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/NB930521

Text File | 1993-05-25 | 71KB | 1,548 lines

(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00001)

International Telecom Update 05/21/93
ATLANTA, GEORGIA, U.S.A., 1993 MAY 21 (NB) -- Italy made much
of the week's telecommunications news, illustrating in microcosm
the strains all phone networks are prone to.

Italy recently rationalized a morass of phone utilities handling
local, long distance and international calls into a single
holding company. The move was made to prepare for privatization,
as the nation tries to cut deficits and boost competitiveness.
The nation continues to be plagued by scandals, and the head of
Siemens' Italian unit is among the latest to be arrested on
suspicion of corruption.

However, the STET phone unit, which is on a list of five major
state-owned groups to be sold-off, is already competitive in
other nations, and is among six companies in the running to buy 35
percent of the Greek OTE phone unit. The others are NTT of Japan,
state-owned France Telecom, Spain's Telefonica, Korea Telefon,
and GTE of the US. Greece hopes to earn $1.5 billion from the sale,
because OTE is profitable, but the company does need to invest
heavily to bring networks up to West European standards. STET
shares rose in response, as analysts expect higher profits.

Italy is also extending its network to North Africa, with an
agreement to link with Tunisia. Tunisia's end of the link will be
financed by Italian loans, and the 7,500 call capacity cable will
link North Africa generally with Europe.

In the Philippines, President Fidel Ramos is also trying to stamp
out corruption and increase competitiveness, and a big part of
the plan is breaking up the monopoly on telecommunications by
licensing new carriers and passing a stiff anti-trust law. In the
last week his regulators also approved a third cellular franchise
called Smartcom, in which Hong Kong investors hold a big stake,
and a state-owned bank set a $300 million program in motion for
local companies to improve the national infrastructure, including
telecommunications. Two more cellular carriers are due to be
selected to compete with Piltel and Extelcom, which combined
had 60,000 subscribers at the end of last year.

But the goodwill from all that may be lost over a damage suit
against Cable & Wireless of the UK by Digitel, a long distance
carrier. C&W withdrew from a project to improve the network on
Luzon Island, and Digitel sued, although C&W owns 27 percent of
the company. At the heart of the suit is another case involving
its Eastern Telecoms affiliate, which was denied the right to
operate an international gateway from Manila.  British Telecom
might replace C&W on the Luzon project. All this sank C&W shares,
which had risen after strong results from Hong Kong Telecom,
where it holds a majority stake, were reported.

If Ramos has any hope of success it's based on a boom throughout
the region led by China, whose demand to double phone capacity
over the next two years has created a frenzy among equipment
suppliers. China now has about 30 million lines, but wants 100
million by the year 2000. Most important, China's booming economy
means it can afford the equipment, and its price for letting in
suppliers is to move them toward opening factories in the
country.

Alcatel of France is among the companies desperate to keep its
market share in China and willing to spend for it, investing $100
million in a Shanghai plant producing up to four million new lines
by 1998. It's part of a $500 million expansion of facilities
throughout the region. Ericsson won the contract to supply Hubei
province with a cellular phone network covering 20,000
subscribers. It's a joint venture between state authorities and
MTC Electronic Technologies of Canada, which created a boom in
MTC stock. Ericsson has won 12 of the 27 cellular equipment
contracts awarded in China so far.

The boom has created a spillover of investment elsewhere. Siemens
of Germany will increase investments throughout the region,
thanks to a four million line backlog it has in China for its EWSD
digital switches. Three Chinese Siemens plants are already on the
drawing board, along with a plant in Thailand and the first
licensed production in Vietnam, where Siemens has orders for
300,000 lines. Smaller US companies like Stratacom are also
hustling to extend distribution to the area - Stratacom makes
frame relay switches, and now has distributors in Singapore and
Thailand.

In South America, good results by Argentina's Telecom and
Telefonica were followed by lower than expected results in Brazil
from Telebras, which the government still hopes to sell-off.
Analysts shrugged off the news, pushing the stock's price higher.
Also, US companies continue to invest in the region, with Able
Telcom Holding announcing it will buy 90,000 shares of Intelcom,
a Chilean telecom sales and service company, for stock.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19930520/Press Contact: Able Telcom, Wendy
Smith, 305-776-0667; StrataCom, Margaret Parkinson, tel
408-494-2270, fax [phone]; Ericsson, Kathy Egan,
212-685-4030)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(WAS)(00002)

US Considers Action Against Japan Trade Practices 05/21/93
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1993 MAY 21 (NB) -- The Clinton
Administration is considering taking some serious steps to force
Japan to open up its markets to foreign goods and thereby reduce
its trade surplus with the rest of the world. While this position
may have been strengthened by the recent report of a surge in
the US trade deficit, that was only the final straw tipping the
scales toward a possible major confrontation, according to some
Washington insiders.

The mid-April meeting between President Clinton and Japanese
Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa apparently didn't go terribly well
because the Japanese responses to US calls for open markets
have taken on a new undertone of unpleasantness.

White House insider comments, as reported on CNN and other news
services, indicate that the new administration is fed up with
Japanese intransigence and that the President has been advised by
a high-level task force that he should demand that Japan take
steps to cut its nearly $100 billion yearly trade surplus with
the US by half in the next few years.

In contrast to its own business practices which always focus on
goals, Japan has always rejected any firm goals for specific
trade imbalance reductions and there is some question about what
concrete steps President Clinton can actually take to force open
the Japanese markets.

This is the major problem facing the new Administration - just
what can the US government do to compel Japan to finally take
concrete steps to reduce its share of the US market, or
increase US sales in Japan? An international trade war, which
would hurt everyone, isn't in the picture, and whether the
President has the political power to push through unilateral
tariffs against Japan is questionable despite the fact that this
sort of retaliation is the only way that previous presidents have
found useful.

Retaliation in the form of tariffs such as those imposed when
semiconductor import agreements were broken by the Japanese,
have proven effective, finally opening up about 20 percent of the
domestic Japanese market to foreign produced chips. But such
actions can only be taken as part of a negotiated agreement
unless President Clinton wants to start an all-out trade war and
violate various international treaties.

Although not widely seen as an effective tool, even the ability
of the US government to talk down the value of the dollar
verses the yen appears to have been blunted in recent days.
Commerce Secretary Ron Brown (former head of the Democratic
National Committee) has called for a higher value for the yen, a
move which previously has caused the dollar to plunge in value,
but this time virtually nothing happened in the international
currency markets in response.

Despite the widely recognized trade problem, President Clinton
will face a formidable political backlash if he really tries to
get tough with the Japanese.

Pat Choate, in his landmark book "Agents of Influence" points out
on the very first page that "Japan spends at least $100 million
each year to hire hundreds" of Washington insiders, and "another
$300 million each year to shape American public opinion."

Observers contend that, one example of how Japanese lobbying
can influence both government action and public opinion was seen
when former US Trade Representative Carla Hills removed an
August 1988 congressional ban on Japanese construction firms
bidding on government projects after it was only in effect for
one year.

The ban was removed on the basis of the fact that Japan promised
to open up some high-profile construction projects to bidding by
American companies, not award them to US companies, but merely
permit the companies to bid.

The public opinion win is seen in the fact that while the opening
up of 17 projects was widely reported on US television news
programs, not one pointed out that Japan had actually only
permitted US bids on 17 out of 500,000 annual public works
projects (numbers from Pat Choate's book) open to Japanese-
based bidders. Some analysts maintain that this left the false
impression that Japan had made major moves to open up its
construction market.

