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/nb930222

Text File | 1993-02-23 | 75KB | 1,692 lines

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

 ****Is Intel Worried About DEC's Alpha? 02/22/93
SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 FEB 22 (NB) -- Intel, in
a recently released company publication, appears to be worrying
out loud about competition between the Pentium and the Alpha
chip from Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC). A question and
answer portion of the publication addresses issues that the
Alpha, a new 64-bit reduced instruction-set computing (RISC)
chip is faster than, and will steal market share away from, the
Pentium.

The Pentium is the next generation Intel central processing
unit (CPU) for DOS-based personal computers (PCs). Intel says
the chip has 3.1 million transistors and is expected to be able
to perform 100 million instructions-per-second (MIPS). The
Alpha has 1.7 million transistors and is estimated to run at
about 133 MIPS.

DEC has been saying the Alpha is faster than the Pentium and
offers a open technology so it can run multiple operating
systems. This includes the long-awaited Windows NT from
Microsoft which could open the door for DOS-based and Windows
based applications to be run on RISC-based machines, thereby
eliminating Intel's virtual monopoly on the DOS-based market.

Microsoft was indeed running Windows NT on the Alpha AXP
personal computer at the Fall Comdex show and both DEC and
Microsoft were boasting about how few hours it took to get NT
running on the AXP personal computer.

While Windows NT will run on the Alpha, there are still no
applications for it, according to Ronald Curry, Intel's
marketing manager for the Pentium Processor. What Curry may
have been referring to is that only 13 applications were
demonstrated running on the Alpha under Windows NT at Comdex.
Thirteen is a small number compared to the many thousands
of applications for the Intel-based PC.

According to Curry, that leaves software application developers
still having to port their applications to RISC-based machines.
Intel is betting software developers will focus on building
applications for the Pentium first and spend time and money on
RISC-based applications later.

Alpha comes in several different "flavors." While Intel is not
denying DEC's claims that the Alpha is faster, Curry said DEC
is comparing the 150 megahertz (MHz) and 200MHz versions of
the Alpha chip to the Pentium - versions that will not ship in
quantity. According to Curry, "If you're just building a few
hundred (chips), you can do all kinds of things to boost
performance." Curry said that the chip DEC is planning to ship
in volume is much closer to the Pentium in processing power.

Other arguments are that the Pentium runs so hot, it cannot be
run at its maximum operating speed and therefore still cannot
compete with the Alpha chips comparable to the Pentium in
speed. Curry answered that by admitting that the Pentium
does put off more heat, but a redesign of the current
motherboards by original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) will
handle the extra thermal energy. Intel says the Pentium simply
will not work in the systems built for the i386 and i486 and it
has provided design information to OEMs to build Pentium-based
systems.

Transistors are the heat producing parts of the CPU. The more
transistors, the more heat. Since the Alpha only has 1.7
million transistors, heat problems are not as much of an issue.

The bottom line for Intel is the i486 will be the volume chip
and the Pentium, expected for release in limited quantities in
mid-May of this year will be for the very high-end user, and
for applications much farther down the road.

(Linda Rohrbough/19930219/Press Contact: Elizabeth Kemper,
Intel, tel [phone], fax [phone] ; David Price,
Digital Equipment Corporation, tel [phone])


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(LAX)(00002)

 ****Intel Neural Network Chip Most Like Human Brain 02/22/93
SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 FEB 22 (NB) --
Handwriting recognition, fraud detection, and fingerprint
analysis are the tasks that the new NI 1000 chip from Intel and
Nestor will be put to. The chip is claimed to be the most like the
human brain of the neutral networking chips developed to date.

Intel based the NI 1000 on the Electronically Trainable Analog
Neural Network (ETANN) chip developed a couple of years ago.
While the NI 1000 recognizes fewer patterns than the ETANN,
40,000 compared to 300,000, it has 20 times more memory and so
can perform complex learning and recognition tasks much faster.

The $1.6 million in funding to develop the NI 1000 came from
the Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and
the first applications for the chip are expected to be
recognition tasks for the miliary. The United States Postal
Service is eyeing the chip as well, so it can speed up optical
character recognition (OCR) of mail both handwritten and typed.

Nestor, a Providence, Rhode Island-based firm, developed the
actual neural-network algorithm that the chip uses for
learning. Nestor officials say the new chip will also speed up
their handwriting recognition system, the Nestorreader. Boosts
from five to 10 characters-per-second (cps) to 5,000 to 10,000
cps are possible using the NI 1000, Nestor officials said.

No information about when the NI 1000 will be available was
offered by Intel or Nestor. The chip is currently in a lengthy
beta test program. However, since the chip will work with other
Intel processors, there were implications that less power-hungry
versions of the NI 1000 might be used in pen-based computing
devices in the future.

(Linda Rohrbough/19930219/Press Contact: Mark Holler, Intel,
tel [phone], fax [phone]; Michael Glier, Nestor, 401-
331-9640)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(HKG)(00003)

Maxtor's No Quibble Service For Asia Pacific Customers 02/22/93
HONG KONG, 1993 FEB 22 (NB) -- Leading disk drive manufacturer
Maxtor has launched a new disk replacement service that offers
customers in the Asia Pacific region the simplest and fastest
exchange service in the industry.

Operating as part of the company's "Total Customer Satisfaction"
program, the new "No Quibble Service" plan allows customers to
return defective drives and Maxtor will ship replacements within
48 hours. Under the new program, service and exchange procedures
on repairs and returns have been substantially speeded up and
paperwork minimized.

"Maxtor's No Quibble Service transforms what is traditionally a
cumbersome process into one that is quick and seamless from the
customers' point of view," said Francis Yu, vice president of sales
for Maxtor Asia Pacific.

The No Quibble Service offers customers a choice of two options -
Advance Replacement or NO RMA - when returning drives for
repair or exchange.

Under the Advance Replacement option, Maxtor will ship
replacement drives to end users, OEM (original equipment
manufacturers) and distribution customers within 48 hours
after receiving phone notification that a drive has failed. Upon
receiving the replacement drives, customers can use the same
packing material to ship back the defective drives.

Under the NO RMA option, customers can simply repack and post
their defective drives back to Maxtor's repair center in Singapore.
Replacements will be shipped within 48 hours of receiving the
defective devices.

(Brett Cameron/19930209/Press Contact: Sunny Sung (Maxtor),
Tel: [phone];HK time is GMT + 8)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(HKG)(00004)

BHP Sets Example For Ambitious Hong Kong EDI Plans 02/22/93
HONG KONG, 1993 FEB 22 (NB) -- The largest corporation in
Australia - steel, minerals and oil giant BHP Proprietary Ltd - has
provided an example of the considerable benefits of the global
Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) standards through its
corporation-wide OSI and EDI (electronic data interchange)
implementation over the past two years.

Hong Kong's Tradelink organization should sit up and take notice,
according to Keith Cameron, chairman of the territory's OSI
initiative, HOSIC. Speaking at the latest meeting of the global
coordinating body, OSIone, he said: "One of the problems we have
in the promotion of OSI has been the lack of real life experiences
with the communications standards, but with BHP we have a
benchmark that the world can admire."

At the international OSI meeting held in Canberra, Australia,
Tony Strasser, manager industrial systems for BHP, told OSIone
members that the company had successfully interconnected its multi-
vendor systems with a number of value-added network
providers, banks, customers, suppliers, transport operators, and
government departments.

Cameron said: "If there is any person who still doubts that OSI
and EDI is real and here today, the living proof is in Sydney."

HOSIC staged its first demonstrations of multi-vendor OSI
connectivity during IT Week in September 1990, and has
subsequently been working to disseminate information about
the global technology since that time.

OSIone has grown substantially since the early days when
Hong Kong joined. Its membership includes Australia, Brazil,
Canada, all European countries, Hongkong, Japan, the People's
Republic of China, Singapore, Taiwan, and the United States.

Various matters critical to the establishment of the global OSI
network were discussed at the meeting and Cameron says that
HOSIC has accepted responsibility for the establishment of a
database of information about successful OSI installations
throughout the world.

This information will ultimately be made available in an on-line
database to any organization or individual who wishes to learn
more about the intricacies of OSI implementations from people
who have actually done it.

