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/nb930308

Text File | 1993-03-08 | 76KB | 1,681 lines

(NEWS)(TRENDS)(MOW)(00001)

Russia - Smart Cards Arrive 03/08/92
ST PETERSBOURG, RUSSIA, 1993 MAR 8 (NB) -- AJEST, a French company,
has announced a second deal with a local bank to implement its
proprietary "smart card" technology in St Petersbourg, Russia.

The smart card, similar to the plastic credit card but containing
a chip instead of a magnetic stripe, allows more information
to be written on the card, and provides more protection of the
information it contains.

The French company, AJEST, partly owned by Innovatron Ingenierie,
another French firm, is offering its proprietary card design. The cards
can be used in sales and banking transactions in places with
a poor or absent telecommunications infrastructure -- for example, a
shop with no phone lines, which is not uncommon in Russia.

AJEST is already installing the equipment for the St Petersbourg-based
PromStrojBank, and has reportedly signed a deal with another bank in
the city, called Sankt-Petersbourg Bank.

The company does not disclose the size of the deal.

(Kirill Tchashchin/19930305)


(NEWS)(IBM)(DEN)(00002)

New Development Tool For C Programmers 03/08/93
SALEM, OREGON, U.S.A., 1993 MAR 8 (NB) -- Cater Software, known for
its C/Analyst software, has announced release of an interactive
software development tool for C programmers using the DOS platform.

Called C->It, the program analyzes C source code to build a model of
a program and answer questions about that program through its
built-in query language.

C=>it uses an entity/relationship modelling technique of objects
found in the C source code, and the company says the program can
find recursive functions, task interactions, module dependencies,
called and caller functions, variable cross-references, indirect and
direct references to members of structure, formal and actual
parameters to functions, data type and scope of objects, and
location and description of functions. It can also find the number
of occurrences of a type of object or relationship and can select
objects that have a minimum or maximum number of relationships.

According to Cater Software C->It output can be redirected to a
printer or file using command line options to customize output for a
particular printer or display. The program comes with a static
source code analyzer capable of analyzing 100,000 lines of ANSI C
code. It's available for DOS platforms as a stand-alone program for
$200 or bundled with C/Analyst for $350.

(Jim Mallory/19930305/Press and reader contact: Dwight Cater, Cater
Software, 503-581-5622)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(DEN)(00003)

General Software's LAN Protocol Analyzer 03/08/93
REDMOND, WASHINGTON, U.S.A., 1993 MAR 8 (NB) -- General Software
(GS) has announced a software version of its Ethernet protocol
analyzer The Snooper.

The company says the program is available for bundling with other
vendor's software and hardware such as bridges, routers, and network
operating systems. GS will negotiate volume pricing with OEMs who
are willing to duplicate the software in order to ship an analyzer
with each of their products. OEMs will pay a royalty that ranges
from one to 35 dollars per copy depending on volume.

GS says the deal not only allows an OEM company to ship an
analyzer worth $350 with each unit of their product, but it also
allows every user to diagnose problems earlier and will reduce
the load on the network provider's technical support resources.

The Snooper installs directly on any DOS-based PC, AT, 386 or
486-based personal computer and can interface with nearly any
existing network interface card. It can capture network traffic
using any of four real-time capture display formats, then display
the captured packets in any of three forms, or save them to disk for
later analysis. Packets can be displayed in high-level form or in
hexadecimal in the same manner that hardware-based protocol
analyzers and the so-called "disk doctor" programs do. The third
display available is a detailed decoding of each packet with
annotations, with support provided for Novell Netware, Microsoft LAN
Manager, IBM LAN Server, Xerox XNS, and TCP/IP protocol suits.

During capture mode, The Snooper displays incoming traffic density
by packet type with real-time bar graphs displayed on the PC's
screen. Network utilization, packets per second, file sharing
requests per second, number of fragments, and number of oversized
packets are some of the statistics displayed.

"I think this is the first time anyone has offered bundling of a
protocol analyzer with network cards. Most end-users will be pretty
surprised when they receive a free analyzer bundled with their next
network interface card," Product Manager Steve Jones told Newsbytes.

(Jim Mallory/19930305/Press contact and reader contact: Steve Jones,
General Software, 206-391-4285, fax [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(DEN)(00004)

Word For Word, Word For Windows 5.2 03/08/93
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA, U.S.A., 1993 MAR 8 (NB) -- Mastersoft, the
company that publishes the Word for Word (WFW) line of document
conversion utilities, says it is now shipping the latest release of
WFW Word for Windows, version 5.2.

Word For Word, which was reviewed by Newsbytes in December of 1991
and received a 4.0, our highest PUMA review rating score, converts
files from one format to another. You can convert a DOS or Windows
document from the Word for Windows format to the Ami Pro format
without losing special formatting like bold or underline. You
can even convert a document from a DOS-based program format to a
Macintosh-based program, and its all done with menus. Just select
the document, point at the original format and the format you want
to change it to, and your done.

The company shipped a Macintosh version of Word For Word in August
1990 and the Windows version in December 1992. Principal features of
the new release are the addition of several new converters to the
existing list and upgrades to some of the existing conversion
routines.

Mastersoft says that additions to the conversion list include Legacy
versions 1.x and 2.0; Wordstar for Windows version 1.x; and
Framemaker (MIF). The new routines for converting documents are for
Ami Professional 3.0, PFS:First Choice 3.0, WordStar 7.0, and
Wordperfect 5.2.

WFW Word For Windows has expanded the "Open" and "Save As" menus
within Microsoft Word to allow over 40 additional import options.
The program has a suggested retail price of $79.95, and registered
owners can upgrade to version 5.2 for $39.95 by calling or faxing
Mastersoft.

(Jim Mallory/19930305/Press and reader contact: Robert Caplan,
Mastersoft, 602-277-0900, fax [phone])


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SFO)(00005)

Fujitsu Sells Supercomputer To US Petroleum Firm 03/08/93
SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 MAR 8 (NB) -- Fujitsu America
says it has sold its first VPX series supercomputer since
entering the US supercomputer market last March.

One area where supercomputers can still count on a few
sales is in the scientific arena. Another is in oil exploration.
According to Fujitsu, GECO-PRAKLA, part of the Schlumberger
Oilfield Services group, will install the company's VPX220
model vector supercomputer for large computational demands
associated with three dimensional (3-D) seismic processing
at its Houston computing center.

The company says that a major tool used by oil companies to
locate exploration and development wells is 3-D seismic.

In announcing the order, Thomas Miller, Fujitsu America vice
president, Supercomputer Group, said: "The Fujitsu VPX220
system is the fastest single central processing unit system
ever installed for use by the US petroleum industry."

The company claims that industry experts estimate that the
US seismic acquisition and data processing services industry
totals approximately $600 million in annual revenues.

GECO-PRAKLA says that vector supercomputers are at the
heart of its operations, alongside workstations for data
quality control and highly parallel systems for specialized
applications.

According to the company, images of the subsurface geology are
created through 3-D seismic technology. First, trillions of data
points are created by sending sound waves underground to
measure the distance traveled from rock layers to the earth's
surface. Subsequently, the supercomputer processes the
resulting data points to form a detailed image of the subsurface
geology. Oil companies then use the information to target
exploratory and developmental wells to locate and produce oil
and gas reserves.

(Ian Stokell/19930305/Press Contact: Margaret Lasecke,
408-456-7606, Fujitsu America Inc.)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SFO)(00006)

Artisoft LANtastic Interconnectivity Kit 03/08/93
TUCSON, ARIZONA, U.S.A., 1993 MAR 8 (NB) -- Hoping to appeal
to companies requiring interconnectivity between networking
platforms, Artisoft has announced the NDIS Support for
LANtastic Kit.

According to the company, the kit allows LANtastic users to
interconnect with other operating environments as well as
providing an NDIS (Network Driver Interface Specification)
interface to the LANtastic NetBIOS.

Joe Stunkard, spokesman for Artisoft told Newsbytes that
"The number one target market would be corporate workgroup
environments. A product like this will allow them to establish
a departmental or a workgroup network using LANtastic.
In these corporations you will find different types of networks,
such as NetWare, or a Unix environment, or possibly a mainframe
environment. By incorporating the standard NDIS support for those
platforms it will allow LANtastic to go out and access the
different environments as well."

