello said that cable
companies have been taking 65 percent of the audience's
favorite programs free, and this rule would redress that. Cable
companies predict that the rule will hike customer rates.

The rules are already leading to a major controversy in
Connecticut. There, Cablevision is pulling the plug on in-state
stations on its southeast Connecticut systems, claiming that New
York City stations are the local outlets in its area. State
officials are fighting the move, and the stations in Hartford and
New Haven claim it's all part of a ploy to avoid paying for their
programs.

Elsewhere, as in Atlanta, local cable companies are planning to
scramble all channel locations later this month in what they
call a necessary reaction to the cable act's requirements. The
net effect will be to eliminate The Learning Channel from most
area systems, replacing it with C-SPAN II. But the impact of
having nearly every station in another location is certain to get
viewers' attention. The local carrier hopes their ire is directed
at Congress and the FCC, not at the local carriers.

Major cable operators are already in court against the agency,
claiming the "must carry" rules violate their rights to free
speech under the Constitution. They would require that at least
one-third of a cable system's channels be made available for
local broadcasters. Past attempts to impose such rules have been
struck down. The cable operators also claim the provision would
drive rates up, forcing them to drop profitable cable networks
for "marginal" broadcast channels.

In Atlanta, for instance, cable systems will now be forced
to carry Channel 14, a talk-format station which moved its
transmitter south from Rome, Georgia, a few years ago, but has
been unable to make market inroads because it's not carried on
local cable.

The other rules to go into effect July 1 include requiring toll-
free access to customer service which must be answered within 30
seconds, more convenient bill paying, faster installations, and
more certain notification of rates, as well as simpler bills.

Still to come are rules on maximum prices for "basic" service.
Those rules were already rendered worthless in most locations by
cable companies' moves to "tier" services, calling only local
broadcast channels and public service stations "basic" and
charging more for the basic services most people want, like CNN.
Such "enhanced" tiers are not impacted by the new rules.

The FCC also said it will propose new rules on radio frequency
emissions. The rules were last revised in 1982. The agency denied
it is acting in response to lawsuits by cellular phone users
charging the hand-held phones cause cancer, adding they are
acting based on guidelines adopted last year by the American
National Standards Institute and the Institute of Electrical and
Electronic Engineers.

(Dana Blankenhorn/199303012/Press Contact: FCC Press, 202-632-
5050)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00016)

BellSouth Asks For N11 System-Wide 03/12/93
ATLANTA, GEORGIA, U.S.A., 1993 MAR 12 (NB) -- BellSouth wants to
offer so-called N11 service throughout its nine-state network,
following the debut of a service by Cox Enterprises in Florida.

The Palm Beach Post, owned by Cox, recently began offering audio
services at 511 in its local area. State regulators in Florida
want to see how the service goes before they set rules for it.
Georgia regulators are now going through a process of trying to
hand out such numbers in that state.

Many people are familiar with two N11 numbers -- 911 for the
police and 411 for information. The 911 service has been around
25 years, and is usually paid for by local taxes collected
through phone bills. The 411 service has a per-call charge,
sometimes with a few calls free each month, and is subject to
state tariffs. Cox is charging 35 cents for calls of up to 5
minutes on its 511 service. N11 services are only available
within local calling areas, so people in Miami cannot get the
Palm Beach Post service. Unlike so-called 976 numbers, which can
only offer recordings, N11 numbers could offer a variety of live
operator, recorded, and computer-controlled services.

In its Georgia tariff filing, made after discussions with Cox,
Southern Bell had suggested that the five available N11 numbers
be given out on a first-come, first-serve basis, and that
lotteries be used when more than 5 companies apply in any local
area. A unit of BellSouth Enterprises, the company's non-
regulated arm, filed for one of the Georgia numbers -- it was one
of about a dozen entrants. Staff members at the state's Public
Service Commission recommended in February that the numbers be
given out through "gateways" so that anyone who wanted to set up
an N11 service would get a chance to do so. The staff also
recommended strict content rules to prevent anything even
remotely sexually suggestive from being offered in N11.

Also at issue in the Georgia case was 611, a number used in some
areas for local repair services. The Georgia Public Service
Commission staff had asked that Southern Bell consider ways to
offer 611 along with the other N11 numbers, moving its repair
service to other numbers. But BellSouth spokesman Richard Miles
told Newsbytes the company opposes that, in part because it is
used in some areas by a number of different companies. Some
observers have speculated that, if BellSouth were unable to win
an N11 number in a lottery, it could move its repair service off
611 and get into the market that way. "What you'd like to do is
have numbers that are generally recognizable throughout the area.
You don't want a number working in just a few states, confusing
customers," said Miles.

