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/nb930113

Text File | 1993-01-13 | 69KB | 1,527 lines

(NEWS)(TELECOM)(NYC)(00001)

 ****Prodigy Improvements Still Planned Despite Layoffs 01/13/93
WHITE PLAINS, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1993 JAN 13 (NB) -- Recent layoffs
will not impact the ability of Prodigy to meet its announced goal
of establishing an Internet connection, a top company executive has
told Newsbytes. He adds that the staff reductions will not stop
Prodigy from implementing publicly announced system improvements.

George Perry, vice president and chief counsel of Prodigy Services,
discussed the January 11th firing by Prodigy of 250 of its 1,100
employees, citing the need to reduce costs and improve efficiency.
Perry told Newsbytes, "This was a painful and difficult move.
We felt, however, that the reorganization is a better plan for
the future and will greatly aid us in reaching profitability."

Perry said, "By sheer coincidence, we passed the 1 million household
mark last week and we have 2 million individual as members. We feel
that we have contributed greatly to the communications explosion."

The Internet connection will allow electronic mail to be sent
between Prodigy subscribers and the approximately 20,000,000
users of the many networks that collectively make up what is known as the
Internet. Among Prodigy's commercial competition, GEnie has recently
added this feature joining America OnLine, CompuServe, Delphi,
AppleLink, MCI Mail, AT&T Mail and the WELL as systems which provide
this access.

In announcing the layoffs, Prodigy President Ross S. Glatzner was
quoted as saying, "This is a tough day. But in the end, it was the
necessary thing to do. We became very layered over the years and the
decision making wasn't as crisp as it needed to be."

As part of the reorganization, Prodigy also will turn over
the functions of its membership services division to an outside firm,
SPS Payment Systems of Layton, Utah. SPS will offer jobs to 65
of the 100 workers in the membership services division, currently
located in Yorktown Heights, NY.

It has also been speculated in the press that the reorganization
will mean less emphasis on programming and systems organization.
This view is based on the recent departure of several top programming
executives including senior vice president, Henry Heilbrunn, who left the
company in the week before the staff cuts.

(Barbara E. McMullen & John F. McMullen/Press Contact:
Prodigy, 914-993-8843/19930113)


(NEWS)(IBM)(SFO)(00002)

Symantec Ships Guide Line/Maker Project Mngt Software 01/13/93
CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 JAN 13 (NB) -- Project
management software is one of the fastest growing applications
in the industry, and Symantec has tossed its hat in this ring with
Guide Line and Guide Line Maker which has been shipped since
December 30.

Symantec's executive vice president of applications, project
management and tools, Gene Wang, said: "The Software Publishers
Association reports that project management software sales
increased by 68 percent from 1991 to 1992. With the introduction
of Guide Line and Guide Line Maker, Symantec is providing ground-
breaking technology that makes using project management
software easier for this growing user base. Guide Line brings the
benefits of project management to anyone who can answer a series
of fill-in-the-blank questions."

According to the company, Guide Line automatically builds project
schedules based on simple user input. These schedules work with
any of Symantec's desktop project management packages.

Guide Line Maker is an authoring system that lets users build their
own project management guides, either from scratch or by
importing previously created project schedules.

Rather than force users to start from scratch by creating a list of
project tasks, Guide Line presents a series of dialog boxes with
questions related to the specific type of project. These tasks can
then be checked off as appropriate. Guide Line then generates a
project schedule based on users' responses and its knowledge base.

Guide Line is available in three versions: Guide Line for Windows;
Guide Line for DOS; and the Guide Line License Pack, which
supports Microsoft Project for Windows.

According to the company, Guide Line contains 16 guides
including construction, office relocation, local area network
installation, software development, consulting, small business
start-up, market research, a marketing plan, a trade show plan,
and a general project plan.

Guide Line Maker is an authoring system that allows users to
create guides and features the Guide Programming Language, a
scripting language. It provides editing facilities, reusable
templates, visual tools that allow inspection of task and local
variables, and report generators to produce code and data listing
reports. The guides developed will run on either the DOS or
Windows platform.

Samantha Lagerloef, spokesperson for the company, told
Newsbytes that the suggested retail price (SRP) of Guide Line
is $149.95, and that the SRP of Guide Line Maker is $499.

(Ian Stokell/19930112/Press Contact: Jayme Kelly,
408-446-8894, Symantec)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(SFO)(00003)

AST Ships Superserver 01/13/92
IRVINE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 JAN 13 (NB) -- AST Research
has announced the availability of its Manhattan SMP multiprocessor.
The company has also signed up Tech Data as a distributor.

AST's Manhattan SMP, designed with open architecture and
scalability features, is aimed at the minicomputer/superserver
market, and has been shipped since December.

According to the company, it provides a cost-effective way to
replace minicomputers, as well as serve the needs of the large
multiuser and local area network environments.

Jim Schraith, AST's vice president of sales and service, said: "We
see the $30 billion minicomputer/superserver market as a venue
for AST's Manhattan SMP to become the attractive alternative to
more costly, proprietary minis and some mainframes."

The two companies claim that they have had an ongoing
relationship. Tech Data has nine warehouses nationwide.
According to AST, Tech Data's value-added reseller customers
specialize in a range of PC configurations, including the most
complex, high-end systems. The company provides integration and
configuration services, technical support and training, and is
certified in leading operating systems such as SCO Unix.

According to AST, distributors are the source of choice for many
VARs in the networking application environment. Some resellers
focus on applications and do not have the resources for
maintaining a full-time technical staff or stocking a warehouse
full of equipment. Tech Data says that, as a distributor, it
provides "immediate delivery, return policies, a free freight
program and flexible credit terms."

AST also offers "custom configuration" of the Manhattan SMP,
including ensured installation and initial operation of operating
systems. Custom configuration, as well as turnkey systems, are
also are available through Tech Data.

Additional support from AST includes the AST On-Line! bulletin
board service, a direct link for up-to-date news and product
information, and InfoFax, a document retrieval program for
product specifications and technical information via fax
machine. Toll-free technical support for the Manhattan SMP
is also available 24 hours per day, seven days per week.

As reported previously by Newsbytes, the Manhattan SMP is a
multiprocessor system built on Intel processors and offers
redundant components designed to make the machine highly
reliable. The system was first introduced in August, 1992. The
system is intended as a server running Unix or local area
network operating systems such as Novell NetWare and Banyan
Vines.

The Manhattan can accommodate as many as four 50 megahertz
Intel 486DX chips in a symmetric multiprocessing design. It has
a 64-bit system bus newly designed by AST. There are bays for
as many as 16 storage devices, four of which are open to the
front of the box to allow for removable media such as diskettes.

The system uses the Extended Industry Standard Architecture
(EISA) expansion bus, with eight EISA slots and two Industry
Standard Architecture (ISA) slots.

A major target market for the Manhattan server is users who
want highly reliable server systems. Suggested retail prices
start at $26,995.

(Ian Stokell/19930112/Press Contact: Gerry Lynne Baker,
714-727-7959, AST Research)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(PAR)(00004)

Electronics A Priority For EC Investment Fund 01/13/93
PARIS, FRANCE, 1993 JAN 13 (NB) --Telecommunications and
data communications investment will be a priority for the just-baptized
European Investment Fund.

The new fund kicked off yesterday with about $2.3 billion to spend
on projects that the Commission of the European Communities thinks
are worthwhile.

International telecom and datacom connections will be a priority
for the fund's investments, according to sources close to the EC.

