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/nb112293

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

UK - Mercury Looks To Bypass BT Lines 11/22/93
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1993 NOV 22 (NB) -- After seeing its UK telecom
market share grow from zero to around 10 percent in ten
years, Mercury Communications has announced plans to shed its need
for links with British Telecom to support its indirect customers.

As in the US with non-local long distance companies, Mercury relies
on BT lines into subscriber's houses and offices to route calls to
its nearest network node. The area of inter-network connection fees
has been the subject of intense wrangling between the two companies,
with Oftel, the British government-appointed telecom regulator,
having to step in and set a rate.

The success of Mercury in the UK telecom market has meant, however,
that Oftel has eased off from its role in internetwork charge rates,
meaning that Mercury has begun to pay the "market rate" for such
interconnections. Industry experts have suggested that this increase
in inter-network connection fees payable by Mercury may be behind
Mercury's decision to hike some long distance rates a few months
ago.

Mercury officials have made a formal statement this week of the
company's intention to adopt a similar system to Ionica for the
delivery of its network direct into subscriber's premises. Ionica, a
fully licensed telecom service provider which plans to commence
operations some time next year, will bypass BT lines entirely by
routing its cable head end links into the subscriber's home or
office using a radio link.

This avoids the need, Newsbytes notes, to have to tear up the roads
for the final few yards of line into a subscriber's premises. It's
this local loop provision that has proven to be the stumbling block
for free market competition in the telecom arena, owing to the high
cost of such installations.

Now Mercury says it wants to do the same. According to Mike Harris,
Mercury's chief executive, Mercury has the license to be able to
offer a radio link into the home or office for the last section of
its cabling. He said that a decision on which technology to be used
had yet to be taken.

Lord Young, Cable & Wireless' chairman (C&W is Mercury's parent
company), was equally enthusiastic. "The great prize for us in doing
it the last mile is that we save the interconnect charges," he said,
adding that, by using a radio link, the high cost of the interconnect
link could be avoided.

(Steve Gold/19931119/Press & Public Contact: Mercury Communications
- Tel: [phone])


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(TYO)(00002)

Mitsubishi To Ship 64M DRAM Chip 11/22/93
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1993 NOV 22 (NB) -- Mitsubishi Electric has plans
to release samples of a 64-megabit dynamic random access memory (DRAM)
by the end of this year, and plans to produce the chip in quantity
at a future date.

Mitsubishi will be the second firm to release a 64-megabit DRAM
following NEC.

Mitsubishi Electric's 64-megabit DRAM is based on a 0.35-
micron CMOS process technology. The chip has 140 million
transistors on its surface and consumes very little
electricity -- 3.3 volts. The access time is also fast at
32 nanoseconds.

Mitsubishi Electric will sell this state-of-the-art chip
to makers of personal computers, workstations and digital television
sets, considered a lucrative future market.

Meanwhile, Mitsubishi Electric is trying to restructure
its memory chip production units. The firm will concentrate
manufacturing of 4-megabit and 16-megabit chips at its
plants in Kochi and Saijyo, respectively. In this way, it
hopes to reduce production costs.

Mitsubishi also plans to increase production of 16-megabit DRAM in
the middle of 1994. Currently, Mitsubishi is shipping 400,000 to
500,000 units of the chip per month and will raise this amount to
over one million units monthly next year.

In other news, many Japanese electronics makers including Mitsubishi
are suffering from slow sales of home electronics products.
As a result, they plan to reduce their winter "bonus" payment to
their employees.

(Masayuki "Massey" Miyazawa/19931116/Press Contact: Mitsubishi
Electric, [phone], Fax, [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(BOS)(00003)

Comdex - "Imaginaria" Screen Saver Package From Claris 11/22/93
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, U.S.A., 1993 NOV 22 (NB) -- A highly
imaginative collection of animated screen savers for Windows,
appropriately entitled "Imaginaria," has been unveiled by Claris
Clear Choice at Comdex.

"Imaginaria" is not only artistically impressive, but technically
pragmatic, said John Socha, one of three creators of the
package, and Bruce Chizen, VP and general manager of Claris Clear
Choice, in a meeting with Newsbytes at the show.

The 15 surrealistic story modules and 11 transition screens in
the package -- ranging from soothing nature scenes to uproarious
cartoons -- are the work of award-winning multimedia artists John
Mason and James Marsh of Carmel, CA.

Socha, an extensively published author and recognized expert on
DOS and Windows, gave technical guidance to the project to
prevent the difficulties with compatibility and disk space
requirements that have plagued PC screen savers of the past.

"Imaginaria" implements a proprietary compression scheme that
stores more than 10 megabytes (MB) of sound, graphics, and
animation in only 3 MB, Socha told Newsbytes.

The package also incorporates an adjustable "animation priority"
for sharing computer resources, to ward off potential system
conflicts and make room for background operation of processes
such as printing and data communications.

Also provided are password protection for assuring security when
the system is unattended, and a hot key for instantly concealing
the screen from curious passers-by.

Socha's authoring credits include "PC World DOS 6 Complete
Handbook," "DOS 6 Power Tools," and three other books about the
PC operating environment.

In a demonstration, Socha and Chizen entertained Newsbytes with
several story modules and transition screens from "Imaginaria."
One module brings the user along on a tranquil journey through
Yosemite Falls, complete with lush greenery, grazing deer,
twittering birds, and a flowing waterfall.

Another, "Midnight Sonata," follows the full moon as it arcs
across the night sky, to the accompaniment of Beethoven's
"Midnight Sonata."

Other modules will give you a close-up look at prehistoric
dinosaurs, a present day rain forest, exotic fish swimming along
through a coral reef, or the stars and planets of the galaxy.

If you want to have your funnybone tickled, you can view the
antics of Kitty Katz, a pair of table tennis-playing iguanas, and
other members of an offbeat crew of cartoon characters called
"The Associates."

Or if you're in another mood altogether, you can venture into
the dark and spooky "Chem Lab," where a human skull laughs out
loud, skeleton dances toward a coffin, a ghost plays the piano,
and a world of other eerie surprises await.

The transition scenes in the package are just as innovative,
featuring personalities like Paw Verity, an opera-singing
bulldog; T. Rexx, a tuxedo-wearing dinosaur; and Strumm'n
Cowpoke, a singing cowboy.

Chizen told Newsbytes that, like other titles in the Claris Clear
Choice series, "Imaginaria" represents the mission of the
consumer-oriented software unit to use the resources of a large
company in bringing the creative efforts of small,
entrepreneurial software shops successfully to market.

The Clear Choice unit was established by Claris in November,
1992. Claris also produces a separate series of business
software. During 1994, the Clear Choice unit intends to
aggressively expand its product line, according to Chizen.

In addition to "Imaginaria," the Clear Choice lineup
currently includes "Retrieve It!," "Brushstrokes," "Power To Go,"
and "From Alice to Ocean," a photojournalistic essay of a woman's
solo eight-month-long trek across the Australian outback.

Also at Comdex, Claris has introduced a Windows version of "From
Alice to Ocean," a package previously available for Macintosh
only.

"From Alice to Ocean" and "Imaginaria" each fall into the
"edutainment" heading under "personal enhancement," one of the
four product categories that Clear Choice plans to support,
Chizen said. Additional headings under "personal enhancement"
include games, home education, and content-based.

The other three categories on the Clear Choice agenda are
"primary productivity" (integrated, database, graphics and word
processing), "utilities" (desktop utilities, mobile utilities,
and desktop enhancement), and "personal productivity"
(organization tools, color painting).

