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/nb101493

Text File | 1993-10-14 | 67KB | 1,481 lines

(NEWS)(TRENDS)(LAX)(00001)

 ****RAM Prices Falling 10/14/93
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 OCT 14 (NB) -- Everyone
who tracks random access memory (RAM) prices knows about the
July 4 weekend explosion at the Sumitomo Chemical plant in
Japan where a whopping 60 percent of the world's high-quality
epoxy resin is made. But the good news is Sumitomo has
announced it is coming back on-line in December.

Epoxy resin may seem far removed from RAM chips, but the
substance is critical to about 80 percent of the computer chips
made today. Alvin Despain, Ph.D., an expert on computer
architecture at the University of Southern California, told
Newsbytes the resin protects the surface of the integrated
circuit (IC), has some thermal properties that help get heat
out, and is the "glue" to hold down the silicon in the chips.

But the bottom line for computer users is after the explosion
was made public, RAM prices shot through the roof. Single
in-line memory modules (SIMMs) climbed as high as $90 a megabyte
(MB) from earlier levels of around $30 a MB. Other IC-composed
products were affected as well, but the RAM prices were the
most visible evidence that something indeed had happened.

Angela Newlove of the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA)
said there was speculation that the Sumitoma crisis would cause
higher ordering of chips and components from semiconductor
manufacturers by original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) driven
by fear of a coming shortage. That appears to be exactly what
happened. But now that Sumitoma has announced it expects to
begin production again, the over-ordering has slackened.

This is Newlove's explanation for the lower book-to-bill ratio
of 1.01 reported by the SIA for September, after several months
of unseasonably high numbers in the summer months. The book-to-
bill is a three-month moving average calculated by the SIA
based on numbers supplied to it by the world's leading
semiconductor manufacturers. A book-to-bill of 1.01 means for
every $100 worth of products shipped (or billed), $101 worth
of products were ordered (or booked).

But high RAM prices could be viewed as bad for the PC
industry as memory-hungry applications continue to proliferate.
For consumers, then, the news that Sumitoma is coming back
on-line is very good news. The effect of the Sumitoma
announcement is already having an effect, as Newsbytes has
discovered prices have already dropped at major PC chains to
less than $70 a MB. Newlove said she expects that trend to
continue and RAM prices to return to pre-crisis levels.

(Linda Rohrbough/19931014/Press Contact: Angela Newlove, SIA,
tel [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(LAX)(00002)

Media Vision MM Movie, Kids, and Daily Planner CDs 10/14/93
FREMONT, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 OCT 14 (NB) -- Multimedia
hardware manufacturer Media Vision has made good on its promise
to expand into software with ten new multimedia compact disc
read-only (CD-ROM) titles promised to be out in time for
Christmas holiday shopping. The titles fall into three
categories: interactive motion pictures, children's educational
and "edutainment," and a new category Media Vision calls the
multimedia daily planner.

Greg Roach of Hyperbole, who introduced his "virtual cinema"
concept at the announcement of Media Vision's new multimedia
software publishing division at the Digital World show in
Beverly Hills this summer, is introducing his first title,
"Quantum Gate: No One Dreams Here." The title is described as
an interactive science-fiction story-world. Another motion
picture, "Critical Path," is heralded to be the first
interactive action adventure CD-ROM to combine motion picture,
video game, and computer-generated animation elements in a
single user interface, the company said.

Five new children's titles include "The Growing Garden," a
fantasy gardening adventure; "Peak Performance," an interactive
adventure combining trivia questions, video footage, and a road
race across the US; and three early learning titles "Always
Arthur," "Who Wants Arthur?, and "Buster's First Thunderstorm,"
all part of the "Professor Gooseberry's I Can Read Club"
series.

The computerized multimedia daily planner CD-ROM titles are
part of the Personal Daily Planit series and features 430
images that relate to a theme for each title. In addition, each
title offers video footage, voice recognition, voice
annotation, and sound. The first three in the series are:
Planit Earth with professionally photographed wildlife images;
Planit Paradise, the swimsuit title; and Planit Adrenaline with
a variety of action sports scenes.

Most of the 10 new titles offer both software for the
Multimedia Personal Computer (MPC) and the Macintosh on each
disc, Media Vision said. The interactive movie titles are
retail priced at $79.95, the Personal Daily Planit titles are
$59.95, and the other titles are priced at $49.95 each.

(Linda Rohrbough/19931013/Press Contact: Michael Terpin, The
Terpin Group for Media Vision, tel [phone], fax 310-798-
7825)


(NEWS)(IBM)(LAX)(00003)

CIC Handwriter For Windows Mouse-Replacement Tablet 10/14/93
REDWOOD SHORES, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 OCT 14 (NB) -- If you
think you might be more comfortable with a pen than a mouse,
Communication Intelligence Corporation (CIC) has a product for
you. The company is introducing Handwriter for Windows, a pen
input system that includes an electronic pen, an ultra-thin
graphics tablet the size of a mouse pad, and its Handwriting
for Windows software.

CIC claims using a pen is a lot more natural and intuitive as
well as offers the added advantage of less additional
training and less risk for carpel tunnel syndrome. The software
is compatible with standard, off-the-shelf Windows
applications, including Excel, Lotus, Word for Windows, Corel
Draw, and Pagemaker.

Company representatives say CIC's Handwriting recognition
software is rated higher than the Apple Newton Messagepad's
recognition. The software has twice won the Boston University
and Pen Magazine award for "Best Recognizer." However, users
don't need to abandon their keyboards as the tablet connects
via a serial port and does not inhibit keyboard input. Also,
while the tablet doesn't have to replace a mouse, space
problems may cause users to make a commitment to either the
tablet or the mouse.

Editing of text is one of the applications CIC boasts the
tablet is especially good for, as the gestures for editing can
be recognized and implemented by the software. Other activities
include pointing, annotating text, selecting, dragging,
drawing, and navigating through menus. Custom gestures macro
commands may also be created and even used across applications.

The company says Handwriter for Windows requires Microsoft
Windows on a personal computer (PC) with at least 4
megabytes (MB) of random access memory (RAM) and 3 MB of hard
disk space. The product will be available in November and is
retail priced at $399. However, CIC says it will offer the
bundle to users directly via a toll-free order line for $199
until December 31, 1993. A Macintosh version of Handwriter for
the Macintosh is expected in December, company representatives
added.

(Linda Rohrbough/19931013/Press Contact: Stacey Wueste,
Alexander Communications for CIC, tel [phone], fax 415-
923-9863; CIC order line 800-888-9242)


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

UK - Tricom Office Server 10/14/93
HIGH WYCOMBE, BUCKS, ENGLAND, 1993 OCT 14 (NB) -- Tricom has
announced the Office Server 500 series, a range of multiplexers that
it claims are unique in being able to call up integrated service
data network (ISDN) capacity when need to handle peak time traffic
from local area networks (LANs), voice, and data systems.

The system, which is produced at Tricom's own manufacturing center
in Swindon, claims to slash the cost of inter-office communications
by maximizing the efficient use of telecom capacity and eliminating
the need for extra lines to cope with peak time traffic.