(John McCormick/19930520)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(WAS)(00003)

Firms Struggle To Serve Growing Telecommuter Market 05/21/93
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1993 MAY 21 (NB) -- As more and more
individuals make the move from corporate office life to working
from their homes, the telecommunications industry is struggling
to find a way to target this niche market. According to the May
10 issue of Telephony magazine, Rochester Telephone company
and AT&T are pooling their resources to create The Home Office
TeleTools Program, a marketing package designed to help those
working at, and from, home increase their professional edge,
learn to handle customers and make more sales.

Initial advertising is taking the direct marketing approach with
the present pilot program being offered through an insert in
monthly residential phone bills - home office operators who
respond to the insert receive a newsletter, productivity kits,
and seminar offers.

A similar program is being tried at BellSouth in Atlanta to help
companies set up a system for managing telecommuters. The guide,
which is scheduled to be offered to telephone customers this
summer, tries to balance human resources with technological
upgrading, rather than underemphasizing the human element.

Consumers who join the teletools program receive a discount on
telephone equipment.

Since there are few telephone services available or even
suggested by telecom companies (call waiting, callerID)
which are not already known or used by home office users and
because the telecom companies have little leverage in selling
things like computers or fax machines to home office operators or
telecommuters, there doesn't appear to be any ready new market
waiting for the telephone companies to penetrate.

While telecommuters, their employers, and home office owners
can expect an ever growing flood of offers from telephone
companies, the fact is that all a telecommuter needs from the
regional Bells is a relatively noise-free telephone/data line and
an acceptable rate structure.

(Rick Bender and John McCormick/19930520)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SYD)(00004)

Australia - Microsoft Changes Support Strategy 05/21/93
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1993 MAY 21 (NB) -- Microsoft Australia is
to introduce a new range of support structures in the fourth
quarter this year. The new structure will include three levels,
based largely on how much users want to pay.

The levels are: Free Support; Express Report (pay-for-service);
and Premier support (for larger customers and channel partners,
which involves advanced support purchases on a commercial
basis).

Microsoft says that a critical component of the new support
structure will be the introduction of "highly trained third-party
support providers which will ensure improved support by
increasing the volume of resources dedicated to Microsoft
support and creating an extremely competitive service
environment."

Microsoft is currently negotiating with several third-parties,
while some already have Microsoft-trained support staff. The
existing phone support system will continue to operate in
parallel until the end of December.

With the Free Support program, all phone calls relating to setup
or installation of a Microsoft desktop application, desktop
operating system or language, will be free to users who register
products. Electronic support, including bulletin boards and an
interactive voice-response service called Fast Tips will also be
free.

With Express Support, a charge of AUS$35 per call for desktop
products and AUS$200 per call for professional products will be
levied. It will be available from the existing Microsoft phone
support system and from third-party providers. It can also be
purchased in blocks or on an annual basis.

With Premier Support, rates will be negotiated with each user
such as resellers, third-party support providers or large
customers.

Microsoft Australia Managing Director Gary Jackson said that
factors such as the rapid proliferation of PCs, the emergence of
PCs as the mainstream computer platform, user demand, and
Microsoft's position as a supplier of a wide range of products
made the introduction of some "user-pay" support services
inevitable. "Many organizations are now using PCs for the
mission-critical applications they once ran on minis and
mainframes. They require traditional mainframe-level support
and no-one can provide that free."

He added, "It's important to note that while many support calls
will now cost the user, setup and installation calls will remain
free. In the longer term it will be more equitable with users
only paying for the level of service they require, or not paying at
all if they don't require service."

He said additional benefits of the new support structure were
the provision of a new revenue stream for third-party support
providers and Microsoft's increased ability to continue to
reduce prices.

Microsoft Australia operates a user club called "Communique."
It also offers an enhanced telephone support service, but this
will apparently be phased out as memberships expire.

(Paul Zucker/19930520/Press Contact: Microsoft Australia,
tel [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(UNIX)(LAX)(00005)

New Sybase Audit Server Offers Transparent Capture 05/21/93
EMERYVILLE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 MAY 21 (NB) -- Sybase says
it has introduced the Sybase Audit Server in response to what it
sees as a growing demand for security and monitoring of database
activity in client/server network environments. The product is
aimed at high-volume database environments and sits between
the Sybase structured query language (SQL) server and its clients,
recording activity.

The biggest feature of the Audit Server is that it allows database
administrators to customize their own auditing and security
policies and then records events defined as "auditable events"
by the administrator, Sybase representatives said. It then
creates a database which can be searched by authorized security
administrators and captures and records the events requested.

As little or as much as the administrator wants can be captured
with total transparency to the user, according to Sybase
representative Mitch Selbiger. The product can be run from a
different computer on the network to maintain the security of
the database and running Audit Server on another computer also
can serve to eliminate delays to the user caused by the auditing,
Selbiger said. Delays in response to a large part depend on how
much the Audit Server is capturing.

Capturing and recording is the main function of auditing
systems. The only way to catch security problems is to capture
instances of inappropriate access or modifications of critical
data. Some of the latest tricks to circumvent security systems
have to do with hackers who throw up a kernel between the user
and the system that looks just like the log-on screen. The user
enters his identification and password information, which the
hacker captures, and then the kernel disappears and the real
log-on screen appears. Since the previous log-on screen looks
the same, the user simply assumes they did something wrong,
enters the information again, and gains access as normal.
However, the hacker has captured the log-on information.

Selbiger said this type of activity can be recorded
transparently with the Sybase Audit Server and the captured
records can then be used to mitigate security threats and
improve overall system integrity. Sybase says the product
exceeds the Department of Defense C2 auditing requirements.

The Sybase Audit Server runs on Sun, Vax, and OS/2-based
systems. The company says the product will work with the 4.2
or higher version release of the Sybase SQL Server, up to and
including the System 10 family of server products.

Sybase says the product should be available in 30 days and
pricing begins at $2,500. The Sybase Audit Server was co-
developed by New York City-based Softport Systems.

(Linda Rohrbough/19930520/Press Contact: Susan McVey,
Sybase, tel [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(DEL)(00006)

India - Sun Distributor Wins Large Order From UTI 05/21/93
BANGALORE, INDIA, 1993 MAY 21 (NB) -- Wipro Infotech, the Indian
distributor of Sun Microsystems, has received a large order, worth
Rs 31 crore ($10 million), from the Unit Trust of India (UTI).

The Bombay-headquartered UTI is the country's oldest, largest
and the most successful mutual fund company, owned by the
government but run on an autonomous basis. Its Mastergain and
Mastershare schemes have attracted over five million investors
each. The Rs 100-crore ($32.3 million) computerization program
has assumed top priority at UTI because of the rise in the number
of investors - 10 million to 21.3 million in the current financial
year.

In setting up its own computer network, UTI has planned for three
phases. The first phase involves its Bombay operations, for which
five Sun SPARCcenter 2000 dual-processor and six SPARCserver
1041 will be used as front-end machines. The next phase will
cover the five metros for which the current order is in the range
of Rs 17 crore ($5.5 million). Subsequently, the final phase, for
which the tendering is yet to be done, will be to link all the 35
cities. Oracle 7 has been chosen as the database management
system to be supplied separately by Oracle.

For Wipro, the UTI order is yet another windfall, after it received
the Rs 40 crore ($13 million) purchase order by the Bombay Stock
Exchange for Tandem and Sun systems.

Five computer vendors were competing for the UTI contract for
the hardware supply: HCL Hewlett-Packard, Tata Information
Systems (a Tata-IBM venture), Digital Equipment India, Wipro
Infotech, and ICIM (International Computers Indian Manufacture,
which is an ICL subsidiary). CMC is the consultant for the project.