The Commission would like to have all the 12 EC nations connect up
their local services for customs, police, tax, and all the other
government services, of which there are now 12 separate in each
EC nation.

The connections will take place in the teeth of human rights
advocates, who have always maintained that an EC database threatened
a kind of "big brother" approach to the creation of a single
internal market in Europe.

However, any European-based company has a right to propose projects
to the new fund. The big European "national champions" of the
computing industry -- Italy's Ing. C. Olivetti & Co., SpA, Germany's
Siemens, AG, and France's Bull, SA have already formed a Brussels-based
joint-venture with the object of grabbing off a healthy slice
of these contracts.

(Andrew Rosenbaum/19930113)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(PAR)(00005)

 ****ZDS President Quits As Losses Mount 01/13/93
PARIS, FRANCE, 1993 JAN 13 (NB) -- Zenith Data Systems President
Enrico Pesatori has left the company, as losses mount at the
Chicago, Illinois-based company.

ZDS has just lost a major Pentagon contract in the US. A deal made
with the US Air Force disappeared when US government approval
became unobtainable.

Nonetheless, ZDS had racked up serious losses regardless of the
Pentagon contract. ZDS' parent, the Paris-based Bull, SA, would
have made a profit last year had ZDS' losses not mounted up, according
to Gordan Curran, director of Infocorp Europe based in Paris, France.

"Pesatori was unable to stem the tide of ZDS' losses," Curran says.
The big contracts that ZDS had sought both in Europe and
the US have just not been coming in."

ZDS has also been hurt by tough competition from companies like Dell,
Compuadd and Gateway," Curran says.

Pesatori will be replaced by Jacques Noel, who has worked at Bull
and Zenith for many years.

(Andrew Rosenbaum /19930113/Press Contact: Tim Keeley, Zenith Data Systems
Europe, Immeuble Le Capitole, B.P. 201, 92002 Nanterre Cedex, France,
tel [phone])


(NEWS)(APPLE)(TYO)(00006)

Sharp Gives Sneak Peek At Prototype Newton 01/13/93
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1993 JAN 13 (NB) -- Japan's Sharp has unveiled a
prototype hand-input multimedia device that it is currently
developing jointly with Apple Computer. Apple has called the
device the Newton.

At a New Year's greeting ceremony this week, Sharp's president
showed a flat panel hand-input device to Sharp employees. The
device, still incomplete, is due to be finished by the
fall. One can call it the Newton, but it is still too early
to say whether it will actually be the Newton at this stage,
says a Sharp spokeswoman.

The device measures about 18 x 12 x 1.5 cm. There is a big flat
LCD (liquid crystal display) panel on the surface. At a glance,
it looks like a business organizer. A proprietary pen is attached
for the input of letters and graphic data. The device should
come with an address book, a word processor, and graphics
software, and is designed to be connected to a personal
computer, a telephone, a printer, or a fax machine. The device
should be able to exchange data between other devices via
infrared signals.

Sharp is expected to allow the device to also connect to the
firm's latest camcorder called the Viewcam, which will enable
it to display motion pictures. The device will also support
Japanese Kanji characters.

The hand-input technology and electronic business organizing
aspects of the device were developed by Sharp, and other parts
were developed by Apple Computer, according to Sharp. The retail
price of this device is expected to be a whopping 500,000 to
600,000 yen (around $4,400).

(Masayuki "Massey" Miyazawa/19930113/Press Contact: Sharp, +81-
43-299-8212, Fax, [phone])


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(TYO)(00007)

Nintendo Offers Cheaper Gameboy 01/13/93
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1993 JAN 13 (NB) -- Kyoto-based major game maker
Nintendo will release a lower cost version of its pocket video
machine, the Gameboy, in the US market. The Gameboy is
vying with Sega Enterprises' pocket video game device, the Game
Gear, for a chunk of the lucrative US game market.

Nintendo will release a $59 version of the Gameboy, which comes
with batteries, at the end of February. Nintendo is
currently selling the Gameboy at $89 with one game program, a
cable, an ear-phone and batteries.

Nintendo's rival, Sega Enterprises, is selling the Game Gear
at $100, a price which is widely expected to drop in light of
Nintendo's move.

So far, Nintendo has sold about 9.85 million Gameboys
in the US while Sega has sold 1.2 million units.

Meanwhile, Nintendo has decided to use NEC's 32-bit RISC
(reduced instruction set computing) chip in a CD-ROM drive
for its 16-bit game machine, the Super Famicom. The chip is called
the V810, and is said to be good at dealing quickly with pictorial
data.

The Super Famicom CD-ROM drive is expected to be released by
the end of this year. NEC projects that about 30 percent of
Super Famicom users will purchase the CD-ROM -- that's about a
third of the 15 million owners of the Super Famicom. The machine
is still popular and sold out at many retail shops during the
Christmas season in Japan.

(Masayuki "Massey" Miyazawa/19930113/Press Contact: Nintendo,
 [phone], Fax, [phone])


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(BOS)(00008)

NetWorld: New Software Price Model Aims For Fairness 01/13/93
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1993 JAN 13 (NB) -- At NetWorld
Boston, OURS (Open User Recommended Solutions) has unveiled a new
licensing model aimed at halting unauthorized duplication and other
problems associated with traditional CPU-based software pricing.

Drastic changes in the computer industry have rendered CPU-based
licensing no longer appropriate, said Elaine Bond, president and
chairman of OURS, in a press conference here at the show.
Customers today should be offered pricing options that are based on
users' perceptions of software value, added Bond, who is also Chase
fellow and senior technology consultant for the Chase Manhattan
Bank.

Over the past 30 years, hardware topologies have shifted from
mainframes in the '60s to minicomputers in '70s, a proliferation of
PCs in the '80s and network ubiquity in the '90s, she said. Also,
between 1970 and 1990 alone, processing costs fell from $100,000 to
under $1,000 per MIP.

Meanwhile, though, the software industry still bases pricing on a
tiered model that went into effect when mainframe CPUs
first started to increase in processing power. Originally, the
tiered model was justified by the fact that gains in CPU strength
allowed more users to be serviced overall, or more jobs to be done
in a given amount of time, according to Bond.

"But now, we need to rethink the pricing structure in order to more
closely accommodate users," she commented. Outlined in a white
paper now in the process of finalization, OURS' new proposal
encourages vendors to establish a range of standard pricing options
appropriate to software type, individual user priorities, and
"service measures."

As delineated in a working draft of the paper, the three types of
software are system level, distributed, and personal. Users'
priorities can include such issues as general cost effectiveness,
freedom to move to additional platforms, and equity, or the desire
for fees that realistically reflect software value.

Service measures include residence-based (per CPU, per named user
at site, or per enterprise, for example), per unit managed (per
number of CPUS, per number of sites, or per number of networks, for
instance), and per use (based on number of transactions, actual
users logged on, or CPU seconds processing time, for example).

Many other specific ways of measuring service are also spelled out
in the paper. Each type of software (system level, distributed, or
personal) is given its own set of possible measures.

In an interview after the press conference, Bond told Newsbytes
that a perceived lack of equity is why some users are abusing
current prohibitions on software duplication. These users copy
software because they believe the value of the software does not
justify its price, she suggested. Other users who copy software
are simply unaware of the prohibitions, she added.

