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/nb090793

Text File | 1993-09-07 | 64KB | 1,427 lines

(NEWS)(GOVT)(DEN)(00001)

U of Washington Police Catch Alleged Computer Thief 09/07/93
PORTLAND, OREGON, U.S.A., 1993 SEP 7 (NB) -- University of
Washington campus police believe they have captured the
person who has been stealing high-priced computer parts from
their school and at least one other area university.

The 23-year old man was arrested after a half-mile foot chase across
the University of Washington campus in Seattle last week, ending
up face down in an irrigation canal under a campus police officer.
The suspect is presently in jail on burglary charges, so far unable
to come up with the $100,000 cash bond the judge set.

Campus police Captain Randy Stegmeier told Newsbytes the man had 125
computer memory boards in his possession when captured, as well as a
pipe wrench they think he used to gain entry to the area where the
computers are. Stegmeier said the suspect is on probation after
being convicted of a similar theft from the Cal State campus at
Fullerton, California. Stegmeier said the man has made restitution
in the amount of at least $50,000 in that case.

Campus officers were alerted after a staff member in the school's
statistics department located in Padelford Hall rigged his PC to
page him if the system was turned off. Stegmeier said the building
had been burglarized about a month ago. On that occasion about 70
offices were forcibly entered. A similar theft occurred at Portland
State University last Friday night, and University of Washington
computers have been victimized on 25 previous occasions since early
April. Universities in California, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and
Georgia have also been hit this year, according to a campus
spokesperson.

Police say the staffer's pager went off shortly before 3 a.m., so
he called campus police, who dispatched officers to the building.
Arriving within 90 seconds, the officers, Newsbytes was told,
confronted the man as he was leaving the office where the rigged
computer was located. The suspect fled and after a brief physical
confrontation with one officer, was captured on the east side of
the campus. Further investigation revealed about 35 offices had been
forcibly entered.

Stegmeier said the alleged burglar has no connection with the
university, but has lived in the area in the past, possibly with
relatives.

University officials are coordinating with their counterparts in the
other states to see if the burglaries are linked. FBI Special Agent
Dick Thurston, spokesperson for the bureau's Seattle office, said
agents are also investigating the case to see if there have been
any violations of federal statutes, including those pertaining to
interstate transportation of stolen goods and computer hacking.

Stegmeier told Newsbytes if convicted the man could be fined up to
$10,000 and one year in jail on each felony count. While hopeful
that the arrest will clear up the burglaries that have plagued the
school, Stegmeier said officials aren't convinced the suspect is the
sole perpetrator, saying "the watch continues."

The value of computer chips went up dramatically after a July fire
in a Japanese manufacturing plant that makes most of the world's
supply of the chemical that is used to seal the chips.

(Jim Mallory/19930903/Press contact: Captain Randy Stegmeier,
University of Washington, 206-543-2843)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00002)

International Telecom Update 09/07/93
ATLANTA, GEORGIA, U.S.A., 1993 SEP 7 (NB) -- Continuing
privatization dramas in Europe highlight the telecommunications
news of the world.

In Greece, Socialists promised to cancel the sale of the nation's
OTE phone network if they win elections next spring. They could,
owing to a scandal over the alleged wiretapping of the party's
former leaders by a man with ties to the current government. A 35
percent stake in OTE, plus operating control, will be sold to
either NTT of Japan, GTE of the US, Telefonica de Espana of
Spain, France Telecom, STET of Italy or Korea Telecom, after bids
are finalized. Making matters worse, OTE President Nikos Themelis
resigned over cancellation of a major digital switch purchase,
pending the sale.

In Germany, Post Minister Wolfgang Boetsch, hoping to sidestep
criticism of his government's moves to sell the Deutsche
Bundespost Telekom, detailed a program of gradual rate cuts
totaling 20 percent over the next five years, in the run-up to an
open European telecom market. Previously, voters there had heard
only that, while long distance rates might go down, local charges
would rise substantially.

The minister hopes that, as in the US, new digital systems won't
need as many people to man them, allowing for lower calling
costs. In the private sector, Siemens won its first mobile
telephone equipment order for digital GSM systems in Shanghai
and Guangdong provinces. While ostensibly given an advantage
by the central government in Beijing, Siemens has achieved
somewhat disappointing results in China compared to US rivals.

In Taiwan, AT&T is making waves, signing an agreement to supply
software and technology for pay-per-view, home shopping, and
data networking to South Pole Star Technology Group, which wants
to run a cable television system. The industry in Taiwan has been
growing like topsy, with entrepreneurs simply putting up dishes
and passing on foreign shows without royalty. Under pressure,
Taiwan's parliament passed a regulatory law this summer. While
the law does attack the pirate operators, it bans foreign
equity in Taiwan's cable industry.

In Argentina, the government postponed until next month the
opening of bids on two provincial cellular networks, allowing new
groups more time to prepare. Seven groups have bought "term
sheets" covering the licenses. One, ironically, is based in
Mexico, where the successful privatization of Telmex was the model
for Argentina's successful spin-off of EnTel, a phone monopoly
now run as two companies, Telecom and Telefonica.

In Southeast Asia, Singapore Telecom announced plans for its
public offering. The 6-8 percent stake will be listed on local
exchanges, becoming the largest issue there by far. Almost half
the stock will go to participants in a government-mandated
retirement plan, at a discount. Malaysia's TRI, the nation's
largest cellular network, confirmed it might sell a 20 percent
stake to a foreign partner, perhaps as early as next month. The
capital and expertise of the foreign partner is expected to help
TRI get into making cellular phone equipment.

In the Philippines, the nation's continuing efforts to improve the
telephone network may win allies in cable television, which like
its US counterpart can be upgraded to handle telephony
functions with the mere addition of switches. Such a move could
help break PLDT's long-time monopoly, and reduce a huge backlog
of service requests.

Finally, in Russia, officials estimated it will cost $40 billion
over the next 10 years to make that nation's phone network
efficient, with 15 million people waiting for a line which
probably doesn't work. While China has been able to modernize and
force Western companies to invest in its domestic capacity,
Russia has no money with which to make initial purchases, no firm
law on which to base joint ventures, and still suffers from COCOM
import restrictions on advanced equipment like fiber cable.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19930907)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(DEN)(00003)

Emulator Runs Mac Software On PCs 09/07/93
ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO, U.S.A., 1993 SEP 7 (NB) -- A New Mexico
company says it is working on a product that will allow unmodified
Macintosh software to run on 80X86-based personal computers.

Called Executor/DOS (the emphasis is on the second syllable, not
the first one), the initial release won't support color, sound,
System 7, AppleTalk, or Script Manager yet, but the company says
those features will be added when release 2.0 comes out in May 1994.

Version 1.0 is expected to ship by the end of the month. Right now
the company is shipping a demo version. "The development team is
working night and day to polish it up," says Ardi Public Relations
Director Susan Blumenthal.