(C.T. Mahabharat/19930521)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(DEL)(00007)

India - Autodesk Plans To Source Software 05/21/93
BANGALORE, INDIA, 1993 MAY 21 (NB) -- Autodesk, best known
for its computer-aided design (CAD) software, will source
software from India. One of the major thrusts of the company's
India operations is going to be an ambitious third-party software
development program. Establishing a support infrastructure for
AutoCAD users and forming user groups are also on the agenda.

O.P. Srinivasan, country manager of Autodesk sees a vast potential
for third-party software development in the country. "We are
looking for third-party solutions specific to Indian conditions," he
said. The development will be in areas of engineering, architecture,
and geographic information systems (GIS). The company is already
talking to developers. As such, Autodesk has no estimates on how
many developers it may ultimately sign up.

The fact that third party programs by other companies failed to
gather momentum in India does not seem to deter Autodesk. "The
key element of Autodesk's strategy has always been third-party
development," observed Dominic Gallelo, vice president of
Autodesk, Asia Pacific. "Given the kind of development skills
available here, I don't see why it should not succeed."

All along Autodesk has been sourcing support through its
distributors Tata Unisys and Neil Automation of Pune, or through
the 20 Authorized Training Centers (ATC) it has setup in various
parts of the country. Now, support will also be offered by Autodesk
directly. Additional support staff will be placed at the company's
liaison office in Bangalore. A 24-hour response center will also
be made available to the 6,000 legal AutoCAD users in the country.

ATCs are another priority area for the company. "We will be
streamlining existing ATCs and plan set up more than a hundred
in the next two years," said Srinivasan. A national AutoCAD user
group is also in the offing.

With nearly 85 percent of the company's revenues come from DOS-
based CAD products. Autodesk has a 70 percent share of that market
internationally. The shift to Windows is also on. With its flagship
product still being AutoCAD, the company is diversifying into
manufacturing, solids and surfaces, and multimedia.

Some of these products are targeted at the Indian market. Through
Tata Unisys, the company is making available Animation Pro 1.3,
3D studio release 2.0 and Multimedia Explorer. The multimedia
products will enable developers to build PC-based applications in
which users can interact with three-dimensional worlds in
real-time. This includes virtual reality applications. "We also see
a potential market for some of our low-end products such as
Autosketch,'' said Gallelo.

(C.T. Mahabharat/19930521)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(DEL)(00008)

Indian Gov't Parallel Proc R&D Unit Thinks Commercial 05/21/93
BANGALORE, INDIA, 1993 MAY 21 (NB) -- The Advanced Numerical
and Analysis Group (Anurag), the research and development (R&D)
laboratory of the Defence Research and Development Organization
(DRDO), has tied up with Ultra Business Machines Proprietary Ltd.
(UBM), of the TVS group, for the commercial production of its
Pace-Sparc parallel processing computer.

UBM is in collaboration with Themis Computers of France to
manufacture a range of Themis' VME bus-based boards which
includes a Sparc on VME bus single-board computer, called Sparc
2LC. Using these boards as the base, UBM will be implementing
the parallel computing framework provided by Anurag.

Pace-Sparc can be configured from four nodes to 128 nodes. The
four node version delivers 14.5 MFLOPS, the 32 node version 100
MFLOPS and the 128-node machine can deliver 375 MFLOPS
(Linpack). Besides applications demanding heavy number-crunching
- such as weather-forecast, signal processing, and robotics - UBM
is targeting segments requiring powerful graphics such as
medical imaging.

In a parallel development, the Bhabha Atomic Research Center
(BARC) has entrusted to the Electronics Corporation of India Ltd.
(ECIL) the manufacturing rights of its Anupam series of parallel
processing systems. The 32-node version of Anupam, currently
under testing, is claimed to be 80 percent as fast as the American
Cray Y-MP. The Rs 50-lakh (around $170,000) RISC-based
supercomputer is capable of a peak computing speed of 640
MFLOPS and a Linpack benchmark speed of 52 MFLOPS.

The Center for the Development of Telematics (CDOT) is also
negotiating with Tata Elxsi India (TEIL) to manufacture and
market its parallel processor, called Chipps. Based on the single
algorithm multiple data (SAMD) architecture, Chipps comes in
three versions. At the entry level, a 16-node, with a peak floating
point performance of 40 MFLOPS is offered. There is also a 64-node
version with peak performance of 160 MFLOPS. More recently,
CDOT has come out with 192 node machine that can deliver peak
MFLOPS of 480.

India's initiative to build a supercomputer started in 1988, when
the US refused to allow the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore,
and the Indian Meteorological Department to import Cray
supercomputers. That year the National Aeronautical Laboratory
(NAL) displayed the first parallel processing supercomputer.
Though not intended for commercial use, the MK-2 was the
predecessor to today's parallel processing machines.

With Wipro Infotech's help, NAL has now developed the
Flosolver-MK3, which is based on seven i860 processors. Besides
complex computational fluid dynamics codes and codes for climatic
modeling, encryptography and image processing have also been run
on Flosolver MK3. The MK-3 is expected to cost between Rs 50-60
lakh (around $170,000 - $200,000).

The first parallel processing system to be sold commercially was
the Param, developed by Center for Development of Advanced
Computing (CDAC). CDAC transferred the Param technology to
Thermax in 1991. Using over 250 processors, these machines can
provide seamless, scalable performance exceeding 1GFLOPS and
over 3000 MIPS.

The indigenous development of Pace-Sparc and other supercomputers
is expected to speed up the projects that were delayed due to the
unavailability of supercomputers. "High tech computers will no
longer be a constraint for us and we can declare independence from
foreign dependence," said Abdul Kalam, scientific adviser to the
defence minister, while launching DRDO's Pace-Sparc.

(C.T. Mahabharat/19930521)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(LON)(00009)

Ericsson Supplies Analog Cellular System To China 05/21/93
STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN, 1993 MAY 21 (NB) -- Ericsson, a name
normally associated with digital mobile telephony, has signed a
contract for the supply of an analog cellular system to China.
Terms of the contract call for the Swedish telecoms company to
supply a complete TACS (Total Access Communications System)
cellular phone system to the Hubei province in South-East China.

The service is designed to cater for a relatively small number of
subscribers - around the 20,000 mark - but will offer roaming
to other TACS services around China as a standard feature. Inter-
system roaming is a technology rarely seen on analog cellular
outside of the US, but the Chinese have opted for this feature,
owing to the premium cost of the service in the country.

Ericsson's contract is with PTMTC Communications, a joint
venture company established by the Hubei telecoms company and
MTC Electronic Technologies in Canada. This deal is Ericsson's
12th in China, which has mobile phone systems in operation in
no less than 27 of its provinces. The largest systems are in
Guangdong, Hunan, and Shanghai.

(Steve Gold/19930520)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(LON)(00010)

Ericsson Toshiba Extends Tokyo's Digital Mobile Net 05/21/93
STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN, 1993 MAY 21 (NB) --  Ericsson Toshiba, the
joint venture company between Ericsson of Sweden and Toshiba of
Japan, has secured a contract to extend Tokyo's digital cellular
phone network.

The extension contract is a $40 million second deal for the company,
which secured the original deal to establish the network last year.
Plans call for the joint venture company to increase its workforce
from the original 110 signed up over the last year.

The deal is highly prestigious for Ericsson, the Swedish telecoms
giant. The company has contracted to supply its digital phone
technology to three telecoms companies in Japan: Tokyo Digital
Phone, the Kansai Phone Company, and Tokyo Digital Phone in the
Nagoya area of Tokyo. Newsbytes understands that all Ericsson-
supplied telephone networks in Japan will have the facility for
inter-system roaming.