The OURS white paper was written by Anthony Picardi, director of
software research at International Data Corporation (IDC). The
OURS Software Licensing Task Force plans to complete the paper in
February, it time for distribution at the Information Technology
Summit in Salt Lake City March 24 to 26.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19930113; Press contact: Lee J. Bickmann for
OURS, tel [phone])


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(LAX)(00009)

 ****Largest PCMCIA Hard Drive Yet -- 105MB 01/13/93
SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 JAN 13 (NB) -- Maxtor
announced it will offer the largest hard disk drive to date in
a credit card size that will interface with the credit card-
sized slot on small computers.

The MXL-105-III is a 1.8-inch 105-megabyte (MB) hard disk drive
for use with notebook, subnotebook, portable, and desktop
computers equipped with PCMCIA Type III-compatible interface
card slots.

Two actual disks make up the 105MB drive and fit internally in
the 10.5-millimeter (mm) Type III card package which weighs just
2.5 ounces.

Maxtor says the drive is rugged and can take a shock of
100 Gs during operation, meaning it can be dropped from about
waist height, and 300 Gs when it is off, by the use of design
techniques such as shock sensors.

The company says the drive can even tell when a shock is coming
and ensures data integrity during write mode. When the drive is
not operating, a mechanical latch secures the heads in the
landing zone so data loss is prevented because the read/write
heads can't bounce due to shock or vibration on the rotating
platters where data is stored. Compensations have been made for
changes in temperature and humidity with a filtration system to
prevents damage.

The drive has a standby/sleep mode using as little as 0.025
watts (W) and in read/write mode it uses less than 2.0 W.

The MXL-105-III will be available in the second quarter of
1993, Maxtor says, and the retail price is expected to be $499.

San Jose-based Maxtor also announced it is shipping high
volume production quantities of its 240MB 3.5-inch hard disk
drive, the 7245, that uses either an AT or small computer
systems interface (SCSI) controller. The drive offers a 15-
millisecond average seek time, quiet operation, and a buffer
transfer rate of 9MB to 10MB per second, depending on the
controller. The price for evaluation units is $395.

Maxtor says the 7000 series drives are produced at its
Singapore facility, which has produced over 5 million 7000
series drives and can produce a drive every eight seconds.

(Linda Rohrbough/19930112/Press Contact: Catherine Derr,
Maxtor, tel [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TOR)(00010)

Mitel Names New President And CEO 01/13/93
KANATA, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1993 JAN 13 (NB) -- Communications
equipment maker Mitel Corporation has named Dr. John Millard to the
post of president and chief executive.

Millard, formerly senior vice-president at NEC America, takes
over the job from Anthony Griffiths, chairman of Mitel, who has
held it since former president and CEO John Jarvis resigned a
year ago. Griffiths will remain as chairman, a post he has held
since 1987. He was president and chief executive from 1985 to
1987.

Millard, who has a Ph.D. in communications and electronics from
New York University, a B.S.E.E. from the University of Detroit,
and a B.S. in Engineering and Science from Rockhurst College in
Missouri, has held senior jobs at business systems distributor
Contel/Executone and at Rockwell/Westcom. He is a member of the
board of the North American Telecommunications Association (NATA)
and has chaired various committee of the Institute of Electrical
and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

Millard will be based at Mitel's corporate headquarters in
Kanata, near Ottawa.

Mitel, which makes business telecommunications systems, public
switching systems, semiconductor and PC communications products,
network enhancement and gateway products, and systems development
software products, has annual revenues of more than C$400
million.

(Grant Buckler/19930112/Press Contact: Bonnie Perrigard, Mitel,
613-592-2122)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(DEL)(00011)

Indian Software Engineers' Productivity Is World Class 01/13/93
NEW DELHI, INDIA, 1993 JAN 13 (NB) -- Productivity or manpower output
of select Indian software houses is not only better than some in Japan
but comparable to few in Europe and the US. That was the conclusion
drawn by the Interfirm comparison (IFC), a division of the National
Productivity Council (NPC), after a "peep into the state-of-the-art
of productivity and quality of the Indian software industry."

The first study of its kind was based on the evaluation of software
development process, productivity, and product quality of four software
companies: Nucleus Software Exports (P) Ltd., Centre for Development
of Telematics (C-DOT), Kirloskar Computer Services Ltd., Pyramid
Business Systems. About 25 projects, 80 percent of which were
management information systems-based designed for both domestic and
export purposes, were assessed by an Indo-German team headed by H.
Giezersal of 2i Industrial Informatics, Germany, to give them an idea
of their international standing. This was followed by a comparison
with European, American, and Japanese firms of similar status employing
about 100 people with 40 percent of the programmers having an
exposure to domestic and export markets.

The evaluation was based on the Bootstrap method, the European
reference model based on the international standards ISO 9000-9004 and
the Humphrey maturity levels, a matrix complying to the methods of
US-based Software Productivity Research Inc. The maturity levels
consist of five stages, each stage being further subdivided into four
quarters. The initial stage indicates rudimentary management and
absence of formal procedures; the second level reveals that a firm has
clarified responsibilities and also attempts to improve upon earlier
efforts. Level three assumes defined software development process in a
firm and availability of qualitative data. Hence it is suitable for an
ISO certification. At level four or five, a firm has well-managed
processes with respect to time, cost, and quality.

Though the firms scored in detailed design, coding, testing,
employee competence, and motivation, areas which needed improvement
included formalization of costing and delivery schedules,
documentation, and increasing the thrust on quality assuring
activities. They compared favorably with Japanese companies having an
infrastructure at par with them. About 57 percent of small firms in
Japan fell in the first quarter of level 1 as they lacked basic
requisites for quality processes. Indian companies, though better
placed with 60 percent of them having reached the third quarter, were
close to the 49 percent of American firms in the fourth quarter.

Surprisingly, none of the companies in any the countries reached
maturity level three, a must to qualify for ISO 9000 certification.

The study, however, indicated that there was ample scope for
improvement in the process detecting errors and rectifying output
quality. According to Rudolf Welter, coordinator, IFC, "This is
because established companies bank on credibility and goodwill with
overseas clients so they are not worried about the ISO 9000
certification. While smaller ones are keen to acquire this
standardization, they are not always in a position to spend the money
and manpower required to work towards its acquisition."

(C.T. Mahabarat/19930112)


(NEWS)(IBM)(TYO)(00012)

Japan: Dell Computer Offers Bottom-Priced PC 01/13/93
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1993 JAN 13 (NB) -- Dell Computer (Japan) will release
low-cost IBM-compatible personal computers in Japan in February.
These PCs will be the cheapest personal computers in Japan.

A personal computer price war is well underway in Japan, and
Dell Computer will make it worse with the release of low-cost DOS/V-
based personal computers. These will be even less expensive than PCs
from Compaq or IBM. For example, Dell's 80386-based 33-megahertz
PC will 98,000 yen ($780), about 20 percent cheaper than
Compaq's. Dell's 80486DX2-based 66-megahertz model with a 120-megabyte
hard disk will be sold at 278,000 yen ($2,200).

The price war was launched by Compaq, IBM, and Mitsui-Bussan at the
end of last year. Since then, others, including Japanese and
Taiwanese computer makers, have joined the fray.

According to Dell Computer (Japan), the low-price is the result of
low operational costs. Del reports that its operational costs are
only 15 percent of total sales -- roughly half that of most Japanese
personal computer makers.