Ardi says it has solved the problem of poor performance in
cross-platform compatibility systems by using dynamic recompilation
in their "synthetic" CPU and an efficient recompilation of the system
software. They describe the results as "impressive." Blumenthal says
there's no speed penalty running Macintosh applications using
Executor. "It will run as fast as it does on the Mac, and in some
instances faster," she told Newsbytes. Blumenthal says the look and
feel of Executor is so similar to a Mac that you won't be able to
tell the difference.

The company says it's not concerned about getting into legal trouble
with Apple Computer, and has been shipping a version of Executor
for the Next workstation for the past 18 months without a challenge
from Apple. "Ardi is immune to legal challenges because
Executor was developed using strictly clean room techniques and we
have never disassembled any of the Mac ROMs and System file. From a
look and feel perspective, compared to Quorum's (a company that
markets a RISC-based emulation program) endeavors, Apple will prefer
our technology because it doesn't attempt to disguise the origins of
the applications running under it."

Ardi says it also working on an X-windows and Windows NT version of
Executor for the Alpha, MIPS and SPARC processors. Executor/DOS 1.0
has a suggested retail price of $99.

(Jim Mallory/19930902/Press contact: Susan Blumenthal, Ardi,
505-343-9993; Reader contact: Ardi, 505-766-9115, fax [phone])


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SFO)(00004)

Novell Offers NetWare 4.x Security Patch 09/07/93
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 SEP 7 (NB) -- Security
is one of the main headaches for network managers. Novell's
new NetWare 4.0 network operating system (NOS) evidently had
a security problem associated with its login program. Now the
company has announced availability of a security enhancement to
the NetWare 4.x login utility.

The company says that the enhancement eliminates a "small window
of exposure" where a user's name and password may be temporarily
swapped to disk when running in a DOS environment with a small
memory configuration.

Newsbytes notes that each user on a NetWare network is allocated
a security level by the system manager. This allows the user to
access certain areas and files on the server. It also prevents
unauthorized users from gaining access to sensitive directories
and files. The compromising of a user's password, whether through
a system bug or user negligence, can have extensive repercussions.

Novell says that NetWare 2.x and NetWare 3.x login utilities are not
affected and require no enhancement.

The company says that the new file is named LOGIN.EXE v4.02. It is
available at no charge through NetWare resellers and on NetWire in
library 14 of the NOVLIB forum as SECLOG.EXE. Customers in the
US and Canada can call 1-800-NETWARE toll free. Those outside
North America can call 303-339-7027 or 31-55-384279, or fax a
request for the security enhancement that includes company name,
contact name, mailing address, and phone number to 303-330-7655
or 31-55-434455.

NetWare dominates the dedicated-server NOS market, with about
a 70 percent share.

(Ian Stokell/19930902/Press Contact: Martha Felt, 801-429-5811;
or Michael Adams, 801-429-5809, Novell Inc.)


(NEWS)(IBM)(DEN)(00005)

Quick Restart For Windows, DOS 09/07/93
FOSTER CITY, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 SEP 7 (NB) -- Powerpro Software
has introduced Quick Restart For Windows and DOS, an auto-resume
utility for DOS and Windows-based personal computers.

The software-only program allows the user to turn off his or her
personal computer after pressing a user-designated hot key or
clicking an icon with the mouse and return to the same place
they left off when the computer is turned on again. A similar technology
is standard on some notebook and subnotebook computers, such as
Gateway 2000's Handbook.

People who use Windows-based applications might find Quick Restart
particularly useful because of the time it takes to close all open
applications and exit Windows before turning the computer off,
or to wait for Windows to load and to re-open applications
when the machine is restarted in the next session. The company
says quick Restart even saves the contents of a RAM disk.

The auto resume program is available for desktop, laptop, notebook
and portable computers and does not require a particular
microprocessor to work, according to Powerpro Software. If you are
a notebook, laptop or portable user who relies on battery power, the
company says you will also appreciate the program, since you don't
have to leave the system on and continue to draw battery power when
you step away from your desk for a while.

Quick Restart has a suggested retail price of $39.95.

(Jim Mallory/19930902/Press contact: Kathy Misra, Powerpro Software,
415-345-9278; Reader contact: Powerpro Software, 415-345-9278, fax
415-345-5128)


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

Canadian Product Launch Update 09/07/93
TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1993 SEP 7 (NB) -- This regular
feature, appearing every Monday or Tuesday, provides further
details for the Canadian market on announcements by international
companies that Newsbytes has already covered. This week: Compaq's
Presario comes to Canada.

Compaq Canada recently announced that the Presario 425,
first in the company's new line of home and small-business PCs
(Newsbytes, August 27), is shipping here. The suggested list
price of the 425, which has a 25-megahertz (MHz) Intel 486SX
processor, a Super VGA color monitor, four megabytes (MB) of
memory, a 200-MB hard disk, a fax and data modem, and five
software packages pre-installed, is C$1,999.

Compaq Canada also announced the Presario 633, a machine based on
the 33-MHz Intel 486SX chip. With 200-MB hard drive, integrated
fax and data modem, and five bundled software packages, it also
has a C$1,999 list price, but in this case the monitor is not
included.

(Grant Buckler/19930907/Press Contact: Joh Robinson, Compaq
Canada, 416-229-8808; Public Contact: Compaq Canada,
800-263-5868)


(NEWS)(IBM)(LAX)(00007)

 ****MS-DOS 6.2 Released Planned For 4Q, Not Bug Fix 09/07/93
REDMOND, WASHINGTON, U.S.A., 1993 SEP 7 (NB) -- Microsoft is
preparing another release of MS-DOS 6 and is preparing to send
out a beta test version of the new release, MS-DOS 6.2.
Microsoft is saying the product is not a bug fix release, but
will add some new technology to the Doublespace disk
compression utility portion of the product.

While informal polls conducted by Newsbytes have turned up no
user problems either with DOS 6.0 or its data compression
utility Doublespace, reports from Microsoft are that a minority
of users have experienced problems. Most of them are
not problems with Doublespace, but are with other components
such as a hard disk drive or other products.

Specifics as to the nature of the technology additions to
Doublespace are slim. However Microsoft Director of Marketing
Tony Audino told Newsbytes the changes are aimed at providing
more data protection and improving performance.

In addition, there will be changes to the SMARTDRIVE.SYS cache
utility, including the more conservative option of making the
cache read-only instead of read-write.

Over 5 million copies of the MS-DOS 6.0 Upgrade have been sold
through the retail channels, since its introduction at the end
of March this year, making it the hottest-selling software
product in history. An additional 6 to 8 million copies have
been offered with new computer systems by original equipment
manufacturers (OEMs). Microsoft says more copies of the MS-DOS
6.0 Upgrade were sold in the first 90 days after it was released
than the combined total sales of the retail versions of MS-DOS
5.0 and Windows 3.1.

Of the total number of MS-DOS 6.0 copies sold, Microsoft
estimates about 62 percent (3 million) of those who purchased
the upgrade are using Doublespace and about 10 to 15 percent
(0.6 to 1.2 million) more who received the product through OEM
channels have installed Doublespace. Audino says the lower
numbers through the OEM channels are due to the fact that most
new computer buyers are getting larger hard disks and are
therefore not in as much need of the disk compression utility.