Office Server uses cell relay technology with high performance data
and voice compression systems to provide complete flexibility --
either enhanced speed or greater connectivity. Tricom claims that
this multiplexer is the only one of its kind that supports data,
voice, fax, LAN bridge and LAN terminal traffic to share circuit
bandwidth.

Cell relay is a technique by which inter-multiplexer bandwidth is
divided into fixed, short cells of information. Each cell may
contain information from almost any source.

By automatic prioritization -- which Tricom claims is essential to
avoid problems with voice and LAN traffic -- the Office Server
multiplexes all information over a single composite link and
reconstructs that information at the distant end of the link.

Pricing on the Office Server depends greatly on the configuration
required. Tricom estimates that typical users can save as much as
UKP 5,000 in communications costs, since the server is capable
of delivering up to a 50 percent call cost saving on interoffice
communications. Based on this, Tricom claims that the average
payback for an Office Server installation is just 12 months.

Mike Hafferty, Tricom's chief executive, said that the unit is a
world class product with huge potential market. "It's using
technology to make the most efficient use of line capacity and to
bring down the cost of corporate communications," he said.

(Steve Gold/19931013/Press & Public Contact: Tricom Communications -
Tel: [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(LON)(00005)

UK - IBM PC Center Opens In Harrods 10/14/93
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1993 OCT 14 (NB) -- The IBM PC Company has opened
its second IBM PC Center in a store, though not just any store --
Harrods, arguably the most exclusive store in the UK. The store is
being run as a join operation by IBM and First Stop Computer
Supplies.

The idea behind the scheme is to assess the viability of a UK
network of "shops within a shop," according to Steve Rowley, the IBM
PC Company's manager for the UK, who said that the Harrods unit
follows the opening of the IBM center on the Office World
superstore in Slough, in July of this year.

Rowley said that the siting in the Knightsbridge store was a
deliberate attempt to widen the customer base as much as possible
during the trial period of the scheme.

"I am very pleased to be able to work in partnership with Harrods in
this new venture. It brings together two names endowed with the
finest reputations for quality and service," he said.

Rowley added that the company is enjoying a considerable success
with the first PC Center in the Slough Office World superstore and
is sure that this success will be maintained -- if not surpassed --
by the success of the PC Center in Harrods.

Richard Thompson, chairman of First Stop is equally pleased with the
opening of the Harrods store, which he claims attracts a "different"
type of customer from other PC stores. He claims that one customer
has already asked to buy the most expensive notebook in the shop,
without looking at any of the machines or discussing their
specifications. "That kind of thing is something we'll have to used
to," he said.

(Steve Gold/1993012/Press & Public Contact: IBM UK - Tel: +44-705-
561000; Fax: [phone])


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(DEL)(00006)

India - Progress 4GL/RDBMS Distributor 10/14/93
NEW DELHI, INDIA, 1993 OCT 14 (NB) -- The RDBMS race in India is
joined by Progress 4GL/RDBMS, now available here through JK
Technosoft, Delhi.

The product enables the building of mission-critical applications
for client/server, host terminal, or mixed-mode environments
using a single integrated tool set. Applications produced using
the Progress Application Development are scalable, portable and
reconfigurable across a wide range of computing environments
without additional development effort.

The Progress Application Development Environment (ADE) is based on
complete fourth-generation language and has an extensive data
dictionary. In addition, a set of graphical tools are
available for designing, building, deploying and maintaining
portable graphical and character-based applications. All
the Progress ADE tools, as well as the Progress 4GL use dictionary
defaults automatically when building new application components.
These defaults in the dictionary reduce the amount of work needed
to create a new form, report, or procedure.

The Progress ADE provides support for CASE tool users too. One can
complete application design using such tools and automatically
generate the Progress Data Dictionary definitions and defaults.
Also, Progress CASE Bridges provide a two-way exchange of
information.

Apart from using Progress RDBMS for development of its own projects,
JK Technosoft plans to sell the package to multinationals who have
applications standardized around this platform abroad. The company
has already installed 40 Progress 4GL/RDBMS in India. Among them are
Brooke Bond India Ltd., Hindustan Lever Ltd., Boots Pharmaceuticals,
Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce of Industry (for BISNET)
and Defence Research and Development Laboratory.

The company has appointed Bitech in Madras as value-added reseller
and plans to open offices in Bombay, Bangalore, Ahmedabad and
Calcutta shortly. Plans are also afoot to sell Progress through
OEM arrangement.

(C. T. Mahabharat/19931014)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(HKG)(00007)

Hongkong - HDS Fiber Optics Conversion For Mainframes 10/14/93
CENTRAL, HONG KONG, 1993 OCT 14 (NB) -- Hitachi Data Systems (HDS) has
introduced Technical Assistance Program/Fiber Optics Service, a
modular program to help customers migrating to an environment based
on the ESCON fiber optics architecture.

Comprising a combination of technology, products, and services,
ESCON fiber optics replace the older "bus and tag" copper
cable connection system. The new architecture provides greater
connection flexibility, extended connection distances -- up to
60 km, compared with copper's 400 ft -- greater availability of
systems and data, growth with a minimum of disruption, and
improved interconnectivity to other networks, Hitachi says.

"TAP/Fibre Optics Service gives customers everything they
need to move to a fiber-based environment," said Geoff Kennedy,
HDS's Hong Kong manager.

TAP/Fibre Optics Service uses a modular approach that enables
customers to choose as much, or as little, decision and
implementation support as they want. Using a variety of media
including workbooks, user guides and PC-based software tools
developed specially to support the individual activities, HDS
service professionals work with customers to help them first
evaluate their needs, then implement the new technology,
according to the company.

(Keith Cameron 19931006/Press Contact: Geoff Kennedy, HDS,
852 - 521 6275)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(HKG)(00008)

Amdahl, Sun Microsytems To Work Together In China 10/14/93
WANCHAI, HONG KONG, 1993 OCT 14 (NB) -- Amdahl Corporation and Sun
Microsystems have formed an alliance which will extend Solaris
scalability across the enterprise from laptop to mainframe and
allow both companies to significantly broaden their customer base.

The comprehensive set of agreements, covering operating systems
software, servers, and customer service are designed to bring
together Amdahl's 20 years of experience in commercial data center
environments and Sun's networking and open client-server computing.

Daniel Yu, managing director of Sun Microsystems Hong Kong, says,
"The beneficiaries of this alliance will be our customers. These
agreements combine the value of 8,000 applications written
for the Solaris operating environment with the industrial-strength
operating environment which has been Amdahl's core business for
years."

John Wholley, Amdahl's manager for Hong Kong and China, believes
the sharing of technologies and strategies will position both
companies as major providers of mid-range and large-scale servers
for commercial applications in both Hong Kong and China.

Amdahl and Sun will jointly develop and produce extensions to the
Solaris Enterprise Server product to build an environment specially
targetted at the needs of the high-end commercial server market.

Technology developed for Amdahl's UTS system -- a commercial Unix
operating system for mission-critical mainframe applications --
will be incorporated into Sun's Solaris software environment to
enhance the availability, scalability, reliability, security, and
serviceability of large-scale servers.