Fujitsu is also expected to join this price war with the release
of its first IBM-compatible personal computer in Japan. In order
to cut costs, Fujitsu will purchase low-cost parts from Taiwan
and assemble them in Japan. Technical support will come from its
affiliated firm, ICL in Britain. Fujitsu will also continue to
sell its multimedia PC, FM-Towns.

These moves threaten NEC, which still holds top market position with
its PC-9801. NEC plans to release an 80486-based PC in early
February that will be cheaper than its existing models, but still
higher than the competition's at 290,000 yen ($2,300).

(Masayuki "Massey" Miyazawa/19930112/Press Contact: Del Computer,
Tokyo, [phone])


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(BOS)(00013)

 ****Novell Buys 20% Of HyperDesk, HD-DOMS For NetWare 01/13/93
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1993 JAN 13 (NB) -- At NetWorld
Boston, Novell said it is buying 20 percent of Hyperdesk
of Westborough, Massachusetts-based. With Hyperdesk, Novell is
also jointly developing an "object-oriented distributed computing
environment" for speeding and simplifying NetWare applications
development.

Novell's 20 percent minority equity position in HyperDesk Corp.,
comes in an exchange of cash for securities. Novell also has
the option to assume a seat on the HyperDesk board of
directors.

Under the cooperative deal, Novell will include HyperDesk's HD-DOMS
object-oriented in NetWare Loadable Modules (NLMs) for future releases
of its NetWare network operating system.

Novell will also make its core and extended NetWare services "HD-
DOMS ready." HyperDesk will distribute and support software
development kits (SDKs) for NetWare.

In a press conference held to unveil the arrangements, officials
said that HD-DOMS provides interoperable, portable and reusable
software components for implementation across multivendor servers,
workstations and PCs on a network.

As currently defined, HD-DOMS will support NetWare, Unix, Microsoft
Windows and DOS. The two companies expect to deliver HD-DOMS for
NetWare in the second half of 1993.

Ultimately, the environment will be extended to include OS/2 and
all other desktop platforms, stated John Edwards, executive vice
president for Novell's Desktop Systems Group.

"What we're announcing here today is the marriage of network
computing and object-oriented technology," Edwards told a room
packed with journalists from throughout the world.

HD-DOMS for NetWare will let developers use either object- or non-
object-oriented languages to access NetWare services, Edwards said.
The developer will no longer need to know where the network service
is located, or how it is implemented. Porting an application to
additional platforms will become an easier matter.

Also at the press conference, Herb Osher, president of HyperDesk,
explained that HD-DOM is based on technology originally developed
at Data General. HyperDesk was spun off from Data General in 1990
as a company aimed at focusing on object-oriented distributed
computing, he said.

According to Osher, HD-DOMS is the first product to comply with the
CORBA (Common Object Request Broker Architecture), a specification
for portability established by the Object Management Group (OMG).

HD-DOMS provides an object-oriented request broker (ORB) that
serves as a standard interface between resources and requests for
services, replacing the need for a series of separate interfaces.

The ORB interface regards all resources, including hardware,
software, and services, as "objects." The ORB transmits the
request, locates the "object," and facilitates implementation.

HD-DOMS for NetWare will include the ORB interface as well as
repositories for object storage, said Osher. The object
repositories will be supplied in the form of plug-and-play NLMs.

With a concept like HD-DOMS, the computing industry is starting to
progress beyond the client/server model into an era of "cooperative
entities," noted John Rymer, an analyst for the Patricia Seybold
Group, speaking at the press conference.

Ultimately, it will make no difference where on the network a
request or resource is stored, or what platforms are involved, he
suggested. Vendors will be announcing other concepts along the
lines of HD-DOMS over the next 12 months, he predicted.

Novell will start introducing its developers to HD-DOMS at a
developer's conference in May, said Edwards. "We'll answer
questions like `What is an object? What does it mean, and why is
it good for you?' We really want to move (HD-DOMS) right down into
the mainstream," he commented.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19930113/Press contacts: Jessica Kersey, Novell,
tel [phone]; Joseph Cordo, HyperDesk, tel [phone], Brenda
Nashawaty, McGlinchey & Paul, tel [phone])


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(TYO)(00014)

Japan: Laser Disc Game Player From Pioneer 01/13/93
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1993 JAN 13 (NB) -- Japan's major electronics maker
Pioneer has developed a game device based on its own laser disc
technology. Jointly developed by NEC Home Electronics and Tokyo-
based game maker Sega Enterprises, the Laser Active player
allows both games to be played and regular laser disc software
to be displayed.

With additional game device adaptors called a "Control Pack,"
the machine can operate game programs from NEC and Sega. There are
two kinds of game device adaptors, one for NEC's game machine
the PC-Engine, and the other is for Sega's Mega Drive.

The main body of the Laser Active looks like a regular laser disc
player. The control pack consists of the small control box and the
manual controller.

Laser Active will be released in Japan this July, and in
the US in August. It will also be released in the European
market next year. The retail price of the Laser Active will
be 90,000 yen ($720). Each game control pack costs 60,000 yen
($480). Also, Pioneer will release a Karaoke pack at 20,000 yen
($160). Pioneer wants to develop 20 to 30 educational
titles and game software this year. Pioneer expects to ship
100,000 units of the device for the initial year.

Laser disc-ROM means game software will be extremely
realistic. For instance, a player can control a car with real
pictures or scenery in the background.

(Masayuki "Massey" Miyazawa/19930111/Press Contact: Pioneer, +81-
3-3494-1111, Fax, [phone])


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(DEL)(00015)

India: Siemens, Ericsson Fail DOT Test 01/13/93
NEW DELHI, INDIA, 1993 JAN 13 (NB) -- In a major development,
switching systems supplied by Siemens of Germany and Ericsson of
Sweden, which were issued a letter of intent for the supply of
large telephone exchanges, have failed to pass the mandatory
validation tests even after the stipulated three months.

This has created doubts about the technology offered by these two and
has placed India's Department of Telecommunications (DOT) in a
situation where it must either cancel the LoIs or give the MNCs
more time.

Siemens EWSD exchange failed the test as it did not have the specified
signalling mix. It could not be tested for 8,00,000 BHCA (busy hour
call attempts) performance. Siemens has said that the validation test
for the system can only be performed in March '93.

(C.T. Mahabharat/19930111)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(HKG)(00016)

Seagate Builds 3rd Plant In Penang 01/13/93
KALLANG BAHRU, SINGAPORE, 1993 JAN 13 (NB) -- Seagate Technology
is building a third plant in Penang, just six months after the
official opening of its second plant. With an initial capital
investment exceeding $20 million, the new facility will increase
the company's total assets in Penang to more than $72 million.

Construction work on the 212,000 square feet building began on
November 12, 1992 and the plant is expected to be operational by
November 1993. The new plant is adjacent to the current Kampung Jawa
facility.

Gary Lundquist, managing director of Penang Seagate Industries (M)
Sdn. Bhd., said "Seagate's decision to build a third plant and increase
manufacturing activities in Penang confirms our commitment in Malaysia
and our belief in the country's economic development."

"Penang also has an excellent infrastructure as well as a committed
and capable workforce that we can rely upon to manufacture products of
the highest quality," said Lundquist. "Labor cost is also
relatively inexpensive, further enhancing its attraction as a cost-
efficient manufacturing site for multinationals."

Seagate will be introducing a wide range of manufacturing
techniques. These include high vacuum technology, photolithography,
and ion milling.

"A large number of our local technical employees have been sent to the
United States for training which will significantly upgrade their
skills and technical know-how," Lundquist said.