"Imaginaria" and the new Windows version of "From Alice to Ocean"
are both being shipped. "Imaginaria" is priced at $49, and
"From Alice to Ocean" is $69.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19931119/Reader contact: Claris, tel 800-
3CLARIS; Press contact: Natalie Lingo, Claris Clear Choice, tel
408-987-7487)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(ATL)(00004)

Comdex - Adult Titles Appear 11/22/93
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, U.S.A., 1993 NOV 22 (NB) -- Adult movies have
long been a feature of the Consumer Electronics Show, where they
have their own separate showcase at the Sahara Hotel. This was
the first time such publishers visited Comdex offering CD-ROM
products, and they were mixed in with the general run of
publishers in the South Annex, which was dedicated to multimedia
this year.

Their wares ranged from simple reproductions of movies, to an
adult interactive version of the kids' game "rock, paper, scissors."
Some, like Laurence Miller of Dream Machine, said they were
looking for a way to enter the CD-ROM market and found they
could add something new to erotica, like the ability for players
to paste themselves into scenes. Others, like Zachary
Holland of Vivid, among the largest adult video players at CES,
merely said they liked the sales potential in the new medium,
calling it "the same as video."

The last may have been the key marketing point, although The
Interface Group was reportedly embarrassed by the porn presence
at its computer show. Adult titles were the first big sellers
among videotapes, and dominated the sales charts early-on.
Adult services also were the first into pay-per-call services,
and still represent the largest presence in that technology.

Many vendors, like Ali Joene of Digital Playground, said they were
anxious to tap into existing markets, noting that Blockbuster
Entertainment has begun renting CD-ROMs and they are thus getting
a lot of interest from video stores. Others, like distributor
Thomas Gaida, said they were opening new sales channels with the
discs like computer swap meets, while their traditional video
channels were ignoring the discs.

(Dana Blankenhorn/199931119)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SYD)(00005)

Hewlett-Packard Australia Sets Financial Records 11/22/93
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1993 NOV 22 (NB) -- Hewlett-Packard has carved
a juicy net profit from a flat Australian economy, hauling in
AUS$28.6M (US$18.9M) for financial year 92/93, a 160 percent
improvement on the prior year's net profit of AUS$11M.
Revenue for the year was AUS$496M (US$327M), a 34 percent increase
over the prior year.

"We've substantially improved our productivity," said HP Australia
MD Bill Hilliard, adding that the profit and revenue increases came
with the same staffing level as 1992. Despite the booming performance,
HP won't be putting on extra people in the coming year either,
though staff lost to normal attrition would be replaced.

This year's revenues had a touch of 'puff' due to orders written in
1992 not being delivered until 1993 financial year. Hilliard said
product delivery delay was a problem area which had been improved
this year. Exports constituted ten percent of revenues, with 85
percent of this coming from HP's Australian Telecommunication
Operation (ATO) which makes testing equipment for digital
communications lines - a worldwide boom business at the moment.
ATO grew more than 120 percent in the year.

Hilliard estimates that the Australian subsidiary will have less
spectacular growth in revenues and profit during the coming year,
predicting increases of around 25 percent for both. Computer products,
which includes HP's highly successful laser and inkjet printer
lines was the big money spinner this year. The medical division grew
73 percent. Hilliard said HP was heading toward open systems and
client/server computing.

(Stuart Kennedy and Computer Daily News/19931119)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(SYD)(00006)

Australia - Big Changes In Toll-Free Phoning 11/22/93
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1993 NOV 22 (NB) -- There's no doubt about it -
introducing the second carrier to Australia has meant new and better
services for phone users. The latest change is to the toll-free
number system.

The regulatory body Austel has decreed that the existing 008 prefix
for toll-free numbers will change to 1-800 over the next two years.
The reason given is that it will "make us fall in line with
international standards." Some speculated that this could lead to
difficulties when people viewing an overseas television
program or reading an overseas magazine respond to it, only to
get a plumbing supply house in Melbourne, for instance, which just
happened to have the same 1-800 number, but in different countries.

Optus (the second carrier) hasn't introduced toll-free services
yet, but expects to do so with a huge advertising campaign at the
end of this year.

While Optus wasn't able to say what services it will be offering,
Telecom has introduced one called HomeLink. The service
allows domestic phone users to have their own "mini toll-free"
service for friends and family members. The cost is a flat
Australian 10c above the call cost. Better than that,
it costs nothing to have the service. Of course, the number
issued to you is your responsibility to police, so Telecom
calls part of it a PIN (Personal Identification Number) to
emphasize the security aspect.

The HomeLink number takes the form 1-800-90-NNNN-PPPP where
NNNN is the last four digits of your existing number and PPPP
is the PIN. In some cases the 90 might be 91.

One might ask why a HomeLink 1-800 number can't be used for business
instead of paying the startup and monthly fees for a full 1-800 service.
The answer is that Telecom won't stop you, but a full 1-800 service
has shorter numbers and the calls cost significantly less than toll
calls (though more for local calls).

Telecom's business 1-800 service normally costs AUS$160.00 to set up,
but this fee is being waived until the end of November. For
intra-state calls only, the monthly fee is AUS$10 and for national
service, $20.

(Paul Zucker/19931119/Contact: Austel on phone [phone])


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(WAS)(00007)

Maryland Game Maker Microprose Reports Net 2Q Loss 11/22/93
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1993 NOV 22 (NB) -- Hunt Valley,
Maryland-based Microprose, the simulation-oriented game maker
which is expected to merge with Spectrum Holobyte, has reported a
second quarter 1994 fiscal loss of $12.7 million or just over
$1.90 per share, down drastically from a $1.19 million or 18-cent
per share profit for the comparable period in 1993.

The company experienced a significant operating loss, but it also
had some extraordinary losses due to downsizing efforts including
a one-time $4.9 million loss relating to the company's decision
of a purchase agreement for German-based United Software GmbH.
Because of some irregularities in the purchase agreement
Microprose is now exploring other distribution options in the
German market which by itself accounted for about five percent of
Microprose's 1992 holiday sales.

Gross for the quarter were a substantial $9.48 million, but this
was down by 30 percent compared to the same period last year. The
firm attributed this to the fact that the comparable 1992 period
saw a large number of new product releases.

Another $2 million of the second quarter loss was due to
professional fees and expenses directly related to the pending
merger with Spectrum Holobyte or ongoing financial needs or
business activities.

(John McCormick/19931118/Press Contact: Ronald J. Bueche, chief
executive officer Microprose, 410-771-6722, or fax, 410-785-8963)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(WAS)(00008)

Second Quarter Egghead Results Down 25 Percent 11/22/93
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1993 NOV 22 (NB) -- Computer software
retailer Egghead has reported second quarter 1994 financial
results show a 25 percent drop in earnings to $500 thousand,
or three cents per share, down from $700 thousand or four cents
per share for the comparable period in fiscal 1993. This drop in
earnings was on a 12 percent increase in sales to $156.7 million.

Direct sales to corporate, government, and education users
accounted for $87.2 million for the quarter, up $7 million or
eight percent from the previous year, while retail store sales
jumped 12 percent for a total retail sale gross of $62.4 million,
up a full 19 percent from the earlier period. Egghead
operates 194 retail stores and also sells through mail order.

The company says that lowered earnings on increased sales were
due to lowered profit margins that were the result of lowered prices
across the board to improve its competitive stance. Egghead
management sees a continuation of lowered margins for the second
half of the fiscal year. But a look at the balance sheet shows
that selling, general and administrative expense also increased
by 10 percent for the first half of fiscal year 1994.

Despite earning three cents per share for the quarter ending
October 16, 1993, Egghead actually lost 9 cents per share or
$1.558 million for the 28-week fiscal half ending on the same
date. That compares to a profit of $2.4 million or 14 cents per
share for the comparable period in 1992.

(John McCormick/19931118/Press Contact: Carolyn Tobias, Egghead
Software, 206-391-6191)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TOR)(00009)

Fulcrum Technologies Launches Public Offering 11/22/93
OTTAWA, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1993 NOV 22 (NB) -- Fulcrum Technologies
Inc., a maker of document indexing and retrieval software, has
announced a public offering and the beginning of trading of its
shares on the National Association of Securities Dealers NASDAQ
trading system in the United States.