According to the company, the NDIS Support for LANtastic Kit is
scheduled to ship this month, along with version 5.0 of the
LANtastic network operating system). It will be priced at $199
per network.

The company says that the NDIS Support for LANtastic Kit allows
users to load or stack multiple protocols allowing transparent
access across different computing platforms, with the protocols
being loaded and accessed concurrently without interrupting the
LANtastic network connection.

The NDIS Support for LANtastic Kit enables a wide range of
adapters that come with NDIS drivers to be compatible with the
LANtastic/AI network - the company's adapter-independent
version of the LANtastic network operating system. The AI-NDIS
driver included in the kit also links Artisoft's, as well as
third-party, NDIS drivers with the LANtastic network's NetBIOS.

LANtastic now offers multiplatform connectivity for NetWare,
TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) and
Macintosh systems. It allows up to 500 users of IBM-compatible
computers to connect and share information and peripheral
devices.

Speaking of the competition for LANtastic, Stunkard told Newsbytes
that, "One of the nice things about us being in a peer-to-peer
market, is that there are very few other products that compete
with us at the high-end level. Certainly there are other
products, such as the higher forms of NetWare, which are very
capable of providing multi-platform support, but LANtastic is
able to do that, in this case, for a much lower cost. As far as
other peer-to-peer products, there are really not that many that
go out and access multi-platform environments like LANtastic.
It separates us from other peer-to-peer players."

(Ian Stokell/19930305/Press Contact: Joe Stunkard,
602-670-7145, Artisoft Inc.)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(NYC)(00007)

42 To Attend Privacy Conference Free Of Charge 03/08/93
NEW YORK, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1993 MAR 8 (NB) -- The Third
Annual Conference on Computers, Freedom, & Privacy (CFP'93),
has handed out 42 full tuition scholarships to its event.
CFP'93 is to be held from Wednesday, March 10th through
Friday, March 12th at the San Francisco Airport Marriott.

It is preceded by a day of tutorials on the subjects to covered
at the conference and scholarship winners are also entitled to
attend the conference.

Scholarships were awarded to individuals from diverse interests
and geographical backgrounds and to qualify, individuals had
to demonstrate that attendance would benefit them and their
community, according to Bruce Koball, conference chair, and
scholarship chair, John McMullen. They also had to prove that
they could not attend the conference without the scholarship,
and to agree to write a two-page summary of their reactions
to the conference.

McMullen says that applications were received from all over the
United States, Canada, and Europe from computer scientists, students,
hackers, law enforcement officials, privacy advocates, and
"even film-makers and a poet. The diversity of the group and the
strong backgrounds of all of the applicants made the final
decisions very difficult," McMullen says.

McMullen also said that the funding for the scholarships was the
result of solicitations by the CFP governing board and that
the number of scholarships is approximately the same as last
year. He said, "The number is always somewhat touch-and-go and some
winners and losers do not find out until the last minute as we
look for more funding."

Conference chair Koball, commenting on the scholarships, said,
"We felt that sponsoring a substantial number of scholarships was
essential to the goals of the CFP conference; to ensure that no group
was excluded from the important dialogs that take place there. The
recipients include students, academics, law enforcement officials
and others of limited means who bring important viewpoints to CFP'93."

Among the winners of the scholarships were Dr. Jagtar Singh, a computer
scientist currently teaching in England; hacker "Phiber Optik;" Bell
Northern Telcom researcher Ellen Spoonamore; poet Marguerite Peterson,
high school student Michael Minnich, attorney Joshua Blackman; pioneer
hacker John Draper, a/k/a "Capt'n Crunch;" software developer Marilyn
Davis; filmmaker Karen Lee; public activist Carolyn Strauss; and a number
of college, graduate, doctoral, and law students.

Spoonamore, an attendee at the 1992 conference held in Washington DC,
told Newsbytes, "I learned so much last year and am so gratified to
be able to attend this year's conference. The interplay between
so many people with diverse points of view was fascinating as
well as informative. I think that I crammed years worth of study
into one week last year. I am looking forward to the same type
of conference this year"

Among the speakers at this year's conference are Nicholas Johnson,
former chairman of the FCC, John Perry Barlow, co-founder of the
Electronic Frontier Foundation; and Clifford Stoll, astrophysicist
and author of "The Cuckoo's Egg."

(Barbara E. McMullen/Press Contact: Bruce Koball, CFP'93,
[e-mail]/19930308)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(SFO)(00008)

Autodesk Intros Cyberspace Developer Kit 03/08/93
SAUSALITO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 MAR 8 (NB) -- Two of
the hottest technologies in the industry today are object-
oriented programming and virtual reality. Autodesk has
combined both in its new Cyberspace Developer Kit.

According to the company, the product consists of a complete
toolset for three-dimensional (3-D) visualization and simulation.
The kit contains a set of C++ class libraries, and allows
developers to "build practical, PC-based applications in which
users interact with 3D worlds in real time."

Autodesk has been involved in virtual reality research since 1988.
Richard Dym, general manager of Autodesk's Multimedia Division,
said, "We view virtual reality as the logical step in design
automation, because it adds interactive 3D visualization and
simulation capabilities to the drafting and design process.
Virtual reality technology is critical to maintaining Autodesk's
leadership in computer-aided design over the long term."

According to the company, the Cyberspace Developer Kit allows
for the easy importing, exporting, creation and manipulation
of 3-D objects, and includes support for Autodesk's 3D Studio
software and .DXF file formats. The kit also facilitates
realistic simulations, claims the company, by assigning objects
and environments real physical properties, such as mass and
density, and apply forces such as gravity, friction, and spring.

The Cyberspace Developer Kit comprises C++ class libraries,
documentation, diagnostic utilities and sample applications
with source code. The product carries a suggested retail
price of $2,495.

The product requires a 386- or 486-based PC with 8 megabytes
(MB) of RAM and an 80MB hard drive. The kit supports a number
of graphics accelerator boards and displays, and can also run on
a VGA monitor with a VESA (Video Electronics Standards
Association) standard driver. MS-DOS 3.1 or higher is also
required. Also needed is either the Zortech 386 C++ 3.0 or
Metaware High C/C++ 3.0 compiler, in addition to the Phar Lap
linker and 386/DOS extender SDK.

(Ian Stokell/19930305/Press Contact: Garth Chouteau,
415-491-8853, Autodesk)


(NEWS)(IBM)(LAX)(00009)

Cookbook Organizes Grocery Lists In Store Order 03/08/93
SANTA ROSA, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 MAR 8 (NB) -- If you've
ever been frustrated with making laps in the grocery store
because the items on your shopping list are not in the order
they are in the grocery store, Pinpoint Publishing has
a surprise for you. The company says the new version of Micro
Cookbook allows you not only to plan your menu, but it
organizes the shopping items according to the grocery store
section.

Micro Cookbook 4.0 has just been released for Microsoft Windows
and the company says it offers 1,000 recipes, meal planning,
nutrition analysis, and the preparation of shopping lists
grouped together by grocery categories. Users can add recipes,
menus, and non-food items to the lists and rearrange the lists
on the fly as well.

Also, if you want to know what you can make with what's already
in the refrigerator, Micro Cookbook can do that as well. The
program can find recipes by name, category, or ingredients and
will print recipes on standard pages or index cards.

New cookbooks with new recipes are also planned, the company
said. The first titles are "Cooking A to Z" that comes with 750
recipes in a hard copy as well, and a Family Circle cookbook.

Micro Cookbook for Windows retails for $59.95, but current
Micro Cookbook users may upgrade for $29.99. A DOS version of
the product is expected in April.

(Linda Rohrbough/19930305/Press Contact: Lorena Peer, Pinpoint
Publishing, tel [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(APPLE)(LAX)(00010)

 ****Macintosh Utility Speeds CD-ROM Drives 1800% 03/08/93
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 MAR 8 (NB) -- FWB,
makers of the Hammer line of hard disk drives, has announced a
new CD-ROM Toolkit for the Macintosh which it says can increase
compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) performance up to 1800
percent.