The two companies will also collaborate on multiprocessor performance
for high-end scalable multiprocessor applications and on unbundled
software which provides additional value-added, mission-critical
features essential for commercial applications. These products
include security, enterprise systems, on-line information management,
and applications for distributed system management.

Initial products developed under this agreement are scheduled to be
available in the second quarter of 1994 and will be marketed by
both companies.

Amdahl will sell Sun's SPARCcenter 2000 and SPARCserver 1000
systems. The SPARCcenter 2000 is capable of 2- to 20-way
multiprocessing. It is Sun's most powerful server and is designed
to meet the requirements of enterprise customers. The SPARCcenter
2000 provides industry-leading performance in NFS file serving --
the LADDIS benchmark -- computational performance -- the SPECrate
benchmark -- and multi-user throughput -- the AIM III benchmark.

The SPARCserver 1000 is capable of up to 8-way multiprocessing and
is the industry's leader in database price/performance among all
other servers, including PC-class systems. An 8-CPU system running
Oracle7 Cooperative server delivered 400.47 transactions per second
(tpsA) and price/performance of US$5,068 per tpsA, the best in
the industry, the companies report.

Amdahl will begin marketing and delivering the SPARCserver product
immediately.

Amdahl currently has resident support personnel, those engineers
will provide on-site services. Sun personnel will provide auxiliary
on-site and backup support where appropriate.

Amdahl and Sun intend to offer a wide range of consulting and
professional services, to assist customers with enterprise-wide
planning, installation, migration, education and management tasks.

(Keith Cameron/19931006/Press Contact: Mary Theis, Sun, 852 - 802 4188
John Wholley, Amdahl, 852 - 868 2689)


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

Japan - Expanding Video Game Firms 10/14/93
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1993 OCT 14 (NB) -- In the US, Japan's
game software makers Namco and Capcom are hardly household words,
but inside Japan they are growing more recognizable each day,
announcing more positive news than Nintendo. Namco has just
announced that it will create amusement parks in Southeast
Asia. Capcom is planning to hire more engineers.

Namco, producer of arcade game machines and software, recently
launched its own arcade game machine facilities in Tokyo
supermarkets. These facilities are hosting by employees
wearing space costumes who speak into their own small microphones.

Namco is now planning to set up similar arcade game facilities in
Southeast Asia including China, and eventually to expand to the
US and Europe.

Meanwhile, major game software firm Capcom is planning
to hire about 850 software engineers within the next three years.
The firm develops software for Nintendo's game machine, the Super
Famicom and Sega's Mega Drive. The engineers will be enlisted to
write for these companies' next generation of devices --
Nintendo is planning a 64-bit game machine and Sega is
planning a 32-bit game console.

(Masayuki "Massey" Miyazawa/19931012/Press Contact: Namco, +81-3-
3756-2311, Capcom, [phone], Fax, [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(TYO)(00010)

Japan - Ichitaro Windows Debuts In December 10/14/93
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1993 OCT 14 (NB) -- The long-awaited Windows version of
best-selling Japanese word processor Ichitaro will finally debut
in December. It will sell for 58,000 yen ($580), which is
about $100 less than the MS-DOS version.

The Windows version of Ichitaro is called Ichitaro Ver.5,
Release 1 for Windows. It supports pull-down menus as
well as the ESC key menu. The program also supports line drawing
features as well as macros and various outline fonts. It does
not support layout or graphic features.

Ichitaro creator Just System will provide an upgrade service
for current Ichitaro users including those who own Ichitaro Dash and
MS-DOS Ichitaro. The upgrade will be between 15,000 yen and 28,000 yen
depending on the versions. Free upgrades will be offered to
MS-DOS ver.5 users who purchased the program after October 1.

Some 1.6 million units of the program have been sold in the product's
history, representing the highest sales for any application in Japan
to date, according to figures provided by the company.

The release of this Windows version was late due to programming
snags, leading many users to purchase the MS-DOS version of
Ichitaro 5.0, which runs using Just System's own windowing
program. Just System expects to ship 300,000 copies of its
Windows version of Ichitaro for the first year.

(Masayuki "Massey" Miyazawa/19931013/Press Contact: Just System,
[phone], [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(DEN)(00011)

Wordperfect Developer Integration Tools 10/14/93
OREM, UTAH, U.S.A., 1993 OCT 14 (NB) -- In conjunction with its
third party development program, Working With Wordperfect, the
Utah company has introduced five developer integration tools.

The new tools are the Wordperfect Macro Language, the Open
Interface APIs (application programming interfaces), Third-Party
Office API, Writing Tools API, and support for industry standards
such as TWAIN and OLE (object linking and embedding). The company
is also inaugurating a designated developer support team.

Wordperfect Senior VP of Development Dave Moon says developers
need access to quality tools and strong APIs to achieve tight and
timely integration. "Technology is advancing rapidly in the
industry and applications can no longer operate on an island;
developers must work together to maintain their competitive
edge."

The macro language is common across all Wordperfect Windows-based
products, allowing developers to write macros that can run in any
of the company's macro-enabled Windows products. Macros can also
be used to launch other third-party applications by calling a
third-party dynamic link library (DLL). Wordperfect's macro
language also supports communication with dynamic data exchange
(DDE) servers.

The Open Interface API (OIAPI) provides a means for third party
DLLs and macros to communicate with, enhance or modify the
functionality of Wordperfect applications and allows developers
to tie macros into an application. WPCorp says integration using
the OIAPI has some advantages over macros integration, including
speed and the inability of the user to accidentally terminate the
integration.

Writing Tools API allows developers to write products that
directly manipulate text in Wordperfect. Internally the company
uses the writing tools to integrate Speller, Thesaurus, and
Grammar checker with Wordperfect 6.0 for Windows. Products that
use the interface will be able to request blocks of text from a
Wordperfect document, manipulate the text, then return it to the
document. Text format and position in the document is retained.

The Third-Party Office API is a universal gateway for
communication with non-Wordperfect messaging systems or any
application through a text file containing various keywords.

Support for TWAIN, already in Wordperfect 6.0, allows documents
and images to be scanned into Wordperfect.

Software developer kits are available to assist programmers in
writing add-on products or integrating existing applications with
Wordperfect software. The kits contain documentation on
Wordperfect interfaces, sample code, sample macros, and DLLs.
Kits with information on Wordperfect 5.1 and 5.2 for DOS, Windows
and Unix are currently available. Kits for Wordperfect 6.0 for
DOS, Windows, Unix and OS/2 are under development and are
expected to be available beginning this month.

(Jim Mallory/19931013/Press contact: Deborah Hendrickson,
Wordperfect Corporation, 801-228-5022; Reader contact: WPCorp,
801-228-5000, fax [phone])


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(DEN)(00012)

World's Largest Consumer Electronics Store Opens 10/14/93
DALLAS, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1993 OCT 14 (NB) -- Tandy Corporation has
opened what it calls "the largest consumer electronics store in
the world."

The 185,000 square-foot Incredible Universe store occupies more
than four acres adjacent to Interstate 635 in Dallas and will
display nearly 85,000 items including computers, software,
household appliances, cameras, and accessories.

A store within the store, called Incredible Innovations, will
display the newest electronic products and technology, and a
12,000-square-foot movie and music store will sell more than
70,000 movie and music titles.

