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/nb091693

Text File | 1993-09-16 | 68KB | 1,482 lines

(NEWS)(TELECOM)(LON)(00001)

UK - London's Financial Times Offers Software Upgrade 09/16/93
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1993 SEP 16 (NB) -- The Financial Times (FT)
Profile online system has unveiled an enhanced version of its
Freeway offline reader (OLR) package for PCs for its online service.

According to the company, the development of the enhanced version,
which has taken more than 18 months, highlights the company's
commitment to the advancement of graphic interfaces for online
databases and its leading position in the field.

The Freeway package, Newsbytes notes, was originally launched in
December, 1991, and was designed to offer a fully automated service
for users of the FT Profile full text and selected bibliographic
online services. According to Jerry Roest, FT Profile's commercial
director, this new version builds on the features list of the
original edition, allowing the construction and running of searches
to be more flexible and to offer a more comprehensible service.

"We've introduced a number of improvements to Freeway. Critical word
rationalization has improved easy word searches, and we have also
refined save searching. Searches can now either be saved as private
to the user, in which case no one else can use them, or made
public," he explained, adding that only the appointed administrator
will be aware of all the saved searches on the system.

The scheduler feature of Freeway has been enhanced, Newsbytes notes,
so that regular searches can be carried out at dates and times
suitable to the user.

This new version of Freeway can be configured for use on a local
area network. This feature, the company claims, allows users on the
network to gain access to the Profile service.

Other features of this new edition include a user option to display
the connection and other charges to be included. This "meter" can be
reset to new values as a single call progresses, so that billing can
be carried out on demand.

Freeway is available on request to all subscribers of the FT Profile
online service.

(Steve Gold/19930915/Press & Public Contact: FT Profile - Tel:
0932-0761444)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(LON)(00002)

UK - Network Monitoring Tool 09/16/93
CAMBRIDGE, ENGLAND, 1993 SEP 16 (NB) -- Unipalm, which claims to be
the UK's leading supplier of network integration software, has begun
shipping a new version of its popular Lanwatch network monitoring
software. The company claims that Lanwatch v3.1 provides network
managers with the facility to continuously monitor and analyze all
the traffic running over a network.

Unipalm claims that, using its package, managers can ensure that the
network is finely tuned to minimize downtime and achieve the best
possible performance. The new version is available immediately with
a special price tag of UKP 995 until the end of the month, after
which time the company claims, the price will rise.

The package is available in a serial line version which allows,
Unipalm claims, users to monitor serial line input protocol
(SLIP) or point to point (PPP) traffic on a serial link. Using
Lanwatch's fault-finding facilities, the company claims, network
managers can also find out why data is not received properly by
users and whether packets on the network are damaged.

The package supports more than 60 protocols, a level of
functionality that the company claims is currently not available
with any other software-based monitoring product.

"This new version has basically been developed to make a network
manager's job easier and quicker and to provide a more efficient
network support drive. By making the job of motoring easier, it
allows network traffic to run more smoothly and there's less chance
of a network going down at a really busy time, which is a big
headache for corporates with high volumes of network traffic,"
explained Steve Barnett, Unipalm's product manager.

Lanwatch will be available at a special price of UKP 995 until the
end of October, after which time it will sell for UKP 1,250, the
normal price for the package.

(Steve Gold/19930915/Press & Public Contact: Unipalm - Tel: 0223-
250100)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(LON)(00003)

UK - Fontware's Replix Fax Management 09/16/93
FAREHAM, HAMPSHIRE, ENGLAND, 1993 SEP 16 (NB) -- Fontware Limited
has unveiled Replix, a powerful fax management system for Unix
networks from Softlinx in the US, into the UK marketplace.

According to the company, Replix provides Unix network users with
the ability to easily and cost effectively send, receive, view,
route, and manage fax activity without leaving their workstations.

Paul Smith, the chief executive of the European Business Group, the
parent company of Fontware, claims that Replix was designed for ease
of use with a minimum of operator training. The idea behind the
package is to allow X-Windows users to send a fax at the click of a
button.

"For companies operating a Unix network, the benefits of shared
computer-based fax management solutions are considerable. In
addition to Email integration, Replix offers Unix network users
significant time, cost and paper savings compared to conventional
faxing methods," he said.

Smith added that the company had conducted extensive research before
importing Replix over to this side of the Atlantic. "We found it to
be the best fax solution available for Unix networks," he said.

Faxes can be sent using Replix via Unix electronic mail, which
Fontware claims expands the user e-mail network to anyone with access
to a fax machine. The package can be used across a variety of Unix
platforms, including Sin 3, Sun Sparc 4, HP 700 Series and IBM
RS/6000 workstations. It can support multiple users and multiple fax
modems with a price tag starting at UKP 595.

(Steve Gold/19930915/Press & Public Contact: Fontware - Tel: 0329-
822857)


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

Alps Wireless Network Adaptor 09/16/93
SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 SEP 16 (NB) -- Alps Electric
USA, Inc., has introduced the RadioPort/Parallel Wireless
LAN Adapter designed for peer-to-peer and client/server
networking.

The adapter supports LANtastic, NetWare Light and, with the use of
a compatible wireless network interface card, versions 2.x/3.x of
Novell NetWare. The product is designed for such network tasks as
e-mail, file transfer, and printer-sharing, while eliminating the
need for cabling. Users can quickly set up, add, remove, or relocate
workstations in minutes, without disrupting the rest of the network,
the company says. An AC power adaptor, menu-driven software, and a
keyboard power cable for laptop portability are all included.

The RadioPort/Parallel Wireless ($599 suggested retail price) is
available now through system integrator Vitek. For more information,
contact Vitek at 800/366-6655, 619-431-2500.

(Computer Currents/19930915)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(SFO)(00005)

Athlete's Diary For DOS, Windows, And Mac 09/16/93
CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 SEP 16 (NB) -- Version 2 of The
Athlete's Diary, a computerized training log, has been released by
Stevens Creek Software in Apple Computer Macintosh, DOS, and
Windows versions. The program can be set up to log one sport or
up to eight sports or activities.

The Athlete's Diary can be used to plan future training by entering
workouts in advance. The athlete can then select by date, print out the
schedule, and follow it, modifying the entries as reality replaces the
plan. Totals and graphs for all entries or selected entries are accessible
by a simple keystroke or mouse click. From the totals or graph window,
the user can quickly switch from weekly to monthly or from one sport to
another, or from a pace, time or distance graph to another kind.

Special features include tracking of equipment use, a target heart rate
calculator, race time predictor, and personal records. Also, the PC and
Mac versions of the program are compatible; data can be transferred
back and forth.

The Athlete's Diary 2.0 is available direct from Stevens Creek
Software for $49.95 plus $3 shipping. Call 408/725-0424.

(Computer Currents/19930915)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(DEN)(00006)

MS Advanced Server Workstation Software Now Free 09/16/93
REDMOND, WASHINGTON, U.S.A., 1993 SEP 16 (NB) -- Microsoft
Corporation announced this week that it will distribute at no
cost the software that runs the workstations on a Microsoft
Advanced Server, Microsoft LAN Manager, or Microsoft Windows
NT network. The free packages run on the individual workstations,
not the server. The price of the server software is still the same.