Microsoft said it had identified two bugs which it planned to
fix in the "near future." One bug was if the personal computer
(PC) running DOS 6.0 lost power (usually by being unplugged)
while the Windows driver Smartdrive is flushing its cache (or
disk memory), it could lose data. Users don't usually go around
pulling the plugs on their computers, but Microsoft's Chief
Bill Gates pulled the plug twice on the demonstration computer
during the satellite-broadcast introduction of DOS 6.0 to show
the safety of utilities Doublespace and Memmaker.

In the case of the other bug, DOS 6.0 would allow files recovered
with the Windows Undelete command to have invalid characters such
as the "?" and "*" characters.

Microsoft did not confirm or deny that the name for the new version
is DOS 6.2, but did say a new release of MS-DOS 6.0 is in beta
test stages. Users can expect to see the new MS-DOS version in
the fourth quarter of this year, Microsoft said.

Why choose 6.2 as the version number for the new release?
Newsbytes sources said IBM is releasing PC-DOS 6.1 and
Microsoft wants to stay one digit ahead.

(Linda Rohrbough/19930902/Press Contact: Delona Lang, Waggoner
Edstrom for Microsoft, tel [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TYO)(00008)

Big Losses For Japanese Electronics Firms 09/07/93
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1993 SEP 7 (NB) -- The continuing slump in the
Japanese electronics industry is affecting Hitachi,
Toshiba and Mitsubishi. All are expecting to suffer a reduction
in profits of about 20 percent compared to their previous term.
Although recovery is underway, it is going very slowly.

In fiscal 1993, which will end in March 1994, Hitachi, Toshiba,
and Mitsubishi expect to see a downturn due to weak consumer
demand and the surging Japanese yen. Hitachi expects to
make 3.7 trillion yen ($37 billion) in sales, or three percent
less than its previous term. However, profits will be 60 billion
yen ($600 million), or about 23 percent lower.

Hitachi has particularly suffered from a decline in demand for its
large scale computers by financial firms and by the lessened demand
for VCRs.

Toshiba expects to see a 3-percent increase in sales due to high
demand for its memory chips. However, profits will hover around 45
billion ($450 million), which is 18 percent lower than the previous
term. For Toshiba, sales of personal computers, air conditioners,
and VCRs, have been hardest hit.

Mitsubishi Electric expects to see a 2-percent sales reduction, and
23-percent profit decline. Its products to suffer most include
industrial robots, semiconductors, and VCRs.

(Masayuki "Massey" Miyazawa/19930906/Press Contact: Toshiba, +81-3-
3457-2100, Hitachi, [phone], Mitsubishi Electric, +81-3-
3218-2332, Fax, [phone])


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TYO)(00009)

Toshiba & NTT To Cut 10,000 Employees 09/07/93
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1993 SEP 7 (NB) -- Toshiba will cut 10,000
employees over the next 3 to 5 years from its 40 group firms
and headquarters, in an effort designed to curb losses.

Toshiba will cut 5,000 employees from the main company and
another 5,000 from group firms. Toshiba stresses that none of
these people will be fired or laid off. Rather, they will not
be replaced as normal attrition takes place. This number of
employees are due for retirement or are expected to voluntarily
quit due to personal reasons.

Also, Toshiba will also cut back on the number of university and
high school graduates it hires in the spring. The group
firms hired 1,500 school graduates this past April, but only 600
will be hired next April.

Toshiba claims to have 75,000 employees, and hopes to reduce
that to 70,000 in 3 to 5 years. The group firms have about 20,000
employees, which will be reduced to 15,000 employees.

NTT, NEC, and Fujitsu are also planning to reduce the number of
employees. NTT has announced a massive reduction plan to cut
10,000 employees by the end of next year. NTT will request
voluntary retirement from employees who are over 40 years old.
They will receive one year's salary and an extra bonus.

NTT is the largest telecommunications firm in Japan and news of the
cuts has sent shock waves through the industry.

(Masayuki "Massey" Miyazawa/19930906/Press Contact: Toshiba, +81-3-
3457-2100, Fax, [phone], NTT, [phone], Fax, +81-3-
3509-3104)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(TYO)(00010)

HDTV Breakthrough - 28-Inch Low-Cost TV 09/07/93
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1993 SEP 7 (NB) -- Sony has announced an extremely
low-cost 28-inch high definition television (HDTV) set. At
650,000 yen ($6,500), it's about half the cost of other
HDTV sets on the market. The KW-2810HD, as it's called, will
be released on November 15.

The HDTV set comes with Sony's second generation
MUSE decoder and LSI chips which are 10% smaller but just as
powerful and efficient as the previous generations, Sony reports.

The first generation of HDTV sets were released at 4 million yen
($40,000) about two years ago. The price dropped to 1.3 million
yen ($13,000) a year ago. Many Japanese electronics makers such
as Toshiba, Matsushita, and Mitsubishi, recently released lower
priced versions, but they are still 900,000 yen ($9,000).
Sony's $6,500 price tag is an industry first.

Some 10,000 HDTVs reportedly have been sold in Japan to date.
The industry projects sales of 30,000 units by the end of next
March.

Currently, HDTV programs are aired 8 hours a day in Japan on
an experimental basis. Laser discs for HDTV systems have also
been released. Still, many consumers are taking a wait-and-see
attitude on the technology and expect even lower prices in the
future.

(Masayuki "Massey" Miyazawa/19930907/Press Contact: Sony, +81-3-
5448-2200, Fax, [phone])


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(BOS)(00011)

PenExpo - Kurta Intros Desktop Pen Display System 09/07/93
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1993 SEP 7 (NB) -- At PenExpo last
week, Kurta released a new pen-based monochrome video display
system designed for desktop use by pen developers.

The company also showed prototypes of pen-based active and passive
matrix color display systems. The color panels are currently being
demonstrated to OEMs for use in pen computers, but will also
eventually be released by Kurta in desktop video display systems
for developers, John D. Fisher, national OEM sales manager, told
Newsbytes.

A few OEMs have announced pen PCs with the higher quality active
matrix panels, but none to his knowledge have started to ship such
products yet, he added.

The monochrome display system will let the developer work on a
desktop system, while simultaneously viewing how the application
will appear on the end user's pen display in either landscape or
portrait mode, said Chris B. Cleland, marketing systems engineer.

Available now, the VTS-5 Video Tablet System includes a monochrome
LCD, a textured glass writing surface, the Kurta VTS-5 VGA
controller for connection to desktop ISA or EISA computers, and a
suite of software programs for implementing the system in several
different operating environments.

The applications operate in the host computer and interface
directly to the display tablet element's pen system controllers.