"Seagate's desire to transfer new and leading edge technologies to
Malaysia is in line with the company's policy to contribute towards
the economic and social well-being of our host nation and business
partner," he pronounced.

The new plant will employ more than 1,000 engineers, technicians and
skilled operators and is expected to help Seagate meet the ever
increasing demand for competitively priced hard disk drives.

It is said that the company's growth on the island has been phenomenal
since 1988 when manufacturing began. The company's current workforce
of more than 4,000 plus the new additions will make Seagate one of
Penang's largest employers.

(Brett Cameron/19930113/Press Contact: Alice Wong, Seagate Technology
International, Tel: [phone])


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(HKG)(00017)

Asian Networking Surge For 3Com 01/13/93
CENTRAL, HONG KONG, 1993 JAN 13 (NB) -- Global data networking company
3Com Corporation has announced a 185 percent increase in income
together with record sales and orders for its 1992 second fiscal
quarter, with even stronger growth in the Asian region.

Net income for the quarter, which ended on 30 November, was $7.8
million compared with $2.7 million for the same period a year earlier,
making it the fourth consecutive quarter of year-on-year sales and
earnings growth.

Sales increased 51 percent from $97.8 million to $147.3 million, and
orders were up 60 percent to $153.8 million from $96.3 million a year
earlier.

"Fiscal 1992 is proving to be a fantastic year for 3Com," said Doug
Dennerline, general manager of 3Com Asia Ltd. "It fully vindicates our
strategic vision as a supplier of the infrastructure for global data
networking."

"In Asia 3Com's business has been increasing faster than the company
as a whole, with the highest levels of growth coming from our hubbing
and internetworking products.

"During the last six month or so we have really seen the concept of
global data networking -- the linking of networks across the enterprise
irrespective of location -- begin to take hold within our Asian
customer base.

"The second quarter saw the intro of several major new products
that further strengthen our competitive position. With more
innovations in the pipeline, particularly in the area of our Boundary
Routing technology, I expect demand to remain strong for the rest of
the year."

During the second quarter, sales of 3Com products introduced in the
prior 12 months reached a record 47 percent of total sales, a
threefold increase compared with the previous year. The new products
included the EtherLink III network adapters, the NETBuilder II
internetworking platform, and the LinkBuilder family of stackable
hubs.

3Com's balance sheet remains strong, with cash, cash equivalents and
temporary investments increasing by $10.7 million from the prior
quarter to a total of $86.7 million.

(Brett Cameron/19930113/Press Contact: Doug Dennerline (3Com): Tel:
[phone];HK time is GMT + 8)


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

Northern, Bell Atlantic Form Equipment Partnership 01/13/93
NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE, U.S.A., 1993 JAN 13 (NB) -- Northern
Telecom and Bell Atlantic have formed a joint venture to sell
complete telecommunications systems in Bell Atlantic's mid-
Atlantic service area. Northern Telecom will hold a majority
stake and managing control of the partnership, which
acquires the 800 employees and business of Bell Atlanticom
Systems, a subsidiary of Bell Atlantic.

For Bell Atlantic, which is prohibited by the 1982 decree which
created it from making telephone equipment, the deal gives its
customers access to a respected maker of equipment, with the
chance for profits if, as expected, Northern Telecom is able to
do well with the Bell Atlanticom operation. For Northern Tel, the
deal gives it a respected channel of distribution for its
Meridian PBX, or business phone switch, and Norstar key
telephones. The new partnership will be called Bell Atlantic
Meridian Systems.

John T. Losier of Northern Telecom will be president of the
new company, while the former Bell Atlanticom president, Joseph
M. O'Hara Jr., will be vice president of operations. The company
will remain based in Princeton, New Jersey. Bell Atlantic already
has similar partnerships with NYNEX and Pacific Telesis.

Northern Telecom is also working hard in the wireless
marketplace, where it now offers an indoor wireless phone system
which can track down users wherever they are in a building. The
wireless operation, too, is dependent on joint ventures,
including one with Motorola, the leading maker of cellular
phones, and Matra of France, which makes a radio that lets
cellular operators adapt to digital technology quickly and
inexpensively. The company is well-positioned for the coming era
of microwave-based PCN phones, but the licensing of frequencies
for PCN will await new appointments to the Federal Communications
Commission by President-elect Bill Clinton.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19930113/Press Contact: Northern Telecom, Frank
McNally, 615-734-4216)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(TOR)(00019)

Pesatori To Head DEC's PC Unit 01/13/93
MAYNARD, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1993 JAN 13 (NB) -- Appointing
its second head of a business unit in two days, Digital Equipment
has brought in Enrico Pesatori from Zenith Data Systems to
head its new Personal Computer Business Unit. He will take over
the job February 1.

Pesatori, 52, has been president and chief executive of Zenith
for the past two years. He previously spent 21 years with Ing. C.
Olivetti & Co., in a series of senior technical and management
positions, including head of the Olivetti Systems Group, where he
was responsible for research and development, manufacturing, and
marketing of all data processing and microcomputer products, and
president and chief executive of Olivetti North America.

Pesatori's appointment leaves the top spots vacant at only two of
the nine new business units that DEC created in December.

It closely follows the hiring of John E. Klein, a former IBM
executive, to head the company's Consumer and Process
Manufacturing Industries Business Unit.

Five of the units are defined by groupings of industries, while
the other four are built around DEC's products and services.

The other industry-oriented units are: Communications, Education
and Entertainment; Discrete Manufacturing and Defense; Financial,
Professional and Public Services; and Health.

The other product-based units are: Components and Peripherals,
Multivendor Customer Services, and Storage.

All the company's revenues will come through the nine new units,
a spokesman said, but some central services, including
manufacturing and some engineering, will be separate. The new
structure is to be fully operational by the start of DEC's 1994
fiscal year in July.

DEC also announced it hired Francis H. Arnone, former chairman
and chief executive of retailer Marshalls, Inc., as industry
director in its Retail/Wholesale unit. He will report to Abbott
Weiss, the unit's vice-president. Retail/Wholesale is a subunit
within the Consumer and Process Manufacturing unit, a spokeswoman
said.

Heads of the Communications, Education, and Entertainment unit
and the Financial, Professional, and Public Services unit remain
to be named. Appointments are expected soon, but probably not
this week, a spokeswoman said.

(Grant Buckler/19930113/Press Contact: Judy Carlson, Digital
Equipment, 508-493-1822)


(NEWS)(IBM)(TOR)(00020)

IBM Expands ISSC Board, Names Chairman 01/13/93
TARRYTOWN, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1993 JAN 13 (NB) -- Integrated
Systems Solutions Corporation (ISSC), IBM's computer outsourcing
and systems integration business unit, now has a chairman and a
board of directors. According to IBM, the changes reflect ISSC's
growth, but not a plan to spin it off as an independent company.

Dennie M. Welsh, who was president of ISSC since it was set up in
1991, has been promoted to chairman and chief executive officer.
He will be replaced as president by Samuel J. Palmisano, formerly
general manager of systems for IBM Asia Pacific Service Corp.

A spokesman for the company said the change was due to ISSC's
growth and a need to spread the job of managing the operation.
"Dennie had been doing everything," he said.

The new board of directors includes several senior IBM
executives, including Robert LaBant, who was recently appointed
to IBM's management committee.

Separately, IBM announced the signing of a contract to manage
computer systems for Kaiser Permanente. The company noted other
recent signings with Chase Manhattan Bank, McDonnell Douglas, and
others.