The software giant says it decided to make the change
based on customer requests. "Customers told us that the process of
acquiring client software for our networking servers is complex,"
according to Steve Ballmer, Microsoft executive VP of sales and
support. A Microsoft spokesperson told Newsbytes the software will
be available within 30 days on Compuserve or can be obtained
directly from Microsoft by calling a toll-free number. The
spokesperson said a final decision on which Compuserve forum will
have the software is still pending, but it will probably be the
Microsoft Support Forum. Licensed resellers are expected to have the
product on shelves within 60 days.

The announcement should be a welcome one to network users running
Microsoft software. Previously they had to pay for the file server
as well as the workstation software. For example, Windows NT Advanced
Server carries a $1,495 price tag -- that price hasn't changed --
but the five-workstation client package, once $179, is now free.
This may represent a savings of thousands of dollars for large
network operators.

(Jim Mallory/19930915/Press contact: Collins Hemingway, Microsoft,
206-882-8080; Reader contact to obtain software: 800-426-9400)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TYO)(00007)

Japan - Sega Links With Motion Picture Firm 09/16/93
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1993 SEP 16 (NB) -- Major Japanese game machine
maker Sega Enterprises will link with Shochiku Movie, a Japanese
motion picture production house, to develop multimedia software
based on Shochiku movies.

Their first product for the Sega game machine will be interactive
game software based on Shochiku's movie called "Rampo," a mystery
featuring a detective named Rampo Edogawa. Shochiku is planning to
produce a whole series of Rampo movies in the future, and a series
of games should also follow.

A copyright concern is also being created to handle copyright issues
related to the new computer software and music from the films.

The agreement with Shochiku calls for Sega Enterprises to
have access to advanced technologies and a huge collection of
Shochiku movie software.

Other partners are being sought in this alliance, including
TV broadcasting firms and book publishers, but their names have
not been announced.

Sega Enterprises has signed the similar agreements with US
movie firms, and is developing game software based on stories
derived from movies.

(Masayuki "Massey" Miyazawa/19930916/Press Contact: Sega
Enterprises, [phone], Fax, [phone])


(CORRECTION)(BUSINESS)(TYO)(00008)

Correction - Nintendo Has Third Highest Profit 09/16/93
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1993 SEP 16 (NB) -- This story corrects a report
which appeared on May 26 in the Newsbytes wire, which indicated that
Nintendo was the third largest business in Japan. The correct
information is that Nintendo was the third most profitable business
in Japan, following Toyota Motor and NTT.

Nintendo develops games and game hardware and is expecting to release
10 new titles this fiscal year. Nintendo released six games
in fiscal 1992 and has licensees who cumulatively have 349 titles
for Nintendo's Famicon and Super Famicom game machines.

Nintendo exports most of its game machines to international
markets, but due to the relative strength of the Japanese yen, has
plans to produce more of its hardware overseas.

Nintendo is currently planning a space-satellite-based game service
on which it will sell game software and hold a variety of game
competitions.

Despite the slump in the Japanese computer industry, Nintendo
continues to do well with a 163.8 billion yen ($1.64 billion)
profit for fiscal 1992, which ended in March 1993. Nintendo's
profit passed that of Matsushita Electric, which had profits in
fourth place.

(Masayuki "Massey" Miyazawa/19930916/Press Contact: Nintendo, tel
[phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(BOS)(00009)

LanCD - Fast Net Access To Multiple CD-ROMs 09/16/93
NASHUA, NEW HAMPSHIRE, U.S.A., 1993 SEP 16 (NB) -- In a briefing at
company headquarters in Nashua, NH, Logicraft has announced
software for rapid network access to multiple CD-ROM drives.

Logicraft's new LanCD is targeted at corporate, university,
government, medical, legal and other large, complex computing
environments that make extensive use of CD-ROM applications, said
Ralph Smith, vice president of support services.

Unlike competing products, LanCD can support up to four network
protocols simultaneously, explained Chris Caggiula, vice president
of marketing.

Support is provided for IPX/SPX, as well as for such NetBios
networks as Novell NetWare, 3Com, Banyan Vines, and Pathworks. In
addition, when used with Logicraft's PC network servers 486Ware and
Omni-Ware, the DOS-based software extends CD-ROM connectivity to
Unix and VMS systems.

FastCD, another unique capability, permits rapid data searches by
creating "virtual CD-ROM discs" on SCSI hard drives, said Caggiula.
Supplied by an accompanying software package, FastCD allows CD-ROM
applications to be accessed 30 to 300 times faster than the speed
of a conventional CD-ROM drive, he asserted.

FastCD supports up to 254 virtual discs per server. Each client
has access to up to 10 servers, meaning that each user can access
as many as 2,540 virtual CD-ROM discs, he maintained.

A management utility that comes with LanCD lets the network
administer remotely monitor LanCD operation. Caggiula showed how
the tool can be used to view server activity, change server
parameters, set up and monitor CD-ROM licensing, and lock, unlock
and eject CD-ROMs from a PC, Unix workstation, VT terminal, and
VAXstation. Licensing can be controlled per drive, per
application, and per position, he said.

Caggiula also demonstrated how LanCD and FastCD allow multiple end
users to quickly access and search such applications as the Federal
Register or Computer Select from multivendor platforms.

LanCD Version 1.0 is available immediately, at prices starting at
$1,995 for a license that covers 100 simultaneous users. Caggiula
told Newsbytes that the next release of LanCD, Version 1.1, will
permit direct connectivity to Banyan Vines without the need for a
NetBios layer. Soon afterward, in Version 1.2, Logicraft will add
a Windows 3.1-based GUI, along with TCP/IP and NFS connectivity, he
said.

A Macintosh version of LanCD is now in beta and will be released
next year, with the first quarter as a target date, according to
Caggiula. Logicraft is also conducting a feasibility study for a
port to Windows NT.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19930915/Reader and press contact: Jennifer
Tyrrell, Logicraft, tel [phone])


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(DEL)(00010)

Iridium Director Campaigns In India 09/16/93
NEW DELHI, INDIA, 1993 SEP 16 (NB) -- After initial take off pangs,
Motorola's Iridium project seems finally set to take off. A
new company, Iridium Inc., has been formed and its director of
communications, John M. Windolf, was recently in India's
capital to boost the fund-raising campaign in the country.

"Irrespective of competition from other big LEOs (low earth orbitters),
the Iridium project is going perfectly on schedule," claimed
Windolf. The first round of equity financing of $800 million is
already over, and a second round aimed at bringing in an additional
$800 million, will begin in early 1995.

"The project has already moved from the R&D to the production
and implementation stage and launching and deployment in low earth
orbit of the 66 satellites will begin in 1996." US aerospace
manufacturer Lockheed Corp. will manufacture the satellites'
spacecraft bus and the satellites will be launched from the
US on the McDonell Douglas Delta rocket, from Russia by
Khrunichev on the Proton rocket, and by China Great Wall
Industries on the Long March.

By 1998, the company expects all the satellites to be
in place and the commercial service to begin.

"We're all waiting for the PSLV (polar satellite launch vehicle)
launch by ISRO (India Space Research Organization)," said Windolf,
"Not because it will give India ICBM capabilities, but because we
expect ISRO to launch some of our second generation satellites." The
low-earth orbit Iridium satellites will have a short life span, and
for replenishment and spares, 125 satellites will be built and
launched in total. The launching of the second generation
satellites will begin in 1998.