According to Ericsson, Japan is fast becoming the center for digital
mobile phone technology in the world. The market for digital mobile
phone services is growing rapidly in the country and, by the year
2000, Japan will have around 13 million subscribers.

(Steve Gold/19930520)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(LON)(00011)

Cellular Phones Set To Arrive In Bulgaria 05/21/93
SOFIA, BULGARIA, 1993 MAY 21 (NB) -- Cable & Wireless has
revealed that it plans to set up a cellular phone network in
Bulgaria. To be called the Mobifon system, the network will be
set up by RTC. a joint venture company part-owned (49 percent)
by C&W, Bulgarian Telecoms (39 percent), and private investors
(12 percent).

The idea behind the network's establishment, according to John
Munnery, managing director of RTC, is that C&W can re-invest its
profits from selling telecoms services in the country. "We will
maintain long-term investments in Bulgaria and all our profits
in the first three to four years will be reinvested," he said.

Plans call for the network to service the cities of Sofia and
Plovdiv, as well as the main routes between the two areas. In the
longer term, the network will be rolled out to cover most of
Bulgaria (Munnery estimates 85 percent national coverage
within six years) by the end of the decade.

As with all cellular phone systems behind the former "iron
curtain," the cost of subscribing to the network will be
relatively high. Because of this, RTC estimates that around
7,500 subscribers will be on-line when the service opens for
business later this year.

(Steve Gold/19930520)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(LON)(00012)

UK - 4th "Fixed" Telephone Net Operator Gets Under Way 05/21/93
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1993 MAY 21 (NB) -- Ionica, the fourth
telecommunications network operator in the UK, has begun
installing its network. Northern Telecom has been contracted to
supply the radio-based equipment required for the network to
operate.

Unlike BT, Mercury and the Kingston-upon-Hull telecoms company,
Ionica has no plans to rip up roads to get its cabling into
subscriber's houses and offices. Instead, the company will terminate
its cables to boxes on poles on street corners. From there, low
power radio transceivers will link to radio-based phones and phone
sockets located on subscriber's premises. There is no provision for
inter-base station switching, Newsbytes notes - meaning that the
radio-based system is purely a telecoms delivery mechanism.

The Northern Telecom contract to supply the radio technology
required to get Ionica's network up and running is worth around
UKP100 million, Newsbytes understands.

Ionica was awarded a public telephone operator's license by the
Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) in February of this year. The
company joins BT and Mercury Communications in being able to
offer national fixed telecoms services. Kingston-upon-Hull is a
private company licensed to provide similar services, but only
in the Hull area.

According to Northern Telecom, the technology which will be used in
Ionica's network has attracted considerable interest from foreign
telecoms administrations. Telecom Finland, Newsbytes understands,
has already chosen to adopt similar technology,

Nigel Playford, Ionica's managing director, said he is delighted to
have the cooperation of Northern Telecom in getting Ionica's
telephone network up and running. "Northern Telecom's expertise
in this field, including using the strength of their international
distribution and support network to exploit the product in
overseas markets, was a key factor in our decision," he said.

So far, Ionica has remained coy on exactly when its service will
be available to subscribers. The company has merely stated its
intention to offer alternative telecoms services, including the
provision of "local loop" services, at rates lower than those of BT
and Mercury.

(Steve Gold/19930520/Press & Public Contact: Ionica -
Tel: [phone])


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(TYO)(00013)

Japan - 128MB 3.5-inch Optical Disk Developed 05/21/93
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1993 MAY 21 (NB) -- A researcher group of Tohoku
University has developed a technology and the material to develop
a 3.5-inch optical disk with 128 megabytes (MB) of data storage.

The group, led by Assistant Professor Ken Takahashi, has applied
a magnetic material for this disk - a combination of manganese,
antimony, and platinum. With a short wave laser beam, the
researchers were reportedly able to draw an extremely narrow
line to store data on the disk.

One of the major advantages of the optical disk is that it accepts
both reading and writing, just as regular 3.5-inch floppy disks. It
is also reported that the retail cost of the disk will be much
cheaper than that of existing optical disks.

A number of computer vendors have shown the interest in the
optical disk with a view to the commercial applications for
the technology.

(Masayuki "Massey" Miyazawa/19930520/Press Contact:
Tohoku University, [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(TYO)(00014)

IBM Japan Creates OS/2 Consortium 05/21/93
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1993 MAY 21 (NB) -- IBM Japan has created an
OS/2 consortium in cooperation with about 80 firms, including
hardware vendors and the users. With the consortium, IBM Japan
intends to back up Japanese OS/2 in its likely battle against
Windows NT.

IBM Japan's OS/2 consortium will hold research meetings and
information exchange sessions among its member firms. Through
these meetings and activities, IBM Japan wants to stimulate
the development of OS/2 application programs. Currently, there
are only about 50 Japanese application programs for 32-bit
computers.

IBM Japan is currently selling OS/2 J2.0. The firm is planning
to release the upgraded version - J2.1 - around this fall. Also,
IBM Japan will release Japanese Workplace OS early next year.
These operating systems will vie with Microsoft's Japanese
Windows, especially Windows NT, which are scheduled for release
by the end of this year.

Microsoft has just begun a major advertising campaign for
Japanese Windows 3.1 on television and in newspapers.

Group members include Fujitsu, Toshiba, Borland International,
Lotus Development, Just Systems, CSK, Hitachi, NEC, and NTT
Data Communication. IBM Japan's Vice President Seiji Ishida has
assumed the chairmanship of the consortium. IBM Japan hopes to
increase membership to 200 by the end of the year.

(Masayuki "Massey" Miyazawa/19930520/Press Contact: IBM
Japan, tel [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(MOW)(00015)

Russia - Aquarius To Distribute Zenith PCs 05/21/93
MOSCOW, RUSSIA, 1993 MAY 21 (NB) -- Aquarius System Integral
(ASI) has become the first Russian distributor of the French
computer manufacturer, Bull. Under terms of the agreement, the
Russian company will sell Zenith Data Systems' IBM-compatible
personal computers.

According to Leonid Bertzev, ASI commercial director, Zenith
computers will be sold through local dealers. Bertzev was also
quoted as saying that Aquarius is going to sell the full range of
Zenith PCs and has plans to reach sales volume of US1 million
by the end of 1993.

Aquarius, which is one of the biggest computer vendors in
Commonwealth of Independent States, has also decided to decrease
gradually the number of assembled Intel 386-based machines,
shifting towards 486 processor instead. ASI has facilities to
produce 10,000 PCs a month in the Shuya, Ryasan region.

Although Aquarius is a prominent brand name in Russia, in April
the chairman of Taiwan-based ASI Paul Liu told European
Computer Sources magazine that Russian Aquarius is just a
franchise: "It only uses our brandname. Now sales to Russia
account for less than three percent of our total revenues. It is
less than our sales to Saudi Arabia."

Aquarius has an aggressive overseas policy. It has a joint
venture in the western part of Germany and another factory in
the eastern part. It also has operations in China and the US,
and plans to start production facilities in Britain and Mexico.

(Eugene Peskin & Kirill Tchashchin/19930521/Press Contact:
Aquarius System Integral, Leonid Bertzev,[phone])


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

 ****PacBell Sets $650 Million Fiber Upgrade 05/21/93
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A, 1993 MAY 21 (NB) -- Pacific
Bell set a $650 million buy of fiber optic equipment over the
next five years. Earlier in the year, it announced a $1 billion
plan to modernize its central office switches. It is aimed at
serving existing markets such as telecommuting and
videoconferencing, and future markets like distance learning
and remote medical diagnosis.