OSIone already has an on-line database of OSI conformance and
interoperability tests, the Test and Registration System (T&R)
by computer manufacturers and software houses. This has taken
about four years to develop and is the result of the joint efforts
of the US organization, OSINET, the US Department of Commerce
through NIST, and EurOSInet, the European OSI body.

According to Cameron, the Canberra meeting felt that whilst the
T&R database was critical to assist computer manufacturers and
prospective users of OSI in a technical sense, there was an urgent
need for an information database which would allow prospective
users to talk with those who had already done it, and learn from
their experiences.

BHP has a wide variety of equipment throughout its organization,
including IBM mainframes, many clusters of DEC VAXs, IBM
AS 400s, Tandem, Data General, and a raft of Unix small to
mid-range systems. These, combined with thousands of desktop
units running Unix, OS/2, DOS and Apple Macintoshes, presented
somewhat of a challenge to the OSI and the EDI developers.

Strasser stressed that the most important factor in the road
to BHP's OSI success was the careful planning and staged
implementation. The network had been fully functional since
1991, but the planning started in 1986 with the creation, over
two years, of a corporate digital voice network - BHP Voicelink.

Overlapping with the latter part of that implementation, BHP
rationalized its leased data lines and established BHP Datalink.
In 1990 through 1991 the company established a corporate wide
area network (WAN) known as BHP LANlink, and then it was in a
position to implement its OSI and EDI networks.

According to Strasser, the benefits of OSI have been substantial.
Actual cost/benefit evaluation is in progress at the present time
and Strasser said that the OSI technology introduced so many new
functional characteristics that the exercise was complex. He had
no doubt that the financial benefits would be significant, but he
also pointed out that the ability to improve the speed of decision
making, reduce the order cycle time, and all but eliminate
clerical errors had an intangible but very positive impact also.

In addition to the commercial applications and electronic mail
networks, BHP has also pioneered of the use of OSI in steel
manufacturing at its Port Kembla and Newcastle operations using
the OSI standard - Manufacturing Automation Protocol MAP
version 3.0.  Strasser said that OSI MAP provided the integrating
protocol to fully follow the principles of computer integrated
manufacturing (CIM) and upgrade the quality and the yield of the
plants' output.

It is interesting that BHP's firm policy was that the EDI and
electronic mail applications would only be established using OSI
standards.  Strasser explained that this policy was critical to
the success of the whole project. "There was no point in utilizing
a standard which was singularly US or European-oriented when we
are a multi-national company with operations all around the
world. We had to settle on a true global standard and OSI is the
only standard which fits that bill," he said.

(Brett Cameron/19930217/Press Contact: Tony Strasser (BHP),
Tel: [phone] Fax: [phone];Aust time is GMT + 11)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(WAS)(00005)

Crystal Semi Intros New Multimedia Audio Chips 02/22/93
AUSTIN, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1993 FEB 22 (NB) -- Cirrus Logic's Crystal
Semiconductor subsidiary has introduced two new single-chip
multimedia audio chips for personal computers. Both provide full
16-bit stereo audio quality with significant improvements in
compression.

CS4248 and CS4231 Multimedia Audio Codecs are Analog Devices
AD1848 pin-compatible. However, the CS4231 enhances system
capabilities by adding a four-to-one ADPCM (adaptive pulse code
modulation) compression to store more audio files in the same
hard disk space.

At the same time, it simultaneously reduces the data transfer
load on systems due to processing audio signals. The enhanced
chip also provides improved buffering and higher-power built-in
bus drivers which eliminate the need for extra driver chips.

The CS4248 chip is a full analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog
converter which can be used to record or play back 16-bit digital
audio at a maximum sample rate of 50 kilohertz.

Both chips are packaged as 68-pin PLCC, or plastic leaded chip
carriers, and are now shipping in sample quantities with full
production expected by summer. In 1,000 quantities the CS4248
will cost $35 each, and the more advanced CS4231 is priced at
$42 each.

These new chips should lead to significant improvements in both
system performance and audio quality for low-end multimedia
personal computers.

(John McCormick/19930219/Press Contact: Brad Fluke, Crystal
Semiconductor, 512-445-7222)


(NEWS)(IBM)(DEN)(00006)

Office/Home Designer PC Software Introduced 02/22/93
WATERTOWN, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1993 FEB 22 (NB) --
Amateur home and office designers, as well as building facilities
managers, have some new tools available with programs being
released in April by a Massachusetts company.

DesignWare publishes MyHouse and 3-D Office, programs the
company describes as integrated three-dimensional virtual
reality project software for the do-it-yourselfer. While the
programs are designed to allow would-be builders to design their
own homes and offices on the computer, an asset management
feature will allow facilities managers to keep track of furniture,
computers, and other installed equipment.

DesignWare Vice President Tom Stitt told Newsbytes that, in
addition to the libraries of roofs, windows, doors, furniture,
office equipment, landscaping, and other features that come
with the programs, the company will be releasing additional
libraries for deluxe kitchen and bathrooms at the same time
the updated version of MyHouse release 1.2 ships in April.

Stitt told Newsbytes the additional libraries will be available
to present users of MyHouse "for under $10." The additional
libraries will probably be included in the new release at no
extra cost as a promotional feature.

Once the basic floor plan has been drawn, the user can select
columns, doors, windows, stairways, trees, bushes, and other
items from the included library, placing them where they desire.
The user can also select the degree of transparency, and labels
can be placed on the drawings for identification purposes.

After the drawing is complete, the user can select three-
dimensional views from any angle by wireframe, surface, or
solid modeling features, and zoom-in on details. Drawings can
be printed, with a variety of dot-matrix and laserjet printers
supported, or saved in PCX and DXF formats for use with other
programs.

Stitt said one of the new features is what he called "the poor
man's plotter," a feature that allows the printing of large-scale
blueprints in "tiles" or sections, then pieced together to form
a large blueprint.

Stitt said the minimum recommended system configuration for
either program is a 286-based PC with a math coprocessor, a
hard drive, and a VGA display. The math coprocessor is
particularly important as the 3-D displays will be very slow
without it. A mouse is optional but is recommended over
keyboard control.

An additional feature in the programs is the ability to identify
over 100 video set chips, so the display can be maximized to
the user's particular monitor. Multi-color 3-D objects, with
the colors modifiable by the user, will also be offered.

Stitt said a Windows version is expected to ship in the fourth
quarter. The company has no plans to market either program for
the Macintosh platform at present. The new release of MyHouse
has a suggested retail price of $84.95, while 3-D Office will
sell for $129.

(Jim Mallory/19930219/Press contact: Steve Webster,
DesignWare, 617-924-6715' Reader contact: DesignWare,
617-924-6715, fax [phone])


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(BOS)(00007)

Local Travelers Dominate US Mobile Computing Market 02/22/93
NORWELL, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1993 FEB 22 (NB) -- Contrary
to popular myth, the US mobile professional market is not made
up mainly of "Globetrotters," analyzing the intricacies of the
next deal on a notebook PC at 36,000 feet, or "Road Warriors"
plying the freeways with cellular phones in hand.

In actuality, users with more mundane travel habits represent
even greater opportunities to portable computing vendors,
concludes a new study from BIS Strategic Decisions.

In interviews with 1,514 professionals across companies of all
sizes and industry sectors, BIS researchers found that 75 percent
of today's professional workers spend at least 20 percent of their
time away from their desks or immediate work areas.

Surprisingly, though, 69 percent of this mobility is "local,"
meaning within the building or on the campus. In comparison,
only one percent of time spent away from the desk is dedicated
to international travel.

The tendency toward in-building and on-campus travel points to a
significant need for wireless local area networks (LANs), paging
systems, and other systems that extend the computing
environment locally, according to the report.

Projecting their findings outward, the BIS researchers discovered
a potential mobile computing market of 36.7 million users within
the US, consisting of 14.4 million non-technical professionals,
7.1 million technical professionals, 3.4 million managers, and
2.4 million owners.

BIS' Mobile Professional Market Segmentation Multiclient Study
also pinpoints eight different categories of mobile users.
Globetrotters, Road Warriors, and Corporate Wanderers are
identified as the "frequent flyers" of the mobile professional
world.