"It's a sensitive area," he added about the decision on who gets
the numbers. "When you have a finite number, the lottery may be
the most fair and even-handed way of determining who gets it.
That's what we've suggested to state bodies and the FCC. Each
state has the right to make their own decision," based on letters
received by Georgia regulators from the FCC after Southern Bell's
tariff filing last year.

Georgia PSC spokesman Harriett Van Norte told Newsbytes that no
decision on N11 has yet been made by the commission, but a
decision on how to give out the N11 numbers is pending.

(Dana Blankenhorn/199303012/Press Contact: Harriett Van Norte,
Georgia PSC, 404-656-4537; BellSouth, Richard Miles, 404-529-
8003)


(CORRECTION)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00017)

Correction - Data Race-OmniTel 03/12/93
SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1993 MAR 12 (NB) -- In a recent
Newsbytes story regarding the purchase by Data Race of assets
from OmniTel, a few mistakes were made. They were pointed out to
us by Data Race President Herb Hensley.

First, the time independent escape sequence used by Data Race
modems belongs to Data Race, and is proprietary. It has no
relation to the Time Independent Escape Sequence of MultiTech,
which has been subject to litigation between it and Hayes
Microcomputer Products, which holds patents on an "escape
sequence with guard time." Mr. Hensley told Newsbytes there may
be as many as four different ties schemes, and to his knowledge
the phrase TIES is not copyrighted.

The second point also relates to Hayes. OmniTel had been driven
into bankruptcy after losing litigation to Hayes regarding that
same patent, also known as the Heatherington '302 patent. Hensley
said, "We haven't reviewed the royalty agreement OmniTel has with
Hayes, and haven't discussed it with Hayes. If we ship product
that OmniTel has designed and has paid royalties on, we expect to
continue those payments. But I'm not going to accept from OmniTel
any past liabilities for previous actions," such as damages
which were awarded as part of the Hayes suit.

Newsbytes regrets both errors, and appreciates the opportunity to
correct them.

(Dana Blankenhorn/199303012/Press Contact: Herb Hensley, Data
Race, 210-558-1900)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00018)

MCI's Toll-Free Home Offices 03/12/93
NEW YORK, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1993 MAR 12 (NB) -- MCI's corporate
accounts group said companies with workers at home can now route
toll-free calls to those workers with a new service called MCI
HomeOffice Link. The numbers will be routed using pre-assigned
personal identification numbers, employee codes or caller zip
codes, among other options.

Callers phoning the company on the HomeOffice 800 number first
will hear a company greeting and then be asked to enter the
appropriate pre-assigned number of the person being called. MCI
will then route the call to the home office. If the employee is
not home or is on another line, MCI can transfer the call to a
phone mail system, a customer's call center or some other
predefined destination.

Jonathan Crane of the company's national accounts group said the
service evolved from an application developed for Dun &
Bradstreet. "HomeOffice Link will appeal to corporations that
have marketing, sales, customer service and other employees
working from home offices on a full or part-time basis," he said
in a press statement. Dun & BradStreet has analysts and sales
representatives on its home office lines.

Other toll-free services from MCI, like its Takeback and Transfer
service for rerouting calls, can be used in conjunction with
HomeOffice Link. Previously, the caller would have had to hand up
and redial a separate number. The HomeOffice Link is part of
MCI's Enhanced Voice Services product family.

(Dana Blankenhorn/199303012/Press Contact: Frank J. Walter, MCI
National Accounts, 212-326-4389)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SFO)(00019)

Artisoft Predicts Revenue Shortfall 03/12/93
TUCSON, ARIZONA, U.S.A., 1993 MAR 12 (NB) -- Artisoft, publisher
of the popular LANtastic peer-to-peer network operating system,
has announced that its revenues and earnings for the quarter
ending March 31, will fall short of analysts' expectations.

According to the company, third quarter revenues may be below
fiscal 1992 third quarter revenues of $20.3 million. It also
believes that net earnings may be at or slightly below break-
even, compared to $3.6 million, or 21 cents per share, in the
third quarter of fiscal 1992.

The company says that the revenue shortfall would "primarily
be caused by a shift in its sales mix." According to the
company, the expected decline in earnings would result from
the revenue shortfall, coupled with the decision to increase
reserves for inventory and accounts receivable, and to take
certain one-time charges and adjustments to accruals.