The controller provides simultaneous LCD and CRT monitor support,
along with a built-in serial port for the pen system. The
controller connects to the display tablet via a 25-pin cable.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19930903/Reader contact: Kurta, tel 602-276-
7823; Press contacts: Gary Fitzgerald, Kurta, tel [phone];
Richard Burger, Martz & Wadas for Kurta, tel [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(BOS)(00012)

PenExpo - Dauphin Announces VAR Program, Ruggedized Computers 09/07/93
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1993 SEP 7 (NB) -- At PenExpo this
week, Dauphin announced a licensing agreement with Group
Technologies to ruggedize its DTR family of computers, as well as
the establishment of a new program to distribute the handheld pen-
based PCs through VAR channels.

A company spokesperson told Newsbytes that both moves are aimed at
bolstering DTR's position in the vertical markets at which the PCs
are primarily targeted.

In the new licensing deal, Group Technologies will be adding
ruggedized casing to the DTR's CPU. The ruggedized pen PCs will
then be sold by both Dauphin and Group Technologies, she said.

Group Technologies will market the new PCs under its Badger brand
name. The first ruggedized DTR to be sold by Group Technologies
will be the DTR-1, which Badger will rename the Badger 486-P.
Dauphin will market the ruggedized DTRs under the DTR moniker, but
no decision has yet been reached on exact model names, she added.

The establishment of the full-fledged VAR program follows a test
program that netted 100 VARs in three weeks, according to the
spokesperson. The first VARs being targeted are application-
specific VARs fields such as sales automation, health care, and
field data collection. Pen-based VARs as well as other VARs will
be sought.

Several large VARs have already committed to the program, including
Medvantage, which is using the DTR-1 in its automated medication
system, and Verticomp, which is providing data collection system
to oil field personnel.

Based on a strategic alliance philosophy, the program includes a
competitive price margin, aggressive demo program, quality
assurance, and co-op advertising credits, she told Newsbytes.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19930903/Reader contact: Dauphin, tel 708-971-
3400; Press contact: Colleen Burke, Dauphin, tel [phone], ext
1229)


(NEWS)(IBM)(LON)(00013)

UK - Wordperfect 6.0 For Windows 09/07/93
ADDLESTONE, SURREY, ENGLAND, 1993 SEP 7 (NB) -- Shadowing the US
launch earlier last week, Wordperfect UK has formally launched
Wordperfect 6.0 for Windows. The company is pencilling in a fourth
quarter shipment date with a suggested price tag of UKP 329.

David Godwin, the company's general manager for sales and marketing,
told Newsbytes that he is very enthusiastic about the package. He
claims that the current trend towards Windows over DOS is starting
to progress beyond the 50:50 mark and that, within three years, he
expects sales of Wordperfect for Windows to be outselling the DOS
edition four to one.

"(Wordperfect for) Windows will take around 80 percent of the market
in the future, though it may take three or more years to achieve
these ratios. In the meantime, we intend to service both markets as
effectively as possible," he said.

Wordperfect 6.0 for Windows is as impressive features-wise as
Wordperfect 6.0 for DOS. The package allows users to personalize
the word processor for virtually any environment and/or task. The
company claims that almost all aspects of the user interface can be
customized: button bar, power bar, ruler bar, status bar, keyboards
and menus.

"No other word processor makes it easier for Wordperfect DOS users
to make the move to Windows," explained Godwin, adding that he
believes that no other package has better compatibility with existing
Wordperfect files and macros, or better cross-platform
compatibility.

Wordperfect 6.0 for Windows gives Wordperfect for DOS users
the easiest transition to Windows with feature and file
compatibility, as well as macro conversions, the company reports.
Wordperfect 6.0 for Windows is 100 percent compatible with
Wordperfect 5.1 and 6.0 for DOS and Wordperfect 5.2 for Windows.
Users can also write macros that will work in both Wordperfect 6.0
for DOS and Windows. The Windows version even contains a WPDOS
keyboard layout.

What about existing users of Wordperfect? How will they upgrade to
WP 6.0 for Windows? Godwin said that pricing on an upgrade path has
yet to be sorted out price-wise, but that any user of Wordperfect,
whatever platform and/or issue, will be able to upgrade for a modest
upgrade fee. "We'll be deciding on exact pricing closer to shipment
date," he told Newsbytes.

(Steve Gold/19930903/Press & Public Contact: Wordperfect UK - Tel:
0932-850500; Fax: [phone])


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(MOW)(00014)

Russian Computer Buying Trends 09/07/93
MOSCOW, RUSSIA, 1993 SEP 7 (NB) -- MTB Computer Info., has
announced the results of its opinion poll regarding Russian
computer buying habits. Every second respondent based their
buying decisions on information printed in newspapers.

33% asks advice of colleagues and experts, 19% were influenced
by television sources, and 18% of buyers got price quotes from
the foreign press, according to the poll results.

53% of those polled said they experienced no problems finding the
correct computer system to suit their needs, mostly due to the
large supply of brands from competing companies. However, only
27% were able to correctly name even a few local computer
retailers.

MTB Computer Info is a marketing, consulting and public relations
company started by entrepreneur Dimitry Mendrelyuk. It is
affiliated with the Moscow Commodities Exchange. The poll was
conducted among executives of 80 independent trading companies
in Moscow.

(Kirill Tchashchin/199302)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(WAS)(00015)

Media 100 Online Video Production On A Mac 09/07/93
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1993 SEP 7 (NB) -- Media 100, an
inexpensive video production system which is used in conjunction
with an Apple NuBus Macintosh computer to create standard NTSC or
PAL video programs, has begun shipping from Marlboro,
Massachusetts-based Data Translation.

According to the company, Media 100 is the first 100 percent
digital, online, nonlinear video production system to create
high quality video programs directly from a Macintosh computer.

Digital video and audio processing, which are used to produce such
things as commercials where one image appears to morph
(metamorphosize) in real time into another was until recently
the exclusive province of powerful RISC-based graphics workstations.

Media 100, which is suitable for use by small production studios
or even local television stations, uses two NuBus slots in a fast
Macintosh computer and the related software runs under the Apple
System 7 operating system.

CD-quality stereo audio is supported, and the video output is a
full 30 frames per second which meets the NTSC (North American)
broadcast television standard, meaning that output from the Media
100-equipped Macintosh would provide images of the same quality
as seen on normal broadcast or cable television.

The Macworld trade show saw the premier of the beta version of
Media 100, which began shipping earlier this week at a list price
of $12,000.

In addition to the video/audio editing board, a production studio
will need a powerful Macintosh Quadra computer with two open
expansion slots, 32 megabytes (MB) of memory, a minimum of 1
gigabyte (GB) of high-performance SCSI or Small Computer Systems
Interface hard drive capacity, System 7, and Quicktime.

Some sort of video recording capacity is also required to input
data and store edited output, and a TV-standard video monitor, not
a standard computer monitor, is needed to view the images during
editing.

Media 100 FX (special effects) is a $1,000 option which uses
Adobe Premier software to provide 62 different standard transitions
and editing techniques like wipes and dissolves, filtering
through posterizing (images which appear to be a combination
of positive and negatives), blurring, solarizing (strongly
outlining objects), and embossing video. Media 100 FX even
provides such advanced effects as page turns and squeezes which
are familiar to television viewers, but which are normally
produced using very expensive, dedicated television effects
processors.