In contrast, Corridor Cruisers, Collaborators, Small-Site Bosses,
Solo Practitioners, and on occasion, Hermits, are more likely to
be traveling locally. Still, taken as a whole, these five groups
spend 40 percent of their time away from their desks.

Among the "frequent flyers," Globetrotters are defined as the
most likely to travel across national borders. Older and
predominantly male, with senior positions in larger companies,
these individuals are heavy users of all information
technologies.

Road Warriors are characterized as spending three quarters of
their travel time away from the building or campus. Of this
travel time, 30 percent is outside of the metropolitan area,
with half of it at a client's location or on a sales call.

Corporate Wanderers, made up mostly of managers, were found to
travel less than the other "frequent flyers," to spend more time
visiting people in their own companies than in other firms, and to
be the least likely to use mobile phones or electronic organizers.

Among the five groups of primarily local travelers, Collaborators
are designated as well educated young professionals who spend
85 percent of their time working with others, and who often
require a response time of under one hour to information sent and
received.

Collaborators spend the largest chunk of time away from the
immediate work area, followed by Corridor Cruisers and
Small-Site Bosses, a group that includes branch managers of
larger firms as well as owners and partners of small businesses.

Solo Practitioners are defined as people who work independently
and travel sometimes, and Hermits, the least mobile of all
professional categories, as individuals who seldom work with
others even when they do leave their desks.

The eight categories defined in the study provide a much more
reliable way of predicting mobile computing needs than
traditional vertical market studies, which have been based on
occupation or industry segment, the BIS researchers claimed.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19930219/Press contact: Martha Popoloski,
BIS, tel [phone]; Reader contact: Bill Ablondi, BIS,
tel [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(LON)(00008)

Wordperfect Prepares To Launch Office 4.0 In UK 02/22/93
ADDLESTONE, SURREY, ENGLAND, 1993 FEB 22 (NB) -- Wordperfect
is continuing its diversification beyond word processing with
Office 4.0, the latest incarnation of its all-in-one electronic
mail (e-mail), calendar, and scheduling package.

According to Wordperfect, Office 4.0 fulfills the role of an
electronic mail, messaging, and scheduler function for computer
users over a network. David Godwin, general manager for sales at
Wordperfect UK, said that electronic messaging is a lot more
than e-mail.

"Messaging includes mail-enabled applications, calendaring and
scheduling, messaging standards and interfaces, as more and more
distributed-based applications. The need for messaging services
within many different types of applications continues to grow,"
he said.

Wordperfect Office 4.0 will retail for UKP395 for a five user
version. A 25 user version will also be available at a price to
be confirmed.

Industry reaction to news that Office 4.0 will be shipping
soon in the UK was less than complimentary, especially from the
competition.

Jenny Bacon, marketing communications manager with Lotus
Development, was scathing. The lack of a word processor (Office
4.0 is designed to dovetail in with Wordperfect) and graphics,
she told Newsbytes, is a very serious omission.

"It's not a very full offering against Smartsuite, our offering,
which includes Ami Pro, 1-2-3, Freelance Graphics, and single
user version of CC:Mail," Bacon said.

She conceded, however, that the UKP545 single-user price tag
of Smartsuite is significantly higher than the UKP395 price
point of the five user pack for Office 4.0.

Wordperfect Office 4.0's interface is the same under Windows,
DOS, and on the Apple Macintosh. The package - which includes
Informs 1.0, a forms manager - supports the Netware, Vines,
LAN Manager, and DEC Pathworks network operating systems,
running in 384 kilobytes of RAM in Windows.

(Steve Gold/19930219/Press & Public Contact: Wordperfect
UK - Tel: [phone]; Fax: [phone])


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(LON)(00009)

 ****Six More Telecom Draft Licenses Issued In UK 02/22/93
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1993 FEB 22 (NB) -- Michael Heseltine, the
British government's President of the Board of Trade, has issued
six new draft licenses for telecommunications services. This is
on top of the "lucky 13" companies who already have licenses
for special telecoms services in the UK.

The six new draft licensees -- Vodafone, Telecom Electric,
Scottish Hydro-Electric, Scottish Power, Millicom, and City of
London Telecommunications -- are still working on their
portfolio of services.

According to Heseltine, the issue of the licenses is a major step
in the complete liberalization of the UK telecoms industry.
"Our enterprise is to transform the UK's telecommunications
infrastructure to offer the best possible range and quality of
services to all types of customer at the sort of prices that only
genuine competition can deliver," he said.

Heseltine admitted that liberalizing the UK telecoms marketplace
is a long term project. "But it is right that we should look ahead
to the long term needs of British industry and British consumers.
The rest of this decade will see dramatic changes and I am
determined to see the UK pioneering new approaches and
bringing the benefits to all," he said.

According to a statement issued by the Department of Industry
(DTI), Vodafone's new license will give it the freedom to offer
fixed services for the first time, alongside its mobile telephone
business.

The three electricity companies, meanwhile, each plan to exploit
their electricity transmission networks for telecoms purposes
by combining an optical fiber cable with the earth wire.

Millicom plans to provide a wide range of conventional and
innovative telecoms services to both residential and business
customers. City of London Telecommunications (COLT) plans to
focus its efforts on business customers within London.

(Steve Gold/19930219/Press & Public Contact: DTI -
071 215 5000)


(CORRECTION)(IBM)(ATL)(00010)

Correction: Review of PCs, DOS, Windows For Dummies 02/22/93

From: Andy Rathbone, author, "Windows For Dummies," Dan Gookin,
author of "DOS for Dummies," and both co-authored "PCs for Dummies."
IDG Books Worldwide Inc., 155 Bovet Rd, Suite 610, San Mateo
CA 94402, 415-358-1250.

Price: $16.95, $21.95 Canada each, 15.45 UK

PUMA Rating: 4.0 (on a scale of 1=lowest to 4=highest)

Reviewed for Newsbytes by: tbass HNDYPRSN, MCI:379-5378 02/19/93

Summary: IDG's Dummies series of books are informative and
helpful for those with little or no computer experience.

======

REVIEW

======

Dan Gookin is considered a DOS expert and has a couple of other
books out on the subject. He's got a great sense of humor which
helps to lighten the mood while imparting information. This is
very effective. The three books reviewed here, "Windows for
Dummies," "DOS for Dummies," and "PCs for Dummies," also feature
cartoons by Rich Tennant, a nationally syndicated computer
cartoonist. Andy Rathbone is a Windows expert who also specializes
in MIDI-related music computing.

"PCs for Dummies" by both authors is designed to give the novice
computer user the basics from organizing one's workspace to
troubleshooting a PC problem. "PCs for Dummies" is divided into
parts such as  Introducing Your Computer; Working with a Computer;
and The  Parts of Tens.

The various chapters walk one through the components and external
parts. The descriptions show you how to turn the machine on, use
the keyboard, load the drives, and other basic operations and concepts.
There are also important tips, such as "your keyboard is not a
coffee filter" which addresses a common problem with having
drinks and food around your computer. There are very readable
explanations of DOS, software, LANs, Windows, and acronyms normally
used. Finally as in all the Dummies series, there is a list of
ten do's and don't on various PC-related subjects.

The second book in the IDG's books for Dummies series is "DOS for
Dummies" by Dan Gookin, which targets beginners afraid of DOS and
computers.  The book, approaching the subject of DOS with humor,
starts with the basics and moves into more complex
areas, breaking down ideas into simple elements. There is
also a list of DOS 5 commands, including those that are
used frequently, those used infrequently, and those which are
never used and are best eliminated. Very few books give much
advice as to what command files you are better off without.
This book will be a great help if you are afraid of DOS 5, yet
you wish to experience unencumbered DOS speed. DOS programs run
faster than the Windows-oriented versions.

The third book, "Windows for Dummies" by Andy Rathbone, is sliced
into six  sections as was the DOS 5 book of the series. It introduces
Windows basics, including one of the little-known functions
of Windows called Dr. Watson. Windows has a utility that will log
the errors made between Windows and the programs interacting with
it. This helps to determine the problem one may experience in the
Windows environment. The log may not make sense to you, but the
information is important to anyone in technical support.