The company says that there has been increasing price
sensitivity in the Ethernet adapter market. In a press statement
the company said: "As a result there has been a recent trend
toward increased unit sales of the company's adapter
independent (software only) network operating system
(LANtastic), at the expense of unit sales of the company's
higher revenue producing total solution starter kits and
add-on kits."

Artisoft recently introduced the NodeRunner 2000 series of
adapters based upon ALICE, Artisoft's own Ethernet controller.
The company also recently announced LANtastic version 5.0,
as reported by Newsbytes. The company says that the impact
of the introduction of these products is not expected to be
significant during the third quarter.

The company says that, as a result of the shift in sales mix,
reserves for inventory are being increased and a one-time
charge will be taken to reflect possible actions required "to
rebalance channel inventories." Also, a small number of
Artisoft's secondary distributors have recently ╥encountered
financial difficulties and reserves for bad debt will be
increased accordingly.╙

A week ago Newsbytes reported that the company had
announced the NDIS Support for LANtastic Kit. According to
the company, the kit allows LANtastic users to interconnect
with other operating environments as well as providing an
NDIS (Network Driver Interface Specification) interface to
the LANtastic NetBIOS.

(Ian Stokell/19930312/Press Contact: David K. Sentman,
602-690-3233, Artisoft Inc.)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(TOR)(00020)

Newbridge Networks Launches ATM Project 03/12/93
WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A., 1993 MAR 12 (NB) -- Ottawa-based
Newbridge Networks has set up a product group to deal with
Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) technology and announced the
group's first products.

Newbridge's Video Voice Image Data (VIVID) group will operate
within its Advanced Network Products business unit at the
company's US headquarters in Herndon, Virginia. Newbridge said
this operation grew out of its partnership with MPR Teltech of
Burnaby, British Columbia. The two companies announced in October
that they would combine their ATM research and development
programs under Newbridge's management.

Asynchronous transfer mode is a high-speed networking technology
that offers high bandwidth and the flexibility to handle not only
data but other types of information, such as voice and video.

Newbridge said its VIVID products will make possible such things
as higher-performance backbone networks, simpler router networks,
dedicated bandwidth to the desktop, and easier moving and
changing of local-area networks, plus, in conjunction with other
Newbridge products, seamless connections between LANs and wide-
area networks (WANs).

Newbridge announced two VIVID products and outlined plans for
more to come. The VIVID ATM Hub currently can provide throughput
of 2.4 gigabits per second in a totally non-blocking
configuration, the company said, and it will evolve to offer more
than 10 gigabits per second of throughput. The VIVID LAN Service
Unit is meant for setting up flexible, switchable LANs around the
hub. An Ethernet LAN Service Unit is available now and can
support from 12 to 24 ports conforming to the 10BaseT standard
for Ethernet networking over twisted-pair cable.

Over the coming year, Newbridge officials said, the company will
launch devices to support high-performance desktop connections to
an ATM network. Also in the works is the VIVID Route Server,
connection management software for LAN-and-ATM internetworks.

Earlier, company spokeswoman Sandra Plumley told Newsbytes that
Newbridge expects strong growth in the ATM market. "We have
carriers that are very interested in it as soon as possible, so
we think that as soon as it's available it will be used," she
said.

Newbridge also announced a sales and marketing alliance with
Xerox Corp., which will resell the VIVID products and Newbridge's
full line of Mainstreet wide-area networking equipment.

(Grant Buckler/19930312/Press Contact: Sandra Plumley, Newbridge
Networks, 613-591-3600, fax [phone])


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LON)(00021)

Fujitsu Delegates European Field Service Operations 03/12/93
UXBRIDGE, MIDDLESEX, 1993 MAR 12 (NB) -- Fujitsu Europe has
announced it has transferred its field service operation --
the division of the company who would normally service Fujitsu
hardware under warranty -- to Micro System Maintenance (MSM), an
independent maintenance company.

The handover, which took place at the start of the month, aims to
make the field service operation a separate cost accounts
operation, with the eventual aim of offering services to third
party companies. Staff with the Fujitsu division became employees
of the company on March 1 this year.

According to Fujitsu, the move is a logical extension of the
working relationship that both companies have enjoyed over the
last four years, during which time MSM have provided extended
warranty support to Fujitsu.

Ian Bowles, Fujitsu Europe's sales and marketing director, said
that the transfer of all warranty support to MSM will allow
Fujitsu customers to continue to get a high standard of support,
while allow Fujitsu itself to "concentrate on our core business
of product sales and marketing."