The company says the product is a Desk Accessory software
driver that replaces the user's current software driver on the
Macintosh. The software speeds up CD-ROM access by caching and
prefetching repeatedly used information. Caching is a technique
based on the principle that the information the user needs next
will probably be the information in the next physical space on the
spinning CD-ROM disc. So when the information a user requests
is sought, the software "reads ahead" information that is
spinning by anyway and stores it in memory, then checks the
memory first when the next request for information is made.
This technique significantly increases performance, as
information in memory is much easier and faster accessed than
information on the disc. Prefetching is a similar process to
caching.

FWB says "find file" operations that took 28 seconds before
acceleration only take 1.1 seconds after installation of CD-ROM
Toolkit, or opening all folders on the "World Fact Book" disc
from Wayzata is accelerated to only take 14 seconds as opposed
to 38 seconds.

The Toolkit operates transparently and allows users to allocate
additional hard disk space or memory to caching for faster
performance. FWB says the Toolkit also offers Kodak Photo CD
support to most of the popular CD-ROM drives, such as those
from Toshiba, Sony, Chinon, Pioneer, Apple, NEC, and Phillips,
and has an audio control Desk Accessory for management of audio
playback. Support for Apple HFS, ISO 9660, ProDOS and MS-DOS
discs is built in as well.

The CD-ROM Toolkit just began shipping, FWB said. Retail price
is $79, although street prices are expected to be in the $49
range.

(Linda Rohrbough/19930305/Press Contact: Mike Micheletti, FWB,
tel [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(TYO)(00011)

 ****NEC CD-ROM Stores 4 Times More Data 03/08/93
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1993 MAR 8 (NB) -- NEC says it has developed a
technology capable of storing four times more data on a CD-ROM
than conventional technology allows. With this technology, data for
a one-hour motion picture can be stored on a single CD-ROM, making
this medium ideal for multimedia personal computers.

NEC has come up with an original mastering process to draw a narrower
pitch, .25 micron, on a CD-ROM disc. This width is much smaller
than the 0.3 micron width of regular CD-ROMs. In order
to draw this narrower pitch, NEC has used a shortwave with a
wavelength of 363.8 nanometers and a high-quality lens. As a result,
NEC was able to create a CD-ROM that quadruples data storage, to
about 2 gigabytes of data. About 4 hours of pictorial data
can be stored on this disc with the help of digital compression
technology. This is a lot more than current CD-ROMs, which can
store only about half a gigabyte, or 15 minutes of uncompressed
digital pictorial data.

The quality of color pictures on this disc is quite good, according
to NEC, which boasts that the quality is almost equivalent to
that of a laser disk.

NEC has started to develop a CD-ROM drive that will read
data from these discs with extremely sensitive semiconductor
lasers at 500 nanometers. The drive is expected to reach the
market in a couple of years.

(Masayuki "Massey" Miyazawa/19930308/Press Contact: NEC, +81-3-
3451-2974, [phone])


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

IBM Japan's Efforts Lead To 10 New Subsidiaries 03/08/93
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1993 MAR 8 (NB) -- IBM Japan's Second Carrier Support
Program is being termed a success. The program was set up for
IBM Japan's employees who are over 50 years in age so that they
could create their own firms. The idea was the brainchild
of an effort to humanely cut employees from the payroll dating
back to the 1980s, and is the second such effort from IBM.

About 3,000 employees are involved in this program, all have
pledged to resign from IBM this June in exchange for IBM's help
in setting up their own businesses. Among the new firms that
have been created are a repair service firm and a distribution
company.

Other firms were previously created by IBM with its employees
over the age of 60, in the firm's first carrier support program.
In that effort, IBM and the ex-employees created 9 firms
which include a language translation firm, a publishing firm, and
a personnel dispatching service company.

IBM Japan will pay an additional retirement fee -- half to two
year's salary -- depending on the age of the retiree. IBM Japan
has reportedly allocated 17 billion yen ($140 million) for the
support of nearly 1,000 employees in this program this fiscal
year.

The program is expected to help IBM Japan, which is suffering
from a business slowdown. The firm suffered a 33-percent loss
in profit as of December over the previous term.

(Masayuki "Massey" Miyazawa/19930308/Press Contact: IBM Japan,
[phone], Fax, [phone])


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

NYNEX Cellular Code Coming to You? 03/08/93
NEW YORK, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1993 MAR 8 (NB) -- As the US runs
short of valid area codes and prepares to make 640 more
combinations available starting in 1995, debate on how to assign
them is intensifying.

NYNEX, the Bell company for New York and New England, may have
hit upon the germ of a solution. Instead of dividing the 212 area
code, which serves Manhattan, the company has created a new area
code, 917, serving just cellular phones. Barbara Kaufman of
Bellcore, the Bell companies' research consortium, which is in
charge of the numbering plan, says that 917 is an interim
solution, and eventually some offices on Manhattan may also get
the 917 area code, but the concept of such "overlays" is
intriguing, and "I don't think it will be limited to cellular."

Overlays also look good when political pressures get in the way
of geographic decisions on area codes. For instance, in Atlanta,
state regulators listened to local businesses in dividing the 404
area code for Atlanta with the new 706 code for the rest of North
Georgia. The result was that so few numbers were assigned to the
new 706 code that 404 will be have to be divided again in a few
years.

Some area codes are also losing the geographic coherence which
used to make them useful. For instance, California regulators
have had to divide the city of Los Angeles between two codes
recently, with the west side of town leaving 213 for the new 310
code. And dialing an area code is no longer a guarantee of a toll
charge. Calls from Chicago's 312 area to Evanston in 708 are
still local calls, as are calls from New York's 212 to Brooklyn's
718. On the other hand, many calls within south Georgia's 912 area
code are toll calls, even when the call is only going a few
miles.

Codes could lose all geographic coherence in future years, as new
codes like 232 and 585 are assigned. The codes have already lost
logical coherence, Kaufman notes. In years past, an area code
always had a 1 or 0 as its central digit, and dialing prefixes
did not. Today dialing prefixes are no longer restricted, and
soon area codes won't be, either. The result will be that 10-
digit dialing, even for local calls, will become common in many
cities, and those numbers will become increasingly hard to
memorize. "Overlay may be the right way to go," says Kaufman, at
least letting people know that, in dialing one set of three-
digits they're getting a cellular phone, with a second set for a
pager, a third set for a fax machine, and perhaps a fourth set
for a voice phone. The alternative is to keep dividing cities
between area codes until they become useless as identifiers.

Going forward, Kaufman adds, into the middle of the next century,
it may be that dialing codes will have to be further extended,
with as many as four additional numbers added to each phone
number. The good news is that the increased computerization of
the phone network may lead to individuals, not instruments,
having their own phone numbers. You may simply say "call mom's
fax" into your phone and the phone itself would look-up mom's
fax number.

(Dana Blankenhorn/199303008/Press Contact: Bellcore, Cynthia
Lucenius, 201-740-6468)


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

A Smarter Way To Process Credit Cards 03/08/93
REDWOOD CITY, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A, 1993 MAR 8 (NB) -- Verifone, the
largest maker of those tiny magnetic-stripe readers used by
merchants taking credit cards, announced a new software system
using PCs which will let stores take credit cards and small banks
handle the transactions the cards even where local telecom
networks are poor.

The system, called Omnihost, does a lot of the work handled by
mainframes in the US, like authorizing the use of bank or
credit cards, and capturing electronic drafts. The product also
converts authorization messages among formats used by many
different brands of computers and terminals.

The idea, said Roger Bertman, VeriFone's vice president of
marketing and general manager of the Network Systems Division in
a press statement, is to let banks in places like Latin America
and Asia, where networks are poor, offer credit services, and
encourage stores in those areas to use the services.

A store in the US will simply swipe a credit card through a
Verifone reader, setting in motion a complex call over a packet
network to a distance mainframe. A web of computer connections
is then activated, with separate bank mainframes holding the
customer's credit records and the store's bank records. More
packet links are needed to link these banks' machines back to the
store's terminal where the clerk is waiting patiently to see an
"authorization number" which will let him or her complete the
transaction with some assurance the store will be paid. Usually,
all these banks machines must exchange their messages and make
their calls or the transaction will "time out." If a call times
out, large transactions are usually rejected and small ones
accepted.