The FX option is not yet shipping but the company says it is
scheduled to be available this month.

(John McCormick/19930903/Press Contact: Patrick Rafter, Data
Translation, 508-460-1600, ext. 877; Public Contact: 508/460-
1600, ext. 100)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SYD)(00016)

Australia - HP Launches Faxed Info Service 09/07/93
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1993 SEP 7 (NB) -- HP First is Hewlett-
Packard's new information service for Australian and New Zealand customers.
Like many other computer companies, HP is anxious to get as much
information out, as efficiently as possible.

The system uses a voice menu and a touch-tone phone. Selected info
is then faxed to a telephone number entered by the enquirer.
Even at its start, the system has a database of around one gigabyte
of information for customers, resellers, consultants, the media, and
the general public.

HP says the system differs greatly from normal fax-back services
which simply send brochures or fact sheets from a small list.
First time users are advised to request a faxed index of the
hundreds of available documents.

The HP Australia communications group that implemented the
system will now export the technology across Asia-Pacific, including
installations in Korea, Hong Kong and Singapore.

While HP pays to send the fax, the user pays for the enquiry call,
as it is a Melbourne number and not toll-free. Interested Newsbytes
readers can try the service by dialling [phone].

(Paul Zucker/19930903)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(WAS)(00017)

Sharp 32 Mb MROM 09/07/93
CAMAS, WASHINGTON, U.S.A., 1993 SEP 7 (NB) -- Sharp Electronics
has announced the development and availability of the highest
density MROM (mask read-only memory) available. Designated the
LH5355, the 32-megabit (Mb) memory is suitable for embedded
computers which require large amounts of memory, such as global
positioning systems, printers, games, and advanced
telecommunications switching systems.

The low-power 32-Mb mask ROM can replace more expensive EPROMS
(erasable programmable read-only memory) and since a single MROM
can substitute for four 8Mb EPROMS it will also lower
construction costs and improve reliability while reducing the
overall size of the electronics package.

These MROM chips are created using a 0.6-micron CMOS process and
the data which is imprinted on the memory chips to make them
application specific is done at a late stage of production which
Sharp says will reduce turnaround time to 6-8 weeks.

MROM chips are not used as general purpose computer memory and
can't be individually programmed by the user, but are suitable
for mass production of even relatively small quantities of read
only memory which provide programming or fixed data to
specialized devices.

(John McCormick/19930902/Press Contact: David White, Young &
Roehr, 503-222-0626)


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

AT&T Intros Fractional T-3 09/07/93
BASKING RIDGE, NEW JERSEY, U.S.A., 1993 SEP 7 (NB) -- Companies
which could not afford a 1.544 million bit/second trunk line,
called a "T-1" in the trade, have long been offered slower lines
called "fractional T-1s" at speeds like 384,000 bits/second. Now
that kind of strategy has arrived with the faster "T-3" trunk
line, which typically moves data at 45 million bits/second.

A T-3 has plenty of capacity to carry a TV back-haul from, say, a
sports stadium to a broadcasting center, without any compression.
Simple arithmetic shows that 28 T-1s can be combined to make one
T-3. Now AT&T's Accunet data service is offering other
combinations, like its new T32.

T-32 offers 32 million bit/second service, two-thirds the speed
of a T-3. It's supported by the company's Fastar infastructure,
which restores service quickly in case of a cable cut. Product
line manager Hemant Vaidya noted that many customers with 9-15
locations requiring a T-1 connection have been reluctant to buy
use of a T-3 trunk because they couldn't justify the wasted
capacity. Now they'll be able to buy the capacity they need, he
said. While 10 T1 sconnections between Addison, Texas and Akron
Ohio cost $62,650, and a T-3 cost $63,800, a T32 which can handle
21 T-1s, costs $55,000, a real savings. Prices vary based on the
cities connected.

This is just one of the "Fractional T-3" speeds being supported
by AT&T Accunet. The company has offered 4.6 million bit/second,
6.2 million bit/second, 7.7 million bit/second, and 10.8 million
bit/second, lines since January. The new service becomes
available in some locations September 20 under an FCC tariff,
with general availability in December.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19930907/Press Cotnact: Shelly London, AT&T,
908-221-4355)


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

Ameritech To Test Voice Dialing 09/07/93
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, U.S.A., 1993 SEP 7 (NB) -- Ameritech, the
regional Bell company for the upper Midwest, will begin a test of
voice dialing through its phone switches in the Chicago suburbs.

About 100 Ameritech employees will participate in the test, which
lets callers store up to 70 phrases like "call doctor" or "call
mom at work" and dial those numbers by speaking those phrases
into their home phones. Ameritech plans to evaluate the results
and could offer the service commercially early next year. The
technology in the trial is coming from Texas Instruments, which
has long been a leader in voice processing algorithms.

Many phone companies have been interested in creating new
interfaces for customers. The 12-key touchtone keypad can perform
many tasks, but surveys show most consumers don't know they can
dial *70, for instance, and turn off call-waiting services. For
this reason, companies like Ameritech have long been testing
screen-based telephones, but a lack of standards and additional
services, combined with the high cost of the phones, have kept
them from being a major market success.

Voice recognition has been a feature in phone networks for some
time, and AT&T is planning to replace thousands of operators with
equipment that recognizes spoken phone numbers over the next
several years. But the motive behind voice recognition, in the
past, has been lowering costs. This is one of the first times
that voice recognition through a telephone switch is being
tested with the idea of offering new services to consumers,
and the extra revenue could help justify the added expense
of the switches even if sales of so-called CLASS services like
Caller ID continue to lag.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19930907/Press Cotnact: Judith Meyers,
Ameritech, 708-248-2156)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(WAS)(00020)

 ****Microsoft Faces New Legal Problems - Europe This Time  09/07/93
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1993 SEP 7 (NB) -- If Bill Gates thought
that he was almost out of the legal woods a few months ago when
the Federal Trade Commission announced that it was unable to come
to a conclusion about possible unfair trade practices on
Microsoft's part, the illusion has surely burst by now with the
US case against Microsoft now in the hands of an aggressive
anti-monopoly Justice Department and last week's surprise
announcement that Novell had raised similar charges in Europe.

The basis of most charges against Microsoft is that it is just
too successful by far. The Redmond-based operating system
developer, responsible in large part for both MS-DOS and OS/2,
points out that, since there have long been both compatible
alternatives from Digital Research (DR-DOS) and powerful non-
compatible operating systems like Unix, it has expanded because
of good marketing and superior products.

It is no secret that Mr. Gates has made excellent strategic
alliances with companies like IBM, but competitors contend that
Microsoft's marketing goes far beyond that and actually violates
US anti-trust laws.

The recent announcement is that Microsoft has also been accused by
rival network firm Novell with violations of the European
Community's rules concerning competitiveness.