ISSC now has more than 2,000 clients in the United States,
officials said.

IBM has been pursuing a strategy of giving its business units
more and more autonomy. There has been speculation that ISSC
might, like the company's Lexmark printer unit, be spun off as an
entirely independent company. But the company spokesman denied
this, saying that while ISSC has operated as an autonomous unit
since its founding in 1991, there are no plans to further
separate it from IBM.

(Grant Buckler/19930113/Press Contact: J.P. Versace, ISSC,
914-642-5367)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(WAS)(00021)

 ****Electronic Infrastructure Gets Clinton's Focus 01/13/93
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1993 JAN 13 (NB) -- The Clinton Administration
is apparently smiling on an early move to emphasize its commitment
to both infrastructure improvement and a new telecom highway.
As reported by the San Francisco Chronicle, a group of the same
Silicon Valley executives who supported the recent Clinton-Gore
presidential campaign have met with Secretary of Commerce designate
Ron Brown to urge a focus on high-tech issues.

Vice President-elect Albert Gore, Jr., is mainly known for two
things in Washington -- his devotion to the environment, and
his strong feeling that clean, high-tech industries can provide
ecologically friendly employment.

Ron Brown, who has been criticized in some quarters for his close
relations with some Asian high-tech companies for which he was a
Washington lobbyist, recently met with members of the Computer
Systems Policy Project, a group of high-tech executives including
John Sculley of Apple Computer; John Akers, chairman of IBM;
Lesis Platt of Hewlett-Packard; and Robert Allen of AT&T, all of
whom participated in the recent Little Rock Economic Summit.

The Computer Systems Policy Project is concerned with developing
a US-based industrial policy which will coordinate and help
promote high technology development and marketing.

Of prime concern to the members of the Project is the need to
keep President-elect Clinton focused on the needs of US high-
tech industries while other groups and world events conspire to
deflect his attention.

One major thrust of both Vice President-elect Gore and the CSPP
is the need to create a high-speed data communications
infrastructure in the US to facilitate both business
communication and educational projects. The current Internet data
highway does much of this but on a very limited basis and is not
generally available to schools below the university level.

The Computer Systems Policy Project has recommended the creation
the National Information Infrastructure Council which would be
headed by VP-elect Gore and would spearhead a major effort to
implement and expand joint government-industry research and
development projects.

The Information Industries Association recently submitted a
position paper to the Clinton-Gore transition team in which IIA
Vice President and General Council Steven J. Metalitz emphasized
support for a non-monopolistic information infrastructure which
would facilitate communications and data exchange but would also
feature "strong safeguards" to ward off possible discrimination
against competitors by network operators.

The IIA believes that the government should set ground rules for
the proposed information superhighway but should also discourage
monopolistic control.

(John McCormick/1993113/Press Contact: IIA, 202-626-5725, fax
202-638-4922)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(DEN)(00022)

 ****Are Optical Computers The Future? 01/13/93
BOULDER, COLORADO, U.S.A., 1993 JAN 13 (NB) -- The University of
Colorado unveiled its $300,000 general purpose optical computer
yesterday in what could be a preview of the future in computing.

The research team, which consists of both faculty and students at
the university's optoelectronic computing systems center, says the
device is presently at about the same state of development as the
vacuum tube computers of the 1950s were compared to today's personal
computers. But they think that will change.

An optical computer uses the basic unit of light, called a photon,
instead of electrons. Photons move at 10 times the speed of
electrons, can travel side by side, and can pass through each other.
Instead of being stored in memory, photons are constantly on the
move, travelling through optical fiber. That allows computing at a
much higher speed.

According to CU Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer
Engineering Vincent Heuring, optics will become more prevalent in
computing. "Ultimately, computers will be all optical, and they
will be very fast and very inexpensive." Heuring told Newsbytes that
laser beams are used to encode the computer's instructions and data
into hundreds of thousands of tiny light pulses that are stored in
about three miles of spooled glass fiber that serve as the machine's
"memory." Each 12-foot-long pulse, which represents a single bit of
information, completes a loop through the memory spool every
20-millionth of a second. The system currently operates at about
50MHz but Heuring says palm-sized models are expected to reach 20
gigahertz, or 400 times faster.

The team says its next task is to reduce the physical size of the
present unit, which occupies four levels and is about the size of an
executive office desk, to palm size. As the size of the machine, and
the loop, decreases, the operating speed will increase. Heuring, who
stressed that the current model is a proof-of-principle machine,
rather than a prototype, says one practical use for optical
computing is in the fields of computer graphics and virtual reality.
They could also be used for telecommunications, routing information
over fiber-optic channels for telephone, data communications, and
cable television use. The school says such a processor could probably
be built within three to five years with sufficient funding.

CU's machine is an outgrowth of an optical processor developed by
AT&T's Bell Laboratories two years ago. That system used light to
perform simple calculations, but relied on electronic controls.

The school's center was formed six years ago, and is supported by
an annual grant from the National Science Foundation as well as
funds from the Colorado Advanced Technology Institute, the Colorado
Commission for Higher Education, the university, and Colorado State
University. It's the only center focusing on optical computing,
and has an annual budget between $5-6 million, according to
Heuring.

(Jim Mallory/19930113/Jim Scott, University of Colorado at Boulder,
303-49-6431)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(DEN)(00023)

Data Race, Spectrum PC-Cellular Deal Off 01/13/93
SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1993 JAN 13 (NB) -- Data Race says
it has decided not to sign a deal with Spectrum Information
Technologies to license that company's technology for connecting
computers to cellular phones.

Data Race President Herb Hensley said the royalties and other
payments demanded by Spectrum were just too much for Data Race to
remain competitive in a market where prices are declining. "We
had hoped for a cooperative relationship that would promote both our
companies but as the negotiations proceeded it became obvious that
we could not remain competitive at the royalties asked for by
Spectrum."

Hensley said that the two companies had worked closely over the past
two years to develop and perfect the technology for which Spectrum
held a recently issued patent. At the heart of the deal was a
special cable made by Spectrum which connected the PC to certain
cellular phones, allowing mobile computer users to send data over
the cellular phone network.

Hensley believes there are better, lower cost solutions that can be
developed. "A number of possibilities exist for connecting cellular
telephones to mobile computers that are not covered by Spectrum
patents." Data Race Chief Technologist Les Staples says the company
will attempt to find the best and lowest cost alternatives.

Data Race says it has already discontinued AXSYS support in some of
its internal modems and will phase that support out of the remainder
in the near future.

Two lawsuits involving the two companies are still pending. One was
filed by Data Race seeking a declaratory judgement that Data Race
has not infringed on Spectrum's patents. It followed a suit by
Spectrum that claims Data Race did infringe on its patents.

Data Race manufacturers internal modems for several brands of
notebook computers, as well as multiplexers which integrate data,
voice, and fax over a single link between locations.

(Jim Mallory/19930113/Press contact: Herb Hensley, Data Race,
210-558-1900; Reader contact: Data Race, 210-558-1900, fax
210-558-1929)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(DEN)(00024)

Tandy Drops Other Shoe, Names Locations Closing 01/13/93
FORT WORTH, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1993 JAN 13 (NB) -- Tandy Corporation
dropped the other shoe late yesterday, naming the 110 retail outlets
that it will close as part of the restructuring plan.