Fulcrum's sole shareholder, Datamat Ingegneria dei Sistemi S.p.A.
of Rome, is selling 1.75 million shares of Fulcrum, leaving
Datamat with about 74 percent of Fulcrum, a spokeswoman for the
company said. The underwriters have a 30-day option to buy
another 262,500 shares to cover over-allotments.

The initial share price is US$11 per share, making the expected
proceeds from the offering in the neighborhood of US$19.25
million. Fulcrum officials said they plan to use some of the
money to repay outstanding long-term debts to Datamat and
short-term bank debt, and to complete the company's purchase of a
minority interest in Exoterica Corp., an Ottawa-based maker of
desktop publishing, design, and testing software with annual
revenues of about $3 million.

The balance of the proceeds are to be used for working capital
and to finance product development and expansion of Fulcrum's
sales and marketing operations.

Fulcrum was founded in 1983, and was acquired by Datamat in March
of 1990. The company has slightly more than 100 employees and
annual revenues of about $150 million.

Underwriters for the offering are Pacific Growth Equities in San
Francisco and SoundView Financial Group in Stamford, Connecticut.

(Grant Buckler/19931120/Press Contact: Barbara Johnson, Fulcrum,
613-238-1761; Wendy Rajala, for Fulcrum, 905-338-8532; Public
Contact: Pacific Growth Equities, 415-274-6800; SoundView
Financial, 203-462-7292)


(NEWS)(IBM)(TOR)(00010)

Lotus Adds Multimedia Features To 1-2-3 11/22/93
CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1993 NOV 22 (NB) -- Lotus
Development has introduced a multimedia edition of its
1-2-3 for Windows spreadsheet software, and a utility that can
make "movies," with sound, of operations performed on the PC.

1-2-3 Release 4 for Windows: Multimedia Edition has several
features that support its claim to multimedia capability. The
first is Multimedia SmartHelp, a set of learning tools that Lotus
has offered for some time. These tools include an animated and
narrated guided tour of the software, animated clips that
describe the way the program works, an audible proofreader, and
on-line documentation.

The package also comes with Lotus Sound, Lotus Media Manager, and
Lotus Annotator. Lotus Sound lets users create, edit, save, and
play sound as .WAV files. Lotus Media Manager is used to preview
multimedia files, and Lotus Annotator makes it possible to create
and embed multimedia notes in Windows applications.

The final multimedia feature in 1-2-3 Release 4 for Windows:
Multimedia Edition is ScreenCam, software which can record
operations a user performs on the computer -- much as a macro
recorder records actions -- add audio such as a running
commentary on what the user is doing, and then play the "movie"
back.

ScreenCam will initially be sold as part of the multimedia
edition of 1-2-3 for Windows, but will later be offered as a
stand-alone project and bundled with other Lotus applications,
the company said.

A spokeswoman for the company said the stand-alone version of
ScreenCam can be expected in the first quarter of 1994, and other
Lotus applications will be released with ScreenCam during the
coming year.

In the meantime, customers who buy 1-2-3 for Windows: Multimedia
Edition with ScreenCam can use the utility with other Windows
applications as well as the spreadsheet. They can also create
ScreenCam movies that involve more than one application, the
spokeswoman said.

ScreenCam requires a PC with at least a 386 processor and about
one megabyte (MB) of memory beyond what the application with
which ScreenCam is to be used requires. To use the audio
capabilities, the PC must also have a sound card or portable
sound device, microphone, and speakers. ScreenCam can be used
without audio if the PC is not equipped for it, the spokeswoman
said.

ScreenCam movies take less than one megabyte of disk space per
minute, the spokeswoman told Newsbytes.

1-2-3 Release 4 for Windows: Multimedia Edition needs at least a
386 processor, four MB of memory with a two MB swap file, Windows
3.1, a VGA 16-color graphics adapter and monitor, and a compact
disk read-only memory (CD-ROM) drive with a transfer rate of at
least 150K per second, the company said. Some features call for a
sound card, speakers, or headphones, and a mouse is recommended
but not required.

The suggested retail price of the multimedia 1-2-3 for Windows is
$495, Lotus said, and upgrades from all other releases and from
competitive spreadsheets will cost $129.

Lotus has no public plans for a multimedia edition of 1-2-3 on
the Apple Macintosh or any other hardware, a company spokeswoman
said, but a further announcement is likely in 1994.

(Grant Buckler/19931120/Press Contact: Dana Lieske or Stacey
Breines, McGlinchey & Paul for Lotus, 617-862-4514; Public
Contact: Lotus, 800-343-5414)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(LON)(00011)

Comdex - Horizons Technology LAN Management 11/22/93
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, U.S.A., 1993 NOV 22 (NB) -- Horizons Technology
has unveiled a new suite of LAN (local area network) management
software. Launched at Comdex Fall '93 last week, LAN Auditor 3.0 is
claimed to be a head above competing LAN management packages, as it
allows network inventories across different operating systems and
hardware platforms, specifically DOS, Windows (for Workgroups), OS/2
and the Mac System operating system.

In use, the package is designed to automate the LAN administrator's
task of keeping a detailed record of hardware and software on a
network, as well as stand-alone PCs linked into the network.

According to Bernard Harguindeguy, Novell's Enterprise Products
Division, v3.0 of LAN Auditor allows a greatly expanded number of PC
(DOS and Windows) audit functions to be completed.

"With LAN Auditor 3.0. Horizons Technology extends the capabilities
of the Netware management system to the workstation, improving our
customer's ability to centrally manage all aspects of their
enterprise," he explained.

One interesting feature of LAN Auditor is a structured query
language (SQL)-like report generator that allows users to design
their own customized reports. Once created, these reports can be
accessed online, printed out or even exported to an external file or
program on the network.

According to Horizons Technology, LAN Auditor allows even novice
network users to "interrogate" and even change the report using
drag-and-drop menu options. Customizable features include page
layout, font manipulation, header/footer annotation, printer set-up
and printer preview.

A 50-workstation site licence for LAN Auditor costs $495, rising to
$1,580 for a 400-user licence. Users of version 2.1 can upgrade to
v3.0 for between $55 and $110, while an annual support and
maintenance contract for all users costs $95.

(Steve Gold/19931122/Press & Public Contact: Horizons Technology -
Tel: [phone]; Fax: [phone])


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(WAS)(00012)

Christmas Shopping? See December's PCTV 11/22/93
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1993 NOV 22 (NB) -- Victoria Smith,
hostess of the New Hampshire-based PCTV weekly television
program, will spend December trying to help last-minute holiday
shoppers find hot ideas to stuff those computer user's stockings.

PCTV is produced and transmitted by satellite live and delayed on
Thursdays, then carried by a number of cable and independent
broadcast TV stations around the country as well as the Mind
Extension University educational channel.

December 2, 1993 PCTV (93-48) "Holiday Gift Ideas: Young Adults."
Victoria Smith looks at a number of holiday gift ideas for older
children and adults. Among these are Spinnaker Software's
Calendar Creations, a software package for creating and printing
custom wall calendars, and Master Cook II, for gourmet recipes
and nutritional analysis.

December 9, 1993 PCTV (93-49) will cover "Holiday Gift Ideas:
Edutainment." Victoria Smith shows us Inline Software's Swamp
Gas/USA and Swamp Gas/Europe, "edutainment" software for teaching
geography. Edmark shows us Kid Desk Family Edition, a "desktop"
for children that gives them their own workspace while locking
them out of parents' files, and we look at more holiday gift
ideas for the computer user.

