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/NB930603

Text File | 1993-06-03 | 67KB | 1,450 lines

(NEWS)(TRENDS)(DEL)(00001)

Seeing Organs In 3D 06/03/93
HYDERABAD, INDIA, 1993 JUN 3 (NB) -- In a major advance in the field
of medical imaging, scientists in Hyderabad, India, have developed
a software package that enables surgeons to see internal organs in
three dimensions.

Currently used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) devices and
computerized tomography (CT) scans provide the doctors with only
two-dimensional views of organs.

Two-dimensional images are converted into three-dimensional
representations with the help of a software package called Anamica,
developed by scientists of the Advanced Numerical Research and
Analysis Group (ANURAG), Defence R&D Organization. With the help
of Anamica, doctors can not only precisely locate, for instance, a
brain tumor but can also choose the nearest and safest route to
operate on it. Doctors can rotate the image on a television screen
and study it from various angles or zoom in on selective regions of
the organ.

Another advantage is that a surgeon can rehearse the surgical procedure
on the computer before trying it on the patient. While the program
will help surgeons perform their delicate jobs, a major limitation
at present is the relatively long time taken to process the data.
The reconstruction of 30 slices takes about 20 minutes.

A spokesperson said Anamica could find extensive use in hospitals
that already have CT scan and MRI facilities. All they would need is
a graphics workstation or a parallel processing computer, also developed
by ANURAG.

The software package will be commercially available in August.

(C.T. Mahabharat/19930603)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(DEL)(00002)

India May Relax Import Duty Regime For Computers 06/03/93
NEW DELHI, INDIA, 1993 JUN 3 (NB) -- The import duty structure of the
computer industry was such that it was promoting "grey market" sales
of information technology equipment and depriving both the government
and taxpayers their due, the Manufacturers Association of
Information Technology in India has claimed.

A market study conducted by MAIT has come to the conclusion that a
change in the duty structure would raise government income through
taxes on the IT industry from the current level of Rs 225 crore
(around $75 million) to Rs 266 crore (around $89 million).

MAIT has suggested an import duty of 90 percent on finished goods,
50 percent on components, 30 percent on non-electronic components
and 10 percent on raw materials. The existing rates are 105, 80 and
30 percent respectively.

In a related development, the Department of Electronics of the
government of India has written to the finance ministry asking for
the removal of customs duty on software imports. "We have recognized
software as an area of focus," said N. Vittal, secretary DOE, about
the decision.

On the decision of the US to impose a 21.5 percent tax on software
professionals working there, Vittal suggested that software development
could be shifted offshore. The DoE has also written to the ministry
of external affairs to arrive at an agreement with the US to resolve
the issue, he said.

(C.T. Mahabharat/19930603)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TYO)(00003)

NEC Ships 100,000 Units Of Windows 3.1 06/03/93
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1993 JUN 3 (NB) -- Japan's major personal computer
maker NEC has shipped over 100,000 copies of Japanese Windows
3.1 in the two weeks since its release in Japan.

NEC released Japanese Windows 3.1 for its best-selling personal
computer, the PC-9801, on May 12. The 100,000 it has sold since that
time is more than the firm initially predicted. The most generous
figure anticipated was 500,000 units for the first year. The 100,000
mark means the firm has already achieved 20 percent of the annual
sales target.

NEC is currently selling Windows 3.1 on floppy disks and
CD-ROMs as well as pre-installed on personal computers. 92 percent of
total sales were floppy disk and CD-ROM versions, and the rest was
pre-installed. It is expected that NEC will double sales
for the initial year if this popularity lasts.

Meanwhile, NEC has started building a software research center
in the Software Research Park in Fukuoka, Kyushu. Many major
Japanese computer firms will build research centers in this
area, but NEC is the first to begin construction at this site.
This Software Research Park is backed up by the local government,
which is expected to spend a total of 150 billion yen ($1.4
billion) to set up this park. Some 10,000 researchers and
engineers are expected to work at this site, one of the
largest software research centers in Japan.

(Masayuki "Massey" Miyazawa/19930601/Press Contact: NEC, +81-3-
3451-2974, Fax, [phone])


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(LON)(00004)

Danish Companies Forge Telecom Agree't With Russia 06/03/93
COPENHAGEN, DENMARK, 1993 JUN 3 (NB) -- GE Store Nord and Telecom,
two Danish telecoms companies, have contracted with A/O
International, a Russian company, to provide telecoms links between
Russia, South Korea and Japan.

The project is expected to generate $160 million worth of sales for the
two Danish companies. According to Telecom, a subsidiary of the
Danish state-controlled telecoms giant, the contract calls for the
two companies to dramatically enhance telecoms links between Russia
and selected foreign countries such as Hong Kong, Malaysia and the
US. This will mean the two Danish companies must contract with
third-party networks to obtain full services.

The bulk of the international links will be provided by a fiber
optic cable that will link Russia, Japan and South Korea. The 1,700-
kilometer link will be augmented by a 900-kilometer overland link
from Eastern Russia to Japan. The two Danish companies will
provide the links required at the non-Russian ends of the cables.

As part of the deal, the two Danish companies will put up the cash
required to finance the Russian side of the submarine cable. This
will cost around $60 million, although a considerable portion of
these costs will be offset by income from KDD of Japan and South
Korea Telecom, both of which will use spare capacity on the cable
links, once they enter business in two years time.

(Steve Gold/19930603)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(LON)(00005)

Euro-Piracy Wave On Downturn Claims BSA 06/03/93
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1993 JUN 3 (NB) -- The battle over software piracy
in Europe may be succeeding, if figures on the problem just released
by the Business Software Alliance (BSA) are anything to go by.

According to the BSA, a not-for-profit company that is funded by
major software houses, losses from piracy fell last year to an
estimated $4,600 million, down from a peak of $5,300 million in
1991. These figures compare to estimated worldwide losses of
$11,500 million in 1992, suggesting that Europe has a higher
proportion of piracy per software sale than the rest of the world.

According to Brad Smith, legal counsel to the BSA's European
operations, the extra $700 million of income in a time of recession
had helped to create around 8,000 new jobs in the software
industry.

Smith said that 1992 was a watershed for the industry as whole. "It
represents something of the turning of the tide although the problem
remains very serious," Smith said at a news conference to announce
the 1992 figures to the press.

Smith added that the reason for the fall in software piracy in
Europe is due to the completion of the European Community (EC)
Software Directive which has considerably strengthened intercountry
copyright rules in all EC countries. Also, he said, the BSA's
activities in Europe had been increased, with BSA operations
extending behind the former Iron Curtain.

The last year, according to Smith, has seen the BSA active in
legal actions in Europe. More than 100 actions took place
in 10 countries against companies and individuals. These actions
resulted in some very public prosecutions which, allied with
promotional campaigns, had got the message across that software
piracy does not pay.

"We believe the market's finally getting the message that it does
not pay to engage in illegal copying," he said.

So which countries cause the most problems for the BSA? Smith
demurred on this point, noting that problems in Italy had been
negated by recent strong legislation, but Spain continues to cause
concern.

Although the BSA is funded mainly through contributions from major
software houses, it has recently decided to extend prosecution
assistance from the major companies to smaller software houses. This
is because the BSA has discovered these companies are the most
heavily affected by problems relating to software piracy.