The new plan will mean widespread deployment of fiber networks
between central offices using Synchronous Optical Network, or
SONET, standards. Northern Telecom will be the lead supplier of
multiplexers for the new system, which Pacific Bell wants to
deliver data services under emerging asynchronous transport mode
(ATM) standards.

Northern Telecom will supply its S/DMS TransportNode
OC-3, OC-12, and OC-48 network equipment. While SONET is a
standard for transmission of signals over fiber, ATM is an
emerging data for transmitting data at speeds from 1.544
million bits-per-second (bps) to 622 million bps.

Other big contracts for the network will go to DSC Communications
of Texas, ADC Telecommunications of  Minneapolis, and Pirelli
Cable of Lexington, South Carolina. A press statement from DSC
states PacBell has committed to making 80 percent of its digital
loop carrier systems versions of its Litespan-2000 system. DSC
called the PacBell deal the longest-term, and one of the largest,
digital loop contracts ever.

Pacific Bell says it will continue to discuss cooperative
ventures with cable television companies in order to bring fast
data services to more customers, and expand its planned CalRen
fast data network. The Pacific Bell plans to spend $1.65 billion
over five years are still dwarfed by US West's plan to spend $10
billion over 10 years to modernize its networks in 14 western
states. US West also drew praise for its $2.5 billion investment
in Time Warner, which will help that company modernize its
cable network.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19930521/Press Contact: Terry Adams, DSC
Communications, 214-519-4358; Judy Peterson, Pacific Bell,
415-542-9468)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00017)

California Backing Away From Cellular Regulation 05/21/93
SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 MAY 21 (NB) -- California
regulators appear to be backing away from a controversial plan
to regulate cellular telephone rates. The California Public
Utilities Commission agreed to re-hear two major portions of its
October, 1992, decision based on moves by Fleet Call to turn its
frequencies into a competitive network.

The Cellular Carriers' Association of California, which
represents the industry, praised the decision as "another step
in the right direction." It follows an April decision to give
carriers greater flexibility in setting rates.

The industry is most fearful of the kind of rate-of-return
regulation long imposed on wired phone monopolies. The CPUC
is also going to re-hear a ruling which let cellular resellers
co-locate switches in carriers' offices. The CCAC claims
quality would suffer, but no such problems have been found
when "by-pass" companies like Teleport link their switches
to Bell company offices.

Fleet Call, which is changing its corporate name to NexTel, plans
to use digital technology and antenna repeaters to transform its
collection of Specialized Mobile Radio, or SMR licenses, into a
statewide network that can offer voice and data services in
direct competition with cellular carriers. The CCAC is using the
specter of this competition in a successful campaign to force the
regulators to back-off their plans to regulate the industry.

Separately, PacTel Cellular, which serves the entire state,
announced that it has signed a contract with InterVoice for a
system that will let it offer personal phone numbers, voice
recognition, and other advanced services.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19930521/Press Contact: Cellular Carriers
Association of California, Steve Carlson, 916-553-5810;
Dorothy Botnick, InterVoice, 214-497-8771)


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

Bell Company Update 05/21/93
ATLANTA, GEORGIA, U.S.A., 1993 MAY 21 (NB) -- The nation's
regional Bell companies continue to push into new businesses.

Wisconsin Bell, a unit of Ameritech, is funding $4.4 million in
pilot projects aimed at showing the benefits of fast data
networks for use by state government agencies. Half the money
will go into distance learning, which Republican Governor Tommy
Thompson calls his "SuperSchool Initiative." The other half of
the money will fund six pilot projects in health care, education,
and law enforcement. By proving the benefits of digital networks,
Wisconsin Bell hopes to win the higher rates it says are
necessary to install them.

In Texas, which will soon be the home of Southwestern Bell, an
experiment in putting emergency telephones along major highways
is about to begin. Solar-powered phones will be placed along
I-30, I-27 and US 77-83 at one-mile intervals on both sides of
the highway. If the tests increase safety by letting motorists
reach emergency services at 911 easily, the system could be
implemented statewide.

Finally, while Southern New England Telephone is not a "baby
Bell," it is helping the Bell strategy of combining calling
cards and credit cards. The company has signed a deal with
MasterCard to develop a database allowing all MasterCards to
double as telephone calling cards. Other regional Bells,
including Ameritech, have created their own private-label credit
cards with major banks, and those cards double as calling cards
automatically. The move was begun by AT&T, which has pushed
its Universal Card into a top spot among US credit cards by
combining them with calling functions.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19930521/Press Contact: Bill Seekamp,
SNET, 203-771-2136)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00019)

Spectrum Intros Software For AT&T Chipset 05/21/93
DALLAS, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1993 MAY 21 (NB) -- Spectrum Information
Technologies, which has been causing considerable excitement
on US stock exchanges since announcing that AT&T had licensed
its controversial patents, has announced software for AT&T
cellular modem chipsets.

The new product, called Direct Connect, implements the company's
patented technology linking cellular phones and modems with
AT&T's V.32Cell modem chipset. After AT&T announced May 18 it
would license the technology, Spectrum shares zoomed from about
$2.50 to a high of $12, on heavy volume. Late this week, however,
that price was cut in half as analysts began questioning the
value of the deal to Spectrum.

AT&T has said it will only pay royalties where it uses Spectrum's
patents. However, Spectrum is also in court against Data Race and
Microcom, claiming its patents cover all cellular modem-phone
connectors and error-correction protocols, and some analysts
thought the AT&T deal would buttress those claims. Ironically,
the new AT&T chip-set will support the MNP 10 error-correction
and data compression scheme which is the subject of one Spectrum
suit. Analysts have also questioned how rapidly the cellular data
business will rise, especially considering the moves by carriers
like McCaw to implement a packet network for cellular.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19930521/Press Contact: Peter T. Caserta,
Spectrum, 516-627-8992)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00020)

AT&T Wins Major Contracts 05/21/93
NEW YORK, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1993 MAY 21 (NB) -- AT&T has
announced two major contracts, one of them with an MCI
customer.

AT&T said it signed a $12 million contract with Codetel, the
phone network in the Dominican Republic, aimed at improving
that nation's phone network under a modernization plan called
"V Centario."

AT&T had previously installed some digital switches on
the Caribbean island. The new contract features both 5ESS
switches, including one for an international gateway, and
computers for Codetel operators. When the work is done, over
half the nation's phone lines will be served by digital switches.

AT&T is even happier about a $15 million deal with CBS, which
switched its service from MCI. The new AT&T contract runs three
years and links over 75 offices, including the network's news
bureaus and TV stations, using AT&T's AT&T's Software Defined
Network (SDN) and Accunet data services.

As part of the SDN arrangement, CBS will use digital lines for
transmitting audio to CBS Radio listeners. Toll-free lines are
also covered by the deal, meaning CBS used its "fresh look"
portability rights to switch from MCI to AT&T. The deal also
includes a partnership arrangement to help deliver signals from
the 1994 Olympics at Lillehammer, Norway.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19930521/Press Contact: AT&T, Dick Gundlach,
212-841-4697; AT&T Network Systems, Barbara Burgess,
201-606-2643)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(ATL)(00021)

 ****Spring Comdex Preview 05/21/93
ATLANTA, GEORGIA, U.S.A., 1993 MAY 21 (NB) -- Atlanta is
preparing this weekend for the annual Spring Comdex show,
which could be the most important spring show for the
industry in many years.