Windolf denied that the launching contract will depend on the
amount of investment from India: "It depends on the party's
capability, past record and price-performance." But the award
of the contract will, of course, hinge on the US lift of a ban
on ISRO regarding space-related projects. Windolf expects
the embargo to be lifted "within a few months."

Motorola had offered India five percent stake in the Iridium
project against an investment of $80 million. "We've already got
the required approval from the Indian government, and it's now
up to the Reserve Bank of India to release the money," Windolf
said.

To raise funds for India's participation and to bring together
the government, private institutions, and local bodies, Motorola
signed a memorandum of understanding with Infrastructure Leasing
and Financial Services Ltd. "As a catalyst, IL&FS has already
shortlisted the shareholders and negotiations are at the final
stage," claimed Windolf. He was, however, reticent to divulge
the name of the shortlisted companies.

(C. T. Mahabharat/19930916)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(DEL)(00011)

TCS Consortium Bags Rs 20-Crore NSE Order 09/16/93
BOMBAY, INDIA, 1993 SEP 16 (NB) -- The Tata Consultancy Services
(TCS) consortium comprising TCS, Stratus, TCAM and Motorola Inc.,
has bagged the order for computerization of the National Stock
Exchange of India Ltd (NSEIL). NSE is being set up by major
financial institutions with the Industrial Development Bank
of India spearheading the operation.

Officials at IDBI as well as TCS are tight-lipped about the
exact value of the multi-crore contract, maintaining "these
will be announced a little later." But sources put the amount
to Rs 20 crore (around $6.6 million).

TCS, in its role of systems integrator and project manager, will
coordinate activities relating to application customization,
hardware maintenance, system software support, client liaison,
training, site preparation and coordination between sub-contracters.
The application software for money market and capital market is
being provided by TCAM, the online fault-tolerant transaction
processing system from Stratus and Motorola.

TCAM will supply the same application software it gave for the
Vancouver Computerized Trading (VCT) System. It is written in PL1
language and uses the Apple Tree database. "The package is
handcrafted to run on the Stratus system," says S. Ramadorai,
executive vice president, TCS. Incidentally, the VCT system,
in operation since May of 1988, received the 1990 Canadian
Software System Award. The VCT, which provides trading
functionality in money market instruments, equities and bonds,
also forms the basis for trading systems in the Mexico, Caracas,
Maracaibo and Istanbul stock exchanges.

Money market software is presently in final assurance testing
for the Mexican Stock Exchange and will be implemented in
the third quarter of this year.

The system will support screen-based automated trading,
surveillance, and control operations and real-time dissemination
of price and trade information. Trader workstations will be
linked to the central computer though X.25 network.

Says Ramadorai, "The money market will be computerized first by
the end of this year followed by the capital market which is slated
to be completed by the middle of next year." He adds: "Fifteen
to twenty TCS software engineers started with the customization
in the beginning of September and it is likely to take 40 to 50
person years."

(C.T. Mahabharat/19930916)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(DEL)(00012)

India's Biggest Computer Show 09/16/93
NEW DELHI, INDIA, 1993 SEP 16 (NB) -- Recession or no recession,
it is show time in India. Computer vendors are set to prove that
all that glitters, in their stall naturally, has not necessarily
come from the art department of their ad agency.

The showcasing of the Indian IT industry, with a sprinkling of Asian
participants, has taken off here at Pagati Maidan exhibition complex,
inaugurated by the Indian Prime Minister, P.V. Narasimha Rao.
A hands-on computer user himself, the Prime Minister lamented
the slow pace of introduction of information technology into
the administration at all levels.

The youthful Minister of State for Science & Technology, R.
Kumaramangalam, who is also a computer buff, urged the industry
to "give solutions, and not illusions" to customers. On the
industry side, the (MAIT) Manufacturers' Association of
Information Technology, which organized the event, has an
opportunity to directly appeal to the government about its
own woes. MAIT's president, Ashok Soota, raised a petition
against the rampant "grey market," the jargon for unorganized
small-time kit assemblers or even smugglers. The grey market has
grown to nearly 40 percent of the PC sales. It is the biggest
cause for worry by the industry.

IT Asia '93 promises to have on display the best of the Indian
industry during the four-day carnival (16-19 Sep). Along with the
ubiquitous exhibitions, will be the "vision seminars," which
promise to offer a peep into the marrow of computing.

The exhibition will be the first opportunity for the hoi polloi
to have a peek at the effects of the liberalization, that has so
much been the talk here and elsewhere. Foreign firms, hefting
along the hottest in technology, must expect to gather most of
the limelight.

US-based Dell Computer seems all set to steal the show from its
more famous rivals -- Compaq, IBM and Apple -- none of which are
directly present at the exhibition.

Dell's Indian partner, Pertech Computers Limited (PCL), has booked
the maximum space at the exhibition and has spent a tidy sum on
getting its stall decorated. There is no doubt that PCL is going all
out to make Dell's launch in this country the grandest ever.

That the exhibition also plays host to developments in Asia is
evident from the fact that 71 foreign firms, not just their Indian
collaborators, have booked stall space. Singapore and Taiwan are
going to make their presence felt with 26 and 28 stalls respectively.
Among the more well-known overseas firms that promised to attend are
Autodesk, Sony and IT Asia Pacific.

On the Indian side, most of the major players have booked sufficient
stall space, a notable exception being HCL-Hewlett Packard, which
pulled out at the last moment. Other hardware majors that have
decided to skip the show include, TISL (the Tata-IBM joint venture),
Digital Equipment (DEC's subsidiary and the company that manufactures
Apple Computer Macintoshes locally), Modi Olivetti (the Olivetti
joint venture firm) and Microland (Compaq's distributors). The
reason for these companies not participating is, according to Modi
Olivetti's Shashi Ullal: "The benefits from these shows do not
commensurate the expenditure and effort that goes in participating
in such extravaganzas."

Exhibition apart, the vision seminars promise a peek into computing's
future. Kicking off the seminars, keynote speaker to the uninitiated,
is Vinod Dham (Intel's vice president of microprocessors and more
importantly an Indian). Topics of the seminars to be spread across
three days are: Trends in Microprocessor Architecture; Trends in
Operating Systems; Trends in Database Technologies; Networking
Issues; Export Opportunities and the Usage of Computers.

Representatives from IBM, Microsoft and Intel, among others, are
scheduled to address the gatherings. The database and client/server
queen, Shaku Atre is there too.

(C.T. Mahabharat/19930916)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(TOR)(00013)

Client/Server Needs New Thinking -- Art Benjamin 09/16/93
TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1993 SEP 16 (NB) -- The client/server
computing model has plenty of potential, consultant Art Benjamin
told a conference here recently, but just moving work off
mainframe computers onto networks of cooperating machines is not
enough. The way systems are developed must also change.

Benjamin, a veteran of the Canadian computer industry, gave an
entertaining presentation to a crowded room at Downsizing Expo, a
show and conference put on by Digital Consulting Inc. of Andover,
Massachusetts. His topic was "Client/Server: Cliches & Myths."

Among the myths, Benjamin said, are the ideas that open systems
are always good and proprietary systems always bad, that
Microsoft Windows is the future, that anything object-oriented is
automatically good, that client really means desktop and server
really means network, and that end users love graphical user
interfaces (GUIs).