The problem is that in the Third World, networks are often down
or in poor condition. Nearly every transaction would "time out"
if the system were like that in the US, and the risk of non-
payment on transactions considered trivial here would bankrupt
both stores and their banks. By handling as much of the
transaction as possible at or near the cash register, on a PC
within the city which can handle small numbers of transactions,
sale, merchants in such countries can still take credit cards.

US merchants, like fast food places or gas stations, are also
moving toward handling some functions in this way. Only in these
cases the functions are handled directly within the merchant's
terminal, with the aim being to eliminate that 15-second wait.
These stores now have "hot card" lists reloaded into memory chips
on the terminals each night, often by satellite, so the stores
can handle a small sale within 3-5 seconds. The day's receipts
are then sent in one "batch," during the night, with the
satellite system polling each store to reload the hot-card list
and collect the receipts. It may be that a variation on this
system could prove the stiffest competition for Omnihost.

Omnihost is available in versions using a local area network or
file server which can handle either a single store, a chain's
multiple locations, or many different stores within a small area.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19930308/Press Contact: David Barnes, VeriFone,
415-696-8823)


(NEWS)(IBM)(BOS)(00015)

Mobile World - IBM Promotes PenAssist For Pen Developers 03/08/93
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1993 MAR 8 (NB) -- At Mobile World,
IBM ramped up promotion of PenAssist, a program aimed at spurring
applications development for PenDOS as well as PenPM/2, the pen
extensions to OS/2.

On the show floor, IBM staff distributed PenAssist brochures and
talked up program benefits. These encompass software and hardware
discounts, access to IBM test centers, and a variety of information
services, including a new Pen and Mobile Software Systems Forum on
Compuserve.

IBM will be now be adding a series of Software Conversion
Workshops, and would like to attract many more PenAssist
participants, said an IBM employee working in the exhibition booth.

All PenAssist services except the software and hardware discounts
are available free of charge. The discount service carries a $500
annual fee.

Eligible to take part in PenAssist are developers of pen
applications, developers of commercially available applications,
and corporations that are creating pen applications for their own
use.

PenAssist discounts include 50% off the regular price on selected
IBM printers and features, along with special deals on pen hardware
from IBM and other vendors, the PenDOS SDK (software developer's
kit), and pen applications. Also as part of the discount service,
the Pen PM/2 SDK is provided free of charge.

The upcoming Software Conversion Workshops to be sponsored by
PenAssist will deal with converting DOS applications to PenDOS and
OS/2 applications to PenPM/2.

The IBM Test Centers open to PenAssist participants are located in
Palo Alto, CA, Atlanta, GA, and Hamden, CT. Each center is
equipped with digitizing pads, plus an IBM PS/2 installed with
the PenDOS SDK, PenPM/2 SDK, and PenPoint SDK.

Other program benefits include trade show support for selected
developers, a pen application catalog, and direct e-mail
communications with IBM's software developer's support
organization.

Also free of charge, IBM will list any application for the
PenAssist Program on its National Solution Center database. IBM
uses the database to help find developers and applications that are
good fits with customer requests.

The new Pen and Mobile Software Systems Forum on Compuserve is open
to program participants and nonparticipants alike. IBM is
monitoring the forum to provide responses to inquiries on
PenAssist, along with other topics related to pen and mobile
systems. To access the forum on Compuserve, type GO THINKPAD.

Faxback information on IBM's pen and mobile systems and other
products can also be obtained by participants as well as
nonparticipants. Call 404-238-4264. For answers to questions
specifically related to PenAssist, call 404-238-2200.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19930308/Press and reader contact: tel 404-238-
2200)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(BOS)(00016)

Mobile World - Signing Documents Remotely By Pen Computer 03/08/93
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1993 MAR 8 (NB) -- A new system
called TeleSignature 2000 is letting on-the-road pen computers
users sign their names remotely to checks, contracts, and other
hard copy documents stored at a central site.

Introduced at Mobile World, the new product from SDB Systems
includes Virtual Writer 1.0 software for a pen and a desktop PC,
plus the TeleSignature 2000 Scanner/Writer, an external device that
combines the capabilities of a scanner and pen/plotter.

Also required are a 386 or higher pen PC, a 386SX or
higher desktop PC, a modem for each computer, and a portable
printer. Both PCs must be running DOS.

In an interview with Newsbytes, Neal Kramer, executive vice
president, said that TeleSignature 2000 allows managers to
give an instant "go ahead" on important business matters from
virtually anywhere in the world.

Contracts can be pinned down and purchases made even though the
executive isn't physically present, he elaborated. The system
incorporates software data encryption, security systems for the
Scanner/Writer, and other features designed to prevent tampering.

The online document signing process begins in the home office, when
an employee inserts the document to be signed into the
Scanner/Writer. The employee then sets the software on the
host PC to accept an incoming call.

The remote user dials the home office from the pen PC. The
office unit receives the call, scans the document, and transmits an
image of the requested document to the pen computer.

The remote user then reviews the scanned document on the pen PC,
places a signature on the image, and sends the image back. Next,
the signature is rendered in hard copy by the Scanner/Writer at
the home office.

Finally, the home office unit sends a verification copy of the
signed document to the remote user. The user prints out the
verification copy on the portable printer.

Walter Peterson, vice president of engineering, explained that the
pen/plotter function in the Scanner/Writer is responsible for
duplicating the image. The Scanner/Writer also holds the document
firmly in place throughout the signature session.

A security lock on the Scanner/Writer keeps documents safe from
meddling, he added. Any attempt to open the lock during a session
disables the plotter and sounds a warning message on the signer's
pen PC screen. Another security system disables the plotter at any
attempt to modify the electronic circuitry.

The system also uses public/private data encryption to encrypt both
the image and the captured signature before transmission over the
phone lines. Encrypted copies of the signed document are filed on
both the desktop and pen PC. The document can then be reviewed,
but not modified, from either end of the system.

Signatures produced via TeleSignature 2000 are considered legal for
all but a few types of documents, such as wills, where the signing
must be witnessed, according to the company.

TeleSignature 2000 started to be shipped last week. The complete
system, including Scanner/Writer and Virtual Writer software, is
priced at $4,995. The software can also be purchased separately,
at $250 each for the desktop and pen computer packages.

Peterson told Newsbytes that the user can gain some but not all the
benefits of TeleSignature by buying the Virtual Writer software
only, and using a scanner or fax machine in place of the
Scanner/Writer.

Under the scanner or fax machine scenario, the remote user accesses
a stored image of his or her own signature, and then affixes the
signature to the document.

SDB Systems expects TeleSignature 2000 to be especially popular in
countries where overnight mail is either nonexistent or very
expensive.

Prior to releasing the product, the Fort Myers, FL-based company
had already received more than 120 direct orders from overseas,
along with requests for US distributorships in Boston, Atlanta,
Dallas, Memphis, Miami, Tampa, Orlando, and Washington, DC.
Distributors are being set up now.

Other activities in the works include a version of TeleSignature
2000 for notebook PCs, which will also use stored signatures, and
two system enhancements. One enhancement, voice signaling, will
supply voice prompts for guiding users through the document signing
process.

Another, signature verification, will prevent forgery by
recognizing signatures based on the amount of pressure used when
signing, as well as how the letters are shaped.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19930308/Press and reader contact: SDB Systems,
tel [phone])


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(TOR)(00017)

Cable & Wireless Exits Canada 03/08/93
TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1993 MAR 8 (NB) -- Cable & Wireless
North America is selling off two divisions, effectively ending
its operations in Canada. The company wants to concentrate on the
United States market instead, officials said.

Cable & Wireless has announced the sale of its Network Services
Division to Call-Net, a Toronto long-distance reseller, for about
$35 million in cash and notes. This deal closed March 4.
Call-Net is the largest long-distance reseller in Canada,
officials said.

Cable & Wireless also announced the sale of its Business Systems
Division in Canada to Ericatel Ltd., a privately held Canadian
company. This division sells telecommunications equipment and
services. Terms of the sale to Ericatel were not disclosed.