(Steve Gold/19930603)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(LON)(00006)

Olivetti Unveils Radio LAN Technology 06/03/93
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1993 JUN 3 (NB) -- While NCR is fighting European
country regulations on its Wavelan wireless local area network (LAN)
technology, Olivetti has succeeded in getting its own wireless LAN
system, known as Net3 (written as Net cubed), past the legislators.

According to Gerard Temin, Olivetti's executive business unit
director, Net3 has passed through the Government legislative
procedures since it uses the digital European cordless telecoms
(DECT) standard for mobile telephony.

DECT technology is more commonly associated with mobile telephones.
However, since the standard uses digital switching techniques to
transfer data between mobile phones, the technology can be applied
quite easily to mobile LAN systems such as Net3.

According to Temin, since Net3 is one of the first into the wireless
LAN market-place, it has very wide-ranging possibilities. As well as
the convenience aspect, Net3 has cost advantages over conventional
hard-wired LAN technologies. In addition, he said, it can be used in
situations where hard-wired systems cannot be used, such as in
historical buildings, as well as in mobile applications such as in
mobile data capture in the retail environment.

Net3 is also compact. Each PC is linked to a small box that
acts as a radio transceiver, communicating with a central
base station. Under current radio regulations applicable in Europe,
Net3 has an effective range of 100 yards, although it could be
enhanced where regulations permit. The use of radio repeaters in a
building can boost the effective range of the radio LAN if
required.

(Steve Gold/19930603)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(DEL)(00007)

US/India Hope To Resolve ISRO Rocket Dispute 06/03/93
NEW DELHI, INDIA, 1993 JUN 3 (NB) -- India hopes to amicably
resolve the row with the US State Department over the $250-million
cryogenic rocket technology deal between the Indian Space Research
Organization (ISRO) and Glavkosmos (the Russian space agency)>

The US trade sanctions, imposed over two years ago, sought to bar
ISRO from procuring critical raw materials for India's space
programs. The Secretary of the Department of Space and Chairman of
the Space Commission, Prof U. R. Rao, will visit Washington to
negotiate lifting of the sanctions and sort out the difficulties
posed by the missile technology control regime (MTCR).

Confirming the government's intention, the Secretary, External Affairs
Ministry, J. N. Dixit, said restrictions on the proposed sale of
cryogenic technology were not sustainable under US law itself. He
said the state department's willingness to talk and reach a
compromise could not be ruled out.

The supply of cryogenic technology by Glavkosmos to India had kicked
off a major row between the US on one side and Russia and India
on the other. While the US State Department had hardened its stance
over Russia, threatening to stop the $1.8 billion aid, it warned
India that the purchase of cryogenic technology violated the MTCR.

However, Russian president Boris Yeltsin, during his visit to India
in January, had reiterated Moscow's commitment to go ahead with the
deal.

(C.T. Mahabharat/19930603)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(TYO)(00008)

Sega Welcomes Former Honda Man 06/03/93
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1993 JUN 3 (NB) -- Major Japanese game machine maker
Sega Enterprises has announced that it will hire former vice
president of Honda America, Shoichiro Irimajiri. Shoichiro Irimajiri
will assume the post of executive vice president of Sega's research,
development, and manufacturing.

Sega Enterprises will welcome Shoichiro Irimajiri on June 29.
Irimajiri has been a vice president for Honda America for five years,
and is experienced in overseas marketing.

Shoichiro Irimajiri, in a published interview, reports that
Sega today is similar to Honda's early days. Sega is entering
the multimedia market, a big new challenge for the firm. Honda
also experienced a major crossroad when it decided to enter the
car market from the motorcycle market. Irimajiri has reportedly
received offers from many major car makers, including General Motors
Europe, but decided to go with Sega.

Irimajiri is the second big business name to join Sega in recent
weeks, both of them from outside Sega's current business sphere.
A former executive of major department store Daiei recently joined
Sega to enter its management.

Sega Enterprise is a fast-growing game machine maker in Japan
aggressively seeking greater penetration in overseas markets, such
as the US and Europe. Sega raked in 64 percent more profits on
sales in fiscal 1992 over the previous year, a surprise in the
midst of slump in the Japanese electronics industry.

(Masayuki "Massey" Miyazawa/19930601/Press Contact: Sega
Enterprises, [phone], Fax, [phone])


(NEWS)(GOVT)(DEL)(00009)

Breakthrough Ruggedized Computers From India 06/03/93
BANGALORE, INDIA, 1993 JUN 3 (NB) -- A prestigious military computer
project, launched in 1990 by Bharat Electronics Ltd., (BEL), a
public sector unit, has achieved what it calls a breakthrough in
"rugged" machines. Its units are built to operate in -40 to +50
degree centigrade temperatures and withstand 30 times more shock
than normal machines. Using a 386 chip, the machines cost
upwards of Rs 20 lakh (around $60,000).

BEL's R&D thrust in the near future is going to be on command and
control systems through networking both in defense and civil
sectors. Optronics, which includes optical, thermal and laser
devices, is going to be another major area of interest. BEL is
working with national laboratories as well as some international
companies in these fields.

Satellite communications is another thrust area here. The focus will
be on very small aperture terminals with applications in military
and rural communications. BEL, along with Tata Consultancy Services
(the number one software firm in India), was selected by the
Indian government to be the nodal agency for developing global
positioning systems.

(C.T. Mahabharat/19930603)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(TYO)(00010)

NEC Licenses Appletalk 06/03/93
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1993 JUN 3 (NB) -- NEC will offer Apple's network
software, Appletalk, on its workstations, thanks to an agreement
just signed with Apple Computer. Another workstation maker, Sony,
has also been supporting AppleTalk on its workstation.

NEC will equip AppleTalk on its engineering workstation, the EWS4800.
NEC customers will be able to set up corporate network systems that
include Macintoshes. According to NEC, employment of Appletalk stems
from increasing demand by users who want Macintoshes as terminals
under NEC's host computers.

Most NEC users employ the popular PC-9801 machines as terminal
computers. However, Apple's Macintosh has been gaining popularity
in Japan due to its low prices and user-friendly features.

AppleTalk for NEC's workstation will be sold through both NEC and
Apple dealers.

(Masayuki "Massey" Miyazawa/19930601/Press Contact: NEC, +81-3-
3451-2974, Fax, [phone])


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(TYO)(00011)

Mitsubishi Develops Multimedia DRAM 06/03/93
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1993 JUN 3 (NB) -- Mitsubishi Electric has developed
a multimedia version of a dynamic random access memory (DRAM)
chip. It is still a prototype.

Mitsubishi has incorporated on a single chip original technology to
support motion pictures, voice, sound, and text in a combination of a
DRAM and a video RAM. Also, this chip has a cache memory to speed
up processing of data. Mitsubishi predicts the chip will be much
cheaper than existing combinations of the two chips -- a DRAM and a
video RAM.

4Mb and 16Mbit version of the DRAM are being developed and samples
are expected to ship by the end of this year.

The major advantage of this hybrid chip is not only size but cost.
Currently, video RAM is more expensive than DRAM, and when cache
memory is included in the price, the total package is costly.
The new chip, when mass produced, is expected to be much cheaper.