MSM was formed about ten years ago and currently has 130 staff,
100 of whom are mobile field engineers operating from eight
services centres around the UK. John May, the company's managing
director, said that the company's main priority is to ensure that
Fujitsu's customers get the same high level of care they had
while their warranty maintenance was handled by Fujitsu.

(Steve Gold/19930311/Press & Public Contact: Fujitsu Europe -
Tel: [phone])


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(BOS)(00022)

Compaq DirectPlus, First Direct Sales Program 03/12/93
HOUSTON, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1993 MAR 12 (NB) -- Compaq Computer
has announced its first direct sales program. Slated for rollout
March 22, the new Compaq DirectPlus will offer direct sales
of selected Compaq desktop and notebook PCs, 34 application
programs, and several bundled packages to small businesses
in the US with 20 to 200 employees.

DirectPlus customers will also be receiving a trade-in rebate
program, a free three-year warranty, and three levels of service
and support, including onsite setup and configuration by a Compaq
technician in the user's office or home.

In making the announcement, officials stressed that Compaq
DirectPlus adds one more distribution channel to a long list of
others, encompassing dealers, VARs (value-added resellers),
superstores and other retailers, systems integrators,
distributors, and companies specializing in direct response.

The first slate of PCs to be available through DirectPlus will
include 386- and 486-based (local bus) versions of the Compaq
Prolinea desktop computer, a 486-based edition of Compaq
DeskPro/i, and two 386-based models of the Compaq Contura
notebook line.

Desktop systems, which include a Compaq color monitor, MS-DOS
5.0, Microsoft Windows 5.1, and a Compaq mouse, will range in
price from $1,099 to $2,299.

Notebook systems, which come standard with DOS, Microsoft Windows
and a Compaq trackball, will be priced from $1,675 to $2,199.

Software applications will be sold separately in three different
software-only bundles, and in five different hardware-and-
software bundles.

One of the software-only bundles, for example, will supply
Quattro Pro for Windows 1.0, WordPerfect for Windows 5.2, and
Harvard Graphics for Windows at a price of $499, or $235 less
than if the packages were purchased separately.

"Basic Plus," one of the hardware-and-software bundles, will
provide a 486-based Compaq ProLinea 4/25s desktop PC with a 120
MB hard drive, 4 MB of RAM, an Compaq SVGA color monitor, a 2400
bps data/fax modem, along with DOS, Windows, and five
applications for Windows: Quicken, Calendar Creator Plus, After
Dark, WinFax Pro, and Microsoft Works. "Basic Plus" will be
priced at $1,675.

Compaq plans to start advertising DirectPlus next week, through a
direct mail campaign that will include distribution of more than
two million catalogs and mailers.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19930312/Press contacts: John Sweney, Debra
Globe, Yvonne Donaldson, Hedy Baker, Nora Hahn and Linda Parsons,
Compaq tel [phone]; Tony Sapienza, Donna Ruane, Miller
Communications for Compaq, tel [phone])


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(DEN)(00023)

Computer Network Technology Opens French Subsidiary 03/12/93
MAPLE GROVE, MINNESOTA, U.S.A., 1993 MAR 12 (NB) -- Computer
Network Technology (CNT) says it has opened a subsidiary in France
and appointed a distributor for the Switzerland/Austria area to
market and support its Channel Networking products in those
countries.

CNT develops, manufacturers, and markets high speed channel
networking products that connect mainframe computers, database
computers and peripheral devices over unlimited distances.

Controlware GmbH was appointed the Channelink distributor for
Switzerland and Austria. The company has represented CNT in Germany
for almost two years. Headquartered in Dietzenbach, near Frankfurt,
Germany, Controlware reported revenues of approximately $53 million
last year.

According to Mac Lewis, CNT president and CEO, the company's goal is
to be a world leader in high speed information movement. "By adding
France, Switzerland and Austria to the markets we already serve in
North America, Europe, Japan and Australia, we continue to make
progress toward this goal," said Lewis. CNT VP of International
Operations Peter Dixon said with the addition of France the company
is represented in nearly all of western Europe.

In January 1991 Newsbytes reported that CNT had entered into a
cooperative marketing agreement with Louisville, Colorado-based
Storage Technology Corporation to provide Storagetek's automated
tape cartridge data storage systems to Channelink users.

The first joint effort provided one company with Channelink
support for a Storagetek 4400 ACS (automated cartridge system)
using DS-3 common carrier services at distances up to 3,000 miles.
CNT says the Channelink Extended Channel Network provides customers
channel-speed performance for remotely located 4480's without
performance degradation as distance increases.