(John McCormick/19931122/Press Contact: Wayne Mohr, Executive
Producer PCTV and MacTV, 603-863-9322)


(NEWS)(IBM)(BOS)(00013)

COMDEX - One-Chip Video Processor To Be Used By 15 OEMs 11/22/93
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, U.S.A., 1993 NOV 22 (NB) -- At Comdex,
AuraVision has unveiled the VxP500 Video Record and Playback
Processor, a product that incorporates far-reaching PC video
processing functionality in a single chip.

Also at the show, Creative Labs, Dolch Computers, Diamond
Computer Systems, and a dozen other vendors have introduced the
first PC video boards to be based on AuraVision's new integrated
circuit (IC).

Microsoft, Adobe, Asymetrix, Xing Technologies, Mathematics,
Canyon, and Lenel have announced software support for the
chip. SGS-Thomson, C-Cube, and Zoran have also hopped aboard the
AuraVision bandwagon, developing reference designs for building
complete PC compression systems with the VxP500.

The new VxP500 supplies all the capabilities of a traditional
board-level video processor and more, explained Steve Chan,
president and founder of AuraVision, in an interview with
Newsbytes.

The chip is equipped with hardware acceleration capabilities that
allow full-motion (30-frame-per-second) video to be displayed at
full-screen resolution without the usual visual degradation, said
Mark Hopper, sales director for the Fremont-CA-based startup
company.

The product also features a unique time scaling feature that
eliminates the "jerkiness" of motion common to other systems,
he maintained.

Although separate audio hardware is still needed, the VxP500
allows simultaneous capture of video and audio in real time,
added Tommy Lee, senior applications manager. In contrast,
other processors require video and audio to be captured in
different sessions.

Also unlike competing video processing systems, the VxP500 supports
color keying as well as chroma keying, according to Lee. Color
keying refers to overlaying graphics on top of video, while chroma
keying refers to overlaying video on top of graphics.

By integrating all video processing into a single IC, the VxP500
supplies cost savings to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs)
that will in turn be passed on to end users, Lee told Newsbytes.

The price of the VxP500 to OEMs is less than $100, and boards
based on the chips will sell to end users for as low as $300, he
estimated. "In comparison, (other) boards now on the market
cost $400 or more, and the quality of their output isn't nearly
as high," he asserted.

The VxP500 can capture video in RGB, Palettized VGA, YUV, and YUV
compressed formats under Microsoft Video for Windows, and in RGB,
YUV, and Palettized VGA formats under AVI. Support is provided for
all AVI video codecs, including JPEG, MPEG, Indeo, Cinepak, and
Captain Crunch.

The VxP500 also supports VGA, NTSC, and PAL input, and VGA, NTSC,
and Control/L (LANC) videotape output. NTSC support is available
for both the composite video and S-Video formats. The chip
permits display of up to 16 million colors at up to 1024-by-786
resolution, he said.

In a demo for Newsbytes, Lee blew up a full-motion video clip to
full-screen (640-by-480) VGA resolution from half-screen
(320-by-240) resolution using two different boards, one based on
the VxP500, and the other based on traditional video technology.

When the non-VxP500 board was used, the full-screen picture
became grainy and ghost-ridden, and the motion uneven. With the
VxP500-based board, though, the picture and motion remained
smooth and even.

Lee informed Newsbytes that the VxP500 achieves a high-quality
full-screen picture through a combination of hardware
acceleration, or "hardware zoom," and filtering. While most
other systems use a method called "pixel duplication" for
filtering, the VxP500 employs "vertical interpolation."

AuraVision's hardware zoom technique allows the picture to be
expanded without graininess, he explained. The use of vertical
interpolation reduces "motion artifacts," or ghosts, and also
promotes more realistic colors.

Video for Windows software, available to OEMs for bundling with
VxP500-based boards, makes it possible to capture audio from a
separate sound board into a .wav file and to combine the video and
audio in an interleaved format for synchronized playback, he
said.

The chip's time scaling feature comes into play when a system
lacks sufficient bandwidth to store 30-frame-per-second video,
according to Lee. Video processing systems deal with this
situation by dropping some of the frames. Time scaling is
designed to drop frames in a smooth and even way.

In a press conference at Comdex, Orchid Technologies rolled out a
whole family of VxP500-based boards, including the Vidiola Pro/D
full digital video editing; the Vidiola Pro/C for "cuts only"
video editing without hard disk video storage; and the Vidiola
Premium, a daughter board supplying MJPEG (motion JPEG)
compression and decompression.

Aside from Orchid, Creative Labs, Dolch, and Diamond, other OEMs
announcing VxP500-based boards at Comdex included U-Max Data
Systems, Micro Star, Hauppauge Computer Works, CEI, GVC
Technologies, VisionEx, Micro Star, ASCO Corp., Leadtech Research,
Lung HWA Corp., and Resonant Research.

In addition to Microsoft's Video for Windows, the following
third-party software is available to OEMs for bundling with the
boards: Premier for Windows and Photoshop from Adobe; Compel and
MediaBlitz! from Asymetrix; Lenel's Multimedia Manager; Xing
Technology's Picture Prowler and MPEG Prowler; Mathematica's
Tempra Pro authoring package; and ICap video capture software
from Canyon.

The VxP500 is the first product to be released by AuraVision, a
company established by Chan in July 1992. Chan had previously
served as corporate VP and general manager at Chips &
Technologies, VP of engineering for Headland Technology, VP of
ASIC design for LSI Logic, and staff engineer at Ampex Corp.

AuraVision was formed with the financial backing of a venture
capitalist team led by William Tai, general partner of The Walden
Group; John Hawkins, partner at Burr, Egan, and Deleage; and
private investors, including Dave Jackson, founder of Altos
Computer Systems and lead investor in both Wyse Technology and
Informix.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19931122/Reader contact: AuraVision, tel 510-
440-7180; Lisa Kimura, Technology Solutions for AuraVision, tel
415-617-4514)


(NEWS)(IBM)(LON)(00014)

Germany - Big Blue To Slash 6,000 From Payroll 11/22/93
STUTGART, GERMANY, 1993 NOV 22 (NB) -- IBM has announced plans to
shave 6,000 jobs from the company payroll in Germany over the next
two years. The move, the company claims, is in line with IBM's plans
to shed around 35,000 staff from the payroll by the end of next
year. IBM currently has around 260,000 on the payroll.

In Germany, 4,500 jobs are expected to disappear from a total of
25,000 in Germany during 1994, followed by a further 1,500 jobs
in 1995.

IBM said in a prepared statement that the cuts were not forced upon
the company by the current difficult market in Germany. IBM claims
that the cutbacks have been planned for some time. "This is part of
a broad strategy of bringing down expenses. It's not a local
economic situation," a spokesman said.

Details of the cuts filtered out from IBM Germany late last week,
when Edmund Hug, the company's country president, announced the
plans to employees and then to the press. He said that the cuts
formed part of plans for IBM's European operations that had been
worked out since Louis Gerstner, the company's president, joined Big
Blue in April of this year.

(Sylvia Dennis/19931122/Press & Public Contact: IBM Deutschland -
Tel: [phone]; Fax: [phone])


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LON)(00015)

Microsoft To Centralize European Distribution In Ireland 11/22/93
MUNICH, GERMANY, 1993 NOV 22 (NB) -- Following the well-trodden
path of many other technology companies, Microsoft has announced
plans to centralize its European distribution operations to Ireland.

The move, according to the software giant, will take advantage of
the pool of available employees in Ireland, as well as the tax
breaks that the Irish government is reknowned for offering to
companies willing to relocate operations to the country.

According to Microsoft, the new distrubution center will be located
in Dublin, in one of the industrial parks of the city. Plans call
for the distribution center to be operational by the middle of next
year, with full-scale distribution transferred from individual
country operations in Europe by the end of the year.

The move is strategic for Microsoft, Newsbytes notes. Microsoft
recently centralized its European manufacturing operations into
Ireland and, at the time, promised that it would centralize its
distribution from individual country operations once the
manufacturing facility had stabilized its output.