(Masayuki "Massey" Miyazawa/19930601/Press Contact: Mitsubishi
Electric, [phone], Fax, [phone])


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(TYO)(00012)

NEC To Produce 4Mb DRAM In China 06/03/93
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1993 JUN 3 (NB) -- China has opened its doors to
Japan's manufacturers, and NEC has become the first to step in.
NEC reports it will make 4-megabit dynamic random access memories
(DRAMs) and will be the first Japanese firm to produce chips in
China. NEC claims it's taking this measure to fight the rapid
fluctuations in the value of Japanese currency.

NEC's 4Mb DRAM plant, part of a joint venture with China's
Shuto Kotetsu Koji, will operate in December. The goal is to ship one
million 4Mb DRAMs per month. Other semiconductors such as
application specific ICs are also planned. Production of
of ASICs is expected to be one million units per month. So, a
total of 2 million chips will be produced at this plant monthly.

NEC has recently increased production of 4Mb DRAMs at its
plants in Singapore and Roseville, California. However,
due to the rapid appreciation of the Japanese yen as well as the
increasing demand for this chip, NEC will also produce this
chip in China.

Meanwhile, NEC has declared an end to the semiconductor slump.
According to Hajime Sasaki, an NEC executive quoted by the
country's major newspaper, the Asahi, NEC is shipping 7.7 million
4M DRAMs per month. Purchase orders are increasing and shipment
will be raised to 9 million units per month by the end of the year.
NEC is also shipping more 16Mb DRAM chips. Shipments will triple
to one million units per month by the end of June.

(Masayuki "Massey" Miyazawa/19930601/Press Contact: NEC, +81-3-
3451-2974, Fax, [phone])


(NEWS)(UNIX)(BOS)(00013)

HP To Expand Net Mgt Line, Port To Sun, IBM 06/03/93
PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 JUN 3 (NB) -- In quickening
steps toward open systems networking, Hewlett-Packard plans to
combine its own network management products with software from
newly acquired Metrix, and offer the integrated product line for
IBM NetView 6000 and SunNet Manager as well as HP OpenView.

"The (Metrix acquisition) is a way to accelerate our progression
into open systems," said Mark Schwager, product manager for HP's
Network Test Division, in an interview with Newsbytes. The move
toward open systems started in late 1991, when HP's network
management family first became compliant with the RMON MIB (Remote
Network Monitoring Management Information Base) specification.
About a year ago, HP added compliance with the SNMP (Simple Network
Management Protocol) standard.

The just announced acquisition will leave Nashua, NH-based Metrix
Network Systems organizationally intact, according to
Schwager. "We don't expect any changes over the near term as to
what people will be doing. In fact, the product lines fit very
neatly together," he told Newsbytes. Terms of the deal remain
undisclosed.

The network management series to emerge from the acquisition will
include applications for strategic management, operations
management, and troubleshooting on Ethernet, Token Ring, FDDI
(Fiber Distributed Data Interface) and enterprise networks, HP
officials said.

"We'll take the best from both (the Metrix and HP product lines),
roll them together, and provide the new family for all three major
platforms," Schwager commented. Specific product announcements
will be made at Interop, stated Andy Belcher, marketing manager for
the HP division, in a separate interview with Newsbytes.

HP's current network management line includes a segment monitor
called LANprobe II, along with Probe Manager software and three
applications based on HP's new EASE (Embedded Advance Sampling
Environment) technology, according to Belcher.

LANprobe II, a dedicated hardware device, gathers and collects raw
data on network segments in an RMON MIB-compliant manner. It can
then use SNMP to send the information to any SNMP-based central
network management station.

Probe Manager software, an alternative software for use on
workstations, performs the same tasks as LANprobe II, employing an
RMON MIB-compliant software agent that runs in a background mode to
gather and collect the raw data.

The EASE-based applications extend HP's network management
capabilities beyond those defined by RMON MIB, Belcher said.
Originally available for hubs, routers, and other HP interconnect
devices only, the applications are now available for LANprobe II
and Probe Manager as well.

Probe Manager currently operates on HP only. Last month,
however, HP announced a port of Probe Manager and the three new
applications to Sun. Belcher told Newsbytes that a Sun trial is
now under way. "We're very close to shipping the (products for
Sun) in quantity," he added.

One of the applications from HP, Resource Manager, gives the
network manager a real-time view of traffic throughout the
enterprise network, using a "radar chart" interface that is
designed to quickly pinpoint problem segments and nodes.

Another HP application, History Analyzer, lets the network
administrator study traffic trends over time, such as traffic
between clients and servers, overall protocol usage, and
utilization of network segments.

Traffic Expert, the third application, supplies reporting tools,
including a visual "ring of rings" display in which each segment is
shown as a ring of nodes that reside on the segment, and end-to-end
traffic as lines between nodes on the rings.

Traffic Expert can also be configured to scan history data and make
recommendations on how to restructure the network so as to maximize
the traffic it can carry.

The current Metrix line-up, which also complies with RMON MIB and
SNMP, operates on Sun as well as HP, according to Schwager.
The family encompasses five network management applications.

One tool from Metrix, Protocol Analyzer, allows the user to
decode various networking protocols, such as DECnet and Novell's
IPX (Internet Packet Exchange), and display network packets in
real time.

Load Monitor, an application with a powerful zoom capability, lets
the administrator view and analyze activities on network segments
and nodes. Internetwork Monitor gives the user a look at the
entire internetwork, and helps to settle such questions as how to
optimize LAN and WAN bandwidth and where bridges and routers should
be located.

Traffic Generator permits the network manager to simulate various
networking scenarios. NFS (Network File System) Monitor, the fifth
application from Metrix, measures NFS procedures, including load
and response time by client or server.

"Ultimately, our network management capabilities will be vastly
expanded by joining the Metrix applications with our own," summed
up Belcher.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19930602/Press contacts: Laurie Nichol, HP, tel
415-857-5771; Belinda Yung-Rubke, HP, tel [phone]; Matt
Russell, Metrix, tel [phone])


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(WAS)(00014)

 ****Comdex - The Untold Story, Editors Seeking Jobs 06/03/93
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1993 JUN 3 (NB) -- Spring Comdex was seen
by the television news media as the place and time where palmtop
computers were introduced, showing that they are about two years
behind the breaking technology news curve, but the real behind
the scenes story at COMDEX was the number of unemployed computer
magazine editors who were looking for work.

According to one of the recently separated editors who was
himself meeting and greeting publishers, two Ziff publications
recently folded and one Vulcan computer magazine has shifted to a
non-editorial status.

PC Sources, a Ziff competitor to the same company's Computer
Shopper direct sales (mail order) magazine, has reportedly ceased
publication as has another Ziff publication, Corporate Computing.

Vulcan's Computer Monthly magazine, which had for several months
been rumored to be on the auction block, has cut back its
editorial staff and dropped all freelance editorial content while
it continues to publish on a greatly scaled-back basis.

Computer Monthly is another of the direct sales computer
magazines which provide buying information to business and home
users who purchase their computers by mail order.

Computer Monthly continues to be published but the editorial
content will be eliminated or greatly reduced according to inside
sources.

According to a confidential source, the number of editors and
other magazine staff workers networking at Spring Comdex was the
largest seen in years.