The Storagetek ACS systems utilize a robotic storage and retrieval
system for magnetic tape cartridges that provides fast, unattended
access to data at a low per-megabyte cost.

CNT sold more than 400,000 shares of its common stock to its
Japanese distributor Kanematsu Electronics Limited for $1.2 million
in December 1990 when Kanematsu became a CNT distributor. Kanematsu
also distributes IBM-compatible laptop computers for several
Japanese manufacturers.

(Jim Mallory/19930312/Press contact: John Brintnall, CNT,
612-550-8110)


(NEWS)(IBM)(DEN)(00024)

Microsoft University Offers Windows NT Training 03/12/93
REDMOND, WASHINGTON, U.S.A., 1993 MAR 12 (NB) -- Microsoft
University, Microsoft Corporation's training arm, says it is now
offering two new technical training courses for applications
development and support of the Windows NT operating system.

The two courses are Programming for Win32, designed for programmers
developing 32-bit applications for Window NT; and Supporting
Microsoft Windows NT, intended for systems support professionals who
install, implement and support Windows NT.

The four-day courses are available in the US and Canada through
Microsoft University's 10 regional training sites and four certified
Microsoft training partners located in New York, Tampa, Chicago and
Los Angeles. The courses are also available overseas through
Microsoft University international subsidiaries. The company says it
is in the process of certifying additional training partners.

Randy Tripp, Microsoft product manager for systems support
curriculum, says the company anticipates "tremendous demand" for the
courses, based on the number of inquiries being received. Tripp says
the goal is to train and certify 32 additional training partners who
in turn will train about 1,000 support professionals during the next
90 days.

Supporting Microsoft Windows NT is described as a hands-on course
covering the architecture, installation, optimization, security,
troubleshooting, connectivity and implementation of Windows NT for
workstations or workgroups. Programming for Win32 covers porting,
structured exception handling, threads and synchronization, memory
management, dynamic link libraries, remote procedure calls, and
performance tuning.

(Jim Mallory/19930312/Press contact: Anne Kutscher, Microsoft
Corporation, 206-882-8080; Reader contact: Microsoft Corporation,
206-828-1507)


(NEWS)(IBM)(DEN)(00025)

CompuAdd Express Cuts Prices 15%, Upgrades Systems 03/12/93
AUSTIN, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1993 MAR 12 (NB) -- CompuAdd Express, the
mail order arm of CompuAdd, has reduced the price of its
desktop computer systems up to 15 percent, and has started
an across-the-board upgrade of its systems.

Dollar savings on the desktop systems under the new price structure
range from $100 to $300, with the biggest change seen in the
company's 25 megahertz (MHz) 486SX, which dropped from $1,995 to
$1,695. That system is configured with a 170-megabyte (MB) hard
drive, 4MB of system memory, and a Super VGA monitor.

The system upgrade puts a 170MB hard drive in the base configuration
of all CompuAdd's desktop systems. The company is also bundling a
Lotus software option with each desktop computer at no extra charge.
Customers can choose Lotus 1-2-3 for Home, Lotus Organizer,
LotusWorks, or Lotus Write. Those programs are a $150 value, says
Compuadd.

In addition to the 486SX, Compuadd's full profile 33MHz 486DX
dropped $250 to $1,845. A full profile 50MHz 486DX2 now sells for
$2,195, and the full profile 66MHz 486DX2 now carries a price tag of
$2,195. Like the 486SX, these systems have the standard
configuration of a 170MB hard drive, 4MB of system memory, and a
Super VGA monitor with accelerated local bus video.

(Jim Mallory/19930312/Press contact: Ernest Wood, CompuAdd Express,
512-219-2820: Reader contact: CompuAdd Express, 512-219-2800, fax
512-219-2898)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(SFO)(00026)

 ****Conner Sues Western Digital 03/12/93
SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 MAR 12 (NB) -- Conner
Peripherals has filed suit in the Northern District of
California against Western Digital for patent infringement.
Forrest Monroy, spokesman for Conner, told Newsbytes that the
suit claims that, "Drives that are developed, manufactured,
and sold by Western Digital are violating five of our disk drive
patents."

An amended complaint was filed and served on March 8, 1993. The
original suit was filed some weeks earlier. According to Conner,
its filings preceded by nearly two weeks Western Digital's recent
filing of its own suit in the Central District.

Monroy told Newsbytes that "Western's recent suit was a
response to our initial litigation." He also said that, "They are
complaining that certain of our disk drive products violate
one of their patents."