Benjamin took a few shots at the sacred cow of GUIs (graphical
user interfaces), saying most novices find them at least as
intimidating as a simple C: prompt, and a cluttered graphical
screen can be very confusing. In the long run, he admitted,
GUIs are "better than DOS, provided you don't treat GUI as a
more complex DOS, which most of the GUI manuals do."

Microsoft Windows is strong today, he said, but "please do not
underestimate the speed at which voice is becoming real." Windows
is not designed to handle voice recognition well, Benjamin said.

As for open systems, Benjamin did not dispute that standards that
free computer users to buy from more than one vendor are
desirable. But he pointed out that the term "open" is
ill-defined. "The issue is where standards form," he said.

He said object-oriented development is of little concern to
end-users. But what is important, he added, is an object rather
than application approach to the way computer users do things. By
2000, Benjamin predicted, the idea of a computer application will
vanish. Most people don't naturally think in terms of doing word
processing or spreadsheet analysis; they think in terms of
working on a particular project or document. So computer systems
should be organized the same way.

This concept, Benjamin said, "gives meaning to client/server."

Benjamin, who likes to illustrate his points with cartoons (he
favors Gary Larson's The Far Side feature in particular), warned
his audience that client/server technology will do little or no
good if not accompanied by new approaches to system development.

Some 70 percent of the total software effort today is spent on
maintenance, he said. "If we go to client/server and maintain
these ratios, we have gained nothing."

The application development cycle that was common in the
mainframe world is at fault, he said. "I must get away from these
bloody cycles on the mainframe or I might as well stay on the
mainframe."

A more evolutionary approach, in which developers constantly
modify their systems to meet changing user needs, is the way to
go, Benjamin said.

(Grant Buckler/19930916)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(TOR)(00014)

 ****Delrina Screen Saver Pokes Fun At Computer Industry 09/16/93
TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1993 SEP 16 (NB) -- Bill the Cat is not
the only Bill, or the only cat, to appear in a new screen saver
featuring the work of cartoonist Berke Breathed. The Opus 'n Bill
screen saver will test the sense of humor of Microsoft Corp.
Chairman Bill Gates, among others. The program is for Windows
and Apple Computer's Macintosh.

Breathed, creator of the Outland comic strip and its predecessor,
Bloom County, has brought his irreverence to the screen with a
series of 16 animated sequences that include some laughs at
Microsoft's expense.

In one of the sequences, a Delrina spokesman told Newsbytes,
Gates demonstrates a new memory management program. The computer
explodes, blowing Gates' head off, and displays a message saying
"every last one of your files was erased." Gates then spends the
rest of the sequence trying to retrieve his head in a variation
of an old vaudeville dropped-hat routine.

Earlier this year Microsoft got plenty of unwelcome publicity for
its MS-DOS 6.0 release when some users reported problems with a
new file compression utility, leading in some cases to lost
files.

Gates isn't the only powerful figure to become a target of
Breathed's wit; one of the other sequences involves a "romantic
fling" between Bill the Cat and Socks, US President Bill
Clinton's cat. That sequence also shows one of the Outland
characters "mooning" the president in the Oval Office, Newsbytes
was told.

Microsoft employees reportedly have been asked not to buy the
program. Others can get it for US suggested retail price of
$44.95, or C$55.95.

Delrina also said it is launching the Opus 'n Bill Hacker Club, a
subscription deal that will bring participants five new
animations for the screen saver each quarter. A one-year
subscription is $49.95; updates cost $19.95 singly.

(Grant Buckler/19930916/Press Contact: Josef Zankowicz, Delrina,
416-441-4658; Public Contact: Delrina, 800-268-6082)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TOR)(00015)

Systemhouse Acquires 3 Education Firms 09/16/93
OTTAWA, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1993 SEP 16 (NB) -- SHL Systemhouse Inc.,
wants a bigger chunk of the end-user education business, and has
set out to get it by buying three smaller firms. The systems
integrator has acquired Ivy Computer Centres Inc., in Toronto,
Micromaster Computer Education Ltd., in Edmonton, and KEE Systems
in Columbia, Maryland.

Kauko Aronaho, senior vice-president of finance and
administration and chief financial officer for Systemhouse'
ComputerLand Canada subsidiary, would not disclose the terms of
the buyouts. He did say that KEE Systems will become a subsidiary
of Systemhouse's US operation, while the two Canadian companies
will be integrated into Learning Technologies of Canada, a
Systemhouse subsidiary.

Ivy and Micromaster will continue doing business under their
present names though they will cease to be legally separate
companies, Aronaho said. All management and staff of both
Canadian firms, and of KEE Systems, will remain in place.

Systemhouse officials said they expect the two Canadian
acquisitions to increase the company's Canadian education
business by more than 20 percent.

KEE Systems has annual revenues of about $4 million and some 35
employees, Systemhouse said.

The moves seem to signal a continued growth-by-acquisition
strategy at Systemhouse, which has taken over several smaller
Canadian and US in recent years.

(Grant Buckler/19930916/Press Contact: Kauko Aronaho,
Systemhouse-ComputerLand Canada, 416-793-9000)


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

New Media Ad Conference Set 09/16/93
NEW YORK, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1993 SEP 16 (NB) -- Alan Brody, who
writes for Marketing Computers and other publications, has put
together a conference on advertising in the New Media, including
the online media, which kicks off next week at the Crowne Plaza
Hotel in New York.

To demonstrate the new forms of advertising, the conference will
open with a performance artist acting out an interactive ad. The
conference, called CreaTECH, costs $295 and will feature speakers
like Richard Smith, president of Newsweek Interactive, and Marc
Jaffe of the Electronic Licensing Organization.

"New media advertising is to old media advertising what
performance art is to fine art," said Brody in a press statement.
"You don't just hang it up on a wall -- it has to work to be
there. Performance art interacts with its audience and may not
even look like art but has the same ultimate purpose."

Many of the speakers represent advertising agencies which have
been working for a time in the online media, and a showcase of
the agencies will be featured. There will be panels on current
tests of interactive television, on agencies which have
advertised on CD-ROM and floppy disks, on digital film and
desktop publishing, and on techniques of persuasion which will be
used in the mew media.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19930916/Press Contact: Connie Connors, for
CreaTECH, 212-995-2200)


(NEWS)(IBM)(BOS)(00017)

EIS Conference - Commander EIS LAN And Commander Profit 09/16/93
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A, 1993 SEP 16 (NB) -- At the
Enterprise-Wide Information Delivery Conference this week, Comshare
announced a full-scale client-server version of Commander EIS for
PC networks, plus a financial application that can be used either
with the new EIS software or on a stand-alone basis.

Comshare has offered a Windows-based version of Commander EIS in
the past, but the new Commander EIS LAN brings data preparation and
application management capabilities previously available only
through the mainframe edition of Commander EIS, a company
spokesperson told Newsbytes. The server component of Commander EIS
LAN runs on OS/2, while the client component operates on Windows
3.1, he added.

The new, Windows 3.1-based Commander Profit application is designed
to help executives, line-of-business managers, and financial
analysts assess and improve profit performance.

Commander EIS LAN and Commander Profit each incorporate the
multidimensional modeling capabilities of Commander Prism, a
product unveiled at Business Software Solutions that lets the user
create up to 32,000 virtual "views" of data, according to the
spokesperson.

Commander EIS LAN is able to collect data from multiple sources
within an organization, including relational databases,
spreadsheets, and legacy systems, and deliver the information to
executives and other decision-makers throughout the organization.