Three big companies will offer the chief headlines at the show.
Intel will demonstrate its Pentium chips, and major hardware
makers like Compaq will demonstrate their commitments to it.
IBM will show off version 2.1 of its OS/2 operating system, which
has won important endorsements from major corporations. Also,
Microsoft will finally announce its Windows NT operating system,
aimed at high-end systems and networks. Digital Equipment will
show off a new high-end PC running Windows PC on its Alpha chip.

Beyond that, this Spring Comdex shows off an industry enjoying a
new prosperity. Massive price cuts in 1992 brought in a flood of
new users, and trade-ups brought in new demand for software. As
a result, many companies are reporting strong sales and earnings.
The party lists for this show reflect that prosperity, with more
events than at any spring show since the 1980s.

This show also represents a comeback of sorts for the Interface
Group, which puts it on. A few years back there were fears that
Spring Comdex would be eclipsed as a venue for introducing
products by the New York PC Expo, which will come next month.
But a deal with Microsoft to call half the show "Windows World"
and a new commitment by IBM to the venue appear to have turned
the tide.

Some news releases are already emerging for showgoers. Cirrus
Logic said its Crystal Semiconductor unit was a big winner in
the Ziff-Davis PC Magazine Editors' Choice Awards. Sound cards
using Crystal chips were all winners, including the CompuAdd
Multimedia Sound Card, the Media Vision Pro AudioSpectrum 16,
and the Turtle Beach MultiSound board.

Also on tap are a large number of important technology briefings
for the media. Apple, Lotus, Microsoft, Eo, General Magic, and
Slate are all getting together on May 24 to introduce what they
call a new standard for pen computing, which has gotten off to
a rocky start in the market. IBM will also host tours of its north
Atlanta multimedia "skunk works" and plans major announcements
in that area during the show.

Newsbytes' reporting team for this show will include Dana
Blankenhorn, review editor Tommy Bass, UK correspondent Geoff
Wheelwright, and California correspondent Bud Smith. Newsbytes'
Comdex coverage kicks off Monday, May 24, and runs throughout
the show, ending on Thursday, May 27.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19930521)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(WAS)(00022)

Adaptec Intros First 16-bit Single-Chip SCSI 05/21/93
MILPITAS, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 MAY 21 (NB) -- Adaptec has
announced the AIC-6360 SCSI host chip, a full 16-bit, high-speed,
SCSI or Small Computer Systems Interface host interface microchip
for ISA or Industry Standard Architecture (PC/XT/AT) and EISA or
Extended Industry Standard Architecture bus computers.

Motherboard makers can now provide a powerful Fast SCSI (10
megabytes per second) option by including a socket for the $20
AIC-6360 chip. More importantly, with the cost being so low, it
is likely that SCSI will become a standard in many business and
even home-oriented PCs.

SCSI has long been touted as the best general purpose high-
performance interface to link computers with everything from
hard drives to scanners and CD-ROMs, but two problems plagued
both hardware makers and buyers.

First, the PC SCSI "standard" was not very standard at all. If
you had a SCSI interface card designed to work with a color
image scanner, there was no assurance that you could connect
a CD-ROM drive to the same port.

This incompatibility was a devastating shortcoming because you
can only install a limited number of SCSI's in a single computer.
However, the whole idea behind SCSI is that a single SCSI port
could connect many devices through a "daisy-chain" system
where each new device was connected to the last hardware on
the chain.

Second, SCSI is expensive. While some bargain CD-ROM drives are
being sold, complete with a non-SCSI interface for only $200, the
SCSI interface card itself will normally cost about $150.

This new low-priced, single-chip SCSI solution should help reduce
the cost of including a full SCSI interface in computers and at
the same time, merely through offering a low-cost option which
will be adopted by many hardware builders, help move the industry
toward a more uniform SCSI implementation.

The AIC-6360 supports 32-bit double-word programmed I/O
(input/output) transfers, making it, according to the manufacturer,
about 20 percent faster than standard 16-bit SCSI chip sets. The
AIC-6360 is available now at $18 in OEM (original equipment
manufacturer) quantities. The chip is offered in 80-pin PQFP,
100-pin TQFP, and 68-pin PLCC packages.

(John McCormick/19930521/Press Contact: Jerry Steach,
Adaptec Inc., 408-945-6761)


(NEWS)(IBM)(TOR)(00023)

 ****IBM's Adstar Intros Disk/Tape/Optical Products 05/21/93
SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 MAY 21 (NB) -- Adstar, IBM's
storage products subsidiary, is trying to recast itself as an
aggressive, independent company.

Its recently-appointed chairman and chief executive, Ed Zschau,
made that clear at a press conference this week, and to back him
up Zschau had a string of new products. "We're going to develop
new products for new customers in new markets with a wide
variety of technology," Zschau said.

The product announcements included disk storage devices and
controllers, tape drives, and optical storage products.

The IBM 3390 Model 9 direct-access storage device (DASD)
is a new top-of-the-line model in the 3390 disk line. It can
accommodate as much as 272 gigabytes (GB) of data in the
same space as the previous Model 3, which holds 90GB,
officials said.

Jon Judge, Adstar's vice-president and assistant general manager
of marketing, said the cost of running the new Model 9 will be
about half that of the Model 3. The Model 9 is to ship at the end
of June, with prices ranging from $182,500 to $469,800.

Adstar's 3995 Model 153 Optical Library Dataserver, like the
3390 Model 9, is intended for on-line data storage. Although it uses
optical storage, the unit looks to the mainframe computer like a
conventional 3390 Model 2 DASD, the company said. It can store as
much as 356GB of data when combined with the Model 113
expansion unit.

The new unit is upgradable from the existing Model 151,
introduced last year, Judge said. The Model 153 library has a
$187,000 price tag, the Model 113 expansion unit is prices at
$112,000, and both are due for availability at the end of July.

Judge said both the 3390 Model 9 and the 3995 Model 153 optical
unit will let customers store data on-line that they would
previously have moved out of microform or tape. That will mean
readier access to customer data and hence better customer
service, he claimed. For example, a bank might be able to answer
an inquiry about a months-old transaction instantly rather than
having to mount a tape to retrieve information.

Adstar also added new optical storage units for use with
local area networks (LANs). The 3995 Optical Dataserver Models
023, 123, and 123/113 double the capacity of previous models at
lower cost, officials said. These can work with RISC System/6000,
AS/400, PS/2, and System/390 computers, the company said.

The 40GB Model 023 will carry a $49,950 price tag, and the
188GB Model 123 will sell for $148,500. Both are due to be
available in August. The Model 113 expansion unit can be added
to the Model 123, doubling its capacity.

Rounding out its disk storage announcements, Adstar unveiled the
3990 Storage Control Model 6, a controller that uses larger
cache, faster internal processors, and greater bandwidth to cut
response times in half, according to the vendor. The controller
is to be available in September, with prices starting at $166,000.

On the tape front, Adstar announced that the IBM 3495 Tape
Library Dataserver now offers Basic Tape Library Support, a
limited tape-automation option that customers can use as an
intermediate step from manual operations to full automation with
IBM's System Managed Storage. Existing tape applications should
be able to use the 3495 without modification, the vendor said.
This is to be available this summer; exact availability dates and
prices depend on the system configuration.

The Data Facility Removable Media Manager is a new software
offering that provides on-line media management without the
need for a full System Managed Storage implementation. It is
due for availability in the fourth quarter, with price depending
on the processor.

A new channel emulator for IBM's RISC System/6000 workstations
and servers makes it possible to attach 3480, 3490, and 3490E
tape subsystems and the 3495 Tape Library Dataserver to RS/6000
systems. Due to be available in September, the emulator will cost
$3,500.