Conner says it is requesting the entry of a permanent injunction
of the sale of infringing products and treble damages arising out
of willful infringement to date.

The patents asserted by Conner relate to Conner's single
microprocessor disk drive controller architecture, its low height
disk drive mechanical design, a head/arm flexure design, an
electronic system that achieves low power usage and several
other features.

According to Conner, the technology protected by these patents is
key to small, high performance disk drive systems in both the
3.5-inch and 2.5-inch products for the evolving laptop, notebook
and high-end PC markets.

In announcing the suit, Finis Conner, chairman and chief executive
officer, said, "We have made substantial investments in research
and development, leading edge technology and intellectual property.
We simply cannot allow our competitors to infringe our patents and
make free use of our patented inventions."

Monroy told Newsbytes that there was never a licensing
agreement between the two companies and that the suit will
now progress, "through the standard procedure through the
courts."

(Ian Stokell/19930312/Press Contact: Forrest Monroy,
408-456-3265, Conner Peripherals Inc.)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(LAX)(00027)

 ****Instant Sheet Music Kiosks Expected By April 03/12/93
NEWPORT BEACH, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 MAR 12 (NB) -- Now
music lovers will be able to select from a wider variety of
sheet music and have it printed for them right in the music
store. Musicsource says it is installing computer-based Instant
Sheet Music Kiosks at 40 of the leading retail musical
instrument and print music stores in the US.

Through an agreement with Skydoor Records of Los Angeles, over
70,000 items including out-of-print albums, foreign products,
children's music, and educational material is expected to be
available for Instant Sheet Music Kiosk users. The kiosks
are predicted to reduce physical inventory requirements and
increase foot traffic in the stores where they are placed,
Musicsource said.

Each kiosk is connected to a central database of music
information, which means each kiosk will have updated
information on what music is available as it becomes available.
Users also will have the option of selecting music titles for
their own custom audio compact disc, which will be delivered to
them approximately seven days after they place their order in
the store.

The concept of delivery of sheet music on demand, while new for
the music industry, is one the greeting card industry invented
over 2 years ago. Burbank, California-based Create-A-Card
started offering users, via kiosk housed 386-based
computers and touch screens, the ability to create their own
greeting card including text and artwork, from a variety of
available styles and themes. A Hewlett-Packard color ink
plotter then printed the card while the customer watched. The
card is delivered through a slot much like a vending machine.

Greeting card giant Hallmark bought Create-A-Card last year,
began a national advertising campaign, and has placed the
kiosks in Hallmark stores nationwide.

Musicsource and Skydoor are predicting sheet music on demand
will catch on and say they expect to double to seventy or
eighty the number of Instant Sheet Music Kiosks by
October/November of this year.

(Linda Rohrbough/19930312/Press Contact: Dale Jacobs,
Musicsource, tel [phone], fax ; Stephen Axelrod, Wolfe,
Axelrod Associates for Musicsource, tel [phone], fax 212-
370-4505)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(TOR)(00028)

Wang, HP In Imaging Deal  03/12/93
LOWELL, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1993 MAR 12 (NB) -- Wang
Laboratories has announced a deal under which it will
resell Unix workstations and servers from Hewlett-Packard
running Wang's imaging and office software. Wang will adapt its
software to run on the HP 9000 Series 800 business servers, which
will be sold worldwide by Wang and by both companies' dealer
networks.

The deal covers all of Wang's Unix-based integrated software
including its Open/image software and its recently announced
integrated software products, including PACE for Open Systems,
Open/office, and COBOL ReSource.

The agreement also includes a technology sharing provision
between Wang and HP, which includes technical consulting on
porting the Wang software, and the development and sharing of
future product plans.

Open/image products support document imaging using Unix or Novell
NetWare servers and personal computers running Microsoft Windows.
Functions include scanning, printing, faxing and storage, Wang
said.

PACE for Open Systems is a set of application tools meant to aid
in creating client/server database applications for PCs running
Windows. Open/office is an electronic mail system for large
organizations. COBOL/ReSource is a set of tools for developing
Unix applications using the COBOL programming language.

Wang officials predicted the Open/image software will be
commercially available for the HP systems by the end of June 1993
and that the other products will be ported by year-end.

Wang, which is operating under the protection of Chapter 11 of
US bankruptcy law, said the deal has been approved by a
creditors' committee but still needs the approval of the
bankruptcy court.

Wang also resells Unix workstations and servers made by IBM under
its own name.