Incredible Universe customers - the company calls them guests -
can choose from 342 models of television sets, 72 video cassette
recorders, 60 camcorders, 314 varieties of home audio equipment,
700 personal and 400 mobile electronic product, 579 major
household appliances, and a full line of computer equipment.

There is even an in-house financial service center that can
process instant credit applications, a supervised children's play
area with electronic toys and games, a computer-equipped kitchen
design center, and a restaurant. A disk jockey entertains the
guests with music and computerized video graphics on a Diamond
Vision giant screen, guests can make their own music videos, and
gourmet cooking demonstrations are held regularly. The company
says celebrity appearances, special contests, and other
promotions will be held on a regular basis.

Tandy operates two other giga-stores, one in Portland and one in
Arlington, and says more than one million shoppers visited those
stores in the past four months. Six more Incredible Universe
stores are scheduled to open in 1994, the next one in Miami.

(Jim Mallory/19931013/Press contact: Fran McGehee, Incredible
Universe, 817-390-3487)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00013)

Verifone, NTN Sign Supermarket Transaction Deal 10/14/93
REDWOOD CITY, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 OCT 14 (NB) -- Verifone,
Inc., which agreed last week to make "smart telephones" to
replace simple magnetic-stripe terminals for use with Tandem
authorization systems, signed a deal to speed authorizations at
supermarkets with National Transaction Network, Inc.

NTN, which makes "back-office" electronic payment processing
software used by supermarkets, will now be able to resell
Verifone's Omni 490, a credit card terminal which customers can
use themselves. The terminal is linked to a cash register and
placed across the belt where goods are passed, near the scanner.
A shopper can swipe a credit or debit card through the terminal
and press a few buttons, getting through the line more quickly
than with a check.

In recent years, many supermarkets have begun discouraging the
use of checks, which take time to write and process both in-line
and in the back office. Many now prefer debit cards or even
credit cards, despite the fact they only collect about 97 cents
on the dollar through credit card receipts. The combination of
the Verifone system with NTN software could let markets take
credit cards even in "cash-only" lines, where speed is considered
essential to avoid lost sales from impatient shoppers.

NTN's software, called PINnacle, connects to IBM, ICL, and NCR
point of sale systems. Its customers include Albertsons, The
Kroger Co., A & P, Giant Eagle, and Spartan Stores.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19931013/Press Contact: Michelle Graff,
National Transaction Network, 508-562-6500)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00014)

New York Telephone Ordered To Move Over 10/14/93
OAKBROOK TERRACE, ILLINOIS, U.S.A., 1993 OCT 14 (NB) -- The New
York Public Service Commission gave MFS' Intelenet unit local
carrier status equal to that of New York Telephone, the regional
Bell serving New York City.

The decision makes it easier for MFS Intelenet to compete with
the traditional monopoly phone company, according to MFS. New
York Telephone is now required to deal with its unit on the same
basis as it now deals with independent telephone companies such
as GTE and Alltel, which have systems serving some areas of the
state.

MFS Intelenet debuted its service in Manhattan on October 5, and
plans to roll it out quickly through the five boroughs and
suburbs. The company sees Intelenet as a model for its future
networks in dozens of cities, competing directly with regional
Bell companies for basic services in the small business market.
In New York, the company has already won agreements from New
York Telephone which will let businesses which switch to it keep
their phone numbers, and listings.

In a press statement, MFS president Royce Holland praised New
York regulators. Under the decision, MFS can buy blocks of local
telephone "prefixes" from New York Telephone, not just individual
numbers, without having to buy local services as well. In the
past, the company had to purchase local phone numbers from New
York Telephone and then resell the numbers to its customers.
Also, terms for physically connecting the MFS and New York
Telephone networks will be agreed-to no later than December 1,
eliminating New York Telephone's status as a "middleman" for long
distance calls, which will no longer have to pass through its
switches. All this was in response to a formal complaint filed by
MFS Intelenet on July 6.

There remains the question of how MFS Intelenet and other
competitors will be compensated by New York Telephone for
connections to their networks. That was deferred until the
conclusion of another proceeding. However, the commission did
encourage the parties to negotiate their own agreements known as
"meet point billing" or "bill and keep" deals for terminating
calls between their networks. Currently, MFS pays New York
Telephone for calls made to its numbers, but receives nothing for
calls made to MFS customers.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19931013/Press Contact: Steve Ingish, MFS,
708-218-7200)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(DEN)(00015)

EDRAM Chips Go In Digicom PC Boards 10/14/93
COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO, U.S.A., 1993 OCT 14 (NB) -- Digicom
Inc., has ordered more than $10 million worth of Ramtron
International Corporation's enhanced dynamic random access memory
chips with Quickcache for use on Digicom's computer boards.

David Lai, general manager of Digicom's European operations, says
the Ramtron chips were selected because they offer the best
performance at a competitive price. "As a single chip it
outperforms the typical combination of standard dynamic random
access memory (DRAM) chips, and static random access memory
(SRAM) cache."

Ramtron's chips with a 15-nanosecond cache hit access time and a
35 nanosecond access time will be used on Digicom boards in
four different IBM-compatible 486-based desktop computers.
Deliveries will begin in the fourth quarter. Ramtron says
that depending on the hardware and software in use, EDRAM is
anywhere from 20 percent to more than 100 percent faster
than alternative semiconductor memory, including DRAM plus SRAM.

The Digicom order is Ramtron's largest shipment to date. The
company also manufactures ferroelectric random access memory
(FRAM) chips, which are able to retain memory without power.
Japan-based game maker Sega Enterprises Limited placed a
multimillion unit order for FRAM chips in August for use in their
latest game offerings.

Digicom is a Taiwan-based computer manufacturer and exporter,
and a subsidiary of Taiwan-based WTF Group Inc. Oren Benton, one
of the owners of the Colorado Rockies baseball club franchised
this year in Denver, Colorado, is a major shareholder in Ramtron.

(Jim Mallory/19931014/Press contact: Jill Goebel, Origin Systems
for Ramtron, 719-630-3384; Reader contact: Ramtron International
Corp, 800-545-3726 or 719-481-7000 , fax [phone] or Digicom
Inc, 011-886-2-917-8555)


(NEWS)(IBM)(DEN)(00016)

Geoworks Intros Toolkit 10/14/93
BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 OCT 14 (NB) -- Geoworks has
announced the GEOS 2.0 software development kit (SDK) , a set of
application tools and documentation on CD-ROM that the company
says provides developers everything they need to create
applications for any hardware running the GEOS platform. The SDK
is scheduled to ship this week.

The company says the SDK runs in a cross-development environment,
making it possible to create a single application for various
consumer computing devices like the Zoomer personal digital
assistant (PDA) or Sharp's PT-9000 personal information assistant
(PIA).

GEOS SDK users will need two personal computers connected by a
serial cable, or a PC connected to one of the consumer computing
devices (CCDs). One PC, considered the host, is used to develop
and debug the application code. The second PC or the CCD is used
to run the application. If a second PC is used, the SDK will
emulate the user interface of the CCD, allowing the developer to
debug the application in the same look and feel as the CCD.