If you are comfortable with computers and your friends ask you
"how to" questions all the time, suggest these books.

============

PUMA RATING

============

USEFULNESS (4) These books cut through the jargon to approach complex
basics with directness and good humor. If you need to work with
a computer that has DOS 5 for a disk operating system and/or
MS-Windows, but do not know what questions to ask for fear of
looking dumb, get one or all of this series. The $16.95 suggested
retail price is well with in line for what is offered.

AVAILABILITY: (4) IDG Books are well distributed in bookstores
such as B Daltons, Waldenbooks, and most any store that carries
computer books. CompUSA, 800-451-7638, has the series for $13.95
each.

(tbass HNDYPRSN/19930215/Press Contact: Katherine Day, IDG,
415-312-0614, FAX [phone])


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00011)

 ****Rockwell To Make MNP 10 On its Fast Modem Chipsets 02/22/93
NEWPORT BEACH, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 FEB 22 (NB) -- Rockwell,
the market leader in modem chip-sets, said it will make MNP 10 a
standard offering on its fast chip sets under the V.32 and V.32bis
standards.

The deal follows a general market trend in which leading
companies are trying to compete with their smaller rivals by
adding value rather than selling on price alone. In the general
PC market, companies are adding software like Microsoft
Windows in order to beat back low-end clone makers, who
cannot get the same kinds of deals on those packages.

Rockwell's challenge is similar. While it has the leading market
share for modem chip sets, a number of other companies are also
in the market, some simply selling digital signal processors
with software that turns them into modems. By adding valuable
software to its chip sets, Rockwell can get a premium price and
still gain market share.

The Microcom agreement follows a deal Rockwell made with
Hayes a year ago - a silicon-only exclusive to implement its
"Heatherington '302" patent. Under that agreement, modem
companies that buy chip sets from Rockwell have licensed
support for the patent, called an "escape sequence with guard
time," built-into the product, and do not need a separate license
for the patent from Hayes. It is an offer Rockwell's competitors
cannot match, and some Hayes competitors have cried foul,
claiming that industry standards cannot fall under exclusive
license and remain standards.

Prior to the current announcement, Rockwell had been making MNP
10 a standard  feature in its 2,400 bits-per-second (bps) modems
under the V.22bis standard, and an optional  feature in the higher
speed products. That was an exclusive arrangement when it was
signed in January, 1991.

However, Lewis Bergins, executive vice president for Microcom,
told Newsbytes, "The exclusivity period has run out. There was a
period of time when Rockwell was the only semiconductor maker
could have access to MNP 10. That period has expired. AT&T has
just announced they will be supporting MNP 10 on their chip sets
as an option. That's something that expired, sometime last year."

In a press statement Dwight Decker, vice president and general
manager of Rockwell's Digital Communications Division, indicated
support for Microcom's move to make MNP 10 the error-correction
standard for cellular data transmission. "This growth  has
resulted in MNP 10 now clearly being the protocol of choice for
adverse-channel data transmission," he said. Spectrum Information
Technologies has sued Microcom, claiming MNP 10 infringes on
patents given its SPCL protocol.

Under the new deal, Rockwell and Microcom also agreed to jointly
develop feature and performance extensions of MNP 10 for
inclusion in the  upcoming V.Fast standard.

Spokesman David Powers told Newsbytes the new deal is very
significant to Microcom, on a number of levels. "Rockwell is the
market leader in chip sets, and it means a tremendous number of
modems with MNP 10 on their chip sets." The deal also indicates,
"Customers are asking for MNP 10. Rockwell is determined that it
needs to have this technology."

Also, Microcom is not held back by terms of the agreement. "This
still allows Microcom to license MNP 10 to other modem chip
set manufacturers," like AT&T, he said.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19930222/Press Contact: Microcom, David
Powers, 617/551-1955)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00012)

 ****Ameritech Centralizes, Demands Regulation Freedom 02/22/93
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, U.S.A., 1993 FEB 22 (NB) -- Ameritech has
announced a sweeping reorganization, turning its five statewide
operating units into mere holders of assets. The company has
also demanded freedom from regulation as the price for
allowing competitors into its local loops.

While the company's five local phone networks in Wisconsin,
Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan will still hold the
company's phone network assets, Ameritech is creating a single
group to run all the networks, and organizing 11 other groups
which will sell services to specific market segments under the
Ameritech brand name.

"We are  fundamentally redesigning how we operate," said
Ameritech Chairman William L. Weiss. Under the new structure,
customers will have a single point of contact to order telephone
service, arrange for equipment, and handle advertising needs in
directories or by toll-free 800 lines.

The new structure is expected to be in place by 1994. The
separate units will be designed for consumer services, small
business services, enhanced business services, custom business
services, long-distance services, information industry services,
telephone industry services, pay phone services, advertising
services or Yellow Pages directories, cellular services, leasing
services, and network services.

The last group will be responsible for the day-to-day operation
of all five states' networks, serving 12 million customers and
more than 17  million access lines. A detailed plan on all this
will be filed with the Federal Communications Commission
early next month, and later with state regulators in each of the
five states where the company does business.

Weiss said one result of the proposal will open its local
networks to competition by separating transport services from
switching services, which direct telephone calls. This will
provide consumers with the same type of options in picking local
telephone service that they have today in selecting their long-
distance service. Weiss said the FCC should consider this a
model for the nation.

In return for opening its network to competition, Ameritech
wants price regulation instead of limits on its earnings, total
flexibility in pricing new and competitive services, and the
ability to compete in the long distance market, which it is
presently banned from doing. Ameritech will generally propose
that where competition  exists, regulators should have no role
in determining prices.

In a press conference attended by Newsbytes by phone, chairman
Weiss emphasized the word "customer" repeatedly. "We will open
Ameritech's entire local telephone network to our competitors,"
he said, "so they can connect to it and serve their customers
through it. Our intent is to make the local telephone business as
fully competitive as long distance is today. This is a
transformation of our company, a rebuilding from the ground up.
We're getting closer to our customers independent of the FCC
filing. When we group customers based on needs, we serve
them much better. So we're organizing that way, rather than
geography."

In discussing the industry, he said: "Our industry comes from a
history of monopoly. Today, in each territory, there are many
suppliers. The industry is losing its geographic structure. We
see an industry fully competitive in each of its parts. We believe
it's in the customer's interest. Competition rewards the most
customer-oriented company, and puts downward pressure on
price. Other local phone companies are neither obligated nor
effected by our plan, but we believe the idea we're putting
forward will capture the interest of government policy makers."

(Dana Blankenhorn/19930222/Press Contact: Microcom,
Ameritech, Steve Ford, 312-750-5205)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(TYO)(00013)

Japan - Fujitsu Develops 21-inch Plasma Display 02/22/93
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1993 FEB 22 (NB) -- Fujitsu General Says it has
developed a plasma display with a large screen. The company
claims that it is extremely thin and light-weight and can be
used for both television sets and personal computers. It is
expected to be released around the end of 1993.

Fujitsu General, a subsidiary of Fujitsu, says the color plasma
display is only 3.2-centimeters (cm) thick and weighs only 4.8
kilograms (kg). The display supports high resolution mode, which
is 640 x 480 pixels, along with 260,000 colors.

The viewing angle for television is claimed to be 140 degrees,
which is much wider than the 90 degrees of a LCD (liquid crystal
display). The plasma display can directly be connected with a TV
tuner as well as a personal computer.

The retail price is expected to be less than one million yen
($8,300) when it is finally released. That  is about the same price
range as high definition TV sets in Japan. The company anticipates
the price to be halved when it enters full production some time
in 1994.

Other Japanese electronics firms are also developing
large-screen plasma displays.

(Masayuki "Massey" Miyazawa/19930222/Press Contact: Fujitsu
General, [phone])


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(TOR)(00014)

Canadian Product Launch Update 02/22/93
TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1993 FEB 22 (NB) -- This regular
feature, appearing every Monday or Tuesday, details Canadian
launches by international companies over the past week. This
week, Dell Computer (Canada) echoed its US parent's price
cuts on a number of systems, and Autodesk Canada released a
stand-alone version of its AutoCAD software for Microsoft
Windows 3.1.