A spokeswoman for Cable & Wireless North America said these were
the company's only operations in the Canadian market.

Increasing competition in the Canadian long-distance telephone
market was not a major factor in the move, the spokeswoman said.

Cable & Wireless still has a link with BCE Inc., the holding
company that controls Bell Canada and Northern Telecom, through
BCE's 20-percent stake in the British carrier Mercury, which
Cable & Wireless controls.

(Grant Buckler/19930308/Press Contact: Debra Arrington, Cable &
Wireless, 703-734-4534)


(NEWS)(IBM)(TOR)(00018)

Unisys Adds Five 486 PCs 03/08/93
BLUE BELL, PENNSYLVANIA, U.S.A., 1993 MAR 8 (NB) -- Unisys
has added five personal computers, all based on Intel 486
processors, to its PW2 Advantage entry-level PC line. The new
models include two low-profile desktops and three larger systems
that can serve as desktop PCs or as network servers.

Like all of Unisys' Advantage line, the new models are aimed
directly at local area network users running Microsoft's Windows
operating environment. To that end, the machines have Novell
NetWare certification, and all five come with accelerated video
controllers and local-bus video using the Video Electronics
Standards Association (VESA) standard.

The two low-profile models are the Model 4253, with a
25-megahertz 486SX chip, and the Model 4333, with a 33-megahertz
486DX chip. Both come with four megabytes of memory as standard
equipment, and with three Industry Standard Architecture (ISA)
expansion slots, three bays for storage devices such as disk
drives, integrated Small Computer Systems Interface (SCSI) and
Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE) controllers, and a choice of
hard disks.

The hard disk options for the low-profile models are 85, 127,
244.5, 338, 525, and 1050 megabytes formatted capacity. With the
127-megabyte hard drive, the Model 4253 lists for $1,549 and the
Model 4256 for $1,799.

The PW2 Advantage models 4256, 4336, and 4666 all come with four
megabytes of memory, six ISA slots, five drive bays, integrated
SCSI and IDE controllers, and the same hard-disk options as the
smaller machines.

The 4256 has a 25-megahertz 486SX controller, and lists for
$1,949 with a 127-megabyte hard drive. The 4336 has a
33-megahertz 486DX processor and lists for $2,599 with a
244.5-megabyte drive. The 4666 uses a 66-megahertz 486DX2 chip
and lists for $3,249 with a 338-megabyte drive.

The new machines differ from the PW2 Advantage Plus PCs Unisys
announced in February in three fundamental ways, company
spokesman Oliver Picher said. First, the Advantage Plus machines
use the Extended Industry Standard Architecture (EISA) bus.
Second, the Advantage Plus machines can be upgraded to the
upcoming Intel Pentium processor, while the latest machines will
be upgradable to the P24T, an Intel Overdrive processor using
Pentium technology that is designed specifically for upgrades.
Third, the Advantage Plus systems use higher-performance video
circuitry and SCSI adapters.

All five new PW2 Advantage PCs are available now, Unisys said.

(Grant Buckler/19930308/Press Contact: Oliver Picher, Unisys,
215-986-5367, fax [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(WAS)(00019)

 ****Michelangelo Virus Scare - NOT! 03/08/93
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1993 MAR 8 (NB) -- By John McCormick
This year the media hype surrounding the March 6 anniversary of
Michelangelo Buonarroti's birth and the computer vandal who
has chosen to honor this great artist with a computer virus
was only a shadow of its former self.

Although there were several thousand reports of discovery
and erasure of the virus last year, this time the number of
incidents appears to be far lower. In fact, Newsbytes has not
been able to verify any reports of Michelangelo attacks this year
which caused actual damage.

A spokesperson for RG Software, Scottsdale, Arizona-based
publisher of the VI-SPY anti-virus software, told Newsbytes today
that they had been receiving reports from their customers about
finding and eliminating both the Stoned and Michelangelo virus
over the past six months but had not yet heard of any actual
damage caused by the virus.

If a virus is located and removed from a system before its
triggering event (the computer date of March 6 in the case of the
Michelangelo virus) then no files are lost and no damage is
done to the system.

Even last year when an absolute maximum of only about 0.01
percent of the world's MS-DOS computers actually experienced a
Michelangelo infection (and were in most cases cleared of the
problem before it caused any real damage), the total number of
reported incidents did not in any way correspond to the vast
media play given the potential for damage.

More reports may be in by tomorrow because as this report is
being written many West Coast US companies are just now
powering up their computers and don't yet know if they have
experienced any problem. Still, it is unlikely that the Michelangelo
virus has done much damage this year, in part due to those
companies operating large local area networks which are more
conscientious about anti-virus security.

(John McCormick/19930308/Ray Glath, RG Software, 602-423-8000 or
fax [phone])


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(LON)(00020)

Exebug Virus Causes Problems In South Africa 03/08/93
BERKHAMSTEAD, ENGLAND, 1993 MAR 8 (NB) -- Reports from South Africa of
problems with the Exebug virus have prompted anti-virus researchers
to explain why the virus has become so common.

According to Dr. Alan Solomon, header of S&S International, the anti-
virus company, the South African problem stems from a variant of the
virus known as Exebug.2 or Exebug.d. Solomon told Newsbytes that this
variant has introduced a nasty little trick which targets standard
anti-virus procedures.

Conventional anti-virus procedures insist, that for effective
detection and removal of a virus, a user must boot from a clean,
write-protected DOS diskette.

According to Solomon, When the Exebug.2 virus infects a machine, it
inserts itself in the partition sector so that, when the PC boots up,
Exebug is the first thing that is loaded into memory. Exebug also
alters the PC's battery-backed memory settings, telling the PC it does
not have an A: drive.

If a user suspects an infection and tries to cold boot, the virus
loads from the partition sector and then switches to the A: drive and
continues the boot from there. The user, meanwhile, seeing the A:
prompt on the screen, believes that the machine is clean and that
anti-virus software will be able to detect an infection.

In fact, since the virus is already in memory and is using full
stealth technology, any anti-virus software which does not scan memory
will be unable to detect the presence of the virus. Even if the
software does detect the virus, removing the virus from the partition
sector, or issuing the "FDISK /MBR" command, or even doing a low-level
format, will fail to eradicate the virus -- as long as the virus
remains in memory.

If the virus is suspected or is reported by your anti-virus software,
Solomon advises that it is wise to re-boot the machine, halt it during
the re-boot cycle, then enter the Set-up Facility (usually accessed by
pressing Delete) and make sure that the A: drive is shown in the CMOS
settings.

Once the settings have been verified, Solomon advises that the
user should continue the boot from the A: drive and then scan for the
virus as normal.

(Paul Robinson/19930308/Press & Public Contact: S&S International -
Tel: [phone])


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LON)(00021)

Groupe Bull Problems Mount 03/08/93
PARIS, FRANCE, 1993 MAR 8 (NB) -- Groupe Bull, the troubled French
state-controlled computer manufacturer, has announced plans to shave
3,000 jobs from the company payroll. The move is to help compensate
for the company's $940 million loss reported in 1992.

The job cuts move came shortly after company chairman, Bernard Pache,
announced that the 1992 losses had increased to $940 million from
$660,000 a year earlier. Pache confirmed that the last profits the
company earned were in 1988.

This latest round of job cuts will hit the company hard, analysts say.
In 1992, the company shaved 4,700 from the payroll, working hard to
avoid any effect on overall levels of service. This latest round of
job cuts is bound to affect service levels, industry experts agree.

The main reasons behind the splurt of red ink on Bull's 1992 figures
seems to be a steep rise in provisions for future losses, plus
spiralling costs. If the provisions for future losses are removed,
then the net loss for 1992 is a more modest $454 million.

Despite the red ink, Pache said that the company's operating margins
have improved in 1992, the second year this has happened. Operating
losses, seen by many as an indicator to the fortunes of the company.
have fallen to $122.5 million -- down 44 percent on the operating
losses reported for 1991.

Overall revenue, however, has fallen. During 1992, Bull reported
revenues at $6,040 million -- down just 10 percent on 1991. Detailed
examination of the results revealed that the company has taken a hit
due to currency fluctuations, although Pache said that the current
recession in Europe, coupled with the price wars in the PC marketplace
have had their effect on overall levels of income.