(Grant Buckler/19930312/Press Contact: Frank Ryan, Wang,
508-967-7038; Ed Pignone, Wang, 508-967-4912; Jan Emerson, HP,
408-447-5331; Melissa Calvo, HP, 408-447-5456)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(LAX)(00029)

 ****You Can Block Calls You Don't Want In California 03/12/93
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 MAR 12 (NB) -- If someone
calls you and you wish they would never call you again, you can
now press three numbers on your telephone to make it so. The
next time the caller tries your number from their phone,
they'll get the message, "We're sorry. The party you are
calling is not accepting this call. Thank you."

The service is part of a suite of six new services offered by
Pacific Bell and based on the Signaling System Seven (SS7)
technology that would have also allowed Pacific Bell to offer
the controversial Caller ID services. Caller ID, adopted in
other states, would allow identification of the telephone
number of the caller.

While the company cannot offer Caller ID in California because
of regulations set by the California Public Utilities
Commission, it is allowing California residents to make use of
the SS7 technology via services entitled Call Trace, Call
Return, Select Call Forwarding, Repeat Dialing, Priority
Ringing, and Call Screen.

Call Trace is specifically for stopping harassing calls and
allows you to set up a trace of any call you receive by
pressing *57 on the phone once the caller has hung up. While
Pacific Bell will not allow you access to the number, it will
allow the police department access to the number once you've
filed a police report.

Call Return allows you to call back anyone who called you by
pressing *69 on your phone. Select Call Forwarding allows you
to decide what telephone numbers you would like forwarded and
Priority Ringing allows you to select up to 10 phone numbers
which will have a single different ring when calls are placed
to you from those numbers. Repeat Dialing allows you to have
the phone company repeatedly dial a number for you until the
line is free, call you back, and then place the call to the
other party.

Call Screen allows you to choose 10 phone numbers of people in your
service area you would like to stop from calling you. If you don't
know the number you may add the number to your call screen list
anyway if you do so by pressing *60 after the party has hung
up. You can also change the numbers on your call screening
list.

The six new services range from $3.50 to $6.00 per month each,
except Call Trace which has no per month charges, but starts at
$5.00 per call traced. A one-time installation fee for each
service ranges in price from $5.00 to $6.00.

Pacific Bell representative Linda Bonniksen told Newsbytes the
new services are being offered first in the San Francisco Bay Area,
the East Bay, Los Angeles, Orange County, and the Inland Empire
first and they've already proven to be extremely popular.
Bonnikson said the introduction of the six services started
March 1 and already over 14,000 orders for the new services
have come in.

(Linda Rohrbough/19930312/Press Contact: Linda Bonniksen,
Pacific Bell, tel [phone], fax [phone])


(REVIEW)(APPLE)(SFO)(00030)

Review of - Mission Thunderbolt, Game For Mac 03/12/93

Runs on: Macintoshes

From: Casady & Greene, 222734 Portola Ave., Salinas, CA 93908,
408-484-9228

Price: $59.95

PUMA rating: 3.75 (on a scale of 1=lowest to 4=highest)

Reviewed for Newsbytes by: Naor Wallach

Summary: A fantasy role playing game in which you try to recover
a secret weapon from a complex laboratory that's been overrun
by alien hordes. Just the thing to spend countless hours on.

=======

REVIEW

=======

Mission: Thunderbolt is a single player fantasy role playing (FRP)
game. Its premise is that a nuclear war on earth had allowed
alien invaders to take over the world. You are one of a handful
of people who are part of the resistance to the aliens and
specifically part of a commando team that was sent to one of the
most secret laboratories that old earth had. Your mission is to
recover a fabled weapon called the anti-matter bomb.

Unfortunately, on the way to the cave lab's entrance, you were
ambushed by an alien patrol and only you survived. Now, the
fate of humanity is in your hands as you single-handedly try
to save the world from the alien invaders!

You start at the top level of the complex, with only that stuff
that you had saved from the ambush. As you wander through the
complex looking for your query, you will find many other
artifacts and tools. Some will be useful, and some will not.
Also wandering the complex are a vast horde of mutated creatures
and alien life forms. Most of them need to be killed by you in
some way, although some of them are either friendly towards
you outright, or can be befriended if you know how to do it.

Like most FRP's, the more bad guys you kill, the more
experience points you accumulate. As those experience points
grow, you are steadily advanced in your level. Unlike other
FRPs that I've played, your level doesn't seem to do too
much for you. Your other attributes (like strength, intelligence,
dexterity, etc.) are only raised by the discovery of pills
that you eat.