Markham, Ontario-based Dell Canada announced price cuts
similar to those announced a few days earlier by its parent
company in Austin, Texas (Newsbytes, February 10). The cuts
affect 486-based Performance and Dimension systems as well
as four portable machines.

Dell Canada's price for the low-profile 425s/L desktop machine
with four megabytes (MB) of RAM and a 120MB hard disk dropped
from C$1,749 to C$1,569. The same machine with a Super VGA
1024i monitor went from C$2,329 to C$2,049. The 433s/L with
four MB of RAM, 120MB hard disk, and Ultrascan 14C monitor was
cut from C$2,549 to C$2,389.

The 433T PC with eight MB of RAM, a 230MB hard disk, and a
1024i monitor dropped from C$3,849 to C$3,619. The 466T,
with eight MB, a 320MB drive, and an Ultrascan 15FS monitor,
went from C$5,089 to C$4,829. The 466ME, with eight MB of RAM,
a 320MB drive, and Ultrascan 21FS monitor, dropped from
C$7,248 to C$6,628.

Dell Canada cut prices in its 325N, 325NC, and 320SLi notebook
computers. The 325N with four MB of RAM, an 80MB hard drive,
and VGA monochrome screen was cut from C$2,789 to C$2,589.
The 325NC, with a color display and 120MB drive, went from
C$3,789 to C$3,539. The 320SLi, with four MB of RAM, 120MB
disk, and monochrome display, dropped from C$3,269 to
C$2,759. All of the above are models in Dell's Performance
systems line.

In the Dell Dimension product line, the monochrome NL25 notebook,
with two MB of RAM and an 80MB hard drive, was marked down
from C$2,309 to C$2,169. The 486DX/33 system, with four MB of
RAM, a 170MB drive, and Super VGA monitor, dropped from C$2,559
to C$2,489. The 486DX2/50, similarly equipped but with a 212MB
drive, fell from C$2,949 to C$2,879. The cuts in Canadian prices
ranged from 2.3 to 12 percent.

Autodesk Canada launched AutoCAD Release 12 for Windows, the
first stand-alone version of the popular computer-aided design
software for Microsoft Windows 3.1. The firm said the Windows'
graphical user interface makes the software easier to use.
Available now, AutoCAD release 12 for Windows has a Canadian
price of C$4,500. An optional, fully integrated solid modeler,
AME release 2.1 for Windows, is C$594.

(Grant Buckler/19930220/Press Contact: Lisa Held, Dell Canada,
416-882-7381; Al Steel, Autodesk Canada, 416-946-0928, fax
416-946-0926)


(NEWS)(IBM)(TOR)(00015)

Alpha Ships PC Report Styler 02/22/93
BURLINGTON, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1993 FEB 22 (NB) -- Alpha
Software is finally shipping Report Styler, a Windows software
package it first showed in a beta-test version last spring. The
software has capabilities like those of desktop publishing
software for dressing up reports from database packages, the
company said.

Report Styler can import any database report that has been saved
to a text file, according to the vendor. As well as databases, it
can handle reports from other applications such as accounting
software.

Report Styler does not support dynamic data exchange (DDE) or
object linking and embedding (OLE), Microsoft's standards for
creating hot links between applications, a company spokeswoman
said.

Report Styler lets you tag different parts of the report, such as
headers, footers, and detail lines, and then assign typefaces and
other characteristics to them. It can also format a report into
columns and add graphics. Windows Metafile and Windows Bit-
Map formats are supported, the spokeswoman said.

Once a report has been formatted in Report Styler, a new version
of the same report - containing updated data - can be imported
into the software and formatted automatically, the vendor said.

Available now, Report Styler has a suggested retail price of
$199. It is the first Windows product from Alpha, which is best
known for its Alpha Four database software for DOS. Alpha has
distributors and dealers in the United States, Canada, the United
Kingdom, Germany, Belgium, and Australia.

(Grant Buckler/19930222/Press Contact: Karen Reynolds, Alpha
Software, 617-229-2924 ext. 207, fax [phone]; Sarah
Blume, Brodeur & Partners for Alpha Software, 617-894-0003)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TOR)(00016)

Warburg Invests In 9% Of SHL Systemhouse 02/22/93
OTTAWA, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1993 FEB 22 (NB) -- A recent
investment deal will give the private banking firm EM Warburg,
Pincus & Co., a nine percent stake in Canadian systems integrator
SHL Systemhouse. Scheduled to close on or about March 10, the
deal provides for Warburg to pay about C$40.5 million (US$32
million) for 4.5 million shares of Systemhouse, a company
spokesman said.

Warburg, Pincus has a portfolio of investments in information
technology companies focused on open systems and client/server
computing, officials said. These areas are a significant part of
Systemhouse's business.

Systemhouse said it will use the proceeds of the deal to finance
new capital assets it needs for long-term contracts, and to
increase its working capital.

SHL Systemhouse has more than 4,000 employees and
reported 1992 revenues of nearly C$750 million.

In January BCE Enterprises of Montreal, parent of Bell
Canada and Northern Telecom, sold its 25.6 percent interest
in Systemhouse to an assortment of investors.

(Grant Buckler/19930222/Press Contact: Paul Damp, SHL
Systemhouse, 416-366-4600; William Janeway, Warburg,
Pincus, 212-878-9387)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(DEN)(00017)

Knowledgeware Completes Acquisition Of Matesys Math 02/22/93
ATLANTA, GEORGIA, U.S.A., 1993 FEB 22 (NB) -- Knowledgeware
has completed the acquisition of Matesys Mathematics
Systems SA and subsidiary Matesys Corporation.

Matesys Corporation develops and markets Objectview, an
object-oriented development tool that allows development of
applications that use databases such as Oracle, Sybase, SQL
Server, and DB2 with little or no programming. Objectview is
available for Windows and OS/2.

Knowledgeware said it has issued 900,000 shares of its common
stock in exchange for the Matesys stock. Matesys Corporation has
about 20 employees at its Larkspur, California, facility. Matesys
Systems SA is headquartered in Paris, France.

According to Knowledgeware President Donald Addington, the
company is making key strategic acquisitions, such as Matesys, in
order to expand into the client/server and open systems arena.
It will also expand its research and development (R&D) activities,
budgeting $25 million for R&D this year. "We believe this classic
combination of acquisitions and product development will allow
us to rapidly meet our customers requirements," Addington said.

Knowledgeware said it will provide consulting and training
support for Objectview, and will offer an interface between it
and the company's Applications Development Workbench. The
company also markets Flashpoint, a DOS-based tool for integrating
desktop information from existing applications and creating new
graphical user interfaces (GUIs), and its ADW/Construction
Workstation-GUI, a client/server application development tool.

(Jim Mallory/19930222/Press contact: Denese Van Dyne,
Crescent Communications for Knowledgeware, 404-698-8650
or fax [phone])


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(DEN)(00018)

AST Research Announces New Reseller Support Plan 02/22/93
IRVINE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 FEB 22 (NB) -- AST Research
has announced PartnersPlus, its new reseller support plan the
company says is designed to protect and maximize reseller
profit margins and reduce risk in a rapidly changing industry.

The company says the plan features more flexible stock rotation
policies, new price protection, easier-to-obtain commitment
levels, and an electronic sales information program called Smart.

AST says that, under PartnersPlus, resellers will assume less
risk and maintain better control of AST product inventory under
the new stock rotation policy, which allows unlimited returns
on any current product in inventory, subject to a five percent
restocking fee on returns over five percent of net purchase
volume per quarter. Current products are defined as those that
have not been discontinued or placed on limited availability
status for more than 60 days.

Resellers are also being offered security from price fluctuations
under PartnersPlus. AST says that following a price decrease the
it will automatically price-protect all current products shipped
within the past 30 days. The dealer just checks a box on a price
protection form.

In lowering the reseller commitment levels, which are based on
quarterly revenue, AST says products purchased from an authorized
distributor will count towards the reseller's quarterly commitment.
At least 50 percent of the commitment must come from products
purchased directly from AST. Net revenue from AST's General
Services  Administration (GSA) program will also count towards
the reseller's goal.