The company says it will close 110 McDuff and VideoConcepts stores
in 15 states, with the biggest hits being taken in Florida, Texas,
Colorado, and California. McDuff, with 235 locations, will lose 79
outlets, and 31 VideoConcepts stores of the 181 will be affected.

As reported earlier by Newsbytes, no Radio Shack outlets are
affected. The company is also splitting off its manufacturing
operations into a new company, TE Electronics, Inc.

Tandy Corporation's Ed Juge told Newsbytes that most of the stores
being phased out were not profitable. Victor Sholis, head of
Tandy's name brand retail group, said the decision to close the
stores was also based on the calibre of the store locations, and the
competitive environment. Tandy plans to open several new Incredible
Universe stores and 32 more Computer City outlets over the next two
years.

(Jim Mallory/19930113/Press contact: Ed Juge, Tandy Corporation,
817-390-3487)


(NEWS)(IBM)(DEN)(00025)

Dell Intros Multimedia PCs 01/13/93
AUSTIN, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1993 JAN 13 (NB) -- Dell Computer
Corporation has announced its first entries in the multimedia PC
wars, combining hardware and software in ready-to-run systems
designed for office and home use. System prices begin at $1,499.

In a hint of things to come, Dell says that as the multimedia market
expands and users find more applications for the combined voice,
animation, video and text programs it will provide components
"designed for more specialized multimedia applications."

Dell says that research done by the independent market research firm
The Gartner Group estimates that multimedia-ready PCs will account
for at least 24 percent of the shipments of desktop systems by 1996.

The basic hardware configuration of the Dell systems is four
megabytes (MB) of system memory, or RAM (random access memory), 80
to 170 MB hard drives, one 3.5-inch high density floppy drive, a
Super VGA monitor, a Sound Blaster or Sound Blaster Pro sound card
from Creative Labs, a Dell mouse, and stereo speakers. Optional
equipment includes a factory-installed CD-ROM drive, microphone, a
2400 baud modem, and a choice of software which includes educational
and money management applications and the Prodigy on-line
information service.

The company says the systems are tailored to three user types:
school-age children, with its KidStation system; a StudentStation
system for students; and OfficeStation for adults working in the
office or at home. All the software is pre-installed, and when the
computer is turned on the user sees a Microsoft Windows icon for
each installed application.

The KidStation is a 386SX-based 33 megahertz (MHz) system with an
80MB hard drive, 256 kilobytes (K) of video DRAM, DOS 5.0,
Windows 3.1, PFS: Windows Works 2.0, and Micrografx Windows Draw.
Optional software includes Reader Rabbit, Math Blaster+, and
KidWorks II.

The StudentStation, also using a 386SX microprocessor, has a 120MB
hard drive, 512K of video DRAM, a CD-ROM drive, DOS 5.0, Widows 3.1,
Windows Draw, Multimedia Microsoft Works, Compton's Multimedia
Encyclopedia, Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective, Where in the
World is Carmen San Diego? Deluxe, Just Grandma and Me, and
Microsoft Bookshelf for Windows, for $1,999. Optional software is
Wordstar Writing Tools for Windows.

Included with the 486SX-based OfficeStation is a 170MB hard drive,
1MB of video DRAM, a microphone, an integrated Panasonic CD-ROM
drive, DOS 5.0, Windows 3.1, Windows Draw, Quicken 2.0 for windows,
Xerox Xsoft Rooms for Windows, Microsoft Bookshelf for Windows,
Compton's Multimedia Encyclopedia, and Sherlock Holmes Consulting
Detective, for $2,499. An upgrade to a 486DX microprocessor is
available for $200.

(Jim Mallory/19930113/Press contact: Jill Shanks, Dell Computer,
512-794-4100; Reader contact: 512-338-4400 or 800-289-3355, fax
512-794-4238)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(SFO)(00026)

Sun, Oracle To Invade Pharmaceutical Industry 01/13/93
REDWOOD SHORES, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 JAN 13 (NB) -- The
pharmaceutical industry represents high earnings potential for
hardware and software vendors. Hoping to take advantage of
the market possibilities, Oracle Corp., and Sun Microsystems
Computer Corp. (SMCC), have formed a strategic alliance to
develop, market, and sell products and services targeted at the
that industry.

The two companies expect to realize as much as $200 million
in hardware, software, and services revenues by 1997.

According to the companies, the deal consists of systems
integration and joint program development. The systems
integration effort from Oracle will address the "complex
application needs of pharmaceutical companies." The company
says that a "template business model" for pharmaceutical
customers is being developed that will aid in rapid application
development and serve as a framework for integrating third
party packages.

The companies will also jointly develop a software program
to expedite the computer-assisted new drug application
(CANDA) process for pharmaceutical companies.

The alliance combines Oracle's relational database management
system (RDBMS) technology with SMCC's SPARC systems running
the Solaris operating environment. Solaris is a strain of Unix.

According to the companies, the research, development, and
clinical testing of a new drug takes many years and may cost
upwards of $200 million before it can be brought to market.
CANDA is an attractive alternative for pharmaceutical companies
looking for ways to streamline the approval process.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is said to have a backlog
of over 100 New Drug Applications (NDAs), with approvals taking
as long as four years. The FDA has therefore mandated that all
NDA submissions be in electronic format by 1995. This format
is claimed to accelerate the approval date.

SMCC and Oracle claim that CANDA will offer an open database
computing platform that also allows different hardware and
applications software to be integrated, including desktop
publishing, statistical analysis, word processing and imaging
software. The system will be built using a client-server
architecture that will also support Windows and Macintosh
clients.

Robert Shaw, senior vice president of Oracle Consulting, said:
"A system as large and complex as CANDA can only be fully
implemented using an open systems approach."

Speaking of the benefits of the system, Robert Sepanloo, SMCC's
market segment manager for pharmaceutical and chemical
markets, said: "This joint development project will show how
Oracle products coupled with SMCC's...workstations and servers
can dramatically reduce the time needed to prepare, review and
approve new drug applications. This benefits the FDA by reducing
the overall workload, and benefits the pharmaceutical industry
and the general public by bringing new drugs to market faster."

(Ian Stokell/19930113/Press Contact: Kevin M. Dobbs,
415-506-4794, Oracle Corporation)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(SFO)(00027)

30 Arrests In Silicon Valley Computer Parts Sting 01/13/93
SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 JAN 13 (NB) -- The
computer and software industries are a high source of revenue
for California. But they also afford a good income for the
criminal elements. An undercover investigation into stolen computer
parts by local and federal authorities and the FBI in Silicon Valley
has resulted in 30 arrests, according to a published report.

UPI reports the operation resulted in the recovery of more than $3.6
million in cash and stolen property and was the result of a 4.5-month
investigation called "Operation Gray Chip." A total of $2.1
million was recovered in cash and another $1.55 million in
stolen high-tech equipment, the report says.

UPI quotes Santa Clara Police Sgt. Mark Kerby as saying: "The
trade in stolen computer parts is one of the largest crime
problems in the Silicon Valley. So I'd say we just scratched the
surface. But hopefully the publicity this case will receive
will serve as a warning."

Various locations, from parking lots to restaurants, were used
to stage the stings. The arrests occurred after cash changed
hands. The largest transaction involved $250,000 in exchange
for 5, 000 Intel computer parts.

In December of 1991, Newsbytes reported that The Acer
Group had $250,000-worth of Acer 386 notebook computers
stolen on the way to the company's San Jose, California,
factory.