Adstar also announced a satisfaction guarantee for selected DASD,
optical, and tape products. If a customer becomes dissatisfied
with a machine during its first year of use because of hardware
failures, Adstar said, it will replace the unit with the same model.

(Grant Buckler/19930521/Press Contact: Carol Keslar, Adstar,
408-256-9451)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TOR)(00024)

Delrina & Shana In Forms Software Alliance 05/21/93
TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1993 MAY 21 (NB) -- Two Canadian
vendors of forms processing software have allied, promising to
link their software for Microsoft Windows and Apple Computer's
Macintosh.

Delrina, the Toronto-based maker of PerForm Pro Plus and
FormFlow, both for Windows, and Shana of Edmonton, which
makes Informed Foundation forms software for the Macintosh,
said they would make their packages work together.

Software that will let Informed users work with forms created
using the Delrina software, and vice versa, will be available in
July as an add-on to the existing packages.

Users of either company's software will be able to load and fill
out forms created with the other vendor's package, with
"absolutely no change" in the look of the form on screen, said
Josef Zankowicz, a spokesman for Delrina.

The deal will also allow each company to resell the other's
software to customers that want forms software installations
covering both Windows and Macintosh systems.

Delrina is dropping its PerForm Pro client software for the
Macintosh, which allowed users to fill out forms created with the
flagship version of PerForm on Windows, Zankowicz said. Delrina
was not happy with the Macintosh client software, he said.

Zankowicz also said the two companies may share some technology
that will make their packages look more alike over time. Support
for structured query language (SQL) data retrieval from other
systems, and for electronic mail, are promising areas for
cooperation, he said.

Shana, founded in 1985, is a privately held software developer.
Delrina, in business since 1988, sells forms processing and fax
software and recently launched FormFlow, a forms-based
workflow automation package.

(Grant Buckler/19930521/Press Contact: Josef Zankowicz or
Shelly Sofer, Delrina, tel [phone], fax [phone];
Public Contact: Delrina, 800-268-6082; Shana, 403-463-3330)


(NEWS)(IBM)(TOR)(00025)

Adstar Officials Talk About Future Directions 05/21/93
SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 MAY 21 (NB) -- Along with a
series of product announcements Thursday, officials of IBM's
Adstar storage products subsidiary had a few things to say about
their future plans.

Ed Zschau, named chairman and chief executive of Adstar in late
April when IBM spun the company off as a separate subsidiary,
said his own appointment was a sign of where the company is
going. Zschau, who formerly headed Censtor of San Jose,
said he was "somebody who doesn't know the rules at IBM."

Adstar will seek to broaden its market and sell its products to a
range of end users and computer manufacturers, "rather than
being just a captive supplier to the IBM company," Zschau said.

"We're going to become the lowest cost producer in the industry,"
he added, though he went on to add that Adstar intends to pursue
product quality as well.

Zschau also said that while his firm sets out to increase its
share of the storage hardware market, it will also seek to become
known as a software company as well. Adstar will offer new
software products not just for its traditional mainframe market,
but for smaller systems as well, he said.

In addition to the broad picture, officials had some specific
statements of direction for the future.

They said Adstar will enhance its new IBM 3990 Storage Control
Model 6 in the future, increasing cache sizes to as much four
gigabytes (GB) and providing a fault-tolerant disk array using
redundant arrays of inexpensive disks (RAID) technology for both
the Model 6 and the older Model 3.

The company also promised wider support for double-capacity
optical storage technology, allowing all its optical products to
read and write both single- and double-capacity media.

Adstar also promised a midrange tape library that will store from
200 to 3,000 cartridges. This library will work with ES/9000
mainframes, RISC System/6000 servers and workstations, AS/400
midrange systems and some non-IBM systems, officials said.

(Grant Buckler/19930521/Press Contact: Carol Keslar, Adstar,
408-256-9451)


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

Nintendo Of America Sets Sales, Earnings Records 05/21/93
REDMOND, WASHINGTON, U.S.A., 1993 MAY 21 (NB) -- Nintendo of
America has announced that the Kyoto Japan-based electronic game
company set sales and earnings records for the fiscal year ending
March 31, 1993.

The company says consolidated net sales were up 13 percent over
the previous year to $5.47 billion, with net consolidated income
for the current year rising two percent to almost $763.9 million.
The company said operating earnings also increased, up eight
percent, but interest income declined due to low interest rates
in Japan. Consolidated earnings per share for FY93 were $5.40,
an $0.20 increase over the previous year. The annual dividend will
be slightly higher than last year.

Nintendo said several Super NES game titles released during the
fiscal year reached the one million unit sales mark, including
"Mario Pant and Mouse," "The Legend of Zelda-A Link to the Past,"
and "Super Mario Cart."  Game Boy title "Kirby's Dreamland" topped
the one million mark, while "Super Mario Land 2" sold a record
five million units worldwide.  The company also said "Star Fox,"
the first game for Super NES to use the proprietary Super FX chip,
sold more than 1.7 million units in the one month period it has
been available.

As might be expected, younger buyers make up the biggest market
for Nintendo games. "Our research indicates that the video game
industry is still driven by consumers under the age of 15, who are
responsible for 70 percent of all software sales," says Nintendo
of America President Minoru Arakawa.

Because the under-15 crowd has limited funds, Arakawa says the
company will not introduce any new hardware systems until they
can deliver a significant improvement in overall game play, but
can still be sold at a price-point that buyers can afford.

Nintendo also denied recent reports that it plans to raise the price
of its software. "A few selected Super NES cartridges which, like
'Star Fox,' contain significant technological enhancements, will
continue to have a suggested retail price of $59.95, however all of
our existing game prices will remain the same for the foreseeable
future," according to Arakawa.

(Jim Mallory/19930521/Press contact: Perrin Kaplan, Nintendo
of America, 206-882-2040)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LAX)(00027)

Autodesk Record 1Qtr, Income Grows Faster Than Revenue 05/21/93
SAUSALITO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 MAY 21 (NB) -- Autodesk,
known for its work in developing computer-aided design (CAD)
software products, is reporting its revenues are up 35 percent
and net income is up 40 percent this quarter compared to last
year. The company is crediting the sales of its latest release
of Autocad, release 12, for the record first quarter revenue
and says sales in the Americas showed the highest gains.

Net revenues for the first quarter of 1993, ending April 30,
are reported at $101.7 million, up from the $75.4 million
reported in the same quarter last year. Net income is reported
at $15.4 million compared to $9.3 million in the year-ago
quarter.

Autodesk says demand for Autocad has been strongest in the
Americas and the Asia/Pacific regions, with sales growth in the
Americas at over 50 percent and the Asia/Pacific at over 25
percent. Autocad release 12 is available on a number of
platforms including DOS, Windows, and the Macintosh, as well
as on workstations from Sun, Silicon Graphics, and Digital
Equipment.

The company is also diversifying into solids and surfaces
modeling, manufacturing, and multimedia. While the reports of
sales growth are larger in the Americas and Asia/Pacific
regions, the company has been pursuing markets worldwide.

Reports of Autodesk third-party developer support programs
have come from as far away as India and Moscow. The company
now claims two million users, and says over 4,000 third-party
products for Autocad users are available.

Carol Bartz, chief executive officer of Autodesk, said in a
prepared statement: "We are pleased to report our first $100
million quarter and are encouraged by the strong unit growth
that has contributed to these record revenues. It is also clear
that the investments we made in infrastructure around the
world have been a strong factor in our successful quarter."

In addition, Autocad just announced it will offer its next
release of Autocad on the Microsoft Windows NT platform. That
release has been predicted for late summer, after the release
of Windows NT.