"Challenging conditions such as increased competition and product
availability will no longer severely impact a reseller's ability to
meet quarterly commitment levels," says Gerald Devlin, AST vice
president of US sales.

The new product and order system, called Smart, allows
subscribing resellers to electronically contact a database for
access to both product information and order status using a
DOS-based PC. Smart subscribers receive a self-installing
software program to access the database. Smart subscriptions
cost $595 per year.

AST already offers its resellers 24-hour fax delivery of
technical  information, toll-free calls to a sales representative,
demonstration unit discounts, sales leads, sales training, and a
bulletin board service.

(Jim Mallory/19930222/Press and reader contact: AST
Research, 714-727-7958)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(DEN)(00019)

Colorado Governor Gets Taxpayer Opinions Via PCs 02/22/93
DENVER, COLORADO, U.S.A., 1993 FEB 22 (NB) -- Colorado voters
are using personal computers to let the governor know how they
think the state should spend its tax revenue.

Kiosks containing pre-programmed personal computers are being
set up in shopping malls and driver's license bureaus around the
state so residents can tell the state's budget planners how they
want their tax dollars spent.

Governor Romer is furnishing taxpayers a way to express their
opinion after voters approved an amendment to the state
constitution last November that severely restricts state
spending and bars the government from increasing taxes without
voter approval. Specifically, the amendment prohibits tax
increases without voter approval and limits spending growth
to 6.5 percent, a combination of the inflation rate and Colorado
population growth annually.

According to Romer, Colorado spends 80 percent of its $3 billion
annual budget on Medicaid, public schools, the state prison system,
along with colleges and universities. He says another $500 million
is needed to maintain the current level of services in those areas
but because of the cap on taxes, state income will grow by less
than half that amount in 93.

To tell the Governor and his staff your opinion, you respond to
multiple choice questions offered by a "talking" computer,
pressing three-dimensional buttons displayed on the computer
screen for "Yes," "No," or "No  Opinion." In addition to the audio,
the questions are also displayed on the computer screen.

Each weekend Governor Romer and various cabinet members have
been visiting one of the computer locations to talk to taxpayers
personally. He says before long he also plans to invite some
taxpayers to meet with state budget planners.

With initial responses tabulated for about 3,000 taxpayers, the
state says results indicate a willingness to sacrifice for the sake
of fiscal responsibility. However, taxpayers are also saying that
some areas cannot be cut. Respondents at a Colorado Springs
shopping mall voted seven to one to keep violent prisoners in
jail rather than releasing them early to cut costs. The voters
also said they are not willing to cut teacher's salaries or
eliminate kindergarten, two other plans being considered.

(Jim Mallory/19930222)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(DEN)(00020)

 ****Police Seize 15 Tons Of Counterfeit Software 02/22/93
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 FEB 22 (NB) -- Working
on information from an anonymous tipster, Concord, California,
police and Microsoft investigators seized an estimated 15 tons
of counterfeit Microsoft software and manuals worth up to $1
million.

Police said Jacob Tran, owner of JT Litho Company of Concord
was arrested and charged with possession, distribution, and
sale of counterfeit merchandise late last week. The company
allegedly used sophisticated graphics equipment to counterfeit
Microsoft packaging for Windows 3.0 and 3.1 as well as DOS 5.0,
according to a Concord police spokesperson.

Officers said they had the warehouse under surveillance since
February 12 after Microsoft got a tip from an anonymous party.
They are also attempting to recover any counterfeit goods that
have already been sold.

This is not the first time law enforcement officials, working in
conjunction with Microsoft investigators, has seized allegedly
counterfeit software and manuals. In February 1992 Microsoft
said it would prosecute two men allegedly responsible for the
manufacture and sale of an estimated $200,000 worth of
counterfeit DOS 5.0.

The following month, after a two month investigation, FBI agents
raided four firms in California's Silicon Valley that were
allegedly counterfeiting Microsoft software worth about
$600,000 per month. Another seizure was made in September
1992 by US Marshals at another Southern California firm.

At least one of the alleged counterfeiters has fought back. In
December, 1992, Newsbytes reported that a company raided by
federal agents the previous February had filed a countersuit.
U-Top, a Sunnyvale, California-based company, said it was
printing manuals for licensed distributors of MS-DOS. The
seizure, which yielded about 150,000 copies of DOS software
and manuals, was the largest to date, according to Microsoft.

The penalty for convicted counterfeiters is stiff. The Software
Copyright bill passed by Congress recently ago makes
commercial software piracy a felony and provides for prison
sentences up to five years and fines up to $250,000.

(Jim Mallory/Press contact: Katy Ehrlich, Waggener Edstrom
for Microsoft, 503-245-0905)


(NEWS)(IBM)(DEN)(00021)

CompuAdd Intros Active Matrix Color Notebook 02/22/93
AUSTIN, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1993 FEB 22 (NB) -- Compuadd Express
has announced it will begin shipping a new active matrix
486-based color notebook in late March.

Called the 425ColorPlus, the new system joins Compuadd's
Express product line. It is powered by a 25 megahertz (MHz)
Cyrix CX486SLC microprocessor and includes a built-in math
coprocessor chip, an internal data/fax modem, a trackball, and
installed virus protection software. It also includes a 200
megabyte (MB) hard disk and a SCSI (Small Computer Systems
Interface) II port.

"Now we have a notebook for every user. At $3,995 the 425ColorPlus
delivers state-of-the-art notebook color at a price far below most
of the competition," claimed CompuAdd Express President Neil
Bremner.

The active matrix color LCD (liquid crystal display) display
provides 640 by 400 resolution. The system has a port for
connection of an external VGA color display that can run
simultaneously.

Compuadd says the 425ColorPlus can run up to two hours on its
battery using built-in power management features. An AC power
adapter that can run on domestic or European current is included.
If the lid is closed with the power on the display and drives are
turned off, but the data is saved.

Compuadd Express spokesperson Ernie Wood told Newsbytes that
the system uses a Nicad rechargeable battery. A separate battery
charger is also available for $49 that will can charge up to two
extra batteries. Additional batteries sell for $89, Wood said.

The new system comes preloaded with Windows 3.1, MS-DOS 5.0,
Lotus Works 3.0, communications software for sending and
receiving data and faxes, and software that connects with
CompuAdd's Remote Rescue for on-line support. Wood said the
system's standard configuration includes 8MB of system
memory, which can be upgraded to 20MB. A carrying case is
included.

(Jim Mallory/19930222/Press contact: Ernest Wood, Compuadd
Express,  512-219-2820; Reader contact: CompuAdd Express,
512-21-2800, fax [phone])


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(LON)(00022)

Major UK Telephone Code Shakeup Planned 02/22/93
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1993 FEB 22 (NB) -- British Telecom (BT) has
announced that, at Easter, 1995, most long distance dialling codes
within the UK will change. The changes are to allow for future
expansion in the UK national numbering scheme.

A publicity campaign to inform all phone users about the changes
is already under way. BT is taking out adverts in the national
press, advising phone users of "Phoneday," Easter Sunday, April
16, 1995, which is when the codes will change.

According to BT, which has unveiled a Phoneday logo to raise
customer awareness, the changes follow lengthy consultations
with all interested parties, including phone users, operators,
and equipment manufacturers. The primary aim of the code
changes will be to create new codes for use in the second half
of the current decade.

For the majority of hard-wired PSTN (public switched telephone
network) phone users, the change will mean the insertion of an
extra 1 before the current dialing code, after leading zero for
trunk access.

International calls, which do not require the "0" trunk access
code, will need an extra 1 after the 44 country code. For
example, when calling Newsbytes' UK office, callers outside of
the UK will dial [phone] instead of the current
[phone].

The extra "1" will not affect non-geographic codes, Newsbytes
understands, including toll-free, premium rate and Linkline 0345
numbers. It will also not affect mobile phones. Special
arrangements are being worked out for these numbering groups,
BT has announced.

Phone subscribers in Bristol, Leeds, Leicester, Nottingham, and
Sheffield will get a new set of trunk codes, as well as a new phone
number created by adding a single digit to their existing numbers.
This will switch the five cities from a six figure numbering
system to the familiar 3+4 codes seen in most major cities
around the world.