(Sylvia Dennis/11931122/Press & Public Contact: Microsoft UK - Tel:
[phone])


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(LON)(00016)

UK - Cellnet's Success With Consumer Cellular Tariffs 11/22/93
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1993 NOV 22 (NB) -- After just over a year of
operations in the consumer marketplace, Cellnet, one of the two
cellular networks operational in the UK, is claiming that its
strategy has been a tremendous success.

To date, Cellnet claims, more than 200,000 people have signed up to
the consumer tariff, known as Cellnet Lifetime. This pushes
Cellnet's subscriber levels, as at the middle of November this year,
to 818,500.

"When we launched Lifetime in November last year, a lot of observers
considered our target of 200,000 by the end of 1993 to be very
ambitious," explained Robert Warner, Cellnet's newly installed
managing director, who added that the company had hit its target a
clear six weeks ahead of schedule.

While Vodafone is claiming that it has around 55 to 60 percent of
the overall cellular market in the UK, Cellnet has been extremely
aggressive in the consumer (as distinct from the business)
marketplace, Newsbytes notes. As a result of the company's strategy
of offering cellular dealers (and their customers) the best deals,
the company now claims it has more than 60 percent of the consumer
tariff marketplace.

(Steve Gold/19931122/Press & Public Contact: Cellnet - Tel:+44-71-
Tel [phone])


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

Grants Aid Developers, Computing Companies 11/22/93
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON, U.S.A., 1993 NOV 22 (NB) -- Recently announced
grants and fellowships will aid software developers and give
marketing boosts to some workgroup computing companies.

Aldus Corporation has announced it will award three Additions
software developers more than $100,000 in grants to help fund the
design, implementation, and marketing of Additions for Aldus
Pagemaker. The company says the grants will average from $30,000
to $50,000.

Additions technology provides a specialized language of commands
and queries that enables developers to tailor Pagemaker for special
publishing needs. The developers can write complex code modules
and then communicate with Pagemaker via commands that can
perform any action that a user can do manually. Additions could be
considered mega versions of macros.

The companies selected for the grants are Integrated Software,
Zephyr Design, and Group Logic Inc. Aldus says factors such as a
proven record in developing add-on products and a keen
understanding of customer requirements in the advertising and
workgroup publishing markets, rated highly in the selection process.
Each recipient will receive half of their award in advance, with the
balance due when the Addition is completed.

Karen Howe, Aldus senior product marketing manager, says the
company hopes the program will stimulate the creation of third-party
Additions that would have taken Aldus too long to develop or would
not have ever been developed at all.

The grants program is still open to interested parties.

The Groupware 94 Boston conference has announced its Emerging
Technologies Fellowship Program designed to provide a glimpse
into the future of workgroup computing, stimulate market
growth, and give a marketing boost to about 30 young
workgroup computing companies.

The fellowships provide the opportunity for promising young
workgroup companies to exhibit alongside major vendors and
provide them with access to venture capitalists, potential investors,
corporate partners, and users looking for new and innovative
approaches to business problems.

The group is offering full and partial fellowships. A full fellowship
covers $2,250 of the exhibition fee for a 10 ft by 10 ft booth at
Groupware Boston as well as one complimentary admission to the
Groupware 94 Boston conference. The group says the admission is a
$995 value. The booth will be in a designated emerging
Technologies aisle.

Fellowships are still available to companies who product is not
commercially available or was released after September 1, 1993.

(Jim Mallory/19931122/Press contact: Barbara Burke, Aldus Corp,
206-628-6594, Bob Bierman, The Conference Group, 602-661-1261;
Reader contact: Lisa Wise, Aldus Corp, 206-343-7692 (for grant info),
The Conference Group, 602-661-1260, fax [phone] (fellowship
info)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(DEN)(00018)

Cellular Phone Thieves May Have Your Number 11/22/93
DENVER, COLORADO, U.S.A., 1993 NOV 22 (NB) -- Authorities say
the cellular phone industry spends $5 million annually to stop
sophisticated cellular phone fraud, and your phone might be the
culprint's next target.

US West Cellular spokesperson Wendy Carver-Herbert says the
criminals are starting to look at smaller cities. "As the carriers
crack down in major metropolitan areas like Los Angeles and New York,
the criminals begin looking at other markets where enforcement isn't
as tough yet."

Cell phone providers are reluctant to provide information about how
many cell phones are reported stolen, and local and federal law
enforcement agencies don't track that data, but admit that cell phone
fraud is rampant nationwide. Authorities say it's difficult to catch the
thieves because of the sophisticated electronic techniques used by
the crooks that could mean you won't even know you are a victim
until it's too late.

Denver-based Secret Service agent Bill Bresnahan told Newsbytes
the Secret Service is tasked with investigating cellular phone fraud,
and says his agency has investigated several incidents of cell phone
fraud in the Rocky Mountain local area. Bresnahan and Carver-
Herbert say the crimes take various forms. The simplest form of theft
is the actual stealing of a phone. More insidious, and less likely to
be noticed immediately, involves gaining access to a cell phone and
obtaining the unique Electronic Serial Number assigned to every
phone, then leaving the phone in place. The ESN is then
programmed into another phone, a technique known as "cloning."
Herbert she says that is currently the biggest fraud problem
industry-wide.

Agent Bresnahan describes an even more sophisticated technique in
which the criminals use sophisticated electronic monitoring
equipment to capture the ESN and phone number right out of the
airways from phones operating nearby. The numbers are then
programmed into stolen cell phones to make expensive long
distance calls. Bresnahan says investigative techniques include
monitoring cell activity for an unusually high number of long
distance calls, and the use of direction finding equipment to track
down the illicit phones while they are in operation.

Herbert and Bresnahan say there are some steps that cell phone
users can employ to help foil phone theft or catch thieves. They
encourage cell phone users to step up the physical security they
provide their phones. "If you are going to leave your car with a
parking attendant or parked on the street for several days, remove
the handset and the antenna to avoid drawing attention," says
Carver-Herbert. She also recommends activating the electronic lock
when you are away from the phone.

They also recommend monitoring your cell phone bill closely. If you
see calls you are sure you didn't place, contact your service provider
immediately, and if your phone is stolen the company can block calls
from that number. US West Cellular has programmed its computers
to watch for anomalies in each customer's calling pattern as another
way to foil this high tech crime, and the company employs security
personnel to contact customers when calls fall outside the normal
pattern.

Another problem cell service providers encounter is what they call
"subscription fraud," in which false billing information is provided,
then the phone is used until the billing system catches up with them.
That can take as long as 30 days. Crooks also use a technique called
"tumbling," or using a phone programmed with a false ESN and your
phone number to place a long distance call in another carrier's
service area. By the time the two computers compare information the
calls have already been completed. The carriers are beginning to
install computer programs that can instantaneously check with the
home service area to determine if the number is legitimate and will
immediately terminate the call if the ESN is bogus, but that
technology is not yet in wide use. In the meantime some carriers
require you to get advance permission to use your cellular phone in
their service area when you're on the road.

(Jim Mallory/19931122)


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

Court Rules Against AT&T In Tariff Filing Dispute 11/22/93
WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A., 1993 NOV 22 (NB) -- US District Court
Judge Stanley Harris dismissed suits AT&T launched in February aimed
at making MCI, WilTel and Sprint file the same detailed tariffs
it must file on contracts with large customers.

AT&T initiated the suit after winning a court case last year in
which it overturned Federal Communications Commission rules that
gave the commission authority over who should file tariffs. AT&T
has long complained that, since it must release details on
proposed contracts with big customers, its rivals do not have to
release the same details and they can therefore undercut AT&T's
prices and take business in a way AT&T cannot. All this goes back
to the concept that AT&T is a "dominant carrier" in the long
distance business, a concept AT&T says is no longer valid. The
company has an estimated 60-65 percent of the US long distance
market.