Geoworks says the SDK beta version will include user interfaces
that emulate the Zoomer, the PT-9000 and personal computers. It's
extensible to new GEOS-based CCDs as they are introduced, and
include support for pen-based devices.

SDK tools include the GEOS debugger; SWAT, a tool developers can
program to create their own custom debugging commands; a linker
to link file dependencies; a resource editor that allows non-
programmers to translate their applications to foreign languages;
and an icon editor to create custom icons.

Geoworks is sponsoring the first developers conference "the New
Profit Platform" October 25-26 at the Hyatt Regency in
Burlingame, California. The cost of conference attendance is
$595, with attendees receiving a free SDK. If you can't make the
conference, you can get the SDK on CD-ROM for $99 including all
the tools and online documentation in ASCII, Postscript and
Framereader formats. Printed documentation is available for $295.

Geoworks has a toll-free number to order the SDK or register for
the conference. Officials from Geoworks, Casio, Tandy and Sharp
electronics as well as other companies will make presentations at
the two-day affair.

(Jim Mallory/19931014/Press contact: Deborah Dawson, Geoworks,
510-204-8550; Conference registration: Geoworks, 800-524-1857 ext
1214; SDK orders: 800-436-7735)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(DEN)(00017)

Historical Computer Society For Old Computer Buffs 10/14/93
EL PASO, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1993 OCT 14 (NB) -- David Greelish,
founder of the Historical Computer Society, says a national
user group for enthusiasts of classic computing is for old
computer enthusiasts - either old computers or old enthusiasts.
The society is publishing the second issue of its bimonthly
newsletter, "Historically Brewed."

"Many people have fond memories of their early computing days.
Never has another device evolved so rapidly as to produce
nostalgic artifacts in less than a quarter of a century," says
Greelish. The non-profit society's mission is to preserve older
and classic computer hardware, software, and literature while
educating and helping its members as well as the general public.

Greelish says the society chose the name of its newsletter,
"Historically Brewed," because one of the earliest and perhaps
best known computer clubs was the San Francisco, California Bay
Area-based Homebrew Computer Club. He says no other single
organization helped to spawn more of today's computer legends
that did that club.

Hundreds of old computers are thrown out everyday as junk, says
Greelish, but he believes those outmoded machines still have
value. His organization can help owners find answers about system
operation, peripherals, software, books, magazines, and service.

The newsletter includes informative and often humorous articles
about the machines, ideas, and people who forged computer history.
HCS membership is $15 per year.

(Jim Mallory/19931014/Press and reader contact: Historical
Computer Society, 915-822-2683 after 6PM CST)


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

 ****Another Phone Company/Cable Alliance - BellSouth And Prime 10/14/93
ATLANTA, GEORGIA, U.S.A., 1993 OCT 14 (NB) -- Almost forgotten in
the rush over the Bell Atlantic-TCI merger, BellSouth signed a
partnership agreement with Prime Management Co., which does
business as Prime Cable.

BellSouth is taking 22.5 percent of Prime, which until a few
years ago ran the cable franchise in BellSouth's home city of
Atlanta, in exchange for $250 million in debt financing aimed at
improving its Las Vegas network. Prime was founded in 1979, and
is best-known for putting together financing packages to buy
urban cable systems, then turning them around. In addition to
the Las Vegas network, Prime owns cable operations in Houston
and Chicago.

Perhaps Prime's most interesting venture, however, is an
affiliate of its Community Cable unit. Hospitality Network
provides in-room programming and interactive services, mainly in
Las Vegas. It's the fourth-largest pay per view company serving
the hotel industry. Community Cable has also deployed a fiber
network to support major hotels and other businesses in the area
as a "competitive access provider," handling the local end of long
distance calls as an alternative to Pacific Telesis, for
instance.

For Prime, the deal brings needed capital and could help it jump-
start its acquisition strategy. For BellSouth, the deal, which
reportedly includes an option to acquire all of Prime for $1
billion, gives it an entrance into both cable and
competitive access. It could reduce the company's need to enter
the Viacom-QVC battle over Paramount, where it was rumored to be
considering an investment in QVC. Now that Bell Atlantic will own
a big piece of QVC, BellSouth may be having second thoughts in
any case.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19931014/Press Contact: BellSouth, Tim Klein,
404-249-4135)


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

Most Reaction Positive To Bell Atlantic-TCI Deal 10/14/93
NEW YORK, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1993 OCT 14 (NB) -- Stock markets
around the world jumped in reaction to news that TCI, the
nation's largest cable operator, will be acquired by Bell
Atlantic, one of the seven regional Bell companies.

The two biggest beneficiaries, however, were Bell Atlantic and
TCI themselves. Both rose over 10 percent in value before markets
closed October 13. That's very unusual, since acquiring companies
usually fall in price in the wake of an expensive acquisition.

But PaineWebber analysts were among those raising their rating on
Bell Atlantic, claiming it could rise 50 percent more in price
over the next two years as a result of this deal. There remains
the risk that the US government will not approve this deal,
however, and in a reflection of that TCI stock rose only to $33,
about $2 per share below the indicated value of $35 per share
Bell Atlantic is placing on it.

Other stocks also rose in value, especially companies which make
equipment for cable companies. Among the gainers were Walt
Disney, Turner Broadcasting, Time Warner, and News Corp.
In fact, virtually all the cable companies, phone companies, and
entertainment companies on US exchanges were up, as rumors of
new deals swirled. This came despite the fact that a new study by
the Federal Communications Commission indicated most cable rates
have declined since the re-imposition of rate regulation
September 1, and those rates will now be constrained to about the
rate of inflation.

Perhaps the strangest rise was a 10 percent gain in the stock price
of Transcontinental Realty Investors, which is traded on the TCI
stock symbol. Tele-Communications Inc., trades on the NASDAQ
exchange under the ticker-symbol TCOMA. Once the confusion was
cleared up, TCI lost its gains.

Even some regulators seemed to cheer the deal, with FCC
Commissioner James Quello calling it the "most momentous deal of
the decade." The FCC, FTC and Justice Department will all have to
approve the deal before it can go forward. But joy was not
universal. Massachusetts Democrat Ed Markey, who heads the
telecommunications subcommittee of the US House, promised
hearings on the matter, warning it could stifle competition.

Other regional Bells reacted by renewing their call for an end to
all regulation on their businesses. Ameritech vice chairman,
Louis Rutigliano, demanded that the FCC approve his firm's
"Customers First" plan, which would let it into long distance
and end rate regulation in exchange for letting competitors have
access to its network. Southwestern Bell Chairman Edward Whitacre
said the news "should convince any 'doubting Thomases' that
competition in all areas of telecommunications and other
multimedia services has arrived and is intensifying."

There may be few doubting Thomases left, but there remains a
doubting Thoma. Rick Thoma of Philadelphia, founder of
Telecommuting Solutions for America, a technology consulting and
policy advocacy group, released a study last year indicating
that the regional Bells have been over-charging consumers for
years by refusing to invest in their own networks. He called
the deal "a monumental asset shell game." He charged that the
regional Bells "have spent almost every bit of their time and
energy doing things they have been explicitly forbidden from
doing, while a the same time letting the local information
infrastructure for which are responsible for go to rot."