The new codes for the five cities are as follows (current codes
are in brackets): Leeds 0113 (0532); Sheffield 0114 (0742);
Nottingham 0115 (0602); Leicester 0116 (0533); Bristol 0117
(0272). These city code changes will multiple the number of
available numbers in the cities concerned by more than 10, BT
claims.

Leeds, Sheffield, and Leicester numbers will switch to seven digit
working by the insertion of a leading 2. For example, Leeds 123456
will become Leeds 212-3456. Nottingham and Bristol, meanwhile,
will use a 9 in place of the 2. For example, Nottingham 123456
will become Nottingham 912-3456.

Announcing the changes, Alan Croft, BT's Phoneday project
manager, said: "Oftel, telephone users and the industry chose
these changes as the best way forward. Obviously we regret any
inconvenience to customers, but the timing of Oftel's
announcement gives everyone more than two years to plan for
the changes. BT's aim will be to minimize any cost and
inconvenience by ensuring that everyone is well prepared"

"We have researched the specific needs of our business and
residential customers and we will be providing them with the
information, advice and practical help they need, when they
need it," he added.

According to Croft, the first phase of the campaign will address
the specific needs of businesses and certain trade sectors who
need to plan well in advance of the actual changeover date.

BT plans to contact communications managers within companies
to discuss reprogramming telecommunications and computer
equipment which store numbers in memories or bar calls to
certain destinations.

BT has also set up a 24-hour customer response center to discuss
Phoneday-related matters, as well as offering to send out more
information if required. The number, which is accessible free of
charge from anywhere in the UK, is 0800-010101.

(Steve Gold/19930222/Press Contact: BT Corporate Relations -
Tel: [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(LON)(00023)

NEC Unveils New Powermate PCs In UK 02/22/93
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1993 FEB 22 (NB) -- NEC's PC division has
announced a new range of Powermate PCs that the company
claims will be a direct challenge to Compaq and IBM.

The new machines, the Powermate 425 and 433 (respectively,
25 and 33 megahertz units) are 80486-based and claim to have
large disk storage and advanced onboard video facilities. NEC
also claims that the machines, which are available through
resellers, compete on the same price level as some of the
direct sell PC manufacturers/suppliers.

Both machines, which are Intel Overdrive processor-compatible,
can be easily upgraded, claims the company. The Powermate 425
sells for UKP1,220, while the Powermate 433 sells for UKP1,600.

Announcing the PCs, Steve Finnemore, NEC's product marketing
manager, said that they will ship immediately. "The PC market
is one of the most dynamic markets to be in," he said. "As users
have become more sophisticated, technological and manufacturing
advances have meant that the PC has become increasingly
affordable. The result has been that the PC is now a commodity
item appealing to an increasingly wider band of business and
individual users."

As supplied, both the new Powermates comes with one megabyte
(MB) of video plus 4MB of standard memory, upgradeable to 64MB
internally. A 120MB hard disk is fitted as standard, with room
for more hard disk units if required.

The graphics resolution on both Powermates is 1,024 by 1,280
pixels, with screen refresh rates of up to 87 cycles per second.

(Steve Gold/19930222/Press & Public Contact: NEC PC Division,
Tel: [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(LON)(00024)

SPEA Intros New PC Graphics Cards In UK 02/22/93
THAME, OXON, ENGLAND, 1993 FEB 22 (NB) -- SPEA, the graphics
card manufacturer, has launched a range of graphics cards, the
V7 Mercury Pro family, that it claims optimize Microsoft
Windows performance.

According to Omid Rahmat, SPEA's European marketing manager,
Windows is fast becoming the operating system of choice for
the majority of PC users.

"More and more new PCs are sold 'Windows ready' to meet this
demand. (However), very few machines have the graphics
capabilities to realize the full potential of Windows. By increasing
the speed, color definition and resolution that applications can run
at, the new range of cards can turn a machine loaded with Windows
into a truly Windows-ready PC," he explained.

Rahmat went on to say that much of the technology in the new
cards is based on Video Seven, which the company took over last
year. All the new cards support high color and true color
graphics, with a maximum resolution of 1,536 by 1,152 pixels,
with high color pushing this to 1,280 by 1,024 and true color
pushing it to 1,024 by 768 pixels.

Pricing on the new cards depends on configurations required.
Newsbytes notes that the cards come with a variety of software
drivers, including SPEA's "BigWin" range of drivers that support
Windows caching. SPEA claims that the drivers can enhance
hardware performance by as much as 50 percent.

SPEA is a German company. Founded in 1986, the company is
headquartered in Stamberg, near Munich. Turnover last year was
DM 80 million ($47 million). The company, which employs 168
people, has offices in France, Germany, Switzerland, the UK,
and the US.

(Steve Gold/19930222/Press & Public Contact: SPEA -
Tel: [phone])


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LON)(00025)

Power Up! To Market Third-Party Software In UK 02/22/93
CAMBERLEY, SURREY, ENGLAND, 1993 FEB 22 (NB) -- Power Up!
Software, a name normally associated with catalog sales of its
own budget software, has announced it will handle third-party
software with effect immediately.

The move comes in a year that has seen the company start
channelling its software through stores in the UK, using
standard distribution channels to pass the products to dealers.

Power Up! claims it is not becoming just another software dealer,
however. The company plans to source products from around the
world, releasing them through its catalog and distribution
channels under the "Affiliated Labels" logo. The aim of the new
range of software is to produce applications that are
complementary to what Power Up! claims is its "price-
competitive" own-brand software.

"We're continually approached by publishers that have very
effective niche market products, but don't have sufficient
resources for pro-active marketing and distribution," said Peter
Scatchard, Power Up's managing director.

"We can offer these companies the benefits of our direct
marketing catalog, and our established distribution channels.
These provide sales opportunities direct to end users, as well
as into the UK reseller base and major outlets. It also allows
us to add a select group of high quality titles to our publishing
and personal organizer software product lines," he added.

Under the new Power Up! software program, Affiliated Label
products will be manufactured and supported by a third-party
company of the same name. This will allow Power Up! to act
as a "master distributor" for the products.

According to the company, plans are in hand to produce a
number of new titles in the Affiliated Label range, once the
necessary formalities with the companies concerned have
been worked out.

(Steve Gold/19930222/Press & Public Contact - Tel: 0252-
370444; Fax: [phone])


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(TOR)(00026)

Canada's IT Industry Grew 3.8% In 1992 - IDC Study 02/22/93
TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1993 FEB 22 (NB) -- Strength in
software and telecommunications balanced slow-to-negative
growth in computer hardware to produce over-all 3.8 percent
growth in the Canadian information technology market in 1992,
according to International Data Corporation (Canada) Ltd.

IDC's annual Canadian Information Technology Industry: Year-End
Review and Forecast showed a revenue decline in most areas of
computer hardware, even in the personal computer and workstation
areas, which has been the bright spot in hardware sales for the
past few years. The drop in single-user systems revenue was due
largely to aggressive PC price-cutting, and hides the fact that
sales were actually strong in unit terms. Unit shipments of
single-user systems actually grew four percent in 1992, said
Debbie Currey, an IDC researcher.

IDC reported that single-user systems revenues dropped 2.9
percent in 1992 to C$2,587 million. IDC Canada predicts a
continued decline, to C$2,550 million by 1996. However, Currey
said price-cutting is likely to have less effect on revenues in
1993 than in 1992. "We're hearing from a lot of vendors that
they're not taking such a beating on price," she said.

The only computer hardware sector showing growth in 1992 was
small-scale systems, meaning small mid-range computers and
servers. Revenues in that market grew 0.9 percent to C$682
million, and these systems now account for 11 percent of the
total hardware market, IDC said.

The upper part of the mid-range, which IDC calls medium-scale
systems, dropped by 9.4 percent to C$1,160 million. This decline
is also expected to continue.

A decline in mainframe revenues continued, with revenues falling
4.4 percent to C$994 million. IDC forecast continued decline, but
said revenues will fall more slowly by 1996, when new
technologies will start giving the sector a shot in the arm.

IDC expects continued decline in mainframe and medium-scale sales
with the smaller machines capturing a growing share of computer
hardware revenues, Currey said.