In February of 1992, Newsbytes reported that PC Force,
a computer retailer in California's City of Industry was one of
20 to 30 Los Angeles area businesses hit by a RAM memory thief.
In that instance, a man came into the store on the Martin Luther
King holiday with a cashier's check and asked to purchase $7,200
worth of one megabyte (MB) RAM chips, a total of 220 pieces. The
banks were closed, so the check couldn't be verified and when
the check was deposited, Chang found out from his bank it was
no good.

(Ian Stokell/19930113)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TOR)(00028)

Tricord, Wang Sign Server Alliance 01/13/93
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1993 JAN 13 (NB) -- Wang may be
bankrupt but that hasn't stopped it from expanding its businesses
opportunities. Tricord Systems and Wang Laboratories are in an
alliance under which Wang will sell and service Tricord's line of
PowerFrame servers.

Designed for very large personal computer local-area networks
(LANs), the PowerFrame servers are built on Intel 486 processors
running at 25 to 66 megahertz, and offer from 425 megabytes to 56
gigabytes of disk storage, Tricord spokesman John Rotter said.

According to Tricord, the machines can be set up to deliver file
and peripheral serving, internetworking, and support for
relational database and other mission-critical applications.

They can run network operating systems such as Novell NetWare,
Microsoft OS/2 and LAN Manager, SCO Unix, and Banyan VINES, as
well as various off-the-shelf applications.

The deal allows Wang to resell Tricord servers as part of larger
packages for its customers, and to offer design, integration,
installation, maintenance, and ongoing support services. Wang
distributes Banyan and Novell LAN operating software and has an
installed base of very large LANs.

Lowell, Massachusetts-based Wang is a prominent vendor of
computers and office automation technology. It is currently
operating under Chapter 11 of US Bankruptcy Law. Tricord is a
privately held company based in Minneapolis.

(Grant Buckler/19930113/Press Contact: John Rotter, Tricord,
612-557-9005)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LAX)(00029)

E-Mu Becomes Sister Company To Creative Labs 01/13/93
MILPITAS, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 JAN 13 (NB) -- Creative
Technology Ltd., whose subsidiary Creative Labs just finished a
deal with Supermac for the rights to the Videospigot for Windows and
the Supermac compression algorithm (codec), has bought privately
held music synthesizer company E-Mu Systems of Scotts Valley,
California.

Creative Labs is known for the development of the Sound Blaster
card for IBM and compatible personal computers (PCs). E-Mu
develops keyboard instruments such as synthesizers and samplers
and has been working with Creative Labs on chips for integration in
its sound cards for PCs.

The deal involves a stock swap -- 1.65 million shares of Creative Labs
stock valued at about $33 million.

The move in the music industry toward integration with computers is a
strong one and Creative Labs representatives said the company hopes
E-Mu as a sister company will give it competitive edge in the sound
business for computers.

E-Mu is considered a pioneer in digitized sound technology and
is developing wave table synthesis technology. This technology
allows for an actual recording of a musical instrument, say a
violin, when a key is pressed and not just a representation of
the instrument. Wave table synthesis lays algorithms over the
sounds to allow manipulation of the actual recorded instrument
sounds as well.

Roland is one of the main competing companies in the consumer
market for E-Mu, and Turtle Beach systems uses E-Mu technology
in its high-end sound board products. E-Mu also produces sound
equipment for professionals, such as its Pro Audio system in
use by Lucas Films.

Founded in 1971, E-Mu is known for a little eccentricity. The
company's president, Charles Arkansas has "maestro" instead of
"president" as his title on his business cards.

Creative Technology Ltd., is a Singapore-based company. The
purchase agreement is subject to shareholder approval, but is
expected to be completed shortly.

(Linda Rohrbough/19930113/Press Contact: Benita Kenn, Creative
Labs, tel [phone], fax [phone]; Frank Johnson, E-Mu
Systems, tel [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LAX)(00030)

 ****Intel Earns A Record, But FTC Investigation Looms 01/13/93
SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 JAN 13 (NB) -- In every
silver lining there's a cloud, according to Murphy's Law, and
Intel may be finding its cloud. Despite record revenue and a
rise to the top of the semiconductor industry, FTC action
against the microprocessor giant may be just around the corner.

Intel's revenue is reported to be the highest in the company's
history, with 1992's $5.84 billion in revenue up 22 percent and
$1.07 billion in net income up 30 percent over figures reported
in 1991.

Fourth quarter sales are reported at new highs with revenue at
$1.86 billion, an increase of 54 percent over the same quarter
a year ago. Intel's President Andrew Grove said the company set
a goal of shipping 4 to 5 million units of second wave
processors (Intel486 and Intel386), but the company exceeded
that goal. Intel said progress during the year also included
simultaneous announcements by Apple, IBM, and Microsoft
concerning the company's video software Indeo; the introduction
of the 486 DX2 clock doubler microprocessors; and Instat's
identification of Intel's 960 processor family as the highest
volume reduced instruction set computing (RISC) processor.

The company said its revenue per employee is up to $232,000,
and the company's employees earned up to three weeks of extra
pay from its Employer Bonus Program costing the company $61
million in 1992.

However, the change over to the Clinton Administration has led
many to believe the FTC might try to wrap up its two-year
investigation of Intel shortly, according to Jody Shelton of
Cyrix. Cyrix and Advanced Micro Devices both have antitrust
suits pending against the microprocessor giant and Shelton says
the FTC has been in active contact with its lawyers concerning
the Intel investigation.

The complaint is Intel is using its monopolistic power to
attempt to keep other companies from using microprocessors
other than the ones it develops. Companies which buy from Intel
each have an allocation determined by Intel, meaning there is a
limit to how many chips and components they may buy.

Shelton said original equipment manufacturer Acer came to Cyrix
and asked for help because Intel was threatening to cut its
allocation because it was using the Cyrix microprocessor rather
than Intel's microprocessor.

According to a San Francisco Examiner article, Intel has also
sent letters to companies manufacturing computers without Intel
microprocessors demanding payment for each computer built for
use of its Crawford patent, an activity called "patent tying."
Cyrix told Newsbytes as far as it knows, no one has ever paid
Intel for use of the patent that covers how the microprocessor
works with memory when software such as Windows, OS/2, or Unix
is running several applications at once, but Shelton said it
was not legal for Intel to ask for payment.

"First of all, they only asked for payment from people using
non-Intel processors, letting Intel processor-based OEMs have
use of the patented technology for free, and second, the judge
in our case ruled our all Intel patents are covered by Cyrix's
license with Intel," Shelton said.

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) representative Scott Allen said
AMD also believes Intel is engaged in illegal practices and has
supplied, at the request of the FTC, information concerning
their arbitration with Intel. Allen quoted AMD's company
president as saying the arbitration with Intel, that was
supposed to take only six weeks has now "...gone on longer than
World War II."

What the FTC will do is a mystery. Allen told Newsbytes as far
as he knows the FTC hasn't even officially acknowledged it is
investigating Intel "...although we all know they are."
Speculation runs wildly from the FTC will do nothing, to the FTC
could levy fines, take legal action, or force Intel to share
it's technologies.

No one knows. But, as Sheldon said, "All we want is a level
playing field."

(Linda Rohrbough/19930113/Press Contact: Pam Pollace, Intel,
tel [phone], fax [phone]; Jody Shelton, Cyrix, tel
214-994-8238, fax [phone]; Scott Allen, AMD, tel 408-749-
3310, fax [phone])