Industry observers have commented before on the growing number of
magazines chasing advertising sales to a shrinking pool of
computer companies, all of which are cutting prices, but the
shake out in the industry has only recently begun to accelerate.

At the same time there are always new publications coming online,
the latest being the thrice-yearly CD-ROM Today from GP
Publications.

The new glossy news stand magazine providing end-users with
coverage of CD-ROM and what it calls the "personal multimedia"
market, measures a healthy 114 pages.

(John McCormick/19930603/)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(TYO)(00015)

JAL, Sega Develops Airline Game Device 06/03/93
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1993 JUN 3 (NB) -- Japan Airlines and Sega
Enterprises have jointly developed a game device which can be
used on airliners. Based on Sega's game device, the Mega Drive,
the game units are to be offered to flyers of Japan Airlines
in July.

The new game device is called the JAL Mega-jet. Japan Airlines has
provided the technology to cut noise and emissions. The unit is
smaller than Sega's Mega Drive, but is just as powerful and runs
the same software cartridges.

Japan Airlines will place 24 units in each aircraft for loan to
business class and first class passengers. Four software
cartridges will be available or passengers with the
Mega Drive at home can bring their own software cartridges to
play on this machine.

The game machine is connected to a color LCD (liquid
crystal display) and has a headset to prevent disturbance
of other passengers.

Sega's Mega Drive is a hand-held 16-bit game machine that is
extremely popular not only for children but for adults in
Japan.

(Masayuki "Massey" Miyazawa/19930603/Press Contact: Sega
Enterprises, [phone], Fax, [phone])


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

State Regulators Face Sunset 06/03/93
ATLANTA, GEORGIA, U.S.A., 1993 JUN 3 (NB) -- State
telecommunication authorities are feeling increasing pressure to
deregulate, and looking to President Clinton for a hint of what
comes next.

After four months in office, the President has yet to name a new
chairman for the Federal Communications Commission, or a second,
nominally Republican, member. Previous FCC chairman Al Sikes was
strongly for deregulation, something desired, to one degree or
another, by all phone and cable companies. Yet long-time favorite
Antoinette Cook took herself out of the running, and there is no
hint on what the new direction will be. Without such a direction,
deregulation is rushing into a vacuum.

California, for instance, made a big push last year to begin
regulating cellular phones, which are now served by duopolies
which don't compete on price. Yet as part of a bill creating
auctions of new frequencies to reduce the US debt, all states
will lose that power to the FCC, which in the past has shown no
inclination to regulate. State and local regulators fear that the
new microwave wireless services, called Personal Communication
Networks or PCNs, will provide real competition to wired phone
services they've been regulating for a century, and increase
pressure on them to get out of regulating telecommunications
entirely.

Most politicians don't want to do that. After killing a
deregulation bill favored by Southwestern Bell, Texas legislators
decided on a study committee, which will look at how to bring
more fiber cable and fast-data services into the state. This
guarantees that telecom policy will become a political football
in the run-up to 1994 elections. Southwestern Bell is pushing
hard to win new powers, moving its head offices to San Antonio
from St. Louis, and moving its telecom equipment headquarters to
Dallas alongside its wireless division.

The big carrot offered by Bell companies for years in seeking new
rate-setting power is fiber cable, usually delivered as a pilot
program or market test. More is promised if the Bell can just set
rates where it wants them. But benefits are often hard to
quantify. The latest such test is by Pacific Bell, which will
deliver fiber cable to 111 new Orange County homes capable of
handling video as well as digital circuits as fast as 1.544
million bits/second, a so-called T-1 line. The upscale
neighborhood from RecreActions Group will use the Homeworx fiber
system from ADC Telecommunications Inc. If it helps the homes
sell-out quickly in a troubled market, more such deals could
follow. RecreActions will pay any costs beyond those PacBell
would normally incur installing a more standard system.

Also in California, AT&T and Viacom will begin testing a "movie
on demand" system using a video server in a Viacom cable net in
the Castro Valley. Home shopping and video game delivery will
also be tested. AT&T wants to offer cable systems "video servers"
as early as next year, and has already tested market demand for
such services with US West and Telecommunications Inc., using
more conventional technology.

Elsewhere, ComCentral said that Nevada regulators gave it
permission to serve that state. ComCentral is an alternative-
operator outfit which has previously served states east of the
Mississippi. Las Vegas and Tahoe resorts are a big market for
such firms, because they can turn hotel phones into big profit
centers. BellSouth, which serves the Southeast, said its
MobileComm paging unit signed marketing agreements with three
other paging companies 00 DialPage, USA Mobile and Snider
Telecomm, for its PersonalPager. The deals extend the service to
southern Ohio, Kentucky, the Carolinas, Georgia, and Arkansas.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19930603/Press Contact: Pacific Bell, Scott E.
Smith, 415/542-0597; Matthew A. Veal, ComCentral, 813-287-2880)


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

Reaction Positive to BT-MCI Move 06/03/93
WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A., 1993 JUN 3 (NB) -- Except for the dark
rumblings of Rep. Edward Markey, reaction to the British
Telecom-MCI link-up seems universally positive.

Instead of moving to stop the deal, both AT&T and Sprint used the
occasion to push other agendas. AT&T called for lifting
regulations on its long distance unit, and entry into the British
market, while Sprint merely said it didn't want to "give control
of its international strategy to a foreign competitor."

In signing the deal with MCI, meanwhile, BT left itself open to
signing another alliance with an Asian carrier. That may prove
tough, however, since most Asian phone companies serve a single
market. Cable & Wireless, its bitter UK rival through its
Mercury unit, owns most of Hong Kong Telecom, the most likely
candidate for an Asian partner. Singapore Telecom is due to be
privatized, but it's already tied-up with AT&T's WorldPartners
group. So's Korea Telecom and KDD, and so's Telestra, formerly
AOTC in Australia. This deal "doesn't preclude another agreement
with another carrier, " said MCI spokesman Jim Collins, but the
open question is who's available to dance? Speculation, and
that's all it is, runs to the smaller Japanese companies, like
DDI, or Telecom New Zealand.

Reaction by debt rating agencies was also positive. Standard and
Poor's re-affirmed its AAA rating on BT, despite the prospect of
a $4.3 billion cash due-bill. MCI, meanwhile, will pay $125
million for BT-North America, which may include its Tymnet packet
network. A spokesman told Newsbytes, "It's just too early to
answer" how Tymnet will fit into the deal precisely. BT paper
fell slightly on US markets, and Moody's investment service
said it might look at possibly downgrading its paper. MCI, whose
paper is rated BBB+/A-2, saw prices on its bonds firm on US
markets, with Moody's placing the debt under review for a
possible upgrade. Duff & Phelps said it would consider upgrading
MCI's notes from their present A- and BBB ratings. Duff & Phelps
had just upgraded MCI in December.

Stock traders seemed to agree that MCI got the better deal. MCI
stock was the most actively traded NASDAQ issue June 2, rising to
nearly $54.50 per share, still well under the $64 per share BT is
paying for its stake. BT shares, which are traded in New York as
American Depository Receipts, or ADRs, lost just over $1, while
AT&T ended unchanged and Sprint fell slightly. In England, BT's
competitors Cable & Wireless and Vodafone were both stronger on
speculation AT&T might buy into one, or both. After MCI concluded
a deal with the Stentor group of Canada last year, AT&T bought 20
percent of its competitor, Unitel.