The future, Pache said, looks good for Bill. In announcing the 1992
results, he said that Bull will continue to reduce costs, while
continuing to invest for the future.

(Steve Gold/19930308)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(LON)(00022)

French Phonetapping Furor Develops 03/08/93
PARIS, FRANCE, 1993 MAR 8 (NB) -- Liberation, the French newspaper, has
caused a storm of controversy after it published documents
illustrating the counter-espionage tactics of President Mitterand's
security staff of the mid-1980s who were investigating government
activities of the time.

The paper claims to have obtained transcripts of telephone taps from
the French security service that show journalist Edwy Plenel's home
phone had been bugged in late 1985 and early 1986, the period when he
was investigating allegedly shady deals by President Mitterand's staff
-- the same staff, the paper notes, that tapped his phone.

At the time, Plenel was gathering information on the security
service's activities surrounding the alleged planting of evidence on
three suspected Irish terrorists. Plenel's investigations resulted in
charges of terrorism against the three being dropped and the
whole case surrounding them was called into question after they
were found to have been "framed."

While President Mitterand and his government have declined to comment
on the reports, Plenel and the paper he works for, Le Monde, have said
they intend to take the government to court over the affair, alleging
illegal phone tapping and an invasion of privacy.

As in the US, phone tapping by government agents is a carefully
controlled exercise, with even engineers from France Telecom not
allowed to take part in the actual bugging. Special papers signed by
high ranking government officials must be issued before France Telecom
will allow government agents to place an off-premises tap on the
phone.

Interestingly, several of the then-government seniors have been
interviewed by Liberation, all of whom note that the wire tap may not
have been fully authorized. Louis Schweitzer, who was President
Mitterand's chief of staff at the time of the alleged tap, said that
he did not recall the Plenel incident. He also said that his own policy
was to refuse to place phone taps on journalists or lawyers.

Ordinarily, Newsbytes notes, it would be the word of a journalist
against that of a government minister in a case such as this. The fact
that Liberation has published documentary transcripts adds strength to
Plenel's claims that his personal affairs were followed, even without
formal government authority.

Plenel could prove to be a bundle of trouble for the French
Government. He is a widely reknowned and respected journalist for his
role in reporting the "Rainbow Warrior" affair in which two French
secret service agents were discovered to have blow up the Greenpeace
boat of the same name in Auckland, New Zealand, in 1985. The affair
caused a ripple of anger at the time as supporters of Greenpeace
realized that their boat had been blown up by foreign agents rather
than terrorists as was claimed.

Liberation's revelations could not have come at a worse time for the
French Government, Newsbytes notes. With Plenel elevated to the status
of a national hero after the Rainbow Warrior affair, President
Mitterand, in the final stages of his campaign for re-election
on March 21, is already in a shaky position in the polls.

(Steve Gold/19930308)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(LAX)(00023)

 ****Windows Summit - Kahn Talks Price Wars 03/08/93
CARLSBAD, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1992 MAR 8 (NB) -- Borland's
President Philippe Kahn says the price war started by
Microsoft has driven Borland to cut costs to remain profitable.
However, Kahn said he believes Borland can survive the
Microsoft onslaught, but added he doesn't know how long the
software price wars will last. Kahn spoke at an editor's meeting
the day before the opening of the Windows Summit '93 conference
in Carlsbad, California this week,

There's no longer any way for Borland to sell spreadsheet and
database products for $495, Kahn said. "It's a shock to
discover a company as big as Microsoft is going to jump into
your market with a product priced at $99, and is going to spend
millions to promote it," Kahn said. Microsoft was originally
going to sell Access for $99 for a limited time, but when
Borland realized the company was going to keep Access at that
cost, it had to move quickly, Kahn said. The move forced
Borland to rethink its business model and to cut costs to
survive. "If we had stayed with a business model that dictated
we sell our products at $495, I'd probably be looking for a job
right now," said Kahn.

Kahn said the pricing structure of Paradox for Windows, Quattro
Pro for Windows and newly introduced Turbo C++ Visual Edition
for Windows makes the items an impulse buy. Individually the
products retail for $99 to $139 and the Paradox for Windows and
Quattro Pro for Windows bundle is $199. When asked if loyal
customers were insulted that they're getting the same upgrade
price as newcomers, Kahn said actually the established users
were worried the products wouldn't survive in the marketplace
and the new pricing structure has attracted new users -- making
all the company's customers very happy.

Kahn said Borland is doing better than analysts had predicted
in its last financial statement, and that's because the company
has been aggressive about cutting costs. One cost cutting
measure is offering one package for each product for one price,
instead of making different offers and different packaging to a
variety of users. But the question was raised as to whether or
not the company could afford to support the influx of new users
at its current pricing structure.

Kahn pointed out that while the company has invested quite a bit
in development, the actual packaging of the products, despite the
lengthy manuals and heavy boxes, is $15 to $17 per copy. The
company says it has considered placing the products and all
the documentation on compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) format,
which costs about the same per copy as producing a single 3.5"
disk, but the scarcity of CD-ROM drives has prevented Borland from
doing so.

When asked about dBASE for Windows, Kahn said Microsoft can get
away with shipping products that have problems, because users
believe the company will stand behind the products and fix
them. However, Borland is not big enough to do the same thing,
Kahn said. "We don't ship until it's right," Kahn added, saying
it will be toward the end of the year before dBASE for Windows
ships. However, dBASE IV version 2.0 will ship very soon, Kahn
said.

Kahn also said Microsoft produces products that don't talk to
each other. Paradox and dBASE tables talk to each other and
while you can't import dBASE files into Paradox, you don't need
to as use of dBASE tables is transparent to the user. Kahn
pointed out Microsoft's Foxpro and Access tables don't talk to
each other.

In order to offer a suite of products to users as Microsoft has
done in it's Microsoft Office product, Borland is aligning
itself with Wordperfect, Kahn said. However, the company has no
intention of offering a word processing product of its own.

Kahn, who spoke last week at the Software Publisher's
Association meeting in San Diego, emphasized again that
"Microsoft Windows is a new operating system and companies who
don't recognize that are going to be in trouble."

(Linda Rohrbough/19930308)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(DEN)(00024)

Radio Shack Intros Voice-Dialed Telephone 03/08/93
FORT WORTH, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1993 MAR 8 (NB) -- Radio Shack says its
Duofone 600 Voice Dialing Telephone is now available in its outlets
across the country. The phone dials a previously stored numbers when
the user says a word associated with that number, usually the called
party's name.

The Duofone 600 learns to recognize the spoken name and makes a
voiceprint, which is associated with a learned telephone number. Up
to 20 voice dialed names and numbers can be entered in any language.
With a capacity of 24 digits for each number, the phone can store
the sequences for dialing international numbers. It can also store
an additional 50 "speed dial" numbers in a separate autodialer
memory.

Radio Shack says that if more than one person regularly uses the
phone and wishes to voice dial the same name/number combination,
each user must create their own voiceprint in the dialing memory.
Stored names and numbers can be played back for review. Four "AAA"
batteries, which are not included with the phone, provide memory
backup if power fails.

Other Duofone 600 features include selectable tone/pulse dialing
mode, a security code feature which can protect the voice dialing
features. It can also lock out all outgoing calls except those
programmed to three one-touch memory keys located above the dial
keypad. Other controls include re-dial, flash, hold, volume
control,and mute. An adjustable display at the top of the phone
shows the date, time, call elapsed time, and the name and number of
the present call.

Shipped with an AC adapter and a wall-mount plate, the Duofone 600
has a price of $139.95.

(Jim Mallory/19930308/Press contact: Tony Magoulas, Radio Shack,
817-878-4852


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(DEN)(00025)

Compaq Reduces Some Prices - Again 03/08/93
HOUSTON, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1993 MAR 8 (NB) -- Compaq,
the company that some say started the personal computer
price war, has done it again. The company announced that it is
reducing prices on some of its computers and printers by as much
as 20 percent.