The delivery component of the system collects and packages data,
reports, programs, displays and other information in applications
as "objects," and then automatically distributes these objects with
full security to all allowed users.

Commander EIS LAN incorporates Q&E Software's Q&E Database Editor
and Q&E Database Library, products that interface to such
relational database as Sybase, Oracle, Ingres, dBase and SQL
Server, he said.

Users can create multidimensional models for use in Commander EIS.
Commander EIS will also cleanse, join, sum, rotate, and then output
the data to relational databases as report formats, relational
tables for queries, or multidimensional data sets for analysis.

Commander EIS LAN includes a "starter application" that lets the
user customize a multidimensional application with data sources,
product names, organizational structure, and other specifics,
simply by filling in the blanks.

The software also automatically notifies administrators on error
conditions, capacity status, and other information regarding system
performance, the spokesperson told Newsbytes.

Commander Profit was originally developed for large Comshare
customers such as Hertz. Hertz is using the software to assess the
profitability of various auto rental lines, he explained.

The new financial application consists of three main components.
The Profit Model creates a multidimensional model of a business by
products or product lines, distribution channels, strategic
business units, and other dimensions.

The Information Integrator component collects raw data from
internal and external sources, and then transforms the information
for use in the Profit Model.

The Performance Scorecard is aimed at letting managers compare
actual performance to expected or budgeted performance, locate
sources of problems and opportunities, and prepare for the next
cycle of planning.

Users can browse through performance data in the Profit Model, look
at individual "slices" of data, rotate the business model through
recalculations, and query the multidimensional data for answers to
specific questions.

Commander EIS LAN, a package that includes client and server
software, is priced at $75,000 for up to 50 users, and $500 for
each additional user. Commander Profit is priced at $95,000 for up
to 50 users, and $500 for each additional user.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19930916/Reader contact: Comshare Marketing, tel
800-922-7979; Press contacts: Ricia Hughes, Comshare, tel 313-769-
6068; Tim Hurley, David Copithorne or Nick Berents, Copithorne &
Bellows for Comshare, tel [phone])


(NEWS)(APPLE)(SFO)(00018)

Adobe Intros New Types/Catalog 09/16/93
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 SEP 16 (NB) --
Adobe has also announced the immediate availability of the Fall
1993 edition of Font & Function and 28 new typeface packages
from the Adobe Type Library.

According to Robert Koch, product marketing manager for the Adobe
Type Group, the catalog features examples of new typefaces,
ideas for creative font usage, topographic tips and techniques and
special offers on a variety of type products.

The company says that the 28 new typeface packages now available
include designs from leading type foundries such as ITC, Monotype
and Berthold. The packages are available for both the Macintosh and
IBM personal computing environments and bring the total number
of typeface packages in the Adobe Type Library to over 360,
representing more than 1,800 typefaces.

Among the new releases are: 271 Present; 331 Berthold Garamond
Expert; 332 Jaeger Daily News; 333 Centaur Expert Collection; 334
Monotype Modern; 335 Else NPL; 336 ITC Tiepolo; 337 Formata
Expert; 338 Nofret Expert; 339 Amigo, Marigold, Oxford, Pelican,
Visigoth; 340 Apollo, Apollo Expert Collection; 341 Catull; 343
Horley Old Style; 344 Cremona; 345 Gill Sans Display; 346 Lo-Type;
347 Kino, Matura, Wittenberger Fraktur; 348 Linoletter SC & OsF;
349 Bembo Expert; 352 Bernhard Modern; 353 Ariadne, Diotima,
Smaragd; 354 Times Ten Cyrillic; 355 ITC Anna, ITC Beesknees, ITC
Mona Lisa, ITC Ozwald Henry; 356 ITC Officina Serif; 357 ITC
Officina Sans; 358 Sanvito multiple master (for Macintosh only);
359 Caflisch Script multiple master (for Macintosh only); 360
Graphite multiple master (for Macintosh only).

Adobe has also announced the new Sanvito and Caflisch Script
multiple master typefaces for the Macintosh.

The company says that, through December 31, 1993, Sanvito and
Caflisch Script and the other multiple master typeface packages
are available for $89 through Font & Function. After December
31, Sanvito and Caflisch Script will be available for $185 and
$95 respectively.

In announcing the typefaces, Brian Heuckroth, senior product
marketing manager for Adobe's Type Group, claimed, "These two
multiple master typefaces are a digital tribute to the fine
handwritten forms that inspired them. They provide designers
with an unlimited range of possibilities for a variety of uses
from informal correspondence to display advertising."

The company says that Sanvito is based on the handwriting of its
designer, Robert Slimbach, and has two design axes - weight and
optical size. Caflisch Script is also designed by Slimbach, and is
a contemporary italic script based on the handwriting of Swiss
typographer, Max Caflisch. It has a design axis for weight, which
works like a pen selector with options ranging from fine-point
to broad felt-tip.

Sanvito and Caflisch Script also include a collection of ready-to-use
primary fonts, the Font Creator, Adobe Type Manager and Adobe Type
Reunion software. Each package contains a specimen book that shows
typeface samples and explains the history, design and development
of the typeface, says the company.

Multiple master typefaces are Type 1 fonts that work with Adobe
Type Manager software and can be used in any application which
supports Type 1 fonts. From a single multiple master typeface,
users can generate thousands of font variations customized for
their specific needs.

(Ian Stokell/19930916/Press Contact: Sonya Schaefer,
415-962-2630, Adobe Systems)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(SFO)(00019)

Adobe Settles Visual App Suit 09/16/93
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 SEP 16 (NB) -- Just two
days after having a class action suit against it finally dismissed,
Adobe Systems has settled its copyright infringement suit against
Visual Applications Inc.

Adobe claimed that Visual Applications illegally copied and
incorporated Adobe Photoshop software into Visual Applications'
Design Resource Manager, its automated design system.

As part of the settlement, Adobe says that Visual Applications
has removed any reference to and use of Adobe Photoshop in its
Design Resource Manager and is required to make an "undisclosed
monetary payment" to the company.

In announcing the settlement, Dave Pratt, senior vice president
and general manager of Adobe's Application Products Division, said:
"Copyright and trademark infringement are widespread problems
that cost software publishers and consumers millions of dollars
each year. We take copyright infringement very seriously and plan
to thoroughly protect our rights as a software developer. We hope
this settlement will motivate other companies to comply with
the law."

Adobe licenses its technology to major computer and publishing
suppliers, and markets a line of type and application software
products. The company claims that revenue for 1992 exceeded
$265 million.

Earlier this week, Newsbytes reported that Adobe's class action
suit that began in 1990, was finally dismissed.

The plaintiffs had appealed a March 17, 1992, decision by the
Federal District Court granting Adobe's motion for summary
judgement saying that "the plaintiffs had presented no evidence
from which a reasonable jury could find that any alleged
projection made by Adobe was false or misleading."

The initial class action lawsuit, which involved Adobe's 1990
fiscal second quarter results, accused Adobe Systems of
"artificially inflating the price of the company's stock by issuing
false or misleading projections."

(Ian Stokell/19930916/Press Contact: Sonya Schaefer,
415-962-2630, Adobe Systems)


(NEWS)(IBM)(SFO)(00020)

Claris Intros 1st Windows Product 09/16/93
SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 SEP 16 (NB) -- Claris'
Claris Clear Choice publishing unit has entered the Microsoft
Windows market with its first software product designed for that
graphical user environment -- a multimedia screen saver collection
called Imaginaria.