BT, meanwhile, tried to increase the pressure on AT&T with a
round of price cuts from the UK to Europe and North America. It
said those moves had already been in the works. The most
interesting deals are "specials," which sound like US mark-
downs, like a 20 percent cut on charges during the weekends
during July.

While regulators on both sides of the Atlantic must approve the
new deal, that approval seems almost pre-ordained, based on the
lack of opposition. Rep. Markey said the deal must be studied
closely, but his was a lone voice of disapproval, and his main
goal seemed to be to assure that AT&T will get more access to
the British market. The approval of a deal by British Airways to
buy 20 percent of US Air in March also indicates that the Clinton
Administration isn't planning to oppose the BT move.

In time, it may seem that the BT-MCI deal has its biggest impact
on international rates for large businesses. It makes BT's old
Syncordia unit a real player, although its head office will
likely be based in Washington or London. It follows by one week
AT&T's announcement of a WorldPartners plan, offering one-stop
shopping to multinational businesses through a network of phone
firms around the world. The deal could also impact BT's corporate
culture, which management is trying to shift from that of a
government-owned bureaucracy into a fast-moving entrepreneurial
enterprise, something more like MCI.

The best joke of the day, finally, came from MCI President Daniel
Akerson, at a teleconference announcing the deal. Asked about the
chances that MCI's Friends and Family calling-circle plan could
find its way overseas as a result, he said it might -- as Folks
and Blokes.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19930603/Press Contact: Jim Collins, MCI, 800-
289-0073)


(NEWS)(IBM)(BOS)(00018)

Epson Intros 3.8-Pound 486 Subnotebook For Under $2,000 06/03/93
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, U.S.A., 1993 JUN 3 (NB) -- At the Consumer
Electronics Show in Chicago, Epson America has entered the
subnotebook market with a 3.8-pound, 486-based PC priced starting
at less than $2,000.

The ActionNote 4000 subnotebook uses a 33 MHz 486SLC processor,
faster than the 25 MHz 486SLC chip that appears in the ActionNote
4SLC/25, introduced in April as Epson's most powerful notebook to
date.

Other features of the new subnotebook include an 80MB or 120MB
removable hard disk drive, one PCMCIA Type II slot, a built-in two-
button trackball, an external floppy drive, a 7-5-inch (diagonal)
backlit, high-contrast VGA monochrome screen, 2 inches smaller than
the 9.5-inch screen that appears in the ActionNote 4SLC/25.

Together, the ActionNote 4000 and ActionNote 4SLC/25 constitute the
first members of the new ActionNote family, envisioned by Epson as
an expansion on its older NB Series of portable computers. For the
time being, ActionNote and the NB Series will coexist, according to
the company.

One analyst is disappointed that Epson seems to be bringing out the
ActionNote family in piece-by-piece fashion. About two years ago,
Epson pioneered such concepts as upgradable hard drives, chips and
screens for portable PCs, but then the company failed to issue
further enhancements, said Randy Giusto, senior analyst at
WorkGroup Technologies Inc., a market research firm in Hampton, NH.

Now, Epson should take aggressive action to restore its image in
the portable marketplace, Giusto told Newsbytes. "They need to
fill in some of the missing holes in the ActionNote family, because
it's being perceived out there that Epson hasn't had a very strong
portable product line for a long time," he commented.

The ActionNote 4000 is scheduled to ship in August. The price tag
covers a one-year limited warranty that includes free Extra Care
Road Service, as well as Epson Connection, a toll-free customer
support and technical assistance line.

Under terms of the Extra Care service, if a removable hard drive
fails, the user will receive a replacement drive overnight. Epson
pays all service charges associated with the service. Each
ActionNote 4000 comes with the phone number for Extra Care
imprinted on the bottom.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19930503/Press contact: Jan Marciano, Epson
America, tel [phone])


(NEWS)(GOVT)(DEN)(00019)

Dell Shareholders Sue For Nondisclosure 06/03/93
AUSTIN, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1993 JUN 3 (NB) -- Shareholders of Dell
Computer Corporation have filed suit against the personal computer
maker alleging the company failed to disclose problems in its
notebook computer division that led to a severe drop in the company's
stock.

The suits apparently center around comments allegedly made last
November by a financial analyst that currency hedging by Dell may
have led to inflated earnings. The alleged comments, which were
characterized by Dell Chief Financial Officer Tom Meredith as
"suppositions," "misguided," and "appalling," were later denied by
the analyst, Kidder Peabody's David Korus. Dell stock dropped from
38-3/8 to 35-3/4 in trading of over 9 million shares after the rumors
circulated.

At that time Dell said it was considering filing suit against Kidder
Peabody. Asked if that was still a possibility, Rydell declined to
say that it wouldn't happen, but said he had no knowledge of any
impending action.

When the furor over alleged currency hedging first arose, Dell Vice
President of Corporate Communications Michelle Moore told Newsbytes
that companies engaging in international operations attempt to
minimize the risk of currency volatility that results from currency
fluctuation. "You might buy components in Deutschmarks and have an
offsetting contract in British pounds with the net effect to
neutralize each other. In a perfect world the net result is zero,"
Moore said. The company says that for the first nine months of 1992
the total gains and losses was an insignificant gain.

Associated Press reported yesterday that 11 lawsuits have been filed
in federal court in Austin claiming that Dell violated federal
securities rules by failing to reveal information about problems the
company was enduring. Dell stock fell $7.37-1/2 per share, closing at
$24.75 when the company released its first quarter earnings on May
25, with the announcement that the company had written off $20
million connected with its discontinued notebook-sized computer
projects. Company officials said the losses from the discontinued
operations were not known until a few days before the earnings
announcement. The suit alleges the company artificially inflated its
stock price by failing to provide investors with accurate
information, subjecting recent investors to financial losses.

Rydell told Newsbytes the company has received nine of the suits by
mid-morning today. He said the company has no comment at present
other than to say, "We don't believe we have done anything wrong. All
of our activities have complied with the law."

Dallas lawyer Terrell Oxford, who is representing several of the
plaintiffs, said the lawsuits will probably be consolidated into a
single class-action suit. "There are a lot of irate stockholders out
there," Oxford reportedly told AP.

(Jim Mallory/19930603/Press contact: Michelle Moore, Dell Computer
Corporation, 512-794-4100)


(NEWS)(IBM)(DEN)(00020)

Zeos 486-based Notebook Computer 06/03/93
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, U.S.A., 1993 JUN 3 (NB) -- Zeos International
announced a new notebook computer based on Intel's 25 megahertz (MHz)
486SL microprocessor.

The 486-based Freestyle computer joins its older sibling, the
386SL-25 Freestyle, which the company introduced last summer.

Features of the Freestyle systems include a tilt and swivel VGA 9.5-
inch display unit, a built-in mouse key and floppy drive, Flash ROM
for easy BIOS upgrade and up to three hours of battery power on a
single charge of the nickel-cadmium battery.

The new system also includes an additional 256 kilobytes (K) of video
RAM, for a total of 512K; a built-in math co-processor chip to speed
up math-intensive operations such as graphics and spreadsheet
calculations; and 3.3-volt technology, designed to increase battery
life.