Most of the potential problems come from Microsoft's licensing
arrangements with computer manufacturers who obtain operating
systems very inexpensively and install them on all computers they
ship.

Both Reuters and The Washington Post reported over the holiday
weekend that the Brussels-based European Commission is
investigating newly brought charges against Microsoft.

A Microsoft spokesperson quoted in the Post article says that the
"allegations are meritless."

Despite a three-year investigation, the US Federal Trade
Commission failed to find compelling evidence that Microsoft had
violated US laws and, although the details of the charges were
not made public, the Novell charges in Europe are thought by
observers to be based on the same actions.

However, the fact that the understaffed FTC was unable to build a
case may mean very little when compared to the much more powerful
US Justice Department, and as far as the EC rules go, they are
based on a different set of laws. So even if Microsoft did nothing
illegal in this country, there is no assurance that an EC
investigation will also find the company blameless.

(John McCormick/19930907/)


(NEWS)(IBM)(WAS)(00021)

Cooling The Hot Pentium 09/07/93
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1993 SEP 7 (NB) -- Early reports by
people who have worked with the powerful new Intel Pentium (586)
chip have been unanimous on two points -- it is hot in the sense
that it is very fast, and it is really hot in the sense that it
heats up when working hard. Laconia, New Hampshire-based Aavid
Engineering, which says that the Pentium chip gets hot enough to
actually boil water, has just announced a line of active and
passive heat-sinks that will let developers install the Pentium
in close proximity to other components.

The biggest problem with having a hot microprocessor is that not
only does the chip itself get hot, it also heats all the nearby
components, many of which are even more heat sensitive than the
microprocessor itself, so getting the heat away from those
components and into the airstream which is already cooling the
computer is essential.

Passive heat-sinks usually consist of a relatively heavy aluminum
base which attaches to the heat source, and a series of thinner
"fans" of metal which essentially expand the amount of surface
available to dissipate the heat.

This just puts the heat into the air surrounding other components
and must be exhausted by the computer's normal cooling fan(s),
but in any case it reduces the intense temperatures generated at
the site of the microprocessor.

Active heat-sinks include some type of dedicated fan which is
used to directly cool the heat exchanger's fins, speeding the
dissipation of heat and leading to even lower on-chip
temperatures.

Along with a line of standard heat-sinks designed to fit the
Pentium and adapt to various computer and cooling configurations,
Aavid also offers custom design and production services for
companies wishing to configure their computers in some unusual
design.

In conjunction with this announcement of Pentium heat-sinks,
Aavid has announced the formation of a new division named the
Digital Products Group which will specifically address the
special cooling needs of today's most advanced PCs.

Heat-sinks are not consumer products, but they are vital to the
reliable design of personal computers which use advanced
microprocessors.

(John McCormick/19930907/Press Contact: Gary Kuzmin, Aavid
Engineering, 603-528-3400)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(LAX)(00022)

 ****AMD Admits Some Intel Microcode Might Be In AMD486  09/07/93
SUNNYVALE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 SEP 7 (NB) -- In a Friday
press conference, AMD announced the California Supreme Court
will hear its case against Intel. The company also admitted it
did probably include Intel microcode in its 486 microprocessors
which started shipping this summer.

Originally, Intel and AMD came to an agreement in 1976, and
renewed it 1982, under which AMD licensed the rights to Intel's
technology. What technology was covered under that agreement
remains to be seen. The agreement contains the statement
"microcomputers and peripheral products." AMD says that
statement means it can use the code inside the Intel
microprocessor family of chips, or microcode, which makes its
chips compatible with Intel's. Intel claims it did not intend
to offer AMD the rights to the microcode in that statement.

The companies went to an arbitrator and Intel lost. But Intel
got an appeals court to overturn the arbitrator's decision. Now
AMD has gone to the California Supreme Court, which has agreed to
hear the case. AMD officials claim the California Supreme Court
has historically leaned toward supporting the decisions made by
arbitrators, so they expect to win.

AMD also said the fact that the Supreme Court has agreed to
hear the case negates the Appeals Court decision. This means
AMD feels it still has the rights to use the microcode until
the Supreme Court decision is made.

So, AMD announced Friday it feels it not only again has the
rights to the Intel microcode, but admitted its engineers
designing the company's 486SX chip were exposed to some Intel
microcode from its 386 version of the chip and therefore some
Intel microcode was probably incorporated into the 486 version.
Estimates were offered by AMD officials that 25 percent of the
microcode in the AMD 386 microprocessor was from Intel.

This appears to fly in the face of a July announcement by AMD
that its new Intel-486 compatible microprocessors contain only
microcode developed internally by AMD. Earlier this year, Intel
filed suit concerning the AMD 486 chips before the chips were
released claiming the microcode in the chips was not "clean" --
meaning AMD did not start from scratch. AMD appears to have
verified Intel's claims in its admission.

AMD officials did not wish to comment as to why they decided to
announce now that the Intel 386 microcode may have ended up in
the AMD 486 chips. Richard Lovgren, AMD associate general
counsel said on Friday: "The development team was exposed to
certain 386 intellectual property that had been awarded to us
by the arbitrator in our breach-of-contract dispute against
Intel. The June 4 decision by the court of appeal reversing the
arbitrator's award potentially compromised our right to use the
386 microcode. Today's decision by the California Supreme Court
to hear our appeal reinforces our confidence that the
arbitrator acted correctly and justly in awarding AMD license
rights to the 386 microprocessor for Intel's breach of the 1982
technology exchange agreement."

Intel officials were unavailable for comment by press time.

Officials at AMD asserted that the company is also hedging its
bets by developing its own "clean" microcode, just in case. In
addition, company officials said they are working on a fifth
generation microprocessor that will be "Microsoft" compatible,
meaning it will run the operating system software developed by
Microsoft, but will not contain any Intel microcode.

In a separate, but related announcement, AMD officials said a
trial date of November 1, 1993 has been set in the case with
Intel involving the use of Intel microcode in the AMD 80C287
math coprocessor chip.

(Linda Rohrbough/19930907/Press Contact: Sandra Duncan, Intel,
tel [phone], fax [phone]; Scott Allen, AMD, 408-749-
3311, fax [phone])


(NEWS)(APPLE)(LAX)(00023)

 ****Apple To Ship Multimedia Kits For PCs 09/07/93
FREMONT, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 SEP 7 (NB) -- Apple Computer
hardware for IBM and compatible personal computers (PCs), the
Apple Compact Disc (CD) Multimedia Kit for PCs, is being offered
in conjunction with an original equipment manufacturer (OEM)
deal with multimedia PC hardware maker Media Vision.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Media Vision's Pro
Audio 16 add-in sound board is included in the kit along with a
Sony double speed small computer systems interface (SCSI)
compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) drive, the necessary
cabling, and the driver software. The 16-bit sound card and the
double speed CD-ROM drive are required in order to meet the
Multimedia Personal Computer (MPC) Level 2 specifications,
which also require a PC with at least a 386 microprocessor.