According to the company, Imaginaria offers "images, animated
stories with offbeat characters and stunning scenery from real to
surreal using full screen animation and original sounds and music."

The program offers 11 animated transition screens and 15
"surrealistic story modules," ranging from a primeval jungle
complete with dinosaurs, to a trip into a dark, haunted attic.
Another option is a midnight moonrise complete with a rendition
of Beethovan's "Moonlight Sonata." The program also features
such characters as an opera-singing bulldog.

Imaginaria is the fifth product to be introduced under the Claris
Clear Choice label, and is the first Windows product from the
software publishing unit.

In announcing the product, Bruce Chizen, vice president of Claris
Clear Choice, said, "As users master primary productivity
applications, like word processing, they begin to use their computer
to manage and improve personal productivity. They also look for
ways to improve computer operation with utilities programs and
derive entertainment or educational value from their system for
personal enhancement."

Claris acquired the exclusive worldwide marketing and distribution
rights to Imaginaria from Socha Computing Inc., of Kirkland,
Washington. Each screen saver episode was created by John Socha of
Socha Computing and multimedia artists John Mason and James
Marsh of Carmel, California.

In announcing the product, Katie Povejsil, director of Claris Clear
Choice, claimed, "The combination of technical wizardry and
innovative artistry places Imaginaria a step above other products
in this category. Users can enjoy Imaginaria's multimedia
scenarios without sacrificing excessive disk space or system
performance."

The program uses compression technology to put 10 megabytes (MB)
of sound and graphics in only 3MB of hard disk space.

According to the company, Imaginaria features include time
activation of screen animation and adjustable "animation priority,"
which shares the computer's resources and eliminates potential
system conflicts. Additionally, background tasks, such as printing
and data communications, can continue uninterrupted while the
screen saver is operating. The program also offers password
protection.

Imaginaria requires a 386-based PC or higher running at 20
megahertz (MHz) or greater. It also requires Windows 3.1 or later,
or DOS 3.0 or later, along with a minimum of 4MB RAM. Also
required is a VGA color monitor or better, a sound board and
speakers for sound. The program will run in 16 colors, but 256
colors is recommended.

Imaginaria will ship on October 15 at the suggested retail price
of $49.

(Ian Stokell/19930916/Press Contact: Natalie Barreiro,
415-354-4497, Regis McKenna Inc.)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00021)

Two Big Telecom Deals Go Down 09/16/93
JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI, U.S.A., 1993 SEP 16 (NB) -- Two major
telecommunications deals were finalized. LDDS announced a mega-
merger creating a new fourth long-distance network, while US
West closed on its buy of part of Time-Warner's entertainment
unit.

The new number four long distance company, to be called LDDS
Metromedia Communications, will be based in Jackson, Mississippi,
the home base of President Bernard Ebbers. LDDS was formed by a
series of mergers over the last year, absorbing the former
Advanced Telecommunications Corp., of Atlanta, Resurgens
Communications Group of Atlanta, and billionaire John Kluge's
Metromedia Communications Corp., of New Jersey. The Advanced-LDDS
deal closed last year.

Kluge will chair the new company, and the entrepreneur, who's
worth a reported $6 billion and holds 20 percent of the new
combine, won praise from financial writers for putting the deal
together. But it's clear that Ebbers, who put together LDDS over
the last several years by acquiring many smaller long distance
companies, is the key man. Shareholders of LDDS, after all, own
68.5 percent of the new company's equity. The deal also makes
Jackson, which also holds the head offices of Mobile
Telecommunications Corp., or MTel, and BellSouth's Mobilecomm
paging unit, the South's unquestioned telecommunications
headquarters city. The new company has annual revenues of $1.5
billion, which still puts it way behind number three Sprint, and
trades on the NASDAQ under the ticker-symbol LDDS.

The Time Warner-US West deal, announced in May, brings Time
Warner Cable $2.5 billion with which to upgrade its systems so
it can handle hundreds of channels and more two-way services.

Time Warner Cable is the nation's second largest cable operator,
with about 7.1 million subscribers, and the company plans to
spend $5 billion on the upgrade over the next five years. The
firm had to overcome an 18-month hurdle by the Justice Department
giving the new company time to divest itself of small cable
systems in US West's 14-state service area, although Bell
Atlantic recently won a District Court challenge to the
prohibition against Bell company competition in cable within
their home territories.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19930916/Press Contact: LDDS Communications
Inc., Bernard J. Ebbers, 601/360-8600; Ed Adler, Time Warner,
212-484-6630)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00022)

Telescan Starts Service for Entrepreneurs 09/16/93
HOUSTON, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1993 SEP 16 (NB) -- Telescan Inc.,
continued its move toward vertical-market services for
professionals, opening a section on its service for
entrepreneurs. Unlike its recent system for the newspaper
industry, created in conjunction with Editor & Publisher
Magazine, the new section is being done with a company,
Entrepreneurs Online, Inc., which has no other operations.

The objective of Entrepreneurs Online is to link the owners of
small, growing businesses together so they can share advice. The
service will share Telescan's software and be hosted on its
system. Telescan is best-known for its stock quote services and
financial news services, usually sold to investors. Its financial
offerings, like QuoteLink, have over 15,000 customers, who can
quickly search through up-to-the-minute stock quote listings and
databases measured in gigabytes.

Entrepreneurs Online head Michael Mead, who had been based in
Austin, is a long-time acquaintance of Telescan CEO David Brown.

Previous new online offerings from Telescan, including its AIA
On-Line, BPI Communications, and Editor & Publisher Online, all
had major sponsors, like the American Institute of Architects,
Hollywood Reporter and Billboard Magazine, or Editor & Publisher
magazine.

First phase marketing for the new service is being launched
in Texas, with the goal of a nationwide roll-out by the end
of the year.

An Entrepreneurs Online spokesman explained the differences
between his service and other Telescan services. He insisted that
Entrepreneurs Online is going after a much broader market than,
say, AIA On-Line, and that it had been the result of extensive
research and design for over a year. He also said his service
will take advantage of other Telescan offerings, "certainly
the stock quotes," to offer enhanced value to customers.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19930916/Press Contact: Richard Ames, Telescan,
Inc., 713-952-1060, FAX, 713-952-7138)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(BOS)(00023)

EIS Conference - Implementation Requires Everyone's Buy-In 09/16/93
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1993 SEP 16 (NB) -- To successfully
implement an executive information system (EIS), you need the "buy-
in" of everyone concerned, said members of a panel on "EIS Disaster
Recovery," held at the Enterprise-Wide Information Delivery
Conference in Boston.

"Nobody wants their boss to be looking at their data," stated panel
moderator Dr. Hugh J. Watson, director of MIS Programs at the
University of Georgia. The three speakers on the roundtable
chorused their agreement, although each had taken a different path
toward obtaining executive consent.

The support of the company president often isn't enough, stated
Michael G. Dempsey, vice president of McGeary Dempsey
International, an EIS consulting firm. Dempsey developed a system,
now in use at Pratt & Whitney, that measures customer satisfaction
on company performance by functional and geographic area, and then
reports the results to officials of the aircraft manufacturing
firm.