The basic configuration of the new system includes 4 megabytes (MB)
of system memory and a 60MB hard drive, with a price tag of $1,695.
Memory upgrades up to 20MB and larger hard drives up to 180MB are
available. Other available options include a carrying case, extra
batteries, Windows 3.1, Lotus Organizer, and an internal 9600 baud
fax/2400 baud data modem.

(Jim Mallory/19930603/Press contact: Rick Apple, Zeos International,
612-623-9614; Reader contact: Zeos International, 800-423-5891 or
612-623-9614)


(NEWS)(IBM)(LAX)(00021)

Everything You Need To Run Your Home In Kaboodle 06/03/93
NOVATO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 JUN 3 (NB) -- If you've been
looking for just one piece of software that will allow you to
do everything you need to run your home, from designing and
printing party invitations to keeping your shopping list,
Wordstar has it. They're calling it Kaboodle, and it is
scheduled to ship at the end of June.

Kaboodle is the first in Wordstar's One Step Series line of
software aimed at consumers and has a graphical look and feel,
although it is not a Microsoft Windows-based package. The
product offers the following modules: banners and signs,
drawing, cards and invitations, "to do" lists, a recipe
organizer, a calendar and scheduler, an address/phonebook, home
inventory, a word processor, and even solitaire games.

While each module works with the other modules, the product is
complete incompatible with other software products for DOS or
Windows, according to Eva Morrison, Wordstar's Kaboodle product
manager. In fact, for two Kaboodle users to share a file, one
has to send it to disk as a backup and then the other Kaboodle
user has to use the restore command to retrieve the file,
Morrison said.

Compatibility is not what Wordstar had in mind. But once data
is in the product, such as your party invitation list, then you
can design an invitation, tag people on your party list, and
have their names printed on each invitation.

The user interface is uniform and data can be cut and pasted
from one application to the next, and the product is designed
for use with a mouse. Kaboodle offers a screen-saver, spell
checkers for both children and adults, a clock, a calendar, and
a form design module for formatting inventory cards, mailing
labels and to do lists.

Kaboodle requires an IBM or compatible personal computer (PC)
running DOS 3.0 or higher, 640 kilobytes of random access
memory (RAM), 5 megabytes (MB) of hard disk space, a video
graphics array (VGA) or enhanced graphics adapter (EGA)
monitor, and a mouse. In addition, Kaboodle will run in a DOS
shell under Microsoft Windows, Wordstar representatives said.
The retail price has been set at $39.95.

(Linda Rohrbough/19930603/Press Contact: Eva Morrison,
Wordstar, tel [phone], fax [phone]; Public Contact
800-227-5609)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(LAX)(00022)

 ****Apple Gearing Publishing, Telecom For Multimedia PDA 06/03/93
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, U.S.A., 1993 JUN 3 (NB) -- Apple Computer
wants it known that its Personal Interactive Electronics (PIE)
Division is more than just the Newton, the company's first
Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), scheduled for release this
summer. PIE is actually made up of four divisions, two of which
the company hasn't talked about before and one of which is
working on a multimedia PDA.

The four divisions are: Apple Online Services (AOS), the PDA
division, a telecommunications division, and a publishing arm.
The telecommunications and publishing divisions are the ones
Apple is talking about for the first time. New word from the
PDA division includes work on a multimedia Newton is
progressing, but other no information is forthcoming.

The PIE telecommunications division announced it plans to go
into collaborative and exploratory efforts with three Regional
Bell Operating Companies (RBOCs), Ameritech, Bellsouth, and US
West. PIE's intentions, announced at the Consumer Electronics
Show in Chicago this week, are to provide value-added
information and communications services for the first PDA, the
Newton, and investigate new devices and form factors that might
incorporate Newton technology.

One such investigation is how to incorporate the Newton with
screen-based telephony products. Ameritech says its plans are
to provide notification of fax and voice messages that simplify
access to voice and fax messages, provide random access to
messages, and deliver messages to Newton PDAs or other devices.
In addition, Ameritech will attempt to utilize Newton PDAs as a
retrieval and display device for its voice and fax mailbox
messages.

Bellsouth said it would work with PIE to try prototype screen-
phone devices and the incorporation of additional services for
such devices. In addition, US West intends to explore the areas
of screen-based telephony as well as identification and
implementation of services for Newton devices.

Apple also again mentioned its plans to work with Siemens and
ROLM collaborating on the development of Notephone. As
previously announced in March, notephone is a combination of
Siemens-ROLM telephony and Newton technology that is planned to
provide access to telephone and fax features.

PIE says, in addition to the Newton, it plans to introduce new
PDA product families that will use electronic information. A
division of PIE, the Apple Online Services (AOS) is a rapidly
growing area, the company said.

AOS currently offers Applelink, an electronic service boasts a
54,000 user network worldwide. Applelink was developed to
support Apple customers by distributing information, including
technical support and published information. Information
services from electronic publishers such as Newsbytes, RR Donnelley
Geosystems, Dow Jones, Ziff Desktop Information, USA Today,
Grolier Electronic Publishing and Tribune Media Services are
available online.

AOS has recently announced its intention to expand Applelink to
include travel, banking, and shopping services. AOS also made a
deal with America Online in December of last year to use its
user interface in services AOS will manage.

Gaston Bastiaens of the PIE division said in a prepared
statement: "We believe that the electronic media market will
play a key role in the success of our PDA devices. The PIE
Division is looking forward to greatly expanding that market by
distributing and publishing titles, providing easy-to-use
tools, and collaborating with developers."

The publishing portion of PIE will focus in four primary
categories: general reference; business/professional;
education; and entertainment. Apple believes the combination of
new technology, new devices, and online services will offer the
potential for a new industry for publishers built from existing
products. The company has announced it intends to be involved
with companies to create, distribute, and collaborate.

To aid in the creation of new products, Apple says it plans to
offer tools, including the Apple Media Kit, a multimedia
authoring tool from the PIE Division. The Apple Media Kit is
built with Apple's existing technology from Quicktime and is
described as a tool to improve title playback speed, facilitate
workgroup productivity, and enable authors to deliver their
titles on multiple platforms, including Microsoft Windows and
future consumer electronics devices from the PIE division.

Apple is not without competition in these areas. Zoomer, a
Personal Information Processor (PIP) device developed by Tandy
and Casio, was shown in a working prototype in January and is
expected to ship this summer. In addition, America Online has
been enlisted to help provide add-on information products for
Zoomer. American Telephone and Telegraph (AT&T) is also
expected to deliver a device, similar to both Zoomer and the
Newton, priced in the $2,000 range.

(Linda Rohrbough/19930603/Press Contact: Tricia Chan, Apple
Computer, tel [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(DEN)(00023)

PCs Aid In Medical Self-Diagnosis 06/03/93
MERRIT ISLAND, FLORIDA, U.S.A., 1993 JUN 3 (NB) -- A software program
developed by a Florida company gives the user access to up-to-date
medical information, including information on health and diet.

Pixel Perfect has released a version of its Home Medical Advisor
for Windows. A DOS version was previously available. The program
offers information for the home user in seven areas. A symptom file
contains a listing of 70 common symptoms, has more than 600 color
graphics, and makes over 400 diagnoses based on information entered
by the user. The disease file contains information on the cause,
symptoms, treatment, and prognosis for nearly 500 diseases. An injury
file teaches users about high altitude sickness, poison ivy, bee
stings, marine injuries, ankle sprains, and 175 other possibilities,
with help on how to treat those problems.