Purchasers of the kits are also entitled to select up to three
free CD-based titles from a list of over 30 titles. Pricing
information was not available from Apple by press time.

Apple has an OEM agreement which gives it access to a vast
quantity of CD-ROM drives and plans to ship a CD-ROM drive in
one-third of the computers it sells in the near future,
Newsbytes sources said. In order to further leverage its
investment in multimedia, and particularly in CD-ROM, Apple is
extending its hardware offerings to the millions of PC owners
as well.

Another MPC kit manufacturer, Creative Labs, has cut prices to
$650 on its Sound Blaster Edutainment CD and Sound Blaster
Discovery CD kits. The company claims these are the lowest
prices available for kits that meet MPC Level 2 specification.

(Linda Rohrbough/19930907/Press Contact: Elizabeth Gebhardt,
Apple Computer, tel [phone]; Abigail Johnson, Roeder-
Johnson for Apple, tel [phone], fax [phone];
Elizabeth Fairchild, Media Vision, tel [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(TOR)(00024)

 ****IBM Beefs Up AS/400's Client/Server Features 09/07/93
WHITE PLAINS, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1993 SEP 7 (NB) -- IBM has
announced a long list of new hardware and software products,
including three new AS/400 models, to extend the usefulness of
its midrange system line in client/server computing.

John Thompson, senior vice-president and general manager of
application business systems at IBM, said the more than 100 new
products fleshed out a statement of direction the company made on
client/server last February.

"What's important I think with this announcement is not any one
of the 100 individual line items, but what they mean together,"
Thompson said.

Of about 200,000 AS/400 systems now installed, Thompson said,
some 60 percent are running some client/server applications. But
for users who want to move more heavily into client/server, IBM
launched three new AS/400 models meant to offer better
performance in purely client/server environments.

"As a market, the client/server opportunity is a very large
opportunity," said Susan Whitney, director of midrange systems
marketing for IBM United States. The market is growing at about
25 percent per year, she said.

The three new models in the AS/400 Server Series are the models
100, 135, and 140. They come at prices roughly comparable to
those of the existing F02, F10, and F20 models respectively,
Thompson said, but will deliver three to five times better
performance than the older models when dedicated to client/server
computing.

"If you're running client/server type of work for more than 50
percent of the time," he said, "then these are the models that we
would recommend."

IBM also announced:

 - Software to support a variety of desktop clients. The
announcements included support for desktop database access
standards, including Microsoft Corp.'s Open Database Connectivity
(ODBC), the Integrated Database Application Programming Interface
(IDAPI), and the Structured Query Language 2 (SQL-2) standard.
Also, IBM announced support for Apple Computer's LocalTalk
network interface, allowing Macintosh computers to connect
directly to the AS/400.

 - Enhancements to the AS/400 Server Series -- including
hardware-and-software packages for the new AS/400 server models,
and the addition to the AS/400 Client Series of an IBM
PS/ValuePoint personal computer specially configured to be used
as a client to an AS/400 server.

 - Programs and controllers to connect Novell NetWare
servers, and support for connections to Sun Microsystems and
Hewlett-Packard Unix workstations.

 - Nine new models in IBM's 9337 line of disk products, intended
to provide better support for the Redundant Array of Independent
Disks (RAID) approach to data protection, plus a 7.2-terabyte
tape library intended for data archival and network backup.

 - Enhancements to the OS/400 operating system, including the
ability to use main memory for data caching, thus speeding data
retrieval.

The new servers are to be available by year-end on a limited
basis. The new disk products are to be available in November, and
most other hardware products are to be available this year except
the Apple LocalTalk adapter, which is slated for March, 1994.
Software products are to ship at various times between now and
the fall of 1994.

(Grant Buckler/19930907/Press Contact: Kelly Fitzgerald or Jen
Revis, Technology Solutions for IBM, 212-505-9900, fax
212-254-3402)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(LON)(00025)

 ****UK's Mercury Offers Digital Mobile Phone Service 09/07/93
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1993 SEP 7 (NB) -- In what must be one of the
British telecoms industry's worst-kept secrets, Mercury
Communications today took the wraps off its digital mobile phone
service. The service, known as One-2-One, has rejected the usual 900
megahertz frequencies espoused by the Groupe Speciale Mobile (GSM)
services, and opted instead for the 1,800 MHz (1.8GHz) bandwidth
instead.

The charging structure is carefully designed to make a hole in
Cellnet and Vodafone's digital mobile phone services.
Cellnet's GSM service and its "consumer version," LCH, as
Vodafone's Eurodigital GSM and Metrodigital consumer digital
service, will charge a small rate per minute for off-peak calls.
But One-2-One's off-peak local calls are free of all charges.

Off-peak rates at defined as 7pm to 7am on weekdays and all day
weekends. Mercury claims that this tariffing arrangement is unique
in the UK, where local phone calls are charged at rates that are the
highest in the world.

"For the first time, wireless mobile phones are being priced to be
attractive to the average consumer, not just to business people,"
said Richard McCormick, chairman and CEO of US West, another Cable &
Wireless subsidiary, which was involved in launching Mercury's One-2-
One service in the UK.

"By being the first in the world to offer free local calls in the
off-peak hours, One-2-One is making the first assault on the
emerging mass market for wireless communications," he added.

One-to-One has a service area ringed by the M25 orbital London
motorway. Plans call for the service to be rolled out around the UK
over the next few years, although critics say that, even by the
later end of the decade, a long list of farther-flung potential
users will be unable to use the service.

Another claimed revolutionary aspect of One-2-One is the inclusion
of voice mail and call forwarding to a third line without any extra
charges incurred. McCormick described these breakthroughs as
mass-market oriented.

"The characteristics of the UK market make it ideal for the launch
of new wireless services. British people are very interested in
using new technology, and the UK market will actually form a testing
ground for us in the development of our worldwide PCS strategy," he
said.

(Steve Gold/19930907/Press & Public Contact: One-2-One, US West -
Tel: [phone])


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(LON)(00026)

UK Police Raid Adult BBS Service 09/07/93
ATTLEBOROUGH, NORWICH, ENGLAND, 1993 SEP 7 (NB) -- Police have
raided the home of an unknown man in Attleborough, a small village
near Norwich, confiscating his computer, software, modem and compact
disc read only memory (CD-ROM) drive, as well as several CD-ROM
discs.

Newsbytes understands that the man, who has not been named, was
running a CD-ROM-based BBS with adult pictures on a BT premium rate
(0891) phone line. No charges have been made.

Local police, apparently acting on an anonymous tip-off from a
concerned parent, were joined by detectives with Manchester's
obscene publications squad, raided the house in Attleborough,
confiscating 12 CD-ROM discs.

Although no charges have been made against the unnamed operator of
the BBS in question, police say that they are concerned about the
number of similar incidents. They claim that the problem has been
discovered in the US, but is now starting to appear on this side of
the Atlantic.

Because of the nature of the case, Newsbytes understands that the
file on the matter will be passed to the Crown Prosecution Service
once all the data has been assessed, in order that a decision on
whether to prosecute can be made.