He charged that phone companies have been slow to deploy digital
services under ISDN standards, and said local networks, the "off-
ramps" of the information superhighway, remain sub-standard.

Thoma continued: "While TCI is an obviously successful company,
it was built in an environment where media was a one-way feed to
the consumer, and the reigning assumption was that the media fed
a mass market. It is obvious, however, that the mass market is
disappearing. This is why we think a smart man like TCI Chairman
John Malone is cashing out now. People are not seeking to
interact with media artifacts, they are seeking connection with
one another - that's why most malls have game arcades. Ask
Prodigy about how it failed to anticipate the desire of people to
interconnect via its bulletin boards."

Thoma's conclusion: "The bottom line is that we may be seeing
these two companies combining to form a nonresponsive,
out-of-date behemoth that threatens to throw an enormous wet
blanket over the only hope that we have as a society --our
entrepreneurial fire."

(Dana Blankenhorn/19931014/Press Contact: Telecommuting Solutions
for America, Joe Raimondo 215-342-0664; e-mail:
[e-mail])


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

Spectrum Wins Rockwell as Licensee 10/14/93
MANHASSET, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1993 OCT 14 (NB) -- Spectrum
Information Technologies said Rockwell International will
license its patents and work with it on creating and selling
chips implementing its technology.

Rockwell will make chips implementing its Axcell patents for
laptop computers, personal digital assistants, and personal
communicators, paying an up-front license fee, a royalty on
chipsets, and a royalty on the activating devices. The two
companies will also provide program interface standards to
computer makers so they can add custom software features which
work with the technology.

Spectrum President Peter Caserta called the deal "one of the
most important alliances we have ever developed" and "a giant
step forward" for his company. The price of Spectrum stock has
doubled in recent weeks as the company has signed important
license agreements. Among its list of licensees are AT&T,
Megahertz, IBM, and Apex Data. Motorola, however, has not licensed
Spectrum's technology, and its executives were quoted a few
months ago by Newsbytes as saying they didn't need it. Spectrum,
however, claims its patents cover any wireless phone-modem
connectors, and any wireless error-control protocols. It is
presently in court with Data Race and Microcom in an attempt
to prove that very point.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19931014/Press Contact: Don Kessler, Spectrum,
516-627-8992)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(BOS)(00021)

New President Of PowerOpen Association 10/14/93
BURLINGTON, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A, 1993 OCT 14 (NB) -- Tom Mace,
former president of 88open, has been named president of the
PowerOpen Association, succeeding Domenic LaCava, who has stepped
down from the post with the industry group. LaCava made the
decision to leave his position to pursue other interests, officials
said.

"We are pleased to bring someone with the industry stature of Tom
Mace to guide PowerOpen into the future," commented Bruce
Cleveland, PowerOpen Board member for Apple Computer. "Dom was
instrumental in getting us formed and launched, and now we are
excited as Tom brings his considerable experience and leadership to
move us forward in this critical next stage of execution."

The PowerOpen Association is an independent corporation that was
formed to promote the availability of shrinkwrapped software and
development services for the PowerOpen environment.

Apple, Bull, IBM, Motorola, and Thomson-CSF are the sponsors of
PowerOpen. Harris and Tadpole Technologies are the principals. In
addition, PowerOpen now has about 100 associate members worldwide.

Mace, the newly appointed president of the PowerOpen Association,
has been president and CEO of 88open for the past four years,
according to officials. He was also an early principal in Unix
International, and has held key positions at Unisys, Convergent
Technologies, Raytheon, and DEC.

Noted Claude Bozzo, PowerOpen Board member for Thomson-CSF:
"Having been an active participant in 88open and now PowerOpen, we
are looking forward to Tom leading the execution of our plan for
shrinkwrapped software on the PowerPC platform."

(Jacqueline Emigh/19931014/Press contacts: Pam Preston or Joshua
Weinberg, Technology Solutions for PowerOpen Association, tel 212-
505-9900; Pat Riemitis, PowerOpen Association, tel [phone],
ext 7103)


(NEWS)(IBM)(TOR)(00022)

IBM Microelectronics Has Faster PowerPC Chip 10/14/93
HOPEWELL JUNCTION, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1993 OCT 14 (NB) -- IBM
Microelectronics has announced a new version of the PowerPC 601
microprocessor that runs at 80 megahertz (MHz). Previous versions
operated at 50 and 66 MHz.

Company officials said the new chip would make possible desktop
computers faster than any based on existing processors.

Samples of the 80 MHz version of the PowerPC 601 are available
now, IBM said, with volume production due to start in January.
The new, faster chip will cost $490 in quantities of 25,000 to
50,000.

The 50 MHz and 66 MHz versions of the PowerPC 601 are already in
volume production at an IBM plant in Burlington, Vermont. The
50-MHz version sells for $275, and the 66-MHz chip for $350, in
quantities of 25,000 to 50,000.

The new 80-Mhz part will also be manufactured in Burlington,
company spokesman Jim Smith said.

The PowerPC line of chips resulted from an alliance of IBM, Apple
Computer Inc., and Motorola. The 601 is the first of four
planned PowerPC parts. The PowerPC 603 is a power-saving version
aimed at laptop, portable, and low-end desktop computers. The
PowerPC 604 is meant for higher-performance desktop PCs and
workstations. The PowerPC 620 will be the top of the line, meant
for high-performance workstations and servers. IBM plans to begin
making these chips in 1994 and 1995, Smith said.

The 601 chip has 2.8 million transistors, in a package about four
tenths of an inch per side. It includes the Motorola 88110 bus,
which provides an advanced interface that supports a range of
computer systems, including personal computers, workstations, and
multiprocessing systems, the companies said.

IBM unveiled its first complete computer systems using the
PowerPC chip in late September. Apple is widely expected to
announce its first PowerPC Macintoshes next spring.

IBM and Motorola announced first fabrication of the PowerPC 601
chip, which will be the basis of the early PowerPC systems, about
one year ago, and began shipments later that month.

(Grant Buckler/19931014/Press Contact: Jim Smith, IBM
Microelectronics, 914-892-5389; Public Contact: IBM,
800-426-0181)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TOR)(00023)

Lotus Income Up 151% 10/14/93
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1993 OCT 14 (NB) --
Lotus Development Corp. has reported net income of $18.3 million,
or 41 cents per share, for its third quarter ended Oct. 2. This
is up 151 percent from $7.3 million, or 17 cents per share,
before a stock-sale gain in last year's third quarter.

Lotus' third-quarter revenue was $240.1 million, up 16 percent
from $206.7 million in the same period last year.

In the nine months ended Oct. 2, Lotus had net income of $45.8
million, or $1.04 per share, excluding a second quarter charge of
$19.9 million, or 45 cents per share, for the acquisition of
California database vendor Approach Software Corp. Income was up
slightly from earnings of $43 million, or 99 cents per share, in
the nine months ended Sept. 26, 1992, excluding a stock-sale gain
of 53 cents per share.

Lotus' revenue for the first nine months of 1993 was $702.9
million, up seven percent from $654.1 million in the first nine
months of 1992.

Company officials said international markets were strong and
growth in the Windows software market offset a decline in the DOS
spreadsheet sector, the business on which Lotus was originally
built.