There's also a poison file, which lists over 500 common household
chemicals and products, and presents information about what products
should concern you in the home. The test file explains why doctors
order certain tests, and talks about the indications, risks,
benefits, and complications of more than 140 of the most frequently
used medical tests in use today. A drug file lists over 1200 of the
most common prescription and non-prescription drugs, states why they
are used, and lists the reported side effects, precautions to
observe, and how a specific drug may interact with other medications.

Pixel Perfect spokesperson Stephanie Perlmutter told Newsbytes the
user just responds to a series of questions posed by the program, and
uses those responses to evaluate the health problem.

For users interested in personal health and diet information, users
are provided a health and diet file, a new addition to the Windows
version of HMA. Compiled by emergency medicine board-certified
physician Dr. Stephen Schueler and a staff of over 40 physician
specialists, that file contains information on nutrition, vitamins,
supplements, and specialty diets that are designed to improve your
health. Information on food allergies travel vaccinations, exercise
and fitness, and home first aid is also included. Perlmutter told
Newsbytes the program includes specific diets for diabetics, heart
disease and hypertension patients, pregnant women, persons suffering
eating disorders, and vegetarians.

Dr. Schueler says the software is a quick way to get practical, up
to-date answers to medical questions. "The database essentially sends
your computer to medical school and makes connections between
diseases and symptoms." He cautions that computer software doesn't
replace regular checkups or emergency care, but might save an
unnecessary trip to the doctor by putting the right information at
your fingertips.

The Medical Home Advisor runs on IBM-compatible personal computers
under Microsoft Windows 3.1, and is updated every six months. "First
aid reference books or home medical care guides go out of date very
quickly. By updating our program regularly with new disks we can stay
current and topical. Your program is never too old to be useful,"
says Schueler.

The program has a suggested retail price of $69.95, with semi-annual
updates priced at $15. Interested readers can call Pixel Perfect's
toll-free number to learn the location of their nearest distributor.
Perlmutter says HMA will be available on a CD-ROM disk this summer,
and a version for Apple Computer's Macintosh is scheduled to ship
about the same time.

(Jim Mallory/19930603/Press contact: Stephanie Perlmutter, P.S.
Associates for Pixel Perfect, 312-751-8436; Reader contact: Pixel
Perfect, 800-788-2099 or 407-779-0310, fax [phone])


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(DEN)(00024)

Fire Department Does Windows 06/03/93
COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO, U.S.A., 1993 JUN 3 (NB) -- When the
Colorado Springs Fire Department decided it had to modernize its
incident reporting system by downsizing from a mainframe operation to
PCs, Scott Hopkins, the department's manager of finance, information
systems, and planning, decided to use Windows 3.1 as the user
interface.

Hopkins says he made his choice because Windows was an off-the-shelf
product, saving the cost of software development, and it is easy to
use since so many of the actions are accomplished with the click of a
mouse.

Prior to downsizing, the Fire Department ran their programs on one of
the city's mainframe computers on a time-sharing basis. Hopkins
realized he could reduce costs, so he obtained funding from the city
to install 486-based personal computers in each of the city's 16 fire
station, the department headquarters and training facility, and
several of the bureaus. A file server in the headquarters building
provides the storage capacity needed, and Hopkins hired contract
programmers at a cost of about $50,000 to develop the database needed
using Gupta's SQL Server. Hopkins purchased some of the equipment
from a national supplier, but about $40,000 worth of the PCs were
bought locally "to keep the money in the community."

Now when firefighters return from a call, one of the firefighters
enters in the necessary information: time of alarm, time arrived,
type of call and other information needed to provide a base for
management reports. Many of the items are entered by clicking from a
list of choices, which keeps the entries standardized rather than
relying on terminology provided by the person entering the data.

Hopkins says the information is used for a variety of purposes. Chief
Louis Roman and his staff can quickly call up information in a
variety of ways to see what type of calls are being handled, and the
data can also be used to determine station staffing or the best
location for new stations. Colorado Springs firefighters handle
about 20,000 calls annually, with 80 percent of those being
medically related. Hopkins told Newsbytes the response time on calls
in the city of 290,000 is less than eight minutes for 93 percent of
the incidents. Average response time for medical calls is about 6.5
minutes.

Hopkins says one of his biggest challenges was overcoming reluctance
on the part of firefighters to use the new system. "Firefighters tend
to be traditional people," he told Newsbytes. To overcome that
challenge, Hopkins set up training for all the firefighters, and
organized a response team made up of firefighters with an interest in
the PCs from stations throughout the city to handle user problems
that might arise.

Hopkins says the next step is to automate other operations, such as
fire prevention and hazardous materials incident response. He
envisions fire inspectors entering inspection results into handheld
computerized devices, then uploading the information to the file
server when they return to the bureau. For hazardous materials
incidents, he hopes to equip incident commanders with cellular
modem-equipped handheld computers that can receive stored information
from the file server about types of materials stored in the business,
location of sprinkler system valves, and other data crucial to
fighting a fire in a hazardous environment.

(Jim Mallory/19930603/Press and reader contact: Scott Hopkins,
Colorado Springs Fire Department, 719-578-7050)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(ATL)(00025)

New Games From Davidson 06/03/93
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, U.S.A., 1993 JUN 3 (NB) -- Davidson & Associates
chose CES to announce its new educational games: Kid CAD;
Math Blaster: In Search of Spot; Alge-Blaster 3; The Cruncher;
and a Macintosh version of Zoo Keeper. The new products feature
multimedia features such as full-screen, digitized graphics, sound,
animation and 3D modeling, the company said.

Kid CAD is a Windows-based program offering help in designing
houses and other objects on a computer screen. The Cruncher, an
animated spreadsheet, is brand new, and aims to teach
spreadsheets with examples of party planning, family budgeting,
and calendar making.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19930603)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(MOW)(00026)

Telecom In Russia 06/03/93
MOSCOW, RUSSIA, 1993 JUN 3 (NB) -- Russia's Minister of Communications
Vladimir Bulgak, in the new "Telecommunications and Informatics"
magazine, published by the Russian Information Agency, says
Russia's state communications sector made 22 billions rubles
(US$22 million at the current rate) in profits during 1992, with
a profit margin of 18.9 percent, or two thirds of the 1991 level.

Expenses increased tenfold but income also grew ninefold,
mainly due to liberalized prices. Average service prices also
were eight times higher.

In 1991-1992, foreign investments in Russian communications
amounted to around US$120 million. In 1993, the Ministry expects
this figure to reach US$350 million.

There have also been major long-distance and international
communication projects using fiber and digital lines. In 1993 the
number of international lines in Russia will increase from a current
3,200 up to 15,000.

At the end of 1991, after the collapse of the USSR, Russia inherited
10 communication satellites, most of them defunct and in need of
replacement. During 1992 five new satellites were launched
(USSR usually launched 1-2 communication satellites per year). A new
generation of sputniks are being designed under projects code-named "Gals"
and "Express."