Previously, Dempsey had been in charge of developing another EIS,
said Dempsey. Initially, company executives seemed to accept the
idea, but as actual implementation drew near, Dempsey was angrily
confronted by a senior vice president, who vowed he would not use
the system. "In a nutshell, he was very much aware of the exposure
and loss of control (the system would bring)," Dempsey remarked.

In creating the current system, Dempsey used a "We succeed, you
succeed" approach, convincing the execs that an EIS was needed to
help the company fend off competitive threats, he said. "You need
their support, because they're the rowers of the organization," he
told the audience.

Daniel Shafer used a different approach in implementing an accounting
EIS for NASA. "We basically bribed them," he noted. The system
allows top level staff to look at the basic information they need.
But hidden reserves at the departmental level, "the fat," is kept
concealed from the brass, where it has traditionally remained
before.

Shafer decided to take this tack after putting together a "working
group" that interviewed who would be affected by the change. "We
made (the departments) part of the solution," he said. The new
system runs on a Sun server and Macintosh clients.

For Lloyd Belcher, manager of EIS at Conoco, the approach taken was
more one of cajolery than bribery. Belcher established a PC LAN-
based system at Conoco that distributes market information on the
oil industry to some 4000 executives company-wide.

The Conoco execs were afraid of losing access to their own data, he
said. In exchange for the data, Belcher pledged to build
applications for them that would improve their access to data.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19930916)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(LON)(00024)

UK - Ram Mobile, Psion Offer Mobile Field Service System 09/16/93
WEST DRAYTON, MIDDLESEX, ENGLAND, 1993 SEP 16 (NB) -- Ram Mobile Data
and Psion have announced the Psion Mobile Support and Information
System (MSIS) for use on the Ram packet radio network.

The idea behind MSIS is that it allows field service and sales
staff, as well as people involved in transport and utility
industries, to keep in touch with base through their Psion handheld
computer. The Series 3 computer links back to base -- or to other
mobile users -- using a Ram Mobitex modem that uses Ram's packet
radio network to move data around.

Back at base, the MSIS software runs on a standard PC that links up
to the Ram packet radio network. According to Ram, the software can
be used on a stand-alone basis or as a front end to other
applications, including a host-based system.

Announcing the software, John Jarvis, CEO of Ram, said that it
represents a highly cost effective solution for field operation
staff who probably rely on radiopagers or phoning in regularly.

"For little more than the cost of a mobile phone, each user can have
a handheld Psion terminal and can send and receive all job related
information at the touch of a button. The system also gives
organizations far more control over field activities, enabling them
to reorganize the operation in the most efficient manner," he said.

Pricing on the package depends on the number of users linked to the
Ram network. Ram claims that most users will elect to buy a complete
system, including software and hardware, to link to the Ram packet
radio network.

(Steve Gold/19930916/Press & Public Contact: Ram Mobile Data - Tel:
081-990-9090; Fax: [phone])


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00025)

LCI Announces Integrity Business Calling Plan 09/16/93
DUBLIN, OHIO, U.S.A., 1993 SEP 16 (NB) -- LCI International, a
long distance company best-known for its "Simple, Fair and
Inexpensive" residential calling plan, announced a new business
plan called Integrity which combines discounts on all of a
company's calling.

The plan offers what LCI terms a simple, flat-rated pricing plan,
muck like SF&I, and combines all of a customer's long distance
traffic for maximum discounts, including regular calling, toll-
free 800 number services, travel card usage, international and
private line services, even fax broadcasts. Customers who sign
contracts with longer terms will also get better discounts, with
a guarantee their rates won't be raised, or discounts lowered,
during the term of the agreement. There also will be numerous
enhancements to billing and reporting to make it easier for
businesses to track and manage their telecommunications costs,
according to LCI. The plan is aimed at businesses with long
distance bills of $2,500 to $50,000 per month.

LCI recently went public, after having been taken over by venture
capitalists when it was near bankruptcy a few years ago. Since
then, it has changed from a mainly Midwestern network with paid
salespeople to a reseller with commissioned salespeople, taking
advantage of a glut of long distance capacity around the US.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19930916/Press Contact: Jim Fette, LCI, 614-
798-6272)


(NEWS)(IBM)(DEN)(00026)

They're Back! 1993 Tax Programs 09/16/93
KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI, U.S.A., 1993 SEP 16 (NB) -- April 15th may
seem like it's a long way off, but with more and more American's
preparing their income tax returns, software companies are
starting to announce their newest products.

One of the first to announce features of its 1993 version is AM
Software, a Kansas City, Missouri-based company that publishes
AM-Tax Personal and AM-Tax Professional. The Personal version is for
individuals who prepare their own taxes, while the Pro version is
for professional tax preparers.

AM Software says the 1993 updates include the ability to handle
federal corporate taxes, federal partnerships, and "S" Corporation
returns, as well as "what-if" worksheets that compare various tax
situations such as married filing joint or married filing separately.
This is the ninth year AM Software has been available. The program
also supports tax returns for most states.

The programs also have a feature called "audit-alert," which AM
Software says automatically reviews the completed return for more
than 100 omissions and inconsistencies that might trigger an IRS
audit. The software warns the user when various itemized deductions
exceed national averages. The program has on-line help, and can
print blank copies of any federal or state form supported by AM-Tax.

The company also offers an electronic filing version of AM-Tax
which allows the user to send his or her tax return to the IRS or to
Nelco, a national electronic filing service, via modem.

The company says AM-Tax came in second in speed and was the lowest
cost package tested in a "1040 face Off" conducted at the 1992
California CPA Society Annual conference, sponsored by Accounting
Technology magazine.

After the first purchase of AM-Tax, users can purchase subsequent
year updates to the software at a reduced price. The Personal 1040
version sells initially for $39, with renewal for $29. The
Professional 1040, Partnership, S- Corporation and Corporate 1120
versions have a price of $150, and can be updated for $95. If you
prefer the Electronic Filing version, that carries a $350 price tag,
with renewal for $295.

AM Software expects to ship the federal tax versions in early
January 1994, with the state versions following about a month later.
AM-Tax can print to a wide range of dot matrix, Laserjet or Deskjet
printers and compatibles.

(Jim Mallory/19930916/Press contact: Liz Wax, S&S Public Relations
for AM Software, 708-291-1616; Reader contact: AM Software,
816-426-8361 or 00-859-8537)


(NEWS)(IBM)(DEN)(00027)

Import, Linking Tools For Great Plains Acctg 09/16/93
FARGO, NORTH DAKOTA, U.S.A., 1993 SEP 16 (NB) -- Great Plains
Software says two tools are now available that can import files from
other accounting systems into Dynamics and to create links between
third-party applications and Dynamics. Dynamics is the company's
modular, graphics-based business management and accounting software
for Windows and Macintosh platforms.

The import utility allows information stored in an ASCII tab or
comma delimited format to be imported into Dynamics data files. The
company says this utility is particularly important because a survey
indicated that over 80 percent of the new Dynamics users were
moving from another accounting software package.

The second tool, the Dynamics Linking Toolkit, links Dynamics with
other applications. The toolkit provides Dynamics file definitions
in a format that can be compiled directly into a program written in
the C language. It also includes more than 25 routines that do
dollar conversions and arithmetic calculations. A dictionary
reporting tool provided with both the new programs prints text files
containing the information appearing in the on-line field
descriptions, such as file relations, required fields for
transaction entry, and any unique characteristics about a given
field.