The Commons Home Affairs Select Commute will investigate the problem
of computer pornography, at the suggestion of Emma Nicholson, MP,
when it returns this autumn after the summer recess.

Newsbytes sources have discovered that the 12 discs in the police's
possession were almost certainly sourced through the US. Inspector
Robert George of Thetford Police in Norfolk said that his officers
were sorting through the material gathered during the raid, but
added that it could take up to six weeks before all the material had
been viewed and a decision on how to proceed is taken.

Press reports on the incident suggest that no child pornography or
bestiality is on the discs, but the material is still not suitable
for public consultation. Police say that details of the BBS were
advertised through other BBSs, rather than on a direct to public
basis.

(Steve Gold/19930907)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(WAS)(00027)

New nVIEW LCD 09/07/93
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1993 SEP 7 (NB) -- Newport News,
Virginia-based nVIEW, a major supplier of high-tech projection
panels for presentations and training, has announced ViewFrame
Spectra C, an active-matrix liquid crystal display that projects
computer and video images in up to 1.4 million colors.

Available for shipment now, the $5,695 color projection panel was
premiered at last week's FedMicro trade show at the Washington
Convention Center. Although it is considerably advanced over the
previous version of the popular LCD projection system, Spectra C
only costs $100 more than its predecessor.

The 8.4-inch diagonal LCD panel, combined with nVIEW's special
electronics, produces the brightest active-matrix projection screen
on the market, one which provides sharp graphics and true flesh
tones, the company claims.

A remote control lets presenters switch between different sources
and the Spectra C provides compatibility with PCs and Macintosh
computers, as well as standard NTSC, PAL, SECAM and S-Video
sources. A VCR or other video source can be directly connected to
the panel without any additional external adapter or need to
process the full-motion images through a computer-based video
card.

nVIEW LCD projection panels are used during business
presentations or in classroom settings.

(John McCormick/19930902/Press Contact: Cassie Hagan, nVIEW
Corporation, 804-873-1354)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(WAS)(00028)

New Sharp Digital Signal Processing Chip 09/07/93
CAMUS, WASHINGTON, U.S.A., 1993 SEP 7 (NB) -- Sharp Electronics
has announced a new addition to its digital signal processor
(DSP) line, a 25 MHz (megahertz), 24-bit array processing sound
and image processor for medical applications. The LH9124L
includes 26 built-in functions which provide digital filtering,
spectrum analysis, correlation, adaptive filtering, and
compression for 8-bit to 24-bit digital signals.

The major applications for this real-time processor are in
medical equipment such as ultrasound and tomography (3-D X-rays).

The new LH9320LU-25 Address Generator a 68-pin plastic leadless
chip carrier (PLCC) chip provides support for the LH9124L which
comes in a 262-lead pin grid array (PGA) package.

The LH9124L DSP has six on-board multiplier/accumulators, eight
adders, four complex bidirectional buses, and 24-bit external
with 64-bit internal precision.

Design for the new pin grid array DSPs was done in Camas, with
fabrication performed at Sharp's Fukuyama, Japan plant.

These new chips will allow medical equipment to be built using
fewer components while providing equal or improved performance
and Sharp has PC simulation software available to speed
development of new designs using the LH9124L DSP.

(John McCormick/19930902/Press Contact: David White, Young &
Roehr, 503-222-0626)


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

 ****Software Has 5300 Companies For Job Seekers 09/07/93
CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA, U.S.A., 1993 SEP 7 (NB) -- In an
example of what can be done with a computer and a mailing list,
Scope International has released version 4.0 of Jobhunt, a
software package designed to help the unemployed use
their computer to barrage the job market. The new version has
5300 companies listed with contact names, addresses, telephone,
and fax numbers as well as the type of business.

Scope develops and maintains the mailing list, updating
it continuously. In addition, the list is cleaned, meaning the
correlation between the addresses and companies listed is
verified every six months, using the United States Postal
Service's (USPS) list cleaning service, according to company
president, Salman Sami.

Jobhunt now allows companies to be searched by the government's
Standard Industrial Classification code, or SIC code. These
codes identify the type of business. For example 8111 is the
SIC code for attorneys.

In addition, the product has its own built-in word processor,
but now will export the company data to the generic format
American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) or
to the Wordperfect merge file format for use in creating
mail merged letters with Wordperfect.

The product allows the user to select companies and maintain
that list so a follow-up phone call can also be made. Automatic
phone dialing is also new in this version, requires a modem,
and is based on the number listed for the company.

A European edition is in the works and a Canadian edition is
already available, according to Scope International. The
company said the US version is selling overseas as well to
military personnel who are faced with the proposition of
leaving the military.

Jobhunt 4.0 runs on all IBM and compatible personal computers
(PC) with 512 kilobytes (K) of random access memory (RAM). The
product is available directly from Scope International for
$49.95 (plus $4.95 shipping and handling) and one free update
is included. A complete listing of SIC codes can be obtained in
the "Standard Industrial Classification Manual" available from
the National Technical Information Service, 5285 Port Royal Rd,
Springfield, VA, 22161, 703-487-4600. Book form of the SIC
Manual is $30.00 although it is available on diskettes as well.

(Linda Rohrbough/19930902/Press Contact: Salman Sami, Scope
International, tel [phone], fax [phone]; Public
Contact 800-843-5627)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(LON)(00030)

UK - Revive Dead & Dying Mice With Mouse Wash 09/03/93
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1993 SEP 3 (NB) -- According to Softcover
International, a lot of computer users are throwing away their
"faulty" mice when, in fact, all they needed to do is give them a
thoroughly good cleaning.

Unfortunately, cleaning a mouse is a lot more than sticking the
beast under the faucet -- the delicate components, it seems, cannot
stand up to such treatment. Instead, the company recommends the use
of its own Mouse Wash, which comes in 24 sachet packs.

According to the company, regular cleaning with Mouse Wash can
treble the lifespan of an average mouse. Part of the problem is the
nature of the debris that builds up on a mouse ball -- washing with
water is often ineffective, the company claims. Usual "solutions,"
it states, range from scratching with a pen to cleaning with
furniture polish. Neither course of action, it claims, is helpful to
the mouse's longevity.

Steve Hannath, a director of Softcover International, says that the
classic symptoms of a clogged up mouse are when the cursor on the
screen fails to respond accurately to the movement of the mouse. To
induce traction, he claims that it frequently has to be wiggled,
jiggled or violently jerked to release the ball inside the mouse
mechanism.

The Mouse Wash system is a prepared wet towelette in a sachet.
For bad cases, two towelettes may be required, with a regular
monthly cleaning with one towelette to keep the problem of a
clogged mouse ball at bay.

Mouse Wash costs UKP 5-95 for a 24-sachet pack. The company claims
that this will last the typical user up to two years. This is a
cheap enough solution, the company adds, for almost all users.

(Steve Gold/19930903/Press & Public Contact: Softcover International
- Tel: [phone]; Fax: [phone])