Half the fun of the game is trying to figure out what the
different things that you come across do. There is a wide
array of pills. Some of them are useful to you in your quest,
some are not. There are only two ways to discover what a
particular pill does -- swallow it and see the effects, or go to
a library and pay 100 coins to have the machine tell you.
Obviously, the first method is quicker and cheaper, albeit
consuming more time in saving your game and then restoring it
when a pill is found to be harmful. There are literally dozens
of different pills so have a pad of paper handy when you play
to jot down which pill color does what.

The anti-matter bomb appears to be stored 16 levels deep in the
complex. I cannot say so for a fact since I've never been able
to get down below level 10. Each level needs to be explored to
discover all of the tools, consumables, and devices that are
available on it and, of course, to kill off all of the varied
creatures that roam the place. The goal, of course, is to
find the way down to the next level.

You may occasionally come across warrens which are further
hideouts of nasties. The advantage of exploring a warren is
that it normally contains a wealth of useful tools and devices.

Just as with pills, the devices are often a mystery. You
can determine what they do in one of two ways, either experiment
with them (and their consequences) or pay the librarian for
the information. Experimentation can be a lot of fun, but I
found it best to pay up. After all, one cannot figure out
what a holo-cube does unless one knows exactly how to use it.

As you go down in levels of the complex and in the warrens,
the kinds of nasties that you will meet and the traps that
you encounter get progressively worse. You will also find
better equipment. Each of the nasties has to be handled differently.
While the Giant Rat and the Bat are easy enough to dispatch, what
do you do with a Snagglepuss or a Tentacular Horror? Much of the
fun and frustration of the game revolves around solving these
kinds of riddles.

Once you've learned how to deal with the enemy, you can move on.
Do remember though, that not everything you find needs to be
slashed or shot unmercifully. If you can befriend a Tentacular
Horror, he may turn out to be an incredible ally as it goes
through an area, killing all of the nasties that it encounters
for you. In some cases, befriending some of the creatures and
having them do some of the dirty work for you is the only way
that you can get through certain portions of this game.

The game contains a fair dollop of humor. The aliens that you
constantly fear are called Zytts. One of the creatures that
runs around is called a Kiddie Commando and the way to get rid
of him is to play Splatball with him.

I cannot tell you what happens when you win. Casady & Greene
suggests setting aside a lot of time for play and they are not
kidding. I spoke with their people and was told that they
know of only one person who completed the game and it took him
about three months, spending approximately five hours daily on
it!

I will relay one final tip to you. As you are ready to go down
to the next level, quit from the game and make a copy of your
file at that place. Then, if you should find that the next level
down is too hard to traverse, you can use the saved copy to
restart. The game creates the next level - including creatures,
tools, equipment, and walls - when you enter it for the first
time. So, if you do not like what is happening, you can have
that level created anew.

The game itself is very large. It took up about 7MB from my hard
drive. It comes in four diskettes. The manual is a must read.
Without reading the manual, you have very little chance of
succeeding initially. The game can be played completely with
the mouse, completely with the keyboard, or by some combination
of the two based on your choice. The graphics are very clear
and the icons are outstanding. Game play is smooth with
minimal delays and there are sounds interspersed with the
game play that add considerably to the enjoyment of the game.

There is really only one aspect of the game that I thought
could have been improved. In most other FRP games that I've
enjoyed, there were always riddles within a riddle. In other
words, you knew what your ultimate goal is, but along the way
you had to go on other quests or solve other riddles to find
a clue to proceed. This game was much more one dimensional.
You know that the anti-matter bomb is somewhere below
and you try to get to it. There is really nothing else
to distract - and entertain - you along the route.

The game is copy protected. Every so often - rather rarely -
you are asked to enter a word that appears next to an icon
on your code sheet. This sheet is printed in light blue on
pink paper so as to make it virtually impossible to copy.

=============

PUMA RATINGS

=============

PERFORMANCE: 4 I encountered no problems on my ancient Macintosh
II. The game ran smoothly and efficiently throughout.

USEFULNESS: 4 I am an unabashed fan of FRP games. This is a good
one.

MANUAL: 4 It is clear, clean, and understandable. As is
required in games like these, there is a tutorial/example in it
with may diagrams.

AVAILABILITY: 3 Available from mail order and software stores all
over. I've seen it advertised in many of the catalogs and
magazines that I get. The only reason for downgrading the score
here is the fact that Casady & Greene do not offer a toll-free
number for technical support calls.

(Naor Wallach/19930214/Judy Frey, Casady & Greene, 408-484-9228)