"Our view is this is a procedural development in a lengthy
process, and there's been no ruling" on the merits, AT&T
spokesman Jim McGann told Newsbytes. "We're free to pursue this
at the commission, and we're reviewing that option now. We would
have to request a proceeding of some kind before them." A press
release from Sprint, however, praised the dismissal, noting that
Sprint tariffs are on file with the FCC -- "are and always have
been."

(Dana Blankenhorn/19931122/Press Contact: Jim McGann, AT&T, 202/
457-3952)


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

Spectrum Settles Patent Fight With Microcom 11/22/93
NORWOOD, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1993 NOV 22 (NB) -- In another
indication of the direction former Apple chairman John Sculley is
taking at his new company, Spectrum Information Technologies
Inc., Spectrum announced a settlement of its patent litigation
with Microcom Inc.

Spectrum had sued Microcom, charging that Microcom's MNP 10
error-correction protocol violated a patent it held on SPCL,
a forward error-correction protocol also used on wireless
systems. In its suit, Spectrum had claimed that its patent
covered all error-correction on wireless systems, while Microcom
argued that MNP 10 was a completely separate system not covered
by Spectrum's patents.

In the settlement, jointly announced by both companies, the two
firms formed an alliance and jointly licensed each others'
patents in the error-correction area. This will help Spectrum
since most technical experts consider MNP 10, which can adjust
the speed of a connection based on line conditions, a superior
solution to V.42, the standard used on wired modems. MNP 10 can
increase the speed of a connection when line conditions clear,
while V.42 can only slow a connection when it encounters noise.

Microcom also said it had formally acknowledged the validity of
Spectrum's patents, and said it would work with Spectrum to
create reliable fast-data services for notebook computers, PDAs,
and other mobile devices.

The legal issue, namely the claims Spectrum has made regarding
the breadth of its patent protections, remains in dispute. The
company is engaged in ongoing litigation with Data Race Inc.
involving similar claims on a different patent, for a cellular-
modem connector. In that suit, too, Spectrum claims its patents
cover all such connectors. At the Fall Comdex show in Las Vegas,
Data Race released its own connector, which it says does not
infringe on Spectrum's patents.

In the headline on its press release on the settlement, Spectrum
said that US District Court Judge Buckmeyer had declared
Spectrum's basic patent valid, but Microcom spokesman Dave Powers
questioned that assertion. He noted that the case ended on a
settlement, and that no decision on the validity of the breadth
of Spectrum's claims was made in the case. The patent suit
against Data Race continues to be pending.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19931122/Press Contact: Spectrum, Dae Chang,
516/627-8992x136; David Powers, Microcom, 617/551-1955)


(CORRECTION)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00021)

Correction - Briefing On The Govt's NII Infrastructure 11/22/93
WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A., 1993 NOV 22 (NB) -- In a Comdex story
regarding Clinton Administration official Larry Irving's
appearance by satellite at a Byte Magazine press breakfast
which ran on this wire on November 17, Newsbytes erred in giving
his Internet address.

Mr. Irving, in charge of the Administration's planning for the
National Information Infrastructure, sometimes called the "data
superhighway," had urged that his audience contact him directly,
over the Internet, with comments and questions concerning policy
decisions to be taken on the NII over the next six months.

Newsbytes had given Mr. Irving's address as [e-mail],
and this was in error. The correct address is
[e-mail] -- our thanks to Ted Carpenter for following
up on this. The NIST is the National Institute for Standards and
Technology, a separate Department of Commerce agency formerly
known as the Bureau of Standards. The NTIA is the National
Telecommunications and Information Agency, the government's chief
planning agency for technology and telecommunications.

Newsbytes regrets the error.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19931122)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(SFO)(00022)

Apple Ships Multimedia Authoring Package 11/22/93
CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 NOV 22 (NB) -- Apple is shipping the
Apple Media Tool, a new multimedia authoring package aimed at
non-programmers.

To create a title with Media Tool, users work within a screen metaphor,
upon which they can lay out the various text, graphic and movie elements
of their title, including PICT graphics, QuickTime movies, and sound
files in AIFF, SND and WAVE formats. Screen elements are assembled as
icon aliases in a holding area resembling a regular Finder folder.

Dragging an alias from the folder onto the screen expands it to a full
graphic, movie or sound element, and double-clicking it launches a
user-chosen editing application, such as Photoshop for image-editing,
Director for animation editing, etc. Media Tools is bundled with
VideoFusion 1.5, a $649 QuickTime-editing program.

Used in conjunction with the Media Kit (also new), which is aimed at
multimedia developers and includes Media Tool, a user can port their
title to the Windows platform.

To provide interactivity in titles, Media Tool elements can be
associated with user actions, such as a mouse click. For example,
you can assign a movie to play whenever a button is clicked. A title
can feature any number of screens, arranged in a Map section of
Media Tool. The Map view shows thumbnails of each screen and any
links between them.

The Media Kit, designed for programmers, uses an object-oriented
program language and scripting to allow translation to Windows format.
The Apple Media Tool (including VideoFusion) lists for $1,195, but has
an introductory price of $995. The Apple Media Kit (including Media
Tool and VideoFusion) lists for $3,995. For Media Tool info, call
800/371-0612, and for Media Kit info, call 800/282-2732.

(Chris Oakes & Computer Currents/19931122)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(SFO)(00023)

New Macintosh Products 11/22/93
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 NOV 22 (NB) -- Here is a brief
look at some new Macintosh products on the market: File Clerk
software, ColorScript Laser1000 printer, PowerBook 145B Plus Pack,
Americans in Space CD-ROM, new Adobe Typefaces.

Nisus Software (Solana Beach, Calif.) announced File Clerk, software
due this fall designed to make it easier to track down information on
data-packed Macs.

To organize and retrieve files, users navigate through a hierarchy of
keywords assigned to files, selected through pop-up menus. These
descriptive keywords are pre-assigned to files using File Clerk.
The file selection list shrinks as more keywords are chosen in a search.
This list can be filtered by creator, volume and creation/modification
date as well. Once found, the file, whether text, graphics, sound or
video, can be previewed or launched. Suggested list will be under $100.
For more information, call 619/481-1477.

ColorScript Laser1000

Is this the first "desktop" color laser printer? QMS is shipping a
$12,499 color laser printer, and claiming a price that is half
that of competing products. It features four-color 300dpi laser
printing, color matching capabilities and PostScript Level 2
emulation. It prints 24-bit-color images as halftones, instead of
as continuous-tone color images, with a printing speed of
two to eight pages per minute. Sixty-five resident typefaces and
12MB of RAM are standard. Mobile, Ala.-based QMS can be reached at
800/523-2696 or 215/633-4300.

PowerBook 145B Plus Pack

This PowerBook 145 package, distributed through such channels as
Circuit City, Montgomery Ward, Best Buy, Staples, and Officemax,
combines a 4/80 PowerBook 145B with an internal Global Village
Powerport Bronze send/receive fax/modem and a software bundle.
The software includes Touchbase Pro, Datebook Pro, Macintosh PC
Exchange, AppleLink, and Zterm terminal emulation software. Prices
in the retail outlets are expected to be between $1,549 and $1,699.
For info, call Apple (Cupertino, Calif.) at 800/776-2333.

Americans in Space

This new CD-ROM turns your Mac into Mission Control for American
space flights, allowing you to view crew photos, hear audio clips,
and watch video or animation of the American space program. It
includes over sixty minutes of video clips, including the last
launch of the shuttle Challenger, and more than 90 minutes of
narration. There are also nearly 600 images, including crew and
mission photos and artists' renditions of the space station
Freedom. Suggested retail price is $69.95. For more info, call
206/622-5530.