The telecommunications business was much healthier in 1992 than
computer hardware, showing a 7.5 percent revenue growth and
reaching revenues of C$5,612 million for the year. IDC credited
continuing liberalization of the Canadian telecoms market and the
construction of a number of regional networks by telecoms
resellers. Internetworking products, voice mail, and interactive
voice response devices also showed strong growth.

The highest growth figure, however, was in the software and
services market, which grew 9.5 percent to C$4,770 million in
1992, according to IDC. Packaged software and professional
services led the growth, while processing services lagged
behind.

Over all, IDC reported, Canadian information technology revenues
hit C$16,557 million in 1992. The research firm expects stable
growth over the next three years, with industry revenues reaching
C$19,822 million in 1996.

The weakness of the over-all economy continued to affect the
industry in 1992, Currey said, though less than in 1991, when
over-all industry revenues grew 3.2 percent.

The Canadian industry may also draw comfort from a recent
survey by consulting firm KPMG Peat Marwick Thorne. KPMG's
annual Survey of Economic Expectations, based on consultations
with a group of economic experts, forecasts slow but solid
recovery from the recession of the past couple of years. The
survey predicts 5.4 percent growth in economic activity in
1993, with continued though slower growth over the next few
years.

(Grant Buckler/19930222/Press Contact: Debbie Currey, IDC
Canada, 416-369-0333; Randy Dutka, KPMG, 416-777-3634)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SFO)(00027)

Artisoft Shipping Noderunner 2000 Network Cards 02/22/93
TUCSON, ARIZONA, U.S.A., 1993 FEB 22 (NB) -- Artisoft has begun
shipments of its new line of network interface adapters, called
the Noderunner 2000.

The Noderunner 2000 series is unique to Artisoft and the
industry in two ways: first, it is based on Artisoft's own
Ethernet interface chip, called ALICE; and second, it is configured
with all of the necessary software drivers for LANtastic. SImply
plugging it in to your PC and attaching the cables is sufficient to
establish that PC as a new node on the network.

Artisoft is planning a whole series of these cards. At this time
only the "C" version is shipping, which supports a BNC connector
for thin-wire Ethernet connections.

Artisoft has told Newsbytes that this is the most popular
configuration of all the network cards that it sells. An Artisoft
spokesperson further elaborated that most PC's today are being
added to existing networks, which helps explain increased
popularity of cards containing that connector type.

In addition to the "C" version, Artisoft is also developing: a "T"
model for 10Base-T wiring; an "A" model that will support AUI,
BNC, and 10Base-T connectors; and a "TC" model which will offer
BNC and 10Base-T connector for Microchannel bus-based machines.
The A and the TC models are being prepared for shipment later
in the first quarter, 1993.

Artisoft has lower the original retail price of the cards. The
cards were originally introduced at a price of $299. Now they
will retail for $279. For a special promotion period, the
Noderunner 2000/C cards will be available at a retail price of
$259. There are also packages available which combine either
six or 12 Noderunners together. These packages are available for
$1,499 or $2,899 respectively.

Noderunner prices tend to be higher than the run of the mill
Ethernet cards due to the fact that they come with an Artisoft
LANtastic network license on board already, said the company.
This license is separately sold for $99. Consequently, the
boards come with the "LANtastic on-board" logo on their
packaging.

(Naor Wallach/19930222/Press Contact: Joe Stunkard, Artisoft,
602- 670-7145/Public Contact: Artisoft, 602-293-6363,
800-849-9726)


(NEWS)(IBM)(NYC)(00028)

IBM's Cutbacks Cause Westchester County Real Estate Havoc 02/22/93
ARMONK, NEW YORK, U.S.A. 1993 FEB 22 (NB) --  The announcement
that IBM will vacate  an office complex in Purchase, New York, and
will phase out of its space in White Plains' largest office building,
has caused major ripples in the commercial real estate market in
Westchester County, the New York State county just north of New
York City.

IBM, the county's largest employer, has reduced its county
employment from 15,000 employees housed in eight million square
feet of office space in the mid-1980's, to a present 9,450
employees in 5.6 million square feet. The Purchase, NY complex,
designed by famed architect IM Pei, was  purchased by IBM from
Nestle Foods. IBM has announced that it will sell the 425,000
square foot, three-story building. The relocation of employees
from the Purchase site will begin in May 1993 and is expected
to take a few months.

The departure from Westchester One, the White Plains building is
to be a gradual one and will add to problems for the city which now
has one of the highest commercial office vacancy rates in the
country. The Gannett Westchester Suburban quoted John
Rostenberg, a principal of Rostenberg-Doern, as estimating that
the IBM move from the 10-story complex would push the city's rate
from an already high 30 percent to close to 33 percent. Rostenberg
said, "For White Plains this is another blow." He added that the
countywide office vacancy was 22.4 percent at the end of 1992,
up from 20.3 percent a year earlier.

A senior IBM executive told Newsbytes that the reason for the
gradual  withdrawal from White Plains is due to the fact that IBM
has multiple leases in the building that expire at different times.
He also said that, while similar building sales and withdrawal
from leased properties have not been announced for New York's
Duchess County where IBM has major manufacturing operations,
such moves are decided possibilities in that area as well. He
said, "We do have a lot of separate buildings and warehouses that
might turn out to be marketable, although I understand that the
market in Duchess is even worse than Westchester."

(Barbara E. McMullen & John F. McMullen/19930221)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(TYO)(00029)

CD Music Vending Machine Debuts In Japan 02/22/93
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1993 FEB 22 (NB) -- Pioneer has developed
a CD "vending machine," which is connected to a Karaoke machine
to allow users to produce their own original compact disks (CD).

The device is called the "CDR-V500," or Private Disk. It is an
upright shape and looks like a small refrigerator. It can be
connected with Pioneer's "Karaoke" laser-disk machine.

It is claimed to be easy to use - just sing a song along Karaoke
music. The device automatically records the singing and creates
a three-inch CD. The fee for one disk can be 2,000 yen ($16). The
CD can be created in about 4 minutes.

Pioneers has been testing the CD vender since November, 1992,
jointly with Daiichi Kosho, which is a major music-related
product distributor in Japan. They placed eight devices at
Karaoke shops in major cities in Japan.

According to their survey, an average of about three people used
the machine per day. It is claimed that about 900,000 to one
million units of the blank CD (unrecorded CD) will be consumed
per month when the devices are sold. Pioneer has already set up
the production line to meet the demand of the blank CDs.

The price of the Private Disk (CD vender) costs 900,000 yen
($7,500). Pioneer hopes to ship 20,000 units during the first two
years. The vender can record not only singing but a message on
the disk.

(Masayuki "Massey" Miyazawa/19930222/Press Contact:
Pioneer, [phone], Fax, [phone])


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(TYO)(00030)

NTT Starts Digital Mobile Phone Service In Japan 02/22/93
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1993 FEB 22 (NB) -- NTT Ido Tsushin, a subsidiary
of major Japanese telecommunications firm NTT, says it will
begin providing digital-type mobile phone and portable phone
services this spring - the first of its kind in Japan.

NTT Ido Tsushin has already provided the digital mobile phone
service to the Japanese Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications.
It is expected to be approved and the firm is already preparing
to begin the service in this March.

To start, NTT Ido will provide the service in Tokyo area including
Tokyo, Yokohama, Kawasaki, Saitama, and Chiba Prefecture. The
services cover normal analog phone features such as automatic
receiver and a secret talk mode based on NTT's coding technology.
The service prices are 17,000 yen ($140), which is 1,000 yen
($8) higher than that of analog mobile phone services.

NTT Ido is also planning to add other features to analog mobile
phones in this March. The new features will include answering
phone services and message services. It is expected that those
services will also be available on the digital versions.

Meanwhile, NTT Ido says the number of the firm's registered
mobile phone and portable phone users exceeded one million
users this month.

Other private telecom firms have also been seeing an increase
in the number of the mobile phone users. It is said the total
number of registered users in Japan is currently about 1.63
million.

(Masayuki "Massey" Miyazawa/19930222/Press Contact:
NTT Ido Tsushin, [phone])