The announcement says the cuts will include the Contura 3/25
notebook, the Deskpro/i, and the Pagemarq printer. Also being
announced today are 39 new models, including a multimedia Prolinea
with a CD-ROM drive, 16-bit sound card, modem, external speakers,
and four CD-ROM software programs.

Compaq has also joined a short but slowly growing list of companies
that do not publish suggested retail prices. Instead, it will
provide estimated street prices, a step it says will provide end
users with a better idea of the actual price they will pay.
The term "street price" has been popular for many years, and
represents the actual price dealers will accept for hardware and
software. Street prices are driven by such factors as demand, dealer
discounts, and special incentive programs offered by manufacturers.

Under the new price schedule, the Contura 3/25 laptop will now sell
for $1,499, a nine percent reduction. The color version of the
laptop now has a street price of $1,991, and the color LTE Lite/25c
can be purchased for $2,999. Compaq spokesperson Yvonne Donaldson
told Newsbytes a 386-based 25 MHz Prolinea 3/25ZS Model 40 desktop
system is now available for $749. The new prices do not include
monitors, Donaldson told Newsbytes. The Pagemarq network printer
has been reduced to $2,599, a 20 percent reduction, and a Deskpro
486 system will now sell for $1,399.

Among the new additions to the Compaq line are a Prolinea 486-based
66 megahertz (MHz) at $1,999 and a mid-range Deskpro/i for $1,849.
Compaq is also offering more Contura notebook models with 486
microprocessors, including both color and monochrome displays and a
trackball. It's also added 340MB hard drives for its desktops, and a
new flat screen color monitor.

(Jim Mallory/19930308/Press contact: Yvonne Donaldson, Compaq,
713-374-4463)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(DEN)(00026)

TI Settles Outstanding Patent Suits 03/08/93
DALLAS, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1993 MAR 8 (NB) -- Texas Instruments said
today that it has resolved all of its outstanding lawsuits regarding
infringement of its personal computer system patents.

TI says Daewoo Electronics Company Limited, Daewoo Telecom Company
Limited, and Dell Computer Corporation have all signed patent
cross-licensing agreements with TI that grant those companies
licenses through 1997 for TI system patents, in exchange for royalty
payments to Texas Instruments.

Agreements had been signed previously with Samsung Electronics,
Tandy Corporation, Wang Laboratories, and Zenith Data
Systems. The patent technology at issue relates to input/output
functions such as how keyboards, displays, and printers interact
with the processing systems of personal computers.

Said TI Chief Patent Counsel Richard L. Donaldson, "We are pleased
to have resolved all of the litigation. TI receives fair value for
its patents and the companies receive the right to use important
technology."

At least one of the companies, Dell Computer, had countersued TI
alleging violation of federal anti-trust statutes, as well as
federal and state statutes prohibiting fraud and unfair competition.

Terms of the agreement were not made public, but a Dell spokesperson
said neither company was required to acknowledge the merits of the
other's claims as part of the settlement. The deal also calls for
Dell to cross-license its patents to TI. Dell said it has agreed to
make cash royalty payments to TI, but declined to disclose the
amount involved. The company did say the amounts are not material to
Dell's consolidated financial results.

(Jim Mallory/19930308/Press contact: Terri West, Texas Instruments,
214-995-3481)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00027)

InterVision Does Videoconferences Under Windows 03/08/93
WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A., 1993 MAR 8 (NB) -- InterVision Systems
is using the Interop show as a platform to launch a
videoconferencing system under Microsoft Windows.

Interop is a show dedicated to systems which work on the global
Internet of networked networks, under its TCP/IP protocol. An
InterVision spokesman told Newsbytes the company's compliance
with that standard means that any company with an Internet link
as slow as 128,000 bits/second can handle a videoconference, if
all other traffic is taken off the link. The system works best,
however, when a T-1 trunk line is used for connections to the
Internet, as the 1.544 million bit/second capacity can handle
both video and data traffic simultaneously. In that case,
spokesman Tom Woolf added, the quality of the transmission can
be dialed-up to as fast as 384,000 bits/second for higher-
quality pictures, or dialed down to 128,000 bits/second so as to
allow other traffic to pass through, at some sacrifice in picture
quality and refresh rate.

The compression algorithm, he added, is proprietary, because the
Intel RTV Codec being used for the system does not respond to the
CCITT H.261 standard for videoconferencing. Once Intel meets the
standard, Woolf said, the algorithm will be rewritten to it.

In the demonstration, the booths of Beame & Whiteside and The
Wollongong Group are linked via an Intel RTV Codec installed as
an add-in board under Windows 3.1, a miniaturized color video
camera, and InVision support software. InVision said its
software works with any network: Ethernet, Token Ring, FDDI,
and ISDN. The latter capability means that, as phone companies
offer digital services under ISDN standards in more of their
switches, companies will be able to do full-motion color
videoconferences from their desktops. It would even be possible
for home-based businesses, under ISDN, to use the system, albeit
at its slowest setting.

InVision is expected to be ready for market in June, at less than
$3,000 per workstation. That is far less than the lowest-priced
videoconferencing systems from companies like PictureTel and
Compression Labs.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19930308/Press Contact: Tom Woolf,
InterVision, 415/508-1554; Reader Contact: InterVision Systems,
2232 Richelieu Drive, Suite 100, Vienna, VA 22182; 703/560-1446;
FAX: [phone])


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(BOS)(00028)

Mobile World - V.Fast Group Considers Celllular Wireless 03/08/93
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1993 MAR 8 (NB) -- Study Group 17,
the IEEE committee that is developing V.Fast, has started to take
a serious look at incorporating a provision for cellular wireless
WANs into the high-speed modem standard, speakers said Friday at
Mobile World in Boston.

At its February meeting, Study Group 17 opened up a special
committee to examine wireless cellular WANs, said Jack Moran, a
member of Study Group 17 and also principal engineer for Motorola
Codex, during a conference session on wireless WANs.

Cellular technology will be the only way of achieving the kind of
full duplex, or two-way, wireless wide-area communications needed
by some 74 million professional users, stated David McNamara,
manager of strategic marketing for Motorola Codex, also during the
session.

Cellular and a competing technology, radio frequency (RF), are both
fraught with high error rates when running in full duplex over wide
areas, McNamara acknowledged. But unlike the errors produced in
RF, cellular errors can be partially corrected, he added.

RF is now being used for half-duplex, or one-way, e-mail
communications by two major private commercial networks, Ardis and
RAM, McNamara noted. Yet the RF WANs are slow, prone to delay, and
unable to meet the needs of users who have become accustomed to
full-bodied LAN applications.

Moran said that if the wireless cellular WAN specification is
included in V.Fast, some kind of error correction scheme will be
included. "But it's too early to tell exactly what that will be.
We've had some very interesting technical arguments," he commented.

A proposal to Study Group 17 from Motorola Codex calls for an error
correction scheme that is based on MNP 10, an error correction
proposal first developed by Microcom, and almost universally used
in contemporary modems.

Other companies have submitted different proposals for cellular
error correction, according to Moran. These include Racal Datacomm
and AT&T Paradyne, author of the hotly debated V.32 turbo "interim
standard" for high-speed modem communications, he remarked.

Motorola Codex and other vendors want to roll the wireless cellular
WAN specification into V.Fast, instead of the current V.32 bis
modem standard, due to the many advantages V.Fast holds over V.32
bis, asserted McNamara.

These include greater intelligence, multiple bandwidths, and the
ability to run in either analog or digital mode, in addition to
higher speed, he said.

But even when cellular technology receives error correction,
wireless WANs still run at slower rates than phone line
transmissions, McNamara remarked. "We don't have a panacea yet,"
he noted.

The speeds of wireless cellular WANs will vary according to whether
analog or digital mode is being used, Moran elaborated. In the US,
analog will prevail for the next five to ten years, until telephone
companies have converted all their switches to digital.

Wireless cellular WANs operate at a maximum of 12 Kbps in analog
mode and 16.8 Kbps in digital, in contrast to the 28.8 Kbps slated
for V.Fast phone line transmissions, he said.

Debate on V.Fast and cellular WANs will resume in September, at the
start of the next IEEE plenary. "I think you'll see
very rapid movement after that," he stated. "Something could come
out in writing as early as six months from then -- and in reality,
for those participating in the standard, much earlier than that."