While he could not give specific figures, company spokesman Bryan
Simmons said sales of Lotus' Windows spreadsheets did well,
though the portion of the company's overall revenues coming from
spreadsheet products is declining as Lotus puts more emphasis on
communications products such as its Notes workgroup software.
During the quarter Lotus shipped new drivers to let Notes work
with database software from other vendors. The company also
shipped a new version of its Lotus Organizer personal information
manager, adding workgroup scheduling.

The company also recently amended its electronic messaging
strategy, more closely integrating Notes with its cc:Mail
electronic mail software.

Communications software currently accounts for a share of total
revenues in the mid-teens and is moving toward 20 percent of the
company's business, Simmons said.

Software suites, which bundle several popular applications
together for a discounted price, are also a growing portion of
sales, he added. During the quarter Lotus shipped SmartSuite 2.1
for Windows, a new version of its Windows suite that adds the
newly acquired Approach 2.1 database software.

In September, the company announced plans to consolidate its
Cambridge operations in one building, saying the move will save
$10 million per year from 1996.

Simmons said Lotus expects continued annual growth of 15 to 20
percent for the next few years, with operating margins ranging
from 15 to 18 percent.

(Grant Buckler/19931014/Press Contact: Bryan Simmons, Lotus,
617-693-1697)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(TOR)(00024)

Pathworks Upgrade Rounds Out DEC Announcements 10/14/93
MAYNARD, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1993 OCT 14 (NB) -- Among the
more than 150 new products and services that Digital Equipment
announced Tuesday in a push to boost its client/server
computing credentials was a new version of Pathworks, the
company's local-area network product line.

DEC unveiled Pathworks 5.0 network operating system software,
including client software for the DOS operating system and
Microsoft Corp.'s Windows operating environment, and server
software for DEC's own OSF/1 variant of Unix and its OpenVMS
operating system running on the older VAX hardware and the newer
Alpha AXP systems.

William R. Demmer, vice-president of DEC's Computer Systems
Group, told Newsbytes that DEC is seeking to establish Alpha as a
"universal platform" for client/server computing, but also sees a
role for the VAX hardware and VMS operating system in critical
business applications.

According to DEC, Pathworks 5.0 adds integrated management and
client network services, as well as more flexible licensing
arrangements for personal computers, to the network operating
system.

Software called Manageworks lets users manage LAN Manager,
NetWare and Pathworks servers remotely from a Windows
workstation, the company said.

Pathworks 5.0 is due to be available in January. Client licenses
will be $205 per client, while file and print services are also
available under a separate server license at prices from $3,000
for 100 PCs to $18,750 for 250 users.

(Grant Buckler/19931014/Press Contact: Dick Price, Digital,
508-486-5198)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(WAS)(00025)

Conner Cuts Staff By Another 3 Percent 10/14/93
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1993 OCT 14 (NB) -- San Jose, California-
based Conner Peripherals has announced that the company will cut
its total workforce by about 290 employees to about 9,300. Third
quarter financial results, which are not expected to be
particularly good, are scheduled for release on October 21.

Earlier cuts had already reduced Connor Peripheral's full-time
staff from 12,000 to about 9,600 and the latest announcement
means that the company has cut it total workforce by more than 20
percent this year, but that total includes employees added as a
result of the acquisition of Archive Corporation.

Connor is well-known as a manufacturer of hard disk drives and
tape backup devices.

Recent price wars in the personal computer industry have
virtually eliminated the market for very small hard drives and
has also cut the price of larger hard drives by as much as half,
putting a profit squeeze on all disk drive makers causing a
general move toward consolidation.

(John McCormick/19931014/Press Contact: Kevin Burr, Conner
Corporate Communications, 408-456-3134)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SFO)(00026)

 ****Multimedia Expo - Networking Multimedia Seminar 10/14/15
SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 OCT 14 (NB) -- The
"Multimedia Telecommunications & Networking" seminar at
the Multimedia Expo in San Jose, California, started off in
disarray, which some people would argue is a good reflection
of many companies ad hoc approach to networking.

None of the original listed speakers were present at the start.
The moderator was a stand-in, and in fact only one speaker
was present - a stand-in also. National Semiconductor's Les
Wilson turned up after the moderator had begun, which gave him
the dubious distinction of being the only "starting" speaker
present that was listed in the show event brochure.

The first speaker touched on the demand for "information
immediacy," referring to such technologies as video and
CD-quality sound.

Three main layers of user were identified: the major players,
such as Paramount; post-houses and specialty shops, as well
as major advertising agencies sharing information with their
clients; and independent artists, along with sub-contractors
who are specialists that do some of the work for the larger
companies.

Pricing for network services is based on bandwidth.
Understandably, interoperability was identified as a key
problem as the different layers use different hardware. The
high cost of hardware was identified as a problem, although
costs are coming down.

The first speaker maintained that the Internet was the model
for the establishment of a coast-to-coast network for the
transmission of multimedia or interactive data.

Three elements were identified as being required for
interoperability: the need to standardize on a network protocol
(such as I/P - Internet Protocol); the need to standardize on a
routing protocol; and the need to standardize on a method of
interoperable compression.

One trend among users that was identified was the demand for
on-the-fly videoconferencing, in which users do not have to book
circuits in advance from their carrier.

Les Wilson identified the "last 100 meters" to the desktop as
being one where bandwidth problems occur for many companies.
He also said that that area is a significant expense of the
network. He then went on to describe NatSemi's isoEthernet
product, designed to address the problem, set for introduction
in 1994.

He also identified the codec and the network itself as being
the two main contributors of delay in the network. Delay, he
said, does not come from compression. He added that delay is
a significant problem for videoconferencing.

Another speaker claimed that standards are all well and good,
but they take a long time to develop. In the meantime, firms
need problems solved, which often entails proprietary
networking technologies. Customers are often willing to
invest in proprietary technology, knowing that it might
become redundant in a couple of years.

Additionally, leading networking equipment vendors need to
bring out products to satisfy advanced technology demand.
They too cannot wait for developing standards, and as a result,
introduce products based on proprietary technologies.

(Ian Stokell/19931014)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(WAS)(00027)

CACI Int'l Buys SofTech Govt Division 10/14/93
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1993 OCT 14 (NB) -- Arlington, Virginia-
based CACI International, a major systems integration and
simulation software provider, has announced that it intends to
purchase the nine-location, 240-employee government services
business currently owned by SofTech.

The purchase price for the division, which currently generates
$25 million in annual revenue, will be $3.3 million plus the cost
of assets acquired in the purchase.

The SofTech government business concentrates on software reuse
and simulation as well as software conversion and development of
embedded weapons systems.

Douglas Poretz, a PR representative for CACI told Newsbytes that
there is no expectation that the merger will involve any
significant reduction in staffing and indeed, CACI is making the
purchase to gain entry into certain government agencies such as
the Air Force and NASA which are the current customers of
SofTech's government division.

CACI, according to Mr. Poretz, expects to gain new contracts from
the increased presence in the government market.