Bulgak estimates that in 1993, communications tariffs will grow 150-200
percent, but the profit margin will continue to decrease and will reach
about 14 percent in 1993, the minister said.

(Eugene Peskin & Kirill Tchashchin/19930601)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TYO)(00027)

Hitachi Maxell Links With TEAC On Optical Disks 06/03/93
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1993 JUN 3 (NB) -- Hitachi Maxell has linked with
electronics parts maker TEAC in a new optical disk venture. TEAC
is supplying optical disk drives to Hitachi Maxell on an OEM (original
equipment manufacturer) basis.

Hitachi Maxell will receive an OEM-supply of 3.5-inch optical disk
drives from TEAC. The external optical disk drives measures 5.3
x 27.3 x 4.5 cm. They rotate at 3,000 rounds per minute,
consume 17 watts of electricity. The retail price of this
disk drive is 198,000 yen ($1,800). Hitachi Maxell is
planning to ship 5,000 to 6,000 units of this disk in the first
year.

This is the first time Hitachi Maxell will sell optical disk
drives. The firm is currently selling optical disks.

Hitachi Maxell will also ship 1.3-gigabyte 5.25-inch optical disks
this summer. The price will be around 40,000 yen ($360). Hitachi
Maxell is also preparing to ship 2-gigabyte version of this disk.

TEAC specializes in production of computer floppy disk drives as
well as optical disk drives. Demand is increasing. Other Japanese
disk manufacturers such as Olympus are also increasing production
of optical disks.

(Masayuki "Massey" Miyazawa/19930601/Press Contact: Hitachi Maxell,
[phone])


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(LON)(00028)

Virgin Record Publisher Going Into PC Sales 06/03/93
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1993 JUN 3 (NB) -- Remember Tubular Bells, the
phenomenally successful album by musical artist Mike Oldfield? The
album, which was a runaway success for Oldfield, helped launch
Richard Branson, the publisher of the Virgin label that released
that album. Today, Virgin is a successful publisher and an airline.
Now Branson wants to be a computer manufacturer/supplier as well.

According to Branson, getting up to speed in the PC market-place
will take a few months, as he doesn't want to fall into the "trap"
of badging someone else's machines and then charge a premium over
the budget clone PCs in the market-place.

Virgin Euromagnetics, the technology division of Branson's company,
has been quietly establishing itself this past few years as a
producer of floppy disks. Now, according to John Jenkins, Virgin
Euromagnetics is ready to launch its own range of PCs.

September will be the launch month of the machines. According to
Jenkins, this will allow the company to commission its own range of
PCs in the Far East and, perhaps more importantly, set up its own
dealer network in the UK. The bulk of the network will, initially at
least, comprise the company's chain of music and games outlets that
line the UK's High Street.

Despite the long gestation period for the new VE range of PCs,
Branson's cavalier attitude has brought comparisons between Virgin
and Amstrad, the computer company owned and launched by pugnacious
chairman Alan Sugar. Jenkins, however, refutes such comparisons.

"The press has tried to say we're going to take the market by storm
and take on Alan Sugar. That is not our intention. Our intention is
to take the individual business user, the pleasure user that buys
Virgin products currently, where it will be a natural extension to
look at a badged clone," he said.

Jenkins is playing his cards very close to his chest on the subject
of machine specifications. Industry sources, however, suggest that
the company will concentrate on 486 chip technology for its desktop
PCs, adopting an innovative approach with 386SL and 486SL (low
power) chipsets on its portables.

Plans call for Virgin Euromagnetics to source its PC components,
including PC boards from Taiwan, to its own specifications. The
machines, however, will be assembled in the UK, almost certainly to
order. This approach has paid off with direct companies such as
Dell and Elonex.

(Steve Gold/19930603)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(SFO)(00029)

RightBrain Software Intros ExactlyWrite 06/03/93
PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 JUN 3 (NB) -- RightBrain Software
has introduced a new low-cost, mainstream word processor for the
Nextstep environment, dubbed ExactlyWrited. RightBrain is developing
ExactlyWrite for the cross-platform enterprise document processing
needs of both Intel and NeXT users.

"We can read and write files from WriteNow, and we hope to become the
standard format for sending documents around in the Nextstep
community," said Glenn Reid, president and founder of RightBrain
Software. "At only $129 retail, with substantial discounts per seat
at large installations, we offer an extremely low-cost and effective
solution for word processing," Reid added.

ExactlyWrite was not derived from PasteUp, RightBrain's high-end page
layout application. Instead, it was written from scratch using the
Nextstep Text object, which provides support for drag-and-drop color
and graphics, built-in spell-checking, and works seamlessly in
European languages and Kanji.

"ExactlyWrite won't provide some of the more sophisticated
typographic and document features available in PasteUp, but hey, it's
fast, it's cheap, and it's what we think people really want on a
day-to-day basis," Reid said.

RightBrain Software is an application software company located in
Palo Alto, California. RightBrain, a privately held company, was
founded in 1990 to develop publishing software for the Nextstep
operating system.

(Wendy Woods/19930603/Press Contact: Glenn Reid, RightBrain Software,
415-326-2974)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(LAX)(00030)

 ****Paramount/Philips Agreement To Bring Movies On CD-I 06/03/93
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, U.S.A., 1993 JUN 3 (NB) -- You'll soon be
able to play movies on your Philips' Compact Disc Interactive
(CD-I) player. Philips Interactive Media of America and
Paramount Pictures have announced an agreement under which
Paramount will distribute theatrical length movies on CD-I
discs.

The CD-I player, widely available at Sears as well as other
retail outlets nationwide for about $700, is much like a video
cassette recorder (VCR) in that it connects to a television set
and offers a remote control. However, the CD-I player's remote
control is the interface which allows users to interact with
CD-I titles, acting like a joystick for games and a control to
point to menu selections for other titles. Philips says over
100 titles are available for the CD-I player to date on 5-inch
discs.

To play the movies, Paramount plans to distribute, CD-I users
will need to add a FMV cartridge to their CD-I player which
inserts into the back of the unit. The cartridge offers
compatibility to the Moving Pictures Experts Group (MPEG) video
compression standard and an additional one megabyte (MB) of
memory to the CD-I player. With the cartridge, up to seventy-
two minutes of video and audio playback is possible.

The FMV cartridges began shipping to developers in April,
Philips said, but consumer versions of the FMV cartridges won't
be available until this fall, when the new movie titles come
out.

Philips believes the release of Paramount movies on CD-I will
help establish CD-I as a standard. Bob Kilingensmith, president
of Paramount's Video Division said: "The promise of digital
video has been looming on the horizon for several years and the
race has been between every delivery system possible: cable,
DBS, telecommunications, and home video playback systems. This
fall Philips will be the first company to actually deliver on
the promise of digital when they begin to release our movies on
5-inch discs. We all know that movies drive any new
entertainment medium, and we are very pleased to have Paramount
moves leading the way for Philips in this exciting new
technology."

The CD-I movies will deliver both digital images and CD quality
sound, Philips said. The companies also said they will explore
the possibility of development of interactive titles, some of
which may be based on future Paramount movies.

(Linda Rohrbough/19930603/Press Contact: David Elliot, Cohn &
Wolfe, tel [phone]; Todd Green, Philips, 213-251-4620, fax
310-476-5937)