New Adobe Typefaces

Twenty-eight new Adobe (Mountain View, Calif.) typefaces include
designs from type foundries such as ITC, Monotype and Berthold,
bringing the total number of typeface packages in the Adobe Type
Library to over 360. Adobe has also announced the new Sanvito
and Caflisch Script multiple-master typefaces for the Macintosh.
Multiple-master faces allow users to modify many characteristics of
the typefaces to suit their preferences. Through December 31,
Sanvito and Caflisch Script and the other multiple-master
typeface packages are available for $89 through Font & Function,
Adobe's recently updated type catalog. After December 31,
Sanvito and Caflisch Script will be available for $185 and $95
respectively. For more info, call 415/961-4400.

(Chris Oakes & Computer Currents/19931122)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(TYO)(00024)

Japan - New Cable Service To Link To PCs 11/22/93
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1993 NOV 22 (NB) -- Tokyu Cable TV is getting
ready to launch a hybrid telecommunication service, which is
a combination of cable TV signals and personal computer-based
telecommunication. This industry first is expected
to start in April 1994.

Tokyu Cable TV, owned by Tokyu Electric Railways, has
already been providing cable TV service to its registered
users along the railways. These people will also be the
first recipients of the new service.

Tokyu Cable TV will link with Tokyu Electric Railways'
computer network, named "Seran" to provide news and information
at first, and links to value-added networks in the future.

No other technical details are available at this time.
Tokyu Cable TV will submit an application to the Japanese
Ministry of Posts & Telecommunication in early 1994 in order
to get permission to start the service. The Japanese
Ministry is expected to accept it because the new Hosokawa
government is pushing the deregulation of businesses
in Japan.

Other telecommunication firms are also planning to create
multimedia telecommunications services in Japan. For example,
NYNEX and Tomen are planning to set up a cable TV network
that combines with regular telephone services.

(Masayuki "Massey" Miyazawa/19931122/Press Contact: Tokyu Cable
TV, [phone])


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TYO)(00025)

China - Pocket Beeper Factory 11/22/93
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1993 NOV 22 (NB) -- Tokyo-based Casio Computer has
signed agreements with two Chinese firms to set up joint
ventures in China designed to produce pocket beepers and
other consumer devices. The papers will be signed in December,
at which time the business is also expected to start.

Casio will link with the Chinese firms to create two joint ventures --
one will be created with Japan's Mitsui Bussan Trading
and China's Shanghai Kokumyaku, which is affiliated with China's
Telecommunication Ministry. The other joint firm will be
created with China's Rocho Electric and Japan's Nichimen.

The first firm will be capitalized with US$1.5 million,
which will be paid 21 percent by Casio, 19 percent by Mitsui
Bussan and 60 percent by the Chinese firm. The second firm will
have more money to start -- US$7.5 million -- with
29 percent from Casio, 21 percent from Nichimen Trading,
and 50 percent from Rocho Electric.

These new firms will manufacture pocket beepers. At
Rocho Electric's plant, Casio will also manufacture Chinese word
processors and cash registers. In the future, Casio wants to
manufacture portable phones and mobile phones at these plants.

Some 150,000 pocket beepers are expected to be shipped from
these two firms in the first year.

Demand for pocket beepers has been growing rapidly in
China. This is because more foreign firms are creating a
base of operations in China.

(Masayuki "Massey" Miyazawa/19931122/Press Contact: Casio
Computer, [phone], Fax, [phone])


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(WAS)(00026)

Improper Grounding Major Cause Of System Failures 11/22/93
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1993 NOV 22 (NB) -- According to a
recently published report from CBEMA, the Computer and Business
Equipment Manufacturing Association, 90 percent of information
technology equipment failures are due to internal causes, and
three-quarters of those causes are related to poor grounding.
CBEMA has published a new set of guidelines establishing
recommended methods for grounding power supplies and computer
systems.

The Power Interface Committee of CBEMA has determined, according
to Committee Chairman John Roberts of IBM, that inadequate
electrical grounding is a major cause of problems in many
sophisticated computer systems, especially distributed processing
or networked installations.

Committee recommendations are provided free of charge to
interested readers in the form of a report titled "Guidelines for
Grounding Information Technology Equipment. The report is
available by sending a request to: Christine Zvonkovich, CBEMA,
1250 Eye St., N.W., Suite 200, Washington, DC 20005, or faxing to
202-638-4922.

CBEMA represents the leading US information technology
providers with combined sales of nearly $300 billion annually.

(John McCormick/19931119/Press Contact: Jan Goebel, CBEMA 202-
626-5725, fax [phone])


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(SFO)(00027)

 ****LSI Logic, Zenith Join To Develop Digital Cable TV Chips 11/22/93
MILPITAS, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 NOV 22 (NB) -- Digital cable
television is gaining in public attention as the industry becomes
increasingly connected with telecommunications. Now, in an
alliance that the two companies hope will "accelerate the
deployment of high-performance, cost-effective digital cable
television systems," Zenith Electronics Corp., and LSI Logic Corp.,
have teamed up to develop advanced integrated circuitry for
digital cable TV boxes.

John Taylor, spokesman for Zenith, told Newsbytes that the
alliance involves, "a joint development effort for a chip that
will be inside of the digital cable boxes of tomorrow."

Under terms of the deal, Zenith will work with LSI Logic to
develop a chip to be used in digital decoders based on Zenith's
16-level vestigial sideband (16-VSB) digital transmission
systems.

Taylor said that there is no joint venture planned, and that
it is, "their engineers working with our engineers."

Zenith claims that these systems increase the amount of digital
information that can be transmitted on cable TV systems
without additional video compression. This will expand the
capabilities of digital cable TV systems beyond the expected
500 channels to 1,000 or more channels.

Zenith says it plans to use LSI Logic's chip in its digital cable TV
decoders, which are scheduled for introduction in 1994. The
company also plans to license its 16-VSB technology to other
manufacturers of digital decoders. LSI Logic plans to sell
the chips as application specific standard products (ASSPs) or
customized ASSPs to Zenith licensees.

The 16-VSB digital transmission system can reportedly deliver as
many as 23 movies or nine live video programs in each six megahertz
(MHz) channel. The system can also send two digital high-definition
television (HDTV) signals on a single 6-MHz analog cable channel.

The companies maintain that the jointly developed chip, based on
LSI Logic's proprietary Reed-Solomon forward error correction
(FEC) and optimized demodulation building blocks, will be able to
handle such functions as forward error correction, adaptive
equalization, and synchronization detection. The chip can also
switch from 16-VSB to 8-VSB.

Zenith Electronics has also announced that it has sold $42
million of 8.5 percent senior subordinated convertible debentures
in a private transaction to institutional investors. The debentures,
due November 19, 2000, are convertible into Zenith common stock
at a conversion price of $9.76 per share. Proceeds from the sale
are intended to be used to redeem the company's 12-1/8 percent
notes.

(Ian Stokell/19931122/Press Contact: John Taylor,
708-391-8181, Zenith; or Carey Mitchell, 408-433-7175,
LSI Logic)


(NEWS)(IBM)(SFO)(00028)

Cray Comms LAN Connection For Remote PCs 11/22/93
ANNAPOLIS JUNCTION, MARYLAND, U.S.A., 1993 NOV 22 (NB) -- In
a world where a company's workforce is increasingly dispersed,
access to centralized corporate resources is vital. Now Cray
Communications Inc., has introduced RemotePC, an access server
that allows up to 24 simultaneous users to dial in and use the
resources available in an enterprise network.

In announcing the product, Scott Rey, Cray's director of marketing,
said: "RemotePC meets the three criteria network managers set for
remote access: it provides strong and flexible security; it gives
remote users the same network access and functionality as
in-house users; and it provides full control of costs and network
use."