Both modules will ship later this month to resellers, consultants
and independent software vendors who sell and support Dynamics. DLT
users will have to have a licensed copy of Btrieve or c-tree.

(Jim Mallory/19930916/Press contact: Terry Kalil, Great Plains
Software, 701-281-3130; Reader contact: Great Plains Software,
800-456-0025 or fax [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(DEN)(00028)

Gateway 2000 Gets Its Own Compuserve Forum 09/16/93
NORTH SIOUX CITY, SOUTH DAKOTA, U.S.A., 1993 SEP 16 (NB) -- PC direct
marketer Gateway 2000 announced this week that it has opened its
own forum on Compuserve to provide support for its customers.

To celebrate the forum opening, Gateway 2000 is offering customers
who buy a Gateway 2000 computer a free trial membership to
Compuserve's basic services.

Gateway has shared space with a number of other vendors on
Compuserve's PC Vendor Forum C for the past two years, handling
300-400 messages daily there. "With our own forum, we're expecting
message traffic to increase substantially," according to Gateway
Online Services Supervisor Tim Richter.

The new forum, which opened September 8th, is divided into sections
for software, telecommunications, monitors and video, portable PCs,
customer service, product announcements, EISA (extended industry
standard architecture) systems, local bus systems, and general
hardware. There's also a section called "Pasture" designed for
prospective customers to talk with Gateway system owners. Like other
Compuserve forums, there is also a files library containing a wide
selection of files available for download.

Gateway Marketing Manager Mike Schmith says the new forum will allow
the company to give users more individual attention. "Gateway users
can now enter a specific section of interest within the forum and
interact with our certified online staff and other Compuserve users
who have similar questions and comments."

The free Compuserve trial membership gets Gateway buyers one month
of use in Compuserve's basic services at no charge and a $15 usage
credit to explore other areas of the online service. If the buyer
purchases a modem with a Gateway 2000 system, Gateway will preload a
customized version of Compuserve's graphical interface for Windows
at no charge. "By offering WinCIM (the graphical interface program)
as part of a free trial membership, Gateway is giving its customers
one of the easiest tools available to access information on
Compuserve," says Compuserve Marketing Manager Michael Horwitz.

Users who have other brands of PCs can also use WinCIM by
downloading it from Compuserve. Type GO WinCIM and follow the
instructions. There is no charge to download WinCIM. It can also be
ordered from Compuserve on disk at a nominal cost.

(Jim Mallory/19930916/Press contact: Glynnis Gibson, Gibson
Communications for Gateway 2000, 312-868-9400; Reader contact:
Gateway 2000, 605-232-2000 or 800-523-2000, fax [phone])


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

 ****AST To Intro Handheld Pen Computer 09/16/93
IRVINE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 SEP 16 (NB) -- AST Research
has been busy these days with its purchase of the manufacturing
facilities of Tandy Corporation, price cuts on notebook
computers, and its moves into the lucrative Chinese market.
However, as it hinted in the announcement of the Tandy
purchase, AST will demonstrate its first handheld, pen-based
computer at the Mobile World Show in San Jose this month.

AST is getting Grid, Tandy's pen-based computer technology
company, along with the other Tandy manufacturing facilities in
a $105 million purchase announced in May. Because AST is
acquiring fewer assets and will assume more trade accounts
payables than originally expected, the purchase price has been
cut significantly from the original estimate of $175 million.

Tandy/Grid France is also part of the agreement and AST says
the French addition will cost it less than $10 million.

Officials at the company hinted to Newsbytes AST would take
advantage of its access to the pen-based technology offered by
Grid. This new handheld computer to be demonstrated is the
first of AST's new products aimed at the popular personal
digital assistant (PDA) market. The company claims the new
handheld computer it will introduce will offer integrated
communications options and is also boasting the unit will add
ruggedness and a format for utility applications that outshines
any similar small form factor product yet announced or shipped.

To increase its manufacturing capacity, AST is looking to China
and announced the opening of a Tianjin facility, 60 miles
southeast of Beijing, for the manufacture, repair, and
distribution of personal computer (PC) systems. The new plant
is expected to employ 400. Number one in the rapidly expanding
$440 million Chinese computer market, AST claims it holds 25
percent of the pie -- a pie that is expected to grow at the
break-neck rate of 22 percent annually through the year 2000,
according to International Data Corporation.

Price cuts on its award-winning notebook computers were also
announced this week. The company said it cut retail prices
nearly $900 on the 386 Grid Convertible and the pen-based
Penexec Convertible from $2,495 to 1,599. The 486 Convertible
was reduced to $1,999 from $2,699. The Grid Convertible was
voted Best Pen Convertible computer at the recent Penexpo Show
in Boston, Massachusetts.

Headquartered in Irvine, California, AST has garnered praise
for its products from World Trade, PC Magazine UK, PC World,
Consumer's Digest, and Infoworld. Part of Fortune Magazine's
top 500 US companies, AST has also gained the distinction of
being ranked 15 on the World Trade's 1992 list of "Top 100"
mid-size multinational corporations. AST reported foreign sales
of $393 million in 1992 and $582 million in international sales
in fiscal year 1993.

(Linda Rohrbough/19930916/Press Contact: Lauren Baker, AST
Research, 817-491-5369; Mary Reagan, AST Irvine HQ, tel 714-
727-7962, fax [phone]; New Futures World Marketing, Ken
Roberts, tel [phone], ; Public Contact, 800-876-4278)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(LAX)(00030)

 ****Apple Offers Free Newton OS 1.04 Update 09/16/93
CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 SEP 16 (NB) -- Apple
Computer is shipping the latest version of the Newton
Messagepad operating system (os), Newton System 1.04, to users
without charge. The Sharp Newton-workalike called the Expertpad
is also available.

For Newton users without a Connection Kit or a modem, the way
to update the Newton OS or ROM is to contact Apple directly via
a special toll-free number and make a request. Apple is not
charging for the version 1.04 update, but the company is taking
credit card numbers to ensure it gets back the old Personal
Computer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA) card
with the previous version of the Newton OS on it. Delivery is
estimated at seven days and a pre-paid return envelop is
provided for return of the old PCMCIA card.

The 1.04 update offers fixes for screen problems present in
the 1.03 version and Apple says it offers improved memory and
power management.

The Sharp Expertpad is available in some retail outlets, such
as Mac Warehouse, and the main difference between the Expertpad
and the Messagepad appears to be that the AC adapter is extra. Mac
Warehouse told Newsbytes the Expertpad is $699 and the AC
adapter is an additional $39. Some users have said they like
the slimmer appearance and the built-in open and close cover of
the Expertpad. However, reports are some Expertpad users could
end up with the 1.03 version of the Newton OS and Apple's
position is not to upgrade Expertpad users to version 1.04.

The way to discover the version of the ROM or OS is to bring up
"preferences" on the Expertpad or Messagepad, which also
displays the version number at the bottom of the screen.

(Linda Rohrbough/19930916/Press Contact: Emma Bufton, Apple
Computer, tel [phone], fax [phone]; Newton OS 1.04
Update, 800-242-3374; Apple Catalog, US only, 800-795-1000,
worldwide fax [phone]; Apple Help Line, 800-SOS-APPL; Mac
Warehouse, 800-255-6227)