Meanwhile, Motorola Codex has been running several applications
based on its own proposal for V.Fast and cellular wireless WANs,
said McNamara. One user, the State of Connecticut, is implementing
the technology for mobile vans operated by the Registry of Motor
Vehicles.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19930308)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SFO)(00029)

BoCoEx Index 03/05/93
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1993 MAR 8 (NB) -- Boston Computer
Exchange for the week ending March 5, 1993.

Machine                        Main  Closing     Price      Ask     Bid

                              Drive    Price    Change

IBM AT 339                   30 MgB      400     up 50      450     400

IBM PS/2 Model 30 286        20 MgB      450                500     300

IBM PS/2 Model 50Z           30 MgB      450                500     400

IBM PS/2 Model 55SX          60 MgB      875                900     800

IBM PS/2 Model 60            40 MgB      500                550     325

IBM PS/2 Model 70 A21       120 MgB     1000               1200     900

IBM ThinkPad 700C           120 MgB     3200               3400    3200

IBM V\P 3/25T MOD. 80        80 MgB     1500               1600    1500

IBM PS/2 Model 80           110 MgB      800                900     800

IBM PS/2 Model 95-OJF       400 MgB     3000               3300    2700

Compaq Portable II           20 MgB      425                500     375

Compaq Portable III          20 MgB      500                600     250

Compaq Portable 386         100 MgB      950               1100     800

Compaq SLT-286               40 MgB      650                700     600

Compaq LTE-286                40MgB      700     up 25      700     600

Compaq LTE-386                30MgB      750                850     700

Compaq LTE-LITE\25C           120MB     2400  down 200     2600    2300

Compaq Systempro LT-486     510 MgB     2200               2400    2100

Compaq Deskpro 386/25M       60 MgB     1400               1500    1350

Compaq Deskpro 486 /33I     120 MgB     1850               1900    1750

Compaq SysPro 486/33       2040 MgB     6800               7000    6300

Compaq DeskP 486DX2/66i     240 MgB     2100               2400    1900

AST Prem Exec 386SX20        40 MgB      900               1000     800

NEC UltraLite 286            20 MgB      650                800     600

NEC UltraLite 386SX/20       40 MgB      995               1000     950

Zenith Mastersprt-386SX      60 MgB      950               1100     900

Zenith SuperSport 386SX      40 MgB      850                900     800

Macintosh Classic            40 MgB      650                700     600

Macintosh Classic II         40 MgB      800                850     750

Macintosh SE                 20 MgB      650                700     600

Macintosh SE-30              80 MgB     1150               1250    1100

Macintosh LC                 40 MgB     1000               1300     800

Macintosh II                 40 MgB     1400               1500    1300

Macintosh II SI              80 MgB     1600               1700    1500

Macintosh II CX              80 MgB     1700               1850    1600

Macintosh II CI              80 MgB     2350               2400    2300

Macintosh II FX              80 MgB     2900               3100    2800

Macintosh Quadra 700        160 MgB     3250               3500    3200

Macintosh Quadra 900        160 MgB     4150               4400    3900

Macintosh Powerbk 100        20 MgB      800                850     700

Macintosh Powerbk  140       40 MgB     1300               1400    1300

Macintosh Powerbk 170        80 MgB     2200               2300    2100

Apple Imagewriter 2                      200                225     175

Apple Laserwriter LS                     550                600     500

HP Laserjet II                           700                700     550

HP Laserjet III                         1000     up 25     1100    1000

Toshiba T-1200 XE            20 MgB      650                700     550

Toshiba T-1600               40 MgB      650                750     600

Toshiba T-2000 SX            40 MgB      950               1050     900

Toshiba T-2000 SXE           40 MgB      950               1050     900

Toshiba T-2200 SX             80MgB     1250               1300    1200

Toshiba T-3100 SX            80 MgB     1200               1300    1100

Toshiba T-3200               40 MgB      650                800     600

Toshiba T-3200 SX            40 MgB      950               1000     900

Toshiba T-3200 SXC          120 MgB     2250               2400    2100

Toshiba T-6400SX            120 MgB     2400               2700    2200

Toshiba T-4400SX            120 MgB     1900               2100    1800

Toshiba T-5200              100 MgB     1400  down 100     1500    1400

BoCoEx Index data is compiled by Market Analyst, Gary M. Guhman

Here are some current retail-oriented Seats on the Exchange, presented in a
cyclic basis.

Dallas - Ft. Worth, TX - DFW Computer Exchange - M.B. Lee - 817-244-7833

Escondido, Ca. - Affordable Computer Solutions - Dean Jacobus - 619-738-
4980

New Orleans, Louisiana - Audubon Computer Rental - Mike Barry - 504-522-
0348

Detroit, Michigan - CompuCycle - Walt Hogan - 313-887-2600

Computer Exchange\\NorthWest - Dye Hawley - 206-820-1181

Albuquerque, NM, Western Computer Exchange - David Levin - 505-265-1330

Fresno, California - MacSource Computers - Mike Kurtz - 209-438-6227

BoCoEx Index prices are based on complete systems with keyboard, VGA
monitor and adapter, less the value of any software or peripherals.

Boston Computer Exchange is available at: 617-542-4414, Buyer's HotLine: 1-
800-262-6399, In Alaska and Canada 1-800-437-2470,FAX: [phone].The
BoCoEx Database is on CompuServe: GO BCE, and on the Delphi system: ME BO.
BoCoEx Index is available on Fax Yourself Information 617-542-2345
                               Extension 300

(BOCOEX/19930308)


(NEWS)(IBM)(DEN)(00030)

Voice Command Interface Software 03/08/93
EUGENE, OREGON, U.S.A., 1993 MAR 8 (NB) -- Covox has announced
that it is now shipping Voice Blaster, a voice recognition software
package that allows users to issue voice commands to run keyboard
and mouse macros on their PCs in place of typing keystrokes.

"We're excited about the prospect of bringing affordable voice
recognition capabilities to business and home PC users," says Kevin
Corson, Covox director of marketing and sales. Covox spokesperson
Charles McHenry told Newsbytes, "(This) breakthrough software may
change the way people use their computers."

Voice Blaster, with a suggested retail price of $119, is
compatible with personal computers using Intel microprocessors
and running DOS or Microsoft  Windows.

The company says Voice Blaster is compatible with most popular sound
cards, including Sound Blaster Pro, Media Vision's Thunderboard, and
the Tandy Sensation. It's designed to be compatible with dBase, Fox
Pro, Quattro Pro, Quicken, Wordperfect 5.1 and AutoCAD. It also
works with games from Electronic Arts, Game-Tek, Lucas Arts
Entertainment, Microprose, Sir-Tech, and Villa Crespo. The company
says it is not compatible with programs that don't allow access to
the keyboard BIOS (basic input/output system).

McHenry told  Newsbytes the included headset connects to the
PC through a parallel port and has a passthrough feature that
allows simultaneous use  of the printer and the headset.

Corson says Voice Blaster works as a terminate-and-stay resident
(TSR) that can get along on as little as 21 kilobytes (K) of system
memory, although the actual amount of memory used "depends on the
size of the macros that are tied to the voice commands," he says.
Voice Blaster will work on a 286-based system with only 640K of
memory, but will automatically load as much of itself as possible
into high memory when its available. It's compatible with memory
managers like QEMM-386 from Quarterdeck and 386 MAX from Qualitas.
The DOS and Windows versions of Voice Blaster require an EGA or
better video display.

According to Corson, Voice Blaster is targeted at three main market
segments: business PC users with keystroke-intensive applications;
game and entertainment product users; and educational environment
computing. The company says it will also license the Voice Blaster
voice recognition technology to developers who want to add voice
commands to their programming projects.

PCs aren't the only potential market for Voice Blaster technology.
The company says it's talking with auto makers and home
entertainment and automation companies about including the
technology in auto and home electronics products.

(Jim Mallory/19930308/Press contact: Charles McHenry, McHenry &
Associates for Covox, 503-772-2382; Reader contact: Covox, Inc,
503-342-1271)