Rey told Newsbytes that the RemotePC, "installs at the central
and not the remote site, and acts as a server/bridge." He also
said that the product "allows connectivity to multiple devices."

The company says that RemotePC is designed for users such as
salespeople, telecommuters, branch offices too small to justify
a router, and dial-in network services, whose usual environment
is remote from the main local area network (LAN).

RemotePC client software supports DOS, Windows, or OS/2. It
is priced at $2,595 for the base unit. The product is available
immediately. Rey told Newsbytes that ports are added by way
of add-in boards, consisting of "six ports per card," at the cost
of $1,395 for each group of six ports.

The company says that RemotePC enables remote users to access
network resources -- such as printers, electronic mail, and data
bases -- as if they were directly connected to the network. The
product reportedly works as a bridge on the main LAN, and can be
implemented in any Ethernet LAN without regard to the network
operating system or transport protocols.

Continued Rey, "RemotePC is a better alternative than the most
common solution, where a remote PC dials into another PC in the
main office, and simply provides a remote keyboard and screen
function. RemotePC lets the remote user do anything a local user
can do."

Cray Communications is a division of Cray Electronics Holdings
PLC. In its latest fiscal year, which ended April 30, 1993, Cray
Electronics says it recorded earnings of $26.5 million on sales of
$303 million.

In June, Newsbytes reported that Cray Communications was part
of a group of British modem manufacturers that joined together
under the mantle of the Modem Approvals Group (MAG), which was
formed to voice their concern about the lack of enforcement of UK
approvals for modems.

In July Newsbytes reported that the MAG was stepping up its
campaign against unapproved modems by asking magazine
publishers to ensure that advertising for such products are not
illegal.

(Ian Stokell/19931122/Press Contact: Scott Rey, 301-317-7218,
Cray Communications)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(SFO)(00029)

Adobe Streamline For Macs In Japan, Deals 11/22/93
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 NOV 22 (NB) -- Adobe
Systems has announced availability of version 3.0J of Adobe
Streamline for the Macintosh, software for converting color,
grayscale as well as black and white bitmapped images into
PostScript language line art. The software is designed for the
Japanese market. The company has also announced its PostScript
Level 2 Emerald RIP is available from Linotype-Hell, and that
Agfa is now shipping Adobe's PostScript Level 2 Emerald RIP
with both the Star 400 and 600 series of RIPs, as well as the
MultiStar 400 and 600 RIPs.

According to Adobe, version 3.0J includes new image processing
tools, powerful color capabilities, scanner driver support, a
redesigned user interface, extensive pre- and post-processing
features and improved interoperability with Adobe Illustrator
and Adobe Photoshop software.

Patricia J. Pane, spokesperson for Adobe told Newsbytes that,
for US users, "You can order it through a distributor in the US.
We do have a lot of Japanese language users in the US, and they
do like to be kept up with what's happening. There is a market,
although it is certainly not the size of what we get in Japan."

In announcing the new Japanese version, Katsunori Tanaka,
marketing manager for Adobe Systems Japan, said: "With Adobe
Streamline's new conversion options and pre- and post-processing
tools, users have more control over the end results. This new
version has also been completely redesigned to permit interactive
and intuitive image conversion and to provide a visual consistency
with our other graphics programs."

Said Yoshifumi Hyodo, sales manager for application products,
Adobe Systems Japan, "Adobe Streamline is an important tool for
professional users, and releasing this major upgrade concurrently
with the US version gives users in Japan access to the identical
feature set US users have, the most up-to-date, powerful
enhancements of the product that Adobe has to offer."

The company claims that enhancements in the new version provide
the ability to scan artwork directly into the program using any
Adobe Photoshop-compatible plug-in, to retouch images with an
assortment of pixel-editing tools, and to convert images using a
variety of options or through custom settings.

Users can posterize both color and grayscale images, and convert
them into filed and stroked PostScript language objects. The
company says that the resulting PostScript language paths can
then be recolored and edited. Once converted, the artwork can be
edited further in a drawing program or incorporated directly into
a page layout.

System requirements for Streamline 3.0J include: a Macintosh
with a 68020 processor or higher; two megabytes (MB) of
application RAM; a hard disk; and Apple KanjiTalk 6.0.7 or greater,
including System 7.l. However, Adobe recommends 4MB of
application RAM and a color monitor.

Adobe Streamline 3.0J for the Macintosh is available immediately
at a suggested retail price of 35,000 yen. Registered users of
Adobe Streamline 1.2J for the Macintosh may upgrade for 15,000
yen.

Adobe's PostScript Level 2 Emerald RIP will ship with Linotype's
RIP 50 and will drive Linotype's complete line of imagesetters.
Linotype-Hell says it is also shipping the Vulcan RIP, a RISC
(reduced instruction-set computer)-based add-in card with
Adobe's PostScipt Level 2 software for the Macintosh series II
and Quadra personal computers.

The company says that the Vulcan RIP replaces the RIP 20
product and drives Linotype's range of imagesetters through the
Linotronic 560 and allows a single Macintosh configuration for
both applications and RIPing.

Agfa's deal with Adobe also involves the PostScript Level 2
Emerald RIP. In announcing the deal, Steve MacDonald, senior vice
president and general manager of Adobe's Systems Products
Division, said: "Agfa's large installed base of Emerald RIPs now
has access to the latest in Adobe's PostScript technology --
PostScript Level 2. By offering PostScript Level 2 on its Star
and MultiStar series products, Agfa's users can now take
advantage of the software's many benefits, including device
independent color, compression capabilities and performance
enhancements."

The companies said that PostScript Level 2 Emerald RIP is
available immediately on Agfa's Star 400 and 600 and MultiStar
400 and 600 products, and is expected to be available on the
Star 200 next month. Upgrades for the existing Star, Star
Plus, and Star Plus SX RIPs are expected to be available
mid-December.

(Ian Stokell/19931122/Press Contact: Patricia J. Pane,
415-962-3967, Adobe Systems Inc.)


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

Apple Computer, AST, AT&T Equipment Auctions 11/22/93
CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 NOV 22 (NB) -- Apple
Computer is auctioning off some of its inventory in auctions
held by national auctioneers, Ross-Dave. But Apple isn't the
only one as AST, Martin Marietta, AT&T, and Hughes Missile
Systems are also holding auctions through the same group.

The first Apple Computer auction took place November 20 in
Chicago, but two auction dates remain -- one in Boston on
December 4, and one in Washington, DC on December 11. Equipment
is varied, but will include about 6,000 items of older and some
discontinued, though new, Apple hardware.

Apple representatives told Newsbytes the auctioned equipment is
mostly buy-backs, meaning Apple has bought it back from its
dealers when it released a new version of the product in
question. Some examples are: the Duo Dock 210, the Mac IIsi,
the Apple CD-ROM 150, and the Apple IIgs. Four peripheral items
included are not buy-backs: the Laserwriter 310, the Apple 16-
inch RGB monitor, the Color One Scanner, the Apple Color
Printer.

Any product still in the shrink-wrap at the time of the
purchase comes with a one-year warranty, Apple said. In
addition, there is no minimum bid, but Ross-Dove does charge a
5 percent buyers premium which is added to the total bid.

Claris, Apple's software subsidiary, will be on hand at the
auctions offering new software to go with the purchases and
Apple items such as t-shirts and hats with the Apple logo will
be available as well.

Other auctions include the AST auction, scheduled for December
11 in Menlo Park, California and a Hughes auction, on the
calendar for December 1 in Pomona, California. AT&T equipment
goes on the auction block in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and Martin
Marietta's auction is slated for Orlando, Florida.

Auction brochures containing location information and further
details are free for the asking by calling Ross-Dove toll-free.
Admission is also free.

(Linda Rohrbough/19931122/Press Contact: Kate Paisley, Apple
Computer, tel [phone], fax [phone]; Public Contact:
Ross-Dove, 800-445-3683)