(Linda Rohrbough/19930521/Press Contact: Christine Tsingos,
Autodesk, tel [phone] ext 4819, fax [phone])


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TOR)(00028)

 ****No Comment By Lotus On Rumored Database Purchase 05/21/93
CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1993 MAY 21 (NB) -- Neither
company will comment on a published report that Lotus
Development may buy Approach Software, a Redwood City,
California-based database software vendor.

Three-year-old Approach sells Approach for Windows, a relational
database package with built-in forms, mail-merge, and report
writer functions. Introduced last year, Approach for Windows can
read files created by Borland international's dBase and compatible
packages, Borland's Paradox, Microsoft's FoxPro, Oracle, SQL
Server, and IBM's DB2.

A report in The Wall Street Journal Friday, quoting unnamed
sources, said Lotus is negotiating to buy Approach.

Jaleh Bisharat, vice-president of marketing at Approach, told
Newsbytes the company does not comment on rumor and
speculation. Lotus spokesman Richard Eckel used almost the
same words.

While neither company will confirm the reported talks, the idea
of Lotus buying a database software maker is believable, since
database management is the only major application category in
which Lotus lacks a product.

Rivals Microsoft and Computer Associates International
both beefed up their own PC database offerings last year by
buying, within weeks of each other, Fox Software and Nantucket
Inc., both makers of dBase-compatible packages.

CA already had a dBase-compatible package for Windows, called
dBFast, and Microsoft was still developing its own home-grown
database package when it bought Fox. That package has since
been released as Access.

Bisharat said Approach for Windows is aimed at a broad-based
market of average PC users and not just at the "technically
astute."

(Grant Buckler/19930521/Press Contact: Richard Eckel, Lotus,
617-693-1284; Jaleh Bisharat, Approach, 415-306-7890, fax
415-368-5182)


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

 ****Acer To Demo Pentium-Based Windows NT Systems 05/21/93
SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 MAY 21 (NB) -- Acer says it
plans to show off its new hardware running Windows NT on its
Pentium-based Acerframe 3000MP multiprocessor file server and
its Acerformula 64-bit MIPS reduced instruction-set computing
(RISC)-based workstations.

The company says it has been designing its Acerframe 3000MP
systems to support an upgrade to the 64-bit Pentium central
processing unit (CPU). For users, Acer says this means upgrades
for 33 megahertz (MHz) and 50 MHz servers are available and the
64-bit bus accommodates the Pentium. In addition, up to four
Pentium processing modules can be added to meet growth in
processing demands, the company added. The AcerFrame 3000MP
runs operating systems such as DOS, OS/2, LAN Manager, SCO
Unix/MPX, Novell Netware, and Banyan Vines/SMP, as well as
Windows NT.

Acer will also demonstrate Windows NT running on its
Acerformula computers systems based on the MIPS R4000 and
R4400 RISC processors. Prices for the Acerformula systems start
at $3,600 - lower than those of the Pentium-based machines. The
company says the Acerformula systems are two to five times
faster than its 486-based 66 MHz personal computers (PCs),
depending on the application.

The Acerformula systems include 16 megabytes (MB) of random
access memory (RAM), 128 kilobytes (KB) of secondary cache, a
compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) drive, a 3.5-inch floppy
disk drive, 101-key  keyboard, Windows NT HAL optimized for the
MIPS CPUs, an accelerated video card on a 64-bit video local
bus, and an Ethernet and Small Computer Systems Interface
(SCSI)-II included on the 32-bit input/output (I/O) local bus.
Configured models of these  systems provide all base-model
features plus a 240MB SCSI-II hard disk drive, Acer added.

Quantity shipment of the Pentium-based Acerframe servers
depend on the availability of the Pentium and are expected in late
summer or early fall. Of the Acerformula systems, the company
says special ISV (independent software vendor) development
systems are shipping today, but shipment of commercial systems
will be begin July 1.

Company representatives told Newsbytes Acer is particularly
excited about the hardware abstraction layer (HAL) offered by
Windows NT. HAL acts as a translator between NT and the
hardware and Acer has modified HAL to optimize it for its new
Pentium- and RISC-based systems. The company says HAL opens
the door for innovation among hardware designers, who were
previously constrained by a need to maintain hardware
compatibility with the operating system.

Acer says it will be demonstrating its new systems running
Windows NT at Spring Comdex.

(Linda Rohrbough/19930521/Press Contact: Rebecca Hurst, Acer,
tel [phone]; Gavin Bourne, Wilson McHenry for Acer, tel
415-592-7600, fax [phone])


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SFO)(00030)

Three Lotus Packages Win Byte Readers' Choice Awards 05/21/93
CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1993 MAY 21 (NB)  -- Lotus
Development's Freelance Graphics for Windows, cc:Mail for
Macintosh, and Lotus Organizer have earned Readers' Choice
awards from Byte Magazine. In a survey completed in January,
Byte readers rated these three Lotus products as the best overall
offerings in their respective categories.

Within the Windows presentation graphics category, Freelance
Graphics for Windows 1.0 won out over Harvard Graphics,
PowerPoint, and Persuasion, as well as other software
competitors, according to Lotus officials.

A company spokesperson told Newsbytes that Freelance Graphics
for Windows 2.0, a major upgrade that adds multimedia as well
as other new capabilities, was not included in this year's contest
due to its shipment date. Version 2.0 entered worldwide release
in February, just after all reader entries had been submitted, she
explained.

"Freelance Graphics for Windows 2.0 is doing extremely well in the
market, and the package has already received a number of trade
awards," she added.

Betsy Fortin, director of product management for Lotus' Graphics
Products Group, emphasized that the Byte award is especially
rewarding to Lotus because it was granted by the readers
themselves in a crowded field. "With Freelance Graphics Release
2.0 we have build on our tremendous early success by delivering
even greater ease of use and learning," she said.

Other awards given to Freelance Graphics for Windows include
Editor's Choice from PC Magazine, MVP from PC/Computing, Expert's
Pick from Windows Sources, Editor's Pick from PC Sources, PC
World's Best Buy, Best PC Business Software from Computer
Shopper, and Reader's Choice honors from Presentation Products.
The presentation graphics package is also available for DOS and
OS/2.

In the new Byte poll, cc:Mail for Macintosh was the winner in the
electronic mail category.  Jack Marsal, Lotus cc:Mail division
product manager, noted that since the judging was completed,
Lotus has rolled out a remote version of cc:Mail for PowerBook.

"In an e-mail system, reliability, scalability, and a cross-
platform architecture matter most to IS (information system)
managers, while Macintosh users look for a second-to-none
interface and rich feature set," Marsal stated. "We're please to
see Byte readers recognize our success in both areas." The Lotus
e-mail package also comes in editions for DOS, remote DOS,
OS/2, and Unix.

Lotus officials pointed out that, since the release of Organizer
1.0 in August of last year, the organizer package has already
sold more than 300,000 copies worldwide, exclusive of
SmartSuite and OEM (original equipment manufacturer) sales.
SmartSuite is a bundle that includes Lotus 1-2-3, Freelance
Graphics, and cc:Mail, in addition to Organizer.

The results of Byte's readers' survey will be published in the June
issue of the magazine. Byte will present the Reader's Choice
awards, as well as its annual Best of Spring Comdex awards, at
Comdex in Atlanta next week. Another Lotus spokesperson told
Newsbytes that, to qualify for a Best of Comdex award, a product
must be newly introduced at Comdex, and either shipping or ready
for release.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19930521/Press contacts:  Joanna Kelley and
Barbara Ewen, McGlinchey & Paul for Lotus, tel [phone])