(John McCormick/19931014/Press Contact: Douglas Poretz, Douglas
Poretz Ltd., 703-506-1778)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(SFO)(00028)

 ****Multimedia Expo - Analyzing The Games Industry 10/14/93
SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 OCT 14 (NB) -- At the
"Analyzing the Games Industry - Investment and Return"
session at the Multimedia Expo in San Jose, moderated by
Dana Ardi Productions' Dr. Dana Ardi, featured speakers
included Volpe Welty's Lee Isgur, Electronic Arts'
Stewart Bonn, JAFCO America Ventures' Mike Orsak, Kleiner
Perkins' Arjun Gupta, and Tsunami Media's Ed Heinbockel.

Isgur identified Nintendo as the dominant player in the video
game industry in terms of installed base and hardware. However,
he said that in terms of sales, the "8-bit machine is faltering
very badly," but the "16-bit will do better in sales than last
year." He also said that, "Game-Boy is, at the moment, the leading
portable platform."

He predicated that there would be 83 million units of software
sales domestically this year.

Interestingly he noted that Sega has been outselling Nintendo in
the last few weeks in the US, in terms of new hardware and
software sales. However, he said he did not know if that would
continue into the Christmas season.

He identified CD's as becoming the dominant factor in the
industry in terms of software during the 1995-1997 period.

Interestingly, he said that which media the game industry
uses will dictate where it goes. He maintained that the
current cartridge industry is fairly expensive, and expects a
shift to something else - such as flash cards or CD-ROMs.
He also said that the current hardware "is lousy," with no
flat screens, no great colors.

He identified the industry as being in its early stages and
that, as costs come down and hardware improves, the industry
will get bigger.

Bonn said that the creative element involved in the industry
can make a difference, although it is those people that need
the most guidance.

In terms of investment, he argued that, the more money you
are willing to risk, the more money you can possibly make.
The first set of decisions that a new firm must make are the
level of their financial risk, and what is the level of
creativity that can be tolerated.

Orsak identified a number of trends within the Japanese market.
He said that almost all the major Japanese games companies
started out in the arcade market. Virtually reality is very big,
he said. He also identified a lack of multimedia development
talent in japan.

He predicted a move into 32-bit CD-ROM in 1994, and the
development of virtual reality game arcades.

He also identified a number of new opportunities in multimedia
entertainment: the shift to 32-bits will create an opportunity
for CD-ROM developers; virtual reality will be used for
simulation applications, such as baseball practice and skiing;
and networked games will gain in popularity.

A couple of speakers also took the opportunity throw a couple
of sliders at Hollywood's desire to become involved in the
interactive game market.

Gupta said that, in the short term at least, Hollywood would
not own the interactive CD industry. He said that one of the
main reasons is the complete contrast in financial volumes
involved. Hollywood's budgets for products - films - are 20-30
times as large as products for the CD industry.

Heinbockel went a stage further, saying the worst experience
he had had in the game industry was with a previous company,
when he had tried to coordinate a joint product with a
Hollywood studio.

He identified "managing the process" as the main problem.
He warned companies away from doing deals with Hollywood,
saying Hollywood has difficulty getting a product "out the door."
Not surprisingly, Hollywood has problems bringing a product
in by the pre-arranged deadlines and under budget, he said.

(Ian Stokell/19931014)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(LAX)(00029)

 ****Apple USA Head Resigns Effective Tomorrow 10/14/93
CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 OCT 14 (NB) -- Apple USA
president and general manager, Robert Puette, is resigning
effective tomorrow, October 15, according to Apple Computer.
His replacement is his boss, Ian Diery, executive vice
president of Apple's Personal Computer Division.

Puette has been at Apple since 1990. Apple officials said the
USA general manager is leaving to pursue other interests, some
of which could be related to the other corporations he serves
as a member of the board of directors. Two of those
corporations include Netframe and Cisco Systems.

Newsbytes asked Apple representatives if Puette's resignation
was a sudden one, and was told that since Apple's restructuring
announcement this summer there have been several staff changes,
including changes at the executive level. Michael Spindler,
former chief operating officer (COO) at Apple, took over as CEO
this summer, replacing John Sculley, and has been managing the
restructuring process.

In addition, the resignation has nothing to do with rumors that
Apple USA might wholly move to Austin, Texas, the company said.
No plans are in the works to wholly move Apple USA out of
Cupertino to join the other portion of the Apple USA team which
has been in Austin since 1991, Apple representatives asserted.
However, Apple has said it is looking at moving some operations
out of Cupertino to cut costs.

Glimpses of internal conflict at Apple have been flaring up
since the restructuring announcement. In July, five insider
trading suits were filed against the company and several of its
executives, including Spindler. Last month, Albert Einstat,
executive vice president and member of the board of directors,
filed suit against Apple charging he and Sculley were forced
out by Spindler.

Apple is attempting to change direction. In a speech at the
Multimedia Expo this week in San Jose, California, Diery said
Apple is seeding the multimedia market with compact disc read-
only memory (CD-ROM) drives it is distributing at its own cost
in order to build the multimedia software market. Diery is in
charge of the "geographies," the Apple inside term for the three
major market divisions, Apple USA, Apple Europe, and Apple
Pacific, which he oversees.

There are is no search for a replacement planned for Puette's
slot as Diery said he will accept the post himself, according
to Lisa Burn of Apple's public relations. Diery plans to
continue his responsibilities directing the heads of the Apple
Europe and Apple Pacific divisions as well.

Apple is expected to report its fourth quarter earnings, ending
in September, late today. The company's third quarter results
showed a loss of $188.3 million, attributed to the
restructuring effort. Sales of Apple's new Newton Messagepad
personal digital assistant (PDA) have been very good, but
profit margins on the device are small and industry analysts
are speculating the company might break even this quarter.

(Linda Rohrbough/19931014/Press Contact: Lisa Burn, Apple
Computer, tel [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(GOVT)(LON)(00030)

UK - Major Computer Fraud 10/14/93
BRISTOL, AVON, ENGLAND, 1993 OCT 14 (NB) -- Six senior officers with
the West Wiltshire Council have been charged with systematically
defrauding their employers of up to UKP 20 million.

In Crown Court in Bristol, the prosecution alleged that the West
Wiltshire officers, led by former chief executive Gerald Garland,
set up a highly profitable company, West Wiltshire Information
Systems (WWIS), with council officers encouraged to give the company
lucrative contracts.

John Royce, QC, prosecuting, said that contracts were negotiated
without valuations, other options or legal advice. An example
cited was a contract for collecting the poll tax -- said to
be worth UKP 750,000 a year -- which was awarded to the
company, while a mainframe computer worth almost UKP 1 million
was bought by the council but went to WWIS.

The six former officers of the council were charged on various
counts of fraud. Newsbytes understands that a seventh defendant has
been declared unfit to stand trial.

In court, the prosecution alleged that, between 1982 to 1988 the
council built up a computer software sales company which had 50
other councils as clients. By 1988 the group decided to set up a
private company, with Garland, Perkins and Gilbert becoming
directors. This, Mr Royce said, produced "a classic conflict of
interest."

By July of 1989, the new company was worth UKP 3 million, and it was
estimated that by 1991 it would have been worth UKP 20 million.
Newsbytes understands that the case is likely to run for at least
six months.

(Steve Gold/19931014)